Google Maps(STATE COLLEGE, Pa.) -- The attorney for the family of Penn State fraternity pledge Timothy Piazza, who died after falling down stairs during a pledge ceremony at the frat house, called the actions of the fraternity brothers who didn't call for help the "worst possible debauchery and depravity that you could possibly have anywhere, let alone a college campus."



Piazza, a 19-year-old Penn State sophomore, died on Feb. 4 after he fell down the stairs at Penn State's Beta Theta Pi fraternity the night of Feb. 2. Piazza's blood alcohol content reached 0.28 and 0.36 percent that night. Police were not called to the Beta Theta Pi house -- which has since been barred from Penn State -- until about 12 hours after the initial fall.



Here are some details from what happened the night of Feb. 2 and early morning hours of Feb. 3 at Beta Theta Pi, according to a grand jury report, which cited evidence including video from surveillance cameras, testimony and phone records.



Piazza was carried upstairs after the fall, appearing unconscious. During the night Piazza was slapped in the face, slammed onto a couch and hit in the abdomen by fraternity members. After 3 a.m., Piazza tried to stand but he fell, hitting his head on the floor. A fraternity brother attempted to shake him but then left the room. Shortly before 4 a.m. Piazza again tried to stand but fell face down on the floor.



At about 5 a.m., Piazza stood and then fell head first into an iron railing, landing on a stone floor. "He gets up again and attempts to go to the front door, but before he reaches it he falls head first into the door," the grand jury report says.



In the early morning hours, brothers saw Piazza in distress but didn't help. At about 10 a.m., fraternity members found the 19-year-old in the basement lying on his back, breathing heavily and with blood on his face. One brother said Piazza's eyes were half open and he felt cold. Three men carried Piazza's unconscious body upstairs and placed him back on the couch. Surveillance footage showed brothers shaking him and trying to prop him up. At 10:48 a.m., a fraternity member called 911. Piazza was hospitalized and died the next day.



Piazza family attorney Tom Kline called the surveillance video "gruesome" and said it showed "conduct which is reprehensible. Beyond human decency."



Kline told ABC News Monday that Piazza's family is distraught and called the grand jury report devastating.



"They are hurting, they are mourning," he said. "It was terrible for them to see what really happened to their son. To know the callousness and the heinousness of the crimes which were committed against him."



"That dark night in that Penn State fraternity, the Piazzas lost their precious son," Kline said. "They saw his bright future blossoming and then it all disappeared by the grotesque actions of people who were supposed to be his friends."



Stacy Parks Miller, the district attorney for Centre County in Pennsylvania, announced Friday that 18 Penn State students are facing charges: eight for involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and hazing, among other charges; four for reckless endangerment and hazing, among other charges; and six for evidence tampering. The Beta Theta Pi fraternity itself is facing charges including involuntary manslaughter and hazing.



The grand jury concluded that after Piazza was taken to the hospital there was an active attempt to conceal evidence of the hazing and underage drinking, from deleting messages to admitting to discussing erasing surveillance video.



According to the grand jury report, in a deleted text that was recovered, one man wrote, "If need be, just tell them what I told you guys, found him behind [a bar] the next morning at around 10 a.m., and he was freezing-cold, but we decided to call 911 instantly, because the kid's health was paramount."



Kline called the fraternity member's actions "horrific acts of self-preservation" and "acts of callousness toward a young man."



"They were trying aggressively and affirmatively to make sure that Tim did not get help because it was against their interests," Kline said. "They knew that if they were caught with liquor, if they were caught with a young man who had fallen down the stairs all those hours later, that it was going to be a problem for them.



"He was the unfortunate road kill in this adventure by these young men who thought that they were above the law," Kline added.



About a half an hour after Piazza's fall, a newly initiated member, Kordel Davis, saw Piazza lying on the couch, "thrashing and making weird movements," he later told the grand jury. He said he screamed at the fraternity brothers for help, stressing that Piazza needed to go to the hospital because he could have a concussion. One brother shoved Davis into a wall and said they had it under control.



Kline said "that was a moment where Tim Piazza could have been saved."



"Tim could have been saved when he fell down the stairs, he could have been saved at that moment. Tim Piazza could have been saved when he was put on the couch upstairs, he could have been saved for a number of hours," Kline said. "To let another human being in a deteriorating condition with clear severe injuries, continue to die in front of their very eyes is unjustifiable."



The grand jury, in its report, stated that it had found evidence of a history of hazing at the fraternity that included forced drinking and paddling, and found that Penn State's Greek community "nurtured an environment so permissive of excessive drinking and hazing that it emboldened its members to repeatedly act with reckless disregard to human life."



The grand jury concluded in the report that Piazza's death wasn't the result of isolated conduct or a simple mistake but as a "direct result of the extremely reckless conduct of members of the Beta Fraternity who operated within the permissive atmosphere fostered" by Penn State's Interfraternity Council.



Penn State President Eric Barron in a statement Friday said, "The alleged details in the grand jury presentment, which suggest the inhumane treatment of a student forced through hazing to consume dangerous amounts of alcohol and endure hours of suffering, are sickening and difficult to understand. It is numbing how an atmosphere that endangers the well-being and safety of another person could occur within an organization that prided itself on commitment to each other and to its community."



He added, "It should go without saying that hazing and dangerous drinking are not permitted by the University, and the University takes appropriate action to educate its students about these issues and to hold them accountable whenever it learns of such wrongdoing."



Beta Theta Pi International Fraternity said in a statement, "The nature of those charges are incredibly disheartening as the organization and its membership continue to grieve Tims passing and the pain experienced by his family."



"Since the incident in early February, the International Fraternity has cooperated fully with local officials in their investigation. The early findings of that investigation indicated that the behavior of several undergraduate members was in direct contradiction of the International Fraternitys expectations and risk management policies, as well as the International Fraternitys reputation and commitment to character development," the statement said. "Beta Theta Pi International Fraternity has clearly and consistently expressed its position that it does not tolerate hazing or alcohol abuse in any form by its members. The former undergraduate members were well educated by the International Fraternity and Penn State on these policies; however, they are entitled to the presumption of innocence as they face these charges.



"As such, and despite the number of accolades bestowed upon the former chapter by the university in recent years, the International Fraternity stands by its decision to suspend and disband the former chapter on February 17, 2017," the statement continued. "The International Fraternitys policy that prohibited alcohol in the Penn State chapter house, along with the extensive annual investment in risk management, leadership and character-development programs that teach young men the importance of integrity and caring for others, underscored the International Fraternitys expectations of all of its members."



In a statement, the Penn State Interfraternity Council said its thoughts "continue to lie with the Piazza family as the justice process moves forward."



"Our focus, as students, is leading the change Penn State needs to prevent a senseless tragedy like this from happening in the future," the statement continued. "We are committed to addressing the critical issues in our fraternity community head on. We have formed stakeholder working groups tasked with developing increased community standards and enhancing student safety. The best way to shift culture is for students, alumni and the university to work together."



One of the defense attorneys in the case told ABC News on Friday, "Of course, it's a tragedy. But that doesn't mean there's any intent involved in any of this."



All defendants charged with involuntary manslaughter were preliminarily arraigned Friday. They entered no pleas, bail was set at $100,000 and they were released on their own recognizance, the district attorney said. They are prohibited from having alcohol and nonprescription drugs, may not leave their home state without express permission from the judge and must surrender their passports, the district attorney said. A few additional defendants also had preliminary arraignments Friday with the same conditions but with bail set at $50,000, the district attorney said. The remaining eight defendants are set to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon, the district attorney's office said. Preliminary hearing court dates have not yet been set, the district attorney's office said.



Kline said the Piazza family is "committed to full justice. The Piazzas are committed not only to punishment but to deterrence. They want to make sure that this never happens again at Penn State or at any American college campus."

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
She tried, she went halfway, and then she tried again. Sonakshi Sinha is really inspiring us with how fit she's become.

By India Today Web Desk: Sonakshi Sinha has truly and gradually worked at achieving the body of her dreams. She's not one of those celebs who disappeared from the public eye for a few months, only to emerge as a "new me" with grand photoshoots and what not.

We, her loyal fans and followers, have been as much a part of her fitness journey as probably her neighbours. Sonakshi has been sharing with her virtual family her gradual and fulfilling journey towards fitness goals, and we have to say, we're super proud of her for it.

advertisement

Not too long ago, Sonakshi posted a picture saying this was the first time she saw muscles on her body when she looked in the mirror, making us super proud of her patience and hard work.

Another journey Sonakshi has shared with her fans has been that of nailing the perfect headstand. The headstand is not the easiest asana to master--it requires the perfect combination of core strength, upper-body strength, physical and mental balance.

A month ago, Sonakshi had shared a video of herself attempting to do the headstand, reaching only halfway. And we loved her for it, because it takes a lot of strength for a celeb like her to accept and flaunt imperfection.

Its taken me months and months to even get my feet off the floor and to finally be able to do this without any support feels like ive conquered the world!!! Still a work in progress, still need to get straighter and i know i will soon enough ????? #beyourownmotivation #yoga #headstand #smallvictories #sonaisfit #worldhealthday A post shared by Sonakshi Sinha (@aslisona) on Apr 7, 2017 at 5:13am PDT

Yesterday, in a moment of redemption, Sonakshi posted a video of nailing the perfect headstand, without any external support mind you, and it was graceful as graceful can be.

advertisement

All we have to say it that we're really proud of the journey you've undertaken, Sonakshi. More power to you!

--- ENDS ---
Olympic gold medalist Kaetlyn Osmond can't wait to skate in front of Newfoundland crowd for her first performance since COVID

When Kaetlyn Osmond steps on the ice at the Mary Browns Centre in St. Johns next month, it will be the first time the Marystown native has performed on ice in front of an audience since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. It's also the ...
Chairman of the Board of Management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital D S Rana said Gandhi was admitted after she suffered from food poisoning.

By India Today Web Desk, Press Trust of India: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital after food poisoning.

Chairman of the Board of Management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital D S Rana said Gandhi was admitted after she suffered from food poisoning.

She is doing better now and will be discharged soon, he said.

advertisement

She was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, the hospital said.

This was 69-year-old leader's third admission in the same hospital.

ALSO READ:Congress president Sonia Gandhi down with viral fever, admitted in Delhi hospital

--- ENDS ---
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 ...
But the tribe has a long way to go
It was on last Saturday that the citizens of Delhi, as indeed followers of the AAP politics across the country, sat and took notice of 36-year-old Kapil Mishra, an AAP leader and a member of the Kejriwal Cabinet.

Mishra, out of the blue, tweeted that he had discussed some very important thing to do with corruption with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He would make them public the next day. Only the previous day, he had written, on his official letter head, to A.K. Meena,the head of the Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau, asking why former chief minister Sheila Dixit had not been interrogated in the water tanker scam. Sometime the same day, he told the twitterati that he was the only minister with no corruption charges, and no CBI inquiry.

But by Tuesday, Mishra had snatched the leadership of the battle against corruption from Arvind Kejriwal, a man who burst into public life on the plank of anti-corruption crusade and stunned the country with the superb electoral performance of his nascent party in February 2015. Mishra had turned the tables on Kejriwal, who he considered his guru till then, and effectively charged him with indulging in corruption and shielding the corrupt.

Mishra represented the Karawal constituency, and had shot into lime light when he took his oath of office and secrecy in Sanskrit. With Amnesty and Greenpeace forming part of his CV, Mishra, with a Masters from the Delhi School of Social Work held half a dozen portfolios in the Kejriwal cabinet, the main being Water Resources and Tourism and Culture.

It began on Sunday with Mishra demanding the removal of his cabinet colleague and Health and PWD Minister Satyendra Jain, and accused Jain of taking bribes and shielding people involved in the 2012 water tanker scheme, and indulging in a land deal that involved his relatives.

A source in AAP says there was no indication of any rift between the chief minister and the waters minister till then. Even now I don't know what has triggered this, he said.

Kejriwal did not do what seasoned politicians wouldcall and talk to Mishra about it, and if need be, have the party issue a show cause notice etc. On Monday, he dropped him from the cabinet . Mishra then said he personally saw Jain give Kejriwal Rs 2 crores in cash. Kejriwal did not respond, but suspended him from the party.

Mishra said Kejriwal had been helped by Jain, to settle a Rs 50 crore land deala farm house in Delhi's plush and sylvan outskirts of Chattarpurin his brother-in-law Surender Bansal's name. The timing of that revelation went wrong. Bansal had just been cremated !

Though the chief minister did not respond, Mishra added to his charges. Jain, who held the portfolio of PWD, had fudged bills to benefit Bansal by over Rs 10 crores, and Kejriwal and others had made money during the Punjab elections as well as the MCD polls when tickets were sold, Mishra maintained. AAP leaders had made foreign travelssome of them a dozen timesat the cost of the state as well as using illegal money. He demanded that the party come out with complete details of these trips.

Kejriwal said truth will triumph, and added he would reveal the whole truth in a specially convened session of the state Vidhan Sabha. But theatrically enough, the special session went on trying to expose the faulty EVMs. Mishra, meanwhile, brandished an envelope of three complaints he gave to the CBI one pertained to the cash bribe which, he says, he saw Jain give Kejriwal, the second was a charge against Jain for fixing a land deal for his relative and the third regarding the foreign travels.

Taking a leaf out of Kejriwal's book, Mishra said he would launch a hunger strike if the details of the foreign tours were not made public by Wednesday.

The AAP leadership, however, has so far no more than rubbished the charges against Kejriwal and smelt a BJP hand in this fresh crisis in the party, which only last week placated an angry Kumar Vishwas. Even as Kejriwal has reserved his comments and reactions to this, Mishra has found traction from none other than Kejriwal's own guru, Anna Hazare. In a television interview, Anna declared Kejriwal, who was a warrior against corruption, a changed man now. Jain, on his part, has threatened to file a defamation case against Mishra.

The politicians of AAP, which was to disrupt the status quo of political parties, are now doing the usual thing. Mishra has dared Kejriwal to resign his seat and take him on in a contest in any constituency of his choice. That may sound like music to the BJP, whose Delhi leaders have been protesting outside the chief minister's house, demanding his resignation.

Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar summed it up saying, AAP which boasted of zero tolerance against corruption, is now embroiled in corruption related controversies. But for Kejriwal, it appears to be the biggest crisis in the barely five years of the party's existence.
Blame it on the soaring mercury or power going to their heads, the saffron brigade in Uttar Pradesh is cutting loose, much to the chagrin of the bureaucracy that is facing the heat of their misconduct.

And so, while it was initially dismissed as the handiwork of fringe elements and overzealous party workers by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the situation now is precarious with many of its lawmakers and ministers involved in such public incidents of high-handedness.

On Sunday, veteran Gorakhpur legislator Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who is also a confidant of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, not only took on a woman police officer but publicly humiliated her, so much so that the woman in uniform broke down and was seen in TV footage wiping her tears.

Charu Nigam, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer at the receiving end, tried to explain her position in an altercation over a protest against a liquor shop, but Agarwal asked her to shut up and not make him lose his cool.

Not long ago, Raghav Lakhanpal, the young Lok Sabha MP from Saharanpur, led a mob involved in a violent attack on the official residence of the then district SSP Luv Kumar. Angered by the police not giving permission for a procession planned on the anniversary of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar, angry BJP workers had stormed Kumar's high-security house and vandalised it.

While an FIR related to the violence during the procession does name the BJP MP, the honest and upright police officer was shifted to Noida. When a hue and cry followed the transfer, an official spokesman of the state government said this was a "promotion and not a punishment since he was given a better district"! Better in what terms, only the BJP would know.

This apart, a mob of young party workers had not long ago manhandled policemen at Kannauj, the parliamentary constituency of Dimple Yadav, wife of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

There have been other incidents as well where leaders of the ruling party have been caught on tape openly threatening police inspectors of dire consequences if they did not pay heed to matters raised by them. The police officers had secretly recorded the conversations and gave them to their superiors. In its defence, the BJP said its state leaders were only seeking justice for people, insisting that the tone and tenor of the conversation hardly mattered.

Last month, the brother of a senior cabinet minister openly humiliated a constable in Unnao, even telling him that he should mend his ways or else he would be disrobed in public. "Dalal kahin ka, purani sarkaar chali gayi hai, hosh mein rehna warna kapde utarwa doonga" (The old government has gone. Come to your senses or I'll have you disrobed in public), he told a constable over the drowning of some youth in the Ganga river.

Cow vigilantes are also active in villages and are allegedly hounding the Muslim community and threatening them with consequences if they stepped out of line.

Some time back, senior minister Satyadev Pachauri was caught on camera during an inspection making derogatory references to a disabled employee. When disabled people can't work why are they recruited, he asked officials.

To put this in perspective, some two years ago, in one his monthly radio chats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested that the word divyaang be used instead of viklaang for the differently abled and yet Pachauri called the man a loola langda (dumb cripple), which is definitely a pejorative. He later apologised, saying he had been misinterpreted.

BJP workers seemingly are not paying heed to the repeated advisories from party leaders asking them to be "in control and humble". Party President Amit Shah, during his address at the state executive earlier this month, warned workers and leaders against any adventurism and said they should learn to be humble and more responsible.

Adityanath, too, has on at least two occasions, asked workers to be good in their conduct. On one occasion he, however, blamed some "unscrupulous elements" wearing saffron scarves of indulging in hooliganism and bringing disrepute to the BJP.

Whatever be the case, the "elixir of power", and that too after a long exile of 14 years, seems to be too much for the BJP workers and leaders not to be tempted with. What is even more ironical is the fact that the BJP romped home to power by highlighting the lawlessness by Samajwadi Party (SP) workers and promising change.
Pakistan Army resorted to firing at Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Tuesday, sources said.

Defence sources said Pakistan Army started firing at the Indian positions in Manjkot area of Mendhar sector at 8.40 am.

"They used small arms and automatics to target the Indian positions. Effective retaliation was given from the Indian side," they said.

Firing exchanges continued for nearly an hour, the defence sources said.
On a day when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued a statement regretting the incident in Kannur (Kerala) where a 19-year old NEET aspirant was asked to remove her undergarments minutes before the medical entrance examination, the school management suspended four teachers who were found responsible for the same.

The teachersSheeja, Shafeena, Bindu, Sahinahave been suspended for one month. According to the CBSE school authorities, the four teachers have been found guilty in the initial investigation.

The suspension comes amid widespread protest against the incident. Initially, the school management tried to justify the incident saying they were merely following the CBSE instructions. We have clear instructions that if the metal detector beeps, no one can be allowed inside. Whenever it beeped, we told students to remove what they have, Principal Jalaluddin K. said yesterday.

The incident, a fallout of stringent measures followed to keep a check on cheating and irregularities during the national medical entrance examination, even found its way to the state assembly today. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the incident a violation of human rights. He said the government has asked the police to probe the matter.

Meanwhile, earlier the day, the CBSE issued a statement regretting the incident. It said what happened was unfortunate and a consequence of few overzealous persons involved in the process. The CBSE also regretted the inconvenience caused to the students inadvertently in the process.

The CBSE statement has come in the backdrop of the state human rights commission seeking explanation from the regional centre. We had alerted the seriousness of the issue to the headquarters. Now, further steps will be taken after the inquiry report is filed, an official at the CBSE told THE WEEK.

The CBSE has a dress code to prevent cheating, which mentions that a candidate is not allowed to wear full-sleeve shirt, shoes, big buttons, brooches, heeled shoes for female candidates, and kurta-pyjama.

The board has exactly followed the directions of the honourable Supreme Court. Candidates were repeatedly instructed through information bulletin, website, printed instructions on admit card and individual communication through emails/SMS about precautions to be taken before entering exam hall, the CBSE statement said further.
The death of model-actor Sonika Singh Chauhan in an accident in Kolkata 10 days ago has thrown up several unanswered questions.

By Samrudhi Ghosh: On April 29, Kolkata-based model Sonika Singh Chauhan lost her life in a fatal car crash, while Bengali actor Vikram Chatterjee, who was behind the wheel, survived the accident. Sonika and Vikram were returning from a night of partying, leading many to speculate that he was intoxicated and driving recklessly.

Part of a petition shared by Sonika's mother Sharon Singh on Facebook reads, "The individual who was driving the vehicle is alive and well, and was (as video evidence shows) clearly drinking alcohol on that fateful night. He has evaded justice so far, and refuses to own up to the fact that he was indeed under the influence, and is therefore responsible of (sic) drunken and rash driving which led to the death of this young person, whom he calls his 'dear friend.'"

advertisement

Vikram got bail hours after the accident and said in a press conference, "I am hearing many things... that I was intoxicated, that I was driving at 120km per hour. But none of these things are true."

Not just this, there are a lot of other discrepancies that suggest that there is more to this case than meets the eye.

1. An eye-witness who was supposedly partying with the two that night told Times Now that Sonika left with Vikram at around 2.15am, citing a headache. The accident took place between 3.30am and 4am. The three places visited by Vikram and Sonika are Phoenix at Astor Hotel, Underground at HHI and Myx near Park Street, all in the same vicinity. From Park Street to the accident site near Lake Mall is less than 5km, and there was no traffic at that time of the night. Where were Vikram and Sonika for the approximately 90 minutes that are unaccounted for?

2. The police have been hush-hush about the investigation, and claim that the toxicology reports have not yet arrived, even 10 days after the accident. Was the blood test on Vikram Chatterjee conducted within 24 hours, as is the law?

3. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Arup Biswas visited Vikram at the hospital. The minister later told the media, "I was asked by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inquire about his health. It's an unfortunate incident. He is traumatised..." Actor-turned-BJP leader Locket Chatterjee told News18 that the nexus between Trinamool Congress leaders and Tollywood was very strong.

Actor Rupa Ganguly, also a BJP lawmaker, told The Quint, "Why don't we know the facts yet? Why are the police going slow on the case? Why were ministers and important people with Vikram that day?" Is there indeed a nexus that needs to be probed?

4. Times Now claims that the police have recorded the eye-witness's statement only after their expose. Why were the witnesses not interrogated in the first place?

Sonika Singh Chauhan's death has opened a can of worms as far as investigation of a crime in West Bengal is concerned, with allegations from several quarters that the state police is not doing its job properly. Chauhan's friends and family have taken the help of their respective social media accounts to express their feelings, wishing for a proper closure to the case.

advertisement

ALSO READ | Sonika Chauhan death case: Kolkata Police checking CCTV clips from bars to probe drunken driving possibility

ALSO WATCH | Tollywood celebrity Shreya Pandey seeks justice for Sonika Chauhan

--- ENDS ---
The Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday came to the help of a woman in Jammu who alleged that police tortured her in custody and shoved beer bottle into her private parts.

After the video clip of the woman alleging torture by police was out, Jitender Singh Rana, minister of state in PMO, intervened to ensure justice to the woman. Rana was elected from Jammu in Parliament elections.

Requesting the #Jammu #Kashmir State Govt to immediately look into it, Rana tweeted.

The woman, a mother of two children, was arrested on a complaint of theft by her employer last month.

They (cops) stripped me and shoved a bottle into my private parts,'' she alleged. ''They also sprinkled chili powder on my genitals''. She also alleged that she was left starving in the police custody.

The woman has moved court and filed a complaint against her employer, the SHO, a head constable and a lady cop.

In her petition, the victim has alleged that her employer was running a medical shop in a house in Deharan village and doing illegal abortions.

She (the employer) was forcing the applicant to clean the abortion waste of the women but the applicant refused to do that work. The accused number four threatened the applicant that she will get her arrested in theft case...On April 25, police called the applicant to the police station, reads the petition.

The medical report of the victim has found 11 injuries on her body.

In the opinion of doctors, all the injuries are simple in nature. Duration of the injuries as mentioned by the doctors is about two to seven days when the victim was in police custody, said judicial magistrate/city judge Jammu in his order.

The court has directed the IGP, Jammu, to constitute a team of honest police officers to investigate the matter.

Public has all the faith and respect in the police department and judicial system. Therefore in order to bring out the truth, the IGP, Jammu, is hereby directed to proceed ahead in the matter in terms of section 156 (3) CRPC and a team of honest and efficient officers be constituted to investigate the matter, said the judge.

DG Police SP Vaid said the accused officer has been attached to the police lines.
In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held controversial Calcutta High Court judge Justice C.S. Karnan guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to jail for six months, ordering that he be taken into custody forthwith.

A seven-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, said "We are of the unanimous view that Justice C.S. Karnan committed contempt of court, contempt of judiciary and the process."

This is the first time that a sitting High Court judge is being sent to jail by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Dipak Misra, J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M.B. Lokur, P. C. Ghose and Kurian Joseph, said it was satisfied that Justice Karnan be sentenced for six months in jail.

"The sentence shall be executed and he be taken into custody forthwith," the bench said.

At the outset of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for West Bengal, said in compliance of apex court's earlier direction, a medical board along with the DGP and police personnel had gone to Justice Karnan's place but he gave a letter saying he was fit and of a sound mind.

Dwivedi read out the letter to the bench.

ASG Maninder Singh told the bench that Justice Karnan knows what he is doing and he needs to be punished for contempt of court as he has passed several orders against the judges of the apex court.

Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for Registrar General of Madras High Court, said that if Justice Karnan is sent to jail, it would create a blemish of a sitting judge being sent to jail for contempt.

The bench then said there was no question about the medical board having visited him (Karnan).

"We are assured that he is fit and fine and the medical board does not contradict it," the bench said.

The bench said the contempt power does not recognise who is whatwhether he is a judge and individual or a private person and that it is simple contempt.

"If we do not send him to jail, there will be a blemish that Supreme Court has condoned the contempt committed by a judge," the bench said.

It said Justice Karnan can be punished as he has himself declared that he was of sound mind and the medical board has not contradicted it.

Justice Karnan had on Monday 'sentenced' Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment.

The apex court had on May 1 directed medical check-up of Justice Karnan by doctors with police support, as the judge did not appear before it.

The judge had on May 4 declined to undergo a mental health checkup as ordered by the supreme court.

The apex court had on March 10 issued a bailable warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it in the contempt case. The warrant had come almost a month after the court had asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings not be initiated against him.

On March 31, Justice Karnan had appeared in the Supreme Court, a first in Indian judicial history, and had sought restoration of his powers as a condition for his re- appearance, but the plea was rejected.

Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his conduct. A recalcitrant Karnan had on February 15, 2016 stayed his transfer order. The apex court even asked the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him.

The same day, the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan's order. The Supreme Court also made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the order of his transfer shall remain stayed.
Pakistan's political history has been marred by instability and deviations throughout its 69 years of history. In Pakistan, it is a struggle for the government just to complete its five-year term without succumbing to its power-hungry army, civil-military conflicts, political corruption, and the periodic coup d'etats by the military establishment against weak civilian governments.

Below is a brief timeline of the events, with the name of the prime minister and the dates they took charge as the prime ministers:

Nawaz Sharif: June 7, 2013

After the overwhelming election victory of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif was appointed as Prime Minister for a third term. While Nawaz Sharif's previous tenures were shaded by social conservatism, his third term is being credited to be socially centrist.

Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani: March 25, 2008

Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani was elected as the 16th PM of the country. He was ousted and disqualified as PM and a member of parliament by the Supreme Court on June 19, 2012 on grounds of being guilty of contempt for refusing to comply with a SC order to reopen dormant fraud investigations against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali: November 21, 2002

Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was sworn in as the 13th PM of the country. He signed a sudden resignation from the office after serving for only two years, on June 26, 2004. Reasons cited for the untimely resignation from the office were Jamali's strained relationship with Musharraf, who was serving as the President at the time, on the execution of government policies as well as the result of deteriorating relations with his party's president Shujaat Hussain who then served as interim PM.

Nawaz Sharif: February 17, 1997

The second term of Nawaz Sharif lasted for a very brief time as he was overthrown in a military coup on October 12, 1999. A controversial resignation of the Chief Justice and President, conflict with the new army commander Gen Pervez Musharraf and the controversial 13th amendment marked his tenure. Sharif was overthrown by Musharraf in a military coup d'etat and subsequently, charged with hijacking and terrorism, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, he agreed to be exiled to Saudi Arabia for 10 years in exchange for having his jail sentence commuted. In 2000, having agreed to leave Pakistan for 10 years, Sharif was released from prison and went into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Benazir Bhutto: December 2, 1988

Benazir Bhutto served as the 11th PM of Pakistan and became the first woman to head a Muslim majority country. Her tenure was marked with major political and economical instability and was dismissed by the President on August 7, 1990 on the grounds of nepotism and corruption. Bhutto, once again, led her party to the 1993 election win, and became PM on October 19, 1993. Her government was again dismissed by the President on grounds of corruption on November 4, 1996. Ahead of 2008 elections, Bhutto was shot during an election campaign.

Muhammad Khan Junejo: March 23, 1985

Elected as the 10th PM, Muhammad Khan Junejo served three years as the PM of Pakistan. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq dismissed the Junejo government in 1988 stating Article 58(2)B. The rift between the PM and the Chief of Army Staff started following an investigation into the Ojhri Camp disaster and the PM's decision to sign the Geneva Accords on Afghanistan. Khan was finally dismissed on May 29, 1988 from the office.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: December 20, 1971

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as the fourth President and ninth PM of Pakistan. He was the founder of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was appointed the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator. His term as the PM ended on July 5, 1977, as chief of army staff General Zia-ul-Haq removed him from office in a bloodless coup. He was later controversially tried and executed by the Supreme Court in 1979 for authorising the murder of a political opponent, Ahmad Raza Khan Kasuri.

Feroz Khan Noon: December 16, 1957

Serving as the seventh PM of an independent Pakistan, Feroz Khan Noon held many posts in government both before and after independence. He held his position till October 7, 1958 when Pakistan's first martial law was enforced by President Iskander Mirza.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: September 12, 1956

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy served as Pakistan's fifth PM. Within a year, the PM was entangled in a confrontation by the business community who sought a dismissal of Suhrawardy. The PM also had differences with President Iskander Mirza who wanted a stronger control over the democracy. President Mirza refused Suhrawardy's request to convene a meeting of Parliament for seeking a vote of confidence movement. After losing considerable party support, the PM resigned from the office on October 17, 1957.

Chaudhry Mohammad Ali: August 12, 1955

Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, the fourth PM of Pakistan was credited with introducing its 1956 Constitution. Rifts among his political party, the Muslim League led to the formation of The Republican Party. Ali resigned from both his political party and as the PM on September 12, 1956 amid growing political pressure and conflict.

Khawaja Nazimuddin: October 17, 1951

Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin served as Pakistan's second PM after the assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan in 1951. The PM was asked to step down for the wider interest of the country in April 1953 following wide-spread riots and communal violence. Though Nazimuddin contested the request, Governor-General Malik Ghulam used reserve powers granted in the Government of India Act, 1935, to dismiss the PM.

Liaquat Ali Khan: August 15, 1947

Acting as the first PM of independent Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan served during the penultimate times with several challenges in front of him. The PM was assassinated on October 16, 1951 during a public meeting of the Muslim City League. The accused was identified as Saad Akbar Babrak, even as the motives remain unrevealed. Though the founding fathers envisioned Pakistan as a democratic power, the country's reality has been plagued by instability and hostile takeovers. The actions of both civil and military leaders have exhaustively tried the Pakistani people and their struggle as a nation.
The beheading of our soldiers by a Pakistani Border Action Team comprising commandos from the Special Service Group and India-centric terrorist groups on May 1 has once again whipped up national ire. Despite the assurance from the defence minister on the sacrifice not going in vain and the Armys pledge on an appropriate action at an opportune moment, the call for a decisive punitive action against Pakistan has been getting louder. The Uri incident of September 18 last year had breached the governments threshold of tolerance, resulting in the launching of politically backed trans-Line of Control surgical strikes. This time around, an outraged nation is expecting something far more meaningful to teach Pakistan a lesson.

While the Army had declared an appropriate retributive action, the political endorsement by the defence minister has certainly enhanced its scope in term of ends, ways and means. The retribution could now take place anywhere on targets even beyond the tactical depth of 20 to 30 kilometres. While comprehensive plans exist for all possible options, the selection of the targets would finally be contingent on the political will and the political end state being sought through the use of force. Since the surgical strikes post the Uri attack carried a strategic message of our transformed decisive and aggressive intent, it would be logical to assume that the impending punitive actions would certainly be far more ferocious and decisive. However, it needs to be noted that, like last years surgical strikes, punitive actions in isolation will only help placate public sentiments. They will fail to coerce the Pakistan army and its Punjabi terrorist groups to stop bleeding India.

Force, when used in conventional warfare, is always targeted towards a centre of gravity of the enemy, which provides its military the strength, freedom of manoeuvre and will to fight. Generally, the centre of gravity in conventional warfare is either the strategic military leadership of the adversary, an elite component of his military force or a geographical feature on its soil. However, in asymmetric warfare, which is being waged by Pakistan through its Punjabi terrorist groups against India, the population emerges as the centre of gravity. It is the population of Punjab province in Pakistan that is willingly supplying recruits and supporting the cause of various terrorist outfits with local, regional and transnational links.

The politico-military-terrorist nexus has emboldened the people to openly support these bloodthirsty monsters. In an environment where the terrorists are intermingled with the population, conventional force is likely to cause an avoidable collateral damage. Therefore, in such an environment, asymmetric means that have the associated deniability, along with necessary conventional force backup, provide a far better option than an option that is entirely based on conventional strikes. Such strikes, in the absence of a comprehensive strategy and asymmetric capability, only help unite the terrorist outfits and the people.

Along with our retributive operations, we should inflict agonising pain on Pakistan as part of a comprehensive strategy that employs all elements of national power and, in the long run, compels it to stop exporting terror to India. It will have to be an enduring initiative as coercing Pakistan would ipso facto entail coercing its army to elicit accountability from its senior leadership. The strategy, besides administering protracted pain on the Pakistan army, should also be accompanied by an imaginatively chalked out public information and perception management campaign that exposes its misdeeds and unethical conduct. Some other prongs of this strategy would entail the diplomatic isolation of Pakistan, employing economic pressure points to hurt its economy and increasing the Pakistan armys internal security commitments by surreptitiously exploiting fissures and prevalent fault lines in Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sind.

While the attrition on the Pakistan army and terrorists along the LoC is an ongoing process, we need to now commence bleeding the Pakistan army and its strategic assets in its bases and cantonments by a thousand cuts, employing its own people. Given the poverty-stricken conditions in various parts of Pakistan, an asymmetric capability can easily be created from the disaffected sections of the population through monetary inducements. Because of the inherent drawbacks, we should desist from creating an indigenous asymmetric capability for operations in Pakistan. Today, the Pakistan army, with its ongoing operations against Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and other commitments along the western borders, is vulnerable in its cantonments and during move along various highways. We need to exploit this.

Since independence, the Pakistan army has thrived on adversarial relations between India and Pakistan. Over the years, it has mastered the art of controlling the state and steering all its key domestic and foreign policies. It has blatantly undermined the four pillars of democracy and even usurped the prime ministers powers, thus making him a mere titular head. Bypassing other governmental institutions, it has also forged close relations with the military and political leadership of China and the US by remaining relevant to their regional aspirations. While the US requires the Pakistan armys support in realising its Afghanistan mission, China needs its support for the security of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and to deal the Uyghur terrorism in its Xinjiang region. It suits these two international players to deal with Pakistani military establishment to further their agendas instead of dealing with the toothless political leadership. Our strategy and risk management architecture will have to take these relationships into account.

There is a need to develop a state-of-the-art defensive and offensive capability that facilitates immediate launching of punitive strikes, well beyond the tactical depth, as per the Israeli model. While, by and large, we possess the necessary offensive capability, we need to strengthen our all-weather defensive capability to detect and destroy infiltrating terrorists and Pakistan army personnel. Additionally, to prevent casualties on our people in the border areas, we need to harden our civilian infrastructure to withstand counter-fire assaults. This vulnerability has been aptly highlighted in the past few years, especially along the international border in the Jammu division.

To thwart Pakistans gameplan in Jammu and Kashmir, our counterinsurgency and counter-proxy war operations must continue with the people friendly stance. Most importantly, the fear of the terrorist gun must be removed at the earliest by augmenting force levels and synergising the intelligence and operational efforts. It will drastically reduce the intimidation potential of the terrorists that is instrumental in goading innocent youth to undermine the rule of law and challenge the state authority. This has to be accompanied by effective monitoring of the cyber space as well. Also, job opportunities for the unemployed youth should be created with dispatch, and Kashmiris in other parts of our country must be given desired security.

The population constitutes the centre of gravity and its support is necessary for checkmating terrorist designs and for realising our operational objectives and peace initiatives. The need for an effective public information and perception management apparatus also requires immediate attention of the government. This will facilitate putting across various initiatives of the government in the right perspective to the people, besides countering the wedge-driving and panic rumours that are fuelling emotive fires and enhancing radicalisation.

The government will have to weigh the strategic pros and cons before unfolding the comprehensive strategy so that risks at each stage of its implementation are effectively managed. Moreover, the nation has to understand that being a war of minds and ideas, it will be a long haul. While short-term objectives of causing attrition on the Pakistan army and terrorists would be visible and adequately disseminated through the media, the ultimate end state of coercing Pakistan to desist from exporting terrorism to India would take time. For effective implementation of the strategy, it is imperative that we create a dedicated multi-agency centre, preferably at the PMO.
Sonika was with actor Vikram Chatterjee in a car when the mishap took place on April 29. Police is examining the CCTV footages to ascertain whether driving under the influence of liquor probably led to the accident.

By Manogya Loiwal : About 10 days after actor Sonika Chauhan died in a road mishap in Kolkata, apparently caused due to drunken driving, the city police has seized all CCTV footages from three clubs and bars in the city.

Sonika was travelling in a car with Bengali actor Vikram Chatterjee, who if locals are to be believed, was driving the vehicle when the accident took place in the early hours on April 29. While Sonika died, Vikram was discharged from the hospital after being administered first aid.

advertisement

Police is examining the CCTV footages to ascertain whether driving under the influence of alcohol led to the mishap.

Vikram said that he was having a drink at a party that he had attended with Sonika a little before the accident took place. It is yet to be established whether the drink was liquor or a soft drink.

WHAT IS THE POLICE's VERSION

Speaking exclusively to India Today, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vishal Garg said, "CCTV clips of Pheonix at Astor Hotel, Underground at HHI and Myx near Park Street have been seized. We are going through the footages to know about what was happening at the party. Over a dozen statements have been recorded in this case till now, including those of the hotel and bar staff and other eyewitnesses."

Vikram has been called by the police for cross-examination.

The motor vehicle inspection (MVI) and forensic tests of the vehicle that smashed into the rail railing have been done, whose reports are awaited.

Once the reports are out, the picture will be clearer.

A case has been registered under Sections 279 and 304 of the IPC for negligent driving till now.

Only one complaint has been registered so far and action has been initiated on the basis of the same.

Also read | Tollywood celebrity Shreya slams Trinamool Congress for inaction in Sonika Chauhan death case

Also read | Kolkata-based actor Sonika Chauhan dies in car accident, Vikram Chatterjee injured

--- ENDS ---
The petition, filed by advocate Sunita Tiwari, contends that the practice does not have any reference in the Quran and is carried out without any medical reason.

By Harish V Nair: Terming it an 'extremely important and sensitive issue', the Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Centre and several states on a petition challenging ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) practised among Muslims of the Dawoodi Bohra Community.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar sought replies from four union ministries and states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi,where Dawoodi Bohras, who are Shia Muslims, predominantly reside.

advertisement

"This is an extremely important and sensitive matter. The matter will take time," the bench said posting the PIL for hearing after the summer vacation.

PIL FILED

The PIL was filed by Delhi-based lawyer Sunita Tiwari, seeking a direction to the Centre and the states to impose a complete ban on inhuman practice of 'khatna' or female genital mutilation (FGM) throughout the country.

The petition, filed by advocate Sunita Tiwari, contends that the practice does not have any reference in the Quran and is carried out without any medical reason.

WHAT THE PLEA SEEKS

The plea has sought a direction to make FGM an offence on which the law enforcement agencies can take cognizance on their own.

It has also sought to make the offence non- compoundable and non-bailable with provision for harsh punishment.

Ministries of Law and Justice, Social Justice and Empowerment have also been made parties in the plea which referred to various conventions of the United Nations, to which India is a signatory.

The practice of female genital mutilation resulted in serious violations of basic fundamental rights of the victims who in these cases are minors, the plea said.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

FGM is performed illegally upon girls (between five years and before she attains puberty) and is against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the plea said, adding that the practice caused permanent disfiguration to the body of a girl child.

"The practice of 'Khatna' or 'FGM' or 'Khafd' also amounts to discrimination against women. Since it is carried out on minors, it amounts to serious violation of the rights of children as even minors have a right of security of person, right to privacy, bodily integrity and the freedom from cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment," the plea said.

Many countries have banned the practice and they include Australia, USA and the United Kingdom, it said, adding there is no law in India banning FGM or Khatna to declare it illegal.

Also Read:

advertisement

Female genital mutilation should be by choice for adults, says Dawoodi Bohra community head

Indian-origin woman doctor held for performing genital mutilation on minor girls in US

Also Watch:

Women's Day: Gender parity definitely possible in India, says Maneka Gandhi

--- ENDS ---
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

It was certainly a bizarre sight to see: Yes, that was the Pope was slightly gyrating to Shlomo Carlebach music at todays meeting between him and Rabbi Edgar Gluck, his son Rabbi Tzvi Gluck, Rav DovBer Pinson, and a number of other prominent Orthodox individuals and Rabbis. The meeting was proper shtadlanus. However, there are a few other questions that should be addressed.

1] Is the Popes shesi verev considered to be Avodah Zarah?

2] Was it appropriate to sing the pasuk, orech yamim asbiyaihu?

3] Was the singing and dancing appropriate, and what about during Sefirah?

IS IT AVODAH ZARAH?

The fact is that the Catholic Church believes in and promulgated the doctrine of the Trinity, which would fit into the technical definition of Avodah Zarah. They teach that G-d is simultaneously three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in One Being.

Professor Harry Austryn Wolfson, the first to head the Department of Judaic Studies at Harvard University, (a former student of the Slabodka Yeshiva) in his classic work, the Philosophy of the Church Fathers, went through every explanation of the Church fathers understanding of the Trinity  and each of these explanations, according to this authors understanding, still would clearly be considered Avodah Zarah. The Rambam (Hilchos Maachalos Asuros 11:7 and in Peirush HaMishnayos) states that it is considered Avodah Zarah (See Frankel uncensored edition). And while there are those who read a more moderate view in Tosfos Sanhedrin (63b), the majority view of scholars who have studied this Tosfos is not in accordance with this reading.

THE RAMAH IS LENIENT

This does not, however, mean that the particular cross under discussion is Avodah Zarah per se. The matter seems to be a debate. The Ramah in Yoreh Deah (141:1) cites a ruling of the Trumas HaDeshen (Siman 196) that a cross around the neck is not considered Avodah Zarah to forbid one from benefiting. This is based on a Mordechai in the third chapter of tractate Avodah Zarah citing the Raavyah.

THE SHACH IS STRINGENT

Nonetheless, the Shach (141:6) writes that the Ramahs view is only when one is absolutely sure that the cross was not actually worshipped. The Shach concludes with a most stringent view.

Yet, the Chochmas Adam 85:1 also states that a cross that is hung across the neck is not considered Avodah Zarah and is only a zikaron  a commemoration. He extends it to others that are not necessarily hung on the neck. It is not just the Chochmas Adams view. The Kinyan Torah (Vol. I 54:5) rules the same way.

The Klausenberger Rebbe (Divrei Yatziv YD #45) at first questions the Shach but at the end forbids matters in accordance with the Shachs view.

SINGING ORECH YAMIM ASBIYAIHU

The pasuk and song under discussion implemented in this context and with the comments of the Rishonim  indicate a veritable approbation extended here  beyond mere bracha. There is no question that the current Pope is certainly one of the friendliest popes to the Jewish people and community that we can recall, but the issue of theologically negating the absolute achdus of Hashem is not one that one can give an approbation toward. Indeed, the conclusion that one would derive from the responsum of Har Tzvi (OC 85) and the Chelkas Yaakov (YD 54) in regard to theological hesitations involving Avodah Zarah would seem that one should not go to such distances.

MUSIC AND DANCING

Aside from the issues mentioned above, there is another issue of it being Sefirah  a time of mourning. True, we do permit haircuts when visiting dignitaries, but playing live music and dancing is not something that is generally done in papal audiences. The language of the Mogain Avrohom 493:1 indicates that it is a Minhag to refrain from doing so, unless it is a Seudas Mitzvah. Had it been a meeting with President Trump, one could conceivably find grounds to go against the Minhag cited in the Mogain Avrohom  particularly, since Sefardic Poskim do not have this minhag.

CONCLUSION

As mentioned in a previous article, actually meeting with the pope and developing good will with the pontiff is certainly worthwhile to pursue. The song and dance was, in this authors opinion, not something that should have been tacked on. Of course, it is likely that the askanim posed the questions to their Rabbinic authorities and Poskim, who may have felt that uder the circumstances of the issues being discussed with the pope  it was warranted. The fact is that Reb Tzvi Glucks work is so important and is a matter of Pikuach Nefesh that it may indeed, trump many of these other issues  in order to get the message out. On the other hand, it could be that the message could have been made without the singing and dancing.

The author can be reached at [email protected]
The government contractor, also an alleged aide of health minister Vijaybaskar, was found dead in his farmhouse on Monday.

By Pramod Madhav: A government contractor, who was also an alleged aide of a sitting minister, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his farmhouse at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu on Monday.

Subramani's residence and properties were raided by the Income Tax (I-T) sleuths when raids were being conducted at Health Minister Vijayabaskar's house on April 8 in Chennai. Income Tax officials suspected a scam in the health sector and summoned Subramani twice for questioning allegedly based on the documents acquired from Vijayabaskar's residence.

advertisement

Subramani was known to be an aide of Vijayabaskar for a very long period of time. Subramani acquired government medical contracts after AIADMK came to power but after the recent raids, he was depressed.

Subramani, on Monday, went to his 10 acre farmhouse and told its supervisor that he wishes to sleep for a while. When the supervisor went to wake him up some time later, he was found unconscious. He was rushed to a hospital but the doctors couldn't save his life. According to the hospital reports, Subramani had consumed rat poison, which led to his death. However, police did not find any bottle or container with rat poison in the bedroom of his farmhouse.

According to workers at Subramani's residence, the contractor was depressed after he returned from his recent Chennai visit. They saw him write something on papers before he proceeded to his farmhouse. Subramani had allegedly tried to meet prominent AIADMK leaders in Chennai but his trip was not successful.

Subramani is survived by his wife Shanthi and two children- daughter Abhirami and son Sathish. Police have now filed a case of suicide.

ALSO READ | RK Nagar bypoll: Income Tax sleuths recover Rs 5.5 crore after raids on Tamil Nadu minister Vijaybaskar, others ALSO READ | RK Nagar byelection: Income Tax raids on Tamil Nadu minister, actor Sarath Kumar

--- ENDS ---
(by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times)

Yesterday, I wrote an article about the history of religious Jews meeting with the pope. The article traced a number of Rishonim, Acharonim, and Gedolim of the 20th century who met with the pope. In the article, my assumption was that the Lubavitcher Rebbes writing against it was limited to a specific situation. The situation In which I had though that he had expressed animadversions was when an orthodox Rabbi was meeting with the pope in Manchester along with a Reform Rabbi. In that situation, Rav Erentrau had pulled out, but Lord Jacobovitz went ahead with the meeting. Indeed, he later expressed his opinion that in public Jews should present a united front.

I based my point on another sicha in which the Rebbe zl discussed Shlomo Molcho who met with the Pope in a seemingly approving manner.

I have now been made aware that the Rebbe zls opinion was that it is forbidden entirely to meet with the pope  notwithstanding the Rishonim and other Gedolei Torah who actually met him. It could be that he held it was only permitted in those situations because of pikuach nefesh, but the idea that it is Avodah Zarah to address him would not be resolved by this distinction.

In summation, I would like to retract my view on what the Lubavitcher Rebbe may have held. I regret the error, but still stand by the idea that the tradition of meeting with the pope for shtadlanus goes back throughout our history. As far as teh singing and dancing especially during sefirah  that is something that was excessive.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ct2-nl9x9c?rel=0]
A knife-wielding man reported to be targeting Jewish people in in north London was arrested after threatening a shopkeeper on Tuesday.

The incident happened in the Jewish community of Stamford Hill.

The man was seen brandishing the large knives shouting: You Jews run away from here before I kill you, according to numerous social media reports.

Photographs showed the man brandishing was thought to be a meat cleaver and a long, thin knife.

A Met Police spokesman said nobody had been hurt in the incident and a 61-year-old man has been arrested by police in Hackney.

Scotland Yard said they had been called at around 4pm to reports of a man armed with two knives threatening a shopkeeper on Upper Clapton Road.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism reported the following:

The man is said to have tried to enter a kosher food shop but staff locked the door. He then allegedly entered another kosher shop brandishing his knives and shouting: Where is the boss, I will kill him! When told that the owner was not there, the man, who is described as white, allegedly ran out of the shop towards two Jewish girls aged 8 and 14, shouting You Jews run away from here before I kill you.

Stamford Hill Shomrim received multiple calls to their emergency lines and deployed immediately. Witnesses allegedly saw the man enter a block of flats to which Shomrim volunteers followed him, whilst another Shomrim team retrieved CCTV from the shop the man had allegedly entered. Shomrim passed their information to the Metropolitan Police Service which immediately entered the block of flats and made an arrest.

This is an extremely frightening incident and it is very fortunate that there are no injuries reported. We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for their bravery in rushing to the scene to protect the public. Violent antisemitic crime continues to rise at an alarming rate and will continue to do so until antisemitic incitement is taken seriously by the authorities before it translates into violence.

BREAKING:Man with meat cleaver & large knife threatened a young Jewish girl in #UpperClapton you Jews run away from here before I kill you pic.twitter.com/ttpUtBTAyb  Shomrim N.E. London (@Shomrim) May 9, 2017

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, dramatically ousting the nations top law enforcement official in the midst of an FBI investigation into whether Trumps campaign had ties to Russias election meddling.

In a letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore public trust and confidence in the FBI. Comey has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his role in an investigation into Democrat Hillary Clintons email practices, including a pair of letters he sent to Congress on the matter in the closing days of last years election.

Trump made no mention of Comeys role in the Clinton investigation, which she has blamed in part for the election result that put him in the White House. But in announcing the firing, the White House circulated a scathing memo, written by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, criticizing Comeys handling of the Clinton probe, including the directors decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing derogatory information about Clinton.

The firing of an FBI director is exceedingly rare. Democrats slammed the move, comparing it to President Richard Nixons Saturday Night Massacre decision to fire the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate investigation, prompting the resignations of the Justice Departments top two officials.

This is Nixonian, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., declared on Twitter. Outrageous, said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, calling for Comey to immediately be summoned to testify to Congress about the status of the Trump-Russia investigation

Trump has ridiculed the FBI investigation, as well as concurrent congressional investigations, as a hoax and has denied that his campaign was involved in Russias election meddling. In his letter to Comey, he asserted that the FBI director had informed him on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation.

The White House said the search for a new FBI director was beginning immediately.

Tuesdays stunning announcement came shortly after the FBI corrected a sentence in Comeys sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week. Comey told lawmakers that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent hundreds and thousands of emails to her husbands laptop, including some with classified information.

On Tuesday, the FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that only a small number of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

Some lawmakers welcomed news of the dismissal.

Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well, said Republican Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating the Russian campaign interference.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Trump called her Tuesday afternoon to inform her of his decision.

The next FBI director must be strong and independent and will receive a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committee, she said in a statement.

Comey, 56, was nominated by President Barack Obama for the FBI post in 2013 to a 10-year term. That appointment does not ensure a director will serve the full 10 years, though Comey is only the second FBI chief to be fired.

Praised by both parties for his independence and integrity, Comey has spent three decades in law enforcement.

But his prominent role in the 2016 presidential campaign raised questions about his judgment and impartiality. Though the FBI did not recommend charges against Clinton for mishandling classified information, Comey was blisteringly critical of her decision to use a personal email account and private internet sever during her four years as secretary of state.

Clinton has partially blamed her loss on Comeys disclosure to Congress less than two weeks before Election Day that the email investigation would be revisited. He later said the FBI, again, had found no reason to bring any charges.

Trump disagreed with her assessment, tweeting 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!

Clintons advisers were stunned by Trumps decision. Former campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that while he believed Comey inflicted severe damage on the FBI, the timing and manner of this firing suggest that it is the product of Donald Trump feeling the heat on the ongoing Russia investigation and not a well thought out response to the inappropriate handling of the Clinton investigation.

Before the past months controversies, Comey was perhaps best known for a remarkable 2004 standoff with top officials in the George W. Bush administration over a federal domestic surveillance program.

As the deputy attorney general, Comey rushed to the hospital bed of Attorney General John Ashcroft to physically stop White House officials in their bid to get his ailing boss to reauthorize a secret no-warrant wiretapping program.

Comey described the incident in 2007 testimony to Congress, explaining that he believed the spy program put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was legally questionable.

When he learned that Andrew Card, the presidents chief of staff, and Alberto Gonzales, the White House counsel, were heading to Ashcrofts hospital room despite Ashcrofts wifes instructions that there be no visitors, Comey told Congress, Comey beat them there and watched as Ashcroft turned them away.

That night was probably the most difficult night of my professional life, Comey said.







(AP)
(COMMUNICATED CONTENT)

If you are looking for an out of town community where  and   are the focal point, then Rochester may be the place for you. We are a warm, caring community located in a safe, beautiful neighborhood where you can purchase a 3-4 bedroom home for under $200,000. In Rochester you are not just another face in the crowd and you can truly be part of building a growing community. Additionally, Rochester is only a 3 hour drive from Toronto and 4 hours from Monsey, making it easy to visit family and friends.

Baruch Hashem 18 new families have made Rochester home since the spring of 2015. See what some of them have to say about their new lives here on our Testimonials page.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ROCHESTER, NY

Whatever your stage in life, Rochester has something to offer. There are schools and Yeshivos to guide a person from preschool through Kollel, as well as many learning programs for adult men and women. Children receive personalized education from dedicated Morahs and Rabbeim who strive to help each student reach his or her potential through a variety of learning styles. Several Shuls and various Davening options for both weekdays and Shabbos, along with daily Shiurim round out the deal. Despite our size, Rochester is definitely a true Makom Torah.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ROCHESTER, NY

The quality of life in Rochester is further enhanced by the low cost of living- 45% lower than in NYC! (source: www.salary.com) Practically, that means that if you are earning $80,000 a year now, you will need to earn less than $44,000 in Rochester to maintain the same standard of living! Career opportunities are available in a variety of fields, and we are happy to aid in job searches using our local connections and relationships with staffing agencies. Due to the ease of highway travel here (where rush hour is defined as having to drive at the speed limit), commuting to jobs in nearby cities is a breeze.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ROCHESTER, NY

If all that isnt enough to pique your interest, here is one more incentive for considering Rochester. Derech HaTorah of Rochester, our Yeshiva elementary school, is currently offering a fantastic tuition break for new students. New families pay a rate of only $1,000 per child for their childrens tuition for their first two years in Rochester. That gives you two years without a major financial burden to help you settle in Rochester.

So, if you are looking to relocate your family to a community where you can make a difference, where your children will have wonderful, wholesome friends, and where Torah hashkafos guide your way of life, dont waste another day. We are waiting to welcome you!

See our website www.TorahRochester.com for more details or contact us at [email protected] or call or text 585-340-7143 to learn more or to schedule a visit!
After being videoed by a hidden Israel Prison Authority camera, it is now clear that terrorist Marwan Barghouti is not hunger-striking and as Israel has stated, always tries to advance an agenda at the expense of others. In the video one sees him trying to hide the food while he has been insisting that he is leading the hunger strike.

Upon seeing the video, Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan stated, As I said from the very beginning, this hunger strike was never about the conditions of the convicted terrorists, which meet international standards. It is about advancing Marwan Barghoutis political ambitions to replace Abu Mazen. Barghouti is a murderer and hypocrite who urged his fellow prisoners to strike and suffer while he ate behind their back. Just like he lied to the world when he wrote in the New York Times that he decided to strike in order to protest ill-treatment, he lied to the Palestinian public when he claimed to be striking. Israel will not give in to extortion and pressure from terrorists.

It is added his wife, Fadwa Barghouti, told the media she is outraged over the fact the Israelis fabricated the video and there is no doubt her husband continues his hunger strike.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The Gaza border community of Netiv HaAsarah is expanding and an additional seventy homes are being built, each on a plot of a half dunam, which is about to a quarter of an acre.

Most of the plots were purchased by the children of founders of the community and this construction project is the communitys second expansion. The new homes will of course come with their own safe rooms, built to withstand the realities of being a Gaza border community.

Community Council head Shimon Sahar explains the demand for building is increasing and to his pleasure, the community is moving forward with the new homes. The community is planning an additional expansion, to bring I from 800 to 1,300 persons living in 500 homes. He adds that despite the security realities in the area, they continue receiving requests for people looking to move in.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday, 11 Iyar, held a working meeting at his residence with President of Germany, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was making an official visit to Israel having taken office as President in March this year. Before their meeting, both Presidents delivered statements to the media.

President Rivlin began, Welcome to Jerusalem, I am delighted to host you and congratulate you on taking office as President of the Federal Republic of Germany. I was not at all surprised that you, as a true friend of Israel, chose Israel as your first visit outside of Europe. He continued, Your visit now follows visits of your successor Foreign Minister Gabriel, and your predecessor, former President Gauck; together these visits are a testament that specifically out of the traumatic past  that will never be forgotten  the special and respectful relations between Germany and Israel are flourishing.

It is an opportunity to thank you personally Mr. President, for your great contribution to Israeli-German relations, said President Rivlin, and thanked the German President for his opposition to the recent UNESCO Resolution. We appreciate Germanys leadership, in the recent period, in the defense of democracy and democratic values, around the world and in Europe particularly. We all know that democracy is a condition for liberty, while liberty will never be a thing of simplicity. Israel is a vibrant democracy, with different, diverse, and critical voices. Sometimes, these voices are hard to digest, and outrageous, and specifically out of our obligation, and respect to other opinions, we reject the latest decision of UNESCO which defines Israel as an occupying power in Jerusalem, our capital, in which you are standing right now Mr. President. A people cannot be an occupier in its own land. We are not occupiers in our own capital. We welcome Germanys opposition to the distorted and twisted text of this decision.

President Rivlin spoke on the issue of the civil war in Syria, and of the aid Israel was providing to the injured. As a nation that has suffered persecution and as refugees, more than any other nation in history, we cannot stand by in the face of the atrocities taking place just over the border. Here in Israel, the small hospital in the city of Nahariya has been transformed into a world leader in treating the casualties of war, most of them from Syria, defined as an enemy state. We do not fear giving aid to anyone. This is how we have acted in the past, and so we will continue. At the same time, we demand of the international community to do everything in order to end the ongoing humanitarian wilderness in Syria, with the removal of forces hostile to stability and peace in the region.

The President concluded by expressing his hope that President Steinmeiers meetings during his visit would be fruitful and deepen further the ties between the two countries.

President Steinmeier thanked the President for his warm welcome, and for their less formal and more unusual meeting the previous night when the two toured the Machane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem. We were greatly impressed with the vibrant and colorful atmosphere we saw in the young Israelis enjoying in market. We also saw young tourists from Germany having fun with young Israelis, scenes similar to what is happening in Berlin. It was a tremendous experience.

President Steinmeier went on to state the importance he saw in his first visit to Israel as President, as a testimony to the commitment of Germany to Israel. He said, The relationship between the State of Israel and Germany is special, it was in the past, and will be in the future. The renewal of our relationship is a miracle, a miracle which took place between Germans who took upon themselves the unimaginable guilt, and between the people of Israel, and the State of Israel who reached out a hand to them. Our relations are relations of trust, in which we are committed to the past, and working to build a shared future.

He continued, In the last weeks, we have experienced turbulent winds, but the basis upon which our relations are founded is solid, and can withstand all challenges. Our relationship is too important and deep to be dependent on this or that discussion. And even when there are disagreements between us, as there have been in the past, they do not endanger these foundations. My visit here is intended to further strengthen the relations between us and to reinforce even more their roots. As friends, in my opinion, we have no need for new rules of behavior, and we do not need to fear what someone may say.

He added, To my mind, the only way to reach a solution is two states for two peoples, I dont see any other option and we know that the status quo does not allow for real progress.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Mark Neiman, GPO)
The Kirya military court on Monday, 12 Iyar, heard the second session of the appeal filed on behalf of Lior Azariya, who was convicted of manslaughter by the IDF Yaffa military court.

At the beginning of proceedings, the defendants dad, Mr. Charlie Azariya stated his son is innocent and was compelled to remain locked on base for fourteen months for nothing. Mr. Azariya added that Elor and family members are under threat and yet, no one is protected. He calls for protection for his son and others.

The case deals with Azariya validating the kill of a wounded terrorist in Hebron on Purim 2016. The terrorist was shot and wounded while stabbing a soldier a short time earlier. The state maintains the terrorist was already neutralized and therefore, there was no justification for killing him. Azariya was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail, leading to the appeal.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Two items of great historic and religious value were just revealed to the public: A piece of fabric that was part of a robe worn by Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (Besht), and a pipe that once belonged to Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Rabinowitz, more famously known as the Yehudi Hakadosh of Peschischa, a founding father of Gur Chassidus and others. The items are currently on display in the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem prior to being put up for public auction on Tuesday, 13 Iyar.

The piece of fabric, which is part of a robe worn by the Baal Shem Tov, is fashioned of woven floral fabric. It was passed down to the descendants of the Rebbe Rabbi Chaim Tirer of Czernowitz for generations as a family heirloom.

The Czernowitzer Rebbe was the author of the celebrated Chassidic work Beer Mayim Chaim and his daughter was married to the son of the Degel Machane Ephraim, who was the Baal Shem Tovs grandson. The item passed down for generations and last belonged to Mrs. Bracha Maor (daughter of Shifra nee Tirer, who was the daughter of Rabbi Yaakov Pinchas Tirer, a direct descendant of the Czernowitzer Rebbe Rabbi Chaim Tirer.)

According to family tradition, this piece of fabric was taken from a robe worn by the Baal Shem Tov from the time he was 26 and until his passing at the age of 60. Mrs. Bracha Maor endowed the heirloom to Rabbi Ephraim Gutman of Tel Aviv whose home she frequently visited during the final years of her life.

Along with the piece of fabric is a signed affirmation by the Romanian-born Tel Aviv Rabbi Ephraim Gutman that he received the fabric from Mrs. Bracha Maor, along with a signed affirmation by the Hussakow-Tel Aviv Rebbe Rabbi Ephraim Dov Teitelbaum, a son-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Lopovitch, the Bucharest Rebbe, whose mother-in-law is also a descendant of the Tirer family (a daughter of Rabbi Aharon Zelig Tirer) who heard the testimony directly from the aforementioned Mrs. Bracha Maor.

The second item up for public auction is a tobacco pipe crafted of sepiolite and silver that formerly belonged to the Yehudi HaKadosh of Peshischa. This tobacco pipe was a family heirloom passed down by the descendants of the Yehudi HaKadosh until present times.

The pipe was first bequeathed by the Yehudi HaKadosh to his son Rabbi Nechemia of Bykhaw, after which it passed to his nephew Rabbi Avraham of Parysow who gave it as a dowry to his granddaughter Malka and her husband Rabbi Betzalel Halevi son of Rabbi Yedidya Ferens of Bedzin. Rabbi Betzalel Halevi then bequeathed the pipe to his son Rabbi Asher Ferens of Haifa, who is the father of the current owners.

The tobacco pipe has special significance in Chassidic tradition, which describes the special yichudim that their spiritual leaders performed along with lofty spiritual rectifications and miraculous salvations that they instigated while smoking their pipes.

It is told that the Baal Shem Tov showed his disciple Rabbi David of Ostroh the New Heavens that he created with the yichudim he made while smoking his pipe, and Rabbi David instantly fainted from fear. Similarly, the Toldos Yaakov Yosef stated prior to his passing that he Entreated G-d that he should be rewarded for all the Torah that he learned and mitzvot that he fulfilled throughout his lifetime that which his master the Baal Shem Tov acquired while offering yichudim during one bout of smoking his pipe (Zohar, Chai Teruma, 62, 2).

According to Chassidic tradition, the Yehudi HaKadosh also performed many miraculous feats while smoking his pipe, as he personally shared when his pipe was once stolen. Tiferet HaYehudi (and Zechuta DAvraham) cite that a short while after the pipe was stolen, it returned miraculously to him.

Once, this pipe was stolen and he was very aggrieved upon the loss of his pipe, and he expressed, When I smoked my pipe, I accomplished great things and was able to draw great holy abundance for the Jewish People. According to Chassidic lore, the Yehudi HaKadosh then declared that his pipe would be returned to him within a short while, and indeed it reappeared. The pipe had been sold to the district governor, yet the mans tongue filled with sores and lesions every time he tried smoking the pipe (see ibid for the full version of the story).

The Rabbi of Warsaw Rabbi Dov Berish Meislish recounted that he heard from the Chidushei HaRim of Gur that while smoking his pipe, the Yehudi HaKadosh would focus upon the same thoughts and kavonos that the Kohen Gadol had reflected upon while bringing the ketores on Yom Kippur in the Kodesh HaKodoshim. (This controversial statement was censored when the book was first printed as Niflaot HaYehudi, Pyetrykaw, 1909).

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Kedem Auction House)
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Israel Customs Authority inspectors in the southern district intercepted an extremely large shipment of illegal cigarettes worth over NIS 4 million, heading out to sea off of the coast of Ashdod. The smugglers were using a very large raft. Agents and police operated on Sunday night the eve of 12 Iyar, making two arrests.

Customs agents were acting on intelligence information that the Ashdod office received. They were told a large shipment of cigarettes were being smuggled by boat. The raid took place seven kilometers (4.2 miles) from shore, inside Israeli territorial waters.

The raft was confiscated, towed into the Port of Ashdod and the two persons on board were taken into custody.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit:     )
Murugaswamy has also been accused of rape. The FIR copy states that the accused sexually assaulted a staff's relative after he spiked her drink.

By Pramod Madhav: The correspondent of a special school for children with hearing and speech impairment in Tirupur was arrested by the Karumathampatty Police along with four of his employees on Tuesday after complaints of sexual assault were filed against them.

The correspondent K. Murugasamy of Tirupur Deaf and Dumb School has been slapped with charges of allegedly molesting and torturing school children.

advertisement

The complaint has been filed by Arun Gandhi, a resident of Sulur and Shaktivel, who was working as a staff member in the school.

According to reports, Shaktivel who is also speech impaired called Arun Gandhi and informed him about the alleged atrocities through WhatsApp and 'IMO,'a video calling app.

FIR SAYS VICTIM's DRINK WAS SPIKED

Murugaswamy has also been accused of rape. The FIR copy states that the accused sexually assaulted Shaktivel's relative after he spiked her drink.

When the correspondent found out about the woman's pregnancy, he took her to a hospital to have an abortion done.

The police have also slapped similar charges against Murugasamy's employees Chitradevi, Rani, Pramila, Revathi and Babu.

The shocking allegations of differently abled children being abused for years has petrified the state raising questions about children's safety.

Tirupur Special School for the hearing impaired was started by Murugasamy and is being run near Coimbatore. The institution has 3 schools running and 196 students enrolled.

Also Read:

Pak actor Yasir Hussain jokes about child molestation, apologises after being blasted

Kerala: Minister MM Mani abuses female tree plantation workers, Opposition demands his resignation

--- ENDS ---
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Zaka was summoned at about 10:00AM on Monday morning 12 Iyar after a body of a male about 60-years-old was discovered in the Gilo Forest in Jerusalem.

Zaka Commander Bentzi Oring explains I received a report of finding the body of a male about 60 in the Gilo Forest area in difficult mountainous terrain. We activated members of the Jerusalem jeep unit and with the assistance of the 4 X 4 vehicles, the body was removed.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
In another act of defiance, acts synonymous with his disdain for the Zionist government, Sheikh Raid Salah, who heads the northern branch of the illegal Israel Islamic Association, is leading a march from Haifa to Jerusalem.

The sheikh and his followers intend to arrive in the capital on Friday in time for prayers on Har Habayis as Ramadan gets underway.

Salah has been imprisoned numerous times by Israel for his terrorist activities, open support of Hamas, and actively working to raise funds for the terrorist organization. He group was finally declared illegal due to his unwillingness to adhere to warnings to refrain from his illegal activities.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Facebook says it has deleted tens of thousands of accounts in Britain ahead of the June 8 general election in a drive to battle fake news.

The tech giant also took out newspaper advertisements in Britains media offering advice on how to spot such stories. The ads suggest that readers should be skeptical of headlines, and to look closely at the URL.

The company says it has made improvements to help them detect fake news accounts more effectively.

Simon Milner, the tech firms U.K. director of policy, says the platform wants to get to the root of the problem and is working with outside organizations to fact check and analyze content around the election.

Milner says Facebook is doing everything we can to tackle the problem of false news.

(AP)
A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves:



EDITORS NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest developments in the South China Sea, the location of several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.



CHINA SHOWS NAVAL AIR EXERCISES ABOVE SEA

Chinas state broadcaster has shown navy fighter bombers taking part in exercises over the South China Sea, including one involving the detection and expulsion of foreign military surveillance aircraft such as those deployed regularly in the area by the U.S. and others.

The video shown on CCTVs military channel over the weekend shows a squadron of two-seater Xian JH-7 Flying Leopards flying in formation and dropping bombs on targets in the ocean below. Other video showed planes flying just meters (yards) above the ocean surface.

Following that, pilots were notified that foreign aircraft had entered our airspace to conduct surveillance. One of the planes taking part in the exercise was immediately ordered by the tower to break off and intercept the foreign aircraft, the report said.

That plane increased its elevation and responded effectively, seizing the commanding position and successfully expelling the foreign aircraft, it said.

The report did not say when the exercise took place but said training this year was designed to be more realistic and focused on specific situations, taking the Chinese aircraft to the limits of their range and capability.

In the process of unceasingly challenging ourselves, the building of our team of talents has entered the fast lane, Tian Junqing, commander of an unidentified South China Sea naval air force regiment, told the station. The overall combat capability of the force is increasing by stages, forging a formidable force that dares to fight and thunders over the South China Sea.

Missions by U.S. Navy surveillance planes flying in international airspace off the Chinese coast are a particular bone of contention for Beijing.

Twice last year U.S. and Chinese aircraft came close, in one instance to within 15 meters (50 feet) of each other. In August 2014, a Chinese fighter jet came within 9 meters (30 feet) of a Navy P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance plane off Hainan Island  a major military hub  and carried out a series of risky maneuvers, including rolling over it.

In April 2001, a Chinese jet fighter collided with a U.S. surveillance plane over the South China Sea, leading to the death of the Chinese pilot and Chinas detention of the 24 U.S. crew members for 10 days.

The U.S. and China in 2015 signed rules of behavior to make air-to-air encounters safer, but some analysts say they dont go far enough.



PHILIPPINE JUDGE LAUNCHES BOOK ON SEA CLAIMS

A Philippine Supreme Court justice has released a book that questions Chinas historic claims to most of the South China Sea and said he will distribute it online to try to overcome Chinas censorship and reach its people.

Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said his e-book can be downloaded for free in English now and will be made available later in Mandarin, Vietnamese, Bahasa, Japanese and Spanish to help more people understand the basis of the Philippines stand against Chinas territorial claims.

Carpio said public opinion, including in China, can help pressure Beijing to comply with an arbitration ruling last year that invalidated Chinas historic claims based on a 1982 maritime treaty. Carpio helped prepare the arbitration case, which the Philippines largely won.

China has dismissed the ruling and continued to develop seven artificial islands in the South China Seas Spratly archipelago. Chinas construction of the islands on disputed reefs has alarmed rival claimants and the United States.

In the book, titled The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, Carpio uses old maps, photographs, excerpts from the arbitration ruling, Chinese government statements and documents to question the validity of Chinas claims.

Carpio warns in the book that China may be planning to build more island outposts at Luconia Shoal off Malaysia and Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

If it constructs an island base at Scarborough, China would have enough radar coverage of the South China Sea to be able to impose an air defense identification zone similar to what it did a few years ago in the East China Sea in a region where it has a territorial dispute with Japan, he said.



WITH AN EYE ON CHINA, TRUMP MAKES DIPLOMATIC INITATIVE TO SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES

U.S. President Donald Trump has made an unexpected diplomatic initiative toward several Southeast Asian counterparts, telephoning Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to reaffirm traditional close relations and invite them for meetings.

The invitations extended last week followed another one to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in a call during which Trump also affirmed Americas alliance and friendship with the Philippines and its president, who has maintained an antagonistic stance toward U.S. security policies.

Prayuths office said he had accepted Trumps invitation, while a Singapore Foreign Ministry statement said the two leaders looked forward to meeting each other soon. No dates were mentioned for the visits.

Duterte said he has not accepted the invitation because of scheduled trips to Russia, Israel and other countries.

Washingtons diplomacy in Asia has focused recently on China and tensions with North Korea, although Vice President Mike Pence included Indonesia on a recent Asia tour.

Washington has strategic concerns in countering Chinese influence in Southeast Asia. Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines are historically the most pro-Western nations in the region, but Chinas influence has been increasing as it flexes its economic muscle and projects its military power into the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims to parts or all of the South China Sea that straddle busy sea lanes and are believed to be atop undersea deposits of oil and gas.

Prayuths office said he and Trump reaffirmed the importance of their countries long-standing alliance. It also said Prayuth invited Trump to visit Thailand at a convenient time.

The White House statement about the call to Lee mentioned that robust security cooperation and close collaboration on regional and global challenges mark the two countries partnership.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also spoke by phone last week with Duterte, reflecting radically improved relations between the two governments. Chinas official Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi as saying the Philippines and China are deepening political mutual trust, carrying out cooperation in various fields, and have set up a channel of dialogue and consultation on the South China Sea.

(AP)
Iran is making veiled threat against neighboring Pakistan despite their recent agreement to work together to boost border security in the wake of a border attack that killed 10 Iranian guards.

Iranian state TV is quoting the armys chief-of-staff, Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, as saying on Monday that Iranian soldiers will attack terrorists wherever they are, suggesting they could cross into Pakistan to target militants there. The Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl claimed the April assault.

Bagheri says that Pakistan to go after militant hideouts on its soil, but if there are continued attacks, the terrorists safe havens will be targeted and crushed, wherever they are.

The porous Iran-Pakistan frontier has long been used by drug smugglers and Sunni militants, both of whom occasionally clash with Iranian security forces.

(AP)
President Barack Obama warned Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as national security adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election, according to three former Obama administration officials.

The information on Monday, from officials who requested anonymity in order to disclose the private conversation, came hours before former acting Attorney General Sally Yates was to testify to Congress about concerns she raised to the Trump administration about contacts between Flynn and Russia.

The highly anticipated hearing  it is Yates first appearance on Capitol Hill since her firing  before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election is expected to fill in basic details in the chain of events that led to Flynns ouster in the early weeks of the Trump administration. Word that Obama directly warned Trump suggests that concern over Flynns possible appointment spread to the highest level of government months before the officials departure.

The February resignation followed media reports that Flynn had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period, which was contrary to the public representations of the White House.

Trump moved to distance himself from his former advisers troubles Monday, tweeting that it was the Obama administration that gave Flynn the highest security clearance when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn was fired by the Obama administration in 2014.

In a second tweet, Trump said Yates should be asked under oath if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she raised concerns about Flynn with White House counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26.

Yates is expected to testify that she warned McGahn that Flynns contacts  and the discrepancies between what the White House said happened on the calls and what actually occurred  had left him in a compromised position, according to a person familiar with her expected statements. The person was not authorized to discuss the testimony by name and requested anonymity.

White House officials have said publicly that Yates merely wanted to give them a heads-up about Flynns Russian contacts, but Yates is likely to testify that she expressed alarm to the White House about the incidents, according to the person.

Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and isnt aware of any involvement by his aides in Moscows interference in the election. Hes dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaigns possible ties to the election meddling as a hoax driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House. Hes also accused Obama officials of illegally leaking classified information about Flynns contacts with Kislyak.

Also scheduled to testify is former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, who attracted attention for a March television interview in which he said that he had seen no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia at the time he left government in January. Republicans have seized on that statement as vindication for the Trump campaign, but investigations are ongoing.

The Associated Press meanwhile reported last week that one sign taken as a warning by Obama administration officials about Flynns contacts with Kislyak was a request by a member of Trumps own transition team made to national security officials in the Obama White House for the classified CIA profile of Kislyak. The revelation came after interviews with a host of former U.S. officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive national security information.

Marshall Billingslea, a former Pentagon and NATO official, wanted the information for Flynn, his boss. Billingslea knew Flynn would be speaking to Kislyak, according to two former Obama administration officials, and seemed concerned Flynn did not fully understand he was dealing with a man rumored to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies. When reached by the AP last week, Billingslea refused to comment. Last month, Trump announced his intention to nominate Billingslea to serve as assistant secretary for terrorist financing at the Treasury Department.

Yates warning about Flynn in January capped weeks of building concern among top Obama officials, former officials told the AP. President Obama himself that month told one of his closest advisers that the FBI, which by then had been investigating Trump associates possible ties to Russia for about six months, seemed particularly focused on Flynn.

Yates, a longtime federal prosecutor and Obama administration holdover, was fired Jan. 31 by Trump after refusing to defend the administrations travel ban. She had been scheduled to appear in March before the House intelligence committee, but that hearing was canceled.

The subcommittee meeting Monday is one of three congressional probes into the Russia interference, along with House and Senate intelligence panels. All the committees are led by Republicans.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and chair of the Senate Judiciary crime and terrorism subcommittee, has been outspoken about Russias interference in the 2016 election and has called for a stronger U.S. response than the sanctions currently levied.

Graham and top Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island promised a bipartisan probe, but last week it was revealed that Graham independently invited Rice to testify, without Whitehouses sign-on. Rice, a longtime target of Republicans, declined because her attorney said the invitation came late and without bipartisan consent.

(AP)
A civil rights group asked a court Monday to force the U.S. government to divulge more information about a January raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a U.S. Navy sailor and Yemeni civilians.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, saying it wants to learn the legal basis and decision-making process that preceded the Jan. 28 raid on an al-Qaida compound. It said in the lawsuit that the raid raised deep concerns about the legal and factual basis, planning and execution of the operation.

Chief Special Warfare Operator William Ryan Owens, 36, of Peoria, Illinois, died the day of the attack of wounds sustained during the raid. The Navy SEAL was the first known U.S. military combat casualty since President Donald Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20. Several other U.S. service members were injured in the mission.

The nonprofit organization said it filed Freedom of Information Act requests in March with the Central Intelligence Agency and the departments of defense, justice and state after the government released scant information about the raid following its internal investigation. It said it has received no documents in response, although some of the agencies have agreed to handle the request in an expedited manner.

The ACLU said more information is needed, in part, because of conflicting facts that emerged after the raid. The ACLU said the military has claimed between four and 12 civilians were killed, while others, including a human rights organization and independent journalists, say as many as 25 died. The raid also resulted in the deaths of over a half dozen militant suspects.

It said the raids outcome and the conclusions of subsequent investigations have raised serious concerns about the legal and factual basis for the raid.

A government spokesman declined comment.

We have seen that this White House cannot be trusted to give the public accurate information, which is especially critical when the president authorizes military action that kills civilians, said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project.

Shamsi said in a release that the administration of former President Barack Obama had a poor transparency record about lethal strikes in Yemen, but had put safeguards in place to protect citizens.

Shamsi said the current administration has little credibility, and the documents we seek are essential for public accountability when civilians are killed in the name of our national security.

(AP)
A federal judge has rejected a defense request to relocate the trial of a man charged in a bombing rampage through New Jersey and New York.

Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan denied the request Monday by lawyers for Ahmad Khan Rahimi.

Theyd argued that prejudicial publicity would make it impossible for him to get a fair trial.

Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen, is charged with detonating a pipe bomb near a charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and planting two pressure cooker bombs in Manhattan on Sept. 17.

His trial is scheduled to start days after the anniversary of his arrest.

He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

(AP)
Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) stood with a gathering of women today from all walks of Brooklyn life to expose terror propagandist Linda Sarsour. CUNYs recent invitation to Sarsour to deliver a commencement address at their School of Public Health has been a cause of grave concern to Hikind and other elected officials from both parties, as well as a number of prominent Jewish organizations and numerous women who regard themselves as feminists. Hikind has already called on Governor Cuomo to intercede and last week, the NY State GOP released a petition to block Sarsour from speaking at CUNY.

Sarsour has openly associated with terrorists, glorified acts of violence, and praised terrorism throughout her career as a so-called social activist, said Hikind. This is not a matter of opinion. Its all there in Sarsours own wordsher Tweets and the things she has told the press and said on stage. Sarsour is playing liberals and the womens movement, who want to believe she represents their views. Its time that elected officials, who have praised her in the past for her public work, take off the blinders and evaluate her other agenda. This includes not only delegitimizing the State of Israel but also promoting Sharia law and glorifying acts of terrorism.

I am an immigrant, an attorney, a feminist and a Zionist, said Inna Vernikov, one of the women who attended Hikinds press conference. Linda Sarsour has decided that a woman cannot be a Feminist and a Zionist, but she has no authority on either of these subjects. She advocates for Sharia law and apologizes for Saudi Arabia, both of which subjugate women. That is not Feminism. Is this the best that CUNY can offer as a role model for the future? Today, I stand ashamed to be a CUNY graduate.

Linda Sarsour in her own words:

April 2, 2017  Praises convicted PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) terrorist Rasmea Odeh when the two addressed a conference in Chicago on April 2, 2017. Sarsour told the audience she was honored and privileged to be here in this space, and honored to be on this stage with Rasmea.

March, 2017  Tells The Nation that you cannot be a Zionist and a Feminist. Is there room for people who support the state of Israel and do not criticize it in the movement? There cant be in feminism.

October 2016  Praises the Intifada, a movement that encourages random stabbings and rock throwing at Israeli civilians. She tweeted Intifada has brought us some of the most important coverage and Palestine related news. They are invaluable on many fronts.

October 11, 2015  Glorified and encouraged Arab stone throwers who target Israelis by calling them The definition of courage and tweeting a photo of a three-year-old with rocks.

August 18, 2015  Tweeted Free #Muhammadallan in support of the jailed Islamic Jihad terrorist who was involved in the recruitment of suicide bombers.

March 8, 2011  Attacked a Somali-born activist and critic of radical Islam, writing on Twitter that Hirsi Ali deserved to be physically assaulted for her views.

2003  Expressed regret after U.S. forces captured Iraqi dictator and mass murderer Saddam Hussein, telling Newsday, my Arab pride was hurt I felt humiliated by the way Hussein was caught and shown, disheveled and pathetic-looking, on international television.

(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Muslims to stand up for the Palestinian cause, saying each day that Jerusalem remains under occupation is an insult to them. His words drew strong criticism from Israel.

Speaking in Istanbul on Monday, Erdogan also compared Israeli actions against Palestinians to those of South Africa under Apartheid and said the United States must drop plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

They were Erdogans harshest words against Israel since the two countries reconciled last year and restored diplomatic ties to ambassadorial level.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Erdogan of systematically violating human rights and said he should not preach morality.

The ministrys spokesman Emmanuel Nashon said Israel consistently protects total freedom of worship for Jews, Muslims and Christians.

(AP)
By Sandeep Unnithan : A video purported to be one Pakistani army bunkers being destroyed by the Indian army along the line of control and which went viral this morning, may have spilled a secret. The Indian army is using retired Vijayanta and T-55 tanks as pillboxes along the Line of Control, their 105 mm main guns functioning as mobile artillery pieces.

advertisement

The 1.41 minute video opens with a shot of an anti-tank guided missile (either a Konkurs or a Milan) racing towards and exploding inside a bunker. It is followed up by a barrage of shots and explosions which some army officials say almost certainly appear to be high- explosive squash head (HESH) rounds fired from a battle tank's main guns judging by their characteristic black smoke. A voiceover in Punjabi, possibly that of the cameraperson, adds credence to this. He whispers "Tank lag gaya...gira diya...Tank aa gaya..." (the tanks have hit).

One former commander along the LoC explains how he drove a Vijayanta into a specially-made driving position for use against Pakistani bunkers before the 2003 ceasefire. "The Vijayanta wasn't a good offensive tank and had mechanical troubles, but was excellent in the defensive role and made for a great pillbox. Its 105 mm main gun could literally shred enemy bunkers."

Armored corps veterans says the tanks given to the infantry units were largely static and had limited hull movement but full turret movement. The guns are manned by armored corps gunners. The .50 calibre coaxial guns were also used in cross-border firing.

The Vijayanta was the licensed produced version of the British built Vickers Mark I main battle tank (MBT). Over 2000 Vijayantas saw service from 1965 before being retired in 2008 and a handful of serviceable tanks were redeployed along the LoC as pillboxes. The T-55 was a Soviet-built MBT nearly 700 of which were inducted from 1965 before being retired from active service in 2011.

Disused tanks were extensively used as pillboxes during the Second World War where their hulls were buried in ditches and the hulls used as static artillery. The Soviet Union stationed thousands of obsolete tanks as pillboxes along the border with China during the 1960s.

Watch:

Watch: Pakistani army bunkers being destroyed by Indian army

--- ENDS ---
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Disabled protesters took to the streets on Tuesday afternoon 13 Iyar, closing the entrance to the capital.

During the short-lived protest they angrily accused the government of ignoring their needs and the worrisome minimal assistance they receive, which they explain is not close to the minimum amount required to live a respectable live.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Teach Florida, a project of the Orthodox Union, secured a historic victory for Jewish schools in the 2017-18 Florida state budget, which allocates $645,000 to enhance security in Jewish day schools.

This is the first time that the state of Florida has allocated security funds to Jewish schools, which face urgent security concerns in the face of rising anti-Semitism across the country. Teach Florida helped draft the legislation and advocated strongly for its passage.

Teach Florida also advocated for expanding tax credit scholarships for nonpublic school students. The 2017-2018 budge will increase elementary school scholarships by nearly $500 and high school scholarships by more than $1,000 per student.

We are extremely grateful to Governor Rick Scott, Senator Lauren Book, Representative Randy Fine, and all the members of the Florida legislature for making security for Jewish schools a priority in this years budget, said Mimi Jankovits, executive director of Teach Florida. Security is a public good, and we appreciate that Floridas elected officials have stepped up to help safeguard our students.

This is a historic day in Florida, said Dr. Allan Jacob, chairman of Teach Florida. Next year, children in Jewish day schools across Florida will be safer and more secure. At the same time, our low-income students, along with the 98,000 low-income students across Florida, will have the financial support they need to attend the middle and high schools of their choice. We are proud to be a supporter of this important program.

(YWN Headquarters  NYC)
(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

A northern district Israel Police spokesman reports a price tag attack was carried out in Naura, an Arab village located east of Afula in the Gilboa Regional Council.

Price tag was painted on homes along with Revenge. In addition, the tires of eight vehicles in the area were slashed.

Residents reported the incident to police. An investigation has been launched.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Police spokesman unit via Media Resource Group)
Religious soldiers in the IDFs 77th Battalion of the Armored Corps 7th Brigade were compelled to be mechalel Shabbos  not on one occasion, but several RL.

According to the Yisrael Hayom report, the worst incident occurred about two weeks ago when former IDF Brigadier-General Avigdor Kahalani arrived with a bus of tourists. Kahalani did not hesitate to use his connections to pull strings for his guests. Frum soldiers were ordered to turn on tanks and give him a ride for about 200 meters to permit the visitors to see how they operate.

The report adds that a platoon commander (2nd lieutenant) complained to the deputy battalion commander and the matter came before the units rav and higher-ranking officers.

It was learned this was not the only incident in which religious soldiers were compelled to violate Shabbos. One soldier explains that just last Shabbos, all of the food was forgotten outside or the refrigerator was locked. All of the food spoiled due to the heat. The cook came in the morning and locked the kitchen from inside and began preparing food. One of the religious soldiers entered the kitchen via a window and say the kitchen crew cooking and the cook explained he preferred cooking on Shabbos rather than telling his superior there was no food Shabbos.

Yisrael Hayom explains Kahalanis group was visitors who arrived on the base on Shabbos, in violation of military regulations.

The brigade commander probed the incident and the battalion commander was censured and other officers had to attend lectures in which the regulations pertaining to Shabbos were explained in-depth.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
An emergency has been declared at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington after a portion of a tunnel that contained rail cars full of nuclear waste collapsed.

Hundreds of workers at the site of the tunnel collapse Tuesday morning were evacuated. No workers were in the tunnel. Workers farther away were told to remain indoors.

Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, said there apparently has been no release of radiation and no workers were injured.

The U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office activated the Hanford Emergency Operations Center at 8:26 a.m. local time, after an alert was declared, according to the official Hanford site.

There are concerns about subsidence in the soil covering railroad tunnels near a former chemical processing facility, a statement on the site said. The tunnels contain contaminated materials.

A text message sent to all personnel and obtained by KING5 told workers to secure ventilation in your building and refrain from eating or drinking.

It was unclear if any radioactive materials were released into the air.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons, and now is engaged in cleaning up the nations largest volume of radioactive defense wastes.

The sprawling Hanford site is located near Richland and is half the size of Rhode Island.

(AP)
Neil Chatterjee is the second Indian American to be appointed by Trump to a major regulatory position with a controversial mission.

By Indo-Asian News Service: US President Donald Trump has appointed Neil Chatterjee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees electricity, natural gas and oil at the national level.

Chatterjee will play a key role in Trump's programme to reshape energy policy, most of which is opposed by environmentalists and Democrats, if his appointment is confirmed by the Senate.

He is the second Indian American to be appointed by Trump to a major regulatory position with a controversial mission.

advertisement

The other is Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who is spearheading the administration's drive to end net neutrality, a policy that prevents internet service providers from giving special treatment to preferred web companies.

Chatterjee held the influential position of energy policy advisor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and helped shape energy legislation.

His work backed the Senator's campaign against regulations to restrict use of coal for electricity generation.

A lawyer by training, he started as an intern with the House Works and Means Committee.

Between his stints on Congressional staff, he has been a lobbyist for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Chatterjee, 40, grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, where his parents worked in cancer research. He is married with two sons and a daughter.

Among issues he will likely deal with are Trump's plans to allow the construction of the Keystone pipeline to carry crude oil from Canada to Texas in the US, which was stopped by former President Barack Obama, and several gas pipeline projects.

ALSO READ | US: Indian-American prosecutor Preet Bharara fired by Donald Trump after refusing to quit

ALSO READ | Trump effect: Is Cognizant firing people in India to hire more in US?

ALSO WATCH | Donald Trump names Indian American Nikki Haley as US envoy to UN

--- ENDS ---
A tech firm which has made a mint out of car finance is poised to launch on to the London Stock Market in an 800 million flotation.

Alfa Financial Software is planning to join the market in June - in what is likely to be the largest listing by a UK tech firm in two years.

The estimated valuation means founder and executive chairman Andrew Page, who launched the business more than 25 years ago, is in line for a bumper pay day.

Alfa Financial Software, which has made a mint out of car finance, is poised to launch on to the London Stock Market in an 800 million flotation

The company is 94 per cent owned by CHP Software and Consulting, in which 54-year-old Page owns an 89.7 per cent stake while chief executive Andrew Denton has 10.3 per cent.

The duo are each selling 25 per cent of their portion which will hand the pair an estimated payout of 200 million.

Alfa, founded in London in 1990 by Page, builds the software which allows companies to do everything from credit checks, arranging bank account payments and due diligence.

Denton, who joined the business in 1995 and worked his way up, insisted the listing was not about raising money.
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, May 9 (PTI) The US plans to ramp up its troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,000 as part of President Donald Trumps new strategy to defeat the Taliban and Islamic State militant group.

Ahead of the expected release of the Af-Pak plan, the White House yesterday said Trump wants to have a winning strategy in the war-torn country.

advertisement

The new strategy, which has the backing of top Cabinet officials, would authorise the Pentagon, not the White House, to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and give the military far broader authority to use airstrikes to target Taliban militants, The Washington Post reported.

Trump is expected to make a final call on the strategy before a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels that he plans to attend.

"The new strategy would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of US military advisers on the battlefield," it added.

"The new strategy is a product of the US militarys mounting worries that the fragile stalemate with the Taliban has been steadily eroding for years, jeopardising the survival of an allied government and endangering a key US base for combating militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State throughout South Asia," the report said.

Stating that Trumps most military and foreign policy advisors have proposed a major shift in its strategy towards Afghanistan, the report said the plan envisions an increase of at least 3,000 US troops to an existing force of about 8,400.

The US force would also be bolstered by requests for matching troops from NATO nations.

According to the report, the increase in US troop level and aid to Afghanistan would be conditioned upon the efforts of the Ghani Government in Kabul to fight against corruption and improve governance.

Trump, who is having a series of meetings with his top national security advisors including his national security advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster is yet to give his approval to the strategy, the daily said.

In a similar report, CNN said both McMaster and the Defence Secretary James Mattis favour troop increase in this war ravaged country.

"The same source said Trumps chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his small contingent of nationalists are expected to push back when those recommendations hit Trumps desk," the news channel reported.

At the same time, the strategy would retain the previous administrations reconciliation policy with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the White House asserted that Trump wants to have a winning strategy in Afghanistan.

advertisement

"I think he (Trump) wants to make sure that we do what we can to win. Thats why he charged the generals and other military advisors and national security team to come up with a plan that can get us there," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference.

Trump wants to defeat both the ISIS militant group and Taliban in Afghanistan, he said.

"Its to make sure that we put our national security interests first, and defeat all of those folks that seek to do us harm," he said in response to a question.

The US President is receiving a plan and guidance from his national security team as he had asked form, he said adding that that guidance is coming forward.

"Hes continued to meet with them," he said.

According to Spicer, Trump not only wants to defeat the ISIS and Taliban, he also wants make sure that the US protects its people in a responsible and smart way.

"He has talked about not projecting where hes going and what he?s going to do to let the enemy know ahead of time...How do we achieve those key outcomes? How do we do whats in the countrys best interest and utilise our military and our treasure to the best of our ability? That is something that were continuing to work on and do, and that?s part of what he is getting briefed on and is implementing," Spicer said.

advertisement

US troops are stepping up attacks on an extremist group considered an Islamic State affiliate in the country. The three most recent US deaths in Afghanistan were in combat last month against the IS affiliate, which also was the target of a US airstrike on April 13 using the "mother of all bombs"." PTI LKJ UZM AKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
MBABANE  The countrys legislation is not even lenient to HIV positive women when it comes to abortion.



Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Focal Person Zandile Masangane, said all pregnant women, even those who are HIV positive have to deal with their pregnancies.

Masangane was responding to questions on whether HIV positive pregnant women were allowed to terminate unwanted pregnancies due to their health.



She said comprehensive SRH services were available for all women including adolescents who want to access them.

Packages are non- discriminatory, we have services and life skills empowerment, said Masangane.



She encouraged women to access the services and avoid situations where they will be facing unplanned pregnancies. NERCHA Director Khanya Mabuza said HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies were a huge problem facing the country. Mabuza was speaking during the launching of the SRHR-HIV Knows no Borders Project at Piggs Peak Hotel and Casino yesterday.



NERCHA is an acronym for National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS. He said in an interview that most of the HIV positive pregnant women noted that the pregnancy was not planned for.

Mabuza appealed for teamwork between SRH and HIV/AIDS programmes, which could go a long way in addressing the two issues which were becoming a burden for the country.



He said HIV/AIDS among the adolescent girls was a challenge as they were facing emerging cases every day.

This, Mabuza said was a result of older men who were having relationships with the young girls.
LOBAMBA  Did the 9th Parliament cost the country E20m? This remained the million dollar question as a former officer at the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development Collin Tshabalala revealed that he was put under political pressure to release the E20million under the Community Poverty Reduction Fund (CPRF).



The money was released in 2009 in what was described as a free for all similar to the E50m Capacity building fund.

Tshabalala who is now under the Ministry of Agriculture said he was very reluctant at first to release the money as the regulations were not up to scratch in his opinion.



He said he tried to stall the release of the money as there were no proper rules in place and they did not have the expertise to recover the money, but such a decision made him unpopular at the Tinkhundla ministry.



He said as a result of the pressure he faced allegedly from the then Minister Prince Gcokoma (now Manzini Regional Administrator) to release the money he was in danger of losing his job as his neck was at the chopping block.



Tshabalala told the PAC that the Ninth Parliament had made a resolution that the money should be released in seven days and he had no choice, but to do as he was told as he became unpopular at the ministry.

He said the then Principal Secretary was Andreas Mathabela who is now holding fort at the Ministry of Defence and National Security.

As a result the PAC learned that about E3m of the money was lent to civil servants who to date a majority of them have still not repaid the loan.
MANZINI  Brutality against taxi man has once again reared its ugly head.



A well known Manzini taxi man was shot four times by unknown people and his body dumped at the entrance of Kai Kai Holiday Park.

The dreadful incident, which claimed Anthony Skhulu Dlaminis life, took place on Sunday night as his body was discovered by the establishments employee who was going to her rented flat after work at around 11:30pm.



She found his body soaked in a pool of blood, dumped near the MR3 Public Road, on the gravel path leading to the entrance of the holiday park. The woman, who thought that the man was knocked by a car, reported the matter to her manager who then called the police.



A well placed source said first to arrive at the scene were traffic police from Manzini and one of them recognised Dlamini.

He said they inspected his body and found that he was not hit by a car as he had four gunshot wounds; one on the chest, two on his waist and the last one on his left leg.



The officers are said to have then called their colleagues from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Serious Crime Investigation, who are widely known as Lukhozi because they felt the matter was a criminal one.



He said Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, who are widely known as paramedics were also called to the scene but they found that Dlamini had already passed on.



His body was taken to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where he was certified dead upon arrival.

Dlaminis colleagues, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was last seen at his business area (near Sheet Street in Manzini) at around 10pm. They said they were not sure of how he got killed.
Evidence emerging in the case of Indian national Uzma, who alleged she was forcibly married at gunpoint, suggests her story doesn't add up.

By Hamza Ameer: On Friday last week, 20-year-old Uzma took refuge inside the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, alleging she was forced to marry Pakistani national Tahir Ali and subjected to physical and mental torture daily.

But the evidence emerging in the case suggests there are gaping holes in Uzma's story.

What Uzma said

In a case against Tahir Ali, Uzma alleged she went to Pakistan to explore the country but was forced to marry Tahir at gunpoint on May 3.

advertisement

She said she was tortured, abused and harassed physically and sexually by Tahir on a daily basis. The two tied had the knot in Buner, where Uzma arrived upon reaching Pakistan through the Wagah border on May 1.

"I did not come to Pakistan to get married to Tahir. I got married to Tahir under pressure and at gunpoint. I was not aware of the fact that Tahir was already married and had four kids. I was tortured and sexually abused every day. My immigration documents, passport and all my stuff is with Tahir also. I do not want to leave the Indian High Commission. I will only leave when I am sent back to my home in New Delhi safely," Uzma said in her statement to the magistrate.

What Tahir says

Tahir has rejected all claims made by Uzma saying, he has documented proof of all his communication with Uzma. He says Uzma was already aware of the fact that he was married and had four kids.

Tahir brought forth WhatsApp conversations, in which Uzma is telling him not to reveal details of his marriage and kids to her family. She can also be seen telling Tahir to tell lie about his education to Uzma's. brother his education as graduation if inquired by her brother.

Screengrab from Uzma's conversations with Tahir where she asks him to lie about his education and existing family, in case her brother enquires. (Image: Hamza Ameer)

"Say graduation if he asks about education," she says.

What evidence shows

Uzma's passport and visa details reveal that her visa was given primarily for Buner, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa where Tahir Ali's family lives.

Further inquiry with the Foreign Office on visa specifications, revealed foreign nationals coming to Pakistan cannot get visa for Khyber Pukhtunkhwa without "guarantee" from a sponsor. In Uzma's case, the sponsor Tahir's father.

Photo of Uzma's visa that shows her husband's name as Mohd Naushad and her destination as Buner. (Image: Hamza Ameer)

According to Uzma's visa she was already married to a 'Naushad' whose name appears on the passport as her husband. Uzma is also mother to a baby girl, who she says is with her brother in New Delhi.

advertisement

In her statement in court, Uzma also claimed she came to Pakistan to meet her aunt. It was later learnt she does not have any family in Pakistan, which is why she is staying in the Indian High Commission.

The legal battle

On May 7, Uzma filed a case against Tahir under section 506 military act. Appearing before a local court, Uzma accused Tahir of forced marriage at gunpoint, and sexual and physical harassment.

The court issued notices to Tahir, the cleric who got them married and all witnesses to appear before it with all proofs on July 11.

India, meanwhile, has asked the Pakistan Foreign Office to provide Uzma's details. A Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson says her case is currently in the court and she will be repatriated to India once the legal requirements are fulfilled.

How Uzma reached Indian High Commission Uzma first met Tahir in Malaysia, where he worked two years ago. After their marriage last week, Uzma informed her family in New Delhi about the news. Uzma's family members told her to get in touch with a person named Adnan, who worked at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. According to Uzma, she convinced Tahir to visit the Indian High Commission on the pretext of getting a visa, so they can visit India for their honeymoon. Uzma and Tahir contacted Adnan and came to Islamabad on May 5, where they visited the Indian High Commission in Diplomatic Enclave. In his statement to local police, Tahir says, "upon reaching the Indian High Commission, we asked about Adnan to the lady at the reception. After a while, a man came and took Uzma inside and told me to wait outside. After waiting for hours, I asked about Uzma to the receptionist. They said there was no one inside the high commission. Her cell phones, which were taken at the reception were also not there anymore." Tahir lodged a complaint at a local police station and demanded 'retrieval' of Uzma from the Indian High Commission. Upon inquiry, Pakistan Foreign Office was informed that Uzma was inside the Indian High Commission and did not want to leave.

--- ENDS ---

advertisement
Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams

By Bill Parry

Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted on defending the embattled head of the citys prison system as a scandal over the commissioners improper use of official vehicles deepened.

Hours after Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte was grilled at a City Hall hearing Monday and a deputy commissioner was stripped of most of his duties, de Blasio continued to provide cover for the man who was brought to town to reform the culture of violence on Rikers Island.

The most important thing is, does a commissioner do a good job? Is the department doing what it is supposed to be doing, The mayor said during his weekly appearance on NY1. Obviously, he has done a very good job and hes helped to change the culture on Rikers Island profoundly and make that department work a lot better.

Earlier in the day at the hearing, City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) asked Ponte for the names of DOC officials who told him it was alright to use city-issued vehicles on frequent trips to his home in Maine last year, following allegations made by the citys Department of Investigation 11 days earlier. On several occasions since, the mayor has given his commissioner a pass saying Ponte was given incorrect guidance from staff members.

It serves no purpose to name people, Ponte began. It was people who worked in the commissioners office at the time, people who 

Lancman cut off Ponte, who was testifying under oath.

Maybe youre not aware of the way this works, Lancman said. This is the City Council. We ask you questions, youre under oath. Its not for you, sir, to decide what serves a purpose or what doesnt serve a purpose. So Im going to ask you again. What are the identities of the people who provided you the guidance that the mayor referred to?

Ponte went on to name two officials from the Bloomberg administration: Mark Cranston, a first deputy when Ponte came on board in 2014, and former chief of staff Sarah Taylor. Both have denied giving Ponte such advice. Earlier in the day, Deputy Commissioner Gregory Kuczinski was put on modified duty after listening to Department of Investigation phone calls.

They had inadvertently listened to some calls, Ponte said. DOI Commissioner Mark Peters called for Kuczinskis ouster after a probe found he had engaged in unauthorized undercover operations.

Again, the mayor provided cover.

Our understanding, based on the information received so far, it was not necessarily a situation to remove him entirely from the agency or from public employment but remove him from work that involved that kind of judgement, de Blasio told NY1.

Lancman, a frequent critic of the mayor, questioned de Blasios strategy as the DOC imbroglio grows.

The mayor is setting a very poor example by fomenting a culture of corruption and indifference by brushing off this kind of conduct at the highest levels of his administration, Lancman said. I think people are growing more outraged at the mayors indifference to the legitimate questions that are being asked more than the questions about a commissioners use of a city vehicle. Look, its a big bureaucracy and people make mistakes. The commissioner should have gotten up and explained he had a lapse in judgment and the mayor should have called it unacceptable.

We dont expect perfection or sainthood from our officials, but when you start making up stories, thats not acceptable.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) Press Secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee and senior diplomat Venu Rajamony has been appointed Indias Ambassador to the Netherlands.

Rajamony will also be Indias Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Prevention of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague and cover the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other international organisations based in the Netherlands, an official release said. He is expected to take up the new assignment next month. Rajamony joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 following a two-year stint as staff correspondent of the Indian Express newspaper. Fluent in Chinese, he has served in the Indian Mission in Hong Kong and done two terms in the Indian Embassy in Beijing. Rajamony also served in the Indian Embassy in Washington DC as spokesperson and minister in charge of Press, Information and Culture from 2005 to 2007. He was Director (Chef de Cabinet) in the Office of Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha from 2002-2004. Rajamony also worked in the Indian Mission to the United Nations in Geneva as officer responsible for human rights and humanitarian matters from 1996 to 1999. In 1996, he was elected rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights representing India. Rajamonys last posting abroad was as Consul General of India in Dubai from 2007 to 2010.

advertisement

He served as Joint Secretary, heading the Multilateral Institutions division of the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry.

Rajamony has been Press Secretary to the president since August 2012. His responsibilities included advising the president on matters pertaining to the media and overseeing the public interface of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Besides projecting the presidency in social media, he has also contributed in efforts to preserve, restore and improve the architecture and interiors of the Rashtrapati Bhavan by making it more accessible to the public and establishing new museums facilitation of documentary films and publications.

The library of the President House was renovated during his tenure. It houses over 2,000 old and rare books.

The Netherlands is one of Indias leading trade and investment partners. Total bilateral trade stood at Euro 4.9 billion in 2016. There are about 200 Dutch companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever, Philips and KLM in India. Over 200 Indian companies are present in the Netherlands. These include major IT firms such as TCS, HCL, Wipro, Infosys and Tech Mahindra. PTI AKV SKL AKV MIN

--- 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.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBANY -- Mourning families and police from across the state attended a Mass dedicated to 40 fallen officers Tuesday morning ahead of the state's police remembrance ceremony planned for midday.

Inside St. Mary's Church, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple read from the Book of Wisdom, saying, "The souls of the just are in the hands of God."

State Police Superintendent George Beach quotes the Book of Revelation, saying, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there shall be no more death or mourning."

Family members held back tears as they each placed one white rose on the altar to represent the sacrifices of the officers who died.

Thirty-three of the 40 fallen worked for the New York City Police Department and several died from 9/11 related illnesses.

Three were members of the State Police, including Trooper Timothy Pratt who died Oct. 26. after he was hit by a car in Wilton.

Police and families will later march to the Capitol for the 1 p.m. Police Officers Memorial Remembrance Ceremony.

The memorial wall, located on the Empire State Plaza, was designed by the daughter of a slain trooper and first dedicated in 1991.

The state has had to add panels to the wall twice to make room for new names, state Division of Criminal Justice Services spokeswoman Janine Kava said.

Last month, 10 new panels  each is divided in two, for a total of 20  were added to the wall to allow for 630 more names, Kava said. Before this expansion, which is the second, there were only 27 name slots left, she said.

The names of the officers being remembered have been engraved on the 20 new panels, with two names on each.

The memorial honors 1,453 officers, more than half of who are from the New York City Police Department.
Three Mechanicville residents were arraigned Monday on multiple drug charges following an investigation into the illegal sale of narcotics, according to the Saratoga County District Attorneys Office.

Jacquez Lee, 36; Darcy Bechand, 40; and Jennifer Landry, 33, were arraigned on two counts of felony criminal sale of a controlled substance and four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, two of the counts being felonies, county officials said Monday.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Colonie

With boardings on the increase and no word yet on possible assistance from the state's Upstate Airport Economic Development and Revitalization initiative, airport officials are moving ahead with planning for a future 1,000-car parking garage and other improvements at Albany International Airport.

The Albany County Legislature on Monday night was to be asked to approve modifications that include doubling the $15 million figure in the airport's 2015-2019 capital plan for a new garage to $30 million. If demand warrants, the airport authority would return to the legislature for approval of the actual construction.

JetBlue began service in December 2015 at Albany, while American resumed nonstop flights to Chicago after a seven-year hiatus in March 2016. Boardings surged by 11.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016 from the previous year, and were up another 1.0 percent in this year's first quarter.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the airport initiative at the beginning of 2016, with $40 million to be awarded to each of five airports selected on a competitive basis. Albany unveiled its plans, including the $27 million garage, assistance to allow regional carrier CommutAir to expand its maintenance base here, and an incubator at Integra Optics' hangar for startups working on aviation-related technologies.

State funding did help the airport construct a new hangar for CommutAir, which created 75 mechanic jobs with salaries averaging $65,000.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

Four airport grants were awarded, to Greater Rochester, Elmira Corning Regional, Plattsburgh International and Syracuse Hancock International. Airport officials said they're still hoping to land the final grant.

"The amendment to the capital plan raised potential borrowing to fund projects from $34.5 million to $38.5 million during the term of the plan," airport spokesman Doug Myers said Monday afternoon. "Before any project in the plan advances, it would require additional board approval and, if a project involved borrowing funds, additional approvals of the County would be required and a notice and consultation with the airlines."
ALBANY  Both state legislative leaders were bearish on Tuesday about the chances that what supporters call "medical aid in dying" will win approval from lawmakers before they end the legislative session in June.

The leaders comments at a Times Union event Tuesday morning came hours before advocates rallied at the state Capitol in support of providing the end-of-life choice.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he has not yet had an in-depth conversation with members about legislation to legalize aid in dying, dubbed physician-assisted suicide by its critics.

"That is a very, very sensitive subject and would really have to be thought out," the Bronx Democrat said. "So I'm not sure if it can or will be done by the end of session."

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Flanagan said he personally remains opposed to aid in dying and expressed concerns about exactly how one defines such a practice.

"On these issues, will be we deliberative? Yes," Flanagan said. "I can't fathom a circumstance where we would take any action on legislation like that  in the Senate" without further discussion in the Senate this year.

The aid in dying legislation has been bobbing around in the Legislature's deep pool of bills for the past few years, but it has seen little action. It has passed in the Assembly Health Committee but has not reached the floor of either chamber.

The bill, reintroduced to start the year, is modeled on Oregon's 20-year-old law. It would allow patients with six months or less to live the option of obtaining medication that allows them to end their lives. Patients must have sign off from two doctors. If either doctor requests that a patient undergo a mental health review, a mental health professional would have to assess the patient's ability to make an informed choice about ending their life. The mental health professional then would have to report their findings to two physicians.

At a late-morning press conference, advocates for aid in dying pleaded for legislative action, though bill sponsor Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester, was realistic that even if the Assembly advances the bill as it did last year, the Senate is unlikely to follow the same path.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

"Medical aid in dying is absolutely not a suicide because I want to live," said Susan Rahn, a Rochester woman with terminal breast cancer. "I want to live more than anything else. I want to see my son graduate college. I want to see him finish medical school. I want to someday hold my grandchildren. I'm not suicidal. What I don't is to suffer and be in controllable pain while my body shuts down for what could be weeks. And I don't want my son and my family have to watch me go through that."

Opponents of aid in dying have said that if legislation is approved, medical research, health care providers and the disabled could be negatively impacted. Opponents also have warned that without proper oversight, there is potential for abuse by those who want to end the burden of caring for a terminally ill loved one.

"There's no way to open this door just enough," Adam Prizio, government affairs manager for the Center for Disability Rights, told the Times Union earlier this year. "No matter where you open it, some number of people with disabilities will be killed through coercion, through abuse, or through insurance companies trying to save money."
ALBANY  New York education officials no longer want to rate and rank schools based solely on test scores and graduation rates.

Schools have long complained about being reduced to such numbers, which don't take into account students who may have had a bad test day or schools with a lot of English language learners who often take longer to graduate due to the language barrier. But it was these factors alone that determined whether a school was labeled failing or targeted for intervention under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which Congress passed in December as the successor to the Bush-era law, states now have an opportunity to come up with their own accountability systems.

On Monday the state Education Department unveiled a 159-page draft of its plan that goes beyond test scores to look at things like student growth over time, civic readiness, and science and social studies performance.

"ESSA gives us the chance to shift to a more holistic approach to accountability  an approach that looks at multiple measures of school and student success that will evolve over time," said Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa. "It allows us to look at critical, but often overlooked indicators of success, like children's social and emotional growth and development."

States use accountability systems to make sure every student  regardless of race, ethnicity, income, disability, language or ZIP code  has a fair shot at success. Schools that are found wanting, especially multiple years in a row, are targeted for interventions and extra financial support.

Here are a few examples of how New York wants to change its accountability system:

Schools were previously rated based on student performance in English and math. Officials want to start looking at science and social studies performance, too.

Schools were previously rated based on four-year graduation rates. The state wants to equally consider five- and six-year graduation rates, as well, to capture students with disabilities or language barriers who may take longer to complete high school.

Schools were previously assessed on how well they prepared students for college or career. New York wants to add "civic readiness" to that equation, giving extra points to schools that also prepare students for a life of civic engagement (including, volunteering, voting in local and national elections, running for office, active membership in a group or on a board).

Schools were previously rated based on achievement and attainment. Officials want to start measuring growth and progress, as well. One example: Instead of rating schools based on how many students are proficient in math, take into account how many students made gains in math from one year to the next

"We see schools where there is low achievement but the kids are making growth," said Scott Marion, president and executive director at the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment. "And we see schools where there is high achievement but not much growth. What's a troubling scenario to us are schools that are low achieving and not making growth."

Using a weighted scoring system, New York would categorize schools as one of the following  comprehensive support and improvement schools (CSI), targeted support and improvement schools (TSI), good standing schools and recognition schools.

If a school is labeled CSI or TSI, it would trigger state intervention. Both would have to undergo a comprehensive diagnostic needs assessment that examines school quality, data and finances, and come up with a schoolwide improvement plan.

The state would prioritize support for schools based on which are making the least gains.

Education officials are seeking public comment and suggestions on the draft plan through June 16. States have until Sept. 18 to submit plans to the U.S. Department of Education.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

"I cannot emphasize enough that this plan is a draft  that means it's not done yet and we want feedback on it," said state education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. "We will make changes to strengthen it based on those comments."

A public meeting on the plan will be held in the Capital Region on June 15 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Questar III BOCES administrative building at 10 Empire State Blvd. in Castleton.

Comments can be submitted by email to ESSAComments@nysed.gov with the subject line "ESSA

Comments from (sender/organization name)" or by mail to Dr. Lisa Long, State Education Department Office of Accountability, 4th Floor, 55 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, New York 11217.

View a 64-page summary of the plan here.

View the 159-page plan in full here.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Upstate House Republicans' votes in favor of the American Health Care Act last week dogged Reps. Elise Stefanik and John Faso with criticisms from multiple sources on Monday.

In an at-times contentious community forum in Plattsburgh, Stefanik said Monday evening her goal is improving quality of health care and decreasing insurance costs.

That answer seemed to do little to allay concerns of audience members who came armed with health care-related questions to the forum, hosted and streamed online by Mountain Lake PBS, the North Country's PBS affiliate.

Stefanik said in terms of improvements to the bill moving forward, "This is the first part of a legislative process, and I've worked with the Senate numerous times."

The Essex County Republican said the Senate can work to provide better support for states like New York that have expanded their Medicaid programs. She also said the Senate should discuss including a "one-to-one age rating" as exists in New York requiring that people, regardless of age, be charged the same price.

The forum is to be broadcast on Mountain Lake PBS television Tuesday night.

Stefanik's comments were her first in public since she voted for the retooled AHCA last week. In a Facebook post following the vote, Stefanik said the AHCA isn't perfect, "but it is an important step in reforming our broken healthcare system to help families in our district."

The congresswoman's television appearance comes as numerous voters in her district and across the state and country have chided House Republicans who voted to send the GOP Obamacare replacement plan to the Senate, where it is expected to undergo heavy revisions.

On Monday, a Washington, D.C., health care advocacy group put money behind the scolding efforts, unleashing a mix of television and digital ads targeting 24 Republicans in congressional districts nationwide. The ad campaign comes at a price of more than $500,000 campaign, CBS reported.

In New York, Save My Care is running the ads in Stefaniks 21st Congressional District, Faso's 19th District and Rep. Lee Zeldins 1st District on Long Island.

Congressman Faso just voted for a disastrous health care repeal bill opposed by the American Medical Association, AARP and the American Cancer Society, a narrator says in the Faso ad.

The ads claim that the AHCA increases health care costs by 20 percent and cuts coverage for 24 million people, that insurance companies can deny affordable coverage for cancer treatment and for maternity care, and that insurance companies can charge five times more for people over 50.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

Congressman Faso, how could you do this to us? the narrator says in the ad.

As Stefanik defended her vote in Plattsburgh, Faso was facing criticisms in the Hudson Valley from constituents and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the Democrat whose 18th District borders Faso's district to the south in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Maloney was planning to attend a forum  billed as a "TrumpCare town hall"  in Kingston after, according to Maloney's campaign, Faso passed on a challenge from Maloney to attend the forum hosted by progressive group Indivisible NY-19 to explain his vote for the AHCA.

In a radio interview Monday morning, Faso called the event "a political stunt," noting that he had held more than 200 constituent meetings since assuming office this year and took part in a WMHT televised town hall-style forum in April.

"Obviously this is just a partisan political effort orchestrated with Maloney, who wants to rise in the ranks among the Democrats and curry favor with his patrons in Albany and in Washington," Faso said on Talk 1300's "Live from the State Capitol."

mhamilton@timesunion.com  518-454-5449  @matt_hamilton10
Sally Yates told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing she had been concerned that "the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians."

By Reuters: A former senior US law enforcement figure said on Monday she warned President Donald Trump's White House in January about then-national security adviser Michael Flynn because she feared he could have been open to blackmail by Russia.

Sally Yates, who was briefly the acting US attorney general earlier this year, told White House counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26 that Flynn had not been telling the truth about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington.

advertisement

Yates, originally appointed by former President Barack Obama's administration, said she feared Moscow could try to blackmail Flynn because it also knew he was not being truthful about conversations with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about US sanctions on Moscow.

MICHAEL FLYNN

Flynn, a retired general who advised Trump's election campaign, has emerged as a central figure in probes into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Moscow. Russia has repeatedly denied any such meddling.

Yates told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing she had been concerned that "the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians."

"Logic would tell you that you don't want the national security adviser to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him," she said.

Trump waited more than two weeks after the warning before firing Flynn for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Kislyak and then misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.

OBAMA WARNED TRUMP

Obama warned Trump, then president-elect, not to give the post of national security adviser in his administration to Flynn, a former Obama aide said.

The Democratic president gave the warning in an Oval Office meeting with Trump two days after the Republican's surprise Nov. 8 election win. The warning, first reported by NBC News, came up during a discussion of White House personnel.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer, responding to the reports of the warning, told reporters: "It's true that the president, President Obama, made it known that he wasn't exactly a fan of General Flynn's, which frankly shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, given that General Flynn had worked for President Obama, was an outspoken critic of President Obama's shortcomings."

RUSSIA ALLEGATIONS

Flynn had been pushed out by Obama in 2014 from his job as director of the military's Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA.

Congressional committees began investigating after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered hacking of Democratic political groups to try to sway the election toward Trump. The agencies said Russia was behind "fake news" reports that were disseminated on social media.

advertisement

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee probe is one of three main congressional investigations of Russia and the 2016 US election. The FBI and US intelligence agencies are conducting separate probes.

YATES LEAKED INFORMATION ON FLYNN TO THE MEDIA

Hours before Monday's Senate hearing, Trump insinuated that Yates had leaked information on Flynn to the media.

"Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Council," Trump wrote on Twitter, apparently misspelling the word counsel.

Trump fired Yates in late January after she defied the White House and refused to defend travel restrictions targeting seven Muslim-majority countries, a policy that Trump has said would help protect Americans from the Islamic State group and other Islamist militants.

In the Senate hearing, the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, described as accurate a report in the Guardian newspaper that British intelligence officials became aware in late 2015 about suspicious interactions between Trump advisers and Russian intelligence agents, and that the information was passed on to US intelligence agencies.

advertisement

"Yes, it is (accurate), and it's also quite sensitive. The specifics are quite sensitive," Clapper said.

NO COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA

The Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia.

Questioning in the hearing often broke along party lines.

Some Republicans veered away from questions about Russia's alleged involvement in the election to focus on issues such as whether Obama administration officials had improperly revealed the names of Trump administration officials contained in surveillance records.

Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, questioned Yates heatedly about her objections to Trump's travel ban.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz questioned Clapper about 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's email

Also Read:

Ousted National Security adviser Michael Flynn seeks immunity for testifying on alleged Trump ties to Russia

Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, resigns in controversy over Russian links

--- ENDS ---
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Boston

General Electric took another step in its digital transformation Monday, breaking ground on its new Boston headquarters and promising to help transform the state's economy.

"This town is going to be one of the most important cities in the world, and GE can be part of that renaissance," GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said at the morning ceremony also attended by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh.

GE was attracted to Boston because it's a hotbed of innovation with a deep talent pool, company Vice President Ann Klee said.

"We've named this campus GE's Innovation Point because this isn't going to be your grandmother's headquarters," she said.

GE is expected to act like a magnet, drawing other innovative high tech companies to the region, Baker said.

"This is one more step in the continuing evolution of Massachusetts as a global player," the Republican governor said.

The $200 million headquarters is being built in the city's Seaport District, at the site of a former candy factory. Two older factory buildings are being refurbished, and a new 12-story tower is being built. Eventually, 800 GE employees will work at the 400,000 square foot site by 2019.

Massachusetts lured GE from Connecticut last year with the help of incentives up to $120 million through state grants and other programs, and $25 million in property tax relief from the city.

That doesn't sit well with some people, who object to what they call public handouts to a profitable company. Walsh said in his remarks that GE will be pay far more in taxes in the long term than the tax relief is worth.
Saratoga Springs police are warning residents that an old scam is back.

In an attempt to steal credit card information, scammers are calling residents claiming to be the Internal Revenue Service and demanding back payment.

They tell potential victims that they must pay immediately or face fines and arrests.

The police department is reminding the community that the IRS will never call on the phone and demand payment. The police says that no information should be given and the best thing to do is hang up immediately.

Police also recommend that those receiving a call like this to report it to the IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting web page or call 1-800-366-4484. Calls should also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at FTC.gov.




Two big life events happened to Taofeek Abijako in 2016. He graduated from Albany High School and he became an international-selling fashion designer.

For all the success he's earned in the past year, Abijako and his men's streetwear brand, Head of State+, were recently profiled in the New York Times and T Magazine, a fashion and lifestyle magazine that's distributed with the Sunday edition of the Times.
New York

The leaders of a large-scale narcotics trafficking ring that served as a drug pipeline from New York City to the Capital Region have pleaded guilty to felony charges, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office announced Tuesday.

Juan Ramos and Noemi Maldonado will be sentenced on July 20 to 15 years in prison for criminal possession of a controlled substance. Ramos and Maldonado, both of Brooklyn, led a drug ring that trafficked hundreds of thousands of dollars of heroin, cocaine and illegal prescription medication from New York City to the Capital Region, Maine and Pennsylvania, according to the attorney general's office.

During the investigation, law enforcement seized more than two pounds of bulk heroin, capable of being packaged into 50,000 bags of heroin to be sold on the street  giving the heroin an approximate street value of $500,000.
ALBANY  "Some People Hear Thunder" is an overambitious mess.

There was a moment during Friday's opening of this would-be epic musical, set during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, when I was so flabbergasted by what was happening on stage that I looked around to see if audience members were laughing at what seemed to me surely a "Forbidden Broadway"-style parody. Somehow  and I am at a loss to explain this precisely  the Greek god Atlas becomes part of the story and bellows the song "The Sky Is Falling" from upstage while cast members flutter wide swaths of fabric to evoke waves or, perhaps, clouds. I felt slightly less than sane during that moment.

More Information Theater review "Some People Hear Thunder" When: 8 p.m. Friday, May 5 Where: Capital Repertory Theatre, 111 N. Pearl St., Albany Continues: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through May 21. Running time: 135 minutes; one intermission Tickets: $25 to $55 Info: 445-7469; capitalrep.org See More Collapse

Given the problems evident throughout "Some People Hear Thunder," an independent production that is renting Capital Repertory Theatre for the musical's world-premiere run, it's hard to believe that the show has been in development for more than a decade, or that it was workshopped two years ago by director and co-star Kevin McGuire. Did no one in all that time tell the creative team of Gerson Smoger and Jeffrey Sorkin, who are co-credited with the book, music and lyrics, that the business with Atlas really doesn't belong, and that the second-act tap number feels as cliched as the ballets that used to get stuffed into 19th-century operas?

This is all unfortunate, because the show is receiving a thorough, accomplished production from McGuire, his creative team and cast. They give us a fully realized, believable world in which the story of one of the worst but least-acknowledged atrocities of the 20th century is told through the eyes of a young American reporter and the Armenians he meets in what is present-day Turkey. The show has compelling characters, a few affecting songs and dynamic performances, but the overall result feels dissatisfying and unfinished. And the lyrics' rhymes are often so obvious that you could make a game of predicting them.

Alex Prakken brings a fresh-faced vitality and bright, strong tenor voice to the young journalist, Jason Karras, who is dispatched by his Manhattan-based newspaper to cover Europe at the beginning of World War I. He leaves behind a disconsolate girlfriend (Rachel Rhodes-Devey) whom he updates via letter, and eventually makes his way to southwest Turkey. There he is welcomed by the family of Zoravar del Kaloustian (McGuire), an Armenian recently returned from Paris with his French wife, Angelique (Joan Hess), to settle matters of his estate.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

McGuire and his mighty baritone are as reliable as ever, but Hess is the real revelation, and she capitalizes on the fact that Angelique gets the three best songs in the show. Freddy Ramirez does excellent work as the choreographer and as a busy member of the nine-member ensemble, and the eight-piece offstage band, under music director and keyboardist Josh D. Smith, provide full musical support. (Special kudos to trumpet player Cathy Sheridan for her expert handling of difficult passages.)

I wanted to like "Some People Hear Thunder." It seemed to holds the promise of a big, dramatic musical in the style of "Les Miserables," setting personal stories against the backdrop of momentous events, and at times that goal is realized in touching and tuneful ways. It is unfailingly well produced and performed. I even waited a day to write this review, hoping some of my initial annoyance and disappointment would fade. Instead, thinking about it more only amplified them. But the problems, and their solutions, seem so obvious that "Some People Hear Thunder" may yet have a future.

sbarnes@timesunion.com  518-454-5489  @Tablehopping http://facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic
THE ISSUE:

Many union pension funds are in trouble and are looking to cut benefits.

THE STAKES:

Can the Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Congress avert a pending retirement crisis?

More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse

---

Truckers, electrical workers, production employees, laborers  it sounds like many of the voters who helped elect Donald Trump president. But it's actually a partial list of people whose union pension funds are rapidly drying up.

Without help from the president and Congress, the funds could well be insolvent in the next five to 20 years.

Among these affected are the more than 34,000 active and retired members of the Upstate Teamsters Local 294, whose $1 billion pension fund is running out. The union is seeking permission from the U.S. Treasury Department to cut pension payments by nearly 30 percent.

The problem has been brewing for years, as contributions to pension funds have waned while the number of retirees drawing pensions has grown. People with pensions from private businesses are protected by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, while public employees have taxpayers to back them up if their pension funds lag. But people in these union funds have no safety net.

President Trump campaigned on the promise to help workers left out of the economic recovery, but his administration and Congress appear to be turning their backs on these private sector workers.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter.

One example: Mr. Trump signed a bill, passed along party lines in March, rescinding an Obama administration executive order allowing states and municipalities to create retirement savings programs for private workers. Seven states have already set up these plans, which automatically make payroll deductions for workers who don't have company retirement programs. Nationally, an estimated 55 million Americans fall into this category.

These programs (from which people can opt out, though most don't) could help workers build retirement savings that, combined with Social Security, would support a comfortable, middle-class retirement. The federal action seems to have stymied efforts in New York to create such a program.

Opponents of such state-run plans, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and some financial firms, argue it may prompt employers who have better 401(k) programs to drop them. More likely, they worry that state-authorized savings plans would compete with the financial services providers.

All this is part of a larger national problem: 68 percent of millennials and 44 percent of baby boomers have nothing saved for retirement, a recent Pew study found.

Just this week Mr. Trump declared unions have an open door in his White House. He could prove it by working with Congress to see if there is a way to help the more than 1 million union workers in this country who are in danger of losing some or all of the pension benefits they were promised.

And then they can turn to the larger issue of helping people better prepare for their retirement years. Social Darwinism is hardly a practical policy for a great nation. And just saying "Thanks for voting for me" doesn't help those voters pay the bills.
They are having the time of their lives in the country. Here's proof.

By India Today Web Desk: One of our favourite Indian TV couples, Karan Patel and Ankita Bhargava are currently having the time of their lives in Greece. The couple are exploring the beautiful country, and both Karan and Ankita have been posting pictures from their vacation that will make you want to pack your bags and head for a vacation yourself.

advertisement

Also read: I used to think I was a big star; Karan Patel says in this heartfelt video

Picture Perfect ??? #santorinigreece #oia #greecelove #us #thebestvacationever??????????- @karan9198 A post shared by Ankita Bhargava (@ankzbhargava) on May 6, 2017 at 10:09am PDT

Ankita especially has been actively updating her followers about her adventures in the country. And we have to say, both Karan and Ankita look extremely relaxed and happy in the pictures.

#sunkissed #santorini #sunrise When U wake Up Before The City Does ??? A post shared by Ankita Bhargava (@ankzbhargava) on May 5, 2017 at 9:48pm PDT

The pictures are also quite pretty. What else would you expect when two good-looking people visit a gorgeous country? Exactly.

The Mykonos Sunset ??? #greecelove A post shared by Ankita Bhargava (@ankzbhargava) on May 4, 2017 at 5:28am PDT

Looks like finally the Yeh Hai Mohabbatein actor found some time from his hectic schedule to enjoy a romantic vacation with his actress-wife.

Happy holidaying, Karan and Ankita!

--- ENDS ---
A Nenagh couple who have since separated have been given suspended jail sentences following a laneway row in which the husband was stabbed and the wife was badly beaten.

Roletta Harty of 31 Hawthorns Drive, Thurles, pleaded at Nenagh Court to assault causing harm at Stafford Street, Nenagh, on March 17, 2016.

Her husband, Jason Fitzpatrick of 6 Ard Cruidin, Nenagh, pleaded to assault at the same location and on the same date.

The court was told he was not giving any evidence against Ms Harty after she stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

During the hearing, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath was shown CCTV coverage of the incident.

The court heard that the Gardai received a call that there was a disturbance at around 10.45pm on March 17 in the laneway that links Kenyon Street and Stafford Street.

When they arrived they found Mr Fitzpatrick on the ground being tended to by four other people. He was bleeding heavily from his arm and told the Gardai he had been stabbed by another male. Mr Fitzpatrick was taken to University Hospital LImerick.

The Gardai later called to a house in Nenagh and found Ms Harty with marks to her face.

She admitted that she had met Mr Fitzpatrick and had brought a knife with her in case she was attacked by him.

Ms Harty said she had stabbed Mr Fitzpatrick after he had kicked the daylights out of her.

The knife fell to the ground and she ran, thinking she had killed him.

She did not know where the knife was and it had never been recovered.

The Gardai called to Mr Fitzpatrick but he refused to make a statement about the incident.

On July 23, 2016, Ms Harty was arrested and made admissions that she had stabbed Mr Fitzpatick and cut herself to make it look like she was injured.

Ms Harty had no previous convictions at the time of the offence but Mr Fitzpatrick had five presvious convictions, including one for possession of a knife and assault.

Ms Fitzpatrick's solicitor, Liz McKeever, said her client was 24 years old.

He and Ms Harty had a volatile relationship. They are separated at present, she said.

However, Ms McKeever said that the couple had had a brief reconcillation.

He has had addiction problems and his memory of the night is quite blurred. He did have a blip in April but has been alcohol-free, said Ms McKeever.

The solicitor said her client had a circuit court appearance hanging over him in June.

a 'severe beating'

Ms Harty's solicitor, David Peters, said: You can understand why no evidence of an assault has been given. Ms Harty suffered a severe beating.

However, Ms Harty could not recall the incident in full and would not go into the witness box.

There is no excuse for the manner in which Mr Fitzpatrick assaulted his wife. However, her actions on the night leave a lot to be desired.

Mr Peters said Ms Harty was 23 years old and was working in a charity shop.

She is seeing a counsellor and, while her children are in care, she has taken steps to get them back, he said.

Herself and Mr Fitzpatrick were sepraated for the past three months and Ms Harty was now six months pregnant, he said.

Judge MacGrath said she was not surprised Mr Fitzpatrick had not made a formal complaint in the matter.

They were in a volatile relationship and they have now come to an impasse in relation to themselves. The problems were bigger than they expected, said the judge.

Judge MacGrath said that there had been premeditation on behalf of Ms Harty in that she had brought a knife to the scene while Mr Fitzpatrick had launched an attack that was inappropriate and unacceptable.

She said she would have to impose a custodial sentence.

Judge MacGrath jailed Ms Harty for six months, suspended for two years on condition she keep the peace in her own bond of 500.

She jailed Mr Fitzpatrick for four months, suspended for two years on condition he keep the peace for two years in his own bond of 500.

Recognizance were fixed in the event of an appeal at 250.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
Entries are open to producers across the island of Ireland for this years Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards. The Awards, which are in their 10th year, take place at the Dingle Food Festival in late September. Last year there were more than 2500 entries in what are the largest blind-tasted Food Awards on the island.

Buyers from independent stores and major retail chains are among those to come meet the finalist producers in Dingle. It is seen as one of the most important events of year in the food and drink industry. A Buyers Directory which is circulated post-awards with a list of winners and their contacts has now become a go-to reference for trade both in Ireland and overseas.

Entrants testify that winning an award has a definite impact on sales. Previous winner Florrie Purcell from The Scullery in Nenagh said it has given me strength and credibility and positioned me better in the marketplace.

It has opened more doors and I am now seen as a contender. It allows me to go the races with the big players.

Another @BlasNahEireann GOLD winner produced by The Scullery here in Nenagh for @lidl_ireland - yummy! pic.twitter.com/zaCvUiFbIZ  ISLEmagazine (@ISLEmagazine) October 9, 2014

These are what I call the Peoples Awards says Chairperson, Artie Clifford

Our judging system is very rigorous. Our judges come from a range of food backgrounds; they are food scientists, chefs, restaurateurs, academics, journalists, authors, food champions, caterers and enthusiastic home cooks.

Every product that carries a Finalist, Gold, Silver or Bronze sticker is picked up more quickly than those without. Our research has shown that the Blas accreditation has the highest recognition amongst Irish consumers and using the award logo on pack has made a significant difference to businesses.

The final entry date is June 14th, 2017. To enter visit www.irishfoodawards.com
Hopes that the presentation of the Tipperary Association Dublin Hall of Fame Award for 2016 to Mr Eddie Dalton of Golden will lead to the repatriation of the body of Harry Gleeson, was expressed at the award ceremony on Friday night last.

Mr. Dalton had been selected for the award in recognition of his groundbreaking research, leading to the final granting of a posthumous pardon to Harry Gleeson in January 2016.

Reading the award citation, Mr. Pat Ryan, Secretary of the Tipperary Association, Dublin recalled how, in April 1941 Mary McCarthy had been murdered in Marlhill and her nearest neighbour Harry Gleeson, a native of Holycross, had been convicted and hanged for her murder. Harry had gone to the gallows with immense fortitude and dignity but firmly protested his innocence right up to the end and his last wish to his legal team was to have his name cleared.

Many people down through the years worked hard to clear Harrys name and I mention in particular the family and descendants of Harry Gleeson, the Justice for Harry Gleeson Group, the Innocence Project, the authors of two books on the case Marcus de Burca and Kieran Fagan, and of course Eddie Dalton. Not alone was Eddie convinced of Harry Gleesons innocence, but he set out to do something about it. For well in excess of forty years, Eddie Dalton, consumed by the conviction of the injustice that had been done to Harry, set about proving his innocence.

 By the early 1980s, he had tracked down all the crucial witnesses at Harrys trial. One had worked at Feehans Hardware Store, Cashel. He gave Dalton a tip-off in 1983 that the firearms register had been altered on the day Mary McCarthys body was discovered in a systematic attempt to incriminate Harry.

Above all, said, Mr. Ryan, it was the discovery of the Firearms Register that re-opened Harry Gleesons case and led to the final granting of his pardon. The efforts for Harry conducted by Eddie Dalton have been far-reaching, time-consuming, exhaustive and critical. The granting of the posthumous pardon by the State marks a milestone in Irish legal history.

Mr. Ryan said it was neither popular not profitable for Eddie Dalton to pursue the cause of Harry Gleeson, living as he did in the very community where these terrible events occurred which makes his efforts all the more heroic. It seems fitting then to mark that milestone event by granting a lifetime achievement award to Mr Eddie Dalton whose research has led without question to this final outcome.

Accepting the award, Mr. Dalton recalled how Harry Gleeson had been hanged on the 23rd of April 1941, when his last words to his Barrister, Sean McBride, had been 'I rely on you to clear my name. I have no confession to make only I did not do it'. Mr. Dalton said as a young lad sitting at the fire he had heard a conversation between his father and a Garda, The Garda had mentioned briefly something about the time of the murder and Mr. Dalton's father had replied 'that man was innocent'.

The Hall of Fame recipient said there had been many debates in the years that followed and in approximately 1978 Liam O'Duibhir had made contact with him. Mr. O'Duibhir asked if he knew much about Harry Gleeson and Mr. Dalton told him about his father's firm conviction that he was innocent. He stated that he had taken a deeper interest from then on.

He recalled the late William O'Connor who had given hours teasing out the finer points of the case. When, he said, he had shown Mr. O'Connor the Firearms Register Bill had written his own account of the trial, 'The Farsical Trial of Harry Gleeson'.

"I spoke at length with Sean McBride. He was convinced of Harry Gleeson's innocence. Michael Leamy of Cashel had told me about the Firearms Register and when I located it I was amazed it had survived. Marcus deBurca deserves praise for his balanced account, 'Murder at Marlhill'".

Dr. Willie Nolan had published this book.

Mr. Dalton said Marcus de Burca had made a big case to re-open the case with three Ministers for Justice and in January 2012 Bernadette O'Gorman had given a lengthy phone in to Tipp FM. Listening to this had been a distant Gleeson cousin Ollie Delaney, who had contacted his brother Sean. He asked for a round of applause for Bernadette O'Gorman as had she not pursued the matter at every opportunity he doubted if the case would have been pursued much further.

He also singled out for praise the Justice for Harry Gleeson Group..

He thanked Dr. Michael Casey for proposing him for the Hall of Fame award and the Tipperary Association Dublin for granting it. "This is not just to me but to all the people down the years, about 30 people, who gave their time and dedication to my questions and queries on the case."

He mentioned in particular the late John Timmoney, Solicitor for Harry Glesson, who had worked against desperate odds but "they were blocked at every opportunity", he said.

He also recalled how the Tipperary Association had collected over 500 signatures which Bernadette O'Gorman had deposited in the County Library in Thurles. Mr. Dalton also praised the Irish Innocence Project, who had pursued the case, and former Minister Tom Hayes.

He added that the campaign had not completely ended as they still wanted to repatriate the body of Harry Gleeson. "Hopefully this tonight will achieve that final act".

He was presented with his award by Mr. Liam Ahearn of the Palace Bar, sponsors of the prize.
[May 08, 2017] Growing Markets for Air Quality Monitors: China, North America, Europe and Developing Markets

LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights

 The global market for air quality monitors reached $3.5 billion in 2015. This market is expected to increase from $3.8 billion in 2016 to nearly $5.9 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% for 2016-2021.





Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4887118/





 Outdoor air quality monitors market is expected to grow from nearly $1.3 billion in 2016 to $2.1 billion at a CAGR of 10.7% from 2016 through 2021.

 Indoor air quality monitors market is expected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2016 to $3.7 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2016 through 2021.



Study Goals and Objectives

The objective of this report  Growing Markets for Air Quality Monitors: China, North America, Europe and Developing Markets  is to discuss the changes and new developments in the air quality monitoring technologies market and the opportunities for various stakeholders. The report forecasts market demand from 2016 through 2021 with historical data for 2015, with the goal of understanding various growth drivers, key trends, growing segments and technologies.



Reasons for Doing This Study

BCC Research is publishing this study because it has identified air quality monitoring technologies as a growing market that presents strong growth opportunities for all stakeholders. The market is dynamic and growing with new developments and adoption from new industries and sectors.



Scope of Report

BCC Research defines air quality monitors as equipment used to monitor, quantify and determine the quality of outdoor and indoor air in various places, including households. Air quality monitors determine a range of air pollutants in the air, such as various poisonous and harmful gases, pollen, dust, smoke, etc. Air quality monitors determine all types of air pollutions, namely, chemical pollution, biological pollution and physical pollution. These devices are extensively used by government and related institutions to measure any violations in air quality and pollution in various installations, as well as used to measure general outdoor air quality.



Air quality monitoring can be autonomous (continuous) monitoring or manual monitoring. In both processes, pollution and air quality sensors are installed in order to record air quality and provide measurable output, which precisely indicates the amount of pollutants in the air, as well as general composition/quality of the sampled air.



Air quality monitoring devices consist of hardware (sensors) as well as software that analyze data that is compared to a pre-populated database. An extension of air quality monitoring is analytics, in which software analyzes the air quality from various regions on earth in order to create a detailed map for comparing air quality (and pollution) around the globe.



To calculate and segment the market, we have mainly considered air quality monitoring hardware (sensors and overall devices). However, the report also considered associated software revenue, as well as companies that may not be sensor manufacturers, but market air quality monitoring products as their own by incorporating sensors from other manufacturers. The calculation also considers services revenue from the air quality monitoring technology/device providers.



However, stand-alone software (such as analytics software) that is sold separately from the air quality monitoring device/hardware is beyond the scope of this report. Other categories not investigated by this report include after-market software, hardware and services (including services which do not directly relate to air quality monitoring, such as education, consulting, training, etc.) and air quality control equipment.



The report begins by introducing the reader to how the market for air quality monitoring techologies has evolved over time and how various factors are impacting the sector.







Building on that understanding, the report proceeds to identify the following factors:

 Primary forces with a direct impact on the air quality monitoring technologies markets.

 Secondary forces that have an indirect impact.

 Key funding and financing in this space, which are particularly supportive for new entrants.

 Some key challenges that may hinder market growth.

 Key visible trends.

 Top applications of air quality monitoring technologies, along with leading air quality monitoring technology segments.

 Demand in the North America , Europe , the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC) and South America for air quality monitoring products.



Information Sources

BCC Research studied more than 100 companies to obtain data for this report. The companies range from air quality monitoring technology providers and end users of air quality monitors (e.g., environmental companies, governments, etc.) to air quality monitoring and related software providers. Studies prepared for peer-reviewed professional literature and reports by technical experts were also investigated. Other data came from scientific and technical conferences, presentations prepared by the companies and associates, press releases, annual reports, white papers, investor webinars and government sources that are publicly available.





Methodology

To undertake this forecast, BCC Research analyzed the markets for related technologies and products (products and solutions that are related to the air quality monitoring technologies market), as available in the product literature and catalogs and forward-looking statements made by public companies. Press releases, innovations and research and development papers, white papers and presentations were also consulted as well as data from other independent sources.



BCC Research used a dual approach to forecast and estimate the values for the air quality monitoring market.



Firstly, BCC Research analyzed spending by various key air quality monitoring providers and users. Global, regional and sector-specific air quality monitoring technology spending was analyzed. Further, other factors, such as the overall increase in adoption of air quality monitors were also analyzed. To arrive at the final figures, BCC Research also estimated the overall budget allocation to air quality monitoring technology products, and the forecast spending and allocation of air quality monitoring technologies by major companies around the world.



Secondly, BCC Research created a detailed survey and collected opinions from industry and domain experts, company executives and others with strong knowledge in the space to provide a qualitative assessment of the trends in the market. Along with the qualitative data, the survey also indicated some quantitative data sets and figures.



The final values were obtained through a combination of the above methods. Compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) were calculated by assigning the appropriate weight to various markets (e.g. air quality monitoring sensors) that broadly impact the air quality monitoring technologies markets. Calculations were performed using the company growth that occurred in this space over the past five to 10 years, along with other factors, such as growth in budget allocation to air quality monitoring technologies, growth of air quality monitors in the past and by analyzing the relationship between sectoral growth and rising demand for air quality monitors in the past.



Estimated values are based on manufacturers' total revenues.



Geographic Breakdown

In this report, the geographic regions considered for market analysis include, and only include:

North America

 United States

 Mexico

 Canada



EMEA

 Germany

 France

 U.K.



APAC

 China

 India

 South Korea Rest of the World



Summary and Highlights

This BCC Research report examines the changing and evolving air quality monitoring market. The analysis includes a detailed survey of new organizations (innovators) in the sector as well as existing organizations. At the industry level, BCC Research identifies, examines, describes and provides global and regional market sizes for 2015 and forecasts demand from 2016 through 2021.



While there is a wide range of companies operating in the market, the players can be broadly classified as follows:

 Sensor technology providers and manufacturers.

 Air quality monitoring hardware and software providers.

 Air quality monitoring device manufacturers.

 Air quality monitoring operators and service providers.



North America , and particularly the U.S., is the most prominent user of air quality monitors. North America is followed by EMEA, APAC and South America . However, APAC and South America (the developing regions) are witnessing the strongest growth in terms of the adoption of air quality monitoring products. Due to the initial high price (high implementation cost), air quality monitoring products still have a low penetration in most underdeveloped regions.



BCC Research's analysis of the market has identified the following key points:

 Global demand for air quality monitoring market was valued at $3.5 billion in 2015.

 Global demand is expected to increase from $3.8 billion in 2016 to $5.9 billion in 2021.

 Total geographical and technology-wide compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is projected to be 8.8% over the forecast period of 2016 through 2021, indicating strong growth.



BCC Research estimates that while the overall market is witnessing strong growth, the outdoor air quality monitoring market will lead both categories, following a rise in market share from 33.1% in 2015 to 33.6% in 2016 and 36.6% in 2021.



BCC Research has identified the following key market drivers:

 Increasing stringent government regulations and guidelines.

 Ever-increasing air pollution and rising concern among government and the general population.

 Growing number of deaths due to air pollution.

 Increasingly adverse environmental affects due to air pollution.

 Increasing availability of air quality monitoring devices.



Of these drivers, BCC Research identified increasing stringent government regulations and ever- increasing air pollution to be the strongest drivers. However, all of the drivers are expected to have a strong impact towards the growth of this market.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4887118/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/growing-markets-for-air-quality-monitors-china-north-america-europe-and-developing-markets-300453665.html SOURCE ReportBuyer

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] JobTech(TM) Records 40% Increase in Singapore Banking & Finance Sector Online Job Postings in 1Q 2017

- In addition, JobTechTM provides analysis of the top skills sought by Singapore's Banking & Finance sector. SINGAPORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JobTechTM's job monitoring technology recorded an increase of more than 800 unique1 online job postings in the Singapore Banking & Finance sector in 1Q 2017; over the 2,000 unique Banking & Finance sector online job postings captured in 4Q 2016. This represents a more than 40% increase 2 in online job postings when 1Q 2017 is compared with 4Q 2016. Looking at the average number of unique job postings per month, 1Q 2017 recorded slightly over 950 online job postings per month while 4Q 2016 recorded slightly over 650 online job postings per month, on average. While there is a possible seasonal effect due to hiring patterns in the beginning of the calendar year over the end of the calendar year; a negative signal was also observed from the number of online job postings from January to March 2017 for the Banking & Finance sector, with March recording the lowest number of online job postings in the first quarter of 2017. In addition, JobTechTM has identified the most sought-after skills by employers in the Banking & Finance sector in Singapore. Refer to Annex I for details of skill mentions in the job descriptions. TOP SKILLS SOUGHT BY ALL 3 ONLINE JOB POSTINGS IN THE SINGAPORE BANKING & FINANCE SECTOR IN 1Q 2017







Rank Technical skills

Rank Soft Skills/ Traits

Rank Domain Knowledge4 1 Microsoft Office

1 Communication

1 Protocols 2 Sales

2 Interpersonal

2 IT and Business 3 Planning

3 Responsible

3 Science and Technology 4 Analysis

4 Team Player

4 Finance 5 Liaison

5 Meticulous

5 Investment

In general, across the entire Banking & Finance sector, we see at least 20% of the online job postings seeking candidates with skills such as: proficiency in Microsoft Office, Sales, Communication Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Understanding of Technical Protocols and Good Practices. In addition, JobTech also noted the emergence of 10 additional domain knowledge areas and 16 additional technical skills that showed up in the 1Q 2017 listing. Some of the emerging domain knowledge areas sought by employers included: Robot Operating System, Relational Database, Safety Compliance, Business Operations, and System Engineering. For the emerging technical skills sought-after by technology jobs in the Banking and Finance sector, the list included: VSphere, Eclipse, RedHat, Apache Struts, and Phishing. Refer to Annex II for the top skills sought-after by technology jobs in the Banking & Finance sector. JobTechTM will continue to provide flash reports covering different sectors in Singapore, with a focus on highly sought-after skills and labor market trends. In this regard, JobTechTM is using its Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence capabilities to provide visibility and analysis of the online jobs market in Singapore to support companies and decision makers there. For more information on the full version of JobTechTM Analytics Reports (Quarterly Sector Reports), please visit http://analytics.jobtech.sg/ for more information. For further information, please contact:

Ms. Charlotte Lim

JobTechTM Co-founder

Tel: +65 6908-7642

Email: [email protected] About JobTechTM

JobTechTM is an Artificial Intelligence, Deep Machine Learning technology platform that was developed to provide complete and accurate visibility of any online jobs market around the world. In Singapore, the technology is able to track and analyse more than 90% of the online jobs in Singapore. The platform is built on deep technology that was developed by the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). JobTechTM is a 6-month old start-up incubated by Economic Development Innovations Singapore (EDIS) Pte Ltd, a privately-owned international economic development company that is headquartered in Singapore, with overseas offices in the US and Germany. EDIS provides strategic advice and undertakes the development and management of integrated industrial parks. The EDIS management team comprises veterans who led more than 15 successful township and industrial park developments in Asia -- cumulatively creating 1 million high value jobs and attracting more than US$20 billion of dollars of foreign direct investment to the selected locations. EDIS works with governments and global investors to leverage Singapore's development experience for the benefit of other countries. ANNEX I TOP SKILLS SOUGHT BY ALL ONLINE JOB POSTINGS IN THE SINGAPORE BANKING & FINANCE SECTOR IN 1Q 2017 Rank Technical skills

Rank Soft Skills/ Traits

Rank Domain Knowledge 1 Microsoft Office

1 Communication

1 Protocols 2 Sales

2 Interpersonal

2 IT and Business 3 Planning

3 Responsible

3 Science and Technology 4 Analysis

4 Team Player

4 Finance 5 Liaison

5 Meticulous

5 Investment Examples of skill mentions in job descriptions: Skills Job Title Job Description Microsoft Office Finance Officer Good computer skills, in particular with Microsoft Office Sales Chief Marketing Officer Having sales background and the ability to oversee sales strategy and deliverables is an added advantage Analysis Executive Assistant Outstanding organizational, multitasking and analytical skills with the ability to prioritize and handle multiple projects simultaneously Planning HR Specialist Execute the performance management process, which includes objective setting, development planning and quarterly/annual performance reviews Liaison Account Manager Assist with project management, site meetings, and client liaison whenever necessary Communication Account Manager Excellent communication, presentation and negotiation skills Responsible Native translator  Loving in language work, strong sense of responsibility, self-motivated, strong teamwork skills Team Player Customer Service Officer A team player who thrives in a fast paced Interpersonal Global Procurement Officer Strong interpersonal skills with ability to influence strategic direction Independent Presales Consultant Excellent communication and presentation skills. Innovative and independent Meticulous Sales Support Manager A meticulous person with an eye of accuracy Possess a strong sense of responsibilities IT and Business Account Manager Strong professional relationships with key IT and business executives Science and Technology IT Specialist Passionate for Information Technology and have the drive to work Finance Solution Architect Experience in Implementing Finance, Supply Chain Management module Investment Presales Manager Assist the growth of the clients' business through ensuring continuous investment Protocols Corporate Solution Operations Manager Good knowledge of DNS troubleshooting and Internet email protocols (MTA, POP, IMAP, SMTP), web services including Apache, Tomcat and Secure remote access protocol ANNEX II The top 5 most sought-after technical skills , soft skills/ traits and domain knowledge in the Banking & Finance sector were identified and ranked based on the number of unique online job postings that employers were seeking during the period from 1st January 2017 -- 31st March 2017, 1Q 2017. With the increasing role and application of technology in the workplace, JobTechTM offers a deeper analysis of skill requirements for technology jobs in the Singapore Banking & Finance sector. TOP SKILLS SOUGHT BY TECHNOLOGY JOBS IN THE SINGAPORE Banking & Finance SECTOR IN 1Q 2017 Rank Technical skills Change in Demand5 (% of All Unique Online Job Postings In Banking & Finance) 1 Computer Skills 0.57% 2 Technical Design 1.62% 3 Package 0.52% 4 Programming 1.23% 5 Agile 0.79% Rank Soft Skills/ Traits Change in Demand (% of All Unique Job Online Postings In Banking & Finance) 1 Communication 1.17% 2 Strategic 0.83% 3 Dynamic 0.32% 4 Competitive 0.46% 5 Resilient 0.70% Rank Domain Knowledge Change in Demand (% of All Unique Online Job Postings In Banking & Finance) 1 Science and Technology 1.39% 2 Infrastructure 0.79% 3 IT and Business 0.69% 4 Software 0.52% 5 Computer Science 1.00% For domain knowledge areas, the collective average change in demand is 0.88%. The relative ranking of the top 5 domain knowledge areas required remains largely the same, with the exception of Protocols, previously ranked 5th in the 4Q 2016 list, being replaced by Computer Science according to the 1Q 2017 data. Overall the Banking and Finance sector is seeing an increase in both the total number of online job postings and the number of online job postings which demand the skills in the top 5 skills lists for 1Q 2017. There are nonetheless a total of 16 additions to the technical skills and 10 additions to the domain knowledge lists. Some of the emerging technical skills sought-after by employers included: VSphere, Eclipse, RedHat, Apache Struts, Phishing and more. For the emerging domain knowledge sought-after by technology jobs in the Banking & Finance sector, the list included: Robot Operating System, Relational Database, Safety Compliance, Business Operations, System Engineering and more. More detailed information can be found in JobTechTM's Quarterly Sector Reports. 1 Duplicate online job postings are detected and sifted out by JobTechTM's proprietary natural language and text analytics technology which analyses the text in online job postings across multiple portals with over 95% accuracy.

2 The percentage reported here has not been adjusted for seasonality, the computation here is done based on consecutive quarterly data (4Q 2016 versus 1Q 2017).

3 This refers to online job postings in JobTechTM's database for the Banking & Finance sector.

4 Domain Knowledge refers to knowledge of a certain subject/specialized field that allows an individual to be proficient at applying their understanding to accomplish work-related tasks.

5 Change in demand reported here reflects quarter-on-quarter change in the number of online job postings that demand for a particular skill which fall within the top 5 lists of each skill category (technical skills, soft skills/ traits, domain knowledge).

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017]

McKesson Canada Introduces Enhanced Version of its PACMED Core Solutions to Deliver Market-Leading Solutions

QUEBEC, May 9, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - McKesson Canada, a leading supplier of automation equipment and technology solutions to Canadian hospital and retail pharmacies, today announced significant enhancements to its PACMED Core software platform. These changes support customers, improve the efficiency of compliance packaging for patients, advance packaging accuracy, and further enhance pharmacy workflow. McKesson Canada is the exclusive distributor of PACMED and PACVision in Canada to hospital and retail pharmacies.

"McKesson Canada has developed a unique network of services, that enable us to provide hospital and retail pharmacies with a comprehensive automation offering that improves their ability to est serve patients'', said Jean-Philippe Blouin, Vice President Technology Solutions at McKesson Canada.







In addition to PACMED and PACVision, McKesson Canada provides other automation products that improve efficiency and effectiveness of medication therapy including: AccuCount, BlistAssistTM, Parata Max, Parata Mini, RxSafe and VBM.

From product design to the sales process, through installation and on to ongoing customer support, McKesson Canada is committed to providing the best possible customer experience, while improving patient care and safety through innovative solutions.

About McKesson Canada

Founded more than 100 years ago, McKesson Canada is dedicated to delivering vital medicines, supplies and information technologies that enable the health care industry to provide patients better, safer care. Our solutions empower pharmacies, manufacturers, hospitals and other health care institutions by enabling them to get closer to the millions of patients they serve every single day, while contributing to the quality and safety of care in Canada. For more information: www.mckesson.ca.

SOURCE MCKESSON CANADA
[May 08, 2017] Finalists of the 2017 'IFS Partner of the Year' Awards Revealed

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS, the global enterprise applications company, is pleased to present the finalists of the second annual IFS Partner of the Year Awards that recognize outstanding partner achievements across seven prestigious categories. Designed to commend partners for their continued commitment to excellence within the IFS partner ecosystem, the IFS Partner of the Year Awards provide a platform for inspiring partners to continue their dedication to the IFS Partner Program and IFS customers by receiving recognition for their achievements. The IFS Partner of the Year Awards recognize outstanding partner achievements across seven prestigious categories, including three self-nomination awards, three merit-based awards, and a Customer's Choice award. Winners will be further recognized on Monday, July 10,2017. "The IFS Partner of the Year Awards were launched to recognize and celebrate the remarkable work that our partners are delivering across the globe, and we are excited to once again see a high volume of exceptional nominations for all categories of this annual event," said IFS Vice President of Global Alliances, David Eager. "On behalf of IFS, I would like to recognize and congratulate our finalists for this achievement, as well as thank all partners who took the time to participate in this year's awards." The following companies have been shortlisted as finalists of the IFS Partner of the Year Awards: IFS Channel Partner of the Year Curit ApS

NEC

NovaCura AB

NS Solutions Corporation IFS Customer's Choice Partner of the Year Altec a.s.

Cedar Bay

Eqeep

Nayo Technologies IFS Innovative Partner of the Year Americas ClickLearn ApS.

DSI

Logicalis

Nayo Technologies Asia Pacific Infosys Ltd.

IFS Solutions Indonesia

Tech Mahindra EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Addovation

Cedar Bay

DinERP

Ilias Solutions IFS New Partner of the Year Envecon

Gogh Solutions

The Marsden Group

MASS IFS Services Partner of the Year Enterprise Accenture

Infosys Ltd.

ProV International

Tech Mahindra Mid-Market Altec a.s.

Cooper Software

Enterprise Consulting

Eqeep IFS Software Partner of the Year AEB GmbH

Cedar Bay

ClickLearn ApS.

Radley Corporation IFS Technology Partner of the Year 2Conciliate Business Solutions

ESRI

Microsoft

Oracle About our partners For more information about the IFS Partner Network, please visit: www.ifsworld.com/corp/partners CONTACT: Laura Zadravetz, Director of Marketing Communications, IFS North America. Phone: 1 (262) 717-6591, [email protected] Chuck Rathmann, Marketing Communications Analyst, IFS North America.Phone: 1 (262) 317-7419, [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com The following files are available for download:







http://mb.cision.com/Public/855/2260575/bb2b3e1370b7bfb6_org.jpg PartnerAwards2017

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/finalists-of-the-2017-ifs-partner-of-the-year-awards-revealed-300453568.html SOURCE IFS

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Pandas of Mathura burned effigies of CM Yogi Adityanath for calling them anti-social elements who needed to be brought in check.

Pandas of Mathura burned effigies of CM Yogi Adityanath for calling them anti-social elements who needed to be brought in check. (File Photo)

By Siraj Qureshi: Angry Hindu priests of Mathura-Vrindavan known as 'Pandas' are demanding an apology from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his statement calling the Agra 'Lapkas' and Mathura 'Pandas' anti-social elements who needed to be brought in check.

The chief minister made his comments during a visit to Agra this week.

Pandas of Mathura burned effigies of CM Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday and expressed strong opposition against any government move to control their hereditary profession. The priests demanded an apology from Adityanath for making the Pandas look like anti-social elements in his statement.

advertisement

Talking to India Today, Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber Secretary Vishal Sharma said the word 'Lapka', however derogatory it may seem to outsiders, is a term used for unregistered salesmen and hawkers active in Agra. They try to pick up tourists as they arrive in Agra and get them to buy services and handicrafts, which are notoriously overpriced and sometimes highly substandard. The products also include a hefty commission from the service provider or handicrafts business to the so-called 'Lapkas'.

Of late, Lapkas have become highly notorious for harassing tourists, which can tarnish the image of not just Agra, but the whole nation, before tourists.

The Mathura Pandas, however, are indulged in a hereditary profession of providing assistance to Hindus in conducting religious rites in the ancient city of Lord Krishna, argued Sharma. Although the forcefully coercive practices of the Pandas may appear somewhat like the 'Lapkas' of Agra, it was still a religious matter and the Chief Minister could have done well by avoiding a comparison between the two, he said.

The Akhil Bhartiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha held a protest in Mahavan, Mathura on Tuesday and burned an effigy of Adityanath. Purohit Mahasabha National Vice President Naveen Nagar said the statement by CM Yogi was highly insulting to the entire Panda community and demanded that the government change its decision to interfere in their activities.

He said that the Pandas do not harass devotees and merely follow a tradition prevelant for centuries, and that they have even been mentioned in the documents related to Shivaji.

Nagar said that if the CM does not take back his decision by May 10, the Panda community will hold a nation-wide protest against him and show its unity by not voting for the Bhartitya Janata Party in the 2019 parliamentary elections. He said Brahmins are already devoid of any form of reservation and are barely earning their livelihood through religious activities.

"Now CM Yogi wants to snatch away the only means of livelihood from Brahmins -- on which they have a birthright since the civilization began -- and this will not be accepted at any cost," he said.

Social activist Rajkumar Nagrath said the Panda community should support chief minister Yogi's step as it will only serve to improve the image of the Panda community in Mathura-Vrindavan and elsewhere, in the long term.

advertisement

--- ENDS ---
[May 08, 2017] Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Announces That a Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against KBR, Inc. (KBR) and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm

Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) securities between February 26, 2016 and April 27, 2017 (the "Class Period"). Investors have until July 3, 2017 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that KBR's United Kingdom subsidiaries had violated applicable bribery and corruption laws. Consequently, KBR's public statements were materially false and misleading throughout the Class Period. On April 28, 2017, the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office stated that it has opened an investigation into the activities of KBR's United Kingdom subsidiaries, their officers, employees, and agents for suspected offenses of bribery and corruption. Following this news, KBR shares fell $1.43 per share, or 9.24%, t close at $14.05 on April 28, 2017.



If you purchased or otherwise acquired KBR securities during the Class Period or continue to hold shares purchased prior to the Class Period, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at [email protected], or telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a New York-based law firm concentrating in commercial and securities litigation. For additional information concerning the KBR lawsuit, please go to www.bespc.com/kbr-inc. For additional information about Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., please go to www.bespc.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170508006495/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] PPE Market for Women - Top Market Drivers and Forecasts by Technavio

Technavio market research analysts forecast the global personal protective equipment (PPE) market for women 2017-2021 to grow at a CAGR of more than 8% 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/20170508006270/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the global personal protective equipment market for women from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) The market study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global PPE market for women. The report also lists protective clothing, head, eye and face protection, hand and arm protection, foot and leg protection, respiratory protection, hearing protection, and fall protection, as the seven major product segments. According to Neelesh Prakash Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for power research, "The market for PPE for women will see a steady growth during the forecast period, owing to the growth of the women workforce in various industries worldwide. For instance, emerging economies such as Bangladesh are encouraging female participation in the workforce." 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 analysts highlight the following three market drivers that are contributing to the growth of the global PPE market for women: Rise in women workforce

Increase in initiatives by regulatory bodies for PPE for women

Strngent regulatory framework



Rise in women workforce Across various industries such as manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and mining, there is a significant increase in the number of women employees. For instance, during 2015, the number of women workforce in the US was 46.8% of the total laborers employed across various industries. With the growth of women in the industrial sector, there is an increase in the demand for PPE for women.

Vendors are focusing on providing PPE products that are ergonomically suitable for women. They manufacture equipment specially designed for women, bearing in mind the required size and fit. The rise in women workforce is a key driver of the global PPE market for women. Increase in initiatives by regulatory bodies for PPE for women Owing to the global growth of the women workforce, initiatives are being undertaken by various regulatory bodies to increase awareness about the importance of PPE for women across various industries. For instance, the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) is working closely with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide information and education about the PPE designed especially for women, in terms of style, design, and size. "With such initiatives undertaken by various regulatory bodies, the demand for PPE for women is likely to increase. The appropriate use and education provided to women by these bodies will propel the correct use of PPE," says Neelesh. Stringent regulatory framework The rise in the number of occupational injuries and fatalities has forced the governments worldwide to enforce stringent regulations for worker safety. Safe workplaces can be created by proper risk management and preventive solutions. Worldwide, around 84% of employees who sustain a head injury at the workplace do not wear head protection, and 50% of construction workers suffer from a serious eye injury. These workplace injuries have resulted in stringent workplace regulations that have contributed to increased adoption of PPE. In 1970, the US government passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act for laborers that ensure the provision of a safe and healthy work environment. The implementation of this act led to the formation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA ensures that safety standards are implemented in the workplace and employers work toward reducing worker injuries. OSHA also provides a portal for worker's safety where they can register any complaints related to their safety issues. Moreover, it ensures that employers bear the cost of PPE. Browse Related Reports: Global Traffic Safety Equipment Market 2017-2021

Global Nuclear Control Rods Market 2017-2021

Global Recreational Safety Harness Market 2017-2021 Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like oil and gas, energy storage, and smart grid. 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 [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170508006270/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] First Data to Power Alipay in North America

More than 450 million people globally use Alipay to pay for goods and services at home and abroad. First Data (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, and Alipay, one of the world's leading online payment platforms, today announced that North American businesses will be able to accept the mobile payment service and expand Alipay's already significant business base. First Data will implement Alipay at the point-of-sale for its four million U.S. business clients. The rollout will begin with First Data's clients that use the Clover suite of solutions. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170508006546/en/ "As Alipay's popularity continues to spread beyond China, we are thrilled that Alipay chose First Data to support its acceptance for American businesses of all sizes," said Frank Bisignano, Chairman and CEO, First Data. "Through this agreement, we will be able to offer our unparalleled network of business clients a cutting-edge payment solution." "Our goal is to extend reliable payment services to the over four million Chinese consumers that visit North America every year," said Souheil Badran, President, Alipay North America. "Extending our partnership with a premier partner like First Data provides the merchats with a seamless integration and access to consumers who want to continue paying with their lifestyle mobile app."



With more than 450 million global active users, Alipay is the world's largest online and mobile payment platform, and has emerged as a lifestyle enabler. In addition to online payments and money transfers, users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, and make doctors' appointments directly from within the app. Alipay is expanding to in-store, offline payments at brick-and-mortar stores across the globe, and this new partnership with First Data will provide more North American merchants and retailers the ability to accept payments from millions of overseas customers who already know and trust the platform. As part of the agreement, Alipay transactions will be routed through Acculynk, First Data's recently-acquired technology company that provides innovative debit routing solutions. During the Alipay transaction, Acculynk will tokenize the Alipay QR code for settlement.

"With the help of Acculynk's gateway technology, First Data will be able to quickly implement Alipay for its large client base, so businesses can start accepting Alipay transactions in a seamless manner," said Ashish Bahl, founder and CEO of Acculynk. "Through its role as the world's largest merchant acquirer, First Data will be the first to offer Alipay at the point-of-sale in a scalable manner for North America businesses." This new collaboration enhances the existing relationship between First Data and Alipay. In 2016, the two companies successfully piloted the implementation of the Alipay mobile payment solution in select high-end and specialty retail locations in California and New York. Today marks the next step in Alipay's North America expansion. About First Data First Data (NYSE: FDC) is a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, serving approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. The company's 24,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping companies, from start-ups to the world's largest corporations, conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than 2,800 transactions per second and $2.2 trillion per year. About Alipay Alipay is the world's largest third-party payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, with over 450 million active users and 200 financial institution partners. In addition to online shopping payments, money transfer, and utility bill payments, Alipay is expanding to offline payments. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets and even enjoy a full-scale of wealth management services directly from within the app. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170508006546/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] IMPORTANT SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Lundin Law PC Announces Securities Class Action Lawsuit against Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Encourages Investors with Losses to Contact the Firm

Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ("Anadarko" or the "Company") (NYSE: APC (News - Alert)) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between February 17, 2016 through May 2, 2017 inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period should contact the firm in advance of the July 3, 2017 lead plaintiff motion deadline. To participate in this class action lawsuit, b>click here.



You can also call Brian Lundin, Esquire, of Lundin Law PC, at 888-713-1033, or e-mail him at [email protected]. No class has been certified in the above action yet. Until a class is certified, you are not considered represented by an attorney. You may also choose to do nothing and be an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Anadarko made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: that the Company's maintenance and safety protocols concerning certain of its vertical wells were inadequate; that due to those shortcomings, these wells were at an increased risk of explosion; and that as a result of the above, Anadarko's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On April 17, 2017, a deadly explosion killed two people and critically injured another in a home located within 170 feet of an Anadarko well. On April 26, 2017, The Denver Post reported that the Company "plans to shut down 3,000 vertical wells in northeastern Colorado" following the April 17 explosion. On May 2, 2017, the Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District concluded that the fatal home explosion on April 17 was linked to a faulty gas line connected to an Anadarko well. Upon release of this news, Anadarko shares fell in value materially, which caused investors harm. Lundin Law PC was established by Brian Lundin, a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders' rights. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170508006548/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] Cloudbric Announces Partnership with Tsukaeru to Accelerate the Delivery of Web Application Firewall (WAF) to Web Hosting Providers and Infrastructure Providers

TOKYO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudbric has expanded its comprehensive security service offerings to Japan in a partnership with Tsukaeru, a major Japanese cloud-computing service and server hosting solutions provider. With Japan ranked second among the top markets for global cloud services, currently there is a rising demand for cloud-based WAF solutions. Web applications and data are among the most valuable assets to all businesses, and as a result, the rapidly-changing, sophisticated threat landscape of the web is prompting more and more businesses to adopt WAF solutions in Japan. Cloudbric and Tsukaeru will join forces to address the cybersecurity needs in Japan and beyond the APAC region. While the current cyber security market offers a wide range of solutions and services like WAF, Cloudbric does more than block against the OWASP Top 10 threats. Unlike traditional WAFs, Cloudbric utilizes a logic-based detection engine which is comprised of 26 preset security policies that can intelligently recognize and block both unknown and known web attacks. Furthermore, Cloudbric's easy-to-manage security service equipped with an intuitive dashboard and quality customer service sets it apart from its competitors. Cloudbric's mission is to introduce a security service that makes it easier for businesses and individuals to protect their websites without compromising productivity. Through this partnershipCloudbric and Tsukaeru will be able to grow their customer base by offering a comprehensive suite of security services to a diverse range of providers in the IT field including web hosting providers, infrastructure providers, and other cloud or on-premise solution providers through flexible partnership opportunities and customized plans.



"We are excited to offer Tsukaeru Waffle powered by Cloudbric with its proven record in intrusion detection technology, into the Japanese and greater Asian market. Tsukaeru takes pride in its ability to provide superior, cost-effective services, and we expect the service to be greatly accepted by our customers and partners," said Jason Frisch, President & CEO of Tsukaeru. "To holistically address the emerging threats in IT, implementing a precise and trusted WAF is a must. We partnered with Tsukaeru because they share our commitment in providing a level of website and data security that is advanced, yet readily available to the masses. Businesses are recognizing the need for security, and we are excited to play an important role in delivering a much-needed web security solution with our partners. As a growing global service, we hope this partnership sets the standards for service providers," said TJ Jung, VP of Product & Technology for Cloudbric.

About Cloudbric Cloudbric is a cloud-based web security service, offering an award-winning WAF, DDoS protection, and SSL, all in a full-service package. Utilizing Penta Security Systems' patented Logic Analysis Engine to filter malicious website traffic with proven precision, Cloudbric delivers lower false positives than any industry competitor. Visit www.cloudbric.com for more information and send direct partnership inquiries to [email protected]. About Tsukaeru

Since starting their cloud infrastructure business in 1999, Tsukaeru has constantly strived to provide their customers with high-performance and flexible services, unparalleled in the Japanese market. They have continued to grow in a competitive business environment by focusing on both infrastructure and business services. As suggested by their name, Tsukaeru seeks to continue providing services that are more user-friendly (Tsukaeru, in Japanese) for their customers in the future. Visit www.tsukaeru.net for more details. CONTACT: Karen Cruz

Office: (+82) 2-2125-6735

Email: [email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] Kiwontech Begins Providing AI-integrated Email Security Solution in Japan

SEOUL, South Korea, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kiwontech will soon provide its AI-integrated email security solution platform in Japan. On May 9, Kiwontech, a member company of the K-ICT Born2Global Centre, announced that it will launch its SCM GUARD platform this month, after having signed MOUs with Japanese IT companies Taiyo and i-Service in March. The value of the platform is expected to be USD 200,000 (JYP 23 million). Taiyo is a subsidiary of the global IT group NTT, and i-Service is a well-known IT solution company that has been in business for over 10 years. SCM GUARD, which was independently developed by Kiontech, is an email security solution that provides effective protection against social engineering hacking. It offers not only effective defense from APTs (advanced persistent threats) but also an easily customizable email service. The product's most distinctive feature is its firewall, which prevents APT attacks on a fundamental level by detecting any potentially dangerous elements in emails that arrive in the user's inbox and blocking the user from opening those emails.



Kiwontech CEO Dong-cheol Kim said, "SCM GUARD is capable of analyzing and screening various types of email-based threats with which existing email firewall services are unable to cope. It also enables the preliminary detection of emails with unusual characteristics (e.g. APT attacks, spear phishing). We believe that our product's ability to preemptively and intelligently screen malicious emails that appear to be sent from real email addresses will be particularly well received in Japan. Having joined forces with several renowned foreign corporations, we will do our very best to offer a top-quality AI email security platform overseas." Kiwontech also signed an MOU in April 2016 with the Vietnamese company VNetwork to launch SCM GUARD in Vietnam. Beginning in June, the company plans to release an AI-enabled email security platform service optimized for Southeast Asia. Kiwontech's ultimate goal is to launch its cutting-edge email security platform worldwide within the next three years.

RELATED LINKS http://www.kiwontech.com or https://www.born2global.com Contact Person: Jina Lee

Email: [email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170504/1842871-1

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] APAC Banks Say They Will Stop Doing Business with Suppliers that Fail Cybersecurity Audits

FICO Survey: Banks believe large retailers and telcos are most likely to be exposed to data breaches in 2017 SINGAPORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HIGHLIGHTS: In a FICO survey, three in four senior fraud managers at banks in Asia Pacific said they will stop doing business with suppliers that fail cybersecurity audits

at banks in said they will stop doing business with suppliers that fail cybersecurity audits Four in ten respondents from the survey said they currently conduct supplier audits, however this is expected to rise in the next year.

from the survey said they currently conduct supplier audits, however this is expected to rise in the next year. Large retailers were nominated as the greatest data breach risk (84%) in 2017, with telecommunications companies ranking second (70%)

as the greatest data breach risk in 2017, with ranking second Half of respondents reported their cybersecurity budget increased at least 10 to 25 percent over the last twelve months For more information: http://www.fico.com/en/products/fico-enterprise-security-scoring Banks across the Asia Pacific region will stop doing business with suppliers that fail cybersecurity audits, according to a recent poll by FICO. Three in four senior fraud managers surveyed said that they would be concerned enough to stop working with a partner, while another 16 percent said they weren't sure if they would continue working with them. Only 8 percent of fraud managers said they would definitely continue doing business. While the auditing of business partners and their security capabilities is a relatively new practise, four in ten respondents confirmed they were already actively engaged in the process. "We expect cybersecurity audits to become commonplace in 2017," said Dan McConaghy, president for FICO Asia-Pacific. "High profile fraud cases, such as the Bangladesh Bank heist where USD$81 million was stolen, illustrate the importance of banks running audits on their own networks as well as those of their partners. However, due to the complex ecosystem of relationships with other businesses that bans have we are seeing the audit tools evolve. While formal audits remain important, they can be lengthy, intrusive, and expensive. They also only offer a snapshot of the cybersecurity picture for a moment in time. We are seeing a need for monitoring tools that allow for ongoing assessment between these audits to strengthen the IT ecosystem and make a substantial impact on the cyber breach problem."



In October 2016, FICO announced the launch of its FICO Enterprise Security Score, a cybersecurity risk rating that subscribers can use to evaluate the risk of their own network and their business partners'. "The score was created by analyzing networks that have been victimized by a cyber-attack," explained McConaghy. "This allows FICO to understand the conditions and behaviors that are precursors to impactful security events. Company networks can then be measured against the indicators that are most predictive of an increase to the likelihood of a material data breach."

FICO's poll revealed that bankers nominated large retailers as the greatest data breach risk (84%) in 2017, with telecommunications companies ranking second (70%). These numbers were up significantly on last year's poll, showing some consensus on which industries remain the largest targets for cybercriminals. "E-commerce has created low hanging fruit in the form of vast stores of unprotected sensitive personal data that can be used to steal identities," explained McConaghy. "In Asia Pacific the problem is compounded by the huge growth in sales, poorly protected companies and a lack of disclosure." Respondents to the survey were anxious to prevent cybercrime at their banking institutions, with 65 percent saying that it will be their key focus in 2017. The biggest obstacle identified by the fraud executives in fighting cybercrime was that siloed operations prevented the flow of information and worked against a coordinated response. Nearly half of respondents identified cybercrime as having the largest potential financial impact on their organisations, and said they had already increased their cybersecurity budget at least 10 to 25 percent over the last 12 months. "APAC banks want to ensure that the digital economy will continue to thrive," said McConaghy. "FICO is bringing its proven self-learning analytics from payment card security over to protect the enterprise from unknown breaches in real time. In addition to protecting themselves, we'll see more banks initiate cybersecurity audits, and as they become more selective avoiding to do business with vendors and suppliers that return 'fail scores' on cybersecurity." The survey was conducted at the annual FICO Asia Pacific Fraud Forum held in Cebu, the Philippines. A total of 37 executives from financial institutions across the region participated in the survey. About FICO FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 170 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time. Learn more at http://www.fico.com Join the conversation on Twitter at @FICOnews_APAC FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/508916/FICO_APAC_Banks_Cybersecurity_Audits.jpg

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/450763/FICO_Logo.jpg

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children Launches Campaign to Eradicate the Business of Child Pornography in Asia-Pacific Region

"You Have the Power" Campaign Aimed at Financial and Technological Industries ALEXANDRIA, Virginia and SINGAPORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyberspace is home to more than one million images of children being subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation around the world. In order to defeat the illegal enterprise of child pornography, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) announced today a new digital awareness campaign focused on engaging the financial and technology industries across the Asia-Pacific region, encouraging them to take action to protect their systems from those who seek to sexually abuse and exploit children. Since ICMEC formed the Asia-Pacific Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography (APAC-FCACP) in 2009, it has become a prominent child protection force in the region, providing a platform for banks, credit card companies, electronic payments networks, online third-party payment systems, Internet companies, technology companies, social networking platforms, industry associations, law enforcement, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to share and maximize their skills, experience and determination to impede the efforts of those who seek to harm children. The objective of this new campaign is to inform the financial and technology institutions in the Asia-Pacific region about the illicit use of legitimate corporate platforms to facilitate the sale, purchase and dissemination of online child sexualabuse materials. ICMEC believes this campaign will spur action to address this pressing issue and to encourage industry to join the APAC-FCACP.



"By shining a light on this issue, we're educating people on the problems with online payment systems and how they can stop those who are profiting from child exploitation," said Ambassador Maura Harty, President and CEO of ICMEC. This campaign will officially kick off on Tuesday, May 9th and include a variety of digital media assets, including a compelling video, sharable social media posts with statistics and calls to action, and digital educational resource materials. Campaign messages will be shared by ICMEC and a host of other child protection partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Why Companies Should Participate

The APAC-FCACP encourages an ongoing dialogue between companies, law enforcement, NGOs, and government agencies to develop practical approaches and solutions. The benefits to companies include access to: valuable data/trends for monitoring internal systems; recommended tools and vendors that "crawl" the web for potential violations associated with a particular brand; enhanced dialogue with law enforcement; constructive channels of communication with other industries; and solid, real-time intelligence on where the business of child pornography is headed. As a first step, companies in the financial and technology sectors should ensure that their terms of service clearly state that a customer who trades or sells child pornography, or engages in other types of child sexual exploitation, will be removed from the service and reported to law enforcement whenever possible. These institutions have the power to help keep children safe. To learn more about ICMEC's campaign and how to defeat these illegal networks, please visit the website: Youhavethepower.icmec.org About ICMEC

The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children is a private 501(c)(3) non-governmental, nonprofit organization. For more than 16 years, ICMEC has been a leader in identifying gaps in the global community's ability to protect children from abduction, sexual abuse and exploitation, and expertly assembling the people, resources and tools needed to fill those gaps. ICMEC focuses on programs that have an impact on addressing the issues surrounding missing children, child abduction, child sexual abuse and exploitation. Media contacts:

Susan Kriskey, [email protected]

Marni Lane, [email protected]

Kriskey Lane Communications

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 08, 2017] EFY's India Electronics Week 2017 Achieves Grand Success

BENGALURU, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The EFY Group recently concluded its award winning annual event - India Electronics Week 2017. The show featured new-age technology in domains like electronics manufacturing, components, IoT, LEDs, Test & Measurement, etc., and was targeted at those who value technology. As compared to the 2016 show, this year, there were better quality and more relevant visitors, more conference delegates and more exhibitors. Seven co-located shows, 11+ conferences, 20+ workshops, 180+ exhibitors, 10,000+ visitors - these are just some of the figures that give an idea about IEW 2017. The other more interesting figures are: 200+ speakers, 3,200+ conference delegates, and over 30 per cent of visitors from outside Karnataka. Last but not the least, over 35 per cent attendees were first-time visitors to a technology expo. Ramesh Chopra, Executive Chairman of EFY Group, said, "I have always had this belief that the Indian technology fraternity has a lot to offer to the further development of the world-wide tech-industry. I feel that IEW holds a lot of importance for the industry as it brings all the industry stakeholders, international as well as Indian, under one roof. We have witnessed brilliant minds discussing mind-boggling technology through panel discussions and workshops, as well as on the expo floor. I am sure we will keep growing and getting better every year." A major highlight of the event was the CEO Summit on the theme 'The Roadmap for Enhancing Value Addition in Electronics Manufacturing', which was put together jointly with the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA). The program brought together delegates looking for new business opportunities in the ESDM sector across India. The chief guest at the summit was Sunil Kumar Barnwal, IAS (Secretary to the CM; Secretary, IT and e-governance; as well as Secretary, Industries, Mines and Geology, Jharkhand). Other eminent guests included S.K. Marwaha, Senior Director, MeitY, and Deepthi Ravula, Joint Director (Electronics and Semiconductors), government of Telangana. Another important highlight of IEW was the LED Lighting Summit. This summit was co-organised with ELCOMA, the apex body of lighting manufacturers in India. Experts from the LED industry and government bodies discussed various business and technology trends in this conference. The chief guest at this summit was N. Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) Shyam Sujan, Secretary General, ELCOMA, and D. Christopher, GM, ELCOMA, gave the welcome and the inaugural addresses, respectively, in the first session of this conference.



Top decision makers and technology professionals from across India and abroad attended the intriguing EFY technology conferences, which offered them learning and networking opportunities. "The show has been great this time. It was an exciting three-day here. We did come across a lot of manufacturers, suppliers, customers and IoT startups. We are enjoying the show a lot. The conferences were very informative. Overall it was a very good networking event," said Ranga Prasad M.A., Director, Semikart.

The EFY conferences included the following tracks: Analytics, Algorithms and AI: This track was all about Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is the next stage after IoT.

This track was all about Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is the next stage after IoT. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): The one area that sees the most activity in terms of directly implemented IoT deployments is IIoT or Industry 4.0.

The one area that sees the most activity in terms of directly implemented IoT deployments is IIoT or Industry 4.0. Smart Humans (Medical IoT): What if the highly scalable intelligence and control of IoT can be used to increase a person's life span and quality of life? That is what smart humans track explored.

What if the highly scalable intelligence and control of IoT can be used to increase a person's life span and quality of life? That is what smart humans track explored. Smart Homes and Cities: Smart cities and e-governance have the capability to completely revolutionise and improve our country. This track had talks that focused on e-governance, smart villages and much more.

Smart cities and e-governance have the capability to completely revolutionise and improve our country. This track had talks that focused on e-governance, smart villages and much more. Cyber security in IoT: What's more dangerous than machines that have the capability to think and control other machines? Its machines that can be hacked and controlled by malicious fringe elements. This track focused on how to prevent this.

What's more dangerous than machines that have the capability to think and control other machines? Its machines that can be hacked and controlled by malicious fringe elements. This track focused on how to prevent this. Profit from IoT: No business survives unless it figures out how to profit from its operations. This track looked at how IoT can improve efficiencies enough to increase profit margins.

No business survives unless it figures out how to profit from its operations. This track looked at how IoT can improve efficiencies enough to increase profit margins. Smart Automotive: Smart cars and connected vehicles have the potential to change transportation completely. This track looked at various technologies that are available as well as the products and services that can help those building solutions for this sector.

Smart cars and connected vehicles have the potential to change transportation completely. This track looked at various technologies that are available as well as the products and services that can help those building solutions for this sector. Electronics Rocks: Our ever popular event for design engineers was back with a treasure trove of 20+ amazing workshops. Networking programs such as the one-on-one Buyer-Seller Meet also generated huge interest and reported strong participation from big buyers looking to make technology purchases from our exhibitors. Shanaka Perera, Purchase Manager, Variosystems Pvt Ltd, said, "This is the fifth time I have participated in the EFY expo. Since the last five years we have been able to find a lot of good suppliers in India. Currently, we are working with about 20-25 global and Indian suppliers that we have connected with through EFY from product/service categories like metalsheet, connectors, ESD and cleanroom, etc. I hope to continue participating in this event from EFY to meet more suppliers and to learn new technologies." The next India Electronics Week will be held in February 2018 at BIEC, Bengaluru. About IEW India Electronics Week (IEW) is a week-long international event held in Bengaluru to promote the Indian electronics industry. It's a mega event, where the global electronics industry comes together in India. The main part of the IEW was held on March 2nd-4th, 2017, at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC). Seven events were held together under the banner of India Electronics Week. These were: - Electronics For You Expo (7th edition)

- Electronics Rocks (5th edition)

- Test & Measurement India (6th edition)

- LEDAsia.in (2nd edition)

- IoTshow.in (2nd edition)

- Raksha India (2nd edition)

- DIY Expo (1st edition) For more information about the trade fair, visit: IndiaElectronicsWeek.com. About Electronics For You The EFY Group's first magazine, Electronics For You, or EFY, was launched in January 1969, when the Indian electronics industry was still at a nascent stage. Today, it has grown into South Asia's most popular electronics magazine. In fact, EFY Group, which now owns a collection of media properties, has been named after this flagship brand. Media contact for EFY Group:

Shrikant Rao

Ph: +91-98111-55335

E-Mail: [email protected]



Debdatta Basu,

Manager Marketing,

EFY Enterprises Pvt Ltd.

[email protected]

+91-8447496924





[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Veritas Unveils New Software-Defined Storage for OpenStack

SINGAPORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Veritas, the leader in information management, announced today at OpenStack Summit, Veritas HyperScale for OpenStack, a new software-defined storage solution designed to maximize workload performance, lower operating costs and protect data in OpenStack-based cloud environments. As OpenStack gains traction as an open source platform for cloud infrastructures, some of its components are at vastly different stages of maturity. While enterprises and app developers enjoy the flexibility and agility the environment provides, storage management capabilities are not as advanced. As a result, organizations often face challenges with workload performance, reliability and efficiency as well as with storage optimization and data protection. Veritas HyperScale for OpenStack addresses these issues directly. HyperScale for OpenStack helps organizations realize the speed and economic benefits of deploying applications on OpenStack through predictable performance and storage quality of service (QoS). The software-defined storage solution leverages commodity hardware and includes integration for enterprise data protection. "Organizations look to open source platforms to drive innovation, while reducing complexity and cost," said Mike Palmer, executive vice president and chief product officer, Veritas. "Today's announcement helps customers achieve improved data management and protection independent of the hardware -- on-premises or in the cloud. This is critical for enterprise adoption of OpenStack." A key feature of HyperScale for OpenStack is a patent-pending dual-plane architecture that distributes storage functionality betwen separate compute and data planes. This separation increases performance while maintaining efficiency, allowing for data management tasks, performed at the data plane, to be decoupled from workload processing at the compute plane. Efficient use of direct attached storage (DAS) helps minimize total cost of ownership without compromising performance and resiliency requirements.



"Veritas has a strong heritage in software-defined storage and Veritas HyperScale for OpenStack solves the challenges for OpenStack adopters concerned with performance and reliability of their most demanding workloads," said Anand Krishnan, executive vice president for Cloud at Canonical. "Canonical believes that by collaborating with Veritas, we will help our mutual customers adopt OpenStack with confidence to extract more value from their data." Veritas HyperScale for OpenStack enables customers adopting cloud-based architectures to realize additional benefits including:

Increased data protection to meet workload needs, with the ability for backups to be executed without impacting application performance.

to meet workload needs, with the ability for backups to be executed without impacting application performance. Simplified storage management and reporting for managing primary and secondary storage from within OpenStack Horizon.

for managing primary and secondary storage from within OpenStack Horizon. Enhanced IT efficiency through faster instance provisioning with chosen storage and compute resources and the ability to address storage needs of both legacy and newer cloud applications.

through faster instance provisioning with chosen storage and compute resources and the ability to address storage needs of both legacy and newer cloud applications. Reduced deployment complexity through integration with distribution-specific deployment tools. "Enterprises are looking to more easily adopt OpenStack cloud software and other open source platforms, while preserving their existing investments and creating new business advances. However, despite growing momentum, customers face challenges around managing data in the cloud," said Amita Potnis, Research Manager, Storage Systems at IDC. "Today's announcement from Veritas offers a key motivator for businesses moving to the cloud to help with workload performance and protection of data." Veritas is a Premier Sponsor at OpenStack Summit. Please visit Veritas at booth #A7 to learn more about Veritas' OpenStack solutions, including HyperScale for OpenStack. About Veritas Technologies

Veritas Technologies enables organizations to harness the power of their information, with information management solutions serving the world's largest and most complex environments. Veritas works with organizations of all sizes, including 86 percent of global Fortune 500 companies, improving data availability and revealing insights to drive competitive advantage. www.veritas.com Forward-looking Statements: Any forward-looking indication of plans for products is preliminary and all future release dates are tentative and are subject to change at the sole discretion of Veritas. Any future release of the product or planned modifications to product capability, functionality, or feature are subject to ongoing evaluation by Veritas, may or may not be implemented, should not be considered firm commitments by Veritas, should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions, and may not be incorporated into any contract. Veritas andthe Veritas Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Veritas Technologies LLC or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contacts

Mizu Chitra / Marc Lee

Text100 Singapore

+65-6603-9000

[email protected] Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20150408/8521502200

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Deloitte and Personetics to host AI and Chatbot Boot Camps for Financial Services in Warsaw (16th May) and Paris (18th May)

PARIS and WARSAW, Poland, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Personetics, the leading provider of cognitive applications for the financial services sector, is joining forces with Deloitte, the leading digital business and technology professional services firm, to host educational boot camp sessions featuring best practices and case studies of AI and chatbot implementations in financial institutions. The next two boot camp sessions will be held 16th May in Warsaw and 18th May in Paris. In addition to speakers from Deloitte and Personetics, a case study of chatbot implementation will be presented by Horia Velicu, head of innovation lab at BRD Societe Generale. "Cognitive applications incorporating AI and conversational technologies hold a great promise for financial services providers that are looking for new ways to engage with customer in the digital era," said Alon Shem-Tov, executive director of business development at Personetics. "We are excited to hold these boot camp sessions in collaboration with a leader in the digital space such as Deloitte." According to Deloitte, leding companies are moving from pilots and proofs of concept to production applications driven by cognitive technologies as part of their digital transformation initiatives. "These educational sessions will give attendees the benefit of combining Deloitte's strategic market knowledge and implementation methodologies with Personetics' technology expertise and financial domain proficiency," said Meirav Hickry, partner and leader of financial services technology solutions at Deloitte Israel.



A recent survey conducted by Personetics shows that almost half of the financial institutions surveyed have active chatbot projects in place, and more than three quarters expect it to be a viable commercial solution within the next two years. The boot camp sessions are designed to help financial services executives get up to speed on emerging best practices for AI and chatbots and follow a practical roadmap for deploying these technologies in alignment with the financial institution's digital strategy.

Topics covered in the boot camps include: AI and chatbot use cases and business drivers

Enabling conversational self-service

Delivering predictive insights

Lessons learned from early implementations

Implementation roadmap Attendance is free for qualified executives employed by financial institutions. Additional details and registration can be found here. About Deloitte Deloitte is the world's largest professional services firm, with over 240,000 employees in over 150 countries, serving 80% of the world's leading companies. Deloitte is the leading professional services firm, offering audit, tax, risk management, financial advisory and business consulting services, including strategy, operations, technology and human capital consulting. Deloitte provide end to end solutions to complex needs, based on the broadest and most professional range of solutions and Deloitte's global leadership. Our experts have ample experience assisting senior managers in various organizations overcome their most significant business challenges; business growth, regulatory compliance while maximize value, optimization and risk management. About Personetics Trusted by millions of customers, Personetics' Cognitive Financial Services Applications provide personalized guidance, conversational self-service, and automated self-running programs that help customers reach their financial goals. Combining built-in financial intelligence and conversational proficiency with advanced cognitive capabilities, the Personetics framework is able to engage in natural conversations and knowledge-rich interactions, execute tasks on behalf of the customer, and constantly adapt and improve based on prior behavior. Ready-to-deploy within existing digital channels and across popular messaging platforms, Personetics' Cognitive Financial Services Applications enable financial institutions to take a leadership position by delivering a highly engaging branded customer experience, reducing the cost of service, and increasing share of wallet with innovative new products and services. Led by a team of seasoned FinTech entrepreneurs with a proven track record, Personetics has been named a Gartner Cool Vendor, a Top Ten FinTech Company by KPMG, and a Top Ten Company to Watch by American Banker. For more information, visit http://personetics.com.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] CyberSecurity International Symposium in Chicago to Examine Latest Threats and Challenges

CHICAGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the British insurance company Lloyd's, cyberattacks cost businesses as much as $400 billion each year, which includes direct damage plus post-attack disruption to the normal course of business. Research firm Cybersecurity Ventures estimates that the global cost of cybercrime will grow from $3 trillion in 2015 to $6 trillion by 2021, which includes damage and destruction of data, stolen money, lost property, intellectual property theft, and other areas.* To help companies and organizations meet this increasingly urgent challenge, the Smart Grid Observer is hosting the first annual CyberSecurity International Symposium, July 10-11, 2017 in Chicago (www.cybersecurity-symposium.com). The in-depth Symposium will examine the latest cyber security threats and trends, as well as real-world strategies for securing critical networks and data in enterprise, commercial, government and industrial environments. The event will bring together industry practitioners, researchers, regulators and solution providers for two days of focused networking and information sharing at the cutting edge of cyber security. "This will be a tremendous opportunity to network with those who are pushing the envelope of cyber security in today's environment," says Daniel Coran, Program Manager for the Symposium. "The event emphasizes one-on-one interaction between thought leaders, technology innovators, and those responsible for network security." > View Agenda > Visit Website > Sponsor/Exhibit > Register



Companies confirmed to speak include Tripwire, Aetna, Fireglass, Cryptzone, CloudPassage, Carnegie Mellon University, Sixgill, SecurityScorecard, Trend Micro, CounterTack, Lastline, Arbor Networks, Cyber adAPT, UpGuard, VMware, Sumo Logic, Lacework, Hexadite, AsTech Consulting, Coronet, Ixia, Sonatype, SecureKey, HYPR, West Monroe Partners, and GigaTrust. Topics to be addressed include:

Developing A Real-World, Effective Strategy for Enterprise Network Security

Commercializing Military-Grade Network Security

Excellence in the Essentials: Managing Complexity Through Foundational Controls

Demystifying the Dark Web

The Importance of Evaluating Third Party Risk

Understanding the Risks of Smart Cities

Hacking Exposed: Malware and Rootkits

The Weaponization of IoT-based Botnets

BYOD Policy in Today's Gig Economy

New York's Game-Changing Cybersecurity Rules and Beyond

Game-Changing Cybersecurity Rules and Beyond Using the Cloud to Secure the Cloud

Leveraging Security Analytics and Big Data to Bolster Security in the Cloud

New Approaches to Cloud Security: Achieving Zero-Day Breach Detection

DevOps Lessons Learned From Detroit to Deming

Automating Security in a Continuous Delivery Culture

And more "IBM's CEO recently observed that cybercrime is the greatest threat to every profession, every industry, and every company in the world," Coran says. "This Symposium is designed to help organizations get a grip on this threat and meet it head on with the latest technologies, best practices and success strategies." The Symposium is organized by the Smart Grid Observer, an online information portal and weekly newsletter serving the global smart electric grid industry. Event partners include InfoSec Conferences, the National Council of ISACs, Loss Prevention Magazine, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, Illinois Security Professionals Association, Navigant Research, TechSquare Labs, Women in Technology International, Voices of Leaders, and Mind Commerce. The event will be held at the Conference Chicago at University Center, 525 S. State Street in downtown Chicago. For full information and to register, visit www.cybersecurity-symposium.com * Forbes, January 2016; 2016 Cybercrime Report, Cybersecurity Ventures Contact:

Daniel Coran

Program Manager

815-310-3343

[email protected] Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/12638586 Press release distributed by PRLog To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cybersecurity-international-symposium-in-chicago-to-examine-latest-threats-and-challenges-300453901.html SOURCE Smart Grid Observer

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Uncle Julio's Drives 50% Increase in Loyalty Registrations by Motivating Competitive Servers with Fun Prizes

NEWTON, Mass., May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paytronix Systems, Inc., a leading provider of reward program solutions to restaurants and retailers, today announced that Uncle Julios is the winner of its 2017 Paytronix Loyaltees Award for Real Impact. By turning the typical loyalty model upside down, Uncle Julios focused upon internal employees with a unique loyalty membership drive that resulted in an average of 2000 new members per store and more than 50% increase in total membership.

Uncle Julios offers a unique culinary experience of savory, made from scratch Mexican favorites created from the high quality of ingredients. Uncle Julios Corporation currently operates 27 restaurants in 7 states: Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. Having seen the initial success of its new Paytronix loyalty program and its ability to encourage large group visitswith corresponding large check totalsthe management at Uncle Julios designed a new loyalty campaign to boost enrollment and membership. The program was designed to bring large parties into the store for loyalty redemptions, such as Appetizer Buffets. The loyalty rewards were a big hit with guests, so Uncle Julios turned the focus of its membership drive campaign to its internal employees. Special incentives were designed to motivate servers and the front of house staff, so those employees interacting with guests became the driving force of the membership drive. Read the full story on Uncle Julios award-winning launch, Uncle Julios Drives50% Increase in Loyalty Registrations by Motivating Competitive Servers with Fun Prizes.



At Uncle Julios, we know exactly how the loyalty program is performing, thanks to a data warehouse developed to combine loyalty and point of sale data in a consolidated reporting environment, said Paul Marrero, System Administrator, Uncle Julios. With Paytronix, we have access to data for each cashier ID, detailing loyalty signups, check-level sales detail and more. Having real-time data and accountability down to the level of each server was the key to being successful with guest signups. Uncle Julios is well on its way to getting north of a 15% loyalty penetration rate. We know thats where brands begin to see exceptional results from loyalty programs, said Michelle Tempesta, Head of Product for Paytronix System, Inc. When restaurants see 5-7% of checks with member IDs, theyve motivated their best guests to join the program. When the brands reach more than 15% penetration, thats when the real program impact happens and c-suites take notice. Theres no question that with the level of excitement Uncle Julios has generated for its programthe program will continue to deliver increasing incremental sales for the brand.

Supporting Links:

- Read the full Uncle Julios customer story here.

- Check out the Q&A interview with Uncle Julios Paul Marrero in todays Paytronix Blog. About Uncle Julios

Uncle Julios offers a unique culinary experience of savory, made-from-scratch Mexican favorites created from the highest quality of ingredients. The difference in Uncle Julios authentic Mexican food is in the taste, from fresh meats grilled over Mesquite wood to signature salsa made from the freshest herbs and vegetables. "We take the authenticity of our food very seriously," said Tom Vogel, CEO of Uncle Julio's. "Our guests will enjoy made-from-scratch freshness and the high quality ingredients that we use. That's what sets Uncle Julio's apart: Our entire menu is made from scratch." Uncle Julio's is known for its fajitas and Traditional Tex-Mex favorites. Tortillas are made fresh, in-house and by hand. Desserts include an Uncle Julios signature: a Chocolate Pinata filled with homemade mini churros, fresh fruit and berries. Crack open the chocolate delicacy with a small wooden hammer and dip its contents in a raspberry, chocolate, caramel sauce and house-made whipped cream. Uncle Julios Corporation currently operates 27 restaurants in 7 states: Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. About Paytronix Systems, Inc.

Paytronixs proprietary guest engagement platform helps more than 300 restaurant and retail chains manage and grow more than $18 Billion in guest spend. Customers benefit from big data consumer insights that Paytronix generates from 1-to-1 engagement with more than 165 million loyal gueststhrough mobile, social and todays most innovative digital marketing tools. As a result, customers can more effectively segment and motivate their guests to increase spend and drive revenue. For more information, visit www.paytronix.com. The Paytronix Loyaltees Awards is an annual program designed to identify and spotlight Paytronix customers who are leveraging the Paytronix Rewards platform to deliver truly innovative and market-defining guest experiences. Media Contact: Michelle Tempesta Paytronix Systems, Inc. [email protected] 617-871-2330

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Flashstarts Announces Cleveland200 Fund

Flashstarts, Inc., a startup accelerator, is pleased to announce the launch of The Cleveland200, a $5 million micro-venture fund focused on high-growth startups. The Cleveland region has recently witnessed the launch of a new group of seed stage funds totaling over $100 million. The focus of the Flashstarts accelerator program and the Cleveland200 fund is to equip startups for follow-on investment from this $100 million regional investment pool over the next 3 years. This $100 million in newly available funding is the result of the Ohio Third Frontier Program's recent commitment to seven Cleveland-area funds focused on seed-stage investment. This is the largest regional seed-stage investment pool in the world. The funds are to be deployed between 2017 and 2019. With an average of $500,000 per investment there will be about 200 seed stage companies that will receive funding. These 200 startups will receive the support and funding they need to build successful companies that will generate wealth, jobs, and transform the Cleveland Region. "The overnight 10x increase in local seed funding has created huge demand for quality startups. To meet that demand we are expanding our fund and accelerator program", said Flashstarts CEO Charles Stack. "We are already seeing great results: Flashstarts portfolio teams ReMesh and Complion have recently closed $2.25M and $2.9M investment rounds respectively." "Flashstarts has shown the ability to recruit and prepare very high-quality teams," said Todd Federman, Managing Director of the North Coast Angel Fund, one the largest angel funds in the US; and one of the recipients of Ohio Tird Frontier funds. "We look forward to investing in additional companies in the near future."



Startup applications are open now at www.cleveland200.com, and teams will be selected on a rolling basis over the next three years. Flashstarts will initially invest $25,000 - $50,000 in each company in its program in exchange for 4-8% equity. "We are looking for dynamic teams with really big ideas," said Shannon Lyons, Flashstarts, COO. "We will accept companies from all over the U.S. and the world. We offer specialized programs to accommodate global companies, and international entrepreneurs coming out of universities."

Global Cleveland is partnering with Flashstarts on this initiative, the Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program. Global Cleveland will assist international entrepreneurs in relocating to Cleveland. Startups can apply right now at www.cleveland200.com/apply. About Flashstarts Flashstarts is a Cleveland-based startup accelerator and micro-venture fund focused on big, disruptive ideas in healthcare IT, enterprise SaaS (News - Alert), data & analytics, IoT, AI & machine learning, FinTech and other yet-to-be-named software innovations. We operate a 35,000 sq. ft. co-working space, where we run the Global EIR visa program, startup Labs program, our startup investment fund, 12-week accelerator, and host the Cleveland200 diligence platform. For more information visit www.flashstarts.com and www.cleveland200.com. Twitter (News - Alert): @flashstarts. Facebook: www.facebook/flashstarts. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005820/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Y Media Labs Announces New Hires and Promotions in Line with Strategic Growth

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Y Media Labs, driving digital transformation through creative and powerful design, has announced new hires and promotions that advance the company's position as a trusted partner in digital product and services strategy, design, development and execution. "We've built on our legacy as a premier mobile agency to become a strategic digital product and services firm that integrates creativity, empathetic user experiences and powerful engineering know-how," says John McCarthy, Y Media Labs' new Senior VP of Strategy. "We are well positioned to expand the services we offer our clients, whether that's a large scale IoT application for the enterprise, a digital payment system for consumers, or a bespoke mobile app for a specific audience." McCarthy joined Y Media Labs in the spring of 2017. A strategy and business development leader, he has more than 15 years of blue-chip brand building experience. Prior to joining Y Media Labs, McCarthy spent six years as General Manager at Johannes Leonardo, a marketing and advertising agency working with a variety of influential brands. Y Media Labs promoted the following executives and creative directors: Vivek Rajnna  Senior VP of Engineering. With more than 16 years' experience in engineering and technology, Rajanna has proven to be the visionary for Y Media Lab's increasing technology offerings.

 Senior VP of Engineering. With more than 16 years' experience in engineering and technology, Rajanna has proven to be the visionary for Y Media Lab's increasing technology offerings. Atandra Burman  VP of Program and Project Management. Burman is elevating Y Media Labs' client services and position as a strategic partner.

Basavaraj Pujar  Director of Mobile Services. An entrepreneur in his own right, Pujar is now overseeing Y Media Labs' mobile services strategy and development.

 Director of Mobile Services. An entrepreneur in his own right, Pujar is now overseeing Y Media Labs' mobile services strategy and development. Alex Huang  Creative Director. Huang is an experienced product designer specializing in developing thoughtful, usable, and beautiful apps that empower users.

 Creative Director. Huang is an experienced product designer specializing in developing thoughtful, usable, and beautiful apps that empower users. Ryan Spencer  Creative Director. Spencer's breadth of expertise ranges from interaction design and user experience to web development and usability testing.



"We are experiencing exciting and monumental growth with our client engagements, and that's fueling our own creativity and innovation," says Ashish Toshniwal, CEO, Y Media Labs. "With McCarthy now on our team, and with these key promotions, our company is the strongest it's ever been and we'll continue to push the needle of how we can help companies transform."

About Y Media Labs

Y Media Labs is a San Francisco area creative technology company driving digital transformation by combining creativity, empathetic UX design and powerful engineering. The company was recognized by Forbes as one of the Top 50 Most Promising Companies in 2015. Y Media Labs has over 240 employees and has previously provided digital services to various Fortune 500 companies like PayPal, EMC, American Express, and Staples, among others. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/y-media-labs-announces-new-hires-and-promotions-in-line-with-strategic-growth-300453954.html SOURCE Y Media Labs

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Casetext's Legal Research Platform, CARA, Named New Product of the Year by AALL

On the heels of closing a $12 million Series B funding round, Casetext has been awarded the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) New Product of the Year Award for its artificial intelligence-based software, CARA. The award will be presented to Pablo Arredondo, Casetext's vice president of legal research, at the AALL's annual meeting in July in Austin, Texas. AALL named Arredondo the award recipient on behalf of Casetext in recognition of his groundbreaking contributions to the CARA technology. Arredondo's work at Casetext-and at the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (News - Alert) where he is a fellow-centers on uncovering patterns in the common law. With CARA, coupling litigation materials with search technology gives researchers unprecedented power through context-aware search. "Law librarians have done some of the best analysis on the capabilities and limitations of legal research technology," said Arredondo. "There is no sharper kick of the tires than the one you get from a law librarian, which makes us all the more honored to receive this recognition." Before Casetext, Arredondo was a patent litigator at Kirkland & Ellis. The AALL's New Product Award "honors new commercial information products that enhance or improve existing law library services or procedures or innovative products which imrove access to legal information, the legal research process, or procedures for technical processing of library materials," according to the AALL website.



"AALL is pleased to announce that Casetext is the recipient of this year's New Product Award for its CARA software," said AALL President Ronald E. Wheeler Jr. "AALL members are at the forefront in adopting and maximizing the benefits of artificial intelligence-based technology that supplement traditional legal research. CARA, powered by the Casetext database, empowers legal professionals with efficient, comprehensive insights and results." To be eligible for the New Product Award, a nominated product must be a new and innovative commercial legal information resource that enhances or improves existing law library services and/or procedures.

"Law librarians have been critical allies since the first days of Casetext," said Jake Heller, Casetext's founder and CEO. "The advice and guidance of librarians at law firms and universities alike has helped make CARA the invaluable tool it is today, so this award from AALL is especially meaningful." CARA, which was widely released in October 2016, uses AI and natural-language technologies to automate key legal research tasks, arming lawyers with the highest quality research possible, ultimately allowing firms to spend time on higher-value, billable work-and not miss key precedents or decisions. Because CARA is powered by the Casetext research database, users have access to a full library of federal and state law, annotated by expert analysis from practicing litigators with deep knowledge of the issues they're discussing. Earlier this year, Casetext inked partnerships with several leading law firm customers including Quinn Emanuel, Fenwick & West, DLA Piper, and Ogletree Deakins among others, all of which are using the company's automated research assistant CARA to provide best-in-class services to clients. About Casetext: Casetext is a San Francisco-based legal technology company that provides cutting-edge information and research services to litigation practices, including some of the leading AmLaw 100 law firms. Its award-winning software, CARA, automates key legal research tasks by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to analyze litigation documents, and uses that information to algorithmically query the law. This novel form of search allows litigators to find, in seconds, highly relevant authority that many hours of traditional research can miss. CARA is powered by the Casetext research database, which offers users access to a full library of federal and state law, annotated by expert analysis from leading attorneys and law firms. Customers, who include some of the world's largest law firms, rely on Casetext to help them provide the best litigation services for clients. For more information, visit www.casetext.com or email [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005939/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Fullerton School District Integrates Ed Tech from Agents of Discovery

FULLERTON, Calif., May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fullerton School District (FSD) today announced a pilot program encouraging students to create their own augmented reality (AR) challenges for their peers. The School District has partnered with Agents of Discovery, a leading educational technology platform that specializes in web, mobile, and AR gaming.

Fullerton School District engages students with augmented reality educational technology from Agents of Discovery







A photo accompanying this announcement is available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a777e138-1469-4a6f-b262-65305a8be8a5



With the explosive trend of Pokemon GO evidencing the clear capacity of mobile gaming to get young people moving, forward-thinking educators are utilizing similar technological concepts to engage kids with everything from historical sites to flora and fauna in parks. FSD continuously works to empower students voice and choice, and the use of technology helps students work toward their goals, said Superintendent, Dr. Robert Pletka. As educators, we strive to find new resources and opportunities to reach students.

Over the last month, three 8th grade science classes at Robert C. Fisler School have used the Agents of Discovery platform to create their own Missions with unique geo-triggered Challenges specific to West Coyote Hills in north Orange County. Today, these same students will head outdoors to play the Missions their peers have created. Its been an amazing experience watching my students get excited about the curriculum and become species experts, said Cynthia Rounds, 7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher, Robert C. Fisler School. Game-based learning is incredibly effective, and Im glad we are using it as another one of our tools to educate kids. Studies have shown that schools that use outdoor classrooms and other nature-based experiential education activities report significant gains in students academic performance (American Institutes for Research, 2005). What makes this platform ideal for schools is that it engages kids with active learning in the world around them, said Mary Clark, CEO, Agents of Discovery. It gives teachers a tool to easily deliver STEM curriculum in a way thats fun for students. About Fullerton School District

The Fullerton School District is located in northern Orange County, California and serves 14,000 students in grades TK  8th. The Fullerton School District includes 20 schools, 15 elementary schools, two K-8th grade schools, and 2 middle schools. The mission of the Fullerton School District is to work collaboratively with the community to provide an innovative, high-quality educational program for all students in a safe learning environment. The District motto, Great Schools - Successful Kids exemplifies the belief that all students will achieve academic excellence, acquire interpersonal skills, and develop technological expertise to contribute as productive citizens in a democratic society. For more information, call 714/447-7400 or visit www.fullertonsd.org. About Agents of Discovery

Agents of Discovery, winner of the 2016 Best App-Based Game at the European Conference on Game Based Learning, is an innovative educational tech platform that utilizes web, mobile, and the latest in augmented reality technologies to get kids active and learning about the world around them. Agents of Discovery provides educators with a unique way to gamify STEM curriculum, incentivizing kids to be engaged in their education. The easy-to-use Mission Maker allows educators to pull Challenges from their extensive Agency Library or to create customized content specific to their site. Educators can then easily publish Missions for kids to complete on tablets or their own smart devices. For more information, please visit www.agentsofdiscovery.com. Fullerton School District Contact: Jay McPhail Assistant Superintendent, Innovation and Instructional Services 714/447-7478 Agents of Discovery Media Contact: Alexandra Pony 1800.564.7328 ext. 210 [email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Glancy Prongay & Murray Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action on Behalf of KBR, Inc. Investors and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased KBR, Inc. ("KBR" or the "Company") (NYSE: KBR) securities between February 26, 2016 and April 27, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"). KBR investors have until July 3, 2017 to file a lead plaintiff motion. Investors suffering losses on their KBR investments are encouraged to contact Lesley Portnoy of GPM to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 310-201-9150 or by email to [email protected]. <> On April 28, 2017 the U.K. Serious Fraud Office (the "SFO") announced an investigation into KBR's "officers, employees and agents for suspected offenses of bribery and corruption." On this news, shares of KBR fell over 7% per share during intraday trading on April 28, 2017.



According to the lawsuit, defendants during the Class Period made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) KBR's United Kingdom subsidiaries had violated applicable bribery and corruption laws; and (2) as a result, KBR's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. If you purchased shares of KBR during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than July 3, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the Class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the Class. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at http://glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005450/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] BIOA Investors: GPM Reminds Investors of the May 17 Deadline in the Class Action Lawsuit Against BioAmber Inc.

Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") reminds investors of the May 17, 2017 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the class action filed on behalf of investors who purchased BioAmber Inc. ("BioAmber" or the "Company") (NYSE: BIOA) securities (1) pursuant and/or traceable to BioAmber's secondary public offering on or about January 23, 2017 (the "Offering"); and/or (2) between January 23, 2017 and March 16, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"). BioAmber investors have until May 17, 2017 to file a lead plaintiff motion. On March 16, 2017, BioAmber disclosed its financial results for the 2016 fiscal year, revealing that the Company had failed to meet its predicted revenue. Among other things, the Company's President Fabrice Orecchioni blamed the disappointing results on "ricing pressures" and "a disruption from a large customer." Following this news, BioAmber stock declined, falling almost 20%, to close at $2.55 on March 17, 2017.



Then, on March 31, 2017, the Company announced that Mario Saucier would cease serving as the Company's Chief Financial Officer. On this news, the Company's share price fell approximately 6% on April 1, 2017, thereby injuring investors. According to the complaint filed in this class action, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) a large customer of BioAmber that was expected to purchase $2.8 million of succinic acid in Q4 2016 experienced a technical problem in its manufacturing facility and postponed the order to 2017; and (2) as a result, defendants' statements about BioAmber's business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired BioAmber shares during the Class Period you may move the Court no later than May 17, 2017 to request appointment as lead plaintiff. To be a member of the class you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the Class. If you wish to learn more about this action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to [email protected], or visit our website at http://www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005694/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] MSP Recovery Wins First-Ever Certifications for Class-Action Lawsuits

MSP Recovery today announced that a court has certified a class-action lawsuit under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, a major legal victory paving the way for billions of taxpayer dollars to go back to health insurers, helping replenish Medicare and Social Security for Americans. MSP Recovery is the only entity in the U.S. with class certification status under the federal Medicare Secondary Payer Act. The landmark ruling enables it to recover reimbursements on behalf of health insurance plans and Medicare Advantage Organizations from primary payers that neglected to pay medical claims they were legally required to pay. Thanks to these legal wins, these primary payers, including automobile and other insurance entities, will be required to pay double-damage reimbursements for their failure to pay the medical claims. The case is among hundreds of similar cases being brought by MSP Recovery in state and federal courts nationwide. To identify claims, MSP Recovery uses its proprietary technology to identify primary payers who improperly billed Medicare entities. Using this system, the 30-attorney MSP Recovery Law Firm is working with approximately 30 partner law firms nationwide to file lawsuits across the country on behalf of more than 100 health insurance plans. The court win highlights an emerging area of the law and reffirms that the neglect of automobile insurance companies to cover medical bills constitutes a breach of contract.



"We are proud to be the first law firm in the country to secure class certification under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, a highly challenging achievement that other lawyers have attempted for decades," said Frank Quesada, MSP Recovery Law Firm General Counsel. Added MSP Recovery Founder, John H. Ruiz, "Our groundbreaking work will recover billions of dollars to replenish Medicare and Social Security for all Americans, while also forcing primary payers to comply with the law. We are already starting to see insurers change their practices as a result of our wins, and we will continue leading the charge as America's Medicaid and Medicare Secondary Payer Act recovery specialists."

Some background on the case (No. 15-27940-CA (News - Alert) 21): MSP Recovery secured class certification of a class-action lawsuit against IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company, with the court allowing MSP Recovery to pursue several thousand instances where the auto insurer failed to pay medical bills it was legally required to pay. MSP Recovery currently has more than 60 related class actions pending against different auto insurers and is in the process of filing an additional 300-plus class-actions nationwide on similar grounds. This marks MSP Recovery's second landmark victory of this kind. Similarly, in Case No. 2015-1946-CA 06, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Samantha Ruiz Cohen recently certified a class in a lawsuit against Ocean Harbor Casualty Insurance, a primary payer for thousands of Medicare Part C beneficiaries. In a 100-plus page decision, Judge Cohen ruled that MSP Recovery could pursue the 3,000-plus instances where the auto insurer failed to pay medical bills it was legally required to pay. The win in MSP Recovery v. Ocean Harbor is the first of its kind in U.S. history. About MSP Recovery MSP Recovery is the nation's leading Medicare and Medicaid recovery specialist. It has developed the industry's most comprehensive recovery platform, specializing in recoveries and reimbursements on claims where the law places primary payment responsibility on other payers. MSP Recovery uses its proprietary technology to identify primary payers that improperly billed Medicare entities. More information is available at www.msprecovery.com Editor's Notes: Interviews and copies of court rulings and other documents are available upon request View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005925/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Gainsight Raises $52 Million in Series E Funding to Build the Customer Success Network

OAKLAND, Calif., May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gainsight, the Customer Success company, announced today that it has closed a $52 million Series E round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. In addition to participation from existing investors Battery Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures and Insight Venture Partners, Cisco Investments also participated in the round. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the expansion of Customer Success into new global markets, industries and channels. As part of the investment, Rowan Trollope, SVP & GM, Internet of Things (IoT) and Applications Division at Cisco will become an observer to Gainsights board of directors.

Gainsight also revealed it logged 167% year-over-year revenue growth in the last fiscal year, now boasts over 430 employees across seven global offices and has added new customers across industries. These include enterprise technology (Gigamon, SecureWorks and VMware), SaaS (ABC Financial), and healthcare (MCG Health, naviHealth and Resmed Brightree). The company made these announcements today as over 4,000 members of the Customer Success community gather in Oakland, CA at Pulse 2017, the industry conference of record for Customer Success. The most progressive companies in the world view their customers as foundational to long-term success, just as much as their products and employees, and operationalizing their Customer Success discipline has become a cornerstone of the executive agendas at companies of all sizes and industries, said Nick Mehta, Chief Executive Officer at Gainsight and Co-Author of Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue. We are fortunate at Gainsight to expand our partnership with Lightspeed Venture Partners to help fuel our momentum, while together with our customers, we define strategy for a brand new profession in Customer Success. Regardless of size, industry and geography, businesses do well when their customers feel happy and successful from the engagement. Accordingly, Customer Success is at the heart of every conversation between a vendor and a customer, said Nakul Mandan, Investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Gainsight has led the charge in taking Customer Success from an emerging software category to a movement that is now taking every company by storm. It is the category defining company in the space, and we are thrilled to double down on our partnership with Nick and his team. Were excited to become an investor in a company that shares our vision of helping organizations become more proactive about customer care, said Rowan Trollope, SVP/GM of Ciscos IoT and Applications Business. Within our internal customer success teams, weve seen how Gainsights technology has given us additional visibility into the health and satisfaction of our own customers. This investment gives us an opportunity to support Gainsights growth and continued industry leadership. Mandan, who led the new funding round, has now officially made three separate investments in Gainsight. Mandan joined Lightspeed in 2014 after spending five years at Battery Ventures where he was part of the original team which led the Series A investment in Gainsight in April 2013. Mandan invested again in 2014, this time as part of Lightspeed Venture Partners, in the companys $25 million Series C round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. This commitment to Gainsight speaks to Mandans confidence in the Customer Success discipline as foundational to the viability of the recurring revenue business model, and an assertive belief in Gainsight as the frontrunner for this exciting new industry. Gainsight Reports 167% Revenue Growth in Last Fiscal Year Gainsights recent revenue growth bolsters a total enterprise-customer roster representing over $2.23 trillion of market cap. This momentum demonstrates that Cstomer Success has become a top-down initiative at leading enterprises from all industries and verticals as a core driver of revenue growth in the outcome economy. Many of the worlds leading recurring revenue businesses have chosen Gainsight to operationalize their Customer Success strategy -- including new customers announced today such as ABC Financial, Resmed Brightree, Gigamon, MCG Health, naviHealth and VMware.



Our mission in VMware Customer Success is to help customers drive business outcomes and grow market share with exponential customer satisfaction, said Alaa Badr, Vice President, Customer Success at VMware. We are proud to partner with Gainsight not just as a point-in-time platform, but rather, a system that the enterprise will adopt as the tip of the spear for the Customer Success community at VMware. Brightree is excited to partner with Gainsight to leverage data in order to deliver actionable information to our account management and support teams, said Matt Mellott, Chief Executive Officer at Brightree. Through these programs, Brightree can proactively monitor the health of our customers' businesses as part of a collaborative partnership focused on their success.

Over 8,000 health clubs throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico depend on ABC Financial to help them run their businesses every day, said Mike Escobedo, SVP Client Management at ABC Financial. "Our company is based on customer trust, industry experience and knowledge, and relationships. We feel that partnering with Gainsight will enhance our abilities to better provide those core objectives to our customers, now and in the future. In addition to Gainsights traction in selling to large enterprise, the company now recognizes over 50% of public cloud companies (see Bessemer Venture Partners Cloud Index) as customers. This trend highlights that Customer Success is both a business transformation for large organizations moving to a recurring revenue business model, as well as a foundational business imperative for companies born in the cloud. Gainsight Hires Key Executives to Prepare for Next Stage of Growth Gainsight also announced today the addition of several key hires as an expansion of the companys executive leadership team. Igor Beckerman has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer, Jason Stewart as Chief Revenue Officer, Ryan Toben as Vice President of Revenue Operations, and Mike Berger as Vice President of Product Marketing. Igor Beckerman is newly appointed as charter Chief Financial Officer at Gainsight. Beckerman joins the company from Marketo where he served most recently as Vice President of Finance. He joined Marketo in 2011 and served through the IPO and the eventual acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in 2016. As Chief Financial Officer, Beckerman will be responsible for global financial reporting and compliance, financial planning and analysis, and driving continuous process and system improvements to support the company's growing operations. Beckerman will

report to Nick Mehta, Chief Executive Officer. Jason Stewart is newly appointed as charter Chief Revenue Officer at Gainsight. Stewart joins the company from Apptio where he served most recently as Vice President of Americas and where his teams contributions helped lead to Apptio's IPO in late 2016. Prior to his time at Apptio, Stewart held various sales leadership positions at Opsware, Hewlett Packard and Parametric Technology Corporation. Ryan Toben was also announced today as Gainsights Vice President of Revenue Operations. Toben joins the company from Mixpanel, where he led strategy and operations for Sales, Marketing and Customer teams. Prior to his time at Mixpanel, Toben was an executive at Successfactors, leading commercial strategy and sales operations for the company through their landmark acquisition by SAP at $3.4B. As Vice President of Revenue Operations, Toben will focus on driving operational performance and revenue growth from Sales, Marketing and Business Development. Mike Berger was also announced today as Gainsights Vice President of Product Marketing. Like Beckerman, Berger also joins the company from Marketo where he led product marketing efforts across Marketos core products from 2012 through the IPO and eventual acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in 2016. As Vice President of Product Marketing, Berger will be responsible for the companys go-to-market campaigns, product launches and marketing programs across key personas and vertical industries. Allison Pickens Appointed as Gainsights Chief Customer Officer Gainsight announced today the promotion of Allison Pickens to Chief Customer Officer. Pickens has been at the company for three years and is widely recognized as a thought leader in the Customer Success industry. I couldnt be more proud to announce Allisons promotion, a deserving recognition for the invaluable work that shes done for both Gainsight as well as the countless organizations that shes influenced in the Customer Success industry, said Nick Mehta, Chief Executive Officer at Gainsight. Allison is one of those rare talents who brings her sharp operational excellence and strategic thinking to all aspects of our business, but especially the post-sales organization -- were lucky to have her on our team. Pickens joined Gainsight in January 2014 as Chief of Staff and quickly advanced to leading Business Development, Operations, and Customer Success. She has been running all post-sales functions, including Customer Success, Services, Support, Customer Marketing, and Operations. Widely regarded as a thought leader in Customer Success, Pickens has built Gainsights best practices for Customer Success both with her team and through her work with clients over the last three years. Pickens has scaled and unified Gainsights post-sales organization to create a holistic customer experience, and through that experience, shares her insights with other companies building high-performing Customer Success practices within their organizations. She is a sought-after speaker and has a highly trafficked blog on Customer Success. Upon joining Gainsight, Pickens brought a wealth of experience working with enterprise companies during her time at Boston Consulting Group, where she developed business transformation strategies with Fortune 500 companies, a skill she now brings to her work at Gainsight in operationalizing Customer Success with her clients. Distinctive to her approach is her background in investing, having spent two years working in Private Equity at Bain Capital. Pickens was named one of 50 People You Should Know In Sales and Business Development by TradeCraft. For More Information: Learn more about the Gainsight platform: http://www.gainsight.com/customer-success-products/

Read more about Gainsights customers: http://www.gainsight.com/customers/

Join Gainsights growing team: http://www.gainsight.com/company/ About Lightspeed Venture Partners

Lightspeed Venture Partners is an early stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise and Consumer sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 300 companies globally, including Snapchat, The Honest Company, Nest, Nutanix, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, GrubHub, and TaskRabbit. The Firm currently manages over $4 billion of committed capital and invests in the U.S. and internationally, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India and China. www.lsvp.com About Gainsight

Gainsight, the Customer Success company, helps businesses grow faster by reducing churn, increasing upsell, and driving customer advocacy. Gainsights product helps you touch customers effectively, track customer health consistently and transform the way your company orients around the customer. Gainsight provides a 360 view of customers and drives retention across Customer Success, sales, marketing, executive and product management. Learn how leading companies like Adobe, Box, DocuSign, HPE, Marketo and Workday use Gainsight to help their customers succeed at www.gainsight.com. Connect with Gainsight:

Blog: www.gainsight.com/blog

Twitter: www.twitter.com/GainsightHQ

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Gainsight Media Contact Gainsight Will Chamberlain (310) 926-1516 [email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Call for Papers: UC Berkeley Center for Responsible Business Invites Applicants for 2017 Moskowitz Prize for Responsible Investing

The Center for Responsible Business at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business (Berkeley-Haas) has announced a call for papers for the 22nd annual Moskowitz Prize. The Moskowitz Prize is a unique academic award recognizing outstanding quantitative research in sustainable and responsible impact (SRI (News - Alert)) investing. The prize was named for Milton Moskowitz, one of the first investigators to publish comparisons of financial performance of screened and unscreened portfolios. Winners will receive a $5,000 award and be recognized November 1-3, 2017 in San Diego, CA (News - Alert) at The SRI Conference, the largest and longest-running conference serving impact-oriented investment professionals and institutional investors in North America. A breakout session on the winning paper will be featured in the conference program. Entries are reviewed by an independent jury of scholars and investment professionals. The winner is determined based on practical significance to responsible investment practitioners, appropriateness and rigor of quantitative methods, and novelty of results. For more information: http://responsiblebusiness.haas.berkeley.edu/research/moskowitz-research-prize.html.



DEADLINE: Studies must be submitted by 11:59pm PST, June 30, 2017. The competition is open to authors of studies relevant to responsible investing. Studies may be published or unpublished. Unpublished studies should be of a quality appropriate for publication in a peer-reviewed academic journal. For details about the submission process: https://responsiblebusiness.submittable.com/submit. About the Berkeley-Haas Center for Responsible Business

The mission of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley (http://responsiblebusiness.haas.berkeley.edu/) is to develop leaders who redefine business for a sustainable future. The Center connects students, businesses, and faculty to mobilize the positive potential of business to build a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable society. Building on more than a decade of research, teaching, and engaging with business, we educate and provoke thoughtful debate. We encourage sustainability-minded research and its application in the marketplace of commerce and ideas. Berkeley-Haas is recognized as the Best Green MBA program by The Princeton Review and ranked #1 globally for CSR and ethics by The Financial Times (News - Alert).

About the SRI Conference

The 28th annual SRI Conference (http://www.SRIconference.com) will be November 1-3, 2017, at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, CA. Produced by The SRI Conference and Community, LLC in partnership with many organizations working to direct investment capital toward the creation of a truly sustainable future, The SRI Conference is the premier annual forum for investment professionals and investors engaged in sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investing. Conference participants include investment professionals, institutional investors, and related organizations. The program features educational sessions and opportunities to network with hundreds of like-minded individuals, organizations, and leaders in the field of Sustainable, Responsible, Impact investing. For assistance with The SRI Conference registration and sponsorships, contact Krystala Kalil at 888-774-2663 or [email protected]. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005525/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Wins Two Bronze Stevie Awards in 2017 American Business AwardsSM

Two solutions from Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting have been honored with Bronze Stevie Awards in the 15th Annual American Business Awards. CCH ProSystem fx for Small Firms won the award in the Best Product or Service of the Year - Software - FinTech Solution category while Global Master Tax and Business Guide won in the New Product or Service of the Year - Content - General Reference Service category. These wins are the latest in a string of prestigious global accolades awarded to Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting this year. This month, Wolters Kluwer was named Asia Tax Technology Firm of the Year by the International Tax Review's Asia Tax Awards. Last month, Wolters Kluwer's CCH (News - Alert) iQ solution was shortlisted as a finalist for Innovator of the Year at the Accountants Daily's Australian Accounting Awards 2017. And earlier this year, both CCH ProSystem fx for Small Firms and Global Master Tax & Business Guide were recognized by Accounting Today magazine in their list of Top New Products for 2017. CH ProSystem fx for Small Firms is a single, start-to-finish software solution tailored specifically for small public accounting firms that prepare both simple and complex tax returns. The solution provides users with powerful, automatic calculations and compliance; secure document storage and client communication; and efficient workflow capabilities, so that they can process even the most complex returns with minimal manual input.



Global Master Tax and Business Guide is a complete expertly-written international tax guide. Developed to meet the needs of tax, accounting and business professionals who advise and engage in cross-border transactions and investment in new markets, the Global Master Tax and Business Guide is a critical reference for staying on top of the complex and frequently changing tax rates, rules and business requirements in many countries around the world. It is designed to ensure that professionals remain fluent in all key international tax issues and provide quick and accurate answers to global tax and business questions. The American Business Awards are the nation's premier business awards program. 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, and winners were selected by more than 190 professionals worldwide who participated in the judging process.

"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. About Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting is a leading provider of software solutions and local expertise that helps tax, accounting, and audit professionals research and navigate complex regulations, comply with legislation, manage their businesses and advise clients with speed, accuracy and efficiency. Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting is part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509006167/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] comScore Reports March 2017 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share

RESTON, Va., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. recently released data from comScore MobiLens, reporting market share trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for March 2017.







Top Smartphone OEMs 3 Month Avg. Ending March 2017 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens Top Smartphone OEMs Share (%) of

Smartphone

Subscribers Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% Apple 44.5% Samsung 28.3% LG 9.8% Motorola 4.2% HTC 2.2%

Top Smartphone Platforms 3 Month Avg. Ending March 2017 Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens Top Smartphone Platforms Share (%) of

Smartphone

Subscribers Total Smartphone Subscribers 100.0% Android 53.4% Apple 44.5% Microsoft 1.6% BlackBerry 0.5% For more market rankings from comScore, visit our Rankings page here. About comScore comScore is a leading cross-platform measurement company that measures audiences, brands and consumer behavior everywhere. comScore completed its merger with Rentrak Corporation in January 2016, to create the new model for a dynamic, cross-platform world. Built on precision and innovation, our data footprint combines proprietary digital, TV and movie intelligence with vast demographic details to quantify consumers' multiscreen behavior at massive scale. This approach helps media companies monetize their complete audiences and allows marketers to reach these audiences more effectively. With more than 3,200 clients and global footprint in more than 75 countries, comScore is delivering the future of measurement. Shares of comScore stock are currently traded on the OTC Market (OTC:SCOR). For more information on comScore, please visit comscore.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-reports-march-2017-us-smartphone-subscriber-market-share-300454365.html SOURCE comScore, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] "Hello Alice"  Meet the World's First AI-based Virtual Advisor for Women Entrepreneurs

LAS VEGAS, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DELL EMC WORLD 2017 -- News Summary: Data-driven platform powered by Circular Board, connects female founders in real time with mentors, resources and events that help scale their businesses

Machine learning will predict users' needs and curate hyper targeted content as Alice populates and users engage

Insights from Circular Board's and Dell's combined network of women entrepreneurs, matched with Pivotal's cloud technology and software development expertise, brings this global platform to life Full Story:

Today at Dell EMC World, Circular Board unveils Alice, the first-ever artificial intelligence platform for women entrepreneurs. Developed in partnership with Dell and Pivotal, Alice is on a mission to make it possible for significantly more female founders to succeed at unprecedented levels. Women-owned businesses currently employ 7.8 million workers in the U.S. and generate $1.3 trillion in revenue overall, yet only 2% of women entrepreneurs in the U.S. have reached more than $1 million in revenues. Alice and her partners will work to flip this stat to 98%. "Alice is a female founder's best mentor, guide and consultant. The current startup ecosystem continues to cycle resources among a very small percentage of well-connected entrepreneurs, making it difficult for less traditional founders to navigate," said Carolyn Rodz, founder and CEO of Circular Board. "Alice instantly filters millions of resources down to the personalized, verified content that enables founders to scale to the highest heights, no matter where they are located or who they know." Meet Alice:

Driven by data analytics, Alice is a virtual advisor that connects women entrepreneurs in real time with the resources needed to scale based on startup stage, location, industry, revenue and individual needs. As Alice populates, machine learning will allow her to predict founders' needs to guide them to referrals, events, mentors and access points to capital and ecosystems. Alice offers its users the following: A conversational user interface to express different areas where women entrepreneurs need help (e.g., financing, legal, marketing, technology)

Static and machine learning based on user input

Personalized dashboard with real-time modules based on user activity

User profiles with data collection capabilities for personal and company demographics

An extensive library of resources, network of global experts and leaders and events calendar

Robust search pages with stored results that sort and filter by location, industry, annual revenue, employee count, years in business and content publication source

Bulk and single upload of resource(s) and mentor(s) by trusted partners and the Circular Board team of experts for easy content aggregation and suggestive analytics The relationship with Dell Technologies:

In 2016, Circular Board approached Dell with an idea to disrupt the startupworld by building an entirely new ecosystem for women founders. Built on its existing commitment to support growing businesses, Dell grabbed a leadership seat at the table to lend its expertise, capital and innovative spirit to create Alice.



"Entrepreneurship is part of Dell's DNA. We're always looking for ways to bring entrepreneurs the best technology solutions to help empower them in the new world of digital transformation," said Karen Quintos, EVP and Chief Customer Officer, Dell. "Through the power of the Dell Technologies network and the expertise of the Circular Board, we're driving innovation to help women entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level." Pivotal, the company accelerating digital transformation for startups and enterprises, developed and deployed Alice's software in near record-setting time  just over three months from concept to launch. The Circular Board team successfully adopted Pivotal's next-generation software development methodology, as well as used Pivotal's cloud technology, to ensure machine learning capabilities allow Alice to evolve and continue to provide targeted resources and mentorship for female entrepreneurs.

"Circular Board is leading the way in helping female entrepreneurs turn ideas into fast-growing businesses," says Rob Mee, CEO, Pivotal. "Working with us, the Circular Board team have successfully adopted Pivotal's next-generation methods and technologies to ensure their ecosystem and platform thrives. We're thrilled to be able to help Circular Board on this important mission." Availability:

Alice is now available globally. Additional Resources: To meet Alice, please visit www.helloalice.com

Photos, video and screenshots available via Google Drive

Connect with Circular Board on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Vimeo and with Alice on Twitter. Follow #HelloAlice for news on Alice's release.

Connect with Dell Entrepreneurs on Twitter and LinkedIn

For more information Dell EMC World and #DellEMCWorld Circular Board

In less than two years, Circular Board has helped 250 founders raise a total of $28 million+ in capital through the first virtual accelerator for women entrepreneurs, hosted two global summits, built a community of more than 13,000 female founders on six continents and established strategic partnerships with enterprise companies, government agencies and global foundations. In 2017, Circular Board launched the world's first AI-powered platform to help women entrepreneurs succeed. Last year, the Circular Board's virtual accelerator was named the fastest growing accelerator for women and minorities. To meet Alice, please visit www.helloalice.com. Dell Inc.

Dell Inc., a part of Dell Technologies, provides customers of all sizes  including 98 percent of the Fortune 500  with a broad, innovative portfolio from edge to core to cloud. Dell Inc. comprises Dell client as well as Dell EMC infrastructure offerings that enable organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center while providing today's workforce and consumers what they need to securely connect, produce, and collaborate from anywhere at any time. Pivotal

Pivotal's Cloud-Native platform drives software innovation for many of the world's most admired brands. With millions of developers in communities around the world, Pivotal technology touches billions of users every day. After shaping the software development culture of Silicon Valley's most valuable companies for over a decade, today Pivotal leads a global technology movement transforming how the world builds software. Dell EMC World

Join us May 8-11 at Dell EMC World in Las Vegas, Dell Technologies' flagship event bringing together technology and business professionals to network, share ideas and help co-create a better future. This is the first time the Dell Technologies family of brands will be all in one place, at one conference. Meet our experts and more than 12,000 IT practitioners and business leaders who are making Digital Transformation a reality. Learn more at www.dellemcworld.com and follow #DellEMCWorld on Twitter. Copyright  2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, Dell EMC and Dell Inc. are trademarks of Dell Technologies in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hello-alice--meet-the-worlds-first-ai-based-virtual-advisor-for-women-entrepreneurs-300454401.html SOURCE Dell

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Fusion Splicer Market by Offering (Hardware (Sheath Clamps, Electrodes, Electric ARC, CO2 Laser, Cleaver and Stripper), and Software & Services), Alignment Type (Core, and Cladding Alignment), Application, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022

NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- "The fusion splicer market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 4.72% between 2017 and 2022"



The fusion splicer market was valued at USD 570.5 million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 762.3 million by 2022, at a CAGR of 4.72%. Moreover, the fusion splicer market registered a shipment of 65,735 units in 2016 and is expected to reach 97,353 units by 2022, at a CAGR of 6.52% during the forecast period. The market growth can be attributed to several factors such as growing demand for high network bandwidth, low insertion loss, and rise in government funding. The major restraints for the fusion splicer market is the high cost for equipment.



Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04889812/Fusion-Splicer-Market-by-Offering-Hardware-Sheath-Clamps-Electrodes-Electric-ARC-CO2-Laser-Cleaver-and-Stripper-and-Software-Services-Alignment-Type-Core-and-Cladding-Alignment-Application-and-Geography-Global-Forecast-to.html



"The fusion splicer market for enterprise application is expected to grow at a high rate during the forecast period"



The enterprise application is currently exhibiting a rapid adoption of fiber optic cables. Currently, many enterprises in China are engaged in developing new information infrastructures, which would include a huge number of fiber optic cables. This factor is indirectly expected to drive the growth of fusion splicer market in the enterprise application.



"The fusion splicer market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period"



The need of high network bandwidth in the telecom sector acts as driving force for the growth of the fusion splicer market. The extensive development of telecommunication and broadband networks in Asia Pacific (APAC) has led to the increasing growth in the fiber optic market in this reion, thereby increasing the demand for the fusion splicer.







The countries considered in APAC are China , Japan , India , Malaysia , and Rest of APAC. The APAC holds the largest share of the fusion splicer market as there is strong support for fusion splicer development from the Chinese and Indian government.



Breakdown of primary participants' profile by different parameters:

 By Company Type: Tier 1  50%, Tier 2 33%, and Tier 3  17%

 By Designation: C-Level Executives  50%, Directors  33%, and Others  17%

 By Region: Americas  33%, Europe  17%, and APAC  50%





The key players operating in this market are Sumitomo Electric Industries ( Japan ), Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. ( Japan ), Fujikura Ltd. ( Japan ), ILSINTECH CO., LTD. (Korea), INNO Instruments Inc. (Korea), Darkhorsechina ( Beijing ) Telecom. Tech. Co., Ltd. ( China ), China Electronics Technology Group Corporation ( China ), Nanjing Jilong Optical Communication Co.,,LTD. ( China ), Nanjing DVP O.E. TECH. CO., LTD. ( China ), Shenzhen Ruiyan Communication Equipment Co., LTD ( China ).



Research Coverage:

In this report, various segments such as offering, alignment type, application, and geography have been covered. The report also discusses the drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges for the market. The report provides a detailed view of the market across four main regionsthe Americas, Europe , Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW). The competitive analysis section has been included in the report, which provides information about the vanguards, innovators, dynamic and emerging players.



Reasons to Buy the Report:

 This report includes the statistics pertaining to the fusion splicer market in terms of offering, alignment type, application, and geography, along with their respective market size (in terms of value for the hardware segment).

 Competitive analysis section that provides information about the vanguards, innovators, dynamic, and emerging players in the fusion splicer market.

 Major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges for the fusion splicer market have been provided in detail in this report.

 The report includes the illustrative segmentation, analysis, and forecast of the fusion splicer market based on its segments and subsegments.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04889812/Fusion-Splicer-Market-by-Offering-Hardware-Sheath-Clamps-Electrodes-Electric-ARC-CO2-Laser-Cleaver-and-Stripper-and-Software-Services-Alignment-Type-Core-and-Cladding-Alignment-Application-and-Geography-Global-Forecast-to.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com

__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fusion-splicer-market-by-offering-hardware-sheath-clamps-electrodes-electric-arc-co2-laser-cleaver-and-stripper-and-software--services-alignment-type-core-and-cladding-alignment-application-and-geography---global-f-300454551.html SOURCE Reportlinker

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017]

Vonage Announces Updated Presentation Time at the Jefferies Global Technology Conference

HOLMDEL, N.J., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of cloud communications services for business, today announced an updated presentation time at the Jefferies Global Technology Conference. The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 12:45 p.m. ET.

A live webcast of the event will be available on Vonage's Investor Relations website at http://ir.vonage.com. A replay will be available shortly after the live webcast.

About Vonage

Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of cloud communications services for business. Vonage transforms the way people work and businesses operate through a portfolio of cloud-based communications solutions that enable internal collaboration among employees, while also keeping companies closely connected with their customers, across any mode of communication, on any device.

Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, provides tools for voice, messaging and phne verification services, allowing developers to embed contextual, programmable communications into mobile apps, websites and business systems. Nexmo APIs enable enterprises to easily communicate relevant information to their customers in real time, anywhere in the world, through text messaging, chat, social media and voice.







The Company also provides a robust suite of feature-rich residential communication solutions. In 2015 and 2016, Vonage was named a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as-a-Service, Worldwide. Vonage has also earned Frost & Sullivan's 2015 Growth Excellence Leadership Award for Hosted IP and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Services and the 2016 North American Cloud Communications Product Line Strategy Leadership Award. For more information, visit www.vonage.com.

Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. Vonage is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing LLC, owned by Vonage America Inc. To follow Vonage on Twitter, please visit www.twitter.com/vonage. To become a fan on Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/vonage. To subscribe on YouTube, visit www.youtube.com/vonage.

(vg-f)

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vonage-announces-updated-presentation-time-at-the-jefferies-global-technology-conference-300454573.html

SOURCE Vonage Holdings Corp.
[May 09, 2017] CrowdPal Launches First Equity Crowdfunding Platform To Support Palestinian Economy

SANTIAGO, Chile, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CrowdPal, the first online equity crowdfunding platform purpose-built to support Palestinian entrepreneurship, announced today the launch of their website. Ongoing political unrest and the resulting economic slump have presented difficulty in finding venture capital opportunities for Palestinian-based founders. With an unemployment rate over 20% and low GDP per capita, securing funding to get startup businesses off the ground has been a constant uphill battle.

"Through investing in promising startups, we can drive economic and social development as a step forward to pave the way for peace," said CrowdPal Founder and CEO Anas Hamed. To remove these barriers to entry and promote economic growth, Anas and his team created CrowdPal to allow Palestinian-founded companies or other international entrepreneurs who want to invest part of their funding in early stage Palestinian startups or employ/outsource professionals in Palestine to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Users can seek investment funding by reaching out to personal contacts or by leveraging CrowdPal's community of investors, who can be located anywhere in the world. Co-Founder and CVO Alejandro Dughman views the platform as offering an important economic lifeline to an area limited in resources but with great investment opportunities. "Palestinians and peace supprters all over the globe that wish to do their part to and make an investment in the future of Palestine haven't had a sound place to put their investment. With CrowdPal, now they do."



Entrepreneurs also have access to a world-class mentorship and advisory network which provides founders with valuable educational resources. From a combination of online materials, video tutorials, and advice from industry experts, entrepreneurs can gain key insights into best practices for successfully running their business. The CrowdPal platform will also feature a job search and hiring function. This will allow companies funded through the site to hire from the talent pool in their particular region.

CrowdPal is already garnering early interest in the investment community and with industry influencers. Paul Niederer, a lead pioneer in equity crowdfunding, said, "Crowdfunding for a purpose is very rewarding for the entrepreneurs, supporters and society as a whole. CrowdPal are a passionate, highly qualified team that are serious about making a real difference for Palestinian entrepreneurs wherever they may be." The company's launch comes at a time when the regulatory environment has become increasingly favorable for entrepreneurs across the globe. For the founding members, CrowdPal represents a vital opportunity to use entrepreneurship as a mean of inspiring change in a volatile region, "The ultimate goal is to support companies that give back to the Palestinian community, create jobs, and increase quality of life," said CrowdPal Co-Founder and CIO Marcelo Diaz. CrowdPal is launching with an initial concentration on the Chilean market, which has an influential Palestinian community of half a million. CrowdPal will then roll out in the Americas, followed by the Middle East, and then Europe. The CrowdPal platform is currently seeking early adoption by investors and entrepreneurs. The company invites those interested in getting involved to follow their journey by visiting their website to find out more. For more information about this story, contact: Anas Hamed, Founder & CEO

CrowdPal

[email protected]

Av. Las Condes 7700 Oficina 704-B, Las Condes

Santiago, Chile

+56979679273 To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/crowdpal-launches--first-equity-crowdfunding-platform-to-support-palestinian-economy-300454468.html SOURCE CrowdPal

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] From the Floor of XPONENTIAL: Microdrones Welcomes Dr. Mohamed Mostafa to Team, Celebrates a Year of Success

DALLAS, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- From booth #1031 on the floor of AUVSI XPONENTIAL, the Microdrones team is pleased to announce the addition of a new team member: Dr. Mohamed Mostafa. Dr. Mostafa is well-known for his expertise in the geospatial community and joins Microdrones as the Director of mdSolutions. In this role, he will lead the mdSolutions team in identifying user needs and requirements and designing and developing new solutions to meet them. "I am excited to join a talented team of professionals to contribute to their ongoing efforts to pioneer optimal unmanned mapping systems for surveying and mapping industries," said Mostafa. Dr. Mostafa has a Ph.D. in Geomatics Engineering from the University of Calgary and more than 18 years of experience in system design, development, integration, calibration, and quality control. He has managed and delivered projects in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East and has contributed to more than 160 technical publications, including the Manual of Photogrammetry 5th edition and the DEM User Manual. He served as Vice President of Commission 1 (sensors and platforms) for the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) and as the Chair of the Direct Georeferencing Committee of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). Currently he serves as the Chair of the ASPRS Precision Mapping by UAS Committee. He won 11 international awards over the last 26 years. "We're thrilled to have Dr. Mostafa join us," said Microdrones President, Vivien Heriard Dubreuil. "He brings an impressive set of credentials and a wealth of expertise and experience. Our mdSolutions team is comprised of talented and innovative engineers and we're excited to see what they will achieve under Dr. Mostafa's leadership." A High-Flying Year It has been a year of many successes for the Microdrones team. Last year, at XPONENTIAL 2016, Microdrones announced it had merged with Avyon and expanded into North America. Since then, the company has made significant changes  and impressive progress. Over the course of the year, Microdrones has expanded its team and is still growing. The company is currently hiring more than a dozen positions and now employs more than 80 employees around the world.



In November, Microdrones partnered with Trimble, the world's leading distributor of geospatial equipment, becoming their preferred provider of quadcopter UAS. Since this agreement, leading Trimble dealers like GEOCOM, ALLTerra Deutschland, NEI, Geonovous, SITECH South, Frontier Precision, GeoLine, and Martin Instrument have been quick to join the Microdrones sales force. "Trimble dealers are signing on quickly," said Mike Hogan, Microdrones Director of Sales, Americas. "Their customers are asking for accurate, efficient, easy-to-use UAV mapping solutions and the dealers are excited about the value our systems offer for those customers. Even more exciting  these dealers are already selling our systems."

In November Microdrones also announced a partnership with Delair-Tech, which formed the world's largest research and development force focused on industrial UAS. Together the companies plan to produce a full line-up of complete rotary and fixed wing UAV solutions for commercial applications. But perhaps their greatest achievement of the year is the release of their mdMapper packages, complete solutions that include aircraft, sensors, and software  everything companies need for aerial mapping. These packages were designed for simple training and easy use to allow users to get started quickly using drones for surveying, mapping, construction, inspection, mining, precision agriculture, and other industrial applications. The mdMapper product line-up currently includes: mdMapper200  Compact, complete, and competitively priced, mdMapper200 is a great option for companies seeking the easiest possible drone to transport or a smaller drone to add to their fleet.

Compact, complete, and competitively priced, mdMapper200 is a great option for companies seeking the easiest possible drone to transport or a smaller drone to add to their fleet. mdMapper1000  Extra-long flight times and resistance to harsh environmental conditions make this complete mapping system an excellent choice for applications like surveying, mapping, inspection, and construction.

Extra-long flight times and resistance to harsh environmental conditions make this complete mapping system an excellent choice for applications like surveying, mapping, inspection, and construction. mdMapper1000DG  The benefits of mdMapper1000 plus the power of direct georeferencing combine to produce the best possible accuracy and time savings with no ground control points. Users can also increase the functionality of their systems by purchasing accessory kits. Some of the available options include inspection, multispectral, thermal, and soon LiDAR and methane gas detection kits. "It has been a year of many positive changes, the biggest one being that we are no longer only an aircraft company," explained Heriard Dubreuil. "We don't just sell drones, we sell complete solutions developed for specific applications that integrate everything the industrial user needs. Moving forward, all that we do will be geared toward designing exceptional solutions and helping our customers use them successfully." About Microdrones

Founded in Germany in 2005, Microdrones developed the world's first commercial quadcopter and the company still leads the industry with their professional UAV solutions. By pairing robust drones with cutting-edge sensors, Microdrones offers advanced turn-key solutions that make it easy for businesses to start using UAVs for surveying, mapping, construction, inspection, precision agriculture, mining, and other commercial applications. A heritage of quality German engineering, extra-long flight times, resistance to environmental challenges, and technology like direct georeferencing make Microdrones solutions exceptionally safe, efficient, and cost-effective choices for commercial users. Recently expanded into North America, Microdrones serves markets around the globe. To learn more about Microdrones, visit www.microdrones.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/from-the-floor-of-xponential-microdrones-welcomes-dr-mohamed-mostafa-to-team-celebrates-a-year-of-success-300454517.html SOURCE Microdrones

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] Roster of Top Corporations Turning to Impartner Software to Manage Channel Operations Continues Rapid Climb

SILICON SLOPES, Utah, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Partner Relationship Management (PRM) leader Impartner today released a series of case studies featuring tech leaders Ciena, Conga and Pivot3, all of whom have recently joined the growing list of businesses worldwide that are turning to Impartner's robust software to help manage their channel operations and accelerate indirect revenue. The power of Impartner's robust PRM software platform to increase indirect revenue by an average of 31 percent and decrease administrative costs by an average of 23 percent* helped the company grow its customer base by 156 percent in 2016 and 88 percent in Q1 2017 alone, with a client roster now reading more like a Who's Who of top corporations, including the three highlighted in the new case studies as well as Xerox, Splunk, Ingersoll Rand and Kodak Aleris. "It's incredibly exciting to bring corporations like Ciena, Conga and Pivot3 onboard," said Dave R Taylor, Impartner chief marketing officer. "But it's even more exciting to see the impact Imparter PRM has on helping them scale their channel programs and accelerate the performance of their channel." For Pivot3, a leading hyperconverged infrastructure company growing at nearly 80 percent a year, scale was a key driver in its search for a PRM solution. "One of the things you have to do with a channel program is operate in a one-to-many capacity, especially when you're growing this quickly," Pivot3 Chief Marketing Office Bruce Milne said in the case study. "The PRM solution was critical to the rapid expansion of our channel program, and Impartner is absolutely a key partner in that growth."



All three companies stress that Impartner PRM's core deal registration functionality is key to the value they can now deliver to their partners. "Our deal registration numbers climbed 275 percent in 6 months," said Milne, noting that the solution's easy-to-use interface is crucial to the adoption rate. Conga, the No. 1 paid app on the Salesforce AppExchange that simplifies and automates data, documents, contracts and reporting, also finds partner response to the deal registration functionality equally powerful. Conga SI and Reseller Partner Program Manager Susie Wallingford said in the case study, "It's driven down the average age of our deals to sometimes as low as a day, where a partner will register a deal and say, 'Hey, I've done all the work for you. I just need you to send a quote,' which has made my team look fantastic to our sales teams."

The market advantage provided by Impartner's deal registration is also a core feature for Ciena. "This functionality provides the framework that allows Ciena and its partners to collaboratively work on new opportunities, including automated approval/notification workflows and real-time updates between the PRM and CRM systems," said Genevieve Beaumier, partner experience manager for Ciena, a global network strategy and technology company. "Our partners like this feature because it gives them a competitive advantage." To watch or read the complete case studies on how Impartner has helped Ciena, Conga, and Pivot3 take all aspects of their partner programs to the next level in the marketplace, click here. To learn more about the business case for PRM and how it can accelerate indirect revenue, click here. Attendees at the SiriusDecision 2017 Summit in Las Vegas can listen to Pivot3's Bruce Milne present a case study on their use of Impartner PRM on May 16th, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Bassano Room 2602 or visit Impartner in Booth 232. About Impartner Impartner delivers the industry's most advanced SaaS-based Partner Relationship Management solution, helping companies worldwide manage their partner relationships and accelerate revenue and profitability through indirect sales channels. Impartner PRM is the industry's most award-winning PRM technology and one of the industry's only turnkey solutions that can deploy a world-class Partner Portal in as few as 30 days, using the company's highly engineered, three-step Velocity onboarding process. For more information on Impartner, which is based in Utah's tech hotbed, the Silicon Slopes, visit www.impartner.com, or in the United States call +1 801 501 7000, for EMEA general call +33 1 40 90 31 20, for London call +44 0 20 3283 4465, and for LATAM call +1 954 364 7883. *Global survey of Impartner customers, anonymous responses. Contact:

Kerry Desberg

Impartner

425-231-9529

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roster-of-top-corporations-turning-to-impartner-software-to-manage-channel-operations-continues-rapid-climb-300454658.html SOURCE Impartner

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
[May 09, 2017] BIOX Announces 2017 Second Quarter Results

TSX symbol: BX TORONTO, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - BIOX Corporation (BIOX) (TSX: BX), a renewable energy company that owns and operates biodiesel production facilities, today announced its 2017 second quarter financial results for the three-month (Q2 2017) and six-month (YTD 2017) periods ended March 31, 2017. Highlights Completed commissioning of the 90 million U.S. gallon (USG) biodiesel production facility in Houston, Texas , through its ownership in the 50/50 joint venture in World Energy BIOX Biofuels LLC ( WEBB )

, through its ownership in the 50/50 joint venture in World Energy BIOX Biofuels LLC ( ) Upgrades to the 13.2 million USG Sombra facility continue with target commissioning in calendar Q3 2017

Production of methylesters was 15.4 million litres at the Hamilton facility and 23.4 million litres of biodiesel at the WEBB facility in Q2 2017

facility and 23.4 million litres of biodiesel at the facility in Q2 2017 Sales were $14,206,000 in Q2 2017

in Q2 2017 Operating loss prior to non-cash items 1 was $2,603,000 in Q2 2017

was in Q2 2017 Net loss was $5,126,000 in Q2 2017

in Q2 2017 Net loss per basic share was $0.11 in Q2 2017 "Our assets are strategically located in growing biodiesel markets where we can cost-effectively deliver product and compliance directly to the obligated parties," said Alan Rickard, Chief Executive Officer of BIOX. "The Houston facility is the only bio-based diesel facility located within the Houston terminal, which is one of the largest petroleum distribution sites in North America. Our Hamilton facility, and once commissioned our Sombra facility is expected to, produce bio-based diesel with the lowest carbon intensity in the province. Lower carbon intensity fuels provide an advantage to obligated parties in meeting their mandates under the Ontario Greener Diesel program. With the lapse of the U.S. Blender Tax Credit at the end of calendar 2016 we are now operating within a more challenging commercial environment. As we work to complete the upgrades to and commissioning of the Sombra facility this year we look to transition from our expansion focus to operating our assets and strengthening our balance sheet." Financial Highlights

Sales were $14.2 million and $33.7 million for the three-month (Q2 2017) and the six-month periods (YTD 2017) ended March 31, 2017, respectively, compared to $21.4 million and $47.2 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change in the YTD period is partially due to the recognition of US$6.7 million of refundable tax credits from customers and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service related to the retroactive reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive in YTD 2016. BIOX sold 13.1 million litres and 27.5 million litres of biodiesel in Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to 20.4 million litres and 40.2 million litres in the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The changes in sales and volume sold for both Q2 2017 and YTD 2017 are primarily due to lower sales of third-party product. The Company sold less than 0.1 million litres of third-party product in both the Q1 2017 and YTD periods, compared to 5.3 million litres and 10.8 million litres of third-party product sales in the corresponding periods last year. Management intends to take advantage of future opportunities to control and distribute third-party product on an ongoing basis, however the Company's primary focus moving forward are its investments in the Houston and Sombra facilities, and as such management does not anticipate significant levels of third-party product sales in future periods. Direct expenses were $15.3 million and $33.7 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $22.3 million and $41.2 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The changes are primarily the result of the reduction in purchases of third-party product, partially offset by an increase in the average price of feedstock over the prior year periods. General and administrative expenses were $1.5 million and $3.2 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $1.3 million and $2.7 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The changes were primarily due to an increase in professional fees related to management's growth strategies in Q2 2017. Management expects the G&A run-rate to be in the range of $0.5 million to $0.6 million per month in fiscal 2017 as the Company has added incremental administrative scale to support the ongoing production at the Houston facility followed by the planned start-up and production at the Sombra facility in mid-2017. Operating loss was $3.4 million and $4.7 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to an operating loss of $3.0 million and operating income of $1.4 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change is primarily a result of the collection of US$6.7 million in refundable tax credits, referenced above, related to the reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive in YTD 2016. There was no such revenue recognized in the corresponding period in fiscal 2017. The expiry of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive and its retroactive reinstatement has occurred multiple times in the Company's history, and once again has resulted in lower relative sales revenues in the fiscal Q2 period. Operating loss prior to non-cash items1 was $2.6 million and $3.1 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to an operating loss prior to non-cash items of $2.1 million and operating income prior to non-cash items of $3.3 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change in the quarterly period is primarily due to the decision to conduct the annual scheduled maintenance at the Hamilton facility in February, while in fiscal 2016 it was conducted in April. The change in the YTD period is primarily related to the retroactive reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive referenced above. Net loss was $5.1 million and $8.3 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $5.3 million and $0.9 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. Net loss per basic share was $0.11 and $0.18 for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $0.12 and $0.02 for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change in the YTD period is also related to the retroactive reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive referenced above. As at March 31, 2017, BIOX's available cash position and working capital was $3.0 million and negative $13.3 million, respectively, compared with $3.5 million and negative $6.1 million at September 30, 2016. The negative working capital balance is a result of the short-term nature of the financing obtained from insiders related to the Houston acquisition. The change in working capital is primarily due to a $4.1 million draw on the demand loan and an expansion of the bridge note by $2.0 million. As at March 31, 2017, BIOX had 46,325,544 common shares outstanding, as well as outstanding options to purchase up to 1,430,000 common shares of BIOX and outstanding warrants to purchase up to 4,400,000 common shares of BIOX. Outlook

In June 2016, BIOX acquired, or participated in the acquisition of, two biodiesel production facilities expanding its capacity from 67 million litres to 287.5 million litres of owned capacity (458 million litres gross capacity including the joint venture). These two acquisitions demonstrate BIOX's ability to execute on its growth strategies through increasing the volume of biodiesel it produces, controls and distributes in strategic locations throughout North America. In the near term, BIOX's primary focus is the operation and marketing of product from its Hamilton facility and WEBB's Houston facility as well as the start-up of the Sombra facility. BIOX continues to invest in upgrades to the Sombra facility that will improve the facility's efficiency and enable the use of a broader range of feedstock, specifically lower carbon intensity feedstocks, such as animal fats and recycled cooking oils. The Company expects the facility to be in production by the third quarter of calendar 2017 to capture a portion of the 2017 blend season in Ontario. Management believes the Ontario market will play an increasingly important role in its distribution network. The implementation of the Greener Diesel program in Ontario mandates increasing blend rates and a move toward lower carbon intensity fuels in 2017. The greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction aspects of the Ontario Greener Diesel mandate are an important differentiator for BIOX. Bio-based diesel produced by BIOX at the Hamilton facility has the lowest carbon intensity in the province, reducing GHG emissions by more than 100% when compared to petroleum diesel. The Sombra facility, once upgraded to handle lower carbon intensity feedstocks, will produce at a comparable GHG emission efficiency to the bio-diesel produced by BIOX at its Hamilton facility. In November 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for Biomass-based diesel. The RVO established a minimum volume requirement for biomass-based diesel of 2.0 billion USG in 2017, an increase from 1.9 billion USG for 2016. The RVO is recognized at the primary driver of demand for biodiesel in the U.S. market. Management believes the clarity around the volume obligations will create stable and consistent demand from obligated parties. With assets in the U.S. and Ontario located in close proximity to blending infrastructure, pipelines and transport access, management believes BIOX is in a strong positon to serve obligated parties in these two growing biodiesel markets. Notice of Conference Call

BIOX will hold a conference call tomorrow morning, May 10, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. ET hosted by Mr. Alan Rickard, Chief Executive Officer to discuss the Company's financial results and corporate developments. To access the conference call by telephone, dial (647) 427-7450 or (888) 231-8191. To access the telephone replay, dial (416) 849-0833 or (855) 859-2056 and enter reservation number 18583372. A live audio webcast of the call will be available at www.bioxcorp.com. The webcast will be archived for 90 days. Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures

The following table presents a reconciliation of operating income prior to non-cash items to net income for the three-month and six-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:







(in thousands)



Three months ended Six months ended





March 31 March 31





2017 2016 2017 2016





$ $ $ $ Operating (loss) income before non-cash items

(2,603) (2,105) (3,129) 3,253













Deduct: Production facility depreciation

and amortization

(680) (652) (1,401) (1,438)















Depreciation and amortization of

equipment and intangible assets

(50) (56) (102) (112)















Share-based compensation

(23) (144) (84) (256) Operating (loss) income

(3,356) (2,957) (4,716) 1,447 Income tax expense

(433) (1,739) (767) (1,739) Other income and expenses

(1,337) (626) (2,843) (649) Net loss

(5,126) (5,322) (8,326) (941)





1) Note: Non-IFRS Measures. Operating income (loss) prior to non-cash items is defined as operating income or loss less production facility depreciation and amortization, and less depreciation and amortization of equipment and intangibles and share-based compensation. Management uses this measurement to monitor the operating cash flow of BIOX's business and believes this information is useful supplemental information to a reader of financial statements. This measurement may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Investors are cautioned that operating income (loss) prior to non-cash items should not be construed as an alternative to net (loss) income determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of BIOX's performance. 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. Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking" statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, objectives or achievements of BIOX, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, objectives or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements relate to, among other things, BIOX's long-term expectations for the biodiesel market in light of current market conditions, the timeline for the Sombra facility commencing production, the capacity of and anticipated upgrades to the Sombra facility and timing thereof, and the ability of BIOX to benefit from recent regulatory initiatives in the U.S. and Ontario. These statements reflect BIOX's current views regarding future events and operating performance, are based on information currently available to BIOX, and speak only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such performance or results will be achieved. Those assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, the fact that BIOX's results of operations and business outlook are highly dependent on a mix of legislation and producer payment programs and tax credits and upon commodity prices, which are subject to significant volatility and uncertainty. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of BIOX to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including factors described in this press release and those discussed in BIOX's publicly available disclosure documents, as filed by BIOX on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) except as updated herein. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Unless required by applicable securities law, BIOX does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. To the extent any forward-looking statements herein constitute financial outlook, they were approved by management as of the date hereof and have been included to provide an understanding with respect to BIOX's financial performance and are subject to the same risks and assumptions referred to herein. There can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which these forward-looking statements are based will occur and readers are cautioned that any financial outlook information contained in this news release should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein. BIOX Corporation Condensed consolidated interim statements of comprehensive loss Three and six month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited) (Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)



Three months ended Six months ended





March 31,

March 31,



2017 2016 2017 2016



$ $ $ $











Revenue 14,206 21,426 33,731 47,169











Cost of sales









Direct expenses 15,280 22,268 33,698 41,177

Production facility depreciation and amortization 680 652 1,401 1,438



15,960 22,920 35,099 42,615











Gross margin (1,754) (1,494) (1,368) 4,554











Operating expenses









General and administrative 1,529 1,263 3,162 2,739

Depreciation and amortization of equipment and intangible assets 50 56 102 112

Share-based compensation 23 144 84 256



1,602 1,463 3,348 3,107











Operating (loss) income (3,356) (2,957) (4,716) 1,447











Other expenses









Financing cost 765 230 1,685 467

Loss on investment in joint venture 549 - 1,111 -

Gain on revaluation of asset retirement obligation - - - (329)

Foreign exchange loss 30 402 54 527



1,344 632 2,850 665











Net (loss) income before interest income and income taxes (4,700) (3,589) (7,566) 782 Income tax expense (433) (1,739) (767) (1,739) Interest income 7 6 7 16 Net loss for the period (5,126) (5,322) (8,326) (941) Other comprehensive income (loss)









Foreign currency translation gain (loss) 27 23 (51) 57 Comprehensive loss (5,099) (5,299) (8,377) (884)











Loss per common share









Basic (0.11) (0.12) (0.18) (0.02)

Diluted (0.11) (0.12) (0.18) (0.02)











Weighted average number of common shares outstanding









Basic 46,111,793 46,055,164 46,111,793 46,055,164

Diluted 46,111,793 46,055,164 46,111,793 46,055,164 BIOX Corporation Condensed consolidated interim statements of changes in equity Six month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited) (Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)



Common share capital

Warrant reserve

Accumulated













Share



other













purchase

Equity comprehensive

Total



Shares Amount

warrants Amount reserve loss Deficit equity



# $

# $ $ $ $ $





















Balance, September 30, 2015

46,025,124 168,130

- - 1,968 (659) (136,474) 32,965 Share-based compensation

- -

- - 256 - - 256 Share purchase

72,919 46

- - (20) - - 26 Net loss

- -

- - - - (941) (941) Foreign currency translation gain

- -

- - - 57 - 57 Balance, March 31, 2016

46,098,043 168,176

- - 2,204 (602) (137,415) 32,363





















Balance, September 30, 2016

46,098,043 168,176

4,400,000 727 2,446 (617) (139,883) 30,849 Share-based compensation

- -

- - 84 - - 84 Share purchase

227,501 248

- - (112) -

136 Net loss

- -

- - - - (8,326) (8,326) Foreign currency translation loss

- -

- - - (51) - (51) Balance, March 31, 2017

46,325,544 168,424

4,400,000 727 2,418 (668) (148,209) 22,692 BIOXCorporation Condensed consolidated interim statements of financial position As at March 31, 2017 and September 30, 2016 (Unaudited) (Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars)







March 31, September 30,







2017 2016







$ $ Assets







Current assets









Cash and cash equivalents



3,018 3,529

Restricted cash



1,174 1,174

Accounts receivable



2,007 2,882

Prepaid expenses



973 808

Inventory



4,934 3,841







12,106 12,234











Investment in joint venture



12,087 12,984 Property, plant and equipment



30,345 30,091 Intangible assets



259 304 Deferred income tax assets



9,218 9,985







64,015 65,598











Liabilities







Current liabilities









Accounts payable and other liabilities



8,009 7,108

Demand loan



4,091 -

Short-term debt



10,669 8,330

Current portion of long-term debt



1,500 1,500

Current portion of finance leases



- 6

Current portion of provisions



1,097 1,432







25,366 18,376











Long-term debt



6,360 7,107 Secured promissory notes



6,140 5,570 Provisions



3,457 3,696







41,323 34,749











Equity







Common share capital



168,424 168,176 Warrant reserve



727 727 Equity reserve



2,418 2,446 Accumulated other comprehensive loss



(668) (617) Deficit



(148,209) (139,883)







22,692 30,849







64,015 65,598 BIOXCorporation







Condensed consolidated interim statements of cash flows







Six month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016







(Unaudited)







(Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)







2017

2016







$

$ Operating activities









Net loss

(8,326)

(941)

Add (less) items not involving cash











Production facility depreciation and amortization

1,401

1,438



Depreciation and amortization of equipment and intangible assets

102

112



Financing costs

1,206

281



Share-based compensation

84

256



Gain on revaluation of provisions

-

(329)



Accretion of provisions

133

159



Loss on investment in joint venture

1,076

-



Income tax expense

767

1,739







(3,557)

2,715















Net change in non-cash working capital balances











related to operations

247

(2,338)







(3,310)

377













Investing activity









Purchase of property, plant and equipment

(1,578)

(614)

Decrease in restricted cash

-

260







(1,578)

(354)













Financing activities









Payments on tank lease provision

(748)

(762)

Payments on finance leases

(6)

(17)

Proceeds from short-term debt financing

1,888

-

Repayment of long-term debt financing

(750)

(750)

Proceeds from demand loan

4,091

2,250

Issuance of common shares

136

26

Interest paid

(274)

(276)







4,337

471













Effect of exchange rate changes on:









Cash held in foreign currency

40

(231)













Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period

(511)

263 Cash, beginning of period

3,529

7,709 Cash, end of period

3,018

7,972 SOURCE BIOX Corporation

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Proposed Kentucky constitutional amendment to end right to an abortion defeated in vote
Meat Loaf might be most famous for his impressive vocal abilities, but the man also considers himself an actor, having appeared in big-hitters like Hair, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Fight Club in the past.

Now he is set to star in a 13-part sci-fi series named Ghost Wars, alongside Vincent DOnofrio. The show will be available on Netflix later this year, and was created by Simon Barry, who helmed Van Helsing.

Kim Coates, Avan Jogia and Kristin Lehman also appear in the show, which is set in an isolated Alaskan village.

Ghost Wars is not just a contemporary homage to classic psychological horror, its also an opportunity to tell stories about human politics and how we shape our beliefs and lives based on our individual perspectives and biases, Barry said of the show. Science, humanism, religion and the paranormal all get a seat at the table.

It promises to be his best TV performance since that time in Celebrity Apprentice where he flipped out, attacked Gary Busey, and behaved like an absolute maniac. Check it out below.
The Grateful Dead would have to have the most loyal fans in rock music history, but it still comes as somewhat of a shock to see that Jerry Garcias custom-made guitar is expected to sell at auction for a price exceeding $1 million.

The guitar, nicknamed Wolf by the late artist, was first used in a 1973 gig in New York at a Hells Angels rally. Garcia continued to use the guitar for years, playing it throughout the bands 1977 road film, and even busting out a few licks on it while playing at the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

Philanthropist film maker Daniel Pritzker bought the guitar in 2002 for $790,000 (a record price for a guitar at the time) and is expected to sell it for over a million. The guitar will be auctioned off at Brooklyn Bowl in NYC on May 31, with all proceeds going to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Ive been a fan of The Dead since I was a kid, Pritzker explains, and playing this iconic guitar over the past 15 years has been a privilege. But the time is right for Wolf to do some good. My wife and I have long supported the efforts of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and if ever we needed the SPLC, we sure do need them now.

The guitar is pictured below. More information on the auction is here.
Burglars target pair of sporting goods stores in Johnson County Police in Merriam are searching for the four burglars who forced their way into two Dick's Sporting Goods stores early Tuesday morning.

Andthe best post title we'll blog today . . . Here's the news report that isn't nearly as good:
More deets about an ongoing local talk and how the rising tide of Kansas City water rates continues to impact residents.Take a look:How should Kansas City pay for water services? That was the question before the mayoral-appointed Cost of Service Task Force. Now, after more than year of public meetings, the group is preparing to make their recommendations.The Task Force has held eleven public meetings since April 2016. The Task Force will meet again on May 9th and on June 6th before providing final recommendations to the City Council. Customers with comments about the funding of water, wastewater, and stormwater services are invited to share their feedback with the task force at the next meeting.What: Cost of Service Task Force MeetingWhen: Tuesday, May 9th, 4pm  7pmWhere: Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, 3700 Blue Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64130The issue of water affordability is not unique to Kansas City, it has become a national conversation. The federal government provides billing assistance programs for other utilities, but not for water and wastewater . . .#####Developing . . .
A Kansas City man who was detained in Egypt is the subject of an investigation by FBI counterterrorism agents. The probe on Isse Aweis Mohamud began after his family reported him missing.
UNIVERSAL TIF THREATENS TO KEEP EATING UP KANSAS CITY CASH AT HORRIFIC COST TO LOCAL EDUCATION!!!

"On April 4, voters authorized the city to borrow and spend up to $800 million for public works projects over the next 20 years. This includes $600 million for streets, bridges and sidewalks. But in an April 25 letter, city manager Troy Shulte announced his intention to take another $4.8 million of funds not needed by the now-completed Universal TIF that would otherwise go for schools, libraries, community college, and the disabled. If the city manager gets his way, those dollars will be diverted, adding to the already staggering amount slated for streets and sidewalks. Education advocates are rightfully concerned. The TIF Commission and Plans and Zoning Committee of the City Council take up the issue at meetings on Wednesday, May 10. But the bigger questions probably wont be discussed: why isnt $600 million enough for City Hall? Is the education of our citys children a bigger priority than sidewalks in a nonresidential area? And if City Hall is not acting in the interest of our schoolchildren and families, whose interests are they serving? Is it good for kids? You decide."

We are writing to express our concerns regarding a proposal by the City Manager to use $9.8 million in the Universal TIF Special Allocation Fund for infrastructure improvements in and adjacent to the Universal TIF District boundaries. Although the project has been competed, rather than terminate the TIF and distribute all the surplus funds to the taxing jurisdictions to educate our children, operate our libraries, and help the mentally ill, the City Manager wants to expand or revise the district boundaries and use those aforementioned revenues for curbs, sidewalks, property acquisition and demolition channel improvements and bicycle and walking trails. Those projects may have some merit, but the education of our children is a higher priority . . . Revenues that should accrue to benefit and operate the school and library districts should not be used for city infrastructure and "a recreational amenity."

Right now, here'sabout an important Kansas City financial debate that features City Hall continuing to siphon money from schools despite an influx of "infrastructure" cash.To wit and amid morefrustration . .Here's the sitch explained. . .Opposition to this City Manager move is quick and unified from a coalition of residents, educators and voters . . .Developing . . .
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos congratulated French president-elect Emmanuel Macron on Monday for his victory at the countrys elections on Sunday, expressing his certainty that their cooperation will prove very beneficial for Greece and France.

I would like to express my sincere and warmest congratulations on your election to the Presidency of the French Republic. During a period marked by the economic, refugee, migratory and general humanitarian crisis, as well as by the great security challenges in the world, your election demonstrates the French peoples strong decision to continue on its pro-European course, he said in a message.

Based on the excellent relations between our two countries, I am confident that our cooperation, both at bilateral, European and international level, will prove fruitful and extremely beneficial to our two nations, 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
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
The Mena Food & Beverage sector deal value for the full year 2016 surged to over $3.4 billion, from just $402 million the previous year, said Mergermarket, a leading provider of M&A data and intelligence.



Total deal value for the year was the highest since the data provider first reported on the sectors M&A landscape in 2009. Four deals in the consumer sector have been announced so far this year worth $104 million with a strong pipeline predicted for 2017. The data was announced at Mergermarkets Mena Mergers 2017 forum, which took place at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, UAE today (May 8).



Deal value in the Food & Beverage subsector so far this year has been driven by consumer giant, Nestles, acquisition of Caravan Marketing Company, a leading Egyptian instant coffee company and owner of the Bonjorno brand, for $33 million. The acquisition reflects Nestles ambition to invest in Egypt and the fast development of a rapidly growing soluble coffee segment which has been gaining popularity in the region.



Another headline hitting deal to watch is Brazilian meat producer, BRFs, sale of a stake in its halal food unit, One Foods, which could be worth an estimated $5 million. Interest in the asset dropped following Brazilian police reports revealed a criminal investigation of the countrys meat industry. The stake may be targeted by Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment and the sovereign wealth funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Qatar Investment Authority.



Ruth McKee Al Ghamdi, head of Mergermarket Mena, said: Food and beverage continues to be a hot sector for M&A in the Mena region. In an era of low oil prices, challenging economic conditions and stiff competition, thriving businesses are highly sought-after by corporates and private equity firms. A number of successful concepts are expanding throughout the region through opening company-owned locations or franchising. Most deals in this space will likely be seen in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.



Following a slow start to 2017, M&A deal activity in the sector is expected to pick up in the second half of the year. Mergermarket intelligence suggests that a further flurry of small-cap deals are expected including Emirates Modern Poultry Co (Al Rawdah), who are mulling over a $20-30 million joint venture in Kuwait and Oman to increase their export capabilities.



In March, Mergermarket reported that Lebanese food chain Shawarmanji was in advanced discussions with a private equity firm over a stake sale. Shawarmanji has signed franchise agreements to launch 50 outlets in Saudi Arabia in the next seven years, with discussions to open further franchises in Oman and Egypt and plans to enter Europe by the end of 2018.



Jayshree Gupta, corporate partner, Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla, UAE, said: Deal flow in consumer-led sectors remains steady, with activity in the food and beverage (F&B) sector maintaining momentum through FY 2016 and into Q1 2017.



The UAE traditionally sees a large chunk of the regions F&B activity, and we expect to see continued interest in both domestic and cross-border transactions, with some mega deals achieved in the Middle East last year. And despite a flat 2016 and modest expectations for 2017, retail is still predicted to be a driver of growth in the domestic economy in the medium term.  TradeArabia News Service
A high-level Bahraini delegation, led by Anwar Abdulrahman, the chairman of Al Hilal Group and Akbar Al Khaleej, and Darwish Mannai, Shura Council member and chairman of Mannai Group, highlighted the kingdom's credentials as a business gateway to the GCC at a key event in New Delhi, India.



The Bahrain-India Business Partnership, which was organised by the PHD Chamber and the International Affairs Committee for Africa & Middle East, is a follow-up session to the successful Bahrain-India hosted by the Al Hilal Group in February during the Gulf Industry Fair in Manama.



Speaking at the event, Abdulrahaman said: "One man 20 years ago asked Bahrain to focus on the East, this man was our Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Today I am reminded of these words as I see the potential that India is realising in its economic growth."



"We are closer in many ways to the East, with our shared values, roots and philosophy. The GCC is open to companies and the people of India, but this future lies in your hands to seize these opportunities," remarked Abdulrahman before a 70-strong audience comprising officials of leading Indian companies.



Invoking the fighting spirit of India inspired by the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion, he noted that "All of the future great minds of India were born after this momentous historical event." Abdulrahmans insights were widely acclaimed by the audience.



In his address, Mannai pointed out that Bahrain served as the gateway to markets in the GCC.



"India-Bahrain trade has surpassed $1 billion since 2016. With FDI from Bahrain to India at $140.73 million for the period April 2000-December 2016. There are obvious synergies between the two countries which can be achieved through direct contact between Bahraini and Indian businessmen," he noted.



Mannai pointed out that there were excellent opportunities for investing in Bahrain in a number of business ventures such as reputed Indian well-known university specialising in engineering/technical subjects, trustworthy medical insurance companies.



"These and other ventures are welcomed by the government and the society at large. he added.



Anil Khaitan, senior VP of PHD Chambers, said: "During the PHD Chambers visit to Gulf Industry Fair in Bahrain we experienced at first hand the energy, the sincerity and the opportunities available not just directly in the Bahrain marketplace; but also the benefits in partnering with Bahrain businessmen to develop direct business links."



"The openness and enthusiasm showed by Abdulrahman and Mannai has confirmed our commitment to work closely through Bahrain to achieve the commercial aims of our members," remarked Khaitan.



The forum was attended by Bahrains Ambassador to India Tariq Mubarak bin Dainah who expressed his support for PHDs positive approach to taking advantage of business-friendly Bahrain as a strong foundation for future bilateral ties between Bahrain and India.



The delegation included George Middleton from Red House Marketing and Al Hilal Groups Managing Director Jubran Abdulrahman and Public Affairs Director Ahmed Suleiman.-TradeArabia News Service


Petrofac has secured a series of contract awards worth more than $70 million for engineering, operations and maintenance services in Iraq.



Petrofacs Engineering and Production Services (EPS) East business secured the awards during the first quarter of 2017 with two major International Oil Companies and South Oil Company.



Petrofac has been providing services in Iraq since 2010 and has developed a significant track record for helping our clients to unlock value from their onshore and offshore operations. Featuring prominently in the mix are awards in region for operations and maintenance and a new brownfield scope for engineering and procurement services.



In addition, the company has been awarded new scopes from South Oil Company. This includes the installation of offtake facilities and a mooring system for an additional Single Point Mooring. This additional scope builds on the companys six-year tenure as the provider of operations and maintenance for the offshore international crude oil export expansion production facility.



Mani Rajapathy, managing director, Engineering & Production Services East, said: Were delighted to have made such a positive start to 2017, securing important awards with key clients in one of our core countries.



There has recently been a considerable shift in the wider regions market dynamics and consequently I believe these awards reflect our clients continued confidence in our ability to deliver cost-effectively and in line with their quality requirements.



Over the coming months we will focus on effective deployment of our operations, engineering and projects activities across the contracts to enable our clients to unlock maximum value from their oil and gas assets, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Diyar Al Muharraq, one of the leading urban developers in Bahrain, announced the hosting of the Dragon Street Market from May 4-13 (4 to 11 pm) at the Dining Village, situated adjacent to Dragon Mall.



Age-old culture and perennial traditions await the public as they step into nights lined with Chinese markets, bustling with festivities and vibrant performances catering to all age groups. The Dragon Street Market offers the best of opportunities to the people of Bahrain anticipating a buoyant evening, affording them the chance to indulge in the ultimate experience of Chinese street shopping. The evenings will leave visitors buzzing with excitement as they witness firsthand the art of Chinese calligraphy by folk artists, in conjunction with adrenaline-pumping calisthenics performances by the Discipline Academy, there to enthrall the masses with their exemplary acrobatic skills, imparting just a foretaste of what the carnival has in store.



Speaking on the occasion, managing director of Dragon City Dr Maher Al Shaer said: We are overjoyed to offer the people of Bahrain a lasting outlook into the Chinese culture, and I take this opportunity to extend a hearty welcome to the members of the public so that they can immerse themselves in the beautiful intricacies that is Chinese tradition and urbanity.



On behalf of Diyar Al Muharraq, I would like to express my immense pride at hosting events such as they bring people together to celebrate a fusion of cultures, which substantiates true harmony and further bolsters the comradeship between nations. With the event having started over the weekend, we welcome people from neighboring countries as well, to experience the many recreational pursuits we have on offer to keep them entertained and create lasting memories, he added.



The exhilarating market promises much in store for the masses, guaranteed to leave them captivated with performances that are sure to keep them on the edge, all the while celebrating a wholesome family experience.



Dragon City is a first of its kind development that encompasses over 787 commercial units, making it the largest wholesale and retail trading centre in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Situated to the South-West of Diyar Al Muharraq in close proximity to Bahrains International Airport, the state-of-the-art Khalifa Bin Salman Port and the Capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Manama, Dragon City caters to customers from both the kingdom and beyond. Dragon City is infused with Chinese architectural and cultural aspects and offers Chinese products of the highest quality to local consumers, trade customers and tourists. Encompassing four parts, Dragon City is comprised of Dragon Mall, a 4,500-sq-m area designated for Warehouses, the Dining Village and Dragon Apartments. - TradeArabia News Service
Dhofar Global, a leading supplier of hygiene products in the Middle East, aims to boost its market presence in the key Gulf markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain within the next three years, said its chairman.

Dr Amer Al Rawas was speaking at a gala event to mark Dhofar's 10th anniversary celebrations at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina in Dubai. It was attended by its prime suppliers, clients and employees.

After recording a substantial 40 per cent business growth in the UAE in 2016, Dhofar Global kicked off this year with a major announcement of its plan to firmly establish its presence in at least one additional GCC market this year and two more by 2020 amidst the regions flourishing cleaning and hygiene sector.

With offices in Qatar and Oman, the company is eyeing Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain markets. Outside GCC, it has representative offices in Mauritius, Maldives, and Seychelles.

Dhofar Globals environment-friendly hygiene products are being efficiently distributed to customers across a wide range of industries, from 4- and 5-star hotels and catering to healthcare, automotive, and aviation to government and facility management, stated Dr Al Rawas.

"As a regional leader, we continue to explore innovative mechanisms to further add value to our products according to the highest international quality and environmental standards," he remarked.

Demonstrating its environmental commitment, the company recently launched its new brand identity with a tag line Happier Environment. The new logo denotes the companys core values of transparency, fairness, innovation, professionalism, simplicity, and trust, said a statement.

CEO Chandan Singh said: "When we began our journey in 2007 with just five employees, our dream was to become a regional leader in providing excellent hygiene solutions. During our first year, we only had two trucks and 15 customers.

But what was once a dream is now a reality. We have considerably grown over the years. We are now operating a fleet of over 60 trucks in addition to managing more than 300 employees professionally delivering one-of-a-kind solutions to our massive 7,000 regional customers from various industries, he stated.

Like in the past, our outlook remains positive for 2017 and the coming years, with new valuable clients and implementation of all-encompassing business initiatives with far-reaching results and better outcomes, he added. TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia has reported improving economic indicators with the point of sale (POS) transactions rising 6.2 per cent year-on-year in March 2017, versus an increase of 5.1 per cent y-o-y in February, said a report.



This indicated improvement in consumption in the kingdom, said the Al Rajhi Capital report.



Meanwhile, loan-to-deposit ratio slipped to 87.4 per cent in March 2017 from 88.1pc in the previous month as deposits rose on a sequential basis after declining over the previous three months. Government deposits increased 5.5pc (to 19.7pc of total deposits), indicating that the government might have injected some money into the economy, said the report.



The banking sectors statutory deposits with Sama (reserves) is at SR94.9 billion, more than the required SR88.3 billion, indicating the healthy liquidity in the system. Other liquidity ratios, such as the liquid assets to short-term liabilities and liquid assets to total assets stood at the highest level in eight quarters by the end of Q4 2016, it said.



Saudi Arabias debt stands at ~13 per cent of 2017 GDP post the latest round of fund raising by the government.



Saudi Arabias foreign assets stand at a comfortable ~72 per cent of 2017 GDP, higher compared to other commodity dependent countries like Brazil and

Russia at ~17 per cent and ~25 per cent, respectively.



Government deposit of SR794.5 billion stands at ~400 per cent of the 2017 deficit of SR198 billion.



The kingdom raised $9bn via its debut Islamic bond sale, as against $8 billion planned initially, wherein the issue received $33 billion of orders. It sold $4.5 billion of five-year Sukuk for 100 bps above the mid swap rate and $4.5 billion of 10-year sukuk with a 140 bps premium. The kingdom is likely to continue raising international or domestic debt this year, the report said.



The Council of Economic Affairs and Development recently announced that it has identified 10 programmes of strategic importance to achieve the Vision 2030.

Over the next four months, the specialised committees will work on implementing the plans for these 10 programmes, which include housing, serving pilgrims, improving lifestyle, developing the financial sector, privatisation, etc.



Cost of living index remained in the deflation territory in March for the third straight month (-0.4% y-o-y) compared to -0.1% y-o-y in February, dragged down by the continued fall in food and beverages prices.



Banking sectors monthly profits declined sharply by 14.9 per cent y-o-y in March 2017, as against the fall of 8.4pc y-o-y in February 2017.



Real estate prices slipped by 9.8 per cent y-o-y in Q1 2017, as against a yearly drop of 8.7pc in Q4 2016, according to the new real estate price index released

by Gastat.



IMF has revised the kingdoms GDP growth forecast for 2018 to +1.3 per cent y-o-y from +2.3 per cent y-o-y estimated previously, owing to the impact of oil output cut. However, the IMF has kept this years GDP growth forecast unchanged at +0.4pc y-o-y.



Banks claims on the private sector edged down by 0.1pc y-o-y in March 2017 (+0.3% y-o-y in February 2017), whereas the deposits remained broadly

stable in the same month.



Foreign reserve assets fell at a slower monthly pace of 1.1pc in March 2017, as against a drop of 1.9pc m-o-m in February 2017, to stand at SR1,907 billion (~$508.5bn).



Brent crude June futures dropped by 3.4 per cent m-o-m in April 2017, versus the monthly fall of 5.8pc in March 2017, dragged down by the concerns over rising US shale oil production.



The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its April 2017 report estimated Brent crude oil prices to average around $54/barrel in 2017 and $57/barrel in 2018. - TradeArabia News Service
There are huge non-oil investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia which have not yet been utilised, Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said in an interview.



Prince Mohammed, in a wide-ranging interview with prominent Saudi journalist Dawood Al-Shirian on national television, said the proposed Saudi Aramco IPO will provide cash for the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to fund non-oil investment.



PIF will spend more than SR500 billion ($133.3 billion) over three years after Aramco's IPO, Prince Mohammed said, according to a Reuters report.



The planned sale of a stake in Aramco will occur through an IPO in 2018, and the stake sold "will be not be very far off 5 per cent", Prince Mohammed said.



The listing of Aramco, expected to be the world's biggest IPO and raise tens of billions of dollars, is a centrepiece of the government's ambitious plan - known as Vision 2030 - to diversify the economy beyond oil.



Prince Mohammed said that even after the listing, the Saudi government would retain sole control over Aramco's oil and gas reserves and would decide on production levels. Aramco will have a concession to monetise those reserves.



The deputy crown prince said many achievements had taken place since Saudi Vision 2030 was launched a year ago. Any plan for reform comes with some side effects, he said.



Saudi Arabias non-oil income has doubled in the past couple of years, he was quoted as saying by an Arab news report.



He said that more than a million housing units will be offered to citizens at affordable prices. We expect those housing units to be ready and open in the third quarter of 2017.



Prince Mohammed ruled out imposition of taxes on the commercial sector or taxes on income. He also said the states role is to guarantee free medical coverage for all citizens.



Privatisation of the health care sector is the norm all over the world, he said. It will be clear by the end of the year how to proceed with privatizing the health sector.



The prince outlined Vision 2030 as a three-tiered plan with the first phase running through 2020, the second until 2025 and the final phase through 2030.



He described them as executive programs carrying clear-cut means and goals to achieve the vision. But he also said the government is feeling pressure to launch the initiatives. We dont want to be delayed, he said.



He said private investments is a key to recovery and will help provide jobs for Saudis. He said the 10 new programs.
Saudi Arabia's Prince Mishaal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chairman of the Allegiance Council, died on Wednesday, the Royal Court has announced.



Prince Mishal was 90.



Prince Mishal was the 14th son of the late King Abdulaziz. He was in charge of the Allegiance Council by a directive from late King Abdullah in 2007, said a report in Arab News



King Abdulaziz appointed Prince Mishal as deputy defence minister in 1945 and then defense minister in 1955. After the death of his father, he was appointed information deputy minister. In 1962, he was re-appointed as the minister of defence and aviation and stayed there for a short while. He was then appointed Makkah governor.



King Fahd bin Abdulaziz had appointed him as his adviser and Prince Mishal stayed in this position until 2009 when he decided to leave politics and focus on his personal life and business. He owned several projects in the Kingdom, most importantly Al-Shula Holding Group. He was also the head of the board of directors of Pioneers Holding for financial investments.
ABB has inaugurated a new traction transformer production facility adjacent to its South African headquarters in Longmeadow, Johannesburg.



ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer inaugurated the new factory with the director general of the Department of Trade and Industry, Lionel October, said a statement.



Spiesshofer said: Our company is proud of this new traction transformer facility in South Africa, reiterating our philosophy of locating manufacturing units close to our customers.



It reinforces our next level strategy focus on strengthening our presence in Africa and supports our ongoing commitment to sustainable mobility, he said.



This unit will produce traction transformers to help power trains and support South Africas growing railway network. Traction transformers feed power at safe voltages to essential train functions like traction, brakes, lighting, heating and ventilation, as well as passenger information, signalling and communication, said a statement.



The 2,450-sq-m facility is expected to employ 60 people by the end of 2017 and the first major order to be executed at the new facility will be the supply of traction units for 240 Bombardier electric locomotives. The local manufacturing of these traction units supports the South African governments local procurement and employment requirements, it said.



Since 2012, South Africa has invested in the development of its rail network as an opportunity to rejuvenate the economy, create jobs and support a major shift from road to rail transport for both passenger and freight travel. The expansion of the countrys rail network is also expected to contribute to its vision of becoming a key logistics centre in sub-Saharan Africa.



ABB has more than 130 years of experience in producing traction transformers that are powering more than half the worlds electric locomotives and train sets. As part of its ongoing commitment to innovation, the company recently launched Effilight, its next-generation traction transformer which uses a patented high-technology cell design that can reduce the amount of oil required by up to 70 per cent, without compromising functionality.



To meet higher energy efficiency needs, ABB has optimised the design for a load loss reduction of 25 per cent, compared with a classic transformer of the same weight.



ABB has operations in 23 African countries and employs about 5,000 people across the continent. As a pioneering technology leader serving utilities, industry and transport and infrastructure customers globally, ABB supports Africas growth with innovative solutions designed to address local challenges, from access to electricity, to industrial development, to sustainable transport.



As part of its commitment to Africa, the company provides scholarships and internships for talented engineers who need financial support to complete their studies. ABB has annual sales in Africa of around $1.5 billion and manufacturing operations in Egypt and South Africa, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Russia is ready to extend the oil production cut agreement with Opec, media sources said, citing the Russian Energy Ministry.



"Now we are holding final negotiations on this topic with our partners and are inclined to think that extension is reasonable," TASS, the Russian news agency, quoted the energy minister as saying.



Reduction of the surplus of commercial reserves on the market is going at a fairly good pace, while the reserves in floating storage facilities and tankers have decreased by about half, said Alexander Valentinovich Novak.



The minister marked a high level of discipline among the countries in terms of meeting their obligations on oil production cut deal and a good pace of growth in demand.



Novak added that for the full recovery of the market, it is necessary to extend the initiative.



Under the agreement with Opec Russia is to reduce its average daily oil production by 300,000 barrels in the first half of 2017, or by 2.7 per cent in comparison with the level of last October.



On May 2, the Energy Ministry reported that the target had been achieved.



At a meeting in Vienna on May 24-25, Opec and Russia will hold official negotiations on the extension of the deal for another six months. To date, most cartel countries have expressed their support for the prolongation of the agreement, according to the TASS report.


Oman Air is celebrating the latest in a string of prestigious wins following the presentation to the airline of the Best Arab Air Carrier supporting Arab Tourism award.



The 2017 Arab Tourism Media Awards ceremony organised by the Arab Centre for Tourism Media was held at Roda Al Bustan Hotel in Dubai, UAE.



On behalf of Oman Air, Mahfood Al Harthi, senior vice president sales (GCC, Middle East and Africa) of Oman Air received the award and said:

Oman Air is pleased and proud to accept the Best Arab Air Carrier supporting Arab Tourism award and we would like to thank the judges and everyone else at the Arab Tourism Media Awards for this accolade.



Since last year, Oman Air saw the introduction of 11 aircrafts joining the airline's fleet. And with the addition of the new aircraft Oman Airs fleet currently stands at 52. This will not only offer more people a superlative passenger experience, but also enable even more people to visit Oman and discover for themselves the unique beauty and timeless culture of this wonderful country, which is increasingly renowned at an international level as a distinguished tourist destination.



The airline continues to be recognised for its award winning on board experience; winning an array of industry awards in 2016 to add to its growing collection and continue its progress to becoming a successful, sustainable company of the highest quality: To Become the Best.



Recently, the national carrier was recently voted the Best In-Flight Duty Free provider in the Middle East by readers of the German passenger services industry publication, Pax International Magazine. In addition, awards in 2016 include Worlds Leading Airline  Economy Class at the World Travel Awards in the Maldives, and Foreign Airline of the Year by Sector to the Middle East at the annual KLIA Awards, introduced in 2006 to recognise the best in Malaysian aviation industry. Other awards include the coveted Signum Virtutis, the seal of excellence, from the Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards 2016 and winner for the best airline in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The accolades are not limited to the passenger operation; Oman Air Cargo was also awarded Best Cargo Airline for Valuable Goods  North and East at the India Cargo Awards 2016 held in Delhi. - TradeArabia News Service


Qatar Airways has launched a unique stopover package in partnership with Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) to promote and market Qatar as a destination of choice for international travellers, offering transit passengers the opportunity to discover Doha with free luxury hotel stays and complimentary transit visas.



The unique offer is part of a broader campaign called +Qatar which looks to encourage all transit passengers to consider adding Qatar to their itinerary.



This unique offer from QTA and Qatars award-winning airline allows passengers travelling through Doha to experience a taste of the Middle East for free. Throughout the summer, the national carrier, with the support of QTA, will give passengers the chance to turn a layover into a stayover by offering four and five star hotel accommodation at no charge to those transiting through Doha. The promotion invites all Qatar Airways passengers to add Doha to their vacation by taking advantage of a free one-night hotel stay from a selection of the countrys best four- and five-star hotels in the capital, Doha.



Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: Qatar Airways is more than just a national flag-carrier for Qatar; we are proudly patriotic and want to share Qatars many exciting attractions with our passengers from around the world. This exclusive initiative provides the opportunity to add an extra element to our passengers existing travel plans with a complimentary hotel stay in some of Dohas finest hotels. We want to ensure that our passengers have a memorable experience every time they travel with Qatar Airways, and now, were going even further to make sure that we exceed their expectations.



Chief tourism development officer, Qatar Tourism Authority, Hassan Al-Ibrahim, said: It was a great source of pride for all of us in Qatar when we launched the transit visa last November. We have already seen a surge in stopover passengers, with a 53 per cent increase recorded in March 2017, compared to the same month last year. With the launch of +Qatar today, we aim to convert a larger portion of the 30 million passengers passing through Hamad International Airport into stopover visitors. We are delighted to make Qatar more accessible to people from around the world and invite them to discover our country, our cultural heritage and our natural treasures.



Passengers transiting through Doha can extend their stay to make the most of their journey taking in the sights of Doha with a completely free night courtesy of Qatar Airways and QTA or stay a little longer with a second nights stay for a modest $50 booking fee. Passengers can choose from hotels such as The Four Seasons, Marriott Marquis, Radisson Blu and Oryx Rotana. The free hotel accommodation, available throughout the summer, will offer passengers the opportunity to explore Doha and experience city tours, desert safari adventures or a dinner cruise aboard a traditional dhow, giving visitors a taste of authentic Arabian hospitality, courtesy of Discover Qatar.



To be eligible for this offer, passengers simply book their flight on http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/homepage.page, select multi-city and choose their hotel once they receive their flight confirmation. The online transit visa application is also free and is eligible for those in transit between five and 96 hours. This ground-breaking offer is available for all Qatar Airways passengers, both Premium and Economy, demonstrating the airlines commitment to its brand ethos of Going Places Together. To maximise their time in Qatar, visitors can explore additional stopover packages offered by Discover Qatar.



This unique offer with QTA has been launched by Qatar Airways' newly created destination management company, Discover Qatar, and is just one of many new initiatives that will be launched over the coming months to generate awareness of, and visits to, Qatar. It was designed to kick off the newly launched campaign +Qatar from Qatar Tourism Authority and is aimed at supporting the growing demand for tourism in Qatar.



This exciting and innovative announcement comes as the airline celebrates its 20th year of operations, marking two decades of growth, industry leadership and innovation. - TradeArabia News Service
India Tourism showcased the immense tourism potential of the country  both business and leisure travel  under the Incredible India banner during the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017 held in Dubai last month.



A total of 24 participants from India, representing the diversity of heritage, nature, culture and wellness tourism participated in the India Pavilion set up by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.



The India Pavilion had participants representing the State Tourism Departments of Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir, Air India, ITDC, IRCTC, tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers/resorts, wellness, spas and Ayurveda centres, who showcased innumerable tourism products of Incredible India.



The theme chosen for ATM-2017 was Yoga & Wellness. One of the highlights of Incredible India being showcased at ATM was the depiction of India as a multi-faceted tourist destination for luxury, wildlife, and wellnes/medical tourism.



India has 35 World Heritage Sites which include historic monuments and natural wonders which are being promoted by the tour operators.



The number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2016 was 8.89 million - a growth of 10.7 per cent over 2015. The Gulf and the Middle East region are an important market for India. There has been a consistent and positive growth of foreign tourist arrivals from this region to India over the last three years with the year 2016 having registered an overall growth of around 17 per cent over the previous year.



The Regional Office of India Tourism in Dubai organises tourism road shows/Food Festivals/ Medical Seminars in GCC countries every year. Some of the countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Turkey and Sudan, have registered a significant growth and are emerging as major tourism generating markets for India from this region.



India has emerged as a destination for medical/wellness travel in GCC countries. The percentage of foreign tourist arrivals visiting India for medical treatment has been increasing over the years and growing rapidly since the year 2000. India is poised to become a hub for medical tourism because of several factors viz. world class hospitals with latest technology; highly skilled Indian physicians and surgeons; cost effective treatment; excellent quality of care and nursing; less waiting time for availing of medical services; traditional healthcare therapies like Ayurveda and Yoga combined with allopathic treatment providing a holistic wellness destination.



One of the regions in focus is the North Eastern region of India which comprises the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. These states are known for their unique cultural and geographical heritage. The rich natural beauty, serene landscapes and rare flora and fauna are the main attractions in these areas.



Comprising 73 per cent of the total Himalayan range, the Incredible Indian Himalayas are the greatest show on the earth and are a complete destination in themselves and span across six states of India namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and the hill regions of West Bengal.



Indias advantage in respect of promoting cruise tourism is the long coastline from Gujarat to West Bengal and strong positioning of ports that gives natural advantage to the country in attracting international cruise liners. Another advantage for India is its proximity to already popular cruise destinations in the South Asian region.



There is enormous potential in the country to develop cruise tourism, both international and domestic and the Ministry of Tourism is making all efforts to promote this segment by developing required world class cruise infrastructure.



The Ministry of Tourism promotional website (www.incredibleindia.org) is available in Arabic, Chinese (simplified), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish languages.



India has also taken many steps to liberalize the visa regime with the e-Tourist Visa being made available for nationals of 161 countries. During the year 2016, a total of 10,79,696 tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visas as compared to 4,45,300 during year 2015, registering a growth of 142.5 per cent.



E-visa is now available under three sub-categories i.e. e-Tourist Visa, e-Business Visa and e-Medical Visa. The window for application under e-Visa has been increased from the existing 30 days to 120 days and the duration of stay in India under e-Visa has been increased from the existing 30 days to 60 days. A complete list of countries is available on https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html.



An e-Ticketing facility has been introduced for booking entry tickets online for the Taj Mahal, Agra and Humayun's Tomb, New Delhi. The URL for booking E tickets is https://asi.irctc.co.in/.



The government is also committed to traveller safety and security whih reflects in the launch of a 24x7 multi lingual tourist infoline. The infoline is availble in 12 languages, including Arabic, since February 2016. This service is available on the Toll Free (from India) number 1800-11-1363 with short code: 1363 to provide support service in terms of providing information relating to travel and tourism in India. The infoline representative will also assist callers with advice on action to be taken during times of distress, if any, while travelling in India and, if need be, alert the concerned authorities.



The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India has also taken the initiative of providing pre-loaded SIM Card to foreign tourists arriving on e-visa at T3 Terminal, Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi and Cochin International Airport. - TradeArabia News Service
Oman Air, the national carrier of Oman, has announced a new initiative launched for its employees, Wings of Support.



Suggested by an Oman Air staff, the initiative is an Employee Support Fund which offers and maintains financial sustenance to employees. Staff who fall under financial crisis due to various reasons including unforeseen circumstances such as natural calamities can now be secured after being a member of Wings of Support.



The Employee Support Fund will be eligible to existing Oman Air employees who are on head office payroll and members of the scheme which will come into effect from May 1 2017. Once registered to the scheme, employees can receive its benefit from the fund after completing one year as an active member of Wings of Support.



A committee has been formed to evaluate and approve the entitlement of those who have applied for financial benefits. Members can only claim once every two years. The scheme would also support staff diagnosed with prolonged sickness and their family with basic needs such as utility bills and groceries for a reasonable period. The committee will be exploring various investment options that will further enhance the programs fund.



Dr. Abdulrazaq Alraisi, executive vice president corporate services and business development said: The establishment of this initiative demonstrates the willingness among our employees to support each other in times of potential hardship. Being part of Oman Airs family, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality of support for our staff and we actively encourage among our staff to support each other. Teamwork and assisting each other are essential for any successful enterprise and this new support fund is another way whereby Oman Air can help facilitate security and stability for its employees. Oman Air has undertaken many initiatives over the past years in areas of Corporate Social Responsibility as well to reach out to staff at times of need. However with the new Wings of Support, we are delighted to have created a safety net that can limit the stress and assess the employees. - TradeArabia News Service
ON THE MOVE: SSGA Snags SPDR Pair; Cowen Lands Minsky for Prime Group

State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) made two new hires. First, Noel Archard was named head of global SPDR product. Second, Seth Morrison has been named head of global SPDR marketing. Both will be based in Boston.

In this newly created role, Archard will be responsible for product strategy, innovation, range and lifecycle management for the global SPDR ETF business. Archard brings a wealth of knowledge with more than 20 years experience in the global asset management industry. Most recently, he was country head of BlackRock in Canada tasked with growing the company across all business lines within this market. Prior to this, Archard held positions at Blackrock and Vanguard, helping to build and establish their ETF programs. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a CFA Charterholder. He will report in to Cyrus Taraporevala, head of the global institutional group.

Also in a newly created role, Morrison will be responsible for all marketing activities across the SPDR business in North America, EMEA and APAC. Morrison joins SSGA from Vanguard where he served as head of Flagship Business Development Group, the high net-worth sales group for their US Retail business. Prior to this, Seth was head of Vanguards International Marketing team. Previously, Seth spent more than 10 years at Franklin Templeton where he held multiple global executive roles in marketing and product distribution. He will report in to Nick Good, co-head of the global SPDR business, and Stephen Tisdalle, chief marketing officer of SSGA.

Cowen Group announced that Bernard Minsky has joined its international prime services team as director and head of risk management. Prior to joining Cowen, Minsky founded Certior Advisors, a consulting firm providing risk management services to the investment community. Before that, he was the chief risk officer and chief operating officer of Callisto Asset Management.

If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com

XTX Markets named Eric Swanson as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Americas. In his new role as the CEO  Americas, Swanson will be based out of the groups New York office, beginning his tenure on June 1, 2017. He comes from Bats Global Markets, where he most recently served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Swanson also worked at Ameriprise Financial Services and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

1 2 3 next

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:
Travelers from the Middle East to the U.S. have shown a decline of 5.77 percent after Donald Trump's restriction on travels into the country. Records of the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) showed that fare tickets purchased by customers from the Middle East to the U.S. from January-March, 2017 totaled 383,154 fares but on the same period last year, records showed a total of 406,611 fares.

Travel Pulse reported that ARC Managing Director of Enterprise Information Chuck Thackston said that the new figures reflect some uncertainties. He said that travelers may opt for a different destination because of these.

Donald Trump has been called an isolationist because of his travel ban to the U.S. and his views on immigration. In one way or another, these have affected the travels to the U.S. especially from countries where the majority are Muslims.

Click Lancashire reported that President Trump will travel later this month to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Vatican in an effort to unite Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. White House officials said that the travel is purposely to fight "intolerance" and radical extremism."

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia will be historic "by every measure", said Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister. The tour will include a visit to three major Abrahamic religious centers, with stops at the Vatican, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

King Salman's kingdom has two of the holiest sites in Islam and the president's visit to the country will banish the accusation of his being an Islamophobia. It will also win back the esteem of the Muslim people deeply affected by his Muslim ban which is part of his platform during his campaign.

Donald Trump will be in Brussels on May 25 to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and will be in Sicily on May 26 to attend the Group of Seven summit.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
How to get there

The small Spanish village of Besalu first entered my imagination almost five years ago when a fellow language assistant went on a travel blogger retreat here and, naturally, posted glamorous photos of this charming medieval town, complete with a striking bridge and stereotypical moat!Later, the hit TV seriesfor a recent season, and while Ive never watched the show before, it felt like the world was telling me to check out this tiny town before my time in Spain was up So I went. After checking out of my hostel in Girona , I hopped on a bus and was quickly transported into the rolling, volcanic landscapes that define the county of Garrotxa.definitely lived up to all the hypeit even had two portcullises, just like in the educational books I read as a kid!Its not like I was expecting much of Besalu (pronounced buh-zuhl-LOO [bzu]), a minor village in the Catalan countryside. Yet two of the three Romanesque churches were closed to visitors the day I visited. Guided tours to see the towns excellently-preserved Jewishhad already filled up by 10am. And a cozy vermouth bar that I had researched on TripAdvisor on the bus ride there was closed for vacation. Ugh.Three strikes and youre out, I guess.What was going to be a solid half day excursion turned out to be maybe an hour or so in townThis little daytrip (morning-trip?) taught me that its okay to change your travel plans if youre just not feeling things, that its okay to feel let down by a place youve been fantasizing about for years.From the town of Girona, a provincial capital 38 minutes northeast of Barcelona on the high-speed train, catch a bus operated by Teisa that leaves from the central bus station. Theres around 12 daily departures on weekdays, but only a fraction on the weekend.
Tokyo, May 9

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government has no plans to tax agricultural income, including that of prosperous farmers, saying a rich farmer is a very rare institution and not the norm.

He said the farm sector is in distress and there was no question of taxing agricultural income.

NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy had late last month stated that farmers should be liable to pay tax on their incomes on a par with other citizens after seasonal fluctuations are adjusted.

I have already contradicted that. I have already said that we are not in favour of doing that, he said.

Stating that the agriculture sector is under distress, he said farm holdings are very small in size. The rich farmer is a very rare institution. It is not the norm. It is only a rare exception and therefore, at a time when you need to support agriculture because of the distress, this is hardly the time to deflect the issue and start taxing agriculture. This is not the time. They are under distress, he said.

The Finance Minister said farmers should be helped and not taxed. The government is very clear (on that), he said. In any case, the Centre has no power. It is the power of state governments (to tax farm income) and my own view is none of the states is going to do it, he said.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has also clarified that Debroys comments on taxing farm income were his personal views and not those of the government think-tank.

On the ordinance promulgated last week to enable the RBI to order lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulters and create panels to advise banks on recovering bad loans, Jaitley said the NPA resolution would take time, but the process has to be expeditiously started now by the banks.  PTI

Jaitley hints at sops for local defence manufacturing

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has hinted that incentives are being worked out to encourage domestic manufacturing in the defence sector so as to cut imports of combat planes, ships and submarines. He said the government is working on a policy that will incentivise companies to set up manufacturing bases in India.
Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 9

Gagan, the prime accused in the murder of bouncer Amit Sharma, alias Meet, who is serving a jail term in Nabha, was today brought to Kharar on a production warrant. A CIA team of the Mohali police brought him to Kharar to interrogate him in another unsolved case.

Sources said a team of the Panchkula police also reached there to question him about Meets murder. The Mohali police have confirmed that Gagan will be questioned in all cases. Several teams of the Panchkula police have been carrying out raids in various parts of Punjab to nab the other accused.

The police have viewed CCTV footage, but it has not provided them any substantial clues in the case. The CCTV footage of a cow shed in Saketri shows the Swift car used by the accused. It has a time stamp of 12:06 pm. It, however, just shows the car taking a turn towards Kaimbwala. The registration number of the car and the faces of the accused are not visible.

Meet cremated

The victim, Meet, was cremated at the Mani Mjara cremation ground on Tuesday evening. The body was handed over to the family after a postmortem at the Panchkula Civil Hospital.

Three bullets were found lodged inside Meets body. Meet's family, however, says they are not satisfied with the Panchkula police. Ashish Sharma, brother of Meet, says, The police are keeping us in the dark and are not telling us anything; we have a lot of questions.

Meet (30) was killed by two unidentified men on Monday around noon as he was leaving a temple in Mahadevpura, Saketri, with his mother. He was taken to the PGI in Chandigarh where he was declared brought dead.
Yogendra Yadav

TAMIL NADU faces its worst drought in the last 140 years. But do we care? How can the governments remain indifferent to their biggest vote bank? Why does our increasingly shrill nationalism not extend to embrace Tamil farmers in their hour of need?

These are the questions I faced repeatedly as we travelled across seven of the worst affected districts in the state last week. Unlike the rest of the country, Tamil Nadu receives most of its rainfall during the receding or North-East monsoon, from October to December. It failed miserably in 2016. As per official records, there was 62 per cent deficit in rainfall during the North-East monsoon. A deficit of 25 per cent is considered serious and 50 per cent is alarming. The last time the state experienced worse rainfall than this one was in 1876. The water reservoirs in the state have fallen to merely 20 per cent of their capacity. The drought has affected 21 of the 32 districts, including the rice bowl area of the Cauvery delta, where we travelled.

Farmers distress was visible everywhere: large tracts of uncultivated land, dry rivers, canals and ponds, cattle trying to scrounge for remaining straw from the field. Farmers everywhere reported almost a total loss of paddy, the main crop of this season. The shock of crop loss and mounting loans has triggered a spate of farmers suicide, highlighted by the protest of Tamil Nadu farmers at Jantar Mantar last month. Shrinking employment opportunities in rural areas have hurt agricultural labour the most. Loss of crop also means severe shortage of fodder. Farmers are resorting to distress sale of cows and goats, as they cannot afford to feed them. Some areas are experiencing a shortage of drinking water as well. Of course, the Cauvery delta is not Bundelkhand and is nowhere close to the nutrition crisis and cattle famine that we witnessed at the border of UP and MP in 2015-16. Yet the situation can take an alarming turn in the next five months before the rains.

This is not just a natural disaster. Our travel made it clear that a good deal of farmers distress is due to man-made or policy-induced disaster. In the Cauvery delta region, the farmers are very badly hit by the political dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the Cauvery waters. Without taking any side in this dispute, it is only fair to say that politicians on both ends have tried to fan emotions rather than find an amicable resolution. The tribunal has given its award, which is constitutionally binding on all parties. Yet its implementation is being delayed inordinately. Despite its high rhetoric on nationalism, the Central government has not intervened to reduce this conflict that pits two regions of the country against each other. Successive governments in Tamil Nadu have been complicit in illegal sand mining of the riverbeds, reducing the recharging of ground water. Unsuitable cropping pattern has contributed to the misuse of limited water resources. All this has contributed to the crisis situation this year.

This is when the farmers need the state. Farmers and other citizens of Tamil Nadu have good reasons to expect state action in times like this. We should not judge governance in Tamil Nadu by the low standards of the Hindi heartland. Despite its highly visible political theatrics, governments of Tamil Nadu have a much better record of social welfare schemes than the rest of the country. Midday meals began in Tamil Nadu. It is among the best performers in PDS for cheap food grain through ration shops. The tsunami relief carried out by the state government was a model of swift and efficient handling of a natural disaster. This time, sadly, the government does not seem to be living up to these expectations. In this hour of their need, the farmers of Tamil Nadu face an indifferent Central government and a paralysed state government. There is an evident lack of political will.

So far, the Centre has limited itself to some routine steps. Against an admittedly inflated demand of over Rs 40,000 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund, the Centre has released a meager amount of around Rs 1,300 crore. While the limit of number of days of employment per family under MNREGA has been increased from 100 to 150, the overall MNREGA labour budget of the state for this year has been cut down by the Centre by as much as 34 per cent. The Centre has done little to enforce the RBI directive that prohibits commercial banks from carrying out loan recovery during the drought period. Clearly, the weak political leadership in the state does not any longer wield the clout vis-a-vis the Centre that the state governments have had over the last two decades.

The response of the state government too leaves much to be desired. Although summer vacation has begun in schools, the Tamil Nadu Government is yet to invoke the provision of the midday meal scheme that allows the meals to be continued through the summer break in such a situation. Almost every mother of a government school-going child that we spoke to welcomed the thought of a full meal for her child during this period. But the government does not seem to agree. The state has not initiated any proactive steps to use MNREGA for drought relief. Most agricultural labourers we interacted with said they either did not have the new job cards, or were not given work. And there were scores of complaints about inordinate delays in the payment of their wages. The government has announced crop loss compensation at the usual rate. But every village that we visited complained about the compensation amount being less than officially announced. As yet, no farmer has received insurance claims. The compensation was patchy, arbitrary and often discriminatory. The state has had a fairly high coverage under the flagship crop insurance scheme, the PMFBY. And despite clear instructions to the contrary, we came across many instances of loan recovery notices being issued by commercial and cooperative banks.

Five days of listening to tales of distress and neglect can be quite depressing. But one thing kept our spirits up. Wherever we went, farmers went out of their way to welcome and host us. Everyone said they were overwhelmed to see this group of farmers and activists from the rest of the country who cared for them. They bridged the language gap to convey their emotions.

Nationalism is not about discovering an enemy outside. True nationalism is about stitching the nation together. For me this farmers rights yatra in Tamil Nadu was an affirmation of this positive nationalism.

yogendra.yadav@gmail.com
Here is one more example of judicial delay involving a politician, manipulation of the judicial process and misuse of the CBI. This time the Supreme Court has censured the CBI in the Lalu Prasad fodder scam case for its intolerable lethargy. If the CBI is a parrot in the cage, it is then at the mercy of its master only. Why the CBI took 222 days, instead of the permissible 90 days, to challenge the Jharkhand High Court judgment favourable to Lalu Prasad is not difficult to guess. The lethargy the agency has displayed in this and other cases is calculated. A familiar, overused strategy is in place to bail out the powerful. The Jharkhand judge, who quashed the conspiracy charge against Lalu Prasad on the ground that a person cannot be convicted or tried again for the same offence, had taken an opposite position in another fodder scam related case.

The Lalu Prasad case reflects the malaise in the executive-judicial system and his conviction in 2013 is a reason to hope that all is not yet lost. It is known that judicial delays at times are manufactured. It was 30 years ago that Rs 900 crore was withdrawn from four government treasuries on the pretext of buying fodder, but Lalu Prasad kept serving the nation. It was not a routine that kept pending the Babri demolition conspiracy case against LK Advani and others for 25 years. The Jayalalithaa case lingered for 20 years before the apex court convicted her.

Reforms, limited so far to the economic arena, urgently need to extend to investigation and prosecution so that politicians violating the law are swiftly brought to justice. The problem is funds required to plug the loopholes are in the hands of politicians. Central dithering on the appointment of a Lokpal to expedite trial of VIP cases has invited a Supreme Court rebuke. Either state-level politicians have become all very honest or Lokayuktas are not doing their job  the way Justice Santosh Hegde did in Karnataka. The judiciary alone cannot be relied upon always to nail the corrupt; institutional reforms are required too.
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Kalayat (Kaithal), May 9

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today questioned historians for not referring to legendary king Maharana Pratap as a great warrior and asked them to give a serious thought to his contributions.

He addressed a well-attended gathering at the grain market here during a state-level function organised to mark the 477th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap. He said, We have no objection to referring to Akbar as great, but why Maharana Pratap is also not called great. Maharana Pratap has not been given his due in history and the mistake should be rectified.

He said the history of Maharana Partap should be taught to students and asked historians to work on it. Besides, he exhorted the youth to follow in the footsteps of Maharana Pratap for making India a great country.

Rajnath said Maharana gave inspiration to the youth of the country to raise their voice against the British. Besides the birth anniversary of Maharana on Tuesday, it is also the eve of the first freedom struggle that took place on May 10, 1857, he added. Maharana scarified his life for the country and fought for self respect.

He asked people not to bound Maharana in caste and religion as he was a great warrior of the country. Even foreigners had acknowledged him as a great warrior.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma announced a college named after Maharana Pratap in Kalayat and assured the gathering that classes would be started there from this session.

Rajnath said the Union government had been working for the welfare of people. No one could point a finger at the three-year rule of the Narendra Modi-led government as it had been focusing on skill development in the country, besides making efforts to double the income of farmers by 2022. We are determined to provide housing to for all by 2022, he added.

We have been giving a befitting reply to Pakistan in its language. Our aim is to spread the feeling of national self respect among people, he said.

Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini, Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal Gurjar and Chief Parliamentary Speaker (CPS) Shyam Singh Rana also spoke about the contributions of Maharana Pratap.

Col Davinder Singh (retd.), president of the Haryana Rajput Pratinidhi Sabha, urged Rajnath to take steps to stop the misuse of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes Act in the country. Besides, he also requested him for the Cabinet minister rank for Shyam Singh Rana.
Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9

Jobs of eight law officers working in the Advocate General (AG) office are in jeopardy as provisions of the new law enacted for their engagement after a recent Supreme Court judgment is coming in way of their re-engagement.

A perusal of relevant records by The Tribune reveals that the AG had requested the state government to enhance the engagement term of law officers Shubhra Singh, Hemant Gupta, Alka Agarwal, Inder Goyal and Ankur Mittal (all additional advocate generals), Himmat Singh and Vivek Saini (both deputy advocate generals) and Saphia Gupta (assistant advocate general). But the Administration of Justice Department (AJD) has reverted to the AGs office with a request to clarify whether these law officers are eligible for a fresh appointment.

The new law requires 12 years of experience as practising advocate and handling of 55 cases in the last one year for fresh engagement as additional AG, eight years and 35 cases for deputy AG and five years and 25 cases for assistant AG, besides being an income tax payee.

Sources say many of these eight law officers are influential: one is the wife of a senior IAS officer and the other is the daughter of a former bureaucrat at present working in a state commission after retirement.

Seventeen law officers have already been shown the door ever since the Haryana Law Officers (Engagement) Act, 2016, and rules were framed pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment in Pardeep Kumar Rapria verses State of Haryana and others, whereby the apex court laid down the guidelines for the selection of law officers to check arbitrariness in the process by the government.

The AG, while requesting to enhance their term, had maintained that they were income tax payees and comply with the conditions laid down in the Haryana Law Officers (Engagement) Rules, 2016.

However, the AJD has asked the AG office to clarify the date from which they have been paying income tax, their periods of experience as advocate and the number of cases conducted by them in a year before joining office.

The AJD has also sought affidavits from law officers to the effect that they did not attract any disqualifications delineated under the new laws.

The sources say when the Haryana government enacted the Haryana Law Officers (Engagement) Act, 2016, and framed its rules last year, the procedure for re-engagement of those already working was inadvertently left out.

In the amendment notified on March 22 this year, a provision that there shall be no extension unless he fulfils such criteria, as prescribed for such engagement was added at the insistence of the Legal Remembrance (LR), which made the extension of term of law officers equally tough as their fresh engagement.

The sources say while the AG wanted the extension of term on recommendation of AG about satisfactory work and conduct, the LR, however, found this contrary to the guidelines laid down by the apex court and the set eligibility for fresh engagement as criteria for re-engagement too.
Dharamsala, May 9

A US Congressional delegation visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in Dharamsala on Tuesday, seeking to draw world attention to human rights in Tibet as President Donald Trump eyes warmer ties with China.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi flew with a bipartisan delegation to the Himalayan hill town where the 81-year-old Buddhist leader is based, on a trip likely to rile Beijing, which regards him as a dangerous splittist.

"As we visit His Holiness the Dalai Lama, our bipartisan delegation comes in his spirit of faith and peace. We come on this visit to be inspired by His Holiness and demonstrate our commitment to the Tibetan people, to their faith, their culture and their language," Pelosi said.

The lawmakers' visit comes at a delicate time for Trump.

Campaigning for election, Trump had cast China as a trade adversary and currency manipulator, but he now seeks President Xi Jinping's support to restrain nuclear-armed North Korea.

After Trump's election last November, the Dalai Lama said he was keen to meet the incoming US leader. It now looks unlikely the Nobel peace laureate will get a White House invite, an honour accorded by recent American presidents, anytime soon.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week played down the role of human rights in US foreign policy, raising fears the Dalai Lama, who fled to India from Tibet in 1959, could lose one of his last friends in the West.

Pelosi last visited the Dalai Lama in 2008, in the aftermath of a Chinese crackdown on an uprising in Tibet that coincided with the Beijing Olympics.

Since then, say experts and human rights activists, the situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region has worsened as authorities crack down on dissent and pursue systematic policies to assimilate Tibetans.

"The level of repression in Tibet has increased tremendously," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Numbers crossing from Tibet into India and neighbouring Nepal have slowed to a trickle, she added, sapping the vitality of the Tibetan emigre community in South Asia.

Reports continue to emerge from Tibet from time to time of isolated acts of protest against Chinese rule. A 16-year-old student, chanting "Tibet wants freedom" and "Let His Holiness the Dalai Lama come back to Tibet", burned himself to death on May 2, Radio Free Asia's Tibetan service has reported.

Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat travelling with Pelosi, has called for a new U.S. policy towards Tibet to safeguard the identity of the Tibetan people and hold China accountable for human rights abuses.

China has piled pressure on foreign governments to give the Dalai Lama the cold shoulder as it seeks to consolidate its hold on Tibet, over which Beijing took control in 1950 in what it calls a "peaceful liberation".

Most recently, Beijing denounced New Delhi for hosting the Dalai Lama when he travelled to India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh - territory it claims as Southern Tibet - to give spiritual teachings to his followers.

That trip sparked speculation that the Dalai Lama wanted to consult with elders on his succession. Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama, or priest, is reincarnated in the body of a child after he dies.

China says the tradition must continue and its officially atheist Communist leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a legacy inherited from China's emperors.

The Dalai Lama has suggested the title could end with him, when he dies. China accuses him of betraying, and being disrespectful towards, the Tibetan religion, by saying there might be no future reincarnations. Reuters
Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 8

A serious lapse in the treatment of Thalassemia patients at the local civil hospital has surfaced, with as many as 35 patients undergoing treatment at the Thalassemia ward in the civil hospital, having been tested positive for Hepatitis C after their received blood transfusion from Hepatitis C infected blood. While majority of the patients parents werent even aware of their children getting Hepatitis C until today, it was during March 10 to 17 that the tests of these patients conducted from a local lab confirmed that they had tested positive for Hepatitis C.

Meanwhile, the MS Civil Hospital KS Bawa has ordered an enquiry into the matter by Senior Medical officer Chanjit Singh and has also ordered the retesting all Thalassemia ward patients for HCV, HIV and anti-gens. Bawa has also confirmed a meeting of the 12-member Blood Transfusion Committee shall also be held in this regard soon.

While the warning bells for the children testing positive were received as early as January 2017, when as many as 11 children tested positive for Hepatitis C, in March again, as many as 35 children tested positive for the disease, during routine tests, but surprisingly, majority of the patients said they werent even informed about their children suffering from the disease. A number of parents sharing the reports broke down at the civil hospital today, worried about their childrens future.

While in all, as many as 122 patients are registered at the Thalassemia Ward of the civil hospital in Jalandhar, 100 patients were regularly receiving treatment, of whom 35 have tested positive and the total number of positive patients could go much higher. Authorities conceded that 50 per cent of parents did not know that their children had tested positive.

Confirming that 30 patients below 18 years of age and five above 18 years of age had so far tested positive, MS Thapar and TS Bhatia, who run the Thalassemic Childrens Welfare Association which runs the Thalassemia ward at the civil hospital said, In batches of seven to eight, the patients had been getting testing doe from a private lab from march 10 to March 17. Initially we werent aware of many patients coming put positive either, since we are no doctors. But eventually we came to know.

When questioned on how could infected blood have been administered to patients, Blood Transfusion Officer (BTO), Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, Gagandeep Singh said, We have been properly testing all the blood bags which we get in and place for transfusion. The Eliza testing was being done with third generation kits. After 11 patients tested positive for Hepatitis C earlier this year, we validated the tests and finally began cross checking the already tested blood with Rapid tests from March 27 onwards. This had been started independently by me in capacity as BTO because as per law, double testing isnt permitted. Various samples also came out positive, but we only administered the blood to patients in which no Hepatitis C infection was confirmed.

66-day window

The BTO said the only explanation could be that among some donors the tests shows negative results within a 60-66 day window period even if the patient is HCV positive. However, the infection manifests and shows in a test only after the 60-day window period, after which the tests come out positive.

Thalassemia ward at the mercy of NGO

While the Thalassemic Children Welfare Society has been independently running the ward with help from the BTO as well as the diagnostic companies, all the tests of the patients had been conducted by independent labs since they have been offering the conducting of tests subsidised rates of Rs 700 per patient. In addition to this, the ward has no dedicated doctor and sweeper and sustains itself only on a single nurse. The NGO head TS Bhatia said the medicines were also being provided to patients through special arrangements from them with pharma companies and neither had the medicine bills  required to be cleared by the MS  had been cleared for the past three months.

Parents speak

Manjit Kaur (48), mother of Babanpreet Kaur (25), said her daughter had tested negative for HCV in December 2016, but after the tests conducted this year, she tested positive. Kishan Thapar, whose son Aman Thapar also tested positive in March, came to know about the disease today itself. Other parents whose wards tested HCV positive, included Simrat (28) whose son Manikaran tested positive, Sandhya (27) whose son Pradhyuman tested positive, Surinder Singh (28) whose son Navraj Singh (9) tested positive.

While all these families are from Jalandhar, parents said they were never even informed by PGI doctors or other staff, including the hospital paediatrician, that their children had tested positive.

A parent Sarabjit Singh said, One of the key problems faced in the ward is that we never get any doctors. There have been times our kids got infections, but the paediatrician just asked us to go home and it would be alright. The NGO is the only one sustaining us, without them we would not have received any support.

There is no post of paediatrician at the ward and so far, the BTO was the only doctor associated with the ward.

MS Speak

I ordered an inquiry into the matter by the SMO last evening. As far as the bill clearance is concerned, this is done from the RBSK. But if there is a matter here, we shall sort it out. We have also ordered a retest to be conducted of all the thalassaemia patients at the thalassaemia ward so that all the patients who have contracted the infection can be determined. A meeting of the doctors and officials of the District Transfusion Committee shall also be held soon to discuss the issue. We are looking into what lapses caused the infections. A doctor for a two-to-eight job has also been deputed at the ward. A pharmacologist has also been deputed under the BTO after the lapse surfaced.  KS Bawa, Medical Superintendent
Srinagar, May 9

Clashes broke out between student protesters and security forces on the busy Moulana Azad Road near Lal Chowk here on Tuesday.

Students of S P Higher Secondary School and Women's College clashed with security forces who fired several teargas shells to chase them away, a police official said.

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

There were no reports of injuries to anyone so far, the official said.

The traffic and the business activities in the commercial hub in the heart of the city were badly affected, the official said, adding that clashes were going on when last reports came in.

He said they were protesting against the alleged high-handedness of security forces against students of the government degree college in Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests across Kashmir.

They were also demanding release of the students arrested during these protests.

The police raid on the college triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 which have been going on intermittently since then.

Authorities suspended classes in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month as a precautionary measure.

A number of students were arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.  PTI
Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 9

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is all set to appoint her brother Tassaduq Hussain Mufti as her adviser as she needs sound and reliable political advice on the state of affairs, according to sources.

Tassaduq will be appointed in addition to Amitabh Mattoo, an academician, who is already holding the position of adviser to her. Last week, she had appointed BR Sharma, a 1984-batch IAS officer, as her adviser (administrative affairs) after shifting him out of the post of Chief Secretary.

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

Sharma has been cleared for deputation at the Centre. He is likely to be empanelled as secretary in five to six weeks time.

Sources said the Chief Minister was feeling isolated in dealing with crucial matters, as the political support from her ministers was almost nil. She needed a trusted head and hand to help her in dealing with the ticklish issues in the state.

Tassaduq had been spurning political positions during his father Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds lifetime. He was chosen as the ruling PDP candidate for the now-cancelled Anantnag parliamentary bypoll necessitated by the resignation by Mehbooba upon her becoming CM.

Sources said the process of appointing Tassaduq Mufti as CMs adviser has already begun.

Like the PDP, the NC too had turned to family often. It was during Sheikh Abdullahs last days as CM that he had appointed son Farooq Abdullah as Health Minister in 1982. As CM, Farooq appointed brother Sheikh Mustafa Kamal as minister.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 9

Fresh clashes erupted between students and the police in the heart of Srinagar on Tuesday, a day after the latter appealed to parents to counsel their wards not to disrupt law and order.

The clashes erupted on the busy Maulana Azad Road when students of Sri Pratap Higher Secondary School tried to hold a protest march and were intercepted by a large deployment of police personnel.

The protesting students targeted a bunker outside the telephone exchange with canes and stones. Eyewitnesses, however, said protesting students were allegedly thrashed by the police and one of the girls fell unconscious. Many shopkeepers downed their shutters as the clashes continued for many hours.

The police fired tearsmoke shells to disperse the protesters. A police officer said they showed great restraint while dealing with the situation. The protesters also damaged many cars, a police officer said.

There were reports of student protests and clashes in Pulwama too.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Javaid Gillani had yesterday again appealed to parents to counsel their wards not to disrupt normal academic activities and had hinted at an outside role in some of the student protests.

Student protests have been taking place since April 15, when the police raided a college campus in Pulwama. After that incident, frequent clashes have taken place in almost all districts between students and police personnel.
Reuel Arnez Kaul

Srinagar, May 9

One of the seven parking lots under the Srinagar Development Authority (SDA)  situated near the busy Jehangir Chowk in the city centre  was shut for public use last week, creating a further scarcity of space for parking of vehicles.

The parking lot has been handed over to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation to rehabilitate street vendors. It has been done without first finding an alternative parking spot, leaving hundreds of vehicle owners in distress.

The Jehangir Chowk parking was one of the seven parking lots under the SDA which together could accommodate only 600 vehicles, according to officials. Srinagar city has nearly three lakh vehicles.

We are working on two multi-storied parking lots which will have a capacity to accommodate 1,100 vehicles to reduce traffic congestion. They will be ready soon, Abdul Salam Mir, Director Land Management, SDA, said.

An SMC official said the rehabilitation of vendors in the SDA parking lot was underway. He said an alternative spot would be provided soon after consultation with the SDA and other authorities.

With the lack of adequate parking space in the Srinagars busy commercial neighbourhoods, the people are in distress as the Traffic Department  which has outsourced towing of wrongly parked vehicles to a private company  levies heavy fine.

We understand that there is a lack of parking spaces and yes, in a way it is unfair for the public to be fined for wrong parking. We cannot do much about it though, we have to do our job. The government has to see to this problem, DIG, Traffic, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, said.
Usha Albuquerque

The past decade has seen many innovations in the education space, particularly the field of higher education. New institutions, new courses and fields of study, mostly evolving out of the need to deal with both the quantity and the quality of higher education.

One of the fall-outs of this development is the introduction of integrated courses. Such courses in India typically comprise two or more courses of different levels, usually one from UG level and other at PG level, taken together. By combining them in such a way that a year of study is eliminated or saved out of the total duration of the two courses separately, which proves beneficial to both the student and the institution. For e.g the Integrated degree (BTech+MBA) is a 5-year course against the 4+2 years traditional programmes. Similarly the BSc/MSc courses which integrate the same subject at different levels.

The primary reason for offering these programmes is to provide maximum flexibility and lateral mobility to enrolled students in order to help them choose their path and pace according to their aptitude and ability. It was also driven by the recommendations of the Kothari Commission on Education to attract more high caliber students towards a science education as against the more popular engineering and medicine courses.

Pros and cons

Integrated programmes offer students many advantages, not the least being the cost and time benefits, and for many the opportunity to diversify in either of the fields of study in their careers. A student can earn a masters degree in five years, that too in the same place and institute without the hassle or anxiety of applications and admission tests for the second degree programme.

Most of the integrated science programmes incorporate undergraduate learning with cutting edge research in an interdisciplinary way exposing the student to recent scientific developments. With modern research facilities and digital libraries the institutes expand the students' scientific interest and competency.

However, students interested in taking up an integrated study programme need to examine the course, curriculum and degrees they will eventually earn, as programmes like these come with their own share of challenges.

Less time to study the same material

Difficult to drop out mid-way through a course. Can you exit with a valid bachelor's degree after three years?

Degrees awarded may not be recognized by AICTE/UGC, or may be a distance learning qualification.

Need to be sure it's a programme and course leading to a career of choice

Programme is recognised and accredited

Is it a five-year or four-year integrated programme acceptable for any further study?

Also it may be worthwhile noting that a recent notification of 19 May 2016 from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has made the integrated management courses invalid. The circular directed universities and independent management schools to shut down the dual degree programmes with effect from the last academic session. Some institutes such as the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, the first institute to introduce this programme however, state that the AICTE circular is not relevant to their 5-year Integrated Programme in Management, as their courses come under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, or UGC. However, students need to check these details with the institute before applying for the programme.

Integrated courses work well for students who know which way they are headed and require the best and quickest way to get there. It is ideal for science students, particularly those looking at core sciences, and for those looking to expand their learning and knowledge horizons in a field/s of their choice. But if you are just looking for a short-cut to success, you may be on a one way street. So do your homework carefully, and choose wisely.

Key features

Some of the Key features of an integrated programme are:

Fast Track: Students save one year of study both in terms of time and cost, providing students the opportunity to pursue simultaneously two or more degrees without break

Dual Degree: many integrated programs facilitate the award of two degrees either vertically as in the case of B.Sc/M.Sc or B.Tech/M.Tech programmes, or laterally also as in the case of B.Tech/MBA combine.

Curriculum & Qualification: the curriculum of integrated programmes comprises content jointly designed by two or more higher education disciplines, sometimes from different countries, and regulated by a specific set of guidelines. Students take on defined periods of study in each discipline, in terms of duration and content and are awarded both qualifications by the institution after relevant examinations. Where the programme is a joint degree course, students are awarded a single qualification jointly signed by the academic authorities of both institutions and disciplines.

Admission through Competitive Entrance Examinations: Admission to most integrated programmes is on the basis of one competitive entrance examinations, sometimes also previous academic achievements and admission interviews. An advantage being that you don't have to take a second entrance exam.

Industry Linkages through Internships: The guidelines for setting up of integrated programmes specifies making students "industry-ready" and so most integrated courses especially in fields such as biotechnology, information technology, computer science, law and business make internships mandatory in their curricula.

Multidisciplinary: A major attraction of integrated programmes is their multidisciplinary approach to learning. For example, students of integrated law programmes can take courses in humanities, sciences, and social science. Integrated programmes also offer flexibility and allow lateral movement across disciplines.

Promotion of Research and Teaching: The research project is often an important component of the integrated programmes at institutions like the IISERs, IISC, and IISST and have been set up with the purpose of identifying young talent committed to research and teaching in the core sciences.

The beginning

The first integrated programme was the five-year integrated MSc. and MA programme introduced by the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani in 1971, but it is only in the past 10-15 years that the concept has fully evolved with many more such programmes being made available by universities and institutions across the country, including joint and dual degree courses as well. Aiming to make higher education more industry-centric AICTE came out with guidelines for starting integrated courses primarily for integrating management courses with undergraduate courses in engineering, technology, pharmacy, architecture and hotel management along with a six-month internship so as to create technologists and engineers from all branches who are 'industry ready' with managerial, business and entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. Moreover, this concept was extended further to include a wide variety of courses, disciplines and combinations.
Amarjot Kaur

Heres a long time, no bee! from our bee who absented itself for a while and offered random excuses for pulling a Houdini on all. Although it was more likely a case of social detox, this one has been telling stories at the Bee-Err Bar... Had a terrible bout of American foulbrood, after Trump got elected, it told the bartender. Honeysickness... its like homesickness, but in my case they asked me to bee-aware of all things sweet! it told Funky Monkey, who sipped on a pint of Heineken in dis-bee-leaf. So, your red has been tainted by consumerism, ey! it said to Funky Monkey, nudging its political sensibilities.

Well, raise a glass to the beer company for coming up with a politically controversial ad... It mentions climate change, feminism, and transgender rights with its viral #OpenYourWorld campaign, replies Funky Monkey. Wow! Is there a one plus one offer and a pinch of salt to go with that? the bee shoots, ordering home-brewed honeysuckle nectar.

Technical interruption

Finally, their conversation sails to Internet war in Kashmir, where reportedly, New Delhi dispatched a special technological expert team to ascertain locations from where militants allegedly upload their videos on social media. I would quote Noam Chomsky... but then, have you seen the viral video in which suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants are seen torturing two youth, accusing them of being informers of the security forces? asks the bee, in response to which Funky Monkey quotes Jim Morrison: The videos were posted despite the Internet ban. Guess its truewhoever controls the media, controls the mind. Now a little-too tipsy to discuss politics, while being politically correct, this duo jumps from one viral topic to another.

Face the book

Well, Trump takes the cake when it comes to negative publicity while the French steal the thunder for their collective intellect employed to vote for centrist Macron Emmanuel as their president. With a Weld County High School teacher placed on leave after photos of a controversial Cinco de Mayo event went viral on social media, Lesley Hollywood posted, on Facebook, on Friday: The Spanish teacher allowed students to destroy a pinata that had Trumps face on it...I didnt vote for Trump, and Im certainly not his biggest fan...

However, a photo of a baby holding his mothers failed IUD wins the viral trophy, says the bee. Reportedly, Lucy Heillein said that someone put the IUD in her babys hand after he was born to take the picture, as a sort of tongue-in-cheek joke. I like the boys fashionable entry into the world... against all odds, quite literally, it laughs.

Considering that Bees allergic to racism, it was pleasantly surprised when a Facebook page called The Uncanny Truth Teller 2 posted a photo titled The Faces of India they wont show you and shows three beautiful women in saris, wearing traditional Indian jewellery.

Shaken, but not stirred

Reportedly, IPS officer Charu Nigam, who broke down on camera after BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal got into a heated argument with her in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths parliamentary constituency Gorakhpur, posted a courageous note on Facebook. She wrote: Meri aansuon ko meri kamzori na samajhna. Kathorta se nahi, komalta se ashk jhalak gaye. Mahila adhikari hoon, tumhara ghurur na dekh payega. Sachchai mein hai zor itna apna rang dikhlayega.

She fired her words like a buzzoookas there. You go, girl!, roots the bee.

Insta hit

Bee has often been a little too pompous about its taste in music, and how it wished for Sting and Beethoven to perform in India. However, Bollywood actor Shraddha Kapoor is thrilled about Justin Biebers upcoming music concert on 10th May. If you want to win free passes for the concert, follow her on Instagram. Shraddha asked the fans to prove that they are a true Belieberand post the entries on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with #JioBeliebers. All set for Baby... Baby... Baby.. Ooooo... Is it too late now to say sorry! sings the bee.

Tube tales

Uploaded by CoolBluez photography, a video of a bride getting ready while dancing to the tunes of Cheap Thrills has gone viral, reaching number 2 in YouTube Indias trending list. So, do you love cheap thrills? Come, shake a leg with the buzzing bee!

amarjot@tribunemail.com
Nonika Singh

Theatre is like a mini-Parliament where issues that cant be taken up by the august body are not only discussed, but leave behind a trail of thought and provocation. So believes lauded and awarded playwright and director Davinder Daman, who has spent a lifetime devoted to theatre. As he visits City Beautiful after yet another fruitful sojourn in distant lands, he not only shares his love for theatre but also of Punjabis settled in the US and Canada.

Foreign shores

In fact, it is their deep connect to the world of arc-lights that makes him create plays for audiences settled in foreign lands. In the last few years, he has created three productions each coinciding with one or the other centenary year. If his recent play Banda Bahadur, upholding the teachings of Guru Nanak in the most noble way, was staged by Progressive Art Association of Alberta, in the Bay Area (California), earlier plays have been about Kama Gata Maru incident and the Gadar movement (Nishan-e-Gadhar). He is both amazed and awed by non-resident Punjabi brethrens dedication not only for acting, but more importantly in how they rush to buy tickets for plays.

Home front

Closer home too, he is more than happy with the growth of Punjabi rangmanch. Imagine today plays are happening in each and every district of Punjab. And in Chandigarh its the response to the ticketed shows that gladdens him. Theatre needs serious and committed audience, its only when they are ready to pay for your work do you realise and learn your worth.

Theatre as an art form he hails more than any other, Theatre is the first language of communication and thats why it has survived the onslaught of other mediums, be it television, cinema or today digital; nothing has extinguished its flame. Since most of his plays have been intense, actually a large number are anti-establishment, we wonder if he is politically inclined? He says, I dont stand for any political ideology. I write about life and when you account for lifes vicissitudes, politics cant be excluded. Indeed, when he was writing Suraj Da Qatal (right now being translated in English), which dealt with days of Emergency, he knew for sure it is going to be banned truth is not easily digested by powers that be. Tapish, about the dark hour of terrorism, earned him the ire of terrorists and government both. Never mind the ban; his plays have been staged far and wide. Chhipan Ton Pehlan on Bhagat Singhs life and teachings has even crossed the Radcliffe Line!

Evolution path

Over the years during which he has written nearly 10 plays, the ink in his pen has begin to flow differently for, evolution thy name is art and life. The theatre-person, whose love for drama lay in Ramlila and Parsi theatre, has been constantly learning and growing. If back in time the first lesson in technique came from Harpal Tiwana, whom he calls My mini NSD, later he learnt a thing or two from Brechtian theory of alienation. In the US, he even enrolled for a course in screenplay-writing when he realised that his writing skills were not quite up to the standards required for the silver screen.

While what he wrote on female foeticide has already been canned as a film, he is toying about making one about the Sikh warrior Banda Bhahadur on whom he has researched extensively. The ultimate dream is to make one on Bhai Mardaana. Damans philosophy runs thus, Life is ever-flowing and ever-changing process. Our job is to make every effort to match pace with it...The moment you stop making this effort, you start rotting, just like a dead body waiting to be cremated, Alive and kicking, he wants his voice to be heard loud and clear, on stage or off ithis is a voice of conviction.

nonikasingh@tribunemail.com
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 9

The international exhibition on machinery, machine tools and automation technology will be organised jointly by the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertaking (CICU) and Fortune Exhibitor (P) Ltd.

Avtar Singh, CICU president, and Upkar Singh Ahuja, CICU General Secretary, today announced that the fifth edition of the international exhibition on machinery and technology, Machma Expo and IETSS-2017, will be held from December 15 to 18 at GLADA ground, opposite Vardhman Mills, Chandigarh Road.

The buyer-seller meet will open opportunities for bi-lateral trade, especially, exports from Punjab which include power, machine & hand tools, pneumatics, robotics welding, used machinery, plywood machinery, textile machines, PET and polythene, agro machinery & implements, building construction machines and tools and commercial. This meet will be sponsored by National Small Industries Corporation Ltd and the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.

Likely visit of ambassadors from South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, and others South African countries will add enthusiasm and liveliness to the meet, said Upkar Singh.

More than 300 exhibitors from India and abroad are expected to participate in the meet.
TNS & Agencies

Dharamsala, May 9

A US Congressional delegation visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters here today, seeking to draw world attention to human rights in Tibet as President Donald Trump eyes warmer ties with China.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi flew with a bipartisan delegation to the town where the 81-year-old Buddhist leader is based, on a trip likely to rile Beijing that regards him as a dangerous splittist.

The eight-member bipartisan delegation consists of representatives, including Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal.

Officials of the Information and International Relations Department received the delegation at the Gaggal airport.

As we visit His Holiness the Dalai Lama, our bipartisan delegation comes in his spirit of faith and peace. We come on this visit to be inspired by His Holiness and demonstrate our commitment to the Tibetan people, to their faith, their culture and their language, Pelosi said.

The Tibetan government-in-exile, officially called the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), is organising a public felicitation tomorrow in honour of the delegation at the Tsuglakhang temple at McLeodganj. The Dalai Lama will also attend a public felicitation ceremony at the temple.

The delegation also met CAT President and Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay. The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country.

The US lawmakers visit comes at a delicate time for Trump. Campaigning for election, Trump had cast China as a trade adversary and currency manipulator, but he now seeks President Xi Jinpings support to restrain nuclear-armed North Korea.

After Trumps election last November, the Dalai Lama said he was keen to meet the incoming US leader. It now looks unlikely the Nobel peace laureate will get a White House invitean honour accorded by recent American presidentsanytime soon.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week played down the role of human rights in the US foreign policy, raising fears the Dalai Lama, who fled to India from Tibet in 1959, could lose one of his last friends in the West.
Ahmedabad, May 9

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's elder brother Prahlad Modi has threatened that all fair price shop keepers would go on an indefinite strike from May 28 if the Gujarat Government did not concede to their demand for higher commissions.

"We are thinking of resigning en masse and launching a non-violent protest," Prahlad Modi, who is the president of Gujarat State Fair Price Shop and Kerosene License Holders Association, said in a letter to State Food and Civil Supplies Principal Secretary Sangita Singh.

A copy of the letter has been sent to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Chief Seretary JN Singh.

Asked for how long would they continue the agitation, Prahlad Modi told IANS: "If they (Gujarat government) do not listen, then for life."

Gujarat has an estimated 1.2 crore ration card holders registered with the state government. These include beneficiaries under BPL and Antyodaya schemes.

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

Of the total, 65 lakh card holders come under the purview of National Food Securities Act, while 55 lakh have been declared void. These beneficiaries are served by around 900 fair shops across the state.

"The state has been seeking suggestions to help increase operating commission for fair price shop owners but it is their duty to see how the commission can be improved," Prahlad Modi said in the letter.

"Through this letter we seek to inform the government that after 20 days, the fair price shop owners and kerosene dealers would stay away from distributing goods under PDS system and the responsibility of the situation arising out of this will rest with the state government." IANS
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 9

Former Foreign Secretary Salman Haider today made a strong pitch for keeping alive and opening the back channels with Pakistan as engagement with Pakistan remains a matter of national interest for India.

Addressing a gathering of scholars and intellectuals at CRRID (Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development) on the theme of India and its Neighbours, Haider regretted the current mood of distancing between India and Pakistan. He noted that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modis efforts to signal friendly intentions towards Pakistan, Islamabad continued with its strategy of using proxies and terror. Our patience has naturally worn out, observed the veteran diplomat.

Yet, Haiders theme song was that Indias long-term interest was in peace and good relations with Pakistan. And, he cautioned that neither the stasis nor the sense of paralysis that now defined India-Pakistan relationship was helping either New Delhi or Islamabad. The way forward, according to him, was to explore the possibilities afforded by the mechanism of back channels. He noted that these channels had made substantive progress during the UPA years. Seeds of a final settlement (over Kashmir) have been put together.

On China, the former Foreign Secretary argued that on the issue of the Dalai Lama, India can have a clear conscience because India had never been less than clear that Tibet was part of China. His assessment, however, was that we must factor in a certain degree of tension in our relationship with China and this tension would have to be managed creatively because no concession (by India or China) is tenable.

Haider was all praise for Iran, Iranian diplomats and their collective capacity for infinite subtlety. It was this gift for subtlety that has enabled Iran to cope adroitly with Washingtons hostility.

Professor RP Bambah, who presided over the session, thanked Salman Haider for a masterly overview of the geopolitics of neighbourhood.
Islamabad, May 9

Pakistan on Tuesday said an Indian woman who sought refuge in the Indian High Commission here after arriving in Pakistan to marry, will be repatriated after all legalities are completed.

Uzma, 20, had sought refuge at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad last week and asked to be repatriated to India after coming to know that Tahir Ali, a resident of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa whom she married, was already married with four children.

During a court hearing on Monday, Uzma alleged that Ali had forced her to enter a marriage contract at gunpoint and subsequently subjected her to physical and sexual abuse. He also confiscated her documents, she claimed, adding that she was not under any sort of pressure while recording her statement.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Uzmas case was currently being heard in court and she will only be able to return once all legal requirements are complete.

Zakaria added that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had also requested the Foreign Office for details of Uzmas marriage to Ali.

The next hearing of Uzmas case is on July 11.  IANS
Ashis Ray in London

Twenty-four out of 650 constituencies in the House of Commons have 10-50% of overseas citizens of India or non-resident Indians. In effect, people of Indian origin have between a significant to a decisive say on who wins these seats.

Virendra Sharma is the sitting MP for Ealing Southall, who attracted 65% of votes cast in the last general election in 2015. In a veiled reference to an undercurrent of subcontinental politics in his constituency, which has Sikhs and Hindus from India, Pakistanis and Afghans, he told a rally: This is a British election and we should be debating British values, not old community conflicts, ancient arguments and squabbles from half a world away and half a century ago.

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

A section of Pakistani constituents had objected to his stout defence of India in a debate on Kashmir in the Commons. Without directly referring to this, he affirmed: I will represent every religion, every culture and those unsure of where they belong.

Regardless of his being a rock solid seat for his Labour party, Sharma is taking no chances. Accompanied by activists, he is going door-to-door to canvass for support.

One hundred and twenty-five years after the first Indian was elected to the British House of Commons, a turbaned Sikh is likely to make a maiden appearance in this chamber when results of the mid-term general electionunexpectedly summoned by Prime Minister Theresa May to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations with the European Unionare declared on June 9 next.

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, 38, has been selected by the opposition Labour party to fight in the constituency of Slough, 33 km to the west of London. He replaces Fiona Mactaggart, who stood down after being its MP for 20 years. In the last election, she won by a margin of 15.2% in a seat considered to be a relatively safe for Labour. If elected, I will work tirelessly for the people of Slough, he vowed to the Slough Express.

Dhesi will be the third Sikh to enter the Commons after Piara Singh Khabra, who represented nearby Ealing Southall, and Marsha Singh, who stood from the Pakistan-dominated area of Bradford West. Both, though, were radical left-wingers who dispensed with long hair and beard as well as their turbans.

Dadabhai Naoroji, a Liberal, entered the Commons from Finsbury Central constituency in London in 1892 and remained a member until 1895. He was followed by Sir Mancherjee Bhownagree, a Conservative, who won from Bethnal Green North East, also in London. He served as a lawmaker from 1895 to 1906.

Then came the intriguing Shapurji Saklatvala, a former Tata employee and a cousin of the third chairman of the Group, Nowroji Saklatvala. In 1922, he stood for election on behalf of the Communist Party of Great Britain and won from Battersea North in the British capital. He lost the next year, only to be returned for a full five-year term in the Commons in 1924.

Fifty-eight years elapsed before another politician of Asian extraction was ushered in to the Commons. Keith Vaz, born in Aden and of Goan descent, ended the drought by getting elected in 1987 for the Labour party from Leicester East, a constituency he has represented ever since.

Others who earned the right to warm the gleaming green leather seats were Dr Ashok Kumar, Labour who won from Langbaurgh and Middlesborough South and East Cleveland, Parmjit Dhanda, Labour from Gloucester, Parmjit Gill, Liberal Democrat from Leicester South and Paul Uppal Conservative from Wolverhampton South West. The first mentioned died prematurely. The other three lost their seats, although Uppal is now back in the fray.

The maternal grandfather of Sebastian Coe, a double Olympic gold medallist, was Punjabi. He was elected in 1992 from Falmouth and Camborne as a Conservative, before losing in 1997.

Vazs sister, Valerie Vaz, Labour from Walsall Southwho celebrated Baisakhi in the Houses of Parliament before the house proroguedSeema Malhotra (who is up and coming and has served as shadow chief secretary to the treasury), Labour from Feltham and Heston, Lisa Nandy (who father was a Bengali doctor), Labour from Wigan, Shailesh Vara, Conservative from Cambridgeshire North West, Priti Patel, Conservative from Witham, Alok Sharma (a second generation Tory), Conservative from Reading West, hedge fund millionaire Rishi Sunak, Conservative from Richmond, Yorkshire, and son-in-law of NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys, and Suella Fernandes, Conservative from Fareham, are again in the running.

Last year, Keith Vaz was forced to resign as chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committeehaving performed creditably at this post since 2007after an expose on his private life by the Sunday Mirror. It will be interesting to see howif at allhis constituency of pre-dominantly orthodox Gujarati Hindus reacts to the episode. He met trustees of the Brahma Samaj over the weekend. In 2015, he ensnared 61% of votes.

Indian-origin people still punch below their weight in terms of the contingent of MPs. They are 3.3% of the population, but occupy only 1.5% of the seats. But if the outgoing MPs are re-elected and Dhesi and Uppal are returned, the number of lawmakers of Indian descent would rise in the next Commons. Navin Shah in Harrow East, Resham Kotecha in Coventry North West and Ameet Jogia in Brent North are among those whove thrown their hat into the ring.

With Patel enjoying cabinet rank and Alok Sharma a junior minister, Indian extraction politicians have in recent years enhanced their presence in Whitehall.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita Kejriwal hit out at Kapil Mishra saying that the sacked leader was stupid as her brother-in-law was no more.

She also said that Mishra was speaking all written script without using his mind.

Also read: Sacked minister accuses Kejriwal of accepting Rs 2 cr; BJP, Cong gun for Delhi CM

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

Kapil Mishra had alleged at a press conference that Satinder Jain and Arvind Kejriwal had helped the formers brother-in-law in a land deal.

My brother in law is no more n this stupid man is speaking all written script without any mind.  Sunita Kejriwal (@KejriwalSunita) May 8, 2017

Sunita took to twitter to express her anger, she said: My brother in law is no more n this stupid man is speaking all written script without any mind.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9

In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted Calcutta High Court Judge CS Karnan of contempt of court and sentenced him to six-month imprisonment forthwith.

Taking note of his defiance and a series of orders passed by him against the apex court judges, a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar held that his conduct amounted to gravest nature of contempt.

We are of the unanimous opinion that Justice CS Karnan has committed contempt of this court, of the judiciary as also the judicial process...of the gravest nature, the bench said.

The court directed the West Bengal Director General of Police to execute the order forthwith.

It means Justice Karnan will be arrested immediately and sent to jail for six months.

This way Justice Karnan has earned the dubious distinction of being the first sitting judge of a high court to be convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to a prison term.

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

Taking note of his utterances against the judges, the top court also restrained the media from reporting his statements.

The order comes a day after Justice Karnan--who had been passing bizarre orders against the CJI and six other judges of the top court hearing the contempt case against him--convicted them of various offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and awarded five-year imprisonment.

Suspecting that he was mentally unfit, the Supreme Court had on May 1 ordered setting up of a medical board of doctors from a government hospital in Kolkata to examine Justice Karnan.

However, he refused to undergo the medical test ordered by the top court, saying he was perfectly fine.

During the proceedings on Tuesday, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi--representing the West Bengal Government--requested the court to drop contempt charges against Justice Karnan, saying the judiciary was getting a bad name in the entire controversy.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal--who appeared for the Registrar General of the Madras High Court--said the top court should send Justice Karnan to jail only after he retired in June.

However, Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh and senior advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association President RS Suri supported the view that Justice Karnan should be punished.

Contempt is contempt...it has no colour. Whether you are a common man or a judge it doesnt matter, the bench said and went on to dictate the order.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan welcomed the order. Glad SC finally nailed Karnan for gross contempt of court. He made reckless charges on judges & then passed absurd orders against SC judges! Bhushan tweeted.

Justice Karnan--who was proceeded against for contempt on February 8 for writing letters to various authorities, including the Prime Minister, accusing several judges of corruptionappeared before the court once on March 31 and thereafter chose not to turn up despite specific orders.

A seven-judge bench headed by CJI Khehar had said that the statements given by him to the press and the orders passed by him indicate that he may not be in a position to defend him in these proceedings.

The top court had restrained all courts, tribunals, commissions and authorities from acting on the orders passed by Justice Karnan, including the ones asking the top court judges to appear before him in Kolkata and directing airport authorities not to allow them to leave India.

Earlier, the CJI had asked Justice Karnan if he was mentally fit to understand the gravity of the contempt proceedings. The bench had given him four weeks to firm up his response and file an affidavit as he gave confusing and conflicting answers to the questions posed by the bench when he appeared before the top court.

On May 1, the court had given yet another opportunity to Justice Karnan to furnish his response in the matter.

Referring to the orders passed by Justice Karnan and statements made in the press since initiation of contempt proceedings against him on February 8, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had requested the court to straightway proceed to punish him as he had aggravated the contempt.

Judiciary cant become a laughing stock...this is something which is completely unacceptable, Rohatgi had said.

However, Venugopal had said, He cant be taken seriously...Fortunately he is retiring in June, and requested the bench to take up the matter after his retirement.

Its too late to initiate impeachment proceedings against him. Allow him to retire and then consider it after June, he hsd said.

Anybody can play this trick with us (that he is mentally unfit), the bench had shot back.

Faced with a contempt charge, Justice Karnan had on March 31 dared the Supreme Court to send him to jail after it refused to restore his judicial and administrative work.

In an unprecedented order, the SC had on February 8 issued contempt notice to Justice Karnan and ordered him to forthwith refrain from discharging any judicial or administrative functions and return all files.

He had appeared before the top court following issuance of bailable warrant but made it clear that he would not appear on future dates.

After the March 31 hearing, Justice Karnan passed several orders against the Supreme Court judges, including CJI Khehar, saying they were in contempt of his order. He had earlier demanded Rs 14 crore as compensation from the seven judges on the bench for disturbing his mind and normal life.
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 9

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and all the state governments on a PIL seeking streamlining of judicial appointments in subordinate courts to ensure timely filling up of vacancies to deal with backlog of millions of cases.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar asked the Centre and states to file their response on or before June 30 and fixed July 10 for hearing the matter.

The Bench converted a letter written by Justice Secretary Snehlata Shrivastava to Supreme Court Secretary General Ravindra Maithani highlighting the problem of unfilled judicial vacancies in subordinate courts into a PIL.

During the hearing CJI Khehar said the government has been highlighting that most of the judicial vacancies were in subordinate courts, where bulk of the cases were pending.

The majority of around three crore cases pending in various courts, over 2.30 crore cases are pending in district courts which have a sanctioned strength of over 21,000 judges. But there are only around 17,000 judges working in subordinate courts across India, leaving a vacancy of around 4,000 judges.

The Justice Secretarys letter dated May 1, 2017, referred to a discussion held in the Supreme Court under the chairmanship of Justice AK Goel in his capacity as Chairman of Arrears Committee on April 8 in which members of the Judiciary and the Government explored areas of Judicial Reforms to accomplish constitutional goal of speedy justice and access to justice for all.

The letter highlighted that despite gradual increase in the sanctioned strength of the subordinate judiciary, the working strength of judges was still very low.

This indicates that the high courts and the State Public Service Commissions are facing difficulties in filling up the vacancies, which in turn contributes to delay in disposal of cases and a rise in pendency, the letter read.

It suggested a centralised examination to be conducted by a recruitment body such as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for selection of judges in subordinate courts.

The letter suggested that a candidate appearing in the competitive examination may be allowed to give option for serving under the jurisdiction of specific alternate High Court and once the selection was made and the candidate.

After a senior counsel pointed out that under Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution judicial appointments in subordinate courts were under the High Court and state government concerned, the CJI said the court would not disturb the constitutional arrangement. The CJI said we are only trying to streamline the appointment process.
New Delhi, May 9

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the courts order.

The apex court directed Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom, to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.

India had recently asked Britain to ensure early extradition of Mallya, who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

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

We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds, a bench comprising Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit said.

The order came on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in flagrant violation of various judicial orders.

The apex court had on March 9 asked the liquor baron about the truthfulness of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

The bench had reserved its order on two pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo, respectively.

The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in flagrant violation of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.

The bench had also posed several queries to the consortium of banks and asked it whether any criminal proceedings had been initiated against Mallya.

The court had asked Mallya as to why he did not disclose the receipt of USD 40 million from London-based company Diageo Plc and subsequent transfer of money to trusts to which his three children were the beneficiaries.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the banks, had contended that unless Mallya deposited USD 40 million before this court, he did not deserve to be heard and, moreover, he needed to appear personally as the contempt notice had already been issued.

The AG had also told the court that the government is seeking deportation of Mallya from the UK.

Divan had referred to various orders passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), the High Court and the Supreme Court and said that the DRT had passed a decree in favour of the banks and the amount to be recovered is approximately Rs 9,200 crore.

There was a specific order of the High Court that Mallya would not transfer or alienate any movable and immovable assets to any person, he had said.

The bench had asked as to how the decree of the DRT to recover Rs 9,200 crore would be executed, to which the AG had said, God knows, how will it get the money back, adding that Mallya has taken this court for a ride.

The bench had also asked CS Vaidyanathan, Mallyas counsel, about the response on the contempt notice.

The lawyer had said that an application for recall of the order had been filed and according to him, no contempt is made out and hence, the plea itself could be considered as the reply.

Mallyas counsel had said the money which came from Diageo belonged to his children and not him.

The bench had shot back: Somebody who is faced with a default of Rs 6,200 crore and suppose if he gets Rs 3,000 crore, he should have given it to repay the dues.

Vaidyanathan maintained that the USD 40 million was not covered under the injunction order.

In October last year, the court had rapped Mallya for not making full disclosure of his overseas properties and had asked him to do so within a month.

The bench had also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had allegedly received from Diageo in February last year, saying it was of the prima facie view that proper disclosure as per its earlier order was not made.

The banks had on August 29 last year told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets, including the USD 40 million he received on February 25 from Diageo. PTI
Pune, May 9

Three persons were given death sentences on Tuesday by a special court for killing 28-year-old software engineer Nayana Pujari after abducting and gang-raping her eight years ago near here.

Special Judge LL Yenkar awarded death sentence to the trio Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam, a day after convicting them in the eight-year-old sensational gang- rape-cum-murder case.

While convicting the three on Tuesday, the court had let off the fourth accused who had turned approver in the case.

Pujari, who worked at an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on October 7, 2009, evening from Kharadi bypass, while waiting for a transport to return home.

Her body was recovered two days later from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

Yogesh, Mahesh and Vishwas, who were given death sentences, had been convicted of seven counts of various offences including those of kidnapping, gangrape, murder, robbery, misappropriation of property after hatching a criminal conspiracy in furtherance of their common intention.

The three, however, had been acquitted of three other charges, including those of abduction with an aim to commit murder, causing hurt while committing the robbery and the destruction of evidence as the prosecution failed to prove these charges.  PTI
Islamabad, May 9

Pakistans opposition leader Imran Khan's party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan has been demanding resignation from Sharif for alleged corruption.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", The Express Tribune reported.

The PTI does not possess substantial evidence to fortify its case except for some interviews and excerpts from a book 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, wife of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was brutally murdered in 2010 by Pakistani Taliban.

"Relying on the revelations made in certain interviews and a book, PTI intends to open up a shady chapter in the country's political history from late 1980s in an apparent bid to further malign Sharif," the report said.

The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took money, amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from former al-Qaeda chief Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, the report said.

They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said.

However in 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak  who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)  had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989.

In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said.

Chaudhry, meanwhile said, "In the past, Sharif remained an active part of several conspiracies against the elected governments".

Last week, the PTI announced to open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case which determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He said the two cases would be filed this week.  PTI
Kabul, May 9

An Afghan official on Tuesday said a bombing at a religious school in northern Parwan province has killed the chief cleric and wounded four students.

Deputy governor Shah Wali Shahid said the head of the Parwan clerical council, Mawlavi Abdul Rahim Hanafi, was assassinated in the explosion.

Shahid said Hanafi was the main target of the bombing, which took place on Tuesday morning at the madrassa in Charakar, the provincial capital.

It wasn't immediately clear why the cleric was targeted and no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shahid denounced the attack as a "terrorist act." He says an investigation is underway to determine how the bomb was brought into the classroom.

The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive last month, threatening to step up attacks across the country.

AP
Seoul, May 9

Liberal politician Moon Jae-in decisively won South Koreas presidential election on Tuesday, television networks declared, an expected victory ending nearly a decade of conservative rule and bringing a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea.

Moons victory will end months of political turmoil that led to parliaments impeachment of conservative former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal, which a court upheld in March. Park became the first democratically elected leader in South Korea to be removed from office, triggering a snap election to choose her successor.

Climbing a temporary stage set up in the main square in downtown Seoul, a beaming Moon surrounded by his Democratic Party leaders, vowed to usher in a new era for a country badly bruised by the scandal in a midnight victory speech.

I will make a just, united country, he told a crowd gathered to see the former human rights lawyer who entered politics just five years ago. I will be a president who also serves all the people who did not support me. With 80 per cent of the votes counted, Moon was ahead with 40 per cent, according to the National Election Commission. A conservative challenger, former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo, was next with 25.5 per cent followed by centrist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo with 21.4 per cent. A plurality of votes is enough for victory.

The results were in line with an exit poll by South Koreas three biggest broadcasters, which showed Moon, 64, capturing 41.4 per cent of the votes in a field of 13 candidates. If exit polls are true, I will accept the results and just be satisfied with the fact that the Liberty Korea Party will be restored, a downcast Hong told members of his conservative party. Ahn said he would humbly accept the result.

Voter turnout was 77.2 per cent, the highest in 20 years, but short of the expected 80 percent mark, as voters headed to the polls in drizzly weather.

Moon is expected to be sworn in for a five-year term later on Wednesday. He has said he would skip a lavish inauguration ceremony and start work straight away.

He is likely to quickly name a PM, who will need parliamentary approval. The main cabinet posts, including national security and finance ministers, do not need parliamentary confirmation.

The election is being closely watched abroad at a time of high tension with North Korea, which is believed to be preparing for a sixth nuclear test and has vowed to test an intercontinental missile.  Reuters

President-elects main policy pledges

NORTH KOREA

Moon has outlined a more moderate approach to North Korea and aims to revive a sunshine policy of engagement, pledging to ease tension and work to denuclearise the Korean peninsula by reviving six-party talks - involving the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan. He also aims to expand economic and social exchange between the two Koreas. Moon has said he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if a summit could help ease tension.

CHAEBOL POLICY

Moon aims to reform the chaebols, the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asias fourth-biggest economy. He says the chaebols stifle smaller companies and are detrimental to the economy and has called for transparency and democratic management. But there are questions about how radical his reforms might be and how far he will go in addressing the demands of the chaebols critics, who urge sharply higher corporate taxes or even dismantling of the conglomerates.

THAAD/NATIONAL DEFENCE

Moon said the new administration should make a final decision on the deployment of a US anti-missile system known as Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD). Moon will also seek a summit with China to resolve a dispute over the system, which China sees as a threat to its security. He has also vowed to enhance a self-reliant defence capability.

PRESIDENTIAL POWERS

Moon promised to relocate the presidential office to a government complex in central Seoul, in an overhaul of presidential powers. He argues that the seclusion of the presidential complex known as the Blue House prevents communication with the public. He says he will fully disclose his day-by-day schedule to ensure the public knows what their president is doing.
Kathmandu: Six Madhesis on Tuesday joined PM Prachanda's council as ministers, in a move seen as a shot in the arm for the Nepal government ahead of the crucial local-level elections which Madhesis have threatened to boycott. The three lawmakers are from the Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar- led Nepal Democratic Forum, one of the major Madhesi parties. PTI
Washington, May 9

The Trump administration on Tuesday kept mum on whether it raised the issue of Indias NSG bid with the top Chinese leadership, but said it supports Indias full membership to the four multilateral export control regimes.

China is the only major country which has been blocking Indias entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The previous US administrations  that of the presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama  put Indias NSG membership on their top priority.

Since 2010, the US has made clear our support for Indias full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes, a State Department spokesman told PTI.

The spokesperson was asked about the efforts being done by the US for India becoming a member of the NSG.

The White House did not respond to a question whether Indias bid for NSG membership was raised by the Trump administration with the Chinese leadership.

Trump last month had a successful summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Florida and had several phone calls with him.

He has said several times in the public domain that he enjoys a very good relationship with Xi.

However, issues like Indias membership to NSG is yet to figure in the talking points between the top officials of the Trump administration with those with the Chinese leadership.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also visited China and has had several rounds of talks with his Chinese counterparts.

Publicly both Trump and Tillerson have said North Korea and trade issues have been dominating their talks with China.

China is advocating a two-step non-discriminatory approach for admission of countries who have not signed nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the NSG.

As per the new stand announced by Beijing in November, it first wants to find a solution that is applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions to admit specific non-NPT member.

Chinas stand for a non-discriminatory criteria is regarded significant as Pakistan, a close ally of Beijing too has applied for the NSG membership along with India.  PTI
A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Dan Peterson has a deep appreciates the rich aviation history at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, which will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year.

Theres also the present. Peterson, who was named the schools CEO last week, was drawn to Spartan for the hands-on, outcome-oriented career training the school offers students to become pilots, aviation maintenance technicians and other roles in the industry.

To me, the more I get involved with Spartan, the more excited I am about being able to be selected to come here and work alongside so many of the professionals that for 90 years have been providing quality training to pilots and technicians, Peterson said.

Peterson most recently served as CEO and chancellor at Kentucky-based Daymar College. He has more than 25 years in higher education as well as a military career, retiring from the Air Force and Utah Air National Guard in 2008 with 23 years of service.

Peterson has a Ph.D. from Utah State University with an emphasis in curriculum and instruction.

Peter Harris, who previously served as CEO of Spartan Education Group, has taken on the role of executive chairman through which he will have a leadership role on the board and continue to work on strategies, transactions and other matters for Spartan.

Dan has a striking combination of education, aviation and military backgrounds that perfectly align with Spartans needs, Harris said.

Like Harris, Peterson will be based in Dallas and will travel among Spartans campuses in Tulsa, Los Angeles and the Denver area. Collectively, the schools have trained 130,000 students since it was founded with approximately 90,000 of those training in Tulsa. Around 1,700 are currently enrolled systemwide.

Spartan also recently announced that after an extensive review process, its Tulsa and Denver campuses were selected by Delta Air Lines to train prospective employees as aviation maintenance or airframe and power plant technicians.

Delta Air Lines undertook an evaluation of programs across the country to prepare for the demand of highly skilled aviation maintenance technicians. According to a long-term aviation and aerospace outlook from the Boeing Co., more than 2 million pilots and technicians will be needed by 2035.

Its a fantastic opportunity to partner with Delta, and were excited to just be selected, Peterson said. I think this is unique to Spartan, its unique to the industry and its just what the industry calls for.

Casey Smith 918-732-8106
Engineers, project managers, executive directors, team leaders and elected officials all sat down Tuesday for the first working-group meeting on the Gilcrease Expressway turnpike project.

But one $100 million-plus seat at the proverbial table sat empty, and none of Oklahomas top transportation officials know yet who will occupy it.

Tim Gatz, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority executive director, said the project to complete the western stretch of the Gilcrease is unique and filling the role of a private partner in the proposed public-private partnership is obviously a piece of the puzzle.

That concept has a lot of work to be done around it, Gatz said. I cant point to a project around the country that is exactly like this.

Tuesdays meeting was the first session of a working group to bring all the governmental entities involved in the project together, including the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, Indian Nations Council of Governments, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Turnpike Authority, U.S. Department of Transportation and others.

Each group also had its own engineers and other technical professionals alongside contracted consultants who will work to keep the massive project moving forward.

Currently in a 12- to 14-month design phase, the project to complete the Gilcrease Expressway via turnpike is anticipated to cost $300 million.

The five-mile, four-lane roadway will include an adjacent multiuse trail and will feature 22 bridges  including the two most-expensive Arkansas River crossings, according to plans.

Gatz said the actual construction phase is estimated to cost about $240 million with a substantial subsection of that cost to come from a private partner  the currently vacant seat in the discussion.

While there is benefit to having a substantial partner at the outset, Gatz said, the groups approach is to remove as many financial variables as possible during the design phase so that a private partner can come on board later with little risk.

If you look at the public-private partnerships that are out there, the (financial) models become extremely complicated, Gatz said. Were going to design it so thats off the table. Were going to acquire the right of way. Were going to provide the tolling and the back-office operations associated with it.  So now youre talking about really focusing on the risk of the construction project itself and then whatever financing a third party is expected to bring to the table.

The trick will be bringing in the partner at the right time to benefit from the input, Gatz said.

The Tuesday meeting was designed to start a line of communication between all the participants and to lay out the atypical projects typical wrinkles, Gatz said.

One typical wrinkle in front of the group is acquiring the remaining right of way.

Engineers said between 50 and 55 parcels of land not already owned by the state or city stand between the roadways design and actual construction.

Anytime youre doing a new corridor like this, right-of-way acquisition is an important part of it, Gatz said.

One property that could cause a delay is tribal trust land in the 3300 block of South 57th West Avenue, home to Tobacco Express Indian Smoke Shop.

An official said conversations are already happening with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs about the process of acquiring the property, but that parcel alone could push back the groups timeline with construction not set to start until summer of next year at the earliest.

I want to emphasize that all the stuff were talking about is based on the best information we have right now, Gatz said. So we might sit back down in a month and say, You know what? Somethings happened thats blown up the schedule, and were going to add three months. 
Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carters family confirmed the singers death Saturday. They did not provide any immediate further comment. A sheriff's official says deputies responding to reports of a medical emergency found a person deceased at the home in Lancaster. Aaron Carter, the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, performed as an opening act for Britney Spears as well as his brothers boy band, and appeared on the familys reality series, House of Carters.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Tulsa Public Schools parent Sandee Crook on Tuesday came to the Capitol seeking solutions to the education funding crisis gripping the state.

The lack of funding has led to teachers quitting for higher-paying jobs in other states, increased class sizes, the elimination of some courses and programs, and four-day school weeks in dozens of districts.

Crook thinks everyone should have to pay more to solve the state budget crisis.

Ive talked with many people, and all of them think they just need to raise revenue and we dont care how its done, said Crook, the mother of two children who attend Park Elementary in Tulsa.

That includes raising the tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, she said. It includes raising the gross production tax in the oilfields, she said, and raising the tax on cigarettes.

Lawmakers are considering a variety of revenue-raising measures to reduce the $878 million budget hole caused by tax cuts, depressed energy prices and a failure to significantly reduce the number of tax credits and incentives on the books in hopes of generating economic activity.

State agencies have been told to brace for significant cuts.

No longer should it be on the backs of middle-class citizens, Crook said. The oil companies should have to pay. We should have to pay. Everyone should pitch in. Were past the point of it not affecting us anymore. It is very disappointing to see how our state is at this point.

Crook was joined by Nicole Nixon, whose two children go to Remington Elementary in Tulsa, and Shawna Mott-Wright, a teacher and vice president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association.

Mott-Wright called the situation depressing and infuriating.

People are acting like it cant be fixed, and that is just not the truth, she said. There are solutions right in front of their faces.

Lawmakers filed numerous measures aimed at increasing teacher pay, but a lack of funding means they likely will not become a reality.

Mott-Wright said teachers need a raise, but it should not be at the expense of funding for schools or other agencies.

We dont want to rob from anybody, she said.

Nixon said she came to the Capitol in an attempt to inspire some change.

I think a lot of us are looking for leadership and for something to actually get done instead of just being talked about, she said.
Tulsa County commissioners agreed Monday to pay $150,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a man who hanged himself in the Tulsa Jail in March 2016.

The settlement stipulates that the county admits no fault in the death of Nathan Daniel Bradshaw, 32.

Court records show that Bradshaw was booked into the jail on the evening of March 8, 2016, and that during a screening of new inmates he told an employee of Armor Correctional Health Services, then the jails medical care provider, that he had recently injected himself with heroin, was a heroin addict and had been under treatment for mental disorders.

In a lawsuit filed against the county, Armor and a jail employee, Bradshaws family contends that he was improperly placed in general population instead of a more closely monitored cell. The suit also says Armor failed to administer two prescriptions for a heroine-withdrawal drug.

Bradshaw was found hanging in his cell on March 13 and died three days later.

Court documents indicate that the lawsuit against Armor and Detention Officer Colby Holman remains pending.
On Friday Netflix premieres Anne with an E, a new version of Anne of Green Gables.

The Canadian series is described as a grittier version of the classic tale, and comes from Moira Walley-Beckett, a writer for Breaking Bad who won an Emmy for penning the amazing Ozymandias episode.

Anne with an E is a coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and many challenges, fights for love and acceptance and her place in the world. Set in Prince Edward Island in the late 1890s, the series centers on Anne Shirley (Amybeth McNulty), a young orphaned girl who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an aging sister and brother. Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform the lives of Marilla (Geraldine James) and Matthew Cuthbert (R.H. Thomson) and eventually the entire small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination. Annes adventures will reflect timeless and topical issues including themes of identity, feminism, bullying and prejudice.

Friday on Netflix.
Suspended Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack will remain on bail following a Court mention this morning, but will defend charges relating to child pornography.

McCormacks lawyer Macedone tendered a medical certificate to Downing Centre Local Court explaining that his client did not appear because he was still in hospital.

McCormack, 42, is accused of engaging in sexually explicit conversations about children with another man and discussing child pornography.

The Commonwealth prosecutor told the court the charges were indictable offences carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail.

McCormack has been suspended by the Nine Network and North Bondi Life Saving Club where he trained nippers.

Macedone asked that the bail condition requiring that he report regularly to police remain suspended while he is in hospital.

The case will return to court in July.

Source: ABC, Perth Now
Foxtel has announced a sixth-season renewal for its hit series Wentworth -an impressive feat for any local drama these days.

The FremantleMedia Australia drama will return in 2018 for 12 more episodes.

Foxtel Head of Drama Penny Win said As Foxtels longest running original drama, Wentworth continues to set a high bar for our local production slate.

There is so much yet to unfold with season five premiering now in Australia on Foxtel before any details should be revealed about the sixth season. My lips are sealed other than to say Marcia Gardner and the writers continue to excel in setting up intriguing story arcs and finely crafted scripts for the wonderfully talented Wentworth cast to bring to life.

FremantleMedia Director of Drama Jo Porter said Getting to a sixth season is something none of us take for granted. Key to this is the unwavering dedication to the show by the incredible Wentworth audience both in Australia and around the world. Like us they are drawn to our exceptional cast who embody the diverse, complex and intriguing characters who populate the intense world of Wentworth and its high stakes and compelling stories.

None of this would be possible without our wonderful partners Foxtel. Together with series producer Pino Amenta, the wonderful team of writers, directors, crew, and cast, we all look forward to opening the gates of Wentworth for the next chapter. Knowing what they have in store fans wont be disappointed and we cant wait to get started.

Wentworth is now seen in more than 140 territories and there are productions in Dutch, German and Flemish. It recently won the AACTA Award for Most Outstanding Drama Series and was nominated in multiple categories at the Logie Awards.

Production will commence in Melbourne later this month.

Season 5 is currently airing on Showcase.
Nevertheless, Dehqans remarks demonstrated characteristically over-the-top Iranian rhetoric, including the threat of a retaliatory attack that would leave nowhere untouched apart from Mecca and Medina. According to TruNews, Dehqan went on to make a veiled reference to the Saudi-led bombing campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Although Tehran denies its own interference in the Yemeni Civil War, it is generally understood that the Houthis are backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and several Iranian boats have been caught smuggling weapons into Yemen.

Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition in fighting for the immediate goal of restoring Yemeni President Abed Rabu Mansour Hadis rule over the entire country. But in light of the above facts, it is evident that the coalitions broader purpose is to push back against the expanding threat of Iranian imperialism. The administration of US President Donald Trump has signaled intentions to work more closely with Middle Eastern allies including Saudi Arabia, and this reflects the fact that Trumps stance on Iran is far more assertive and distrustful than that of his predecessor.

The White Houses current stance is easily supported with reference to Iranian belligerence in the region, which has targeted not only Americas regional allies but also American assets themselves. In the wake of last years implementation of the nuclear agreement negotiated between Iran and six world powers, the IRGC naval forces and the Iranian military have made significantly more provocative gestures toward Western vessels than in the past. Iran has also continued to conducted illicit tests of ballistic missiles  a move that contributed to the Trump administration putting Iran on notice during its first weeks in power.

The White Houses public warning also made reference to Irans destructive regional influence, and since then several administration officials have been upfront about describing the Islamic Republic as the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, and have called for more international cooperation in addressing this problem. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley brought up Irans support for Hezbollah last month in a Security Council open debate session on the Middle East.

One might view recent statements by the Iranian Defense Minister and other officials as a response not only to the continuance of proxy wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but also as an attempt to portray a formidable image to the US and other Western enemies, as well. But this can be expected to spur only more of the same confrontational policies from the Trump administration, especially in view of Irans targeting other countries as well.

On Monday, the Associated Press reported that Iranian Army Chief of Staff Mohammad Hossein Bagheri had asserted Irans ability to conduct military operations in Pakistan supposedly targeting terrorists who have launched attacks across the border. The report emphasized that this threat came in spite of Iran and Pakistan having recently expanded their mutual economic cooperation. This in turn suggests that at least some elements of the Iranian political and military establishment are confident in their ability to project force throughout the region, not just by threatening enemies but also by dictating terms to potential allies.

Given the growing opposition from the US, Saudi Arabia, and others, this confidence presumably depends upon the foreign support that Iran still enjoys from elsewhere, chiefly Russia. Iranian influence over the Syrian Civil War has been bolstered by Russian air support and diplomatic advocacy, and it represents perhaps the most blatant example of Irans regional imperialism.

With Russias backing, Iran remains a part of the process ostensibly aimed at creating a political solution to the crisis. The Associated Press reported last week that Russia and Iran had both signed a de-escalation plan, along with Turkey, which backs the rebels fighting against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. But the AP also noted that the success of this plan was very much in doubt, largely because of the continued Iranian presence. IRGC forces and Iran-backed militant groups have been blamed for the violation of several earlier ceasefire agreements. And in light of this, some members of the Syrian opposition walked out of the latest talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

Since an agreement nonetheless emerged from those talks, they show that Irans presence is entrenched for the time being. But with Assad having recently been subject to renewed criticism and an American missile strike over his use of chemical weapons, it is also clear that there is a rising level of international opposition to outcomes that are favorable to Iran and its allies. In this context, the opposition protests at Astana join with Saudi rhetoric and emerging American policies to showcase the increasingly coordinated pushback against Iranian influence in the region.
With a three-goal cushion from the semi-final first leg, the odds of reaching the final seem to be stacked in Ajax's favour, but there could still be reasons for optimism in the Lyon camp.

First, the bad news for the Ligue 1 team: Ajax have had the most attempts on goal and shots on target of any side in this season's UEFA Europa League. In their 13 matches so far they have scored in 12; the 0-0 at Legia Warszawa was the only time they drew a blank. Striker Bertrand Traore, who bagged two and set up another in Amsterdam despite not being 100% fit, will probably be even sharper come Thursday. And first-choice defenders Nick Viergever and Joel Veltman will be available after suspension.

Highlights: Watch Ajax win thriller against Lyon

Solid start in Amsterdam

All that being said, it's certainly not a lost cause that Bruno Genesios men will be chasing at the Stade de Lyon. For a start, they were not outplayed for 90 minutes last Wednesday. Their game plan at the Amsterdam ArenA initially appeared sound. They were closing down spaces, disrupting Ajax's passing routines and working the ball forward with purpose. In fact, if Andre Onana had not somewhat fortuitously blocked Maxwel Cornet's effort with the contest still scoreless, the evening might have taken a completely different trajectory.

The Alexandre Lacazette factor

Another plus is that the prolific Alexandre Lacazette should be fit enough to start, which would give Les Gones a major boost. The 25-year-old has been involved in 35 of the 71 goals that OL have scored with him on the pitch this term, netting 31 himself and providing four assists. His link play with Corentin Tolisso is particularly crucial to Lyon's success. If these two gifted Frenchmen can weave their magic then Onana and his defence will have to be in absolutely top form to keep them out.

Watch memorable goals from Lacazettes career

Patience is the key

Lyon can also take comfort from the fact Ajax completely outclassed Schalke in the quarter-final first leg, yet then struggled to establish their normal fluency during the Gelsenkirchen return. At one point, the 33-time Dutch champions were trailing 3-0  exactly the scoreline that would take Lyon to Stockholm. Above all, the French side will need to be patient. Overcommitting to attack, or taking too many risks in trying to force an early opener, will leave them vulnerable to counters. A goal every half an hour would be fine  assuming they can keep a clean sheet.

One thing is certain: if the second leg is anywhere near as exciting as the first in Amsterdam, we are in for a treat. As Ajax trainer Peter Bosz commented last week, it could conceivably have finished 9-4 or even 12-6. Seldom will you see a match at this stage of a European competition with so many chances at both ends. And now, with Lyon having to score at least three to progress, and Ajax always capable of banging in one or two themselves, another spectacle is on the cards.
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
| By Mary T. Phelan

The importance of receiving community input was the main theme of the evening May 4 as the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC)  collaborating as the new Partnership for West Baltimore  held their first town hall meeting at Carter Memorial Church of God In Christ on South Poppleton Street.

As the two largest anchor institutions in West Baltimore, UMB and UMMC will work in partnership with surrounding neighborhoods to build and support a healthy, empowered, socially cohesive, and revitalized community.

The Rev. Carl A. Pierce Sr., senior pastor of Carter Memorial Church, introduced UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, and UMMC President and Chief Executive Officer Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, to the audience, which included Maryland Delegate Antonio Hayes and Baltimore City Councilman John T. Bullock.

I am so happy to present to you these two gentlemen who not only do tremendous work in the areas of their responsibility, but theyre engaged and are about the work of edifying the people in our community, Pierce said. I am so honored and happy that they are here tonight.

Wali Mutazammil, president of the Poppleton Community Neighborhood Association, poses a question to University of Maryland, Baltimore President Jay A. Perman, MD, at a town hall meeting for the Partnership for West Baltimore on May 4 at Carter Memorial Church of God In Christ.

Perman thanked Pierce for being a part of the UMB family for many years and thanked the 100 community members in attendance. Thank you for being here but also for welcoming the University into your lives and your needs, he said. I think you know what we do in those big buildings over there and sometimes it looks intimidating and distant, but I know you understand that what were doing over there is preparing the health care workforce for our city and our state.

UMB, he explained, produces the majority of physicians, nurses, lawyers, social workers, pharmacists, and dentists in the state. Its work that benefits all of us, our neighbors and the folks beyond this neighborhood, he said.

Perman also praised the community for supporting the UMB Community Engagement Center (CEC) and for attending a Neighborhood Spring Festival held at the center on April 22. He promised the annual event would continue.

Thank you for also welcoming our Community Engagement Center into the community, Perman said. This is a walk-in place on the western edge of the [University of Maryland] BioPark, just around the corner, where the University says what can we do that you want us to do? 

Based on the communitys input, the CEC offers a free legal advice clinic, workforce development, health education, exercise classes, a monthly community lunch, and weekly market, among other programs, all free of charge.

We need to know from you, what else you want, Perman said. Most importantly, and this is the truth, were here to listen.

Suntha noted that UMB and UMMC are often referred to as anchor institutions, a term that other universities and hospitals may define differently.

What does it mean to be an anchor institution in any community? he asked. I will argue that many hospitals in the past have made the mistake of saying the definition of being an anchor institution is delivering great health care. Well, I would say, that is a given. That is our responsibility. Delivering great health care is what is expected of us, but to be an anchor institution also means engaging with our community, outside the walls of our hospital, outside the walls of our university, and thinking about what are the challenges our community faces and where we might partner to work on collective solutions.

The future of health care, he said, will focus more on finding ways to keep patients from being admitted into hospitals in the first place to manage conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Jo-Ann Williams, director of community and workforce engagement for UMMC, said currently the Medical Center provides health screenings for the community. For example, thanks to the Maryland Healthy Men Program, more than 1,000 African-American men were identified with high blood pressure out of more than 3,500 screened.

UMMC also offers diabetes prevention and violence intervention programs and assists the CEC with providing free workforce services.

All programs are based on community input, said Williams. What you hear from us tonight is based on what weve heard from you.

A Back-to-School Health Fair will be held in late August and a mental health conference on June 27. As to other future programs, we really want your opinion, Williams said.

Ashley Valis, MSW, UMBs executive director of strategic initiatives and community engagement, a resident of the community, and a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Social Work, explained the Partnership for West Baltimore has four main goals:

Improving community health;

Strengthening economic and community development;

Supporting education and youth development; and

Improving communication with community members.

A new program at James McHenry Elementary/Middle School is just one example of collaboration among the community, the University and the Medical Center, Valis said. The program, called Girl Talk, grew out of a violence prevention program at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Girl Talk is a storytelling initiative for third-grade girls, overseen by Erin Walton, LCSW-C, violence prevention program clinical supervisor at Shock Traumas Center for injury Prevention and Policy, and Kelly Quinn, PhD, program coordinator at the CEC. Walton and Quinn developed lessons that foster active listening and creative expression for 8- and 9-year-olds. In total, 16 girls participated in two six-week workshops through the winter and early spring.

Questions and comments from the audience included requests for additional resources to combat substance abuse and addiction, the impact violence has on young children and the need for health screenings for oral cancer, among other topics.

Wali Mutazammil, president of the Poppleton Community Neighborhood Association, expressed concerns over what he described as a systemic culture of violence and racism in Baltimore.

At any given 18-month cycle, were dealing with about 12 murders within a three-block radius. he said. We consider that to be very normal. We live in an environment of trauma, where we think that is normal. My question is how are our children in this systemic culture of violence and racism?

Were not so far away,  Perman responded. Were in this together, as it relates to crime. The University president went on to describe how the UMB CURE Scholars Program, which provides science and health care educational opportunities and mentoring for middle school students in UMB partner schools in West Baltimore, is aimed at improving the outcomes for youths in the community.

Another resident shared a positive experience she recently encountered at the CEC.

I just want to say thank you. I just lost my job earlier in the week and I came to Workforce Wednesday [which provides job services at the CEC] and those counselors were great, the woman said. They provided excellent customer service. All I can say is that they deserve the biggest hand we can give them.

Valis also debuted a new website for the partnership:www.UMPartnershipforWestBaltimore.org.

We really do want this to be a community partnership and meet the communitys needs as best we can, she said.
He wrote: I dont need to say that these are lies as the Iranians elections have nothing to do with the well-known rules of democracy and theyre rather a funny and fabricated charade that hides pure dictatorship behind it.

The dictatorship is run by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who holds absolute power within the country and in unaccountable. Khamenei controls the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government and anyone who opposes him (or who might oppose him) will be executed as an enemy of God.

He asks if it is really a democracy if all of the candidates are vetted (and either approved or rejected) by a small council appointed by the Regime, rather than the people? This, Shaikh notes, is a fabricated charade and merely a formality as the President cannot exact any power in Iran; he is more like the secretary to the real leader.

Shaikh wrote: The relationship between the president and the guardian of the jurist resembles the relation between a minor and a headmaster as he does not dare discuss anything with him and he does not ask him about anything he does or says because according to the Iranian constitution, the guardian of the jurists status is like Gods representative on earth so who dares object against God?

He continued: Therefore, anyone who discusses his decisions  let alone object to them  whether its the president or anyone else, would be objecting to God almighty. This is exactly how Catholic popes governed Europe during the Dark Middle Ages.

He also compared the Revolutionary Guards in Iran to the churchs guards in Europe.

He wrote: Back then the pope governed on the basis that he was Gods representative on earth. I dont think theres any difference between the pope of the Catholic Church back then and the Islamized pope of the Shiite church in Tehran. Theres no difference no matter how much Irans agents try to market this fake democratic Islamic republic.

However, he notes, the days of the Regime are numbered; much like the role of the Pope has been reduced to a religious role rather than a government one. He writes that Irans links to terror (both direct and indirect) will be its downfall.

He wrote: Sunni Islamic terrorism (like ISIS) would not have emerged and solidified if it hadnt been for the sahwa (awakening) phenomenon which emerged after the success of the Khomeini revolution in Tehran. This phenomenon imitated the latter revolution and politicised Islam on Sunni bases. Terrorism was born out of the womb of sahwa and it grew in incubators to politicise Islam. Therefore, the world will sooner or later realise that eliminating terrorism cannot be achieved unless by eliminating the phenomenon of both Sunni and Shiite political Islam.
Some 275 refugees and migrants waiting to disembark from a tug in the port of Pozzalo after being rescued a few days earlier.  UNHCR/F. Malavolta

In the last 24 hours we have received alarming information on two new shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean.

The first shipwreck took place on Friday night, when a rubber dinghy sank after several hours of sailing with 132 people on board. Some 50 people were rescued and disembarked in Pozzallo (Sicily) on Sunday, 7 May. Some 82 people are feared dead or missing.

Another shipwreck took place off the coast of Libya on Sunday, 7 May. According to one of our partners, the International Medical Corps, a woman and six men were rescued by the Libyan Coast Guards. Some 163 people are feared dead or missing during this particular incident.

This brings the total number of people believed to have died or disappeared while trying to cross from North Africa to Italy to more than 1,300 since the beginning of the year. So far in 2017, over 43,000 migrants and asylum seekers have used the Central Mediterranean route to reach Italy.

As stressed by High Commissioner Grandi on Sunday, rescue at sea operations, including by the Italian Coast Guard, in coordination with Frontex, and by NGOs are of crucial importance. There is also an urgent need to address the root causes which lead people to move, as well as to offer credible alternatives to these dangerous crossings for people in need of international protection, including accessible and safe ways to reach Europe such as family reunification, relocation and resettlement.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
ADJUMANI, Uganda - For Jacob Yuoth, victim is not a title he is willing to accept. Uprooted from his home in South Sudan, he has started a new life in Uganda, determined to succeed against all odds. He gives a special thanks to UNHCR and its donors like Ecobank, who have supported his journey to self-reliance.

UNHCRs strategic partnership with the Pan African bank, which contributed US $100,000 towards UNHCRs livelihoods and education programmes in Africa, has paved the way for new corporate partners in the region to support refugees to be independent. The group CEO, Mr. Ade Ayeyemi, duly noted, Through this partnership and our regional platforms, we can drive a sustainable and impact-focused agenda to support refugees on the continent.
The Curiosity rover of NASA is digging Mars, with the goal of giving scientists the better understanding of the wind and land on the red planet. NASA's car-sized robotic rover took a sample of sand from a rippled dune and the rover is carrying it as it climbs uphill to its next destination on Mars Mount Sharp.

NASA's Curiosity rover took the dark sand to complete its investigation of the dunes and has somewhat analyzed it. One thing scientists are looking for is how the grains are organized, whether the winds of Mars sort grains of sand that affect the mineral compositions' distribution, which would have implications for Martian sandstones studies, NASA.Gov reported.

The winds on Mars are complicated as the linear dunes the Curiosity rover just visited are only about a mile uphill from crescent-shaped dunes. Mathieu Lapotre of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said in a statement that one difference in the conditions is the movement of the wind across the linear dunes is more complex than how the wind moves at the crescents, with more of it coming down Mount Sharp's slope.

Nevertheless, from early February through early April of 2017, NASA's Curiosity rover studied four different sites near a linear dune within the northwestern flank of Mars' Mount Sharp, Bagnold. The car-sized robotic rover arrived at a different part of Bagnold in late 2015. NASA's Curiosity rover will begin the first-ever close-up investigation of active sand dunes on the red planet, Space reported.

In spite of that, mission team members stated that the recent work of NASA's Curiosity rover at the linear-dune site should help scientists better understand how the winds of Mars sculpt the dunes into different patterns and shapes. The Curiosity has already analyzed part of the linear-dune sample by means of its on-board Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.

Watch The Video Here:
He asserted that although this election will not change the Regimes policies, it could spell an end to the Regime itself; an idea that was already deliberated by Regime experts earlier this month.

Last week, former Italian foreign minister Giulio Terzi and the Foreign Affairs Chairman for the Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mohammad Mohaddessin took part in an online conference regarding Irans current crises.

Terzi explained that the Regime has failed to resolve any of its economic or social dilemmas since the signing of the nuclear deal, despite increased funding from foreign investors and the release of frozen assets held abroad.

This is because the money was spent on terrorism and war, so as a result, the Iranian Regime should not be given any further sanctions relief.

Basiri wrote: Any collaboration by the West with Tehran, an issue currently under consideration by Washington, will only render further support by Tehran for terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism across the Middle East, as seen in Syria, through the notorious Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

The West should not expect great change from the Regime following the elections because, as Mohaddessin explains, the presidency lacks any real power in Iran.

He said: Any flow of state of affairs in the clerical regime is in the hands of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his office, and the IRGC  Elections in the clerical regime are power sharing between various factions of the brutal regime. It is also about various factions share in plundering the Iranian peoples wealth.

Terzi said: One should not expect a major shift in Tehrans policies after the elections. It will be a huge folly and total misguided approach by the West to pin any hope on the results of this election.

The two front-runners are Ebrahim Raisi, a confidant of the supreme leader and member of the death commission that sent 30,000 political prisoners to their deaths in 1988, and Hassan Rouhani, incumbent president who oversaw 3,000 executions, an increased crackdown on human rights, and secretly restarted the nuclear weapons programme during his four-year reign as President.

Both the conference members and Basiri warn about the dangers of the moderate v hardliner myth that is being pushed by the Regime.

There is no substantial difference between the pair, both were approved by the Regimes Guardian Council (a small group who controls who can and cannot run for President), both are mass-murderers, and both believe that there should be no separation of church and state.

If the international community chooses not to support the Regime, no matter who is elected, and chooses to work with the Resistance instead, this could spell the end for the Regime.

Mohaddessin concluded: This is a totally new situation with new prospects, bringing the regime closer to its downfall.
Asia newspaper reported: Iraj Jamshidi, this morning when leaving his home was detained for unspecified reasons by unknown people. Irans security and police agencies havent yet announced any reason for arresting Asia newspaper editor.

Iraj Jamshidi had been arrested earlier in July 2003, following the publication of a photograph of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance in his newspaper.

He had been then charged on measures such as acting against national security, providing information to foreign countries, disrupting the countrys economic system, insulting regimes founder Khomeini, bribery, publishing lies and disturbing public opinion. Mr. Jamshidi was released on bail on July 2004. after serving one year in jail.
UW-Casper to Graduate First Medical Laboratory Sciences Students

Courtney Howsden, left, and Alina Sanchez are the first two graduates of UW-Caspers medical laboratory sciences program, which began in fall 2015. Both earned their degrees while working for hospital laboratories as technicians. (UW Photo)

The first graduates of the University of Wyoming at Caspers new medical laboratory sciences program will receive their bachelors degrees this week.

Courtney Howsden and Alina Sanchez will be among the 60 graduates participating in UW-Caspers commencement ceremonies Thursday, May 11, at 4 p.m. at the Casper Events Center.

After completing their medical laboratory technician associate degrees through Casper College, both women began working in hospital labs: Howsden has worked at Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas for three years, and Sanchez at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper for nearly four years.

When UW-Casper opened the bachelor in medical laboratory sciences degree in fall 2015, they were two of the first students to enroll. Just two years later, they are the first two graduates of the program.

I was always interested in the medical field and began the nursing program at Casper College, Sanchez says. But, I decided that the more in-depth study of diseases was so much more gratifying. We investigate samples to determine what is going on with patients, why they feel the way they feel, and work with doctors to resolve their problems. About 85 percent of treatment decisions are based on what is discovered in the medical laboratory.

Howsden is excited for the greater opportunities that a bachelors degree will bring: With a bachelors degree, there is more room to grow. You can get certified in different states and advance in the field.

Both graduates agree that UW-Caspers smaller class sizes and new facilities with high-grade equipment maximized their education. However, the instructors were the highlight of the program.

All of the instructors were great, the two wrote. Jed Doxtater (assistant clinical faculty and program director of medical laboratory sciences at UW-Casper) did a great job putting it all together. Since we were in the first courses, he really listened to us on what was working and what could be improved as our classes progressed. He was super impressive.

Doxtater says Howsden and Sanchez deserve the credit.

It was a challenge for them. Courtney would get off work at 7 p.m. in Douglas and have to be in class by 8 p.m., and Alina worked nights and weekends, he says. At the beginning, they came to me wanting to give up, but they both made it through. Im proud of them.

Joining Howsden and Sanchez at UW-Caspers commencement are 58 graduates representing five UW colleges.
UW College of Education Professor Receives Second Fulbright Award

UW College of Education Associate Professor Amy Roberts recently earned her second Fulbright Award. She will use the award to continue research in Myanmar and teach two courses at Mandalay University. (Amy Roberts Photo)

University of Wyoming College of Education Associate Professor Amy Roberts recently earned her second Fulbright Award to teach and conduct research in Myanmar, Southeast Asia.

She received a Fulbright Core Research/Teaching Scholarship to teach two courses on qualitative research at Mandalay University in Mandalay, Myanmar, and to help develop a framework for graduate program dissertation research.

Roberts Fulbright research will involve interdisciplinary and cross-campus collaborations to examine the role of education in civic responsibility and citizenship, on both global and local platforms. In addition, Roberts will offer seminars, workshops and guest lectures across Myanmar on areas contributing to educational reform underway in the Myanmar higher education system.

The Fulbright Award will begin in early December 2017 and continue through summer 2018.

Engaging in international collaborative projects with students and colleagues is a high priority for Roberts work on the UW campus and abroad. She currently serves as the faculty adviser for the College of Education World Language Center and the Central Asian Student Association.

For more than 10 years, Roberts directed an annual UW four-week study-abroad course in Costa Rica that included intensive service teaching in rural schools and field research. In 2003, Roberts was awarded a Fulbright-Hays grant that provided funding for 20 Wyoming teachers to participate in the study-abroad course.

The upcoming Fulbright Award further extends Roberts sabbatical work as a U.S. Department of State fellow placed at Mandalay University in Myanmar.

The needs of Myanmar higher education range from physical infrastructure and information technology, to the academic curriculum, support for faculty and student research and international engagement, she says. Based on her fellowship experience, Roberts reports a high level of enthusiasm for addressing Myanmars pressing needs in higher education among administrators, faculty and students.

As a first-time Fulbright scholar in 2008 at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan, Roberts taught a doctoral research course exploring the entity of higher education, as both mediator and reactor to contemporary processes of globalization. Collectively, students and Roberts conducted research based on qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods addressing the impact of the internationalization of East Asian universities.

Roberts says she is honored to be the recipient of Fulbright Awards and a Department of State fellowship. She embraces the Fulbright Program as the flagship of international educational exchanges sponsored by the U.S. government, designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

In response, Roberts intends to establish a Myanmar presence in the World Language Center to welcome Myanmar guests, students and academics to the UW community; promote the exchange of UW faculty for joint teaching and research opportunities in the Myanmar system; provide presentations to Wyoming groups, organizations and university classes detailing concrete experiences in Myanmar, as well as lectures to disseminate her Fulbright-sponsored research; and sustain ongoing collaboration with Myanmar colleagues.

The UW International Programs Office advises UW faculty members interested in pursuing the research or teaching options within the Fulbright Scholar Program. Mary Katherine Scott, acting director of the International Programs Office, and Shawn Bunning, project coordinator, are official Fulbright advisers.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is an internationally prestigious opportunity for UW faculty members, Scott says. In addition to her research and teaching roles, Dr. Roberts will serve as a cultural ambassador for our institution, our state and our nation. She is an ideal representative of this award.

For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program, visit www.cies.org, or, to set up an advising appointment, call the UW International Programs Office at (307) 766-3677.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.


Award-winning gentlemens club, Crazy Horse III, hosted the official divorce party of Courtney Stodden last night. Stodden made international headlines when she married actor Doug Hutchinson, then 51, when she was just 16 years old in 2011. Even then, she reveled in the exposure that came from her new nuptials (Photo credit: Bryan Steffy / WireImage).

Photo credit: Bryan Steffy / WireImage.

Now, her divorce brings a new opportunity to be in the limelight for Stodden, who says her seven year itch came one year early. Stodden got the party started with a round of Adios Mother F**ker shots for her group, later drinking champagne and leading everyone in a toast. To divorce! she yelled. Stodden, who wasnt of age when it was time for a bachelorette party, said, This is like a reverse bachelorette party, because I get to celebrate in Vegas and be single!

Photo credit: Bryan Steffy / WireImage.

Stodden, who was joined by her long-time friend and Bravo reality-TV star, Heather Marianna, stood out in a revealing, blush-colored body-con dress and nude platform heels. After a red carpet where she posed for photographers, she went inside Crazy Horse III, where she hosted a group of friends and entertainers at a VIP table. Thrilled to be the center of attention, Stodden was the subject of multiple lap dances.

Photo credit: Bryan Steffy / WireImage.

Nothing commemorates divorce like a groom-shaped pinata, and Stodden eagerly struck it down with just a few swings, Crazy Horse III dollars and confetti flying everywhere as entertainers eagerly swooned around her. Stodden immediately grabbed half of the groom pinata and wore it as a hat, celebrating its breaking and taking photos with friends and fans.

Photo credit: Bryan Steffy / WireImage.

Afterwards, she was presented with a two-tier divorce cake by Crazy Horse III, split in half to represent her newfound independence and covered in dollar bills, complete with a look-alike figurine adorning a two-piece bridal ensemble hanging from a stripper pole, an older groom figurine on the other half. Stodden sampled the cake, even taking bites from the bride and groom figurines before making her way to the stage. Waving a loaded money gun on the pole, Stodden showered herself and a few of her favorite dancers with dollar bills.

Stodden partied all night with her friends, finally leaving Crazy Horse III as the sun came up.


Popular Museum blog, When You Work at a Museum, hosts an annual, international Museum Dance-Off and, in its inaugural year of participating, The Mob Museum  The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, has won the national round, qualifying it to advance to the International Finals of the competition.

Watch The Mob MuseumS Video

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suv1cAMGU3o

Voting began today, Monday, May 8, at 5 a.m. Pacific Time and will continue for 24 hours.

A record 41 museums from around the world participated in this years competition and voting has narrowed it down to just four finalists, with The Mob Museum representing the United States.

Mob Museum staff members at every level of the organization, as well as Museum Members and volunteers, choreographed, rehearsed and filmed a Mob-history-inspired dance routine that perfectly captures the passion and enthusiasm Museum team members bring to their workplace every day.

While voting remains open, Nevadans are encouraged to share the link below with friends and family and vote often on the When You Work at a Museum website. Anyone can vote, from anywhere in the world. No registration is required. Visit http://www.whenyouworkatamuseum.com/ for updates and to check out the other museums competing. Follow The Mob Museum on Twitter for live updates: @TheMobMuseum.
A man walks while pulling his canoe on the flooded streets in Pierrefonds on May 7, 2017. (Photo: AFP/Catherine Legault)

Several rivers and lakes have overflowed their banks in Quebec province, between Gatineau in the Canadian capital region and Montreal 200 kilometres (125 miles) downstream.

The ground is saturated and unable to absorb any more water.

But recent heavy rains have started to subside and "as of Wednesday, we expect to see the situation begin to improve," Quebec Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux announced.

Some 2,500 homes in Quebec and more than 300 in Ontario have been flooded, and at least 1,500 people have been ordered to evacuate - most of them in the Canadian capital region.

In Pierrefonds, one of the hardest-hit regions near Montreal, Johanne Aubin spent the morning pumping water from her basement using a pump from her backyard swimming pool.

The flooding took her and most others here by surprise, and she barely had time to erect a small sandbag wall around her property.

After days of fighting an exhausting battle to hold back the waters, often in vain, despair has started to set in.

Most of the streets here are flooded, forcing locals to travel by canoe or other small boat.

Resident David Swidzinsky has been ferrying neighbours to safety, or back to their homes to collect precious belongings that had been missed in the rush to get out when a state of emergency was declared.

People "broke out in tears (seeing the devastation) when I brought them home to fetch their bags," he said.

A few streets over, a dozen soldiers tirelessly filled sandbags. Across eastern Canada, hundreds of thousands of sandbags have been used and Ottawa has asked suppliers for up to four million more, said officials.

Pierrefonds resident John Parker spent his day hauling wet furniture and personal belongings to the curb, as a pump and hose sputtered water from his flooded basement over another wall of sandbags.

"It just kind of tires you out. You move around, get one window fixed and the next window gets full of water," he told AFP. "It's surrounded the whole house now, and it's coming into the garage. It will get better, because it can't get any worse," he said.

The Canadian army has deployed 1,650 troops to help stem the flooding, reinforcing dikes, protecting critical infrastructure including water treatment facilities and bridges. Military helicopters and boats also are on standby.

'DEALING WITH IMPONDERABLES'

"With this kind of a disaster, it's not where there's a singular event like a dam bursting or a building exploding or a bridge collapsing," commented Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

"This is the gradual building of precipitation where circumstances physically on the ground can change dramatically without notice in a very short span of time. So everybody was dealing with imponderables."

Goodale called it the worst Canadian flood in "50 years" but added that the situation was improving in Ontario, where high water levels in Lake Ontario threatened coastal communities including parts of Toronto, Belleville to the east and the Thousand Islands region, which is home to fabled 19th century mansions and cottages.

"I have never seen so much water between Ottawa and Montreal," Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, the wife of the prime minister, told broadcaster RDI.

The day before, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accompanied by his two young children, had traveled to the town of Terrasse Vaudreuil west of Montreal to help locals fill sandbags.

There are "exceptional circumstances" behind the flooding, explained Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel, pointing to a month of rain coming on the heels of a spring thaw after a "severe winter."

Although it is unlikely to get any worse as of Monday, "the situation will last a few weeks," said Coiteux.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said the recovery and cleanup from this "historic flood" will take time.

Sunday evening, a 37-year-old man and his two-year-old daughter were reported missing after their car veered into a river and was swept away near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts in the Gaspe region of eastern Quebec.

In British Columbia, on the opposite side of the country, the same combination of rain and snowmelt has caused flooding and mudslides that left at least two people missing, including the fire chief of the village of Cache Creek who had been out checking water levels.
Accordingly, the tickets are sold at VND292,000 VND (US$12.89)- VND484,000 (US$21.3) on Nha Trang-Hue route and 323,000 VND (US$14.2)-VND555,000 (US$24.5) on the return route.

Trains will depart from Nha Trang at 8:45 and arrive in Hue at 22:39. On the return, it will leave Hue station at 16:08 and come to Nha Trang station at 6:18.



Discount tickets are also applied for social beneficiaries and travel agents registering tourism promotion programme 2017.



Earlier, the VNR also announced its plan to run two rapid trains from Hanoi to the central city of Vinh from June 1, cutting travel time to only five and a half hours. Numerous promotional programmes will be held on the occastion.



From June 1 to August 31, the VNR will offer 2,000 tickets priced at VND10,000 (US$0.44), 72 hours prior to departing time.



In a bid to improve service quality and diversify products, the VNR will operate trains to tourist attractions like Cua Lo and Sa Pa from May, 2017.



In addition, it will provide free wifi at big stations to serve the passengers demand.



Further information is available at www.dsvn.vn, www.vetau.com.vn, www.saigonrailway.com.vn, www.facebook.com/duongsatsg, http://vantaiduongsathanoi.vn or stations, ticket agents and support centres: 19001520 (Ho Chi Minh City) and 19000109 (Hanoi).
The US DOC has cancelled the administrative review of the anti-dumping duty order on steel wire garment hangers from Viet Nam.-Photo bnews.vn

The period of review is February 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017. The announcement took effect on Friday.

On April 10, based on a timely request for review by M&B Metal Products Company Inc, the department published in the Federal Register a notice of initiation of an administrative review of the anti-dumping order on steel wire garment hangers from Viet Nam. The review covers 66 companies.

On April 24, the petitioner withdrew its request for an administrative review on all 66 companies. No other party requested a review of these exporters or any other exporters of the merchandise in question.

The DOC rescinds an administrative review, in whole or in part, if the party that requested the review withdraws its request within 90 days of the publication of the notice of initiation of the requested review.

In this case, the petitioner withdrew its request by the 90-day deadline, and no other party requested an administrative review of the antidumping duty order. As a result, the department is rescinding the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on steel wire garment hangers from Viet Nam for the period February 1, 2016, through January 31, 2017, in its entirety.

Because the department is rescinding this administrative review in its entirety, the entries to which this administrative review pertained shall be assessed at rates equal to the cash deposit of estimated antidumping duties required at the time of entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption.

The VCA said anti-dumping and anti-subsidised duties had been imposed on Vietnamese steel wire garment hangers since 2013 with the rates of 157  220.68 per cent and 31.58 and 90.42 per cent, respectively.
Emmanuel Macron has pledged economic reforms for a France at the heart of the European project. (Photo: AFP/Patrick Kovarik)

Some hailed Macron's defeat of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen as "three-nil" after moderate politicians also beat extremists in Austria and the Netherlands in recent elections.

For them, Macron's victory brought badly needed relief after last year's shock election results in Britain and the United States, widely seen as revolts against "establishment" candidates and institutions.

While Trump has vowed to put "America first" and curtail immigration and free trade, and Britain has turned its back on the European Union, the liberal Macron has pledged economic reforms for a France at the heart of the European project.

In Europe's other big election this year, the German vote in September, centre-right Chancellor Angela Merkel is leading in the polls while the fringe anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is losing steam.

Merkel said Macron "carries the hopes of millions" in Europe, speaking ahead of the upcoming G7 and G20 summits in which EU nations will now be able to present a united front against Trump's protectionist stance.

"After Brexit and Trump's victory, the Western world and Europe have been spared another political earthquake," said German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, adding that Europe had dodged the "nightmare" of a far-right leader in the Elysee Palace.

The New York Times said that France, like other major democracies, faced the challenge of "many people feeling marginalised by globalisation, economic stagnation, an unresponsive government, unemployment, faceless terrorism and a tide of immigrants".

However, French voters had opted for a "future in Europe rather than in resentful isolation" and delivered "a victory of hope and optimism over fear and reaction", said the newspaper, which has been sharply critical of Trump.

'MODERATE FORCES'

Eurosceptics have been on the rise on a continent badly rattled by the eurozone debt crisis and the mass refugee influx that peaked in 2015 and angered especially eastern EU members on the so-called Balkans route.

In Poland, the right-wing and anti-EU Law and Justice party took power in 2015, while in Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban has openly sparred with Brussels.

Last June came Britain's stunning vote to leave the EU, while in Austria a far-right candidate was only narrowly beaten for the presidency.

Europe's right-wing populists were further emboldened by Trump's victory in US elections in November.

However, the tide appears to be turning this year, starting with the defeat in March in the Netherlands of anti-Islam candidate Geert Wilders.

After Macron's win, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's chief of staff, Martin Selmayr, tweeted: "Kick off ... Austria. Quarter-final: Stable Netherlands. Semi-final: La France en Marche!"

If the final is the German election, Merkel also has cause for optimism.

Her party scored another strong victory in state elections Sunday, while the anti-migrant, anti-Islam and eurosceptic AfD, riven by infighting, has badly slipped in the polls.

The head of Germany's liberal FDP party, Christian Lindner, said "after 2016 was the year when populists, over-simplifiers and extremists celebrated success, 2017 is the year of the moderate forces".

'ECONOMICS OF ENVY'

Joseph Downing, researcher at France's National Centre for Scientific Research, said that "when Macron declared he was going to run as a pro-globalisation, pro-EU candidate ... people thought he was insane, and he has won."

"It will send a signal across Europe that populists are not as strong as they seem and that actually there's a lot of support still for the European project and economic globalisation to some extent."

Many, however, warned it was too early to claim victory for centrist politics.

Martin Quencez of think-tank the German Marshall Fund of the United States argued that in France "the structural issues behind the populist votes are yet to be tackled".

"One third of the voters supported the nationalist, anti-EU and anti-globalisation candidacy of Marine Le Pen, and this will remain the main political opposition to the new president."

UBS bank economist Paul Donovan wrote that "the recent run of election results may tempt investors to think that anti-establishment politics is over. This would be unwise."

He warned that income inequality and other "fundamental causes of anti-establishment politics" continue to "encourage scapegoat economics - a desire to blame an external group for economic problems".

Similarly, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned that now Macron must be allowed to succeed because "if he fails, then Madame Le Pen will be president in five years' time".
Three-quarter action plan

At the monthly government meeting on May 4, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) presented a report on the growth scenarios for the Vietnamese economy in 2017.

Specifically, according to MPIs estimates, to reach the 6.7 per cent growth target by year end, the GDP must grow by 7.1 per cent during the last nine months, which is high compared to the same periods between 2011 and 2016.

7.1 per cent is higher than the 6.4 per cent GDP growth during the last nine months of 2016, as well as the rates of 6.8, 6.2, 5.6, 5.4 and 6.3 per cent during the same periods of 2015 going back to 2011. Meanwhile, the economy is facing a few challenges.

MPI told the government that even though in April 2017 the economy showed positive signs, it still faces several difficulties. For example, the growth rate of industrial production during the first four months was better than in the first quarter (5.1 against 4.1 per cent), but fell short of the 7.4 per cent of the same period last year. As of April 1, 2017, the total inventory of the manufacturing sector was also at a high level after rising by 12.7 per cent, higher than the 8.9 per cent increase at the same time last year.

Meanwhile, the agricultural sector that has just recovered in the first quarter has already run into new problems as it entered the second quarter. The biggest problem is a sharp plunge in pork prices due to oversupply, pushing prices below cost and causing losses to farmers. A testament to the problems severity are the rumours of a potential bail-out.

In addition, according to MPI, exports continued to increase, with volume reaching $61.34 billion during the past four months (up 15.4 per cent from the same period of 2016, which in turn was up 6.5 per cent from the same period of 2015). However, because imports increased at an even faster rate, trade deficit remains large. The trade deficit in the first four months was 4.47 per cent of the total export turnover, higher than the 3.5 per cent target approved by the National Assembly. A large trade deficit will not only affect growth, but also threaten macro-economic stability and exchange rates.

To tackle these issues, MPI is targeting a GDP growth of 6.26 per cent in the second quarter, 7.29 per cent in the third, and 7.49 per cent in the fourth. This way the nine-month growth would meet the 7.1 per cent goal. However, this growth scenario has several assumptions: (1) economy-wide investment would make up 35 per cent of the GDP, (2) Samsung would meet its growth target of 20 per cent for output and exports, and (3) all conditions remain favourable, including the world economy and weather.

A tall order

Meeting the 6.7 per cent growth target is a tall order. This plan can only be attained if the assumptions outlined in the MPI report hold true.

The good news is that the export volume from all Samsung factories in Vietnam is expected to increase by 20 per cent compared to 2016, to reach $50 billion, the company said in a report presented during a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung to Samsungs Thai Nguyen factory in northern Vietnam.

This will be a considerable contribution to the growth of the manufacturing sector, exports, and the overall GDP. Therefore, ministries and government agencies should closely follow Samsungs 2017 business plan to provide support, MPI said.

Besides, to boost short-term economic growth, MPI also proposed several solutions to the government. For example, MPI suggested raising oil production to at least 1 million tonnes to directly add to GDP growth and avoid a downfall of resource mining industries. Ministries and government agencies should proactively follow the business progress of companies and work with them to remove obstacles and reduce the inventory to last years levels. Meanwhile, all completed plants that have not started production should be examined and obstacles should be removed to allow factories to begin operation and contribute to GDP growth.

Besides, related government agencies should review all registered private and foreign direct investment projects to see if they are facing any difficulties and then take steps to remove the difficulties so these projects can move ahead.

MPI will also push for investment in major projects such as the North-South Highway and Long Thanh International Airport in order to boost investment and growth.

MPI also said that at a time when the world economy is at an uncertain place, Vietnam, as an emerging and increasingly integrated economy, needs to foresee scenarios and make appropriate plans. For example, one scenario might see more globalisation, and increasing economic interdependence. On the other hand, globalisation might slow down due to protectionism and global trade might face more hurdles, prompting national economies to adjust. Even more, the world economy might slow down and require each economy to find ground-breaking solutions.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) receives Trade Minister of New Zealand Todd McClay, Ha Noi, May 8, 2017

The PM expressed delight at the finely growing multifaceted cooperative relations between Viet Nam and New Zealand, voicing his hope that the ministers visit would contribute to accelerating bilateral trade ties in the time ahead.

He suggested the two economies continue their close and effective coordination to promote common interests within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and other multilateral economic links, thus contributing to the success of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting slated for May 20-21 in Ha Noi and other related ministerial meetings.

The government leader stressed the need for both sides to recommend practical measures in order increase two-way trade revenue in the future.

In regards to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), he urged the two sides to continue discussing towards trade liberalization and mutual benefits.

He spoke highly of the agreements role in promoting trade liberalization in the region and the world and bringing benefits to participating countries.

He welcomed and appreciated New Zealands active and regular speeches on respecting the international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in addressing the East Sea-related issues, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.

On behalf of the Vietnamese government, PM Phuc thanked the New Zealand government for supporting Viet Nam in training human resources and expected that New Zealand will continue its assistance in the field.

For his part, Minister Todd McClay voiced his pleasure at the growing cooperative relations between Viet Nam and New Zealand, while conveying the New Zealand Prime Ministers greetings and wish for a successful APEC Year 2017 in Viet Nam to Vietnamese PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Bilateral trade ties are growing finely and are supplementary to each other, he said, underlining that the two sides should strive towards doubling the bilateral trade value in the future.
The programme has been run annually since 2012 by Visa and the Central Committee of Vietnam Students Association (CCVSA), with support from the State Bank of Vietnam.

The launch of the 2017 programme comes just after the Vietnamese government announced an upcoming major overhaul of the economy: by 2020, the majority of financial transactions in Vietnam are to be completed electronically. However, according to a recent survey conducted by Visa, only half (51 per cent) of Vietnamese respondents gave themselves a pass (6-10 points) on their knowledge of personal financial management.

According to Sean Preston, Visa country manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, this is the issue that the programme is seeking to address.

Vietnams economy has been changing rapidly in recent years, with more people now moving into the countrys middle and upper classes, Preston said. As the Vietnamese government seeks to reshape the economy in the next three years, its vital that consumers have a solid grasp of how to manage their financeswhether its simple things like creating a weekly budget, or more complex issues like taking out a loan for a vehicle or property.

By working with students across Vietnam, we are working with the next generation of community leaders, entrepreneurs, and mothers and fathers, to make sure that they have the kinds of skills that are necessary to thriving in the new economy.

This years programme consists of two main phases. The first phase starts on May 9, 2017 and tasks students with telling stories about personal financial management through captioned photos. This could include everything from photos depicting struggles with the weekly shopping list, to not overspending when socialising with friends, to saving money for a holiday.

The best 50 entrants will be selected to participate in the second round of the programme which takes place on September 1. Six exhibitions and financial literacy seminars will be held in six cities with the largest number of participants.

To conclude the programme, the finalists will stand to win a range of exciting prizes worth up to VND15 million ($660) in Visa prepaid cards and a pair of flight tickets to Singapore  the biggest financial centre in Southeast Asia.

Last year, the programme was opened up to students right across the country. In 2017, Visa and the CCVSA have gone even further, drawing on CCVSAs network to open up the competition to Vietnamese students that are studying overseas.

As a leading organisation of students, we have partnered with Visa for a number of years to run this programme with the aim of helping young people develop the right mindset for their financial future. With the upcoming government plans to shift the economy, we believe this programme is a necessary investment and essential preparation for the future, Nguyen Minh Triet, permanent vice chairman of CCVSA said.

A range of programme resources are available on the programmes Facebook page, Instagram and YouTube to teach students the basic concepts of spending responsibly while learning to save and budget wisely. The official programme website (kynangquanlytaichinh.com.vn) continues to provide useful advice from programme mascot Pocket, together with handy financial formulas and other tools.

Within the 2017 programme, Visa will also give away 5,000 copies of The Guardians of the Galaxy financial literacy themed comic book. The comic pairs Marvels iconic superheroes with Visas financial smarts, which makes learning about finance management fun and entertaining for students. The books will be given to students participating in online and offline activities initiated along the event.
Another way humans are polluting the environment: Too much noise
[May 09, 2017] Ivanti Levels Up Dashboard Reporting with Latest Xtraction Release

SALT LAKE CITY, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ivanti, a leader in integrating and automating critical IT tasks, today announced the latest release of its dashboard reporting and analytics solution, Xtraction. This release transforms ITSM business intelligence, letting users keep tabs on ITSM performance to see progress, spot risks and gain insights across IT data and eradicating the traditional manual number crunching often associated with ITSM in-built reporting tools. Ivanti brings critical ITSM data in sync through the addition of Xtraction reporting and dashboard connectors for its newest portfolio additions Ivanti Service Manager, Voice as well as third-party applications. With these latest developments, Xtraction delivers richer data on demand, helping users visualize key information, gain transformative insights and act swiftly to achieve IT goals. "These milestone connectors take ITSM data analytics to an entirely new level," said Duane Newman, vice president of product management at Ivanti. "The connectors dramatically increase the reporting flexibility of service management by augmenting data with other IT systems data, such as security metrics. The powerful capability to roll up data from multiple IT systems and convert regular metrics into detailed data visualizations provides previously unseen insights." Ivanti continues to build out its extensive third-party library, allowing customers to leverage the data they receive from Xtraction's dashboards ad reporting across their entire ecosystem. Xtraction offers connectors for many enterprise IT data sources beyond Ivanti, an ever-growing and evolving list including connectors from Cisco, HP, IBM, Microsoft and VMware.



Combining data available through Xtraction's latest connectors aid more effective success measurement against companies' KPIs, such as first call resolution rates, total call abandon rates, call duration and occupancy utilization. "We're thrilled about this new Xtraction release as it provides us robust capabilities we can't find anywhere else in the industry. Ivanti is always finding ways to improve their programs, and this is a clear indication of that mission," said Larry Barrios, PC support manager at CFISD. "Xtraction's new features, like the voice feature, will help us significantly streamline our processes and data visualization."

Xtraction's new release integrated with Ivanti's Service Manager and Voice helps organizations successfully manage any IT event. For example, a router outage could affect hundreds of staff and customers, resulting in an overwhelming 500+ spike in support calls. Without Ivanti's ITSM business intelligence, IT staff repeat the same message to every person that calls in. With Ivanti Service Manager and Voice, the customer can employ IVR, automated messages and automated ticket initiation and service restoration notifications. With Xtraction reporting, they can understand the current outage's impact on services, people, costs and revenue which aids in planning for future outages and easily reporting accurate KPI measures. Other enhancements for this release include feature updates that elevates the visual display of exported dashboards and optimizing data refresh timings for strong experiences. For more information on Ivanti's Xtraction capabilities, please visit https://www.ivanti.com/en-US/. About Ivanti

Ivanti is IT evolved. By integrating and automating critical IT tasks, Ivanti is helping IT organizations secure the digital workplace. For more than three decades, Ivanti has helped IT professionals address security threats, manage devices and optimize their user experience. From traditional PCs, to mobile devices, virtual machines and the data center, Ivanti helps discover and manage your IT assets wherever they are located, improving IT service delivery and reducing risk. Ivanti also ensures that supply chain and warehouse teams are effectively leveraging the most up-to-date technology to improve productivity throughout their operation. Ivanti is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has offices all over the world. For more information, visit www.ivanti.com. Copyright  2017, Ivanti. All rights reserved. Press Contacts Helen Carroll

Ivanti

+44 1344 407005

[email protected] Amberly Asay

Method Communications

+1 801-461-9776

[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ivanti-levels-up-dashboard-reporting-with-latest-xtraction-release-300454188.html SOURCE Ivanti

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
For Leng Chanry, one of thousands of Cambodians working for South Korean companies near Suwon town, the clean and relatively comfortable conditions in his rubber factory are a far cry from the arduous drudgery he experienced in his homeland.



The 34 year old was one of several expatriate Cambodian laborers VOA Khmer spoke to in April, all of whom spoke highly of the treatment the received from their Korean managers.



Its a huge difference, obviously, says Chanry. A Pursat province native who earns about $2,000 per month at the factory, 20 times what he would make in Cambodia doing a similar job.



He says there has been no mistreatment of workers at the factory by management and is provided lodgings and meals on top of his salary.



I want more Cambodian workers to come and also I want Cambodia to create good jobs with high salaries, like in Korea, he says.



His factory supplies rubber to car manufacturers and other companies locally, employing only a small number of staff -- two Cambodians and two Koreans. But the firm is successful, recording about $700,000 in annual turnover.



At the factory, the workers are provided chairs and a table, refreshments and short breaks every two hours.



Cambodians working for factories in South Korea have also gained a reputation as hard workers willing to put in long hours to earn their keep and produce quality products.



Heo Jin Gu, the manager of the factory were Chanry works, said the company faces fierce competition from rival manufacturers.



I have worked with other nationals, but Cambodians are better, he says. Chinese workers and others seem to work below the standard that I want and they are not gentle as well.



At another nearby factory, which produces parts for air conditioners, Doo-Sung Lee also speaks highly of his Cambodian employees.



Before, I also had Thai workers, Vietnamese workers and other nationalities worked here, but because I saw Cambodian workers working hard and doing better, I gradually stopped [using workers from other countries] and I only have Cambodian workers and Korean workers [now], he said.





He adds that his factory pays similar wages to Cambodian migrant workers as it does the local staff, with minor deductions for accommodation, meals and bills -- a stance he says has improved productivity and quality control.



There is competition, so we have to lower the prices but the quality is still higher than others. If we dont do that, they will use other factories to produce the materials for them. So in order to produce and have more work to do, we have to make production prices cheaper and produce better quality products than our competitors, Lee says.



Prim Phumy is busy working the machinery as he tells VOA Khmer that he used to be a teacher in Kratie province. He plans to use the money he has saved in South Korea to open a business when he returns home.



Because I was a teacher, when I go back I will create a business like a training center to train languages that I know, or life skills, he says. He wanted to return to Cambodia some time ago, he adds, but the manager persuaded him to stay on until a replacement can be found.



Cambodia has had diplomatic relations with South Korea since 1997 and has developed close ties through trade, investment, migration and diplomacy. Despite recent saber-rattling between the countrys northern neighbor and the United States, few workers are concerned about the possibility of conflict.



South Korea now hosts tens of thousands of Cambodian workers and several hundred students here on an exchange program sponsored by UNESCO.



Oul Sethavy, an elementary school teacher here as part of the program, said she was optimistic about improving the Cambodian education system following her visit to South Korea.



We all came here to develop the education and exchange experience between South Korea and Cambodia, she said.



The teachers noticed that Korean schools are better equipped, have fewer students per class, and have different teaching strategies to their Cambodian counterparts.



The teachers who spoke to VOA Khmer were in Suwon to attend Khmer new Year celebrations, along with migrant workers and monks.



Venerable Phouk Koeng of Ounalom temple said he was pleased to see young generations of Cambodians celebrating the festivities in South Korea.



I see that the young generation, Cambodian workers, celebrate better here than in Cambodia... They dont fight, stab each other, snatching water from each other. It may say something about the rule of law in South Korea, he says.



Venerable Rin Saro, head of the Cambodian Buddhist Center in Korea, said the group was established to provide Cambodians a place to worship as they are unable to do so in their workplaces.



It also plays an important role as a temporary refuge for those in need, providing services such as Korean language translation.





When they [workers] have problems they dont know how to solve them. In Korea there are many centers, religious organizations to help, but when they have problems they dont know how to tell the Korean owners, he says.



So when they try often the problems escalate and they cant solve it, when, in fact, the solutions are simple.



Yim Sinorn of the Cambodian Association of Migrant Workers in Korea, echoes the sentiment that the language barrier is a key issue facing Cambodian workers, especially when they fall ill.



By law they cannot discriminate against workers because they are sick, they must take care of them. But Korean owners have to work fast to meet demand, so they dont want the workers to take time off if they are not seriously sick, he said.



Many workers also report trouble dealing with adjusting to the South Korean culture and bureaucratic challenges. However, they say that the embassy in Seoul can be helpful in this regard.



On a visit to a workers Khmer New Year celebration on April 16, Cambodias labor minister, Ith Sam Heng, encouraged attendees to keep up the hard work as they were acting as representatives of Cambodia in South Korea.



Cambodia ranks number one of the best quality of workers [in South Korea]. So, please maintain it and in order to maintain this record, we need to work hard, follow the law, and rules properly, he said.
Former acting U.S. attorney general Sally Yates said she warned the Trump White House that former national security adviser Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia. VOAs Michael Bowman reports that Yates told a Senate panel she alerted the White House more than two weeks before President Trump fired Flynn for having lied about contacts with Russias ambassador to the United States.
A look at what some states have done or are considering doing about immigration enforcement and so-called sanctuary cities:



States Considering Pro-Sanctuary Status



 California: Democrats in the state Senate passed a bill in April that would provide statewide sanctuary for immigrants by restricting local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. The measure marks their first formal effort to resist Trump's immigration policies. It would need the backing of the Democratic-led state Assembly and the Democratic governor to become law.



 Illinois: State lawmakers are considering the "TRUST Act,'' which would, among other things, bar cooperation between local or state police and federal immigration authorities unless there's a criminal warrant. It also would speed up procedures to benefit immigrants who cooperate with investigations. The Democratic-led state Senate approved it last month, but the Democratic-led state House hasn't voted on it yet. The Republican governor hasn't taken a public position on the bill.



 Vermont: Republican Gov. Phil Scott said this year that his state will not work with federal authorities to carry out border security and immigration enforcement orders. He also said he would ask the Legislature to pass laws that would prohibit local officials from carrying out such actions.



States That Have Passed or Are Considering Anti-Sanctuary Laws



 Texas: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday signed into law a bill that will punish local governments that don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Once it takes effect in September, it also will allow the state to withhold funding from cities that don't detain immigrants who are in the country illegally. Police chiefs and sheriffs could face jail for not complying.



 Georgia: Republican Gov. Nathan Daniel in April signed a law that strips state funding for scholarships and research from private colleges that don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities.



 Indiana: The Republican-controlled state government, which had already banned sanctuary cities, recently passed a bill banning sanctuary college campuses.



 Louisiana: A bill to penalize sanctuary cities with court fines and loss of state funding is advancing in the Republican-led state House, with a debate scheduled for Tuesday. The GOP-controlled state Senate hasn't voted yet, it killed a similar measure last year. The governor is a Democrat.



 Mississippi: Republican Gov. Phil Bryant in March signed a law banning sanctuary cities and other policies that might help people who have entered the country illegally. Cities, state agencies and public colleges cannot prevent employees from asking someone's immigration status. Public agencies also cannot help people entering the country without permission, such as by issuing an ID card.
Jostling for space and swatting the smoke away from her eyes, Mariama Ngom sighs as she and her teenage daughter fling fish onto a large grill in a chaotic fishing port in Senegal.

Like thousands of other women in Joal Fadiouth, she works full-time salting and smoking small pelagic fish like mackerel, anchovies and sardines, to be sold across West Africa.

When she moved to the town, south of the capital Dakar, in 2010, Ngom could earn up to 10,000 CFA francs ($16) a day. Now she is lucky to make 3,000 CFA ($5), as catches have plummeted.

"I struggle to feed my six children a lot of the time  I take some of the fish I smoke home ... we often have nothing else to eat," Ngom told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Once among the richest in the world, West Africa's fish stocks are being depleted by industrial trawlers which comb the oceans to feed European and Asian markets, experts say.

In Senegal, dwindling stocks pose a threat to livelihoods and food security. Some 600,000 people, almost 20 percent of the workforce, work in fishing, and fish accounts for 75 percent ofthe country's animal protein intake, World Bank data shows.

Many mothers like Ngom have taken their children out of school in recent years, and even brought them to work, as they can no longer afford to pay their fees, said Marianne Teneng Ndaye, head of Joal's trade federation of women fish-processors.

"The actions of foreign aquaculture factories and trawlers have drained us," she said, adding that the women had protested and tried to meet with the factory owners, without success.

More than 400 foreign fishing vessels, mainly from China, Europe and Russia, navigate in West African waters, according to environmentalist group Greenpeace.

They include a couple of dozen megatrawlers that target small pelagic fish to make feed for salmon, chicken, pigs and other animals grown at aquaculture and livestock farms around the world, according to Dyhia Belhabib, a fisheries expert.

"In terms of numbers, the amount of boats is tiny but their impact is huge," said Belhabib, an advisor for the University of British Columbia's Sea Around Us research project.

Each megatrawler can capture up to 20,000 tons of fish a year - equal to the annual catch of more than 1,700 traditional Senegalese pirogues - she said.

Fish and feed

Around a quarter of all fish caught in the world's oceans each year are used to make fishmeal and fish oil, rather than as food for people, according to a recent study published in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

Part of it is used to feed a booming global aquaculture industry, which in 2014 harvested 74 million tons of fish worth an estimated $160 billion, said the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In Senegal alone, aquaculture production grew 71 percent to 2,082 tons last year, from 1,215 tons in 2015, government figures showed.

"Fish are being used to feed animals, yet we need fish to survive," said Abdou Karim Sall, the head of a fishermen's association in Joal, representing about 3,000 boats.

Following pressure from local fishermen, in recent years Senegal has stopped licensing fishing of small pelagic fish to foreign industrial trawlers, but vessels continue to operate from neighboring countries, like Mauritania, Belhabib said.

And trawlers of Asian, European and Western African origin often carry out illegal incursions into waters reserved for locals, or flaunt fishing regulations, experts say.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing costs West African economies $2.3 billion a year, according to a recent study published in Frontiers in Marine Science journal.

To compete with foreign trawlers, Senegalese fishermen have started building more and bigger boats to venture further into the ocean but catches continue to drop, said Sall.

In 2016, fish catches in Joal dropped by 40 percent to 90,000 tons from 150,000 tons the previous year, and the tally is set to decrease even further this year, he said.

"We've increased the size of boats and nets but we catch less fish," Sall said, adding that fish prices at local markets had consequently gone up.

One stock, more nations

A growing number of young Senegalese are turning to fishing due to a lack of work in fields like agriculture, worsening the overexploitation, said Joseph Catanzano, an economist at FAO's fisheries and aquaculture department.

"All along Senegal's coast, you see new vessels in preparation," said Catanzano, adding new boats were rarely registered due to lack of oversight by local authorities.

Some pirogues looking for fish in northern Senegal had waded into Mauritanian waters in recent months causing tensions between fishermen and the local coastguard, he said.

Catanzano said a common strategy by Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and other coastal countries is needed to manage fish stocks, but competing national interests had so far prevailed.

In addition, an accurate assessment of how much fish can be sustainability netted has to be carried before more vessels are allowed to navigate West African waters, said Belhabib.

The use of satellite tracking systems and on board cameras monitoring trawlers' movements and catch could be stepped up to crack down on illegal fishing but costs were often too high for local governments, she added.

Earlier this week, eight Chinese ships were detained for fishing illegally in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau.

The arrests came after a two-month regional patrol on a Greenpeace ship that carried inspectors from the West African countries in a bid to supplement national efforts.

Yet such patrols alone are unlikely to make an immediate difference for thousands of fishermen working in Joal Fadiouth, like 23-year-old Mamadou Diallo.

"Life is very difficult for everyone working here," Diallo said, as he waded into the sea at Joal's beach, teeming with hundreds of fishermen, readying to carry ashore fish unloaded from a pirogue and piled into a box.

"But we are fishermen, this is our life. If we wanted to leave, or had to leave, where would we go?" he said.
A much-challenged temporary travel ban issued by President Donald Trump faced another day in court Monday, with federal appellate judges grilling lawyers on both sides to determine whether a suspension of the executive order will be upheld.

An attorney for the government argued before a panel of 13 judges from the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, that the Trump administration's second attempt to curb travelers and immigrants from some majority-Muslim countries for three months was constitutional and within the president's purview.

This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall told the appeals court.

The court, which did not immediately issue a ruling Monday, repeatedly questioned Wall about the relationship between the executive order and comments made by Trump before his inauguration about blocking Muslim travelers and immigrants to the United States.

A statement supporting the total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States that remained on Trump's campaign website from Dec. 7, 2015, was removed Monday, though it is unclear if that followed questions for White House Spokesman Sean Spicer during an afternoon news conference about why the statement remained online, or whether it came during or after the hearing in Richmond. An archived version remains online.

In March, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the travel ban, which itself was a revised version of one initially issued in January that was tweaked after encountering legal roadblocks. Plaintiffs in the case allege in part that the order discriminates against one religion, in violation of the Constitution.

'Doesn't get a blank check'

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, argued on behalf of the plaintiffs on Monday that Trump's directive is discriminatory, and that the president's statements before January are evidence of his intent to target Muslims.

There's no question that the president has authority  he has vast authority  but the president also doesn't get a blank check to violate the Constitution, Jadwat told reporters outside the courthouse, in a news conference streamed online by the ACLU.

We have prevailed thus far, and I think that at the end of the day the ban will be struck down, he added.

It is unclear when the 4th Circuit judges will make a ruling.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in another challenge to the March travel order, which ordered a temporary stop to refugee arrivals, in Seattle on May 15.
Blasphemy laws across the world were brought back into the spotlight this week after a court in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, sentenced Jakarta's Chinese-Christian governor to two years in prison for insulting Islam.

Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was accused of blasphemy during his re-election campaign last year when a video surfaced of him quoting a verse in the Quran to prove to his supporters that there were no restrictions on Muslims voting for non-Muslim politicians.

Indonesia is one of about 50 nations around the world that still has anti-blasphemy laws or policies on the books. A recent report released from the Library of Congress points out that blasphemy laws are more prevalent in Muslim-majority countries, "but many other countries, including Western jurisdictions, retain such laws on their books and some have even enforced them in recent years."

Although 87 percent of Indonesians are Muslim, its government is formally secular and its constitution protects six religions, giving no special status to Islam.

The laws are extremely common in the Middle East and North Africa, where 18 of the region's 20 countries criminalize blasphemy, and the punishments are often brutal.

In 2015, Iran executed 20 people for "enmity against God," according to a U.S. State Department report. In Saudi Arabia, at least four Shia Muslims, including at least one cleric, were put to death for adhering to the wrong sect of Islam. In Afghanistan, a woman was beaten to death by an angry mob after being falsely accused of burning a Quran.

"She was beaten with sticks and boards, kicked, run over by a car and dragged, thrown into a dry riverbed, stoned, and finally set on fire as bystanders recorded the crime and police watched every act of barbarity," according to the State Department report.

While blasphemy laws are most common in Middle Eastern and North African countries, they can also be found in other regions of the world, including Europe, where 16 percent of countries possess them, and the Americas, where about 29 percent of countries have the laws.

"In Western Europe, many countries retain blasphemy and related laws," the Library of Congress report reads. "While in some countries they are never enforced, there have been prosecutions in recent years in Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Switzerland and Turkey."

Germany most recently exercised its blasphemy laws in February 2016, when an atheist man was fined 500 euros for placing several bumper stickers mocking Christianity on his car.

The former teacher, Albert Voss, argued that the stickers were protected by his right to free expression, but a German court ruled the slogans constituted a violation of the country's blasphemy laws. In addition to the fine, Voss had his car seized and his driver's license suspended.

Only a few countries in the Americas and the Caribbean, including Canada and Brazil, have blasphemy or religious insult laws in place, but those laws are not enforced.

In the United States, while there are no federal blasphemy laws, several states  including Massachusetts and Michigan  still have anti-blasphemy laws on the books.

Those laws, however, run contrary to constitutional speech and religious protections, and "would almost certainly prompt a court to ban the enforcement of any such law," according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
Canada escalated a trade dispute with United States by making threats Washington called inappropriate in part because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under pressure to secure support in a key region ahead of the country's 2019 elections.

Washington last month slapped tariffs on timber imports, prompting Trudeau to say he was considering a ban on exports of U.S. coal through Pacific ports.

As well as lumber, the administration of President Donald Trump has targeted Canadian dairy farmers, while Boeing Corp. launched a trade challenge against Montreal-based planemaker Bombardier Inc.

All three are vital to the economy of Quebec, Canada's second most-populous province. And Quebec is seen as vital to Trudeau's hopes of maintaining a strong grip on power in a national election set for October 2019.

As contentious talks on renegotiating NAFTA draw closer, Trudeau has little choice but to defend dairy farmers and offer help to the lumber industry, even though that is likely to prompt fresh U.S. challenges.

"Quebec is the key," said one senior Liberal organizer.

The predominantly French-speaking province holds 78 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons and Liberals acknowledge they need to win extra seats there to offset expected losses elsewhere in 2019.

The challenge is that they captured 40 seats in Quebec in 2015, which was far more than expected.

The Liberals say they can take another 10 to 15 seats, but only if everything goes their way. This means showing support for the dairy industry - and its influential lobby - amid fresh attacks from Washington.

No Choice?

The United States has long complained about Canada's system of domestic protections for its dairy industry, which bars most imports and keeps prices high. Trump last month branded the industry "a disgrace."

The system is unpopular in large parts of Canada, where people complain about high prices for milk and cheese. Trudeau, however, has little choice but to defend it.

Leger Marketing pollster Christian Bourque noted there are dairy farms in every part of Quebec.

"If you're seen as attacking farming and the land, it's probably easy for the farmers' union to get Quebeckers onside.

You don't necessarily want to forget farmers," he said.

While observers see little risk of Trudeau being defeated outright in 2019, the danger for the Liberals is losing their majority, forcing them to rely on opposition parties to govern.

This would inevitably mean political compromises and a diluted policy agenda.

The Liberals have so far tried to maintain calm as tensions ratchet up, relying on visits from cabinet ministers and to key states to press the message that trade benefits both sides.

Bark vs Bite

The outreach efforts will continue, according to a source familiar with official strategy, adding that Ottawa will show its teeth where necessary.

"Do people honestly expect the Canadian government just to say 'We accept these lumber duties, we will move on and pay the price?'" asked the source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

In Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed talk of a trade war.

"That's why we have dispute settlement mechanisms to do this in a responsible way," he told reporters on Monday.

In a sign of the mounting pressures on Trudeau over lumber, former Quebec Liberal premier Jean Charest said Ottawa should consider loan guarantees to affected firms.

"It is very black and white now: either the government supports them or they will just close down," he said in an interview.

Although giving such aid could prompt fresh U.S. challenges, insiders make clear Canada has no option.

Trudeau last week met with Quebec's timber unions and tweeted "supporting softwood lumber producers in Quebec and across the country is a priority."

In the short term, he faces few immediate threats. Polls show the Liberals well ahead of the opposition Conservatives and New Democrats, both of which have stand-in leaders and will not choose permanent replacements until later this year.

"He's had an exceptionally long honeymoon, he's still having a honeymoon, but that has a lot to do with the absence of opposition," said pollster Nik Nanos.

Although being seen to openly favor one province or region over another can be politically fatal in Canada, Liberal sensitivity toward Quebec is clear.

When it came time to deciding on aid to Bombardier - which has received billions in subsidies from Ottawa - the Liberals made clear the only question was not if, but how much.

Party operatives also admitted relief once became clear Ottawa would not have to decide before the election on whether to allow TransCanada Corp. to build an oil pipeline across Quebec.

Environmentalists and aboriginal activists had promised protests that Quebec Liberals said they feared could hurt the party's chances.
A United Nations peacekeeper in Central African Republic was killed and eight others wounded late on Monday when their convoy was attacked by unknown assailants in the southeast of the country, the U.N.mission (MINUSCA) said on Tuesday.

Four peacekeepers are missing following the attack on the convoy near the town of Bangassou, about 730 km (453 miles) east of the capital Bangui, the mission said in a statement.

The peacekeeper who was killed was from Cambodia, while the injured and missing are Cambodian and Moroccan, MINUSCA said.

A U.N. helicopter and peacekeepers have been sent to secure the area and search for the missing while the injured were evacuated by plane to Bangui, the mission said.

"They are possibly hiding somewhere," MINUSCA spokesman Herve Verhoosel told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

The attack came after five international aid agencies temporarily suspended their operations in northern Central African Republic last week because of attacks on humanitarian workers by armed groups.

Central African Republic is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for aid agencies, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said last week, with at least 33 attacks on aid workers in the first quarter of 2017.

Central African Republic has been plagued by inter-religious violence since 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters seized power, prompting reprisals from Christian militias, known as anti-balaka.

The Seleka and other groups have since splintered, prompting further violence despite the election in March 2016 of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, which raised hopes of reconciliation.

The U.N. mission has 13,000 peacekeepers on the ground, but some civilians complain it does not do enough to protect them against dozens of armed groups.

Around 425,000 people have been uprooted by the fighting within Central African Republic, some 465,000 have fled to neighboring countries, and more than 2.2 million, nearly half the population, need humanitarian aid, according to OCHA.
Chelsea Manning, the Army private who leaked a vast trove of U.S. state secrets to WikiLeaks, released her first statement Tuesday since being granted clemency. She will be released from Fort Leavenworth in Kansas on May 17.

For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea, Manning said, referring to her transition from male to female since her Army service. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world.

The former intelligence analyst in Iraq, known at the time as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents and battlefield video. She served nearly seven years of her 35-year sentence, which was reduced in a commutation order by former President Barack Obama in one of his last acts before leaving office in January.

Manning, a native of Crescent, Oklahoma, was convicted in a military court martial of 20 counts, including six Espionage Act violations, theft and computer fraud. She was acquitted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.

Manning was arrested in 2010, and came out as transgender after being sentenced. She filed a transgender rights lawsuit and attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers.

Her defense team has said Manning was subjected to violence in prison and argued the military mistreated her by requiring her to serve her sentence in an all-male prison, restricting her physical and mental health care, and not allowing her to style her hair in a feminine manner.



The Department of Defense has repeatedly declined to comment on Manning's treatment in prison.
In a surprising reversal, Chinese human rights lawyer Xie Yang has recanted allegations that he was tortured while in custody and pleaded guilty to charges of subverting state power and disrupting court order.



Xie has worked on some of Chinas most sensitive and controversial cases and has long been an outspoken critic of the government and the countrys legal system.



But on Monday, he told a court in Chinas central city of Changsha that that never happened and his legal rights were guaranteed, according to transcripts and videos posted on Chinese social media.

In allegations that were leaked to the public earlier this year through his lawyers, Xie alleged he was punched and kicked, and that authorities threatened to turn him into an invalid. The allegations spurred 11 countries to send letters to China asking it to investigate.

For authorities in China, the trial supports their argument that his allegation of torture was fabricated fake news. Authorities may now believe the open trial, which was blogged live on the Chinese social media site Weibo, will silence the domestic and international attention the case has gathered.

But that is unlikely.

Blow to 'rule of law'

For rights advocates and lawyers, both in China and overseas, the case still highlights abuse of the legal system by authorities and disregard of the principles of the rule of law. Xies confession in court has only raised more questions about his treatment and spurred more calls for his unconditional release.

The U.S. State Department says it remains deeply concerned about the case and Xies well-being, noting that his confession appeared to be given under duress. It also called for his release as well as other lawyers detained in China.

Zhang Zhongshi, one of Xies lawyers says everyone knows what happened in court, calling the trial a huge blow to the rule of law in China.

For such a long time, he was disconnected from society without being allowed to meet anyone [from his family] or given any [legal] assistance, adding that it shows how he has completely been deprived of his legal rights. Zhang met at length with Xie in November of last year, more than a year after he was taken into custody.

In an eerily foretelling note Xie penned in January and sealed with his red wax thumbprints, the rights lawyer warned that if one day he did confess, that will not be the true expression of my mind.

The note went on to say: It may also be because Ive been subjected to prolonged torture.

I was fully aware of [the fact Xie was tortured] and heard from him, Zhang said. I personally overheard him being tortured and saw with my own eyes where he had been hit in the head.

Xie, arrested in July of 2015, is one of more than 300 lawyers to be caught up in a nationwide dragnet aimed at those assisting dissidents and government critics. Most of those lawyers have been released, but 32 have been indicted and seven others are awaiting trial.

Inexplicable reversal

For most of the time during the past two years, Xie was denied access to his lawyers and at his hearing on Monday he was represented by a court appointed lawyer.

His wife, Chen Guiqiu, who has fled the country and is now in the United States, fears there is much more to his inexplicable reversal in court. She told VOA it could have something to do with the fact that since February, Xie has been prohibited from speaking with his lawyers.

Chen said those in the detention center where her husband is being held have told her he was placed under strict control, barred from using money and prohibited from speaking with others.

If others speak with him, they will be punished and if he speaks with others, Xie would be punished. He was also frequently beaten by death row inmates. And now, he has denied all of these facts, Chen told VOA. Isnt that strange?

Chen said it may not be until much later that they will know the truth about what happened to her husband. The hearing ended on Monday, without the Changsha Intermediate Peoples Court announcing a verdict. Given his confession, a guilty verdict is expected, but how long he might be sentenced is uncertain.

I have no expectations for what might happen next because the court has no principles. The law should set standards and norms for society, but given that they have completely ignored the basic principles of the law, I do not know what to expect, she said.

Late last week, just days before the trial, Xies current lawyer, Chen Jiangang, and his family were detained in Chinas southern province of Yunnan. Chen told VOA his family was sent back to Beijing by plane, but that he was driven all the way home by authorities. On Monday, during the trial, he was still on his way back to Chinas capital.

Brian Kopczynski contributed to this report.
China's military has conducted live-fire drills and weapons tests in the northeastern Bohai Sea close to the Korean peninsula, the country's defense ministry said on Tuesday.

In a brief statement late on Tuesday, the ministry said the tests of new missiles and weapons were carried out by the People's Liberation Army's Rocket Force "in recent days" and were designed to raise operational capability so as to effectively deal with national security threats. No further details were provided.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping modernization of the country's armed forces, with an emphasis on technological innovation and naval capability as it seeks to project greater power in the disputed South China Sea.

While no other country has claims in the busy Bohai Sea, the drills come amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula, including Chinese anger at the deployment of the U.S. anti-missile defense system THAAD in South Korea last month.

At a regular news briefing last month, China's defense ministry responded to questions about the THAAD deployment by foreshadowing the weapons tests, saying they were necessary to safeguard its national security.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told French President-elect Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Tuesday that he would uphold the Paris Agreement on curbing climate change.

China, the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, and France should "protect the global governance achievements contained within the Paris Agreement on climate change", Xi told Macron, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed skepticism Chinas President Xi says to uphold global climate deal

Chinese President Xi Jinping told French President-elect Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Tuesday that he would uphold the Paris Agreement on curbing climate change.

China, the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, and France should "protect the global governance achievements contained within the Paris Agreement on climate change", Xi told Macron, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed skepticism about the deal and threatened to pull out. A meeting of his advisers that had been scheduled for Tuesday was postponed due to scheduling conflicts, a White House Official said.

Many nations want Trump to remain in the agreement, meant to rein in rising world temperatures by shifting toward cleaner energies such as wind and solar power, even though he plans to bolster the U.S. coal industry.

Macron told Trump in a phone call on Monday that he would also seek to defend the climate change deal agreed in Paris in 2015.

China has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris agreement. Climate change was widely seen as one of the few bright spots of cooperation between Beijing and the previous Obama administration in Washington.

Representatives of nearly 200 countries that are party to the agreement are meeting in Bonn from May 8-18 to discuss technical aspects of implementing the accord.

In their phone call on Tuesday, Xi congratulated Macron on his election win and emphasized China's continued support for an integrated Europe and hopes that relations with France would "stride onto a new platform".

The two leaders agreed to meet as soon as possible, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. about the deal and threatened to pull out. A meeting of his advisers that had been scheduled for Tuesday was postponed due to scheduling conflicts, a White House Official said.

Many nations want Trump to remain in the agreement, meant to rein in rising world temperatures by shifting toward cleaner energies such as wind and solar power, even though he plans to bolster the U.S. coal industry.

Macron told Trump in a phone call on Monday that he would also seek to defend the climate change deal agreed in Paris in 2015.

China has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris agreement. Climate change was widely seen as one of the few bright spots of cooperation between Beijing and the previous Obama administration in Washington.

Representatives of nearly 200 countries that are party to the agreement are meeting in Bonn from May 8-18 to discuss technical aspects of implementing the accord.

In their phone call on Tuesday, Xi congratulated Macron on his election win and emphasized China's continued support for an integrated Europe and hopes that relations with France would "stride onto a new platform".

The two leaders agreed to meet as soon as possible, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
Armed bandits in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed a Congolese park ranger and briefly kidnapped two conservation workers, including a Frenchman, during an ambush last week, Congo's park service and a conservation group said Monday.

The unidentified bandits attacked a convoy of park rangers from South Kivu's Itombwe Reserve and representatives from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WSC) and World Wildlife Fund on Friday, said Cosmo Wilungula, director general of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature.

One park ranger was killed in the assault that occurred in the Itombwe Forest in South Kivu, while another was briefly taken hostage alongside a French WSC employee, Wilungula told Reuters. He said the kidnappers had demanded a $25,000 ransom for the Frenchman.

A spokesman for WSC said later on Monday that the employee was released Monday afternoon without providing further details.

France's foreign ministry confirmed that one of its nationals had been released. It declined to say whether a ransom had been paid.

Kidnappings have increased over the last two years in lawless eastern Congo, where millions died in regional conflicts between 1996-2003, most from hunger and disease.

A Human Rights Watch report last year found that at least 175 people were kidnapped for ransom in eastern Congo in 2015.

Many kidnappings appeared to be carried out by former and current members of the dozens of armed groups that operate there.

Park rangers in eastern Congo seeking to protect dwindling populations of elephants and gorillas also clash frequently with poachers and other armed criminals who exploit the area's rich supply of minerals, wildlife and other resources.
The European Union foreign policy chief Tuesday sought to reassure the international community that the bloc remains strong, despite Britains planned departure and anxiety caused by elections in several member states.



In her annual briefing to the United Nations Security Council, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said the bloc marks its 60th birthday, about to lose member Britain but as strong as ever.



Indeed, our British friends have decided to leave us  which is very sad for all of us  but life goes on and the European Union as well goes on, she told the council. Since the U.K. referendum last year, we Europeans have recommitted to being the strong and united power that our citizens and our partners need and deserve.



Asked by reporters about the outcome of the presidential election in France on Sunday, when the right-wing nationalist candidate was soundly defeated by the centrist, pro-Europe one, she said there has been a similar pattern in recent European elections, including in the Netherlands and Austria.



It is clear to me that Europeans have now focused on what there is to lose and on the fact that what can sound attractive in an electoral speech might become scary if it turns reality, Mogherini said. When they face the reality of political choices - as they do through elections - they know what to choose, she said.



Challenges



Mogherini said the 28-nation bloc is committed to finding a political settlement to the war in Syria through U.N.-led intra-Syrian peace talks, which are scheduled to resume next week in Geneva.



She also had pointed messages for the Trump administration on the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal - dont withdraw from them.



As the White House debates whether to stay in the Paris climate accord and honor the Obama administrations commitment to drastically reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, Mogherini stressed that Europe expects Washington to remain committed to the agreement.



But 195 countries have signed the deal on climate change, and there will be 195 different paths to meeting the Paris goals and honoring the agreement, she noted. I am sure there is room for the U.S. administration to find its own path, being part of what the world has agreed together and finding its own way to do so.



On the 2015 deal that aims to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and which U.S. President Donald Trump has called terrible and said should be torn up, Mogherini said it has made the Middle East, Europe and the world more secure.



World powers negotiated the deal, but the agreement was immediately ratified by the Security Council, and the deal now belongs to the entire international community, she said. She added that the EU supports full implementation and monitoring of the agreement.



We look forward to deepened cooperation with the EU to counter Irans destabilizing activities and to hold the Iranian government accountable for its actions, U.S. envoy Nikki Haley told the council. The EU can and should do more to underscore to Iran that its destabilizing actions in the region  including support for extremist and terrorist groups - must cease.



Haley also called for stepped up EU action to deter North Korea from its nuclear path, and for more rigorous sanctions on Syria in response to its use of chemical weapons.
Seventy-two years ago on May 8, 1945, tens of thousands of people gathered in streets across the world to celebrate VE Day  Victory in Europe Day  the official end of the Second World War on the continent.



U.S. President Harry Truman announced the surrender of German forces during a broadcast address to the American people.

Truman said, Much remains to be done, a reference to fighting against Japan in the Asia-Pacific rim.



In Britain, Londoners celebrated that six years of death and hardship were finally over.

On May 7, at 2:41 a.m. local time, officials representing the victorious Allied nations met with German officials in Reims, France, the venue for the signing of the official surrender documents; but, in keeping with an earlier accord among Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, 24 hours passed before they formally announced the end of fighting so the news could be made public simultaneously on May 8.

German leader Adolf Hitler had committed suicide a week earlier as allied Russian forces moved deeper into Berlin.



The Japanese surrendered months later on August 15, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.



To this day, VE Day is marked annually in Europe.
Reactions continue to pour in for newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron, whose business friendly vision of European integration defeated Marine Le Pen, the far-right French nationalist who threatened to take France out of the European Union.

In Germany, newspaper headlines read Its a boy The winner is Europe. Some commuters reacted with relief while others were less overjoyed that Macron was the only alternative.

"I think it's sad that it had to be decided like this because Macron wasn't who everyone wanted to vote for. It was basically a choice between pest and cholera. But for Europe it's a good thing, and thank God its not Le Pen," Sandra Bahn expressed.

Christoph Palaska, another commuter, said, "Well, definitely better than if the Right had won. So I was pleasantly surprised. I have to say I am happy about it."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated Macron personally by phone.

He carries the hopes of millions of French people and also of many people in Germany and the whole of Europe. He ran a courageous pro-European campaign. He stands for openness to the world and firmly behind a social market economy, Merkel told a news conference in Berlin on Monday.

Baltic prime ministers in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, also welcomed Macrons victory.

"The result [of the French election] shows that a unified Europe, a developing Europe, a safe Europe based on principle values, based on human rights, has a future, Saulius Skvernelis, Lithuanian prime minister, pointed out. "Today the European Union stands before important challenges, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who invited Macron to visit his country, said. For me the most important is for France, a very important country of the European Union, to join in building the stability and unity of the whole European Union."

At a campaign event in London, British Prime Minister Theresa May urged voters to allow her a Macron-style mandate to strengthen hand in Brexit negotiations.

We must make sure that in the U.K. we also have a strong mandate to take a strong position into our negotiating table, she said.

In the United States, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to congratulate Macron on his big win and said he looks very much forward to working with him!

In France we really saw people coming together on the notion that they support liberal policies, they support globalization, they support the European Union. I think it's really goes against the developments weve seen in many other countries, Erik Brattberg, director of the Europe Program and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told VOA via Skype. Macron won 66% of the vote, but the big challenge lies ahead for someone who was relatively unknown to the French public five years ago.

So, his next domestic challenge will be to secure enough seats in the Parliament and then later on in the Senate to have enough domestic support from the legislative branch so that he can also implement some of the reforms that hes promised.

Brattberg said we will find out more about Macron's style and leadership qualities soon, as he will be on the world stage in the NATO and G-7 summits later this month.
U.S. federal health officials say the mysterious illness that has killed 13 people in Liberia came from a bacteria that can lead to the fatal brain disease meningitis.

At least 31 cases have been discovered in the last two weeks. Thirteen have died.

Samples from four of the fatalities were sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after Liberian medical officials were stumped.

But the CDC could not say for sure if meningitis caused the deaths.

Meningitis causes swelling in the brain and spinal cord and can kill within hours.

The bacteria is highly contagious and is spread thorough close contact with the victims.

Liberian officials say most of the 31 patients infected attended the April 22 funeral of a religious leader in Sinoe County.
FBI chief James Comey overstated a key finding in the investigation of Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails during testimony to Congress last week, officials familiar with the inquiry said Tuesday.

They said Comey erred when he told a congressional investigative panel that a Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, had sent "hundreds and thousands" of Clinton's emails from the 2009 to 2013 period she was the U.S. secretary of state to Abedin's estranged husband, disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner. The actual number was far less, the officials said.

Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the top U.S. law enforcement agency, played a pivotal role in last year's U.S. presidential election, in which real estate mogul Donald Trump defeated Clinton.

Comey last July said Clinton had been "extremely careless" in her handling of national security emails while she was the country's top diplomat, but that no criminal charges were warranted.

Then, in late October, just before the election, Comey said he was reopening the investigation because the FBI had discovered the Clinton emails on Weiner's computer.

Clinton last week blamed Comey's reopened probe so close to Election Day on November 8 as one of the reasons she lost the election. Two days ahead of the election, the FBI director said that after investigators reviewed the new batch of emails it had found nothing new and upheld its original finding that no criminal charges should be filed against Clinton.

At a Senate hearing last week, Comey said, "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 I think to print out for her so she could then deliver them to the secretary of state.



WATCH: Comey on handling of Clinton emails, Russia links

At another point, Comey testified that Abedin forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information.

The officials familiar with the inquiry said that neither statement was accurate, with Abedin only occasionally forwarding material to her husband to be printed out to give to Clinton and that the number of emails was far smaller than Comey said.

It was not immediately clear whether or how Comey might correct his testimony.

The FBI director testified at the hearing that he feels "mildly nauseous" about the chance that his actions played a role in the outcome of the election. But he testified that he still feels justified in notifying Congress of his reopening of the email probe because he had told lawmakers earlier that he would do so if circumstances changed when he ended the first investigation months before.
Emmanuel Macron, 39, will join the ranks of the world's youngest leaders when he is inaugurated as president of France on Sunday.

Some leaders past and president who made big marks were even younger when they assumed power.



Fidel Castro



The Cuban revolutionary leader, who died last year, was 32 when his rebel forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for nearly five decades as one of the world's last communist leaders.



John F. Kennedy





Kennedy was the youngest person ever elected to the presidency of the United States. The wealthy senator and war hero was 43 when he took the oath of office in 1961. But he was not the youngest U.S. president ever  that was Theodore Roosevelt, who was 42 when he took over after the assassination of President William McKinley.



Tony Blair and David Cameron





Blair was 43 when he was elected Britain's prime minister in 1997  the country's youngest leader since 42-year-old Lord Liverpool in 1812.

Cameron was also 43, but a few months younger than Blair, when he became Britain's leader in 2010.



Mustafa Kemal Ataturk



Ataturk, the revered founder of the Republic of Turkey, was 42 when he became the country's first president in 1923. The revolutionary leader's last name means "Father of the Turks.''



Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson





In Iceland, Gunnlaugsson became prime minister at 38 in 2013. He resigned in 2016 after details of his offshore financial holdings were revealed in the Panama Papers leak.



Moammar Gadhafi





The late Libyan leader was 27 when he seized power in 1969. The dictator held on to power until he was ousted in 2011. He was captured and killed a few months later.



Gamal Abdel Nasser





Nasser was 38 when he became president of Egypt in 1956. He nationalized the Suez Canal and championed the pan-Arab cause, becoming one of the world's most prominent anti-imperialist figures by the time of his death in 1970.



Kim Jong Un





The North Korean ruler's age remains something of a mystery, but he is thought to be 32 or 33. Kim, the third generation in North Korea's ruling dynasty, assumed power in December 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.



Rajiv Gandhi





Gandhi was catapulted to India's highest office when his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in 1984. He began his premiership with promises of modernizing India's creaking government. Within a few years, he was forced to resign amid allegations of taking bribes in an arms deal. He was assassinated in 1991 while campaigning to return to office.



Justin Trudeau





Trudeau was elected as Canada's prime minister in 2015, when he was 43. Like Rajiv Gandhi, he had a strong family connection to the office  his father, Pierre Trudeau, also served as prime minister.
Gibraltar is preparing for a post-Brexit setup in which its firms will have no longer access to the European Union market but will maintain a preferential relationship with Britain, a top Gibraltar financial official said on Tuesday.

The tiny British enclave on Spain's southern tip, with a population of 30,000, is home to around 15,000 companies and is a major provider of insurance and gambling services.

"We are currently planning for a hard Brexit," James Tipping, director at Gibraltar's government body for financial promotion, told EU lawmakers in a hearing in Brussels.

He said Gibraltar did not expect to obtain a "special status" and was resigned to lose its access to the EU market after Britain leaves the EU at the end of a process triggered in March by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

This would mark a shift in Gibraltar's stated policy of seeking extraordinary arrangements with the EU after Brexit.

Many companies have so far been attracted to Gibraltar by the prospect of being able to operate in all 28 EU countries from a territory with low tax rates and business-friendly regulations.

The loss of the access to the EU market, granted to EU member states by so-called passporting rules, may reduce firms' appetite to establish their headquarters in the British enclave.

But this may not discourage Gibraltar-based firms that operate in the United Kingdom.

"Our financial model will not have to change," Tipping told lawmakers, noting Britain has committed to guarantee full access to its market for Gibraltar companies.

He said about 20 percent of motor vehicles in Britain are underwritten by Gibraltar-based insurance companies, making insurers the largest financial sector in Gibraltar, which is also home to more than a dozen banks, several investment funds and top online gambling firms.

Gibraltar, often dubbed "the Rock" because of its famous cliff-faced mountain, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU at last year's Brexit referendum.

It remains, however, committed to remain part of Britain after Brexit. The enclave rejected the idea of Britain sharing sovereignty with Spain by 99 percent to 1 percent in a 2002 referendum.

The future of Gibraltar is one of the many thorny issues that will have to be sorted in the two-year divorce talks between Britain and the EU which will end in March 2019.

The EU offered Spain a veto right over the future relationship between Gibraltar and the EU after Britain leaves the bloc.
Gunmen attacked the vice president's convoy in South Sudan on Tuesday and wounded three of his bodyguards, a government official said, underscoring worsening insecurity in the oil-rich nation.

First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, who joined the government after defecting from the main rebel group last year, was not in the convoy because he was traveling by plane at the time, State Minister of Information Jacob Akech Deng said.

The vehicles were assaulted as they headed north from the capital Juba to the town of Bor, he said.

"Three people were wounded. These are security guards of the first vice president," Deng said. "No soldier died and the convoy of the first vice president has reached Bor safely."

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, erupted into civil war in 2013 after President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer.

The fighting that followed split the country along ethnic lines, spurred hyper-inflation and plunged parts of the nation into famine, creating Africa's biggest refugee crisis since the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

The warring sides signed an internationally-backed peace deal in 2015 and Machar was again sworn in as vice president, only for a new round of warfare to erupt that forced Machar to flee Juba in July last year.

Kiir subsequently replaced Machar with Deng Gai, a former chief opposition negotiator who broke ranks with Machar but was not able to persuade a large number of rebels to follow suit.

Machar's group, the country's biggest rebel force and known as the SPLA-In Opposition, was not immediately available for comment.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor expressed alarm on Monday at the inhumane detention of thousands of vulnerable migrants in Libya and said she was examining whether an investigation could be opened into crimes against them.

Libya is the main gateway for migrants attempting to reach Europe by sea. The United Nations migration agency said more than 1,000 migrants have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean this year, while an unknown number perish in the desert.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 20,000 migrants are held by criminal gangs in irregular detention centers in Libya and growing numbers of migrants are traded in what they call slave markets before being held for ransom, forced labor or sexual exploitation.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the United Nations Security Council that her office was collecting and analyzing information "related to serious and widespread crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya."

"I take this opportunity before the council to declare that my office is carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya should the court's jurisdictional requirements be met," Bensouda said.

The United Nations Security Council asked the court in 2011 to investigate crimes committed since the start of an uprising the same year that led to the fall of leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The oil-producing North African state slipped into turmoil and been riven by factional strife since then.

The International Criminal Court, which opened in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the U.N. Security Council.
The Islamic State group released a video Monday night through its social media channels purporting to show the beheading of a Russian intelligence officer in Syria.

IS claims the video shows the brutal murder of Capt. Yevgeny Petrenko, 36, whom the group accuses of infiltrating Islamist organizations in Russias North Caucus region.

The Russian Defense Ministry reportedly has denied one of its service members was captured and killed by IS jihadists, according to Russian media.

The man identifying himself as Petrenko in the video claims he was sent by the Russian government to infiltrate the highest levels of IS leadership and accuses the Russian Federal Security Service of abandoning him.

One of my orders was to gain access to Omar al-Shishani or to his circle. But during this I was discovered and arrested by the security services of the caliphate, the man said.

Shishani was a Georgian Chechen jihadist and a former commander of the IS group in Syria. He is believed to have been killed in 2016.

Some IS supporters claim the video was shot in Syria, but its authenticity is in question.

Russia has been waging a military operation since September 2015 against the IS group in Syria on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

IS has lost about two-thirds of the land it captured in Iraq and Syria. The jihadist group is seen as having resorted to producing a larger amount of execution videos in an apparent attempt to project its power.
Nations around the world have adopted more than 1,200 laws to curb climate change, up from about 60 two decades ago, which is a sign of widening efforts to limit rising temperatures, a study showed on Tuesday.

"Most countries have a legal basis on which future action can be built," Patricia Espinosa, the U.N.'s climate change chief, told a webcast news conference of the findings issued at an international meeting on climate change in Bonn, Germany.





She said the findings were "cause for optimism", adding that laws were one yardstick for tracking action on global warming alongside others such as investment in renewable energy or backing for a 2015 climate agreement, ratified by 144 nations.

The study, by the London School of Economics (LSE), reviewed laws and executive policies in 164 nations, ranging from national cuts in greenhouse gases to curbs in emissions in sectors such as transport, power generation or industry.

Forty-seven laws had been added since world leaders adopted a Paris Agreement to combat climate change in late 2015, a slowdown from a previous peak of about 100 a year around 2009-13 when many developed nations passed laws.

U.S. President Donald Trump doubts that climate change has a human cause and is considering pulling out of the Paris Agreement but legislation is often complicated to undo.

"If you have that big body of 1,200 laws it is hard to reverse," Samuel Fankhauser, co-director of the LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, told the news conference.

The study said that developing nations were legislating more but there were many gaps. Nations including Comoros, Sudan and Somalia had no climate laws.

"We don't want weaklings in the chain," said Martin Chungong, secretary- general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He urged all countries to adopt laws that help limit downpours, heatwaves and rising sea levels.
Britains political centrists and liberals can only look on jealously. The victory of Emmanuel Macron across the English Channel in Frances presidential race is reviving talk in Britain of a progressive alliance to deprive the Conservatives of a likely landslide win in next months parliamentary elections.

The leaders of the countrys main opposition Labor Party, however, are rejecting out of hand any electoral pact with the Liberal Democrats and Greens, despite mounting calls from activists for them to do so.

Labor is a national party and everyone needs to have the opportunity to vote for a Labor candidate, senior Labor lawmaker John Ashworth told reporters Monday. Politicians who try to do these backroom deals never, ever come out of it well.

Last week, Labor candidates in local elections suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of the Conservatives, losing control of councils in the partys traditional heartland territory of the industrial Midlands and the north, regions that favor Brexit  Britain quitting the European Union.

If the voting pattern is repeated in the parliamentary elections on June 8, Labor could be facing a wipeout as large as the one it suffered in 1983 at the hands of Margaret Thatcher, who secured a 144-seat majority in the House of Commons. One gloomy newspaper columnist quipped that the local election setback was a bloodbath foreshadowing a full-on abattoir come June 8.

Tactical voting

Nonetheless, Labor leaders also are discouraging supporters from engaging in tactical voting on election day, an idea touted by former Prime Minister Tony Blair to the fury of party stalwarts.

Blair and some other opposition party grandees have urged voters to back "progressive" candidates in the strongest position in their districts to defeat Brexit-supporting Conservative rivals.

Labors leader, the hard-left Jeremy Corbyn, is insisting against the facts, We are closing the gap on the Conservatives.

The Green Party has decided not to run candidates against Labor's in London and the southern coastal town of Brighton, and it has demanded to no avail that Corbyn return the favor elsewhere. The Greens leader, Caroline Lucas, is accusing the Labor leader of paving the way for a Tory majority by ignoring calls for an election deal.

We are going to wake up on June 9 and a lot of people are going to be asking themselves, When will the left ever learn?" she said Monday.

Lucas told BBC Radio, "Weve still got a few more days where we could build on these alliances, which it isn't just the Green Party asking for them, it is people up and down the country begging parties of the left and the center-left to get together to do grown-up politics and to be able to put in place a group of people who have a better chance of serving the interests of the people, rather than allowing a massive Tory landslide.

Ideological battles

As an electoral annihilation approaches, the Labor Party  moderates and hard-left alike  appears more eager to focus on internal ideological battles and to position itself for an internecine fight after the election. The ideological divisions are spilling out publicly on the campaign trail as party members fight for the soul of their party and Labor candidates opposed to Corbyn distance themselves publicly from their leader.

Labor moderates see a huge defeat on June 8 as the only way of forcing Corbyn, who has weathered several attempts by them to oust him, to resign. As they see it, that would clear the path for a moderate to replace him. The party could then begin the arduous process of expunging the hard left from its ranks, modernizing the party and returning Labor to credibility, much as the Labor modernizer Tony Blair and his supporters did more than 20 years ago after Thatchers three-on-the-trot [one after the other] election victories.

Corbyn loyalists, many of whom are young entryists from far-left Trotskyite groups, are less interested in electoral politics, say their critics, and are focused on refashioning the party as a revolutionary protest movement, pure in ideology and untainted by the nasty compromises electoral politics require.

Some Labor stalwarts are turning away from the partys tribal politics. A former Labor minister, Chris Mullin, a former darling of the Labor left and a one-time editor of the weekly Tribune newspaper, once the home of writer George Orwell, believes the only way forward is an eventual pact between Labor, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens not to oppose each other in marginal seats.



It will be difficult for any party that is not the Conservative party to form a government on its own in the foreseeable future," Mullin recently argued.

It may take three or four election defeats for the penny to drop, he added.

Even if the penny did drop [meaning: an understanding of the situation occurs] before June 8, it is not clear, thanks to Britains first-past-the-post voting system, that a progressive electoral pact could even stop the Conservative juggernaut. Pollsters say a functioning progressive alliance would only reduce a likely Tory majority.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that American forces in Afghanistan face a determined enemy but are dealing significant blows to the enemy.

Speaking at a news conference in Copenhagen alongside his Danish counterpart, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, Mattis said both the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are losing ground and power in Afghanistan as the government, under President Ashraf Ghani,  wins the affection, the respect and the support of the people.

In Afghanistan, the enemy has lost about two-thirds of its strength and this past weekend, President Ghani announced the death of the emir of IS Khorasan  this is the IS group in Nangarhar..., Mattis said. In our anti-IS campaign, were dealing that group one more significant blow with the loss of their leader.

U.S. and Afghan officials announced recently that Abdul Hasib, the head of so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan, had been killed in a military raid. He was believed to have been behind an attack that killed 50 people in a Kabul military hospital earlier this year.

Mattis said the United States will continue integrating its military and non-military efforts in Afghanistan and do everything possible to prevent civilian casualties.

We have to remember that the battlefield that we are fighting on is also a humanitarian field where innocent people live right now, sometimes forced to stay on a battlefield by IS, he said.

The comments from Mattis come as U.S. media report the Trump administration may significantly increase the number of U.S. troops and intensity of the fight in Afghanistan.

According to reports, Trump is weighing whether to send as many as 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The U.S. currently has about 8,400 troops stationed in the country.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump has asked military advisers "to relook at the entire strategy" in Afghanistan.

News accounts say the prospective plan would give the Pentagon, not the White House, the final say on the number of troops in Afghanistan, while the U.S. military would have greater range in using airstrikes to target Taliban fighters and remove Obama-era policies limiting the movements of military advisers in the country.

Trump will reportedly make a decision on the Afghanistan policy prior to a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels.
2 South Korea's presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party is greeted by supporters as he arrives on stage to give a speech in Seoul. Moon declared victory in the country's presidential election, setting up its first liberal rule in a decade.
When Rabia Keeble converted to Islam more than 10 years ago, praying next to men would have been out of the question.

Keeble is now leading a new Berkeley, California, mosque that says men and women are welcome to worship together.

Its long been a tradition of the Muslim faith that men and women pray separately  sometimes in different parts of the same room, sometimes in different rooms or divided by a partition.





As a new convert, Keeble accepted the Muslim faith and traditions, but she then became frustrated. She wanted to see the imam during services, not be in a separate room.

As an intelligent, thinking person, after a while, I began to see there seemed to be an imbalance to that approach, she said.

Keebles QalBu Maryam mosque, which opened in April, is the second women-led mosque in California. One in Los Angeles, which opened two years ago, is for women worshippers only.



On a recent Friday, men and women removed their shoes before the prayer service. Egyptian-born Hussam Mousa, a software engineer, traveled from San Francisco (about a 22km drive) during his lunch break.

Once a practicing Muslim, Mousa said he stopped going to the mosque after the birth of his daughter 11 years ago; but, he has attended QalBu Maryam Friday prayer two weeks in a row. Now, he wants to bring his daughter to the mosque in Berkeley to show her a new model.

"You can retain your religious heritage and retain your religious culture in a space and environment where you are equal," he said. "And not just separate but equal.

For Saleemah Jones, a lifelong Muslim, the division between men and women during services has never been a problem. She said something about the Berkeley mosque, though, intrigued her. On this day, she was able to give the Salat, the ritual prayer.

I had never been to a mosque where a woman led the prayer so much as where I would ever think that I would actually lead the prayer as well, said Jones, an attorney. It gives you an empowering feeling. You know you can go out and do anything.

While this way of worshipping may not be for everyone, these attendees say they feel closer to God through this unconventional approach.
Move over Ellen DeGeneres, theres a new most-tweeted tweet.

And its not from another celebrity, famous athlete or politician, but rather a 16-year-old kid from Reno, Nevada named Carter Wilkerson who has a deep love for chicken nuggets from U.S. fast food chain Wendy's.

It all started in April when Wilkerson tweeted at Wendys asking them how many retweets he would need to get free nuggets for a year.

Wendys reply was simple 18 million.

To that, Wilkerson said consider it done and tweeted screenshots of his conversation with Wendys.

It went viral, and on Tuesday his tweet had been retweeted 3.441 million times, surpassing DeGeneres famous, and former world-record holding Oscars tweet, which had 3.430 million retweets.

While not 18 million, Wendys gave Wilkerson his free nuggets and $100,000 for him to give to charity.

"We didn't expect Carter's response, and we couldn't anticipate the overwhelming support he has received, said a spokesman for Wendys.
The website for the Federal Communications Commission has come under attack.

Initially, the problems were believed to have been caused by comedian John Oliver, who on Sunday urged his viewers to leave comments on the site about the FCCs plans to revisit net neutrality rules.

Net neutrality rules were implemented in 2015 and required internet service providers to treat all traffic equally. New FCC chairman Ajit Pai has said he will review the rules, arguing they are "holding back investment, innovation and job creation."

The FCC, which regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable, says the website attacks were coordinated, distributed denial of service attacks, not a surge in traffic.

"These actors were not attempting to file comments themselves, rather they made it difficult for legitimate commenters to access and file with the FCC," chief information officer David Bray said. "While the comment system remained up and running the entire time, these distributed denial of service events tied up the servers and prevented them from responding to people attempting to submit comments."

On his show, "Last Week Tonight," Oliver said, "Every internet group needs to come together ... gamers, YouTube celebrities, Instagram models, Tom from MySpace if you're still alive. We need all of you," he said.

The FCC will vote on net neutrality rules on May 18.
A measure to ban child marriage could become law this week in New Jersey, which would become the first of the 50 states in America to outlaw the practice without exception, activists say.

Viewed as the strongest such bill to be considered in the United States, it would prohibit any marriage of children under age 18.

Activists say the practice of underage marriage is rampant in the United States, where about 170,000 children were wed between 2000 and 2010. Most are underage girls married to older men.

While age 18 is the minimum for marriage in most of the United States, states have legal loopholes such as parental consent that allow children to marry, said Unchained At Last, a nonprofit that opposes arranged and forced marriages.

This measure, after passing both legislative houses in New Jersey, awaits the signature of Republican Governor Chris Christie. The governor must sign the bill into law or veto it by Thursday, according to Unchained At Last. If he takes no action, the bill automatically becomes law.

Christie, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, has given no indication as to his stance on the bill, a spokesman said.

N.J. Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, the bill's main sponsor, said she championed the legislation after learning about the long-lasting adverse effects of child marriage.

Mental health, poverty issues

Child marriage is associated with mental health problems, poverty and increased high school dropout rates, various studies have shown.

"This is really protecting youngsters, minors, from being put in a situation that could harm them," Munoz told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

If enacted, the law would be the nation's first to outlaw child marriage without exceptions, she said.

The bill has prompted seven other states to follow suit with similar legislation, said Fraidy Reiss, Unchained At Last's executive director. Those states are California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

"Legislators are still just shocked that this is happening here," Reiss told the foundation. "Once one state takes that step and says, 'We're ending child marriage, period' ... it makes it so much easier for legislators in other states to say, 'Oh, yes, we should do that, too.' "

Last year, Virginia adopted a law against child marriage viewed as landmark, although it makes exceptions for certain 16- and 17-year-old children.
South Koreans are choosing a new president Tuesday in a special election brought on by the impeachment of ex-President Park Geun-hye.

Voter turnout could be historically high following a tumultuous political period in which revelations of Parks alleged multi-million dollar influence peddling scheme led to weeks of massive public protests that pressured the National Assembly to force her removal from office and call for a new election.

The National Election Commission has forecast that voter turnout among the 31 million Koreans registered to vote will be over 80 percent, which would be the highest since President Kim Dae-jung was elected in 1997, with 80.7 percent of eligible voters casting ballots.

In the wake of the impeachment, public support for conservative candidates has plummeted. In the latest opinion polls, Liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate Moon Jae-in led the field of 13 candidates with an approval rating of over 40 percent.

Hwang Eui-soon, who attended the rallies demanding Parks ouster, said Moons support for their cause and calls for anti-corruption reforms influenced him to vote for the Democratic Party candidate.

I didn't know at that time, but how Mr. Moon played a role as a leader during the protests was very impressive. Said Hwang after voting at the Hongeun-dong polling station in the north of Seoul.

National security

Many of Moons supporters said they like his domestic policy agenda of increasing government spending for jobs and education. But some are also ambivalent about his pro-engagement polices on North Korea, which his conservative opponents have labeled as weak on national security.

[Some people] said [candidate Moon] is pro-North, but I think we don't need to worry about it, said Kim Eun-hee after she voted for Moon in Seoul.

Moons closest rivals; conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo and the Peoples Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, who is also a liberal but casts himself as tougher on defense, were both close to 20 percent in the polls. The other candidates running registered only in the single digits.

Despite the impeachment scandal, many older voters like Lee Bong-ho say they still support the conservative parties due to their strong national security positions that emphasize sanctions, military deterrence and support for the U.S. alliance to restrain the North Korean nuclear threat.

I've been supporting conservatives, because I consider stability (as a priority). Looking back at previous administrations, conservatives secured stability, said Lee.

Sunshine 2.0

Moon ran against Park in the 2012 presidential election but narrowly lost, in part because she was seen as stronger on national security.

He advocates a two-track policy on North Korea: opening dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.

But many liken his approach to the Sunshine Policy Of Engagement initiated in the early 2000s by late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. That attempt to build inter-Korean trust through assistance and cooperative projects eventually ended in the face of the Norths refusal to suspend its nuclear programs and its continued military provocations.

During this presidential campaign, Moon criticized the conservative punitive approach on North Korea for not only failing to stop Pyongyangs nuclear weapons development, but for also allowing it to accelerate with increased ballistic missile and nuclear tests.

Moon said on Tuesday that the next South Korean president should take on a more active diplomatic role in working with both the United States and China to bring North Korea to international talks to resolve the nuclear standoff.

"What's important in this process is that South Korea should lead that new flow of events, - we should not be a sightseer just watching talks between the United States and China," Moon said on a live election day YouTube webcast.

The polls in South Korea close at 8pm local time. In the South Korean election system, whoever wins the most votes among the 13 candidates, even if that total is less than a majority of the electorate, will be the victor.

Because an un-elected acting government was put in place during the impeachment process, the winner of presidential election will be inaugurated immediately on Wednesday, and will move very quickly to name cabinet positions and a new prime minister.

Whoever wins will also have to deal with erupting diplomatic crises: U.S. President Donald Trumps $1 billion dollar demand for the THAAD missile defense system being deployed on the Korean Peninsula, and Chinas economic retaliation against South Korea, limiting tourism and imports, for supporting the THAAD system that Beijing sees as a threatening increase of the U.S. military presence in the region.
When Moumouni Abdoulaye and his fellow herders in western Niger used to set off on scouting missions in search of water, they feared for their livestock - and for their own lives.

Unable to rely anymore on their traditional methods of predicting the weather amid increasingly erratic droughts and floods, and lacking modern climate information, they struggled to predict where, and when, they might find water in the vast arid region.

"We were living in limbo. Without knowledge, we constantly risked our lives," said Abdoulaye, seeking shade under a tree from the fierce midday sun in Niger's Tillabery region.

But a project to involve the region's semi-nomadic people in the production of locally-specific, real-time weather forecasts - and provide them with radios and mobile phones to receive and share the information - is transforming the lives of tens of thousands of Nigeriens like Abdoulaye.

"Now we receive daily updates about rainfall, can call other communities to ask if they have had rain, and plan our movements accordingly," Abdoulaye told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In Niger, as across much of Africa's Sahel region, frequent droughts have impoverished many people and made it much harder to make a living from agriculture. That is happening in a West African country already consistently ranked at the bottom of the U.N. Human Development Index.

With climate change now exacerbating pressures, experts say there is a growing and urgent need for better climate information, to ensure farmers and pastoralists are equipped to cope with unpredictable rainfall and climate shocks.

Across Africa, only limited climate data is collected and made available, and information services are often not well understood, user-friendly, or followed up to help people put the information to use in adapting to climate threats, experts say.

Ensuring that communities play a role - alongside state and aid agencies - in generating and sharing weather information is the best way to get them to use it and to build their resilience to the growing pressures, said Blane Harvey of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

"Co-participation is very powerful because people will buy into a service if they've had a hand in producing it," he said.

"Crucially, they bring in their local knowledge, which helps to downscale and triangulate more regionalized forecasts," added Harvey, a research associate at the London-based think tank.

Collaboration crucial

A lack of weather stations across Africa means that forecasts, produced by national meteorological agencies, tend to be too broad to be of much use at a local level.

But a project launched in 2015, funded by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) and led by CARE International, is trying to improve the quality of and access to climate data for farmers and pastoralists in western Niger.

CARE's project under the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) program aims to help 450,000 people become better prepared for climate shocks, including through giving them access to better forecasts.

The goal is to help them diversify their farming and find ways of making money which are not so heavily impacted by climate change, in order to better withstand climate pressures.

For farmer Adamou Soumana, improved access to climate information has given his village a better understanding of the weather shocks they are encountering, and the confidence to adopt resilience boosting strategies such as using climate-adapted seeds, finding sustainable ways to harvest forest products, and storing harvests.

"Previously, if it rained in January, we rushed to plant our crops thinking the rainy season starts - when in fact it never comes before May," he said.

"Now we understand climate shocks, and can plan our activities in advance. We feel more resilient," he said.

The BRACED project has helped communities by acting as a broker between them and meteorological agencies, and ensuring agency partners are trained to interpret climate data, translate it into local languages and help people to make sense of the forecasts.

The project also connects local people who collect rainfall data, as well as other farming and pastoralist leaders, with community radio stations to share real-time information daily.

Incorporating traditional observations - such as when trees bloom or the way birds behave - and having regular discussions with communities is key to building and maintaining trust in climate information services, said Richard Ewbank of Christian Aid, another charity working on climate resilience issues.

"Having experts and community leaders together and combining local knowledge with scientific forecasts is the best way to agree on a climate scenario, and make key decisions for the coming season," said the global climate advisor for the charity.

Life or death decisions

In addition to improving the quality of climate information and making it more relevant on a community-by-community basis, the BRACED project in Niger has provided mobile phones and radios to boost the spread of the forecasts.

"Receiving and sharing the information in this way not only helps pastoralists know when and where to move, it also builds relationships and trust between people," said Amadou Adamou of the Association for the Revitalization of Livestock Breeding.

Good information can not only help pastoralists find water sources but also help them know when to sell their animals, especially if drought is on the way, according to Adamou.

The mobile phones and radios used are powered by solar cells, enabling pastoralists to get forecasts while on the move. They also are given to both male and female community chiefs to ensure women have equal access to the information.

While better climate data has improved resilience for many in Tillabery region, in both settled and nomadic communities, there is still much room for improvement, several experts said.

Residents want to see more meteorological advisers based locally who can help them have regular discussions about the forecasts.

They also want more help to convert the data into action on the ground such as diversifying the crops they grow and better planning the timing and direction of their migration routes in search of water. They also want the information service expanded to cover neighboring countries.

"Getting better forecasts is one thing. But having good, solid advice about what the information means, and discussions on how to use it to become more resilient, is what people in the region really want," said Harouna Hama Hama of CARE.

For roaming communities like Abdoulaye's - people who cross into neighboring Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo with their livestock - expanding the climate data effort to produce region-wide forecasts could mean the difference between life and death for many of their members, Abdoulaye said.

"Whenever some of our people head to these countries, they and the animals risk dying of thirst," he said. "With better forecasts, and for the whole region, we could lose fewer lives."
Fifty-four people went on trial in northern Nigeria on Monday on charges connected to allegations that they were celebrating a gay wedding, which is outlawed in the country.

The court began hearing the case against the defendants  most of whom were not present in court  who have been charged with criminal conspiracy and holding an illegal gathering.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill in 2014 that criminalized same-sex relationships, despite pressure from Western governments to preserve the rights of gay and lesbian people.

The bill contains penalties of up to 14 years in prison and bans gay marriage, same-sex "amorous relationships" and membership of gay rights groups.

Defense lawyer Kimi Appah said the gathering had been a birthday party held in April to honor a man who appeared in court.

"Police got wind of it, arrested them and made trumped up charges that they are trying to celebrate a gay marriage," he told the court in Zaria, a city in the northern state of Kaduna.

The man appeared in court with three other people. They were charged with criminal conspiracy and illegal gathering, to which they all pleaded not guilty. The other accused were not present in court.
Pakistan has criticized Iran for threatening to launch cross-border military strikes against suspected Sunni militants whom Tehran says are plotting attacks in the Shiite-majority nation.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says the Iranian ambassador in Islamabad was summoned Tuesday following the reported remarks by the Iran's military chief. A ministry statement said, The Iranian side was urged to avoid issuance of such statements that could vitiate the environment of fraternal relations.

Irans state media on Monday quoted Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the head of the armed forces, as saying Pakistan is expected to control its own border and take action against the terrorist bases.

"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are, the general warned. The warning came days after an alleged cross-border militant raid killed at least 10 members of the Iranian security forces.

An anti-Iran Sunni Muslim militant group called Jaish al Adl, or the Army of Justice, claimed responsibility for the April 26 ambush in the southeastern border province of Sistan-Balouchestan.

Pakistani officials have urged Iran to share evidence to enable them to go after the suspects.

Shortly after the attack, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, calling for the perpetrators to be arrested and handed over to Tehran.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Islamabad and raised the issue with Pakistani leaders, urging them to strengthen security along their shared border of nearly 1,000-kilometers.

An official statement issued after the meetings said the two sides agreed to enhance border security coordination, including deployment of additional Pakistani troops to prevent illegal crossings.

Officials said the two governments also agreed in principle to revive a hotline between their border security forces to resolve any issues at the frontier.

Tehran has long alleged that anti-state militants use Pakistani soil for plotting terrorist attacks against Iran.

Islamabad maintains it is extending full cooperation to the neighboring country to deal with the terrorist threat and has in the past handed over fugitive Iranian militants.

The issue of alleged anti-Iran militant sanctuaries inside Pakistan remains a source of tension in bilateral relations.

Pakistans recent decision to join a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition of 41 predominantly Sunni Muslim nations also has upset Iran.

A former Pakistani military chief, retired General Raheel Sharif, is already in Riyadh, where he is preparing to take charge as the first commander-in-chief of the alliance.

Defense ministers of member nations also are due to hold an inaugural meeting later this month.

Tehran sees the military alliance as an anti-Iran group and an attempt to expand Saudi influence in the region. Saudi and Pakistani officials reject the assertions as unfounded.
A hunger strike by more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners over their treatment in Israeli jails has turned into a heated dispute over whether the leader of the protest secretly broke the fast, and whether Israel tempted him to do so.

The strike, which began on April 17, followed a call by Marwan Barghouti, the most high-profile Palestinian in Israeli detention, for a protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that has applied to thousands of prisoners since the 1980s.

Barghouti, a leader of the Fatah movement, has seen his popularity grow among Palestinians since he was convicted of murder over the killing of Israelis during the second intifada and sentenced in 2004 to five life terms. Surveys show many Palestinians want him to be their next president.

While hunger strikes are not uncommon among the 6,500 Palestinians in Israeli jails, many of whom were convicted of attacks or planning attacks against Israel, this is one of the largest yet. If sustained it could present a challenge to Israel ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 22.

It is also likely to raise tensions between Israel and the Palestinians as the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem approaches in early June.

At the start of the strike, a group of Israeli settlers held a barbecue in the parking lot of one of the prisons, an apparent effort to taunt those inside who were not eating.

On Sunday, Israel's public security minister, who says the strike is politically motivated, accused Barghouti of secretly consuming cookies and chocolate bars, and the government released footage from the Israel Prison Service.

"He lied to the Palestinian public when he claimed to be striking," said Gilad Erdan. "Israel will not give in to extortion and pressure from terrorists."

Force feeding

The footage, two videos shot days apart from a camera mounted on the ceiling of the cell, do not conclusively show that the prisoner is Barghouti, 58, and it is not entirely clear what he is eating or whether he is doing so.

On Monday, following questions about how the video came to light, Erdan suggested Israeli prison guards had tempted Barghouti with the food. Since he is held in solitary confinement, he would not have been able to smuggle it in.

"You've got to understand, without me going into detail, that in order to lead him to this situation, a great many actions were taken," Erdan told Army Radio. "They got results."

Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, has denounced the video, saying it is an effort to discredit her husband, and suggested the footage may well have been taken in 2004.

"It was not surprising what the occupation did and the fabrications they have tried to spread," she told Reuters. "Such an act has unveiled the ugly face of the Israeli occupation."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the health of the strikers was deteriorating and Israel needed to act.

"I am afraid some unfortunate things could happen to those prisoners which may complicate things further, therefore, I urge the Israeli government to accept their humanitarian demands," he said during a news conference in Ramallah.

Fadwa and other wives and relatives have had no access to the hunger strikers, a situation the International Committee for the Red Cross, the United Nations and other organizations are trying to resolve with Israel.

She said ICRC officials told her the Israeli prison authority had prevented them from seeing her husband.

Suhair Zakout, a spokeswoman for the ICRC in Gaza, said the group had visited most of the prisoners taking part in the strike to check on their health and ensure Israel does not try to force them to eat.

Israel has resorted to force-feeding in the past, even though Israel's Medical Association opposes the policy as a form of torture. It has urged Israeli doctors not to carry it out.
Clark -- 80th

MATTOON -- The Rev. Robert (Bob) Clark will celebrate his 80th birthday on Thursday. A card shower will be held in his honor.

He was born May 11, 1937, in Chaffe, Mo.

Clark and his late wife, Sally, are parents of Tammy Corley of Farmersville, Debi Dotson of Monticello, Ind., Charles (Chuck) Clark of Chatham and the late Patrice Runyon. They also have 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Rev. Clark retired from ministry at First Christian Church in Mattoon after 25 years. He previously pastored in Blue Mound for 16 years, as well as various student churches earlier in his career. He was one of the founders of DOVE in Decatur and was a two-term member of the Blue Mound school board. When he arrived in Mattoon, he served on the American Red Cross Board of Directors, and he is a 20 gallon blood donor. He co-founded the Mattoon Community Food Center with Charles Mashing in 1986. He is a past president and 50-year member of Rotary Club and continues his Rotary involvement in Mattoon.

After working with David Wilkerson, author of "The Cross" and "The Switchblade," in Brooklyn, N.Y., Rev. Clark presented drug abuse prevention messages throughout the state. In his time in New York, he worked in the streets with gang members and addicts, as well as spending time in prisons to gather first-hand information on drug abuse. He and his wife, Janet, now enjoy volunteer work in the community.

Cards may be sent to him at 20 Country Lane, Mattoon IL 61938.
The Senate has confirmed Heather Wilson as secretary of the Air Force.



Senators approved Wilson's nomination 76-22, making her President Donald Trump's first service secretary nominee to be approved by the GOP-led chamber.



Trump's choices for secretaries of the Army and Navy have been forced to withdraw from consideration.



Trump's second choice for Army secretary, Mark Green, stepped aside late last week amid growing criticism over his remarks about Muslims, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.



Wilson is a former Republican congresswoman from New Mexico. She had faced scrutiny from several Democrats for defense industry consulting work she did after leaving Congress in 2009.



She is the first graduate of the Air Force Academy to hold the service's top civilian post.
U.S. senators of both political parties piled on in defense of Americas role as a human rights advocate, one week after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested that a values based outreach to the world hinders U.S. national security goals.

Americas strength is in our ideals, our values: speaking up for democracy, speaking up for human rights, anti-corruption and embracing diversity, said Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland.

So many of the groups around the world who are fighting for the principles that we as a nation stand for  democracy, a free press, freedom of religion, freedom of expression  they look to America for inspiration, said Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.

Both lawmakers spoke Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one day after Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona penned an opinion piece in The New York Times newspaper in which he accused Tillerson of turning his back on decades of American human rights advocacy on the world stage.

Addressing State Department employees last week, Tillerson was quoted as saying that in some circumstances, if you condition our national security efforts on someone adopting our values, we probably cant achieve our national security goals.

With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere: Dont look to the United States for hope, McCain wrote. [I]f you happen to be in the way of our forging relationships with your oppressors that could serve our security and economic interests, good luck to you. Youre on your own.

McCain wasnt alone in his criticism.

Leading with our values, including prioritizing human rights in our diplomacy, is a critical part of promoting our national security, said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. I am really concerned about Secretary Tillersons comments.

The Foreign Relations Committee met to consider President Donald Trumps nominee for deputy secretary of state, John Sullivan, an attorney and former Commerce Department official during the George W. Bush administration.

Sullivan attempted to reassure senators he understands their concerns.

Im committed to making the State Department the preeminent force to protect American values and promote American values in the world, the nominee said at his confirmation hearing.

While applauding Sullivans statement, senators noted that the Trump administration has proposed massive cuts to the State Department budget, as well as a top-to-bottom overhaul of its operations.

The committees chairman, Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee, said many agencies, including the Pentagon, rely on a robust State Department.

To the extent we dont carry out these [diplomatic] activities, our men and women in uniform that we respect and admire more likely are going to be in harms way, Corker said.

Sullivan argued that a thorough State Department reorganization is overdue and could yield cost savings without sacrificing Americas diplomatic outreach.

The world has changed in the 21st century, and our State Department and the way its organized hasnt changed, the nominee said.

In response, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said current global challenges require more non-military U.S. resources, not fewer.

What has really changed is the panoply of non-military threats: disease, epidemics, famine, global warming, creeping corruption, Murphy said. What worries me  given that all of these non-military threats have multiplied, [is that] this reorganization has been pre-determined by a president who has called for a 30 percent reduction in the capacity of the State Department, while calling for a $50 billion investment in the Department of Defense.
At least 13 people were killed in fighting Tuesday between government forces and Islamist insurgents in southwestern Somalia, according to witnesses and officials.

The fighting began early in the day when insurgents attacked the Somali National Army base in the district of Goofgaduud, about 35 kilometers outside, Baidoa, 250 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of Mogadishu.

About 100 heavily armed militants attacked the base with rockets and heavy machine-guns. The fighting lasted about an hour. The government forces in the camp were forced to retreat, but came back to their base immediately, a witness told VOA on the condition of anonymity.

Another witness said he saw the dead bodies of four militants and three uniformed government soldiers lying in the streets of the district.

During the fighting, the militants ambushed a government forces convoy from nearby Baidoa town heading to the camp for reinforcement killing at least six government soldiers, a Somali military commander have confirmed to the VOA.

The militants ambushed a convoy of government soldiers heading to Goofgaduud as a reinforcement. First, they attack with a land mine and then gunfire. They killed six soldiers and wounded two, and seized one of our military vehicles, the commander told VOA on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak.

In a statement aired by al-Shabab's mouthpiece, Radio Andalus, the group claimed it had seized control of the entire town of Goofgaduud, killing 16 government soldiers.

Shiina Moalim Nuurow, the commander of the regional special police forces involved in the fighting, said the government soldiers remain in control of the town and repulsed the militant attack.



The group, which once ruled much of Somalia, has been fighting for years to impose its strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia.

African Union and Somali troops say they have driven the militants from urban strongholds and ports, but they have often struggled to defend smaller, more remote areas, like Goofgaduud, from such surprise and often deadly attacks.
Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday he is willing to visit North Korea, and to negotiate with China and the United States over the controversial deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.

Moon took the official oath of office during a ceremony in Seoul following Tuesday's election victory.

South Korea's election commission said Moon won 41 percent of the vote, beating out conservative Hong Joon-pyo, who finished at 24 percent, and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, who got 21 percent.

"I will be president for all South Koreans," the Liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate told cheering supporters in Seoul, after his two closest rivals conceded defeat.

Voter turnout was historically high at 77 percent following a tumultuous political period in which revelations of ex-President Park Geun-hye's alleged a multi-million dollar influence peddling scheme led to weeks of massive public protests that pressured the National Assembly to force her removal from office and call for a new election.

Protest vote

Strong public anger directed at Park over the corruption scandal seemed to energize the liberal base while depressing support for conservative candidates.



Hwang Eui-soon, who attended the past rallies demanding Parks ouster, said Moons support for their cause and calls for anti-corruption reforms influenced him to vote for the Democratic Party candidate.



I didn't know at that time, but how Mr. Moon played a role as a leader during the protests was very impressive, said Hwang after voting at the Hongeun-dong polling station in the North of Seoul.



Moons victory with just 40 percent of the vote also reflects deep ideological divisions in South Korea. In the South Korean election system the candidate who gains the most votes is declared the winner, even if that total is less than a majority of the electorate.



His Democratic Party holds 119 seats in the 299 member National Assembly. The South Korean parliament usually has 300 members but Ahn Cheol-soo dropped out to run for president and has not yet been replaced. The two main conservative parties hold 126 seats. While Moon does not have a super majority in the legislature, he should be able to implement his polices with support from other liberal leaning parties.



National security



Many of Moons supporters said they like his domestic policy agenda to increase government spending for jobs and education. But some are ambivalent about his pro-engagement polices on North Korea that his conservative opponents have labeled as weak on national security.



[Some people] said [candidate Moon] is pro-North, but I think we don't need to worry about it, said Kim Eun-hee after she voted for Moon in Seoul.



Despite the impeachment scandal many older voters like Lee Bong-ho still supported the conservative parties due to their strong national security positions that emphasize sanctions, military deterrence and support for the U.S. alliance to restrain the North Korean nuclear threat.



I've been supporting conservatives, because I consider stability [as a priority]. Looking back at previous administrations, conservatives secured stability, said Lee.



Sunshine 2.0



Moon advocates a two-track policy on North Korea that promotes dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change. But many liken his approach to the Sunshine Policy Of Engagement initiated in the early 2000s by late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. That attempt to build inter-Korean trust through assistance and cooperative projects eventually ended in the face of the Norths refusal to suspend its nuclear programs and its continued military provocations.



Moon ran against the conservative Park in 2012 presidential election but narrowly lost in part because she was seen as stronger on national security.



During this presidential campaign Moon criticized the conservative punitive approach toward North Korea for not only failing to stop Pyongyangs nuclear weapons development, but for also allowing it to accelerate under their watch with increased ballistic missile and nuclear tests.



Moon said on Tuesday that the next South Korean president should take on a more active diplomatic role in working with both the United States and China to bring North Korea to international talks to resolve the nuclear standoff.





The new president will have to deal with erupting diplomatic crises with U.S. President Donald Trumps $1 billion dollar demand for the THAAD missile defense system being deployed on the Korean Peninsula, and with Chinas economic retaliation against South Korea, limiting tourism and imports, for supporting THAAD that Beijing sees as a threatening increase of the U.S. military presence in the region.

Youmi Kim contributed to this report.
Three women stare down from the gallery wall  colorful, defiant and imbued with a spirit of working for the many not the few.

They are a brigadier, a factory worker and a youth volunteer with a hoe. They are paintings of socialist realism. They are also all Albanian women from the time of Enver Hoxha, who created one of the world's most closed societies until his death in 1985.

Visitors to Greece's capital have a relatively rare opportunity to see Hoxha-era art on display outside its regular home in Tirana's National Gallery of Art.

The portraits are part of documenta 14, the Kassel, Germany-based exhibition of Western European modern art that this year is being hosted both in Kassel and Athens.

Hundreds of documenta 14 displays are to be found in museums across the Greek city until July, with the three women portraits among the offerings at EMST, the National Museum of Contemporary Art located in the old but renovated Fix brewery building.

The paintings  by Spiro Kristo (1976), Zef Shoshi (1969) and Hasan Nallbani (1968)  draw you in and can inspire.

But they were also political, more than acceptable to Hoxha, who saw threats from the West, Russia, the then-Yugolavia and just about everywhere.

In a sense, they are modernist icons for the only society in the world that was officially atheist.

As Edi Muka, an Albanian art critic and curator, notes of Shoshi's factory worker, "representations of motherhood as constitutive of women's central role in religious art are carefully removed."

Hoxha-era paranoia was to be found everywhere from spikes in vineyards to deter potential enemy paratroopers to more than 700,000 concrete bunkers across the country, housing soldiers on guard for potential attack.

So it was not all easy for painters. Not far from the three women, documenta 14 has hung a 1971 painting "Planting of Trees" by Edi Hila.

It depicts blissfully happy young people planting trees for their country.

Too blissfully happy, perhaps. Almost "expressive dancing," in the words of the painter.

"My work stepped out of the contours of socialist realism," Hila told Reuters in Tirana. "Generally in those works the positive, the hero, is in the center. ... The compositional structure was different so this hurt their taste."

Hila, deemed to be in need of re-education, ended up being sentenced to work as a loader on a chicken farm. His drawings from that time  showing a different kind of realism  are also on display in Athens.
Just 10 armed conflicts account for 80 percent of fatalities across the world, according to a new report released Tuesday.

In its Armed Conflict Survey 2017, the International Institute for Strategic Studies says civilians caught in conflicts across the world continue to suffer.

The total death toll from armed conflicts was 157,000 last year, down from 167,000 in 2015.

The war in Syria was the world's most lethal conflict for the fifth year in a row, according to the report. But it claims an unlikely second place for Mexico, whose battle with criminal cartels claimed 23,000 lives last year.

"The death toll in Mexico's conflict surpasses those for Afghanistan and Somalia," said John Chipman, who heads the IISS.

"This is all the more surprising, considering that the conflict deaths are nearly all attributable to small arms. Mexico is a conflict marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation," Chipman added.

Besides Syria and Mexico, the most lethal conflicts were in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey, South Sudan and Nigeria.
U.S. President Donald Trump's younger daughter will soon join her father in Washington.

Tiffany Trump has been admitted to the law school at Georgetown University, just blocks from the White House.

Tiffany  Trumps 23-year-old daughter with his second wife, Marla Maples  graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in sociology and urban studies.

Tiffany's presence in Washington will put three of the Trump children (and three grandchildren) in the capital by the fall: Older half-sister Ivanka Trump and her family are living there. She and her husband, Jared Kushner, are senior advisers to the president.

Trump's youngest child, Barron, 11, son of his third wife, first lady Melania Trump, will be moving to Washington with her sometime in June after the end of his school year. The president recently told Bloomberg they found a school for the youngster, but didn't say which one.

The president's son Eric graduated from Georgetown in 2006 with a bachelors degree in finance and management.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday in Washington to discuss Syria, Ukraine and other issues.

"On Syria, the secretary intends to discuss efforts to de-escalate violence, provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, and set the stage for a political settlement of the conflict," the State Department said in a statement Monday.

The announcement comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. will closely examine Russia's plan to establish "de-escalation" zones in Syria.

"The devil is always in the details," Mattis said Monday when asked about the initiative. "We will look at the proposal, see if it can work."

Syria de-escalation zones



Russia, Turkey and Iran agreed to a Moscow-proposed deal last week to establish the so-called de-escalation zones in Syria in an effort to end the six-year conflict.

The proposal calls for taking measures to reduce fighting in four designated areas of Syria where rebels not associated with Islamic State militants control significant territory.

The plan emerged from the latest round of peace talks that Russia, Iran and Turkey held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The U.S. had a senior official at the meeting, but is not a signatory to the agreement.

The initiative went into effect at midnight Friday. Russia said the zones are closed to aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition.

Peace talks



The Astana peace talks are separate from a United Nations effort to bring Syria's warring sides together for negotiations aimed at stopping the fighting and launching a political transition with a new constitution and elections.

U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said Monday he hopes the Astana de-escalation plan will be fully implemented and help set a good tone for the next round of U.N.-led talks between the Syrian government and rebels due to begin May 16 in Geneva.
When farmers in northern Burkina Faso speak about the direction of the wind, they refer to the direction it is blowing in. Burkina Faso's meteorological agency, however, classifies wind by the direction it comes from.

That means that when state forecasters warn of a strong west wind, farmers find an east wind comes gusting along, flattening their faith in forecasts.

But a new guide aims to solve that problem  and help farmers build better resilience to climate change  by translating the French and English words commonly used in weather forecasts not just into northern Burkina Faso's local languages, but also its culture.

The guide, for instance, translates the French and English word "eclipse"  the total or partial disappearance of the sun or moon  into the much more colorful term Burkinabe farmers would use for the phenomenon, said Malick Victor, a journalist from Chad who led development of the translation guide.

"If on local radio I want to announce an eclipse, I need to say that 'Tomorrow, according to the meteorological forecast, the cat will catch the moon or the sun,'" Victor said.

"Right now, the language used [by forecasters] is so technical and not designed for the farmer," he said. "But if we give it to the farmer in a way they can understand, then they can use it."

Too hot to go out?

Victor's guide  a dictionary of more than 500 French and English meteorological terms with equivalent translations in Moore, Fulfulde and Gulimancema, northern Burkina Faso's three most-spoken languages  was created as part of the British government-funded Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) program.

The three-year program aims to give some of the world's most climate-vulnerable people, in countries from Myanmar to South Sudan, the tools they need to prepare for more extreme weather and fend off more frequent climate shocks without slipping into worsening poverty.

Victor, who works for media nonprofit Internews as part of Zaman Lebidi, a BRACED project led by anti-poverty charity Christian Aid, started the guide last year after noticing that efforts to get better seasonal forecasts to farmers through radio broadcasts weren't working effectively, in large part because of translation issues.

To sort out the problems, he brought together farmers, journalists from local radio stations, community leaders and meteorological agency officials, who over two days decided on 517 key terms that needed better translation.

In Burkina Faso, for instance, farmers have little use for terms like winter and summer, instead dividing the year into periods of different rainfall and winds, such as the hot Saharan Harmattan wind season or the monsoon period.

Efforts to broadcast expected high temperatures also don't make much sense for remote rural farmers without temperature gauges, Victor said.

"But if you can say whether it's a day you can go outside with your animals or not, that can help," he said.

The guide notes that it hopes to "remove the risk of misunderstanding" between meteorologists, who accuse journalists of misinterpreting weather information; journalists, who accuse meteorologists of being inaccurate; and farmers who aren't sure they can trust any of the information they're getting.

Simple language

Edmund Henley, who organized technical assistance to the project from the U.K.'s Met Office, said the effort is not the first to try to put complicated meteorological terms into other languages.

A World Meteorological Organization website, for instance, offers translations of scientific terms into Arabic, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish, among other languages.

But the Burkina Faso effort is unusual both in taking on local languages and making a "huge effort to get things into terms that are understandable to people," Henley said. "They had to think, 'What are we trying to get across?'"

The guide's focus on creating simple French and English equivalents for more complicated meteorological terms also means the guide is likely to be widely useful beyond Burkina Faso's borders, he said.

The translation project, backed by more than a dozen partner organizations  including Burkina Faso's meteorological agency and other national institutes, the country's radio and television groups, King's College London and German charity Welthungerhilfe  is now moving on to establishing mobile phone abbreviations for key terms.

That will make the better-tuned weather information more widely available by text message as well as on radio and television, Victor said.

"With abbreviations we can get it short," he said. "We know all the farmers in rural areas don't listen to the radio or read newspapers or look at television. But SMS doesn't need radio coverage."

Burkina Faso's government, which has encouraged the project, has indicated it intends to reprint and more widely distribute the new guide, and hopes to expand the translation effort to more of the country's approximately 60 languages.

The already translated terms are being put into the national primary school curriculum as well this year, Victor said.

The effort has also drawn the interest of other BRACED-funded projects in Niger, Ethiopia and Senegal, with journalists hoping to replicate the effort there, he said.

"Everyone wants to get this," he said of the translation guide.
U.S. President Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey, raising questions about the agency's probe into Russian meddling in the November presidential election and possible collusion between Trump campaign aides and Russian interests.

Trump, in a blunt letter to Comey Tuesday, told him: You are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. The president added that Comey is not able to effectively lead the bureau.

FBI directors are appointed for a single 10-year term. Comey was appointed four years ago.

Comey was speaking to a group of FBI employees in California when he learned he had been fired. Media reports say he saw mention of his dismissal on TV screens but initially thought it was a prank. So far, he has not made any public statement.

The reasons for Comeys dismissal were outlined in two separate letters written by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein. They essentially accused Comey of taking the law into his own hands.

Comey made serious mistakes handling the conclusion of the investigation of emails of Trumps general election opponent Hillary Clinton, wrote Rosenstein, accusing the FBI director of usurping the attorney generals authority when Comey concluded there should be no prosecution of the former secretary of state.

It is not clear why President Trump took the action now concerning events that occurred months before he won last Novembers presidential election.

A Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham, said given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well."

But for some other Republican members of Congress the presidents action caused a breach.

Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said he is "troubled by the timing and reasoning" of the Comey firing. He called the dismissal "a loss for the bureau and the nation."

John McCain, a Republican who sits on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee, said in a statement that while the president has the legal authority to remove the director of the FBI, I am disappointed in the president's decision to remove James Comey from office.

Another Republican senator, Jeff Flake, on the Twitter social media network said he had spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comeys firing. I just cant do it.

Congressman Justin Amash, a Republican member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said on Twitter he is reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia and termed bizarre Trumps reference in the termination letter to Comey noting the FBI director had assured the president repeatedly he was not under investigation.

Why Now?

Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee called Trumps action Nixonian -- a reference to President Richard Nixons firing of officials investigating him during the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s.

Democratic Party senators are calling for appointment of a special prosecutor to continue the Justice Departments investigation into alleged ties between Trumps presidential campaign last year and Russia.

On the Senate floor, Dick Durbin, a Democrat who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, said any attempt to halt or undermine the FBIs investigation into Russian interference in the presidential campaign would raise grave constitutional issues.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he told Trump youre making a very big mistake by firing Comey, amid various investigations connected to the presidents 2016 campaign.

Why now? added Schumer. Are people going to suspect coverup? Absolutely.

"The Rosenstein memorandum is based on long-standing principles governing criminal investigations, but the timing - that is so problematic and concerning, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told VOA.

Hours after Comeys firing CNN reported that grand jury subpoenas were recently issued in Alexandria, Virginia relating to the FBIs Russia probe seeking business records from associates of Michael Flynn, who Trump fired as national security advisor.

The subpoenas would be the first known significant escalation of activity in the government investigation into possible connections between the associates of the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.

Earlier Tuesday, the FBI notified Congress that Comey overstated a key finding in the investigation of Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails during his congressional testimony last week. It said Comey erred when he told a congressional investigative panel that a Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, had sent "hundreds and thousands" of Clinton's emails from the 2009 to 2013 period she was the U.S. Secretary of State to Abedin's estranged husband, disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner. The actual number was far fewer, officials said.

VOA's Pete Heinlein contributed to this report.
MATTOON -- Nancy Caldwell, Lake Land College music instructor, will receive the 2017 Faculty Association Outstanding Service Award at the commencement ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Lake Land College Field House.

In her 20 years at Lake Land College, Caldwell has impacted students, faculty, staff and community members through her leadership in developing a music curriculum, enhancing the colleges fine arts culture, steering achievements in general education expectations and leading musical groups, according to a press release.

Nancy sets the bar high for her students. Her standards and rigor in the classroom are beyond reproach, yet her teaching style is relatable and approachable. This can be a difficult combination to acquire. Nancy does it beautifully, Lara Bacino-Althaus, psychology instructor, said in her nomination of Caldwell.

In 1997, Caldwell joined Lake Land as the colleges first full-time music instructor. She developed the curricula, selected textbooks and equipped a classroom dedicated to the fine arts. She went on to develop a new course, Music in American History and Culture, to give Lake Land College students more options in the area of fine arts. She also created an online version of the course.

She never loses sight of the fact that earlier musical styles, particularly classical music, are quite foreign to the typical 19-year-old student in east central Illinois, and works hard to draw a connection between these unfamiliar styles and the music students listen to every day, Bacino-Althaus added.

Caldwell is the founder and director of the colleges Community Choir, which is celebrating its 20th year anniversary. The choir includes 50 people from the college and surrounding communities who come together to share their love of music and perform two concerts each year.

Caldwell also directs the annual Johnston Junior High Music Festival, an honors band and choir festival for area middle school students.

In addition to the fine arts, Caldwell shares her passion and dedication to educational excellence with her colleagues. For the past 12 years she has led the General Education Committee. During her tenure, the group solidified general education goals for all degree seeking students. In the past, these expectations were only set for students in transfer majors.

In 2004, Caldwell co-authored the colleges self-study report to the Higher Learning Commission and in 2012, she was nominated for the colleges employee Shine Award for her contributions to Lake Land College.

Caldwell serves on the executive committee of the Lake Land College Faculty Association as the president-elect. Next academic year she will serve as the vice president, followed by a year as the president.

Caldwell majored in piano performance at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, and has a bachelors degree in music. She has masters degrees in piano performance and music history and literature from the University of Houston and a doctorate in musicology from Indiana University.

Caldwell lives in Effingham with her husband Tom and two daughters, Madeline and Felicia.
Protests over jobs and development in southern and central Tunisia have halted production at or shut the fields of two foreign energy companies in a new challenge to the country's Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.

For Tunisia, a small oil and gas producer compared to its OPEC neighbors Libya and Algeria with national production at around 44,000 barrels per day, the protests come at a sensitive time as Chahed's government tries to enact austerity reforms.

Tunisia's Energy Minister Hela Chikhrouhou told reporters that sit-ins halted production at energy company Perenco's Baguel and Tarfa fields, which the company website says are joint ventures for gas and condensate output.

A Perenco spokesman declined to comment.

Perenco operates the El Franig, Baguel, and Tarfa gas condensate fields with a production of 17 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, 2 mmscfd of LPG equivalent and 750 bopd of condensates, according to the company website.

A spokesman for Canada-based Serinus Energy said by email that its Chouech Essaida field in southern Tunisia had been shut since Feb. 28 due to labor and social unrest.

Protests have centered on the southern Tataouine province where Italy's ENI and Austrian firm OMV have mainly gas operations, but have also begun in the central Kebili region.

Since its 2011 uprising brought democracy to Tunisia, successive governments have struggled with social unrest in the south and central provinces where unemployed youth feel they have been left out of the economic benefits of the revolution.

In Tatouine region, a group of demonstrators has camped out for several weeks in the Sahara desert and threatened to blockade roads used by oil and gas companies unless they see more jobs and a share in the region's energy riches.

OMV said last week it had moved around 700 non-essential staff and contractors from its southern Tunisia operations as a precaution. It said production had not been affected.

ENI said protests had had no impact on its Tunisian production but it was monitoring the situation.

Chikhrouhou told a conference that total oil production had fallen to 44,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 100,000 bpd in 2010 because of social unrest, protests and low investment due to a lack of energy legislation.

Oil revenues fell from 3 billion Tunisian dinars ($1.24 billion) in 2010 to 1 billion Tunisian dinars in 2016, he said.

In the past, Tunisian protesters targeted the state-run phosphate business, where production falls since 2011 caused about $2 billion in losses. Output in phosphate  a key source of foreign income  has risen this year after agreements were reached with protesters.

The revival of the state-run phosphate production will help the North African country's economic growth, which also suffered from a decline in revenues from the tourism sector after major Islamist militant attacks in 2015.
Indicted for killing thousands and kidnapping children to become soldiers and sex slaves, Joseph Kony has been Africa's most notorious warlord for three decades. Now that the United States and others are ending the international manhunt for him and his Lord's Resistance Army, it appears Kony may never be brought to justice.



His elusiveness in the often lawless bush of central Africa is legendary. In one incident Ugandan military forces in hot pursuit raided Kony's hideout deep in a Congo wildlife park in 2008 and seized little but a wig and guitar he left behind.



Despite the millions of dollars spent to catch him, Kony has outlasted his hunters. That's a blow to victims who hoped he would stand trial at the International Criminal Court where he has been charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity.



"The yearning for justice is there," said Judith Akello, a lawmaker who represents a community in northern Uganda once hit by Kony's rebel insurgency. "Justice is what the people demand."



Kony became internationally notorious in 2012 when the U.S.-based advocacy group Invisible Children made a viral video highlighting the LRA's alleged crimes. The group is accused of killing over 100,000 people, according to the U.N.



The U.S. has offered up to $5 million for information leading to Kony's capture.



Although scores of LRA fighters have recently surrendered or been killed, the whereabouts of Kony, now in his 50s, remain a mystery. Recent defectors from the rebel group suggest he is sick and hiding somewhere in the vast, ungoverned spaces of central Africa.



In pulling out of the military mission against the LRA, the U.S. in March said the rebel group's active membership is now less than 100. The U.S. first sent about 100 special forces as military advisers to the mission in 2011, and in 2014 sent 150 Air Force personnel.



Echoing the U.S., Uganda's military last month announced it was ending the manhunt and pulling out 1,500 troops because "the mission to neutralize the LRA has now been successfully achieved."



The military withdrawal means Kony may never be caught, said some observers. Of the five LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005, he is the only one still at large. One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial at the ICC following his arrest in Central African Republic in 2015.





"Kony is the ultimate master of survival in the jungle," said Kasper Agger, an independent researcher in Central African Republic who monitors LRA activities. "He has survived three decades of warfare and evaded capture from the most powerful and expensive military in the world."



Kony's rebels may continue as a "group of bandits" in sparsely populated areas of Congo and Central African Republic, where they may link up with other armed groups, said Agger. LRA rebels trade in wildlife products to support their activities, slaughtering elephants for ivory in Congo under Kony's direct orders, according to The Enough Project.



The LRA remains a regional threat, according to a new U.N. report on sexual violence in conflict. "The Lord's Resistance Army continued its decade-old pattern of abduction, rape, forced marriage, forced impregnation and sexual slavery" in Central African Republic and has a presence in Congo and South Sudan, it says.



Kony has proved difficult to capture "mainly because he hides in Sudan-controlled territory" in which other African forces are not permitted to operate, said Sasha Lezhnev of the Enough Project. Sudan has denied allegations by Uganda's government that it actively supports the LRA.



A former Catholic altar boy whose rebel movement started as a tribal uprising with aspirations of ruling Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, Kony is an almost mythical figure. LRA fighters have said he has paranormal powers to read the minds of disloyal commanders.



Under military pressure, the LRA fled Uganda in 2005, moving first to Congo and then to parts of Central African Republic in a vast jungle area about the size of France. By then vastly degraded, the LRA splintered into small groups that were constantly on the move.



The rebels were up against a poorly organized Ugandan military, whose commanders in the anti-Kony campaign were accused of creating phantom soldiers on the payroll and abusing civilians.



"Kony and LRA's nine lives were the result of their discipline," said Angelo Izama, an analyst in Uganda who runs a think tank on regional security called Fanaka Kwawote.



Although Kony could appear bizarre, "he presided over a formidable, well-armed and loyal outfit that was quite capable of running rings around the supposedly superior soldiers sent to hunt him down," said Matthew Green, author of "Wizard of the Nile," a 2008 book about the LRA.



"While many people in [northern Uganda] reviled Kony for the atrocities he ordered, they were also subject to repression and abuses by [Ugandan] President Museveni's security forces,'' Green said. "Kony survived in part because there was often a deep-seated ambiguity in attitudes toward his movement among his own people, even though they were his principal victims."
President Donald Trump has authorized the Pentagon to equip the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a move that places the United States at odds with NATO ally Turkey.

Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana W. White said Tuesday the Kurdish component, which makes up more than half of the SDF fighters, would be armed "as necessary to ensure a clear victory" over Islamic State in Raqqa, Syria.

"The SDF, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future," White said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed the green-lighted equipping plan. A military official told VOA the U.S. will provide Kurdish forces around Raqqa with small arms, machine-guns, ammunition, and armored vehicles to counter improvised explosive devices and construction equipment.

Weapons will be metered out to achieve limited military objectives, the military official said.

Ankara opposes Washington's alliance with Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State. Turkey contends the SDF's Syrian Kurdish militia, known as the YPG, is a terrorist group affiliated with the outlawed PKK  the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a terror group that has been battling the Turkish state for many years.

White said the Pentagon is "keenly aware" of Turkey's security concerns and the U.S. is committed to "preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

Turkeys top general, Hulusi Akar, met with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford on Friday. Lt. Commander John Fage, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told VOA that Dunford and Akar discussed issues of mutual concern, as well as the current security situation in the Middle East, including the campaign to defeat ISIS.

The move provides U.S. support for the entire Syrian Democratic Force, Syrian Kurds (YPG) and the Syrian Arab Coalition, which American forces have openly supported for months.

The Pentagon says Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis spoke via phone Tuesday with Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik, with both leaders affirming their support for peace and stability in Iraq and Syria.
The United States has vowed to continue the alliance with South Korea to tackle threats from North Korea, after Moon Jae-in, a liberal human rights lawyer and the son of a refugee from North Korea, declared victory in the South Korean presidential election Tuesday.

But experts told VOA that Moon's victory could lessen South Korean resolve to confront North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, which is a concern among American leaders.

In a statement, the White House said it looked "forward to working with President-elect Moon to continue to strengthen the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and to deepen the enduring friendship and partnership between our two countries."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump "looks forward to meeting" with Moon and "talking about our shared interests."

'Denuclearized' peninsula

"In working with allies, partners and others" and using "all means at our disposal," Deputy Secretary of State nominee John Sullivan told American lawmakers Tuesday that "our goal is to have a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

In the nomination hearing, Sullivan told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that all options are on the table, including "other means at our disposal with the Defense Department," a position reflecting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's view on North Korea.

A departure from former President Park Geun-hye's hawkish stand against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocation, Moon favors greater dialogue with North Korea.

Moon also has been critical of the U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea, arguing that Washington should have waited for a new president to make the final decision to install it.

Moon had traded words with Trump over who should pay for deployment of the $1 billion system.

"There will almost certainly be tensions and rifts with the U.S. over North Korea," Atlantic Council senior fellow Robert Manning told VOA.

"If Moon reopens the Kaesong industrial zone unconditionally, undermining sanctions and providing hard currency to Pyongyang, that would be a source of contention," he added.

No 'Sunshine' revival seen

Manning said that while Moon was likely to take some steps toward dialogue with North Korea, he was unlikely to revive fully the "Sunshine Policy," a policy of engaging with Pyongyang initiated in the early 2000s, because North Korea's aggressive missile and nuclear tests would "curb his enthusiasm."

Former senior U.S. officials cautioned Seoul to maintain a "united stance" with Washington.

"I would hope that President Moon will take the time to have in-depth discussions with the United States before making any decisions on reopening a dialogue with North Korea," Dennis Wilder, a former senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, told VOA.

In a statement, Representative Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called on Seoul's new government to work with Washington "to leverage the strength of our alliance and maintain close cooperation" to address the growing threat posed by North Korea.

While the government change in Seoul may have introduced a level of volatility, some argue it will not change the U.S.-South Korea-Japan alliance significantly.

"Washington and Tokyo can make the most of it by keeping in close coordination with Moon's team to create a 'good cop, bad cop' dynamic," said James Schoff from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Close coordination

Schoff added "the key for Washington and Seoul is to make sure they coordinate closely" so that Pyongyang or Beijing cannot exploit the division between them.

Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA that while generally there is strong support from South Korea to maintain the alliance with the U.S., Seoul does not like to be instructed by Washington about what to do and what not to do.

"It underscores the importance of an early face-to-face meeting" between Trump and Moon, Pollack told VOA in a teleconference.

Pollack said tweets from a president are "not the way to explain policy" among the leadership circle, and if there's already damage caused to bilateral relations, a face-to-face meeting can keep the damage at "a minimal level."
The United States and its Western allies are still searching for a way to make countries like Russia pay a price for potentially destabilizing cyber attacks, even as those attacks keep coming.

The commander of U.S. Cyber Command, pointing to the recent French elections as evidence, warned lawmakers Tuesday that Russian efforts to undermine faith in democratic institutions have continued unabated.

"We had become aware of Russian activity," Navy Admiral Michael Rogers told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, adding that U.S. officials went to their French counterparts and "gave them a heads-up."

"Look, we're watching the Russians," Rogers said the French were told. "We're seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure. Here's what we've seen. What can we do to try to assist?"

What U.S. cyberofficials saw, according to Rogers, were attempts by Russian hackers to target now-French President-elect Emmanuel Macron.

Some of that information, along with falsified documents, was leaked late Friday, just 36 hours before French voters went to the polls in a runoff election between Macron, a centrist, and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

France's election commission has since confirmed hackers leaked a "significant amount of data" from the Macron campaign in an attack that closely resembled those carried out on the U.S. Democratic National Committee prior to the U.S. presidential election in November.

"We knew that this kind of risk would be present during the presidential campaign, because it has happened elsewhere," French President Francois Hollande told the French news agency AFP shortly after the leaks. "Nothing will be left without a response."

How to respond, however, remains a challenge, with the U.S. and its Western allies struggling to find ways to deter Moscow.

"We're seeing similar things with our German counterparts, with our British counterparts," Cyber Command's Rogers said of upcoming elections in those countries.

The goal should be to convince actors that "you don't want to do this," Rogers said, adding that adversaries like Russia also need to know "there's a price to pay for doing this."

Lawmakers remain concerned, though, that despite warnings by top intelligence and law enforcement officials, Russia will continue to target U.S. elections, and despite high-profile attacks like the Sony hack attributed to North Korea, the U.S. still lacks a policy to confront the threats.

"The new administration promised one within 90 days of the inauguration, but 90 days have come and gone, and no such strategy and policy have been provided," said the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Republican John McCain of Arizona. "Our nation remains woefully unprepared."

Lawmakers remain concerned, though, that despite warnings by top intelligence and law enforcement officials about Russia continuing to target U.S. elections, and that despite high profile attacks like the Sony hack attributed to North Korea, the U.S. still lacks a policy to confront the threats.

A report Friday by the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab concluded the hashtag used to spread work of the material hacked from the Macron campaign, #MacronLeaks, "was initially launched in the U.S. and driven by a cluster of alt-right accounts and probable bots."

"It was then picked up by Le Pen supporters, and probable bots, and passed on to the French audience," the report concludes.

"We need to be concerned," Rogers told lawmakers.

For now, Rogers urged Americans to be more discerning about information being pushed through social media and the Internet, adding, the U.S. must "publicly out" Russian attempts to sway public opinion.
The United States will participate in advancing climate change research in the Arctic, a State Department official said on Monday, ahead of a summit of Arctic nations later this week where Washington's commitment to tackling climate change will likely be questioned.

The administration of President Donald Trump, who has taking steps to bolster the U.S. oil and coal industries, is reviewing former President Barack Obama's plans to curb climate change.

Trump vowed during his campaign to cancel the Paris climate deal within 100 days of becoming president  a time period which has already passed  and has asked his advisers to debate whether the United States should stay in the pact.

The Paris climate pact was agreed by nearly 200 nations in 2015 to curb warming by slashing carbon dioxide emissions.

But Washington will not shut down participation in climate science on the Arctic, which is facing the fastest rate of global warming in the world.

The U.S. will remain engaged in the work the Arctic Council does on climate change throughout, David Balton, the State Department's assistant secretary for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, told reporters in a teleconference ahead of the meeting.

I am very confident there will be no change in that regard, he said.

Tillerson to host council

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will host the biennial Arctic Council meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Thursday.

The meeting will be attended by foreign ministers from Russia, Canada and other nations with territory in the Arctic  which scientists warn could suffer trillions of dollars worth of climate change-related damage to infrastructure in the coming decades.

Trump's consideration of pulling the United States out of the Paris agreement has led many countries, including America's Arctic neighbors, to question Washington's commitment to protecting the region from the effects of climate change.

Warming in the Arctic has raised the prospect of a new rush for resources as retreating ice opens new sea lanes, oil and minerals reserves, and fisheries.

The United States and Russia have both expressed an interest in boosting Arctic drilling, and Russia has bolstered its military presence in the north.

Finland to take over

Finland is due to take over the two-year chairmanship of the council from the United States at the end of Thursday's meeting.

Finland has said it aims to protect the Arctic during its chairmanship by adhering to the Paris agreement.

It is of decisive importance that the United States remains part of the Paris agreement, Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said ahead of the Arctic Council meeting.

Trump has said he will announce his decision on the climate pact before a Group of Seven summit at the end of May.
The White House is defending the length of time it took President Donald Trump to decide to fire his first national security adviser, 18 days after he was warned that retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn had been lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia's U.S. ambassador.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday that acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a holdover from former President Barack Obama's administration, gave Trump's White House lawyer "a heads-up" about Flynn's discussions with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in late January, in the first week after Trump took office.

But Spicer said it took days to review her contention that Flynn had been "compromised" by his misrepresentations to Pence, possibly leaving himself open to blackmail from the Russians.

Trump fired Flynn in February, after Flynn had been in the national security post just 24 days. The president said it was unacceptable to him that Flynn had misled Pence, who told national television interviewers, based on discussions with Flynn, that Flynn did not talk with Kislyak about sanctions imposed by Obama against Russia for its meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election. Yates learned of Flynn's conversations through routine U.S. intercepts of Kislyak's calls.

WATCH: Trump White House was Repeatedly Warned About Flynn Before Dismissal

Political consideration

Spicer said the Trump administration could not immediately accept Yates' conclusions about Flynn, viewing her as a "political opponent of the president." Trump fired her days later after she refused to defend his first attempt at imposing a travel ban on people traveling to the U.S. from seven majority Muslim countries where terrorist attacks had occurred, an executive order that courts subsequently blocked.

WATCH: Spicer Explains Time Frame for Flynn Dismissal

"The process worked," Spicer said of the Flynn review. "We did what we were supposed to do. The decision we made [to fire Flynn] was the right one and we stand by it."

WATCH: Spicer: 'We're Not Going to Relitigate the Past' on Flynn's Dismissal

He declined to outline behind-the-scenes White House considerations leading up to Flynn's firing, saying, "We're not going to relitigate the past. We've moved on."

Reporters sharply questioned Spicer a day after Yates told a Senate panel about her contacts with the White House during the brief period she was the country's top law enforcement official.

Incorrect statements

Yates testified that she was concerned about repeated statements from Pence and other administration officials incorrectly stating that Flynn had not been in touch with Kislyak, when the intercepts showed the two men had spoken.

"The vice president and others were entitled to know that the information that they were conveying to the American people wasn't true," Yates said. "The Russians also knew about what General Flynn had done, and the Russians also knew that General Flynn had misled the vice president."

She added, "Every time that happened, it increased the compromise, and to state the obvious, you don't want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians."

Monday's testimony came as part of a Senate investigation into Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election, which Trump won over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump has dismissed the probe, as well as separate investigations by the FBI and the House of Representatives, as attempts by Democrats to find a reason for Clinton's upset loss.

The president used Twitter to blame the Obama administration for providing "the highest security clearance" for Flynn when he served as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, from which Obama fired him for his disruptive management style. When they met at the White House two days after Trump won the election, Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn as national security adviser, but the new president didn't heed the advice.

No 'fan' of Flynn

Spicer said Monday that it was no secret Obama "wasn't exactly a fan" of Flynn, and the White House spokesman questioned why Flynn was not stripped of his security clearance.

"Why did the Obama administration let Flynn go to Russia for a paid speaking engagement and receive a fee?" Spicer said. "There were steps that they could have taken that  if that was truly a concern."

Flynn was paid more than $30,000 for a Moscow trip in 2015, where he sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Kremlin-sponsored RT television network, formerly known as Russia Today, and also more than $500,000 to represent Turkey. Both payments came after he was warned to not accept money from foreign government after retiring from the U.S. military.
Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates said Monday she warned the White House in the early days of President Donald Trump's administration that his national security adviser, retired Army General Michael Flynn, could be blackmailed by Russia.

Yates told a Senate panel she alerted the White House more than two weeks before Trump fired Flynn for having lied about contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

She said she was concerned about repeated statements from Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials incorrectly stating that Flynn had not been in touch with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, when routine intercepts had shown the two men had spoken.

Interaction with VP Pence



"The vice president and others were entitled to know that the information that they were conveying to the American people wasn't true," Yates said. "The Russians also knew about what General Flynn had done, and the Russians also knew that General Flynn had misled the vice president."

She added, "Every time that happened, it increased the compromise, and to state the obvious, you don't want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians."



Eighteen days after first learning of Yates's concerns, Trump fired Flynn, saying he no longer had confidence in having him as a key White House adviser.

Trump dismisses probe



Monday's testimony came as part of a Senate investigation into Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election, which Trump won over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Trump has dismissed the probe, as well as separate investigations by the FBI and the House of Representatives, and has repeatedly said his campaign had no ties to Russia.

The president used Twitter to blame the administration of former President Barack Obama for providing "the highest security clearance" for Flynn when he served as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency.



While Flynn had the clearance, investigators say he failed to disclose the Russian payment and another one for more than $500,000 to represent Turkey. He accepted the payments, the investigators say, after specifically being warned when he retired from the military to not take money from foreign governments.

Fired by Obama



Obama fired Flynn in 2014 because of his disruptive management style, and personally warned Trump against naming Flynn as national security adviser.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer, confirming media reports of Obama's warning to Trump, said it was no secret that Obama "wasn't exactly a fan" of Flynn and questioned why Flynn was not stripped of his security clearance.

"Why did the Obama administration let Flynn go to Russia for a paid speaking engagement and receive a fee?" Spicer said. "There were steps that they could have taken that - if that was truly a concern."

Paid Moscow visit



Flynn was paid more than $30,000 for a Moscow trip in 2015, where he sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Kremlin-sponsored RT (formerly Russia Today) television network.

James Clapper, Obama's director of national intelligence, told the Senate committee that the Russian interference in the U.S. election exceeded Moscow's "wildest expectations." He said it was aimed to "demean Secretary Clinton and advantage Mr. Trump."



Russia-Trump connection



Clapper was instrumental in the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia sought to boost Trump's chances of winning the election by hacking into the computer of the campaign chief for Clinton.

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks subsequently released thousands of emails in the weeks before the election that showed embarrassing behind-the-scenes Democratic operations aimed at helping Clinton win her party's presidential nomination.

Clinton last week partly blamed her upset loss to Trump on the release of the emails before the November election.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said sacred tribal lands he toured Monday in America's newest and most hotly contested monument should be preserved but he questioned whether the monument designation was the right way to do it.



Zinke's aerial and ground tour of the Bears Ears National Monument was part of a review ordered by President Donald Trump to determine if 27 monuments were properly established.



Zinke spent the day getting familiar with the 1.3-million acre (5,300 square kilometers) swath of southern Utah with red rock plateaus, cliffs and canyons on land considered sacred to tribes.



His tour guide was Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, one of several prominent Republican leaders in the state who oppose Bears Ears National Monument.



Zinke, a Montana Republican, said he wants to make sure Native American culture is preserved but cautioned that not all tribal members share the same opinion about the monument designated by former President Barack Obama near the end of his term.





He spoke before taking a short, winding hike in the afternoon sun with Herbert and other state and local officials to a lookout post above ancient ruins.



"Of course, the legacy and what I've seen should be preserved,'' Zinke said, "The issue is whether the monument is the right vehicle.''

Herbert, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and the rest of the all-GOP congressional delegation consider the monument creation by former President Barack Obama an unnecessary layer of federal control that will hurt local economies by closing the area to new energy development. They also say it isn't the best way to protect the land.



In Blanding, with a population of 3,400 people, two large banners read, "#RescindBearsEars,'' reflecting the popular sentiment among residents.





Bears Ears supporters made their voices heard too. They believe the monument adds vital protections to tribal lands where members perform ceremonies, collect herbs and wood for medicinal and spiritual purposes, and do healing rituals.



Tara Benally, a member of Navajo Nation, was standing just outside the Blanding airport wearing a shirt commemorating the December declaration of Bears Ears National Monument.



"We want it left as is. We have history going through there,'' said Benally, who lives south of the nearby town of Bluff. "That was basically my mom's playground as she was growing up.''



A group of Bears Ears supporters greeted Zinke when he arrived to the trailhead. One woman asked why he only met with tribal leaders for an hour.



Zinke, who was shaking another supporter's hand, turned around to face the woman and said: "Be nice.'' The woman responded that she always is.



The monument review is rooted in the belief of Trump and other critics that a law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt allowing presidents to declare monuments has been improperly used to protect wide expanses of lands instead of places with particular historical or archaeological value.



Conservation groups contend that the monument review puts in limbo protections on areas across the country that are home to ancient cliff dwellings, towering Sequoias, deep canyons and ocean habitats where seals, whales and sea turtles roam.



After his arrival Sunday in Salt Lake City, Zinke was met by about 500 protesters who chanted, "Save our monuments, stand with Bears Ears.''



He held a closed-door meeting with a coalition of tribal leaders who pushed for the monument then spoke of his admiration for Roosevelt.



Davis Filfred of the Navajo Nation said Monday that the one-hour meeting Sunday wasn't enough time for the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition to make their points to Zinke. Filfred, who was in the meeting, said it seems Zinke is listening more to opponents of the monument than people who want it preserved.



Zinke insisted there is no predetermined outcome of his review, saying he may not recommend the monuments be made smaller or rescinded, and he might even recommend an addition.





The two monuments he's reviewing in Utah are quite large. Created in 1996, Grand Staircase-Escalante is 1.9 million acres (7,700 square kilometers), about the size of Delaware. Bears Ears is smaller at 1.3 million acres.



Zinke has been tasked with making a recommendation on the Bears Ears monument by June 10, about two months before a final report about all the monuments.



Environmental groups have vowed to file lawsuits if Trump attempts to rescind monuments  a move that would be unprecedented.



On the way back from his hike to the ruins, Zinke stopped at the trailhead and spoke with several people on horseback and admired their horses. On Tuesday, Zinke plans to tour more of the Bears Ears area on horseback.



He said his upcoming decision is not just about how the local tribes, county officials or the governor feel about the monument, but it's also about how the entire country feels about it because it's America's public land.



"President Trump, I'm going to tell you, is a great boss. The reason why I think he felt so strongly about this is he feels like sometimes Washington makes these rules and we don't have a voice,'' Zinke said. "He put this in motion to make sure that local communities count. States count. America counts.''
In South Africa, President Jacob Zuma launched the countrys new state-of-the-art Metrorail, dubbed the Peoples Trains. The event was seen as an opportunity for Zuma to shore up popular support amid mounting political tensions and an upcoming no-confidence vote in parliament.

Zuma rolled out the first phase of a $4-billion, 20-year project to modernize public transport.

Commuters have in the past resorted to burning trains in anger at the aging current fleet of trains for arriving late and constantly breaking down.

Zuma unveiled the new trains, outfitted with air-conditioning, CC-TV cameras and other features, in Pretoria. He pleaded with people not to burn or vandalize them.

This is a government who is trying to better our lives in anyway. Bit by bit, we will do it right at the end. So we are getting there as a country. These are signs, clear and positive signs, that say to us South Africa is not sinking, it is rising.

The organizers of the launch, and Zuma himself, may be breathing a sigh of relief the event went without a major incident.

The country has seen several anti-Zuma protests since a controversial Cabinet reorganization in March. Earlier this month, members of the countrys largest labor union booed Zuma when he arrived to address them during May day festivities, and he left without delivering his speech.

But at Tuesdays event, supporters cheered the president.

Though once the launch was over, Takalani Matsilele, an activist, entered one of the new trains urging people to sign a petition to remove Zuma.

Our country is going down the drain as long as Zuma is the president. That man has led us to a junk status for the first time, Matsilele said.

A vote of no confidence against Zuma is pending in parliament. The Constitutional Court is to hear arguments Monday on an opposition petition to make the parliamentary vote a secret ballot. Zuma has survived several previous no-confidence votes.

If the secret ballot is granted, some of his own MPs, who have openly expressed displeasure at his leadership, could team up with the opposition to remove him.
MATTOON -- Lake Land College radio/TV majors interested in earning a bachelors degree have a new opportunity for a seamless transfer, according to a press release.

Lake Land College and Lincoln College recently signed a 2 + 2 agreement that allows Lake Land students to complete the first two years of a bachelors degree on campus and transfer to Lincoln Colleges Radio, Television, and New Media program, where they may complete a bachelors degree in two additional years.

Lake Land College is renowned throughout the Midwest for their decades-long two-year program in Radio and Television, said John Malone, Lincoln College associate professor of communication and division chair of fine arts and communication. The first person who ever hired me in the radio business almost 30 years ago was a Lake Land graduate. They have a great history, and Im looking forward to working with (department head) Greg Powers and the people of Lake Land to infuse our program with their stellar students.

Lake Land College offers an associate degree in radio/TV broadcasting along with three certificates. The radio/TV degree is a Workforce Ready major that can be modified for students who wish to transfer to Lincoln College. Students will complete the General Education requirements outlined by the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) and the Lake Land equivalencies of the foundation 100-and-200 level courses offered as part of Lincoln Colleges degree program will meet the requirements of this articulation agreement.

Students enrolled in Lake Lands program gain hands-on experiences in studio settings, as well as the college-run radio station, WLKL-FM. Each year, several students earn certification as radio marketing professionals through the Radio Advertising Bureau.

Lincoln College, located in Lincoln, added the new Radio, Television and New Media program in the fall of 2016, as part of its expansion of several four-year undergraduate degree programs.

Lake Land College is currently enrolling students in the Radio-TV Broadcasting program for the fall. To get started, visit lakelandcollege.edu and look for the Enroll Now button. The first step is to create a Laker Profile and then submit the Intent to Enroll selecting Radio-TV Broadcasting (AAS.RTV) as the program of study. A Laker Welcome Packet will follow including information on the next steps.

For more information, contact Powers at 217-234-5335 or gpowers@lakelandcollege.edu.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has left the country for medical checks in Singapore, the government said in a statement, about two months after his previous such trip to the south Asian nation.

Aged 93, Mugabe is the only leader the southern African country has known since independence in 1980, and his health is a hot topic ahead of a presidential election scheduled for next year that he is due to contest.

He flew to Singapore late on Monday. The Ministry of Information said he was expected to return home at the weekend.

Mugabe now struggles to walk, with security aides forming a human shield around him in public, often making it difficult for reporters to film or take pictures of him.

Last week at a World Economic Forum Summit in South Africa, Mugabe sat slumped in his chair, wringing his hands, as he told a panel discussion in a low murmur that his country was not a "fragile state".

Critics say his infirmities make him unfit to hold office but he continues to exercise tight control over his ZANU-PF party. In February he said the party and Zimbabwe's people saw no viable alternative candidate to him for next year's elections.

(Reuters - Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by John Stonestreet)
In preparation for President Trumps visit to Europe (24 May: Rome; 25 May: the Nato Summit, Brussels; 26- 27 May: the G7 Summit at Taormina), the Pentagon presented its strategic plan for the European theatre. Its spokesperson? General Curtis Scaparrotti who, as the head of the USs European Command, automatically becomes the head of Nato, holding the office of Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. On 2 May, in the US Senate, the General recalls that the European theatre remains critical to our national interests and that the Nato Alliance gives us a unique advantage over our adversaries. Yet such an advantage has now been placed in danger by a resurgent Russia [that] seeks to undermine the Western-led international order and reassert itself as a global power.

The Supreme Commander calls on its European allies to close in ranks around the United States to defend by every possible means, the international order  the one that is founded on the economic, political and military supremacy of the West  endangered by the emergence of new states and social subjects.

Its focus is transfixed on Russia, accusing it of malign activities and military actions against Ukraine (precisely at the time of the third anniversary of the massacre of dozens of Russians, that took place at Odessa on 2 May 2014, at the hands of Neo Nazi Ukrainians under USA/Nato command. However, the threat is not coming from Russia alone: the United States  declared Admiral Harris, Head of the Pacific Command  is challenged in that region at the same time by an aggressive China and a revanchist Russia.

In response to these challenges, announces Scaparrotti, the US European Command, we are returning to our historic role as a war-fighting command, adjusting our plans to the threats that we have in front of us. This is why he is imploring Congress to increase the funds for the European Reassurance Initiative, an operation launched by the USA officially to reassure its Nato allies and European partners and for which 3.4 billion dollars has been earmarked in 2017. These are necessary, significant investments  emphasizes the General  to increase throughout Europe our advanced presence, the pre-positioning of military materials, the drills in preparation for conflicts.

The plan is clear and is already underway: to transform Europe into the firing line for yet another confrontation with Russia. The announcement made on 4 May, confirms this: that the US Army in Europe had built a new headquarters at Poznan, Poland, to command more than 6,000 US soldiers that have been lined up in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria in order to strengthen Natos Eastern flank, serving as a deterrence to Russia.

In this lining up on the Eastern flank, which includes armoured forces, fighter bombers, war ships and missile units (including nuclear ones)  are participating Nato European powers. This is demonstrated by France sending her troops and Britain her tanks, to Estonia.

And what about the European army? At the meeting of the EU Defense Ministers, on 27 April at Malta, the Nato Secretary General, Stoltenberg left no room for doubt: it was clearly agreed by the European Union that its objective is not to build a new European army or structures of command in competition with Natos, but something that may complement what Nato is doing.

The sceptre of command thus remains squarely in the hands of the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, a US general appointed by the US President.
The shame of Chuck and Jimmys sibling rivalry is that, given each mans complementary skills and shared capacity for retention, theyd make a dynamic team. Jimmy never forgot what a stickler his brother is for details. In the opening flashback, Chuck recruits Jimmy to perform an elaborate lie for Rebecca, whos passing through New Mexico while on tour. To mask his electromagnetic hypersensitivity  and his sensitivity for her  he blames the utility company for turning off his power.

The deadbeat at 512 San Cristobal hasnt been paying his bills, Chuck relays, waiting for Rebecca to clarify, Im 215. But no sooner than shed been lulled by nostalgia and sea bass, the jig is up. She answers a call from her conductor, Andre, triggering one of Chucks EHS attacks and compelling him to seize and sling her phone across the house. Rather than explain his condition and risk vulnerability, he admonishes Rebecca for rudeness, and she leaves certain that the man she once married is still consumed by control. But Jimmy knows that the notion of venerable attorney Chuck McGill, founding partner of his own namesake firm and reliable witness in a case he brought against his own flesh and blood, is pure theater. And hes prepared to pull the curtain back.

Jimmys final provocation is defining, leaving no doubt for the state bar or anyone else that Chuck has effectively conspired to undermine his brothers success for years and entrapped him out of spite. Yet there are no high-fives this time, no drinks on Jimmy. Chuck, outed as both a sufferer of psychosomatic illness and vindictive manipulator, is disgraced, left alone on the stand to bear the torment of a buzzing exit sign and Rebeccas pitying expression. Jimmy is frustrated and sad, but hes also no sheep.

The truth is Chuck seemed desperate even before his cross-examination. Likening himself to the Unabombers brother and reaching for false EHS-science equivalencies (AIDS, really?) doesnt bode well for steady testimony. Howard knew it, too: He was pensive heading into the proceedings, pursed and pinched during and after Kims line of questioning, and deflated once the wheels came off. Heaven has fallen, justice is done, and its far too late for HHM to save face.

Of course, Kim isnt immune to the collateral damage. She comes clean to Paige and Kevin about the case against Jimmy, offering them the chance to opt out. But Kevin, giddy over their latest legal triumph, assures Kim that Chuck is not going to screw me out of the best outside counsel Ive ever had. The shame of it is that hes right: Kim is the best person for the job, for any client who will have her. Thats why Jimmy doctored those Mesa Verde documents to begin with (that and to taunt Chuck about his numerical recall), or so he claimed on what should have been damning audio evidence played for the bar committee. Now that Kim has seen the siblings history come to a head in court  knowing full well she was complicit in setting Chuck up to be duped and humiliated  she has to wonder whether their actions have ultimately served a childish grudge.

The real winners here are us viewers, because Jimmys subterfuge (with a special assist by Francesca, of course, well on her way to becoming Breaking Bads paper-shredding misfit) opens the door for a man who may not fit in tight spaces but can plant cellphone batteries on unsuspecting rubes like no one else. Huell, Saul Goodmans loyal errand man, gets his meet-cute with Jimmy, a union liaised by Caldera the creepy vet. (And yes, Lavell Crawford clearly lost a few pounds since Breaking Bad, but well continue suspending disbelief about this prequels returning characters and their changing, aging shapes.) As a further twist of the knife, Huell rises and informs the bar that he slipped the battery inside Chucks pocket precisely an hour and 43 minutes earlier, the sort of specificity Chuck himself would otherwise admire.

Theres plenty left to unravel, like to what extent Jimmy is still beholden to the terms of his PPD and if Chuck is deemed unfit to practice. Not to mention whether Jimmys goldfish lived long enough to be swimming happily in a bowl at home. Or, for that matter, why no one thought to ask how Jimmy got those photos from inside Chucks house to exhibit, and if that corroboration with Mike might bite him in his law-abiding ass. Though there were no truer words than the ones Jimmy utters to Chuck in that aforementioned flashback: The bigger the lie, the harder it can be to dig out. If the opening sequences familiar icon of outdoor advertising is any indication, Jimmy is about to be buried deep over his head.

Apart From All That

 Nice to see John Getz, who will always have the hearts of Dont Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead fans.

 The Vincent Griego Chambers are a real thing.

 Rebecca was kind of a snoot anyway.

 Perhaps well soon find out if Jimmy really did steal his fathers money?

 And I guess Jimmy and Kim are still sleeping together?

 That Chuck and his reserved parking space. Hes incorrigible.

 Director Daniel Sackheim and Vince Gilligan go wayyyyy back to the earliest X-Files days.

 Chuck is a prick, but Jimmy exposing and exacerbating his brothers mental state is pretty dickish.
Abby Lee Miller. Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Almost a year after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud, Dance Moms Abby Lee Miller was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison by a federal judge in Pittsburgh, according to Deadline. Shell also have to pay a fine of $40,000, along with an additional $120,000 for a currency-reporting violation she was investigated for last summer. Miller filed for bankruptcy in 2010, and was first indicted in 2015 on 20 charges of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy assets, and false bankruptcy declarations. Her legal woes came to a head after federal agencies found evidence that she tried to hide $775,000 in income from Dance Moms, the spinoff Abbys Ultimate Dance Competition, and other Dance Momsrelated appearances and merchandise.

In Tuesdays hearing, character witnesses said Miller isnt anything like the combative and demanding dance instructor she was portrayed as on the Lifetime show. Afterward, Miller took the stand to defend herself, saying, Dance Moms became a hit and I became the laughingstock of reality TV. Miller will likely serve nine months in a facility close to Los Angeles, and have an additional two years of supervised release. Millers charges carried up to $5 million in fines and possibly five years in jail, but the Feds initially pushed for a two-and-half-year prison sentence. Miller has 45 days to report to prison.
The modern method of literary star making was invented in 1983 by Bill Buford, who as a graduate student at Oxford revived its mummified lit mag Granta and went about the work of codifying schools (e.g. Dirty Realism) and christening generations. The first list of Best of Young British Novelists included writers who were already stars (Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie) and made stars of others (Kazuo Ishiguro, Pat Barker). More than half the writers from that first roundup, some now in their 70s, still enjoy heavyweight reputations and the lingering aura of making the list. Their obituaries wont omit the fact that they were once bright young things.

Buford, a Louisiana native who grew up in California, brought the model home with him when Tina Brown hired him to edit the fiction in The New Yorker, and so beginning in 1999, Grantas American lists, which kicked off in 1996, have had to compete with The New Yorkers 20 under 40 rosters in the decade-by-decade editorial arms race to identify the not-yet-middle-aged It kids of lit. Journals like the Paris Review and NOON have risked their pages on unlisted unknowns (who prove that publicity isnt the oxygen that keeps fiction alive). It was in one of those magazines that, to my mind, the knockout discovery of 2017 appeared: Formentera Storyline, by Jean-Rene Etienne and Lola Raban Oliva, a photo-novella in the spring issue of the Paris Review, about a Spanish-island group vacation that devolves across 150 pages  most of which feature a banal photo from a Mediterranean villa (e.g., the washing machine) and a deadpan sentence or two  from Pilates and talk therapy into druggy chaos and bad Instagram behavior. All told, a party where everybody stays too long. Its funny, sly, and very much of the Fyre Festival moment.

But if astonishing new writers are fun, whole issues full of them are even more fun. Last month saw the release of Granta 139: Best of the Young American Novelists 3, and Ill admit I find these cohort-defining interventions interesting as snapshots of the literary slipstream even when the herded writers arent all that astonishing. Some of the writers gathered are familiar: best sellers like Emma Cline and Garth Risk Hallberg; MacArthur Genius grant winners like Dinaw Mengestu and Ben Lerner. Some, like Halle Butler and Jen George, Id never read before. A few of them  Mengestu, Karan Mahajan, Ottessa Moshfegh  Ive known since before they published a word, and others (Cohen, Lerner) Ive worked with as an editor, which tends to involve something like being pals.

Sigrid Rausing, Grantas publisher and editor, is right to recall that the last installment of Best Young Americans (from 2007) was aptly categorized by Zadie Smith when she asked (in the introduction to another anthology), Why so sad, people? Sadness seemed a prerequisite for many young writers during the Bush administration, either as a method of sympathy generation or as an assumed mode of being American in a post-9/11 world. Gary Shteyngart was one of the few who could see there were laughs to be had in all the melancholy; hes a specialist in the comic loser man-child. As the critic Elaine Blair has argued, these guys are all over the place: See the books of Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen, Keith Gessen, Benjamin Kunkel, Jonathan Lethem, Sam Lipsyte, David Foster Wallace, et al. If in the end, the loser gets the girl, its at the price of serial humiliations that render him sort of lovable in a post-feminist world. Adelle Waldman parodied this sort of guy and the authors who write about him in The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P: The joke was how easy a time he actually has getting laid. We may have had enough of this man-child already, and he seems to be receding from the fictional terrain. What we havent had, until now, is a recognizable female counterpart.

Grantas new Best Young Americans delivers one. Reading the stories of the new anthology, you come across half a dozen narrator-heroines who have a few things in common. Theyre young women who are no longer naive but not at all liberated from youths precarity. Theyre tough and smart but anxious that that might not be enough to get them through. Sad isnt the word for their state of mind, but happy isnt even in the lexicon. They make their weary way through these stories without self-pity. Theyre resourceful but a little resentful that they have to be so resourceful to get by. Theyre aware that theyre prone to making wrong choices, but they wont be humiliated. Disappointments may be inevitable, but they also may be ways of averting disaster. Some disasters arent averted. In composite, I started to think of this young woman as the Girl Who Knows Shes Stayed at the Party Too Long. The Party  by which I mean youth itself  isnt quite over but theres little fun left to be had, although that doesnt mean theres any reason yet to go home and get up early.

But generalizing is probably a disservice; better to take the narrators one at a time, and the stories too. Anyway I didnt like sweet boys, Claire Vaye Watkins writes. I liked filthy weirdos who scared me a little and I still do. Her story I Love You But Ive Chosen Darkness is a tour de force of autofiction about a dead ex-boyfriend and grotty life in Reno, sex good and bad and not always consensual. (The title is a tattoo across the exs back; its also the name of a band.) The story is self-portrait via portrait of dead lover, as well as a before and after of class ascent that takes the narrator from rural check-cashing counters to parties with Michael Chabon and Meryl Streep, details she addresses to the dead man in an impassioned coda. Theres another dead lover in Jen Georges Revolutions, about a couple in something like a communist state where the party has a hand in sexual relations. The political framework is subtle, and within it the love story has a striking strangeness. The scene drawn by Emma Cline in Los Angeles is immediately recognizable: The story follows Alice, a new employee at a store that sounds a lot like American Apparel, who makes money on the side by selling underwear advertised as having been tried on by celebrity actresses. Her first customer is a man in a fleece pullover and their transaction is either creepy or scary.

Loretta, in Rachel B. Glasers Day 4, is on a road trip that ends at a motel in Kentucky where she encounters a man named Lyle who says, I may not look it, but I read a lot of books. Like the dead ex in Watkinss story, hes the sort of rough, not-too-eloquent man who pops up a lot in these fictions. The narrator of Halle Butlers The New Me goes to bed with another woman after a night of drinking beer and then turning to cooking sherry. In the morning she walks across town to a liquor store that hasnt opened yet in a state of aimless, giddy dread with her mind on a bunch of new dresses shes ordered with the intention of going femme. About her hangover: Im not wearing underwear and didnt brush my teeth because I was afraid of the taste of water. Catherine Laceys narrator in The Answers, afflicted by a constellation of symptoms of an unknown disease, speaks with a similar bluntness: When shit happens, it doesnt really matter what asshole is responsible.

These stories by Watkins, George, Cline, Glaser, Butler, and Lacey have in common a woozy mood of uneasiness and an intermittently comic quality that doesnt rely on exaggeration or joke-cracking. The narrators are never evasive. Their protagonists are cousins to the narrators of Nell Zinks The Wallcreeper (2014) and Sheila Hetis How Should a Person Be? (2011), as well as the women in Alexandra Kleemans novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine (2015), Jade Sharmas Problems (2016), and Ottessa Moshfeghs recent story collection Homesick for Another World. Moshfegh writes in several modes, and her story in Granta: 139 is mock folklore set in a feudal land, about a mad failed knight.

As with any good anthology, there are many valences to this one. For those keeping score, the realists outnumber the non-realists 17 to 4 (including George and Moshfegh). Jesse Balls A Wooden Taste Is the Word for Dam a Wooden Taste Is the Word for Dam a Wooden Taste Is the Word For has in common with its title a defiance of sense: It involves a cripple, a few beavers, a broken window, and something like a metamorphosis. Count Mark Doten as the first to slake our thirst for fiction about the 45th president. Trump Sky Alpha is a surrealist fantasy about a fleet of zeppelins touring the sky after the president has set off a nuclear Armageddon. Though his own zeppelin explodes, it doesnt kill him, so its hard to say the story has a happy ending. Like his novel about the Bush administration, The Infernal, Trump Sky Alpha combines the language of actual politics with the sort of nightmare images that politics inspires.

Politics is a pronounced concern among several of the male Best Young Americans. Since his long and brilliant 2010 novel Witz, in which the reader may have trouble telling if the action on any given page is going on at a suburban New Jersey Shabbat dinner or inside a gas chamber, Joshua Cohen has been making a slow march toward realism. His Uri is a portrait of an IDF infantryman discharged with bad dreams and something like a death wish: Though backpacking between the better hostels of East Asia will never be as dangerous as bulldozing hovels in the West Bank, there was still the chance of not coming back, or not coming back alive. Karan Mahajans The Anthology, the opening of an unpublished novella, begins with a terrorist attack that hits a literary conference and wipes out a generation of Indian writers. Its a sharp, funny story that both extends and negates the analogy between terrorists and writers made by Bill Grey, the novelist in Don DeLillos Mao II: Bombs see the possibility in everything, and in this way they are like artists, brilliant improvisers, except that they happen to kill, and so isnt there a strange poetry, you ask, in a bomb that kills artists? No.

Cohen foregrounds political material in a story about grunts who arent inclined to comprehend it; Mahajan arranges a scenario in which the literary and the political are in direct though semi-comic confrontation  Roberto Bolano is an obvious point of comparison. (Its surprising that Bolanos echoes arent more prevalent in America these days, given the mass vogue for his work only a few years ago.) Its notable that their fictions locate political action abroad. Greg Jackson incorporates politics just by having his characters talk. The speakers in his Country & Eastern are soaked in the thinking of the American New Left that indicates Jacksons spent fruitful hours immersed in back issues of Ramparts. Sana Krasikovs Remembering Westgate, about the shopping mall terrorized in a 2013 massacre, reads less like fiction than like a memoir-essay. Returning to the unexpectedly bustling scene of the crime years later, she writes, The sound of crying babies filled my own breasts painfully. She imagines how she would protect herself and her daughter if the horror repeated itself.

Its hard not to sense one divide among the Best Young Americans: Some of them clearly have children, and thus parenthood on their minds, and others either dont or havent brought the experience to their stories. Dinaw Mengestus This Is Our Descent is a picture of marital strife around a child with a deteriorating condition (it was obvious that something inside him was wasting away). Deflected into the marriage its all the more heartbreaking. The narrator of Lauren Groffs Yport takes her children from Florida to the coast of Normandy to pursue some research on Guy de Maupassant, and has a not very good time. Theres a creepy hotel clerk, bad Wi-Fi, emails from her husband shes not interested in answering, and news of a far-off acquaintance whos died. I tried to detect a meta element to do with the presence of Maupassant in the story, but he turns out to be just another part in the big drag: When she returned to Guy as an adult, he disappointed her with his hatred of women, with his syphilitic brain. Shed thought there was a moral center to him, but there wasnt. He was rotten to the quick. Perhaps the concept is a rejection of the neat short-story form in favor of a succession of feelings and images. It ends with one of the children holding a rock over his head and not smashing it into a passing snail.

Groffs narrator isnt the only sad tomato in Granta: 139. As we know from his novel City on Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg specializes in teen angst and the sort of sensational (yet also cliched) Manhattan events that make headlines in the New York Post. We meet Jolie, the protagonist of The Meat Suit, as shes practicing martial arts after school: And when she turned to keep the delicate alms bowl on top from falling, what struck her about the room beyond was her own sadness, flashing back at her from every surface. You rarely come across a sentence that so affirms the rule show, dont tell, and anyway, why so sad? Its probably to do with her parents divorce. The story ends with Alice going down to the subway tracks to retrieve a dropped phone. A train shows up sooner than she thought it would, but somebody on the platform  or maybe the city itself  pulls her to safety. Death is also averted in Anthony Marras Liparti, but by the end of the story, which begins with a man on a cliff determined to toss himself to his death, I was wishing hed jumped in the first sentence. Instead he saves a boy from drowning. Cute.

There is something unique at play in Esme Weijun Wangs What a Terrible Thing It Was, but it isnt sadness. The narrator arrives at a psychiatric hospital for a consultation about ECT treatment and has to answer a standard multiple-choice questionnaire about her condition. She checks I DO NOT FEEL SAD. She has a different problem:

Im prepared to tell Dr Richards my medical history and about the first voice I heard when I was twenty and how the election has made my stress so much worse, which has in turn escalated psychotic symptoms that have proven to be medication-resistant. And yet Dr Richardss face, which warps and flattens and suddenly seems made of plaster, sucks out all the words I had carefully constructed and lined up delicately in impeccable rows until I am vacant; the erasure of my likes and dislikes and the hopes I harbor, leaving nothing but agitation behind, is something that terrifies me about psychosisI cannot survive another bout of catatonia.



I hallucinate.

This is not a condition you see very often in literary fiction, and Wang treats it with considerable grace. If only the election results (He has won), which arrive on the penultimate page, were just another hallucination.

Chinelo Okparantas and Yaa Gyasis stories are both about African immigrants to the U.S. who occupy class interzones. In Okparantos All the Caged Things, a girl whose parents work as cleaners attends a private high school on scholarship and plays hooky, going to the zoo and thinking about the differences between the ways she and her privileged classmates live. Her family of three lives in a one-bedroom apartment in a high-rise on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. What if she could live like the zoo elephants? She envied the way they were so well-taken care of, the way there was always someone to feed them to cater to their every need. To clean up after them. She had come to the zoo enough times now that she had watched the elephants relieve themselves. Each time she watched she felt an urge to turn her eyes, in order to give the animal its privacy. But then shed think that wasnt it one of the wonderful things about being a zoo animal? If you were a zoo animal, you wouldnt care about things like privacy! Youd be free to do whatever you wished, defecation and all, no shame involved. Gyasis story opens in a different sort of cage  a jail cell  and follows two brothers who immigrated from Ghana to Columbus, Ohio, one of whom is home from New York, where he works as a consultant, to bail out the other. The story doesnt share the conceptual ambition of her centuries-spanning 2016 novel Homegoing, but it shows shes as comfortable in the present as she is in the past.

Ben Lerners Bright Circle is a departure from the autofiction hes mined in his novels Leaving the Atocha Station (2011) and 10:04 (2014), both of which are narrated by poets who court confusion with the author. The third-person narration of Bright Circle gets inside the head of Dale, a teenage high-school dropout in Topeka in 1995 who works at a shitty grocery store and doesnt seem to have much poetry in his future. He has drawer at home where he keeps cash, knives, and a Crossman pellet gun he had often claimed to be an actual revolver and once pointed at the younger Gordon boy, which led the older Gordon boy to open a cut above his eye. The presence Gordon boys suggest they exist in the same fictional universe as Adam Gordon, the narrator of Atocha  it would be intriguing if Lerner embarked on a Faulknerian project spanning his experiences in Kansas, Brooklyn, and elsewhere in the hipster archipelago. Dale sounds like one of the filthy, scary weirdos who might pass through a Claire Vaye Watkins story, and indeed the story ends with him puking at a party by a lake where everyones stayed too long.

Theres an immense amount of talent collected in these pages, so all hail the new Best Young Americans! Theyll never be young again.
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Earlier this year, Jill Soloway delivered a powerful keynote address at South by Southwest about the film and TV industrys lack of female directors. She asked all the men in the audience to stand up and imagine growing up as women do: being told they can be anything they want, but surrounded by evidence that they cant. As Soloway spoke, she flipped through a slideshow of paintings depicting God and Jesus as women, along with the photos of every president, including President Trump, as women. Then she asked women to stand up and gave a similar speech, only this time about a world that catered to them and only them, where if they got tired of their families, they could retreat to their woman caves, even though theyd already taken over the TV room to watch other women playing sports. (Because you need space! You need so much space!)

Afterward, Vulture spoke to Soloway about the origins of this body experiment, how Trumps election has affected her new show I Love Dick, the future of Transparent, and the next step in the fight for transgender bathroom rights.

Where did you come up with the idea for that slideshow? I loved it so much.

Its something Ive been wanting to make forever. I remember sitting in a classroom with the images of the presidents around my head, being like, Okay, I know Im the smartest person in the classroom, so Im gonna run the world.  But [points to imaginary portraits] man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man. So I really wanted to translate what it feels like to wonder, Why cant I?

Were not socialized to understand the depth of the feminist movement and human rights struggle for women. In school, when they teach you all the presidents, they say, These are the presidents. They dont say, This is the way white hetero patriarchy has been instilling itself in our lives. This is awful that these are all men. This is a form of emotional abuse. Were gonna teach you all the presidents, and were really, really sorry women, were really sorry little girls, this must be hard for you. They just go, These are the presidents. Memorize them.

Has the election of Donald Trump affected Transparent and your new show, I Love Dick?

Its affected I Love Dick maybe even more because we were shooting it during the election. I Love Dick is a show thats specifically meant to take on the patriarchy and was conceived in a world where we assumed we were going to have our first female president. I Love Dick is about anger. When the election happened, it just became so much more necessary.

Ive seen the first two episodes. Chris Kraus, the character played by Kathryn Hahn, is just out to destroy her life and everyone around her.

She just keeps getting worse! She doesnt stop. She lets her desire be the driver. She just keeps fucking it up for herself. I Love Dick is a tale of objection, which means she allows the way that Dick ignores her to fuel her hardest voice. Its the perfect thing in terms of the election  heres this awful, awful, awful man who openly degrades women and was elected to take care of this country. To me, its like you live with your single mom, your dad left, and she starts dating this really weird guy who wants you to call him uncle and comes over to the house with this awful toupee and his smelly cologne and his horrible convertible and hes got a bombastic personality and he looks at your tits. Its this very familiar feeling of, This awful shit is coming to our house and were all supposed to treat him like he matters. We know hes awful because he smells awful and he looks awful and hes treating us awfully, and weve been told hes our new daddy.

For women, it was and continues to be this incredibly triggering experience. Its not just about Hillary didnt win. It was a year when a woman was finally ready to win, it was a year when a woman should have won  so overqualified  but because of a subtle misogyny, because 70,000 people decided to settle on the narrative of her as a liar, thats all it took to make the difference. Its a spiritual crisis for women on the entire planet that somebody who  forget the pussy-grabbing thing  somebody who runs beauty pageants is president.

I talked a lot about pageants in my [keynote]. It really messed with me as a little girl. Because I loved them. I had my paper and pen out and I picked my favorite and I loved watching them. I had the Miss America Barbie doll. And you look at people like Ivanka and Melania and even Kellyanne Conway to some extent, you watch them make the trade, which is, I will become more powerful through my ability to be good at being looked at, that looked-at-ness allows me access to this mans world and this man doesnt care about his looked-at-ness. In fact, hes ultimately ugly. We have to crack through this prism, that demand to be looked at.

How did you get the idea for I Love Dick?

Sarah Gubbins, who wrote the pilot, sent me an article that was in The New Yorker about Chris Kraus and we were like, I cant believe that theres a book called I Love Dick. Thats the funniest name ever. Theres nothing better than sitting in public holding up your I Love Dick book. Its just such a funny cover.

One of the things about the book that was so fascinating was here was a story about a woman and her husband who are both obsessed with a man. Weve never seen this kind of love triangle, where a woman says to her husband, I have to tell you something, this is really embarrassing, but this guy is turning me on. And then the husband goes, Lets talk about him. It turns me on when you tell me about him. I want to hear about Dick. Her trying to engage this masculinity thats actually engaged with other masculinity. Thats a perfect metaphor for what this world feels like to me.

Women are used as conduits for men to experience other men. Men will go to strip clubs together, theyll look at Playboy together, Donald Trump and Billy Bush will go on the bus and be like, What about that fucking slut? What are you gonna do to her? Its not about that woman; its about the fact that she was a conduit for Billy Bush and Donald Trump to talk about sex together. Its really homoerotic. Theres so much homoerotic reality in the lives of American men. People are like, What are you talking about? And I go, Men watching porn are looking at dicks all day long.

So what happens to Chriss story about her love and attraction for this man when her husband gets ahold of it and tries to make her a conduit? Thats the really intellectual version of it. The simple version is a love triangle where both the woman and the man are interested in another man. Thats so juicy, so soapy, something Ive never seen.

Really, its a show about a woman finding her true voice. By describing the conditions of her confinement, which is patriarchy, its just perfectly set up for this moment in history, which we had no idea was coming. The morning after Trump won, I came to work and I was like, Guys, louder, uglier, worse, monstrous. There are a lot of lines in the show about Chris wanting to be a female monster. All the women in town start to want to be monsters fueled by their own desire. Thats one of the effects that Trump had on me: I really started to be able to let go of my shame. I want all the little girls of the world to dream of one day growing up and being an awful president. [Laughs.] We shouldnt just have to want to be president. We should want to be a disgusting president.

Has Trump fueled Transparent in a different way?

Yeah, for sure. Were shooting episode four of season four right now and were taking on global problems. All I can say is that Ali [the character played by Gaby Hoffmann], in her gender journey, finds herself wanting to explore things like borders and boundaries. Alis story in season four is really about becoming an activist and about wanting to embody a nonbinary reality.

I just finished editing my first episode and I was just like, I dont need any more of the emotional music in between the scenes. I dont want to create genial connections. I saw this movie called Krisha, and I loved the way it was just so openly ugly and so much about a kind of hunger and appetite. I did a lot of saluting of Krisha in my directing of my first episode. I just wanted my filmmaking to be more bombastic and less sweet and less worried about being likable. Like a lot of artists, especially women and people of color, I just dont really give a shit anymore. Doing what I want, making what I want. Im not going to try to make my work likable.

Are there any overt Trump references in there?

A little bit, but not actually.

During the election, Trump said transgender people should be able to use the bathroom of their choice, then he reversed himself. Whats your take on the fight ahead?

Were at such an early point in both this administration and the fight for trans rights. If its on a scale of 100, were not even at one yet. I dont know what Trump is doing in terms of making promises and then enraging people and using outrage on the left as a tool. He might be using it to keep us distracted. I dont feel like we should be thinking about his policy or his shifts because I think that theyre being carefully un-thought out. Like an un-studied mess. Things are carefully appearing messy to keep us running around, trying to mop up the messes as liberal people. While much more devious, much darker, much more awful things are being done about our global safety.

Well never know why the Gavin Grimm case got turned away from the Supreme Court. We dont know if they wanted a lot of chaos to occur on the state level. I dont understand enough about how the government works to really understand what this is going to do. There are some people who felt like the Supreme Court case was coming too soon. That we werent ready. Gavin being a focal point was very exciting because we finally had our Roe v. Wade person, but there are people who said we actually need a little bit more time to get our act together, in terms of having the entire countrys public consciousness ready to advocate.

As an advocate for trans rights, what do you do right now?

About bathrooms? I think if you are invested in the urinal business, thats on the way out. If youre a business owner, create a bathroom where theres sinks and stalls. People like stalls. I dont want to be essentialist and say women need this and men need this, that men like to pee in public and women like to pee behind a door. I know a lot of men who dont like the urinal. People need privacy. Let them have a stall. Of any gender. Ive been going to the bathroom for 50 years. Ive never seen anybodys genitals in a public restroom.
Is that you, Diane? Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Between traveling to space in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, intentionally mispronouncing Reese Witherspoons characters name in Big Little Lies, and an upcoming guest spot in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Laura Dern is having a 2017 for the ages. But her most mysterious  and possibly splashiest  role will come in Showtimes rapidly approaching Twin Peaks revival. Of course, given the level of secrecy around David Lynch and Mark Frosts return to the classic TV series, we have no idea who Dern will play when she joins the cast, but Varietys cover story on the revival heavily features Dern. It also includes a few stunning photos of her hanging out with Lynch and her Blue Velvet co-star Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Twin Peaks agent Dale Cooper, in a car. We can only hope that were in for a whole lot of Dern.

Sadly, the only concrete detail we get about Derns character is that she talks about birds, at least once. Kyle and I had several scenes, particularly in the car, when were talking about the robins, Dern told Variety. Theres this very beautiful, hopeful poetry amidst this hellish world theyve entered. Hey, remember that other David Lynch project where Laura Dern talked to Kyle MacLachlan about robins?

Now, ever since Dern joined Twin Peaks, theres been speculation that she might play Diane, Coopers as-yet unseen secretary, to whom he dictates tapes with his thoughts on crimes, coffee, and doughnuts. While it certainly seems possible that Dern would play Diane, and that Diane and Cooper would happily chat about robins, she could reasonably be playing any number of mysterious figures in the show  fantastical or otherwise.

What we do know for certain: The series picks up 25 years later; they did return to Snoqualmie, Washington, but certain storylines in the new season take place outside the Pacific Northwest, and the bulk of the new season was shot in Southern California, and the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is very important to understanding the revival, according to Lynch. The series returns on May 21.
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Richard Simmons has filed a complaint against the National Enquirer, Radar Online and American Media, Inc. for libel and false light, a type of invasion of privacy. The lawsuit focuses on several articles published between June 2016 and March 2017 claiming the fitness guru is both transgender and has undergone a number of medical procedures as part of his transition to living as a woman. These rumors were sold to the publication by what Simmons claims is an unreliable source. Principles of freedom of speech and press may protect their prerogative to mock and degrade the LGBTQ community, Simmons attorney, Neville Johnson, says about the publications named in the suit. But freedom to speak is not freedom to defame. Mr. Simmons, like every person in this nation, has a legal right to insist that he not be portrayed as someone he is not. Even the most ardent supporter of sexual autonomy and LGBTQ rights is entitled to be portrayed in a manner that is truthful.

The source in question should be familiar to fans of the Missing Richard Simmons podcast: Mauro Oliveira, Simmons erstwhile masseuse. According to the suit, the Slimmons creator has allegedly been the target of his former friends repeated attempts to extract money from him. Starting from around May 2015, Mauro Oliveira, an individual who has blackmailed, extorted and stalked Mr. Simmons for several years with the intention of destroying the career and reputation of Mr. Simmons, contacted several press outlets, including the National Enquirer and Radar, and offered information on Mr. Simmons disappearance in exchange for a fee, the filing claims. All of these assertions were untrue, and were merely attempts by Mr. Oliveira to gain a profit in exchange for providing a false narrative about Mr. Simmons leave of absence. One of the articles in question, a National Enquirer June 2016 cover story, depicted the fitness star in drag with the headline, Richard Simmons: Hes Now A Woman! and allegedly used Oliveira as their only source. An American Media, Inc. spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, While we have not seen Mr. Simmons complaint, we stand by our reporting about him, all of which was based on solid sourcing, photos and videos. Should he choose to proceed with his lawsuit, we will defend it vigorously, and we look forward to the public vindication of our reports.
CHARLESTON -- The five people accused of taking part in an armed robbery at Lakeland Living Apartments in Mattoon have all admitted to their roles in the crime, with four of them receiving prison time.

The suspects were charged in connection with Feb. 19 robbery of an apartment at 4213 Lake Land Blvd. during which one person was reportedly hit in the head with a gun and property was allegedly stolen.

Those charged included Edward D. Allen, 24, for whom court records list an address of 202 1/2 Sixth St., Charleston, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison following his guilty plea.

Allen entered the plea to a robbery charge that had a possible sentencing range of four to 15 years with probation as an option.

The agreement in his case called for dismissal of armed robbery and home invasion charges that would have required a six- to 30-year prison sentence with a conviction.

Coles County Circuit Judge James Glenn sentenced Allen by accepting the terms of a plea agreement that State's Attorney Brian Bower and defense attorney Duane Deters recommended.

Allen was one of three of the suspects accused of directly taking part in the break-in and robbery while the other two suspects allegedly helped them plan it or flee from the scene.

The others charged with the actual robbery were Andrew Tristan Allen, 20, for whom records list a Champaign address, and Jack M. Nixon, 18, whose address on record is 832 Foxcrest Drive, Charleston.

In both their cases, they pleaded guilty to robbery charges with other charges dismissed and were sentenced to eight years in prison.

Each was recommended for the Illinois Department of Corrections Impact Incarcerations program, often called a prison "boot camp," through which inmates can be released early if they successfully complete a discipline program.

Prison officials have to decide whether to admit an inmate into the program but a judge's recommendation is required for eligibility.

Circuit Judge Brien O'Brien accepted plea agreements in those cases. Bower prosecuted, Assistant Public Defender Terese Matthews represented Andrew Allen and attorney Todd Reardon represented Nixon.

Also receiving prison time for his role in the robbery was Danny Tejada, 20, whose address on record is 1315 Davis St., Charleston.

Tejada pleaded guilty to a robbery charge and other charges were dismissed. He was also sentenced to eight years in prison with a recommendation for the Impact Incarceration program.

According to Mattoon police, he took part in the robbery by driving the suspects to the apartment building and helped them flee the scene after the robbery took place.

In Tejada's case, O'Brien accepted a plea agreement that Bower and defense attorney Chris Wetzel recommended.

The other suspect was Brianna N. Harshbarger, 22, for whom records list address on Edgar Drive and on State Street in Charleston.

Harshbarger was placed on probation for 2 1/2 years after she pleaded guilty to a robbery charge and a charge that would have required prison time was dismissed.

According to police, she checked the apartment before the robbery to see if guns were present and for how many people were there, and also lured some people out of the apartment before the robbery took place.

In Harshbarger's case, O'Brien accepted a plea agreement that Bower and Assistant Public Defender Jesse Danley recommended.
Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture

Its been quite a while since the summer airwaves were dominated by reruns or silly filler programming. And thank goodness! These days, the months of May through August offer a solid lineup of returning TV favorites and promising new shows, and theres enough out there to satisfy even the most picky of small-screen palates. Below, Vulture lists the premiere dates for summer TV in 2017  and weve highlighted a few favorites that are particularly worth your time. Happy watching!

Master of None, May 12, Netflix

The second season of Aziz Ansaris semiautobiographical dramedy starts out with a very Italiano bang, with Dev (Ansari) fulfilling his dream to live in Italy and learn how to make bellissima pasta. Soul-searching, ill-fated romances, and a whole lot of meals across two continents ultimately ensue.

I Love Dick, May 12, Amazon

Jill Soloway is back with an Amazon series all about the female gaze. In I Love Dick, a married couple named Chris and Sylvere (Kathryn Hahn and Griffin Dunne) temporarily relocate to the artsy confines of Marfa, Texas, where Chris finds herself lusting after her husbands professor, Dick (Kevin Bacon).

The Keepers, May 19, Netflix

Will The Keepers be the next Making a Murderer? Netflixs newest true-crime series tells the story of a Baltimore nun, Sister Catherine Cesnik, who was murdered 50 years ago under very suspicious circumstances. Now, a group of investigators are hell-bent on solving the murder and finally bringing justice to Sister Catherines family and friends.

Twin Peaks, May 21, Showtime

After 25 years, Agent Dale Cooper has returned to the infamously quirky Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks. The show promises a bunch of familiar faces, but besides that, David Lynch hasnt revealed much of anything about his hotly anticipated revival. Theorize away about if Bob is still inhabiting Coops body.

Im Dying Up Here, June 4, Showtime

For those who dream of pursuing stand-up, youll want to watch Im Dying Up Here, the newest dramedy from Showtime that explores Los Angeless gritty, complex comedy scene in the 1970s. Jim Carrey is an executive producer, so you know it comes with a comic icons seal of approval.

Orange Is the New Black, June 9, Netflix

The series fifth season picks right up after the very dramatic events faced by the Litchfield inmates in the previous finale, and will take place over the course of three days. Will Daya end up shooting that sadistic officer? Will Piper stay out of trouble? Only time will tell.

Claws, June 11, TNT

Niecy Nash finally gets the fierce leading role she deserves with TNTs dark comedy Claws, which follows a group of five Florida nail-salon employees tangled in a life of crime and violence. Lets just say their salon isnt just doling out gel manicures and French pedicures.

Glow, June 23, Netflix

The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are here to rock your world with their body slams and funky 80s outfits. This Netflix comedy finds Alison Brie as a struggling actress in Los Angeles who gets involved with the squad with the hopes of revitalizing her career, despite being unaware that pro wrestling is a lot harder than she expected. Shocker!

Game of Thrones, July 16, HBO

Cersei is the queen. Danaerys is sailing to Westeros. The end is near.

Marvels The Defenders, August 18, Netflix

What happens when Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist walk into a New York City bar? They kick some major ass  and get their own supergroup Marvel television show. If you enjoyed their individual shows, youll get a kick out of this big team-up.

The full summer 2017 lineup:

Friday, May 12

12 a.m. Anne, Netflix

12 a.m. I Love Dick, Amazon

12 a.m. Master of None, Netflix

Wednesday, May 17

9:30 p.m. Downward Dog, ABC

Friday, May 19

12 a.m. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix

12 a.m. The Keepers, Netflix

8 p.m. 12 Monkeys, Syfy

Sunday, May 21

9 p.m. Twin Peaks, Showtime

Tuesday, May 23

12 a.m. Casual, Hulu

Wednesday, May 24

8 p.m. Dirty Dancing, ABC

Thursday, May 25

8 p.m. Love Connection, Fox

9 p.m. Beat Shazam, Fox

Friday, May 26

12 a.m. Long Strange Trip, Amazon

Monday, May 29

9 p.m. Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The CW

10 p.m. Still Star-Crossed, ABC

Tuesday, May 30

12 a.m. House of Cards, Netflix

9 p.m. Animal Kingdom, TNT

Wednesday, May 31

8 p.m. Kingdom, DirecTV

9 p.m. The Carmichael Show, NBC

Friday, June 2

12 a.m. Flaked, Netflix

Sunday, June 4

9 p.m. Fear the Walking Dead, AMC

10 p.m. Im Dying Up Here, Showtime

Monday, June 5

8 p.m. Shadowhunters, Freeform

9 p.m. Stitchers, Freeform

10 p.m. Daytime Divas, VH1

Tuesday, June 6

10 p.m. The Profit, CNBC

Thursday, June 8

10 p.m. Queen of the South, USA

Wednesday, June 7

8 p.m. Nightcap, Pop

Friday, June 9

12 a.m. Orange Is the New Black, Netflix

8 p.m. Dark Matter, Syfy

10 p.m. Wynonna Earp, Syfy

Saturday, June 10

10 p.m. Orphan Black, BBC America

Sunday, June 11

9 p.m. American Grit, Fox

9 p.m. Claws, TNT

Monday, June 12

8 p.m. So You Think You Can Dance, Fox

9 p.m. Superhuman, Fox

Tuesday, June 13

9 p.m. Face Off, SyFy

Wednesday, June 14

10 p.m. Blood Drive, Syfy

Friday, June 16

12 a.m. The Ranch, Netflix

Sunday, June 18

9 p.m. Grantchester, PBS

Monday, June 19

9 p.m. Preacher, AMC

Tuesday, June 20

10 p.m. Queen Sugar, OWN

Thursday, June 22

10 p.m. The Night Shift, NBC

10 p.m. The Mist, Spike

10 p.m. The Gong Show, ABC

Friday, June 23

12 a.m. Glow, Netflix

11 p.m. Playing House, USA

Wednesday, June 28

12 a.m. Okja, Netflix

10 p.m. Younger, TV Land

Thursday, June 29

9 p.m. Battle of the Network Stars, ABC

9 p.m. Big Brother, CBS

10 p.m. Zoo, CBS

Friday, June 30

12 a.m. Gypsy, Netflix

8 p.m. Killjoys, Syfy

8 p.m. Masters of Illusion, The CW

Wednesday, July 5

10 p.m. Snowfall, FX

Sunday, July 9

9 p.m. Candy Crush, CBS

9 p.m. The Defiant Ones, HBO

Monday, July 10

8 p.m. Penn & Teller: Fool Us, The CW

9 p.m. Will, TNT

Tuesday, July 11

8 p.m. The Fosters, Freeform

9 p.m. The Bold Type, Freeform

Wednesday, July 12

9 p.m. Salvation, CBS

10 p.m. Im Sorry, TruTV

Thursday, July 13

9 p.m. Hooten & the Lady, The CW

Friday, July 14

12 a.m. Friends From College, Netflix



Sunday, July 16

9 p.m. Game of Thrones, HBO

10 p.m. The Strain, FX (final season)

Monday, July 17

10 p.m. Loaded, AMC

Tuesday, July 18

10 p.m. Being Mary Jane, BET

Friday, July 21

12 a.m. Ozark, Netflix

12 a.m. Last Chance U, Netflix

Sunday, July 23

10 p.m. Ballers, HBO

10:30 p.m. Insecure, HBO

Monday, July 24

10 p.m. Midnight, Texas, NBC

10 p.m. Somewhere Between, ABC

Friday, July 28

The Last Tycoon, Amazon

Room 104, HBO

Sunday, July 30

11:30 p.m. Rick and Morty, Adult Swim

Top Gear America, BBC America

Friday, August 4

12 a.m. Wet Hot American Summer, Netflix

Sunday, August 6

8 p.m. Sharknado 5, Syfy

Friday, August 11

12 a.m. Atypical, Netflix

Friday, August 18

12 a.m. Marvels The Defenders, Netflix
Zach McGowan. Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Zach McGowan, self-described on his website as that guy from that show, is upending conventional wisdom that you need an A-list star to finance an ambitious film project. Deadline reports that McGowan has been cast in the lead role of Gabriel Robertsons World War II drama, Niihau, which tells the real-life story of Benehakaka Ben Kanahele, a Hawaiian civilian awarded the Medal for Merit and the Purple Heart. During the war, Kanahele saved the life of Japanese pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi who crashed on the titular Hawaiian island after taking part in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In a long and complicated saga, Kanahele and his wife Ella were captured by Nishikaichi, and eventually killed him during a struggle. (You can read a more descriptive account here.) During the ordeal, Nishikaichi received help from three Hawaiians of Japanese descent. The situation became known as the Niihau Incident, and became part of the justification for Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment almost 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Niihau is Robertsons first feature film. Heres a photo of Kanahele:

Benehakaka Kanahele honored at ceremony. Photo: US Army Signal Corps/University of Hawaii at Manoa Library

On a related note, here are some recommendations for bronzers.
Cameron Park Zoo, 1701 N. Fourth St., will have a Grapes with the Apes fundraiser from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

The event will include an Asian Imperial Feast prepared by Vicki Parker, owner of Wacos Bestyett Catering, paired with fine wines from Valley Mills Vineyard.

Graham L. Banes, an orangutan researcher whose research has been featured on television in England and the U.S., will be the guest speaker.

Dessert, dessert wines and coffee will be served at the Asian Forest where guests will get a behind the scenes tour of the building, and an opportunity to see the zoos baby orangutan, Razak.

Tickets are $100. Attendees must be 21 or older.

For tickets and more information, visit www.cameronparkzoo.com.

CRRC dinner, movie

The Community Race Relations Coalition will have dinner and a movie from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Albans Church Parish Hall, 305 N. 30th St.

The featured film will be The Visitor, a drama illustrating how the issue of immigration can become intensely personal.

Dinner will be provided by the coalitions board.

The event is free, but reservations are required. For reservations, call 717-7903 or email Jo@welterfamily.org.

Human trafficking talk

Susan Peters, director of Unbound, an anti-human trafficking organization, and McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara will speak at the McLennan County Republican Womens meeting at 11:30 a.m. May 16 in Brazos Room C of the Waco Hilton, 113 S. University Parks Drive.

Cost is $15, which includes lunch. Reservations are required by Thursday.

For reservations, call Rosemary Stovall at 855-3773 or email roseandmary57@yahoo.com.

CTX watercolorists

Central Texas Watercolor Society will meet from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, 1624 Wooded Acres Drive.

Cheryle Chapline will present a program titled Pour a Painting. Guests can bring their watercolors and participate.

The program is free to first-time visitors. A light lunch will be provided.

For more information, call 296-3776.

Kiwanis Seniors

The Waco Kiwanis Seniors will meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Golden Corral, 618 N. Valley Mills Drive.

Chris Johnson, pastor at Chalk Bluff Baptist Church, will talk about missions.

For more information, call Dick Rood at 399-0072.
Anna Futral had quite a resume when she applied to become the new executive director of CASA of Hill and McLennan counties, an organization that helps place youngsters in foster homes.

She and her husband, Trent Futral, know firsthand the challenge and reward of serving as foster parents, having opened their home to three children  ages 2, 3 and 4  whom they later adopted.

They were part of a brand-new Child Protective Services case that played itself out, and we served as foster parents from the very beginning, said Futral, who also has served on the board of CASA. We chose to build our family through foster care.

Now, Futral will apply what she knows to securing an advocate for every foster child in Hill and McLennan counties, someone to speak for them in court and to pursue a stable residence that provides the nurturing and security the youngsters may never have known.

Monday was Futrals first day on the job at CASA, which stands for Court-Appointed Special Advocates. The organization shares new office space with Communities in Schools at 1001 Washington Ave.

She said 645 children reside in foster care in Hill and McLennan counties, and only one-fourth have someone special in their corner.

Our ultimate goal is to have enough folks volunteer to serve kids that everyone in foster care will have an advocate, Futral said. Were not there yet, but were working diligently in that direction.

She said the local CASA program is demanding of volunteers. They receive training to become the official voice of the child, undergo extensive background checks and commit to serving at least one year. They receive no pay but qualify for expense reimbursement, said Anna Clark-Martinez, board president of CASA.

Advocates typically work for a client 15 to 20 hours a month, longer if they need to attend a court trial involving a foster child.

CASA and its volunteers often work closely with Child Protective Services, which investigates cases of reported child abuse or neglect. CPS can take steps to remove a child from a home.

The work can be time-intensive and emotionally intensive, said Futral. Its not right for everybody.

CASA of Hill and McLennan counties has an annual budget of about $400,000, which we hope to increase as we get more volunteers and more staffers, Futral said. CASA employs four people in Waco and one in Hill County, she said.

Futral, 30, received a degree in accounting from Baylor University and moved to Waco from Fredericksburg about 13 years ago. She served on the CASA board about two years before applying to succeed Susie Wimberly as executive director.

Anna Futral is very passionate about this work. The board, as well as the search committee, felt she had the dedication and skill set to match our need and our financial capabilities, Clark-Martinez said. Her work ethic is stellar, and shes a great listener, which are skills we were looking for in a leader. On top of that, shes very humble for someone with so many talents.

She said CASA received well over 50 applications for the job of executive director, several from outside the state.

Futral said it is a common misconception that children enter foster care because of their own conduct. That is not the case.

Their presence typically is the result of sexual or physical abuse or not being cared for properly, she said. The police or CPS may investigate, and if a home is deemed unsafe, and if the child will not be returned to the parents or other relatives, then he or she may enter the foster care system. Some, unfortunately, may stay in the system for years, though the goal is adoption.

Every youngster in CPS is represented by a caseworker and an attorney, but an advocate has so much more time to devote, Futral said. Attorneys are working toward the same goal, but they cant give as much time or focus to a particular child.

An advocate, she said, can serve as the glue, speak to the foster parents, the courts, CPS, and gain consensus on what is best for the child. They can provide continuity for the child.

She said CASA pursues advocates through word-of-mouth and by approaching places of worship and nonprofit and civic organizations. She added that CASA will assess the effectiveness of its efforts in pursuit of increased participation.
A 16-year-old Moody High School student was released from the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center Monday, almost two weeks after he was detained on allegations he urinated in a teachers drinking cup.

The boy had a detention hearing set for Monday. However, a juvenile probation officer and a prosecutor agreed to allow the boy to go home with his mother after reviewing a psychological report and police reports about the alleged April 13 incident.

The boy was detained April 25 on third-degree felony charges of assault on a public servant, harassment of a public servant and obstruction or retaliation. The McLennan County District Attorneys Office has not filed formal charges in the case.

The juvenile was accused of urinating in a drinking cup that belonged to one of the teachers and she didnt find out about it until after the fact, Moody Police Chief Roger Kennedy said last month. She thinks she (ingested) it but she doesnt know 100 percent, because according to her statement she made the comment that the water fountain always tastes funny.

Statements, video review

Moody ISD Superintendent Gary Martel said the high school principal collected statements from students and reviewed video footage from hallway cameras after students returned from the Easter holiday. The school disciplined the student April 18 in accordance with the districts student code of conduct, as police continued to investigate, Martel said.

Two other students told (the teacher) what was going around, and she immediately emptied the cup, Kennedy said.

Waco attorney John Wiersgalla was appointed to represent the boy. However, the family retained Houston attorney Chad Henderson, who substituted in for Wiersgalla on Monday before the detention hearing was canceled.

Henderson did not return a phone message left at his office.

Wiersgalla said he thinks the boy was joking and the matter took on a life of its own.

He absolutely denies it. He is adamant he did not do it, Wiersgalla said. He was just joking and this basically got out of hand. I think it is a tragedy that he spent two weeks in detention for making a bunch of jokes when there doesnt seem to be any evidence to corroborate that he actually urinated in the cup.

Conflicting opinions

Wiersgalla said he has reviewed the police report and witness statements. He said he knows of no video evidence. Many of the students said they dont think he did it, that they dont think he would do something like that and that he was just joking, Wiersgalla said. One student told the teacher the boy said he urinated in the cup, he said.

The boy and another boy asked to go to the bathroom. The teacher asked the other boy to fill her cup with water on the way back, Wiersgalla said. While they were in the bathroom, the other boy handed the suspect the cup and asked him to fill the teachers cup, and he is the one who brought the cup back to the teacher, Wiersgalla said.

Later, the boy started talking about survival shows and asked the teacher if she would be willing to drink her own urine to survive, Wiersgalla said. That statement likely added to the suspicion, he said.

The entire report was witness statements. A bunch of students and the teacher made statements. She said the water tasted funny. She actually said it tasted like urine mixed with water, Wiersgalla said. Im not exactly sure how she knows that. I think he was just joking. I think he was trying to look good in front of his friends. That is my take on the whole thing.
Four Central Texas bikers arrested after the May 2015 Twin Peaks shootout in Waco are seeking $1 billion in damages in a lawsuit filed Monday in an Austin federal court.

Jim Albert Harris, Bonar Crump Jr., Juan Carlos Garcia and Drew King, all members of the Grim Guardian motorcycle group, claim they were arrested merely because they were wearing biker colors at Twin Peaks and say they are guilty of nothing.

Their lawsuit, filed on their behalf by Beaumont attorney Brent W. Coon, names as defendants Waco police Detective Manuel Chavez and Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, former Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, McLennan County Justice of the Peace Pete Peterson, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna, the city of Waco, McLennan County, and the corporation that owns Twin Peaks restaurants.

The suit paints Waco as a midsize town dominated by Baylor University and its strict Southern Baptist traditions, where out-of-towners are not welcome.

There was even a puritanical and complete ban on all dancing at the school, which was finally modified to allow limited types of nonprovocative dancing in 1996, the suit begins. Violators of these strict moral standards are subject to expulsion from the university. While there is nothing wrong in and of itself with this brand of Christianity or these religious restrictions, they are arguably behind the times of the rest of the communities in Texas and around the country and again reflective of a nontolerant culture which permeates Waco to this day.

It is this environment that bred multiple scandals at Baylor, public lynchings in Waco, the Branch Davidian siege and ongoing intolerance of groups outside the comfortable local norm, the suit claims.

Harris and Garcia, both of Travis County; and Crump and King, both of Hays County, rode to Waco to attend the Texas Confederation of Clubs and Independents meeting in Waco. The suit says the Grim Guardians began as a riding club focused on child advocacy to support kids in abusive situations. They worked with the Travis County Court Appointed Special Advocates and the Center for Child Protection for several years.

One of the most surprising elements of wearing their cuts around these advocacy folks is that they discovered that the rugged biker image was actually appreciated, the suit says. GGMC members learned that male role models and volunteers are very scarce within the world of grassroot advocacy and mentoring. Travis County CPS was happy to see strong male role models, and as a consequence, the bikers were in fairly high demand.

The suit claims that the four were in the process of parking their motorcycles at Twin Peaks when the violence erupted. Harris, King and Garcia took cover behind their motorcycles, then a truck, which was struck by bullets while they hid behind it, the suit says.

At one point, they took cover behind a vehicle with a female law enforcement officer, the suit states. She quickly determined that these three men were not a threat. As they hid together behind a vehicle, these three heard over her radio that she was ordered to advance toward Don Carlos restaurant. She cursed and was visibly afraid. Drew King and Juan Carlos Garcia both told her to take care of herself and to be careful.

The three waited in the parking lot for three or four hours and could not find their friend, Crump, the suit alleges. As they waited for their friend, they were arrested. King asked why and an officer told him, Because you are wearing leather vests, according to the lawsuit.

Crump was taken to jail with other bikers and his bond was set at $1 million. King, Garcia and Harris went to jail later and, for some reason, their bonds were set at $20,000, allowing them to be released and go home. Later, their bonds were recalled and a warrant was issued for their arrests again, the suit contends.

After they surrendered, bonds were set at $2 million for the three.

The lawsuit alleges unlawful search and seizure, unlawful arrest, unlawful restraint under excessive bail, violations of their right to remain silent, a conspiracy among Waco and McLennan County officials to violate their rights, libel and slander.

Plaintiffs seek $1 billion in punitive or exemplary damages and compensation for the intentional, unconstitutional, negligent and grossly negligent conduct of the defendants, the suit says. What happened in Waco should never happen again, and what these defendants did should never happen again. The motorcycle-riding community, which is many millions in number, will be watching the outcome of these proceedings with an extreme amount of attention.
Leni E. Anderson Christian

May 2, 1944 - May 6, 2017

We know that they are celebrating in heaven, but we have a little less light in our world. Leni Edith Anderson Christian passed away painlessly in her sleep on May 6, 2017, in Waco, Texas. Cancer claimed her life, but it never claimed her spirit nor her radiant smile, which all who knew Leni loved about her. A reception will be held 5:00-7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 11, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home in Waco. A family burial will be held in College Station, to place Leni beside her mother and father at the Memorial Cemetery of College Station. The memorial service will follow at Brazos Meadows Baptist Church in Hewitt, Texas, at 2:00 p.m., Friday, May 12.

Leni grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, and went to high school with Janis Joplin, a fact that she loved to tell friends. She would recount vivid memories of Janis sitting on the front steps of the school draped in colorful boas and playing her zither. Her parents were Clara Bell Anderson and Harold Arvin Anderson. In her high school years, Leni was crowned Cavoilcade Queen in Port Arthur. She graduated from Baylor University, where she was a Baylor Beauty, and married Michael John Henke in 1966. They lived in Alexandria, Virginia, for all of their 40 years together.

Kind hearted and full of joy, Leni was a doting mother to her three children, Blake, Paige and Britt. She chose to stay at home with her kids, rather than to work outside the home. She was an incredible mother, and her children were the center of her world. She was at every school and sporting event and volunteered with many school activities, including Cub Scouts, Brownies, as well as music and art classes. She even drove Paige's high school lacrosse team from Virginia to Florida, a trip that most certainly tested her maternal dedication and patience. She was an accomplished piano player and led the children's choir at church for many years. She also taught piano lessons and played carols at annual Christmas parties.

Leni had a deep love for the family farm near Hume, Virginia, and she would often retreat there for weekends and summers. One of her favorite things to do was to ride around the farm by herself in the evenings on her four-wheel ATV. For a time, she had horses there, and enjoyed trail rides on the nearby Marriot Ranch. She loved antiques and going antiquing.

Leni was active at her church, attending Bible study and prayer retreats regularly. She made 29 trips to Israel, bringing donated items and spreading the word of Jesus to anyone who would listen. Near and dear to her heart, this work was a true expression of her Christian faith. She felt at home in Israel. Based on the reactions she received, it seemed to her family that Leni had an invisible sign that said to complete strangers, "I can help!" And help she did!

After her divorce from Michael Henke in 2008, Leni moved to College Station. She was reacquainted with Dr. Robert Christian, whom she had known 40 years before at Baylor University. Love quickly blossomed and they were married. Leni and Robert had a wonderful life together in Waco until her passing.

Leni is survived by her husband of nine years, Dr. Robert Christian; three grown children, Blake, Paige, and Britt; four grandchildren, Wyatt, Brooks, Carter, and Jake; her brother, Swiki Anderson and wife, Judy, and their children, Ryan and Jeremy, and their grandchildren, Kira, Kai, and Cohen. Leni is also survived by step-son, Bryan Christian and wife, Angela, and their children, Gus and Zach.

We thank Providence Hospice, Interim Care, and a special thanks to Arlene Loredo, and Janie Compian for lovingly caring for mom in her final days.

Memorials can be given to a charity of your choice. Peace be on earth.

The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com.
Take an African-American congressman who represents a majority-Hispanic district and who thinks President Donald Trumps border wall is a stupid idea. Now take a congressman whos conservative on most national security, economic and social issues and whose alma mater, Texas A&M University, puts loyalty and respect for tradition on its core-values web page.

This is the same congressman: Texas Republican Will Hurd, 39. Hes one of the most interesting  and most endangered  members of Congress. Hes endangered because Texas is embroiled in a racially charged court battle over redistricting that could affect the demographic makeup of its 36 congressional districts. Hurds is delicately balanced  he won narrowly in November while Trump was losing there.

And hes interesting in part because he will be central in some of the most pitched battles of this Congress. He is a member of the Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election. And his huge district runs 800 miles along the Mexican border from San Antonio to El Paso, giving his views credibility as Trump tries to get money from Congress for the border wall .

Hurd calls the wall a third-century solution to a 21st-century problem. He favors more spending on better technology to stem drug trafficking from Mexico, adding that Trumps approach is the most expensive and least effective way to do it.

Tellingly, Trump has never spoken to the lawmakers most affected by his wall scheme. He and Hurd have never talked.

During the campaign last year, Hurd kept his distance from Trump, expressing displeasure at Trumps sexual and racial insults.

On Mexico, a big economic factor in his district, he bristles at Trumps threats and demagoguery but notes there are signs hes moving in the right direction. (The president now says hell seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement instead of summarily withdrawing and he accepted a budget with no money for the border wall.)

A former Central Intelligence Agency officer whose nine years of service included tours in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Hurd says he was bothered by Trumps blasts at intelligence agencies but praises the appointment of a former House colleague, Mike Pompeo, to head the CIA.

That appointment is what opened up a seat for Hurd on the Intelligence Committee as it prepares to investigate the possibility of collusion between Trump campaign operatives and Russian hackers.

In todays polarized environment, Hurd is one of the few representatives who cultivates relationships with members of the other party, both in Congress and in his district. When inclement weather affected air travel recently, he and a Democratic colleague, Beto ORourke, drove together from Texas to Washington. Years ago that was routine; today its a headline.

Those relationships have reassured some Democrats who fear that Republican leaders are more interested in protecting Trump than in getting to the bottom of the Russia controversy.

National Democrats, who hope to ride Trumps unpopularity to a House majority in the 2018 congressional elections, know there are few districts more likely to switch sides than Hurds. They also know hes one of the best candidates theyll have to run against.
The Republicans health bill is an act of supreme hypocrisy and insensitivity to the experience of Americans. It will damage  not improve  the U.S. health system.

Obamacare was a failure because it passed with only Democratic votes  so charged Republicans. Yet all through 2009, Democrats tried to get Republicans to engage in discussions about health-care reform. Remember the Gang of Six or the Gang of Eight that Democratic Sen. Max Baucus ran to try to craft a bipartisan bill? Now, given their own opportunity for a bipartisan health-reform bill, Republicans passed a totally partisan bill and never even tried reaching out to Democrats to see if there could be consensus.

Democrats are giving the insurance companies bailouts  so charged Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. The Affordable Care Act contained risk corridors, a way to spread the risk across insurers when the exchanges just started and no one knew who would buy insurance. In 2014, Republicans voted to block funding for these risk corridors  a main reason that premiums on the exchanges went up so much in 2016 and 2017. Now, in their own bill, Republicans have included tens of billions of dollars for insurance companies. Bailout? No, Republicans relabeled this a stability fund.

Republicans promised they would never allow insurance companies to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Well, so much for that. House Speaker Paul Ryans bill allows states to grant companies the ability to charge exorbitant fees to people with pre-existing diseases. The Republican claim that no state will pass such bills is ridiculous. Why have the option then? More important, we know states have done much worse in the past. Remember Arizona denying bone-marrow transplants to patients with curable cancer on Medicaid? Who would have thought that could happen?

And those high-risk pools Republicans claim will protect people with pre-existing conditions? They dont work. Even with Rep. Fred Uptons amendment offering an extra $8 billion to the stability fund, the pools would be totally underfunded. Just do the math. Insuring patients with serious illnesses will cost about $10,000 each (a conservative estimate), so Uptons money covers fewer than 200,000 Americans. Not even a modest fig leaf.

Other Republican axioms: Obamacare is collapsing; the exchanges are dying; premiums are skyrocketing; and a third of counties have only one insurer. Lets put aside that the Congressional Budget Office and Standard & Poors concluded that the exchanges are stable. Lets put aside that Anthem just announced it is doing well in the exchanges. If they wobble, it is the Republicans doing.

A few fixes would enhance the exchanges functioning: 1) Enforce the mandate so more healthy Americans buy in the exchanges; 2) guarantee funding for subsidies to consumers so insurance companies can lower premiums; 3) fund the risk corridors and reinsurance payments; and 4) increase targeted advertising so more people know about the subsidies and the requirement to get insurance.

The Republican bill will increase costs. Cutting essential benefits means people must pay for those uncovered services  whether thats maternity care, mental-health care or dental care for children. With more uninsured people, hospitals will increase what they charge to cover the uncompensated care they give, driving up premiums. And there is no provision to reduce deductibles.

Most important, this bill has no serious cost-control ideas in it. No change in how doctors and hospitals are paid to improve quality and lower costs. No measures to reduce drug prices. No attempts to lower Medicare costs through site-neutral payments  that is, paying the same price regardless of where a procedure is performed  or to prevent hospitals from buying up physician practices to increase their bargaining power and raise their costs. Desiring to do something, Republicans have only shown hypocrisy and callousness. As polls suggest, they wont have to wait long to see the repercussions of their actions  only till 2018.
President Trump has by now proven he has no intention of fulfilling his campaign pledge to drain the Washington, D.C., swamp of individuals who use special connections or wealth to procure power or favors. Thank goodness public servants in the Texas Legislature are doing their bit to lower the Austin muck of high-dollar donors who snare key seats on influential state boards and commissions.

Were happy that the Texas House of Representatives this past weekend approved on final reading a bill that would discourage any governor from stocking pivotal board and commission vacancies with appointees who just happen to have kicked in significant amounts of cash to gubernatorial campaigns. To everyday, ordinary folks who observe this standard political practice, it looks like what it probably is: pay for play.

Kudos to state Reps. Charles Doc Anderson and Kyle Kacal, who represent the Waco area, for joining a thoroughly bipartisan effort to pass a bill by Rep. Lyle Larson, a Republican, that would outlaw appointment to any board or commission someone who has in the previous year donated more than $2,500 to the governors campaign. Furthermore, any appointee would have to forgo giving contributions over that amount in a year during his or her term of service.

During House debate Friday, Larson declined to cite examples of this abuse  possibly because it might take too long but more likely to save the governor of his party any embarrassment. But he did note that, during Rick Perrys tenure as Texas longest-serving governor, Perry received some $17 million from people he subsequently appointed to commissions or boards. Coincidence?

Ive got a lot of friends who would like to serve on [the Texas Department of] Parks and Wildlife, Larson told his colleagues. They dont have $300,000, $400,000 or $500,000, but they have the ability to understand the conservation of our land, understand how to deal with promulgation of species that inhabit our wild lands. Ive got people who would love to serve on the board of regents at [Texas] A&M or UT, but they dont have the wherewithal to give money to a [gubernatorial] campaign.

This problem should be a concern to constituents if not the governor: Having money might demonstrate business savvy or how to handle a big inheritance, but its not necessarily evidence of relevant knowledge about, say, management of wildlife or transportation or health care or insurance. State executives should be looking for the most qualified people to fill such posts. Thats not always people who donate to political campaigns.

During a committee hearing last month, Larson acknowledged some Republicans might balk, given that they control the Legislature and governors mansion. He said they should think ahead and consider how they might well feel if the Democrats return to power and Republicans failed to reform a potential abuse of power: Im looking into a future not knowing whether its going to be a Republican or Democrat who is sitting in the governors mansion [next]. I know therell be a day when all of us are sitting here saying, Why didnt we fix this when we had a chance? 
Fake nursing news

A recent letter from Douglas Herridge made the claim that pending legislation could result in a new tax on nursing-home residents. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is an example of fake facts that could wind up hurting real senior Texans if left unrefuted.

SB 1130/HB 2766 will allow nursing-home owners to use their own money to draw down additional federal dollars for Texas nursing homes. It wont cost nursing-home residents a penny. It also wouldnt increase state spending. The legislation expressly prohibits nursing homes from passing on the allowance to their patients either directly or indirectly.

Its needed because the state hasnt met the cost of care for a Medicaid resident for the past two decades. When additional federal dollars are returned, nursing homes would have the opportunity to earn additional reimbursement if they meet certain quality metrics that enhance care.

I hope fake facts like that cited dont end up hurting the very people this bill is trying to help.

Maureen Collins, LNFA, The Brazos of Waco

Breaking the trust

There are some relationships where the nuances matter more, where understanding creates boldness, where exceptions apply and where conflicting goals are weighed and leveraged. Might I add the relationships of law enforcement-to-victim and law enforcement-to-community to the time-honored relationships of mother and child, husband and wife, doctor and patient and teacher and student?

Might I suggest, too, that if the relationships of law enforcement and victim and the relationship of law enforcement to the immigrant community is changed through sanctuary city legislation, any essential trust could well be eroded and organized criminal gangs may fill the enforcement void thus created? This should not be allowed to happen. Law enforcement needs the relationship tools and flexibility that their training and vetting of character allows and demands.

Making law enforcement the criminals in order to enforce a political partys agenda is unconscionable and a detriment to the goals of effective law enforcement and to the goals of a viable community. Such will bring us closer to a rigid system of laws where our best human attributes of trust, collaboration and good judgment are ignored.

Joyce Nobis, Waco

Perfect as a picture

Ray Perrymans April 28 Trib column was apparently intended to inform Texans of the tourism revenue our state could lose regarding the bathroom bill being considered by the Texas Legislature. However, the cartoon associated with that column was worth a thousand words. If legislators dont stick to their guns on this one, that guy could be in the ladies restroom. Thank you for helping me get a clearer picture.

Kaye Speed, Waco
The recent deluge of rain and the return of more precipitation late last week is more than an aggravation for kids going to their proms and homeowners trying to keep water out of their basements.

Fortunately, there were no reports of accidents on Central Illinois rivers and streams that were running high after the deluge. But it can be and will be a real attraction to people who like the rush of being on the water when it is moving so much faster than usual.

But as the Illinois Conservation Police (ICP) tell us, canoeists, kayakers, and other paddlers are playing with fire when they try to match wits with fast-moving waterways.

So, consider this a warning because this past week will not be the last time the area is engulfed in a lot of rain in a short period of time. And, with warmer weather coming  that will happen despite the cool spring so far  the lure to take to the water after a heavy storm will be stronger than ever for some people, and the chances for an accident, or worse, increase.

Earlier this spring, a 22-year-old Streator man lost his life when his kayak capsized while he was on the Vermilion River south of the city after a similar heavy rainstorm. It was the second death on the Vermilion in the past year.

At the time of the kayaker's death, ICP said the river was flowing at twice its normal rate.

Like police who plead with motorists to stay away from flooded streets and roadways, Conservation Police warn water-lovers to be smart and wait for rivers and streams to calm down before getting on the water.

That said, we all know some people will ignore the warnings, thinking they know how to handle themselves in any situation.

That can be a mistake, even a fatal one. But for anyone who decides to take that chance, at least follow some basic safety guidelines from ICP and and other first-responder experts: By all means, wear life jackets at all times; review and follow safety education material; start slow and avoid rivers when they near flood levels.

State law requires boats to have life jackets for each person on board, but they are only required to be worn by those under the age of 13, or of any age if they are on a personal watercraft.

Rivers have a lot of hidden dangers under normal conditions, Conservation Police Sgt. Chris Stone told The Pantagraph after the Vermilion River accident. Things can happen very rapidly and deteriorate rapidly.

Then there are the unseen dangers -- submerged objects, downed trees, floating logs and other debris, especially when water is high -- that only add to the level of danger.

Certainly, everyone wants to enjoy the warm-weather months and that includes being on and in the water -- rivers, lakes, the ocean. Even your local public swimming pool.

But, by all means, be smart about it. And, let's have a safe summer season.

-- The Bloomington Pantagraph
Qantas boss Alan Joyce has laughed off getting a pie shoved in his face while speaking at a business breakfast in Perth, saying his biggest issue is finding a decent drycleaner.

Mr Joyce was the keynote speaker at a West Business Leadership Matters event at the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday morning when a man appeared on stage with a pie.

The man then grabbed the Qantas CEO before shoving the pie in his face and casually walking off stage.

Late on Tuesday afternoon police released a statement to say the 67-year-old man from Willetton would face court via summons over the incident on a charge of giving false details to police.
At the town hall meeting on April 19, I voiced the following to our absent Representative Shimkus. I am the current president of PFLAG Charleston, a local chapter of a national organization that supports equality for LGBTQ folks. Although our laws in Illinois have been largely helpful in protecting the rights of LGBTQ citizens (Congressman Shimkus voting record not withstanding), our LGBTQ students continue to be at risk due to school bullying and oppression in society in general. We are especially concerned that some school districts (particularly in small rural areas of Central IL) are or may be developing restroom and locker room policies that stigmatize and isolate transgender students. Mr. Shimkus, what will you do to work toward equality for LGBTQ persons and in particular to support the rights of our transgender students and ensure their safety and success in schools? I wish that Rep. Shimkus had been present to respond to this important issue.
The proposed redevelopment of the Lincoln Journal Star building at Ninth and P streets conforms to the City-County Comprehensive Plan, according to the City Council, in the first of several approvals required for redevelopment proposals.

The Newman Development Group of Vestal, New York, plans to redevelop the downtown corner into a 10-story, mixed-use building that includes retail space on the ground floor, parking on the lower level and second floor, offices on the third and fourth floors, and market-rate apartments on the top six stories.

These will be market-rate, fairly high-end housing, designed for urban professionals, said Tom Huston, Lincoln architect representing the developers, at a hearing on the project Monday.

The company plans to negotiate with the city for about 340 additional parking spots in the city-owned Market Place Garage at 10th and Q streets.

The Journal Star building will be demolished to make way for the new building, called City Centre. The project does not include the Journal Stars production building north of the site. A bank on the corner of 10th and P streets will remain.

The Journal Star will be relocating its business offices and is evaluating its options, according to Publisher Ava Thomas.

The City Centre project is consistent with the 2005 Lincoln Downtown Master Plan, which indicates P Street should be a center for retail activity and should offer a pedestrian-friendly connection between Tower Square at 13th and P and the Haymarket, according to documentation given to the council.

The project is expected to cost approximately $92 million, including an estimated $13.5 million in tax-increment financing.

The TIF funding will be based on the $1.369 million assessed value of the current building and the expected new value of at least $65.7 million when the new building is finished. Taxes paid on the value difference will be used to pay off TIF-related bonds over a 15-year period.

The developers have cut the building size from 11 to 10 stories, in part because of design changes by the architect, WDG Architecture of Washington, D.C., which specializes in urban residential design, Huston said.

Huston said the redevelopment agreement will probably come to the City Council after July 4 and demolition may start this fall, with vertical construction beginning in the spring of 2018.

In other action, the council approved a redevelopment agreement with Nature's Variety Inc., which produces pet and animal food, for a new building at 311, 321 and 333 S.W. 32nd St.

The company expects to spend between $3.5 million and $4 million, including about $275,000 in TIF funding.
The 72nd WCO Fellowship Programme, intended for Spanish-speakers, was launched in Brussels on Monday 8 May 2017.

This Programme forms part of the WCOs work to develop the management capacities of Member administrations in support of Customs Reform and Modernization programmes. It is designed to provide extremely promising young managers from Member administrations with access to and further familiarization with WCO and international standards, tools and instruments, but also with training in supervisory and management techniques, so as to help them carry out reform and modernization within their respective administrations in a dynamic and sustainable manner.

This latest Programme brings together 13 participants who were welcomed on the 8th by Mr. Ernani Checcucci, Director Capacity Building, World Customs Organization. This introduction serves as a prelude to a series of conferences given by WCO experts, as well as to the eight-day Leadership and Management Development Workshop, facilitated by two experts from Brazil and Morocco. The fellows also benefited from a round-table discussion with Mr. Mujica, Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, during their first day at the Secretariat.

The participants will remain at WCO Headquarters until 2 June 2017 in order to prepare an in-depth study on a technical subject of their choice, under the supervision of a tutor, and to make recommendations to their respective administrations for possible subsequent implementation. Lastly the participants will spend a fortnight in one of the Programmes partner Administrations (the Republic of Korea or Japan) to round off their study trip.

The Spanish-speaking Fellowship Programme is funded by the Customs Administrations of Japan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.

List of countries participating in the 72nd Fellowship Programme: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
A bill that would determine child-care subsidy rates by the state advanced to final reading Monday after it was amended by Omaha Sen. Sara Howard.

Senators had extended debate on the bill (LB335) on first round, and the bill advanced after it was amended to ensure that in the next fiscal year, child-care provider pay wouldn't go below the 50th percentile of the child-care and development fund market rate survey.

Monday, Howard explained that for the 2019 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2018, the rates would go up to the 60th percentile of market rate for the last three quarters of that year, which begins Oct. 1.

As amended, the bill would create a cost of $3.8 million, said Omaha Sen. Merv Riepe. If the bill would not pass, the cost would be $5.6 million.

Omaha Sen. Bob Krist said the program is not federally mandated, but one that should continue to be funded at an appropriate level.

Omaha Sen Ernie Chambers was prepared to fight a battle over the bill Monday to bring as much stability and rationality to the program as possible, he said. But because of the work done by Howard, Riepe and others it wasn't necessary.

Senators also passed five other budget or budget-related bills, excluding the mainline budget that will be debated on final reading Tuesday. The bills passed with enough votes to include emergency clauses, which means they go into effect when signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The bills provide salary payment for senators and constitutional officers (LB328 and LB329), money for construction projects (LB330) and use of some cash funds and unexpended money in state agencies (LB149). Ricketts has line-item veto power over budget bills.

The state-claims bill (LB171) also passed on final reading.
A dozen dissenting senators held their ground Tuesday on final reading of two major budget bills.

They registered their vexation by voting no, putting the budget in danger of passing without an emergency clause, which requires 33 votes.

Without an emergency clause, the bills would not have gone into effect until three months after the close of the session. The money authorized by the bills is needed to keep state government running at the beginning of the 2017-18 fiscal year, which is July 1.

It almost happened, but it didn't. Still, it took two votes.

Eventually the emergency clause on the two bills (LB331 and LB327) was enacted. But some of those senators predicted the budget won't work and they would have to come back for a special session.

The first vote on LB331, which transfers $221 million to the Property Tax Credit Cash Fund and lowers the minimum reserve requirement to 2.5 percent to balance the budget, as required by law, fell short of the emergency clause on a 31-12 vote.

The senators voting no on LB331, which included Appropriations Committee members John Kuehn of Heartwell, Robert Clements of Elmwood and Dan Watermeier of Syracuse, invited the ire of Appropriations Chairman John Stinner of Gering.

"I'm just trying to get a grip on my feelings right now," Stinner said after asking for a reconsideration of the vote. "There's a little anger. A lot of disgust. A lot of frustration. You people had better wake up."

Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz, vice chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said it was not a responsible vote.

She outlined some of the consequences of sending a budget to Gov. Pete Ricketts without the emergency clause, resulting in the bills taking effect three months from the end of the session -- Sept. 2. The result would be a state government shutdown for two months for lack of a budget.

* Prior to July 1, agencies might not hire to fill open positions because of uncertainties, for example the Office of Probation hiring probation officers;

* School boards not assured of funding might have difficulty signing teacher contracts that are typically agreed to in June;

* The University of Nebraska Board of Regents might have difficulties setting financial aid for the next school year;

* With no cash funds, no general funds, or federal funds coming in, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission would be affected, and that might include people's summer vacations;

* Health providers would not receive state or federal funds;

* The Department of Correctional Services would not have funds to operate.

A few of those who voted against the bill (LB331) on the first vote said they wanted more cuts.

More than $700 million in cuts to the $8.9 billion state budget were represented in these bills, Stinner said in response.

Senators voted 36-12 when they reconsidered LB331, allowing for the emergency clause.

On the mainline budget bill (LB327), senators voted 36-12.

"In the end, we all knew we were going to pass a budget," Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson said. "This is just our way of drawing attention to what was going on, and from my perspective, I guess, just raise a red flag and say we have a problem."

During debate on the mainline budget, Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard brought up his idea again to take the budget back to amounts in effect for fiscal year 2016-17, with increases for state employees' salaries negotiated by collective bargaining.

Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston introduced an amendment to cut every general fund appropriation by 1 percent. Both withdrew their proposals.

The dissenting senators held a news conference after the vote.

If the state cannot control its spending, Friesen said, it will not be able to provide the property tax cuts many Nebraskans want. Tax cut bills are tied up in committees or died on the floor of the chamber, he said.

Much of the source of their consternation is the farm economy.

"I came here knowing that we've had a depressed ag economy. We've got farmers that are going out of business, losing money," said Clements, who was appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts to fill the seat of Bill Kintner, who resigned.

Friesen said past history has shown when there have been large increases in commodity prices, there's been a long tail on the down side. Now, production is exceeding demand and there's usually two or three years of decline.

Any proposed cuts to the budget offered during debate, including to the University of Nebraska, just didn't have enough votes, the senators said.

"As a group, we certainly talked a lot about what that would look like. And again, there was exceptional pressure put on members of the Legislature by the university," Kuehn said. "It was an incredible special interest pressure."

The influence of some of the larger, most vocal interests predominated, maybe at the cost of other interests without as strong of representation, he said.

Still, the state needs these cuts, whether it's this year or next year, Albrecht said.

"I think they've heard today where we want to be tomorrow," she said. "I really strongly believe we'll take care of it next year."

The bills will go to Ricketts for his decision on signing or making line-item vetoes. He has been vocal about wanting more cuts and not lowering the minimum reserve.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 08, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 08, 2017 | 05:47 PM | PADUCAH, KY

More than 30 people have now come forward with criminal complaints against a local attorney accused of settling insurance claims and pocketing the money without the knowledge of his clients.



According to the search warrant affidavit, there have been a total of 34 complaints against Grant King. One of King's former secretaries who worked for him until she realized he had been charged reportedly notified investigators that King still owes her $6,000 in back pay, and reimbursement for medical bills related to an accident. The affidavit goes on to say the former employee told investigators she had seen settlement agreements for some of the alleged victims. This led investigators to file a request to search King's Paducah office.



King was arrested April 27 on two counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of property $10,000 or more, after a couple who hired King in February of 2016 contacted them. Police say King settled with Nationwide Insurance, collecting a combined $93,000 without consulting with his clients to seek their approval on the amounts being settled.



Police say more charges are possible against King. He is set to be back in court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
An early sine die?

Speaker Jim Scheer told senators Tuesday this session has been one of the hardest. But a lot has been accomplished. And so, he said, the Legislature is looking at an early adjournment, sine die, May 23.

As far as the bills that could be passed next week, he did not anticipate Gov. Pete Ricketts has a conflict with them, so a five-day layover would not be needed, he said.

Student parents bill signed

Ricketts signed a bill (LB427), introduced by Omaha Sen. Tony Vargas, that would require schools to have policies on accommodating students who need to breastfeed their babies, or pump and store breast milk. Schools also would have policies providing allowances for students on absences related to pregnancy and parenting, encourage educational success of those students, and provide alternatives such as the ability to access coursework at home, allow for tutoring visits or offer online courses.

Coming Wednesday

A bill that would make a series of changes to state liquor law, including distribution requirements for in-state craft breweries, is expected to be debated for several hours Wednesday morning. The measure (LB632) is sponsored by Sen. Tyson Larson of O'Neill. Lawmakers are also scheduled to continue discussion of a bill (LB415) by Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward related to teacher retirement.
Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

Your Full Name: (optional)

Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 09, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 09, 2017 | 02:45 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Residents of the area near Pecan Drive in Paducah are expected to be at the Paducah City Commission meeting Tuesday night, once again expressing their desire that the area not be changed to a higher density residential zone.



George Cumbee lives on Oakcrest Drive and says the south tributary of Crooked Creek is 50 feet from his back door. He's lived there since 1991, and his father lived there nine years before that. He said in 2015 the water was up to his home, and he helped evacuate people from Crooked Creek Apartments



"It was literally waist-deep at the end of Oakcrest. I saw a fireman go down completely underwater down there when he stepped in a big hole that he couldn't see," Cumbee said.



He said a significant flooding event seems to happen about every two years, and, "we're due for one this year."



Ron Cowherd lives on Pecan Drive, and has been amazed recently at the number of different concerns residents have related to the proposed nursing facility.



"Not only flooding, but also noise from sirens, the extra traffic, and we feel it's going to lower our property values because of the noise. Also, there is a safety factor, so there are many things that come into play," Cowherd said.



Traffic is already a problem, and Cowherd said he's almost been hit head-on twice near Buckner Lane, where cars line up on both streets trying to turn at the intersection.



Cowherd said, "Waiting at the turning lane to turn onto Buckner underneath the bridge, and people coming around the curve - seeing that line of cars backed up - would use the turning lane as a passing lane."



Vehicle speeds are also an issue on Pecan, where the long-promised 35 mph speed limit has not been enforced.



Cumbee and Cowherd say they're not against progress, or jobs in Paducah that city leaders want so badly, but with all of the other problems caused by commercial development, this is not the right place for the proposed project.



While both men said they believe city officials have made up their minds on the zoning ordinance, Cumbee said the mayor and commissioners could damage their political futures by alienating so many people.



Cumbee said, "The Lang precinct alone has made a lot of impact on elections. The residents of Lang and Concord and the West End Association - who is behind us on this - won't forget who was for us and who was against us on this. That may be our only recourse is that we won't forget the next time around."



The city commission meeting is at 5:30 Tuesday night at City Hall.
Advertisement

By Adam Morton

May. 08, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By Adam Morton May. 08, 2017 | 08:12 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Each year the commonwealth of Kentucky celebrates tourism week right after the Kentucky Derby. This year, Kentucky Tourism Commissioner Kristen Branscum chose Paducah to talk about the economic impact from tourism over the past year.



According to Branscum, Kentucky generated $14.5 billion from tourism in 2016. This is an increase of more than five percent from $13.7 billion in 2015. Branscum also said the tourism industry is supported by 193,000 jobs across the state, and it brought in more than $1.5 billion in tax revenue.



Branscum said that tax revenue is one of the key factors in Kentucky's Tourism industry. "Visitors spend, on average, $151 per trip, and that equals about $15 in tax revenue. That allows us to focus on infrastructure to make updates to our communities that not only our visitors enjoy but also our residents," Branscum said.



The western region of Kentucky tourism is called the Western Waterlands, which includes McCracken County. This area brought in a total of $923.8 million tourism dollars in 2016. According to a fact sheet provided by Kentucky Travel, McCracken County Saw a 1.5% increase in 2016 over the previous year.



Visitors to McCracken county spent $621,520, and that spending generated $102,289 in state and local tax revenues.



"A vibrant tourism industry means a vibrant Kentucky." Branscum said.



Branscum spoke to area business owners and others impacted by tourism at the Paducah Commerce Center on Monday.




By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 08, 2017 | 05:36 PM | MAYFIELD, KY

A Graves County man facing a murder charge after a fatal crash earlier this year made a court appearance Monday.Fifty-year-old Patrick Wilson of Fancy Farm pleaded not guilty in Graves Circuit Court. Wilson faces charges stemming from a fatal collision that occurred Jan. 15. Deputies said Wilson was driving on KY 339 at the intersection of KY 121 when he disregarded a stop sign and hit another vehicle driven by Larry Wiggins of Mayfield. Kristie Wiggins, Larry Wiggins wife, was killed in the crash.Blood test results obtained through a search warrant reportedly revealed that Wilson had a blood alcohol concentration of .23 at the time of the collision, just under three times over the legal limit. Wiggins was also injured in the collision and treated at a local hospital.Wilson was seriously injured in the crash and was taken to a Nashville area hospital that night. He was later released from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility in Bowling Green. He was released and arrested by the Bowling Green Police Department on Graves County District Court warrants.Deputies traveled to Bowling Green and returned Wilson to Graves County. Wilson is charged with murder, 1degree assault, DUI 2nd offense with aggravated circumstances, failure to wear a seat belt and disregarding a stop sign.
Tatum's 39 points help Celtics hold on to beat Grizzlies 109-106
Nebraska prisons Director Scott Frakes is not bargaining in good faith with the state employees union and should be dismissed, Nebraska Association of Public Employees executive director Mike Marvin said Monday.

Marvin said in a letter to Gov. Pete Ricketts he has lost any faith he had in Frakes.

An agreement between the union and the state said negotiators would continue working on alternate shifts for Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, and if no ratified agreement was reached after two attempts, the prison would return to eight-hour shifts, rather than 12-hour shifts.

After a deadly riot at Tecumseh in May 2015, corrections officers and caseworkers went to 12-hour shifts based on the emergency. Two years later, turnover and vacancies are still high and security staff are still working 12-hour shifts.

The union lived up to its end of the agreement, Marvin said in the letter, but Frakes did not.

A tentative agreement on alternate shifts was taken to union members twice for ratification and failed twice, he said.

"Frakes now refuses to live up to the agreement he negotiated," Marvin said. "That is bad-faith bargaining. NAPE had every intention of continuing to negotiate as the agreement called for."

Frakes is not up to the job he was hired for in February 2015, Marvin said.

"We have tried and tried to work with him, but when he acts in bad faith, it is impossible to do so anymore," he said.

He asked Ricketts to find a Department of Correctional Services director who is up to the task of fixing Nebraska's correctional system.

"At this point, we are assessing whether or not to take legal actions against the state for bargaining in bad faith," the letter said. "Please respect your employees and order Frakes to live up to the agreement he negotiated."

The Legislature has included funding in its 2017-19 budget appropriations for more security positions at the prisons.

Ricketts and Frakes had requested additional money for prison staffing in the 2017-19 budget. The Appropriations Committee reduced the number funded by more than half after looking at a vacancy report on the high number of unfilled positions.

William Wood, chief negotiator for the state, said in a release: "Management's pursuit of alternate shifts for Tecumseh employees has always been based on its belief that due to the remoteness of the Tecumseh prison, employees would prefer an alternate schedule.

"While alternate shift schedules could help us alleviate the impact to staff, the emergency condition precipitated by the May 2015 disturbance at TSCI remains present."

Ricketts has continually reiterated his confidence in Frakes, whom he hired.

Frakes recently outlined progress on the reforms that have taken place in the prisons since he arrived 27 months ago.

He has not yet made public a critical incident report on the March 2 disturbance at Tecumseh in which two inmates were killed.
Loading...

Assata Shakur is alive and well in Kalungi Ssebandeke's debut play. A former ringleader of the Black Liberation Army, she was added to the FBI's most wanted list in 2013, 40 years after the roadside shoot-out that led to a state trooper's death. To her detractors, she's a terrorist; to her defenders, a scapegoat. Her surname's made her a cause celebre: she's Tupac's great aunt and godmother.

Assata Taught Me finds her holed up in Havana, where she's lived in self-imposed exile since 1984. Despite breaking jail, she's still stuck behind a triple-locked door and, with every knock, she pulls a pistol from a plant pot - a measure of what a $2 million bounty will do to a life. This is a woman for whom riches stem from "letting people in." The irony is inescapable.

Ssebandeke imagines her opening up to a young Cuban student Fanuco Maceo (Blackie' to his friends and to Assata's dismay) desperate to emigrate to Miami. Having persuaded her to teach him English in preparation, Fanuco finds himself schooled in racial politics, pushed to own his blackness and honour his ancestry.

It's almost a twist on Willy Russell's Educating Rita  not just language lessons laced with class warfare, but a student aspiring to everything his tutor despises. Fanuco's infatuation with all things American, from its hip-hop stars to its suave black president, runs counter to Assata's unswerving anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist stance.

Ssebandeke captures, brilliantly, the ambiguity of Assata herself. Adjoa Andoh, staunch as hell, treads a tightrope between conviction and crackpot. A woman devoted to a righteous cause, founded on good grounds, sometimes looks positively unhinged. Behind closed doors, rum-soaked, she chats to a photograph of her late grandmother, and the bitterness of exile has contaminated her view of America.

She is, Ssebandeke makes clear, stuck in the past, listening to old vinyl records and clinging to old enmities. Is that down to her - a woman who puts her African ancestry ahead of her American identity  or down to the country that cast her adrift? Cuba's a time-warp of its own, after all, and it's a fascinating point from which to ask whether America's actually changed at all in 50 years, weighing up Black Lives Matter against President Obama. It was, of course, on his watch that Assata's bounty was imposed.

Hence the play's concern with words and action  a smooth-talking president who does next to nothing  and the tendrilis of that stretch stretch from Assata's lessons to her actions. Is her activism undermined by violent means? Does the label terrorist' alter her cause?

For all its eloquence and insight, however, the play can feel contrived. Ssebandeke's guilty of convenient contradictions  Fanuco's stilted essay comes with a nuanced dissection of rhetoric  and, too often, his symbolism leads his situation. A climactic act of violence goes way too far: a stark image of infighting and generational divisions, it nonetheless involves a 70-year old woman, who's lived peaceably for 30-plus years, lynching a fighting fit 21-year old man. With more patience and attention, the play might both earn its ending and add up to a comprehensive portrait of its protagonist. As it is, there are gaps.

But better a play that does too much than too little, and Lynette Linton's production is nothing if not pulse-quickening. Jack Weir's lighting and Richard Hammarton's sound up the ante considerably, but the tension comes, first and foremost, from two combustible performances. Debutant Kenneth Omole combines Fanuco's heart with his hot-headed swagger, and Andoh is absolutely captivating at all times, utterly unpredictable and entirely inscrutable. But what's Assata Shakur if not an enigma, even after all this time?

Assata Taught Me runs at the Gate Theatre until 27 May.
Loading...

Oppressive concrete walls stand bleak and bleached. Ripe for strafing, you'd think. Yet this solid, windowless environment designed by Paul Wills quickly reveals a nifty side, and for a hundred hectic minutes it slides and snakes at a pace that undercuts the initial impression of crumbling permanence.

So, in its way, does the play that Stephen Brown has fashioned from Rory Stewart's memoir of his time as a greenhorn diplomat in post-conflict Iraq. Occupational Hazards is as slick as its title: a fast drama on a grim subject that's so anxious to hold its audience it ladles on the epigrams. Some earn grim nods of recognition "every election opens the door to extremists"; others play to stereotypes - "You can't have democracy in the country when you have tyranny in the home".

Stewart, now a Tory MP up for re-election, was an intrepid thirty-something in 2003 when he went to Iraq and presented himself as an intellectual for hire. He hustled the job of acting governorate coordinator in Maysan and found himself embroiled in the delicate internal politics of a culture whose customs he barely understood. Part Lawrence of Arabia, part Mr Bean, he fumbled his way through negotiations with two proud Islamic foes in a vain attempt to put their house in order.

Stewart's father had instilled in him the mantra "Stop making decisions and you're dead", but by the play's end we're likely to wish his son had made rather fewer. In the event he did less harm than he might have done, but, as Brown's play demonstrates, his insistence on British values of tea-and-marmalade diplomacy did little to change the world.

As a drama, Occupational Hazards overfills its pint pot. Brown, Stewart's longtime friend, seems reluctant to omit anything of substance so, rather than shape a focused drama from the material, he clutters it with facts and real people. Little has been refashioned for the theatre, even though there are times when fiction is able to depict truth better than truth itself. This should have been one such. A tighter focus on the antagonistic pair of Karim (Silas Carson) and Seyyed Hassan (Johndeep More) would draw the attention and create a suspense that never quite surfaces in the play as written.

It's not documentary theatre, however. Brown's short, fast-flowing scenes have a cinematic sweep that director Simon Godwin catches shrewdly in his tightly organised production, although the payback for this is that some figures are barely characterised. Of the ten actors who carry the show, at least four are under-used.

Vincent Ebrahim plays a contrasting pair of roles as a police chief and a university professor, and Aiysha Hart is a strong presence as the almost-emancipated Rana, but it's Henry Lloyd-Hughes as a cocky, stumbling Rory Stewart who holds centre-stage, as he must. When he addresses the audience, which he does pretty much throughout, his asides are played like a nervous tic. And despite all the failures he succeeds in depicting a man who never stops learning.

By the end, though, it's unclear what good, if any, Stewart has done. "We arrive thinking we're superheroes. We leave..." So do we, none the wiser.

Occupational Hazards runs at Hampstead Theatre until 3 June.
A 48-year-old Lincoln man was killed Monday afternoon after his Subaru crashed into a bridge pillar in a construction zone on Interstate 80 in Nebraska's Panhandle, authorities said Tuesday.

Robert J. Brunsman was eastbound on I-80 east of Kimball when he bypassed construction barriers and went off the road around 1:35 p.m., Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Col. Thomas Schwarten said.

His 2013 Subaru spun around and rolled, and Brunsman, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was thrown, Schwarten said.

Brunsman was the only occupant.

The crash remains under investigation by the Kimball County Sheriff's Office.
A California man was sentenced Tuesday to 360 days in jail and fined $2,000 after state troopers found 130 pounds of marijuana in his SUV last summer.

Pieter Cramerus, 33, pleaded guilty to possessing more than a pound of marijuana, a felony, in a deal with prosecutors.

On July 9, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper was on patrol on Interstate 80 in Seward County when Cramerus changed lanes to pass the cruiser, the trooper said.

The trooper followed Cramerus, though he hadn't violated any traffic laws, and caught up with him as he stopped at a Lincoln gas station, court documents said.

There, the trooper met Cramerus as he walked into the store and smelled marijuana coming from him and his SUV.

The trooper spotted five large duffel bags that were squared off and full in the cargo area, and asked Cramerus for his license and about the smell when he returned from the store, court documents said.

Cramerus denied having any drugs, but the trooper conducted a probable cause search and found the duffel bags were stuffed with pot.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/05/2017 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ballet fans will be ushered into a magical, mythological-infused world where a kingdom of animals and humans happily co-exist when the Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents its world premiere of James Kudelkas Vespers.

But the acclaimed Canadian choreographer says his newest full-length ballet is not merely a memory piece evoking the idyllic Ontario farm he grew up on as a child, but a poignant tale for the times, its own genesis rooted in its sweeping score of Monteverdis 1610 choral masterpiece.

It came out of trying to tame the music, Kudelka says during an interview at the RWB studios. I found the sounds of Monteverdis music very interesting, and it made me think about the sounds of the world in the 1600s. I wondered how composers made up melodies, and I thought they probably heard birds; and heard rhythms through the movement of animals. I then used my instincts to make it a rich experience that people can dream in, rather than being told what theyre seeing.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Evelyn Hart with Horse (Liam Caines) and dancer Dmitri Dovgoselets.

Regarded as one of the leading ballet choreographers of his generation, Kudelka first began creating his canon of 50-plus original works while a student at the National Ballet School of Canada. His distinctive re-interpretations of such classics as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Cinderella have become signature works for the National Ballet of Canada, where he also served as artistic director between 1996-2005, and is currently its artist-in-residence, as well as for Montreal-founded troupe Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie. His large and smaller-scaled ballets created for the National Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Chicagos Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet, among others, have been lauded for their breathtaking artistry, as well as piercing observations of contemporary life.

RWB artistic director Andre Lewis, who commissioned the new work three years ago following the success of the companys production of Kudelkas The Four Seasons in 2014  Lewis himself notably made a rare onstage appearance during the RWBs Ballet in the Park re-staging of the 1997 work that summer  is thrilled with how the creative process that began in earnest last August has unfolded.

You look at the greats such as (George) Balanchine, who tended to go toward the atmosphere or pure dance movement, and this ballet is a combination of both of those, Lewis says of the 98-minute work. But ultimately, its about pure movement itself.

Vespers is arguably one of the more unusual ballets premiered by the 77-year old RWB. Its 20-member cast includes 10 animals, with the dancers heads completely covered with theatrical masks designed by Torontos Karen Rodd, depicting a horse, cardinal, bear, ram and others. Kudelka has imagined a fantastical world where creatures interact with human beings as equals, until an apocalyptical Fall splits the two worlds apart as the mortals assert their dominance over their four-legged, and winged friends.

Notably, one of those humans is the RWBs former principal dancer Evelyn Hart, who retired from the company in 2005. The legendary prima ballerina, now 61, appears in the second act as an everywoman, able to intuitively connect with the animals  particularly the Horse, performed by corps de ballet member Liam Caines, with whom she performs a tender pas de deux atop a banquet table  while ultimately seeking reconciliation between humans and beasts.

Hart praises Kudelka, her former school chum at the National Ballet School, where she studied briefly before continuing her professional training with RWB School prior to joining the troupe in 1976.

As James gets older, he says that hes less interested in steps, but more interested in what feeds the steps, says Hart, who hung up her pointe shoes in 2006, and now performs in soft ballet slippers. Its really more about what lives inside of you that comes out through the steps, so its an extension of what I always do.

Its fantastic that Im being given this opportunity to be an expressive artist, without having to worry about being on pointe, or doing more physical feats. Its been incredible experience, and very freeing working with James. Its a soul gift.

The two artists share a simpatico sensibility, with their parallel careers intersecting during their first collaboration during The Four Seasons as well as during the world premiere of Love, Sex & Brahms, presented last month in Toronto by Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie.

Ive been extremely fortunate that Ive worked with the greats of my generation, including Karen Kain late in her career, as well as contemporary dancers Susan Macpherson, Margie Gillis, Peggy Baker and Laurence Lemieux, among others, Kudelka says. But Evelyn is a very, very special performer and I have found her extremely open to the process. And Im always so impressed, because its not really about how much she can do, but how little she has to do.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Choreographer James Kudelka works with Evelyn Hart during rehearsal as Horse (Liam Caines) looks on.

And thats been a beautiful example for the rest of the company to follow. Everyone in the studio is very aware theyre working with someone who remains an important artist in the world.

One might imagine that a ballet grounded in the naturalistic world, especially in an age of ever-growing environmental awareness  or destruction  could be construed a cautionary tale for a brave new age. Kudelka demurs, also denying any overt religious overtones, despite the Baroque scores liturgical text meaning evening prayers.

Nature inspires me, and I do try to thank the land, and have a connection to it, he says. But if I can create a work of art that just gets people talking about what theyve seen, then my job is done. And this full-length production gives you time to enter this world, and dream in it a little bit.

If you open yourself up to thinking about that natural world, and realizing that it all was here first before us, that just makes us all a bit calmer, Kudelka, who lives in the pastoral countryside southwest of Toronto. And if that also makes us think about being a little more kinder, and gentler with each other, and with the world, then thats a hopeful thing.

The production also includes a live score performed by Winnipegs Camerata Nova with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, costume design by Denis Lavoie, sets by Nick Blais and lighting by Michael Mazzola.

holly.harris@shaw.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/05/2017 (2011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Pallister government hasnt suffered a single leak  proof that his communications when in Costa Rica are secure, Premier Brian Pallister boasted Monday.

We havent had a single leak, Pallister told his estimates hearing.

But he would not give any specific answers to the NDP on what methods he uses to communicate from his vacation home, or with whom.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES 'We havent had a single leak,' Premier Brian Pallister told his estimates hearing.

Pallister said he has multiple email accounts, but skirted specifics about what email, if any, he uses when in Costa Rica. Nor would he discuss what he talks about on the phone, if anything, and would not even confirm if he does government business by telephone from Costa Rica.

New Democrat Andrew Swan went after Pallister on his time spent at his vacation home in Costa Rica, demanding Pallister disclose how many days hes spent in Costa Rica since the April 19, 2016, election.

Pallister retorted that hes previously disclosed that information and hed answer the question again Monday if Swan had tabled an account of his own vacation days since the election.

Pallister said he learned from the lack of cabinet secrecy under the former NDP government, and from its dysfunction, of the need that all his communications are secure.

The premier said he takes confidential documents on vacation to work on them: I guard them carefully.

Im always accessible, Pallister said. Im in regular contact with my office. Lots of contact, I like to stay in touch with our team.

The premier said he is very diligent about maintaining secure communications. He would not specifically say if he talks from Costa Rica to cabinet ministers, MLAs, or to other governments.

I like to use a variety of means to communicate, he told Swan.

Pallister said he likes to be able to understand nuances in the conversations hes having.

Said Swan: Does he use email in Costa Rica, yes or no?

Pallister, who has previously said he doesnt like using email, said, Im acknowledging I use a variety of methods. I use a variety of email accounts.

Im trying to respect confidentiality. Cabinet confidentiality matters, the premier declared.

Pallister declined to tell Swan if he uses the telephone to talk to his staff back in Winnipeg, repeating that he uses a variety of methods.

Committee member Steven Fletcher argued that Swan was out of line: This has no relevance to the governance of Manitoba  it is not appropriate. Fletcher said no one asked former NDP premier Gary Doer what he did while at his cottage in northwestern Ontario.

Fletcher was overruled, but the premier still wouldnt be specific.

The premier said Swan was being facetious about continuing to ask if he uses the phone, and told the hearing, I choose not to dignify his question.

Pallister changed direction, taking shots at former longtime New Democrat MLA and cabinet minister Gord Mackintosh, who just published his memoirs, Stories Best Left Untold.

The premier said he hopes that Mackintoshs book does not disclose anything that happened within cabinet, Mackintoshs oath to maintain cabinet secrecy still applies, and that includes cabinet discussion about the attempts to oust former premier Greg Selinger, Pallister said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/05/2017 (2011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It took veteran union firebrand Paul Moist to spot the elephant in the room Monday night  he reckons the Supreme Court will squelch the Pallister governments wage-control bill.

The Supreme Court of Canada will reject it as a violation of our rights to collective bargaining, Moist told a public hearing Monday night on Bill 28.

Its neanderthal, the Supreme Court wont agree with it, and it doesnt cut the mustard with workers, thundered Moist, who worked for the Canadian Union of Public Employees for 32 years. The right to go to the table as equals is fundamental to our country, said Moist, going eyeball to eyeball across the table with Finance Minister Cameron Friesen.

Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Paul Moist, former national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employess, called the Pallister government's new the Public Services Sustainability Act "neanderthal," saying the Supreme Court of Canada wouldn't agree with it.

For more than two hours, public-sector labour leaders and private citizens spoke against the bill before Moist addressed the hearing, calling the bill a betrayal, oppressive, undervalued, hypocritical and heavy-handed.

The legislation will freeze 120,000 public-sector workers wages for two years and hold down their pay for an additional two years.

But while several leaders said the bill is unconstitutional, Moist was the first to say out loud that labour will take the wage-control bill to court.

Bill 28, officially the Public Services Sustainability Act, is retroactive to March 20 and will become law June 1.

It imposes on about 120,000 public employees wage controls on their next collective bargaining agreement. Wages will be frozen for the first two years, with a maximum 0.75 per cent increase in the third year and a maximum one per cent in the fourth year.

Not enough consultation: labour

Labour pointed out repeatedly that for all the promises of consultation, it was only the second time theyve been in a room with Friesen  the previous occasion was Jan. 5.

They have never met with Premier Brian Pallister.

The important contribution of nurses is lost on this government. What it says to nurses is, our work is not valued, charged Manitoba Nurses Union president Sandi Mowat, calling the bill oppressive and hypocritical.

Friesen disagreed, and argued that many PC caucus members have nurses in their families. I take exception to that, said Friesen.

The finance minister said he was asking everyone in Manitoba to take on a $900-million deficit through a four-year rolling period of adjustment.

Manitoba Teachers Society president Norm Gould took on that claim. It is a provincial deficit, it is not a public-sector deficit. When you say all hands on deck, its all hands on deck and not just one sector.

Gould said Friesen was paying lip service to unions.

Bill 28 is unfair, unnecessary and unconstitutional, Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck told the hearing. During the election campaign, Brian Pallister promised to protect front-line services and the people who deliver them. Its clear this government has been fixated on a heavy-handed legislative approach, he said. The government has refused to discuss our proposals.

Recruiting and retention have become major problems  and wage controls will make it worse, said Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union. People are feeling undervalued and overworked, she said.

Best way to reduce government costs: CFIB

One lone voice spoke up to laud Friesen and Pallister. Jonathan Alward, Manitoba director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, told the hearing that public-sector workers make 28 per cent more than comparable private-sector workers.

Bill 28 is the best way to begin reducing government costs, said Alward, whose members overwhelmingly favour reducing the civil service through attrition.

New Democrat MLA Tom Lindsey challenged Alward: How would your members respond if the government told them they cant make any more profit tomorrow than you do today?

Good faith negotiations will cease to exist, declared Dr. Aaron Chiu, president of Doctors Manitoba. Bill 28 will worsen further Manitobas limited physician supply, which is already below the Canadian average.

Chiu said medical students are telling him the wage controls will affect their decision to stay here after graduation. When the Filmon Tories took similar action in 1993, Chiu said, The result was an exodus of physicians from Manitoba.

Friesen pointed out that Saskatchewan just set a target to cut public-sector wages 3.5 per cent. By that standard, Friesen said, This bill is quite reasonable.

Occupational therapist Kaitlyn Braun said she felt fear, frustration, anger and disappointment when she heard about Bill 28. This is the government penalizing front-line workers for their management, or mismanagement. You are saying, service workers are not valued, and neither is the work you do, said Braun, who wouldnt say where she lives or works.

Gender rights activist Michelle McHale ruffled Tory feathers when she accused the government of perpetuating a racist and sexist system that holds down marginalized people.

Tory Wayne Ewasko demanded she apologize, but McHale said that low-income people, people suffering from mental-health issues and people without education wouldnt know how to come to the committee and address the hearing.

Low-wage workers affected

More than 30,000 public employees had their previous collective bargaining agreement expire March 31, almost all of them health-care workers, and including the Manitoba Nurses Union. The University of Manitoba Faculty Association is also without a deal.

Many people affected by this legislation live on very low wages, said Lee McLeod, a representative with the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Friesen restricted his Jan. 5 meeting to a few unions, said Marianne Hladun, regional executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Her members care for veterans at Deer Lodge Centre, Hladun said, and others are teachers assistants at the University of Winnipeg who barely make minimum wage and now face a freeze.

Theres nothing new in blaming the unions, scoffed John Arthur, president of the Manitoba Association of Government Engineers.

Friesen and Pallister have never consulted the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 2,800 members with Manitoba Hydro, assistant business manager Ken Woodley told the hearing. The government has not made a single overture to consult. This bill robs our members of the right to be part of the solution, and instead blames them.

Bob Moroz, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Workers, noted that the agenda listed his name as Morose: Thats a rather ironic typo, he said.

Moroz said that labour unions came up with ways for the Pallister government to balance the budget within eight years, but the Tories werent open to listening, instead telling his members, They are nothing more than a cost, that they dont matter.

Presenters had been expected to be heard Tuesday evening, but all scheduled speakers who showed up were heard Monday night. MLAs are now beginning second reading debate on the bill.

Meanwhile, a second hearing nearby is considering Bill 29, which would severely reduce the number of health care bargaining units.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/05/2017 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Less than two months after Bell acquired MTS, the new Bell MTS entity is looking to reduce its workforce by up to 85 with an enhanced voluntary retirement package.

A union official said the package was negotiated in April and efforts are underway to achieve the targeted reductions entirely through voluntary means.

Bob Linsdell, executive director of the Telecommunications Employees Association of Manitoba (TEAM), said the company is targeting employees in information technology, networks and finance.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The MTS Building at 333 Main Street.

These are almost certainly duplications of jobs currently already being done by existing Bell employees, he said,

Workers have until the end of May to apply for the enhanced early retirement packages that offer severance of up to 69 weeks pay depending on the specific employees tenure with the company.

This current round of buyouts follows one in 2016 that saw about 300 TEAM members accept a voluntary retirement package.

TEAM represents white-collar professionals and managers at MTS. It currently has about 880 members employed at Bell MTS, down from 1,200 about 2 1/2 years ago.

The latest round of downsizing, while not unexpected, is a source of anxiety for his members, Linsdell said.

The members are happy the enhanced voluntary retirement package is there, but for members who have a mortgage and a couple of kids in university, it is definitely stressful, he said.

All parties in this want to achieve this downsizing, every downsizing, by voluntary means if at all possible. To that end, Bell MTS and the union came to an agreement on an enhanced package to entice more people to volunteer.

Linsdell said his understanding is the reductions are being targeted only at TEAM members. A spokesman for Unifor, which represents about 900 Bell MTS front-line workers, said it is unlikely Unifor members will be eligible for the early retirement packages. The spokesperson for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents about 850 workers, was not available.

In an email to the Free Press, an official with Bell MTS said, There will be new opportunities at Bell MTS as we roll out our major broadband investment plan and some departures at both Bell MTS and Bell Canada as we integrate our operations due to duplication in corporate and other roles Similar to the MTS transformational process of recent years, we are offering a voluntary retirement program that provides eligible employees with the opportunity to depart the company if they choose with a financial incentive recognizing their contributions and years of service.

More than 100 TEAM members are eligible for early retirement, but they are not necessarily employed in the targeted jobs, nor are they necessarily prepared to retire, Linsdell said.

The company and the union have negotiated a process of re-deployment that if someone from a non-targeted position applies for the buyout package, the company will endeavour to re-deploy someone from elsewhere in the company to do that work.

Rather than move to lay off, the first thing we do, it is in our collective agreement, is start talking about re-deploying, Linsdell said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/05/2017 (2011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An ambitious new rail loading facility just north of the U.S. border is underway in Manitoba on a 250-acre property, about a kilometre south of Letellier, Man.

Real Tetrault, the owner of Emerson Milling, is looking to capitalize on an already-existing interchange between CN and BNSF by building out more track siding and attracting agricultural commodity shippers in southern Manitoba, especially those exporting to the U.S and Mexico.

Our primary aim is agricultural commodities, Tetrault said. But we are not going to limit ourselves to that. If there are others that want to off-load or load onto rail we are going to be there to help. With 250 acres of land it will enable us to have lots of options.

Bruce Bumstead / Brandon Sun Files

Tetrault is the owner of the Emerson Milling Inc., an oat milling operation that is located on the east side of the Red River. Tetrault said his company will relocate to the new inland port  called Mid Canada Transload Services  in the next couple of years.

More than one kilometre of track is currently being laid, long enough to handle about 70 rail cars. His plans are to do a similar length in the next couple of years.

Modular development on the site will occur as tenants are attracted. Eventually, Tetrault said, there could be tens of million of dollars of investment. The site will have daily rail service to and from the United States and Mexico.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/05/2017 (2011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Better data management and more intense collaboration with the province and the city are helping Economic Development Winnipeg (EDW) do a better job promoting business and tourism development in Winnipeg.

That  and that the technology sector is on the rise  was the message at EDWs annual general meeting on Monday.

As if to show off the fact that EDW, the city and province are all on the same page, the AGM included a panel discussion with Dayna Spiring, EDWs president and CEO, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and Cliff Cullen, minister of growth, enterprise and trade.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michael Legary (from left), the citys chief innovation officer, Cliff Cullen, minister of growth, enterprise and trade, Dayna Spiring, CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, and Mayor Brian Bowman discuss the future of business.

Spiring said, The focus on data and the focus on market intelligence has never happened before. We dabbled (in the past) but we have not done the heavy lifting before. We are doing it in collaboration with the province and the city. That ability to work together is something we have never seen.

In addition to appearing together and speaking in a way that was mutually supportive, Bowman, Cullen and Spiring all agreed that the technology sector was a field in the city where they are expecting some new growth.

Cullen said the province is hoping to have an economic development strategy completed by the end of the year.

He said there would be different emphasis in different regions of Manitoba, but the province wants to work with the technology sector to find ways to help it grow.

There is a real interest in the tech sector, he said.

We want to work with them to grow the tech sector to keep those jobs in Manitoba. Its a great way to keep young Manitobans in Manitoba.

Michael Legary, the newly appointed chief innovation officer for the city, was the moderator of the panel discussion. Bowman emphasized the connection, saying, The city is putting a lot of focus on innovation.

The meeting, which brought together about 200 of the citys business leaders, was held in the aftermath of news that Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial, two of the citys largest employers, would be trimming their Winnipeg workforce, along with Manitoba Hydros efforts to cut about 900 jobs.

EDWs message was that the citys economy would be able to handle those job losses and that the tech sector might be the source for some future employment growth.

For every job that Hydro and Great-West Life cuts, we have startups ready to shoot the light out, Spiring said.

Josh Simair, the CEO of the star of that sector  Skip the Dishes  has just been named to the board of EDW.

While there is lots of promising activity from new technology companies, organizations that support the startup community rely on provincial funding and they are still waiting for word about the provinces commitment to ongoing support.

In the meantime, in addition to Skip the Dishes  which has about 200 Winnipeg employees and was recently valued at about $200 million in a deal that saw it sold to a U.K. firm  there are other companies on the rise.

Marshall Ring, the CEO of Manitoba Technology Accelerator, said there could be two or three other companies working with MTA that will emerge in the next couple of years valued at more than $100 million.

Whats interesting is that people in Winnipeg didnt talk like that before, he said.

Now they dont look at me like Im crazy  they believe it. We have the talent, we have the collaborations and enough capacity and momentum to start generating companies that can become significant global operations.

One of EDWs ongoing efforts is to convince Winnipegs business leaders to become ambassadors for the city.

To some extent there is evidence those efforts are starting to have some effect.

Bowman said when he travels across the country there is a change in the way people are talking about the city.

People are realizing there is a positive momentum here, he said. The phrase I hear is, Winnipeg is back. 

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/05/2017 (2011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Making attendance at high school a priority in the North End was expected to be the central issue at the Winnipeg School Division board meeting Monday night.

Three community activists planned to make separate presentations with a shared message  it takes a village to raise a child, as the African proverb goes, so its also going to take the entire community to get that child an education.

Prior to the meeting, Sel Burrows, Kent Dueck and Kyle Mason said absentee rates are rising among students at a high school in the North End as well as at least one other school they did not want to name.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Files The number of students with multiple absences at St. Johns High School in May 2016 rose, despite a decline in enrolment.

Burrows is chairman of the North Point Douglas Residents Committee, Dueck is executive director of Inner City Youth Alive and Mason is executive director of the North End Family Centre.

Absenteeism at high school is a multi-faceted issue that is linked to poverty and cycles into more poverty. But solutions can be found by members of the community, families, government and school system working together, Burrows said.

Its complex, its not easy, but it has to be done, said Burrows. Theres no one solution but there has to be a huge amount of positive supports. There are things that can be done.

St. Johns High School posted a 15.5 per cent absentee rate in May 2016, compared with the much lower rate of 2.8 per cent at Kelvin High School, located in the more affluent south end of the city, the activists said.

The numbers came from the WSD.

Burrows said a good start would be connecting students with supports already in place, such as linking community support workers for children in feeder schools with older siblings in high school.

Those community support workers are highly respected and recognized in the community by parents. They go out and visit the family in the home. The elementary schools are doing so much better in attendance, partly because elementary students are easier to work with but also because of the community support workers, Burrows said.

Burrows said youths without education are more likely to become involved in gangs and crimes. Many students who are not attending school come from families on social assistance, in family services protection, are foster children or involved with the criminal justice system.

Mason said absenteeism in the North End is related to ongoing issues in addition to poverty  such as intergenerational trauma from the residential school system and the 60s Scoop  within the large indigenous population in that area of the city.

Were seeing outcomes of history are alive and present, Mason said. Were seeing indigenous people are being represented in high numbers in all the different things you dont want to be represented in, such as high incarceration, high intakes of (Child and Family Services), thousands of missing and murdered women and girls, to broken family units, all the way down to absenteeism.

All these things are connected to history but theyre also connected to poverty. High poverty rates among indigenous people are connected to history.

Mason, who attended St. Johns from grades 9 to 11, said young people in the area need to attend school to get an education, which leads to good jobs and security in their lives. A task force needs to be set up to tackle absenteeism and the factors related to it, he said.

WSD figures showed that St. Johns had 115 students with four or more absences in September 2015, compared with 38 at Kelvin High School. In May 2016, enrolment at St. Johns dropped slightly, but absenteeism increased to 161 students who were absent four or more times that month. At Kelvin, the comparable number was 38. St. Johns has 300 fewer students than Kelvin.

Burrows said he has been told that provincial Education Minister Ian Wishart has assigned senior assistant deputy minister Dr. Rob Santos to meet with the community and WSD leaders to work on the issue.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca with files from Alexandra Paul
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/05/2017 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The founder of Dominos Pizza in Canada was back in Winnipeg Tuesday to share a slice of his life with a loaded, extra-large $2-million donation that will improve the lives of thousands of children with epilepsy.

Michael and Lilibeth Schlaters gift to the Childrens Hospital Foundation of Manitoba will be used to create a new pediatric epilepsy and neurosurgery program at the Health Sciences Centre facility.

Michael Schlater and one of the couples daughters have both been treated for epilepsy.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Michael Schlater, CEO of Domino's Pizza

The new unit is expected to open in 2018. Until now, the closest treatment centres were in Calgary and Toronto.

Schlater is the CEO of Dominos Pizza of Canada. An American transplant who delivered Dominos pizza in Ohio in the 70s, he opened the massive chains first location outside the United States in Winnipeg in 1983.

Today marks a day in health care where children with epilepsy will no longer have to travel outside Manitoba, said Lawrence Prout, president and CEO of the Childrens Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

The Schlaters are going to change the lives of many children in Manitoba.

The family is well known for its philanthropy, having donated more than $11 million to various charities.

We just love kids, Michael Schlater said. Were blessed to have a few extra bucks, so thats why we do what we do.

The gift allows Manitoba to offer services the province could otherwise not afford.

We do get lots of correspondence about how things are going well at Childrens and I think thats because we value our kids and were fortunate to have (donors) like Lilibeth and Michael Schlater, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said.

Youre taking care of a lot of kids youll never meet.

Childrens Hospital medical director Dr. Terry Klassen, who is the Winnipeg Regional Health Authoritys senior pediatric director said Manitoba currently has no formal epilepsy monitoring unit or neurologists specifically trained in the condition for comprehensive investigation and treatment of children

The hospital will open a two-bed pediatric epilepsy unit and equip it with robotic instruments. The unit is headed by Dr. Demitre Serletis, whose specialty is deep brain surgery.

Serletis, who moved to Winnipeg from Arkansas last year to head the treatment unit, works with 10 other Manitoba neurosurgeons treating patients with brain and spinal-cord conditions and injuries in an area covering a population of 1.5 million, extending from Regina to Dryden, Ont., and the North.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/05/2017 (2011 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nurses need to hear the indigenous voice, University of Manitoba nursing students were told Monday.

British Columbia nursing professor Lisa Bourque Bearskin, who teaches at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, said nurses need to acknowledge indigenous patients may have a different perspective on hospitals and the care they receive.

She delivered the Margaret Elder Hart Distinguished Visitor lecture on Monday as part of Nursing Week activities at the Helen Glass School of Nursing. Until now, most institutions, including universities, havent grasped the depth of differences that exist for many indigenous people living in Canada, she said.

Alexandra Paul / Winnipeg Free Press Lisa Bourque Bearskin from Kamloops, B.C., a nursing professor from the Kamloops-based Thompson Rivers University, spoke about the impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on nursing and the role of indigenous knowledge on health care, Monday.

Theres been this ideology that this is what we need to do, from a non-indigenous perspective. People are starting to realize that we need to make space for the indigenous voice, to speak their own truths, she said.

In Manitoba alone, there are 1,200 nurses who identify themselves as indigenous.

Bourque Bearskins focus was on how nursing schools can act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the Indian Residential Schools of Canada. Commission chair Murray Sinclair, a Manitoba justice who is now a senator, released the final report in 2015 with 94 calls to action to guide reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Were just starting to see the impact of reconciliation, on a number of levels. On a personal level with my family, weve just started to engage in our experiences in residential school. Im in my fifties and we never talked about that before, Bourque Bearskin said after her presentation.

Bourque Bearskin is a survivor of Canadas residential schools. She attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School as a student.

Academically, the schools of nursing that Ive worked with are really trying to do this in an authentic way, right? Bourque Bearskin said.

U of M associate nursing professor Elaine Mordoch said the lecture opened the door wider than her own indigenous students originally opened it for her.

The important thing is were talking, indigenous and non-indigenous nurses. Were listening to indigenous nurses and figuring how to work together, Mordoch said.

The lecture came on the same day Manitoba opened its first indigenous-run health authority in the province.

The Giigewigamig First Nation Health Authority is run by Sagkeeng, Black River, Hollow Water and Bloodvein first nations on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. It is based at a healing centre in Pine Falls and is intended to expand the scope of therapies and work with the health-care and hospital staff in the area.

Bourque Bearskin said shes intrigued by the Giigewigamig centre, and hopes it will include referrals to indigenous healers and spiritual leaders.

Theres a huge gap between indigenous knowledge and mainstream medicine, Bourque Bearskin said.

This is the first year I actually integrated traditional knowledge in any of my classrooms and there was huge pushback from my students at the beginning.

I could see the comments and rather than calling the students out, I chose to nurture that space so they could bring their biases (about indigenous people) forward and then we unpacked the biases from there, she recalled.

The class ended up showing students a gap in understanding they hadnt realized existed.

Students dont get the benefit of learning about the reality many indigenous people live daily or the impact of the countrys colonial legacy, because schools dont teach it, she noted.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/05/2017 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There will be a public hearing in the fall to gauge support for a proposal to allow hobby beekeeping throughout the city, including all residential areas.

Councillors on the property and development committee approved the move at its meeting Tuesday.

Coun. John Orlikow, chairman of the committee, said city hall wants to know how the public feels about the initiative and what type of controls, if any, should be placed on hobby beekeeping.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Well allow the public to come in and weigh in on it, he said, adding the committee will then decide what restrictions would be placed on beekeeping operations.

Currently, hobby or small-scale beekeeping is only allowed in the downtown area. Commercial apiaries are a conditional use, through a public-hearing process, in industrial and agricultural areas on the citys fringe.

Any changes to beekeeping practices must still go to council for approval and any new rules for hobby beekeeping would not affect the existing rules for commercial apiaries.

The civic administration recommended hobby beekeeping be allowed as an accessory use throughout Winnipeg with only a permit, and without the need for public notices or hearings.

Well look at (beekeeping) in all districts and gauge the public response to that, Orlikow said. Well look at will it be a conditional use (which would require a public hearing for each individual application), will there be buffer zones. That will all be part of the public-hearing process.

Orlikow said following the public hearing, the committee will consider the concerns and then propose amendments to the draft bylaw stipulating restrictions, which will then be forwarded to council for consideration and approval.

Local beekeeper Christopher Kirouec said there are more than a dozen backyard bee hives operating illegally across the city now, adding the proposal will legitimize those operations and encourage others to get into it.

Kirouec doesnt believe hobby beekeeping will be disruptive to people living in residential areas.

With good beekeeping practices and a good framework for the rules, I absolutely believe that beekeeping can be a positive residential activity, he said.

Kirouec said he believes the city should adopt a permit process, which would ensure people who get involved have taken a recognized beekeeping course, would regulate the size of the operations and include an inspection and enforcement component.

The backyard beekeeping initiative marks a complete reversal for the city on urban beekeeping. As late as 2013, a civic committee had banned hobby beekeeping in Winnipeg. In January 2016, council allowed small-scale beekeeping in the downtown area, following a lobbying effort by local beekeepers.

Orlikow said public perceptions towards bees and the importance they play in the food chain has shifted in the past few years, adding theres been no outcry with downtown beekeeping.

If we had problems with the downtown program, we probably wouldnt be looking at this, Orlikow said.

Bees dont pose the same kind of threat as wasps, Kirouec said, adding he believes people wont object to their neighbour keeping honey bees once they learn more about them.

We had hives on top of a caboose at The Forks last year, several thousand bees at The Forks, Kirouec said. There was no negative feedback.

Kirouec said hes not surprised hobby beekeeping is being considered in Winnipeg, adding the change in attitude has happened right across North America.

Were riding a bit of a wave of goodwill due to the importance of bees and whats gone on in other places.

In a cross-jurisdictional review, the administration found only Winnipeg and Ottawa-Gatineau prohibit urban beekeeping through zoning. In most Canadian cities, backyard beekeeping is either permitted or not even regulated by the municipality.

Along with the public hearing, the administration is recommending that if hobby beekeeping is permitted, the city should alter its mosquito fogging buffer zone policies as they affect beekeeping operations. Right now, there are 300-metre buffer zones around registered beekeeping operations, but staff are recommending the buffer zones be reduced to 90 metres  the same as residential buffer zones.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/05/2017 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Manitoba has been fined $13,000 after pleading guilty last month to failing to ensure a safe working environment.

The fine was for violating the Workplace Safety and Health Act in connection with an August 2014 incident that left an employee severely injured.

The injured worker fell through an opening left by access panels that had been removed in order to lower a 2,200-pound spool of wire into the basement of a building on the universitys Fort Garry campus. The persons fall occurred at a time the workers who had removed the panels had left the area.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

No details were provided as to the extent of the persons injuries or how his or her recovery has gone in the years since, but a release from the province described them as serious. The worker fell about five metres to the ground below. A guardrail system should have been in place in order to ensure safety, the release said.

At some point since the incident, the individual returned to work, according to University of Manitobas executive director of public affairs John Danakas, although for privacy reasons he said he could not disclose when.

Its always unfortunate when there are workplace incidents, Danakas said.

The university is committed to workplace safety and health and constantly improving procedures and protocols, he said. Were pleased the individual is back at work.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 09/05/2017 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

France has found its own, homegrown Justin Trudeau. French voters on Sunday massively supported political novice Emmanuel Macron as their president for the next five years. His packaging was excellent. His hair, though close-cropped, is not bad. Over the next few weeks, Frances people will open the package and find out what they got.

Taking office at age 39, Mr. Macron makes the 45-year-old Justin Trudeau look like an elder statesman. He arrives as the articulate, brainy, highly educated figurehead for a new generation. He seems inclined to sweep some old cobwebs out of French law, politics and economic structure, if he gets the chance. Unlike Mr. Trudeau, he was never a drama teacher, but his wife was  that was how they met when he was her pupil. Unlike Mr. Trudeau, he does not lead a political party  but he must now create one quickly to present candidates for the National Assembly elections in June.

When he formally takes office on Sunday, Mr. Macron will appoint a prime minister and a cabinet. His choices may show the country how wide he will spread his arms in pulling together the countrys political factions. He may reach into the ranks of the established parties whose candidates he trounced in the presidential election  or he may ignore them altogether and choose technocrats of his own non-partisan ilk.

Christophe Morin / Bloomberg Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron

In the following days, the new president must complete the list of candidates he will present as his supporters in the June legislative elections. In much of France, his candidates will be running against incumbents loyal to other parties, though some incumbents may seek admission to Mr. Macrons team once they see the local breakdowns of voting in the presidential poll. The list of his candidates may show whether Mr. Macron is a new broom sweeping out the old generation of French politicians, or whether he is just a new driver on the same old bus.

Mr. Macron garnered 66 per cent of the vote in the presidential runoff. He won strong support among the young, the urban and the highly educated and those who want to keep France in the European Union. Marine Le Pen of the National Front garnered the other 34 per cent, especially from farmers and older workers who cling to the privileges conferred on them by Frances rigid industrial structure, and from the unemployed who feel ill-served by globalization. The National Front remains a significant presence in French politics, but its anti-Europe, anti-foreigner discourse has been decisively rejected.

The old-line parties of the left, the centre and the right lie in ruins. If the National Front appears to pose a genuine threat to Frances participation in the European Union, supporters of the old parties may stick with Mr. Macron. If the legislative elections reduce the National Front once again to an annoying fringe party, they may feel free to return to their old communist, socialist or republican loyalties.

Canadians can enjoy watching how far Mr. Macron follows Mr. Trudeaus footsteps. Will his cabinet be half-male, half-female  because its 2017? Will he reach out to Ivanka Trump, for want of common cause with her father? Will he cast himself as the champion of the middle class and those working hard to join it? Or will he gradually come to resemble the old fogeys he replaced?
Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner, who spent 42 years as a priest in the Diocese of Winona, has been accused of covering up a decades-old case of child sexual abuse, and of blackmailing the accuser into keeping the claims to himself.

Hoeppner was named in a civil complaint filed Monday in Polk County district court.

Ronald Vasek, a longtime parishioner in the Crookston diocese and the father of one of the priests there, said he was abused by a diocesan priest in 1971, when he was 16, and that Hoeppner learned of this around 2010.

Vasek said Hoeppner discouraged him from sharing the allegations with anyone, and then used his familys aspirations within the church  Vasek himself hoped to become a deacon  to force Vasek into silence.

I felt like I had been abused all over again, Vasek said at a news conference in Saint Paul on Tuesday. To this day, I never have doubted one thing the Catholic church teaches . But I saw nothing but immorality within our diocese  how things had been covered up for years and years. There could be other victims like me who have been silenced by the bishop or by anybody.

According to the complaint and Vaseks comments on Tuesday:

Vasek was sexually abused by diocesan priest Roger Grundhaus during a trip to Ohio in 1971, and told no one of the abuse for four decades.

Around 2010, when he was making plans to become a deacon, Vasek contacted a priest outside the diocese and asked if he should report the abuse to Hoeppner. The priest advised Vasek to come forward.

When Vasek and Hoeppner sat down to discuss the allegations, the complaint states, the bishop told Vasek he should keep quiet about them. That kind of story, the bishop allegedly told him, would be harmful to Grundhaus and the diocese.

For the next five years, Vasek kept the claims to himself.

In 2015, Hoeppner asked again to meet with Vasek. He presented Vasek with a document that, if signed by Vasek, would erase the allegations hed made against Grundhaus. If Vasek cared about becoming a deacon and preserving his sons priesthood, Hoeppner allegedly told him, he should sign the letter.

Vasek signed the letter, he said, and was later surprised to learn that his application to become a deacon had been rejected. That, he said, is when he decided to share the allegations with others.

On Tuesday, the diocese released a statement that read, in part: Bishop Hoeppner categorically denies that he in any way forced, coerced or encouraged Mr. Vasek to not pursue his allegations regarding Msgr. Grundhaus.

The Diocese of Crookston plans to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter. It would not be appropriate to comment further until that investigation has been completed.

The statement also notes that Grundhaus, who retired in 2010, has been suspended from active ministry.

Robert Schreiner, another priest in the diocese, has come down on the side of the accuser.

At Tuesdays news conference, Schreiner described Vasek as brave and honest, and said he was shocked to hear of the allegations against Grundhaus and Hoeppner.

I could never have imagined the name that he would reveal as his abuser, he said. And never in a million years could I have imagined  who he was still being abused by.

Jeff Anderson, who is representing Vasek in the case, said this is the first time in U.S. history that a bishop has been directly sued for coercion.

Patrick Wall, an advocate for Andersons law firm who was a priest in Winona in the 1990s, said he didnt expect Hoeppner to ever be in the middle of something like this.

According to Wall, Hoeppner  who left for Crookston in 2007  helped the Winona diocese crack down on its own problems with child sexual abuse. Through that and the rest of his work, he built a strong reputation for himself.

He had a good, longstanding reputation as someone who would defend the church, Wall said. But, in this case, you can see what that means.
OMAHA  Democrats desperate for fresh faces cast 37-year-old Heath Mello as a pragmatic, next-generation leader who could win in the Nebraska heartland. Yet his anti-abortion stance has become a flashpoint for the national party.

If Mello prevails Tuesday in his bid for Omaha mayor, it's a promising sign, he says, for a candidate "with a proven record of working bipartisan and tackling some big issues and, yes, to some extent, is a pro-life Catholic Democrat." He is challenging Republican incumbent Jean Stothert.

Mello's bid has exposed the cultural divisions within the party over the decades-old issue of abortion and proved a major embarrassment for the new party chairman, Tom Perez. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, an abortion-rights supporter, insists that there is room in the party for abortion foes.

Top Democrats had planned a stop in Omaha at a rally for Mello, but abortion-rights groups were outraged. National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League President Ilyse Hogue called the DNC's promotion of Mello "not only disappointing, it is politically stupid."

Caught off-guard, Perez reversed himself, saying "every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman's right to make her own choices," and called on Democrats to speak with "one voice."

They didn't.

At the April 20 rally in Omaha, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year, endorsed Mello, telling thousands, "Maybe, just maybe, it's time to change one-party rule in Nebraska. And we can start right here by electing Heath Mello as the next mayor."

Perez, who had been scheduled to attend, instead campaigned for a Georgia candidate. The party chairman's actions angered several moderate Democrats and frustrated others as the party struggles for relevance. In the last decade, Democrats have lost about 1,000 elected posts, from the White House to Congress to the 50 statehouses, a power deficit the party has not seen nationally in 90 years.

In Nebraska, where Republicans control every congressional and statewide office, Democrats don't have the luxury of being choosy, Mello supporter Abbie Raikes said.

"As liberals in Nebraska, you become accustomed to making compromises," said Raikes, a 45-year-old public health professor at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Raikes, talking with Mello in her near-west Omaha neighborhood last week, supports him in part for plans to promote affordable housing, not because he backed a half-dozen abortion restrictions during eight years in the Legislature. After all, the highest-ranking Democrat outside of the state legislature is the mayor of Lincoln.

Democrats must invite new faces with diverse viewpoints into its leadership, said Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, who described Perez's reaction to Mello as "really damaging."

"Requiring everybody to fit some purity test is a recipe for disaster," said Ryan, a former abortion-rights opponent who unsuccessfully challenged Pelosi for Democratic leader last year. "There are going to be people who are Democrats who may not check all the boxes. But they are with you 80 percent of the time and can win in tough places."

Anti-abortion Democrats have almost disappeared in Congress. Only three senators fit the description, and all three  Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia  are up for re-election next year in states President Donald Trump won in 2016.

Pelosi last week told The Washington Post that abortion should not be a litmus test for Democrats.

In the state Legislature, Mello represented an older, ethnically diverse, working-class district in south Omaha, a few miles from the nation's onetime railroad and meatpacking epicenter. But Mello has projected what he calls a "pro-growth, progressive, future-focused" style, which reflects Omaha's moderate tendency.

He favors a government partnership with private industry, a concept often associated with Republicans, for Omaha's crumbling streets. He also has campaigned heavily in Omaha's troubled north side, where most of the city's homicides occur.

Mello's campaign fundraising co-chairwoman, Andy Holland, is the past president of Planned Parenthood of Nebraska. The aspiring mayor also has the support of self-described conservative Mike Kozlik, a lawyer who met Mello last week as the candidate strolled door-to-door through the elegant Dundee neighborhood west of downtown.

"Too often Democrats want to coddle people. Mello comes from working stock," said Kozlik, 64, a south Omaha native whose family struggled during his youth. "He understands the working man."

A Democratic mayor could give the party a leg up in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, more than two-thirds of which is in Omaha, as the party hopes to claw its way back to the majority next year. And in a state that apportions its presidential electoral votes by congressional district, the mayor's office could be an important Democratic foothold.

Democrat Barack Obama carried the district in 2008, but lost it in 2012, as did 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could again find themselves in hunters crosshairs  possibly as soon as this fall if federal protections are removed for the predators.

A ruling is expected soon from an appeals court that recently lifted protections for wolves in Wyoming. In Congress, wolf-hunting supporters arent giving up even though a Minnesota representative was instrumental in killing an effort that would have allowed the three western Great Lakes states to resume wolf hunting.

Gray wolves were once hunted to the brink of extinction in most of the country, but they recovered under Endangered Species Act protections and reintroduction programs. They now number over 5,500 in the lower 48 states, including nearly 3,800 in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly tried to remove wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan states from the endangered species list, but courts have stymied those efforts. Now, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is looking at the issue. The same appeals court in March took wolves off the list in Wyoming.

Wisconsin and Minnesota each held three wolf seasons before a federal judge put their wolves back on the list in December 2014. Michigan held one.

Backed by farm groups upset about depredation on livestock, and hunters who would like the chance to bag a wolf, lawmakers from the region have tried to attach riders to various bills in Congress that would delist wolves, return management responsibilities to the states and bar further court challenges. The latest effort failed when congressional negotiators dropped that language from a $1.1 trillion spending bill that President Donald Trump signed Friday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who represents an urban-suburban district in the Twin Cities, took credit, putting her at odds with rural lawmakers from the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson.

Peterson said he anticipates several other opportunities to pass the rider.

But if the appeals court rules as it did in the Wyoming case, there may be no need.

Lawyers on both sides said the Wyoming decision doesnt necessarily foreshadow how the court will rule next.

The two cases are similar at the 50,000 foot level because they both involve delisting wolves in specific regions, though there are differences in the details, said James Lister, who argued the Great Lakes case for pro-hunting groups, including the U.S. Sportsmens Alliance Foundation and the National Rifle Association.

Ralph Henry, litigation director for The Humane Society of the United States, who argued the opposite side, stressed the differences. The Wyoming case hinged on whether that states management plan provided adequate protections, he said. The Great Lakes case focused on the process the U.S. government used for taking the three states wolves off the list when the animals havent spread enough to repopulate other states in their former range, he said.

Whether Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could hold wolf seasons this fall would depend in part on how soon the court rules.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources cant make plans unless its certain wolves will be coming off the list, said Dan Stark, the agencys large carnivore specialist. It would take time to publish the rules and set up a permit lottery, he said, but it might be possible to speed the process.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources spokesman Jim Dick declined to speculate.

State law requires us to hold a harvest season if wolf management is returned to the states, he said. We are prepared to respond to a change in listing status, if and when it happens, whether it comes through congressional action or through a court ruling.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law in December authorizing wolf hunting if Congress or the courts permit, but the states Natural Resources Commission has the final say.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Brian Roell said his agency would need to know by sometime in June to make it work.

When you combine all the nuances its not as simple as, OK, theyre off the list, lets have a hunting season, he said.

Whether Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could hold wolf seasons this fall would depend in part on how soon the appeals court rules. Whether Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could hold wolf seasons this fall would depend in part on how soon the appeals court rules.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
A Dodgeville woman will spend the next 19 months behind bars for her role in providing the heroin that caused the 2015 deaths of a Sauk County couple.

During a sentencing hearing Monday, Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Wendy Klicko sentenced 31-year-old Aimie E. Rice to two years of prison and six years of community supervision upon her release.

She was credited with 150 days of time already served while the case was pending. Rice will have to undergo treatment for substance abuse and abide by other conditions while under supervision of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

This is not the end for you, Klicko told Rice during the hearing. I hope you realize that this is a beginning.

Rice was charged with two counts of first-degree reckless homicide by delivering drugs related to the June 2015 overdose deaths of 55-year-old Richard Maurer and 51-year-old Diane Rogers. She pleaded no contest to one count, and the other was dismissed as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Prosecutors alleged that Rice and her then-boyfriend, who is the son of the woman who died, purchased the heroin from a dealer in the Madison area. They then resold it to Maurer and Rogers, who later were found dead of overdoses outside Maurers home in the town of Woodland, west of Reedsburg.

In July, Rodgers son, Herbert C. Grosenheider Jr., 31, of Dodgeville, pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide by delivering drugs. He was sentenced to four years in prison for the role he played in the two overdose deaths.

During Mondays hearing, Grosenheiders sister, the daughter of Rogers, asked the judge to sentence Rice to the maximum possible sentence, which is 25 years behind bars and 15 years of supervised release.

She has really disregarded my mothers death as a whole, said Cora Mae Hatfield, who also is a recovering heroin addict. She conceded that her mother made the decision to take the heroin that ultimately led to her death, but said she was disappointed that Rice had not accepted her share of the blame.

The sentence handed down by Klicko was jointly recommended by the prosecution and defense as part of Rices plea deal.

Rice declined an opportunity to make a statement before the judge, but her attorney spoke on her behalf, saying the sentence reflected her role in the deaths. He said his client was not entirely to blame.

Personal accountability starts with the person using the drug, said Madison attorney Mike Frank.

A report prepared by corrections workers about Rices life history prior to sentencing apparently included statements from members of Rogers family who called on the judge to impose the maximum sentence.

Frank took issue with those statements, saying the same family members have acknowledged that they also provided drugs to Rogers, and just as likely could have wound up in the defendants chair.

Sauk County District Attorney Kevin Calkins said Rices criminal history is primarily drug related. She and Grosenheider seemed to have dealt drugs only to fuel their own addictions. They would procure heroin from dealers, he said, then overcharge others for the drug so they could afford their own fix.

Calkins said Rice was reluctant to accept responsibility in the case, but also noted that she has struggled with addiction since age 11. He said Rice claims to have stopped using heroin, but appears to have begun using meth since her arrest in the reckless homicide case. He said the sentence addresses her treatment needs.

As part of her sentence, Rice also was ordered to pay more than $13,000 in restitution to both families.
To see the impact Tom Pleger had on friends and colleagues, one need look no further than his Facebook page.

Since his unexpected passing Sunday morning following an operation, Plegers Facebook page has filled with posts from friends, colleagues and former students offering condolences and sharing memories of the Lake Superior State University president and former dean of the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County.

I dont think Ive ever known a dean who knew as many students as Tom Pleger knew, said UW-Baraboo English professor Marc Seals. If you look on Facebook, you can see the number of students that are posting about him  its astounding.

Those who knew him described Pleger as a fearless administrator and a genuine friend. Seals served under Pleger for nearly a decade at UW-Baraboo and struggled to articulate the mark he left on its staff and students.

Its hard to come up with something concise to say about one of the best human beings youve ever known, Seals said. He was one of the most sincere people Ive ever met  just a good person.

According to a press release issued by Lake Superior State University, Pleger died suddenly Sunday after undergoing brain surgery in Petoskey, Michigan. Earlier in the week, he was taken to War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where an MRI revealed swelling in his brain and a growth wrapped around the right frontal lobe.

He was subsequently transferred to McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey, evaluated through Thursday and underwent surgery Friday. He was in the ICU recovering with family before passing early Sunday morning. He was 48 years old.

Baraboo Mayor Mike Palm, a longtime friend of Pleger and his wife Theresa, said news of his death came as a shock. Palm said he remembers Pleger as a leader who made sure professors, staff and students all felt welcome and integral to the success of the UW-Baraboo campus.

Tom Pleger was much more than a dean, Palm said. He was certainly a friend, he was a community supporter and he was a mentor. I think a lot of people will remember him as being a person, who just by being in his presence, made you want to be a better person.

Plegers tenure as Lake Superior State Universitys eighth president began in July 2014. Prior to moving to Michigan, he spent 21 years serving throughout the University of Wisconsin System, most recently as campus executive officer and dean at UW-Baraboo from 2006 to 2014.

He held a doctorate in archaeology and anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was a licensed archaeologist specializing in the Upper Great Lakes region and the use of copper technology by prehistoric Native Americans.

Seals said Pleger was a true Wisconsinite who basically wrote the book on archaeology in the state.

I told my wife that Tom wrote the book on Wisconsin archaeology, and she kind of chuckled, and I said No, I mean that literally, Seals said. Archeology: a Concise Introduction is coauthored by Tom Pleger  he literally wrote the book.

UW-Baraboo senior lecturer Kelly Dwyer said she remembers Pleger as a charismatic leader who wanted to share his experiences with others. As an alumnus of the Wisconsin in Scotland program, he played an integral role in sending UW Colleges students and professors to study abroad there.

While participating in the program, Dwyer said she had a conversation with Pleger in Scotland that has stuck with her to this day.

I remember talking to him and he said, You know this is so amazing because my going to Scotland has enabled you to go to Scotland, and then you inspired your students to go to Scotland, she said. Its like a pebble in water that has these ripple effects.

Judging by the outpouring of support from students, colleagues and friends on social media, it appears Plegers life left behind countless ripples.

Details on funeral arrangements and upcoming campus memorials will be announced shortly.

Donations to a fund in Plegers memory can be made online at foundation.lssu.edu/give-today and will be coordinated through the LSSU Foundation, 650 W. Easterday Ave., Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783.
JUNEAU  A 21-year-old Randolph man was found guilty Tuesday of an assault against Randolph Police Chief Michael Klavekoske.

Brandon M. Washburn entered a no contest plea to battery to a law enforcement officer and Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Sciascia found him guilty. Two additional misdemeanor charges were dismissed, but read into the record.

According to the criminal complaint, one of Washburns family members contacted Randolph police on May 16, 2016, because of concerns over his mental health. The woman said Washburn had told her that he had walked with his dog to a house seven miles away on May 13, 2016,  after his dog had told him to break into the house to save a girl.

Randolph police located a home near Cambria that had a break-in similar to what the woman described. The woman said Washburn became upset with the dog because there was no girl to be found at the home.

Officers had previous contact with Washburn. Officers were called to Randolph High School on May 12. 2016, because of a disturbance Washburn was causing at the school. According to the criminal complaint, Washburn told officers that he was at the school to get his transcripts.

Randolph Police contacted Dodge County officials and they agreed to do an emergency detention on May 16, 2016. When police went to Washburns house he admitted to possessing marijuana.

Washburn was taken into custody and was taken to Beaver Dam Community Hospital. Washburn was calm initially, but became irritated and told officers he wanted to leave the hospital. Washburn got out of his handcuffs several times.

According to the criminal complaint, one of the times Washburn got out of the handcuffs he swung and punched Klavekoske. A struggle began and Washburn tried to grab Klavekoskes gun. Klavekoske gained control of the situation and a Dodge County Deputy drew his Taser in order to resolve the situation. Washburn was taken to Winnebago Mental Health Facility.

A sentencing hearing in the case is scheduled for May 31.
A wasteland of scorched grass and charred trees enveloped Nick Svoboda's semitrailer as he rolled into southwest Kansas in March. Even the asphalt highway beneath him was cooked.

"It was just a giant desert," Svoboda recalls. "There was nothing left out there."

Wildfires had consumed more than 2 million acres of land, destroyed millions of dollars in fencing, and killed seven people and thousands of cattle in parts of Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle and northern Texas.

The massive fires left the region reeling, and in immediate need of food for surviving cows with nowhere left to graze.

Svoboda, 22, and his college buddy Trevor Hasenkamp, 21, decided they needed to help.

"When it started, it was just supposed to be two loads of hay that Nick and myself decided we were going to bring down with just some pickups and some trailers," Hasenkamp said last week.

It became a motorcade of aid: 10 semi-trucks loaded with hay, two flatbed trailers stacked with fence posts, wire, veterinary supplies and formula for calves whose mothers had been burned so bad they could no longer provide milk, plus thousands of dollars in cash donations.

These farm boys had witnessed nature's wrath themselves in 2014, when six tornadoes ripped through northeast Nebraska and destroyed the town of Pilger.

Hasenkamp grew up just down the road from Pilger, near Beemer, and Svoboda and his sister rode out a twister that day which hovered above their family farm near Pender, unscrewing the house from its foundation and leveling five outbuildings.

After the June 16 storm, thousands of volunteers descended on Pilger and the surrounding area.

From what Svoboda and Hasenkamp saw on Facebook, the immediate response to this year's fires was lacking.

"It was incredible how many people did not know about it, even from our area, being farmers," Hasenkamp said.

Within hours after the two started planning their trip, word spread to other farmers and ranchers across northeast Nebraska. In the end, some 60 people contributed, Svoboda said.

Ranchers in the blackened Red Hills of Clark County were stunned when the hay arrived, says Tori Pike, who helped rally relief from her home along Highway 54, northwest of the burned area  "You could just see their jaws hit the floor."

Since then, hundreds of trucks have hauled assistance past Pike's place. One group from Ohio brought 37 trucks on a single trip; some people from Missouri have been out five times. But Hasenkamp and Svoboda were among the first.

"They sure did a good thing," Pike said. "They helped a lot of people down here."

Jeff Krier, a rancher from northeast Clark County, lost 6,000 acres of land in Kansas and another 3,000 in Oklahoma, plus about 50 cows, 100 month-old calves, 50 miles of fence and 900 bales of hay. Volunteer firefighters saved his house.

Krier was among those who received hay from Nebraska. "We've got help from practically every state in the nation," he said. "It's unreal."

Still, he predicts it will take three years before his stretch of prairie returns to normal. The rains that have restored some green to his fields are "not growing any fence."

Hasenkamp and Svoboda returned in mid-April with another semi-load of hay and two trailers full of fence posts, more milk replacer and feed. Sometime soon, they'll send more cash.

Their efforts inspired state senators from northeast Nebraska to introduce a resolution honoring them in the Legislature. Sens. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft and Joni Albrecht of Thurston said Hasenkamp, Svoboda and the others who chipped in are prime examples of selflessness that is common in rural communities.

"We truly do take care of our own," Albrecht said, and, "when we see a need somewhere else, we go to their aid as well."
With the title of Mom comes an infinite amount of responsibility and an exponential amount of joy. It is descriptive as well as highly regarded in most crowds. It is worn as a rank by some and worn out by little people in need.

Mothers have a limited number of labels. They include Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma, Mum, (and a few things that teenagers might mumble under their breath). Three- and four-year-olds might call you by your given name for a time or when they are standing at the top of the stairs holding something broken.

Fathers, too, have the short list of Dad, Daddy, Pop, Daddio and maybe a pet name or two. But if we look at the generation who gave birth to these moms and dads, we have an incredible number of terms of endearment.

At some point in many of your lives you will have the honor of being renamed. Its as great as being knighted or awarded your doctorate, but instead of being called doctor or addressed as sir or dame, you could forevermore be called Bumpa or Maw Maw.

These may not sound all that attractive before you have grandchildren, but once you do, all bets are off. Sometimes you pick a name to be called, sometimes it picks you. Bubba might sound like a dogs name or a wrestler to some, but to a septuagenarian who is playing with his two-year-old grandson it is music to his ears.

My children called my in-laws Grandma and Grandpa. Basic, and simple. The titles, although worthy of celebration, came early for these parents of seven. They were 44 when they were dubbed grandparents by their first-born. In fact, Jacks youngest sister was worried she would see her mother turn from a mom to a grandma overnight and the only grandmother she knew was 83 years old. We had some explaining to do. It was quite disconcerting for a seven-year-old.

My mother was called Nanny by her choosing and had six other grands by the time our son came along. She was proud of them all and totally enjoyed the title.

Some people are called things from their heritage or culture. One couple who are of French descent has been called Pepere and Memere, shortened to Mema and Pepa by two of their grandchildren. But they also have a Chinese daughter-in-law whose children call them Yie Yie and Nae Nae (pronounced Yeah Yeah and Nye Nye). The terms are associated with respect and connection.

Other names are appointed by something with which they are associated. Buddy seems playful and friendly; Mama Bear kind of says it all. Texas Grandma is the one to visit far away, Running Grandma is the jogger. So, you can go from being Motorcycle Mama to Brroom-brroom and Admiral Smith to Skipper Bob in just one short generation.

Nona, Nonny, Grans, Mimi, Gigi and ZuZu can just evolve. One of my friends is called J-Ma because she is Js ma.

When our first grandson was born, he already had a granny and pop pop, three great-grandmothers, and a great-grandpa and two step great-grandpas. I became Nana K and Jack is Grandpa Jack to distinguish from the others.

Because of distance, we FaceTime our grandchildren often, starting when they are just babies. One granddaughter started asking to FaceTime Cuckoo Grandma, because while we were chatting she could see and hear the cuckoo clock in the background.

I thought it was adorable until I heard it out of the mouths of the surrounding adults. I began to wonder if maybe that wasnt the best name to take into my senior years. Fortunately, without too much prompting she now calls me Grandma K.

The little ones might not call you Arabella, the name you would choose, but they dont have to call you Poo-Poo either. Find a name you want to hear often, and leave the rest up to those wonderful little people who love you.

The truth is, like most grandparents, I dont really care what they call me, as long as they call me.
Everyone is invited to shop for gently used clothes, toys, books and housewares in the Zion school gym. All items will be free; shoppers are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to a local food pantry.
Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis, criticized the recently passed health care bill and the lack of transparency used to pass the bill in an interview at the Star-Times office before his listening session in Mauston May 5.

Kind also discussed environment and automation issues.

Kind was steadfast in his opposition to the health care bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

I voted against it, Kind said. I thought it was a bad piece of legislation, both in the process of how it came together and the impact it will have for people back home.

He not only had problems with the written legislation, but the process of bringing it to the floor for a vote.

They were flying in the dark on this bill, all for the sake of trying to ram something through, Kind said.

He said the bill was first available at 10 p.m. the night before the health care vote.

Anyone who says they had a complete understanding of this bill before the vote is lying to you, Kind said.

He said he expects the bill to have difficulty in the United States Senate. He thinks Congress has gone on the wrong track of doing what people really want with health care.

We need to work together to get healthcare costs down and make it affordable for all Americans, Kind said. If we get back to that, I think well find a lot of bipartisan support.

He did express support for incentives to help get young people into the health care system.

Usually theyre young, and not earning a lot  but we need them in to spread the risk for everyone else. Thats how insurance works, Kind said.

Kind also expressed concerns on how President Donald Trumps administration will work against opiate issues.

The whole opioid epidemic, the drug addiction that we have ravaging our communities is an all hands on deck moment. We need to view this as world war 3  The policies of this administration, of President Trump, is to defund the drug interdiction policies, mental health services, drug addiction services, everything you need in these communities.

He said another problem he had with the health care bill was allowing the states to change essential benefits. He said mental health and drug addiction treatment plans are usually one of the first services insurance companies want to cut.

He has grave concerns about the possibility of ending protections for those with preexisting conditions. He said he talked to a mother with a child who had a seizure while still in the womb. The child was protected under Obamacare, but the mother now worries if she will be able to get proper care for her son.

Parents shouldnt have to be living in that type of fear, Kind said.

Environmental issues

The congressman said hes very disturbed in the direction Governor Scott Walker and the state government has acted in taking zoning rights away from local control over high capacity well permits.

Recent Stevens Point studies show 36 lakes in the area have suffered serious water draw downs and depletion because of the (high capacity) well in the area, Kind said.

He is also concerned about phosphorus and nitrates in the soil affecting water.

Since we are a water rich state, we should be doing more to correct it, he said.

He said its not only an environmental issue, but an economic issue. Tourism and fishing can have a large impact on the area, and having clean water can help create good paying jobs.

I was equally disturbed with the budget President Trump sent up, calling for a 30 percent cut in EPA funding, Kind said. They were going to eliminate federal grants for water treatment programs here in Wisconsin and throughout the country.

He said the administration doesnt seem to care about helping communities address environmental issues.

Kind says there is significant data showing global warming is real, and humans have a significant impact.

Even getting outside the whole debate of if it is man-made or not, just the whole pivot to renewable, sustainable clean energy sources is working for us with the advent of wind, and solar and geothermal , Kind said. We are employing more people today in the solar field than we were by 20 times in the coal industry.

Automation

Kind said jobs are not being lost because of environmental regulations, but because of automation.

Take a look at the loss of manufacturing jobs over the last few decades, a lot of that can be laid at the doorstep of automation and robotics coming into those plants now, Kind said.

He thinks the nation is being caught flat-footed when it comes to preparing for the upcoming technology wave and its change on the labor force.

Kind said he took members of the New Democratic Coalition, a centrist group of Democrats, on a trip to Boston to meet with MIT research labs and Harvard business labs about upcoming technology issues.

He is drafting legislation to call on the National Academy of Sciences to assemble a panel of experts to do a study on workforce issues in the future and propose policy solutions.

There are certain things that can work, but were lacking a blue print, or a path forward on it, Kind said.
Mario Brown Jr. entered a plea of no-contest to reckless homicide on Monday, in connection to a December shooting at the Cattail Lodge in Portage.

Brown, 24, of Madison, appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court for what Judge Todd Hepler described as a last minute thing.

I was notified this morning that there would be a plea in this case, said Hepler of the hearing that was not on posted court calendars.

Although it may be last-minute in the formal acceptance, said District Attorney Jane Kohlwey, the parties have been working on this and it is in no way last-minute as far as the parties are concerned.

Whereas Brown was originally charged on Jan. 3 with one count of first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime, Kohlwey submitted an amended information, adding the charge of second-degree reckless homicide. Brown would enter a plea of guilty or no-contest to the lesser charge, with the more serious charge expected to be dismissed.

Kohlwey recommended that Brown be given a five-year prison sentence consecutive to any other sentence he might receive.

Brown was the first suspect taken into custody following the shooting death of Jason Laack, 22, of Rio, the evening of Dec. 18, 2016. Katti Laack, Jasons sister, had been staying at the Cattail Lodge, where, she told officers later, she had arranged for Brown, whom she had known from school, to meet her brother to buy a quarter pound of marijuana.

Brown and another man, later identified as 23-year-old Marcus Johnson Jr., of Madison, arrived at the room and met the Laacks and Kattis boyfriend. When Jason produced a small baggie of marijuana, Brown allegedly responded by saying, Whats this? and then telling Johnson to shoot Laack. When the gun was drawn Katti and her boyfriend reportedly took cover in the bathroom and heard what sounded like a struggle and gunshots. When they emerged from the bathroom, Jason Laack was the only person in the room and was bleeding from a wound.

Police were called just before 7:57 p.m. and at 9:30 p.m. Laack was declared dead.

After getting in contact with authorities, Brown turned himself in to the Madison Police Department the next day and was transferred to Columbia County Jail where he has been held on $1 million cash bond.

In court Monday, with Laacks sister and mother in attendance with members of the Portage Police Department, Brown entered a plea of no-contest to second-degree reckless homicide. Hepler ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed for a sentencing hearing.

Johnson is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree intentional attempted homicide. He remains incarcerated in Columbia County Jail on $1 million bond. He last appeared in court on April 13 in a hearing in which Laacks mother announced that her sons body had been cremated and released by the Columbia County Medical Examiner to the surprise of all parties and without the defense having opportunity to request independent investigation. The case is still on track to proceed to trial.

Elisha Bias, 20, of Madison, who was identified as a suspect who had been waiting in a car in the Cattail Lodge parking lot during the shooting, was charged with misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle with a revoked license and bail jumping. He is scheduled to appear for a jury trial on June 29.
Theres something fiche-y going on in the Columbia County Register of Deeds office.

It has to do with birth, marriage and death records  about 75,000 of them, spanning from the mid-1840s to the 1920s, all stored on postcard-size sheets of microfilm, in three of the four tiny drawers of a desktop file.

The impending move of most Columbia County non-court-related offices to the countys new three-story Administration Building means its an opportune time to digitize these records, Register of Deeds Karen Manske told the County Boards Executive Committee on Monday.

Manske said it will be the original paper records, and not the fiche images, that will be sent out of the office on May 23 to be converted to digital images, capable of being perused on a computer screen in the Register of Deeds office, but not accessible online outside the office.

The principal perusers of such records are people doing genealogy research, Manske said.

For a long time, she said, many of them have complained about the poor quality of the fiche images, which must be read on a viewing machine thats probably more than 30 years old.

The paper records still exist  and theyll be returned to the new Register of Deeds office on the first floor of the Administration Building, 112 E. Edgewater St., when the digitization is completed in six to eight weeks.

But Manske said people seeking to view those records are instructed, for now, to use the fiches.

Old paper is so fragile, she said.

On the Register of Deeds page on the countys website, www.columbia.wi.us, theres a note that genealogy research will be suspended starting May 22, to ease the transition to the new building. Research will resume in the new building on or about June 30  by which time, Manske hopes, the records now stored on fiche will be digitized.

There are some fairly stringent rules regarding who can view vital records such as these.

Genealogy researchers must sign in and present official forms of identification, such as a Wisconsin Department of Transportation-issued drivers license or identification card, And, the person whose vital records the researcher is seeking must be a likely ancestor; people cant just leaf through all birth, death or marriage records.

Besides these vital personal records, the Register of Deeds office also is the custodian of many other documents that people use in genealogy and historical research, including mortgages, plat maps, property ownership records and land surveys.

Manske said the fiches and the original records will be retained in the office, though researchers will almost certainly find the digitized versions much easier to read.

And, the clerk of courts office will get custody of the fiche reader, which includes a reel-to-reel reader that is used for some court-related documents.
Money cant buy me love.

 The Beatles

A favorable judicial ruling? Well, thats another thing altogether.

That was the tune sung by Wisconsin Supreme Court justices last month when they rejected a proposal by 54 retired state jurists to force judges up and down the ladder  from municipal court judges to high court justices  to recuse themselves from cases involving those who contributed financially or otherwise supported their political campaigns for office.

On a 5-2 vote, conservatives on the state high court voted to reject a bright line standard for when judges must remove themselves from a case. The retired judges suggested recusal if a circuit court judge received $1,000 or more from a litigant or attorney in a case; a threshold of $2,500 for appeals judges and $10,000 for Supreme Court judges.

Instead, under current rules, that decision will continue to be left to the judge himself or herself.

In todays political climate with a highly politicized high court that now relies on millions of dollars in special interest spending on issue ads to promote judicial candidates, that is an open invitation to corruption.

On the high end of the political spending level, that means lobbying organizations cannot help but get a friendly ear to their arguments when they donate heavily to a judges political campaign. On the low end, that means anyone in a municipal court might feel disadvantaged going before a municipal judge knowing that the opposing litigant or their attorney had put some cash in the judges political coffers.

The high court majority  which declined to even give a public hearing to the proposed rule change  cast it as a constitutional and free speech issue and some were mightily offended that it had come before the court at all.

Every judge and justice in Wisconsin should be highly offended by this petition because it attacks their integrity, said Justice Rebecca Bradley.

Justice Daniel Kelly chimed in that judges are capable of determining on their own when they must step aside.

The question is whether we should tell judges and the state that we dont trust them to do that, said Kelly. I think thats caustic and inappropriate and an unnecessary thing for us to do.

We take umbrage with that claim.

We have seen too many instances in the past decade where justices have resisted or rejected requests for recusal based on conflicts of interest. We have watched as special-interest group spending on issue ads in state Supreme Court races soared to more than $13 million in the past decade. We have watched as the state Legislature has rewritten state law to allow candidates for office  including judicial office  to coordinate campaign work with groups that dont disclose their election spending.

On the recusal issue, Rick Esenberg of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, filed a brief, saying, Money is speech, or more accurately, speech requires money.

With its 5-2 vote, the justices showed they are listening attentively.

It may be the law of the land, but the law and our land are both poorer for it. The fat wallets of special interest spending have been placed on the scales of justice.
Editors note: This is the second in a four-part series examining the people, families and services working for those with differing abilities.

Carla Peterson knew early on her son, Andrew, was different.

I come from a family of educators and saw he had some learning challenges and things about him that made him learn differently, she said.

The Plain resident started the long, arduous process of doctor appointments to find out exactly what was going on with her son. Soon they learned Andrew was on the autism spectrum and began working with the Sauk Prairie School District on an individual education plan for him. He was in kindergarten.

He went from needing a full-time aid to slowly being integrated into a regular classroom setting.

He received a lot of support, Peterson said. We built each year based on what he needed and what was giving him the best chance for success.

Fast forward to the present, and Andrew, now 21 years old, is holding down a full-time job at Sauk Prairie Hospital in food service.

He accomplished this through a lot of hard work and Project SEARCH, a national, 12-month, high school transition program for students with disabilities, ages 18-21. The Sauk Prairie School District began offering the program about two years ago in conjunction with a business partner, Sauk Prairie Healthcare, as another program to transition students with disabilities from school into the workforce, said Liz Kennedy, transition coordinator for the Sauk Prairie School District.

He has been prepared very well for the job he is doing right now, Peterson said. Through hard work and saving he even bought himself a truck just before Christmas.

Five years ago if you would have told me hed have his own drivers license, a truck  Id say, really? I dont see that. Weve always wanted the best for him, we just didnt see it coming quite this quickly, she said.

Facing challenges

Chelsea Stanek, 29, of Union Center, has a mild learning disability and has been paralyzed from the waist down since infancy. While her challenges differ from those with a cognitive disability, she has still had to adapt.

I struggle with math, she said. I was mostly in regular education classes but was in special education for math. Tests were modified for me if I needed it.

Her other challenge is being wheelchair bound.

Some of the doors in high school were not that accessible, Stanek said. But I quickly adapted to that. The teachers were very understanding.

When it came time to transition to college in La Crosse, Stanek said her plans ultimately changed because she struggled to find housing that could accommodate her disability.

I tried to work with several places but they would put you on a list and you might not hear back for a couple of years, she said.

The Division of Vocational Rehab (DVR) was very involved with her job development, helping her find the necessary accommodations for a job.

Teenage preparation

The Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells is another site for Project SEARCH. Traci Jones, chairman of Project SEARCH for the Kalahari, said the program runs with the school year. Students apply for a position, and are interviewed and assessed to see what job skills they possess. If accepted into the program, students start their day in the classroom followed by the majority of their day spent in an internship. They spend their time learning the job tasks and skills needed for post-high school employment.

Throughout the year, students experience three rotations of internships to experience a variety of jobs. Once they graduate, the goal is to achieve 100 percent employment  a minimum of 16 hours a week  whether its at the site they interned at or somewhere else.

It gives them a chance to be a part of the community, Jones said. It teaches them life skills, How to balance a checkbook  soft skills  the skills necessary to be a good employee.

Jones said Project SEARCH is an extremely important program because it helps provide individuals with skills necessary to become a member of the community.

They havent always had these opportunities coming out of high school, Jones said. This gives them that transition time needed, which is hugely important.

Students who use Project SEARCH must be eligible for services from the DVR, and 80 percent or more have to be eligible for long-term support.

Project SEARCH consists of a classroom component, an internship and instruction about job skills, interviewing skills and even soft skills, such as cleanliness, grooming and social interaction.

By law, schools have to provide education for developmentally disabled adolescents and young adults until age 21 as part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a law ensuring services to youth.

In 2004, the IDEA Act was all about transition and post high school outcomes, Kennedy said. We started out small with only one student in the 18-21 program, and we have grown from there. We now can have an average of five to 16 kids in the 18-21 program, and we offer it to students in all disability areas, which makes us unique.

Not all kids stay until they are 21. Some transition into the workforce or college before they turn 21.

What we do is usually have a checklist and take a look at what each students needs are. They have a case manager, an 18-21 program instructor and myself working with (others) and we start talking about the students needs, Kennedy said.

As students with disabilities approach graduation age, they are referred to the Aging and Disability Resource Center, at which time a referral is done.

Becoming adults

We work with any student who is disabled prior to graduation so when they are 18 the transition for them is a seamless as possible, said Jim Pritzkow, information assistant specialist and social worker with the ADRC of Eagle Country. Essentially we are helping these students move from the child to the adult world. And in a perfect world, those services would happen right away.

Typically a school will refer a student to the ADRC with the student and familys permission, he said.

We look at three main areas: legal-decision-making, guardianship and determination for social security disability, Pritzkow said. Just because a person is disabled as a child doesnt mean they will be considered disabled as an adult.

The ADRC can help provide community supports, jobs, in-home services or even job training.

The ADRC is a gateway to long-term care programs, Pritzkow said. We focus on key areas of transition.

The Department of Workforce Development and its division of vocational rehabilitation also provide support to those who qualify. Students apply to the DWD approximately two years before needing services.

The goal of the agency is to get them employed, or help with other services that will lead to their long-term goal, such as a certificate program, vocational school, a bachelors degree  the needs must be related to a person obtaining a job or improving or maintaining employment, said Nick Lampone, workforce development area 10 director for the Division of Vocational Resources. Thats a misconception out there. If you have a job, you can still apply. We can help a person maintain employment or help if the person wants to get promoted or find different or better jobs.

The services the agency provides depends on the needs of the individual. It could be assistance working on a resume, help with a job search or honing interviewing skills.

The DVR helps with specific barriers and addressing those barriers so the individual can be successfully employed, gain independence, improve their quality of life or find their purpose, Lampone said.

Common problems

I would say barriers for us in Juneau County is that we are so rural, theres not a lot of job opportunities for these kids, said Michele Yates-Wickus, director of special education for the Mauston School District.

Also many dont know what they need to go through to get into a technical or four-year college, she said.

Pritzkow said a major barrier is simply that the family or student doesnt know what to do.

Theres no flyer that goes out and says here, this is what you need to do when you turn 18, he said. We try to make the transition into adulthood seamless. But yes, the biggest barrier is often that people dont know all what has to happen or what can happen.

My advice to those parents is to ask every question that pops into your brain, Peterson said. And if you are feeling like you dont have the knowledge you need, ask for an advocate.

She said at her first IEP meeting for her son, there were 14 adults around the table.

As a parent you are getting a lot of information about your child; mostly about what the schools cant do and its all coming at you so fast. Its great to have another ear there with you, Peterson said.

Dani Scott, director of student services for the Baraboo School District said barriers tend to ebb and flow based on the economic conditions of the community, such as the availability of jobs and what skills an employer might be looking for.

Employers might be hesitant to hire a student with a disability, she said. But then others have been absolutely wonderful.

For students that need supportive living environments  if their parents are unwilling to become guardians  there just arent a lot of options for supportive living in the area, said Jeff Bindl, director of special education and pupil services for the Reedsburg School District. And job opportunities  the more rural the community the less available jobs there are.

Living in a rural community also impacts the individuals access to transportation.

In rural areas (transportation) just isnt possible, Bindl said. And if they are unable to find employment, a lot of them frankly end up sitting in a home; not productive or engaged.

When she graduated from high school, Stanek experienced the same trouble.

Transportation was, and still is, a bit of an issue, she said. My parents transported me to and from college. There doesnt seem to be a lot of resources out there for transportation

Its a reason why places like Northwoods are so important. The Portage-based organization serves individuals challenged by severe disability to residents in Columbia, Sauk and Juneau counties, with jobs in an integrated community environment. Northwoods provides transportation to its employees.

Finding work

According to director Jeff Aerts, Northwoods was developed in 1972 by parents of adult children with disabilities. It began as an adult day center and has since transformed into a work training site for adults with disabilities.

When this place was first formed, the concept wasnt getting people to work, it wasnt even thought about by the general population that the disabled could or should work, Aerts said.

Northwoods helps people with a range of disabilities, from high functioning to those who have a difficult time doing things for themselves, by providing them with job skills and employment opportunities.

Previously, school districts could refer students directly to Northwoods for job skills training. A law passed two years ago changing the process.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2016 was intended to improve services to individuals with disabilities.

What it talks about is that transitioning students with disabilities can no longer transition into sub-minimum wage jobs under the age of 24, said Lampone. The idea is that once a person goes there it makes it difficult for them to come back out of that setting.

Now students have to be referred through the DVR before getting a sub-minimum wage position, to try community-based employment first.

The idea is to get the person integrated and have the person making at least minimum wage in the community and earned income level, to earn to their maximum capacity, Lampone said.

Aerts said the law has a lot of people in the industry worried.

Administration wants people out of special education the minute they leave high school; the law now says they need to apply to the DVR first and get assessed. That means they cant first come to a facility like ours, Aerts said. We have a goal to get people into the community and working, but Congress got it in their heads that we dont want people to get jobs outside of here.

The problem Aerts sees is when an individual with a disability gets a job first without being prepared, it essentially means they have to fail before they can get gainful employment.

We dont get referrals from the school districts anymore, he said. Now a person has to be 25 or older before they can get a job here. I think we need to leave the door open for people to come here to train so they can get the skills they need to be successful.
CALEDONIA  Holy cow! The craft-beer craze appears to be making its way to the village with plans in the works for a summer beer-tasting festival.

Curt Foreman, representing Maxx Marketing, appeared before the Caledonia Legislative/Licensing Committee Monday seeking approval to hold the inaugural Holy Cow Beer Festival. Foreman plans to hold Aug. 26 at Caledonia-Mount Pleasant Memorial Park, 9416 Northwestern Ave. (Highway K at Highway H).

He said New Glarus Brewing Co. craft brews would be most prominently featured for tasting. New Glarus signature product is Spotted Cow ale. Because the company only sells its brews in Wisconsin, Foreman said his company would target the Chicago metropolitan area. Racine Countys tourism bureau, Real Racine, would be instrumental in marketing the event.

Holy Cow would be a 3-hour, afternoon festival except for a one-hour VIP event preceding the festival, Foreman said.

The Sixth Street Theatre would hold the license and staff the festival, he said.

Foreman hopes to draw about 1,200 people for the first-year event, he said.

The festival also would include a 24-foot bacon bar, Foreman said.

His company stages craft beer-tasting events through its BrewFest Partners division. Among the events Foreman has founded and managed is the annual Great Lakes Brew Fest in Racine, which according to the BrewFest website is one of the premier beer-tasting events in the Midwest, attracting sellout crowds of more than 4,000 in just its third year of existence.

The committee welcomed the idea of bringing a new event to the park and voted 2-0 to recommend approval. The Village Board would need to sign off on the recommendation.
Cable One, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides data, video, and voice services in the United States. The company offers residential data services, a service to enhance Wi-Fi signal throughout the home. It also provides residential video services, such as local networks; local community programming that includes governmental and public access; and other channels, as well as digital video services, including national and regional cable networks, music channels, and an interactive and electronic programming guide with parental controls. In addition, the company offers premium channels that offer movies, original programming, live sporting events, and concerts and other features; and advanced video services, such as whole-home DVRs and high-definition set-top boxes, as well as TV Everywhere product, which enables its video customers to stream various channels and shows to mobile devices and computers. Further, it provides residential voice services comprising local and long-distance calling, voicemail, call waiting, three-way calling, caller ID, anonymous call rejection, and other features, as well as international calling by the minute services. Additionally, the company offers data, voice, and video products to business customers, including small to mid-markets, enterprises, and wholesale and carrier customers. As of December 31, 2021, it served approximately 1.2 million residential and business customers in 24 states through its Sparklight, Fidelity, and Clearwave brands. Cable One, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company worldwide. It provides test preparation services and materials; data science and training services; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global. The company also offers training, test preparation, and degrees for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates three colleges, a business school, a higher education institution, and an online learning institution. In addition, it owns and operates seven television stations; and provides social media management tools to connect newsrooms with their users, as well as produces Foreign Policy magazine and ForeignPolicy.com website. Further, the company publishes Slate, an online magazine; and two French-language news magazine websites at slate.fr and slateafrique.com. Additionally, it provides social media marketing solutions; home health and hospice services; burners, igniters, dampers, and controls; screw jacks, linear actuators and related linear motion products, and lifting systems; pressure impregnated kiln-dried lumber and plywood products; cybersecurity training solutions; digital advertising services; and power charging and data systems, industrial and commercial indoor lighting solutions, and electrical components and assemblies. The company also owns and operates 11 restaurants and entertainment venues; and engages in automobile dealerships business. The company was formerly known as The Washington Post Company and changed its name to Graham Holdings Company in November 2013. Graham Holdings Company was founded in 1877 and is based in Arlington, Virginia.
Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit

Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools:

Portfolio Monitoring

Top Stock Lists

Premium Reports

Stock Screeners

Live News Feed

Premium Support

Free for your first month.
Kingsway Financial Services Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the extended warranty business services, asset management, and real estate businesses. The company operates through three segments: Extended Warranty, Leased Real Estate, and Kingsway Search Xcelerator. The Extended Warranty segment markets, sells, and administers vehicle service agreements and related products for new and used automobiles, motorcycles, and ATVs. This segment also sells new home warranty products, as well as offers uninsured warrant administration services to homebuilders and homeowners; markets and distributes warranty products to manufacturers, distributors, and installers of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, standby generator, commercial LED lighting, and commercial refrigeration equipment; and provides equipment breakdown and maintenance support services to companies. The Leased Real Estate segment owns a parcel of real property consisting of approximately 192 acres located in the State of Texas. The Kingsway Search Xcelerator offers outsourced finance and human resources consulting services, including operational accounting, such as bookkeeping, accounting, financial reporting, and analysis and strategic finance services; technical accounting comprising initial public offerings, SEC reporting, and international consolidation services; human resources, workforce management, and compliance support services; and advisory services. The company offers its products and services through credit unions, dealers, homebuilders, and consumers. Kingsway Financial Services Inc. was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Itasca, Illinois.
The following companies are subsidiares of Fidelity National Information Services: 11601 Roosevelt Boulevard Realty LLC, AFSF II AIV Investors D-LP, AGES Participacoes Ltda., AKC Insurance Company LLC., Advanced Portfolio Technologies Ltd., Alphakinetic Ltd., Armed Forces Financial Network LLC, AssetExchange, Automated Securities Clearance LLC, Best Payment Solutions Inc., Bibit Spain S.L.., C&E Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., CPRS Holdings Inc., Capco, Certegy Canada Company, Certegy France Limited, Certegy SAS, Chex Systems Inc., Clear2Pay, Clear2Pay APAC Pte. Ltd., Clear2Pay APAC Pty Ltd., Clear2Pay BV, Clear2Pay Belgium BV, Clear2Pay France SAS, Clear2Pay Germany GmbH, Clear2Pay Limited, Clear2Pay Nanjing Co. Limited, Clear2Pay Nederland BV, Clear2Pay Poland Sp. z o.o., Clear2Pay Scotland Holdings Limited, Clear2Pay Scotland Limited, Clear2Pay Shenzhen Company Limited, Clear2Pay Spain S.l., ClearTwoPay Chile SpA, Complete Payment Recovery Services Inc., Compliance Coach, Credit Management Solutions, Decalog UK Limited, Direct Debi Pty Ltd., Envoy Services Ltd. Asia SDn BHD, Envoy Services South Africa Pty Limited, F.I.S. Systems Middle East Limited, FIS Ambit Holdings Pty Ltd, FIS Apex International Limited, FIS Apex UK Limited, FIS Asia Pacific Inc., FIS AsiaPacRim Holdings Ltd., FIS Australasia Pty Ltd., FIS Banking Solutions UK Limited, FIS Bilgisayar Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, FIS Brokerage & Securities Services LLC, FIS Capital Markets UK Limited, FIS Capital Markets US LLC, FIS Card Services Thailand Co. Ltd., FIS Consulting Services Ireland Limited, FIS Consulting Services UK Limited, FIS Denmark ApS, FIS Derivatives Utility Services LLC, FIS Derivatives Utility Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Derivatives Utility Services UK Limited, FIS Energy Solutions Limited, FIS Financial Solutions Canada Inc., FIS Financial Systems France SAS, FIS Foundation Inc., FIS GCS LLC, FIS Global Business Solutions India Private Ltd., FIS Global Execution Services Ireland Limited, FIS Global Execution Services Limited, FIS Global Holdings S.a.r.l, FIS Global Solutions Philippines Inc., FIS Global Trading Deutschland GmbH, FIS Global Trading Hong Kong Limited, FIS Global Trading Iberica S.L. Unipersonal, FIS Global Trading Nederland B.V., FIS Global Trading Portugal Unipessoal Lda, FIS Global Trading Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Global Trading Suisse SA, FIS Global Trading UK Limited, FIS Healthcare Trustee Limited, FIS Holdings Limited, FIS Holdings Mauritius, FIS International Subsidiaries Holdings LLC, FIS Investment Systems UK Limited, FIS Investment Ventures LLC, FIS Investor Services Germany GmbH, FIS Investor Services India Private Limited, FIS Investor Services LLC, FIS Investor Services Poland Sp . Z o.o., FIS Japan KK, FIS Kingstar Cayman Islands Limited, FIS Korea Ltd., FIS Management Services LLC, FIS Management Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., FIS Merchant Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., FIS Norway AS, FIS Pakistan Private Limited, FIS Payment Solutions & Services India Private Limited, FIS Payments Ireland Limited, FIS Payments LLC, FIS Payments UK Limited, FIS Pensions Limited, FIS Romania SRL, FIS SG International Holdings LLC, FIS SG Italia S.r.l., FIS SG Systems Philippines Inc., FIS Sherwood Systems Limited, FIS Solutions India Private Limited, FIS Solutions LLC, FIS Solutions Software India Private Limited, FIS Switzerland SA, FIS Systeme GmbH, FIS Systems Hong Kong Limited, FIS Systems International LLC, FIS Systems Kenya Limited, FIS Systems Limited, FIS Systems Luxembourg S.A., FIS Systems Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., FIS Systems NZ Limited, FIS Systems Pty Ltd, FIS Systems Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Systems South Africa Pty Limited, FIS Systems de Colombia S.A.S., FIS Technology Beijing Co. Limited, FIS Technology Services Poland Sp. z o.o., FIS Technology Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Technology Services Tunisia SARL, FIS Treasury Centre Limited, FIS Treasury Systems Europe Limited, FIS Treasury Systems UK Limited, FIS Tunisia I SARL, FIS Tunisia II SARL, FIS UK Holdings Limited, FIS Vietnam LLC, FIS Worldpay Jersey Limited, FIS Worldpay Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FIS Worldpay South Africa Pty Ltd, FIS Worldpay Thailand Co. Ltd., FIS-SG Holding Corp., FNIS Istanbul Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, FV General Partner LLC, Fidelity Holding Ltda., Fidelity Information Services Front Arena AB, Fidelity Information Services GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Hong Kong Limited, Fidelity Information Services Iberia S.L.U., Fidelity Information Services India Private Limited, Fidelity Information Services International Holdings Inc., Fidelity Information Services Israel Ltd., Fidelity Information Services LLC, Fidelity Information Services Limited, Fidelity Information Services Operations GmbH, Fidelity Information Services SARL, Fidelity Information Services Slovakia s.r.o., Fidelity Information Services South Africa Pty Ltd., Fidelity Information Services Thailand Limited, Fidelity Information Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fidelity International Resource Management Inc., Fidelity National Global Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services Netherlands B.V., Fidelity National Participacoes e Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos de Tratamento de Documentos e Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos e Contact Center Ltda., Fidelity Participacoes e Servicos Ltda., Financial Insurance Marketing Group Inc., GL Settle Limited, GL Trade CMS Thailand Limited, GL Trade Software DOO, GL Trade Solutions CMS Thailand Limited, GL Trade South Africa Proprietary Limited, Glesia S.r.l., GoCart LLC, Information Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., IntegraPay LLC, IntegraPay Holdings Pty Ltd, IntegraPay Ltd, IntegraPay Pty Ltd, Integrity Treasury Solutions Europe Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Inc., Integrity Treasury Solutions Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Pty Limited, Link2Gov Corp., LinksPay Inc., LinksPay Ltd, LinksPay Pty Ltd, Memento, Metavante Technologies Inc, Metavante Technologies Limited, Minorca Corporation NV, Monis Software Limited, NYCE Payments Network LLC, Oshap Software Industries Ltd., PSG-A III Blocker 5 L.L.C., PT FIS Systems Indonesia, PT Fidelity Information Services Indonesia, Panther Holdco 2 Inc., Panther Holdco Inc., Payment Brasil Holdings Ltda., Payment Chile S.A., Payment Trust Limited., Payments Technology Services Limited, Paymetric Inc., Payrix, Payrix AUS Blocker LLC, Payrix Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Payrix Canada Corp., Payrix Holdings LLC, Payrix Intermediate LLC, Payrix LLC, Payrix Solutions LLC, Pazien Inc., People's United Merchant Services LLC, Platform Securities Holdings Limited, Platform Securities International Limited, Platform Securities International Nominees Limited, Platform Securities LLP, Platform Securities Nominees Limited, Platform Securities Services Limited, Proservvi Banco de Servicos, RealNet Payments LLC, Reech Capital Limited, Reliance Financial Corporation, Reliance Financial Corporation., Reliance Integrated Solutions LLC, Reliance Trust Company, Rocket Partners Holdings LLC, Secondco Limited, Ship Holdco Limited., Ship Luxco 2 S.a.r.l., Ship Luxco 3 S.a.r.l., Ship Midco Limited, Solutions Plus Consulting Services Limited, SunGard, SunGard Data Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., SunGard Global Services Tunisia III, SunGard Global Trading Australia Pty. Ltd., SunGard India Sales Private Limited, TP Technologies N.V., Tayvin 346 Limited, Trax BV, Valuelink Information Services Limited, Valutec Card Solutions LLC, Virtus Fund Services, Virtus Group LP, Virtus LP Holdings LLC, Virtus Partners Fund Services Ireland Limited, Virtus Partners Fund Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Virtus Partners Holdings, Virtus Partners Ireland Ltd., Virtus Partners Ltd., Virtus Trade Settlement LLC, WebTone Technologies, Worldpay, Worldpay AP Ltd., Worldpay Argentina SRL, Worldpay B.V., Worldpay Canada Corporation, Worldpay Cayman Holdings Limited, Worldpay Company LLC, Worldpay Do Brasil Instituicao de Pagamento Ltda, Worldpay Finance Limited, Worldpay Gaming Solutions LLC, Worldpay Governance Limited, Worldpay Group Limited., Worldpay HK Limited, Worldpay Holdings Barbados SRL, Worldpay Holdings Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Worldpay ISO Inc., Worldpay India Private Limited, Worldpay Integrated Payments Canada LLC, Worldpay Integrated Payments LLC., Worldpay Integrated Payments Solutions Inc., Worldpay International Group Limited, Worldpay International Holdings Limited, Worldpay International Limited, Worldpay International Payments Limited, Worldpay International Solutions Limited, Worldpay K.K., Worldpay LLC, Worldpay Latin America Limited., Worldpay Limited., Worldpay Marketing Consulting Shanghai Co. Limited, Worldpay NZ Limited, Worldpay Payments Barbados SRL, Worldpay Pte Ltd., Worldpay Pty Ltd., Worldpay S.a.r.l., Worldpay Services Company, Worldpay Services SRL, Worldpay Solutions SRL, Worldpay Technology Bucharest S.R.L., Worldpay Treasury Solutions SRL, Worldpay UK Limited, Worldpay US Inc., Worldpay eCommerce LLC, Worldpay eCommerce Limited., Xpede, YES-Secure.com Limited., YESpay International Limited., Zenmonics Inc., Zenmonics Software Private Limited, eFunds Corporation, eFunds Holdings Limited, eFunds International Limited, i DLX International B.V., and mFoundry Inc..

Read More
MOUNT PLEASANT  Its a small tradition, but one that employees of the Racine Architect Hotel and Conference Center look forward to but almost didnt get to see this year.

The Marriott Duck, as some employees call it, had laied eggs in the hotel courtyard, located at 7111 Washington Ave., every year and when the eggs hatch, the mother leads the ducklings through the hotel lobby out to Pike River.

But this year, when a duck was killed by another animal, leaving a whole nest to be taken care of, hotel employees stepped in.

We found the eggs and they were freezing cold, General Manager Kerri Huelsbeck said.

Huelsbeck, who has a few chickens of her own, went to Farm and Fleet to buy an incubator for the eggs.

We were hoping at least one of (the eggs) would survive, Huelsbeck said. It took like 25 days and we were watching every day. And when that one came it was a great feeling.

The hotel employees named the duck Steve, in memory of a maintenance engineer who died after an accident. The duck was cared for in an empty fish tank at the hotel until it was old enough to be relocated.

It was tragic and unexpected, Huelsbeck said of the death of the employee, but she added the new little duck helped with the grieving process. It was a healing for us.

Easter surprise

Everyone at the hotel, which until 2016 was known as the Racine Marriott, thought that was the end of the story. There would be no more ducklings this year. But an unexpected find over Easter weekend changed that.

When the kids were doing the Easter egg hunt we found a nest, Huelsbeck said. It repaired our hearts when we saw we were going to have another litter.

The hotel employees kept watch over the nest and the mother to make sure everyone was healthy.

It was something to look forward to, Huelsbeck said.

Veteran employees knew the drill when it was time to let them out. The mother duck would come to the door and tap on the glass. The hallway needed to be clear and everyone needed to be quiet.

However, when the time came on Thursday, the hotel was hosting a conference with about 650 people.

She had to wait until Friday morning, Huelsbeck said.

When the hallway was clear, everyone moved into position.

We opened up the door and she came strutting out, Huelsbeck said. She walked down that hall like shed done it before.

The mother duck lead nine ducklings through the hotel.

It was great to know that she was safe during that time, Huelsbeck said.
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, a technology company, focuses in the areas of automation and digitalization in Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. It operates through Digital Industries, Smart Infrastructure, Mobility, Siemens Healthineers, and Siemens Financial Services segments. The Digital Industries segment offers automation systems and software for factories, numerical control systems, motors, drives and inverters, and integrated automation systems for machine tools and production machines; process control systems, machine-to-machine communication products, sensors and radio frequency identification systems; software for production and product lifecycle management, and simulation and testing of mechatronic systems; and cloud-based industrial Internet of Things operating systems. The Smart Infrastructure segment offers products, systems, solutions, services, and software to support sustainable transition in energy generation from fossil and renewable sources; sustainable buildings and communities; and buildings, electrification, and electrical products. The Mobility segment provides passenger and freight transportation, such as vehicles, trams and light rail, and commuter trains, as well as trains and passenger coaches; locomotives for freight or passenger transport and solutions for automated transportation; products and solutions for rail automation; electrification products; and intermodal solutions. The Siemens Healthineers segment develops, manufactures, and sells various diagnostic and therapeutic products and services; and provides clinical consulting services. The Siemens Financial Services segment offers debt and equity investments; leasing, lending, and working capital financing solutions; and equipment, project, and structured financing solutions. Siemens Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany.
New Jersey Resources Corporation, an energy services holding company, provides regulated gas distribution, and retail and wholesale energy services. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Distribution, Clean Energy Ventures, Energy Services, and Storage and Transportation. The Natural Gas Distribution segment offers regulated natural gas utility services to approximately 564,000 residential and commercial customers throughout Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, and Sussex counties in New Jersey; provides capacity and storage management services; and participates in the off-system sales and capacity release markets. The Clean Energy Ventures segment invests in, owns, and operates commercial and residential solar projects situated in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York. The Energy Services segment offers unregulated wholesale energy management services to other energy companies and natural gas producers, as well as maintains and transacts a portfolio of physical assets consisting of natural gas storage and transportation contracts in the United States and Canada. The Storage and Transportation segment invests in natural gas transportation and storage facilities. It provides heating, ventilation, and cooling services; holds commercial real estate properties; and offers solar equipment installation, and plumbing repair and installation services, as well as engages in the water appliance sale, installation, and servicing activities. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Wall, New Jersey.
Mistras Group, Inc. provides technology-enabled asset protection solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Services, International, and Products and Systems. It offers non-destructive testing services; predictive maintenance assessments of fixed and rotating assets; inline inspection for pipelines; and develops enterprise inspection database management software and plant condition management software. The company also provides maintenance and light mechanical services, such as corrosion removal, mitigation and prevention, insulation installation and removal, electrical, heat tracing, industrial cleaning, pipefitting, and welding; engineering consulting services primarily for process equipment, technologies, and facilities; and utilizes scaffolding and rope access to access at-height and confined assets. In addition, it offers certified divers for subsea inspection and maintenance; unmanned aerial, land-based, and subsea systems for inspection applications; online condition-monitoring solutions; quality assurance and quality control solutions for new and existing metal and alloy components, materials, and composites. Further, the company designs and installs monitoring systems, as well as provides commissioning, training, reporting, technical support, and annual maintenance services; Web-based solutions; and custom-developed software. Additionally, it designs, manufactures, and sells acoustic emission sensors, instruments, and turnkey systems for monitoring and testing materials, pressure components, processes, and structures, as well as automated ultrasonic systems and scanners. The company serves oil and gas, commercial aerospace and defense, fossil and nuclear power, alternative and renewable energy, industrial, public infrastructure, petrochemical, transportation, and process industries, as well as research and engineering institutions. Mistras Group, Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.
CALEDONIA  Douglas Avenue Diners new owner left the corporate world to recently take ownership of the restaurant at 5121 Douglas Ave.

Michael Scamarcia bought and began operating the diner in Greentree Plaza on March 1. He said he was in the restaurant business in the Chicago area for 15 years, then in the corporate world for 15 years before buying Douglas Avenue Diner, which opened in 2007.

Since taking over, he has been operating under the former owners liquor license. But Monday the Caledonia Legislative/Licensing Committee recommended, 2-0, to approve putting the license in Scamarcias name. The recommendation goes to the Village Board Monday.

Scamarcia said he will be updating the menu including adding gluten-free and vegetarian choices.
Alumnus remembers Kyle Milliken as a great man, great American

Update: In June, the Pat Tillman Foundation announced that Kyle Milliken had been posthumously selected as a 2017 Tillman Scholar. - Ed.

When Thomas C. Dexter Jr. 91 met Kyle Milliken, he knew he was in the presence of someone special.

He was passionate. He had a tremendous amount of energy. He was somebody who was a terrific, active listener, said Dexter. Hed look you straight in the eye when you spoke, and he made you feel like what you said was important, and that was coming from somebody himself who was very accomplished but understated.

When Milliken, a Navy SEAL, began looking to further his education, it was Dexter who suggested William & Marys Raymond A. Mason School of Business. Milliken was in the second semester of its online M.B.A. program when he was killed in action May 5 in Somalia while supporting an operation with U.S. Africa Command.

The world was definitely a better and safer place with Millie here  however, his spirit will carry on and lead those whom he touched and influenced to be better themselves  thats the kind of guy he was. Thats the way I feel, said Dexter.

According to the Department of Defense, Milliken died during an operation against al-Shabaab in a remote area approximately 40 miles west of Mogadishu. Milliken, a native of Falmouth, Maine, was assigned to an East Coast-based special warfare unit, according to the Department of Defense.

He served his country with great distinction, said President Taylor Reveley. We extend our deep sympathies to Kyle's family and all those who had the pleasure of knowing him.

In a statement issued through Naval Special Warfare Command, Millikens family extended its gratitude for the communitys interest in him.

He was a devoted father and son, a true professional and a wonderful husband, the statement said.

Dexter, Managing Partner and CEO of Commonwealth Strategic Advisory LLC, met Milliken through a mutual friend a few years ago and was immediately impressed by the passion, energy and humility of the man he called Millie.

Kyle was the type of person who was all about making today count. He was all in, all the time on what he was focused on. I think that happens to be a common trait of those special people, the Navy SEALs, and I think Kyle, being one of the most impressive people Ive ever met, I was humbled by his presence, said Dexter. When I did meet him or speak to him, because of his humility and because of his respect and because of his deference, I thought, man, this is a special dude, a special person.

In a world where many seem more interested in "getting" than "giving," Milliken stood out, Dexter added.

My experience with Kyle was that he was the ultimate giver, not taker. What he did was look at every opportunity to better the people around him, the situation around him, Dexter said. Advancing his education was an example of that.

This wasnt just somebody who was looking to get an M.B.A. to say he got an M.B.A. He was looking to study to improve himself, learn from others who had been out in the workforce and hopefully be able to share some of his experiences with those who may not have gone through what he had to make that join environment better.

Dexter, a former trustee of the College of William & Mary Foundation, is working with others to create something in Millikens name to encourage other naval officers to continue their education at William & Mary.

Im extremely proud and I feel blessed to have met and been associated with Kyle Milliken, said Dexter. He was a great man, a great American.
Taking the portage route to a Canadian Fulbright fellowship

Ancient transportation route Mallory Moran will study traditional canoe portages during her year in New Brunswick as a Canadian Fulbright Fellow. Photo by Joseph McClain Photo - of - Hide Caption

Mallory Moran says por-TAJ, as shes going to the only bilingual province in Canada, a place where the French pronunciation is preferred.

Other places, more Anglophonic, say PORTidge for both the noun and the verb. And there are even locations where an English verb is j-stroked into a noun and its known as a plain old carry. No matter how you say it, to portage means to get out of the canoe and carry the canoe and everything thats in it overland to a different waterway.

Some portage routes are still being used after thousands of years and Moran believes that she will find keys to understanding aspects of First Nations history and culture along the many portage routes crossing New Brunswick.

Moran, a graduate student at William & Mary, will be spending a year in New Brunswick under the auspices of a Canada-U.S. Fulbright study/research fellowship. She will be collaborating with researchers at the University of New Brunswick at Fredericton, while working to complete her Ph.D. dissertation in the Department of Anthropology at William & Mary.

Neil Norman is the departments director of graduate studies, a former Fulbright Fellow himself. He did his research in sub-Saharan Africa and says that the Canadian Fulbrights are quite competitive, due to the sheer number of applicants of U.S. citizens wanting to work under a Fulbright in Canada.

Theres three rounds, Norman explained. Mallory applied through William & Mary. Then, there is a committee of past Fulbrighters that evaluate all the applicants from the College. The committee ranks the candidates and sends that list to the U.S. State Department.

The State Department has a panel of social scientists that vet each application, he said. Finally, Morans application, like all others, goes to the American embassy closest to where the work will be performed.

Its really tough to go through all those rounds and end up being the most competitive applicant, Norman said.

Morans research work will be divided among researching in archives, contact with the local indigenous population and conducting archaeology at the portage sites. She expects to find areas of archaeological significance concentrated at the pull-out and put-in points the beginning and end of the portageand at any campsites.

Some of the portage routes in New Brunswick are quite long, ten miles or more. When youre making a trip of that duration, things tend to get lost, she said. And you might have to camp along the way.

Canoe travel is an ancient mode of transportation that people still practice. Moran might find artifacts ranging from a nice L.L. Bean pocketknife dropped by a vacationing Montreal dentist to relics of the fur trade. Her earliest finds would be related to transportation of what she referred to as lithic material.

I mean the raw material you would use to make stone tools, a chunk of rock that you would take out of a quarry, she explained. The archaeologists Ill be working with have found some evidence at portage sites of expedient knapping  you know, testing out the material before they load it into the boats.

Moran explained that the earliest estimates place human habitation in the area at about 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. But these early people didnt make birch bark canoes and couldnt take full advantage of portages.

Immediately following the retreat of the glaciers, people were moving into the region. The landscape looked pretty different so I wouldn't expect the portage routes to go back quite that far, Moran explained. The birch bark canoe became possible after the development of the mixed deciduous forest, a few thousand years ago, she added.

The birch bark canoe, this lightweight, versatile watercraft, allowed people to have an incredible amount of mobility, Moran said. Heavy, cumbersome dugouts werent practical to hump over the land from one river to the next. Skin boats were constructed and used on an as-needed basis, but only when there was no bark canoe at hand.

The birch bark canoe is a really impressive feat of engineering, Moran said. They had great control over how they made the boat for different kinds of conditions they might encounter.

One such style was what has come to be known as a woods canoe: Very small, Moran said. Maybe six feet, for when they were going into the backwoods.

At the other end of the birch bark spectrum were canoes too large for a practical portage, as they were built for ocean-going whaling and fishing expedition.

But most canoes were designed to accommodate rapid overland transport from one waterway to another  a portage. Moran explained that these passages developed by First Nations peoples were naturally adopted by European hunters and trappers and, of course, by modern-day recreational canoeists. Bark was replaced by canvas, aluminum and a spectrum of modern hull materials, but the essence of the portage remained the same.

In the 1800s, there was a surge in interest in these portage routes, Moran said. My theory is that it had to do with the arrival of the railroad.

She noted that her railroad theory, yet unconfirmed, is based on the likely desire of the inhabitants to preserve what they perceived was a vanishing way of life. The bark canoe, having vanquished the dugout and skin boats several millennia ago, was now itself in danger from the new steam-powered technology.

People started to pay attention. Then they began documenting these routes in New Brunswick, she said. We have their notes on all these records; they're all stored in the archives.

She said she will begin her fellowship in the archives and will expand her research into working with members of the native peoples of the area. Members of the Wolastoqiyik tribe, also known as the Maliseet, maintain a cultural connection with the portages. Moran says the Maliseet are active canoeists  and among them are a number of builders and designers of old-school birch bark canoes.

Moran says she is interested in the oral tradition surrounding the canoe culture. The First Nations people have a set of names for individual portages, for instance, but that nomenclature has generally not been adopted by recreational canoeists.

Nowadays people in the canoeing community will refer to a portage by the names of the two rivers that it connects. So youll have the Oromocto-Magaguadavic Portage, Moran explained. But the native community has its own names for those portages.

Those age-old traditional names of portages  and any stories those names might hold  are not widely known outside of the native community, and theyre on Morans list of things to ask.

The translation of those names will capture something about how the people think about space and about the landscape, she said. Its important for us to understand as anthropologists, but also to understand what these routes were used for and their significance in the community.
MOUNT PLEASANT  Just two days after federal regulators closed Guaranty Bank and announced several branch closings in Racine County, police were called to a still-active local branch after a man allegedly made threats at the bank Monday afternoon.

Mount Pleasant Police Sgt. Eric Relich said officers reported to the branch at 6031 Regency West Drive, now operating as First-Citizens Bank, after a man in his 60s made a threat to employees. Relich wasnt sure whether the mans frustration was related to the banks ownership transfer.

He went into the bank and the bank was not able to satisfy his question, Relich said. He became upset and said he was going to stay there until they could fix the issue.

Relich said that when officers arrived, the man was a little agitated but cooperated with police. Because of the threats he made, police still wrote the man a municipal ticket for disorderly conduct.

Several customers and employees were inside when he was making threats, Relich said.

Federal regulators closed Milwaukee-based Guaranty Bank on Friday night, saying the bank is significantly undercapitalized and has not come up with an acceptable way to shore up its finances.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., named as receiver, said First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., of Raleigh, N.C., will take over Guarantys deposits and most of its loans.

The impact





Guaranty Bank had 119 branches in five states, 107 of which were in retail outlets, such as grocery and general merchandise stores. Those branches will not reopen, the FDIC said.

That led to three branch closures in Racine County: Burlington Walmart, 1901 S. Milwaukee Ave., Caledonia Pick n Save, 5111 Douglas Ave., Mount Pleasant Walmart, 3049 S. Oakes Road. Retail store locations also closed in Oak Creek, Kenosha, Lake Geneva and Muskego.

Twelve free-standing Guaranty locations in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin reopened as branches of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., including the one at 6031 Regency West Drive.

Just after 2 p.m. Monday, a line of customers waiting to do business at the Regency West location was backed up to the door. Pam Kostowicz, 62, of Franklin, said she had been at the bank to withdraw funds, and was making plans to close her account entirely.

I dont get a warm fuzzy feeling about a bank that is sold like that, said Kostowicz, who works at Home Depot in Racine.Ron Purtee, 38, of Racine, however, said he had just made a deposit.I am not a wealthy man, he said, adding that he was not worried about the banks situation.The FDIC said Friday that deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for former Guaranty customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits.

Customers with questions about the Guaranty changes can call the FDIC toll-free at 800-930-6827 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Information is also available at the FDICs website at https://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/guaranty.html.




China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page
US commission speeds Russian anti-dumping review

09 May 2017

Share

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) yesterday announced it will conduct an expedited five-year review - also known as a 'sunset' review - on the US-Russia Antidumping Suspension Agreement.

The USITC is an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency responsible for investigating the effects of dumped or subsidised imports - that is, imports sold in the USA at less than fair value - on domestic industries. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) and the USITC are required by law to conduct an investigation when dumping may have occurred. Representatives of US uranium producers, together with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union in 1991 lodged such a complaint against imports of uranium from the former Soviet Union, and an investigation was launched.

The DOC in 1992 agreed to suspend its investigation into Russian uranium imports under the terms of the US-Russia Antidumping Suspension Agreement. The agreement, which was amended in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2008, provides strict limits and conditions on such imports. The original 1992 agreement essentially eliminated any direct sales of Russian-origin uranium or enrichment into the USA, but the 2008 amendment allowed for direct sales of Russian-origin enriched uranium product from 2008 to 2020 at about 20% of the US market. The agreement is due to expire in 2020, after which Russian-origin uranium products and services can be sold into the USA without any restrictions.

Legislation known as the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires the DOC to revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, or terminate a suspension agreement, after five years. That is, unless the DOC and the USITC determine that to do so would be likely to lead to continuation, or recurrence, of dumping or subsidies, and of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.

The USITC in February instituted the review process by asking interested parties to file responses on the likely effects of revoking the order under review and to provide other pertinent information. Based on the responses received, four of the five commissioners voted for an expedited, rather than full, review. In an expedited review, no hearing is held but commissioners base their determinations on the available facts. These include the commission's own prior reviews and determinations, the responses received to its notice of the institution of the review, and other data and information collected by USITC staff and the DOC.

The commission said it will issue a report when it completes its review.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
German government takes over interim waste storage

09 May 2017

Share

The German government has reached an agreement with GNS Gesellschaft fur Nuklear-Service mbH on transferring GNS's interim storage activities. Under legislation that came into force last December, the government assumed responsibility for the intermediate storage and final disposal of the country's radioactive waste.

The Gorleben interim storage facility (Image: GNS)

In March, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and GNS established the Bundes Gesellschaft fur Zwischenlagern (BGZ) joint venture for this purpose. GNS itself is a joint venture set up in 1974 by German utilities for the management of used fuel and nuclear waste from German power reactors.

GNS announced yesterday it has now reached an agreement with BMUB for the transfer of its share in BGZ. As from 1 August this year, the federal government will become the sole owner of BGZ.

As part of the agreement, GNS will transfer its interim storage activities to the government, including the existing central interim storage facilities in Ahaus and Gorleben. Some 80 GNS employees at both sites will be transferred to BGZ, while around 70 GNS employees at its headquarters in Essen will become responsible for the administration of BGZ.

The management of 12 on-site interim storage facilities at German nuclear power plants will also be transferred to the federal government starting in 2019, GNS said.

GNS chairman Hannes Wimmer said, "We are pleased that our interim storage organisation, which has been tried and tested for more than two decades, is the seed of the new federal interim storages company. This means not only the preservation of all existing GNS jobs involved in temporary storage, but also ensures our comprehensive competence for the continued operation and organisation of all German interim storage facilities with radioactive waste from German nuclear power plants."

PreussenElektra GmbH chairman Guido Knott, also chairman of GNS's supervisory board, said: "By transferring the interim storage activities of GNS and, subsequently, the on-site interim storage facilities to the government, German energy suppliers are making an important contribution to the reorganisation of the responsibility for radioactive waste disposal." He added, "With the other core competences of GNS - ranging from container development and fabrication to disposal services - the new GNS, government and operators will continue to be committed and highly professional."

Following the Fukushima accident in March 2011, the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the withdrawal of the operating licences of eight German nuclear power plants and revived plans to phase out nuclear power by 2022.

In October 2016, the German cabinet adopted a draft bill on financing the decommissioning of the country's nuclear power plants and management of its radioactive waste. The bill came into force in December. Under the draft, the reactor owners involved - EnBW, EOn, RWE and Vattenfall - must pay some 23.6 billion ($25.7 billion) into a state-owned fund for decommissioning of the plants and managing radioactive waste. The amount includes a 35.5% risk premium which exempts them from having to make any additional contributions to the fund.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
The Mountains Of Norway

Norway is a country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe. The country-length stretch of peaks in Norway is geologically continuous with the mountains of Ireland, Scotland and across the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Appalachian Mountains. According to geologists, the mountains formed a single range prior to the breakup of Pangaea, the ancient supercontinent.

The Three Tallest Peaks Of Norway

Norway features 291 peaks with elevations of over 2,000 meters above sea level. Most of Norways highest peaks are concentrated in the municipalities of Luster, Vaga, Skjak, and Lom. Several of these peaks, including the most challenging ones, were summited in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Explorers from Norway, British adventurers, and local guides comprised the majority of those who ascended the mountains.

Here is a list of the tallest peaks in Norway:

Galdhpiggen

The Galdhpiggen is Norways tallest mountain as well as the tallest mountain in all of northern Europe. The Galdhpiggen is 2469 m above sea level and is located in the Lom municipality. The mountain is relatively easy to climb and during summers, a few hundred people often climb the peak in a single day. Guides might be required by the tourists to cross the Styggebreen glacier. A ski center called the Galdhpiggen summer ski center is also present here.

Glittertind

Glittertind is the second highest mountain in Norway at 2,465 m tall. The mountain is located in the Lom municipality of the country. In the past, there was a dispute concerning the ranking of Glittertind as measurements showed that when the glacier at the Glittertind summit was measured, the height of the mountain was found to be more than that of the Galdhpiggen. However, since then, the glacier of Glittertind has retreated and so the dispute exists no more. The summit of this mountain was first conquered in 1841 by Hans Sletten and Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland. The mountain can be climbed easily as the summit lacks any crevasses. However, hikers run the risk of getting totally soaked when meltwater flows up across the summit.

Store Skagastlstind

The 2,405 meter tall Store Skagastlstind is Norways third highest peak. The mountain is located in the countrys Sogn og Fjordane county. Unlike the previous two mountains mentioned above, the Store Skagastlstind is fairly difficult to climb. On July 21, 1876, William Cecil Slingsby first summited the mountain.
An official language is a language that is considered to be a countrys universal language and is given a legal status within the country, state, or other jurisdiction. An official language is often used within government institutions, schools, and more. 178 countries worldwide have at least one official language with about 100 of these countries recognizing more than one language. The constitutions of several countries give provision for a language to be considered as an official in that country. English is the most common official language with a recognized status in 51 countries. Other popular official languages include French, Arabic, and Spanish.

India has more official languages than any other country in the world, at 22. However, it is important to note that these languages are not official at the national level of India and instead are official at the regional level. When it comes to official languages, Zimbabwe has more than any other country, at 16.

Official Language Versus National Language

National language and official language are often used interchangeably although they are not the same thing. A national language is a language that enjoys popularity and is spoken as the first language in a territory of a country. Unlike an official language which enjoys a legal status in a countrys constitution, a national language may be mentioned in the constitution but is not guaranteed legal status. In several African countries, some of the indigenous languages are considered national languages and can also be included as official languages in public institutions. Stateless countries are not in a position to legislate an official language but most of their languages are sufficiently considered national languages.

Official Languages of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has the highest number of official languages in the world. Zimbabwes constitution has provision for 16 official languages which are Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and sign language. Although Zimbabwe has many official languages, there were complaints made by the public saying the majority of the languages were not promoted and came second to English, Ndebele, and Shona. The constitution of Zimbabwe requires that institutions and government agencies treat all of the languages equal. The government is also required to promote the languages within the country. Although the constitution allows official languages to be added through an Act of Parliament, official languages are not allowed to be removed from the list.

Popular Official Languages in Zimbabwe

While Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, there are three languages that are the most popular. English, Shona, and Ndebele are commonly used official languages in Zimbabwe. Since the majority of the population is Shona, 70% of the people speak Shona as their first language. Around 20% of the population speaks Ndebele as their first language. English is generally spoken as a second language and is used in most state functions and government institutions.

Languages of India

While India has 22 official regional languages, Hindi is by far the most spoken language i the country. The other major languages of the country are English, bengali, Telugu, Marathi, and Tamil.
Charity Trek Across Sahara Desert For University Communications Manager

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

A team of intrepid explorers from across North Wales will trek the Sahara desert to raise money for a cancer hospice.

Martin Williams, communications manager at Wrexham Glyndwr University, is among the small group to face the challenge this November for St Kentigern Hospice.

The six-day expedition takes place just days before Martins 40th birthday, and he is hoping to raise at least 2,000 for the St Asaph charity.

Its going to be a tough trek, but Im really looking forward to it, said the dad-of-three, from Prestatyn.

In total we will be trekking around 35km, which doesnt sound much but over the epic Chigaga Dunes that will be quite a hike.

Its an opportunity to experience one of the most beautiful parts of the world and raise money for a worthwhile cause, so I hope readers are able to support me  I would really appreciate it, as would St Kentigern Hospice.

He added: The days will be hot, and the walk will be hard-going, but the rewards of being part of one of the best fundraising events around, conquering this desert and the pleasure of having the volcanic Anti-Atlas Mountains as the backdrop will be worth it.

Martin will arrive in Ouarzazate, Morocco, before transferring to Mhamid, the gateway to the Sahara via the Draa Valley.

Next up is a trek over the Bougharn Dunes and on to the Chigaga Dunes, where he will witness one of the worlds most spectacular sunsets.

The journey then takes the group on to Erg Aghaul  a gruelling eight hours of trekking  before arriving at Foum Zguid.

Temperatures during the day will reach up to 30 degrees Celsius, and drop to zero at night.

A spokeswoman for Chester-based Global Adventure Challenges said the expedition is one of its most difficult, but also among the most exciting.

We wish Martin all the best with his training and fundraising ahead of this challenge of a lifetime to conquer the mighty dunes of the Sahara Desert, she said.

It really is a fantastic trip that is always popular with our challengers as they get to experience the delights of Morocco whilst discovering the remoteness of the Sahara first hand.

Camping under the moon and stars is a real challenge highlight, along with witnessing the sun rising over the sand dunes  its a moment theyll remember forever and a chance to reflect upon their achievements whilst on the challenge.

Laura Parry, fundraising manager at St Kentigern, added: We would like to thank Martin and everyone taking part in the challenge. It sounds like its going to be some adventure, and we are so grateful for every penny raised towards the hospice.

St Kentigern Hospice provides end-of-life care to adult patients in North Wales. All of the hospices services are completely free and delivered by a dedicated team of professional nurses, volunteers and administrative staff.

You can register for the challenge via the Global Adventure Challenge website. To sponsor Martin, visit his Justgiving page.
Man Arrested on Suspicion of Shop Robbery in Wrexham

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

A 35 year old man has been arrested in connection with a robbery at a Premier Stores in Wrexham yesterday afternoon.

North Wales Police have confirmed the man, who is from the Wrexham area has been arrested on suspicion of robbery at the Premier Stores in Victoria Road.

In an appeal issued yesterday about the incident, police stated that a man had entered the shop at around 3:34pm on Monday May 8 and threatened staff with a screwdriver before making off with cash from the till.

No one was hurt during the incident.

Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to call North Wales Police on 101, quoting reference V065870.
Praise For Dedicated Hotline Offering 24/7 Mental Health Support

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 9th, 2017

A dedicated helpline and website offering help and support for people experiencing mental health problems in North Wales has been praised by service users.

Community Advice and Listening Line (C.A.L.L Helpline) and website provides emotional support to people experiencing a mental health crisis, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Funded by the Welsh Government, the service is run by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board staff and also offers signposting to statutory and voluntary support services in their local area.

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week (8th-14th May), Betsi Cadwalar University Health Board are encouraging more people experiencing mental health problems to seek support through the service.

Richard Birch, 39, from Brymbo is among those who have benefitted from C.A.L.L Helpline. He has been receiving support from mental health services in North Wales since 2005.

I use C.A.L.L Helpline on a weekly basis when Im feeling distressed, suicidal, isolated or feeling the need to self-harm, said Richard.

I have had a very good experience of the service because they help me to see the light at the end of the tunnel and deescalate my problems to manageable levels.

Without it I would be in A&E more often, taking up beds. I dont want to be a burden on society  I would much rather contribute. To me C.A.L.L Helpline is a vital front line service that provides alternatives to the limited resources of the NHS.

If more people used C.A.L.L Helpline then we could prevent admissions to hospital, reduce the strain on services, and improve the experience of other service users.

Such sentiments are echoed by Dave Evans from Denbigh, who says he couldnt live without the support given through the helpline.

He added: I use C.A.L.L Helpline around twice a month, usually late at night when Im experiencing low mood, mood swings, or Im feeling lonely or stressed.

I find the staff really helpful and speaking to them really helps me to feel better. Without C.A.L.L I probably wouldnt have survived, and there are many occasions where I would have ended up in hospital.

C.A.L.L Helpline Manager, Janet Roberts said that staff are supporting more people than ever who are suffering from mental distress, including family members, friends, and carers.

Our message is that there is always somebody here to support you. You may be known to mental health services, or you may be having a mental health crisis for the first time and you dont know who to turn to.

The more people who are aware of our service the better.

C.A.L.L staff are increasingly using the internet and social media platforms in a bid to broaden the range of support available to people.

Janet explained: Not everybody finds it easy to talk on the phone and we have seen an increase in the number of people texting the service, and contacting us through social media, and we are able to offer these people the same level of emotional support.

Weve also recently launched an online self- assessment tool which helps people to get a better understanding of how they are feeling, how they can help themselves to manage their mental health problems, and what support services are available to them.

You can contact C.A.L.L Helpline free of charge and in confidence, 24 hours a day 365 days a year, by calling 0800 132 737, texting Help to 81066, or visiting the C.A.L.L website.
The Legislatures budget committee voted Tuesday to reinstate the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.s loan program, two years after phasing it out in the wake of a scathing audit and a State Journal investigation into a failed loan.

The 12-4 party-line vote came as the Legislative Audit Bureau is still working on the latest biennial review of the job-creation agency prior to finalizing the 2017-19 budget.

The 2015 audit found the agency wasnt keeping track of promised jobs and the 2013 audit found several awards given out in the early days of the agency without proper oversight.

In one case revealed by the State Journal investigation, a $500,000 loan to a struggling Milwaukee business that had been pushed by a top aide to Gov. Scott Walker never underwent proper underwriting. The loan was never repaid.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said the agencys problems have been almost entirely addressed under the leadership of Mark Hogan, the agencys third CEO.

The agency has posted on its website the progress it has made on addressing the audit bureau recommendations.

Its important to note that WEDC is in a much more effective position than they have been in the past, Darling said.

Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, argued the committee should postpone final action on the WEDC portion of the budget until the 2017 audit is released. He noted the agency has improved because of the audits and the news coverage of bad loans. The committee voted 12-4 against coming back to WEDC business at a later date.

Co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said if we find something in the future that warrants action, well take action.

In his 2017-19 spending plan, Walker proposed reinstating the loan program with a few new stipulations  they can only be funded with repayments of existing loans, they cant be forgivable and they must adhere to commonly accepted commercial lending practices.

The committee rejected one of those stipulations, allowing the agency to provide loans from its state appropriation, rather than only from loan repayments.

Republicans rejected several Democratic proposals for the agency, including that funding above a certain level be directed toward rural, small business, startups and minority-owned businesses.

Another Democratic proposal would have required every award to create at least one job. But Republicans noted some of the agencys programs train workers, rather than create jobs.

In the last budget, Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature limited new loans to $10 million in 2015-16 and $5 million in 2016-17 with no new loans after June 30 of this year.

One specific type of loan for technology startups was separately capped at $3 million a year and allowed to continue.

A national consultant has since advised the agency could tighten some of its practices, but didnt need to be overhauled. The latest biennial state audit of the agency is due out as early as next week, Darling said.

The agency had 189 outstanding loans totaling $73.3 million as of last June 30, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. The agency received about $9.2 million in loan repayments last year, forgave $6.7 million and wrote off $2.45 million worth of loans that could not be recouped.
The period of domination by Latin Americas nationalist-populist governments known as the pink tide has come to an end.

The rise of the traditional right-wing parties in the Argentinian election of 2015 and the impeachment of Brazilian ex-president Dilma Rousseff in 2016 mark a historical inflection point with profound geopolitical implications. Nearly 20 years after the election of Hugo Chavez ushered in a supposed turn to the left in Latin America in 1998, the region is still the most unequal in the world. The political fate of the pink tide is symbolized in Venezuela, where an embattled Nicolas Maduro is fighting to prolong chavista rule through repression directed against both a resurgent right wing and food riots of malnourished and impoverished workers and youth.

Among a variety of self-proclaimed socialist publications and political groups worldwidemany of which were initially cheerleaders of the pink tide governmentsthe end of this period has provided occasion for reflection.

One recent book in particular has gained widespread acclaim among this layer: Jeffrey R. Webbers The Last Day of Oppression and the First Day of the Same: The Politics and Economics of the New Latin American Left.

The book is an agglomeration of the worst threads of Latin American petty-bourgeois radicalism. The author proposes the construction of populist supra-class political movements based on a regionalist romantic utopianism and a rejection of philosophical materialism and of the revolutionary role of the working class.

Webber is a Canadian academic who teaches at Queen Mary University of London. He is a regular contributor to the International Socialist Organizations (ISO) International Socialist Review and received his political education as a member of the Canadian New Socialist Group.

His new book is published by the ISOs Haymarket Press and was featured as the subject of a roundtable discussion at the Historical Materialism conference in New York on April 22. An article Webber wrote previewing the book (titled Assessing the Pink tide) was featured by Jacobin on April 11 and republished by the Pabloite International Viewpoint. In recent weeks, he has spoken at UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard University, and his book has received praise from a range of academics.

The book is worth reviewing as a textbook of everything socialism is not.

Populism vs. socialism

Webbers book has received a warm response from academia and the upper-middle class left because he adopts their anti-socialist perspective, advancing a method of analysis that rejects the division of society into classes defined scientifically by their relationship to the means of production.

Though Webber defines himself as a Marxist, he adopts categories of social analysis that have nothing to do with Marxism. There are at least three social forces, he says. These include the rural and urban popular classes and oppressed groups, which are progressive, plus the the domestic ruling classes, and imperialism.

The popular classes are determined not by whether its members are forced to sell their labor power to survive, but by their gender, race, and sexuality, which Webber calls types of social oppressions. While social class is one factor in determining the degree of oppression, members of the middle and upper classes can join the ranks of the progressive popular social force depending on the color of their skin, their sexual preference, or their gender.

Webber rejects the predominant role of economic class in determining membership in the popular classes. He writes that various forms of personal identity are not mere epiphenomena [i.e. byproducts] of class structure, nor are they reducible to class exploitation.

He explicitly attacks those who claim social class is the primary dividing line in society, quoting York University professor and Jacobin contributor David McNally:

Too often, Marxist critics of the particularism at the heart of personal-identity politics have modeled their notions of working-class unity on the form of unification that characterizes capital. As a consequence, they offer up an abstracted concept of class that is indifferent to the diverse forms of experience in capitalist societyand hence one whose experiential purchase is minimal.

To claim a particular social class has a progressive content (i.e. the working class), would be as erroneous as claiming individual leaders like Hugo Chavez or Evo Morales can bring about revolutionary change, Webber says.

Quoting Drexel University Professor George Ciccariello-Maher, Webber asks: And what steps in to replace the Big Man as subject of history? Is it the working class...? For Ciccariello-Maher, such a class-analytic alternative would seem to amount to the same kind of reductionism as methodological individualism, albeit in a different register: Or, is the very concept of a historical subjecta single bearer of future history, be it an individual or a classfar too unitary and homogenizing to accurately explain contemporary Venezuelan dynamics.

No amount of academic language can cover the unserious character of this argument, which draws the most reactionary conclusions from the pink tide period and chavismo. Webber and Ciccariello-Maher equate the claim that individuals like Chavez and Morales can alter social relations on their own with the Marxist conception of the working class as a revolutionary social force. To the contrary, Marxists understand that working class is a revolutionary social force because of the position it occupies under capitalism as an exploited class which sells its labor power and produces profits for a small class of capitalists in a complex, interconnected system of socialized production.

Rejecting the working class as a progressive social force, Webber proposes the establishment of a broad anti-class, populist movement that would be led by sections of the affluent Latin American upper-middle class.

The aim of such a party would be to subordinate the interests of the broad masses of workers and peasants to the demands of this more privileged layer for a more equal distribution of resources among the top ten percent. Syriza and Podemos are their model. These bourgeois parties, based on defending the material interests of the upper middle class, have carried out austerity measures on behalf of the European banks in Greece and Spain.

To provide ideological cover for his proposal for the establishment of populist, anti-socialist and anti-working class parties, Webber recycles a series of ideological tropes used by the 20th centurys Latin American renegades from Marxism.

Romantic idealism vs. materialism

Jeffrey Webber is not the first academic associated with Latin American petty bourgeois radicalism to argue that scientific socialism is too deterministic because it understands social consciousness to be a product of social being, rooted in the objective relations of classes to the capitalist mode of production.

Webber urges the left to avoid returning to any crude economic reductionism or determinism, and writes that the contradictions of capitalist accumulation should not be understood here as economic laws operating separately from politics.

What is necessary, he says, citing Zapatista-linked academic John Holloway, is an adequate conceptualization of the relation between the economic and the political as discrete forms of expression of social relations under capitalism; with the specificity of the political and the development of political forms firmly [founded] in the analysis of capitalist production. He adds that the actions of the state are not the mechanistic expression of an economic law of capital.

Webber is employing an argument refuted 126 years ago by Russian Marxist Georgi Plekhanov in The Materialist Conception of History. By presenting society as the product of a series of interrelated abstract factors, (i.e. the political, the state, and the economic) Webber dismembers the activity of social man and converts its various aspects and manifestations into separate forces.

Plekhanov opposed Webbers 19th century predecessors who created a straw man and labeled Marxists as economic determinists. He explained that factors are less detached from social relations and world economy than they may seem:

The methods by which social man satisfies his needs, and to a large extent these needs themselves, are determined by the nature of the implements with which he subjugates nature in one degree or another; in other words, they are determined by the state of his productive forces. Every considerable change in the state of these forces is reflected in mans social relations, and, therefore, in his economic relations, as part of these social relations.

Webber rejects scientific socialism for a revolutionary romanticism based on the utopian-revolutionary dialectic between the precapitalist past and the socialist future (p.106). This anarchistic, anti-Marxist theory is associated with the works of Peruvian ex-Communist Jose Carlos Mariategui.

Quoting the French-Brazilian Pabloite academic Michael Lowys The Romantic and the Marxist Critique of Modern Civilization, Webber expresses the anti-scientific, irrationalist character of Latin American romantic utopianism: The trajectory of Marxism after the death of Marx, according to Lowy, has been dominated by a productivist, economistic, and evolutionist determinism, a modernist Marxism that took over only one side of the Marxian heritage and developed an uncritical cult of technical progress, industrialism, machinism, Fordism, and Taylorism. Stalinism, with its alienated productivism and its obsession with heavy industry is the sad caricature of this kind of cold stream in Marxism (to paraphrase Ernst Bloch).

These arguments are not new. A primary obstacle in the development of a revolutionary socialist movement in Latin America today is the damage to social consciousness done by the decades-long domination of petty-bourgeois romantic utopianism embodied in Webbers reference to Lowy.

The post-World War Two period has produced many revolutionary movements whose underlying nationalism and anti-working class character led them to adopt variations of radical idealism. The different threads of guerrillaism, anarchism, syndicalism, and popular frontism defend their rejection of the revolutionary role of the working class on the grounds that orthodox Marxism is, in the words of Lowy, an uncritical cult of technical progress that is too hard and for the romantic nature of the population of Latin America.

The idealist argument, based on the pseudo-scientific notion that the population of Latin America has a different human nature than the rest of the world, is inextricably linked to the politics of nationalism. Utopian idealism seeks to develop a national myth as an ideological cover for subordinating the interests of the working class to those of the national bourgeoisie, often in the form of idealization of a prior national hero, like Jose Marti for Castro, Simon Bolivar for Chavez, Emiliano Zapata for the Zapatistas, Tupac Amaru in Peru, Farabundo Marti for the FMLN, Sandino for the FSLN, etc.

The development of a genuine Marxist revolutionary leadership in the Latin American working class requires a relentless struggle against the kind of nationalist and idealist framework advanced by Jeffrey Webber and his predecessors. The rebuilding of a revolutionary movement in Latin America must take as its starting point the fight to unite the working class of South, Central and North America, already joined in the transnational process of production, in a common struggle to put an end to capitalism.
The Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, announced the resignation of his government a full half year before scheduled parliamentary elections. The surprise announcement is aimed at preventing a complete meltdown of the Social-Democratic Party, which is widely despised for its anti-working-class policies.

President Milos Zeman has a free hand in deciding how to proceed. The constitution does not set a deadline for the acceptance of the resignation request. Zeman can commission Sobotka to continue official business until the scheduled election dates on October 20 and 21, call an earlier election, or appoint another government.

There are speculations that Zeman could name Finance Minister Andrej Babis as the new prime minister. For his part, Sobotka has said he will only continue to lead the previous coalition government if Babis is removed from his post.

Corruption and accusations of tax evasion against Babis sparked the current government crisis. The anti-fraud authorities of the EU accuse him of pocketing 160 million funding between 2004 and 2013 for his network of companies. In addition, he is alleged to have used a tax loophole at the end of 2012 to save millions, shortly before the entry into force of a new law.

Babis, who was a member of the Communist Party before the introduction of the capitalist free market, owns a business empire consisting of more than 250 agricultural, food and chemical companies at home and abroad. His holdings include daily newspapers and a radio station. He is often referred to as the Czech Berlusconi or Trump. The business magazine Forbes estimates his fortune at $2.7 billion.

Babis first entered politics in 2011, the year he founded the political movement ANO, an acronym for Action of Dissatisfied Citizens as well as the Czech word for yes. Babis posed as a hard-working entrepreneur who would clean out the corrupt political establishment. In 2013, the conservative government led by Petr Necas collapsed as a consequence of its own corruption scandal and ANO became the second-strongest party, winning 20 percent in the election in the same year.

Babis took over the Finance Ministry in the government formed in January 2014. In addition to the Social Democrats (CSSD) of Prime Minister Sobotka and ANO, the coalition also included the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL). The relationship between the Social Democrats and ANO remained tense. Although a member of the government, Babis continued to pose as the enemy of all other politicians whom he stated had never learnt anything decent in order to make a career. His slogan was We are not politicians, but we work hard.

The Social Democrats responded by accusing Babis of combining his business and political interests. At the end of last year, parliament passed a law against conflicts of interests on the part of politicians, a measure explicitly aimed at Babis. The latter then handed over his companies to a trustee fund. His wife sits on the board.

While ANO rose in the polls, the Social Democrats sagged. With about 28 percent, ANO is currently the strongest party and could nominate the next head of government, while the Social Democrats hover around 17 percent. Forecasts for the regular election date in October predict 10 percent for Sobotkas party, even less than the estimated level of support for the Communist Party (KSCM).

ANO won the regional elections held last year. The CSSD lost seven of the nine regions it had won in 2012 while the Communist Party suffered even more massive losses.

The declining influence of the Social Democrats is also reflected in the drastic fall in membership. In early April, Pravo reported that in just two months more than 800 members had left the party, and this trend is continuing. The KSCM, the biggest party in the country, is shrinking dramatically. The successor party to the former Stalinist state party had around 50,000 members four years ago. Now it has fewer than 40,000.

With the resignation of the entire government, Sobotka is seeking to stop the decline of the Social Democrats. He refused to dismiss Babis, declaring that he did not want to make him a martyr.

The government coalition had agreed on a right-wing, neo-liberal programme in 2014, centred on rigorous austerity and rearmament both at home and abroad. This programme has since been put into practice.

In mid-April, in addition to the regular police forces, the government deployed 500 police armed with machine guns in pedestrian zones, airports and railway stations. The pretext was an obscure terrorist threat. Interior Minister Milan Chovanec called it a preventive measure. According to the Social Democrats, there is no concrete indication of a threat, but if necessary, up to 600 soldiers could also be deployed, he announced.

The Czech government rejects the EUs quota system for the distribution of refugees across the continent and took in just 71 asylum seekers permanently last year. Nevertheless, Sobotka has blamed refugees for the terror alert.

Sobotka has also repeatedly called for a European military alliance against the influx of migrants and Russian aggression. Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) plans to increase the budget of his department to 1.4 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 and to 2 percent by 2025. The government plans to increase the army by 5,000 and massively rearm it. In addition to the purchase of reconnaissance and combat drones, negotiations are taking place for acquiring 12 military helicopters. The government plans to invest a minimum of CZK1.5 billion in the modernisation of combat equipment.

On Tuesday, Stropnicky confirmed the plans for higher armament spending after talks with American Defence Secretary Mattis. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that NATO members increase their defensive budget to 2 percent of GDP as soon as possible. The cost of the rearmament is to be paid for by the population in the form of fresh cuts in social welfare.

In recent years, there have been strikes and protests. In April, drivers for the regional bus lines seeking increased wages joined the strikes. The strikers have found broad support from layers of the population who face similar conditions.

The minimum wage in this sector is currently 98 kroner (3.62) for one hour driving and 88 kroner (3.25) for turnaround breaks, plus additional allowances of around 6 kroner (22 cents). The bus drivers demanded 130 kroner (4.80) and better working conditions. According to the Czech transport union, some bus drivers work more than 300 hours a month.

Sobotka and his government strongly condemned the strike by bus drivers. Sobotka said it was superfluous, and the billionaire Babis declared there were no funds available for the drivers. Pavel Belobradek, the leader of the Christian Democrats, declared that the government would not yield to demands that the minimum wage be increased to 460 per month.
More than 200 migrants are believed to have died trying to cross the Mediterranean last weekend, according to the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee organization. They are feared to have drowned when the rubber boats into which they were packed by smugglers deflated and sank.

A group of seven survivors picked up by the Libyan coastguard reported that they were the only ones left from a boat crowded with 170 people. Another 60 are believed to have drowned after a second boat carrying at least 120 migrants sunk on Saturday.

The bodies of some of the dead have washed ashore west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Mohanad Krima, a spokesman for the Red Crescent in Zawiya, about 30 kilometers west of Tripoli, reported that 11 bodies had been found on the beaches there.

All the bodies are of female victims and there is a girl of less than one year old, he said.

Even before these latest tragedies, the UNHCR reported that more than 1,150 people had died or disappeared trying to make the treacherous crossing from North Africa to southern Italy so far this year.

The UN agency reported Sunday that more than 43,000 migrants have managed to reach Italy so far this year, a 30 percent increase over the same period in 2016. UNHCR Chief Filippo Grandi said that based on these statistics, one out of every 35 people attempting to make the crossing dies. The real death toll, however, is undoubtedly far higher.

The recent surge in the number of people attempting to make the deadly crossing is tied in part to the onset of warmer weather. A far greater role, however, has been played by the right-wing anti-immigrant policies being pursued by capitalist governments throughout Europe.

The sea route from northern Africa to Italy is the most deadly crossing for immigrants anywhere in the world, having turned the Mediterranean into a watery graveyard for countless thousands. It has become, however, virtually the only option for those trying to reach Europe, many of them seeking not only to escape the horrors wrought by imperialism in their homelands, but also to unite with family members already in Europe. More than 90 percent of refugees attempting to reach Europe are now departing from Libya. More than 5,000 of them died in the Mediterranean last year, according to official figures.

The EU has worked to erect a Fortress Europe, sealing off its external borders on the so-called Balkan route with barbed wire fences, erecting detention camps to lock up refugees, and carrying out mass deportations. It has also reached a shameful deal with the authoritarian Turkish regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to facilitate the mass deportation of refugees and prevent others from leaving Turkey for Europe, in return for 6 billion euros and political concessions to Ankara.

Now, Italy, with the support of other EU governments, is attempting to replicate these arrangements through a deal struck with the Western-backed Libyan Government of National Accord headed by President Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli. This unstable regime exerts control over only a fraction of the country, which has been mired in civil war and dominated by the violence of rival militias since the 2011 US-NATO war for regime-change ended in the toppling and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In the coming weeks, Italy is set to deliver at least 10 patrol boats, helicopters, four-wheel-drive vehicles, communications equipment and other gear to the Libyan coastguard to carry out operations aimed at stopping boats carrying refugees from ever leaving Libyan waters.

The Libyan coastguard, which is being beefed up to do the EUs dirty work in hunting down and turning back migrants, is notorious for its brutality and corruption. It has slaughtered migrants on the high seas, sunk boats, attacked humanitarian groups attempting to aid the refugees and profited off of collaboration with smugglers.

By stopping refugees from leaving Libya, Italy and the EU are condemning them to conditions that can only be described as hellish. Refugees are held in a network of detention camps run by the government as well as by militias and criminal gangs, where they are systematically extorted, tortured, raped and summarily executed. Those who fail to come up with the money demanded by their captors are often killed or left to starve to death. Others have been soldwomen as sex slaves and men as laborersin modern-day slave markets set up in parking lots in Tripoli.

The surge in those risking death by crossing the Mediterranean is in large measure a function of the desperation of migrants to escape the conditions in Libya, where Italy and the EU now want to trap them.

Italy has also forged a pact with a group of tribes in southern Libya to block the countrys borders with Niger and Chad, posing the direct threat of armed violence against refugees fleeing war and repression in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, or, at the very least, pushing them back into the Saharan desert and to countries where their lives will be in imminent danger.

Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti portrayed his governments actions as a humanitarian crusade. The people who land in Italy arrive from the violent hands of human traffickers, he said. All we are doing is saving them from that fate. The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Minniti gave no indication as to what fate he expected for these vulnerable refugees at the violent hands of human traffickers deprived of the ability to profit from sending them into the Mediterranean.

The Italian parliament, meanwhile, has approved legislation sharply curtailing appeals for rejected asylum seekers, while the government is preparing to open 16 detention centers to hold those slated for deportation.

The number of people escaping to Europe from the horrors of US-backed wars in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and elsewhere, along with the crushing oppression and poverty imposed by imperialism throughout sub-Saharan Africa, is a tiny fraction of the record 65.3 million refugees that these conditions have created worldwide. Yet keeping them out, repressing and deporting them has become a focus of capitalist politics in Europe, just as it has in the United States with the demands by the Trump administration for the building of a wall on the Mexican border and the unleashing of Border Patrol and ICE agents in a campaign of persecution and intimidation against immigrants.

On both sides of the Atlantic, and all across the globe, governments and right-wing political movements are attempting to scapegoat immigrants for the conditions of mass unemployment, declining living standards and social crisis created by the capitalist system.
After more than two months of limited industrial action, meat processing workers in Wellington voted on April 7 on a contract drawn up by the Meat Workers Union (MWU) and the Taylor Preston company.

The deal further entrenches the poverty wages and insecure conditions at the factory. Most Taylor Preston workers, even those with many years experience, will still receive little more than the official minimum wage, recently increased from $15.25 to $15.75.

The World Socialist Web Site spoke to a number of workers and found widespread anger over the agreement and the unions refusal to mount any struggle for better wages and conditions for more than a decade. Fearing victimisation, they asked that their names be withheld.

One worker described it as a kick in the teeth and said: I feel sorry for the guys with kids. I work full time and Im struggling, and its just me and my wife, so those guys must be really struggling. Im probably going to be moving overseas soon, theres just not enough money here.

A majority of workers voted in favour of the deal, having been worn down by futile, limited industrial action, which consisted of a ban on overtime and some weekend shifts. Several workers told the WSWS they opposed the agreement but voted for it because they could no longer survive on reduced income with no victory in sight.

In the course of the dispute, the union made no public statements and did everything it could to isolate workers, wear them down and convince them there was no alternative but to accept the pro-company deal.

The vote had many fundamentally anti-democratic aspects. The full text of the agreement was not given to workers before the vote and has still not been circulated. Only a three-paragraph hand-written summary of the main points was made available. The MWU has not announced the exact results of the secret ballot.

One worker, who still receives just $16.80 an hour despite being at the company more than 20 years, told the WSWS that we used to have much better conditions, including bonuses that allowed workers to survive during seasonal layoff periods. Every year workers can have their hours slashed and are routinely laid-off for a month or longer, without pay, when stock numbers decline. The union has accepted this for decades.

The worker said he and some others had planned to vote against the deal but were swayed during the April 7 meeting, which lasted almost two hours. He said union leaders spoke at length and one of them justified accepting the agreement by saying workers could not survive on the reduced shifts and more would leave the union if industrial action continued.

In fact, the union purposely designed the overtime ban to cause little disruption to the companys operations. The reduced pay, however, caused significant hardship to workers.

Another worker criticised the token character of the industrial action: There hasnt been a systematic attack on the company, [the union] has stood back  The disparity has grown to such a degree that its getting ridiculous and if we dont start addressing it in a proper way, which the union seems not to have done, were going to be in trouble in the future.

Taylor Preston is on the bottom end of the wage scale of all the meatworks. The union should have been working the hardest for our company, in order to bring them in line with the rest of the pay rates of the entire sector. It seems like theres a coordinated campaign between the companies and the unions.

A further worker pointed to the broader social crisis, saying the government and the opposition Labour Party had done nothing to address low wages and social inequality. Its getting to the point where all these people are living in cars. No matter whether you vote National or Labour, nothings going to change.

The Meat Workers Union is now engaged in an operation to deceive meat workers throughout the country about the agreement. Its April newsletter promoted the deal as a major step forward for MWU members.

This is a lie. The two-year agreement includes an increase of 70 cents an hour for the majority of union members, who make up nearly 400 workers at the site (just under half the workforce).

The MWU newsletter does not mention this miserably low figure. Instead it states that the unions negotiations, combined with industrial action, resulted in an increase of nearly double the companys original wage offer.

All this actually means is that Taylor Prestons initial offer of 35 cents an hour, which would have brought union members pay into line with non-union members, was doubled. The MWU also neglects to mention that its members will receive no backdated pay for the period since May 2016 when their previous agreement expired.

Since the deal was signed-off, non-union members have reportedly been given a raise by the company that restores their pay differential.

The union itself notes that Taylor Preston has a history of low wage rates, ranging from $2 to $10 an hour below industry norms. In fact, its workers are the lowest paid in the New Zealand meat industry.

Workers throughout the country are being driven to fight for better pay and conditions, in response to austerity measures and the soaring cost of living. In recent weeks, thousands of disability support workers at IDEA Services and fast food workers at Restaurant Brands have taken industrial action.

In both disputes, however, workers find themselves trapped by union bureaucracies which limit industrial action to ineffective and isolated gestures, aimed at letting off steam, while negotiating pro-company contracts that will entrench poverty-level wages. The Unite union is pushing for a pay rise for Restaurant Brands workers of just 30 cents an hour, spread over three years. Like the MWU, it presents this insultingly low amount as a significant step forward for workers.

Workers must demand the right to decent pay and conditions. Meat workers at Taylor Preston and other factories should unite their struggles with those of other workers in New Zealand and internationally who are facing similar attacks.

A real fight requires a rebellion against the unions and the Labour Party, which work together with the government to increase the exploitation of workers and defend the profits of New Zealand businesses.

In every workplace, workers need to form their own rank-and-file committees which they control. In opposition to the entire political establishment, workers must raise the demand for a workers government to implement socialist policies based on meeting the pressing needs of the majority, not the private profits of the wealthy few.

We urge Taylor Preston workers who agree with this perspective to contact the Socialist Equality Group to discuss how to advance this struggle.

The author also recommends:

New Zealand meat union pushes through pro-company deal at Taylor Preston

[15 April 2017]

Taylor Preston meat workers take industrial action

[21 February 2017]
The Rail Train and Bus Union (RTBU) responded to a lockout of Pacific Nationals Victorian freight train drivers last week by limiting industrial action to two token work bans and agreeing to resume back-room negotiations with the company for eight weeks.

The unions latest manoeuvre is aimed at suppressing widespread anger among freight train drivers over a new Pacific National (PN) Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA). The proposed EBA covering PNs Victorian rural and bulk division reportedly slashes a raft of working conditions and lays the basis for major wage cuts.

The RTBU called a 48-hour strike on May 1 to protest against the EBA. PN threatened a lockout of all freight train drivers.

Business figures have complained that the industrial action was obstructing transport of a record grain crop in Victoria. Wakefield Transport, a Victorian freight company, which uses PNs trains, reported that it carried out an additional 634 truck trips last week, in a bid to prevent the strike affecting freight movement.

Earlier work bans in March and April had resulted in the cancellation of up to 30 freight train journeys. This affected Victorias main bulk handlers, including Emerald Grain, GrainCorp and AWB GrainFlow.

In comments to the press on the eve of last weeks strike, Marc Marotta, the secretary of the RTBUs Victorian locomotive division, made clear the union was seeking to reach a deal with the company. I wish there was another way around this but thats the legal framework in which we work, he said.

PN nevertheless proceeded with the week-long lockout, in an attempt to bludgeon the workforce into accepting the terms of the EBA.

Speaking to the WSWS on Friday, Marotta indicated that the union had made an offer to PN last Tuesday for the resumption of talks. He said the company rejected the overture. Two days later, however, on Thursday, PN agreed to new negotiations.

The union has pledged not to take any strike action over the next eight weeks and has scaled back work bans, which now only cover the use of casual labor, and shunter operations at the Appleton docks in Melbourne. The company has not made any concessions.

In other words, the union responded to the lockout, a significant attack on the rights of the workforce, by abetting the companys attempts to prevent any industrial action against the new EBA, and reassuring PNs clients that their activities will not face any disruptions.

Freight train services to Victorian ports resumed yesterday. Underscoring the fealty of the union to the company and the major agribusinesses it services, Marotta made groveling comments cited in the Weekly Times. The strike was a last resort, he said, adding, Wed like to apologize to grain growers.

Asked by the WSWS whether there was hostility to the resumption of talks among workers, Marotta said: To be candid, theres a small minority that is so angry, they have allowed their personal feelings to cloud their judgment. There is quite a level of animosity towards the company. His comments indicate that the union will use the eight-week negotiating period to try and dissipate anger among the workforce, and reach a sellout agreement with PN.

While few details of the proposed EBA have been released, the union claims that it includes sweeping wage cuts of up to $19,000 per year for freight train drivers, and the scaling back of conditions, including travel allowances.

According to the union, the wage cuts equate to about $10 an hour. Experienced drivers are currently on a rate of $52.74 an hour. The aggregate wage includes shift and weekend penalties and other allowances. The RTBU has said that the new EBA is seeking to remove a number of these from the aggregate wage, in an attempt to lower it to $42.58.

The companys demands are in line with the attacks carried out at other industrial workplaces, where companies have sought to force employees onto a base rate of pay.

In February, the Fair Work Commission, the industrial tribunal created by the last Labor government with the support of the unions, endorsed AGLs move to tear-up an EBA covering workers at its Loy Yang A power station in Victorias Latrobe Valley. The ruling has cleared the way for pay cuts of between 30 and 65 percent, with the highly skilled workforce facing the prospect of receiving the base rate of pay for an electrician.

The attack on Victorias PN workers is part of a broader offensive by the company against jobs, wages and conditions in response to the fall in commodity prices and the resulting decline in freight volumes. PN is also pushing a new national EBA for its internodal division, which is aimed at instituting driver-only operation of trains, which would slash staff, and increasing part-time work.

Last year, ports and rail corporate group Asciano sold off PN to a consortium of major international investors, which included Global Infrastructure Management, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and Chinas CIC Capital Corporation.

In the lead-up to the sale, Asciano initiated a cost-cutting drive to secure savings of between $150 million to $300 million from 2014-18. This included cutting 46 jobs at its Newcastle operations in New South Wales (NSW) and another 160 in the companys bulk operations.

The cuts were intensified last year, following the takeover, with an announcement in November of an additional 120 sackings across PNs NSW operations. It axed 67 jobs at the Port Waratah coal-haulage operation in Newcastle, along with 23 in Port Kembla, and others in NSW regional centres.

Similar measures have been imposed by PNs competitors, including the Queensland-based freight-haulage company, Aurizon. In 2015, it announced a major restructure, including the slashing of 800 jobs, aimed at cost-savings of up to $380 million. Those sackings followed over 2,000 job cuts at Aurizon between 2010 and 2015.

In every instance, the RTBU has collaborated with the major freight companies to suppress opposition from workers. It has called only token industrial action limited to individual workplaces, aimed at isolating workers in each division.

To the extent that the union has voiced opposition to the continuous restructuring at PN, it has been from the standpoint that it has not been consulted sufficiently. The union is particularly concerned that the rural and bulk EBA could limit its bargaining powers. In other words, the union is above all anxious to maintain its position at the negotiating table where it will continue to bargain away the jobs, wages and conditions of the workers it falsely claims to represent.

The record makes clear that a struggle against the offensive by PN and other freight companies can only take place through a rebellion against the RTBU. What is required are independent, rank-and-file committees completely independent of the union aimed at uniting workers across the sector to coordinate strike action, issue appeals to other workers facing similar attacks, and to discuss a political strategy to take the fight forward.

Above all, the relentless restructuring in the freight industry underscores the necessity for a workers government, based on socialist policies, including placing the major mining, agribusiness, rail and infrastructure companies under public ownership and workers control.
French President-elect Emmanuel Macrons actions immediately after his election Sunday night have exposed the fraudulent claims that he would defend democracy and block the rise of the neo-fascist National Front (FN). Macron began his victory speech on Sunday with a full-throated Republican salute to the FN and its defeated candidate Marine Le Pen, delivered in the name of national unity.

Yesterday, his transition team began outlining his reactionary agenda, which expands upon that of the Socialist Party (PS) government of outgoing President Francois Hollande in which Macron was a minister. He will intensify police deployments under Frances state of emergency, which suspends basic democratic rights. He plans to cut taxes for the wealthy, boost the number of policemen and prison beds by 10,000 and 15,000, respectively, and continue the wars in Syria, Iraq and Mali.

The figures Macron is considering as potential prime ministers make clear that he is preparing a right-wing government. They include the Gaullist mayor of Le Havre, Edouard Philippe; Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund; and Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Socialist Party governments defense minister, who worked closely with Hollande on the PS extrajudicial assassination program.

Above all, Macron is planning a confrontation with the working class, unilaterally imposing decrees based on the PS labor lawrammed through in the face of mass protests and overwhelming popular oppositionto shred contracts, lengthen working hours and cut social spending.

Macrons salute to the heirs of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime is an exposure of the true physiognomy of the French bourgeoisie: always ready to collaborate with fascist reaction to assert its privileges against the working class. Just as Hollande repeatedly invited Le Pen to the Elysee presidential palace and built up the FN amid growing hostility to his government, Macron hopes to legitimize and promote the far right as a political base for his reactionary agenda.

Macron faces explosive social opposition in the working class. Twelve percent of the electorate cast blank or spoiled ballots to express their opposition to both candidates. Large sections of the population abstained, including 34 percent of voters age 18 to 24; 32 percent of voters age 25 to 34; 35 percent of the unemployed; and 32 percent of manual workers. Of Macrons voters, nearly half (43 percent) said they voted against Le Pen, not for Macron, and 40 percent of those who voted for Jean-Luc Melenchon abstained in the second round.

These developments vindicate the position taken by the Parti de l'egalite socialiste (PES), the French section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It called for an active boycott of the second round of the French presidential election, opposing illusions that Macron or parliamentary alliances with Macron supporters in the legislature would defend democracy from the FN.

The PES called for workers to boycott the election and mobilize against both candidates. It did so in order to raise the political consciousness of the working class and prepare it for the struggles to come. It insisted that there was no electoral tactic that would resolve the political crisis facing the working class. Rather, the central issue was to provide a Marxist and internationalist perspective on which to build the revolutionary leadership the working class needs in these struggles.

A class gulf separates the PES from the organizations around the PS that have for decades claimed to represent left-wing politics in France. As the French political establishment centered on the PS and the right-wing The Republicans (LR) collapses, these groups work to demobilize working class opposition and steer it into the dead end of support for Macron.

Forces such as Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Unsubmissive France (UF) movement, the Stalinist French Communist Party (PCF) and the New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA) refused to advance any program on which workers could fight. As France prepares for the legislative elections on June 11 and 18, they are seeking to tie the working class to various pro-capitalist parliamentary combinations.

Melenchon, who before the second round proposed to serve as Macrons prime minister, is now asking voters to vote for UF candidates running in the legislative elections on the basis of social and ecological humanism in order to form a new parliamentary majority. PCF leader Pierre Laurent called on Monday to concretize the promise of a new left born at the ballot boxes on April 23that is, on the basis of the Melenchons movement.

The NPA is calling for the building of a front to defend in unity our social and democratic rights. Whatever criticisms the NPA makes of Macron, however, will be combined with support for him insofar as he aggressively wages the war in Syria, which the NPA supports.

These proposals are cynical and reactionary maneuvers to maintain the domination of PS-linked organizations over the working class. They in no way advance a revolutionary socialist program for the working class to struggle for power, and they leave unchallenged Le Pens populist pretensions to represent social opposition to Macron. They advance no strategy at all to win back to the banner of socialism the many workers who voted for Le Pen because they want answers to attacks on social services, health care and jobs, and because they have lost confidence in the ability of the PS, Melenchon and the NPA to provide them. Significantly, in neither the last statement issued by the NPA just before the final round of the presidential election, nor in its first statement after Macron's victory, does the word socialism appear.

None of the established parties claiming to be on the left have anything to propose to working people. This dead end is the product of the bankruptcy of the parties that broke with the Fourth International in France, based on a repudiation of Trotskyism and revolutionary Marxism. They allied with the PS from its foundation in 1971, in the aftermath of the May-June 1968 general strike, and created a political framework in which any truly progressive alternative based on the independent revolutionary mobilization of the working class was excluded.

Melenchons evolution is a classic example. He initially joined the Organisation communiste internationaliste (OCI) of Pierre Lambert, which had broken with the ICFI in 1971 to help build the PS. Melenchon joined the PS in 1976, became a key adviser to PS President Francois Mitterrand, and then a PS senator and minister, before leaving with a faction of the PS in 2008 to found the Left Front together with the PCF.

The central question that is posed is the rebuilding of a revolutionary Marxist leadership in the working class. Explosive social conflicts are being prepared between the ruling class and the workers in France and across Europe. These struggles must be organized independently of the union bureaucracy and given a revolutionary perspective.

A century after the Russian Revolution, the PES insists that the only way forward for the working class is a return to the revolutionary road. It advances itself as the revolutionary vanguard of the working class, the representative in France of the socialist and internationalist program of the Bolshevik Party of Lenin and Trotsky in 1917 and the heritage of Trotskyism defended by the ICFI. We appeal to workers and youth who agree with our analysis of Macron to support the PES, study its program, and join the struggle to build it as the political vanguard of the working class in France.
Revelations of brutality and corruption at Rikers Island in New York City, the largest prison complex in the United States, have continued over the past few weeks, even as the citys mayor, Bill de Blasio, has agreed to a plan that will supposedly shutter the facility in a decade.

Yesterday, media published accounts of a letter from the citys Department of Investigation (DOI) to de Blasio charging Gregory Kuczinski, the deputy commissioner for the Investigation Division of the Department of Corrections (DOC), with wiretapping conversations between prisoners and officials from the DOI who were investigating conditions at Rikers. The DOI has demanded Kuczinkis resignation. In an interview on Sunday night, DOC Commissioner Joseph Ponte, de Blasios prison reform appointee said, Clearly there was no improper eavesdropping.

Late in April, the DOI issued another report, which showed that Ponte had spent 90 days in a Maine seaside town in 2016. Ponte used a DOC vehicle to drive there, a violation of city rules.

On April 3, a new report by an independent commission that had been mandated by a federal judge confirmed that little has changed in Rikers since a flurry of calls for reform in 2014. The report highlights the brutality of life for inmates at the prison:

A cuffed Inmate sustained a lip injury requiring six sutures to close.  [T]he [Department of Corrections] investigator failed to address clear evidence that officer participants colluded in writing their reports, all of which contained highly suspicious explanations for the injury.

An Inmate was under escort by a Captain when the Captain very forcefully slammed the Inmate into a wall, causing the Inmates head to likewise hit the wall forcefully. The video provides ample evidence that this needlessly high degree of force was deliberate and not in any way provoked by the Inmate.

The report documented 305 strikes to inmates heads by guards in the period from August to December 2016. It concluded that while some of these instances were justifiable, according to prison standards, many were utilized to punish, discipline or retaliate against an inmate.

In addition, several suits and allegations have been made by inmates in the last few months, including:

In November, the family of inmate Rolando Perez claimed that he died because he was denied his anti-seizure medication after he was placed in solitary confinement for an altercation with another inmate.

In January, the mother of Eugene Castelle, who was arrested on charges of drug possession, demanded to know why her son was denied medical attention at Rikers shortly before his death there. One inmate told the Daily News that Castelle, had taken a dose of methadone, using another prisoners prescription, before he died.

Also in January, the DOC began an investigation into the loss of a sealed bag of biological evidence in the case of a female inmate who claimed that she was sexually abused by a Rikers guard.

Court papers filed in February allege that another jail guard, who is a pastor outside of the prison, was a serial sexual abuser of young male inmates.

Revelations of conditions at Rikers have been ongoing since a 2014 report issued by the office of the US Attorney for Southern New York (at the time headed by Preet Bharara) cited a deep-seated culture of violence in the prison complex. This and exposes by the New York Times, as well as the suicide in 2015 of Kalief Browdera youth arrested at the age of 16 who endured three years in the complex, often in solitary confinement, awaiting trial for the alleged crime of stealing a backpacksparked outrage in New York and across the world.

Since then, 38 Rikers guards have been arrested for smuggling drugs and weapons into the prison or for sexual assault or brutality toward inmates. Others have been convicted of manslaughter and murder of inmates.

The violence and corruption has spurred calls to close Rikers, which has received the endorsement of the overwhelmingly Democratic City Council and of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, eager to show up de Blasio as a progressive in the Democratic Party. De Blasio, for his part, opposed closing the prison for years, saying that was impractical and too expensive.

On April 3, a commission sponsored by the City Council and led by Judge Jonathan Lippman issued a plan to shut Rikers in a decade-long process. Inmates would be moved into five smaller prisons located in each of the five boroughs of the city. Rikers, a 413-acre island that sits between the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx, some experts have noted, could be turned over to wealthy realtors for development, although others have suggested it could be used to expand runways at nearby LaGuardia Airport.

Shortly before the Lippman plan was released to the public, the Mayor relented in his opposition to closing the facility. De Blasio did not give specifics and stopped short of endorsing the Lippman plan, suggesting that it may take more than 10 years to close Rikers. He called his plan a sober, forever decision.

It is not clear that any current plan to close Rikers, either that of Lippman or that of the mayor (whose plan would likely include elements from the Lippman plan) will ever come to fruition.

The Lippman plan has already estimated the closure to have a cost of $10 billion, and most of the 51 members of the City Council told the Times in a poll that they will not support the construction of new jails in their districts, although they support closing Rikers.

Even if Rikers were to be shut down, the violence, abuse and degradation of inmates would only be redistributed to other locations. (The state prison system, which is refusing to transfer prisoners to Rikers in what is likely a factional move by Cuomo against de Blasio, is also rife with beatings and torture of inmates.)

The discussion on the issue of Rikers in the bourgeois media, and that emanating from a whole range of Democratic Party politicians from Cuomo and de Blasio on down, ignores the social conditions in New York City that underlie both the abuse and corruption at the prison and the prevalence of mass incarceration.

The overwhelming majority of the inmates come from the poorest layers of the working class in the city. They have been convicted of no crime but cannot afford the bail set for their release while they await trial.

The speaker of the City Council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, a former trade union functionary for Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, said more than she intended when she began an op-ed in the Times in March by noting that Rikers is a stain on our great citys reputation.

What concerns her and the rest of the upper-middle-class coterie of city and state politicians is maintaining an appearance of reform, when in fact poverty, hunger, and homelessness grow relentlessly throughout the city, fueled by the widening chasm that separates the tiny layer of billionaire hedge-fund managers and Wall Street swindlers from the half of the citys population who are poor or near-poor.
The Socialist Equality Party of Sri Lanka (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) call for an independent workers inquiry into the catastrophe caused by the collapse of Colombos main garbage dump in the suburb of Meethotamulla.

On April 14, a large portion of the Meethotamulla rubbish heap collapsed, destroying 146 houses and killing 32 people, with an equal number believed to still be missing. Over 150 families have been displaced and forced to live in temporary shelters in neighbouring areas with few or no amenities. Scores of injured have been treated at hospitals across Colombo.

Confronted by growing anger among the residents and others concerned about human lives and welfare, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a retired judge, Chandradasa Nanayakkara, to conduct an investigation into the causes of the calamity. Establishing commissions of inquiry, after allowing disasters to happen, is simply a means for covering up the governments own responsibility and diverting mass discontent.

The SEP warns that the government inquiry will whitewash those responsibleabove all successive capitalist governmentsfor the criminal negligence that caused the loss of lives of workers and youth and the destruction of the homes of former Meethotamulla residents.

A parliamentary debate that was announced with much hype by both the government and the so-called joint opposition ended as a complete sham. The debate was such a farce that the Daily Mirror editorial on May 3 declared: Now that the debate is over what has the country achieved from it? Neither the government nor the parties in the Opposition suggested any specific short-term or long-term solutions to the problem.

The outcome is an indictment of the entire political establishment. The parliamentary system is itself just a worn-out cover for the oppressive rule of the capitalist class and does not in any way represent the needs of working people.

The urgent necessity is for an independent investigation by the working class to reveal the actual causes of the disaster and recommend genuine solutions to deal with the crimes of the capitalist class and its governments.

The SEP and IYSSE call for, and will establish, a committee for an independent inquiry that will bring working people, youth, socially-conscious intellectuals and professionals to work together to draw up an economic, social and political program to address the burning problems facing the masses.

A workers inquiry into the garbage problem will not only propose concrete scientific solutions to that particular problem. It will elaborate a political perspective for the working class to win the support of urban and rural poor people to find sustainable solutions to all the social and democratic problems they confront under capitalism.

The SEP has experience in holding such investigations. Of its three previous inquiries, the most recent was into the gunning down of demonstrators protesting against water pollution caused by the Venigros latex factory in the Rathupaswala area in 2013. President Mahinda Rajapakses regime was in power at that time and mobilised the security forces against people who were demanding clean drinking water.

That workers inquiry won broad support from working people and youth in the area. Despite many obstructions by the Venigros factory owners and the Rajapakse government, the inquiry committee successfully conducted its proceedings and produced a report exposing the criminal operations of the factory in collusion with the government.

The proposed workers inquiry into the Meethotamulla disaster will investigate the following:

The history of the Meethotamulla garbage dump and the socio-economic problems that it has caused





What factors triggered the April 14 collapse





The available techniques for scientific solid waste management and why they were not applied





The international context of the solid waste problem as part of the social counter-revolution being waged by the ruling classes





The role of the media and so-called environmentalists in the Meethotamulla catastrophe





The role of the establishment political parties, particularly the pseudo-left organisations





The alternative political and social program that must be adopted by the working class

The open dumping of garbage, without scientific management, took place for 22 years in the 16-acre wetland plot in Meethotamulla. Both the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ruled the country during that period, with the support of the pseudo-left groups and trade unions. However, the Meethotamulla garbage tip grew rapidly from 2009 onward when open dumping at a former site in Blumenthal had to be discontinued due to a fire and subsequent court ruling. Meethotamulla became Colombos main garbage disposal facility.

At Meethotamulla, the garbage heap grew well over 30 metres in height, posing a critical health and environmental threat, not only to local residents, but to the entire city. Dozens of people living near the dump, including children, have died due to various pollution-related and vector-borne diseases. Waterways in the area have been turned black by the leachate seeping from garbage. Noxious gases emitting from the dump can be detected as far away as four kilometres.

The areas residents are predominantly low-paid workers and the urban poor. Most are forced to live in tiny shanty quarters shared by two or three families due to the acute housing crisis in Colombo. Some residents are evictees displaced by the governments ruthless program to drive out over 70,000 poor families from parts of Colombo, in order to make way for private investment and city beautification projects.

On many occasions in recent years, people have vigorously protested against the danger posed by the Meethotamulla rubbish dump. In early 2014, the Rajapakse government launched a violent police attack on residents who engaged in a sit-in for several days to block garbage dumping.

The pseudo-left groups exploited the issue to urge residents to vote against Rajapakse during the January 2015 presidential election. But, the problem only continued to fester after Sirisena took office and formed a government with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister. The response of the current national unity government to local protests has been nothing but brutal police attacks and arrests.

The entire political establishment has attempted to blame the Meethotamulla disaster on the victims themselves, asserting that they did not leave the area, despite it being declared a danger zone and being offered compensation. The residents have categorically rejected these claims.

The health and environmental hazards created by mismanaged solid waste are an international problem. Just weeks before the Meethotamulla catastrophe, a similar garbage dump collapse in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killed 113 residents. In 2005, more than 200 waste pickers were killed in Guatemala City in Central America. A 2016 fire in the 326-acre Deonar dump in Mumbai, India, whose thick smoke plumes could be seen from outer space, caused an air pollution alert of regional proportions.

These problems are direct consequences of decades of attacks on public services in both developing and advanced capitalist countries. They have been aggravated by the savage austerity agenda being imposed on the working class globally. However, the pseudo-left groups, including the Frontline Socialist Party, the Nava Sama Samaja Party and the United Socialist Party, have not stopped engaging in hollow protests and making futile appeals to the same ruling class parties that are responsible for the devastation that occurred on April 14.

The SEP calls on the residents of Colombo and workers, youth, students and conscientious intellectuals in Sri Lanka and worldwide to support the independent workers inquiry into the Meethotamulla disaster. It will be an important first step to find a solution to the solid waste crisis, as well as to lay the political basis for a social transformation that ensures safe and decent living conditions for all.
A verdict of suicide was recently recorded at the inquest of a young worker, Jerome Rogers, who had been plagued by debt following two parking fines.

At the inquest in south London, assistant coroner Jacqueline Devonish said, Its evident that he [Rogers] was stressed by being in debt.

Jerome Rogers was only 20 when he tragically took his own life, by hanging, in March last year. He had earned his living as a self-employed courier for City Sprint, using his motorbike to deliver blood supplies to hospitals throughout London.

Rogers had incurred two parking fines for 65, which had been owed to Labour Party-run Camden council. Because the fines were not paid, the debt quickly mounted up in the course of a few months. Eventually he owed a total of 1,019 because of non-payment of penalties and bailiffs fees.

Camden council passed the debt to Newlyn Plc, a Liverpool-based national debt Collection Company used by many local authorities and high street firms. Public concerns about the methods used by the company and others like it are well documented.

A Times article in February, 2011 stated that Newlyn has been accused of adding extra costs to debts, cutting corners and aggressively chasing people for money they say they do not owe."

It cited a former employee, who revealed the questionable practices of a company chasing unpaid fines and arrears for local authorities. The Times wrote, Steve Williams (not his real name), an ex-employee of Newlyn, says that when an unpaid parking debt is passed to Newlyn, it will add an extra sum--often about 80.

In 2016, Jerome was twice visited by Newlyn Plc bailiffs--first on January 19 and again on March 7. On the first visit, the partner of Jeromes mother, Bentley Duncan, paid off 507. Jerome also agreed to pay the bailiff off at a rate of 128 a week, which would have constituted an enormous chunk of his wages. Jerome had suffered several bouts of severe asthma over the winter months making him unfit to work on several occasions. This meant that in the months prior to his death, his weekly earnings were between just 38 and 89.

After his mothers partner had paid off part of the debt, Jerome carried out internet searches for payday loans in an attempt to clear the rest. A bailiff, Ross Cutler, contracted by Newlyn to collect the debt, texted Jerome on February 26, reminding him payment was due the next day. According to the Guardian, Jerome then began making internet searches on how to commit suicide, as well as continuing to search for potential loans.

Cutler made a second visit to Jeromes home on March 7 and on this occasion seized Jeromes motorbike as an asset against the debt, thus depriving him of his only means of making a living and paying off the debt.

Cutler clamped the vehicle and then sat in his car for two hours outside Jeromes house. The bailiff claimed he did this to allow Rogers more time to find the money owed.

In her assessment, the assistant coroner said, I've considered the actions of the bailiff sitting outside the house for a prolonged period having not told Jerome the reason he was outside. Could that have been viewed as a form of harassment? Did it increase Jerome's stress levels? My personal view is sitting outside a person's house, when you are a bailiff, would be intimidating."

According to the assistant coroner, Jerome had been searching the internet for ways to commit suicide even while Cutler was there. Jerome then left his house while the bailiff was still present.

After several hours, Jeromes family reported him missing to the police, after it emerged that he had sent his girlfriend a text saying he loved her and to remember him. The following day Jeromes body was found in nearby woods by his brother Nat and a family friend.

The assistant coroner questioned the bailiffs valuation of Jeromes motorbike. There is evidence that the bailiffs may have acted illegally as they are not legally entitled to seize items used as tools of a trade if their value is less than 1,350. Newlyn had valued the bike at between 1,500 and 2,000. The family obtained a valuation from motorbike manufacturer Honda giving the value as only 400. This was because the bike had clocked up a further 17,000 miles due to it being used by a motorcycle courier.

Newlyn admitted they had no facility to be able to search the value of motorbikes.

Speaking to the Guardian, Tracey Rogers, Jeromes mother, said, We are shocked that bailiffs have the power to seize peoples tools of trade, which will prevent them from working and earning money to pay off their debt We will continue to campaign for changes in the law so that no other family has to go through what we are going through. After Jeromes death I got a letter from a man who said he had contemplated suicide because of the way he had been treated by bailiffs. I have to do this for Jerome. I cant just pretend things are normal after the inquest. Nothing is normal anymore.

A report Taking Control jointly issued in March by the Citizens Advice, Step Change Debt Charity and the Childrens Society commented on a law that came into effect in 2014 to supposedly control the actions of bailiffs and clean up the debt enforcement business. It found that bailiffs still regularly intimidated people, failed to accept affordable payment offers and failed to recognise the needs of vulnerable people.

The use of bailiffs to retrieve debts is on the increase.

A Money Advice Trust report, Stop The Knock, published in 2015, noted, Local councils in England and Wales instructed bailiffs to collect debts on 2.1 million occasions last year. This was an increase from the 1.8 million visits in the year up to August 2013.

The report showed the readiness with which councils instruct private bailiffs to collect unpaid debts--despite the serious negative impact this can have on individuals and businesses in financial difficulty.

Such is the scale of the debt collecting industry that a reality TV programme--Can't Pay? We'll Take it Away --has been created around it. This tends to demonise those in debt and glorifies bailiffs as playing a vital and useful role in society.

According to the Debt Support Trust charity, nearly half of people struggling with debt in the UK have considered suicide to resolve their situation.

At the beginning of the year, debt charity Step Change released statistics for its work in 2016. Nearly 600,000 people had contacted it, amounting to an enquiry every 53 seconds. Use of its website had doubled since 2011, with 3.3 million searches. It reported, For the first time in at least eight years, the overall average unsecured debt of our clients increased, from 13,900 to 14,251.

Jerome Rogers, a young low-paid worker, could find no way out of his predicament and was literally hounded to his death. He was offered no help or respite from the institutions of the capitalist state, meeting only the most brutal response from the council, courts, police and bailiffs.

The crisis that engulfed Rogers was ultimately an outcome of the precarious situation facing millions of people, where just one incident can spiral out of control and push them over the edge.

Today, one in five UK workersover 7 million peopleare in precarious employment. In 2012, 180,000 were employed in the UK as couriers in a highly exploitative fast-growing sector. Many of these are poorly paid and part of what is described as the gig economy. Their employers generally classify them as self-employed so they can avoid paying sick pay, holiday pay or pensions.

With the continuing imposition of austerity measures and the spread of such employment, millions more are likely to find themselves in the very same dreadful circumstances that led to Rogers taking his life.
TALLAHASSEE Fla. (WTXL) -- Starting next school year, students in Florida can go to any public school in the state that hasn't reached capacity.

The Florida legislature approved what's called "Controlled Open Enrollment", which gives parents the choice to send their children across city and county lines for their education.

In a special edition of "The Insiders," WTXL ABC 27's Stephen Jiwanmall takes a closer look at Gadsden, Jefferson and Leon counties as each district faces different challenges before classes start this fall.

It's been called "Open borders" or "School choice" and if you haven't heard about it yet, chances are you'll start seeing its effects soon. Students now have the chance to study anywhere in the state, but how will local districts adapt?

The sound of change in Gadsden county happens after months of debate, the school district voted in April 2017 to consolidate.

"Change makes some people uneasy. However, I firmly believe that if we build it, if we grow it, then eventually, the students will come back and will support the efforts of the Gadsden School District", says Roger Milton, the Gadsden County Superintendent.

The decision comes on the heels of major change in the sunshine state. Parents no longer needing fake addresses to send their kids to outside schools. In Gadsden County, some say their actions will hurt the county.

"We talk about losing students. We're going to lose all our students to Sneads. Sneads is going to be our high school. We need to do something about that", says Chris Moultry, the Mayor of Chattahoochee.

Next year, Gadsden County will have only one public high school. It's one of several changes Superintendent Roger Milton is making to reconfigure the district.

"To be able to build champions on the field as well as in the classroom is the direction in which the Gadsden School District will be going with our high school," Roger Milton, the Gadsden County Superintendent.

Milton says he doesn't anticipate a significant group of students leaving the county. His efforts are to make the district competitive enough to bring students in.

"We are re-branding the district. We're hoping that we lose absolutely no more students than we have in the past. Actually, we're hoping that we change that trend," says Superintendent Milton.

As Gadsden County Schools consolidate, Jefferson County will make history as the state's first district run by a charter company. The school board opted to go with an outside organization to save the district.

"We're in uncharted waters. There's no question, and I think we're all feeling our way around right now", said Marianne Arbulu, the Jefferson County Superintendent.

Jefferson's schools will work under "Somerset academy," which runs several other Florida schools. Superintendent Arbutus says she's confident somerset will bring positive change.

"I have every expectation that they're going to do a great job -- everything I've seen in terms of the direction that they're taking," says Superintendent Arbulu.

For years, the district has struggled academically and financially, which prompts some parents to pull their children from public schools. Will this decision to go with a charter stop the bleeding?

"We don't see too much in the way of out-migration from the district, and best case we might see some students coming back into the school district, so that's where we're hopeful", says Superintendent Arbulu.

With Gadsden and Jefferson counties making big decisions with their public schools, the expectation is several parents looking to bring their children here in Leon county. Superintendent Rocky Hanna says capacity is the big issue here, that may keep some of these parents looking elsewhere.

Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna questions "how many students can we allow in while still accommodating those people that are moving into those school zones?"

Each school determines what capacity means. Hanna says some schools are already at capacity.

"If we have room for existing students from other counties to come into our schools with capacity, then so be it, but our first and primary responsibility is to the residents of Leon County", says Superintendent Hanna.

Parents agree that the district is already stretched thin and new students may not benefit.

Marie-Claire Leman, an education advocate, weighted in on the issue.

"Really spending a lot more than we would've had to, if we'd invested locally into these public schools from the districts where parents are feeling like they have to look elsewhere", says Leman.

"The only people that are able to actually leave those schools are the ones that are able to afford to pay for the transportation for those kids. So, we're looking at a type of economic segregation, if you will", says Catherine Baer, another education advocate.

Transportation to Leon County is nothing new and it might be used more often now. A company called "School district services" buses about 200 students from Wakulla, Gadsden and Jefferson counties.

"It's almost like the land of plenty is just a county next door, and so, everyone is in a rush to get to the county next door," says Ivery luckey, the Executive Director of School District Services

The window to apply for open enrollment in Leon County is closed meaning parents will have to wait until next year to try again. We'll follow up with these districts in the 2017-18 school year to see how they're doing.

If you have a story idea for "The Insiders," you can email us at ABC27NEWS at wtxl.tv, attention "The Insiders."
LEON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) -- In February, Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor shared environmental concerns about the construction site of "Carepoint Health and Wellness Center" in the city's Southside.

We've got an update on this story.

WTXL received a copy of a letter from the "Florida Department of Environmental Protection", stating the site meets its requirements and recommends no further action.

Construction for "Carepoint Health and Wellness Center" is ahead of schedule, the building should be complete by September.

The DEP says there's no evidence of "impacted soil or groundwater requiring additional assessment."

A representative for Carepoint says it's been compliant throughout the process, and is excited to provide healthcare resources to this area of Tallahassee.

Commissioner Bill Proctor issued a statement in response to the DEP letter.

"I maintain that this site, as a future health center, should have been completely cleaned up of toxins, period. It makes no sense that environmental standards governing toxic waste in Florida communities are compromised to allow more intense and greater concentrations of toxic waste to remain on commercial business sites where the public is invited to engage. Only God and Mother Nature truly know how right or wrong the findings of the Environmental Compliance Services may affect our ecology and the human population. I hope that that God will protect the FAMU students and communities that surround this site including the future patrons that will breathe the air around this site", stated Proctor.
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The Rotary Club of Tallahassee Southside is hosting its 5th annual Mother-Son dance this weekend!

Proceeds will support the clubs programs, such as rotary youth camp, Thanksgiving dinner for university students, international exchange students as well as district-wide and international programs of rotary international.

And a few extra special Star Wars guests are expected to attend!

It all kicks off Saturday, May 6th from 6-9 p.m. at The Moon, 1105 Lafayette Street in Tallahassee.

Tickets are $30 per pair and $15 for each additional child.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man wanted in Colorado for violating a protection order when he picked up his 4-year-old daughter from school has been arrested in Tallahassee.

The Leon County Sheriffs Office has arrested fugitive Anthony Richard Bryan 38, for Violation of a Protection Order warrant issued out of Longmont, Colorado.

Monday, the LCSO Bailiff Unit received information that Bryan was in the Leon County Courthouse, Clerks of Courts Office with his 4-year-old daughter attempting to file paperwork.

They also received information that Bryan was currently wanted in Colorado and a check on the welfare of his daughter had also been issued.

Bryan was arrested and transported to the Leon County Detention Facility based on the out of state warrant.

Longmont Police say that Bryan was violating a protection order by picking up his daughter from school. The custody agreement doesnt say if hes allowed to take her out of state, so it's unknown if that is part of the reason for the warrant.

The child was turned over to representatives of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Andrew Gillum is once again speaking out, this time proposing a bill aiming to create "the nation's strongest state protections for people with preexisting conditions."

Tuesday, joined by Florida residents whose access to healthcare would be directly impacted by new, national legislation, Gillum shared a state-based plan to protect insurance coverage for Floridians with preexisting conditions.

He announced that in his first legislative session, he would work with legislators to draft, pass, and sign a bill that "creates the nation's strongest state protections for people with preexisting conditions."

The Tallahassee mayor asserted that under his bill insurance companies would be unable to:

Deny coverage or benefits for any preexisting conditions

Charge higher premiums on the basis of preexisting conditions

Use gender ratings to charge women more than men

Gillum also criticized Republicans in Congress, whose vote for President Trump's Affordable Health Care Act. He says that the act, if passed, would allow states to strip away health insurance protections for both women and those with preexisting conditions.

"While Washington is voting to repeal and deny health coverage for millions with preexisting conditions, we must take bold steps to ensure Florida is always a place where people can access the care they need," said Gillum. "As Governor, I will protect those with cancer, diabetes, asthma, and other conditions. Pregnant women won't be turned down in my state. We won't go back to the days when people were denied coverage or forced to pay more because of a preexisting condition  or because they're a woman."

What do you think of Gillum's proposal?
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Days later and folks in Florida are still reeling after the Legislature failed to pass a bill that would set out the framework for a voter-approved constitutional amendment.

The overwhelming passage of Amendment 2 in November changed Florida's constitution to give more people access to medical marijuana, but that did not give patients instant access. The Florida Legislature and Department of Health were tasked with coming up with rules for patients, caregivers, doctors and treatment centers. The House and Senate initially agreed on most of the bill, but Friday, the deal fell apart, leaving many wondering what's next.

It will now be up to the Department of Health to come up with guidelines by July 3rd and have them implemented by October. Whether or not it's a good thing that it's now in the Department of Health's hands? Well, that depends on who you ask.

"I think they both missed the intent of the amendment, missed the will of the voters," said Michael Minardi. Minardi is the chairman of Regulate Florida, a group working to create a framework for all marijuana to be legal for adult use in Florida, not just medical marijuana.

Minardi says he wasn't surprised the Legislature failed to pass a medical marijuana bill, because the issue has become highly political, straying too far away from what will actually benefit patients.

"If they're not going to give our patients what they deserve and what the people in the State of Florida, who are suffering and dying, deserve; the variety, the legality, the ability to cultivate, the ability to posses and use flower, then we're going to overgrow the monopoly," said Minardi.

Some politicians, like Democrat Gwen Graham, are calling for a special session to pass Amendment 2, which has 71% voter approval.

With the bill's fate now in the hands of state health officials, we asked how they're working to get rules into place. Mara Gambineri, Florida Department of Health Communications Director, responded with a statement saying: "Given the tight timeframe, the department began the rulemaking process in January. On Jan. 17, we published proposed rules. We held 5 workshops in February and received extensive public comment. We are carefully considering all public comment submitted either verbally or in writing. The department is committed to quickly moving through the rulemaking process to create a regulatory structure for Amendment 2."

Some medical marijuana advocates trust the Department of Health to make important changes, like getting rid of the 90 day waiting period for patients. Others, like Minardi, still aren't convinced.

As for medical marijuana nurseries and dispensaries in our area, Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, says they're just continuing operations as normal, waiting to see what happens next so they can react.

We also reached out to the Drug Free America Foundation, which presented some guidelines to help lawmakers create new regulations. They have not yet responded to our request for comment.
YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 23-year-old man was sentenced Monday to just over 5 years in prison for his role in an April 2017 shootout in central Yakima.
If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules:

Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy.

The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party.

We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste.

Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters.

Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month.
Authorities vigilant of CPN activists

As the government considers the Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal as a major threat for the first phase of local elections, Nepal Police has started mass arrests of the partys cadres charging them with running anti-election campaigns.
The Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel, in partnership with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Israel and the Sri Lankan Tourism Bureau, is hosting a 12-day celebration of Sri Lankan cuisine prepared by visiting Chefs Kamal Surendrajith and Iyadurai Madasami. The festival features special lunches and dinners at the hotels signature restaurant, The Olive Leaf, as well as a tourism booth and Sri Lankan market in the Sheraton lobby.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The festival began on Sunday, May 7, at a reception in the presence of guest of honor H.E. Mr. Selvaraj Periyasamy Pillai, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Israel. The festival was organized by the hotels executive assistant manager, Mr. Patrick Mudalige, himself a native of Sri Lanka.

On their first visit to Israel, Chefs Surendrajith and Madasami have designed menus based on traditional Sri Lankan products to create authentic Sri Lanka dishes. On the opening evening, a three-course meal was served to invited guests, reflecting the kind of cuisine prepared at Colombos luxury Kingsbury Hotel, the guest chefs home kitchen.

During the remainder of the festival, according to Mudalige, more common, everyday Sri Lankan foodsincluding street foodwill take center stage.

The first of the three courses of the opening night dinner reflected influences of South India, Sri Lankas immediate neighbor. A sushi-like roll made with sticky rice came in two versions, one stuffed with shredded spiced chicken and the other with potato similar to the filling of a masala dosa. This was accompanied by a tasty vegetable cutlet reminiscent of yellow dal, as well as cubed mixed vegetables that had been in pickled in a delicate solution redolent of clove.

The three-part dessert featured the versatility and ubiquity of the coconut in Sri Lankan cuisine: a crepe, sweetened with coconut treacle; a reddish-pink square of coconut confection; and strips of kalu dodo, a gel of passion fruit candy.

The Sri Lankan festival is taking place a mere 10 days after the Sheratons festival of Peruvian cuisine, featuring visiting Chef Pedro Luis Guimet, of the acclaimed Peruvian-Japanese fusion restaurant Niqei in Lima. Held in collaboration with the Embassy of Peru in Israel, and co-sponsored by Air France-KLM, this was the second year in a row that the Sheraton has hosted a Peruvian culinary festival.

Chef Guimets menu comprised four starters, all featuring fishthree of them raw fish, a staple of Peruvian cuisine. Interestingly, classic ceviche was not one of them; but my Peruvian friends (the local Peruvian community turns out in force for these festivals) had placed a special order, and the perfectly marinated morsels of white sea fish practically transported me back to Lima.

My own order, meanwhile, was the tiradito salmon in huancaina sauce, with herbs and kernels of corn. Huancaina is one of Perus most popular sauces, made with the ubiquitous aji amarillo (yellow pepper), and it enhanced the extremely fresh salmon nicely

There was an ample variety of main courses, one each of chicken, lamb, beef and fish. Our waiter recommended what the menu described as filet of beef with Lima-style vegetables, which actually turned out to be lomo saltado, which, along with ceviche, is unofficially considered to be the national dish of Peru. Once again, the highly seasoned strips of beef sauteed with bell peppers and pea pods was authentically rendered and delicious.

There were two desserts, representing two products from the Peruvian rainforest: cacau (cocoa) and lucuma, a tropical fruit, both of which are nutritional powerhouses that are being imported into Israel as South American superfoods. The cacau mousse was an intense version of our more familiar chocolate mousse, while the rice pudding cooked in lucuma nectar was an exotic treat.

There were no specialty cocktails in the framework of the festival, as the Peruvian national liquor Pisco is still awaiting kashrut certification. But there was a special selection of Flam wines that paired well with the fine examples of Peruvian cuisine.

For lunch and dinner reservations during the Sri Lanka festival, call (03) 521-9300.

Olive Leaf Restaurant

Kosher

Sheraton Hotel

115 Hayarkon St., Tel Aviv
IDF has arrested a Palestinian who shot at Israeli vehicles near Rabud. No casualties or damages were reported.

The suspect was arrested and transferred for interrogation by security forces. His gun was seized as evidence.
Twenty vehicles parked on Route 21 between Ramat Shlomo in eastern Jerusalem and Shuafat in north Jerusalem were discovered vandalized overnight Monday, with graffiti having been sprayed on some of the cars with the Hebrew words price tag.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Police also reported that some of the cars tires were punctured by the vandals.

The term "price tag" is commonly used by Jewish or political extremists in carrying out a revenge attack for a specific act.

Photo: Police Spokesperson's Unit

Police forces arrived at the scene with forensic teams that collect findings and opened an investigation that included intelligence gathering and technological analysis of evidence collected at the scene.

At the beginning of the week, Ynet published figures showing that in the last month alone, 17 restraining orders had been imposed in the West Bank against members of the hilltop youths as a preemptive move amid fears that they would stoke up tensions in the wake of recent violent incidents that have beset the area.

Slashed tires

Such violent incidents perpetrated by Jewish extremists include rock-throwing at Israeli security forces and at left-wing groups in Binyamin , clashes in the Palestinian town of Huwara and the burning of a vehicle in a village two weeks ago.

Shin Bet statistics show that in 2015, the number of incidents defined as Jewish terror attacks was 16, a figure that significantly dropped the following year to just two.

In 2017, two such incidents have already been recorded, including one involving an individual from Be'er Sheva who was arrested on suspicion of attacking Arabs and setting fire to the vehicle at Huwara.
Jerusalem was extremely surprised by Monday's verbal attack from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , who has largely avoided public criticism of Israel since the reconciliation between the two nations.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Jerusalem chose a sharp response to Erdogan's vitriolic statements, in contrast to its usual ignoring of such provocative utterances in the past. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement in response, saying, "He who systematically violates human rights in his country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region. Israel adheres strictly to full freedom of worship for Jews, Muslims, and Christiansand will continue to do so in spite of baseless slander."

Turkish President Erdogan (Photo: AFP)

The sudden attack has prompted many to question the motivation of such an outburst. Senior political sources say there was no apparent reason, especially given that relations between Turkey and Israel are currently steady.

On the political level, there is dialogue between the two countries. Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem visited last Ankara last January for the first diplomatic dialogue between in six years.

The Israeli Ambassador to Turkey, Eitan Na'eh, enjoys free access to Turkish leadership and is warmly welcomed at all levels. Similarly, the Turkish Ambassador to Israel, Kemal Okem, has integrated well in Israel and regularly meets with cabinet ministers and other officials.

Last year, the two countries signed a reconciliation agreement after a prolonged slump in relations following the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010.

Israeli natural gas reserves (Photo: Shutterstock)

One of the most important issues in the relationship since the reconciliation was the matter of Israel's natural gas reserves and the construction of a pipeline from Israel's coast to Turkey.

The two sides have made progress in negotiating the transfer of the gas from the Israeli coast to Turkey and to date, Israeli and Turkish teams have discussed the issue four times.

Erdogan's outburst may be related to the frustration on the Turkish side that Israel is overly sensitive to Cypriot concerns about Turkey's economic ties with Israel. Israel is not willing to harm Cypriot interests and the Turks are not really willing to cooperate with them.

The energy ministers of Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and the European Union signed a joint declaration last month to promote the laying of the longest marine natural gas pipeline in the world between Israel and Europe.

Photo: AFP

The Director General of the Ministry of Energy, Shaul Meridor, made it clear two weeks ago that Israel was examining various export options, noting that a deal with Greece or another country did not rule out an agreement with Erdogan's country.

"The construction of a marine pipeline from Israel to Turkey at a length of 550km has an estimated worth of $2 billion and will be financed by the private sector," said Meridor at an energy conference in Istanbul. The deputy energy minister of Turkey was in Israel a month ago to further the project.

Israel's Tourism Minister Yariv Levin with his Turkish counterpart Nabi Avci at a tourism fair in Tel Aviv (Photo: AFP)

Signs of reconciliation are also evident in the tourism industry.

In 2006, some 300,000 Israelis visited Turkeyan increase of 31 percent compared to the previous year. While these do not match the large numbers that preceded the Mavi Marmara crisis, there is certainly a significant increase in the number of Israelis who are vacationing in Turkey.

Turkish Tourism Minister Nabi Abaki arrived at the Israel Tourism Fair in February and expressed his hope that 600,000 Israeli tourists will visit Turkey every year. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a further increase in the number of Israelis vacationing in Turkey.

So what made Erdogan open his mouth now? The usual explanation in Jerusalem is that the Turkish president has held back since the reconciliation agreement. However, other officials believe he feels so entrenched as president, that he is almost a dictator and also desires supreme religious authority. The event where he made his commentsa gathering of the Al-Quds Waqf International Forumput him in a sort of "religious ecstasy." He understands that Europe has closed its gates to him and returns to his post as head of the Muslims.

Photo: Reuters

Another explanation given by senior officials in Jerusalem is that Erdogan is signaling to Hamas that he has a great deal of weight on the Palestinian issue and is demonstrating that he can be their patron.

It may also be related to the concern of Erdogan, who sees himself as a Hamas patron in contrast to President Donald Trump's peace initiative, which embraces Mahmoud Abbas at the expense of Hamas.

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
ADEN -- An Indian priest kidnapped after an attack on a care home in Yemen's southern port city of Aden last year has appealed for help in a video recording carried by a Yemeni news website.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil was abducted in March 2016 when four gunmen posing as relatives of one of the residents at the home burst inside, killing four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the motive for the incident was unclear, but President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has called it an act of terrorism.

"They are treating me well to the extent they are able," the white-bearded Uzhunnalil said, speaking slowly in English.

"My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible," he added in the recording.
We want peace. We fight for peace. But in the meantime we must remember that we are in a state of war. Not one war, but two wars. One is taking place on the battlefield. Hamas drags us there every few years. This war is being waged on a lower key, both through the knifing and stone-throwing terror attacks and through different other measures targeting Israel nonstop.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The second war is a war on the collective consciousness. A war of demonization. A war that seeks to present Israel as a monster. This war has had quite a lot of achievements.

The jailed terrorists, from Fatah and Hamas, have become full partners in both wars. Some of them try to launch and plan terror attacks from prison. Others try to present themselves as martyrs fighting for an end to the occupation or for liberation. Every other prisoner tries to present himself as a freedom fighter, and every other prisoner is actually Nelson Mandela. Its true that they murdered civilians and babies and women and elderly people. And its true that when they say an end to the occupation, they are referring to Tel Aviv as well. And its true that their liberation is sort of like the Islamic State is liberating Iraq and Hamas is liberating Gaza. But in the war on the collective consciousness, they are winning.

Barghouti caught eating on security cameras. The purpose of the hunger strike is to create unrest in the territories, which will lead to riots and bloodshed (Photo: Israel Prison Service)

This war is being led by the most famous prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, who has been very successful. He got into the New York Times immediately after launching the prisoners hunger strike, as a freedom fighter against the occupation. Fake news found its way even into one of the worlds leading newspapers. The newspaper had to be pressured to publish a clarification that he is a terrorist who was jailed after being lawfully convicted.

Barghouti isnt fighting for a historic compromise. He is fighting for his place in the Palestinian leadership. He has turned himself into a bridge between rival factions Fatah and Hamasthe same Hamas which, as part of a facelift, recently presented a political platform that is the same old thing under a different cloak. In fact, it is a return to the 2006 Palestinian prisoners document, which aimed to bridge between Fatah and Hamas. At the time, the parties agreedas they have nowto create a joint front for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders while implementing the right of return. In other words, a Palestinian state and another state, which will become Palestinian as well. At that time too, Barghouti was the leading figure.

US President Donald Trump, who is actually determined to reach some kind of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, is in the background of all of this. Barghouti and his friends main fear is that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with the little power left in him, will take part in ending the stalemate. Barghouti must do everything in his power to make Abbas fail and upgrade his own status to the rank of the Palestinian leader.

With that in mind, exposing Barghouti as a crookwho sends other to starve while he eats behind their backs is a legitimate move, because the purpose of the hunger strike is to create unrest in the territories. Unrest means riots and terrorism. Unrest means thwarting any White House initiative. Unrest also means bloodshed. Weakening Barghouti, therefore, under the current circumstances, is the most justified thing to do.

In the 1990s Barghouti used to be one of the leaders of the moderate approach. Its possible that, one day, we will be able to talk to him again. Its possible that, under future circumstances, he will be able to lead the Palestinians to a historic compromise. Inshallah. In the meantime, however, Barghouti is a Hamas collaborator and an enemy of the possibility, as slim as it may be, to renew the peace process. Its our duty to expose him as the crook he is.
Police and security services have opened an extensive investigation into allegations that a gang of Israeli thieves impersonated French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian to defraud French private security companies of large sums of money for supposed covert security operations conducted by the French government.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



No arrests have been reported thus far but the investigation has revealed that the thieves began operating their scam several months ago. The gang apparently set up an exact replica of Le Drian's office at an unknown location in Israel, including matching furniture, the flag of the Republic, pictures of the president of France and the other characteristic features of his office.

French Minister of Defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian (Photo: AFP)

One suspect even disguised himself as Le Drian, possibly with the services of a makeup expert.

The suspect then proceeded to pose as Le Drian and hold video conferences with several French security companies, asking for urgent financial assistance in conducting "security operations" such as hostage rescues from ISIS, arms acquisitions and other covert operations.

Throughout the talks, the impostor asked the representatives of the companies to keep their contacts secret, ostensibly in order to blur the fingerprints of the French government in the operations carried out with the financial aid.

The scheme is especially bold considering that the companies that fell prey to the fraudulent plot are also manned by people with experience in security. However, they nonetheless swallowed the bait and transferred tens of millions of euro to the con men.

French soldiers (Photo: Reuters)

After attempting to track the funds, investigators discovered a sophisticated network of banking operations stretching from Eastern Europe to China; banking networks that the suspects certainly knew would be reluctant to cooperate with Western law enforcement agencies in the event of fraud or an investigation.

By the time French authorities were alerted to what was happening and attempted to track the criminals, the gang had utilized electronic security measures to conceal their location and identities.

Following a break which led French authorities to discover that the gang was operating in Israel, France submitted an official request to Israeli authorities seeking their assistance in locating and detaining the suspects.

Following the request, a special team has been established within the Israel Police and the Lahav 433 International Crimes unit.

A source close to the investigation said, "This is an extremely sensitive case. There is fraud all over the world and in Israel, but when it threatens the national security of a friendly nation, the line has been crossed."

Israeli officials have avoided publically addressing the matter, possibly in an attempt to avoid public embarrassment to Israel-French relations. French officials are reportedly seeking extradition of the suspects upon their detention.

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
An honor guard ceremony was held at the Kirya IDF Headquarters for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, Tuesday morning.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Gen. Dunford received an official commendation from IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and will later meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman.

Honor Guard for Gen. Joseph Dunford (:  )

X

Gen. Dunford, who is visiting Israel for the third timeand the first time since the Trump administration entered the White Housewas awarded the commendation for his outstanding service, his special contribution to the Israel Defense Forces and for the personal leadership he demonstrated by strengthening ties between US armed forces and the IDF.

Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot presents Gen. Joseph Dunford with an Israeli commendation (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

The American head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to discuss the Syrian civil war, Assad's chemical weapons arsenal, developments in the Sinai and attempts to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah.

Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Gen. Dunford greeting IDF officers (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Last August, Eisenkot and Dunford met in the United States, where the latter presented Eisenkot with the Legion of Merit medal during an honor guard ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington.
TEHRAN -- Iranian search crews have found seven more bodies at the site of last week's coal mine explosion in northern Golestan province, raising the number of confirmed fatalities in the incident to 42, state TV reported on Tuesday.

The explosion last Wednesday at Zemestanyurt mine has been blamed on methane gas that had accumulated in the mine. The incident is believed to be the worst industrial accident to strike Iran in the last few decades.
The Network for the Prevention of Violence and Internet Crime Against Minors (NPVICAM) was launched Tuesday at a conference in Jerusalem attended by Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and Program Director of the British National Cyber Crime Unit, Tony Cook.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The system will include about 100 investigators who will operate out of the Lahav 433 unit of the Israel Police.

Erdan, Alsheikh and Cook at the conference

The unit and system are meant to provide a quick response to cases of cyber bullying and violence behavior. The unit will also include a 24-hour call center reachable by dialing 105.

Erdan referred to the system as "the Iron Dome for Israel's children on the internet."

The establishment of the system and the police unit dedicated to its operation has been on the books for some time after an uptick in violence against minors on social media was recorded.

Erdan speaking at the conference

Criminals, especially pedophiles, have been known to take advantage of social media networks to make contact with minors with the intention of harming them.

According to data from police, one out of every four children was subject to "shaming," humiliation or bullying, while one out of every five children was subject to sexual solicitation. Data also indicated that one out of every ten children was subject to outright sexual harassment, blackmail and/or identity theft.

"The challenge of protecting children on the internet has required us to establish a new mechanism of protection that has never been seen before in Israel," said Erdan, adding that "the new system will provide an immediate response to every complaint of cyber bullying and the growing phenomenon of exploitation and abuse of children through the internet. This is a message to all parents in Israel."
Baseless impeachment motion

The recent decision by Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana has resulted in the reinstatement of Chief Justice (CJ) Sushila Karki.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that he was prepared to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the auspices of US President Donald Trump.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Abbas, who was speaking during a press conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Ramallah, added that Palestinians are committed to peace with Israel on the basis of a two-state solution within the 1967 borders. Abbas further noted that the only way a solution would be possible is through negotiations.

Abbas and Steinmeier at their Ramallah press conference

Additionally, Abbas referred to the sensitive matter of Palestinian prisoners, saying that all the demands of the prisoners were humanitarian in nature and that Israel must respond to them.

Abbas's comments come just before President Trump makes a scheduled visit to Israel on May 22. However, the visit itself is now in jeopardy, as the Foreign Ministry Workers Union has threatened to disrupt the event.

Photo: MCT

Logistical operations for the visit, including position papers, preparatory meetings, supply orders, visas, diplomatic mail packages and other activities have not been done.

The decision to disrupt the visit was made because of what the union characterized as "the Ministry of Finance's contempt for an agreement with foreign ministry employees." According to the union, the Finance Ministry did not implement the wage agreement from two months ago, and until now, no draft has been accepted or any other initiative presented to end the crisis.

Against the backdrop of the lack of progress in an agreement, the union issued a directive to employees, saying, "We can only turn to the path of aggressive organizational measures that will harm the issues on the political and social agenda."

In response, the Ministry of Finance issued a statement, saying, "In accordance with the agreements reached, the matter is in legal process, so it is not clear why the Foreign Ministry Workers Union is in a hurry to harm the foreign relations of the State of Israel."
Another case of severe physical and mental abuse of an elderly person at the hands of their caretakers has been documented in a nursing home in northern Israel.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



In the video published Monday night by Channel 10, staff members can be seen verbally and physically abusing an elderly woman, who was lying down and calling for help.

Still image of elderly abuse (Photo: Courtesy of Channel 10)

Police have opened an investigation into the allegations and four employees of the nursing home have been suspended.

The disturbing video and allegations come two months after a similar elderly abuse scandal in a Haifa nursing home rocked the nation, prompting outcries from government officials and citizens alike.

The saga began after the elderly woman's family noticed suspicious marks on her body and decided to install a hidden camera in her room. In the footage that was recorded, staff members can be seen yelling at the helpless old woman, hurling profanities at her and humiliating her.

In the recording, the elderly woman can be heard telling staff that her clothes and diaper hadn't been changed all day, to which one of the workers said, "Turn around, you smell. Where are you wet? Die already, damn your wetness."

Another worker can be heard telling the woman, "You're mentally ill, you know that? You're insane."

"You're insane" (Credit: Courtesy of Channel 10)

The elderly woman can be heard crying before another staff member shouted at her: "Stand up, I can't lift you!"

After viewing the footage, the woman's family approached police and filed a complaint against the workers and the institution for abuse and neglect. A social worker also filed a complaint with police, noting that the family had approached her earlier about suspected neglect.

Police issued a statement saying, "Four workers were suspended from as soon as the case was discovered and a report has been made to the Health Ministry. There will be zero tolerance for elderly abuse."

The Association of Nursing Homes in Israel issued a statement in response to the horrific allegations, saying, "We call on the Ministry of Health to fulfill its purpose and close nursing homes that aren't adequate. We estimate that about a third of caregivers are not fit to treat and need to be replaced immediately, but there are no Israelis willing to work in the field. Even though three months ago the government promised to approve 2,400 licenses for bringing foreign workers to Israel, nothing has been done."
A day after Marwan Barghouti was caught breaking his hunger strike in secret, Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan said that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was aware that Barghouti was smuggling food into his cell and turned a blind eye in order to catch him in the act.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The IPS plans to catch Barghouti red-handed were not based on mere hope, since the exact same thing happened in a 2004 security prisoners strike which was ledyet againby Barghouti, where the convicted terrorist was caught eating food in secret.

Marwan Barghouti (Photo: AP)

Barghouti was caught on tape twice, eating cookies, snacks and salt to help alleviate his hunger. It is assumed that he did so in the bathroom of his cell believing that he wouldn't be filmed there.

The IPS made sure to show the other prisoners their recordings, but so far it has failed to deter them. Today, 894 of them enter the 23rd day of the hunger strike.

"We, the Palestinian people, have high trust in Marwan, and we don't listen to the Israeli allegations," said activist Abdullah Abu Rahmed. "Marwan will lead the strike until it accomplishes its goals."

Marwan Barghouti breaking the hunger strike, 2017 (Credit: IPS)

X

Some officials in the government supported the IPS's efforts in ending the strike, with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying sardonically during a Yisrael Beytenu party meeting on Monday: "bon appetit."

Erdan praised the intelligence work of the IPS and after hearing that Barghouti's wife claimed that the video is fake , he chuckled and said that "the recordings speak for themselves. He (Barghouti) and his family just keep lying. He simply fell for the trap set up by the IPS.

"We're going to make sure that the prisoners see the videos and understand who he really is. The strike he is leading has nothing to do with their prison conditions, and everything to do with the political interests of Marwan Barghouti."

Marwan Barghouti breaking the hunger strike, 2004 (Credit: IPS)

X

Some, though, did not seem so amused. MK Ayman Odeh (Joint List) said "I don't understand what Erdan's whole celebration is about. To film a prisoner in the bathroom like that?"

Most MK's and ministers, though, refused to comment.

With that, and despite claims by the Barghouti family and his staunch supporters that the videos are fake, many Palestinians do feel angry and disappointed over the footage.

A senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) told Yedioth Ahronoth that "whoever you ask will tell you on record that the video is fake, but behind closed doors people are admitting that it's authentic.

Fadwa Barghouti: 'the recordings are fake'

"We were incredibly angry when we saw the recordings. There are mothers of prisoners who are on hunger strike as a show of solidarity with their sons, and suddenly they see that the great leader of the strike is eating in secret while they starve. He made a very big mistake."

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
BEIRUT -- A Syrian opposition monitoring group and a rebel faction are reporting clashes between government forces and opposition fighters in a desert area near the Jordanian border.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says clashes are underway on Tuesday on the southern edge of Syria's central Homs province.

Tlas al-Salameh, the commander of a rebel faction know as Eastern Lions, says government warplanes have carried out air raids against his group in the Syrian desert. He says they suffered no casualties.

Al-Salameh also accused government forces troops of "obstructing" his group's efforts against Islamic State militants.
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court fined MK Oren Hazan (Likud) for NIS 1,500 for speeding, revoking his driver's license for 30 days.

MK Hazan was caught speeding on Highway 90 last December, going 142 kph52 kph over the limit.

Hazan admitted the traffic violation and accepted responsibility.
Despite the reconciliation agreement, Turkey has been sponsoringat least in silence or in complete and open disregardHamas activities in its territory, including those of its military wing.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Before the signing of the reconciliation agreement, Israeli NGO Shurat HaDin approached Netanyahu and asked him not to sign the accord due to Turkey's continued backing of Hamas operatives. The calls were not heeded.

Erdogan and Mashaal (Photo: EPA)

The main activities of the organization in Turkey is coordinating terror cells in the West Bank and according to the defense establishment, the relationship with Hamas leadership in Gaza is administered directly by the Turkish government in Ankara.

Hamas' presence in Turkey continues despite the departure of Saleh al-Arouri, who headed Hamas in Turkey before leaving the country following Israeli demands during the reconciliation negotiations.

Saleh al-Arouri

His successors are recruiting Palestinian students to study in Muslim countries in general and Turkey in particular. The students are then sent for military training in Lebanon or Syria, and from there, return to the West Bank to carry out attacks against Israel.

The reconciliation agreement between Israel and Turkey was supposed to make it more difficult for Hamas to operate in Turkish territory, but Monday's verbal assault by Erdogan has demonstrated otherwise.

Malak Yusuf Qazmar (Photo: Shin Bet)

For example, two months ago, the IDF and Shin Bet detained, a Palestinian who had been living in Turkish Cyprus for several years. In August 2015, Qazmar was recruited in Jordan by Hamas, given military training and explosives expertise. During a meeting with Hamas operatives in Istanbul last January, he was instructed to recruit terrorists in the West Bank using encrypted memory cards.

Another highly publicized case concerns Muhammad Murtaja, who has head of a humanitarian aid organization of the Turkish government in Gaza. According to the Shin Bet following his arrest, Murtaja was accused of transferring millions of dollars to Hamas operatives that was donated by Ankara.

Muhammad Murtaja

The Shin Bet also accused Murtaja of being directly involved in Hamas' tunnel building enterprise in the Gaza Strip.

Considering these issues, it is doubtful many in Israel's security establishment were surprised by Erdogan's comments Monday.

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
President Reuven Rivlin met at his residence on Monday with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. The Archbishop was accompanied by the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani, and the UK Ambassador to Israel, David Quarrey.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



Rivlin warmly welcomed the archbishop and spoke of the importance of his visit to the Holy Land.

He said, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian community is flourishing. And Israel is committed to the values of freedom of religion for all people of faith. This is our value and our duty as a Jewish-democratic state.

Rivlin meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury (Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO)

The president stressed Israels commitment to bring an end to the conflict with the Palestinians and stated that the only way to reach an agreement required building trust between the sides. Anyone who cares for the well-being of the people of this land must be a partner in this mission," he said. "We must not allow voices which teach hatred or call for boycotts, to divide the peoples. We must find ways to bring people together. I believe faith should bring people together.

Rivlin spoke in relation to recent comments made by the president of Turkey, commenting, We have heard voices which attack Israel for building Jewish life in Jerusalem. I must tell these people, for the last 150 years there has been a Jewish majority in Jerusalem. Even under the Ottoman Empire there was a Jewish majority in Jerusalem. Under Israeli sovereignty, we continue to build Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. There is no doubt Jerusalem is a microcosm of our ability to live together. And we will continue to ensure freedom of religion for all faiths.

Erdogan (Photo: AFP)

Welby thanked the President for his warm welcome, and noted that during his visit he had met with Supreme Court President Miriam Naor and a member of the Christian community, Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran. The archbishop noted that he had been greatly impressed by the tradition of Israel's independent judiciary. That shows some of the immense strength and depth of this society, its culture and history, he said.

He continued, There cannot be peace without every person in the regionIsraeli, Israeli Arab, Israeli Jewish, Palestinianall of them being sure they can pursue their lives, pursue their aims without fearing the bomb or the bullet, without fearing persecution, recognized as being validly and legitimately who they are, knowing they can bring up children, and educate them to love their neighbors, respect them, and listen to them even where they disagree.

Welby added, We are at the hundredth anniversary of Balfour, and it has led to extraordinary things, and noted, for some of us who are profound friends of Israel, who feel huge admiration, deep affection, and who loathe and hate anti-Semitism, and speak against it wherever it occurs, whether it is implicit or explicit, there is an element of unfinished business. Because until there is peace in the region, the Balfour Declaration has an element of unfinished business.

At the end of their meeting, President Rivlin reiterated his invitation for the British royal family to visit Israel. He said, We would be happy to welcome a member of the royal family here in Jerusalem, especially marking 100 years since the Balfour Declaration.
Evidence of fierce battles between the British and Ottoman armies in the form of dozens of bullet cartidges, shell fragments and military items from World War I was recently exposed in an archeological excavation of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) near Rosh HaAyin in which young people participated.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The excavation was carried out in conjunction with paving an access road between Rosh HaAyin and the Afek Industrial Park, funded by the Rosh HaAyin city hall.

Some of the bullets, cartridges and shell fragments found at the site. (Photo: Clara Amit, IAA)

On Tuesday, in the Migdal Tzedek National Park, students of the Melach Ha-Aretz pre-military preparatory program and representatives of the IAA and the Nature and Parks Authority presented the finds for the first time to the defense attache in the British embassy in Israel, Col. Ronnie Westerman, and the chairman of the Society for the Heritage of World War I in Israel, Eran Tearosh.

An aerial photograph of the excavation area. (Photo: Griffin Aerial Photography)

The first rifle cartridge was discovered by a member of the Melach Ha-Aretz pre-military preparatory program who participated in the project. "Yitzhak Kalontarov approached me curiously with an artifact in his hand," said Yossi Elisha, director of the excavation on behalf of the IAA.

Students of the Melach Ha-Aretz preparatory program and representatives of the Israel Antiquities Authority presented the finds to the British Embassy's defense attache in Israel, Colonel Ronnie Westerman. (Photo: Assaf Peretz, IAA)

"I was surprised to discover that it was a rifle cartridge, and I was even more surprised when it turned out to be a World War I cartridge," said Elisha. "As archeologists, we expect to discover ancient finds from hundreds and thousands of years ago, whereas here we have a relatively 'young' one hundred year old artifact, but we were all drawn to the fascinating story of the battle.

"The preparatory program students and laborers collected more and more cartridges, shell fragments and various military items. In addition, two military outposts were discovered that were used by the Ottoman army. One was located inside an ancient field tower and the other was adjacent to an agricultural terrace.

According to Elisha, "These finds constitute evidence of one of the major battles that was fought in Palestine between the British forces and the Turkish forces during the First World War.

Assaf Peretz with some of the military finds discovered at the site. (Photo: Clara Amit, IAA)

At the beginning of the excavation, a fragment of a British army cap insignia was discovered at one of the outposts, and next to it were bullets and Ottoman rifle cartridges.

"It was extremely exciting, because this is concrete evidence of the fighting between the forces in the area, said Assaf Peretz, a researcher at the IAA.

"Our excitement increased even more when archeologist Shahar Crispin identified the name of the unit to which the soldier belonged whose insignia was foundthe Norfolk Regiment."

According to Peretz, "The fighting on this site was part of the Battle of Megiddo that took place on September 19, 1918. Two battalions, 1/4 and 1/5 of the British Norfolk Regiment, attacked the ridge where the excavated site is located, in order to assist another battalion that attacked the Ottoman fortifications. Finding the British cap insignia inside the Ottoman outpost vividly illustrates the historical event.

Fragment of a cap insignia of the British Norfolk Regiment. (Photo: Clara Amit, IAA)

Alexander Glick, a weapons expert at the IAA, reconstructed the battlefield in accordance with the finds, The British forces shelled the Turkish positions with their 18 pounder guns, which were the standard field artillery piece in the British Army during World War I. Fragments of artillery shells and shrapnel balls were found in the excavation.

It seems that the Turkish forces sustained serious casualties from this barrage. Nevertheless, they responded with massive light arms fire aimed at the British forces, as can be seen from the bullet cartridges of the Mauser rifles that were discovered in the Turkish positions. It is interesting to note that the rifles and cartridges were manufactured in Germany and were supplied shortly before the battle, evidence that the Turks were dependent upon their German allies for weapons and ammunition.

Students of the Melach Ha-Aretz preparatory program discover an Ottoman army outpost that was located next to an agricultural terrace. (Photo: Gili Stern, IAA)

The area of the Migdal Tzedek National Park (Majdal Yaba), where the finds were first presented to the Defense Attache of the British embassy in Israel, was also included in the long list of sites throughout Palestine where battles took place during World War I (1917-1918), a war in which the Yildirim Army Group (the Axis army made up of the Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian Empires) fought the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (the Allied Forces consisting of the British army and its colonies, France, Italy, etc.), an army more commonly known as Allenbys Army.
Police in London arrested a man carrying a butcher's knife and another knife threatening Jews and a shopkeeper in the north of the city, according to the British Telegraph. The London police said no one was injured in the incident.
The press around the world is under attack, according to the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, an NGO that supports press freedom. Out of 180 countries surveyed, Israel came in at 91.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



This year shows a real worsening of the situation, Prem Samy, the head of the World Freedom Index told The Media Line. We show a 14 percent decline in freedom of the press since last year. It shows that the press around the world has not been so threatened in the last five years.

Reporters without Borders Secretary General Christophe Deloire speaks during a press conference to present annual World Press Freedom Index (Photo: AFP)

Samy presented the findings at a panel at a conference on Press Freedom in the Digital Era sponsored by the Jerusalem Press Club.

Uri Dromi, the director general of the Jerusalem Press Club and a former Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) spokesman, commented on Israels poor showing. To be in the middle and see all of those countries above you is alarming, he said. One of the reasons we are relatively low is military censorship, which most of the other countries dont have because of the security situation we are in. But we still need to ask ourselves tough questions.

Of the 180 countries listed on the Index, the top five are Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. At the bottom are North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria and China. The US is at 43, behind Burkina Faso and Belize.

Writing about Israel, the report says that the Israeli media are free to be outspoken, which is rare in the Middle East. Nonetheless, despite the existence of independent media, journalists are subject to military censorship.

The Israel Defense Forces often violate the rights of Palestinian journalists and journalists of other nations, especially when they are covering demonstrations, the report claims. Under Israels system of administrative detention, Palestinian journalists can be held indefinitely without trial, without formal charge, and without notifying a lawyer.

The Israeli prime minister this week slammed the media for what he said was misreporting on an amended charter by Hamas , the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.

Ever wonder what fake news is? Benjamin Netanyahu asked in a video he posted in English to his Facebook page. Last week headlines in CNN, Al Jazeera and the Guardian said that Hamas now accepts a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines.  Its bad enough that Hamas lies to the world. We dont also have to lie to ourselves.

Netanyahu criticizes the media

X

Hamas murders women and children. Its launched tens of thousands of missiles at our homes.  So where does this hate-filled document belong? Right here, the prime minister said as he crumpled a copy of the charter and threw it in the garbage.

US President Donald Trump has taken media bashing to new heights, calling the media an enemy of the people. US analysts say that the decline in press freedom in the US is worrying.

When you go back to our founding documents, the Constitution, the description of the Federalist papers, all that we think of as the core of America, freedom of the press was not only a core right, it was a given so if that is in question it shapes liberal democracy to its roots, Fred Lawrence, the CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a former president of Brandeis University told The Media Line.

Article written by Linda Gradstein

Reprinted with permission from

The Media Line
Dalit women candidates face discrimination

The Dalit women candidates for the upcoming local elections in Jumla say they are facing discrimination from the so-called upper caste people while conducting door-to-door canvassing for votes.
US President Donald Trump will be staying at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem during his visit, but questions remain about his visit to Yad Vashem. Ahead of the visit, the Israeli side emphasized the importance of such a visit, despite the fact that Trump is not obligated to do so, since this is not a state visit, but a work visit.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The Americans did not sound enthusiastic about the possibility of the president visiting Yad Vashem. At first, they announced that they would be able to allocate about half an hour for such a visit. On the Israeli side, they made it clear that there was no such possibility, as a visit to Yad Vashem would take at least an hour and fifteen minutes.

But the Americans insisted. In Israel, they were very disappointed with the answer and still hope that they will convince the Americans to retract it. Now the preliminary delegation is waiting for Friday to put on the final touches.

(Photo: Asaf Kamar)

Trump was accused in the past of being insensitive to the Holocaust and of anti-Semitism. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, the White House was critized for not explicitly mentioning Jews. Then, there was the press conference at the White House where an ultra-Orthodox journalist was treated rudely by the president.

Even after the rise in the manifestations of anti-Semitism across the United States, Trump was accused of not sufficiently condemning anti-Semitism. On Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, he made a particularly poignant statement and therefore, the Israelis find it hard to believe that the president will eventually pass over Yad Vashem, as he did earlier this year at the White House official seder.

A senior official in Jerusalem said, "Time during this visit is very scarce, and there are differences of opinion regarding what is being done with it. It appears the Western Wall and Masada are more suitable for him. In any case, nothing is certain and only after the arrival of the preliminary delegation will the schedule be determined."

(Photo: Asaf Kamar)

Meanwhile, the King David Hotel, where the president and his entourage will be staying, are excitedly making preparations ahead of the visit, which will take place on the 22nd of the month and will last only 26 hours. During those hours, the hotel will be closed to ordinary guests for the benefit of the American delegation only. The heavy security arrangements that will accompany the presidential visit in Jerusalem will make the hotel a fortified fortress.

The prestigious hotel has a rich and long history of hosting presidents and prime ministers from around the world such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, former King Hussein of Jordan and American superstar Barbara Streisand.

The CEO of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Haim Shkedi, said that unlike in the past, Trump's stay was arranged within a short period of time: "According to the agreements we have with the Americans, the presidential delegation rents the entire hotel during the visit. So for better or for worse, during the presidential visit we will have to cancel reservations from guests."

(Photo: Asaf Kamar)

From the huge room of the presidential suite on the sixth floor there is a magnificent view of the walls of the Old City and the Temple Mount.

The service manager at the hotel's long-serving mass and liquor division, Issam Ganah, already hosted presidents George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. "When former President Obama was staying at the hotel, we brought him hummus we prepared at home, and he liked it very much. He also liked local cheeses. With former President Clinton I had the closest contact."

The president's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will also be present at the hotel. The hotel also hosted the Trumps on their previous visit to Israel.

The chef of the King David Hotel, David Biton, tried to conceal his excitement, and as far as he is concerned, there is no special activity in the kitchen prior to the presidential visit. "We did not receive special requests; we will be ready with the regular menu."

A glimpse at the hotel's parking lot over the weekend revealed a large drone parked next to Mercedes limos. It was later revealed that it had nothing to do with Trump, but rather with another leader: Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, who arrived in Israel for a first official visit.

The defense industries wanted to impress him and held a display of security equipment in his honor. Among other things, they especially brought in an Israeli made unmanned aerial vehicle that Israel is offering to sell to Romania.

The Romanian prime minister was accompanied by his minister of defense, and during their visit, they discussed increasing cooperation in security and cybersecurity issues and signed economic agreements.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
A 50-year-old woman was lightly injured in Ramat Beit Shemesh after a boy threw a stone at her, claiming her clothes were not modest and fled the scene. The MDA team took her to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, and the police opened an investigation.
WASHINGTONThe White House says President Donald Trump will meet with a leader of the United Arab Emirates next week.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer says Trump will meet on Monday with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House. He says the meeting will help the US deepen its cooperation with a key partner in the Middle East.

The meeting will come before Trump departs later this month for his first foreign trip, which will begin in Saudi Arabia. The president has voiced support for promoting peace in the Middle East and rooting out the Islamic State terrorist group from the region.
A Palestinian was filmed shooting a gun at Israeli cars in the West Bank from a distance of about 20 meters and was detained less than an hour later on Sunday evening.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



An IDF unit from the Combat Engineers 601st Battalion, which is responsible for the southern Hebron hills, captured the 30-year-old Palestinian from the village of Rabud, near the town of Dahariya, after he allegedly fired the shots towards Route 60. The suspect claimed that he had fired in self-defense.

X

A security camera caught the incident wherein, according to the IDF, he fired more than 15 bullets. No one was hurt or injured.

The recovered gun, hidden nearby

With the help of quick intelligence activity, we closed the circle on the identity of the shooter, we got on his house and arrested him within half an hour, said Gur. The weapon was hidden in the vicinity of the house and he claims to be self-defense, but we know that any illegal weapon, such as this pistol, will also be used for terrorist-related circumstances, and not only criminal.

Route 60 throughout Judea and Samaria, and particularly in the southern Hebron hills, remains open to Palestinians, including during the wave of terrorism over the past two years.
WASHINGTONThe White House says President Donald Trump is sending a certified letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham attesting that the president has no connections to Russia.

Graham told CNN on Tuesday he wants to explore possible ties between Trump's businesses and Russia. The South Carolina Republican chairs a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer says Trump has asked a Washington law firm to send a certified letter to Graham stating that he has no connections to Russia.
EC to conduct voters education from May 11

Election Commission (EC) has decided to conduct voters' education programme in 6642 polling centres from May 11-13 regarding the electoral symbols.
As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
Gachhadar joins govt with 2 other party colleagues

A week before stepping down, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inducted three ministers from the Bijay Kumar Gachhadar-led Nepal Loktantrik Forum on Monday.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel's son was stopped from boarding a Qatar Airways flight early on Monday after he arrived in a "heavily drunken" state and argued with the staff at the airport.

Jaiman Patel, who is in his mid-30s, along with his wife Jhalak and daughter Vaishvi were stopped from boarding the plane, which was scheduled to take-off at 4am, official sources told news agency IANS. The family was headed to Greece for a vacation.

Mr Patel, who is a land dealer, reached the Ahmedabad International Airport in a drunken state, barely able to walk.

He cleared the immigration and other checks in a wheelchair due to his inebriated condition, said airport officials.

"Jaimin Patel was prevented from boarding the flight. He also had an argument with the staff of the airways," an official said, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Nitin Patel told reporters in the evening in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him. "My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well."

"His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed," the 60-year-old minister added.

"Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information," he said.
Washington: A suspected gunman who terrorised a US city last year with a series of seemingly random shootings has been arrested, police said.

A tip-off led investigators to Aaron Saucedo, 23, and detectives were able to link him to the string of attacks in Phoenix, Arizona, by analysing surveillance video, witness statements and ballistics evidence -- including a handgun he pawned, NBC News quoted the police as saying on Monday.

"Today (Monday) is a good day in the city of Phoenix...They had a clear mission, bring this killer to justice and get it right," said Mayor Greg Stanton, praising the law enforcement task force that hunted the shooter for nearly a year.

Aaron Saucedo, initially arrested on April 19 for a fatal shooting in 2015, was re-booked on Monday into a Maricopa county jail and is now facing 26 charges for a total of 12 shootings, reports USA Today.

Saucedo`s targets included men, women and children, many of them ambushed near their homes in a working class neighbourhood from August 2015 to July 2016.

A woman and her 12-year-old daughter were shot dead in one incident; a man and his four-year-old nephew escaped unhurt in another, reports NBC News.

However, the police has not identified a motive behind the shootings.
New York: Another Trump is going to Washington. Tiffany Trump, the youngest daughter of the president, will be enrolling at Georgetown University Law School this fall, according to her brother. Eric Trump, who revealed the school choice, received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown.

"Georgetown is an incredible school that has played a big role in my personal and professional development," Eric Trump told The Associated Press on Monday. "I am so proud of Tiffany and all that she has accomplished. She is an amazing young woman, a great sister and has a remarkable future ahead of her."

Georgetown's law school is located just blocks from the White House.

Tiffany Trump, 23, is the daughter of President Donald Trump and his second wife, Marla Maples. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, her father's alma mater, earlier this year.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about Tiffany Trump's choice of a law school.

Largely due to her studies, Tiffany Trump was a relatively rare sight during her father's campaign. She did deliver a well-received speech at last summer's Republican National Convention that attempted to humanise her father beyond his gruff, all-business exterior.

"For me, the measure of a parent is based on how they support and bolster you when you're down," she said then. "A few years ago, someone very dear to me passed away, and the first call I got, as I knew I would, came from my father."

She also made a few appearances at rallies late in the campaign, particularly in Pennsylvania. She also attended the White House Easter Egg Roll last month, her father's speech aboard a World War II aircraft carrier last week and has made multiple visits to Mar-a-Lago, her father's coastal Florida estate.

Her arrival in Washington will make her the second Trump child to follow their father to the nation's capital.

Tiffany's sister Ivanka moved to Washington with her husband Jared Kushner earlier this year and have become two of the president's most influential advisers. Trump's two adult sons, Eric and Don Jr., remained in New York where they oversee their father's business empire.

And Trump's youngest son, 11-year-old Barron, has been living in New York with his mother, first lady Melania Trump. The White House said the two of them would move to Washington after the completion of the school year, but have not offered any details.
New Delhi: In yet another jolt to absconding businessman Vijay Mallya, the Supreme Court on Tuesday found liquor baron guilty of contempt of court and summoned him on July 10 for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order.

"We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said.

The apex court directed Mallya to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who lives in the United Kingdom and is facing extradition proceedings, is wanted in India for alleged loan default and money laundering.

The Consortium of Banks had moved the Supreme Court seeking contempt proceedings after Mallya received USD 40 million from the British firm Diageo Plc in February last year and transferred the money to his children in flagrant violation of various judicial orders, including those passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal and the Karnataka High Court, Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi told the Supreme Court.

The consortium of banks had also alleged that Mallya was not cooperating in the investigation of cases against him and was averse to disclosing his foreign assets.

In a rejoinder affidavit to Mallyas reply, the banks had said that disclosure of overseas assets by him and his family was significant for recovering the dues.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had earlier said that the beleagured businessman has also not agreed to deposit "substantial amount" as part of of Rs 9,400 crore loan due on him to establish his bonafide".

Mallya had said the banks had no right over information regarding his overseas movable and immovable assets as he was an NRI since 1988.

He had also claimed that as an NRI, he was not obliged to disclose his overseas assets, and added that his three children, wife, all US citizens, also need not disclose their assets. "Overseas assets were not considered while granting loans," he had said in a statement.

The court on April 7 last year had directed Mallya to disclose by April 21 the total assets owned by him and his family in India and abroad while seeking an indication from him when he would appear before it.

It had asked Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to around 17 banks, to deposit a "substantial amount" with it to "prove his bonafide" that he was "serious" about meaningful negotiations and settlement.
New Delhi: Domestic airline Vistara has extended bookings for its promotional "Affordable Luxury" sale for three more days under which it is offering a flat 50 percent off on Business Class flights.

Booking dates for this sale are now till midnight of 9th May17, for travel till 20th Feb18.

Under the sale, you can travel Business Class with fares starting as low as Rs 4611 (one-way, exclusive of taxes and fees).

Travellers can plan their holidays to visit some of Indias favourite holiday destinations, such as Goa, Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), Leh (Ladakh), Jammu, Srinagar, Kochi, Guwahati, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, as well as metro cities such as Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru, among other exciting destinations across Vistaras network.

Bookings under the special Affordable Luxury sale are now open on www.airvistara.com, Vistaras iOS and Android mobile apps, at Vistaras Airport Ticket Offices (ATOs), through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and travel agents.

"Due to overwhelming demand, we have extended our amazing Affordable Luxury Business Class Sale for three more days...," Vistara said in a statement on its website.

One-way fares under Vistara's Business Class Sale start from Rs. 4,611, exclusive of taxes and fees, it said. "Simply book your tickets 8 days in advance to get flat 50% off relative to our standard fares for Business Class," Vistara added.

The Vistara site also gave a list of sample Business Class fares (one-way, excluding taxes and fees) on offer under the scheme:
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj will address the Delhi Assembly during a special session.

It was expected that Kejriwal would speak for the first time after being accused by sacked Minister Kapil Mishra of taking Rs 2 crore cash from a cabinet colleague, a charge denied by the AAP.

However, Kejriwal, on Twitter, said Bhardwaj will address the session and reveal details of a big conspiracy going on in the country.

The session is scheduled to begin at 2 pm and lots of fireworks are expected on the floor of the 70-member House.

                         Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2017

The BJP is expected to corner the ruling AAP during the one-day session over Mishra`s charges. The AAP is also likely to raise the issue of alleged EVM manipulations in Delhi civic body polls.



Kejriwal has not spoken about the charges made by Mishra. But on Monday night he tweeted that truth will prevail.





Mishra has questioned Kejriwal`s integrity and accused him of taking Rs 2 crore in cash from Health Minister Satyendar Jain, of shielding people linked to a 2012 water tanker scam and being party to a land deal that benefited his relative.



The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has denied the charges.



Jain, rejecting Mishra`s allegations, said on Monday that "no deal took place" between him and Kejriwal and the sacked Minister was just making an "attempt to defame the AAP".



"He (Mishra) says Kejriwal`s brother-in-law was to get the favour from a deal. It is shameful and disgusting. The person (brother-in-law) who has died, he is making allegation about a man who is dead," Jain said.



Mishra was on Monday night suspended from the party`s primary membership.



(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal on Monday hit out at Kapil Mishra for making allegations against her family.

While calling Mishra a 'stupid man', the Aam Aadmi Party convenor's wife slammed sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra of levelling allegation of corruption against he husband, alleging that Health Minister Satyendar Jain had told him he had settled a Rs 50 crore land deal in favour of Kejriwal's brother-in-law.

She took to Twitter to express her anguish. She said: My brother in law is no more n this stupid man is speaking all written script without any mind.

According to reports Kejriwals brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal died at a Gurgaon hospital as his sugar level had shot up to fatal levels.

Asserting that bogus bill amounting to Rs 10 crore was made to favour Kejriwal's brother-in-law, Mishra also alleged that during the Punjab polls, there was massive corruption done by AAP in ticket distribution, including supplying of liquor by party members.

Kapil Mishra also alleged AAP leader Sanjay Singh was involved in lobbying for overseas funding of the party.

Mishra has claimed to have evidence in support of his allegations that two people close to Kejriwal tried to influence the probe in the water tanker scam.
New Delhi: The Delhi Assembly's special day-long session on Tuesday witnessed a stormy start with Leader of Opposition Vijendra Gupta being marshalled out, thus stalling the House proceedings.

Gupta tried to raise the issue of alleged corruption in land deals involving Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and PWD Minister Satyendra Jain. He alleged that the Rs 2 crore cash, which was allegedly handed over to Kejriwal by Jain, may be related to the deal.

Later, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj staged a "live demonstration" and claimed that anyone knowing a "secret code" can tamper with the EVMs and the code can be fed into a machine while casting vote.



The Election Commission has time and again rubbished allegations that EVMs can be programmed to favour any particular party.

Here are the LIVE UPDATES:

- Delhi Assembly adopts resolution appealing President and Election Commission to hold elections through paper trail equipped-EVMs.

- Kejriwal, however, avoids answers on the bribery charges made against him by sacked minister Kapil Mishra.

- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal speaks with reporters outside the Delhi Assembly at the end of a day-long special session, dares the Election Commission to give EVMs to the AAP which he said will change their motherboards in 90 seconds.

- The time of just speaking and discussing is over, the time has come to act. Today is an important day for democracy, says Manish Sisodia.

- 'Jab Jab paap ka ghara bharta hai toh chalak chalak ke phootta hai'. This has happened today: Sisodia

- Election fixing is just like match fixing. Some polls are lost to maintain the semblance of fictitious challenge, says Sisodia.

- This is not the issue of a political party, but an issue of the nation. We will not let it die down or swept away, says Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

- We are not alone, 18 parties met the President recently and presented their fears regarding the reliability of EVMs: Sisodia

- Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia says: We are here today because people still trust our democracy and come out to vote. We must protect this faith of the people.

- Sacked power minister Kapil Mishra said AAP won 67 seats in Assembly Elections because of EVMs only. Taking a dig at Kejriwal, Mishra says tomorrow the Delhi CM will say that there is a fault in people's fingers.

- ECI sources tell CNN-News18: "They are showing everything with a prototype EVM. Let them prove their charges during the EVM hackathon challenge."

- If EVMs are found tempered, an action will be taken against the concerned official, says the EC.

- Either prove rigging in EVMs or apologise: EC to AAP

- The Election Commission will challenge AAP to prove EVM tampering in an all-party meeting to be convened on May 12.

- Bhardwaj says since a voter casts a ballot in private, it is difficult to figure out if he's tampering with the EVM. A secret code is entered by a party's supporter who reaches a booth as a voter.

- The AAP MLA claims that there are secret codes which when used will lead to all votes going to a particular party.

- In the Delhi Assembly, Saurabh Bhardwaj resets EVM and demonstrates how the very same machine, which passes the mock test, is manipulated during actual polls.

- Meanwhile, former Advisor to Committee of Election Commission KJ Rao rules out the probability of Electronic Voting Machines tampering. Talking to Zee News, Rao asks from where AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj has brought the EVM? He adds that EVMs with Election Commission cannot be tampered with.

- As voters cast their votes, they believe their vote goes to the right party, says Bhardwaj as he demonstrated mock test

- AAP leader Bhardwaj demonstrates tampering of EVMs in the Delhi Assembly.

- Today, I want to show how a machine on which the faith of the country rests can be tampered with by an ordinary engineer like me: Saurabh Bhardwaj

- I have worked in many tech companies over several years. I have brought an EVM here to tell you how it works, says Bhardwaj.

- Saurabh Bhardwaj is a Computer Engineer by profession.

- MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj begins speaking, asks to bring EVM machine to show tampering.

- We want Arvind Kejriwal to remove corruption-tainted minister Satyendar Jain. Jain should be arrested: BJP MLA Vijender Gupta

- Talking to media, Gupta says he was raising issue of corruption in the House, but he was thrown out. "It seems AAP government doesn't believe in democracy."

- Outside the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, who was marshalled out, stage a dharna.

- Congress, TMC, JDU and CPI(M) leaders in the audience at the Delhi Assembly as AAP plans to show live how EVMs can be tampered with.

- When LK Advani lost, he raised questions about EVMs. Why was it correct then and is not now, asks Yadav.

- Yadav adds that now everyone will come to know why the BJP is silent over EVM tampering issue.

- Meanwhile, AAP MLA Naresh Yadav speaks in the House over EVM tampering row, calls it a threat to democracy.

- "After losing MCD Elections for AAP it's "    " !! I have never seen such sore losers!," tweets Patra.

- BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, meanwhile, tweets: "Sad day...The Assembly of the Capital of India attacks the Probity of the EC of India! While the World hails it's impeccable impartiality!!"

- The tampering of petrol pumps in UP has shown that conspiracies are being hatched in our democracy - Lamba

- Referring to chips found in UP petrol pumps, Lamba says: If a petrol vending machine can be tampered with, why can't an EVM?

- The AAP legislator says it has been demonstrated that EVMs can be tampered with. What happened? EC filed FIRs, got them prosecuted.

- Despite having new EVMs, old EVMs from Rajasthan used to conduct MCD elections.

- Just give us one EVM and we will find out if it can be tampered or not. Our scientists will find out - Lamba

- We went to Delhi EC with our doubts over EVM tampering, but nobody listened, says AAP MLA Lamba.

- The whole country is looking forward to today's special session at Delhi Assembly - Aam Aadmi Party MLA Alka Lamba

- Vijendra Gupta has been marshalled out of Delhi Assembly during the special one-day session.

- Despite repeated requests and then warnings from Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Leader of Opposition Vijendra Gupta continues to intervene vocally.

- Huge chaos as the BJP MLAs try to move adjournment motion alleging graft.

- The Delhi Assembly special session begins, holds two-minute silence for Sukma martyrs.

- The AAP is also likely to raise the issue of alleged EVM manipulations in Delhi civic body polls.

- The BJP is expected to corner the ruling AAP during the one-day session over Kapil Mishra's charges.

- The session comes after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was accused by sacked minister Kapil Mishra of taking Rs 2 crore cash from a cabinet colleague, a charge denied by the AAP.
New Delhi: Sacked Aam Aadi party leader Kapil Mishra on Tuesday challenged Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to resign as an MLA and contest polls against him.

Addressing a press conference, Mishra, who has levelled serious allegations against several senior AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, Satyendar Jain, Gaurav Chaddha, Sanjay Singh and some others, said he would be visiting the Central Bureau of Investigation and officially file his complaint.

"I have known Kejriwal for the last 15 years and can assume his each and every single step," Mishra said, adding that he knows that he would be alone in this fight against the AAP convenor, who has money power and the backing of many party leaders, but he won't back out.

Mishra threw an open challenge to contest polls against him from any of the Delhi Assembly constituency.

He also took a dig at his one-time mentor, saying today Arvind Kejriwal will address the Vidhan Sabha to prove his innocence, where he himself would be the accused, judge and witness.

"I have learnt from you (Kejriwal), bless me, as I am going to file FIR against you," Mishra said while addressing the press.

Mishra, who has been sacked by the AAP said, First FIR will be on cash deal between Satyendra Jain and Arvind Kejriwal Ji.

Second FIR will be on How Satyendra Jain has benefitted close relatives of Arvind Kejriwal in illegal land deals.

Information related to third FIR has been received today through "Lets Clean AAP Campaign

Third FIR will be on Foreign Tours using illegal money by Satyendra Jain, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chaddha, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak.

Mishra on Monday submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to back his allegations that Kejriwal had delayed the probe into a Rs 400 crore tanker scam.

Mishra, who has been sacked by the AAP said, First FIR will be on cash deal between Satyendra Jain and Arvind Kejriwal Ji.

Second FIR will be on How Satyendra Jain has benefitted close relatives of Arvind Kejriwal in illegal land deals.

Information related to third FIR has been received today through "Lets Clean AAP Campaign

Third FIR will be on Foreign Tours using illegal money by Satyendra Jain, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chaddha, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak.

Mishra on Sunday levelled stunning allegations of corruption against CM Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain, saying he had seen the CM taking Rs 2 crore cash from Jain.
Gathabandhan to hold talks with PM today

The Sanghiya Gathabandhan, which on Saturday decided oust its architect Upendra Yadav, has decided to hold serious talks with Prime Minister Kamal Dahal on Tuesday before devising the alliances next plan.
New Delhi: He worked as a cleaner but never told his daughters what his job was. The reason why he hid his job from his daughters was his ''unconditional'' love for them.

Idris  the poor man in question - made several sacrifices and faced many hardship because he wanted his daughters to 'live with dignity'.

The inspiring tale of Idris, which has now become a rage on the Internet, has touched a chord with thousands of nettizens ever since it was first posted by a multimedia journalist GMB Akash on his Facebook page, according to NDTV.

In the post, Idris reveals how he used to conceal from his daughters the fact that he did menial job of cleaning.

Whenever confronted by his daughters, he used to tell them that he was labourer. Not only this, to make them believe what he said, Idris used to bath in public toilet before going home in the evening.



Days after days, months after months, he made attempts to hide the truth from his daughters, and saved every single penny he could towards their education.

I wanted them to stand with dignity in front of people. I never wanted anyone to look down at them like everyone looked down at me. People always humiliated me," he was quoted as saying in the Facebook post.

However, one day he allowed his daughters to know what was a closely-guarded secret - his real job.

Idris further explains how he cursed himself after badly failing to arrange money for his daughter's admission into the college. It was then that his co-workers approached him and handed him their one-day income.

And, when he refused to take their money, they said, ''We will starve today if needed but our daughter has to go to college,'' Idris recalls in the post.

"That day I didn't take shower. That day I went home like a cleaner," he adds in the post.

Incredibly, his hard work paid off. His daughter will hopefully pass out from the university soon. She and her other sisters have also taken up part time jobs so that their father doesn't need to work anymore.

While Idris made several sacrifices, his elder daughter too didn't forget to repay his father's friends who had come to their rescue when they needed most.

In the post, Idris explains how she often takes him to his work place and offers food to his co-workers.

Idris concludes by saying, "Now-a-days I don't feel I am a poor man. Whoever has such children, how can he be poor," he adds.

Here's is exactly what the journalist wrote in his Facebook post.
Mumbai: Anti-corruption crusader and noted social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday said that he begin an agitation to demand the ouster of Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister if the allegations of corruption against him were proved.

Hazare, who has earlier said that he was ''saddened'' by the allegations made by Kapil Mishra  the sacked Delhi water minister  was quick to point out that he had made the disclosure only after he was sacked by the AAP leadership.

"Whatever the former minister has said against Kejriwal, he said it only after his removal. If he was the minister when the alleged money exchange took place, why did not he alert the authorities?" the anti-corruption crusader asked.

"I think there should be a thorough investigation in this case. If Kejriwal is found guilty then I will personally sit on an agitation at Jantar Mantar and demand his resignation," Hazare said at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.

The reactions from the octogenarian Gandhian crusader came days after Mishra accused Kejriwal of taking Rs 2 crore from a Cabinet colleague, a charge refuted by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was yesterday suspended from primary membership of the AAP, also threatened to launch a hunger strike tomorrow if details of foreign visits by five AAP leaders are not made public by the party.

Mishra said he filed complaints with the CBI over the exchange of Rs 2 crore between Jain and Kejriwal, a Rs 50 crore land deal arranged for the CM's brother-in-law and five AAP leaders allegedly misusing party funds on foreign trips.
New Delhi: As per the figures from the Global Consumption Database of the World Bank, consumer spending attitude differs from country to country. Poor generally shell out more on essential commodities in developing countries.

Here is a comparison of patterns in India and abroad.

(Percentage share of spending on food and beverages becomes less as rise is observed in income segment)

India Figures in % World 44.63 Food & Beverages 40.88 12.47 Housing 12.15 8.01 Energy 10.05 5.98 Clothing & Footwear 6.28 5.22 Transport 5.71 4.53 Health 4.50 3.54 Education 3.12 3.27 ICT 2.49 2.39 Personal care 1.74 9.96 Others 13.08

Data for 92 emerging markets across 12 sectors
Paris: Police in northern Paris Tuesday evacuated a tent camp where some 1,000 migrants, mostly from Afghanistan and Sudan, were living in squalid conditions.

Hundreds of police moved in at dawn to remove the migrants, camped between major access roads into the capital, an AFP journalist said.

The settlement at the Porte de la Chapelle area of the city was located just metres from a new refugee transit centre set up by Paris city authorities late last year to take asylum-seekers off the streets but which has limited space available.

These "illegal camps" present "major risks for the security and health of their occupants as well as for local residents," Paris police said in a statement.

Police halted road traffic on a major crossroads in the north of the city in order to gain access to the camp, where a fight between migrants last month left several injured.

About 350 police were involved in the operation along with some 100 municipal employees and staff from humanitarian groups.

"The government will take us into houses. I don't know where but it's fine," said Said, who said he had been sleeping outside for a month. "For some, it's been three months or more."

Last month, a huge fire gutted one of France's biggest migrant camps, housing 1,500 people near the northern French port of Dunkirk, which started after a brawl involving hundreds of Afghans and Kurds.

Europe has faced its biggest migrant crisis since World War II over the last few years as millions of people have fled war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

France has welcomed only a fraction of the newcomers.
Singapore: Chipmaker Qualcomm has introduced two new mobile platforms, Snapdragon 660 and 630 which are designed to support advanced photography and enhanced gaming in addition to long battery life and fast LTE speeds.

Both platforms use a 14nm FinFET process and provide 4K video capture and playback capabilities, along with 8GB maximum memory and Vulkan API support.

"With the introduction of the Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms, we are thrilled that features such as improved image quality and fast LTE speeds will now be available in a wide array of devices without sacrificing performance or quality," Kedar Kondap, Vice President, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies Inc, told IANS.

The Snapdragon 660 mobile platform is the successor to the Snapdragon 653 and features a 20 per cent improvement in the Qualcomm Kryo 260 CPU and 30 per cent improvement in the Qualcomm Adreno 512 GPU performance.

The Snapdragon 630, which succeeds the Snapdragon 625, offers a 30 per cent increase in the Adreno 508 GPU performance over its predecessor, as well as a 10 per cent increase in CPU performance over its predecessor.

The Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms focus on camera, audio/visual processing, connectivity, improved CPU and GPU, security, machine learning and supports Quick Charge 4 which provides five hours of talk time in just five minutes of charging.

The Qualcomm Spectra 160 premium camera ISP supports improved photographic image quality for more natural skin tones, superior low light photography, as well as better power efficiency and higher throughput for dual camera smartphones.

The Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP featuring vector extensions (HVX) on the Snapdragon 660 mobile platform enables high performance, power efficient processing of imaging, computer vision, and machine intelligence workloads.

The Snapdragon 660 and 630 both feature a Snapdragon X12 LTE modem, paired with the new SDR660 RF transceiver, which support peak downlink data rates of 600Mbps to the 600-tier lineup of SOCs for the first time.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers can also power immersive and engaging user experiences with machine learning on the Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK.

The Snapdragon 660 mobile platform is now shipping and the Snapdragon 630 platform will begin shipping towards the end of May.
Beijing: In a diplomatic embarrassment, China has removed the remarks of its envoy in India offering to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from the transcript of his speech posted on the Chinese embassy website.

Chinese ambassador to New Delhi Luo Zhaohui's remarks that "Even we can think about renaming the CPEC" has been removed from his speech copy posted on the Chinese embassy website.

Seeking to allay India's concerns, ambassador Luo had offered to rename the CPEC which passes through Pakistan- occupied Kashmir, insisting it was an economic cooperation and connectivity enhancement project devoid of "sovereignty issues".

He also pushed for New Delhi's participation in the 'One Belt One Road' (OBOR) project.

Referring to the CPEC, which is part of OBOR, he said China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan and that the project is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity in the region.

"It has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. Even we can think about renaming the CPEC. China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes from bilateral relations before," he had said in closed-door address to a think-tank last Friday.

Meanwhile in Beijing, China's Foreign Ministry parried questions over the Chinese embassy removing the much- publicised offer of renaming the CPEC from Luo's speech.

"You just mentioned a statement of Ambassador Luo Zhaohui while attending an activity in India," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media here replying to a volley of questions on why the key line expressing China?s willingness to rename the USD 50 billion CPEC was dropped.

"According to my understanding, the Chinese embassy in India released information about the Ambassador's attendance and relevant activities. If you are interested I suggest you use the internet for more information," Geng said.

Asked whether Pakistan has sought clarification from China over the renaming of CPEC as per the reports from Islamabad, Geng said, "I am not aware of that. As for the ambassador's participation and his speech, the embassy has released relevant information on the website."

To another question whether the ambassador was speaking for the Chinese government when he said China was open to renaming the CPEC, Geng said, "You have been asking questions about renaming the corridor. I suggest that information about relevant actives of the ambassador and his speech, the Chinese embassy has put relevant information on the its website. You can check the the website. I have nothing more to offer."

Geng reiterated that the CPEC will not have any impact on China's stand on the Kashmir issue.

"With regard to the CPEC, we have been stressing that it is an economic corridor. China's promotion of the programme does not mean we have changed our position on the relevant (Kashmir) issue," he said.

"These are two different things. We have been pointing out that the issue of Kashmir is left over from the history between India and Pakistan and the two sides would properly address it through dialogue and consultation," he said.

The envoy had also proposed a four-point initiative to improve ties between India and China which includes aligning its 'OBOR' project with India's 'Act East Policy', and restarting negotiations on a free trade pact.

Asked about Luo's other proposals, Geng said, ?As per his proposals what I can say is China and India are two major developing countries in the world. Enhancement of bilateral relationship and expansion of cooperation between the two countries serve the best interests of the people of the two countries.

"It is also conducive to peace and stability of the region and the world at large. China's willingness to improve relationship with India is very clear and remains unchanged."

The Chinese envoy's offer to rename the CPEC has reportedly caused consternation in Pakistan with Ministry of Planning and Development writing to Chinese embassy in Islamabad, seeking clarification over Luo's remarks.

Chinese officials in their 'off the record' conversation expressed scepticism over Beijing renaming the CPEC which is a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's multibillion silk road initiative called Belt and Road (BR) that too ahead of the BR summit to be held later this week, China was keen about India's participation in the project.

The summit will be held on May 14-15 in Beijing. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and 27 other heads of state and government will attend the summit.

India, which is an invitee, is yet to name its delegation.

Geng said "as far as India's participation is concerned, some Indian scholars have registered to attend the high-level meeting during the forum.

"As the host country, China will warmly welcome all the participants including the scholars from India", Geng said.

To another question about the CPEC's progress, Geng said the building of the corridor is progressing very smoothly and has entered into a comprehensive stage of implementation.

We have planned 17 priority programmes in the field of energy. Eleven were already put into construction. A Majority of the programmes will be finished by the end of 2019. Energy shortage in Pakistan will be greatly relieved and the projects will deliver benefits for the people of Pakistan," Geng said.

Asked about Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat's remarks that India should have good relations with Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan to counter close relations between China and Pakistan, Geng said, "We welcome bilateral cooperation between India and other relevant countries. We hope this kind of cooperation would be conducive to enhance mutual trust among countries in the region as well as regional peace and stability."
Delhi: Even as the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday staged a 'live demonstration' of alleged EVM manipulation in the Delhi Assembly, the Election Commission challenged Arvind Kejriwal's party to do it in hackathon which is likely to be conducted in the third week of May.

A source in ECI was quoted as saying by CNN-News18, "They are showing everything with a prototype EVM. Let them prove their charges during the EVM hackathon challenge.''

On the other hand, Hindustan Times quoted another source as saying, "If it is a prototype, then it is not the same as the EVM used by the commission. To say EVM can be hacked by manipulating a prototype is not the same thing."

EC has convened an all-party meeting on May 12 to discuss the concerns about the reliability of electronic voting machines and is likely to brief the parties about its planned EVM hacking challenge.

A statement from the commission on May 04 had said that at the meeting, the issue of EVMs, change in rules regarding recount of votes using paper trail data, making bribery in elections a cognisable offence and disqualification of candidates chargesheeted for electoral bribery would be discussed.

While there was no mention of the proposed EVM hacking challenge in the statement, a senior commission official, who refused to go on record, was quoted as saying by PTI that an overview of process and procedure of EVM challenge would be given and views of the parties would be sought.

Meanwhile, an EC official today was quoted as saying by HT, AAP should also send their representatives to the hacking challenge to prove their allegations."

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'.

EC has time and again rubbished allegations that EVMs can be programmed to favour any particular party.

Earlier today, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed in the Delhi Assembly that anyone knowing a 'secret code' can tamper with the EVMs and the code can be fed into a machine while casting vote.

Bhardwaj, who represents the Greater Kailash constituency, claimed that in his capacity as an engineer, he had extensively worked in this area and was aware of how the machines can be fiddled with.

Before Bhardwaj's demonstration, Kejriwal had tweeted, "Saurabh Bhardwaj will reveal the truth behind a big conspiracy in the country. Satyameva Jayate".

                        May 9, 2017

Later, the Delhi CM dared the EC to provide EVM machines to AAP, claiming it can be 'tampered with' in '90 seconds'.

(With PTI inputs)
Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday targeted media for its reportage in the murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar case and asserted that he had nothing to hide in the matter.

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead at a suite in a five star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014.

Tharoor addressed the media at his residence here after a Television channel had broadcasted a news item that claimed that he was involved in Sunanda Pushkar's death.

Tharoor said the said channel's broadcast was a bid to establish itself.

"The media has very important role as a witness but the media doesn't have a role of being a prosecutor, a judge or an executioner."

The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he had nothing to hide and had been fully cooperative with the police.

"Full facts and all the circumstances that have been mentioned in yesterday's distorted broadcast are known to the police. They have been investigating for last three years and so far have not been able to establish whether any murder has even occurred," said Tharoor.

Earlier this year, the head of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) forensic department, Sudhir Gupta had confirmed that the death of Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor was unnatural and caused due to poisoning.

" Sunanda Pushkar's death was unnatural. We clearly said that this is a case of poisoning. This has been clearly stated in the opinion. This opinion has been made and formed on the basis of circumstantial evidence where certain drugs and poison have been recovered by Delhi police itself," Gupta told ANI.

Asserting that there is no iota of doubt in Sunanda's death case, he added, "This has also been confirmed by the chemical examination report of FBI America."

The AIIMS medical board had earlier in its reports, said that Sunanda was died of poisoning due to an overdose of the anti-anxiety drug Alprax.
Delhi: The International Court of Justice on Tuesday stayed the hanging of retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan.

The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month.

India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.

Following India's appeal, the ICJ stayed Jadhav's execution.

India, in its appeal, contended that it was not informed of Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights.

It further asserted that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the Pakistani authorities were denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite repeated requests.

"Referring to 'the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes to India', India urges the Court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately, 'without waiting for an oral hearing'," India's appeal said.

Senior advocate Harish Salve is representing India at the international court.

Following is the press release by ICJ:

Tweeting about the development, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said, "I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of president, ICJ under art 74 paragraph 4 of rules of court."

I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 9, 2017

Mr.Harish Salve, Senior Advocate is representing India before International Court of Justice in the #KulbhushanJadhav case.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 9, 2017

Jadhav was given death sentence on April 10 the charge of "espionage" by the Field General Court Martial last month.

"The spy was tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded the death sentence. Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed his death sentence awarded by FGCM," the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said.

India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government.

Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."

The Pakistan Army had also released a "confessional video" of Jadhav after his arrest.

On April 25, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay had said that government was yet to receive a copy of any chargesheet against Jadhav and did not even know who had defended him in the military court that sentenced him the death sentence.

"We haven't seen, we haven't met (Jadhav). He has been in Pakistan's custody for more than a year. So the well being and state of health of Jadhav is a matter of great concern," he had said.

India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.

The appeal on behalf of Jadhav was given to Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who also handed over a petition by Jadhav's mother seeking the Pakistan government's intervention for his release and expressing the desire to meet him.

(With PTI inputs)
Ajmer: Standing in solidarity with the Army, a Muslim organisation has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 crore for those who behead Pakistani soldiers and bring back their heads to India.

Mohammad Shakeel Saifi, Chairman of the Delhi-based Muslim Yuva Atankwad Virodhi Samiti, said, I announce to give Rs. 5 crore to the one who beheads Pakistani soldiers and hands it over to India.

Saifi said that he would collect the amount from his volunteers and public and give it to the one who brings heads of Pakistani soldiers who mutilated bodies of two Indian soldiers at the Line of Control (LoC) recently.

He said that the government of India should take strong action  like last year's surgical strikes - against Pakistan and added that the people of the country are angry over the beheading of our soldiers.

Saifi was in Ajmer to perform 'Ziyarat' at the shrine of revered Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.

Talking to a news channel, he added that Muslim youth, like all others in the country, are willing to sacrifice their life to protect the nation and are even willing to go to the border to take on the Pakistanis.
Ghising dismisses allegations of misappropriation in LED bulb procurement

Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Managing Director Kulman Ghising has brushed off the allegations that there was misappropriation of funds in the process to procure LED bulbs.
Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that Muslim community shouldn't allow issue of triple talaq to be politicised.

At the same time, he urged them to take responsibility for initiating reform, as per PTI.

PM made the comments when a delegation of leaders from the Muslim community, under the umbrella of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind met him.

After meeting him, Maulana M Madani said, "His (PM Modi) attitude on all issues was reasonable and satisfactory. We are leaving with lot of hopes," as per ANI.

Yesterday, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind's nationwide had in a statement - "India's top Muslim clerics have unequivocally asserted that shariat (personal laws) is divine and hence, no government or court has the right to make any changes in it."

The clerics observed in the meeting of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind's nationwide Muslim personal law awareness campaign that Muslim disputes over family matters are reaching courts because of "ignorance or deliberate" misuse of shariat provisions and so the personal laws cannot be held responsible for it.

"Instead, there is a strong need to educate Muslim masses about shariat to impress upon them to follow it honestly and to open counselling centres and shariat panchayats to resolve any dispute over family matters," the statement had added.

JIH's national president Syed Jalaluddin Umari, All India Muslim Personal Law Board secretaries Khalid Saifullah Rahmani and Maulana Fazlurrehman Mujaddidi and Islamic scholar Zafarul Islam Khan and others had taken part in the meeting in the national capital.

Mujaddidi had said that the recent "hue and cry" over the practices of 'triple talaq' and polygamy were "part of a global conspiracy" to target social and family system of Islam.

The meeting was culmination of JIH's awareness campaign held between April 23 and May 7.

The Centre had on October 7 last year opposed in the Supreme Court the practice of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims and favoured a relook on grounds like gender equality and secularism.

Meanwhile, on May 03, former union minister and senior advocate Salman Khurshid was allowed by the Supreme Court to assist it in the hearing of a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among the Muslims.

A five-judge constitution bench would commence hearing from May 11 to decide on the batch of petitions challenging the practices of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims.

The Centre had on April 11 filed fresh submissions in the apex court, saying these practices impacted the social status and dignity of the Muslim women and denied them the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

The government had reiterated its earlier stand and had said that these practices rendered the Muslim women "unequal and vulnerable", not only compared to the men of their community, but the women of other communities as well.

The apex court had on March 30 observed that 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy were important issues involving "sentiments".

The Centre had said these practices emerged from "patriarchal values and traditional notions about the role of women in society", asserting that "the right of a woman to human dignity, social esteem and self-worth are vital facets of her Right to Life under Article 21".

'Nikah halala' is a practice intended to curb the incidence of divorce under which a man cannot remarry his former wife without her having to go through the process of marrying someone else, consummating it, getting divorced again, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then coming back to him.

(With Agency inputs)
Kolkata: Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque Maulana Nurur Rehman Barkati on Tuesday said that he will continue to use the red beacon as permission for it was given by the erstwhile British government.

Here's what the Imam Barkati said:

"I am a Shahi Imam and hence I won't give up red beacon despite court's order. A Shahi Imam has been using 'lal batti' since the CPI(M)'s period and nobody has ever objected to it.

The govt has no right to ban the red light. Ministers goes to people's house and beg for votes, hence they have no right to use the red beacon.

The current government in West Bengal is brought by us. Mamata Banerjee ji herself doesn't use red beacon. Mamata has asked me to use red beacon. West Bengal is different from rest of the country. Rules and regulations are decided here by the state government and not Centre. Here, the state government has permitted us to use the 'lal batti'.

I speak to Mamata Banerjee everyday. Even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself comes to me and asks me not to use the 'lal batti', I will not oblige to him.

I will remove red beacon once everyone does the same. I will continue to use as I have got permission from the 'British government'.

The Indian government first needs to make its own law, they have not formulated any laws."

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leader C.K. Bose branded Imam Burkati anti-national and said, "I think he should be immediately arrested and put behind the bars as no one is allowed to break the law."

Imam Barkati is already infamous for issuing a fatwa against Prime Minister Barkati is already infamous for issuing a fatwa against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
New Delhi: In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held Calcutta High Court's Justice CS Karnan guilty of contempt of court and ordered that he be jailed for six months.

The SC further ordered that Justice Karnan be taken into custody immediately. The Director General of West Bengal Police has been ordered to form a team for the implementation of its order "forthwith".

Holding Karnan guilty of contempt for his utterances against the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the apex court and the Madras High Court, a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar has barred the electronic and print media from carrying any of his statements.

"We are of the unanimous view that Justice CS Karnan is guilty of contempt of court and interfered with judicial process of grievous nature," the court said in its order.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur, PC Ghose and Kurian Joseph, also said it was satisfied in punishing him and sending him to jail for six months.

Karnan had written a series of letters making allegations against the judges of the apex court and the high court.

At the outset of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for West Bengal, said in compliance of apex court's earlier direction, a medical board along with the DGP and police personnel had gone to Justice Karnan's place but he gave a letter saying he was fit and of a sound mind.

Dwivedi read out the letter to the bench.

ASG Maninder Singh told the bench that Justice Karnan knows what he is doing and he needs to be punished for contempt of court as he has passed several orders against the judges of the apex court.

Senior advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for Registrar General of Madras High Court, said that if Justice Karnan is sent to jail, it would create a blemish of a sitting judge being sent to jail for contempt.

The bench then said that Karnan was medically fit as it noted that the Calcutta High Court judge did not co-operate with the medical team that was set-up on the court's order on May 04 to examine him.

It also said that the medical team too has not given any statement against Karnan.

"We are assured that he is fit and fine and the medical board does not contradict it," the bench said.

The ASG said that he passed an order yesterday that he is not in contempt of court. "Some action should be taken against him so that an appropriate message is sent," he said.

The bench said the contempt power does not recognise who is what, whether he is a judge and individual or a private person and that it is simple contempt.

"If we do not send him to jail, there will be a blemish that Supreme Court has condoned the contempt committed by a judge," the bench said.

It said Justice Karnan can be punished as he has himself declared that he was of sound mind and the medical board has not contradicted it.

Justice Karnan had yesterday 'sentenced' Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment.

The apex court had on May 01 directed medical check-up of Justice Karnan by doctors with police support, as the judge did not appear before it.

The judge had on May 04 declined to undergo a mental health check-up as ordered by the SC, telling a team of doctors he is "absolutely normal" and has a "stable mind".

The apex court had on March 10 issued a bailable warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it in the contempt case. The warrant had come almost a month after the court had asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings not be initiated against him.

On March 31, Justice Karnan had appeared in the Supreme Court, a first in Indian judicial history, and had sought restoration of his powers as a condition for his re-appearance, but the plea was rejected.

He had also said he would not appear before it again even if he was arrested and put in jail.

Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his conduct. A recalcitrant Karnan had on February 15, 2016, stayed his transfer order. The apex court even asked the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him.

The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan's order. The Supreme Court also made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the order of his transfer shall remain stayed.

(With Agency inputs)
Jaipur: A young boy from Rajasthan has landed the job of a scientist in the US Armys AH-64E combat fighter helicopter unit.

Monark Sharma, who hails from Jaipur, will be getting a pay package of Rs 1.20 crore per year, said The Times of India.

Headquartered in Fort Hood, Texas, Sharma has been assigned to design, inspect, manufacture and maintain the fighter planes inducted in the US Army this year.

The Jaipur boy began his career as a junior research scientist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the mass communication wing in 2013. He joined the US Army in May 2016.

In the same year, Sharma received two prestigious awards  Army Service Medal and Safety Excellence Award.

Sharma's father, Rakesh Sharma, is an additional private secretary in Rajasthan police. He did his schooling from Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain School in C Scheme, Jaipur, and pursued his Bachelors in Electronics and Communication from Jaipur National University, Jaipur.

He participated in NASA's Moon Baggi Project in 2011 and the team headed by him grabbed the best performance award. When he took part in Luna Boat in 2012, his team came fifth.

"Here NASA offered me a job and a green card. I was awarded citizenship through US Army in 2016," said Sharma.
Dharamsala: A US Congressional delegation reached here on Tuesday on a two-day visit during which its eight members will meet Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.



Led by House of Representatives` top Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, the delegation includes Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal.



Pelosi, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and last visited Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh in 2008.



Congresswoman Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.



The US delegation was received at the Gaggal airport near here by Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Secretary of International Relations Sonam Dagpo and Information Secretary Dhardon Shearling.



The delegation will also meet CTA President and Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay. The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country.



A day earlier, the delegation visited a Tibetan settlement in Kathmandu.



The Dalai Lama has lived in India since he fled Tibet in 1959.


New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury here and discussed the situation prevailing in Kashmir.

"Discussed the way forward in Kashmir with Dr Farooq Abdullah when he called on me today (sic)," Yechury tweeted after the meeting held at CPI(M) headquarters.

Abdullah, the National Conference leader, earlier met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to address the issue politically.

Abdullah was elected to the Lok Sabha from Srinagar in the bypoll held on April 9.

The bypoll saw the lowest turnout of 7.1 per cent and widespread violence in which eight people were killed.
Srinagar: Unknown gunmen on Tuesday snatched a car from a civilian in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, triggering an alarm.

Security forces were put on an alert after the gunmen took away the white colour car of a man at Samboora in Pulwama district, about 32 kms from here, a police official told reporters.

The owner of the car told the police that he had purchased the vehicle recently and it did not have a permanent registration number yet, the official said.

"Police have sounded an alert. All the police stations, control rooms and security agencies have been alerted following the hijacking of the car by suspected militants. We have alerted government forces along National Highway to foil any attack by suspected militants," the officer said.

He said the security forces have been asked to keep a vigil for any suspicious car matching the description of the stolen vehicle as it can be used by the gunmen for subversive activities.

Meanwhile, just after the report of car being hijacked surfaced, gunshots created panic in Kralcheck village of Chadoora in Budgam district.

"We have received a report that about 20-40 gunshots were heard at Kralcheck. There was however no report of injuries or death. Police are ascertaining the facts," adding that the security has also been alerted from Budgam.

Meanwhile, militants this evening attacked a police party at Kumdalan village of Shopian district in south Kashmir. Official sources said that the militants attacked a cavalcade of senior officers at Shopian but there were no injuries to anyone.
Jammu: Pakistan Army resorted to firing at Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Tuesday, sources said.



Defence sources said Pakistan Army started firing at the Indian positions in Manjkot area of Mendhar sector at 8.40 am.



"They used small arms and automatics to target the Indian positions. Effective retaliation was given from the Indian side," they said.



Firing exchanges continued for nearly an hour, the defence sources said.
Srinagar: In a bone-chilling incident, a woman in Jammu has alleged that a station house officer forcibly stripped her at a police station and sexually assaulted her.

She further alleged that a beer bottle and chilli powder were inserted in her private parts.

Speaking to CNN-News18, the lawyer of the victim said the assault was similar to the Nirbhaya gang-rape case in Delhi.

Meanwhile, Minister of State in Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to immediately look into it.

The victim hails from Kanachak area of Jammu.

The 25-year-old alleged that the incident took place a few days ago when she was falsely accused of theft from a couples house where she worked as a maid.

She also claimed that Kanachal Police Station SHO Rakesh Sharma confined and tortured her for a week.

The victim told the channel that she was not given anything to eat while in custody. When asked for water, policemen used to tell her to drink urine instead, alleged the victim.

The woman also alleged that her mother, husband and child were beaten by cops. She further said she was falsely framed.

The woman was granted bail on May 06.

A special investigation team has been constituted to probe the matter.
Irreparable damage

For the first time in the history of Nepal, an impeachment motion against the Chief Justice has been registered in Parliament.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred hearing on a plea, seeking a ban on the use of pellet guns to quell agitating and stone-pelting mobs in the Kashmir valley, till after the summer break.

The apex court told the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association of Srinagar, which has filed the petition, that it would be proper to hear the matter after the vacation as the time could be utilised by the lawyers' body to come out with a workable solution.

"We were thinking unless you have a solution, we will wait for some time. May be, you will help us in a better way after the summer vacations, which can be utilised for coming out with suggestions," a bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices P C Ghose and D Y Chandrachud said.

During the last hearing on April 28, the government had ruled out talks with separatist elements or those raising the issues of "accession or Azadi" in the Kashmir

Valley, telling the top court that a dialogue to restore normalcy was possible only with the recognised stakeholders.

The apex court had asked the lawyers' body to come up with suggestions to resolve the crisis, including the stone- pelting and violent street protests in the Kashmir Valley.

It had told the bar, which had sought a ban on the use of pellet guns to quell the agitating mobs, to take the "first step" to bring all stakeholders on the table for workable suggestions to overcome the crisis.

The court had also said that there was a need for joint effort to resolve the crisis.

The apex court was hearing the appeal of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association against the High Court order seeking a stay on the use of pellet guns as a large number of people had been killed or injured due to their use.

Earlier, the Centre had told the court it was exploring a crowd control option akin to rubber bullets but not as lethal as pellet guns which were being used as a last resort to quell the violence.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had on September 22 rejected the plea seeking a ban on use of pellet guns on the ground that the Centre had already constituted a Committee of Experts through its memorandum of July 26, 2016 for exploring alternatives to pellet guns.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday "appreciated" the efforts of Mumbai's Haji Ali Dargah Trust in removing encroachments around the shrine and asked it to clear out the remaining ones in a 500 square metre area in four weeks.

A bench headed by CJI J S Khehar directed that the beautification plan around the shrine has to be placed on record before the apex court on or before June 30.

It said the beautification plan prepared by the trust can be accepted and if required, the municipal council of Mumbai can make modification.

The council would also be at liberty to substitute it with another plan and in carrying out the above exercise the civic body can take assistance of a well-known urban heritage architect.

The bench said the sentiments of the people of the community should be kept in mind while carrying out the plans.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on July 3, 2017.
New Jersey: A video has emerged from aboard a storm-whipped cruise ship, sending chills down the spine.

The footage was captured by Stephen J Burke, who was a passenger on Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas ship, which began its voyage from New Jersey to Port Canaveral in Florida and the Bahamas in February 2016. The weather, however, forced it to turn around and return to New Jersey.

The ship had 4,500 passengers and 1,600 crew members.

The terrifying video shows Burke looking out of the window as 30-foot waves crash into the ship during the hurricane force storm.

In the video, Burke is heard saying: We're just staying in one place, hoping not to die.

Watch the video:

The National Weather Services Ocean Prediction Center had issued an alert four days prior to the cruise, but Royal Caribbean said the weather was not predicted.
United Nations: Drawing attention to the harrowing traumas of child victims of sexual violence, UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra has called for an increased support for such children and raising awareness that underage sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV.

Bollywood actress Chopra, who has been the ambassador since December last year and a United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) India Ambassador for 10 years, visited Zimbabwe this week where she met child survivors of sexual violence and heard their harrowing stories. Through her trip, she advocated for increased support for child victims of sexual violence.

"No woman, and most definitely no child, should ever have to experience sexual violence especially from someone they trust for protection, such as a family member," she said.

Chopra's first stop was in Chitungwiza, south of Harare, Zimbabwe, where she met a 13-year-old girl who was repeatedly raped by her uncle and threatened her if she revealed the abuse.

The girl had become pregnant but with the help of her mother and neighbours, the incident was reported to the police and the uncle who abused her was arrested, tried, and jailed for 10 years.

"As a society, it is on us to provide and take care of our children as citizens of the world, to educate children at a young age that it's not OK to be inappropriately touched and that under-age sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV," Chopra said.

Chopra, 34, also visited 'Childline Zimbabwe', the country's 24-hour service for children who have been abused, violated or exploited. Besides providing free, confidential, multilingual counselling to children aged 18 years and under, 'Childline' also offers 25 community-based drop in centres throughout the country.

"I was astonished by the number of calls that were coming in during the brief time I was there," she said. "The counsellors, all volunteers, told me that many calls come from children in hysterics because they had been raped or abused. They were so scared," she added.

Chopra said the model of 'Childline' should be replicated by countries that have high rates of violence against children "because it is a safe place for children to turn to and know that their call will be answered by a compassionate person who will take their complaints seriously and respond."

According to UNICEF, sexual violence against children is widespread in Zimbabwe and latest available data has showed that close to one in 10 girls aged 15-17 years old have been a victims of forced sexual intercourse or a forced sexual act.

Approximately two-thirds of victims were first abused by an intimate partner and about a tenth of the victims by a stranger.

Most concerning is that in the case of children, most abuse occurred in situations when the child knew and trusted the adult who abused him or her. Sexual violence against children is also "mostly invisible" and goes largely undocumented, noted UNICEF, stating that fear of "getting into trouble" as well as shame and stigma all contributed to children not reporting the abuse.
Pune: A fast-track court on Tuesday pronounced the death sentence for three prime accused in the gang-rape and murder case of a 28-year-old software engineer in October 2009.

Special Judge LL Yenkar, who on Monday convicted Yogesh Ashok Raut, Mahesh Balasaheb Thakur and Vishwas Hindurao Kadam for kidnapping robbing, gang-raping and then killing Nayana Phatak-Pujari, sentenced them to death after a hectic day full of arguments between the prosecution and defence lawyers.

Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar forcefully argued for the death penalty against the convicts, terming it as "the rarest of rare cases" and the brutality of the crime against the victim.

He said that the prosecution managed to establish the complete chain of circumstances that led to the serious crime and said they deserved "the maximum punishment" under the laws.

"Considering the brutal manner in which the victim was gang-raped and then killed, this falls under the category of rarest of rare case," he said after the conviction.

Another co-accused, Rajesh Pandurang Choudhari, who was arrested as an accomplice by the police, later turned an approver and was granted a pardon.

The victim`s husband Abhijit Pujari, and sisters Manisha G and Madhuri J had demanded the death penalty for the accused, and expressed their satisfaction over the verdict.

The three accused were on Monday convicted of committing seven counts of various offences including those of kidnapping, gang-rape, murder, robbery, misappropriation of property after hatching a criminal conspiracy in accordance with their common intention.

The trio, however, were acquitted of three other charges including those of abduction with an aim to commit murder, causing hurt while committing the robbery and the destruction of evidence as the prosecution failed to prove these charges.

Pujari, who worked at an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on October 07, 2009 evening from Kharadi bypass, while waiting for a transport to return home.

Her body was recovered two days later from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

The prosecution told the court that the investigation revealed that the victim was kidnapped and later gang-raped in a car. The woman was also robbed of her cash, withdrawn from the ATM using her debit-cum-ATM card, before having been strangulated with her scarf and bludgeoned to death in the forest.

The investigation led to the arrest of four persons - Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam and Rajesh Chaudhari.

Earlier during the trial, prime accused Raut had escaped from the Sassoon General Hospital on September 17, 2011, while being escorted to the hospital for treatment. He was, however, arrested from Shirdi in May 2013 after the shocking case of Nirbhaya gang-rape case in New Delhi.

Advocate Harshad Nimbalkar, who was appointed as the special public prosecutor in the case, said Chaudhari, who turned approver in the case, has been let off by the court.

Nimbalkar said that the trial, which lasted for six years, saw four judges adjudicating the case.

In his statement, accused-turned-approver Chaudhari said he was threatened by Raut, Thakur and Kadam that they planned to eliminate the victim and he should keep his mouth shut about it.

Arrested on October 16, 2009, Chaudhari claimed that he was extremely remorseful about the incident but was equally scared over the death threats issued by the accused. However, he later mustered courage and agreed to turn an approver in the case.

He revealed how, after gang-raping her, the trio snatched her ATM debit card and forced her to reveal the PIN number, with Kadam pointing a knife at her.

Later, Kadam and Thakur left on a motorcycle and withdrew the money from her ICICI Bank account, but did not inform Chaudhari.

It also emerged during the investigations by the police that Raut had raped and murdered a 22-year old woman vegetable vendor in Pune a few months before this crime.

The brutal rape and murder of Nayana Pujari had created a scare among Puneites, especially those working in late-night shifts in the IT sector and resulted in enhanced security measures both by the companies and police.

(With Agency inputs)
Johannesburg: A new research has revealed that the mysterious and newly discovered human species named Homo naledi, which was first announced just two years ago, likely lived alongside Homo sapiens or modern humans.

According to the study that analysed the naledi remains first discovered inside the Dinaledi chamber, part of South Africa's Rising Star cave system, Homo naledi was alive sometime between 335,000 and 236,000 thousand years ago.



The research presents the long-awaited age of the naledi fossils from the Dinaledi chamber and also announces the new discovery of a second chamber in the Rising Star cave system, containing additional specimens of Homo naledi.



These include a child and a partial skeleton of an adult male with a remarkably well preserved skull.



The discovery of a second chamber lends support to the controversial hypothesis that Homo naledi deliberately disposed off its dead in these remote, hard to reach caverns.



The new discovery and research was done by a large team of researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, James Cook University in Australia, the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the US, and more than 30 additional international institutions.



After the description of the new species in 2015, experts had predicted that the fossils should be around the age of earliest known fossil members of our genus, such as Homo rudolfensis and Homo habilis, species that lived nearly two million years ago.



But the new research suggests that the fossils from the Dinaledi chamber are barely more than one-tenth that age.



Professor Paul Dirks of James Cook University said,"The dating of naledi was extremely challenging."



Dirks said, "Eventually, six independent dating methods allowed us to constrain the age of this population of Homo naledi to a period known as the late Middle Pleistocene."



The age for this population of hominins shows that Homo naledi may have survived for as long as two million years alongside other species of hominins in Africa.



At such a young age, in a period known as the late Middle Pleistocene, it was previously thought that only Homo sapiens (modern humans) existed in Africa.



More critically, it is precisely this time period that gave rise to what has been called "modern human behaviour" in southern Africa - behaviour attributed, until now, to the rise of modern humans and thought to represent the origins of complex modern human activities such as burial of the dead, self-adornment and complex tools.



The researchers noted that the discovery would have a significant impact on our interpretation of archaeological assemblages and understanding which species made them.



Professor Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand said, "We can no longer assume that we know which species made which tools, or even assume that it was modern humans that were the innovators of some of these critical technological and behavioural breakthroughs in the archaeological record of Africa."



Berger added,"If there is one other species out there that shared the world with 'modern humans' in Africa, it is very likely there are others. We just need to find them."

The finding was published in three papers in the journal eLife.

(With IANS inputs)
New Delhi: The sun, which is by far the largest object in the solar system, continuously shoots solar material into space. And the grandest such events as per scientists are massive clouds that erupt from the sun, called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.

While these solar storms often come first with some kind of warning - the bright flash of a flare, a burst of heat or a flurry of solar energetic particles - another kind of storm has left the scientists baffled for its lack of typical warning signs.

Dubbed 'stealth CMEs', these storms seem to come from nowhere, according to the scientists.

Now, an international team of scientists, led by the Space Sciences Laboratory at University of California, Berkeley, has developed a model that simulates the evolution of these stealthy solar storms.

For this work, the scientists relied upon NASA missions STEREO and SOHO, fine-tuning their model until the simulations matched the space-based observations.

Their work shows how a slow, quiet process can unexpectedly create a twisted mass of magnetic fields on the sun, which then pinches off and speeds out into space - all without any advance warning.

Compared to typical CMEs, which erupt from the sun as fast as 1800 miles per second, stealth CMEs move at a rambling gait - between 250 to 435 miles per second. Thats roughly the speed of the more common solar wind, the constant stream of charged particles that flows from the sun, says a NASA release.

At that speed, stealth CMEs arent typically powerful enough to drive major space weather events, but because of their internal magnetic structure they can still cause minor to moderate disturbances to Earths magnetic field.

The scientists developed a model of the suns magnetic fields, simulating their strength and movement in the suns atmosphere, to find out the origins of stealth CMEs.

Central to the model was the suns differential rotation, meaning different points on the sun rotate at different speeds. Unlike Earth, which rotates as a solid body, the sun rotates faster at the equator than it does at its poles.

The model showed differential rotation causes the suns magnetic fields to stretch and spread at different rates. The scientists demonstrated this constant process generates enough energy to form stealth CMEs over the course of roughly two weeks. The suns rotation increasingly stresses magnetic field lines over time, eventually warping them into a strained coil of energy.

When enough tension builds, the coil expands and pinches off into a massive bubble of twisted magnetic fields - and without warning - the stealth CME quietly leaves the sun.

Such computer models can help researchers better understand how the sun affects near-Earth space, and potentially improve our ability to predict space weather, as is done for the nation by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The study, which is funded in part by NASA, has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

(With ANI inputs)
Meerut: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that 'nation first' agenda will help the country move forward on the development path, adding that there will be no discrimination on the basis of caste and religion in his state.

While addressing an event to honour the freedom fighters, CM Adityantah said, We have to rise above caste, religion and gender and focus on how to make the country more developed.

Unhappy with UP's performance in the Swachh Survekshan programme, CM Adityanath said, Only one city from UP is on the list of cleanest cities in India and 52 cities on the list of cities that are dirtiest, we have to change this.

Commenting on the anti-romeo squads, the fireband BJP leader said, We constituted anti-romeo squad, it will work strictly in the entire state. Safety of daughters, sisters will be ensured.

The Urban Development Ministry on Thursday announced the results of Swachh Survekshan, which showed Indore in Madhya Pradesh as the cleanest city in the country and Gonda in Uttar Pradesh as the dirtiest.

PM Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi was ranked at 32.

Bhopal, another city in MP, came at second spot, followed by Visakhapatnam (Vizag) and Surat.

Swachh Survekshan

In order to foster a healthy competition between cities for improving cleanliness standards, the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) 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.
Naya Shakti leader joins Maoist Centre

Central Council member of Naya Shakti Nepal and former chairman of the Pokhara Valley Development Committee Jit Bahadur Gurung has joined the CPN (Maoist Centre).
Lucknow: At least seven persons were killed in dust storms and rains across Uttar Pradesh late on Monday night, officials said on Tuesday.



Two women and a man at a brick kiln were killed in Rudrapur village in Deoria district when they were struck by lightning.



Three persons were also killed by lightning in Siddharthanagar and a youth was killed in Bahraich when a tree fell on his bike during the dust storm.



Many tress were uprooted by strong winds in Unnao, Barabanki, Lucknow and Kanpur. A hailstorm that followed at some places flattened some crops. The mango crop was damaged in the Malihabad region on Lucknow`s suburbs.



Power outages were reported from many places after the storm.



Power officials said that while electricity supply had been restored at some places, some places were still without electricity.
Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati on Tuesday alleged that the Centre and the BJP are using the government machinery to target opposition parties and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "crossed all limits" in this regard.

She also accused the BJP government of ignoring the plight of the poor, the oppressed and people belonging to the backward sections of the society.

"The Prime Minister and the BJP are working with parochial mindset and with the sole aim of targeting rival political parties. In this regard, they are blatantly misusing the government machinery and crossing all limits," the BSP chief was quoted as saying in a release here.

"The BJP is frequently referring to Bhim Rao Ambedkar merely for vote-bank politics and for vested interests. But, the followers of Babasaheb are facing injustice," she claimed.

On her allegation of EVM tampering, Mayawati, who met party office bearers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, claimed people in the southern states are also concerned about the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"Since the matter is before the Supreme Court, we expect a just and satisfactory solution," she said.
Meerut: In a veiled warning to gau-rakshaks, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday urged the people to not to act in haste and take law into their hand but take the help of law to fight the crime.

The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering here when he asked the people to report the crime and let the law take its course.

"There is no need to take law in hand; if you find something illegal happening around go to the police and let them act, you don`t need to take law into your hand. If there are reports of illegal slaughter houses being in the state, it's the duty of the law enforcing agencies to take firm action against them," CM Adityanath said in Meerut today.

Further elucidating steps taken by his government to maintain decorum in the state, the Chief Minister hailed the anti-Romeo squads and said that the endeavor has ensured a safe environment of girls of the state.

"When our daughters weren`t able go to educational institutions, we formed Anti-Romeo squad and even now if anyone is facing problem then they can lodge a complaint and the law will take its course," said Yogi.

In connection with the cow vigilantism incident in Alwar, a Muslim man was allegedly killed by cow protectors over suspicion of cow smuggling.Pehlu Khan, and four of his associates were attacked and beaten on April 1 on NH-8 while they were on their way to Haryana.

In Dadri district of Uttar Pradesh, a person named Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched and killed in September, 2015 on suspicion that his family stored and ate beef at their house.
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who was admitted to hospital with acute Epistaxis (nose bleeding), is in a stable condition Tuesday.

"The condition of the Governor is stable hemodynamically and he is cheerful...He had peaceful sleep last night. Today he had light breakfast with fruit juice," a bulletin issued by the private hospital, where he is being treated, said.

"There is no active bleeding from his nose....His condition is being constantly monitored by a Medical Board," the bulletin said.

Tripathi was rushed to the hospital at around 7.30 AM on May 7 when the octogenarian started bleeding from his nose due to high blood pressure. He underwent a two-hour long operation the same day.
Suri: Two groups of villagers on Tuesday clashed at Kukudihi, on the outskirt of Suri town, leading to the arrest of seven persons.

Birbhum Superintendent of Police N Sudheer Kumar said, "the clash at Kukudihi was sequel to a scuffle over some trivial dispute between the two groups that took place a couple of days ago".

"Timely intervention by our force brought the situation under control today", the SP said.

A vehicle with a police sticker pasted on its windscreen, was seized from the village.
Kabul: An Afghan official says a bombing at a religious school in northern Parwan province has killed the chief cleric and wounded four students.

Deputy governor Shah Wali Shahid says the head of the Parwan clerical council, Mawlavi Abdul Rahim Hanafi, was assassinated in the explosion.

Shahid says Hanafi was the main target of the bombing, which took place today morning at the madrassa in Charakar, the provincial capital.

It wasn't immediately clear why the cleric was targeted and no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shahid denounced the attack as a "terrorist act." He says an investigation is underway to determine how the bomb was brought into the classroom.

The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive last month, threatening to step up attacks across the country.
Pattani: Muslim militants fighting for a separate state in the south of predominantly Buddhist Thailand were suspected of carrying out a car-bomb attack on Tuesday outside a supermarket in the city of Pattani that wounded 60 people, authorities said.



A decades-old separatist insurgency in the largely ethnic Malay Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has killed more than 6,500 people since 2004, according to independent monitoring group Deep South Watch.



Most of the wounded were discharged after receiving treatment but 21 with more serious injuries were hospitalised, Arun Prasertsuk, deputy director of Pattani Hospital told a local television channel.



The blast destroyed the front of a Big-C supermarket, scattering debris over a wide area and sending up a column of black smoke.



Muslim insurgents were suspected of carrying out the attack, deputy police chief Rewat Srichantub said. He said the bomber was believed to have fled before the explosion. It was the first car bomb in Pattani since August.



Defense ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit said the government condemned the bomb attack and considered it a grave violation of human rights.



Attacks in Thailand`s deep south, near the border with Muslim-majority Malaysia, have intensified this year. Six army rangers were killed in an attack last month.



The government recently rejected a conditional offer for peace talks from one of the main insurgent groups, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, which demanded international mediation or observation.
Baghdad: Armed men have kidnapped seven young Iraqi anti-corruption activists in central Baghdad, security sources and a civil society leader said on Tuesday.

"Unidentified gunmen in SUVs abducted seven university students early Monday morning," an interior ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the fate of the seven, who were snatched from the Battaween area, was unknown.

Jassem al-Helfi, a leading figure of the anti-graft demonstrations that have been taking place almost weekly for around two years, said the seven were abducted at 1:30 am.

"An armed gang kidnapped seven students who are active in peaceful protests from their apartment in Battaween," he said.

It was not clear who the kidnappers were nor whether any demands had already been made for the activists' release.

However the students' profile and the kidnappers' modus operandi suggest that the motivations are political.

"These young people stood up against corruption and the system of sectarian quotas in politics and in favour of a technocratic government," Helfi said.

He saw the kidnapping as "an attack on freedom of expression and a move aimed at instilling fear in the population and snuffing out the protest movement."

"But this is a national cause and it will not be silenced... Such acts will only increase the determination of the demonstrators," he said.

Almost every week, thousands of protesters have gathered in Baghdad, usually a few blocks from where the kidnapping took place, and across cities in southern Iraq for anti- corruption rallies.

Supporters of the mercurial Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr form the bulk of the protesters but the movement also includes prominent artists as well as activists affiliated to the communist party, among others.

Their main demands are for tougher measures against corruption, reform of the electoral law and a new government run by technocrats instead of political party leaders and their cronies, whom they blame for much of the country's woes.
Jerusalem: A senior Israeli official telephoned Turkey's ambassador today to express indignation over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and anti-Muslim discrimination, diplomatic sources said.

Foreign ministry director general Yuval Rotem spoke with ambassador Kemal Okem at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's behest, the Israeli sources said.

Israel had said in a statement on Monday night, in a reference to Erdogan, that those who "systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region."

It also rejected "baseless smears" from the Turkish leader.

Erdogan has vowed to prevent a draft bill being advanced in Israel that would prevent the use of speakers mounted on minarets to summon Muslims to prayer and accused Israel of apartheid practices.

"What's the difference in Israel's current practices from the racist and discriminatory policies implemented towards the blacks in America in the past, and in South Africa more recently?" he asked at the International Jerusalem Foundations Forum in Istanbul.

Erdogan, a fervent supporter of Palestinians, normalised relations with Israel in June last year after bilateral ties deteriorated over a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed 10 Turkish activists.

Israeli parliament speaker Yuli Edelstein lashed out at Erdogan on Tuesday, telling public radio that "one mustn't forget: Erdogan was an enemy and will remain one."

"As long as Erdogan leads Turkey the ties (with Israel) won't return to what they were," Edelstein wrote on his Twitter account.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant, however, said that Turkey and Israel need their ties.

"We must keep correct relations with them," Galant told army radio.

"The fact that from time to time (Erdogan) makes inflammatory remarks that reflect his own rhetorical political interests -- let him talk, we know how to talk too."

"When it comes to practice, I think the Turks have other interests," Galant said, pointing to the number of Israeli tourists who visit Turkey and the possibility of building a pipeline to Turkey to export natural gas from Israel.
Mexico city: At least 14 people died and as many as 22 others receive injuries after an explosion ripped through a fireworks warehouse at Chilchotla.

The blast occurred Monday night in a rural area of central Puebla state, Diodoro Carrasco, a senior official in the state government, told radio station Cinco Radio.

As many as five children are believed to be among those who have been killed in the explosion.

Details awaited.
NC, Maoist Centre cadres clash in Rukum

Cadres of ruling Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN (Maoist Centre)clashed at Chinabagar in Sanibheri Village Council Ward No 1 in Rukum district on Tuesday.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Iranian ambassador to express its concern over Iran Army chief's remarks that Tehran will hit "safe havens" of terrorists in Pakistan until Islamabad takes steps to stop militants from carrying out cross-border attacks.

Iran's state news agency IRNA yesterday quoted Major General Mohammed Baqeri as saying that "unless Pakistan control(s) the borders, arrest(s) the terrorist and shut(s) down their bases we will hit their safe havens and cells wherever they are".

Baqeri's remarks came after Iranian border troops were killed in a clash with militants.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants last month. Iran said Jaish-al-Adl, a militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan was called for "conveying Pakistan's concerns".

"It was conveyed to the Iranian Ambassador that such remarks were against the spirit of brotherly relations existing between the two countries," it said.

"The Iranian side was urged to avoid issuance of such statements that could vitiate the environment of fraternal relations," it said.

The Foreign Office said recently the frequency of high- level exchanges from both the sides has strengthened the bilateral cooperation and during the visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister to Islamabad on May 3, the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation on the border issues.

The porous Iran-Pakistan border has long been plagued by drug smugglers and Sunni militants, both of whom occasionally clash with Iranian security forces.
Islamabad: Police has disposed off a complaint lodged against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly provoking people and creating hatred against the armed forces, the media reported on Tuesday.



A senior police official told Dawn online on Monday that the complaint was lodged against the premier by Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmed Mirza on May 3 which was disposed off after an investigation found the contents of the complaint were untrue and fabricated.



The police had earlier told the complainant, who is chairman of the political party I.M Pakistan to approach the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) since the matter was related to cyber crime.



The complainant had, however, refused to approach the FIA arguing this was a police case and that the police was bound to register a FIR, reports Dawn online.



He said if his complaint was not entertained by the police, he will go to a sessions judge.
Washington: Despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey, the White House has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not disclose how soon arms would start being delivered to the Kurdish fighters, who Ankara sees as an extension of PKK militia waging an insurgency on Turkish soil.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. The 25th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi and the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War were celebrated in the Victory Park of Yerevan, reports Armenpress.

His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan, other officials, clergymen visited the Victory Park to take part in the ceremony organized on the occasion of Victory and Peace Day.

The officials laid flowers at the monument of Unknown Soldier and paid a tribute to the memory of fallen heroes.

Thereafter, a military parade was held, which was followed by a military dinner in tents organized for veterans with the participation of His Holiness Garegin II, Karen Karapetyan and other officials.

PM Karapetyan attached importance to each victory in the establishment of the state. Winning in the war, carrying out a successful economic management, recording economic achievements are strictly important, and in many cases it is impossible to say what is priority for the establishment of the state. But as a civilian, as a Prime Minister at the moment, I must fix that we all, people living with a civilian life, have a duty towards our armed forces which is impossible to return. The maximum we can do is to be maximally successful in our fields so that to move forward the victories our nation has achieved with dignity, the PM said.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia sent a congratulatory letter to newly elected President of France Emmanuel Macron on behalf of the Catholicosate and the Dioceses, reports Armenpress.

The historical and friendly ties of our two peoples motivate us to wish that France will be able to find its internal unity and will flourish during your presidency. France plays an important role in the international platform. We are confident that France will always remain an advocate of justice and human rights in all sides of the Caucasus, Middle East and the world for the support of rights of peoples and universal values. We expect you will continue former President Francois Hollandes support and behavior towards the Armenian National Committee. We wish you will continue and will further strengthen Frances role in the OSCE Minsk Group for the independence of Artsakh and establishment of lasting peace in South Caucasus, the letter said.

He also raised the issue of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, expressing hope that Macron will assist the works directed towards the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey and the restoration of rights of the Armenian people.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. The first semi-final of the Eurovision-2017 International Song Contest will be held on May 9 in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

Armenias Artsvik will perform at the semi-final under the number 16.

In general, a perfect atmosphere is here. Our representative Artsvik has a very high mood and she is looking forward to her performance. She will do everything to perform at best, Arusyak Zakharyan - Head of PR Department at the Public TV of Armenia, told Armenpress. She informed that the general rehearsal has already taken place during which the jury gave their assessments. Today, before the performance, another rehearsal is also expected. During the first semi-final, the viewers can send messages by voting in favor of their preferred candidate.

The contest will broadcast live by the Public TV of Armenia at 23:00.

The next semi-final will be held on May 11, and the finals on May 13.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan says a significant work has been carried out during the 8 months of his tenure: the results of the works were presented through reports, Armenpress reported.

We have presented numerous reports, talked about the economic figures, he told reporters in the Victory Park on May 9.

Asked why the public doesnt feel the economic growth and changes, the PM said that growth must reach a critical level so that people will feel it. The reporters also asked the PM about the Azerbaijani apples that were imported to Armenia recently. I know that criminal case is launched, he said. Asked whether he keeps this issue in his spotlight, Karapetyan said: The criminal case is in the spotlight of law enforcement agencies. Can you imagine that I dealt with 300kg of apples?
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. There are going to be changes in the newly forming government of Armenia, but they wont be significant, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan told reporters in the Victory Park on May 9.

Whether changes will be or not, I think, there will be and you will see them. Whether there will be major changes, I think at the moment there is no need for it since in 2018 we need to form a new government. In general, it is a very interesting period, in 2016 a government program, than in 2017 and in 2018 as well. You will not find such three years during which it is necessary to approve the government program, the PM said, adding that in 2018 the Constitution is going to put restrictions in terms of the governments structure.

And certain structural changes result in certain financial costs. Thats why we wont make major structural changes, just given the logic, he said. Asked whether he is satisfied with the work done by his team in previous months, Karapetyan expressed confidence that they are on a right path.

Many complain that we bring greater problems than can be implemented. But perhaps we will always be dissatisfied with paces, there is not going to be a moment when we will say that we are satisfied from everything. When that moment comes when you are satisfied from everything, it means that something is wrong, he said.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. While on a working visit in the Republic of Artsakh, President of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Serzh Sargsyan on May 8 held a meeting with a group of distinguished servicemen, both active and discharged, the Defense Ministry of Armenia told Armenpress.

The meeting was attended by Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, as well as legendary military officials, Lieutenant-General Norat Ter-Grigoryan and Major General Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan, whose passed path is an example for the current servicemen.

At the meeting, which has already become a tradition, the President suggested the servicemen to frankly speak about their concerns, about their visions on the further strengthening and development of the Fatherland and modernization and reforms of the defense sector, and make proposals.

Serzh Sargsyan also expressed willingness to answer the questions of the participants, and listen to the military personnels opinions on the I have the Honor and Its Me service options, which were proposed by the defense minister.

During the meeting Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan briefed the President and participants of the meeting on another project amid the reforms, which is called Outlook. Thanks to this project, all discharged servicemen will take part in a multilayer and thorough survey to assess the service conditions, issues related to the effectiveness and the experience gained, as well as the system in general. The survey results will serve a base for the targeted reforms.

On the way of modernization and development of the Army, we need to be courageous in terms of bringing this strategically important sector to a transparency and accountability field, at the same time making the defense field a platform to form new approaches of public administration, Vigen Sargsyan said. Eventually, every Armenian not only is obliged to, but also must have a wish to serve in the Army. All the steps initiated within the frames of this project serve for this purpose. The Army is a field where every Armenian family deals with, thus, we all are the beneficiaries of this project, the Defense Minister said.

The President welcomed the project and tasked to regularly report to him on its results aimed at drawing respective conclusions.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel summoned Ambassador of Turkey to Tel Aviv Kemal Okem over the recent remarks by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Israeli legislation that will ban the use of loudspeakers by mosques in the country, demokrathaber.org reports.

On April 8 President Erdogan called on Muslims to visit al-Aksa mosque in Jerusalem as much as possible.

Erdogan also criticized the bill to limit the use of loudspeakers by mosques. Erdogan called this bill as an insult to Muslims.

The Israeli MFA commented on Erdogans remarks stating: The one who constantly violates human rights in his country must not give lessons of morality and democracy in the region.
Nepal to sign framework deal on OBOR

After blowing hot and cold for months, the government has decided to become part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping to build a modern-day Silk Road across Asia, and is set to sign a framework agreement this week in Kathmandu.
ANCHORAGE, AlaskaIt must be tough being a cop in Alaska. After all, it's cold much of the year, sometimes there's only a few hours of daylight during the winter and far too many in summerand now, the Alaska legislature is thinking about making it illegal for them to have "sexual contact" with suspected prostitutes. Sadly, however, those legislators aren't thinking very hard about it, as both the House and Senate versions are stuck in committee.

But the Anchorage police aren't very happy that the legislature is even considering such a bill, since as far as they're concerned, there are already plenty of laws and regulations that would stop them from doing itand even those are too much, according to Anchorage Police Department Deputy Chief Sean Case.

"In some 'very, very limited' circumstances, the Anchorage Police Department wants to reserve the right for an undercover officer to have certain forms of sexual contact in the course of an investigation," Case told the legislators, as reported by Alaska Dispatch News' Michelle Theriault Boots.

"It all comes down to touching, he said ... '[In an undercover investigation], they ask one simple question: 'Touch my breast.' OK, I'm out of the car. Done. And the case is over," said Case, offering a hypothetical example of what he thinks might happen if the law passed. "If we make that act (of touching) a misdemeanor we have absolutely no way of getting involved in that type of arrest."

Trouble is, that "very, very limited" touching apparently often doesn't stop there. There have been myriad news reports of police receiving blowjobs from, or engaging in intercourse with suspected prostitutes in places like Honolulu and Detroituntil those states ended cops' immunity to prosecution for such acts, but as far as Case is concerned, "This bill kind of assumes that is what's happening. I think the whole premise we're starting from is wrong."

But in 2014, according to Boots, "an Anchorage police detective was massaged for 40 minutes by a woman before he signaled for her to touch him and the woman 'reached under the towel' and touched his genitals before ending the sting with a 'take-down signal.'"

But in a state where human warmth has got to be at a premium, one might question why the frontier state has laws against prostitution in the first place?

"For police officers to go so far as to have sexual contact with people as a means to gather evidence and arrest them and charge them, it's just not necessary," said prostitutes' rights advocate Maxine Doogan, who's currently heading up a lawsuit to repeal California's prostitution laws. "It's state-sponsored sexual assault."

But it's assault that, what with House Bill 73 and Senate Bill 112 still stuck in committees, can keep on happening during 2017, although the legislation will automatically be reintroduced in 2018.
UPDATE: Ireland's dropped the charges against Fry. Seems "an insufficient number of people expressed outrage." Yay?

NEW YORKThose who tuned into The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last Monday night got quite an earfulor as much of an earful as CBS's network censors would let go out over the air. Colbert was riffing off of insults that Pr*sident Trump had delivered to Face The Nation host John Dickerson during an interview, where Trump claimed that Dickerson was a practitioner of "fake news," and that he has referred to Dickerson's Sunday morning show as "Deface the Nation."

Colbert, a friend of Dickerson's, took the comments rather personally.

"Mr. Trump, your presidency? I love your presidency; I call it 'Disgrace the Nation,'" Colbert said. "Youre not the POTUS, youre the BLOTUS. Youre the glutton with a button. Youre a regular 'Gorge' Washington. Youre the presi-dunce. But youre turning into a real prictator. 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. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putins cock holster." (The full monologue can be seen here.)

Of course, thanks to CBS's ever-vigilant censors, the word "cock" never made it onto the airwavesbut that didn't stop an unknown number of people from complaining to the Federal Communications Commission about that and other language in the monologue, and although it took in a couple of days, FCC Chair Ajit Pai told radio host Rich Zeoli, "I have had a chance to see the clip now and so, as we get complaints, and weve gotten a number of them, we are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as its been set out by the supreme court and other courts and well take the appropriate action... Well follow the standard operating procedures, as we always do, and make sure we evaluate what the facts are and apply the law fairly and fully ... Traditionally, the agency has to decide, if it does find a violation, what the appropriate remedy should be. A fine, of some sort, is typically what we do."

One might note that Pai, as head of the FCC, would already know what that law isand know as well that it doesn't support any charges against Colbert or fines against CBS.

According to the FCC's own website, the criteria for official action regarding broadcast material is as follows:

"Obscene content does not have protection by the First Amendment. For content to be ruled obscene, it must meet a three-pronged test established by the Supreme Court: It must appeal to an average person's prurient interest; depict or describe sexual conduct in a 'patently offensive' way; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

"Indecent content portrays sexual or excretory organs or activities in a way that does not meet the three-prong test for obscenity.

"Profane content includes 'grossly offensive' language that is considered a public nuisance ...

"Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the day. Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience."

Hence, Colbert's show, which begins airing at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, clearly does not fall under the FCC's incredibly vague prohibitions for either indecency or profanityand Pai should know that.

So why has Pai been spouting off to the press that he'll "decide whether to take further action upon further review"?

The answer is simple: Pai's remarks aren't actually directed at Colbert; they're directed at CBS, and they're meant to put the "fear of God" into the network by telling it that the Trump government, through the FCC, is watching them like a hawk, and will be ready to pounce on anything it thinks it can make a case for that goes out over CBS's airwaves.

Anybody remember Janet Jackson's tit? Remember Without A Trace?

One might think of this dust-up as part of the opening salvo in the Trump administration's war on free speechand his favorite media are only too happy to back him up.

"Does anyone wonder why Trump refused to attend the White House correspondents dinner?" asked religio-conservative Media Research Center heads L. Brent Bozell and Tim Graham. "This is the level of 'humor' he was expected to endure at the hands of industry leaders who despise him."

"There was nothing funny about it; there was nothing clever. It was just one shallow insult after another," wrote David Limbaugh, Rush's bro, on Townhall.com, the bloated Heritage Foundation house organ. "I fail to understand the appeal of these obnoxious, mean-spirited leftist comics whose fawning, sheeplike audiences are about as discriminating as a glutton at a buffet table. They wouldn't clap more if responding to applause cardsbut, in fairness, that's probably because they wouldn't be able to read them."

Most right-wing pundits have yet to weigh in, though, on the case of Desiree Fairooz, a member of the CODEPINK coalition who attended the confirmation hearing of Attorney General-to-be Jefferson Beauregard Sessions IIIand who burst out laughing when she heard Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) describe his state's pro-segregationist former Attorney General thusly: "Jeffs political opponents have attacked his character with baseless and tired allegations. But, in reality, Jeffs extensive record of treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented."

"At that point, I could not hold in my chortle," Fairooz told Jezebel.com in an interview. "I just thought it was crazy. I dont regret having laughed. At the moment, I didnt think anything was going to happen. Then a few seconds passed and then a young officer comes over to me and she says, 'Come with me, maam,' and I said, 'Why? Im going to be quiet,' and she called over other officers and she tried to physically lift me and I was refusing to go. At that point, thats when they created disturbance by bringing over other police officers. I was charged with parading, but they paraded me. It was maddening."

But on May 3, Fairooz was convicted in District of Columbia Superior Court of engaging in "disorderly or disruptive conduct" with the intent to disrupt congressional proceedings, as well as "parading, demonstrating or picketing." She faces a maximum of six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Some jurors told Huffington Post that they hadn't in fact convicted Fairooz for laughing, but for "her behavior when asked to leave"but since when is brief laughter during a public hearing cause for removal? So don't fool yourself: She was convicted for laughing. Score another "free speech" win for the Trump administration.

And we couldn't end this article without noting another speech suppression victim: popular, long-time British comedian Stephen Fry, who's currently being investigated by the Irish police for "blasphemy," something that hasn't been a crime in most of the United States for more than a century.

Seems that in an interview on the TV program The Meaning of Life, hosted by Gay Byrne, Fry, when asked what he would say if he were confronted by God, replied, "How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault? Its not right, its utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain? We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him? What kind of god would do that? The god who created this universe, if it was created by god, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish."

Fry faces a fine of up to 25,000 euros ($37,500) if convicted.
LOS ANGELESScreaming O is in the midst of another Australian retail tour following AdultEx, which brought the award-winning brand together with some of the continents biggest adult shops.

Screaming O has teamed with retail chains Club X, Nauti & Nice, Oh Zone, Everything Adult/The Den, Naughty But Nice, and several other prominent retail chains who have reported huge sales as a result of the companys foray into affordable rechargeables.

We have focused heavily on our Top 25 best-sellers, Charged, and our January product releases during this seasons Australia tour and some of our biggest supporters are already reporting strong sales numbers  which is exactly what we like to hear, Screaming O Account Executive Dan Holman said. Weve done great business with stores like Naughty But Nice, Club X, Adult World, Good Vibrations, The Den, AdultShop.com, and Everything Adult, and our relationships keep growing stronger. In the coming months, well be stocking them with custom graphics, floor and counter displays, and other marketing tools to help the sales numbers continue to grow.

As part of its ongoing international expansion, Screaming O works directly with stores to update sales tools, merchandising materials, and product selection to ensure shoppers have access to the latest and most popular items from The Screaming O catalog. With a strategic store tour, Holman and his team visit customers to evaluate the brands presence and receive in-person feedback regarding its performance  and what Screaming O can do to make the relationship even more successful for everyone involved.

Visiting with my Australian customers is invaluable because I get to see their smiling faces as we walk the floor and see how we can enhance displays, update signage, and help each other boost profits, Holman said. Because Australia is one of our fastest-growing markets, it has become more important than ever to make these in-person visits and support our Aussie stores with the same level of attention that our domestic partners receive. Buying decisions are different down under and my goal is to learn more about consumers tastes and what stores need most in terms of messaging, marketing and merchandising to help increase sales.

This expansion in Australia is part of Screaming Os ongoing international retail initiative, which has brought the Screaming O brand into territories across the EU, South America, Asia and South Africa.

For more, visit ScreamingO.com.
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 so called "Democracy" does exists.
Let's Stop the Charade

wife

husband

crook

cash

killed

money

honest guy

Wife = Voter

Husband = Political Party

Crook = Politician

Cash = Votes

Killed = Elected

Money = Fraudulent ballots

Honest guy = Savior

Charade



Henry Mancini & His Orchestra & Chorus



When we played our charade

We were like children posing

Playing at games, acting out names

Guessing the parts we played



Oh what a hit we made

We came on next to closing

Best on the bill, lovers until

Love left the masquerade



Fate seemed to pull the strings

I turned and you were gone

While from the darkened wings

The music box played on



Sad little serenade

Song of my heart's composing

I hear it still, I always will

Best on the bill

Charade



Written by Henry N. Mancini, Johnny Mercer  Copyright  Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group



National politics is a Charade, both sides play it.

Appearances can be deceiving.

If you are in love with a person (ideology) you are easily deceived by them or it.

Truth is rarely a politician's or con man's objective. Election, power and money are.

If you are really looking for a savior, do not look for him or her on earth. Philippians 3:20

Here is a review of Music, Movie, Life or Politics, You be the judge. Back in 1963 when I was a, I saw a movie that told me all I needed to know about life and politics. Well that may be a bit of a stretch, but in retrospect, it at least pointed the fallacy of being a. On second thought it served to confuse me more because it had the classic Hollywood Ending. Apparently, the main characters lived happily ever-after (nobody lives ever-after, but one out of three ain't bad). Fade to the credits. It was recently shown on Turner Movie Classics which may have prompted this article. TMC The Movie was "CHARADE" staring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It was not until a year later that I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn. Perhaps my favorite musical ever was "My Fair Lady" which was released in 1964.Charade was indeed a life lesson. Afalls out of love with herbecause he is awho stole gold bars during World War II. He converted the gold toand planned to leave the country for South America for good. Before he leaves, he is. None of theis found in his possessions. She knows nothing about the money, but realizes that it is her duty to find it to return it to its rightful owner, namely the US government. In the course of the plot unfolding she runs across many duplicitous people who are obviously just crooks looking for the money as well. She eventually meets a seeminglywho appears to have her best interest in mind, but he too presents a fraudulent facade. Naturally, she falls in love with who she thinks is the honest guy.Everyone in the movie except her is clearly not "TRANSPARENT," which is a term that has been bandied about in the last few years. Nothing is as it seems. No one actually appears to be what they actually are. Everyone seems to have an ulterior motive. How can she tell who to trust? All of this occurs in a city, Paris (or Washington) that could not exist without a heavy infusion of "Does any of this ring a bell today? What is life's lesson from this fifty-four year old movie? How does it relate to Politics? Unfortunately, I don't have the answer but if you replace the red words above with these suggestions, you may see my long and tortured parallel.If you wrap it all up in a catchy tune by Henry Mancini and sung by Andy Williams, you have the perfectFeel free to sing along with Andy.Just for the record, I am no longer ajust aThere is apparently no cure for this condition or a bleeding heart. Just ask Bernie. The movie is certainly worth watching even without the political contortions of this article.If there are any readers still with me at this stage, they may be saying "Please Lord, Give him wings to get to the point!" Here are just a few:Here is the link to Amazon DVD or perhaps you can see it on NetFlix. Charade on Amazon
More than 12,000 children are wards of the state. Pending legislation would consolidate services and expand spending

"If we can't hold groups accountable, we are just shuffling cards in a deck. That's not going to do us any good. We have to have transparency. We have to have accountability. And we have to had standardization, and that standard has got to be very high, because we're talking about the children."

"It's high time we invest in key social services infrastructure to serve the needs of those who do not have a voice. We must not sit idly by while children suffer; instead, we must be proactive and tackle the issue head on with holistic reforms that solve the problem."

RALEIGH - North Carolina's foster kids are not all right.More than 12,000 children are wards of the state - up about 25 percent over the past five years, Sen. Tamara Barringer, R-Wake, told Carolina Journal.No one can explain the spike, and state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working toward an answer.Causes for foster placement include population growth, increases in drug addiction, physical abuse, and mental health issues, said Jamaica Pfister, triangle area director of the Children's Home Society of North Carolina.Barringer, a foster parent for more than a decade, adopted three children from within the system.she said.She has seen 3- and 5-year-old kids with broken bones. Children who were traumatized after they were locked in dark closets. Some who were abandoned, and some who were sexually abused.Social services should be priority, but North Carolina's system is failing, said Barringer, who last month helped introduce bicameral legislation that could fix multiple problems.The Family/Child Protection Accountability Act, Senate Bill 594 , is designed to make social services more efficient and accountable. 2017 legislative study on Homeless Youth, Foster Care, and Dependency was a catalyst for the bill, said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, a primary sponsor of the House version, House Bill 608 The Department of Health and Human Services provides funding and broad oversight of the foster system, but each of the state's 100 counties operate independently, and they arbitrarily enforce policies and carry little accountability.Heavy caseloads and inadequate training and support overwhelm caseworkers and supervisors, Lewis said.The result is a nebulous system riddled with inefficiencies.Merging programs from county to county is a first step toward fixing the problem, Barringer told CJ.The bill would form a "working group" to determine the best way to condense 100 counties into 30 regions by 2022.Barringer said mergers with more affluent areas would benefit foster programs in poor rural counties.The goal, she said, is continually raising the bar for foster care. Legislators don't want to standardize social services by undercutting counties with excellent practices.Two other bills in play would address separate issues within the foster system.House Bill 386, Intensive Family Preservation Services Funds, would help troubled parents, providing intensive services and helping to keep children in their family homes.In less-severe situations of neglect or abuse, it's always better for children to remain with their families, so long as treatment and correction is provided, said the Children's Home Society's Pfister.The legislation would provide more than $13 million to fund those services for the next two fiscal years. Senate Bill 444 , Permanency Innovation Initiative Funds, would give $2.75 million in additional money over the next two years to a program that moves older children out of state care and into adopted homes.Lawmakers want to reform foster care, Barringer said.she said.Child advocacy groups on the Left back the legislature's plans to overhaul the system. Society has a moral obligation to provide for children who need a safe environment to recover from trauma, said Michelle Hughes, executive director for NC Child.Hughes said.Caring for the state's most vulnerable residents should continue as a top priority for the General Assembly, Lewis said.
Defense Department Awards $9.2 Million for Conservation Projects near N.C. Military Bases



I enjoyed meeting with Firefighters from Elizabeth City and Washington yesterday. Fighting fires is one of the most hazardous professions, requiring physical strength, stamina, extensive training, courage, and selfless concern for the welfare of others.

Senate Bill 552 (Modify Sales Tax Remittance: Boat/Jet Repairs)

North Carolina Ranks First in the Nation for Business Competitiveness

Creating Penalties for Local Governments and Public Universities that Willingly Violate Immigration Laws

Require the state attorney general to accept, maintain records of and investigate (with help, if he chooses, from the State Bureau of Investigation) complaints from any citizen who suspects a local government or local law enforcement agency is ignoring immigration law and report quarterly to the legislature on the findings;

Direct that all Powell funding for city streets, and revenue from beer and wine taxes, telecommunication taxes, sales taxes on video programming, taxes on piped natural gases and scrap tire disposal taxes be allocated to local governments that comply with the law;

Waive a local government's immunity from civil liability if an illegal alien commits a crime in an area acting as a sanctuary city;

Prohibit the use of "community IDs" often issued by private organizations to illegal aliens. This can mislead law enforcement by giving a false appearance of legal status;

Create uniform penalties for E-Verify violations;

Require the UNC System President and Board of Governors to investigate complaints of university policies that limit or restrict the enforcement of immigration laws and communication with federal law enforcement agencies;

Revoke the ability of offending public universities to receive state funds not earmarked for a specific purpose; and

Require the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety to partner with the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to train and allow state law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

Contact: Bill Cook

Bill Cook bill.cook@ncleg.net

Earlier in the week, outside of the Legislative Building, a joint announcement revealing farmland preservation funding around North Carolina's military bases was illuminated by Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, partners at the United States Department of Defense, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 2016, the federal government designated 33 counties as the Eastern North Carolina Sentinel Landscape Partnership. The $9.2 million grant was awarded through a biennial competition known as the REPI Challenge, which is operated by the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program.The United States Air Force will leverage $3.4 million of the REPI Challenge award with contributions from the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to protect more than 5,600 acres of high priority land necessary to maintain viable training airspace for Dare County Bombing Range. Potential barriers to mission training and flight paths include renewable energy compatibility and spectrum encroachment. Dare County Bombing Range is the primary training range for F-15E aircraft crews from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and the primary backyard range for F/A-18 squadrons operating out of Naval Air Station Oceana. The range is an electronic combat, day-night, and air-to-ground training site critical to multiple installations and Army and Navy special operations teams (including SEALs). Section 3.19 of Senate Bill 131(Regulatory Reform Act of 2016-2017), legislation that I sponsored, which was signed into law by the Governor yesterday, establishes the North Carolina Sentinel Landscape Commission and will be chaired by Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. The Commission will continue efforts of acquiring federal funds for preserving critical buffers around military footprints as well as strengthening the economies of farms, ranches, and forests.Here in North Carolina - our state has a unique brand reputation for building high-quality, custom sport fishing vessels, tested in the rough waters of the world-famous sport fishing grounds off the Outer Banks. This bill that I sponsored with Senator Jerry Tillman will clarify and simplify the collection and remittance of sales tax process for boat and jet manufacturers. Senate Bill 552 (Modify Sales Tax Remittance: Boat/Jet Repairs) passed the Senate last week unanimously. The boat building industry in North Carolina has grown rapidly since 1990. Coastal boat builders use our coastal waterways, inlets, and offshore ocean areas to test new boat designs and demonstrate vessel capabilities to potential customers. The total economic impact of the boat building industry among our eight Atlantic coastal counties is approximate $327 million, providing nearly a combined $30 million of local, state and federal taxes. North Carolina ranks first in the nation on a closely watched measurement of state business competitiveness. Site Selection magazine's 2017 Prosperity Cup is awarded based on ten factors of economic performance, including the total number of new and expanded facilities in the state, capital investment and the total number of new jobs created. This ranking confirms once again that North Carolina is an outstanding place to do business. Our state offers companies the competitive factors they need to be successful. In another positive sign announced today, North Carolina's revenue surplus increased to $580.6 million. Make no mistake - the surplus is driven by reforms to our tax, regulatory and service-delivery climate, thus, securing more people working and earning more in our state. The unemployment rate fell in 98 of North Carolina's 100 counties in March 2017 and remained the same in one, according to county and area employment figures released this week by the N.C. Department of Commerce.Last week, the Senate passed legislation that would create penalties for local governments, law enforcement agencies and public universities that act as 'sanctuary cities' and 'sanctuary universities' by defying federal and state laws against illegal immigration.In 2015, the General Assembly passed a law to prevent counties and cities from enacting ordinances that violate or ignore federal immigration laws. But since the law went into effect, several law enforcement officials have contacted legislators to blow the whistle that some local governments are not complying with the law. And in recent months, officials in the cities of Winston-Salem and Charlotte have made public statements casting doubt on their willingness to abide by the law. Thus, Senator Norman Sanderson filed legislation which I co-sponsored to:While we welcome those who come to our state legally, it is alarming some illegal aliens are "demanding" that government officials ignore laws that keep our citizens safe - even going so far as to say we should decriminalize so-called 'minor' offenses such as driving under the influence of alcohol . It is equally disturbing that some local officials wish to roll out the welcome mat to these illegal aliens and ignore federal and state laws. We shouldn't have to pass a bill to incentivize officials to follow the law, but hopefully, this legislation will finally get them to do the right thing.
$3.7 Billion (Remember Thats 3 Thousand 700 Million Dollars) Is Not Much When You Consider All The Awfulness Out There

My awful statistics quoted in this Blog Posting are not my awful statistics. I lifted them from a column written in 2014. These awful statistics describe the 2014 conditions in Guatemala, Honduras & El Salvador and these awful statistics showed no signs of getting better and every sign of getting worse.



The Awful Truth...



 Bloodshed, gang intimidation, drug wars, robbery, rape, murder of children in the streets and widespread dropping out of school because of belief in certain death at a young age are all a fact of everyday life.

 Among the casualties during a mild mid-July weekend were three killed and at least 24 others wounded by gunshots, many of them teens. If we took it back to the prior Wednesday, we need add in a pregnant mother of five was shot in her head while driving her minivan down a street.

 It is common to have toddlers beaten to death and their tiny bodies sometimes set on fire.

 Public school education is a joke, there are no jobs, there are no opportunities and there sure isn't much hope.

 It is estimated that the cost of gun violence is about $1 million per gunshot injury. This estimate takes into account police time, medical cost, court costs and decreased tourism revenue from bad publicity.

 There were about 3,500 shootings in 2013, most were driven by desperation.



I can see you shaking your head in agreement that the 3.7 Billion Dollars (Remember that's 3 Thousand 700 Million Dollars) needs to be spent to try and fix this awful situation and even that huge sum may not be enough.



My heavens! I made an awful mistake! I misread that 2014 column. The awful situation I described above does not describe Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. It describes the Ongoing Awfulness of Chicago in 2014 .



How could I be so careless? I've got to start reading what I read more carefully.



Would I kid u?

Smartfella



Lagniappe: Did you read the 6 bullet points too fast? To get the full impact, you might want to go back and read them slowly and carefully. Let the awfulness sink in.



Lagniappe Again: Did you just say to yourself that you are certain the Chicago Awful Situation must have improved in the last 3 years? If you did, you are Sillier than I am and I write about Silly all the time.



Lagniappe Last: I never mentioned where the $3.7 Billion (remember that's 3 Thousand 700 Million Dollars) figure came from. It is hard not to wonder what kind of impact that amount of money might have had on the traumatized children of Chicago's South Side. Instead this was the amount of money the Federal Government had set aside to deal with the Child Migrant Border Crisis .



Meanwhile the people of Chicago were thinking, "Hey, we're dying over here!"


NHRC expresses concern over EC ban on vehicles without special pass

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has shown concern over whether the disabled and the elderly people could walk to cast vote in the upcoming local elections as the Election Commission (EC) has banned operation of vehicles without special pass on the elections day.
Bills to regulate or stop new wind projects may get new life even though they didn't meet legislative deadline



Havelock City Manager Frank Bottorff, a former military aviator, opposes a bill to establish guidelines for building industrial-scale windmills near military installations during an April 26 meeting of the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee. (CJ photo by Dan Way)

The controversy over the possible impact of wind energy turbines on military base operations has not blown over, even though none of the relevant bills met the April 27 legislative crossover deadline.Concerns exist that the towering wind turbines could disrupt radar operations and interfere with training and flight paths at the state's air bases.state Rep. Chris Millis, R-Pender, said Monday. Crossover refers to the date most bills must pass either the House or the Senate to remain alive for the rest of the legislative session.Millis was primary sponsor of House Bill 470 , which would have banned wind energy installations within 30 miles of a military base. It was defeated in the House Committee on Homeland Security.He said his or other bills regulating wind energy plants are likely to resurface before the end of the session. Bills that don't meet crossover can be revived by putting them into spending measures or, in some cases, inserting the text of the "dead" bill into an unrelated measure that had passed one body before crossover.Rep. John Szoka, R-Cumberland, was a primary sponsor of House Bill 574 , which was approved in the House Energy and Public Utilities Committee by a 19-9 roll call vote. It failed to meet crossover because it needed approval from two other committees.He said the intent of the bill was to give more control to local governments for permitting and siting wind energy installations to assuage their concerns about the potential harm to military bases.Szoka also cited Senate Bill 331 , from Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, R-Onslow. It would have imposed a three-year moratorium on new wind facilities to allow legislative study of military impacts.Szoka said.He said he has toured the Amazon Wind Farm near Elizabeth City, which sparked the original debate over the proximity of military bases and wind installations.Szoka said.Even so, he said he opposes sticking unrelated legislation in spending bills and has no plans to use other legislative maneuvers to revive H.B. 574 this session.Millis called Szoka's bill "a total farce, a ruse," because it weakened the ability of local governments to regulate giant wind plants built in their own or neighboring areas. He said a moratorium may be the only alternative if lawmakers won't allow reasonable regulation.Wayne County Assistant Manager Craig Honeycutt said Monday the demise of H.B. 574 leaves local governments uncertain about future wind farm regulations.Honeycutt was among several local officials testifying on April 26 that H.B. 574 watered down existing permitting protections.But retired Air Force Col. David Belote backed the bill.for determining whether wind energy projects interfere with military installations, he said during committee debate.Belote is a former F-16 fighter jet pilot, and former commander of Nellis Air Force Base in Southern Nevada. He now is senior vice president of the public relations firm Cassidy & Associates in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he was a vice president of Apex Clean Energy in Charlottesville, Va., which built utility-scale wind and other renewable energy plants.Belote said he knows firsthand that military bases and wind farms can co-exist. He said if the effects of a wind turbine project on a military base can't be mitigated, then it wouldn't be built.He said he headed the DoD Siting Clearinghouse that military leaders use to assure that nearby energy projects, including wind farms, don't undermine the military's mission.Belote said.Havelock City Manager Frank Bottorff, a retired Marine Corps colonel and career aviator who was commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point from 2006-09, said getting a thumbs-up from a clearinghouse was not sufficient to ensure military readiness.Bottorff said.said Bottorff, a member of the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission.Bottorff warned that mitigation to allow for construction and operation of the skyscraping wind turbines could be a death knell for North Carolina military bases.Bottorff said.He noted that Cherry Point has a $2.1 billion local economic impact, and the military provides $66 billion annually to the state's economy.
What would happen if we turned over a new leaf?

The job of US Senator or Representative would be so boring, few would want to be reelected. After all, how many times can you revise the bankruptcy code (authorized by Art. I,  8, cl. 4); fix the Standard of Weights and Measures (authorized by Art. I, 8, cl.5); and organize the Patent and Copyright Office (authorized by Art. I, 8, cl.8)? There would be no opportunity to get rich while in Congress or build a power base. Also, the office would no longer attract those who go into politics for the sake of their own egos, pocketbooks, and neurotic power lust.

What's the real problem with our federal government? That people in Congress serve too many terms? And if we get an Amendment to limit their terms, will our Land be healed?Of course not! The real problem is that the politicians we elect ignore our Constitution - yet we keep reelecting them.As a result, the federal government exercises thousands of powers not delegated; but everyone goes along with it. The States get federal funds for going along with unconstitutional federal programs; the People get all sorts of benefits, subsidies, and free stuff; and many live altogether at other peoples' expense. And all this free money is added to the national debt.Members of Congress also profit from ignoring our Constitution: By exercising the thousands of powers not delegated, they obtain endless opportunities to become rich, powerful, and important.So, unless we turn over a new leaf, learn our Constitution and obey it, renounce unconstitutional federal programs and benefits, and demand that people in Congress also obey it; limiting their terms by an Amendment merely increases the turnover of politicians in Congress who ignore our Constitution - and to whom we must pay luxurious lifetime pensions.For starters, if we required Congress to stay within the enumerated powers, two things would happen:And if we also stopped pouring out the blood of our young people and our treasury for our constant military meddling all over the world, there would be very little for Congress to do.After the cleanup period [see footnote 2], the job of US Senator or Representative would become so boring - and so financially unrewarding - it would be seen as a civic duty to be stoically endured for a short time - instead of a cushy ticket to personal wealth, power, prestige, and a luxurious taxpayer funded retirement for life.So a term limits amendment is a feel good palliativewhich distracts us from dealing with the real problem: People in Congress disregard the Constitution - but we keep re-electing them.We could turn over a new leaf and fix our Country. Do we have the wit and the will? Who among you is willing to challenge the status quo and urge that we change direction? If ever a nation needed to turn from its wicked ways, it is us.You have a moral choice before you: Consider this advice from a friend; or jump on the bandwagon pulled by the globalists and clamor for an Article V convention. The PEW Report shows what percentage of each State's revenue for FY 2014 was from federal funds [click on "select a state" to see your State]. Yet the "balanced budget" amendment lobby blames the federal government for out of control spending!A Congress which obeyed the Constitution would be very busy during the glorious time they were repealing unconstitutional federal statutes; dismantling unconstitutional federal programs, departments, and agencies; and impeaching and removing usurping federal judges.Unlike a "balanced budget" amendment , a term limits amendment is not one of the worst ideas since sin. But it doesn't address the problem. We need to focus on the real problem, not on palliatives.
Power struggle in the Czech Republic

9. 5. 2017 / Jan Culik

cas cteni 5 minut





At the end of April 2017, the Czech Social Democratic Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka decided to dismiss Andrej Babis, his Finance Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, from his governmental posts. Sobotka has publicly accused Babis of committing fraudulent financial operations.



Various international commentators, as far as Croatia or even Pakistan, have praised Sobotka's actions, commenting favourably on what seems to the outside world to be an attempt by the Czech PM to rid Czech politics of corruption. The problem is that the Czech voters are not particularly convinced by Sobotka's actions. 27 years after the fall of communism, the Czech Republic is now yet another post-communist country in East Central Europe which is sending out warning signals that democracy in this region is threatened.At the end of April 2017, the Czech Social Democratic Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka decided to dismiss Andrej Babis, his Finance Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, from his governmental posts. Sobotka has publicly accused Babis of committing fraudulent financial operations.Various international commentators, as far as Croatia or even Pakistan, have praised Sobotka's actions, commenting favourably on what seems to the outside world to be an attempt by the Czech PM to rid Czech politics of corruption. The problem is that the Czech voters are not particularly convinced by Sobotka's actions.





Some context is needed to explain the internal Czech political situation. Andrej Babis is a powerful oligarch who owns most of the Czech food industry and also controls the two most important Czech newspapers, Mlada fronta Dnes and Lidove noviny.



Babis became a serious political player in 2013, as a result of his frustration over the actions of the then right of centre government of Petr Necas, which collapsed in June 2013 amidst serious scandals.



In 2011, Babis entered politics by founding his right of centre, populist "ANO" party and in the general election in October 2013, ANO gained 18.7% of the vote and 47 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, attaining second place behind the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD). A governing coalition of Social Democrats, the catholic party KDU-CSL and ANO was finally formed in January 2014 and has ruled relatively successfully until the present time. The Social Democrats were given the post of Prime Minister, Babis received the posts of Deputy PM and Finance Secretary.



The problem is that Babis is not really a democratic politician. From the very inception, there was a number of conflicts of interest. Babis came to rule the Finance Ministry which at the same time was expected to inspect Babis's enterprises. While assuming a couple of influential political posts, Babis acquired two of the most influential Czech newspapers, apparently dictating to them what they should and should not publish.



Nevertheless, the Czech voters have given Babis a considerable amount of support in recent years. It is not quite clear why Babis should be so popular amongst a large part of the Czech voters, but a Trump-like factor has been probably at play here. Babis speaks in simple, almost inarticulate language (being Slovak, he can hardly speak proper Czech), which seems to work as an anti-dote to the vacous pronouncements by establishment politicians, he declares that he runs the state "like a firm", is hostile to immigrants and refugees and wants to build a border wall against refugees (this is very popular with the Czech public, which is overwhelmingly xenophobic) and makes repeatedly a number of Trump-like pronouncements. He is also supported by the Czech populist extreme right-wing President Milos Zeman.



Sobotka's suddent decision to dismiss Babis has been received with a lot of scepticism and even criticism by both commentators and the general public in the Czech Republic.



The problem is that the popular support of Andrej Babis and his ANO party has been growing steadily. At the moment, ANO is supported by approximately 30 per cent of Czech voters, while electoral support for Sobotka's social democrats is steadily decreasing. The Czech Social Democratic Party is now supported only by some 18-20 per cent of the voters.



A general election is to take place in the Czech Republic in October 2017 and it is widely expected that the Social Democrats will lose and Babis's ANO will win and will be able to form a government without needing a coalition partner.



Within this context, many Czech voters saw Sobotka's decision to dismiss Babis as an act of despair, the aim of which was to try to prevent Babis and his ANO party from winning the general election in the autumn.



While Sobotka was probably right in accusing Andrej Babis of corruption and of shady behaviour, the Czech general public do not find Sobotka's accusations convincing. Babis may well be a bully and a crook, but why is it that Sobotka and his Social Democrats have not been bothered by this until now and have happily ruled the country in cooperation with him for more than three years? Many voters do not understand the technical complexities of the alleged fraudulent financial activities, which Babis is allegedly guilty of, according to Sobotka.



Since Sobotka's decision to get rid of Babis the situation on the Czech political scene has become even more entangled. Vaccilating, Sobotka then decided that he would not sack Babis "because that would turn him into a hero", and announced that his whole government would stand down. However, the Czech President Zeman, who sides with Babis, has decided, quite unconstitutionally, not to cooperate with Sobotka in any of this.



In the meantime, recordings have been published in which Andrej Babis explicitly tells the journalists in his newspapers what to write. These revelations, will probably harm Babis's reputation much more than the accusations of his alleged financial irregularities. Many people were also shocked to see that President Zeman in his blatant attempts to side with Babis and to damage Sobotka and his Social Democrats, was willing to infringe the Czech constitution.



The Czech Republic is not yet suffering by being ruled by an intolerant, authoritarian regime, which is the case in Poland and in Hungary. Nevertheless, it seems to be entering a period of instability and maybe even authoritarian rule, if Babis's ANO wins the general election in the autumn.



It is perhaps disturbing that many Czech voters do not seem to be bothered by the allegations of Babis's allegedly corrupt and illegal practices. However, most Czech voters would probably say that the whole Czech political establishment is corrupt and that both the right wing and the left wing Czech political parties have colluded over many years in creating an unjust political system in which the police and the judiciary does not function properly and the political parties are nothing more but businesses who trade in political influence. So why should the voters suddenly now believe the accusations hurled at Babis by a social democratic PM whose electoral support is quickly dropping?





0
coal-fired power plant, utility

?If you?re tied to coal, you?ve got problems.? ? Warren Buffett.

The Oracle of Omaha is known for his straightforward approach to investing, and it was evident, yet again, at the much awaited 52nd Annual Meeting of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) held this past weekend.

When asked about what role coal will play in Berkshire?s railroad ? Burlington NorthernSanta Fe Corp. (BNSF) ? going forward, Buffett didn?t mince words and echoed what many have feared for some years now: coal will decline over time and being tied to coal now is a problem.

With this latest warning coming the legendary investor himself, investors might want to do a reality check on their portfolios.

Warren Buffett?s take on coal

BNSF Railway ? one of Berkshire?s key businesses ? is among the largest freight railroads in North America. It hauls a large chunk of commodities, like any other railroad. The secular decline in coal has been a major dampener for railroads in recent years, including Canadian National Railway Company (TSX:CNR)(NYSE:CNI) and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP).

Coal mining stocks, however, have bounced back remarkably in the past year or so as prices of commodities, especially coking coal, exploded after Beijing restricted operating days for local miners and industry statistics from China fueled hopes of greater consumption. Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TECK.B)(NYSE:TECK), for instance, is still up about 87% in one year, despite shedding 20% value in just the past three months.

Most railroads, including BNSF, recently reported an uptick in coal shipments; Canadian National reported a solid 39% jump in revenues from coal in Q1 ? the highest growth across all its segments. This has further fueled investors? optimism, but as Buffett put it in BNSF?s context: ?The answer is, coal is going to go down over time. I don?t think there?s any question about that.?

Stocks to avoid, and stocks to buy

I believe Buffett?s bearish views about coal should be a warning signal for investors in coal-heavy companies such as Teck Resources. There?s no denying that coal?s share in the power industry is declining, what with most utilities switching to cleaner energy sources for sustainable revenues going forward. Altagas Ltd. (TSX:ALA) is a fine example; its impending $8.4 billion acquisition of U.S.-based WGL Holdings Inc. will give it a huge headway in natural gas and the broader renewable energy space.

Story continues

That Teck itself got involved in the Fort Hills oil sands to deviate from coal is perhaps the biggest evidence of the threat looming for coal.

Supply-side companies like mining equipment manufacturers and railroads could also take a hit, though investors in Canadian National may be better off than those in Canadian Pacific. The reason is simple: Canadian National derives just about 4% of its freight revenues from coal. Comparatively, Canadian Pacific gets almost 10% of its revenues from coal and may have to find ways to replace those revenues in coming years.

While expressing caution about coal, Buffett also hinted at what he might be interested in instead: renewable energy. That means having stocks like Altagas on your radar could prove more fruitful in the long run than betting on the likes of Teck Resources.

Canada's answer to Amazon.com

You've probably never even heard of this up-and-coming e-commerce powerhouse headquartered in Eastern Ontario...

But, despite coming public just last year, it's already helping the likes of Budweiser... Tesla... Subway... and Red Bull move $9.9 BILLION (and counting) worth of goods online each year.

And now it's caught the eye of the legendary investor who got behind Amazon.com in 1997 -- just before it shot up over 23,000% and made investors like you and me rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Click here to discover why this investor says it's time to buy.

More reading

Fool contributor Neha Chamaria has no position in any stocks mentioned. David Gardner owns shares of Canadian National Railway. The Motley Fool owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Canadian National Railway. Altagas and Canadian National Railway are recommendations of Stock Advisor Canada.



Canada's answer to Amazon.com

You've probably never even heard of this up-and-coming e-commerce powerhouse headquartered in Eastern Ontario...

But, despite coming public just last year, it's already helping the likes of Budweiser... Tesla... Subway... and Red Bull move $9.9 BILLION (and counting) worth of goods online each year.

And now it's caught the eye of the legendary investor who got behind Amazon.com in 1997 -- just before it shot up over 23,000% and made investors like you and me rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Click here to discover why this investor says it's time to buy.

Fool contributor Neha Chamaria has no position in any stocks mentioned. David Gardner owns shares of Canadian National Railway. The Motley Fool owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Canadian National Railway. Altagas and Canadian National Railway are recommendations of Stock Advisor Canada.


TUESDAY, May 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- For children with cancer, watching movies during radiation therapy might eliminate their need for general anesthesia, a new study suggests.

Kid-friendly movies such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Cars" helped reduce the risks, trauma and costs of treatment for kids evaluated in the small European study.

Cancer is rare in children, but those who develop tumors in their brain, bone and other soft tissues may require radiation therapy.

"Being treated with radiotherapy means coming in for a treatment every weekday for four to six weeks. The children need to remain motionless during treatment and, on the whole, that means a general anesthesia. That, in turn, means they have to keep their stomach empty for six hours before the treatment," said study author and radiation therapist Catia Aguas.

"We wanted to see if installing a projector and letting children watch a video of their choice would allow them to keep still enough so that we would not need to give them anesthesia," said Aguas, who is with the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels, Belgium.

Based on this small study, a good movie has a valuable sedating effect.

Twelve children between 18 months and 6 years old underwent radiation treatment for cancer at the Belgian hospital. Half were treated after a video projector was installed in the radiation therapy room.

The researchers noted that 83 percent of the children treated before the video projector was installed needed general anesthesia for their treatment.

After the projector was installed, only 33 percent needed general anesthesia, the study found.

"Since we started using videos, children are a lot less anxious... And once the movie starts it's as though they travel to another world," Aguas said in a news release from the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology.

"'SpongeBob,' 'Cars' and 'Barbie' have been popular movie choices with our patients. Now in our clinic, video has almost completely replaced anesthesia, resulting in reduced treatment times and reduction of stress for the young patients and their families," she added.

Treatments that previously took one hour or more now take around 15 to 20 minutes. The researchers said this is partly because of timed saved by not administering anesthesia, and also because kids who know they'll see videos are more cooperative.

The findings were scheduled for presentation May 8 at the annual meeting of the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology, in Vienna, Austria. Studies presented at meetings are usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute provides more on radiation therapy.
TUESDAY, May 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. women traveling to areas where the Zika virus is circulating might be less likely to be infected than expected, but risk remains, a new study suggests.

Only one out of 185 pregnant women at a Los Angeles clinic who visited an active Zika area between January and August 2016 wound up infected, researchers report.

"Overall, for women who have had exposures to Zika virus, the risk of maternal infection is low," said lead researcher Dr. Rashmi Rao, an obstetrician and gynecologist with the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.

But, the risk of Zika infection "isn't zero, and I want to make that very clear," Rao continued. "Our party line for women remains that we don't recommend they travel to these areas at all, particularly if they are considering pregnancy or are pregnant."

The one woman who contracted Zika developed her infection during a 12-day stay in Honduras, during the early first trimester of her pregnancy, the researchers reported. She tested positive for the virus and did report mosquito bites, but said she hadn't had any symptoms related to Zika infection.

Doctors closely monitored the child she was carrying, but both the child and her amniotic fluid tested negative for Zika. A healthy delivery followed, and at 3 months old the baby shows no sign of Zika-related birth defects.

Rao and her colleagues decided to conduct their investigation to see how much risk pregnant women faced in traveling to Zika-active areas.

Zika has been linked to a number of devastating birth defects, most of them brain-related. The most widely known is microcephaly, in which babies are born with underdeveloped skulls and brains.

During the first eight months of 2016, the UCLA maternity clinic in this study evaluated 185 pregnant women with potential exposure to Zika, the researchers said.

About 17 percent of the women had been exposed to Zika during travel to the active transmission area that occurred in Miami-Dade County in Florida during the summer of 2016, the researchers found.

The other women had been potentially exposed during travel to Mexico (44 percent), the Caribbean (16 percent), South America (13 percent), Central America (9 percent) and Asia (1 percent).

About half the women traveled to a Zika risk area after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its initial travel advisory in February 2016, the researchers said. The advisory warned pregnant Americans to avoid traveling to countries with active Zika infection, and to undergo testing for potential birth defects regardless of whether they exhibited any symptoms.

Two-thirds of the women reported mosquito bites, but only 1 in 10 said they developed any symptoms that might suggest Zika infection. Symptoms generally are very mild, and 4 out of 5 people don't even notice they've been infected, the CDC has said.

The findings were published in the June issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The low infection risk found in this study reflects the brief time each woman spent in Zika regions, Rao noted. Not every mosquito carries Zika; generally, transmission occurs after a mosquito has bitten an infected person.

"It's just a numbers game," Rao said. "They're not there long enough to get bitten by a mosquito with the Zika virus."

Rao said she would expect the risk to be much higher for women living in an active Zika transmission area who are constantly exposed to mosquito bites.

Dr. Amesh Adalja is a senior associate with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. He said the new study "provides an important example for how clinical behavior will need to adapt to the ongoing threat of Zika."

"As the virus continues to pose risks to pregnant women, aggressive diagnostic testing will be required in order to identify cases and advise pregnant women regarding fetal risk," Adalja said. "Protocols for screening pregnant women for potential Zika exposure should become the norm."

More information

For more on Zika, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



Editor detained at courthouse

Police in Istanbuls Caglayan Courthouse today detained Caglar Ozbilgin, an editor for the leftist news website sendika.org, his employer reported. Ozbilgin was there to attend a hearing of his trial on charges of insulting the president, but police detained him for a separate criminal investigation into him on suspicion of provoking the people to hatred and animosity, according to sendika.org. Ozbilgin was still detained in the courthouse at the time of writing.

Opposition party asks regulator to remove head of state broadcaster

The pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), which campaigned against the April referendum on constitutional amendments increasing the powers of the presidency, asked the High Council of Radio and Television (RTUK) to remove the director of the state broadcaster, TRT, on the grounds that the HDP and others opposed the amendments were allowed no airtime to present their case, the daily Evrensel reported.

The HDP said that its analysis of TRTs coverage showed that 94 percent of the broadcasters live coverage was in support of the Yes campaign. Fifty out of the broadcasters 52 political talk shows featured only guests who supported the Yes vote only, the HDP said in its petition, according to Evrensel.

The laws governing the TRT require that it be politically impartial.

TV journalist briefly detained at airport

Police in Istanbuls Sabiha Gokcen Airport last night detained Nevin Yldz, the former responsible news editor for the shuttered broadcaster Channel TV10, as she returned from Germany with her children, the daily newspaper Evrensel reported. The journalist was transferred to the Bakrkoy Courthouse, a judge merged the ongoing criminal cases against her for her time as the channels responsible news editora post that made her legally liable for all the channels coverage before the government closed it by decree in September 2016and released her pending the conclusion of her trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 18, 2017, according to Evrensel.

TV10 catered to an audience from Turkeys Alevi sect of Islam, the countrys largest religious minority.

Jailed journalist petitions European Court of Human Rights

Lawyers for jailed author and Cumhuriyet journalist Ahmet Sk petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to rule for his release, Cumhuriyet reported today. In their petition, the lawyers noted that Turkeys Constitutional Court had taken no action on their three-and-a-half-month-old petition asking that court to release him, according to the newspaper. Police arrested Sk in December in relation to his activity on social media, CPJ reported at the time.

[May 11, 2017]

French photographer detained

Police on May 8 detained Mathias Depardon, a French documentary photographer, in the historic Hasankeyf district of the southeastern Turkish province of Batman, according to media reports yesterday. Police approached Depardon as he photographed the area, which is expected to be flooded after the construction of a dam.

Police inspected his cameras and social media accounts and detained him for making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization because of four pictures he had published three years ago, according to the reports. Police initially called the Directorate General of Migration Management to take custody of the photographer, but the directorate refused, saying they did not have jurisdiction. Police then arranged a hotel room for him, but prevented him from leaving until he was transferred to the Direcorates Removal Center in Gaziantep.

Court denies journalists petition to be released pending trial

Istanbuls 13th Court for Serious Crimes today denied Mehmet Baransus request that he be freed pending the conclusion of his trial on charges of founding and running a terrorist organization. CPJ attended the trial as an observer.

Baransu, a former journalist with the shuttered Taraf newspaper, faces the charges in connection with an alleged, elaborate conspiracy codenamed Sledgehammer.

In 2010, the daily published a series of articles alleging that Turkish military officers were planning to bomb mosques in the country and to shoot down a Turkish warplane in order to spark conflict with Greece and destabilize the newly elected Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

At his hearing today, Baransu said that he did not have enough opportunity to prepare his defense in prison, and that he could not access documents he needed. Prosecutors agreed, but asked that he be detained pending the conclusion of his trial, which is scheduled to resume on September 13.

[May 10, 2017]

Cumhuriyet reporter given suspended sentence

An Istanbul court on May 9 sentenced Canan Coskun, a reporter for the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, to a suspended 10-month prison sentence for insulting the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), the online newspaper T24 reported. Coskun will remain free unless she repeats the offense she was convicted of in the next five years. The 2nd Istanbul Court of First Instance found her guilty over a headline on a May 2016 Cumhuriyet story. The report was on an indictment about the MIT allegedly smuggling explosives to Syria with trucks apparently loaded with onions. The court ruled that Coskuns story  Traces of the MIT at the Onion Truck  insulted the institutions of the state under Turkeys penal code 301. Coskuns lawyer, Abbas Yalcn told the court in his closing argument that the story was a standard court report and both the lawyer and Coskun asked for the journalist to be acquitted.

[May 9, 2017]

Bursa Muhalif editor accused of making terrorist propaganda

A court has accused Ozan Kaplanoglu, an editor for Bursa Muhalif, a local news website in the western province of Bursa, of making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization via social media, the daily Evrensel reported on May 6. CPJ documented Kaplanoglus arrest May 5.

Halkn Sesi journalists handed suspended sentence

An Istanbul court on May 5 sentenced Ali Engin Demirhan, an editor for the leftist online newspaper Sendika and a news editor for Halkn Sesi, to a suspended 15-month prison sentence for making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization, Sendika reported. Demirhan will remain free unless he repeats the offense he was convicted of in the next five years. The court found the journalist guilty due to Halkn Sesis coverage of clashes between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces. The court cited a December 2015 report in Halkn that referred to the state as a murderer because of civilian losses during the clashes, according to the Sendika report.

[May 8, 2017]
NOC, IOC considering running gas stations

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will be exploring the possibility of operating gasoline stations and gas plants in Nepal as a joint venture.
Judge Wendell Griffen

Arkansas had initially planned to execute eight men over 11 days during the month of April, but several of the executions were blocked by the courts.





One of the judges who blocked the states efforts is now facing calls to be impeached.





On April 14, state Judge Wendell Griffen issued a temporary restraining order that effectively halted six of the executions over concerns the state used false pretenses to obtain a key drug slated to be used in the executions.





Following his ruling, Judge Griffen took part in an anti-death penalty protest outside the Governors Mansion organized by his church to mark Good Friday.





In addition to being a judge, Griffen is an ordained Baptist minister.





Calls for Wendell Griffens impeachment began soon after photographs from the vigil appeared in the press showing him lying down on a cot with his hands bound together as though he were a condemned man on a gurney.





In his first national television interview, Wendell Griffen speaks to Democracy Now!





JUDGE WENDELL GRIFFEN: First of all, let me correct the narrative. The case in which I ruled was not a death penalty case. The case involved a complaint by a distributor of a pharmaceutical product, a drug, that hadthat drug obtained by the Arkansas Department of Corrections under false pretenses. The drug was obtained, and the distributor sought to get the drug back. The distributor filed a motion for a temporary restraining order on Good Friday, the afternoon of Good Friday, shortly before I was going to attend a prayer vigil that our congregation had scheduled in front of the Governors Mansion. Based on the law that governs contracts and propertybasically, property lawI found that the distributor had a case and that the distributors chance of having its property returned was likely to be destroyed, unless I entered temporary restraining order. I entered the temporary restraining order, went to the prayer vigil, and the ruling was incorrectly reported as a ruling as blocking executions. Actually, the effect of the temporary restraining order was to simply hold the status quo, to simply say to everybody, "Listen, do not dispose of this drug until we can get all of the parties before me and we can sort this out, whether or not the Department of Corrections correctly has the right to hold this drug, or whether or not this drug in fact was wrongly obtained." The evidence before me showed it was wrongly obtained. And so I did what I was supposed to do.





Now, I also went to theI also went to the prayer vigil. Thats what Im supposed to do. Im a pastor. Good Friday is the religious holiday before Easter when followers of Jesus commemorate the death of Jesus. Our congregation had planned to have our Good Friday observance in front of the Governors Mansion before this motion was submitted to me. And so, as a pastor, as a follower of Jesus, I went to the Good Friday prayer vigil. And as a follower of Jesus, in solidarity with the religion of Jesus, I lay on a cot to show my solidarity with Jesus, who was a condemned man, condemned by the Roman Empire to death. And so thats what happened.





JUAN GONZALEZ: Judge Griffen, were you surprised by the firestorm that followed your participation in that vigil, and the calls for your impeachment?





JUDGE WENDELL GRIFFEN: I was surprised that there was such a refusal to even ask about the facts. The case, as I mentioned earlier, was not a death penalty case. It was a case about the return of wrongfully obtained property. I was surprised that people did not understand that no matter what my views are on the death penalty, the law on the right to get your property back is the law on getting your property back. And no matter who the judge is, that law has to be followed. As a matter of fact, after the Arkansas Supreme Court removed me from the case, the judge who took that case after me heard the same case, heard the same facts and ruled the same way. So, the issue is not what ones view is or what people want ones view to be about capital punishment. The issue is whether or not a judge will follow the law regardless of how he or she feels about an issue. I did that. Now, what surprised me is that people who claim to believe in the integrity of judiciary and judicial independence now somehow believe that judicial independence is a threat, so that they believe that judges who follow the law should be impeached. That surprises me. And really, it disappoints me.



AMY GOODMAN: And, Judge Griffen, state Senator Trent Garner questioned whether your views on the death penalty threaten your ability to be fair and impartial as a judge.



JUDGE WENDELL GRIFFEN: Lets talk about the scene. First of all, members of our congregation were present at the Governors Mansion. There were also other persons present, other persons who were protesting the death penalty. They all had a right to be there. Our congregation had no right to chase off other people. And other people had no right to expect that our congregation would not be present. And, in fact, our congregation led the protesters in singing "This Little Light of Mine" and "Amazing Grace." Those are songs of our faith. And so, we did, as the followers of Jesus congregation, what we had a right to do. And as a judge, I did what I had a right to do as a citizen, by practicing my faith. Thats not disgraceful. Thats American. Thats democratic. We believe, because of the First Amendment, that every person has the right to live out his or her conscience. As a judge, I have an obligation to follow the law. That means that when a case comes before me, I have an obligation, as a judge, to apply the law that applies to that state, no matter what my personal views may be on an issue. It is not disgraceful for a judge to have views one way or the other way about capital punishment or anything else. It is not disgraceful for a judge who holds views to hold those views and decide cases involving those issues. What is inappropriate is for people to believe that when a judge decides a case according to the law, he or she should somehow be suspected as not being faithful to the law simply because he or she is faithful to their faith.





 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Source: Democracy Now!, May 8, 2017
Opposition MHP calls on AKP gov't to swiftly reinstate death penalty





Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli has issued a strong call to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to swiftly reinstitute the death penalty amid warnings from the European Union.





"Once again I declare my determination. The MHP is present with its full power for a proposal or a draft that will be prepared and accepted in parliament after discussions regarding the imposition of the death penalty," Bahceli said in a parliamentary group meeting on May 9. "It is waiting for this issue to be closed swiftly."





The reinstitution of the death penalty was brought to the agenda repeatedly ahead of the April 16 constitutional referendum, particularly by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who promised to approve any constitutional amendment that would bring back capital punishment. Erdogan said the people were demanding the penalty from the government, especially after the July 2016 coup attempt.





"Is the death penalty a social demand? Yes. Will the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) support it? Yes. Will the president approve it if the law is conveyed to him? That is a 'yes' too. Then we should not wait, sing in someone else's tone or be late. Instead, we should show what Turkey is and will be by declaring to everybody her independence," he said, eliciting applause from party members in the group meeting.





The death penalty has not been implemented since 1984, while Turkey formally abolished capital punishment in 2004 as part of reforms to ease Turkey's accession to the European Union.





European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in March that any return of the death penalty in Turkey would be a "red line" in the country's stalled EU membership bid.





Bahceli criticized Europe's position on the issue.









"So much so that they argue and state that capital punishment is against all the values of European countries. So, is it a part of European values to give support to terrorist organizations?" he said.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Source: Hurriyet Daily News, May 9, 2017
At the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) annual meeting on Saturday, vice chair Charlie Munger said he liked the Chinese stock market better than the U.S.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer, Munger expanded on this idea and, in doing so, outlined quite simply why you  the average investor  will never be Charlie Munger.

One of the things we got into [in China] was the Shanghai airport, the main airport in China, with no debt net, Munger said. How can you lose owning the main airport in China?

When asked how one gets into that kind of investing opportunity, Munger said, I have a very nice young Chinese-American who helps me. He speaks the language and goes over there all the time It takes extra work. But why should it be easy to get rich?

Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munger.

So there you have it: as long as you already have millions in the bank  Mungers net worth is estimated at $1.4 billion  and personal connections to invest not in publicly-traded securities markets but private entities backing physical infrastructure in the worlds second-largest economy, youre all set.

And while the Berkshire annual meeting is popular because listening to Warren Buffett and Munger opine on investing, business, and life is a learning experience in itself, too often their success is viewed as something repeatable or worth realistically aspiring to.

This year, Buffett talked at length about how most investors are better served in low-cost index funds rather than high-fee hedge fund investments. Buffett also explicitly praised Vanguard founder Jack Bogle for making this possible for most investors.

Now, there are no doubt many Buffett disciples and meeting attendees who believe they are the exception and will one day replicate the success of Buffett and Munger by emulating their strategies. No doubt, some will.

But if theres a message Buffett made explicitly on Saturday and Munger made implicitly when talking about China, it is that their success is both the combination of good judgement and good luck. Neither can be counted on.

Story continues

I think a shrewd person can find more bargain stocks in China than he can find in the United States, Munger said. Thats all. Thats all I meant. It was a happier hunting ground for the value investor.

I didnt say it was easy, Munger added. But if you work at it, you can find more [attractive investment opportunities]. And better.



Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland

More on Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway:
A year after announcing a big bet on Amazon, Silicon Valley investor Chamath Palihapitiya returned to the Sohn Investment Conference Monday with what he called a more controversial pick: Tesla.

Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist turned hedge fund manager who is also a former Facebook executive, has built up some credibility since his first appearance last year at the conference, which benefits pediatric disease research: Amazon stock is up some 34% in the meantime.

In typical VC fashion, Palihapitiya, founder and CEO of Social Capital, said he is looking for his next opportunity to get a 10x return in 10 years, akin to what Amazon amzn has delivered for shareholders. And he acknowledged that investors attending the hedge fund conference at Lincoln Center in New York, were likely to be skeptical that Tesla tsla could be that 10-bagger.

Half the people in this room probably think its one of the best companies in the world, and the other half probably think its something close to either a fraud or bankrupt, Palihapitiya said. The crowd audibly murmured when he confirmed that the company were talking about today is Tesla.

To say that Teslas stock is a contentious issue for investors is an understatement. A sizable contingent of hedge fund managers are shorting Tesla, or betting that its share price will fall, including some who have also presented on stage at the Sohn Conference, including famed short-seller Jim Chanos of Kynikos Associates, who has called Tesla the anti-Amazon. Even the electric car makers CEO, Elon Musk, has weighed in on the debate more than once, trolling short-sellers on Twitter recently when Tesla stock rose.

The problem, Palihapitiya said, is that Tesla, with its pursuit of unprecedented technological advances from its Gigafactory to Musks other side endeavors including his tunnel-digging boring company and Neuralink, defies understanding and traditional investment valuation methods. We took the good, we took the bad, we took the ugly and we tried to model the business. What we found was insightful: That its absolutely un-modelable, Palihapitiya said. Anyone who recommends going long or short Tesla, he added, is completely making it up.

Story continues

Instead, he looked for a historical analog, and made a discovery: What we do know is that the early trajectory of Tesla is really close to the early trajectory of Apple, he said.

Apple was once a marginal player in the personal computer market, an underdog next to IBM and others, and a company that many investors believed would never be a dominant force in any type of technology. But the Apple iPhone changed everything, Palihapitiya explained, allowing Steve Jobss company to quickly lay claim to the lions share of the fragmented cellphone market, expand into other products such as the iPad, and generate massive profits as their competitors were forced to discount their own products. What Apple did was create a tailwind of demand, Palihapitiya said. Now lets ask ourselves, is Tesla running the same playbook?

Teslas electric cars and other new-of-their-kind inventions may very well do what the iPhone did for Apple, he said. The point is, theres a lot of other things that are in the offing here that we dont even know about, he said. Already, Tesla is developing what I think is probably the single most impressive advancement in software and sensors: autopilot, he saidan option for Tesla cars that is so profitable it has a 100% gross margin.

The bear case, of course, is that Elon Musk wont be able to bring his many futuristic ideas to fruition, or that the execution will be so expensive that Tesla will run out of money first. If theres one thing we can agree on, whether we agree with the strategy or not, Palihapitiya admitted, [its] that this is an incredibly capital-intensive endeavor.

Those caveats make Tesla stock particularly volatile and risky, so Palihapitiya isnt investing in it the usual way. Its very difficult, from our perspective, to be naked long or naked short the stock, he said. What hes buying instead: Tesla convertible bonds for the year 2022.

Convertible bonds are securities that pay interest, but give the bondholders the right to convert them to equity shares; theyre basically a way to bet on the growth potential of a company without taking the risk of buying common shares. Investing in the bonds means that as long as Tesla is worth about a quarter of its current value, Were guaranteed not to lose money, Palihapitiya explained. If nothing else, Teslas underlying assets are likely to be worth at least $15 billion, the floor at which Palihapitiya would just break even. Even if the equity goes entirely to zero were protected, he said.

Still, Palihapitiya thinks its likely that hell do much, much better than that. Tesla, he expects, will eventually represent 5% of the world automobile market. If Porsche or BMW are any guide, he explained, that means in 10 years Tesla could be worth more than seven times its current value, or about $336 billion. The Tesla convertible bonds allow him to capitalize on the stock opportunity too. On the off-chance that this guy pulls it off, we get 95-plus percent of the upside, he said. (Palihapitiyas presentation did not move Teslas stock price, which ended the day slightly down.)

Essentially, he sees Elon Musk as a lottery ticket: While were trying to figure out how to get an Uber to Lincoln Center, hes trying to figure out how to get a rocket to space, Palihapitiya said. Its worth investing in Tesla, he concluded, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a man we think is our generations Thomas Edison.
Notorious gangster Chakre Milan arrested

Police have arrested notorious gangster Milan Gurung (Chakre Milan) from the Capital on Tuesday.
Ferrari 812 Superfast

Ferrari's strong first quarter earnings and its plan to grow its stable of models have analysts bullish on where the auto company's stock is heading.

Morgan Stanley analysts raised Ferrari's price target from $72 to $100 following a first quarter in which the Italian auto manufacturer increased its shipments by 6.4% and net revenue by 21.5% YoY.

And Ferrari is encroaching on Tesla's turf. The Morgan Stanley analysts, who have been especially bullish on Tesla, have now moved Ferrari ahead of Elon Musk's company in their pecking order of stock picks. Ferrari, meanwhile, is targeting electric vehicles as a potential growth area.

With a full order pipeline for the next 12 months, Ferrari is projecting a total of 8,400 shipments in 2017. But the auto company is looking to increase yearly shipments above the 10,000 mark. Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne was short on details in the Ferrari's earnings call, but expressed confidence in his company's ability to reach that goal.

"Yes, it's going to go beyond 10 [thousand]," said Marchionne. "How that takes form is something that is now being analyzed in detail."

Marchionne made clear that protecting Ferrari's share of the sportscar market along with introducing new innovations  in particular, electric vehicles  would push the Italian auto maker beyond the 10,000 mark.

"I think that there is now a view inside the house that electrification is a core skill that needs to be mastered and needs to be part of the offering of the combustion engine world," said Marchionne.

Morgan Stanley analysts apparently share Marchionne's optimism.

A Morgan Stanley note saw the increased price of Ferrari's stock as justified when accounting for "the introduction of an all new model that we anticipate will reasonably expand the top line by approximately 30% and profitability by more than 40% by late 2020/early 2021."

NOW WATCH: HBS professor on Wells Fargo: 'Clawbacks are nice but they're not really solving the problem in a deep way'





More From Business Insider


FILE PHOTO - Newly named National Security Adviser Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster listens as U.S. President Donald Trump makes the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida U.S. February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

President Donald Trump has repeatedly clashed with his national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, in front of his staff, according to a column by Eli Lake at Bloomberg published Monday.

The three-star Army general increasingly is being sidelined in favor of other advisers because Trump has become "disillusioned" with him, according to Lake. Three White House officials told Lake the president was "livid" after McMaster called his South Korean counterpart to assure him that Trump's threat to make Seoul pay for the advanced THAAD missile defense system was not official policy.

Trump also has said in front of McMaster that he is "undermining my policy," according to two White House officials who spoke with Lake.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. However, Bloomberg received a statement from Trump that said: "I couldn't be happier with H.R. He's doing a terrific job."

McMaster received plenty of praise when he was tapped to replace retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser. Many pundits said his strategic expertise, doctoral education, heroism during Operation Desert Storm, and respect among the rank-and-file would be good news for Trump's National Security Council.

But as I noted in February, McMaster is not known to be a yes man, which may be rubbing Trump the wrong way:

"McMaster is the kind of guy who says what's on his mind and will call out a wrongheaded approach when he sees one. That tendency is something that junior officers love, but those maverick ways are not well-received by some of his fellow generals. Put simply: McMaster isn't a political guy, unlike other officers who are trying to jockey for position and move up in their careers.

"In 2003, for example, McMaster criticized then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Iraq War plan that placed too much of an emphasis on technology. McMaster also pushed back on his boss' refusal to admit an insurgency was starting to take hold in 2004.

Story continues

"He has been held back in his career because of it  he was passed over two times for his first star  but it wasn't because of incompetence. Instead, his fight to be promoted from colonel to brigadier general was seen as pure politics, and McMaster doesn't like to play. He was eventually promoted in 2008, but that hasn't made him any less outspoken."

For now, McMaster's standing in the White House seems to be a "he said, she said" situation  though it's worth noting that the White House was publicly praising Flynn's performance hours before he was asked to resign.



I worry this reporting is accurate. This White House sounds like a damn pit of vipers. https://t.co/5GYo6bJOzF

 Andrew Exum (@ExumAM) May 8, 2017

Related:

NOW WATCH: This animated map shows how World War I changed Europe's borders



More From Business Insider
Oil producers suggested on Monday that they're making progress toward extending output cuts that have propped up the market, but the bullish signals had a limited impact on crude prices.

Oil prices bounced in early morning trade after the Saudi energy minister said he expected a six-month deal to limit production would be extended through 2017 and possibly into next year. Russia, the biggest contributor to cuts by 11 non-OPEC members, also said it was holding talks about extending the accord.

After losing some steam, futures once again rallied after Kuwait's energy minister made similar comments just before 9 a.m. ET.

But that rebound also failed to hold amid ongoing concerns about U.S. crude supply and stockpile levels. International benchmark Brent (Intercontinental Exchange Europe: @LCO.1) and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (New York Mercantile Exchange: @CL.1) crude both fell to session lows below $49 and $46 a barrel, respectively. WTI ultimately eked out a gain of 21 cents, or about 0.5 percent, on the day.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other exporters agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels a day late last year in order to shrink brimming global crude stockpiles. With inventories still elevated, the group is under pressure to prolong  and possibly deepen  the output cuts when it meets on May 25.

The market was simply not impressed with Monday's pronouncements and has now fallen into a cycle of selling, said long-time oil bear John Kilduff, a partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital.

"We're five months into this deal, almost six, and we're just not seeing a whole lot of progress being made. They're just out of bullets verbally and in actuality," he told CNBC.

"This is the biggest failure of their verbal interventions since last November" when OPEC agreed to cut output, Kilduff said, referring to the group's attempts to talk up oil prices.

Story continues

While compliance with the deal among OPEC members has been historically high, exports have not fallen in lockstep with production, limiting the accord's impact, ClipperData Director of Commodity Research Matt Smith told CNBC on Friday.

Oil prices have fallen for three straight weeks on signs that oil production is rising in the United States and Libya. The losses accelerated last week as crude prices fell through technical levels, sparking a flash crash that brought WTI to a nearly six-month low of $43.76.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at trading firm ThinkMarkets, said the bounce in oil prices earlier on Monday was largely due to technical signals, as oil prices fell into oversold territory, meaning they were trading below their true value.

"In order for us to have any faith in the current upward move, we need to see the price breaking the level of 48.32 and also its 200-day moving average," he wrote in a research note. "As long as we are staying below the 200-day moving average, we think the floor is open towards the downside and we may test the support at 42.18."

To be sure, many market watchers  including billionaire oilman Harold Hamm  think the cuts will be more effective once the summer driving season ramps up, though concerns have emerged lately about weak gasoline demand .

Watch: Slowing oil demand in Asia





More From CNBC


The much-anticipated testimony of former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper before the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed a huge gulf between the way Republican members of the committee are approaching an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

It was the Democratic Party of 2016 that were the victims, said subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at the outset of the hearing, trying to strike a bipartisan tone. It could be the Republican Party in the future. When one party is attacked, all of us should feel an attack. There should be an Article 5 agreement between both major parties that when a foreign power interferes in our election, it doesnt matter who they targeted, were all in the same boat.

Related: Looks Like Flynn Is Manipulating Trump on Russia. Wheres His Pink Slip?

(Article 5 is the provision in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization charter that compels all signatories to come to the aid of another if it is attacked.)

Similarly, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse sought to steer the conversation toward a forward-looking investigation of how to prevent future interference with the elections and the federal government at large rather than allow the conversation to descend into what he described as shirts versus skins battles over the 2016 election.

But not all the GOP members of the panel felt the same way, with the two senators from Texas going out of their way to suggest that Yates, a 27-year career veteran of the Justice Department, was simply a partisan out to damage the Trump administration.

The hearing was the committees first opportunity to hear from Yates, a temporary holdover from the Obama administration who was fired by President Trump after she refused to allow Department of Justice attorneys to defend an executive order banning citizens of a number of majority-Muslim countries from coming to the US. It was that -- and other unrelated matters -- that consumed the attention of other Republicans on the panel.

Story continues

Related: With Flynn Out, Trump Faces Pressing Questions About National Security

To the surprise of many, Sen. Ted Cruz began his questions not by asking about anything relevant to the topic of Russian interference in the election, but by dredging up the Hillary Clinton email scandal from 2015. He demanded that Clapper answers multiple questions about the former Democratic presidential nominees use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state, trying to get the former DNI to say that Clinton ought to have faced criminal charges.

When Cruz finally turned to Yates, he spent most of his allotted time criticizing her decision on the travel ban. Yates insisted that she had acted in good faith when she overruled an Office of Legal Counsel decision finding that, in at least limited cases, the executive order was lawful.

Cruz was unmoved, asking, In the over 200 years of the Department of Justice history, are you aware of any instance in which the Department of Justice has formally approved the legality of a policy, and three days later the attorney general has directed the department not to follow that policy and to defy that policy?

Im not, Yates replied, But Im also not aware of a situation where the Office of Legal Counsel was advised not to tell the attorney general about it until after it was over.

Related: Another Strike Against National Security Adviser Michael Flynn

The executive order was drafted in remarkable secrecy, with few people outside the inner circle of the White House aware of its contents, but Cruz said that perhaps Yates had not been advised of its contents because she was suspected of partisanship.

Cruzs fellow Texan, John Cornyn, also berated Yates for her decision, complaining that she had disappointed him. Others stayed closer to the hearings stated topic -- Russian interference in the election.

It was Yates who, on January 26, requested a meeting with White House Counsel Don McGahn to inform him that retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, then serving as Trumps National Security Adviser, had misled other members of the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. The FBI knew this because Flynns contact with the ambassador were uncovered as part of an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Yates said that the FBI was aware of conduct by Flynn that she called problematic in itself but took action after it became clear to the leadership at DOJ that he was actively misleading others in the administration about his activities.

Related: Heres the Real Puzzle About the Trump-Russia Connection

Flynn was allowed to remain in his position as National Security Adviser for 18 days after the White House was advised of his conduct, even though the Justice Department made it plain that they were concerned that he was subject to blackmail by Russian intelligence services.

The reason why Flynns conduct is of interest to the committee is because part of the investigation into what influence Russia had on the election is concerned with whether there was any collusion between associates of President Trump and Russian intelligence officials.

It was a topic Graham tried to dispense with immediately after questioning began, asking both witnesses whether they were aware of any evidence suggesting that Trump or members of his administration had colluded with Russia during the election campaign. Clapper said that he was not. Yates said that she could not answer that question without revealing classified information, but added that her refusal shouldnt be taken as suggesting that the answer was yes.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
The media situation in Central Asia, generally, has been bad for many years now.

But, according to recent reports by the Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and New York-based group Freedom House, the situation with media in Central Asia actually got even worse in 2016.

It was not only the "usual" Central Asian countries -- Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- that received low marks in the two groups' annual reports. The lowered ratings for Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and even Kyrgyzstan indicated that all three were increasing pressure on nonstate sources of information.

What just happened and why? Is this a new trend in Central Asia -- policies that strangle independent media?

To try to answer these questions and look at other aspects of government moves against the news organizations and the Internet, RFE/RL assembled a Majlis, or panel, to discuss events concerning the media in Central Asia in recent months.

Moderating the discussion was RFE/RL's Media Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir. We were fortunate to have people who played key roles in preparing the two reports mentioned above. From Paris, the Majlis was joined by Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. And the project director of Freedom House's annual rights report Nations In Transit, Nate Schenkkan took part from New York (Nate also hosts the Central Asianist podcast, which we at the Majlis highly recommend to everyone]. I have a connection to media in Central Asia, so I participated also.

Bihr started the discussion out by noting that "the situation with press freedom across all Central Asia in general has further deteriorated."

Control Habit

The situation for media in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan has worsened significantly.

The Majlis session came the day after it was reported that 20 journalists had fled Tajikistan recently to escape the government's tightening grip on media.

Bihr spoke about the "increasing habit of trying to control the Internet across Central Asia" and recalled, "In May last year, when Kazakhstan was marked by huge protests, the authorities were quick to make Facebook, Twitter, VKontakte, WhatsApp, etc. unavailable, which obviously prevented the free flow of information."

"Such kind of 'progress' also has been made in Tajikistan," he added.

Schenkkan said, "We actually see kind of a mixed strategy in [Central Asian] countries, particularly in Kazakhstan I would say, where defamation and libel suits have had a role for quite a while, in addition to some of those more aggressive tactics like imprisonment."

Bihr saw a key similarity in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan that might partially explain why those two countries have recently been putting so much pressure on nonstate media. "Both in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan we can say that aging leaders are in power and succession wars have already started behind the curtains, this is clearly a factor of stress for the political life and press freedom in these countries."

Libel, Defamation Suits

Using the court system to shut down media that is critical of the authorities is nothing new. Schenkkan spoke about some of the independent media outlets in Kazakhstan that are "constantly subject to different kinds of libel and defamation suits."

And Schenkkan said, "I think [Kyrgyzstan's president Almazbek] Atambaev is picking up on that."

More than a dozen lawsuits have been initiated against independent media outlets in Kyrgyzstan recently.

According to Bihr, "the increasingly defiant speech of President Atambaev in Kyrgyzstan has been very worrying with very harsh words being pronounced [against journalists and media outlets]."

Both Bihr and Schenkkan pointed out the leadership change in Uzbekistan offers some small hope for an improvement in that country.

"The replacement of President [Islam] Karimov by President [Shavkat] Mirziyaev in Uzbekistan indeed raises hopes due to what appears to be increased pragmatism of the regime," Bihr explained.

Schenkkan agreed "there's been this wave of expectations after Karimov's death in August and a lot of attention to whether there could be some kind of thaw in Uzbekistan."

But they said Uzbekistan remained near the bottom of these most recent rankings by both their organizations, because their recent reports dealt with events during 2016.

Encouraging signs such as the release from prison of Uzbek independent journalist Muhammad Bekjonov, one of the longest imprisoned journalists in the world, in late February this year were not factored into the RSF and Freedom House reports that have just been issued.

Lack Of Leverage

Turkmenistan also stayed near the bottom of both lists, but there was no room for optimism from any of the panelists that the media situation could improve there.

Schenkkan said the very sparse information that can be gleaned from Turkmenistan kept that country from being at the very bottom of the Freedom House rankings. "You have a hundred-point scale," Schenkkan said, and added "we're at 98 on Turkmenistan right now."

The possibilities for convincing governments in Central Asia to ease their media policies are limited. "There are not so many powers that have some leverage on Central Asian countries," Bihr said.

Bihr noted, "The European Union is continuing talks with Kazakhstan, for instance, about enhanced partnership agreements despite the fact the previous partnership agreement included some clear human rights conditions that were never fulfilled by Kazakhstan."

In the United States, President Donald Trump's administration has so far not sent any strong signals that it would press Central Asian governments on rights issues.

Schenkkan said, "I think there's no question but that the leaders in the [Central Asian] region have decided that they can go after the press pretty much as hard as they want and that there's practically no consequences, and that includes internationally."

Schenkkan added that Central Asian governments should be cautious in their treatment of independent media. Having only state media carries inherent risks for governments such as those in Central Asia.

"They [the Central Asian governments] still can't hide what's happening in terms of economics, in terms of politics," Schenkkan explained, and warned "it's dangerous for there to grow too large a gap between what you tell people [is] happening and what's actually happening."

The Majlis panelists had much more to say on these topics and other matters concerning the plight of the media in Central Asia.

An audio recording of the session can be heard here:

Listen to or download the Majlis podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.
Economic sentiment in South Africa declines to seven-year low

JOHANNESBURG, 9 May 2017 - YPO, the premier chief executive leadership organisation in the world, reported today that confidence among business leaders in Africa remained relatively unchanged in the first quarter of 2017 (1Q 2017). The YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index for Africa edged down for the second consecutive quarter, falling 0.3 point to 54.4.

Once again, African chief executives are among the least confident in the world, trailing their counterparts in every other region, with the exception of non-EU Europe, and far behind the Index's global composite score of 62.5.

While there was little change in the overall score for Africa, there were marked shifts in sentiment within the region's major economies. South Africa, which has the highest weighting in the region, dropped 5.1 points from 60.2 to 55.1, its lowest level since July 2009. Meanwhile, confidence in Kenya dropped 1.0 point from 52.2 to 51.2, its lowest level since October 2015.

Nigeria saw a significant improvement in outlook, jumping 12.7 points from 41.9 to 54.6, its highest level since October 2014. Zimbabwe also reported a more positive outlook, climbing 3.0 points from 42.7 to 45.7, although at this level it remains in deeply pessimistic territory.

"Business leaders in Africa are unsurprisingly concerned about the economic climate, both within the region and at a global level. With increased socio-political uncertainty in virtually every region in the world, the mood is likely to remain subdued in the second half of this year", said YPO member, Loic Potjes, a Director at Securitas SA and Founder of Disruptive Leap, "Chief executives will remain extremely watchful in the coming months, closely monitoring economic indicators and looking to minimise risk as much as possible."

Globally, the YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index edged up 0.3 point to 62.5 during the quarter under review, its highest level since January 2015. For the second consecutive quarter, the United States reported the highest level of confidence in the world, inching up 0.3 point from 64.6 to 64.9. Confidence in the European Union (EU) remained flat at 60.9, whilst Asia climbed 2.1 points from 61.2 to 63.3, its highest level since April 2015. Elsewhere, confidence in Latin America dropped 1.2 points to 57.1, while confidence in the Middle East and North Africa slumped 4.3 points from 59.5 to 55.2. Non-EU Europe reported the lowest level of confidence in the world, falling 2.5 points from 54.3 to 51.8.

Key findings in Africa

Economic conditions deteriorating

When asked to comment on how current business and economic conditions in Africa have changed over the last six months, African chief executives reported a worsening situation. More than half (55%) stated conditions had deteriorated in the previous six months, versus only 23% who reported an improvement.

Looking ahead to the next six months, more than a third (37%) of business leaders expected the economic climate to decline further, against 29% who believed conditions would improve.

Chief executives still positive about prospects for growth in next 12 months

Despite their concerns over the general economic conditions in the region, business leaders in Africa remained optimistic about the short-term prospects for their own organisations.

The YPO Sales Confidence Index for Africa climbed 2.9 points to 63.9. Almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents expected to increase turnover within their organization in the next 12 months, up from 54% in the final quarter of 2016. Only 12% of chief executives predicted a decline in revenues, versus 15% in the previous quarter.

The YPO Employment Confidence Index remained unchanged at 53.7. The majority of chief executives (59%) reported that staff headcount was likely to stay flat in the next 12 months, whilst almost a third (31%) expected to increase hiring and 10% expected their workforce to shrink.

The YPO Fixed Investment Index edged down 0.3 point to 57.3, its lowest level for a year. More than a third of the participants (38%) predicted an increase in fixed investment in 2017, whereas only 11% expected to cut investment levels.

YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index

The quarterly electronic survey, conducted in the first two weeks of April 2017, gathered answers from 1,216 YPO chief executive officers across the globe, including 143 in Africa. Visit www.ypo.org/globalpulse for more information about the survey methodology and to view the results from around the world.

# # #

About YPO

The premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world.

YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow. YPO members harness the knowledge, influence and trust of the world's most influential and innovative business leaders to inspire business, personal, family and community impact.

Today, YPO empowers more than 24,000 members in more than 130 countries, diversified among industries and types of businesses. Altogether, YPO member-run companies employ more than 15 million people and generate USD6 trillion in annual revenues.

Leadership. Learning. Lifelong. For more information, visit YPO.org.

Contact:

YPO

Linda Fisk

Office: +1 972 629 7305 (United States)

Mobile: +1 972 207 4298

press@ypo.org
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. (TSX-V:STMP) (FSE:TMP2) (OTCQB:AZUEF) (Stamper or the Company), is pleased to announce it has engaged the services of Petrotech Engineering Ltd., (Petrotech) of Burnaby BC to commence a detailed interpretation of 3-D seismic data that was previously shot by Trayectoria Oil and Gas S.A. and provide an updated NI 51-101 report on the Joropo Block Concession.



The NI 51-101 will prepared and supervised by John Yu, P.Eng., of Petrotech in accordance with standards set out in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (the "COGE Handbook"), and accordance with National Instrument 51-101  Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities. Dr. Luis Rodriguez, a seismic geological and geophysical engineer and President of Petrotech will assist with the report from Bogota, Colombia.

About Petrotech Engineering Ltd.

Petrotech Engineering Ltd. is an independent oil and gas reserve evaluation firm located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Petrotech specialize in drilling, completion, production, pipelines, compressor and pump facilities, wellhead and waterflood injection facilities, reservoir, gas processing and reserve evaluations for mainly publicly-listed oil and gas companies.

Petrotech's primary reserve evaluations are performed in Colombia, Peru and Brazil in South America, in offshore South West and West Africa and onshore East Africa. Petrotech has also performed reserve evaluations in Canada, U.S.A., Central and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, Russian Federation, Middle East and Africa.

About the Joropo Concession

The Joropo Concession consists of two blocks: the development and the exploration blocks. An oil discovery was drilled on the development block, which is the Ojo de Tigre-2 ST well. The well was preliminary tested, and test produced 6,972 barrel of 29.5-degree API crude at a steady rate of 240 barrels of oil per day.

Proven non-producing reserve is assigned to the formation at 7,363 feet in the Ojode Tigre-2 ST well using a recovery factor of 25 per cent for proven reserve. Proven plus probable reserve is assigned with a recovery factor of 35 per cent. The structural mapping of the formation has a closure of 279 acres and can support additional development of two wells.

On the exploration side, from 3-D seismic data and interpretation, the owner has identified two well prospects. The Turon prospect shows three potential oil zones in the C7, Mirador and Gacheta formations. The Joropo Norte prospect shows the C7 and Mirador formations are potential oil zones.

Green Power has a 100-per-cent working interest and is the operator of the Joropo block under the exploration and production contract Joropo. The contract area is 14,966 hectares (36,982 acres), and the E&P Joropo contract was signed by the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos -- Colombia (ANH) -- with Green Power. The concession is located in the Department of Casanare, Colombia, in a major oil-producing region of Colombia close to major oil fields, close to pipelines, and is located in an area where the landowners permit oil and gas exploration and development.

About Stamper Oil & Gas Corp.

Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. is a publicly traded junior international oil and gas company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas properties with the current focus on Latin America. The Companys strategy is centred on generating sustainable long term shareholder value by exploring and developing cost effective growth of light oil reserves.

For further information on Stamper Oil & Gas please visit www.stamperoilandgas.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David C. Greenway

President & Director

For further information, please contact:

Stamper Investor Relations

Phone: (604) 684-2401

Email: info@stamperoilandgas.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Stamper Oil & Gas 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 may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Stamper Oil & Gas Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Stamper Oil & Gas Corp undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
Plain packaging on the cards for tobacco products

The government is planning to adopt plain packaging of tobacco products by 2018.
DENVER, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pure Energy Minerals Limited (TSX-V:PE) (FRANKFURT:A111EG) (OTCQB:PEMIF) (the Company or Pure Energy) is pleased to announce results from depth-specific brine samples from exploratory wells CV-7 and CV-8 on the Clayton Valley South Project (the CVS Project or the Project). Positive indications of lithium enriched brine occurred throughout the screened intervals of the wells, with increased concentrations in deeper samples.



The average lithium concentration over the screened interval in CV-7 was 70 milligrams per liter (mg/L) lithium, ranging between 56 and 109 mg/L lithium. The CV-8 samples averaged 134 mg/L, including a range of lithium values from 58 to 229 mg/L. The interval from 640 meters (m) (2,100 feet [ft]) to the bottom of the screening at 867 m (2,845 ft) in CV-8 contained average lithium concentrations of 210 mg/L. The deeper part of the aquifer system in CV-8 thus contains considerable thickness of some of the highest-grade lithium brine yet encountered on the Project.

Pumping test samples collected at both wells also yielded consistently high lithium values that may indicate mixing of the brine from the multi-layer aquifer system. The lithium content of brine from the CV-8 pumping test stabilized after only 6 hours of pumping, while lithium values in the CV-7 pumping test became relatively steady after about 12 hours. The stable production of high-lithium brine over the duration of the pumping tests demonstrates potential for sustained production of lithium-bearing brine from the aquifer systems encountered in these wells.

Patrick Highsmith, Pure Energy Minerals CEO, discussed the data from the Companys most recent wells, Our latest drilling at the CVS Project has yielded thick sections of brine-saturated sediments and strong lithium values right to the bottom of the basin. These deeper brines are also very low in calcium and magnesium, which usually translates to favorable process chemistry. We continue to be enthusiastic about the grade, chemistry, and volume potential at depth on the CVS Project. Now that all the data are in, we are updating the drilling database and finalizing the resource model. These are the last inputs needed for the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), and we look forward to completing the economic analysis and sharing the PEA results in the next few weeks.

Thick Sections of Lithium and Good Chemistry in Clayton Valley South Brine

Brine samples collected from exploratory wells CV-7 and CV-8 show continuous lithium-enriched brine (greater than 50 mg/L) throughout the screened intervals, culminating in the thickest such section yet seen on the Project at CV-8 of over 654 metres (2,145 feet). While brine is present throughout the section investigated in these recent wells, the brine gets better at depth as the best lithium grades and most favorable chemistry occur at greater than 549 m (1,800 feet) in CV-7 and 640m (2,100 feet) in CV-8 below land surface (bls). The increased lithium concentrations at depth are accompanied by magnesium to lithium ratios of 1.4 or lower, with most below 1. The calcium content of the deeper brine is also anomalously low. Low magnesium and calcium content of lithium brines is significant, as these elements can interfere with low-cost lithium extraction. Tables 1 and 2 below summarize analytical results for depth-specific brine samples collected from exploratory wells CV-7 and CV-8.

Table 1 - Analytical results for CV-7 depth-specific samples (screened interval 180 - 424m bls)

Well Sample

Depth

(m) Sample

Depth

(ft) Density

(g/cm3) Lithium

Li

(mg/L) Magnesium

Mg

(mg/L) Calcium

Ca

(mg/L) CV-7 122 400 1.04 56 343 2,020 CV-7 183 600 1.04 82 776 4,380 CV-7 213 700 1.03 69 858 5,110 CV-7 305 1000 1.03 57 692 4,210 CV-7 366 1200 1.03 56 603 3,530 CV-7 457 1500 1.04 59 565 3,290 CV-7 549 1800 1.04 109 56 205

Table 2 - Analytical Results for CV-8 depth-specific samples (Screened intervals 362 - 725m and 788 - 867m bls)

Well Sample

Depth

(m) Sample

Depth

(ft) Density

(g/cm3) Lithium

Li

(mg/L) Magnesium

Mg

(mg/L) Calcium

Ca

(mg/L) CV-8 213 700 1.04 71 215 1,230 CV-8 305 1000 1.04 74 164 1,290 CV-8 396 1300 1.03 58 127 1,160 CV-8 457 1500 1.03 75 88 823 CV-8 549 1800 1.04 87 70 680 CV-8 640 2100 1.07 229 33 184 CV-8 701 2300 1.08 217 27 161 CV-8 793 2600 1.07 202 36 224 CV-8 823 2700 1.08 192 266 844

Consistent Lithium-bearing Brine Produced During Pumping Tests

Pure Energys specialist hydrogeological consultants, Montgomery & Associates (Montgomery), designed and conducted pumping tests at CV-7 and CV-8. Pumping tests were operated continuously (48 hours at CV-7, and 72 hours at CV-8) and included collection of brine samples along with extensive hydrogeological data on the brine aquifer system (See news releases dated March 6, 2017 and March 27, 2017).

Figure 1 below illustrates lithium concentrations in the pumping-test discharge over the course of each test. Lithium concentrations in the extracted brine rapidly stabilized in both pumping tests, indicating the potential for sustained production of lithium-bearing brine from the CVS aquifer system. Pumping rates were 5 liters per second (80 gallons per minute) for the CV-7 pumping test and 2 liters per second (30 gallons per minute) for the CV-8 pumping test. It is important to note that none of these exploration wells have yet been optimized in their construction to pump from the highest grade or most permeable zones.

A graph accompanying this announcement is available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f5afc65a-8939-452e-9674-f3b00d2f81d1

Well Construction

The CV-7 and CV-8 wells were constructed in the northern portion of the CVS Project. The CV-7 well was drilled using diamond coring methods and reamed by mud rotary methods to a depth of 610 m (2,000 ft) bls, similar in depth to CV-3 during mid-2016. Drillers applied similar technology at CV-8, where it was cored to a depth of 973 m (3,192 ft) bls then reamed to 890 m (2,920 ft) bls. The CV-8 well is believed to be the deepest well constructed in Clayton Valley to date.

This work was performed in accordance with State of Nevada waivers and permits issued to Pure Energy by the Nevada Division of Water Resources and the Division of Environmental Protection, which allowed for exploratory well construction, collection of brine samples, and extraction of brine from the exploratory wells with subsequent discharge to surface during the pumping tests.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

Company and Montgomery hydrogeologists applied extensive quality assurance measures during this program, including: comparative sampling by different methods, an accredited check laboratory, and the use of blind duplicates, blanks, and analytical controls in laboratory submissions. All analytical data reported in this news release were generated by Western Environmental Testing Laboratory (WETLAB) of Sparks, Nevada. WETLAB is accredited by the Nevada State Division of Environmental Protection for determination of lithium, magnesium and other elements in non-potable water by EPA method 200.7.

ALS Minerals in Vancouver, British Columbia provides systematic blind and independent check analyses on the lithium and other analytes in the sampling program at CVS. ALS Minerals operates an industry leading quality management system and is accredited under ISO 17025 for provision of mineral analysis.

The comparison between check labs was well within acceptable tolerances. All quality control data from CV-7 and CV-8 complied with the Companys quality standards.

At CV-7, hydrogeologists collected passive no-purge depth-discrete samples using both the Snap Sampler (widely used on the Project) and wireline sampling methods. Comparison of analytical results showed good agreement between the two methods.

Walter Weinig, Professional Geologist and SME Registered Member (SME Registered Member # 4168729), is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Weinig is not independent of the Company, as he is an officer.

Patrick Highsmith, Certified Professional Geologist (AIPG CPG # 11702), is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Highsmith is not independent of the Company, as he is an officer and director.

About Pure Energy Minerals Ltd.

Pure Energy is a lithium resource developer that is driven to become a low-cost supplier for the growing lithium battery industry. The Companys current focus is on the development of the CVS Lithium Brine Project and the adjoining Glory Lithium Clay Project in Clayton Valley, Nevada. Pure Energy also recently acquired a purchase option on a major new lithium brine project in the Lithium Triangle of South America, the Terra Cotta Project (TCP). The TCP is located on Pocitos Salar in Salta, Argentina, where it enjoys some of the best infrastructure and access of any lithium brine exploration project in Argentina.

Pure Energy has developed core strengths in innovative development and processing technologies for lithium brines and lithium mineral deposits. Key attributes and activities include:

A large, strategic land position with excellent infrastructure in a first-class mining jurisdiction: approximately 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres)in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada, located a 3-hour drive from the Gigafactory;

The only lithium brine resource in North America except for Albemarles adjoining Silver Peak lithium brine mine, which is the only producing lithium operation in North America;

An inferred mineral resource containing approximately 816,000 metric tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) at an average grade of approximately 102 mg/L lithium, reported in accordance with NI 43-101 (see July 2015 Inferred Resource Report);

An advanced program of testing the efficacy and economics of modern, environmentally-responsible processing technologies to convert the CVS brines into high purity lithium products for new energy storage uses;

A new early stage exploration program on the 13,000-hectare (32,000 acre) Terra Cotta Project (TCP), located on Pocitos Salar in Salta Province; and

An active business development program, applying Company expertise to the evaluation of new lithium targets around the world.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,



Patrick Highsmith

Chief Executive Officer

CONTACT:

Pure Energy Minerals Limited (www.pureenergyminerals.com)

Email: info@pureenergyminerals.com

Telephone  604 608 6611, ext 5

Forward Looking Statements: The information in this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: technical difficulties in connection with exploration and development activities, technological challenges with the extraction and processing of lithium brines, the speculative nature of mineral exploration, volatile microcap equity markets, changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry, including environmental requirements. Forward-looking statements in this release may include statements regarding mineral processing, estimates of reduced future capital and operating expenses, delivery of a preliminary economic assessment, future exploration programs, operation plans, geological interpretations, and mineral tenure issues. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
AIM: MARL

TSX-V: MARL







9 May 2017



Granite House, La Grande Rue,

St. Martin, Guernsey, GY1 3RS

Channel Islands





Further High Grade Gold-Copper Mineralisation Reported from Infill and Extension Drilling at the Hot Maden Project, NE Turkey.

Mariana Resources Limited ('Mariana' or 'the Company'), the TSX.V and AIM (MARL) listed exploration and development company with projects in Turkey, South America, and Ivory Coast, is pleased to provide the following update on the ongoing diamond drill program at the high grade Hot Maden gold-copper project in NE Turkey. Assay results are reported for a total of 8 new drill holes (HTD-109, HTD-110, HTD-112, HTD-114 to HTD-117, and HTD-119), with a further 5 holes (HTD-107, HTD-108, HTD-111, HTD-113, and HTD-118) currently undergoing detailed geotechnical logging and with sampling/assaying still pending. Of the eight holes for which assays have been received, six were completed in the Main Zone resource area and the Southern Deposit; Figures 1 & 2); the remaining two holes (HTD-115 and HTD-119) represent the first scout holes to be completed in the Pre-1923 Russian Mining Area (Figure 3).

An update on both the permitting of new drill holes and final results from the Phase I drill program at the Company's 100%-owned Ergama gold-copper project in western Turkey is also provided.

Highlights:

A third diamond drill rig has now arrived on site at Hot Maden and is operating in tandem with the original two drill rigs.

High grade gold-copper (Au-Cu) mineralisation continues to be intersected in both infill and step-out drilling on Main Zone section 4,542,175N (Figure 4). Best results include:

Main Zone - Section 4,542,175N

HTD-109: 75m @ 17.2 g/t Au + 1.89% Cu from 212m downhole.

(Step forward Including 13.7m @ 49.5 g/t Au + 2.95% Cu from 214.3m downhole,

To HTD-106) And 10m @ 39.9 g/t Au + 1.68% Cu from 237m downhole.

(approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 55m)

HTD-110: 59m @ 18.2 g/t Au + 2.31% Cu from 190m downhole.

(Step forward Including 13m @ 50.2 g/t Au + 2.79% Cu from 190m downhole.

to HTD-109) (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 45m)

HTD-116: 78m @ 5.2 g/t Au 3.76% Cu from 33m downhole.

(Step forward Including 9m @ 21.9 g/t Au + 6.49% Cu from 46m downhole.

to HTD-110) (approximate true width of Au-Cu zone is 60m)

Discovery drilling in the Southern Deposit continues to return positive intercepts, with HTD-117 returning 7m @ 16.5 g/t Au + 0.30% Cu from 233m downhole, 2m @ 24.4 g/t Au + 0.94% Cu from 143m downhole, and 4m @ 7.2 g/t Au + 0.50% Cu from 181m downhole. Mineralisation is associated with pyrite-chalcopyrite-bearing quartz vein/breccia zones in dacitic volcanoclastic rocks.

Scout drilling has just commenced in the Pre-1923 Russian Mining Area, in an area located approximately 1km to the south of the Southern Deposit. Two holes have been completed to date (HTD-115 and HTD-119), with HTD-115 intersecting narrow quartz vein gold-copper-zinc mineralisation and HTD-119 vein/veinlet-hosted zinc. Host rocks are propylitically altered andesites. Key results include:

HTD-115: 2.5m @ 11.5 g/t Au + 1.45% Zn from 11m downhole.

HTD-119: 4.9m @ 4.60% Zn from 26.8m downhole.

The Pre-1923 Russian Mine Area is a complex zone of mineralised veins and hydrothermal alteration, with these initial results being similar to those obtained from the first drill holes around the Main Zone discovery. As drill holes HTD-115 and HTD-119 were both collared 300m vertically above the uppermost known elevation of the Main Zone mineralisation, the possibilility that the narrow veins/veinlets intersected form part of a distal stringer zone to a buried massive sulfide system will be tested through future dilling.

Links to Figures: http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/24ee23_2acc9f3fb701422c927d5584c736b3eb.pdf

Chief Executive Officer Glen Parsons today commented:

"Mariana's focused exploration and development work continues and today we announce further positive results from ongoing and increased drilling at Hot Maden, as well as the update on the Ergama project.

"At Hot Maden, in the Main Zone, continued success from infill and step out drilling compliment our current results whilst maintaining our confidence in this zone.

"In the Southern Zone these new results extend mineralisation and the strike length from the Main Zone to the Southern Zone which is continuing to grow.

"Encouragingly, the 3rd operational rig in the Old Russian Mining Area has intersected narrow high grade gold and copper with higher grade zinc. This is a complex part of the new untested system and these early positive results are assisting in the understanding of the mineralisation potential of this previously mined area.

"At Ergama, in western Turkey, Mariana is awaiting permitting on 24 new holes in order to target, the hopefully better mineralised, potassic zone of the porphyry system to the south of the current 5 hole completed program.

"Mariana continues to deliver exciting exploration results and I look forward to updating the market accordingly."

Hot Maden Gold-Copper Project Update

Approximately 38,000 m of diamond drilling have now been completed by the Mariana-Lidya JV at Hot Maden since November, 2014 (Figures 1 - 3). Recent drilling activities have focused on: -

Main Zone: infill and step-out drill holes were completed along section 4,542,175N (HTD-109, HTD-110, and HTD-116), and all successfully intersected high grade Main Zone-style mineralization. One step forward hole (HTD-114) was also completed on section 4,542,150N and intersected gold-zinc mineralization along the margins of the Main Zone.

Deeper step-back drilling ( HTD-111, HTD-113, and HTD-117 ) and extension drilling ( HTD-112 ) was completed in the Southern Deposit.

and ) and extension drilling ( ) was completed in the Southern Deposit. The first two scout holes (HTD-115 and HTD-119) were completed in the Pre-1923 Russian Mining Zone.

Main Zone Resource Area

The planned infill drill program in the Main Zone resource area advanced with a further three holes (HTD-109, HTD-110, and HTD-106) being completed on section 4,542,175N. This program continues to be highly successful in confirming the internal continuity of the high-grade gold-copper mineralisation within the Main Zone. One step forward hole (HTD-114) was also completed on section 4,542,150N, with this hole intersecting gold-zinc mineralization along the margins of the Main Zone.

On cross-section 4,542,175N (Figures 2 and 4), infill drill holes HTD-109 and HTD-110 returned 75m @ 17.2 g/t Au + 1.89% Cu from 212m downhole and 59m @ 18.2 g/t Au + 2.31% Cu from 190m downhole, respective. Both mineralised intervals are hosted within a multiphase, chalcopyrite-pyrite-hematite-jasper-bearing breccia, with a prominent "ultra high grade" gold zone once again being developed close to the eastern margin of the broader mineralised zone. Drill hole HTD-116 tested the near-surface portion of the Main Zone on section 4,542,175N and intersected both multiphase breccia and (faulted) massive sulfide type copper-gold mineralisation.

Southern Discovery

Assays were received for two drill holes (HTD-112 and HTD-117) in the Southern Deposit, with the best results being reported from step back drill hole HTD-117 (7m @ 16.5 g/t Au + 0.30% Cu from 233m downhole, 2m @ 24.4 g/t Au + 0.94% Cu from 143m downhole, and 4m @ 7.2 g/t Au + 0.50% Cu from 181m downhole; section 4,541,900N). Encouraging intercepts were also returned from drill hole HTD-112, which was designed to extend known mineralisation in the Southern Deposit to the south, including 1m @ 7.4 g/t Au + 1.21% Cu from 58m downhole, 1m @ 29 g/t Au + 0.26% Cu from 62m downhole, and 4m @ 6.7 g/t Au + 0.35% Cu from 107m downhole, together with 22m @ 5.1% Zn from 292m downhole.

Pre-1923 Russian Mining Area

Initial scout drilling has commenced in the Pre-1923 Russian Mining Area, in an area located approximately 1km to the south of the Southern Deposit. Two holes have been completed to date (HTD-115 and HTD-119), with HTD-115 intersecting narrow quartz vein gold-copper mineralisation and HTD-119 the interpreted hanging wall zinc zone. Key results include:

HTD-115: 2.5m @ 11.5 g/t Au + 1.45% Zn from 11m downhole.

HTD-119: 4.9m @ 4.60% Zn from 26.8m downhole.

The Pre-1923 Russian Mine Area is a complex zone of mineralised veins and hydrothermal alteration, with these initial results being similar to those obtained from the first drill holes around the Main Zone discovery. Further work will be required to identify the central part of the mineralized system.

Table 1: Summary of assays for drill holes HTD-107 to HTD-119 (see also Figures 1 to 4 for drill hole locations and key cross sections).

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Intercept (m) Au g/t Cu % Zn % Comments HTD-107

(Line 2325N) Oriented drill hole for geotechnical logging; sampling in progress Pending Assays HTD-108

(Line 2250N) Oriented drill hole for geotechnical logging; sampling in progress Pending Assays HTD-109

(Line 2175N) 111.0 115.0 4.0 - - 1.62 Zinc Zone 126.0 156.0 30.0 - - 1.56 167.0 176.0 9.0 - - 4.25 186.0 189.0 3.0 - - 2.17 212.0 287.0 75.0 17.2 1.89 - Main Au-Cu Zone Including 214.3 228.0 13.7 49.5 2.95 - Including 237.0 247.0 10.0 39.9 1.68 - HTD-110

(Line 2175N) 54.0 63.1 9.1 - - 2.19 Zinc Zone 70.0 83.0 13.0 - - 1.56 124.5 138.0 13.5 0.2 - 3.90 190.0 249.0 59.0 18.2 2.31 - Main Au-Cu Zone Including 190.0 203.0 13.0 50.2 2.79 - HTD-111

(Line 2025N) Oriented drill hole for geotechnical logging; sampling in progress Pending Assays HTD-112

(Line 1650N) 52.0 54.0 2.0 4.2 0.13 -







Southern Deposit (Dacite Host) 58.0 59.0 1.0 7.4 1.21 - 62.0 63.0 1.0 29.0 0.26 - 70.0 72.0 2.0 3.7 0.12 - 73.0 74.0 1.0 6.6 0.24 - 83.0 84.0 1.0 3.0 0.28 - 89.0 90.0 1.0 5.0 0.52 - 94.0 96.0 2.0 5.4 0.25 - 107.0 111.0 4.0 6.7 0.35 237.0 249.0 12.0 - - 4.11 Zinc Zone 266.8 282.0 15.2 - - 2.16 292.0 314.0 22.0 - - 5.10 336.0 337.0 1.0 - - 9.37 HTD-113 Oriented drill hole for geotechnical logging; sampling in progress Geotech logging (Line 1950N) HTD-114

(Line 2150N) 24.0 44.0 20.0 1.0 1.60 - Au-Zn Zone 34.9 37.0 2.1 - - 11.05 And 41.0 44.0 3.0 - - 2.07 44.0 63.0 19.0 0.7 0.34 - And 49.0 50.0 1.0 - - 2.75 77.0 92.0 15.0 1.2 0.53 - 102.0 106.0 4.0 1.4 0.30 - HTD-115

(Line 0800N) 11.0 13.5 2.5 11.5 0.13 1.54 Russian Workings 179.0 180.0 1.0 4.6 - 4.12 HTD-116

(Line 2175N) 33.0 111.0 78.0 5.2 3.76 - Main Au Cu Zone 46.0 55.0 9.0 21.9 6.49 - HTD-117 143.0 145.0 2.0 24.4 0.94 - Southern Deposit (Dacite Host) (Line 1900N) 181.0 185.0 4.0 7.2 0.50 - 193.0 194.0 1.0 6.3 0.24 - 233.0 240.0 7.0 16.5 0.30 - HTD-118

(Line 2125N) Andesite breccia with trace disseminated chalcopyrite 375m - 525m Assays Pending Quartz-anhydrite veining HTD-119

(Line 0800N) 26.8 31.7 4.9 - - 4.60 Russian Workings 115.0 117.0 2.0 0.59 - 3.36

Quality Control and Assurance

Mineralised intervals presented in Table 1 are drill intersection widths and may not represent true widths of mineralisation. Drill core obtained from the diamond drill program was dominantly HQ-sized core with the remainder being PQ-sized core. All drill core was photographed and quick logged prior to sampling. Standard sampling protocol involved the halving of all drill core and sampling over generally 1 m intervals (in clearly mineralised sections) or 2 m intervals (elsewhere), with one half of the core being placed in a sealed sample bag and dispatched to the analytical laboratory for analysis. Samples have been analysed at ALS Laboratories' facility in Izmir, western Turkey. All samples have been analysed for gold using a 30g Fire Assay with AAS finish (or Screen Fire Assay for higher grade samples), in addition to a 32 element ICP-AES analysis of an aqua regia digest. Samples in which ICP analyses returned greater than the maximum detection limit for the elements Ag (10 ppm), Cu (10,000 ppm), Fe (15%), Pb (10,000 ppm), and Zn (10,000 ppm) were reanalysed using the AAS analytical technique, Standards and blanks were inserted in to the analytical sequence on the basis of one standard for every 20 samples, 2 blanks in every batch, and one duplicate every 40 samples.

Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE)

No HSE incidents have been reported during the current diamond drill program.

Hot Maden drill holes - technical data

Technical data relating to Hot Maden diamond drill holes HTD-107 to HTD-119 are given in the following table.

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip

(degrees) Depth

(m) Assays HTD-107 740,619.0 4,542,325.9 885.0 090 -64 300 Pending HTD-108 740,476.6 4,542,254.7 868.5 090 -62 555 Pending HTD-109 740,787.1 4,542,174.9 873.9 270 -54 363 Complete HTD-110 740,786.4 4,542,174.8 873.7 270 -45 291 Complete HTD-111 740,403.0 4,542,026.5 872.4 090 -60 486 Pending HTD-112 740,479.0 4,541,653.4 948.9 090 -60 389.9 Complete HTD-113 740,398.7 4,541,947.6 879.5 090 -57 445 Pending HTD-114 740,600.1 4,542,152.8 857.1 090 -50 120 Complete HTD-115 740,379.8 4,540.803.9 1,168.2 160 -60 282 Complete HTD-116 740,580.7 4,542,176.0 860.2 090 -30 111 Complete HTD-117 740,406.2 4,541,908.7 886.4 093 -56 381 Complete HTD-118 740,831.8 4,542,123.6 871.1 271 -63 618 Pending HTD-119 740,382.3 4,540,806.5 1,168.0 090 -60 207 Complete

Ergama Project Update

Applications were presented in February 2017 for the approval of 24 potential new drill platforms located to the south of drill holes ERD-01 / ERD-02. Both ERD-01 and ERD-02 successfully intersected significant intervals of gold-bearing, porphyry-style quartz (-pyrite +/- chalcopyrite) stockwork mineralisation, with assay data confirming an overall increase in Au-Cu grades towards the south (see Mariana News Release dated February 14, 2017). Host rock alteration assemblages in ERD-01/ERD-02 are dominantly phyllic and also suggest that these drill holes may be distal to the potassic-altered (and potentially better mineralised) core of the porphyry system. Approval of these new drill platforms is expected shortly, with planning for the Phase II drill program now currently underway.

A total of 5 diamond drill holes (for 2,225.8m of drilling, as per approved budget) were completed in the Phase I drill program; a further two planned holes were postponed until the approval of the new drill permits. Results obtained from the final three holes (ERD-03 to ERD-05) are summarized below.

ERD-03 was collared on the NW margin of the main IP anomaly (and 250m W of drill holes ERD-01/-02), and intersected argillic altered volcanic and subvolcanic rocks (with locally minor phyllic alteration and quartz-pyrite stockworks). Intensely silicified carbonate rocks were also intersected near the end of the hole and these may represent rafts of material from the basement sequence. The best mineralised sections of ERD-03 are of similar tenor to those in ERD-01/-02, and include: 14m @ 0.24 g/t Au from 72m, 24m @ 0.22 g/t Au + 0.1% Cu from 156m, 2m @ 0.82 g/t Au from 252m, 4m @ 0.32 g/t Au from 264m, and 32m @ 0.27 g/t Au from 284m.

ERD-04 was collared on a high grade vein / fault target (with surface assays up to 16 g/t Au) and is located approximately 950m to the NE of ERD-01/-02. ERD-04 was designed to cut the interpreted controlling structure around 40m vertically below surface, and intersected intense faulting from the collar to around 56m downhole. No core was recovered from 45.1m to 49.2m downhole - suggesting either a possible void or milled zone - and was followed by 1.1m @ 1.4 g/t Au + 10 g/t Ag from 49.2m and 2m @ 4.6 g/t Au (silicified breccia) from 56m. A step back hole to ERD-04, designed to intersect this epithermal style mineralized zone at a deeper level, is expected to be incorporated in to the Ergama Phase II drill program.

ERD-05 was collared on a satellite IP chargeability anomaly located approximately 1km ENE of drill holes ERD-01/-02. ERD-05 intersected approximately 150m of argillic altered andesites (from 180m downhole) with average gold grades of <0.15 g/t Au and a best intercept of 12m @ 0.19 g/t Au from 330m downhole. Accordingly, this sector represents a low priority target for follow-up work.

Technical data relating to Ergama diamond drill holes ERD-01 to ERD-05 are given in the following table.

Hole ID Easting Northing Azimuth Dip

(degrees) Depth

(m) Assays Target ERD-01 551,485 4,385,060 180 -75 480.0 Complete Porphyry ERD-02 551,485 4,385,060 180 -45 626.4 Complete Porphyry ERD-03 551,240 4,385,100 180 -75 416.1 Complete Porphyry ERD-04 552,150 4,385,800 180 -70 214.2 Complete HG AuAg ERD-05 553,170 4,385,700 000 -90 489.1 Complete SatelliteIP Anomaly Total 2,225.8

Mariana Resources Limited

"Glen Parsons"

Glen Parsons, CEO

**ENDS**

Qualified Person

The technical and scientific information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved for release by Eric Roth, the Company's Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr Roth is the Company's Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director and holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Mr Roth has 25 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.

Glen Parsons (CEO) Mariana Resources Ltd +61 2 9437 4588 Eric Roth (COO) Mariana Resources Ltd +56 9 8818 1243 Karen Davies (IR) Mariana Resources Ltd (Canada) +1 604 314 6270 Rob Adamson RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0041 Will Souter RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0050 In U.K. Oliver Stansfield Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5061 Jonathan Evans Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5016 Camilla Horsfall Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3224 Megan Ray Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3203

About Mariana Resources

Mariana Resources Ltd is a TSX.V and AIM (MARL) quoted exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of gold, silver, and copper projects in South America, Turkey, and Ivory Coast.

Mariana's most advanced asset is the Hot Maden gold-copper project in northeast Turkey, which is a joint venture with Turkish partner Lidya Madencilik (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya) and which is rapidly advancing to development. On January 17, 2017, Mariana released the results of a Preliminary Economic Study ("PEA") which demonstrated exceptional potential economics for the Hot Maden Project (after-tax NPV and IRR of USD 1.37B and 153%, respectively) based on a development scenario incorporating a 1Mtpa underground mining / processing operation and the production of two saleable concentrates (a copper-gold concentrate and a gold-pyrite concentrate). This PEA was based on the updated (July 25, 2016) mineral resource estimate of 3.43 Moz gold equivalent (Indicated Category) and 0.09 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) in the Main Zone, as well as a maiden 351,000 Moz gold equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) resource in the New Southern Discovery. Elsewhere in Turkey, Mariana holds a 100% interest in the Ergama project where first drilling was reported on February 14, 2017, to have intersected porphyry-style gold-copper mineralisation.

On October 7, 2016, Mariana announced the signing of a binding Term Sheet to acquire an indirect 80% interest in Ivory Coast-focused private exploration company Awale Resources SARL ("Awale"). Through the transaction Mariana will gain an immediate foothold in an established exploration portfolio with known gold mineralisation and artisanal gold workings, and which comprises i) 3 granted contiguous licenses (1,191 km2) in the Bondoukou area, and ii) 4 licenses under application (1,593 km2) in both the Bondoukou and Abengourou areas. The Boundoukou concessions lie along the southwestern extension of the Birimian Bole-Nangodi greenstone belt in adjacent Ghana, host to a number of high grade orogenic gold deposits.

In southern Argentina, the Company's core gold-silver projects are Las Calandrias (100%), Sierra Blanca (100%), Los Cisnes (100%), and Bozal (100%). These projects are part of a 100,000+ Ha land package in the Deseado Massif epithermal gold-silver district in mining-friendly Santa Cruz Province.

In Suriname, Mariana has a direct holding of 10.2% of the Nassau Gold project. The Nassau Gold Project is a 28,000 Ha exploration concession located approximately 125 km south east of the capital Paramaribo and immediately adjacent to Newmont Mining's 4.2Moz gold Merian project.

Hot Maden Mineral Resource Estimate - July 2016, Up to Hole HTD 62







Main Gold-Copper Zone (2 g/t AuEq Cut-off) Indicated Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** Main Zone LG 463,000 1.1 1.1 0.3 2.4 17,000 5,000 36,000 Main Zone HG 4,501,000 3.9 1.9 0.2 6.3 570,000 87,000 908,000 Main Zone UHG 2,086,000 32.7 3.5 0.1 36.9 2,195,000 73,000 2,476,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 17,000 7.5 3.1 3.6 11.2 4,000 1,000 6,000 Peripheral Lodes 60,000 2.1 0.4 0.4 2.5 4,000 5,000 Total 7,127,000 12.2 2.3 0.2 15.0 2,790,000 166,000 3,431,000 Inferred Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** Main Zone LG 395,000 1.7 0.9 0.03 2.8 21,000 4,000 35,000 Main Zone HG 31,000 3.9 1.6 0.1 5.8 4,000 6,000 Main Zone UHG 6,000 39.1 2.1 0.01 41.6 7,000 8,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 4,000 1.7 0.4 2.4 2.2 Peripheral Lodes 282,000 3.2 0.9 0.1 4.3 29,000 2,000 38,000 Total 718,000 2.7 0.9 0.1 3.8 62,000 7,000 88,000



Southern Gold-Copper Zone (2 g/t AuEq Cut-off) Inferred Mineral Resource Domain Tonnes Au Cu Zn AuEq Au Cu AuEq t g/t % % g/t* Ounces Tonnes Ounces** South Zone LG 396,000 2.8 0.7 0.0 3.6 35,000 3,000 46,000 South Zone HG 583,000 5.3 0.7 0.0 6.1 98,000 4,000 114,000 Main Zone UHG 224,000 22.2 1.0 0.0 23.4 160,000 2,000 169,000 Mixed Gold-Zinc 44,000 9.0 1.0 3.2 10.2 13,000 15,000 Peripheral Lodes 104,000 1.9 0.3 0.0 2.2 6,000 7,000 Total 1,352,000 7.2 0.7 0.1 8.1 313,000 10,000 351,000

*Au Equivalence (AuEq) calculated using a 100 day moving average of $US1,215/ounce for Au and $US2.13/pound for Cu as of May 29, 2016. No adjustment has been made for metallurgical recovery or net smelter return as these remain uncertain at this time. Based on grades and contained metal for Au and Cu, it is assumed that both commodities have reasonable potential to be economically extractable.

*-The formula used for Au equivalent grade is: AuEq g/t = Au + [(Cu % x 22.0462 x 2.13)/(1215/31.1035)] and assumes 100 % metallurgical recovery. **-Au equivalent ounces are calculated by mulitplying Mineral Resource tonnage by Au equivalent grade and converting for ounces. The formula used for Au equivalent ounces is: AuEq Oz = [Tonnage x AuEq grade (g/t)]/31.1035

Safe Harbour

This press release contains certain statements which may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this press release and include, without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, the realization, cost, timing and extent of mineral resource estimates, estimated future exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, and requirements for additional capital. The words "plans", "expects", "budget", "scheduled", "estimate", "forecasts", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "may", "will", or similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the effects of general economic conditions; the price of gold, silver and copper; misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements; risks associated with international operations; the need for additional financing; risks inherent in exploration results; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters; currency and commodity price fluctuations; title matters; environmental liability claims; unanticipated operational risks; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or in the completion of development or construction activities; political risk; and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's annual financial statements for the most recently completed financial year which is available on the Company's website at www.marianaresources.com . Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX-V:MMS) (the Company or Macarthur Minerals) is pleased to announce that London listed Cadence Minerals Plc (Cadence Minerals) (formerly Rare Earth Minerals plc), the Companys largest shareholder, have exercised their remaining 7,500,000 warrants, which increases Cadence Minerals interest in Macarthur Minerals from 16.09% to 20.37%.



Cadence Minerals is a specialist early stage lithium focused investment and development company, within the mineral resource sector. Cadence Minerals has a track record of identifying undervalued lithium assets, with irreplaceable strategic global advantage in the lithium and energy storage sector. Cadence Minerals invests in companies at an early stage to assist them to become lithium powerhouses.

Cadence Minerals, is a significant shareholder in not only Macarthur Minerals, but also Bacanora Minerals Limited (the owners of the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico), European Metals Holdings Limited (the owners of the Cinovec Lithium Project in the Czech Republic) and Auroch Minerals NL (a company developing lithium in Namibia). To date, Cadence Minerals has invested over C$50 million in key lithium assets which today have a combined market capitalisation of some C$330 million.

David Taplin, President, CEO & Director of Macarthur Minerals, commented:

We are pleased that Cadence Minerals has continued to financially support the Company as we move forward to develop our expanding lithium exploration presence in Australia and Nevada.

Andrew Suckling, Executive Chairman of Cadence Minerals, commented:

Cadence Minerals sees its strength as financially supporting emerging lithium exploration and development companies with excellent growth potential, as we have done and continue to do so with both Bacanora Minerals Limited and European Metals Holdings Ltd, the owners of the Sonora and Cinovec Lithium Projects respectively. We see tremendous potential in Macarthur Minerals large lithium exploration portfolio in Western Australia and we are particularly encouraged by Macarthur Minerals significant lithium results recently reported from their Lida Valley play in Nevada.

The Company previously received Shareholder approval at the Companys Annual General Meeting on August 31, 2016, for the issue of shares for the exercise of the warrants.

ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX-V: MMS)

Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration and development company that is focused on developing its lithium exploration interests in Australia and Nevada. Macarthur Minerals is the majority shareholder of Macarthur Australia Limited, which is intended to be listed on the ASX, which owns significant iron ore and lithium projects in Western Australia.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED

Cameron McCall

Cameron McCall, Chairman

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

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.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
BEND, OR , May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Signal Bay, Inc. (OTCQB:SGBY) parent company of EVIO Labs, a leading provider of analytical testing services to the legal cannabis industry, provides insight to the proposed marijuana testing rules released on April 28th by the California Bureau of Marijuana Control. EVIO Labs reports that the proposed testing requirements are far more stringent than the already existing testing requirements in Oregon, where EVIO operates four analytical testing labs. The rules will offer new protections for Californias medical cannabis patients, and validates the market opportunity for EVIO Labs as it opens testing facilities across the state.



The proposed rules require that every batch of cannabis that will be sold through licensed retailers be tested for potency, pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents and microbiological impurities such as molds, Salmonella, E.Coli and mycotoxins.



All of this testing will be expensive. Today, California growers are spending $50 - $80 for individual tests such as potency, mold, pesticide and residual solvent to ensure clean cannabis is being sold. The proposed rules will implement batch testing, similar to other states like Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts and Oregon, where every 10 pounds of dry flower is tested, but the new rules propose every batch of product be tested twice. Furthermore, product manufacturers will have to ensure each batch of edibles be tested ten times for potency to ensure the batch is homogeneous.



According to the Bureau of Marijuana Control, the proposed regulations are expected to increase the cost of medical cannabis by $407 a pound. This can mean over $4,000 in testing revenue per ten pound batch of marijuana flower.



EVIO Labs has reviewed these requirements through the lens of its Oregon experience. Most of the pesticides that are required to be detected must be detected at levels far lower than is required in Oregon. This means that analytical testing companies, such as EVIO Labs, will need to increase their capital investment in the top of the line testing equipment that will be required to detect contaminants at these levels. This may also make it difficult for smaller less capitalized labs to operate with these new proposed regulatory requirements.



Laboratories that perform testing must be accredited to ISO 17025 standards. According to the International Organization for Standardization, the ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. It covers testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods. This standard has been used as a basis for ORELAP (Oregon Environmental Lab Accreditation Program) accreditation, which EVIO Labs has attained for its four (4) labs in Oregon.



EVIO has already begun the process of attaining ISO accreditation for EVIO California, which includes our lab in Yuba City. The company has been working during the past year to aggregate the best methods from four operating labs, standardize its operations, to prepare a playbook which will define the processes required to open several more labs, while all working most efficiently under the same set of operating procedures and methods.



Currently only a handful of labs that test Cannabis in California have ISO certification. The Bureau has indicated that the testing rules will add 713 new jobs to the sector, with an increase in Californias economy of over 2,000 jobs.



Below are some of the highlights of the proposed testing rules:



The lab must demonstrate proficiency in testing, and maintain a detailed set of operating procedures and maintain a highly-qualified staff with demonstrated academic credentials and work experience.

Sampling of product for testing must be performed on site by a trained, college educated sampler who will don personal protective equipment from hairnets to disposable coveralls and ensure that the samples are taken randomly, placed in glass vials, and stored in a precisely temperature controlled container are not altered in any way.

The samples will be tested for cannabinoids - to measure of potency of THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA, CBG and CBN.

Plant samples will be tested for moisture content to ensure the flower has been properly cured and will not attract new mold.

Cannabis will be tested for filth and foreign material. This is typically a visual inspection performed with magnification.

Concentrated products such as shatter will be tested for residual solvents and processing chemicals. The product will be tested for more than 20 chemicals ranging from butane and isopropyl alcohol to chloroform.

Edible cannabis products will be tested for homogeneity. Each batch of edibles must be tested 10 times for THC or CBD to ensure that the product is consistent throughout the batch. The lab will evaluate the results of the ten tests, and evaluate that there are no statistical outliers, and that the standard deviation of the tests does not exceed 15%

All products will be tested for 66 pesticides from myclobutanil to malathion. The proposed list of pesticides to be tested in California includes about 8 additional fungicides and pesticides not tested for in Oregon. Most limits are set to 0.01  0.02 parts per million, while in Oregon, the limits are ten times higher or 0.2  0.4 parts per million.

Labs will test for microbiological impurities such as Salmonella, Aspergillus and Coli as well as mycotoxins, a toxic fungus.

Californias medical cannabis will be tested for the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.

If clients desire to list terpenes on their product labels, labs must provide the terpene results.

Throughout the process, the labs maintain detailed records, including chain of custody, recording every detail of the sampling and testing process

The labs then produce detailed multi-page test reports that describe the results of the tests and methods used in testing.

According to the Los Angeles Times on May 7, 2017, voters in November approved the sale of marijuana for recreational use and the testing guidelines are expected to be similar to those proposed for medical pot..



Signal Bay has spent considerable time and resources over the last year planning for its California deployment of its EVIO Labs testing division, said William Waldrop CEO of Signal Bay, Growing up in California, I anticipated Californias proposed testing rules to be stringent as the states continues to be a leader in safety for its residents. The company is on track to meet its meet its goal of expanding to 18 testing labs by the end of 2018.



The entire text of the proposed testing regulations can be found here: http://bmcr.ca.gov/



About Signal Bay, Inc.: Signal Bay, Inc. is an Oregon-based biotechnology company. Through its three subsidiaries: EVIO Labs, Signal Bay Research and Signal Bay Services; the Company provides analytical testing services, research and management advisory services to the legal cannabis industry. The Company's EVIO Labs division operates state-of-the-art testing facilities deploying our Cannabis Compliance Science accredited testing methodologies to ensure the safety and quality of the nation's cannabis supply. Learn more at http://www.signalbay.com or the company can be reached directly @ 1-888-544-EVIO.



This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements may contain certain forward-looking statements pertaining to future anticipated or projected plans, performance and developments, as well as other statements relating to future operations and results. Any statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be considered to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intends," "goal," "objective," "seek," "attempt," or variations of these or similar words, identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements by their nature are estimates of future results only and involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, our ability to complete our product testing and launch our product commercially, the acceptance of our product in the marketplace, the uncertainty of the laws and regulations relating to cannabis, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov or http://www.signalbay.com




ASKER, NORWAY (9 May 2017) - The Annual General Meeting of TGS was held on 9 May 2017. All resolutions proposed were approved by the shareholders.

The minutes from the Annual General Meeting are attached.

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

Will Ashby

VP HR & Communication

Tel: +1 713 860 2184

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
orange

exhibit, which thereby activates

, which

activates

, in turn

activation

, and

activate

and

activate

which

activates

1. Transition after "exhibit:" ,which / ,in turn / ,and / and / which, as a result

2. Vert tense & parallelism: activates / activation / activate

Let's start with #1 on our list: how to proceed after the word "exhibits."

, which thereby activates

INCORRECT

, in turn an activation of

INCORRECT

, and

OKAY

and

OKAY

which, as a result, activates

INCORRECT

We can eliminate options A, B, and E

it

INCORRECT

and

CORRECT

There you go - option D is the correct choice!

Hello Everyone!Let's take a closer look at this question and decide how to narrow it down to the correct choice quickly! To start, here is the original question with any major differences between the options highlighted inUnlike the original National Museum of Science and Technology in Italy, where the models are encased in glass or operated only by staff members, the Virtual Leonardo Project, an online version of the museum, encourages visitors to touch eachthe animated functions of the piece.(A) exhibitthereby(B) exhibitanof(C) exhibitit will(D) exhibitthereby(E) exhibit, as a result,After quickly glancing over the options, there are a couple places we can focus on to start narrowing down options:This problem mainly focuses on making sure we use transitions and modifiers correctly:(A) exhibitThis isbecause adding the comma + which turns the phrase into a modifier. Any comma + which modifier must refer back to the closest preceding noun, which in this sentence is the exhibit. Does the exhibit activate the animated functions? NO! The person's touch activates it! So let's rule out this option.(B) exhibitThis isbecause using the phrase "in turn an activation of" doesn't really make sense. First, the phrase "in turn" can only be used to introduce new clauses, which would need their own nouns and verbs to work. In this case, the phrase "in turn an activation of..." is missing a solid verb for it to make sense, so let's rule this one out as well.(C) exhibitit will activateThis isfor now. It's clear that the touching and activating of the animated functions happen, for the most part, at the same time. Both items use parallel structure by using singular verbs (touch/activate), so let's keep this one for now.(D) exhibitthereby activateThis isfor now. It's also clear that we're talking about two actions the people are performing (touch/activate), and both are worded using parallel structure. Let's keep this one for now.(E) exhibitThis isbecause, yet again, we have a "which" modifier used incorrectly. This sentence suggests that the nearest noun (exhibit) activates the animated functions, which isn't correct - the people do this through their touch. So let's rule this out.because they all created confusing or misleading modifiers. Now that we've narrowed it down to only 2 options, let's take a closer look at each one to determine which is the best option:(C) exhibit, andwill activateThis isbecause it contains a vague pronoun! What is the word "it" referring back to: the touch, the visitors, the exhibit? It's not clear, so we need to toss out this option. The GMAT really doesn't like vague pronouns, so whenever you see one, it's a good indicator that you're looking at a wrong option!(D) exhibitthereby activateThis is! By using the word "and," the sentence is clearly showing that the visitors are doing 2 actions: touch the exhibit and activate the animated functions. Both actions are worded using parallel structure by using singular verbs (touch/activate). It is clear and concise, just like the GMAT prefers!Don't study for the GMAT. Train for it._________________
- A Nigerian female firefighter became an internet sensation after her photos surfaced on social media

- The lady who is extremely passionate about her job regularly shares fire safety tips on her social media pages

- Nigerians were inspired to see a beautiful lady who is so passionate about her job

A Nigerian female firefighter, Dennis Dooshima, has become an internet sensation after beautiful photos of her surfaced on social media.

In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, Dooshima talked about her experience as a firefighter in Nigeria.

She expressed that she became a firefighter because she wants to do something out of the ordinary with her life.

Brave Nigerian lady Dennis Dooshima talks about her life as a firefighter

Dooshima told Legit.ng that she feels fulfilled whenever she gets a chance to save a life because there is no greater filling than saving someones life.

READ ALSO: Meet female firefighter Pauline Ochanya who is INCREDIBLY beautiful (photos)

The Nasarawa State University graduate who celebrated her last birthday at the hospital with burn victims expressed that she did so because she wanted to make people happy.

Dooshima beautiful in her firefighting uniform

READ ALSO: Nigerian man transforms his Peugeot 504 beyond recognition (photos)

Read Dooshimas interview with Legit.ng below:

1) What inspired you to decide to become a firefighter?

"I have always wanted to do something out of the ordinary with myself, something challenging. In fact, helping people connect with work and play that makes them happy is the key reason why I do this work with passion."

2) Did your parents support your decision to become a fire fighting officer?

"As a young girl, my chosen method of helping others step away from their stress was humor, I believe my angel parents will be proud of me."

3) When you were learning to become a firefighter, was the training difficult for you and how did you cope with it?

"The training is vigorous but I told myself that yes I can,The final step to become a firefighter is to complete training sponsored by the National Fire Academy (NFA). Training programs lasted for six months, but all trainees will work at least maximum of 12 hours a day.

Academies would blend classroom instruction with practical hands-on training. New firefighters are given essential knowledge on fire prevention, firefighting techniques, anti-arson methods, hazardous materials, building codes, and disaster preparedness practices. Trainees are pushed through obstacle courses to assess their agility in fighting fires in various challenging areas too."

Dennis Dooshima shares fire safety tips on social media

4) Was there any time you thought of quitting because of the difficultly of the job?

"In the beginning, some of the colleagues just took me as a complete joke, I felt really left out for a while. Ive had some people criticize me for being a Nigerian female firefighter. I didn't have to use words to fight, I can prove my place in my field. I'm proud of what I do and where I come from, I became close with some great people that constantly encouraged me and told me not to give up! Every time I felt like leaving Id think about how great it feels to get on and save lives. Even now, I know there are still some people that think I dont belong here but overall I think Ive shown how much I care and want to do this."

5) Do you get scared when you have to run into a build to save a life?

"I don't get scared but will want you to picture it when there's fire in a building or a fuel station everybody runs out but we firemen will go in, rescue and put out fire my dear it's not an easy something."

Dooshima is a hardworking firefighter passionate about what she does

6) How do you feel when you see burn victims?

"Generally nobody feels good about it but personally I feel pity & very sad about it, I wish they knew or had an idea 5 minutes before hand. I feel hurt deep down in me, seeing a little child in so much pain."

7) Describe how you feel when you get the chance lives?

"The best part of the job for me is knowing I'm doing my part to make a difference. With all the negatives people tend to attach to us, we're on ground to do some good. Whether paid or volunteer, that's what this job is all about. There will never be a better feeling than knowing you did your part in saving someone's life, possessions or home. Thanks to all of the fellow brothers and sisters for doing your part."

8) You celebrated your last birthday with burn victims at the hospital, what made you decide to do so?

"I chose to celebrate my last birthday differently because my birthday will not come with the same age again and I wanted to put a smile on someone else's face. I wanted to do humanitarian work which is also part of my job and help those who are in need. Their blessings are the best gift one could ever ask for. I took it up on my self the method of helping others step away from their stress was humor."

Dooshima celebrated her birthday with burn victims

9) Do you get treated differently as a female firefighter?

"If yes, how does that make you feel? Am treated same as others."

10) How did you feel when Nigerians started to recognize you for the hard work you do?

"First I felt encouraged but not carried away because I haven't started or done anything yet. This is just my starting point, I still have a lot on my plate to do and achieve .But am moved and motivated to do more each time I get recognized."

11) What do you love about being a firefighter?

"I love the feeling of accomplishment after a fire. The brotherhood that you can have with anyone in the fire service. Being able to talk to them and not have a clue who they are. Oh helping people is pretty cool, we take care of our own . It's a family that you are part of forever regardless. What I don't like are death notifications, anything with kids and dealing with mutts. Honestly, it's the quality friendship and doing the job when needed safely and going home. Having people say Thank you."

12) What is the key advice you can give Nigerians to avoid fire accidents?

"Many deaths and injuries can be prevented if people have a better understanding of fire."

See more beautiful photos of Dennis Dooshima below:

Dennis Dooshima slaying outside of work

Dennis Dooshima rocking beautiful dresses

Brave Nigerian lady Dennis Dooshima talks about her life as a firefighter

Meet female Nigerian taxi driver

Source: Legit.ng
The sad story of how a young widow lost her properties during a mysterious fire incident has one viral on the internet.

Legit.ng gathered that, this young lady just lost her husband and as art of moving on with her life, she decided to move into a new apartment, so she can start afresh but unfortunately all her belongings burnt into ashes in her presence.

A young man identified as, Ettu Mohammed, decided to take this post this unfortunate incidence as he revealed pictures of this ladys belongings on his Facebook wall.

The widow's property burnt in front of her new home

READ ALSO: New born baby found dumped in a carton outside a house (photos)

Mohammed posted the pictures with the caption: What my eye saw this evening is beyond me. Right inside the Estate where I live a new tenant somewhere inside the Estate just arrived to move into her new apartment. Guess what where the truck that conveyed their properties got burnt right in front of the new apartment. Efforts to put the fire off was capital zero. The flame just kept increasing. Everything got burnt to ashes except the truck. This woman is a widow not more than 30yrs from her look.,she decided to leave her old apartment for a new life and now this. The only advice I think I have is she should pray harder. I didn't see any gas cylinder nor stove or anything that created such a huge flame and the truck is still working as I write. No one can console her as I speak as everyone is mute even her new landlord.

READ ALSO: Nigerian police officers help a lady in distress, fix her car in Abuja (photo)

See more pictures below:

The burnt truck loaded with the widow's property

People trying to help get some of her things from the fire incidence

Generator, freezer others burnt in the fire incident

Watch related video of the family of petty trader killed by stray bullet cries for justice below:

However this happened on Sunday, May 8, at Santos Estate,Lagos.

Source: Legit.ng
Ties in the age of Trump

There have been fears in Nepal that new US President Trump could live up to his electoral promise of disengagement from global issues.
Two Indian hydro developers in line to get forest clearance

The government is all set to give the environmental green light to two Indian hydropower developers to acquire forest land to build their projects for which they will have to pay a fee.
US delegation wraps up three-day visit

US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who was leading a bipartisan Congressional delegation to Nepal, wrapped up a three-day visit on Monday.
Eugene- The Republican health Care bill is actually a massive tax cut for the wealthy, and is not about making health care more accessible, affordable, or better in any way. Is this going to be the beginning of voters waking up to see that the Republican party is not looking out for the everyday person, but instead doing what billionaires want them to do? The highest tax rate is less than half of what it was in 1960, and yet Republicans continue to want to lower it, as if that is the most important thing that America needs. They have been able to get away with it by being the party of backlash against gays and immigrants, but this time they might have finally gotten caught by reality. This bill is terrible, and Republicans have to lie to defend it, since they cannot tell the truth about what the bill actually does without admitting it hurts the average person. Is this the beginning of the awakening for Republican voters, or do they still think the emperor looks fabulous in his new clothes?
Paraguay is eager to hike trade and investment volume with United Arab Emirate (UAE), countrys president has announced revealing plans to open a first commercial representative office in the Gulf country.

President Horacio Cartes made the announcement during a recent meeting in Asuncion with a delegation from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emirati media Arabian Business reports.

President Cartes hopes through this move to see investment and trade between the Latin American country and UAE boosted, the media notes.

The Latin American country boats a stable economy, natural resources and represents a

gateway to markets in the region.

The meeting which took place in the framework of the Global Business Forum on Latin America

roadshow, organized by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, enabled Emirati

companies to get a glimpse of business opportunities and environment of the Latin American

country.

Trade between the two countries is largely dominated by oil. Dubais non-oil trade with

Paraguay surged to AED102.8 million in 2016, almost doubling since 2010, Arabian Business

reports.

President and CEO of Dubai Chamber Hamad Buamim noted that Paraguay is a lucrative market

full of investment opportunities, and hailed the countrys agriculture produce as one of

the worlds best qualities.

The two countries can scale up trade in the area of agriculture, Buamin noted, adding that

UAE currently imports more than 85 percent of its food needs.
The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends in an evidence-based clinical practice guideline published today in Annals of Internal Medicine that physicians treat women with osteoporosis with bisphosphonates (alendronate, risedronate, or zoledronic acid) or denosumab, a biologic agent.

"Physicians should prescribe generic drugs to treat patients with osteoporosis whenever possible and they should discuss the importance of medication adherence, especially for bisphosphonates," said Jack Ende, MD, MACP, president, ACP.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has endorsed ACP's guideline.

Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by decreasing bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue that leads to an increased risk for bone fragility and fracture, especially in the hip, spine, and wrist. An estimated 54 million men and women in the United States have low bone density or osteoporosis. About 50 percent of Americans older than 50 are at risk for osteoporotic fracture.

ACP's guideline focuses on the comparative benefits and risks of short- and long-term drug treatments for low bone density or osteoporosis, including prescriptions, calcium, vitamin D, and estrogen.

The evidence suggests that physicians should treat women with osteoporosis with drug therapy for five years. Continuing treatment after the initial five years may be beneficial for some patients and may be appropriate after reassessing the risks and benefits of continuing therapy.

ACP recommends against bone density monitoring during the five-year treatment period because the evidence does not show any benefit for monitoring during treatment. ACP also recommends against using menopausal estrogen therapy or menopausal estrogen plus progestin therapy or raloxifene for the treatment of osteoporosis in women. Estrogen treatment is associated with serious harms such as increased risk for cerebrovascular accidents and venous thromboembolic events that outweigh the potential benefits.

Physicians should make the decision whether to treat osteopenic women 65 years of age or older who are at a high risk for fracture based on a discussion of patient preferences; fracture risk profile; and the benefits, harms, and costs of medications.

The evidence does not support frequent monitoring of women with normal bone density for osteoporosis; the data showed that most women with normal bone density measurements did not progress to osteoporosis within 15 years.

ACP recommends that physicians offer drug treatment with bisphosphonates to reduce the risk for vertebral fracture in men with osteoporosis.

"The evidence specifically for men is sparse," Dr. Ende said. "However, the data did not suggest that outcomes associated with drug treatment would differ between men and women if based on similar bone mineral density, so treatment for men may be appropriate."

"Treatment of Low Bone Density or Osteoporosis to Prevent Fractures in Men and Women" is based on a systematic review of randomized, controlled trials; systematic reviews; large observational studies (for adverse events); and case reports (for rare events). Clinical outcomes evaluated were fractures and adverse events.

ACP's clinical practice guidelines are developed through a rigorous process based on an extensive review of the highest quality evidence available, including randomized control trials and data from observational studies. ACP also identifies gaps in evidence and direction for future research through its guidelines development process.

ACP's previous recommendations for treating low bone density and osteoporosis to prevent fractures were published in "Pharmacologic Treatment of Low Bone Density or Osteoporosis to Prevent Fractures" in 2008. ACP's 2017 guideline presents additional available evidence on treatments, including new medications and biologic agents, to prevent fractures in men and women with low bone density or osteoporosis since publication of the 2008 guideline.
Credit: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore

Children develop their eating behaviors in the environments they grow up in, and whether at home, in childcare or out in eateries, adults determine the quality and quantity of children's food provisions.

Serving size matters

Childhood obesity is a serious public health concern in Singapore and around the world, partly caused by the frequent consumption of large portions of calorie rich foods.

Adults and children tend to eat more when served large portions. Research investigating 'The Portion Size Effect' has shown that children as young as 2 years old eat more when served larger-than-normal portions at meal times. This effect is strongest in foods we like the most, which unfortunately are not typically the whole grains and vegetables we actually want children to eat more of.

The unique role of childcare in Singapore

The Early Childhood Development Agency reports that 99 per cent of pre-school age children (6 years old and below) attend a pre-school center, where they often eat several meals and snacks. This places childcare providers at the heart of a child's early food environment.

In a study recently published in the journal Appetite, we investigated the influence of portion size on children's lunch intake in a local pre-school. We found that the portions children were served by their teachers were very similar to those the children would serve themselves. This means that, in this particular school, the teachers were relatively 'in tune' with the children's individual portion needs and average portions served to children were in-line with those recommended by Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Promotion Board (HPB).

Importantly, when the teachers were asked to serve a bit extra at lunch (about 50 per cent more than each child's usual lunch intake), the children ate more. This Portion Size Effect was strongest in the oldest children (56 years old), who ate everything they were served, and weakest in the young children (23 years old), who consistently had leftovers in their bowl. This shows how the portions adults pick can influence how much children eat, especially if children are encouraged to eat everything served.

Portion Distortion

So how do adults know how much to serve growing pre-school age children?

In Singapore, pre-school centers like the one we studied can follow the HPB's Healthy Meals in Child Care Centres Programme for guidance on menu-planning, healthier cooking methods and age-appropriate portion sizes.

A potential problem is that younger children (less than 4 years old) rarely consume fixed portions and often eat different amounts depending on the meal or day. In reality, appropriate portions depend on a range of factors, including the size of the child's previous meal, their height, weight and activity level. This variability can lead parents and caregivers to question whether standardized portion guidelines actually apply to their child.

Some parents report 'just knowing' the portions to serve their child. But adults could unintentionally serve too much if portion decisions are biased by factors unrelated to the child's needs, such as serving children portions you would like to eat, or not believing children are full when they are say they are.

Adults have a role to play in healthy portion decisions

It is important to recognize that portion sizes will only be problematic if they are consistently inappropriate for a child's age, size and activity level.

If a young child is showing healthy weight gain as they grow (e.g. is not underweight or overweight for their age and height), the portion sizes they are consuming day-to-day are probably appropriate for their needs. Here, urging children to finish everything on their plate may be unnecessary and could prevent children attending to their own feelings of hunger and fullness.

There is a need for public health professionals to better understanding of how parents and caregivers make portion decisions for children, and assess the use of existing portion guidelines. With such a high rate of preschool childcare attendance, Singapore is in a unique position to be at the forefront of promoting appropriate portion sizes so all adults can support healthy growth in children.

More information: Keri McCrickerd et al. Preschool children's sensitivity to teacher-served portion size is linked to age related differences in leftovers, Appetite (2017). Journal information: Appetite Keri McCrickerd et al. Preschool children's sensitivity to teacher-served portion size is linked to age related differences in leftovers,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.04.003
Credit: Carnegie Mellon University

While most conflict of interest research and debate in medicine focuses on physicians interacting with pharmaceutical and device companies, one important source of conflicts is largely ignored in the medical literature on conflicts of interest: how doctors are paid.

In a Journal of the American Medical Association Viewpoint article, Carnegie Mellon University's George Loewenstein and the University of California, Los Angeles' Ian Larkin outline the problems associated with the fee-for-service arrangements that most doctors currently operate under. Such compensation schemes, they argue, create incentives for physicians to order more, and different, services than are best for patients.

"Fee-for-service payments have adverse consequences that dwarf those of the payments from pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers that have received the lion's share of attention in the conflict of interest literature," said Loewenstein, the Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Economics and Psychology at CMU and a leading expert on conflicts of interest. "Paying doctors to do more leads to over-provision of tests and procedures, which cause harms that go beyond the monetary and time costs of getting them. Many if not most tests and procedures cause pain and discomfort, especially when they go wrong."

One commonly proposed solution to the problem involves requiring physicians to disclose their financial interest for a given procedure. However, disclosure of conflicts has been found to have limited, or even negative, effects on patients.

Loewenstein and Larkin argue that the simplest and most effective way to deal with conflicts caused by fee-for-service arrangements is to pay physicians on a straight salary basis. Several health systems well-known for high-quality of care, such as the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic and the Kaiser group in California, pay physicians salaries without incentives for volume of services performed.

Moving more physicians to straight salary-based compensation might have benefits not only for patients, but also for physicians themselves.

"The high levels of job dissatisfaction reported by many physicians may result, in part, from the need to navigate the complexities of the fee-for-service arrangements," said Larkin, an assistant professor of strategy at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. "Instead of focusing on providing patients with the best possible medical care, physicians are forced to consider the ramifications of their decisions for their own paychecks."

Arthur L. Caplan, professor of bioethics at New York University's Langone Medical Center, told Medscape that he found Loewenstein and Larkin's piece to be "the most novel" in the May 2 JAMA issue dedicated to medical conflicts of interest. In how they suggest using salaried compensation as a remedy for conflicts of interest that arise from fee-for-service incentives, Caplan said, "There's been a lot of talk about this, but not much had been written."

Loewenstein and Larkin also led a research study in the same issue of JAMA on how restricting pharmaceutical sales representatives' marketing tactics changes physician prescribing behavior.
(HealthDay)EpiPensdevices used to rescue people during a severe allergic reactioncan remain effective years after their expiration date, a new study reports.

An evaluation of almost 40 expired, unused EpiPens brought in by patients revealed that all of the devices contained more than 80 percent of their initial dose of epinephrine. This was true even as long as four years past the expiration date on the device, said study lead researcher F. Lee Cantrell, director of the California Poison Control System - San Diego Division.

People unable to replace an old EpiPen due to pharmacy shortages should hold onto it past expiration, because the device could still contain a lifesaving dose, Cantrell concluded.

"There's still a dose that would be therapeutic in there," he said. "If this is all you have, this is better than nothing."

Cantrell still recommends people replace expired EpiPens if fresh ones are available, as a matter of safety.

"If it's me, if I'm highly allergic to a bee sting, I want something that I know is going to save my life," Cantrell said. "At the same time, if an expired EpiPen is all that I have, I would use it."

However, he believes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the maker of the EpiPen, Mylan, should reassess the expiration date set for EpiPens to see if it can be extended.

Expiration dates are based on studies conducted during a drug's evaluation process that test its stability in both ideal and poor storage conditions, the FDA said in a statement. After approval, companies are required to continue these studies, and can request an extension of the expiration date if the data supports it.

In a statement, Mylan said its products carry expiration dates that reflect the final day "that a product has been determined to be safe and effective when stored under the conditions stated in the package insert."

"Given the life-threatening nature of anaphylaxis, patients are encouraged to refill their EpiPen Auto-Injector upon expiration, approximately every 12 to 18 months," the company's statement reads. "Mylan also continues to invest in product improvements, such as a formulation with a longer shelf life."

Cantrell and his colleagues conducted their study after a steep hike in the price of EpiPens caused a consumer rush at pharmacies.

Mylan obtained the rights to sell the EpiPen in 2007, and has since increased the list price of the auto-injector from $94 to $609, according to news reports. People with extreme allergies keep EpiPens on hand to prevent a potentially fatal allergic reaction.

In response to patient outcries over the price increase, Mylan released a $300 generic version of the EpiPen.

Pharmacists reported to Cantrell that people started buying out all their EpiPen supplies as prices continued to rise.

"People got really scared their insurance carriers were no longer going to pay for the drug because it was so expensive, so everyone went to pharmacies and cleaned them out," Cantrell said. "They wanted to stockpile and get them while it was still covered."

Patients began calling poison control centers to see if an EpiPen would still be good for use past expiration, prompting Cantrell and his colleagues to seek an answer.

During two weeks, patients at a community clinic in San Diego were asked to bring in unused, expired EpiPens so they could be examined, the researchers said. The team ended up with 31 EpiPens and 9 EpiPen Jrs.

None of the pens was discoloreda sign that it's gone bad and should not be used, Cantrell said.

Analysis revealed that all of the pens still retained most of their potency. The lowest level of epinephrine, 81 percent, was found in an EpiPen Jr. 30 months past its expiration date.

About 65 percent of the EpiPens and 56 percent of the EpiPen Jrs. contained at least 90 percent of their initial epinephrine dose, the researchers concluded.

Despite these findings, allergist Dr. Andrew Murphy said patients should not hold off replacing their injector to save money.

"The drug is labeled to be good to a certain date," said Murphy, who practices in Downingtown, Pa. "That's what I know as a prescribing physician, that the FDA and the pharmaceutical company have guaranteed that.

"Having said that, if someone is at home and they're having a reaction and the only thing they have available is an expired epinephrine injector, as long as it's not yellow or cloudy or has something floating in there, go ahead and use it," Murphy continued.

A larger study is needed to confirm what this new paper reports, Murphy said, but the findings do indicate that the FDA should re-evaluate how long the pens are viable.

People need to keep in mind that the epinephrine in the injectors can degrade more quickly if they're poorly stored, Murphy said. For example, a pen kept in a car can be subjected to high heat in the summer and freezing cold in the winter, which would affect the stability of the drug.

"The reality is, most people don't store their pens under ideal circumstances," Murphy said.

The study appeared in the May 8 Annals of Internal Medicine.

More information: F. Lee Cantrell, Pharm.D., director, California Poison Control System - San Diego division; Andrew Murphy, M.D., allergist, Downingtown, Pa.; May 8, 2017, Annals of Internal Medicine F. Lee Cantrell, Pharm.D., director, California Poison Control System - San Diego division; Andrew Murphy, M.D., allergist, Downingtown, Pa.; May 8, 2017, For more on epinephrine injectors, visit the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology. Journal information: Annals of Internal Medicine

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
One of every three genetic tests examined by a team of researchers at the San Diego Naval Medical Center shouldn't have been prescribed, a finding that adds to growing body of evidence suggesting that genetic tests are routinely overused and often misinterpreted.

The new analysis earned a first-place award from the American Congress of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, or ACOG, which is nearing the end of its annual national meeting in San Diego.

Though the study's scope was limited - it reviewed 114 cases and looked at only seven genetic tests among the hundreds that doctors regularly order - its results nonetheless reinforce previous research that arrived at similar conclusions.

In 2014, for example, Stanford University reported that three San Francisco Bay Area women chose abortions after undergoing DNA screening tests that erroneously showed that their unborn babies had a serious genetic condition such as Down syndrome or nearly-always-fatal genetic condition Trisomy 13.

Recently, many researchers have criticized physicians who counsel bilateral mastectomies for women who get an "ambiguous" finding of "uncertain significance" when they undergo genetic testing for mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 cancer genes.

"This underlines that informed decision-making is very important," said Dr. Kathleen Ruzzo at the naval medical center, who is the main recipient of the OB/GYN organization's award.

Her team found that 44 of the cases it evaluated - 38 percent - used genetic tests in ways that were not fully compliant with best practice guidelines issued by organizations such as ACOG. Twenty-four were ordered to help diagnose symptoms that they were not designed to explain, 12 provided inadequate information to diagnose specific symptoms and eight provided false reassurance about genetic risk.

Dr. Monica Lutgendorf, another obstetrician and gynecologist on the San Diego research team, noted that one commonly ordered genetic screener, called a free cell DNA test, is significantly pricier than the blood serum test it replaces.

"It costs between $600 and $1,000 compared to the serum screen, which costs about $100," Lugendorf said.

The research team did a financial analysis of the 44 wrongly ordered tests it discovered and found that choosing the correct alternatives would have saved nearly $21,000.

What's more, looking just at the free cell DNA test, both physicians noted that choosing the serum test for women younger than 35 would not just save money, but also increase the odds of detecting other potentially harmful conditions and would reduce the chance of the of false positives for scary conditions such as Down syndrome. It is these kinds of misdiagnoses that have led some women to choose abortions as chronicled in a 2014 expose by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.

San Diego researchers said their findings argue for better education of doctors who are ordering these tests and for greater involvement of genetic counselors who specialize in understanding the often-subtle nuances of what these powerful diagnostic tools can do and what they can't.

ACOG, which attracted about 5,000 obstetricians and gynecologists to San Diego for its national meeting, is featuring new training modules designed to help doctors improve their knowledge about genetic tests they might want to order for their patients.

Mary Freivogel, president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors, applauded that perspective. She said the San Diego naval team's results roughly track with another study, published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics in 2014, which found that 26 percent of genetic tests were wrongly ordered when researchers analyzed 21 months of genetic test orders that passed through a university lab in Salt Lake City.

Freivogel said that there are plenty of doctors who understand every aspect of the genetic tests they order, but many don't. Medical schools, she said, may not spend much time on the ins and outs of genetic testing, and many may have gone to school before the current array of tests were invented.

Doctors are often faced with sales pitches on these tests, which can gloss over key issues, she said. Take the free cell DNA tests, for example. They can predict the risk of Down syndrome with 99 percent certainty. However, at the end of the day, risk of disease is not the same thing as actually having that disease. Screening for risk is not the same thing as making a definitive medical diagnosis.

"This is a screening test, and it should always be confirmed by an invasive test such as through amniocentesis to make sure," Freivogel said.

In the Bay Area cases, an expert at Stanford University reported examining the tissue of three babies aborted after a genetic test had indicated heightened risk of Down syndrome. In reality, further screening would have revealed that none of those children had the condition.

Likewise, some patients and their physicians have overreacted to test results for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 cancer genes.

While positive and negative results are quite reliable, some women get a middle-of-the-road finding often called a "genetic variant of uncertain significance." This means that the genetic test did find some mutations in the BRCA genes, but those mutations have not been proven to cause aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancer as other mutations in the same genes have.

In recent years, some women have undergone double mastectomies when they get these less-than-guaranteed findings.

At the end of the day, Freivogel said patients would do well to be thorough and methodical about genetic testing.

"The truth is, it is a unique thing to be able to do this well and to be able to take the time to do it well. If you are going to make an important decision based on genetic test results and you haven't seen a genetic counselor, I would encourage you to do so first," Freivogel said.

The society maintains a list of counselors at www.findageneticcounselor.com that is searchable by ZIP code.

2017 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: Drexel University

If held to the same standards as restaurants in the area, most Philadelphia home kitchens examined for a pair of Drexel University studies would receive "critical code violations."

Researchers checked 100 Philadelphia homes and found that most had evidence of pest infestations and didn't store raw meat correctly. On top of that, samples showed that almost half of the kitchens contained at least one foodborne disease-causing organism, with listeria and E. coli found in 15 percent of homes.

"Most of the conditions we saw would compromise a restaurant's health score or be considered a 'critical code violation,'" said Jennifer Quinlan, PhD, associate professor in the Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions, one of the leaders of the two new studies.

Published in Food Protection Trends and the Journal of Food Protection and conducted by Patricia Borrusso, a former graduate student in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, and Quinlan, the studies sought to explore risks for foodborne illness as a result of food storage and preparation in people's own kitchens. Such research is sorely needed as most studies focus on food outside of the home, but few look at our own kitchens.

"There's actually not a lot of funding available to look at consumer issues and food safety," Quinlan explained. "In fact, the USDA program that funded this research was discontinued a few years ago."

First, Borrusso and Quinlan teamed with Drexel grad Shauna Henley, PhD, of the University of Maryland, to do a "visual audit" of the 100 kitchens across Philadelphia. In that study, the team used an auditing checklist tool inspired by one health inspectors would use for restaurants to check for unsafe practices and foodborne illness risk.

The team found that in 97 percent of homes where raw meat was present, it was improperly stored above "Ready-to-eat" food (food that is pre-cooked or does not need to be cooked). In some cases, the researchers noticed that juices from raw meat dripped down onto other food in refrigerators.

Refrigeration was an issue observed in many homes. Of the refrigerators observed in the study, 43 percent were found to be above the recommended 41 F. In fact, in 6 percent of the homes, raw meat and poultry were found stored at room temperature.

"Refrigeration slows down or stops the growth of bacteria, so if raw meat, fish and/or poultry are held above 41 F, it allows bacteria to grow more quickly," Quinlan said. "The higher above 41 F, the faster the bacteria will grow."

Evidence of pests was found in 65 percent of homes kitchens. That includes anything from visual sighting of bugs to rodent droppings.

All these unsafe conditions contribute to what the next study undertaken by Borrusso and Quinlan examined: The presence of foodborne pathogens in home kitchens.

In the same 100 homes checked for kitchen conditions, the researchers took samples from as many as six locations (refrigerator door handles, refrigerator shelves, refrigerator meat drawers, kitchen counters near the sink, and sponges or dishrags) and tested them.

The researchers found fecal coliforms (bacteria) in 44 percent of the kitchens in the study, with the related E. coli present in 15 percent.

In 45 percent of the homes tested, at least one foodborne pathogen was discovered, and 12 percent of the kitchens had more than one type. Listeria, which can cause an illness especially worrisome for pregnant women but also affects older people and those with weakened immune systems, was found in 15 percent of kitchens.

When the researchers looked at the locations of the bacteria, dishcloths and sponges overwhelmingly yielded the most contaminated samples, with 64 percent having bacteria.

Samples from the kitchen sink contained the most fecal bacteria, but refrigerator handles were actually the cleanest areas.

"Bacteria love moist environments to grow and dishcloths and sponges have both that moist environment and maybe some food remnants, too," Quinlan said. "This makes a perfect place for bacteria to thrive."

As such, Quinlan said she's become "religious about microwaving my sponge" for a minute each day after she conducted this research, as microwaving kills many pathogens.

Refrigerators operating at higher temperatures were linked with higher counts of Listeria, while bacteria counts were uniformly higher in homes that lacked sanitizer, disinfectant products or soap in the kitchen.

To help combat the biological threats in personal kitchens, Borrusso and Quinlan concluded that there needs to be better education on safe practices in the kitchen.

"We need to identify and use more innovative and modern technology to educate consumers about these issues at the time when they would be receptive to that information," Quinlan said. "For example, if I am searching for a recipe for chicken, have something appear with safe handling techniques for chicken."

More information: Patricia A. Borrusso et al, Prevalence of Pathogens and Indicator Organisms in Home Kitchens and Correlation with Unsafe Food Handling Practices and Conditions, Journal of Food Protection (2017). Journal information: Journal of Food Protection Patricia A. Borrusso et al, Prevalence of Pathogens and Indicator Organisms in Home Kitchens and Correlation with Unsafe Food Handling Practices and Conditions,(2017). DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-354
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

(Medical Xpress)A team of researchers with members from the University of Sussex and the University of California has found evidence that suggests color categorization in humans is biological rather than learned. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group outlines the experiments they conducted with infants, what they found, and what they believe their results suggest about the nature of color differentiation in humans.

Non-colorblind people take color vision for grantedit is part of automatic processing. They see something and place it into a color category: red, green, blue, orange, etc. But scientists have not been able to agree on whether such categorizing is the result of behaviors learned from others or if it is at least in part hardwired. To learn more about color categorization, the researchers with this new effort studied babies, hoping to figure out if they categorize colors in ways similar to adults before they learn the words used to describe them.

The experiments consisted of showing 179 46-month-old infants 14 unique color swatches and watching them to see if they reacted in ways that suggested they saw them as unique colors. Prior research has found that babies tend to look at novel things longer. Thus, a baby used to seeing a blue paddle, for example, would likely find an identical paddle painted red something new, and thus would study it a bit longer. The researchers used this knowledge to test the babies using 14 colored swatches.

The researchers report that the infants were clearly able to sort colors into at least five categories: yellow, blue, purple, green and red. This, they suggest, is evidence that color categorization in humans is at least partly biological. They also found that the categories used by infants were related to prior research which identified two neural subsystems that are believed to be responsible for early stage development of color characterization. They further note that other studies, such as the World Color Survey, have also found commonalities in the way colors are categorized.

More information: Alice E. Skelton et al. Biological origins of color categorization, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). Alice E. Skelton et al. Biological origins of color categorization,(2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1612881114 Abstract

The biological basis of the commonality in color lexicons across languages has been hotly debated for decades. Prior evidence that infants categorize color could provide support for the hypothesis that color categorization systems are not purely constructed by communication and culture. Here, we investigate the relationship between infants' categorization of color and the commonality across color lexicons, and the potential biological origin of infant color categories. We systematically mapped infants' categorical recognition memory for hue onto a stimulus array used previously to document the color lexicons of 110 nonindustrialized languages. Following familiarization to a given hue, infants' response to a novel hue indicated that their recognition memory parses the hue continuum into red, yellow, green, blue, and purple categories. Infants' categorical distinctions aligned with common distinctions in color lexicons and are organized around hues that are commonly central to lexical categories across languages. The boundaries between infants' categorical distinctions also aligned, relative to the adaptation point, with the cardinal axes that describe the early stages of color representation in retinogeniculate pathways, indicating that infant color categorization may be partly organized by biological mechanisms of color vision. The findings suggest that color categorization in language and thought is partially biologically constrained and have implications for broader debate on how biology, culture, and communication interact in human cognition. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

 2017 Medical Xpress
The study, from researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and their colleagues, suggests that a mother's cells could directly act as part of her child's immune system, even after birth. Credit: Kimberly Carney / Fred Hutch News Service

Mothers infected with malaria during pregnancy can pass more of their own cells to their baby and change the infant's risk of later infection, a new study shows.

The study, from researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and their colleagues, suggests that a mother's cells could directly act as part of her child's immune system, even after birth.

The placenta blocks some infectious agents, but easily passes oxygen and nutrients to the baby. It also allows a unique exchange of cells between mother and child, known as "microchimerism." The research team looked at how malaria can alter the mother-child cell sharing that happens during pregnancy. It was led by Dr. Whitney Harrington, University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital pediatric infectious disease specialist, and Fred Hutch microchimerism researcher Dr. J. Lee Nelson.

Most babies carry a very small number of foreign cells acquired from their mothers, on the order of a few maternal cells in every 100,000, but the researchers found that babies born to Tanzanian mothers infected with malaria during pregnancy and whose infections had traveled to their placentas had evidence for far more maternal cells on board at the time of their birthson average about one percent, with a few cases even higher than 10 percent.

The level of increase of mother's cells present in baby's blood was a surprise to the researchers. Harrington hypothesizes that the infection led to alterations in placental proteins that control cell trafficking, which allowed more maternal cells to enter the fetuses.

Even more surprising was the lasting effect of this change. When the researchers looked at the health records of the babies, they found that those with higher levels of maternal microchimerism were twice as likely to be infected with malaria during childhood - but only half as likely to get sick from that infection, suggesting that the cells transferred from the mothers might confer some protection against the disease.

Harrington said there are two possible explanations for what's going on: Either mom's immune cells are directly recognizing and acting on the malaria parasite in her child's body, or they're acting indirectly by teaching the child's immune system how to recognize and react to the pathogen.

The researchers examined 53 umbilical cord blood samples from pregnant women and their babies enrolled in a previous study in Muheza, Tanzania, from 2002 to 2006. About half of the women had placental malaria, and about half of those infected women had what's called inflammatory placental malaria, in which the placenta gets very diseased and can stop functioning properly.

In their study, the researchers looked for the amount of maternal DNA in the babies' umbilical cord blood. This is representative of the level of maternal microchimerism the children had at the moment they were born, Harrington said, although it's not known how long that level may persist after birth. Women with placental malaria gave birth to babies with higher-than-average maternal microchimerism, and babies born to mothers with inflammatory placental malaria had even higher average levels.

In future studies, the researchers plan to explore how the maternal and infant cells interact to affect future malaria risk, whether and for how long the high levels of maternal cells persist during children's lives, and how in general a person's microchimerism status affects their susceptibility to other childhood infections.

Malaria is a leading cause of death in low- and middle-income countries, especially among children. An estimated 429,000 people die every year of the infection, according to the World Health Organization, and the majority of those deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

More information: Whitney E. Harrington et al. Maternal microchimerism predicts increased infection but decreased disease due to P. falciparum during early childhood, The Journal of Infectious Diseases (2017). Journal information: Journal of Infectious Diseases Whitney E. Harrington et al. Maternal microchimerism predicts increased infection but decreased disease due to P. falciparum during early childhood,(2017). DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jix129
(HealthDay)A new brain scan study suggests that people whose brains are wired to produce a more muted response to food may ultimately compensate by eating more, thereby raising their risk for obesity.

The new study also unearthed possible evidence of a gender divide in the way men and women process the experience of eating. Women's brains, it appears, may favor a more emotional response to the eating experience, while men are built to focus on how food satisfies the senses.

If so, such brain-wiring differences might explain why women struggle with weight more than men do, the researchers said.

"At this point, these are only speculations which need to be tested in future experiments," stressed study co-author Arpana Gupta. She is an assistant professor with UCLA's Ingestive Behavior and Obesity Program in the Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience.

But "considerable sex-related differences have previously been identified in factors driving craving and drug-seeking in substance abuse," added Gupta.

This latest investigation analyzed brain scans of 86 healthy men and women to "identify the possible role of the brain in the pathophysiology of obesity," she explained.

In particular, the research team tried to track how eating affected activity patterns of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a so-called "reward" chemical that is critical to the way the brain responds to both satiety (eating) and deprivation (hunger).

The initial finding was that having "a less responsive dopamine system" appears to make both men and women less sensitive to food, and thereby "more prone to food intake in order to compensate for this deficit," Gupta said.

Translation: People who register a relatively subdued reaction to eating tend to eat more.

But the really "striking" finding, said Gupta, was an indication that men and women are simply wired differently when it comes to responses to eating.

A woman's brain seems to draw a significant neurological link between food and the part of the brain that processes emotions, Gupta said.

Possible proof of that link was seen among obese female participants.

Those women tended to exhibit a relatively muted response to food in brain regions that regulate emotion. That dynamic was not seen among obese men.

In contrast, a man's brain seems more inclined to link eating to the region that handles things like smell, temperature or taste. And obese men tended to have a relatively amped up response to food in brain regions involved in sensory regulation. That dynamic was not seen among obese women.

As to what might explain why men and women process eating so differently, Gupta said the jury is still out.

"This is a difficult question to answer," she said, while reiterating that the findings do indicate "a generalized sex difference in the way the reward system functions."

Lona Sandon, program director in the department of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the findings are "not necessarily a surprise."

For example, Sandon said that, in her experience, women are more likely to talk about food cravings and struggle with eating disorders, such as binge eating. In addition, women are "much more likely to talk about how they turn to food to address mood, particularly foods high in sugar or fat," she added.

What should these women do? Sandon advised getting off the couch.

"Low dopamine levels are associated with depression, which is often compensated for by eating more food," she said. "But exercise has been shown in several studies to be beneficial for individuals with depression. Exercise can also have positive effects on appetite.

"So I would suggest that physical activity or exercise might be part of the answer," Sandon added.

Gupta and her colleagues are scheduled to report their findings Tuesday at the Digestive Disease Week meeting in Chicago. Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information: Arpana Gupta, Ph.D., assistant professor, Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Ingestive Behavior and Obesity Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Lona Sandon, Ph.D., RDN, LD, program director and assistant professor, department of clinical nutrition, School of Health Professions, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; May 9, 2017, presentation, Digestive Disease Week, Chicago Arpana Gupta, Ph.D., assistant professor, Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Ingestive Behavior and Obesity Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Lona Sandon, Ph.D., RDN, LD, program director and assistant professor, department of clinical nutrition, School of Health Professions, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; May 9, 2017, presentation, Digestive Disease Week, Chicago There's more on obesity risk at the U.S National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
With Intento's device, patients self-administer the electrical stimulation. Credit: Alain Herzog

Every year, 17 million people worldwide suffer strokes, and a third are left paralyzed on one side of their body. But current rehabilitation solutions are not always effective in improving mobility declines after the first few months. This is where EPFL startup Intento comes in with a new device that can help patients regain mobility in their arms. Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) conducted a clinical study on the device and has now published the encouraging results in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

One common stroke-rehabilitation method used today is functional electrical stimulation: the therapist places electrodes on the patient's skin, adjusts the stimulus intensity, and delivers an electrical shock that makes the patient's muscles move. However, studies have shown that this therapy works better when the patients are actively involved in moving their own limbs.

Intento leveraged the benefits of self-regulating electrical pulses to develop a system that lets the patient take the lead in rehabilitation their arms. With Intento's device, patients self-administer the electrical stimulation to generate the desired motor functions and perform basic tasks. Even severely paralyzed patients can use the new system to regain control of an arm and work towards a more active therapy.

Intento's system consists of electrode patches, a device the patients control using their working hand, and tablet software also developed by Intento. The therapist selects one of several programmed movements on the tablet and loads it, with a single click, onto the device. The program shows where the electrodes need to be placed and automatically configures the electrical pulse settings to generate the desired movement. Patients then move their functioning hand to control the electrical stimulation needed to, for example, pick up a glass or press a button. The ultimate aim is that, after a number of repetitions, patients can perform the movements without using the device.

Improved mobility in 70% of patients

The CHUV ran a clinical study to compare Intento's device to conventional occupational therapy. Eleven severely paralyzed patients who had suffered a stroke more than six months prior to the study and for whom other therapies had not worked underwent 1.5-hour sessions of the new treatment over 10 days. The results were then compared to their mobility following conventional occupational therapy over the same amount of time. The patients' mobility was measured before and after each type of treatment.

The study showed that patients' mobility significantly improved with Intento's device. Intento's co-founder Andrea Biasiucci said that 70% of patients showed a significant improvement in their motor functions, versus only 30% with the conventional therapy. Andrea Maesani, Intento's CEO and other cofounder, said: "Above and beyond the study's findings, several of the patients told us a few weeks later that they were already using their arms more than before." Patients were still making steady progress six months after the study was conducted, suggesting that the treatment produces long-term effects. Intento's two founders are now going to run a clinical study on a larger group before marketing their device.
Regions of the brain associated with stress and posttraumatic stress disorder. Credit: National Institutes of Health

Researchers are discovering that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant risk factor in developing dementia. Dementia is a memory problem that affects a person's ability to carry out usual tasks. Dementia is a leading cause of serious illness, disability, and death. It often requires care in a nursing home or other long-term care facility for people aged 65 and older.

Until now, researchers didn't know whether the kinds of medications used for people with PTSD could increase risks for dementia. (These medications include including antidepressants, antipsychotics, sedatives, or tranquilizers.) A new study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, examined this connection.

In their study, researchers examined information from 3,139,780 veterans aged 56 and older. At the beginning of the study, in 2003, the veterans were receiving health care from a Veterans Health Administration facility. Almost all the veterans were male and 82% were white.

Of the veterans in the study, 5.4% had been diagnosed with PTSD. As the researchers looked at the data over the study's nine-year follow-up period, they also included veterans who were diagnosed with dementia.

Research has previously shown that veterans with PTSD are more likely to have health problems linked to a higher risk for dementia. These include traumatic brain injury, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, and other health issues.

In this study, researchers discovered that taking certain antidepressants, tranquilizers, sedatives, or antipsychotic medications significantly increased veterans' risks for developing dementia compared to the risks for veterans who didn't take such medications.

Medicines that significantly increased dementia risk included:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Novel antidepressants

Atypical antipsychotics

The increase in the risk of dementia for veterans taking the drugs was the same whether or not they were diagnosed with PTSD. (This is compared to veterans who weren't taking these drugs.)

What's more, veterans who used three classes of medications were also more likely to be diagnosed with dementia whether or not they had PTSD. These medicines include:

Novel antidepressants

Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)

Benzodiazepines

The researchers noted that an interaction among these "psychoactive" drugs could potentially affect how PTSD impacts a person's risk for developing dementia. The researchers concluded that further research should be conducted to learn more about PTSD and psychoactive drugs, including dosage, how long to take the medications, and which people could most benefit from them.

More information: Francis Mawanda et al, PTSD, Psychotropic Medication Use, and the Risk of Dementia Among US Veterans: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2017). Journal information: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Francis Mawanda et al, PTSD, Psychotropic Medication Use, and the Risk of Dementia Among US Veterans: A Retrospective Cohort Study,(2017). DOI: 10.1111/jgs.14756
Credit: George Hodan/public domain

A study in 65 countries has revealed low adoption of International Atomic Energy Agency recommendations to reduce nuclear cardiology radiation exposure. The research is presented today at ICNC 2017 by Dr Edward Hulten, a cardiologist at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, USA.

Nuclear cardiology uses small amounts of radioactive tracers which are injected into the veins and taken up by the heart. A gamma camera images the radiation from the tracer. The cardiac images are used to measure the heart size and function, identify coronary heart disease, and predict the risk of a heart attack.

Dr Hulten said: "Nuclear cardiology is a key part of contemporary cardiology management and around 15 to 20 million procedures are performed annually. It gives information regarding diagnosis, prognosis, and the effects of therapeutic interventions."

"Concerns have been raised about tests, including nuclear cardiology, that expose patients to ionising medical radiation," he continued. "Medical radiation potentially raises the lifetime risk of cancer which is important for all patients, especially younger patients or when considering additional radiation over time from further medical studies."

A goal of 9 mSv or less radiation exposure per scan was recommended by the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) in 2010. It was noted in a 2016 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear cardiology guideline but not formally endorsed as a recommendation.2, 3

The IAEA developed eight quality metrics for responsible radiation use in nuclear cardiology: avoiding thallium 201 stress testing, avoiding dual isotope testing, avoiding too much technetium-99m and thallium 201, using stress only imaging, use of camera technologies to reduce dose, use of weight based dosing strategies for technetium-99m, and avoiding inappropriate dosing that can lead to "shine-through" artefacts.

The IAEA Nuclear Cardiology Protocols Study (INCAPS) assessed adherence to the eight quality metrics. The present analysis investigated which metrics were most helpful in meeting the ASNC's 9 mSv target. During one week in 2013, 308 nuclear cardiology laboratories were studied in 65 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania.

The survey included 7 911 nuclear cardiology scans. There was significant variability in adherence to the quality metrics across laboratories and regions. There was low adherence overall, with the majority of sites implementing less than half of the quality metrics.

When the researchers performed multivariable logistic regression analysis, they found that the practices most strongly associated with achieving a 9 mSv or less scan were the use of stress or rest only imaging, avoiding thallium, and use of camera technologies to reduce radiation dose.

Dr Hulten said: "When the 9 mSv recommendation was made in 2010 it was suggested that it should be achieved in 50% of scans by 2014. The INCAPS survey shows that there is still work to do. It is possible to reduce radiation exposure with existing techniques. Cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) cameras are more sensitive and allow for reduced dose scanning. With certain tracers you can achieve 1 mSv or less. But some scans use more than 30 mSv, so there is huge variability."

Not every site has all of the hardware and technology, said Dr Hulten, so the first step is to look at what is possible within each lab. He said: "There are improvements every lab can make regardless of money  for example multiple position imaging, weight based dosing and stress only techniques. They do require adapting existing workflows which takes leadership but they should be feasible in most labs."

He added: "Eventually cameras wear out and perhaps the decision on a replacement could factor in a reduced radiation dose which also lowers false positive tests and has the potential to reduce lab costs."

Dr Hulten concluded: "The INCAPS survey is a crucial step towards improving patient care in the field of nuclear cardiology by quantifying worldwide adherence to best practices. Any test involving ionising radiation will increase cancers within a population but the risk must be weighed against the benefit of gaining information about heart disease. The 9 mSv goal is achievable, and the lower the better."

More information: Perfusion imaging methods and protocols, radiation exposure and other clinical general Manuel D. Cerqueira et al. Recommendations for reducing radiation exposure in myocardial perfusion imaging, Journal of Nuclear Cardiology (2010). Perfusion imaging methods and protocols, radiation exposure and other clinical general Manuel D. Cerqueira et al. Recommendations for reducing radiation exposure in myocardial perfusion imaging,(2010). DOI: 10.1007/s12350-010-9244-0
Stanford researchers want families and caregivers of people with autism to help populate GapMap, which will show the communities where people with autism live and the services available in their area. Credit: JMIR Public Health & Surveillance

Many areas across the globe have few autism experts, leading to delayed care for kids who live there. Stanford scientists have launched a crowdsourcing project to pinpoint such geographic gaps, and find ways to fill them.

A new crowdsourcing tool aims to map all the locations in the world, beginning with the United States, where individuals with autism live to determine which communities need more resources for diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

The tool, called GapMap, was developed at the Stanford University School of Medicine and is described in a study published online May 4 in JMIR Public Health & Surveillance.

Data from an early version of GapMap show that people living near autism diagnostic centers are more likely than those who live far away to have been diagnosed with autism, indicating likely inequities in who gets diagnosed.

The data also show that there are far fewer U.S. autism treatment centers than needed. Across the country, the average demand for treatment is 18 times larger than the available supply of caregivers, the research showed. Prior studies have indicated that the number of children affected by the developmental disorder is still rising.

"There is a growing imbalance between the number of people who need autism care and the number of places that can provide care," said the study's senior author, Dennis Wall, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of biomedical data science at Stanford. "It's a geographic distance problem. We need to quantify, in real numbers, the geographic disconnect between people and treatment options so that we can see where the gaps are."

Children who are diagnosed quickly and receive early, intensive autism therapies fare better than those who do not, but parents who suspect that their child has autism often face months-long waits to see caregivers who can make the diagnosis, prior research has found. And current estimates of autism prevalence do not identify geographic gaps in autism resources; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 1 in 68 children nationwide have autism, but this estimate relies on data from only 11 states. Incidence elsewhere across the globe has not been rigorously established.

Pilot study

The first iteration of GapMap, described in the paper, used data that the researchers collected by programming a web spider to gather information from the websites of 840 autism treatment centers in the United States and 135 centers in the United Kingdom. These were placed onto geographic heat maps of the two countries. Autism prevalence in each part of the United States was estimated by assuming a rate of 1 case of autism per 50 people, and then using U.S. census data to generate a map estimating where people with autism live. Data on people in the United Kingdom with autism was also used to confirm that GapMap works as expected. (Comprehensive data on people in the United Kingdom with autism is already publicly available.)

Across the United States, 70 percent of people live within 30 miles of a diagnostic center, the study found. The average distance from an individual in the United States to the nearest diagnostic center is 50 miles, whereas people who have been diagnosed with autism live on average 20 miles from the nearest diagnostic center. Although the gap may partly reflect that people move closer to diagnostic centers after diagnosis, the researchers also think it reflects lower diagnosis rates among people in rural locations.

The latest version of GapMap functions as an interactive site accessible on any internet-connected device. It will help connect families to autism-based resources. In the future, Wall's team will add more functionalities, such as layering the map with environmental factors to understand their impact on autism prevalence. GapMap also aims to create one of the largest databases that will enable families to connect to and participate in current autism research.

'An important unmet need'

"Our findings highlight that there is an important unmet need with respect to individuals in resource-poor areas, where there is a significant lack of autism services," Wall said. "As a consequence, we think they are getting diagnosed later and not reaching the care they need during the time when it matters most."

Now, the researchers are asking families and caregivers to contribute to the database. Individuals with autism and their families can enter basic data about themselves into GapMap, such as their state, ZIP code, gender, birth date and autism diagnosis. They are also asked to answer a short list of questions about the degree to which the person with autism shows traits associated with the disorder. The data are stored in a secure, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant database. Participants have the option to receive notifications inviting them to take part in future research, and can see where other people with autism live. Autism experts can also contribute information about the services they provide.

Wall hopes the database will help build global online communities of families affected by autism, will inform them about resources in their areas and will clarify where more autism treatment centers should be located or where technology-based solutions can be invented to fill the void.

"We really need to see where the imbalances are and how big they are as the first step to creating change in the health care system," he said.

More information: Nikhila Albert et al. GapMap: Enabling Comprehensive Autism Resource Epidemiology, JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (2017). Nikhila Albert et al. GapMap: Enabling Comprehensive Autism Resource Epidemiology,(2017). DOI: 10.2196/publichealth.7150
A UCL researcher is leading a phase 3 trial involving more than 1,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to investigate whether simvastatin could become a treatment for the condition.

The project will cost almost 6 million and is being funded by collaboration between the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the MS Society (UK), the National MS Society (US), the NHS and UK universities.

The trial will test simvastatin, a cheap cholesterol lowering drug, in people with the secondary progressive form of MS. There are currently no licensed treatments that can slow or stop disability progression in people with this type of MS.

The research will be led by Dr Jeremy Chataway (UCL Institute of Neurology), who led the phase 2 trial into simvastatin that was published in The Lancet in 2014. It involved 140 people with secondary progressive MS. The research found those taking high doses of the drug had a significant reduction in the rate of brain atrophy (brain shrinkage) over two years and also had better disability scores at the end of study.

Dr Chataway said: "This drug holds incredible promise for the thousands of people living with secondary progressive MS in the UK, and around the world, who currently have few options for treatments that have an effect on disability. This study will establish definitively whether simvastatin is able to slow the rate of disability progression over a three year period, and we are very hopeful it will."

Credit: University College London

Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of the MS Society, said: "We're incredibly proud to be co-funding the simvastatin trial. This is a momentous step forward in our quest to find an effective treatment for progressive MS. More than 100,000 people in the UK are living with MS and this research will offer a huge amount of hope to the majority of them."

MS attacks the nervous system, it's often painful and exhausting and can cause problems with how we walk, move, see, think and feel. The condition is unpredictable and different for everyone.

Stuart Nixon, who lives with secondary progressive MS, said: "At the moment people like me are living with the prospect of our condition getting worse each day. This is the most exciting opportunity to change how we manage progressive MS. It would be amazing if this trial can show that an existing drug, costing just a few pence a day, can help with MS."

The simvastatin trial will involve 1180 people with secondary progressive MS at almost thirty centres across the UK. It will take six years to complete, with the first people receiving medication later this year.
Endothelial cells lining the vessel are purple, red blood cells are red, and neurons are green. Astrocytes are not identified in this image, but would be amongst the greyed background cells. Credit: Dan Mulkey/UConn

Certain blood vessels in the brainstem constrict when blood vessels elsewhere in the body would dilate. And that contrary behavior is what keeps us breathing, according to a new paper by UConn researchers published May 8 in eLife.

If the body were a marching band, the brainstem would be the drum major. It keeps our heart beating and our lungs breathing in the essential rhythms of life. And just like a drum major, the job is more complex than it looks. If cellular waste products build up in the body, the brainstem has to jolt the lungs into action without disrupting other bodily functions, as surely as a drum major reins in a wayward woodwind section without losing the low brass.

Neuroscientists studying the brainstem have focused on neurons, which are brain cells that send signals to one another and all over the body. But focusing just on the neurons in the brainstem is like staring only at the drum major's hands. Recently, neuroscientists have come to understand that astrocytes, cells once thought to simply provide structure to the brain, also release signaling molecules that regulate neurons' function. But until now, no one even considered the possibility that blood vessels may be similarly specialized.

For more than a century, doctors and scientists have known that blood vessels dilate when cellular waste products like carbon dioxide build up. Widening the vessels allows fresh blood to flush through, carrying in oxygen and washing away the acidic carbon dioxide. This has been shown to be true throughout the body, and is standard dogma in undergraduate physiology classes.

UConn physiologist Dan Mulkey was teaching exactly that to undergraduates one day when he realized that it couldn't possibly be true in a certain part of the brainstem.

"I thought, wow. If that happened in the region of the brain I study, it would be counterproductive," Mulkey says. He studies the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), a small region in the brainstem that controls breathing. He's shown in the past that RTN neurons respond to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream by stimulating the lungs to breathe. But if the blood vessels in the RTN dilated in response to rising carbon dioxide the same way blood vessels do everywhere else, it would wash out that all-important signal, preventing cells in the RTN from doing their job driving us to breathe. It would be as if the drum major didn't notice the percussion section wandering off to left field.

When Mulkey returned to the lab, he asked his team, including NIH postdoctoral fellow Virginia Hawkins, to see how blood vessels in thin slices of brainstem respond to carbon dioxide. And they saw it was indeed true - RTN blood vessels constricted when carbon dioxide levels rose. But blood vessels from slices of cortex (the wrinkled top part of the brain) dilated in response to high carbon dioxide, just like the rest of the body.

But how did the blood vessels know to act differently in the RTN? Mulkey guessed that RTN astrocytes had something to do with it. He suspected that the astrocytes were releasing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a small molecule cells can use to signal one another. And that was causing the RTN blood vessels to constrict.

When they tested it, they found the hypothesis was correct. The astrocytes in the RTN were behaving differently than astrocytes anywhere else in the body. When these brainstem astrocytes detected high levels of carbon dioxide, they released ATP signaling to the neurons and blood vessels.

When the researchers induced the astrocytes artificially to release ATP, they got the same results. Bathing the RTN blood vessels directly in ATP also caused them to constrict. Blocking ATP receptors blocked the ability of blood vessels to respond to carbon dioxide. When the team did the same experiments in live animals, they got the same results. Perhaps most importantly, manipulating blood vessels in the RTN actually influenced how animals breathe, thus linking regulation of blood vessel diameter to behavior.

The majority of this research was done by UConn undergraduates, including Ashley Trinh, Colin Cleary, and Todd Dubreuil, as well as Elliot Rodriguez, a summer student in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates in Physiology and Neurobiology program at UConn, who studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania the rest of the year. The students' work uncovered a major discovery in neurophysiology. The work was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HL104101 HL126381) and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (150263).

"This is a big change in how we think about breathing," Mulkey says. And about blood vessels. Even in a single organ like the brain, the purpose of blood flow is not the same everywhere. Tailored responses in the RTN keep the body's drum major conducting, and let the band play on.

More information: Virginia E Hawkins et al, Purinergic regulation of vascular tone in the retrotrapezoid nucleus is specialized to support the drive to breathe, eLife (2017). Journal information: eLife Virginia E Hawkins et al, Purinergic regulation of vascular tone in the retrotrapezoid nucleus is specialized to support the drive to breathe,(2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.25232
Software developers are in high demand in South Africa, and consistently feature as the most sought-after employees in CareerJunctions job reports.

Good programmers may have their pick of great jobs in South Africa, but must still pass an interview process.

While the interviews often focus on technical skills, many companies include questions aimed at establishing whether the person will fit in at the organisation.

Recruitment website Glassdoor encourages employees to share the interview questions they faced when they applied for a job at a particular company.

Feedback from South African software developers on Glassdoor shows that interview questions are mixed, ranging from tech-specific to very general.

Interview questions shared by programmers and tech employees who applied for jobs at top companies are listed below.

Software Developer at Derivco  What technical blogs do you follow?

Software Developer at VOSS Solutions  Write pseudocode to convert snake to camel case.

Systems Engineer at Eskom  Describe yourself and job experience in the past.

Applications Developer at Dimension Data  Describe your experience with API technologies.

System Specialist at Vodacom  What is a zombie process in UNIX?

Software Engineer at RJ Softwares  What will you do if you found a BUG?

C# Developer at Dev2  What is the difference between type of and is in C#?

Software Engineer at Ocado  How would you implement a garbage collector.

Junior Developer at Standard Bank  Give an estimate as to how tall this building was as you walked in?

Junior Developer at Standard Bank  Why are manholes round?

Software Developer at ACI  Merge two unsorted arrays into a sorted array.

Enterprise Architect at LifeLabs  Whats the difference between primitive and composite views in Zachman?

Technical Lead at HCL  What was your most challenging working experience?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  What happens when you type amazon.com into your browser?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  Can you explain the Linux boot process?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  How do you install a package in Ubuntu?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  What does apt-get update do? What does apt-get upgrade do?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  What ports are used for SSH, SSL and what is the default MySQL port?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  What is the meaning of the various codes used in assigning permissions in chmod and what does each position signify?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  How do you scale a PHP application?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  How do you host two websites using the same IP?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  How do you check the states of slow running queries in databases and how do you optimise them?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  How would you migrate an application from Google Cloud Datastore to Amazon S3?

Cloud Support Engineer at Amazon  What is the difference between absolute and relative URLs and what are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

User Experience Designer at ThoughtWorks  Why dont you host a refugee at home?

IT Business Analyst at Value Logistics  Explain a left join, join and inner join in SQL.

Game Developer at Two Bulls  Explain the difference between inner joins and outer joins.

Software Development Engineer at Amazon  What are the challenges facing cloud computing?

Software Innovator at EAI Technologies  How would you build a Search Engine?

Graduate Programmer at Accenture  Give a time when you had to learn something new very quickly and how did you handle the situation and what was the outcome?

Graduate Programmer at Accenture  Where have you had to make a difficult decision? What was it and what was the process?
YEREVAN. - The officers and generals under the command of Colonel General of the Southern Military District (SMD) troops, Alexander Dvornikov, laid a wreath and flowers at the eternal flame in Memorial Complex Mother Armenia in Victory Park of Yerevan ahead of the celebration of the 72nd anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War .

The delegation visited the Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War, as well as the monument and museum dedicated to the Armenian Genocide victims in Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex, the SMD press-service informed Armenian News  NEWS.am.

Within the framework of the working visit, Mr Dvornikov checked the readiness of the troops to the summer period of training in Gyumri garrison and Yerevan aviation base.
Taliban virtue representative kills minor for refusing to marry

Kaljurand: A fair peace agreement, that will guarantee the rights and security of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, is needed

ATMs closed at night in Germany because of increasing number of break-ins

Moldova to request 450 million from EU amid fears of stopping Russian gas supplies

Kazakhstan plans to make knowledge of Kazakh obligatory for obtaining citizenship

Vladimir Putin to visit Armenia

Ayoob Kara: Israel and Azerbaijan must act together against Iran

Macron: France ends its military mission in Africa

Military forces of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey take part in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline protection exercise

Shoigu orders withdrawal of troops across Dnieper River

Swedish parliament will vote to change constitution for NATO membership on November 16

Reactor at nuclear power plant in southern Sweden stops unexpectedly due to turbine malfunction

Margaret Thatcher's dressing table case sells for $145

Zakharova comments on Azerbaijani attacks on Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh

Israel may reconsider its position on military aid to Ukraine because of threat from Iran

Tehran expresses readiness to play role in resolving conflict between Russia and Ukraine

Zakharova: Russia closely coordinates with Armenia and Azerbaijan on preparation of peace treaty

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

Niagara Falls is illuminated in colors of Azerbaijani flag through efforts of Azerbaijani Embassy to U.S.

'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
YEREVAN.  Opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) Chairman and businessman MP Gagik Tsarukyan, who heads Tsarukyan Bloc, finally managed to get a promise from the eight persons, who had withdrawn from the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) their petitions for giving up their parliamentary seats and had become MPs, to give up their parliamentary mandates on the day of the first session of the National Assembly, according to Zhamanak (Time) newspaper.

According to the information we received, former provincial governor of Vayots Dzor, Sergey Bagratyan, who was one of the angriest when taking back the [parliamentary mandate] withdrawal petition from the CEC, [and] who stated that he felt cheated and insulted and did not rule out that he might even quit the PAP, also will give up his [parliamentary] mandate, wrote Zhamanak.
YEREVAN.  The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are expected to pay a regional visit, said Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, speaking to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, after this visit, it will be decided whether there is a need for a talk between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Reflecting on the chances of a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, Nalbandian stated: A meeting of the presidents is not expected for now. And the [foreign] ministers [recent] meeting [in Moscow] wasnt devoted to this matter. Information that the ministers discussed matters of organizing the presidents meeting was inaccurate.

And to the query as to when the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are expected to visit the region, Edward Nalbandian responded: This is not yet clarified; this doesnt depend solely on us. A regional visit shall be made. They shall visit Armenia, Azerbaijan, Karabakh [Artsakh]. The [respective] dates are yet to be agreed.

On April 28, the FMs of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan held a trilateral talk in Moscow.
YEREVAN.  The Russian military base in Armenia is for ensuring the security of the country, and there might be some enlargement based on a mutual agreement.

Russian Ambassador Ivan Volinkin on Tuesday told the aforesaid to reporters, as he commented on the recent statement by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Lavrov had noted that the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia, stood ready to fight against the Islamic State terrorist group.

I believe that the minister knows better than the ambassador, said Volinkin. And, in general, the Russian [military] base is here to ensure Armenias security, and to resolve some matters.

And speaking about a possible enlargement of this military base, the ambassador said: Well, there probably will be some expansion based on any mutual agreement.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who is in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) on a working visit, on Tuesday is attending events devoted to the 72nd anniversary of the victory achieved during the Great Patriotic War in World War II, and the 25th anniversaries of the Artsakh Defense Army and the liberation of Shushi town (PHOTOS).

In the morningand together with Artsakh authorities, members of the governmental delegation from Armenia, people of the NKR and guests, who have arrived in Artsakh to participate in the festivitiesSargsyan marched from Revival Square in capital city Stepanakert to Stepanakert Memorial, where he paid tribute to the fallen in the Great Patriotic War and the martyrs of the Artsakh Liberation War.

Also, Serzh Sargsyan went to Shushi, where he laid flowers at the Tank-Memorial pedestal, and visited the statue of late military commander, war hero and Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, and honored him.

In addition, President Sargsyan attended a concert at Vazgen Sargsyan Square in Shushi, and watched the exhibition entitled Town of Arts and Crafts.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he is ready to meet with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu under the patronage of U.S. President Donald Trump, TASS reported quoting Al Arabiya.

According to the news agency, Abbas also noted that Trump will visit the occupied Palestinian lands soon. However, he did not specify terms of the alleged visit of the American president.

US administration's official confirmation concerning the possible visit of Trump to Palestine has not been received yet.

Earlier, the White House informed that the US President will meet the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas during his first foreign tour as president and will discuss with him settlement of the Middle East conflict.

During his first visit, which will take place this month, Trump intends to visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and Rome.
YEREVAN. - The Armenian Government embraced the idea of private managers to help manage state enterprises.

Deputy Finance Minister of Armenia, Davit Ananyan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News  NEWS.am during a round-table discussion on issues of corporate governance, organized by the Armenian Institute of Directors and Corporate Governance Center.

The idea was proposed by the director of Paradigma Armenia consulting and research company, Aharon Chilingaryan. In his words, experienced managers can voluntarily take part in the management of state enterprises for the development of the countrys economy.

Its no secret that the private sector differs by greater efficiency of its management. If such an outsourcing appears, everyone will befit from it, Ananyan said.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan instructed to check the efficiency of private enterprises and close those, which are ineffective or actually inactive.
YEREVAN.  The ruling power representatives regret that the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) Party will no longer be in parliament is just crocodile tears.

ANC Deputy Chairman Levon Zurabyan on Tuesday told the aforesaid to reporters at Victory Park, in capital city Yerevan.

I dont consider defeat as a result of electoral fraud to be a loss, Zurabyan stated, in particular.

He noted that even though the ANC is now a non-parliamentary party, its agenda is the same: to continue to fight and achieve victory.

We will not allow our people to find themselves in this kind of situation, in widespread corruption, added the opposition politician. Naturally, Im confident that the principled determined nucleus of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia will continue to fight, and will achieve victory.
YEREVAN.  Armenia's First Lady Rita Sargsyan said she experienced the difficulties of war and does not distance herself from the Karabakh war participants.

During her visit to the Union of Veterans, Rita Sargsyan said she understands the difficulties and worries of veterans and liberators.

During the entire war I was in Karabakh. My children and I fell all troubles. I remember how a bomb weighing half a ton hit the neighboring house, the windows were smashed, and I felt the fragments of glass on me, the blood flowed from my wounds. If the first lady of Azerbaijan felt this herself, the war would have probably ended long ago, she emphasized.
Israeli foreign ministry has summoned Turkish ambassador Kemal Okem for explanations regarding the recent remarks of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The ambassador was asked to clarify the verbal assault against Israel, the Jerusalem Post.

The Turkish president urged Muslims to often visit the Al-Aksa mosque located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as each day that Jerusalem is under occupation is an insult to us.

Those who systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach to the only true democracy in the region, spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Ministry Emmanuel Nachshon said in a statement.
YEREVAN.  Hrant Sarkisovs family members participated in three wars: his uncle Ashot Khachatryan was a participants of the Karabakh war, grandmother  veteran of the Great Patriot War, and Hrant himself participated in last year's four-day war.

Talking to the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent, Hrant said he had joined the army in 2014 and was sent to the front line in several months. There he was when Azerbaijani armed forces violated ceasefire and started aggressive actions in the southern direction of the line of contact with Karabakh, using mortars, artillery and armored vehicles.

During the April war he was constantly thinking about his uncle who used to be one of the commanders of famous operation on Shushi liberation, he was fighting in Karabakh from the very first till the last day, Hrant says.

Whatever I did during the April war, I thought about my uncle and how he fought in the Karabakh war. During every action, every step, every shot, I said to myself: Qeri [uncle from mothers side] jan, this is continuation of the work you started, he said.

On May 9  the Victory Day  Hrant joined the Immortal Regiment march in Yerevan and was holding the old photo of his uncle.

Ashot Khachatryan, Hrants uncle, did not like to talk about the Karabakh war, although Hrant, a child then, was very anxious to know what his uncle had done. Hrant and his family learned most of the facts about his uncle and his participation in the war from his military comrades. After his death in 2002, they began telling other people the stories about Ashot.

Hrant himself is much more sociable than his uncle, however, he has little to say about the April war - the details of the operations in which he participated along with other soldiers cannot be disclosed. Shortly after the April war, Hrant returned home. Now he studies at the Russian-Armenian University. He believes military service is an important part of the life of every man.

During the military service, even in peacetime, a man goes through many things. He is forced to think independently and make decisions, and these skills will be needed in the future, he says.
YEREVAN. - Closing of the OSCE Office in Yerevan is, of course, unpleasant, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volinkin told Armenian News  NEWS.am Thursday.

If the stance is to close the OSCE Office in Yerevan, theres nothing for it. I can see that the representation exerted lots of efforts to maintain that office. Lets see, maybe other forms of the OSCE presence in the region can be found, the Ambassador said.

Asked whether he doesnt consider the stance of Azerbaijan destructive, since the entire activity of the OSCE in Armenia depends on this as well, Volinkin said: I agree to the extent that it is bad that the last OSCE office in the region is closing. But the OSCE office was recently closed in Azerbaijan as well. You know, the OSCE adopts all wishes by consensus, thats why it happened so.

At the session of the OSCE Permanent Council it wasnt possible to reach an agreement on extending the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, which will close in the coming months.
YEREVAN. - Municipalities have special funds through which they provide support to the vulnerable strata, leader of Yerkir Tsirani (Country of Apricot) party, mayoral candidate Zaruhi Postanjyan, said the aforementioned during a campaign on Tuesday, referring to another mayoral candidate Nikol Pashninyans statement on that those who dont take bribes will be provided social support in the amount of 15,000 AMD upon the decision of Yerevan Council.

In her words, voters become vulnerable once making such a step. Besides, over one million people are poor now, this 15,000 AMD not being enough for them. It is not correct to speak about this. We should change the entire political structure.

Postanjyan also noted that already now voter lists are being prepared and meetings are being held in school staffrooms. Furthermore, she expressed conviction that in a few days, on May 14, the entire people will win in the Yerevan Council election.

Members of Yelk (Exit) bloc headed by Nikol Pashinyan announced that upon the decision of Yerevan Council they will provide 15,000 AMD to those people, who will not take bribes.
EASA Taking Comments on Rules for Operating Small Drones

The agency has set three categories with different safety requirements, proportionate to the risk.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is taking comments until Aug. 12 on proposed rules regulating the operation of small drones in Europe. The comment period will open May 12, after EASA published them May 5.

Its proposal provides a framework to safely operate drones while allowing the industry to innovate and continue to grow, according to the agency. "The risk posed to people on the ground and to other aircraft as well as privacy, security and data protection issues created by such drones are also taken into account. The proposed regulation defines the technical and operational requirements for the drones. Technical requirements refer for example to the remote identification of drones," its announcement stated. "Operational requirements refer among others to geofencing, a system that ensures drones do not enter a prohibited zone. The proposal also addresses the pilots' qualifications. Furthermore, drone operators will have to register themselves, except when they operate drones lighter than 250g."

Design requirements for small drones are included, with the standard CE marking to be accompanied by the identification of the class of drone (from C0 to C4) and by a "do's and don'ts" leaflet in every drone box. Based on the class, an operator will know in which area he or she can operate and what competence is required.

EASA Member States will be able to define zones in their territory where either drones operations are prohibited or restricted.

Published in a document called a Notice of Proposed Amendment, the proposal has been developed with the support of experts from the EASA Member States, the Unmanned Aircraft Systems industry, UAS operators, aviation representatives, and aero modeling associations. EASA plans to submit the final text to the European Commission at the end of 2017 after taking comments and feedback into account.

The agency has set three categories with different safety requirements, proportionate to the risk:
iStock/Thinkstock(PHOENIX) -- Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams announced Tuesday in a press conference that 23-year-old Aaron Juan Saucedo has been arrested in connection with a string of shootings that resulted in nine deaths.



The shootings took place between August 2015 and July 2016.



According to police, Saucedo was already in jail for the murder of 61-year-old Raul Romero, who was shot multiple times in his driveway in August 2015 and died at a hospital shortly after. Saucedo has been booked on an additional 26 felony counts including homicide.



There is no known correlation between the victims and the suspect, police said. Police added that there may be additional victims out there and they are continuing to investigate.



This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
NYC Buildings Department: 86 Percent of City's Facades OK

The department's new report summarizes the inspection reports filed during the most recent five-year period by building owners. More than 7,700 buildings in the city have a sidewalk shed in front of them, DOB reported.

The New York City Department of Buildings has posted a new report mapping the facade conditions of more than 14,000 buildings citywide whose owners are required to submit Facade Inspection Safety Program results to the department in five-year cycles. The report summarizes the reports of Cycle 7, the most recently full cycle completed, in 2014. (Cycle 8 began in 2015 and is currently under way.)

The report is part of DOB's effort to modernize the agency and increase transparency through the use of advanced data analytics and mapping. It indicates 86 percent of the facade inspection reports in Cycle 7 were either in good condition (Safe) or were categorized as Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP). There were 975 categorized as unsafe and another 874 as No Report, which means no report was submitted for them. Facades designated as SWARMP must be repaired within one to five years to prevent a potentially unsafe condition.

Local Law 11 of 1998 requires inspections of building exterior walls and appurtenances of buildings taller than six stories. Because 60 percent of the city's buildings taller than six stories are in Manhattan, that's where most of the facade inspections and reports are made  and also where 51.3 percent of facade violations occurred during 2010-2016. Property owners must install a sidewalk shed to protect the public when there is an unsafe facade or when there is facade maintenance work or an ongoing construction project. In all, more than 7,700 buildings in the city have a sidewalk shed in front of them, according to the report.

The inspections are conducted by private, qualified, registered design professionals who are not DOB employees. They assign these categories:
Dive bars, like the lingering vague smells that inhabit them, are difficult to exactly define. So, too, is the dive bars appeal, since it varies by individual and depends on any number of different, often-personal factors. And, certainly, no list of eight of them from across the entire country is going to be definitive.

Having said that, this list of Americas most authentic dive bars, published recently by The Washington Post, is a bunch of crap.

While admirably acknowledging its an impossible task, the Posts intentions  and evaluation criteria  seemed reasonable enough for the endeavor. True dives, the paper said, possess the following attributes: "They must have history; they must have regulars; they cannot be expensive; they cannot have craft cocktails."

Agreed! And yet, somehow, Wisconsin was left out. How? Of the eight picks, Ive only been to Candlelight Lounge in New Orleans  it was very cool; I was very drunk  so I cant speak to how perfectly they all capture the Posts dive-bar essence. But to completely ignore the drunkest of our 50 United States when assessing the nations top dive bars feels like an oversight.

"Democracy dies in the darkness," is the Posts lofty new motto, but dives thrive at night. And, judging by its coast-heavy selections  New York, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Austin, Houston, New Orleans, Detroit  which, problematically, somewhat recalls our 2016 electoral map, it looks like WaPo left the bar before closing time and, once again, forgot about the Midwest.

Ugh, politics. Now I need a drink. At a dive bar! And since I dont want to travel hundreds and hundreds of miles for a beer at one of the Posts posh picks, Ill just go to one of the eight beloved dives on my local list (click on the link to read about why).

1. My Office

2. Wolski's

3. Uptowner

4. George's Pub

5. Blackbird

6. Ollie's

7. Axel's

8. Monicas

While were on the topic, whats your favorite dive bar, Milwaukee? Let us know!
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station experience decreased physical fitness because of a decrease in the way oxygen moves through the body, according to a Kansas State University kinesiology study. Credit: NASA

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have decreased physical fitness because of a decrease in the way oxygen moves through the body, according to a Kansas State University kinesiology study.

Carl Ade, assistant professor of exercise physiology, and collaborators partnered with the Johnson Space Center to find that astronauts' exercise capacity decreases between 30 and 50 percent in long-duration spaceflight because the heart and small blood vessels are not as effective at transporting oxygen to the working muscle.

"It is a dramatic decrease," Ade said. "When your cardiovascular function decreases, your aerobic exercise capacity goes down. You can't perform physically challenging activities anymore. While earlier studies suggest that this happens because of changes in heart function, our data suggests that there are some things happening at the level of the heart, but also at the level of the microcirculation within capillaries."

In addition to improving astronaut health and providing valuable information for future long-duration spaceflights, the research also can help Earth-bound clinical patients with heart failure, Ade said.

The NASA-funded research appears in the Journal of Applied Physiology in the publication "Decreases in maximal oxygen uptake following long-duration spaceflight: Role of convective and diffusive O2 transport mechanisms." The journal also featured the research in a recent podcast.

Other Kansas State University researchers involved include Thomas Barstow, professor of kinesiology, and Ryan Broxterman, 2015 doctoral graduate in physiology and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah. Alan Moore, associate professor of health and kinesiology at Lamar University, also contributed.

Carl Ade, Kansas State University assistant professor of exercise physiology, and collaborators have found that astronauts' exercise capacity decreases in long-duration spaceflight because the heart and small blood vessels are not as effective at transporting oxygen. Credit: Kansas State University

While in outer space or on the International Space Station, astronauts have to perform many physically demanding tasks, from the simpler task of opening a capsule door to potentially more intense future planetary tasks such as helping a fallen crew member. Just as important is making sure astronauts can perform life-saving tasks when they return to gravitytasks that could include an emergency landing on Earth or performing extravehicular activities on the surface of Mars, Ade said.

For the study, the researchers used Johnson Space Center data on nine male and female astronauts who spent about six months aboard the International Space Station. The data included exercise measurements before and after their time in outer space.

The astronauts performed a stationary bike exercise test several months before they launched to the International Space Station. The researchers established the astronauts' exercise capacity through measurementssuch as oxygen uptake, cardiac output, hemoglobin concentration and arterial saturationthat illustrate how effectively the body transports oxygen to the muscle mitochondria. Within a couple of days of returning to earth, the astronauts performed the same stationary bike exercise test to determine changes in aerobic exercise capacity.

By comparing the two sets of data, the researchers saw a 30 to 50 percent decrease in maximal oxygen uptake. Maximal oxygen uptake is the maximum rate of oxygen that is consumed during exercise and shows the cardiorespiratory health of a person. The researchers attribute this decrease to the way that microgravity changes the interaction between blood vessel capillaries and red blood cells, but say that more research is needed to understand what is happening in the capillaries.

"This decrease is related to not only health, but performance," Ade said. "If we can understand why maximal oxygen uptake is going down, that allows us to come up with targeted interventions, whether that be exercise or pharmacological interventions. This important new information can help these astronauts and prevent any adverse performance changes in their job."

While the research is key to planning for future long-duration spaceflights, such as journeys to Mars or deep space, it also can help understand blood vessel function in older patients or patients with heart failure.

"We have seen similar situations happen with heart failure and with aging," Ade said. "If we can better understand what is happening in the astronaut and how to prevent it, then we might be able to do the exact same thing in a patient who is older or who has heart failure."

More information: C. J. Ade et al, Decreases in maximal oxygen uptake following long-duration spaceflight: Role of convective and diffusive Otransport mechanisms, Journal of Applied Physiology (2017). DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00280.2016 Journal information: Journal of Applied Physiology
Abandoned row homes along Monroe St. between U.S. Route 1 (Wilkens Ave.) and Eagle St. in Baltimore. Credit: Famartin/Wikimedia Commons

As Midwestern Rust Belt cities grapple with painful economic transitions, housing blight threatens to choke out once-thriving urban centers.

Detroit, for instance, has seen its population decline by nearly 30 percent over the past 15 years, leaving more than 50,000 homes vacant, according to the real estate firm RealtyTrac.

Identifying blighted homes often requires a major commitment of manpower and public finances, often scarce commodities in cities like Detroit. Big data analytics offers city leaders a more efficient and cost-effective way to find and fight blight, according to a recent paper by Qian Wan, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and co-author Bradley Pough, a J.D. candidate at the Harvard Law School.

Their paper, "Digital Analytics and the Fight Against Blight: A Guide for Local Leaders," examines the problem of urban housing blight, identifies best practice uses of data analytics, and provides data-driven recommendations for municipal officials.

"Blight spreads like a disease," Wan said. "Neighbors of blighted homes that have fallen into disrepair may pay less attention to their own properties, or the blighted homes erode the housing market so residents pack up and move to better areas. Once it starts, it becomes harder to control. But city officials can do something about it if they can find it early."

One potential solution involves the use of mobile app-based reporting systems to crowdsource blight identification. In New Orleans, for instance, the creation of a public website and blight identification app helped city officials reduce the number of blighted homes by more than 10,000 between 2010 and 2013, according to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center.

Identifying existing housing blight is a step in the right direction, but data analytics can also help predict and prevent blight, said Wan.

Data gathered by municipal fire departments can often be used to pinpoint blighted homes. Credit: Keen Kris/Wikimedia Commons

By training a machine-learning algorithm based on variables that are proxies for blighted homes, such as water and electricity shut-offs, code violations, and mail stoppage, officials can gather predictive analytics on which homes are most likely to become blighted. Armed with that knowledge, municipalities can intervene through code enforcement to prevent blight before it takes root.

Cincinnati, for example, has begun utilizing a machine-learning algorithm comprised of 50 different variables; the algorithm correctly predicted blight in 78 percent of cases, compared with a 53 percent prediction accuracy rate by code inspectors, according to the students' research.

The biggest obstacle to launching these systems is often the data itself, Wan said.

"Utility data and code violations are all indicators of blight, but they are stored in different places and in different formats," she said. "Once the information is organized in the same database, at the same scale, in the same units, and the same intensity, even the simplest machine-learning algorithm could draw some patterns."

Before beginning to organize data, Wan and Pough recommend officials establish parameters based on their city's unique definition of blight. Regulations in some municipalities call a house blighted if it lacks a clear owner, while others focus on code violations rather than deeds.

Once the data have been identified and labeled, creating crowdsourcing applications and developing predictive algorithms can go a long way toward streamlining what is currently a costly and time consuming process.

In addition to providing tips and resources to help local governments battle blight, Wan hopes the paper inspires engineering students to think outside the box.

"Engineers often think of going into academia or industry, but there is a lot of potential to make a major impact by working in the public sector," she said. "We can use technology to make the world a better place."

More information: Pough, Bradley and Qian Wan. 2007. Data Analytics and the Fight Against Housing Blight: A Guide for Local Leaders. Responsive Communities (March 2017). dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/31852257
Natural-colour satellite image of the Tibetan Plateau. Credit: NASA

(Phys.org)An international team of researchers has found that carbon uptake in the Tibetan Plateau may actually offset the carbon that is released as permafrost melts. In their paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the team describes soil readings they analyzed from the region and what their findings suggest about carbon release in cold parts of the world.

Anyone paying attention to the science surrounding global warming has heard about the problem of carbon released into the atmosphere due to permafrost melting in colder parts of the planet. Less well known or understood is what happens to the soil above the permafrost. As temperatures rise, soil above the permafrost becomes warmer, offering a haven for new plant growthsuch plants have been found to sequester carbon from the air back into the soil. Thus, as more carbon is released from below, more is sequestered from above, but is it possible that new sequestering offsets old release? That is what the researchers with this new effort want to know. To learn more, they studied soil samples taken from multiple sites in the Tibetan Plateau (a large elevated plateau north of the Himalayas) in the early 2000s and compared them with similar samples taken a decade later.

The researchers report that the soil samples were taken from depths up to 30 cm (which is above the permafrost line) and found an average accumulation of carbon in the soil to have occurred at a mean rate of 28.0 g cm2 yr1, which they concluded was due to accumulation of organic carbon concentrations (material left when plants died). They describe the increase as substantial, and possibly enough to offset carbon released due to permafrost melting. More tests will have to be conducted to determine if there is a true offset, but the study results suggest that climate change models might have to be adjusted if offsetting occurs in regions much farther north. If carbon released by melting permafrost in Russia, Canada and other parts of the world is offset by new plant growth, it is possible that much less carbon will make its way into the atmosphere than has been predicted, resulting in slower than predicted global warming.

More information: Jinzhi Ding et al. Decadal soil carbon accumulation across Tibetan permafrost regions, Nature Geoscience (2017). DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2945 Abstract

Permafrost soils store large amounts of carbon. Warming can result in carbon release from thawing permafrost, but it can also lead to enhanced primary production, which can increase soil carbon stocks. The balance of these fluxes determines the nature of the permafrost feedback to warming. Here we assessed decadal changes in soil organic carbon stocks in the active layerthe uppermost 30 cmof permafrost soils across Tibetan alpine regions, based on repeated soil carbon measurements in the early 2000s and 2010s at the same sites. We observed an overall accumulation of soil organic carbon irrespective of vegetation type, with a mean rate of 28.0 g C m2 yr1 across Tibetan permafrost regions. This soil organic carbon accrual occurred only in the subsurface soil, between depths of 10 and 30 cm, mainly induced by an increase of soil organic carbon concentrations. We conclude that the upper active layer of Tibetan alpine permafrost currently represents a substantial regional soil carbon sink in a warming climate, implying that carbon losses of deeper and older permafrost carbon might be offset by increases in upper-active-layer soil organic carbon stocks, which probably results from enhanced vegetation growth. Journal information: Nature Geoscience

 2017 Phys.org
Larkmead School. Credit: CC-BY-SA-2.5,2.0,1.0

There is no evidence to suggest enrichment activities run to interest pupils in science, technology, engineering and maths results in significantly higher numbers of teenagers studying these subjects at A-level.

Research shows there is nothing to show offering trips to laboratories or special practical lessons alone helps increase participation in science, technology or mathematics qualifications after 16.

A new study shows that, despite these activities being embraced by individual schools and the Government and being enjoyable and providing opportunities, they have not had a direct impact on the numbers choosing to study AS or A-levels in these subjects.

The enrichment activities, which also include the work of STEM centres, support by higher education institutions and visits to schools by inspirational role models, are run to tackle a skills shortage in the UK and to improve understanding and enjoyment of these subjects.

Dr Pallavi Amitava Banerjee, from theGraduate School of Education at the University of Exeter,tracked the educational progress of children in Key Stage 3, when they are aged 11 or 12, in 2007 until they reached the end of Key Stage 5, when they are 18, using information from the official National Pupil Database. She was able to single out pupils who had participated in STEM enrichment activities thanks to data given to her by activity providers, and then see the A-level subjects they ended up choosing. Dr Banerjee did not find a clear link between subject choice and STEM A-level participation.

Dr Banerjee examined data from around 600,000 teenagers for the study - all those in Year 7 in 2007 in English state secondary schools. She was able to divide them into five groups - those who had taken part in STEM enrichment activities from the age of 11 to 16; those who had only taken part when aged 11 to 14; those who had only taken part from 14 to 16; those who took part irregularly, and those for which this information was not known. Dr Banerjee was then able to track if these students had taken STEM subjects when aged 16 to 18 by looking at the National Pupil Database.

A total of 8.7 per cent of all those who had taken part in STEM activities during school went on to take biology A-level, 7.5 per cent for chemistry, 5 per cent for physics and 12 per cent for maths. The number of students who went on to study STEM A-levels having not taken part in STEM enrichment activities were very similar - 7.3 per cent for biology, 6.1 per cent for chemistry, 4.3 per cent for physics and 10 per cent for mathematics.

Students who only took part in STEM enrichment activities during only Key Stage 4, when aged 14 to 16,had the lowest STEM participation rates. Those who participated in interventions only during KS3, but never in KS4, were found to be slightly more likely to opt to take STEM subjects.

Students who qualified for free school meals, irrespective of their participation in STEM activities were the least likely to keep studying STEM subjects.

Dr Banerjee said: "While these enrichment and engagement activities may have been enjoyable and memorable for children, there is no evidence they encouraged them to keep on studying STEM subjects. There is also no evidence that these activities increased the numbers of children from poorer homes or from ethnic minority backgrounds studying technology, engineering, science or maths.

"Of course there are many factors which can affect the decisions young people make about the subjects they choose to continue studying at age 16, but it is hard to say STEM enrichment activities have a direct impact. They are one aspect which can help.

"It is essential for policymakers to consider ifwhether, if these schemes are not working, perhaps the money could be spent elsewhere. Giventhe range of schemes being run it is also crucial to understand if any workbetter than others. Knowing the answer to this could help ensure money is spent on only the highest quality activities.

"It would also be useful to measure or investigate the other benefits - apart from continuation to AS and A-level study - of the STEM enrichment activities."

More information: Pallavi Amitava Banerjee, Is informal education the answer to increasing and widening participation in STEM education?, Review of Education (2017). DOI: 10.1002/rev3.3093
Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

A new study examined how social media cues such as the Facebook logo may affect frequent and less frequent social media users differently, sparking spontaneous hedonic reactions that make it difficult to resist social media cravings. The intriguing results are reported in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

In the article entitled "Spontaneous Hedonic Reactions to Social Media Cues," Guido van Koningsbruggen and Tilo Hartmann, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Allison Eden, Michigan State University, and Harm Veling, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, describe two studies. In the first study, participants rated a series of images as pleasant or unpleasant after an initial exposure to either the Facebook logo or a neutral cue. The researchers expected frequent social media users to react more positively to the images that followed the Facebook logo, whereas they did not expect the cue to affect the responses of the less frequent users. The second study replicated the first and added another dimensionmeasuring Facebook cravings among the participants, defined as a strong desire to use social media or a preoccupation with social media.

If spontaneous reactions to social media cues can trigger cravings for social media use, then together these could contribute to the difficulty people might face resisting these temptations.

"Findings in this study seem to be in line with previous research on cues and cravings in foods (such as chocolate) and substances (such as nicotine)," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "Understanding hedonic reactions, both psychological and physiological, to social media cues can help us to develop more effective treatment and prevention protocols."
A lethal dose of heroin compared to a lethal dose of fentanyl. This is just an illustration -- the substance actually shown in this photo is an artificial sweetener. Credit:  Bruce A. Taylor/NH State Police Forensic Lab

Dan Kallen, a detective in southern New Jersey, was searching a home with fellow officers in August 2015, when they found a bag of white powder. Kallen removed a scoop of powder for testing. When he was done, he closed the bag, and a bit of air escaped, carrying a puff of powder with it. It was enough to send Kallen and a fellow officer to the emergency room.

The drugs in the bag had been spiked with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that, like heroin, is an opioid. But it is 50 times more potent than heroineven a tiny amount inhaled or absorbed through the skin can be extremely dangerous or deadly. Kallen described his experience in a Drug Enforcement Agency video that warns first responders of the dangers of handling unknown powders.

Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working to address this hazard. In a paper published in Forensic Chemistry, they report that two technologies, Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) and Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS), can detect trace amounts of fentanyl even when mixed with heroin and other substances.

This research is the first to identify the lowest concentrations at which fentanyl mixtures can be detected using these techniques, and it suggests new ways to protect law enforcement officers, evidence examiners, and drug-sniffing dogs.

IMS instruments are commonly used at airports. In that setting, a security officer might swab a piece of luggage or a passenger's hands, then insert the swab into the instrument to check for traces of explosive residue. Similarly, a police officer might test a bag of powder for fentanyl before opening it.

"Currently, police officers have to handle drugs to test them," said Ed Sisco, a research chemist at NIST and the lead author of the study. "But with these technologies, they can just swab the outside of a bag to test for fentanyl." If the test comes back positive, they can take extra precautions.

Amber Burns, chief of the Controlled and Dangerous Substances Unit at the Maryland State Police Crime lab, agreed that screening with IMS or DART-MS would be useful. "Several law enforcement agencies have reached out to us about how to better handle suspected drugs," Burns said. "Because IMS is portable, it would be pretty user friendly for them to bring to a scene and screen a sample quickly."

IMS instruments cost around $35,000 and are the size of a microwave oven. Burns said the DART-MS instruments, which are more sensitive but larger and more expensive, might be ideal for screening incoming material at a forensic lab before it's handled by evidence examiners.

In addition, these technologies might be used to screen packages at the border or at postal service inspection facilities.

The authors have also reached out to medical researchers about investigating whether fentanyl screening might be useful when treating overdose victims. Because fentanyl is so potent, reviving an individual after a fentanyl-related overdose often requires multiple doses of the opioid antidote naloxone. Swabbing the victim's hands might reveal if fentanyl is involved, and that information might be useful in determining a course of treatment.

An Epidemic of Drug Overdoses

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 52,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States in 2015, more than triple the number from 1999. That rapid increase is being driven by heroin and synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl. In just a single year, from 2014 to 2015, the death rate from synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased by 72 percent.

NIST researchers explain how first responders and evidence examiners can use screening technologies to reduce the risk of accidental exposure to synthetic opioids. Credit: NIST

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is used as a painkiller. But according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, most illicit fentanyl is smuggled into the United States. The manufacturers constantly create new forms of fentanyl, each with a slightly different chemical structure. They do this to stay one step ahead of the authorities, who must individually ban each new fentanyl analog as it emerges.

Drug dealers often lace their supply with fentanyl or an analog to boost its potency. Users may not know the strength of the drugs they're buying, or how the different substances in it interact.

A particularly dangerous fentanyl analog, carfentanil, is increasingly turning up in the U.S. drug supply. Carfentanil is used as a large animal tranquilizer, and it is 100 times more potent than fentanyl5,000 times more potent than heroin.

"A small amount, just the size of a poppy seed, can kill you," Burns said.

Research Based on a Realistic Scenario

For their research, Sisco and colleagues used IMS and DART-MS instruments to detect 16 different fentanyl analogs, including carfentanil. Both technologies work by ionizing the molecules in question, which gives them an electric charge. An electrical field then draws the ions toward a detector, and you can measure how long it takes for them to arrive. That time delay is like a signature that identifies the molecule.

Detecting the synthetic drugs in their pure form is easy. In this case, the researchers mixed small amounts of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs with heroin and with common cutting agents such as caffeine.

"We wanted to mimic what first responders and evidence examiners are likely to see in the field," said Sisco. "Would the large amounts of cutting agents mask the fentanyl signatures? That's what we wanted to find out."

They found that, using IMS, they could detect fentanyl in mixtures that contain as little as 0.2 percent fentanyl. With DART-MS, they could easily detect mixtures down to 0.1 percent. Both types of instruments were able to detect traces of the compounds that inevitably land on the outside of plastic bags through handling.

In addition, both techniques distinguished between most of the different analogs of fentanyl. This is important because some analogs are far more potent than others. In addition, identifying specific analogs will help law enforcement and public health officials keep track of new analogs as they emerge.

This research paper is the first to publish the IMS and DART-MS signatures for the 16 fentanyl analogs tested. Sisco and his co-authors are speaking with IMS manufacturers about adding the newly identified signatures to their product software. That way, agencies that already own the instruments would be able to identify the fentanyl analogs after their next software update. NIST publishes a widely used DART-MS library, and the authors are working on getting the signatures added to that library as well.

"We hope this makes a real difference to the safety of people who come into contact with synthetic opioids," Sisco said. "The opioid epidemic is a huge problem. This might be one small way to try to get a handle on it."

More information: Edward Sisco et al, Rapid Detection of Fentanyl, Fentanyl Analogues, and Opioids for on-Site or Laboratory Based Drug Seizure Screening using Thermal Desorption DART-MS and Ion Mobility Spectrometry, Forensic Chemistry (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.forc.2017.04.001
Credit: University of Glasgow

Lyme disease  an infection contracted from the bite of an infected tick is an important emerging disease in the UK, and is increasing in incidence in people in the UK and large parts of Europe and North America.

A new study, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, found that some types of conservation action could increase the abundance of ticks, which transmit diseases like Lyme disease.

The research  led by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Scottish Natural Heritage, the James Hutton Institute and Public Health England  examined how conservation management activities could affect tick populations, wildlife host communities, the transmission of the Borrelia bacteria that can cause Lyme disease and, ultimately, the risk of contracting Lyme disease.

The study found that managing the environment for conservation and biodiversity has many positive effects, including benefits for human health and wellbeing from spending time in nature; however the researchers suggested that there should be consideration of disease vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes in conservation management decisions.

Lead author Dr Caroline Millins, from the University of Glasgow's School of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine (BAHCM), said: "We identified several widespread conservation management practices which could affect Lyme disease risk: the management of deer populations, woodland regeneration, urban greening and control of invasive species.

"We found that some management activities could lead to an increased risk of Lyme disease by increasing the habitat available for wildlife hosts and the tick vector. These activities were woodland regeneration and biodiversity policies which increase the amount of forest bordering open areas as well as urban greening.

"However, if deer populations are managed alongside woodland regeneration projects, this can reduce tick populations and the risk of Lyme disease."

Deer are often key to maintaining tick populations, but do not become infected with the bacteria. Previous research by co-author Lucy Gilbert of The James Hutton Institute has shown that greatly reducing deer densities by exclusion fencing or culling can reduce tick density and therefore Lyme disease risk.

Senior author Dr Roman Biek, University of Glasgow's BAHCM, said: "Widespread management activities can potentially teach us a lot about how changes to the environment can affect the chances of humans coming into contact with ticks and with the pathogens ticks transmit. We recommend that monitoring ticks and pathogens should accompany conservation measures such as woodland regeneration and urban greening projects. This will allow appropriate guidelines and mitigation strategies to be developed, while also helping us to better understand the processes leading to higher Lyme disease risk."

Co-author Professor Des Thompson, Principal Adviser on Science and Biodiversity with Scottish Natural Heritage, commented: "This is the sort of vital research we need to act on in order to advise Government on the best practices for enhancing wildlife whilst minimising risks to human health. The Scottish Government's 2020 plan for Scotland's Biodiversity requires this integrated approach, bringing human health and wildlife management sectors together."

More information: Caroline Millins et al. Effects of conservation management of landscapes and vertebrate communities on Lyme borreliosis risk in the United Kingdom, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0123 Journal information: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
The power of big data is used in a strategy developed by A*STAR to improve the security of networks of internet-connected objects, known as the Internet of Things (IoT), technology which will make everything from streetlights to refrigerators 'smart'.

More than 20 billion devices are expected to be upgraded and connected to each other by 2020. However, with IoT becoming increasingly widely adopted, developers need to guarantee its security. One hacked target could be the gateway to other parts of the network, making it vulnerable to breaches of sensitive information. This was demonstrated in October 2016, when a huge attack on IoT devices across Europe and the USA, such as CCTV cameras with easy-to-guess passwords, contributed to outages for several major websites.

Currently, a number of web services, including online banking and Google, use or offer a two-step authentication process to increase the security levels. Since passwords can be leaked or cracked, these services require secondary secret information from the customer. This could be another code transmitted via SMS, email or a security token; or the user's fingerprints or facial recognition.

However, the direct application of these methods to the IoT is not practical. "We want to achieve the same level of security as bank servers offer, but the resources needed are simply an overkill to typical IoT devices, "explains Jun Wen Wong, one of the researchers involved in the study. "We had to think about a brand new protocol."

The new strategy, devised by A*STAR researchers of the Institute for Infocomm Research, uses the conventional password as first step for authentication, but a second step uses the whole history of the data exchanged between the IoT device and the server.

The scientists proposed algorithms that generate and store in the IoT device a very small piece of secret information, which can concisely represent the whole history dataset, and can be retrieved for the authentication. Thanks to this approach, taken from the big data sector and originally applied to the IoT, this security two-step system can be compatible with IoT devices with low computation and small memory.

Using the data exchanged between the device and the server has very interesting leakage-resilience properties. As data are constantly generated by the IoT device and sent to the server, the history dataset is growing, so hackers would have to steal a considerable amount of data over an extended period of time, becoming more open to detection.

More information: Scalable Two-Factor Authentication Using Historical Data. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-45744-4_5
A 'Neo' skull of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber. Credit: Wits University/John Hawks

Scientists today announced that the Rising Star Cave system has revealed yet more important discoveries, only a year and a half after it was announced that the richest fossil hominin site in Africa had been discovered, and that it contained a new hominin species named Homo naledi by the scientists who described it.

The age of the original Homo naledi remains from the Dinaledi Chamber has been revealed to be startlingly young in age. Homo naledi, which was first announced in September 2015, was alive sometime between 335 and 236 thousand years ago. This places this population of primitive small-brained hominins at a time and place that it is likely they lived alongside Homo sapiens. This is the first time that it has been demonstrated that another species of hominin survived alongside the first humans in Africa.

The research, published today in three papers in the journal eLife, presents the long-awaited age of the naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber and announces the new discovery of a second chamber in the Rising Star cave system, containing additional specimens of Homo naledi. These include a child and a partial skeleton of an adult male with a remarkably well-preserved skull.

The new discovery and research was done by a large team of researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), James Cook University, Australia, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States, and more than 30 additional international institutions have today announced two major discoveries related to the fossil hominin species Homo naledi.

The team was led by Professor Lee Berger of The University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a National Geographic Explorer in Residence. The discovery of the second chamber with abundant Homo naledi fossils includes one of the most complete skeletons of a hominin ever discovered, as well as the remains of at least one child and another adult. The discovery of a second chamber has led the team to argue that there is more support for the controversial hypothesis that Homo naledi deliberately disposed of its dead in these remote, hard to reach caverns. 1The dating of Homo naledi is the conclusion of the multi-authored paper entitled: The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa, led by Professor Paul Dirks of James Cook University and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

The naledi date is surprisingly recent. The fossil remains have primitive features that are shared with some of the earliest known fossil members of our genus, such as Homo rudolfensis and Homo habilis, species that lived nearly two million years ago. On the other hand, however, it also shares some features with modern humans. After the description of the new species in 2015, experts had predicted that the fossils should be around the age of these other primitive species. Instead, the fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber are barely more than one-tenth that age.

"The dating of naledi was extremely challenging," noted Dirks, who worked with 19 other scientists from laboratories and institutions around the world, including labs in South Africa and Australia, to establish the age of the fossils. "Eventually, six independent dating methods allowed us to constrain the age of this population of Homo naledi to a period known as the late Middle Pleistocene."

The age for this population of hominins shows that Homo naledi may have survived for as long as two million years alongside other species of hominins in Africa. At such a young age, in a period known as the late Middle Pleistocene, it was previously thought that only Homo sapiens (modern humans) existed in Africa. More critically, it is at precisely this time that we see the rise of what has been called "modern human behaviour" in southern Africa - behaviour attributed, until now, to the rise of modern humans and thought to represent the origins of complex modern human activities such as burial of the dead, self-adornment and complex tools.

The dating game

The team used a combination of optically stimulated luminescence dating of sediments with Uranium-Thorium dating and palaeomagnetic analyses of flowstones to establish how the sediments relate to the geological timescale in the Dinaledi Chamber.

Direct dating of the teeth of Homo naledi, using Uranium series dating (U-series) and electron spin resonance dating (ESR), provided the final age range. "We used double blinds wherever possible," says Professor Jan Kramers of the University of Johannesburg, a uranium dating specialist. Dr. Hannah Hilbert-Wolf, a geologist from James Cook University who also worked on the Dinaledi Chamber, noted that it was crucial to figure out how the sediments within the Dinaledi Chamber are layered, in order to build a framework for understanding all of the dates obtained.

"Of course we were surprised at the young age, but as we realised that all the geological formations in the chamber were young, the U-series and ESR results were perhaps less of a surprise in the end," added Professor Eric Roberts, from James Cook University and Wits, who is one of the few geologists to have ever entered the Dinaledi Chamber, due to the tight 18cm-wide constraints of the entrance chute.

Dr. Marina Elliott, Exploration Scientist at Wits and one of the original "underground astronauts" on the 2013 Rising Star Expedition, says she had always felt that the naledi fossils were 'young'. "I've excavated hundreds of the bones of Homo naledi, and from the first one I touched, I realised that there was something different about the preservation, that they appeared hardly fossilised."

A schematic of the Rising Star cave system. Credit: Marina Elliott/Wits University

Homo naledi's significant impact

In an accompanying paper, led by Berger, entitled Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa, the team discuss the importance of finding such a primitive species at such a time and place. They noted that the discovery will have a significant impact on our interpretation of archaeological assemblages and understanding which species made them.

"We can no longer assume that we know which species made which tools, or even assume that it was modern humans that were the innovators of some of these critical technological and behavioural breakthroughs in the archaeological record of Africa," says Berger. "If there is one other species out there that shared the world with 'modern humans' in Africa, it is very likely there are others. We just need to find them."

John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wits University, an author on all three papers, says: "I think some scientists assumed they knew how human evolution happened, but these new fossil discoveries, plus what we know from genetics, tell us that the southern half of Africa was home to a diversity that we've never seen anywhere else".

"Recently, the fossil hominin record has been full of surprises, and the age of Homo naledi is not going to be the last surprise that comes out of these caves I suspect," adds Berger.

A new chamber and skeleton

In a third paper published at the same time in eLife, entitled New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa, the team announces the discovery of a second chamber, within the Rising Star cave system, which contains more remains of Homo naledi.

"The chamber, which we have named the Lesedi Chamber, is more than a hundred meters from the Dinaledi Chamber. It is almost as difficult to access, and also contains spectacular fossils of naledi, including a partial skeleton with a wonderfully complete skull," says Hawks, lead author on the paper describing the new discovery. Fossil remains were first recognised in the chamber by Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker in 2013, as fieldwork was underway in the Dinaledi Chamber.

The name "Lesedi" means "light" in the Setswana language. Excavations in the Lesedi Chamber began later, and would take nearly three years.

No easy access

"To access the Lesedi Chamber is only slightly easier than the Dinaledi Chamber," says Elliott, who was lead excavator of the fossils from the new locality. "After passing through a squeeze of about 25cm, you have to descend along vertical shafts before reaching the chamber. While slightly easier to get to, the Lesedi Chamber is, if anything, more difficult to work in due to the tight spaces involved."

Hawks points out that while the Lesedi Chamber is "easier" to get into than the Dinaledi Chamber, the term is relative. "I have never been inside either of the chambers, and never will be. In fact, I watched Lee Berger being stuck for almost an hour, trying to get out of the narrow underground squeeze of the Lesedi Chamber." Berger eventually had to be extracted using ropes tied to his wrists.

The presence of a second chamber, distant from the first, containing multiple individuals of Homo naledi and almost as difficult to reach as the Dinaledi Chamber, gives an idea of the extraordinary effort it took for Homo naledi to reach these hard-to-get-to places, says Hilbert-Wolf.

Homo naledi was very different from archaic humans that lived around the same time. Left: Kabwe skull from Zambia, an archaic human. Right: "Neo" skull of Homo naledi. Credit: John Hawks/University of Wisconsin-Madison

"This likely adds weight to the hypothesis that Homo naledi was using dark, remote places to cache its dead," says Hawks. "What are the odds of a second, almost identical occurrence happening by chance?"

So far, the scientists have uncovered more than 130 hominin specimens from the Lesedi Chamber. The bones belong to at least three individuals, but Elliot believes that there are more fossils yet to be discovered. Among the individuals are the skeletal remains of two adults and at least one child. The child is represented by bones of the head and body and would likely have been under five years of age. Of the two adults, one is represented by only a jaw and leg elements, but the other is represented by a partial skeleton, including a mostly complete skull.

Meeting naledi

The team describes the skull of the skeleton as "spectacularly complete". "We finally get a look at the face of Homo naledi," says Peter Schmid of Wits and the University of Zurich, who spent hundreds of hours painstakingly reconstructing the fragile bones to complete the reconstruction.

The skeleton was nicknamed "Neo" by the team, chosen for the Sesotho word meaning "a gift". "The skeleton of Neo is one the most complete ever discovered, and technically even more complete than the famous Lucy fossil, given the preservation of the skull and mandible," says Berger.

The specimens from the Lesedi Chamber are nearly identical in every way to those from the Dinaledi Chamber, a remarkable finding in and of itself. "There is no doubt that they belong to the same species," says Hawks. The Lesedi Chamber fossils have not been dated yet, as dating would require destruction of some of the hominin material. "Once described, we will look at the way forward for establishing the age of these particular fossils," says Dirks. Elliot adds, however, that as the preservation and condition of the finds are practically identical to that of the naledi specimens from the Dinaledi Chamber the team hypothesizes that their age will fall roughly within the same time period.

Berger believes that with thousands of fossils likely remaining in both the Lesedi and Dinaledi Chambers, there are decades of research potential. "We are going to treat ongoing extraction of material from both of these chambers with extreme care and thoughtfulness and with the full knowledge that we need to conserve material for future generations of scientists, and future technological innovations," he says.

52 scientists from 35 departments and Institutions were involved in the research.

Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Adam Habib said: "The search for human origins on the continent of Africa began at Wits and it is wonderful to see this legacy continue with such important discoveries"

"The National Geographic Society has a long history of investing in bold people and transformative ideas," said Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, a funder of the expeditions that recovered the fossils and established their age. "The continued discoveries from Lee Berger and his colleagues showcase why it is critical to support the study of our human origins and other pressing scientific questions."

Public display

The original fossils of these new discoveries, as well as those from the original Rising Star Expedition will be put on public display at the Maropeng, the Official Visitors Centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site from May 25th. This exhibit of the largest display of original fossil hominin material in history forms part of an exhibition called "Almost Human".

The exhibition will be housed in 'The Gallery'. This state-of-the-art exhibition space was built as part of the Gauteng Infrastructure Upgrade Project. This is the second completed construction, the first being the upgrade to the Hominin House facilities at Maropeng.

Maropeng is getting ready to receive thousands of visitors wanting to the see the exhibition and the new fossils. In 2015, when Homo naledi was first put on display, some 3 500 visitors per day made their way to Maropeng. "It was an extraordinary thing to experience," says Michael Worsnip, Managing Director of Maropeng. "It was something like a pilgrimage - a wonderful celebration of our heritage as a country, a continent and a planet."

More information: Paul HGM Dirks et al. The age of and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave, South Africa, eLife (2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.24231 John Hawks et al. New fossil remains offrom the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa, eLife (2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.24232 Lee R Berger et al. , a new species of the genusfrom the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, eLife (2015). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.09560 Journal information: eLife
Plastin (green) and non-muscle myosin II (red) in the cortex of a newly fertilised C. elegans zygote during polarisation (top panel) and cytokinesis (bottom panel) using spinning disk confocal microscopy. Co-localisation between green and red signals signifies localised cortical contractility. Credit: National University of Singapore

Researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore (MBI) at the National University of Singapore have described, for the first time, how plastin, an actin-bundling protein, acts as a molecular rivet, providing global connectivity to the cortex underlying the plasma membrane of embryonic cells to facilitate polarisation and cell division. The work was published in the Journal of Cell Biology on 11 April 2017.

Plastin promotes polarisation and cytokinesis in the C. elegans zygote

All multicellular organisms begin their life when a sperm cell fuses with an oocyte. The newly fertilised zygote must then undergo countless rounds of cell division as it forms an embryo. Some divisions are symmetric and generate two identical daughter cells in a process known as cytokinesis. Others are asymmetric, and result in unequal daughter cells that differentiate into distinct cell types with specialised functions. Before asymmetric division, these cells undergo a process known as polarisation, where the top or front of the cell contains a different set of protein-based structures and machines to the bottom or back of the cell.

Both cytokinesis and polarisation are driven by a contractile component of the cell called the cortex. This thin layer is located inside the cell, immediately adjacent to the plasma membrane and is primarily composed of actin filaments (F-actin), which are cable-like structures that are dynamically assembled and disassembled, and maintain cell shape. The cortex also contains the motor protein non-muscle myosin II, which confers contractility to the network, and other actin-binding proteins such those that bundle filaments together or facilitate the assembly of new filaments. Despite the structural arrangement of the cortex being well established, it was unclear how all of these proteins work together in a living organism to produce higher order actin-based structures, and transmit mechanical force during crucial developmental processes.

To investigate these questions, a team of interdisciplinary scientists from MBI, A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, examined the cortex in a developing organism, specifically, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), which is a 1mm long transparent nematode worm. What became apparent from the investigation, which was led by Assistant Professor Ronen Zaidel-Bar, was the important role of an actin-binding protein called plastin (a.k.a. fimbrin) in early C. elegans development.

Plastin binds to actin filaments to facilitate their bundling and strengthen the actin filament network so that it can withstand the forces generated during filament contraction, and also those applied to the cortex from external stimuli. By functioning as a molecular rivet, plastin enabled the cell cortex to function efficiently, thereby facilitating polarisation and cytokinesis. Using microscopy, genetic and computer modelling approaches, the researchers examined the cell cortex during the earliest stages of C. elegans development, with a particular focus on plastin. Although previous efforts had identified plastin within the cortex, none had revealed its full importance in the development of an embryo.

To begin the investigations, MBI PhD candidate Mr Ding Wei Yung examined zygotes from a mutant strain of C. elegans where the function of plastin had been lost. In these zygotes, both polarisation and cytokinesis were disrupted to the point that they either did not occur, or were significantly delayed. With the ability to observe how C. elegans formed with plastin mutated, the researchers turned their attention to examining contractility within the cortex, during C. elegans development.

To do this, the researchers examined the organisation and dynamics of non-muscle myosin II at the cortex during polarisation. In normal zygotes, the myosin motor proteins will accumulate into large clusters that generate large contractile forces. However, when plastin function was lost, the researchers noted that the myosin did not accumulate in clusters as it does in normal cells. This meant that the contractions generated were much weaker compared to normal cells. Ultimately, the loss of strong, coordinated cortical contractions in the plastin mutant worm embryo resulted in defective polarisation. This was evident from the disrupted separation of two proteins that would otherwise accumulate at either end of the cells as they underwent polarisation.

The authors then extended their investigation beyond polarisation and looked at the role of plastin in cytokinesis. In healthy zygotes, actin filaments, together with non-muscle myosin II, will accumulate in the middle of the dividing cells. From there they effectively pull the membrane inwards so that opposing sides of the cell meet and fuse, thereby creating two cells. This did not occur at the same rate in cells containing mutated plastin, and it was determined that plastin facilitates the accumulation of the proteins in the correct position.

To better understand why plastin-mediated cross-linking of actomyosin filaments had these effects on cell polarisation and cytokinesis, the team turned to mathematical modeling. Specifically, they tested whether increased connectivity between plastin and actomyosin alone is sufficient to drive long-range cortical contractility. These simulations revealed an optimal level of plastin crosslinking required to facilitate these processes, and indicated that too little or too much cross-linking will result in an F-actin network that is either too disconnected or too stiff. In both cases, the end result is weakened contractility. To confirm that this was true in living organisms, the team increased the levels of plastin in the healthy C. elegans zygotes, and found that indeed, having too much plastin substantially slowed down cytokinesis.

Embryogenesis requires robust force generation and transmission that drives critical cellular processes such as polarisation and cytokinesis. The findings presented in this work elucidate a role for plastin as a molecular rivet to facilitate robust polarisation and timely cytokinesis. These discoveries further demonstrate the importance of the high-order organisation of the actomyosin cytoskeleton and the role of actin binding proteins, such as plastin, in regulating its function.

More information: Wei Yung Ding et al. Plastin increases cortical connectivity to facilitate robust polarization and timely cytokinesis, The Journal of Cell Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201603070 Journal information: Journal of Cell Biology
Malaria is transmitted by infected mosquitos. Credit: iStock

Resistance to malaria drugs means that pregnant women are unable to overcome the anaemia caused by the malaria parasite  and their babies are born undersized. A study carried out at Karolinska Institutet, however, exposes the effects of malaria in pregnant women and shows how the PTEF protein is central to the infection. The study, which is published in the scientific journal Nature Microbiology, opens the way for new malaria drugs.

Some 50 million pregnant women contract malaria every year. The most common and most dangerous parasite, "Plasmodium falciparum", affects both female carriers of the malaria parasite and their unborn babies. The parasite retards fetal growth by consuming vital nutrients and the babies are born undersized. The women are also affected by anaemia when the parasite infects the placenta.

When the parasite sends a 'glue protein' to the infected red blood membrane, tens, even hundreds of thousands of parasites can accumulate in the placental vessel wall and cause inflammation. First-time mothers, who have not built up immunity to the glue molecule, develop serious, chronic infections unless given prophylactic treatment. Due to growing resistance to modern malaria drugs, the treatments are not always that efficacious.

An alternative to antibiotics

The team behind the study found a certain protein in the parasite, PTEF, that is vital to the synthesis of the glue molecule to which the parasites attach themselves. The researchers show how PTEF binds direct to the cell's protein-manufacturing ribosome, where it speeds up the production of new glue molecules.

"However, we can now stop this happening, and will one day be able to develop drugs that prevent the accumulation of parasites in the placenta," says Professor Mats Wahlgren at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology who was involved in the study. "We think that it will be possible in the future to deliver small molecules rather than traditional antibiotics to prevent pregnant women and the babies they are carrying from contracting malaria."

The researchers also collaborated with Professor Suparna Sanyal at Uppsala University, who examined how the PTEF protein affected the ribosomes in E. coli bacteria models and found that it could stimulate protein synthesis in bacteria too.

More information: Sherwin Chan et al. Regulation of PfEMP1VAR2CSA translation by a Plasmodium translation-enhancing factor, Nature Microbiology (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.68 Journal information: Nature Microbiology
USGS geochemist John Pohlman monitoring data from the USGS Gas Analysis System (GAS) that continuously measured carbon dioxide and methane concentrations in near-surface waters and in the air on the western Svalbard margin. Credit: United States Geological Survey

The ocean waters near the surface of the Arctic Ocean absorbed 2,000 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the amount of methane that escaped into the atmosphere from the same waters, according to a study by the USGS Gas Hydrates Project and collaborators in Germany and Norway. The study was conducted near Norway's Svalbard Islands, above several seafloor methane seeps.

Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere where the study was conducted more than offset the potential warming effect of the methane emissions that were observed.

"If what we observed near Svalbard occurs more broadly at similar locations around the world, it could mean that methane seeps have a net cooling effect on climate, not a warming effect as we previously thought," said USGS biogeochemist John Pohlman, who is the paper's lead author. "We are looking forward to testing the hypothesis that shallow-water methane seeps are net greenhouse gas sinks in other locations."

During the study, scientists continuously measured the concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide in near-surface waters and in the air just above the ocean surface. The measurements were taken over methane seeps fields at water depths ranging from 260 to 8530 feet (80 to 2600 meters).

Analysis of the data confirmed that methane was entering the atmosphere above the shallowest (water depth of 260-295 feet or 80-90 meters) Svalbard margin seeps. However, the data also showed that significant amounts of carbon dioxide were being absorbed by the waters near the ocean surface, and that the cooling effect resulting from carbon dioxide uptake is up to 230 times greater than the warming effect expected from the methane emitted.

Research vessel Helmer Hanssen of UiT  The Arctic University of Norway offshore of the Svalbard Islands. Credit: Randall Hyman

Most previous studies have focused only on the sea-air flux of methane overlying seafloor seep sites and have not accounted for the drawdown of carbon dioxide that could offset some of the atmospheric warming potential of the methane.

Photosynthetic algae (marine phytoplankton) appeared to be more active in the near-surface waters overlying the seafloor methane seeps, a phenomenon that would explain why so much carbon dioxide was being absorbed. Previous research has shown that when cold, nutrient-rich waters come up from the depths, algae near the surface can use the nutrients to enhance their photosynthetic processes, resulting in more carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere. However, this study is the first to make this observation where methane-rich waters rise to the surface.

Jurgen Mienert, the director of the Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (CAGE) at the University of Tromso, Norway, said, "At CAGE, we are fortunate to have access to expertise, equipment, and a ship platform that allow us to launch sustained research focused on the Arctic Ocean. Collaborating with the USGS Gas Hydrates Project and GEOMAR on the important issue of sea-air flux of greenhouse gases above seafloor methane seeps has been rewarding for all of the researchers involved."

Ocean waters overlying shallow-water (260-295 feet; 80-90 meters) methane seeps (white dots) offshore the western margin of the Svalbard Islands absorb substantially more atmospheric carbon dioxide than the methane that they emit to the atmosphere. Colors indicate the strength of the negative greenhouse warming potential associated with carbon dioxide influx to these surface waters relative to the positive greenhouse warming potential associated with the methane emissions. Gray shiptracks have background values for the relative greenhouse warming potential. Credit: United States Geological Survey

The research was conducted during a research expedition sponsored by CAGE, and supplementary data was collected by researchers from CAGE and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. USGS involvement in the Svalbard margin expeditions was partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The USGS Gas Hydrates Project is an international leader in the study of methane dynamics related to environmental and energy issues. In addition to the expeditions on the Svalbard margin, USGS has studied the interchange between methane and carbon dioxide at the ocean surface in Alaska's Beaufort and Bering Seas, on the U.S. Atlantic margin, and in the Baltic and North Seas.

More information: John W. Pohlman et al. Enhanced CO uptake at a shallow Arctic Ocean seep field overwhelms the positive warming potential of emitted methane, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1618926114 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Ridges in the ancient Dresser Formation in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia that preserve ancient stromatolites and hot spring deposits. Credit: Kathleen Campbell

Fossil evidence of early life has been discovered by UNSW scientists in 3.48 billion year old hot spring deposits in the Pilbara of Western Australia - pushing back by 3 billion years the earliest known existence of inhabited terrestrial hot springs on Earth.

Previously, the world's oldest evidence for microbial life on land came from 2.7- 2.9 billion year old deposits in South Africa containing organic matter-rich ancient soils.

"Our exciting findings don't just extend back the record of life living in hot springs by 3 billion years, they indicate that life was inhabiting the land much earlier than previously thought, by up to about 580 million years," says study first author, UNSW PhD candidate, Tara Djokic.

"This may have implications for an origin of life in freshwater hot springs on land, rather than the more widely discussed idea that life developed in the ocean and adapted to land later."

Scientists are considering two hypotheses regarding the origin of life. Either that it began in deep sea hydrothermal vents, or alternatively that it began on land in a version of Charles Darwin's "warm little pond".

"The discovery of potential biological signatures in these ancient hot springs in Western Australia provides a geological perspective that may lend weight to a land-based origin of life," says Ms Djokic.

"Our research also has major implications for the search for life on Mars, because the red planet has ancient hot spring deposits of a similar age to the Dresser Formation in the Pilbara.

"Of the top three potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover, Columbia Hills is indicated as a hot spring environment. If life can be preserved in hot springs so far back in Earth's history, then there is a good chance it could be preserved in Martian hot springs too."

The study, by Ms Djokic and Professors Martin Van Kranendonk, Malcolm Walter and Colin Ward of UNSW Sydney, and Professor Kathleen Campbell of the University of Auckland, is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Spherical bubbles preserved in 3.48 billion year old rocks in the Dresser Formation in the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia provide evidence for early life having lived in ancient hot springs on land. Credit: UNSW

The researchers studied exceptionally well-preserved deposits which are approximately 3.5 billion year old in the ancient Dresser Formation in the Pilbara Craton of Western Australia.

They interpreted the deposits were formed on land, not in the ocean, by identifying the presence of geyserite - a mineral deposit formed from near boiling-temperature, silica-rich, fluids that is only found in a terrestrial hot spring environment. Previously, the oldest known geyserite had been identified from rocks about 400 million years old.

Within the Pilbara hotspring deposits, the researchers also discovered stromatolites - layered rock structures created by communities of ancient microbes. And there were other signs of early life in the deposits as well, including fossilised micro-stromatolites, microbial palisade texture and well preserved bubbles that are inferred to have been trapped in a sticky substance (microbial) to preserve the bubble shape.

"This shows a diverse variety of life existed in fresh water, on land, very early in Earth's history," says Professor Van Kranendonk, Director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology and head of the UNSW school of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

"The Pilbara deposits are the same age as much of the crust of Mars, which makes hot spring deposits on the red planet an exciting target for our quest to find fossilised life there."In September 2016, Professor Kranendonk was part of an international team that found what is possibly the oldest evidence of life on earth - 3.7 billion year old fossil stromatolites in Greenland deposits that were laid down in a shallow sea. He has also given geological advice to NASA on where to land the rover on the 2020 Mars Exploration Mission.

"The Pilbara provides us with a rich record of early life on Earth and is a key region for developing exploration strategies for Mars to try and answer one of the greatest enigmas in science and philosophy - did life arise more than once in the universe?" says Professor Walter, founding director of the Australian Centre for Astrobiology.

"That's why we are working to gain World Heritage listing for its main fossil sites."

The Australian Centre for Astrobiology, ACA, founded by Professor Malcolm Walter in 2001, is based at UNSW Sydney. It is the only centre of astrobiological research in Australia and is an Associate Member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Astrobiology is a relatively new field of study, developing at the crossroads of astronomy, biology, geology, paleontology, physics and chemistry. The ACA is one of the few organisations in the world that is truly inter- and multi-disciplinary in a way that reflects the goals and aspirations of astrobiology as a scientific discipline. Its key goals include contributing to the understanding of what makes a habitable planet, studying the origin and co-evolution of life and habitats on early Earth, and helping to guide the exploration for life outside of our world.
Irrigation in Salinas, Calif. Depletion of groundwater resources in the United States and other major food exporters could eventually threaten food security around the world, a new study says. Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Famine and starvation today threaten over 20 million people in four countriesSyria, Yemen, South Sudan and Somaliathe globe's largest humanitarian crisis in over half a century, according to the United Nations. Though this crisis is primarily the result of civil war and violent conflict, additional food security risks for the entire globe are hiding in the water use practices of major food producing nations.

In recent years, scientists have revealed that we are depleting our global groundwater reserves at an alarming rate. In some cases, these aquifer waters won't be replenished in this century, or ever. Now researchers from the U.S. and Europe have shown that a significant share of this unsustainable water use fuels the global food trade, which means water exhaustion in supplier nations could ripple outward, causing food crises half way across globe.

The research, published in Nature at the end of March, identified the countries that export and import the most food produced with non-renewable groundwater and the specific crops that rely most heavily on over-exploited aquifers. "We want to recognize that groundwater depletion is not a local issue," said Michael Puma, one of the authors on the paper and a researcher affiliated with Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research, the Center for Climate and Life and NASA's Goddard Institute for Spaces Studies. "It represents a stress on our global food supply."

Famine threatens over 20 million people in four countries, including Somalia, Syria, Yemen and South Sudan. Depletion of aquifers in major food producing nations could exacerbate the problem. Credit: UN / Creative Commons

Overall, approximately 11 percent of non-renewable groundwater used in irrigation is embedded in international food trade. (The other 89 percent goes to domestic food production.) The biggest exporters of food produced with non-renewable groundwater are Pakistan, India and the U.S., accounting for two-thirds of all such exports. The biggest importers of such food are China, the U.S., Iran, Mexico, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bangladesh, the U.K. and Iraq. The crops most reliant on non-renewable groundwater are major staples such as wheat, rice, sugar, cotton and maize.

The researchers also highlighted the trade relationships that are most vulnerable to products produced with non-renewable groundwater. For instance, Pakistan's rice exports have more than quadrupled from 1990 to 2010 and drew a quarter of the country's non-renewable groundwater in 2010. These exports primarily go to Kenya, Bangladesh and Iran. Pakistan's rice exports have likely played a major role in depleting the country's aquifers, the researchers write, a process that should accelerate if population growth surges as projected at home and among importing partners over the next three decades.

Puma says he was shocked at the scale of the problem revealed in the results. Many of the countries that rely most heavily on overexploited aquifers also happen to be the world's biggest food producers: the U.S., Mexico, China, India. And the relationship between supply and demand in the global food trade is already tight. "So it's really troubling to look at this, on top of all of the challenges we face for the global food supply," he said.

Irrigation in Gujarat India is consuming groundwater faster than it can be normally recharged. The Columbia Water Center has been working with farmers and and local officials to encourage more sustainable water use. Credit: Jeremy Hinsdale, the Earth Institute

Non-renewable groundwater was defined as the volume of groundwater withdrawn for irrigation in excess of natural recharge rates and irrigation return flows, a calculation that has been made easier due to recent advances in water cycle modeling. The researchers relied on the PCR-GLOBWB model, an open source, large-scale hydrological model intended for global and regional studies developed at the Department of Physical Geography at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

There is some uncertainty in the model, said Puma, because the rates of irrigation, rainfall, recharge, aquifer saturation, are all estimates. But the model itself has been verified using multiple datasets from both NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, so the researchers have confidence in their results.

The paper recommends measures to address the problem for both importers and exporters. Food producing nations could implement water-saving strategies such as improvements to irrigation efficiency and a shift to more drought-resistant crops, together with irrigation metering and regulation of groundwater pumping. Importing countries could support sustainable irrigation practices in their trade partners. But more analysis needs to be done at the local level to understand the socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions that might shape policy responses.

"It's something that is poorly understood," said Puma. "We don't have many mechanisms, policy or otherwise, to deal with this."

More information: Carole Dalin et al. Groundwater depletion embedded in international food trade, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature21403 Journal information: Nature

This story is republished courtesy of Earth Institute, Columbia University: blogs.ei.columbia.edu .
Portable mass spectrometer deployed in Oman. Credit: EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Analyses of environmental gases which previously required months of laboratory work can now be carried out rapidly in the field. A group of Eawag scientists have developed a portable mass spectrometer allowing on-site measurements  and a spin-off has been created to commercialize the new system.

What are the effects of volcanic gases accumulating in Lake Kivu in central Africa? How does the Rhine's groundwater system function near Pratteln? What is the best way of controlling greenhouse gas emissions from a landfill in northeastern Switzerland? Answers to questions like these can be provided by a newly developed portable mass spectrometer  by the researchers named "miniRuedi"  which allows gas and water samples to be analysed on site and in real time. For example, the concentrations of different gases were determined at a landfill during a one-day measurement campaign. This study supports the optimisation measures to aerate the landfill in order to reduce the formation of methane, a strong greenhouse gas.

System in a suitcase

Eawag environmental physicist Matthias Brennwald, who developed the portable mass spectrometer, explains: "Our instrument, weighing 13 kilograms and mounted in a wheeled suitcase, can be taken to the most remote locations. Once it's been installed on site, the Mini-Ruedi can immediately and efficiently measure gases using very small samples, so it doesn't interfere with the natural dynamics of the environment." The system, which can operate autonomously, provides continuous measurements of a wide range of gases. The most suitable sites and times for sampling can thus be identified immediately. Long-term operation is also possible. As Brennwald points out, "Analyses which in the past would have been inconceivable  partly for financial reasons, as they'd have involved months of laboratory work  are now suddenly possible."

Two weeks instead of six years

For example, using the Mini-Ruedi, the Eawag team only needed two weeks to complete a groundwater analysis project in Australia. With conventional methods and instruments, Brennwald estimates, the team would have required about six years in the lab. Nonetheless, the precision of the new system's measurements is remarkable, with an analytical uncertainty of one to three per cent (versus one to one-and-a-half per cent for a much more expensive, laboratory-based spectrometer). Other advantages offered by the system are its low power consumption (50 watts, no more than a traditional light bulb) and maintenance-free operation. Brennwald emphasizes that "for people used to working with measurement instruments, it only takes a day to learn how to handle the portable system."

Off-the-shelf components

Portable mass spectrometer on Soppensee (Switzerland) . Credit: EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology

Although the portable mass spectrometer may look complex at first glance, it actually consists of just four main elements (Fig. 1). The incoming gas passes slowly through a ten-metre-long capillary tube, reminiscent of an elephant's trunk (hence the system's name, "Ruedi Russel" being a well-known chain of petrol stations in Switzerland). Two pumps generate the requisite vacuum in the chamber where the composition of the gas mixture and the abundances of the various gases are measured. The system's electronic "brain" is controlled by software developed by Brennwald himself. From here, the results are transferred to a computer.

If gases are to be analysed in water samples (e.g. from lakes), a membrane is used to separate the gases from the water, so the system's delicate components are not exposed to moisture.

Gasometrix spin-off established

Just two years after the Mini-Ruedi was first deployed in a project, another eight instruments are now in use  a total of five at Eawag and four at the Universities of Geneva and Tubingen and the Mont Terri rock laboratory. As Matthias Brennwald has received numerous enquiries (not connected with Eawag projects) about purchasing the system, he decided  in consultation with Eawag  to establish a spin-off. Since April, he has been developing the portable systems under the name of Gasometrix; as a loyal Eawag employee, he adds, this is merely a sideline. The first client acquired for his own company is the University of Oxford.

Mini-Ruedi applications all over the world

The Mini-Ruedi can quantify numerous gases  currently including helium, argon, krypton, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and methane  in environmental systems. Measurements of specific gases can help researchers to understand the underlying processes of gas formation. As this compact system (60 cm x 40 cm x 14 cm; 13 kg) can analyse various gases in less than a minute and can be deployed at remote locations, it is already widely used (for examples of applications in Eawag research projects around the world, see: gasometrix.com/map/). It has been used, for example, for water analyses to assess groundwater systems or to investigate anthropogenic effects on waterbodies. In a recent project in the Czech Republic, soil samples were analysed to study gas exhalations from springs. Also planned are analyses to be conducted for an oil and gas company in Norway: here, gas flows are to be monitored so that methane or carbon dioxide leaks can be detected.

More information: Matthias S. Brennwald et al. A Portable and Autonomous Mass Spectrometric System for On-Site Environmental Gas Analysis, Environmental Science & Technology (2016). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03669 Journal information: Environmental Science & Technology

Provided by EAWAG: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Prince Ruperts drop.

(Phys.org)Researchers have finally answered a question that has stumped scientists since the early 1600s: Why are the heads of tadpole-shaped pieces of glass called "Prince Rupert's drops" so strong?

In the 17th century, Prince Rupert from Germany brought some of these glass drops to England's King Charles II, who was intrigued by their unusual properties. While the head of the drop is so strong that it can withstand the impact of a hammer, the tail is so fragile that bending it with your fingers will not only break the tail, but cause the entire droplet to instantly disintegrate into a fine powder.

Prince Rupert's drops are easily made by dropping red hot blobs of molten glass into water. Although researchers have tried to understand what causes the unusual properties of these drops for many years, it was not until recently that modern technology has allowed researchers to thoroughly investigate them.

In 1994, S. Chandrasekar at Purdue University and M. M. Chaudhri at the University of Cambridge used high-speed framing photography to observe the drop-shattering process. From their experiments, they concluded that the surface of each drop experiences highly compressive stresses, while the interior experiences high tension forces. So the drop is in a state of unstable equilibrium, which can be easily disturbed by breaking the tail.

One open question, however, is how the stresses are distributed throughout a Prince Rupert's drop. Understanding the stress distribution would help to more fully explain why the heads of these drops are so strong.

To do this, Chandrasekar and Chaudhri began collaborating with Hillar Aben, a professor at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia. Aben specializes in determining residual stresses in transparent three-dimensional objects, such as Prince Rupert's drops.

In the new study published in Applied Physics Letters, Aben, Chandrasekar, Chaudhri, and their coauthors have investigated the stress distribution in Prince Rupert's drops using a transmission polariscope, which is a type of microscope that measures the birefringence in an axi-symmetrical transparent object, such as a Prince Rupert's drop.

In their experiments, the researchers suspended a Prince Rupert's drop in a clear liquid, and then illuminated the drop with a red LED. Using the polariscope, the researchers measured the optical retardation of the light as it traveled through the glass drop, and then used the data to construct the stress distribution throughout the entire drop.

Fringes throughout a Prince Ruperts drop indicate residual stresses. Credit: Aben et al. 2017 American Institute of Physics

The results showed that the heads of the drops have a much higher surface compressive stress than previously thoughtup to 700 megapascals, which is nearly 7,000 times atmospheric pressure. This surface compressive layer is also thin, about 10% of the diameter of the head of a drop.

As the researchers explain, these values give the droplet heads a very high fracture strength. In order to break a droplet, it's necessary to create a crack that enters the interior tension zone in the drop. Since cracks on the surface tend to grow parallel to the surface, they cannot enter the tension zone. Instead, the easiest way to break a drop is to disturb the tail, since a disturbance in this location allows cracks to enter the tension zone.

Overall, the researchers believe that the results finally explain the great strength of Prince Rupert's drops.

"The work has fully explained why the head of a drop is so strong," Chaudhri told Phys.org. "I believe we have now solved most of the main aspects of this area. However, new questions may emerge unexpectedly."

More information: H. Aben et al. "On the extraordinary strength of Prince Rupert's drops." Applied Physics Letters. DOI: 10.1063/1.4971339 Journal information: Applied Physics Letters

 2017 Phys.org
Control (left) and experimental (right) are shown. After flavone synthase II (FNII) is knocked out, rice straw does not produce tricin and its lignin content is reduced by approximately one-third. The glucose yield is increased by 37% after cellulose degradation. Credit: The University of Hong Kong

Straw is commonly used for feeding animals, burning, baling, etc. As one of the "Three Canton Treasures", straw can actually be used as a raw material to produce biofuel.

Ethanol, an alcohol, is a clean and renewable biofuel traditionally produced by fermentation of sucrose from sugarcane or glucose released from corn starch. With an increasing demand on biofuel in recent years, cellulose from non-edible plant materials (e.g. sugarcane leaves, corn stalks, rice straw) has been used as raw materials for bioethanol production. However, since cellulose is crosslinked with lignin in plant cell walls, it is very difficult to release glucose from cellulose.

A collaborative research effort by the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Kyoto University (Kyoto U) has revealed a new strategy to allow cellulose in rice straw to release its fermentable sugar more efficiently. The research breakthrough was recently published in a notable plant science journal Plant Physiology.

Lignin is a complex polymer which functions to provide mechanical strength and structural integrity in plants. However, expensive and complicated procedures are required to loosen the lignin barrier in order to utilize cellulose more efficiently during the production of bioethanol.

Control (left) and Experimental (right) are shown. The images show the cross sections of rice stems. After knocking out FNSII (Experimental), lignin content (stained region) is substantially reduced compared to control. Credit: The University of Hong Kong

Rice and other cereals belong to the grass family (Poaceae). Lignin in their stems and leaves contain a special component called tricin. HKU plant biochemists Dr Clive Lo Sze-chung and his student Dr Lydia Lam Pui-ying, together with Kyoto U lignin specialist Dr Yuki Tobimatsu, started a collaborative project two years ago. According to their discovery, when flavone synthase II (FNSII), a key enzyme involved in tricin synthesis, is knocked out, not only is tricin not produced, but the lignin content in rice straw was also reduced by approximately one-third. In addition, the yield of glucose from cellulose degradation was increased by 37% without any chemical treatment.

Glucose released from cellulose can be used for bioethanol production. In other words, it is more efficient to produce ethanol from this kind of rice straw: the cost of lignin treatment can be reduced and the production of ethanol can be enhanced.

"This is the first demonstration of the reduction of cell wall lignin content in rice straw by the disruption of tricin production", said Clive Lo, "Importantly, there are no negative impacts on rice growth and productivity." As plants in the grass family all contain tricin-bound lignin, this strategy can be applied to other cereals like maize, wheat, and barley as well as grass species (e.g. sorghum and switchgrass) cultivated around the world exclusively for ethanol production, so that they can be utilized more efficiently as raw materials for biofuel.

Dr. Lydia Lam has been recently awarded the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and will start her postdoctoral research at Kyoto U this September. She said, "I feel very delighted and honored to conduct a research project that could benefit society. Also, as a Hongkonger, I am always trained to work quickly and efficiently. During the eight-month research experience at Kyoto U, I was particularly impressed by the students there. They performed experiments with extreme care and precision. When I am doing research today, I always ask myself to do better than perfect in addition to seeking speed and efficiency."

Glucose yield from FNSII-knockout rice straw (experimental) after cellulose degradation is increased by 37%, making it more efficient for ethanol production. Data were collected from three plants in each of the control and experimental groups. Credit: The University of Hong Kong

More information: Pui Ying Lam et al, Disrupting Flavone Synthase II Alters Lignin and Improves Biomass Digestibility, Plant Physiology (2017). DOI: 10.1104/pp.16.01973 Pui Ying Lam et al, Completion of Tricin Biosynthesis Pathway in Rice: Cytochrome P450 75B4 Is a Unique Chrysoeriol 5-Hydroxylase, Plant Physiology (2015). DOI: 10.1104/pp.15.00566
Bacteria are plated in petri dishes in the lab of Gautam Dantas at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dantas and his colleagues have identified compounds that block resistance to tetracyclines, an important class of antibiotics. These compounds  tetracycline destructase inhibitors  interfere with the resistance machinery of bacteria capable of destroying tetracycline. Credit: Pablo Tsukayama

As dangerous bacteria grow more savvy at evading antibiotics, researchers are seeking new ways to counterattack. Rather than design new drugs from scratch, some scientists are searching for ways to block the microbes' evasive maneuvers. If resistance can be shut down, current drugs should remain effective.

That concept is demonstrated in a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers discovered compounds that block resistance to a major class of antibiotics called tetracyclines. If developed into a drug, such a compound could be given in combination with a tetracycline, should the infection become resistant to tetracycline alone. These types of compounds do not have a direct antimicrobial effectif given alone, they would not kill bacteria. Instead, they knock down the bacteria's ability to survive treatment with specific antibiotics.

The research, performed in bacteria grown in the lab, is published May 8 in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

"These compounds inhibit the ability of tetracycline-resistant bacteria to destroy tetracycline," said co-senior author Gautam Dantas, an associate professor of pathology and immunology. "We're gunking up the resistance machinery of bacteria capable of destroying tetracycline. If these bugs can't chew up this antibiotic anymore, they are re-sensitized to the effects of the drug."

Tetracyclines are prescribed for a wide variety of bacterial infections, including pneumonia and other infections of the respiratory tract; acne and other skin infections; infections of the genital and urinary systems; and the bacterial infection that causes stomach ulcers. They also are widely used in large farming operations, including the dairy and fish industries.

Despite tetracyclines' widespread use, bacterial infections have not yet demonstrated aggressive resistance to these drugs via destruction mechanisms. Some bacteria are resistant to tetracyclines through other means, such as pumping the drug out of the cell or blocking the drug from reaching its target, but these strategies are not as effective as destroying the drug entirely. Dantas said conditions are favorable for this destructive type of resistance to ramp up.

The researchers discovered these resistance inhibitor compounds by first conducting genetic surveys of bacteria living in soils from different parts of the country; they were interested in understanding the extent of antibiotic resistance present in bacteria living in the environment. Using a genomic technique that Dantas' laboratory helped develop, the researchers previously had isolated small fragments of bacterial DNA from soils and screened those pieces for genes that can confer antibiotic resistance in infectious bacteria. These studies demonstrated that soil bacteria are packed with genes thatif transferred into disease-causing bacteriawould allow that bacteria to survive treatment with many common antibiotics.

According to Dantas, one set of genes stood out because the researchers could not find these sequences listed in any genomic database, and these novel genes allowed bacteria to break down tetracycline antibiotics, a problem that has not yet occurred in the many patients treated with tetracyclines.

While the genes are not yet widely present in bacteria causing infections, Dantas and his team determined the genes were at high risk of spreading because of tetracyclines' widespread use and the fact that even appropriate antibiotic use favors survival of resistant bacteria. In addition, some of the newly discovered resistance genes were located near sections of the bacterial genome known to be capable of jumping between even distantly related bacteria. The resistance genes enable the bacteria to manufacture proteins the researchers dubbed tetracycline destructases because of their ability to break apart tetracycline.

Dantas formed partnerships with co-senior authors Timothy A. Wencewicz, an assistant professor of chemistry, and Niraj H. Tolia, PhD, an associate professor of molecular microbiology, to determine how these destructases work and develop inhibitors that interfere with their ability to break apart tetracycline. Dantas pointed out the importance of collaborations across disciplines to tackle the complex problem of antibiotic resistance. In this case, the researchers are combining expertise in genetics, chemistry, structural microbiology and big data analysis to design inhibitors of tetracycline destructases.

Bacteria carrying tetracycline destructases are not yet at the level of danger posed by superbugs such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CREs), but their resistance strategies work in similar ways in terms of the ability to destroy an antibiotic. Last year, a CRE infection resistant to all available antibiotics led to the death of a Nevada woman with a recent history of hospitalizations outside the United States.

Targeting resistance has had success in some bacterial infections that have become resistant to another important class of drugs called beta-lactams, which includes penicillin. Tetracycline destructase inhibitors would serve a similar function to beta-lactamase inhibitors. These inhibitors often have been developed alongside their associated beta-lactam drugs and have helped some beta-lactams regain their effectiveness.

Emphasizing the timeliness of the research, Dantas said there is evidence these tetracycline destructase resistance genes are beginning to ramp up the threat to patients with bacterial infections.

"Since we started this work three years ago, one tetracycline destructase now has been found to be present in four of the six most deadly pathogens, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," Dantas said. "This is our motivation for working to find inhibitors of tetracycline destructases."

More information: Jooyoung Park et al. Plasticity, dynamics, and inhibition of emerging tetracycline resistance enzymes, Nature Chemical Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2376 Journal information: Nature Chemical Biology
US President Donald Trump has yet to announce whether he intends to keep a campaign promise to withdraw Washington from the Paris climate pact

President Donald Trump delayed a decision to honor or walk away from the Paris climate accord until he returns from Europe late this month, leaving global partners in limbo Tuesday.

Divisions within Trump's administration have left in doubt the participation of the world's number two carbon polluterafter Chinain the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global warming.

After months of uncertainty, Trump had appeared to be edging toward a decision.

But the White House postponed a key meeting scheduled for Tuesday that could have determined the fate of the 196-nation accord, and hours later said there would be no decision before the end of the month.

Trump will "not be making an announcement regarding that agreement until after he returns from the G7," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer Tuesday, referring to a meeting in Sicily that ends May 27.

Despite hardline pre-election rhetoric against the deal, Trump's inner circle has been tasked with providing the president with a range of policy options.

The group includes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House strategist Steve Bannon, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, as well as Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Administration officials said the crunch sit-down may now take place next week, before Trump departs for a bumper first foreign trip that will take in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican and Brussels before ending in Sicily.

"The president wants to make sure he has an opportunity to continue to meet with his team to create the best strategy for this country going forward," said Spicer.

One option said to be under consideration is full withdrawal from the Paris accord, fulfilling Trump's campaign promise to "cancel" the deal as president.

Bannon and Pruitt are said to be among those arguing for a tough line, rejecting global agreements they believe tie the hands of US industry.

The Paris agreement: key points

Pruitt, the US government's leading environmental official, has rejected the scientific consensus that humans are the "primary contributor" to global warming.

Ivanka Trump has meanwhile become a talisman for those who believe she can be a moderating influence on her father.

But her stance on the Paris accord and her influence inside the cut-throat world of White House politics are unclear.

Full withdrawal would roil Washington's allies and seriously undermine global efforts to limit carbon emissions, which the vast majority of experts say are changing the climate in dangerous ways.

Kyoto, take two?

For US allies, Trump's wavering has uncomfortable echoes of president George W. Bush's decision to withdraw from the 1992 Kyoto Protocol.

That move scuttled a carefully worked global compromise and effectively delayed climate action by two decades.

It would also wreck Trump's careful diplomacy with China, which the White House wants on-side to tackle North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The core of the Paris deal was an agreement between Chinese President Xi Jinping and then US president Barack Obama. Both men have pressed Trump to stay on board.

"It's important that big countries that are big emitters like the US and China... lead the way," Obama told a conference Tuesday in Milan, in one of his first public appearances since leaving office.

The Bonn meeting is meant to start designing a 'rulebook' for implementing the global deal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels

Middle road

Another possible option for Trump, according to officials, is to remain within the agreement, but rework US emissions targets.

Obama set targets to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Sue Biniaz, a former State Department legal adviser who supports the accord, said Trump does not need to make a binary choice between leaving or staying.

"It is clear from the agreement that if you do change your target, you are encouraged to change it in a more ambitious direction," she said.

"But it is equally clear that you are not legally prohibited from changing it in any direction that you choose."

The US wavering left UN climate negotiatorswho happened to be gathered in Bonn to thrash out the nuts-and-bolts of the dealin limbo.

They are gathered to start designing a "rulebook" for implementing the global deal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

This is the ceiling at which scientists say the planet can avoid worst-case-scenario climate change impactsrising seas, harsher droughts, more intense storms, disease-spread and conflict over dwindling natural resources.

Speaker after speaker in Bonn reiterated the deal must not be "renegotiated"a proposal of Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

"It is definitely the elephant in the room," a member of one national delegation told AFP on Tuesday.

Some fear a US U-turn would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories to increase their emissions-cutting targets.

This is key, as current pledges place the world on track for warming much higher than the two degrees Celsius ceiling.

 2017 AFP
The underwater glider Storm Petrel makes its maiden voyage in Antarctica. Credit: Damien Guihen/University of Tasmania

To outer space and the deep ocean, add "beneath the ice" to the list of rarely charted frontiers of science exploration.

There have been very few expeditions where robots dived beneath polar ice shelves to characterize and measure them. UC Davis engineering professor Alexander Forrest recently returned from one of them.

Forrest led a six-member robotics team in Antarctica on the Western Ross Sea and Terra Nova Bay as part of an international expedition, LIONESS, led by the Korea Polar Research Institute. That stands for Land-Ice/Ocean Network Exploration with Semiautonomous Systems. The team spent nearly two months in January and February aboard the South Korean icebreaker R/V Araon.

Their mission? Deploy two robots, or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) one to dive beneath the sea ice to map the bottom of the Nansen ice shelf, from which two Manhattan-sized icebergs broke last year. The other, a glider with wings named Storm Petrel, to patrol the front of the ice shelf for 10 days, looking for evidence of freshwater and capturing change over time. Why? Ultimately, to better predict howand whenice shelves collapse.

"Ice shelves are melting," Forrest said. "We know this. But we don't know how fast they're melting. To actually make on-site measurements is the next step. We're trying to get a baseline understanding of what changes are happening in the Antarctic. As a global community, we don't really understand what we're losing."

UC Davis engineering professor Alex Forrest with the recovered underwater glider after its seven-day mission diving in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Credit: Damien Guihen/University of Tasmania

From one pole to the other

This July, the team will head in the opposite direction, to the Arctic's Milne Fjord, where Forrest and colleagues plan to study the last epishelf lake in Canada.

Epishelf lakes form when meltwater flowing off a glacier is trapped behind a floating ice shelf. As ice shelves in the Arctic disappear, so do the epishelf lakes dammed behind them. While Canada may soon be epishelf-free, others remain in Greenland and Antarctica. The research is intended to better explain time scales, as ice shelves are melting faster than scientists earlier predicted.

"It comes down to understanding how this environment is now so we can understand how potential future climate scenarios will drive these systems in Greenland and Antarctica, as well," Forrest said.

The R/V Araon, a South Korean icebreaker, moves through ice and ocean just offshore Jang Bogo Station in Antarctica. This shot was captured with an unmanned aerial vehicle. Credit: Damien Guihen/University of Tasmania

Ice glider to deploy at Lake Tahoe

When not swimming alongside polar ice, the Storm Petrel glider trades the ocean for freshwater. It's currently settling in to its new home at Lake Tahoe, which stretches across the California and Nevada borders. The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center plans to deploy it in the lake early this summer.

The plan is for the glider to take continuous measurements, provide real-time information to TERC's network of instrumented buoys, chase storm events, and ultimately help round out the picture of the processes and impacts affecting Lake Tahoe.

"Lakes are highly variable, both spatially and in time," said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. "Conventional measurements cannot capture this dynamism. But with a glider operating for weeks at a time, from the surface to the very bottom, we finally have the appropriate tool."

An iceberg off the inlet of Jang Bogo Station in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Credit: Damien Guihen/University of Tasmania

Lake Tahoe is getting "smarter" all the time with its network of nearshore sensors, NASA buoys and good old-fashioned manual sampling from TERC's research vessel. But the glider can do something those other tools cannot: Move around the lake in bad weather and rough conditions.

And, as nearly everyone who studies freshwater lakes can attest, bad weatherwith its mixing, churning, swelling and upwellingis when everything really interesting happens in a lake.

Whether at the poles, or in a California lake, the data these robots collect are helping to shape the picture of how aquatic environments are changing, and what might be expected in the years to come.
A new assessment of urban forest vulnerability In a 7-million-acre region surrounding Chicago suggests that native tree species may decline and non-native species thrive as habitat suitability shifts. The report was led by the USDA Forest Service and partners. Credit: Lindsay Darling, The Morton Arboretum

In a first-ever assessment of urban forest vulnerability to climate change in the Chicago region, a team led by the USDA Forest Service concluded that native tree species in a 7-million-acre area may decline while invasive species may thrive with shifts in habitat suitability.

Seventeen percent of the tree species currently present in the region have either moderate-high or high vulnerability to climate change, and 77 percent of individual trees with low vulnerability are invasive species.

"The value of assessing the region's vulnerability to climate change is that it gives decision-makers, land managers and homeowners an opportunity to plan ahead," said Leslie Brandt, a climate change specialist with the Forest Service and lead author of the Chicago region assessment.

"Communities have invested in their urban forests, and the information that we provide can be used to maintain healthy forests that continue to provide services like removing pollutants from the air, reducing energy costs, and managing stormwater."

Published this week by the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station, the assessment evaluates urban forests within a region served by Chicago Wilderness, an alliance of more than 200 organizations working to improve quality of life for people and improve natural resources in portions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The vulnerability assessment documents past and current conditions, and synthesizes the potential impacts of climate change on urban forests in the Chicago Wilderness region. The assessment also presents case studies of assessing vulnerability at the scale of municipal forestry and parks departments and describes future management considerations. The assessment also provides a process for municipalities, park districts, and forest preserve districts to assess their vulnerability to climate change based on impacts and adaptive capacity.

"Chicago Wilderness Region Urban Forest Vulnerability Assessment and Synthesis: A Report from the Urban Forestry Climate Change Response Framework Chicago Wilderness Pilot Project" is available online at. https://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/54128

In the past century, the Chicago region has warmed by about 1 degree Fahrenheit and has experienced a significant increase in precipitation, as much as 3 inches during the summer. Climate modeling for the region projects that:

By the end of the century, temperatures and precipitation will be more erratic.

The mean annual temperature will increase by 2.3 to 8.2 degrees Fahrenheit, with temperature increases across all seasons.

Precipitation will increase in winter and spring over the 21st century, but climate models disagree about how precipitation may change in summer and fall.

Heavy precipitation events have been increasing in number and intensity and are projected to continue to increase further, which could increase runoff and local flooding from stormwater.

Extreme and exceptional droughts may increase in duration, frequency, and spatial extent compared to the end of the 20th century.

Increased temperatures will lead to longer growing seasons and shifts in plant hardiness and heat zones.

"We see this information as an important resource as communities struggle to manage the urban forest with fewer resources," said Lydia Scott, director of the Chicago Region Trees Initiative and a co-author of the report. "They need to have the best science available to assist them to make informed decisions. The urban forest in the Chicago region provides $51.2 billion in compensatory services to the residents who live here, so careful management of this critical resource is imperative."
The 2015 Paris accord was hailed as the last chance to stave off worst-case-scenario global warming

A key White House meeting scheduled for Tuesday to discuss whether the United States will honor the Paris climate change accord has been postponed, an administration official said.

No new date was given for the session, which aims to bring together President Donald Trumpwho is flirting with pulling out of the agreementwith top climate and economic advisers.

"It's been postponed," a senior official told AFP on Tuesday.

While campaigning last year, Trump called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China, and promised to cancel the deal if he won the presidency.

Now, after months of uncertainty, he appears to be edging toward a decision on whether to honor the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global warming.

Senior State Department environmental official David Balton said Monday that Trump has indicated he plans to decide over the next couple of weeks whether the US will abide by the accord.

A US withdrawal would seriously undermine global efforts to limit carbon emissions, which the vast majority of experts say are changing the climate in dangerous ways.

The United States is the world's number two carbon polluter, after China.

 2017 AFP
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Children may be more vulnerable than previously thought to those who might exploit their digital footprint to track their location or obtain private information.

A new University of Michigan study suggests that when it comes to digital privacy, children often do not see the negative consequences of someone tracking items belonging to someone else.

"These findings raise serious concerns for children's digital safety and security," said lead author Susan Gelman, professor of psychology and linguistics. "They indicate that children up to 10 years of age display robust positive moral judgments about digital tracking and digital privacy, at an age when many children play with, use or own a variety of types of mobile devices with a built-in GPS."

Cell phone ownership has been on the rise for the last decade, including among children 8-10 years of age. About a third of this group owns a cell phone.

Digital privacy is of growing concern, given the increasing use of technological devices that track object locations, revealing personal information regarding an individual's movements and activities, Gelman said.

Although many children use this technologysuch as cell phones that track their location throughout the day or sharing photos that are tagged with time and location stampslittle had been known regarding how children of different ages evaluate digital tracking, and whether they are sensitive to violations of privacy.

The study examined how more than 300 children, ages 4-10, and adults evaluated a hypothetical situation of someone using a mobile GPS device to track items (a backpack, a favorite object, a pet) that they either do or do not own.

The results indicate striking age differences. Adults were consistently negative about someone tracking items that the tracker did not own. They identified possible negative consequences of someone tracking others' possessions (such as stealing or stalking), moral principles ("It's an invasion of privacy," "Without permission, it's wrong") and a vague sense of unease ("It's weird," "He has no business to know where [my] dog is").

In contrast, the children did not express such negativity, overall. The youngest children (4-7 years) were positive about someone tracking others' possessions. In fact, children were more negative about someone merely placing a mobile GPS device on an object and not tracking it than about someone placing the device in order to track the object, Gelman said.

Although evaluations differed markedly when comparing children to adults, more subtle measures indicate an earlier emerging sense that tracking someone else's possessions is less acceptable than tracking one's own possessions, as early as 4-5 years old.

By 6-7 years old, some children were able to provide reasons to explain this belief ("Because sometimes it's kind of private," "If Sam uses his computer to see where my backpack is, it's cheating," "He could steal it").

"At the same time, children were much more accepting of this behavior than adults, perhaps focusing on the benefits of object-tracking (for example, to find lost objects) more than its costs," Gelman said.

The findings raise an urgent question: what is the best way to protect children? Gelman said it starts by educating children about potential dangers, and providing clear guidelines and limits for how and when their phones and accounts should be shared.

More information: Susan A. Gelman et al. Developing Digital Privacy: Children's Moral Judgments Concerning Mobile GPS Devices, Child Development (2017). DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12826 Journal information: Child Development
With no intrusive base or stand, Sangos touchscreen is suspended from a cast aluminum arm, freeing up space on busy counters. Sango can be mounted on a countertop or pole for a sleek, modern look with printers and other peripherals hidden under the counter. Multiple connection ports are concealed in its base to keep cables out of view. With its glossy polycarbonate finish and a mix-and-match range of colors (white, black, red, blue, orange, gray and purple), Sango delivers cool factor to specialty apparel, cosmetics, electronics, youth fashion and other brand-centric, on-trend retail segments.

Sango is a new POS concept that marries rugged touch technology and unique, one-of-a-kind aesthetics at an affordable price. Aures customers can choose any Sango color they wanteven two colors on the same terminaland we build it with no minimum order quantity or added cost, noted Jeff Burroughs, VP of sales and marketing for Aures Technologies. The new Sango model can also be customized with upgraded memory or processor as well as rear-facing touch and non-touch customer displays.

Ruggedized for Retail Sangos ultra-thin, edgeless 15-inch LCD touchmonitor uses the latest projected capacitive (PCAP) multi-touch technology for a bright, ultra-smooth touch experience that withstands rigorous use. Its all-metal frame is built on an aluminum chassis for added durability. Sango includes an Intel Bay Trail J1900 processor, supports Windows 10 and other Windows operating systems and is compatible with the full range of USB peripherals and accessories.

Availability

Sango is available now through Aures designated sales and distribution channels. For sales information, call 714.669.3111. View the Sango video, visit the product page or download a product photo.
First Data to Power Alipay in North America

NEW YORK(BUSINESS WIRE)More than 450 million people globally use Alipay to pay for goods and services at home and abroad. First Data (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, and Alipay, one of the worlds leading online payment platforms, today announced that North American businesses will be able to accept the mobile payment service and expand Alipays already significant business base. First Data will implement Alipay at the point-of-sale for its four million U.S. business clients. The rollout will begin with First Datas clients that use the Clover suite of solutions.

As Alipays popularity continues to spread beyond China, we are thrilled that Alipay chose First Data to support its acceptance for American businesses of all sizes, said Frank Bisignano, Chairman and CEO, First Data. Through this agreement, we will be able to offer our unparalleled network of business clients a cutting-edge payment solution.

Our goal is to extend reliable payment services to the over four million Chinese consumers that visit North America every year, said Souheil Badran, President, Alipay North America. Extending our partnership with a premier partner like First Data provides the merchants with a seamless integration and access to consumers who want to continue paying with their lifestyle mobile app.

With more than 450 million global active users, Alipay is the worlds largest online and mobile payment platform, and has emerged as a lifestyle enabler. In addition to online payments and money transfers, users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, and make doctors appointments directly from within the app. Alipay is expanding to in-store, offline payments at brick-and-mortar stores across the globe, and this new partnership with First Data will provide more North American merchants and retailers the ability to accept payments from millions of overseas customers who already know and trust the platform.

As part of the agreement, Alipay transactions will be routed through Acculynk, First Datas recently-acquired technology company that provides innovative debit routing solutions. During the Alipay transaction, Acculynk will tokenize the Alipay QR code for settlement.

With the help of Acculynks gateway technology, First Data will be able to quickly implement Alipay for its large client base, so businesses can start accepting Alipay transactions in a seamless manner, said Ashish Bahl, founder and CEO of Acculynk. Through its role as the worlds largest merchant acquirer, First Data will be the first to offer Alipay at the point-of-sale in a scalable manner for North America businesses.

This new collaboration enhances the existing relationship between First Data and Alipay. In 2016, the two companies successfully piloted the implementation of the Alipay mobile payment solution in select high-end and specialty retail locations in California and New York. Today marks the next step in Alipays North America expansion.

About First Data

First Data (NYSE: FDC) is a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, serving approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. The companys 24,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping companies, from start-ups to the worlds largest corporations, conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than 2,800 transactions per second and $2.2 trillion per year.

About Alipay

Alipay is the worlds largest third-party payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, with over 450 million active users and 200 financial institution partners. In addition to online shopping payments, money transfer, and utility bill payments, Alipay is expanding to offline payments. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets and even enjoy a full-scale of wealth management services directly from within the app.

Other POS News:
- The population of the Peoples Democratic Party membership in the Senate has been further depleted with the defection of a member

- Senator John Enoh representing a district in Cross River state said he defected from the PDP based on personal conviction

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members of the Nigerian Senate are currently protesting as one of them, John Enoh representing Cross River, defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Though real details of what led to his defection are still sketchy, Enoh said his decision was based on personal reasons.

It was learnt that his colleagues in the opposition party are not happy over the situation.

READ ALSO: Some abducted Chibok girls have refused to come home - Negotiator reveals

Some of them are complaining that Enoh did not inform them before taking his decision to leave their fold.

John Enoh said he defected for personal reasons

Despite the protest however, Enoh was welcomed by the Senate President Bukola Saraki on the floor of the chamber.

Legit.ng reports that the population of the PDP members in the Senate has been depleting since 2015.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo reveals secret Buhari told him after release of Chibok girls

In January, 2017, Nelson Effiong, the senator representing Akwa Ibom South senatorial district, left the PDP and joined the APC.

Also in February, another senator, Andy Uba representing Anambra South joined the APC reducing the number of PDP senators to 42, while that of APC has rose to 65.

Watch this video as Nigerians air their opinions on whether the Senate should be scrapped:

Source: Legit.ng
A court in Argentina on Tuesday deepened a fierce legal and social debate in the country by going against a Supreme Court ruling that cuts prison sentences of those convicted of dictatorship-era crimes. The federal court in the western city of San Juan said it viewed the Supreme Court judgement to be "unconstitutional and inapplicable" in a case it was deciding. Its stance is permitted under Argentine law, where federal judges have leeway in interpreting Supreme Court rulings when it comes to people convicted of violating human rights. Other courts could now follow suit. But any appeals will go back in the country's highest court. "I think we'll see more judges going in the same direction. But all of these cases will again end up in the Supreme Court," a constitutional lawyer, Eduardo Barcesat, told AFP. Carmen Roqueta, an Argentine judge who was on a tribunal handling cases related to the confiscation of babies during the dictatorship, noted on Monday that judges are "sovereign" in making decisions. "But when the Court builds jurisprudence it's difficult to go back. Judges have to apply the doctrine of the court unless it has new arguments to go against this ruling." - Government opposed - Argentina's government has already come out against the Supreme Court ruling, which covers sentences for crimes committed during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. It wants its scope to be extremely limited. In a three-to-two vote, the court's justices upheld a law dating back to 1994-2001 that allows an offender's prison sentence to be reduced by the time spent in custody awaiting trial, with each day served in detention being counted as two days in the calculation. That was applied early this month to the 13-year sentence of an ex-paramilitary fighter convicted in 2011 for crimes including torture and kidnapping. Potentially, it could affect around a thousand people convicted for dictatorship-era crimes, and another thousand being held pending outcomes of trials. Already, several inmates incarcerated for such crimes are requesting shortened sentences, including a 78-year-old priest, Christian Von Wernich, who received a life sentence for murder and kidnapping. But in its decision on Tuesday, the San Juan court rejected its application in a petition by a former soldier, Alejandro Lazo, who wanted to have his 10-year sentence for crimes against humanity similarly trimmed. On Wednesday, the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group highlighting the confiscation of babies born to suspected dissidents during the dictatorship, are to hold a march against the Supreme Court's ruling. It is also seeking a political trial of the three justices who voted in favor of it. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged Argentina to align itself with "international norms."
Bahrain has referred its first civilian case to a military court following a constitutional amendment approved by the king last month, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. Inspired in part by Arab Spring uprisings, Bahrain has since 2011 witnessed regular protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled the Shiite-majority Gulf kingdom for more than two centuries. Public prosecutors have transferred the case against Fadhel Radhi, who was arrested in September 2016 and has been held incommunicado since, to a military court, a statement by the London-based rights group said. The lawyer for Radhi, a Bahraini national, has no information on the charges his client faces, Amnesty said. Authorities in Bahrain have cracked down on political dissent, jailing hundreds of protesters and stripping a number of high-profile activists and Shiite clerics of citizenship. Bahrain has accused Shiite-ruled Iran of attempting to spark unrest in the tiny archipelago and says the government in Manama is being targeted by terrorist cells. Tehran has denied involvement. King Hamad declared a three-month state of emergency in 2011, during which special military courts were temporarily established to try civilians. Radhi is the first civilian reported to be referred to military justice since the king on April 3 formally approved a constitutional amendment granting military courts the right to try civilians. The amendment drops a clause that had limited military trials to army and security personnel. It was approved by Bahrain's upper house of parliament, which is appointed by the king, as well as by the elected lower house. "This is a shameful move by the authorities designed to strike fear in the heart of the population," said Samah Hadid of Amnesty's Beirut regional office. "It is also a serious blow for justice in Bahrain... Trying civilians before military courts is contrary to international standards." Bahraini authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amnesty said repeated requests for information about Radhi's location and condition had gone unanswered by Bahrain's Public Prosecution Office. But the Public Prosecution Office contacted Radhi's family early Tuesday to inform them his case had been transferred to a military court, the rights group said. Amnesty added it feared Al-Sayed Al-Alawi, held incommunicado since October, would be the next to face military justice, without elaborating.
Eight hostages allegedly taken in Colombia by the left-wing ELN rebel group have been freed, President Juan Manuel Santos said Tuesday, crediting "public pressure" for their release. "The eight kidnap victims... have been freed, thanks to public pressure," Santos wrote on Twitter. The seven men and one woman were seized by gunmen believed to belong to the ELN in Novita, a small town in the Choco region, the poorest part of the country in northwestern Colombia. Recent hostage-takings by the ELN, whose initials stand for National Liberation Army, come with the leftist guerrilla group and the government poised to begin peace talks after decades of hostilities. Colombia's government and the ELN, the country's last active rebel force, are due to resume talks on May 16 in Ecuador after initiating negotiations in February. In November, a larger rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed a peace deal with the government after four years of talks. The ELN has an estimated 1,500 fighters, compared with the FARC's 7,000.
Youve been over to Europe a few times now right? What have been some of your favourite parts of the continent to visit?

I love Copenhagen, so Denmark for sure. Berlin is cool, theres art everywhere, spots everywhere, good food, nice people. I love Paris, but I need to learn a little French. BarcelonaI dunno, theres too many cities. Barca, CopenhagenI havent been to the Basque Country, but Ive heard its really good. I think Id say Copenhagen and Barcelona, those are my favourites so far.

Do you keep up with much in the way of Euro and UK skateboarding?

If something drops video wise you know, but I dont follow any blogs or anything. If Tom Knox drops a part, Ill watch that. Occasionally Southbank videos

How did it feel to be given the SOTY title? And who are your top 3 former SOTYs?

Its funny, every time someone says that it still doesnt feel real you know? Im walking around the house and see the trophy and its like, whoa! Its pretty mind-blowing, but Im super thankful. And my top three Skaters of the Year? Id definitely say AVE, but it goes back so far. Cardiel, Reynolds, Trujillo [Calls over to Chris Pfanner]. Hey, you know how old Trujillo was when he got it? 16 or something?

Chris Pfanner: He was super young.

So those guys, ol Cobra got it twiceDanny Way got it twice? Hats off to that, thats heavy. There are too many!

After writing that question, I thought about it and realised I couldnt answer it.

I dont know if I canbut I guess off the top of my head, Cardiel, Reynolds and AVE. But then Ishodtheres no answer!

What decided you on Australia as your celebratory trip destination?

It was just Sydney. That was a wild one, party mode and skate mode from breakfast to dinner. Its kind of funny, Elijah throughout the filming for No Other Way was joking, Youre going to get SOTY and were going to Oz and I was like thatd be sick, but yeah right, but if it happens, yeah its on. Wed been a few times and its amazing; the weather, spots, beaches, food. Somehow I got it and was like yeah, lets go to Sydney  then he was the only one who didnt go! Motherfucker[laughs].

The trip featured some heavy ATV rippers, including Ishod and Daan

Oh my god, it was seriously ridiculous. Burndog, the first day was like, You should just get the cover out the way, then keep it mellow, and it didnt seem like a bad idea. Then Zion back overcrooked that big rail and Ishod back tailed that rail  that was first spot, first day. Then we went around the corner and found this other rail, the one that I front blunted. So thankfully I just got that out of the wayI didnt chill too hard for the rest, but my kneecap was kind of messed up to begin with so I kept it mellow. Ishod and Daan just went apeshit

Did they hype you to get stuck into Bondi, or any big transition missions?

Every time I see those dudes, when I skate with Ishod at a park or something, Ill try and get a scratch or two, try some airsbut theyre magicians straight up. That nollie heel Daan did over the channel? He can do inverts on three foot high quarters and stuff, its insane. Id love to learn that stuff, I just have no patience with it. Watching how Ishod decided to learn to skate tranny and now its there overnight, its pretty respectable.

Its sickand inverts on tiny quarters make so much less sense than on vert or something

For sure! You know, I forget his name, homie that skates the old school board but skates street as well?

Erick Winkowski?

Yeah, Erick Winkowski! He is insane  that recent Thrasher trip from North Carolina to Atlanta, finishing at Bust or Bail? I saw a clip of him doing an invert on the smallest quarterpipe  shit like that is crazy! Im stoked to meet that dude. And with that board too, rails and everything? Its so sick.

Your first major video project would have been Reals Since Day One, a fairly major release. How did the Real hook up come about? Its always seemed like a very close team, how is it being part of Jim and Tommys crew?

Yeah definitely  you go into Deluxe and its all family. Jim will hit me up on the daily, he hits everybody up on the daily. I dont know how he does it, he still skates every day too, runs the dopest distribution. Its pretty wild. I dont kick it with Tommy too much, but weve definitely been tipsy at the bar and brod down. Just to see the two OGs holding it down in the Bay and starting that, its sick. Sorry, what was the main question? I kind of steered off.

How the Real hook up came about in the first place.

Oh yeah, well I was at the Goofy vs. Regular contest and I rode for Zero flow at the time. Dan Howard was there, who worked for Deluxe at the time and hooked me up with Spitfire and Thunder. Two months later he was like, Hey, do you want to ride for Real? I was buying their boards before I got Zero flow so there was no hesitation  yeah, lets do this! So they started hooking me up, I was so young too. I dont know exactly, but probably about 15. Actually my first part was the Volcom In Colour part.

Over 2015 and 2016 you managed to film parts for Propeller and Holy Stokes, as well as the No Other Way promo with Elijah Berle. How do you approach filming a big video part?

Really its all timing. Obviously you plan certain stuff, but I like keeping it natural. Not taking it too seriously, but kind of having a little drive for specific stuff. You know when youre at the park, you learn a certain thing and then you think of a spot to go where you want to do it. But theres no specific tactic really, I just try to skate and stay motivated.

Since No Other Way, do you find people want you to be the handrail dude, dragging you to ridiculous spots?

Its kind of funny, on Instagram so many kids will DM me the craziest rails. Some are straight up not possible, theyre just in it to be funny, but some send through sick rails and sick spots. Hey, this is the biggest rail in my town. [laughs] I aint Muska, but Ill try and hold it down for the Muska, you know?

Do you still see a place for full length videos in the future of skateboarding or do you think shorter clips and Instagram will slowly become ubiquitous? And, similarly, strictly online releases replacing physical DVDs?

I would definitely hope not. I mean I guess Im not as old as the dudes who experienced VHS, but I was thankfully at the end of the DVD era. Ive got a booklet with Yeah Right, 16 Below, everything, so I got the endbut its crazy, I talk to some kids and all they know is internet parts. I mean you cant hate because theyre young and its all they know, but its crazy. I hope it doesnt come down to single parts. I know teams will still do full videos, but its definitely not as DVD based now.

I feel like Dylan Rieders Gravis part, his first internet part  you remember that? I feel like that was the main solo video part which went online and set it off. That was cool, I still watch that one. But I think people will still want videos. There are pros and cons to anything  with Instagram, kids can talk to their favourite skater now, which you or me could never have done.

To finish up, whats next on the cards video-wise?

I know Vans are trying to get another video together  they want to do what me and Eli did, every year. I dont know who exactly is doing it this year, but Ill try and maybe film a part. Theres nothing specific, this year I just want to try and skate and see what happens, see where it goes.

END.
Following GoCentrals launch in January, GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) is now adding more features to the new service that combines a mobile-optimized website builder with an integrated set of marketing and e-commerce tools.

GoDaddy GoCentral Update Focuses on Mobile

In an official press release, GoDaddy claims that since GoCentrals launch, 53 percent of all visitor traffic to GoCentral websites has been from phones and tablets. In addition, the company adds that 80 percent of sites built on mobile phones with GoCentral are published within the first day.

I built it on my iPhone and iPad in about 45 minutes, the owner of Brooklyn-based E-Walks Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Erin Donahue said while talking about how she used GoCentral to build a new version of his website in the release. It used to be a pain to go on the desktop to do it. Im so glad you can publish from a mobile device.

Following the tools initial success, GoDaddy is now adding more mobile-focused features to GoCentral, including the ability for GoCentral users to receive notifications for new orders via text message. Another feature is PayPal One Touch providing users with a quick way to pay without having to enter card details on a mobile keypad. Another feature is Tap to Buy with Apple Pay allowing customers to pay directly from a product description.

Alongside the new mobile updates, GoDaddy has added a new blog feature to GoCentral that will enable users to import blog feeds from other websites.

Were 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, said GoDaddys Senior Vice President of Presence and Commerce Lauren Antonoff in the release.
Canada  May 9, 2017  Andre Binette

Each sovereign state can choose the date of its national holiday. Generally, this date recalls the accession to independence. The United States, for example, chose to emphasize each year their unilateral declaration of independence of July 4, 1776. They preferred this date to the date of the Treaty of Paris, 1783, which ended the revolutionary war they had won thanks to Frances decisive support. Their national holiday commemorates a founding act.

In France, where the origin of independence is lost in the mists of time, they remember the 14th of July, the fall of the Bastille, as the passage from monarchy to the Republic, the founding act of modern France. Unlike some other countries, the United Kingdom celebrates the birth of its sovereign as its national holiday; it is celebrated on the second Saturday in June. In Canada, they celebrate the Queens birthday in late May. In Quebec, the Parti Quebecois government of Bernard Landry transformed the Queens birthday into its opposite, the Patriots Day, after the Patriotes who sought to establish the independence of Lower Canada, Quebecs ancestor.

So Canada celebrates two national holidays: the United Kingdoms and the one called Canada Day, referring to Confederation, (which was a confederation in name only), on July 1. Neither has any relation to its independence. Canada does not celebrate the date of its accession to independence, which legally occurred on December 11, 1931 through the adoption of a British law called the Statute of Westminster. Why?

Birth of Canada?

There is more than one reason for this. First, the date when Canada achieved independence is in reality uncertain. In its Patriation Reference in 1981, the Supreme Court was unable to situate it precisely, which in itself is an anomaly. At most it indicated that it had occurred in events between 1919 and 1931. This effective sovereignty was allegedly won on the battlefields of the First World War, in particular at the battle of Vimy Ridge  one of uncertain military importance but of great importance in the construction of Canadian identity, and for which its 100th anniversary has just been celebrated. This victory led to the separate signature to the Treaty of Versailles of His Majesty King George V on behalf of Canada, which conferred on Canada an international juridical personality, one of the fundamental attributes of sovereignty.

It should be noted that during the centennial ceremonies at Vimy on April 9 the Canadian prime minister stated: It is here where Canada was born. This statement teaches us two things. First, and this is an irony of history, Canada was born in France. Second, Canada did not exist in 1867. It was born, according to Mr. Trudeau, exactly a half-century later.

Indeed, it should be recalled that British troops were still occupying the Quebec Citadel in 1867. The Canadian armed forces did not yet exist. Canada had no international relations other than relations within the British Empire. There was no Canadian ambassador abroad, and Canada could sign no treaty because its international relations, including with the United States, were conducted in London. Canadian citizenship did not appear until 1947.

The only provision in the British North America Act, 1867 that had anything to do with international affairs was section 132, which granted the Parliament and Government of Canada all Powers necessary or proper for performing the Obligations of Canada or of any Province thereof, as Part of the British Empire, towards Foreign Countries, arising under Treaties between the Empire and such Foreign Countries. Moreover, the same Act provided that all federal laws could be disallowed [overruled] by London. The 1867 Act failed to respect the principle of effectiveness of core state functions, a necessary condition of independence.

Why 150 Years?

Why, then, do they want to celebrate 150 years of colonial autonomy? It can only be because in 1867 they thought they had found the final solution to an event that had occurred thirty years earlier and had been a political earthquake. This was, of course, the rebellion of the Patriotes of Lower Canada. A parallel revolt occurred in Upper Canada, but it concerned only the distribution of powers among Anglophones, namely the British governor and the local elite. That was remedied by the advent of responsible government which turned power over to the elected representatives of the population. In Lower Canada, in contrast, responsible government aggravated the fundamental problem which was the co-existence of two nations  the more vigorous one, demographically, being the French-Canadian nation.

The Act of Union in 1840, which merged Upper and Lower Canada, had been designed to dilute the power of the Francophone majority of Lower Canada at a time when responsible government was becoming inevitable. However, the Act of Union was a failure since the political and national realities were obvious: in effect, there were two co-premiers and two attorneys general in United Canada; two parliamentary majorities were required if laws were to be adopted. The fait francophone continued to weigh heavily in the functioning of the Union, too heavily in the eyes of certain Anglophone politicians.

The solution was colonial federalism, that is, Quebecs imprisonment in a federal framework in which it was to become increasingly a minority. This imprisonment, which was an attempt at more definitive appropriation and neutralization of Quebecois identity, is the precondition to the existence of Canada. This existential condition found its logical follow-up in the negation of the Quebec nation in the constitutional renewal of 1982. Canada was built on the weakening of Quebec. On July 1st each year the Canadian nation celebrates its domination over the Quebec nation. The choice of a founding act that is to be collectively celebrated is never innocent and is always revealing. 
One of the main goals of our community is to make Software and Data Carpentry workshops accessible for all researchers from all disciplines and all regions of the world. In the past three years workshops in South Africa and other African countries have started gradually picking up and I think we may soon see exponential growth!

This has been made possible thanks to a lot of effort and hard work from a number of amazing people, including Anelda van der Walt. In 2014 we realised that the biggest obstacle to running workshops in Africa, was the lack of qualified trainers on the continent. Since then weve put significant focus on building a local instructor pool to enable research organisations in the region to run Software and Data Carpentry training. In 2015 several instructors were trained online. Last year North West University at Potchefstroom hosted the first in-person Instructor Training with attendees from South Africa and other African countries. Just last week, between 30th April and 2nd May, we (Anelda, Kari Jordan and Aleksandra Pawlik) ran another Instructor Training in Cape Town with 28 participants.

The whole group was incredibly varied with expertise ranging from life sciences, engineering, mathematics, and astronomy to library and information sciences. We had almost 50-50 gender balance (42% female vs 58% male to be precise). The participants also represented a variety of organisations. Several of them came originally from other African countries and were already discussing ideas of bringing the workshops over to their motherlands.

We secured a fantastic venue at the Takealot offices with plenty of space, a coffee machine at our own disposal, and a stunning view of Table Mountain.

(Photo credit: Maryke Schoonen)

Like that view? Well, heres more. On the second day of the workshop (Monday, 1st May) we were joined by the instructors who were trained last year at the North-West University campus and those trained online in 2016. Their participation in the 2017 Instructor Training was part of a 12-month programme. The programme included a full cycle starting off with Instructor Training, supporting the checkout process, helping out with organising and hosting workshops, and finally bringing the participants back together for a catch up a year later.

(Photo credit: Maryke Schoonen)

Indeed the programme proved to be a great success building strong foundations for computational training in South Africa and Africa. It also leveraged the power of our community with a number of international people stepping in to provide mentorship for newly trained instructors.

Last but not least, bringing together the three cohorts of instructors last week in Cape Town was an incredible networking opportunity. We started with an evening mixer on Monday and carried on with more structured networking activities the day after. As a result, there is now a series of workshops planned for South Africa and several other African countries.

We are really grateful to everyone involved in growing the capacity for training in computational skills for research in Africa. The 2017 Instructor Training and co-located events were made possible thanks to North-West Universitys eResearch Initiative, Talarify, DIRISA, Takealot and DHET through the Rural Campus Connectivity Project II.
The Government Proxy for Roma Communities requires restriction on the sale of toluene.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

The Government Proxy for Roma Communities Abel Ravasz (Most-Hid) is pointing to an increase in the use of toluene, a so-called drug for the poor, among the Roma community.

Based on a motion from Filakovo (Banska Bystrica Region) mayor Attila Agocs, Ravasz's office wants to limit the public's access to this chemical. The issue is so serious that Ravasz is even speaking about the toluene epidemic in dozens of towns and villages across Slovakia.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

"Access to toluene is very easy - you enter a shop that sells paint and buy some," said Agocs as quoted by the TASR newswire. "However, the repeated abuse of this psychotropic substance leads to total apathy, especially in relation to the social environment, and loss of social contacts, ."

Ravasz points out that toluene is easily accessible in Slovakia despite the fact that European legislation restricts its sale. In line with EU regulation, a seller may not sell toluene as such or glue or spray containing the substance to a person who does not work with toluene in his or her job. This fact has to be proved by a trade licence or an extract from the Commercial Register.

"We've found that sellers often don't have the correct information about the legal regulation concerning the sale of toluene," said Ravasz, adding that if the sellers followed valid EU regulation, the problem would be solved.

In order to combat the toluene epidemic, his office has therefore prepared information and leaflets for sellers and the public. It will also send people from regional offices to the villages affected by the epidemic to raise awareness on the matter.

"If selling toluene to inappropriate people continues, we'll take stricter measures in the form of checks," said Ravasz, adding that his office might impose a fine of up to 99,500 for violating the regulations.
Interior Ministry investigates activities of the Union of Anti-Fascistic Warriors.

Font size: A - | A +

American monopolies want to initiate a third world war and only Russian President Vladimir Putin can prevent it. A fascist junta governs Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund wants to reduce the countrys population to enslave it.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The bi-weekly Bojovnik [Warrior] of the state-funded Union of Anti-Fascistic Warriors has been spreading such news and opinions for three years, using Russian websites and conspiracy portals as sources.

The Union is funded by the Interior Ministry which publicly declares that Russian propaganda is a threat to the West. The ministry sent the Anti-Fascistic Union 350,000 in 2017. The union uses that money for publishing magazines, organising commemoration events, overseeing of monuments, and providing social care for people that participated in the anti-fascist uprising during World War 2.

The Interior Ministry considers the questions of The Slovak Spectator as a motion which it will investigate.

The Interior Ministry will deal with your monition, the ministrys press department responded to questions of The Slovak Spectator.

Head of the union, Pavol Seckar, confirmed that the ministry has already approached him, but he stated that he stands behind the content of the magazine.

Even Aprils session of our editorial staff confirmed that Bojovniks direction is right, Seckar told The Slovak Spectator.

Everyone, including Bojovniks editorial staff, has the right to their opinion until it violates the rights of others. However, none has the right to spread lies, according to Alexander Duleba of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association.

There is a lack of legislation which should deal with it, Duleba told The Slovak Spectator. For example, Germany introduced heavy fines for media spreading factual lies.

Read also:

Read also: Kiska: We must use all lawful means available against extremism Read more

Criticising the West

Bojovnik, in the past, has been a typical magazine of a state organisation informing about union activities, historical events and even offering soft news content. In March 2014, the editorial staff completely changed, as did the content of the magazine.

The magazines circulation significantly decreased, Vladimir Mikunda, Bojovniks Editor-in-Chief told The Slovak Spectator. We managed to stop that and now we are working on increasing circulation again.

Magazine Bojovnik (Source: www.szpb.sk)

World news emerged on the first few pages mostly attacking the West, NATO and the European Union. They also highlighted the activities of so-called fascists in Ukraine.

For example, in its April issue, the magazine mostly criticises the US bombing of a Syrian airport following the sarin gas attack in Idlib Province. Moreover, one of its adopted pieces claims that white helmets arranged the corpses of people to fabricate the entire sarin attack.

It also published a statement by Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov saying Washingtons rhetoric tends to be primitive and loutish.

Bojovnik acts like conspiracy media spreading pro-Russian propaganda, constantly criticising the West or the EU and praising Russian policy, according to Juraj Smatana, an activist battling hoaxes.

It cannot even be called bias; it is a selective view of the world, Smatana told The Slovak Spectator. You cannot find news criticising Putin there.

Read also:

Read also: SIS: Foreign countries try to impact public opinion Read more

Nazis in Ukraine

In its February issue, the editorial staff adopted a piece from the Russian economic news website Finobzor.ru, comparing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the Nazis. The story says that the IMF suggests Ukraine to reduce state employees and increase the retirement age because it wants to reduce Ukraines population just like the Nazis did in the past.

In 2016, one story stated that the government in Ukraine is a junta and terrorist organisation.

The claim concerning a neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine is part of Russian propaganda that seeks to question the legitimacy of the Ukrainian revolution called Maidan and justify the occupation of Crimea. In fact, the support for far-right groups in Ukraine is very low, according to Duleba.

There should be news about extremist activities, but we cannot reduce Maidan, with seven million participants, to the rule of fascists, Duleba said.

Both Seckar and Mikunda stated that the magazine mostly re-publishes content from other media in such cases. Mikunda stated that the magazine uses original sources and refused to call them conspiracy media.

In its March issue, however, Bojovnik magazine copied a text about measures by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi depicting him as a great leader, without naming a single source of such information.

It can happen that even we overstep, Mikunda said. The internet was my source.

Read also:

Read also: Legitimising fake news Read more

Communists in management

Anti-western opinions can be found not only in the unions magazine  also its representatives publicly spread such sentiments.

Head of the Trencin Office of Anti-Fascistic Warriors Union Jan Holicka said in a 2016 speech that Slovakia has become a colony for western countries. He supports his claim by pointing out that people need to speak English to get a good job.

Holicka was a candidate for the Communist Party in the 2012 parliament elections.

When Chief of General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces, Milan Maxim stated that the Slovak Army prepares for a possible threat coming from Russia, most of the unions representatives participating in Bojovniks poll condemned such actions.

Vaclav Homisan, who represents the union in Stara Lubovna, stated that NATO is an aggressive pact, the USA is an expansive country, and Maxim wants to please them.

It is old propagandistic feint, Smatana said. Non-democratically oriented people take credit for defeating Nazism and anyone who is against the Kremlin is automatically fascist for them.
The Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister was among the first European statesmen to meet the US Secretary of State in Washington.

Font size: A - | A +

The fight against terrorism is a priority both for the USA and Slovakia, and Washington appreciates the concrete steps of Bratislava in this field.

This is how Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak commented on his first official meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington on May 8.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The priority for the USA  which was confirmed also by this meeting  is the fight against terrorism, which is perceived as the number one threat, Lajcak told the TASR newswire. Of course, the USA wants Slovakia to really be part of this fight and Im glad that I could come with specific measures to this meeting.

Lajcak informed his US counterpart about the measures the Slovak government has adopted and which are expected to be formalised this week.

Tillerson also appreciated the determination of Slovakia to fulfil its NATO commitments, including the financial ones.

For us, solidarity is a two-way road  we cannot require solidarity when we need it but at the same time dont show it when its our turn, Lajcak said, as quoted by TASR.

Lajcak was one of the first European statesmen to meet with Tillerson in Washington. He assumes this is mostly due to good relations between the two countries. The USA considers Slovakia a partner when solving various problems, be they terrorism, conflicts in Ukraine and the Balkans, or the stabilisation of the situation in Syria, the Slovak minister added.

The meeting was very dynamic, interactive, friendly and specific, Lajcak commented. Since Tillerson is a former businessman, they also discussed the business environment in Slovakia and ways to improve it, as reported by TASR.
The accusation of defamation by the far-right LSNS party was not accepted.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

The police have definitely stopped the efforts of far-right Peoples Party  Our Slovakia (LSNS) led by Marian Kotleba to ban the theatre play titled Natalka.

They turned down the criminal complaint submitted by LSNS MPs who were joined by the former candidate for the ombudsman post Anton Culen, the Novy Cas daily reported.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The performance is based on a real case from the Czech Republic. Back in 2009, a group of extremists attacked a Roma family with Molotov cocktails, leaving a two-year-old girl with 80 percent of her body burnt.

In their complaint, the LSNS MPs claimed that the theatre may have committed the crime of defamation of nation, race and belief. He complained about a performance of the play at a grammar school in Pezinok (Bratislava Region). The reason is that at one point a masked man writes fascist statements which are accompanied by a swastika. Moreover, in other scenes a swastika is covered by a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The investigator of the National Criminal Agency dismissed the criminal complaint, Police Corps spokesperson Martin Waldl confirmed to Novy Cas.

Read also:

Read also: Extremists complain about theatre play Read more

The performance is currently played mostly at schools in the Bratislava Region, where governor Pavol Freso welcomed the decision.

It is a project through which young people can freely express their opinion on controversial issues, Freso said, as quoted by Novy Cas, calling on others not to be afraid of extremism.

The actors who play in the performance also appreciate the decision, according to the daily.
They were concerned about the unity of the EU and fighting extremism.

Font size: A - | A +

Victor of the French presidential elections Emmanuel Macron was a clear winner also among the voters who cast their ballot on May 7 in Bratislava.

He received altogether 264 valid votes, while his rival Marine Le Pen got only 50 votes. The second round was attended by 337 of 569 registered voters who currently live in Slovakia, the TASR newswire reported.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

After voting finished, 15 envelopes were empty, while eight votes were invalid. The total number of valid votes was 314.

Read also:

Read also: Slovak politicians welcome the election of Macron as French president Read more

Macron won also in the first round held on April 23. He was supported by 141 voters, while second Francois Fillon received 96 votes and third Le Pen 27 votes. The first round was attended by 365 of 581 eligible French voters living in Slovakia, TASR wrote.

The French Embassy in Slovakia stressed that the results are still only preliminary as the official ones will be announced by the French Constitutional Council.

The voters addressed by TASR stressed mostly the importance of the vote for France and the European Union, as well as the need to build a barrier to extremism.
The Slovak Theatre in London / Slovenske divadlo v Londyne has received an honourable mention at the recent competition for amateur, student theatres held by the Akademicky Presov.

Font size: A - | A +

This theatre offers expats in the UK performances in Slovak, the TASR newswire wrote on May 3  adding, however, that performances in English have now been added after a growth in demand.

The theatre group was founded eight years ago by a young Slovak woman, Juliana Sersenova, who arrived in England and in her leisure time started to unite expats and make art. The group's logo is composed of two halves of a heart symbolising the life of migrants who must divide their activities and commitments between two countries. They spent their first four years as an amateur group associated around the Slovak Catholic Mission in London.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

I had some ideas which I wanted to implement and I invited mainly my art-loving friends to join me, Sersenova told TASR. We managed to stage one performance a year.

Starting with plays in Slovak  with all scripts written by her  they changed around the roles to make it more varied. Then, other people from different parts of London joined in, discovering the group through ads and social networks. Gradually, the word started to spread and they gained a regular audience. Then Sersenova arranged a theatre piece called Migrants which already included more experienced theatre-makers with previous contact with the stage.

From a small group to a bi-lingual theatre

Slovak students from theatre academies who could not find an outlet for their education started to flock. Then the Academy for Women / Akademia pre zeny performance  the piece that was successful at the 51st year of the Akademicky Presov competition last week  was born. The script is based on the true stories of Slovak girls involved in human trafficking, with three female characters and one male. All actors study at universities in the UK.

Over the course of the years, we have found that not just Slovaks and Czechs living in London but also their foreign friends are interested, Sersenova told the newswire. Thus, we came to translate or add subtitles for the wider public but ultimately, the practice of rehearsing each performance in both languages has been established. Our specific is that we stage our own plays and we perform them both in Slovak and English.

They do not perform only in London but travel to meet expats around the UK. They want to bring fresh Slovak culture, and in a way, provoke. Slovaks often close themselves off in a sort of bubble when abroad, Sersenova explained and as they do not understand complex theatre in English and miss simple, understandable pieces, they stop visiting theatre. This is when we arrive, she summed up. People appreciate this, it is a great spiritual refresher when they experience Slovak culture far from home, the founder said.

With their expat connections, they also visited Brussels with Migrants. This June, they will return  with a new piece about prostitution. From time to time, they also play in Slovakia, for their families and friends at home.
During the nation-wide operation, twenty foreigners, mostly of Serbian origin, were detained and extradited.

Font size: A - | A +

On May 4, officers of the Border and Alien Police detained 20 people, mainly of Serbian origin, suspected of unauthorised residence in Slovakia and extradited them. They also set a deadline for the Serbs to leave the country, the Pravda daily wrote.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

The police mostly focused on a hostel on J. Botto Street in Trnava, that accommodates foreign workers from nearby plants, spokesman Martin Waldl of the Police Presidium informed the SITA newswire, adding that these are mainly from Serbia.

The nation-wide operation was aimed mostly at checking the authorised stays of foreign citizens of third countries in Slovak territory, according to Waldl, as well as enforcing the terms of the stay, uncovering crimes and misdemeanours and the search for wanted persons.
BYOD | Viewpoint

3 Reasons to Think Twice Before Implementing a Required BYOD Program

Jeff Mao, who helped lead the nation's first statewide 1-to-1 learning program, reflects on supplemental "bring your own device" (BYOD) programs vs. required BYOD programs.

Across the country, school districts are seeking solutions to increase students' access to computing technologies. In many cases, they are choosing to implement 1-to-1 programs, wherein every student has a personal computing device for learning. When determining the best solution, the term "bring your own device," or BYOD, frequently enters the conversation. Schools that implement BYOD programs will choose one or both of two approaches: required BYOD and supplemental BYOD. While supplemental BYOD is a common-sense way to broaden students' and teachers' classroom resources, required BYOD is a problematic choice that will challenge a school district's staff and the community as a whole.

What Is Supplemental BYOD?

Supplemental BYOD takes advantage of the personal digital devices students already have as a way to supplement learning. When implemented, these programs have policies to provide clarity to students about how and when they can use their devices, how to connect to the school's WiFi, their responsibilities, and the expectations of responsible use. Assignments and learning activities are not designed around the devices; rather, students are allowed to find ways their devices can aid them with their learning.

A supplemental BYOD program just makes sense. If a school has invested to build a WiFi infrastructure, shouldn't we make it as easy as possible for students and teachers to leverage it for learning? Take the time to develop the policies, practices, and expectations of appropriate and responsible use for a supplemental BYOD program and allow students to leverage the computing power of their smartphones, tablets or other devices for learning. It may take a couple years to develop these policies and build the culture necessary to support it, but the sooner you start, the sooner you arrive. If you think this is too hard, consider that New York City schools began this process in March of 2015. And if the nation's largest district can do it, any district can.

What Is Required BYOD?

Required BYOD anticipates that students may have personal digital devices and integrates them into the teaching and learning environment. The program requires that students bring a personally owned device to school to fully participate. Most of these programs anticipate that some students won't be able to purchase a device. Typically, they include a budget for purchasing devices for students who can't. Usually they use eligibility for the federal free- and reduced-lunch program as a proxy for a student's eligibility to receive a district-owned device.

The supporters of required BYOD programs will tell you that it relieves the district from bearing the cost of the equipment. Additionally, the supporters will tell you that most of the kids already have devices and that to ignore those devices would be a waste of available resources. When challenged about the family that cannot afford to purchase a required device, they will tell you that the district has set aside funds to purchase a device for that family.

Unfortunately, implementing a required BYOD program as a way to increase students' access to computing power is actually going to cause more problems than it solves. Here are my three primary arguments against required BYOD as a school- or district-wide solution.

The Cost of Required BYOD

Let's start with the argument that a required BYOD program saves money. A simplistic look at the district budget will show that it is indeed a savings. If you compare the cost of devices for a district that purchased a device for every student to a district that purchased a device for none (or a small percentage) of its students, of course, the former will show a higher expense.

While the math works out to show a savings, it lacks a systems-thinking approach. Rather than fixating on the district budget, let's consider the community's total budget. When a district places the responsibility of purchasing devices on families, it gives up the discounts available to districts (educational discounts and potentially volume discounts) on device purchases. A required BYOD program is more expensive for the community as a whole since more dollars leave the community to pay for equipment.

Additionally, you are now essentially double-taxing part of your community: those families with students who do not qualify for the district's assistance. School systems have enough of a challenge communicating the value of public education to the community (in which voters with no students outnumber voters with students), let alone potentially disaffecting a large portion of your direct constituents.

Device Capabilities and Technical Management

When considered from a teaching and learning perspective, BYOD becomes even murkier. The introduction of personal digital devices into classrooms is not simple. We have all seen years and years of efforts by many to effectively integrate technology into the learning process with varying degrees of success. While there is no one simple and straightforward strategy for success, consistency, ease of use, supportability and equitable access all are factors that contribute to success. The introduction of varying technologies with varying functional capacities only complicates the challenge for teachers and students alike.

In addition, a lack of technical management capacity and consistency across student devices will likely bring an already busy IT staff to its knees. Supporting a high-access computing environment is already challenging for school IT departments that are generally understaffed to begin with. Adding a multitude of devices that are not in the direct control of the IT department exacerbates the problem. With the addition of online assessments in many states, this variability and lack of management capacity will challenge even the best-staffed and -skilled IT departments.

Legal Concerns

Finally, there is a simple question of legality. Public education is defined by each state, but one theme is consistent: Public education is supposed to be free and universal. In the 1984 case Hartzell v. Connell, the California Supreme Court addressed the concept of "pay to play" when one school system implemented fees for participation in band and drama. The courts were clear that this violated the law and the spirit of free and universal public education. This was clarified in 2012, when California legislators further defined and clarified what the 1984 ruling meant by "fees" that were considered the problem:
Deloitte, a leading provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services, has launched its inaugural Regulatory Barometer that reveals the top 10 priorities for banking regulation in the UAE.



Deloitte spoke to senior management of the leading banks from across the UAE, who shared their views on how regulations are impacting their business models.



In this new report, Deloitte reveals the regulatory opportunities and challenges facing the financial services industry and the five ways that institutions can take advantage of the new regulatory changes to drive efficiency and growth.



Regulatory requirements have been a major contributor to how financial institutions have evolved since the financial crisis. The influx of regulatory initiatives, particularly from the international level especially in financial stability and financial crime areas, has forced many firms to reconsider their business models. Banks that are proactive and use regulatory changes to their benefit, put themselves in a strong position to become market leaders, explained Bhavin Shah, partner, Financial Services, Deloitte, Middle East.



The findings of the Deloitte Regulatory Barometer report reveal the need for regulators to play their role, by ensuring clear regulations and striking a balance between market safety, while also enabling businesses to perform and grow. A discrepancy was also found between regulatory expectations and banks awareness of certain risks. Main findings include:



 The report found that UAE banks are undoubtedly aware and concerned about international regulations  particularly, their complexity and certain inconsistencies in the expectations. The majority of banks involved in the report felt that changes to international sanctions and IFRS 9 implementation would likely impact them the most.



 Banks in the UAE are becoming increasingly proactive about financial crime compliance. About 83.3 per cent of those Deloitte spoke to have a dedicated unit, focusing their efforts on training, improving standards, processes and procedures, as well as target operating model design.



 About 88.9 per cent of respondents considered the economy to be one of the biggest risks to financial stability in the market. Yet, only a third of respondents claimed their regulator had discussed their potential impact on the financial stability of their country or the GCC region.



 Conduct risk is undoubtedly an important area of focus for regulators going forward. While 75 per cent of respondents said they monitored conduct risk at their institution, yet 42.9 per cent believed conduct risk was not sufficiently understood in the region.



The findings suggest the financial services industry needs to be more proactive and forward-thinking about adapting to regulatory changes that are likely to be inevitable.



There are exciting opportunities emerging within the regulatory sphere such as FinTech and other disruptive technologies that are set to revolutionize the banking industry. How quickly or efficiently that happens will be greatly impacted by the underlying regulations and it is in all of our interest to get those right. To achieve this banks and regulators will have to work to together, concluded Shah.  TradeArabia News Service
The Middle East Public Relations Association (Mepra) is offering four new training courses for the regions public relations professionals across Dubai and Abu Dhabi in May, as it gets set to expand its Mepra Academy later this year.



Mepra is the trade association for the regions communications industry, which brings together leading public relations consultancies and in-house communications teams to drive industry growth, set standards of excellence and build capabilities of its professionals.



Mays Mepra training courses begin with a course on Corporate Social Responsibility, a key strategic concern for many organisations during this Year of Giving in the UAE. The course will focus on developing strategies that create tangible benefit for both society and brands.



Jennifer Bell, an award-winning UK correspondent and former senior editor at The National, will then host a session on writing skills, a core competency for industry professionals.



Later in the month, Mepra will run a course on using data effectively to drive digital communications strategies. Data collection and measurement are critical to demonstrating the value of public relations campaigns and securing budgets in challenging economic times.



The final Mepra course of the month will focus on content-driven social media campaigning with speakers from Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Last years Mepra Benchmark survey found that social media campaigning had overtaken traditional media relations to become the largest business area for the regional public relations industry for the first time.



Three of the four courses will be held in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi to provide easier access to training and development for the hundreds of communications professionals working across the UAE.



Each course will be recognised within a continuous professional development framework, developed in partnership with the UKs Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), and part of the Academy expansion later this year. All training delivered by Mepra will count towards becoming a CIPR and Mepra accredited or chartered public relations practitioner.



Ray Eglington, chairman of Mepra, said: Helping improve the effectiveness of the regions public relations industry through training and development is a core part of our mission at Mepra. These new courses will become part of our new plans for Mepra Academy, which we are looking forward to unveiling in full later in the year.



I am particularly pleased these courses are being offered in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, giving more communication professionals the opportunity to participate.  TradeArabia News Service
UAE based telecom service provider Du, has entered into an agreement with Dubai Economy to educate consumers, brand owners and commercial agencies about consumer confidence and empowerment.



The agreement was recently signed between Mohamed Ali Rashed Lootah, chief executive officer of Commercial Compliance, Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in Dubai Economy, and Ahmad Aburahima, senior vice president, Government Relations at Du.



In line with this agreement, Du will support initiatives related to the Consumer Confidence Index, the Consumer Empowerment Index, and workshops to educate business owners. The Consumer Confidence Index predicts consumer confidence when it comes to economic activity and performance, while the



Consumer Empowerment Index, the first-of-its-kind in the region and the second in the world after the EU Commission, aims to measure consumer awareness of their rights and duties in Dubai.



In addition to the indexes, Du will organise several workshops for business owners to educate small and medium enterprises on topics related to consumer confidence and empowerment indicators, aimed at developing and qualifying Dubai's entrepreneurs.



Lootah said: "We are delighted to partner with Du. Through this partnership we aim to raise consumer awareness by organising a variety of programmes for each region in Dubai. We are committed to ensure transparency and security in buying and selling procedures in the retail sector, which is the main driver of the local economy in line with the highest quality standards and practices in the world.



Aburahima said: "We are keen to support government initiatives aimed at promoting a transparent and secure economic environment in terms of dealing between consumers and business owners. Through this partnership with Dubai Economy, we are able to further contribute to the UAEs efforts in building a knowledge-based economy through various awareness campaigns that will contribute to educating the public, as well as small and medium enterprises. TradeArabia News Service


The Department of Economic Development - Ajman (DED - Ajman) has posted a significant growth in the number of business licences and permits issued by its Registration and Economic Licensing Department for new economic facilities.



This was revealed in the Business License Indicator Q1 of 2017 report, which showed a 7 per cent average increase in the number of issued licenses in the first quarter of this year to reach 1,053, compared with 985 issued during the same period in 2016, said a statement from the organisation.



Official data reported an increase in the number of newly issued industry-level licences. At a growth rate of 37 per cent, a total of 531 commercial licenses were issued during the first three months of 2017, up by 124 licenses from the same period last year, it said.



DED- Ajman also reported a remarkable 77 per cent growth in the number of issued industrial licenses, it added.



Applications for renewal of licenses climbed as well. A total of 5,597 licenses were renewed early this year, up by 2,437 licenses from the first quarter of the previous year at a growth rate of 77 per cent.



The renewal of commercial licenses also went up by 74 per cent, with a total of 3,037 commercial licenses issued compared with 1,748 last year. Similarly, the renewal of industrial licenses saw a significant 62 per cent growth during the same period.



Renewed professional licenses, said DED-Ajman, reached a total of 2,377 during the first quarter from 1,296 last year, or up by 1,081 licenses at 83 per cent growth rate.



Ali Eissa Al Nuaimi, director general, DED-Ajman, said: The high volume of business licenses issued during the first quarter of 2017 reflects the growing confidence of the investment community in Ajmans competitive advantages and promising economic opportunities.



Ajman is set to become one of the most attractive destinations for local and regional investors. We are committed to supporting the emirates sustainable economic growth through our ambitious plans and initiatives aimed at improving the ease of doing commercial, vocational, and industrial businesses here, as well as creating an attractive investment environment in the area. This is in line with our vision to build a diversified competitive economy for Ajmans sustainable development, he said.



The recent positive results drive us forward to improve the ease of doing business here as it is one of the strategic priorities and key objectives of Ajman Vision 2021, which seeks to build a competitive economy to transform the emirate into a preferred destination among local and regional investors, he added.



According to the World Banks Ease of Doing Business 2016 Report, Ajman was 35th globally in the ease of doing business and 2nd in the GCC region after Dubai, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network, a multinational multimedia conglomerate, said it will be hosting the Future of Media  Leaders Summit tomorrow (May 10) in Doha.



The summit, a first-of-its-kind in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, will gather global broadcast industry leaders, leading CIOs, ICT professionals and experts who will deliberate on critical business and technology issues impacting the media industry, said the organisers.



The objective is to bring two days of in-depth exploration of technological innovation, learning prospects for members of the industry, and an opportunity to understand the drive in technological advancement in the next phase of media industry transformation, they said.



Dr Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, said: This summit provides unique insight for media industry leaders to learn from peers and explore ideas about technologies shaping the future of the broadcast industry; portraying how newsrooms are embracing the Future of Media and migrating news operations.



The event presents an opportunity for the network to share its experience in broadcast technological advancement and digital transformation with colleagues in the media industry, he stated.



Dr Souag pointed out that it will be akin to other leading industry events such as the IBC in Amsterdam and NAB Show in Las Vegas; highlighting digital transformation, cloud technology, digital disruption in media, cyber security and the future of media.



The event is expected to be attended by Sky News, MBC, Sinclair Media Group, Times Group, Spanish TV and NW18, in addition to other regional and global players.  TradeArabia News Service
Air Liquide Arabia (Alar), a joint venture between France-based Air Liquide and Saudi Industrialization and Energy Services Company (Taqa), has announced the startup of the Middle Easts first hydrogen pipeline network in the industrial city of Jubail, on the east coast of the kingdom.

A world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees and serves more than three million customers.

In 2015, the company has started up its global-scale hydrogen production site in Yanbu Industrial City, with a total hydrogen capacity of 340,000 Nm/hour.

Designed to transport large volumes of hydrogen to customers in both Jubail I and Jubail II, the network contributes to the development of the downstream industry, the optimization of natural resources and the increase of energy savings within the

Kingdom.

With a total length of over 21 km, the Alar hydrogen pipeline provides large organizations, as well as small and medium enterprises in industries such as refining, petrochemicals, polysilicon, glass and steel, with a cost-effective and reliable alternative to existing supply solutions, contributing to enhance their industrial competitiveness, while increasing the environmental performance of the industrial city of Jubail.

Aligned with the Kingdoms Vision 2030 objectives, and made possible through the support of the Saudi authorities, the hydrogen pipeline network increases the attractiveness of Jubail for high value-added industries, thereby creating employment opportunities for Saudi nationals.

The Alar Hydrogen Pipeline Network brings world-class hydrogen capabilities to Jubail.

For this project, Air Liquide Arabia deployed the expertise of the Large Industries business line of the Air Liquide Group in building, owning, operating and maintaining hydrogen networks - these same capabilities are demonstrated by Air Liquide in many of the worlds largest industrial basins such as the US Gulf Coast, Northern Europe and Asia.-TradeArabia News Service
Tourico Holidays, a leading wholesale travel brokerage company, has registered a year-over-year increase of 112 per cent in inbound hotel room nights to the Middle East in 2017.



Hotel room nights sold from the Middle East are pacing at an increase of 138 per cent through the end of 2017 - meaning future hotel reservations through the end of the year have more than doubled compared to the same time in 2016.



Travel from China is a driving force in the markets inbound hotel industry success. Tourico reported a sharp increase in Chinese travel to the Middle East, marked by a 60 per cent surge in hotel room nights booked so far in 2017. Additionally, The US has increased its hotel room nights to the Middle East by 12 per cent year-over-year, while Germany (up 21 per cent YOY), Canada (up 8 per cent YOY), and South American countries (up 9 per cent YOY) have also been key contributors to the growth.



Over the past several years, its become obvious  the Middle Eastern hotel industry is booming, said Ala Andriuta, product director of the Middle East for Tourico Holidays. Hotel room nights are up, key source markets such as China and the US continue to increase their demand for the region, hotel cancellation rates are down 45 per cent in 2017, and Middle Easterners are booking more hotel nights than ever.



Tourico Holidays recently moved into a new facility in Business Bay, Dubai - relocating its Middle Eastern experts that were previously stationed in Europe and US to a local office. Since the move in November 2016, Tourico has increased its partner portfolio by over 40 per cent  adding distribution clients like Al Tayyar Travel Group in Saudi Arabia, Atlas Travels in Turkey, and Satguru Travel in Dubai.



The company has also just partnered with key supplier Address Hotels + Resorts, a globally recognised luxury lifestyle brand in Dubai. Tourico will now work with Address Hotels + Resorts to sell rooms at its award-winning properties, Address Dubai Mall, Address Dubai Marina, Address Montgomerie, Address Boulevard and Palace Downtown.



Year-over-year bookings of pre-purchased hotel rooms, or ExclusiveDeals, have increased by more than 150 per cent in the Middle East in 2017, as well. Over 20 years ago, Tourico pioneered the practice of purchasing room blocks on a massive scale, and today, the strategy is a key component to the companys growth in the Middle East market.



Adding local employees and a full sales force in Dubai has allowed us to increase our Middle East partner portfolio, but its also been vital in supporting those partners and ensuring were developing close, longstanding relationships, said Sham Ganiwalla, regional director of sales in the Middle East for Tourico Holidays. The room nights influx, cancellation improvements, and distribution of our ExclusiveDeal properties are three figures were very proud of. - TradeArabia News Service


This years Arabian Travel Market witnessed a 10 per cent increase in visitors from the GCC and a 7 per cent increase in international visitors to the event, which was held in Dubai World Trade Centre from April 24-27.



For the second year in succession, visitor numbers smashed through the 28,000 mark  the show saw a 71 per cent increase in visitors over the last five years.



Simon Press, senior exhibition director, ATM, said: The continued growth of ATM is testament to the strength of the travel and tourism industry in the Middle East. The event has also built on its quality year on year and the professionalism of exhibitors and stands not only increases the brand value of their own organisation, but also that of Arabian Travel Market.



Exhibition stand contracts signed during ATM 2017 for next year are up 38 per cent year-on-year, with exhibitors keen to reserve their space for what promises to be a record-breaking event in 2018 as ATM celebrates its 25th anniversary.



Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, ATM has grown to become the largest event of its kind in the region and one of the biggest in the world. The 2017 edition, on the theme of experiential travel sponsored by La Perle, boasted an additional hall, with 466 main stand holders representing 87 countries and over 100 new exhibitors making their debut. The number of countries represented at ATM 2017, taken from all attendees, totaled 157.



The show got off to an inspiring start, with an informative discussion on the legacy of Expo 2020. Now just under three years away, it was revealed that plans for the site after the world showcase concludes will see 80 per cent of the plot re-developed with all Expos assets and transport infrastructure re-purposed for future use by a range of tenants and major private sector firms.



Commenting on the overall session, Press said: The seminar also explored the importance of Dubais sustainable tourism initiatives, the expansion of the emirates airports capacity and the engagement of global audiences through partnerships with celebrities and social media influencers.



The UNWTO & ATM Ministerial Forum, which was attended by more than 20 Government Ministers and global leaders, concluded that the main priorities for the regions tourism industry include human resources development, public/private sector cooperation, connectivity, technology and sustainability.



Despite all external shocks, the Middle East and North Africa tell one of tourisms biggest success stories. A story that brings an immense opportunity to make tourism a pillar of economic diversification, job creation and sustainable development in this region said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.



This meeting provided an opportunity to identify the priorities of tourism policy for the MENA destinations, strengthen regional cooperation and public-private partnerships that prepare the region to welcome the 195 million international tourist arrivals - almost triple the present volume of 72 million  forecasted by UNWTO for 2030, he added.



New this year, the inaugural Halal Travel Summit, was one of many seminar sessions on the Global Stage, which welcomed leading Muslim travel industry experts including Rafi-uddin Shikoh, CEO of DinarStandard and Faeez Fadhlillah, CEO of Salam Standard & Tripfez, in a discussion about halal destination strategies and how to sell halal travel.



Muslim travel is a key sector for economic development and job creation throughout the world, generating $139 billion in GDP and creating 4.5 million jobs worldwide. And the travel and tourism industry throughout the Middle East is perfectly placed to capitalise according to panellists.



Fadhlillah said: The US and the EU represent 44 per cent of the global Muslim travel market, netting nearly $64 billion of inbound expenditure during 2015.



The Asian and Middle Eastern countries attracted more than a third (37%) of the global expenditure total, and these regions are expected to see the most robust tourism growth in the coming years.



The one-day summit featured three interactive seminar sessions covering the big picture, halal destination strategies and how to sell halal travel. It was agreed there was a strong need to create a halal tourism industry body involving both Muslims and non-Muslims. Also, in the Middle East, there is a need to develop formal halal destination strategies with public and private sector involvement and buy-in, following in the footsteps of Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan.



Zulkifly Md Said, director general, Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC), Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia, said: Islamic tourism is not something that has to be forced upon. However, if you feel that you want to expand your business to the Muslim traveller, then you must understand the adjustments you need to make to capture their presence.



Another of the highlights from the Global Stage was the hot topic of aviation. Despite the concerns from Gulf carriers regarding the electronic devices ban on US-bound flights, it is indicative of the confidence of regional airlines who all presented a strong presence at the show.



Jaan Albrecht, the newly appointed CEO of Saudi Arabian Airlines Group (Saudia), said: The first three months have been a steep learning curve. Saudi Arabia is a country of more than 30 million proud nationals and residents, with a lot of background, history and a huge domestic travel market, fuelled by also having the largest population of young people of any country in the world. Its a fascinating market.



Other popular features included the Wellness and Spa Lounge, Travel Agents Academy, Buyers Club and the Bloggers Speed Networking events.



Press added: What we have done is followed the market trends in the region and also listened closely to what our exhibitors want. The show is designed with content in mind and I think this year we were able to fully explore our theme of experiential travel, while also covering the hot topics in the industry.



This would not have been possible without the partnerships we have created and continue to create.



The ATM Best Stand Awards also returned, with some delighted winners including Etihad Airways, Amadeus, Kerzner International Resorts, Al Rais Tours and Holidays and Jetclass.



Responsible tourism, which played a huge part in the show and continues to be at the forefront of the industry, has appropriately been named the theme for 2018. - TradeArabia News Service
By Swati Pandey CANBERRA (Reuters) - The Australian government announced a six basis-point levy on the deposits of the country's five biggest banks in its annual budget on Tuesday, a measure that will deliver A$6.2 billion (3.5 billion) through to 2020/21 as it aims to get its finances back into the black. Australia's largest banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia , Westpac Banking Corp , ANZ Banking Group , National Australia Bank and Macquarie Group - will pay the charge on their liabilities including corporate bonds, commercial paper, certificate of deposits and tier-2 capital instruments. Deposits by individuals and businesses are excluded. "The levy is similar to measures imposed in other advanced countries," Treasurer Scott Morrison said in his budget speech. "By reducing Australia's largest banks' funding cost advantages, the levy will also contribute to a more level playing field for smaller banks and non-bank competitors." Australia's so called "Big Four" banks - CBA, Westpac, ANZ and NAB - together control 80 percent of the country's lending market and are extremely profitable. The four reported a combined half-yearly profit of A$15.2 billion, up 6.2 percent from a year ago, in the latest round of financial results, with their average return on equity at nearly 14 percent - one of the best in the developed world. "This new tax is not a well thought out policy response to a public interest issue, it is a political tax grab to cover a budget black hole," said Anna Bligh, chief executive of the Australian Bankers' Association. "It is naive and misguided and has already sent the wrong signals to global financial markets about the strength and stability of our banking sector." The banks also face headwinds including regulatory pressure to slow lending to speculative property investors amid worries about the risk of a debt-fuelled bubble in the market. Mortgages are a key source of profit for the "Big Four". Aside from the levy, the government announced a reform package to strengthen accountability in the country's financial system. This is on top of Monday's announcement to initiate an inquiry into competition in the sector. The moves are aimed at alleviating public concerns about the dominance of the big banks following a series of scandals in the banking sector and public allegations of abuse of market power. Treasurer Morrison gave more ammunition to the banking regulator - Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) - to penalise banks and senior executives for misconduct. APRA will get A$4.2 million in additional funding over four years and an annual A$1 million for a fund to enforce breaches where banks fail to meet expected standards. The government has also asked Australia's competition watchdog to undertake an inquiry on residential mortgage pricing until June 30, 2018. "I wouldn't want to be a CEO of the "Big Four" banks tonight. This is a budget that is bad for banks which means it is a budget which is good for consumers," said Alan Kirkland, CEO of consumer advocacy group CHOICE. The government has announced a number of measures over the past year to protect consumers and boost transparency in the banking sector, including beefing up the corporate watchdog's powers. Australian banks have themselves promised unprecedented reforms, including reviewing sales commissions, supporting whistle-blowers and black-listing individuals for poor conduct. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Jane Wardell & Shri Navaratnam)
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau will discuss trade and infrastructure financing during a bilateral meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the G7 meeting in Bari, Italy, this week, a senior Canadian finance official said on Monday. Trade in dairy and softwood lumber has emerged as a major irritant between Canada and the United States in recent weeks, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under pressure to protect Canadian jobs as U.S. President Donald Trump forces the renegotiation of NAFTA, the trilateral free trade agreement with Mexico, Canada and the United States. Trade is not part of the formal agenda of the meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven rich nations in Italy this week but it will be discussed as part of the broader economic growth discussion and Morneau will raise the issue in bilateral meetings with Mnuchin, the source said. Washington last month imposed tariffs on timber imports, alleging they are unfairly subsidized, prompting Trudeau to say he was considering a ban on exports of U.S. coal through Pacific ports. In a briefing with reporters, the senior finance official said Morneau will speak as a proponent of free trade as a driver of innovation and economic growth. Trade emerged as a sticking point at the meeting of the larger Group of 20 financial leaders in Baden Baden, Germany, in March, when ministers dropped their traditional pledge to keep global free trade open, acquiescing to an increasingly protectionist United States. A formal joint statement will be issued at the end of the meeting, the official said. The statement will make reference to exchange rates and there already has been an agreement to maintain the language used by the G20 in Baden Baden, he said. (Reporting by Andrea Hopkins; Editing by G Crosse and Bill Trott)
By Andrei Khalip LISBON (Reuters) - A decade ago, shares in the world's largest cork producer, Corticeira Amorim, didn't look like a great bet. Its biggest customer, the wine industry, was flirting with cheaper products that threatened cork's dominance: screw tops and plastic stoppers. Many premium wine-makers had spurned cork, blaming it for occasionally tainting wines with a mouldy taste. That was then. The cork industry has since staged a comeback: Lisbon-listed Amorim's share price has soared almost six-fold and cork exports from Portugal, the world's dominant producer, have just regained their peaks of 15 years ago. "When you go back 12, 15 years, the forecast for cork was anything but optimistic. Where we are today is a completely different territory from what most people thought possible then," said Carlos de Jesus, Amorim marketing director. Sales of plastic stoppers shaped like a cork and aluminium screw caps, made by firms such as Australia's Amcor, surged to account for almost half of the U.S. market, the world's largest consumer of wine, in 2009, according to the U.S.-based Cork Quality Council. Screw tops took over the Australian market, and are now used to seal most bottles produced in South Africa and Chile too. However, cork has rallied, partly by investing in research to eliminate cork taint - a dank, mouldy smell sometimes caused by microscopic fungi found in cork-tree bark - and persuading some wine-makers to ditch aluminium and plastic. Cork has raised its U.S. market share to around 60 percent, and its share of the global market, which Amorim estimates is worth about $1.3 billion a year, stands closer to 70 percent. But the battle for market share has only just begun. China is emerging as a huge new market as its middle class of more than 100 million people develops a taste for wine. Cork and its rivals are engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of China's wine lovers - and for now cork seems to be winning. "It is a tradition. It represents prestige," said Matthew Gong, Shanghai-based spokesman for major Chinese wine importer ASC Fine Wines. However, he added, Chinese consumers would become less sensitive to the question of cork or screw cap as the market grew, especially younger people drinking cheaper wines. "More and more consumers don't mind as much whether the closure is a cork or a screw cap," he said. "But for top wines, clearly cork is preferred." Cork exports to China jumped 22 percent in 2016, according to cork makers' association APCOR. As the biggest buyer of Australian wines, China also has the potential power to influence how producers seal their bottles in that predominantly screw-top market. Amcor did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. However, The Winemakers' Federation of Australia denied cork makers were making inroads. "It's definitely not a move in Australia or New Zealand. We are still very much screwcap for its convenience," said Chief Executive Tony Battaglene. He said about 90 percent of bottles produced in Australia are sealed via screw top. LASERS & ROBOTS In the war with screw tops and plastic, Amorim has recruited robots, lasers and a battery of chromatographic analysis machines which can detect the almost invisible signature of taint - the chemical compound TCA - in a few parts per trillion, or equivalent to one drop in enough water to fill 20 Olympic swimming pools. Bark is carefully stripped from cork oak trees in Portugal's central-south Alentejo region. Then at Amorim factories near the northern city of Porto, equipment processes it into slabs that are steam-treated, cut into smaller pieces and fed by robotic arms into machines that punch out stoppers. These are sorted and polished using lasers. The finest-quality stoppers are still punched by hand before passing through the humming rows of chromatographic analysers. Amorim's NDTech process is among the technologies that sprang from more than 700 million euros (590 million) invested by the Portuguese industry in new equipment and research, and other companies hope to catch up soon. The industry has also launched cheaper TCA-free stoppers made from shredded cork for lower-end wine makers. They are made by Amorim and others such as French-Portuguese Lafitte Group. The R&D drive was a response to the industry's cork taint crisis, which peaked in the early 2000s when even European makers of premium wines began joining the switch to screw caps. In 2005, Laroche Wines, owned by AdVini, sealed all of its Chablis, including high-end Grands crus, with screw caps. But 10 years later, the French winery, which has annual sales of 25 million euros, has switched back. It uses cork for all its Grand cru, Premier cru and most selection wines. At the end of last year, it started sealing its top wines with NDTech. "After the big cork pollution crisis, the cork industry was on the defensive. The incredible work they did changed things... The cork quality increased drastically in the last 10 years," said Gregory Viennois, technical director at Laroche. Joao Rui Ferreira, head of APCOR and CEO of cork stoppers maker WFScork, said cork was not aiming to return to its total domination of the late 20th century, when it held 95 percent of the global market. Instead, it was focusing on premium wines in what is now a much larger overall market. "The trends are very clear. Wine consumption in the world is moving from volume to value...," Ferreira said. UNCONVINCED Influential wine critics are still not convinced. For them, taint remains a serious problem for cork. APCOR estimates that up to 1.2 percent of wine bottles are still ruined by TCA, but some producers and critics cite anecdotal evidence that the actual proportion is much higher. Lisa Perotti-Brown, a reviewer for the Robert Parker Wine Advocate website, wrote in April that during a recent tasting of more than 900 wines from California's Sonoma County she had to discard up to 8 percent of the samples because they were corked. She warned that even at levels below the detection threshold hawked by Amorim, TCA can still damage the wine, muting or otherwise dulling the aromas and flavours. (The story was refiled to remove the reference to five billion bottles in the 16th paragraph) (Additional reporting by Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI and Benjamin Weir in SYDNEY; Editing by Mark Bendeich and David Stamp)
FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2006 file photo, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army Joseph Kony answers journalists' questions following a meeting with UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland at Ri-Kwangba in Southern Sudan. Kony has been Africa's most notorious warlord for three decades. Now that the United States and others are ending the international manhunt for him and his Lord's Resistance Army, it appears Kony may never be brought to justice. (AP Photo/Stuart Price, File)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) -- Indicted for killing thousands and kidnapping children to become soldiers and sex slaves, Joseph Kony has been Africa's most notorious warlord for three decades. Now that the United States and others are ending the international manhunt for him and his Lord's Resistance Army, it appears Kony may never be brought to justice.

His elusiveness in the often lawless bush of central Africa is legendary. In one incident Ugandan military forces in hot pursuit raided Kony's hideout deep in a Congo wildlife park in 2008 and seized little but a wig and guitar he left behind.

Despite the millions of dollars spent to catch him, Kony has outlasted his hunters. That's a blow to victims who hoped he would stand trial at the International Criminal Court where he has been charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The yearning for justice is there," said Judith Akello, a lawmaker who represents a community in northern Uganda once hit by Kony's rebel insurgency. "Justice is what the people demand."

Kony became internationally notorious in 2012 when the U.S.-based advocacy group Invisible Children made a viral video highlighting the LRA's alleged crimes. The group is accused of killing over 100,000 people, according to the U.N.

The U.S. has offered up to $5 million for information leading to Kony's capture.

Although scores of LRA fighters have recently surrendered or been killed, the whereabouts of Kony, now in his 50s, remain a mystery. Recent defectors from the rebel group suggest he is sick and hiding somewhere in the vast, ungoverned spaces of central Africa.

In pulling out of the military mission against the LRA, the U.S. in March said the rebel group's active membership is now less than 100. The U.S. first sent about 100 special forces as military advisers to the mission in 2011, and in 2014 sent 150 Air Force personnel.

Echoing the U.S., Uganda's military last month announced it was ending the manhunt and pulling out 1,500 troops because "the mission to neutralize the LRA has now been successfully achieved."

Story continues

The military withdrawal means Kony may never be caught, said some observers. Of the five LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005, he is the only one still at large. One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial at the ICC following his arrest in Central African Republic in 2015.

"Kony is the ultimate master of survival in the jungle," said Kasper Agger, an independent researcher in Central African Republic who monitors LRA activities. "He has survived three decades of warfare and evaded capture from the most powerful and expensive military in the world."

Kony's rebels may continue as a "group of bandits" in sparsely populated areas of Congo and Central African Republic, where they may link up with other armed groups, said Agger. LRA rebels trade in wildlife products to support their activities, slaughtering elephants for ivory in Congo under Kony's direct orders, according to The Enough Project.

The LRA remains a regional threat, according to a new U.N. report on sexual violence in conflict. "The Lord's Resistance Army continued its decade-old pattern of abduction, rape, forced marriage, forced impregnation and sexual slavery" in Central African Republic and has a presence in Congo and South Sudan, it says.

Kony has proved difficult to capture "mainly because he hides in Sudan-controlled territory" in which other African forces are not permitted to operate, said Sasha Lezhnev of the Enough Project. Sudan has denied allegations by Uganda's government that it actively supports the LRA.

A former Catholic altar boy whose rebel movement started as a tribal uprising with aspirations of ruling Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, Kony is an almost mythical figure. LRA fighters have said he has paranormal powers to read the minds of disloyal commanders.

Under military pressure, the LRA fled Uganda in 2005, moving first to Congo and then to parts of Central African Republic in a vast jungle area about the size of France. By then vastly degraded, the LRA splintered into small groups that were constantly on the move.

The rebels were up against a poorly organized Ugandan military, whose commanders in the anti-Kony campaign were accused of creating phantom soldiers on the payroll and abusing civilians.

"Kony and LRA's nine lives were the result of their discipline," said Angelo Izama, an analyst in Uganda who runs a think tank on regional security called Fanaka Kwawote.

Although Kony could appear bizarre, "he presided over a formidable, well-armed and loyal outfit that was quite capable of running rings around the supposedly superior soldiers sent to hunt him down," said Matthew Green, author of "Wizard of the Nile," a 2008 book about the LRA.

"While many people in (northern Uganda) reviled Kony for the atrocities he ordered, they were also subject to repression and abuses by (Ugandan) President Museveni's security forces," Green said. "Kony survived in part because there was often a deep-seated ambiguity in attitudes toward his movement among his own people, even though they were his principal victims."
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $938-billion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, will vote in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland's new remuneration policy, the fund said on Tuesday. The bank plans to simplify the executive compensation framework and to reduce maximum award levels, in line with the wealth fund's broader policy on remuneration. "We commend the (RBS's) Board's willingness to challenge conventional thinking on remuneration," the fund said in a statement. (Reporting by Camilla Knudsen, editing by Nerijus Adomaitis)
Adolf Hitler Nazi Germany Berlin World War II

(AP Photo)

In the early-morning hours of May 7, 1945, the remnants of Nazi Germany's military leadership signed an unconditional surrender to Allied forces.

When the news broke the next day, soldiers and civilians around the world heralded Victory in Europe Day  the Soviet Union would mark Victory Day on May 9  exuberant about the end of nearly six years of war that had destroyed much of Europe.

When German and Allied military officials gathered again in Berlin near midnight on May 8 to sign surrender documents, the atmosphere in the room was laden with emotional and political weight.

The Germans, characteristically severe, went through the proceedings in a mix of resignation and resentment, while the Soviets, Americans, and other Allies were relieved at the war's conclusion.

All were uncertain what would come next.

Soviet Union soldier Reichstag Berlin Germany world war ii wwii

(AP Photo/ITAR-TASS)

Historian Antony Beevor's sweeping history of the final months on the eastern front, "The Fall of Berlin 1945," captured the mood in the room as victors and vanquished gathered to bring their conflict to an end:

"Just before midnight the representatives of the allies entered the hall 'in a two-storey building of the former canteen of the German military engineering college in Karlshorst.' General Bogdanov, the commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Army, and another Soviet general sat down by mistake on seats reserved for the German delegation."

"A staff officer whispered in their ears and 'they jumped up, literally as if stung by a snake' and went to sit at another table. Western pressmen and newreel cameramen apparently 'behaved like madmen'. In their desperation for good positions, they were shoving generals aside and tried to push in behind the top table under the flags of the four allies."

The German delegation then entered the room, its members looking both "resigned" and "imperious."

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, commander of the Nazi armed forces during the final days of the war, "sat very straight in his chair, with clenched fists," Beevor wrote. "Just behind him, a tall German staff officer standing to attention 'was crying without a single muscle of his face moving.'"

Story continues

Nazi Germany officers military surrender World War II wwii

(AP Photo/U.S. Signal Corps)

Gen. Georgy Zhukov, a senior Soviet commander during the war's final days, stood to invite the Germans "to sign the act of capitulation." Keitel, impatient, gestured for the documents to be brought to him. "Tell them to come here to sign," Zhukov said.

Keitel walked over to sign, "ostentatiously" removing his gloves to do so, unaware that the representative for the chief of Stalin's secret police, the NKVD, was lingering just over his shoulder.

"'The German delegation may leave the hall,'" Zhukov said once the signing was complete, Beevor wrote, adding:

"The three men stood up. Keitel, 'his jowls hanging heavily like a bulldog's', raised his marshal's baton in salute, then turned on his heel. As the door closed behind them, it was almost as if everybody would in the room exhaled in unison. The tension relaxed instantaneously. Zhukov was smiling, so was [British Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur] Tedder. Everybody began to talk animatedly and shake hands. Soviet officers embraced each other with bear hugs."

"The party which followed went on until almost dawn, with songs and dances. Marshal Zhukov himself danced the Russkaya to loud cheers from his generals. From inside, they could clearly hear gunfire all over the city as officers and soldiers blasted their remaining ammunition into the night sky in celebration. The war was over."

The chaos of the war had ceased, but for Soviets and Germans other hardships were to come.

Berlin Germany World War II wwii

(AP Photo/Hans Martin Herloff)

Zhukov, long a confidant of Stalin, earned glory for his command during the war, but he would soon find himself on the outs with the mercurial Soviet leader.

Keitel would face war-crimes charges, including crimes against humanity. He was convicted and hanged in October 1946. Like other Nazi leaders who were hanged, Keitel's body didn't drop with enough force to break his neck. He dangled at the end of the hangman's rope for 24 minutes before dying.

Germans, many of them under the yoke of the Soviet Union, would struggle to rebuild both physically from the war and emotionally from their encounter with Allies forces  Soviet soldiers in particular. Berlin, buffered by two weeks of intense urban fighting, was shattered.

The Soviet Union's drive for political vengeance and economic advantage lead it to hobble or strip much of East Germany's infrastructure and resources.

NOW WATCH: The famed Olympic torch relay was actually created by the Nazis for propaganda

See Also:
Voters in Latin America appear to be tiring of its left wing leaders. In Argentina, the left-of-centre Victory Front coalition lost in 2015 against Lets Change, a right-leaning alliance led by Mauricio Macri. In Brazil, the Workers Party was ousted from power in 2016 after 13 years following the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. In Bolivia, also in 2016, voters delivered a stinging defeat to President Evo Morales attempt to reform the constitution to run for a straight fourth term. In Venezuela, the PSUV lost the parliamentary elections and control of the National Assembly in 2015.

The April 2017 election in Ecuador, in which Lenin Moreno marginally secured the continuation of the Citizen Revolution, is the exception to the rule.

These results might appear to be a symptom of exhaustion with left leaning governments. Perhaps though, they are simply part of a cycle, in which leftist movements see a gradual slowing of support. Political scientist Sidney Tarrow used the phrase cycle of contention to identify a phase of heightened conflict across the social system which begins at a moment of disruption in society.

Key moments of disruption in South America which have sparked left wing movements are not hard to find. There were the violent Caracazo riots in Venezuela in 1989, against government market reforms resulting in higher oil prices. The Cochabamba water wars in Bolivia in 2000, involved a series of protests against the privatisation of the municipal water supply in the countrys third largest city. In December 2001 Argentina saw a nationwide revolt against deepening austerity policies in the context of a long economic recession. The forajidos (the outlaws) was the name given to a popular uprising in 2005 in Ecuador against president Gutierrez (who was accused of betraying electoral campaigns of reform and alienating key political allies). These social protests represented a phase of heightened conflict that resulted in divided societies and polarised political representation.

Story continues

From this point of view, the subsequent turns to the left represented a bottom-up movement of social upheaval rather than just populist leaders seeking power. The social unrest set the conditions for the left to take control and cement a new anti-neoliberal agenda in the region that lasted about 15 years. The novelty of the phenomenon was that unlike the left-wing projects of the 1970s, the left played by the rules of the democratic game and did it successfully  winning landslide elections.

But apart from in Ecuador (where since 2006 Rafael Correa won three presidential elections as leader of the Citizens Revolution), the left has since continued to lose control of governments in the region.

Yet while the political left is currently in a state of flux, a diverse and highly organised social activism remains active on the streets. A general strike was called in April in Brazil against Temers government and its reforms. The first of its kind in 20 years. In Argentina, thousands of teachers took to the streets of Buenos Aires demanding a wage increase.

Many voices

In addition, indigenous peoples, women, beneficiaries of social programmes, industrial trade union workers and civil servants, have all been loudly voicing their opposition to the dismantling of key public policies, as well as raising new demands.

So it is not correct to identify an end of the left leaning cycle in Latin America. Instead it is more appropriate to speak of a transition from electoral dominance to a socio-political standoff. As a consequence, there is a greater degree of fortune deciding the result of an elections. The marginal results seen in the recent elections in Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador are proof of that.

This means that the popular sector remains active and has enough political power to stage large strikes and moments of direct action. However there is no new element of unity because there are so many demands which are, in turn, demanded by different organisations  and the links between these different organisations remain weak. It also means that only a minority of these social sectors feel politically represented by, for instance, the Workers Party in Brazil or Kirchnerismo in Argentina.

Having a right-leaning government tends to facilitate the reorganisation of the popular sector because the adversary is more clearly identifiable and common to all. This is why the lefts momentum has reached a moment of crisis  but has not yet been deactivated.

On the contrary, having a progressive government in power just makes the reorganisation of the popular sector more complex. So far, only Ecuador has been successful in bucking the regional trend. But it remains unclear if this contributes to the necessary reorganisation of the left  or to deepening its crisis. For the time being at least, the Latin American left is in check, but not yet checkmated.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.
VAIL, Ariz.  Firefighters are making progress in battling a wildfire burning southeast of Tucson in southern Arizona.

Officials say the fire has burned 2.7 square miles (7 sq. kilometers) of brush and grass about eight miles (12.9 kilometers) southeast of Vail on Tucsons southeastern outskirts but that 65 percent of its perimeter is contained.

The fire started Saturday and authorities say it is believed to be human-caused.

An evacuation notice previously issued for homes in the area was lifted Sunday.

More than 200 personnel are assigned to fight the fire, which is north of the site of a much larger wildfire that burned across the Santa Rita Mountains last month.
After two inmates escaped from the Sandoval County Detention Center Friday night, family and friends helped them make their way south to neighboring counties, according to Sandoval County officials.

Sidney Hill, the county spokesman, said the sheriffs office is still investigating what charges will be filed against the escapees and anyone who helped them along the way.

Paul Garcia, 25, and Blake McPherson, 21, were both back in custody by Sunday afternoon.

Garcia is one of two suspects in the high-profile deaths of Shaunna Arredondo-Boling and her 14-year-old daughter, Shaylee Boling, in mid-January. Police say he was in a stolen van that crashed into their car as he and his accomplice, Elexus Groves, fled from police.

Garcia had been transferred to the Sandoval County jail for a court hearing in an unrelated petty misdemeanor case.

McPherson was in the Sandoval County jail on charges of receiving or transferring a stolen motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident.

Hill said the pair slipped out of the centers recreation yard through a hole in the fence around 8:30 p.m. Friday. He said they traveled north on foot to a construction area on U.S. 550 across from the Santa Ana Star Casino.

Upon entering the construction site, both escapees removed their orange jump suits and continued their escape wearing only the white thermal underwear and footwear issued by the detention center, Hill said.

Then they crossed the river and went to a house in Bernalillo where Garcias friend lives.

Hill said thats where Garcia changed clothes and made several phone calls. Hill said Garcias relative picked him and McPherson up at another house in Bernalillo, but he didnt say who lived at that house.

Garcias relative then drove him and McPherson to Albuquerque and the pair split up, Hill said.

He said McPherson was taken into custody around noon on Saturday after an anonymous tipster led police to an apartment complex near Menaul and University NE. He was booked back into the Sandoval County Detention Center and placed in the restrictive housing unit where he will be monitored more closely, Hill said.

Garcia wasnt arrested until the following day when a tipster told the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office he was staying with another relative. Deputies and U.S. Marshals arrested Garcia at a house in Meadow Lake, a small community east of Los Lunas, just before 2 p.m. Sunday.

Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales said a family member had told deputies that Garcia was willing to cooperate and turn himself in.

Garcia was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center again.

Nataura Powdrell-Moore, an MDC spokeswoman, said Garcia had been originally classified as a high-profile inmate based on the murder charges against him. He had been housed in a pod with other inmates facing similar charges that was overseen by two corrections officers.

She said he will still be classified as needing a high level of security and will be under even more scrutiny now.

(The classification) doesnt change because he escaped, Powdrell-Moore said. But we now know we have to watch him more closely. Hes still going to be classified as high.

The Sandoval County Detention Center warden said Saturday that Garcia had been in a medium security pod with McPherson before their escape.

Hill said Monday that he doesnt know what information the jails booking staff took into account when Garcia was classified as qualifying for medium security. He said the classification is based on the charges against an inmate, but he doesnt know if the murder charges against Garcia were taken into account.

These are questions that will have to be answered when we complete the investigation, Hill said.

The Sandoval County jails staff is conducting an internal investigation to determine how exactly Garcia and McPherson escaped and what can be done to prevent future escapes. Hill said no staff have been disciplined and the investigation will determine if anyone will be.

Hill said the county has also hired an outside consultant for a separate investigation into the escape. Hill said he would not say who is doing that investigation until after the work is completed.
SANTA FE  A former Santa Fe County deputy previously under a criminal investigation by State Police in another case is now accused of molesting two young girls he was living in the same house with while he was on the force.

A criminal complaint filed in Los Alamos last week charges Dustin J. Bingham, 36, with eight counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor for acts that may have happened between November 2015 and April 2017.

Bingham was already under investigation by State Police after a mother called authorities out of concern over her daughters social media contacts, Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert A. Garcia told the Journal Monday. Bingham started working at the Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office in April 2015 and resigned Feb. 3.

In the most recent case, Binghams own parents reported to the Los Alamos PD May 3 that Bingham had been molesting two girls, but the girls mother didnt want to report him to police because of her and her husbands past experience with the state Children, Youth and Families Department, says the criminal complaint.

Bingham lived with the girls family from November 2015 to February 2016 and after that regularly visited the home and was a babysitter for the girls, the complaint says. Bingham also shared a room with one of the girls while he lived with them.

Bingham is accused of touching the girls inappropriately beneath their clothes, and one of them suspects that Bingham removed her bra while she was sleeping because she woke up without one, the complaint states. When Binghams father confronted him about the allegations, Bingham responded, Dad, Im guilty, according to the complaint.

Sheriff Garcia said Los Alamos police called him in January after a mother was concerned about inappropriate social media involving her daughter and Bingham. Garcia said he immediately contacted State Police to start a criminal investigation, and he also started an internal investigation. Bingham resigned the same day he was supposed to meet with Garcia over the findings of the internal probe, Garcia said.

State Police spokesman Chad Pierce said Monday that officers started investigating Bingham in January. Garcia disputed previous media reports that he said made it look like he didnt do anything about Bingham and noted that the newest allegations came after he left the department. I initiated an internal affairs investigation, so we did do something about it, he said. Its not something we just brushed aside.
SANTA FE  Gov. Susana Martinez has repeatedly accused the Legislature of failing to pass a balanced budget.

Just last week, her proclamation calling lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session slams lawmakers for adjourning earlier this year after approving an unbalanced budget.

But is that correct?

Not entirely, according to some of the budget leaders on both sides of the aisle and documents produced by the nonpartisan Legislative Finance Committee.

The governors contention rests on setting aside a key component of the budget package lawmakers approved  about $350 million in new revenue that could have been raised through a series of tax increases and closed tax loopholes, all of which she vetoed.

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, a Gallup Democrat and chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said the governors contention is incorrect.

The reality is that the budget was in balance, Lundstrom said Monday, and it also provided a fairly decent reserve had she approve the revenue package that went along with it.

Martinez, for her part, maintains that lawmakers knew she wouldnt support tax increases, and so the budget they sent her is unbalanced without them.

That was her argument last week  in the special session proclamation and an earlier public statement.

And Martinez didnt back down from it on Monday.

They cant possibly call it a balanced budget when they tied it to a $350 million tax increase that would have made New Mexicans pay more for gas, Martinez spokesman Michael Lonergan said in a written statement.

Lawmakers knew the governor would veto any tax increase, yet they refused to negotiate. Instead, they stuck to their my way or the highway attitude and tried to jam through one of the largest tax increases in state history.

Revenue dispute

An affidavit by A.J. Forte, a deputy Cabinet secretary for the Department of Finance and Administration, explains the administrations argument.

In a two-page sworn statement  submitted as part of litigation over the budget  Forte said staff economists for both the Legislature and the administration had estimated that about $5.9 billion in revenue would be available in the fiscal year that starts July 1, if no changes were made.

But the proposed spending approved by the Legislature would have reached about $6.1 billion, he said. That would have left the state short of a balanced budget, Forte said.

In the special session proclamation last week. Martinez said the Legislature had adjourned after passing an unbalanced budget for the fiscal year that starts in July.

Earlier in the week, Martinez issued a written statement saying her administration had been negotiating with legislative leaders to fix the unbalanced budget passed by lawmakers during the recently concluded session.

Forte and Martinezs characterization of the budget, however, appears to leave out the Legislatures approval of House Bill 202, which included roughly $350 million in additional revenue to be raised by increasing tax rates and closing tax loopholes. That would have been more than enough to balance the budget, based on revenue projections, lawmakers say.

The package of proposed tax hikes would have imposed gross receipts taxes on retail sales over the Internet, increased taxes on gasoline and vehicle sales, overhauled the tax system for hospitals and raised a permit fee on interstate truckers.

Lawmakers said that even if the governor didnt support all of the taxes, she could have used her line-item veto authority to craft a budget more to her liking.

Martinez vetoed the entire tax package. Her administration said that some of the tax increases were legally questionable and that others would have raised the cost of living on New Mexico families.

After the soda tax was emphatically rejected in liberal Santa Fe, its even more clear today that New Mexicans do not want higher taxes, Lonergan, the governors spokesman, said Monday.

Martinez has suggested she would support new revenue in limited circumstances, if its accompanied by broader efforts to restructure New Mexicos tax code to produce a more level playing field and business-friendly environment.

She unbalanced it

Some of the budget leaders in the House and Senate disagree with the unbalanced budget characterization.

If everything were to have gotten signed, there wasnt an unbalanced budget, said Rep. Larry Larranaga, an Albuquerque Republican and former chairman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

Hes on the governors side, however, on the tax issue. He voted against the spending plan and tax package approved the Legislature.

I wouldnt say it was unbalanced, said Sen. Steven Neville of Aztec, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. But it wasnt balanced in the way most conservative Republicans would have preferred.

The bills won bipartisan support in the Senate but passed on a party-line vote in the House.

Democratic Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming  chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Legislative Finance Committee  said it was the governors own veto of the taxes in House Bill 202 that created the threat of an overspent budget.

She unbalanced it, he said.

A financial summary produced by LFC staff  who work for the Legislature as a whole, not one particular party  described the budget package as balanced, before the governors vetoes.

The budget sent to Martinez would have balanced revenue and appropriations at roughly $6.1 billion over the next year, with some extra revenue going into reserves, according to a general-fund financial summary.

Well find a way

It isnt clear how the budget impasse will be resolved.

Martinez used her line-item veto authority to remove funding in the budget for higher education and the Legislature itself to balance the budget without the tax increases.

She has called a special legislative session for May 24 with the hope of reaching agreement with lawmakers on how to fund those institutions.

Legislative leaders, in turn, have sued the governor, asking the Supreme Court to restore the funding and overturn the governors vetoes.

Well find a way through this, said Larranaga, the Albuquerque Republican. Theres path forward if people start talking a little bit.
Advocates for Albuquerques proposed sick leave ordinance have suffered a setback in their quest to have a summary  and not the full seven-page measure  printed on the citys Oct. 3 ballot.

The state Court of Appeals issued an order last week denying a request from Healthy Workforce ABQ, the OLE Education Fund and three other plaintiffs to take up the matter prior to the case being resolved in District Court. The appellate court also refused on Wednesday to forward the matter to the state Supreme Court for consideration.

Its among the latest developments in the ongoing legal fight between advocates of the sick leave ordinance, which would require Albuquerque employers to provide paid sick time off to workers, and those who argue that the measure would hurt businesses because of higher costs and record-keeping requirements. If voters approve it, the ordinance will apply to full-time, part-time and temporary workers at any business with a physical presence in Albuquerque.

Stuck in the middle of the lawsuit is the city of Albuquerque, which has taken the position that the entire ordinance must appear on the ballot.

Albuquerque attorney Pat Rogers, who represents Roxanna Myers, the Association of Commerce and Industry and several other intervenors in the case, praised the Court of Appeals decision.

Albuquerque taxpayers, employers and employees should all be relieved that the District Court, the New Mexico Supreme Court and now the New Mexico Court of Appeals have all rejected the plaintiffs latest effort to hide and obscure the onerous and extreme details of their sick leave ordinance, Rogers said.

OLE, formerly known as ACORN, and the other plaintiffs will now have to explain how their seven-page sick leave proposal in small print does not constitute voter fraud by the inclusion of so many separate, expensive and extreme mandates that will drive employers and employees out of Albuquerque and New Mexico, Rogers added.

But Tim Davis, an attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, the organization representing the plaintiffs, downplayed the significance of the ruling.

A judge in this case has already ordered that this be on the ballot, Davis said, adding that the city has also pledged to place the sick leave initiative before voters. He said the question that remains is what form that takes.

District Judge Alan Malott ruled in September that the whole ordinance must appear on the ballot and, in February, he denied a request from Healthy Workforce ABQ, the OLE Education Fund and three other plaintiffs to reconsider his decision. The plaintiffs fear that including the entire lengthy ordinance and its technical language on the ballot could spell doom for the sick leave proposal.

The plaintiffs argued in their appellate court filing that Malotts interpretation of the City Charter requiring the entire ordinance to appear on the ballot is wrong. They also contend that if his ruling stands, the city will either not be able to fit the citizen-initiated legislation on the ballot or else will have to print it so small that it wont meet the minimum required standard under the state Election Code.

Malott in his Feb. 28 order notes that the city has already committed to placing the sick leave initiative on the Oct. 3 ballot.

Rogers argued in his Court of Appeals response that Malotts decision was correct. He also noted that the city clerk stated in a Jan. 9 affidavit that the full text of the proposed legislation would fit within a double-sided single page ballot, which can be accommodated by the citys contracted election services vendors.

Rogers, however, has filed a separate lawsuit against the city on behalf of the New Mexico Restaurant Association, NAIOP and others, seeking to keep the sick leave ordinance off the ballot.
After four years in court, Rio Rancho Public Schools lost a lawsuit it filed to stop a top-performing charter school from opening at University of New Mexico West, but the district superintendent said she hopes to appeal.

RRPS sued the New Mexico Public Education Department in Santa Fes 1st Judicial District Court over a waiver PED granted to the Albuquerque Institute for Mathematics and Science, a charter school recently ranked first in New Mexico and 43rd in the nation by The Washington Post.

The waiver gave AIMS permission to open a second location at UNM West without applying for a new charter.

AIMS, which has about 350 students grades six through 12, is housed on the UNM South Campus and chartered by the state Public Education Commission.

RRPS insisted the school needed the new charter because the second location would have been in Rio Rancho, a different district.

AIMS director Kathy Sandoval said the objection is really all about turf.

Everyone in Rio Rancho was welcoming except the school district, she said.

The commission and Education Secretary Hanna Skandera also were named in the lawsuit, though commissioners actually voted against the waiver, saying AIMS needed to show that Albuquerque Public Schools also supported the expansion.

On May 2, District Court Judge David Thomson ruled that PED had not overstepped its authority by granting the waiver.

Gary Tripp, RRPS chief of staff and engagement, said Superintendent Sue Cleveland wants to keep up the fight. She will ask the Board of Education to vote on an appeal in June, he said.

Tripp stressed that administrators want charter schools to follow proper procedure and that they have nothing against AIMS specifically.

I dont think this is a turf war, he said. There is a process that is clearly defined. We want to make sure the process is followed.

Rio Ranchos ASK Academy charter school adhered to the procedure and has a good relationship with RRPS, Tripp said.

Sandoval was aghast that Cleveland would push for an appeal.

Here you have a school district that says it has no money, and yet they are going to spend money on this, she said.

Sandoval had planned to talk to UNM regents, who previously approved the expansion, about revisiting the options and possibly trying to open the new location this fall.

Originally, the Rio Rancho AIMS site was slated to launch in fall 2014 with 40 sixth-graders, adding a new grade each year until the school enrolled about 350 students.

UNM West had given AIMS two classrooms, and Sandoval said some of her teachers had moved to Rio Rancho.

Oh, man, did I feel terrible, Sandoval said. Four years later, we were still being told we couldnt go out there.

When Thomson ruled last week, parents started to call to see if the Rio Rancho location would be opening soon, she said. Currently, AIMS has 413 students waiting for a spot.

All we are interested in is offering this to more people, Sandoval said. We have such a huge wait list as it is right now, it would be criminal if we didnt.

In an emailed statement, Skandera said high performers like AIMS should be rewarded, not punished.

This ruling sends a strong message to our public and private schools that theres nothing more important than putting our students first, she said.
By Michael Coleman

WASHINGTON  The Senate confirmed former Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico as secretary of the Air Force on Monday, making her the first of President Donald Trumps top military branch appointees to start work on the job.

The Republican also became the first Air Force Academy graduate confirmed to lead the Air Force after the Senate voted 76-22 to approve her nomination late Monday. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich  both New Mexico Democrats  voted in favor of Wilsons nomination.

The former lawmaker, who represented Albuquerque in Congress from 1998 until 2009, has said she will resign her current position as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, S.D., to accept the Pentagon job. Wilson, a former Air Force captain, served in Europe in the 1980s.

Reached by phone after the vote, Wilson told the Journal she was sad to leave her current position but eager to get to work on what she contends is a beleaguered and outdated U.S. Air Force. As secretary, Wilson will oversee work at Canon, Holloman and Kirtland Air Force bases in New Mexico, among others nationwide.

Im honored to serve, Wilson said. Its a bit bittersweet, because I love the university where I am the president. But Ive been called back to service in a way I didnt expect, and I will do my best to do my duty.

In a brief speech before the vote, Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wilson has proven herself as a leader.

She understands the Air Force mission and the capabilities it brings to the defense of our nation, McCain said on the Senate floor. We owe our airmen the resources, equipment and training they need to succeed. We also owe them proven leadership. Thats why the Senate should confirm Dr. Wilson.

Heinrich, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wilsons tenure as a representative from New Mexico gives her unique insight into the role and needs of the states three Air Force bases.

The Air Force is countering a number of threats worldwide and faces many challenges at home as well, Heinrich said. New Mexico has demonstrated tremendous leadership in addressing these challenges, and I believe that having a New Mexican perspective will provide significant value to the Air Force.

I congratulate Heather Wilson on her confirmation and am committed to working with her to address concerns that include an aging inventory of aircraft, a shortage of fighter pilots, an insatiable demand overseas for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and an increasingly competitive environment in space and cyberspace.

Although she won approval easily, Wilson was not without her detractors. During her Senate confirmation hearing in March, some Democratic senators  including Armed Services Committee member Jack Reed of Rhode Island  questioned her vigorously about contracting work she did for Sandia National Laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009.

In 2013, a Department of Energy inspector generals report found that Sandia, then run by defense giant Lockheed Martin, 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 denied any prohibited lobbying occurred.

However, Sandia reimbursed the government for fees paid to the consulting company run by Wilson.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who voted against Wilson on Monday, said her work for Sandia and other national laboratories was a clear violation of federal law.

During a Department of Energy inspector general investigation, Dr. Wilson was unable to document any work she actually did on behalf of the labs, and her employers were forced to repay the federal government for the cost of her services, Feinstein said after the vote.

Asked by the Journal whether she was troubled by the questions about her Sandia contracting during her confirmation hearing in March or by the 22 senators who voted against her on Monday, Wilson focused on the final result.

I appreciate the overwhelming support of the United States Senate, she replied.

Two of Trumps nominees to lead the Army and one for the Navy have withdrawn from consideration.
LAS CRUCES  A jury was selected Monday in the retrial of a former Santa Fe County sheriffs deputy charged with murder in the 2014 shooting death of a fellow deputy that authorities have said stemmed from an alcohol-fueled argument.

Of the nearly 100 potential jurors summoned to state district court in Las Cruces, 15 were chosen, including three alternates, in a process that took nearly eight hours.

Jurors must decide if defendant Tai Chan acted in self-defense or carried out a calculated killing when he shot Jeremy Martin.

The shooting happened Oct. 28, 2014, at a hotel where the two men were staying overnight after transporting prisoners to Arizona.

Chans first trial ended last year in a mistrial when jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision.

Prosecutors have insisted that the case amounts to first-degree murder because Martin, 29, was shot in the back.

Responding officers found him wounded and staggering off an elevator. He was taken to a Las Cruces hospital, where he was pronounced dead, while Chan, then 27, was found in a stairwell near the hotels roof.

Chans lawyers contend he opened fire in self-defense because Martin was the aggressor in the argument leading to the shooting.

During the first trial, Chan testified that Martin had threatened to shoot him dead with Chans duty weapon.

Chan said he was struck in the face by Martin, who he claimed was still armed. A struggle for the gun followed, Chan said, during which a single round was discharged. While on the floor, Chan said he seized the gun and started firing.

Chan testified Martin fled from the room and he followed, shooting at Martin as his colleague ran down the hall toward the elevator.

Martins family has challenged Chans testimony, saying Martin was a loving husband and father, and that the two deputies had known each other only briefly.

The integrity of the investigation was also called into question recently when the lead detective filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging she was denied resources to investigate the shooting.

Defense attorney John Day said he was planning to bring up those allegations during the retrial.

Judge Fernando Macias previously granted a motion that clears the way for jurors to view the crime scene, including the seventh-floor hotel room and associated hallways.

The trial is expected to take several days.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  A 17-foot python that had caused concern in a community north of Anchorage, Alaska, since it went missing two weeks ago has returned home.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Animal Care reports that Sam slithered back into view Monday in the living room of its owners' home in the town of Meadow Lakes.

Sam had attracted international media attention after it went missing 14 days ago.

One of its owners tells the borough's Animal Care department that Sam was fed a 25-pound rabbit before it disappeared.

Animal Care Officer Darla Erskine reported that the owner did not know where Sam had been hiding.

There are no wild snakes in most of Alaska.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
MONTICELLO, Utah  Fifth-generation Utah rancher Bruce Adams enjoyed a prime seat next to U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke as he toured a national monument created on land in Utah that Adams ancestors helped settle in 1879.

Adams, a county commissioner, joined Zinke on a horseback ride and a helicopter ride, describing the landscape of Bears Ears National Monument  one of 27 such sites that President Donald Trump has ordered Zinke to review to determine if they were properly established as monuments.

Adams, who opposes a monument in the area, said Tuesday he gave Zinke a cowboy hat bearing the phrase Make San Juan County Great Again and told him the monument designation could hurt residents ability to earn a living from livestock and agriculture.

Adams was one of many opponents and supporters of Bears Ears who jockeyed for position with Zinke on his four-day visit to Utah. Some Native Americans and environmental groups worried that Zinke listened much more to opponents.

Zinke met for an hour on Sunday with a coalition of tribal leaders who spent years campaigning for the monument on sacred tribal land thats home to ancient cliff dwellings and other archaeological sites.

In Bears Ears on Monday, one woman wearing a T-shirt supportive of the monument asked Zinke why he only met with tribal leaders for such a short time.

Zinke, who was shaking another supporters hand, turned to face the woman and said: Be nice.

The Utah Dine Bikeyah tribal coalition said in a statement Tuesday night that Zinke spent too much time with monument opponents and the hour-long meeting was an insufficient tip of the hat to local native people.

Zinke spent time in closed-door meetings Sunday and Monday with Utahs Republican elected officials, including Gov. Gary Herbert, who has called for the repeal of the monument designation.

Some later accompanied him on the helicopter ride and a short hike in the monument to look at cliff dwellings  as media and Bears Ears supporters were kept at a distance.

State and federal officials said the hike was a private meeting.

On Tuesday afternoon, Zinke, Adams and other government officials took a horseback ride out to twin buttes that give the monument its name. The two-hour ride was another private meeting and wasnt disclosed by Zinkes staff.

Adams said Tuesday evening that despite spending so much time with Zinke, he doesnt know whether the secretary will recommend the monument be rescinded.

In Blanding, with a population of 3,400 people, banners around town say #RescindBearsEars. In Monticello, 20 miles north, large yellow stickers in the shape of a bear with the words no monument could be seen on the windows of pickup trucks.

Zinke on Tuesday visited a conservation area and ranch in the monument. The Montana Republican later told reporters he hasnt made up his mind about whether the 1.3 million acre (5,300 square kilometers) area should remain a monument.

However, he did point out that despite the contentious debate in Utah, all sides agree that at least some of the land needs protection.

I think theres a solution out there, said Zinke, who has until June 10 to recommend that Trump rescind the monument, shrink its borders, enlarge it, or leave it as is.

Conservation groups worry that Zinkes review jeopardizes protections for monuments around the country. Environmental groups have threatened lawsuits.

On Wednesday, Zinke is set to head west and visit Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Created in 1996, its the oldest monument on the list of those to be reviewed.

Zinke said multiple times that he wants to hear different points of view. He said Tuesday he has concluded that Bears Ears is becoming a bigger attraction and the government must have a plan to manage visitors and protect archaeological sites.

Heidi Redd, who has been ranching 50 years on lands now within the monument, said she thinks the monument could be smaller but noted that it doesnt restrict her cattle grazing.

Redd showed Zinke around her ranch and said she worries whether the government will build infrastructure such as bathrooms and install railings around cultural sites to make sure visitors dont trample the area.

I would rather we not have a monument if you are not going to fund to protect it. And now the genie is out of the bottle, Redd said. There is no way people arent coming now.

___

Associated Press writer Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  On the day the White House threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Donald Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, emerged as a key conduit between the United States and Canada.

But his role has sparked a cross-border game of telephone and conflicting accounts about who called who first.

According to a White House official, aides to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Kushner urgently on April 26 after seeing news reports that Trump was considering signing an executive order withdrawing from NAFTA. Kushner, who has an expansive profile that includes foreign policy, speaks regularly to Canadian officials on a range of issues.

Kushner told his Canadian counterpart that this was a matter the leaders needed to discuss themselves, according to the White House official, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss private conversations. The Canadians asked when Trudeau should call. After checking at the White House, Kushner called back to say Trump was ready to talk now.

Trump has cited the call from Trudeau that quickly followed as the impetus for his decision to abandon the executive order and instead move to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico. The president also wielded the call from Trudeau, as well as a separate call from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, as proof that he has leverage over the other North American leaders as negotiations begin.

But accounts of Kushners involvement differed Monday in Canadian media reports. According to The Canadian Press news agency, it was Kushner who first reached out to Trudeaus chief of staff to suggest a call between the two leaders.

Kushner, who worked as a real estate executive in New York before taking a job in the White House, is seen as a more moderate influence on the president. Hes also seen as more favorable to international trade agreements like NAFTA than some White House advisers, and a phone call from him to the Canadian prime minister could be viewed as an attempt to push Trump in his direction.

A spokeswoman for Trudeau declined comment.

___

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Catherine Lucey at http://twitter.com/catherine_lucey
WASHINGTON  The United States watched Russians hack Frances computer networks during the election and tipped off French officials before it became public, a U.S. cyber official told the Senate on Tuesday.

Frances election campaign commission said Saturday that a significant amount of data  and some information that was likely fake  was leaked on social networks following a hacking attack on centrist Emmanuel Macrons successful presidential campaign. Frances government cybersecurity agency is investigating what a government official described as a very serious breach.

The leak came 36 hours before the nation voted Sunday in a crucial presidential runoff between Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. The election commission said the leaked data apparently came from Macrons information systems and mail accounts from some of his campaign managers  a data theft that mimicked Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

We had become aware of Russian activity. We had talked to our French counterparts and gave them a heads-ups  Look, were watching the Russians. Were seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure. Heres what weve seen. What can we do to try to assist?' Adm. Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Frances chief cybersecurity body, known by the French acronym ANSII, declined comment on Rogers testimony.

Earlier Tuesday, ANSII released a statement saying that it had been assisting with the response to the hack since Friday and that the information technology fraud division of Paris police force had since been charged with investigating the breach.

Rogers also said the U.S. is still working on a comprehensive cyber policy to counter what he called a brave new world in the cyber domain. He said the United States is improving its ability to defend itself, but I would also tell myself, Rogers you are not moving fast enough.

He said the U.S. needs to take tough actions against nation states working to undermine American democracy. They need to be publicly accused of the activity and the U.S. needs to make it clear to them that this type of activity is unacceptable and there is a price to pay for doing this.
State Tourism Secretary Rebecca Latham has been named the 2017 National Mother of the Year by American Mothers, Inc.

Latham was recognized at the 82nd Annual American Mothers National Conference in Washington, D.C. on . She will serve as an advocate for mothers across the country through educational programs and community outreach, according to a news release from the Tourism Department.

Latham and her husband Scott have two children: Joshua, 6, and Alana, 5.

I am thrilled to bring attention to the hardworking mothers of New Mexico throughout this year of serving as National Mother of the Year, Latham said in a prepared statement. Being National Mother of the Year provides the opportunity to highlight New Mexico as the best destination in the country for family travel. This is also a wonderful platform to work toward making New Mexico the best place to be a kid.

Latham will serve as an ambassador of the Golden Rule Movement which offers good deeds grants to charities helping mothers and children and the National Fifth Grade Essay Contest.

We are so proud of Secretary Latham, Gov. Susana Martinez said in the news release. Through her incredible passion, integrity and hard work, I know that she will continue to show the world what being a New Mexico True mom is all about.

Martinez appointed Latham as secretary of the department in January 2015.

Nominations for the 2018 Mother of the Year open on Mothers Day this Sunday . New Mexicans are encouraged to nominate a deserving mother at americanmothers.org through November 15.

According to AmericanMothers, nominees qualify for the honor by having one or more children and being amazing in their role as mom.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Suzette Lucero had to make the heartbreaking decision to take her father off life support following what she describes as an avoidable nightmare spurred by nursing home neglect.

The Santa Fe woman is among dozens of witnesses prepared to testify in New Mexicos lawsuit against one of the nations largest nursing home chains.

A state district judge denied a request last week by one of the defendants for a stay, marking just the latest ruling on the string of motions that followed the filing of the lawsuit more than two years ago.

The case is scheduled for trial next year, but New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is accusing the defendants of using the motions to delay the case and divert attention from allegations that thin staffing at nursing homes across the state made it impossible to provide good care.

Balderas says many patients suffered as a result and some died.

This is going to be a very compelling case that we bring before the jury, and were glad that the judge is siding with many of our motions to have this case move forward, he said.

Lawyers for Texas-based Preferred Care Partners Management Group have denied the claims, saying the case is frivolous and one of greed and opportunism.

The state initially sued in December 2014. It targeted several nursing homes run by Preferred Care, a privately held company with operations in at least 10 states: Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

The lawsuit uses a novel approach to outline its claims, relying on the number of hours it takes to complete basic tasks, from helping residents to the bathroom to feeding and bathing them.

New Mexico alleges residents were not getting the care they needed, and the state and federal government were being improperly billed.

Preferred Care stands by the quality of care provided by its facilities, saying their staff is compassionate. The company also believes the recent court decisions are part of the routine legal process and dont indicate any more momentum for the states case.

The defendants also have taken aim at prosecutors for how the case came about, saying the private law firm that first approached New Mexico about the case in 2012 has used similar tactics against nursing homes with other attorneys general across the country.

Balderas, who took office in 2015, initiated a review of the merits of the case before deciding to pursue the lawsuit.

He said he was pleased with another recent decision by the judge to deny a motion that sought to have the outside counsel removed from the case.

For Lucero and her brothers, talking about the death of their father in 2012 stirs up heartache and frustration.

It was supposed to be a short stay at the Casa Real nursing home in Santa Fe for physical therapy. Lucero said her father, Robert Pineda, had tripped and injured his knee on July 31, 2012.

The family said the nursing home was inattentive to repeated requests for care and that neglect resulted in Pineda developing a severe bedsore. That ultimately led to an infection and numerous surgeries that took a toll on the former accountant, actor and public servant. He was taken off life support Dec. 1, a week after his 69th birthday.

Lucero said it was difficult to watch her father deteriorate in a matter of months. He ended up on a ventilator and a dialysis machine.

These are real people in these places, she said of the patients. When you have a shortage of staff, when you have uncertified nursing assistants working there, when you have individuals who dont speak English, its just one thing on top of another. Its not about a person missing a bath one day, people are dying from neglect.

Lucero and the other families are looking for accountability.

These companies have been slow to talk about reforms moving forward, Balderas said. Part of our litigation will be to secure a vast amount of damages for injuries but secondly were bringing this litigation to try to improve the quality of care.
A District Court judge on Tuesday ruled that the three defendants charged in Victoria Martens' rape and murder will each be tried separately.

And each trial will be held in Bernalillo County, despite a request by the defense to relocate the trials, citing extensive and severe media coverage of the case.

Charged in the case are Michelle Martens, the girl's mother; Fabian Gonzales, her boyfriend; and Jessica Kelley, his cousin.

Judge Charles Brown said that although the trials will be severed, the three cases will continue to be handled together, at least until a final motion hearing in August. At some point after that, the court will determine which order the defendants should be tried in, and separate trial dates will be set.

The state last week asked to separate the trials and all three defense attorneys agreed that was best. But defense attorneys asked Brown to allow hearings leading up to trial to take place together. The three, so far, have been able to share the workload and costs of an incredibly complex case.

I hate to be talking about money when it comes to representation of a criminal case, Gary Mitchell, Martens' attorney, said, but frankly we don't have any choice.

Prosecutor Greer Rose said she believed handling pre-trial matters together was the best use of judicial resources.

As he denied at this time a defense request for a change of venue, Brown said the court has been able to find impartial local juries in many high-profile cases and he was confident it could be done in this case, too.

But if we can't get a jury here, he said, we'll go somewhere where we can.

Defense attorneys filed a motion Friday asking the court to hold the trials in another county, arguing that media coverage of this case has been extensive and severe. Each submitted a separate affidavit arguing that their client cannot receive a fair trial in Bernalillo County.

Public sympathy for Victoria, they wrote, combined with the prevalence of memorial events and public outrage over her death would exert pressure on a Bernalillo County jury to convict.

Also at Tuesday's hearing, attorneys suggested that the case is so complex that meeting strict deadlines required under a local case management order might be impossible. The first trial in the case is supposed to begin in early October, but one defense attorney suggested a fall 2018 trial date was more realistic.

I think there's no way counsel can be ready to try any of these cases in an effective manner within the limitations of this rule, Mark Earnest, Kelley's attorney, said.

Prosecutors agreed that it will be difficult to meet set deadlines. Brown said all he could do was push a late summer motion hearing back by a month.

The normal deadlines, Brown said, just can't fit this case.
LAS CRUCES  Attorneys in the first-degree murder case against former Santa Fe sheriffs deputy Tai Chan delivered their opening statements Tuesday.

Chan stands accused of murdering law enforcement partner Jeremy Martin, a 29-year-old deputy, on Oct. 28, 2014. The defense claims Chan, 30, killed Martin in self-defense after an assault.

The facts in this case will show there is only one victim in this case, one and only one: Jeremy Martin, District Attorney Mark DAntonio said in his opening statement in Third Judicial District Court. Bang, bang, bang. The shots were rhythmic, methodical and accurate.

Defense attorney Tom Clark said, This is a self-defense case, one man defending himself against another man: two young cops in a life or death struggle.

Attorneys spoke to a 15-member jury, including three alternates. A dozen women and three men sat in the jury box.

Jurors are expected to tour the scene of the crime at the Hotel Encanto on Tuesday.

Martin and Chan were staying overnight in Las Cruces after transporting a prisoner to Arizona.

Off duty that night in Las Cruces, the men went out drinking, met friends and returned to the hotel, room 711.

What transpired next, what led to Chan firing multiple rounds that struck Martin from behind, is the subject of the arguments in the case.

This is the second trial of Chan on first-degree murder. The first trial ended in a hung jury in June last year.

It is scheduled to last two weeks. Jurors are expected to hear the testimony of dozens of witnesses and see hundreds of exhibits.

Members of the Martin and Chan families sat on either end of the courts front bench.

District Judge Fernando Macias is presiding over the case.
RICHLAND, Wash.  A portion of an underground tunnel containing rail cars filled with radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when it collapsed, causing soil on the surface above to sink two to four feet (half to 1.2 meters) over a 400 square foot (37.1 square meters) area, officials said.

The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet (2.4 meters) of soil covering them, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.

It was discovered as part of a routine inspection and occurred during a massive cleanup that has been underway since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take until 2060 and cost more than $100 billion.

Hanford officials said they were studying the area of the collapse to determine how to create a barrier between the contaminated equipment in the tunnel and the outside air.

Workers near the site were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors for several hours, the federal agency said.

Non-essential workers among the labor force of 9,000 at the site were sent home early along a safe route.

No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties, the Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point.

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry was briefed on the incident that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called a serious situation.

Ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority, said Inslee, a Democrat who previously represented the Hanford region in Congress.

The underground Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in southern New Mexico was out of commission for almost three years because of a radiation release in 2014 after a drum of nuclear waste overheated and burst.

The anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear said the Washington state incident helped show radioactive waste management is out of control.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington said worker safety must be the priority.

My thoughts are with the first responders who are working to assess the situation on the ground, she said.

Worker safety has long been a concern at Hanford.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last fall against the Energy Department and its contractor, Washington River Protection Solutions, contending vapors released from underground nuclear waste tanks posed a serious risk to workers.

Ferguson said that since the early 1980s, hundreds of workers have been exposed to vapors escaping from the tanks and that those breathing the vapors developed nosebleeds, chest and lung pain, headaches, coughing, sore throats, irritated eyes and difficulty breathing.

Lawyers for the Energy Department have said no evidence has been provided showing workers have been harmed by vapors.

The accident Tuesday occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site  half the size of Rhode Island.

The PUREX building is the length of three football fields and was used to recover plutonium from irradiated fuel rods.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nations largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of the huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were often driven into tunnels and buried.

The senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said he is requesting that the Energy Department brief the committee on the root cause of the collapse.

New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone said the incident underscores the need for the department to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety and security of workers.

The committee oversees the departments management of the cleanup efforts.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

 Associated Press writer Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON  The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm Syrias Kurdish fighters as necessary to recapture the key Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa, despite intense opposition from NATO ally Turkey, which sees the Kurds as terrorists.

The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation but undermines the Turkish governments view that the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG is an extension of a Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey. Washington is eager to retake Raqqa, arguing that it is a haven for IS operatives to plan attacks on the West.

Dana W. White, the Pentagons chief spokeswoman, said in a written statement that President Donald Trump authorized the arms Monday. His approval gives the Pentagon the go-ahead to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqqa, said White, who was traveling with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Europe.

The U.S. sees the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria. White said theyre the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future.

While White did not mention the kinds of arms to be provided to the Kurds, other officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities. They said the U.S. would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

The officials werent authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity. They described no firm timeline, with the American intention to provide the new weapons to the Syrian Kurds as soon as possible. A congressional aide said officials informed relevant members of Congress of the decision on Monday evening.

The Obama administration had been leaning toward arming the Syrian Kurds but struggled with how that could be done without torpedoing relations with Turkey, a key political actor in the greater Middle East. The issue has come to a head now because battlefield progress this year has put the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces nearly in position to attack IS in Raqqa, although they are still attempting to isolate the city.

In a reflection of the sensitivities in Ankara, the Pentagon spokeswoman, Dana White, issued a follow-up statement hours after her initial comments. In her second statement she emphasized U.S. solidarity with Turkey and said the U.S. does not envision a long-term Kurdish presence in Raqqa. She said Mattis spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Fikri Isik, by telephone to reiterate a U.S. commitment to protecting our NATO ally.

Also, the State Department said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart on Monday night.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said he is not worried about how Turkey will react.

No. Sorry, Corker said, adding that Washington is going to have a little bit of a rub with Turkey for a period of time.

Even with the extra U.S. weaponry, the Kurds and their Syrian Arab partners are expected to face a difficult and perhaps lengthy fight for control of Raqqa, which has been key to the extremists state-building project.

Senior U.S. officials including Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara. The Turks have insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but U.S. officials insisted there was no real alternative.

In her second statement, White said equipment provided to the YPG will be limited, mission specific and metered out incrementally as objectives are reached. Other officials said these safeguards are intended to reassure the Turks that the additional U.S. weaponry and equipment will not be used by the Kurds in Turkey. The intent is to restrict the distribution and use of the weaponry and then require the Kurds to return it to U.S. control, the officials said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit President Donald Trump in Washington next week. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, met on Tuesday with Thomas Shannon, the State Department No. 2 official.

And in Denmark earlier Tuesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. and Turkey are working out their differences.

___

Baldor reported from Copenhagen and from Vilnius, Lithuania. Associated Press writers Richard Lardner and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
PHOENIX  From the U.S. Capitol and the White House to far-flung battlegrounds in Arizona, Iowa and elsewhere, its been a dramatic fortnight in the debate over access to abortion and birth control. Foes of abortion celebrated a series of advances and claimed new momentum, as abortion rights supporters mounted protests to try to blunt it.

Planned Parenthood, the anti-abortion movements prime target, called it the worlds worst week for womens health.

Among the developments in recent days:

House Republicans passed a health care bill that would halt most federal funding to Planned Parenthood for a year and expand restrictions on private insurance coverage of abortion.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on religious liberty that will likely make it easier for employers to drop coverage of contraceptives from their health care plans. The secretary of Health and Human Services, conservative physician Tom Price, said he would act swiftly to safeguard the deeply held religious beliefs of Americans who provide health insurance to their employees.

Trump appointed a prominent anti-abortion activist, Charmaine Yoest, to serve at HHS as assistant secretary of public affairs. Yoest, as president of Americans United for Life from 2008-2016, played a key role in the enactment of scores of state laws restricting abortion access. Her appointment was lauded by Vice President Mike Pence, who declared in a speech, For the first time in a long time, America has an administration thats filled top to bottom with people who stand without apology for life.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. A similar bill has reached the governors desk in Tennessee; a third such measure is pending in Missouri. Similar laws are in effect in at least a dozen other states, and Trump has promised to sign a federal 20-week ban if it can survive a potentially difficult path through Congress.

Republican lawmakers in Arizona and Iowa took steps to join a growing list of states that have acted to curtail public funding for Planned Parenthood, which is the leading provider of abortions in the U.S. but also provides a range of other health services that would be affected by the funding cuts.

In Iowa, the GOP plan is to create a state-run family planning program that excludes abortion-providing organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Iowa would give up federal Medicaid money and instead spend about $3.1 million in state funds.

In Arizona, GOP lawmakers have included a provision in the state budget that diverts about $2 million in federal funding away from Planned Parenthood. Bryan Howard, president of Planned Parenthood Arizona, says the five clinics now in jeopardy serve many uninsured patients and could close if they lose the money. He said those funds have helped serve 20,000 people with contraception, cancer screenings and other non-abortion treatments.

Blanca Chico, a 39-year-old from Phoenix, said that as an uninsured patient, Planned Parenthood Arizona has given her health services at a reduced cost that she can afford. Chico, a mother of four, said she was able to get an intrauterine device for less than half its usual price because her clinic only made her pay what she was able to.

They are helping a lot of people, because not everyone is able to pay for a consultation or all of the medication, Chico said. And they only ask for a donation for the services.

Chico, who also has used the clinic for annual checkups and pap tests, said the proposed cuts would force her to find another provider.

Its very complicated finding a place that is low cost and that I feel confident I can get the services, Chico said. I have felt really satisfied with the clinic  they have always helped me with everything.

Several other states where Republicans hold power have sought in previous years to curtail funding to Planned Parenthood.

After Texas cut off state funding to abortion providers in 2011, 82 family planning centers closed in the state  a third of which were Planned Parenthood affiliates. A state report later found that 30,000 fewer women were served through a Texas womens health program after the changes. Planned Parenthood now has 35 clinics in Texas and served more than 126,000 individual patients last year, including those seeking abortions.

Under the GOP-backed health care bill that cleared the House last week, people who rely on Medicaid would be unable to get subsidized preventive care at Planned Parenthood health centers  including birth control, cancer screenings and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Estimates by the Congressional Budget Office suggest that defunding Planned Parenthood would save roughly $200 million in federal spending while reducing health care for perhaps 390,000 people.

The bills fate is uncertain, with senators of both parties saying the House version will not survive in its current form. Activists on both sides of the abortion debate will be engaged in a heated lobbying battle over whether the Planned Parenthood defunding is maintained or scrapped in the revised version.

We urge the Senate to keep these nonnegotiable provisions and quickly advance this bill to the presidents desk, said anti-abortion leader Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. Dannenfelser and other leading anti-abortion activists threw their support behind Trump in last years election in part because of his pledge to sign a defunding measure.

Planned Parenthood and its allies have been organizing protests at the offices of Republican members of Congress who voted for the new health care bill.

This is the worst bill for womens health in a generation, said Planned Parenthoods president, Cecile Richards. It makes it harder to prevent unintended pregnancy, harder to have a healthy pregnancy, and harder to raise a family.

A few states where Democrats have at least a share of power have taken steps to ensure continued funding of Planned Parenthood and to protect access to abortion and contraception. In Montana, Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed a bill last week that would have outlawed most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has vowed to veto a similar bill if it reaches his desk, as well as a proposal to ban a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure.

Overall, however, the anti-abortion camp says momentum is on its side. As evidence, they cite Trumps appointment of federal judges who are widely viewed as receptive to further restrictions on abortion.

Folks are excited that weve got a different administration, so theres a sense of optimism, said Melanie Israel of the conservative Heritage Foundation. Everyone is curious to see whats going to happen.

___

David Crary reported from New York. Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, also contributed to this report.
Public Service Co. of New Mexico became a centenarian on Tuesday, marking 100 years since the original utility, Albuquerque Gas and Electric Co., formed in 1917.

Were very proud to be a homegrown, 100 percent New Mexico company, which has served the local communities and provided thousands of good paying jobs to New Mexicans in our first 100 years, said PNM Chairman, President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn in a statement commemorating the milestone.

Separately, Gov. Susana Martinez proclaimed Tuesday, as Public Service Co. of New Mexico Day across the state.

The company plans small events in coming months to celebrate its years of service in select communities, said PNM spokesman Pahl Shipley. It will hold ceremonies to recognize the contributions of individuals and employees, and highlight key points in history with periodic postings on social media.

PNM is part of the fabric of New Mexico, beginning in Albuquerque just five years after New Mexico achieved statehood, Shipley said. Its been powering progress in New Mexico since 1917.

PNM, the states largest utility with more than 500,000 local customers, traces its roots to the merger of the Albuquerque Electric Co. and the Albuquerque Gas, Electric, Light and Power Co. Both firms launched at the turn of the century to serve the citys growing population and emerging infrastructure.

The 1917 merger helped fuel the states growth. The company built its first inter-city transmission line in 1929 to connect Albuquerque and Santa Fe, extended electric service into many rural areas in the 1930s, and united geographically dispersed transmission and distribution systems during WWII to help power New Mexicos national laboratories and military installations.

In 1946, the utility changed its name to PNM. It went public in 1948 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972.

During the 1960s and 1970s, PNM partnered with other companies to build the Four Corners and San Juan coal-fired generating stations near Farmington, and the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona.

The new century has brought more changes, including launch of parent company PNM Resources and expansion into southwestern Texas with the 2005 acquisition of TNP Enterprises, now Texas New Mexico Power.

Today, its facing radical transformation of its aging generating infrastructure, with potential closure of San Juan in 2022, a pullout from Four Corners after that, and the addition of new energy sources such as natural gas, solar and wind power.

Vincent-Collawn, who joined PNM in 2007 and became CEO in 2010, said the company is committed to deploying new technology for cleaner, reliable and affordable power.

This is a great milestone, but for us its really all about our customers, Vincent-Collawn said. Because we trade on the New York Stock Exchange, many people dont think were a New Mexico company. But were a homegrown company with deep local roots.
Renault, one of the fastest growing automotive brands in the country will release its new TVC for the recently launched Duster Petrol with CVT (Continuously Variable Timing) automatic gearbox. The first in the series goes live today. Setting the benchmark for perfection, Renault Duster has firmly achieved the status of being a cult product in the Indian automobile industry. Duster plays a pivotal role in Renault Indias product portfolio and with the introduction of the new petrol range with CVT transmission, Renault has the widest offering in the segment, enabling to best cater to evolving customers needs.

The new campaign seeks to build greater appeal, and expand the market base for a car that has been well accepted and loved by the country for over five years now. The film celebrates the spirit of the Duster driver, characterized by a certain inner strength, sincerity and sense of duty  qualities that resonate with greater India.

Virat Khullar, Head of Marketing, Renault India said, This is the first time Renault has introduced an emotive campaign on social awareness for the Duster. The TVC essentially retains the Dusters iconic macho stance, but also adds a heart of gold to the narrative. The overarching objective was to realign the communication approach for the new Duster in a way that it resonates with both urban and semi urban audiences, thereby reaching out to a wider base of audience. The campaign subtly brings this emotion alive, through our protagonist, with his all-terrain capable and resilient new Renault Duster. The campaign essentially drives home the point to take the right step with the right intent that becomes a source of inspiration for others too

Conceptualised by Law and Kenneth Saatchi and Saatchi, Renault in its latest TVC campaign aims to create an awareness campaign, encouraging people to be more socially conscious, while highlighting the versatility of the true SUV- Duster.

The TVC opens with an aerial shot of the new Duster wherein the protagonist, a smart young guy, driving the new Duster CVT through a narrow hilly area with a perfect picturesque background. As the road takes a turn, the young fellow finds that the road is blocked by a trailer of oranges which accidentally got overturned. Further aggravating the situation, some hooligans are seen taking stocks of the strewn oranges while an insane biker is crushing the oranges lying over the road. Two elderly farmers vehemently try to prevent them but fail miserably in their attempts. The protagonist stops his Duster in the midst of the commotion and the hooligans escape from there. Braving all odds, the protagonist himself tries to move the trailer to clear the road-block while others get inspired too and join him. The film now portrays the dynamic SUV ability of the new Duster CVT as it literally helps in clearing the road-block, bringing smiles to the farmers face. The rendition of the TVC also aims to depict the protagonist as a Samaritan who stands up to break the archetypical barriers bothering all civilized citizens of the country. The film ends with the fruit trailer being towed by the powerful Duster CVT as it traverses through the scenic hilly landscape to drop the farmer at the market place.

Kartik Smetacek, Executive Creative Director, said, The task was to build emotional appeal for the new Duster. We mined stories that would strike a chord with greater India, while also allowing us to demonstrate the inherent strength and capability of the car.

The new TVC celebrates the humanitarian spirit of the protagonist, characterized by sincerity, solidarity and sense of moral duty  qualities that resonate with the new age India. The personality reflects the DUSTERs inherent characteristics of strength, resilience and real SUV capability. The TVC is summed up with the voiceover, Presenting the new Duster with the DNA of a true SUV for the new Indians who believes in doing things right as the background score lifts up the spirit.

Agency credentials:

Name of Creative Agency : L&K Saatchi and Saatchi

: L&K Saatchi and Saatchi Production House and Director: Elements / Vivek Das Chaudhury

Key Players involved in the making of the advertisement:
We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
A group of German news publishers that filed a lawsuit against Google over allegedly unfair practices employed by the companys online news service was referred to the European Court of Justice on Tuesday. A Berlin-based court decided to refer the case to a higher judicial body just over a year after the case was initially rejected, only to be appealed last June. The plaintiffs are led by Axel Springer, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, as well as 40 smaller companies from the German media industry, all of which accused the Mountain View-based tech giant of favoring certain online publications over others and not paying enough royalties for content used by its free Google News service.

The decision to move the dispute to the European Court of Justice comes months after the original appeal, though slow developments arent an unusual occurrence for complex cases related to digital rights like this particular one seems to be. Publishers previously alleged that the Alphabet-owner Internet company hasnt adequately compensated publications featured by Google News, adding that their very presence on the service endangers print media in the long term. While the first German court that ruled on the case didnt agree with that assessment, the plaintiffs had better luck with the appeals court that apparently decided to move the dispute to the highest judicial body in the European Union, provided that the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice agrees to hear the case.

The latest turn of events marks yet another potential legal issue for Google in the European Union. The company was recently hit with a number of antitrust complaints filed by competition watchdogs on the Old Continent, in addition to being involved in a tax dispute in Italy. More recently, Google was the main subject of a letter filed with the European Commission by a number of startups including Spotify that alleged the company practices abusive gatekeeping with its Google Play Store and promotes its own Android apps at the expense of alternatives, thus restricting consumer choice. While it remains to be seen how the Alphabet-owned Internet giant will resolve its existing legal disputes in Europe, an update on the situation will likely follow shortly.
Google Assistant is available in a few different forms, one of the more popular forms is through Allo, Googles messaging app. And now, the Google Assistant has learned Spanish and French Canadian (not to be confused with French spoken in France). However these languages are only available in the Allo messaging app. They arent available on Google Home, or in the regular Google Assistant  which is found by long-pressing your home button  yet. They will likely come to those other forms of the Google Assistant in the near future, but this shows just how fragmented Google Assistant is, already.

To enable French Canadian (or Spanish), Google has made it really simple. You just have to say Google, speak to me in French Canadian, which is very easy, and much better than having to go into the settings and change the setting to make this work. The same works for Spanish as well. Once you utter that phrase, Allo will take care of the rest and talk to you in French Canadian or Spanish. Now, if you are a bilingual user, and use both English and Spanish or French Canadian at the same time on your smartphone, Google Assistant can still keep up. Assistant will be able to give you the appropriate response, based on the language the question or phrase is stated in.

When Google Assistant launched last year, it was only available in English (US). That is typically how these things go, starting as US only and then expanding outside of the US and Google Assistant was no different. It is a bit interesting to see these two languages as the second step for the Google Assistant, but it is definitely nice to see. Theres currently no word on what the next languages will be, for Google Assistant, and theres also no word on when Spanish and French Canadian will make its way to other versions of the Google Assistant. Google will likely be giving everyone an update on the Assistant at Google I/O next year and perhaps offer up some information on what will be coming to the Google Assistant in the very near future.
The success of Nokia-branded smartphones and feature phones will be forecast by India, according to HMD Globals Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas. The companys senior executive said that India is not only one of the firms key markets, but also a proof of concept that HMD Global hopes will foretell its future prospects in other markets around the world. While speaking at a Monday press event held in New Delhi, Sarvikas revealed that the Espoo, Finland-based phone maker is still in the process of identifying key markets on which it intends to focus in the future, but regardless, India will certainly be one of the highlights of the companys new product strategy.

India is an attractive market for Nokia and almost every other original equipment manufacturer (OEM) due to a number of reasons. While many developed handset markets have been showing signs of saturation for years now, the demand for smartphones in India is still showing no signs of slowing down. According to recent reports, Indian consumers will purchase up to 130 million smartphones over the course of 2017, which is a sizeable market that most major phone vendors in the world deem worth fighting for. Furthermore, being a developing country, India still sees strong demand for feature phones, a market segment that Nokia is in a unique position to service due to the popularity of its brand. Given that state of affairs, the company is hoping that its recently launched Nokia 3310 (2017) will perform well in India, as well as a number of other markets, many of which are already developed countries.

Other than India, HMD Global is currently also analyzing China and trying to determine its chances of winning a significant market share in the Far Eastern country, Sarvikas suggested, implying that the recent launch of the Nokia 6 in China was part of the companys experimental run in the country. Finally, HMD Globals senior executive reflected on recent rumors about a 4G-enabled variant of the Nokia 3310 (2017) that the company previously dismissed. While reiterating that such a device wont be launching in the coming months, Sarvikas didnt rule out the possibility of HMD Global releasing it in the future.
YEREVAN, MAY 8, ARMENPRESS. Head of the EU delegation to Armenia Ambassador Piotr Switalski believes the EU finances which were provided for the efficient proceeding of the parliamentary election were spent well and gave expected results.

During a press conference on May 8 the Ambassador reminded that identification devices and cameras were acquired by EU resources, which operated very well.

We are satisfied from the technical perspective. Naturally there were some issues relating to interruption of live broadcasting, failure of fingerprint identification devices, but now we are analyzing all reports that we received. Also under the supervisory bodys conclusion which followed the works, the technologies worked very well than in other countries, better than expected, he said.

Piotr Switalski also added that now the Armenian voters know that by using these technologies it is possible to have guarantees that their vote is not rigged.

According to the EU Ambassador, there are some problems of the electoral process which must be solved in the future. He mentioned the EU is ready to work with the government and state structures to fill the gaps which were discovered during the past election.

Everyone accepts that there are issues, that there were developments which shouldnt have happened. The past election was not the end of the path for us, we are ready to continue our assistance, however we dont yet know in what format and how. We are sure the Armenian government is interested in continuing cooperation with us, he said.

According to him, after the parliamentary election, the Armenian society and political class have a serious material for discussion and thought, for forming a new political culture, political leadership, in order for the political processes in the country to have a new type.
SUV

AMG

Andreas Preuninger, the man steering Porsche's GT arm recently reinforced the idea that the racetrack-tech-for-the-road division won't release ananytime soon. Talking to Car and Driver , the executive made it clear that Porsche GT cars must have a direct connection to the automaker's racecars.Preuninger was nice enough to paint the picture of a world where a GT Division-touched SUV would make sense.If we were to enter the Dakar rally with a Macan or Cayennesomething we have no plans to dothen maybe the Motorsport department would develop that car and bring it to the race. Then I would see a good excuse to make something for the street that is very close, Preuninger said. But to just use a badge on a Panamera or Cayenne to make it more attractive, for me, would not be credible. It would only be marketing, I dont think thats the right thing to do,Nevertheless, the Macan will get hotter with the revamp. For one thing, the competition has raised the bar - while the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Q and the Mercedes-GLC63 and GLC63 Coupe already make for 500+ hp offerings, the almost-ready 2018 Jaguar F-Pace SVR and potential Range Rover Velar SVR should do the same.For the time being, the most powerful Macan is the Performance Package-gifted Turbo, which packs 440 hp. The refresh is expected to replace the 3.6-liter V6 of the Macan Turbo with the new 2.9-liter V6 animating the second-gen Panamera S, which delivers the same maximum output, but could receive further upgrades.As for the denied GT-badged Porsche Cayenne GT, velocity aficionados shouldn't fret. The already-confirmed 2018 Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid , which should mirror the Panamera range-topper's 680 hp will offer all the high-riding sprinting one could ever wish for.
Kei Miura, the man behind the Tra Kioto label whose Rocket Bunny and newer Pandem kits are now famous across the world, has touched multiple generations of the M3.And you can check out Miura-san's work for the E30, the E36 and the E46 M3 Coupes in the piece of footage at the bottom of the page.Despite the styling gap between the three generations of the naturally aspirated sportscar, the riveted-on kit has been adapted for all of them.For the sake of comparison, we'll remind you of the freshest Pandem kit delivered by the Japanese tuner, namely the Honda S2000 package, which we introduced last month. You can check out the kit to see just how difference this widebody approach is to what can be seen on the M3s.Given the cult status of the E30 M3 (check out the used market prices and you'll understand), certain aficionados might feel the need to label the aero kit seen here under "sacrilege". And, to add fuel to this fire, the simple lines of the E30 BMW 3 Series mean that this package stands out as the most brutal of the three.Then again, for Japanese bodykit artists, the polarizing aura is a part of their work. And, to bring you another example of this path, it's enough to think of the Rauh-Welt Begriff air-cooled sculptures of Akira Nakai, which have split opinions in the Porsche realm for quite a while now.
While autonomous vehicles of all kinds, but especially cars, seem to be just around the corner, they wont see wide acceptance unless theyre perceived to be at least as safe as airplanes. Thats the thinking in the budding autonomy industry, according to Chip Downing of Wind River, an Intel subsidiary that specializes in embedded software for automated and other industrial systems.

Speaking at the AUVSI Xponential conference in Dallas this week, Downing said it wont be technical barriers that discourage acceptance of autonomous vehicles, but lack of will to make buyers believe theyre both safe and secure. Downing said the aviation industry summoned this will years ago and now has a safety record to prove it, at least in the airline industry. He said autonomous vehicle manufacturers will have to do the same by accepting stringent, commonly accepted standards for certifying vehicles, just as the world aerospace industry has done with air transport aircraft.

Downing uses what he calls Mad Cow syndrome to explain the problem. So-called Mad Cow disease sickened hundreds of people because a few packing houses couldnt resist including 50 cents worth of contaminated brain material in meat products. That cost the industry $11 billion to clean up, Downing says. Beef sales took years to recover and may not have recovered yet. If autonomous vehicle manufacturers follow the same kind of short-sightedness in designing and building autonomous vehicles of all kindsincluding aircrafttheyll suffer similar rejection in the market. Downing adds that it will take an overarching belief and safety and security for autonomy to find market acceptance.
In the world of drones, BLOSfor beyond line of sightis a Holy Grail of sorts because it can untether unmanned aircraft from ground stations and remote operation, paving the way for true autonomous flight. However, thus far, aircraft manufacturers havent developed robust detect-and-avoid technology to allow drones to see other aircraft, including other drones.

A Washington-state startup called Echodyne thinks it has developed a new solution in the form of a small, lightweight and relatively inexpensive phased-array K-band radar that depends on software scanning and aiming rather than a mechanical antenna sweep. Echodyne CEO Tom Driscoll explained the system at the pre-opening day of the AUVSI Xponential conference in Dallas. (AUVSI is the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.) Phased array radar is nothing new and has been used on naval ships and military aircraft for years. Phased arrays have been entirely out of reach for commercial operations, Driscoll said in a presentation at the show. Using what he described as the weird new physics of metamaterials, Driscoll said Echodynes radar is both light and affordable, at 1.5 pounds and about $10,000. He said the price would decrease substantially if the system were produced in volume and could be used on small, autonomous drones. Tests indicate the radar, which is about the size of large smartphone, can track targets as small as birds.

While autonomous ground vehicles have used LIDARa laser-based accurate sensing and mapping technologyit lacks the range and is too heavy for small drones. Its also unsuitable for use in poor weather. Echodynes system, according to Driscoll, has a reliable range of 2 to 3 km and requires much less power to operate than traditional radars. He said the technology is absolutely enabling and the company hopes to produce marketable products within a few years.
The restored B-29 Doc made its airshow debut on Saturday, in the Defenders of Liberty Airshow at Barksdale Air Force Base, in Louisiana. What was really special for us, we were able to meet up with a B-52 in flight, over Oklahoma, Josh Wells, spokesman for Docs Friends, told AVweb this week. That was majestic. Docs first assignment, in 1945, was Barksdale, so to come screaming down across the airfield with those bombers, that was special. We got a heros welcome. The air show was sold out both days, with record crowds, Wells said, drawing more than 170,000 people each day. People were just amazed to see the airplane, the sheer beauty of the airplane, and amazed by the story of how it was restored by thousands of volunteers over 15 years. People were just thrilled to see it. Wells said the airplane flew and operated beautifully, with no problems.

The B-29 will next fly June 10 and 11 at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, in the Wings Over Whiteman airshow. Wells said they are also working to schedule a public event in Wichita sometime in June, to make up for an April open house that had to be canceled due to weather. Later this summer, the B-29 will fly at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 24 to 30. More events are in the works and will be announced as plans are finalized, Wells said.
New research suggests that methane leaks in the Arctic may actually slow the effects of global warming, challenging conventional understanding of how greenhouse gases (like methane) impact climate change. The study found that the surface water above methane gas bubbles absorb twice as much CO2 as the water around it, calling it the "methane fertilization effect."

Why this matters: Though researchers are not yet sure how this will apply to other parts of the ocean, this is a bit of good news for finding future solutions to the threat of global warming in the Arctic.
The Washington Post's lead story, "U.S. is poised to ramp up Taliban fight," by Missy Ryan and Greg Jaffe, reveals one of the most consequential decisions that has yet faced this young administration:

"Trump's most senior military and foreign policy advisers have proposed a major shift in strategy in Afghanistan that would effectively put the United States back on a war footing with the Taliban."

"The plan comes at the end of a sweeping policy review built around the president's desire to reverse worsening security in Afghanistan and 'start winning' again, said one U.S. official."

"The new strategy ... has the backing of top Cabinet officials." Trump's view is unknown.

Why it matters: "The ... changes would ... reverse moves by ... Obama to steadily limit the U.S. military role in Afghanistan."

"The ... changes would ... reverse moves by ... Obama to steadily limit the U.S. military role in Afghanistan." "Trump is expected to make a final call ... before a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels."
Hovik Abrahamian, a former prime minister who fell out with President Serzh Sarkisian earlier this year, on Tuesday praised economic policies of the current Armenian government initiated by his successor, Karen Karapetian.

Abrahamian said he is satisfied with the governments track record as he spoke to RFE/RLs Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) during officials celebrations in Yerevan of the 72nd anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Abrahamian was sacked as prime minister and replaced by Karapetian last September in a government reshuffle which Sarkisian said will reinvigorate economic reforms in the country.He quit the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) in January just days before trading verbal barbs with the president.

Over a dozen other individuals close to Abrahamian also terminated their membership in the HHK. They included his brother Henrik and the head of the HHK chapter in the southern Ararat province where Abrahamian has long had a strong influence.

Abrahamians son Argam resigned as mayor of the provincial capital Artashat after getting elected to Armenias new parliament in the April 2 elections. He ran for the National Assembly as a candidate of businessman Gagik Tsarukians alliance.

The former premier insisted on Tuesday that he never left politics. But he was vague about his political plans, saying that he will not seek to rejoin the HHK for the moment.

Asked whether he would like to take up a senior government post, Abrahamian said: Im not thinking about that. Im having a rest right now.
9 May 2017 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Azerbaijan celebrates the 72nd anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, the scariest war in the history of mankind, on Tuesday, May 9.

The great victory of 1945 put an end to the six-year long war that killed about 65 million people all over the world.

During the years of war Azerbaijan occupied a special place in the plans of large states because of its natural resources and favorable geographic location between the West and East.

The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic entered World War II with the whole Soviet Union, on June 22, 1941. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party was set on capturing Azerbaijan's oil fields and turning the country into military colony.

Germany sought to seize Baku oil in order to move to the East - to the Iranian canal and the Indian Ocean. By Hitlers order, a map of industrial and military facilities of Baku was drawn up. The plan to seize the Caucasus "Edelweiss" indicated the exact time of the occupation of Baku.

Hitler's plan was to attack Baku on September 25, 1942, but German forces were defeated before they could reach Azerbaijan.

During the war, the entire economy of Azerbaijan was adapted to the needs of the army and all industrial spheres were working for the front.

Azerbaijans oil was one of the decisive factors in the Great Patriotic War. At that time, 70-75 percent of oil and 85-90 percent of gasoline of the USSR was supplied by Baku. Motor military equipment practically worked on Bakus fuel. From 1941 to 1945, 75 million tons of oil and 22 million tons of gas were delivered from Baku to the front. The true heroism was the selfless service and dedication of the people of Azerbaijan, who worked day and night in oil production.

In general, Baku produced more than 130 types of weapons and spare parts, including rocket Katyusha, a machine gun Shpagin, and a fighter YAK-3.

During this four-year period, Azerbaijan supplied 500,000 tons of cotton and other strategic raw materials.

In 1941-1943, 15 kg of gold, 952 g of silver, bonds worth 311 million manats, 1.6 million different items for the front and 125 wagons of warm clothes were sent to the defense fund.

Azerbaijani scientists also directed their knowledge and abilities against fascism. During the war, chemical scientists, led by the famous academician Yusif Mammadaliyev, organized the production of 38 types of fuel, gasoline for 9 types of aircraft, and 8 types of diesel fuel.

Azerbaijan also provided huge human resources. More than 600,000 soldiers from Azerbaijan went to the front, while 40,000 of them were volunteers. The 77th, 223rd, 271st, 402nd and 416th divisions, consisting of Azerbaijanis, were fighting on the front line.

Azerbaijani soldiers revealed great heroism in wartime. As many as 121 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and 34 were awarded all three categories of the Order of Glory. Some 170,000 Azerbaijani soldiers and officers were awarded various orders and medals of the USSR.

From 600,000 Azerbaijanis sent to the front during five years, over 300,000 were dead and missed.

Hazi Aslanov, two-time Hero of the Soviet Union, the Heroes of the Soviet Union - Israfil Mammadov, Ruslan Vazirov, Adil Guliyev, Ziya Bunyadov, Garay Asadov, Malik Maharramov and Mehdi Huseynzade, Generals Mahmud Abilov, Akim Abbasov, Tarlan Aliyarbeyov and Hajibala Zeynalov - wrote new pages in the history of our nation by their unbending will and bravery.

The 416th division, formed of Azerbaijanis, went through a valiant combat route from the Caucasus to Berlin. Ziya Bunyadov and other 20 people were awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the liberation of Poland and Czechoslovakia from the Nazis.

Azerbaijanis participated in the guerrilla movement corps against fascism in Europe as well. They fought heroically in partisan detachments in the Crimea, Belarus, the North Caucasus, the Baltic countries, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy and in the anti-fascist resistance movement in France.

The first Azerbaijani Hero of the Union was Sergeant Israfil Mammadov, assistant to platoon commander of the 42nd Rifle Regiment. In December 1941, his group of fighters fought near Novgorod and repulsed four attacks by superior enemy forces. They entered the melee and held the position.

Another prominent person was two-fold Hero of the Soviet Union, Hazi Aslanov. This legendary hero of World War II was promoted to the rank of the major general of tank troops in March 1944. He showed valor and bravery in many battles, including the battle of Stalingrad, the largest land battle in history.

Legendary partisan Mehdi Huseynzade fought against the Nazis in the Yugoslav-Italian partisans guerrilla corps after suffering severe wounds in the battle of Stalingrad and a spell in German captivity.

Azerbaijan was a true participant of this universal victory and May 9 is a special day to pay tribute to those who fought for peace, freedom and human dignity and to commemorate the many millions of victims of the Second World War.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
9 May 2017 13:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

On May 9, Azerbaijan marks the day of victory over fascism.

During the war, Azerbaijanis showed courage and heroism not only on the frontline, but in the back front as well. A battalion of 87 jet fighters and 1,224 self-defense groups were created in the country in a very short period of time.

More than 600,000 Azerbaijani boys and girls were sent to the front between 1941 and 1945. Divisions from Azerbaijan have walked from Caucasus to Berlin.

About 130 Azerbaijanis earned the name of "Hero of the Soviet Union", 30 more deserved the "Order of Honor". Some 170,000 Azerbaijani soldiers and officers were awarded various USSR orders and medals.

Among the Azerbaijanis who contributed to the victory over fascism are such people as Hazi Aslanov (two-time Hero of the Soviet Union), Israfil Mammadov, Aslan Vezirov, Adil Guliyev, Ziya Bunyatov, Geray Asadov, Melik Maharramov and Mehdi Huseynzadeh, generals Mahmud Abilov, Akim Abbasov, Tarlan Aliyarbeyov and Hajibala Zeynalov and many others.

Aside from that, Baku oil has proven to be one of the main factors that contributed to the victory as well.
9 May 2017 11:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Irans foreign ministry has banned the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) from any activity at the disputed Arash gas field, Hamid Bovard, managing director of the IOOC, said.



He made the remarks while explaining the reason behind halting the IOOC activities in the joint field with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Mehr news agency reported May 8.



Arash gas field is positioned on Iran-Kuwaits water border and it is known as Dorra on the Kuwaiti side.



There is also a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over Dorra. In 2013, the two countries shelved a project to jointly develop the field amid disagreement on how to share the produced gas.



In 2012, Iran pledged to begin unilateral work on the field after Kuwait did not respond to its joint development offer.



The fields gas reserve is estimated at one trillion cubic feet along with some 310 million barrels of oil.



The problem regarding the field is disputes over the geographical borders which should be settled, Bovard said, adding that currently the Iranian foreign ministry has prohibited any activity by Iranian side in this field.



The Iranian Offshore Oil Company is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, operating in southern Iran. Its activities cover important areas of the Persian Gulf and its main operations are in Bushehr Province and on Kharg Island, Sirri Island and Lavan Island.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Dublin City Council has presented a new design renewing College Green as a civic space in the heart of Dublin. This new pedestrian priority space aims to significantly improve the quality of the citys public realm.



Designed by Dixon Jones/Paul Keogh Architects, working closely with Dublin City Council, the newly shaped College Green development will be a 7,300 sq. metre area for people to enjoy in the heart of the city centre.



The attractive tree lined and granite paved space has also been designed to facilitate major public gatherings and processional events through the city. It has the capacity to accommodate up to 15,000 people and will be fully equipped with the infrastructure required to stage large public events.



Furthermore, in order to enhance the views of the historic buildings and optimise the space for public events, the existing trees will be removed and 22 new trees will be planted. The existing Henry Grattan and Thomas Davis monuments will be restored and retained as key focal points on an axis with the gates of Trinity College. The Thomas Davis monument will be relocated slightly further west of its current position.



The civic space aims to reclaim College Greens historic footprint from the gates of Trinity College to Anglesea Street, and will include Foster Place. There will be a defined cycle route to allow cyclists traverse the new civic space to connect with cycle lanes to the east and west of the space.



Dublin City Council will submit the project to An Bord Pleanala for consideration later this month (May 2017). Subject to planning permission, construction of the College Green civic space is scheduled to commence in January 2018 following a public tender process and will take a year to complete.



Commenting on the project, Lead Architect, Paul Keogh said, "With Dublin City Council, we are aiming to create Dublins living room  a place that is safe, adaptable and friendly for people of all ages, both for everyday social interaction and for major public events, comparable with world-class spaces of similar scale internationally."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
The following companies are subsidiares of General Dynamics: 42SIX LLC, ARMA Global Corporation, Advanced Technical Products, Aeromil (Australia) Pty Ltd, Aeromil Aircraft Engineering Pty Ltd, Aeromil Aviation Services Pty Ltd, Aeromil IT Services Pty Ltd, Aeromil Marine Pty Ltd, Aeromil Pacific Pty Ltd, American Overseas Marine Company LLC, Anteon International Corporation, Applied Physical Sciences, Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Ascend Intelligence, Australian Avionics Pty Ltd, Autonomic Resources LLC, Avion Logistics Limited, Avjet Corporation, AxleTech International, Axsys, BATH IRON WORKS CORPORATION, BP-HP Pte Limited, Bath Iron Works, Bath Iron Works Australia Corporation, Bath Iron Works Canada LLC, Bluefin Robotics Corporation, Blueprint Technologies Inc., Braintree I Maritime Corp., Braintree II Maritime Corp., Braintree III Maritime Corp., Braintree IV Maritime Corp., Braintree V Maritime Corp., Buccaneer Computer Systems & Service Inc., CSC Computer Sciences Venezuela S.A., CSRA, CSRA (Costa Rica) S.A., CSRA (Guyana) Inc., CSRA (Middle East) LLC, CSRA Argentina S.R.L., CSRA BH d.o.o., CSRA Bahamas Limited, CSRA Bahrain S.P.C., CSRA Belgium SPRL, CSRA Bolivia S.R.L., CSRA Brazil Servicos de Tecnologia Ltda., CSRA Canada Inc., CSRA Caribbean Inc., CSRA Chile SpA, CSRA Colombia SAS, CSRA Commerce 2010 LLC, CSRA Consular Services Holding Company LLC, CSRA Consular Services Inc., CSRA France SARL, CSRA Guatemala Solutions Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Honduras Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Inc., CSRA Information Systems LLC, CSRA Information Technology Spain SL, CSRA Ireland Limited, CSRA Italy S.R.L, CSRA Kosovo L.L.C., CSRA LATAM LLC, CSRA LLC, CSRA Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., CSRA Netherlands B.V., CSRA Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CSRA Panama Inc., CSRA Peru S.R.L., CSRA Senegal SARL, CSRA South Africa (Pty) Ltd, CSRA State and Local Solutions LLC, CSRA Systems & Solutions LLC, CSRA Trinidad & Tobago Limited, CSRA Turkey Bilisim Teknolojileri Limited Sirketi, CSRA Uruguay S.R.L, CSRA Visa Services Israel Ltd., CSRAIT - Information Services Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Centauri Solutions LLC, Command System, Computing Devices International, Concord I Maritime Corporation, Concord II Maritime Corporation, Concord III Maritime Corporation, Concord IV Maritime Corporation, Concord V Maritime Corporation, Convair Aircraft Corporation, Convair Corporation, Creative Technology, Customer Services Ecuador CSRA S.A., Devcor, Diamond Fortress Technologies, DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, EB Groton Engineering Inc., EBV Explosives Environmental, ELCS-CZ s.r.o., Eagle Enterprise Inc., Earl Industries - Ship Repair and Coatings Division, Ebv Explosives Environmental Company, Electric Boat - Australia LLC, Electric Boat - UK LLC, Electric Boat Canada LLC, Electric Boat Corporation, Electric Boat France LLC, Electrocom Inc., Engineering Technology, Expro Finance Inc., FBD Fahrzeug und Bremsendienst GmbH, FC Business Systems, Fidelis Cybersecurity, Force Protection, Force Protection Europe Limited, Force Protection Inc., ForeSight Technology Services LLC, Freeman United Coal Mining Company LLC, GD Brazil Holdings LLC, GD European Land Systems - Steyr GmbH, GD European Land Systems Holding GmbH, GDOTS Services Corporation, GM GDLS Defense Group L.L.C., GPS Source Inc., GTE Government Systems, GWA-Datatrac FAST LLC, Galaxy Aerospace Company, Gayston Corporation - Defense Operations, General Dynamics - OTS (Global) Inc., General Dynamics AIS Australia Pty Ltd, General Dynamics Canadian Finance Inc., General Dynamics Canadian Holdings Inc., General Dynamics Commercial Cyber Services LLC, General Dynamics European Finance Limited, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Austria GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Bridge Systems GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Czech s.r.o., General Dynamics European Land Systems - Denmark ApS, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Deutschland GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - FWW GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH, General Dynamics European Land Systems Romania S.R.L., General Dynamics European Land Systems S.L., General Dynamics Global Force LLC, General Dynamics Global Holdings Limited, General Dynamics Global Imaging Technologies Inc., General Dynamics Government Satellite Services LLC, General Dynamics Government Systems Corporation, General Dynamics Government Systems Overseas Corporation, General Dynamics Information Technology Canada Limited, General Dynamics Information Technology Inc., General Dynamics Information Technology Limited, General Dynamics Installation Services LLC, General Dynamics International Corporation, General Dynamics Itronix LLC, General Dynamics Land Systems - Australia Pty. Ltd., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada Corporation, General Dynamics Land Systems - Canada Services Inc., General Dynamics Land Systems - Canadian Services Limited, General Dynamics Land Systems - Force Protection Inc., General Dynamics Land Systems Customer Service & Support Company, General Dynamics Land Systems Inc., General Dynamics Limited, General Dynamics Marine Systems Inc., General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., General Dynamics Mission Systems International Limited, General Dynamics Mission Systems Overseas Company LLC, General Dynamics Motion Control LLC, General Dynamics OTS (Aerospace) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (California) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (DRI) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (Niceville) Inc., General Dynamics OTS (Pennsylvania) Inc., General Dynamics One Source LLC, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Canada Valleyfield Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems - Simunition Operations Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., General Dynamics Overseas Systems and Services Corporation, General Dynamics Properties Inc., General Dynamics Robotic Systems Inc., General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies Inc., General Dynamics Satcom Technologies Asia Private Limited, General Dynamics Satellite Communication Services LLC, General Dynamics Saudi Holdings S.L., General Dynamics Shared Resources LLC, General Dynamics Support Services Company, General Dynamics Swiss Financial Management Limited, General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited, General Dynamics Worldwide Holdings Inc., General Dynamics-OTS Inc., General Motors Defense, Gulfstream 100 Holdings LLC, Gulfstream Aerospace, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (CA), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (DE), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (GA), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (OK), Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation of Texas, Gulfstream Aerospace Hong Kong Limited, Gulfstream Aerospace LLC, Gulfstream Aerospace LP, Gulfstream Aerospace Ltd., Gulfstream Aerospace Services Corporation, Gulfstream Aerospace Sociedad de Responssabilidad Limitada de CapitalVariable (S. de R.L. de C.V.), Gulfstream Do Brasil Servicos De Suporte E Manutencao A Aeronaves Ltda., Gulfstream International Corporation, Gulfstream Leasing LLC, Gulfstream Product Support Corporation, Gulfstream Services Corporation, Gulfstream Tennessee Corporation, Gulfstream-California Inc., Hawker Pacific (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Hawker Pacific Aircraft Management Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Airservices Limited, Hawker Pacific Airservices Pvt Ltd, Hawker Pacific Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd, Hawker Pacific Australia Pty Ltd, Hawker Pacific Aviation Services Pty Ltd, Hawker Pacific NZ Limited, Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd, IPWireless, IPWireless PTE. Limited, Information Services Consulting Limited, Interiores Aereos S.A. de C.V., International Manufacturing Technologies Inc., Itronix, Janteq Australia PTY Limited, Janteq Corp., Jet Aviation, Jet Aviation (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd., Jet Aviation (Bermuda) Ltd., Jet Aviation (Hong Kong) Ltd., Jet Aviation (Malaysia) SDN BHD, Jet Aviation 125 Services LLC, Jet Aviation AG, Jet Aviation Brazil Holdings Inc., Jet Aviation Business Jets (Hong Kong) Limited, Jet Aviation Business Jets AG, Jet Aviation Business Jets FZCO, Jet Aviation California LLC, Jet Aviation Dulles LLC, Jet Aviation Flight Services Inc., Jet Aviation France SAS, Jet Aviation Holding GmbH, Jet Aviation Holdings USA Inc., Jet Aviation Houston Inc., Jet Aviation International Inc., Jet Aviation Malaga SA, Jet Aviation Management AG, Jet Aviation Netherlands B.V., Jet Aviation Savannah Holding LLC, Jet Aviation Services GmbH, Jet Aviation St. Louis Inc., Jet Aviation Teterboro LP, Jet Aviation Texas Inc., Jet Aviation of America Inc., Jet Aviation/Palm Beach Inc., Jet Professionals LLC, Kylmar, Longreach Energy LLC, MAYA Viz, Maricom Systems Incorporated, Material Service Resources Company LLC, Matthews Land Company, Mediaware International, Mediaware International Pty Ltd, Metro Machine, Metro Machine co, Midwest Properties Sales LLC, NASSCO, NASSCO Holdings Incorporated, NES Associates LLC, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, Network Connectivity Solutions Corp., Newberry Holdings LLC, OOO Jet Aviation Vnukovo, Open Kernel Labs, Page Europa Srl, Patriot I Shipping Corp., Patriot II Shipping Corp., Patriot IV Shipping Corp., Plane 79 LLC, Praxis Engineering Technologies LLC, PrimeX Technologies, Prodelin India Private Limited, Proyectos Prohumane Mexico S.A. de C.V., Quincy Maritime Corporation III, Raven Acquisitions LLC, SENTECH INC., SRA International Inc., Saco Defense, Santa Barbara Sistemas S.A., Savannah Air Center LLC, Signal Solutions LLC, Southern Illinois Recovery Inc., Spectrum Astro, St. Marks Powder Inc., Stabilo Pty Ltd, Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug AG & Co KG, Sydney Jet Charter Pty Ltd, Tadpole Computer, Tecnologias Internacionales de Manufactura S.A. de C.V., Tenacity Solutions Incorporated, The Depth of Ideas for General Trading LLC, TriPoint Global Communications, Vangent, Vangent Servicios de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Veridian, Vertex Antennentechnik GmbH, ViPS, Vulnerability Research Labs LLC, and Weco LLC.

Read More
Archbishop of Canterbury defends 'stability' election letter in interview with Christian Today

The Archbishop of Canterbury has dismissed claims among Conservative supporting newspapers that the Church of England has shifted to the right as 'absolutely' not the case.

He spoke to Christian Today after he and the Archbishop of York were criticised for a three-page letter sent to all clergy and parishes about the issues in next month's general election.

Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu said in their letter that 'stability' should be one of the key reference points when people were considering how to vote.

It led some to compare it to the 52-page document put out by the Church of England at the time of the last general election, which was widely seen as 'leftwing'.

But in defiant comments in a joint interview with Christian Today and the Guardian, Welby said: 'Was the letter a shift to the right? Absolutely not,' adding that stability had been a watchword of the Christian faith for centuries, and it should not be ceded to a political campaign.

Welby pointed to the voting pattern of bishops on a range of issues in the House of Lords and said of the letter: '[We] spoke very clearly about refugees; about the issues around housing; health, particularly mental health but also public health... the catastrophic gap in life expectancy between rich and poor.'

The letter's release at the weekend prompted the Daily Mail to enthuse that the church leaders had 'seen the light'.

Subsequently, dozens of clergy and other church leaders have signed an 'open response' accusing the Archbishops of a 'deeply troubling' lean towards Theresa May's Conservatives.

Welby however defended the letter and reclaimed the word 'stability' for Christians. He said: 'Just because in a political campaign various words get bandied around, I don't think Christians should give up and say we don't have the copyright of the word any longer. We do, and stability's ours, thank you.'

Of claims that 'stability' is merely a political word, he said: 'That's a bit like the [David Cameron's] "Big Society". Well, Christians were doing the idea of the big society umpteen centuries ago. [St] Benedict started the idea of stability which means within the Benedictine concept of stability is the capacity to cope with rapid change without the devaluation of the human being, with determination and resilience [and] sustainability is so far as the environment and other things.

'And you know God is about stability  that's at the heart of stability  as Benedict says, of the God who is utterly faithful, who enables human life to be sustained.'

He added: 'Christian faith doesn't fit onto a left-right spectrum. You can pick bits out and say 'oh, that's very right-wing,' you can go to the next bit and say 'oh, they're a bunch of trendy lefties' and you keep going to and fro. We're not on the same axis.'

In last year's Brexit referendum, Welby publicly stated he would vote Remain in a move which attracted criticism. 'I think it would have been dishonest not to [make view clear for Remain],' he said.

'I'd written a piece [for the Mail on Sunday] about how we thought how we think about how we vote, and I thought not to say  and I did it in one sentence at the end very carefully saying this is not a suggestion, let alone some kind of unbelievably absurd instruction  I just thought it would be dishonest to have written that and not say which way I was going. It would just seem to me to be untransparent, because your first question would have been "so which way are you going to vote?" and you begin to sound like some of the people you interview who say 'it's entirely hypothetical' or whatever. I just thought it was more honest.'

He added: 'But you know, one of the ways in which the church works is to serve the community whatever it is, wherever it's happening, however it's happening, and we do that in 15,000 parishes every day of the year and we will continue to do that. We do that, educating a million children, and we will try and educate them as best we can, as we always do, as openly and wonderfully as we can and we do a superb job both in our parishes and in our schools, and we'll go on doing that, regardless of Brexit. And we'll make a success  we're part of the process of Britain making a success of its future.'
Archbishop of Canterbury sees rare 'moment of opportunity' for Middle East peace amid meetings with leaders

The Archbishop of Canterbury has told both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders that he sees a rare 'moment of opportunity' in the dormant Middle East peace process.

Justin Welby held separate, hour long meetings with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas amid his 12-day tour of the region. Both encounters were warm, cordial and positive.

Later, during a lively meeting with the Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, Welby said: 'It does seem, listening to many, that internationally perhaps the planets are aligning. Perhaps a moment of opportunity is coming that may not repeat itself for a while. As a Christian, as a religious leader, my hope and prayer is that we can find a way within the region of confidence being rebuilt.'

Rivlin told Welby that the problem was one of 'trust'. He said: 'We are also committed to finding an end to the conflict, to the tragedy, between Israel and our neighbors the Palestinians. But sadly, there is no trust between us. Any solution, any agreement will only be possible if the two sides will have confidence. I believe, we must work to build trust between the Jews and Arabs of the Holy Land.'

However, in unscripted comments, Welby replied by saying that 'there are many surprises in the world at the moment'. Referring to President Trump's forthcoming visit to the region later this month, the Archbishop said: 'Perhaps there might be a surprise that would be of unqualified joy to the whole world that would unravel so many issues, if there could be progress in dealing with the tragedy that has been here for so long.'

The Archbishop spoke to Netanyahu at his Jerusalem office, and with Abbas at the Muqata, the presidential compound in Ramallah.

Welby raised the plight of Christians locally with both Israeli leaders, a day after meeting Christian families in Bethlehem and Beit Jala whose lives have been affected by the separation barrier built by Israel, much of which cuts through the West Bank.

Welby and Netanyahu also spoke about antisemitism, after recalling that they last met at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher in 2013.

With Abbas, the Archbishop raised the difficulties faced by Palestinian Christians, who now make up less than two per cent of the population, and the dangers of extremism.

Welby told Rivlin: 'As a weak minority, a minority that goes back right to the time of Christ himself, [Christians] are caught between greater forces.' The urgent need for peace was illustrated not only by 'those who are expelled from their land by force, by armed military battles surrounding them, but also [by] those who see no hope, no future where they live... and therefore they slip quietly away often unnoticed - and that is a tragedy that is leading in the end in places like Beit Jala to the decline of a Christian community [which goes back to] the very beginning of the history of our faith.'

Welby also referred to 'an element of unfinished business' in the Balfour Declaration, signed a hundred years ago and cited by many Palestinians as the root cause of some of their complaints.

In the declaration, the British government committed itself to supporting the establishment of a 'national home' for the Jewish people in Palestine, adding 'it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country'.

For his part, Rivlin reiterated his invitation to the Queen to visit Israel to mark the centenary. Although a royal visit to Israel has been mooted, it has not been confirmed.
Christian governor of Jakarta gets 2 years in jail for blasphemy

The Christian governor of Jakarta has been sentenced to two years in prison by an Indonesian court that found him guilty of blasphemy.

The charge related to a reference by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama  better known by his nickname Ahok  to a Quranic verse in his re-election campaign last September. His opponents had used the verse to argue that Muslims should not be led by non-Muslims; Ahok said they had used it to trick people into voting against him.

An edited version of his speech was posted online and went viral, sparking mass demonstrations against him including one that drew around half a million protesters.

One judge, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, told the court after passing the unexpectedly harsh sentence: 'As part of a religious society, the defendant should be careful to not use words with negative connotations regarding the symbols of religions, including the religion of the defendant himself.'

Another judge, Abdul Rosyad, said the jail sentence was because Ahok had 'caused anxiety and hurt Muslims' and had felt no guilt.

Ahok, who will appeal his sentence, lost the election last month to a Muslim rival and will hand over his office in October.

As a Christian and ethnic Chinese, he is doubly disadvantaged in Indonesia's predominantly Muslim society, in which Christians are increasingly under pressure. Despite the political motivation many observers see in his trial, the case is regarded as worrying by rights activists.

Andreas Harsono, an Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch, told the Guardian the verdict was 'a sad day for Indonesia'.

'Ahok's is the biggest blasphemy case in the history of Indonesia,' he said. 'He is the governor of Indonesia's largest city, an ally of the president. If he can be sent to jail, what could happen to others?'

Harsono said more than 100 Indonesians have been convicted of blasphemy in the past decade and acquittals were extremely rare.
Church of England issues warning against conservative minister consecrated as rebel bishop

A rebel minister consecrated a bishop in a breakaway move could face consequences, as the Church of England insisted no permission had been given.

Rev Jonathan Pryke, senior minister at Jesmond Parish Church, was made a bishop last Tuesday in a surprise move that could signal the start of a major split.

He is one of three to be consecrated without the permission of official CofE leaders to oversee conservative parishes concerned by what they see as the liberal drift in the Church.

A CofE spokesman confirmed that no authorisation for the consecration ceremony had been given and said any minister claiming to be an Anglican bishop would need permission under law.

'The Bishop of Newcastle is aware that a minister holding her licence to a parish within the Diocese has taken part in a service of consecration as a bishop under the auspices of an overseas church,' the spokesman said.

'It is the clearly established law of the land that no one can exercise ministry in the Church of England without either holding office or having the permission of the diocesan bishop.

'It is also the case that no overseas bishop may exercise episcopal functions within the Church of England without the express permission of the Archbishop of the province and a commission from the Bishop of the diocese in which they wish to minister.

'In this case neither has been sought.'

The Archbishop of York  the senior Anglican figure in the area  is being kept informed but is yet to make a formal response.

It comes after Jesmond Parish Church, which has long been antagonistic towards their official Bishop of Newcastle, confirmed the secret ceremony had taken place last Tuesday.

The service did not take place at Jesmond Parish Church, nor in any other CofE building, a statement insisted. Pryke was consecrated by the presiding bishop of the deeply conservative Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA) and took an oath of 'all due reverence and obedience' but to 'bishops and other chief ministers' in the UK.

Pryke will spend 80 per cent of his time working in the Jesmond parish and 20 per cent 'helping establish new churches', the church said in a statement.

Confirming the move, the statement said it was necessary so they could ordain their own clergy to oversee church plants.

'The main thing that is significantly different now as far as Jonathan is concerned is that Jonathan can ordain men for the ministry, whereas other presbyter/priests of us involved in evangelism cannot,' it read.

Despite insisting Jesmond does not want to see bishops 'parachuted in' to form a new 'orthodox church' or 'province', the move will be seen as forming a parallel Church of England  an official one overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury and another unofficial one, overseen by conservative bishops.

The statement said Pryke sees his role as 'helping English people have the courage to take responsibility for reforming the Church of England to be in line with' traditional Anglican teaching as well as to evangelize and to see growth'.
Donald Trump's Muslim ban grilled in courts

Donald Trump's proposed travel ban faced scrutiny in courts on Monday as judges grilled the President's attempt to ban immigrants from six-Muslim majority countries.

Examining previous statements by Trump where he promised a 'total and complete shutdown on Muslims entering our country', the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond asked why these statements should not be taken into account.

'Is there anything other than willful blindness that would prevent us from getting behind those statements?' asked Judge Henry Floyd.

'Don't we get to consider what was actually said here, and said very explicitly?' Judge James Wynn said. 'There was sort of a wink and a nod.'

Responding the acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall said the second travel ban removed any link to religion and insisted the president must be allowed to act to defend national security, whatever he said during the campaign.

'The statements were ambiguous,' Wall said. 'The president clarified over time that what he was talking about were countries and territories that have known links to groups like ISIS (Islamic State) and al-Qaeda.'

But the Republican appointed judges on the panel also turned on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who brought the lawsuit.

They asked how far back Trump's past words could be used against him in an effort to understand his intent.

"Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to businessmen about 20 years ago? Are we going to look at those, too?" Judge Paul Niemeyer asked.

Judge Dennis Shedd pressed ACLU attorney Omar Jadwat on if it would matter if Trump apologised for his past comments on a 'Muslim ban'.

'What if he says I'm sorry every day for a year?' Shedd asked to laughter from the courtroom.

It comes as part of an ongoing legal battle over Trump's attempt to halt the US refugee programme and ban immigrants from a list of six countries - Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  for 90 days.

The second order was an attempt to override any legal issues after they decided not to fight a legal challenge against the first.
ISIS claims it is OK to kill Christian women and children because their 'blood is waste'

With angry criticism pouring on from all sides, even from rival Islamist extremist groups, the Islamic State (ISIS) has been forced to make an "extremely defensive" propaganda effort to justify its slaughter of women and children.

In the latest edition of the terrorist group's Rumiyah magazinewhich touted the Easter Sunday church bombings in Egypt that killed at least 45 peoplethe leader of the ISIS faction in Egypt claimed that killing women and children in indiscriminate terror attacks is allowed in Islam, citing Mohamed's use of catapults to lay siege on a medieval city, The Independent reported.

"With regards to those of the non-combatant women and children from among the belligerent Christians who are killed unintentionally, their blood is waste," the unidentified ISIS leader was quoted as saying.

The terrorist leader also claimed that it is "permissible" in Islam to murder all men and take women, children, the elderly and ill as slaves.

Opponents of ISIS, even rival jihadist organizations, have blasted the terrorist group for its indiscriminate killing of women and children  particularly Muslims.

Jean-Marc Rickli, a research fellow at King's College London and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told The Independent that even some ISIS supporters have denounced the terrorist group's attacks on churches in the Arab world, saying they are "crossing a red line."

Muslim critics of ISIS pointed out that Christians living in Muslim lands during the Islamic Golden Age were afforded protection under Sharia as long as they paid a special tax.

However, ISIS in Egypt claimed that "belligerent" Christians in Egypt deserve no protection.

Rickli said ISIS faces "a double challenge": It's losing ground in the Middle East, especially in Syria, while its rival, al-Qaeda is bolstering theirs.

"They still have to maintain momentum to attract new candidates but also they have to justify that what they're doing, which is contrary to what most people would think is right," he said.

Last week, an ISIS leader in Egypt issued a warning to Muslims, telling them to stay away from Christian gatherings and suggesting that it would launch new attacks on "legitimate targets," CP earlier reported.

"We are warning you to stay away from Christian gatherings, as well as the gatherings of the army and the police, and the areas that have political government facilities," the anonymous leader said in an interview with Al Naba, a weekly ISIS publication as quoted by Reuters.

The ISIS warned that its militants will launch more attacks in the days ahead. "The Crusaders and their tails from the apostates must be aware that the bill between us and them is very large and they will be paying it like a river of blood from their sons, if God willing," the unidentified terrorist leader said.
Lord Carey: If Theresa May wins in June, she must do more to protect persecuted Christians

A former Archbishop of Canterbury has warned that Christians face extinction in the Middle East and urged Theresa May to make their protection a priority.

Lord Carey of Clifton said he recently saw images of Qaraqosh, in the Nineveh Plains near Mosul, taken by ISIS in 2014. Most of its 50,000 Christians fled or were murdered in the ravages of Islamic State and the once thriving city is now a wasteland.

However, surviving Christians who are still in the Middle East are starting to trickle back and it is believed thousands more are still alive and could be persuaded to return.

Aid to the Church in Need recently held its first 'Olive Tree' ceremony in Qaraqosh to mark the start of a programme to rebuild at least 12,000 homes.

Carey, writing in the Telegraph, says: 'I have always felt a particular connection with Iraq having spent my national service as a wireless operator in Basra and when I was there the Christian community was a sizeable proportion of the population  living happily and peacefully alongside Shia and Sunni Muslims.

'But successive waves of persecution and violence are threatening to "cleanse" Christianity not just from its heartlands in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Israel and Palestinian areas, but from the whole of the Middle East.'

He notes that it is only just over 100 years since the often forgotten Armenian genocide by the Ottomans wiped out millions of Middle-Eastern Christians.

The world has been standing by while it happens again at the hands of ISIS and other groups linked to Al-Qaeda, he says, warning: 'The situation is similarly parlous in Northern Nigeria where Boko Haram  notorious for abducting 296 Chibok schoolgirls  has been conducting a systematic reign of terror and killing of Christian communities.'

Dozens of surviving Chibok girls were recently released from their prolonged captivity.

Carey calls for the next UK government to cut its aid to countries where the persecution of Christians is aided and abetted by civil authorities.

He says: 'The British government cannot stop religious persecution on its own, but it can provide leadership to the world by using the fullest extent of its diplomatic and economic power.'

He concludes: 'If, as the polls suggest, the Conservatives are likely to get a huge majority, I urge Theresa May to transcend the parochialism of narrow politics and regain a broad compassionate vision of working for minorities in parts of the world where radical Islam is so destructive.'
Martyred for their faith throughout the ages, Coptic Christians continue to die for Christ today

Most people in Egypt oppose the persecution of Christians, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox church said during his visit to the UK.

Pope Tawadros II was speaking at the Coptic Cathedral of St George in Hertfordshire after a shocking rise in attacks on Christians in Egypt in which dozens have died, including church bombings on Good Friday where he himself is was a target.

But Pope Tawadros said it is not just Christians, but Muslims and others who are also being attacked  anyone in fact who presents a life of cohesion and community to the world.

'We are being persecuted by some who do not want us to remain in the Middle East, but it is by no means the majority of Egypt. We have seen police officers, soldiers and simple men and women, not only Christians but Muslims, also dying. This targeting is of a cohesive way of life,' he said.

In his address, delivered at a service of Vespers, Pope Tawadros linked Egypt's rich history to the way in which many Coptic Christians remain steadfast in their Faith today.

'In the same way Coptic Christians have given their lives in martyrdom throughout the ages, they continue to be killed for their faith today. Both teachings and martyrdom have contributed to the preservation of the Christian faith.'

He also voiced concern about how terrorists use technology.

'This dynamic has contributed to the increased violence and terrorism we experience in our world today. Together we must work to present the love of Christ for everyone, in any place, at any time. Therefore, we in Egypt depend on the words which Saint Paul, who instructs us that "Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8). Our relations, whether inside or outside Egypt, must depend on the notion that "love never fails" and we must present love in action.'

Tawadros, who is 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, earlier addressed more than 600 Coptic youth from across the UK, when he was accompanied by Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Church in the UK.

Bishop Angaelos highlighted the role that the Coptic Orthodox Church plays in British society in its pastoral, ecumenical and official capacity.

In a message to the special service of vespers, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby sent a message that was read by Bishop of Southwark Christopher Chessun.

Welby, currently on a visit to Israel and Jordan, said: 'We live in testing times. The suffering of Christians in Egypt has been acute in recent weeks. I am grateful for the witness of steadfast bravery and hope that you have shown. Your fellow Christians are strengthened by your faithfulness to the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and by your unswerving commitment to the worship of the triune God.'
Nabeel Qureshi reveals heart-breaking update about his terminal cancer

Celebrated Christian apologist and speaker Nabeel Qureshi revealed he has terminal cancer with doctors giving him an almost zero per cent chance of survival.

The Pakistani-American who converted from Islam before becoming an outspoken evangelist and bestselling writer asked for prayer as his latest round of treatment proved unsuccessful.

'The results aren't good,' he told followers on YouTube. 'The radiation apparently didn't work too well.'

The author of No God But One: Allah or Jesus? is battling stomach cancer and said although the tumour had shrunk there, the cancer had spread through his lymph nodes around his chest, meaning he is ruled out from vital surgery.

'We don't know what's going to happen now,' he said. 'Next week, we will be meeting with our medical oncologist who will be giving us whatever options we have now.'

The heart-breaking video update showed Qureshi saying he 'can't lose hope' and talking about how he didn't want his young daughter to grow up fatherless.

'This is about the worst news we've received since the day we were first diagnosed,' he said. 'And the cancer is now worse than where it was when we were first diagnosed.'
Rogue conservative bishop appointed in rebellion at Church of England liberal drift, parish confirms

A conservative cleric in Newcastle has been consecrated a renegade bishop without the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, his church has confirmed.

Rev Jonathan Pryke, of Jesmond Parish Church, is one of three rebel bishops to be appointed by conservatives concerned about a liberal drift in the Church of England over homosexuality.

In a secret ceremony last Tuesday, the presiding bishop of deeply conservative Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA) consecrated Pryke, a statement confirmed.

The service did not take place at Jesmond Parish Church, nor in any other CofE building, Jesmond insisted. He took an oath of 'all due reverence and obedience' not to the REACH SA bishop but to 'bishops and other chief ministers' in the UK.

The move took his local bishop, Christine Hardman, and Church officials by surprise and will be seen as a direct challenge to the CofE's authority.

Pryke will spend 80 per cent of his time working in the Jesmond parish and 20 per cent 'helping establish new churches', the church said in a statement.

Confirming the move, the statement said it was necessary so they could ordain their own clergy to oversee church plants.

'The main thing that is significantly different now as far as Jonathan is concerned is that Jonathan can ordain men for the ministry, whereas other presbyter/priests of us involved in evangelism cannot,' it read.

It comes after the conservative Anglican faction GAFCON announced plans to plant a 'missionary bishop' to oversee evangelical parishes in the UK who refuse to come under the authority of their local CofE bishop.

But Jesmond's move was separate to GAFCON and the church has confirmed Pryke will be one of three roaming conservative bishops who will be consecrated to oversee parishes.

The second will be appointed by GAFCON and is thought to be the GAFCON UK chair Andy Lines. The third is unconfirmed.

A statement from GAFCON UK said it was aware that 'Jesmond Parish Church have for some years been in a form of impaired communion with the Bishop of Newcastle, and have developed a special relationship with REACH-SA' and that several clergy have been ordained by REACH to serve in Jesmond.

'The leadership of Jesmond church have for some time been speaking publicly about the need for new missionary Bishops in Western nations who can oversee new Anglican ministries in the Celtic model,' the statement read.

But despite insisting Jesmond does not want to see bishops 'parachuted in' to form a new 'orthodox church' or 'province', the move will be seen as forming a parallel Church of England  one official one overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury and another unofficial, overseen by conservative bishops.

The statement said Pryke sees his role as 'helping English people have the courage to take responsibility for reforming the Church of England to be in line with' traditional Anglican teaching as well as to evangelise and to see growth'.

It added: 'This consecration took place after considerable discussion and encouragement from leaders in the Church of England, and with the Presiding Bishop of REACH SA convinced it right to proceed after discussion with the Secretary of GAFCON.'
The radical Christian aristocrat: Who was Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf?

On this day in 1760, a living legend named Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf died.

This count was a rare thing: both noble aristocrat and radical Christian missionary  and his work transformed the church.

Zinzendorf, born Nikolaus Ludwig, was born in Dresden, Germany in 1700. He was the godson of the founder of pietism, Philipp Jakob Spener. Pietism was a branch of Lutheran Christianity which emphasised the importance a heartfelt evangelical faith alongside fervent prayer and Bible study. The Pietist movement influenced much of contemporary evangelicalism, and touched Nikolaus deeply too.

Zinzendorf grew up in the Lutheran Church, but soon broke free to form his own denomination. This began when he took in religious refugees from Moravia and Bohemia and formed a community called Herrnhut on his vast estate. His community signed a document called the Brotherly Agreement in 1727  and there, many say, began the Moravian Church.

In 1727 the Moravians experienced a spiritual revival that they likened to Pentecost, and it sparked a new missionary dynamic in the community, sending the Moravians across the world and to the Americas. One standout innovation of the community was a 24-hour prayer watch, that allegedly remained uninterrupted for a century. This fervent petition helped inspire the 24/7 prayer movement now practiced by churches across the world.

Zinzendorf himself was convicted by the suffering of slaves in the Caribbean islands, and since his wealth gave him vast resources, sent many missionaries there, as well as travelling far himself. When Moravians were abused by the islands' plantation owners, the slaves were moved by the Christ-like sacrifice and conviction of the missionaries.

The count was also a prolific hymn writer, penning some 2,000 in his lifetime. His most famous is 'Jesus, thy blood and righteousness', which includes these verses:

'Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;

For who aught to my charge shall lay?

Fully absolved through these I am

From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

Jesus, the endless praise to Thee,

Whose boundless mercy hath for me

For me a full atonement made,

An everlasting ransom paid.

O let the dead now hear Thy voice;

Now bid Thy banished ones rejoice;

Their beauty this, their glorious dress,

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness.'

Zinzendorf used his great wealth and connections in the service of God and people, and his generous reach stretched across the world. Thousands mourned his death.
Why we must challenge hatred and point the way to hope

It's probably inevitable that the cut and thrust of electioneering drives to the heart of people's fears and insecurities. Its understandable that candidates warn of a nightmare and promise a dream. What is not so acceptable is that truth, justice and decency seem to be easy to compromise to attain the goal of political office.

I live, work and worship in Luton. Campaign rhetoric can get very up close and personal in places like this. It's a highly diverse town, perhaps the most diverse in the UK. Many in our community, including the churches, work hard to make that diversity an asset rather than a liability. Contrary to the rumours out there, for very many it really is a great place to live. The challenges that our present Brexit-focused election is bringing to the fore will play out in towns and cities like ours.

However we know that there are many who express genuine insecurities, who feel alienated, whose identity feels threatened, and who have many questions about government policies that have made our town what it is. It would be wrong to say we are a town where conflict is always present, but it's fair to say the potential for conflict is not far below the surface. While over recent years Luton has had its fair share of extremism to deal with  from within the Muslim community and from the far right  we refuse to lay down and let the town be defined by extremism.

As a mediator and community peace-builder based at St Mary's, the town centre Parish Church of Luton I work along with the churches, with Muslim colleagues and other faiths to build bridges, to challenge injustices and build the resilience of our community. As a Christian I believe the Kingdom of God is one of peace and justice. I'm realistic it's not here in its fullness, and that sometimes I'm continually wading through muck, but I pray for that Kingdom  and its peace - to grow among us.

Campaigning during last year's European Referendum often fell into the realm of wild guesses and indulged in what can only be called discrimination. It was in the ferment of that campaign that MP Jo Cox was murdered. Thomas Mair, her assassin, was a man who was very angry at the EU and immigration, and viewed Cox as a "traitor to white people." It seemed that the political campaign legitimised hatred and bigotry, which resulted not just in death but thousands more hate incidents and crimes. Last year's US elections saw the same trend, and currently "Fake News" and truth seem to be defined by political allegiance rather than reality.

Over the past eight years we've had many anti-Muslim demonstrations in Luton. The hatred poured out in our community has been nothing short of corrosive and poisonous, and we have done all we can to combat it. However in the past year it has seemed that the extremes we've faced for years have become normalised. As a Christian I'm warned of the power of the tongue to destroy  whatever our politics, lets seek to guard our tongues when we make political comments over these next weeks.

One of our close allies over the years of challenging extremism here in Luton has been HOPE not hate. I've found their model of community organising to engage with the issues that divide society and to bring people together resonates with my Christian approach. Just before Christmas former UKIP leader Nigel Farage accused Jo Cox's husband Brendan of knowing more about extremism than him because 'he backs organisations like Hope not Hate who masquerade as being lovely and peaceful but actually pursue violent and undemocratic means'. HOPE not hate, having asked for  and not received  an apology, have recently announced they are suing Farage for damages.

As a Christian I cannot afford to endorse people or groups whose actions counter violence and extremism with more of the same. And I cannot support political campaigns that stir up more division and hatred. Those are the charges Farage has made against HOPE not hate. If they were true, I could not remain a supporter of the organisation. But I know from my first-hand experience that they are false. Falsehoods must be challenged and that is why HOPE not hate are right, in my opinion, to pursue the truth in court.

Finally, as we challenge ideas and politics that are contrary to our faith  whether on the street protest or in an election  we need to do so in a way that shows we value the people holding those views and that we want to hear their concerns. They are often our neighbours or colleagues, they may indeed be our church members or their relatives. Let's challenge hatred and discrimination, and point the way to hope. And as Christian believers, as well as all people of goodwill, we should aim to positively impact the atmosphere of this election season.

Canon Peter Adams is director of the recently-formed St Mary's Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Luton. He has been working in church based cross community relations for the past ten years. He is a Board Member of HOPE not Hate's charitable section. Follow @petergmadams
Videos and photos are ubiquitous, but theres one place in America where cameras are rarely seen: courtrooms. Federal courts are mostly off limits, and state and local court policies vary, so media outlets historically have hired artists to illustrate major trials. But news budget cuts and increasing courtroom camera access are making these artists a vanishing breed of journalist.

A recent donation of 95 courtroom drawings to the Library of Congress has made the library the nations largest repository of such art. The donation is marked by an exhibit through late October. The gift comes from Los Angeles attorney Thomas Girardi, whose most famous case is probably the contaminated-water suit that inspired the movie Erin Brockovich. Three courtroom artistsAggie Kenny, Bill Robles, and Elizabeth Williamsapproached the library in 2015 about acquiring images of major trials the three of them had covered. Girardi agreed to fund (for an undisclosed amount) the purchase of the new illustrations.

TRENDING: Graphic reveals how much local news is suffering

Many of them appeared in the 2014 book The Illustrated Courtroom: 50 Years of Court Art by Williams and Sue Russell. Girardi appears in one of the courtroom drawings in the show.

The 98 works in the exhibit, Drawing Justice: The Art of Courtroom Illustration, cover trials from 1964 to the present, including high-profile cases such as Charles Manson, Bernie Madoff, and John Gotti. An interactive video station lets visitors see the drawings as they were used in news broadcasts.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

This is the first major show on courtroom drawings in North America, says Sara Duke, curator of applied and graphic art in the librarys prints and photographs division. She tells CJR she views courtroom illustrators as visual journalists.

There are definitely fewer courtroom artists working today than there once were, artist Gary Myrick tells CJR. Almost all state courts now allow cameras, and news budget cuts have also played a role, leading to use of pooled artists or no artists. New York-based artist Jane Rosenberg, who has covered high-profile trials such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case, the John Gotti trial, and Martha Stewarts securities fraud trial for clients such as NBC, CBS, Fox News, ABC, and CNN, told CJR there were probably 17 artists working in New York in the 1980s, working for TV stations, networks, magazines, and papers. Now there might be five, she says.

In Los Angeles, there were seven courtroom artists when Bill Robles started out in 1970, he told KNBC in a 2015 interview. Now two or three artists routinely work trials there, according to the KNBC story.

Most courtroom artists have always been freelancers. There is no central agency or association for news organizations to find artists. The artists have taken different paths to their work. Duke concluded that a lot of them fell into it.

TRENDING: A new Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks movie has former New York Times journalists pretty ticked off

Robles was an ad illustrator, but he was always interested in news, he said at a panel discussion at the exhibits opening. He contacted CBS News and convinced them to let him cover the Charles Manson trial in 1970. I had never set foot in a courtroom before in my life, he added. On October 5, Manson tried to stab the judge with a pencil. Robles image of that incident was the lead story on Walter Cronkites broadcast that night. It freezes the action, with a bailiff tackling Manson and the pencil flying in the air.

Marilyn Church and Elizabeth Williams began as fashion illustrators, drawing clothing on models for fashion designers, ads, and publications. The speed needed for fashion illustration came in handy when covering trials, Church said at the panel discussion. A friend suggested she try courtroom illustration and she attended a trial in Queens, New York, for a week. She took the resulting drawings to TV stations and papers in New York. WABC hired her, and she later worked for ABC, CNN, and The New York Times.

Williams was trying to make ends meet as an artist in Los Angeles and a professor suggested she try courtroom sketches. She developed an ongoing relationship with CNBC and the Associated Press.

Howard Brodie, one of the first artists to work for TV, was a newspaper illustrator who called an Army buddy who was a CBS executive, the exhibit says. Cameras were not allowed at Jack Rubys 1964 trial for killing Lee Harvey Oswald, so Brodie was assigned to cover it.

Most courtroom artists are reluctant to discuss pay. Church said New York media often pay $350 to $500 per assignment. A Midwestern-based artist cited a figure at the low end of that range for his work, whether for local or national clients. Artists usually retain copyright to their work.

While courtroom sketch artists must work quickly, they use different media (pencil, pen, watercolor, markers, and more) and have different styles. Robles provides detailed drawings of people, with almost no background, which he calls a vignette style.

A 1988 Church image of a lawyer talking to a jury focuses on the lawyer. His clothes and face are in color. Everyone else is just a sketch.

In Pat Lopezs representational style, she often renders details of the courtroom down to the doorways and the portraits on the wall.

At the panel discussion, Robles said seating is everything. All three artists on the panel, Robles, Church, and Lopez, talked about struggling to get a good seat for a good viewpoint. An Elizabeth Williams image of six artists at the 1984 John DeLorean trial shows Howard Brodie with opera glasses attached to his glasses, so he could see better.

Drawing Justice: The Art of Courtroom Illustrations, funded by Thomas Girardi and the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, is open until October 28. It is in the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St., Southeast, Washington, DC. It is free and open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Saturday. Tickets arent needed. An online version of the exhibit is available here.

TRENDING: 11 images that show how the Trump administration is failing at photography

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jim Sweeney is a writer and editor based in Rockville, Maryland. He has worked for U.S. News & World Report, Government Computer News, Air & Space, Comics Journal and Camera & Darkroom.
"it's working now" probably means no exceptions were thrown.





This

SQL date = 2017-05-17

translate as

SQL date = 1995

Date Functions in SQL Server and MySQL[^]

Patrice



Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein



Dear Friends, When build MyFristApplicationAndroid, It appear error message below:

Error:CreateProcess error=216, This version of %1 is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need a x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher

I choose struct project and repair.

I delete C:\Program Files\Android\Android Studio\jre

And I update C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_131



And I have had the second error below:

Error:A problem occurred configuring project ':app'.

> Could not resolve all dependencies for configuration ':app:_debugUnitTestApkCopy'.

> Could not resolve junit:junit:4.12.

Required by:

project :app

> Could not resolve junit:junit:4.12.

> Could not get resource 'https://jcenter.bintray.com/junit/junit/4.12/junit-4.12.pom'.

> Could not GET 'https://jcenter.bintray.com/junit/junit/4.12/junit-4.12.pom'.

> Connect to jcenter.bintray.com:443 [jcenter.bintray.com/108.168.243.150] failed: Connection timed out: connect

I HOPE YOU HELP ME REPAIR 2 ERRORS ABOVE. THANK YOU SO MUCH.



Cao Kha Tu wrote: Connect to jcenter.bintray.com:443 [jcenter.bintray.com/108.168.243.150] failed: Connection timed out: connect We cannot fix your internet connection.



How do we make responsive software??? ;)



A small Off Broadway Theater is opening in Manhattan. The theater consists of an orchestra section and a balcony. The manager purchased a computer for its automated ticket system; and youve been awarded the contract to program the test system that will assign seats for the Opening Night of String Man.



Your program should display the following choices: Please enter 1 for orchestra and 2 for balcony. If the person types 1, your program will assign a seat in the orchestra section (rows 1-10, 20 seats per row). If the person types 2, your program should assign a seat in the balcony section (rows 11-20, 15 seats per row).



Use a two-dimensional irregular array of primitive type boolean to represent the seating chart of the theater. Initialize all the elements of the array to false to indicate that all seats are empty. As each seat is assigned, set the corresponding elements of the array to true to indicate that the seat is no longer available.



Your program should never assign a seat that has already been assigned. If either the orchestra section or the balcony becomes full, your program should display a message indicating that section is full; and ask the user if they would like a seat in the remaining section. If the user responds, no, your program should display the string, Next performance is in one week. If both sections are full, your program should display the string, Sorry, Opening Night is Sold Out.



When a seat is assigned, your program should print out a ticket indicating the row and seat assignment.



Member 13189964 wrote: and youve been awarded the contract to program the test system That's you, not anyone here. This site is not here to provide free code, or to do your homework assignments.





HomeWork is not set to test your skills at begging other people to do your work, it is set to make you think and to help your teacher to check your understanding of the courses you have taken and also the problems you have at applying them.

Any failure of you will help your teacher spot your weaknesses and set remedial actions.

Any failure of you will help you to learn what works and what don't, it is called 'trial and error' learning.

So, give it a try, reread your lessons and start working. If you are stuck on a specific problem, show your code and explain this exact problem, we might help.



As programmer, your job is to create algorithms that solve specific problems and you can't rely on someone else to eternally do it for you, so there is a time where you will have to learn how to. And the sooner, the better.

When you just ask for the solution, it is like trying to learn to drive a car by having someone else training.

Creating an algorithm is basically finding the maths and make necessary adaptation to fit your actual problem.



The idea of "development" is as the word suggests: "The systematic use of scientific and technical knowledge to meet specific objectives or requirements." BusinessDictionary.com[^]

That's not the same thing as "have a quick google and give up if I can't find exactly the right code".

Patrice



Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. Albert Einstein



it could not print the message like bellow

/*

this is the first program

*/

only print

/*



*/





package javaapplication5;





import java.io.BufferedReader;

import java.io.FileInputStream;

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;

import java.io.IOException;

import java.io.InputStreamReader;

import java.util.logging.Level;

import java.util.logging.Logger;



/**

* BufferedReader and Scanner can be used to read line by line from any File or

* console in Java.

* This Java program demonstrate line by line reading using BufferedReader in Java

*

* @author Javin Paul

*/

public class BufferedReaderExample {



public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException{



//reading file line by line in Java using BufferedReader

FileInputStream fis = null;

BufferedReader br = null;

//String line;

try {

fis = new FileInputStream("E:/Sum.txt");

br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(fis));

String line;

while((line = br.readLine()) != null){

if(line.contains("/*") || line.contains("*/")|| line.contains("//")){



System.out.println(line);



}



else



System.out.println("");



}

br.close();





}

catch(IOException e){

System.out.println("file could not read");



}

}

}



When I tried to run a code, an error occurred. Please explain why error occurred and how to fix it, thanks.



Here is my code:

Java import java.util.ArrayList; class Demo { public static void main( String [] args) { ArrayList<String> list1 = new ArrayList<String>(); ArrayList<String> list2 = new ArrayList<String>(); int index = 0 ; list1.add( " ahio" ); list1.add( " bro" ); list1.add( " higoodbye" ); list2.add( " hi" ); list2.add( " goodbye" ); for ( String x : list1) { for ( String y : list2) { if (x.contains(y)) { index = list1.indexOf(x); list1.set(index, x.replaceAll(y, y.replaceAll( " [a-zA-Z]" , " *" ))); } } } System.out.println( String .join( " " , list1)); } }

Here is my error:

Warning\Error Exception in thread " main" java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: -1 at java.util.ArrayList.elementData(ArrayList.java: 418 ) at java.util.ArrayList. set (ArrayList.java: 446 ) at Demo.main(Main.java: 20 )



index is -1 , which indicates that the element was not found in list1 . You need to check the values of all the variables to see why.



[edit]

In the last case x contains "higoodbye" and y contains "hi" . The search succeeds and the contents of the element in list1 is modified. On the next iteration of list2, y contains "goodbye" so it matches x, but the element in list1 has been modified so the indexOf method returns -1.

[/edit]



modified 1-May-17 3:31am.



I am trying to use third party sdk or restful api to enable Biometric Authentication in our web based application.

Currently I am checking which will be best and fits the requirement.

Any suggestions please?



HI Everyone! So this is my first post here and I'd like some help from you.



So this method should return all priority Notes but they should be sorted by their priority like the notes with priority 1 comes first and after that priority 2 and so like this. This in an ArrayList

and I've stopped here because I can't figure out how to do ..



Could you please help me with this sortation?





Thanks in advance







Java <pre>public PriorityNotes[] getPriorityNotes(){ PriorityNotes[] PriorityNotes = new PriorityNotes[notes.size()]; PriorityNotes = notes.toArray(PriorityNotes); int i; for (i = 0 ; i < notes.size(); i++){ } return PriorityNotes;}











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





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

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



and where to put this? inside the for loop



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



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

The sh*t I complain about

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

~! Firewall !~





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



Java private int numberOfNotes; private ArrayList<Note>notes;



and that's all fields which I have



Java Collections.sort(notes);



how to make a chat application in java on wan?


Costa Crociere has signed a deal with The Wine Bank in Pollenzo, the Italian co-op founded by Carlo Petrini. The new wine list has already been rolled out across the Costa fleet.

New wines are being chosen based on the companys Italian heritage, with over 100 total wines.

The new wine list includes wines from 19 Italian regions and countries such as France, Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, Australia and the United States, Costa said. The wine list is divided into four categories, identifiable with the help of a small logo next to each category: guests can choose between sustainable wines, organic wines, territory wines and wines that pair well with Italian regional dishes.

Sustainable wines have been selected from wines made by wineries who adopt farming methods that have the lowest possible impact on the environment and that safeguard biodiversity, according to Costa.

The organic wines have been selected from those that do not contain synthetic chemicals and that come from grapes grown without the use of genetically modified organisms, in accordance with European guidelines.

Besides the new selection, there will, of course, be traditional Italian and international wines, Costa said, in a prepared statement.
P&O Cruises today announced the addition of Judes real dairy ice cream in time for the 2017 summer season. Guests across the British brands fleet will get a number of new flavors, including salted Caramel, Ginger Spice, Gin & Tonic and Brown Butter Pecan.

The ice cream will roll out starting in May across all P&Os vessels. Guests will be able to pick from eight flavors served in 120ml tubs.

P&O Cruises senior vice president Paul Ludlow said: "I'm thrilled to introduce our guests to a great British brand that has won numerous awards and also tastes fantastic. Jude's is a family business which uses locally sourced ingredients to create the most superb ice cream. Holidays and ice cream go hand in hand and I'm sure that our guests will love tucking into these delicious treats while soaking up the sun on deck."

P&Os so-called family-friendly ships will also feature nine additional flavors that are served in ice cream cones including Very Vanilla, Truly Choc, Strawberry Tease, Salted Caramel, Mint Choc Chip, Honeycomb, Raspberry Ripple, Malted Banana and Dairy Free Coconut Sorbet.
Lindblad Expeditions today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Lindblad has started 2017 with significant operating momentum as bookings for future travel are up nearly 60% from the same period a year ago. While first quarter financial results were negatively impacted by unique voyage cancellations, the meaningful demand we are seeing for both existing and new vessels across our expedition fleet reinforces the appeal of our product and the opportunity we have to grow this business as we expand our current capacity. The National Geographic Quest will launch next month and has virtually sold out its inaugural Alaskan season, while its sister ship the National Geographic Venture is well under way for delivery in June 2018. We are also close to finalizing our plans for a new build blue water vessel to be delivered in the second quarter of 2019. This increased capacity, combined with a loyal and expanding customer base which seeks an authentic expedition experience that we have a proven track record of providing, is expected to generate significant earnings growth and create additional shareholder value in the years ahead."

According to a press release, first quarter tour revenues of $63.1 million increased $1.6 million, or 3%, as compared to 2016. The increase was primarily due to contributions from Natural Habitat, which was acquired in May of 2016, mostly offset by lower Lindblad segment revenues due in large part to an estimated $9.1 million impact from voyage cancellations.

These voyage cancellations included four highly booked expeditions on the National Geographic Orion to repair the engine and the cancellation of two highly booked expeditions on the National Geographic Sea Lion to repair the air conditioning system. Excluding the impact of these voyage cancellations, the Company estimates that total Company tour revenue would have increased 17% to $72.3 million.

Lindblad segment revenues of $53.2 million decreased $8.4 million, or 14%, compared to 2016, due to an $8.9 million decrease in ticket revenues driven by the voyage cancellations, partially offset by a $0.5 million increase in other tour revenues. Other tour revenues increased due to $1.9 million of insurance revenue related to the National Geographic Orion cancellations, which was mostly offset by lower other tour revenue due to the voyage cancellations. Excluding the impact of the voyage cancellations, the Company estimates that Lindblad segment revenue would have increased 1% to $62.3 million mainly due to the launch of charter expeditions in Cuba, offset by lower overall Occupancy.

Available Guest Nights declined by 18% as compared with the first quarter a year ago, primarily due to the voyage cancellations, partially offset by the launch of charter expeditions in Cuba. Lindblad segment Net Yield of $1,008 was in-line with the first quarter a year ago as increased pricing was offset by the impact of voyage cancellations on itineraries with higher net yields, as well as from a decline in overall Occupancy. Occupancy decreased to 87% from 92% a year ago primarily due to the cancellation of high occupancy voyages as well as from lower bookings during the first half of 2016 due to concerns over the Zika virus and terrorism and from a delay in direct mail marketing.

Net income for the first quarter was $0.6 million, $0.01 per diluted share, as compared with net income of $10.5 million, $0.23 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2016. The $9.8 million decrease is primarily due to the lower operating results and $2.9 million of additional stock based compensation expense in the current year primarily related to grants under the 2016 CEO Share Allocation Plan, which provides the CEO the ability to transfer shares from his existing holdings in the Company to eligible employees.
Princess Cruises has announced the addition of two 14-day Grand Asia voyages sailing between Shanghai and Singapore on the Majestic Princess.

Available in international markets, these sailings will visit Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand in 2018.

The first voyage departs Shanghai on February 25, 2018, with the second departing Singapore on March 11, 2018. Previously, these voyages and time windows were assigned to Chinese market capacity. For winter 2018-2019, the ship also re-positions to Australia and will not be in China year-round.

"Based on the response we received during Majestic Princess' recent maiden cruise, we are confident she has redefined the international, luxury cruising experience," said Jan Swartz, Group President of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia, "We are thrilled to open up the opportunity for other guests to experience our newest flagship in our fleet."

On May 21, Majestic Princess will embark on the "Silk Road Sea Route" a 49-day journey from Rome to Shanghai.

During the voyage she will visit a total of 22 ports including Athens, Dubai, Cochin, Singapore, Port Klang and Xiamen before arriving in Shanghai, her new homeport in China. Majestic Princess will begin her first cruise from China on July 11 carrying 3,560 guests to a variety of cruise destinations.
Spirent Communications has scored the first contract for its Tweakker line of device intelligence solutions in South America through Brazils mobile virtual network enabler/aggregator (MVNE/A) Surf Telecom.

Targeting a smooth customer care and onboarding experience, Surf Telecom will use the Tweakker access point name (APN) automatic setup solution to get new subscribers onboard its network in a handful of seconds. Tweakkers self care and customer care interfaces will enable the operator to cut support costs by up to 20%, and generate new revenues faster than previously experienced.

Thomas Yde Frederiksen, Head of Spirents Tweakker product line, added: This LATAM development demonstrates Tweakkers global approach to serving the expanding world of MVNEs and MVNOs. In South America, our APN Setup solution provides support for all local brands in all of the regions local languages.

Surf Telecom has been licensed by regulator Anatel to provide MVNE/MVNA as well as mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services in Brazil. The operator has one of the most technically advanced network platforms in the world and is launching LATAMs first 5G-ready network in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region delivering speeds of up to 300Mbps, using their own frequencies on this region.

Tweakker is a leading solution for device APN setup, online smartphone care and engagement automation solutions. The APN Setup provides MVNOs fast and seamless on-boarding of new subscribers with data and MMS services, ensuring rapid revenue uptake and reduced customer care costs.
Vodafone India has launched a new Wi-Fi network aimed at enterprise customers as it looks towards the corporate sector for further growth.

As the Indian mobile market becomes ever more competitive, Vodafone Group is taking aim at small, medium and large businesses with its Vodafone SuperWifi network  the first operator-led Wi-Fi network in India targeted specifically at enterprises. Aimed at increasing business productivity, employee collaboration and process innovations, SuperWifi will deliver high-speed unified Wi-Fi as a managed network service.

The entry of Reliance Jio into Indias mobile sector has instigated a price war among operators, with the debutante giving away voice and data for free as part of an extended promotion. Undeterred by the challenge, Vodafone has shored up its position in India, announcing a merger with Idea Cellular that will make the combined entity the new market leader  if the deal receives regulatory approval.

However, Vodafone is evidently also looking to expand into the enterprise market to stave off any uncertainty. The group was quoted in the Economic Times as saying that its business unit was growing fast, accounting for 16.4% of Vodafone Indias H2 revenue for fiscal year 2017.

The SuperWifi launch comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement by Facebook, which brought its Express Wi-Fi service to India last week as part of its internet.org initiative. The service focuses more on underserved regions and individual entrepreneurs rather than businesses.
Andalas Energy and Power confirmed on Tuesday that it is in discussions with investors about a potential fundraising to fund its ongoing activities in Indonesia.

In response to recent media speculation that it was undertaking a significantly discounted equity fundraising, the company said discussions are preliminary and it cannot guarantee that any such fundraising will take place in the short term.

Pending the outcome of these discussions, it has requested a suspension in trading of its shares on the AIM Market and said a further announcement will be made in due course as and when appropriate.

At 1015 BST, the shares were down 3.2% to 0.08p.
Markets in Asia finished largely weaker on Tuesday, as investors had their eyes locked on the South Korean presidential election and the Australian federal budget, following a stellar start to the week on Monday.

Japans Nikkei 225 was down 0.26% at 19,843.00, with the yen weaker against the greenback.

It was last 0.42% softer at JPY 113.74 per $1.

Struggling technology conglomerate Toshiba was 4.52% higher after it issued a rebuttal to recent claims from Western Digital that it had breached a joint contract between the two firms as it attempted to sell its memory chip division.

Toshiba had been peddling its chip arm for the last few months, hoping to find a buyer for the valuable unit as it faced a potential cash crisis.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.06% higher at 3,080.53, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite was up 0.66% at 1,847.64.

Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index added 1.27% to 24,889.03, while markets in South Korea were closed as voting in the presidential elections took place.

South Koreans were heading to the polls to choose their new leader, after the previous president Park Geun-hye was impeached and ousted amid a cash-for-influence corruption scandal.

The frontrunner before polls opened was the Liberal Democratic Partys Moon Jae-in, with the most recent suggesting he had the support of 38% of voters.

A total of 13 candidates were standing.

In Hong Kong, authorities extended the suspension in the trading of China Huishan Dairy Holding shares, which were initially put on hold after plunging 85% in March.

Oil prices were higher during Asian trading, as hopes increased that fresh output cuts from both OPEC and non-OPEC producers could be extended to 2018.

Like Monday, however, they soon slipped as Europe took the trading baton, with Brent crude last down 0.06% at $49.31 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate off 0.07% at $46.40.

Australias S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.52% at 5,839.90, led lower by the weighty financials subindex, which lost 2.4%.

The big four regional banks were on the back foot, amid local reports that a bank tax could be a part of the new federal budget that was due to be released after the close.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was down 2.64%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 3.85% and Westpac ended 3.52% softer.

The market is likely to be nervous about this prospect until they get details of what might be involved and what capacity of banks might have to pass this cost onto customers, noted CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.

During the session, analysts at Citi retained a sell rating on Westpac Banking Corporation, after it reported positive half-year results on Monday.

Across the Tasman Sea, the S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.2% at 7,412.12, led lower by manuka honey producer and exporter Comvita, which lost 2.6%.

The company - one of the most prominent sellers of the popular health supplement, which is only produced in New Zealand - had seen its stock slide in recent days, after the myrtle rust disease was discovered in the countrys Northland province.

Over the weekend, the Ministry for Primary Industries suggested the disease - which could decimate the manuka crop - was no longer limited to a contained area.

The down under dollars were both weaker, with the Aussie last retreating 0.54% at AUD 1.3610 against the greenback and the Kiwi off 0.19% at NZD 1.4503 per $1.
European stocks have ended the day on the frontfoot despite renewed selling pressure on the euro and in crude oil futures, albeit with some traders expressing doubts about continued low levels of volatility.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 finished 0.45% higher at 396.06 and at a 21-month high, alongside gains of 0.43% for the German Dax to 12,749.12 and a gain of 0.28% in the Paris Cac-40 to 5,398.01.

Euro/dollar was lower, amid recent hawkish comments from US central bank officials, at 1.0875, down by 0.44% versus the Monday close and below its 200-day moving average, while Brent futures retreated 0.76% to $48.97 a barrel on the ICE.

"After yesterdays falls, European markets have rebounded today with a firmer tone in the more cyclical areas of the market, with an air of almost indifference starting to descend on investors, as concerns about political risk fade into the background," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"The successful navigation around the latest in political risk appears to have prompted a significant degree of complacency with respect to hedging potential downside moves, with the VIX down at levels last seen in 1993."

On a related note, on 4 May strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch highlighted to clients the critical role central bank liquidity was playing in driving gains in financial markets.

German industrial production shrank by 0.4% month-on-month, better than forecasts calling for a drop of 0.7%, according to the country's Ministry of Finance, but downwards revisions to data for previous months meant the year-on-year rate of output fell to 1.9% (consensus: 2.5%).

Construction output added to February's month-on-month jump of 9.9%, rising by 1.3%.

Despite that, for the first quarter of 2017 as a whole total industrial production was 1.3% higher, following a rise of 0.4% at the tail-end of 2016.

Germany's trade surplus with the rest of the world hit 25.4bn in March, up from 20.0bn for February (consensus: 23.0bn)

Still on the economic calendar for Tuesday, Italian retail sales data for March were set for release at 0900 BST, followed by speeches from the presidents of the Federal Reserve banks of Boston and Dallas at 1800 BST and 2115 BST.

Ryanair and Lufthansa expressed an informal interest in Alitalia before a the sales process was due to kick-off, Il Messaggero said.

Analysts at Barclays stuck to an 'equalweight' rating on shares of Bank of Ireland while reiterating an 'overweight' for Danone with a higher target price of 70.7 for the latter.

Commerzbank posted a 28% jump in first quarter profits thanks to one-off income.

Net profit at Munich Re hit 557.0m over the first three months of 2017.
Even two years away from Brexit, UK employers are already complaining of a shortage of suitable job applicants for a wide range of roles.

Research from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation carried out by Markit found April saw the steepest decline in the availability of job candidates in 16 months, as the availability of permanent and temporary candidates both deteriorated at a sharper rates in April.

Growth in permanent staff placements slowed to its weakest for seven months during April, but remained at a solid overall level, though for temp workers it increased at the fastest pace seen so far this year.

Amid the lowest unemployment since 2005, demand for staff is growing in all sectors and all regions, but there are fewer and fewer people available to fill the vacancies, said REC chief executive Kevin Green.

He said workers are becoming more hesitant about moving jobs amid Brexit uncertainty, while the weakening pound and lack of clarity about future immigration rules is putting off some EU nationals from taking up roles in the UK.



As a result, candidate availability is at a 16-month low and recruiters are flagging a shortage of suitable applicants for more than 60 different roles from cleaner to accountant. Every shortage has wider implications, for example the exceptional reputation UK engineering enjoys globally is at risk because employers cant find people with the skills they need," he said.

Starting salary growth for permanent workers slowed to a four-month low in April, but was said to remain sharp overall and stronger than the series average.

Drilling down into the data, the Midlands and Scotland saw the fastest rate of expansion in permanent placements, and London the slowest.

Engineers, IT and computing workers and nurses and other carers were the most in-demand permanent workers, with temp led by nursing and medical followed by hotels and catering staff.

Prime Minister Theresa May said earlier this week she will again pledge to cut net migration to the "tens of thousands" as part of the Conservative general election manifesto.

Amid an ever-shrinking pool of suitable candidates, the REC's Green said whichever party forms a government after the election would need to invest in skills and career advice for UK jobseekers, as well as safeguarding access to the workers we need from abroad.
Business at Hiscox continues to grow briskly thanks to sustained strong trading in Retail, although the London Market unit continues to come under pressure reminiscent of the 1990s, as the firm pulls out of the political risks and sets up an EU subsidiary after Brexit.

Over the three months ending on 31 March, total gross written premiums grew by 5% at constant currencies to reach 751.2m, but in Sterling were higher by 17.3%.

Commenting on the results, the specialist insurer's chief Bronex Masojada highlighted the especially positive performance of its small business operations, while cautioning that the situation at Hiscox London continued to be challenging.

"We remain disciplined and are carefully navigating our way forward."

Trading in London Market was comparable to the 1990s, the company said in a statement.

"As we have said before, the current trading environment is reminiscent of the London Market of the 1990's, which calls for a very disciplined approach. We are shrinking across most lines where margins are evaporating and pulling back significantly in aviation, extended warranty and big-ticket property lines."

The company also announced it was opening a new European subsidiary in Luxembourg on the heels of Brexit.

As previously announced, during the quarter the insurer exited the political risks class, "as the growing length of cover, now regularly over five years, and greater role of credit has moved this class outside of our risk appetite."

Hiscox USA performing, drop in rates most severe in London Market

Hiscox Retail reported a 18.6% increase in gross premiums at constant currencies to 375.4m, with Hiscox USA delivering the best performance with a 33.5% rise in premiums to $164.0m.

At Hiscox London Market on the other hand, premiums declined by 8.6% at constant currencies to 157.7m but were up by 0.4% when converted into Sterling, as expected by analysts.

As for rates, management reported no improvement in the rating environment in big-ticket business, amid a contined dearth of major loss events, excess capital and strong competition.

In the London Market, the outfit saw double-digit declines rates in the marine, energy and US large property accounts.

Hiscox Re also witnessed a drop in premiums, which fell 3.5% to $269.3m.

Rates in Retail, in which Hiscox continues to invest, were described as flat.

Investment results to 31 March were 0.7% on an annualised basis.

"The group's focus on service, product and franchise leaves it as one of the quality plays in the sector in our view. The rating does not yet reflect the quality, scale and potential of the Retail operations across the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. There is so much more to come from this quality underwriter," ShoreCap's Eamonn Flanagan said, reiterating a 'Buy' recommendation.
William Hill cleared the first quarterly fence, with growth in wagering and revenue across all four of the bookmaker's divisions but win margins tightening.

As a group, net revenue in the 17 weeks to 25 April rose 9% as online returned to strong growth following a stumble last year.

Philip Bowcock hailed the positive start to the year and said the transformation programme was progressing well, on track to deliver 40m of annualised savings by the year-end.

"Overall, we are in line with market expectations for 2017 at this early stage in the year."

Retail, representing over half of group sales last year, saw net revenue rise 1% after a flat year, with sportsbook amounts wagered up 2% thanks to more horseracing fixtures.

Retail's gross win margin eased down 0.8 percentage points to 18%.

Online, which represents more than a third of revenues, saw net revenue jump 16% as amounts wagered rose 9% and was the only arm to grow gross win margin, enjoying a 1.2% increase to 7.5%.

From April, the betting industry will begin paying a 10% levy on UK horseracing gross win to go towards funding UK horseracing, which the company said was expected to cost 5m this year.

Australian revenues grew an impressive 41% as amounts wagered surged 53% sterling terms which greatly benefited from exchange rate fluctuations, though gross win margins shrank 1.2 percentage points to 8.2% due to punter-friendly horseracing results.

The US business grew amounts wagered 12% in dollar terms, which resulted in a 29% reported rise to lift net revenue 19%, with gross win margin 0.5 percentage points lower at 6.2%.

Hill's shares jumped 2% to above 308p in early trading on Tuesday but after the first hour of trading had eased to 302p.

Analyst George Salmon at Hargreaves Lansdown said after something of a losing streak, the company was focused on just getting the house in order under newly promoted CEO Bowcock.

"One challenge is to breathe new life into the Australian business. With the average Australian adult losing close to $1,000 a year, bookmaking is big business Down Under. William Hill has poured plenty of money in to build its stake over the years, but results have been mixed at best. In this regard, its encouraging to see stronger growth so far this year," he said.

"The elephant in the room for the bookies is the looming uncertainty over fixed odds betting terminals, or FOBTs. Calls for a crackdown on these machines are getting louder all the time, and with 30% of net revenue coming from its fleet of gaming machines last year, increased regulation would certainly hurt.

Neil Wilson at ETX Capital said the governments review of FOBT "could blow a hole in revenues as these machines contribute such a large amount to earnings".

"There is already a fair bit of the risk baked into the share price but we must await the review to see how tough or lenient the government will be on the industry. An extreme clampdown here could make improving online revenues look relatively unimportant.
The number of candidates available for jobs has hit a 16-month low, prompting fears that Brexit has triggered a skills shortage in areas ranging from IT to engineering to nursing. There was the steepest fall in availability for permanent and temporary roles in April since December 2015, according to a report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. - The Times

Shoppers are increasing spending once more, defying fears of an economic slowdown to ramp up their purchases last month. Total sales were up 6.3pc in April compared with the same month a year ago, according to the British Retail Consortium, bouncing back from a fall of 0.2pc in March. - Telegraph

The Co-operative Bank is set to admit that a sale of its business has faltered, increasing the chances that its American hedge fund owners will have to plough more capital into the bank. An announcement expected in the next few days is set to move the loss-making bank into a new phase of trying to thrash out a deal with the hedge funds, which own 80 per cent after a previous restructuring in 2013. - The Times

Big banks in the City could shift at least 9,000 roles out of the UK as a result of Brexit, according to a tally of job warnings since the EU referendum. Deutsche Bank is leading the threatened exodus, according to research by Reuters, while the two financial centres making the most gains from Londons loss are Frankfurt and Dublin. - Guardian

Campaigners have attacked Lloyds for buying a credit card business that targets consumers aggressively with long-term offers. The bank is set to acquire MBNA for 1.9 billion in what will be its first takeover since it was rescued by taxpayers at the height of the financial crisis. But although bosses see it as a major milestone, consumer groups warned the deal could mark a return to sharp practices used to saddle shoppers with debt. - Mail

Ministers are drawing up plans to stop illegal immigrants from coming to Britain amid concerns that Emmanuel Macron could scrap UK border controls on French soil. Mr Macron, the newly-elected French President, vowed during his election campaign to renegotiate the Le Touquet agreement which enables British border officials to carry out checks in France. - Telegraph

Energy companies have been accused of behaving in an unfair and unreasonable way after raising prices before a proposed government price cap is introduced. However, the Conservatives will on Tuesday confirm that the energy price cap forms a key pledge in their forthcoming election manifesto, even though energy suppliers have been accused of milking their customers after quietly raising the price of their cheapest gas and electricity deals by as much as 37 per cent since Mrs May first threatened to intervene last year. - Telegraph

All flowering plants sold by B&Q are to be grown without using pesticides that are harmful to bees, the retailer has announced. A series of scientific studies have shown that bees are exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides in fields and suffer serious harm from the doses they receive. The European commission has drawn up draft legislation to ban the pesticides, citing high acute risks to bees. - Guardian

Apple has landed a $1 trillion valuation estimate, from US broker Drexel Hamilton, as the race heats up for which company will pass the trillion dollar mark. On the day the iPhone giant's shares surpassed $800bn for the first time, Drexel used a new research note to lift its target price on Apple to $202 a share from $185 a share, with analyst Brian White writing that the technology giant is "among the most underappreciated stocks in the world". - Telegraph

Amazon is moving into the live music business in the UK, running and promoting its own gigs starting with Blondie later this month. Amazon, which started selling tickets for shows, gigs and events for the first time two years ago, is once again using the UK to expand its music strategy with the launch of a new business called Prime Live Events. - Guardian

A tech firm which has made a mint out of car finance is poised to launch on to the London Stock Market in an 800 million flotation. Alfa Financial Software is planning to join the market in June - in what is likely to be the largest listing by a UK tech firm in two years. - Mail

Londons financial firms are fighting back against hackers who jam computerised financial market trading systems. The attackers interfere with the GPS signals on which the precise timing of trades is based, scrambling the signals and disrupting the system that has come to rely on them, leading the Intercontinental Exchange yesterday signed a deal with the National Physical Laboratory to buy a direct feed from its state-of-the-art atomic clock that will mean that criminals or terrorists will be unable to knock out the GPS feed to its markets. - The Times

Poverty reduction in the worlds poorest countries risks being diluted by the governments increasing tendency to devote a bigger slice of Britains aid budget to pursuing the national interest, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned. The thinktank estimated that overseas development assistance would rise by 1bn during the course of the next parliament as a result of Theresa Mays pledge to continue meeting the United Nations 0.7% aid target. - Guardian
The FTSE 250 was on the front foot on Tuesday, with the index up 0.5% to 19,832.81 just before the close.

Euromoney Institutional Investor rose 5% after UBS initiated coverage of the stock on Monday with a 1,135p price target that still offers more upside to current levels.

Despite further weakness in iron ore prices, mining stocks enjoyed a welcome respite, helped by a positive update from analysts at Macquarie, which saw Ferrexpo and Kaz Minerals join its blue chip brethren on the front foot.

IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "The embattled mining sector is finally seeing some support, despite little sign of a real turnaround in the ongoing fall in commodity prices."

Inhaler maker Ventura was lifted as investors looked ahead to the outcomes of the US drug regulator's announcement over the company's partnered programme with Hikma Pharmaceuticals for a generic version of Advair. The Food & Drug Administration in accepting its Abbreviated New Drug Application, gave Hikma a goal date of 10 May, with Vectura due to receive $11m on approval of the file plus a mid-teen percentage royalty on net sales of VR315 in the US.

With some market commentary painting this as a binary event of approval or non-approval, broker Numis reminded Vectura investors that there are three types of FDA complete response letter (CRL) and four outcomes, including a first pass approval, which would drive significant forecast and valuation upgrades; one calling for a "minor" amendment to the ANDA; one calling for a "major" amendment from a larger number of what are still minor observations; and a CRL that requires a major amendment due to a major observation such as bioequivalence or a device issue requiring further study, which scenario would imply a valuation downgrade.

Travis Perkins was the biggest faller after an update from builders merchanting rival Grafton, which said revenue for the first four months of the year was up 7.7% to 851m as favourable conditions from the end of 2016 continued combined with the benefits of exposure to multiple markets.

But while Grafton expected a continuation of the favourable trends in the Irish and Netherlands businesses, it was more cautious about the prospects for the UK, which hit its rival.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 884.50p 4.00%

Glencore (GLEN) 290.55p 2.14%

BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,148.00p 2.04%

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,152.00p 2.04%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,429.00p 2.00%

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,395.00p 1.76%

WPP (WPP) 1,710.00p 1.73%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,681.00p 1.64%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,222.00p 1.61%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 765.50p 1.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,466.00p -6.56%

GKN (GKN) 353.10p -1.64%

Centrica (CNA) 199.80p -1.28%

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 264.00p -0.98%

SSE (SSE) 1,438.00p -0.76%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 68.93p -0.75%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 203.80p -0.66%

BT Group (BT.A) 305.15p -0.47%

Informa (INF) 656.50p -0.45%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 3,376.00p -0.44%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,085.00p 4.83%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 157.60p 4.79%

Carillion (CLLN) 224.30p 4.04%

Vectura Group (VEC) 150.00p 4.02%

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 444.60p 3.28%

Renishaw (RSW) 3,613.00p 3.14%

Supergroup (SGP) 1,613.00p 2.74%

Cineworld Group (CINE) 728.50p 2.68%

Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 483.40p 2.48%

Paysafe Group (PAYS) 473.80p 2.47%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,633.00p -3.71%

Allied Minds (ALM) 148.50p -3.26%

Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 302.40p -2.29%

Nex Group (NXG) 610.00p -2.17%

Card Factory (CARD) 318.80p -2.03%

AA (AA.) 259.90p -2.00%

BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,645.00p -1.67%

ZPG Plc (ZPG) 366.10p -1.64%

Aggreko (AGK) 853.00p -1.50%

Capita (CPI) 572.50p -1.46%
Joseph Paton, group leader at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal, is among the awardees announced today, May 9th, 2017, by the International Research Scholars Program. Paton is one of 41 outstanding investigators chosen from 1500 submitted applications.

Paton's work has contributed great insight into the mechanisms by which the brain creates mental connections between events separated in time, an ability crucial for vital cognitive functions such as learning and planning. Specifically, together with his team, Paton demonstrated how time is encoded in neural circuits in the brain (Current Biology article, eLife article) and identified a set of neurons that control subjective time perception in rodents (Science article).

This grant will allow Paton to further dissect the mechanisms by which internally generated signals, such as the ones that inform the brain about the passage of time, are transformed into action. According to Paton, a deeper understanding of this process is "key for discovering how animals free themselves from the immediacy of the current moment to be able to interact with the world in a more informed and calculated manner."

###

The International Research Scholars Program is funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Wellcome Trust, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Calouste de Gulbenkian Foundation. The programme provides its awardees with a total sum of $650,000 to support their research over a period of five years.
ORION is a new collaborative European project to explore ways in which research and funding organizations in life sciences and biomedicine can open up the way they fund, organize and do research.

Open science is a core strategy of the European Commission that involves widening participation and collaboration as well as sharing research processes and outcomes to improve research and innovation. All European Union members recognise the benefits of open science, but the transition to "openness" is challenging.

Interesting challenges

The ORION project will help research and funding organizations to understand existing challenges in Open Science and implement institutional, cultural, and behavioral changes in how they carry out and manage research.

"New models of working require novel cooperative approaches that engage lots of different actors, such as researchers, funders, publishers, patient organisations, citizens, students, teachers, or companies," explains Michela Bertero, coordinator of the ORION project and responsible for International and Scientific Affairs at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Spain.

"It is often difficult to open up fundamental research in life sciences and biomedicine to different stakeholders, particularly citizens, so the ORION project will be both challenging and interesting," she adds.

Co-creation in academia

At the heart of the project will be open "co-creation" experiments that engage multiple stakeholders and explore different ways to make scientific research more participatory and inclusive. The experiments will tackle questions such as: how can research organisations receive input from a multitude of stakeholders? How can research funding be made more inclusive? How can public dialogue inform research policy and research content? How can citizens be involved in fundamental research projects?

We will organize, for example, open dialogues with multiple actors on controversial research topics and launch innovative projects on fundamental research that entail participation of citizens and different experts.

The results from the experiments will be developed into good practice and concrete actions that research and funding organisations can implement.

New ways of training and resources

ORION will also generate new training content for professionals working in funding agencies, to raise knowledge and awareness about Open Science and RRI, Responsible research and innovation. RRI is a concept helping organisations to incorporate the principles of ethics, gender, good governance, open access, public engagement, and science education in their policies, practices and processes. Focus will be on controversial research topics, e.g. animal research, genome editing, personalised medicine or stem cell research, and their medical applications.

Partners are committed to sharing lessons learnt and case studies with other organisations as well as developing a tailored action plan on Open Science and RRI for their own organisation. The project will result in a wide range of material, training, good practices, reports and publications that will be disseminated freely and widely across Europe.

ORION is a four-year project with a 3.2 million Euros budget funded under the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme. Partners in the consortium (see list below) represent a mixture of expertise in fundamental research in life sciences and biomedicine, social sciences, funding, science communication, public engagement, and civil society. The project will be working closely with EU-LIFE, an alliance of top life science research institutes in 13 European countries.

###
DURHAM, N.C. -- Larger patches of tropical forest are being lost worldwide as governments and corporations clear more land to make way for industrial-scale agriculture, a Duke University study shows.

The newly published analysis reveals that clearings for large-scale agricultural expansion were responsible for an increasing proportion -- in some places, more than half -- of all observed forest loss across the tropics between 2000 and 2012.

The trend was most pronounced in Southeast Asia and South America.

"In South America, more than 60 percent of the increase in deforestation was due to a growing number of medium- and large-sized forest clearings typical of what you see with industrial-scale commercial agricultural activities," said Jennifer J. Swenson, associate professor of the practice of geospatial analysis at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

"Brazil, which had stricter policies limiting agricultural expansion until 2012, was the only country showing a reverse trend -- its average forest clearing size actually got smaller," she said. "This unique trend may be short-lived, however, given Brazil's relaxed forest policies of the last few years."

The new findings underscore the growing need for policy interventions that target industrial-scale agricultural commodity producers in the tropics, the researchers say.

A small family farm that produces sustenance crops or food for local consumption typically causes less than 10 hectares -- or just under 25 acres -- of land to be cleared per year, said Ph.D. student Kemen G. Austin, who co-authored the report. These small clearings can have relatively modest impacts on biodiversity, habitat connectivity, carbon storage, water quality, erosion control and other vital ecosystem services the forest provides.

By comparison, an industrial-scale plantation -- such as one that grows and processes palm oil or soybeans for the global market -- can cause nearly 2,500 acres of land to be cleared annually.

"As the size of the cleared land increases, so do the scale and scope of the potential ecological impacts," explained Ph.D. student Danica Schaffer-Smith.

The Duke team conducted their analysis using high-resolution, satellite-derived maps of forest cover produced by researchers at the University of Maryland.

"Using these invaluable maps, we were able to design a new computational approach that allowed us to analyze trends in clearing sizes across the globe," said Schwantes, who programmed the computational analysis with Gonzalez-Roglich.

###

Swenson conducted the research with Ph.D. students Kemen G. Austin, Amanda Schwantes and Danica Schaffer-Smith, and former postdoctoral researcher Mariano Gonzalez-Roglich, who is now director of ecosystem analysis at Conservation International's Moore Center for Science. Their peer-reviewed analysis appears May 9 in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

CITATION: "Trends in Size of Tropical Deforestation Events Signal Increasing Dominance of Industrial-Scale Drivers," Kemen G. Austin, Mariano Gonzalez-Roglich, Danica Schaffer-Smith, Amanda M. Schwantes and Jennifer J. Swenson. Environmental Research Letters, May 9, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6a88
Forty-one scientists from 16 countries have been chosen as International Research Scholars, exceptional early-career scientists poised to advance biomedical research across the globe.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to develop scientific talent around the world, and will award a total of nearly $26.7 million to this group of scholars. Each researcher will receive a total of $650,000 over five years. The award is a big boon for scientists early in their careers, and offers the freedom to pursue new research directions and creative projects that could develop into top-notch scientific programs.

"This is an outstanding group of scientists who will push biomedical research forward worldwide, and we are thrilled to support them alongside our philanthropic partners," said David Clapham, HHMI's Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer.

The scientists selected as International Research Scholars represent a diverse array of scientific disciplines and geographic locations. Scholars hail from research organizations and institutions from across the world, from Tanzania to Cambodia to Chile to Austria. Their research covers a broad variety of biological and medical research areas too, including neuroscience, genetics, biophysics, computational biology, and parasitology.

"We are excited to join with our partners in supporting these superb scientists. We look to them to bring transformative innovation to priority global health problems," said Chris Karp, Director of Global Health Discovery & Translational Sciences at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

These researchers' goals are innovative, wide-ranging, and forward-thinking. They seek to understand diverse topics, from how immune cells function to how pathogenic bacteria jump from the environment to humans, and are even investigating ways to watch genes switch on and off in living brains.

"We are delighted to be a partner in supporting this outstanding community of international researchers. Their expertise and thirst for knowledge will enhance our understanding of how life works and the causes and consequences of disease, said Anne-Marie Coriat, Head of Research Careers at Wellcome Trust.

A panel of distinguished scientists reviewed more than 1,400 applications, and evaluated both the impact of past work, including doctoral and postdoctoral achievements, and the promise of work to come. It's a researcher-focused approach that emphasizes the skills and talents of the individual, rather than solely the projects proposed.

"We are proud to partner with HHMI, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust to support this truly exceptional group of young biomedical scientists. Biomedical research is increasingly at the core of the work of our research institute, the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia," said Gulbenkian Institute Director Jonathan Howard.

HHMI, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation announced the 2017 International Research Scholar competition March 29, 2016. The competition was open to early-career scientists who held a full-time position at a research-oriented university, medical school, or nonprofit institution, and had been running their own labs for less than seven years. Candidates also had to work in an eligible country, and have received training in the United States or the United Kingdom for at least one year.

###

2017 International Research Scholars

Ido Amit, PhD

Weizmann Institute of Science

Israel

HHMI International Research Scholar

Ido Amit wants to reveal how immune cells work, and what role they play in health and disease. His lab develops new single cell genomic technologies to study these cells in unprecedented resolution. Figuring out immune cells' actions will help advance the next generation of immunotherapy to fight cancer and other disorders.

Melanie Blokesch, PhD

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Switzerland

HHMI International Research Scholar

Melanie Blokesch studies Vibrio cholerae, a water-dwelling bacterium that wreaks havoc in the gut and causes the diarrheal disease cholera. Her team wants to map the molecular tools V. cholerae uses to jump from the environment to humans, which will help explain what triggers cholera outbreaks in endemic areas of the world.

Carlos Blondel, PhD

Universidad Autonoma de Chile

Chile

HHMI-Gulbenkian International Research Scholar

Carlos Blondel investigates the emergence of human pathogens by studying their molecular weaponry. He has worked with foodborne pathogens that cause gastrointestinal disease, such as Salmonella and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Blondel recently used CRISPR/Cas 9 genome editing technology to uncover key interactions between V. parahaemolyticus and human cells.

Yossi Buganim, PhD

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Israel

HHMI International Research Scholar

Yossi Buganim's goal is to bring therapeutic cells from the lab to the clinic. His team has invented and improved ways to reprogram adult cells into other cell types, including those able to generate nearly any kind of cell in the body. One day, such cells could be tapped for regenerative medicine replacing damaged tissues with those grown in the lab.

Tineke Cantaert, PhD

Institut Pasteur Cambodia

Cambodia

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Tineke Cantaert seeks to understand how the immune system responds to infection by flaviviruses such as Dengue and Zika. Currently, no treatment exists for infection by either virus. Identifying biomarkers for protective immunity might help scientists speed up the development of therapies and vaccines.

Ling-Ling Chen, PhD

Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (SIBCB), Chinese Academy of Sciences

China

HHMI International Research Scholar

Ling-Ling Chen is discovering new and unusual classes of RNA molecules called long noncoding RNAs. She's figuring out how these molecules form, what role they play in gene regulation, and how they may influence disease. She has found that some of these RNAs are conspicuously absent in people with the neurodevelopmental genetic disorder Prader-Willi syndrome.

Mark Dawson, MD, PhD

Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute

Australia

HHMI International Research Scholar

Mark Dawson is searching for ways to wipe out malignant stem cells without harming normal stem cells. He studies cancers such as acute myeloid leukemia, which are difficult to eradicate using traditional chemotherapies. Understanding how normal and malignant stem cells differ from each other could let researchers devise more effective, targeted treatments.

Ana Domingos, PhD

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Portugal

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Ana Domingos is investigating new molecular strategies to fight obesity. She has discovered a direct link between fat tissue and neurons of the sympathetic nervous system, which plays a role in burning fat. Stimulating these neurons could one day lead to a new treatment to cause fat loss.

Idan Efroni, DPhil

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Israel

HHMI International Research Scholar

Idan Efroni is unraveling the mystery of plants' impressive regenerative abilities. He uses tomatoes to study how plants generate new stem cells and meristems to replace damaged or missing roots. Insight into this process might reveal clues about tissue regeneration in other organisms, and help scientists boost plant production for agriculture.

Eran Elinav, MD, PhD

Weizmann Institute of Science

Israel

HHMI-Gates International Research Scholar

Eran Elinav is fascinated by microbes that live around and in our body our microbiome. He has discovered important links between nutrition, gut microbes and the risk of developing common diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. Now, he wants to figure out how gut microbes impact human relapsing (or "yo-yo") obesity and its many complications.

Qiaomei Fu, PhD

Chinese Academy of Sciences

China

HHMI International Research Scholar

Qiaomei Fu is exploring the genetic roots of humankind. Her work has helped untangle the early history of modern humans and Neanderthals, and reveal how early agriculture affected European farmers. She wants to illuminate the human prehistory of Asia by investigating the ancient genomes of both humans and pathogens.

Lena Ho, PhD

A*STAR Institute of Medical Biology, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

Singapore

HHMI International Research Scholar

Lena Ho is on the hunt for new peptides linked to human disease. She's looking for hidden gems among previously overlooked regions of our genome, and seeks to understand how the peptides work and how they can be used to combat common diseases of the cardiovascular and metabolic systems.

Kathryn Holt, PhD

University of Melbourne

Australia

HHMI-Gates International Research Scholar

Kathryn Holt uses genomic tools to study infectious disease-causing microbes important in global health, including Salmonella typhi, which causes typhoid fever, and Shigella sonnei, a bacterium responsible for dysentery. She wants to understand what makes pathogens emerge, and why some become resistant to antimicrobial drugs.

Catarina Homem, PhD

Nova University of Lisbon

Portugal

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

In developing animal embryos, stem cell growth is tightly regulated so that the right kinds of cells emerge at the proper place and time. Catarina Homem is investigating how metabolism and nutrition influence this process, and how mistakes can lead to developmental defects and diseases such as cancer.

Michael Hothorn, PhD

University of Geneva

Switzerland

HHMI International Research Scholar

Michael Hothorn is piecing together how plants sense essential nutrients in the soil and send signals from cell to cell. A molecular understanding of how plants detect and respond to changes in phosphorus levels, for example, could help researchers engineer crops that can survive when nutrients are scarce.

Shalev Itzkovitz, PhD

Weizmann Institute of Science

Israel

HHMI International Research Scholar

Shalev Itzkovitz studies the design principles of mammalian tissues. He's taking a close-up look at individual cells to figure out how they work together in organs such as the intestine, liver, and pancreas. Advanced imaging techniques combined with single cell sequencing will help researchers determine the job description of cells in different organs.

Martin Jinek, PhD

University of Zurich

Switzerland

HHMI International Research Scholar

Martin Jinek is investigating how protein and RNA molecules team up to control gene expression and protect the genome. He has pioneered work on the powerful genome-editing system known as CRISPR-Cas9, and revealed key details of this system at the atomic level. His work could spur the development of new, cutting-edge technologies for editing genomes and genetic therapies.

Luis Larrondo, PhD

Catholic University of Chile (Santiago, Chile)

Chile

HHMI International Research Scholar

Luis Larrondo is unwinding the secrets of biological clocks, which help living organisms, including humans, plants and fungi, stay in sync with the Earth's daily rhythms. His research draws upon synthetic biology as well as optogenetics to probe the molecular components that keep biological clocks ticking.

Guohong Li, PhD

Chinese Academy of Sciences

China

HHMI International Research Scholar

Human genomic DNA is packaged with histone proteins into tightly-wound bundles of fiber called chromatin. Guohong Li has used an imaging technique called cryo-electron microscopy to visualize these twisted fibers in 3D at a detail previously unseen. Now, he wants to view the fibers at atomic resolution, and figure out the role of the histones wrapped inside.

Ryan Lister, PhD

University of Western Australia

Australia

HHMI International Research Scholar

A suite of chemical tags decorates the genomes of humans, plants, and other multicellular organisms. Ryan Lister is inventing new tools to edit these tags, a type of epigenetic modification, which can regulate gene expression, cell differentiation, and more. He also wants to explore their role in brain development, which could offer new insights into neurological disorders.

Ying Liu, PhD

Peking University

China

HHMI International Research Scholar

Mitochondria, which generate energy for cells and regulate programmed cell death, are vulnerable to damage. Ying Liu is using worm genetics and biochemistry to investigate the cellular pathways that sense mitochondrial dysfunction and activate stress responses. Defects in these pathways may contribute to metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

Laura Mackay, PhD

University of Melbourne

Australia

HHMI-Gates International Research Scholar

Laura Mackay is working to identify pathways that guide the development of tissue-resident memory T cells, immune cells that reside in the body's peripheral tissues and protect against local infections. She wants to harness these cells to create new therapies for infectious disease, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

Judit Makara, MD, PhD

Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Hungary

HHMI International Research Scholar

Judit Makara is investigating how neurons in the brain's hippocampus support creation of memories. She is interested in the synaptic and dendritic processing mechanisms that promote the recruitment of individual neurons into ensembles with coordinated activity to store information about places or events.

Tomas Marques-Bonet, PhD

University of Pompeu Fabra

Spain

HHMI International Research Scholar

Tomas Marques-Bonet is assessing genomic diversity among great apes. His work will help us understand the biological processes and features that make us human and has implications for conservation biology. He is also using comparative genomics to study changes in gene regulation and the genomic consequences of domestication.

Seth Masters, PhD

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Australia

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Seth Masters uses personalized medicine to identify genetic changes that cause severe inflammatory diseases early in life. These studies teach us about how the innate immune system works, and may also provide targets for the development of drugs to treat more common inflammatory conditions such as heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, type 2 diabetes and neurological disorders.

Ruben Moreno-Bote, DPhil

University of Pompeu Fabra

Spain

HHMI International Research Scholar

Ruben Moreno-Bote is interested in the idea that although the human brain can solve complex problems, it sometimes falls short on simple tasks. He is combining theoretical and experimental approaches to identify the factors that limit the amount of information stored in the brain.

Shyh-Chang Ng, PhD

Agency for Science Technology and Research

Singapore

HHMI-Gates International Research Scholar

As stem cells develop into specialized cells, their cell fates are influenced by the biochemical pathways that process nutrients to synthesize cellular materials and convert food to energy. Shyh-Chang Ng is studying how these metabolic processes regulate muscle regeneration during aging. His work could deepen our understanding of the effects of nutrition and exercise, and suggest strategies for treating the aging-induced metabolic syndrome.

Zaza Ndhlovu, PhD

University of Kwazulu-Natal

South Africa

HHMI International Research Scholar

Zaza Ndhlovu is investigating how the immune system is affected when patients with HIV begin combination antiretroviral therapy very early in the course of disease. His goal is to learn whether brief exposure to the virus is sufficient to prime a protective immune response that might one day be boosted by a vaccine.

Fredros Okumu, PhD

Ifakara Health Institute

Tanzania

HHMI-Gates International Research Scholar

Fredros Okumu is developing species-specific methods of eliminating the malaria-transmitting mosquito Anopheles funestus, with the goal of stopping the disease's transmission in two districts in southeastern Tanzania. Although A. funestus is not the most populous mosquito species in the region, it is responsible for 82-95 percent of local malaria infections.

Fabiola Osorio, PhD

University of Chile, Santiago

Chile

HHMI International Research Scholar

Cellular perturbations, such as changes in nutrient or oxygen levels or accumulation of misfolded proteins, can be indicative of pathogen presence or disruption in normal physiology. Fabiola Osorio studies how the immune system recognizes and responds to signs of cellular stress for regulation of immunity.

Hye Yoon Park, PhD

Seoul National University

Korea

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Biophysicist Hye Yoon Park is developing imaging technologies to visualize the cellular and molecular processes the brain uses to form, consolidate, and retrieve memories. She will use the new techniques to study how neuronal activity alters gene expression to rewire neural circuits during learning.

Joseph Paton, PhD

The Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown

Portugal

HHMI International Research Scholar

Joseph Paton has discovered key signals in the brain involved in timing and decision-making. He is investigating the circuit mechanisms that generate these signals and transform them into actions. His work will help explain how animals free themselves from the immediacy of the current moment to learn and plan.

Nicolas Plachta, PhD

A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology,

Singapore

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Nicolas Plachta is using single-cell imaging technologies devised in his lab to study how developing embryos take shape. He wants to understand the molecular mechanisms that govern changes in cell fate, shape, and position and how these changes are coordinated across an entire embryo.

Thomas Pucadyil, PhD

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research - Pune

India

HHMI International Research Scholar

Thomas Pucadyil is studying how biological membranes -- protective barriers that are highly resilient to rupture -- split apart to allow for the packaging and transport of cellular materials. He is searching for membrane fission catalysts that cells use to manage this energetically demanding process.

Hai Qi, PhD

Tsinghua University

China

HHMI-Gates International Research Scholar

Hai Qi is exploring how the immune system generates and maintains memory cells that remember past infections and stay poised to produce antibodies against returning pathogens. His research may open new avenues for vaccine development and suggest better ways to control autoimmune diseases.

Asya Rolls, PhD

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Israel

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Asya Rolls wants to understand the connections between the brain and the immune system. She is particularly interested in how brain activity influences the immune system's ability to find and destroy tumors. Her research could reveal new ways to harness the body's inherent disease-fighting potential.

Marvin Tanenbaum, PhD

Hubrecht Laboratory

Netherlands

HHMI International Research Scholar

Marvin Tanenbaum is developing an imaging approach that will allow researchers to observe individual messenger RNA molecules as they are translated into proteins in living cells. He will use the method to investigate how translation is regulated to control the fate and function of cells.

Wai-Hong Tham, PhD

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Australia

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Wai-Hong Tham is studying how malaria parasites interact with their human hosts. Specifically, she wants to understand how Plasmodium vivax, the dominant malaria parasite in countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa, recognizes and invades red blood cells inside the human body.

Yanli Wang, PhD

Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

China

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Yanli Wang is studying mechanisms of two bacterial anti-virus defense systems. She is using structural biology to learn how the CRISPR-Cas and Argonaute systems use small molecules of RNA or DNA to find and cleave foreign genetic material. She is also looking for ways to modify their RNA/DNA-cleaving components to increase their efficiency as genome editing tools.

Wei Xie, PhD

Tsinghua University

China

HHMI International Research Scholar

Immediately after an egg is fertilized, DNA and its packaging proteins (histones) undergo drastic reorganization so that cells can acquire new identities in early embryos. However, how this is achieved remains poorly understood due to the extremely scarce experimental samples. By developing ultrasensitive tools for chromatin analysis, Wei Xie is working to decipher how such reprogramming occurs and whether chromatin associated "epigenetic" information can be passed on to the next generation.

Manuel Zimmer, PhD

Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

Austria

HHMI-Wellcome International Research Scholar

Manuel Zimmer is using the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans to study the dynamics of neural networks. Using a whole-brain imaging approach developed in his lab, he aims to uncover the fundamental computations and their underlying mechanisms neural circuits use to interpret sensory information and generate appropriate behaviors.

###

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute plays a powerful role in advancing scientific research and education. Its scientists, located across the country and around the world, have made important discoveries that advance both human health and our fundamental understanding of biology. The Institute also aims to transform science education into a creative, interdisciplinary endeavor that reflects the excitement of real research. HHMI is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. http://www.hhmi.org

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people - especially those with the fewest resources - have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/

The Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. We support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine. Our investment portfolio gives us the independence to support such transformative work as the sequencing and understanding of the human genome, research that established front-line drugs for malaria, and Wellcome Collection, our free venue for the incurably curious that explores medicine, life and art. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is an international foundation that bears the name of businessman, art collector and philanthropist of Armenian origin, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955). For almost 60 years, the Foundation has been carrying out extensive activities both in Portugal and abroad through the development of in-house projects -- or in partnership with other institutions -- and by awarding scholarships and grants. Headquartered in Lisbon, where Calouste Gulbenkian spent his last years, the Foundation is also home to a scientific investigation centre in Oeiras, and runs delegations in Paris and London -- cities where Calouste Gulbenkian lived. http://www.gulbenkian.pt/inst/en/Homepage
JCU's Professor Paul Dirks and Associate Professor Eric Roberts have spent the past few years analysing fossils of the hominid Homo naledi, found deep in a cave system in South Africa in 2013. The pair were involved in investigating the site and describing the find in a paper released in 2015.

Professor Dirks said using state-of-the-art dating techniques at JCU and other facilities in laboratories around the world, they have now found Homo naledi to be between 236,000 and 335,000 years old.

"The oldest dated fossils of Homo sapiens in Africa are around 200,000 years old. And now we have a very primitive looking hominid that probably existed at the same time as them. This is the first time one of these primitive hominids has been found in association with more modern humans in Africa," he said.

Professor Dirks said dating was performed on fossil remains, as well as the surrounding sediments. We have also started work on fossils found in a recently uncovered second chamber deep in the cave system and distinct from the original site of the Homo naledi discovery. He said the implications of the new dates are profound.

"When we first identified the fossils, most of the paleo-anthropologists on site were convinced that they would be a million or two million years old, but we have now shown they are much more recent. It means that a primitive hominid persisted on the landscape in Africa for a very substantial period of time. Well beyond what paleo-anthropologists predicted to be possible."

He said the structure of Homo naledi's hands meant it could have been a toolmaker.

"The new dating puts it on the landscape at a time from which we find lots of tools in Africa in the middle stone-age. One of the implications of the new dates is that it's no longer automatically possible for us to assume that early homosapiens that were making these tools."

Associate Professor Eric Roberts said they are confident of the new dates.

"Much of the initial work on the age range was done here at JCU in our advanced analytic centre. But to get the final date range we used ten different labs and six different techniques which also involved double-blind testing."

Dr Roberts said the second chamber is even deeper in the cave system.

"It's significant because one of the questions after the discovery of the first chamber was whether we had what is known as a 'chimera' - meaning some mythical animal composed of different parts of other animals that doesn't really exist.

"But the new chamber shows the species is what we originally interpreted it as. We have the same morphology on a skeleton and two other partial skulls in the chamber," he said.

Dr Roberts said working in the tight confines of the cave system is challenging.

"The site is difficult to get to and requires some very tight squeezes. Pretty much the only geologists to have worked in the newly discovered second chamber so far are JCU scientists. And the ones that have gotten in are as small as myself or smaller."

Professor Dirks said it's anyone's guess why the hominids were in the cave system to begin with.

"There's a big debate, on whether it's a burial ground or they were trapped there. They could have been chased by lions or other humans, they could have got stuck in the cave. There are enormous storms in the region and there is evidence of meteorite impacts of a similar age in the area. You can speculate all you like, but at the moment the original hypothesis that they were placed there on purpose, still holds."

He said the find shows the history of evolution is far more complicated than just a straight sequential history.

"We have many different branches on the family tree and it is only fairly recently that there is only one survivor on the landscape. The new dating of the fossils opens up all sorts of possibilities for an interchange of tool use, cultural activities and behaviours between Homo naledi and homo sapiens," said Professor Dirks.

###
New Rochelle, NY, May 3, 2017--A new study examined how social media cues such as the Facebook logo may affect frequent and less frequent social media users differently, sparking spontaneous hedonic reactions that make it difficult to resist social media cravings. The intriguing results are reported in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website until June 5, 2017.

In the article entitled "Spontaneous Hedonic Reactions to Social Media Cues," Guido van Koningsbruggen and Tilo Hartmann, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Allison Eden, Michigan State University, and Harm Veling, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, describe two studies. In the first study, participants rated a series of images as pleasant or unpleasant after an initial exposure to either the Facebook logo or a neutral cue. The researchers expected frequent social media users to react more positively to the images that followed the Facebook logo, whereas they did not expect the cue to affect the responses of the less frequent users. The second study replicated the first and added another dimension -- measuring Facebook cravings among the participants, defined as a strong desire to use social media or a preoccupation with social media.

If spontaneous reactions to social media cues can trigger cravings for social media use, then together these could contribute to the difficulty people might face resisting these temptations.

"Findings in this study seem to be in line with previous research on cues and cravings in foods (such as chocolate) and substances (such as nicotine)," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "Understanding hedonic reactions, both psychological and physiological, to social media cues can help us to develop more effective treatment and prevention protocols."

###

About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website. About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101
Figuring out how plasma bubbles and blobs affect one another and ultimately the transmission of communications, GPS, and radar signals in Earth's ionosphere will be the job of a recently selected CubeSat mission.

A team of NASA scientists and engineers, led by Jeffrey Klenzing and Sarah Jones, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, recently won NASA funding to build the Plasma Enhancements in The Ionosphere-Thermosphere Satellite. The mission, also known as petitSat, is a precursor to a possible Explorer-class mission and leverages several R&D-supported technologies, including the satellite bus itself.

When it launches from the International Space Station in 2021, the mission will study density irregularities in the mid and low-latitude ionosphere, which occupies a tiny fraction of the atmosphere and is basically an ionized layer coexisting with the thermosphere roughly 50 to 250 miles above Earth's surface.

The ionosphere is a plasma, an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons. It is important to long-distance radio communication because it reflects radio waves back to Earth. Consequently, any perturbations in the density of the plasma interfere with GPS and radar signals.

These perturbations or irregularities come in the form of ionospheric depletions or bubbles, structures that contain fewer electrons, and enhancements or blobs that contain a greater number of electrons. "All these irregularities can distort the transmission of radio waves," said Klenzing, the mission principal investigator.

Blobs and Bubbles: A Different Story

Previous studies of the blobs indicate that they can be the direct result of bubbles forming near the geomagnetic equator, Klenzing said. Other observations, however, tell a different story. The blobs can be observed in regions where bubbles do not extend and can form when bubbles do not.

They suggest that multiple mechanisms are at play, including fast-traveling waves coming from the thermosphere, a warm neutral atmospheric layer where most of the ionosphere resides. In fact, these wave-like thermospheric structures create waves in the ionosphere through ion-neutral drag -- a phenomenon called Medium-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances, or MSTIDs. The resulting MSTIDs create electric fields that can transport energy from the summer hemisphere to the winter hemisphere. It is thought that the observed plasma blobs are the consequence of these electric fields.

"Our mission will investigate the link between these two phenomena -- enhanced plasma density measurements, or blobs, and the wave action in the thermosphere," Klenzing said.

To find out, the team will fly two instruments: a version of the Goddard-developed Ion-Neutral Mass Spectrometer, or INMS -- the world's smallest mass spectrometer that has flown on ExoCube, a CubeSat mission sponsored by the National Science Foundation -- and the Gridded Retarding Ion Drift Sensor, or GRIDS, provided by Utah State University and Virginia Tech.

The mass spectrometer will measure the densities of a variety of particles in the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere, observing how these densities change in response to daily and seasonal cycles. The university-provided instrument, meanwhile, will measure the distribution, motion, and velocity of ions.

Dellingr-Based Mission

The team will integrate its instruments on a Dellingr-based spacecraft. A team of Goddard engineers specifically created this 6U CubeSat to demonstrate that that these tiny craft could be reliable and cost-effective also while delivering compelling science. Dellingr, which also carries the INMS, magnetometers, and other technologies, is expected to launch in August.

Unlike Dellingr whose solar panels are mounted on the side of the spacecraft, petitSat will fly deployable solar arrays -- an enhancement that will allow mission operators to more easily point the arrays to the sun to recharge batteries. It also will carry a more advanced star tracker, said Jones, the INMS principal investigator.

When petitSat is deployed 249 miles above Earth -- consistent with the International Space Station's orbit -- the resulting data will be compared with that gathered by other ground- and space-based assets, Klenzing said. "Through comparative analysis, we will bring closure to our key science question: what is the link between plasma enhancements and MSTIDs. We've studied bits and pieces, but we've never had a full complement of instruments."

###

For more technology news, go to https://gsfctechnology.gsfc.nasa.gov/newsletter/Current.pdf
Singapore, 9 May 2017 - Professor Henry Yeung, Co-Director of the Global Production Networks Centre at NUS, and economic geographer from the Department of Geography at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, has been conferred the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers [IBG]) Murchison Award 2017.

The award was conferred by the Council of the Society in recognition of Prof Yeung's pioneering publications on globalisation, and will be presented to him by the Society's President, Mr Nicholas Crane, at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Medals and Awards ceremony 2017 in London on 5 June 2017. The Murchison Award is the most senior accolade in the awards category to be presented at the ceremony; the other category being the medals category.

Sharing his thoughts about receiving the prestigious award, Prof Yeung said, "It gives me enormous pleasure to have my work, which is all done in Singapore, recognised by the Royal Geographical Society. This award will spur me on further to take on Anglo-American geography and social science in an increasingly post-colonial world of knowledge production. I hope this award paves the way for further decentering of such knowledge production, particularly in the fields of humanities and social sciences. This means the rise of new centres of knowledge production, for instance in Asia, that can capitalise on our own locations as sites of laboratories for new insights and thoughts."

Professor Henry Yeung

Prof Henry Yeung graduated with B.A. First Class Honours in Geography from NUS in July 1992, and obtained his PhD from the University of Manchester in England in 1995. He returned to Singapore on 31 December 1995 to begin his career in the Department of Geography at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. An eminent economic geographer and a highly cited academic, Prof Yeung's research interests include theories and the geography of transnational corporations, global production networks and global value chains, East Asian firms and developmental states in the global economy.

Throughout his career, Prof Yeung has been accorded many honours, including being ranked first in the list of top 50 human geographers in the Journal of Economic Geography (Vol. 10) in 2010, and being conferred a Fellowship with the Academy of Social Sciences in the UK in 2012, in recognition of his significant contributions to social science.

A leading authority in his field, Prof Yeung has published widely. His latest book with Cornell University Press, titled Strategic Coupling: East Asian Industrial Transformation on the New Global Economy (2016), examines economic development and state-firms relations in East Asia, focusing in particular on South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore.

###

About the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), and its Medals and Awards

Founded in 1830, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is the UK's learned society and professional body for geography. It is a world leader in advancing geography and supporting its practitioners in the UK and across the world. Since 1832, the Society's medals and awards have recognised excellence in geographical research and fieldwork, teaching and public engagement. They are presented annually in recognition of those who have made outstanding achievements within the sphere of geography.

For more information about the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), please visit: http://www.rgs.org/HomePage.htm

For media enquiries, please contact:

Cheryl LIM

Manager

Office of Corporate Relations

National University of Singapore

DID: +65 6601-3716

Email: cheryl.lim@nus.edu.sg

About National University of Singapore (NUS)

A leading global university centred in Asia, the National University of Singapore (NUS) is Singapore's flagship university, which offers a global approach to education and research, with a focus on Asian perspectives and expertise.

NUS has 17 faculties and schools across three campuses. Its transformative education includes a broad-based curriculum underscored by multi-disciplinary courses and cross-faculty enrichment. Over 38,000 students from 100 countries enrich the community with their diverse social and cultural perspectives.

NUS takes an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach to research, working with partners from industry, government and academia, to address crucial and complex issues relevant to Asia and the world. Researchers in NUS' Schools and Faculties, 30 university-level research institutes and centres, and Research Centres of Excellence cover a wide range of themes including: energy, environmental and urban sustainability; treatment and prevention of diseases common among Asians; active ageing; advanced materials; risk management and resilience of financial systems. The University's latest research focus is to use data sciences, optimisation research and cyber-security to support Singapore's Smart Nation initiative.

For more information on NUS, please visit http://www.nus.edu.sg.
Persecution by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against the Yazidi population of Sinjar, Iraq has been the focus of attention recently following the United Nations' recognition of these ongoing actions as genocide. The extent of the killings and kidnappings as well as the demographics of those targeted has until now remained unclear. In a new study published in PLOS Medicine, Valeria Cetorelli of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, and the London School of Economics and Political Science Middle East Centre, UK and colleagues report findings from their retrospective household survey of displaced survivors in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, providing documented insight into the extent of the attack and in particular the disproportionate burden of killings and kidnappings of children.

The researchers present a compelling and disturbing account of the events that occurred over a few days in the area of Mount Sinjar in August 2014. Their survey, conducted in November and December, 2015, covered a random sample of 1,300 displaced households sheltered in camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Information about reported killings and kidnappings of household members was recorded. Using these data, the authors estimate that 9,900 Yazidis were either killed or kidnapped (95% confidence interval (CI): 7,000 - 13,900), amounting to 2.5% of the entire Yazidi population of Sinjar. Of these, an estimated 3,100 (CI: 2,100 - 4,400) were killed, with nearly half of them executed by gunshot, beheading or being burned alive, while the rest died from lack of water and food or injuries during the ISIS siege on Mount Sinjar. The authors estimated that 6,800 (CI: 4,200 - 10,800) were kidnapped, with over one third still missing at the time of the survey. In one of the most distressing aspects of the study, which distinguished between children and adults as well as males and females, the authors reveal that children were disproportionately affected: children accounted for nearly all those who died on Mount Sinjar during the ISIS siege and children were also much less likely to escape captivity following kidnapping compared to adults. Reports from escapees documented torture, sex slavery and forced religious conversion once kidnapped. The authors suggest that their analysis may have underestimated the actual toll of killings and kidnappings because of the unknown number of families who were captured in their entirety with no one surviving to report. Limitations of the study include inference from a surveyed sample of displaced households to the whole Yazidi population of Sinjar, and uncertainty of that population's exact size at the time of the attacks.

This study provides systematically obtained evidence of the extent of violence against the Yazidis, most of whom remain displaced in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Such evidence is important to keep attention focused on the rescue, assistance and protection of this minority population. The authors note: "Combined with other existing evidence, these estimates can support a formal genocide investigation by an appointed judicial authority."

###

Funding:

This study was funded by the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy through the LSE Middle East Centre. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests:

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation:

Cetorelli V, Sasson I, Shabila N, Burnham G (2017) Mortality and kidnapping estimates for the Yazidi population in the area of Mount Sinjar, Iraq, in August 2014: A retrospective household survey. PLoS Med 14(5): e1002297. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002297

Author Affiliations:

Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002297
Rice University chemist Gustavo Scuseria won the 2017 Royal Society of Chemistry S F Boys - A Rahman Award. This biennial award from the London-based international organization for chemical scientists recognizes outstanding innovative research in the area of computational chemistry, including both quantum chemistry and molecular simulations. Scuseria will complete a lecture tour in the U.K. to share his research.

"I am deeply honored to receive this award, whose previous winners are founding figures in electronic structure theory and quantum chemistry," said Scuseria, the Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry. "I look forward to sharing exciting new results about our quest for solving the strong correlation problem during my U.K. university tour."

Scuseria, who is also a professor of physics and astronomy and of materials science and nanoengineering, focuses on work that straddles the interface of quantum chemistry, condensed matter physics and materials science and, ultimately, the development of important materials for energy and the environment.

Scuseria's list of honors includes the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, a Creativity Extension Award from the National Science Foundation, an IBM Partnership Award, the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology Theory, a Humboldt Research Award, a Lisa Meitner Minerva Lectureship from Israel and a Distinguished Israel Pollak Lecturer from the Technion.

Born and raised in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Scuseria has been a Rice faculty member since 1989. He is co-editor of the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Scientific Advisory Board on the Many Electrons Initiative of the Simons Foundation in New York. He is vice president of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science and a fellow of the American Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Royal Society of Chemistry, which has more than 54,000 members and a heritage that spans 175 years, advances excellence in the chemical sciences. It recognizes achievements by individuals, teams and organizations in advancing the chemical discipline. Fifty previous winners of Royal Society of Chemistry awards have gone on to win Nobel Prizes for their work.

###

This release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for happiest students and for lots of race/class interaction by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.
People who have received organ transplants are at higher risk of developing and dying of cancer than the general population. Yet their rates of cancer screening do not meet existing guidelines, a new study has found

TORONTO, May 4, 2017--People who have received organ transplants are at higher risk of developing and dying of cancer than the general population. Yet their rates of cancer screening do not meet existing guidelines, a new study has found.

The study, published online today in the American Journal of Transplantation, examined the health records of 6,392 patients who had organ transplants in Ontario between 1997 and 2010.

"Most of the organ transplant recipients had periods when they were not up-to-date on colorectal, cervical or breast cancer screening," said senior author Dr. Nancy Baxter, a colorectal surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital and senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

In fact, a sizeable portion of them had no cancer screening at all during the study, said Dr. Baxter.

"Many patients don't see cancer screening as a high priority, because their main health concern is their transplant," she said. "Transplant recipients should be aware they have a heightened risk of developing and dying from cancer and should advocate with their health-care providers to be screened."

Current cancer screening guidelines for transplant recipients in Canada generally parallel the guidelines for the general population.

Researchers identified 6,392 solid organ transplant recipients who were eligible for cancer screening: 4,436 for colorectal cancer screening, 2,252 eligible for cervical cancer screening, and 1,551 eligible for breast cancer screening. Of those, 3,436 (78 per cent), 1,572 (70 per cent), and 1,417 (91per cent) were not continuously screened for colorectal, cervical and breast cancer, respectively.

Dr. Sergio Acuna, the study's lead author and a PhD candidate in clinical epidemiology and health-care research at St. Michael's, said transplant recipients who were routinely seeing their family physician were more likely to be screened for cancer than those followed by a transplant specialist alone.

Comorbidities--additional conditions including heart disease and diabetes--and life expectancy also had an effect on recipients' likelihood of being screened, according to the authors. The study found that patients with more comorbidities were less likely to be up-to-date with cancer screening.

Previous work by Drs. Baxter and Acuna found that people who had organ transplants were three times more likely to die from cancer than the general population and that cancer was a leading cause of death among these patients.

It is well known among clinicians and researchers that cancer screening leads to the detection of cancer at early stages, according to Dr. Acuna.

"We have evidence of increased incidence of cancer in transplant recipients, we have some good evidence for the performance of screening tests in transplant recipients, and although we have no direct evidence of the effect of treatment on outcomes, it is likely that early detection in this population would lead to improved outcomes," said Dr. Acuna.

Although there are no clinical trials demonstrating that this screening benefit applies to organ transplant recipients, it is unlikely to change given that clinical trials require large numbers of people to provide accurate data and the transplant population is relatively small, he said.

In another study, Drs. Baxter and Acuna found cancer screening guidelines for this group are inconsistent as is the use of these guidelines. Their review found only 13 sets of clinical practice guidelines--recommendations for optimizing patient care generally based on evidence--for cancer screening of transplant recipients. Most were for kidney transplant recipients as kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organ.

Dr. Acuna said this inconsistency could be one reason for low screening rates in this population, and patients and their physicians should be aware of the need for cancer screening.

"In Canada, the guidelines are not comprehensive, and there are no specific guidelines for most types of solid organ transplant," he said. "Family doctors, transplant specialists and transplant recipients should all be aware that cancer screening guidelines for the general population should also apply to them or their patients."

###

Today's study received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

About St. Michael's Hospital

St. Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in 27 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, care of the homeless and global health are among the hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.

About ICES

The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) is an independent, non-profit organization that uses population-based health information to produce knowledge on a broad range of health care issues. Our unbiased evidence provides measures of health system performance, a clearer understanding of the shifting health care needs of Ontarians, and a stimulus for discussion of practical solutions to optimize scarce resources. ICES knowledge is highly regarded in Canada and abroad, and is widely used by government, hospitals, planners, and practitioners to make decisions about care delivery and to develop policy. For the latest ICES news, follow us on Twitter: @ICESOntario

Media contacts

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Kelly O'Brien

Communications Advisor - Media

416-864-5047

obrienkel@smh.ca

Deborah Creatura

Media Advisor, ICES

(o) 416-480-4780 or (c) 647-406-5996

deborah.creatura@ices.on.ca
LA JOLLA, CA - May 9, 2017 - Three chemists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI)--Dale Boger, Jin-Quan Yu and Phil Baran--have received awards from the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a renowned professional organization for chemists based in the United Kingdom, with more than 54,000 members worldwide.

Dale Boger, co-chair of the Department of Chemistry at TSRI, was awarded the 2017 Robert Robinson Award of the RSC's Organic Division. The award honors his groundbreaking studies in natural product synthesis, which could lead to new therapeutic treatments for challenging clinical needs.

"I am very honored and humbled to receive the RSC Robert Robinson Award, which has such a distinguished list of prior award winners," Boger said.

Jin-Quan Yu, Frank and Bertha Hupp Professor of Chemistry at TSRI, received the 2017 Pedler Award from the RSC's Organic Division in recognition of his development of pioneering methods of C-H activation, a technique in chemistry that can lead to new pharmaceuticals and other natural products.

"I hope these new reactions will accelerate the discovery and synthesis of useful molecules, especially medicines," said Yu, who received his Ph.D. in the U.K. at the University of Cambridge and served as a Royal Society fellow. "It gives me a warm feeling to be recognized by the U.K. scientific community that I was part of for 10 years."

Phil Baran, the Darlene Shiley Professor of Chemistry at TSRI, received the RSC's 2017 Merck, Sharp & Dohme Award, which honors contributions to any area of organic chemistry from a researcher under the age of 45. Baran's work focuses on developing new chemical reactions and methodologies for more efficient and economically viable routes in drug design.

Baran credited his lab members for his success so far. "This award is a recognition of the students and postdoctoral scholars who work tirelessly to invent useful chemistry," Baran said.

In addition to 2,000 and a medal, all three awards include a lecture tour in the U.K.

###

About The Scripps Research Institute

The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. TSRI is internationally recognized for its contributions to science and health, including its role in laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. An institution that evolved from the Scripps Metabolic Clinic founded by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps in 1924, the institute now employs more than 2,500 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists -- including two Nobel laureates and 20 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine -- work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. In October 2016, TSRI announced a strategic affiliation with the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), representing a renewed commitment to the discovery and development of new medicines to address unmet medical needs. For more information, see http://www.scripps.edu.
Every two minutes, a child will die from malaria in Africa. It is a preventable, treatable disease, that each year affects approximately 200 million people globally. Of those, more than 90 per cent of cases will stem from Sub-Saharan Africa--a region rife with the most dangerous of malaria pathogens and the mosquito most likely to transfer it. The young are particularly vulnerable to the disease with nearly 70 per cent of all deaths occurring in children under the age of five.

Malaria is a global killer and a world health concern. But while millions of dollars are spent each year searching for innovative health solutions, new research from the University of Alberta suggests part of the answer may begin with mothers in the classroom.

The study, published in the journal Pathogens and Global Health, found that maternal education can act as a 'social vaccine' for childhood malaria infection. Researchers from the U of A and the Universite Catholique du Graben tested 647 children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between the ages of two months and five years of age. The researchers also had the children's parent or guardian fill out a survey related to demographics, socioeconomic status, maternal education, bed net use and recent illness involving fever. The team determined that among the participants, the higher a mother's education, the lesser chance of their child being infected with malaria.

"This was not a small effect. Maternal education had an enormous effect--equivalent to or greater than the leading biomedical vaccine against malaria," says Michael Hawkes, senior author and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta.

One hundred and twenty-three out of the 647 children in the study tested positive for malaria. The prevalence of malaria in children of mothers with no education was 30 per cent. If mothers had received primary education, that rate dipped to 17 per cent. Mothers who had received education beyond primary school only had a 15 per cent prevalence of malaria in their young children.

"It doesn't take a lot of education to teach a mom how to take simple precautions to prevent malaria in her child. All it takes is knowing the importance of using a bed net and knowing the importance of seeking care when your child has a fever," says Cary Ma, a medical student at the U of A and a study co-author. "These are fairly straight forward, simple messages in the context of health and hygiene that can easily be conveyed, usually at an elementary or primary school level."

"The World Health Organization is rolling out a new vaccine in countries across Africa that has an efficacy of about 30 per cent," adds Hawkes. "But children whose mothers are educated beyond the primary level have a 53 per cent reduction in their malaria rates. So educating the mom has as profound an effect on childhood malaria as hundreds of millions of dollars spent on a vaccine."

The researchers say their work builds upon previous studies that have shown the importance of maternal education in reducing child mortality and disease in other countries around the world. They believe it is particularly relevant in the DRC--a country beset by war since 1996. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been called the least feasible country for malaria elimination in the world, due to an entrenched malaria ecology and a prolonged military conflict which has severely damaged the nation's health care and educational infrastructure.

"In that context, we've got an intervention here, educating the women, that I think no one will disagree with. It's easy and it works," says Hawkes.

While the researchers says maternal education isn't a magic bullet by itself, they do believe it is part of the solution. They now hope the lessons learned can help lead policymakers to strengthen efforts to educate girls and women in the DRC and other malaria hotspots around the world.

###
A study led by ecologists at UC Berkeley has found significant flaws in the research used to challenge the U.S. Forest Service plan to restore Sierra Nevada forests to less dense, and less fire-prone, environments.

Until recently, the consensus among forest ecologists was that before European settlers arrived in the Sierra, the forests were mostly open conifer forests dominated by big trees and low-to-moderately severe fires every eight to 12 years. The Forest Service recently released a plan to restore the range's forests back to this state following decades of fire suppression and timber harvesting regulations, which have created dense, fire-prone forests.

But recent studies, using a newly developed methodology, have argued that the Sierra Nevada was actually a more dense forest than the consensus view. These new studies were used to back a lawsuit to stop the agency's plan to restore Sierra forests following the 2013 Rim Fire. The Berkeley study refutes the conclusions of these studies and identifies flaws in their methods.

"We went through the data and showed that, in every case, this method estimated that the density of trees was two to three times higher than was the reality," said Carrie Levine, a Ph.D. student of forest ecology at Berkeley and lead author of the study.

The study was recently published online in the journal Ecological Applications. Researchers from Harvard Forest, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, the University of Montana, Utah State University, the University of California Davis, and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region were also involved in the study.

When the US was divvying up land in the West in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the General Land Office performed surveys so that the land could be parceled and sold. Land was divided into square-mile blocks, with markers used to indicate every corner point. In case a marker was moved, so-called "witness trees" near the stake were identified as reference points. The result of this data is a grid survey of the entire American West.

Using this historic field data, two ecologists at the University of Wyoming, Mark Williams and William Baker, developed a method that claims to calculate the area that a tree occupies, which is then used to calculate a forest's density. This approach is based on the observation that trees create space to keep other trees from cramming next to them, and that this space correlates to a tree's species and size.

To assess the validity of this area-based method of density estimation in the Sierra Nevada, Levine and her co-authors assembled data from plots of mapped trees across the Sierra and Baja California, Mexico. They tested the performance of the area-based method in these mapped stands where the true density was known.

Levine and colleagues found that the area-based method has two basic flaws when applied to the Sierra, the most notable being an inability to actually predict the area that a tree occupies based on its species and size due to a weak relationship between these variables. The other flaw was a failure to account for differences in the number of trees sampled at each corner. The methodological flaws led to an inflated number of trees estimated in a pre-European Sierra Nevada forest, Levine and colleagues argue.

"We have a mapped plot where every tree is measured, so we know the true density," Levine said.

The study is important not only for the current state of the Sierra Nevada, but for its future.

"As climate changes, we want to have an accurate understanding of the past. This allows us to manage for forests that are resilient to the changes we're expecting in the future," Levine said.

###
A new species of giant bird-like dinosaur -- which tended to enormous nests that were bigger than a monster truck tire -- has been discovered in Henan, China

A new species of giant bird-like dinosaur--which tended to enormous nests that were bigger than a monster truck tire--has been discovered in Henan, China.

The new species, named Beibeilong, lived about 90 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. It is described by a joint Chinese-Canadian-Slovakia team based on a number of large eggs and an associated embryo that were collected in China in the early 1990s but then exported out of the country.

At one time, many fossil eggs collected in Henan were being exported out of China to other countries. "This particular fossil was outside the country for over 20 years and its return to China finally allowed us to properly study the specimen and name a new dinosaur species, Beibeilong sinensis or baby dragon from China." says Prof. Lu Junchang, a paleontologist at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.

The eggs are up to 45 centimeters long and weighed about five kilograms, making them some of the largest dinosaur eggs ever discovered. They were found in a ring-shaped clutch, which was part of a nest that was about 2-3 meters in diameter and probably contained two dozen or more eggs.

"For many years it was a mystery as to what kind of dinosaur laid these enormous eggs and nests. Because fossils of large theropods, like tyrannosaurs, were also found in the rocks in Henan, some people initially thought the eggs may have belonged to a tyrannosaur," says Dr. Darla Zelenitsky, a professor at the University of Calgary who was part of the research team that described the fossil. "Thanks to this fossil, we now know that these eggs were laid by a gigantic oviraptorosaur, a dinosaur that would have looked a lot like an overgrown cassowary. It would have been a sight to behold with a three ton animal like this sitting on its nest of eggs."

Study of the bones of an embryo that died while hatching out of one of the eggs reveals that the egg-layer is a new species of oviraptorosaur, a type of feathered, wing-bearing, beaked dinosaur closely related to birds. Although bones of the adult are not known, it was probably in the ballpark of eight meters long and 3 tons in body mass, based on comparison to close relatives.

Because fossils of smaller-bodied, close relatives have been fossilized while sitting on top of their eggs, the authors describe the new giant oviraptorosaur species as the largest known dinosaur to have sat on its nest and cared for its young.

"The fossils were originally collected by farmers in Henan Province of China in 1993, but were subsequently exported out of China to the USA. The eggs and embryo gained worldwide fame when they were featured in a National Geographic article in 1996, but it was impossible to describe them in a scientific journal--and to name the new species--until the fossils were repatriated to China," says Prof. Philip Currie, a professor and research chair at the University of Alberta.

Recently the fossils were returned to China and permanently accessioned into the Henan Geological Museum. This allowed the Chinese-Canadian team to study them, and they present their results today in a paper in the leading journal Nature Communications.

###
Certain blood vessels in the brainstem constrict when blood vessels elsewhere in the body would dilate. And that contrary behavior is what keeps us breathing, according to a new paper by UConn researchers published May 8 in eLife.

If the body were a marching band, the brainstem would be the drum major. It keeps our heart beating and our lungs breathing in the essential rhythms of life. And just like a drum major, the job is more complex than it looks. If cellular waste products build up in the body, the brainstem has to jolt the lungs into action without disrupting other bodily functions, as surely as a drum major reins in a wayward woodwind section without losing the low brass.

Neuroscientists studying the brainstem have focused on neurons, which are brain cells that send signals to one another and all over the body. But focusing just on the neurons in the brainstem is like staring only at the drum major's hands. Recently, neuroscientists have come to understand that astrocytes, cells once thought to simply provide structure to the brain, also release signaling molecules that regulate neurons' function. But until now, no one even considered the possibility that blood vessels may be similarly specialized.

For more than a century, doctors and scientists have known that blood vessels dilate when cellular waste products like carbon dioxide build up. Widening the vessels allows fresh blood to flush through, carrying in oxygen and washing away the acidic carbon dioxide. This has been shown to be true throughout the body, and is standard dogma in undergraduate physiology classes.

UConn physiologist Dan Mulkey was teaching exactly that to undergraduates one day when he realized that it couldn't possibly be true in a certain part of the brainstem.

"I thought, wow. If that happened in the region of the brain I study, it would be counterproductive," Mulkey says. He studies the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), a small region in the brainstem that controls breathing. He's shown in the past that RTN neurons respond to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream by stimulating the lungs to breathe. But if the blood vessels in the RTN dilated in response to rising carbon dioxide the same way blood vessels do everywhere else, it would wash out that all-important signal, preventing cells in the RTN from doing their job driving us to breathe. It would be as if the drum major didn't notice the percussion section wandering off to left field.

When Mulkey returned to the lab, he asked his team, including NIH postdoctoral fellow Virginia Hawkins, to see how blood vessels in thin slices of brainstem respond to carbon dioxide. And they saw it was indeed true - RTN blood vessels constricted when carbon dioxide levels rose. But blood vessels from slices of cortex (the wrinkled top part of the brain) dilated in response to high carbon dioxide, just like the rest of the body.

But how did the blood vessels know to act differently in the RTN? Mulkey guessed that RTN astrocytes had something to do with it. He suspected that the astrocytes were releasing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a small molecule cells can use to signal one another. And that was causing the RTN blood vessels to constrict.

When they tested it, they found the hypothesis was correct. The astrocytes in the RTN were behaving differently than astrocytes anywhere else in the body. When these brainstem astrocytes detected high levels of carbon dioxide, they released ATP signaling to the neurons and blood vessels.

When the researchers induced the astrocytes artificially to release ATP, they got the same results. Bathing the RTN blood vessels directly in ATP also caused them to constrict. Blocking ATP receptors blocked the ability of blood vessels to respond to carbon dioxide. When the team did the same experiments in live animals, they got the same results. Perhaps most importantly, manipulating blood vessels in the RTN actually influenced how animals breathe, thus linking regulation of blood vessel diameter to behavior.

The majority of this research was done by UConn undergraduates, including Ashley Trinh, Colin Cleary, and Todd Dubreuil, as well as Elliot Rodriguez, a summer student in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates in Physiology and Neurobiology program at UConn, who studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania the rest of the year. The students' work uncovered a major discovery in neurophysiology. The work was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HL104101 HL126381) and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (150263).

"This is a big change in how we think about breathing," Mulkey says. And about blood vessels. Even in a single organ like the brain, the purpose of blood flow is not the same everywhere. Tailored responses in the RTN keep the body's drum major conducting, and let the band play on.

###
University of Pittsburgh and UPMC researchers are paving the way for genome-targeted treatments in pancreatic cancer, an especially deadly form of cancer with few existing therapeutic options, according to a pair of recent studies.

The first study used genomic profiling to identify targeted therapies that resulted in benefits for patients with pancreatic cancer, including one whose tumor contained a mutation in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. In the second study, researchers used existing drugs already treating other types of ALK-mutated cancers to improve outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients with the same genetic alterations.

"Together, these two findings begin to capture the promise of precision medicine in pancreatic cancer, which has so far not experienced the same success with targeted treatments as other cancer types," said the senior author of both studies, Nathan Bahary, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Pitt, and co-director of the UPMC Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence. "The assessment of these actionable alterations is now part of routine pancreatic cancer care at UPMC."

As the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and with a five-year survival rate of just 8 percent, pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal forms of the disease. Currently available treatments are largely ineffective, so there is a desperate need for better therapeutic options, explained Bahary.

In the first study, published in the January issue of Cancer Medicine, first author Mashaal Dhir, M.D., an oncologic surgical fellow at UPMC, and colleagues used DNA sequencing to look for gene changes in over 100 patient samples of advanced gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal and pancreatic tumors.

They identified several mutations in each cancer type and used that information to make treatment recommendations in 38 percent of cases. Approximately 14 percent of patients could receive the recommended therapy due to rapid decline in the other patients. However, half of those who received genomic-guided therapy experienced significant clinical benefit with improvement in overall survival, which would not have been possible on standard-of-care therapies. This suggests that mutational analyses done earlier during therapy may provide benefit to more patients, the authors said.

One patient's pancreatic tumor had a mutation in the ALK gene. Genetic mutations involving ALK have been identified in several different types of cancer, including those of the breast, colon and lung, and drugs targeting this pathway have been successfully used for treatment of these tumors.

The second study, published online this month in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN), took a closer look at ALK mutations in pancreatic cancer. Co-lead authors Aatur Singhi, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology at UPMC, and Siraj Ali, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical development and medical affairs, Foundation Medicine Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, performed comprehensive genomic profiling of more than 3,000 pancreatic cancers.

Alterations in the ALK gene were present in five patients (.2 percent). Four of these five were treated with drugs that inhibit ALK, and three experienced a positive response, as evidenced by either stable disease, tumor shrinkage or a reduction in levels of a pancreatic cancer biomarker.

Patients with pancreatic cancer are typically diagnosed late in life, at an average age of 71. Patients with ALK mutations averaged just 38 years at diagnosis. The prospect of having an effective and clinically available treatment to offer a small subset of pancreatic cancer patients, a population with so few options, is extremely encouraging, said Bahary. The new work also highlights the importance of ALK mutation screening in young pancreatic cancer patients.

The new studies also have much broader implications for pancreatic cancer.

"Modern DNA sequencing techniques have brought with them the hope of targeting anti-cancer therapies to a particular cancer's vulnerabilities," Bahary said. "However, the potential of these precision medicine initiatives has not yet been achieved in pancreatic cancer. Beyond ALK mutations, our two studies describe some of the initial steps needed to utilize targeted therapies more generally in pancreatic cancer."

###

The JNCCN study was supported in part by a grant from the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Pancreas Foundation and Pitt.

Additional collaborators on the Cancer Medicine study are Haroon Choudry, M.D., Matthew Holtzman, M.D., James Pingpank, M.D., Steven Ahrendt, M.D., Amer Zureikat, M.D., Melissa Hogg, M.D., David Bartlett, M.D., Herbert Zeh, M.D., and Aatur Singhi, M.D., Ph.D., all of UPMC.

Khanh Nguyen, M.D., Marina Nikiforova, M.D., Herbert Zeh, M.D., Inderpal Sarkaria, M.D., and Anil Dasyam, M.D., all of UPMC; Jill Lacy, M.D., of Yale University; Andrew Hendifar, M.D., and Jamie Koo, M.D., both of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; and Jon Chung, Ph.D., Joel Greenbowe, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Ross, M.D., all of Foundation Medicine, also contributed to the JNCNN study.

About UPMC

A $14 billion world-renowned health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. UPMC provides nearly $900 million a year in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 65,000 employees, more than 25 hospitals, 600 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and a more than 3.2 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical and behavioral health services insurer in western Pennsylvania. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranks No. 12 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals. UPMC Enterprises functions as the innovation and commercialization arm of UPMC while UPMC International provides hands-on health care and management services with partners in 12 countries on four continents. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

About the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

The University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences include the schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and the Graduate School of Public Health. The schools serve as the academic partner to the UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center). Together, their combined mission is to train tomorrow's health care specialists and biomedical scientists, engage in groundbreaking research that will advance understanding of the causes and treatments of disease and participate in the delivery of outstanding patient care. Since 1998, Pitt and its affiliated university faculty have ranked among the top 10 educational institutions in grant support from the National Institutes of Health. For additional information about the Schools of the Health Sciences, please visit http://www.health.pitt.edu.

http://www.upmc.com/media
The portable Raman spectrometer, a device used in very different fields such as metallurgy, archaeology and art, allows data to be obtained on the variation in the composition of the tomato fruit during its various ripening phases, according to the results of a study conducted in the UPV/EHU's Department of Analytical Chemistry. The portable Raman spectrometer is an instrument widely used in a whole range of sectors, because it is a non-invasive technique that can be used, for example, to observe the pigments present in a painting or a sculpture without having to extract any samples, thus preserving the integrity of the work in question. In this case, a research team of the UPV/EHU has applied this equipment to culinary research. According to Josu Trebolazabala, the author of the study, "it is about transferring this technology, which had a specific use, to the kitchen. Our idea was to come up with a tool that could help producers find out when their tomatoes have reached their optimum ripeness point. This is achieved by using this technique and, what is more, without destroying the fruit".

The results provided by this portable instrument have been compared with those provided by a similar laboratory instrument, and "even though the quality of the Raman spectra of the lab instrument was higher, the quality of the information provided by the portable instrument could be regarded as sufficient for the aim in mind. The aim is to enable producers to go to the vegetable plot with this equipment, place the Raman probe on the tomato, and find out whether it is at its optimum picking point or whether it needs to be left longer so that it can ripen properly," said Jose Trebolazabala.

Tomato ripening

The monitoring of the composition of the tomato fruit during its ripening phases has made it possible to observe the changes that take place in the composition of the tomato during its passage from an unripe state towards a ripe state. "When the tomato is green, the main pigments are chlorophyll (hence its green colour) and the waxy cuticles, which are on the outside," explained Trebolazabala. But the presence of these compounds falls as the fruit reaches its point of optimum ripeness. "Once the colour changes to orange-coloured, compounds of a different type are observed; the carotenoid compounds are activated. The tomato gradually acquires nutrients until it reaches its optimum point, in other words, when the lycopene (the red carotenoid) is at its maximum level. After that, the tomato begins to lose its carotenoid content, as shown by the analyses conducted on overripe tomatoes".

This innovative technique can be extrapolated to any other food that changes colour during its ripening phase. "Tests have been carried out on peppers and pumpkins, for example, and it is also possible to obtain the data on their composition," he explained.

###

Additional information

Josu Trebolazabala conducted this study in the IBeA research group in the UPV/EHU's Department of Analytical Chemistry. This group has been conducting basic research work and collaborating in the technological development and innovation of many companies since 1987.

Bibliographical reference

J. Trebolazabala, M. Maguregui, H. Morillas, A. de Diego, J.M. Madariaga. 2017. Portable Raman spectroscopy for an in-situ monitoring the ripening of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 180: 138-143

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2017.03.024
MADISON, Wis. -- Probing deeper into the South African cave system known as Rising Star, a subterranian maze that last year yielded the largest cache of hominin fossils known to science, an international team of researchers has discovered another chamber with more remains of a newfound human relative, Homo naledi.

The discovery, announced today (May 9, 2017) with the publication of a series of papers in the journal eLife, helps round out the picture of a creature that scientists now know shared the landscape with modern humans -- and probably other hominin species -- between 226,000 and 335,000 years ago. The discovery of the new fossils representing the remains of at least three juvenile and adult specimens includes a "wonderfully complete skull," says University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks.

Hawks, a leader of the research team at Rising Star and the lead author of the paper describing the new fossils, says finding more remains of multiple individuals in a chamber some distance from the chamber containing the original Homo naledi fossils lends heft to the idea that Homo naledi was caching its dead -- a surprising behavior that suggests great intelligence and possibly the first stirrings of culture.

"This likley adds weight to the hyposthesis that Homo naledi was using dark, remote places to cache its dead," Hawks observes. "What are the odds of a second, almost identical occurrence happening by chance?"

The new chamber, dubbed the Lesedi Chamber, is nearly 100 meters from the Dinaledi Chamber where the first Homo naledi fossils representing at least 15 indivuduals of various ages were found. So far, the team led by Hawks and Lee Berger, a noted paleoanthropologist from the University of Witwatersrand and a senior author of the paper with Hawks, has retrieved more than 130 new Homo naledi fossils from the Lesedi Chamber, a name that means "light" in the Setswana language.

The new chamber is also exceedingly difficult to access, requiring those excavating the fossils to crawl, climb and squeeze their way in pitch dark to the fossil cache.

The newly-reported remains were first discovered in 2013 while excavations were underway in the Dinaledi Chamber. The new fossils come from at least three individuals -- two adults and a child -- and the researchers believe more will be recovered as excavations progress. The child, estimated to be under five years of age, is represented by bones from the head and body. Of the adults, one is identified only by a jaw and leg bones.

The skeleton of the third individual, dubbed "Neo" after the Sesotho word meaning "a gift," is remarkably complete. The skull has been painstakingly reconstructed, providing a much more complete portrait of Homo naledi. "We finally get a look at the face of Homo naledi," notes Peter Schmid, who holds a joint appointment at the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Zurich, and who spent hundreds of hours reconstructing the fragile bones of the skull.

"The skeleton of 'Neo' is one of the most complete ever discovered, technically more complete than the famous Lucy fossil given the preservation of the skull and mandible," explains Berger, the University of Witwatersrand paleoanthropologist overseeing the Rising Star excavations.

The skull of the new skeleton has much of the face, including the delicate bones of the inner eye region and nose, says Hawks, an expert on early hominins. "Some of the new bones add detail to what we knew before," says the Wisconsin paleoanthropologist. "The 'Neo' skeleton has a complete collarbone and a near-complete femur, which help to confirm what we knew about the size and stature of Homo naledi, and that it was both an effective walker and climber. The vertebrae are just wonderfully preserved, and unique -- they have a shape we've only seen in Neanderthals."

Combined, the two caches of Homo naledi fossils give science its most complete record of a hominin species other than modern humans and Neanderthals.

"With the new fossils from the Lesedi Chamber, we now have approximately 2,000 specimens of Homo naledi, representing the skeletons of at least 18 individuals," Hawks says. "There are more Homo naledi specimens than any other extinct species or population of hominins except for Neanderthals."

The notion that Homo naledi were caching their dead in underground chambers that are exceedingly difficult to get to has one parallel in Neanderthals. In a deep Spanish cave known as Sima de los Huesos, there is evidence that Neanderthals were caching the bodies of their dead companions 400,000 years ago.

"What is so provacative about Homo naledi is that these are creatures with brains one third the size of ours," Hawks says. "This is clearly not a human, yet it seems to share a very deep aspect of behavior that we recognize, an enduring care for other individuals that continues after their deaths. It awes me that we may be seeing the deepest roots of human cultural practices."

###

Terry Devitt, (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@wisc.edu
Tuesday, May 9, 2017

During National Nurses week we acknowledge the excellence and dedication of those who choose the nursing profession. I grew up surrounded by nurses in a nursing home that my family owned and operated. We lived in a rural area and my mothers skills as a Registered Nurse also made her the go-to person for many emergencies around the village  cuts, burns and even broken bones, head injuries and emotional problems.

I can see my mother calmly cleaning and dressing a bloody wound after an accident with a broken glass and, on another occasion, carefully positioning a childs possibly broken leg after a fall from a tree. Eventually, a doctor might arrive, but watching my mother and her colleagues in action, day after day, offered me firsthand knowledge that nurses were unsung heroines.

Nurses in war zones and military settings have done their job quietly and largely unnoticed as well, putting their lives in peril on the battlefield for centuries. Yet, little is known about their experiences in war or exactly how many participated. Even appropriate financial remuneration in the nursing profession has been meager and long in coming. Only at the end of the twentieth century did nurses pay, both in military and civilian life, begin to become commensurate with the risks and responsibilities of their jobs.

Many women served as nurses during the Revolutionary War, but they are barely mentioned in history books. The Second Continental Congress, heeding George Washingtons advice to establish a means of caring for wounded and sick soldiers, authorized the formation of hospitals. In July of 1775, congress initiated a plan to provide one nurse for every ten patients and a supervising matron for every ten nurses. But, nurses were not always easy to find and formal training was nonexistent. General Washington blamed the low compensation rateoriginally $2 a monthfor the shortage of nurses, but its more probable that a woman risked receiving a bad moral reputation if she wanted to be a nurse. Congress did increase nurses pay a year later, to $8 a month.

Louisa May Alcott, long before Little Women, had a brief career as an army nurse during the Civil War. Her first publication, Hospital Sketches, was a detailed account of her experience. Louisa was an unknown but zealous patriot when she arrived in Washington, DC, in 1862, to work in the Union Hotel Army Hospital. She had read Florence Nightingales Notes on Nursing and Dr. Homes Report on Gunshot Wounds, but that was the extent of her training. She described in letters to her family that, on her first day, stretcher after stretcher arrived from the battle of Fredericksburgeach with a legless, armless or desperately wounded occupant. Louisa cared for hundreds of soldiers with devastating wounds and loss of limbs, working with little more than soap, water, and whiskey.

Her descriptions were so vivid and evoked so much emotion about caring for the wounded, that the Union Army published her book and provided it to the families of soldiers. This small volume established her reputation as an author, but her experience devastated her health. She contracted Typhoid Pneumonia after six weeks and would suffer from the poisonous effects of treatment with mercury until her death in 1888.

She reported in her journal that she was pleased to receive ten dollars for her short stint in Washington, revealing that the pay had barely improved in one hundred years since the Revolutionary War. Approximately 6000 women served as nurses during the Civil War and their reward was largely the legacy of gratitude described in the letters and journals of the wounded.

Fifty years later, in 1901, the Army Nurse Corp was created during the Spanish-American War and nurses were appointed to work for three years but were not commissioned as army officers. The appointment could be renewed if their skills were satisfactory, but it would take two more wars and another fifty years for nurses to receive commissioned officer status in 1944.

I am on this earth because of the compassion of nurses. During World War I, my grandfather served in the British Army and ended up in a hospital in Malta after suffering the effects of mustard gas and severe wounds in France. The nurses suggested that he correspond with someone. He remembered a young woman he had met on a farm in Connecticut years before. The letters commenced and they married on his return, eventually creating my mother.

Growing up around nurses in the 1950s I was privy to occasional stories and vivid memories. One former army nurse would sit with me and my brothers at a picnic table during her break-time and launch into a story. She once described being one of sixty nurses, climbing over the side of a ship off the coast of North Africa and down an iron ladder into small assault boats. Each boat carried nurses, medical officers, and enlisted men. The nurses wore helmets and carried full packs containing bandages, medicine, gas masks, and canteen belts. Only their Red Cross arm bands and lack of weapons distinguished them from fighting troops. They waded ashore and huddled behind a sand dune while enemy snipers took potshots at them. Before the night was over, their commanding officer ordered them to an abandoned civilian hospital, where they began caring for casualties. There was no electricity or running water, and the only medical supplies available were those they had brought themselves. We jumped out of our seats when she described the rat-a-tat-tat of enemy fire overhead.

Nurses were not spared capture and imprisonment during the war. In 1945 U.S. troops liberated sixty-seven army nurses who had been imprisoned in Santo Tomas Internment Camp since 1942 and evacuated them to a convalescent hospital on Leyte where they recovered from malnutrition. Like many men who saw the worst of war, these women came home and slipped back into their communities and rarely shared their experiences.

The exact number of nurses who served in World War II is unknown, but they received 1,619 medals, citations, and commendations. Overall, 201 nurses died while serving in the Army in World War II.

During the Korean War, Army nurses served in medical units close to the front lines, in field hospitals, on army transport ships, hospital trains and at Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH). By chance, the general public has more knowledge of nursing services, especially during the Korean War, thanks to popular culture. The fictionalized depiction of a medical unit portrayed in the film, MASH, and a subsequent TV series featuring Hot Lips Hoolihan, offered a romanticized version of women nurses in wartime  but, at least it showed that they were there.

During the Vietnam War, on November 8, 1967, all restrictions to female officer careers were removed. Finally, members of the Womens Army Corps and the Army Nurse Corps could receive the same promotions as those applied to men. Col. Anna Mae Hays achieved the rank of brigadier general on June 11, 1970. Again, the exact number is not known, but thousands of women served as nurses in Vietnam. The number killed in Vietnam is also unclear, ranging from seven to nine.

Nurses have served in untold numbers in wartime even before Florence Nightingale went to the Crimean War and became known as the lady with the lamp. Ive been comforted by the thought that nurses were near the battlefields of Vietnam in 1969 to care for my husband in the brief moments he survived after being mortally wounded in a booby-trapped bunker. I may never know who they are, but Im sure they eased his death with calm and compassion. Im deeply grateful for all those who choose to be nurses.

Thank you  this week and every week  for all you do.
Place Your Advert

Register or sign in to advertise your job
Ukip has said British students could provide labour for fresh produce industry to help cut migration.

The party's immigration minister John Bickley said the UK must "use up the human capital that exists in this country" before opening its borders.

He stated that reforms to the welfare and education system are needed to increase the number of home-grown workers available to the agriculture sector.

Mr Bickley said fruit picking was previously a rite of passage to earn extra cash for people about to go to university or at university.

Ukip said it would also offer six-month visas to non-Britons seeking seasonal labour in the UK.

"The number of such visas would be progressively reduced over time by the migration council as other measures are taken across the welfare and education system to increase the availability of home-grown labour, Bickley said.

"We also want to encourage our own people to get back into that industry.

"There used to be a time when it was a rite of passage that people going through, if you like, an internal gap year in this country or on their way to university or at university, that to get some extra cash in, guess what they'd do, they'd go fruit picking."

'Left to rot'

The current Government has hinted that some form of visa scheme could be established to ensure that British agriculture could still have access to migrant labour.

But the farming industry has warned that urgent action is required to prevent a crisis.

Ali Capper, chairman of the NFU horticulture board, which represents a sector particularly reliant on foreign workers, said: "If we leave the introduction of this scheme until after Brexit, the damage will have already been done and crops will be left to rot in the fields.

"The effects would be felt right through the food supply chain, ending with the public  the people eating the food we produce. The importance of a strong, domestic food supply cannot be understated."

She said: Horticulture, alone, needs over 80,000 workers to plant, pick and pack fruit and veg. That number will rise to 95,000 in the next four years. Shortages arent just limited to fruit and vegetable growers - workers from across the skill spectrum are needed for an industry that is worth 108 billion to the nations economy.
Northern Irish farmers are facing a delay for help to combat pressing issues they face because there is currently no Executive and no farming minister.

The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed after deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned in protest over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal.

This triggered the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 2 March. However, political parties could not reach an agreement to form a coalition agreement, with talks having been going on for weeks.

The UK Prime Minister then called a snap general election for 8 June 2017, so a new deadline of 29 June has been set for power-sharing talks in the Executive.

With the Assembly remaining vacant, hard-pressing issues in agriculture are starting to worry farmers. One of the greatest challenges farmers are facing in Northern Ireland is the issue of bovine TB.

One of the greatest challenges farmers are facing in Northern Ireland is the issue of bovine TB

The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) says bovine TB is a major issue for farmers, and that the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) officials must make progress a priority, so that when a minister is back in place there will be a plan there for them to approve.

UFU president Barclay Bell said: Doing nothing, which has been the case since December, is not acceptable to farmers.

This disease has a devastating impact on farm families and farm businesses and it has not stopped just because we don't have an Executive in place.

While we might not all agree on the way ahead, we do all agree that something has to be done.

Tackling TB is a long term challenge  but that cannot be an excuse for kicking the issue into touch. That is not fair to farmers, and indeed it is not fair to taxpayers, who have seen millions of pounds a year spent to achieve nothing, in terms of reducing the incidence of the disease, said Mr Bell.

TB Strategic Partnership

The government's TB Strategic Partnership Group (TBSPG) proposals were published in December, creating a starting point from which to discuss future policy.

The TBSPG is a high-level advisory group established in 2014. The group was tasked with developing a strategy and implementation action plan to effect a "progressive and sustained" reduction of TB in the cattle population, with a view to eventual eradication.

Mr Bell continued: Back then we were ready to get into the debate, and indeed we met the TBSPG to discuss some of the positives in their report and some of our concerns. We also believed that the then farming minister, Michelle McIlveen, was willing to take the decisions needed.

Now the industry is drifting, with no signs of when or how TB eradication can be brought back on course. That is not acceptable. It is officials that advise ministers, and in the absence of a minister there is no reason for those same officials not to work with the industry, said Mr Bell.

The UFU president added that the lack of political progress could not continually be used as an excuse for inaction.

He said the UFU would be contacting senior DAERA officials to urge them to move TB up the agenda, regardless of whether or not there was political progress at Stormont.

Realistically, if we wait for a new minister, and then wait for them to be briefed, we are talking about there being no progress on TB eradication this year. That is simply unacceptable, said Mr Bell.
Big brands are important to successful businesses, and the worldwide awareness for both the Marlboro cigarette line sold internationally by Philip Morris International (PM 0.20%) and the namesake Coke brand from Coca-Cola (KO -0.09%) have created corporate empires and strong profits. Yet both companies have faced some criticism from consumer advocates because of potential health impacts, and both have had to take steps to look at ways of responding to that criticism and finding new paths to growth. But for those seeking to invest now, which one is the smarter pick? Below, we'll examine Philip Morris and Coca-Cola more closely to see which looks better on a variety of different key measures of investing success.

Valuation and stock performance

Between these two stocks, Philip Morris International is the only one that has gained ground over the past year. The tobacco giant has given shareholders about 17% in price appreciation and dividend payments, compared to a flat total return for Coca-Cola since this time last year.

It would be reasonable to expect that with better stock performance, Philip Morris would have the higher valuation, leaving Coca-Cola to more closely resemble a value stock. However, that isn't the case, at least by simple conventional valuation methods. When you look at trailing earnings, Coca-Cola's current multiple exceeds 30, while Philip Morris has a somewhat cheaper valuation of 25 times trailing earnings. The disparity narrows when you look at forward earnings expectations, but Philip Morris retains a slight edge, with a forward multiple of 21 compared to Coca-Cola's valuation of 22 times forward earnings. Philip Morris has delivered more returns yet stayed less expensive, giving it an edge over Coca-Cola.

Dividends

Dividend investors often look to the consumer sector for good payouts, and Philip Morris and Coca-Cola are strong performers within the consumer space. Philip Morris has a slight edge over Coca-Cola in terms of dividend yield, with the cigarette giant's 3.75% yield outpacing the 3.4% figure from the beverage behemoth.

Supporting those yields has been somewhat more difficult recently. Both companies have payout ratios that exceed 90%. Yet that hasn't stopped the companies from increasing their dividend payments to shareholders, albeit at a slower rate than investors have seen in the past. Coca-Cola boasts a 55-year streak of consecutive annual dividend increases. Philip Morris would rival that if you took into account the dividend history of its former parent company, but its limited history as an independent company holds it back by this measure. In terms of dividends, Philip Morris and Coca-Cola have very similar characteristics right now.

Growth prospects and risks

Both Philip Morris and Coca-Cola have hit some obstacles to growth and are working to figure out better ways to move forward. For Philip Morris, the answer appears to be reduced-risk products like its iQOS heated-tobacco system. In its most recent quarter, the tobacco giant saw cigarette shipment volumes plunge 11.5%, hurting net revenue. Philip Morris still managed to boost net income by 4%, but even big gains in iQOS sales weren't enough to keep the company's top line from contracting slightly. The question Philip Morris faces is whether reduced-risk efforts will be able to offset weakness in traditional cigarettes, and investors aren't counting on super-fast growth from Philip Morris overall in the near future.

Coca-Cola has seen similar challenges. The company said after its first-quarter earnings report last month that it would cut 1,200 jobs, with broader efforts intended to cut costs more widely throughout the beverage company. New CEO James Quincey is taking steps to try to counter downward pressure from falling sales, which were down 11% from year-ago levels. With attempts to pursue opportunities in the water, milk, and alternative drink spaces, Coca-Cola is desperately trying to respond to consumer shifts away from sugary soft drinks. With rival drink makers having seen some success, it might be easier for Coca-Cola to follow suit than investors once thought.

In the end, both of these stocks have pluses and minuses, and there isn't as clear-cut a winner between the two companies as we've seen in the past. Given the likelihood of major shifts at Coca-Cola with new management in place, investors who are optimistic about changing trends might prefer the beverage company's growth potential even with a more expensive valuation.
Lack of rain has seen farmers highlight the impact dry weather is having on crops across much of the UK.

The UK as a whole saw just 47% of the average April rainfall, says the Met Office.

Middlesex, Mid Lothian and Fife were the driest historical counties this month with just 12% of the rainfall expected during the month.

See also: Drought could slash crop yields by up to 50%

After one of the driest winters in 20 years, more than four-fifths of the countrys rivers have fallen to abnormally low levels, with growing concern of a severe drought.

The NFU says it is working closely with the Environment Agency, public water supply companies, Defra and the Met Office to assess the situation as this spell of dry weather continues.

NFU vice-president Guy Smith said: The situation is patchy with farmers, particularly in the South and East, reporting as low as 10% of their expected March and April rainfall.

While decent rains in May and June will put many crops back on track, some crops such as spring barley have clearly already lost their full potential.

The dry spring comes on the back of a dry winter in East Anglia.

The first 4 months of this year have produced only 36% of our long term average rainfall. 40% lower than the drought of 2011. #drought17  Andrew Francis (@ElvedenFarmer) May 7, 2017

Some farmers are irrigating barley in a bid to save crops.

Two irrigators going saving our winter barley. No moisture at all, it's seriously dry on the sand! pic.twitter.com/VKpBHWyc2v  Ed Salmon (@EdSalmon1) May 7, 2017

But other parts of the country have suffered too  including areas which usually receive more rain.

Somerset farmer James Winslade, who hit the headlines when his farm was flooded three years ago, took a TV camera crew to see parched fields.

@rupertevelyn ITN news filming today on the lack of rain and pressure on crops, we're not as bad as other parts of the country pic.twitter.com/yIwHVumycv  James Winslade (@westyeo) May 8, 2017

There is also lack of water at the site of next months Cereals event, which will be held at Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire.

Cereals event plots on @dekalb_osr stand looking well with good pod set so far. Site is very dry. pic.twitter.com/wVkY0Gbv67  Will Vaughan-France (@AgWillVF) May 3, 2017

Further north, it is the first time that sugar beet has been irrigated at Hall Farm, Eastoft.

I like a good sunny summer like the next man but first for us irrigating sugar beet today thanks to good neighbour @williamgagg #dryspring pic.twitter.com/HSzZlm6Fcw  Hall Farm Eastoft (@hallfarmeastoft) May 2, 2017

Meanwhile, further west, wheat is being irrigated in Herefordshire.

If this doesn't make it rain, nothing will!

Irrigating Wheat.

In May.

7 miles from Wales.

We've officially lost it! pic.twitter.com/MT87ewWWWl  Ally Hunter Blair (@Wyefarm) May 8, 2017

In the drier South, spring wheat has emerged in Sussex  but could still do with a drink.

Spr wheat after cover crops, Sussex. Simtech vs Claydon drills. All emerged but needs a drink. Rain at end of week? @AgrovistaUK pic.twitter.com/FMuzpLmLAf  Linda Sheppard (@lshepp66) May 8, 2017

River beds have dried up in Cumbria.

April was the driest month ever recorded at Little Raith Farm, Kirkcaldy, Fife

As April gives way to May along goes the driest month I've ever recorded at LRF with it, a mere 6mm of rainfall for the month. #drought17  James Telfer (@jitelfer) April 30, 2017

Has lack of rain affected your farm business? If so, call Johann Tasker at the Farmers Weekly newsdesk on 07967 634 971 or email johann.tasker@rbi.co.uk.
BRCC names new president

Laura Leatherwood

The Board of Trustees for Blue Ridge Community College have formally selected Laura Leatherwood, currently the vice president of student services with Haywood Community College in Clyde, to be the fourth president of Blue Ridge Community College. The board made the decision Monday after a nationwide search.

Dr. Leatherwood will assume the presidency on July 1. Current president Molly A. Parkhill will retire June 30 after serving BRCC for more than 31 years of service, the last 10 as president.

I am very pleased that Dr. Leatherwood has accepted the presidency of Blue Ridge Community College, Board Chairman John C. McCormick Jr. said Monday evening. Her extensive community college experience and involvement with economic development will be great assets at Blue Ridge and to Henderson and Transylvania counties.

I have dedicated my career to community college education and it is a true honor and a privilege to have been selected to serve as president of Blue Ridge Community College, Leatherwood said. BRCC is a wonderful college and I look forward to working with everyone to build on the great work that has been done over the years. My husband and I are excited about this opportunity and we look forward to becoming a part of this community.

Leatherwood was selected after a nationwide search launched earlier this year. More than 60 applications were received. The applicants were screened by a search committee led by McCormick and ultimately chosen by the fifteen-member Board of Trustees. She visited the College last month during a day-long visit with faculty and staff, community members, and the Board of Trustees.

Leatherwood began her career with Haywood Community College in 2000 and was named the first full-time executive director of the Haywood Community College Educational Foundation and Director of Institutional Advancement. In 2007, she was promoted to Executive Director of Continuing and Adult Education. She currently serves as the Vice President of Student Services and has served as Vice President of the College for six years. Major responsibilities included providing senior level leadership and management of student support services, instructional technology, distance learning, learning resource center (library), work-based learning and community outreach. Leatherwood holds a doctorate from Western Carolina University in University and Community College Leadership.

Leatherwoods appointment is contingent on approval by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges on May 19.
New Delhi : Several months after Indian Army conducted surgical strikes along the Line of Control LoC and dismantled terror camps operating from there, Iran has now warned that it will hit terrorist safe heavens inside Pakistan.

The warning came from the head of the Iranian armed forces on Monday.

Warning Islamabad, Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the head of the Iranian armed forces, said that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks.

We cannot accept the continuation of this situation, Major General Mohammad Baqeri was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases, he warned.

The warning came after ten Iranian Border Guards were killed by militants last month.

According to Iran, Jaish-al-Adl  a militant group  had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Iran-Pakistan border region has long been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants.

If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are, Baqeri thundered.

Interestingly, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had visited Pakistan last week and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security.

Pakistan, in return, promised that it would deploy additional troops along its border.

In 2014 too, Iran had warned it would send troops to Pakistan to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish al Adl.

Pakistan had then said that such action would be violation of the international law and warned Iranian forces not to cross the border.

Iran refrained from sending the troops when a local cleric stepped in and resolved the situation.

Jaish al Adl is a militant group that has carried out several attacks against Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they say is discrimination against minority groups in Iran.

The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight border guards in April 2015 and 14 border guards in October 2013.

Source : Zee News
Visit expo > BMP Whole Blood Analyzer: GEM Premier ChemSTAT Gold Supplier NycoCard READER II POC Test Reader New Gold Supplier Nova Primary Blood Glucose Reference Analyzer New Calcitonin AccuBind ELISA Test System Calcitonin ELISA Test

Raffles Medical Group, one of the leading integrated healthcare organizations in Asia, has announced that it is developing its second international tertiary hospital in Chongqing (China).When completed, the international Raffles Hospital Chongqing will be able to serve local and expatriate patients in the western part of China, as well as foreign patients from Central Asian republics. The new 700-bed capacity hospital and the soon to be completed 400-bed capacity Raffles Hospital Shanghai are expected to start operations at the end of 2018 with 200 private beds each. Raffles Medical clinics in Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Tianjin, Dalian, and Shenzhen, which have access to the Raffles Medical network, will feed into the two new China hospitals.Raffles Medical Group, which is based in Singapore, currently operates in 13 cities across Asia, and has announced plans for two new hospitals in Beijing and Shenzhen, and is considering a third. The medical group currently holds representative offices in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Bangladesh, and the Russian Far East, as well as business associates throughout the Asia Pacific region.We have done our market survey, and found that the top 10% of 33 million people in Chongqing can afford internationally priced health care, said Loo Choon Yong, MD, executive chairman of Raffles Medical Group. Together with the upcoming Shanghai hospital, we will be a major player in tertiary hospital services in China, where there is significant demand for good quality healthcare from locals and foreigners.The State Council of the Peoples Republic of China (Beijing; www.gov.cn) announced in June 2015 that it will reduce bureaucratic red-tape for new facilities. Among other measures, private-capital-invested hospitals will be integrated into the medical insurance system, a move designed to encourage the development of new medical institutions. The State Council also stipulated that public health insurance will extend healthcare coverage to qualified private facilities, and will not be able to reject them for reasons other than their medical service abilities.
How Did The Bartell Hotels Call Center Capture 7% More Revenue From 11% Fewer Calls?

Like all hotel companies, Bartell Hotels was looking for ways to increase direct bookings as part of an overall strategy to reduce its distribution costs and to recapture market share from other channels such as OTAs. Yet unlike so many other companies that have outsourced reservations to brand call centers, Bartell maintains its own centralized reservations call center to provide the personalized service and local area knowledge that todays callers are seeking.

Founded in 1975, Bartell Hotels is one of San Diegos oldest and largest independent hotel companies with eight hotels, including six that are branded (from 4 different national brands) and two independents. Bartell Hotels include: Holiday Inn Bayside, San Diego Airport Hilton, The Dana on Mission Bay, Pacific Terrace Hotel, Sheraton La Jolla Hotel, Humphreys Half Moon Inn & Suites, Best Western Plus Island Palms Hotel & Marina, and Days Inn at Hotel Circle by Sea World.

Like all hotel companies, Bartell Hotels was looking for ways to increase direct bookings as part of an overall strategy to reduce its distribution costs and to recapture market share from other channels such as OTAs.

Yet unlike so many other companies that have outsourced reservations to brand call centers, Bartell maintains its own centralized reservations call center to provide the personalized service and local area knowledge that todays callers are seeking.

In early 2015, Bartell Hotels contracted with KTN to provide its Hotel Reservations QUEST training and mystery shopping program for the reservations team at their call center and also implemented the best practices KTN recommended, such as new by agent sales metric reporting and new staff recognition and incentive contests.

The results continue to speak for themselves, according to Sergio Davies, General Manager of the Humphreys Half Moon Inn and Suites. For example, as compared to the first 4 months of last year, in 2017 our call volume went down by 11.7%, while revenue sold is up by 7.1% he said. The best part is that this was not accomplished by discounting, but rather by a balance of converting more calls into bookings and also upselling. Results improved across the board. Our ADR Sold went up by 3.3% while Room Nights Sold was up by 3.7% Davies added.

How did they do this? Part of this is of course the KTN training, which helped their agents to understand that most of todays callers have already researched online. What they dont want to hear is a scripted list of features. Nor do they want to just hear agents read the same list of rates they have found when they searched.

Instead, Bartells agents now routinely ask questions such as: As Im checking those dates, are there any questions I can answer for you about our location or amenities? This provides an opportunity to sell the experience and not just quote a rate. For those callers who do have questions, their agents are more prepared than ever to answer them, as part of the training process involved regularly scheduled familiarization tours lead by their KTN trainer and complete with various homework assignments.

Beyond the training, Bartell Hotels also re-evaluated their staff recognition and incentive programs to ensure that they were rewarding agents for taking the actions that have the most impact on sales, and not just good shop call scores.

Of course it is also helps that the Bartell Hotels are all highly rated, and that they have a mostly long-term staff who is fully dedicated to hospitality excellence. All of this leads to more repeat bookers and that also helps conversion.

So many other companies seem to focus solely on electronic channels, mistakenly overlooking the opportunities to impact direct bookings their agents encounter every day. Alternatively, the strong focus that this company has on the voice channel is helping them generate even more revenue the past two years in a row, despite that call volume has dropped significantly in this hotel market.

About Doug Kennedy

Doug Kennedy is President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc. a leading provider of hotel sales, guest service, reservations, and front desk training programs and telephone mystery shopping services for the lodging and hospitality industry. Doug continues to be a fixture on the industrys conference circuit for hotel companies, brands and associations, as he been for over two decades. Since 1996, Dougs monthly training articles have been published worldwide, making him one of the most widely read hospitality industry authorities. Visit KTN at www.kennedytrainingnetwork.com or email him directly doug@kennedytrainingnetwork.com.

Doug is the author of So You REALLY Like Working With People? - Five Principles for Hospitality Excellence. https://www.createspace.com/6608751?ref=1147694&utm_id=6026
Features A Community Lives in Fear of Coal

Some 5,000 locals staged a protest against a coal-fired power plant near Inn Din Village in Mon States Ye Township on May 5, 2015. / Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy

MOULMEIN, Mon State  The village of Inn Din is green and lush with rubber, durian and betel plantations, as well as an opening to the Andaman Sea and its fishery resources to the west.

However, the village has been haunted by a proposed coal-fired power plant, often described locally as a silent killer.

We have been living on this land for generations and we want to pass it on to our descendants. I do not want this project built on our land, said local villager U Aung, whose farmland is located within the project area.

Local villagers have dreaded the health risks of the coal-fired plant since April 2014 when the Toyo-Thai Public Co Ltd (TTPCL), a Thai-Japan consortium, chose a site for the 1,280-megawatt power plant near the village.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with former Burmese President U Thein Seins government on April 9, 2015 to build the power plant at a cost of US$2.8 billion.

The project site is just two kilometers from Mon States Inn Din Village. Toyo-Thai Co has earmarked 500 acres of lands for the power plant, and has also proposed building a pontoon bridge, which would be three to five kilometers long and stretch into the Andaman Sea.

Local villagers do not know the extent of possible environmental impacts but fear that the plant will adversely impact their livelihoods by affecting fishing and farming.

Villagers from several nearby villages share the same concerns. On May 5, 2015, over 5,000 locals from seven villages staged a protest against the project.

Montree Chantawong, an ecologist at the Toward Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA), a Thai-based environmental organization that has been providing technical assistance to Inn Din villagers, told The Irrawaddy that the organization found a rare crab species.

We documented plants, aquatic animals and birds in the region, and also held talks with the marine biology department of Moulmein University on the aquatic animals we discovered and documented, he said.

According to the organizations survey in seven villages including Inn Din over the past three years, it found 26 plant species, 71 bird species, 138 fish species, 15 prawn species, and seven crab species.

Amid the mounting opposition, U Kyaw San Win, director of a civil society organization known as the National Enlightenment Institute (NEI), visited the village along with a foreign expert to conduct an independent survey on the geology and ecosystem of the project area in July 2015.

During our visit with the local abbot prior to visiting the project site, villagers gathered, banged pots and pans, and shouted for us to leave. I think the whole village came out, he said.

While most villagers object to the project, some silently expect to sell their land for high profits but dare not be vocal about their support.

We dont want this project. We earn enough money from farming to feed our families and send our children to university, villager U Lay Lin told The Irrawaddy.

Most of the villagers share his view. They do not want to risk their livelihoods for a power plant when they have lived off of the electricity grid to this point.

Currently, the village only has electricity for a few hours at night from a diesel generator arranged by the village monastery abbot.

Locals went to the Japanese Embassy in Rangoon to file a petition against the project. They also filed a petition to Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which are providing loans to Toyo-Thai Co.

They also turned down regional development incentives offered by the company in connection with the project. Instead, they concreted the main village road with their own money.

As the project is mainly intended to provide electricity for the Thilawa SEZ, the villagers may get some of the electricity, but it is not fair when compared with the burden of negative impacts it will bring them, said Montree Chantawong.

The company has said it would bring in thousands of foreign technicians when it started construction. Villagers are also concerned about possible social and cultural impacts on their village which currently only has a population of some 2,800 people.

In 2015, the company employed Vietnamese technicians to conduct a feasibility survey for the pontoon bridge. The technicians lived in floating houses but minor tensions between the two sides still arose.

From 2013 to 2015, there were several confrontations between the company and the villagers, and in June 2015, the company filed complaints with the Ye Township police station against 20 villagers. But, 300 villagers went to the police station and defended them and the case was later settled.

The company highlights the low production cost of electricity in its calculations, but does not mention the damages to be caused by the project, said Areeya Tivasuradej, an ecologist at TERRA.

Now, we can eat prawns from the sea, trade them and hand down to the next generation. In calculating its investment, the company did not include the loss to be caused by a decline in production [of fishery products as a result of the power plant], she said.

On June 8, 2014, Dr. Aung Naing Oo, a Mon State lawmaker representing Chaungzon Township and chairman of the Mon State parliamentary committee that reviews laws, proposals, questions, and regional plans, visited Inn Din Village to hear from the villagers. Locals cast a secret vote during his visit, resulting in 206 against, four in favor, and six abstentions.

On Sept. 5, 2014, the Mon State government instructed the Toyo-Thai Co not to continue the projects feasibility study.

On Dec. 30, 2015, in response to a question in the Lower House from lawmaker Mi Myint Than about the project, deputy minister for electricity U Aung Than Oo said the feasibility study had been suspended.

The Toyo-Thai Public Co holds shareholder meetings every April and later submits its annual report to shareholders, said Montree Chantawong.

According to this years report, the company told shareholders that the project was shelved, Montree Chantawong told The Irrawaddy.

This is the first time the company has announced its suspension of the project to shareholders, he added.

However, it is a suspension and not a termination, villagers said, adding that they fear a resumption of the project and look at outsiders with suspicion.

If you go to the village for the first time with a foreigner, locals say you had better go straight to the village monastery and explain why you have come. They claim that the nightmare of the coal plant has stripped them of their hospitality.
Burma Fighting Escalates in Northern Shan State as Peace Conference Looms

Members of the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) at the frontline in Kyaukme Township in Shan State. / Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Fighting has escalated between the Burma Army and the Northern Alliance in northern Shan State just weeks before the second session of the 21st Century Panglong conference, to begin on May 24 with the aim of establishing peace with the countrys ethnic armed groups.

Northern Alliance member the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) stated that fighting has occurred almost daily in the Kokang region since April 27. Fellow member Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) reported 20 separate clashes with the Burma Army within the last two weeks.

The TNLA stated its brigades 1 and 3 clashed four times with Burmese military troops yesterday in Mong Ton Township, where the Burma Armys Infantry Division 88 launched an offensive after the Thingyan water festival, and the fighting continued this morning.

[The Burma Army] is carrying out heavy operations against the TNLA/PSLF [Palaung State Liberation Front], and the MNDAA, Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw, General Secretary of the TNLA and Northern Alliance spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy.

We will keep fighting back. We have no choice. We will just defend ourselves using guerrilla warfare.

The Burma Army plans to diminish Daw Aung San Suu Kyis leadership of the second Panglong conference and its politics. They create war against peace to show that the power is in their hands, he added.

The Northern Alliance, which also comprises the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Arakan Army (AA), stated that it had been fighting the Tatmadaw all day yesterday and today in Kokang. Burmese military troops, it added, were using artillery to shell an MNDAA base.

The military-run Ministry of Defense stated on May 7 that a grenade shot by the TNLA wounded three civilians in Namkham Township.

The Burma Army has refused to hold peace talks with the MNDAA, the TNLA, and the AA, stating that the three groups formed after the quasi-civilian government took office in 2011.
Burma Student Protesters Jailed in Mandalay

Student protesters tussle with police outside Chanayethazan Township Court in Mandalay. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAY  Four student protesters were sentenced to four months in prison under the Peaceful Assembly Act and for disrespecting the court at Chanayethazan Township Court in Mandalay on Tuesday.

Kaung Zaw Hein, Zaw Ye Htut, Hnin Aung and Ye Myo Swe, who are members of Mandalay and Sagaing student unions, were arrested protesting Sagaing Teacher Training Colleges draconian rules in front of the Department of Higher Education (Upper Burma) in Mandalay last month.

The four were found guilty of disrespecting the court for shouting and tussling with police after their guards refused to remove their handcuffs for their final court appearance on Tuesday.

The students were given the option of a one-month prison sentence or a 2,000 kyats fine and chose the prison sentence, in addition to a three-month sentence handed down under the Peaceful Assembly Act.

During the protest, the students held placards urging the college to respect students freedom and human rights, to practice democracy, and to stop oppressing students.

Rules like not allowing mobile phones on the campus and strict timetables are like the rules in the army, not the rules of a college, said Zaw Ye Htut during the protest.

On Tuesday, the students vocally denounced the judges sentence after it was read out and condemned Burmas unjust laws and mistreatment by police.

Police forcibly removed the young men from the courtroom and bundled them into a waiting car to whisk them off to Obo prison.

The polices actions were very ugly, said Ko Aung Hmaing San, a former political prisoner and student supporter. Today proved that we still have no freedom of speech and cannot freely express what we dislike or disagree with.

The students families said they would not appeal the courts decision in protest of the unjust law and to highlight the lack of freedom of expression.
Burma Irrawaddy Division Ex-Cabinet Denies Embezzlement Allegations

The opening ceremony of Ayeyarwady Education and Health Multi-Developments Foundation in June 2016. / Salai Thant Zin / The Irrawaddy

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Division  Amid allegations of misappropriation of regional development funds, the former Irrawaddy Division government has said that it gave the missing money to a regional development foundation.

We ran an all-round development foundation under the former divisional government. And we donated a suitable amount of money to it when we retired, U Win Ko Ko, the ex-finance minister for the Irrawaddy Division government, told The Irrawaddy.

However, the ex-minister denied the new governments allegation that the missing funds amounted to 7 billion kyats. The Ayeyarwady Multi-Developments Foundation, also known as Ayeyarwady Education and Health Multi-Developments Foundation, will also hold a press conference about the donations, he said.

It was not seven billion kyats like they [the new government] said. The amount was not that much. We have asked [the foundation] to do the accounts. Ayeyarwady Health and Education Foundation will also hold a press conference about it, he said.

U Zayar Min Thein, a lawmaker from Pyapon Constituency (1) in the Irrawaddy divisional parliament, recently asked the regional legislature if the former government had handed over regional development funds to its successor.

Social affairs minister Dr. Hla Myat Thway of the Irrawaddy Division government replied that the former government had not transferred the money, and that the new government would ask the divisions auditor-general to investigate.

We are making an investigation into the regional development funds in response to the question [put forward] at the parliament. And we will take actions according to the investigation results. So far, we can say nothing, said Irrawaddy Divisions transport and finance minister U Win Htay.

The former divisional government led by chief minister U Thein Aungwho was also the chairman of Irrawaddy Division chapter of Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)ran a foundation under the name of Ayeyarwady Multi-Developments Foundation and fundraised by holding musical concerts and soliciting contributions from local businessmen.

Under [former] chief minister U Thein Aung, businessmen had to pay a tax of 30 million kyats (US$22,000) to the government to get a riverbank gravel extraction license, and had to donate an additional 30 million kyats to their foundation. So, we had to pay 60 million kyats ($44,000) in total for a license, said a gravel producer from Myanaung Township, on the condition of anonymity.

When the regional government was about to step down after the USDPs resounding defeat in 2015 general elections, U Thein Aungs administration reconstituted the foundation as Ayeyarwady Health and Education Multi-Developments Foundation. He then allegedly handed over the funds from the old foundation to the new one.

The reconstituted foundation is led by former ministers of the divisional government, including U Thein Aung, who serve as patrons. U Thein Aung also attended the opening of the reconstituted foundation in June last year.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Burma Ma Ha Na Asked to Judge on Wirathu Sermons

Ko Myat Kyaw at the press conference on Tuesday. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  Members of a committee to combat false Buddhist doctrine urged the State Buddhist authority on Tuesday to judge if the actions and speeches of firebrand nationalist monk U Wirathu are moral or not.

We dont want him to be jailed or ruined, we just want to show that we Buddhists and people do not accept his false doctrine, we want to mend them, Ko Myat Kyaw, the organizer of the committee, told reporters at a press conference at Tawwin Hninzi Hall in Rangoon on Tuesday.

The committee was formed in March this year by 12 people who sent a petition with over 500 signatures collected in Rangoons Dagon (South) Township to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, better known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ha Na. It urged Ma Ha Na to judge if U Wirathus words and actions were in line with Buddhist teachings.

The committees Facebook group currently has over 1,000 members.

Ko Myat Kyaw said the committee would invite new members and continue its petition campaign in Rangoon Division as Ma Ha Na had not replied.

Ma Ha Na has banned U Wirathu, a prominent leader of the ultranationalist Buddhist monk association known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha, from delivering sermons across the country for one year starting from March 10, due to engaging in what was deemed religious hate speech.

Though Ma Ha Na said it would take legal action against the monk for any breach of the order, U Wirathu has delivered several silent sermons in different locations, and has not received any reprimand, said Ko Myat Kyaw.

Our country will become a religious extremist country very soon if we cannot not prevent and take action against those who are immoral and racist and incite hatred, he said.

In the last week of March, activists launched a petition on the San Francisco-based Change.org website to take action against U Wirathu for delivering inflammatory sermons.

U Swe Win, chief correspondent of Myanmar Now news agency, has also asked Ma Ha Na and the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture to take action against U Wirathu for his religious hate speech.

A Rangoon resident also filed a complaint with Dawbon Township Court in April against U Wirathu for saying Burmese women should marry dogs instead of Muslim men, but it was dismissed.

U Wirathu and 10 other Buddhist monks were welcomed by ethnic Arakanese villagers in conflict-torn Maungdaw Township, northern Arakan State, last week.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Burma Party Leaders Object to Electoral Commission Over NLD By-Election Campaign

Leader of the USDP U Than Htay in Hlaing Tharyar Township, Rangoon. / U Than Htay / Facebook

RANGOON  The leaders of 13 political parties signed a letter to the Union Election Commission (UEC) on Monday complaining that National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders violated the 2008 Constitution and UEC directives in the run-up to the April 1 by-elections.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the National Development Party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar), and 10 other parties accused Daw Aung San Suu Kyis speech on the first anniversary of the NLD-led government on March 30 of being a party campaign message in disguise.

The letter also stated that interviews with the NLD secretary U Win Htein and patron U Tin Oo published in state media on March 31 and April 1 breached the election commissions announcement that campaigning would be banned from midnight on March 30 to April 1; this is also outlined in the election code of conduct.

The parties objected to the State Counselors reference to the NLD slogan Time to Change used during the 2015 election campaign, and her announcement of the partys new sloganTogether with the Peopleduring her speech, which was broadcasted and printed in state media on the eve of the by-elections.

The reference, it said, violated Section 232(k) of the military-drafted Constitution, which bans Union ministers from taking part in party activities during their term in office.

USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint told The Irrawaddy last month that the State Counselors speech was like a counterstrike for other opponent parties with the by-elections near.

We cant accept the abuse of power because the NLD is the ruling partythats why our party and other parties signed the letter together and objected to it, he told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

There are media reports of former President Thein Seins government and USDP Union ministers campaigning using state media and being involved in the partys campaigning in the 2010 and 2015 general elections.

UEC Deputy Director General U Nay Myo said they received the objection letter. He added the commissions chairman and members would give a verdict on the complaint.

The NLD won nine out of 18 contested seats in the April 1 by-elections, in which 19 seats were up for grabs, while the USDP won two seats.

Additional reporting by Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint.
Stories

The good news: The unemployment rate has dropped below five percent. But this doesnt mean all is well with the U.S. labor market. More and more, we hear of employers who are struggling to fill open positions - which raises the question: What steps should we be taking to build a talent pipeline that will expand opportunity and drive competitiveness? One answer comes from the example of Germany, a country where a combination of policy and practice helps to align the needs of employers with the skills of workers. More than half of all the unfilled positions in the U.S. are so-called middle-skill jobs, meaning they require a high school diploma and some post-secondary education but not a four-year college degree. Many of these middle-skill jobs are both high-tech and professional positions, and more important, many of them pay well. Because of the lack of qualified candidates though, they take twice as long to fill - 40 days instead of the average 20. All those open jobs suggest just how much a focus on narrowing the skills gap would mean, both to U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and to Americans who want to earn a solid living wage. It could also potentially represent significant savings to parents and high-school graduates who may no longer be required to pursue college degrees that often come with high price tags and significant student debt. For all these reasons, middle-skills training has become an urgent goal of U.S. policy makers, educators, and the private sector. The public sector is driving policy initiatives at every level of government, and the private sector is increasing its support for job-training programs as well. That private-sector, philanthropic approach is one that JPMorgan Chase has honed over time, part of a model that leverages its core business, creates an environment of collaboration and uses data and analysis to give partners the best possible tools to address crucial drivers of inclusive growth. Experience has shown that one of the best means to do that is an effective workforce-training system. That collaboration among the public sector, private companies, and the nonprofit community serves to identify global best practices, to test and learn, and to explore new ideas to expand progress and create sustainable solutions. One of the worlds leading models can be found in Germany, whose workforce development effort emphasizes apprenticeship  a system of training that combines on the job, paid experience with classroom learning. This sets students up to compete for jobs directly out of school, and to obtain relevant professional licenses more easily.

Youth apprenticeships are 12 times more popular in Germany than in the U.S. They have one of the lowest youth unemployment rates of advanced economies. 60% of students in Germany pursuing apprenticeships 5% of students in U.S. pursuing apprenticeships 6.5% of students in Germany unemployed (Jan 2017) 11.5% of students in the U.S. unemployed (Jan 2017)

Thanks in large part to its apprenticeship programs, the unemployment rate for German youth is one of the lowest in any of the worlds advanced economies: 6.5 percent as of January 2017, compared to an estimated 11.5 percent in the U.S. Germanys apprenticeship programs are an extension of artisan and merchant guilds that date back to the Middle Ages, before Columbus even discovered America. And the success of Germanys apprenticeship programs is due in part to the countrys robust manufacturing sector, which is ideal for apprenticeships. But given their history, they have also adapted apprenticeship training to many of their open middle-skills positions, from nurses aides and mechanics to bookkeepers and child-care workers. JPMorgan Chases New Skills at Work program, alongside the Institute for Public Policy Research and German organization Bertelsman Stiftung, published data in 2016 examining both the successes and challenges around the German apprenticeship system. Germanys educational system incorporates courses that give students a general sense of various careers, but much of its success springs from the generous support that the countrys corporations give to on-site apprenticeship programs  part of a system where companies are required to support training programs through their local chambers of commerce. As a result, apprenticeship programs are integral to employers. This has nothing to do with corporate social responsibility, one human resources manager in Germany said. I do this because I need talent. No two countries are alike, of course. Education and training systems evolve from every nations unique social, cultural and political climate. But the good news is that the U.S. appears to be on a path to grow support for these kinds of programs.
Reddit Email 99 Shares

By John Light | ( BillMoyers.com) |  

Congress and the White House arent going to address the climate crisis anytime soon. Will judges?

We are not going to wait until someone in office is representing our voices, 16-year-old Xiuhtzcatl Martinez told the assembled crowd of reporters, activists, and four US senators. We need the action to come today. The threat upon our future is happening right now.

Martinez and the 13 teens and tweens by his side were among 21 plaintiffs suing the US government to force it to take action on climate change. The government has known about the threat of climate change for decades, they argue, but has continued to take actions that contribute to climate change  like approving pipelines and subsidizing the fossil fuel industry  imperiling the lives of young Americans and future generations.

This, lawyers for these young plaintiffs allege, has violated their constitutional right to a habitable climate. The lawyers also argue that the atmosphere is a public trust, and that by continuing to allow American businesses to spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere the government has neglected its responsibility to protect this resource. The kids want immediate steps to bring CO2 levels in the atmosphere down to 350 parts per million, the amount scientists consider safe to protect the planet from continued global warming. CO2 levels have risen well above 400 ppm.

These arguments are groundbreaking, and take environmental law into areas its never been. But judges have also signaled that the arguments may hold up in court. Last November, Federal District Judge Ann Aiken allowed the case to move forward, ruling against a bid by the Obama administration to dismiss the case. In her decision, she argued that the lawsuit was no ordinary lawsuit, continuing:

This action is of a different order than the typical environmental case. It alleges that defendants actions and inactions  whether or not they violate any specific statutory duty have so profoundly damaged our home planet that they threaten plaintiffs fundamental constitutional rights to life and liberty.

The ruling attracted the attention of environmental activists  Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein called the case the most important lawsuit on the planet right now  and legal scholars alike.

Judge Aiken of the federal district court issued her decision on the governments motion to dismiss they day after Donald Trump was elected president, and that decision was a ray of sunshine in what was a very dark day for the environmental community, says Michael Burger, the executive director of Columbia Universitys Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

Though the suit was initially filed during the Obama administration, Donald Trump, a far greater foe of the environment, inherited the case. Aikens decision, Burger says, offered some hope that the courts will stand as a bulwark against what will be a long, hard-fought battle  a real onslaught against environmental protections.

The Trump administration has also been paying attention. In March, Jeffrey Wood, an acting assistant attorney general and former coal lobbyist, called on the court, again, to throw out the suit, saying he hoped to avoid litigation that is unprecedented in its scope and in its potential to be protracted, expensive and disruptive to the continuing operation of the United States government. Earlier this week, however, the court issued an opinion indicating that it is unlikely to do so; instead, the case is expected to go to trial in federal district court in Oregon later this year.

Whatever the district court decides can be appealed to the 9th Circuit  and then, from there, to the Supreme Court, where the young plaintiffs gathered last Thursday. If the kids are lucky, their rally foreshadows things to come: Perhaps, sometime within the next few years, theyll be back, standing in the same place, preparing to make their argument before the nine justices who deliberate within.

In theory, courts arent for sale, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) told them, standing in front of the courts columned entrance. But, Whitehouse said, since the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision in 2010, which allowed unlimited and often undisclosed sums of money to flow into elections, the same cannot be said of Congress. The fossil fuel industry now wields tremendous influence over legislators careers and has inhibited climate action, Whitehouse said.

Were still fighting over there and I believe we will win because the people are with us, but oh, my, what a barricade of lies and dark money the fossil fuel industry has built around that place, Whitehouse continued, nodding toward the Capitol across the street.

Thats why this lawsuit is so important: Because when you get to court, facts matter. When you get to court, witnesses must tell the truth, or they can be punished. When you get to the court, lawyers even have to tell the truth, at least to the court. When you get to the court, spin can be cross-examined. When you get to court, industry nonsense can be exposed.

The 21 young plaintiffs are supported in their case by a nonprofit group composed of lawyers and activists under the name Our Childrens Trust. The group was the brainchild of Julia Olson, an environmental lawyer who began to feel a growing need to take a more aggressive approach to climate change litigation in 2006, after watching Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth.
Reddit Email 229 Shares

By Nader Habibi | (The Conversation) |  

Markets breathed a collective sigh of relief after Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency. But theres another vote this month thats just as consequential yet has received far less attention: Irans May 19 presidential election.

If the incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani doesnt win a second term, one of his conservative challengers would likely take his place. This could complicate increasingly tense relations with the U.S. and put the success of the nuclear agreement at risk.

Rouhanis fate, however, may rest on Iranians perceptions of the economy  the second-largest in the region  and whether it has improved since his government signed the nuclear accord with the West in January 2016. His conservative opponents are portraying a bleak economic picture, which has resonated with many voters.

What Iranians ultimately decide could have significant regional and international consequences. For those of you who havent been following this election, heres a primer and some insights based on my decades studying Irans economic and political scene.

Poor marks on first debate

Conservative newspapers and TV have been full of personal stories of economic suffering and complaints from ordinary Iranians about poverty and corruption. A recent mining tragedy in northern Iran that killed more than 50 minors gave workers an opportunity to openly complain to Rouhani during his visit about their low incomes and how the government has neglected their desperate conditions.

That economic issues are taking center stage was evident last month in the first presidential debate, which was supposed to focus on domestic social and cultural issues.

Yet the four conservatives on stage linked most of Irans social ills such as low rates of marriage and growing rates of opiate addiction to poverty and high unemployment rates, which they blamed on Rouhanis economic policies and failure to cash in on the nuclear deal.

For his part, Rouhani was seen as doing a poor job defending his policies or rebutting his rivals harsh criticism.

The latest independent opinion polls, carried out in December 2016 and April, suggest the conservative message is working. Despite the lifting of international sanctions, most Iranians say they do not feel any significant improvement in economic or financial terms.

When asked about the countrys general economic conditions, for example, the percentage of respondents who replied very or somewhat good declined from 49 percent when sanctions were lifted in January 2016 to 34 percent. In contrast, the share who said somewhat or very bad rose from 49 percent to 64 percent.

The surveys also showed that Iranians are growing less optimistic about the positive benefits of the nuclear agreement for the economy or that itll lead to a reduction of the United States unilateral sanctions, which are separate from those tied to Irans nuclear program.

An improving economic picture

The reality, however, is somewhat better than this pessimistic outlook would suggest.

The most recent economic data show that the volume of crude oil and natural gas production, which accounts for one quarter of Irans economy, increased by at least 65 percent from last March to December thanks to the lifting of sanctions. And the removal of financial, insurance and trade sanctions allowed Iran to expand its non-oil exports and imports.

This in turn helped the economy grow an estimated 8.9 percent in the last quarter of 2016. Even the non-oil sector of the economy, which had contracted nearly 4 percent in the last nine months of 2015, expanded at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in the last quarter of 2016.

While these most recent economic growth rates point in a positive direction, it might be a while before these developments can lead to visible improvement in peoples standards of living and change Iranians perceptions.

The slow pace of economic recovery is partly because Rouhani and his economic team adopted a policy of gradual and long-term economic recovery, which avoided massive borrowing from the central bank and large budget deficits.

As a result, real incomes of many segments of the economy remain weak, and the housing and construction sector, which is a major source of employment opportunities, remains in recession.

A cautious approach

Another problem for Rouhani is that his focus on engagement with the global economy in hopes of attracting foreign investment and expanding trade opportunities has produced only mixed results.

While the Iran Chamber of Commerce reported that the country attracted US$13 billion in foreign investment last year, compared with just $3 billion in 2015, other independent sources put the amount at more like $3.6 billion.

Part of the problem is that tensions with the U.S. have intensified in recent months, particularly since Donald Trump became president. As a result, major European and Asian investors have stayed away on concerns that they might face financial punishment by the U.S. government for dealing with Iran.

Foreign investors, particularly from Europe, are also deterred by a number of domestic political risks inside Iran. They fear that at some point they might be expelled, as some foreign investors have been in the past.

Whats not being discussed

One of the most substantial factors affecting Irans economy cant even be discussed by the candidates, let alone changed by the president: the high cost of its military and security operations in Iraq and Syria.

Large numbers of Iranian armed forces are present in both countries, and Iran also provides military and financial support to the government of Syria and the Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah. These campaigns are costing Iran billions of dollars every year. While no exact cost data are available, conservative estimates are at least $6 billion per year on Syria alone.

Furthermore, President Rouhani has limited influence over these key parameters of Irans foreign policy, even though they have very significant consequences for the countrys economy  and his reelection chances.

And Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameneis continued emphasis on a resistance economy  intended to make Iran more self-reliant and less vulnerable to foreign adversaries  has constrained Rouhanis ability to reduce the growing economic activities of the powerful Revolutionary Guards. This focus on limiting the economys dependence on foreigners has led to strong opposition to Rouhanis trade and investment negotiations by some political figures and the conservative media.

Voters make a choice

Despite the fact that whoever wins will have limited power to influence Irans foreign policy, the elections outcome will have a significant impact on Irans economic and diplomatic relations with the global community.

President Rouhani has not only advocated global engagement but also favors closer ties with Western nations and a more moderate policy in the Middle East. In contrast, the conservative candidates who oppose Rouhani are likely to implement Khameneis foreign policy vision, which favors closer economic and diplomatic ties with Russia and less interdependence with Western Europe.

None of the potential winners seems likely to dismantle the nuclear deal, but a more aggressive approach by a conservative Iranian president, coupled with a very skeptical American administration, could make it harder to preserve.

The calculation Iranian voters will be making as they go to the polls is simpler, however: Which candidate will make their lives materially better? The answer will be far-reaching.

Nader Habibi, Professor of the Economics of the Middle East at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Al Jazeera English: Iran presidential hopefuls face-off in second election debate
Reddit Email 402 Shares

Interview by Jayson Casper | (Informed Comment) |  

Dr. Kamal Boraiqa is a lecturer at al-Azhar University and a member of al-Azhar Center for Dialogue, the al-Azhar Observer for Combating Extremism, and the Egyptian Family House. With a PhD from al-Azhar in Islamic Studies, he has served as an imam at the Santa Rosa Islamic Center in the United States and as a visiting scholar at the UKs Birmingham University Center for the Study of Islam and Muslim-Christian Relations, and is a member of the African Union steering committee to link policy makers and religious leaders. Jayson Caspar asks him about Pope Franciss visit to Egypt in late April and his meeting with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar.

CASPER: Dr. Kamal, as an al-Azhar scholar, what aspects of Pope Francis visit and speech resonated with you the most, especially in terms of your responsibilities in dialogue?

BORAIQA: The meeting itself was a message to the whole world that the three heavenly religions  Islam, Christianity, and Judaism  are against violence, fanaticism, and radicalism. One who contemplates the speeches of Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyib will learn many lessons.

First, that faith is incompatible with violence, for violence is the negation of every authentic religious expression. Religious leaders are called, therefore, to unmask the violence that masquerades as purported sanctity and is based more on the absolutizing of selfishness than on authentic openness to the Absolute. We have an obligation to denounce violations of human dignity and human rights, to expose attempts to justify every form of hatred in the name of religion, and to condemn these attempts as idolatrous caricatures of God. Holy is his name, he is the God of peace.

Religion, however, is not meant only to unmask evil. It has an intrinsic vocation to promote peace, today perhaps more than ever. This is done through teaching the younger generations, because education becomes wisdom if it draws out of men and women the very best of themselves, in contact with the One who transcends them and with the world around them, fostering a sense of identity that is open and not self-enclosed.

Sincere dialogue is the only alternative to civilized encounter, lest we are left with the incivility of conflict. Wisdom seeks out the other, overcoming the temptation to rigidity and closed-mindedness. It is open and in motion, at once humble and inquisitive. It values the past and sets it in communication with the present, within suitable hermeneutics.

Pope Francis demonstrated this when opened his speech with As-Salaam Alaikum. This traditional Muslim greeting in Arabic means, Peace be upon you, and reflects his great respect and appreciation of the Muslim faith.

But he followed up also with a practical call. He said that in order to prevent conflicts and build peace, it is essential that we spare no effort in eliminating situations of poverty and exploitation where extremism more easily takes root. He also spoke forcefully about blocking the flow of money and weapons to those who provoke violence.

CASPER: How does al-Azhar contribute to the fight against radicalism?

BORAIQA: Al-Azhars strategy to combat radicalism is both local and international. Its system of education is built upon layers and layers of exchange through dialogue and the acceptance of difference of opinion and interpretation. Al-Azhars moderate curricula teaches and encourages the proper understanding of Islam that is far away from extremism. It reflects the true spirit of Islam and the essence of Islamic heritage in both rationality and rhetoric.

Spiritually, al-Azhar embodies Islamic moderation and tolerance, the two fundamental characters of the three monotheistic religions in general. The institution promotes its knowledge and culture throughout the world, without prejudice or interest but for the benefit of mankind.

Al-Azhar comprises 83 faculties and colleges that teach Arabic, Shariah, and modern sciences, including medicine, engineering, pharmacy, jurisprudence, and propagation. The number of students enrolled in the university in both undergraduate and post graduate studies is about 500,000, including about 40,000 international students from 66 countries. Millions of students have graduated from Al-Azhar University, and they have greatly enriched its scholarship in the religious and modern sciences.

Al-Azhar sponsors peace emissaries to many countries throughout the world in collaboration with the Muslim Council of Elders, an initiative established on July 19, 2014. The council is headed by the Grand Imam to promote peace, human values, and the tolerant principles of Islam. In Africa and Asia al-Azhar is considered the first Islamic haven, due to the role it plays in teaching and preparing students, scholars and future imams.

But al-Azhar also plays an important role in communicating with the West, sending scholars and high-level delegations to actively participate in academic and dialogue conferences to highlight the moderate image of Islam. The openness to all world religions sends a message that the teachings of Islam are against exclusivism. We teach our students that diversity is a Divine Law and that religious freedom is the basis of a healthy relationship of respect and sincerity.

CASPER: What specific steps have been taken recently with terrorism seemingly on the rise?

BORAIQA: We launched a very important initiative to combat extremism: The Al-Azhar Observer for Combating Extremism. It is an electronic-based center that monitors everything written about Islam in international circles, including newspapers, magazines, periodicals, research centers, and websites. Languages include English, French, German, Spanish, Persian, and Urdu. Other languages including Chinese, Turkish, and Russian are planned to be included soon.

The Observer aims to correct the misconceptions raised against Islam. It develops a counter-narrative against terrorist movements, which are bringing the world to chaos in the name of religion. The Observer spares no effort to protect Muslim youth and new Muslim converts from falling prey to terrorist groups which exploit terms like Jihad, Hijra (Migration), and Baya (Oath of allegiance) to deceive them.

How does interreligious dialogue take place between Muslims and Christians in Egypt? Does it reach the grassroots?

Dialogue takes place on a daily basis as Muslims and Christians peacefully coexist with each other. They are citizens who enjoy equal rights and obligations. And at the level of religious leadership the relationship is very strong, deeply rooted in their hearts.

One of the most important initiatives is the Egyptian Family House. It was launched as a proactive step following the criminal attack against the Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. Then, following the bombing of the Two Saints church in Alexandria on January 1, 2011, the Sheikh of al-Azhar called for the union of the crescent and the cross. The Egyptian Family House comprises Al-Azhar, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Coptic Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church, and the Anglican Episcopal Church. It also includes number of prominent unaffiliated figures, Muslim and Christian specialists in the fields of civilization, religion, history, sociology, law, Shariah, and education.

The goals of the Family House are to preserve the Egyptian identity, to restore Muslim and Christian values, to focus on the common ground between Muslims and Christians, to mutually respect and understand our differences, to enhance the values of citizenship and tradition, and to strengthen the distinctive features of Egyptian culture. Through these it is engaged in the rephrasing of Islamic-Christian religious discourse.

It also aims at preserving the social fabric of the people of Egypt in coordination with government. Violence and strife must be rejected fully, not only to solve current problems, but also to uproot them fully and prevent future occurrence. The Family House calls for enforcing the law and holding accountable those responsible for the crimes, which target our whole nation. There is frank discussion of chronic and thorny issues, as well as the obvious sectarian problems. It searches for decisive solutions and is mandated to present them to officials.

Six months ago there was a meeting between al-Azhar and the World Council of Churches, and the of WCC suggested that there should be international branches affiliated to Egyptian Family House, as they believed the initiative has been very successful.

CASPER: Al-Azhar has been criticized for being unable to reform religious discourse. Is this warranted?

BORAIQA: It is true al-Azhar has been criticized, and we responded to this criticism. A committee worked for two years to renew the education curriculum in accordance with current circumstances and the requirements of modern change. We have held many training sessions for imams to help them renew their religious discourse, in order to present a simple, clear, and unsophisticated message.

Finally, will the visit of the pope make a difference in Egypt and the region?

The meeting of the Pope and the Grand Imam will bring more peace and foster interreligious dialogue all over the world. They have affirmed that religion is against violence and shedding blood. Their message is very powerful and will affect followers of all religions.

Jayson Casper is a writer and researcher based in Cairo. He serves as local correspondent for Christianity Today and blogs regularly on Egyptian politics, religion, and culture at A Sense of Belonging. Jayson has worked previously in Mauritania, Jordan, and Tunisia, and holds an M.A. in Islamic studies from Columbia International University.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

ROME REPORTS in English: Pope in Al-Azhar: Violence is the negation of every authentic religious expression
Reddit Email 94 Shares

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

The Trump administration is running as hard and fast as it can away from Michael Flynn, whom Trump briefly appointed National Security adviser. But the facts of this case implicate Trump and his high officials (likely Steve Bannon was somehow involved, for instance).

I was attending to this scandal back when Flynn was in office.

It came out Monday that President Obama warned Trump not to appoint Flynn as National Security Council. Trump ignored Obamas warning. Obama had fired Flynn as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

CBS: Obama warned Trump about Flynn

At Mondays Senate hearings on Russian interference in our election, this was one exchange between Sen. Lindsey Graham and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates:

GRAHAM: Ms. Yates, do you have any evidence  are you aware of any evidence that would suggest that in the 2016 campaign anybody in the Trump campaign colluded  colluded with the Russian government intelligence services in improper fashion? YATES: And Senator, my answer to that question would require me to reveal classified information. And so, I  I cant answer that.

Boom.

A no answer could not possibly have required this answer, so the answer is yes, despite what Yates later said.

Yates was also clearly upset that Vice President Pence was telling the press that Flynn had not been in touch with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak before the inauguration. In fact, Flynn talked to him repeatedly in late December and discussed Obama-era sanctions on Russia, apparently with the intent to reassure Moscow that these sanctions would be made less severe or lifted under Trump.

Yates went to the White House to warn Pence and Trump that Flynn was taking them for a ride:

YATES: So I told them again that there were a number of press accounts of statements that had been made by the vice president and other high-ranking White House officials about General Flynns conduct that we knew to be untrue. And we told them how we knew that this  how we had this information, how we had acquired it, and how we knew that it was untrue. And we walked the White House Counsel who also had an associate there with him through General Flynns underlying conduct, the contents of which I obviously cannot go through with you today because its classified. But we took him through in a fair amount of detail of the underlying conduct, what General Flynn had done, and then we walked through the various press accounts and how it had been falsely reported.

I wrote a little afterward:

The Washington Post reports that conversations with no less than nine intelligence officials confirm that Flynn did talk with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about Obamas sanctions on the Russian Federation. Flynn apparently urged the Russians not to be too upset about the new sanctions suggesting that the Trump administration would revisit them. Flynn at the time was not in any government office and had no right to negotiate with a foreign power, an act prohibited to civilians by the Logan Act. Flynn must have known that the Russian ambassadors telephone is under NSA surveillance and so it is weird to the extreme that he would risk breaking the law in public, so to speak.

It is illegal for a civilian (which Flynn was in December) to negotiate with a foreign power, and if the reports are true, Flynn violated the Logan Act.

I also wrote:

It is bad enough that Flynn may have committed this breach of the law. On top of that, when questioned about these allegations he lied and said he had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak. He not only lied himself but he told Vice President Mike Pence this lie and so arranged for Pence to go on television and repeat Flynns lie. Flynn wasnt under oath, so I suppose this is just a lie and not perjury . . .

I also pointed out while Flynn was still in office that

In 2015, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, having been fired by the Obama administration as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and then having retired from the military, flew to Moscow and attended a banquet in celebration of the Russia Today network, the Russian state-owned television channel. RT does some good work, but you have to keep in mind that its editorial line is set by the Kremlin. The connection to the state is even closer than in the case of the Voice of America. Flynn appears to have been paid for his appearance in Moscow, and it is possible that he was paid quite a lot.

We now know the sum was $30,000. I had pointed out, Retired officers can be recalled and are cautioned when they retire that they should avoid such payments by a foreign government, since it violates the Emoluments clause of the Constitution (1.9:). I added, Retired officers of the US military, inasmuch as they are subject to recall to service, are considered to be a person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States.

Flynn was briefed on this issue twice a year as a retired officer, but he still did not report the Russia Today honorarium to the Pentagon.

It turns out that Flynns propensity for hiding the truth or lying was itself a concern to the Department of Justice:

YATES: And the Russians also knew that General Flynn had misled the vice president and others, because in the media accounts, it was clear from the vice president and others that they were repeating what General Flynn had told them, and that this was a problem because not only did we believe that the Russians knew this, but that they likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians. Finally, we told them that we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action, the action that they deemed appropriate.

Since the Russians knew Flynn was misrepresenting his contacts with Kislyak and his relationship with Russia, that dishonesty itself left him open to being blackmailed by Moscow, Yates feared.

Despite Obamas clear warning, Trump appointed Flynn to high office. And Trump and Pence were so gullible, they went on swallowing whatever Flynn told them.

It may be worse. If it were ever to come out that Trump or someone in the White House told Flynn to call the Russian ambassador and make him an offer he couldnt refuse, would anybody be surprised? This scandal is redolent of Iran-Contra late in the Reagan era.

I think we have to start asking again, What did the president know and when did he know it?
TORONTO, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - "Franco-Nevada's diversified portfolio and business model continues to deliver with record Gold Equivalent Ounces and revenue being realized in the first quarter" commented David Harquail, CEO. "Recent acquisitions are performing well and we continue to benefit from increased activity on many of our properties. It is a testament to both the portfolio and our business model that Franco-Nevada has again declared a dividend increase. This marks Franco-Nevada's 10th consecutive year of dividend increases since it went public in late 2007. Franco-Nevada remains debt free with increasing cash balances and we continue to see investment opportunities across various commodities."

Q1/2017 Financial Highlights

131,578 Gold Equivalent Ounces 1 (GEOs) sold  a new record and a 23.4% increase year-over-year

(GEOs) sold  a new record and a 23.4% increase year-over-year $172.7 million in revenue  a new record and a 30.8% increase year-over-year

in revenue  a new record and a 30.8% increase year-over-year $128.5 million of Adjusted EBITDA 2 or $0.72 per share

of Adjusted EBITDA or per share $45.6 million of net income or $0.26 per share

of net income or per share $44.8 million of Adjusted Net Income 3 or $0.25 per share

of Adjusted Net Income or per share $283.0 million in cash and cash equivalents at quarter-end and no debt

Revenue and GEOs by Asset Categories

Q1/2017 Q1/2016 GEOs Revenue GEOs Revenue # (in millions) # (in millions) Precious Metals: Gold 100,540 $ 122.9 76,753 $ 91.5 Silver 19,746 24.4 22,627 26.8 PGMs 8,224 10.7 5,196 7.6 Precious Metals - Total 128,510 $ 158.0 104,576 $ 125.9 Other Minerals 3,068 3.8 2,045 2.5 Oil & Gas  10.9  3.6 131,578 $ 172.7 106,621 $ 132.0

For Q1/2017, revenue was sourced 91.5% from precious metals (71.2% gold, 14.1% silver and 6.2% PGM) and 81.0% from the Americas (13.9% U.S., 16.9% Canada and 50.2% Latin America). Operating costs and expenses increased year-over-year in-line with the increase in the number of GEOs sold during the quarter. Oil & gas revenue increased three-fold year-over-year, reflecting higher prices and lower capital expenses year-over-year on the Company's Canadian assets, as well as the addition of the STACK portfolio of royalties in Q4/2016. Cash provided by operating activities was $119.8 million, a decrease of 3.5% compared to Q1/2016, as increased gross profits were offset by changes in non-cash working capital.

Corporate Updates

Dividend Increase: Franco- Nevada is pleased to declare a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share. The dividend is a 4.5% increase from the previous $0.22 per share quarterly dividend and marks the tenth consecutive annual dividend increase for Franco-Nevada shareholders.

Franco- is pleased to declare a quarterly dividend of per share. The dividend is a 4.5% increase from the previous per share quarterly dividend and marks the tenth consecutive annual dividend increase for Franco-Nevada shareholders. 2017 Warrants: At the beginning of the year, Franco-Nevada had 6,510,280 common share purchase warrants outstanding. The warrants have an exercise price of C$75.00 per warrant and expire on June 16, 2017 . Subsequent to March 31, 2017 , Franco-Nevada received proceeds of C$157.6 million from the exercise of 2,100,718 common share purchase warrants. At May 9, 2017 , there remains 4,407,675 warrants outstanding.

At the beginning of the year, Franco-Nevada had 6,510,280 common share purchase warrants outstanding. The warrants have an exercise price of per warrant and expire on . Subsequent to , Franco-Nevada received proceeds of from the exercise of 2,100,718 common share purchase warrants. At , there remains 4,407,675 warrants outstanding. Credit Facilities: On March 22, 2017 , Franco-Nevada extended the term of its existing $1 billion credit facility from November 12, 2020 to March 22, 2022 . In addition, on March 20, 2017 , Franco-Nevada's subsidiary, Franco-Nevada ( Barbados ) Corporation, entered into an unsecured revolving credit facility which provides for the availability of up to $100.0 million in borrowings.

On , Franco-Nevada extended the term of its existing credit facility from to . In addition, on , Franco-Nevada's subsidiary, Franco-Nevada ( ) Corporation, entered into an unsecured revolving credit facility which provides for the availability of up to in borrowings. Midland Oil & Gas Royalties: On March 13, 2017 , Franco-Nevada agreed to purchase a portfolio of oil & gas royalties in the Midland shale play of the Permian Basin of Texas for $110.0 million . On March 14, 2017 , Franco-Nevada advanced $11.0 million in an escrow account to be applied towards the purchase price upon closing. Closing is expected in Q2/2017 with revenue retroactive to Jan 1, 2017 .

Q1/2017 Portfolio Updates

Precious Metals  U.S.: GEOs from U.S. precious metals assets increased by 37.9% year-over-year with increases at South Arturo and Stillwater more than offsetting the decrease from Goldstrike. 19,529 GEOs were received from the U.S. precious metal assets. South Arturo (4-9% royalty)  This project, operated by Barrick and Premier Gold, represented an increase of 4,309 GEOs year-over-year. The partners are looking at a second open pit (Dee) on the property and are advancing permitting for the El Nino underground opportunity below the current pit. Goldstrike (2-4% royalty & 2.4-6% NPI)  Barrick is integrating the Cortez and Goldstrike mines in an effort to reduce all-in sustaining costs which would benefit the profit royalties. Stillwater (5% royalty)  Sibanye Gold successfully closed its acquisition of Stillwater Mining. The Stillwater project contributed an additional 2,004 GEOs compared to Q1/2016. Stillwater is planning low risk organic growth with the Blitz project, which it expects to add between 270,000 and 330,000 PGM ounces of incremental production per annum by 2021. Rosemont (1.5% royalty)  Hudbay released results of a feasibility study for the Rosemont project which outlined a 19 year mine life with annual copper production over the first 10 years of 127,000 tonnes. Hudbay expects the Record of Decision to be signed in June 2017 . Franco- Nevada's 1.5% royalty covers all commodities.

GEOs from U.S. precious metals assets increased by 37.9% year-over-year with increases at South Arturo and more than offsetting the decrease from Goldstrike. 19,529 GEOs were received from the U.S. precious metal assets. Precious Metals  Canada : GEOs from Canadian precious metals assets increased by approximately 3.3% to 12,652 GEOs compared with Q1/2016. Hemlo ( 3% royalty & 50% NPI)  Barrick filed a Technical Report for Hemlo outlining the life of mine plan and providing additional detail of the increased reserves previously announced. Macassa ( various royalties )  Reserves of gold ounces at the Macassa mine increased by 37% from the last estimate at December 31, 2014 which includes two years of depletion. The reserve grade also increased by 7%. Detour (2% royalty)  Detour Gold provided an updated mine plan in response to near-term permitting constraints. The updated plan assumes a longer mine life and increased life of mine gold production compared to the previous mine plan. Brucejack (1.2% royalty)  Pretium Resources reports that it has stockpiled 187,000 tonnes of ore and has started introducing ore to the crusher. Timmins West (2.25% royalty)  Tahoe Resources expects to provide a maiden reserve estimate for the Gap 144 zone in Q3/2017.

: GEOs from Canadian precious metals assets increased by approximately 3.3% to 12,652 GEOs compared with Q1/2016. Precious Metals  Latin America : GEOs from Latin American precious metals assets represented the largest year-over-year increase. 70,429 precious metal GEOs were earned from Latin America , an increase of 20.4% year-over-year due to higher deliveries from Antapaccay, Guadalupe and Candelaria. Antapaccay (gold and silver stream)  Antapaccay delivered 15,019 GEOs in Q1/2017, an increase of 68% year-over-year due to only two months of deliveries in Q1/2016, when the stream transaction was closed. Antamina (22.5% silver stream)  13,130 GEOs from Antamina were sold during the quarter, a decrease compared to 17,781 GEOs in Q1/2016. The year-over-year decrease was expected, as 2016 was an exceptionally strong year of silver production for Antamina. Candelaria (gold and silver stream)  Candelaria earned 22,483 GEOs, compared to 18,626 GEOs in Q1/2016, as expected according to its mine plan. The Los Diques tailings facility construction is progressing on schedule and conceptual studies to increase production from five underground deposits to optimize life-of-mine plan are advancing. Guadalupe (50% gold stream)  The Guadalupe agreement, which became effective in Q3/2016, delivered 19,300 GEOs in Q1/2017, compared to 12,501 under the Palmarejo agreement in Q1/2016, due to higher production year-over-year and a reduction of inventory that had built up from the prior quarter. Under the Guadalupe agreement, Franco-Nevada pays an ongoing cost of $800 per gold ounce received versus the inflation adjusted cost of $400 per gold ounce under the prior Palmarejo agreement. Cerro Moro (2% royalty)  Yamana Gold reports that the project is on track for mechanical completion by year-end with startup of production expected early next year. Cobre Panama (gold and silver stream)  During the quarter, Franco-Nevada contributed $50.2 million of its share of construction capital for the Cobre Panama project with a total of $512.4 million of its $1 billion commitment contributed as of the end of Q1/2017. First Quantum reported that the project is over 50% complete as of the end of Q1/2017 and that the project remains scheduled for phased commissioning during 2018, with continued ramp-up over 2019. Franco- Nevada expects to contribute between $200-$220 million to the project in 2017.

GEOs from Latin American precious metals assets represented the largest year-over-year increase. 70,429 precious metal GEOs were earned from , an increase of 20.4% year-over-year due to higher deliveries from Antapaccay, Guadalupe and Candelaria. Precious Metals  Rest of World: 25,900 GEOs from Rest of World precious metals assets were sold during the quarter, an increase of 31.8% year-over-year. This reflected the first full quarter of deliveries from Karma, as well as the sale of ounces which had been received in Q4/2016. Subika (2% royalty)  Newmont formally announced plans to develop a new underground mine and expand plant capacity at its Ahafo operation in Ghana . Together, the two projects are forecast to add incremental gold production between 200,000 to 300,000 ounces per year during the first five years of production. The proposed underground mine is estimated to be mostly covered by Franco-Nevada's 2% royalty. Tasiast (2% royalty)  Kinross reports the Tasiast Phase 1 expansion remains on schedule for full production in Q2/2018. Kinross expects to provide a feasibility for a possible Phase 2 expansion in Q3/2017. This is expected to add an additional 18,000 tonnes per day for a total combined throughput capacity of 30,000 tonnes per day. Karma (fixed gold deliveries and stream)  5,000 GEOs were sold in the quarter of which 1,250 were received in Q4/2016. Sabodala (fixed gold deliveries and stream) 7,500 GEOs were sold in the quarter, of which 1,875 were received in Q4/2016. Teranga Gold won the PDAC award for Environmental & Social Responsibility for its work around the Sabodala mine. Edikan (1.5% royalty)  Perseus Mining released an updated mine plan in February envisioning a 6.5 year mine life. Agi Dagi (2% royalty)  Alamos Gold has tabled a positive feasibility report for the project projecting annual production of 177,600 ounces of gold over 5 years. A positive PEA was also completed for the neighbouring Camyurt project on which Franco-Nevada also holds a royalty.

25,900 GEOs from Rest of World precious metals assets were sold during the quarter, an increase of 31.8% year-over-year. This reflected the first full quarter of deliveries from Karma, as well as the sale of ounces which had been received in Q4/2016. Oil & Gas: Revenue from oil & gas assets increased to $10.9 million in Q1/2017 compared to $3.6 million in Q1/2016, reflecting higher prices and lower capital expenses year-over-year on the Company's Canadian assets, as well as the addition of the STACK portfolio of royalties in Q4/2016. The contribution from the new U.S. royalty assets is expected to become more significant after 2017.

Dividend Increase

Franco-Nevada is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share. The dividend is a 4.5% increase from the previous $0.22 per share quarterly dividend and marks the 10th consecutive annual dividend increase for Franco-Nevada shareholders. Canadian investors in Franco-Nevada's IPO in December 2007 are now receiving an effective 8.3% yield on their cost base. The dividend will be paid on June 29, 2017 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2017 (the "Record Date"). The Canadian dollar equivalent is to be determined based on the daily average rate posted by the Bank of Canada on the Record Date. Under Canadian tax legislation, Canadian resident individuals who receive "eligible dividends" are entitled to an enhanced gross-up and dividend tax credit on such dividends.

The Company has a Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP"). Participation in the DRIP is optional. The Company will issue additional common shares through treasury at a 3% discount to the Average Market Price, as defined in the DRIP. However, the Company may, from time to time, in its discretion, change or eliminate the discount applicable to treasury acquisitions or direct that such common shares be purchased in market acquisitions at the prevailing market price, any of which would be publicly announced. The DRIP and enrollment forms are available on the Company's website at www.franco-nevada.com. Registered shareholders may also enroll in the DRIP online through the plan agent's self-service web portal at www.investorcentre.com/franco-nevada. Beneficial shareholders should contact their financial intermediary to arrange enrollment.

This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer of securities. A registration statement relating to the DRIP has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and may be obtained under the Company's profile on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

Shareholder Information

The complete Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis can be found today on FrancoNevada's website at www.franco-nevada.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Management will host a conference call tomorrow, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to review FrancoNevada's Q1/2017 results.

Interested investors are invited to participate as follows:

Via Conference Call: Toll-Free: (888) 231-8191; International: (647) 427-7450

Conference Call Replay until May 17 th : Toll-Free (855) 859-2056; Toronto (416) 849-0833; Pass code 8958319

Webcast: A live audio webcast will be accessible at www.franco-nevada.com

Corporate Summary

Franco-Nevada Corporation is the leading gold-focused royalty and stream company with the largest and most diversified portfolio of cash-flow producing assets. Its business model provides investors with gold price and exploration optionality while limiting exposure to many of the risks of operating companies. Franco-Nevada is debt free and uses its free cash flow to expand its portfolio and pay dividends. It trades under the symbol FNV on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Franco-Nevada is the gold investment that works.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 9, 2017) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:THX) ("Thor" or the "Company") is pleased to announce positive results of the first drill hole (SGD155) in its ongoing 5,500 metre "proof of concept" diamond drill program.

The drill hole intersected the primary high grade gold mineralised zone of the ore body, returning 16 metres at 4.7g/t extending the orebody down-dip. The Company also reports that logging of drill holes SGD156 and SGD157 indicate strong potential for continuity of the mineralised zones further down-dip, with visible gold identified in the core.

The drilling program is continuing and the Company expects to announce the results of SGD156 and SGD 157 within the next 2 weeks.

Figure 1: Longitudinal section view of the central section of the Segilola Gold Project showing high grade trends within the gram-metres model (grade x true thickness) and location of drill hole intercepts



Figure 2: Cross section view of the Segilola Project illustrating the primary mineralised zone, extended down-dip following results from the new drill hole and the potential for further down dip continuity, based on initial logging of drill holes SGD156 and SGD157. Assay results for SGD156 and SGD157 are pending. SGD105 and SDG091 were drilled by previous explorers





E ID Easting Northing RL Total

Depth

(m) Azimuth Dip From

(m) To

(m) Down

hole

Interval

(m) True

Thickness

(m) Average

Grade

(Aug/t) SGD155 701628 831150 359.4 218.2 90 -60 171.0 172.8 1.8 1.6 3.2 0.5g/t cut off 190.0 208.8 18.8 16.3 4.7 includes 3g/t cut off 196.8 199.6 2.8 2.4 11.4 and 3g/t cut off 207.0 208.8 1.8 1.6 22.3

Table 1: Drillhole results and variable cut off confirming continuity of the high grade resource (highlighted intervals are illustrated on Figure 1)

Further information can be found in the Company's updated presentation which has been uploaded to the Company's website.

QUALIFIED PERSON

The above information has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred Gillman (FAusIMM, CP), who is designated as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information.

ABOUT THOR

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project in Osun State Nigeria approximately 120km northeast of Lagos. The Company believes the Segilola Gold Project is one of the most advanced exploration gold projects in Nigeria. Thor holds a 70% interest in the Douta Gold Project located in southeastern Senegal. The Douta Gold Project lies within the Kenieba Inlier which hosts significant gold resources and has attracted major international mining companies. Thor also holds a 49% interest in the Bongui and Legue gold permits located in Hounde greenstone belt, south west Burkina Faso. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 9, 2017) - Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX VENTURE:AAL)(OTCQX:AVLIF) is pleased to provide further details regarding the Phase One drilling program that has commenced at the company's flagship lithium property located in the Cauchari Salar of Jujuy province in NW Argentina.

Hole CAU07, the first of the five-hole Phase One program at Cauchari (Figure 1) has been collared in the NW block of the JV property exploration target area1, which has been defined with a range of 125 to 1,855 million cubic meters of brine at between 260 and 600mg/l lithium and 2,500 to 5,350mg/l potassium for the lower and upper ranges1 respectively; this represents an in situ range of contained product of between 0.25 to 5.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 0.9 to 19 million tonnes of potash (KCl).

The hole is expected to drill through a sequence of gravels (Figure 2) before reaching the target salt lake sediments. The pre-collar through the gravels is expected to take three to four weeks, including cementing. This will be completed before moving the rig to drill CAU10 in the south-eastern target area where the existing inferred resource is located. This will allow the cement to cure adequately, while advancing with drilling at CAU10. Further drilling will be completed in the south-eastern area before returning to complete CAU07.

David Sidoo, CEO of Advantage Lithium, commented, "Drilling has now commenced, with the first hole collared in the North-West area of our exploration target approximately 7 km north-west of our existing resource at Cauchari. We are excited by the potential to expand our resource both laterally and at depth, and we look forward to sharing the results as they are received over the coming months."

Cauchari Phase One Drilling and Testing Program

The Phase One program consists of drilling five rotary holes (refer to Figure 2) to a depth of approximately 400 m targeting sand and halite units identified at Cauchari and Olaroz. It is estimated that 3-4 weeks will be required to drill each hole and install a well to the required depth. In-hole geophysical profiling and geological logging will provide the basis for installing screen intervals in the wells.

Other activities will sequentially follow completion and cleaning of the wells. Once clean, brine sampling will be undertaken in the wells at different depth intervals (using packer equipment) to establish the distribution of lithium throughout each well. As detailed sampling will follow well installation, brine analytical results are likely to become available approximately 8 weeks after the initiation of each hole.

Pump testing will then be undertaken following completion of depth sampling, with variable and fixed rate flow tests planned to assess the production capacity and lithium grade of each well. The wells will be installed so they can be used for future brine production.

Additional rotary and/or diamond drill holes will be added as justified by initial results as we proceed towards engineering studies.

The holes to be drilled are located immediately east and west of properties where Lithium Americas Corp (LAC) previously defined a large lithium brine resource in an NI43-101 report dated 11th July 2012. Figure 3 shows the location of the Advantage Lithium exploration target areas relative to the neighboring resource.

Figure 1: Location of the phase 1 drill holes relative to previous drilling; Figure 2: Rig drilling hole CAU07 in the Cauchari Northwestern properties and Figure 3: The location of the Cauchari drilling areas relative to the Lithium Americas Corp. lithium resource





(1) An exploration target is not a mineral resource. The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource in the volume where the Exploration Target is outlined. It is uncertain if further exploration drilling will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource in this volume.

The technical information in this news release has reviewed and approved on behalf of the company by Murray Brooker, MAIG, RPGEO, a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101.

About Advantage Lithium Corp.

Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The common shares of the company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:AAL), and the company is also traded on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. (OTCQX: AVLIF). The company has acquired a 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and up to a 75% interest in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is located just 20 km south of Orocobre's flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility. The Company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, including 70% in Clayton NE.

Further information about the Company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 9, 2017) - Riverside Resources Inc. ("Riverside" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RRI)(OTC PINK:RVSDF)(FRANKFURT:R99), is pleased to announce that the Company has commenced a self-funded exploration program at the Cecilia Gold Project (the "Project") located in northeastern Sonora, Mexico. Riverside's exploration team is targeting epithermal gold-silver mineralization within a felsic volcanic flow-dome setting. Multiple targets exist at different elevation levels within the complex, with historic results indicating the presence of near surface gold mineralization.

Riverside's first phase exploration program at the Cecilia Project will consist of extensive rock-chip sampling to confirm the existence of zones of gold-bearing hydrothermal breccias and quartz veinlet stockworks that had been previously identified by historic exploration work (view Project History on the Company's website). Additional prospecting work will be completed at the same time as the 'confirmation' rock sampling with the objective being to increase the extent of the known zones of gold mineralization and to discover new zones.

Riverside's President and CEO, John-Mark Staude, stated: "During March-April, our Hermosillo-based team completed a number of tasks to initiate the 2017 Cecilia work program. This included obtaining access agreements from owners of surface lands that cover the Project area and setting up a temporary field camp close to the property. We now have our team in the field sampling and mapping toward defining high-quality drill targets. Riverside is committed to turning over prospects quickly and advancing the Company's portfolio with a clear focus on discovery and value creation. We look forward to a steady flow of news and results from work programs in the weeks and months ahead."

Priority gold targets that are being refined by Riverside's rock sampling program are the North Breccia Zone and the Central Zone (see Figure 1 below), both located on the north-eastern slope of Cerro Magallanes, the prominent topographic feature formed by the volcanic flow-dome complex at the centre of the Project area. Historical sampling of the North Breccia target showed this zone of brecciated rhyolite as containing mineralization grading 2.19 g/t gold (Au) across 25 metres. A drill-hole that tested this zone yielded an intercept that averaged 1.41 g/t Au across 30.0 metres, starting 4.0 metres down the hole. At the Central Zone, a linear array of gold showings were previously sampled down the eastern slope of the peak. Historical sampling results from the inferred easterly striking, sub-vertical structure include 33 metres averaging 1.18 g/t Au and 16 metres of 1.29 g/t Au and 40.8 g/t silver.

Figure 1: Cecilia Project Map with Highlighted Gold Target Areas





Gold assays and multi-element geochemical data obtained by this first-phase surface sampling program will be compared to, and integrated with rock geochemical data that has been compiled from the project databases completed by companies that previously explored the Cecilia mineral system. Once the current rock sampling program has been completed and the analytical data integrated into the Company's project-wide database, the focus of work will be the construction of a 3D model of the litho-structural setting of the flow-dome complex as well as the controls on the epithermal mineral system that is interpreted to be genetically linked to the volcanic complex. This will lead to the definition of specific, high-potential drill targets.

For more information on the Project, please visit the Cecilia Project page on the Company's website: www.rivres.com.

Disclosure Note: The above-described exploration work programs and the analytical results that were reported by previous operators on the Cecilia property are considered to be historical. The reliability of the historical data is uncertain but is considered to be relevant by Company management. It is the Company's intention to verify, wherever reasonably possible, the most significant historical data; however, there is a risk that the Company's confirmation work or future drill testing may produce results that substantially differ from the historical results.

Qualified Person & QA/QC:

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release pertaining to the Cecilia Project was reviewed and approved by Locke Goldsmith, P.Geo, P. Eng, a non-independent qualified person to Riverside Resources, who is responsible for ensuring that the geologic information provided in this news release is accurate and who acts as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Riverside Resources Inc.:

Riverside is a well-funded exploration team of focused, proactive gold discoverers. The Company currently has more than $6,000,000 in the treasury and less than 45,000,000 shares outstanding. The Company's model of growth through partnerships and exploration uses the prospect generation business approach to own resources, while partners share in de-risking projects on route to discovery. Riverside has additional properties available for option with more information available on the Company's website at www.rivres.com.
By Jun Ji-hye



Former and incumbent officials from the United States and North Korea have reportedly been holding "unofficial" talks for two days since Monday in a European country, raising hopes for the resumption of official dialogue between the two countries.



Japan's TV Asahi reported Sunday that Choe Son-hui, who is in charge of U.S. affairs at the North's foreign ministry, headed to Europe via Beijing for talks with unidentified former U.S. government officials.



The dialogue, unofficially called a "track 1.5" or "track 2" meeting, is the first of its kind since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.



The meeting is reportedly being held in Norway, timed to coincide with South Korea's presidential election scheduled for today.



The Japanese media company postulated that Washington and Pyongyang would be discussing the latter's nuclear and missile issues as well as future relations. The highlight of the conversation would be what kind of demands the North will make at a time when President Trump has expressed willingness to hold direct talks with Pyongyang, TV Asahi added.



Choe reportedly planned to visit New York in early March to hold a similar unofficial meeting, but the plan foundered after the U.S. denied visas for a delegation of North Korean diplomats following the killing of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Kim Jong-nam was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February, and the North Korean regime was believed to be behind the incident.



Regarding the report, the U.S. State Department refused to politically interpret the meaning of the meeting, saying, "Track 2 meetings are routinely held on a variety of topics around the world and occur independent of U.S. government involvement."



But it is presumed that Washington pushed for the meeting after the North did not conduct any large-scale provocations in April  such as a nuclear test  when Pyongyang celebrated major events including the 105th anniversary of the birth of its founder Kim Il-sung.



From the view of the Trump administration, the unofficial talks could be a chance to explore any possibility of Pyongyang returning to negotiations on denuclearization. Trump earlier said he would be "honored" to meet with Kim Jong-un if such a meeting takes place under the right circumstances.



"For North Korea, it can be a chance to assess U.S. policy ahead of South Korea's presidential election in a bid to lead issues involving the Korean Peninsula," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.



As soon as its inauguration, the new South Korean government will face complicated situations in dealing with North amid mixed options involving harsher sanctions as well as dialogue, experts added, noting that the government will need to keenly coordinate its North Korea policies with the U.S. to avoid isolation.



Meanwhile, the Ministry of Unification dismissed views that Pyongyang is seeking to hold talks with Washington while marginalizing Seoul, Monday, adding that the government does not attach any special meaning to the informal meeting.




The forest fire in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, has flared again, covering the mountains with smoke and flames, Monday. / Yonhap



By Lee Han-soo

Strong winds have reignited the forest fire that started at Gangneung on Saturday and seemed to have been extinguished the following day.

The fire flared again near Seongsan and Gangneung on Monday, causing nearby residents in Gangwon Province to evacuate.

The Korea Forest Service (KFS) deployed 19 helicopters and 5,900 ground personnel to fight the blaze.

"We are putting out the reignited fires but the wind is so strong that we had to evacuate residents to a safety zone in case of emergency," a KFS official told Yonhap news agency.












In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used.

This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly.

The provision of your personal data to us is voluntary. However, without providing us with your personal data, you will be unable to (as appropriate): contact us; subscribe to our mailing list; subscribe to any of our publications; or receive information about In Defence of Marxism.

We collect information about you:

(1) When you give it to us DIRECTLY

You may give us your personal data in order to subscribe to a newsletter or publication, when you contact us by phone, email or post, when you sign a petition / statement, and/or when you donate money to us.

(2) When you give it to us INDIRECTLY

Your information will also be provided to us when you follow us or otherwise interact with on or via Twitter, when you like and/or join our page on Facebook or interact with us in other ways on or via Facebook.

(3) When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share it or it is AVAILABLE PUBLICLY

We may combine information you provide to us with information available from external publicly available sources. Depending on your privacy settings for social media services, we may also access information from those accounts or services. We use this information to gain a better understanding of you and to improve our communications and fundraising activities.

(4) When you visit our WEBSITE

We use cookies to identify you when you visit our website. Please refer to our Cookies Policy for details on the way our use of cookies affects your personal data.

What information do we collect?

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal data:

(1) We will typically hold your name and contact details, including telephone number, location, and e-mail address. However, we may request other information where it is appropriate and relevant, for example:

Your bank details or debit/credit card details (if making a donation).

(2) any communication preferences you give;

(3) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website including your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views; and/or

(4) any other information shared with us as per clause 1.

Do we process sensitive personal information?

Applicable law recognises certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring more protection, including political opinions and trade union membership. In limited cases, we may collect sensitive personal data about you. We would only collect sensitive personal data if there is a clear reason for doing so; and will only do so with your explicit consent.

How and why will we use your personal data?

Personal data, however provided to us, will be used for the purposes specified in this Policy or in relevant parts of the website.

We may use your personal information to:

(1) Enable you to subscribe to our hard copy publications;

(2) Send you information about our work, campaigns, organisations and any other information, products or services that we provide (this will not be done without your consent);

(3) Provide you with the services, products or information you have requested;

(4) If you request, put you in touch with other supporters in your area (who have also provided such consent);

(5) Handle the administration of any donation or other payment you make via credit/debit card, cheque, standing order or BACS transfer;

(6) Collect payments from you and send statements and/or receipts to you;

(7) Conduct research into the impact of our activity / campaigns;

(8) Deal with enquiries and complaints made by you relating to the website or us in general;

(9) Make petition submissions to third parties, where you have signed a petition and the third party is a target of the campaign to which the petition relates; and/or

(10) Audit and/or administer our accounts.

Supporter Analysis

Google Analytics

We may use some of your personal information to analyse our digital performance, for example to see how our website can be improved to help us achieve the purposes set out in section 9 below, to record how you are using our website or to assess the popularity of different articles / campaigns.

For more information on how we use your personal information in relation to Google Analytics, please view our cookie policy by clicking this link cookies policy



You can opt-out of the collection of information for such purposes here: http://www.aboutads.info/choices

Communications, updates, fundraising

Where you have provided appropriate consent, we will contact you by telephone and e-mail, with targeted communications to let you know about our events and/or activities that we consider may be of particular interest; about the work of In Defence of Marxism; and to ask for donations or other support.

Donations and other payments

All financial transactions carried out on our website are handled through either:

PayPal (Europe) S.a r.l. (PayPal), a third party payment services provider. We recommend that you read PayPals privacy policy (available at https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full?locale.x=en_GB ) prior to effecting any transactions with us through PayPal; or

GoCardless Ltd (GoCardless), a third party payment services provider. We recommend that you read GoCardlesss privacy policy (available at https://www.gocardless.com/legal/privacy) prior to effecting any transactions with us through GoCardless.

We will provide your personal data to PayPal / GoCardless only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments for transactions you enter into with us. We do not store your financial details.

Childrens data

We do not knowingly process data of any person under the age of 16. If we come to discover, or have reason to believe, that you are 15 and under and we are holding your personal information, we will delete that information within a reasonable period and withhold our services accordingly.

Security of and access to your personal data

We endeavour to ensure that there are appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures to prevent the loss, destruction, misuse, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or of access to your personal information.

Your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff and volunteers.

We may also use agencies and/or suppliers to process data on our behalf. We may also merge or partner with other organisations and in so doing transfer and/or acquire personal data.

Please note that some countries outside of the EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal data, including lower security requirements and fewer rights for individuals. We may transfer and/or store personal data collected from you to and/or at a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Such personal data may be processed by agencies and/or suppliers operating outside the EEA. If we transfer and/or store your personal data outside the EEA we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate measures to protect your personal data.

Otherwise than as set out in this Privacy Policy, we will only ever share your data with your informed consent.

Your rights

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes or to be unsubscribed from our email list at any time. You also have the following rights:

(1) Right to be informed  you have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This Policy and any other policies and statements used on our website and in our communications are intended to provide you with a clear and transparent description of how your personal information may be used.

(2) Right of access  you can write to us to ask for confirmation of what information we hold on you and to request a copy of that information. Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the information requested and we have successfully confirmed your identity, we have 30 days to comply.

(3) Right of erasure  as from 25 May 2018, you can ask us for your personal information to be deleted from our records.

(4) Right of rectification  if you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask for those records to be updated.

(5) Right to restrict processing  you have the right to ask for processing of your personal data to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.

(6) Right to data portability  to the extent required by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) where we are processing your personal information (i) under your consent, (ii) because such processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contact or (iii) by automated means, you may ask us to provide it to you  or another service provider  in a machine-readable format.

To exercise these rights, please send a description of the personal information in question using the contact details in section 15 below. You can also unsubscribe from our email list by sending a blank email to news-unsubscribe@marxist.com

Where we consider that the information with which you have provided us does not enable us to identify the personal information in question, we reserve the right to ask for (i) personal identification and/or (ii) further information.

Lawful processing

We are required to have one or more lawful grounds to process your personal information. Only 4 of these are relevant to us:

Personal information is processed on the basis of a persons consent Personal information is processed on the basis of a contractual relationship Personal information is processed on the basis of legal obligations Personal information is processed on the basis of legitimate interests

(1) Consent

We will ask for your consent to use your information to send you electronic communications such as newsletters and and fundraising emails, and if you ever share sensitive personal information with us.

(2) Contractual relationships

Most of our interactions with supporters are voluntary and not contractual. However, sometimes it will be necessary to process personal information so that we can enter contractual relationships with people. For example, if you subscribe to one of our publications, or purchase merchandise online.

(3) Legal obligations

Sometimes we will be obliged to process your personal information due to legal obligations which are binding on us. We will only ever do so when strictly necessary.

(4) Legitimate interests

Applicable law allows personal information to be collected and used if it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate activities (as long as its use is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact individuals rights).

We will rely on this ground to process your personal data when it is not practical or appropriate to ask for consent.

Achieving our purposes

These include (but are not limited to) promoting socialist policies

Governance

Internal and external audit for financial or regulatory compliance purposes

Statutory reporting

Publicity and income generation

Conventional direct marketing and other forms of marketing, publicity or advertisement

Unsolicited messages, including campaigns, newsletters, and fundraising appeals

Analysis, targeting and segmentation to develop and promote or strategy and improve communication efficiency

Personalisation used to tailor and enhance your experience of our communications

Operational Management

Maintenance of suppression files

Processing for historical, scientific or statistical purpose

Purely administrative purposes

Responding to enquiries

Delivery of requested products or information

Communications designed to administer existing services including subscriptions, administration of petitions and financial transactions

Thank you communications and receipts

Maintaining a supporter database and suppression lists

Financial Management and control

Processing financial transactions and maintaining financial controls

Prevention of fraud, misuse of services, or money laundering

Enforcement of legal claims

Reporting criminal acts and compliance with law enforcement agencies

When we use your personal information, we will consider if it is fair and balanced to do so and if it is within your reasonable expectations. We will balance your rights and our legitimate interests to ensure that we use your personal information in ways that are not unduly intrusive or unfair in other ways.

Data retention

The length of time each category of data will be retained will vary depending on how long we need to process it for, the reason it was collected, and in line with any statutory requirements. After this point the data will either be deleted, or we may retain a secure anonymised record for research and analytical purposes.

In the event that you ask us to stop sending you direct marketing/fundraising/other electronic communications, we will keep your name on our internal suppression list to ensure that you are not contacted again.

Policy amendments

We keep this Privacy Policy under regular review and reserve the right to update from time-to-time by posting an updated version on our website, not least because of changes in applicable law. We recommend that you check this Privacy Policy occasionally to ensure you remain happy with it. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

Third party websites

We link our website directly to other sites. This Privacy Policy does not cover external websites and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit via links on our website.

Updating information

You can check the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to update it where necessary, by emailing us at webmaster@marxist.com

Contact

We are not required by law to have a Data Protection Officer  however we have a Data Protection Manager.

Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com
by Jess Nelson , May 9, 2017

Asia-Pacific will experience the highest growth in email marketing over the next eight years, according to a recent report by Transparency Market Research.

The research and consulting services organization predicts that the global email marketing market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.6% from $4.51 billion in 2016 to $22.16 billion by the end of 2025.

Email marketing is used across the world, and the report highlights how email is used as a primary source for business expansion, customer retention, and customer service across the media, IT and telecom, retail, travel as well as the banking, financial services and insurance industries. Some areas are expected to experience above-average growth rates, particularly in Asia.

advertisement advertisement

Transparency Market Research predicts that email marketing in Asia-Pacific will rise at a CAGR of 22.8% between 2017 and 2025, partly driven by faster Internet adoption rates in Asian economies such as China and India. The North American email marketing industry is expected to grow at a much slower pace, likely due to regulatory laws in the United States (the CAN-SPAM Act) and Canada (CASL).

Cloud companies are seizing on this growth opportunity, and many vendors have announced plans to extend their cloud and data infrastructure services to Asia-Pacific countries. Amazon pushed its Amazon Web Services (AWS) business into China in 2015 and expanded its AWS cloud services to India the following year. The company now supports two facilities in Beijing, with another planned opening in Ningxia, China later this year, as well as a dozen other availability zones located in the Asia Pacific region, including Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul and Mumbai.

The Google Cloud Platform is also available in Mumbai as well as in Singapore, Sydney, Taiwan and Tokyo.
by Philip Rosenstein , May 9, 2017

According to data intelligence platform Pixalate, 51% of connected TV and over-the-top (OTT) ad impressions served programmatically were fraudulent in Q1 2017. That number was 36% on smartphones, 31% on desktop and 13% on tablets during the same period.

What is happening in the connected TV/OTT space is similar to what has happened in mobile, Jalal Nasir, CEO of Pixalate, told Real-Time Daily via email. As in mobile, measurement in connected TV/OTT is very difficult to do, which has made it a breeding ground for fraudsters. They have moved from desktop display to mobile and connected devices.

Focusing on desktop, one country -- Japan -- had by far the highest rates of programmatic ad fraud in Q1. Japans 80%+ desktop ad fraud impression rate is more than twice as high as second-place Brazil, which was closely followed by the United States, both with about 38% programmatic ad fraud impression rates on desktop.

advertisement advertisement

Pixalate deems all traffic originating from data center IP addresses as deterministically invalid, Nasir said of the rates of fraud in Japan. Based on our Q1 2017 dataset, Japan stood out with the largest percentage of their programmatic inventory originating from data centers... which helps explain the high ad fraud rate.

When it came to rates of programmatic video ad fraud (across devices) by country, India topped the list with about 34%, followed by the U.S. at around 27% and Canada at 23%. On mobile devices, Germany topped the programmatic ad fraud list -- about 44% rates of ad fraud on smartphones and tablets. The United States took second spot again with programmatic mobile ad fraud rates in the high 30s.

Over half (56%) of programmatic video ad placements on mobile Web browsers in Q1 were considered fraudulent by Pixalate. On smartphone apps, the rate of programmatic video ad fraud was at 37%. Desktop video ad fraud rates came in at just under 25%.

Smartphone apps saw about 36% programmatic ad fraud impression rates across the board in Q1, compared to 12% for tablet apps.

Programmatic ad fraud remains an issue for buyers and sellers, concluded Nasir. Our data insights are meant to provide a more granular look at the problem by conveying how different screens, devices, channels, and geographies can influence the discussion.

Pixalate admits that standards for defining fraudulent impressions are malleable and ever-changing, but says it works with industry leaders in ad-fraud reporting to measure actual fraud rates as accurately as possible.



chart's courtesy of Pixalate  2017
by Larissa Faw , May 9, 2017

With only 24% of Brazilians trusting their government, consumer rights advocacy group Reclame Aqui Institute is partnering with Grey Brasil to introduce the Color of Corruption (Vigie Aqui in Portuguese) platform to monitor and expose politicians engaged in alleged wrongdoing.

Through a Chrome plug-in that is compatible with every Web site and social media network, the program lets users float a computer mouse over a politicians name in any news article, Tweet, Facebook post or other written content. If a politician is facing legal issues, his or her name is highlighted in purple and their respective legal backgrounds will appear as pop-ups.

The platform defines "corrupt" as any politician mentioned, investigated or convicted in any of Brazils legal courts, which includes the Superior Court of Justice, Supreme Federal Court and the Regional Federal Courts.

advertisement advertisement

"Color of Corruption facilitates the publics access to information by shining a lightor giving colorto corruption and illegal activities of non-compliance to the law by political officials," the firms said in a joint statement.

Grey Brasil and Reclame Aqui are promoting the initiative through PR and video assets online, hosted at www.colourofcorruption.com for international and www.vigieaqui.com.br for Portuguese/Brazilian.

Brazil's Catholic Pontificia University of Parana (PUCPR) has signed on as Color of Corruptions main research partner to maintain the database and provide research behind each politicians legal background. PUCPR students are invited to participate in the program as volunteers, with the work they perform counted as course credit.

This project not only educates Brazilian college students, but also promotes the practice of citizenship, stated Waldemiro Gremski, Dean, PUCPR. Political awareness is a very important step for these young people to truly see themselves as citizens and to understand the impact of their social choices.

The platform's online database currently monitors 594 politicians within the Federal Legislature, including all senators and federal deputies with more to be added over time. The program's goal is to monitor 100% of the countrys 70,430 political officials by 2020.

Reclame Aqui is also engaged in conversations with potential partners in other countries in a bid to export the corruption monitoring platform to other regions.

@grey_brasil

@reclameaqui
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, May 9, 2017

Kona Brewing Companys Bruddahs may just be the most productive laid-back duo in advertising history.

The not-so-dynamic Hawaiian pair  played by Dave Bell of Waimea and Blake Brutus La Benz of Honolulu  have been kicking butt for the beer brand since 2014, simply by giving new meaning to the verb chill.

That was the year that the characters debuted in a multimedia Dear Mainland campaign from Duncan Channon. Their gig: sitting on a gorgeous Hawaiian beach making wry observations about "common mainlander customs" like multitasking, and advising all to slow down and enjoy lifes real pleasures  like nature, friends and family, and Konas two core beers, Longboard Island Lager and Big Wave Golden Ale.

advertisement advertisement

The brewery, launched in 1994 by a father-and-son team, was already in 40 states and growing quickly. But this largest ad campaign to date fueled new momentum. Sales jumped 37% in the markets where it aired  the third-largest lift recorded by IRI in 12 years, according to the brand. (By volume, Konas volume increased from 133,400 barrels in 2010 to 352,100 in 2014.) In 2016, Kona expanded the now multimillion-dollar campaign and realized another 15% sales lift in targeted markets.

Not surprisingly, the Bruddahs are back again for summer 2017. The basic concept  summed up by its continuing tagline, One life, right? Dont blow it  is the same.

But this time around, the ad formats have been expanded beyond traditional TV spots and print, to include social and digital ads.

Also, much of the new creative is themed around the follies of spending so much of our lives staring at screens, rather than connecting with the world and people around us.

The obsession is good-naturedly satirized in three 15-second videos that launched this week and will run through September 3 on Facebook and Instagram.

One (below) tweaks the absurdity of spending hours on phone games, trying to catch invisible monsters to collect points (Why you wanna do that?). The others satirize the convoluted, dysfunctional dramas of reality TV and the inanity of viral videos.

The brothers tongue-in-cheek banter about pop culture content that keeps us chained to our screens reminds us that we sometimes need to put down the phone, turn off the TV or close that YouTube video to get out and enjoy life, sums up Duncan Channon Executive Director Anne Elisco-Lemme.

The brand will simultaneously be running other short videos, under the theme Dear Kona, on Facebook and Instagram. In these, the Bruddahs respond to fictional letters from mainlanders  mostly asking for advice about how to deal with situations like a boss who labels every email urgent; a job that requires nonstop meetings; and finding oneself living for Fridays.

The 2017 campaign also introduces a hyper-local strategy.

Kona partnered with CBS to create dedicated local TV creative that offers the Bruddahs laid-back view on the local values of five California counties: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco.

These spots will air only on Thursdays, to tie into a theme introduced in last years creative: According to the Bruddahs, Thursdays should be treated like Little Fridays. That is also the theme of a new sweeps that will be promoted on social media and in stores.

Kona is also going showbiz. Its partnered with the A.V. Club to film a TV special starring musicians Thao and Zipper Club in its home locale. The special will air nationally on Fusion TV on Aug. 31. In addition, it will sponsor a concert featuring those two artists plus Boulevards at L.A.s Hotel Cafe on July 20, and a series of Little Friday Acoustic sessions to be hosted on the Clubs site over the summer.

At the same time, three still-popular TV spots that launched in 2014  Little Fridays, FOMO and Sad Hour  will be airing between May and September in L.A., San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento.

Kona Brewing is owned by Portland, Oregon-based Craft Brew Alliance, which is nearly 32% owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. CBA (which also owns other craft beer brands, including Redhook and Widmer Brothers) and ABI have invested in the expansion of Konas brewing facilities, as well as its distribution and marketing in the U.S., and now distribute Kona beer in international markets including Brazil and Mexico, according to MarketWatch.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, May 9, 2017

McCann New Yorks The Field Trip to Mars for Lockheed Martin was a big winner at the global ADC 96th Annual Awards gala in New York Monday night with eight ADC Gold Cubes and an ADC Black Cube in Digital for best in discipline.

The performance helped McCann sweep three top cumulative awards, as McCann New York was named Agency of the Year and Digital Agency of the Year, while McCann Workgroup was named Network of the Year, based on total awards won across all disciplines and categories.

The Field Trip to Mars from McCann New York won two ADC Gold Cubes in the Advertising, six ADC Gold Cubes in Digital and the ADC Black Cube in Digital for best in discipline. The agency also received three ADC Silver and three Bronze Cubes for work done on behalf of Lockheed Martin (which also took home Client of the Year honors), The Brady Campaign, Godiva and Girls Who Code.

advertisement advertisement

Other top global winners this year include Dentsu, Tokyo (this years Design Team of the Year winner), with 24 ADC Cubes overall (two Gold, seven Silver and 15 Bronze); Leo Burnett Chicago with three ADC Gold Cubes and the ADC Black Cube for best in discipline in Advertising for Van Gogh BnB on behalf of Art Institute of Chicago; BBDO Dusseldorf with two ADC Gold and five Silver Cubes for Pepsi Light - Iconic Moments for Pepsi Deutschland GmbH; and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, with two ADC Gold, one Silver and five Bronze Cubes for a variety of work.

Netherlands-based SILO, received two ADC Gold Cubes and the ADC Designism award recognizing best in discipline for work that drives social good, all in Design for its Zaans Medical Centre Healing Environment for Mecanoo Architects and Zaans Medical Centre.

Two other ADC Designism awards were presented: one in Advertising to BBDO New York for Evan on behalf of Sandy Hook Promise, and the other in Digital to The Partners, London, UK for Visual Identity conducted by Sir Simon Rattle for London Symphony Orchestra.

Production Company of the Year honors went to Framestore, New York while School of Visual Arts, New York was named school of the year. More on the awards can be found here.

Lockheed Martin "The Field Trip To Mars" from H.K. McCANN on Vimeo.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 9, 2017

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has recommended Rohit Chopra, a consumer advocate with Consumer Federation of America, to serve on the Federal Trade Commission.

The Federal Trade Commission should be led by people who put the interests of consumers above all else, and thats what Rohit Chopra has done his entire life," Schumer, a Democrat from New York, stated Tuesday.

The FTC, a five-member panel, currently is functioning with only two commissioners -- Republican Maureen Ohlhausen, who serves as acting chairwoman, and Democrat Terrell McSweeny.

Trump hasn't yet named his picks for the three vacant seats, but is required to name at least one non-Republican. It's not yet known whether he will accept Schumer's recommendation for the spot.

Schumer's move comes two weeks after the trade group Association of National Advertisers called on Trump to fill the empty spots on the panel.

advertisement advertisement

"With only one Commissioner from each party, in a politically fraught environment, the FTC could end up in 1-1 tie votes, leaving the Commission essentially paralyzed and unable to act in a number of areas of high importance to consumers and advertising interests," the ANA wrote in an April 26 blog post.

Chopra previously was with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he served as student loan ombudsman.
Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services. It operates through three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Alliant Energy Corporation, through its other subsidiary, Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL), generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Wisconsin; and sells electricity to wholesale customers in Wisconsin. As of December 31, 2021, IPL supplied electric and natural gas service to approximately 500,000 and 225,000 retail customers respectively; and WPL supplied electric and natural gas service to approximately 485,000 and 200,000 retail customers, respectively. It serves retail customers in the farming, agriculture, industrial manufacturing, chemical, and packaging and food industries. In addition, the company owns and operates a short-line rail freight service in Iowa; a barge, rail, and truck freight terminal on the Mississippi River; and a rail-served warehouse in Iowa, as well as offers freight brokerage services. Further, it holds interests in a 347 megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired electric generating unit near Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin; and a 225 MW wind farm located in Oklahoma. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a life sciences company, focuses on the provision of preparedness and response solutions that address accidental, deliberate, and naturally occurring public health threats (PHTs) in the United States. The company's products address PHTs, which include chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives; emerging infectious diseases; travel health; and emerging health crises and acute/emergency care. It offers BioThrax, an anthrax vaccine; ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine; Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent to treat botulinum disease; vaccinia immune globulin intravenous that addresses complications from smallpox vaccine; raxibacumab for the treatment and prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax; Anthrasil to for inhalational anthrax; reactive skin decontamination lotion kits; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate; and Trobigard, a combination drug-device auto injector product candidate. The company also provides NARCAN, a nasal spray for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose; Vivotif, an oral vaccine for typhoid fever; and Vaxchora, a single-dose oral vaccine to treat cholera. In addition, it is developing AP003, a Naloxone multidose nasal spray; AP007, a sustained release Nalmefene injection for treatment of opioid use disorder; AV7909, an anthrax vaccine; CGRD-001, a pralidoxime chloride/atropine auto-injector; CHIKV VLP, a chikungunya virus VLP vaccine; COVID-HIG for the treatment of SARS-CoV2; EGRD-001, a diazepam auto-injector; SIAN, an antidote for the initial treatment of acute poisoning of cyanide; and UniFlu, a universal influenza vaccine. Further, the company provides contract development and manufacturing services comprising drug substance and product manufacturing, and packaging, as well as technology transfer, process, and analytical development services. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Former DJ, Azigiza Jnr has called for the establishment of a union for DJs to help build the profession and weed out the chaff.

Azigiza Jnr, now a pastor, believes that such a union will strengthen the industry and also give respect to the craft.

The former host of Joy Beach Jam on Joy FM made the call in an interview with Joy Prime at the 2017 edition of the Ghana DJ Awards at the Silver Star Tower in Accra last Saturday.

At the awards, the former DJ received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his enormous contribution to the growth of DJing in the country.

Born Victor Kpakpo Addo Jnr and now known as Pastor Azigiza, he showed off some of his back-in-the-day skills at the awards night.

Speaking to Ibrahim Ben-Bako after receiving his award, an emotional Azigiza Jnr confessed that his little display on stage brought back fond memories.

It brought memories of the beginning, memories of hard work, memories when people didnt respect the art and the work of DJs, he said.

He admitted that DJs now enjoy some level of respect but believes that, it can still be better that is why I was advocating for a serious DJs union where if you dont meet certain criteria or whatever it is, you can never be a part of it.

DJing a serious business that is respected all over the world, the time has come for us to like repackage ourselves, the former DJ added.

Azigiza Jnr blamed the increasing mediocrity in the industry on modernity but said the DJs union will cure it.

The challenge here is that everybody can get a software, everybody can load a laptop and everybody can play a song. In our time, it was manual. Now it is digital so things have changed but all the same, once the union comes to play, we will then have to streamline who we call a DJ, he said.

Asked if he will support any move to help establish a DJs union, he responded in the affirmative.

I will do it with all my heart, he said.

He said not even his current status as a pastor will stop him from supporting a move to build a union for DJs because we can actually shape some young ones to become great DJs.

Azigiza Jnr worked at Joy FM from 1995 to 2000 and apart from the Joy Beach Jam, he hosted the Guinness Top 20, Speak Easy and Francophone Time.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ernest Dela Aglanu (Twitter: @delaXdela / Instagram: citizendela)
09.05.2017 LISTEN

The cloying beef between highlife/reggae musician Ekow micah and celebrated radio presenter cum reggae artiste Blakk Rasta doesnt seem to be ending anytime soon.

Blakk Rasta recently launched his eighth album titled Kuchoko revolutionKuchoko is Blakk Rastas new creation of African Reggae; its regular Jamaican Reggae music blended powerfully with indigenous African sounds and dances.

But according to Ekow Micah who spoke in an exclusive interview with Razzonline.com in line with how he perceives Kuchoko,admonished that Blakk Rasta is only deceiving the public because there is nothing like Kuchoko in reggae music.

Blakk Rasta,in responds to Ekow Micahs disdainful comments,disdainfully explained by indicating strenuously on Hot and classic showbiz review on Accra-based Hot 93.9Fm that,he has no dignity for Ekow Micah.

Kuchoko is just a name like Hiplife,Highlife,Someone also said we call it Jazz but i said i wanted an African name so i used Kuchoko after the sound of authentic reggae that is Kuchoko Kuchoko Kuchokoi mean whats he(Ekow Micah) talking about?He (Ekow Micah) has not being credibleI have no dignity for him..I dont want to waste my time on someone who has gone to jail over rape you remember his story with Asamoah Gyan..so i dont want to waste my time on people who have no credibility..all about them is controversy and negativityfor now Kuchoko has come to stay,

In responds to Blakk Rastas comments,the Aba hitmaker Ekow Micah,angrily told Razzonline.com in a telephone conversation:

 I wouldve endorsed Blakk Rastas foolishness if i had gone to his Kuchoko revolution launchif Blakk Rasta is saying he created Kuchoko from the sound of authentic raggae,why didnt those who created highlife,hiplife,jazz also create it from their sounds too?,Ekow Micah quizzed?

He continued,this is what am talking aboutBlakk Rasta doesnt know anything about reggae musiche can't play any instrument..just look at the kind of songs he does..there is no consciousness in them and reggae music is consciousnessand he is saying i was jailed..hahahai was never jailed i was arrested because of wee i knew nothing about not because of the rape case involving Asamoah Gyanhe should talk about the issue on board and not personal attacks,

Well,will Blakk Rasta reply Ekow Micah again,trust Razzonline.com to keep you updated on the next development.
Kumawood actress cum producer Tracy Boakye has rejected claims actors-turn-producers are killing the Ghanaian movie industry.

She rather put the blame at the doorsteps of producers who give their movies to local television stations for a pittance.

Mimi Andani, Director of the Golden Movie Awards Africa (GMAA) accused actors-turned-producers of killing the movie industry.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews Doreen Avio at the launch of the 2017 edition of GMAA, Mimi explained that young actors/actresses have taken to production because production houses have stopped producing.

The reason why people say its [industry is] suffering is because of the independent productions. Production houses have stopped producing because, actresses have the money and they can just pick a camera and shoot so its like if I dont produce, then I dont act because the production house who are supposed to be employing the actors, are not producing because, actors and actresses are competing with them, the Former Big Brother Africa representative said.

But reacting to the assertion in an interview on This Is Gospel with Franky5 on Hitz FM, Tracy Boakye disagreed with the GMAA director and gave her own reasons why the industry was failing.

You know there are many television stations now and our producers - they know what am about to say is true - they give their movies to the TV stations cheap; very cheap. So, if I have a TV station and you bring a movie to me (in) part one and two for GH200 or GH 300 and I show it on TV and the viewer watches it for free, how is the viewer going to buy a CD for GH5 or GH6 to watch when it is free on TV, she asked.

DStv was taking our movies for $1500 now they have stopped because they have seen the local TV stations showing it, the actress added.

Tracy also revealed that she is still producing movies due to the love she has for the industry even though it is failing.

I started (Production) when it (the industry) was good. When I brought my first movie that is when I bought my car; it was very good at that time and even if it is going down I am supposed to stop but Im still doing it because of the love I have for the job.

Tracy Boakye is currently promoting her new movie The Devil Between My Legs.
Entrepreneurs are very busy people. Their schedule and to-do- list are choked. This is the more reason why they should delegate because they cannot do everything on their own. If you do not delegate, you will experience entrepreneurial burnout.

In line with this, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency shares effective ways entrepreneurs can delegate.

Know your teams strengths and weaknesses.

You do not just delegate tasks to your employees. Your decision to assign them duties must be based on their strength and weaknesses. Hence, it is important to know your workers so that they won't fumble.

Include instructions

For every task you delegate, do not forget to include instructions on how to get them done. This will make it easier for them to achieve the task. If you do not have time to always dish out instructions, you can take time out to train them on your modus operandi.

Ensure goals understandable

Whatever you want your workers to achieve, ensure that it is plain, direct and unambiguous. Also, encourage them to reach out to you if they are having troubles achieving the goals.

Push yourself to delegate

A substantial number of entrepreneurs have the tendency of wanting to do everything on their own. However, sooner rather than later, you have no choice than to abdicate certain responsibilities. You cannot run a hotel alone. You have to get people to man different positions and delegate responsibilities to them.

Trust, but clarify and verify

They have completed the job. You trust them to have done a good job. However, you should not just accept it like that, You should cross check what they have done for mistakes, corrections, and additions.

Set reasonable deadlines

Set a reasonable deadline for your employees to meet. This will make them work quicker and faster and they will deliver on schedule.

Feedback

You are not a dictator. So, you should give and receive feedback for a job done. In addition, always compliment your workers.
The Head of the Civil Service says the Service is up for the challenge by the President to develop a program aimed at restructuring the Service to make workers productive.

Nana Agyekum Dwamena says what the Service needs is the pep talk to inspire them to push on to in their respective fields and do better.

Lets face it, this country cannot develop without a proper functioning public sectorso any statement that seems to suggest encourage us we take it in good faith, he said.

The Service made headlines when the President Nana Akufo-Addo during his May Day address lamented about the poor attitude of workers, which makes them less productive.

Speaking at a launch of the public service delivery training programme in Accra Monday, the deputy chief of staff Samuel Abu Jinapor handed the challenge of addressing the situation to the head of the Service.

There are lots of public servants who are professional, hard working, honest and reliable people to do what is right by their consciencebut the civil servants in many African countries including ours have woefully failed to live up to expectation."

Governemt assembled officials from three countries for the training session on public service delivery programme, for which Mr Jinapor said participants required to produce out of their training and deliberations concrete proposals for the restructuring and reforms of the respective civil services.

Mr Jinapor who promised governments support in finding solutions to the canker added that, by doing so it will sharpen service delivery for the enormous task ahead.

In response, the Head of the Civil Service said it is imperative that the public sector is restructured since government has introduced new programs and they need to get the machinery to respond in the same manner.

We have already started and we are working closely with the Office of the President to take the discussions forward, Nana Dwamena added.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has refuted claims that its officers are involved in galamsey activities in some parts of the country as stated in a confidential National Security report.

Director, Public Relations of GAF, Col Aggrey Quarshie in a statement said his men were deployed to fight illegal fishing, lumbering, pollution at Banda Nwanta and not to protect concessions of illegal miners.

He said the mining concessions the military men officially protect, are those legally approved by the state. He cited, Anglogold Ashanti and the Canada-Ghana Mining Company as key examples of concessions the military officially protects.

"It must be placed on record that GAF is yet to receive any such report and therefore is unable to comment directly on it at this material time."

Col Quarshie was also unhappy with the comments made on radio when the news about the confidential report was leaked to Joy FM.

Below is their statement:

GAF IS NOT INVOLVED IN GALAMSEY

On Friday 5 May 2017, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) monitored Joy FMs Super Morning Show during which the host, Kojo Yankson and some panelists discussed a reported confidential National Security document which was supposedly intercepted by a Reporter, Raymond Acquah, alleging the involvement of GAF in illegal mining activities (galamsey) at Banda Nkwanta in the general area of the Bui Dam.

GAF wishes to express its utter dismay at the judgment and conclusions drawn by panelists on the morning show as well as subsequent news reports, without seeking the position of GAF on the matter before going ahead to discredit the military in its entirety. Indeed, contrary to what was alleged in the reportage, the GAF was never invited to participate in the forum and to state its position.

It is common knowledge that GAF does not seek to engage in self-publicity. However, in the wake of the said panelists discussions and the impression the Joy FM report sought to create, it has become imperative to clarify the position of GAF.

As part of its Internal Security operations in support of civil authorities, GAF personnel are deployed across the country to perform numerous operational roles in order to safeguard the integrity and security of the state and to preserve the environment.

Some of these personnel deployed under OPERATION HALT are tasked to support efforts at curbing illegal mining activities and to provide security at state-sanctioned mining sites and concessions to ward off illegal miners, robbery attacks and encroachment.

In this regard, GAF has officially deployed personnel at Anglogold Ashanti mining sites and concessions. Under the same guiding principle of providing security to enhance socio-economic activities, such support could be extended to certified corporate bodies which require assistance.

Examples include protection of the mining concessions of the Canada-Ghana Mining Company whose property worth thousands of dollars was vandalized at Sraha in the Wassa Amenfi District.

In the case of the personnel deployed at Banda Nkwanta as reported by Joy FM, GAF wishes to state categorically that these personnel are deployed to check illegal fishing, lumbering, pollution and other activities that are deemed detrimental to the smooth operations of the Bui Dam.

Therefore, the assertion that GAF has deployed personnel to provide security at an illegal mining concession at Banda Nkwanta or to superintend over illegal mining is completely erroneous.

The commitment of GAF in enforcing the directives and ultimatum to halt galamsey operations is demonstrated in the resolve of the Military High Command to deal with both perpetrators and collaborators.

For example, where service personnel have been identified or arrested for assisting or engaging in any activity or unauthorized operations in relation to illegal mining, they have been dealt with in accordance with the applicable Armed Forces Regulations.

On 28 March 2017 three ex-service men dressed in assorted military uniforms were picked up by a military patrol team for extortion and other activities in relation to illegal small scale mining at Wassa Akropong. The ex-service men were handed over to the civil police for further investigations and prosecution.

The Military High Command does not condone any acts of indiscipline involving its personnel but it is worth stating it is not always that our internal disciplinary measures are brought into the public domain.

However, every misdemeanor that prejudices our service code of discipline is promptly investigated and dealt with. In this regard, the Military High Command will be happy to receive any evidence of misconduct for immediate action.

GAF further wishes to state that it is wholly in support and involved in all the strategies designed at halting illegal mining in the country.

Indeed, the GAF has contributed positively in crafting anti-galamsey plans. GAF also acknowledges the vital role being played by the Media Coalition Against Galamsey.

However, in order not to undermine or discredit the important roles of a major stakeholder, like GAF, in the fight against galamsey, it is very important that media houses cross check their facts with GAF or other institutions for clarifications on any reports before going public.

On the confidential National Security report allegedly intercepted by the Reporter, it must be placed on record that GAF is yet to receive any such report and therefore is unable to comment directly on it at this material time.

E AGGREY-QUASHIE

Colonel

Director Public Relations

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
A private legal practitioner and a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba, has the charged the Police Administration and the Attorney General's office to act on the new allegations made in relation to the 2015 murder of the New Patriotic Party's Upper East Regional Chairman, Adams Mahama.

The NPP Northern Regional Chairman, Daniel Bugri Naabu, as part of the war of words within the Northern Region NPP, alleged that, the Gender Minister, Otiko Djaba, had a hand in the death of the Adams Mahama, and Mr. Amilaba said these claims must be taken as fresh evidence in the ongoing murder case.

The lawyer noted on Eyewitness News that, these allegations, which also roped in the current Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, in effect meant the people who killed Adams Mahama are now known according to Bugri Naabu.

The late Adams Mahama

With what Bugri Naabu just said, I am sure this calls for investigations. It calls for the IGP, it calls for the Attorney General to invite Bugri Naabu and the others to answer some questions.

We cannot just allow this to go and say they were said at the time people were angry. It is about ensuring that the family of Adams Mahama gets justice and so I am calling on the IGP and the AG to quickly invite these persons so they can get to the bottom of this matter, Mr. Amaliba said.

Adams Mahama was attacked with acid on May 20, 2015, and he died after sustaining extensive acid burns and acute respiratory distress syndrome, according to the autopsy report.

Gregory Afoko, younger brother of suspended NPP Chairman, Paul Afoko, is currently being held on the charges of conspiracy to commit a crime to wit murder and murder of the late Adams Mahama.

Gregory Afoko

But Mr. Amaliba noted that these new revelations could bode well for the main suspects given that those in court now have maintained that they have been used as scapegoats. What we are hearing from Bugri Naabu now is to the effect that the actual perpetrators are known.

He further reminded that when the matter is in court and the trial is ongoing, it doesn't mean investigations come to a halt as the police can continue to conduct investigations and when they stumble on fresh evidence, they can introduce it court.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Africa Young Conservatives Dialogue, Ghana (The Dialogue) notes with satisfaction H.E President Akufo Addos working tour of the sub-region and the continent as a whole. The object of it we are told is to foster good neighborliness and to open up the sub-regional nations for trade purposes; this is indeed heart-warming and the President deserves commendation.

H. E. the President apparently presents as and, indeed had been one of Ghanas finest diplomats in our Fourth Republican history having served under H.E. former President John Agyekum Kufour as Minister of Foreign Affairs. His multi-linqua franca disposition, deep sense and understanding of issues of global diplomatic relations was put to great use in brokering peace during the hot days of the Sierra Leonean as well as the Liberian crisis and other sub-regional flash point cases.

Substantially, his current effort is in consonance, doubtlessly with the Partys 2016 Manifesto (Chapert 15) promises of economic dipolmacy and forging closer and profitable ties with our continental stakeholders so as to propel global prosperity, peace and development.

To put this discussion in perspective, it is instructive to note that, the fall of the Berlin Wall culminating in the scramble for Africa by our colonial masters has led to distorted boundary lines and the festering of discontent amongst not only ethnic groups, societies and peoples but also conflicts among states.

Post independent Africa has also witnessed degrading internal conflicts on the continent which has reduced our collective strength. Within West Africa, rumors of coup detats and frequent destabilization had led to much distrust, fear and tension among the sub-regional states and these incidences were rampant during the era of not only the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) but also during the days of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in government in the fourth republic under erstwhile President Jerry John Rawlings.

This broken down internal and intra-regional relations created barriers of trade and the movement of not only goods but human beings. Africa has become short-changed in the process.

Lan Xinzhan in an article which was published on April 23 2015 in the China Review Magazine portrayed our predicament as a continent. The article titled, Keeping a 60-Year-Old Ethos Alive, its writer surmised that the year 2015 marked the 60th anniversary of the Bundung Conference also referred to as the Asian-African Conference; China he noted in the said article was a participant at the original conference.

The writer underscored the fact that, when that Conference was first held, the participating nations lived under the shadow of colonial rule and were seeking political independence. Ian Xinzhan averred, also that in the six decades period, most of the conference attendees possessed relatively low international standing; but now China, India and probably South Africa have developed into major countries in the world.

Perforce, Asia today have clinged for themselves the recognition as an emerged market commonly called Asian Tigers competing with investment financing with the first world countries here on our continent. Those nations we have begun with, are presently rubbing shoulders with the advanced world in matters of technology, trade and industry, economic growth, social stabilization et al whereas, Africa has become submerged in myriads of socio-economic quagmires.

Our populations plummeting, we are yet faced with food insecurity, low and un-inclusive growth, widening income disparities, primary production and reliance on its export, insecurity, mass youth unemployment, corruption amongst others.

The wealth we are naturally endowed with, had had little or no impact on the general wellbeing of our peoples due pathetically to bad and inept leadership and political malaise.

Trade barriers and restrictions have not helped us in our effort of inter and intra African trade.

In West Africa for instance, and over the past decade or so, even under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural reforms programs, Ghana had not met the sub-regional convergence criteria on macroeconomic stabilization on all the indices set to get others driven along for harmonization of our economies. Thats real sad for us indeed.

Further, poor infrastructure disposition has placed our nations on an uneven keel to trade and to correct our trade imbalances inspite of the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). What is even heart-rending and a back-breaking conundrum of the sub-region, are the rise in small arms and the proliferation of destructive weapons- creating insecurity for the region, increased cross-border crimes, rise in Islamic insurgency such as the Boko Haram, Al Shabab, ISIS and many other distasteful happenings across the continent.

Neighboring Nigeria had had to grapple with the insurgency of Boko Haram and attack on innocent citizens, currently reeling under the loss of 200 chibok little girls whose whereabouts cannot be fathom up until now.

From Kenya through Mali, West African and African countries have come under a barrage of attacks by these extremist Islamic miscreants thereby festering regional insecurity. Admittedly, the sub-region as well as the generality of Africa is still grappling with its fragile internal democracies and there is absolute need to get our electoral systems working to improve upon our democratic culture as a continent thereby getting behind those grey areas which had been the source of grave internal dislocations and social upheavals as occurred in the Republic of La Cote D Ivoire when lots of people were reported to have lose their lives because of electoral dispute.

The Gambian incidence and the intransigence of its former leader remain nascent on our minds. All of these calls for a renewal of our mindsets and the perfectioning of our democratic electoral systems so as to foster the stability required for Africas forward march.

Again, our structural economic transformation would require huge investments into industrialization and the improvement in the agricultural sector, doing away with the ancient practices of farming and advancing commercialization and mechanization of our agrarian practice. That way, we shall be defeating the constant reliance on food importation which has always led endlessly to trade deficits in most cases. That way too, we shall defeat the constant and persistent afro-pessimism that we cannot stop relying on aid for our development.

Africas Trade and not Aid vision hinges on a continent with huge recognition and investments also in the wave of Information Communication Technology(ICT) as well as an effective control on cyber crimes all of which have been the approach by which Asia and its tigers went up further on the rungs of the ladder.

Doubtlessly, Ghana has long showed that it is the beacon of hope for Africas emancipation and its leadership today cannot renege or shirk that responsibility towards the continent at this juncture in the 21st century.

That is why, we at the Dialogue, Ghana- place great premium on the steps being taken by H.E. the President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo to bring some novel innovations to bear on the leadership of the sub-region and the continent as a whole thereby drawing on their collective wisdom to move Africa up the notch among the comity of civilized and advanced nations described as the first world democracies and bastion of industrialization and rapid economic growth much as the Asian tigers.

The Dialogue, also reckons that creating the needed ambience and rapprochement among our nations and the African body polity would particularly inure to our collective good by concentrating efforts to deal with all the exigencies of insecurity, global warming and climate change, global financial meltdown, poor infrastructure as well as poor investments into agriculture far below the Maputo Convention of investing 6% of our gross domestic products (GDP) into the sector.

We are therefore against the backdrop of the above discussion wishing H.E the President, the best of luck and a fruitful tour.

By

Mr. Emmanuel Attafuah-Danso,

Convener,

The Africa Young Conservatives Dialogue, Ghana (The Dialogue)

Accra, Ghana.

[email protected]

0208231667/0246733297
09.05.2017 LISTEN

On Wednesday 3 May 2017 the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) extolled Ghanaian peacekeepers in that country for preventing what could have been a deadly attack at a United Nations (UN) protection site in Leer town of former Unity State.

The heroic soldiers put their lives on the line and foiled the attack. The enemies ran away with their tails in between their legs. And the soldiers stood guard, guns drawn, combat-ready, psychologically and emotionally prepared to face whatever onslaught that could come their way.

They rose up to the occasion and acted swiftly to prevent the attackers from unleashing their venomous assaults.

Their display of heroism in Sudan last week reminds me of a famous 19th-century English hymn Onward Christian Soldiers, which had been adopted by the Salvation Army as its favoured professional. The hymn was originally written by Sabine Barring Gould in 1865. Six years later (in 1871) another British, Arthur Sullivan composed the hit song.

Arthur Sullivan described as a versatile musician from the British Isles perhaps whod never been to war or was never conscripted into the imperialist armed forces fell in love with the song. He would later make the hymn become one of the worlds greatest.

I must add, back in the day in primary or elementary school this song was one of our schools marching songs. Onward Christian Soldiers marching on to war.And we marched on into our respective classrooms. Hands and legs swayed back and forth as the school band played along.

Why did the Salvation Army adopt the hymn?

Indeed like Arthur Sullivan, the Army also couldnt I resist its flavor. There was simply something good about it: Something irresistible something worth to be praised. Sure, praise must be given to whom praise is due. And I make reference to this ancient hymn not because of its antiquity but for its morality.

Soldiers all over the world stand for somethingthe principle of do before complain. Its high principle that enjoins them and binds them to give their all in the midst of firestorm. Soldiers risk their lives to defend our lives. They lose their limbs so that we can keep our limbs and they bear our cross when theyre overburdened. In a nutshell theyre a remarkable people.

Permission to greet or salute you all-- you brave men and women out there. Thats how they (the military) say it. After quarter guard they ask for permission too. Permission to fall out Sirand the sergeant major will respond permission granted.

Bravo!!!

A press statement issued by the mission on Wednesday said: The base came under small arms attack around 11 pm and midnight (at the Missions Temporary Operating Base) from the direction of the nearby Government-held town but the Ghanaian peacekeepers at the base swiftly responded to the attackers and repulsed them.

The attack had since been condemned by the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, as being carried out with callous disregard for the lives for civilians as well as UN and humanitarian workers.

Mr. Shearer lauded the quick response of the Ghanaian forces for successfully repelling the attack and remaining on high alert throughout the night.

They reacted in the best possible manner, according to the true spirit of peacekeeping. Their quick defensive action secured the safety of all of the internally displaced people who had sought UN protection adjacent to the base, he said.

We strongly condemn the attack, and call on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of UN premises. We are here to protect and support the people of South Sudan. The base is located at Leer for that reason. The people are hungry and deprived as the result of the famine. However, 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, said David Shearer.

The statement added that there were no UNMISS or other casualties within the base from the attack.

Ghanas Contributions

Ghanas contribution to UN peace keeping service goes as far back as in the early 1960s. She is among the list of 126 nations with a total of 2.973 peace keepers contributed to UN operations based on the organisations report as of 31 July2016. And she comes as number 10 in that long list. Countries with least contributors in terms of numbers are Guinea Bissau, Jamaica, Mozambique Latvia and Jamaica with one personnel each. East African nation Ethiopia (in the horn of Africa) tops the list with 8,333 peace keepers.

Indeed Ghanas peace keepers have served in a number of countries such as Lebanon, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast , Sudan to mention but a few. And the service members comprise personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and Ghana Police Service (GPS).

Records gleaned from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, says since Ghanas first participation in the UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC), over 80,000 Ghanaian military, police and civilian personnel have served in various capacities in more than 30 UN missions.

As pointed out earlier, the country has been a top ten contributor for more than two decades, the records note. As at 30 September 2015, Ghana ranked eighth, with a total number of 3,247 peacekeepers, comprising 353 police officers, 2,820 troops and 74 military experts (see figure 1).

According to the records, at the 28 September peacekeeping summit in New York, Ghana pledged to provide a helicopter unit, an infantry battalion, a signals/communication company, two naval patrol boats, a riverine unit, a level-II hospital, and two formed police units (FPUs).

Currently, there is no confirmation of which party to the conflict carried out the attack. UNMISS is continuing to investigate the incident and will examine whether the TOB needs to be further strengthened.
A GNA feature by Frederica Kyeremateng,

Yagaba (N/R), May 8, GNA - It is one thing to provide quality education for the young generation and another thing for them to embrace and take advantage of what they deserve.

Successive governments have introduced policies such as the Free Compulsory Basic Education (FCUBE), the National School Feeding Programme, quality education and currently the free Senior High School (SHS) policy by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo.

The aim is to improve the educational system and to increase enrolment and ensure that students are retained in school from the basic to the secondary levels.

The free SHS policy, which begins from September, seeks to get more students who have passed at the basic level, the opportunity to further their education without fear of lack of finances.

Girl- Child education has been advocated since the early 2000's and has seen a tremendous upsurge in the enrolment of girls especially at the basic level.

Statistics from the United Nation's Girls Initiative, following the introduction of capitation grant indicates that the national primary gender parity index has improved from 0.93 to 0.95.

On the other hand, teenage pregnancy, child marriage, child labour and lack of interest in education are opposing forces to the education of the girl child.

In most of the districts in the Northern Region, it is common to see girls drop out of school because of teenage pregnancy and lack of interest in what they deserve to have - free and quality education.

Specific mention can be made of Yagaba, the district capital of the Mamprugu Moagdri, where this common feature of girls dropout is rampant.

For instance, Toyiba Alhassan is a 19-year- old girl in Yagaba who has been struck with the 'epidemic' of dropping out of school.

She believes that her mind is not for school so she voluntarily abandoned her first year at the Yagaba Senior High School to live with her 'boy' friend to start making babies.

Aisha Abukari is also a final year Junior High School (JHS) pupil and she is pregnant. She is ready to forgo her education to fend for her unborn baby.

Many girls from other deprived districts or communities have similar tales to tell about their education and child bearing.

To say the least, indications point to the fact that these girls believe in the norm of getting pregnant or married at a younger age.

As to whether it is a cultural or communal practice it is still a question to be answered.

According to Madam Bushra Adams a native of Yagaba and teacher at the Yagaba R/C Primary School, nine girls in their final year in JHS are pregnant and it is more alarming to see that parents do not chastise their wards for getting pregnant to the neglect of their education.

Madam Adams believes that the absence of role models in the community for these girls emulate is another reason that cuts short their education.

She recalls a day when a woman advised her mother to take her out of senior high school because no girl in Yagaba had made it in life and it was a waste of time.

It is obvious that the life of girls in the community is just a vicious cycle; a girl is born, reaches puberty and gets married or pregnant then she gives birth to girls who follow the same trend.

The ruling government is hoping to implement the free senior high school policy in the coming academic year, where tuition, feeding, stationery and boarding fees are free but how many girls in communities like Yagaba are interested in taking advantage of this policy?

Educational policies become useless when students and parents do not take advantage of them.

There is the need for district education and social welfare officers to inform and sensitise parents and wards on the free senior high school policy and its benefits to reduce the negative social and cultural perceptions about girl- child education.

GNA
Mildred Siabi-Mensah GNA

Aboadze, (WR) May 8 GNA - The Shama Traditional Council has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for nominating Mr Joseph Amoah, the Shama Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the District Chief Executive (DCE).

Members of the Council have also pledged to support the President's nominee to fast-track development of the Shama District.

Nana Kwamina Wianu II, Acting President of the Shama traditional council, who gave the commendation during a press conference said the President's nominee was the most suitable for the position.

"We fully respect the President's executive right to appoint nominees as Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) for the Assembly members' consideration", the chiefs indicated.

"The President's nominee Joseph Amoah is a competent and experienced person to work for all the communities in the district, which we also support", he pointed out.

He further said "We believe that the claim that the Member of Parliament for Shama, Mr Ato Panford and the DCE nominee are from the same town in the district had always not been the precedent for the President's nomination".

According to the Chief, the President's nomination was rather based on competence and procedures set in conformance with the Local Government Act, 2016 (936).

He therefore indicated that the chiefs and the elders of the traditional council had dissociated themselves from a demonstration organised by some few people of Shama against the President's nominee.

"We the chiefs and Elders wish to use this opportunity to advise the organisers of the demonstration and the demonstrators to desist from the unnecessary acts with immediate effect", he stressed.

He called on the police in Shama to ensure there was peace in the district before, during and after the DCE's confirmation.

GNA
09.05.2017 LISTEN

Accra, May 8, GNA - Mr John Peter Amewu, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, says war against illegal mining remains the topmost priority of the Government and that it would ensure that the practice becomes unattractive.

'Not only will we end this trade but to make sure that it becomes unattractive for someone to venture in,' he told the Energy Media Group who called on him to present copies of their quarterly magazine to the Ministry.

Activities of the unlawful mineral extraction has led to wanton destruction of farmlands and water bodies, sparking ongoing media campaign in Ghana to pressure government to end the canker.

Some chiefs and influential political figures were cited last week in a Bureau of National Investigations report for perpetuating the illegal trade which experts say involves over five million people.

'The galamsey thing we are talking about is here, it's not a joke at all, and must be tackled with all seriousness,' Mr Amewu said.

'Must we sit here and fold our arms and watch these few people to destroy our water bodies for us?

'No way, and we are committed to ending this menace within the shortest possible time and it is the topmost priority for this government,' he said.

He expressed happiness that the magazine had dedicated a column for mining related issues to champion the happenings within the sector.

Mr Henry Teinor, the Chief Executive Officer of Energy Media Group, told the Minister about activities of the upcoming Ghana Energy Awards which is planned for December.

'We are also, by this visit, pledging our support to help you succeed,' he said.

The Minister subscribed to the 60-page magazine that features a wide range of topics on energy matters in Ghana's oil sector and around the world. GNA

By D.I. Laary, GNA
By Belinda Ayamgha/Elizabeth Tetteh

Accra, May 8, GNA - The proposed Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) Bill, when passed, is expected to provide clear guidelines on procurements and other processes for PPP in Ghana and thus help to curb excesses caused by sole-sourced procurement.

Mr Henry Kerali, the World Bank Country Director, said the passage of the Bill, which was part of recommendations in a World Bank Policy Note on Promoting PPPs, presented to the Government, would clarify the procedures and processes for handling PPPs.

Mr Kerali said this at a press briefing organised by the Bank to discuss outcomes from discussions at the 2017 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC.

Responding to a question on how to ensure efficiency in agreements with potential investors in Ghana arising from the Bank's call on Ghana to attract more investment in light of excesses made in the signing of PPPs, Mr Kerali said public investments must be procured through competitive and transparent procurement processes that would result in the best value for the country.

He said Ghana's previous government had signed over 40 Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Independent Power Producers, which had resulted in excess power supply in the country.

The tariff rates for most of these agreements were above the regional tariff rate, which would pose a challenge to Ghana selling the excess power to other countries in the sub-region, he said.

Mr Kerali said a major challenge in the signing of these PPAs was that they were not procured through competitive procurement processes; but rather through sole sourced arrangement which made it difficult to assess if they offered the best value for Ghana.

He said Ghana's tariff levels were higher than in countries like Cote d'Ivoire, where the tariff, from competitive sourcing, was between nine to 11 cents per megawatt.

'This is probably an indicator of the inefficiency of doing sole-sourced projects or projects where the promoter approaches government with an idea and a price that has not been tested,' he said.

The World Bank, at the spring meeting, has recommended that Ghana boost its efforts to attract more investors into the country.

In order to avoid the risks associated with sole-sourced procurement as seen in the PPAs, Mr Kerali said: 'Our recommendation will always be to have a competitive procurement process for public investment'.

He said while it was possible to assess the value in sole-sourced projects, it involved a lengthy process.

While economic growth on the African Continent is slowly rebounding and growth per Gross Domestic Product was projected to grow at 2.6 per cent in 2017, Ghana was performing much better with growth projected between six and seven per cent in 2017 and higher in 2018.

The key challenge, identified at the spring meetings, was how countries could attract private investment considering that there was about 10 trillion dollars of underperforming investments around the world such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.

To do this, Mr Kerali said Africa would need to make the necessary structural and business environment reforms as well as address protectionist tendencies and efficiency issues to be more competitive.

In spite of the challenges with Ghana's energy sector investments and some challenges with some projects the Bank's portfolio in Ghana was one of the best-performing in the region.

'We will be working with the new government to address these issues and further extend our support,' he said.

GNA
Ho, May 8, GNA - Mr Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development has hinted of plans by government to position the country as the leading producer of cashew in eight years.

Cote D'Ivoire is currently Africa's largest exporter of cashew and produces 700,000 metric tonnes a year ahead of Ghana's 600,000 metric tonnes.

Mr Ntim at the 4th edition of a master training programme on cashew value chain promotion in Ho, noted that Ghana had almost the same agricultural land size as Cote D'Ivoire and stated government's commitment to offer technical and financial support to farmers to increase production and create jobs.

He said the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development was therefore liaising with the Department of Agriculture in 60 selected districts to develop high quality cashew seedlings for plantations.

Mr Ntim said the districts would engage between 200 and 500 young people who would be trained in cashew agronomics to support farmers for the project.

He said the project was in line with government's one district, one factory policy and said a cashew development and management board was also being established to spearhead the sector.

Mr Seth Osei-Akoto, Crop Service Director, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said though Ghana was doing quite well with about 89,000 hectares of cashew under cultivation, it needed funding to do more to meet demands of processors.

He said only two processing factories out of 13 were functional due to low production and said three central nurseries had been established to produce 200,000 improved planting materials a year.

Madam Rita Weidinger, Executive Director, Competitive Cashew Initiative noted that Ghana was leading in crop research and needed a regulatory framework to position it to catch up with Cote D'Ivoire in a few years.

She said Ghana held a lot of potentials for production and processing of cashew and asked the country to give more attention to the crop for its prospects in climate change mitigation.

The training programme is under the auspices of the Competitive Cashew Initiative in collaboration with the Africa Cashew Alliance and funded by the German Government.

GNA

By A.B. Kafui Kanyi, GNA
Accra, May 8, GNA - The Adentan Municipal Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Divisional Officer (DOI) Helen Amankwaa, has cautioned residents in the Municipality against illegal electricity connections.

She said the Adentan Fire Command had found many illegal underground power connections in the Municipality which, she said, threatened fire safety.

'My team has been on the ground to inspect this, the situation is very alarming and we would not sit there unconcerned,' the Commander told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

DOI Amankwaa said illegal connection did not only rob the country of huge sums of money but was also a major source of fire outbreak which hampered the efforts of the GNFS to combat the menace.

However, she said, there was the general perception that some workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana allegedly supported some of the residents and connected the power for them at very cheap cost.

DOI Amankwaa said the Municipal Fire Command was resolute to clamp down on the menace and that it was yet to embark on an inspection to bring the offenders to book.

She said after the inspection those found culpable would be given few days to disconnect the power and go to the ECG for legal reconnection but if they failed, appropriate sanctions would be meted out to them.

The Adentan Fire Commander called on opinion leaders, including chiefs, to educate residents on the effect of illegal power connections saying underground connections could cause electrocution especially in the rainy season.

In a related development, Mr Michael Baah, the Eastern Regional Manager of the ECG, said the company lost GH153, 554.50 in the region through illegal connection from January to March 2017.

Mr Baah was speaking in an interview with the media during an inspection of two primary substations at Asamankese and Suhum.

Illegal power connection continues to remain a big challenge for the ECG and the GNFS is making efforts to ensure the safety of lives and property in the country.

GNA

By Gideon Ahenkorah, GNA
Koforidua, May 8, GNA - The Koforidua Lodge, has donated a number of office items including five-table-top computers and accessories, printers, scanners and an internet connectivity device for the entire school valued at GH11, 000.00 to the school for the Deaf.

The donation is part of an annual charity programme, where the Lodge members identify a needy community or institution in their catchment area and go to their aid.

Already the Koforidua Regional hospital and some orphanages in the region had benefited from the Charity.

According to Lawyer John Roger Edusei, Master of Koforidua Lodge, they were touched by the plight of the school when they visited and realised they had no computers either to teach the children with disability or to use in the office administration.

He said in the era of technology, they felt that, such special institutions needed internet facilities to be able to research and teach the children well according to their standards to help make them relevant in society, hence their support in that direction.

The master of the Koforidua Lodge indicated that Freemasonry is a society that thrived on three core pillars of service to humanity, humility to society and fairness to all and concern for people and care for the less privileged in society.

He debunked the perception that Freemasonry was a secret society adding that 'we rather instill in our members an ethical and discipline approach to life, to make the world a happy place for all'.

Professor C. C Adomako, a lecturer at the Korle-Bu medical school and member of the Koforidua Lodge, said over the years they had given support to many institutions including the Methodist Senior High school at Oyoko, Akwadum orphanage and the Koforidua regional hospital with the provision of huge water tank each to improve access to water.

The headmaster of the school, Mr Jordan Agbona, who received the items, said the donation was timely because they sometimes used their phones to access internet connectivity for some school programmes because they had neither internet connection nor computers.

He said because the children could not hear and speak, the computer for that matter internet was an important equipment for teaching them.

They can manipulate the computer to facilitate their learning. GNA

By Bertha Badu-Agyei, GNA
Accra May 8, GNA - A 45-year old trader, who assaulted her three year old nephew with wire for begging for food, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.

The court explained that considering the gravity of the offence, the harm caused the victim and the incalculable psychological damage done to the victim, Aku Korshie, the convict should serve seven years imprisonment.

The victim is said to have suffered multiple marks over his body and genital parts.

At the Police Station Aku Korshie is said to have admitted beating the victim up on different occasions for defecating on himself.

Aku Korshie who was held for abusing the victim physically and causing harm to the victim from January this year to date, pleaded guilty on Friday May 6 nd was but the court deferred sentence to Monday May 8.

Handing the sentence the court presided over by Mrs Marian Affoh ordered Korshie to pay GH5,000.00 as compensation to the victim.

It further ordered that the victim remains at the Osu Children's Home, adding that whoever would come as a parent would have to do a DNA test.

According to the court the cost of the DNA test should be borne by the mother or father.

Prosecuting Detective Inspector Kofi Atimbire told the court that Emelia Tetteh, the complainant, is a baker while the accused is an aunt to the victim.

Prosecution said early January this year, Korshie brought the victim from Kajadornya, a town near Ada, in the Greater Accra, to reside with her.

Inspector Atimbire said ever since the victim arrived, witnesses alleged that the accused had been beating and punishing him on various occasions.

He said neighbours complained to the accused to desist from these act but she would not listen and rather pick quarrels with them.

On May 1, this year, the complainant found multiple marks of assault on the victim's body when he came begging for food from her and when the accused person was confronted she denied the act.

Subsequently, the victim was brought to the Domestic Violence and Victim's Support Unit (DOVVSU), Accra.

At DOVVSU, prosecution said, the victim's body was examined and officials found fresh marks of assault and scars all over his body.

Prosecution said Korshie was picked up by the Police and the victim was sent to the Police Hospital for medical examination and treatment.

When the Police questioned Korshie, she admitted beating up the victim on different occasions for defecating on himself.

GNA

By Joyce Danso, GNA
Accra, May 8, GNA -An Accra Circuit Court on Monday handed a 15-year jail term to a businessman, Kenneth Dzubey, who sexually assaulted his victim and also robbed her of a Techno H6 mobile phone, and an amount of GH400.00.

Kenneth pleaded not guilty to the charge, but after trial, the court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly.

He is to serve 15 years in prison in hard labour to serve as a deterrent to other young people who want an easy way in life to riches by putting ordinary people under duress and robbing them.

Earlier, prosecution Police Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu told the court that Kenneth resides at Madina New Road while the complainant name withheld resides at Adenta Animal Research.

Chief Inspector Adu said on January 31, 2016 at about 23:00 hrs, the complainant a 27 year old businesswoman, boarded a commercial vehicle and alighted at 'Konkonsa' Junction.

On her way home, prosecution said, she realized that the convict was tailing her.

He said the complainant sensing danger doubled her steps but in no time Kenneth caught up with her and he asked her where she was going.

Police Chief Inspector Adu said the complainant told him that she was going home, so he offered to escort her home and the complainant obliged.

On her way, prosecution said the convict suddenly pulled a knife and dragged her into a nearby bush and had sexual intercourse with the complainant.

The prosecution said not satisfied with his actions, Kenneth then snatched the complainants Techno H6 mobile phone and cash of GH400.00.

On February 1, 2016, the complainant reported the matter to the Police at Adenta and she was given a medical form to attend hospital where she was examined.

Prosecution said the convict was later arrested at Madina Zongo Junction with a bag containing a knife, screw driver an iron rod and a touch light.

GNA

By Hafsa Obeng, GNA
Wa, May 8, GNA - Two benevolent organisations in the Wa Municipality have donated office equipment to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NDMO) to help enhance its efficient operations.

The organisations, T.A Tanko Motors and Azimpet Limited donated air conditioners, wheel chairs, executive desk tables and chairs, visitors sitting chairs, a refrigerator and a glass centre table to NADMO at short ceremony in Wa.

The items, which cost about 20,000 Ghana Cedis, would help facilitate the operations of the organisation.

Presenting the items to Mr Amidu Chinnia Issahaku, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Aziz Abdul Rahman, a representative of the companies, said the provision of the equipment was as a result of a request made by Mr Seidu Issahaku Suleman, the newly appointed Upper West Regional Director of NADMO for assistance.

He said a visit to the Regional Office of NADMO, showed that it was poorly equipped hence the provision of the items, which they considered as their social responsibility towards the excellent operations of the organisation.

Mr Issahaku thanked the companies for the kind gesture and appealed to other benevolent organisations and public spirited individuals to support NADMO to complement government efforts.

He urged NADMO to utilise the items for the purpose they were acquired, while it also intensified its education on disaster prevention in the communities to save lives and property.

Mr Suleman who received the items, said the regional and district offices of NDMO were faced with challenges of office equipment and office accommodation.

'The few that had offices were faced with congestion challenges and some the offices were not also connected to electricity impeding quality work delivery.'

The Regional NADMO Director called for more assistance from individuals and charitable organisations while appealing to the Regional Coordinating Council and district assemblies to provide office accommodation to the organisation. GNA

By Bajin D. Pobia, GNA
Accra, May 8, GNA - The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) has asked the public to take note of its designation and desist from making references to its erstwhile name.

Formerly known as the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, the MELR was by an Executive Instrument in 2013 changed to its present name: Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.

A statement issued by Charlotte Hanson, Head of Public Relations, MELR, following erroneous references being made to the Ministry's previous name, urged government agencies, clients, stakeholders and the public to endeavour to label the Ministry with appropriate designation 'Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations'.

Meanwhile, regarding statutory functions, 'aspects of the social welfare mandate have been re-aligned, and currently under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection,' the statement said.

The MELR, which has Cabinet Status, currently has 14 agencies and departments, and as the name implies, is the lead policy advisor to government on matters pertaining to employment and labour relations.

The Ministry per its mandate is responsible for the development of sector plans, formulate and implement policies which aim at creating and promoting decent jobs, management of public sector wages and productivity as well as develop strategies that promote industrial peace and harmony, and the re-settlement of labour disputes.

'Management believes and hopes that with this clarification, it is expected that all references and addresses to the Ministry will henceforth be in tandem with our mandate,' it added.

GNA
Accra, May 8, GNA - The Rheumatology Initiative Ghana (tRi), says the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Gender and Social protection has jointly proclaimed May 10 as World Lupus Day in Ghana, joining many other nations globally in doing so.

This was done in collaboration with (tRi), the forefront organisation leading the charge to research, raise awareness about autoimmune conditions and Lupus in Ghana and also support people diagnosed with these conditions and the Oyemam Autoimmune Foundation.

A statement issued by the Group said representing tRi were members of the Global Lupus Outstanding Warriors (GLOW) a subgroup of tRi with specific focus on Lupus.

The statement said Its leader, Ms Angela Berkoh, spoke extensively about her life with the autoimmune disorder and its daily struggles including the high cost of medication and the general public aversion to people with the condition.

Ms Berkoh said this was as a result of ignorance, as a lack of awareness to the condition.

She said none of the medications and treatments were on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The Statement said, Mr Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, Deputy Minister of Health, while acknowledging the high rate of ignorance about these conditions, expressed his willingness to ensure a lot more education and focus is placed on these conditions.

Other dignitaries present were the deputy Ministers of health, Mrs Tina Mensah, Deputy Minister of Gender Gifty Twum Ampofo and the Chief Director of MOH Dr Afisah Zackariah.

Lupus is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years.

World Lupus Day is commemorated on May 10 every year across many countries. 2017 marks the 14th annual observance of World Lupus Day.

The day serves to call attention to the impact that lupus has on people around the world.

The annual observance focuses on the need for improved patient healthcare services, increased research into the causes of and cures for lupus, earlier diagnosis and treatment of lupus, and better epidemiological data on lupus globally.

World Lupus Day serves to rally lupus organisations and people affected by the disease around the world for a common purpose of bringing greater attention and resources to efforts to end the suffering caused by this disabling and potentially fatal autoimmune disease.

The Rheumatology Initiative, tRi is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing education, advocacy and research into the autoimmune rheumatic conditions in Ghana and Africa.

Led by one of only two rheumatologists in Ghana, it ultimately aim to help in finding the causes and cure for autoimmune rheumatic conditions and providing support, services and hope to persons affected with these conditions with special focus on young and adolescent persons and their loved ones.

tRi seeks to increase awareness, provide information, tips and the latest advances in the care of people with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, with these conditions. GNA
Accra, May 8, GNA - A 23-member trade delegation from Ghana is currently on a week-long tour through the Netherlands to explore opportunities for business and cooperation in food processing technologies and packaging.

A statement from the Netherlands Embassy said the mission was being led by the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and GhanaVeg.

The goal of the trade mission is to promote cooperation, investment and knowledge exchange between Ghanaian and Dutch businesses.

The delegation is visiting a wide range of companies active in poultry, aquaculture, fruit and vegetables processing in the Netherlands.

The programme is complemented with matchmaking, a visit to the Interpak fair in DAsseldorf, business networking events and a packaging workshop.

The trade mission is a follow up mission last year to the Netherlands on food and beverage processing and agricultural inputs.

The mission complements the efforts of the Netherlands on private sector development in Ghana's agricultural sector, a sector accounting for over 20 per cent of Ghana's GDP.

Stimulating food processing could help reduce post-harvest losses and contribute to increased trade in products less dependent on cold chains and phytosanitary inspection.

The Netherlands is among Ghana's biggest trade partners and the second largest exporter of agri-food worldwide, exporting 65 billion euros worth of vegetables, fruit, flowers, meat and dairy products each year.

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Ghana, H.E. Ron Strikker: said 'This trade mission resonates well with the government's renewed focus on promoting agriculture, value addition and industrialization. The mission is yet another example of how the Netherlands and Ghana are growing together.'

Nana Osei Bonsu, CEO of PEF said: 'It is our hope that the Ghanaian companies participating in this trade mission will not only receive accurate information on availability of new markets and valuable networking opportunities from participants from the Kingdom of Netherlands and other partaking countries, but may also be privileged with viable partnerships including financing and innovative technologies to enhance their businesses in the near future.'

Mr Seth Twum-Akwaboah, CEO of AGI said: 'This exposure visit to the Netherlands is most appropriate for AGI members in the wake of government of Ghana's numerous initiatives to support the growth of the industrial sector and ensuring stronger linkage between industry and agriculture.'

Ms Sheila Assibey-Yeboah, Deputy Programme Leader for GhanaVeg said: 'The mission resonates with what GhanaVeg seeks to achieve: a sector that is driven and led by private actors.

To achieve this goal, she said, there was the need for deliberate aggregation of sector actors to broker new and sustainable business relationships that will transcend into a more vibrant and innovative horticultural sector, which this trade mission aims to realise.

'The mission has come at such an opportune time for Ghanaian horticultural businesses to learn and collaborate from their counterparts in the Netherlands.'

The trade mission is commissioned by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and implemented by the Ghana Netherlands Business & Culture Council (GNBCC) and the Netherlands Africa Business Council (NABC). GNA
A railway line from Accra to Ouagadougou is not a pipedream but a feasible project. It would not only offer an important alternative to existing means of transport to the Northern Regions but would save the load our road networks shoulder by heavy cargo trucks plying the rather busy routes and curtail maintenance costs.

The dream for a railway link from the Takoradi Port to Paga did not start today. Governor Gordon Guggisberg even included it in his infrastructural development for the Gold Coast and sought approval from the Colonial Office in England at the time.

Like a Medical School for the Gold Coast which he envisaged did not come to fruition nonetheless we should be encouraged to do more towards the realization of the dream the hardworking Gordon conceived during his active days in our part of the world.

Today, as President Nana Akufo-Addo begins implementing his campaign promises, he has not forgotten the railway project. He told his host the Burkinabe leader during his courtesy visit to the neighbouring country as part of his West African tour that it is his intention to see a railway between Accra and Ouagadougou.

We are excited about a railway project about which a Railway Ministry has been created. Those who think this is superfluous, such a creation and the engagement with investors should leave them in no doubt about the good intentions of the President and his government.

The death, as it were, of the railway system in the country is a disturbing development. It used to be an important segment of the economy through which cocoa was transported to the Takoradi Harbour as was other natural resources of the country.

The President should leave no stone unturned towards the realization of this dream whose benefits are manifold.

Let us stop the unnecessary snide remarks which those of us on the other side of the political divide are wont to doing. The dividends from the resuscitation of the railway system can only be imagined.

Those who have been engaged to make this dream come true must put their assignment on war footing so that a lot would be covered within the time frame allotted for the project.

If we want to industrialise as we have always said even as previous governments paid lip-service to such remarks, the reactivation of the railway system cannot be overlooked.

Poverty alleviation and the unemployment scourge which have both pestered governments and the people for so long would respond to the treatment that would be offered by a full-fledged railway system.

We have observed the activities of the Railway Minister since assuming office  all geared towards making the dream of railway line across the country come true and ask that he continues on that tangent.

Our bond with Burkina Faso can only get better if we open a railway corridor in that country. The enormity of enhanced business activities between the two countries would inure to our benefits as would be evidenced from many more persons escaping the shackles of poverty.

We salute President Nana Akufo-Addo for not reneging on his promise on the railway resuscitation project especially its extension to the Northern parts of the country and neighbouring Burkina Faso.
Kwesi Botchwey Committee's final report on the abysmal defeat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 general election is likely to create sharp divisions in the party.

Already, it is riddled with accusations and counter-accusations as to who was responsible for the party's humiliating defeat at the hands of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The report has emphatically blamed President John Mahama, the NDC leader, for the party's defeat, with recommendations that he should not be allowed to lead the party in 2020.

The 67-page report, which is yet to be made public but has already been leaked, states categorically that former President John Mahama  who was painted with brushes of alleged corruption by the then opposition NPP throughout his tenure  was the principal cause of the party's defeat in the 2016 polls.

The NPP won because their leader was acclaimed to be incorruptible while ours was tainted with corruption and bribery, so going into the 2020 elections, we (Kwesi Botchwey Committee) propose that we elect somebody who can also claim to be incorruptible, the committee's report recommended.

The Kwesi Botchwey committee has also indicted Mr Mahama for encouraging the formation of various splinter groups like 'Youth for Mahama,' 'Friends for Mahama,' 'Zongo for Mahama,' 'Girls Girls for Mahama,' 'Celebrities For Mahama,' 'Ambassadors for Mahama' and 'Doves for Mahama' and resourcing these groups to the detriment of the party.

The loyalty of those groups formed in support of former President Mahama was in doubt as they were not under any supervision, the report noted, pointing out further that any future presidential nominee of the NDC (minus Mahama) must work in tandem with the party structures by bringing on board national and regional executive members, polling agents and those at the grassroots to help in its (party's) electioneering campaign.

The committee also found out that the neglect of the grassroots party people; the founder, Jerry John Rawlings and some leading members of the party during President Mahama's first term in office (2012-2016) played another key role in the defeat of the party, as those people were peeved with their leaders for the neglect.

According to the committee's report, the way the party's communicators handled its campaign messages was also very awful as they relied only on the 'so-called' achievements captured in the 'Green Book' of the party, as well as the massive infrastructure allegedly executed by the government.

The report indicates that most of the NDC communicators were pompous in their public discourses and instead of addressing the real issue of hardship Ghanaians were going through, they blatantly said everything was rosy and only concentrated on the so-called achievements chalked by the government under infrastructure and in the 'Green Book.'

They also faulted the presidency of John Mahama for indirectly resourcing pro-opposition media houses in a bid to siphon information from the opposition camp and also lay hands on intelligence within the opposition camp, while the pro-NDC media were denied such government adverts which in a way also denied them some resources to propagate the message of the NDC.

Meanwhile, loyalists of former President Mahama on the Kwesi Botchwey Committee are reportedly not in support of the report, fighting tooth and nail to downplay the recommendations, which clearly put the former president in a bad light.

The Mahama loyalists do not understand why he (Mahama) should be ditched for a new candidate in 2020.

The dissenting posture of the Mahama loyalists has reportedly delayed the release of the committee's report.

Information indicates that there was a serious confrontation at a meeting by the committee outside Accra last month to put finishing touches to the report, as the pro-Mahama members fiercely challenged the recommendation to change the party's presidential candidate for 2020.

But it is obvious that Mahama may not be allowed to stand on the party's ticket going into the 2020 general election, with the majority on the committee endorsing 'No Mahama for 2020.'

By Thomas Fosu Jnr
The collapsed structure. INSET: One of the injured persons receiving treatment at the Ga South Municipal hospital

At least 15 people sustained various degrees of injury when an uncompleted church building they were worshipping in caved in at Gbawe-Borla in the Ga South municipality.

The victims, mainly women and children with only three males, were congregants of Christ Life Ministry headed by Apostle Samuel Binney.

Eyewitness account indicated that the incident occurred around 11am during the torrential rain which swept through the capital Sunday morning.

Some of the injured were sent to the Ga South Municipal Hospital while three members whose conditions were critical, were referred to the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital.

A resident who lives close to the church told this paper at the scene that the church has been in the area for years now.

Sunday morning, many people could not go to church due to the rains and so the number that came was about forty.

The church is still under construction but the members had constructed a wooden structure inside the building and were using it for worship.

He said some members were worshipping in the building Sunday morning when the rain started.

The heavy rainstorm brought down the wooden structure which fell on some of the congregants.

The Odorkor Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Samuel K. Alordy, who was at the scene with his men, told this paper that Apostle Samuel Binney reported to the police after the incident had occurred.

When the police visited the scene, the victims had already been sent to the various hospitals and so an investigator was sent to go to the various hospitals to check on their conditions.

He said the police had started their investigation and if it proved that the accident happened as a result of negligence on the part of anybody, that person would be held culpable.

By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey

([email protected])
The chief of Kwahu Abetifi in the Eastern Region, Akyemfour Asiedu Agyemang III, who doubles as the Acting President of the Kwahu Traditional Council, has indicated that the enstoolment of Professor Badu Akosa, Executive Director of Healthy Ghana and senior member of the Convention People's Party (CPP), at Kwahu Abene, was against the cultural traditions of Kwahuman.

Akyeamfour Agyemang Asiedu III, speaking during the Akwasidae celebration at Abene on Sunday, said it's against the norms and culture of Kwahuman for someone to impose himself as a paramount chief on the people without going through the proper processes, describing the incident as illegal seizure of power  coup d'etat.

Professor Badu Akosa was reportedly enstooled with the help of the Werempemhene of Abene at dawn last week Thursday after going through some rites, but without the involvement of the other kingmakers of Abene.

At a press conference at Abetifi last Friday, agitating chiefs of Kwahu said Professor Badu Akosa was illegally enstooled and so they could not recognize him as the chief of Abene or paramount chief.

The Acting President of the Kwahu Traditional Council expressed bitterness over the matter, explaining that although Professor Badu Akosa is an indigene of the town, he is not the rightful heir to the Abene throne. He also registered his disappointment in Prof Akosa, former President of the Ghana Medical Association and flag bearer aspirant for the CPP.

Since the demise of the paramount chief of the Kwahuman Traditional Area, Daasebre Akuamoah Boateng III, in September 2014, kingmakers of Kwahu have not been able to enstool a successor due to disagreements over the rightful person to fill the vacuum created.

Akyeamfour Agyeman Asiedu III explained briefly the process of enstooling a chief at Kwahu, stating that after the demise of a chief, a gathering is held by the Adehyehene and the people from the royal family in collaboration with the queen mother, to discuss and choose the rightful heir to the throne.

After the heir is chosen, he is presented to the queen mother of Kwahu for thorough vetting and approval.

Afterwards, the Werempemhene, Baamuhene, Gyaasehene and Akyeamehene, led by the Krontihene, present the chosen heir to the people of Kwahu.

The heir is finally presented to the Adontenhene and the Adonten Council consisting of the Bretuo and the Agona clans who in turn inform the Nifahene and the Benkumhene before the customary rites are performed for the candidate to become the Kwahumanhene.

FROM Daniel Bampoe, Kwahu  Abene


A lawyer for two of the accused persons standing trial for allegedly robbing Akua Donkor, founder of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), has accused a witness in the case of lying to the court.

According to Vincent Aikins, Sergeant Yesulorn Atsutse's testimony was inconsistent with that of the complainant, Akua Donkor.

The senior lawyer indicated before an Accra circuit court yesterday under further cross-examination of the witness that the third prosecution witness had 'framed up' his evidence to mislead the court.

He said, He has concocted his evidence and perfumed it to give sweet fragrance to this honourable Court.

The accused persons are Yakubu Yusif, trader/Central Regional Chairman of the GFP; Abdul Razak Shaibu, a member of the GPRTU task force; Barnabas Kayase, driver/secretary of the party and Opoku Agyemang,

At yesterday's sitting, Yesulorn, who is also an officer attached to the Odorkor Motorbike Patrol Team, refuted the claim, insisting that he was being truthful to the court.

He said at the scene of the crime he saw the vehicle of Akua with the driver sitting in the said car.

Yesulorn stated that he demanded the key of the vehicle but the driver refused to hand it over to him.

In the view of Mr. Aikins, the driver was right, indicating that the police officer also failed to show the driver his identity card as a police officer.

Mr. Aikins stated that the driver also did not give the key of the vehicle to Yesulorn because there had been instances where serving police officers in uniforms had been reported of embarking on robbery expeditions.

Opoku Agyemang and Abdul Razak Shaibu variously took their turn to grill the police officer, each punching holes in the testimony of the officer, linking them to the case.

Sitting continues today.

The prosecution said the accused persons, at about 2:30 am at Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra on December 30, 2016, and at Taifa in Accra, conspired to rob the GFP 2016 flag bearer at gunpoint and snatched her travelling bag containing plane ticket, Ghanaian passport, voter ID card, $30,000 and GH3,000.

Two other alleged accomplices  Joe and Nuamah aka Lion  are currently on the run.

By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson

[email protected]




Ignatius Asaah Mensah, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's nominee for the position of District Chief Executive (DCE) for Mpohor in the Western Region, was on Monday confirmed by the assembly members.

He garnered 13 votes with five against him and that meant he had the two-thirds of the total votes cast as required for his confirmation.

The poll was conducted by the Electoral Commission under the supervision of Godwin Tawiah Okley, the District Electoral Officer, amidst tight security.

It would be recalled that prior to Mr Asaah Mensah's confirmation, some irate supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the district had protested against his nomination for the DCE position and threatened that he would not be confirmed by the assembly members.

According to them, they could not fathom why the president did not listen to their plea to select someone who is from Mpohor as the area's DCE.

They asserted that the major positions at Mpohor were being occupied by people who are from the Fiase tribe, indicating that their preferred choice for the position was Bernard Eshun, who is from Mpohor.

About ten armed police men and other security personnel were deployed to the venue for the confirmation exercise yesterday to ward off possible miscreants who might have wanted to disrupt the programme.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Assah Mensah thanked the president, the chiefs and people of Mpohor for the confidence reposed in him and pledged to work with them for the realization of the policies of the government.

He expressed his gratitude to the assembly members for the peaceful manner in which the confirmation was conducted and called for peace and team work, irrespective of party affiliations, in order to move the district  which was created about five years ago  forward.

He called for unity so that together they could forge ahead to confront the numerous challenges facing the district.

The Deputy Regional Minister, Gifty Kusi, appealed to the assembly members to give Mr Asaah Mensah the necessary support and co-operation.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpohor, Alex Agyekum, who was happy about the entire proceedings, urged the people to bury their differences and support the newly confirmed DCE.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Mpohor
09.05.2017 LISTEN

In the first part of this article, I related the story of how, as a final year student at the University of Ghana, the late Prof Albert Adu Boahen challenged a British lecturer who entered the Junior Common Room and angrily switched off the radiogram the students were playing, on the grounds that they were talking whilst listening to the music.

(By the way, name of the British lecturer was not

Taylor. Taylor was the Master of Akuafo Hall, to whom Adu Boahen and Thomas Mensah were reported.)

Taylor demanded that as a punishment, the two young men should be rusticated. That is the most serious punishment that could be imposed on a student, and in the particular case of any final-year student, a personal disaster of untold dimensions!

But when some of the Ghanaian lecturers heard about Taylor's demand, they put their foot down and said, No!. Final-year students to be rusticated for merely switching a radiogram back on after it had been switched off? Wasn't that pettifogging?

As it happened, Adu Boahen's tutor at Akuafo Hall was Dr Alex Kwapong, the brilliant ex-Cambridge classics scholar, who was later to become Vice-Chancellor of the University. And Thomas Mensah's tutor was another classics maestro, the Oxbridgeian, Lawrence Ofosu-Appiah. These two kicked against the expulsion of Boahen and Mensah, and to the chagrin of the two British academics, their word prevailed.

As I have implied, to have been expelled from the University in their third year would not only have been a monumental personal disaster for both students, but it would also have altered the course of Ghana's history. But in 1965, the two friends again did something extremely courageous  together again  that could have not only ended their academic careers but possibly their very lives.

On 4 February 1965, the erudite and highly-respected intellectual and politician, Dr Joseph Boakye Danquah, who had, in conjunction with others, forged the struggle for achieving independence for The Gold Coast from British rule, died at Nsawam Prison. He was being kept there under the Preventive Detention Act, on the orders of President Kwame Nkrumah. acts against national security. It was the second time he'd been thus detained without trial.

On this second round of detention, Dr Danquah was kept in solitary confinement in deplorable conditions. He was not given a bed but had to sleep on the floor with only a blanket to lie on. A toilet bucket was kept in the cell. He was only allowed to exercise for about ten minutes each day.

Danquah wrote heart-ending letters to President Nkrumah, describing the horrible conditions under which he was being kept. He begged Dr Nkrumah to release him so that he could continue to contribute to the intellectual life of Ghana. (This was a tacit indication that he would retire from politics ans devote himself to intellectual pursuits, if released.)

Danquah also made it clear to Nkrumah that he was aware that his [Danquah's] wife had been approaching Dr Nkrumah on behalf of her husband. His words implied that he was under some sort of mental torture over the power the President seemed to hold over his hapless wife.

Apart from mental torture, Dr Danquah also had a physical ailment. He was asthmatic, and the close confinement under which he existed worsened his condition. He also had high-blood pressure. In other words, at the age of 69, he was a man afflicted with old men's ailments, who could literally drop dead at any moment.

On the morning of 4thFebruary 1965, Dr Danquah came back to his cell from the prison yard to discover that the few things he was allowed to keep had been disturbed by a not-quite-so-subtle search. He flew into a rage and fired a tirade of words at the warder who was in charge of him. In the course of the tirade, he collapsed and  died.

The announcement of Dr Danquah's death was received in Ghana and elsewhere with total, numbing shock. Danquah, the fighter for Ghana's freedom, had been killed by having his personal freedom stolen by Kwame Nkrumah, a man with whom he'd worked against the British imperialists who had deprived both men of their freedom in 1948?

The realisation dawned on many Ghanaians that the deadly effect of the Preventive Detention Act was leading their country into a very evil order, in that one could not defend oneself when one was accused of crimes under it. Danquah's death at Nsawam convinced some people, in fact, that the depths of political misery that Ghana had entered into could soon approach the proportions of the Stalinist era in the Soviet Union or the fascist regime's regimented oppression of Germany.

Dr Danquah's nephew and Big Six colleague, William Ofori Atta (popularly known as 'Paa Willy') was summoned by Nkrumah's Government and told that Dr Danquah's body would be released to him for burial, provided he signed an undertaking that the body would be buried not later than 6pm the very next day after his death!

The undertaking Paa Willy signed read: QUOTE: I, William Ofori-Atta, undertake to collect the body of Dr. J. B. Danquahfrom Nsawam Prison and to take it to Kibi and have it buriedat Kibi not later than 6 p.m. on Friday 5th February, 1965. (SIGNED WILLIAM OFORI ATTA) UNQUOTE

This order to bury Danquah within 24 hours was almost as callous as his manner of death itself. Danquah was the brother of the Okyenhene or King of Akyem Abuakwa. In Akan culture, such highly-placed people were not buried immediately after their death. Time was given to inform the many relatives and friends of such important personages, so that they could all make arrangements to go and give him a proper send-off. Dr Kwame Nkrumah was an Akan, and knew about these customs. Yet he gave orders that Danquah should be buried like some unknown person!

When news of these callous arrangements reached the Ghanaian public, many people wept with amazement. Oh! Dr Danquah, the Doyen of Gold Coast Politics, whose United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) had invited Kwame Nkrumah to come from London and become its Secretary (a position from which Nkrumah had split and formed his own Convention People's Party (CPP) at the head of which he had become Prime Minister and later President of an Independent Ghana)  this man was to be denied, in death too, the honour to which he was entitled?

I was editor of the Ghana edition of DrumMagazine at the time and when I heard that Danquah was to be quietly buried, I decided that the burial would not go unrecorded. I took my very brave photographer, the late Christian Gbagbo, with me to Kyebi and we photographed everything that took place,although we could see that Nkrumah's security personnel were swarming all over the place. I was impressed by the lack of fear present at the funeral. No-one objected to being photographed by us, despite the oppressive atmosphere created by the known presence of so many secret security agents.

Unknown to me, Dr Thomas Mensah from the Faculty of Law and Dr Albert Adu Boahen of the History Department, had also gone to Kyebi to pay their last respects to Dr Danquah.

Dr Thomas Mensah, his chest bared in the traditional manner whereby pall-bearers of important personages roll the top parts of their cloths down to their waists, was a leading pall-bearer!

What? With Nkrumah's security personnel all over the place?

Yes.

I know from personal experience that young boys brought up in Akan villages often have to face situations where they have to repeat to themselves, what their fathers had taught them, namely, that Cbarima wu a, owu dako[A man can only die on one day.]

Thomas Mensah applied this dictum to the day's sad situation  as if to say, Hey! Even Dr J B Danquah is dead. Kill me, too, if you like!

Tommy wasn't arrested. Neither was I or my photographer, despite our highly visible coverage of the funeral.

Back in Accra, I smuggled the photographs to London, aware that if they were intercepted at the airport, my luck would have run out. Fortunately, a complete stranger I encountered at the airport, whom I didn't know from Adam, agreed to take them for me, just upon hearing my name. I gave him the telephone number of Drum's London office from wherever he was, and they would send for the parcel. He agreed, without knowing what the parcel contained. This happened in 1965, informers were all over the place! Where do Ghanaians get this generosity of spirit  and sheer bravery  from?

The photographs were held in readiness in London for publication, upon the expected fall of Dr Kwame Nkrumah. We knew it was bound to happen, and it duly occurred, almost exactly one year after Dr Danquah had died at Nsawam Prison; i.e. 24 February 1966.

Now, although Adu Boahen had gone to Kyebi with Thomas Mensah, he had no idea that Tommy was going to act as a pall-bearer! But since he had travelled together with Tommy, he would no doubt have been arrested with Tommy, had that unfortunate but highly possible eventuality materialised. Adu must therefore have felt some trepidation when they set off from Kyebi to return to Accra. He would have been within his rights if he had turned to Tommy and said, But you Kontopiaat, you didn't tell me you were going to be a pall-bearer? He didn't. Knowing Adu, he probably was glowing inside that his friend had demonstrated such courage openly. But it was no joke: funerals were one place where Nkrumah's secret security apparatchiks personnel compiled names of anti-party individuals.

When Drum published Thomas Mensah's photograph as a pall-bearer after Nkrumah's overthrow, some people wondered how he could have been so foolhardy. What they didn't know was that Adu Boahen, although not photographed, was also in the congregation at the Kyebi Presbyterian Church, where Danquah's funeral rites took place. Osofo Akufo, the clergyman in charge, began with chilling words that anyone who was present could never forget: Wose Aban se, yennwie bribiara ansa na woabo nnonsia![They say the Government says that we should finish everything before six o'clock!]

.

We must salute  and emulate  men with the courage of Adu Boahen or Thomas Mensah. Such men are not born everyday. So we must celebrate them without restraint.

Happy Birthday, Thomas Mensah!

And a fond farewell to you, once again, Kwadwo Adu Boahen.

Your names will for ever  and justifiably  be enshrined in the history of Ghana.
Emmanuel Macron won the French presidential election after facing off against Marine Le Pen in the final stage of the vote, defeating the Front National candidate comprehensively.

But in the build-up to the election, the 39-year-old Macron made headlines for reasons other than his political acumen.

His wife Brigitte was, in fact, his high school teacher and the story of their unusual romance became a well-publicised story during the campaign.

In his latest book and political manifesto 'Revolution', Macron described the affair as a love often clandestine, often hidden, misunderstood by many before imposing itself, as reported by the BFMTV channel.

More details about the relationship were revealed in a documentary produced by France 3 and aired shortly after Macron launched his candidature in November

Brigitte, whose maiden name is Trogneux, but was known as Auziere at the time as she was married, was Macrons theatre and French teacher at the private Catholic High School La Providence, in the town of Amiens in northern France.

Macron was 15 at the time (which is also, incidentally, the age of consent in France) and the romance with his teacher, 25 years his senior, blossomed as the two worked together on adapting an Italian play by legendary playwright Eduardo De Filippo, The Art of Comedy.

We wrote and little by little I was totally charmed by his intelligence, Brigitte said in an interview in the France 3 documentary. He wasnt like the others, she added, explaining he had mature relationship with the adults in his life, whom he treated as equals.

According to the newspaper Le Parisien, which conducted interviews with Macrons former classmates at La Providence, he became the teachers pet. In class, she always used him as an example. She was completely charmed by his literary talent. He wrote poems all the time and she read them out loud.

Brigitte did not hide his admiration for young Macrons intellect, Emmanuels skills are totally above average. You can say I say this because were married, but this is the teacher speaking, she said in the interview

By the end of the school year of 1993-1994, the then 16-year-old Macron confessed his love. According to some accounts, his parents, who opposed the union, made him leave Amiens. According to the France 3 documentary, it was Brigitte who persuaded him to leave and start school in Paris, more or less 150km away. Before he left, the young man promised, I will come back and I will marry you.

The two kept in touch. We talked for hours over the phone, Brigitte recalled, describing how he won over her resistance, with patience she described. Brigitte divorced her husband and moved to Paris with her lover once he turned 18 and the two became an official couple.

They got married in 2007 as Macron was embarking on his political career. In his wedding speech, shown in the documentary, a visibly emotional Macron thanked the people who attended the ceremony for accepting the couple and supporting their relationship throughout the years and what has become of it: That is to say, maybe something not quite common, a couple not quite normal  not that I like this adjective very much  but a couple that exists.

 International Business Times


09.05.2017 LISTEN

The Chairman of Cotton Farmers Association in the Sissala area has blamed poor pricing, inability to reach target group, inadequate subsidy on inputs and high numbers of field officers that outweighs farming group as reasons for the collapse in the cotton sector.

Banyina Kasim Sulemana on Tumu-based Radford FM indicated that farmers in the Sissala area constitute the majority in the number who produce cotton in the whole of the Northern part of Ghana , but is worried about the fact it is not considered for engagement as stakeholders.

When the private sector took over in some few years ago the sector began to decline as farmers were not fully engaged in consultations resulting in many problems . Mr Kassim also lauded governments initiative to reduce inputs cost on fertilizer and asked for involvement of farmers in its drive to revamp the cotton sector.

Last month the Minister of Presidents Special Development Initiatives Mavis Hawa Koomson expressed shock at the abandoned state of the Tumu Cotton Ginnery in the Upper West Region.

The facility has not been in use for several years because there are no raw materials for it to process because farmers from the area see cotton farming as non lucrative and have veered into the cultivation of food crops.

Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson who led a team of government officials to visit the facility, said she had been saddened by the fact that the previous government failed to take steps in revamping the ginnery that is critical to cotton production in the country.

What we saw here is beyond our imagination as we taught the problem was with the machines but that is not the issue, she observed.

The minister promised that the Tumu cotton ginnery would be operationalized to revive cotton production to feed the industry soon after the law to rename and restructure the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) is done.

She indicated that the land is available and farmers are ready to work and indicating her ministrys readiness to bring together private sector operators and other stakeholders to identify the problems and resolve them.

We are not happy, the team is not happy for what we have seen here. We cry that there is poverty in the Northern region and if we always cry that we are poor and we have this property lying down here and doing nothing, how do we bridge the gap she questioned.

Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson said she understands the cotton ginnery can employ 1000 or more people with the exception of farmers and expressed hope that the cotton ginnery if revamped has the capacity of employing over 5,000 persons.

She therefore further assured of the ministrys commitment to work with the ministry for Trade and industry to make sure the cotton ginnery sees the light of day.
09.05.2017 LISTEN

What is meant by Nationalism?

Nationalism is a sense of belonging to an entity, territorial or otherwise. It means we are together and of one people with a common identity. Nationalism is as old as when humans started settling into communities. As hunters and gatherers of food, human beings moved from place to place. However, when people settled in communities, cultivated their food and domesticated animals they had a sense of belonging to that territorial place that they settled and that became by definition territory. They devised several ways of staying in communities and by settling in communities they gave up certain rights in order to gain others, for example protection from a perceived enemy and common defense. Because of the sociability of human beings they were able to work together and overcame disadvantage and hostility and capture the environment. Our brethren like the Neanderthals got extinct and it is claimed that they did not cooperate. Human beings formed governments. It is not within the orbit of this discussion to talk about how human societies evolved to these present ones. And of course it is important to note that not all societies evolved along the same mode of production.

In general, societies started as communalistic ones or primitive communism. This means people stayed together, supported each other and what accrued from their labour belonged to the general society. There were no strict division of classes, and no member of society appropriated the labour of others for their own benefit. If you produce something and you had surplus left, you exchange it for another product that you could or did not produce. There was not so much antagonism between people. But this system was not productive enough to create surplus value and create wealth. It did not evolve enough to released people from the drudgery of daily struggles to concentrate on ideas and instruments to improve in general society as a whole. Then there emerged the period of Slavery, where some people were powerful enough to dominate others and made others slaves. That meant that the slaves belong to them and they appropriated their labour for the benefit of themselves. Just like any commodity, slaves were sold and exchanged. This was more advance form of development of society in the sense that it enabled accumulation of capital/wealth and enhanced the development of society. The wealth created by the slaves, made it possible for groups of artisans and society in general to become better developed. Then slavery reached it pinnacle and due to struggles of slaves for freedom, there emerged Feudalism. Serfs were independent, but having no lands of their own, they still were bounded to sell their labour to feudal lords. That means they lived by tethering the fields of their feudal lords and were paid a portion of their labour power and enough to keep them alive and reproduce serfs to continue to work for their lords. This mode of production also became decadent with the rise of industrial capitalism, feudal serfs were liberated. Having no capital or assets themselves they had nothing but the sale of their labour power. The great industrialists accrued the surplus labour of workers and accumulated lot of resources and hence the advancement of society. We are currently in the epoch of capitalism with its varied forms of liberalism, laizzer faire economy, Keynesian, neo-liberalism, etc. Time will not enable me to go into details about these varied forms of capitalism and how capitalism has been able to readjust itself and remain the domain mode of production today.

Colonialization

As outlined above, these movements of society were invariably within the domain of the nation state. We have the United Kingdom, France, the US (that developed based first and foremost on the extraction of the surplus value of slaves from the African continent), Germany, etc. In fact these nations competed among themselves. They waged wars against each other. When they found out that it was expensive colonizing themselves, they moved to places such as Africa and curved the great African continent into spheres of influence for the extraction of human and natural resources for the development of the mother countries. In West Africa and other parts of Africa, the colonies became colonies of exploitation. Others, such as South Africa and Zimbabwe, became colonies of settlement and also of exploitation. In other countries such as the United States and the Americans, the natives populations were exterminated in order for white people to populate them.

We must note that in terms of nationalism, these countries of Western Europe were highly nationalistic. They were invariably capitalistic with feudal kings and lords. As much as they exploited the colonies, they also exploited the labour of their own people and created wealth and its concentration in very few people. These led to revolutions such as the French and English revolutions and the Great October 1917 Revolution in Russian against feudalism. However the success of these revolutions, some partly successful did not extend to the colonies and therefore they remained spheres of exploitation by the colonizers.

The current Africa borders were drawn by the big powers at the Berlin Conference of 1884. The great powers of Western Europe at this Conference curved out Africa for themselves. The main purpose of the Conference was to avoid wars among European powers over Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium was allowed to own the vast area of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa. The acquisition of territories was to enhance trade and also to extract natural resources of the African continent. And the apologists of colonialism will say it was to bring civilization to Africa through Christianity.

That is why we have Africa states today. Invariably and apart from few conflicts most African countries have come to terms with the borders drawn by the colonial masters. And I do not think that there is nothing much we can do about the present borders. To ask for redrawn borders will create lot of conflict and confusion across the African continent.

The colonial states had their inherit contradictions and therefore led to the struggles for independence in these Africa countries. Here I will briefly outline the process of the Ghanaian state.

The Ghanaian State

In present day Ghana, we had what was termed as the Colony made up of the coastal areas, the Asante Kingdom and what was termed as the Northern protectorate. We should not also forget of Tran Volta. These four entities were administered by the British. The Northern Protectorate being less endowed in mineral resources became a reservoir of labour. That is the North supplied the manpower for the mines, the army, the police, the cocoa farms, etc. to the South for the British to extract the maximum resources for mother Britain.

By this design of the colonizers we became one entity with the common identity of being present day Ghana.

Of course nobody wants to be dominated. It is important to note that colonialism was not undertaken on a silver platter. Our people fiercely resisted colonialism and fought them with the might they had. But the sophisticated weapons, the gun power and the divide and rule tactics prevailed over our crude instruments of bows and arrows. And that is why we were colonised. Having colonized us, the colonializes set about making the colonized in their own image. The educational system was geared to ensuring that we recognized the colonizer culture as superior.

Well after we were colonized, the resistance against our dominance continued. It took several forms and as our people got exposed to the outside world it became incessant.

The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) and the Convention Peoples Party (CPP)

There were a number of movements in the Colony such as the Aborigines Rights Protection Society (ARPS), which more or less wanted stake in the administration of the colony. The most noted one being the formation of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) on 4th August 1947 that sought for independence in the shortest possible time. The group was made of the educated elites, especially lawyers, timber merchants and from the feudal aristocracy. They did not want a rupture with the colonial system but wanted a say in the running of the country. They were against the dominance of the Legislative Assembly by chiefs instead of educated elites and wanted to be in the forefront of the struggle for independence. This was happening at the time shortly after the Second World War, when the world was awakening and with the United States supporting self-governments in the colonies. Not having the time to devote to the running of the organization, they recruited Kwame Nkrumah who was then in the United Kingdom to run the organization for them. Nkrumah had studied in United States and had been actively involved in the liberation struggles and anti-racists movements. Nkrumah agreed and took over as the General Secretary of the UGCC. Soon problems emerged within the UGCC who were uncomfortable with Nkrumah radical stands. They were unhappy that he had formed the Committee on Youth Organisation (CYO).The schism was not containable and Nkrumah was forced by his followers to resign from the UGCC and formed the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) on 12th June 1949. The CPP called for Position Action Campaigns in early 1950 led to widespread strikes and rebellion and Nkrumah and others were arrested and imprisoned.

Independence NOW and Independence in the Shortest Possible Time

The main difference between the UGCC and the CPP, were differences in approach to politics in Ghana. While the UGCC wanted a say in the administration of the country and independence in the shortest possible time, the CPP wanted self-government and independence now. While the UGCC was a party of the privileged and gentlemen and ladies and the educated elites, the CPP was a mass party of market women, workers and what was generally termed the verandah boys. The UGCC scorned the CPP for its mass following. The UGCC failed to recognize that after the Second World War, politics could not be undertaken in the usual way, and that the colonized people were awakened and wanted to rule themselves. The returning soldiers, who had fought so hard during the Second World War (The Gold Coast Regiment) and were promised jobs and pensions to their cynic found out that this was not to be so. They marched to the Castle, and three of them were gunned down and killed. There followed 5 days of rioting and unrest in Accra. The model colony of the Gold Coast where the British was so proud of went berserk.

UGCC, CPP and the National Liberation Movement (NLM)

And thus begun the schism, the polarization of the country mainly along two main political traditions. We had the UGCC, the privileged and elitist group with some amount of support from Asante and rich privileged classes as against the CPP, the mass party. There was the Northern Peoples Party of Chief Simon Diedong Dombo, whose philosophy was nearer to the UGCC. As a mass party, the CPP won the elections of 1951, 1954 and 1956 and led the country to independence in 1957. Of all these three elections the CPP won up to two-thirds of the Legislative Assembly. However the UGCC and later National Liberation Movement (NLM) formed after the elections of 1954 and the Northern Peoples Party (NPP) had substantial following in Asante and in the North. The NLC could not respond to the mass following of the CPP, but were equally determined that upstarts like Nkrumah should not lead the country. They advocated for a federal form of government, where they would rule Asante, the rich part of Ghana. The NLM worked in alliance with regional parties such as the Northern Peoples Party (NPP), Muslim Association Party and the Anlo Youth Organisation. These parties together could not match the organization skills and the mass following of the CPP and however advocated for federal form of government. These parties including the Ga Shifimo Kpee party formed in 1954 to agitate for Ga interest together with other parties formed the United Party in 1957 forced on them by the CPP that passed the Avoidance of Discrimination Act (no party to be formed on regional, religious or tribal basis) carried out violence against the CPP. Following independence in 1957 in 1958 the CPP passed the Preventive Detention Act (PDA), where the mass of the leaders were imprisoned.

Progressive nationalism

The CPP under Nkrumah engaged in progressive nationalism. Progressive nationalism is about building a just society. It is about a society without glaring inequalities. Ghana is a nation state. It was curved out by the British in their empire building. Therefore it brought several nationalities or tribes together and formed the present Ghana nation state. It was an arbitrary curving out of states that did not take into account different nationalities and where tribes were cut across to other nation states. For instance in Ghana, you have Dagaabas, Kotokolis the Frafras, Akan speaking, Ewes, etc. across nation states in West Africa. These have created a lot of tensions, with some nationalities wanting to come together.

In Ghana we were extremely lucky to have Kwame Nkrumah who saw beyond ethnicities and tried to build a society for the interest of all.

When I talk about nationalism, I want to distinguish it from other forms of nationalism, for example the cultural nationalism or nationalism for its sake. I am talking about progressive nationalism, the nationalism that recognizes that we are in a nation state and we are in all this together and therefore we must find ways to improve the material conditions of the people. We must accept that we are different but have advantages in our diversity. We must understand that as a national entity, there are certain resources for example natural resources that are exhaustible and therefore we must judiciously use these resources for the interest of our people and future generations. We should protect our nation and national resources not the present way that our natural resources are given for peanuts. It is in this light that the natural resources of Ghana through the Constitution are invested in the President. By so doing, it is expected that the President through sound counsel will attract foreign investment that ultimately benefit the Ghanaian people.

What do we understand by a Political Polarised Society

There is no doubt that we have a polarized political situation. Modern Ghana had its origin with the formation of the UGCC and the CPP. The struggle for independence furthered polarized the situation and we had the CPP and the NLM and later the Unity Party that came together when parties based on regions/tribes were banned. The advantage with the struggle for independence and post-independence era in Ghana was that we had Nkrumah and the CPP. The CPP was a nationalist or progressive party, and Nkrumah believed in building a progressive state and Pan-Africanism. We were lucky that in this struggle the mass of the people went with him, even though the NLM visited mayhem on Ghana, with almost civil war in Asante. However, the CPP transcended beyond that and Ghana remained a progressive nation state under Nkrumah.

Polarization and what this meant for the development of Ghana

Despite the fact that we had Nkrumah and the CPP that averted the obvious tribalistic and polarized society, it does not mean that the country was not polarized. Though the CPP won all the elections prior to independence and after independence, the society was polarized. They were the elements of the UP and who would not understand how upstarts like Nkrumah could be the leader of modern Ghana. They engaged in campaigns of bombings and civil strife. These were some of the factors that led to acts such as the PDA.

Youth and Polarization

It is important to note that young or the youth are part of society. The polarization in the society also mirrored along youth lines. The United Party had it base in Asante. And of course young people in Asante most invariably will identify with their parents. For example some of the current leaders of the NPP, like Sir John (Kwadwo Owusu Afriyir) were students of Legon when I was also a student. They belong to Asante Youth Association. Some of us from the Northern part of Ghana belonged to the Northern Students Union (NSU). It is important to note that it is not belonging to ethnic groups like the Asante Youth or NSU that is divisive in itself, but when not properly handled and with chauvinistic leaders can lead to negative political positions that may not benefit the country.

You may ask yourself, why is the society politically polarized? I am just thinking aloud and do join me in this thinking aloud.

Again let us look at our history. The British came to Ghana not because they wanted to develop an uncivilized people us as they claimed, but came because they wanted our natural resources. They used our human labour to extract the natural resources to develop the United Kingdom. It is important to note that it was not only through conquests that the British prevailed over us and turned the Gold Coast into a colony, but also used other means like introducing the indirect rule, the rule through the chiefs. Since the entity that is now Ghana had to be controlled and be peaceful so that they could extract the maximum benefit, they had to create structures and institutions to have harmony in the society. That is why the educational system was designed in their own image. To be able to dominate a people you have to inculcate to them that they are inferior. You have to have personnel who are prepared to administer the system that was put in place to enable maximum extraction of our resources. That is why our educational system was mirrored along that of the United Kingdom.

It was not an educational system that benefited the mass of the people. It was an educational system that was meant to produce the personnel to manage the country or to support the colonialists to manage the country. And that is why there was the emphasise of getting sons of chiefs to be educated. The colonial system knew very well, that to dominate a people you have to make them not only feel inferior but part of you and also different from the mass of the people.

It was a selective process of getting certain sections of the society to be part of the establishment. And that is why invariably they succeeded. The people who attended those schools of the colonialists were the youth of their day.

Yesterday and in Legon, when we were involved in the struggles to bring social justice to Ghana and we were called those SMALL BOYS. Today I am called the OLD MAN. So you can see how society creates itself. It is not every day that you get Nkrumah. Otherwise we would not have a solid state that we have in Ghana today.

The CPP and Nkrumah apart, we have had political movements, parties and military regimes in Ghana. The youth have invariably identified with these movements. After Nkrumah, we had the Progress Party of Dr. Kofi Busia and the National Alliance of Liberals (NAL) and all those parties of the era. The CPP was banned. And the youth were equally divided along these parties. Then we had the National Redemption Council (NRC) and later the Supreme Military Council Mark 1 and 2 of General I. K. Acheampong and General W. K. Akuffo. I remember the early days of the NRC and how young people were determined to develop Ghana. We have Operation Feed Yourself and Operation Feed Your Industry and well as other popular policies, but the mass enthusiasm soon fizzled away when the people realized that the SMC had negated on its promise to bring social justice. Young people played an instrumental role in the support of the early Acheampong regime, but soon got disenchanted, when the attempts to develop the country turned to the sordid state of looting and plunder. In those days we had what was called the Gulf Girls. Cars given to young women by the regime operators.

The failure of the SMC to improve the living conditions of the people coupled with their reluctance to give up power and their advocacy for Union Government led to the mass uprising on 4th June 1979 that brought Ft. Lt J. J. Rawlings and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) on 4th June 1979 into power. The AFRC undertook what they termed as house cleaning exercise before they handed over the Dr. Hilla Limann Peoples National Party (PNP) government in 1979.

What Economy Did the Colonialists leave us

It is important to point out that the colonial economy was that of a dependent capitalist one. It was mainly primary producing economy. We produce agricultural products for the United Kingdom. And our natural resources were extracted. This was the economy that the colonizers left us with. And it was the economy that Nkrumah tried to change with his Seven Years Development Plan, with his import substitution industries. These were not pleasing to the ex-colonial world. And with Nkrumah Pan Africanism and Non-Aligned Movement and all these talks of independence in economic sense, led to the US and other imperialist countries planning and plotting his overthrow. Declassified CIA documents have shown the role of CIA in the overthrown of Nkrumah. Of course there were internal collaborators. This led to the February 24th 1966 coup detat and the setting up of the National Liberation Council (NLC) of Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa and Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka. The NLC reversed all the progressive policies of Nkrumah, gave out on silver platter the nascent industries that Nkrumah to the cynic of the ex-colonialists. The ex-colonialists rewarded them by praising them to the sky as liberators and democrats. They implemented harsh Structural Adjustments Programme dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) that further impoverished the people.

Another avowedly pro-imperialist government took over with the Progress Party of Dr. Kofi Busia. After more than two years and half years it was overthrown and the NRC came to power. Subsequently we had the anti-Union Government struggles.

Progressive Movement and Youth Involvement

It was during this time that some of us entered the universities. When I arrived in Legon, there was growing student dissatisfaction with the Acheampong regime. It was also the era of the liberation movements struggles against Portuguese colonialism. In the Legon campus we had the Pan-Africanist Youth Movement (PANYMO) led by Kwame Afful. I quickly joined them. We engaged in the students struggles against the Acheampong regime. We struggle and fought for multiparty system. We fought against the Union Government concept. We formed youth organizations and movements, all advocating for social justice. As young people we were in the forefront of the struggles of our people against injustice and social equality. We set up magazines, the most major one being the ALUTA.

In Bolgatanga and in the Upper East Region, we formed the Frafra Youth Movement (FraYouMO). This was the organization that we used to struggle for the rights of our people for a share of major developments such as the Vea Dam. We campaigned against the way our lands were annexed without any compensation at all.

As young people we did this without taking into account where people came from. For example we accepted anybody in Bolga and who identified with our people to be a member of the Frafra Youth Movement.

We were young people or youth. We dearly wanted a change for us country.

Now let me get back to the topic. What is happening to the youth today? Can we say the youth are patriotic or have a sense of civic responsibility?

NPP and NDC

There is no doubt that our society today is polarized. Power since 2000 has alternated between the NPP and the NDC. All of them claim to be representing the interest of the people. However, a closer look of these two parties will show that they undertake the same policies that have not uplighted the lives of our people.

And what are those policies that they all undertake. The two parties run the neo-colonial economy and follow the current dominate view of neo-liberalism and the free enterprise system. In short they follow capitalism in its most decadent form. It is not the capitalism that ensured that countries in Europe developed, but the capitalism that ensures that our economy is operated for the interest of foreign capitalist interest.

Let me take an example to show why I say the two parties undertake the same policies. Professor Aki Sawyer in his address to the National Academy of the Arts and Science had this chilling story to tell. According to him the NPP during John Kufuor time, that is in 2003, gave out our gold mines to Newmount literally for free. Despite protestations from the National Mineral Commission (NMC) that our exhaustible mines were handed over on a silver platter to Newmount, the government under Kufour did not negotiate a fair deal for minerals. We are all witnesses to what happened during the Vodafone deal, where ex-President Kufuor singly handled the deal and gave up Ghana Telecom and its backbone, the fibre optic to Vodafone despite the fact that there was a better deal from South Africa Telecom. It is alleged that the British government played a role in ensuring that the deal went to a British company, with so-called sweeter of additional foreign aid for the National Health. It is further stated that once the government had signed the deal it was passed by Parliament within a day. So much for our independence of the legislative. The outcry in the Newmount deal led to a revision of the deal during the Atta Mills government in what was termed a s Newmount 2, where royalties and taxes coming to the state were improved. Despite having the improved deal as Newmount 2, in 2014, and under Mahama, an agreement with Gold Fields handed over Tarkwa and Damang mines without much coming to the state. Aki argues, that minerals are exhaustible and therefore, it is incumbent of governments that negotiate with foreign companies to obtain better deals that take into account international standards and the interest of the state, so that the income or rent that comes from such deals will be used to develop the country. One can see that in these two deals, our governments have served the interest of foreign companies without caring a hoot about Ghanaian interest. The limp argument that the mines provides employment for the people cannot be justified as natural resources are taken out for almost free with environmental consequences for our people.

One can then see that when it comes to the economic management of the country, the two parties are the same. They all operate and follow the instructions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. These institutions were created by the advanced countries after the Second World War to support the economy development of advanced countries. They were not created to support the economy development of undeveloped countries. It is not in the interest of advanced countries for third world countries to develop their economies so as to compete with them. Also these countries operate the free enterprise system and therefore recommends it to our countries and even when we refuse to implement these policies, they sabotage our economy, as they did to Nkrumah.

The Ghanaian economy is nothing else than an economy that is managed for the interest of foreign capital. Foreign investors are not interested in creating jobs or undertaking industrialization for our countries. Foreign capital is interested in areas where they can make quick profit. That is why they are interested in areas such as our mineral resources and oil. They use us as damping grounds and give us unfair prices for our agricultural goods. They do not support us to process our goods.

And if this is the case what should the youth be doing? The youth are the future of this country. The youth should go beyond the political divide between the NPP and the NDC. Unemployment, terrible run down health service and poor educational service does terribly affect young people. It is they who suffer. When people are given responsibilities to manage the state sector and they use their positions to plunder it. When people are given the responsibility to work for us all, and they use their positions to give themselves extreme high salaries. When people are ask to manage the economy and they plunder and loot it. All these affect our people and the Ghanaian youth in general.

What is the Ghana state?

The Ghanaian state has become nothing more than a plunderous state where the various elites compete to take the state over for their interest. And that is why the society is so polarized. Despite what is taken by foreign interest, there is a lot that is left and this is what the two parties are fighting for. The state has to be managed and in the management process, there is wealth and the two competing parties compete for the control of the state to use it for their interest. Once they take control of the state, they will loot what is left and share it among themselves.

Then they turn round and blame the public sector. They say state industries are not profitable and inefficient and yet they are the same people that manage the state sector. The state sector in neo-colonial Ghana has become nothing but a machine by the two competing parties of the NPP and NDC to use to oil the machinery of their parties and also their main backers. In the process, it is Ghanaian people as a whole who suffer and the entire country.

What should Young People be doing?

As youth you should see beyond just me, and what benefits me and instead look at the national interest. It should not be about this is my party and therefore support the party blindly. It should be about what is the party doing that is in the interest of the Ghanaian people and the nation as a whole. What are the policies of my government? Is my party interested in the future, or is it that of a grab party. As usual and sharing of resources among party operatives. As young people you are the inheritors of the country.

Ghana is riddled with corruption and young people should be in the forefront of the exposure of such corrupts deals even if it is coming out against ones own party. It is our duty and in the interest of the nation to ensure that the resources of the country are used for the benefit of the people and not for one group of people or those who have won power.

When there are misdeeds young people should be the first to expose it, instead of complaining. Complaints never bring about changes. It is action that ensures that society is run for the benefit of us all. The highest sense of patriotism is to speak your mind. It is the love of Ghana when you see wrong and address it.

We should chart up a better future for ourselves and society in general. The youth should see beyond the polarized political system that we have.

Young people should create avenues such as debating societies, youth organizations, social organisations etc. that they can use to debate issues of national importance. Young people should not rush into supporting political parties blindly because they are members. Young people should see beyond that and support policies and issues that are in the interest of the nation.

Young people have nothing to lose but should engender a sense of patriotism. Young people are in a position to do this because they do not have responsibilities like for example looking after families. Young people tend to be more forward thinking and not outwork and less tribalistic. Young people should build on unity.

Now let us look at practical things that young people can do to support their communities. As young people you also belong to the community that you are in.

For example you can run literacy classes for disadvantaged people. Through this you are enabling them to read and write and therefore participate in the national discourse.

You can undertake other voluntary activities. In the Frafra Youth Movement, we undertook clean up campaigns in the Bolga area. We also took up cases of people who were cheated and ensured that we obtained justice for them.

Young people must vote. Young people should not shy away from voting. Vote the party that you think meets your aspirations and interest. Encourage people to register and exercise the right to vote.

Young people should get involve in local government. Local government is at the centre of development of the districts and therefore young people should ensure that they participate and vote and support development objectives of the districts.

Conclusions

It is important to note that young people have a role to play in society. Young people despite their political affiliation should struggle for social justice. It is young people who benefit from social justice policies. Therefore young people should struggle for Education as a right and not a privileged. It is education that that improves the livelihood of people and develops the skills for better tomorrow. It is therefore in the long term interest of the national state to invest in free education at least up to University level.

Young people should struggle and fight for the right to work. The state on its own and in collaboration with the businesses can create the necessary conditions to provide employment for the mass of our young people. It is very destructive to see how our young people are unemployed and roaming the streets. It is a waste and national disaster that our young people are not in work. It is not right to blame young people that they are not in work because they are lazy. The necessary conditions must be created for those who wish to work to do so. People must be paid living wage and provision must be made for fair pensions. These will help to lessen the graft in our society.

And health is paramount of all. How healthy a nation is dependent on the health provision to its citizens. Young people must campaign and advocate for free health delivery from cradle to the grave.

People must have decent accommodation. It is in the interest of young people to advocate for decent accommodation across the country. After all it is young people who are going into work and therefore need a place of their own. Young people must campaign for affordable accommodation.

Yes the society is polarized, but our polarization should not prevent us from working together. For example all people came together during the Mahama era to demonstrate against the poor state of our roads or non-roads in a regional capital in Bolgatanga.

Young people must work and campaign in the interest of the nation for themselves and the future generations to come.

In return young people have a role to give back to society. To engage in voluntarism, civic responsibilities like voting and engaging in government. Fighting against injustice irrespective of where they belong.

Delivered on Friday, 3rd March 2017

Organised by Restorative Seed Society (RSS)
The Technical Working Committee, comprising some Divisional Directors of GES, senior officers of WAEC, past coordinators of CSSPS, representatives of Religious Education Units, including COMEU, and representatives of CHASS, met on Friday, May 5, 2017 in Accra.

The meeting, which was attended by some 30 personalities and which was chaired by the Director of Basic Education Division and acting Deputy Director-General (Management Services), Mrs. Cynthia Bosumtwi-Sam, discussed, among other things, the following:

Review of 2016 placement-the way forward New policies and add-ons towards the 2017 placement exercise Role of CSSPS Regional Coordinators as it coincides with the free SHS policy

On the review of the 2016 Placement Exercise, the House unanimously lauded the Secretariat for a relatively better performance as the agitations recorded from parents and the general public were said to be handled with the sense of urgency and tact they deserved.

After Mr. Mark Sasu-Mensah was introduced as the new coordinator of the Secretariat, the House moved to propose some new policies towards enhancing the performance of the Secretariat. The following proposals for the review of the existing System have been made:

Creation of regional and district offices for CSSPS Soft copies of placement lists to be sent to Regional and District coordinators, and heads of second-cycle schools [Copies to be sent will be on Read Only] A website and an effective communication strategy to be designed and operated A proposal to open a special Public Relations Unit at the Secretariat to handle emerging public concerns

The House urged the Coordinator to ensure that the regional coordinators of CSSPS work in tandem with regional directors of education as they respond to matters of school placement in their areas of operation and to make the work of the Secretariat hassle-free and much more effective than before.

The House was briefed on the fact that some basic school heads have still not submitted to the Secretariat the data of pupils that are due for this years BECE.

The chairperson then requested that a memo be prepared and sent to the Director-General for the heads concerned to submit their candidates data to the Secretariat as soon as practicable.

A seven-member Committee was put together to work on the modalities and issues discussed for an improved performance of the Secretariat in this years placement exercise and beyond.

The Committee, which is expected to complete its work in two weeks prior to the meeting of the Technical Working Committee on 23rd May, is made up of the following personalities:

The CSSPS Coordinator, Mr. Mark Sasu-Mensah Mr. Kwasi Abankwa Anokye, immediate past coordinator (CSSPS) Mr. George Atta-Boateng, former coordinator (CSSPS) Mr. Andrew Asare Akuoko, former coordinator (CSSPS) Mr. Rudolf Ayittey, consultant on SMS texting (CSSPS) Mr. Joseph Amuah, WAEC A Representative of CHASS

The meeting was closed with a prayer by Rev (Mrs.) Naana Dannyame, of COMEU.

The writer is an educationist and Public Relations Officer at the Headquarters of Ghana Education Service.

E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]


The Rotary Club of Accra, Labone, has presented 118 wheelchairs to selected health institutions in the country within the last 10 months.

The distribution forms part of the club's 'Wheels for Hope Project', started In July 2016, to supply over 100 wheelchairs to selected hospitals.

The Rotary Club of Accra, Labone, exceeded the 100 wheelchairs target by distributing additional 18 wheelchairs during the period under review.

The beneficiary hospitals include Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), 37 Military Hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, among many others.

Lamtiig Apanga, President of Rotary Club of Accra, Labone, stated that the members of Rotary Club of Accra, Labone are elated for exceeding the set target.

According to him, the 'Wheels for Hope Project' was initiated to minimise the pains that patients go through when they visit hospitals for treatment.

He stated that most of the health institutions in the country do not have enough wheelchairs, so the pains of patients are compounded, hence starting the project.

Mr Apanga was speaking to DAILY GUIDE when his club presented the last batch of the 118 wheelchairs to three health institutions on Monday.

In total, 35 wheelchairs were presented on the day and KATH took 20, Tamale Teaching Hospital, 10 and St Michael's Hospital, Jarchie Pramso, five.

He assured that the club would begin the second phase of the 'Wheels of Hope Project' very soon for more hospitals to benefit.

George Tetteh, Director of Administration, KATH, who received the wheelchairs, thanked the donors for their benevolence and urged them to sustain their good works.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi


In all the analysis on the next Chief Justice of Ghana, it is the ruling out of the two women that does not sit well with me. They are not my favourites, none of the Justices is, but I am still sad.

Mrs Adeline Joyce Bamford Addo was succeeded by Hon Doe Adjaho, and Prof Oqcuaye succeeded him as Speaker. Not a single soul said because Hon Adjaho was a male, it wont be cool to appoint another male. Chief Justice Georgina Woods is the first woman to become CJ, coming after 11 men. All these times no ones had a problem with successive Chief Justices being males in a population that have more females than males.

It is problematic that up till now we attach some unusualness to women occupying high offices. It is deemed a favour and a rare opportunity. One that should come once in a while.

When a female assumes a high office, she must automatically be succeeded by a male because after lending out to a woman, men must take over what belongs to them. And after her tenure, it should take a good number of years before another woman comes in the picture.

The case is worse if the woman who was given the opportunity did not impress onlookers. That would mean a no no for another woman because she was the chosen one from her constituent and her failure is a failure of all women.

The argument has not been that the two females in the picture lack the experience or competency needed. The argument is that a woman was there so women have had their chance and thus men must take over what belongs to them. The argument is that although we have seen 11 successive males without complaints, the outgoing Chief Justice served and also served on behalf of all women wholl come after her in the short while. I just cant think far!

This mentality must be uprooted completely if Gender parity is anything to go by. As a country, we must get to the point where the gender of the occupant will not rule out a prospective predecessors chances.

On the gender basis, the four highest individuals in the countrys governance went from 4:0 to 3:1 to 2:2 to 3:1 and now heading to 4:0 because a woman has had their chance already as Chief Justice.

What makes this analysis more disappointing is the fact that the two female Supreme Court Judges (Sophia Akuffo and Sophia Adinyira) are seniors to the two males- Justice Anim Yeboah and Justice Dotse pointed for the appointment. This is bad news for women! Our President and the Council of State need not relegate the females just because they were born females. It is not a crime, is it? Then maybe Chief Justice Georgina Woods should not retire.

The change Ghana needs will be but a dream when our mentality does not change. *I am not saying women should be favoured or given what they dont deserve, I am saying men and women should be given equal opportunities.

Simplicita
The Country Director of Engen Petroleum says the growing activities of petroleum black market dealers will derail efforts to grow the economy if it is not curbed.

Henry Akwaboah told Joy FMs Kojo Yankson, in a new feature on the Super Morning Show, The Movers, the infiltration of the black marketeers into the sector led to a six percent drop in national petroleum consumption between 2015 and 2016.

If you thought that galamsey was a huge menace I cant find a word to describe this one, he said in a sombre tone.

Mr Akwaboah's comment comes on the heels of increasing activities of petroleum black market dealers partly blamed for the loss of $500 million of revenue by the state in 2016.

These dealers are reported to engage multifarious approach in the conduct of their trade. Some of the black marketeers are reported to engage some illegal oil ships on the high seas to supply with petroleum products to evade payment of tax.

The others are said to work under the cloak of exporting their products to neighbouring countries but end up selling the products locally. The tax regulations exempt payment of tax on products being exported to landlocked countries from Ghana.

The development has become the source of worry for some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) who said they have been forced to layoff some of their workers in order to cut down cost.

Mr Akwaboah said an estimated 4000 to 5000 jobs are going to be lost due to the increasing activities of petroleum black market dealers.

He said per a framework designed by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), distribution of petroleum products has to go through three channels. He said the oil first has to be provided to the oil traders who also deliver it to the bulk distributing companies for onward distribution to oil marketing companies.

The celebrated marketer said petroleum products that get onto the market without going through the channels have been smuggled into the system.

Mr Akwaboah said the black marketeers have become so notorious that a trend has developed whereby people bring in products and discharge them at some undesignated depots in Ada and Prampram for onward distribution.

"Some of these products are discharged into gallons and sold on roadside [but] a civilised country like Ghana shouldnt allow this to happen [since] it poses a potential hazard to residents," he said.

Although he believes the country has the right legal framework which is very good for the growth of businesses, he said the difficulty in implementation has become his worry.

"This is a menace which threatens the very survival of the country from a broader perspective," he said.

Mr Akwaboah called on government to act swiftly in uprooting the canker without delay since the perpetrators are those supplying illegal miners with fuel, thereby fueling the illegal mining menace.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
09.05.2017 LISTEN

A driver and his mate endured some painful strokes of a cane on Friday morning from a man in military uniform at 37 for allegedly violating road traffic regulations.

An amateur video footage available to citifmonline.com showed the man in uniform subjecting the driver's mate to some lashes, having instructed him to bend.

Reports say that the two were being punished for wrongfully parking at the 37 branch of Total filling station to pick a passenger.

Picking a passenger anywhere besides a designated bus stop violates the country's road traffic regulations but most drivers especially in the country's capital, Accra, blatantly violate this regulation, stopping to pick passengers or allow those onboard to alight at undesignated areas.

37 in Accra, is a military zone, hosting various military installations including the Military Hospital, Burma Camp, Airforce Officers' mess among others.

Amateur video:





By: citifmonline.com/Ghana
09.05.2017 LISTEN

Accra, May 9, (UPI/GNA) - Five top Boko Haram commanders were released in exchange for 82 Chibok schoolgirls, who arrived in the Nigerian capital after being held for years, the Nigeria government said Sunday.

The girls were released Saturday and the International Red Cross transported the girls from a town near the Cameroon border. Military helicopters then brought them to Abuja, the capital.

The president's chief of staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari, greeted the girls at the airport.

"Welcome our girls, welcome our sisters," Kyari said to the girls, who sat quietly in chairs. "We are very glad that you are back, and every Nigerian today must be forgetting every other hardship and suffering, because this is a very joyous moment. Welcome, welcome, welcome."

They were driven in a military convoy to meet the president, Muhammadu Buhari, who delayed a previously scheduled trip to return to London for medical treatment, his office said.

"This evening I received 82 of our daughters, who have just regained their freedom after three years in Boko Haram captivity," Buhari, 74, said in a tweet on Twitter.

The Nigerian government previously issued a statement that a deal was struck in return for "some" Boko Haram suspects. Nigerian media initially had reported that two militants were released.

"No price is too high to pay for the release of the girls," Nigerian Sen. Shehu Sai said on Twitter.

Abubakar Bukola Saraki, president of the Nigerian Senate, commended Buhari, security operatives and the International Red Cross in gaining the girls' release.

"As a father, I can't help but feel delighted and excited at the release of the 82 schoolgirls," he said in a statement. "When they were taken from us, the whole world joined in demanding for their return - now, it is a testament to the tenacity and commitment of the federal government, led by Mr. President, that they are back with us, and will soon be reunited with their families."

One girl has a broken arm and another has a leg injury, but otherwise they appeared to be in good physical condition, Nigeria's information minister, Lai Mohammed, told CNN.

A total of 276 girls were forced from their beds by Boko Haram militants in the middle of the night in northern Nigeria in April 2014.

The group released 21 girls last October after negotiations with the International Red Cross. About 50 escaped on their own.

More than 100 girls remain in Boko Haram custody and negotiations with the terror group continue, the government said.

GNA
09.05.2017 LISTEN

Accra, May 9, (UPI/GNA) - U.S. President Donald Trump's senior advisers said they have proposed sending additional troops to Afghanistan to weaken the Taliban in an effort to bring about negotiations.

In order to send the reinforcements, Trump must approve the recommendation by his senior military and foreign policy advisers aimed at breaking a military deadlock in the war that began in 2001, U.S. officials told The New York Times. The proposed additional troops would work together with a greater number of Afghan forces and operate more closely to the front lines.

The new strategy, which is supported by top Cabinet officials, would give the Pentagon the authority to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and to carry out airstrikes against Taliban militants.

U.S. officials told The Washington Post the new plan expands the U.S. military role in Afghanistan to stem an increasingly confident and resurgent Taliban to force it back to the negotiating table with the Afghan government.

The recommendation was created after a review of the 15-year war - America's longest - conducted by the Department of Defense, the Department of State, U.S. intelligence agencies and other government agencies.

In Afghanistan, there are 13,000 international troops - 8,400 from the United States - assisting the Afghan security forces, mainly in training and advising roles, but U.S. troops also carry out counter-terrorism operations.

The proposed plan would send an additional 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. troops, including hundreds of Special Operations forces. The U.S. government would request NATO nations to send thousands of troops. The final number of how many U.S. troops would be sent depends on how many troops NATO allies are willing to send.

Trump is expected to make a decision before the May 25 NATO summit in Brussels.

The Taliban frequently launches attacks, generally targeting Afghan troops, international troops and government officials. In April, the Taliban launched an attack in which it killed more than 140 soldiers stationed at Camp Shaheen, which serves as a headquarters of the Afghan National Army.

GNA
Accra, May 9, (UPI/GNA) - An Indonesian court found the outgoing Chinese Christian governor of Jakarta guilty of blasphemy Tuesday and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, was accused of insulting Islam by referring to a verse in the Koran during a campaign speech last year.

Ahok said candidates running against him were lying when they claimed the Koran says Muslims should not vote for non-Muslims to rule them.

ADVERTISING

inRead invented by Teads

His remarks sparked outrage in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country with 263 million people -- about 85 percent of whom are followers of Islam. Protests in November and December both drew nearly 200,000 people.

Ahok said he was criticizing clerics' interpretation of the verse, not the Koran. Judges said he did it deliberately and did not show remorse.

He was "found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment," head judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto told the court.

The sentence went against the recommendation of prosecutors, who asked Ahok be given a suspended jail term. Lawyers said he would appeal.

Ahok was appointed Jakarta's governor in 2014 by Joko Widodo, his predecessor who was elected Indonesia's president. Ahok's political success was seen as a significant development in a city where anti-Chinese riots occurred in 1998.

Ahok was expected to win re-election at the start of his campaign last year. But the blasphemy trial overshadowed his campaign and he conceded defeat to Anies Baswedan in a runoff last month.

GNA
Accra, May 9, GNA - The Northern Youth for Peace and Development (NYUPED), a non-partisan pressure group, has expressed their displeasure over the neglect of some New Patriotic Party (NPP) activists who sacrificed to secure victory for the Party in the 2016 General Election.

NYUPED claimed the NPP activists had been neglected in the appointment of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive (MMDCEs) positions.

Addressing the media in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Prince Hardi Adams, the Executive Director of the NYUPED, said the then Presidential Candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, assured them during the electioneering that, when the group support him to win the election, he would consult and make them his first choice for the MMCEs positions.

He, however, said the President's nominees for the MMCEs in the three northern regions did not reflect the promise he made to them.

Mr Adams commended the President for his ambition and commitment to establish the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), which would culminate in the creation of the Coastal Belt Development Authority, the Middle Belt Development Authority and the Northern Belt Development Authority that would fast-track development across the country.

GNA

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah/ Jamila Abubakar, GNA
I want to help you with a key of prophecies that will be a foundation for anchoring you to the truth with end time prophecies as it has been to me over many years, it has not failed. Yes it is only 3 simple important words in 6 verses and they are only found in the book of St John Gospel, no other book in the Holy Bible teaches it. Take heed now and I pray that these 3 words may clear up all confusion, or error you may have concerning end time prophecy. Those 3 words are

The Last Day The Last Day The Last Day

The first place THE LAST DAY is found is in St John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. Here we see that an event takes place on the last day and that is the raising up of believers, which is by the resurrection. But more importantly to realize that after the last day there is no more days afterward nor anymore people alive on the earth, so all prophecy will have to be fulfilled by that last day for time on earth will be no more(Revelation 10:6). After the last day the last prophecy concerning the earth will be fulfilled and that is, It shall pass away (this mean go out of orbit and travel about in the universe Matthew 24:35 Revelation 20:11) Signified to me by the Holy Spirit, the earth shall not burn up or melt, but the things on it will burn up and melt with fervent heat (2Peter 3:10) If the earth go out of orbit from around the Sun then there will be no more measuring days, for a day is measured by the Sun rising to the Sun setting but when out of orbit that order ends, but the earth will still exist.

The second place THE LAST DAY is found is in John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The second point we want to establish is that the raising of the living in the Rapture will take place also on the same day of the resurrection of the dead believers. Paul helps us understand the resurrection and Rapture is on the same day in 1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

This establishes that both the resurrection and the Rapture will be on the same day which is THE LAST DAY. If this teaching conflicts with your present belief then open your mind to the Holy Spirit, for he has more to share with you on prophecy. We see that we shall be caught up together with them (the resurrected) in the clouds, which is up in the sky off of the earth, but why in the clouds? Will anyt believers or sinners be left on earth after the resurrection Day? Why do some ministers teach of people being left behind after the Rapture? Because The Last Day is not in their calculations of end time prophecy and if they included it in their calculations the harmony of their prophecies or beliefs would crash. No there will be no more humans here on earth, but there will be aliens for a while that live down in the earth, but even them, will shortly suffer great afflictions as the earth travels into the freezing universe.

The 3rd place THE LAST DAY is found is in John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. The earth shall pass away after the last day Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. In all your imaginations of how the end time prophecies will take place, you should determine in prophecy when will the Earth pass away, for if it is gone, where shall the prophecies be fulfilled? John captured that there is a LAST DAY for the earths present order and after that it passes away where its days shall be no more. Let us prove that the Day of the Lord is on the Last Day, for it is the same day the earth starts passing away 1Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Here we see when the Lord comes, heavens shall pass away the earth also, we then will look for a new heaven and a new earth while we are in the air with the Lord. There is no 2 comings of the Lord at the end time but one last coming for his people he will collect them from the 4 winds. Matthew 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Neither any ungodly will remain Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. No humans will be left behind Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

The 4th place for THE LAST DAY is found in John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. After Christians rise in the resurrection and Rapture meeting the Lord in the cloud what happens next after they are in the air with the Lord? We see that the Earth passes away in Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. This white throne is not on the earth but in the air in a position where the earth can be seen fleeing away and no one will return to it. After we have been changed in the twinkling of an eye to immortal, the angels will escort us to Gods throne from which we can witness the earth passing away and no place being found for it. As you know all that are in hell, the sea, and unbelievers will come up from the earth before it passes away.

The 5th place for THE LAST DAY is found in John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Here Martha also confesses that the resurrection is at the last day, John would have corrected it if it was not so, but it is truth. What will happen on that last day when God comes 2Thesalonians 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; Here we see God will come with flaming fire, and taking vengeance on the disobedient to the Gospel. Now we know where the fire on the earth will come from on that last day, from God and his angels will come with flaming fire. There will the disobedient be removed from the earth as the rapture will remove the believers.

All the dead in Christ that are in paradise will all come up from the earth before God at his throne leaving no one behind, except for aliens in the earth who are created by God but they are Gods enemies. I saw a UFO over Grand Cayman in October 2016 and asked my Father about them and he gave me much information on Aliens, and knowledge on other animals on the earth, and having me to understand that humans are not the only animal with souls but some other animal in the sea and on land have souls also. Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. I will not mention what animals in the sea that have souls less your minds think evil of me, but these soul are not humans, but their creator know them.

The 6th and last place that THE LAST DAY is found in John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. Believe me the New Earth is already prepared and the New Jerusalem that Holy city is finished and waiting though they are in different locations. The new earth and the Holy city will come together and the Holy city will be placed on the New Earth and the Tabernacle of God will be placed in the Holy City and the raptured holy saints will possess it and the unholy believers will possess the earth until they come to holiness then they can enter the Holy City. The heaven that has 3 slabs of land with a large column running up through them holding the 3 slabs of land together where Gods throne is now (on the top 3 slab of land) will also be possessed by saints that has been cleansed with deep cleaning from on earth. The holy people of God will be able to make short visits from the Holy City to the present heaven and the saints that will be on the present heaven will visit the Holy City.

The elders that are reigning now for a 1000 years (Revelation 4:4 & 20:4) will continue to reign with God after the saints from the resurrection and Rapture occupy theHoly City. God will continue to choose 24 new people of his saints to reign with him for a thousand years as the present 24 saints 1000 year expires, a new set will begin (Revelation 20:4-7). These Elders reign are not limited to heaven but as angels they govern/reign on the earth also until the last day, but will continue their reign in heaven after the last day. The millennium reign teaching that teaches 1000 years reign after the rapture, but if the rapture is on the last day, then the 1000 year could not take place on earth for the earth will pass away after the rapture. The truth is the millennium reign will continue in heaven not on earth, for even as the 24 Elders are seen in Revelation 4:4 sitting on thrones they reigned with Christ for a 1000 years, then after their reign a second new set of 24 saints took over and reigns until now and until their 1000 years expires in the future. There will be no 1000 year reign on earth after the Rapture.

To teach people that the great tribulation and 1000 years millennial reign will take place on the earth after the rapture is an error and not the truth of prophecy. The great tribulation will happen before the rapture, the 7 years spoken of in Ezekiel 39:9 will not happen after the rapture, and all prophecies to take place on the earth will be fulfilled by the last day.

The mark of the beast will happen before the rapture and the safest place for the church during that time is living under the ground then shall be fulfilled Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Yes start to get ready while there is time now, for this persecution may last 3 yrs 6 months or 42 months. Yes food, electricity, water with living quarters buried under the ground will be necessary to survive so large places will be necessary. Yes it is the will of God to prepare now, ye that have an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

During this great persecution period the Holy Spirit will prepare those that are in hiding to come up in righteousness of their salvation even up to holiness, perfection and to the fullness of the stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13) in preparation for the Day of the Lord which shall put an end to the great persecution.

Those that are in hiding from the face of the beast will be made clean and white by the blood of the everlasting covenant and the power of the Holy Spirit they shall under go a deep cleansing of their soul, heart, and spirit through prayers, repentance, and forgiveness. That it may be fulfilled Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. It is these that will be alive and remain (1Thessillians 4:17) These he shall Rapture, these are they that came out of great tribulation (Revelation 7:9-13) and clothed with white robes with palms in their hand.

The Holy Spirit has already began this deep cleansing upon his people for which we are witnesses and partakers of this deliverance both healing afflictions and casting out every unrighteousness, that the exceeding riches of his grace and tender kindness toward us through Christ Jesus be experienced by us, fulfilling the prophecy concerning us saints that was to come in these ages (Ephesians 2:7) The Holy Spirit wants to start deep cleansing your heart, soul and spirit now too. Just confess your unrighteousness unto the Holy Spirit and ask him to start deep cleansing on you.

Christ will not reign from the earthly Jerusalem but he will return on the cloud (Acts 1:9-11) riding his horse, his horse from heaven. His throne will not be on this earth if he refused to be king (John 6:15) while he walked in the likeness of sinful flesh, then why would he want to come back here and be a king after he has been given a name above every name and a throne of Majesty in the heavens? For when God comes the earth will pass away after that there will be no setting up of his throne. He will not reign from Jerusalem for he is coming with fire and Jerusalem will pass with the earth. Some confuse the Old Testament prophecies that mean heavenly Jerusalem to mean earthly Jerusalem so be careful.

Another widely mistaken prophecy is Luke 17:34-37 this is where the erroneous doctrine of Left Behind comes from, but lets clear this error up now, because there will not be any humans left behind after the Last Day. Luke 17:36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 17:37And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. The disciples were asking the Lord where will they be taken? They were not asking where will they be left, for if one is left he has not moved. Those that are said to be taken, will be taken by Gods angels and fed to the eagles or birds.

Now ask yourselves will God take his people and feed them to the Birds? No, but this is speaking of a type of preliminary judgement as taking out the tares first, (Matthew 13:30, 49-50) as taking those that offend, such as hypocrites that will not repent as Peter said in 1Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? This taken is not the rapture but this taken is like the taken of the beast and false prophet in Revelation 19:20. The ones that are left are those that are alive and remain (1Thessillians 4:17) these the Lord shall rapture. The ones that are left are not left behind, but they are Gods people that remain alive and escaped the angels vengeance, (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10) for Gods spiritual seal shall be in their foreheads.

On that last day we shall be changed by the power God. As his Angels tie spiritual cords on our hand we shall be changed. They shall tie one to another if we are part of a group so that we be not separated as we are escorted up where we belong even to our eternal home with God, whether it be to the present heaven or the Holy City, or the New Earth. Freely tell us your Testimony, Prayer request, comments or if you want more understanding on anything written in this letter.

Bible Truth Ministry

[email protected]

His Servants David & Ruth Ebanks

Tel 863-210-8498 https://www.facebook.com/johndavid.ebanks
The Association of Northern Ghanaians of Georgia (ANGG) celebrated an unprecedented Damba festival in Atlanta last Saturday May 6th, 2017 which brought all Ghanaians living in Georgia and other states together to observe this special occasion in a grand style. Celebrating Northern Ghana for Peace and Development was the theme for this years Damba festival.

In attendance were Nananom, traditional chiefs and Queen mothers, representing the various Ghanaian communities in Georgia, the former mayor of Macon Georgia, Clearance Jack Ellis and Joe H. Beasley, President, African Ascension, and Joe Beasley Foundation. The program was hosted by Chief Bin Issahaku who welcomed everybody to the festival and was gratified by the huge turnout for his maiden Damba festival after becoming the chief of the three northern regions in Georgia. The crowd was electrified with performances by Wuza Wuza USA, a northern cultural group based in the United States. They entertained the crowd with acts such as Bamaya, Jara, Takai and dances from the Upper East and Upper West regions.

Special guest for the occasion was Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku, pioneer and a leading member of the northern community in Atlanta who is also the former governor of the Bank of Ghana. In his keynote address, Dr. Issahaku said that he was glad to be part of this occasion and wish that he could be part of it every year. He said it reminded him of being home because the cultural representation was so overwhelming and he was proud to be a northerner to be back in the US celebrating Damba with Ghanaian Americans. Dr. Issahaku recalled that several years ago when they celebrated Damba, they were just a handful of northerners in Atlanta and they had to celebrate it in Louisville Kentucky as a result of the Louisville  Tamale sister city relationship. He expressed delight that the population of northerners in Atlanta now has quadrupled and said it is a remarkable achievement to have a chief who represents all the three northern regions and we were all gathered here in unity which is the true spirit of Damba. You know, we have a rich culture, a culture that penetrates everywhere and an identity that class other cultures to the admiration of many and when it is well organized and in unity as it is done tonight by Ghanaian Americans, it is simply mesmerizing he noted.

Dr. Issahaku underscored that we live in a global economy today and we have to sell our identity to the rest of the world because that is how we can attract the world to our country to support development activities. He assured that culture has contributed to a positive change and development in Ghana and urged the audience to see themselves as ambassadors of Ghana and continue to use occasions like this to project our identity which will also send strong signals to the rest of the world that we value our beliefs and who we are as a people. He finally called on all northerners living in America or in the diaspora to let their stay be as productive as possible so that when you come back home, you can contribute in developing and alleviating poverty in the north which is the poorest part of our country Ghana.

Damba is a dance festival which is celebrated annually by the chiefs and people of all the three northern regions of Ghana and has a long standing history. It has no boundaries and cuts across all religions, tribes and ethnic groups in northern Ghana. The organizers decided to have Damba because it serves as a bond that will bring the people of our community together, give our children who were born here in the United States the unique opportunity to learn the northern culture and to entertain our guests.

Atlanta Damba 1

Atlanta Damba 2
Almost two months since Unicef director Charlotte Nikois disappearance, President Jacob Zuma appealed to anyone who may have information to come forward and assist the police with their investigation.

Nikoi, a Ghanaian national, is reported to have arrived in Cape Town on March 17 on holiday and to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her family.

She went missing a few days later  on Human Rights Day  when she went for a hike on Table Mountain.

Zumas spokesperson, Bongani Ngqulunga, said the president made a special plea for assistance to find Nikoi.

We appeal to anyone with information to assist the police to locate Ms Nikoi so that she can be reunited with her family. The South African Police and other departments such as Social Development will continue to provide as much support as possible during this difficult time, said Zuma.

Nikois husband Chris believes she might be kept against her will, and asked for the potential kidnapper not harm her and release her safely.

If anyone is holding her, please dont hurt her, release her because her family needs her, he said.

Chris said Nikoi disappeared on March 21 when she and their daughter went hiking up Platteklip Gorge.

We have done all efforts of searching Table Mountain and clearly she is not there. She is somewhere against her will, he said.

Chris has not been at work since Nikoi vanished.

This is the most difficult time the family has found itself in, said Chris, adding that their 22-year-old daughter is taking the news of her mothers disappearance very hard as she will be graduating at the end of the month.

The graduation day will be the most difficult day without her, he said, adding that their other two children, 16 and 20, living in the US, were receiving counselling.

I am lying in bed thinking what I could have done to prevent her from going missing. Not a single day passes without my children calling asking if she has been found.

I am hoping that the government will leave no stone unturned to locate her, said Chris.

Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said the search for the missing person is ongoing, all leads are followed, the missing person has not been found yet.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts must contact Chris on 062 439 5189 or 079 140 6099 , or the investigating officer on 083 244 3688 .
Otiko Djaba

09.05.2017 LISTEN

Gender Minister, Otiko Afisa Djaba has asked Ghanaians for forgiveness after days of war of words with the Northern Regional Chairman New Patriotic Party (NPP).

She told Gifty Andoh Appiah on The Pulse on Joy News channel on MultiTV Tuesday, she reacted to Daniel Bugri Naabu's comments against her because she felt disrespected.

Because I am a woman he feels he can bully mebut I apologise to all Ghanaians for what happened, she said.

The Gender Minister and Mr Naabu were caught in a battle of words following a misunderstanding over the appointment of the Coordinator for the School Feeding Programme in the Region.

Mr Naabu is reported to have disrupted a meeting held by Otiko Djaba on May 5, while a group of unruly supporters who accompanied him vandalised some properties.

He described the meeting held by the Gender Minister as illegal because he was not notified about it.

It emerged that Mr Naabu's action was in protest of the refusal of Otiko Djaba to allow him to select the caterer for the school feeding programme.

He granted interviews to some media houses where he made unprintable accusations against the Minister.

Otiko Djaba in reaction also accused Mr Naabu of collecting money, goats, cows and other things from some people with the promise of giving them jobs at the National School Feeding Programme.

The governing NPP has said it was going to investigate the circumstances leading to the disruption of the Gender Minister's meeting.

Acting NPP General Secretary, John Boadu told Joy News Monday, he believes the cause of the disagreement has nothing to do with the school feeding programme.

It was in reference to the appointment of MMDCEs, he said.

But Otiko Djaba has called for a truce between herself and Mr Naabu to forge ahead in unity.

-Adomonline
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso-Nkwanta Constituency of the Ashanti Region, Joseph Albert Quarm has said he rejected an amount of $1 million dollars as bribe, from some Chinese during his fight against illegal (galamsey) mining.

According to him, sometime in 2012, the Chinese attempted to use some Ghanaians as middle men who offered to give him the said amount if he agreed to stop campaigning against the galamsey activities.

A group of some Chinese together with some Ghanaians approached me with such huge amount of money to stop the fight against galamsey but I refused it," the MP claimed Monday, during an interview with Kwadwo Fordjour on Adom FM's Burning Issue programme.

He was commenting on a report by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) which cited some chiefs and political figures for their alleged involvement in illegal mining.

The legislator said he reported the matter to the former Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Augustine Gyening but nothing was done about it. According to him, the police rather got him arrested.

Meanwhile, former Ashanti Regional Minister, John Alexander Ackon who also contributed to the discussion, commended governments determination to end the illegal mining.

He said, the previous administration would have achieved a lot in the fight against illegal mining in the country, if it had the support the current regime is enjoying now.
09.05.2017 LISTEN

Accra, May 9, GNA - Major Derrick Oduro (RTD), the Deputy Minister of Defence on Tuesday said the Military Service was of great importance to the government and the President was willing to provide the necessary amenities to improve on their well-being.

He said this when he inspected a newly built four-storey, 16-apartment building at the 37 Military Hospital meant to accommodate staff of the hospital.

The Minister said the newly built apartment, which costs GH6 million, would accommodate 16 families, consisting of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, radiographers and physiotherapists.

'This project will also take place at Teshie, Southern command Headquarters and Tamale, Wa and Bawku,' he said.

He explained that these projects were to motivate the soldiers to work harder in peace-keeping and maintenance of law and order.

Mr Oduro commended the Contractor for a good job done and expressed appreciation for completing the project on time.

He said the construction of a Military Hospital in Kumasi was expected to be completed by February 2018, which would employ about 2000 people.

'The contractor will soon hand over the building to the government so we can give it to the soldiers to improve working conditions,' he added.

Brigadier General Ernest Saka advised the soldiers to take good care of the building as if it was their own.

GNA

By Linda Baah/ Doris Ablordey, GNA
Sunyani, May 9, GNA - The government will soon establish a commission of enquiry to facilitate the creation of four additional regions in the country, Mr Dan Kwaku Botwe, the Minister of Regional Reorganization and Development, has announced.

The commission would be tasked to organise a national discourse, in accordance with Article five of the 1992 constitution, the sector minister explained, when he addressed the Brong-Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs at a workshop on Tuesday.

Organised by the House with support from the Konrad Adenauer-Stiftung, (KAS) a German political foundation which promotes good governance and democracy, the workshop was aimed at discussing the need to carve-out and create the new Ahafo Region.

Mr Botwe urged the chiefs to exercise restraint as the government worked out modalities as enshrined in the constitution for the creation of the new regions.

He said the creation of a new region entailed a lot, adding that the commission ought to present its report to the President after the national discourse, and this would subsequently be forwarded to the Electoral Commission.

A referendum would, however, be held and with the approval of the citizenry the decision to create the new regions would be put before parliament.

Mr Botwe said government was committed to actively engage traditional rulers in the national reconstruction process.

He said as the embodiment of the people, chiefs and queens could not be left out in nation building process, and entreated traditional authorities to rally behind government in its efforts.

Pimampem Yaw Kagbrese V, the President of the Brong-Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, said the creation of the new Ahafo Region, would propel development and appealed to government to speed up the constitutional processes.

Dr Owusu Mensah, representative of KAS, said regional re-organisation is a complex process, which needs the support from 'physical experts'.

He said it is necessary for the foundation to create a common platform for the chiefs to interact with the ministry on the creation of the new region and expressed optimism that the regional reorganization process would facilitate accelerated national development.

Mr Evans Opoku Bobie, the Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, commended the house of chiefs for their support towards peace building and the development of the region.

GNA

By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd [ASX:CBA] dropped 2.3% this morning to a low of $82.94 per share.

What happened to CBA?

CBA was the last of the Big Four banks to release results for the third quarter. The bank reported unaudited cash earnings of $2.4 billion for the quarter. Unaudited statutory net profit totalled $2.6 billion.

More or less, CBAs results were in line with expectations, according to the Australian Financial Review:

The result was augmented by above system growth in household deposits and business lending while the bank pulled back from home lending. The bank grew its home lending book over the period by 7 per cent compared with system growth of 7.8 per cent.

Market watchers however are likely to zero in on the deterioration in the net interest margin  the difference between the price it pays for funds and what it can lend it for  which fell slightly over the period and was sheeted the back to the competitive environment.

What now for the CBA Share Price?

The immediate selloff in CBA shouldnt overly worry shareholders. The bank is not marred by the quality of their loans. Loan impairment expenses, which are loans that might not be fully repaid, declined from 17 basis points in the first half of FY17 to 11 basis points.

Wealth management assets under administration and funds under administration rose by 7% and 6% respectively. CBA said it was thanks to the stronger performance in financial markets and investor confidence.

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).
From ABC News:

Daniel Johnston, 35, bought an investment property in Mandurah, south of Perth, as a joint venture with relatives at the height of the boom in 2007 for $580,000. But plans to develop the block fell through. The family now owes about $500,000 on a property that has dropped in value to $350,000, and Mr Johnston is concerned he will lose his family home.

The report says the family now owes half a million against the property. Well wager it was that when they bought the property.

That would be especially so if, like many property investors, they opted for an interest-only loan. Why repay the principal when they no doubt planned to resell the property at a higher price anyway.

Makes sense. Until it no longer makes sense.

The folks in Perth arent (and wont be) the only ones to suffer this fate. When the same market dynamics hit Melbourne and Sydney, the losses here will be even worse.

And make no mistake: Its only a matter of time

No rescue for property prices

As always, the government thinks it can come to the rescue in any situation.

As The Age reports:

The Turnbull government is prepared to further intervene in the housing market, Treasurer Scott Morrison says, if the federal budgets housing package fails to calm rising house prices. Mr Morrison told Fairfax Media there would be significant measures to increase housing supply and put downward pressure on prices in next Tuesdays budget, while confirming a reduction in the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing changes were off the table.

So, what will the government do?

Before even attempting to answer that, its important to understand the governments real objective.

Its not to help house prices fall. If the government really wanted to do that, it could implement any number of measures.

The real objective is to ensure house prices keep rising, so that it helps those whom already own a homebut not too fast either, lest they annoy those who havent yet bought a home.

Hence the fiddling here and fiddling there. They want to make it look as though theyre doing somethingwithout actually doing much at all.

Heck. For the most part, it has worked for the past 30 years. Why shouldnt it keep working?

For us, the reason is simple. We figure every market has a maximum point it can reach before it lunges into reverse. The housing market isnt any different.

Sure, we understand that land is a finite resource. But as folks in Melbourne know, the sky is less finite. Take a look at Melbournes Southbank. The value of many of these apartments is below the original buy price.

Look at the trend of subdivisions in the suburbs. Yes, folks who own the land now are getting a boost by subdividing, but how long will that boost last?

Our bet: Not long. The supply of housing is already increasing, thanks to high-rise buildings and subdivisions. Were now just waiting for that tipping pointthe single thing that will cause the east coast housing market to collapse.

Just what will that be?

Cheers,

Kris
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
Microphone and US Flag View Photos

Congressman Steny Hoyer, the House Democratic Whip, delivered the Weekly Democratic Address.

Hoyer was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

Hello, Im Congressman Steny Hoyer, from the state of Maryland. This week, the American people were presented with two strikingly different visions of their Congress.

On Wednesday, in an example of bipartisanship and compromise, Democrats and Republicans came together to avert a government shutdown and pass a funding bill that both sides could  and did  support.

Democrats worked hard to ensure that the bill we passed included funding for health benefits for coal miners; medical research at the National Institutes of Health; Pell grants for students; disaster relief; famine aid; the fight against Americas opioid epidemic; and to strengthen our national security. Moreover, we made sure that taxpayer funding for President Trumps border wall, which he promised Mexico would pay for, was not part of the bill.

But just a day later, we saw the Republican-led Congress at its worst, and deeply out of touch with the people it serves. On Thursday, Republican leaders decided, against strong objections from across the country, to bring their dangerous and deeply flawed Trumpcare bill to the Floor for a vote  and this time, President Trump and Republican leaders went all out to scrape together just enough Republican votes to pass it by a razor-thin margin.

Republicans voted for this bill even though it broke President Trumps promise of, and I quote, insurance for everybody that is far less expensive and far better than what people have now. That was his promise. That is not what this bill did.

Democrats were unanimous in voting to reject Trumpcare because we know exactly the harm it will do to health care in our country. It will kick 24 million Americans off their insurance coverage, including 7 million who are covered through their employers. It will force Americans to pay more for less, with premiums projected to rise 24 to 29 percent over each of the next two years if the bill is enacted.

It will make coverage unaffordable for the one in four Americans who have pre-existing conditions. If you have asthma, have survived cancer, were born with a heart condition, or are a woman  these are all considered pre-existing conditions for which insurance companies would be able to charge substantially higher premiums under Republicans Trumpcare plan.

It will impose an age tax on older Americans. It will put the Medicare Trust Fund at risk, reducing its long-term solvency by three years. And, it will enable states to kick 14 million Americans off Medicaid. And it will make prescription drugs more expensive for seniors.

Republicans have been trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act since its adoption in 2010. They have done everything to undermine its successful implementation, and they have opposed making any improvements in the original bill. But a majority of the American people, under the polls, do not want to see the Affordable Care Act repealed.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where it will face very strong opposition. Its critical that all Americans who are concerned about Trumpcare make their voices heard and let their Senators know how harmful this bill would be to them and to their families.

House Democrats will continue to highlight the dangers of Trumpcare, and we will keep fighting on behalf of the American people to preserve and strengthen health care reforms that make quality, affordable health coverage accessible to all.

I hope all of you will raise your voices, engage with your Senators and Representatives, and spread the word about this bill that will hurt millions of Americans.

Thank you for listening, and God bless our great nation.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.
Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau's new location in downtown Sonora View Photos

Sonora, CA  Industry officials say a sign of the continuing economic recovery in the Mother Lode is tourism spending, which reportedly rose by 3.7 percent from the previous year and helped create 60 new related jobs.

Visit California on Monday released a report by Dean Runyan Associates that figures over the course of 2016 visitor spending in Tuolumne County supported 2,340 jobs and generated $17.5 million in state and local tax revenue, creating an overall $230 million economic impact.

Compared to the previous Runyan 2015 figures released for Tuolumne County last year (reported here), that is a 3.7 percent uptick in travelers and nearly 4.8 percent more in local and state tax receipts. Job-wise, the local tourism sector increased its workforce by over 39 percent from the previous year.

More Dollars = More Choices For All

As Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau Executive (TCVB) Director Lisa Mayo points out, Tourism continues to growand therefore we see the expansion of businesses that cater to both visitors and residents alike. Without tourism, many places that we  as locals like to go  like restaurants and specialty shops could not be supported by residents alone.

Mayo attributes TCVBs strategic approach to marketing the countys spectrum of attributes and attractions to domestic and international markets. She says theses efforts are particularly well leveraged in tandem when partnering on long-term multi-platform marketing programs with large organizations like San Francisco Travel and Visit California. I think that we are doing greathave a lot of marketing programs in place that we continue to expand on and grow so we are getting widerand newer audiences as well coming in so I think we are doing a great job of using our resources, she enthuses.

Statewide, study officials reports that tourism brought a record $126.3 billion to the California economy, supporting more than one million jobs. 2016 marked the seventh straight year of growth for Californias tourism industry, according to Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta. In fact, she states, California out-indexed the U.S. last year in visitor spending by almost an entire percentage point.

New Visitor Center Doing Brisk Business

TCVBs recent headquarters move from Stockton Street to the growing Sonora mix of restaurants, retail stores and services in the heart of downtown Sonora at the intersection of Stockton and South Washington streets, Mayo says has exponentially increased foot traffic from locals as well as visitors. I think [people] are spotting us better  we have better signage and it is wonderful  we can point [visitors] to a lot of hotels right within the block for people who have not made their reservations yet, she says happily.

As part of California Tourism Month and in tandem with the Mother Lode Round Up, TCVB will hold its official ribbon cutting of its new downtown digs on Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Too, on May 24 the bureau hosts its third annual Tourism Summit at Best Western PLUS Sonora Oaks, where attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about how the TCVB promotes tourism and tourism spending in the county. Interested members and nonmembers can get more details by calling 209 533-4420.
Washington, DC  Congressman Tom McClintock is pushing a bill that calls for streamlining the permitting process for new water reservoirs.

The last major reservoir constructed in the State of California was New Melones in 1979. McClintock indicates that multi-agency reviews of projects can create bureaucratic chaos that take many years to complete. He cites that the High Savery Dam in Wyoming, which was constructed about 15 years ago, took 14 years to permit and two years to build.

Speaking about his bill, HR 1654, McClintock says, It establishes a framework in which federal agencies with permitting responsibilities for the construction of new surface water storage projects must work together, coordinate their schedules, share data and technical materials, and make their findings publicly available. The end result would be fewer delays, more efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and ultimately, more abundant water supplies.

McClintock notes that this was the same approach the Obama Administration used around 2009 to construct new electric transmission lines to increase the countrys reliance on wind and solar power.

McClintock concludes, The bill simply says that if theres a potential project on Interior or Agriculture Department lands, then the Bureau of Reclamation shall be the coordinating agency for the permitsor a one-stop-shop permitting agency. It will coordinate all reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, license or other federal approvals required under federal law.

HR 1654 recently cleared an early hurdle, as it was approved 24-16 in the House Natural Resources Committee.
- Barrister Zannah Mustapha also revealed that this is not the end of the negotiation between the government and the Boko Haram

- He said he did not find out why the other girls did not want to leave the forest because that is not part of his mandate

Barrister Zannah Mustapha, one of those who negotiated the release of the 82 Chibok, Borno girls, has revealed that their co-abductees refused to leave the forest.

The Nigerian Tribune reports that it is either the girls have been radicalized or feel ashamed to be seen in public.

READ ALSO: Developing story: 3 dead as religious crisis allegedly ongoing at Kabala junction, Kaduna (photos)

Legit.ng reports that 82 of the girls were released after a negotiation between the federal government and the Boko Haram sect.

Some of the freed Chibok girls

The report quoted Mustapha as saying some of the girls refused to return home adding that he did not ask them why since that was not his duty.

Mustapha added that future talks between the government and the terrorists will go beyond the release of the remaining girls in captivity and focus on negotiating real peace in the northeastern zone of the country.

READ ALSO: Tears of joy as FG release names of girls freed from Boko Haram, one of the girls has her leg amputated

He said: Even though we have got (some of) the girls back, I dont feel we have made much progress.

"After the (release of) the 21 girls, how many hundreds have been killed by su*cide bombings?

Nigerians have been reacting to the revelation by Mustapha. Some however still doubted the abduction of the girls. Read some of the reactions here:

Watch this video and see how Nigerians kept expectations of the release of the Chibok girls high:

Source: Legit.ng
- Governor Shettima has said that President Buhari's integrity was a key factor in the latest release of some of the Chibok girls

- Shettima says the negotiations would not have been possible, but for Buhari's personality

- Governor Fayose has said that the freedom of the 82 Chibok girls was a "cheap dummy"

Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima has said that President Muhammadu Buhari s integrity was responsible for the release of additional 82 Chibok girls.

Shettima made the disclosure in a statewide broadcast on Sunday night in Maiduguri.

According The Guardian, Shettima noted that the negotiations that led to the release of the girls would not have been possible if Buhari was not sincere.

He said: The international actors who helped in facilitating the negotiations would not have been involved if they had doubts about Buharis sincerity in piloting the affairs of the country.

It was also the presidents integrity that made countries in Africa, Europe and the U. S. to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents and terrorists.

He, however, noted that the efforts of the military and multi-national joint task force (MNJTF) and volunteers placed the Federal Government in a vantage position to negotiate the girls freedom.

Governor Shettima says, if Buhari was not sincere, the Chibok girls swap would not have been successful

In Benin City, the national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Dr Felix Omobude yesterday lauded the release.

READ ALSO: Anambra 2017: Okorocha moves to unseat Obiano

He described their freedom as heartwarming and urged the government to further intensify efforts to free the remaining girls.

In a statement by his Media Aide, Ralph Okhiria, he also condemned those who are making mockery of Buharis health.

He said: Although Buhari belongs to a particular political party, he is not the president of that party, but that of the entire Nigeria. We should all learn to wish our leaders well and not evil.

Also yesterday, the Diocesan Bishop of Lagos Rev Dr Adebola Ademowo lauded the federal government for the girls release Ademowo, who is Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria said governments efforts to curb the menace of insurgency in the country was commendable.

In variance with all applauding the FG, the Ekiti state Governor, Ayo Fayose, has described the release as a tactic to divert attention from the Buharis health status.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Idowu Adelusi in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, he said it had become the habit of the administration to resort to flying dubious kites and selling cheap dummy to distract the people and obfuscate the issue at hand.

Also, the factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, has explained that an unnamed prominent person in Borno state scuttled the swap deal, which was initiated by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, at a press conference addressed by the Acting Deputy National Chairman of the faction, Cairo Ojougboh.

Meanwhile, the federal government has described the PDPs position as indecent and inhuman.

A statement by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed said it is insensitive for any individual or organization to seek to douse the matter on the altar of politics.

Source: Legit.ng
- Acting President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has revealed what Buhari told him after the release of Chibok girls

- Osinbajo said Buhari made the comment when he received the girls in the presidential villa on Sunday May 7, 2017

- He, however, stated that the present generation of leaders must resolve the humanitarian crises in the North East

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Monday May 8 disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari told him the release of the 82 Chibok girls had a positive impact on his health condition.

Osinbajo revealed that the president made the comment when he received the girls at the presidential villa on Sunday May, 7 2017

READ ALSO: Buhari redeeming electoral promises to Nigerians - Faparusi

The vice president spoke during the visit by a delegation from Borno, which came to thank President Buhari for the release of the Chibok girls from Boko Haram captivity.

Osinbajo reveals secret Buhari told him after release of Chibok girls

Osinbajo, however, stated that the present generation of leaders must resolve the humanitarian crises in the North East.

He said that the Federal Government would re-strategise with all the agencies involved in the rehabilitation of victims of insurgency in order to address their most urgent problems.

Perhaps it might be wise for us to take a look first about how to save the children and to save peoples lives and then begin to address questions of infrastructure as we go along.

But I think it is important that people dont die while we are thinking, people dont die while we are planning to ensure that we are able to provide for them.

So what I will suggest is that we take some time out to look at this, the Borno State government, the Federal Government, and then of cause the PCNI, PINE and all the other government initiatives that are working out there.

And then plan things better, outline what is priority and then determine what it will cost us and then we can work from there.

But I think it is important that we take a second look at what we have organized so far so that we will be able to do something more.

Osinbajo said that the crises in the North East had grown deeper but noted that it was gratifying that more people were freed from captivity by the armed forces and international partners.

He said the government must determine what needed to be done and do everything that it would take to hold the officials to account for the lives of the children and vulnerable people.

That in my view is the whole point about leadership, otherwise I dont see how we can justify our leadership in any other way, he said.

The Acting President acknowledged that a lot of what happened in the release of the Chibok girls were largely because the international community and development partners believed in the integrity of Buhari.

READ ALSO: Tears of joy as FG release names of girls freed from Boko Haram, one of the girls has her leg amputated

He said the partners, recognize his genuineness, forthrightness and felt the need to help, adding that they did not have to wonder if there was any other thing else going on.

We are thankful for that kind of leadership that has showed so much integrity.

In the video below, Legit.ng conducts a vox pop on the Buhari 2019 posters that have been seen in some parts of Nigeria.

Source: Legit.ng
Legit.ng came across the interesting story of a 16-year-old Nigerian girl who was offered a scholarship to any college of her choosing in the USA.

16-year-old Deborah Ekwale, was recently offered a scholarship which will see her through any college she decides to go to, for advanced studies.

Deborah whose dream is to go to the Bryn Mawr College (an all girls school) to study women's rights combined with public health, was honoured by the National Association of Coloured People (NACP) in Chester, Pennsylvania, after graduating with honours from the Chester High School.

After relocating to the US from Nigeria where she was already a student, Deborah also started pursuing a few credits at the Delaware County Community College.

Deborah will finish from the Chester High school at the age of 16

READ ALSO: Man drags two large snakes down the road while chanting incantations

Deborah who was attending a private school in Lagos prior to her relocation, said:

My motivation is to see women build empires, that means everything to me.

She moved with her mother who married a longtime friend, got a green card and settled into her new life.

She said:

Moving around was too much and I was already in 11th grade, schools in Nigeria are very expensive.

READ ALSO: Pastor tries to clear the air after 'bad' bedroom photos of him circulate online

Deborah's mother, a stylist, and her father who owns a small business, had worked very hard to raise her and her five siblings (three also live abroad), spending up to N2 Million Naira every year, just to pay her school fees at her Lagos school.

She is now the vice president of the student government, and also hosts cultural days at the Chester High School, where she showcases Nigerian foods and clothing.

She said:

Its kept me ahead, students were curious about other countries, she said. Most of them were willing to try my mothers food  I had the best food around.

When I got here people had stereotypes about Africa, they thought we all lived in jungles, I just try to keep people informed, to make sure theres not an ignorance of other cultures.

Deborah is the vice president of the student government of Chester High School

Deborah has been concerned about women's rights even while she was in Lagos, as she would donate her schoolbooks and even host soup kitchens where she served displaced people during Christmas and Easter breaks.

She said:

Womens rights are my number one issue, especially through my mom. Nigeria is made of different tribes with different cultural norm. Women cant hold property, they stay at home as a housewife. Women arent given access to educational opportunities.

On her reactions after hearing about the Chibok girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram, Deborah said:

We all got so scared when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. We thought, What if it happens to us?"

Deborah now wants to draw everyone's attention to the plight of the Nigerian woman. She said:

I want to be a role model for fellow students here, and I think other students are picking up on that. (In Nigeria) everybody at school knows how much our parents suffer to give us an education, I want to give back to my mom to see the fruit of her labor.

READ ALSO: Nigerian police officers help a lady in distress, fix her car in Abuja (photo)

Meanwhile, see how some Nigerians took to the streets to protest the abduction of the Chibok girls:

Source: Legit.ng
- President Buhari's letter to the Senate says Vice president Osinbajo will remain in acting capacity until his return

- The letter also says the president cannot determine the date of his return because only his doctors can clear him for return

- The trip, President Buhari says, is a follow-up to an earlier one made in January 2017

- For more reports on President Buhari's health, please visit: https://www.legit.ng/tag/buhari-news.html

The Nigerian Senate has read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari on his travel to the United Kingdom for medical check-up.

The letter read was read by Senate president Bukola Saraki during plenary on Tuesday, May 9.

READ ALSO: Soldiers hold Borno deputy governor 'hostage', threaten to kill him (photo)

In the letter, the President said he had no definite date for his return as his doctors would be the ones to determine his return date.

President Buhari has told the Senate that only his doctors can determine the date of his return

President Buhari said his trip to the UK is for a medical follow-up to his initial treatments and tests from his earlier trip to London.

The letter said length of the President's stay in London will be determined only by his doctors.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo reveals secret Buhari told him after release of Chibok girls

Acting president Prof Yemi Osinbajo is expected to continue to coordinate the affairs of the country until President Buhari is allowed to return to Nigeria by his doctors.

There was however a moment of drama after the letter was read when a senator, Mao Ohabunwa faulted the position given to Osinbajo in the letter.

Ohabunwa raised a point of order noting that there is no provision in the Nigerian constitution for a coordinating vice president as stated in the President's letter.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported earlier that the Presidency has expressed disappointment in the submissions of the New York Times in its report on the latest medical trip of President Muhammadu Buhari to the United Kingdom.

Personal Assistant to President Buhari on new media Bashir Ahmad denied that there is a vacuum in the leadership of the country as indicated in the report.

According to him, the vice president Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is now the acting president because President Buhari properly handed over to his deputy.

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of Nigerians sharing their opinion on the emergence of President Buhari's 2019 posters in Abuja

Source: Legit.ng
- Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to London for medical check while Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe embarked on similar trip

- Just like in the case of Buhari, many citizens of Zimbabwe think Mugabe is too old and cannot withstand the forthcoming election

Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe has become the second African leader to leave the shores of the continent on health ground.

The 93-year-old president has been flown to Singapore, an Asian nation, the Zimbabwean government said in a statement reported by Kabsedo.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria travelled on Sunday to London for a medical check weeks after his return from the country.

Zimbabwe's Mugabe has been the country's president since its independence

Like Buhari, Mugabe returned to the country two months after his previous such trip.

Mugabe became the president of Zimbabwe since 1980 when the country gained independence.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo reveals secret Buhari told him after release of Chibok girls

As the country prepares for the election in 2018, Mugabes health status has become an issue.

While Buhari left for London on Sunday, May 7, Mugabe flew to Singapore late on Monday, May 8.

But unlike Buhari whose trip to London is indefinite, Zimbabwes ministry of Information said Mugabe was expected to return home at the weekend.

Currently, Mugabe is finding it difficult to walk. He goes about with security aides seriously monitoring him.

READ ALSO: Some abducted Chibok girls have refused to come home - Negotiator reveals

The report described Mugabe thus: On May 4 at a World Economic Forum Summit in South Africa, Mugabe sat slumped in his chair, wringing his hands, as he told a panel discussion in a low murmur that his country was not a fragile state.

Some citizens of his country say he is not fit to continue in government, but Mugabe thinks there is no viable opposition to his government.

Watch this Legit.ng video concerning Buhari's performance in the last two years:

Source: Legit.ng
- Officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Ogun state Command engaged in a gun battle with smugglers

- The incident happened today May 9 along Ota-Idiroko road

- A witness said officials shot and killed Sherif, a smuggler at Ola junction, Onibuku along Ota-Idiroko road, during the shootout

Legit.ng learnt that some officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Ogun state Command engaged in a gun battle with smugglers along Ota-Idiroko road on Tuesday May 9.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo reveals secret Buhari told him after release of Chibok girls

According to a witness who spoke to Premium Times, crisis erupted when some customs officials tried to stop a well-known smuggler identified as Sherif.

The witness said officials shot and killed Sherif at Ola junction, Onibuku along Ota-Idiroko road, during the shootout.

A witness said officials shot and killed Sherif, a smuggler at Ola junction, Onibuku along Ota-Idiroko road, during the shootout

Legit.ng learnt that Sherif and his fellow smugglers were allegedly smuggling rice, turkey and other items from Benin Republic through the border when they were accosted by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Reports also have it that Sherif and his gang have been compromising customs officials to ensure easy smuggling until recent clamp down on them.

Premium times also reported that the killing of Sherif, led to a mob action as some protesters went on rampage, setting the Customs Hilux van and office along Idi-Iroko road ablaze.

The news outlet reported that the mob also allegedly wounded some Customs officers.

Spokesperson of the Customs in Ogun, Abdullahi Maiwada, when contacted, blamed the violence on the smugglers.

We intercepted a Mazda vehicle with registration number KTU 504 AN carrying 45 bags of smuggled rice, and also a Passat vehicle with 28 cartons of smuggled turkey, he said.

But in a reprisal attack, the smugglers mobilised themselves and destroyed our official vehicle which was set ablaze, and also destroyed personal vehicles of our men. They also destroyed the command post at Atan junction, he said.

READ ALSO: Court discharges, acquits ex-HoS Oronsaye over alleged N190m fraud

Abdullahi Maiwada however said he could not confirm any death and that investigation was still ongoing.

Meanwhile, recall that Legit.ng recently reported that some angry car dealers in Kaduna destroyed an Hilux vehicle belonging to the Nigerian Customs.

According to an eye witness who spoke to Legit.ng, the violent situation started when the Customs impounded a vehicle belong to a car dealer and the dealer had to retaliate by ambushing the Customs vehicle.

Watch this Legit.ng TV video of a former NNPC group managing director Andrew Yakubu arraigned in court by EFCC over fraud allegations.

Source: Legit.ng
The love gone sour between Nollywood actress Mercy Aigbe and her estranged husband, Lanre Gentry, keeps getting magnified.

He has been reportedly imprisoned, according to @officialbestofnollywood.

He was said to have been unable to meet the bail conditions which include the sum of N500,000, two sureties who must reside in Lagos and own at least a property.

Mercy Aigbe and her estranged husband

READ ALSO: Mercy Aigbes husband refuses to show up in court, actress dumps his surname (photos)

The case was adjourned to July 12, 2017.

Legit.ng earlier reported how the estranged couple ought to be in court in the morning of Monday, May 8, 2017, but the husband failed to show up claiming he is on admission in the hospital.

This made the Lagos state police command to declare him wanted.

Source: Legit.ng
- Professor Yemi Osinbajo reacted to concern that President Buhari did not hand over power to him

- He said the president duly handed over power to him

Professor Yemi Osinbajo has waded into the controversy surrounding whether President Muhammadu Buhari duly handed over power to him when he left the country.

President Buhari had left the country on Sunday, May 7 for medical treatment and the vice president was duly expected to replace him in acting capacity.

READ ALSO: All former Enugu governors, deputies to receive pension for life

On Tuesday, May 9 however, there was observation from Senator Mao Ohuabunwa that the president did not properly transfer power to the vice president following a letter read by Senate president, Bukola Saraki of the presidents medical trip.

The letter read: In compliance with Section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), I wish to inform the distinguished Senate that I will be away for a scheduled medical follow-up with my doctors in London. The length of my stay will be determined by the doctors advice.

While I am away, the Vice President will coordinate the activities of the government. Please accept, the distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Ohuabunwa criticised the letter saying there was no position of coordinating president in the constitution and that Osinbajo should have been duly addressed as acting president.

He said: Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them the written declaration to the contrary, such function shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.

Mr. President, I dont think in our Constitution we have anything like coordinating president or coordinating vice president. It is either you are vice president or you are acting president and any letter (on transfer of power) should be unambiguous and very clear. So, I am saying that this letter really does not convey anything because coordinating has no space or any place in our Constitution.

READ ALSO: Nigeria should break if Osinbajo cannot be acting president - Fani-Kayode

We have been having (receiving) letters like this in which he will tell us who is the acting president and we will know who to deal with as a Senate. This is the highest legislative body of any country and if you are sending us a letter, it should be direct, unambiguous. So, I am saying that this letter, for me, is not right and maybe it should be sent back.

Osinbajo in an answer to a question on twitter confirmed that Buhari handed over power to him as acting president as specified by the constitution.

He wrote:

In response, the vice president said President Buhari complied with the constitution in his letter to the National Assembly confirming him as acting president.

Osinbajo however deleted the tweet a few minutes later eliciting reactions from Nigerians about why he would have done so.

See some of the reactions below:

Source: Legit.ng
- A Nigerian medical Doctor, Dr Ayodeji Adewakun, 44, and her husband Abimbola Adewakun, 48, have been accused of trafficking a Nigerian woman to the UK

- The couple were also alleged to have paid babysitter Iyambo Olatunji just 20 a week for looking after their two young children at home

- The court heard Olatunji, who came to the UK with just five naira in her pocket, was not even treated to a t-shirt she liked during a family holiday to Euro Disney

A Nigerian medical Doctor, Dr Ayodeji Adewakun, 44, and her husband Abimbola Adewakun, 48, have been accused of trafficking a Nigerian woman to the UK before making her work 18-hour shifts and beating her when she asked for higher wages.

The couple were also alleged to have paid babysitter Iyambo Olatunji just 20 a week for looking after their two young children at home in Erith, south east London.

READ ALSO: Buhari didnt name Osinbajo acting president in his letter  Ohuabunwa

Olatunji, 37, told Southwark Crown Court that she was also made to work long arduous days cleaning their house before staying late and cooking the couple dinner.

She claims that when she asked for higher wages, she was slapped by Mr and Mrs Adewakun.

Olatunji, 37, told Southwark Crown Court that she was also made to work long arduous days cleaning their house before staying late and cooking the couple dinner

Olatunji, who did not have her own bank account, was originally promised a 450 pounds monthly salary over a 15-month period, jurors heard.

The Adewakuns first met her back in her home town of Ondo state where she was working as a secretary for the local government in return for N40,000.

After spending time working for Mr Adewakuns pastor father as a teen house-helper in the 1990s, she was invited to make the trip to London to work as a babysitter for the pair.

Olatunji told the court Ayodeji, or Aunty Ayo, said she would look after me.

She said I would be fine, Ms Olatunji continued.

She said she would pay me money, a salary. The salary would have been higher than the one I was earning in the local government.

The Kent-based doctor promised her new childminder 450 pounds per month in a contract signed by the couple and Olatunji which also set out a range of terms and conditions of her employment which began when she arrived in February 2004.

They included caring for couples two young children at times agreed in advance during working hours stipulated as Monday to Saturday six days per week between 7am and 5pm.

Olatunji denied she was made aware of any duties expected of her outside of her babysitting role and added that she had never even had a bank account set up for her to receive her wages into.

I told Aunty Ayo I do not have one but she just said I have plans for you, she added.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: All former Enugu governors, deputies to receive pension for life

She said Ayodejis brother accompanied her to the British Embassy in Nigeria to get her passport and held onto it until they landed in the UK.

When she first arrived at the three-bedroom house she met the couples Hungarian au pair who showed her the childrens nursery, school and local park before leaving a week later with a bad attitude.

Jurors heard Dr Adewakun spotted Ms Olatunji chatting to the au pair and raged Are you listening to her? She is not happy you are here because she is leaving.'

She is not a good au pair.

The court heard Olatunji, who came to the UK with just five naira in her pocket, was not even treated to a t-shirt she liked during a family holiday to Euro Disney.

On their return, she claimed she was made to get up at 6am to get the children fed and off to school before tidying the home during the day and preparing meals for the evening.

I am not sleeping at 8pm or 9pm  it is midnight, said Ms Olatunji.

She recalled that the doctor and her husband sometimes did not return home from work until well after 10pm.

Sometimes she would speak nicely to me  25 per cent nice to me, 75 per cent anger, Ms Olatunji said.

She did not pay me.

Both of them did not pay me, they just gave me 20 pounds on Friday.

She was even told a landline call to her parents back home was too expensive and spent some of her wages on Africa Tel calling cards.

Olatunji said she was slapped three times by the doctor when she asked for more money.

The first occasion, coinciding with her birthday, was documented in a diary she kept, which also detailed the lax payment schedule.

Jurors heard the babysitter wrote: Aunty fight with me today.

She slapped my face twice.

The day I will never forget in my life  the first time in history that somebody has slapped my face.

Olatunji claimed she was assaulted again twice before she reported her situation to Mrs Adewakuns mother.

Dr Adewakun and her husband Abimbola, both deny obtaining services by deception and trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation.

Mrs Adewakun further denies assaulting Olatunji and two further counts of fraud and trafficking a person into the UK for exploitation in relation to a second victim.

The trial continues.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng in this video brings you how posters of President Buhari are all over the country.

Source: Legit.ng
- The Delta state police officer who was shot by unknown gunmen on Sunday night has died in hospital

- He died at about 3pm on Tuesday at Lilly Hospital in Warri Delta state

- The police command and youth wing of Urhobo Progress Union mourn the death of the gallant officer

The Ughelli Area Commander of the Delta state police command, Usman Ndanbabo, who was shot by gunmen on Sunday night May 7, 2017 has died at Lilly Hospital in Warri, Delta state.

Reports say he was shot twice at close range while he was driving alone at about 8pm in his Nissan SUV on Sunday.

He tried fleeing but his assailants opened fire on him, shooting him on the back and was left to die.

He was rushed to a hospital in Ughelli but was referred a private hospital in Warri where he reportedly died in Tuesday afternoon at about 3pm in the hospital.

Men of the Nigeria police force

Confirming the development, Delta state police public relations officer, Andrew Aniamaka, said: Yes he has died, that is the sad news just reaching us. That is our lost.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Court declares Rivers rerun election panel unconstitutional

The death has thrown the police command in mourning, including the Ughelli area command where he was the area commander.

Ughelli community who felt his impact in the fight against crime is also thrown into mourning as criminals are ready to celebrate a field day following the death of the gallant officer.

In a condolence message to the state police command, Urhobo Progress Union, Youth wing led by Comrade Anthony Igho Ovie, and made available to Legit.ng, the youths commiserated with the Delta state police command over the death of the officer.

READ ALSO: Osinbajo lists 6 things Buhari achieved before traveling

The youths described him as a great officer in the war against crime and criminality in Ughelli area of Delta state.

In a message signed by Comrade Kelly Efemena Umukoro, press secretary of the Urhobo wing of the UPU, the youths also said he was a gallant officer who brought peace and criminality to a standstill in Delta central area of the state.

Watch this Legit.ng video where Nigerians are reacting to the 2019 posters of President Buhari in town

Source: Legit.ng
Season 3, Episode 5: Chicanery

Ladies and gentlemen, a big round of applause for Mr. Huell Babineaux. Greet your public, Huell (played with deadpan, adenoidal perfection by Lavell Crawford). You will remember this singular gent as Saul Goodmans imposing, bullet-headed bodyguard in Breaking Bad, a guy as big as a mountain but with hands deft enough for a career as a wallet snatcher. He returned in Chicanery, as this episode is called, to provide the trick that we all knew Jimmy McGill had up his sleeve for the disbarment hearing.

Specifically, it is Huell who slips a cellphone battery into a jacket pocket of Jimmys ostensibly battery-phobic brother, Chuck. We know that Huell has done something agile-fingered when he bumps into Chuck on a stairwell during a hearing time out, but only at the very end of the show do we learn what that something is.

What does it prove that Chuck has a cellphone battery in his jacket pocket? A fact we already knew: that his aversion to all things electromagnetic is psychosomatic, not physical. And this plays a role in Jimmys defense, the core of which is that Chuck hates his brother and that it is this hatred which lay behind the plot to tape Jimmys confession and the breaking and entering charge, not some spotless reverence for the majesty of the law.

If I follow the logic of Jimmys cross-examination, it goes like this. Chucks hatred leads him to an elaborate charade centered upon a longtime claim that he is stricken with electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or E.H.S. The battery-in-the-pocket moment proves that Chuck has no genuine physical aversion to electromagnetic anything. And the fact that he never told his wife, Rebecca (Ann Cusack), about this malady supports the notion that Chuck has been playing a long con.
Richard Simmons, the celebrity health and fitness guru, sued two tabloid publications on Monday, saying they defamed him by publishing stories claiming that he had had a sex change.

Lawyers for Mr. Simmons, who disappeared from the public stage in 2014 but was thrust back into the spotlight this year when a podcast exploring his reclusiveness became a runaway hit, said in a libel lawsuit that The National Enquirer and Radar Online had acted with calculated malice by publishing stories that stated he had transitioned from male to female.

While Mr. Simmons, 68, supports transgender rights, he is entitled to fair reporting, his lawyers argued.

Mr. Simmons, like every person in this nation, has a legal right to insist that he not be portrayed as someone he is not, they said in the lawsuit. Even the most ardent supporter of sexual autonomy and L.G.B.T.Q. rights is entitled to be portrayed in a manner that is truthful.
In an era of information saturation, when cable news seems ubiquitous and Twitter posts stream forth uninterrupted, local television still holds a powerful grip on the American consciousness. And the Sinclair Broadcast Group just tightened its grasp.

Already the largest owner of local television stations in the United States, Sinclair said Monday that it had agreed to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, beating out other suitors including Nexstar and 21st Century Fox. With the deal, Sinclair would reach more than 70 percent of American households, with stations in many major markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, giving it significant heft at a time of increasing consolidation in the industry.

The acquisition would also provide Sinclair with a far-reaching platform for its news programming. A Pew Research study last year showed that almost 60 percent of adults get their news from television, and of those, almost 50 percent rely on local stations.

That has stoked concern about the pitfalls of consolidation, with some pointing out that Sinclair has shown a willingness to use its 173 stations to advance a conservative-leaning agenda.
Adam J. Fein, a drug-distribution expert with Pembroke Consulting, noted that some of the drugs on the list, like Nexium, have similar versions that are available as prescription generics or over-the-counter drugs. Still, he said, the program is a positive development because the system is set up to soak the poor, and this is a way to pass some of the rebates down to the point of sale.

But the plan comes with important caveats. Patients who are covered by government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid will not be able to use it because drug companies, which helped negotiate the rates, could be seen as violating anti-kickback laws. And the payments also may not count toward a consumers deductible, which could end up raising costs for them in the long run.

The move could also be a way for Express Scripts to find new business. The company recently announced that its biggest customer, the insurance giant Anthem, would not renew its contract in 2020, news that sent Express Scripts stock down significantly and has raised questions about whether the company needs to change its business model. Express Scripts is the nations largest pharmacy benefit manager  its main business is negotiating with drug companies on behalf of insurers and large employers  but other top players are part of larger companies with other businesses. CVS Health, for example, also has a large pharmacy chain, and OptumRx, the third-largest player, is part of the health insurer UnitedHealth.

The news that Express Scripts was offering a program to help offset the high prices of prescription drugs struck some as odd, given that the company has been criticized for contributing to those high costs in the first place. Express Scripts and other benefit managers design plans that help insurers and employers reduce costs, and in recent years those companies have opted to shift much of that burden to consumers. Critics of pharmacy benefit managers have also noted that Express Scripts and others keep a slice of the rebates that are negotiated with drug companies and are based on a percentage of the list price  meaning that they make more money when drug prices go up.

Mr. Wentworth disputed the idea that Express Scripts contributes to rising drug costs and said the InsideRx plan is evidence that it is acting in consumers interests. From our standpoint, we see the challenges, and thats why we are trying to do something about it, he said.
Who told New York Citys embattled Correction Department commissioner that he was allowed to use his city-issued vehicle for extended trips to his home on the coast of Maine?

This seemingly simple question  the heart of the commissioners defense against accusations that he misused the vehicle  threatened to engulf him in yet another scandal on Monday when two former senior correction officials all but accused him of lying under oath at a City Council budget hearing.

The officials  Sara Taylor, a former Correction Department chief of staff, and Mark Cranston, a former acting commissioner  were key advisers to Joseph Ponte when he became commissioner in April 2014. They helped acquaint him with the violence-plagued jails of Rikers Island and guided him through his first interactions with the mercurial Norman Seabrook, then the head of the correction officers union.

They did not, they say, tell Mr. Ponte that he was allowed to drive his official vehicle out of state, let alone to Maine on trips that, according to investigators, violated municipal rules and kept him out of the city for 90 days last year.
It was a policing invention with a futuristic sounding name  CompStat  when the New York Police Department introduced it as a management system for fighting crime in an era of much higher violence in the 1990s. Police departments around the country, and the world, adapted its system of mapping muggings, robberies and other crimes; measuring police activity; and holding local commanders accountable.

Now, a quarter-century later, it is getting a broad reimagining and being brought into the mobile age. Moving away from simple stats and figures, CompStat is getting touchy-feely. Its going to ask New Yorkers  via thousands of questions on their phones  How are you feeling? and How are we, the police, doing?

Whether this new approach will be mimicked elsewhere is still unknown, but as is the case with almost all new tactics in the N.Y.P.D.  the largest municipal police force in the United States by far  it will be closely watched. Nor is it clear if New Yorkers will embrace this approach, reject it as intrusive or simply be annoyed by it.

The system, using location technology, sends out short sets of questions to smartphones along three themes: Do you feel safe in your neighborhood? Do you trust the police? Are you confident in the New York Police Department?
It was a crime spree that killed nine people, stumped the police for months and left residents of Phoenix unnerved.

On Monday, the authorities in Arizona announced that they had arrested a 23-year-old man in what came to be known as the Serial Street Shooter case.

At an afternoon news conference, Jeri L. Williams, the Phoenix police chief, said the authorities had linked the shootings to Aaron Saucedo, who has been in police custody since his arrest on April 19 in the first of the nine killings.

He was rebooked on Monday into Maricopa County jail on 26 additional felony counts, including eight of homicide, three of attempted homicide, and several of drive-by shooting and aggravated assault, Chief Williams said.
WASHINGTON  Senior Trump administration and military officials are recommending sending several thousand additional American troops to Afghanistan to try to break a military deadlock in the 15-year war there, in part by pressuring the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government.

The added troops would allow American advisers to work with a greater number of Afghan forces, and closer to the front lines.

The recommendation, which has yet to be approved by President Trump, is the product of a broad review by the Pentagon, the State Department, intelligence community and other government agencies on Americas longest war. It is broadly consistent with advice Gen. John W. Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, gave Congress in February.

Warning that the United States and its NATO allies faced a stalemate, General Nicholson told lawmakers that he had a shortfall of a few thousand troops and said more personnel would enable the American military to advise the Afghan military more effectively and at lower levels in the chain of command.
WASHINGTON  When President Trump signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill on Friday, he zeroed in on a tiny sliver of it, suggesting that he might disregard $20 million in funding for loan subsidies and other aid to historically black universities.

Two nights later, after a storm of criticism, the White House walked back the threat in a statement that declared the presidents unwavering support for such schools.

But the two days in between left some African-American educators feeling used, many black politicians enraged and some demanding that Mr. Trump back his unwavering support with a show of budgetary support. It also, once again, revealed a White House where one team does not necessarily know what another team is up to.

I worked to make sure there was clarity because I observed that there was feedback and some were misconstruing the signing statement, Omarosa Manigault, a close aide to Mr. Trump, said in an interview on Monday. Ms. Manigault headed Mr. Trumps outreach to black voters during his presidential campaign and had publicly promised that his budget would protect historically black colleges and universities.
WASHINGTON  It was the first major piece of legislation that President Trump signed into law, and buried on Page 734 was one sentence that brought a potential benefit to the presidents extended family: renewal of a program offering permanent residence in the United States to affluent foreigners investing money in real estate projects here.

Just hours after the appropriations measure was signed on Friday, the company run until January by Mr. Trumps son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, was urging wealthy Chinese in Beijing to consider investing $500,000 each in a pair of Jersey City luxury apartment towers the family-owned Kushner Companies plans to build. Mr. Kushner was even cited at a marketing presentation by his sister Nicole Meyer, who was on her way to China even before the bill was signed. The project means a lot to me and my entire family, she told the prospective investors.

The sequence of events offers one of the most explicit examples to date of the peril of the Trump and Kushner families maintaining close ties to their business interests and creates an impression they stand to profit off Mr. Trumps presence in the White House. It also illustrates the problems of the so-called EB-5 visa program that prominent Republican and Democratic members of Congress want changed.

It is just one more dilemma that a family with vast commercial interest has when relatives are in the federal government, particularly the White House, said Michael H. Cardozo, who served as a deputy White House counsel in the Carter administration, which struggled with its own controversies related to the presidents brother, Billy Carter, and his work on behalf of an American company seeking to get into the oil industry in Libya. The actions of relatives can come back and bite those serving those in the government.
WASHINGTON  Less than a week into the Trump administration, Sally Q. Yates, the acting attorney general, hurried to the White House with an urgent concern. The presidents national security adviser, she said, had lied to the vice president about his Russian contacts and was vulnerable to blackmail by Moscow.

We wanted to tell the White House as quickly as possible, Ms. Yates told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday. To state the obvious: You dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.

But President Trump did not immediately fire the adviser, Michael T. Flynn, over the apparent lie or the susceptibility to blackmail. Instead, Mr. Flynn remained in office for 18 more days. Only after the news of his false statements broke publicly did he lose his job on Feb. 13.

Ms. Yatess testimony, along with a separate revelation Monday that President Barack Obama had warned Mr. Trump not to hire Mr. Flynn, offered a more complete public account of Mr. Flynns stunning fall from one of the nations most important security posts.
DAKAR, Senegal  Nigerias ailing president, Muhammadu Buhari, had been seen in public so rarely that some Nigerians were convinced he was dead. Some of his supporters have called on him to step down, at least until his health improves.

His wife recently defended him, posting on Twitter that the presidents condition was not as bad as its being perceived.

As the worries grew, Mr. Buhari desperately needed a victory to show that he was still in control, securely at the helm. Over the weekend he got one: Dozens of the nearly 300 schoolgirls kidnapped three years ago by Boko Haram were released, by far the biggest break in a case that shocked the nation and the world.

But Mr. Buhari, 74, barely reveled in the achievement. He met with the girls briefly Sunday, then flew back to London, where he has spent nearly two months this year on medical leave.
I created the set, I painted the canvas and, of course, I choreographed and dance it, he said. If I can say this  he hesitated for a few seconds  I am proud of myself. I was injured. I was so disappointed and depressed. I was frustrated. So in a way, what I am saying here is that I am embracing a new creative direction and Im excited about where it is taking me.

This journey is personal for Koma, who was born in Japan in 1948. The Ghost Festival pays homage to his teachers and to dancers important to him, including Kazuo Ohno, a founder of Butoh, a dance form that emerged after World War II. The show also takes inspiration from a dance festival that honors ancestral spirits, Owara Kaze no Bon, in the Toyama Prefecture in northwestern Japan, near Komas birthplace, Niigata.

The festival has been happening every summer for the last 600 years, Koma said. Bon is a Buddhist holiday. Every year, people invite the spirit of deceased family members into their homes and for several days they spend time at home with their spirits.

There is dancing over three nights that lasts until dawn. The movement  simple and repetitive  is performed in a counterclockwise motion around a fire and is passed down from one generation to the next.
Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown that lets you sleep  and lets us get paid to watch comedy. What do you think of it? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.

The Jimmy Kimmel Test

Jimmy Kimmel began his show on Monday by addressing critics who have taken issue with his plea last week for universal health care.

I would like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care. It was insensitive, it was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.  JIMMY KIMMEL

But a Republican lawmaker had embraced Mr. Kimmels message  to a certain degree. Mr. Kimmel welcomed that lawmaker, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, onto Live! to discuss the health care bill that is being drafted in the Senate.

The senator had said on CNN that any new health care law should pass a Jimmy Kimmel test, meaning that a child born with congenital heart disease be able to get everything she or he would need in that first year of life.
Two new critically acclaimed foreign series  The Moorside, from Britain, and Valkyrien, from Norway  arrive for streaming in the United States. And Brooklyn Nine-Nine parties down.

Whats Streaming

THE MOORSIDE on BritBox. In 2008, Shannon Matthews, a 9-year-old, was reported missing in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, by her mother, Karen (Gemma Whelan)  inciting a frenzied manhunt in what was the largest local police investigation in more than three decades, with 250 officers and 60 detectives scouring more than 3,000 homes. But when they couldnt find Shannon, Julie Bushby (Sheridan Smith), a friend of the mothers, took it upon herself to lead the community in the search. (Siobhan Finneran plays the detective who acts as the go-between with the Matthews family, and Sian Brooke is a suspicious neighbor.) British critics raved about this two-part mini-series and about Ms. Smith, the countrys actress of the moment, when the show debuted in February, and some 10 million viewers tuned in.
The melancholy souffle Murakami whips up in these pages is decidedly masculine, a rainy Tokyo of unfaithful women, neat single malt, stray cats, cool cars and classic jazz played on hi-fi setups like the one described in dudeular detail  Thorens turntable, a Luxman amp and small JBL two-way speakers  in a standout story called Kino, in honor of the main character. The equipment is the tweaked prize possession of a jilted loner who comes home one night to find his wifes lovely breasts bouncing up and down courtesy of his best friend. He has since moved to an apartment above his aunts old coffee shop, which he turns into a failing bar, frequented by no one besides some irritable mobster types, a bald, beer-and-whiskey-drinking man who might be a Shinto spirit, and a woman Kino takes to bed whose body is covered in cigarette burns. A track Kino spins one evening  the Coleman Hawkins version of Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho  prompts the omniscient narrator to note, with what might strike the reader as too much omniscience about jazz history, that what Kino enjoyed most was the bass solo of Major Holley. Its a quick yet poignant juxtaposition: a man cosmically knocked out of sync with the universe, being reminded of the courage it takes to improvise. Dont play whats there, as Miles Davis said. Play whats not there.

Image

It sounds like one of the Zen koans that fall frequently from the mouths of these emotionally cramped men. Like such philosophically head-scratching aphorisms, these stories  part allegory, part myth, part magic realism, part Philip Marlowe, private eye  are sometimes confusing even to those who narrate them. Im not exactly sure what Im trying to say here, a married man admits in the collections title story, informed by a late-night phone call from a stranger that the youthful love of his life, a woman he has not seen in some years, has committed suicide. He is not told when or where or why, and because he does not know her married name he has no way of finding out more. Truthfully I like to think of M as a girl I met when she was 14, he writes. That didnt actually happen, but here, at least, Id like to imagine it did.

Coming across a look-at-me line like that, a reader hardly needs Murakami to cue a drumroll to sense that the narrative pulse of the story has just gone up a few beats per second. Murakami puts the performance in performance art. If only there were a literary equivalent of Iron Chef, since throughout this collection Murakami riffs on some pretty hefty classics. Kafkas Metamorphosis, told in reverse: No problem! A retelling of The Arabian Nights set in Tokyo, featuring a kinky nurse and the mysterious man she looks after: Easy! And when hes not taking on the canon, hes upping the narrative ante to see if he can escape the conventions of the form  and he almost always does. The title story, however, seems to have been included in the hopes that, in the absence of a preface, it might explain the collections unifying theme. A pastel-colored Persian carpet is how the despondent narrator describes what it means to be a man without a woman. But by this time (the story is the books last), the woebegone images have piled up to such an extent that this last sketch feels redundant, and I wished instead for something less ambiguously ambiguous about what exactly attracted Murakami to the kind of affable characters his writerly alter ego Mr. Tanimura, in An Independent Organ, describes as shallow, mediocre and boring.

Then again, if theres no more to them than that, why does Tanimura himself become so drawn to such a creature as Dr. Tokai, whom he meets playing squash and who is always a casual number-two lover, a convenient rainy-day boyfriend or else a handy partner for a casual fling. One day, for the first time in his life, the dedicated bachelor falls in love with one of the married women hes been sleeping with.
MOTHER LAND

By Paul Theroux

509 pp. An Eamon Dolan Book/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28

At the outset of this long slog, the narrator, J P (Jay) Justus, passes on a story his mother told him as a child, with a smile and a nod of satisfaction. Once upon a time there was a man condemned to be hanged. As a last request, he asked for a word with his mother. She was taken to the foot of the gallows, where he stood handcuffed. Instead of speaking to her, he bit off a piece of her ear, spat it out and screamed, You are the reason Im here, about to die!

What follows this fable are 500 or so pages in which Justus bites not only his mothers ear but those of six siblings. Only the seventh, Angela, is largely spared, and for good reason: Shes been dead for over 40 years. Thats a lot of ear-biting, and by the end of this exercise in self-regarding arrogance and self-pity, the reader may feel that his own ear has been savaged.

All self-educated readers (that would be most of us) have holes in our curriculum vitae, and Im no different. Ive read Dickens and Tolstoy but not Austen; most of Faulkner but little of Hemingway (and regretted what I did); all of Philip Roth, but none of Saul Bellow. Paul Theroux was one of my holes, a prolific writer I had always meant to get around to. Now that I have, Im not exactly sorry, but Im certainly gobsmacked, and although I knew next to nothing about Therouxs life, by the time Id read the first 100 or so pages of Mother Land, I began to suspect that what I was reading was not so much a novel as a kind of masked autobiography. Accordingly, I went to the internet to check for similarities.

Jay Justus is a writer primarily known for his travel books. So is Theroux. Jay has been twice married and divorced. Theroux is divorced and remarried. Both come from large and rancorous families, both were Boy Scouts, both had salesman fathers, both had mothers who lived past 100 years of age, both were raised in Massachusetts, from which they often leave but invariably return. And, I discovered, this is hardly the first time Theroux has strip-mined his family, not to mention some of his own previously published material. Hardly a new thing in the world of letters, but one rarely comes across such parallels coupled with such a savage appraisal.
 Facebook is trying to rein in the spread of fake news on its site before the general elections in Britain on June 8 with an information campaign in local newspapers. It said that it had removed possibly fake accounts and had tweaked its algorithms.

The latest polls suggest that Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservative Party maintains its commanding lead.

The British political artist Banksys latest mural, in Dover, shows a workman chipping away at one of the 12 stars of the E.U. flag.. They ought to make it the Brexit logo, one resident said.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good morning.

Heres what you need to know:

 Behind the scenes of Flynns fall.

The White House knew in January that Michael Flynn, President Trumps first national security adviser, had made false statements about his Russian contacts, according to congressional testimony.

Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general, told lawmakers on Monday that she had warned that Mr. Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail. Only 18 days later, after the news about his statements became public, did he lose his job.
HONG KONG  Sometimes Goodnight Moon just wont do the trick.

So for parents struggling to get their little ones to rest their eyes for the night, Chinas state propaganda apparatus has a suggestion: Tell your child about President Xi Jinpings ambitions to extend Chinas political and economic power across Asia and the Middle East.

China Daily, a state-controlled media organization that aims primarily at an international audience, began releasing English-language videos this week describing a huge spending and infrastructure push called the Belt and Road Initiative, in the form of a childs bedtime story. In the two videos released so far, a father uses a windup camel skittering across a map to describe trade across Asia along the old Silk Road, and how China plans to help develop the regions it once passed through.

Mr. Xis name is, of course, dropped prominently.

Theyre building new things like highways and railways and airports, and even pipeline and internet cables, says a father trying to put his daughter to bed.
In arguing their appeal last fall, the governments lawyers said doing nothing would have punished A.I.G. shareholders more by erasing the value of their stock in a bankruptcy filing. The lower court ruled that the bailout helped shareholders avoid this fate.

In its opinion on Tuesday, the appeals court said, Outside third parties with leverage over a transaction, even in a take-it-or-leave-it scenario, do not necessarily have a responsibility to protect the interests of a counterparty, less so the interests of a counterpartys constituents.

Mr. Boies said he would ask the Supreme Court to review the decision.

The trial court found that the government had improperly and unconstitutionally confiscated 80 percent of the A.I.G. shareholders equity during the 2008 financial crisis, he said in a statement. The court of appeals, without disagreeing with that finding, holds that the shareholders have no remedy and that the government is entitled to retain more than $18 billion in ill-gotten gains. We respectfully disagree.

A spokesman for the Federal Reserve Board said we are pleased that the appeals court vacated the lower courts decision.

The governments loan to A.I.G. was the largest ever made, according to the opinion on Tuesday. The company repaid the loan and $6.7 billion in interest and fees, but the bailout ultimately cost more than $180 billion in taxpayers money.

Starr Internationals attempt to recover more money for shareholders struck many critics at the time as tone-deaf. It came amid public anger that financial institutions were not being held accountable enough for their years of risk-taking.

Dennis M. Kelleher, the president and chief executive of the Wall Street watchdog group Better Markets, said in a statement on Tuesday, If there were damages for brazen ingratitude, the court would have ordered A.I.G.s former C.E.O. to pay the government the entire value of his A.I.G. stockholdings because that is the windfall he has received as a direct result of the government bailout. The group had filed a brief in support of the government.
TROYES, France  As the results of Frances presidential election rolled in on Sunday, Francoise Horiot watched with relief, optimistic about the prospects for her small aviation business.

The victory of Emmanuel Macron, an economic centrist, gave her hope that the mechanics in her factory could be more productive if he followed through on promises to ease regulations. And it erased fears that her ties with suppliers and clients in Europe, Turkey and China might founder if his opponent, Marine Le Pen, could have made good on promises to pull France out of the European Union.

Macron has so much to do, both at the national and European level, said Mrs. Horiot, 69, who runs Entreprise Troyes Aviation, which employs 15 people in this industrial and agricultural region in central France. I hope hell have the power to improve the economy.

He may not.

During the campaign, Mr. Macron promised to swiftly pass measures to lower Frances high unemployment rate and revive growth, which has remained stagnant in the wake of Europes financial crisis. A priority for the more than three million small and medium businesses that form the backbone of the economy is a revision of the nations 3,300-page labor code, which they say makes it difficult to lay off employees and discourages them from hiring new workers.
Passengers at an airport in Florida protested on Monday night after the cancellation of multiple flights, leading to a confrontation with airline employees and sheriffs deputies who arrested three travelers while attempting to restore order.

According to the Broward County Sheriffs Office, the arrests were made after customers screamed at and threatened Spirit Airline employees, inciting unrest in a crowd of about 500 people at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Their anger was set off by the flight cancellations, the sheriffs office said in a statement, and deputies were sent in to calm the crowd. Flight Aware, a flight-tracking site, indicated that 11 Spirit Airlines flights were canceled at the airport on Monday and that 30 were delayed.

Arrest reports assert that those detained were threatening to harm airline employees and challenging them to fights. All three of the people who were arrested were charged with disorderly conduct, inciting a riot and resisting arrest.
President Trumps proposal to cut taxes is short on details. But some people can already see opportunities for widespread tax avoidance.

The problem: an across-the-board business tax of 15 percent intended not only for large multinational companies, but also for partnerships and sole proprietorships that are also known as pass-through businesses. Trump administration officials have said the proposed tax is a critical way to encourage hiring and investing in the United States by companies large and small.

But individuals would have an incentive to characterize themselves as independent contractors who run small corporations in order to use the 15 percent pass-through tax when they should simply be paying the personal income tax rate  which could reach as high as 35 percent under Mr. Trumps proposal.

If this proposal were to pass in substantially the same form, its going to be hugely expensive in terms of revenue loss, said Edward D. Kleinbard, a former chief of staff for the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation and a professor of law and business at the University of Southern California. Its going to be hugely advantageous to wealthy taxpayers.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska  As Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson heads to Alaska on Wednesday for talks on Arctic issues, he finds himself in climate policy limbo, preparing for a meeting at which global warming will be front and center yet representing an administration that is still on the fence about fighting it.

Mr. Tillersons appearance Thursday morning at a meeting of the Arctic Council, with the foreign ministers of Russia, Canada and the five other nations with Arctic territory, is expected to be taken up largely by formalities. Officials will most likely approve a measure to improve scientific cooperation in the region, and Mr. Tillerson will turn over the rotating chairmanship of the intergovernmental organization, which the United States has held for two years, to Finland.

Mr. Tillerson is also expected to hold one-on-one talks with some of his counterparts, although an anticipated meeting between him and the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, will now take place earlier on Wednesday in Washington before the men fly separately to Alaska.

If there is to be drama in Fairbanks, it may come in the form of the traditional closing statement, and how much it refers to global warming broadly or specifically to the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, in which the United States and most other nations agreed to reduce their carbon emissions. Negotiations have been continuing for weeks on the language of the statement, which is approved by consensus.
For the negotiators of the Paris agreement, this was all by design. The accord includes more safety valves than the Kyoto deal, so that countries like China and India, which are trying to balance emissions against economic growth, would not be scared off.

Paris was designed to be less brittle than Kyoto, so that it could bend without breaking, says David G. Victor, professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego, who had long argued for a Paris-like agreement. Whether the Trump administration decides to leave or not will be a big test of that approach.

Understand the Latest News on Climate Change Card 1 of 5 U.S. climate threats. The effects of climate change are already far-reaching and worsening throughout the United States, posing risks to virtually every aspect of society, according to a draft report being circulated by the federal government. The United States has warmed 68 percent faster than Earth as a whole over the past 50 years, the draft report said. Disappearing glaciers. Many of the worlds most visited glaciers, including those in Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, are expected to disappear by 2050 because of climate change, according to a new report from the United Nations cultural agency. The report posed a challenge to the travel industry, which is a large contributor to global carbon emissions. A new response to rising seas. Consigned to marginal land more than a century ago by the U.S. government, some Native American tribes are trying to move to areas that are better protected from high water and extreme weather. In response, the Biden administration has created a program designed to help relocate communities threatened by climate change. A change in priorities. Gabon, a major producer of oil, knows the resource wont last forever. So the countrys officials are turning to the Congo Basin rainforest for revenue  while also promising to preserve the area. The approach, which aims to strike a balance between the needs of a nation and those of a world facing a climate crisis, appears to be working. A warming Siberia. Rapid warming of the Arctic has led to extreme wildfire seasons in Siberia in recent years, scientists have concluded, and such severe fires are likely to continue. The researchers said that the region may be near a threshold beyond which even small temperature increases could result in more intense fires.









Under the Paris deal, every country submitted a voluntary pledge for how it planned to address climate change, with no penalties for failing to meet those goals. Todd D. Stern, the lead climate negotiator in the Obama administration, said that the voluntary nature of the pledges was intentional. Unlike with Kyoto, nations would not have to submit to emission cuts dictated from above by United Nations negotiators. They could submit plans tailored to their domestic circumstances and would not have to fear being stuck with them if circumstances changed, as happened to Japan in 2011 after a reactor meltdown at Fukushima forced the closing of the countrys nuclear fleet.

As part of that deal, the Obama administration pledged to cut domestic greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 as well as commit up to $3 billion in aid for poorer countries by 2020. China vowed that its emissions would peak around 2030 and that it would get about 20 percent of its electricity from carbon-free sources by then. India would continue to reduce its carbon intensity, or CO2 output per unit of economic activity, in line with historic levels.
Many of the people involved in developing Hudson Yards, the immense high-rise project that is reshaping the skyline on the Far West Side of Manhattan, refer to it as a new neighborhood. Though it may want for the Jane Jacobs intimacy that usually defines a neighborhood, it will have a mix of apartments, offices, park spaces, schools and cultural attractions. Dry cleaners, drugstores and health clubs will join shiny retail spaces housing international clothing labels. The centerpiece, a copper-color honeycomb Thomas Heatherwick sculpture called Vessel, has intertwining staircases open to the public.

Hudson Yards will also have plenty of options for eating and drinking, including a European-style food hall and enough local and international marquee names to make it a dining destination. Starting in late 2018, at least 25 places serving food and beverages will open throughout the complex.

Kenneth A. Himmel, the president and chief executive of the development group Related Urban, has been working with the chef Thomas Keller to lure big names. (Mr. Himmels company created the retail and dining components of the Time Warner Center, where Mr. Keller also has a restaurant, Per Se.) Eight high-profile restaurateurs are already on board, with contracts for another two yet to be signed.

The largest concentration of restaurants will be in a central, seven-story building named Shops and Restaurants at Hudson Yards, home to a Neiman Marcus store, which will also have its own restaurants.
Headliner

MISS ADA The chef Tomer Blechman, whose resume includes Lupa, Bar Bolonat and Maialino, looked to the Hebrew word for restaurant, misada, when naming his new place. His cooking pulls from the Middle East, with labneh, sumac, tahini and schug, a spicy Yemenite sauce, playing a role. The result is appealing but hardly everyday, with dishes like charred eggplant with ginger aioli, mussels with harissa, and swordfish with sumac, spring onions and asparagus. Mr. Blechmans parents are from Riga, Latvia, and Eastern European influences shine through in dishes like herring crostini and shots of vodka garnished with pickled mushrooms. The room is finished in wood and has a marble bar. An inviting backyard has 30 seats and a street-art mural on the rear wall. The manager, Idan Bitton, attended the Culinary Institute of America with Mr. Blechman. (Opens Thursday): 184 DeKalb Avenue (Carlton Avenue), Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 917-909-1023, missadanyc.com.

Opening

BUTCHER BAR LES What began as a butcher shop in Astoria, Queens, in 2011 turned into a barbecue restaurant a few years later, with Matthew Katakis tending the smoker. Now Mr. Katakis is opening a branch in a barnlike space in Manhattan in partnership with the owners of the venerable Frankie & Johnnies steakhouses. The menu features local meats in preparations like smoked brisket, ribs and succulent burned ends in Texas, St. Louis and Kansas City styles. There are also grilled steaks and burgers, including a house blend of brisket and chuck. The restaurant has a retail counter selling cuts of grill-ready meat, timed for the outdoor cooking season. (Wednesday): 146 Orchard Street (Rivington Street), 212-842-8000, butcherbar.com.

ESTHER & CAROL A spacious American bistro with outdoor seating, a lounge and recording studio on the lower level and a takeout window for burgers, sandwiches and milkshakes has moved into the former Bacchanal premises. Some of the partners from that restaurant are still involved: 341 Broome Street (Bowery), 646-355-1840.

JACQUES This intimate bar with leather, velvet and marble accents and finishes has opened in the Lowell Hotel. There is light food, like oysters, smoked salmon, chickpea and eggplant croquettes, blini with caviar, and a burger with fries. It opens at 5 p.m., except on Sundays, when it will serve what amounts to one of the citys most elegant brunches, starting at noon. Reservations are accepted: 28 East 63rd Street, 212-935-2888, lowellhotel.com.
Mr. Wey both delights in the attention Mr. Edge receives and takes him to task for it. White privilege permits a humble, folksy and honest white boy to diligently study the canon of appropriated black food, then receive extensive celebration in magazines, newspapers and television programming for reviving the fortunes of Southern cuisine, Mr. Wey wrote in the column.

The article and Mr. Edges response  a pledge to listen more and talk less  generated waves of debate. And it helped Mr. Wey.

Yes, he is a polarizing figure, Mr. Wey said. Yes, he is a demigod. But people know my name because they read the John T. piece. Mr. Wey received a fellowship from the alliance this year and now considers Mr. Edge a friend.

Nicole A. Taylor, the Brooklyn author of The Up South Cookbook, was raised in the same rural part of central Georgia as Mr. Edge and has clashed with him over issues of race and power. Lets keep it real, she said. At the end of the day, John T. is a marketer, and he knows how to tell the stories when people need to hear them. I have grown to have a different level of respect for him over time.

Chuck Reece, the Bitter Southerner editor, who has profiled Mr. Edge and had a heated argument with him over the article Mr. Reece published on men and Southern food writing, said enemies came with the territory Mr. Edge had chosen to traverse.

If youve done your work right, there are people out there who are going to pick fights, he said.

Mr. Edge knows that like anyone else who has ideas about how to tell stories, he can be hardheaded. But he is always trying to learn more and to grow.

The best thing he can do, he said, is something he learned from his wife: Be vulnerable and be open, and Im not necessarily good at that.

Follow NYT Food on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.
How do you know when you are in love? No 1-800-line psychic will tell you. No notice sent by registered mail. Not even a ping from your iPhone. But there are a million ways of figuring it out, and weve asked some people when they knew. Here is one way:

When you feel like you met someone from your dreams.

As a teenager growing up in Le Mars, Iowa, Paul Rust, 36, a writer, director and producer with the Netflix series Love, dreamed of meeting someone who liked underground punk rock as he did, someone with the spirit of an artist. Years later, while hiding in the kitchen during an intimidating birthday party in Los Angeles, he locked eyes with Lesley Arfin, 38, a writer for the HBO series Girls, who was visiting from New York. They struck up a conversation. She liked punk rock. She was a writer. She was incredibly smart, and beautiful.

I dont believe in love at first sight, Mr. Rust said. But when I saw her, when I talked to her that night, she reminded me of the person I imagined Id be with when I was a kid in Iowa. I never thought Id actually meet someone like that.

He and Mrs. Arfin married in 2015, wrote the show Love together, and the dark romantic comedy is loosely based on their own courtship.

We would like to hear about the moment you knew  and how you knew  that you were in love. Share your story with us here.
Cambridge, Mass., like many cities and towns in New England and across the country, has been overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic. During a recent 146-day test period, emergency responders received an average of 1.6 calls a day reporting an overdose. Medics raced to the scene with Narcan, the antidote that revives people who have overdosed. If they had not done so, the death toll in this city of 110,000  29 fatalities in 2016, almost double the number from the year before  would have been much higher.

So I was intrigued when the police contacted me and told me they would be joining with some area doctors in an experiment to put lockboxes containing Narcan on city streets. The idea is that passers-by who see someone who has overdosed would call 911; the dispatcher would direct them to the nearest lockbox, tell them a code that opens the box and send an emergency medical worker.

Dr. Scott Goldberg, director of emergency medical services at Brigham and Womens Hospital, was overseeing the experiment, the idea for which came out of the Opioid Epidemic Challenge Summit and Hack-a-thon, sponsored in September by Massachusetts General Hospital and the GE Foundation. (That such a contest exists tells you a lot about how serious the drug problem is here.) He was excited about trying out the lockbox in the real world, but said the test wasnt about the device as much as the approach  would people be willing, and able, to help?

The day of the experiment, April 28, was uncharacteristically warm and sunny. Lots of people were out enjoying the chance to unfurl from winters long gloom.
What She Stood For

From Slate: Was Susan B. Anthony, a feminist leader and suffragist, anti-abortion? The founders of the Anthony Birthplace Museum in Massachusetts think so, and have crafted a section of the museum to reflect that. But the real answer, Ruth Graham writes, is more complicated, owing largely to changes in abortion views then and now. Was Susan B. Anthony pro-life or pro-choice? Graham quotes the president of a rival house museum as saying. The answer is easy: neither.  Dan Saltzstein, assistant editor, travel

_____
Article: Americas Tap Water: Too Much Contamination, Not Enough Reporting, Study Finds

Before Reading

The 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act is the federal law that protects public drinking water supplies throughout the United States. Under the law, the Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for drinking water quality, and implements various technical and financial programs to ensure drinking water safety.

Read this summary of the Safe Drinking Water Act from the E.P.A. website. What questions do you have about the law?

Questions for Comprehension and Analysis

1. If you live in the United States, what are the chances your drinking water is either unsafe to drink or has not been properly monitored for contaminants in accordance with federal law? In 2015, how many Americans lived in places where the water systems are in violation of safety regulations? What advocacy group released the report that included the figures?
May 19: Alien: Covenant

Face huggers! Bloodthirsty anamorphic-melon-headed aliens! Katherine Waterston in a very strange hairdo! Ridley Scott again revisits the franchise that may be his most lasting legacy, with an entry set sometime after the events in Prometheus (2012) but before those in Alien (1979). Along with Ms. Waterston, Billy Crudup, Amy Seimetz, Demian Bichir, Danny McBride and Carmen Ejogo are among the space colonists in for a rude surprise, with Michael Fassbender returning from Prometheus as an android (or two).
Even before Joyce Anderson steps onto the Brooklyn Bridge, she is swept up by the crowd.

She squeezes onto a narrow pathway clogged with pedestrians and cyclists that leads to the bridge from the Brooklyn side.

This is human rubbernecking, said Ms. Anderson, 57, a social worker.

This squeezebox-like corridor has long served as the unofficial welcome to the Brooklyn Bridge for those coming to it from its namesake borough. More functional than charming, it is a particularly soulless stretch of concrete that was known as the cattle chute funneling people to the crossing even if they did not enjoy it. Compared with the nicer Manhattan entrance, which opens onto verdant City Hall Park, the Brooklyn entrance seemed like a grim afterthought.

But now a serious makeover by the city is transforming this dreaded corridor into a grand portal lined with shade trees and wildflowers. It will widen and improve pedestrian and bike lanes, and install a new drinking fountain and signs showing the way to the bridge. It will also replace the aging infrastructure below the street, a process that will include laying electrical lines for new streetlights.

Finally, Brooklyn gets a little sprucing up, said Jasmine Wilson, 52, a borough resident who walks across the bridge every day.
Victor Ortiz said he was taking the trash to the incinerator at his Manhattan apartment building on Tuesday morning when he saw a man dragging a body in a black garbage bag by its feet.

Mr. Ortiz, 52, a resident of the DeWitt Clinton Houses in East Harlem for six years, went back to his apartment and told his brother, who called 911. It was about 6 a.m.

About five minutes later, the smell of smoke filled the hallway, said Mr. Ortiz, a livery cabdriver. He said he could tell that the body had been set on fire.

Emergency workers arrived to find the body in flames in the ninth floor stairwell of the 105th Street building, a result of an unusually chilling homicide, according to the police. The victim, identified by the police as Shantee Nakhid, 23, was declared dead at the scene.
Talk about ethnic profiling. Early in the 20th century, the New York City Police Departments highest-ranking Italian-American officer estimated that perhaps one-fifth of his fellow countrymen in Manhattan were involved in criminal activity. And no one was more determined to reform the image of his fellow immigrants than he.

In The Black Hand: The Epic War Between a Brilliant Detective and the Deadliest Secret Society in American History (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28), Stephan Talty resurrects the engaging tale of Joseph Petrosino, who almost single-handedly battled prejudice in the department and suspicion from his countrymen, whom the Black Hand subjected to a reign of terror that the author likens to what black Americans faced from the Ku Klux Klan.

Mr. Talty, an author of narrative nonfiction and psychological thrillers, transforms would could have been another rehashed biography into an absorbing exploration of one mans obsession to redeem his heritage amid familiar fears of foreigners.

Image

Mr. Petrosino immigrated to the United States with his father in 1873 when he was 13; managed to apprentice himself to Clubber Williams, the notoriously tough cop from Manhattans tenderloin district; graduated from the White Wings corps of street sweepers to the police force; became the first Italian-American detective sergeant; and insinuated himself into the thankless job of eradicating the Black Hand, the gang of kidnappers and extortionists who preyed on vulnerable Italian immigrants.
Commuters at the Times Square-42nd Street Station with delays on the 7 train on April 21.

Credit... Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
The hacked emails from Emmanuel Macrons French campaign appear to be spectacularly mundane, according to people who have read them. They include briefings on issues, personal exchanges and discussions of the weather. No doubt they also include some embarrassing thoughts, but so far they are notably lacking in scandal.

Does this description remind you of anything?

Ah, yes. Last year, Russian agents stole thousands of emails from Hillary Clintons campaign and published them via WikiLeaks. The dominant feature of the emails was their ordinariness.

They contained no evidence of lawbreaking, major hypocrisy or tawdry scandal. Even the worst revelation  a Democratic official and CNN contributor fed a town hall question to the campaign in advance  qualified as small beer. Ronald Reagans 1980 campaign engaged in much more consequential debate skulduggery. The Clinton emails were instead full of staff members jockeying for position, agonizing over strategy, complaining about their bosses and offering advice to those same bosses.

Imagine for a moment that your inbox, or your bosss, was released to the world. Ill guess that it would not be free of embarrassment.
After six years and with some 400,000 people killed, almost any plan to end or reduce the carnage in Syria would be welcome. So the Trump administration would be derelict if it did not give serious consideration to a plan for a cease-fire and safe zones brokered by Russia, with the backing of Turkey and Iran.

The plan contains flaws, and President Trump could make the situation worse if he is too eager to make common cause with his erstwhile buddy, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who cares most about securing his own legacy and Russian interests in the Middle East. Syria will be a main focus when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in Washington on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would provide Syrian Kurds near the Turkish border with heavy weapons so they can help retake Raqqa from the Islamic State. Like Barack Obama before him, Mr. Trump has faced a choice between arming the Syrian Kurds  a move deeply opposed by Turkey  and not arming them and thus weakening the fight against ISIS. The Kurds have been among the most effective American allies in the war against the Islamic State, but Turkey regards them as allies of Kurdish separatists inside Turkey.

It is not clear how the administration intends to avoid a backlash from Turkey, or whether its decision will in some way affect the cease-fire deal, which went into effect at midnight Friday. Under the deal, Russia, Turkey and Iran pledged to enforce a cease-fire between Syrian government and opposition forces in Idlib Province, part of Homs Province, the Ghouta suburbs of Damascus and parts of Syrias southern provinces.
PUSAN, South Korea  South Koreans elected Moon Jae-in as their new president on Tuesday against a backdrop of heightened United States-North Korean tensions. Yet North Korea did not dominate the campaign. South Korean voters were focused on the economy, corruption and other domestic issues like air quality. Before the voting, only 23 percent of voters said that international security was the most important issue to them.

Mr. Moon, a center-left human rights lawyer who will take office as soon as this week following the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye in a corruption scandal, is a dove inclined to start negotiations with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. His candidacy was most likely bolstered by President Trumps tough talk against the North Korean regime, which is widely seen here as dangerous bluster.

South Korean equanimity toward the Norths threats surprises Westerners, but the South Koreans have lived for decades with Pyongyangs provocations and, more recently, the nuclear program. Young South Koreans increasingly consider the North Korean menace a fact of life. South Koreas vulnerability to a devastating attack from the North  Seouls northernmost suburbs begin just 20 miles from the demilitarized zone  adds to the sense here that the South should do everything it can to avoid war.

An overture from the incoming Moon administration to start talks with Pyongyang should be made with caution. Engagement with North Korea has a mixed, if not poor, record, and new talks would be more effective if started from a position of strength. It is vital that Mr. Moon pursue policies to decrease his countrys vulnerability to attack, while dangling the possibility of talks. Beijing and Washington are key to any deal with North Korea, but Seoul can do a lot on its own.
By early 1967, American and allied forces appeared stuck in the morass of Vietnam. Publicly, military commanders talked about progress; off the record, Army officers told journalists that they werent anywhere near the mopping up stage. Moreover, the press increasingly noted Lyndon B. Johnsons own frustrations. One report even suggested that the president was tormented by the slow progress of the war effort.

Ever an eye on domestic political trends, the president responded that spring by starting what would become a yearlong campaign to not only sell his Southeast Asia policy, but also disprove accusations of a stalemated war in Vietnam. Johnson began this publicity drive in April by bringing the head of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, to report on the wars progress. It was the first time in American history a president had called back a wartime field commander to testify on the administrations behalf.

At the time, Westmoreland seemed the embodiment of post-World War II American military power. In naming Westmoreland its 1965 Man of the Year, Time magazine called the four-star general a jut-jawed six-footer and a straightforward, determined man. Westmoreland, already a veteran of two wars before arriving in Vietnam, had led the famed 101st Airborne Division and had served as West Points superintendent. In inheriting the multiple roles of a politically sensitive command in Vietnam, Time quipped, Westmoreland wore more hats than Hedda Hopper.

In 1965, however, Westmoreland had only one strategic goal in mind  arrest the losing trend. By most accounts, South Vietnam teetered on the verge of collapse. Hanoi was sending full infantry regiments along the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail into South Vietnam. Acts of terrorism targeted local officials. The South Vietnamese Army (officially known as the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or A.R.V.N.) appeared incapable of keeping pace with the escalating levels of violence.
The Confederate-flag-waving white supremacist who murdered nine African-Americans in a Charleston, S.C., church two years ago made it impossible to evade the fact that the banner  and Confederate ideology generally  had been a rallying point for white supremacy and racial terrorism for more than 100 years.

That tragedy brought fresh urgency to a reappraisal of public monuments that was underway in many Southern communities, including New Orleans, whose mayor announced within days of the massacre that he planned to relocate four Confederate memorials that were built to celebrate a time when black citizens were not fully human in the eyes of the state.

The city plans to place the memorials in storage until an appropriate setting can be found, perhaps a museum that could put them in historical context. But the unfolding backlash  including threats against crane operators and demonstrations  shows the extent to which many citizens are hesitant to part with even the most abhorrent artifacts of history and how little many of them know about when and why these memorials were built.

The first memorial was relocated last month by workers who wore masks and bulletproof vests because they feared for their lives. It is called the Battle of Liberty Place Monument and was erected in 1891 to commemorate the uprising of the Crescent City White League, white supremacists who opposed Reconstruction and the integrated police force that resulted. Decades later, in 1932, a plaque was added expressly articulating its white supremacist origins.
DAVID SANDMAN, NEW YORK

The writer is president and chief executive of the New York State Health Foundation.

To the Editor:

It is noteworthy that the locales cited in this article (Kansas, Utah, Alabama) vote heavily Republican. The practice of shaming children in front of their peers by highlighting the poverty of their families is an especially ugly item out of the right-wing playbook: Teach children early in life that being poor is disgraceful, thereby pitting those who dont have much against others who have nothing. How convenient for the small number of people and corporations that hold a wildly disproportionate share of the wealth and the politicians who serve their interests.

JENNY SKOBLE

HALF MOON BAY, CALIF.

To the Editor:

Kids are getting shamed because they cant afford school lunches. Kids are losing library privileges because they cant afford fines for overdue books (Libraries Are Fining Children Who Cant Afford to Be Without Books, news article, May 5). I understand that these issues are complicated and that its essential to teach responsibility. But it still seems cruelly shortsighted to deny kids food and books. Where are our priorities?

CAROL WESTON, NEW YORK

To the Editor:

As a school social worker, I have seen the domino effect of giving children cheese sandwiches when they cannot pay for the school lunch. The effects begin in the lunchroom but are felt throughout the school. Children become not only hurt and ashamed, but also angry or shut down. Some children toss their sandwiches aside in protest, then become hungry and develop headaches and stomachaches. Children become disrespectful toward their teachers and argue with their friends. And perhaps most important of all, children become inattentive in class and unavailable for learning.

But individuals within schools can counter lunch shaming. Our school principal with a heart of gold has found a temporary solution. He has a refrigerator in his office where he keeps slices of ham and turkey, bags of chips and yogurts. The students excitedly come in with their plain cheese sandwiches and turn them into deli delights. What a difference one slice of ham can make!
President Trump faces a choice that will echo across his presidency and beyond: whether to remain in the Paris climate agreement. Although most Americans, his own secretaries of state and energy, and heads of state from around the globe are urging the president to stay, he remains undecided. Let us hope that a newly invigorated pro-Paris campaign by many of Americas top C.E.O.s will sway him.

In a recent barrage of public letters and full-page ads, Fortune 100 companies are voicing strong support for remaining in the Paris accord. The breadth of this coalition is remarkable: industries from oil and gas to retail, mining, utilities, agriculture, chemicals, information and automotive. This is as close as big business gets to a consensus position.

American business leaders understand that remaining in the agreement would spur new investment, strengthen American competitiveness, create jobs, ensure American access to global markets and help reduce future business risks associated with the changing climate. Leaving Paris would yield the opposite.

Our companies are best served by a stable and predictable international framework that commits all nations to climate-change mitigation. The Paris agreement overcame one of the longest-standing hurdles to international climate negotiations: getting the developing world, including China and India, onboard. If America backs away now, decades of diplomatic progress could be jeopardized.
I moved to a maternity home, took parenting classes and got tutoring to complete high school. I graduated with my class three weeks after my son was born, and I began taking courses at a community college. When my sister, who was caring for my son, moved out of state, I left school to work full time. I eventually worked my way up the ladder at an investment firm, married and had two more children. While my time as a single parent was not easy, we got by, and today my life is nothing like the one predicted by that chorus of pessimism 29 years ago.

Obviously, not every woman will be as lucky as I was, with a strong network of family and friends to help. But thats why we as a society have an obligation to help them. For the past 17 years, I have worked at organizations that do just that.

Many of the women I have encountered believe they have no choice but to abort: Many tell me they would rather give birth, but they believe the complex, difficult circumstances of their lives  like joblessness, substance abuse, criminal records or homelessness  leave them with no real way to raise a new child. They want an abortion, as the anti-abortion writer Frederica Mathewes-Green says, as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg.

Abortion addresses only a symptom of these womens problems. An abortion clinic, for a few hundred dollars, ends the life of a child whose upbringing may strain her mothers resources. Full stop. The woman will leave the clinic still burdened by every single problem she came in with.

There are better solutions; they just require more creativity and more effort. Organizations like mine can help women find jobs, enter substance abuse treatment programs, regain their children from foster care, find housing, pay utility bills and sign up for government benefits.

Such efforts require a community commitment. We recently had a client whose husband needed a car to get to work. A donor sold her car at a steep discount, another donor purchased it for the client, and a third paid for six months of car insurance.

We should all agree, whether anti-abortion or pro-choice, that abortion is not a solution to the host of systemic injustices driving poverty. Progressives cannot continue to claim every effort to reduce abortion is anti-woman and will lead to ruin and disaster. And conservatives must do more than tell abortion-seeking women to go in peace and keep warm and well fed; they must sacrifice their time and treasure to serve women in need.

We cannot allow the real, complex needs of abortion-seeking women to get lost in todays polarized abortion debate. Our society must not settle for leaving women who face unplanned pregnancy no hope but abortion.
KABUL, Afghanistan  For the last month, American and Afghan forces have been engaged in a new offensive against an Islamic State offshoot based in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. The Trump administration dropped what it boasted was the biggest non-nuclear bomb on the groups hide-outs on April 13; a militant leader and two American soldiers have been killed in the operations. An American military spokesman claimed there was a very good chance that the group would be eradicated in Afghanistan in 2017.



But the United States obsession with the Islamic State in Khorasan  a minor group in Afghanistan  distracts attention from a more urgent task: negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban, which controls close to half of Afghanistan.

Two years after its emergence in Afghanistan, the Islamic State affiliate is still struggling to consolidate its organizational capacity. The few major attacks it has claimed were mostly sectarian and aimed at soft targets: two gatherings of Shiites and a hospital in Kabul, and, in Pakistan, a Sufi shrine in Sindh and a hospital in Quetta.

How much planning and organization for these attacks came from the groups command based in a mountainous valley in eastern Afghanistan is not clear. In a region with a plethora of small militant outfits constantly rebranding themselves, claims of such attacks in distant cities cannot be taken at face value. There is no evidence of the groups having established an operational presence in Quetta and Sindh.
NEW HAVEN, Conn.  Two weeks ago, Yale graduate student teachers began a hunger strike to pressure the school to negotiate with their union. Eight committed to fasting, planning only to stop if a doctor says their health is at risk of permanent damage. If a student has to stop fasting, another union member takes his or her spot. Four of the students have had nothing but water for 14 days.

The measures these graduate student teachers are taking are dramatic. But their cause  a fight for decent, secure wages and comprehensive benefits  has implications for the entire labor market.

Like many colleges and universities, Yale relies on graduate students and other low-paid contingent faculty members, like adjunct professors, to teach much of its coursework. Contingent faculty members make up about 70 percent of the teachers in higher education in the United States. They work entirely on contract. They are poorly paid and lack access to affordable health care, job security or a voice in their working conditions.

It is not shocking that these teachers have turned to unions. What is shocking is how a lot of universities have responded.
On todays episode:

 Mr. Apuzzo discusses two new accounts of when Donald J. Trump was warned about Mr. Flynn  and did not act.

 Dozens of girls in Nigeria have been released after three years in captivity. What is life like under Boko Haram? We talk with Dionne Searcey, the West Africa bureau chief for The Times.

Background reading:

 Ms. Yates tells senators she warned Mr. Trump about Mr. Flynn.

 Ms. Searcey writes about the torment facing parents of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram as they wait to find out if their daughters are among those set free.

Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if that is not enough, we can even text.

How do I listen?

If you dont see an audio player on this page or to subscribe to The Daily for free, follow the instructions below.
HAVANA  In Havanas Parque Central, shady stone benches and graceful palm trees beckon to mojito-sipping tourists and locals gathering to shoot the breeze.

The gathering spot, in the center of town, is surrounded by horse-drawn carriages and long lines of colorful finned-and-chromed 1950s cars. But more utilitarian vehicles have recently begun circling the square: construction equipment transforming old buildings into luxury hotels.

As Cubas relationship with the United States grows warmer, real estate redevelopment is heating up, too.

So many old buildings sat vacant for years with signs saying they were soon to be converted into hotels, said Belmont Freeman, a Cuban-American architect based in New York. Now I actually see cranes on construction sites. Cuban bureaucracy is easing up, and foreign hotel developers are finally finding ways to move these projects forward.
After signing a 10-year lease, Antiquarium, a gallery established in 1979, has nestled its antiquities from Egypt and the Near East into a 1,400-square-foot space on the top floor of this seven-story Upper East Side commercial building, anchored by a Michael Kors shop. For 31 years, the gallery occupied a more visible ground-floor space on Madison Avenue between East 74th and 75th Streets.

Tenant: Antiquarium Fine Ancient Arts Gallery

Landlord: Campustar (U.S.A.)

Brokers: Gary Dana, Rick Dana and Chris Dana, Dana Commercial Team at Douglas Elliman

FOR LEASE

$231/SQ. FT. BLENDED RENT

$3.6 million approximate annual rent

770 Lexington Avenue (at East 60th Street)

Manhattan

A 10- to 12-year lease is available for 15,405 square feet of vacant, white box retail space on three floors  the ground floor, second floor and usable lower level  of this 20-story 1960 office building, across from Bloomingdales in the Midtown Plaza District. The space, which is dividable, has new double-height glass storefronts and until last year was occupied by a Diesel clothing shop.

Owner: 770 Lexington Avenue L.L.C.

Brokers: John Brod and Mark Tergesen, ABS Partners Real Estate
We finally know the parentage of the largest known dinosaur eggs, Dr. Zelenitsky said. The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

These kinds of large dinosaur eggs are known as Macroelongatoolithus eggs, and have also been found in North America. They are typically arranged in a large ring with up to about 30 eggs in a nest. But only the clutch with Baby Louie offered a skeleton that was closely associated with the eggs. It provided the best clues for figuring out what creatures could produce such massive eggs.

Entombed in a large block of rocks, Baby Louie was collected sometime between December 1992 and early 1993 in China. Charlie Magovern, a fossil dealer, came into possession of the rocks and unexpectedly discovered the fossilized fetus bones. In 1996, Baby Louie was featured on the cover of National Geographic, and was named after the photographer for the feature article, Louie Psihoyos.

Baby Louie remained with the fossil dealers until 2001, when they sold it to the Indianapolis Childrens Museum. The museum put the fossil on display for about 12 years. During this time an exciting discovery occurred in China: The first giant oviraptorosaur fossil was unearthed in 2007.
Amir Moravej, an Iranian computer engineer in Montreal, quietly worked last year on building software to help people navigate the Canadian immigration system. He saw it as a way for others to avoid the same immigration travails he suffered a few years earlier.

Then came the American presidential election. Trump accelerated everything, said Mr. Moravej, 33, the chief executive of a software start-up named Botler AI.

With immigration taking center stage in American politics and elsewhere, Botler AI began putting more resources into building a chatbot tailored to one of Canadas immigration programs. On Wednesday, the start-up plans to announce that Yoshua Bengio, a research pioneer in artificial intelligence and director of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, is joining the fledgling company as a strategy adviser.

Mr. Bengio is adding his intellectual firepower to ease the way for what could become a migration of high-tech talent. Canada stands to benefit from the American political climate and the Trump administrations efforts  stalled in court so far  to sharply restrict travel into the United States from six predominantly Muslim nations. After Mr. Trumps election, applications to Canada for student and temporary visas surged.
SAN FRANCISCO  With an Amazon Echo speaker today, you can talk to Alexa, the virtual assistant that powers the device, and ask it to play songs, order diapers and even turn on your air-conditioner.

Now Amazon wants you to do more than talk to Alexa. It also wants you to call friends and family through Echo speakers  and it is even putting a screen on one of the devices so you can see them while talking to them.

On Tuesday, Amazon introduced the latest model in its expanding family of Echo products, the Echo Show, which has a seven-inch touch screen and a video camera that let people place video or voice calls to each other over a Wi-Fi connection. In a move that could have broader impact, Amazon also said it would release a free software update this week that brings voice-calling features to existing Echo devices.

The changes, which thrust Amazon into the crowded landscape of internet communications tools like Microsofts Skype, Apples FaceTime and Googles Hangouts, underline the companys ambitions for the Echo. In a way, the new communications functions turn the speaker into something like a traditional landline telephone, which many people have given up in favor of smartphones. Rather than pulling a phone out of their pockets, people will be able to simply command their Echoes to call someone.
In the box that opens, select Internet Explorer from the drop-down menu. Under Select Items to Import, area, turn on the checkboxes next to Favorites/Bookmarks. You can also choose to import your browsing history file from Internet Explorer, so you can quickly return to previously viewed pages in Chrome. Click the Import button when you are finished.

If you plan to use the Chrome browser on multiple computers or devices, there is an option to sync bookmarks, history, stored passwords and other settings to all your hardware. To get everything in sync, you need a Google Account; if you do not already have one from using Gmail or YouTube, you can sign up at accounts.google.com/signup.

Once you have a Google Account name and password, use it to sign into Chrome by selecting your name or profile icon in the top-right corner of the window and clicking the sign-in button. To adjust what data is synced with Chrome, go to the Menu button, select Settings, then pick Advanced Sync Settings.
Its political theater  literally.

For one night at the Town Hall, the Public Theater and the National Theater in London will stage a reading of the documentary play All the Presidents Men? Scenes From the Senate Confirmation Hearings of President Trumps Cabinet. The production, at 8 p.m. on Thursday, comprises only verbatim testimony from Senate hearings.

Sometimes the most powerful theater is reality, distilled, Oskar Eustis, the Publics artistic director, said in a statement. This is a real-time portrait of the American government, and it is as riveting as the headlines and far, far more revelatory. Its like reading the news lit by lightning.

Among the cast members are celebrities like Alec Baldwin, who will play Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Senator John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, and the Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn, who has been cast as Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts. David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, will play Senator Al Franken, the Democrat from Minnesota.
The determinedly perky young black woman in the SupremacyLand carnival booth was teaching visitors how to make a noose. Sheets of illustrated instructions were fanned out in front of her, with a length of string for each person to practice on  white, with red and blue tips. When a group walked away after their lesson, mini-nooses in hand, she would replenish the supply.

It was during one of those lulls, as she straightened up, with no crowd waiting, that I heard her singing Strange Fruit, almost under her breath. The melody of that mournful song, an anti-lynching protest, evaporated into the noise of the fair.

An immersive spectacle that sprawls over three hours and several spaces at 3LD Art & Technology Center, James Scruggss 3/Fifths doesnt have many moments that pierce the heart like that one. But this relentlessly provocative, intricately imagined satire does offer plenty to shock and horrify, and at least as much to make you think.
If it becomes law, the American Health Care Act will have the biggest effects on people who buy their own insurance or get coverage through Medicaid. But it also means changes for the far larger employer health system.

About half of all Americans get health coverage through work. The bill would make it easier for employers to increase the amount that employees could be asked to pay in premiums, or to stop offering coverage entirely. It also has the potential to weaken rules against capping workers benefits or limiting how much employees can be asked to pay in deductibles or co-payments.

Whether those changes happen depends on how the Trump administration, states and employers act. The possible effects on the employer health system got little attention during congressional debate.

The employer health benefit system existed long before the Affordable Care Act and was little changed by that law, which focused on expanding coverage for people who did not get their insurance from work. But Obamacare did expand some consumer protections for employer coverage. It also included a controversial employer mandate, which required large employers to offer affordable, comprehensive coverage to their workers or face a fine.
President Trump dismissed the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, on Tuesday afternoon on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary.

Mr. Comey led the bureau as it undertook the task of investigating the campaigns of both major party nominees for president of the United States. The Clinton campaign was investigated for the candidates use of a private email server, and the Trump campaign was investigated over possible ties to Russia.

Mr. Comey, appointed director in 2013 by President Obama, publicly commented on the Clinton investigation during the campaign but did not acknowledge the investigation into Mr. Trumps campaign until after the election was over.

Here is a collection of stories in The New York Times about Mr. Comeys tumultuous time at the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  Across the country, someone dies of an opioid overdose every 24 minutes. In Massachusetts, the death toll is five people a day.

In the face of this epidemic, Cambridge could become the first city to take a step that until recently might have seemed unthinkable: It might place lockboxes on street corners to give the public easy access to Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, a medication that can rapidly revive people who have overdosed.

The idea is in its earliest stages, and any concrete plan for the city, and residents, to consider seems at least a year away. But several days ago, the city police and area doctors who support the boxes conducted an experiment here, asking people who walked by if they would help a stranger who had overdosed.

The officials placed a dummy on the ground on a brick plaza along busy Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square, between two of this citys most drug-infested areas. Passers-by were asked to pretend they had just found an unconscious person. They were handed a cellphone, which was connected to someone acting as an emergency dispatcher.
Republicans seized on Mr. Comeys testimony last week as evidence that Ms. Abedin or Mr. Weiner should have been charged for how they handled classified information. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas brought up Mr. Comeys comments on Monday in another hearing, asking James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, what he would have done if he learned that an employee had forwarded hundreds or even thousands of emails to a nongovernment individual, their spouse, on a nongovernment computer.

Mr. Clapper responded that if enough evidence were found, his office would have followed procedure and alerted the Justice Department that a crime was likely committed.

Mr. Comey said at last weeks hearing that the F.B.I. did not believe it had enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime in connection with Mrs. Clintons email server because it could not prove Mrs. Clinton or her aides intentionally broke the law.

We could not prove that the people sending the information, either in that case or in the other case with the secretary, were acting with any kind of the mens rea  with any kind of criminal intent, Mr. Comey said.

The New York Times noted in its coverage of Mr. Comeys testimony on Wednesday that he had mischaracterized what the bureau had uncovered. A report late Monday in ProPublica saying that the F.B.I. was struggling to determine how to clarify Mr. Comeys testimony set off a new round of criticism of his comments.

The investigation into Mrs. Clintons use of a private email server was a political liability throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. The case dragged on for months, contributed to Republican criticism that Mrs. Clinton was hiding something and created the spectacle of the Democratic front-runner being interviewed for hours at F.B.I. Headquarters last July.
At 7:57 p.m., F.B.I. employees received an email from Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially announcing their new boss. The president of the United States has exercised his lawful authority to remove James B. Comey Jr. as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the email read.

By operation of law and effective immediately, deputy director Andrew McCabe assumed the position of acting director of the F.B.I. As you well know, the F.B.I. is an exceptional law enforcement and intelligence agency. It is made so by you, the devoted men and women who work tirelessly to keep our country safe. Thank you for your steadfast dedication and commitment during this time of transition.

 Rebecca R. Ruiz

Why now?

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said Mr. Trump had called him earlier on Tuesday to inform him of the firing.

I simply said to him, Mr. President, in all due respect, youre making a very big mistake, Mr. Schumer recalled at a hastily arranged news conference Tuesday evening. And he didnt really answer.

Mr. Schumer said the first question the administration must answer was, Why now?

This investigation must be run as far away as possible from this White House and as far away as possible from anyone President Trump has appointed, he said of the inquiry into ties between Mr. Trumps associates and Russia.

He called for a special prosecutor to investigate those ties and said that firing Mr. Comey continued a deeply troubling pattern from the administration, citing the removals of Sally Q. Yates as acting attorney general and Preet Bharara as United States attorney in Manhattan.

 Matt Flegenheimer

Trump accuses Schumer of a double standard

Mr. Trump took to Twitter late Tuesday to respond to Mr. Schumers criticism, citing a comment Mr. Schumer made in early November, shortly after the F.B.I. briefly reopened its inquiry into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server.
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, refused to re-litigate the delay during his daily briefing on Monday. But here are the various explanations he and other administration officials have given in the past.

Feb. 14

A day after Mr. Flynn was fired, Mr. Spicer spent most of his daily briefing responding to questions about the 18-day delay. He described the warning from Ms. Yates as a heads-up and repeatedly said that the information she provided had been quickly relayed to the president.

Immediately after the Department of Justice notified the White House counsel of the situation, the White House counsel briefed the president and a small group of his senior advisers.

But Mr. Spicer added that Mr. Trump had doubts, believing Mr. Flynn had done nothing wrong and ordering a review of the situation.

He instinctively thought that General Flynn did not do anything wrong, and the White House counsels review corroborated that. The president asked them to commit a review of whether there was a legal situation there. That was immediately determined there wasnt.

On the question of why the president had not acted sooner, Mr. Spicer suggested that doing so would have violated Mr. Flynns right to due process.

Feb. 16

Two days after Mr. Spicers comments, the president was asked about Mr. Flynn during a 77-minute news conference in the East Room of the White House. Mr. Trump called Mr. Flynn a fine person but said he was not happy with the way his former national security adviser had provided information to Vice President Mike Pence.

You know, he was just doing his job. The thing is, he didnt tell our vice president properly, and then he said he didnt remember. So either way, it wasnt very satisfactory to me.

The president did not directly address the delay in firing Mr. Flynn, and instead repeatedly mentioned his concerns about the leaking of classified information to reporters in the room.

The first thing I thought of when I heard about it is, how does the press get this information thats classified? How do they do it? You know why? Because its an illegal process, and the press should be ashamed of themselves.

Feb. 19

Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, was asked directly about the 18-day delay on NBCs Meet the Press that Sunday. He described the message from Ms. Yates as a heads-up about Mr. Flynn that something wasnt adding up with his story.

The fact was, it turned more or less into a conversation about whether or not he was being honest with us and the vice president. And the president asked for his resignation, and we got it.

Mr. Priebus described that conversation inside the West Wing as a kind of slow-motion evolution in the thinking of White House officials, who waited for a review of the situation from the counsels office.

And then, some time after that, the legal department came back and said that they didnt see anything wrong with what was actually said. But then we started thinking about whether or not Michael Flynn was being straight with us. And thats when we started asking a lot of questions and sort of deposing Michael Flynn, and figuring out what he knew or what he didnt know.

March 6

By early March, the explanation from the White House had become shorter. In a daily briefing, Mr. Spicer responded to a question about aides misleading the president by noting that Mr. Flynn had not been straight with the vice president.

He asked him to resign. I think the president dealt with it.

March 10

Four days later, Mr. Spicer answered a question about ethical standards at the White House by referring again to the presidents decision to fire Mr. Flynn. He again declined to mention the 18-day delay between when the president was informed of Mr. Flynns deceptions and the decision to let him go.
In a cabinet of outsiders, many eager to deconstruct the departments they oversee, Dr. Shulkin wants to rebuild his. And after Mr. Trump was battered by divisive partisan confirmations of his appointees, the mild-mannered defender of government health care was confirmed by the Senate, 100 to zero.

We havent passed a kidney stone unanimously in years, much less a cabinet secretary, said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. (Mr. Trump is so pleased with the distinction that he has taken to calling Dr. Shulkin the 100 to nothing man, he said during an appearance at the department last month.) Even the departments most consistent critics have quieted their sirens, at least for now.

Constant Tinkering

Aware of that unlikely opening and uncertain how long it could last, Dr. Shulkin has already made a number of bold moves. In April, the agency began publicly posting wait times and quality data for every veterans hospital and clinic  sunlight he sees as crucial for accountability. In June, it plans to begin offering free mental health care to veterans long barred from its hospitals because of less-than-honorable discharges, including thousands with post-traumatic stress disorder.

That move really told me what kind of man he is, said Representative Phil Roe, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. No one told him he had to do it. He saw a problem, said we are going to do it, and he got it done.

That style of decisive action has defined Dr. Shulkins rise through some of the countrys largest private medical systems, friends and former colleagues say. But he now faces a bureaucracy far larger and more complicated than any he has encountered.

Beginning at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he was drawn into the obscure field of health care management. He became a tireless student of efficiency. Dr. Shulkin can tell you, for instance, that postabdominal surgery infections add on average $12,542 to the cost of patient care, and that some surgical mistakes occur more frequently in the first part of the academic year.

By standardizing best practices, Dr. Shulkin believed, he could save money and patients. Before long, he was one of the high priests of patient-centered care, said Stanley Brezenoff, a longtime health care executive who is the interim chief executive of New York Citys health system. Dr. Shulkin pushed each system he worked in to train its focus on quality. Financial savings, he argued, would naturally follow.
 Heather Hurlburt in New York Magazine:

The National Front is not going away, and neither are the issues that fueled its rise.

Heather Hurlburt shares Noah Millmans view that Mr. Macrons victory is less than decisive. Liberals, she writes, should not celebrate the election results for too long. Mr. Macrons party does not have the candidates or nationwide infrastructure of the National Front, and his government is built on a shaky coalition that should make Macron fans sober up fast Monday morning. Read more 

_____

 John Nichols in The Nation:

This election was not really about Macron. It was about the threat posed by a far-right fantasy that never ends well.

This is about as full-throated a defense of centrism as youll get in the pages of The Nation. Although he finds it profoundly frustrating that Frances left-wing parties couldnt put up a candidate for the countrys runoff election, John Nichols is nonetheless optimistic about Mr. Macrons victory.

Unlike Ms. Hurlburt and Mr. Millman, Mr. Nichols sees the broad coalition of voters who supported the centrist candidate as a rejection of the populism that ushered in Brexit and the Trump presidency. Moreover, the American left, he notes, should be particularly happy that France did not vote for someone who would work as Trumps ally or enabler. Read more 

_____
WASHINGTON  White House officials on Tuesday defended President Trumps delay in firing his first national security adviser by accusing the veteran prosecutor who warned them about his misdeeds of being a partisan who opposed the presidents agenda.

Sally Q. Yates, whom Mr. Trump chose to serve as acting attorney general at the beginning of his administration, testified to a Senate subcommittee on Monday that she had warned the White House in January that Michael T. Flynn, the national security adviser, had lied about his contacts with Russian officials and was vulnerable to blackmail by the Russian government.

Mr. Trump waited 18 days after that warning to fire Mr. Flynn, and did so only after news reports revealed publicly that Mr. Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Russian officials.

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that top officials, including the president, had dismissed the warnings from Ms. Yates because she was a top Justice Department official in the Obama administration and, Mr. Spicer insisted, a supporter of Hillary Clinton.
United States representatives often hold town halls with constituents in their home districts during a congressional recess. But this week, with the House on a break, few of the 217 Republicans who approved legislation to repeal and replace critical parts of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, chose to defend their votes at public meetings.

Those who did were, in several cases, greeted by shouts and criticism.

The representatives who have not hosted gatherings in their home districts have not been immune from backlash, however. Protesters have rallied outside congressional offices and confronted representatives at events. Liberal critics say they intend to keep the heat on as the bill is debated in the Senate.

A party that controls the House avoiding constituents upset about health care legislation? You might have heard this one before.

The Republicans current situation is similar to that of Democrats in 2009 and 2010, when they controlled the House and faced opposition to health care legislation. Then, like now, the few town halls that were held were marked by voter rage.
WASHINGTON  In dramatically casting aside James B. Comey, President Trump fired the man who may have helped make him president  and the man who potentially most threatened the future of his presidency.

Not since Watergate has a president dismissed the person leading an investigation bearing on him, and Mr. Trumps decision late Tuesday afternoon drew instant comparisons to the Saturday Night Massacre in October 1973, when President Richard M. Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor looking into the so-called third-rate burglary that would eventually bring Nixon down.

In his letter firing Mr. Comey, the F.B.I. director, Mr. Trump made a point of noting that Mr. Comey had three times told the president that he was not under investigation, Mr. Trumps way of pre-emptively denying that his action was self-interested. But in fact, he had plenty at stake, given that Mr. Comey had said publicly that the bureau was investigating Russias meddling in last years presidential election and whether any associates of Mr. Trumps campaign were coordinating with Moscow.
Yesterday, the president authorized the Department of Defense to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, she said, using the name of the umbrella group for Arab and Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Ms. White added that the United States would take steps to ensure that Turkey did not face additional security risks.

There was no immediate comment from the Turkish government, which considers the Kurdish force to be terrorists, and it remains to be seen whether the assurances the Trump administration is offering the Turks will be sufficient to ease the concerns of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump in Washington next week.

The weapons that the United States will provide Kurdish and Arab fighters in the anti-Islamic State coalition include heavy machine guns, mortars, anti-tank weapons, armored cars and engineering equipment.

American military officials have said that weapons are needed to help the lightly armed Kurdish and Arab fighters cope with urban warfare in Raqqa against unyielding Islamic State militants who are equipped with car bombs and even some tanks they captured from the Syrian Army.

To address Turkish concerns that the arms might be used against their forces one day, the supply of weapons and ammunition will be limited to what the Kurds and Arab fighters need to carry out specific operations, American officials said.

After the battle is over, an effort will be made to retrieve any excess equipment. American advisers will also monitor the weapons that are provided to the Kurds and will cut off the supply if they discover that they are being smuggled for use elsewhere or misused, United States officials said.
HOUSTON  When Texas Republicans passed and Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law banning so-called sanctuary cities and threatening officials with jail time and removal from office if they did not comply, they did more than enact a tough law that had failed in previous legislative sessions.

They also signaled that Texas strongly conservative Legislature was moving even further right, that the states historical relationship with its Latino residents was in flux and that Donald J. Trumps presidential campaign had emboldened conservatives in Republican states like this in ways that are just beginning to play out.

In a state with the nations second-largest Hispanic population, the new law threatens sheriffs, police chiefs and other officials with jail time and removal from office if they do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. And it allows police officers  even those on college campuses  to question the immigration status of a person they have arrested or detained, including during routine traffic stops.

Its what the people have been wanting for years, said State Representative Jonathan Stickland, who is a member of the Texas Freedom Caucus, which was instrumental in toughening the bill, and who is a Republican known for carrying his concealed handgun inside the Capitol in Austin. But the biggest thing is that Republicans in name only  moderate Republicans  are being exposed. They are the ones who have been holding up a lot of this stuff in Texas, and now with Trump kind of breathing down their neck, theyve had to take a side.
New details in the fatal shooting last week of a black Texas teenager offer fresh insight into how the encounter unfolded and escalated, culminating with a police officer firing at a car full of teenagers.

An arrest warrant signed on Friday for the officer, Roy D. Oliver II, 37, who is accused of murdering 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, describes how another officer at the scene took aggressive action in the moments leading up to the shooting, using his weapon to smash a passenger window of the car.

Officer Oliver, who is white, and the other officer, identified as T. Gross, both of the Police Department in Balch Springs, Tex., a Dallas suburb, had been dispatched in response to a complaint of underage drinking late on Saturday, April 29, according to the arrest warrant.

Image Roy D. Oliver II Credit... Parker County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press

The officers were inside a home speaking to the host of a house party when they heard a noise consistent with shots being fired, according to the warrant, which notes that the noise was picked up by a body camera.
LONDON  Almost two shiploads of migrants, 245 in total, were feared dead in wrecks in the Mediterranean Sea, United Nations officials said on Tuesday. The death toll represents a major increase in an already grim tally this year.

More than 1,300 people are now estimated to have died so far this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, most while trying to reach Italy from Libya or Tunisia, according to the International Organization for Migration. Last year, 5,098 people died that way.

The two recent shipwrecks occurred on Friday and Sunday, though details about the extent of the loss of life were not released until Tuesday.

On Friday night, a rubber dinghy sank after several hours at sea, with 132 people on board. Of those, 50 were rescued and taken on Sunday to Pozzallo, Sicily; an additional 82 were believed to have died.
LILONGWE, Malawi  The member of the Navy SEALs who was killed last week in Somalia was moving alongside  not behind, as the Pentagon initially said  Somali security forces approaching a complex inhabited by Shabab militants when the insurgents opened fire, American military officials said on Tuesday.

The SEAL member, Kyle Milliken, a 38-year-old senior chief petty officer, died on Friday during the mission in support of Somali Army forces fighting the Shabab, the Islamist militant group. Two other Americans, including a Somali-American interpreter, were wounded when they came under fire during the mission around 40 miles west of Mogadishu, the capital.

The Navy SEAL members were in Somalia for an advise, assist and accompany mission, and Defense Department officials said that Somali forces were to have led the operation, with American forces hanging back.

After the death of Chief Milliken, a member of SEAL Team 6, Pentagon officials had first said that American advisers had stayed behind while Somalis carried out the raid.
The State Department has long advised Americans to avoid North Korea, but every year hundreds visit. Not all of those get to leave.

The announcement Sunday that a man identified as Kim Hak-song had been arrested brings the total to four American citizens now held in North Korea. At a time when tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been elevated by North Koreas missile launches, a potential nuclear test and threats of armed conflict, the detentions add another complication.

So why do any Americans visit North Korea?

Most are tourists intrigued by a destination far different from the usual itineraries. They are willing to overlook warnings that have grown increasingly strident.

The State Department updated its travel advisory on Tuesday with a more forceful admonishment for American citizens to avoid North Korea, replacing the language strongly urges with strongly warns. The danger, the advisory continues, is the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Koreas system of law enforcement.
SHANGHAI  Eleven schoolchildren and their driver were killed in eastern China on Tuesday after their bus crashed in a tunnel and burst into flames, an accident that highlighted persistent road safety problems in the country.

The crash occurred in Weihai, a city in Shandong Province. The city government said that the bus had been rented by the Zhongshi International School, which is attended by many Koreans in the area. The bus was on its way to the school when the accident happened.

A teacher was also severely injured, the city government said, and the circumstances of the crash were being investigated.

An employee at the South Korean Consulate in Qingdao, a major port city in Shandong, who declined to give her name, said that the children were ages 3 to 7.
With Mr. Moons election, South Korea and China are now fundamentally on the same page about how to deal with the North: Do what it takes to maintain the status quo and avoid any situation that could result in hostilities that would throw East Asia into chaos, and perhaps set off a financial panic. The Chinese, while promising some tougher sanctions against the North, hope to freeze the North Korean nuclear and missile arsenals where they are and channel Mr. Trump into a new set of negotiations that would probably take years.

So far, Mr. Tillerson and Mr. Trump have been all over the map about what they would require to open those talks. On a visit to Seoul during the presidential campaign, Mr. Tillerson insisted that the North would first have to give up its entire arsenal before talks began  even though dismantling that arsenal is the ultimate goal of those negotiations. He modified that view at the United Nations, suggesting that talks were possible once the North began moving toward disarmament, though he did not say how far. Then Mr. Trump said he would be honored to meet Mr. Kim, under the right conditions, which he did not define.

If this was meant to confuse allies and adversaries alike, it worked. No one seems clear what the administrations conditions for talks are, and White House officials say they do not want to be too specific.

Mr. Moon, meanwhile, has long experience playing good cop to Washingtons bad cop. He was chief of staff to Roh Moo-hyun, his political mentor, whose approach to the North was viewed in Washington as just this side of capitulation. In fact, the move to lift the pressure on Banco Delta Asia, the small bank in Macau where Kim Jong-il, father of the current North Korean leader, kept the assets used to pay off the North Korean elite, came just months after the Norths first nuclear test, in 2006. And it occurred about the same time that North Korea was secretly helping the Syrians build a nuclear reactor, which the Israelis later destroyed in a surprise attack from the air.

During the campaign, Mr. Moon said sanctions had one goal: to bring the North Koreans back to the negotiating table. The Trump administration has said they have a different goal: to force the North to give up its entire arsenal. That is a significant difference.

Mr. Moon has many reasons to seek de-escalation, and his victory on Tuesday proved that his view is, for now, popular in the South. He fundamentally believes that the Sunshine Policy is the only option to avert a renewed conflict. But he also wants to end a Chinese-led boycott of some South Korean goods that was set off by the installation of the Thaad system, which Beijing says is aimed at countering its own nuclear arsenal.

So far, Mr. Moon has been careful not to threaten to dismantle the system  which the Pentagon rushed into preliminary operation last week ahead of the election  until he completes a review of the issue. He appears to be leaving himself some flexibility.

Mr. Trump has a little time to try to bridge this divide, but not much. Mr. Moon will be sworn in Wednesday. North Korea will then have to decide how it will respond  with an offer to talk, a missile launch or a sixth nuclear test.
SEOUL, South Korea  South Korea elected Moon Jae-in, a human rights lawyer who favors dialogue with North Korea, as president on Tuesday, returning the nations liberals to power after nearly a decade in the political wilderness and setting up a potential rift with the United States over the Norths nuclear weapons program.

His victory caps a remarkable national drama in which a corruption scandal, mass protests and impeachment forced a South Korean president from office for the first time in almost 60 years, leaving the conservative establishment in disarray and its former leader in jail.

Mr. Moon, 64, a son of North Korean refugees, faces the challenge of enacting changes to limit the power of big business and address the abuses uncovered in his predecessors downfall. He must also make good on his promise of a new approach to North Korea while balancing relations with the United States and China.

His election immediately scrambles the geopolitics over North Koreas nuclear arsenal. Even as the Trump administration urges the world to step up pressure on Pyongyang, it now faces the prospect of a critical ally  one with the most at stake in any conflict with the North  breaking ranks and adopting a more conciliatory approach.
Here is what we know about the election in South Korea, where voters were choosing a successor to former President Park Geun-hye, forced from office in a corruption scandal. Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday local time (7 a.m. Eastern time).

 Moon Jae-in, the candidate who favors dialogue with North Korea and was leading in the vote-counting by a comfortable margin three hours after polls closed, declared victory in a nationally televised speech. I will be a president for all the people, he said, vowing to work together with his political rivals.

 With 60 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Moon was in first place with 39.6 percent of the vote. Hong Joon-pyo, a conservative who wants to keep a tough stance against North Korea, had 26.2 percent. Ahn Cheol-soo, a centrist, had 21.3 percent.

 Mr. Hong said he was accepting the election results and would focus on rebuilding his party, in what the South Korean news media interpreted to be a concession to Mr. Moon. Mr. Ahn similarly said he was also humbly accepting the results, adding that he had failed to live up to his supporters expectations. Neither candidate explicitly conceded.
Soaring Vancouver real estate prices, health care, energy projects, pipelines, grizzly bears and  who else?  President Trump.

These are the issues voters are talking about as British Columbia holds its election for the provincial legislative assembly on Tuesday.

Bordered by the United States on two sides, British Columbia is home to Canadas fastest-growing economy and has its lowest unemployment rate. But much of that is potentially threatened by Mr. Trumps recently announced tariffs on lumber, which affect the provinces booming forestry industry. And the campaigning demonstrates how Canadas trade dispute with the United States is seeping into domestic politics.

The tight race, which analysts say is too close to call, is fueled by political polarization that often falls along urban-rural lines. The divide makes British Columbia perhaps the most American of Canadian provinces, experts say. Its blue state-red state all in one, said Hamish Telford, a political science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford.
Mr. Fry, who rose to fame in part through his portrayal of the outspoken 19th-century Irish writer Oscar Wilde, who had legal troubles of his own, declined to comment on the investigation, according to his representative, Christian Hodell.

Eoin Daly, a lecturer in law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, said Mr. Fry was never in any real danger of prosecution. He said the law was introduced in 2009 only because the countrys 1937 constitution required the country to have a blasphemy law, and an earlier one had been struck down in the courts.

Lawmakers did their best to make the 2009 law almost unenforceable, with broad exemptions to protect free speech, Mr. Daly said. There was a constitutional obligation to legislate this offense, but it was not against the constitution to create an offense that was of no use.

The Catholic Church has had profound cultural and political influence in Ireland, but adherence to its teachings has been waning in recent years. There are several continuing controversies in Ireland over the role of religion in public life, Mr. Daly noted, and Mr. Frys brush with the blasphemy law is probably the least urgent.

Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote in 2015. Since then, it has been locked in a tense debate over abortion, which was banned in almost all cases by a 1982 referendum. Activists say thousands of Irish women leave the country for abortions each year.

The country has also experienced a string of scandals related to the Catholic Churchs role in managing public services, including the discovery of a mass grave on the site of a former publicly financed home for unwed mothers run by a religious order, the Sisters of Bon Secours.

There has been a huge transformation of public opinion away from the orthodox Catholic positions over the last quarter of a century, but you still have significant church involvement in public services, especially education, Mr. Daly said. You could say the church has an outsize institutional role, considering the public opinion, values and beliefs in society.
MOSCOW  Russia rolled out a rather subdued version of its annual Victory Day parade on Tuesday, with President Vladimir V. Putin calling for international cooperation in fighting terrorism even though foreign leaders had mostly stayed away.

In his 17 years as the leader of Russia, Mr. Putin has gradually made Victory Day the most important holiday of the year, tying his presidency to the national unity, sacrifice and centralized authority required to defeat Nazi Germany.

The lessons of the past war call on us to be vigilant, and the Russian armed forces are ready to counter any potential aggression, Mr. Putin said, after some 10,000 troops paraded and 114 pieces of equipment  by official count  rumbled across the cobblestones of Red Square.

Despite Mr. Putins call for cooperation, the parade served as a reminder of just how isolated Russia has become, particularly in light of strained ties with the West over a variety of issues, including the 2014 crisis in Ukraine and accusations of election meddling.
RAMALLAH, West Bank  Truth in the Middle East often boils down to what side you are on. To Fadwa Barghouti, the video that Israeli officials released this week was clearly fake: the one the Israelis said showed her husband, Marwan, the leader of a Palestinian hunger strike, furtively snacking in solitary confinement.

Its created more support for Marwan, said Ms. Barghouti, 50, a lawyer and the now well-known public representative of the best-known Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails.

As Palestinian prisoners passed their 23rd day of a hunger strike  Israel says 880 prisoners are fasting, and the Palestinians say 1,500 are  Israeli officials repeated their claim that Mr. Barghouti had twice violated the strike, once with cookies, another time with a candy bar.

The clip is original, said Assaf Librati, a spokesman for the Israeli prison service, which oversees the 6,500 Palestinians in Israeli jails. We are willing to have it checked.
Online Casino Reports Cambodia Launched

Published May 5, 2017 by Mike P

Cambodian players now have their very own Online Casino Reports. This portal will publish all reviews, and guides directly in Cambodian (Khmer).

The globe-spanning Online Casino Reports (OCR) brand is one that is trusted by gamers and gamblers from more nations than a geography teacher could name. We at OCR are constantly seeking out new ways to make the gambling portal more helpful and more accessible for users.

In recent years, this has taken the form of OCR improving its accessibility from a language perspective. Today, OCR maintains numerous global websites where all of the content is directly written for and aimed centred around players who live in the country. And the latest site to be launched is the dedicated OCR Cambodia destination.

Cambodian Reviews

OCR Cambodia is now live and can be reached right here. Cambodian players can expect to encounter an array of top online gambling brands that have been reviewed in a fair and balanced manner. Among the categories that will be covered will be software, mobile access, offers, banking, support, and more.

Around the world, players can find it difficult to identify gambling sites that will be able to accept them. At OCR Cambodia, residents of the country can seek out brands that are ready for them. And making matters easier is the fact that all reviews will be displayed in Cambodian. There can be no confusion when content has been directly shown for players in their native tongue.

Cambodian gambling guides will be another crucial form of support. In online gambling, it always helps to have informative guides detailing how to play. Now, though, Cambodian players can conveniently read guides in their own language.
Prominent Philadelphia Rector Embezzles $500,000 to Fund Gambling Habit

A rector of a Philadelphia Archdiocese retirement home for aging priests was recently charged with embezzling over $500,000 from the home. The motivation behind the crime? To fund an elegant lifestyle for himself, including casino outings.

Gambling and the Church - they dont go together, right? Well, unfortunately, sometimes they do. A rector of a Philadelphia Archdiocese retirement home for aging priests was recently charged with embezzling over $500,000 from the home. Not one of the Church's finest moments.

Federal prosecutors have charged Monsignor William A. Dombrow, aged 77, with four counts of wire fraud by way of a criminal information. If convicted, he could face 80 years in prison.

Most of the money from the retirement home's account came from life insurance payouts of priests who had died or from parishioners who wanted to support the facility. The embezzlement took place over the course of nine years.

Why, Father, Why?

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rotella reported that the reason for Dombrow's theft was to fund an elegant lifestyle for himself, replete with expensive dinners, concerts, and you guessed it, gambling.

Caught in the Act

Dombrow was finally caught when the bank became aware of some suspicious transactions at Harrahs Casino in Chester, and notified the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Dombrows lawyer, Coley O. Reynolds, stated, The monsignor is remorseful and ashamed of his conduct. Hes done a lot of great things for the people of the parish and the archdiocese.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to remember the good when faced with a betrayal of trust of this magnitude.

Abuse of Power

While it's easy to point a finger at gambling and decry it as evil, the real evil in this case is the abuse of power. Its unfortunate that people who are in the position to do so much good end up using their power and doing something destructive.

Avid gamblers know that there are ways to get help for gambling problems - all they need to do is seek it. Dombrow could have sought help, but instead he chose to indulge his problem. Federal prosecutors have no intention of turning the other cheek.
As the Reds edge closer to a title, the Hammers are next in their path. Don't miss out on the action tonight at 20:00 GMT.


(Image by Zaida Catalan's Instagram Account) Details DMCA





By informing FARDC Brigadier General Emmanuel Lombe of their itinerary, which would be standard practice, did Zaida Catalan sign her death warrant and that of her colleague Michael Sharp in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

"The U.N. Security Council urged the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Thursday to cooperate in the investigation into the killing of two UN experts and the mass graves found in the Kasai region." (VOA)

The Voice of America/Africa presser then segues to a statement written by France (the penholder for DRC) that calls on Kinshasa and opposition parties to reach an agreement allowing a presidential election to move forward before the end of 2017.

Tying the investigation of the murders of Zaida Catalan and Michael Sharp to politics in the same document is telling. One must revisit the narrative that began in August 2016 in Kasai Province when Mwami (Chief) Kamwina Nsapu was killed to understand why.

According to Radio Okapi, the Coordinator of the Congolese Human Rights Observatory (OCDH) in Central Kasai, Hubert Ngulandjoko, condemned the killing of "militia leader" Kamwina Nsapu. Overnight, the Mwami who was organizing against the regime of President Joseph Kabila and fighting for social justice became a militia leader and terrorist in press reports. His body was desecrated in opposition to traditional beliefs.

The two murdered experts, commissioned by the UN secretary-general to document the violence in central Kasai province, were investigating the killing of the Mwami and the discovery of more than 40 mass graves in the region. Since August more than 400 villagers have died in what is now known as the uprising of Kamwina Nsapu.

Who is doing the killing?

The deaths of Sharp and Catalan mirror those of the 400 they were investigating.

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).


Proudly Pakistani

(Image by mikecogh) Details DMCA



The head of the Iranian armed forces warned Islamabad on Monday (May 8) that Tehran would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants on April 26. Iran said Jaish-al-Adl (the Army of Justice), a militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan. Jaish ul-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group was reportedly founded in 2012 by members of Jundallah (the Army of God), a Sunni militant group that had been weakened following Iran's capture and execution of its leader, Abdul Malik Rigi, in 2010. Its first major attack occurred in October 2013 when 14 Iranian border guards ---. The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight border guards in April 2015

Jaish ul-Adl is a designated terrorist organization by Iran.

Pakistan is located at the junction of Central Asia and Middle East, which gives its location great significance. Pakistan shares its borders with four neighboring countries -- Afghanistan, China, India, and Iran.

Pakistan has a 2,430 km (1,510 miles), border with Afghanistan known as the Durand Line, which runs from the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains. Pakistan shares 3323 Km (including Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir sector) of its land border with India. Pakistan has a 523 km border with China towards the northeast. To its west Pakistan shares a 909 km border with Iran.

Tellingly, Pakistan doesn't enjoy very good relations with three of its four neighbors: namely, Afghanistan, China, India and Iran. With the exception of China, currently Pakistan is facing problems with its neighbors.

Pakistan enjoys exceptionally good ties with China, exemplified by the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which by linking Pakistan's Arabian seaport of Gwadar with western China will partially offset any threat of an economic blockade on China.

Border clashes with Afghanistan

At least 10 people have been killed and dozens others wounded after a cross-border battle between Pakistani and Afghan forces during a Pakistani population census near the border. The attack on Friday left dozens of people wounded and happened near the Chaman crossing point in restive Balochistan province, prompting security forces to ask people to evacuate villages on the border. Chaman, one of the two main border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was closed in the wake of the incident.

On Sunday, the Pakistani military said it had killed more than 50 Afghan soldiers since the fighting erupted Friday at the Chaman border crossing.

Kabul quickly denied the Pakistan statement. "A very false claims by a Pakistani Frontier Corp that as many as 50 Afghan soldier lost their lives in Pak retaliation; totally rejected," tweeted Sediq Sediqqi, a government spokesman. Samim Khpalwak, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, instead said two troops were lost in the attack, in addition to one civilian death.

Amid worsening ties with Afghanistan, Pakistan announced in March it had started building a fence along the volatile Afghan-Pakistani border. Islamabad said the move was aimed at restricting the movement of militants that cross over the porous border and launch attacks on Pakistani soil.

Every day, thousands of Afghans and Pakistanis cross the Durand Line - the 2,430-kilometer (1,510 miles) boundary established by the British during their colonial rule. The Afghan government does not recognize the Durand Line as the official border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

India, Pakistan clash on Line of Control

Next Page 1 | 2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
By Leo Chang

North Korea today is not the North Korea of 1994 when President Bill Clinton seriously considered a preemptive strike against the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. Back then North Korea did not possess any nuclear weapons.

Now North Korea possesses the knowledge of nuclear weapons technology and any US cyberattacks can only slow the process of weapons development but not stop it. Most likely the North's ability to reconstitute nuclear weapons technology is there for good -- and it is proceeding with ICBM experiments too.

David Sanger ran an interesting article, "Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar against North Korean Missiles" (New York Times, March 4, 2017). In 2014, the Obama administration ordered Pentagon officials to step up their cyber and electronic strikes against North Korea's missile program. "Soon a large number of the North's military rockets began to explode, veer off course, disintegrate in midair and plunge into the sea."

Upon close examination, however, "Pentagon's disruption effort, based on interviews with officials of the Obama and Trump administrations, found that the United States still does not have the ability to effectively counter the North Korean missile program."

Despite Trump's saying "It won't happen!," North Korea will continue to develop its nuclear weapons technology. Trump may consider direct missile strikes on the launch sites as did Obama, but there is little chance of hitting every target.

Iran found out about the US and Israeli-led sabotage of its nuclear program using the "Stuxnet" worm, and effectively countered it (as well as cyberattacking Saudi Arabia's oil field computers). Iran was a comparatively easy target, though. Sanger notes that in North Korea, missiles are fired from multiple launch sites around the country and moved about on mobile launchers in an elaborate shell game meant to deceive adversaries.

Bruce Cummings tells us that for decades the North has built some 15,000 underground facilities of a national security nature. In the mountainous terrain, sometimes a mile deep, are hidden nuclear weapons facilities as well as conventional weapons such as long-range canons. See "Advocates Urge Trump to De-escalate with North Korea, Not Ratchet Up Threats & Military Aggression" (Democracy Now! April 17, 2017) with guests Bruce Cummings, and Christine Hong.)

North Korea seems to have figured out how to deal with cyberattacks. In April and September last year North Korea had successes with R-27 engines and exploded nuclear weapons with more than twice the destructive force of the Hiroshima bomb.

A report on cyber vulnerabilities by the Defense Science Board, commissioned by the Pentagon during the Obama administration, warmed that "North Korea might acquire the ability to cripple the American power grid and it could never be allowed to 'hold vital U.S. strike systems at risk'.""
Progressive Content Not Found

Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing.



To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here.
So said Jose Luis Castro, Executive Director of the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union). TB-related stigma and discrimination still lurks in our communities and blocks access to existing care services. Jose shared several examples where TB patients felt isolated, frustrated and cornered enough to resort to extreme acts of desperation like suicide.

"Statistics do not effectively communicate the pain and suffering," he said at the recently held TB Free India Summit in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh in India.

When governments meet for the 70th World Health Assembly (WHA) later this month to set the agenda of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as to elect a new WHO Director General, we do hope that resolve to end TB stigma and discrimination becomes steely as it is also one of the critical cogs of the wheel to #endTB.

Jose Luis Castro reminded us that there were instances where bodies of people who died of TB went unclaimed due to stigma and discrimination still thriving surreptitiously in our communities. With mental health being the central theme of World Health Day 2017, Jose's spotlight on TB-related shame helped put light on a dark (and less visible) issue.

Dr RK Baria, Himachal Pradesh State TB Officer, shared that "TB patients, at times, are even disowned by their own families."

"This is unacceptable," rightly said Castro. Not just Indian government but all other governments too have committed to the WHO End TB Strategy with full support in WHA 2014, ending catastrophic costs and ensuring "social protection, poverty alleviation and actions on other determinants of tuberculosis" are among the key set of promises vital to end TB. Social protection is also one of the promises made by governments as part of the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs.

TB awareness is yet to reach everyone to dispel widely prevalent myths and misconceptions. TB information that empowers and enables a person to get care needs to become a norm.

"Is getting TB the end of my life?"

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2017 PokerStars SCOOP Day 2: Dylan Linde Wins Second SCOOP Title

May 09, 2017 Jason Glatzer Editor

In the early hours of morning May 9, American poker refugee Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde bagged his second SCOOP title in his poker career after outlasting a field of 926 entrants to ship the SCOOP-06-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $500K Gtd at PokerStars for $126,852 as part of a three-way deal.

Linde's first SCOOP victory came nearly four years ago, when he shipped the SCOOP-24-H: $1,050 Mixed NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $200K Gtd in 2013 for $70,047.

According to the PokerStars Blog, the final table bubble lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours until Sweden's "Sasuke234" eliminated Netherland's "Dhr.Awesome" after his pocket eights held against his opponent's ace-three.

SCOOP-06-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $500K Gtd Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde Canada $126,852* 2 Sasuke234 Sweden $119,454* 3 Chris "Apotheosis92" Kruk Canada $119,001* 4 Robin "robinho" Ylitalo Sweden $62,505 5 Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo Canada $43,985 6 Stevan "random_chu" Chew Australia $27,780

*Reflects three-way deal

Linde entered the final table in the middle of the pack, in third place in chips, while American poker refugee Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo held the lead after doubling up twice during the final table bubble.

Seven hands into the final table, Australia's Stevan "random_chu" Chew was eliminated in sixth place for $27,780 after his ace-jack was unable to catch up to the ace-queen held by Canada's Chris "Apotheosis92" Kruk.

A few hands later, Bonomo was eliminated in fifth place for $43,985 after the board didn't help his ace-eight suited against Linde's ace-jack.

Linde then eliminated Sweden's Robin "robinho" Ylitalo in fourth place for $62,505 after getting it all in preflop with pocket eights against his opponent's ace-queen and spiking a set on the flop with an eight appearing.

The first attempt at a deal when play was three-handed failed. However, after the trio played for 20 more minutes, stacks were reasonably close and another deal was discussed. After ICM figures were presented, Kruk wanted a little bit more. The pot was sweetened with Linde giving up $734 and "Sasuke234" parting with $2. The title and $10,000 were left for the winner.

About an hour later, Kruk was eliminated in third place to collect the $119,001 agreed upon in the deal when his king-nine was unable to improve against Linde's ace-queen.

Linde entered heads-up play with a more than 2:1 advantage over his opponent. Quickly into the heads-up battle, his lead extended to 6:1 advantage when he shoved eight-seven suited and "Sasuke234" called with king-queen suited. Linde walked away with $126,852 and the title after the board gave him a flush, while "Sasuke234" banked the $119,454 that was agreed upon as part of the three-way deal.

SCOOP NEWS AND NOTES

Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde is the early leader on the 2017 SCOOP Overall Leaderboard with 135 points after winning Event #6-H. The leaderboard winner at the end of the series will receive a trophy and $20,000 in cash. ... Brazil's Diego "Mr.Bittar" Bittar banked the biggest prize thus far in the 2017 SCOOP by winning Event #4-H for $246,504 after a heads-up deal with Germany's Oliver "sk2ll_m0dR" Weis. ... Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz appeared on his first final table in the 2017 SCOOP with a fifth-place finish in Event #5-H for $47,175. ... All-time online poker tournament cashes leader Chris 'Moorman1' Moorman bubbled the final table in Event #2-H after his pocket kings were unable to hold against his opponent's seven-two offsuit. ... Bulgarian poker player and 2013 PCA Main Event champ Dimitar "KuuL" Danchev snagged second place in Event #3-H for $94,500 + $37,761 in bounties. ... United Kindom's "FourSixFour" is the early leader on the 2017 SCOOP High Leaderboard with 130 points after shipping Event #2-H. The leaderboard winner at the end of the series will receive a trophy and $10,000 in cash.

DAY 2 SCOOP WINNERS

Event Buy-In Prize Pool Winner Prize #2 NLHE-L $11 $137,060 giannisperi $14,536* #2 NLHE-M Sunday Kick-Off SE $109 $435,500 KronoPP $68,323 #2 NLHE-H $1,050 $749,000 FourSixFour $123,780* #3 NLHE Progressive KO-L $27 $442,440 NewMaverickk $22,178 + $4,951 in bounties #3 NLHE Progressive KO-M $215 $1,039,200 ViDss $60,824* + $20,247 in bounties #3 NLHE Progressive KO-H $2,100 $1,400,000 u3meha $131,250 + $34,388 in bounties #4 NLHE-L $27 $327,301 PomGinJ $35,618 #4 NLHE-M Sunday Million SE $215 $1,350,800 0Skar15 $160,989* #4 NLHE-H $2,100 $1,504,000 Diego "Mr.Bittar" Bittar $246,504* #5 PLO-L $27 $159,207 Max Rage $23,886 #5 PLO-M $215 $387,800 Ravenswood13 $61,080 #5 PLO-H Sunday Grand SE $2,100 $850,000 raconteur $118,428* #6 NLHE-L $11 $101,280 Soul Dog RJ $12,531* #6 NLHE-M $109 $380,100 lipe piv $57,967 #6 NLHE-H $1,050 $926,000 Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde $126,852*

*Deal made at the final table

PokerNews will be recapping all the action played out during the 2017 SCOOP. Check back daily for updates, news, and more.
888poker XL Inferno Series Day 2: 'V.BlomFan60' Wins Event #20

May 09, 2017 Eric Mertens

After an amazing start of the 888poker XL Inferno Series with 16 events on Day 1, the series continued with 13 events on Day 2. Once again, a lot of winners were crowned on Monday when all tournaments were played out. Let's have a look at the results.

XL Inferno #17 - $10,000 Lightning 6-Max

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 8 138 $20,300

The first winner of Day 2 was crowned in Event #17 of the series, the $10,000 Lightning 6-Max. There were 138 players competing for a prize pool of $20,300 with the first prize of $5,278. In the end, Moldavia's "UHYC9_888" defeated his opponents and went on to win the tournament. In the deciding heads-up, he defeated Ukraine's "Palyaaa" who had to settle for second place.

Place Player County Prize 1 UHYC9_888 Moldavia $5,278 2 Palyaaa Ukraine $3,552 3 icho90 Austria $2,639 4 HappyHour4U United Kingdom $1,725 5 lukashov56 Russia $1,319 6 7Buland7 Russia $913

XL Inferno #18 - $15,000 Breeze

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 8 467 $23,350

Next up was the $15,000 Breeze, Event #18 of the XL Inferno Series, were 467 players registered to create a total prize pool of $23,350. Polish player "Jab0c0" won the tournament and secured himself of the first prize of $4,436.

Place Player County Prize 1 Jab0c0 Poland $4,436 2 PaDiLhA10 Brazil $3,269 3 alexos888 Canada $2,393 4 Imvegan Romania $1,821 5 rngspunj Czech Republic $1,284 6 sikosomatik Latvia $992 7 Julioassp10 Czech Republic $758 8 seppmann7 Germany $525 9 Silenzi0 Poland $387

XL Inferno #19 - $15,000 Deepstack Swordfish

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $30 May 8 952 $26,180

Place Player County Prize 1 COMINGTHRU Romania $4,712 2 fgthehammer Germany $3,403 3 junijunior Sweden $2,539 4 YourMyAtmSon United Kingdom $1,898 5 Farsaa Poland $1,319 6 Ph4N888 Romania $1,047 7 polar2088 Czech Republic $785 8 fredztack Norway $523 9 Bitteliten99 Norway $314

XL Inferno #20 - $20,000 Crocodile

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $160 May 8 309 $46,350

The biggest winner of the second day of this series came from the XL Inferno #20 - $20,000 Crocodile. In this tournament, 309 players paid their buy-in of $160 to create a prize pool of $46,350 with $8,968 for the winner. After conquering the final table, Romania's "V.BlomFan60" was crowned as the winner. Luxembourg's "Gotyoudude" finished in second place and was still one of the biggest winners of Day 2 with a prize of $6,720.

Place Player County Prize 1 V.BlomFan60 Romania $8,968 2 Gotyoudude Luxembourg $6,720 3 kevlar1991 United Kingdom $5,098 4 CountSegma Denmark $3,823 5 gevshig Russia $2,641 6 RichieLaNuit Croatia $2,039 7 grandepike Canada $1,575 8 Pimmelspeck Germany $1,112 9 Sr.Penes United Kingdom $811

XL Inferno #21 - $15,000 Swordfish

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $30 May 8 900 $24,750

Place Player County Prize 1 bazzzarov Russia $4,455 2 mr.fanera Ukraine $3,217 3 Gutschel Switzerland $2,400 4 grownupguy83 Netherlands $1,794 5 CliKiNBuToNz Canada $1,247 6 Mukonga Lithuania $999 7 GoFighTer Belarus $752 8 badmanello Russa $507 9 _RipCheese_ Germany $309

XL Inferno #22 - $20,000 Monsoon

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 8 728 $36,400

Place Player County Prize 1 Gutschel Switzerland $6,679 2 Todderaa Brazil $4,768 3 kikasazv Slovakia $3,603 4 omgpatbrooks United Kingdom $2,711 5 LaGushatnik Belarus $1,892 6 que_te_crio Malta $1,528 7 ThiCortes Brazil $1,164 8 bigmeachdoee Malta $800 9 towelie184 Germany $473

XL Inferno #23 - $15,000 Omaha

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 8 132 $21,200

There wasn't only No-Limit Hold'em on Day 2 of the series because the XL Inferno #23 was a $109 Omaha-event. In total, 132 players competed in this tournament for the first prize of $5,088. In the end, German player "KevinBANGos" received that first prize after defeating "tikkapekka" in the heads-up.

Place Player County Prize 1 KevinBANGos Germany $5,088 2 tikkapekka Finland $3,508 3 BoobJob32DD United Kingdom $2,650 4 NeverLucky44 Ukraine $1,802 5 AVR26 Russia $1,378 6 jackthecpt Romania $954

XL Inferno #24 - $5,000 Mini Omaha

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $12 May 8 378 $6,638.10

Place Player County Prize 1 me_demon Belarus $1,394 2 FoxyFalcon Finland $1,015 3 ToniMahoni9 Germany $763 4 PycckuiAA Russia $531 5 hiekkarannat Finland $398 6 classone United Kingdom $265

XL Inferno #25 - $10,000 Monday Royal

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $22 May 8 837 $16,740

Place Player County Prize 1 309865 Netherlands $3,029 2 Sticker1994 Poland $2,176 3 playakeep Slovakia $1,632 4 figura. Russia $1,222 5 Rei_gelado Brazil $862 6 swx_ka_tu Lithuania $694 7 unlmtedpower Czech Republic $527 8 Toparanu Brazil $369 9 tmurdah Netherlands $214

XL Inferno #26 - $10,000 Monday Flush

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $22 May 8 809 $16,180

Place Player County Prize 1 Habilidade0 Brazil $2,928 2 srcaos Brazil $2,103 3 jancsi89 Czech Republic $1,577 4 cutelilponey Mexico $1,181 5 Ti0373 Russia $833 6 otaviosnuts Brazil $671 7 icallyamet United Kingdom $509 8 proJJkeke Ukraine $357 9 DutchyKoning Netherlands $207

XL Inferno #27 - $15,000 Tornado

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $109 May 8 250 $7,198.40

One of the last winners of the day came from the XL Inferno #27 - $15,000 Tornado. After more than 11 hours of play, British "OPH1UCHUS" was crowned winner, receiving a prize of $7,198. "Magicooo22" from the Netherlands had to settle for second place and $5,280.

Place Player County Prize 1 OPH1UCHUS United Kingdom $7,198 2 Magicooo22 Netherlands $5,280 3 _Antikk_ Belarus $3,977 4 jcavz Canada $2,992 5 KestasLOST Lithuania $2,041 6 suitedfish Austria $1,584 7 chisna Russia $1,232 8 hateVAMOS Russia $880 9 billycadu14 Argentina $668

XL Inferno #28 - $15,000 Snap

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $55 May 8 219 $16,650

Place Player County Prize 1 FouEnculePL Poland $3,404 2 Curioso24 Peru $2,497 3 p1uzera Brazil $1,881 4 974kWRT Ukraine $1,415 5 Barathrum15 Ukraine $965 6 liam_b United Kingdom $749 7 MalakiasCF United Kingdom $582 8 Toobo16 Sweden $416 9 NevilleWeeee Brazil $316

XL Inferno #29 - $5,000 Mini Snap

Buy-in Date Players Prize pool $5 May 8 887 $6,934.20

Place Player County Prize 1 Le0__Maga Brazil $1,248 2 CrazyJacko4e Slovakia $901 3 hanses77 Germany $672 4 n00btimer Czech Republic $502 5 balala4 Russia $349 6 rickybarbosa Netherlands $280 7 imadrim Denmark $210 8 sasje111 Netherlands $142 9 DonkeyH3AD Poland $86

Upcoming Tournaments

Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in May 9 15:30 XL Inferno #30 $10,000 Lightning 6-Max $109 16:45 XL Inferno #31 $15,000 Breeze $55 17:30 XL Inferno #32 $15,000 Deepstack Swordfish $30 18:30 XL Inferno #33 $25,000 Crocodile $160 19:00 XL Inferno #34 $15,000 Swordfish $30 19:30 XL Inferno #35 $20,000 Monsoon $55 20:00 XL Inferno #36 $500,000 High Roller $2,100 20:00 XL Inferno #37 $150,000 Mini High Roller $215 20:35 XL Inferno #38 $40,000 Tuesday Challenge $109 21:00 XL Inferno #39 $15,000 Tornado $109 22:00 XL Inferno #40 $50,000 Turbo High Roller $160
Playground Poker Spring Classic: Christopher Savov Ships the 8-Max

May 09, 2017 Anthony Charter

While the focus over the weekend was on the partypoker LIVE Million North America at Playground Poker Club, side events for the Playground Poker Spring Classic returned to action on Monday.

Event #5 gave players a second chance at a sizable payday, playing out Day 1 Monday morning. Later in the evening, Event #6 played down to completion with Christopher Savov taking the trophy and top share.

Event #5: $2,500 NL Holdem Second Chance got underway at 11 a.m. Monday morning, much to the delight of 92 entries, all chasing the $150,000 guarantee. By the time the clock was paused on Day 1, just 16 hopefuls remained. Decorated tournament pro Martin Finger holds the lead with 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel sitting in second.

Finger bagged 473,500, while Duhamel mustered 317,000. Oren Haziza (250,000), Ryan Yu (181,500) and David Valcourt-Dube (134,000) round out the top five.

Players have yet to reach the money as only 12 of the final 16 will walk away with a prize. Some notables still in the mix include Harpreet Gill (114,000), Alex Villa (109,000) and Thomas Lefort (95,500).

With 92 entries, the prize pool closed at $205,252. The eventual champion will earn $65,120 with a min-cash being worth $5,130. Play will resume on Tuesday at noon local time with Day 2 playing down to a winner.

The sixth event of the festival kicked off Monday evening at 8 p.m. The $330 NL Holdem 8-Max event boasted a guarantee of $40,000 and drew in a total of 251 entries. After just past 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, Savov eliminated his final opponent to claim the title and bank a prize of $9,715, after a deal made between the final seven players.

Place Name Prize (CAD) 1 Christopher Savov $9,715 2 Yohann Wagner $8,901 3 James St-Armand $7,305 4 Alexandre Blanc $7,505 5 Etienne Caron St-Georges $7,865 6 Karam Saleh $6,455 7 Sebastien Proulx $6,485 8 Daune Fernandez $2,150 9 Stuart Taylor $1,620

Canadian online poker pro, Ian Modder held the chip lead for a good portion of the preliminary levels before Savov took over for good, just before the bubble popped. Only the top 26 players made the money. A few to fall before the final table formed include Bob T (24th - $640), Modder (22nd - $710) and Marc Convey (21st - $770).

The all-time leader in tournament cashes at Playground, Bill Kontaratos, would end up bubbling the final table, but picked up yet another cash to add to his resume. With the elimination of Kontaratos, the final nine moved to a single table.

Savov had the lead and added to it when he took out Stuart Taylor in ninth. Yohann Wagner then knocked out Daune Fernandez in eighth and the remaining players paused the clock to discuss a deal.

After some negotiations and tweaks to the prizes, an agreement was reached and the players locked in their prizes, leaving $1,500 to play for. On the first hand after the deal, James St-Armand scored a double elimination, sending Sebastien Proulx and Karam Saleh to the rail.

Savov got caught trying to steal the big blind from Etienne Caron St-Georges from the small blind, but St-Georges snap-called having woken up with a big hand. Unfortunately, even though St-Georges flopped top pair, Savov hit trip tens on the turn and they held for the bust out. Alexandre Blanc and St-Armand would soon run out of gas, setting up a heads-up battle between Savov and Wagner.

Play had been moving at a swift pace since the deal was made, and on the final hand, Savov flopped a straight and Wagner hit top pair. All the chips went in and Wagner was drawing dead on the turn. Savov picked up the extra prize money and took home the champions trophy.

More side event action takes place on Tuesday at Playground. The $1,100 NL Holdem 50/50 Bounty begins at 11 a.m., followed by a $330 5-Card PL Omaha Re-entry later on Tuesday evening.

PokerNews will provide daily recaps throughout the festival along with live coverage of the $5,000,000 guaranteed partypoker Million North America.

For full festival details and live updates from the Playground blogging team check out the official blog here.

Sharelines Savov claimed the first-place prize of $9,715 after a deal between the final seven players.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:00:18

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 688 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Carcinoid syndrome comprises of signs and symptoms such as flushing of the face, debilitating diarrhea, asthma caused due to vasoconstriction, intestinal bleeding, fast heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, unexplained weight gain etc. which are developed secondary to carcinoid tumor. The term carcinoid crisis is used when all the symptoms of carcinoid syndrome show at a time. Carcinoid tumors arise out of neuroendocrine cells which are present all over the human body and most commonly occur at stomach, small intestine, colon, appendix or lungs and rarely in pancreas, testicle and ovaries. However, carcinoid syndrome may also arise due to cause other than carcinoid tumor. Patient has to seek symptomatic treatment for carcinoid syndrome and there is no cure for the symptoms of carcinoid tumor. If carcinoid tumor is not detected, carcinoid syndrome can be undiagnosed as its symptoms resemble to those of asthma, irritable bowel disease and menopause. However, patient often receives delayed treatment for carcinoid syndrome as tumors do not show significant symptoms until they are not confined to small bowel or other site of tumor origin. The management of carcinoid syndrome often requires palliative and supportive care. Management of carcinoid syndrome involves drug therapy or surgical removal of carcinoid tumor. Some of the commercially available chemotherapeutic agents for management of carcinoid syndrome include Sandostatin (Novartis AG), Somatuline Depot (Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.) etc.Carcinoid Syndrome Management Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe primary factor driving the growth of global carcinoid syndrome market is incidence of carcinoid tumor. As per National Institute of Health statistics, worldwide incidence of carcinoid tumor is 2 per 100,000 person with high incidence of GI carcinoid tumors. Every year over 8,000 patients in the U.S are diagnosed with carcinoid tumor in GI tract. Other factors influencing the global carcinoid syndrome management market include increasing incidence of hormonal disorders, growing smoking habits, levels of carcinogen in highly developed countries etc. The only factor restraining the growth of global carcinoid syndrome management market is no availability of drugs approved to manage carcinoid syndrome.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3539 Carcinoid Syndrome Management Market: SegmentationTentatively, the global carcinoid syndrome management market has been segmented on the basis of treatment type, distribution channel, and geography.Based on Treatment type, the global carcinoid syndrome management market is divided into following:ChemotherapyOctreotideLanreotideOthersBiological TherapyInterferone alfa-2-aHepatic Artery Embolization AgentsSIR-SpheresTheraSphereBased on distribution channel, the global carcinoid syndrome management market is segmented as below:Hospital pharmacyRetail PharmacyPrescription Drug StoresCarcinoid Syndrome Management Market: OverviewThe global market for carcinoid syndrome management is highly consolidated and very few number of players constitute the entire market. Chemotherapy treatment type segment is expected to dominate the global market for carcinoid syndrome management over the forecast period as chemotherapy is used as a first line treatment. Newly introduced hepatic artery embolization agents are expected to gain the significant share in the global market over the period of 20172027. The market is expected to grow at an average CAGR due to increasing awareness towards the symptoms of carcinoid tumor among the general population.Carcinoid Syndrome Management Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, carcinoid syndrome management market is classified into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to be the leader in global carcinoid syndrome management market owing to increasing caseload of carcinoid tumor in the U.S. The market in Asia Pacific and Japan is expected to grow at significant CAGR due to availability of generic formulations of innovator drugs in these regions. Europe is expected to take second largest share in the global carcinoid syndrome management market.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3539 Carcinoid Syndrome Management Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players in the global carcinoid syndrome management market are Novartis International AG (Sandoz), Pharmascience Inc., Omega Laboratories Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan N.V., Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Sirtex Medical Limited, BTG International Ltd. among others. Companies that provide generic chemotherapeutic agents include Wockhardt Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. etc.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:40:17

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 590 Words

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: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

An ergonomic keyboard is designed to minimize muscle strain and other related problems resulting from extended usage. Ergonomic keyboards allow the wrists and hands to rest and move naturally while keyboarding. Despite the fact that ergonomic keyboards do not necessarily eliminate complex cases of repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) and carpal tunnel syndrome, they do however offer some degree of relief to people with moderate levels of such problems.There is no specific definition or a precise design for an ergonomic keyboard. Usually, these keyboards either have contoured designs, adjustable slopes, or are split in half allowing the user to type at a different angle than the typical straight keyboard. Other keyboards in this category come with a rounded base or a uniquely designed wrist rest.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-269 Computer Keyboards Market DynamicsErgonomic computer keyboards are becoming popular with consumers who use them for significant amounts of data entry or other tasks involving keyboarding such as gaming. Typing for long periods causes wrist pain and other muscular stress related problems that can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome if not managed immediately.Increasing demand for improved devices for performing repetitive tasks at workplaces is driving growth of the ergonomic computer keyboards market. Several large enterprises provide ergonomic devices and furniture to their workers (office chairs, desks, monitor stands, keyboards, and other items) to build a healthy workplace and enhance productivity.Computer Keyboards Market Value and ForecastThe global computer keyboards market was valued at US$ 4,780.5 Mn in 2014 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 2.3% during the forecast period (20152025). Emergence of high quality products at low price points is a major factor propelling market growth.Computer Keyboards Market Analysis, by TypeThe global computer keyboards market is classified on the basis of type as basic and ergonomic keyboards. The ergonomic keyboards segment was valued US$ 493.1 Mn in 2014 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 10.5% during the forecast period. Presently, the basic keyboards segment dominates the global computer keyboards market. However, with growing popularity of ergonomic keyboards, the basic segment is expected to lose significant market share during the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-269 Computer Keyboards Market Analysis, by RegionNorth America leads the market for ergonomic keyboards in terms of value, however, in terms of unit shipment Asia Pacific excluding Japan accounts for the largest share of the total computer keyboards market. Around five million people suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome in the U.S. each year, as per research conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In order to curb such cases, North America is adopting ergonomic keyboards to facilitate improved muscular support and movement. In order to leverage this opportunity, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in this region offer ergonomic keyboards in various shapes and sizes, further propelling market growth.Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) is anticipated to register substantial growth during the forecast period. This is primarily due to increase in the number of multinational companies such as Tata Group, Intel Corporation, Global Sources, Induchem AG, and HubSpot, Inc. establishing offices and in Asia Pacific. In addition, decreasing prices of ergonomic keyboards owing to robust competition from regional manufactures is further contributing to market growth in this region.Computer Keyboards Market Key PlayersKey players of the computer keyboards market include Microsoft Corporation, Logitech International SA, Kinesis Corporation, Gold Touch Enterprises Inc., Adesso Inc., Fellowes Inc., Posturite Ltd., Datadesk Technologies, Fentek Industries, Inc., and Shenzhen V4 Electronics Co. Ltd.
3D Orthopedic Scanning Systems Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:03:15

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 571 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

3D orthopedic scanning systems are advanced technology driven systems which are used for scanning individuals body parts to help diagnose and treat the defect in it. The 3D orthopedic scanning systems through its scanning abilities help in designing customized items for individual and is finding increasing application in surgical practices. These 3D scanning orthopedic scanning systems are used in the development of footwear and scanning for medical and other research purposes. The current 3D scanning systems available are equipped with scanner, camera, display and data storing capacities.3D Orthopedic Scanning Systems Market: Drivers and Restraints3D orthopedic scanning systems saves a lot of time and paperwork and is the need of the current healthcare system. The hospitals are flooded with patients who need to undergo scanning. Moreover, with the aging population the number of orthopedic issues also is on a rise. According to the CDC data, from 2013-2015 around 54.4 million of US adult population have been ever told that they have got some form of rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, lupus, gout, or fibromyalgia. Another factor driving the 3D orthopedic scanning market is the rising concern of the radiation exposure from multi detector computed tomography (CT). The implementation of iterative reconstruction software helps reduce radiation exposure while improving image quality.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3542 3D Orthopedic Scanning Systems Market: Segmentation3D orthopedic scanning systems market is classified on the basis of product type, application and region.Based on product type the 3D orthopedic scanning systems market is segmented into the following:Scanning systemSoftwareAccessoriesBased on application the 3D orthopedic scanning systems market is segmented into the following:SpineDentalMaxillofacialCosmetic SurgeriesOthers3D Orthopedic Scanning Systems Market: OverviewInitiative such as Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR study) has been carried out with the aim to create databases of scans of various body parts which can be used for the manufacture of various products and devices. The 3D orthopedic scanning system market is experiencing a number of new market entrant who are establishing biomedical 3D printing startups through securing investments from several private investors. Axial 3D founded in 2014, received an investment of US$ 450,000 to contribute towards the U.S. and European medical industries. The Axial 3D was developed with the objective of reducing the time spent on surgery and saving US$ 7500 on each patients postoperative care.3D Orthopedic Scanning Systems Market: Region-wise OutlookThe report covers market scenario for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and MEA. North America dominated the 3D orthopedic scanning market as there are various private investors and companies who are investing on the 3D scanning systems developed. Moreover, there is a strong reimbursement framework if any device needs to find its way into the healthcare setting. For instance, Medicare needs prior accreditation of the device before it is ready for reimbursement and for physicians they have to follow the radiology benefit managers guidelines. Asia Pacific is predicted to be the fastest growing region with the increasing foreign tourism and incidence rate of orthopedic issues.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3542 3D Orthopedic Scanning Systems Market: Key Market ParticipantsFew manufacturers of the 3D orthopedic scanning systems market are Elinvision, Artec Europe, Orthopaedic Innovation Centre, Fuel 3D Technologies Limited, TechMed 3D Inc., FARO Technologies UK Ltd., 3D Systems, Inc., SCANNY3D S.R.L. and AGE Solutions S.r.l.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 15:03:01

Appoints Former Criteo and AppNexus Executive Jonathan Setty to Lead European Expansion

NEW YORK, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Video marketing technology company Eyeview today announced it has opened a UK office to further its growth, building and leading a new category of marketing, outcome-based video marketing. The European expansion builds upon a 60 percent increase in U.S. client growth and doubling revenue year-over-year.

"The UK is the 2nd fastest growing video market and we are excited to bring Eyeview's outcome based video marketing solution to the client base," says Oren Harnevo, CEO and co-founder of Eyeview. "'Clients first' is our mission and the demand to support campaigns locally in the UK and Europe make for an opportune time to invest. Whether they are in Europe or the United States, today's marketers must prove a measured return in sales on every dollar they spend. Our differentiated technology, ability to provide proven, incremental sales for our clients set us apart from competition."

Across a growing client base including Fortune 1000 brands such as P&G, Walgreens, BMW, and Priceline, Eyeview has shifted the conversation around video beyond media metrics and ad delivery to proving that video can drive sales outcomes. With the expansion of video consumption, Eyeview is delivering on the long-awaited promise of 1-to-1 video, marrying the engagement and appeal of television quality video advertising with precision targeting and personalised creative to drive sales.

To lead the UK expansion, Eyeview has hired Jonathan Setty for the newly-created role of Managing Director, UK, where he will launch the Eyeview London office effective immediately. Setty will be charged to expand U.S. client demand of outcome-based video marketing across Retail, FMCG, Automotive and Travel segments to marketers across Europe. Digital video usage is becoming a significant part of UK adults' media consumption. According to eMarketer's first digital video viewing forecast, adults in the UK will spend an average of 53 minutes per day watching digital video this year, which is more than double what it was five years ago.

Setty has more than 15 years of digital and ecommerce marketing experience, including seven years at comScore. Jonathan has also led sales teams across mobile marketing, bid management software and display advertising, including leading sales and partnerships at Criteo from UK market entry in 2010 to its IPO in 2013. Jonathan joins Eyeview from at AppNexus, where he served as the Director, Advertiser Sales EMEA and prior to AppNexus, Setty was UK's Commercial Director at Sociomantic.

"For me, what is most exciting is that Eyeview has proven that video can deliver on the long-awaited promise of marrying the engagement and appeal of television quality video advertising with data and targeting capabilities in order to drive sales," said Setty. "One-to-one marketing across devices, including Facebook and addressable television, presents a new opportunity for marketers. As an industry we're at a key inflection point across video advertising, where marketers have become frustrated with legacy ad serving platforms and traditional measurement. Clients demand more creative personalisation, financial accountability and quite simply, results."

"I'm excited to add a leader with deep digital marketing retail, FMCG, automotive and travel experience to lead our European expansion," said Jason Baadsgaard, Chief Revenue Officer, Eyeview. "Jonathan joins Eyeview at a point where we're confident he can continue the rapid adoption of 1-to-1 video and outcome-based video success we've had within the US to brands and marketers across Europe. Jonathan's extensive experience makes him a tremendous addition as we push the video and industry towards more targeted and accountable solutions."

About Eyeview

Eyeview is a video marketing technology company and the industry leader in outcome-based video marketing. Eyeview delivers superior return on investment through 1-to-1 video.

Through proprietary VideoIQ technology, Eyeview easily leverages brand, product and consumer data to create and deliver 1-to-1 video ads to every consumer and ultimately drive sales. VideoIQ provides an elemental knowledge of video variables that powers a results-driven decisioning engine, capable of making billions of decisions each day, delivering the most relevant message to every consumer across television, desktop, mobile and Facebook.

Headquartered in New York City, with offices in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, London and Seattle, Eyeview serves the nation's top brands, including P&G, Walgreens, Lowes, Honda, BMW and Priceline. Eyeview was ranked as the 2nd fastest growing company in the New York area by Deloitte's Technology Fast 500TM.
Automotive Handbrake And Clutch Cables Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 15:07:01

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 1036 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Handbrake & clutch cables are crucial operational parts of an automotive. For effective operation of a vehicle, proper functioning of handbrake & clutch cables is highly important. It is generally advised to carefully apply clutch and handbrake, as harsh use of them can affect the life of handbrake & clutch cables. Durability, quality, safety & temperature resistance are some of the parameters over which performance of handbrake & clutch cables is judged. Generally, handbrake & clutch cables have a higher replacement rate when compared to other components in the brake and transmission system. However, owing to the relatively low price and being a crucial part of the system, it is often replaced on a timely basis. Aftermarket sales from retail stores, garages and dealers contribute significantly to the growth of the handbrake & clutch cables market. Aftermarket sales holds a significant value share of the total handbrake & clutch cables market. Moreover, sales through OEM channel is also expected to bring in new opportunities, owing to the new product development and advancing technologies as well as mechanisms. Increasing sales of automatic transmission vehicle, which uses torque converter and incorporates clutch packs instead of traditional cable clutch is expected to hamper the growth of clutch cable sales, as the advanced configuration will not require clutch cable anymore.Global Automotive Handbrake & Clutch Cables Market: Market DynamicsFavourable macro-economic environment across prominent automotive hubs based in developed and developing nations is expected to be responsible for the growth of overall automotive component industry. Moreover, swift growing passenger vehicle production owing to rising disposable incomes leads to increased demand for vehicles and hence steady upsurge in demand for handbrake & clutch cables is expected both from OEM and replacement market. On the other side, there are some factors that pose challenges to the market growth, primarily, the market for automotive handbrake & clutch cables is highly competitive and the market is fragmented. Thus, existing players in the market struggle for profit margins due to existing competitive pressure in the market. Furthermore, the low priced counterfeit products available in the market from China and India are of low quality and less durability, and hence affect the brand image of existing players, which could eventually affect their businesses.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3474 Handbrake & clutch cables are crucial operational parts of an automotive. For effective operation of a vehicle, proper functioning of handbrake & clutch cables is highly important. It is generally advised to carefully apply clutch and handbrake, as harsh use of them can affect the life of handbrake & clutch cables. Durability, quality, safety & temperature resistance are some of the parameters over which performance of handbrake & clutch cables is judged. Generally, handbrake & clutch cables have a higher replacement rate when compared to other components in the brake and transmission system. However, owing to the relatively low price and being a crucial part of the system, it is often replaced on a timely basis. Aftermarket sales from retail stores, garages and dealers contribute significantly to the growth of the handbrake & clutch cables market. Aftermarket sales holds a significant value share of the total handbrake & clutch cables market. Moreover, sales through OEM channel is also expected to bring in new opportunities, owing to the new product development and advancing technologies as well as mechanisms. Increasing sales of automatic transmission vehicle, which uses torque converter and incorporates clutch packs instead of traditional cable clutch is expected to hamper the growth of clutch cable sales, as the advanced configuration will not require clutch cable anymore.Global Automotive Handbrake & Clutch Cables Market: Market DynamicsFavourable macro-economic environment across prominent automotive hubs based in developed and developing nations is expected to be responsible for the growth of overall automotive component industry. Moreover, swift growing passenger vehicle production owing to rising disposable incomes leads to increased demand for vehicles and hence steady upsurge in demand for handbrake & clutch cables is expected both from OEM and replacement market. On the other side, there are some factors that pose challenges to the market growth, primarily, the market for automotive handbrake & clutch cables is highly competitive and the market is fragmented. Thus, existing players in the market struggle for profit margins due to existing competitive pressure in the market. Furthermore, the low priced counterfeit products available in the market from China and India are of low quality and less durability, and hence affect the brand image of existing players, which could eventually affect their businesses.Global Automotive Handbrake & Clutch Cables Market: SegmentationThe global automotive handbrake & clutch cables market can be segmented into product type, vehicle type and sales channelBy product type, automotive handbrake & clutch cables market can be segmented into:Clutch CablesHandbrake CablesBy vehicle type, automotive handbrake & clutch cables market can be segmented into:Two-WheelersPassenger CarsCommercial VehiclesLCVHCVRequest For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3474 By sales channel, automotive handbrake & clutch cable market can be segmented into:OEMAftermarketGlobal Automotive Handbrake & Clutch Cables Market: Regional OutlookBy region, Asia Pacific is expected to remain as a significant market for automotive handbrake & clutch cables market both with respect to supply and demand for handbrake & clutch cables. The region is expected to emerge as a major exporter of handbrake & clutch cables to many countries. Countries in the region such as China, India and South Korea are expected to remain as the major contributors to the growth of the market. Japan is the base of key automotive component manufacturers and will hold a notable position in the global handbrake & clutch cable market. Following Asia Pacific, Europe is projected to be the next big market for automotive handbrake & clutch cables over the forecast period, the region has significant share in production and sales of passenger cars, light & heavy commercial vehicle. In terms of demand, North America market for handbrake & clutch cables is expected to hold comparatively low value share in the market.Global Automotive Handbrake & Clutch Cables Market: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the key market participants in the global automotive handbrake & clutch cables market areTRW AutomotiveHella Pagid GmbHContinental Automotive GmbHCable-TecTMD Friction Group (TMD PAGID)DURA Automotive SystemsCatton Control CablesAnropa Cables (Pty) LtdBrowse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/automotive-handbrake-and-clutch-cables-market
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:48:17

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 724 Words

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: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

IntroductionHospital capacity management solutions are used to manage patient flow in hospitals. Hospital capacity management solutions help track patients clinical data and assign the nearest nurse, doctor or caregiver to patients for timely care, thus ensuring their earlier recovery or treatment and discharge. In most developed countries, hospital capacity management solutions are widely preferred to manage hospital assets and patients. Hospitals need to maximise use of resources in order to provide better care and generate more revenue. Hospital capacity management solutions analyse and predict bed occupancy at the Emergency Department (ED), thereby reducing wait time by 3550%.Market Value and ForecastThe global hospital capacity management solutions market is anticipated to register a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period in terms of revenue. Growth of the global hospital capacity management solutions market is mainly driven by increasing number of in-patients and need for greater efficiency to manage patient flow in hospitals. Moreover, growing trends in the market include increasing adoption of integrated solutions in the hospitals.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1013 Drivers and RestraintHospitals capacity management solutions are being extensively adopted by hospitals since these enable efficient management and utilisation of beds, caregivers and other assets. These solutions are used widely in hospitals in developed countries, but not as much in developing countries, owing to high price points. However, rising expenditure on healthcare and disposable income is propelling adoption of these solutions in countries such as India, China and Brazil. Increasing number of patients undergoing surgeries, reduction in the number of beds in hospitals, greater efficiency of hospital capacity management solutions over conventional approach and technological advancements are factors expected to result in further growth of the hospital capacity management solutions market over the forecast period. Despite the fact that the hospital capacity management solutions help maximise bed occupancy, patient flow is indeterminate and totally event driven. It is possible that, at times, demand forecast could differ from the real scenario, thereby resulting in lower or higher demand for beds and healthcare services. These factors are expected to negatively impact the market during the forecast period.Segmentation, by Product TypeThe global hospitals capacity management solutions market is segmented on the basis of product type into workflow management solution, asset management solution, bed management solution, quality patient care solution, real-time locating system and event driven solutions. The real-time locating system segment is expected to dominate the global hospital capacity management solutions market and is projected to witness 1.7x increase in its revenue over the forecast period. The workflow management solution segment is projected to witness a healthy CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period. The real-time locating system segment has been estimated to hold 34.1% revenue share of the global hospital capacity management solutions market by the end of 2015.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1013 Segmentation, by ApplicationThe global hospitals capacity management solutions market is segmented on the basis of application into standalone solutions and integrated solutions. Of all the segments, the integrated solutions segment is expected to register the fastest CAGR over the forecast period.Segmentation by Delivery ModeThe global hospitals capacity management solutions market is segmented on the basis of delivery mode into on premise and cloud-based solutions. Of all the segments, the cloud-based segment has been estimated to dominate the global hospitals capacity management solutions market by 2015 end, and this trend is expected to continue over the forecast period as well.Key RegionsIn this report, the global hospitals capacity management solutions market has been segmented into seven major regions, which include North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and the Middle East & Africa. The North America market dominated the overall global hospitals capacity management solutions market with over 55% share in 2014, while the Western Europe followed with over 19% market share.Competitive LandscapeMajor players in the hospital capacity management solutions market include Awarepoint Corporation, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc., Care Logistics, LLC, McKesson Corporation, Central Logic, STANLEY Healthcare, Sonitor Technologies, Inc., TeleTracking Technologies, Inc., Cerner Corporation and Epic Systems Corporation. In 2015, the Awarepoint Corporation signed an agreement with Bluewater Health to install its Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) for asset tracking, clinical workflow, and way finding. The hospital capacity management solutions market is expected to witness launch of various new customised solutions over the forecast period.
Image-Based Cytometer Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:04:11

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 460 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Cell cultivation in an indispensable part for applications within medicine and scientific investigation. From simple substance test to cell therapies, cell technologies are completely based on the controlled propagation of cells. To achieve this goal non-invasive characterization of the cell population is to be established. Microscope is the oldest piece of equipment required for cell culture but with the advances in technology, these are now automated microscopes combined with computerized image analysis. But image-based cytometry is much more capable than just describing cell cultures in terms of numbers.Image-based Cytometer Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe demand for image-based cytometer is expected to propel due to technological advancements, increasing use of image-based cytometer in clinical trials, development of intuitive software and the growing utilization of image-based flow cytometers in research activities. The Jefferson Trust, awarded US$ 775,000 to universities to engage faculty and students in research. Mass Cytometry Antibody Bank was awarded US$ 35,000, q new technology which simultaneously measures 100 different cellular attributes of thousands of individual cells. The major hurdle for the researchers to access such technologies is the high cost related to buying antibodies. Through this funding, this hurdle was overcame and could act as support for future donations.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3543 Image-based Cytometer Market: SegmentationOn the basis of application the image-based cytometer market can be segment as:ResearchClinicalOthersOn the basis of end user the image-based cytometer market can be segment as:HospitalCommercial OrganizationsClinical Testing LabsOthersImage-based Cytometer Market: OverviewHigh throughput screening is available in almost all the recent technologies introduced. This is because of the emerging trend towards precision medicine where each clinical trial is towards a specific cell. Thus cell analyzer are also developed such as they provide the researcher with multifunctional results of thousands of cells. With the increasing research undertakings and the potential offered for the equipment related the demand for image-based cytometer market is expected to propel. Moreover, market players are expanding their presence by developing a new technology or by growing in emerging countries.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3543 Image-based Cytometer Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, image-based cytometer market has been divided into five regions including North- America, Asia- Pacific, Middle-East & Africa, Latin America and Europe. North America is expected to remain the dominating region while Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a fastest growing region. ChemoMetec A/S established its first international sales subsidiary in Australia to be closer to its customer and addressing the issues quickly.Image-based Cytometer Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the image-based cytometer market participants are Invitrogen, ChemoMetec A/S, Nexcelom Bioscience LLC., Vala Sciences Inc., Merck KGaA, GE Healthcare, Yokogawa Electric Corporation and Thorlabs, Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:50:29

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 780 Words

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: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Laboratory Information System (LIS) is defined as a healthcare information technology tool that captures, records and manages patient data gathered and captured during medical processes and tests. The stored information is saved in LIS database for future reference. LIS have features such as patient check-in, patient demographics, order entry, specimen processing and result entry. The global market for laboratory information systems has been segmented on the basis of end user into hospitals, clinics, independent laboratories and others. On the basis of component, the market has been segmented into software, hardware and services, while on the basis of delivery mode, it is segmented into on-premises and cloud based. The report provides in-depth information about the market scenario based on the aforementioned segments across the seven key global regions.Market Value and ForecastThe global laboratory information systems market revenue is expected to increase at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period (2015-2025) to account for US$ 2,745.3 Mn by 2025 end.Market DynamicsGrowth of the global laboratory information systems market is mainly driven by healthy economic growth witnessed in most countries, uptrend of per capita healthcare expenditure across both developed and developing economies, which in turn is expected to lead to a rise in quality of patient care and treatment options, apart from other important factors such as increasing healthcare IT companies investments for development of new and advanced healthcare IT solutions. This is attributed to increasing number of hospitals, clinics and private laboratories. However, lack of trained professionals to perform the procedures within the healthcare domain for day to day operations and maintenance of information are factors expected to restrain growth of the market over the forecast period.Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-875 International regulatory harmonization and formation of structured risk-based regulatory framework for healthcare IT initiatives is expected to facilitate secure exchange of data between clinicians and systems and thus, protect overall patient safety and secrecy of medical records.Market Segmentation, by End UserOn the basis of end user, the market has been segmented into hospitals, clinics, independent laboratories and others. In terms of value, the clinical segment is estimated to account for 46.8% share of the global market by 2025 end, remaining dominant and the most attractive segment throughout the forecast period.Market Segmentation, by ComponentOn the basis of component, the market has been segmented into software, services and hardware. Software segment is expected to emerge as most the lucrative component segment in the global laboratory information systems market over the forecast period. The services segment is currently the most attractive segment in terms of revenue in the market, and has been estimated to account for 57.9% market share in 2015. However, market acceptance of new software products and rise in product enhancements is expected to drive rise in advent of innovative LIS systems over the forecast period.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-875 Market Segmentation, by Delivery ModeOn the basis of delivery mode, the market has been segmented into on-premises and cloud based. Cloud-based delivery mode segment is expected to emerge as the dominant segment in the global laboratory information systems market over the forecast period. The cloud based segment is currently the most attractive segment in terms of revenue in the market, and has been estimated to account for 50.8% market share in 2015. However, high and unpredictable costs of ownership of on premise delivery mode is expected to lead to decrease in revenue growth of the on premise segment during the forecast period.Key RegionsThe global laboratory information systems market has been segmented into seven major regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East & Africa. In terms of value, North America has been estimated to dominate the market, accounting for 56.5% share of the overall laboratory information systems market in 2015. The North America market is followed by Western Europe, which is estimated to account for 17.3% revenue share of the global market in 2015. Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Eastern Europe and Japan are estimated to be the fastest growing markets among all the emerging regions. Currently, growing trend of designing, development and implementation of LIS system with the help of various physicians is a factor expected to drive revenue growth of the North American LIS market over the forecast period.Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the global laboratory information systems market report are CompuGroup Medical, Cerner Corp, McKesson, Evident, Medical Information Technology, LabWare, Sunquest Information Systems Inc., SCC Soft Computer, Epic Systems Corporation. The report offers company-specific strategies related to software development, market consolidation initiatives, and analyses of the various market players specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Adoptive cell therapy for cancer treatment Market Value

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 13:40:53

Press Information

Future market insights

Future Market Insights



616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States







3479183531

email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 547 Words

Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Adoptive T Cell Therapy referred as lymphocyte transfusion, which is being tested for the cancer treatment and chronic infections. Adoptive T Cell Therapy can increase the Anti-tumor immunity, enhance vaccine efficacy, etc. There is three basic treatment for curing cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The new technique or therapy, i.e., adoptive T cell therapy emerged as a fourth therapy for the cancer treatment. Because adoptive T cell therapy targeting cancer by natural mechanism, the immune system uses to distinguish between healthy and pathologic tissue rather than by its anatomic location or tendency to divide. Adoptive T-cell therapy (ACT) is a potentially powerful approach to cancer treatment that relies on the infusion of tumor-specific T cells. Anti-tumor immunity stimulates by two primarily different strategies which have been tested in humans: these are therapeutic vaccination and passive immunization. Adoptive T cell therapy also called as passive immunization. Furthermore, recent studies indicate that tumor infiltration by human T cells is a powerful predictive biomarker of survival for the various different type of cancers.The global adoptive T cell therapy market is categorized based on various modes of treatment, pipelines product and end users. The treatment segment is further sub-segmented into autologous adoptive T cell therapy and allogeneic Adoptive T cell therapy. The pipeline product segment includes various clinical trial phases such as phase I, phase II and phase III.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3569 Regarding geographic, adoptive T cell market is segmented into five major regions such are North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. North America dominates the global adoptive T cell therapy market due to a high number of ongoing clinical trials. The U.S. represents the largest market for adoptive T cell therapy followed by Europe.Adoptive T cell therapy for cancer market faced a critical situation wherein, several ongoing clinical trials still in pipelines such as adoptive T cell therapy in breast cancer after HER2 vaccination is under phase I and phase II clinical trials phase. Companies continue to evaluate the role of adoptive T cell therapy for the treatment of advanced stage cancers.Cambridge Healthtech Establishment's Fourth Yearly adoptive t cell Treatment occasion will concentrate on the means expected to convey receptive cell treatments to the patient. Clinical advance with Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR), T cell Receptor (TCR), and Tumor infiltering Lymphocytes (TIL) will be tended to top to bottom, and new procedures for target revelation will be looked into. Accentuation will likewise be put on clinical case investigations to promote the comprehension of T cell receptor receptors and their biology. Extra concentration will be given to assembling difficulties and answers for scale-up. Generally speaking, this occasion will address clinical advance, case analyses, and basic parts to make Adoptive T cell treatments feasible. Adoptive t cell market expands rapidly in forecasted period due to ongoing clinical trials and increasing rate of incidence and prevalence for various type of cancer, the adoption rate for adoptive T cell therapy will also increase due to its natural mode of mechanism against cancerous cells.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3569 Some of the major companies operating in the global adoptive cell therapy market areAmgen, Merck, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Genentech, Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb and others.
Pharmaceutical Solid Dosage Contract Manufacturing Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:10:36

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States



T: +1-347-918-3531



F: +1-845-579-5705



Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com



Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 704 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Pharmaceuticals solid dosage contract manufacturing is the largest segment of pharmaceutical formulations among in all type of pharmaceutical formulation outsourcing. Contract manufacturing of drug significantly to the overall outsourcing industry due to its popularity and widespread adoption by pharmaceutical companies in recent years. Pharmaceutical solid dosage forms are used to the pharmaceutical candidates, and it is one of the most commonly used drug delivery methods across the patient groups. Pharmaceutical solid dosage is in high demand in the pharmaceutical world. Most of the solid dosage formulation are produced in the form of the capsule, tablets, Lozenge, etc. Pharmaceutical companies have exerted rising pressure on pharmaceutical manufacturing unit to overcome the cost of the drug and to make company progressive against the competition of generic manufacturers. Hence pharmaceuticals company looking alternate option for drug formulation which is the outsourcing of drug formulation, i.e., contract manufacturing organization.Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market: Drivers and RestraintDrivers include streamlined development, lower and more flexible manufacturing, higher quality product and lower net costs. Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing also considered as booster forImprove the efficiency, reducing costs of drug formulation, CMO helps to ensure business continuity, better access expertise, reducing staff, allowing staff to focus on the core competency in R&D area, mitigating risk through using specialists count are few of the drivers related to the pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market. Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market based on economic driven factor and less availability of experienced technical staff, as well as physical capability and capacity of the equipment, plays a role of restraint in pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3551 Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market: SegmentationThe global market for Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing segmented by product type, modality, end user, and geography:Segmentation by Product TypeTabletsCapsuleLozengePowderOthersSegmentation by drug releases pattern,Instant ReleaseSustained ReleaseExtended ReleaseEffervescent TabletsChewable TabletsEnteric ReleaseSegmented by geographyNorth AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific excluding JapanJapanThe Middle East and AfricaPharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing Market: OverviewThe global Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market currently is one of the rapidly growing market, and it is expected to show excellent opportunities in forecasted period.Revenue of the Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market increases day by day with good values.Pharmaceutical industry expanding tremendously in the positive figure due to various factors including fixed dose combinations, releasing pattern of the drug, increasing patients, rising generic demand, etc. many pharmaceutical companies make a strategy for industry consolidation, the consolidation between Contract Manufacturing Organization, Pharmaceuticals, and Biotech companies. This consolidation triggered the growth of CMOs market for solid dosage formulation.By product type global market for solid pharmaceutical dosage can be categorized into three different types such asTablets, Capsule, Lozenge, Powder, and Others. Whereas, tablets form has the largest share among all the form of solid dosage formulation.By drug releases pattern, Pharmaceutical solid can be segmented by Instant Release, Sustained Release, Extended Release, Effervescent Tablets, Chewable Tablets, Enteric Release,Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing Market: Region-wise OutlookBy regional values, global Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market is segmented into seven key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe both leads the pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market together. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market for due to the adoption of advanced technologies as well as government regulatory framework.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3551 Pharmaceutical solid dosage Contract Manufacturing Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the major players stand in global Pharmaceutical solid dosage contract manufacturing market HAUPT Pharma AG, Abbott Laboratories, NextPharma, Catalent Pharma Solutions, Althea Technologies, Jubilant Life Sciences Limited, Royal DSM N.V and Nipro Corp. Aenova, Alkermes plc, Associates of Cape Cod Inc., BioPharma Solutions, , Coldstream Laboratories Inc., Covance Inc., Cytovance Biologics, Inc., Dalton Pharma Services, DPT Laboratories, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Fresenius Kabi, Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (GRAM), Halo Pharmaceutical, IGI Laboratories, Lyophilization Technology, Inc., Metrics Inc., Mikart, Inc., Patheon, Inc., Pillar5 Pharma Inc., and Velesco Pharma, etc.
Pleural Effusions Treatment Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:12:42

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,





Valley Cottage, NY 10989,





United States





T: +1-347-918-3531





F: +1-845-579-5705





Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com





Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 596 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Pleural effusions disease is spreading worldwide with a rapid growing speed. As per definition, a Pleural effusions are when excess fluid get caught between two layers of tissue (the visceral and parietal pleurae) surrounding the lungs. This fluid can build up over time, taking up space in the lung and impairing a persons ability to breath. The pleura is a thin membrane that lines the inside of the chest wall and covers the lungs. There is normally a tiny amount of fluid between the two layers of pleura. This acts like lubricating oil between the lungs and the chest wall as they move when you breathe. A pleural effusion develops when this fluid builds up and separates the lung from the chest wall. A pleural effusion is a complication of various conditions, such as lung infection, tuberculosis, cancers, heart failure, arthritis conditions, etc. which are responsible for causing pleural effusions diseases. The market revenue from the pleural effusion treatment market shows profitable growth. Furthermore, the expected market growth for the forecasted period will also show the promising result in future.Pleural effusions treatment market: Drivers and RestraintFirst and the major driver for the pleural effusion treatment market is increasing the incidence of pleural effusion disease and rising awareness of advancement in pleural effusions treatment with different types of techniques in the current market are the key factors which work as a driver for Pleural effusions treatment market.However , the partial success rate of the pleural effusion treatment will decrease the efficiency of treatment which further affects pleural effusions treatment market growth.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3553 Pleural effusions treatment market: SegmentationThe global market for Pleural effusions treatment segmented by product type, end-user, and geography:Segmentation by therapyThoracentesisPleurodesisPleuroperitoneal shuntOthersSegmented by End UserHospitalsclinicsAmbulatory clinicsOthersSegmented by geographyNorth AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific excluding JapanJapanThe Middle East and AfricaPleural effusions Treatment Market: OverviewPleural effusions treatment market is increasing as the incidence and prevalence of pleural effusions disease growing fast around the world.Recent epidemiological data from WHO suggests that approximately more than one millionpleural effusionscase are diagnosed in the United States each year. Various factor such as awareness in wellness and health, the diagnostics, and pathology segment is also improving in the developing countries nowadays which grows the therapeutics market.The research and development activities in the field like emerging novel therapeutics, increasing the efficacy of medicine as well as treatment .Selling campaigns initiated by the global players is growing the market progressively.Increasing focus by government organizations and private agencies like WHO and pharmaceutical companies to create awareness of pleural effusions is fuelling the market growth.Pleural effusions Treatment Market: Region-wise OutlookNorth America leads the global Pleural effusions treatment market share followed by Europe, because of increasing no. of incident and prevalence of patients with pleural effusions. Europe shows profitable market as the adoption rate of Pleural effusions treatment due to growing prevalence of pleural effusion patients. Asia Pacific is emerging market for Pleural effusions treatment due to increase in point of care approach to health & care. Increasing no. of hospitals in India and China makes a promising market for Pleural effusions treatment market worldwide.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3553 Pleural effusions Treatment Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the major players stand in global Pleural effusions treatment market are b Braun, nouvag, Oakworks Medical, Heyer Medical AG, Smith Medical, Biometrix, Maxer, Redax, Bicakcilar, Grena, etc.
Wearable Sensors For Animal Health Management Market Value

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 13:33:44

Press Information

Future market insights

Future Market Insights



616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,



Valley Cottage, NY 10989,



United States







3479183531

email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 695 Words

Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

The use of wearable sensors for animal health management is increasingly becoming important. Various wearable sensors for animal health management are currently in different development stages. Technologies which are being used for human health status and disease diagnosis can also be used for animals with some modifications. These technologies are being considered for their use in livestock and pets and are being developed to measure body temperature, observe behavior and movement, detect the presence of viruses and pathogens and prevent disease.Wearable sensor for animal health management market: Drivers and RestraintEvery year animals of millions of dollars die without the proper and timely diagnosis of disease. If developed precisely and used correctly, the wearable sensor can provide the timely diagnosis of diseases in animals, eventually decreasing economic losses. Wearable sensor for animal health management market will be driven by the rising adoption and need to diagnose disease in animals. Increasing demand for meat is also expected to drive the growth of this market as consumers expect meat free of any type of pathogens. Government regulations regarding the proper health monitoring of animals is also a major driving factor for the growth of wearable sensor for animal health management market.Wearable Sensor for Animal Health Management Market: SegmentationThe global wearable sensor for animal health management market can be segmented on the basis of Application Type, Animal Type, End User, and Region.On the basis application global wearable sensor for animal health management market can be segmented into:Medical Diagnosis & TreatmentBehavior MonitoringRequest Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3566 On the basis of animal type global wearable sensor for animal health management market can be segmented into:Companion Animals (dogs, cats, horses, etc.)Livestock Animals (cattle, sheep, poultry, etc.)On the basis of end user global wearable sensor for animal health management market can be segmented into:Veterinary HospitalsVeterinary ClinicsAnimal FarmsWearable sensor for animal health management market: OverviewWearable sensor for animal health management market is expected to show significant growth. Every year millions of animals die because of lack of proper diagnosis and disease management. But wearable sensors can be used for diagnosis and track disease condition and behavior of livestock or pets. Due to this reason, wearable sensor for animal health management market is expected to grow. Animal or pets behavior monitoring segment is expected to grow fastest as monitoring of change in behavior is a significant factor for the monitoring of the health of animals. Companion animal segment is expected to be fastest growing and highest revenue generating wearable sensor for animal health management market due to growing attachment of people with their pets and increasing spending on pets. Animal farms are expected to be biggest segment in case of end users as monitoring of health condition among farms animals is more important. If health conditions of farms animals are not monitored properly, it can lead to spreading of the disease to all the animals in farms and can cause death of animals resulting economic loss.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3566 Wearable Sensor for Animal Health Management Market: Region Wise OutlookGlobal wearable sensor for animal health management market can be segmented into North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe together is expected to dominate the wearable sensor for animal health management market owning to the factors like increasing spending on animals and growing concerns related to animal meat or poultry and dairy products. Asia-Pacific market is expected to be fastest growing market as this region is the biggest supplier of meat to the western countries. China is expected to show highest growth in Asia-Pacific region due to the presence of high percentage of the manufacturer and economical pricing of products.Wearable Sensor for Animal Health Management Market: Kay PlayersSome of the market participants in the global wearable sensors for animal health management market are PetPace LLC, TekVet Technologies Co., Vital Herd, Inc. and Inovotec Animal Care. Companies are focusing on development of real time data providing wearable sensor which will help in early detection of diseases.
Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-09 11:14:48

Press Information

Future Market Insights

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,





Valley Cottage, NY 10989,





United States





T: +1-347-918-3531





F: +1-845-579-5705





Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com





Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com









email





Published by

Abhishek Budholiya

+1-347-918-3531

e-mail

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com







# 565 Words

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors are an easy and user-friendly device which measure the blood pressure. Wrist blood pressure is fully automated device in which all the work is done by a unit process.The wrist blood pressure monitors small size gives much more space critical design, The mechanism of wrist blood pressure monitor based on the signal from the pressure sensor is conditioned with an op-amp circuit or by an instrumentation amplifier before data conversion by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, and pulse rate are then calculated in the digital domain using a method appropriate for the type of monitor and sensor utilized. The resulting systolic, diastolic, and pulse-rate measurements are displayed on a liquid-crystal display (LCD), time/date-stamped, and stored in nonvolatile memory . Wrist blood pressure monitors are widely worldwide acceptable for the PHR purposes.Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market: Drivers and RestraintHigh incidence and prevalence of heart-related diseases and improving awareness of precautionary health checkup be the Drivers for wrist blood pressure monitor. Portability and compactness of the blood pressure monitor drive the revenue of wrist blood pressure market. Easy to use and small size make the wrist blood pressure popular globally which further act as a driver for the wrist blood pressure market. Wrist Blood Pressure monitors can be used for PHP purposes, and cost effectiveness may be the restraints for the Global Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3555 Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market: SegmentationThe global market for Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market segmented by modality, end user, and geography:Segmentation by Product TypePortableCompactSegmentation by End-userHospitalsDiagnostic laboratoryHome careOthersSegmented by geographyNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificThe Middle East and AfricaWrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market: OverviewThe globalWrist Blood pressure monitorsmarket currently is one of the rapidly growing markets, and it is expected to show excellent opportunities in forecasted period.Revenue of the Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market increases day by day with good values. Wrist blood pressure monitors industry expanding tremendously in the positive figure due to various factors including the incidence of different blood pressure related disease, user-friendly nature of the wrist blood pressure monitors is working as a booster for the market growth of wrist blood pressure monitor. Several wrist blood pressure manufacturer working on innovation of product and advancement in technology, i.e., also play a role of fuel to the market of wrist blood pressure monitors.By modality, wrist blood pressure monitor can be categorized into two types such asportable and compact. Whereas, portable wrist blood pressure monitors are widely used in worldwide rather than other.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3555 Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor Market: Region-wise OutlookBy region, global Wrist Blood Pressure monitors market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America has the largest share in wrist blood monitor market followed by Europe. Due to high awareness and high health expenditure North America leads the market. Whereas, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing market for due to the adoption of advanced technologies.Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the major players stand in global Wrist Blood Pressure Monitors Market are Omron, Microlife, A&D Medical, HoMedics, Proton Healthcare and others.
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.




CTMMediaGroup_ DowntownAllianceNYC

Contact

CTM Media Group

***@ctmmedia.com CTM Media Group

End

-- CTM Media Group is proud to announce its most recent partnership with The Downtown Alliance. Together CTM and The Downtown Alliance will provide New York City tourists and visitors with a valuable, full and rich experience through paper and digital means.Starting May 10th, 2017, CTM will distribute NYC content to The Downtown Alliance's 3 Outdoor Information displays as well as their Information Center at Pier A. The Information Center will also host two CTM Digital Touch Screens and a visitor information display serviced by CTM Media Group. All 3 Outdoor carts are located in extremely high volume tourist areas, the base of 7 World Trade Center, Pier A and Bowling Green.Laura Miller, CTM's NYC sales manager says "This partnership with the Downtown Alliance is so exciting. It expands our Outdoor Network, which currently includes 34th St. Partnership, Grand Central Partnership and Times Square. We look forward to providing our clients visitor information to thousands of vibrant downtown tourists and visitors as well as interacting with them through our award-winning digital touch screen network.""Lower Manhattan welcomes close to 15 million tourists a year," said Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin. "Raising the visibility of our local businesses and attractions is one of our top priorities, and our ongoing partnership with CTM helps us make exploration of our neighborhood easy for everyone."For questions regarding CTM's visitor marketing services or to take advantage or CTM's NYC advertising opportunities call Laura Miller at 917-338-2264 or email laura@ctmmedia.com or visit www.ctmmediagroup.comAbout CTM Media GroupCTM Media Group Inc. is owned and operated by IDW Media Holdings Inc. ( OTC Pink Markets: IDWM). CTM Media Group Inc. is one of North America's largest distributors of visitor information. With a comprehensive visitor out-of-home network encompassing 18,000 information centers and 440 award-winning touch screen displays, CTM influences visitors when they are on their way or have arrived at their destination. Set in major visitor markets, CTM's visitor out of home network includes information displays at hotels, attractions, convention centers, transportation centers, sport shops, colleges and universities. For additional information visit http://www.ctmmediagroup.com
Orlando eco-tour company BK Adventure has been awarded the Adventure Tour Operator of the Year Award for Orlando, Florida by The Luxury Travel Guide.

By: BK Adventure

End

-- The Luxury Travel Awards recognize and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the affluent travel and tourism industry. Our team of experts have scoured the globe and travelled extensively in order to identify everything from the very best companies. states LTG on their website."We are a new business, in a large tourism market so to get this award means a lot for our growth, and also to adventure tourism which seems to be growing here," says Ramesh BK, owner of BK Adventure and native of Nepal, where adventure is synonymous with tourism. BK brought that same spirit of adventure to Orlando when he immigrated to the USA in 2012. "I saw how amazing the natural beauty of Florida is, and I knew people would love kayaking and biking outside here as much as they do in other tourist destinations, so I created BK Adventure Eco-Tours to show people the amazing nature and adventure of Florida," says BK.BK Adventure started its operations in Central Florida in 2015, and by 2017 has become recognized as one of Central Florida's busiest eco-tour companies. BK Adventure specializes in kayaking, hiking, and mountain biking day trips around Central Florida.The most popular tour for BK Adventure is theFlorida is one of only a few places in the world you can do bioluminescence kayaking. "Our Bioluminescence tours are becoming completely booked up for weekends in summer," says BK. "We are amazed at how many people love this night kayaking tour."BK Adventure's Bioluminescence Tour at Kelly Park near Port Canaveral will be the closest kayak tour for Orlando visitors.
Keswick Enterprises member company Tibbett Logistics will soon complete the renewal of its entire commercial vehicle trailer fleet in Romania

By: Tibbett Logistics

Media Contact

John Hayes

jhayes@kesent.com John Hayes

End

-- Over coming weeks Tibbett Logistics, the Romania-based transport, intermodal and contract logistics specialist within The Keswick Enterprises Group, will complete the renewal of its fleet of 35 curtain-sided trailers and 48 double-chamber reefers  the culmination of a process that began in 2016. All trailers are in Tibbett Logistics' blue and gold livery, and are a regular sight on roads across Romania.Tibbett Logistics provides contract logistics and domestic FTL and LTL transport for a wide variety of retail, FMCG and other customers in Romania.Leased from TIP Trailer Services, the trailers are the latest and most efficient models manufactured by Krone (curtain-sider)and Schmitz Cargobull (temperature-controlled). The reefers provide highly stable temperature control within discrete temperature bands in separate chambers.All the new trailers are connected via the latest generation of GPS to Tibbett Logistics' transport 'control tower' in Bucharest. As well as live positional data, these systems monitor many of the vital functions of the trailers  from door opening to internal temperature. Temperature levels can also be set and controlled remotely.Tibbett Logistics has a long-term partnership with TIP, which started a decade ago with the sale and leaseback of its original fleet of curtain-siders. TIP provides a full maintenance service for all the company's road-going trailers, keeping vehicles in optimum condition at all times.David Goldsborough, CEO of Tibbett Logistics, said: "We renew our fleet regularly to ensure the highest standards of quality, security and reliability for our customers. I am delighted to announce that we have now nearly completed our latest trailer renewal programme." Bob Fast, CEO of TIP, added: "Tibbett Logistics was one of our first major customers in Romania. Our relationship goes from strength to strength, and we are delighted to support the company as its business continues to grow rapidly."Tibbett Logistics runs an additional fleet of container chassis units  also leased from TIP  for intermodal operations at its Bucharest International Rail Freight Terminal (BIRFT) at the P3 Park in Bucharest. The business has its own intermodal rail wagons, deployed on its block train movements between Bucharest and Constanta on the Black Sea.Tibbett Logistics is one of the major providers of domestic distribution in Romania, having handled over 60 000 domestic FTL loads in 2016  including multiple deliveries daily to every major town in the country from its own distribution centres nationwide. In addition to this FTL traffic, it also managed over 16 000 container transports, plus a growing volume of LTL traffic. These volumes are carried on the company's leased trailers and through its network of long-term sub-contractors.Tibbett Logistics specialises in providing intermodal logistics and extensive supply chain management services to the automotive, DIY, food & grocery, textiles, retail and other FMCG sectors across Romania and elsewhere in South East Europe. It operates a total of 111 250 sq metres (1,200,000 sq ft) of Class A warehousing at 14 locations, and employs over 1250 skilled personnel.High resolution photographs may be freely downloaded from:http://www.tibbettlogistics.com/attachments/1494239671-Tibbett_Logistics_renews_Romanian_trailer_fleet.HIGH-RES-791.jpghttp://www.tibbettlogistics.com/attachments/1494239657-Tibbett_Logistics_renews_Romanian_trailer_fleet.HIGH-RES-780.jpgPhoto-captions:Tibbett Logistics is wholly owned by The Keswick Enterprises Group Limited  the UK-based private equity company specialising in logistics and supply chain-related services. Formed in 2004, the Group makes strategic investments and acquisitions in supply chain-related companies, where through proactive management it can add know-how and experience. It has reinforced incumbent managements and invested resources to extend capabilities.Keswick Enterprises is headed by John Harvey CBE, a logistics veteran who is a widely known personality in the outsourced supply chain management sector.Please also see www.tibbettlogistics.com and www.keswickenterprises.com
Solution selected for reliability, ease of deployment and excellent cost-performance ratio

By: InfiNet Wireless

InfiNet Logo

Contact

Vernon Saldanha

Procre8

***@procre8.biz Vernon SaldanhaProcre8

End

--InfiNet Wireless, the global leader in fixed broadband wireless solutions for mobile operators, Internet service providers (ISPs) and public safety agencies, has announced that Connect, Lebanon's premier ISP, has selected InfiNet Wireless solutions to serve as the backbone of their new wireless network infrastructure. The upgraded platform will allow Connect to meet the high-bandwidth and zero-downtime demands of premium residential and enterprises customers across the country, while at the same time significantly reducing maintenance and service costs.Explaining some of the challenges Connect were facing with their existing network, Jubran El Ayan, RF Manager at Connect explained, "We are using a WiMAX Network, on the 2.3 GHz frequency band, to serve residential customers. While we are able to meet the standard bandwidth requirements of our residential customers, some of our premium residential and corporate customers such as banks and retail outlets, require high bandwidth. Our existing WiMAX platform is limited to 5 Mbps for downlink and 2 Mbps for uplink which meant that we simply could not meet such bandwidth requirements.""To serve premium and corporate customers, we had to use Wi-Fi based point-to-point (PTP) solutions available in the local market but the frequency bands that we were operating in started to suffer from major interference issues, resulting in a further drop in capacity and decreasing reliability. More importantly, the deployed Wi-Fi platform proved to be extremely temperamental  links would go down frequently and it ultimately got to a point where we had to send field engineers to troubleshoot outages and maintain the network on a daily basis. Not only was this a drain on our resources and added significant costs to our operations, but we had several unhappy customers which was hurting our reputation and revenue streams."Realizing that upgrading their wireless network infrastructure was critical to not just business growth but the viability of the business itself, Connect turned to their sister company, Mada in Kuwait, for a recommendation on the most suitable solution for their business model. An InfiNet customer since 2012, Mada has heavily relied on InfiNet's range of 3.5GHz solutions to provide its own customers across Kuwait with a reliable, high-bandwidth and always-on connectivity.For a number of their most critical and strategic locations, Connect opted to deploy the InfiLINK XG which is capable of reaching a peak net throughput of 500 Mbps in 40 MHz of spectrum and more than 130 Mbps in only 10 MHz. Once the complete backbone of the network was in place, Connect then started to deploy the InfiMAN 2x2, InfiNet's range of wireless Point-to-Multipoint (PTMP) solutions, mainly to connect their corporate customers and premium residential customers with high bandwidth needs. Working directly with the InfiNet team, Connect deployed in excess of 30 base stations and 250 subscriber terminals across Lebanon in just a few months.Discussing some of the benefits of deploying the InfiNet solution, Jubran said, "With InfiNet, we are now able to serve customers more efficiently. With our Wi-Fi based PTP links we had to connect all our customers in a Point-to-Point topology, which is not only cumbersome to manage but also expensive to procure and deploy. This is no longer the case thanks to the InfiMAN 2x2 platform. All we need to do now is set up a sector in a specific area and we can provide, almost instantly, a large number of customers with high bandwidth connectivity, all achieved without disrupting any other customer or our wider network.""The most noticeable benefit of the InfiNet solution though, has been the reliability of the network. We routinely had network outages with our previous platform which was a drain on our financial and human resources and had a noticeable negative effect on our business growth and reputation. With the InfiNet solution, we no longer have any downtime or performance loss, ultimately giving us the confidence that we can provide our customers with the best-in-class wireless network. InfiNet has truly saved our business and reputation in the marketplace,"continued Jubran."Service providers across the Middle East are coming under immense pressure to provide customers, both residential and commercial, with higher bandwidth and reliable connectivity. These service providers account for a large portion of our customer base and over the last couple of years, we have made significant investments in developing solutions, like the InfiLINK XG and InfiLINK XG-1000, to cater to this sector. Having worked closely with Mada in Kuwait, it is gratifying that their sister company in Lebanon, Connect, have also selected InfiNet's solutions to improve service to their customers. I look forward to supporting them over the years to come as they achieve their growth ambitions in the region," concluded Kamal Mokrani, Global Vice President, InfiNet Wireless.
Aims to surpass 40 per cent business growth in 2017 as it marks decade-long feats

By: Orient Planet PR & Marketing Communications

End

-- May 09, 2017 - Dhofar Global, a leading supplier of hygiene products in the Middle East, has marked its 10th anniversary with a celebration of its decade-long accomplishments and the unveiling of a more ambitious expansion plan to fully cement its market footprint across the region. The company recently hosted an event for their suppliers, clients and employees at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina to show its appreciation and gratitude for their tireless support.After recording a substantial 40 per cent business growth in the UAE in 2016, Dhofar Global kicked off 2017 with a major announcement of its plan to firmly establish its presence in at least one additional GCC market this year and two more by 2020 amidst the region's flourishing cleaning and hygiene sector. With offices in Qatar and Oman, the company targets to enter Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Outside GCC, it has representative offices in Mauritius, Maldives, and Seychelles.Dr. Amer Al Rawas, Chairman, Dhofar Global, said: "As a regional leader, we continue to explore innovative mechanisms to further add value to our products according to the highest international quality and environmental standards. Such is also in line with our commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. Along with our move to widen our reach in the Gulf region, we will target to increase our productivity and enhance our operational efficiency in our bid to exceed our 2016 performance. This will be a part of our commitment to all our partners and clients across different parts of the world."Demonstrating its environmental commitment, the company recently launched its new brand identity with a tag line 'Happier Environment.' The new logo denotes the company's core values of transparency, fairness, innovation, professionalism, simplicity, and trust.Chandan Singh, CEO of Dhofar Global, said: "When we began in 2007 with just five employees, our dream was to become a regional leader in providing excellent hygiene solutions. During our first year, we only had two trucks and 15 customers. But what was once a dream is now a reality. We have considerably grown over the years. We are now operating a fleet of over 60 trucks in addition to managing more than 300 employees professionally delivering one-of-a-kind solutions to our massive 7,000 regional customers from various industries. Like in the past, our outlook remains positive for 2017 and the coming years, with new valuable clients and implementation of all-encompassing business initiatives with far-reaching results and better outcomes."Dhofar Global's safe, quality, and most importantly environment-friendly hygiene products are efficiently distributed to its customers across a wide range of industries, from 4- and 5-star hotels and catering to healthcare, automotive, and aviation to government and facility management. In keeping with its core values, the company has consistently embarked on innovative programs to further broaden its product range.For instance, it introduced the groundbreaking 'Color Magnet,' a color-coding innovation in tissue usage, which differentiates tissue usage areas to simplify the process for the end users and increase hygiene effectiveness. Further, after carrying out a feasibility study called 'Project Rasayan,' the company partnered with Germany-based KLEEN PURGATIS and launched a range of hygiene chemical products.Due to its major industry contributions and constant innovations, Dhofar Global has been a recipient of numerous awards and accolades for initiatives such as its award-winning campaigns 'CutBack' launched to help reduce tissue consumption by 22 per cent  and 'DID (Diagnose-Impose-Dispose)  a pragmatic approach to disposable product positioning. Its other recognitions are 'Bizz Award - Monaco France'; 'Global Award for Perfection Quality & Ideal Performance  Italy'; 'Star of Business Award  UAE'; 'Arab Investment Award  Regional (2011-2013)';and 'Platinum Technology Award for Quality and Best Trade  Italy.'Through its Corporate Social Responsibility programs, the company has supported numerous worthy causes and humanitarian institutions such as Mawaheb from Beautiful People; breast cancer awareness and colorectal cancer awareness campaigns in association with Zulekha Hospital; Al Rashid Centre for the Disabled; Ramadan Charity Initiative; and Bangladeshi Flood Victim Support.
Contact

Customer Numbers

***@customernumbers.com.au Customer Numbers

End

-- As far as concerts are concerned, 2017 seems to be an incredible year for Australia. The year started on a high note with Bruce Springsteen's tour paving the way for lots of other concerts. The best is yet to come. The land down under is packed with back to back concerts. If you are a fun loving person then you should consider taking a peek at the following.Here is something for all the rap and hip-hop funs in Australia. The Compton rapper has confirmed that he will be in Australia and New Zealand this year. The last time we saw him on our shores was in 2015 when he accompanied Ty Dolla Sign. With one of 2016's best albums under his sleeve and collaborations with other hip hop greats, this is a concert that no hip-hop fan would want to miss. The outspoken rapper was forced to reschedule the tour to June after the tickets sold out in less than a day. He will to perform in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Auckland.That's right. The Grammy Award winners and inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be in Australia as part of their. Having sold over 75 million albums worldwide, this band is something that every lover of music would want to see perform. The band will play tracks from their new album as well as other classic hits. They will perform in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne from 30April to 11May.Guess who are coming back down under?, for the first time since 1988! Having been one of the band's biggest markets, Australians are definitely happy to see The Bros reunited after they disbanded in 1992. Twin brothers Luke and Matt Goss are back and what's even better, they are coming to Australia. Since they announced a tour to the UK, their fans in Australia have been asking promoters to host them. Although the date is not yet confirmed, the two are expected to play in Sydney.This list would be incomplete without something for the kids. If what you are looking for is an event for the whole family then this is it. Jurassic creatures are here to take you back to the Ice Age when the dinosaurs dominated the planet. The Prehistoric Creatures of the Ice will be featured at the Crown Pyramid in Perth throughout April. Who says this is only for the young ones? The adults will also be left spell bound.Sir Elton John is set to be in Australia in September for what will probably be Australia's show of the year. The 69-year old will be on histour. He says he is very excited to be back in Australia and will play in places he has never visited before. The locations and the dates are yet to be confirmed.This is definitely going to be one memorable year. From rock to hip-hop and even family events, the people of Australia have lots of concerts to look forward to. If concerts are your thing then this is going to be your year.If you plan to go to one of those concerts, we recommend buying tickets with Ticketek. You can contact them here: http://customernumbers.com.au/ ticketek-customer- contact-n...
Sasha Meret's vernissage, concurrent with Frieze New York, was a wildly celebrated event for collectors and contemporaries alike.

By: Shriftman Media

Contact

CATM New York

***@catmny.com CATM New York

End

-- Contradictorily futuristic and antiquated, relics of a fantastic exploration into dimensional schisms were the highlights of Meret's exhibition of Incendiary Artifacts of Past Digressions. The opening act was a purist challenge to the time-space continuum.Meret's Creative Spring is no less influential on the world stage than it's political counterpart. Combatting the human condition and its insistent demands, Meret has managed to compose a symphonic accomplishment of near staggering proportion.The environmental hub created continues the austerity of Meret's previous Shrine of Hronim. Walking into the gallery was as if entering into Meret's private realm in which dimensions easily folded and flowed from one reality into another. Mythical creatures converged with mechanical icons of future automatonic folklore while his subtle underlying political commentary was gentle in its presentation with whimsicality and juxtaposition of dichotic messaging.The transformative nature of his work brought genuine levity to the crowd which engaged in musical giddiness. His piece, titled Mindless Artifact to Transform Roses into Weed, embodied the improvisational qualities of a masterfully performed jazz ensemble. Those in attendance were impressed with the shear improbability of it all.Giving life to manless drones, Meret provided a social discourse on the desensitized acceptance of contemporary warfare. Daydreamers were put up high on pedestals and revered as modern day oracles. Meret's escapist fantasy provides solace to the disjointed confluence of radical political disarray currently underway.Incendiary Artifacts of Past Digressions remain on view through 30th May.GALLERY SHCHUKIN 110 EAST 31ST STREET NYCGALLERY HOURS MON - SAT 10 AM - 6 PMINQUIRIES: ART@GALLERYSHCHUKIN.COM
A research project at the R&D department at Noliac Ceramics, Czech Republic, has received funding from the European Union. The aim of the project is to develop a new piezoceramic material for high power applications.

By: Noliac A/S

Contact

Noliac A/S

Att.: Lotte Beck

***@noliac.com

+4549125030 Noliac A/SAtt.: Lotte Beck+4549125030

End

--The focus of the research project is to gain further knowledge about piezoceramic materials. Ivana Steinfeldova, R&D Manager at Noliac Ceramics, explains:"We are very pleased about the funding provided by the European Union. This research project will enable us to study the mechanisms of incorporating donor elements into solid solutions. This knowledge is relevant in order for Noliac to develop new piezoceramic materials designed to handle the maximum mechanical, electric and temperature loads. The research project will also focus on further improvements on the production technology for defect-free, large elements, their homogeneity, reliability and reproducibility", Ivana Steinfeldovaends.The project will focus on developing a new material of the Navy III type. Ivana Steinfeldovaexplains:"This material is suitable for applications where the highest power levels without excessive self-heating are required. These elements combine high mechanical quality factor, low dielectric loss with high piezo activity. They are also characterized by a high depolarization resistance and a resistance to cracking. We expect that components made from the new material will have better mechanical and dielectric properties than the current material NCE81. The new material can be used for high power applications like ultrasound welding, ultrasonic homogenization, sonochemistry as well as in high performance cleaning or ultrasonic therapy and in medical instruments including ultrasonic surgery devices", Ivana Steinfeldovaends.Read more about Noliac's current piezoceramic materials at http://www.noliac.com/? id=512 The research project is based at the R&D department at Noliac Ceramics, Czech Republic, and the project will be conducted in close cooperation with external partners. Ivana Steinfeldovaexplains:"The challenges of this research requires a deep understanding of the the physical and chemical processes during formation of the PZT solid solutions and incorporation of donors. The influence of technological points in the production process like pressing, sintering, and poling to the homogenous structure of the manufactured elements is also complicated. The project allows to us enhance the important cooperation with research institutions and universities. These partners can contribute with useful knowledge and ideas, which will enhance the qualifications of our R&D team. We look forward to obtain new knowledge from this research project, which will help us to develop new materials and increase our competitiveness", Ivana Steinfeldovaends.If you want to know more about this research project, please contact us using our main email info@noliac.comIf you want to know more about Noliac's products, please contact us using our Request for Quote form or contact sales. All contact information can be found at http://www.noliac.com/? id=681
End

-- America Green Solar (AGS), the company inspired by the need to educate homeowners and business owners regarding green projects, is expanding into five markets: Nevada, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Following this action, AGS is now active in 50 markets across the United States and plans to continue its expansion in order to meet the sustainable energy needs of the entire country.In Nevada, future customers are expected to obtain great benefits from their solar energy systems, not just because AGS's efficiency but also because of Nevada's special conditions. Due to its territory, Nevada is the TOP THIRD STATE in having more solar potential. AGS is excited to be one of the select few to operate in this market.Tax incentives for Indiana customers will be the juiciest benefits. Indiana is one of the states that gives more tax deduction for purchase and installation of solar powered roof vents or fans. The amount of reduction for AGS's clients in this state is equivalent to the lesser or either 50% in savings.Florida is living a solar historic moment! The state just made solar and renewable energy equipment on commercial buildings exempt from property taxes for 20 years, beginning in 2018. AGS commercial customers represent an important portion of the market, and the company is excited to expand in Florida.The Carolina's are poised for a solar revolution! North Carolina occupies the second place in the solar industry national ranking. On the other hand, South Carolina's potential is represented by its growth projection of 1,483 MW over next 5 years occupying the 16in the ranking.America Green Solar is excited to announce its expansion and is actively looking for new partners to join the green revolution!Learn more at www.americagreensolar.com
Humanitarian Aid Organization Delivers Medical Supplies to flood-devastated Peru.

End

-- MedShare, an Atlanta-based humanitarian aid organization dedicated to global health, will donate more than $110,000 worth of emergency medical supplies to support victims of the devastating flooding in Peru. 1.1 million people have been affected as historic floods tear their way through the northern part of the country. Of those affected, more than 339,600 are women and 358,600 are children. MedShare will send emergency supplies requested by the Peruvian Ministry of Health including stretchers, syringes, gloves, wheelchairs, and surgical instruments. Since 2010, MedShare's Disaster Relief Program has successfully supported seven disaster relief efforts in eight countries and served 1.4 million patients in disaster-affected areas, including playing a pivotal role in ending the Ebola crisis in West-Africa.MedShare CEO & President, Charles Redding, stated "The situation in Peru is horrifying. People are losing their homes, farmers are losing their livelihoods, and people are losing access to medical care as hospitals and clinics are destroyed by the floods. We are committed to working with the affected communities to deliver exactly what they need in this time of crisis and uncertainty. I am confident that MedShare can provide supportive and effective aid to the region." Redding and other members of MedShare's Senior Leadership met with the Peruvian General Consul to discuss needs and the organization is continuing to work with the Ministry of Health in Lima to determine the most effective response.In addition to collecting medical supplies from product donors and raising funds for medical donations and deliveries, MedShare has organized a nation-wide Peru Disaster Relief Volunteer Day on May 11th. Volunteers from Liberty Mutual, as well as local community members, will sort, package, and prepare medical supplies for delivery to the affected regions in Peru.MedShare is a 501c(3) humanitarian aid organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people, communities, and our planet by sourcing and directly delivering surplus medical supplies and equipment to communities in need around the world. For more information, please visit the organization's website at http:// www.medshare.org /.
Contact

Dawn Lane

info@advancedyogastudio.com

319-431-0702 Dawn Lane319-431-0702

End

-- Dawn Lane is back to teach exciting new yoga classes and teach you techniques to help you on your journey. Advanced Yoga Studio is located at 4089 21rst Ave SW #111 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404. Dawn Lane can be found on Facebook, as well as, YouTube. Just type in her name or Advanced Yoga Studio in the search areas.Experience is everything and at Advanced yoga...your experience is completely original to your needs and wants. Their philosophy is to give you the benefits of all levels of yoga. This includes the mind, body and spirit practice. You can visit their social media pages or website to see more about their experience and techniques. Recently, Advanced Yoga Studio has expanded to provide space for the Breathing Space Studio and Spa run by certified group exercise instructor, Lisa Thomas LMT, LE. You can check out her website at breathingspacecr.com. Dawn Lane is ready to answer any questions you may have about your Yoga needs. Her classes are primarily held on Monday's and Wednesday's. There are about 5 classes per week, but that can change.For more information you can visit: https://www.advancedyogastudio.com/ home.html
By Benjamin Jumbe

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, his AU reform advisory team and close to 40 African Ministers of Foreign Affairs have met in Kigali, Rwanda, to discuss the implementation of the African Union reforms adopted in January 2017.

In July 2016, at the 27th African Union Summit, member States of the AU entrusted President Paul Kagame of Rwanda with the mandate to lead the African Union reforms to enable the Union to better meet its missions goal and truly serve African citizens.

In January 2017, the proposed reforms were accepted by all Head of States and Governments.

The reforms aim to make the AU more efficient politically, operationally and financially, so that the African multilateral organisation is better positioned to meet its mandate to member states and African citizens.

The African leaders are committing themselves to focusing on key priorities to ensure that the AU efforts are not dispersed and that the AU is focused on priorities that will make a real difference to African citizens.

This will also enable a clear division of labour between the AU and member states.

Realigning the AU institutions to deliver against these priorities and financing the AU and sustainably to strengthen the African Unions financial management and accountability.
Contact

Megan Lenz

***@curesma.org Megan Lenz

End

-- Cure SMA has awarded a $75,000 research grant to Chris Lorson, PhD, at the University of Missouri, for his project, "Examining the role of astrocytes and the influence upon lower motor neuron susceptibility in SMA."SMA is caused by a mutation in thegene. This gene is expressed in every cell in the body; however, not all cell types, or even neurons, become "sick" when SMN levels are very low. The goal of this project is to understand why some neurons get sick while other neurons do not get sick.Dr. Lorson and his team are more specifically concerned with astrocytes, which are star-shaped cells known to support motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. They will examine the differences between astrocytes from different regions of the central nervous system, in order to identify new factors that help protect some neurons, while understanding why other neurons are not protected.Understanding why lower motor neurons become sick and die in SMA, while other neurons do not, will help further our understanding of SMA and provide knowledge which can be used to optimize drug development.Meet Dr. LorsonWho are you?I received my PhD from the University of Missouri in 1997 working on a small DNA virus similar to the AAV vector used in many gene therapy labs these days. I started working in the SMA field in 1997 as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Elliot Androphy's lab at Tufts Medical School. My first lab was at Arizona State University (2000-2002) and I have been at the University of Missouri since 2002.How did you first become involved with SMA research?While working in Dr. Androphy's lab, we found that an important viral protein interacted with the SMN protein. From there, I started looking at the "splicing" of theandgenes, identifying important regulatory regions. My first Cure SMA meeting was in Philadelphia, PA at the airport Marriott in 1998 with a small overhead projector and a slide deck. It must have been a good meeting because nearly everyone in the room is still in the SMA field including Arthur Burghes, Umrao Monani, Livio Pellizzoni, and many more (well not that many, there were only ~20 attendees).What is your current role in SMA research?In my lab at the University of Missouri, we have been working on the development of a potent antisense oligonucleotide that significantly extends survival of SMA mice. Additionally, we are examining non-SMN modifiers of disease and collaborating with other SMA labs to develop new SMA drugs.What do you hope to learn from this research project?The project objective is to determine why some neurons become "sick" and die in conditions of low SMN protein, while others do not.How will this project work?We will use primary co-cultures of motor neurons and astrocytes from both SMA and wild type mice in various combinations to look at the effect of astrocytes, both with low and normal levels of SMN protein, on motor neurons.What is the significance of your study?This proposal is designed to investigate why lower motor neurons are specifically impacted in SMA. Understanding why these cells are specifically targeted is important from a biological perspective as well as for designing optimized drugs to treat the complex pathology in SMA.Basic Research FundingThis grant to Dr. Lorson is part of $1.03 million in new basic research that Cure SMA is currently announcing.Basic research is the first step in Cure SMA's comprehensive research model. Basic research investigates the biology and cause of SMA, in order to identify the most effective strategies for drug discovery. Cure SMA also directs this funding to develop tools that facilitate SMA research.To learn more, visit www.curesma.org
Trading activity in continental Europe increased in Q1 2017 despite the uncertainty generated by General Elections in several notable markets, according to the latest report from CBRE. Total real estate investment in continental Europe reached 38.9bn in Q1 2017, up 12% on Q1 last year. The total investment volume for

[]
The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation.
Western countries have struggled to define what many see as a new Russian strategy and way of war since Russia seized Crimea in 2014, staged various cyberattacks and reportedly tried to influence elections in the United States and Europe. In an attempt to characterize Russia's modern warfare strategy, Western observers have used many terms, including indirect action, hybrid warfare, grey zone conflicts, hostile measures of influence and 21st century warfare.

These terms, and the concepts they attempt to describe, are not always clearly defined, and there is great debate about whether they really reflect Russian thinking. Adding to the confusion: Valeriy Gerasimov, head of Russia's military, identified hybrid warfare in a recent speech as an American concept. Yet some Western analysts have said they developed the concept from his remarks and writing.

A more fruitful path than debating what to call Russia's approach is to look at what Russia has done, not only in the past few years, but throughout history.

A more fruitful path than debating what to call Russia's approach is to look at what Russia has done, not only in the past few years, but throughout history. Rather than employing some fundamentally new plan, Russia typically draws on longstanding means of political influence and tailors influence campaigns to heighten preexisting divisions and strengthen groups that pursue similar goals as Russia. Truly responding to Russia's hostile influence involves predicting which groups Russia will target, identifying the tools Russia is likely to adopt, thenlike Russiaplaying the long game rather than focusing on near-term events.

Russia (or the Soviet Union) has been employing active measures (using intelligence forces to shape outcomes abroad), propaganda and proxies since the late 1800s. In the last decade, Russia has added cyberwarfare and the manipulation of social media to its toolbox. Today, thanks in part to the effective coordination and more aggressive application of these newer techniques, Russia appears to have greater success with its measures short of war than other countries. This means that Western countries and organizations need to work more quickly and coordinate better to offset Russia's capabilities, aggressiveness and success.

The key lesson here is that Russia does not apply a one-size-fits-all approach and utilizes known vulnerabilities.

Russia creatively leverages these techniques in different ways throughout the world, and especially in Europe. In countries where Russia shares a political or cultural history, including Slavic-speaking countries in Europe, Russia can provide money or assistance to pro-Russian proxies that mirror Moscow's interests. Russia can also support groups that share some interests even if they are not explicitly friendly to Russia, such as far-right skeptics of the EU. Russia likely also restrains its use of measures short of war due to its desire to avoid conventional escalation. In Ukraine, which NATO is not explicitly committed to defend, Russia seized Crimea and is slowly tightening its grip on two rebel regions in Eastern Ukraine in response to apparent U.S. disinterest. In Montenegro, which is close to NATO membership, Russia reportedly only attempted a coup. The key lesson here is that Russia does not apply a one-size-fits-all approach and utilizes known vulnerabilities.

To defend against Russia's hostile measures, it is necessary to scrupulously assess individual national and regional vulnerabilities and to tailor a response to Russia's specific approach in each country, rather than applying a generic strategy to countering Russian influence. A recent RAND report provides an example of the needed assessment for Europe, noting for example that Russia probably cannot easily gain politically by cutting off natural gas but can more easily benefit through support for the far right. This kind of assessment will hopefully lead to greater understanding and consensus of Russia's intent among European countries, since European perceptions of the threat from Russia vary greatly across the continent. By working from focused and realistic assessments, Western countries can better adopt shared policies to reduce vulnerabilities.

The key takeaway for Western policymakers: Don't focus solely on what Russia is doing now, but also discern and attempt to counter Russia's longer-term approach.

Russian measures short of war do not necessarily seek an immediate impact. Rather, they are used to cultivate local support, proxies and resources, and to create a future opportunity that might be exploited later. One example of Russia's ability to build on prior means of influence occurred in Estonia in 2007. Russian propaganda and state-controlled nongovernmental organizations set the stage for local Russian-speakers to protest the Estonian decision to move a Soviet-era war memorial informally known as the Bronze Soldier from the center of Tallinn, the capital of the country. Russia reportedly fomented the crisis by encouraging anti-Estonian protesters and possibly encouraging cyberattacks to undermine the Estonian economy and government. Currently, Russia's strategy in Ukraine involves developing levers that can be used to strengthen the Kremlin's control over the separatist regions in the east on short notice. The key takeaway for Western policymakers: Don't focus solely on what Russia is doing now, but also discern and attempt to counter Russia's longer-term approach.

To respond to Russia's continuous, adaptive and aggressive measures short of war, Western leaders and analysts should avoid overthinking what to call Russia's strategy and focus on addressing the Russian actions. To support its partners in assessing and reducing their vulnerabilities, the United States has a wide range of tools available. These include strengthening partner state institutions, promoting democracy and aiding economic development. These tools can be seen as the United States' own measures short of war, and perhaps its best defense against Russia.

Bruce McClintock is an adjunct policy analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and a former U.S Defense Attache in Moscow. Andrew Radin is an associate political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

This commentary originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report on May 5, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
U.S. appeals court judges asked tough questions about President Donald Trump's temporary ban on travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries, with several voicing skepticism that national security was the measure's true goal.

Six of the 13 judges hearing the case on May 8, all appointed by Democratic presidents, showed concern about reviving Trump's March executive order that temporarily barred giving new visas to all refugees and to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

But three Republican appointees on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, asked whether the president should be second-guessed when it comes to protecting the country's borders.

Taken together, the judges' lines of questioning suggested their ruling may hinge on whether they should take into account past statements by Trump -- who vowed a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" during his campaign -- in deciding whether the travel order is constitutional. The administration insists those comments should be ignored.

"This is not a Muslim ban," Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, told the court during a two-hour hearing.

Wall said the judges should look only at the language in the executive order, which is "neutral" and does not mention any specific religion, to determine what motivated it.

But some of the judges were skeptical about ignoring Trump's campaign rhetoric, which was cited by lower courts as their reason for barring the order from taking effect in March.

"Don't we get to consider what was actually said here and said very explicitly?" asked Judge James A. Wynn Jr., who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama.

Judge Robert King, named by Democratic former President Bill Clinton, pointed out that Trump has never retracted his pledge to impose a ban on Muslims.

"He's never repudiated what he said about the Muslim ban," King said.

Judge Pamela Harris, also appointed by Obama, said Trump's action clearly had a disparate impact on Muslims, asking, "How is this neutral in its operation as to Muslims?"

Judge Barbara Keenan, an Obama appointee, said the order was sweeping and could affect some 200 million people, even if it doesn't encompass the entire Muslim world.

Justice Department lawyers argued that the temporary ban only was intended to give the government time to evaluate whether people from the six targeted countries were getting adequately vetted to ensure they do not pose a security threat to the United States.

Despite the "heated and passionate political debate" about the order, Wall said the court must be careful not to open the door to broader questioning of presidential decision making on national security matters by the courts.

Judge Paul Niemeyer, appointed by Republican former President George H.W. Bush, seemed responsive to that argument, saying the court was being asked to rule on a president's national security judgments.

"You have the judiciary supervising and assessing how the executive is carrying out his office," Niemeyer said. "I just don't know where this stops."

The revised travel ban was challenged in Maryland by refugee organizations and individuals who said they were being discriminated against because they were Muslim.

They argued the order violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, which bars the government from favoring one religion over another.

A U.S. District Court in Maryland agreed with them and put the order on hold on March 15, just a day before it was due to go into effect, triggering an appeal by the Justice Department.

The executive order was also blocked by a U.S. court in Hawaii in a separate challenge.

The appeal in the Hawaii case will be heard by a U.S. appeals court panel in Seattle on May 15. All three judges on the panel are Democratic appointees.

Regardless of how the appeals courts rule, the matter is likely to be decided ultimately by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has the final say on constitutional matters in the United States.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters


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
Ruslan Rakhayev went on trial in late April for the third time on a charge of beating to death a man detained by police on suspicion of theft. After each of the two earlier trials, the Karachayevo-Cherkessia Supreme Court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove adequate evidence to corroborate that charge.

Independent experts have testified that the injuries of which Dakhir Dzhankezov died in the Cherkessk city police precinct in October 2011 were sustained hours before he was taken to Rakhayev's office for questioning. Dzhankezov died an hour after that encounter.

The police officers who initially detained Dzhankezov and in whose custody he spent the last hours of his life claim Rakhayev beat Dzhankezov and jumped up and down on his chest, then after his death solicited their complicity in a cover-up. Rakhayev's lawyers argue that it was those five officers, on whose testimony the case against Rakhayev is based, who inflicted the fatal injuries.

There is more, however, to the Rakhayev case than simply determining who was responsible for a death in police custody. Rakhayev, 36, is a Balkar and a former veteran of the Federal Security Service (FSB) who was sent from his native Kabardino-Balkaria to the neighboring republic to impose order and raise standards within a police force widely regarded as both incompetent and corrupt. Some Russian analysts and human rights activists are convinced that Rakhayev was framed for Dzhankezov's death to prevent him from carrying out that planned purge.

Rakhayev fled from Cherkessk to Nalchik as soon as he got wind of the bid to incriminate him, and was apprehended by the FSB in February 2012 following a shoot-out that the independent Russian paper Novaya Gazeta has suggested was intended to eliminate him as a witness to Dzhankezov's death.

Rakhayev's first trial opened in October 2012. In July 2013, the Cherkessk municipal court found him guilty and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. But the Karachayevo-Cherkessia Supreme Court overturned that verdict three months later on the grounds of egregious procedural violations. Specifically, the court ruled that the prosecution had not adequately assessed the written evidence available (which included five mutually contradictory pathologists' reports) or demonstrated how that evidence corroborates Rakhayev's guilt. In addition, a court spokesman told the news portal Caucasian Knot that video footage from before Dzhankezov was taken to Rakhayev's office showed injuries to his face, suggesting he had already been roughed up.

At a conference in June 2014 organized by Russia's Public Chamber, law professor Vladimir Shcherbakov adduced Rakhayev's trial as a blatant example of manipulating expert testimony to achieve the verdict the investigators wanted.

The second trial began in June 2015. The prosecution produced a sixth pathologist's report that corroborated earlier findings that Dzhankezov sustained multiple broken ribs and damage to his internal organs some four to six hours before he died; i.e., several hours before he was taken to Rakhayev's office. That report failed, however, to clarify who inflicted those injuries. The testimony of many of the 38 witnesses for the prosecution, including the original five police officers who accused Rakhayev, proved inconsistent or implausible. Two pathologists who testified confirmed previous findings that the injuries of which Dzhankezov died were sustained hours before he was brought to Rakhayev's office.

The prosecution nonetheless proclaimed Rakhayev's guilt proven and asked in October 2016 for a 13-year sentence. But the Cherkessk municipal court refused to hand down a guilty verdict on the grounds of the dubious credibility of the testimony by Rakhayev's subordinates who, the court noted, had an interest in incriminating Rakhayev. Instead, it sent the case back to the prosecutor's office. The office appealed that decision to the Karachayevo-Cherkessia Supreme Court, asking for the trial to be resumed. In late December, the Supreme Court rejected that request and insisted that the indictment be reworked to eliminate the discrepancies.

Less than three months later, however, the same court annulled all its previous rulings and sent the case to the Cherkessk municipal court for a retrial under a different judge. The rationale cited for that decision was that the Cherkessk municipal court exceeded its authority by formally suggesting that people other than the accused could have been responsible for Dzhankezov's death.

Lawyers for Rakhayev took issue with that statement. Dmitry Yegoshin, a legal expert for the NGO Public Verdict that had provided advice to Rakhayev during his second trial, and his public defender Lidia Zhabelova both argued that the Supreme Court judge who signed the ruling was not empowered to affirm that Rakhayev's guilt was proven. No evidence was cited in support of that claim.

Rakhayev's lawyer Pyotr Zankin for his part pointed out that failure by the prosecutor's office to continue lobbying for a third trial would be a tacit admission of professional incompetence. Zankin also recalled that in the course of the second trial the prosecution had openly admitted the possibility that Rakhayev's subordinates were responsible for Dzhankezov's death.

Since Dzhankezov died in late 2013, at least two other detainees have died suddenly after being apprehended by police in Karachayevo-Cherkessia. The first, Artur Aydinov, died in January 2014 in custody in Cherkessk. The lawyer representing his family believes he was tortured, while investigators said he died after ingesting an unidentified toxic substance. The republican prosecutor declined to open a criminal case.

The second was Murat Borlakov, who died an hour after being taken to a police station in the Ust-Dzhegutinsk district in early February 2014. A police officer was jailed for seven years in March 2017 on a charge of torturing Borlakov to death; four of his colleagues were acquitted.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
The hacking didn't work.

The leaks didn't work.

The fake news didn't work.

And the smear campaign didn't work.

So now the Kremlin is saying: can't we all just get along?

In his congratulatory message to Emmanuel Macron yesterday, Vladimir Putin called on the French president-elect to overcome the "mutual mistrust" between Paris and Moscow.

That's pretty rich when you consider who created the mutual mistrust.

It's pretty rich given that for months the Kremlin-backed media and Kremlin-backed social-media trolls have been relentlessly smearing Macron with lies, rumors, and innuendo.

It's pretty rich when in the midst of the French election campaign, Putin hosted Macron's rival, the nationalist Marine Le Pen, in the Kremlin.

And it's pretty rich considering that a cyberattack on Macron's campaign and a data dump on the eve of the election looked suspiciously like the Kremlin's handiwork.

It's rich, but it's also par for the course.

The Putin regime's standard operating procedure is to provoke a conflict, blame the other side, and offer itself as a peacemaker.

Start a war in Ukraine, blame the Ukrainians, and then play the mediator.

Fly warplanes into NATO airspace, accuse NATO of provoking a new Cold War, and then call for dialogue.

We've all seen this movie before.

And this time, Putin shot himself in the foot. He has turned France, one of the friendliest countries toward Russia in Europe, into an adversary.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Former U.S. Acting Attorney General Sally Yates said she warned the White House in January that President Donald Trump's national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, was at risk of being blackmailed by Russia. Yates made the comment while testifying at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on May 8. The panel is looking into the scope and scale of ties between Trump's associates and Russian officials. General Flynn was forced to resign in February after he reportedly misled the vice president about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak. (Reuters)
The United States says it has signed a "milestone" security agreement with Georgia that will boost intelligence sharing and counterterrorism efforts with the former Soviet republic.

The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili signed the agreement before their meeting in Washington on May 9.

"The agreement represents a major milestone in security cooperation between the United States and Georgia," the State Department said in a statement.

Georgia remains locked in a standoff with Russia over the Moscow-backed breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for closer ties with Russia and earlier suggestions that NATO is obsolete rattled many in Eastern Europe given Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea territory and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine and Georgia.

But the Trump administration has sternly criticized Russia's interference in Ukraine, and it reiterated Washington's support for Georgia's territorial integrity during Kvirikashvilis visit to Washington this week, which included a meeting with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Kvirikashvili said in a statement that he and Tillerson "discussed in detail important prospects of deeper economic, defense, and security relations, as well as assurances of U.S. support for Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration."

Georgia's NATO ambitions have angered Russia, which sees the military alliance's eastward expansion as a threat -- a view NATO calls baseless.
By Benjamni Jumbe

Uganda needs two billion dollars to be able to address the increasing number of refugees in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the Uganda solidarity summit 2017 on refugees in kampala, the prime minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda has said the above figure is the current funding gap for the next one year.

He reveals that government annually spends 150M$ to support refugees in the country.

He says at the moment the country is hosting over 1.2 M refugees majority coming from South Sudan.

Dr Rugunda urges the international community to match Uganda s efforts to support refugees, noting that if this is not done, it will create additional pressure on host communities.

The conference is scheduled for 22_23rd June 2017.
MOSCOW -- Being chosen for an annual European award that recognizes groundbreaking museums would seem like quite the honor for Russia's Yeltsin Center. But to an acclaimed filmmaker and Kremlin ally, it's the equivalent of getting the Iron Cross from Nazi Germany.

Outspoken film director Nikita Mikhalkov was not impressed when the Yekaterinburg-based Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center claimed this year's Kenneth Hudson Award, awarded by the European Museum Forum.

Mikhalkov, however, said the award handed out earlier this week showed he was correct in his earlier assessment that the museum dedicated to the legacy of Boris Yeltsin, Russias first president, distorts facts.

"There can be no better confirmation," he told Govorit Moskva radio on May 7. "I am not surprised and I am reacting to this in exactly the same way as if I had found out that a citizen of the Soviet Union...had received the Iron Cross from the Wehrmacht."

Mikhalkov -- a close Putin ally -- has publicly accused the Yeltsin Center of "destroying the national identity of the young" since it was opened in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg at a ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin in November 2015.

In December 2016, speaking before the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, he called for the museum's "destructive" program to be corrected.

The Yeltsin Center, according to the European Museum Forum, which operates under the auspices of the Council of Europe, "raises questions and provokes debate around issues such as democracy, freedom, and liberty of speech."

"It is both a memorial to a high-caliber politician and a chronicle of the most dramatic period in living memory, which leads visitors to draw their own conclusions on Russian history," the forum said on May 6.

Prize

The Hudson prize is awarded annually to museums in recognition of the "most unusual and daring achievement that challenges common perceptions of the role of museums in society."

Mikhalkov's comments are in keeping with the prevailing pro-Putin narrative that sees Yeltsin's rule as a calamitous time for Russia.

After the Soviet breakup, Yeltsin presided over political liberalization, but also deep social upheaval, a wave of criminality, and economic crisis. The negative perception of this period has served as one of the wellsprings of support for Putin, under whom living standards rose with the boom in the price of oil.

On May 7, the Yeltsin Center in a statement offered its "apologies to our European colleagues who were publicly insulted and humiliated by a person with a passport of our country."

Aleksandr Drozdev, the executive director of the Yeltsin Center, noted in comments to RFE/RL's Russian Service that in the 1990s Mikhalkov was himself close to Yeltsin.

"We have in the museum archive in Yekaterinburg weighty material with his correspondence with the presidential administration and personally with Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin. So he really can't complain about those years!"

Noting Mikhalkov's current "anti-Westernism" and "anti-Americanism," Drozdev mused how the public should relate to Mikhalkovs Oscar, which he won for his 1994 film Burnt By The Sun about Stalin-era repressions.
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny says he has undergone surgery in Barcelona to repair his right eye, which was damaged last month when an assailant tossed a green antiseptic known as "zelyonka" in his face.

Navalny's post on Instagram on May 9 was his first public confirmation that he had left Russia for medical treatment amid mixed messages from officials about whether he is allowed to travel abroad.

Navalny, who has been convicted three times in financial-crimes trials that he calls Kremlin-orchestrated retribution for his activism, said on May 4 that he had obtained a passport for the first time after five years of trying.

His lawyer later said that corrections officials had warned that Navalny should "not dare to even think about" leaving Russia due to the suspended sentence he is serving out. A Moscow court spokesman later said his conviction did not directly ban him from traveling abroad.

The April 27 attack against Navalny was the latest in a series of zelyonka dousings targeting Kremlin critics in Russia.

Moscow police have launched an investigation, and members of a radical pro-Kremlin group Navalny accused of the attack say they have been contacted by investigators. The group, known as SERB, has denied involvement.

Navalny said earlier that his doctor believes the antiseptic was mixed with another substance that resulted in a chemical burn to his right eye.

He said in his May 9 Instagram post that his vision in the eye was still considerably impaired after surgery the previous day, and that it could take several months for it to be restored.

Opposition groups say the authorities have fostered an atmosphere of impunity that encourages such attacks on Kremlin critics.

With reporting by RIA Novosti
A Russian opposition activist jailed for organizing a letter-writing campaign to President Vladimir Putin has been released from custody.

Darya Kulakova, 23, was freed on May 9 after serving a 10-day jail sentence for the letter campaign urging, in part, Putin not to run for a fourth term next year.

She was sentenced on April 30 after a court in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan region, convicted her of violating a law on public demonstrations and resisting police in connection with the public submission of letters to Putin's regional reception office.

Kulakova was detained on April 29, when opposition activists had planned to stage a protest in Kazan -- one of several organized in other Russian cities that day.

After local authorities refused to grant permission for the protest, she and other activists instead decided to relay the letters to Putin.

Kulakova is a deputy chairwoman with the local branch of the opposition Open Russia group, which was founded by former oil tycoon and Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Russia showcased Arctic military hardware and other weapons in Red Square as part of a parade on May 9 to commemorate the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin also laid a wreath at the Tomb to the Unknown Soldier to mark Victory Day. (AP, Reuters)
A Dutch appeals court has ruled that Russia knowingly forced the oil major Yukos into bankruptcy by demanding it pay massive tax bills, the latest development in a drawn-out battle over the now-defunct firm's assets.

The ruling by the Amsterdam Appeals Court on May 9 said that Dutch law could not recognize the 2006 bankruptcy of Yukos, which was broken up after its owner, tycoon-turned-Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was imprisoned on charges he called politically motivated.

Yukos was sold off to state-owned companies, including Rosneft, now one of the world's largest energy companies.

The May 9 court ruling says that the liquidator appointed to sell off Yukos assets in 2007 did not have the right to sell the shares of Yukos Finance BV, a Dutch subsidiary of the oil firm.

Former Yukos CEO Steve Theede said in a statement that the ruling by the Amsterdam court "exposed the extent to which the Russian Federation will go to manipulate the legal process and ignore the rule of law."

The Kremlin has long denied that Khodorkovsky's prosecution was politically motivated.

Based on reporting by AP and Telegraaf.nl
Syria's foreign minister said on May 8 that Russian troops, not UN-supervised international forces, will enforce the cease-fire in safe zones established under a Russian-led agreement.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told reporters that Damascus would not agree to admit any foreign troops to monitor whether the cease-fire, the delivery of aid, and other activities slated to occur in the zones are being carried out.

The zones, to be set up by next month, are expected to include checkpoints to ensure easy movement of unarmed civilians and safe delivery of humanitarian assistance.

"There will be no presence by any international forces supervised by the United Nations," Moallem said. "The Russian guarantor has clarified that there will be military police and observation centers."

Moallem said that while the Syrian government has agreed to establish the safe areas or "deescalation zones" as proposed last week by Russia, Iran, and Turkey, government forces would continue to respond "harshly" to any violations by rebel groups.

"We will see the extent of commitment to this agreement" by rebel groups, Moallem said.

Leaders of Syria's main rebel groups voiced serious concerns about the safe zone plan presented by Russia at peace talks in Astana last week. They particularly objected to the role Iran was slated to play as co-guarantor of the cease-fire.

The agreement to implement a cease-fire within the safe zones went into effect over the weekend, bringing a general reduction in violence. But sporadic clashes continued, particularly in central Syria.

Russia and Iran -- which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- and Turkey -- which backs the rebels -- have indicated they will deploy armed forces to secure the four so-called "deescalation zones," in what would amount to unprecedented coordination between the three regional powers.

While Russia has not asked for UN involvement in the zones, it has asked for a UN Security Council vote early this week on a resolution supporting the safe zone deal, said the council's president, Uruguay Ambassador Elbio Rosselli.

Rosselli told reporters in New York on May 8 that council members are negotiating over the text of a possible resolution of support.

The United States did not sign onto the de-escalation agreement. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on May 8 that he is closely examining the plan, which he said leaves many questions unanswered.

The borders of the safe zones are "still being worked out," among other things, Mattis said, though "the general locations are well understood."

Mattis said it is not clear overall whether the plan will work.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are due to discuss the safe-zone plan on May 10.

Moallem said he hopes the agreement will, as a start, achieve a separation between Syrian rebel groups and extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda, which has been allied with various armed opposition groups fighting Assad in the past.

Moallem said moderate rebel groups must push their extremist allies out of the safe zones, otherwise the government will continue to bombard the extremist groups within the zones.

With reporting by AP and dpa


ON MY MIND

The Kremlin's behavior in the French election sure was a head scratcher.

France is probably the European country most favorably disposed toward Russia and Emmanuel Macron wasn't anti-Moscow when he entered the race.

But now, after months of smears, hacks, and fake news, it's a pretty safe bet that France's new president will be a Russia skeptic and a staunch foe of Vladimir Putin's regime.

Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin's regime thought it was going to have an easy ride in France. The race was shaping up to be a showdown between two pro-Moscow candidates Marine Le Pen and Francois Fillon.

It was a win-win scenario that evaporated when Fillon's campaign floundered.

But what doesn't really make any sense is why the Kremlin decided to turn Macron into an enemy, even when it became increasingly clear he would be the likely winner.

But this is exactly what the Kremlin did and it was politically tone deaf.

So now Moscow has managed to alienate both Germany and France -- and the backlash against Russia's political war on Europe is only growing.

IN THE NEWS

The extremist group Islamic State has issued a video showing the beheading of a man it described as a Russian intelligence officer captured in Syria, according to a U.S.-based monitoring organization.

Vladimir Putin used a speech at a military parade commemorating the Allied victory over Nazi Germany to press Western countries to fall in line with Moscow's approach to combating international terrorism, saying it was disunity that enabled Adolf Hitler's forces to rampage across Europe and threaten the planet.

Syria's foreign minister said Russian troops, not UN-supervised international forces, will enforce the cease-fire in safe zones established under a Russian-led agreement.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama made it clear to then President-elect Donald Trump that he did not support Michael Flynn, whom Trump later fired as national security adviser in connection with his contacts with Russian officials, the White House said.

Sally Yates, a former top U.S. Justice Department official, has testified that she told the White House in January that Flynn was in danger of being compromised by Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Washington on May 10 to discuss the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, as well as other bilateral issues, the U.S. State Department said.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili's office said that U.S. President Donald Trump expressed Washington's "full support of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity" during a May 8 meeting at the White House.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office says he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed her meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has denounced the recent execution of a man in Belarus, the only country in Europe which still applies the death penalty.

LATEST POWER VERTICAL PODCAST

In case you missed it, the latest Power Vertical Podcast looked at the rising protest mood in Russia and the degree to which vigilante attacks on opposition leaders like Aleksei Navalny are sanctioned by the regime.

WHAT I'M READING

French Election Fallout

The Atlantic Council's Alina Polyakova discusses the French election on C-Span.

In Republic.ru, Grigory Golosov of the European University of St. Petersburg looks at what to expect in French-Russian relations under Macron.

In The New York Times, Neil MacFarquhar looks at the reactions in Russia to Macron's victory.

In Quartz, Max de Haldevang explains why Russia's attempts to meddle in the French election "failed spectacularly."

In his column for Bloomberg, political commentator Leonid Bershidsky also looks at why Macron won despite the hacking and the fake news.

In a piece for Politico on Macron's foreign policy, Ben Judah writes that "the newly minted French president knows Brussels, distrusts Moscow and must learn everything else."

And it is well worth reading Christopher Dickey's piece in The Daily Beast last month, "Fighting Back Against Putin's Hackers," on how the Macron campaign countered cyber attacks.

Fear Of Revolution

In his column for Republic.ru, opposition journalist Oleg Kaskin looks at the fears and apprehensions of late Putinism.

Victory Day

Ola Cichowlas has a piece in The Moscow Times on how Russian schoolchildren are taught World War II.

In Intersection magazine, Yuri Lobunov, editor in chief of the Gorod32 news agency, calls out the hypocrisy of Russia's annual Victory Day commemorations."Russias remaining veterans of the Second World War are honored with lavish parades on Victory Day. But for the rest of the year, the government treats them with contempt," he writes.

Remembering Mr. X

In The Daily Beast, James Warren marks looks ahead to the 70th anniversary of George Kennan's Mr. X article, and back on why the policy of containment was a success.

The Global Rumor Mill

GlobalVoices has a piece by Oleg Kashin on how Moscow reinvented the global rumor mill.

PROGRAMMING NOTE

I will be traveling from May 10-15 inclusive to give a talk at NATO in Brussels and then to participate in the Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn. The Morning Vertical, and all Power Vertical Products, will not appear on these days. The regular schedule resumes on Tuesday May 16.
Sergei Lavrov sees "Russophobia" everywhere.

Allegations that Moscow is supplying arms to the Taliban are "Russophobic."

Accusations that Russia is interfering in Western elections are "Russophobic."

And claims that the Kremlin is trying to undermine the European Union are, you guessed it, "Russophobic."

And it isn't just Lavrov.

Federation Council deputy Aleksei Pushkov, the former chairman of the Russian State Dumas Foreign Affairs Committee, has said "Russophobia" has become the official policy of the Baltic states and Ukraine.

Russian state television has alleged that the corruption allegations against former FIFA head Sepp Blatter resulted from American "Russophobia."

And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has accused Lithuania of "hysterical Russophobia."

This list can go on and on, but, hey, you get the point.

In fact, from 2013 to 2105, references to Russophobia in the Russian media tripled, according to a survey last year by journalist Fabrice Deprez.

And all this "Russophobia-mania" can't help but get one wondering: Where did this word come from? What are its origins? When was it first deployed? And to what ends? And how has it evolved?

And the answer is actually pretty interesting -- and quite revealing.

Coined by a 19th-century Slavophile poet, revived and popularized by a Soviet-era dissident nationalist, the term has since morphed into a powerful weapon in the current Kremlin's rhetorical arsenal -- deployed mainly to obscure criticism of Vladimir Putin's regime by smearing, stigmatizing, and discrediting the messenger.

More subtly, it is also used to underscore a sense of Russian exceptionalism, suggesting, in effect, that Russia not only has a distinctive culture, but one that is under constant attack.

"Russophobia helps Moscow to reinforce its 'besieged fortress' and 'humiliated' image," Givi Gigitashvili of the Latvian Institute of International Affairs writes.

Indeed, in a 2013 article, the Russian historian Oleg Nemensky compared contemporary "Russophobia" to anti-Semitism and argued that it constituted a "complete ideology."

Russophobia And Imperialism

The grandfather of the term Russophobia was the 19th-century Slavophile poet and diplomat Fyodor Tyutchev, who is most famous for the phrase "Russia cannot be understood only with the mind."

More than a poet and a diplomat, Tyutchev was also something of an ideologist and was was influential in the courts of Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II.

He was deeply concerned with Slavic unity and with the Russian Empire upholding traditional Christian and monarchist values at a time of rapid political change in Europe.

Tyutchev also collaborated closely with the Third Department of the Tsar's Office, effectively the secret police of the time, lobbied for the creation of a Russian counterpropaganda operation in Europe, and was named chairman of the Foreign Censorship Committee in 1858.

It was in a letter to his sister in September 1867 -- a letter that was, interestingly, originally written in French -- that Tyutchev complained about a "modern phenomenon that becomes increasingly pathological -- the Russophobia of some Russian people, who are highly respected by the way."

Tyutchev coined the term Russophobia at a time when, in the aftermath of the revolutions of 1848, liberals and nationalists were challenging Europe's imperial monarchies and political change was in the air.

It was also a time when Poland's struggle for independence from the Russian Empire was becoming increasingly assertive, leading Tyutchev to call the Poles "the Judas of the Slavs."

In a 2015 article, Aleksandr Shirinyants and Anna Myrikova wrote that for Tyutchev, Russophobia was closely linked to "the Polish element" -- independence-minded Poles and the Russian liberals who supported their aspirations.



Likewise, Jolanta Darczewska and Piotr Zochowski of the Warsaw-based Center for Eastern Studies, wrote that the term "was intended to support the Russian imperial and civilizational discourse of the time," adding that "Tyutchev made a clear link between Russophobia and 'the Polish question' and the struggle of the Polish people against the empire."

Russophobia And Anti-Semitism

While Tyutchev may have been the first to coin the term Russophobia, it didn't really take hold in the Russian lexicon. During the Soviet period, the it largely disappeared from public discourse, although it did appear in some Stalin-era dictionaries.

The term resurfaced, however, in the 1980s, and took on a distinctive anti-Semitic character when the renowned mathematician and nationalist dissident Igor Shafarevich published a lengthy samizdat essay titled Russophobia.

Essentially a polemic against pro-Western dissidents, Shafarevich accused Jewish intellectuals in the Soviet Union of being motivated by a hatred of Russia.

Drawing on the work of French historian Augustin Cochin, Shafarevich argued that a "small nation" can often destroy a "large nation" that hosts it, singling out the Soviet Union's Jewish population.

In the essay, which was later turned into a book, Shafarevich assailed "Jews who are conducting a policy of Russophobia."

"Hatred for one nation," he wrote, "is usually associated with a heightened sense of one's belonging to another. Doesn't this make it likely that our authors are under the influence of some sort of powerful force rooted in their national feelings?"

Shafarevich's essay and book were highly controversial and resulted in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences asking for his resignation as a foreign associate.

But it turned Shafarevich, who died in February, into a hero among the extreme Russian nationalists who were asserting themselves as Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika took hold.

It also firmly embedded the term Russophobia in the modern Russian lexicon, where it has since remained.

Russophobia And Putinism

So Russophobia has been an allegation levied against independence-minded Poles in the late 19th century and pro-Western dissidents in the late 20th century.

But it was Putin's regime that essentially weaponized the Russophobia smear in the early 21st century.

The Kremlin has used the term to stigmatize criticism of Russia's human rights record, to criticize investigations into Russian money laundering, and to argue against the enlargement of NATO and the European Union.

Moscow has attempted to portray valid critiques of things Russia's rulers are doing -- things that many reasonable people can easily find objectionable -- as chauvinistic assaults on all Russians.

But as Jolanta Darczewska and Piotr Zochowski note, the Kremlin's use of the Russophobia weapon illustrates "the rivalry of two cultural and civilizational models, as well as the conflict between two systems of values, those of the East and those of the West."

"The fight against Russophobia," they add, "justified this schematic division of the world; and, by stigmatizing those individuals and states which were deemed 'ideologically alien,' it mobilized Russian society in the face of these alleged threats."

But in doing so, Moscow-based journalist James Kovpak argues, Putin's Kremlin also inadvertently exposed its deep fear of its own people -- its own Russophobia.

"What is more Russophobic?" Kovpak asks. "To say that the Russian government doesn't treat its people with the dignity they deserve, or, like the so-called patriots, insisting that Russians cannot possibly achieve a certain minimum in terms of human rights and dignity, that they cannot handle the same level of freedom that the 'patriots' themselves declare meaningless or illusory anyway?

"What clearer example of 'Russophobia' can there be than claiming that Russians are backward savages who cannot possibly maintain a society of democratic norms, pluralism in political discourse, and rule of law?"

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect the views of RFE/RL.
"He crossed the finish line and, as he crossed, he looked at the crowd with a big smile and, about 20 meters further, the horse stumbled probably on a soft spot in the sand and went down on his knees and, of course, stopped at that point. And so the president who was going quite fast moved on and fell in the sand."

The crowd is ecstatic, clapping in sync with the music as the announcers voice reverberates through the stadium. Everyone's attention is focused on the jockeys riding Turkmenistans prized Akhal-Teke horses.Unbeknownst to outsiders, one of the riders is Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, and his horse, Berkarar, (Turkmen for "Mighty") is in the lead.But as soon as he gallops across the finishing line of the one-kilometer race, Berkarars front legs buckle underneath him.Clara de Vos van Steenwijk, president of the Akhal-Teke Association, a nonprofit organization based in Luxembourg, was in the crowd and takes up the story.As the Turkmen leader lies motionless, an announcer says, Our beloved president was able to finish the race in first place. But any pride Berdymukhammedov had in his victory is followed by a pretty spectacular fall."[Berdymukhammedov] was winded, of course," van Steenwijk says. "If you fall at that speed, then of course the air goes out of your lungs and you have to lie for a minute to get your breath back. But of course it was a big shock for the public. There were thousands of people there and you could hear a pin drop."To be sure, it's impossible to confirm that the unfortunate rider is Berdymukhammedov. But the panicked reactions of security and the lengths to which Turkmen officials sought to confiscate spectators' recordings and photos of the event, suggest the jockey is the Turkmen leader.In an instant, dozens of security officials in black suits run over to the scene of the incident, jumping over the fence separating the spectators from the track.Moments later, the crowd begins clapping and cheering as an ambulance arrives, and then the same throng of black-suited security officials crowd around the falled rider as he is put into the ambulance.All this is missing, however, from thethat was shown on Turkmen state TV on April 29.The segment cuts off at the precise moment that the winning rider crosses the finish line, a split-second before his fall. RFE/RLs Turkmen Service reports that a number of people have contacted them asking if it is true that the president was injured during the race.In a separate segment, Berdymukhammedov can be seen accepting the announced prize of $11 million -- which would make it the world's richest horse race -- that he announced he will distribute to the countrys massive horse industry.The whole, uncut scene described above can be seen in aor a(below):Eurasianet reports that the crowd waited an hour for Berdymukhammedov to make an appearance wearing the traditional "telpek" hat made of white sheepskin, modestly waving to the crowd of journalists and representatives from international horse-racing clubs.Two foreign attendees contacted by RFE/RL said foreigners in the crowd were asked by the presidential apparatus to delete or hand over all electronic media that could have recorded the tumble. In addition, they said a Lufthansa flight from Ashgabat was delayed while officials conducted extra checks for flash sticks and camera memory disks.The April 28 horse race in Ashgabat was part of four days of celebrations marking Horse Day, a national holiday that celebrates the symbolic importance of the Akhal-Teke, a Turkmen breed of horse that is known and cross-bred for its characteristic speed and stamina.The Turkmen leaders fondness for the Akhal-Teke horses is. He has published several books in English about the Akhal-Teke, invested millions of dollars in the equine industry, and launched an official government website in honor of the Akhal-Teke.As of 2011, Berdymukhammedov signed a decree ordering that beauty contests be held every year for the Akhal-Teke.-- Written by Deana Kjuka with reporting by RFE/RL's Turkmen and Kazakh services
Senior officials in President Donald Trump's administration and the U.S. military are recommending sending at least 3,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan to fight Taliban militants, U.S. media report.

The extra troops would allow U.S. advisers to work with a greater number of Afghan forces, and closer to the front lines, The New York Times cited officials as saying in a report on May 8.

Other NATO members would also be asked to send matching troops, according to The Washington Post.

There are 13,000 NATO troops currently in the country, including about 8,400 Americans.

The recommendation has yet to be approved by Trump, who the reports said is expected to make a decision before a May 25 NATO summit.

In February, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told Congress there was "a shortfall of a few thousand" troops and that more personnel would enable the U.S. military to advise the Afghan army more effectively.

U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from power after invading following the attacks carried out in the United States on September 11, 2001 by Al-Qaeda, whose leaders were harbored by the militant group in Afghanistan.

But the Taliban has been resurgent in recent years and controls large portions of the country.

U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan officially ended in 2014, but special forces have continued to provide support to Afghan forces.

Based on reporting by The New York Times and The Washington Post
Cranking out text is an integral part of our digital lives, but it's a field of research that has a surprising lack of emphasis in virtual reality (VR) development.

"Lots of people are buying head-mounted displays, but it's mostly for video games," says Scott Kuhl, an associate professor of computer science at Michigan Tech. "We're trying to figure out how we can use a head-mounted display for office work like writing and editing a document or sending a message to someone."

James Walker, a lecturer in computer science, led the research as part of his dissertation, working with Kuhl. He says the challenge stems from the fact that people need to see what they're typing -- a bit difficult with an over-eye headset on -- so he developed a light-up virtual keyboard synced with a physical keyboard. This virtual keyboard lets a VR typist see in the head-mounted display what keys they typed on the physical keyboard.

Other VR typing systems rely on either mid-air virtual keyboards or overlaying of real-world video into the VR display. But both approaches require extra equipment such as tracking cameras that can be error-prone and intrusive. People's texting performance also declines with only virtual keyboards.

"Typing in midair is very fatiguing," Walker says. "Our solution is noteworthy because it enables people to continue using their physical peripherals, which gives the best performance, and it doesn't need any extra hardware or require superimposing a video feed into the virtual environment."

To assess the effectiveness of a physical keyboard, Walker conducted an experiment in which participants typed on a keyboard they couldn't see. In one part, participants wore a head-mounted display -- in this case, an Oculus Rift. In the other part, participants used a desktop monitor with their view of the keyboard occluded by a cover. In each part, Walker tested participants' performance with and without his virtual keyboard.

To start, a large number of people reported their typing prowess to be expert or at least proficient. Being human, participants made mistakes -- lots of them -- especially those without the virtual keyboard lighting up keys. That makes this experiment a perfect set-up not just for testing VR text hardware, but also to examine how autocorrect fits in.

"People underappreciate the redundancy in natural language," says Keith Vertanen, an assistant professor of computer science who assisted Walker and Kuhl with a language model to correct participants' typing. "Our recognition touch screen program, VelociTap, is extremely accurate as it's been trained on billions of words."

Still, Vertanen says he and the rest of the team were pleasantly surprised by how well the autocorrect algorithm shifted from its touch screen origins to predicting intended letters on a physical keyboard. In addition, the team observed that error rates declined as people continued typing with the VelociTap feedback and the model corrected about two-thirds of the text errors.
Insect pests that are rapidly adapting to genetically engineered crops threaten agriculture worldwide. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the success of a surprising strategy for countering this problem: Hybridizing genetically engineered cotton with conventional cotton reduced resistance in the pink bollworm, a voracious global pest.

The study is the result of a long-standing collaboration between researchers at the University of Arizona and in China. Over 11 years, they tested more than 66,000 pink bollworm caterpillars from China's Yangtze River Valley, a vast region of southeastern China that is home to millions of smallholder farmers.

According to the study's authors, this is the first reversal of substantial pest resistance to a Bt crop. "We have seen blips of resistance going up and down in a small area," said senior author Bruce Tabashnik, a Regents' Professor in the UA's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "But this isn't a blip. Resistance had increased significantly across an entire region, then it decreased below detection level after this novel strategy was implemented."

Cotton, corn and soybean have been genetically engineered to produce pest-killing proteins from the widespread soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. These Bt proteins are considered environmentally friendly because they are not toxic to people and wildlife. They have been used in sprays by organic growers for more than 50 years, and in engineered Bt crops planted by millions of farmers worldwide on more than 1 billion acres since 1996. Unfortunately, without adequate countermeasures, pests can quickly evolve resistance.

The primary strategy for delaying resistance is providing refuges of the pests' host plants that do not make Bt proteins. This allows survival of insects that are susceptible to Bt proteins and reduces the chances that two resistant insects will mate and produce resistant offspring. Before 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required refuges in separate fields or large blocks within fields. Planting such non-Bt cotton refuges is credited with preventing evolution of resistance to Bt cotton by pink bollworm in Arizona for more than a decade. By contrast, despite a similar requirement for planting refuges in India, farmers there did not comply and pink bollworm rapidly evolved resistance.

The ingenious strategy used in China entails interbreeding Bt cotton with non-Bt cotton, then crossing the resulting first-generation hybrid offspring and planting the second-generation hybrid seeds. This generates a random mixture within fields of 75 percent Bt cotton plants side-by-side with 25 percent non-Bt cotton plants.

advertisement

"Because cotton can self-pollinate, the first-generation hybrids must be created by tedious and costly hand pollination of each flower," said Tabashnik, who also is a member of the UA's BIO5 Institute. "However, hybrids of the second generation and all subsequent generations can be obtained readily via self-pollination. So, the hybrid mix and its benefits can be maintained in perpetuity."

Tabashnik calls this strategy revolutionary because it was not designed to fight resistance and arose without mandates by government agencies. Rather, it emerged from the farming community of the Yangtze River Valley. While most previous attention has focused on the drawbacks of interbreeding between genetically engineered and conventional plants, the authors point out that the new results demonstrate gains from such hybridization.

"For the growers in China, this practice provides short-term benefits," Tabashnik added. "It's not a short-term sacrifice imposed on them for potential long-term gains. The hybrid plants tend to have higher yield than the parent plants, and the second-generation hybrids cost less, so it's a market-driven choice for immediate advantages, and it promotes sustainability. Our results show 96 percent pest suppression and 69 percent fewer insecticide sprays."

Although seed mixtures of corn have been planted in the U.S. since 2010, the effects of seed mixtures on pest adaptation were not tested before on a large scale, he explained. "Our study provides the first evidence that planting mixtures of Bt and non-Bt seeds within fields has a resistance-delaying or, in this case, resistance-reversing effect," Tabashnik said.

Unlike the strategy in China, the corn seed mixtures planted in the U.S. do not involve interbreeding. Also, the corn seed mixtures have as little as 5 percent non-Bt corn, which may not be enough to battle resistance effectively.

"This study gives a new option for managing resistance that is very convenient for small-scale farmers and could be broadly helpful in developing countries like China and India," explained coauthor Kongming Wu, who led the work conducted in China and is a professor in the Institute of Plant Protection in Beijing.

"A great thing about this hybrid seed mix strategy is that we don't have to worry about growers' compliance or regulatory issues," Tabashnik said. "We know it works for millions of farmers in the Yangtze River Valley. Whether it works elsewhere remains to be determined."
Probing deeper into the South African cave system known as Rising Star, a subterranian maze that last year yielded the largest cache of hominin fossils known to science, an international team of researchers has discovered another chamber with more remains of a newfound human relative, Homo naledi.

The discovery, announced May 9, 2017 with the publication of a series of papers in the journal eLife, helps round out the picture of a creature that scientists now know shared the landscape with modern humans -- and probably other hominin species -- between 226,000 and 335,000 years ago. The discovery of the new fossils representing the remains of at least three juvenile and adult specimens includes a "wonderfully complete skull," says University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks.

Hawks, a leader of the research team at Rising Star and the lead author of the paper describing the new fossils, says finding more remains of multiple individuals in a chamber some distance from the chamber containing the original Homo naledi fossils lends heft to the idea that Homo naledi was caching its dead -- a surprising behavior that suggests great intelligence and possibly the first stirrings of culture.

"This likley adds weight to the hyposthesis that Homo naledi was using dark, remote places to cache its dead," Hawks observes. "What are the odds of a second, almost identical occurrence happening by chance?"

The new chamber, dubbed the Lesedi Chamber, is nearly 100 meters from the Dinaledi Chamber where the first Homo naledi fossils representing at least 15 indivuduals of various ages were found. So far, the team led by Hawks and Lee Berger, a noted paleoanthropologist from the University of Witwatersrand and a senior author of the paper with Hawks, has retrieved more than 130 new Homo naledi fossils from the Lesedi Chamber, a name that means "light" in the Setswana language.

The new chamber is also exceedingly difficult to access, requiring those excavating the fossils to crawl, climb and squeeze their way in pitch dark to the fossil cache.

advertisement

The newly-reported remains were first discovered in 2013 while excavations were underway in the Dinaledi Chamber. The new fossils come from at least three individuals -- two adults and a child -- and the researchers believe more will be recovered as excavations progress. The child, estimated to be under five years of age, is represented by bones from the head and body. Of the adults, one is identified only by a jaw and leg bones.

The skeleton of the third individual, dubbed "Neo" after the Sesotho word meaning "a gift," is remarkably complete. The skull has been painstakingly reconstructed, providing a much more complete portrait of Homo naledi. "We finally get a look at the face of Homo naledi," notes Peter Schmid, who holds a joint appointment at the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Zurich, and who spent hundreds of hours reconstructing the fragile bones of the skull.

"The skeleton of 'Neo' is one of the most complete ever discovered, technically more complete than the famous Lucy fossil given the preservation of the skull and mandible," explains Berger, the University of Witwatersrand paleoanthropologist overseeing the Rising Star excavations.

The skull of the new skeleton has much of the face, including the delicate bones of the inner eye region and nose, says Hawks, an expert on early hominins. "Some of the new bones add detail to what we knew before," says the Wisconsin paleoanthropologist. "The 'Neo' skeleton has a complete collarbone and a near-complete femur, which help to confirm what we knew about the size and stature of Homo naledi, and that it was both an effective walker and climber. The vertebrae are just wonderfully preserved, and unique -- they have a shape we've only seen in Neanderthals."

Combined, the two caches of Homo naledi fossils give science its most complete record of a hominin species other than modern humans and Neanderthals.

"With the new fossils from the Lesedi Chamber, we now have approximately 2,000 specimens of Homo naledi, representing the skeletons of at least 18 individuals," Hawks says. "There are more Homo naledi specimens than any other extinct species or population of hominins except for Neanderthals."

The notion that Homo naledi were caching their dead in underground chambers that are exceedingly difficult to get to has one parallel in Neanderthals. In a deep Spanish cave known as Sima de los Huesos, there is evidence that Neanderthals were caching the bodies of their dead companions 400,000 years ago.

"What is so provacative about Homo naledi is that these are creatures with brains one third the size of ours," Hawks says. "This is clearly not a human, yet it seems to share a very deep aspect of behavior that we recognize, an enduring care for other individuals that continues after their deaths. It awes me that we may be seeing the deepest roots of human cultural practices."
Even though we think ourselves as global citizens, we still differ in terms of how we behave online and what motivates our behavior online. A new doctoral study in the field of international marketing by Agnieszka Chwialkowska from the University of Vaasa, Finland, reveals that the cultural values and practices are still very much influencing the way consumers use different social media platforms when engaging with their favourite companies.

Chwialkowska has compared social media sharing, liking, commenting and tagging in Finland, Poland and United States.

"The consumers in the United States use company social media content to express themselves and enhance their image, whereas Finnish and Polish customers engage with company content that helps them keep in touch with their friends, and thus mainly share content that will benefit their connections," says Agnieszka Chwialkowska.

The consumers in Finland, Poland and the United States differed also in their engagement methods. While Finns and Poles were merely just clicking "like" and "share," the U.S. respondents were also tagging and commenting. All in all, the U.S. consumers were engaging with company social media content more frequently than respondents in the other two countries.

The age does not matter

Chwialkowska studied both young generation of social media users and working professionals and debunked the myth that older consumers use social media differently. Her research shows that while users above 30 years old use social media less frequently, spent less time there, and have generally less online connections than young adolescents, the key motivations underlying their online behaviors remain the same.

Chwialkowska's research offers many implications for companies present on social media. Knowing users' motivations helps them better understand their responses to marketing communication and design the content that consumers will be willing to share with their online friends.

Public Defense

The public examination M. Sc. Agnieszka Chwialkowska's doctoral dissertation "Motivational drivers of engagement with company social media content: Cross cultural perspective" will be held on Friday 12 May at 12 oclock in auditorium Kurten, Tervahovi, University of Vaasa. The field of dissertation is marketing.

Professor Heikki Karjaluoto (Jyvaskyla University School of Business and Economics, Finland) will act as opponent and Professor Jorma Larimo (University of Vaasa) as custos. The examination will be held in English.
A study led by ecologists at UC Berkeley has found significant flaws in the research used to challenge the U.S. Forest Service plan to restore Sierra Nevada forests to less dense, and less fire-prone, environments.

Until recently, the consensus among forest ecologists was that before European settlers arrived in the Sierra, the forests were mostly open conifer forests dominated by big trees and low-to-moderately severe fires every eight to 12 years. The Forest Service recently released a plan to restore the range's forests back to this state following decades of fire suppression and timber harvesting regulations, which have created dense, fire-prone forests.

But recent studies, using a newly developed methodology, have argued that the Sierra Nevada was actually a more dense forest than the consensus view. These new studies were used to back a lawsuit to stop the agency's plan to restore Sierra forests following the 2013 Rim Fire. The Berkeley study refutes the conclusions of these studies and identifies flaws in their methods.

"We went through the data and showed that, in every case, this method estimated that the density of trees was two to three times higher than was the reality," said Carrie Levine, a Ph.D. student of forest ecology at Berkeley and lead author of the study.

The study was recently published online in the journal Ecological Applications. Researchers from Harvard Forest, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, the University of Montana, Utah State University, the University of California Davis, and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region were also involved in the study.

When the US was divvying up land in the West in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the General Land Office performed surveys so that the land could be parceled and sold. Land was divided into square-mile blocks, with markers used to indicate every corner point. In case a marker was moved, so-called "witness trees" near the stake were identified as reference points. The result of this data is a grid survey of the entire American West.

Using this historic field data, two ecologists at the University of Wyoming, Mark Williams and William Baker, developed a method that claims to calculate the area that a tree occupies, which is then used to calculate a forest's density. This approach is based on the observation that trees create space to keep other trees from cramming next to them, and that this space correlates to a tree's species and size.

To assess the validity of this area-based method of density estimation in the Sierra Nevada, Levine and her co-authors assembled data from plots of mapped trees across the Sierra and Baja California, Mexico. They tested the performance of the area-based method in these mapped stands where the true density was known.

Levine and colleagues found that the area-based method has two basic flaws when applied to the Sierra, the most notable being an inability to actually predict the area that a tree occupies based on its species and size due to a weak relationship between these variables. The other flaw was a failure to account for differences in the number of trees sampled at each corner. The methodological flaws led to an inflated number of trees estimated in a pre-European Sierra Nevada forest, Levine and colleagues argue.

"We have a mapped plot where every tree is measured, so we know the true density," Levine said.

The study is important not only for the current state of the Sierra Nevada, but for its future.

"As climate changes, we want to have an accurate understanding of the past. This allows us to manage for forests that are resilient to the changes we're expecting in the future," Levine said.
Certain blood vessels in the brainstem constrict when blood vessels elsewhere in the body would dilate. And that contrary behavior is what keeps us breathing, according to a new paper by UConn researchers published May 8 in eLife.

If the body were a marching band, the brainstem would be the drum major. It keeps our heart beating and our lungs breathing in the essential rhythms of life. And just like a drum major, the job is more complex than it looks. If cellular waste products build up in the body, the brainstem has to jolt the lungs into action without disrupting other bodily functions, as surely as a drum major reins in a wayward woodwind section without losing the low brass.

Neuroscientists studying the brainstem have focused on neurons, which are brain cells that send signals to one another and all over the body. But focusing just on the neurons in the brainstem is like staring only at the drum major's hands. Recently, neuroscientists have come to understand that astrocytes, cells once thought to simply provide structure to the brain, also release signaling molecules that regulate neurons' function. But until now, no one even considered the possibility that blood vessels may be similarly specialized.

For more than a century, doctors and scientists have known that blood vessels dilate when cellular waste products like carbon dioxide build up. Widening the vessels allows fresh blood to flush through, carrying in oxygen and washing away the acidic carbon dioxide. This has been shown to be true throughout the body, and is standard dogma in undergraduate physiology classes.

UConn physiologist Dan Mulkey was teaching exactly that to undergraduates one day when he realized that it couldn't possibly be true in a certain part of the brainstem.

"I thought, wow. If that happened in the region of the brain I study, it would be counterproductive," Mulkey says. He studies the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), a small region in the brainstem that controls breathing. He's shown in the past that RTN neurons respond to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream by stimulating the lungs to breathe. But if the blood vessels in the RTN dilated in response to rising carbon dioxide the same way blood vessels do everywhere else, it would wash out that all-important signal, preventing cells in the RTN from doing their job driving us to breathe. It would be as if the drum major didn't notice the percussion section wandering off to left field.

When Mulkey returned to the lab, he asked his team, including NIH postdoctoral fellow Virginia Hawkins, to see how blood vessels in thin slices of brainstem respond to carbon dioxide. And they saw it was indeed true -- RTN blood vessels constricted when carbon dioxide levels rose. But blood vessels from slices of cortex (the wrinkled top part of the brain) dilated in response to high carbon dioxide, just like the rest of the body.

But how did the blood vessels know to act differently in the RTN? Mulkey guessed that RTN astrocytes had something to do with it. He suspected that the astrocytes were releasing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a small molecule cells can use to signal one another. And that was causing the RTN blood vessels to constrict.

When they tested it, they found the hypothesis was correct. The astrocytes in the RTN were behaving differently than astrocytes anywhere else in the body. When these brainstem astrocytes detected high levels of carbon dioxide, they released ATP signaling to the neurons and blood vessels.

When the researchers induced the astrocytes artificially to release ATP, they got the same results. Bathing the RTN blood vessels directly in ATP also caused them to constrict. Blocking ATP receptors blocked the ability of blood vessels to respond to carbon dioxide. When the team did the same experiments in live animals, they got the same results. Perhaps most importantly, manipulating blood vessels in the RTN actually influenced how animals breathe, thus linking regulation of blood vessel diameter to behavior.

The majority of this research was done by UConn undergraduates, including Ashley Trinh, Colin Cleary, and Todd Dubreuil, as well as Elliot Rodriguez, a summer student in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates in Physiology and Neurobiology program at UConn, who studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania the rest of the year. The students' work uncovered a major discovery in neurophysiology. The work was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (HL104101 HL126381) and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (150263).

"This is a big change in how we think about breathing," Mulkey says. And about blood vessels. Even in a single organ like the brain, the purpose of blood flow is not the same everywhere. Tailored responses in the RTN keep the body's drum major conducting, and let the band play on.
Dan Kallen, a detective in southern New Jersey, was searching a home with fellow officers in August 2015, when they found a bag of white powder. Kallen removed a scoop of powder for testing. When he was done, he closed the bag, and a bit of air escaped, carrying a puff of powder with it. It was enough to send Kallen and a fellow officer to the emergency room.

The drugs in the bag had been spiked with fentanyl, a synthetic drug that, like heroin, is an opioid. But it is 50 times more potent than heroin -- even a tiny amount inhaled or absorbed through the skin can be extremely dangerous or deadly. Kallen described his experience in a Drug Enforcement Agency video that warns first responders of the dangers of handling unknown powders.

Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working to address this hazard. In a paper published in Forensic Chemistry, they report that two technologies, Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) and Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS), can detect trace amounts of fentanyl even when mixed with heroin and other substances.

This research is the first to identify the lowest concentrations at which fentanyl mixtures can be detected using these techniques, and it suggests new ways to protect law enforcement officers, evidence examiners, and drug-sniffing dogs.

IMS instruments are commonly used at airports. In that setting, a security officer might swab a piece of luggage or a passenger's hands, then insert the swab into the instrument to check for traces of explosive residue. Similarly, a police officer might test a bag of powder for fentanyl before opening it.

"Currently, police officers have to handle drugs to test them," said Ed Sisco, a research chemist at NIST and the lead author of the study. "But with these technologies, they can just swab the outside of a bag to test for fentanyl." If the test comes back positive, they can take extra precautions.

advertisement

Amber Burns, chief of the Controlled and Dangerous Substances Unit at the Maryland State Police Crime lab, agreed that screening with IMS or DART-MS would be useful. "Several law enforcement agencies have reached out to us about how to better handle suspected drugs," Burns said. "Because IMS is portable, it would be pretty user friendly for them to bring to a scene and screen a sample quickly."

IMS instruments cost around $35,000 and are the size of a microwave oven. Burns said the DART-MS instruments, which are more sensitive but larger and more expensive, might be ideal for screening incoming material at a forensic lab before it's handled by evidence examiners.

In addition, these technologies might be used to screen packages at the border or at postal service inspection facilities.

The authors have also reached out to medical researchers about investigating whether fentanyl screening might be useful when treating overdose victims. Because fentanyl is so potent, reviving an individual after a fentanyl-related overdose often requires multiple doses of the opioid antidote naloxone. Swabbing the victim's hands might reveal if fentanyl is involved, and that information might be useful in determining a course of treatment.

An Epidemic of Drug Overdoses

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 52,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States in 2015, more than triple the number from 1999. That rapid increase is being driven by heroin and synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl. In just a single year, from 2014 to 2015, the death rate from synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased by 72 percent.

advertisement

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is used as a painkiller. But according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, most illicit fentanyl is smuggled into the United States. The manufacturers constantly create new forms of fentanyl, each with a slightly different chemical structure. They do this to stay one step ahead of the authorities, who must individually ban each new fentanyl analog as it emerges.

Drug dealers often lace their supply with fentanyl or an analog to boost its potency. Users may not know the strength of the drugs they're buying, or how the different substances in it interact.

A particularly dangerous fentanyl analog, carfentanil, is increasingly turning up in the U.S. drug supply. Carfentanil is used as a large animal tranquilizer, and it is 100 times more potent than fentanyl -- 5,000 times more potent than heroin.

"A small amount, just the size of a poppy seed, can kill you," Burns said.

Research Based on a Realistic Scenario

For their research, Sisco and colleagues used IMS and DART-MS instruments to detect 16 different fentanyl analogs, including carfentanil. Both technologies work by ionizing the molecules in question, which gives them an electric charge. An electrical field then draws the ions toward a detector, and you can measure how long it takes for them to arrive. That time delay is like a signature that identifies the molecule.

Detecting the synthetic drugs in their pure form is easy. In this case, the researchers mixed small amounts of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs with heroin and with common cutting agents such as caffeine.

"We wanted to mimic what first responders and evidence examiners are likely to see in the field," said Sisco. "Would the large amounts of cutting agents mask the fentanyl signatures? That's what we wanted to find out."

They found that, using IMS, they could detect fentanyl in mixtures that contain as little as 0.2 percent fentanyl. With DART-MS, they could easily detect mixtures down to 0.1 percent. Both types of instruments were able to detect traces of the compounds that inevitably land on the outside of plastic bags through handling.

In addition, both techniques distinguished between most of the different analogs of fentanyl. This is important because some analogs are far more potent than others. In addition, identifying specific analogs will help law enforcement and public health officials keep track of new analogs as they emerge.

This research paper is the first to publish the IMS and DART-MS signatures for the 16 fentanyl analogs tested. Sisco and his co-authors are speaking with IMS manufacturers about adding the newly identified signatures to their product software. That way, agencies that already own the instruments would be able to identify the fentanyl analogs after their next software update. NIST publishes a widely used DART-MS library, and the authors are working on getting the signatures added to that library as well.

"We hope this makes a real difference to the safety of people who come into contact with synthetic opioids," Sisco said. "The opioid epidemic is a huge problem. This might be one small way to try to get a handle on it."
The way bilingual people read is conditioned by the languages they speak. This is the main conclusion reached by researchers at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) after reviewing the existing scientific literature and comparing this information to the findings of studies at their own centre.

The scientists found that the languages spoken by bilingual people (when they learned to read in two languages at the same time) affect their reading strategies and even the cognitive foundations that form the basis for the capacity to read. This discovery could have implications for clinical and education practice.

"Monolingual speakers of transparent languages -- where letters are pronounced the same independently of the word they are included in, such as Basque or Spanish -- have a greater tendency to use analytical reading strategies, where they read words in parts," according to Marie Lallier, one of the authors of the article.

On the other hand, speakers of opaque languages, where the sounds of letters differ depending on the word (for example English or French) are more likely to use a global reading strategy. In other words, they tend to read whole words to understand their meaning.

Nonetheless, the BCBL researchers have observed that bilingual people who learn to read two languages at the same time do not read the same way as monolingual speakers; rather, they follow a different pattern which had not previously been described.

According to the literature review, recently published in Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, a contamination effect takes place between the two reading strategies in speakers of two languages. Therefore, a person learning to read in Spanish and in English will have a greater tendency towards a global strategy, even when reading in Spanish, than a monolingual Spanish speaker. This effect is caused by the influence of the second language.

advertisement

When reading in English, on the contrary, they will tend towards a more analytical strategy (reading by parts) than monolingual English speakers, due to "contagion" from Spanish. "The brains of bilingual people adjusts itself in accordance with what they learn, applying the strategies needed to read in one language to their reading in the other language," Lallier adds.

Associated cognitive processes

The researchers had previously described the principal strategies used by monolingual speakers of various languages. However, the way reading strategies are modified in bilingual people when they learn to read in two languages had never before been identified.

The scientists at the San Sebastian centre believe that learning to read in two languages with different characteristics than the mother tongue also causes a change in the cognitive processes that are the basis of reading acquisition, such as visual attention or auditory phonological processes.

In other words, learning to read in an opaque language (such as English or French) reinforces our capacity to rapidly process many visual elements, because whole words must be deciphered to achieve fluent reading in these languages.

advertisement

As transparent languages have a much greater focus on the letter-sound correspondence, learning to read in these languages is though to improve our sensitivity in perceiving the sounds of the language.

Application in diagnosing dyslexia

The paper's authors consider their findings to have implications at different levels. From an educational standpoint, they allow better understanding of how bilingual populations learn to read and what type of strategies are most advisable to help pupils learn based on the languages they know.

The new discovery could also help in the diagnosis and assessment of dyslexia and other problems with reading. "Language learning can not provoke more cases of dyslexia, as the disorder is usually caused by neurogenetic factors. Our theory suggests that more language learning could make the symptoms more visible, and vice versa. This depends on the combination of languages they are learning," Lallier explains.

The languages a child knows are therefore determinants for identifying potential disorders, as this essential information would explain certain mistakes made when reading.

"Our experience with languages modulates our capacity to read. This should be taken into account when teaching bilingual children to read, and if any reading problems, such as dyslexia, should appear. We need to establish specific scales for the diagnosis of dyslexia in bilingual people, because their circumstances are different," the expert concludes.
Page Content

Many employers enforce attendance policies that assign an "occurrence" for unscheduled, unapproved absences. Although employers generally have discretion to implement attendance policies, such policies should be carefully crafted to avoid running afoul of antidiscrimination and antiretaliation provisions found in certain state and local paid-sick-leave laws.

In California, the state labor agencythe Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)recently published an updated FAQ which addresses this topic.

The California paid-sick-leave law, known as the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, required employers to provide paid sick leave beginning on July 1, 2015. Generally, the law requires employers to provide at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, or a minimum annual lump sum of 24 hours.

Sick leave may be used for the diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition ofor preventive care foran employee or an employee's family member, and also for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

Doctor's Appointments

In its recent publication, the DLSE posed the following question: Can my employer discipline me for taking a paid sick day or for using paid sick leave for part of a day to go to a doctor's appointment?

The DLSE answers the question in the negative: "In general, no, an employer may not discipline an employee for using accrued paid sick leave. Depending on the circumstances, however, the issue may be more complex and may require more analysis."

The agency cites to California's paid-sick-leave law, which includes an antiretaliation provision:

"An employer shall not deny an employee the right to use accrued sick days, discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate against an employee for using accrued sick days, attempting to exercise the right to use accrued sick days, filing a complaint with the department or alleging a violation of this article, cooperating in an investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this article, or opposing any policy or practice or act that is prohibited by this article." (Lab. Code  246.5, subd. (c)(1).)

The DLSE also points to a second antiretaliation clause found in California's "Kin Care" law, Labor Code Sections 233 and 234. Section 233 requires an employer to allow an employee to use accrued and "available" sick leave (which is the amount that would accrue during a six-month period) for the purposes specified in the paid-sick-leave law. Labor Code section 234 provides that "[a]n employer absence control policy that counts sick leave taken pursuant to Section 233 as an absence that may lead to or result in discipline, discharge, demotion, or suspension is a per se violation of Section 233."

The agency concludes: "This means, in general terms, that if an employee has accrued sick days available, an employer may not deny the employee the right to use those accrued paid sick days, including the right to use paid sick leave for a partial day (e.g., to attend a doctor's appointment), and may not discipline the employee for doing so."

Accrued and Available Leave

This does not mean that an employer may never discipline an employee for missing work. If the employee does not have any accrued or available sick leave, as in the case where the employee has used up all of his or her available time under the employer's sick pay policy, the employer may give the employee an "occurrence" for the absence that otherwise violates the company's attendance policy.

This is so even if the absence would have counted as covered sick leave had the employee not exhausted his or her accrued time.

The paid sick leave law does not "protect" all time off taken by an employee for illness or related purposes; it "protects" only an employee's accrued and available paid sick leave as specified in the statute.

The DLSE's FAQ clarifies: "The paid sick leave law does not 'protect' all time off taken by an employee for illness or related purposes; it 'protects' only an employee's accrued and available paid sick leave as specified in the statute."

The DLSE further clarifies that where only part of the absence is covered by accrued paid sick leave, the employer may assign an "occurrence" for the uncovered portion. For example, if an employee is absent for a full eight-hour day of work, but elects to use only four hours of his or her accrued paid sick leave, the employer would be allowed to discipline the employee for the half day of absence for which no paid sick leave was used.

Similarly, if the employee had a full day absence, but only had available four hours of accrued paid sick leave, the employer could discipline the employee for the half day absence under the employer's attendance policy.

So far, no California published appellate decision has addressed this topic, and it is important to note that the DLSE's online publication does not have the force of law. In any event, the publication addresses an important topic, which employers should carefully consider when crafting an attendance policy that assigns adverse consequences for unapproved or excessive absences.

Christopher W. Olmsted is an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in San Diego.  Ogletree Deakins. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.


Countries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia 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 Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe
No

Yes, a light case

Yes, two or more light cases

One serious case

Two or more serious bouts

Vote

View Results
Recently the eighth edition of an online magazine for ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) fans in the West appeared. Called Rumiyah, it first showed up in September 2016 and has appeared about once a month ever since. Rumiyah was designed for those in the West interested in ISIL style mayhem and especially lone wolf attacks. The latest issues have appeared in ten languages, including English. Each issue contains seemingly practical advice on how to obtain weapons (particularly firearms and explosives) in various Western countries. Some of this advice is fatally flawed and apparently not based on experience (other than some novel or video). The techniques for carrying out attacks, whether with vehicles, knives, bombs or firearms are all based on attacks that have already occurred are often featured. In short, its sort of porn for those obsessed with gruesome violence in the name of God (or Allah or whatever). Police often find copies of Rumiyah on computers or smart phones owned by actual or potential ISIL terrorists in the West. It is unclear if the information contained in Rumiyah played a major role in the number and conduct of recent lone wolf attacks in the West because a lot of the attack methods have been known for years but only recently popularized by ISIL.

Rumiyah is produced by a small staff in the Syrian city of Raqqa. This is the ISIL capital and is currently under constant air attack and being surrounded by hostile ground forces. So while new issues of Rumiyah may soon cease appearing the older ones will remain available indefinitely. Raqqa was captured by ISIL in 2014 and soon the first of fifteen issues of Dabiq online magazine showed up. This was the predecessor of Rumiyah and what happened to it is instructive. The last Dabiq appeared in July 2016. That was because Dabiq was named after a town in Syria that is key to ISIL religious beliefs. ISIL lost control of the town in October 2016. Dabiq Magazine was apparently replaced by Rumiyah because no plans to revive Dabiq were ever discussed. Meanwhile American intelligence and airstrikes concentrated on finding and killing the key people working on ISIL online operations. This decapitation approach has caused problems for the ISIL online propaganda effort but they managed to continue getting out new issues of Rumiyah.

The concept of Islamic terrorists of using online magazines is relatively new. In 2010 al Qaeda thought they had developed a decisive tool for using the Internet to increase their power. This was being done with a growing number of English language online magazines. These were aimed at those interested in Islamic terrorism and understood English. The main purpose of these publications is to attract recruits, contributions and all manner of support. It seemed to work at first but eventually it didnt, just like the Islamic terrorism they promoted.

Inspire Magazine was the first and by 2014 Islamic terrorists had three online English language magazines. In addition to Inspire there was Resurgence from by Somali Islamic terrorist group al Shabaab. This one was announced in March 2014 but did not appear until October. A second edition showed up five months later and nothing since then. A new al Shabaab magazine showed, Amka, showed up in 2015 that appealed to a larger audience. Only two editions of Amka have shown up so far. This irregular publication schedule was typical of these magazines.

In November 2014 Al Somood from the Afghan Taliban appeared. This one appears to be an English language version of the Urdu (a common language in Afghanistan and Pakistan) publication the Taliban have distributed since 2010. Appealing to an English speaking audience is meant to attract Moslems living in immigrant communities in the West as well as highly educated (and usually English speaking) Moslems or non-Moslem sympathizers everywhere. In 2015 Syrian al Qaeda affiliate al Nusra published the first of two editions of Al Risalah. This group reorganized in early 2016 and Al Risalah has not been seen since.

Resurgence and Al Somood appealed to a specific audience (Somali, Afghan and Pakistani expatriates in English speaking countries) to mainly obtain recruits for al Shabaab and the Taliban. All three of these publications attracted a lot of attention from the mass media and politicians but otherwise were ineffective. For example not a lot of captured Islamic terrorists note these magazines as being an influence on them. The same pattern was found when analyzing online chatter among active Islamic terrorists. Some Islamic terrorist groups noted this and tried to adapt.

Inspire was attractive to Western media because the magazine was founded in 2010 by al Qaeda propagandist and recruiter Anwar al Awlaqi. What made Inspire unique was not so such that is was an English language online magazine directed to supporters and practitioners of Islamic terrorism and reside in the West, or anywhere there are English speaking Moslems (like Pakistan and India). No, the real appeal was that the founder was an American citizen. Thus the first issue contained articles exhorting the faithful to try and kill the enemies of Islam anyway they can (like subsequent massacres in Paris) along with tips on how to do that as well as guidance on how to avoid being detected and killed before you carry out this sacred mission. Awlaqi presented this in colloquial English.

The popularity of Inspire in the Western media backfired because it created calls for action against the traitor. Thus Awlaqi was killed in Yemen by an American UAV in late 2011. But Inspire continued and by early 2016 the 16th edition appeared. Publication of Inspire was erratic because of the untimely deaths of several people responsible for producing Inspire. That has been a problem for a long time and the magazine has been appearing infrequently, as in one or two issues a year. Awlaqi was noted mainly for being American born and an active recruiter of terrorists world-wide, especially in the West. Awlaqi was not in the senior leadership that actually ran the al Qaeda in Arabia (AQAP) organization that supported Inspire. Awlaqi was mainly famous for founding Inspire as part of his efforts to recruit more terrorists from among Moslems who were already in the West. Awlaqi used the Internet heavily to recruit Moslems outside the Middle East, and especially in the West, to participate in "personal jihad" (terror attacks planned and carried out by one person or a few people). Inspire Magazine provided practical information, for those who could read English, on how to do that. The led to more such magazines being created to do much the same thing.

While many terrorist wannabes have been found with Inspire Magazine (possession of which is illegal in Great Britain) in their possession, no successful terror attacks have been traced to it. That's probably because there are already a lot of Islamic terrorist "how to" documents out on the Internet, most of them written in Arabic or Urdu (the most common language in Pakistan). There has always been some material in English, if only because a lot has been written about terrorism in English. This has become the common language of knowledge in general, with technical material from many other languages translated into English. Until recently, few books were translated into Arabic (or even published in Arabic), so many Arabs interested in learning anything beyond religion learned English first.

What English speaking terrorist wannabes still lack is practical experience on how to go about being an Islamic terrorist. Those most attracted to this sort of thing tend to be the less successful socially and economically. Simple and direct instructions are needed, along with ideological justification for Islamic terrorism. These magazines provides both, although the propaganda tends to be rough going for those not accustomed to deep thinking. The advice on carrying out violence is easier to understand, and that's what makes online publications like this dangerous. Note that all these online Islamic terrorist magazines warn their readers to be careful in using the Internet to respond to the editors.
South Korea recently delivered 208 vehicles (mostly trucks but including cars, busses and ambulances) and 14 construction vehicles (bulldozers and the like) to Cambodia. These are for the security forces and officially to improve security in Cambodia but also to reduce North Korean influence in Cambodia. Later in 2017 South Korea will deliver 143 more vehicles, two patrol boats and eight construction vehicles. This follows a 2012 donation of 212 transportation vehicles and 29 construction vehicles. The first donation was in 2010 and included 180 transportation vehicles, eight patrol boats and 66 construction vehicles. In addition South Korea has separately supplied spare parts and technical assistance in maintaining all this equipment.

China and Japan also make donations like this to nations in Southeast Asia (including the Philippines) for similar reasons, which often include help in dealing with local outbreaks of Islamic terrorism. China has been particularly generous lately because it is seeking to gain diplomatic support for its territorial claims in the South China Sea. South Korea has another angle in that some of the donated equipment is South Korean made and being retired because new models are available. The recipients note that the South Korea stuff is higher quality and more durable than Chinese equivalents. This pays off when South Korea salesmen show up offering similar civilian equipment.
Israel has made it clear to the new American government that it is willing to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians but such an effort cannot have any preconditions. The Israelis have presented ample evidence (from Palestinian media, especially that controlled by Fatah and Hamas) that the official Palestinian position (at least in Arabic to its own people) is that Israel should not exist and must be destroyed. Previous American governments ignored that or explained it away. But even Moslem nations that have long backed the Palestinians have reduced that support because they see the Palestinian goals as hopeless. Moreover the Palestinians are still divided (Fatah controls the West Bank, Hamas Gaza) and all efforts to the two factions to form a united government have failed.

In addition to the Palestinian problem Israel considers Iran the major military threat and for that reason is at war with Iran in Syria. Irans allies there, Russia and Turkey, are not backing Iranian efforts to destroy Israel once ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) is destroyed in Syria. Russia is quite open about its good relationships and cooperation with Israel while Turkey is making it clear that if pressed to choose sides, they would prefer Israel to Iran. Nevertheless Turkey is still run by an Islamic political party that is highly critical of Israel, and the West in general. But thats another problem.

Taking advantage of the situation in Syria Israel has been more aggressive with its attacks on Iranian weapons shipments to Syria, many of them actually intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel keeps careful track of Iranian air freight flights to Syria and has noted these flights have become more frequent since 2015. This was because economic sanctions were eased and Iran could buy new air transports and spare parts for reviving the elderly air freight fleet it already has. Israel is seeing a lot of Iranian refurbished air transports showing up in Syria. Many of them carry missile components. Iran is attempting to update the Hezbollah rocket and missile arsenal to include a lot more projectiles that are guided (usually by GPS). Currently only about one percent of the more than hundred thousand Hezbollah rockets aimed at Israel are guided, and often not very accurately or reliably. Iran wants to change that so Hezbollah can launch a large enough number of guided rockets to overwhelm Israeli anti-missile defenses and do serious damage to Israeli military and economic targets as well as cause massive casualties.

Iran is losing this war with Israel and seeking a way to do better. This is important inside Iran where the government has long publicized victories (usually invented) over Israel. Highly visible defeats by Israel, as are happening in Syria, does little to prop up the unpopular religious dictatorship that has been running the country since the 1980s. Another embarrassment is the success of Russian air power and ground forces (mainly special operations and artillery) to help the Assad forces win back territory. Until 2016 Iranian forces were seen as the key to Assad survival and the Assads were not shy about praising their Iranian saviors. But that changed in 2017 as the alliance with Turkey and Russia began to come apart. Iran blames this on Israel which, in this case, is partially correct. Israel knows that Iran wants to establish a pro-Iranian militia in Syria similar to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Assads know this would mean they would have to share power in Syria with Iran. Most Syrians dont care for this, just as most Lebanese dont care for the Hezbollah presence since the 1980s. No one, including Russia, Turkey and Israel, want another Hezbollah established in Syria. Iran will not back down on this and that has damaged their relationships with their allies.

Turkey is still technically an Iranian ally in Syria but that has changed since late 2016. This is mainly because Turkey is trying to prevent the Syrian Kurds from establishing an autonomous region in northern Syria and that goal outweighs everything else. The Turks are the only member of the anti-ISIL coalition that wants to keep the Kurds out of the final offensive to crush ISIL in Syria. The Turks are also opposed to the growing Iranian presence in Syria and Iranian plans to make that presence (and control of the Syrian government) permanent. Turkey also favors the Sunni Arab states when it comes to disputes between Iran and the Arabs. This was clearly the case when Turkey demanded that the Assads be overthrown in the wake of the April 4th nerve gas attack. Israel also opposes the Iranian presence but is neutral about the Kurds and has the support of Russia and the United States for that. Russia and the United States are trying to prevent the offensive against ISIL from being disrupted because of growing hostility between the Turks and the SDF (Kurdish led secular rebel coalition) but are not having much success.

While Russia is officially in Syria to defeat ISIL and keep the Assads in power they (semi-officially) also want to maintain good relations with Israel and Sunni Arab countries while doing it. This annoys Iran. Israel has made it clear that there can never be peace in Syria if Iran tries to establish a permanent presence there. The Iranians say they are in Syria to stay and the Russians (so far) have said they oppose that. Iran wants to stay in Syria as part of its decades old effort to destroy Israel and a centuries old effort to make the Shia form of Islam dominant in the Islamic world (that is over 80 percent non-Shia). Meanwhile Israel says it can live with the Assads as long as Iran is not maintaining a military presence in Syria. Many Turks agree with Israel on that point and newly elected U.S. government has come out strongly against any permanent Iranian presence in Syria. The Americans still want the Assads gone but despite that the U.S., Israel and Turkey agree on some key goals.

Egypt

The Egyptian government is unable to eliminate the Islamic terrorist groups in part because the Egyptian religious establishment, especially the senior scholars, refuse to block attempts to separate church and state. This is seen as fundamental to progress in the non-Moslem world and a major obstacle defeating the endless (since the early days of Islam) supply of Islamic terrorist groups attacking those they consider enemies of Islam. These enemies are usually fellow Moslems but non-Moslems will do if they are easily available. Groups like al Qaeda and ISIL thrive on this fundamentalism. But even Moslem monarchs and dictators realize that this is a major obstacle to achieving economic and military power. The resurgence of Islamic terrorism in Egypt has crippled the economy, as it did in the 1990s and numerous other times in the past. Egyptian universities that have long been recognized as the most authoritative voice on Islam but even here the traditionalists prevail. Mindful of this Islamic terrorist groups like ISIL are concentrating on wrecking the economy to create more unrest and eventually turn Egypt into a religious dictatorship. This is the same strategy used in the 1990s and it eventually failed. The less fanatic and more widespread Moslem Brotherhood also seeks religious rule, but is willing to tolerate democracy as long as the primacy of Islam is not challenged. The practical result of all this is continued civil disorder and a crippled economy, in large part because the wealthier non-Moslem world is reluctant to do business, or even visit, Egypt. Native Christians (the Copts) are suffering increased persecution, often in the form of murder and kidnapping. This is a major blemish on Egypt, which has long touted its large native Christian population as a sign that the country was safe for non-Moslems. That no longer works. Even Israel has backed off and the Israeli embassy has remained closed since the end of 2016 because of the Islamic terrorist threat.

In Sinai the local ISIL franchise appears to have changed its strategy and returned to enforcing its strict Islamic lifestyle rules. Since 2015 the Sinai ISIL have refrained from such enforcement. But now the enforcement is back and so is the active hostility of the local Bedouin. What caused this ISIL decision is unclear but it is counterproductive. In the beginning (2014) Bedouins, who have long supported armed opposition to the government, were openly hostile to ISIL because ISIL tried to impose harsh Islamic lifestyle rules on the Bedouins. That is one thing you do not try to do and the Bedouins forced ISIL to back down on several occasions over this issue. By late 2015 ISIL learned how to behave among the Bedouin and were able to work with them. This has made it possible for ISIL to survive there and even send small teams to the Nile River valley, where most Egyptians live. ISIL is still planning to become the only Islamic terror group in Sinai (and eventually the world) and eventually return to strict enforcement of their lifestyle rules. This was announced in late March when an online ISIL video described how the Hisba (what ISIL calls its lifestyle police) would begin operating in Sinai, as they have been doing in Iraq and Syria. Local Bedouin leaders warned ISIL men they knew that turning Hisba loose on the Bedouins would backfire. Apparently some ISIL members told the Bedouins that the Hisba were just for the non-Bedouin population in Sinai. That was not reassuring because many Bedouin work the same jobs as non-Bedouin and unless you know a lot about Bedouin life and politics its difficult to tell, even after questioning, who is a Bedouin and who isnt. Naturally the new ISIL policy backfired, just like it did in 2014.

May 8, 2017: In western Egypt, ground troops and warplanes have been searching for and destroying a large number of 4x4 vehicles from Libya that were trying to move weapons and ammunition into Egypt. Over the weekend 15 of these vehicles were destroyed, apparently by air strikes. The operation continues.

May 6, 2017: In Gaza Hamas elected a new leader, the first one since 2004 who actually lives in Gaza. Since 2004 Hamas leaders have lived in places where they were safer from being captured or killed by Israeli counter-terrorism efforts. The new Hamas leader is offering Israel a truce but that is seen as an act of desperation because the previous hardline Hamas leaders, ruling from exile in places like Syria or Qatar (in the Persian Gulf) were seen as leaders of international Islamic terrorist organizations and were no longer safe anywhere.

Egypt will allow relatively free movement of people (and some goods) via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt for three days. This is described as a humanitarian gesture. Rafah is the only exit from Gaza that is not controlled by Israel. Meanwhile ISIL left the decapitated bodies of three men in the streets of Rafah. A few days earlier ISIL had raided the nearby town the three victims (a father and two sons) lived in and kidnapped them. Whatever negotiations that might have ensured did not work out. ISIL often tries to intimidate locals by kidnapping or killing them. Further west, outside Cairo, police raided a location where two men were building bombs. The two would not surrender and were killed in a gun battle.

May 5, 2017: The Israeli army has decided to punish two officers for not preventing a Lebanese civilian from crossing the Israeli border undetected. Fortunately the man was not a terrorist and was found, arrested and sent back to Lebanon within two days. There was an investigation and it was determined that a deputy company commander was directly responsible for the lax discipline that led to the incident. This officer was removed from his job and this will be a black mark on his career. The battalion commander was given a letter of reprimand, which makes it more difficult to get promoted.

May 3, 2017: Israeli and Russian officials are increasingly open about how the two nations coordinate military operations in Syria and cooperate in other areas as well.

May 2, 2017: In Lebanon Hezbollah criticized Hamas for changing its official policy on Israel. Hezbollah still calls for the destruction of Israel.

Egyptian efforts to get the two main factions in Libya to at least discuss a peace deal appear to have had some visible success. This was visible at a meeting today in the Arab Gulf State of Abu Dhabi between Libyan military leader Khalifa Hiftar and the prime minister of the UN organized and backed Libyan GNA government. This was the first time these two men met. This meeting led to more Moslem nations backing Egypt in its effort to support Hiftar. Egypt has resisted pressure from the UN to get behind the GNA (Government of National Accord) which the UN organized in 2015 but has been unable to convince all Libyans to support. Egypt sees GNA as too cozy with Islamic conservative groups. Algeria feels the same way as do many other local Moslem nations. These attitudes are no secret because leaders from Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt have met several times since 2012 to discuss Libya and continue to agree that none of them wants to intervene militarily (on a large scale) to deal with the chaos next door. But at the same time all three nations, which have long borders with Libya, will cooperate with whatever faction is controlling the Libyan side of the border and will work to keep Islamic terrorists from freely moving back and forth across the border. Thus Egypt has become very close to the HoR (elected House of Representatives that GNA replaced) government while Tunisia is on good terms with both the GNA and pro-HoR groups who have worked with Tunisia to control Islamic terrorism, especially ISIL. Tunisia noted that general Hiftar (the HoR military leader) keeps ISIL out of eastern Libya while pro-GNA militias drove ISIL out of their new base in Sirte by the end of 2016. All this greatly reduced ISIL activity in Tunisia. Algeria noted the same thing and all three neighboring countries have increased their border security to contain the lawlessness that still predominates throughout Libya. The GNA has not ignored neighborhood politics and has recently sent officials to Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Russia to make their case for being the only national government in Libya. These officials came back with vague promises to help and some blunt assessments by foreigners about what HoR does right especially compared to GNA efforts. The GNA is also advised to make more of an effort to reconcile their differences with HoR, especially when it comes to general Hiftar.

May 1, 2017: In Gaza Hamas was forced to deal with its cash shortage by announcing that it no longer insisted on the destruction of Israel. Hamas also renounced its support for the Moslem Brotherhood, especially the Egyptian branch that Hamas originally belonged to before becoming a separate group in 1987. Israeli analysts pointed out that this is an old tactic for Islamic terrorists in general and Hamas in particular. In short, Hamas is lying because it is a useful tactical move. Arab oil states (especially Saudi Arabia) are now the primary source of cash and Egypt is at war with the Moslem Brotherhood and considers Hamas an enemy and treats it like one. That means access to Egypt (legal or otherwise) has become almost as difficult as access to Israel. This sort of thing is more about style than substance. For example the Sunni Arab oil states can count it as another win in their war with Shia Iran. This conflict is over a thousand years old and heated up in 2011 when the Sunni Arab majority in Syria rebelled against Shia minority rule (by the Assad clan) that was backed by Iran. At first Hamas backed the Syrian Sunnis (because most Palestinians are Sunnis). But that meant Iran, one of its main supporters (of cash and weapons), cut them off. In early 2012 Iran and Hamas made peace over this dispute and Iran resumed supplying cash and weapons. Apparently deciding that Hamas was more important as a threat to Israel, than as a shunned critic of the pro-Iranian dictatorship in Syria, Iranian cash and terrorism advisors reappeared in Gaza. The reconciliation also meant an end to cooperation with rival Palestinian group Fatah, which controls the West Bank. While most Palestinians would like to see Hamas and Fatah operate together, Iran is more interested in having control of an Islamic terrorist group that operates on Israel's border. Iran, and most Arab nations, consider the Palestinians losers and incapable of achieving self-rule or any kind of independence. No one will say that out loud, but it's the attitude that governs relationships with the Palestinians. That attitude has not changed but the Arab oil states have become allies of Israel against their common enemy Iran and Hamas was given a choice; support Sunnis or become collateral damage. Inside Gaza the word on the street, from Hamas supporters and opponents alike is that its all theater and that nothing has changed.

Hamas also needed a way to deal with recent defeats in its feud with Fatah, the Palestinian faction that runs the West Bank. Fatah was cutting financial support to Gaza in an effort to force Hamas to allow elections. Fatah thought it could win elections. Not because Fatah had more support among Palestinians but more because Hamas was much less popular.

In the midst of all this Israel revived an offer they had made to Hamas at the start of the year. Hamas turned the offer down but apparently some Hamas leaders saw an opportunity. The Israeli peace deal included building an international airport, a seaport and industrial zones in Gaza and lifting the blockade if Hamas would renounce its efforts to destroy Israel and cease all military operations against Israel. There would have to be guarantees and freedom to monitor compliance. That may still be a deal breaker.

April 30, 2017: After several years of litigation an international appeals court confirmed that Egypt was wrong when it cancelled a long-term natural gas supply to Israel because Islamic terrorists constantly attacked the pipeline. The courts found that Egypt must pay $3 billion to the two Israeli energy companies that were importing the Egyptian natural gas. There is still room for further negotiation but at this point Egypt is forced to confront the fact that if they want to participate in the world economy they have to play by the rules.

April 27, 2017: In Syria Israeli missiles, apparently fired from inside Israel, hit Iranian warehouses near the Mazzeh Air Base outside Damascus. This was a night attack and cell phone videos showed that these buildings apparently contained weapons because there were numerous secondary explosions as in a missile setting off ammunition or missiles stored there. The Israeli missiles also hit a fuel storage site, causing large secondary explosions and fires. This attack went after munitions and fuel used by Iran mercenaries in Syria in addition to missiles and other weapons meant to be smuggled into Lebanon. Some Iranian and Hezbollah personnel were killed. Later in the day Russia condemned the attack as a violation of Syrian sovereignty. Despite this public demonstration of anger Russia understands that Israel has a legitimate need to protect itself from Iranian attack via Hezbollah or similar Assad forces. This angers Iran but so far the Iranians have kept their criticisms quiet. Before the end of the day Israel confirmed that it had fired one of its Patriot missiles at an aircraft (apparently an Iranian made UAV) flying from Syrian into Israel. Iran is desperate to obtain some kind of victory over Israel and the Gulf Arabs are content to stand aside and watch these two unpredictable adversaries have at each other. Israel has tweaked (modified) the software in its two AWACS (Airborne Early Warning Aircraft) so the CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) radar system can spot small, low flying UAVs as well as manned aircraft.

April 23, 2017: Israeli warplanes attacked a pro-Assad militia in Quneitra province (adjacent to Golan Heights) as well as several other targets. This was retaliation for Syrian mortar fire that landed inside Israel on the 21st. Most of the damage from the airstrikes was to property but three men were killed and two wounded. Since the casualties belonged to pro-Assad forces Syria accused Israel of backing the rebels. This was not true, its just that many of the pro-Assad militias and mercenaries belong to groups that seek to destroy Israel. The recent airstrike casualties belonged to a Palestinian terror group that had long enjoyed sanctuary in Syria and unlike most Palestinians in Syria (who favored the rebels) remained loyal to the Assads. The most frequent target of Israeli airstrikes is Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Islamic terror group that exists mainly to destroy Israel. The Assads also see Israeli influence in the fact that the local al Qaeda affiliate (Tahir al Sham, formerly Jabhat Fatah al Sham and originally Al Nusra) is now spending more time attacking Hezbollah and trying to carry out attacks in Lebanon. Until early 2016 al Nusra was allied with ISIL but that alliance was always temporary because ISIL wanted to eventually absorb al Nusra. The two groups put that battle off to deal with the Assad government first. Even before mid-2016 al Nusra tried to distance itself from ISIL and began openly fighting ISIL in places like Aleppo. As recently as late 2016 more than half the Sunni Islamic terrorist rebels belonged to groups hostile to ISIL and most of these are controlled or allied with the al Qaeda affiliated al Nusra/Jabhat Fatah rebels. But now ISIL is rapidly disappearing in Syria and Iraq because of constant air and ground attack. Al Nusras fight with ISIL was seen as a family feud (as both groups are Sunni) while Hezbollah is the local rep for Shia Islam and its main proponents; Iran. Israel sees Iran its primary foe in the region and so do most Sunni Arabs. But groups like al Qaead/al Nusra also want Israel destroyed. But for the moment the strategy is deal with the Shia scourge first.

April 22, 2017: In Egypt the government is scrambling to deal with recently released video showing soldiers questioning civilians about Moslem Brotherhood activities and murdering those who will not cooperate. The troops are seen placing weapons next to the dead bodies so that photos of Islamic terrorists killed by the security forces can be taken and published. The Egyptian security forces have long been accused of this sort of thing, which is actually an old practice for the police. The 2011 revolution was supposed to eliminate this sort of thing but is not what happened because the revolution never reached the point where any changes were made in the leadership of the security forces.

April 21, 2017: In the north (Golan Heights), three mortar shells fired from Syria landed in Israel but caused no damage. When the fire from Syria is deliberate the Israelis always fire back, but if it appears to have been the result of fighting between government and rebels forces inside Syria, which is the cause of most bullets, rockets and shells crossing the border, there is a verbal protest but no artillery or air strikes in response. When it is unclear, the Israelis fire back. In some cases whichever group in Syria responsible for the incident will quietly communicate to Israel that it was an accident and if their explanation is adequate there will be no return fire. Israel recently revealed that this policy applies to ISIL affiliated groups as well. One of these ISIL groups that operates along the Golan Heights border had caused fire to land in Israel and convinced Israel that it was an accident and there was no return fire. What is not publicized is that these arrangements often, if not always, involve the groups in Syria avoiding an Israeli attack by returning the favor, often with information. This is very much a matter of life or death for both sides because in addition to holding its retaliatory fire Israel can also provide useful information as well as access to life-saving medical treatment for badly hurt Syrians. There are always opportunities for a deal, depending on who wants to pay what.

April 20, 2017: A recent ranking of nations according to the stability of their economies ranked Israeli third, behind Hong Kong and South Korea. The rest of the top ten (Denmark, Taiwan, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore and Thailand) were not surprising nor was the nation that came in last (Venezuela). Israel is consistently ranked highly in worldwide surveys of economic, political, military and scientific effectiveness. This is one reason why a growing number of Arab states are, at least unofficially, making peace with Israel and establishing military and economic links. While Israel is often in the top ten of these worldwide surveys they are usually first for the Middle East. Turkey used to be a contender (and an ally) but since the late 1990s an Islamic government has turned that around. Turkey was in the bottom ten of the economic stability survey, as were nations like Syria and Libya.

April 19, 2017: In Egypt (northern Sinai) soldiers and warplanes were used to kill 19 ISIL members, including the senior ISIL cleric in Egypt. Elsewhere in Sinai police and soldiers, with the help of local Bedouins, tracked down an armed man who apparently took part in the recent attack near St Catherines monastery yesterday. The armed suspect refused to surrender and was killed in a gun battle.

On the Gaza border two Gaza women were arrested when they were caught trying to smuggle explosives into Israel. The two sisters had permission to enter Israel so one of them could receive treatment for her cancer. Questioning the two revealed that the explosives were sent by Hamas for use in a bombing attack in Israel.

In the West Bank a Palestinian man was shot dead after he drove his car into some Israelis, wounding one of them.

April 18, 2017: In Egypt (south Sinai) several gunmen attacked a checkpoint near the Coptic St Catherines monastery. The attack was repulsed but a policeman was killed and three wounded. ISIL later took credit for this attack in a remote area where ISIL had not been active very much.

April 17, 2017: In Gaza another Hamas member died while working on a tunnel. This was the second such death in 2017. Hamas earlier revealed that 22 of its members (or those employed by them) had died while working on a tunnels in 2016. Most of these tunnel deaths took place in those being built or repaired near the Israeli border. The similar deaths near the Egyptian border are usually not Hamas members. Most tunnel deaths recently have been in deeper and more dangerous tunnels designed to pass under the Israeli security fence or the improved Egyptian security measures. Most of the more than 30 tunnel deaths in 2016 were known to have been Hamas men or Palestinians working for Hamas. Tunnel collapses and accidents have been common in Gaza since 2007, when Hamas backed the construction of more smuggling and combat tunnels. Since 2007 over 400 Gazans have died in tunnel accidents. Hamas usually blames such collapses on natural causes (like heavy rains) but Israel believes Israel and Egypt efforts to limit lumber and cement shipments entering Gaza has played a role because many of these recent accidents seem to be the result of poor tunnel construction compared to earlier, sturdier and safer tunnels. As a result of all these accidents, which began to accelerate in late 2015, a growing number of Gazans are refusing to work in the tunnels because there is a widely believed (in Gazan) rumor that the real cause of all these tunnel collapses (including the unreported ones that didnt kill anyone) are the result of new Israeli anti-tunnel weapons. This sort of thing has been mentioned in the Israeli media, but mainly in terms of new detection sensors not devices that could remotely trigger a tunnel collapse. Hamas denies Israel has any such weapon and Israel wont discuss classified military matters like new tunnel detection sensors. It is believed that Hamas spends about 40 percent of its $100 million annual military budget on tunnels. Israel believes Hamas digs about ten kilometers of tunnels a month. Most of these tunnels remain inside Gaza, to protect Hamas forces and military material from Israeli detection and attack. Israel recently offered Hamas a peace deal that included building an international airport, a seaport and industrial zones in Gaza and lifting the blockade if Hamas would renounce its efforts to destroy Israel, cease all military operations against Israel. Hamas turned the offer down.

April 16, 2017: Israeli intelligence analysts believe the Assad government use of nerve gas on April 4th was the result of the Assads trying to assert their independence from Russian or Iranian control. This foreign help has been essential for the Assads to survive but apparently the Assads would prefer a long-term relationship with Russia rather than Iran. The reason is simple; Iran wants to literally occupy Syria with military personnel in the form of a pro-Iran militia similar to Hezbollah and thus dedicated to a war with Israel. The Russians and Turks are more inclined to work with Israel and so is Assad and the various minorities in his ruling coalition. The Assads want no part of the religious war Iran is waging with Saudi Arabia over control of the Moslem holy places and such. Exactly how using nerve gas against Sunni rebels and firing anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli aircraft supports this strategy is unclear. But that lack of coherence is the norm in this part of the world.

April 14, 2017: In Jerusalem a Palestinian Islamic terrorist using a knife killed a British student on a trolley car. The victim was studying at a local university. The attacker wounded two other passengers before a policeman and a civilian subdued and disarmed him. The attacker was suffering from mental problems and Palestinian propaganda encourages such people to become a heroic martyr for Islam, which many of them do.

April 12, 2017: In Egypt (Sinai) police found the body of a man burned to death by local Bedouin who suspected he belonged to ISIL. The Bedouin are angry at ISIL because an ISIL suicide bomber attacked a Bedouin checkpoint yesterday and killed four Tarabeen tribesmen.
Coship To Bring Windows 10 Mobile And Android In One Phone

Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Coship (also known as Moly) is planning to launch a unique smartphone that dual boots on Windows 10 Mobile and Android. With this, the company plans to bring the best of both the worlds, Microsoft and Google, in one smartphone for its users. Coship is Microsofts partner in China that develops and produces the Windows phone for consumer market in that country.

According to a query replied on their Facebook page, Moly said, Yes, we are planning to launch a smartphone with dual OS, Windows 10 plus Android.

This is not the companys first dual OS phone. In 2014, the company had produced the Coship 960 running both Linux and Android; however, the device was not a dual boot, as the users were required to press a button to switch between the two OS.

The upcoming dual OS phone will be similar to the dual-OS installation in computers, wherein the users can select the operating system they wish to boot in.

As of now, there is no official confirmation from the company yet regarding the price, specifications and release date of the device. However, one can expect the device to be unveiled by the end of the year since the company has already started working on it.

Whether the upcoming dual OS phone be able to change the fate of Microsofts decline of its smartphone ecosystem, only time will tell!!!
Time Travel Is Mathematically Possible, Say Researchers

Time travel has always created curiosity among people and much so for scientists who have been working over the years to solve or refute the theory. In fact at some point of time in our lives, the thought of travelling to a different time would have flashed through our minds too. And if mathematicians from the University of British Columbia and the University of Maryland are to be believed, then this dream of ours might have just got wings thats at least for now.

According to the paper titled Traversable acausal retrograde domains in spacetime (TARDIS) that published in IOPScience Classical and Quantum Gravity journal recently, experts have developed a mathematical model of a time machine that could manipulate the space-time continuum enough to travel backwards through time.

People think of time travel as something as fiction, says study author, theoretical physicist and mathematician, Ben Tippett from the University of British Columbia. And we tend to think its not possible because we dont actually do it. But, mathematically, it is possible.

Mr Tippet along with his co-author and astrophysicist David Tsang from University of Maryland describe the TARDIS machine as a bubble of space-time geometry that carries whatevers inside it backward and forward through space and time along a circular path through spacetime.

Mr Tippett and Mr Tsang have used Einsteins theory of general relativity to come up with their mathematical model TARDIS in order to prove the theoretical possibility of time travel. In other words, the idea is that an object can travel through time if it reaches the speed of light.

In general relativity, curvature of space-time account for the curved orbits of the planets. If space-time was not curved, planets and stars would move in straight lines. So, space-time geometry becomes curved near a massive star, which in turn makes the straight trajectories of nearby planets to bend to follow the curvature around the star.

The time direction of space-time surface also shows curvature, Mr Tippett says.

There is evidence showing the closer to a black hole we get, time moves slower. My model of a time machine uses the curved space-time  to bend time into a circle for the passengers, not in a straight line.

That circle takes us back in time.

So, if space-time is curved, and we run time along it at the same time, then theoretically the bend can be turned into a loop, making time travel possible.

Since the 1950s, there have been many other proposals for space times which allow people to travel backward in time, Mr Tippett says. My work was to model a time machine, where passengers inside of a box of limited size could travel along a circle through space and time, returning to their own pasts.

The shape of spacetime was used to turn the direction of the arrow of time inside of the box in space and time. I then used Einsteins theory to analyze this strange spacetime, and determine what would be required to build such a thing.

However, while time travelling is possible  at least in theory, Mr Tippett believes that scientists have yet to discover the right materials to bring a time machine to life and doubts that anyone will ever be able to build a machine to make it work.

HG Wells popularised the term time machine and he left people with the thought that an explorer would need a machine or special box to actually accomplish time travel, Mr Tippett said.

While is it mathematically feasible, it is not yet possible to build a space-time machine because we need materials  which we call exotic matter  to bend space-time in these impossible ways, but they have yet to be discovered, he added.
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.
Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; prepaid programs and management services; commercial credit and debit payment products and solutions; and payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts. It also provides value-added products and services comprising cyber and intelligence solutions for parties to transact, as well as proprietary insights, drawing on principled use of consumer, and merchant data services. In addition, the company offers analytics, test and learn, consulting, managed services, loyalty, processing, and payment gateway solutions for e-commerce merchants. Further, it provides open banking and digital identity platforms services. The company offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus. Mastercard Incorporated was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.
The most revealing scene in Risk, Oscar-winner Laura Poitras (Citzenfour) documentary portrait of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, comes during a meeting (in either late 2010 or 2011) between Assange and his lawyer Helena Kennedy. Discussing the sexual assault charges levied against him by two Swedish women, Kennedy pleads with the gray-haired whistleblower to speak more sensitively about the case, which has thrown an unflattering spotlight on him and his mission. According to Kennedy, Assange should employ careful language that helps him explain his points without sounding angry and persecuted by a feminist conspiracy.

Assange agrees to follow this adviceat least in front of the cameras, admitting that when it comes to railing against his accusers, Publicly, its not helpful. However, he then confesses his true feelings about the scandal: Privately, its a social democratic party plus general influence from the government. Its just a thoroughly tawdry, radical, feminist political positioning thing. Its some stereotype. As Kennedy grimaces and tries to dissuade him from such vitriol, he continues, stating that one of the accusers is a woman who founded a lesbian nightclub in Gothenburg (shes in that circle)the implication being that this proves shes an untrustworthy liarand then refers to his two accusers as running as a tag team.

It is, to put it mildly, an unflattering moment for Assange, and speaks to the public/private dynamic thats exploredalbeit in vague fashionby Poitras film, which is culled from the hours of footage she shot while spending time by his side. It begins when Assange first came to global prominence in 2010 for leaking classified U.S. government documents (acquired by Chelsea Manning). And it concludes just after the 2016 election, which was heavily swayed by WikiLeaks release of emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons campaign chair John Podesta, which helped smear Clinton and aid Donald Trumps quest for the White House. In-between, what the filmmaker presents is a half-formed sketch, one that lacks the thoroughness or momentum of Alex Gibneys We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, and one thats primarily notable for displaying the odiousnessboth in the media and behind the scenesof its subject.

Assange is first introduced espousing his belief that people who take principled stances dont last long, and that to survive, such individuals must invariably balance their convictions with a need to achieve their desired goals. Later on, Poitrasin one of many instances of oh-so-concerned voiceover narrationconfesses, I thought I could ignore the contradictions. I thought they were not part of this story. I was so wrong. They are becoming the story. The fundamental problem with Risk, however, is that it presents no complex contradictions, unless one shares the films bedrock assumption that Assange initially embarked on an inherently honorable course (and/or believed he had), and then fell victim to his own personal (and philosophical) failings.

Poitras forwards no compelling evidence or argument in favor of Assanges work as an instrument for the greater good. Consequently, the fact that hes a potential sexual predator, as well as complicit in helping the Russian government sabotage Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, arent at odds with his former nobility; rather, they seem like natural extensions of an idealist who thinks he can act as he likes with impunity, damn the consequences. Throughout Risk, Poitras articulates growing unease with Assange, whom she comes to distrust, and who gets increasingly displeased with her, due to her refusal to share Edward Snowdens NSA secrets with him (and, its clear, his jealousy over Snowdens celebrity). Yet from start to finish, he comes across as the same individual: detached, pretentious, paranoid, nasty, and so sanctimonious its repellent.

Assembled from scattered bits and pieces of footage shot in Assanges company, some of it noteworthy and much of it pedestrian, the film stands at a constant remove from the WikiLeaks mastermind. Assange talks about the relationship between risk and opportunity, and about his courageous refusal to rat out his friends upon first being arrested in 1996. Nonetheless, he deliberately keeps his innermost thoughts to himself. Residing since 2012 in Londons Ecuadorian embassy in order to avoid extradition to Sweden to face rape prosecution (and, he fears, transfer to the U.S. for violating the Espionage Act), Assange is a man boxed in on all sides, raging against a machine for a cause thatfrom the outsetseems mostly designed to stoke his own massive ego.

In a shot of Assange navigating a sea of reporters outside a courthouse, and in a dreadful-for-all-involved visit from Lady Gagawho interviews him about his favorite foods, acts aghast at his embassy living accommodations (Its like Im in college. Where do you sleep?), and generally comes off as an uninformed fangirlRisk suggests the hunger for celebrity that drives Assange. The latter sequence is one of almost staggering cluelessness, but its in keeping with the general, naive cult of celebrity thats emerged around him, compelling one protestor to blindly pledge his allegiance to Assange regardless of the ugly allegations against him.

During a clandestine conversation in a wooded area with an associate, Assange orders Poitras to check out a nearby area to make sure no one is spying on him. Coupled with her admission that she had been romantically involved with Assanges buddyand fellow accused sexual predatorJacob Appelbaum (who founded the anonymous web-browsing Tor Project), the incident reveals Poitras to be a complicit partner in Assanges insurgent game. And while she develops regrets when Assanges creepiness becomes too much to bear, and his amoral stance regarding the Russian-hacking scandal becomes indefensible, her film proves less an expose than an embarrassed (and embarrassing) apologia about her own role in Assanges whistleblowing mischief.

As supporters rally outside the embassy, their posters eager to turn him into a revolutionary symbol a la Guy Fawkes (whose masks they wear/buy), Assange sticks to his gun. In Risk, though, he barely bothers to even explain his ethos or motivations. For all its proximity, Poitras film never gets beneath his exteriorbecause, one senses, theres nothing really there. Hes merely a true-believer who believes, above all other things, in his own stature as a figure of unimpeachable virtue and world-changing import. Like the spy-movie disguise he dons to sneak into the Ecuadorian embassy, however, hes all phony facade, little substance.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Larry Pages dream of using technology to fix cities may come to Canada first.

Sidewalk Labs LLC, the urban innovation unit of Pages Alphabet Inc., has applied to develop a 12-acre strip in downtown Toronto, according to two people familiar with the plans. Details of the proposal are private, but these people said the bid fits with the companys ambition to create a connected, high-tech city or district from scratch.

Last year, the company began talking openly about building a theoretical urban zone from the internet up, with some of the same tools and principles that have fuelled success at many tech companies.

Before applying in Toronto, Sidewalk Labs discussed creating a district in Denver and Detroit with executives of Alphabet, Googles parent company, according to the people. They asked not to be identified discussing private plans.

In a speech last week at the Smart Cities NYC conference, Sidewalk Labs chief executive officer Dan Doctoroff said the firm is exploring development of a large-scale district.

Im sure many of you are thinking this is a crazy idea, Doctoroff said, according to news website StateScoop. We dont think its crazy at all. People thought it was crazy when Google decided to connect all the worlds information. People thought it was crazy to think about the concept of a self-driving car.

A representative for Sidewalk Labs confirmed Doctoroffs speech but declined to comment further.

Waterfront Toronto, created in 2001 by the federal, provincial and city governments, is a public corporation designed to revitalize a 2,000-acre downtown plot in Toronto. Earlier this year, the agency requested proposals for part of that area: a new community called Quayside to be developed with a private innovation and funding partner.

Quayside would be a testbed for emerging technologies, materials and processes that will address these challenges and advance solutions that can be replicated in cities worldwide, the city wrote in its invitation.

Andrew Hilton, a spokesperson for Waterfront Toronto, declined to comment on the applicants for Quayside or its funding structure. The agency plans to identify its development partner by June at the earliest, according to its proposal document.

City Councillor Pam McConnell was only aware of a number of proposals for the Quayside site. Its an exciting story because, whether its this (Alphabet) proposal or one that beats it, it means there are innovative ideas for Quayside, she said.

I think this really becoming an exciting opportunity for the next generation of building out our city and of us realizing were really a lake city.

She expects the site, on the east side of the downtown waterfront, will become a mix of commercial, residential and tech innovation uses.

Formed two years ago, Sidewalk Labs was among the first independent units of Google before it turned into the Alphabet holding company. So far, the most visible project is LinkNYC, a network of ad-supported Wi-Fi kiosks in New York City run by Intersection, a Sidewalk Labs investment.

But the vision extends well beyond corner kiosks and other smart city efforts that typically involve selling software and infrastructure to local agencies facing budget pressures.

Doctoroff has spoken often about how technology like autonomous transit, high-speed internet, embedded sensors and ride-sharing services could transform urban life. Hes also hinted at techs ability to overhaul zoning rules and control housing costs, a particular interest of Alphabets Page.

Sidewalk Labs has discussed creating an entire micro-city or district that could showcase the companys ideas for urban planning.

At the conference last week, Doctoroff said the plans were still in the feasibility phase. It hasnt spoken publicly about its business model, beyond ad revenue from the New York Wi-Fi kiosks. Intersection, the company behind them, is expanding those to London this year. Groups involved in urban redevelopment projects typically try to recoup investments with real estate gains later.

Toronto could be a lucrative home for Sidewalks urban experiment because of the citys rapid growth, surging home prices and willingness to embrace new technology.

Its also trying to attract more investment from the U.S.

On Monday, Uber Technologies Inc. announced it is starting a new lab for its autonomous vehicle program in the Canadian metropolis.

With a file from Star staff

Read more about:

SHARE:
Bombardiers biggest outside shareholder has pulled its support for chairman Pierre Beaudoin, the last executive link to the manufacturers founding family, after he backed a compensation plan that sparked a public furor.

The manufacturers board should be led by a fully independent director, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Canadas second-largest pension-fund manager, said in a letter to Bombardier on Monday. Beaudoin is a member of the family that controls the Montreal-based maker of planes and trains.

The Caisse said it also voted against the executive-compensation plan, which fuelled outrage and sparked protests after Bombardier increased pay almost 50 per cent despite receiving taxpayer aid and announcing plans to cut more than 14,000 jobs. Bombardier later reduced Beaudoins pay and delayed some remuneration for leaders, including chief executive officer Alain Bellemare.

The boards recent decisions regarding executive compensation fall short of the necessary standard of stewardship, Caisse executive vice-president Kim Thomassin said in the letter. Given this lapse of governance, we have voted against the advisory resolution on compensation.

While Beaudoins family holds a controlling stake that makes the pay plan likely to pass anyway, the letter put the company back in the spotlight weeks after the public outcry that forced Bombardier to downsize the pay package. The Caisse had a 2.5 per cent stake in Bombardiers widely traded Class B shares as of Dec. 31.

Bombardiers board said in a statement Monday that Thursdays annual meeting will be an opportunity to discuss these important questions.

Read more:

How the TTCs $1B deal with Bombardier has gone so wrong for so long

Bombardiers comedy of errors isnt funny: Editorial

Judge blocks Metrolinx from cancelling Bombardier contract

While expressing full support and confidence in Bellemare and his team as they attempt to turn the company around, the Caisse said better governance is required to make the plan successful.

The Caisse, which has previously voted against executive compensation hikes at Barrick Gold, joins others that have expressed opposition in recent days to the way Bombardier is run.

The British Columbia Investment Management Corp., an institutional investor group, said it also plans to vote its nearly seven million shares against Bombardiers compensation policy and will oppose non-independent directors.

Quebec last year invested $1 billion (U.S.) in Bombardiers C Series jetliner program, which entered service more than two years late and billions of dollars over budget.

Earlier this year, the federal government agreed to provide $372.5 million (Canadian) in support for the C Series and the Global 7000 business jet program after more than a year of discussions. The federal assistance gave Bombardier an additional cushion, while falling far short of the $1 billion in aid the company had initially sought.

Winning more orders for the C Series, Bombardiers marquee jetliner, is a crucial part of Bellemares turnaround plans. Under his watch, the company landed a critical lifeline for the C Series with a $5.6 billion (U.S.) order from Delta Air Lines Inc. last year. The airlines CEO, Ed Bastian, cited Quebecs support as a key reason behind his decision to buy at least 75 of the jets. Bombardier also won a major order from Air Canada.

Meanwhile, Bombardier has struggled to fulfil a $1-billion streetcar order placed by the TTC. Toronto was supposed to have 121 new streetcars by now, but has received only 35.

Last month, after facing weeks of criticism, Bombardier announced that its board of directors approved changes to the compensation offered to several top executives. Bellemare had asked the board to delay payment of more than half of last years total planned compensation for six executive officers, including himself, by one year to 2020, provided the company meets certain objectives.

Executive chairman Pierre Beaudoin also asked the board to cut his 2016 compensation by $1.4 million (U.S.) to equal the $3.85 million he received in 2015. In a regulatory filing ahead of the companys May 11 annual meeting, the Montreal-based company had said the proposals were accepted and approved by the board. Had the changes not been approved, the executive compensation for 2016 wouldve been nearly 50 per cent more than what it wouldve been the previous year.

With files from The Canadian Press and Star staff

Read more about:

SHARE:
OTTAWAMayor John Tory welcomed the federal governments decision Monday to set up its new infrastructure bank in Toronto, while the proposed institution was panned by opposition MPs for being unduly influenced by the Liberals corporate advisers.

The aim of the bank is to fund infrastructure projects  such as new roads and transit lines  with a mixture of public money and private investment. Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi said Monday that the bank, which will start up with $35 billion from Ottawa, could open its doors by the end of this year.

The location of the bank is important but the real value from the bank is the projects that we will fund, the projects that will be throughout the country, across this nation, Sohi said in his announcement at Union Station, adding that Toronto has the right expertise to help the bank succeed.

Tory told the Star he was thrilled by the decision to open the bank in Toronto, which represents a real vote of confidence in the citys financial sector. The mayor had written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on April 3, urging him to set up the bank in Toronto because of its global connections through the banking and infrastructure industries.

To me it is an opportunity for us to make sure we exploit that pool of talent, those pools of money, that experience, for the benefit of the entire country, he said.

Tory said he is now working to identify transit and infrastructure projects in Toronto that could work with the bank, but said its too soon to say which ones could provide the revenue streams needed to attract private investment.

Were in a bit of a hole on (the transit) front, so Ill be looking, Tory said.

Jan Da Silva, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, also applauded the news as a positive step for the city.

Other cities, such as Montreal, were also hoping to become the new banks home. In a statement Monday, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, Michel Leblanc, said he is extremely disappointed by the governments decision to establish the bank in Toronto. Leblanc said all Quebec MPs should question their work on this issue.

In Ottawa, the banks planned mixture of public and private investment has come under fire, particularly after a report in the Globe and Mail revealed how the Liberals worked closely with officials from BlackRock, the worlds largest investment management firm, on how to pitch its bank to wealthy asset managers and pension funds.

The report also outlined how members of Morneaus economic advisory council, which recommended the creation of a public-private bank for infrastructure, includes a high-ranking BlackRock executive and the head of Quebecs pension fund that is seeking federal money for a transit project in Montreal.

Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose was one of several Tory and NDP MPs to slam the government during question period Monday. Ambrose accused the government of working on behalf of the rich and said the work with corporate advisers represents a blatant conflict of interest.

The problem is that these same wealthy and well-connected one percenters are the ones actually helping set up the bank, she said.

(BlackRock) is in the room to actually represent its clients. Why cant the prime minister see this for the conflict that it is?

Trudeau responded that the government plans to spend $180 billion on infrastructure, and that drawing in on different sources of capital so people can get to work and home on time, so people can get their goods to markets, and creating good middle-class jobs is a priority for us.

Sohi defended the bank, too, telling the House of Commons that the government also consulted municipalities, and unions and provincial and territorial governments about the bank  not just the private sector.

By engaging private capital, we will free up federal government resources to build more affordable housing, to build more child-care facilities, he said.

Sohi added that the bank will be accountable to Parliament and to the Canadian people. It would be set up like an arms length Crown corporation, and subject to audits by the auditor general and a government review every five years, according to the infrastructure ministry.

Now that the location has been announced, the next step for the bank is to recruit a board of directors and chief executive officer.

Legislation to create the bank is included in the Liberals omnibus budget Bill C-44, which is currently in its second reading in the Commons.

With files from Ben Spurr and David Rider

Read more about:

SHARE:
OTTAWAThe Liberal government must scrap its political decision to buy an interim fleet of Super Hornet fighter jets but should embark on a dramatic expansion of Canadas military with new submarines, armed drones, warships, attack helicopters and armoured vehicles, the Senate defence committee says.

In a report released Monday, the committee sets out an ambitious vision for Canadas armed forces to address what it called an urgent capability gap.

The world has changed. The day of the free ride is over, Sen. Daniel Lang, the committee chair, told a news conference.

The Senate report comes just as the Liberal government prepares to unveil its own defence policy review, a new vision for the armed forces and what it says will be significant funding to pay for it.

And it comes as Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is facing renewed Conservative calls for him to quit his post.

Sajjan has faced criticism for describing himself as the architect of Operation Medusa, a 2006 offensive by Canadian forces against Taliban fighters around Kandahar. Sajjan, who was a major deployed to Afghanistan at the time, has since retracted and apologized for that description.

But that hasnt stopped opposition MPs. On Monday, Conservative MP James Bezan tabled a non-binding motion for debate that the Commons has lost confidence in Sajjan.

His behaviour is demoralizing our troops, has caused our veterans to be incredibly angry and we also know that our allies are going to have trouble taking him seriously, Bezan said in the Commons.

Later in question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau voiced support for Sajjan, praising his exceptional record of service, a signal that hes safe in the defence portfolio for now. But the controversy is a distraction as the Liberals prepare to roll out their defence policy review in the coming weeks.

Trudeau hinted that more money is coming, saying that after 10 years of under-investments by the previous government, we are about to give the valorous women and men who serve the tools and the support they need.

But that may not be enough to pay for the Senates ambitions for the armed forces laid out in 30 recommendations that would dramatically upgrade the capabilities of the army, air force and navy.

The senate report offers no details on what all that would cost, though Sen. Jean-Guy Dagenais conceded the price tag would be in the billions.

In a report earlier this year, the committee urged the government boost defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2028  a target that all NATO nations, including Canada have accepted  up from less than 1 per cent now. Lang said Monday he was confident that increased spending would go a long ways to covering the cost of everything laid out in the report.

But that commitment has to be made today. It cant be pushed off, Lang said.

The senate report does take aim at the Liberal decision to buy 18 Super Hornet fighters as a stopgap to augment the existing fleet of aging CF-18s. That decision could ultimately cost taxpayers up to $7 billion and saddle the air force with the costly proposition of operating two types of fighters, the report said.

Purchasing an unnecessary and costly interim capability will leave the taxpayers with a significant burden, the committee said in their report.

Instead, the senators urge the government to move ahead quickly with a competition to pick a new fighter to replace the CF-18 fleet.

SHARE:
NEW GLASGOW, N.S.Twenty-five years after she lost her husband to one of Nova Scotias worst coal mining disasters, Darlene Dollimont-Svenson still finds it difficult talking about the life they once shared.

He was a fabulous man, but I dont know what to say about that because its 25 years later and you have all these memories, and one doesnt really know if the memories are glorified fantasies or reality, she said, drawing a deep breath and pausing.

Thirty-six-year-old Adonis Dollimont and 25 other miners were in the final hours of a four-day shift at the Westray mine in Plymouth, N.S., when a coal seam spit a jet of methane gas that somehow ignited.

Fuelled by volatile coal dust, a massive fireball raced through the tunnels at 5:18 a.m. The explosion killed every man in the mine and tore off the metal roof at the pit entrance. In the pre-dawn sky on a rainy Saturday morning, the blast erupted in a roaring blue-grey flash that shook houses more than a kilometre away.

Read more:Worker safety still at risk 25 years after Westray tragedy: Wells

On Tuesday, Dollimont-Svenson was among 200 people who marched through an industrial park in New Glasgow to the Westray Miners Memorial Park, which is not far from the sprawling tunnels where 11 miners are still buried.

Led by a police car with flashing lights, the silent marchers carried bilingual banners with a message spelled out in black and white: No more Westrays. Beside that stark message, a demand: Stop the killing, enforce the law.

The early morning ceremony at the park featured prayers of remembrance and the reading aloud of each miners name and age.

We gather to hold memories close to our hearts, said Rev. Jim Webber-Cook, standing before a black granite monument that includes the names of the dead, each inscribed on rays of light emanating from a miners lamp.

We gather to fulfil those words that are enshrined here: That their light will always shine.

Dollimont-Svenson travelled from Ketchikan, Alaska, to attend the ceremony, which was part of a day-long series of commemorative events.

There have been a huge amount of people who have worked to make sure this doesnt happen again, she said afterwards as the sun emerged, the grass still glistening with dew.

Im here to honour them for supporting us ... For the widows, without all of these people our husbands would be forgotten. It is a moment of strength.

She recalled how the mine was a source of great promise when it opened in 1991, offering well-paying jobs in an economically depressed area that saw its last coal mine close in the 1970s.

This was a dream for all of these young men, she said.

They had new homes, new cars, friends and a 25- or 30-year life to retirement ... And those men needed to go to work. And if they spoke up about what was going on (at the mine) there were profanities from the management ... and they were sent packing.

Most of the Westray miners knew the tunnels were unsafe, she said, recalling how a group of them sat in her living room to discuss the dangers  four days before the explosion would kill many of them.

They discussed the danger of the coal dust, she said, noting managers had been repeatedly warned to take steps to deal with this well-known hazard.

They discussed how they had to tuck their pant legs into their boots and duct tape them shut to keep themselves clean. They all knew, should anything happen, it wasnt going to be good. It wasnt for lack of safety material, it was a lack of management will to allow the time to do the necessary safety work.

In 1997, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice concluded the disaster was the result of incompetence, mismanagement, bureaucratic bungling, deceit, ruthlessness ... and cynical indifference.

The public inquiry found Westray management and its owner, Clifford Frame, were ultimately responsible for conditions at the mine.

In 1993, the RCMP charged Toronto-based Curragh Resources Inc. and two of its former managers with manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death. But the case eventually fell apart when the Crown concluded convictions were unlikely.

To this day, union officials and relatives of the dead miners say justice was not served.

I think of the 26 workers who lost their lives for no reason other than greed, incompetence, apathy and neglect, union leader Stephen Hunt told the ceremony. There was no justice in those cases. But the families were determined to fight for justice.

He said that determination has led to big changes in laws and regulations aimed at reducing workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses.

Hunt, a Canadian director with the United Steelworkers of America, said Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Alberta have all introduced new rules aimed at ensuring safer workplaces.

We see charges across the country now, he said. Not enough CEOs go to jail yet, and we dont want a whole bunch of them in jail  just one or two would be good. That would send a message to companies that its not OK to take lives or injure people for the cost of doing business.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Between tanning, massages, Yorkville dinners and Botox treatments in the spring of 2012, Nicola (Nick) Nero, was plotting to murder John Raposo and split 200 kilos of free cocaine with his co-conspirators, prosecutors have told a jury.

Nero, a former Hells Angel and convicted cocaine smuggler, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the gangland-style slaying of Johnny Maserati Raposo, 35, on June 18, 2012 on the patio of the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe on College St.

Also on trial at the downtown Toronto courthouse are Martino Caputo, 43, Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil, 29, and Dean Wiwchar, 31.

A jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon.

Despite PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption, messages obtained off BlackBerry phones by police from Neros home, Alkhalils Montreal condo and from Wiwchar upon his arrest were the prime evidence against the four men in the trial.

Nero helped police out with a sloppy mistake by leaving the password to his encrypted BlackBerry on a sticky note inside a cabinet in his condo in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

That gave police access to messages that provided insight into an international drug trafficking ring  and Neros personality.

The former bodybuilder and fashion aficionado liked his comforts  massages are often mentioned  and suffered from bouts of depression, the messages show.

I don't like for people to see me like this bello, Nero messaged a person alleged to be Caputo. When I die I'd like to be remembered for my inspiration not my perspiration lol.

Other messages were used by the Crown to allege a plot to murder Raposo because he was believed to be a police informant.

On April 28, 2012, Nero messaged TNT,  alleged by prosecutors to be Alkhalil  at 10:29 a.m. to vent about Raposo, whom he called the biggest rat in the world. He suggested they get him after a 200 kilogram cocaine shipment comes in, which they can split between themselves and Caputo, whom he calls lil guy.

The Crown argued that Nero connected with alleged hit man Dean Wiwchar through Alkhalil.

Prosecutors told the jury that on May 21, 2012, Alkhalil texted Nero: LOL. That's my best hitter.

The Crown alleges Wiwchar  under the name Zeld  messaged Alkhalil to say killing Raposo at the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe was risky.

but if I get em inside the shop its ok . . . no noise . . . why are we killing ice cream people? Lol.

The next day Nero messaged the person alleged to be Caputo with a Sicilian term for informer: We exterminators. We kill surrichii lol.

The messages depicted Wiwchar as someone who bragged about being a professional killer.

My minamm fee is 100 k, he texted someone called Snootsey on June 11, 2012. why u think I dont get paid (expletive)?

A police search of Wiwchars Surrey, B.C. condo found what the Crown alleges are the tools of a contract killer  guns, masks, wigs, fake moustaches and theatrical makeup. The man who shot Raposo while wearing a construction vest and face mask is alleged to have been wearing a wig.

Wiwchar was arrested on June 21, 2012 while riding in a cab on Parliament St. near Gerrard St. E.

By this time, the Crown argued, Alkhalil had changed his text name to RunNHide. RunNHide texted an associate called Birdman (alleged to be Alkhalils roommate in Montreal, Hells Angel Larry Amero) and asked if hes in deep trouble.

If he rats yup, Birdman replied.

I mean otherwise, RunNHide said.

No, Birdman replied, unaware that police would soon be reading their texts.

The Crown alleged the murder was intended to take place in May. Police surveillance of Wiwchar shows him driving by Raposos parents home and scoping out the College St. location of the Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe.

Wariness of the police led Wiwchar to leave Toronto, only to return in June from Vancouver via Calgary and Montreal without police knowledge, the Crown alleges.

Defence lawyers for the men have argued Raposo was killed as the result of another plot entirely, involving drug traffickers in Montreal  pointing the finger at alleged drug importer Fred Lavoie (the jury did not hear that Lavoie was found dismembered in Colombia in 2014).

They point to a message from a person identified only as Dreamcatcher sent an hour after the murder disclosing key details. It is unknown who Dreamcatcher is, but the Crown argues it can be inferred that it is Wiwchar under yet another email address.

Neros lawyer described the messages as merely macho nonsense.

He said the conversations were only about drugs, not murder, adding that Nero was arrested on drug trafficking charges in late May, weeks prior to the shooting. Wiwchars lawyer suggested Dreamcatcher was the killer and told the jury the messages allegedly sent by his client were full of bravado, but not intent to kill. He argued Wiwchar skipped town to avoid having to kill Raposo  but that it wouldve been dangerous to say no to TNT.

Alkhalils lawyer argued the content of the email addresses attributed to Alkhalil show they were shared accounts. There is no way to tell who was sending those messages, he argued. The lawyers also pointed out various problems with the messages, including that duplicate messages appear to have been sent from different email addresses.

Regardless of the jurys decision, none of the four men will be walking free any time soon.

Nero and Caputo were both convicted in 2014 of trafficking and importing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, based on much of the same wiretap evidence heard at this trial. Though the jury was aware of drug trafficking charges, they did not know Nero was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and Caputo to 12 years.

Wiwchar, the alleged hit man, was convicted by a B.C. judge in 2015 of nine counts related to the possession of 16 firearms found in two condos, one in Vancouver, one in Surrey. The jury in the murder trial was told about the guns by prosecutors but wasnt told Wiwchar was sentenced to 10 years.

The jury did not know that at the time police got a search warrant for Wiwchars apartment, they believed he was the hit man in the Jan 17, 2012 murder of notorious gangster Sandip Duhre, according to a B.C. court ruling. Duhre was shot while he was sitting at a table at a restaurant at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver. The shooters face was hidden by a scarf and toque.

Wiwchar has not been charged in relation to Duhres murder. His co-accused at the current trial Alkhalil was charged with first-degree murder in connection to Duhres killing.

In addition to that charge, Alkhalil, who was extradited from Greece in 2015, still faces cocaine smuggling charges in Niagara related to the wiretap evidence heard at this trial and in Montreal.

SHARE:
A Christian rebel group in the Central African Republic ambushed a UN convoy sparking a firefight and kidnappings that left four peacekeepers dead, eight injured and one missing, the United Nations said Tuesday.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said eight fighters from the anti-Balaka rebel group were also killed in the firefight on Monday night. The UN peacekeeping mission said the remaining armed perpetrators fled into the bush.

The UN mission sent a helicopter and additional troops to secure the site near Bangassou, about 474 kilometres east of the capital, Bangui, and were continuing to search for the missing peacekeeper, Dujarric said.

In the initial ambush and firefight, one Cambodian peacekeeper was killed and seven Moroccans and one Cambodian were injured, he said.

Three Cambodian soldiers and one Moroccan peacekeeper were also reported missing, according to UN and Cambodian officials.

Dujarric said three of the missing peacekeepers were later found dead. He said he did not know their nationalities.

The injured peacekeepers were evacuated by helicopter to the capital Bangui and are now receiving medical aid, he said, and the United Nations is co-ordinating with government officials to ensure the perpetrators are arrested and brought to justice.

The UN mission in Central African Republic strongly condemned the attack and stressed that harming the life of a peacekeeper can be considered a war crime and subject to prosecution.

Central African Republic descended into sectarian conflict in 2013, when Muslim rebels overthrew the nations Christian president.

The United Nations launched a peacekeeping mission in the country in 2014 and now has more than 12,000 troops deployed to protect civilians from unprecedented violence between Christian and Muslim factions. Some 890,000 people have been displaced inside the country and into neighbouring Cameroon, the UN says.

The latest fighting began in February and Human Rights Watch said last week that at least 45 people have been killed and 11,000 displaced in attacks by armed groups which have also targeted civilians.

One predominantly Peul faction of the mostly Muslim Seleka group has been fighting since late 2016 with another faction that has aligned itself with the Christian anti-Balaka group as they vie for control of the central part of the country, the rights group said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced news of the attack in video remarks published on his official Facebook page.

He said the Cambodians were part of an engineering unit that was helping to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The ambush took place as the Cambodians were on the way back to their base with an escort of Moroccan soldiers.

Chhum Socheath, a spokesman for the Cambodian National Defence Ministry, said the slain peacekeeper was a captain and his body was being repatriated home.

Cambodia has deployed a total of 12 its soldiers to the central African nation in recent months, he said.

Over the weekend, four international aid groups said they would temporarily withdraw their workers from parts of northern Central African Republic because of increasing attacks targeting them. The four  Solidarites International, Intersos, Danish Church Aid and Person in Need Relief Mission  said they were moving to Bangui.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Toronto police have arrested two men and are searching for a third in a massive fraud investigation dubbed Project Royal.

The individuals involved lived a high-profile lifestyle of conspicuous consumption fuelled by the proceeds of identity theft and fraud, police allege in a statement Tuesday.

Police said they have seized 37 stolen credit cards, hundreds of pieces of presumably stolen mail, and a number of notebooks containing the personal information of at least 5,000 GTA residents.

Thousands of individuals across the GTA have had their information compromised, said Det. Const. Mike Kelly.

The evidence was found April 24 after police executed a search warrant at a Yorkville condominium that is believed to be under the control of Adekunle Johnson Omitiran.

Police also found $39,000 in cash, $310,000 worth of watches and about $390,000 worth of clothing, jewelry, accessories and liquor, said Det. Sgt. Ian Nichol.

Nichol said he believes that all of the items were obtained through identity theft. The resulting losses are estimated at more than $10 million.

Omitiran, 37, turned himself in to police on April 27, and has been charged with fraud over $5,000, four counts of fraud under $5,000, two counts of identity theft, trafficking identity information, possession of credit cards obtained by crime, two counts of possession of proceeds of crime, and failure to comply with probation. He will appear in court on May 19.

Investigators believe that Omitiran had connections to people who had legitimate access to identity information, and that it was sold to him for a fee. Police are asking for the publics help in finding the individuals who provided him with the information.

Adedayo Ogundana, 45, also known as Oladipupo Ogund, of Toronto, was arrested in connection with the case on Dec. 13, 2016, and was charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, 10 counts of fraud under $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and possession of proceeds of crime, police said. He will appear in court on May 18.

On March 9, police issued a warrant for Duro Akintola, 44, also known as Michie Noah, of Toronto. Another man, Emmanuel Salako, 47, also known as Gee Salaq, was indicted by the United States Postal Inspection Service in Chicago under the name George Salako, and is wanted in the U.S.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Financial Crimes at 416-808-7300 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

The investigation, which according to police has been ongoing since summer 2016, was conducted with the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Competition Bureau of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, York Regional Police, Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canada Post Investigations, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and members of the public.

SHARE:
When do refugees already granted asylum in Canada cease to require our protection? Can they then be booted out of the country even after they have become permanent residents?

These questions are at the core of a Supreme Court of Canada appeal of legislative changes made by the former Conservative government in 2012 that allow officials to reopen asylum files under whats known as a cessation application and remove those refugees whose circumstances have changed.

Nisreen Ahamed Mohamed Nilam, 36, came to Canada from Sri Lanka for asylum in 2008 and was granted refugee status a year later. He applied and became a permanent resident in January 2011.

The Vancouver cab driver returned to his homeland in 2011 and 2012  after the civil war between the Sinhalese and Tamils ended in 2009  with a Sri Lankan passport because he was not a Canadian citizen and thats the only travel document he could get.

After his last trip, when he returned to Canada on May 1, 2013, a cessation investigation was commenced against him for re-availing himself of the country he fled.

The probe is not over and can result in him losing his permanent status in Canada and being removed from the country.

At the heart of the case is whether refugees who become immigrants should be treated like any other immigrant, said Nilams lawyer, Douglas Cannon, who filed a leave application to the Supreme Court on Monday to consider whether it will review an earlier Federal Court of Appeal ruling in the governments favour.

The answer is undoubtedly yes. If Canada wants to protect refugees, it wants to make them feel safe and secure with their status, and they are equal to all other immigrants to this country.

Although cessation applications within the asylum system arent new, they were rare before 2012. Under the new rules, loss of permanent resident status is now automatic when refugees re-avail themselves of their country of origin as in the case of Nilam.

The law already had provisions allowing authorities to vacate a refugees protected status and revoke permanent residency if the person was criminally convicted or found to have lied in their asylum claim.

Cessation applications continue to be brought against permanent residents who came to Canada as refugees if for whatever reason they travelled back to their country of origin, said NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, who has urged the Liberal government to repeal the cessation provisions.

Stripping law-abiding former refugees of permanent residence simply because they travelled back to their country of origin is so wrong,

In Nilams case, the then immigration minister Chris Alexanders cessation allegations were initially dismissed by an Immigration and Refugee Board tribunal in March 2015. The government appealed the tribunal decision to the Federal Court, which sent the case back for a new cessation hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

In the meantime, while waiting for a new hearing, Nilam met the minimum 1,095 days of physical residence requirement in Canada and applied for his Canadian citizenship in April 2015. Although he passed the citizenship knowledge test, his citizenship application was suspended indefinitely.

Last year, Nilam asked the Federal Court to compel the federal government to resume processing his citizenship application. Not only did Justice James Russell agree, but he also ordered the government to cover the applicants legal costs.

However, the decision was reversed by the Federal Court of Appeal at the urging of the government.

Under the law, the appeal court said, the suspension of Nilams citizenship application was reasonable as officials were waiting for the results of any investigation or inquiry for the purpose of ascertaining. . . whether the applicant should be the subject of an admissibility hearing or a removal order.

The three-judge panel concluded: The minister does not have a public legal duty to continue processing the respondents application notwithstanding that the (refugee tribunal) cessation proceedings have yet to be determined.

In Nilams application to the Supreme Court, Cannon argued cessation should only apply to refugees but not be extended to those who have already been granted asylum and are permanent residents.

How the Supreme Court interprets the law about cessation and clarifies the limit of its application would not only help decide if Nilams citizenship application should be resumed, it could guide how immigration officials and the lower courts treat other refugees who return to their homeland at different stages while they seek status in Canada.

Cessation should only apply temporarily while protection is needed, Cannon contended, or until a durable solution to a refugees need for protection such as the grant of permanent residency in Canada is secured.

This is a case about citizenship. The Citizenship Act does not distinguish between types or qualities of permanent residence or how it was acquired, Cannon wrote in the appeal to the Supreme Court.

It is the applicants behaviour as a permanent resident that qualifies him for Canadian citizenship, not his behaviour, past, present, or future, as a potential former refugee.

As of August 2016, Cannon said there were 293 citizenship applicants, all refugees-turned-permanent-residents, whose applications are on hold as a result of the issues raised in Nilams case.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Legal Aid Ontario, which announced in December it was dramatically scaling back on services due to a $26-million deficit, still needs to do more work to develop a comprehensive plan to balance its budget, according to a third-party review being released Tuesday.

Moving forward, LAO will require significant support to enable it to meet its targets, says the report from professional services firm Deloitte and obtained by the Star.

Difficult choices may need to be made with due regard to the fact that it operates in a complex stakeholder system and is delivering an important service to support the lowest-income Ontarians.

One of the major changes announced by Legal Aid Ontario in December was that it would generally no longer issue a legal aid certificate  which covers a persons legal fees  for criminal defence lawyers in cases where there is not a substantial likelihood of incarceration.

That means that impoverished individuals who may not be facing jail time but could be deported, fired or slapped with a hefty fine if they are convicted  and get a criminal record in the process  will be left to represent themselves.

Following a backlash from criminal defence lawyers and legal aid clinics, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi ordered the third-party review in January.

I will continue to work with LAO as the organization moves to implement the reviewers recommendations, working towards our shared goal of building up Ontarios legal aid system, Naqvi said in a statement.

Deloitte found that there is a significant risk that legal aid certificates may not decline to LAOs target in a timely manner, finding that as of February, the savings on this file were less than those presented in the budget plan.

There is a risk that LAO may not realize the anticipated savings and may need to pursue additional policy changes in order to further limit certificate issuance, says the report.

Legal Aid Ontarios president and CEO, David Field, told the Star he doesnt believe that will happen.

Its not a concern at this point, were tracking the changes we made in December and were happy with the progress were making already, he said.

Field said LAO anticipates gradually increasing legal eligibility  meaning a return of certificates for people not facing jail time  in 2019-20.

Another key issue is LAOs work with refugee claimants, with Deloitte saying there is a high risk that LAO will incur a much larger deficit in refugee than originally estimated.

While the report says LAO still does not have a detailed plan to achieve $7 million in savings on the refugee file, Field said the plan is to continue conversations with the federal government for more funding.

He said LAO is pushing for an additional $13 million in federal funding this year, although it was only allocated about $1.7 million in the recent federal budget.

The challenge there is that the demand for refugee services continues to grow, so that is a concern that we have. Its doubled in the last couple of years, and it doesnt look like its going down, he said.

Our position with the federal government is that in order to address our full pressure, were looking at an additional $13 million this year.

Overall, the report found Legal Aid Ontario has made good progress in its budget plan, and that the arms-length provincial agency would benefit from putting all of its plans and strategies into one comprehensive budget document that would outline targeted savings, potential risks and progress to date.

Field said he was generally satisfied with the report, while acknowledging there is more work to do.

In summary, the planned path to balance the operating budget is feasible, but not without risks and implementation challenges, the report concludes.

SHARE:
WASHINGTONA phone call from U.S. President Donald Trumps son-in-law set off a frantic scramble ending in sighs of relief across three national capitals that the North American Free Trade Agreement would survive.

Jared Kushner called around supper time.

It happened on an intrigue-filled day last month after different news reports said Trump was seriously thinking of invoking Article 2205 of NAFTA, which would be the first step in cancelling the quarter-century-old deal.

Many observers presume it was a mere bluff. Yet Trump insists he came close to doing it. He has since said he was dissuaded by a pair of evening phone calls from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Two people that I like very much, the president of Mexico, prime minister of Canada, they called up, they said, can we negotiate? I said, yes, we can renegotiate, Trump told a rally in Pennsylvania several days later.

So well start a renegotiation.

He didnt delve into the details. But heres what happened.

Washington was abuzz over those reports hinting at the possible demise of NAFTA. Some Trump administration members warned of the economic bedlam such a move would cause. At the Canadian embassy in Washington, some were heartened by the intensity of the reaction.

The business community and lawmakers had, for the most part, quietly abided Trumps trade-skeptical campaign talk for over a year but were suddenly springing to action, flooding Washington contacts with phone calls and warnings not to touch NAFTA.

Then came the call from Kushner.

A pair of sources described the chain of events. At about 6 p.m., the senior White House aide contacted a counterpart in Ottawa. The presidents son-in-law and adviser called PMO chief of staff Katie Telford, and said: Trump has a free moment, right now, to speak about NAFTA.

He suggested Trudeau might want to call the White House.

Telford veered to a stop. She happened to be in a carpool, commuting with her colleague Gerald Butts. The senior officials pulled over to the side of the road in Tunneys Pasture, an industrial-park-like federal area in west-end Ottawa.

They got in touch with Trudeau, and the prime minister contacted Trump. Trump also spoke to Pena Nieto and, a few hours later, the White House issued a statement: NAFTA was saved, for now, and would be renegotiated  not terminated.

Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump both say a phone call they had in April helped convince the U.S. president to renegotiate rather than scrap NAFTA. The prime minister says he told Trump killing the deal would cause ?pain? for families. (The Canadian Press

Its still a little murky, what Trump really intended.

Im not sure. I think they were genuinely close to pulling out, one Canadian said. (But) I think the story is a little messier than that.

The different parties involved, in both countries, might be spinning the details to their benefit, he said. Thats the opinion of some NAFTA experts  who believe the whole thing was theatre, orchestrated by the White House.

A negotiating ploy, said Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute in Washington. True to Trumps style.

One Mexican official said an American colleague even admitted as much.

Foreign minister Luis Videgaray told media that an American colleague told him who the intended target was  the U.S. Congress. Congress has been dragging its heels in starting the NAFTA negotiation process and, according to the Mexican minister, some described the sudden activity as a pressure-tactic intended to light a fire under Capitol Hill.

The U.S.s NAFTA point man offers a more blase explanation.

The whole thing was neither a negotiating ploy nor a near-death experience for NAFTA, but something else entirely, said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. It was a non-story that got way out of control, he said.

He appears to be blaming whoever leaked news to the press about Trump considering an executive order. Ross suggests somebody prematurely pushed out a half-baked, never-decided draft policy, and that stirred up unnecessary excitement.

What people dont understand is the president encourages lively discussion. In the course of those discussions all kinds of alternatives come up, Ross told CNBC.

I think whats unfortunate is that someone leaked one of the many potential papers that was floating around, and created a whole skirmish over something that had not been decided upon by the president.

The White House does have internal divisions over trade.

Some advisers are more trade-skeptical, such as Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, who were reportedly two forces behind the now-scrapped executive order. Other senior staff are believed to be pro-NAFTA  including Gary Cohn and, yes, the presidents son-in-law.

Read more about:

SHARE:
SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OFSouth Koreans voted Tuesday for a new president, with victory widely predicted for a liberal candidate who has pledged to improve ties with North Korea, re-examine a contentious U.S. missile defence shield and push sweeping economic changes.

Conservatives worry that a victory by Moon Jae-in might benefit North Korea and put South Korea at odds with its most important ally, the United States.

Moon has been the clear favourite as the countrys powerful conservative forces struggle to regroup after a huge corruption scandal that led to President Park Geun-hyes removal from office and arrest in March.

I gave all my body and soul (to the election) to the very end. Me and my party invested all our efforts with a sense of desperation, but we also felt a great desire by people to build a country we can be proud of again, Moon, 64, told reporters after casting his ballot.

The final opinion surveys released last week showed Moon, the Democratic Party candidate, had about a 20 percentage point lead over his two main rivals  a centrist and a conservative.

Read more:

Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye could face life in prison

Ousted South Korean leader goes from presidential palace to solitary cell

South Koreans celebrate presidents removal after corruption scandal

His victory would end a near decade of conservative rule by Park and her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. When the liberals were last in charge in Seoul, Moon served as chief of staff for then President Roh Moo-hyun. They sought closer ties with North Korea by setting up large-scale aid shipments to the North and by working on now-stalled joint economic projects.

Voting stations opened at 6 a.m. and are set to close at 8 p.m. South Korean TV stations plan to release the results of their joint exit polls soon after the vote ends and are expected to predict a winner before midnight.

The winning candidate will be officially sworn in as South Koreas new president after the National Election Commission ends the vote count and confirms the winner on Wednesday. This forgoes the usual two-month transition because Tuesdays vote is a byelection to choose a successor to Park. Her term was originally to end in February 2018. The new leader will still serve out a full, single five-year term.

Some voters were eager to see an end to a decade-long rule of conservative governments in Seoul they feel failed the economy and undermined the countrys democracy before the corruption scandal toppled Park.

Moon wasnt my favourite candidate in terms of policies, but I voted for him because he represented the best chance to switch government power and thats the most important thing over anything else, said Lee Ah-ram, a 39-year-old Seoul resident. We need a leader who could restore the peoples trust in government that had been damaged by Parks scandal.

Others were more concerned about the growing threats posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons and missiles and fears over Seoul losing its voice in international efforts to deal with its belligerent rival.

We need a leader who could protect national interests and hold his ground against the surrounding global powers of the United States, China and Japan, said Kim Hyeong-seok, a 67-year-old who said he voted for Hong Joon-pyo, an outspoken conservative candidate from Parks Liberty Korea Party. This is not the time to keep our eyes just on domestic issues  we need to think about the nations long-term future and peace.

Park, South Koreas first female president, is currently jailed at a detention facility near Seoul and awaits a criminal trial set to start later this month. She has been indicted on bribery, extortion and other corruption allegations that could theoretically send her to jail for life.

The allegations incensed many in South Korea, with millions taking to the streets and calling for her ouster. Park sympathizers later staged their own rallies. Dozens of high-profile figures, including Parks longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, and Samsungs de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, have been indicted along with Park.

The drama gave Moon, who lost the 2012 election to Park by a million votes, a boost in his push to re-establish liberal rule.

Frequently appearing at anti-Park rallies, Moon called for her ouster and reform measures to clean up social inequalities, excessive presidential power and corrupt ties between politicians and business leaders. Many of these legacies dated back to when South Korea was ruled by Parks dictator father, Park Chung-hee, a deeply divisive figure whose 18-year rule was marked by both rapid economic rise and severe civil rights abuse.

As a former pro-democracy student activist, Moon was jailed for months in the 1970s while protesting against the senior Park. He later worked as a human rights lawyer and chief of staff for Roh, who governed in 2003-2008.

Moon has called Park Geun-hyes hard-line North Korea policy a failure. If elected he says hell employ both pressure and dialogue to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions. He also advocates building up a more assertive South Korea and is critical of Parks decision to allow Washington to install the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) advanced anti-missile system in the South. The system has irked Beijing, Seouls largest trading partner.

Following a standoff between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un over Kims reported nuclear test plans, Moon has talked more about bolstering national defence and said THAAD deployment is inevitable if North Korea provokes. Critics say Moon was looking to woo conservative voters.

Ill take charge so you wont have to worry about security, national defence and peace, Moon said Monday in a message addressed to senior citizens, many of them conservative voters who oppose Moon because of what they see as a soft North Korea policy.

Even if he becomes leader, many analysts say Moon wont likely pursue drastic rapprochement policies because North Koreas nuclear program has achieved too much progress since he was in the Roh government a decade ago. Foreign experts say it may take only several years for North Korea to develop nuclear-armed missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland. The country may already have shorter-range nuclear missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan.

Moons nearest rivals are Ahn Cheol-soo, a centrist who has shown a more conservative stance on North Korea, and Hong, a member of Parks embattled party who has called for the reintroduction of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.

Read more about:

SHARE:
WASHINGTONAnother Trump is on her way to the capital.

Tiffany Trump, the 23-year old daughter of President Donald Trump and the second of his three wives, Marla Maples, is planning to attend law school at Georgetown University, a school official said Monday.

She has taken all the steps to enrol, said Mimi Koumanelis, a spokeswoman for the school.

Trumps choice ended a months long speculation about where she would choose to go to school, and on what merit.

Would it be Yale, the top-ranked law school in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report? (There was speculation that Trump was interested in Yale, although it is unclear if she applied.)

Or would it be Harvard, Columbia or New York University, all top-flight schools where Trump was reported to have visited last fall?

In the end, it seems that Trump kept it in the family.

Read more:

Donald Trump is crazy, like a fox: Walkom

White House was warned that Flynn could be blackmailed, Yates says

Ivanka Trump responds to criticism, says lack of public denouncement isnt silence

Georgetown, where the law school is ranked 15th, has hosted members of the Trump family before: Eric Trump, Donald Trumps second son, has a degree from Georgetown and is a member of the schools Business, Society and Public Policy Initiative advisory board.

Ivanka Trump, Donald Trumps first daughter who currently serves in the White House as assistant to the president, attended Georgetown for two years before transferring to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Georgetown also has ties to another prominent member of the Trump administration: Stephen K. Bannon, one of Trumps chief strategist, holds a masters degree in National Security Studies from the school.

Tiffany Trumps appearance in Washington will likely subject her to a new-found degree of scrutiny, one at odds with the lower profile she has kept over the years.

According to reports, Trump had difficulty adjusting to life on the campaign trail with her family, and her mother suggested that her relationship with Donald Trump had been more distant compared with her siblings.

But in the months since her father moved into the White House, she has seemed to quietly join the fold: Her carefully curated Instagram account shows only a sporadic presence in Washington, but her appearances are at family-focused events, including the White House Easter Egg Roll. Last week, Trump congratulated her older sister on the launch of her book.

On Monday, Eric Trump told The Daily Mail, the first outlet to report the news, that his younger sister was going to love her time in Washington.

Georgetown is an incredible school with great significance to me personally, he added in an email relayed by a spokeswoman to The New York Times. I am so proud of Tiffany and all that she has accomplished. She is an amazing young woman, a terrific sister and has a remarkable future ahead of her.

Last fall, President Trump praised his youngest daughters work ethic.

She was always a great student and a very popular person no matter where she went, Trump wrote in an email to The New York Times. I am incredibly proud of Tiffany and how well she has done.

Koumanelis, the Georgetown Law spokeswoman, did not say how the school would accommodate Tiffany Trump. But officials are likely to face those questions soon: Shortly after the news was announced Monday, Twitter accounts and Facebook groups held by students at the school began lighting up.

Brenna Gautam, a first-year law student, said that security was among the primary concerns raised by her fellow classmates Monday on a private Facebook group for Georgetown law students  not just for Trump but for other students: How will this impact our peers who may be personally threatened by her fathers policies? Gautam asked, referring to gay and transgender students, and students who are minorities.

Theres also been discussion surrounding which professors she may have, Gautam said, and of course some joking about whether graduation will now be held in Mar-a-Lago.

Read more about:

SHARE:
United Nations officials said Tuesday that 245 migrants were feared dead in two shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea. The death toll represents a major increase in an already grim tally this year.

More than 1,300 people are now estimated to have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in 2017, most while attempting to reach Italy from Libya or Tunisia, according to the International Organization for Migration. Last year, 5,098 people died that way.

The two recent shipwrecks occurred Friday and Sunday, though details about the extent of the loss of life were not released until Tuesday.

On Friday night, a rubber dinghy sank after several hours at sea, with 132 people on board. Of those, 50 were rescued and taken Sunday to Pozzallo, Sicily; an additional 82 were believed to have died.

On Sunday, another shipwreck was reported, this one off the coast of Libya. The International Medical Corps, which works with the UN refugee agency, reported that one woman and six men had been rescued by the Libyan coast guard, but that 163 people were feared dead.

Tens of thousands of people  43,000 so far this year  continue to brave treacherous waters to try to reach Italy. It has become the major route for people fleeing war and poverty in North or West Africa, and in some cases farther east.

In contrast, the flow of migrants across the Aegean Sea, from Turkey to Greece, has significantly slowed  though not entirely stopped  since Turkey and the European Union reached a deal in March 2016 to try to contain that part of the crisis.

The UN refugee agency, in a statement Tuesday, described an urgent need to address the root causes which lead people to move, as well as to offer credible alternatives to these dangerous crossings for people in need of international protection, including accessible and safe ways to reach Europe such as family reunification, relocation and resettlement.

Read more about:

SHARE:
ESTILL, S.C.The numbers are horrific: At least four students, ages 11 to 14, victimized by as many as 30 kids in one of the largest single cases of sexual assault reported on U.S. school grounds.

And yet four years later, its as if nothing happened.

The sheriffs office investigated and filed an incident report, but eventually stopped asking questions after multiple fruitless attempts to discuss the case with a prosecutor. Estill Middle School said it couldnt determine what, if anything, happened in the gym bathroom. The former school principal couldnt even recall the incident when asked about it.

But to the grandmother of two girls who claimed they were forced by classmates to perform oral sex, there is no doubt that something terrible happened. She filed a lawsuit against the school district for failing to keep kids safe from harm.

They were at a schoolhouse, where they were supposed to be protecting my kids, she said.

In a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press uncovered about 17,000 official reports of sex assaults by students in U.S. elementary and secondary schools over a four-year period. That tally is an undercount because such attacks are widely under-reported, and states vary in their efforts to track, classify and catalogue sexual violence by students.

APs analysis was based on state education records and supplemented by federal crime data, where the 2013 incident reported at Estill Middle School stood out.

Boys and girls ranging from 11 to 16 were sneaking into the gym bathroom to engage in sexual activity, according to the sheriffs office investigative report, which classified the conduct as forcible rape, forcible fondling and disorderly conduct.

The teachers, staff, and administration regularly failed to supervise students in the gym and regularly allowed students of the opposite sex to enter the bathroom with each other, the grandmothers suit alleges, claiming the school demonstrated gross negligence by allowing, or at least turning a blind eye to, student sex on school grounds.

A he-said, she-said

In a March 2013 incident report , Deputy Quintina Orr of the Hampton County Sheriffs Office said she was initially called in to investigate a bullying incident involving several sixth-grade girls, who told her theyd seen the others having sex in the bathroom over many months. Orr, the schools resource officer, also reported the vice principal said that on Feb. 22 she saw several males running out of the girls restroom inside the gym during fifth period and asked Orr to investigate further.

Orr spoke with everyone involved, she told AP in a recent interview. Many of the kids said theyd engaged in sexual activity in the bathroom, or that theyd seen others doing it. No one told her explicitly that they were forced, Orr said, but one girl gave her pause: She seemed to have a developmental disability.

Because of the ages involved  and the kids legal inability to consent  Orr reported that what happened inside the bathroom was, at worst, forcible rape.

She listed five victims: two 11-year-olds, two 12-year-olds and a 14-year-old. Twenty-nine boys and girls were listed as potential perpetrators, including some who she said stood watch outside the bathroom to warn if adults approached. (The numbers in her report differ slightly from the federal data, which included four victims and 30 culprits.)

Four years later, Orr thinks she was wrong to use the word rape, though she noted she never got any guidance from the prosecutors office on the correct charge. In hindsight, sex crimes, sexual misconduct would have been a more appropriate description, she said.

Sitting behind his desk at the Hampton County Sheriffs Office, Lt. Perry Singleton agrees. He said Orr was a good law officer, but that she used the wrong terminology and that sexual assault would have been better.

In the end, it didnt matter.

Singleton said he and Orr pursued the case with a prosecutor, several months after the incident and presented her with the students statements. But they never heard anything. Orr pressed on, her report showed. She tried calling the prosecutor on her cellphone and at her office several times over the next month. She noted in her report that the rape crisis centre, where some of the girls had been referred, wanted to know why no charges had yet been filed.

When she approached Singleton again, he told her not to worry about it.

It was a he-said, she-said, Singleton told AP. There was nobody who said, I did this. It was just, I saw him do this, I saw her doing that. There was nothing concrete, and we would have had a problem if that case went to court.

Duffy Stone, Hampton Countys chief prosecutor, said his office didnt pursue criminal charges because the students statements were wildly inconsistent and their ages made it almost impossible to determine who would be considered a victim and who a perpetrator. Under state law, if both children were under 14, neither could legally consent to sex.

Asked if any of the children said they were forced into sex, Stone said no, none that we could prove.

The principal at the time, Synetria Hawkins, is now an assistant at the school. Orr wrote in her report that when Hawkins was asked whether she had time to review video footage of the gym on the day of the Feb. 22 incident to match it to student statements, she said no.

When contacted by AP, Hawkins said she did not remember the sheriffs office investigation. She did not return multiple messages left on her school voicemail, cellphone and at her home seeking further comment.

It is not clear to what extent the school itself investigated, as required under federal law and U.S. Education Department guidelines. Orrs report noted that a few parent interviews were conducted along with plans for further meetings with students and parents.

In a statement to AP, the school district said it interviewed the students and their parents or guardians but that no one was disciplined due to inconsistent stories among the students allegedly involved and a lack of evidence indicating that the alleged behaviour occurred.

Ralph Smiley, an attorney representing Hampton County District 2, said he could not provide any details on the schools investigation and declined to comment on whether any policies were changed as a result of the incident.

In its response to the grandmothers lawsuit, the school maintained it did nothing wrong, and suggested that if the girls suffered, they were comparatively negligent in instituting, engaging in, and continuing the conduct which resulted in (their) injuries.

Struggles in the corridor of shame

The school told us it was the girls fault, the grandmother said, lips curled, that they wanted it.

She bristles at assertions that the girls were willing participants. The girls werent perfect, she said. They made mistakes just like anybody. But at 12 years old, they should have never been put in this position.

She spoke on condition that her name not be used, because the girls and her other grandchildren still go to district schools. In a town this size, word gets around.

She lives in a tiny trailer in a town 20 minutes outside of Estill where the walls shake each time a train roars by. At home, she could watch the girls. But at school, she trusted someone else to look after them.

Why werent they supervised? she said. What will happen to other children?

Estill lies in the heart of South Carolinas Low Country. Its population, now 2,000, dwindled by nearly 16 per cent between 2000 and 2010. Weather-worn homes are crumbling and storefronts are boarded up. Industry here died long ago.

Most parents have no choice but to send their children to the public schools. Ninety-eight per cent of students at Estill Middle are African-American; more than 90 per cent receive free or reduced lunch.

Decades ago, the school district joined others in suing the state, arguing that funding reliant on property taxes made it impossible for rural schools in this economically depleted region to provide even a minimally adequate education for their mostly poor students. In 2014, the state Supreme Court ruled in their favour.

Bud Ferillo, who made a documentary about these schools in 2005 and now runs a program about race and inequality at the University of South Carolina, said that the crumbling buildings and dismal learning conditions that characterized the Corridor of Shame schools were only part of the problem.

Everything from violence to inappropriate sexual behaviour can happen when nobodys looking, he said. I heard about it a lot from both administrators and teachers, and even from some parents who knew that they were sending their children each day into dangerous territory. They believed they had little or no choice if they wanted their kids to get any kind of education.

This was not the first time Estill faced allegations that students were being victimized  and that little was done to stop it. The sheriffs deputy that Orr replaced as school resource officer, Larry Heyward, was convicted last year of sexually assaulting a student at the school and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Heywards victim, now 19, wonders why his teachers never asked any questions when week after week, month after month, Heyward would pull him out of class and into his office, where much of the abuse occurred. Or why nobody said anything when Heyward choked or Tased the boy in the hallway, in full view of students, teachers and administrative staff.

I just dont understand why me and two other boys were sent to his office every week and nobody ever noticed that. Nobody bothered to notice, he said. The AP is not identifying him because it does not name victims of sexual abuse.

Orr believes the Heyward case affected students in the school, leading them to act out sexually. In its wake, she said, the school district failed to give students counselling or training on how to report whats wrong and whats right.

Lara Hart, an attorney who represented Hampton County District 2 in the lawsuit against the state, noted that children sometimes are harmed on campus, even at the most affluent schools.

Children are hurt because children are hurt everywhere, for a variety of reasons. We try to protect them as much as we can, she said. I feel a lot for Hampton 2. They do the very best they can but they dont have much. These children have a lot of needs, and they cant get a leg up. Its a hard, hard job and they need more support. At the end of the day, its the children who are suffering.

But the grandmother insists that school officials could have done more, worked harder to figure out why the girls were left alone in the gym.

Her girls, she said, are still suffering. One went wild: She started acting out at school, so badly that she was sent for a stint at juvenile detention. The other went silent: She stopped seeing friends, and asked to be home-schooled. Neither wants to talk about it ever again, not even to the attorneys trying to assist in a civil suit the grandmother filed against the district.

The grandmother said she isnt after money. She just wants to make sure her granddaughters  now in high school  and her other grandchildren will be safe at school.

How could you let that happen to a 12-year-old child? said the girls aunt, standing at the grandmothers bedside with a hand on her shoulder.

How could you let them go from our home, where were protecting them, to the school and let that happen? How could you have let that happen when we put our child in your care? How could you have let that happen?

SHARE:
TEHRAN, IRANIranian search crews have found seven more bodies at the site of last weeks coal mine explosion in northern Golestan province, raising the number of confirmed fatalities in the incident to 42, state TV reported on Tuesday.

The explosion last Wednesday at Zemestanyurt mine has been blamed on methane gas that had accumulated in the mine. The incident is believed to be the worst industrial accident to strike Iran in the last few decades.

Earlier, the death toll stood at 35.

Tuesdays report quoted Reza Morovati, an official in the Golestan government, as saying that the seven more bodies that were found were taken to forensics experts for identification. He also said it was possible that up to two miners remain trapped inside the coal mine.

Read more:

21 killed, dozens trapped in Iran coal mine explosion, officials say

Angry coal miners at disaster site attack Iranian presidents car

Iranian media have reported that at least 75 were injured in the explosion, and that the methane gas also sickening dozens who later rushed into the mine to try to rescue those trapped. Most of the injured have been discharged from hospitals.

On Sunday, angry coal miners and relatives of those killed or injured in the explosion kicked and beat a car carrying Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as he tried to leave after visiting the Zemestanyourt mine. Rouhani was unharmed and eventually left the site.

The president earlier spoke to a gathering of the miners and acknowledged that the government was responsible for their lives. His stop in Golestan came during his campaign tour  Rouhani is running for another four-year term as Irans elected president in the May 19 presidential election.

Be sure that we will pursue this issue and also your demands, Rouhani told the miners. Those who are guilty in this incident should be prosecuted by a court.

Rouhani remains the favourite in the election though there is much discontent in the country as benefits of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers struck by Rouhanis administration have yet to trickle down to the average Iranian.

More than 500 workers are employed at the Zemestanyurt mine in Golestan, which lies along Irans northern border with Turkmenistan and also on the shore of the Caspian Sea.

Iran annually consumes some 2.5 tons of coal but only extracts about 1 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the countrys steel mills.

This is not the first disaster to strike Irans mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.

Since Irans nuclear deal, the country has begun an effort to renovate some of its coal mines. Delegations have visited Tehran from foreign countries including the Czech Republic, hopeful for contracts.

Read more about:

SHARE:
WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump has fired the controversial FBI director who was in charge of investigating the possibility of illegal collusion between his campaign and Russia, a stunning move that prompted comparisons to Richard Nixon and allegations that Trump was attempting to thwart a probe with the potential to jeopardize his administration.

Trump said the sudden termination of James Comey was meant to restore public trust and confidence in the FBI, which has been battered over the last year by bipartisan criticism of Comeys actions. But Trumps decision raised further questions about the extent to which the public can be confident in the Russia investigation or in the president himself.

Not since Watergate have our legal systems been so threatened, and our faith in the independence and integrity of those systems so shaken, said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Democrats called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to handle the Russia investigation rather than allow Trump to hand it over to the person he selects to replace Comey. While some senior Republicans endorsed the abrupt dismissal, others expressed deep concern.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of director Comeys termination, said Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. I have found director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the committee.

The firing was all the more staggering for Trumps public rationale, which was greeted with broad skepticism. In a dizzying rhetorical turnabout, Trumps administration essentially argued that Comey was unfair to Hillary Clinton in his handling of the investigation of her private email server.

Trump has long accused Comey of being too soft on Clinton, the Democratic candidate he defeated in November. But the letter he released Tuesday to explain the dismissal, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, adopted the claim of Clintons own campaign  that Comey exceeded his authority when he held a July 2016 press conference to discuss details of the case and to criticize Clinton.

In a letter dated Tuesday to Comey, Trump wrote: While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau.

It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.

Rosenstein, echoing Clintons aides, said Comey should have given a private recommendation to federal prosecutors instead of denouncing Clintons actions in public.

Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously, he wrote. The director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.

Democrats rejected this explanation as implausible.

Theres nobody in America wholl believe that Trump fired Comey because he was mean to Hillary Clinton, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on MSNBC.

The New York Times reported that the White House had put Attorney General Jeff Sessions in charge of coming up with reasons to fire Comey, building a case since at least last week.

FBI Director James Comey is publicly confirming for the first time that the FBI is investigating Russia's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Sessions recused himself in March from matters related to the Russia investigation in the wake of the revelation that he had falsely told Congress that he had not had contact with Russian officials during the campaign. But Trump said his decision to dump Comey was also based on Sessionss recommendation.

Read more:

Trump may meet top Russian diplomat in White House day after firing Comey

FBI director Comey testifies hes mildly nauseous at the thought he turned the election

Yates warned White House that Flynn could be blackmailed

It is essential that this Department of Justice clearly reaffirm its commitment to long-standing principles that ensure the integrity and fairness of federal investigations and prosecutions, Sessions wrote in a letter released by the administration.

Comey was far from beloved among either Clinton supporters or Trump supporters. Trump, who believes Clinton should have faced charges, continued to castigate Comey during his presidency. Clinton believes she would have won had Comey not issued an October letter announcing that the FBI was again investigating a matter related to her emails; that investigation amounted to nothing at all.

Comey found himself in more hot water with Democrats on Monday night, when the news outlet ProPublica reported he had given inaccurate testimony about Clintons emails to Congress last week; the FBI was forced to issue a written correction on Tuesday. But even Clintons staunchest backers said they were troubled by the firing.

Twilight zone. I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me, Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook, wrote on Twitter.

FBI Director James Comey defends his decision to alert Congress that agents were revisiting the Hillary Clinton email investigation less than 2 weeks before the election.

Comey, a longtime Republican recently turned independent, was appointed to a 10-year term by Democratic president Barack Obama in 2013. He had previously served as a deputy attorney general under Republican George W. Bush.

The Times reported that Comey learned of his ouster from televisions left on at an FBI office in Los Angeles while he spoke to employees there. He is only the second director to be fired; Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions in 1993 over alleged ethics violations.

In what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon fired the special prosecutor handling the Watergate scandal in 1973, prompting the resignation of his attorney general and deputy attorney general.

FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian, Nixons presidential library wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Read more about:

SHARE:
BERLINGerman authorities arrested two Syrians suspected of fighting for extremist groups in their homeland, including one who allegedly administered a strategically important dam in eastern Syria for Daesh, officials said Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said that 30-year-old Abdulmalk A. and 23-year-old Mousa H. A. were arrested Tuesday in Berlin and the nearby state of Saxony-Anhalt, based on warrants issued last week. Their last names werent provided in line with German privacy rules.

Both men allegedly joined the Nusra Front in 2012 to fight against the Syrian government, with Abdulmalk A. being given command of a unit in eastern Syria.

Read more:Second German soldier arrested in alleged far-right plot to attack political figures, blame refugees

Prosecutors said that Abdulmalk A. is also suspected of committing a war crime, alleging the man captured a sniper of the Syrian regime in spring 2013 near the city of Tabqa, forced him to dig his own grave and cut his throat.

Abdulmalk A., originally from Deir el-Zour, allegedly joined Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, in mid-2013 and was put in charge of the Euphrates dam near the city of Tabqa, prosecutors said.

It wasnt immediately clear when and how the men, who will appear before a judge Tuesday, came to Germany.

German authorities have arrested dozens of people suspected of taking part in fighting in Syria who entered Germany among a wave of refugees that arrived in the country over the past two years.

Read more about:

SHARE:
MILAN  Almost four years ago, 268 Syrian refugees  including 60 children  lost their lives in a shipwreck about 97 kilometres south of Lampedusa, a small Italian island that sits between Sicily and Tunisia. It was considered one of the worst tragedies of the European refugee crisis, but a leaked audiotape published Monday by the magazine LEspresso suggested that Italian authorities let the Syrians drown despite being alerted several hours earlier that the refugees ship was in danger.

On the evening of Oct. 10, 2013, a ship carrying at least 480 people left Zuwarah, in northwestern Libya, headed for Lampedusa. Most of the passengers were Syrians who had left their country for Libya when conflict erupted at home in 2011, and were then forced to flee Libya when fighting broke out there as well.

Their ship sailed until 5 p.m. the next day, when it capsized 113 kilometres south of Lampedusa. While some of the passengers were rescued by Italian and Maltese ships, the majority died before rescuers arrived. The incident caused a media uproar that contributed to the creation of Mare Nostrum, the now-defunct Italian navy search-and-rescue operation (that program was replaced in late 2014 by a smaller-scale E.U. program called Triton).

But, until Monday, the public did not know that the refugees had alerted Italian authorities that they were in distress as early as five hours before their ship sank. Even though the refugees ship called the Italian coast guard and warned that it was floating adrift, taking on water and had wounded children aboard, Italian authorities refused to intervene for several hours.

LEspresso published five recordings of separate telephone conversations from the day of the incident. In the first, at 12:39 p.m., passenger Mohanned Jammo, a doctor who survived the shipwreck and who had a smartphone with him, calls the headquarters of the Italian coast guard in Rome asking for help. The boat is going down and water is coming into it, he says. A woman can be heard asking for his position, which he gives.

At 1:17 p.m., Jammo calls again, asking if the coast guard has sent anyone. He is answered by a man who tells him to call Malta instead. You are near Malta, the man claims. In truth, the ship was 113 kilometres from Lampedusa  but 218 kilometres from Malta.

In a third conversation, at 1:48 p.m., Jammo again calls the coast guard, saying he called Maltese authorities and was told he is closer to Lampedusa. Lampedusa is Italy? he asks. We are dying, please.

Although the ship was closer to Italian soil, it was in an area of international waters where Malta holds responsibility for search-and-rescue missions under European agreements. But, at the time, Italy had a military vessel about 37 kilometres from the refugees ship, while Maltas closest ship was 130 kilometres away. Fabrizio Gatti, the investigative reporter who obtained the recordings, said in a telephone conversation with The Washington Post that the Italian ship, as the closest ship able to help, was obligated to rescue the refugees under international maritime law.

Gatti said he obtained the recordings from sources in Malta, who leaked the tapes on the condition of anonymity. He verified the tapes by comparing them with other recordings in possession of Italys judicial authorities, who are leading an investigation into the incident. Gatti argued that the tapes show that Italian authorities usually delayed in trying to rescue ships rather than moving immediately.

Gatti refused to speculate about the political implications of the tapes, but the leak comes at a time when anti-refugee sentiment is running high in Italy and non-governmental organizations that help rescue migrants at sea have been accused of encouraging illegal immigration.

A fourth tape shows that Maltese authorities were willing to take command of the rescue mission but asked their Italian counterparts to send their nearby ship. The Italians refused.

In a gut-wrenching conversation at 4:44 p.m., an Italian coast guard officer tells the Maltese navy that Italy would not move the ship because it represents an important asset in order to spot new targets  and because that would put Italy in charge of transfer to the nearest coast.

At that point, Malta sent a surveillance plane to check on the refugees. At 5:07 p.m., the Maltese called the Italians, telling them that the refugees ship had capsized. They urged the Italians to send their ship because their own would not arrive in time to save the Syrians. Only then did Italy agree to send its ship.

By then, it was too late.

SHARE:
JOHANNESBURGA species belonging to the human family tree whose remnants were first discovered in a South African cave in 2013 lived several hundred thousand years ago, indicating that the creature was alive at the same time as early humans in Africa, scientists said Tuesday.

A meticulous dating process showed that Homo naledi (nah-LEH-dee), which had a mix of human-like and more primitive characteristics such as a small brain, existed in a surprisingly recent period in paleontological terms, said Prof. Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Berger led the team of researchers, which also announced that it had found a second cave with more fossils of the Homo naledi species, including a relatively well-preserved skull of an adult male.

The conclusion that Homo naledi was living between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago  and had not become extinct much earlier  shows that the human Homo family tree was more diverse than previously thought at that point in the evolution of our species, Homo sapiens, said John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wits University.

The next step in research is to sort the relationship of these different species to each other and also their role in our process of becoming human, Hawks said during an announcement of the discoveries at the Cradle of Humankind, a site near the South African town of Magaliesburg where the fossils were found. The research was also published in the journal eLife.

The name of Homo naledi refers to the Homo evolutionary group, which includes modern people and our closest extinct relatives, and the word for star in the local Sotho language. The fossils were found in the Rising Star cave system, which includes more than 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) of underground, mapped passageways. The second chamber containing the more recent fossil discoveries is more than 100 metres (330 feet) from the cave where the original discoveries were made, and publicly announced in 2015.

Some experts who were not involved in the research also marvelled at the age of the fossils, determined by dating Homo naledi teeth and cave sediments.

This is astonishingly young for a species that still displays primitive characteristics found in fossils about 2 million years old, such as the small brain size, curved fingers and form of the shoulder, trunk and hip joint. Yet the wrist, hands, legs and feet look more like those of Neanderthals and modern humans, and the teeth are relatively small and simple, and set in lightly built jawbones, Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Stringer said there were parallels with the late survival of the species Homo floresiensis  also known as the hobbit  in apparent isolation on an island in what is today Indonesia, and raised a key question: How did a comparably strange and small-brained species linger on in southern Africa, seemingly alongside more advanced humans?

Richard Potts of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History in Washington said it was likely that Homo naledi evolved and persisted in isolation from other species of Homo.

 Island habitats  can occur on continents, too, in small environmental refuges that are sustained long term, Potts said. Yes, on continents its typically lizards, butterflies, fish and small mammals that are susceptible to separation and isolated evolution, and the effects of that isolation can arise rapidly. To me, naledi and floresiensis are natures experiments of isolated evolution in two of our evolutionary cousins.

Berger, the research team leader, said the discovery of a second chamber with Homo naledi remains gives more credence to the idea that the species deliberately disposed of its dead in pitch-black caves that are extremely difficult to reach. However, some experts who were not on the research team questioned whether the small-brained species was capable of such behaviour and speculated that other ways to access the chambers may have existed in the past.

So far, there is no evidence that Homo naledi used stone tools or harnessed fire for its own uses.

The new discoveries offer a unifying message that counters populism, intolerance and ethnic prejudice sweeping many parts of the world, said Adam Habib, vice-chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand.

This research shows that we come from common roots, that we represent a common humanity, Habib said. If were going to survive as a species, thats what we need to remember.

SHARE:
SEOULHours after celebrating his election win with thousands of supporters in wet Seoul streets, new South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday was quickly thrown into the job of leading a nation deeply split over its future and faced with growing threats from North Korea and an uneasy alliance with the United States.

Moon, whose victory capped one of the most turbulent political stretches in the nations recent history and set up its first liberal rule in a decade, assumed presidential duties after the National Election Commission officially declared him as winner. He will be formally sworn in at noon, forgoing the usual two-month transition because he was chosen in a special election after the last elected office-holder was removed by a court and jailed on corruption charges.

Taking up his role as the new commander in chief, Moon received a call from Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin, chairman of South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff, who briefed him on the militarys preparedness against North Korea.

Read more:

South Koreans head to polls to pick new president to succeed ousted Park

Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye could face life in prison

A short time later, Moon stepped out of his private home and received an emotional send-off from hundreds of residents, who hanged flowers on his neck and asked him to pose with his children. He then left with his wife, Kim Jeong-sook, for a national cemetery in Seoul.

After bowing to honour the former presidents, independence fighters and war heroes at the cemetery, Moon wrote A country worth being proud off; a strong and reliable president! in a visitor book.

After taking the oath of office at the National Assembly at noon, he is also expected to nominate a prime minister, the countrys No. 2 job that requires approval from lawmakers, and name his presidential chief of staff during the day.

The election commission finished counting as of 6 a.m. and said Moon gathered 41 per cent of the votes, comfortably edging conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, who gathered 24 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.

Presidential candidates Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo are among the millions voting in South Korea's Presidential election on Tuesday. South Korea is replacing former President Park Geun-hye, who was forced from office due to a corruption scandal.

The National Election Commission, based on the first clause of Article 187 of the Public Official Election Law, determines that the Democratic Partys Moon Jae-in, who gathered the largest number of valid votes, was elected as president, NEC Chairman Kim Yong-deok said in the televised meeting.

South Korea might see a sharp departure from recent policy under Moon, who favours closer ties with North Korea, saying hard-line conservative governments did nothing to prevent the Norths development of nuclear-armed missiles and only reduced South Koreas voice in international efforts to counter North Korea.

This softer approach might put him at odds with South Koreas biggest ally, the United States. The Trump administration has swung between threats and praise for North Koreas leader.

Moon, the child of refugees who fled North Korea during the Korean War, will lead a nation shaken by the scandal that felled Park Geun-hye, whose criminal trial is scheduled to start later this month.

Without the usual two-month transition, Moon initially will have to depend on Parks Cabinet ministers and aides, but he was expected to move quickly to replace them with people of his own. He will not serve the rest of Parks term but rather will serve out the typical single five-year term.

After exit polls indicated to his victory Tuesday night, Moon smiled and waved his hands above his head as supporters chanted his name at Gwanghwamun square in central Seoul, where millions of Koreans had gathered for months starting late last year in the peaceful protests that eventually toppled Park.

Its a great victory by a great people, Moon told the crowd. Ill gather all of my energy to build a new nation.

Moon was chief of staff for the last liberal president, the late Roh Moo-hyun, who sought closer ties with North Korea by setting up large-scale aid shipments to the North and by working on now-stalled joint economic projects.

Hong, the conservative, is an outspoken former provincial governor who pitched himself as a strongman, described the election as a war between ideologies and questioned Moons patriotism.

Parks trial on bribery, extortion and other corruption charges could send her to jail for life if she is convicted. Dozens of high-profile figures, including Parks longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, and Samsungs de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, have been indicted along with Park.

Moon frequently appeared at anti-Park rallies and the corruption scandal boosted his push to re-establish liberal rule. He called for reforms to reduce social inequalities, excessive presidential power and corrupt ties between politicians and business leaders. Many of those legacies dated to the dictatorship of Parks father, Park Chung-hee, whose 18-year rule was marked by both rapid economic rise and severe civil rights abuse.

As a former pro-democracy student activist, Moon was jailed for months in the 1970s while protesting against the senior Park.

Many analysts say Moon likely wont pursue drastic rapprochement policies because North Koreas nuclear program has progressed significantly since he was in the Roh government a decade ago.

A big challenge will be U.S. President Donald Trump, who has proven himself unconventional in his approach to North Korea, swinging between intense pressure and threats and offers to talk.

South Koreans are more concerned that Trump, rather than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, will make a rash military move, because of his outrageous tweets, threats of force and unpredictability, Duyeon Kim, a visiting fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, wrote recently in Foreign Affairs magazine.

It is crucial that Trump and the next South Korean president strike up instant, positive chemistry in their first meeting to help work through any bilateral differences and together deal with the North Korean challenge, she said.

SHARE:
WASHINGTONAs the Trump administration weighs extending humanitarian protections for thousands of Haitian immigrants, officials are digging for unusual information: How many have been convicted of crimes.

Internal emails obtained by The Associated Press show a top immigration official wanted not only crime data on Haitians who are protected from deportation under the Temporary Protected Status program, but also how many were receiving public benefits. Such immigrants arent eligible for welfare benefits.

Roughly 50,000 Haitians have been allowed to live in the U.S. under the program in the aftermath of a 2010 earthquake, and the questions about misdeeds among them comes at a critical moment. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly must decide soon whether to continue protecting the group from deportation.

Normally the decision depends on whether conditions in the immigrants home country have improved. But emails suggest Kelly is looking at other criteria as well.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

Department spokesman David Lapan said Tuesday that criminal history and other information requested by policy chief Kathy Nuebel Kovarik wont be used to make a final decision about Temporary Protected Status. Lapan said the questions were asked so that Kelly could have a fuller understanding of who is in the program.

But Lapans explanation doesnt reflect the apparent importance placed on the questions by Kovarik, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services head of policy and strategy, in repeated emails to her staff.

I do want to alert you . . . the secretary is going to be sending a request to us to be more responsive, Kovarik wrote on April 27. After agency staff said they couldnt gather the information about wrongdoing, she said: I know some of it is not captured, but well have to figure out a way to squeeze more data out of our systems.

The request for criminal data for an entire ethnic community is unorthodox. Federal law doesnt specify it should be a consideration for Temporary Protected Status, and the government has never said it would use a communitys behaviour in deciding if a countrys citizens should be allowed to stay.

But the request fits in with U.S. President Donald Trumps broader, tough-on-immigration focus. He has enhanced efforts to arrest people living illegally in the United States and has sought, unsuccessfully so far, to suspend refugee arrivals and temporarily block visitors from six Muslim-majority countries.

It is unclear if the agency is asking such questions about other recipients of the temporary protection, including immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador.

Trump courted the votes of Haitian-American citizens in the critical state of Florida. Campaigning in Miamis Little Haiti in September, he said, The Haitian-American community adds so much to our country: dedication to family, perseverance, entrepreneurship . . . creativity, faith.

Haitian radio host Salusa Basquin, a legal permanent resident applying for U.S. citizenship, couldnt vote for Trump, but he encouraged Palm Beach County listeners of his Creole program to support the businessman. In recent weeks, Basquin has been organizing rallies supporting the extension of Temporary Protected Status benefits for Haitians.

I cant say we dont have crimes in our community, but when it comes to those with TPS, I think its going to be hard to find anything worse than someone driving without a license because people with TPS are people new to the country and just trying to get by, Basquin said. As far as abusing the system goes, most of them dont even know how to utilize the system.

Temporary Protected Status is intended to be just that, temporary. The Obama administration included Haiti in the program shortly after the January 2010 earthquake killed as many as 300,000 people, destroyed much of the capital and caused widespread damage elsewhere. Since then, Haitians have been eligible to stay regardless of how they entered the United States  legally or illegally  as long as they were residing here before Jan. 12, 2011.

USCIS acting director has recommended letting the program expire, but giving the Haitians until January to leave. If they dont depart by then, they could be deported. A decision is due by May 23 so the government can provide 60 days notice.

The emails inquiring about misdeeds were sent from April 7 to May 1.

In her first week on the job, Kovarik asked officials how often Haitians with temporary status have been convicted of crimes of any kind, and how many have taken advantage of public benefits. She asked for that information in four emails. She also asked how much money Haitians have sent home and how often theyve travelled back to Haiti. Frequent travel could suggest improved conditions.

Please dig for any stories (successful or otherwise) that would show how things are in Haiti  i.e. rebuilding stories, work of non-profit, how the U.S. is helping certain industries, Kovarik wrote on April 28. We should also find any reports of criminal activity by any individual with TPS. Even though its only a snapshot and not representative of the entire situation, we need more than Haiti is really poor stories.

The emails were largely directed to non-political employees. They responded by saying much of the data was not available or was difficult to find in government record systems.

Criminal fingerprint records, for instance, dont generally indicate if a suspect has Temporary Protected Status.

Maria Odom, a former Citizenship and Immigration Services ombudsman in the Obama administration, said she was puzzled by the inquiries because the government already checks criminal histories of applicants.

You should not craft a humanitarian policy based on the few, Odom said.

Read more about:

SHARE:
WASHINGTONThe United States watched Russians hack Frances computer networks during the election and tipped off French officials before it became public, a U.S. cyber official told the Senate on Tuesday.

Frances election campaign commission said Saturday that a significant amount of data  and some information that was likely fake  was leaked on social networks following a hacking attack on centrist Emmanuel Macrons successful presidential campaign. Frances government cybersecurity agency is investigating what a government official described as a very serious breach.

The leak came 36 hours before the nation voted Sunday in a crucial presidential runoff between Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. The election commission said the leaked data apparently came from Macrons information systems and mail accounts from some of his campaign managers  a data theft that mimicked Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

We had become aware of Russian activity. We had talked to our French counterparts and gave them a heads-ups  Look, were watching the Russians. Were seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure. Heres what weve seen. What can we do to try to assist? Adm. Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Read more: As French campaign ends, Macrons team says its the victim of massive hacking attack

Frances chief cybersecurity body, known by the French acronym ANSII, declined comment on Rogers testimony.

Earlier Tuesday, ANSII released a statement saying that it had been assisting with the response to the hack since Friday and that the information technology fraud division of Paris police force had since been charged with investigating the breach.

Rogers also said the U.S. is still working on a comprehensive cyber policy to counter what he called a brave new world in the cyber domain. He said the United States is improving its ability to defend itself, but I would also tell myself, Rogers you are not moving fast enough.

He said the U.S. needs to take tough actions against nation states working to undermine American democracy. They need to be publicly accused of the activity and the U.S. needs to make it clear to them that this type of activity is unacceptable and there is a price to pay for doing this.

Read more about:

SHARE:
Satirical comedians who often revert to irony and sarcasm on their television shows have increasingly focused on shaming President Donald Trump to draw societys attention to those wider issues making the news.

Some do it to boost ratings.

Last week, late night talk-show host Stephen Colbert may have thrown in his boldest joke to date at Trump by referring to a sexual act.

You have more people marching against you than cancer, you talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head, Colbert yelled, angrily, in his opening monologue. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putins c--k holster.

Colbert summarized in a single joke what CNN anchors have been elegantly saying in news bulletins about suspicions Trump and his campaign were connected to Russian interference in last years presidential election.

But did the Late Show star, who was responding to the Trumps recent dismissive treatment of his CBS colleague, Face the Nation host John Dickerson, cross the line in his rage against the president?

Thousands of people who endorsed the Twitter hashtag #FireColbert believe he did.

Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has pledged to investigate and take appropriate action. At worst, Colbert will literally pay for his joke  a fine.

Pais apprehensive comments to the Washington Post are telling enough that Colbert may only get away with a slap on the wrist: Its a free country. People are willing and able to say just about anything these days.

This incident brings back the ancient and eternal clash between the liberal, conservative and progressive moguls running the media industry.

Perhaps the famous incident on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS in 1967 involving Jim Morrison of The Doors is one way of marking the extreme change of times, corporate media, and counterculture.

Information posted on the Ed Sullivan Show website corroborates the cinematic version of the incident played out in Oliver Stones 1991 biographical film The Doors. Fifteen minutes before show time, Sullivan sent a producer to inform the band it needed to change the line, Girl, we couldnt get much higher to Girl, we couldnt get much better, when performing its No. 1 hit, Light My Fire.

Morrison, as the original live video shows, defiantly sang the original lyric instead of singing the suggested change. Reportedly, the producers had said they were hoping to book the band six more times before Morrison was forever banned from appearing on the CBS network after his rebellious performance.

In the Middle East, a region I covered for close to two decades, if a satirist began to crack a joke with a slight resemblance to Colberts oral sex anecdote, that comedian could disappear, face jail time, or possibly be assassinated.

I wonder what self-exiled Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, now living in America, is thinking as he watches this showdown between Colbert and the FCC.

Youssef, nicknamed the Jon Stewart of Egypt, fled the country after a prosecutor summoned him for questioning before his show was taken off the air for tickling the giants  who could not take a joke  at the presidential palace. It is a story I reported on extensively while I was in Egypt.

Youssef, whom I recently saw in New York after he hosted the International Emmys, describes the news satire he directed at the military and Islamic figures of Egypt during the protests of the Arab Spring as black, observational, surreal and insult comedy.

Thankfully, Colbert will not be threatened or have to face fascists, who have jailed more than 120 journalists in Turkey, or dictators, who order target killings of media professionals who dont toe the government line. 

He wont be fired, or banned, by CBS executives, like what happened to Jim Morrison, because its 2017.

The unrepentant Late Night show host came out blazing during the opening monologue of his first show after the incident and defiantly yelled: 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.

Colbert is brilliant in delivering his presidential comedy and if you think he went too far, just bear in mind the constant profanity President Trump spews at journalists and private citizens.

Mohamed Fahmy is an award winning journalist and war correspondent. He is the author of The Marriott Cell: An Epic Journey from Cairos Scorpion Prison to Freedom.

Read more about:

SHARE:
On the campaign trail, Justin Trudeau promised that, if elected, his Liberals would pursue a transformative agenda. Our democracy, citizenship, health, the strength of our unions, Canadas relationship with its First Peoples  on these, and other issues, voters gave Trudeau a strong mandate to play an activist role.

Yet by at least one measure, the Trudeau government has hardly acted at all. In their first 18 months in office, the Liberals have displayed a remarkable legislative lethargy, passing a mere 17 government bills, the least of any new government in decades.

Some of the laws Trudeau has managed to pass are important, and will make a marked difference in peoples lives, including the expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, the creation of the Canada Child Benefit, and the legalization of assisted dying.

However, in vital areas such as democratic renewal, security policy, criminal law and indigenous issues, among others, the government has been painfully slow to act. As Trudeau approaches the second half of his mandate, the hopeful symbolism of his early days risks souring if it is not soon reflected in more, and more wide-ranging, laws and programs.

Part of the slow pace can no doubt be chalked up to inexperience. The governments first House leader, Dominic LeBlanc, lacked the diplomatic touch required to rally support around government bills. His replacement, Bardish Chagger, a rookie MP, is widely seen as a strange choice for a government that could use an experienced leader in Parliament, especially given some of the tricky issues on the agenda.

Part if it, too, might be the inevitable consequence of a more democratic approach to governing. There is always a tension in government between efficiency and democracy, between how quickly laws and programs can be delivered and how robust the study and debate. The Harper government chose expediency at every turn, railroading laws through Parliament and burying important changes in omnibus bills. In opposition, Trudeau promised a more democratic approach, and insofar as he has delivered, the efficiency of his government has suffered for it.

His attempt to remake the Senate as a less partisan body of true sober second thought, for instance, has freed the Upper House to slow the passage of bills, as it did with the assisted dying law and is doing again with the private members bill to make O Canada gender neutral. Trudeaus admirable commitment to use fewer omnibus bills and rely less on legislative tricks has paid democratic dividends, but at a cost.

But too often with this government delays in the name of democracy seem to serve as a smokescreen to avoid tough decisions. Take just a few of the Liberal campaign promises still undelivered ostensibly because they are in some stage of consultation or review: rolling back the most egregious aspects of the Tories overreaching security policy and costly tough-on-crime laws; closing regressive tax loopholes that benefit the richest few at a great cost to the public purse; fixing the outdated access-to-information law to ensure transparency and accountability.

In each of these cases, the government clearly has both the evidentiary and democratic bases on which to act, so why isnt it? How much consultation is needed before it is prepared to do as it promised?

The Trudeau governments embrace of democratic engagement is a welcome shift after a decade of something like government-by-fiat. But this tendency to consult endlessly rather than act  to signal a commitment without delivering the substance and paying the cost  will look less and less good on the government as it ages.

SHARE:
Re: Trump no monster' Black assures MPs,

Re: May 5

Trump no monster' Black assures MPs,

May 5

Why would anyone be assured of anything Conrad Black says, given his history? Especially when he is trying to paint his old friend Donald Trump as being a reasonable person. Conrad Black does not deserve the ink you gave him.

Kathleen J. Bell, Keswick

SHARE:
Precilla Veigas was more than halfway through her PhD in medical science when she got the grim diagnosis in September 2015.

A rare form of abdominal cancer had spread through her body. Doctors told her she had six months to live, a year if she was lucky.

Veigas had a teenaged daughter, a husband and a sprawling family in India. She was also engrossed in pursuing the academic goal shed been dreaming of for most of her life.

Colleagues at the University of Toronto raised the possibility of medical leave.

I said no, Im not going to do that, I want to finish it, recalls Veigas, 44, who says despite the shock, staying focused on her research made her feel clearer and stronger to deal with the medical nightmare that was about to unfold.

Difficulties come in life, you cant turn away from them. You have to face them.

Read more:Tears and cheers for gravely ill mom as she receives PhD

Over the next 20 months of hospital appointments, tests and scans, four different chemotherapy treatments, fatigue, pain, swelling and other disabling side effects, Veigas kept her eye on the academic target.

On Tuesday, six weeks after Veigas successfully defended her PhD dissertation, U of T is holding a first event of its kind  a special convocation for her in advance of the usual June celebrations to mark her achievement.

With her prognosis still uncertain, the school wants to make sure she gets to walk across the stage and receive her doctorate in front of family, friends and colleagues eager to celebrate.

Im so nervous and excited at the same time, says Veigas, who acknowledges that being called Dr. Veigas will be a high point, even though Im still Precilla.

Ive always had very strong support, Veigas said in an interview Sunday at her Aurora home, where excited family from Toronto, India and the U.S. were congregating, including a six-month-old babbling happily in the background.

On her worst days, Veigas had warned her 15-year-old daughter Jadyn that she might have to collect the sealed parchment from U of T on her behalf.

But she always said to me No Mom, you are going to take it yourself,  says Veigas. And thats what shell do at Tuesday mornings ceremony at Massey College held by the faculty of medicine and the school of graduate studies and attended by about 40 people.

Im so proud of my mom, says Jadyn, a Grade 10 student who wants to study pharmacology and follow in her mothers footsteps as a researcher.

I know its a sad thing. But we didnt even know if she was going to finish. Im super proud.

Veigas research resulted in guidelines that are already helping trauma physicians at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto treat patients who are hemorrhaging, by matching them to the most effective blood products for transfusion to manage bleeding and save their lives.

She successfully defended her dissertation on March 31 in a session that her supervisor, Dr. Sandro Rizoli, described as spectacular.

To do it she took a break from chemotherapy to build up stamina for the two-hour-plus ordeal in front of a panel that included a trauma expert who flew in from the University of British Columbia.

Shes just a regular person, but then when you look at her decision, and her resilience and accomplishments, you say wow, says Rizoli, professor of surgery and critical care medicine and chief of trauma care at St. Mikes who met Veigas seven or eight years ago when she was managing a massive research study at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

What she did is incredible, to get her PhD in spite of all the challenges she faced.

Veigas says her drive goes back to her childhood in the town of Karkala in southern India, where she remembers being fascinated with small animals, birds and plants. Shed spend hours planting seeds and stem clippings and digging them back up to see if theyd sprouted roots before replanting them.

She was the sixth of seven children in a small but happy house with no money for frills. Both parents worked at government jobs and drilled the importance of education into their kids.

Education can take you places, and its an asset no one can take away from you, she remembers them saying. All her siblings went on to attain post-secondary degrees and beyond.

Tragedy struck when she was 11 and her father died of a sudden hemorrhage. Its a loss that haunts her when she thinks of her own daughter.

Veigas earned her bachelor of science followed by a Masters degree in medical microbiology. After she and her husband Joseph DSouza married, they moved to Dubai, where he worked in information technology and in 2001 she gave birth to Jadyn back home in India.

When they immigrated to Canada, she planned to pursue a PhD right away. What she didnt expect were the many hurdles  the lack of funding for research positions, and the fact she would need more certifications to crack the clinical research field.

I was devastated, she says. But not dissuaded.

She began her 11-year quest for a doctorate with two demanding clinical research programs in 2006 and 2007  one part-time at McMaster University in Hamilton, which involved a three-hour commute on transit several times a week from their North York home, and another full-time at Humber College.

That earned Veigas the credentials to soon get a job managing the project that would eventually lay the foundations for her PhD. The clinical trial involved 75 hospitals and required collecting data about life-and-death trauma in patients who were bleeding out. It was meticulous work that required delicacy because of the many ethical considerations involved with patients who couldnt give consent ahead of time, says Rizoli.

When she approached him in 2012 to ask if he would supervise her PhD, he had seen enough to know she was committed, did superb work and had what it takes, even though it was unusual for him to take on a candidate who wasnt a medical doctor.

The pains started more than two years later, first in her shoulder, followed by fatigue. The doctor recommended exercises. It took months to finally get the scans and tests that led to her diagnosis of bile duct cancer and news that the five-year survival rate was 2 per cent.

Ive slipped through the cracks many times, she says.

Surgery wasnt an option because the cancer was too advanced. She opted for chemotherapy to shrink the tumours.

By early 2016, the disease had moved into her ovaries and abdominal lining, causing pain and severe swelling. She had surgery, then was referred to a different hospital where the diagnosis was altered, and the appendix was identified as the source of the cancer. Treatment changed, but the outlook was still dire.

In December she was told for the second time she could expect to live six months. This is my second expiry date, she says. I have a sense of humour.

She gets scared, sheds tears, but never in front of her family, she says, even though they are what keeps her going.

She loves hearing the details of Jadyns courses and volunteer stints. Her daughter does her makeup and helped input data into the computer for her thesis.

DSouza says his wifes determination gave her positive energy.

I said you focus on that and Ill take care of the rest, he says. This is what shes achieved, thats what she wanted.

After convocation, Veigas has a few plans. Theres a third paper to publish from her thesis. Its been a year since she and Jadyn went spur of the moment to India, and she wants to go again, to see her 80-year-old mother and other relatives that regularly send messages of support and encouragement. We are a one-of-a-kind family, she says.

She wants to continue to support the research at St. Mikes however she can.

And to see her daughter graduate.

She will cherish that parchment in her hand on Tuesday, but doesnt want it to be what defines her.

The most important things you leave behind are memories and relationships with the people you love, she says.

Love makes a big difference.

SHARE:
Nvidia (NVDA) - Get Free Report has become Wall Street's poster boy for every new area of technology that is white hot -- machine learning, artificial intelligence, autonomous cars and augmented and virtual reality. After a record breaking 2016, which saw the stock gain nearly 300%, the graphics processor maker is going to have a lot to live up to in investors eyes, with some experts not sure it can.

"We are Underweight [Nvidia] due to signs of desktop GPU market saturation, lower margins from incremental Nintendo Switch revenue and a possible sales pause in the company's data center business this summer," Pacific Crest Securities analyst Michael McConnell wrote in an investor note ahead of earnings.

Nvidia, led by CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, is still largely dependent upon the PC gaming market for the majority of its revenues, but its other areas, like data centers are growing fast, thanks to the explosion of machine learning and artificial intelligence over the past 12 months.

In the 2017 fiscal fourth-quarter, Nvidia had $2.17 billion in sales, including $1.348 billion from gaming. Its datacenter business accounted for $296 million, while automotive accounted for $128 million.

Nvidia's GPUs are some of the most advanced in the world and as datacenters, autonomous cars and other machines need heavier computing power, GPUs have been tasked with handling the problem.

Investors will be looking to hear what Nvidia has to say about its four main categories, as well as any updates to partnerships the company announced in recent months.

Analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance expect the company to lose an adjusted 67 cents a share on $1.91 billion in revenue for the period.

Over the past 12 months, shares of Tesla have gained nearly 194%, blowing away the near 11% gain in the S&P 500.

Here are five ETFs that may benefit if investors like Nvidia's first-quarter results.

iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF

The $934 million iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) - Get Free Report has Nvidia make up 7.79% of its portfolio, charging investors an expense ratio of 0.48%.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Ambrish Srivastava expects a slowdown in the gaming market and more competition in the datacenter business, providing some tough headwinds for Nvidia.

"What we do believe is that as the year progresses, we expect a slowdown in gaming and competition in datacenter, to begin to show," Srivastava wrote in a note to investors. "We are reducing our estimates, now below consensus for FY18/FY19, largely on assumptions of lower growth in gaming, and somewhat due to lower assumptions for datacenter."

BMO has an underperform rating and a $85 price target on shares.

Aptus Behavioral Momentum ETF

The $33.4 million Aptus Behavioral Momentum ETF (BEMO) - Get Free Report has Nvidia make up 6.07% of its portfolio, charging investors an expense ratio of 0.79%.

Pacific Crest Securities's McConnell, who rates Nvidia underweight with a $90 price target, expects in-line results this quarter.

"We expect weaker-than-expected desktop GPU sales to be offset by sequential growth in the company's data center segment, as well as late quarter-end GeForce 10-series GPU deals to notebook OEMs, which could carry unfavorable margin and/or inventory implications," the analyst wrote.

Industrial Innovation ETF

The $37.1 million Industrial Innovation ETF (ARKQ) - Get Free Report has Nvidia make up 6.06% of its portfolio, charging investors an expense ratio of 0.75%.

Rosenblatt Securities analyst Hans Mosesmann believes in Nvidia's dominance in its core markets, one that he sees expanding.

"It is difficult to keep pace with Nvidia's GPU innovation cadence given GPU scale, the fact that CUDA software/compiler has become a defacto standard in GPGPU deployment, and secular trend of GPUs being used in more and more applications (green field for Nvidia)," Mosesmann wrote in an investor note. "There is simply no better story in the world of semis in terms of secular growth rates and margin expansion as a result of the company being a pure-play in AI."

Mosesmann has a buy rating and a $140 price target on shares.

VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF

The $585.1 million VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) - Get Free Report has Nvidia make up 5.03% of its portfolio, charging investors an expense ratio of 0.36%.

PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors Portfolio ETF

The $244.1 million PowerShares Dynamic Semiconductors Portfolio ETF (PSI) - Get Free Report has Nvidia make up 4.83% of its portfolio, charging investors an expense ratio of 0.63%.
Embattled activist investor Bill Ackman on Monday made a pitch to hedge fund managers to follow him and invest in real estate developer Howard Hughes (HHC) - Get Free Report arguing that the investment in the so-called "master planned community" company could one day be as successful as one made by billionaire Donald Bren.

Howard Hughes shares spiked upwards about 4% on the news, trading at $126.50 a shares Monday afternoon.

The activist fund has been investing in the company, which is not a Real Estate Investment Fund, for a number of years. He explained to the Sohn conference that Howard Hughes, which is based in Dallas, Texas, will have its first investor day shortly.

Howard Hughes Corp. was founded by Howard Hughes, the father of American business tycoon, pilot and film director Howard Hughes Jr., who later diversified it into real estate development company. "You think of Howard Hughes [Jr.] as an aviator, but he made most his money in real estate," Ackman said at the Sohn conference in New York.

Real Money's Casey Hoerth discusses why buying Tanger Factory Outlet is a no brainer.

Ackman started his presentation by pointing to a real estate development business launched by Donald Bren, whose net worth is valued at $15.2 billion on the Forbes billionaire list, based on years of development in a master planned community in Irving Ranch in Orange County, Calif. Bern bought out his partners over the years, Ackman noted, adding that while investors can't participate in Bern's developments they can buy shares in his Howard Hughes investment.

"The question is how to invest in the style of Donald Bren?" Ackman asked. "The answer is a company called the Howard Hughes Company."

The company has developments across the U.S. including in New York, Maryland, Houston and Las Vegas.

Pershing Square owns a 13% stake in Howard Hughes, according to a January 2016 activist 13D filing. He's owned a stake since 2010 and has "never sold a share."
Anthemundefined on Monday asked a Delaware judge to extend his order keeping the health insurers' reluctant merger partner in their $48 billion merger for another 60 days.

Anthem wants Delaware Chancery Court Judge Travis Laster to extend a ban on Cigna (CI) - Get Free Report leaving the deal until July 7.

Both a federal district court and an appeals have supported the Department of Justice's lawsuit seeking to stop the deal but last week Anthem asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

According to Bloomberg, Laster said during a hearing Monday that Anthem bid to keep the deal together is a "long shot."

Nevertheless, Laster said he'd consider Anthem's request to keep Cigna in the deal a little longer.

The companies have been bickering for months and Cigna announced plans to terminate the merger in February and filed suit in Delaware seeking to collect a $1.85 billion breakup fee and $13 billion in damages from Anthem.
United (UAL) - Get Free Report shares were indicated higher in premarket trading Tuesday after the United Airline parent released solid April performance figures amid signs the fallout from its shambolic handling of a passenger dispute is beginning to fade.

United said both revenue passenger miles (+7.4%) and available seat miles (+4%) increased last month, when compared to April 2016, and that the group sees annual consolidated passenger revenue growth of between 1% and 2% for current quarter.

United "finished April ahead of all primary competitors in important metrics including on-time departures and arrivals, as well as the fewest flight cancellations for the month among the same group of peers," the airline said in a statement published on its website. It also said it "achieved another record-setting month with fewer flight cancellations than any other month in the company's history" and "set a no-cancel streak record, going 145 hours without a flight cancellation."

United shares were marked 0.31% higher in premarket trading in New York, indicating an opening price of $75.21. The stock has gained around 5.78% since the now infamous April 9 incident in which images of Dr. David Dao being dragged bleeding and screaming from United Express Flight 3411 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport were shared on social media around the world.

CEO Oscar Munoz later called the incident, in which Dr. David Dao was dragged from a plain after refusing to give up his seat after the flight was overbooked, a "mistake of epic proportions" during testimony to a House Transportation Committee on May 2 and vowed to overhaul the company's customer focus.

"This is a turning point for United and our 87,000 professionals," Munoz said. "It is my mission to ensure we make the changes needed to provide our customers with the highest level of service and the deepest sense of respect."

However, it seems as if the public relations disaster has, at least at this stage, failed to dent the firm's financial reputation; the stock has outperformed the S&P 500 Airlines Industry Index, although it has lagged 7.5% gains for rivals Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) - Get Free Reportand American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) - Get Free Report

It should also be noted that a good portion of the April traffic figures will likely be comprised of tickets purchased before the April 9 incident.

Nevertheless, legendary investor Warren Buffett is sticking with his airline industry investments, including United, even though he described the event as a "terrible mistake" during an interview Monday with CNBC's Becky Quick.

"They may become like cattle cars," he said "But a significant percentage would rather be treated that way and fly for X than have far more legroom, two abreast, all kinds of things, and travel for X plus 25 percent."

Editor's note: Article originally published at 5:33 a.m. and updated.
California has awarded Wells Fargo (WFC) - Get Free Report a $500 million contract to provide the state with short-term funds to repair the Oroville Dam, less than a year after the state slapped sanctions on the bank in the fallout from Wells Fargo's fake accounts scandal.

State Treasurer John Chiang said in September that the state would suspend its relationship with the bank and he was also vocal in saying that the resignation of former CEO John Stumpf was not enough to placate the state.

About $70 million has been drawn down on the $500 million line of credit so far. Up to $500 million may be borrowed and must be paid back within a year, CNBC reported.

Over on Real Money Jim Cramer give advice to investors looking at how to play the Trump Trade. Get his insights or analysis with a free trial subscription to Real Money.
Eight Democratic Senators have demanded a probe into billionaire investor and President Trump adviser Carl Icahn's activities in the U.S. biofuel market, focusing on possible insider trading.

"We are writing to request that your agencies investigate whether Carl Icahn violated insider trading laws, anti-market manipulation laws, or any other relevant laws based on his recent actions in the market for renewable fuel credits," the Senators said in a letter to the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.

Icahn proposed changes to the U.S. biofuels program that would ease the regulatory burdens of biofuel companies in February, shortly after he was named an adviser to Trump's administration following his election in November.

Icahn holds a majority stake in CVR Energy (CVI) - Get Free Report .

Over on Real Money Jim Cramer give advice to investors looking at how to play the Trump Trade. Get his insights or analysis with a free trial subscription to Real Money.
Brazil's state oil company Petrobras (PBR) - Get Free Report and U.S. giant ExxonMobil (XOM) - Get Free Report xBR) are discussing a global partnership across various parts of their energy businesses, according to an anonymously-sourced group of people.

Those people, Bloomberg reported, said the deal could be like one cut earlier with France's Total.

If it is like the Total deal, it could provide Exxon access to reserves and facilities in Brazil. Petrobras, the sources said, would in exchange receive top notch training in the most modern industry practices.

Exxon shares reacted mildly, slipping less than 1%, to $82.35.

Last week ExxonMobil, the world's largest public energy company, said it earned $4 billion, or 95 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with earnings of $1.8 billion a year earlier.

The company attributed the earnings, which beat analysts' estimates by 10 cents per share, to improving commodity prices, cost management, and refining operations.

"Our results reflect an increase in commodity prices and highlight our continued focus on controlling costs and operating efficiently," CEO Darren W. Woods said in a statement. "We continue to make strategic acquisitions, advance key initiatives and fund long-term growth projects across the value chain."
WESTBY  Area residents will have a rare musical opportunity when the New Sousa Band performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Westby Area Schools field house, 206 West Ave. S.

The original Sousa Band, directed by March King John Philip Sousa, made multiple appearances in the Coulee Region, and it is believed the band performed in Westbys Davidson Park 100 years ago in 1917. The New Sousa Band, conducted by former Yale University band director Keith Brion, will come close to recreating that historic concert when it performs in Westby.

A few years ago, Westby band instructors Monte Dunnum and Kory Dahlen both heard the New Sousa Band perform in Chicago at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic. Amazed by that performance, both men said anyone who wants to know what a top-notch band concert was like 100 years ago will not leave the Westby field house disappointed.

It is a 100 percent accurate recreation of concerts performed by the world famous John Philip Sousa Band. I felt it was the finest concert band we had ever heard, Dunnum said.

For years it was a dream of Brions to recreate the Sousa Band, not only bringing back Sousas music but to tour America and invigorate patriotism. The New Sousa Band has 34 members and began performing and touring in 1979. All the New Sousa Band members wear authentic replicas of the original Sousa Band uniforms and the musicians were chosen for their ability to transmit the original style, spirit and ensemble sound of the original band.

The performers in this ensemble are world-class musicians including the principal trombone of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the flute instructor at Ohio State University and others with credentials similar to this. The level of pure musicianship will be phenomenal, Dunnum said.

Although the Sousa band is mainly known for its marches, Dunnum said the Westby concert will feature a world class operatic vocalist and at least three instrumental solo performances. The band will perform overtures, waltzes and many famous Sousa marches.

Tickets are $10 and will be available at the door. Westby area band students, military personnel and veterans will be admitted for free with appropriate identification.
GameStop Corp. is a specialty retailer founded in 1999 and headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. The company was originally known as GSC Holdings Corp. but later changed its name following its IPO. Originally a brand of then dominant Babbages, Gamestop altered the way video games were distributed and it is now the world's largest retailer of video games and video game accessories. The company went public in 2004 and operated 4,573 stores at the start of 2022. Brands under the company umbrella include Gamestop, EB Games, and Micromania as well as 50 pop-culture-themed Zing Pop locations.

Gamestop Corp. provides video games and entertainment products through its global network of e-commerce properties and stores. The company sells new and pre-owned gaming platforms and accessories like controllers, headsets, memory cards, and gaming software as well as in-game products like digital currency, downloadable content, and games. The company also sells new and used memorabilia and collectibles. Genres include TV, movie, comic book, and game characters as well as many other items from pop culture. GameStop Corp. also operates Game Informer, a magazine and website dedicated to the gaming industry including reviews, updates, and new developments in technologies.

Game enthusiasts enjoy two primary benefits of using Gamestop. The first is access to the full range of games and gaming accessories. The second is the ability to sell or trade their old equipment and games for fair prices. All old equipment is refurbished to a like-new state before resale.

In 2021 Gamestop announced it was entering the world of cryptocurrency. The company revealed plans to build an NFT (non-fungible token) platform for listing, selling, and holding digital or digitized artwork and collectibles. The beta version launched in 2022 and has so far seen great success with an average daily volume exceeding $1 million. The NFT marketplace also featured Web3.0 games in which characters and in-game items are held forever on the blockchain. As of September 2022, the most successful retailer on the NFT marketplace was Gamestop Presents, a collaboration of cover art from Game Informer Magazine. Sales at the time were just under 168 ETH or about $221,500.00.

GameStop began a slide in 2016 following a series of bad investments that included a foray into the world of mobile phones. The slide came to an end in late 2021 when shareholders using the Reddit thread Wallstreet Bets orchestrated a short-squeeze and brought on the age of meme stocks.
Kuwait will back efforts made to restore balance to the world's oil markets and eliminate a supply surplus, expecting a deal extending production cuts to be reached on May 25, a report said.



Kuwaiti Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water Essam Al Marzouq has reaffirmed in a statement issued by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation his country's commitment to a deal deepening the supply curbs by the world's major oil producers, reported WAM, the Emirates news agency, which cited the Kuwait News Agency.



According to a deal concluded in Vienna in December 2016, Opec members are committed to cutting production by around 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d), while non-Opec producers voluntarily decided to reduce output by 600,000 b/d, with the decision taking effect since the beginning of the year.



The level of commitment to the deal has been unprecedented, KUNA quoted the minister as saying. He expected the efforts made in this regard to bear fruits with the decline in global crude stocks over the coming months.



The minister referred to a "semi - consenus" on the extension of production cut deal for a new six-month period during the coming Opec and non-Opec producers' meeting, due in Vienna on May 25.
Iran has plans to raise its crude oil production capacity by three million barrels per day (mbd), said a top official of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Monday.



The move is aimed at promoting and stabilizing the countrys footing in Opec and the global market, Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy head for engineering and development affairs, was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily report, which cited Shana.



NIOC has signed 24 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with domestic and international companies to develop oil and gas projects in Iran since January 2016, he added, speaking on the sidelines of the 22nd Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition in Tehran.



NIOC signed an MoU with the Philippines PNOC EC for conduct studies on Irans Pazanan and phase 3 of Darkhowin oilfields.



Manouchehri revealed that NIOC is mulling contracts valued at $80 billion with domestic and international contractors over the next two years.



Meanwhile, Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Kazemi said that Irans oil products export has reached 450,000 bpd, noting that the major products included mazut, gas oil, kerosene, and LPG.



He added once current gasoline production projects go on stream, the countrys gasoline output will increase by 16 million litres per day.



Regarding the share of indigenous equipment in the countrys oil industry, Kazemi said currently 60 per cent of them are Iranian-made. Also 70 to 80 per cent of refinery catalysts are produced domestically.



In November 2016, Frances Total became the first oil major to sign a big deal with Tehran since the lifting of sanctions and agreed to help it develop the worlds largest gas field, South Pars.



Shell signed a provisional deal in December to develop Iranian oil and gas fields South Azadegan, Yadavaran and Kish in December 2016.



Iran has named 29 companies from more than a dozen countries as being allowed to bid for oil and gas projects using the new, less restrictive contract model.



The firms include Shell, Frances Total, Italys Eni, Malaysias Petronas and Russias Gazprom and Lukoil, as well as companies from China, Austria, Japan and other countries.




A study from Toronto says Little Free Libraries are an example of 'neoliberal politics at street level', rather than a charming component of the sharing movement.

Not many things get a free pass these days, but it seems that whenever a Little Free Library pops up on a lawn, people cant help singing its praises. Youve probably seen one  a cute-looking wooden house on a post, filled with a random assortment of books left there by the owners of the property on which its situated or by generous passersby, free for the taking.

Two researchers from Toronto, however, are not so enthusiastic about these mini libraries. Jane Schmidt, a librarian at Ryerson University, and Jordan Hale, a geographer and reference specialist from the University of Toronto, have published a study called Little Free Libraries: Interrogating the impact of the branded book exchange that questions the unfailingly obsequious reception the public has to Little Free Libraries (LFLs).

Theirs is an interestingly contrarian approach to something that is usually embraced unquestioningly; after all, who doesnt love books and the idea of spreading them far and wide? Schmidt and Hale make it clear that their study is not an attack on LFLs, but rather an attempt to understand better their appeal and what sort of real effect they have in North American cities today.

It turns out, theyre not as simple as they seem.

Little Free Library is a brand name, which means that anyone who wishes to use it must pay a registration fee that ranges from US $42 - $89. As of November 2016, there were 50,000 official LFLs. Founder Todd Bol has said that nobody is allowed to use the name without permission.

Customers can buy an optional structure to use, which costs anywhere from US $179 to $1,254, ordering from a website that sells branded totes, bumper stickers, signs, bookmarks, ink stamp, a dog treat container, sets of rainbow library decorating pens, mugs, guest books, and other random goods.

 Lloyd Alter -- Little Free Library isn't so free after all

The company has 14 employees, evidence of what Schmidt and Hale call the corporatization of a grassroots phenomenon. In other words, LFLs have made book-sharing more complicated and costly than it ever needed to be: Put simply, one does not need the assistance of a non-profit corporation to share books with their neighbors.

While mapping the locations of LFLs in Toronto and Calgary, the researchers found that they appear mostly in wealthy, gentrified neighborhoods where predominantly white residents are likely to possess university degrees and, most interestingly, where public libraries already exist. This challenges the notion that LFLs can somehow combat book deserts, as its website asserts. In reality, its feeding books to a neighborhood already fairly well steeped in good literature.

Schmidt and Hale found the notion of community building lacking as well. Despite this being a popular reason for installing a LFL on ones property, they found that homeowners studiously avoided interactions with strangers looking at books. The study authors view the installation of an LFL as virtue-signaling, a form of branded philanthropy thats indicative of limited commitment to social justice beyond the immediately local:

We submit that these data reinforce the notion that [Little Free Libraries] are examples of performative community enhancement, driven more so by the desire to showcase ones passion for books and education than a genuine desire to help the community in a meaningful way.



The study raises the big question: Why cant public libraries meet these needs? Public libraries, after all, are the ultimate free library, without registration fees. They do precisely what the LFL claims to do, except on a much greater scale, and are about so much more than books. They host community-building events and safe spaces to read. Book collections are curated by trained librarians, not left to the whims of do-gooder neighbors or people wanting to get rid of ancient textbooks. Libraries are more likely to have readable collections, which are better suited to the kinds of new readers LFLs are supposed to attract:

Reluctant readers are unlikely to find material that will appeal to them in the serendipitous scenario; it is often the passionate readers who find the Little Free Library concept so appealing. This in and of itself is a contradiction of the LFL mission to enhance literacy in communities.



 Lloyd Alter -- A glimpse inside a Little Free Library near Lloyd's house in Toronto

Schmidt does not believe that LFLs harm public libraries (though she and Hale cite one example of this in Vinton, Texas, where the mayor installed 5 LFLs and imposed a $50 user fee for the public library), nor is she convinced that LFLs accomplish what theyre supposed to. She told CityLab:

I don't think we can definitively say that they [dont] reduce inequality. I just dont think they can say they reduce inequality, either.



Read the full study here.
When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site.
The Republican leaders of the Legislatures budget committee plan to reject Gov. Scott Walkers proposal to self-insure state employees, but find other ways to try to save money under the existing system.

The announcement marks the likely defeat of one of the governors most ambitious and contentious proposals in his 2017-19 budget plan. The removal must still be voted on by the Joint Finance Committee.

Its unclear what it means for tens of thousands of state workers in Dane County, but Walker raised the prospect that health coverage could be cut and questions remain about how lawmakers would fund the governors proposed education spending increases.

JFC co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said the committee isnt saying no to health plan savings and that there may be two areas to squeeze money out of the existing system  health insurance plans that promote employee wellness and less expensive health insurance plans.

We may not be the healthiest group in the world (and) we have a very rich plan design, Nygren said. If were looking at getting at the true cost, that is a direction for us to look for true savings.

JFC co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said premium increases for Wisconsins employee health insurance plans have been lower than in other states.

Why would we want to shift out of that into uncertainty at this point? Darling asked.

Department of Administration Secretary Scott Neitzel said none of the options Nygren described will come close to generating the $60 million in savings over the next two years projected in the self-insurance plan without severely affecting employee benefits.

At this moment, were in disbelief that the JFC would reject $60 million in savings over the next biennium and not take those savings and apply them on behalf of the hard-working taxpayers of Wisconsin, Neitzel said. This is $60 million of low-hanging fruit.

Neitzel said the self-insurance model would allow the state to do wellness programs in ways that havent been possible under the existing system with different insurance carriers.

Gov. Scott Walker had proposed shifting the state to a self-insurance model where the state would contract with six health insurance companies to pay medical claims for 250,000 workers and family members directly  and take on the financial risk for large claims  instead of paying premiums to 17 HMOs, which currently accept the risk.

Walker tweeted in response to the announcement from the budget committee co-chairs: Wrong direction to dismiss $60 million worth of proven savings at a time when some are asking to spend more on transportation.

He later added: Unless lawmakers want to cut health care coverage for state employees, there is NOT $60 million in savings without self-insurance plan.

Funding education

Walker had proposed using the savings from switching to self-insurance for additional K-12 funding. Republican lawmakers have said they want to maintain Walkers proposed $649 million increase for K-12 schools.

The Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, which has been outspoken against the self-insurance proposal for years, was indifferent in its response to the budget committee leaders rejection of the plan.

Were going to let their comments stand right now, said Phil Dougherty, spokesman for the association. As this goes forward, perhaps well have more to say.

The association represents many of the 17 HMOs involved in the current state worker health program, including the main HMOs in the Madison area: Dean Health Plan, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Physicians Plus and Unity Health Insurance.

When the Group Insurance Board voted in favor of self-insurance in February, Dougherty said the board chose to abandon market competition and consumer choice in favor of consolidation, more government control and new financial risk for the state.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said Democrats are especially concerned about linking self-insurance savings to education. An independent consultant said the state could save $20 million a year or lose $100 million a year depending on various factors.

AFSCME Council 32 executive director Rick Badger applauded the decision to scrap self-insurance.

Walkers relentless use of public employees as his piggy bank already has undermined public services, from schools that cant find teachers to state correctional facilities riddled with staff vacancies, Badger said.

First formal comments

Republican lawmakers had previously expressed reservations about Walkers proposal, but the budget committee leaders statements Tuesday were the first formal comments rejecting it.

The comments came a day after the state Department of Employee Trust Funds and the Group Insurance Board forwarded proposed contracts for the self-insurance model to the budget committee for approval. The contracts will realize the $60 million of savings included in the biennial budget, board chairman Michael Farrell and ETF division of personnel management Stacey Rolston wrote to the budget committee.

The savings, which total $40 million per year (the plan takes effect halfway through the first year of the biennium), come primarily from reduced administrative fees and discounted claims costs. The savings are based on actual proposals from health care vendors, unlike the previous studies, which recommended collecting more information from potential vendors.

The contracts also would allow the state to avoid paying an annual $32.5 million tax on higher cost plans under the Affordable Care Act. Of that amount, $11 million would come from general fund tax dollars, Neitzel said.

The board voted in February to recommend adopting a self- insurance model after nearly five years of studying the option. Forty-six states either partly or fully self-insure and 94 percent of companies with more than 5,000 employees self-insure.

State Journal reporter David Wahlberg contributed to this report.
The Opposition has threatened to take the Government all the way to the Privy Council over o
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is now a non-staff advisor to the President of Ukraine, has called on the United States of America to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons and to grant a Major Non NATO Ally status.

This is reported by Radio Liberty.

"We talked about Russia, where it is clear the United States continues to take a firm stance towards Moscows aggression in Ukraine, and its ongoing efforts to destabilise western institutions  including NATO," Rasmussen posted on his Facebook page following the meeting with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

Rasmussen added that during the meeting with Mattis in Copenhagen he also asked for Washington to step up its support for Ukraine through the delivery of lethal weapons to act as a deterrent, and the granting of a Major Non NATO Ally (MNNA) status for Ukraine to underline Washingtons commitment to the US-Ukraine security partnership.

ol
Militants launched 50 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day. One Ukrainian serviceman was killed, another nine soldiers were wounded.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

In Mariupol direction, militants used 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and small arms to shell Ukrainian positions near Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol). The enemy also launched attacks on Ukrainian strongholds outside Hnutove (19km north-west of Mariupol), using 122mm artillery systems, 120mm mortars, grenade launchers and small arms. Ukrainian marines came under 82mm mortar, grenade launcher, heavy machine gun and small arms fire near Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk).

In Donetsk direction, militants used 120mm and 82mm mortars to fire at ATO troops near Kamyanka (62km south of Donetsk). Ukrainian positions in Verkhniotoretske (22km north-east of Donetsk) came under 120mm and 82mm mortar and grenade launcher fire. Terrorists also shelled Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk), using 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.

In Luhansk direction, Russian-backed militants launched attacks on Ukrainian troops in Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk), using 122mm artillery systems. ATO troops near Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk) came under 120mm mortar and machine gun fire. The enemy also used 82mm mortars and grenade launchers to shell Troitske (69km west of Luhansk).

One Ukrainian serviceman was killed, another nine Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the ATO area in eastern Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

ol
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman, the members of the Government and the Parliament of Ukraine have taken part in the ceremony of commemorating the victims of the World War II on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the Victory over Nazism.

The solemn procession headed by the President walked by the Alley of Military Glory to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The statespersons laid flowers to the monument, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The attendees honored memory of the deceased in the World War II with a moment of silence. The military orchestra performed the National Anthem of Ukraine, the Honor Guard performed a six-volley salute. The ceremony was completed by a solemn march of the Honor Guard, the press service of the Head of State reports.

Upon completion of the event, the President had a conversation with people who came to honor memory of the fallen heroes and pay tribute to the veterans of the World War II and the ATO veterans.

ol
Bangkok, 9 May 2017  According to reports, children are among the dozens of people injured in the bomb attack on a large and busy shopping center in Pattani, Thailand, this afternoon. UNICEF condemns such indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, where children and their families are known to be present. No childs life should ever be put at risk in this way. This is wholly unacceptable.

###
Numerous evidence-based practices for preventing device-associated infections are available, yet the extent to which these practices are regularly used in acute care hospitals across different countries has not been compared, to our knowledge.

Data from hospital surveys conducted in Japan, the United States, and Thailand in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively, were evaluated to determine the use of recommended practices to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). The outcomes were the percentage of hospitals reporting regular use (a score of 4 or 5 on a scale from 1 [never use] to 5 [always use]) of each practice across countries and identified hospital characteristics associated with the use of selected practices in each country.

Survey response rates were 71% in Japan and the United States and 87% in Thailand. A majority of hospitals in Japan (76.6%), Thailand (63.2%), and the United States (97.8%) used maximum barrier precautions for preventing CLABSI and semirecumbent positioning to prevent VAP (66.2% for Japan, 86.7% for Thailand, and 98.7% for the United States). Nearly all hospitals (>90%) in Thailand and the United States reported monitoring CLABSI, VAP, and CAUTI rates, whereas in Japan only CLABSI rates were monitored by a majority of hospitals. Regular use of CAUTI prevention practices was variable across the 3 countries, with only a few practices adopted by >50% of hospitals.

A majority of hospitals in Japan, Thailand, and the United States have adopted certain practices to prevent CLABSI and VAP. Opportunities for targeting prevention activities and reducing device-associated infection risk in hospitals exist across all 3 countries.

Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2017 May 15 [Epub]

Sarah L Krein, M Todd Greene, Anucha Apisarnthanarak, Fumie Sakamoto, Yasuharu Tokuda, Tomoko Sakihama, Karen E Fowler, David Ratz, Sanjay Saint

VA Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research and Medicine Service, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and., Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand., Center for Quality Improvement, St Luke's International Hospital, and., Department of Medicine, Mito Kyodo General Hospital, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan., International University of Health and Welfare Graduate School, Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, and.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28475786
Hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans were up nearly 600 percent from 2014 to 2016, fueled in part by anti-Islam rhetoric during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to a Muslim advocacy group.

In a report released Tuesday, the Council on American Islamic Relations said there were 260 anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2016, up from 180 in 2015 and 38 in 2014, a 584 percent increase for the three-year period.

Overall anti-Muslim bias cases  identified as any incident in which there was an element of religious bias, such as a slur  reached 2,213 in 2016, up from 1,409 in 2015 and 1,314 in 2014. That's nearly a 70 percent increase for the three-year period.

Corey Saylor, a CAIR spokesman and co-author of the report, said his findings underlined the increasingly violent face of anti-Muslim bias in the United States.

The contempt used to be directed at blocking mosque constructions, but "unfortunately, nowadays people are going out and targeting Muslims for assault, vandalizing or attempting arsons on mosques," Saylor said.

Harassment most common

While hate crimes made up 12 percent of all anti-Muslim bias incidents in 2016, harassment was the most common category, accounting for 18 percent of cases, followed closely by incidents during which Muslims were "questioned by FBI employees or otherwise appeared to be inappropriately targeted by the agency."

Saylor said that shortly before the November 8 election, an unusually large number of Muslim Americans reported being visited by FBI agents and asked about a vague terror plot.

They were asked "questions that in the assessment of our intake staff were not connected to any specific investigation," he said at a news conference. "We did not see any similar type of outreach to, say, Trump supporters who were documented as making a number of threats."

The FBI dismissed the suggestion that it targeted Muslims.

"The FBI investigates activity which may constitute a federal crime or pose a threat to national security," FBI spokesman Matthew Bertron said. "Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on criminal activity."

The CAIR report, The Empowerment of Hate, includes a panoply of highly publicized hate crimes and lesser known bias incidents phoned into the organization's chapters around the country.

In one widely reported incident, federal authorities charged three members of a white militia group last year with conspiring to blow up an apartment complex where Somali immigrants lived and worshipped.

In another episode, a Muslim-owned restaurant in Galveston, Texas, was vandalized with bacon twice in one week.

Veteran's experience

And in a case of harassment, a disabled U.S. Army veteran of the Iraq War discovered his restroom locker vandalized with the words "terrorist" and "raghead."

The wearing of the Islamic hijab or headscarf set off 346 bias incidents in 2016, representing the second most common trigger for anti-Muslim bias incidents after ethnicity and national origin, according to the report.

"Unfortunately, a very common reason that people get targeted is simply wearing something that identifies with a particular religious faith," Saylor said.

The report came after the release of data showing an uptick in hate crimes in the past two years after more than a decade of declines. In its most recent report, released in November, the FBI showed a 23 percent increase in religious-based hate crimes in 2015, including a 67 percent rise in crimes targeting Muslims and a 9 percent increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes.

CAIR says the trend has continued into this year. During the first quarter of 2017, the organization recorded 35 incidents involving mosques, including arson and vandalism, and 193 cases of alleged profiling of Muslims by Customs and Border Protection, up from 17 incidents during the first quarter of last year.

In a statement emailed to VOA, a CBP spokesperson rejected the allegations made by CAIR and said the agency "does not discriminate based on religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation."

Senators' letter

The recent rise in religious hate crimes, including a wave of threats targeting Jewish community centers and schools, led all 100 U.S. senators to write a letter to law enforcement officials in March, urging them to do more to counter it.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on religious hate crimes, with some members calling for new legislation to combat them.

Eric Treene, the Department of Justice's special counsel for religious discrimination, reassured lawmakers that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was deeply committed to fighting hate crime as part of his campaign against violent crime.

"He's consistently given us the encouragement to pursue these cases vigorously," Treene said.
The prospect of an economic doomsday for Greece may have diminished in the past week, but citizen Angelika Dinkel doesn't much care.

Following months of negotiations, the Greek government last week agreed to further austerity measures in order to access loans from its $94 billion bailout program..

But as she waits in central Athens for a church to open and a hoped-for handout of maybe $5  or even $10 if she's lucky  the 60-year-old's mind is focused on day-to-day survival.

There may be talk of a light at the end of the tunnel for a country traumatized by seven years of economic turmoil, but on the streets of Athens they seem a world away from everyday reality.

There's no reason to pay attention. Things are just getting worse," says Dinkel, who struggles to scrape together the $50 a month she needs to stay off the streets.

No one thought it could be this bad.



A disconnect

The race is now on for Greek officials rushing to create a bumper package of new legislation agreed to during the negotiations.

These include a cut in taxes, the opening up of energy markets and a further slashing of pensions.

Pending approval from the Greek parliament in the coming days, it is expected the agreement will be ready for the next meeting of eurozone finance ministers on May 22.

There, hopes are that $8 billion in rescue loans will be approved, allowing the country to make a crucial debt repayment in July.

The markets have been largely cheered by the news, while there have been other positive signs too  last month, the country posted its first overall budget surplus in more than two decades.

Yet little of this is being felt on the ground, where poverty and homelessness remain all too prevalent.

I don't think [the latest agreement] will improve the daily lives of people, claims Aliki Mouriki, a sociologist and senior research fellow at the National Center for Social Research in Athens. People are seeing further cuts in things like their pensions, so why would they be happy? Some segments of the Greek population and businesses may be happy over [the reforms] as the economic climate has less uncertainty, but this is not reflecting on daily lives.



Sense of betrayal

The Greek leftist ruling party Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras may have emerged with a deal, but the moves have already sparked new protests.

Meanwhile, many consider these latest steps just another act of weakness or betrayal by a party that swept into power on an anti-austerity ticket in 2015.

Though emergency funds from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) helped pull Greece back from the brink of collapse in 2010, this is the third such bailout, and many Greeks are of the opinion that the country's supposed medicine of reforms and austerity is actually proving to be its poison.

Chrysa Lazaridou, who runs a bakery not far from the city's towering ancient Acropolis, has been keeping an eye on recent developments.

Despite the inclusion of counter measures against the austerity  including rent subsidies for low income families  she feels the agreed package represents more of the same when it comes to Greece's current place in the world.

I thought [Alexis] Tsipras would be different, but in practice he's not, she said.

All the decisions made here are made outside of Greece in the European Union, while politicians and businessmen will be the ones to profit.

Vanishing savings

Meanwhile, other signs of progress remain tentative.

Amid the bailouts, reforms and austerity, the unemployment rate has declined from a peak of nearly 28 percent.

However, in recent months it has climbed once again to 23.5 percent  still the highest in Europe  while Friday the European Commission is set to revise its prediction of growth in Greece over 2017 from 2.7 percent to 2 percent.

Panagiotis Lappas, approached by VOA in central Athens, is a banking lawyer who often deals with families overcome by debt  something he sees with increasing regularity.

"Their savings have vanished after seven years," he explained.

He was circumspect about the latest agreement, stating it was neither pleasant nor necessary, but maybe now we have no other choice.

However, in Lappas' view, the time for austerity is over. More needed to be done, he thought, to stimulate growth and attract investment by lowering business rates.

He also called for debt relief, an issue still at the heart of the debate among creditors regarding Greece, and a pre-condition demanded by the IMF for its participation in this bailout.

Eyes abroad

Tsipras has talked up the deal as balanced and sustainable, but he may find the Greek public even harder to convince than his own party, or those holding the purse strings.

Syriza is badly lagging behind its competitors in the polls, though the true test will come in the country's elections in 2019.

Meanwhile, for one teenager not yet old enough to vote, the answer may not lie with Tsipras, or any of his political rivals.

Clutching his skateboard in Athens' Monastiraki neighborhood, 17-year-old Alberto Frangou feels little allegiance to the idea of the EU and is scornful of Greek politicians.

I hate them, they've not helped us," he said, telling VOA that he feared entering a job market where youth unemployment was measured at 48 percent in January.

Instead, he is considering another option, one that potentially spells more trouble for Greece in the coming years.

Between 2008 and 2016, around 450,000 mostly young and educated people left the country in search of a better future.

If things don't get any better, then I will just have to go elsewhere, he told VOA.
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia said on Monday they had agreed to link their power systems to other European Union members through Poland as they look to reduce their dependence on Russia.

Power grids in the Baltic countries, formerly part of the Soviet Union, are still integrated with those in Belarus and Russia.

The three Baltic countries have been members of the European Union and NATO since 2004.

The Baltic governments see the continued dependence on Russia as a threat, partly because of what they say is a lack of transparency on upkeep of the network in Russia, which they say makes it hard to rely on its stability.

"We would want to desynchronize the Baltic States from Russia. And first priority is desyncronization which will be done through Poland," Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas told reporters in Tallinn after meeting his counterparts from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

"All four of us agreed that we will try to get clarity on division of [duties] between all four countries by the end of the year," Ratas said.

Russia has never cut power flows to the Baltic states or threatened to do so, but Lithuania lists its power system's synchronization with Russia as one of the top national security risks.

The countries will still need to find a way to accommodate Russia, whose Kaliningrad enclave power network is currently synchronized with mainland Russia through the Baltic states.

Decoupling from the Russian system, originally projected for 2025, was delayed as countries debated whether to synchronize using power links between Lithuania and Poland, or undersea power cables which would be laid between Estonia and Finland.

A recent study by Joint Research Center, the European Commission's science and knowledge service, suggested synchronizing through Poland as the most economically viable and reliable way, Lithuania's Ministry of Energy spokesman told Reuters.
Several human rights groups and think tanks on Monday launched a campaign to drastically reduce homicides in Brazil, the world leader in absolute number of annual killings.

In 2015, the last year for which comparative numbers are available, 56,212 people were killed in Brazil, according to the Igarape Institute think tank, which draws data from the United Nations data and governments around the world. That is more than countries like China and India, which have much larger populations.

For decades, Brazil has had the No. 1 ranking of total homicides, Ilona Szabo, Igarape's executive director, told reporters. It's not OK to accept this level of violence.

The campaign aims to reduce homicides by 50 percent over the next 10 years, in part by making homicide a campaign issue in the 2018 presidential election. Other pieces of the plan involve pressuring the government to implement policies like therapy programs for drug users and reforming an overcrowded prison system that often puts non-violent offenders next to convicted killers. It will also push to reduce confrontations between military police and residents in slums.

The campaign has also launched in six other Latin American countries with high homicide rates: Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Venezuela. More than 30 organizations across the seven countries are participating.

While Latin America makes up about 8 percent of the world's population, it accounts for 38 percent of homicides, on average about 144,000 a year, according to Igarape.

When accounting for population size, El Salvador is the region's most violent: In 2016, its homicide rate was 91 people per 100,000. By comparison, Brazil's rate is 27.5 people per 100,000, which still gives it one of the world's highest rates.

The effect of that is profound. At least 50 million Brazilians age 16 or older know someone who has been the victim of homicide or larceny, according to a large survey released Monday by Datafolha and the Brazilian Forum of Public Security. Sixteen million Brazilians know someone killed by police, according to the survey, which interviewed 2,065 people in 150 cities between April 3 and April 8. The margin of error was 2 percentage points.

The homicide reduction campaign will have to overcome myriad challenges in Brazil. Latin America's largest nation is mired in a recession and bogged down by political polarization after a nasty impeachment fight led to the ousting las year of former President Dilma Rousseff.

The state of Rio de Janeiro is so broke that thousands of public workers are being paid months late, if at all. Frequent bursts of violence in Rio de Janeiro, which hosted the 2016 Olympics, have people worried that Brazil's flagship city could be heading toward chaos. In the last two weeks, buses have been burned, and shootouts between military police and drug traffickers in slums have left several people dead, including children.

Jurema Werneck, the executive director of Amnesty International in Brazil, acknowledged that the general climate would make it hard to get traction with policy makers.

We can't let that be a reason for politicians not to act, she said.
Malaysia's most-wanted member of the Islamic State militant group has been killed in Syria, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Monday, citing intelligence information.

Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, 26, who was on a U.S. list of global militants, was the alleged mastermind behind a grenade attack on a Kuala Lumpur bar last June which injured eight people. It was the first and so far only Islamic State attack that caused casualties in Malaysia.

"After reviewing intelligence, the Royal Malaysian Police can confirm that Muhamad Wandy [sic] has been killed in an attack in Raqqa, Syria on April 29," Khalid said on his Twitter account, confirming previous reports of Muhammad Wanndy's death in a drone strike on the Islamic State-held city.

Police had earlier cast doubt on the reports, saying that it was possible Muhammad Wanndy had faked his own death.

Born and raised in the west Malaysian state of Malacca, Muhammad Wanndy left for Raqqa with his wife in 2014. He first drew public attention the following year when he appeared in a video showing the beheading of a Syrian man.

Using the name Abu Hamzah Al Fateh, he quickly made a name for himself as an Islamic State online recruiter and fundraiser.

Statistics from the police counterterrorism unit show that at least a third of the more than 250 people arrested for Islamic State-linked activities in Malaysia between 2013 and 2016 were recruited by or linked to Muhammad Wanndy.

In March, he was named a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury, making him a high-profile target for law enforcement agencies worldwide.
Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moallem says no foreign forces will be allowed to monitor the "de-escalation" agreement in four zones around Syria in another effort to end the long civil war.

Russia, Turkey and Iran signed the deal last week in Astana, Kazakhstan. It calls on Syrian forces and rebels to reduce their fighting in the special zones.

Final details still need to be worked out, including questions on how the Syrians and rebels plan to tone down the violence. Neither side signed the pact.

"There will be no presence by any international forces supervised by the United Nations," al-Moallem said Monday.

But he added that Russia, as guarantor of the agreement, said there would be "military police and observation centers."

The minister gave no details on who would make up that police force.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Monday there are still a lot of questions about the agreement.

"We'll look at the proposal, see if it can work. Will it affect the fight against ISIS? I think the international community is united in the sense of wanting to see ISIS put on its back foot," Mattis said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

The United States has backed the idea for "safe zones" in Syria.

Meanwhile Monday, the first wave of rebel fighters and their families evacuated the Barzeh district of Damascus under a surrender agreement reached with the government.

More than 1,000 people are expected to leave the district aboard buses and Red Cross ambulances in the coming days

Similar surrender deals in exchange for safe passage from rebel-held Damascus neighborhoods are expected.
Recent cross-border attacks and disputes have strained Pakistan's ties with three of its four neighbors, which analysts say are challenging Islamabad's foreign policy strategy.



Tehran on Monday warned Islamabad that it would hit bases inside Pakistan if the government does not confront Sunni militants who carry out cross-border attacks. Ten Iranian border guards were killed and one abducted by militants last month in the southeastern province of Sistan-Balouchestan, which borders Pakistan.



We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases. said Major Gen. Mohammad Baqeri. The head of the Iranian armed forces was quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Iran, which shares nearly 1,000-kilometer (over 600 miles) border with Pakistan, alleges that anti-state militants use Pakistani soil for plotting terrorist attacks against Iran. Pakistan's western and eastern neighbors, Afghanistan and India, have long accused Islamabad of harboring and supporting militant groups that carry out attacks across shared borders.

Border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 80 others Friday when Pakistani authorities attempted to conduct a census in disputed villages.

Skirmishes lead to strained relations

Frequent skirmishes with Indian forces and militant infiltration across the Line of Control with India have kept ties strained between the two countries. New Delhi has accused Pakistan-based religious groups of supporting militancy in Indian Kashmir.



The United States has pressed Islamabad to do more to crack down on militant groups that operate from its soil. U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster called on Pakistani leaders during a trip to Kabul last month to go after militant groups on their soil less selectively than they have in the past.

Pakistan rejects the allegations of employing proxies from its soil, saying Pakistan itself is a victim of state sponsored terrorism.

Pakistan's foreign office would not officially comment Monday on the Iranian warning to launch attacks against terrorist's hideouts in Pakistan, but Pakistani officials say Islamabad has good ties with Iran.



Our relationships with Iran are improving; not only economic ties but we are also moving toward a close cooperation on security issues, Awais Ahmad Leghari, chairman of the Senate committee foreign affairs, told VOA.

Political and economic impact

But analysts say the failure of Pakistan's government to stop Pakistan-based militant groups from launching attacks against its neighbors is straining political and economic ties.



Whatever is happening on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as on the borders with India and Iran, is in fact a major challenge for Pakistan's foreign policy, said Rashid Ahmad, a professor of international studies at Punjab University.

The situation is delicate and dangerous, he said, adding that Islamabad's relations with its neighbors have worsened in the last four years.

Pakistan is in an unenviable position now in that it faces major security challenges on three of its borders, Michael Kugelman, a Pakistani affairs specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, told VOA.

A common theme

Though the roots of these challenges are all very complex, there's one single theme that animates all of these border disputes: allegations of Pakistani support for militants on its soil that stage cross-border attacks," he said.

Analysts say the growing tensions not only strain political harmony but also hinder economic and commercial prospects in the region.

"If Pakistan's relations with its neighbors remain tense then its focus will be on security not the economy, Talat Masood, a defense analyst told VOA.



Pakistani authorities in mid-February closed all border crossings with Afghanistan for over a month after a string of suicide bombings in Pakistan. The protracted border closure cost businesses on both sides tens of millions of dollars and fueled bilateral tensions.



VOA Urdu Service's Nasir Mahmood contributed to this report from Islamabad.
Russia is for the first time rolling out President Vladimir Putin's Yunarmiya, or "Youth Army, for the annual World War II Victory Day parade in Red Square. Putin created the militarys "patriotic" youth organization in 2015, but its national TV debut as a force of more than 30,000 members comes just weeks after nation-wide anti-corruption protests that drew many young people. As VOAs Daniel Schearf reports from Moscow, Yunarmiya is seen as the Kremlin's latest effort to encourage support from Russia's next generation.
Efforts to start a "national dialogue" in war-ravaged South Sudan are on hold again after a key steering committee could not muster enough members for a quorum.

The government says more than half the committee members appointed by President Salva Kiir have yet to report for duty.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said Sunday that officials were forced to delay the swearing-in of the committee that was to oversee the dialogue.

"It has been postponed until further notice because the percentage of the steering committee was only 20 percent. So we are waiting [for] committee members at least to be 50-plus [percent] before they are sworn in," Ateny said.

Kiir said in December that the national dialogue would begin sometime in early March, but some observers now doubt whether the long-awaited discussions will start at all.

Ateny said last month that financial and technical challenges prevented the swearing-in of the committee charged with steering the dialogue.

Activist says trust needed

Civil society activist Rajab Muhandis said the government has been inconsistent in its effort to get the dialogue off the ground ever since Kiir announced the initiative. He said the delays weaken the initiative and lead citizens to lose hope in the government's ability to end South Sudan's three-and-half-year conflict.

Muhandis, who heads the South Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections, said the indefinite suspension occurred because the steering committee is too large.

He said the government must have a clear channel of communication to build trust among the people that the dialogue will take place and make a difference.

"Putting together a robust committee that is sizable enough to run the process effectively will give people a sign of hope. And the committee should talk to people that the nation is moving toward a national dialogue. Now we only talk about forming a committee," Muhandis told VOA's South Sudan in Focus.

He said the government needs to engage other parties, including all warring parties, adding "it is the only way to make the dialogue genuine."

The government has been fighting rebels led by former Vice President Riek Machar since December 2013. Other rebel groups have recently emerged as the country struggles with food shortages and a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than two million people.

Call for Kiir to step down

Meanwhile, a prominent retired South Sudanese Anglican clergyman has called on President Kiir to step down.

Reverend Canon Clement Janda was recently asked by Kiir to sit on the dialogue's steering committee, but he declined the offer, saying the process is not inclusive.

"If I knew it was a genuine process, that the people could dialogue in order to bring peace to South Sudan, I would not hesitate," Janda said.

Janda calls the national dialogue a "monologue," adding it has "not changed in substance."

"Only when they are ready to sit together with those that they disagree [with], then we begin to see light at the end of the tunnel," Janda said.
Spreading ethnic violence is driving more people from their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the humanitarian situation is "dramatically deteriorating", the United Nations said on Monday.

Some 100,000 people were uprooted last week alone, bringing the ranks of displaced in the central Kasai region to nearly 1.3 million, it said. The total number of displaced throughout Congo has more than doubled to 3.7 million since Aug 2016.

"This very acute crisis in the DRC is not just expanding dramatically in terms of numbers but it's also expanding in terms of geographical scope," said Rein Paulsen, head of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs office in Congo.

"The fact that we are also now seeing an evolution of the conflict in the Kasais where inter-ethnic violence and conflict is becoming a dominant characteristic should be a deep, deep concern to all of us," he told a news briefing.

The U.N. said last month it had documented 40 mass grave sites and killings of more than 400 people in Kasai, the focus of the fight against the Kamuina Nsapu militia, since August when security forces killed its leader. The militia has been fighting largely to avenge his death.

Paulsen cited fresh reports from U.N. staff of inter-ethnic fighting in the Kasais, including the Penda and Chokwe ethnic groups against the Luba and clashes between the Lunda and Luba.

In Manono, in the eastern province of Tanganyika, more than 140 villages have been reportedly burned down in a separate conflict between the pygmy population and Bantu ethnic groups, causing forced displacement, he said.

Across the vast Central African nation, an estimated 1.9 million children under five are severely acutely malnourished, a condition which could kill them or leave them with lifelong damage, Paulsen said.

The United Nations has received just 19 percent of the $812.5 million sought in the humanitarian appeal for Congo this year, he said.

The world body said last month it was horrified by a video screened by the government that appeared to show the brutal killing of two U.N. investigators.

Congo's government said the film showed members of an anti-government militia carrying out the act although that has not been confirmed by either the U.N. or independent analysts.

Paulsen said that government workers - education inspectors and local transportation staff - had been "killed and beheaded" in the Kasais in the past week despite tighter security.
The United States on Monday called on Kosovo's political parties to ratify a border demarcation deal with neighboring Montenegro, saying the delay is damaging the Balkan state's credibility abroad.

The U.S. Embassy urged the government in Pristina to resubmit the ratification question to parliament. The embassy says the holdup also is hindering the ability of Kosovars to travel freely through Europe.

We remain fully convinced - after considerable review by United States Government experts - that the border demarcation line established by the agreement is correctly drawn, the statement said, calling on Kosovo politicians to put an end to the arguments and disagreements that are only hurting Kosovo.

The Cabinet has decided to postpone the move until after a government no-confidence vote in parliament scheduled for Wednesday at the request of the opposition.

The deal was signed in 2015, but not enough lawmakers were willing to pass it and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa withdrew the draft.

Opposition parties claim Kosovo loses territory under the agreement and have vowed to disrupt any attempts to get it through parliament.

Contrary to opposition claims, reports from local and international experts have shown the country loses no territory.

The European Union has said that Kosovo, which remains the only country in the western Balkans whose citizens need to apply for a visa to visit countries in the Schengen area, may enjoy visa-free travel if the deal is approved.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It is recognized by 114 countries, but not by Serbia.
The wife of a U.S. citizen who was detained in North Korea over the weekend is appealing for his immediate release.

"I hope everybody joins in resolving this issue as soon as possible," said Kim Mi Ok, the wife of agriculture researcher Kim Hak-song, who was arrested Saturday on suspicion of "hostile acts" against the North Korean government.

North Korea's state-run news agency KCNA reported Sunday that "a relevant institution is now conducting detailed investigation" into Kim's crimes, but provided no further details on his detention.

The arrest of Kim, who had been working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), brings to four the number of U.S. citizens being detained in North Korea amid rising tensions over that country's nuclear weapons development program.

PUST, which employs a substantial number of foreign staff, issued a statement saying, "We understand that this detention is related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way with the work of PUST."

Speaking to the VOA Korean Service on Sunday, Kim Mi Ok said her husband was arrested as he tried to return to the couple's home in Dandong, China. She said PUST told her over the phone that Kim had boarded a train in Pyongyang. However, he never arrived.

"I went to greet him at the Dandong station, and I waited until the last person to get off the train, but he was nowhere to be seen," said Kim's wife, who is one of some 2 million ethnic Koreans born in China.

Agricultural emphasis

Kim Mi Ok said her husband has been involved in agricultural development work at the university's experimental farm since 2014. He was working toward establishing an organic fermentation fertilizer plant, she added. PUST is the only privately funded university in North Korea.

An agricultural expert, Kim wanted to help North Korea alleviate food insecurity by supplying new agricultural technology, his wife told VOA. "So I have no idea why they detained him."

An ethnic Korean born in China in 1963, Kim studied agriculture at a Chinese university, then studied theology in Los Angeles between 1995 and 2005. Kim became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2008.

The U.S. State Department said "the security of U.S. citizens is one of the department's highest priorities," and it will work with the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which represents American interests in North Korea, to try to secure the freedom of the four detained Americans.

On Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Washington will work through the Swedish Embassy in North Korea to free the Americans.

"Obviously, this is concerning, Spicer said.

Tony Kim  or Kim Sang Dok  also a PUST staffer, was arrested on April 22 at an airport in Pyongyang on charges of "hostile acts" toward the regime.

Korean American Kim Dong Chul is serving 10 years on espionage charges and Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in 2016 for removing a propaganda poster.

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.
Two months before Mondays announcement that Sinclair Broadcast Group would pay $3.9 billion for Tribune Media and add to its dominance as the nations largest owner of local TV stations, a top executive at Sinclair beamed a short commentary piece to many of the companys 173 stations.

In the segment, which looks like it belongs in a newscast, Sinclair vice president for news Scott Livingston stands before a wall of video monitors and warns that some members of the national media are using their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control exactly what people think. He accuses the national media of publishing fake news stories  a direct echo of President Trumps frequent complaint  and then asks viewers to visit the stations website to share content concerns.

The piece was a must-run, meaning news directors and station managers from Baltimore to Seattle had to find room for it. While other station owners also push must-runs, typically station promotions, Sinclair appears unique among broadcasters for what some analysts see as a political slant to its programming  from news coverage and must-runs sent by headquarters critical of Democrats to last months hiring of Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump White House official, as Sinclairs chief political analyst.

In Seattle, where Sinclair owns KOMO-TV, some newsroom staffers complained to their union that the must-run spot interfered with their jobs as journalists.

The must-runs look like they are part of the news, David Twedell, business manager of a local camera workers union in Seattle, said. And theyre clearly not.

Now, Sinclairs approach could be tested as it expands to where Tribune operates: some of the most valuable and largest markets in the country, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Sinclair historically has dominated small and mid-size markets, such as Nashville and Oklahoma City.

Buying Tribune would grow Sinclair from 173 TV stations to 215 stations nationwide, giving it unprecedented exposure to the nations TV viewers and raising the possibility that federal regulators will force Sinclair to sell some stations to avoid violating long-standing rules intended to prevent a single company from running too many stations.

Sinclair, family controlled and based in Hunt Valley, Md., north of Baltimore, beat out 21st Century Fox to acquire Tribune, the Chicago-based broadcasting company that also owns stakes in the Food Network and CareerBuilder. The deal calls for Sinclair to acquire 100 percent of the company for $43.50 a share, plus the assumption of about $2.7 billion in Tribune debt, according to the companies.

The deal also has energized long-running speculation that the quiet company has ambitions to be the broadcast worlds Fox News. For some journalists at KOMO in Seattle, that is not something they want to be associated with, Twedell said. That must-run on fake news was just the latest in a series of such requests.

Thats what bothers us the most, he said.

While partisan coverage is a familiar staple of cable networks  Fox News on the right, MSNBC on the left  it remains mostly unheard of in broadcast TV, where it has generally been accepted that public airwaves should be used in the difficult-to-define public interest.

Local TV stations rank high in public trust, and that is partly because they avoid delving into divisive topics such as national politics, said Harry A. Jessell, editor of TVNewsCheck, a TV broadcasters trade publication.

Sinclair executives such as Livingtston see it differently, Jessell said. They believe they are pushing back against what they see as a liberal bias in most news programming.

Livingston sees himself like an old-fashioned newspaper publisher, one with a point of view, Jessell said.

In recent years, Sinclair-run stations have earned a reputation for conservative-leaning content. Industry experts say that contrasts with local Fox affiliates, which share part of a name and a corporate owner with Fox News but have not strayed toward one side of the political spectrum.

You dont see the same kind of top-down news philosophy that we see at Sinclair, said Matt Wood, policy director at Fair Press, a nonpartisan advocacy group that opposes media consolidation.

In 2004, when John F. Kerry was running for president, a public backlash that hit Sinclairs stock price forced the company to back off plans to have its stations air a documentary called Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal, which carried a strident anti-Kerry tone. Instead, Sinclair stations aired an excerpt.

In 2012, Sinclair stations in several battleground states aired a half-hour news segment that faulted President Barack Obama for his handling of the economy and the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Democrats criticized that decision.

Last fall, Sinclair was accused by Democrats of providing Trump, then a candidate, with in-depth interviews and friendly coverage that it did not give Trumps challenger, Hillary Clinton.

Sinclair responded that it offered Clintons campaign the same opportunities and did not hear back.

Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and now a White House adviser, told supporters that Sinclair and Trumps campaign had struck a deal for favorable coverage, a claim denied by other Trump officials, according to Politico.

Sinclairs current roster of 173 stations are concentrated in smaller markets such as Green Bay, Wis., Scranton, Penn., and Cincinnati. While absent from some of the nations biggest cities, Sinclairs broadcasts reach people who are influential when it comes to presidential politics.

Its almost as if they were built for this, what happens every four years, with this natural expansion of theirs into battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Wood said.

Sinclair did not respond to a request for comment.

Some of the changes that come with Sinclair ownership became apparent in Washington in 2014, when WJLA-TV was bought by Sinclair, part of an eight-station deal with Allbritton Communications for $985 million.

The new owners added commentaries from Mark Hyman, a Sinclair executive and conservative pundit. It started regular public-affairs programs produced from Washington and hosted by conservatives Sharyl Attkisson and Armstrong Williams, who served as Ben Carsons business manager during Carsons presidential campaign.

Aside from concerns about Sinclairs leanings, critics of the Sinclair-Tribune deal also worry about the effects from the increasing consolidation of broadcast station owners.

Federal Communications Commission rules limit any single station owner to reaching 39 percent of the national TV audience and prohibits ownership of more than two stations in most TV markets.

But the FCC offers exceptions and waivers to those rules  including a 50 percent discount in the viewership reach of UHF channels.

The UHF rule dates back to 1985, when the broadcast dial was split between VHF (Channel 13 and below) and the weaker-signal UHF (Channel 14 and higher). That difference was mostly eliminated with the switch to digital broadcast TV.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican elevated to his post by Trump earlier this year, has stated repeatedly that he favors loosening the ownership standards, especially in light of increased competition.

A Sinclair-Tribune combination would boost the company from just under 39 percent of the nations TV audience to nearly 45 percent, according to Free Press. Remove the UHF discount, and an expanded Sinclair would have stations reaching 70 percent of the nation.

Mark Fratrik, chief economist at advisory firm BIA/Kelsey, said the FCCs move toward relaxing strict ownership rules reflects a media landscape where broadcast TV no longer dominates. He pointed to the FCCs ban on owning both a daily newspaper and TV station in the same city, which has been in place since the 1970s. That makes less sense today.

Deregulation benefits the entire TV industry and makes it more competitive with all these new options, Fratrik said.

Paul Farhi contributed to this story.
Marian Taylor, the central figure in Mary Gordons new novel, There Your Heart Lies, rejects her Catholic faith. She enters into a sham marriage with a doctor who had been the lover of her gay brother, who committed suicide in New York after being demonized by her father. Marian poses as the doctors nurse, and they run off with a boatload of anarchists and communists to support the cause of government loyalists fighting the Fascist, Catholic-backed rebels in the 1930s Spanish Civil War.

Decades later, Marians granddaughter, Amelia, travels to Spain to find answers about her beloved Memes adventures. From there the book toggles between Spain around the civil war and Avondale, R.I., where Marian is dying in 2009.

Gordon frequently writes about Catholic themes, and in There Your Heart Lies, her characters are unstinting in their indictment of the church for its ardent support of the Fascist leader Francisco Franco, who would head a military dictatorship in Spain for more than three decades until his death in 1975.

The war was so much about the Church, Marian says. The Church that was hated because it had always been on the side of the rich, so that the burning of the churches, the killing of priests, was justified, was celebrated.

Marian becomes disillusioned as the lopsided conflict tilts inexorably in favor of Francos forces, who benefit from the firepower given them by Germanys Adolf Hitler and Italys Benito Mussolini. She tires of the squabbling among the foreign volunteers, who include hundreds of Americans known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Separated from her fake husband, she marries a local surgeon and gives birth to their son. Shes taken in by her husbands staunchly Catholic family in the seaside town of Altea. Marians domineering mother-in-law, a pharmacist, surreptitiously drugs her, regularly feeding her a phenobarbital-spiked tonic that leaves her in a woozy stupor for years. The mother-in-law also inculcates Marians son in a twisted, obsessive brand of Catholicism and turns the boy against his mother.

She worships the Church, not God, and she worships fascism, says a priest who attempts to explain the mother-in-laws cruelty to Marian. She worships your child as if he were not a child of God, but a little jeweled god himself. For all her duplicity, the priest says, the mother-in-law may have been motivated out of concern that Marian would be labeled a communist by Francos fearsome national police force, the Guardia Civil, and that the boy would be taken away to an orphanage for the children of people they calls reds. 

Author Mary Gordon (Christopher Greenleaf)

Isolated much of the time, Marian longs to rip the pictures from the walls: the bleeding Christs, the bleeding saints, the bleeding bulls. She looks at an image of The Sacred Heart, blood shooting out in diagonal needles from what seems like a pimento in the center of the Saviors chest. She remembers her husband telling her about the Spanish love of blood.

Sadly, this sort of hackneyed and debatable oversimplification of Spanish tastes and manners runs throughout this book, which betrays little of the graceful writing Gordon has displayed during her long, distinguished career. At various times, characters comment about that Spanish insistence on everything being black and white and the Spanish walk, marked by its verticality. A physician tells Marian that in Spain, to be fanatical is not unusual and awkwardly observes that this is Spain, country of easily taken offense.

Even something as simple as a description of horchata, a popular Spanish refreshment, misses the mark. Gordon describes it as the iced almond drink that is a Valencian speciality. As any mildly inquisitive tourist knows, in Valencia horchata is made from chufas, a tuber, and their provenance is so zealously guarded that a regulatory board oversees the geographical region where theyre grown.

The plot has all the makings of a fine tale, but the books narrator has the tiresome, pedantic habit of stating the obvious. The swans represent the whole of her past to her, the narrator says about one character. And Gordon leans far too often on tired, watery metaphors. Marians love for her father had run through her life like a stream. She wishes shed closed the sluiceway on the current of her memories. Her thoughts are minnows in a stream, her mind a dirty frozen pool.

What happens, to borrow from Gordons linguistic playbook, is that a good story gets hopelessly drowned.

Manuel Roig-Franzia is a writer for The Washington Post.


A mean principal transforms into a superhero, at least in his own mind, in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. (DreamWorks Animation)

If theres a big-screen character you liked a few years ago, chances are that person is back for this summer of sequels. Wimpy Kid Greg Heffley cant escape embarrassment in The Long Haul. The web-slinging superhero returns  but younger this time  for Spider-Man: Homecoming. And Jack Sparrow is still alive for the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, Dead Men Tell No Tales.

With so many sequels  and a few new kids movies  we had to narrow our list of recommendations. Weve picked a half-dozen that offer action, laughs and maybe a bit of drama.

We also have a suggestion on how to see lots of movies this summer without breaking the bank. Head to National Harbor, Rosslyns Gateway Park or Capitol Riverfront for free outdoor screenings of Moana, The Secret Life of Pets, The Lego Batman Movie and many more titles. (Find schedules at dcoutdoor film.com.) You may have seen them before, but why not keep them fresh in your mind . . . until the inevitable sequels?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

(Opens May 19, rated PG)

Theres more summer adventures for Greg, the awkward middle-schooler with the cringe-worthy family. The Heffleys are on a road trip to Grandmas 90th birthday, but Greg and big brother Rodrick are plotting to go to a nearby video-game conference. Not all goes as planned.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

(June 2, PG)

Twenty years after Dav Pilkey published the first in his series of hugely popular books, the captain stars in an animated movie. In it, comics-loving pranksters Harold Hutchins and George Beard hypnotize their mean principal and make him think hes a superhero they invented. Unfortunately, he doesnt have superpowers to go with his super (strange) get-up.

Wonder Woman

(June 2, PG-13)

Score one for girl power: DC Comics warrior princess finally gets a title role. The story has an American pilot crash-landing near the isolated island where Diana is part of a tribe of Amazon women. The pilot tells her that the outside world is fighting the war to end all wars. She heads to London to put an end to World War I.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

(July 7, not yet rated)

Comics action continues with the return of Spider-Man, who has to balance web-slinging with the challenging classes at his STEM high school. (Thats science, technology, engineering and math, of course.) Will he be able to defeat the evil Vulture and still ace his finals?

The Emoji Movie

(July 28, not yet rated)

Imagine The Secret Life of Pets, but with the tiny digital images. The little guys are leading busy lives in the city of Textopolis. One, named Gene, isnt like the others, who express just one emotion. Gene wants a single facial expression, so he and two emoji friends travel through phone apps to find the code to fix him.



Redheaded orphan girl Felicie (voiced by Elle Fanning) tries to fit in with snobby students at the Paris Opera Ballet School in order to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina in Leap! (The Weinstein Company)

Leap!

(August 30, PG)

Felicie, a French orphan, hopes to be a ballerina one day. She teams up with a fellow orphan, Victor, and escapes their small town for Paris. Felicie gets into the famous Paris Opera Ballet School by pretending to be someone else. But her dreams and talent take her only so far. Victor, who has his own dreams, and an unlikely mentor encourage her not to give up.
Dear Miss Manners: Should one ask before a job interview if there is a dress code for the interview?

No. It is not that Miss Manners considers it unmannerly  or even unreasonable  for employees to get clear direction from the boss, or, in its absence, to make inquiries. It is rather that she believes that, in this case, any answer you receive will make your problem worse, not better.

The most likely response will be a misguided attempt to put you at ease  something along the lines of, Oh, really, wear anything that makes you comfortable. Then what? Do you make a poor impression by wearing your jogging clothes to what you know to be a stuffy law firm that disdains casual Fridays? Or do you disregard the first instruction from the person you hope will be your new boss?

And if instead the boss admits that a jacket and tie are expected, what will he think of your judgment when you needed help figuring out something that, to him, is obvious? Remember that being overdressed shows respect for the interview and a desire to get the job, while being underdressed shows the opposite. Consider this your first job assignment.

Dear Miss Manners: My dear mother was in the ER, and after 24 hours awake, we were all exhausted and returned home at 7 a.m.

The phone rang soon after with a concerned friend. I explained that Mom was better, but the friend chatted on until I wished the caller good night and hung up. Then I unplugged the phones to get some rest. We had no sooner gotten our second cup of coffee after a few hours nap when people called wanting to stop by.

How do I keep these overeager but well-meaning friends at bay until we are rested and ready to receive company?

Given the endless number of ways in which modern technology can be used rudely, Miss Manners is always pleased to find the occasional polite usage. Email or text family and close friends a brief report, including the fact that everyone is now going to get some needed rest.

Note the delivery mechanism and the circulation list. She does not advocate (or condone) posting your mothers medical chart on your social media account; your mother might not be grateful when she recovers.

Dear Miss Manners: Beginning of the day, someone walks into a room already occupied by another person. Doesnt common courtesy dictate that that person would say good morning first to the person already there?

Since common courtesy dictates that each person issue, or respond with, a greeting, Miss Manners is not fussy about the order  so long as someone starts, so that both can get on with the rest of the day.

Dear Miss Manners: In the unfortunate event that someone would be unable to wear their wedding band on the left ring finger (for example, due to injury), what would the appropriate alternative be? The middle finger of the left hand? The ring finger of the right hand? No ring whatsoever?

Unless that someone is trying to advertise being married, perhaps to fend off eager would-be suitors  in which case, why not just say so?  Miss Manners considers this a personal decision.

New Miss Manners columns are posted Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays on washingtonpost.com/advice. You can send questions to Miss Manners at her website, missmanners.com.


From left, AskTSA specialists Sonja Armstrong, Racquel Auguste and Josh Wagner answer travelers questions posted on the agencys Twitter and Facebook accounts. Topics range from carry-on items to pat-downs. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

The tweet initially stumped Mary Ham. A traveler wanted to know if she could stow a spray-tan extender that resembled an alien blaster in her carry-on bag. The AskTSA specialist rifled through her mental file cabinet filled with agency rules and regulations, searching for an answer.

Im pretty sure this is fine, said the Transportation Security Administration employee of nearly 15 years, but I want to be sure.

She Googled the product and learned that it does not contain a battery, nor is it considered a power tool. She also consulted with her colleagues, including a former security officer who has assessed all manner of esoterica. After a minutes-long investigation, she nailed her answer: Any tools longer than seven inches must be checked.

Ham tapped out a response, informing the passenger that she must pack the equipment in her checked baggage.

Next question, comment or complaint, youre up.

In September 2015, the agency launched AskTSA, the socialmedia-outreach program that upholds the tenet that there are no stupid questions. Through Twitter and Facebook Messenger, the 10-person team has assured passengers that, yes, they can board the plane with a vacuum, ostrich egg, knife-nana (a banana carved in the likeness of a cutting implement), Nanas metal knitting needles and bacon. That no, bricks, tent stakes and more than 3.4 ounces of sherbet or miso paste are not permitted as carry-ons. And that while the TSA does not ban the transport of marijuana, the feds do. The experts also assist distressed passengers who may have forgotten a valuable on the X-ray machine or experienced a touchy-feely pat-down.

Travelers are on the go and dont have time to go online and submit a form or call us, said Jennifer Plozai, acting deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the TSA. They need help in real time.

The TSA created the program to improve communication with travelers, 2.2 million of whom fly every day.

Its website covers the major screening and packing topics  for kicks, plug obscure objects into its What Can I Bring? tool  but people are still flummoxed. For proof, see the TSAs Instagram account of wacky items confiscated at checkpoints or harvested from AskTSA posts. (A buzzy aside: Bob Burnss TSA Instagram account earned fourth place in Rolling Stones 100 Best Instagram Accounts in 2015. Put a ring  or collar  on that, No. 5 Beyonce and No. 14 Cats and Dogs of Instagram.)

[Find the bomb! Good boy! Mans best friend may be our best bet for staying safe.]

The airlines, airports and TSA all have to work together and improve the experience for the traveler, Plozai said. We were not engaging with people.

Now they are chatting like old social media friends.

To date, AskTSA has responded to 185,000 inquiries and counting. The team, which works from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on holidays and weekends, fields about 800 submissions a day. During busy travel periods, the numbers spike; over spring break, for example, 1,500 travelers reached out daily.

Plozai said that response times average about 25 minutes, depending on the complexity of the problem and the length of the virtual queue.



Travelers often attach photos to their questions, such as the passenger wearing a spiked helmet, above, and a light saber. (AskTSA Twitter)

(AskTSA Twitter)

Our goal is to respond to every single question within an hour, she said. If necessary, we will call in additional help.

AskTSA operates out of the Transportation Security Operations Center, a Big Brothership near Dulles. From inside the Watch Room, the TSA works with the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, FBI and other law enforcement and security agencies to keep a collective eye on the countrys transportation operations.

Plozai described the secured space as the nerve center of TSA intelligence. Giant glowing maps light up the room, and no smartphones, even ones placed on airplane mode, are permitted inside.

I met the team on a weekday morning, just before the second peak of the day. (Busy times occur at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 p.m.) Before we entered the Watch Room, Plozai explained how the program grew out the individual Twitter accounts of TSA spokespeople.

The public clearly wanted to engage with the agency. The first AskTSA tweet came from a man named Alan, who asked: What else does the TSA do besides airport security? The answer: Highway, rail, maritime, aviation transit and pipeline.

Today, the majority of questions involve the securitycheckpoint experience. In one case, a grandmother was flying for the first time to visit family and sent AskTSA a threeparagraph Facebook message. In another, a man with autism shared his unease about the scanning equipment. A week later, he followed up with a note inky with confidence.

I opted to go through the big body scanner, he wrote, even though I had TSA PreCheck!

The next most-common topic: Is this so-and-so item permitted on the plane?

A lot of the top questions are about food, Plozai said. Fruit, mini-bottles of booze, crawfish, lemons.

[The best consumer-friendly travel regulations youve never heard of]

People often attach photos to their queries, which helps the specialists better assess the object and provide a more accurate answer. She showed me images of a tiny, 3-D printed handgun wedged between a mans thumb and forefinger, a caped couple wielding Star Wars light sabers and a basset hound with moony eyes.

PreCheck issues also pop up quite frequently. For instance, the special lane is closed. The experts advice: Go through the regular line and show the officer your boarding pass, so you can receive expedited service. Passengers also seek help when the PreCheck indicator is missing from their boarding pass.

On Twitter, the specialist will switch to direct messaging (Facebook is already private) and ask the passenger for full name, known traveler number and airline confirmation number. The AskTSA member will check the information for any discrepancies, and if necessary, contact the carrier to update the customers reservation and reissue a boarding pass.



One of the most common questions: Can I bring this-or-that item on the plane? Examples include a 3-D printed handgun, above, and a knife-nana. (AskTSA Twitter)

(AskTSA Twitter)

We do your bidding, Plozai said, because we dont want it to be more complicated than necessary.

The AskTSA board often lights up when a new toy becomes hot, such as hoverboards, selfie sticks and drones, or a product gains notoriety, such as e-cigarettes and the fiery Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

I saw the Samsung 7 Note is not allowed on planes. What about the regular phone? a passenger named Christina recently tweeted. Maybe a stupid question but Im asking anyway.

The expert replied, Currently, the Department of Transportation has banned the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 from aircraft. All other phones are good to go.

Viral moments implicating the TSA can land like a sack of scorpions at the feet of AskTSA. In March, the controversial pat-down of a male teenager at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport resulted in an uptick in comments, many incensed.

You people should be ashamed. I just had a pat down that took, maybe, 20-30 secs, a traveler tweeted in response to the two-minute-long ordeal that a bystander captured on video. This is perverse.

AskTSA responded, Pat-downs are an important security measure to keep dangerous items off planes. The tweet included a link to the agencys blog, which details the procedure.

Of course, sometimes you need more than 140 characters to explain a position or spread your message. In the case of the Texas teen, the TSA consulted with the mother, who helped update its websites entry on traveling with children.

It also released a video demonstrating a pat-down, part of an instructional series that includes TSA Cares: Screening for Transgender Passengers. That video, which was released in April, stemmed from a complaint issued by Kristin Beck, a transgender woman. The agency is also working with Denise Albert, a breast-cancer patient who went public after a discomfiting pat-down, to develop educational videos for travelers with cancer.

[The TSAs new pat-downs get too personal for some]

The AskTSA social care program has allowed us to help passengers in real-time, Plozai said, while also driving systemic changes.



AskTSA specialist Kim Littlefield reviews tweets on the agencys social media account. The 10-person team responds to about 800 submissions a day. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

On a Friday morning in mid-April, the questions were fairly standard  for AskTSA.

Q: Can I bring my plastic replica viking helmet with horns back from Ireland by wearing it onboard?

A: Plastic viking helmets are allowed through. Please check with your airline about wearing it on the flight.

In their responses, the specialists embrace exclamation points and Hallmark card-style wordplay.

A question about flying with candy inspired Josh Wagner to write,Have a sweet day! The send-off for a query about cake read, Security will be a piece of cake for you.

Ham, one of six members covering the first shift, was barreling through the questions. Yes, an empty water bottle is allowed through security. For information on re-entering the country with Swedish candy, heres a link to Customs and Border Protection. To carry a bottle of ZzzQuil onto the plane, just let the officer know that you have a medically necessary liquid.

Then she received a picture of a small red bag. The traveler wanted to know if the piece of luggage was too small to be checked.

To be honest, Ham said, I dont know what this means.

Remember the adage.

She gazed directly into the computer screen and started typing.

Any size bag is allowed to be checked, she wrote.

She reread the sentence and deleted it.

No bag is too small to check-in with your carrier.

Still not right.

Anthony, your red bag is good to go in checked or carry-on.

Then she posted it.

More from Travel:

The strange afterlife of banned TSA items

Why you should visit Columbus, Ohio

How many states have you been to?

The essential guide to all 59 U.S. national parks
THE DISTRICT

Man is shot to death

in Southwest D.C.

A young man was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in Southwest Washingtons Bellevue neighborhood, D.C. police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after 2 p.m. in the 100 block of Irvington Street SW, near the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant and close to the Maryland border.

Police said the victim, whose identification was not immediately released, died at a hospital.

Two more are charged

in fatal shootings

D.C. police have arrested additional suspects in two fatal shootings, one in Southeast Washington last year and the other in Northwest in 2015, according to law enforcement authorities. The men arrested are the second suspects in both cases.

The most recent of the shootings occurred Nov. 27 in the 1300 block of Howard Road SE, in Anacostia. The victim was identified as Orlando Donald Silver III, 37.

On the same day as the killing, police charged Marquette Tibbs, 24, of Southeast, with second-degree murder while armed. On Monday, police arrested Cinquan Cartledge, 22, of Southeast, and charged him with second-degree murder while armed.

Police on Monday also arrested a second suspect in the Oct. 20, 2015, shooting death of Marcus Manor, 38, of Northwest. He was shot in the 2900 block of Sherman Avenue NW, near Columbia Heights.

In October 2015, police charged Kevin Chase, 28, of Northwest, with first-degree murder while armed. He is awaiting trial. The second suspect, Demetrius Lavale Brandon, 29, of Temple Hills, Md., was charged with first-degree murder while armed.

 Peter Hermann

VIRGINIA

Chain-reaction crash

kills 53-year-old man

A 53-year-old man from Fredericksburg was killed in a crash that involved four vehicles in Manassas, authorities said.

Scott Allen Rutherford died Friday from injuries sustained during a crash two days earlier, Prince William County police said.

The crash happened at about 8:30 a.m. on May 3 at Sudley Manor Drive and Sudley Road. Police said a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze that was headed west on Sudley Manor Drive struck another vehicle and that caused a chain reaction.

The Cruze then struck a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado, causing it to overturn. And the Silverado then hit another vehicle.

Police said Rutherford, who was driving the Silverado, was not wearing a seat belt. He was ejected from the vehicle. He was taken to a hospital.

Two children, ages 8 and 7, were in one of the vehicles, police said. Information on how seriously they were hurt was not available.

 Dana Hedgpeth

One killed, two hurt

in Alexandria wreck

One person was killed and two others were injured in a crash in Alexandria, police said.

Few details were available Tuesday. The identity of the person who was pronounced dead at the scene was not released, pending the notification of relatives.

The crash happened at North Quaker Lane and Duke Street. Police said on Twitter that the other two people were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

 Dana Hedgpeth

Upskirting reported

in Manassas store

A 23-year-old woman said a man upskirted her in a Walmart store in Manassas.

The incident happened just before 2 p.m. Thursday at the store on Liberia Avenue.

The woman told police she was shopping when she felt something touch her skirt. When she looked around, she saw a man she did not know holding a cellphone under her skirt, police said in a statement.

When the woman tried to confront the man, he fled the store. Police said he was last seen in a black Lexus SUV.

The woman was not injured in the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 703-670-3700.
THE REGION

Cabdriver charged

with abduction

A cabdriver was charged with three counts of abduction after authorities said he locked three women in his taxi and refused to stop after a dispute over the fare.

Muzemil Denbel Awel of Chevy Chase, Md., was arrested Saturday. Police said Monday that the three women were able to unlock a rear door and jump out of Awels moving taxi in Woodbridge, Va.

The women traveled nearly 30 miles  from the District to Prince William County  in Awels taxi early Saturday, police said. The trio  32, 29 and 22, all from Woodbridge  approached Awels taxi in the District and said they were headed to the 13200 block of Nassau Drive.

Police said the women and Awel had a dispute over the fare upon arriving at the destination. Authorities are not releasing the amount of the fare.

One woman got in contact with a family member as they were locked in the cab, and police said the family member began following the taxi in a vehicle.

After 10 minutes, the women unlocked a rear door and jumped from the moving taxi, a Prince William police report said. The women got into the family members vehicle and followed Awels taxi until it stopped at a business on Mapledale Avenue.

Officers arrived a short time later and took Awel into custody. Police said no injuries were reported.

 Victoria St. Martin

MARYLAND

Deer stuck in mud rescued by officers

Two deer stuck in mud up to their necks were rescued over the weekend by Maryland wildlife officers.

The incident happened about 11 a.m. Saturday in Deale, about 32 miles southeast of D.C. in Anne Arundel County.

A contractor who was cutting grass called authorities to report seeing two deer stuck in a boggy area near Muddy Creek and Sudley roads, said Candy Thomson of the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Over two hours, Thomson said, natural resources police officers used boards to make their way over the mud to reach the deer. The officers used tow ropes from a patrol boat and an ATV to pull the deer to safety.

 Dana Hedgpeth

VIRGINIA

Manassas to refund some business taxes

The city of Manassas says it will return $850,000 in business property taxes that were overpaid by about 1,500 local businesses over the past three years.

Officials said that because of a clerical error, the citys business personal property tax rate levied the wrong amount for inventory and other items that are not real estate, which falls under a different tax category .

The city said it will send refund checks over the next few months to businesses that paid the incorrect rate, or it will apply a tax credit to business owners who are delinquent on other taxes, officials said.

 Antonio Olivo
Courtney Snowden, deputy mayor for greater economic opportunity, has been investigated over allegations that she sought help from the former chancellor in circumventing the schools lottery process. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

The D.C. inspector general investigated how a top official in the administration of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser was able to bypass the school lottery normally required of parents and have her child placed in one of the Districts most sought-after public schools, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.

Courtney Snowden, Bowsers deputy mayor for greater economic opportunity, was examined in a probe that delved into the circumstances in which Snowdens son was enrolled at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, a school with a waiting list of more than 1,000 families, the people said. They said that the allegations date to summer 2015, a period now known to have spawned a broader investigation into misconduct by former D.C. Public Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson.

Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas announced in a letter to the D.C. Council last month that Henderson failed to act impartially and gave preferential treatment to certain District government officials and members of the public by placing their children in schools outside the lottery system.

[D.C. inspector general: Henderson gave special treatment for school placements]

Lucas has refused to name the parents who received preferential treatment, and it is not clear whether the inspector general ultimately determined that Snowden was among them.

However, investigators were informed during the course of interviews with multiple District employees that Snowden said she planned to bypass normal channels to ensure that her child got a seat in a desirable school, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. The investigators were also told that Snowden boasted of her personal relationship with Henderson, they said.

Snowdens child had attended a private school before he started at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan in the 2015-2016 school year.

In response to questions from The Washington Post, Snowden said by email that she was thankful to have the Chancellors discretion in understanding my sons unique needs. She said discretionary transfers such as the one Henderson used in her case are an option available to every parent.

My entire career I have fought to ensure that every child has access to high quality public schools no matter their income or Zip code, Snowden said. She declined to address specific questions about the investigation.

Kevin Harris, a spokesman for Bowser (D), said that the mayor had not been informed by the inspector general which government officials Henderson showed favoritism toward and had not asked for their names. He said Snowden had not told the mayor that the inspector general was investigating her sons school placement.

In a statement, Harris acknowledged that Snowden received a discretionary transfer but said there was nothing improper about it.

Courtney Snowden is an outstanding public servant who has taken on the critical task of ensuring that economic opportunity is available to all District residents, the statement said. The opportunity to petition the school chancellor for a waiver is available to all District parents. Deputy Mayor Snowden did what any parent would do by pursuing every available option when her child faced a challenge.

Henderson, who stepped down as chancellor last year, did not respond to requests for comment. When the inspector general announced his findings to the council last month, Henderson said in a statement that she stood by her actions and had made a very limited number of discretionary placements for students when extraordinary circumstances applied.

The scrutiny of one of Bowsers top appointees over allegations of preferential treatment in the Districts notoriously stressful school-placement process could shed light on what has so far been a secretive probe into a potentially high-octane scandal at the heart of the public-school system in the nations capital.

Henderson led a school district with a wide variety of education options undergirded by a supposedly impartial school-enrollment process. Designed to ensure equal access to the citys best public schools regardless of a familys address, bureaucratic savvy or political clout, the school lottery is required for any families wishing to enroll children in schools outside their neighborhood. The Districts lottery has been touted as a national model of fairness in assigning students to public and charter schools.

Few aspects of local government touch District families lives more directly. Council offices are flooded with calls from exasperated parents each spring after lots are drawn.

[Joy and anguish as D.C. releases lottery results]

The admission rates for the citys most desirable public schools rival those of the nations most selective colleges. Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan received 1,101 applications for 73 open slots in the upcoming school year. The school east of Union Station on Capitol Hill, covering pre-K through eighth grade, has 1,028 families on its waiting list.

Although the chancellor can make special student placements outside the lottery system, that power is supposed to be used in rare circumstances when a transfer would be in the best interests of the student and promote the overall interests of the school system.

Harris said protocols had been put in place so that the chancellors power to make special school placements was reserved for instances such as when a childs safety demands it or for military families moving into the District.

The inspector general has made public a one-page letter summarizing his findings but has refused to release the underlying report that describes how Henderson misused her authority  a departure from typical investigations where detailed reports are circulated to council members and posted on the inspector generals website.

Jaime Yarussi, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Inspector General, said the office was trying to protect the children involved.

Yarussi said the report had not even been shared with council members. Asked whether it would be, she said, The IG has not made that decision.

The inspector general examined seven school transfers by Henderson, according to an official familiar with the investigation.

Lucas wrote in his April 12 letter that his office had referred its findings, along with a recommended course of action, to the mayor on Feb. 10.

In response, the letter states, the administration informed current schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson that his authority to place students outside the lottery is very limited, and must be used in an impartial manner, taking care not to show favoritism.

Snowden, a resident of Northeast Washington, was tapped by Bowser in April 2015 to serve in a position the mayor said was created to foster more opportunities for those left behind by the Districts booming economy.

Before becoming deputy mayor, Snowden was a principal at the Raben Group, a public-affairs and lobbying firm. She ran unsuccessfully for an at-large council seat in 2014. In an interview with The Post in October 2014, she said a desire to improve the public-school options available to District parents was what drove her into the race.

Looking for public school options for my son has been really difficult, particularly in Deanwood where I live. I had to make some really tough choices about where to send my son to school, she said. I entered the lottery, and we just couldnt get into the good ones. People are hungry for excellent options.

Correction: An earlier version of this report said that D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser had released a statement. The statement actually came from her spokesman Kevin Harris.
A child plays among the columns at the National Arboretum in 2013. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Local lawmakers are demanding an apology from the National Arboretum after a security guard allegedly yelled at the children and called an armed officer because a group of first-graders was playing in a restricted area.

On May 1, a group of Two Rivers Elementary School first-graders visited the arboretum as part of their annual study on spiders, according to a letter sent from D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large) to Richard Olsen, the arboretums director.

The children were playing on a grassy area near some picnic tables when a security guard yelled at the children through her car window and then called an armed guard, according to the letter. The field trip was ended early because the teachers and chaperons felt uncomfortable, the letter said.

These actions are extremely troubling, Grosso wrote.

Chris Bentley, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department, which oversees the National Arboretum, said the department is assessing the incident.

At this stage we are reviewing the letter, and we are reviewing everything associated with it, and we will take future action as warranted, Bentley said.

Chantele Martin, a spokeswoman for the school, said Two Rivers values its relationship with community partners and looks forward to working with the arboretum to reach a solution so that all students are made to feel welcome.

We appreciate the public support for our students regarding the situation last week at the arboretum, Martin said.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) also sent a letter asking that the arboretum apologize to the school and develop an action plan within 30 days to determine how the U.S. Arboretum will train its staff and volunteers to ensure all visitors feel welcome.

Perry Stein contributed to this report.
The elected leaders of Maryland, Virginia and the District called Tuesday for sharing data on opioid prescriptions as part of a regional effort to combat a rapidly growing addiction crisis.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said they are committed to linking their prescription-monitoring systems to help prevent misuse of the drugs, which health experts have cited as the cause of surging overdose rates nationwide.

We need to know when folks are doctor-shopping, McAuliffe said at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Regional Opioid and Substance Abuse Summit in Linthicum, Md. We need to have knowledge, and then we need to hold doctors accountable.

McAuliffe touted his states limits on prescribing opioid-based pain medications, noting that he signed a law this year prohibiting doctors from prescribing more than a seven-day supply of the drugs for acute pain.

Doctors in Virginia must reevaluate patients before refilling their prescriptions for treating acute pain, and write risk-assessment reports if the extensions continue beyond three months.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, right, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, center, and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, left, talk about the opioid addiction crisis in October after a meeting in Washington. On Tuesday, they discussed the issue again at a summit in Linthicum, Md. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Hogan proposed a similar seven-day limit for Maryland, but his administration and the Democratic-majority legislature scaled back the bill after the state medical society raised concerns that it left physicians too little flexibility.

The revised legislation, which Hogan signed last month, requires doctors to follow best practices for prescribing opioids, such as standards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and allows the Maryland Board of Physicians to take action against those who do not follow such guidelines.

Hogan said he will continue pressing for stricter prescription limits, playfully suggesting that he would lure his Democratic counterpart from Richmond to help make it happen.

Maybe well send Governor McAuliffe down there to Annapolis to get some of his Democratic colleagues to go along with our proposal, the first-term Republican quipped.

McAuliffe said hed be glad to assist Hogan, and opined that his legislature should go for it.

Del. Eric M. Bromwell (D-Baltimore County), who chaired the bipartisan work group that ushered the Maryland legislation to passage, said the amendment that eliminated the seven-day limit came from the Hogan administration.

Amelia Chasse, a spokeswoman for Hogan, said the governor agreed to the scaled-back proposal as a first step toward addressing overprescribing.

McAuliffe, speaking to reporters after a panel discussion, said trusting physicians to follow best-practices is not an effective way to curb an addiction epidemic that included more than 1,400 overdose deaths in Virginia last year and more than 1,460 in Maryland in the first nine months of 2016.

It is clear that way too many doctors are prescribing way too many pills, and theyre getting folks addicted, McAuliffe said. I honestly dont think we can be strong enough. . . . Weve had some trust before, and I now have a crisis on my hands.

There were 198 opioid-related deaths in the District in the first 11 months of 2016. All three jurisdictions have seen steady increases in the number of opioid-related deaths. Hogan said Tuesday that six people die in Maryland each day, on average, as a result of overdosing on opioids  more than are killed by guns or in vehicle accidents.

Bowser, Hogan and McAuliffe noted that each of their jurisdictions have launched public-awareness campaigns, expanded access to overdose-reversal drugs, increased funding for treatment and taken steps to improve collaboration between agencies.

Bowser highlighted a D.C. pilot program in which city health officials partnered with fire and EMS personnel to offer immediate access to treatment for individuals who have overdosed.

She said the city has a new forensic chemistry unit that tests syringes found with overdose victims for traces of deadly synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanil, which are significantly more powerful than heroin and have become increasingly common in recent years.

As new synthetics emerge, this form of testing provides us with another tool that helps our law enforcement partners find out how these drugs are getting into our jurisdictions, which is critically important to their prosecutions, Bowser said.

The leaders acknowledged that sharing data from their jurisdictions prescription-monitoring programs could involve legal and technical challenges.

Weve all got different laws and different systems, so the concept of us working together and sharing information is a good one, but theres also legal issues we have to address, Hogan said. Sharing the information in general about what trends were seeing and what kinds of things are working and where were seeing upticks is helpful.
Jose Montano, the 17-year-old Maryland youth cleared of sex assault charges in a high-profile rape case last week, appeared in juvenile court Monday as his new case related to child pornography got underway.

Montgomery Circuit Judge Cynthia Callahan on Monday ordered Montano released from the custody of the county, but said he must wear an ankle monitor and stay at home unless he is going to school or attending court matters. After the hearing, though, immigration agents took Montano into custody, a signal they will pursue a deportation case against him, according to his attorneys.

The new charges in juvenile court grew out of the rape case that started two months ago at Rockville High School. A 14-year-old student there told a staff member, and then told Montgomery County detectives, that she had been forced into a boys bathroom stall and raped repeatedly by two classmates.

[Rape charges to be dropped against immigrant teens in Md. case]

Both suspects in the alleged rape, Montano and Henry Sanchez Milian, 18, had entered the United States illegally last year, were detained at the border and were allowed to continue on to Montgomery County. Their immigration status, and the brutality of the original accusations, caught the attention of the White House and drew international notice.

Montano was charged as an adult in that case. On Friday, however, Montgomery prosecutors announced that they were dropping charges of first-degree rape and first-degree sex offense against both suspects, saying that a subsequent investigation cast considerable doubt on the original claims.

It was during that investigation that lewd images were found on Montanos phone. And on Friday, prosecutors also announced that they were pursuing new charges against Montano in juvenile court.

Juvenile court proceedings, including charges, often are kept confidential. But Montanos attorney, Maria Mena, said she wanted the hearing to be open and did not object to a reporter being present. She also said the case accused her client of two counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of distribution of child pornography.

Mena called the charges an egregious stretch of child pornography laws designed to go after adults and said that the images at the core of the juvenile case were part of text exchanges that had helped exonerate Montano of the rape accusations.

After the hearing Monday, Montano was led out a side door of the courtroom by sheriffs deputies. He was taken to a holding cell, according to his attorneys, and arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Jose Canto, Montanos immigration attorney, said he will seek to have Montano released from federal custody on a bond, and try to get him back home with his family.

Matthew Bourke, a spokesman for ICE, said he could not comment on Montanos immigration status or whether he was in ICE custody because Montano is a juvenile.

If Montano is freed to go home to relatives, he will not be returning to Rockville High School.

Derek Turner, a school spokesman, said that if Montano and Sanchez Milian  who also faces pending child pornography charges  are released, the school system will follow state mandates and provide them with education. But they would not go to any school facilities, Turner said, and instead be taught under a program that allows certain students to be educated at their homes.

On March 16, Montgomery police had charged Montano and Sanchez Milian with one count each of first-degree rape and two counts each of first-degree sex offense after the reported rape at the high school.

Montgomery prosecutors reviewed what the girl had told detectives, spoke more with her, reviewed interior school surveillance video of hallways, and studied text messages sent between the girl and Montano, and text messages sent between Montano and Sanchez Milian.

The facts of this case do not support the original charges filed, Montgomery County States Attorney John McCarthy said Friday.

Sanchez Milian remains held in the Montgomery County jail. His attorney, Andrew Jezic, also criticized the new pornography charges, saying they were a stretch given that so many teenagers text lewd photographs to one another.
A young man was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in Southwest Washingtons Bellevue neighborhood, D.C. police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after 2 p.m. in the 100 block of Irvington Street SW, near the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant and close to the Maryland border.

Police said the victim, who was identified as 25-year-old Damonta Thompson of Southwest, died at a hospital.
An armed robbery outside a Maryland townhouse spun into a series of shootings that left one dead and three others wounded, according to police allegations filed in Montgomery County District Court that describe a chaotic case involving Snapchat, a suspect known as Little Eric and a frenzied search for marijuana.

Montgomery police arrested a 23-year-old man in the Germantown homicide, Eric A. Lee, who police said is known as Little Eric, charging him with first-degree murder and home invasion in the April 29 killing of Amaru Amir Santos Johnson, 19.

Authorities said several of those involved knew one another and that they do not think the incident was random.

In court, Lee told Montgomery District Judge Patricia Mitchell that he had a drywall installing job and asked her to set bail so he could be released pending further court action.

I would like to have a bond, he said Friday, the day after his arrest. Im not a violent dude.

Eric Anthony Lee (Montgomery County police)

Assistant States Attorney Marybeth Ayres asked that he be held on no-bond status, saying the surviving victims were terrified of Lee getting out. Mitchell ordered him held on no-bond status.

The chain of events in a parking lot and a townhouse took about one hour and at one point included people jumping from a balcony to escape gunfire, according to a police account filed with the charges against Lee.

About midnight, Lee, of Clarksburg, and another person are alleged to have robbed two people, holding a gun to their heads and forcing them facedown in the parking lot in the 12800 block of Kitchen House Way in Germantown, the police account states.

At one point, charging documents said, one suspect told the victims repeatedly that he did not want them to lose their life over this.

The police filing does not say what was taken, but it says the two victims entered the nearby townhouse. One of the victims called others, and four people  including Johnson  responded by coming to the townhouse.

Inside, the group concluded that one of the suspects was Little Eric, police said. Johnson contacted him on Snapchat, a social-media app, telling him to bring the stuff back.

Lee returned to the townhouse with another person, and by that time three people from the townhouse were waiting for them outside, according to police.

One member of the approaching duo opened fire, hitting a person who had been outside, and prompting the others to go inside. They were followed by at least one gunman. Three more victims were shot inside the townhouse, including Johnson, who was mortally wounded by gunshots to the chest.

All occupants inside the residence, except for Johnson, fled the residence through a back door and jumped off the balcony, Montgomery County Detective Deana Mackie wrote in court papers.

Johnson and the three other shooting victims, whom police did not name, were taken to hospitals. Johnson died, and the others survived.

The charging documents against Lee accuse him of the robbery in the parking lot and of being part of the home invasion that resulted in the homicide of Johnson, but are not specific on what actions he is alleged to have taken.
D.C. police have arrested additional suspects in two fatal shootings, one in Southeast Washington last year and the other in Northwest in 2015, according to law enforcement authorities. The men arrested are the second suspects in both cases.

The most recent of the shootings occurred about 4:10 p.m. on Nov. 27 in the 1300 block of Howard Road SE, in Anacostia. The victim, Orlando Donald Silver III, 37, later died at a hospital, police said.

On the same day as the killing, police charged Marquette Tibbs, 24, of Southeast, with second-degree murder while armed. On Monday, police arrested Cinquan Cartledge, 22, of Southeast, and charged him with second-degree murder while armed.

Cartledge could made an initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court later on Tuesday. Tibbs, who is being detained, has a hearing scheduled for July 14. An affidavit filed in the arrest of Tibbs does not describe a motive, but says police seized a gun and drugs when they arrested him last year.

[Second suspect arrested in 2016 Anacostia shooting]

Police on Monday also arrested a second suspect in the Oct. 20, 2015, shooting death of Marcus Manor, 38, of Northwest. He was shot about 11:10 a.m. in the 2900 block of Sherman Avenue NW, near Columbia Heights.

In October 2015, police charged Kevin Chase, 38, of Northwest, with first-degree murder while armed. He is scheduled for a jury trial in D.C. Superior Court on June 5.

The second suspect, Demetrius Lavale Brandon, 29, of Temple Hills, Md., was charged with first degree murder while armed. He is being detained and has a court hearing scheduled for Friday.

[Arrest made in 2016 fatal shooting in Columbia Heights]

Manors shooting was one of four homicides that occurred in three months within a mile and a half on or near Georgia Avenue, 16th Street and U Street. Three of the four occurred during daylight, intensifying the concern in the neighborhoods. The shootings were not related, according to police.

Manor was shot in the chest while in a vehicle a block west of Georgia Avenue and six blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro Station. An arrest affidavit filed in 2015 in connection with Chases arrest identifies Chase as the brother of the dead mans girlfriend, with whom he was having a dispute.


Fairfax police had been looking for this man in connection with a robbery. (Fairfax County Police Department)

Some schools in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County took increased security measures Tuesday as police searched for a suspect wanted in connection with a robbery.

By 8:30 a.m., police said the suspect had been caught. No other immediate details were available on what happened in the incident.

Earlier, a K-9 unit and helicopter searched for the man who Fairfax County police said in a Twitter message was involved in an armed robbery in the 5900 block of Edgehill Drive near Telegraph Road.

The suspects name has not yet been released. In a Twitter message, police said the incident also involved a carjacking. It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt.

Police said the suspect at one point this morning was believed to be near Mount Eagle and Cameron Run elementary schools. Brown Academy, police said, was on a two-hour delay because of the search for the suspect.

Authorities put out an image of the suspect on social media and described him as being white and in his 20s to 30s.
Officials at Sidwell Friends School were quick to respond when they received a call recently that a longtime music teacher had been accused of sexually abusing a former student at another school two decades earlier.

Within a week, they had obtained a police report, confronted the teacher, met with attorneys and drafted a public statement that included an admission that an administrator who had offered Michael Henderson the job had known boundaries had been crossed in his previous job but hired him anyway.

A letter to the school community announcing Hendersons dismissal apologized for the schools grave lapse in judgement and encouraged current or former students, parents or employees to come forward and report any inappropriate behavior or abuse by anyone at the school.

Henderson, through his attorney, has denied any wrongdoing.

Sidwells statement  and the admission within it  represents an unusually detailed and public response for the discreet private school in Northwest Washington that has been attended by the children of U.S. presidents, including Sasha and Malia Obama. The move also signifies what advocates and attorneys describe as a sea change in how private schools are beginning to respond to allegations of sexual assault amid a series of high-profile scandals unfolding at some of the nations most prominent private schools.

[Sidwell Friends dismisses teacher, citing allegation of inappropriate contact with student in previous job]

In the past, it was modus operandi: When there was an allegation, you covered it up, said Kevin Mulhearn, a New York-based attorney who has represented dozens of abuse victims. Now, he said, theres another school of thought emerging that emphasizes transparency and justice for victims.

News reports in recent years have exposed a pattern of abuse at many private schools, documenting serial abusers who went unchecked for years or were allowed to slip away quietly and were never reported to law enforcement or prospective future employers. Litigation is mounting at many schools, and alumni groups are organizing to press for greater transparency and justice for victims.

At the same time, more victims are feeling empowered to come forward, often after decades of silence, amid a broader cultural shift in how people view and understand sexual abuse and how it plays out in schools.

Many schools see addressing allegations directly and publicly, rather than hiding from them, as a way to reassure parents that their institutions can be trusted.

Ellis Turner, Sidwells associate head of school, said the school also encouraged members of the community in 2010 to report any information about possible abuse after a middle school teacher was found to have abused a student. As a Friends school we have a special obligation to address such matters openly and honestly, he said in a written statement. No one came forward, officials said.

In last weeks statement, Sidwell said its hiring practices have improved significantly over the past 20 years, but it also detailed some additional precautions the school is taking by retaining an employment law expert to analyze its practices and retaining independent counsel to review all past personnel files.

Many schools are rewriting handbooks, bringing in trainers to help school employees spot techniques that abusers use to groom their victims and developing curriculum for students about healthy relationships.

Dozens of private schools that have faced particularly grave allegations have commissioned independent external investigations to document past sexual abuse at their institutions, handing over reams of personnel files to teams of lawyers and submitting to scores of interviews with the goal of airing out their dark closets once and for all.

Last month, Choate Rosemary Hall, a Connecticut boarding school that counts John F. Kennedy among its alumni, published a report that documents sexual abuse by 12 former faculty members and includes detailed accounts of 24 victims between the 1950s and 2010.

The conduct of these adults violated the foundation of our community: the sacred trust between students and the adults charged with their care, wrote Michael J. Carr, chair of the board of trustees, and Alex Curtis, headmaster, in a letter that accompanied the report.

On behalf of Choate Rosemary Hall, we profoundly apologize, they wrote.

[New report alleges decades of sexual abuse at elite Connecticut prep school]

Also last month, Emma Willard, a girls boarding school in Upstate New York, issued a report documenting widespread sexual misconduct and abuse over the past 60 years.

Willard, as well as Choate, were featured in a Boston Globe investigation last year that found that at least 67 private schools in New England have faced accusations since 1991 that staff members sexually abused or harassed more than 200 students. Among the accused was a history teacher who was fired from Emma Willard in 1999 after he allegedly raped a student, then was given a letter of recommendation and went on to work at another private school.

We are taking responsibility for the past so that our future is different, said Elisabeth Allen LeFort, chair of the board of trustees, and Susan R. Groesbeck, interim head of school, in a letter released with the Emma Willard investigation.

Other schools have launched external investigations, though not published detailed reports, including Phillips Exeter Academy, the alma mater of Mark Zuckerberg, which came under scrutiny after the school admitted that it hid allegations of abuse by the former chair of the schools history department and allowed him to quietly retire in 2011, a few years before another allegation surfaced.

Child sexual abuse occurs in public and private schools. But some experts say the culture of private schools  which tend to encourage close relationships between students and teachers  can foster a blurring of boundaries. And over the years, many private schools have been motivated by a strong desire to protect their elite reputations.

Paul Mones, an attorney who specializes in working with victims of sexual abuse, said its harder for outsiders to question independent school practices. In private schools, the walls of silence are higher, he said.

Boarding schools have particular challenges, with students far away from home and looking to other adults for emotional support.

The National Association of Independent Schools convened a task force this school year to help its 1,500 member schools respond to and prevent educator sexual misconduct, studying issues such as hiring practices, boundary setting and how reporting requirements vary by state.

Schools have not known how to deal with this, and many have botched it, said Charol Shakeshaft, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and an expert in educator sexual abuse, who is on the task force. Now I see them saying, We may be coming in too late . . . but that should not stop us from changing now. 

Not all schools are opting for transparency. An alumni group from Horace Mann in New York commissioned its own external investigation after the board of trustees decided not to commission one, following reports in the New York Times and the New Yorker in 2012 and 2013 that exposed serial abuse by multiple teachers. And many schools still scuttle or fight claims, Mulhearn said.

Also, systemic hurdles discourage schools from reporting allegations to law enforcement, advocates say. Statutes of limitations for prosecuting sex crimes vary widely, in some states expiring not long after students graduate, creating an incentive for schools to delay investigations and run down the clock.

Michele Booth Cole, executive director of Safe Shores  The D.C. Childrens Advocacy Center, which serves young victims of abuse, said she is heartened to see more private schools addressing the issue of child sexual abuse. But she said more schools should act before they are dealing with a crisis.

Cole was the parent of a third-grader at the Beauvoir school in the District when her daughters teacher, Eric Toth, was escorted off campus following discovery of sexually explicit pictures he took of students. Toth fled. Cole said the schools response led to extensive staff training to recognize the warning signs of sexual abuse and an overhaul of their policies to make the school safer.

If schools would do what Beauvoir did after the fact, then that would protect a lot more kids from being abused, she said.

Sara Lawson, the woman who with her boyfriend contacted Sidwell last month to inform them about her abuse allegations against Henderson, said she was amazed by the schools response.

Wow. Just wow, she said, after she got off the phone with an attorney for the school who outlined some of the actions the school planned to take.

She said her conversation with the Sidwell attorney stood in stark contrast to the grilling she described going through in telling and retelling her story of her abuse to school officials at the Colorado boarding school where she met and, she said, was abused by her music teacher.

Henderson left the school, but criminal charges were never brought against him. She spent the next 20 years trying to bury what happened, she said.

When she recently learned that he had been teaching all along, she said the revelation made her feel guilty for not speaking out sooner or trying to track him down. It felt too hard, she said. But now that she has seen the results, she is glad that she did.

I feel empowered, she said, to see action in a part of her life that felt broken. I never felt that before.
In this May 13, 2015, file photo, emergency personnel work near the wreckage of a New York City-bound Amtrak passenger train following a derailment that killed eight people and injured about 200 others near Philadelphia. Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian won't be charged in the May 12, 2015, derailment. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

The engineer involved in the deadly crash of an Amtrak train in North Philadelphia in 2015 will not face criminal charges, the citys District Attorneys Office said Tuesday, because there is no evidence that he acted with criminal intent or knowledge.

Eight people were killed, and more than 200 were injured when the New York-bound train derailed as it entered a curve at twice the posted speed limit.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded last year that the probable cause of the May 2015 crash was operator error. It said that engineer Brandon Bostian lost track of where he was and probably sped up because he thought that he had already passed the bend.

[NTSB: Engineers in deadly 2015 Amtrak crash lost track of where he was]

The Philadelphia district attorneys investigation drew a similar conclusion about the cause but said that Bostians actions did not warrant criminal charges.

This Aug. 21, 2007, file photo shows Amtrak assistant conductor Brandon Bostian outside a train at the Amtrak station in St. Louis. Philadelphia prosecutors said Tuesday that Bostian, the speeding Amtrak engineer involved in the May 12, 2015, derailment that killed eight people and injured about 200 others, won't be charged. (Huy Richard Mach/AP)

We cannot conclude that the evidence rises to the high level necessary to charge the engineer or anyone else with a criminal offense, the office said in a statement. Nor do we believe there is sufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, criminal recklessness, which would be the only other basis for criminal liability.

The office said that Pennsylvania law specifically states that a person acts with criminal recklessness when he or she consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk: Based on the available information, we do not have evidence sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the engineer consciously disregarded the risk.

[Amtrak 188 victims included a midshipman, tech CEO, banker]

A spokesman for Amtrak said the passenger rail service would have no comment on the announcement. Bostians Philadelphia-based attorney, Robert Goggin, also declined to comment. Bostian was placed on leave following the crash and remains there.

Amtrak 188, a Northeast Regional train, had left the District just after 7 p.m., bound for New York. At a section just north of Philadelphias 30th Street Station, Bostian accelerated, hitting a 50-mph curve at 106 mph. NTSB investigators said Bostian may have thought he was entering the curve that followed, where the speed limit was 110 mph. All seven cars derailed, halting service for several days along one of the nations busiest rail corridors. It was Amtraks worst crash in more than 20 years.

Passengers aboard the train described hearing a catastrophic boom before the train suddenly halted, throwing some from their seats and trapping others in the wreckage.

NTSB investigators found no evidence that alcohol, drugs or fatigue played a role. Nor was the engineer using a cellphone at the time of the crash. Bostian suffered a concussion in the wreck.

[Mapping the wreckage of Amtrak 188]

NTSB officials also said that Bostian may have been distracted by a problem with a nearby commuter train, which reportedly had been hit by a rock. The engineer of that train was discussing the incident with a dispatcher on a channel, which Bostian was monitoring, investigators said.

In their report, NTSB officials also noted that Positive Train Control, an automatic braking technology that could have slowed the train as it sped into the curve, was not in place at the time of the crash. The safety board has for years called on Amtrak and other railroads to install the technology. Seven months after the May 2015 wreck, Amtrak activated the system.

The investigation by the District Attorneys Office took nearly two years. Two senior members of the homicide unit worked closely with the Philadelphia police and Amtrak. Assistant district attorneys also consulted with the NTSB, which released its report into the probable cause of the crash last year.

In October 2016, Amtrak paid $265 million to settle claims related to the 2015 crash. Federal law limits how much money passenger rail companies must pay in damages.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie, right, gestures as he participates in a debate with Corey Stewart, left, and state Sen. Frank Wagner, center, at Goochland High School in Goochland, Va., on April 22. (Steve Helber/AP)

Corey Stewart wants to be the next governor of Virginia, and the way he has chosen to get there is by issuing polarizing provocations in support of the Confederate flag. My purpose is to show I have the guts to stand up to political correctness, he said. People voted for Trump because of his guts, not so much because of his policy views.

Tom Perriello wants to be governor, too, and his message also carries familiar echoes of last year. Donald Trump was right about some things, Perriello said on the stump, painting a bleak portrait of a country thats losing millions of jobs and suffering from an opioids epidemic fomented, he said, by pharmaceutical companies that created a culture of pain.

While the rest of the country gets another year to discern the meaning of last falls momentous election, people in two states  Virginia and New Jersey  will choose governors this year and decide if the past is prelude: Are voters looking for a booster shot or an antidote  another dose of Trumpism or a traditional focus on the nuts and bolts of governing?

In the run-up to Virginias June 13 primary, its not clear whether the populist message is a winner. In the GOP race, Stewart lags behind the favorite, longtime party strategist Ed Gillespie, an establishment Republican who focuses on smaller government. According to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll, Stewart is drawing support from only 18 percent of likely Republican voters, compared with 38 percent for Gillespie and 15 percent for the other candidate, state Sen. Frank W. Wagner of Virginia Beach. But in the Democratic contest, other polling shows Perriello is in a tight race with his more staid and traditional rival, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.

Six months after the presidential decision, every election in the country is being inspected for hints at whether Trumps win was unique to his personality or reflects a shift in voter preferences. In a special election in Georgia last month, the Republican congressional candidate who most avidly touted his ties to Trump got clobbered. In a district where Trump won 48 percent of the vote last fall  four points better than he fared in Virginia  Bob Gray, whose campaign slogan was America First, Conservative Always, won only 11 percent in the primary, which had 11 Republicans on the ballot. Overall in that race, the more a candidate was aligned with Trump, the worse he did.

Tom Perriello, left, shakes hands with Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam at the start of a debate between Virginia's Democratic candidates for governor at Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, Va. (Sarah L. Voisin/AP)

Virginias primaries both feature one candidate who preaches that the system is rigged while their opponents more or less are the system. But in both races, the president looms large in voters minds, especially in parts of the state that went heavily for Trump.

In Pittsylvania County, hard by the North Carolina border, county Supervisor Ron Scearce is still shopping for a Republican governor who will run the state like a business, just like Trump.

Scearce, 53, a semiretired Air Force veteran, likes that Stewart was an early Trump supporter  indeed, chairman of Trumps Virginia campaign until he was fired for organizing a protest against the Republican National Committee, which he said was not sufficiently supportive of Trump.

But even though Scearce agrees with Stewart that Democrats are trying to destroy the history of our country, one monument at a time, he would rather have a governor focused more on jobs than flags.

[Is Stewarts embrace of things Confederate helping or hurting the GOP?]

In Campbell County, near the Blue Ridge Mountains, Eric Zehr, who owns a house-washing company, keeps meeting people who registered to vote for the first time last year solely based on Trumps ability to be politically incorrect. Trump won 71 percent of the vote in the county in November, but lost statewide with 44 percent.

Zehr, who entered politics a few years ago and is now a county supervisor and chairman of the county GOP, has not made his choice in the primary. Hes looking not so much for a Trump sound-alike as someone who shares my top two values, right to life and fiscal conservatism.

But Zehr, 46, worries that many Trump voters will go back into hibernation this year. Theyre just delighted that the president doesnt have a close guard on his tongue; that comes across as honest and refreshing. Were hoping for more of the same from a governor  maybe not Trumps coarseness, but his willingness to go upstream.

In Northern Virginia, where Hillary Clinton beat Trump handily, last years populist surge seems to have less staying power. In a place like Virginia, in a low turnout, off-year race, people are ready for a cheerful, roll-up-your-sleeves, hard-working traditional governor, said Will Estrada, the Republican Party chairman in Loudoun County and a Gillespie supporter. People arent looking for another Trump. Trump is an anomaly. Trump is unique.

Donald Scoggins, a longtime conservative activist in Prince William County who runs Republicans for Black Empowerment, initially endorsed Trump last year then broke with him because of the way he was going after minorities.

Now, Im looking for normalcy to return to the Republican Party, Scoggins said. Governing is more important right now than shaking things up. I dont want a governor who pines for adulation. Itd be a tragic thing if that Trump attitude percolated down to the state level.

Among Democrats, anti-Trump fervor has propelled Perriello from a late start to near-even status with Northam in recent polls. Perriellos boosters often describe themselves as supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanderss 2016 presidential bid. But there are plenty of Hillary Clinton voters in his audiences, too, and some are struggling to figure out how Perriellos rhetoric fits with their ideas about what a Democratic governor should be.

Im trying not to have that visceral reaction that Tom Perriello is Bernie, said Melissa Cooper, 38, a government contractor who lives in Loudoun County. Divisiveness didnt work very well for us last year.

[Sanders endorses Perriello in Va Democratic primary race]

After listening to Perriello for an hour, Cooper decided she is likely to vote for Northam. Northams an establishment guy and thats not what I want, she said, but I want to win and I think people are a little tired of people who are all fervor.

Dave Mudcat Saunders, a longtime Democratic strategist based in Roanoke, is not persuaded that the recipe for victory in Virginia must now include a hefty dollop of populism.

When times are darkest, the people will always turn to the meanest, toughest son of a b---- in the tribe, said Saunders, who broke with his tribe last year to support Trump. But although the Democratic brand is very, very tarnished out here among working-class people, he said, the winning margin wasnt just Trump  it was ABC, Anybody But Clinton. A Democrat not named Clinton could win, he said, if he forged an authentic connection with voters in rural Virginia  as Mark R. Warner famously did when he launched his political career to become governor and, eventually, a two-term senator.

Trump made that connection as somebody who would stand up to the status quo, the political establishment and political correctness, Stewart said. Im betting that Trump voters have that same desire this year for somebody who says things youre not supposed to say. Its a risky move, but I want to demonstrate that Im willing to be vilified. If the Republicans choose the establishment guy whos mouthing the same old garbage that Republicans have for 30 years, then we lose.

Perriello rejects the idea that if Stewart is the Trumpian figure in this election, he is the Sanders analogue. People have trouble putting us in a box, Perriello said. Were very explicitly trying to unite the Bernie, Hillary and Obama wings of the party. Rather than populist, he calls his approach noncompliance, a rebellion marked not by the volume of my voice, but by pushing back against [Trumps] agenda.

Perriello is by no means all passion; hes a strikingly policy-oriented candidate, with a command of detail reminiscent of fellow Virginia Democrats Warner and Sen. Tim Kaine. We need Hillarys command of policy and Bernies sense of the corruption in the system, he said.

Perriello doesnt apologize for seeking wholesale change in an economy where no job seems safe  where, as he puts it, automation is going to make globalization look like childs play.

Trump and Sanders voters were right to complain that politicians have ignored lives in which career paths have withered and work no longer guarantees security, Perriello said. But he said that last years election presented a false choice between the emotions of populism and the rationalism of policy.

Humanity draws on both mythos and logos as sources of truth, Perriello said, referring to the two strands of ancient Greek thought  a world explained through belief, myth and titanic clashes of supernatural figures vs. one based on logic and pragmatic reason. Unfortunately, weve become a country where one party is just mythos and the other is just logos. All of us respond to both of those traditions. Obama was at his most transformative when he didnt just have his Mr. Spock side, but his prophetic side.

If Perriello presents himself as a blend of fiery populist and policy wonk, Stewart is the proud, unadulterated bomb thrower. He rejects the notion that Virginia politics is different from the national scene.

This Virginia gentleman thing is a bunch of baloney, Stewart said. Its BS. They may act on the surface a little more genteel, but Virginians like fighters. Im an in-your-face, no-holds-barred, ruthless fighter. There are parallels between Perriello and me; were both trying to tear down the established order.

Everywhere he goes, Stewart proudly repeats his mantra: I was Trump before Trump was Trump.

But he said in an interview that if he wins the primary, he will pivot to a different message in the fall. As soon as this primary is over, Im going right back to the community to say, I know you dont like what I say about Southern heritage or that I supported Trump, but theres a lot of other stuff we agree on, he said. Clearly, my focus will change after the primary and be about jobs and the economy. I will probably never say the word Republican in the fall campaign.

Stewart says that his Trumpian rhetoric about the Confederate flag and illegal immigrants will not stop him from winning votes, even in majority-minority counties such as his own base in Prince William.

Stewart first won widespread notice in 2007, when, after his countys Hispanic population tripled in six years, his Board of County Supervisors told county police to check the immigration status of anyone they stopped for traffic or other violations.

This year, Stewart is again making immigration a focus, even though he did not make it a big issue in the intervening years. The issue ebbs and flows, he said. Now its flowing again.

Still, Stewart said adopting a campaign persona that so closely parallels Trumps is risky. If Trump doesnt deliver on jobs and immigration by November, he said, Im going to have a lot of trouble.
Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in the June 13 primary election, debates at Virginia Western Community College on Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Roanoke, (Heather Rousseau =/The Roanoke Times via AP)

Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Monday called for a cap on campaign donations and a ban on corporate contributions, escalating a clash over campaign funding in the primary race for governor.

Virginias state campaign finance system is essentially a free-for-all: People, businesses and political organizations can give as much as they like to individual candidates who can spend the money however they like, even on personal expenses.

Northams plan would limit donations to $10,000 (with political parties excluded), bar businesses and corporations from giving and require nonprofits trying to influence Virginia elections to reveal their donors.

[Dark money vs. corporate cash: Democratic Va. candidates clash on funding]

Virginias campaign finance system is a boondoggle that alienates its citizens and makes them lose faith in government, Northam said in a statement. Virginians across every part of the political spectrum want a system that is more responsive to the people, and less reliant on big checks from a few donors.

Tom Perriello, a Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, at a candidate forum on May, 02, 2017 in Arlington, VA. (Photo by Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

A spokesman for his opponent in the June 13 Democratic gubernatorial primary, former Congressman Tom Perriello, responded to the plan by urging Northam to return or give away nearly $725,000 in corporate donations hes taken throughout his political career. Perriello supports public campaign financing.

Northams spokesman retorted he wouldnt take the call to return donations seriously until Perriello returns contributions from hedge funds and the National Rifle Association from his 2008 and 2010 Congressional campaigns.

[Perriellos gubernatorial bid kept afloat by a few big donors]

Both Northam and Perriello have faced criticism over campaign contributions. As of March 31, Northam had $3.3 million to Perriellos $1.7 million.

Because there are no limits on campaign donations, Perriello started his gubernatorial campaign with half his initial $2.2 million haul coming from just four donors. Avaaz, a global activist group that Perriello co-founded, gave him $230,000 and does not disclose most of its donors.

Northam has been attacked for taking money from corporations with businesses before the state  including about $100,000 from the states utility giant and largest campaign donor, Dominion Resources. Perriello and dozens of Democratic delegate candidates have pledged not to take money from Dominion, in a surprising challenge to the states largest political donor.

[Dominion, Virginias longtime power broker, suddenly in the hot seat]

At a recent candidate forum, Northam said campaign finance reform should be comprehensive rather than consist of a ban on money from particular entity.

Northam also said his campaign is powered by grassroots donors, not by rustling money from corporations.

About three-quarters of Northams donations are smaller than $100, but they make up less than a tenth of his overhaul campaign haul, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Republican leaders in the General Assembly have endorsed an alternative campaign finance proposal from GOP gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie that would bar personal use of campaign funds and the bait-and-switch practice of transfering money raised for a campaign for one office to a campaign for a different office.
Law enforcement officials salute the casket of Pottawattamie County sheriff's deputy Mark Burbridge during his funeral May 8 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Burbridge was killed May 1 during a jail escape in Council Bluffs. (Rebecca Gratz/AP)

TEXAS

Father sues officer

accused in sons death

The father of a 15-year-old is suing the former Dallas-area police officer accused of shooting and killing his son in a vehicle that was leaving a house party.

The 22-page lawsuit, filed late last week in U.S. District Court in Dallas, maintains that former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver used excessive and deadly force in the killing of Jordan Edwards and that the police department did not adequately train the officer. It also alleges Oliver had a reputation for having a short fuse. The lawsuit comes after investigators said Oliver fired his rifle into a vehicle full of teenagers on April 29, fatally shooting Jordan. The city is also named in the suit.

Jordans father, Odell Edwards, claims that Balch Springs city leaders, including Mayor Carrie Marshall and Police Chief Jonathan Haber, failed to properly train, supervise, screen, discipline, transfer, counsel or otherwise control officers who are known, or who should have been known, to engage in the use of excessive force and/or deadly force, including those officers repeatedly accused of such acts.

Investigators said Oliver and other officers responded to a call about suspected teenage drinking at a party in Balch Springs on April 29. Jordan, his brothers and some friends had gotten into a car and were leaving the party when Oliver shot at the vehicle. A bullet went through a passenger-side window and struck Jordan in the head, according to the lawsuit.

 Lindsey Bever

NEW YORK

Judge rejects moving trial in bomb rampage

The trial of a man charged in a 2016 bombing rampage through New Jersey and New York will take place in Manhattan after a judge rejected a request Monday by defense attorneys to move it to Vermont or Washington, D.C., on the grounds that prejudicial publicity will have less effect on potential jurors there.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said impartial jurors can be found for the October trial of Ahmad Khan Rahimi in the district of 5.2 million people.

Rahimi, a U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan who lived with his family in Elizabeth, N.J., is charged with placing a pipe bomb on the route of a charity race in Seaside Park, N.J., and planting two pressure-cooker bombs in Manhattan and additional pipe bombs in New Jersey in mid-September 2016.

One device found in Manhattan did not explode. The other one detonated in the Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 30 people.

The New York judge also rejected a request by prosecutors that he consider Rahimis competency to stand trial.

 Associated Press
(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Two Republican lawmakers charged with conducting government oversight sharply rebuked Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Tuesday for curtailing his employees ability to communicate directly with Congress and suggested that the move violates federal law.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said the policy that Prices chief of staff outlined in a memo last week is potentially illegal and unconstitutional, and will likely chill protected disclosures of waste, fraud, and abuse.

In the May 3 memo, chief of staff Lance Leggitt informed senior HHS staff members that any communications with Members of Congress and staff should not occur without prior consultation with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation.

[Decoding HHS Secretary Prices spin on the American Health Care Act]

Such communications include requests for calls, meetings, briefings, technical assistance, policy development, hearings, oversight, detailees, etc., he said. Your cooperation will help us avoid unnecessary problems in our relationships with Congress.

Multiple federal departments have restricted their employees external communications to varying degrees since President Trump took office. In some cases, political appointees limited the use of social media or news releases. At the Interior Department, the director of the Office of Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs instructed senior career officials in late January to clear all correspondence to or from the secretary with her office at least five days in advance of when the department would officially respond.

Tom Price, secretary of Health and Human Services, speaks during a news conference at the White House on May 4. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)

But Grassley and Chaffetz, who sent their letter to Price on Thursday and made it public five days later, took specific issue with the HHS policy. Its limitations, they argued, could deter whistleblowers from raising legitimate concerns from a separate branch of government.

[FDA delays new curbs on e-cigarettes and cigars, to see if it matches Trumps vision]

The attached memorandum contains no exception whatsoever for lawful, protected communications with Congress, the lawmakers wrote. In its current form, employees are likely to interpret it as a prohibition, and will not necessarily understand their rights.

They noted that federal employees have a constitutional right to communicate directly with Congress and petition the Government for a redress of grievances, a right that was clarified under a 1912 law to extend to matters directly related to their employment.

HHS spokeswoman Amanda Smith said in an email that the department is responding to the Chairmens inquiry. She said the memo does not specifically prohibit all communications with Capitol Hill and was aimed at notifying staff of the legislative liaisons function.

Transitions between administrations can mean significant staff turnover, which often leads to confusion and a breakdown of communications, Smith said, noting that previous administrations have sent similar advisories.

In 1993, a memo from then-HHS Secretary Donna Shalala to the heads of HHS operating and staff divisions emphasized that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation is responsible for the management of this Departments relationships with the Congress and that communication on any legislation, appropriations requests, hearings, or policy development should not occur without prior consultation with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation.
WASHINGTON

Seattle mayor halts campaign over claims

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Tuesday dropped his reelection bid for a second term after four men claimed that he sexually abused them when they were teenagers, allegations vehemently denied by Murray as an anti-gay political conspiracy aimed at derailing his campaign.

Murray said for weeks after the allegations emerged that he would press on in his campaign for a second term but told reporters that he decided it was best for Seattle to end his campaign and not seek another term. He said he will serve out his term through the end of this year.

The 62-year-old Murray was elected in 2013 and successfully pushed to raise Seattles hourly minimum wage to $15.

Before winning the citys top job he served for 18 years as a state lawmaker. He was the prime sponsor of Washingtons same-sex marriage law, spearheaded an effort to protect LGBT youths in public schools, and led the states push to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Last month, a man filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually abused by Murray in the 1980s, when he was a teenager. Three others made similar allegations; Murray denied them all.

Before the lawsuit emerged, Murray was expected to win a second term in a field that included high-profile challenger Nikkita Oliver, a community activist and attorney.

 Associated Press

MILITARY

Manning thanks Obama in statement

The soldier imprisoned for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military documents to WikiLeaks released Tuesday her first statement since being granted clemency, saying she hopes to use lessons shes learned in prison to help others.

Chelsea Manning, who is scheduled to be released from prison next week, thanked former president Barack Obama, who granted her clemency in the final days of his presidency. She also said letters of support from fellow transgender individuals and veterans inspired her to work toward making life better for others.

For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea, she said in the statement.

A former intelligence analyst in Iraq, Manning was convicted in 2013 of leaking more than 700,000 secret military and State Department documents as well as battlefield videos. Manning served nearly seven years of her 35-year sentence at the military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan. She was known as Bradley Manning before transitioning in prison.

Mannings attorneys said that she is scheduled to leave prison on May 17, though details havent been released.

Manning was arrested in 2010, and came out as transgender after being sentenced. She filed a transgender rights lawsuit and attempted suicide twice last year, according to her lawyers.

 Associated Press

La. parish announces settlement with BP: A coastal Louisiana parish has announced a $45 million settlement with BP over damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Plaquemines Parish President Amos Cormier announced the settlement in a statement Tuesday. The parish juts out into the Gulf from Louisianas southeastern tip. Oil from the spill after the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion fouled sections of the parishs marshy coastline. Plaquemines is one of a few local governments that opted not to take part in a $20 billion settlement with BP in 2015.

 Associated Press
SOUTH SUDAN

1 million children are war refugees, U.N. says

More than 1 million children have fled South Sudans civil war, two United Nations agencies said Monday, part of the worlds fastest-growing refugee crisis.

Another 1 million are displaced within the country, the U.N. child and refugee agencies said.

The civil war has worsened South Sudans ethnic divisions, and U.N. officials have said that parts of the country are experiencing ethnic cleansing and are at risk of genocide.

About 62 percent of refugees from South Sudan are children, according to the United Nations, and more than 75,000 children are alone or without their families. About 1.8 million people have fled South Sudan in total.

For children still living in South Sudan, the situation is grim. Nearly three-quarters are out of school, according to the United Nations. A famine was declared in two counties of South Sudan in February, and hundreds of thousands of children are at risk of starvation.

More than 1,000 children have been killed or wounded in the civil war. Both sides have pledged not to recruit child soldiers but have not kept their promises.

The civil war began in December 2013 and has killed tens of thousands of people.

 Associated Press

Mediterranean

Over 200 feared dead in migrant crossings

More than 200 migrants are feared to have died in the Mediterranean over the weekend, according to survivors, and several bodies, including that of an infant, have washed up on a Libyan beach.

About 7,500 people have been rescued off the coast of Libya since Thursday, the Italian and Libyan coast guards said. Two groups of survivors told the organizations that hundreds drowned when their rubber boats began to deflate before rescuers arrived.

More than 60 are feared dead and three bodies were recovered Saturday, survivors brought to Sicily on Sunday told Italian coast guards. The boat left Libya carrying about 120, they said.

There was some discrepancy in the numbers. Based on its interviews with survivors in Pozzallo, Italy, the U.N. refugee agency estimated the number of dead at more than 80.

Separately, Libyas coast guard picked up seven survivors over the weekend who said they had been on a boat packed with 170 migrants. The aid group International Medical Corps confirmed their account.

Eleven bodies washed up on the shore west of the city of Zawiyah, said Mohanad Krima, a spokesman for the Red Crescent.

The U.N. refugee agency says that, excluding the latest shipwrecks, more than 1,150 people have disappeared or died this year trying to reach Italy from North Africa.

 Reuters

TURKEY

Erdogan slams Israels Jerusalem occupation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Muslims to stand up for the Palestinian cause, saying each day that Jerusalem remains under occupation is an insult to them. His words drew strong criticism from Israel.

Speaking Monday in Istanbul, Erdogan also compared Israeli actions against Palestinians to those in South Africa under apartheid and said the United States must drop plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They were Erdogans harshest words against Israel since the two countries reconciled last year and restored diplomatic ties to the ambassadorial level.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Erdogan of systematically violating human rights and said he should not preach morality.

 Associated Press

Remains of 21 Red Army troops found in Germany: Seventy-two years after the end of World War II, a construction crew found the remains of at least 21 Soviet Red Army soldiers in eastern Germany, about 40 miles east of Berlin. A member of a charity that takes care of war graves told the German news agency DPA that the soldiers probably died during the last days of the war, in the final battles for Berlin between the Soviets and Nazi Germany.

Egyptian forces kill 8 members of Brotherhood: Egypts Interior Ministry said its forces killed eight members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood before they carried out terrorist acts. It said the Brotherhood members fired on security forces when they were approached, drawing return fire. Earlier, the Giza Criminal Court said it sentenced Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and two others to life in prison on charges that they confronted the state. Badie had already been sentenced to life in prison and the death penalty in other cases.

 From news services
THE MASSIVE leak of documents from the campaign of Emmanuel Macron failed to prevent his landslide victory Sunday in the French presidential election. But perhaps his defeat was not the goal of the leak. Mr. Macron already had a wide lead when the files were posted on the Internet Friday night, the result of a hack that cyber-experts said bore the fingerprints of a group tied to Russias military intelligence service. Nor did the archive appear to contain much in the way of compromising information.

What was most striking about the operation was not its impact on the election, but its sheer audacity. The Russians who participated in the attack appeared unconcerned about disguising their identity; experts reported that one modified an Excel worksheet using a Russian version of the software. It was as if the regime of Vladimir Putin wanted to send a bald message to Western democracies: We can hack your election systems and have no inhibitions about openly doing so.

Thats why it is essential that Western governments respond forcefully and effectively to the intrusions. Russia must be deterred from waging cyberwar against core democratic institutions of the United States and its NATO allies.

An appropriate response must begin with full investigation and disclosure. Congressional investigations into the hacks of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, which the U.S. intelligence community concluded also originated with Russian intelligence, must be comprehensive, and the results made public.

Both in the United States and France, the attacks were facilitated or amplified by the WikiLeaks website and a broad network of social -media users and bots; among the biggest sharers of the Macron leak were Americans associated with the white-nationalist alt-right movement. More light must be shed on the connections, if any, among those private networks, WikiLeaks and Russian intelligence, as well as any ties between Western political campaigns and Moscow. Marine Le Pen, Mr. Macrons neo-fascist opponent, traveled to Moscow to meet Mr. Putin during the campaign and spoke publicly about what Mr. Macron says were fabricated reports that he holds an offshore bank account.

The Obama administration responded to Russias interference in the U.S. election with sanctions on a few individuals and the shutdown of a couple of Russian compounds in the United States. The intervention in France, and reports of similar meddling in Germanys upcoming election, show that the Kremlin has not been chastened. What is needed are measures that will get Mr. Putins attention, such as collective economic sanctions by European Union and NATO member states. Another worthwhile response would be disclosure of intelligence information on Mr. Putins personal corruption and that of the elite surrounding him.

The encouraging news is that Russias hacking operations appear to be yielding diminishing returns. Western news outlets and their consumers are becoming wise to Moscows tactics: In France there has been more attention paid to the authors of the Macron hack and the network that promoted it than to the disclosed files. Moscows influence operations will fail when Western publics understand them for what they are: cold war by 21st-century means.
Norman Eisen is the chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and served as chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama. Noah Bookbinder is executive director of CREW and a former federal corruption prosecutor.

Coming on top of months of revelations of China-related conflicts involving President Trump and his relatives, reports that Jared Kushners family used his position to solicit Chinese investors were a tipping point. The presidents son-in-law and daughter Ivanka Trump should now broadly recuse themselves from working on China-related issues.

According to media reports, Kushners sister pitched a roomful of Chinese investors to participate in the EB-5 visa program and qualify for a path to U.S. citizenship by investing at least $500,000 in a New Jersey real estate project, Kushner 1. The proposal reportedly included dropping Jared Kushners name, alluding to his administration role and noting that the president will be a key decision-maker about the future of the controversial visa program. The implications were unmistakable; one Chinese investor who attended told a reporter that the Kushners proximity to the president was a key part of the projects appeal.

This sales pitch is clearly unacceptable. The family business should not benefit from Jared Kushners name and position as assistant to the president. Moreover, while its not clear whether Kushner had any knowledge of or involvement in this conduct, he retains a financial interest in many family businesses. Thus, he stands to benefit when the company trades on his name. Kushners lawyers assert that he sold his interests in this particular project to a trust of which he is not a beneficiary  although we know of no reason he couldnt be reinstated as a beneficiary in the future.

Kushner and his wife have in the past said they will comply with all ethics rules. If so, as a starting point, Kushner must immediately take steps to ensure that businesses with which he is or has been associated refrain from using his position to promote investments. In fact, no Trump or Kushner companies should utilize the EB-5 program; the possibility for the appearance of improper influence, and perhaps worse, is too great. Kushner also initially indicated that he would recuse himself from particular matters involving the EB-5 program, but under pressure this weekend appeared to be stepping back more broadly from participating in any issues related to that program  a welcome development.

But given the complex ties at issue here, and the events of the past several months, that is not enough. Other ties and negotiations between Kushner companies and China have emerged in recent months, and under federal ethics rules, these interests must be considered together with those of Ivanka Trump, also a senior presidential adviser. Trumps companies, in which she retains ownership interests, do business in China, and she was recently granted provisional approval for valuable trademarks by China just as she was engaged in high-level contacts with Chinese leaders.

These involvements raise profound questions about whether the couple should more broadly recuse themselves within the area of China policy. There can be little doubt now that both Kushner and Trump face at least the appearance of a conflict  indeed, of multiple conflicts  when it comes to China policy, particularly on issues of trade, investment and immigration.

As one of the presidents most trusted advisers, Kushner has a much broader and more fluid portfolio than most other administration officials. Kushners situation is vastly different than that of former Obama administration secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, who was permitted to retain her interests in a publicly traded hotel company that has properties in China. Compared with Pritzkers situation, involving a company that was required to file public documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, there is much less transparency into Kushner or his familys privately held business investors and lenders, or the degree to which these businesses are leveraged, at the same time that his influence within the administration appears unparalleled.

This is far more than a technical issue about the scope of ethics rules. We now face core questions about whether administration decisions relating to an important  perhaps the most important  foreign power are being made based on the interests of the country and the American people, or based on the business interests of senior officials.

Of course, we already had that concern with the president himself, who has refused to divest from ownership of his global web of business interests. With regard to China specifically, the president has also received valuable trademarks from the Chinese government, including one that the government had denied for a decade but granted after Trump switched course and reaffirmed the one-China policy. In addition, a bank owned by the government of China is a major tenant in Trump Tower in New York.

Can the president, Kushner and Trump be trusted to protect American jobs from flowing to China or to pressure China if necessary in containing North Korea, or act appropriately on any of the other difficult issues that will arise with respect to China when these vast conflicts of interest persist?

It is well past time for this administration to begin drawing real and meaningful lines to avoid catastrophic conflicts of interest. The latest reports make it is even more important that Kushner and Ivanka Trump step forward and do the right thing. A broad recusal on China policy would be a good  and essential  start.
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States.

I agree with the recent decision of the White House and the Commerce Department to impose anti-subsidy duties against Canadas unfairly traded softwood lumber imports. This belated enforcement of U.S. trade laws will help millions of private timberland owners, American forestry workers and members of their local communities by leveling the playing field in the timber industry.

Timber sales are a major source of income for my own family, and we have suffered financially for many years from an unfair advantage enjoyed by our major competitor in this vital market.

(The Washington Post)

With moderate adjustments in management, there is enough timberland in the United States to supply the total American market with lumber. Without adjusting any U.S. timber policies, and if we are able to compete on a level playing field against Canada, our production of lumber could satisfy more than 84 percent of total U.S. demand, according to Western Woods Products Association data. This would leave the remaining 16 percent to be supplied by imports, but now about 32 percent of our lumber is being imported from Canada.

Canada enjoys an inherent advantage in that the vast majority of its standing timber is owned by provincial governments, which are free to dump their timber at practically no cost to stimulate their forest industry. At the same time, most of Americas timber is privately owned, and market forces impose a minimum price at which farm owners can continue in business.

There has been a long-lasting dispute about importing Canadian softwood, which has gone through an increasingly crucial phase during the past 35 years. About 70 percent of Canadas softwood lumber exports came to the United States in 2015. One indication of the recent changes in market forces is that the number of Canadian-owned sawmills in our country has exploded to more than 40 in the past decade  partially because of lower labor costs in the United States.

The latest Softwood Lumber Agreement expired on Oct. 12, 2015, and Canadian producers now have almost unrestricted access to the U.S. softwood lumber market. Last month, the Trump administration announced plans to impose average duties of 20 percent on most Canadian lumber, charging that these lumber companies are subsidized by the government. To remain in effect, however, the duties need to be finalized by our Commerce Department and then confirmed by the U.S. International Trade Commission after an investigation that includes testimony from both sides. This enforcement of U.S. trade laws is consistent with our international commitments.

The members of my family own about 1,800 acres of timberland, and the softwood (pine) tracts are mostly planted as seedlings (from 550 to 900 per acre) that even in our warm climate need to grow for at least 25 years before becoming large enough to sell for lumber. Unless in urgent need of cash income, we usually wait at least 10 additional years before harvesting and replanting. After this 35-year period, we sell our softwood timber  usually less than 100 acres a year  in a competitive and open process to Canadian sawmills to make lumber.

With logs selling at the present price of $25 per ton, we can expect to realize a net income of about $875 per acre, or just $25 a year over 35 years, plus some secondary income for pulp wood and other products. Largely because of Canadas unfair trade, the prices we receive today are the same as when I was in office over 35 years ago, although expenses from planting seedlings, thinning, removing unmarketable trees, periodic controlled burning and timber severance taxes are much greater.

While there are many benefits to a harmonious bilateral relationship between the United States and Canada, our neighbor to the north must still play by the rules and stop engaging in its unfair trade practices. We must either enforce U.S. trade laws with tariffs or insist on an effective and lasting bilateral softwood trade agreement that allows our industry to survive, provide jobs for workers and sustain vibrant forestry communities across our country.
Sooner or later, we will have universal, single-payer health care in this country  sooner if Republicans succeed in destroying the Affordable Care Act, later if they fail.

The repeal-and-replace bill passed by the House last week is nothing short of an abomination. It is so bad that Republicans can defend it only by blowing smoke and telling lies. You cannot be denied coverage if you have a preexisting condition, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said  true in the narrowest, most technical sense but totally false in the real world, since insurance companies could charge those people astronomically high premiums, pricing them out of the market if, as often happens, they let their coverage lapse. There are no cuts to the Medicaid program, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said  a bald-faced lie, given that Republicans want to cut $880 billion from Medicaid in order to offset a big tax cut for the rich.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that an earlier version of the American Health Care Act, as Trumpcare is officially called, would result in 24 million Americans losing health insurance over the next decade, with 14 million of those unfortunates losing coverage within the first year. Republicans rushed to vote Thursday on the final bill before the CBO had a chance to score it, doubtless fearing the projected decimation could be worse.

[Why Trump cant do what he said hed do]

I cant think of a more effective way to drive the nation toward a single-payer system. In their foolish haste to get rid of Obamacare, Republican ideologues are paving the way for something they will like much less.

1 of 20 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Photos from the Capitol and White House as the House passes the American Health Care Act View Photos The vote and passage of the bill marks an achievement for President Trump, who has pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare but has struggled to secure legislative wins early in his presidency. Caption The vote and passage of the bill marks an achievement for President Trump, who has pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare but has struggled to secure legislative wins early in his presidency. May 4, 2017 Democrats join a rally outside the Capitol to oppose the House Republicans bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Oliver Contreras for The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

The country will ultimately be much better off, though. Every other rich industrialized nation has found that truly universal health coverage is like what Churchill said about democracy: Its the worst system except for all the others that have been tried.

When President Barack Obama decided to tackle health care, he chose a framework that had been developed at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation. The ACA is based on what began as Republican ideas: maintain the basic system of employer-based health insurance provided by private-sector companies; set up exchanges to service the individual market; provide subsidies to help the working poor afford insurance; expand the reach of Medicaid; guarantee reasonably priced coverage to those with preexisting conditions; and impose an individual mandate to ensure that younger, healthier people either buy insurance or pay a fine.

Its a complicated scheme but it can work, as Republican Mitt Romney proved when he enacted a similar plan as governor of Massachusetts. And because the ACA maintained the basic private-sector structure of our health-care system, Obama reasoned that surely it would win some GOP support in Congress.

He was wrong. Only Democrats voted for the ACA, and Republicans turned its repeal into a partisan crusade  leading, eventually, to Thursdays vote.

I have always believed, however, that Obama was prescient in seeing that the ACA would have a larger impact that would be difficult if not impossible to erase, no matter what Republicans did to the law itself: It established the principle that health care, as Obama said in accepting the Profile in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on Sunday, is not a privilege but a right for all Americans.

[The real reason Hillary Clinton lost]

Ryan and other House Republicans obviously disagree, but polling suggests they are increasingly out of step with the nation. In Gallups most recent survey, the ACA had an approval rating of 55 percent, its highest to date. Perhaps more significantly, 52 percent of those polled a few months ago agreed with the statement that it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage, vs. 45 percent who disagreed  a sharp turnaround in the past couple of years.

(Adriana Usero,Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

Those majorities may seem less than overwhelming, but the trend lines are clear. If tens of millions of Americans lose their insurance coverage and the most popular provisions of Obamacare are nullified, how do you think opinion will evolve?

If nervous Senate Republicans refuse to walk the plank, Obamacare will remain in place. But President Trump and the GOP majorities in Congress now own the health-care issue, and if they dont stop trying to sabotage the ACA and instead try to make it work, voters will be angry. And if the Senate does go along with the House, I believe many Democrats will run in the 2018 midterms  and win  on Sen. Bernie Sanderss pledge of Medicare for all.

With their anti-Obamacare fanaticism, Republicans are putting single-payer on the table. Thanks, GOP.

Read more from Eugene Robinsons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A.
THE FIRST thing to be said about the weekends visa-peddling conference by the Kushner Companies in China is: The administration should take it as an opportunity for a forthright policy stance.

Jared Kushner, President Trumps son-in-law and a chief White House adviser, has no stake in the project promoted over the weekend and has recused himself from the family business. The company, which included mention of Mr. Kushner and a large photo of his father-in-law at the event, has apologized for any impression of influence trading that might have been created by its presentation. The firm has long raised money for its real estate ventures from the EB-5 program, which awards legal residency in the United States to foreign investors.

Three months ago, we urged Mr. Trump to join the movement against this program; in the meantime, it has been reauthorized in the omnibus appropriations bill that Mr. Trump just signed  though, in fairness, he affixed his signature not to save the visa program but to keep the government open. With the clock ticking until the programs new expiration date, Sept. 30, the president has a chance to get behind efforts to end the hopelessly inefficient and corruption-prone EB-5 program before it causes more embarrassment.

For a man who made it into the Oval Office on a promise to close the immigration door to low-priority entrants, and to reduce immigration-related threats to national security, ending EB-5 should be a no-brainer. It began a quarter-century ago as a well-intentioned plan to attract international capital to the United States by awarding permanent residency to 10,000 foreigners per year who agreed to invest at least $500,000 into a U.S. business, creating at least 10 jobs directly or indirectly. In September 2015, the Bipartisan Policy Center estimated that 44,000 people, a third of them foreign investors and the rest family members, had qualified since 1992. A disproportionate number of recent entrants come from China; their political and financial antecedents are difficult to vet, let alone to vet extremely. The yield has been 77,150 full-time jobs and approximately $4.2 billion in investment  trivial in relation to the giant U.S. economy. Lobbyists have manipulated the programs rules so that it now favors big-city hotel, office and apartment developers, rather than depressed rural and urban zones as Congress originally intended. There has been a string of highly publicized scandals involving fraud.

Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have a bill to end the EB-5 program once and for all. This is not a government visa-selling program. It is a government visa- giveaway program; the private-sector businesses, in effect, sell them, in return for low-cost financing of projects they would probably do anyway. Ending EB-5 would be an easy step on the path to rational immigration reform.
Trumpcare is, on the whole, terrible. But if youre a millennial, it does have one thing going for it: Its virtually the only piece of the Trump platform that advantages the young at the expense of the old.

The rest of the Trump agenda could be broadly characterized as full-on generational warfare against the young. If enacted, it will rob millennials and subsequent generations of earnings, benefits, consumer protections and even  if you look far enough into the future  a habitable place to live.

Lets start with the Trump tax plan.

The latest iteration of this plan is so vague as to be meaningless. But based on proposals President Trump released during the campaign, and comments made in recent weeks by both administration officials and Republican legislators, the coming overhaul will almost certainly be heavily weighted toward the wealthy. An earlier version of the plan directed about half the value of tax cuts to the top 1 percent of earners, according to a Tax Policy Center analysis.

These tax cuts also look likely to add trillions to the debt, again based on analyses of earlier plan versions. (Despite administration promises, virtually no serious economists believe the plan would pay for itself through additional economic growth.)

(Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

All this amounts to a massive intergenerational transfer of wealth, one that hits millennials in at least two ways. The first has to do with who benefits most from a top-heavy tax cut.

[Ivanka Trump helps women who work in other books]

A marginal rate cut is most valuable when youre in your peak earning years, which tend to come around middle age. Thats because when your income is highest, so is your tax liability.

Millennials are at the beginning of their careers, and both their wages and taxes are low relative to what they will earn, and remit to Uncle Sam, as they gain work experience. All this means that a tax cut today, particularly one tilted toward the highest earners, would not help young people as much as it would mid-career people in their 40s and 50s.

The second is that an unfunded tax cut  like anything else that increases the federal debt  is not free. Eventually someone has to pay for it.

By the looks of things, that someone is not going to be baby boomers. Instead, younger Americans will pick up the tab, through higher taxes, fewer government services or both. Already millennials worry that their entitlements have been irreparably endangered by fiscal profligacy; a 2014 Pew Research Center survey found that half believe there wont be anything left in the Social Security system by the time they retire.

Taxes are hardly the only way the Trump administration is giving millennials the shaft. A host of changes to the student lending industry are doing the same.

These include reversals of Obama-era policies designed to limit fees that struggling borrowers must pay, and to reduce the likelihood that new student loan contracts are awarded to lenders with a record of shoddy service or illegal behavior.

But perhaps the Trump agenda plank that harms the largest swath of millennials is the administrations climate change policy. Or lack thereof.

The White House is weighing whether to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, which requires the United States to sharply reduce its carbon output by 2025. In the meantime, the Trump administration has already been undermining climate policy by disappearing public data, firing academic scientists and rewriting rules designed to curb emissions.

[President Trump, stay in the Paris agreement. Youll regret it if you dont.]

Even before Trump took office, the nonprofit Our Childrens Trust filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of minors who argue that their constitutional rights to life, liberty and property are being violated by the governments failure to address climate change.

The suits are based on the public trust doctrine, a long-standing legal concept designed to protect natural and cultural resources for the benefit of current and future generations. The grounds for such suits will only grow as the White House makes clear it prioritizes the political expediencies of the present over any responsibility to the future  a future that, needless to say, millennials are stuck with.

If you take the long view, even the Trumpcare proposal doesnt truly promote millennials interests. Yes, it allows insurers to vary their premiums by a factor of 5 to 1 due to age, which helps todays young (at least, todays young and healthy). But it doesnt shield us from rate hikes as we ourselves age.

Add this  and fiscal, financial and climate concerns  to all the usual reasons many young people dread growing old.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a defiant loner whose feuds with Republican Party leaders have made him a conservative favorite, suddenly felt an itch to collaborate.

It was late March, just after the dramatic collapse of House Republicans initial attempt to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nations health-care system. Cruz (R-Tex.) sent notice to party colleagues that he wanted to convene a working group to keep alive the GOPs pledge to undo the law known as Obamacare.

Now, in the days since the House reversed itself and approved a health-care bill, that group, which presently numbers 13, is at the center of a fragile connection between hard-liners and leadership that may be the Senates best chance to pass its own version. The strategy, according to interviews with two dozen Republican senators and aides, is to bring together lawmakers with starkly different views, let them talk  and keep them talking until consensus is reached, in a process that could drag on for months.

Theres one big problem: Many of the key Republican senators who could stand in the way of a successful health-care vote are not in the group. And some of them are forming their own coalitions, suggesting that the path to 50 votes in a chamber with only 52 Republicans remains deeply challenging.

According to several Republicans close to the discussions, the three biggest issues yet to be reconciled are the scope of coverage for people with a preexisting injury or illness, health-care tax credits and Medicaid. Many differences remain among members of the working group itself.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on Capitol Hill this week. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who hail from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, have repeatedly expressed concerns about being able to provide adequate protections for people who have received coverage through the entitlement program or may be eligible to receive it in the future.

Im sure people will be talking about it, Gardner said when asked about the idea of lengthening the timeline in the House bill for rolling back the expansion of Medicaid.

Others, including Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), have signaled that they want an uncompromising assault on Obamacare that goes further in shredding regulations than many Senate Republicans are willing to venture.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), another member of the group, has been working on a provision to rework the tax credits in the House bill to provide more assistance to elderly and lower-income Americans. The House included tax credits in its bill as a substitute for federal insurance subsidies in Obamacare.

There are other differences among Republicans. For starters, the group is made up of 12 white men plus Cruz, whose father is from Cuba, and has generated critical headlines and television coverage for not including any of the five female Republican senators.

Those are choices that were made, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who objects to the House bills impact on her rural working-class state. As a woman, Im going to be participating very loudly, said Capito, who attended Tuesdays working-group meeting even though she is not a member.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), in particular, could become thorns in negotiations, in part because of their desire to restore funding for Planned Parenthood, which the House proposal would gut.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), center, grew visibly frustrated Tuesday with questions from reporters about why there were no women in the working group. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

In an interview, Collins, a leading centrist, said she is pushing to make health-care negotiations bipartisan within the Senate. In addition to including Democrats, Collins said she has invited Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), another Republican who has expressed concerns about the House bill.

Im already having those discussions, Collins said. Bill Cassidy is a physician. You would have thought hed be included. Im working with him on legislation, and Im talking with Democrats.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is fresh off winning reelection and has been willing to buck party leaders in the past, is also not in the working group. Paul has criticized the House bill for being less than a full repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. Many of his colleagues privately say they expect him to vote no.

In addition, Republican senators from states that expanded Medicaid have held their own meetings in which GOP leadership has also participated.

[What will the Senate health bill look like? Follow the Medicaid-state senators.]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) grew visibly frustrated Tuesday with questions from reporters about why there were no women in the working group. They sought to de-emphasize that organization as one of many tackling health care in the Senate.

McConnell said that, in addition to the smaller gathering, the discussion in Tuesdays regularly scheduled lunch for all Republican senators was also almost entirely about health care. Such lunches, open to the broader Senate GOP, are likely to continue to be focused on health care in the weeks ahead, he added.

The working group that counts is all 52 of us, and were having extensive meetings, McConnell said.

With that narrow advantage in the Senate and under the assumption that all Democrats will align against them, Republicans can lose only two of their own votes and still pass a health-care bill (with a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Pence).

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, penned a letter to GOP leaders Tuesday urging them drop the current partisan effort to repeal and replace health care reform through reconciliation and find common aims to work on together, including lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

Cruzs group began with six members and quickly started meeting, according to four Republicans familiar with the groups discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity. By early May, as the House revived and passed its legislation, Cruz had forged an unlikely bond with a fellow member, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a Senate veteran and close McConnell ally.

The pair went to McConnell and said they would like to expand the working group as the House legislation headed to the Senate. McConnell agreed, and instead of meeting at Cruzs office as a klatch, the expanded circle started to meet in McConnells suite, which it did again Tuesday, the people said.

Observers say there is an advantage for McConnell in trying to keep Cruz and his allies close to the process, where they may be more likely to accept compromise.

McConnell recognizes that its better to have Cruz and Lee on the inside and not on the outside criticizing, said James C. Capretta, a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute who has briefed congressional Republicans on health care for years. He views them as have to have senators because of the size of the majority.

This week, Cruz resisted setting specific guidelines on what needs to be in the final Senate product to secure his support. Asked Monday whether he would accept anything less than the regulatory waivers in the House bill, Cruz said, I dont think its productive to be drawing lines and ultimatums during the conversations.

Compared with Cruzs past efforts in the Senate, which have regularly antagonized fellow Republicans, the initial working group was more inclusive. In addition to Alexander, Lee, Portman and Gardner, it also involved Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who is grappling with the demands of representing a state that leans heavily to the right but has dramatically lowered its uninsured rate under Obamacare.

[Tom Cotton: An ambitious Republican in the crossfire of health care]

The group also includes the heads of the Budget and Finance Committees, Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), as well as Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso (Wyo.) and Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.).

Were going to take the time we need to get it right, Alexander, who heads the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said this week when asked whether the White House was pressuring him and others to move swiftly.

Among other things, they must wait for a report on the House measure from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which will estimate the legislations impact on the deficit and project how many people stand to lose coverage.

Those details could take several weeks to obtain. Then, Republicans will be looking for a judgment call from the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian about whether any elements of the House bill must be struck to allow a procedural maneuver that enables fiscal-related legislation to be passed with a simple majority. That, in turn, would allow them to avoid the 60-vote threshold  requiring Democratic votes  that most legislation must clear.

Cruz has also been communicating daily with members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, which heavily influenced the House bill, according to two people close to the group. He updates them on Senate discussions  a relationship that has made some of Cruzs colleagues uneasy, since they see the Freedom Caucus as unreliable and too far right in its positioning.

Adding to the uncertainty: Some senators are just now jumping into the talks in earnest.

I think weve had total of one meeting so far, Toomey said Monday. Have I missed one?

Read more at PowerPost
I think weve got a good voice in the process, yes, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), seen here in a file photo, told reporters Monday evening. Were going to be talking about it probably for the next several weeks. (Tyler Evert AP/AP)

The Senate has broken into a series of working groups to begin writing its own version of legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act. Theres the leadership-driven group, a group of moderates and there was talk about a more conservative group before it was mostly absorbed into the leadership group.

But the most powerful bloc in the Senate, based on the size and clout of its members, are the Republicans who come from states that took advantage of the 2010 health laws federal expansion of Medicaid to provide insurance to millions of lower-income Americans.

These Republicans come from every type of state, from classic political swing states with Democratic governors like Colorado and Pennsylvania to conservative, largely rural states like Arkansas and Arizona.

All told, there are 20 Senate Republicans who hail from states where their governors accepted federal Medicaid funding to provide increased coverage  a list that includes rising-star conservatives, a recent Republican presidential nominee and the Senate majority leader himself, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

[The Health 202: Republicans are just starting the hard part on health care]

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

These 20 senators represent more than 4 million constituents whose health-care coverage comes from the ACAs Medicaid expansion, based on estimates from health-care watchdog Families USA, and they are certain to become the driving force in whatever happens in the Senates consideration of health-care legislation.

I think weve got a good voice in the process, yes, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), told reporters Monday evening. Were going to be talking about it probably for the next several weeks.

Her state has more than 180,000 beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion, which is about 10 percent of West Virginias entire population.

Issues like this are what separates House members from senators and how they act. All three members of West Virginias delegation to the House supported the health-care bill that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) edged across the finish line last week with just two votes to spare, even though it included deep cuts to Medicaid that would deny coverage to millions nationwide.

A few years ago Capito was in the House, a loyal vote for party leaders, representing just one third of the state. Had she not been elected to the Senate in 2014 and stayed in the House, its possible she would have voted for Ryan and his leadership teams bill. Now, as a senator representing the entire state, the toll of deep cuts to a program benefiting 10 percent of her constituents weighs more heavily on Capito.

We need to make sure these folks have access, she said Monday.

Capito is working with other Republicans to come up with a way for these people to keep their coverage permanently, either under [Medicaid]or some other kind of way.

(Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

I mean, we cant just drop them off and wish them good luck, she added.

Two months ago, Capito joined Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) in a letter signaling their opposition to the House legislation because it does not provide stability and certainty for individuals and families in Medicaid expansion programs.

Those four senators, representing more than 1.3 million constituents benefiting from the expansion, are enough to torpedo anything that does not comport to their wishes on that single issue. With all 48 members of the Democratic caucus opposed to the legislation, McConnell can only afford to lose two Republicans and have Vice President Pence break a tie on whatever bill they craft.

But that quartet speaks for a larger group of Republicans, who have been quietly supporting their efforts.

I know this, in my state, its a Medicaid-expansion state. We have a problem with the bill. We have a problem with what came over from the House, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, told reporters Monday.

McCain declined to specify how the Medicaid issue should be handled in the Senate, but he made clear that the House bill was a non-starter in Arizona, where roughly 418,000 residents are taking advantage of the decision by the previous governor, a Republican, to accept the federal Medicaid funds.

I am not looking at the House bill. I am looking at what we need to do here in the Senate, he said.

Even Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a staunch conservative some view as presidential timber one day, has declared his distaste for the House bill. It was moving too fast. I didnt think it got it right, that it was better to slow down, and get it right rather than get it fast, Cotton said at a Little Rock town hall last month, in response to a question about the Medicaid expansion.

More than 300,000 Arkansans, more than 10 percent of the states residents, have benefited from the expansion. Cotton has also not taken a formal position on how he wants to repeal the ACA while helping those using Medicaid for coverage, other than to say he wants flexibility for governors.

[Tom Cotton: an ambitious Republican in the era of Trump  and in the crossfire of health care]

Gardner is a key player in this negotiation. Hes from the large, influential class of 2014, which delivered the majority to McConnell and includes a half-dozen new senators that represent states that took the extra Medicaid funds.

Gardner also is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, making him a key ally to McConnell and giving him a deeper understanding of how the issue will play in the 2018 midterm elections.

Two Republicans that Democrats are targeting next year, Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Dean Heller (Nev.), come from states that took the Medicaid money, and most of the top Democratic targets that Republicans are eyeing also come from states with the expanded federal funding.

Screw up this issue, and Republicans will have handed Democrats a big weapon next year.

Look, Gardner said, were just going to begin the conversation about finding a bill that can pass.

Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
France was supposed to be next.

Following the seismic shocks of the Brexit referendum and the victory of Donald Trump, commentators worldwide fixed their sights on the French presidential election as the next potential populist upheaval. But it never happened. Emmanuel Macron, the centrist, pro-European Union candidate, demolished Marine Le Pen, the far-right ultranationalist, in a landslide victory.

Everyone told us it would be impossible, Macron declared Sunday of his victory, to a crowd that erupted in cheers. But they did not know France.

Why did right-wing populism fall flat on its face in France, a country that would seem such a fertile breeding ground?

The country, after all, has had double-digit unemployment for years. It has been rocked by terrorist attacks  perpetrated mostly by Islamist militants. In the aftermath of that violence, there has been a strong anti-immigrant backlash.

Supporters of candidate Emmanuel Macron celebrate at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris after he won the French presidential elections. (Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA)

But compared with Britain and the United States, analysts say, there were two important factors that helped explain why the center held in France: the countrys history and a lower level of inequality.

French voters were clearly ready to back a political outsider. But for many, the National Front  Le Pens party  did not represent change in the same way that Trump did in the United States. Co-founded in 1972 by Le Pens father, the convicted Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party has existed on the margins of public life for decades. Its identity is well known.

The rejection of Le Pen was a basic rejection of the extreme right and its racist, anti-Muslim sentiment, said Vivien Schmidt, an expert in French and European politics at Boston University. In a country thats already experienced the extreme right in power before, you can put the rejection of Le Pen in a direct line with the rejection of Vichy.

The Vichy government assumed power after France fell to Nazi Germany in 1940. Although Vichy is infamous in France for having complied with German demands to deport tens of thousands of Jews to death camps, the regime also passed a slew of anti-Jewish regulations on its own.

Although the younger Le Pen sought to change the National Fronts reputation for anti-

Semitism and racism, her efforts were undermined by revelations in French media that several of its high-ranking members had committed variations of Holocaust denial. In a poll conducted before the election, 58 percent of voters said that the National Front presented a threat to democracy.

At Macrons victory party outside Pariss Louvre Museum, many described their primary emotion as relief, rather than excitement.

Simon Moos, 18, a high school student, braved the unseasonable chill to catch a glimpse of Macron at the rally, even though he had not supported the candidate in the first round of the election.

Im relieved, honestly, he said. Really relieved. France will remain France. Id cut my throat before Le Pen was president.

In terms of economics, analysts said, the populist platform was likely less appealing in a country where a strong, centralized state has maintained a variety of social benefits.

Despite a recently widened gap between rich and poor, France still trails the ratios of Britain and the United States, according to statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in Britain, both conservatives, began implementing reforms intended to stimulate economic growth, including deregulation, privatization, free trade, fiscal austerity and cuts in government spending. Some of these ideas were ultimately incorporated in the platforms of their more liberal successors.

France adopted some of those neoliberal reforms in the 1980s. But it never relinquished its statist economy and especially its extensive system of welfare protections in the same way, said Daniel Stedman-Jones, a historian and the author of an acclaimed study of neoliberalism.

It may be no surprise that we see this populist backlash against globalization and immigration in the U.K. and the U.S., because these were the countries where Thatcher and Reagan introduced the most radical neoliberal policies, said Schmidt. You had them in France to some degree, but never to the same extent.

Although Marine Le Pen was a staunch defender of Frances famous welfare state, she did not benefit from a swelling tide of protest votes. Le Pen received roughly 34 percent of the ballots cast, but a larger percentage of voters abstained or turned in blank ballots.

People may be feeling insecure and left behind, but the situation is not nearly as bad as in other countries, Schmidt said.

There is also the reality that the National Front did not have a monopoly on the populist market, others said, pointing to the astonishing rise of Jean-Luc Melenchon, a far leftist who advocated withdrawing from NATO. He did not make it past the first round.

In France, we have two populisms  one of the extreme right, but another of the extreme left. To understand this, you have to understand the history of France, said Michel Wieviroka, a sociologist. This is essentially the legacy of the old Communist Party. Britain never had that same history, and neither did the U.S.

Perhaps the most visceral challenge to Frances political establishment in recent years has been terrorism. More than 230 people have died here in terrorist attacks in the last two years, many committed by men from immigrant backgrounds who held French or other E.U. passports.

Despite the rise in popularity of Le Pens anti-immigrant platform in the aftermath of these attacks, most French voters seem to have rejected her appeals to sharply reduce immigration, at least for the moment.

Antoine Leiris, a French journalist, lost his wife, Helene, in the Islamic State attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris in November 2015. In a best-selling book, Leiris addressed the extremists who murdered his wife: You will not have my hate, he wrote.

The same message, he said in an interview, emerged from the 2017 election.

Despite these horrible attacks, the French chose intelligence and wisdom, he said.

The dark history at the heart of the French election

Emmanuel Macrons unlikely path to the French presidency

Breitbart sees potential to expand in Europe amid French, German elections

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani flashes a victory sign as he arrives for a campaign rally in Tehran on May 9. (Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency)

Irans moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, has delivered rare rebukes in recent days to the countrys powerful Shiite clergy and allied security forces, lashing out at rivals and their hard-line backers ahead of his reelection bid next week.

At rallies across Iran, Rouhani has blasted his opponents as extremists and criticized authorities for the detention of reformist leaders. On Monday, he attacked rival Ebrahim Raisi, a conservative cleric and former judicial official, for a record of execution and imprisonment.

Rouhani also questioned the tax-exempt status of a charitable foundation linked to Irans supreme leader and suggested in a televised debate Friday that Irans most influential security institution, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, tried to sabotage the 2015 nuclear deal he struck with world powers.

The comments came as the three-week-long presidential campaign entered its final stretch, with voting scheduled for May 19.

The remarks are certainly a bold move that indicate a decision to forgo the calm tone of his campaign, said Reza H. Akbari, program manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Washington, where he researches Iranian politics.

Supporters of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hold up pictures of him during a campaign rally in Tehran on May 9. (Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency)

It is clear that Rouhani is in full offensive mode and will adopt a no-holds-barred approach prior to the final debate scheduled for Friday, Akbari said.

Rouhani is facing five challengers, including Raisi and another leading conservative, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Irans 12-member Guardian Council approves all candidates, narrowing the field to those acceptable to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Most of Irans presidents have easily won second terms, but a sluggish economy has left Rouhani vulnerable to attacks from populist contenders  as well as from Khamenei himself. Rouhanis critics say the sanctions lifted under the nuclear deal have done little to improve the lives of ordinary Iranians.

Over the weekend, Rouhani visited a coal mine where an explosion killed 42 workers. Damaging news footage showed miners kicking and beating the presidents car.

The visit may have been a shocking revelation for Rouhani, who might be losing popularity within the working class, Akbari said.

Rouhanis fresh focus on political and social freedoms suggests an attempt to deflect the criticism while burnishing his pro-reform credentials to an increasingly youthful electorate.

Our youth have chosen the path of freedom. You cannot prevent the progress and freedom of our youth, Rouhani said at a rally Monday in the city of Hamadan, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iranian presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi gestures in this undated photo. (Tasnim News Agency/via Reuters)

He was elected in 2013 after promising he would end the house arrest of reformist leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, Mousavis wife. The three were top leaders of the Green Movement protests in 2009, following the disputed reelection of the hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But Rouhani has failed to secure their release, and he has also struggled to ease political restrictions. A number of journalists, dissidents and activists remain behind bars.

You ran this country for eight years, and the people saw what you did, Rouhani said, referring to Ahmadinejads two terms from 2005 to 2013, in which Iran was isolated internationally and rights abuses worsened. The comments were carried by the quasi-independent Iranian Students News Agency.

The era of violence and extremism is over, Rouhani said.

Also Monday, the president questioned whether the charitable foundation managed by Raisi, which also maintains vast business and real estate holdings, had ever paid taxes to the state. The Astan Quds Razavi charity, which administers the holy Imam Reza Shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, is one of the largest and most influential in Iran.

Its manager is appointed directly by Khamenei, who analysts say favors Raisi for the presidency. The countrys Shiite clerical establishment wields enormous power, and attacks against holy religious entities are typically considered off-limits, Akbari said.

Also generally prohibited is public criticism of the Revolutionary Guard. In a televised debate Friday, Rouhani accused the elite force of trying to undermine the nuclear deal by writing Hebrew-language messages on ballistic missiles used for testing.

The deal curbs Irans nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. An accompanying U.N. resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear payloads, but the tests are not expressly prohibited, and Iran denies that the missiles are designed for nuclear warheads.

The United States has maintained many of its own sanctions on Iran, limiting the benefits of the deal on the Iranian economy.

Read more:

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
In her new book, Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice makes a case for global engagement and U.S. moral leadership of the sort that President Trump criticized as out of date when he was running for president. The adviser to former president George W. Bush spoke to The Washington Post about her book and whether she is offering advice to the new Republican administration.

THE WASHINGTON POST: Have you had a chance to see Sen. John McCains op-ed, in which he talks about human rights and takes issue with what Secretary Tillerson said last week about principles and values being separate from policy and decisions?

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: Yes, I did.

WP: How do you think that squares with the vision you set out in the book, of really having some guiding U.S. north stars on the issue of human rights and American values? Do you think Sen. McCain has it right or not?

CR: Well, first of all, John McCain knows what hes talking about on these issues, and I thought the defense of the importance of the United States standing for human rights was absolutely right.

I thought that with Secretary Tillersons speech he was trying to make a somewhat more nuanced point that often gets lost in translation. You remember when I went to Egypt and I gave the 2005 Cairo speech, and I talked about values and I talked about democracy and there were people who said, Well, then how can you met with Mubarak? Well, of course youre going to meet with the Egyptian president. Of course, youre going to have to continue to deal with allies who arent reforming and who dont share your values. But over the long run, everybodys going to be better off if they do reform, and you know wed live in a better situation today if Mubarak had continued his reforms in 2005 before his people were in the streets.

So, while in the short term you may have to, in policy terms, deal with people who dont share our values, or who are even assaulting your values, in the long run you dont lose sight of them, and you need to speak for them.

Policy is sometimes one thing, but the context for a long-term successful policy is one that unifies our policy and our values.

WP: Would you like to see Secretary Tillerson speak more directly and forthrightly about the value of human rights when he has the kinds of meetings like the one you describe? Egyptian President al-Sissi was just here, right?

CR: Yeah, he was just here. Its early days, and I dont know what messages were delivered to Sissi and by whom. But I do think with the Egyptians, if they dont find a way to reform, they are sort of sitting on a powder keg there. And with the Chinese, its important to talk about all the things we have to do in terms of policy and our strategic interest, but we do need to stand for the rights of those who cant speak for themselves. But these are early days and you know Im not one to judge from the outside when I cant see everything thats going on. Lets see where this settles out.

WP: Are you providing any of this as advice directly to either Tillerson, your friend, or to the White House?

CR: When youre out of government you can overvalue your own advice. They are dealing with things every day that you cant possibly see. And so one thing you recognize is that if youre needed, youre always there. I talk to these folks and if I have something to say Im happy to say it, but I recognize that they are trying to deal with a constellation of issues that are in some ways different than the ones I did, and they are working their way through them.

I will say that I think this is a terrific national security team. They have already had some really important wins. I thought that the strike on Syria was well done. It was proportionate. I think it sent an important message to the world about the American president not being willing to tolerate the crossing of that chemical weapons red line. I think it sent an important message to the Russians that we are establishing leverage to try to get to an end to this Syrian conflict. Its really still very early, but I think they are doing okay. I really do.

WP: I want to ask you about North Korea. What do you think of the prospect of talking to the North Koreans, given your own experience with them?

CR: Look, we did everything we could to bring about the agreement with the North Koreans. We got close. Some elements of it were put in place. But this is a different regime than Kim Jong Il. You have the sense that Kim Jong Un is more reckless, you have the sense that maybe the Chinese influence with him doesnt seem to be quite as direct. And they have made a lot of progress on their program, so the circumstances are different now. So, I think the price for the beginning of negotiations has to be somewhat higher.

I think what they are trying to do in the administration is they are trying to get the Chinese to see that they are going to have to turn the screws pretty hard on the North Koreans. I dont know whether first steps like getting inspectors on the ground or the like is even a possibility with this particular regime. But I understand why they havent gone right back to diplomatic talks. It wouldnt make sense under the current circumstances, but maybe they can get there if they can get others to step up, especially the Chinese.

WP: What do you think about cutting the State Department budget, as the president has proposed?

CR: Look, I was Stanfords provost. I had to cut budgets. Sometimes efficiencies can come out of it. I dont think the numbers are going to look anything like the numbers that have been floating around. The administration proposes but Congress has to authorize and appropriate, and this is the beginning of a conversation. I will say that if he can bring greater efficiencies to a department that looks like it has actually grown in numbers since even I was there, that would be a good thing. But I hope that big programs like PEPFAR and Millennium Challenge will be protected.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reviewing policy changes set in place by the Obama administration that eliminated harsh punishments for low-level drug crimes and could direct federal prosecutors to again charge drug offenders with crimes carrying the most severe penalties, according to U.S. officials.

The change, if adopted, would overturn a memo by then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that instructed prosecutors to avoid charging low-level defendants with drug offenses that would trigger severe mandatory minimum sentences. Only defendants who met certain criteria, such as not belonging to a large-scale drug trafficking organization, a gang or a cartel, qualified for the lesser charges under Holders instructions.

If new charging instructions are implemented, it would mark the first significant move by the Trump administration to bring back the drug wars toughest practices  methods that had fallen out of favor in recent years as critics pointed to damaging effects of mass incarceration.

[Read The Posts series on the financial and human toll of the war on drugs]

As the Attorney General has consistently said, we are reviewing all Department of Justice policies to focus on keeping Americans safe and will be issuing further guidance and support to our prosecutors executing this priority  including an updated memorandum on charging for all criminal cases, Ian Prior, a department spokesman, in a statement to The Washington Post.

Sessions has recently peppered his speeches to law enforcement groups throughout the country with tough-on-crime rhetoric and urged Justice Department lawyers to prosecute more drug and gun cases.

The attorney general is considering having his prosecutors bring the most severe charges against drug traffickers, whether they are low-level defendants or not, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Sessions also may allow prosecutors to use more enhancements to make sentences even longer. Under whats referred to as Section 851 of the Controlled Substances Act, defendants charged with a federal drug, firearm or immigration crime may face enhancements if they have previously been convicted of a felony drug offense.

Holder told his prosecutors four years ago that they should stop using enhancements except in certain cases  such as when the defendant was involved in the use or threat of violence  in an effort, he said, to make punishments more fairly fit the crime.

[How Jeff Sessions wants to bring back the war on drugs]

Holders changes came in August 2013 during a growing push among lawmakers and civil rights groups to roll back the strict charging and sentencing policies created in the 1980s and 1990s at the height of the war on drugs. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was one of the sponsors of bipartisan criminal-justice legislation that would have reduced some of the mandatory minimum sentences for gun and drug crimes  a bill that Sessions opposed and helped derail.

As a proponent of criminal justice reform, I continue to believe that ending mandatory minimum sentences will actually make it easier to focus on violent crimes which impact our communities, Paul said last week in a statement to The Post.

The Holder memo was also supported by many of the U.S. attorneys in the Obama administration.

[Holder seeks to avert mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders]

But some prosecutors across the country fought Holders broad effort to eliminate mandatory minimum prison sentences for certain drug offenders, saying it damaged their ability to build cases from the ground up against major drug organizations.

Holder, now a lawyer at Covington & Burling and chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, declined to comment.

But Holders former spokesman Matthew Miller said the Trump administration couldnt be making it more clear who it cares about and who it doesnt.

If you are addicted to opiates, youll get White House attention and increased treatment options, Miller said. If you get picked up with crack in your pocket, youll get jail time and a mandatory minimum.

Read more:

Sessions directs federal prosecutors to target the nations most violent offenders

Trumps pick for attorney general is shadowed by race and history

Sessions orders Justice Department to review all police reform agreements
John Sullivan, the Trump administrations nominee to become deputy secretary of state, told a Senate committee Tuesday that Russian interference in elections in the United States and Europe requires a robust response.

At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sullivan cited cyberattacks blamed on Moscow that targeted the United States, France and the Netherlands, and said he was concerned Russia may interfere with upcoming elections in Germany and Italy.

I believe we have to be robust in our response to this intrusion into our democracy, he said. Interference with our political processes is simply unacceptable. Its a profound threat to our way of life, and we have to respond as robustly as possible with all of the means we have at our disposal.

Sullivans comments on Russia come a day before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due to meet in Washington with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The ongoing wars in Syria and Ukraine are on the agenda, but Tillerson also is expected to talk about Moscows suspected role in spreading disinformation and hacked emails, most recently in France.

When Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) asked whether U.S. sanctions on Russia should be continued, Sullivan suggested they might even be increased.

I believe they should be reviewed to make sure theyre adequate, he said. They should be kept in place and potentially ratcheted up as necessary.

Sullivans hearing also served as a forum on the uncertain future of the State Department, which has been dogged by unfilled senior positions as it faces deep budget cuts, a major reorganization and a refocus of its mission.

Sullivan had few answers when asked for specifics about what is planned for the department. He repeatedly said that Tillerson is just starting a top-to-bottom review of how its organized. So far, he said, no firm decisions have been made on staff cuts, whether to merge USAID functions, and which of the 67 special envoys and representatives may be eliminated.

Several senators complained that they are not getting any information from the State Department, and Sullivan said he believes in consulting and coordinating with Congress before making changes.

My perception as an outsider is that any slowness making appointments is not related to the review of mission and restructuring ongoing, he said. I commit, if confirmed, I will make sure personnel appointments are moved forward as quickly as possible.

Sullivan was peppered with questions about the role of human rights in diplomacy, particularly from senators troubled by Tillersons remarks to employees last week that concerns about human rights and U.S. values sometimes get in the way of national security goals.

We need someone who has the moral clarity Nikki Haley has, said Menendez about the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, noting there has been little mention of human rights and democracy promotion coming from the State Department in the past several months. I hope you have that moral clarity as the number two person.

I am committed to making the State Department the preeminent force to protect American values and promote American values in the world, Sullivan said.

His opening remarks gave a hint of where some of his own values come from. In 1979, when Sullivan was a college student, an uncle was one of the U.S. diplomats inside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when it was seized and they were taken hostage.

Ive remained in awe of our Foreign Service officers who venture into dangerous places on our behalf, Sullivan said, before noting that his wife, a Cuban American, has a relative who was a political prisoner in Cuba.

Sullivan is a prominent Republican lawyer who worked in senior legal jobs at the Defense, Commerce and Justice departments in the administrations of presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

The deputy is considered the chief foreign policy adviser and what the State Departments website characterizes as the alter ego of the secretary.

The deputys portfolio has being expanded since Tillerson decided to merge the No. 2 job with what had been a separate position, deputy secretary of state for management and resources.
A secret global operation by the Pentagon late last year to sabotage the Islamic States online videos and propaganda sparked fierce debate inside the government over whether it was necessary to notify countries that are home to computer hosting services used by the extremist group, including U.S. allies in Europe.

While U.S. Cyber Command claimed success in carrying out what was called Operation Glowing Symphony, the issue remained unresolved and now confronts the Trump administration, which is conducting a broad review of what powers to give the military in countering the Islamic State, including in the cyber realm.

As part of the operation, Cyber Command obtained the passwords to a number of Islamic State administrator accounts and then used them to access the accounts, change the passwords and delete content such as battlefield video. It also shut the groups propaganda specialists out of their accounts, former officials said.

Cybercom developed the campaign under pressure from then-Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who wanted the command to raise its game against the Islamic State. But when the CIA, State Department and FBI got wind of the plan to conduct operations inside the borders of other countries without telling them, officials at the agencies immediately became concerned that the campaign could undermine cooperation with those countries on law enforcement, intelligence and counterterrorism.

[Cyber Command has launched a new digital war against the Islamic State]

The issue took the Obama National Security Council weeks to address and still looms large for the Trump administration as the military seeks greater latitude to wage offensive cyber operations around the world.

Its a tricky thing to navigate, said aformer U.S. official, who like a dozen other current and former officials interviewed, declined to be named because the operation remains classified. Think how we would react if one of our allies undertook a cyber operation that affected servers here in the United States without giving us a heads-up.

The operation was supposed to be launched at the end of September last year. Pentagon officials argued that under an existing authority they had to counter terrorists use of the Internet they did not need to request the permission of countries in which they were zapping propaganda.

At a very basic level, what they were trying to do was remove content that the adversary was putting out there, said a former defense official. It didnt require exquisite tools.

The Pentagon drew up a list of about 35 countries outside of the war zones of Iraq and Syria that might have hosting services with videos and other Islamic State content to remove.

In a series of Obama Situation Room meetings, CIA Director John Brennan, Secretary of State John F. Kerry, FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. argued that notice was necessary  especially to allied countries  to preserve relationships. Carter, Cybercom commander Adm. Michael S. Rogers and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, countered that existing authority did not require it, particularly as the Pentagon insisted there would be no harmful collateral effects.

[Dismantling of Saudi-CIA website points to holes in cyberwar policies]

(AP)

They also argued that if notice is given, word of the operation could leak. That could tip off the target and enable other adversaries to discover the commands cyber capabilities.

A major flash point was Germany, a strategic ally and a country with which the United States had a dust-up several years ago in the wake of disclosures by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA had intercepted the phone calls of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In the end,about 15 countries were notified, but action was taken in only about five or six.

Beginning in November, personnel at Cybercoms headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., began a rolling series of propaganda takedowns and account lockouts in a campaign that stretched into the new year.

The Pentagon and Cyber Command officials maintain the operation was a success. It showed that Cybercom could integrate computer attack capabilities into traditional battle plans as U.S. Central Command sought to help local allies push the Islamic State out of strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

Intercepts of Islamic State militants revealed that in some cases they didnt know what the hell was going on with their platforms, one former official said.

A senior defense official said: It took a little while, but they learned so much in the first few months of doing it that it set the stage for things that are happening now, and I would say for operations in the future.

U.S. intelligence officers, in contrast, concluded about a month into the campaign that the impact on the Islamic State was short-lived at best as the group either restored the content or moved it to new servers, current and former officials said.

The conflicting assessments stem from different definitions of success, said a second former defense official. Cyber Command and DOD tend to define success as temporary disruptions or distraction of the adversary, he said, while the intelligence analysts say, Prove to me what effect you had. Was it or wasnt it enduring?

Private sector researchers who track militant websites also expressed skepticism about the operations value. Evan Kohlmann, chief innovation officer of Flashpoint, a research firm, said there was a dip in Islamic State propaganda releases beginning in mid-October that lasted through January, but it was impossible to know whether it was the result of cyber operations or physical operations in Syria.

In the last year, ISIS has suffered heavy casualties among its media emirs, video narrators, cameramen, and others associated with propaganda production, Kohlmann said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. Even absent any specific cyber campaign targeting them, one would naturally expect them to be producing and releasing less content.

Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group, said the groups primary means to release propaganda is on the encrypted messaging app, Telegram, through a channel called Nashir, which has suffered no significant disruptions in the past six months. ISIS media isnt something you can just shut off or directly disrupt, she said. The group and its network of supporters are too adaptive and persistent, and theyll adjust to any attempts to do so.

The operation was carried out by Cybercoms Joint Task Force Ares, created by Rogers last year to develop digital weapons and strategies to go after the Islamic States networks.

Adam Entous, Greg Miller and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.
Migrants rescued by the Libyan coast guard in the Mediterranean Sea arrive at the naval base in the Tripoli on May 6. (Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images)

Nearly 250 migrants were feared dead in the Mediterranean after two vessels went down in recent days amid a sharp rise in attempts to make the dangerous crossing from Libya to Europes southern shores, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.

The apparent deaths underscored the huge challenges for European leaders and international groups seeking to cope with rising numbers of refugees and others using Libyan smuggling networks in bids to reach European Union nations.

More than 6,000 migrants have set off on boats into the Mediterranean since late last week, bringing the total this year to more than 43,000, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Another group, the International Organization for Migration, placed the figure at more than 49,000.

Regardless of the total, the count is certain to grow as smuggling operations typically pick up during the warmer months.

Already this year, more than 1,300 people have died at sea after leaving Libya on overcrowded vessels.

[One week: more than 6,000 migrants found at sea]

Libya has been a gateway for migrant traffic for more than a decade, but the North African coast has become the main route for migrants from Africa and the Middle East after clampdowns along the far shorter sea passage from Turkey to E.U.-member Greece.

In one of the latest incidents in the Mediterranean, a ship went down off the Libyan coast on Sunday, leaving at least 163 people missing and feared dead, the U.N. agency said, citing reports from the International Medical Corps. Seven people were rescued.

Another vessel  an inflatable craft carrying 132 people  sank off the Libyan coast with at least 82 people unaccounted for, the U.N. agency said. About 5o others were rescued and taken to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.

In February, E.U. leaders agreed to give Libya $216 million to help bolster the fragile nations coast guard and navy so that it can stop smugglers boats inside territorial waters. Europe also said it would help fund refugee camps in Libya and assist migrants seeking to return to their home nations.

Read more:

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
It was March 2020, and the world was closing down as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. At first, the news of...
Can marijuana help aid memory? (Photo: Trunk Archive)

Marijuana isnt exactly synonymous with mental sharpness, but surprising new research has found that it might help protect the brain from the effects of aging.

A German study on mice published in the journal Nature Medicine found that low, regular doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana, may help to keep our brains from slowing down as we get older. For the study, researchers from the University of Bonn and Hebrew University spent a month giving daily THC to mice that were two months, one year, and 18 months old, and studied the effects on each.

Scientists first tested the mice on their ability to recognize familiar objects and navigate a water maze without the influence of THC and found that, while younger mice did well, older mice struggled. Once they were given THC, the younger mice had a drop in performance, but older mice showed improvement that lasted for weeks afterward  and even did as well as younger mice that had no THC.

Researchers say that THC in older mice might stimulate the brains endocannabinoid system, a group of brain and nervous system receptors that become less active as we age.

Of course, the study was conducted on mice, not humans, and its too soon to recommend that adults start taking daily doses of THC based on this. But The Guardian reports that the scientists are planning to start a clinical trial to test this on humans later this year. If we can rejuvenate the brain so that everybody gets five to 10 more years without needing extra care, then that is more than we could have imagined, study co-author Andras Bilkei-Gorzo told The Guardian.

Norbert E. Kaminski, PhD, director of the Institute for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University, tells Yahoo Beauty that while its too soon to draw any conclusions from the research, there may be something to it. If low doses of THC decrease decline in cognitive function in senior citizens, this could be beneficial, he says.

Story continues

Kaminski also notes that many diseases that cause a decline of cognitive function, such as Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease, are thought to be due, in part, to chronic inflammation in the brain. Cannabinoids like THC have anti-inflammatory properties, he says, which may be beneficial for some older patients suffering from certain neurodegenerative diseases.

Gary Wenk, PhD, a professor in the departments of Psychology & Neuroscience & Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics at the Ohio State University and Medical Center who is a member of the Governors Marijuana Advisory Committee, agrees. He tells Yahoo Beauty that the research presents clear evidence for the cognitive and neurological benefits of low-dose marijuana use in the aging brain. Wenk, who also has studied the impact of low-dose cannabinoids, says THC acts by reducing brain inflammation and its consequences upon normal brain function as people age. Its a very positive effect that is seen at quite low doses, he says.

Seth Ammerman, MD, a clinical professor at Stanford Universitys department of pediatrics in the division of adolescent medicine, tells Yahoo Beauty that THC affects younger brains differently because it can disrupt normal pathways of brain development. But once a persons brain has fully developed, Ammerman says, its possible that THC can help stabilize elements in the endocannabinoid system so that the effects of aging on the brain are tempered in a way.

Of course, THC is responsible for the high that people feel from marijuana, so dosing is important. Womens health expert Jennifer Wider, MD, tells Yahoo Beauty she has some concerns.

It has been well-established that THC comes along with side effects  even in older people, she says, listing anxiety, paranoid thinking patterns, drowsiness, slowed sense of time, and dizziness as examples. More research will be needed before this could become an accepted therapeutic modality. Ammerman agrees, noting that there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

Read more at 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.
By Kate Murphy

South Koreans have elected a new president, Moon Jae-in, who is a liberal. Heres why Americans should care: Moon ran on distancing the South from the U.S., historically its ally, while proposing to re-engage with its bitter nemesis, North Korea. Its a drastic change in foreign policy led by an explosive domestic scandal.

The election comes amid concerns over corruption, the economy and the countrys relationship with North Korea, and it wasnt supposed to happen until December. So why is the presidential election happening now?

Former President Park Geun-hye, a member of the countrys conservative party, went from the presidential Blue House to the big house.

So how did South Koreas president end up being ousted from office? Park was sworn in as South Koreas first female president in 2013. Her popularity plummeted in 2014, though, after the Sewol ferry sank, which killed 304 people, most of them schoolchildren. Critics said she didnt respond fast enough.

Then, in October 2016, news broke that Parks longtime confidant, Choi Soon-sil, who didnt have an official government position, used her relationship to pressure companies into giving tens of millions of dollars to two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi. She was accused of siphoning off those funds for personal use.

State prosecutors would soon arrest Choi, but they couldnt yet arrest President Park because of South Korean presidential immunity. The only way to prosecute her was to remove her from office.

As the political scandal continued, protesters gathered weekly to demand Parks resignation. Park hoped to avoid impeachment after apologizing on three separate occasions, with the final apology asking parliament to decide how and when she could give up power.

But that didnt happen, and in December, Park was impeached by the National Assembly. After the vote was upheld by the constitutional court, Park was officially removed from office in March.

Story continues

No longer protected by presidential immunity, Park was soon arrested on a total of 18 charges, including bribery, coercion, abuse of office and illegal leaking of government secrets. She has denied the charges against her and is now behind bars awaiting trial.

If she is found guilty of bribery, she could face between 10 years to life in prison. But the newly elected president, Moon Jae-in, does have the power to free her with a pardon.

So while former President Park Geun-hyes fate remains to be seen, when it comes to why South Korean elections were held early, at least you can say, Now I get it.
Photo credit: Getty

From Redbook

All parents know one thing (OK, they know a lot of things, but this one for sure): As soon as your child enters into that second year of life, it seems like - in some way or another - a whole new person is plopped in front of you overnight. All of a sudden your baby has a personality, is learning to be independent, and is experiencing mood swings like woah. And those are all expected things - the things everyone tells you to be prepared for. But what about the stuff you didn't plan for? Seven moms reveal what surprised them most once they had a toddler running around.

1. They remember the craziest things.

"I never expected my two-year-old son to retain information the way he does. He can remember people, places, and events that happened well over a year ago. I just didn't think he could do things like that. He can tell you exactly how to get to a place he's only visited once, even if we drove there in the dark. It also gives a whole new meaning to the term 'backseat driver,' which makes traveling interesting sometimes." -Kayla M., 31, Hixson, TN

2. It's kind of like living with a mini version of yourself.

"I knew I was going to be creating spawn that were pretty much us in a nutshell, but there are no books or people that tell you how like you they actually become. Perfect example: A few weeks ago I was washing the bottles and Nora, our one-year-old, was starting to get whiny. I was just about done, so I said, 'Hold on, Nora, I'm coming.' Harper, our two-year-old, comes into the kitchen and says, 'Rara (what she calls Nora), stop crying!' I told her it was fine and that I was almost done, but she proceeded to walk over to Nora, give her her binky, and said, 'Be quiet, Rara.' Again, I told her it's fine, relax. She gets all huffy, picks up her blanket off the floor, and as she leaves the kitchen to get away from the crying I hear her say, 'Gah, Rara, you're such a pain in da ass.'

Story continues

"At this point, do you laugh? Get mad? Cry? You never truly know what you are going to do until your kid looks at you with your own look, or uses your words against you. And as upset that I was that she said it, I had to laugh a little because she is truly me, and there isn't much I can do to change that." -Jordan B., 30, Auburn, NY

3. They become escape artists.

"Even though we had gates up and baby-proofed all the doors, she figured out how to open them all and run out of the house. I never would have thought chasing a toddler down the driveway would become a part of our routine." -Joyce P., 26, Fort Riley, KS

4. The bathroom will be your safe haven.

"None of the books tell you how sometimes, when you're at your wits ends, the bathroom will be your sanctuary. But only for a few precious moments, because they will find you. I wish someone told me that there would be like a two- to five-year period (if you have children close together in age) when I wouldn't be able to take a poo alone." -Angelia B., 33, Seattle, WA

5. The amount of love they have is overwhelming.

"The love my son has for his little brother, who's two months, is so amazing given that he's only two years old. He took on the role of being the keeper of the baby's 'night night' (pacifier), and now whenever Eric starts crying he goes on a hunt for the night night and ever-so-lovingly shoves it down Eric's throat. Some days it's sweet and gentle, other days I know he clearly just wants the baby to stop crying. But without me teaching him, he will hold Eric's hands in his and proudly proclaim to me with the sweetest smile, 'Hand. Baby's hand, Mom.' Then he'll kiss the little fingers and walk away. Everybody tells you how terrible the twos are, but Attley is seriously more sweet than naughty, and it's moments like these that melt my heart more than I ever thought possible." -Cherie E., 25, Sprakers, NY

6. "Terrible twos" is not an accurate phrase.

"All I had heard was that two-year-olds are awful, so I was fearful of that age. But I found that I loved that my toddler was opinionated and adventurous. She tested boundaries but wasn't malicious about it. And it was so cool to actually see her trying to solve problems in her head. She was always trying to help me and boasting, 'I CAN DO IT MYSELF!' when I tried to help her. Now that she's three, she's louder and her not-always-friendly actions are way more full of intent. So I find myself laughing at when I 'struggled' with a two-year-old. She's still so sweet, but the days are challenging and I'm convinced that the "Terrible Twos" is a phrase people made up because it sounds good." -Ashley F., 31, New Providence, NJ

7. They don't know how to casually like things.

"Hudson becomes obsessed with things, to the point that it's all he wants to talk about. Like all the time. All day. Every day. Right now, he loves animals. Nothing makes him happier than a visit to our local zoo. He knows the difference between a frog and a toad, and can differentiate between leopards, jaguars, and cheetahs. Every trip becomes a learning opportunity; he asks lots of questions, and it's like he's trying to sort or categorize all the different types of animals. He even talks about them in his sleep. I never expected this amount of enthusiasm and curiosity at such a young age. It's amazing and, in a way, heartbreaking to see your child learn and grow right before your eyes. They don't stay little long enough." -Kayla M., 31, Hixson, TN

8. The mood swings really are massive.

"I knew the mood swings would happen, but I never thought these ups and downs could be so severe. If I pick up something we were looking for, he may freak out because he wasn't the one to find it. So I'll put it down and say, 'OK, find it' and he walks up to it, picks it up, and says in an angelic voice, 'Oh, look, here it is!' The kid must have serious acting skills or something." -Kristin M., 32, Astoria, NY

9. They have no filter.

"My husband's birthday was two weeks ago. He was rushing in the morning to get himself and our toddler ready, so my husband was only half-dressed. He hadn't put a shirt on yet when he bent down to put our son's shoes on. When he did, our son reached both of his little hands up, cupped my husband's chest, and said, 'Daddy, you have the biggest boobs!' Imagine a man hearing that on his birthday, of all days. I couldn't help it - I laughed uncontrollably as soon as I heard about it." -Angelia B., 33, Seattle, WA

10. Their food preferences change.

"Nobody told me how fussy they become with food. Before my daughter turned two, she would eat anything I gave her. Then, almost overnight, she would only eat five things: peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, cereal, strawberries, and waffles. She stopped eating meat altogether. If I gave her anything else, she would throw it on the ground. Now that she's three, she'll eat a little more, but still refuses meat. It's so weird because it seemingly came out of nowhere." -Joyce P., 26, Fort Riley, KS

Follow Redbook on Facebook.

You Might Also Like
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday he was ready to meet Israel's prime minister as part of peace efforts by Donald Trump, who is expected to visit the Palestinian territories "soon".

The US president is expected in Israel later this month as part of his first foreign trip and Abbas said "we are looking forward to his visit soon to Bethlehem" in the occupied West Bank, with speculation it will occur on May 23.

Abbas met the US president in Washington last week for their first face-to-face talks.

"We told him that we were ready to collaborate with him and meet the Israeli PM (Benjamin Netanyahu) under his auspices to build peace," Abbas told reporters as he met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Trump announced last week that his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican -- the spiritual centres of Islam, Judaism and Catholicism.

The stop in Israel is expected on May 22, though it has not been officially confirmed.

A senior Trump aide last week did not rule out the possibility of a presidential visit to the West Bank, but said that it was likely to be contingent on security and Abbas taking concrete steps toward peace.

Trump has been seeking ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, which have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

As he hosted Abbas in Washington, Trump confidently predicted that a peace agreement was within grasp, brushing aside the complexities of a decades-old conflict that has bedevilled successive US leaders.

"We will get it done," Trump said, flaunting what he has described as his deal-making prowess.

"It is something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years."

- Embassy move -

Abbas said Tuesday that "we told him again of our commitment to a peace based on justice, with international resolutions and the two-state solution as references."

Story continues

Trump has however sent mixed signals over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He backed away from the US commitment to the two-state solution -- Israel and an independent Palestinian state side-by-side -- when he met Netanyahu in February.

He said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting Israeli right-wingers who want to see their country annex most of the occupied West Bank.

Trump also vowed during his campaign to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, a prospect that alarmed Palestinians but which has been put on the back burner for now.

At the same time, he has urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

One of Trump's top advisers, Jason Greenblatt, held wide-ranging talks with both Israelis and Palestinians during a visit in March.

In his comments on Tuesday, the 82-year-old Abbas did not mention whether he would stick to previous Palestinian pre-conditions for talks with Netanyahu.

They have included a halt to Israeli settlement building, the release of prisoners and a deadline for the end of the occupation of the West Bank.

Netanyahu has said he is ready to meet Abbas at any time as long as it is without preconditions, but Palestinians say years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation.

The last substantial public meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu is thought to have been in 2010, although there have been unconfirmed reports of secret meetings since then.

Many analysts have little faith that a renewed peace effort can lead to significant progress.

Netanyahu leads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history, while Abbas is unpopular among Palestinians and may face difficulty in making significant compromises.

June will mark the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, which led to Israel's occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

Steinmeier, who also held talks with Netanyahu on Sunday, spoke of Germany's commitment to the two-state solution.

"From our point of view, there is no other negotiable solution," the German president said.

"The urgency of the situation, the time that has passed and the changes on the ground make it imperative that the next attempt succeeds."
Kabul (AFP) - The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan -- believed to be the mastermind behind several high-profile attacks including an assault on a military hospital that claimed at least 50 lives -- has been killed, US and Afghan officials said.

Abdul Hasib, whose group is affiliated with IS in Iraq and Syria, was killed last month in a targeted raid by special forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the presidential palace in Kabul said in a statement.

"He had ordered the attack on 400 bed hospital in Kabul that resulted in the death and injuries of a number of our countrymen, women," it said.

"The Afghan government is committed to continuing its operations against Daesh and other terrorist groups until they are annihilated," it added, using another name for IS, which is also referred to as ISIS.

NATO commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson confirmed the killing of Hasib and warned that "any ISIS member that comes to Afghanistan will meet the same fate."

First emerging in 2015, IS's local affiliate in Afghanistan overran large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, near the Pakistan border, but their part in the Afghan conflict had been largely overshadowed by the operations against the Taliban.

The group has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks, including an audacious assault on Afghanistan's largest military hospital in March, when gunmen dressed as doctors stormed the heavily guarded facility and threw grenades into crowded wards.

- Battlefield losses -

According to the US Forces-Afghanistan, the local IS presence peaked at between 2,500 to 3,000 but defections and recent battlefield losses have reduced their number to a maximum of 800.

Last month, the US dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on the jihadist group's hideouts in eastern Afghanistan, triggering global shockwaves.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, dubbed the "Mother of All Bombs", killed at least 95 jihadists, according to the Afghan defence ministry.

Story continues

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, which is considered a bigger threat than IS.

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.

The Pentagon will ask for 3,000 to 5,000 more soldiers, mainly to advise and train Afghan military and police, according to US media.

US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who also serve in an advisory capacity.

Those numbers are 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.
In case you needed further proof that vaccines are vital and important, consider what's happening now in Minnesota.

An outbreak of measles has sickened more than 40 children since mid-April, primarily within the state's large Somali-American community. Anti-vaccination activists have helped spur unfounded fears in Somali parents that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism in children.

Doctors and state health professionals said they are working to contain the virus, which causes fever, watery eyes, and a red skin rash  and can lead to hospitalization or death. But experts expect measles cases to continue rising in coming weeks, the Associated Press reported.

SEE ALSO: Trump decries 'tremendous increase' in U.S. autism cases. But it's not so simple.

Health officials declared measles eliminated in the United States in 2000. In recent years, however, outbreaks of the virus have cropped up in tight-knit communities across the country, including Orthodox Jewish communities in Los Angeles and New York and Ohios Amish population. Suburbs across Southern California have also grappled with a spike in measles cases.

Amira Hassan plays in the waiting room at Children's Minnesota while her dad, Mohamud Hassan, fills out paperwork.

Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock

Among the 40-plus Minnesota children with measles, nearly everyone is unvaccinated, and all but a few are of Somali descent, AP reported. At least a dozen children have been hospitalized so far, and the source of the outbreak is still unknown.

A growing yet highly unsubstantiated concern that autism is becoming more common among Somali children has contributed to the community's plummeting rates of immunizations for measles, mumps, and rubella.

In 2004, about 92 percent of Minnesota-born Somali toddlers received the vaccine, yet four years later, only 70 percent of toddlers were vaccinated, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. As of 2017, only 42 percent of Somali toddlers in the state received the inoculation.

Story continues

Anab Gulaid, a University of Minnesota researcher, noted that autism is often diagnosed in children around the same age as they receive their measles vaccine, which is why some fears persist.

"It's an emotional issue for people," she told the AP.

Vaccines do not cause autism, according to numerous studies that have debunked the perceived links between vaccination and the developmental disorder. Medical experts say there is no debate about the safety of these vaccines.

While it's true that autism prevalence has increased in the U.S. in the last two decades, that doesn't necessarily mean autism is growing worse. A 2015 study found individuals who would have previously been diagnosed with other intellectual disabilities are now being correctly diagnosed with autism.

And in Minnesota, there's no statistical difference between the rate of autism among 7- to 9-year-old Somalis and their young white peers, a 2010 study by the University of Minnesota found.

State health officials are urging all Minnesota children 12 months and older who have not received the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to get it now. Adults who never received the vaccine and who never had the measles should also be vaccinated immediately.

Keep your family healthy. New #measles vaccination guidelines from @mnhealth are available on our website at: https://t.co/LkBuomSsxi.  Children's Minnesota (@childrensmn) April 26, 2017

"This is about unvaccinated children, not specific communities," Ed Ehlinger, Minnesota's health commissioner, said in a statement.

He noted that people of all backgrounds in the state have chosen not to protect themselves or their children, a decision that's often based on "good intentions and inaccurate information."

The commissioner said it's the "responsibility of all of us who care about the health of Minnesota children to make sure people have accurate information and take action to protect their families and their communities."
Buenos Aires (AFP) - A court in Argentina on Tuesday deepened a fierce legal and social debate in the country by going against a Supreme Court ruling that cuts prison sentences of those convicted of dictatorship-era crimes.

The federal court in the western city of San Juan said it viewed the Supreme Court judgement to be "unconstitutional and inapplicable" in a case it was deciding.

Its stance is permitted under Argentine law, where federal judges have leeway in interpreting Supreme Court rulings when it comes to people convicted of violating human rights. Other courts could now follow suit.

But any appeals will go back in the country's highest court.

"I think we'll see more judges going in the same direction. But all of these cases will again end up in the Supreme Court," a constitutional lawyer, Eduardo Barcesat, told AFP.

Carmen Roqueta, an Argentine judge who was on a tribunal handling cases related to the confiscation of babies during the dictatorship, noted on Monday that judges are "sovereign" in making decisions.

"But when the Court builds jurisprudence it's difficult to go back. Judges have to apply the doctrine of the court unless it has new arguments to go against this ruling."

- Government opposed -

Argentina's government has already come out against the Supreme Court ruling, which covers sentences for crimes committed during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. It wants its scope to be extremely limited.

In a three-to-two vote, the court's justices upheld a law dating back to 1994-2001 that allows an offender's prison sentence to be reduced by the time spent in custody awaiting trial, with each day served in detention being counted as two days in the calculation.

That was applied early this month to the 13-year sentence of an ex-paramilitary fighter convicted in 2011 for crimes including torture and kidnapping.

Potentially, it could affect around a thousand people convicted for dictatorship-era crimes, and another thousand being held pending outcomes of trials.

Story continues

Already, several inmates incarcerated for such crimes are requesting shortened sentences, including a 78-year-old priest, Christian Von Wernich, who received a life sentence for murder and kidnapping.

But in its decision on Tuesday, the San Juan court rejected its application in a petition by a former soldier, Alejandro Lazo, who wanted to have his 10-year sentence for crimes against humanity similarly trimmed.

On Wednesday, the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group highlighting the confiscation of babies born to suspected dissidents during the dictatorship, are to hold a march against the Supreme Court's ruling.

It is also seeking a political trial of the three justices who voted in favor of it.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged Argentina to align itself with "international norms."
Australian Senator Larissa Waters breastfeeds her baby in the Senate Chamber at Parliament House in Canberra - REUTERS

Alia Joy Waters is just weeks old. But she has already made political history in Australia by becoming the first baby to be breast fed in the Australian parliament.

Senator Larissa Waters returned to parliament today for the first time since giving birth to her second daughter earlier this year, bringing Alia Joy with her while she voted.

And when her baby needed it, she didn't hesitate to feed her.

Afterwards, she wrote on Twitter: "So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli."

So proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the federal Parliament! We need more #women & parents in Parli #auspolpic.twitter.com/w34nxWxG0y  Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) May 9, 2017

Fellow politician Katy Gallagher said it was a moment that deserved to be acknowledged.

"Women have been doing it in parliaments around the world... It is great to see it is able to occur now in the Senate," she told Sky News.

"Women are going to continue to have babies and if they want to do their job and be at work and look after their baby... the reality is we are going to have to accommodate that."

Senator @larissawaters' daughter has graced the Senate becoming the first baby to be breastfed in the chamber. MORE: https://t.co/DfkqkKfDuvpic.twitter.com/DpMDCpMMAK  Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 9, 2017

The milestone comes after Senator Waters instigated changes to Senate rules last year. The guidelines already already allowed breastfeeding in the chamber.

Story continues

Thanks to her new mums and dads will now be allowed to briefly care for their infants on the floor of parliament.

The Australian House of Representatives has also made similar changes.

Last year, an Icelandic MP made headlines after breastfeeding her baby while speaking at the national parliament.

In the UK, which has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding worldwide, MPs are currently not allowed to breastfeed in the chamber of the House of Commons

Unnur Bra Konrasdottir, from the centre-right Independence Party, nursed her six-week-old daughter at the podium, while explaining her vote on new immigration legislation to colleagues. It was the first time an MP had fed her child while actually addressing parliament.

She told AFP being a mother is like any job: "you've got to do what you've got to do."

In the UK, which has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding worldwide, MPs are currently not allowed to breastfeed in the chamber of the House of Commons.

UK Gender Gap

An independent review, which aimed to tackle sexism in Parliament, last year concluded that MPs should be allowed to breastfeed in the chamber.

The review also suggested that transgender lavatories should be introduced to address "gender insensitivities" in the Commons.

Register Log in commenting policy
Dubai (AFP) - Bahrain has referred its first civilian case to a military court following a constitutional amendment approved by the king last month, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Inspired in part by Arab Spring uprisings, Bahrain has since 2011 witnessed regular protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled the Shiite-majority Gulf kingdom for more than two centuries.

Public prosecutors have transferred the case against Fadhel Radhi, who was arrested in September 2016 and has been held incommunicado since, to a military court, a statement by the London-based rights group said.

The lawyer for Radhi, a Bahraini national, has no information on the charges his client faces, Amnesty said.

Authorities in Bahrain have cracked down on political dissent, jailing hundreds of protesters and stripping a number of high-profile activists and Shiite clerics of citizenship.

Bahrain has accused Shiite-ruled Iran of attempting to spark unrest in the tiny archipelago and says the government in Manama is being targeted by terrorist cells. Tehran has denied involvement.

King Hamad declared a three-month state of emergency in 2011, during which special military courts were temporarily established to try civilians.

Radhi is the first civilian reported to be referred to military justice since the king on April 3 formally approved a constitutional amendment granting military courts the right to try civilians.

The amendment drops a clause that had limited military trials to army and security personnel.

It was approved by Bahrain's upper house of parliament, which is appointed by the king, as well as by the elected lower house.

"This is a shameful move by the authorities designed to strike fear in the heart of the population," said Samah Hadid of Amnesty's Beirut regional office.

"It is also a serious blow for justice in Bahrain... Trying civilians before military courts is contrary to international standards."

Story continues

Bahraini authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amnesty said repeated requests for information about Radhi's location and condition had gone unanswered by Bahrain's Public Prosecution Office.

But the Public Prosecution Office contacted Radhi's family early Tuesday to inform them his case had been transferred to a military court, the rights group said.

Amnesty added it feared Al-Sayed Al-Alawi, held incommunicado since October, would be the next to face military justice, without elaborating.
Bonn (AFP) - UN climate negotiators in Bonn were left frustrated Tuesday as the White House postponed a meeting to determine whether the US will stay in the 196-nation Paris Agreement to curb planet-harming fossil fuel.

As uncertainty mounted over the hard-fought pact's future under US President Donald Trump, China's leader Xi Jinping came to its defence.

China and France "should protect the achievements of global governance, including the Paris Agreement," the foreign ministry in Beijing quoted Xi as telling his newly-elected counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone call.

Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, who alongside Xi was instrumental in the agreement's birth in 2015, also entered the fray on Tuesday.

Big emitters like the US and China, he said, must "lead the way" in the fight against climate change.

China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases from burning coal, oil and gas with about 25 percent of the global total, followed by the US with around 15 percent.

Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by China, has yet to announce whether he intends keeping a campaign promise to withdraw Washington from the Paris Agreement.

- 'It's been postponed' -

Negotiators in Bonn had their eyes firmly on a White House meeting called to discuss the topic on Tuesday, but a senior administration official confirmed: "It's been postponed."

No new date was given.

The May 8-18 Bonn meeting is meant to start designing a "rulebook" for implementing the global deal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

This is the ceiling at which scientists say the planet can avoid worst-case-scenario climate change impacts -- rising seas, harsher droughts, more intense storms, disease-spread and conflict over dwindling natural resources.

The agreement was savaged by Trump during last year's US presidential election campaign, during which he threatened to "cancel" it if elected.

Story continues

With the rest of the world awaiting a definitive US position ever since, the new president has said he will make his decision before the next G7 meeting on May 26-27 in Sicily.

The Bonn meeting, a technical discussion held every year to prepare for an annual round of political-level negotiations, has been overshadowed by fears that a US withdrawal would throw the entire process into disarray.

At an open session late Monday, speaker after speaker reiterated the deal must not be "renegotiated" -- a proposal of Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

"It is definitely the elephant in the room," a member of one national delegation told AFP on Tuesday. "But it is not on the agenda, so we cannot discuss it."

The US did send a delegation to the talks, led by Obama-era negotiator Trigg Talley who declined to comment on its brief.

A State Department official told AFP: "We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity."

- Low-key US team -

Some fear a US U-turn would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories to increase their emissions-cutting targets.

This is key, as current pledges place the world on track for warming much higher than the ceiling of two degrees Celsius written into the agreement.

"If Trump withdraws from the accord, it will be a hard blow but not a surprise," Seyni Nafo, chief negotiator for the Africa Group, told AFP.

"It risks undermining the dynamic" of give-and-take built up over years in the UN climate negotiations process.

An American withdrawal would threaten not only its own pledge of cutting emissions 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, but also those of poorer countries which depend on funds that rich nations have promised in climate aid.

The new US administration has already moved to cut funding for climate bodies including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat hosting the annual negotiations.

American participation in Bonn was described as low-key by colleagues.

And there has already been a spillover effect.

"There are countries which are more cautious," in making proposals, said a delegate. "They are taking a wait-and-see approach."
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued Tuesday that Russian interference in the election should absolutely not delegitimize Donald Trumps presidency.

In a democracy, when somebody loses and somebody wins, you move on, she told Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric

That doesnt mean there shouldnt be repercussions for Russia, Rice said. We know you did it. We will, at a time of our choosing, respond, she said of the message shed like the Kremlin to receive from the U.S.

The U.S. accused the Russian government of backing the hacking attempts that led to massive email leaks from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons campaign chairman, in addition to other moves meant to influence the 2016 race.

Trump would also like everyone to move on from this story. He has fumed as the FBI and congressional committees probe whether his associates colluded with Russia to influence the election. The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end? he tweeted Monday evening.

Rice, George W. Bushs former secretary of state and national security adviser, was once hostile to Trumps candidacy. In October, she called on Trump to withdraw from the campaign, saying he lacked dignity and stature after a tape surfaced of the then-candidate crowing about groping women.

But in the interview, Rice was mostly complimentary of Trumps foreign policy, reserving especially effusive praise for the White House national security team. Still, she did take an opportunity to ding Trumps America first credo.

It has a history thats also not very good, she said. Weve learned that, actually, Americas interests are best served by realizing that we have to have an answer for the instability, the chaos, and the lack of freedom in the world.

Rice also addressed her role in promoting Rex Tillerson to be Trumps own secretary of state. Tillerson was previously the CEO of ExxonMobil, a client of Rices consulting firm. But Rice was dismissive of the accusation that she lobbied for Tillerson in order to increase her firms stature.

Story continues

If anybody thinks that I would actually recommend somebody for secretary of state because Ive gotten to know them in a business relationship, well go right ahead and think it, Rice said. Thats not how I roll.

She also concurred with Trumps controversial quip calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a pretty smart cookie, though she also branded him reckless and unhinged.

If you stay in power in that system, youre pretty smart, Rice said. It doesnt mean its somebody we should admire.

Rice further said she was sympathetic toward Trumps professed revelation that he expected the presidency to be an easier job, and expressed some optimism that he would grow in the job.

Its really hard, Rice said. And its lonely. Its probably the loneliest job in the world, too.

And so, I think theres a learning curve for every president, maybe a little steeper for this president, given that hed never been in government. But I like the people around him, I like some of the things that theyve done.

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on Tuesday named a new transitional government, state television said, defying opponents who rejected the cabinet, saying it violated a previous agreement. Kabila, in power since 2001, struck a deal in December with Congo's main opposition bloc to stay on after his mandate expired provided he held elections by the end of 2017. But talks to implement the deal broke down in March when Kabila refused to commit to the bloc's choice of prime minister. Despite resistance to Kabila's remaining in power, he has successfully co-opted large portions of the opposition. The new prime minister Bruno Tshibala, whom he named last month, is a former member of the country's largest opposition party and other opposition leaders received ministerial posts too. The main opposition bloc, however, immediately criticized Tuesday's announcement and called on Kabila to name a government that respects the December agreement. "This government is illegitimate and we don't recognize it," Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development(ECIDE) party, told Reuters. "There is no other roadmap besides the accord," he said. "If the accord is dead, Kabila has to leave." The roughly 60 ministers and vice-ministers read out on state TV are mainly holdovers from the previous government and key ministries - including foreign affairs, interior, justice and mines - remain in the hands of Kabila loyalists. Political tensions are high after security forces killed dozens during protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has also raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions. Kabila's opponents suspect he intends to repeatedly delay elections until he can organize a referendum to let himself stand for a third term, as his counterparts in neighboring Congo Republic and Rwanda have done. Kabila denies those accusations, saying the election delays are due to challenges registering millions of voters and budgetary constraints. The new government faces a number of stern tests. Congo's franc currency has lost half its value since last year and authorities are struggling to mobilize the resources needed to hold the election by the end of the year. It will also enter office amid controversy over the burial of longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in Belgium in February. His political party, the UDPS, planned to bury him on Friday at its headquarters in the capital Kinshasa. But the provincial government has rejected the planned site and the president of the UDPS's Brussels wing, Katumba Tchiowa Ngoy, told Reuters the party would delay repatriating the body in "12 to 15 days". (Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol in Brussels; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Barbara Goldberg (Reuters) - The Delaware state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would keep abortion legal in the state if a future U.S. Supreme Court shaped by President Donald Trump overturns the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized it nationally. The measure was approved by a vote of 11-7 but needs to be passed by the House and signed by Democratic Governor John Carney Jr. to take effect. Democrats control both houses of the Delaware legislature but are facing a June 30 end to this year's session. Carney "supports the rights and protections afforded women under Roe v. Wade" but has not yet said whether he will sign the bill into law, said his spokeswoman Jessica Borcky. Trump has promised to appoint justices to the nation's top court, including recent appointee Neil Gorsuch, who would overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling and leave it up to the individual states to decide whether to legalize abortion. Trump received strong support from anti-abortion groups in the election campaign. Delaware is one of 11 states with a pre-Roe abortion ban still on the books, according to the Guttmacher Institute which tracks reproductive policy. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion would be almost immediately illegal in four states - Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota, according to Guttmacher and the Center for Reproductive Rights. In the other 46 states, abortion would remain legal but in at least 10 states - including Delaware - it could become illegal with a step as simple and swift as a state attorney general's opinion, Guttmacher said. "There wasn't a sense of urgency until President Trump got elected," said Kathleen MacRae, executive director of the ACLU of Delaware. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood of Delaware formed the "She Decides Delaware" campaign to lobby for legislation to keep abortion legal. "We don't want to leave the women of Delaware in a vulnerable position," MacRae said. "It's up to the woman and the family to decide when she would like to become a parent." Momentum for the bill grew in April when a coalition of state religious leaders including Jewish, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and Unitarian clergy publicly declared "acceptance" of abortion in a show of support for Planned Parenthood. The state's Catholic leader, Bishop Francis Malooly of the Diocese of Wilmington, immediately denounced the statement. MINIMALIST DESIGN The bill itself has a minimalist design. It aims to keep the provisions of Roe v. Wade rather than repeal the 1953 state ban. "This bill simply seeks to codify the framework in place for a very long time - that a woman has a right to choose," Senator Bryan Townsend, a Democrat who is the bill's sponsor, told colleagues before the vote. "It's a decision that belongs with the woman, her doctor and her family," said Senator Stephanie Hansen, a Democrat and bill co-sponsor. Opponents denounced the move. "Any civilized society restricts an individual's right to choose when it would affect an innocent person. I can think of no more innocent person than an unborn child," said Senator Bryant Richardson, a Republican. "You can codify abortion all you want but you are still codifying the murder of an unborn child," said Delaware Right to Life spokeswoman Moira Sheridan. Under the 1950s' Delaware ban, terminating a pregnancy is a felony for the provider and a misdemeanor for the woman, except when it is deemed a "therapeutic abortion" in either case. Dr. Larry Glazerman, medical director at Planned Parenthood Delaware, said he is confident the bill is enough to protect him and other doctors who provide abortion from prosecution. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
cameronabadi

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said Monday that she discussed with Donald Trumps White House counsel possible criminal charges related to Michael Flynns communications with Russian officials.

To state the obvious, you dont want your national security advisor compromised by the Russians, Yates testified during a hotly anticipated hearing examining Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

Amid two congressional probes examining that Kremlin campaign and a sprawling FBI counterintelligence investigation looking at possible collusion between Trump aides and the Kremlin, Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor, has emerged as a central figure. Trump fired him less than a month into the job after the Washington Post reported that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the content of his conversations with a Russian diplomat.

Yates, who was fired at the end of January for challenging the legality of President Donald Trumps immigration policy, revealed on Monday in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had three meetings with Don McGahn, the White House legal counsel, to discuss Flynns communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

As the Obama administration prepared to hit Moscow with sanctions over its alleged interference in the U.S. presidential campaign, Flynn had a series of conversations with Kislyak. Yates said on Monday that after Pence denied that Flynn and Kislyak had discussed sanctions, she grew concerned that the national security advisor had lied to his superior, and that Moscow could use that information to blackmail him.

Yates and McGhan met on Jan. 26 in the White House legal counsels office along with a senior member of the Justice Departments National Security Division. She told McGann that Lt. Gen. Flynns conduct, as well as his decision to lie about it, was problematic. The Russians, aware of Flynns lies, could easily blackmail him, Yates concluded.

Story continues

That created a compromised situation, Yates said.

In a second meeting the next day, McGhan pressed Yates on several issues, including why it mattered to the Justice Department when one White House official lies to another. Yates testified that Flynns lie to Pence, given Russian knowledge of the conversation, presented special circumstances that made him vulnerable to pressure.

Yates said on Monday that McGhan asked her about the likelihood that the Justice Department would bring criminal charges against Flynn and the federal statutes that might be used to indict the former national security advisor. Pressed on Monday what charges could be brought, Yates refused to answer.

At the end of the second meeting, Yates scheduled a follow-up call to arrange for McGhan to review the underlying evidence of Flynns communications  a meeting that took place on the afternoon of Jan. 30, the same day she was fired.

President Trump asked for Flynns resignation, which he handed over late on Feb. 13.

Yates declined to comment on whether the Justice Department or FBI had uncovered evidence that Trump or his associates actively colluded with Russian officials to sway the election, a conclusion former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has repeatedly said he found no evidence for. Just because I say I cant answer  you shouldnt draw from than an assumption that the answer is yes, she said.

Yates spent 27 years in the Justice Department, serving in both Republican and Democratic administrations. The morning of the hearing, unnamed Obama officials told multiple major media outlets that President Barack Obama warned President Trump about his concerns over Flynn before he took office  advice the White House subsequently downplayed as political in nature.

Flynn served as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Obama, but was fired over clashes with leadership and management style.

Testifying at the same hearing, Clapper revealed that the intelligence community estimated Russia spent less than $200 million on its efforts to disrupt the U.S. elections, not counting subsidies to Kremlin-funded media outlet RT.

Russias influence activities in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election constituted the high-water mark of their long-running efforts since the 1960s to disrupt and influence our elections, he said Monday. They must be congratulating themselves for having exceeded their wildest expectations.

Eric Thayer/Getty Images
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian air force destroyed a group of vehicles that crossed into Egypt from Libya loaded with smuggled weapons, the military said on Monday. It said on its Facebook page that 15 four-wheel-drive vehicles carrying weapons and other contraband had been destroyed in air raids over the past 48 hours. A video released by the military showed jets and helicopter gunships attacking targets in the desert. The military did not say who was driving the vehicles or give details of any casualties. In January, the interior ministry said at least eight policemen were killed when Islamist militants attacked a security checkpoint in Egypt's Western Desert. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has launched the toughest crackdown on Islamists in Egypt's modern history since toppling President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. The air force action came as security forces killed eight militants they identified as members of the Muslim Brotherhood in a shootout in the country's south, according to the interior ministry. Egypt has outlawed the Brotherhood and designated it a terrorist group. The organisation maintains that its activities are peaceful and had no immediate comment. An interior ministry statement on Monday said those killed in the south included Helmi Saad Masri, whom it described as a prominent Brotherhood leader. The statement did not identify the exact location of the shootout but said police came under heavy gunfire while trying to approach the group and had to respond with force. Egypt last month declared a three-month state of emergency after two church bombings claimed by Islamic State killed more than 45 people. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty and Nadine Awadalla; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Giles Elgood/Mark Heinrich)
Bogota (AFP) - Eight hostages allegedly taken in Colombia by the left-wing ELN rebel group have been freed, President Juan Manuel Santos said Tuesday, crediting "public pressure" for their release.

"The eight kidnap victims... have been freed, thanks to public pressure," Santos wrote on Twitter.

The seven men and one woman were seized by gunmen believed to belong to the ELN in Novita, a small town in the Choco region, the poorest part of the country in northwestern Colombia.

Recent hostage-takings by the ELN, whose initials stand for National Liberation Army, come with the leftist guerrilla group and the government poised to begin peace talks after decades of hostilities.

Colombia's government and the ELN, the country's last active rebel force, are due to resume talks on May 16 in Ecuador after initiating negotiations in February.

In November, a larger rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed a peace deal with the government after four years of talks.

The ELN has an estimated 1,500 fighters, compared with the FARC's 7,000.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks to agency employees in Washington, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)

The Environmental Protection Agency is challenging reports that several members from a major scientific review board were dismissed to make room for representatives from the fossil fuel industry.

Critics of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt viewed the news about the Board of Scientific Counselors as the latest step in an administration campaign to diminish the role of scientific evidence in the agencys policymaking  further marginalizing climate science.

J.P. Freire, a spokesperson for the EPA, told Yahoo News Monday that no one was fired and the scientists in question have simply reached the end of their three-year contracts as board members. He said the EPA was simply opening up the process of assembling the new board and that former members could easily make it through the process and sit on the board again.

Advisory panels like BOSC play a critical role reviewing the agencys work, Freire said. The EPA received hundreds of nominations to serve on the board, and we want to ensure fair consideration of all the nominees  including those nominated who may have previously served on the panel  and carry out a competitive nomination process.

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that the EPA dismissed at least five members of the 18-person review board and was considering replacing them with representatives from industries responsible for polluting the environment  in other words, the very companies the agency is tasked with regulating.

Robert Richardson, an ecological economist at Michigan State University, spoke out against the decision on social media, and characterized the EPAs move as a termination. He wrote, Today, I was Trumped.

After an administrative review, several members will not be reappointed as Administrator Scott Pruitt 'seeks new EPA scientific advisors'.  Robert Richardson (@ecotrope) May 5, 2017

The BOSC evaluates science and engineering research to provide advice and information to the EPAs Office of Research and Development research program.

Story continues

Ponisseril Somasundaran, a chemist at Columbia University, served on the board until Friday. He was one of the scientists whose position on the board was not renewed.

He agreed with Freires assessment that fired is probably the wrong term. He explained that he serves on other committees and panels and its customary for people to rotate out.

Somasundaran said several scientists were surprised by the news but he was not, because he received an EPA email several weeks ago saying that the positions would expire on April 30 and that the incumbents might not be renominated. Members of the board are limited to two consecutive terms.

That kind of indicated that something might happen, Somasundaran told Yahoo News. So I wasnt totally surprised, but I was surprised that so many were rotating out.

He said that 13 of the 18 positions were not renewed but that four could not have been renewed anyway because they had already served two terms. Therefore, nine could have continued for another term.

Not for the entire board, but its normal to tell a portion of them  usually one third  that they are going to rotate out so that we can bring in new blood, he said.

Somasundaran said its not necessarily a bad idea for the EPA to bring aboard businesspeople and other industry representatives for different perspectives because most of the board members are from academia.

I think to have some diversity is a good idea, but if they are going to load up [on energy sector representatives], then it will be unfortunate. But I dont know if that is their aim, he said. They will probably fill up the board with some academy people.

Pruitt has close ties to the fossil fuel industry and has questioned the scientific consensus around climate change. In his previous role as Oklahoma attorney general, he sued the EPA more than a dozen times and accused it of burdening the energy sector with unnecessary regulations.

Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, released the following statement concerning the news:

We are concerned about news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has dismissed scientists serving on its Board of Scientific Counselors. Academic scientists play a critical role in informing policy with scientific research results at every level, including the federal government. We hope that EPA reconsiders this decision, and would welcome an opportunity to meet with Administrator Scott Pruitt to discuss how scientists can best advise the Environmental Protection Agency on environmental science.

Read more from Yahoo News:
The Trump administration is steadily removing and revising climate change-related resources on government websites. But some vital portals remain online and are worth checking out  while you still can.

Climate Explorer, for instance, is a treasure trove of downloadable maps, graphs, and tables of climate projections for every county in the mainland U.S. Visitors can search observed and projected changes in temperature, precipitation, and other climate-related variables from 1950 to 2100.

The website is managed and hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a top U.S. climate agency that is facing the prospect of steep budget cuts under the new administration

SEE ALSO: Trump's big EPA website change should make you furious

Climate Explorer and other NOAA websites, like the Sea Level Rise Viewer, aren't currently at risk of disappearing, according to the agency.

But at the Environmental Protection Agency, several important pages have already vanished from public view.

Climate change is real. Since the facts were deleted from the @EPAs website, check ours. https://t.co/YlzlF4KReO pic.twitter.com/nsjNE3BMG9  ChicagosMayor (@ChicagosMayor) May 7, 2017

In lieu of the EPA's extensive climate change portal, visitors are instead directed to a page that explains the site is "being updated" to reflect the agency's "new direction" under President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Both men reject the mainstream scientific consensus that human activity is the leading cause of global warming.

The EPA's popular climate website for schoolchildren is no longer accessible. Detailed fact sheets on local greenhouse gas emissions and the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan are similarly gone from public view, at least for now.

Story continues

Officials planned to halt EPA's Open Data service, which contains decades' worth of federal environmental data. But backlash on social media prompted the agency to maintain the site, according to the contractor managing the site. (The EPA disputes this account.)

Image: NOAA

NOAA's Climate Explorer launched in 2014 alongside the Obama administration's U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit. The resource is meant to help community leaders, business owners, city planners, and utility managers to understand how environmental conditions could change in the coming decades.

On Climate Explorer, visitors can look up any county, city, or zip code in the 48 mainland states. They can also search by variables  such as days with precipitation above 1 inch, or days with maximum temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit  or by topics, including water, transportation, and coastal ecosystems.

The projections are based on global climate models using different visions of future greenhouse gas emissions. One assumes we dramatically reduce emissions in the future; the other assumes they will continue to climb.

Users can see how the number of days above 95 degrees F may change under future climate scenarios.

Image: NOAA

"Projections of how much and how fast change is happening is crucial to help communities prepare and become more resilient," David Herring, a communication and education program manager at NOAA's Climate Program Office, said in July 2016, after Climate Explorer received a major upgrade.

Trump's budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018 aims to slash $250 million from coastal research programs that assist communities in planning for rising seas and worsening storms. The proposal also calls for cutting 16 percent, or $1.5 billion, from NOAA's parent agency, the U.S. Commerce Department.

According to the White House, climate change initiatives are merely "a waste of your money," Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, told reporters in March.

The future looks wet for downtown Tampa, Florida.

Image: NOAA/sea level rise viewer

But in an email on Monday, Herring said it remains "business as usual" at NOAA.

He added that the agency's Climate Projections Team has also started a new initiative to update Climate Explorer in several key ways, including by swapping in a new data set and adding more climate variables on the site.

The update will be done in concert with the Fourth National Climate Assessment, an ongoing project by the U.S. Global Change Research Program to summarize the impacts of climate change on the United States.

Fortunately for NOAA, Congress has the final say on Trump's budget proposal, and lawmakers aren't likely to swallow the plan wholesale.

In late April, policymakers struck a deal to continue funding the federal government through September 30, and it bore little resemblance to Trump's plan. This suggests Congress might not adopt all his targeted climate cuts in the final budget.

Even so, the last few weeks at the EPA make it clear that we can't take any of these online resources for granted.

UPDATE: May 9, 2017, 9:15 a.m. EDT This story was updated to include comments from NOAA's David Herring.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Relatives of a Palestinian family burned alive filed a lawsuit against Israel on Monday demanding it be held responsible and pay damages over the 2015 attack blamed on Jewish extremists in the occupied West Bank.

Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsha died along with his parents when their house was firebombed in July 2015.

His brother Ahmed, now six, was the sole survivor from the immediate family but was left with severe burns.

"Today we filed a complaint with the Nazareth district court demanding the state of Israel be held responsible for the burning of the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma in the West Bank," lawyer Hassan al-Khatib, who represents the family, told AFP by phone.

Ahmed's uncle Nasser Dawabsha said they were seeking an admission of responsibility from the state and 16 million shekels (four million euros, $4.4 million) in damages.

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Khatib said the state must accept responsibility for the killings.

"The child Ahmed suffers from disability," he added, as well as "medical and psychological incapacity from the loss of his father, mother and brother".

Amiram Ben-Uliel, 21, from the northern West Bank settlement of Shilo, was charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a hate crime.

A 17-year-old, whose name remains under a gag order, was charged with being an accessory to committing a racially motivated murder.

An Israeli defence official said the family would not be eligible for compensation that applies to terror victims since it is only open for Israeli citizens.

The official said the family would be able to apply instead to an alternative committee that compensates people for so-called nationalist attacks.

Nasser Dawabsha confirmed to AFP they had rejected a previous compensation offer because they were demanding the state accept responsibility, which he said had been refused.

Story continues

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.
Members of Congress who voted for the controversial plan will be met by activists on the left, who are attempting to save the Affordable Care Act

Perhaps no town hall will be watched as closely as that of Tom MacArthur, a moderate who helped craft a compromise that ensured support from conservatives. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

As House Republicans return to their districts after approving a controversial plan to dramatically reshape the countrys healthcare system, activists on the left are mobilizing at town halls in an effort to save the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that extended coverage to millions of Americans.

At a meeting in Lewiston on Friday, a woman challenged Raul Labrador, a Republican congressman from Idaho and a member the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus, over his support for the Republican healthcare bill.

You are mandating people on Medicaid to accept dying, she said.

Labrador replied: That line is so indefensible. Nobody dies because they dont have access to healthcare. (In a later statement, the Idaho conservative conceded that his comment wasnt very elegant and argued that it had been taken out of context.)

The activism drew more testy exchanges in upstate New York, where Tom Reed, a Republican congressman, defended his decision to support the Republican healthcare plan against boos and jeers from angry crowds at his three town halls on Saturday.

At a firehouse in Busti, New York, a man told Reed that he had recently donated a kidney, which he said was considered a pre-existing condition.

Now that I have a pre-existing condition, my cost of healthcare could go up significantly or I could lose health care, the man said, according to ABC News.



With the House on recess until 16 May, activists are planning similarly furious receptions for the handful of Republican lawmakers who are scheduled to hold town halls in their home districts.

Activists are specifically targeting congressional Republicans who supported the unpopular healthcare plan. Of the 217 Republicans who voted for the plan, just 14 will hold town halls during the recess, according to the scheduled of events compiled by TownHallProject.com.

Story continues

While it is hard to predict which ones will draw fireworks, a few seem likely prospects. Rod Blum, an Iowa Republican whose district voted for Obama twice before tipping for Trump last year, is holding a series of three town halls this week.

On Monday, Blum walked out of an interview with a local TV channel after the journalist asked him why his staff was screening attendees to his town halls. Hours later, Blum, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, faced boos and jeers from a crowd as he struggled over the din to explain why he voted for the healthcare plan.

Congressman Jeff Denham, who was one of 14 California Republicans who voted for the GOP healthcare plan, will hold a coffeehouse meeting on Tuesday.

But perhaps no town hall will be watched as closely as the one with Tom MacArthur, a moderate Republican congressman who helped craft a compromise amendment that ensured support from conservatives.

The New Jersey lawmaker represents a district that voted for Obama twice and only narrowly swung for Trump in 2016. MacArthur told reporters that he expected to encounter angry constituents at his town hall but would relish the opportunity to correct what he views as misconceptions about what the healthcare plan would do.

MacArthurs provision, which was crucial to passing the bill, was hammered out behind closed doors. No public hearings were held on the bill after the addition of the provision, which was made public hours before the House approved it.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is due to analyze how much it would cost and how many people might lose coverage if the plan takes effect, perhaps as early as this week. The agencys analysis of the initial proposal found that 24 million people would lose health coverage over the next decade.

And with the bill heading to the Senate, activists hope that the Republicans taking it up next see that there is a political cost to supporting a measure that could strip healthcare from millions.

Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers have routinely faced the wave of backlash from the so-called resistance, a coalition of liberal groups and activists opposed to the presidents agenda. For months, protesters  many of whom are first-time political activists  have packed Republican town halls, rallied outside GOP offices and filled lawmakers voicemails in an urgent attempt to save the Affordable Care Act.

The liberal resistance has vowed to hold Republicans who supported the healthcare bill to account by voting them out of office in the 2018 midterms. But Republicans have scoffed at that notion, arguing that they voted to fulfill a seven-year campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.



Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said Republicans had no reason to duck constituents  rather, they should welcome the opportunity to engage with them after delivering on a seven-year campaign promise.

Id be ecstatic about going back and saying, Look, here is what we did. Here is the process. Was it ugly? Yeah. But did we get it done? Did we follow through on a promise to repeal in the House? Yes, Mulvaney, a former congressman from South Carolina, told CBS Face the Nation. No, I think it would be something that Republicans should run to, not run away from.
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces are making swift progress in west Mosul, officers said Tuesday, retaking several neighbourhoods on their way to a final showdown with jihadists in the Old City.

With Iraq's biggest military operation in years set to enter its eighth month in a week, the Islamic State group was only holding on to a handful of neighbourhoods in west Mosul.

Forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service "liberated the Northern Industrial Area on the western side," said the Joint Operations Command coordinating the war against IS in Iraq.

The JOC said the forces "raised the Iraqi flag after inflicting losses to the enemy."

It added that another, small neighbourhood called 30 Tammuz had also been retaken on Tuesday.

On Monday, Iraqi forces retook full control of Al-Haramat, a large neighbourhood on the edge of the city, according to several senior military officers.

The gains are part of a new push which Iraqi forces launched last week in northwestern Mosul and has already wrested back several neighbourhoods from the jihadists.

The latest operations make it harder than ever to flee for the few hundred IS fighters estimated to remain in Mosul.

- Trapped civilians -

The jihadists who have been defending their last major bastion in the country for more than six months have offered limited resistance in recent days, apparently regrouping in the Old City for a last stand.

IS only controls a handful of neighbourhoods around the Old City, where at least 250,000 civilians are still trapped and living in dire conditions, according to aid officials and rights groups.

The narrow streets of the Old City, one of the heritage jewels of Iraq, will make it difficult for federal forces to take on the jihadists, who have had three years to set up their defences.

Elite forces might have to undertake dismounted raids, which could take a heavy human toll on units that have been fighting IS for more than two years uninterrupted.

Story continues

The presence of a large civilian population, which either chose not to leave or was prevented from doing so by IS, also complicates any final assault to seal victory in Mosul.

Iraqi forces launched a major offensive on October 17 to retake Mosul, which IS seized in June 2014. They secured the eastern side of the city, which is divided by the Tigris river, in January.

The United Nations says 434,000 people fled their homes in west Mosul, since a fresh push was launched there on February 19.

The influx of displaced people is compounding one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises, for which the aid community has warned a funding effort was required.

- Relentless displacement -

The UN on Tuesday announced it had opened a new camp east of Mosul as it seeks to provide assistance to the steady flow of displaced who will soon have to cope with Iraq's scorching summer temperatures.

"Despite the enormous risks, the number of people fleeing West Mosul shows no sign of slowing down," said the UN refugee agency's Iraq representative, Bruno Geddo.

"We still fear more large outflows of people from the west of the city, which is why UNHCR and partners continue to prepare new camps ready to receive those fleeing Mosul, who are desperately in need of assistance," he said in a statement.

Baghdadi, who made his only public appearance at a mosque in the old city of Mosul in July 2014, has urged his men to fight to the death to defend what was the de facto Iraqi capital of his now crumbling "caliphate".

IS still holds the towns of Tal Afar and Hawijah, as well as pockets of territory elsewhere in Iraq, including in remote desert areas near the borders with Jordan and Syria.

According to the Iraqi authorities, IS now controls less than seven percent of Iraq, down from more than a third in 2014.
Jakarta's Christian governor, who was jailed for blasphemy Tuesday, won much praise for his efforts to clean up the traffic-choked megacity but his popularity could not save him from Islamic hardliners angered by his comments about the Koran.

With his outspoken, combative style and can-do attitude, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama cut an unusual figure among the political elite in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where politicians typically take a more gentle, persuasive approach.

But the tall, bespectacled politician, who was the city's first non-Muslim governor for half a century and first ever ethnic Chinese leader, quickly overcame any doubts about his leadership as he took concrete steps to improve the city of 10 million.

The 50-year-old -- known by his nickname Ahok -- regularly railed against corruption in one of the world's most graft-ridden countries and led sting operations to catch lazy bureaucrats, drawing praise from a public weary of the city's inefficiences.

The former deputy governor inherited the top job in 2014 after his predecessor Joko Widodo won the presidency.

On Purnama's watch, roads were repaired, pavements improved, more parks started appearing in the city and its notoriously filthy rivers were cleaned up.

Some of his policies -- particularly a drive to evict poor, riverside communities -- caused anger, but many Jakartans said their lives had changed for the better since he took power.

Until the blasphemy controversy, he was favourite to win last month's gubernatorial election in Jakarta.

- 'Fearless leader' -

Aleksius Jemadu, a political expert at Pelita Harapan University near Jakarta, praised Purnama for his "courageous attitude".

"Ahok is a rare figure, he's fearless. He appeared when the Indonesian people were thirsting for an honest leader," he told AFP.

But it was never going to be easy for someone from a religious and ethnic minority to hang on to such a powerful position, particularly when he was not elected to it in the first place.

Story continues

His aggressive, outspoken style, an advantage when taking on bungling officials, turned out to be a double-edged sword that contributed to his downfall.

In September last year, in a speech to a group of fisherman during early campaigning for the elections, he accused his opponents of using a Koranic verse to trick them into voting against him.

The comments were filmed and went viral online -- providing ammunition for fringe hardline groups who had long railed against a non-Muslim leader ruling the capital and his political opponents who were keen to oust him from the job and embarrass his ally Widodo.

Despite his apologies and insistence that he only intended to attack his rivals, not the Koran itself, hundreds of thousands of conservative Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta in mass rallies last year, organised by hardliners and encouraged by his rivals.

Under intense public pressure, authorities put him on trial for blasphemy and his popularity slumped. He lost last month's election to a Muslim challenger and Tuesday was jailed for two years for blasphemy, a shock decision after prosecutors recommended only probation.

Purnama was born into a well-off family on Belitung island in western Indonesia, and studied geology at university in Jakarta, before returning to his village and going into business.

His father urged him to use his talents to help those less fortunate than himself, and he entered local politics in 2004. He was elected to the national parliament in 2009, where he met Widodo.
cameronabadi

Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley agreed in Tokyo on Monday to increase military cooperation with Japan, which could potentially complicate U.S. policy in the region.

Jaitley, who doubles as Indias finance minister, told Tomomi Inada, his Japanese counterpart, that India intends to pursue a strategic partnership with Japan. This is all reflective of the level of cooperation our armed forces have with each other, Jaitley said.

And, in a sign of that deepened cooperation, the two will join with the United States for a trilateral naval exercise in July.

Traditionally, the United States has cheered closer Indian and Japanese military cooperation, and previous U.S. administrations have tried to push this policy, Sarah Watson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told Foreign Policy. India is sometimes hesitant to work with the United States, a hegemon, but has fewer issues with Japan, a close U.S. ally with constitutional limits on military engagement.

That may be changing, however. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already pushed through reforms to make Japan more able to defend itself or engage its military. Abe said on May 1 he believes the 70-year-old constitution should be changed to amend the article that specifies Japanese pacifism.

Theres another potential key player in the Japanese-Indian-U.S. relationship: China.

For Japan and India, Watson said, obviously China is in the background of all these discussions.

Abe has sought to bolster Japans military capabilities in light of rising threats from China and North Korea. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also sparred with Beijing over cyber threats, Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean, Chinas relationship with Pakistan, and even a recent Dalai Lama visit to northern India.

U.S. President Donald Trump, however, has said he now wants to work with China to put pressure on North Korea. Following his early April meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump has softened his rhetoric on Chinese trade and military buildup in the South China Sea. Could that mean that this administration looks less fondly on Indian-Japanese cooperation than his predecessors have?

Story continues

It doesnt seem to, Watson said. And if it does, the people who would be making and taking that decision arent in their offices yet. Trump has yet to nominate anyone for 465 of the the 556 key positions requiring Senate confirmation.

But when they do come in, they will likely support closer military ties between India and Japan, even with the softer stance on China. If youre within the universe that previous administrations have been in, or in the ballpark, Watson said, this is something the U.S. would support.

Photo credit: MONEY SHARMA/AFP/Getty Images
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The Latest on Texas' tough new "sanctuary cities" law (all times local):

___

12:40 p.m.

The Mexican government is expressing regret over a new Texas ban on so-called sanctuary cities, saying the law could step on the rights of its citizens who choose to live just across the border.

The Secretary of Foreign Relations on Monday said in a statement that the Texas law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott "criminalizes even more the phenomenon of immigration." It says the law foments racial discrimination and will reduce collaboration between police and immigrant communities.

Mexico is Texas' largest trading partner and shares close ties with the state.

Abbott on Sunday night signed the bill that allows police to ask a person about their immigration status during routine traffic stops. He says the law does away with those who "seek to promote lawlessness in Texas."

___

11:20 a.m.

San Antonio's police chief says the department will abandon a policy prohibiting officers in the nation's seventh-largest city from asking about a person's immigration status due to Texas' new law banning so-called sanctuary cities.

Chief William McManus on Monday ripped Republican lawmakers over the law signed Sunday night, which opponents say is the nation's most anti-immigrant law since an Arizona crackdown in 2010.

Texas' law takes effect in September and will allow police officers to ask about a person's immigration status during routine stops. McManus says that could include people even stopped for jaywalking.

He says a written department policy prohibiting questions about immigration status was added several years ago following community meetings.

Abbott says the law will help fulfill a duty to keep "dangerous criminals off our streets."

Critics say it will lead to Hispanics being racially profiled.
President Donald Trump's revised executive order on travel ban that sought to temporarily halt new visas to six Muslim-majority countries and suspend refugee admissions, will once again be the focus in the next few days. The legal battle over the order will begin Monday, when a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, will hear arguments about the legality of the ban, reports said.

About two months ago, a federal judge in Maryland had concluded that the travel ban likely violates the Constitution as the ban was discriminatory in nature against Muslims. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang had written: "The history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the purpose of the Second Executive Order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban."

Read: Why Did Travel Booking Site Wander Launches #AntiTravelBan Campaign?

Lawyers for the International Refugee Assistance Project had written: "President Trump publicly committed himself to an indefensible goal: banning Muslims from coming to the United States," according to National Public Radio.

In March, just two days after Trump signed the new version of his travel ban executive order, the state of Hawaii filed a suit, arguing the new federal order will harm Muslims living in the Pacific island state. It became the first state to challenge it, reports said.

Five other states too allied together to challenge Trump's revised travel ban order. They were Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, New York, and Massachusetts. Oregon argued the order hurts residents, employers, universities health care system and economy.

The Washington state argued that the revised travel ban has "same illegal motivations as the original" and harms residents, although fewer than the first ban. Minnesota questioned the legality of the move, suggesting the Trump administration cannot override the initial ban with a fresh executive order. New York said that the revised travel ban order was "a Muslim ban by another name." The state of Massachusetts had said that the new ban "remains a discriminatory and unconstitutional attempt to make good on his campaign promise to implement a Muslim ban," BBC reported.

Story continues

Bob Ferguson, Washington state's attorney general had said that the states who jointly filed the lawsuit against the travel ban order had a solid legal argument. He said the president's new immigration order is "narrower" than the original version, but "that does not mean that it's cured its constitutional problems," reports said.

Trump had signed his first executive order travel ban Jan. 27. It was promoted as an anti-terrorism measure. The order blocked citizens from seven Muslim majority countries  Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen  from entering the country for 90 days. It also made the U.S.' refugee program stricter by banning asylum-seekers from Syria indefinitely and refugees from every other country for 120 days.

After the first travel ban executive order too, dozen lawsuits were filed against it. James Robart, the District Judge with whom the five states had filed a lawsuit, had acted on one of the lawsuits filed for the first executive order, in February. He issued a nationwide restraining order prohibiting federal agents from enforcing the ban. When the Trump administration challenged the judge's decision, an appeals court refused to reinstate the ban.

Related Articles
cameronabadi

South Korea will choose a new president Tuesday amid regional and domestic turmoil that could drive record numbers of voters to the polls. What exactly does that mean for the country and its relationship with the United States?

Its a complicated question. But here are three pieces of the answer:

A return to Sunshine Policy?

After nearly a decade of conservative rule, in which Seoul favored a more confrontational approach to Pyongyang, South Koreans seem poised to pick a progressive leader who has advocated a softer line toward North Korea and said he would be open to talks with the Kim Jong Un regime.

I could sit down with Kim Jong Un  when preconditions of resolving the nuclear issue are assured, Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party told the Washington Post in an interview. Moon, currently leading in the polls by nearly 20 percent, is closely associated with the Sunshine Policy of engagement with North Korea  promoting economic aid and dialogue in hopes of building trust  which he supported as an aide to the last liberal president, Roh Moo-hyun.

Moons election could have potentially cascading effects on U.S.-South Korea relations, which have been rattled by President Donald Trumps recent statements on North Korea, trade, and the U.S.-built THAAD anti-missile defense system. Trump told Reuters in an April interview that he wanted Seoul to foot the billion-dollar bill for THAAD, despite an already established agreement between the two countries, outraging a key U.S. ally in the process.

In contrast to his conservative opponents, Moon has been vocal about reassessing the risks and benefits of THAAD, which became operational early last week and whose hasty deployment prompted criticism that the United States was trying to push it through before election day. Its only right for the THAAD deployment issue to be decided by the next administration, Moon said in March.

Corruption and political reform

Two months after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office by Koreas Constitutional Court, triggering snap presidential elections, political stagnation and a power vacuum in the Blue House have left the country rudderless and South Koreans frustrated.

Story continues

Park became embroiled in a sprawling corruption scandal in late 2016 that implicated some of the countrys largest conglomerates, including Samsung, whose de facto leader, Jay Y. Lee, has been languishing in a jail cell near Seoul since he was arrested in February on bribery charges. Park herself was formally indicted last month on 18 criminal charges  including bribery, extortion, and abuse of power  and her trial opened on May 2 amid fierce demonstrations.

This has underscored for some voters the unshakable influence of Koreas family-owned conglomerates, known as chaebol, which have benefited enormously from decades of close government cooperation. According to local pollster Realmeter, in a survey published May 3, a plurality of respondents  27.5 percent  chose a candidates intention to tackle entrenched corruption as their top criterion when selecting whom to vote for, followed by economic reform and national security, at 24.5 percent and 18.5 percent, respectively.

High voter turnout

Early voting took place last Thursday and Friday for the first time in a presidential election since it was introduced in local elections in 2014, with a record-high number of voters participating.

According to Koreas National Election Commission (NEC), a total of 11 million voters, or 26 percent of the countrys 42 million eligible voters, cast ballots at more than 3,500 pre-polling stations nationwide during the two-day early voting period. That is more than double the number of early voters in the 2016 National Assembly elections, where the early voting turnout rate was 12 percent, or one-fifth of the total number of voters who cast ballots in that election, the NEC said in a statement.

This increase in turnout seems to indicate the publics heightened interest in the election, especially among the young, and its high demand for a change in power. Nearly 87 percent of respondents surveyed by the NEC said they intended to vote in the election, up from 80 percent in the last presidential election in 2012. Interest in the election from younger voters, many of whom mobilized in large numbers early this year to demand the resignation of former President Park, saw an increase from 85 percent in 2012 to 95 percent. Youth unemployment, a key issue for voters under 30, hit an all-time high in 2016 of 9.8 percent, and a higher turnout of young people is seen as a boon to Moon, who has promised to create more than 800,000 public sector jobs.

The most recent polling by Gallup Korea put Democratic Party candidate Moon strongly in the lead, with 38 percent, followed by Ahn Cheol-soo of the center-left Peoples Party, with 20 percent.

That means the next president of South Korea will have something of a mandate from the population.

Photo credit: CHUNG SUNG-JUN/Getty Images
Dear reader, we're asking for your help to keep local reporting available for all today on the final day of our fall fundraiser. Your financial support keeps stories like this one free to read, instead of hidden behind paywalls. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Your donation today will be matched dollar-for-dollar, so your gift's impact on local news will be twice as strong! Thank you for investing in your neighborhood.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. Subscribe

Beginning Tuesday, 13 members of the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission will be in Los Angeles to assess the city's potential readiness for the 2024 games. The commission is set to evaluate L.A. before producing "a report highlighting the opportunities and challenges of [the city] with a strong focus on sustainability, legacy and athletes experience, using the analyses, as well as a number of external independent studies," notes the IOC's website.

But will the four-day visit sway the IOC's final decision much? "Its less important than it appears," David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians, told KPCC. "You have two cities [Los Angeles and Paris] that are really strong. Is there really something thats going to come out of these visits? I dont think so." Both L.A. and Paris have hosted the summer games twice. Should either city be chosen, they will play host for a third timematching London for the record.

Wallechinsky adds that a visit by the evaluation commission may be more useful in smaller, less established cities, "But a lot of these voters have already been to Paris or L.A. on their own, so they dont need an evaluation committee."

And regardless which city is selected later this year, it seems like the IOC will award the 2028 Olympic games to the other.

"All options are on the table, and this includes also the '24-'28 procedure and vote," Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, said, notes the BBC. "We have two excellent candidates from two major Olympic countries. This is a position you like to be in...It will be up to the working group how to best explore, how to best exploit, the positive situation. We should not miss the opportunity to explore this opportunity."

In the meantime, the LA2024 committee has been busy releasing fresh renderings of L.A.'s proposed venues. The IOC will meet in Lima, Peru, this September to make their final decision for the 2024 Games' host city.
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that millions of Europeans were counting on the success of incoming French president Emmanuel Macron.

"Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe," she told reporters, saying she was "very pleased" by his victory.

"He led a courageous, pro-European campaign and stands for openness to the world and decisively for the social market economy."

As France commemorated victory over the Nazis in World War II, Merkel said the two countries had "over the decades developed a solid friendship" whose preservation had become a "pillar of German policy".

"We, Germany and France, are facing many shared challenges and are working to lead the European Union into a secure and successful future," she said.

"We make an effort to coordinate our approach and take, when we can, steps together for the well-being of both our countries and the well-being of Europe."

She said she hoped and believed that cooperation with Macron would progress "in exactly this spirit".

"I wish him and all the people of France the greatest success," Merkel added.

The German leader and her government had thrown their support behind Macron against far-right and anti-EU challenger Marine Le Pen during the campaign for the French presidential election.

She spoke by telephone with Macron just minutes after his resounding win Sunday and praised his commitment to the EU.
By Mathieu Rosemain and Matthias Blamont PARIS (Reuters) - Emmanuel Macron was elected French president on Sunday with a business-friendly vision of European integration, defeating Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist who threatened to take France out of the European Union. The centrist's emphatic victory, which also smashed the dominance of Frances mainstream parties, will bring huge relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval to follow Britain's vote to quit the EU and Donald Trump's election as U.S. president. With virtually all votes counted, Macron had topped 66 percent against just under 34 percent for Le Pen - a gap wider than the 20 or so percentage points that pre-election surveys had suggested. Even so, it was a record performance for the National Front, a party whose anti-immigrant policies once made it a pariah, and underlined the scale of the divisions that Macron must now try to heal. After winning the first round two weeks ago, Macron had been accused of behaving as if he was already president. On Sunday night, with victory finally sealed, he was much more solemn. "I know the divisions in our nation, which have led some to vote for the extremes. I respect them," Macron said in an address at his campaign headquarters, shown live on television. "I know the anger, the anxiety, the doubts that very many of you have also expressed. It's my responsibility to hear them," he said. "I will work to recreate the link between Europe and its peoples, between Europe and citizens." Later he strode alone almost grimly through the courtyard of the Louvre Palace in central Paris to the strains of the EU anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, not breaking into a smile until he mounted the stage of his victory rally to the cheers of his partying supporters. His immediate challenge will be to secure a majority in next month's parliamentary election for a political movement that is barely a year old, rebranded as La Republique En Marche ("Onward the Republic"), in order to implement his program. EUROPE DEFENDED Outgoing president Francois Hollande, who brought Macron into politics, said the result "confirms that a very large majority of our fellow citizens wanted to unite around the values of the Republic and show their attachment to the European Union". Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, told Macron: "I am delighted that the ideas you defended of a strong and progressive Europe, which protects all its citizens, will be those that you will carry into your presidency." Macron spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom he hopes to revitalize the Franco-German axis at the heart of the EU, saying he planned to visit Berlin shortly. Trump tweeted his congratulations on Macron's "big win", saying he looked forward to working with him. Chinese President Xi Jinping said China was willing to help push Sino-French ties to a higher level, according to state news agency Xinhua. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also congratulated Macron. The euro currency , which had been rising for two weeks as the prospect receded that France would elect an anti-EU president, topped $1.10 in early Asian trading for the first time since the U.S. elections, before easing back. [FRX/] "Fading political risk in France adds to the chance that euro zone economic growth can surprise to the upside this year," said Holger Schmieding, an analyst at Berenberg Bank. Macron will become France's youngest leader since Napoleon. A 39-year-old former investment banker, he served for two years as economy minister under Hollande but has never previously held elected office. Le Pen, 48, said she had also offered her congratulations. But she defiantly claimed the mantle of France's main opposition in calling on "all patriots to join us" in constituting a "new political force". Her tally was almost double the score that her father Jean-Marie, the last far-right candidate to make the presidential runoff, achieved in 2002, when he was trounced by the conservative Jacques Chirac. Her high-spending, anti-globalisation "France-first" policies may have unnerved financial markets but they appealed to many poorer members of society against a background of high unemployment, social tensions and security concerns. RESHAPING THE LANDSCAPE Despite having served briefly in Hollande's deeply unpopular Socialist government, Macron managed to portray himself as the man to revive France's fortunes by recasting a political landscape moulded by the left-right divisions of the past century. "I've liked his youth and his vision from the start," said Katia Dieudonne, a 35-year-old immigrant from Haiti who brought her two children to Macron's victory rally. "He stands for the change I've wanted since I arrived in France in 1985 - openness, diversity, without stigmatizing anyone ... I've voted for the left in the past and been disappointed." Macron's team successfully skirted several attempts to derail his campaign - by hacking its communications and distributing purportedly leaked documents - that were reminiscent of the hacking of Democratic Party communications during Hillary Clinton's U.S. election campaign. Allegations by Macron's camp that a massive computer hack had compromised emails added last-minute drama on Friday night, just as official campaigning was ending. While Macron sees France's way forward in boosting the competitiveness of an open economy, Le Pen wanted to shield French workers by closing borders, quitting the EU's common currency, the euro, radically loosening the bloc and scrapping trade deals. Macron will become the eighth - and youngest - president of France's Fifth Republic when he moves into the Elysee Palace after his inauguration next weekend. Opinion surveys taken before the second round suggested that his fledgling movement, despite being barely a year old, had a fighting chance of securing the majority he needed. He plans to blend a big reduction in public spending and a relaxation of labor laws with greater investment in training and a gradual reform of the unwieldy pension system. A European integrationist and pro-NATO, he is orthodox in foreign and defense policy and shows no sign of wishing to change France's traditional alliances or reshape its military and peacekeeping roles in the Middle East and Africa. NEW GENERATION His election also represents a long-awaited generational change in French politics that have been dominated by the same faces for years. He will be the youngest leader in the current Group of Seven (G7) major nations and has elicited comparisons with youthful leaders past and present, from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to British ex-premier Tony Blair and even the late U.S. president John F. Kennedy. But any idea of a brave new political dawn will be tempered by an abstention rate on Sunday of around 25 percent, the highest this century, and by a record share of blank or spoiled ballots - submitted by more than 11 percent of those who did vote. Many of those will have been supporters of the far-left maverick Jean-Luc Melenchon, whose high-spending, anti-EU, anti-globalisation platform had many similarities with Le Pen's. Melenchon took 19 percent in coming fourth in the first round of the election, and pointedly refused to endorse Macron for the runoff. France's biggest labor union, the CFDT, welcomed Macron's victory but said the National Front's score was still worryingly high. "Now, all the anxieties expressed at the ballot by a part of the electorate must be heard," it said in a statement. "The feeling of being disenfranchised, of injustice, and even abandonment is present among a large number of our citizens." The more radical leftist CGT union called for a demonstration on Monday against "liberal" economic policies. Like Macron, Le Pen will now have to work to try to convert her presidential result into parliamentary seats, in a two-round system that has in the past encouraged voters to cast ballots tactically to keep her out. She has worked for years to soften the xenophobic associations that clung to the National Front under her father, going so far as to expel him from the party he founded. On Sunday night, her deputy Florian Philippot distanced the movement even further from him by saying the new, reconstituted party would not be called "National Front". (Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander, Andrew Callus, Marina Depetris, Bate Felix, Sybille de la Hamaide, Mathieu Rosemain, Sarah White, Matthias Blamont, Julien Pretot, Geert de Clercq, Adrian Croft, Leigh Thomas, Helen Reid, Tim Hepher, Jemima Kelly, Maya Nikolaeva, Dominique Vidalon, Cyril Altmeyer and Gus Trompiz; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Paul Tait)
It was a poignant moment in Boston as the man accused of slaying two doctors was arraigned in his hospital bed.

Read: Engaged Doctors Found in Penthouse With Throats Slit: 'Why Did This Happen?'

A judge was present at the hearing at Tufts Medical Center in Boston Monday as 30-year-old accused killer Bampumim Teixeira mostly kept his eyes shut.

As the proceedings unfolded, he could be seen nodding every now and then. He didn't say a word, except at the end when he mumbled something indecipherable.

Authorities say Bampumim Teixeira was wounded after he opened fire on cops responding to a report of a double homicide in the penthouse of a swanky apartment building in Boston.

Police found two doctors with their throats slit and hands bound. The victims were identified as anesthesiologists Lina Bolanos, 38, and her fiance Richard Field, 49.

Dr. Field and Dr. Bolanos may have knew their alleged killer, although it's not known how. Nor is it known how Texeira allegedly entered the penthouse.

Dr. Richard Field had reportedly tried to text a friend for help, saying an armed man was inside their apartment. Sadly, help did not arrive in time.

A plea of not guilty was entered for the accused murderer.

Read: Vet Charged With Shooting Her Service Dog Found Dead in Apparent Suicide: Report

Police say that the accused murderer has a history of robbing banks and a pair of larceny convictions on his record.

A motive for the killings remains unclear.

Watch: Facebook Killer Promised Girlfriend He'd Change in Messages He Left Before Murder

Related Articles:
(Reuters) - A New Orleans preservationist on Monday sued to stop the city from removing a statue of a Confederate general that critics say glorifies the era of slavery in the U.S. South.

The lawsuit, filed by Richard Marksbury in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, says the city cannot legally take down the statue of Confederate States Army General P.G.T. Beauregard because it does not own the memorial or the land it's on.

"If that monument is removed, then they (the city) would open themselves up to some legal action," said Marksbury, who is a member of the Monumental Task Committee, a volunteer group that works to preserve monuments in New Orleans.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu could not be reached for comment, but his office released a statement on Monday to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

"At this point, the Monumental Task Committee's time would be better spent working to find a museum or private land where these statues can be displayed in context rather than continuing to fight a lost cause," the statement said.

An Orleans Civil District judge on Monday declined to issue an order that would temporarily block removal of the Beauregard statue, according to the Times-Picayune.

But the judge asked attorneys for the city to appear in court on Wednesday for oral arguments on the ongoing request for a preliminary injunction to halt the monument's removal, the newspaper said.

Marksbury's lawsuit is the latest legal challenge to the city's decision in 2015 to remove Beauregard's statue and three other monuments honoring leaders of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War.

In March, a U.S. appeals court ruled that New Orleans had a right to proceed.

The first of the four monuments was removed last month, with the aim of relocating it elsewhere. At that time, Landrieu said the removals would send a message of "diversity, inclusion and tolerance."

On Sunday, supporters of the monuments, some waving Confederate flags, clashed with demonstrators near the site of a statue honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee that is also slated for removal.

In recent years, a string of southern states have moved Confederate-era monuments to museums, an effort that intensified after the June 17, 2015, massacre of nine blacks in a Charleston, South Carolina, church by a white supremacist.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney in New York and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Paul Simao and Michael Perry)
She was just one more unwanted dog held in a shelter and facing an uncertain future  but now shes a social-media star who changes lives for the better.

Marnie the Dog was found abandoned and fending for herself in the streets of Connecticut. At 10 years old, the little Shih Tzu had stomach worms, her teeth were decaying, and she was almost blind in one eye. The shelter dubbed her Stinky because her coat was filthy and matted.

But Stinky beat the odds. After four long months at the shelter, Stinky was adopted and renamed Marnie. After a good bath and tons of patient love, the pup began to perk up and her spectacular personality shone through. Now Marnie has more than two million followers on Instagram and has met tons of celebrity fans.

Watch: The Dog that Helps Little Girl with Her Diabetes

This hard-working pooch is also an author (her book is called Marnie the Dog: Im a Book), an activist, and a volunteer at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, lifting the spirits of young patients. I think we can all learn a little something from Marnies philosophy, says ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork. When life gets rough, just show it some love and give it some tongue. I couldnt have said it better myself.

Marnie and Shirley, her owner, join The Doctors. Shirley explains that she saw Marnies picture on Petfinder.com and fell in love. OK, thats the dog I need in my life! she says.

Veterinarian Dr. Arvid Edward explains Marnies job as a therapy dog. They provide therapeutic contact for people in clinical settings like hospitals, hospices, rehabilitation, mental hospitals, etc. Seeing and petting a dog like Marnie can bring a sense of normalcy to kids in a scary situation.

Watch: Dr. Travis Shares His Love for His Beloved Dog, Nala

Im a big believer in rescuing dogs, adds Dr. Stork. Do you think a rescue dog like Marnie is more in tune, potentially, when theyre in a hospital setting because of their circumstances? Dr. Storks own dog of 17 years, Nala, was a rescue dog. Dr. Edward agrees that rescued dogs can be more empathetic.

Marnie is proof that youre never too old or too overlooked to do some good in the world  and to love and be loved.
One spa is offering an unusual service  a relaxing neck massage from the owners four-foot-long pet ball python, named Monty. The spa claims that the rhythmic muscle contractions Monty uses to move provide the same benefits as a vigorous massage by hand.

Watch: Dare: Dr. Travis Braves a Snake!

ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork is no fan of snakes, but he wants to be fair  so he asks Veterinarian Dr. Arvid Edward, Is this safe? Because this is how they kill their prey, isnt it? Dr. Edward says this four-foot python is too small to see humans as food items. Its like a teacup poodle trying to eat you! And ball pythons, unlike their larger Burmese python cousins, are docile and gentle.

However, Dr. Edward is very concerned that people might try this at home without knowing what theyre doing. And if they used a larger or more aggressive snake, like a Burmese python, it could be very dangerous.

Watch: Man Marries Pet Snake!?

I think the most important takeaway is, know what youre signing up for, Dr. Stork concludes. Dont take some random snake and throw it around your neck. And he does admit that Monty the python is kind of cute  but he wont be signing up for a snake massage anytime soon!
Madrid (AFP) - About 100 African migrants stormed over a high double fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Tuesday in a violent assault that left three police officers injured, officials said.

Around 300 sub-Saharan African migrants attempted to force their way across the fence at about 7am (0500 GMT) in a coordinated operation, a Spanish police spokesman said.

"Around 100 managed to enter Melilla," he told AFP.

The barrier is composed of two six-metre-high (20-feet-high) fences, with criss-crossing steel cables in between. In order to get across, migrants often use hooks and shoes studded with nails.

Three policemen were injured in clashes with the migrants, who kicked and threw rocks at the officers, Spain's interior ministry said in a statement.

One of the officers was injured in the hand by one of the hooks used by migrants and several police vehicles were damaged, it added.

Three migrants suffered bruises and small cuts in the attempt to cross the border, said a Red cross spokesman in Melilla.

Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish enclave nearly 400 kilometres (250 miles) away on the north coast of Africa, are often used as entry points into Europe for African migrants.

They have the only two land borders between Africa and the European Union.

Thousands of migrants have attempted to cross the 12-kilometre (7.5 mile) frontier between Melilla and Morocco, or the eight-kilometre border at Ceuta, by climbing the border fences, swimming along the coast or hiding in vehicles.

In February around 850 migrants managed to storm across the border into Ceuta over four days.

Spain announced in March that it would nearly double the capacity of its migrant reception centres in the two territories to 8,500 places from 4,500.

Spain has drawn criticism from human rights groups for allowing some migrants to be immediately turned back to Morocco in such incidents. They argue that skipping the lengthier deportation procedures deprives people of the opportunity to claim asylum.
cameronabadi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet on Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington, where the two are slated to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and how to set the state for a political settlement in Syria, according to the State Department.

Though U.S.-Russia relations plunged to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War (at least according to the White House and Kremlin), Tillerson and Lavrov have met twice before since President Donald Trump took office: Once in Bonn, Germany in February, and once in Moscow in April.

This will be the first time Lavrov visited Washington since 2013. The last time a Russian president visited Washington was when then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev came to town in June 2010, a reality that underscores how tense relations between the two countries have become.

Hopes that Trumps election would somehow dramatically strengthen ties were dashed shortly after Trump was inaugurated. Among other setbacks, Michael Flynn, Trumps first national security adviser, was forced to resign for lying Vice President Michael Pence about whether he discussed lifting sanctions with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak. Russian politicians and pundits alike decried the move as a Russophobic witch hunt. Tillersons visit to Moscow days after Trump launched 59 tomahawk missiles at an airbase in Syria did not helped matters.

The situation in Ukraine, in the meantime, has made little progress since Tillersons April meeting with Lavrov. Fighting between Ukrainians and Russian-backed separatists continues, and Russia still has not implemented the Minsk agreements. Ukraine was not included in either the White House or Kremlin readout of U.S. President Donald Trumps May 2 call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Tillerson and his counterpart are also set to address Ukraine this week. According to the State Department, the two officials will discuss the need to end the violence in eastern Ukraine and put the Minsk agreements into effect  much the same discussion that the United States and Russia have been having on Ukraine since 2014.

Story continues

Tillerson and Lavrov are also set to discuss Syria, another situation at a seeming standstill. President Trump has pledged to work with Russia to broker peace in Syria, where the Kremlin is still backing President Bashar al-Assad in the countrys deadly civil war. In May, Trump sent the senior U.S. Middle East envoy, Stuart Jones, to Russian-mediated Syria cease-fire talks held in Astana, Kazakhstan, where Russia, Iran, and Turkey signed a deal on de-escalation zones  that is, safe zones. That deal has been in effect since Saturday.

Ahead of Tillersons trip to Moscow, experts advised that perhaps some compromise could be found regarding Assad  Russia has long said that it is open to a future without the Syrian strongman.

One thing likely not on th agenda: the multiple investigations currently underway concerning Trumps potential ties to Russia, which officials in Moscow has repeatedly insisted is a U.S. domestic matter.

Photo credit: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to London on Sunday night for follow-up medical tests, handing over power to his deputy Yemi Osibanjo, his office said. Buhari, 74, returned to Nigeria two months ago after receiving medical treatment in Britain. Officials have refused to disclose details of his medical condition. The president met on Sunday a group of 82 girls who had been released after being held captive for three years by Islamist militants, but he did not attend a cabinet meeting last Wednesday. That was his third consecutive absence from the weekly meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. [nL8N1I90AY] "The length of the President's stay in London will be determined by the doctors," the president's office said in a statement. "Government will continue to function normally under the able leadership of the vice president," it said, adding that there was no cause for worry. Buhari, a former military ruler, returned home in March after nearly two months' medical leave in Britain and said he would need more rest and then go back to Britain for follow-up tests. The president's office said Buhari had notified both chambers of parliament of his trip, which will put Osinbajo formally in charge. Osinbajo, a lawyer who is seen as more business-friendly than Buhari, has played an active role in driving policy changes, chairing cabinet meetings during the president's medical leave. Officials have sought to avoid a scenario seen in 2010 when political infighting broke out when then-President Umaru Yar'Adua was sick for months. Osinbajo was already given full powers to act during Buhari's previous absence, in contrast to his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan who only took over after Yar'Adua's death in 2010 ended a power vacuum. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Felix Onuah; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Susan Fenton)
Another day, another contentious town hall for a Republican congressman. In Dubuque, Iowa, on Monday, Republican Rep. Rod Blum faced pointed questions from constituents angry about his yes vote on the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Blum, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, initially opposed the GOP plan, but wound up voting for the updated legislation, which narrowly passed on Thursday without receiving a score from the Congressional Budget Office.

You voted for this bill in a rush, one woman said. There were no committee hearings. This is my life. The Congressional Budget Office didnt score this bill.  What was the rush?

I have always said the process was bad, Blum said. It was rushed. There should have been hearings.

Blum insisted that the current version of the health care bill  now in the Senate  is better than what we have and is heading in the right direction.

The argument drew boos from the audience.

As the boos grew louder, Blum turned to an aide and said, Nobodys listening.

Related: GOP rep: Nobody dies because they dont have access to health care

According to the Washington Post, Blum was just one of 14 House Republicans who voted for the bill to schedule a town hall this week. (A total of 217, all Republicans, voted for the legislation.)

Earlier Monday, Blum abruptly walked out of an interview with a local television station at a community center when a reporter asked why he was requiring town hall attendees to show their identification to be admitted.

This is ridiculous, Blum said as he left the room, which was filled with schoolchildren. Hes just going to sit here and badger me.

Blum later said he was ambushed by the reporter, KCRG-TVs Josh Scheinblum.

But Scheinblum tweeted that he had informed Blums staff of his intentions weeks ahead of time.

On Friday, Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, was booed during a town hall when he claimed, Nobody dies because they dont have access to health care, while defending his vote for the GOP bill.

Story continues

Over the weekend, Labrador conceded the quip wasnt very elegant.

Read more from Yahoo News:
North Korea could be planning an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) strike on the US with two satellites already orbiting above the Earth, an expert has claimed.

Dr Peter Vincent Pry claims that Pyongyang may be secretly developing the ability to detonate a high-altitude nuclear weapon in space which would set off the pulse, wiping out electrical systems below.

The secretive kingdom is believed to have started a satellite programme during the 1980s and successfully launched two observation satellites in 2012 and 2016, which take an estimated 94 minutes to complete an orbit of the earth.

Dr Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security who sits a US Congress committee on EMPs, claimed North Korea is practising a cyberage version of battleship diplomacy so they can always have one of [their satellites] very close to being over the United States.

He said the North Koreans may use this as a bargaining chip if the US threatens to carry out military sanctions against the regime.

It follows months of increasingly aggressive rhetoric on both sides of the dispute over Pyongyangs continued nuclear programme.

The Trump administration has warned that the Obama-era policy of strategic patience was over and the President has said he will solve the problem with or without Chinas help.

Last week Donald Trump said he would like to resolve the situation peacefully but warned that a major, major conflict with North Korea is absolutely possible.

On the North Korean side, Pyongyang has threatened a merciless response to any US provocation.

Although people doubt North Korea has the technology to launch a direct attack on the US, experts warn they are getting closer and can still target Seoul or Tokyo.

Dr Pry said Pyongyang might be engaging in this different type of warfare after taking inspiration from a plan the Soviet Union drew up  but never carried out  to attack the US with an EMP during the Cold War.

Story continues

Read more

North Korea vows more nuclear tests to push force to 'the maximum'

He told far-right US website Breitbart he believed that the recent rocket tests looked suspiciously like practice for an EMP attack.

But nuclear non-proliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis said the claims that an EMP strike could wipe electrical systems below was silly.

In an article for Newsmax, he pointed to a test carried out by the US in 1962 known as Starfish Prime.

Although the bomb detonated nearly 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean was 100 times larger than the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, the only recorded effect was the failure of one set of street lights in Honolulu.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.
Former President Barack Obama gave a speech Tuesday in Milan, Italy, at a summit on food innovation. During a question-and-answer session after the speech, Obama may have tossed in a dig at people who didnt show up to the polls in November.

You get the politicians you deserve, Obama said without mentioning President Trump. And if you dont vote and you dont participate and you dont pay attention, then youll get policies that dont reflect your interests.

The comments came during a discussion about leadership.

The mark of a good leader is somebody who is able to empower other people, Obama said. So often we think of leadership as somebody at the top who is ordering other people around  but it turns out, for me at least, what made me understand leadership was when I could see somebody who thought they didnt have a voice, thought they didnt have influence or didnt have power, and teach them how to speak up on the things that were affecting their lives.

Politicians can help guide policy, he added. But change is going to come from what people do every day.

Former President Barack Obama (Photo: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters)

The 55-year-old former president, who signed a record book deal in March, said he is spending most of his time lately working on a memoir, fighting Michelle for closet space and carving out the next phase of his political career: empowering an effective network of global activists.

When I was president, wherever I would go, I would meet with young people, Obama said. And it would always give me energy and inspiration to see how much talent and sophistication and optimism and idealism existed among young people.

The problem is so often young peoples voices arent heard, and when they want to get involved on issues, they dont know how and they dont have the tools, Obama continued.

The goal of the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center, he said, is to provide them the tools, the training, the networks, the relationships, the funding, so that they can be even more effective. Thats probably what Im going to be spending most of the next 10 years on.

Story continues

Read more from Yahoo News:
Obama made warning when he met Trump in the White House

Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser over Russia contacts



Barack Obama warned Donald Trump in November against hiring Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign as national security adviser over his contacts with Russia after less than three weeks in office.

The outgoing president issued the warning when the two men met in the White House two days after Trumps election victory, White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed on Monday.

Spicer acknowledged that Obama had expressed misgivings about Flynn, a former general, but said they were general criticisms.

Its true that President Obama made it known that he wasnt exactly a fan of Gen Flynns, Spicer said, but added that such remarks were unsurprising as Flynn had been an outspoken critic of the Obama administrations policies. He said Flynns security clearance had been renewed in April 2016, and the Obama White House had not stepped in to revoke it.

Flynn was appointed head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 2012 but was fired two years later, reportedly over dissatisfaction over his management style and temperament. Reports on Monday attributed to Obama officials differed on whether the concerns voiced by Obama were linked to his DIA performance or because of his Russia links. Flynn had received income from RT in 2015, a state-run television channel formerly known as Russia Today, which he did not initially declare.

Despite Obamas warnings, Trump picked Flynn as his national security adviser, but the retired general was forced to resign after little more than three weeks after it emerged he had had extensive contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak, and had not given a full account of them to other White House officials.

Federal records also showed that his company, the Flynn Intel Group, had been paid more than a half-million dollars to lobby on behalf of projects that benefited the Turkish government in 2016.

Story continues

The news reports that Obama had alerted Trump over concerns about Flynn came hours before the former acting attorney general Sally Yates was due to testify to a Senate committee on her own warnings to the White House days after Trump took office that Flynn had put himself in a compromising position by his failure to make a full disclosure of his Kislyak contacts. Yates was fired a few days after her White House warning, at the end of January, for refusing to defend the travel ban, suspending entry for refugees and travelers from seven Muslim countries, in court.

Yates testimony is expected to contradict the White House, which has sought to play down the detail and severity of her warnings about Flynn, at a time when the Trump campaigns contacts with the Russian government in general are under scrutiny by the FBI and Congress.

But in her written testimony, Yates told the committee she was limited in what she could say in open hearing.

I want to note that I intend my answers today to be as fulsome and comprehensive as possible while respecting my legal and ethical boundaries, she said. As the subcommittee understands, many of the topics of interest today concern classified information that I cannot address in this public setting, either directly or indirectly. My duty to protect classified information applies just as much to me as a former official as it did when I led the department.

On the day of her testimony, Trump tweeted: Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to [White House] counsel.

The tweet referred to a conversation Yates had with the White House legal adviser, Donald McGahn, about Flynns position, and appeared to hint that she would know who had leaked the content of the discussion.

Asked about the meaning of the message, Spicer said: The tweet speaks for itself.

Trump also blamed the Obama administration for giving Flynn a security clearance. General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration - but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that, the president tweeted on Monday.

Spicer echoed this attack at his briefing, asking: If President Obama was truly concerned about Flynn, why didnt he pull his security clearance?

CNN reported that the concerns Obama raised about Flynn when he met Trump at the White House were connected to the Russia investigation.

Flynns name kept popping up, one senior Obama administration source is quoted as saying.

However, NBC quoted a former official as saying that Obama had only passed on a general caution that he believed Flynn was not suitable for such a high-level post.

Retired military officers can retain their security clearance subject to periodic background checks, which cover foreign payments and contacts. Failure to make full disclosure of such contacts in an application for renewal of clearance is punishable by a fine or five years imprisonment.

Obama administration officials say that such security clearance renewals after retirement are routine, and that vetting for a top White House post such as national security adviser would require a much higher threshold. They said such vetting was the responsibility of any incoming administration.

Additional reporting by Ben Jacobs in Washington
Washington (AFP) - Barack Obama warned his soon to be successor Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as his national security advisor, a former administration official told AFP Monday.

As President Trump sought to blame the Obama administration for missing Flynn's links with Russian contacts, the former administration revealed that Obama warned Trump personally about the embattled retired general.

Flynn lasted just 24 days as national security adviser before being fired by Trump for not telling the truth about contacts he had had with Russia's ambassador to Washington.

Obama hired, and fired, Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Obama warned Trump about Flynn's conduct during a first meeting in the Oval Office, a warning "based on Flynns role as head of DIA," a former administration official said.

Despite that message, Trump hired Flynn to the high profile job of national security advisor -- the president's top foreign and security policy aide -- before firing him for misleading the administration about his contacts with Russia.

Later on Monday, former acting attorney general Sally Yates is expected to tell a Senate inquiry that she also explicitly warned Trump's team in January that Flynn could be compromised by once-concealed communications with Russia's US ambassador.

Trump, who fired Yates soon after taking office, fired off a series of pre-emptive strikes ahead of her appearance on Capitol Hill, accusing Obama of enabling Flynn and assailing Yates for allegedly leaking classified information.

"General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration," Trump tweeted early Monday.

"Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel," he added, apparently referring to the counsel's office, an in-house legal team.
Ketamine, a drug that is used primarily as an anesthetic and pain reliever, may show some promise as a potential treatment for depression, a new study suggests.

Ketamine is not an approved treatment for depression, but the researchers at the University of California, San Diego used a novel approach to study whether the drug exhibits an antidepressant effect: They looked at symptoms of depression reported by people who had been given ketamine as a treatment for chronic pain, and compared them with depression symptoms in people who were given other pain medications, according to the findings published yesterday (May 3) in the journal Scientific Reports.

The analysis found a 50 percent drop in people's reports of their depression-related symptoms with ketamine, compared with the use of other pain medications, said lead study author Ruben Abagyan, a professor of pharmacy at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. [7 Ways Depression Differs in Men and Women]

Ketamine is typically used as an anesthetic in hospital emergency rooms, and is typically given intravenously or intramuscularly, Abagyan told Live Science. It acts quickly to relieve pain, and can produce a trance-like state in patients, he said.

However, oral or intranasal forms of ketamine are also used illegally as a street (or recreational) drug, and are known to cause hallucinations, Abagyan said. The street drug is sometimes called Special K. [7 Odd Hallucinations]

Reverse methodology

Doctors who have used ketamine with their patients who have chronic pain have observed its fast-acting qualities, and a few physicians have experimented with using it intravenously for patients with depression who have not been helped by other treatments, the study authors wrote.

The two to three weeks it takes for other drugs that treat depression to work can be a long time for a patient who has depression accompanied by suicidal thoughts, according to the study authors. Live Science previously reported that ketamine can produce an antidepressant effect within two hours.

Story continues

There have been a few, very small clinical trials that have suggested that ketamine is an effective approach for people with treatment-resistant depression, bipolar depression and major depression with suicidal thoughts, but there is a lack of evidence from a large-scale clinical trial, Abagyan said.

As a first step toward accumulating statistical evidence of ketamine's possible antidepressant effects on a large-scale population level, the researchers turned to the more than 8 million patient records in the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System.

Although this large FDA database was designed to collect data from physicians, pharmacists, patients, family members and lawyers on a medication's negative effects after a drug has been approved for use, it also contains information about general side effects and complaints, the study authors said. [7 Bizarre Drug Side Effects]

The researchers used an inverse-frequency methodology, Abagyan said. Instead of looking for an increase in complaints on the harmful effects of a drug, they looked for whether there was a decrease in depression symptoms as the beneficial effects of a drug, he said.

Unintended effects

The researchers developed a mathematical formula to compare data from about 41,000 patients who used ketamine for chronic pain any time during the first three months of 2004 and the first three months of 2016, with about 239,000 patients who used other pain medications during these same periods.

Besides discovering that ketamine had an antidepressant effect, the results also revealed that the patients who were given ketamine for pain relief were less likely to have constipation, vomiting and nausea, three side effects often linked with the use of opioid drugs for pain. But ketamine did have some negative side effects, such as kidney failure, low blood pressure and fevers.

Ketamine was not the only drug to display some antidepressant effects. The researchers also identified three others drugs that may also have this unintended effect on depression, Abagyan said. These three included Botox, the botulinum toxin often used to improve the look of wrinkles and treat migraines; minocycline, an antibiotic; and diclofenac, a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).

Now that there is some large-scale evidence that ketamine and these three other medications might be alternative medications for depression, and because many of the existing treatments for depression have not been satisfactory for some people, it might be time to explore the potential benefits of these approaches by moving toward a clinical trial of them, Abagyan said.

A clinical trial is necessary to establish what dose of ketamine may work for people with depression, and the best method to administer the drug, as well as to figure out the drug's possible mechanism of action, he said.

Originally published on Live Science.

Editor's Recommendations
Pakistan and Afghanistan plan to use Google Maps to help settle a border dispute that led to deadly clashes last week, officials from both sides said Monday.

At least eight civilians were killed on both sides in fighting that began when a Pakistani census team accompanied by soldiers visited disputed villages along the southern border on Friday.

Pakistan inherited its 2,400-kilometre (1,500-mile) border with its western neighbour when it gained independence from Britain in 1947, but Afghanistan has never formally recognised it.

And while official Afghan maps reflect the so-called "Durand Line", many nationalists believe the true border of their country ends at the River Indus that runs though Pakistan and gave India its name.

"Officials from the geological survey departments of the two countries will conduct a survey, and they will also make use of Google Maps," said a senior Pakistani security source in Islamabad who requested anonymity.

Abdul Razeq, the police chief of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, added: "After negotiations, both sides have agreed that a geological survey should be conducted.

"Technical teams of both countries will use GPS and Google Maps as well as other means to get the answer."

Internet firm Google complies with local laws in certain countries that compel it to show borders in line with national demands. For instance, its Indian site shows the entirety of disputed Kashmir as controlled by India.

In Pakistan, however, the site shows the internationally recognised de facto border, the Line of Control, marked with a dotted line to denote it is disputed.

In 2010 Google was embroiled in a Central American border dispute that saw two neighbouring countries dispatch troops and heavily armed police to their joint border.

The incident happened after a Nicaraguan commander cited Google's version of the border map in an interview with Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion to justify a raid on a disputed area of Costa Rica.

Story continues

Google later said it had made a mistake and corrected its map to reflect one sanctioned by the US State Department.

Pakistan last year began trying to harden the traditionally soft border with Afghanistan through trenching and fencing, but its efforts were met with hostility from Kabul.

Ethnic Pashtuns living in the region have traditionally paid it little heed. Villages straddling the frontier have mosques and houses with one door in Pakistan and another in Afghanistan.

Pakistani forces on Sunday elevated their rhetoric when they said they had also killed "more than 50 soldiers" in last week's border clashes -- a claim quickly rejected by Kabul, which said it lost two soldiers.
Jerusalem (AFP) - A Palestinian teenager attempted to stab Israeli police at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday before she was shot dead, Israeli authorities said.

Police said the assailant approached officers while pulling out a knife at Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City and the site of a number of such incidents in recent months.

The attacker was 16-year-old Fatima Hajiji, a resident of Qarawat Bani Zeid, north of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

A wave of unrest which erupted in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 262 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.
By Arshad Mohammed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday she would prefer that President Donald Trump not criticize judges and the media but that U.S. democratic institutions can withstand such comments. Speaking in an interview, Rice also described Trump as having a somewhat "transactional" view of foreign relations but she broadly endorsed his approach of seeking to enlist China's help to get North Korea to rein in its nuclear program. Asked about Trump lashing out at judges when rulings go against him and describing the media as "the enemy of the people," Rice replied: "Its language that I would prefer not to hear. "But I dont think that you can erode the scaffolding of democracy in the United States," she added during a tour to promote her book "Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom." Rice, national security adviser and secretary of state under Republican former President George W. Bush, is now a professor at Stanford University. She described U.S. institutions as "very strong" and said Trump "may have even found himself a bit surprised by how constraining that scaffolding really is." Courts have blocked parts of two Trump executive orders that sought to temporarily ban entry to the United States for people from six Muslim-majority countries. In a 30-minute interview, Rice said the United States needed to find a way to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. election but without engaging in 'tit-for-tat' retaliation by meddling in Russian elections. She suggested prosecuting anyone in the United States who took part in what intelligence agencies believe was a deliberate effort to sway the presidential election in Trump's favor, and to consider putting sanctions, such as visa bans, on people who did so from abroad. 'TRANSACTIONAL VIEW' Rice, who has interspersed periods in public service with academic posts, suggested Trump, a New York real estate magnate, may see foreign policy more in terms of striking deals than finding common interests. Before meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, Trump suggested China might get better trade deals with the United States if it put more pressure on North Korea to restrain its nuclear and missile programs. "The president still has a kind of transactional view of international politics but, in fact, interests are more enduring than transactions," Rice said. However, Rice endorsed Trump's policy of trying to enlist Chinese help against North Korea, which is believed to have conducted five nuclear tests since 2006 and to be developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike the U.S. mainland. China, the North's main trading partner and the closest thing it has to an ally, has historically been unwilling to tighten the economic screws on Pyongyang for fear of triggering a collapse and sending millions of refugees across the border. Rice said the U.S. task was to convince the Chinese that they had to choose between doing "really hard things to bring this regime into line or we will have to do harsh things." The former secretary of state also said North Korea's current leader, Kim Jong Un, is far less predictable than his father, Kim Jong Il, and may not be fully rational. "Kim Jong Un is far more reckless than his father ... I wonder if he is not a little unhinged," she said. "I wonder if the Chinese arent beginning to reconsider their view that ... a stable North Korean regime, even if it is nuclear-armed, is better than an unstable one." (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Sally Yates batted off cross-examination from Senator Ted Cruz during a testy exchange over Donald Trump's proposed travel ban during her Senate testimony on Russian meddling in the election.

Mr Cruz tried to challenge the former acting Attorney General's decision not to enforce Mr Trump's ban - the original version of which would have restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority countries - only to find that she had come prepared.

Ms Yates determined the executive order violated the fundamental right to freedom of religion and so stuck by the decision, which would eventually lead to her dismissal from her job.

Read more

Trump attacks Yates hours before she testifies in Russia investigation

Republican Senator John Cornyn repeatedly chided Ms Yates for overruling the Office of Legal Counsel (OOLC) within the Department of Justice that had determined the travel ban was lawful.

He said the decision to make the determination of whether Mr Trumps executive order was unlawful should have been left up to the courts. Mr Cornyn did not mention the district courts that have blocked the executive order.

The [OOLC] has a narrow function. They look at the face of the executive order...purely on its face, she explained.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

That office does not take into account extemporaneous comments on the intent of the executive order, Ms Yates said.

Ms Yates reminded Mr Cornyn that during her confirmation hearing under the Obama administration that she vowed, under oath, to tell the President if she was asked to do something she determined to be unlawful or inconsistent with the principles of the Department of Justice.

Ted Cruz, the Republican Senator from Texas, read out the federal regulation relevant to the Presidents authority regarding barring aliens from entering the US if it is not in the best interest of the country.

Story continues

Ms Yates then read another portion of the same regulation, passed after the portion to which Mr Cruz referred: no person shall receive preference or be discriminated in issuance of a visa against because of race, nationality, or place of birth.

Thats been part of the discussions with the courts...is whether this more specific statute trumps the first one that you just described, Ms Yates explained.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar noted that the same day the Muslim ban executive order was signed was also the same day Ms Yates had a meeting with the White House to warn them about former National Security Advisor Mike Flynns ties to Russian officials.

Ms Yates said the White House not only did not consult with her office about the order, but did not tell her it was coming either, adding that she found out about it from the media.

"I did my job," Ms Yates said.
Former acting attorney general testifies to warning counsel that the then national security adviser was susceptible to blackmail by Russia on 26 January

Former acting US attorney general Sally Yates said on Monday that she warned the White House on 26 January that then national security adviser Michael Flynn was compromised and open to blackmail by the Russian government.



Her comments to a Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing came after it emerged that Barack Obama had warned Donald Trump in November against hiring Flynn, who was forced to resign as national security adviser over his contacts with Russia after less than three weeks in office.

Testifying for the first time about her knowledge of contacts between the Trump camp and Moscow, Yates said on Monday that she requested an urgent meeting with the White House counsel, Don McGahn, after she became aware that the White House had made false public statements about Flynns contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington, Sergey Kislyak.



White House officials including the vice-president, Mike Pence, had stated that Flynn and Kislyak had simply exchanged pleasantries and talked about arranging a future meeting between Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

It later emerged that the conversations were more extensive and included discussion of sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration.

Yates said that she telephoned McGahn on the morning of 26 January, two days after the FBI interviewed Flynn about the contacts and had given her a detailed readout of the interview. She told McGahn she needed to meet him in person because what she had to say was so sensitive.



Yates and a senior justice department colleague met McGahn the same afternoon in a secure room in the White House and told him that statements made by Pence and other administration officials about Flynns behaviour were untrue, and that Flynns underlying conduct was problematic in and of itself.



Story continues

McGahn called Yates back to the White House on 27 January and put further questions to her about Flynn. According to her Senate testimony, the White House counsel asked her: Why does it matter to the Department of Justice whether one White House official lies to another White House official?

We explained to him that its a lot more than that, Yates said. We also said that we werent the only ones who knew this. The Russians also knew what General Flynn had done and that what Pence said was not true. The Russians not only knew this but they also likely had proof.

Yates added: To restate the obvious, you dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.

McGahn also asked whether Flynns actions could lead to criminal prosecution and whether White House action against him would interfere with FBI investigations.

Yates said she could not speak about statutes under which Flynn might be prosecuted without revealing classified information about the investigation, but she told McGahn that any White House action on Flynn would not interfere with the FBI investigation as he had already been interviewed.

Lastly, McGahn asked Yates whether he or his staff could come to the justice department to review classified evidence of Flynns conduct. Yates consulted the FBI over the weekend and called McGahn back on Monday, 30 January, and said White House officials could come to the department to review the material.

She said she did not know if McGahn or his staff took up her offer, as that was her last day at the department: Trump fired her on the night of 30 January, ostensibly because she had refused to defend his executive order suspending entry for refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Flynn resigned on 13 February only after the details of his contacts with Kislyak were leaked to the press. Yates said she did not know what action the White House took, if any, to restrict his access to classified material.

I dont know what they did, she told the Senate panel. They took it seriously during the meeting. If they didnt do anything, that would be concerning.

Yates appeared before the judiciary sub-committee alongside James Clapper, the director of national intelligence under the Obama administration. He confirmed a Guardian report from March that the UK electronic intelligence agency GCHQ had first tipped off US intelligence on contacts between the Trump camp and Moscow in 2015 and that other western agencies had passed on additional details in the first half of 2016.

Asked if that report was accurate, Clapper said: Yes, it is and its also quite sensitive.

Pushed on how US intelligence had responded to the tip off, he appear to waver on the details, but confirmed the US had been watching Russian interference since 2015.

Well, Im not sure about the accuracy of that article, so clearly over actually going back to 2015, there was evidence of ... Russian activity. Mainly, in an information gathering or recon ordering mode, where they were investigating voter registration rolls and the like, Clapper said. And that activity started early, and so, we were monitoring this as it progressed, and certainly as it picked up, accelerated in spring, summer and fall of 2016.

Earlier, White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed that Obama had warned his successor about Flynn when the two men met in the White House two days after Trumps election victory.



Spicer acknowledged that Obama had expressed misgivings about Flynn, a former general, but said they were general criticisms.

Its true that President Obama made it known that he wasnt exactly a fan of General Flynns, Spicer said, but added that such remarks were unsurprising as Flynn had been an outspoken critic of the Obama administrations policies. He said Flynns security clearance had been renewed in April 2016, and the Obama White House had not stepped in to revoke it.

Flynn was appointed head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in 2012 but was fired two years later, reportedly over dissatisfaction over his management style and temperament. Reports on Monday attributed to Obama officials differed on whether the concerns voiced by Obama were linked to his DIA performance or because of his Russia links. Flynn had received income from RT in 2015, a state-run television channel formerly known as Russia Today, which he did not initially declare.
Seoul (AFP) - Left-leaning former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-In began his five-year term as president of South Korea Wednesday, following a landslide election win after a corruption scandal felled the country's last leader.

Tuesday's ballot was called after Park Geun-Hye was ousted and indicted for corruption, and took place against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North.

Voters were galvanised by anger over the sprawling bribery and abuse-of-power controversy that brought down Park, which catalysed frustrations over jobs and slowing growth.

Moon, of the Democratic Party, who backs engagement with the North, promised unity after final results from the National Election Commission (NEC) showed he took 41.1 percent of the vote -- some 13.4 million ballots.

Conservative Hong Joon-Pyo -- who dubbed Moon a "pro-Pyongyang leftist" was far behind on 24.03 percent, with centrist Ahn Cheol-Soo third on 21.4 percent

Voter turnout was at its highest in 20 years, the Yonhap news agency reported. Moon's inauguration ceremony was expected to take place at the National Assembly at midday (0300 GMT), the agency said, after the NEC confirmed the start of his mandate.

The result was "a great victory of great people" who wanted to create "a country of justice... where rules and common sense prevail", Moon told cheering supporters on Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul -- where vast crowds gathered for candlelit protests over several months to demand Park's removal.

The graft scandal plunged the country into political turmoil and bitter division, but Moon promised healing, telling the crowd: "I will be president for all South Koreans."

On the square among the crowd, Koh Eun-Byul, 28, told AFP: "I am so happy because now there is hope for some meaningful change."

Washington, which remains Seoul's most important ally and has a large security presence in the South, on Tuesday congratulated Moon on his landslide victory.

Story continues

"We look forward to working with president-elect Moon to continue to strengthen the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and to deepen the enduring friendship and partnership between our two countries," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.

Tokyo, which has strained relations with its neighbour over issues including territory and Japan's wartime sex slavery, also congratulated Moon.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he looked forward to meeting the new leader, adding: "Japan and South Korea are facing common challenges in East Asia, led by responses to the North Korean issue.

"I believe the two countries can further contribute to peace and prosperity of the region by working together."

The campaign focused largely on the economy, with North Korea less prominent. But after a decade of conservative rule Moon's victory could mean significant change in Seoul's approach towards both Pyongyang and key ally Washington.

The 64-year-old -- accused by his critics of being soft on the North -- advocates dialogue to ease tensions and to bring it to negotiations. He is seen as favouring more independence in relations with the US, Seoul's security guarantor with 28,500 troops in the country.

Their presence, he told reporters during the campaign, was "important not only to our own security but also to the global strategy of the US".

The North has carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

Washington has said military action is an option, sending fears of conflict spiralling.

- Acute division -

South Korea's rapid growth from the 1970s to 1990s pulled a war-ravaged nation out of poverty but slowed as the economy matured, and unemployment among under-30s is now at a record 10 percent.

Frustration over widening inequality in wealth and opportunities fuelled anger over Park's scandal, which exposed the cosy and corrupt ties between regulators and powerful family-oriented conglomerates, known as chaebols, that have endured for decades.

Park is in custody awaiting trial over corruption for offering governmental favours to top businessmen -- including Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong -- who allegedly bribed her secret confidante, Choi Soon-Sil.
By Ju-min Park and Se Young Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) - Liberal politician Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election on Tuesday, an exit poll showed, an expected victory that would end nearly a decade of conservative rule and bring a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea.

A decisive win for Moon would end months of political turmoil that led to parliament's impeachment of conservative former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal.

The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment in March, making Park the first democratically elected leader in South Korea to be removed from office and triggering a snap election to choose her successor.

Wearing a dark blue suit and blue tie, Moon was seen shaking hands with supporters and party officials and smiling on his way to a meeting of his Democratic Party after the exit poll results were announced.

"We will need to calmly wait and see as this was just exit polls," he told party members. "But if things go on this way and we win, todays victory is thanks to sheer desperation of the people who wanted a regime change."

"We will accomplish the two tasks given to us, reform and national unity that the people of this country desire."

The exit poll by South Korea's three biggest broadcasters showed Moon, 64, capturing 41.4 percent of the votes in a field of 13 candidates. Official results were expected in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

Former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo was second with 23.3 percent of the votes and centrist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo had 21.1 percent. Definitive official results were expected early on Wednesday. A plurality is enough for victory.

"If exit polls are true, I will accept the results and just be satisfied with the fact that the Liberty Korea Party will be restored, a downbeat-looking Hong told members of his conservative party.

Ahn said he would "humbly accept" the result.

Story continues

FRACTURED PARLIAMENT

Moon is expected to be sworn in for a five-year term later on Wednesday. He has said he would skip a lavish inauguration ceremony and start work straight away.

He is likely to quickly name a prime minister, who will need parliamentary approval, and the main cabinet positions, including national security and finance ministers, which do not need parliamentary confirmation.

Moon, who narrowly lost to Park in the last presidential election, in 2012, favors dialogue with North Korea to ease rising tension over its accelerating nuclear and missile program. He also wants to reform powerful family-run conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai, and boost fiscal spending to create jobs.

Moon has criticized the two former conservative governments for failing to stop North Korea's weapons development. He advocates a two-track policy of dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.

Moon faces working with a fractured parliament where his Democratic Party holds 40 percent of the single-chamber, 299-seat assembly, which will likely mean difficulties and deals to pass bills.

His victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, according to the exit polls. Many of his supporters participated in big, peaceful weekend rallies over the last few months of 2016 and early this year, demanding Park step down.

Only between 22 percent and 25 percent of people in their 60s and 70s voted for Moon, exit polls showed, underscoring a long-standing generation gap. Many older people are wary of Moon's less confrontational stance on North Korea.

QUESTION OVER U.S. ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

Moon, whose campaign promises include a "National Interest First" policy, has struck a chord with people who want the country to stand up to powerful allies and neighbors.

He wrote in a book published in January South Korea should learn to say "no to America".

The former human rights lawyer was a close friend and confidant of late president Roh Moo-hyun, who served from 2003 to 2008 and advocated a "Sunshine Policy" of engaging North Korea through aid and exchanges.

Moon believes better inter-Korean relations is the best way to provide security. But Washington is worried his moderate stance could undercut efforts to increase pressure and sanctions, senior South Korean officials said.

"Things are not right to resume the so-called Sunshine Policy, as the U.S. and China turned more hostile towards North Korea," said Koh Yu-hwan, Dongguk University professor of North Korean studies, who is serving as a foreign policy adviser to Moon.

"Still, Moon is expected to engage in discussions, which could improve North-South relations."

Moon's election could also complicate the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, which the former government in Seoul and the U.S. military agreed to last year.

Moon has said the decision was made too quickly and the next administration should have the final say on whether to deploy the system.

The election was closely watched by allies and neighbors at a time of high tension over North Korea's accelerating development of weapons since it conducted its fourth nuclear test in January last year. It conducted a fifth test in September and is believed to be preparing for another.

Moon said in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday South Korea should take on a more active diplomatic role to curb North Korea's nuclear threat and not watch idly as the United States and China talk to each other.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Graphic: S.Korea's presidential election http://tmsnrt.rs/2p0AyLf

(Reporting by Ju-min Park, Se Young Lee, Cynthia Kim in SEOUL, Writing by Soyoung Kim and Jack Kim,; Editing by Robert Birsel and Bill Tarrant)
Tad Cummins, a former Tennessee teacher and accused kidnapper of his teen student Elizabeth Thomas, was booked into Kentuckys Henderson County Detention Center Monday.

Cummins had been held in a Sacramento jail after being arrested in Northern California, where he and 15-year-old Elizabeth were discovered last month.

Despite earlier reports saying he would be transferred to Tennessee to face charges, U.S. Marshals told Tennessee news outlet WKRNs News 2, he was booked into the Kentucky jail because it is the closest place to detain federal inmates.

Read: Who Is Tad Cummins? Facts About Ex-Teacher Who Allegedly Kidnapped His Student

The 50-year-old is being charged with kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with intention to engage in sexual activity. This charge carries a minimum of 10 years of jail term.

Elizabeth and Cummins were on the run for over a month after disappearing March 13. He was a health science teacher at Maury County Culleoka Unit School, where the teen studied. He was fired from his job after reports of the alleged kidnapping.

On April 20, the pair was located in Northern Californias remote Siskiyou County after local law enforcement officials received a tip-off. After being taken into custody, Cummins said he was glad this is over, according to the County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Gilley.

Subsequently, Elizabeth was taken back to her family in Tennessee, where she is undergoing counseling at an undisclosed location.

In an interview with Inside Edition last week, the former teachers wife Jill Cummins said her husband may have learned from television shows about people surviving in the wild, how to avoid capture by staying in remote locations.

He would watch Off the Grid and things like that and talk about living out in remote areas, Jill said.

Last month, Jill said in a separate interview with Inside Edition her husband exploited and brainwashed Elizabeth. But she also maintained she felt betrayed by the teen for being romantically involved with Cummins. Jill said in the interview she warned her husband to stay away from the student.

Story continues

"He was getting really close to her," Jill said. "A father-daughter close, a friendship close, and I knew that. I discussed that with him. And explained to him, 'She's your student, you can't be so close to her.'"

However, she said: "Never did I think there was a romantic thing between the two of them. There were no signs of that."

Cummins and Elizabeths case was featured on ABC News 20/20 show May 5 and showed how the pair were able to stay on the run.

Separately, local defense attorney Rob McGuire told News 2 last week Cummins case will be difficult to defend.

We dont know exactly what statements that he has made, we dont know what statements the young lady has made to investigators. Those will both be very important. We know he has made statements to other people about things he has done he had been in communication with his estranged wife, all of those things will be major pieces of evidence against him, McGuire said.

I think its going to be a very difficult case to defend. I think its going to be the kind of case where you are going to be looking to secure a plea agreement to give him some daylight at the end of the tunnel.

Related Articles
Protesters gather to protest SB4, a Texas law that will allow police officers to ask about the immigration status of anyone they detain. (Photo: Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott faced a fierce backlash Monday, hours after signing into law a state ban on sanctuary cities that is widely opposed by law enforcement officials, immigrant rights advocates and religious organizations.

Abbott signed the controversial ban  which seeks to punish Texas cities that refuse to enforce federal immigration laws  during an unexpected Facebook Live broadcast Sunday evening. Not long after, immigration advocates had gathered outside the governors mansion in Austin, where protests continued well into the next day.

Now the countrys harshest antisanctuary law, the Texas ban not only permits local law enforcement officers to request immigration papers from anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally  a practice that critics argue basically amounts to encouraging racial profiling  it also makes so-called sanctuary policies illegal. Local sheriffs and police chiefs who refuse to comply with federal immigration detainer requests now face hefty fines or even jail time, while elected and appointed officials may be subject to removal from office.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a tough stance against self-declared sanctuary cities, threatening to withhold federal grants to municipalities that dont fully cooperate with immigration enforcement. On Monday, his office praised Abbott for signing the Texas bill into law.

The Department of Justice is committed to promoting a lawful system of immigration and the attorney general commends Gov. Abbott for his work to end the lawlessness of sanctuary cities, DOJ spokesperson Ian D. Prior said in a statement.

Story continues

More than 200 faith leaders from across Texas signed a letter condemning the governor for approving the law. On Twitter, critics including Colombian-American actor John Leguizamo, attempted to rouse support for a boycott of the Lone Star state.

For weeks, the Republican-backed senate bill, or SB4, has prompted passionate protests by immigrant rights activists, whove held sit-ins at the Texas Capitol. Democratic state lawmakers Rep. Victoria Neave and Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., meanwhile, staged a hunger strike when the bill reached the House for debate last month.

The ban was also opposed by the chiefs of every major police department in Texas. In an op-ed published in the Dallas Morning News late last month, the Dallas and Houston police chiefs argued that broad and constitutionally questionable rules like those imposed by SB4, would strain both the limited resources of local law enforcement as well as the relationship between those agencies and the communities they serve.

Distrust and fear of contacting or assisting the police has already become evident among legal immigrants, Houston police chief Art Acevedo and Dallas interim police chief David Pughes wrote in their op-ed, which was also signed by the chiefs of police in four other major Texas cities, as well as the executive director of the Texas Police Chiefs Association.

Protesters rallying against proposed Texas legislation that would compel police to enforce federal immigration laws. (Photo: Meredith Hoffman/AP)

By pushing local law enforcement to take a more active role in immigration enforcement, the police chiefs wrote, SB4 will make our communities more dangerous, not safer, as we presume the legislature intended.

Yet, despite the opposition and the fact that Texas is not home to a single self-declared sanctuary city, Abbott remained resolute.

This law cracks down on policies like the Travis County sheriff who declared she would not detain known criminals accused of violent crimes, Abbott said via Facebook live on Sunday, referring Sheriff Sally Hernandez.

In January, then newly elected sheriff Hernandez announced that Travis County, which includes Austin, would no longer honor ICE requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants for longer than legally necessary, unless they had been arrested for either an immigration violation or a violent offense, such as homicide.

Hernandez further softened her policy on ICE detainers to allow a case-by-case approach after the governor cut $1.5 million in funding to Travis County.

Protesters rally against the sanctuary cities ban in Austin, Texas, May 1, 2017. (Photo: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

It is unfortunate that fear and misinformation enabled SB4 to pass, Hernandez said in a statement issued ahead of the governors signing of the ban. It should be obvious that my implementation of a policy, meant to meet our communitys need, did not violate any law. Otherwise, the Texas legislature wouldnt have felt compelled to make a new one.

Abbotts publicizing his signing of the new law via Facebook on Sunday evening was seen by opponents as a way to skirt public criticism.

Quite frankly, I think it was a cowardly way to do it, State Rep. Cesar Blanco, a Democrat from El Paso, told the Washington Post Monday. I think he wanted to get it done quickly with less friction.

President of @EdAustin_TX says starting September 1st Texas children will face fear and discrimination b/c of #SB4 pic.twitter.com/DupOX8tHsy  Ashley Goudeau (@AshleyG_KVUE) May 8, 2017

Abbott spokesman John Wittman defended the move in a statement to the Austin American-Statesman, saying the governor was going to where most people are getting their news nowadays and talking directly to them instead of speaking through a filter.

While Texas Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz and state Sen. Charles Perry praised Abbott for signing SB4 into law, others like Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban development Julian Castro warned that the controversial legislation would be a blow to the states economy.

Though the full impact of the law wont be felt until it officially goes into effect on Sept. 1, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund have already begun preparing for what seems like an inevitable legal battle.

In a statement, ACLU of Texas executive director Terri Burke called the law an assault on humanity and vowed to fight this assault in the courts, at the ballot box and in the streets if we have to.

The governors office appeared intent to beat its opponents to the punch, however, filing a preemptive lawsuit Monday morning against Travis County and the city of Austin.

SB4 guarantees cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement to protect Texans, said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement Monday. Unfortunately, some municipalities and law enforcement agencies are unwilling to cooperate with the federal government and claim that SB4 is unconstitutional.

By suing first, Paxton continued, the state sought to avoid being hit with a variety of different lawsuits, so that the constitutionality of SB4 may be resolved throughout Texas in a single court.

Read more from Yahoo News:
British and other European intelligence agencies provided quite sensitive reports about contacts between advisers to the then candidate Donald Trump and Russian agents starting in late 2015, James Clapper, former director of national intelligence testified today.

Clappers testimony before a Senate judiciary subcommittee represented the first public confirmation of such reports, providing important new context about ongoing investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

It came during a day of dramatic testimony in which former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates revealed fresh details about warnings she gave to White House counsel Don McGahn about Trumps short-lived national security advisor Michael Flynn. Yates said she informed the White House that Flynn had given false accounts about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

While she refused to describe specifically the contacts with Kislyak  noting the matter was still classified  Yates emphasized she had two separate meetings with McGahn at the White House about the issue of Flynns conduct  on Jan. 26 and again the next day  as well as a follow-up phone call. During her talks with McGahn, she said, she told him this was a matter of some urgency and that she was concerned that Vice President Mike Pence  who had publicly defended Flynn  was unknowingly making false statements.

Sally Yates testifies before a Senate judiciary committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, May 8, 2017. (Photo: Jim Bourg/Reuters)

But at the second meeting, McGahn seemed to raise an objection, according to Yates account.

One of the questions that Mr. McGahn asked me when I went back over the second day was essentially, Why does it matter to the DOJ [Department of Justice] if one White House official lies to another White House official?

Yates said she explained that Flynn had lied to the vice president and others, the American public had been misled and then importantly, that every time this lie was repeated and the misrepresentations were getting more and more specific, as they were coming out.

Story continues

Every time that happened, it increased the compromise, and to state the obvious, you dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.

Yates refused repeatedly to discuss the underlying conduct at issue. But multiple current and former government officials have confirmed that it involved conversations Flynn had had with Kislyak on Dec. 29, including assurances he is believed to have given the ambassador that sanctions imposed by President Obama that day on Russia over its hacking of the 2016 campaign would be revisited when Donald Trump took office in January.

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, May 8, 2017. (Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

Flynn was finally fired as national security adviser on Feb. 13, a full 18 days after Yates first warned McGahn. This prompted Democrats, led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, to note that while the country was focused on an 18-minute gap in Oval Office tapes during Watergate, there was an equally mystifying 18-day gap before Flynn was fired  a period during which he continued to serve as national security adviser and even participated in an hour-long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Even before the hearings began, Trump was focused on another issue: How the news about Flynns contacts with Kislyak, and Yates concerns, made its way into the media. Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Council, he wrote in one tweet before the hearing began, later correcting the spelling of the position to Counsel. Yates was asked by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, if she had ever leaked classified information, and she denied it.

But even bigger news may have come shortly later in the hearing when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., questioned Clapper, who was sitting next to Yates, about a report in the Guardian newspaper about intelligence that the British and other foreign services had passed along to the U.S. government starting in late 2015 about suspicious interactions between advisers to then candidate Trump and Russian intelligence agents.

Is this accurate? Feinstein asked.

Yes it is, and its also quite sensitive, the specifics are quite sensitive.

Clapper provided no details about the nature of these reports, what interactions were being alluded to or how reliable the U.S. government believed them to be. But he took note of FBI director James Comeys testimony in March that the bureau began a counter-intelligence investigation into Russian operations, including possible links to the Trump campaign, in July of 2016.

Clapper somewhat confused the issue a moment later when he said, Im not sure about the accuracy of that article, apparently referring to the Guardian report which he had just seemingly confirmed.

He then added: Clearly, going back to 2015, there was evidence of Soviet  Russian, excuse me, Freudian slip  Russian activity mainly in an information-gathering or in a reconnoitering mode, where they were investigating voter registration rolls and the like. That activity started early and so we were monitoring this as it picked up, [and] accelerates in the summer and fall of 2016.

After the hearing, Trump returned to Twitter. The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, he wrote; when will this taxpayer funded charade end?

Flynns lawyer said there would be no comment on the testimony.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Donald Trumps foreign policy advisors have advised the president to consider increasing American troops in Afghanistan, which could alter former President Barack Obamas original plan to restrict military action in the Middle East. The renewed military strategy, if approved, could put U.S. at a war footing with the Taliban.

Under the proposed policy, 3,000 U.S. troops would be added to the already exisiting 8,400 American soldiers posted in Afghanistan for the last 15 years, the Washington Post reported. It would also free the Pentagon to use any means necessary to neutralize the threat posed by the Taliban and force the latter to open up fresh negotiations.

While most of the experts have weighed in on the increased life risk that American troops would be subjected to if the new military policy was approved, there are those who see the new military policy as the shortest way of making the Taliban cave to the pressures of the Western forces.

Read: Donald Trump's Twitter Banner Changed To Slam Russia Links After James Clapper

US Military

Photo: Getty Images/Patrick Smith

The review is an opportunity to send a message that, yes, the U.S. is going to send more troops, but its not to achieve a forever military victory, said Andrew Wilder, an Afghanistan expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Rather, its to try to bring about a negotiated end to this conflict.

However, the move would reverse the efforts made by Obamas administration to limit military interference in Afghanistan. According to The Atlantic, after he was re-elected in 2013, Obama famously maintained that he had two major agendas on his plate that he planned to fulfil as soon as possible - ending the war in Iraq responsibly and finishing the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Story continues

Read: Former Republican Congresswoman Named Trump's Air Force Secretary

Keeping his word, Obama proceeded to call off Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which was followed by withdrawing as many American troops from the Middle West as possible. He also resorted to a similar policy of diplomacy above military might when it came to the conflicts with Libya and Syria later on in his term.

President Barack Obama

Photo: Getty Images/Win McNamee

Obamas considerably lenient military policy also highly restricted the U.S. military advisors from implementing any major strategic decision without the approval from the White House, a limitation which will be rolled back if the new military policy comes into effect.

Trump recently told the Post that he plans to start winning again when asked about the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East.

It is hard to tell if Trump would want to aggravate one of the longest ongoing conflicts between the United States and the Taliban. Even though he had championed the policy of adopting the harshest measures to battle terrorism and radical Islamic threats during his campaign, he had expressed skepticism in engaging any more troops to counter conflicts in the Middle East.

However, the proposed policy could potentially be opposed by the senior administration officials who are unsure about any permanent improvements that the policy might bring to U.S.-allied government barely surviving in Afghanistan. The POTUS is expected to come to a decision regarding the proposed foreign military policy before the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25.

Related Articles
President Donald Trump changed his Twitter banner Monday to include one of his recent tweets that denied reports about his campaign links with Russia.

The tweet was in reference to former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's testimony to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. The hearing was mainly focused on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynns connections to Russia and allegations against Moscow meddling with the presidential elections in 2016.

Read: Top 5 Aides Of President Accused Of Having Links With Moscow

"Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is 'no evidence' of collusion w/ Russia and Trump," the president claimed in his account's main picture, which shows him surrounded by about a dozen people in the Oval Office giving a thumbs up.

The banner in question has now been taken down from Trump's Twitter page.

Trump has been quite vocal when denying reports about his presidential campaign's links with Russia for months. On Monday, during the senate hearing, Clapper stood by his past claims that he had not seen or found any evidence of relations between Russia and the Trump campaign. However, he did not comment on classified matters.

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by Trump in January, also testified in front of the senate Monday. She said during the hearing she had alerted the White House earlier this year Flynn could be essentially blackmailed by the Russians.

GettyImages-680481622

Photo: Getty Images

Trump went on a Twitter offensive even hours before the hearing started on Monday. However, that included changing his Twitter banner to include Clappers comments about the U.S.-Russia links, before Yates' testimony.

Story continues

Social media users on Twitter were prompt enough to mock and criticize the change to the presidents Twitter account, while some also pointed out it did not appear correctly on many devices.

Others took the initiative themselves, adding their own creative lines mocking the picture, others thought the president was protesting too much against the alleged links between his campaign and Russia.

At the senate hearing Monday, Yates said We believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians.

Yates said in her testimony she had a meeting with White House Counsel Donald McGahn on Jan. 26 to inform him about Vice President Mike Pences statements based on his conversations with former National Security Adviser Flynn. She said she had already told McGahn they were false and Flynn had lied about the links between Moscow and Trumps campaign.

"We weren't the only ones that knew all of this, that the Russians also knew about what General Flynn had done and the Russians also knew that General Flynn had misled the vice president and others," Yates said, referring to her January conversation with McGahn.

Flynn was fired 18 days after Yates met McGahn following several news reports alleging he lied to Pence about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Rep. Devin Nunes had canceled an earlier March hearing where Yates was scheduled to appear before a House committee investigating Russian interference in the presidential election.

Trump fired Yates in January, removing her from the post of the nations top law enforcement officer after she refused to support his executive order on a travel ban restricting refugees and people from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the country.

"The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States. This order was approved as to form and legality by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel," the statement from the White House read.

Related Articles
Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired his FBI director James Comey, the man who leads the agency charged with investigating his campaign's ties with Russia -- a move that sent shockwaves through Washington.

The surprise dismissal of Comey, who played a controversial role in last year's presidential election, came as he was leading a probe into whether Trump's aides colluded with Moscow to sway the November vote.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he told Trump he was making a "big mistake" by dismissing Comey, a move that prompted parallels with a decision by a crisis-plagued Richard Nixon to fire his attorney general.

Trump "has accepted the recommendation of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general regarding the dismissal of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," his spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

A search for a new FBI director was to begin "immediately," the White House said.

In a letter, Trump told Comey: "You are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately."

"While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."

"It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," Trump said.

The stated reason for Comey's dismissal -- according to a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that was circulated by the White House -- was for mishandling the probe into Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's emails.

But his sacking raised immediate questions about Trump's motives.

FBI directors are appointed for a single 10-year term. The 56-year-old Comey, who is popular among rank-and-file agents, was appointed four years ago.

Story continues

He played an outsized -- and controversial -- role on the American political stage over the past year, lobbing one bombshell after another that rankled both parties in Washington.

Clinton accused Comey of trashing her chances of becoming president by revealing an renewed investigation into her email use.

Comey told lawmakers last week he felt "mildly nauseous" at the thought that he had swayed the election -- but could not have acted any other way.

- 'Nothing less than Nixonian' -

Since the start of Trump's presidency, the FBI chief had increasingly appeared to be a thorn in the president's side.

He has confirmed that the agency is investigating Russian interference in last year's presidential election and notably Moscow's possible collusion with Trump's campaign.

Democrats -- already angry that Congressional inquiries into Russian meddling have been hamstrung by Republicans' willingness to defend Trump -- voiced sharp concerns that the FBI's investigation may now be in jeopardy too, with several calling for an independent commission to take over the probe.

"This is nothing less than Nixonian," charged Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who called Trump's official justification for firing Comey "absurd."

"That fig leaf explanation seeks to cover the undeniable truth: The president has removed the sitting FBI director in the midst of one of the most critical national security investigations in the history of our country -- one that implicates senior officials in the Trump campaign and administration," he charged.

When Trump initially decided to keep Comey -- who was appointed by Barack Obama -- in his job, it raised eyebrows from critics who saw it as a tacit reward for his role in damaging Clinton's chances.

But within months, the FBI chief was back in the national spotlight -- this time taking aim at Trump.

During testimony to Congress last month, Comey flatly rejected Trump's explosive claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor.

Comey's public testimony -- watched by millions around the world -- came as Trump sought to steer the news focus by calling the question of Russian election meddling "fake news."

But it had become increasingly clear that Comey had set his sights on the issue of Russia's election meddling, which has stalked Trump's presidency since he took office.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.
By J.R. Wu TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will send a delegation to a U.N. health meeting even though it does not have an invitation, the government said on Tuesday, warning China that attempts to exclude it could irreversibly damage ties. Self-ruled Taiwan has accused Beijing of obstructing its efforts to attend the May 22-31 annual meeting in Geneva of the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). China views democratic Taiwan as a renegade province to be retaken with the use of force if necessary, and says other countries and international organizations should not recognize it or treat as a separate country. Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, which recognizes the "one China" policy centered on Beijing, and it never formally takes part in U.N. meetings. But it has in the past been given observer status at some conferences with Beijing's acquiescence. Ties between the mainland and the island have worsened since the election last year of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who - unlike the island's previous China-friendly administration - has not acknowledged the "one China" principle. Beijing warned last year that Taiwan's acceptance of that principle was a condition for the retention of its observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA). In an unusually assertive stand for the island, its foreign ministry said Chen Shih-chung, minister of health and welfare, would lead a delegation to Geneva "to exchange views" with WHA members on global health and safety. Taiwan's top China policymaking office said Beijing's "rigid and confrontational" approach would have serious consequences. "Beijing authorities should carefully consider the serious consequences of insisting that Taiwan not be allowed to participate in the WHA and to continue to pressure Taiwan's international space," the island's Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement. That would "result in irreversible damage to cross-Strait relations." In Geneva, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the matter was not yet resolved although invitations had been sent. "Officially the deadline has passed but yet it is my understanding that the discussions are still ongoing and we are also on our side waiting for any developments." "To my understanding the one China policy is a UN-wide accepted policy," he told a regular U.N. briefing. 'OBSTACLE' A Chinese government delegation this month objected to a Taiwan attending a meeting in Australia on conflict diamonds, forcing the removal of Taiwanese delegates. In September, a U.N. aviation agency snubbed Taiwan by not inviting it to a conference in Canada. Tsai's DPP said the government would not bow to Chinese pressure. Taiwan has said its allies and friends such as the United States, Canada and Japan have supported its attendance at the health meeting. It says health should not be politicized and that leaving Taiwan out of dialogue puts the world's health safety-net at risk. China said on Monday the island's DPP administration should bear "full responsibility" for their absence from the Geneva meeting, due to its refusal to accept "one China". "This places an obstacle for Taiwan's participation," An Fengshan, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement. Asked whether China had asked Switzerland to block the entry of the Taiwan delegation, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a news briefing: "No matter what the DPP authorities in Taiwan do, they are doomed to fail." (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Stephanie Nebehay in GENEVA; Editing by Robert Birsel and John Stonestreet)
The White House acknowledged reports on Monday that outgoing President Barack Obama warned President-elect Donald Trump in November not to hire retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. But press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed Obamas comments as bad blood rather than an expression of a true security concern.

Its true President Obama made it known that he wasnt exactly a fan of Gen. Flynns, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily press briefing. The question you have to ask yourself really is if President Obama was truly concerned about Gen. Flynn, why didnt they suspend his security clearance which they re-approved months earlier?

That top secret security clearance was first granted in 2012, when Flynn was nominated by Obama to be the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Obama fired Flynn in 2014, but Flynn retained the security clearance. Flynn served as an adviser to the Trump campaign, and eight days after Obamas meeting with Trump, he was nominated by Trump as national security adviser.

Flynn resigned from that position in February after media reports revealed that he had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia during the transition period, and had misled Trump and Vice President Mike Pence about those discussions  leading to questions about the Trump administrations vetting process. Trump and the White House have, in turn, sought to blame the Obama administration and raise questions about the previous administrations vetting procedures.

Additionally, why did the Obama administration let Flynn go to Russia for a paid speaking engagement and receive a fee? Spicer asked.

Related: Defense Department investigating Flynns foreign payments

In December 2015, Flynn accepted more than $45,000 from RT, the Russian government-funded TV network, to give a talk in Moscow at a black-tie dinner during which he sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Story continues

Late last month, it was revealed that the Defense Department is investigating whether Flynn violated federal ethics rules by failing to report and receive prior approval to accept the RT fees.

Douglas Wise, Flynns former top deputy at the DIA, told Yahoo News he was stunned when he found out that Flynn had accepted money from a propaganda arm of the Russian government  saying he wouldve launched an immediate investigation into his one-time boss.

I was apoplectic, Wise said. Nobody would have imagined that Flynn would have taken money for the trip. I would never have thought that in a million years.

President-elect Trump meets President Obama at the White House, Nov. 10, 2016. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

And according to multiple reports, Obama himself warned Trump not to hire Flynn when the president-elect met with Obama at the White House on Nov. 10. The reports did not specify the nature of the presidents concerns, or if Flynns contacts with Russia were discussed.

The renewed focus on Flynn comes on the day former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is scheduled to appear before a Senate subcommittee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Yates  who was fired by Trump in January after refusing to defend his controversial executive order on immigration  is expected to be asked about Flynns ouster.

According to the Associated Press, Yates is likely to testify Monday that she warned White House counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26 that Flynns contacts  and the discrepancies between what the White House said happened on the calls and what actually occurred  had left him in a compromised position.

Yet Flynns resignation did not come until Feb. 13  nearly three weeks after Yates warning and three days after the Washington Post disclosed the conversations.

Earlier Monday, Trump tried to shift blame for vetting Flynn to the Obama administration via Twitter.

General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration, he wrote. But the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.

General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration  but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Trump also attacked Yates hours before her appearance on Capitol Hill.

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel, Trump tweeted, setting off speculation that he might have been engaged in an attempt to intimidate or influence the testimony of a witness before Congress, which is against the law.

Questioned on Trumps statement about Yates during Mondays press briefing, Spicer said, I think the tweet speaks for itself.

Read more from Yahoo News:
References to Donald Trump's promised Muslim ban have been scrubbed from his campaign website minutes after a White House reporter brought them up in a press briefing.

During the briefing ABCs Cecilia Vega asked Press Secretary Sean Spicer why the Trump campaign website still calls for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States when the White House has denied that Mr Trump's executive order to block travel from six Muslim-majority countries is a "Muslim ban".

I'm not aware of what's on the campaign website. You'd have to ask them, Mr Spicer replied.

Read more

Yates warned White House Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia

Minutes later, the statement in question  which states Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on  was gone. Screenshots archived on the WayBack Machine show the page was live as of that morning.

Mr Trump repeatedly promised to institute a ban on Muslim immigration during his campaign, even saying he would consider shutting down mosques and establishing a Muslim registry.

But Mr Spicer said on Monday that Mr Trump has always been very clear that the intent of the order was not to ban Muslims, but to make sure that the people who are coming in here are coming in here with the right motives.

Several judges, however, saw it differently. A federal judge in Maryland blocked the order from taking effect in March, pointing to Mr Trumps campaign-trail statements as evidence of religious animus. The attorney general of Hawaii, where a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on the ban in March, said the order was like a neon sign flashing Muslim Ban, Muslim Ban.

We cannot fault the president for being politically incorrect, but we do fault him for being constitutionally incorrect, the attorney general said.

Story continues

Minutes after we asked the WH why the President's campaign website still called for a Muslim ban, it appears the statement was deleted. pic.twitter.com/1VzefJuoQF  Cecilia Vega (@CeciliaVega) May 8, 2017

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments in an appeal for the travel ban on Monday, around the time it was being discussed at the press conference. Judges on the appeals court struggled with whether to take Mr Trumps past statements into account when considering the constitutionality of the travel ban.

Acting Solicitor General Jeffery Wall defended Mr Trump by saying the Muslim ban proposal was written "before [the President] took the oath".

"It is an archived press statement from 16 months ago," Mr Wall said. "We took an oath and formed a government."
Washington (AFP) - A crunch White House meeting to help decide whether or not the United States pulls out of the Paris climate accord was postponed Tuesday, as President Donald Trump's top aides weighed how to proceed.

Trump's inner circle has been tasked with providing the president, who has flirted with ditching the landmark agreement, with a range of policy options.

After months of uncertainty, Trump appears to be edging toward a decision on whether to honor the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global warming.

Administration officials said the crunch sit-down set for Tuesday had "been postponed" and may now take place next week.

That means there is unlikely to be clarity before climate negotiators conclude a meeting in Bonn, where they are going over the nuts and bolts of how the agreement will work.

Trump has asked aides -- including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House strategist Steve Bannon, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, as well as daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner -- to devise possible strategies.

One option said to be under consideration is full withdrawal, which would fulfill Trump's campaign promise to "cancel" the deal as president.

On the campaign trail, the Republican billionaire frequently derided the 2015 accord, which aims to limit global emissions and halt temperature increases.

Bannon and Pruitt are said to be among those arguing for a tougher line, keeping with campaign promises and rejecting global agreements that tie the hands of US industry.

Pruitt, the US government's leading environmental official, has rejected the scientific consensus that humans are the "primary contributor to the global warming that we see."

But full withdrawal would roil Washington's allies and seriously undermine global efforts to limit carbon emissions, which the vast majority of experts say are changing the climate in dangerous ways.

Story continues

Ivanka Trump has meanwhile become a talisman for those who believe she can be a moderating influence on her father. But her stance on the Paris accord and her influence inside the cut-throat world of White House politics are unclear.

The United States is the world's number two carbon polluter, after China.

- Kyoto, take two? -

For US allies, Trump's wavering has uncomfortable echoes of president George W. Bush's decision to withdraw from the 1992 Kyoto Protocol.

That move scuttled a carefully worked global compromise and effectively delayed climate action by two decades.

It would also wreck Trump's careful diplomacy with China, which the White House wants on-side to tackle North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The core of the Paris deal was an agreement between Chinese President Xi Jinping and then US president Barack Obama. Both men have this week pressed Trump to stay on board.

"It's important that big countries that are big emitters like the US and China... lead the way," Obama told a conference on Tuesday in Milan, at one of his first public appearances since leaving office.

Xi meanwhile pledged to protect the accord during a phone call with French President-elect Emmanuel Macron.

Obama set targets to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

- Middle road -

Another possible option for Trump, according to officials, is to remain within the agreement, but rework US emissions targets.

Sue Biniaz, a former State Department legal adviser who supports the accord, admitted Trump does not need to make a binary choice between leaving or staying.

"It is clear from the agreement that if you do change your target, you are encouraged to change it in a more ambitious direction," she said.

"But it is equally clear that you are not legally prohibited from changing it in any direction that you choose."

Officials stressed that Trump has yet to make a decision either way.
A day after former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testified to the Senate that she warned the Trump administration that in January that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail by Russia, the White House attempted to cast Yates as a political opponent of the president.

Yates told the Senate subcommittee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election on Monday that she informed White House counsel Donald McGahn on Jan. 26 that she believed Flynn had been compromised.

Yates, a career federal prosecutor who has worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations, was fired by Trump in late January after refusing to comply with his controversial travel ban executive order. Courts later blocked both that order and a revised version.

This is not exactly someone that was excited about President Trump taking office or his agenda, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday.

The White House has said Trump was subsequently briefed about Yates warning but decided to keep Flynn on until his resignation on Feb. 13  three days after the Washington Post revealed that Flynn had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions with the Russian ambassador during the transition. The White House says Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about those discussions, resulting in Pence falsely saying on television that Flynn hadnt talked about the sanctions with the Russian diplomat.

I think if you flip the scenario and say, what if we just dismissed somebody because a political opponent of the president had made an utterance, you would argue that it was pretty irrational to act in that manner, Spicer said.

When pressed to explain how Yates could be cast as a political opponent of the president, Spicer noted that she was appointed by the Obama administration and was a strong supporter of former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

I think it was widely rumored [Yates would] play a large role in the Justice Department if Hillary Clinton had won, Spicer said.

Story continues

In her opening statement to the Senate subcommittee, Yates noted that she worked through five Republican and Democratic administrations.

In March 2016, Yates sent a memo to all DOJ employees reminding them not to engage in partisan political activities and to ensure that politics does not compromise the integrity of our work.

A memo went out to all DOJ employees warning them of engaging in political activities. It was written bySally Yates https://t.co/Eo060CD6Kw pic.twitter.com/MYrlX0N7Qg  Matt Viser (@mviser) May 9, 2017

And a former Justice Department colleague of Yates who spoke with Yahoo News dismissed the idea that Yates had her eyes on a political future.

I told her months ago she should consider running for office, and she looked at me like I was from Mars, the former colleague said. She just doesnt have any interest in it.

But Yates refusal to comply with the order, Spicer said, vindicates the presidents point that this was not somebody who was looking out for the administrations best interests.

For her part, Yates testified that looking out for the best interests of the president was not her job.

I looked at [the order], I made a determination that I believed that it was unlawful. I also thought that it was inconsistent with principles of the Department of Justice, she said. And thats what I promised you I would do, and thats what I did.

On Twitter, Trump dismissed Yates testimony as old news.

 With additional reporting by Yahoo News Daniel Klaidman

Read more from Yahoo News:
An Oregon woman admitted to supplying gasoline so her friend could kill herself in a fiery explosion that destroyed their shared mobile home, officials said.

Edna Bennet, 76, pleaded guilty Friday to negligent homicide and three counts of first-degree arson relating to the death of Ana Frigine-York, according to KOIN-TV.

Bennett and Frigine-York had been friends for 18 years, eight of which were spent living together with Frigine-Yorks daughter in a Newberg mobile home that went up in flames on June 1, 2016.

Firefighters discovered Frigine-Yorks body and two partially melted gas cans inside the home, authorities said.

Read: 11-Year-Old Kills Himself After Thinking Girlfriend Committed Suicide: Cops

Neither Bennett nor Frigine-Yorks daughter were home at the time of the incident, but as the fire raged on, Bennett arrived at the scene and gave police two letters she said she wrote as Frigine-York dictated, court documents obtained by KOIN-TV said.

Inside the letters were reportedly Frigine-Yorks identification, her wishes after her death and statements about her life and beliefs.

Bennett went on to tell investigators that she purchased and filled six gas cans at different gas stations in the weeks leading up to the fire and left them at the home.

Read: Meet the Woman Dedicated to Preventing Suicide After Losing Her Sister

She knew that Frigine-York planned to douse the home, and herself, with the gas before lighting herself on fire, authorities said.

Bennett pleaded guilty days before her trial was set to begin on May 9.

She faces up to 25 years in prison, but is expected to serve 18 months including supervised probation as part of her plea deal.

Her sentencing is scheduled for June 5.

Watch: Lawyer for Aaron Hernandez Calls For Thorough Investigation Of Prison Suicide

Related Articles:
SheKnows

No matter how many years Jennifer Anistons been a household name in Hollywood, she still manages to surprise us. In her latest photoshoot as the cover star of Allure for their December Issue, the Friends alum bared it all  from her clothes to her feelings. The stunning new pictures, taken by photographer Zoey Grossman, []
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has left the country for medical checks in Singapore, the government said in a statement, about two months after his previous such trip to the south Asian nation. Aged 93, Mugabe is the only leader the southern African country has known since independence in 1980, and his health is a hot topic ahead of a presidential election scheduled for next year that he is due to contest. He flew to Singapore late on Monday. The Ministry of Information said he was expected to return home at the weekend. Mugabe now struggles to walk, with security aides forming a human shield around him in public, often making it difficult for reporters to film or take pictures of him. Last week at a World Economic Forum Summit in South Africa, Mugabe sat slumped in his chair, wringing his hands, as he told a panel discussion in a low murmur that his country was not a "fragile state". Critics say his infirmities make him unfit to hold office but he continues to exercise tight control over his ZANU-PF party. In February he said the party and Zimbabwe's people saw no viable alternative candidate to him for next year's elections. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by John Stonestreet)
Photo: AP Images

The buttons on a mans shirt say a lot about his stress level. Up to the neck, and you know hes drowning in dread. One open and hes able to breathe. Two or more unbuttoned? Hes straight chillin. Can you guess how many former President Barack Obama has unbuttoned these days?

Photo: AP Images

Take a look at what he wore to the Seeds & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan on Tuesday. The top three buttons (at least) on his blue-and-white seersucker button-down were open.

Social media loves the laid-back style.

hell-no-im-not-buttoning-my-shirt obama https://t.co/HsMx8A93XR  Brian De Los Santos (@B_Delos) May 9, 2017

At his next speaking event Obama's gonna roll in with his shirt completely unbuttoned, pina colada in hand  Catherine M. (@CLMcAloon) May 9, 2017

The only good thing about Obama not being president is that he can give a speech with an open shirt. ???? #ObamainMialn pic.twitter.com/i0GRFo5qed  Still Standing (@IrisRimon) May 9, 2017

President Obama going full Italian in Milan. Basically top three shirt buttons are undone. https://t.co/Uqps3kUVlX  Jason Horowitz (@jasondhorowitz) May 9, 2017

Tie? Buttons? We need to fix this climate before #Obama loses his shirt altogether. https://t.co/ERrHuhQKEd  aj_goodman (@aj_goodman) May 9, 2017

When in Italy Obama goes 2 buttons down pic.twitter.com/CxrzU8d7TD  Andifo (@Andifo) May 9, 2017

Obama at this summit chest-flossin with 3 buttons open in his shirt. Might show up in a tank at the next one. pic.twitter.com/p3Vc9TX4Uu  A.B. Sharif (@Abdu11ah) May 9, 2017

This is an unexpected look from the man who used to sit in the Oval Office. However, after his last few weeks of vacation, and the outfits he wore during it (including a leather jacket), its not that surprising.

Story continues

He apparently has stocked up on a whole new wardrobe and needs a place to put his fresh duds. I have been fighting Michelle to get more closet space, he said of his post-White House life. Hes also been trying to figure out how the coffee machine works.

And while he seems to miss the on-demand caffeine, he admits that the security concerns that surrounded him as POTUS arent on the list of things hes longing for about his old life. Now Im only captive to selfies. Which is almost as bad, he joked. I can walk anywhere as long as Im willing to take a selfie every two steps.

However, the environment is no laughing matter to Obama. During the course of my presidency, I made climate change a top priority because I believe that of all the challenges that we face, this is the one that will define the contours of this century, more dramatically perhaps than any other, he said.

We have been able to bring our emissions down even as we grow our economy. The same is true in many parts of Europe, he said of one of his many in-office accomplishments. But he admits that that alone is not going to fix our problem. Heres the thing: Even if every country somehow puts the brakes on the emissions that exist today, climate change would still have an impact on our world for years to come.

He of course addressed President Trumps position on climate change. The current administration has differences with my administration in terms of energy policy, and thats part of what happens in democracy. So there will be useful debate that takes place in America, Obama said. Trump is considering pulling out of the Paris Agreement, which was reached under Obamas presidency and ensures that world leaders will monitor climate change.

Photo: AP Images

Just the day before, Obama looked as if he were stepping off the set of a Dolce & Gabbana photo shoot, wearing a sleek black suit with a crisp white button-down shirt and his Oliver Peoples sunglasses, which hes been rocking since January 2016.

Yet both ensembles were complete 180s from the one he wore just two days ago when receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in Boston. For that occasion, he was all buttoned up in a tux and bow tie. No wonder he was ready to undo a few buttons.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty.




In case you ever doubted him (excuse you), Karl Lagerfeld does, in fact, do his research when it comes to designing shows. And its not some quick, 10 minute Google search either, mind you. The iconic designer will go to great lengths to acquire the knowledge he needs in the name of fashion. How far does that research take him? Well, for his space-themed Chanel fall 2017 ready-to-wear show, it took him literal light years away.

According to Womens Wear Daily, Lagerfeld went as far as interviewing astronaut Thomas Pesquet while he was in spacetalk about a long distance phone call. The designer got in touch with Pesquet while he was aboard the International Space Station for a Q&A, regarding everything from what Pesquet eats to how often he works outall the while taking notes for Lagerfelds space-themed Chanel show (and in case you missed it: yes, there was an actual rocket ship on the runway).

VIDEO: Winter Isn't Coming: Summer Style Tips from Sophie Turner

I am very flattered that Karl Lagerfeld draws inspiration from space for his collections, said Pesquet. It means space makes people dream, that people are interested in exploration and science, and thats a good thing, because we are doing this for them. We dont do this for fun, but to be useful to society, at the end of the day.

Touching on fashion, Pesquet got frank, Thankfully [Lagerfeld] did not draw inspiration from astronauts outfits, because obviously here, we tend to wear European Space Agency polo shirts and pants with Velcro fastenings, which is not that great. Instead, Lagerfelds fall ready-to-wear collection saw a myriad of chic planetary hard case clutches and glitter moon bootsnot a Velcro strap in sight.
At long last, preorders have opened for unlocked version of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ in the United States. The international versions of the unlocked phones have been available on Amazon since launch, but this is the first time that US consumers will be able to buy the appropriate models of the unlocked phones from Samsung or Best Buy, while saving nearly $100 in the process.

Don't Miss: Leak reveals a new version of the Galaxy S8 thats about to launch

As with most unlocked phones, the unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ will work with a majority of the mobile carriers in the US, as long as youre willing to pay an activation fee, sign up for service and switch out your SIM card. Buying an unlocked model means you wont have to deal with bloatware though.

Starting today, you can place preorders for unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ models on Samsung.com as well as BestBuy.com. Prices start at $724.99 for the unlocked 64GB Galaxy S8 and $824.99 for the unlocked 64GB Galaxy S8+. Both phones will be available in the Midnight Black color scheme.

While there are certainly benefits to owning an unlocked version of a flagship device, ZDNet points out that Samsung doesnt have the best track record when it comes to releasing software updates in a timely fashion for its unlocked devices. If you prefer to have the latest version of Android and the most recent security updates on your phone, you might want to hold off and see how Samsung performs.

The unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ are expected to begin shipping at the end of May.

Trending right now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.com
- Multiple media sources are reporting the arrest of Martha Amakye, the Stanbic Bank worker who allegedly defrauded the bank's customers to the tune of GHc900,000.

- Amakye was reportedly caught at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region after police received a tip-off to her location

- Police had been looking for her since January

Click here to get the latest trending news in Ghana.

Unconfirmed media reports suggest that Martha Amakye, the Stanbic Bank worker who duped customers to the tune of a GH900,000, has been arrested.

Martha Amakye

READ ALSO: Chinese galamsey kingpin Aisha arrested

Ms Amakye, 33, was reportedly arrested at her hideout in Ashaiman,in the Greater Accra Region, based on a tip-off.

YEN.com.gh reported in January that Amakye had been declared wanted by the police for the alleged fraud.

A press statement by Stanbic Bank announcing Martha Amakye's alleged fraud

An outsourced staffer from Noswall Management Service, a recruitment agency, she is said to have fled when Stanbic Bank's financial crime control unit found out that she was involved in fraudulent transactions.

Using her role as a personal solution consultant at the Tema Community One branch of Stanbic Bank, Amakye reportedly collected money from customers on the pretext of investing the money in fixed deposits.

She is said to have done that without the bank;s permission, sometimes meeting customers outside the ban to collect their money.

Reports say by the time the bank discovered the fraudulent scheme, Amakye had succeeded in running away with GHc900,000, prompting the bank to lodge a complaint with the police.

READ ALSO: Kwesi Botchwey committee bans Mahama from contesting 2020 elections?

Share your views on this with us in the comments section below.

Do you have any tip or information for us? Do you have a story to share? Contact us on Facebook and reach us via email at info@YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh
YEN.com.gh's Richard Quashie, head to Labone, in search of a famous kelewele vendor by the roadside.

Get more stories and videos about inspirational stories in Ghana here on YEN.com.gh

But the interesting part of her story is that she has been at the same location, selling the same thing for over four decades.

READ ALSO: Man planning to have one more child, gets blessed with triplets

This love story begins as most of mine do, I see or hear something and I set out to google it. My colleague passed a comment about a lady who had been selling kelewele at Labone for over 20 years.

20 years of selling finger food is quite a feat; I understood the Ghanaian obsession with kelewele, I personally loved it, but 20 years was a really long time for one person to be selling it.

Kelewele for the uninitiated is chopped up ripe plantain mixed with spices and deep fried. Labone Kelewele...and yes, there it was, exactly where my colleague had said the stall would be.

A Google Search results page for "Labone Kelewele" / Google.com

When the Google results page loaded, a map appeared: top right, option two. And from the look of things, everyone seemed to have a good story to tell about her.

It was not a short ride, but the vendor was easy to sport. There was a crowd in front of the shop as it was rush hour for her business.

READ ALSO: Man retires to take care of his grandchildren so they won't have to go to daycare

The kelewele was being sold over a table, something I later found out the AMA had played a major part in - and the place looked as regular as most finger food vendors in Accra look. There were three women behind the table at the time of my visit with a older lady with a matriarchal look hovering over them.

A customer purchasing kelewele from the vendors

The lady behind it all - "Ole Lady"

The older lady was leaning in her seat, wiping away at her lips - she had just finished supper prior to my arrival.

She was the Ghanaian granny personified: in her late 60s, hair wrapped in a scarf, wearing a wax print in traditional kaba and slit style. And this was no simple kelewele joint, this joint has been run for over 40 years - under the same woman.

The chief vendor - and matriarch of the Tormegah family - is a 68-year-old lady by the name Abigail Tormegah, but she is called Ole Lady by her children and most of her customers.

I was just a child before the business was started this is a generational thing, Delfina Akosua Tormegah, the eldest among seven children, says. Delfina Akosua Tormegah, the eldest among seven children, says. I started with her from my childhood, I come in to help her right after school.

Delfina Tormegah, the eldest daughter of the owner of the business

Abigail Tormegah told me she has been running the business for 43 years, Akosua is just 42 years old.

Ole Lady came to Accra with her husband in 1969. She was born in the Volta Region and they had moved here to seek greener pastures but she started the kelewele business in 1974.

READ ALSO: Meet 106-year-old woman whose cooking skills are trending on YouTube

So you have been doing this one job for the past 40+ years. Any other things?, I asked her, still baffled. I have no other work, I never went to school so I dont have any other work, so the one I have is the one I have to hold on to, she replies with a delightful tingle in her eye. She was proud of herself - who wouldnt be?

Another daughter of Abigail attending to customers

It is a good work, she adds. If it wasnt good, I wouldnt have still been doing it.

But it surely cant have been all rosy.

Bumpy roads, problems with AMA and continuity

Her business was set in Greater Accra, and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly had a way of leaving everyone who works in Accra with memories - and she had received her fair share.

The AMA has been coming to worry us since, I had a little container but it was destroyed by the AMA, Abigail Tormegah narrates. But it is due to the kindness of one Bernabeu that I am still operating here.

According to her, when the AMA in 2015 moved in to clear them from the area, they demolished her stall alongside property of others, but one samaritan, Bernabeu, who was her customer intervened for her.

Bernabeu had spoken with the AMA to allow her continue selling at the location, but on the condition that she did not set up a permanent structure. When they broke up my first kiosk, the AMA warned that I could only continue selling if I wanted to sell over a tabletop, she says. And ever since then, she only sells from a table top, and even though the AMA still worry them occasionally, there had been no ruckus as the one in 2015.

Throughout our conversation, Ole Lady expressed gratitude for how far her business had come. She reminded me that all of her children had gotten education up to the Senior High School level through proceeds from her venture. I, alone, look after my children. It is from this kelewele business that I have sent all my 7 children to school. It is all from the kelewele, I dont sell maize, I dont work in an office, it is just the kelewele business.

The matriarch has added frying of yam and potatoes to her trade

She, however, added with a look of regret that of her seven children it was only her last born twins who have had the chance to get a tertiary education.

But that is not her only regret or fear - she fears her children would not continue her trade after her.

She looked away from her eldest child, who had been listening intently as though she was hearing the story for the first time - and told me, my children as very lazy. I had quizzed her on how the business would continue through her children.

I dont know if my children can continue this job after me, she says, for now, they are very lazy. Even when it is raining, they want to run away from the job. It is through my strength that I force them to stay and work.

And the rain does bother them a lot as she points to a pile of rubber sheets they use to cover their stuff when the showers threaten.

Delfina, her oldest daughter however shows some extra commitment to the business.

Have you done any other job apart from helping your mother? I asked.

I havent chosen any different job, because if I should leave her, she would lack help, Delfina replied with a defiant look on her work. She seemed happy with the job, she proudly told me they serve more than 100 people daily.

I should come and invest in the business then, I joked. This was when she registered her worries. This is a rubbish job, it is not an easy job. We are only here, because this is what we are used to doing now. The 42-year-old also remarked that her own children dont really come out here to help.

This is where the frying goes down

It seems Ole Ladys worries about how the business would survive after her are genuine. I turned to the matriarch, and asked if she had some apprentices she was training apart from her children. I dont have people I train. It is not something that I can teach others. You just have to know how to cut the plantain, spice it it and make sure it tastes nice for the the consumer, she says.

At the end of the day something had been stuck with me from my conversation with the kelewele franchise. I started evangelizing to friends and family; no one found the story of the kelewele seller at Labone nearly as interesting as I did. They had no fond memories of kelewele vendors, they couldnt connect to the story of Delfina, Abigail and the rest of the Tormegahs.

But there was something beautiful about the perseverance of Ole Lady and her family.

I could only hope the business continues as she wishes it would.

READ ALSO: Sickness made my mother almost terminate me during pregnancy -DCE confesses

YEN is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YENs official Facebook group, or contact us via info@yen.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh
iStock/Thinkstock(FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) -- Chaos broke out at a Florida airport on Monday after multiple Spirit Airlines flights were canceled, leading to long lines, irate customers and altercations, according to police.

Deputies were called to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to deal with commotion there after several passengers became angry, according to the Broward County Sheriffs Office.



There were several people there that were upset," Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Gina Carter told ABC News on Monday. "We were called in to just make sure that things were kept from getting very unruly.



Video posted on Twitter captured a chaotic scene at a Spirit Airlines terminal at the airport as angry travelers yelled at staff while police officers tried to restore order.



Carter said there were no injuries reported and things seemed to be under control now. She did not say if there were any arrests made, but cellphone video showed at least three people being taken away in handcuffs by deputies.



One witness told ABC News Florida affiliate WSVN-TV on Monday that they saw multiple people being detained.



"I saw two people go down on the floor and get  handcuffed and dragged out of here," one witness, a passenger who was not named in the report, told WSVN on Monday.



Another passenger said he saw officers apprehending a woman.



There was a lady [detained] earlier. She was quite upset and very vocal about her frustrations," he said. "I see people are very disappointed."



Spirit, a Florida-based discount airline, blamed the chaos on canceled flights as a result of labor negotiations with their pilots.



We are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport this evening," the company said in a statement Monday. "This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers, by canceling multiple flights across our network."



The company accused the pilots of putting their "quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations" and the safety of Spirit staff.



Spirit said it filed a Federal lawsuit against the Airline Pilots Association, which it accused of intentionally disrupting the airlines operations, leading to hundreds of canceled flights.



The Airline Pilots Association did not immediately respond to ABC News request for comment.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017

A convicted attorney was disbarred by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department

On July 28, 2016, in Supreme Court, New York County, respondent pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the second degree (two counts) in violation of Penal Law  155.40(1), a class C felony, and grand larceny in the third degree (11 counts) in violation of Penal Law  155.35, a class D felony, in full satisfaction of an indictment and a superior court information, based upon his admission that from in or about August 2012 through November 2015, he stole settlement funds from 13 clients totaling $743,327.04. The plea agreement respondent entered into lists the names and amounts he converted from each client.

On September 9, 2016, respondent was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 3 to 9 years in prison on the C felonies and 1 to 3 years on the D felonies, to run concurrently.

Resignation was not an option

In support of his current motion to resign, respondent argues, inter alia, that it would be "punitive" if he was not permitted to resign, that if the Court was not inclined to grant his request then it makes 603.11 a nullity, and that he was a good lawyer for 28 years and only in the last few years did he become addicted to Oxycotin and then heroin. On that last point, respondent states that he believes his addiction "was a suicidal attempt to end my life," that his life, health, reputation and family life have all been destroyed and he has been punished due to his addiction, and asks this Court to order him to CASAT, a drug rehab program, even though he has been clean and sober for more than one year.

The Committee correctly states that respondent's conviction of New York felonies are a basis for automatic disbarment pursuant to Judiciary Law  90(4). Thus, respondent's conviction of the felonies of grand larceny in the second and third degree constitutes grounds for automatic disbarment and his name should be stricken from the rolls, effective the date of his guilty plea (Matter of Todorovich, 144 AD3d 1 [1st Dept 2016]; Matter of Ioannou, 116 AD3d 178 [1st Dept 2014]; Matter of Lax, 88 AD3d 342 [1st Dept 2011]; Matter of Armenakis, 86 AD3d 205 [1st Dept 2011])...

The cross motion to resign must also be denied as this Court has previously determined [*3]that we cannot accept such a resignation where the attorney has "automatically ceased to be an attorney upon his conviction of a felony" (Matter of Stark, 309 AD2d 4, 5 [1st Dept 2003]; see Matter of Galloway, 135 AD3d 193 [1st Dept 2015]). Moreover, respondent has failed to correct the deficiencies in his affidavit of resignation, to wit, his failure to specifically describe misconduct he committed.

Details here from the web page of the New York County District Attorney.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of JEFFREY LESSOFF, 59, a former personal injury attorney, to 3-to-9 years in state prison for stealing approximately $500,000 in civil damages awarded to 13 of his clients. On July 28, 2016, the defendant pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to multiple counts of Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degrees. As part of the sentence, the court executed judgment orders holding LESSOFF liable to repay approximately $700,000 to his clients  representing the damages and forfeiting fees for any services rendered.

Jeffrey Lessoff stole half a million dollars from his clients to finance a life on the lam in Spain, said District Attorney Vance. One client, a former schoolteacher, waited in vain for three years to receive money owed to her following a career-ending injury. I urge anyone who believes that he or she may have been a victim of theft or fraud by an attorney to call my Offices Financial Frauds Bureau at 212-335-8900.

...In the fall of 2015, the defendant sold his law practice and fled to Spain with what remained of the stolen funds. In December 2015, LESSOFF briefly returned to the United States and was arrested at Miami International Airport and extradited to New York.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/05/a-convicted-attorney-was-disbarred-by-the-new-york-appellate-division-for-the-first-judicial-department.html
Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the denial of admission of an attorney who had been sanctioned in Wisconsin for his advocacy in criminal matters

Applicant applied for admission to the Vermont Bar in March 2015. Pursuant to what was then Vermont Rule of Admission to the Bar 11(d), the Character and Fitness Committee appointed a member of the Committee to investigate applicants moral character and fitness and to decide whether to certify applicants admission. The member assigned to applicants application reported in July that he could not recommend applicants admission. The member noted three areas of concern: applicants disciplinary history in Wisconsin, including multiple contempt charges and a public reprimand; other inappropriate past activity, including speeding tickets, a conflict with a previous employer, and applicants failure to take responsibility for those occurrences; and his record of financial difficulties.

Pursuant to Rule 11(g), the Committee convened a three-member panel to hold an evidentiary hearing to allow applicant the chance to present additional information to support his application. At that December 2015 hearing, applicant and the panel agreed that the record to be considered by the Committee consisted of his application to the Vermont Bar, including attachments, the written record of his application to practice law in the State of Washington, and correspondence between applicant and the Committee. Applicant testified under oath and answered questions from members of the panel.

In a written decision issued in January 2016, the hearing panel acting on behalf of the Committee declined to certify applicants good moral character and fitness. Such certification is a prerequisite to admission to the Vermont Bar. The panels written findings include the following.

 Applicant graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2002 and was admitted to practice in Wisconsin in 2003.

 He is an attorney in good standing in Wisconsin, the U.S. District Courts in Wisconsin, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

 From 2003 to 2006, he was employed as a lawyer with the Wisconsin State Public Defenders. In 2005, friction developed between applicant and his employer concerning a policy issue involving juvenile defendants. Applicant expressed his views on the issue publicly, was suspended for insubordination, and resigned in July 2006 to go into private practice. Applicant does not regret his vigorous advocacy in connection with the policy question.

 From July 2006 through May 2012, applicant was self-employed as a lawyer in Wisconsin, specializing in representing indigent criminal defendants.

 In November 2008, in the matter of State v. Kostopoulos, applicant was held in contempt of court for insubordination to the court.

 In November 2009, in the matter of State v. Carter, applicant suggested in the course of a hearing on a routine discovery motion that the judge suffered from a physical health issue that affected her ability to be appropriate.

 As a result of the two above incidents, the Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a disciplinary complaint against applicant in June 2012. Applicant ultimately admitted the allegations of the complaint, did not oppose the imposition of a public reprimand, and agreed to pay specified costs. Applicant did not contest the proceedings because litigation would have interfered with his familys travel plans and because his lawyer told him it was a set up, that he had little chance of success, and that he faced greater financial exposure if he contested the charges.

 In July 2010, applicant was held in contempt in the case of State v. Echols for ignoring instructions of the court, insisting on referring to his client by first name, and injecting his personal views.

 In April 2011, applicant was held in contempt twice in the same proceeding, State v. Donaldonce for a personal attack on the prosecutor, and once for inappropriate behavior during voir dire.

 In August 2011, applicant was charged with violating a municipal ordinance relating to airport security. Applicant had gotten into a dispute with a TSA officer after he refused to present identification as part of the pat-down process.

 In December 2011, a bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against applicant and his wife for a condominium property. The condominium had been damaged by high water and was partly uninhabitable. The applicant did not have adequate insurance to cover the loss. Applicant abandoned his home to the bank. He is unaware of any deficiency liability claimed by the mortgagees.

 Applicant closed his law practice at the end of May 2012. He maintains that he cannot practice law in Wisconsin because of unfair treatment by Wisconsin judges in retaliation for his efforts to uncover the racially motivated illegal activities of the Milwaukee Police Department and District Attorneys office.

 In October 2012 applicant wrote an open letter to the United States Department of Justice stating that his contempt citations in the State v. Echols and State v. Donald cases and his problems in State v. Carter were the result of his attempts to expose corruption in the Milwaukee Police Department and District Attorneys office. The applicant submitted this letter to the Character and Fitness Committee to support his contention that the initial reviewer of his application was not treating him fairly.

 From June 2012 to January 2014 applicant lived in New Zealand. He has lived in the State of Washington since January 2014.

 Applicant is repaying approximately $260,000 in student loans.

 In May 2013, applicant applied for admission to the bar of the State of Washington. After a day-long hearing on his application, including numerous witnesses regarding the above incidents, the Character and Fitness Board voted eight to one to grant his application for admission. The Washington Supreme Court denied the application in November 2014.

 In the Vermont proceeding, applicant has registered his concern that he is not being treated fairly and that he is being punished for being a whistleblower against illegal state action. He was not able to show any direct causal link between his zealous advocacy on behalf of indigent, minority clients in Wisconsin and his disciplinary issues, but argued that denying his application to practice in Vermont would be tantamount to aiding and abetting the unjust treatment he received at the hands of the authorities in Wisconsin.

The court

The Committees decision, applicants arguments on appeal, and our analysis center on a number of specific events, including applicants suspension by the Wisconsin Public Defenders; conduct leading to multiple contempt charges and a stipulated public reprimand by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for professional misconduct; and violation of a municipal ordinance after applicant failed to follow TSA security procedures.

There were a number of contempts and a reprimand in Wisconsin for overzealous advocacy

In each of the cases...applicant demonstrated disrespect toward the court by willfully disregarding court orders or interrupting or inappropriately arguing with the judge about those orders; he showed very little understanding of the bounds of proper courtroom demeanor, particularly in the presence of a jury; and he frequently responded to the courts admonitions by asserting that the judge was biased against him. Moreover, these incidents do not appear to be isolated. In reviewing the record relating to the specific instances at the center of this case, we saw in the transcripts multiple other instances of improper conduct in the courtroom.

Applicant has not shown that this pattern of insubordination will not continue in Vermont if he is admitted to practice here. He has not offered any evidence of remedial coursework, work with a mentor, counseling, or other steps he has taken to learn about proper courtroom behavior and improve his conduct. He has not shown that since the time of these incidents he has successfully practiced law within the bounds of decorum; he has not practiced law since 2012.

Most important, compounding applicants disturbing history of misconduct in court, is his apparent inability to take responsibility for his actions. Although he contends that he has taken responsibility for his actions, the record reflects otherwise. He has shown a persistent lack of accountability both in his testimony at the hearing before the Committee, and more recently in his appeal letter to this Court...

Applicants history of misconduct and his refusal through this entire process to recognize that he acted inappropriately is concerning because it suggests that he will continue to misbehave in Vermont courts. Although the conduct that led to applicants disciplinary sanctions does not involve either dishonesty or lack of trustworthiness in carrying out responsibilities, they do have a rational connection with [his] present fitness or capacity to practice law and relate to the states legitimate interests in protecting prospective clients and the system of justice. V.R.A.B.  11(b)(1) (Supp. 2013). Applicant has shown a clear pattern of disrespecting the court when he receives an unfavorable ruling, and then accusing the court of bias for calling out that misconduct. He has continued that pattern in this very appeal. Applicants inadequacy may be remediable, but his failure to demonstrate a genuine understanding of his problem, and to truly accept responsibility for his actions suggests that he learned little from his prior sanctions and is likely to continue to act inappropriately in Vermont courts.

Justice Dooley dissented

While I acknowledge that this case is close, and the Board performed a thorough and comprehensive analysis of applicants eligibility for admission, I would reverse the Boards decision that applicant does not have the good moral character and fitness to be admitted to the Vermont bar. Four factors primarily prompt this dissent.

The first is what this case does not involve. While there are allusions to potential injuries to clients in the Board and majority decisions, this is not a case where applicant has failed to fulfill his professional obligations to his clients. Indeed, applicant represented a high volume of clients in Wisconsin with no apparent indication of client complaints. Nor, as the majority states, is there any indication that applicant is dishonest or untrustworthy. See ante,  46. Nor is there any indication that applicant is an incompetent lawyer. The cases in which applicant was found in contempt involve overzealous representation rather than inadequate representation. I emphasize this because I believe that the traits that are not in issue are generally more important than a risk of overzealous representation.

Second, the disciplinary body in Wisconsin imposed a relatively light sanction of a public reprimand for the conduct that led to the contempt citation in two of the cases. I do not condone contemptuous conduct, but we have only a limited understanding of the culture and circumstances in which the contempt citations arose. I am concerned that we are weighing the instances of misconduct more heavily than the evaluative body of the Wisconsin Judiciary which is much closer to the events and circumstances.

Third, my review of the record indicates that applicant has taken responsibility for the inappropriate tactics he employed that led to the contempt citations but continues to assert that the unfair treatment of his clients and the circumstances with which he was confronted required passionate zealous advocacy. This is a fine line, and in my view the difficulty in walking it has caused much of the Boards and majoritys view that applicant continues to assert that what he did was proper.

I am more persuaded by the Washington Character and Fitness Boards conclusion that: Mr. Brittain seems to have better insight into his past and ways to avoid such misconduct in the future. He is maturing and accepting responsibility for his actions. Mr. Brittain and his witnesses have indicated he will no longer return to the behavior exhibited in 2008 through 2011. There is some risk that applicant will again engage in the conduct that caused the contempt citations, but I do not believe he is likely to do so, the standard for determining good moral character. See V.R.A.B. 11(b)(1).

Finally, I am influenced by applicants passion for justice in an area of the law where we need more zealous and skilled advocates. In saying this, I am not endorsing professional misconduct or suggesting that we should lower character and fitness admission standards to admit passionate advocates. I am suggesting that we not confuse passion and zealous advocacy with character flaws.

The Wisconsin reprimand is linked here.

Predicting likely future risk to violate ethics rules is a tricky business. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/05/the-vermont-supreme-court-affirmed-the-denial-of-admission.html
This is Whats Trending Today.

Many people on an island in western Ireland are excited.

They are celebrating a new beach. But actually, it is the return of an old beach.

The people live in Dooagh, a small community on Achill Island.

Older residents of Dooagh remember traveling down to the coastline and walking on the sand.

But during a storm in the 1980s, the beach washed away. All that remained were rocks, seaweed and small pools of water.

In recent weeks, the beach returned.

Sean Molloy works for the Achill Island tourist office. He told reporters that the sand began returning to Dooagh Bay last year. He said the water seemed brighter because there was more sand below.

Then this year, after a series of storms in April when the wind was blowing hard, the sand appeared along the coastline.

Residents woke up one morning after low tide to see 300 meters of soft sand.

A local restaurant owner told The Guardian newspaper that people heard about the beachs return and are visiting Dooagh to take a look.

We have a beautiful little village as it is, but it is great to look out and see this beautiful beach instead of just rocks, the man said.

Achill Island is one of the western-most parts of Europe. A bridge connects the island with the rest of Ireland.

On Facebook, many people are posting videos and photographs of what Dooagh looked like for the past 33 years next to photos of what it looks like today.

People are talking about the power of nature. One Canadian tourist called Dooagh his home away from home. He was excited to see the changes.

A college professor in New Zealand called the Dooagh Beach story a spectacular example of the way beaches change over time. He said the loss of the sand was a product of changing weather conditions and erosion. Sometimes the sand moves up the coastline. Other times, it moves out to sea.

The Achill tourist office is happy to have new visitors. It is now busy releasing photos of crowds coming to see the returned beach.

Sean Molloy said he hopes the beach becomes the sixth Blue Flag beach on Achill Island. That means the areas must meet high standards for being clean, well-managed and environmentally friendly.

And thats Whats Trending Today.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for VOA Learning English. His report was based on information from The Irish Times, The Guardian and the BBC. George Grow was the editor.

Do you have a beach where you live that disappeared but is now back? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

tide  n. the regular upward and downward movement of sea levels

spectacular  adj. causing wonder

erosion  n. the gradual destruction of something by natural forces, such as water, wind, or ice; the process by which something is washed or worn away

beach  n. a coastal areas covered by sand or rock particles

resident  n. someone living in a place for a length of time

standard  n. something established as a model or example


North Korean media says the government is holding another United States citizen.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim Hak Song was detained on Saturday for suspected hostile acts.

Kim worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. He is the second university instructor to be arrested in the past two months.

Last month, North Korean officials detained Pyongyang University accounting professor Kim Sang Dok. The government said he was arrested for committing criminal acts. He was accused of acts of hostility aimed to overturn the rule of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said it knows about the latest detention. It said The security of U.S. citizens is one of the departments highest priorities. When a U.S. citizen is reported to be detained in North Korea, we work with the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to try to secure their freedom.

Kims detention comes as tensions between the two countries increase over North Koreas missile and nuclear programs. The United States has sent an aircraft carrier strike group to waters off the Korean coast as a warning to North Korea to cut back on its military activities.

In the past, North Korea has detained U.S. citizens to use as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S. government.

Last year, North Korea sentenced Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, to 15 years of hard labor. The sentence was announced after he admitted he tried to steal a propaganda sign.

And Kim Dong Chul is serving 10 years of hard labor after being jailed on subversion charges. Kim was born in South Korea, but is believed to have U.S. citizenship.

Im Jonathan Evans.

________________________________________________________________

Words in this Story

bargaining chip  n. something that can be used when you are trying to make a deal

priorities  n. goals or objectives; the things that someone cares about and thinks are important

instructor  n. someone who teaches, like a college teacher
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Technology has changed the way we live and especially the way we work.

For many jobs, workers no longer need to be in a fixed office building. People can telework: they can work from home or anyplace where they can access the necessary technology. For example, I wrote this story on a backyard porch in the mountains of West Virginia.

A 2015 survey from the company Gallup found that 37 percent of Americans worked from home. In 1995, that number was only 9 percent.

It is easy to think that this freedom to work whenever or wherever is good for workers and for families.

As it turns out, teleworking is both good and bad.

A new report warns that some forms of teleworking may blur the line between our personal and professional lives. In other words, some teleworkers may have a hard time keeping their personal life separate from their professional life. This report claims that this blurring may have negative effects on the health and well-being of teleworkers.

The report, titled, "Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work," is a combined effort by the International Labor Organization and the research institute, Eurofound. It looks at the pros and cons -- or the advantages and disadvantages -- of teleworking from home. The report looked at 15 countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan, the United States and 10 European nations.



Oscar Vargas is with Eurofound and Jon Messenger is from the International Labor Organization. The two co-wrote the report. They say in the findings of the study are unclear and, in some cases, contradictory.

For example, the researchers found that on the one hand, teleworkers "report reduced commuting time, more time for their families and a better balance between work and personal life; on the other hand, they also report an increase in working hours, a blurring of the boundaries between paid work and personal life and more work-life interference.

For some people, teleworking adds more family-work conflict, for others teleworking lowers family-work conflicts. For some people, teleworking lowered stress; for others it lead to higher levels of stress and other health problems such as sleep disorders.

Vargas explains that some of the pros are less commuting time and greater freedom, or as he says, autonomy. One of the cons is working longer hours.

Among the positive effects, we find the reduction of commuting time leading, greater work autonomy leading to more flexibility, better overall work-life balance and higher productivity. There are also disadvantages. For example, these workers tend to work longer.

How teleworking affects the health and lifestyle of the workers seems to depend on how much and what type of teleworking they are doing.

The study puts teleworkers into three categories:

those who work commonly from home,

those who work from several locations outside an office,

and those who work both in an office and off-site.

Vargas notes the study found that 20 percent of people in Europe who worked in an office reported high levels of stress. Compare this to 40 percent of stressed-out people in Europe engaged in high-intensity work at home. He said the findings were similar for those who suffer from sleep disorders.

The report also states that teleworkers who are out of the office too often say they feel isolated, or separate from their colleagues and the work environment.

Messenger told VOA that always working away from the employer's work-site seems to be more negative. One of the downsides is this isolation. He calls this a disconnect from co-workers and from the organization as well.

This constant work outside the employers premises seems to be more negative. And one of the downsides is this isolation, this disconnect from co-workers and of course from the organization as well.

Also, the high-intensity teleworkers that we talked about earlier may have a difficult turning off their work.

Part time telework = the sweet spot

Vargas explains that there are upsides for those who telework part-time, or not all the time. He said this was good not only for the workers, but also for employers and companies.

The findings show that if workers do it on a part-time basis -- this way of working can be associated to positive outcomes both for workers but also for employers and companies.

Messenger adds that "two or three days seems to be the sweet spot, or the most effective balance. Half the time in the office and half the time outside the office seems to help avoid these isolation and disconnect issues."

Two or three days a week seems to be the sweet spot. So, half your time in the office and half your time outside the office and that helps to avoid these isolation and disconnect issues.

Messenger explains that many organizations have developed policies to overcome this problem. They set maximum numbers of days per week during which people can work outside the employer's work-site. Usually, employees are able to telework two or three days a week.

Authors of the report urge policymakers to pass legislation that addresses telework issues. These issues include such things as extra work, which is often viewed as "unpaid overtime." They said employers should pay teleworkers for the extra work they do at home.

The report also recommends measures, such as shutting down computer servers outside working hours and not sending employees e-mails when they are on holiday.

The researchers suggest that turning off all electronic devices and rest periods for teleworkers will also help avoid negative effects on workers' health and well-being.

And thats the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo.

Do you telework? For you, does teleworking have more pros or cons, upsides or downsides? How do you or how would you make teleworking work best for you?

Anna Matteo wrote this story for Learning English with additional reporting from Lisa Schlein and ILO-EuroFound report. Hai Do was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Now, test your understanding with this short quiz.

Quiz - Telework: The Pros and Cons Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

blur  v. to become unclear

contradictory  adj. involving or having information that disagrees with other information

positive  adj. good or useful (also; pro, advantage, upside)

negative  adj. harmful or bad (also; con, disadvantage, downside)

flexibility  adj. characterized by a ready capability to adapt to new, different, or changing requirements

off-site  adj. not located or occurring at the site of a particular activity

part-time  adj. working or involving fewer hours than is considered normal or standard

basis  n. a fixed pattern or system for doing something  used with on < He visits his grandmother on a regular basis.

premises  n. plural a building and the area of land that it is on

intensity  n. the quality or state of being intense; especially : extreme degree of strength, force, energy, or feeling

isolate  v. to put or keep (someone or something) in a place or situation that is separate from others

sweet spot  informal n. an area or range that is most effective or beneficial
An arsonist at The Chabad Jewish Center of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada set fire to cars in the buildings parking lot shortly after 8 p.m. monday evening, after attempting to set fire to a restroom trashcan in the building.

It looked like the arsonist put something into the hood of a congregants car, and moments later the car blew up in flames, said Rabbi Levi Harlig of Chabad of Southern Nevada, the Chabad center. Harlig was in the building concluding evening prayer service with some congregants at the time.

Thankfully, no one was hurt and the building sustained no damage.

An arrest has been made in connection with the attack. Rabbi Harlig urged people not to speculate, but to give the authorities a chance to complete the investigation. We have full confidence in law enforcement. There is no current threat to our building and programs continue as usual.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Orlando, FL  On October, 28, 2017, UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management will honor two leaders from two of Orlando's most popular restaurants. Salli Setta, President of Red Lobster Seafood Company and John Rivers, Founder and CEO of 4 Rivers Smokehouse, will be recognized for their contributions to the hospitality industry when they are inducted into The Central Florida Hospitality Hall of Fame at The Pineapple Ball.

The annual event, a benefit for academic initiatives and student scholarships, will be held at Rosen Shingle Creek.

"We are very happy to have Salli Setta and John Rivers join an accomplished group of hospitality industry leaders in the The Central Florida Hospitality Hall of Fame," declared Dr. Abraham Pizam, dean of Rosen College. "Salli and John have both worked to create dining experiences that are unique, family friendly and accessible to the communities they serve, and we are deeply honored that they have achieved this distinction. We look forward to celebrating their accomplishments on this special occasion at The Pineapple Ball with our industry partners, family and friends."

Setta was named President of Red Lobster Seafood Company in July 2013. In this role, Setta leads all of Restaurant Operations, Marketing, and Culinary and Beverage for the iconic brand, which operates more than 700 restaurants in North America and has more than 55,000 employees. Setta developed and aligned the company to a simple strategy  Great Seafood, Great People and Great Results  that seeks to play to Red Lobster's strengths, helps the company build on its strong foundation and ultimately grow the company long-term. Red Lobster is the world's largest seafood restaurant company, headquartered in Orlando, FL.

Also based in Orlando, FL, 4 Rivers Smokehouse opened in 2009 and quickly became one of the fastest growing restaurants in the southeast. With 13 locations in Florida and one recently opened in Atlanta, the success and popularity of 4 Rivers Smokehouse, has garnered national recognition. Nation's Restaurant News, the industry's lead trade publication, recognized 4 Rivers as one of their top five breakout brands and Rivers himself has been featured in national publications including Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Zagat.com, USA Today, Cigar Aficionado, Business Insider and Cooking Light Magazine. A graduate of Florida State University College of Business, where he serves on the Board of Governors, Rivers chairs the 4R Foundation and serves on the boards of numerous school, church, and charity organizations.

To learn more about The Central Florida Hospitality Hall of Fame and The Pineapple Ball, purchase tickets and secure sponsorships, please visit http://hospitality.ucf.edu/the-pineapple-ball/

About UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management

The UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management located in Orlando, offers students an unrivaled opportunity to learn and work in the heart of hospitality. Ranked in the top five hospitality management programs worldwide, Rosen College has been an educational leader for over 30 years. Uniquely positioned in America's top tourism destination, we educate the next generation of industry leaders through internationally-recognized faculty, innovative academic programs, cutting-edge research and strong industry and community partnerships. To learn more, visit hospitality.ucf.edu.

Susan Vernon-Devlin

Assistant Director of Public Relations

UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Policy leaders, statisticians, academicians and private sector will convene in Manila, The Philippines, next June 2017 (21-24), to discuss new methodologies to measure the full impacts of tourism. The 6th edition of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) International Conference on Statistics, an official event of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, will address the topic of 'Measuring Sustainable Tourism'.

Supported by the United Nations Statistics Division, the UNWTO initiative 'Towards a Statistical Framework for Measuring Sustainable Tourism' (MST) underlines the need to measure the full effects of the tourism sector. The UNWTO International Conference to be held in Manila will serve as a platform to discuss the first draft of the MST framework and its future implementation.

The Philippines has become a reference in the region with regard to tourism measurement and a role model in the development of effective inter-institutional collaboration to develop tourism statistics. The commitment of the country, shown in the development of the Tourism Satellite Account framework, explains the decision to host the discussion on the MST initiative.

A Ministerial Roundtable will inaugurate the Conference in order to align efforts to advocate among governments the relevance of integrated and reliable data to manage and promote a more sustainable tourism sector. Afterwards, a Panel of Statistical Institutes will provide the opportunity to share experiences and practices implemented at global, regional and national level.

Other technical sessions will focus on understanding data demands, the link between the economic, the environmental and the social dimensions of sustainable tourism, including job creation, sub-national measurement, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators, and data sources including big data.

Besides policy leaders, statistical experts and private sector, representatives from international organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and Eurostat will also contribute to the discussions.

About The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency fostering tourism as a vehicle for equal, inclusive and sustainable development. Working with its Member States, international organizations and the private sector, UNWTO promotes safe and seamless travel for all. UNWTO also works to make tourism the foundation of trust and international cooperation and a central pillar of recovery. As part of the wider UN system, UNWTO is at the forefront of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through its ability to create decent jobs, promote equality and preserve natural and cultural heritage.

Follow UNWTO on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin.

Rut Gomez Sobrino

Principal Media Officer

(+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO
Alliance Francaise de Macao (AF) has been searching for the successor to its current director, Xavier Garnier, after he disclosed to the association several months aglo that he is planning to move back to France in July.

AF has held interviews with 35 candidates who applied for the position and 11 applicants went through to a second interview.

According to Garnier, the associations Board is currently choosing between three final contendors to be his successor.

Speaking to the Times, the AF director explained that he lived and worked in China for more than 15 years; before coming to Macau working in the regions of Shandong and Jinan.

He also stressed that his plans to leave Macau are based purely on personal and family reasons.

The main reason why Im leaving has nothing to do with Macau. I could have stayed even longer. But its really for personal reasons, he reiterated.

And I just feel its time for me to go back to France with my family because Ive been here already for quite a long time, he continued.

Garnier has been living in Macau for nearly four years and has been the director of AF for three years.

One of the highlights during his term was the establishment of the Sacred Music Festival which aims to both to valorize the heritage of Macau by enlivening some of its monuments, namely churches, with musical concerts, and to cooperate with local artists. The festival features a baroque music concert.

Another project that the association worked on was the French Film Festival, which features film screenings and master classes with French directors.

Last year, the festival was held at the Macau Science and Technology University and presented three French films, along with master classes.

We did contribute a lot in the cultural life of Macau. [] We are quite active in terms of cultural events, Garnier concluded, citing some of the 15 events they held annually.

Commenting on Sundays French presidential election, the AF director revealed that only less than half of the registered voters went to vote at the Macau polling station.

In the tally of the voting this past Sunday in Macau, Emmanuel Macron got 42 votes and his opponent Marine Le Pen 17; there were six blank votes and 1 null.

Totally, we have 138 registered voters so were expecting that maybe we could have 60 percent of them vote, [but] its a little less. Yet the French people who came here to vote were very happy as they do not need to go to Hong Kong, he said.

Garnier addressed the French citizens residing in the region who did not participate in the polls, saying, What happened in Macau also happened in France, adding that some 25 percent of the registered voters in France did not vote due to dissatisfaction over the presidential candidates.

The last edition in which such a big number of people who didnt vote was in 1969. [] A lot of people decided not to vote because they were not satisfied with these two choices between Macron and Le Pen, he explained.

Commenting on the organization of the first polling station that has been set up in Macau for the French Presidential Election, Garnier said that accommodating 66 registered voters was not a big problem, compared to the number of voters in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Everything went okay, especially there were enough people to organize, he said.

The Macau polling station, located at the headquarters of the AF was initially promoted by the French Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau, Eric Berti.
Stuck in a Bangkok jail with a deportation order against her, Chen Guiqiu waited with dread over what seemed certain to come next. A Thai immigration official showed her surveillance video of the jail entrance, where more than a dozen Chinese security agents were waiting.

Within minutes, Chen feared, she and her two daughters would be escorted back to China, where her husband, the prominent rights lawyer Xie Yang, was held on a charge of inciting subversion  and where punishment for attempting to flee surely awaited her.

After weeks on the run, Chen was exhausted, and so was her luck. A Christian, she prayed: Dont desert us now, not like this.

Help arrived, from America.

U.S. Embassy officials managed to enter the facility just in time to whisk Chen and her daughters out a back door. The Chinese agents outside soon realized what had happened and pursued them, finally meeting in a standoff at the Bangkok airport where Chinese, Thai and U.S. officials heatedly argued over custody of the family.

Chen and her supporters disclosed details of her familys March escape for the first time to The Associated Press. Their journey reveals the lengths that Chinas government has been increasingly willing to go to reach far beyond its jurisdiction in the pursuit of dissidents and their families.

The saga also demonstrates that in at least some cases, American officials are willing to push back, even at a moment weeks before President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were to meet in Florida. The Trump administration has been criticized for downplaying human rights in foreign policy, but may have viewed Chens case as special  if not for herself then for her youngest daughter, a 4-year-old American citizen.

The familys ordeal began July 9, 2015, when the Chinese government launched a nationwide crackdown on human rights lawyers. Chens husband, Xie, a lawyer who represented evicted farmers and pro-democracy activists, was among dozens detained in the 7-09 crackdown and, months later, charged with crimes against the state.

In January, Chen helped release her husbands account of being beaten, deprived of sleep and otherwise tortured while in detention  drawing further condemnation of Beijing by Western governments. Police summoned Chen for hours-long meetings where, she said, they threatened to evict her, deny her children schooling and have her fired from her job as a professor of environmental engineering at Hunan University.

By early February, the pressure was becoming unbearable. Seemingly unable to extract a confession out of Xie, the authorities turned up threats against Chen and, increasingly, those close to her.

When police detained Chens 14-year-old daughter as she tried to board a train for Hong Kong, Chen knew a travel ban had been placed on their names.

That was when she decided to contact Bob Fu, a Christian rights activist based in Texas who has helped several high-profile dissidents flee China, including Chen Guangcheng, a blind rights lawyer whose 2012 flight to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing sparked diplomatic tensions.

Were going on a trip, Chen told her daughters the morning of Feb. 19.

They headed south from their home in central China, then crossed into at least two countries without paperwork. There were nights, she said, when they had nowhere to sleep and days when they had nothing but a bag of chocolates to eat.

Traveling by foot and car for five days, they finally arrived at a safe house in Bangkok whose owners knew Fu.

Even though Chen took precautions, never turning on her phone or accessing the internet, Chinese authorities had gotten wind that she might be in Thailand. While she was in hiding, Chinese security agents forced her 70-year-old father, her sister, her university employer and other relatives and friends to fly with them to Bangkok in an unusual attempt to locate her.

Less than a week later, on March 2, Thai police, directed by a Chinese translator who Chen believed was from the Chinese Embassy, barged into the safe house, seized her belongings and sent the family to detention. It is unclear how they were located.

Chen appeared in immigration court the next morning. She was accompanied by the translator, who took away Chens phone and snapped pictures of Chens court documents with her own phone camera. A judge ruled that Chen had entered the country illegally and ordered her deported. The translator paid for her legal proceedings and fine.

An increasing number of Chinese in recent years have sought refuge in Thailand only to be sent back. In 2015, Thailand deported two Chinese dissidents who the United Nations recognized as refugees, a journalist who feared Beijings persecution and 109 minority Uighurs who said they had fled repression. Later that year, a Hong Kong publisher of books on Chinese political gossip vanished from his Thai home and into Chinese custody, alarming the international community.

As Chen was taken back to the jail to pick up her children and things, with Chinese officials waiting for her outside, she appeared likely to meet a similar fate.

In Texas, Fu was dumbfounded by news of Chens arrest. He sprang into action to alert the State Department, and his associates in Thailand, who quickly located her in the jail.

According to Fu, U.S. officials made it into the facility on March 3 while Chen was in court, found Chens daughters and stayed with them while they searched for the mother. Finally, through their Thai contacts in the jail, the Americans located her and convinced Thai officials to let them whisk her out the back, said Fu and another person with knowledge of the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

The family piled into a car and sped through Bangkoks congested streets headed for the airport while Fu, 12 time zones away, frantically tried to book flights and prepare the familys requisite U.S. paperwork.

But the Chinese agents were not far behind.

Despite her deportation order, Chen was stopped at the airport by Thai immigration officials who explained that they were under immense Chinese pressure to prevent her departure. In an hours-long standoff at the airport, the person with knowledge of the operation said, the confrontation between the Chinese, American and Thai officials nearly boiled over into a physical clash.

Chen and Fu declined to explain what happened next, citing diplomatic sensitivities, other than that the family eventually made it to the U.S. on March 17.

It is unclear whether Chen was housed in the U.S. Embassy in the intervening weeks or whether and how a deal was negotiated to allow Chens departure from Thailand.

A spokesman for Chinas foreign ministry said yesterday he was not aware of the matter. The Ministry of Public Security did not respond to faxed requests for comment. Thai and U.S. authorities declined to comment on Chens experience.

Justin Higgins, a State Department spokesman for East Asia, said that in general the U.S. urges China to release all of the lawyers and activists detained in the July 9, 2015, crackdown and remove restrictions on their freedom of movement and professional activities.

Its unusual for U.S. officials to take such bold action to help Chinese citizens  in Chens familys case, human rights workers say. But the citizenship of Chens younger daughter, who was born 4 years ago in the U.S. while Xie was studying in the country on a sabbatical, was likely a key factor.

Compared to previous years, when Chinas diplomacy with its neighbors touched mostly on economic and national security issues, Beijing increasingly demands foreign governments cooperation when it hunts for fugitives, even those whom other countries may view as political dissidents.

China is exporting its human rights abuses beyond its borders, said Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego, and former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia.

The Thai government has always tried to maintain good relations with the U.S. and with China, Shirk said, but these kinds of cases make that balancing act very difficult.

The U.S. may be changing its stance on China, given Trumps effusive praise for Xi and Secretary of State Rex Tillersons recent remarks that Washington will not force human rights issues on other nations. Yet Chens case suggests that America is still willing to confront China on thorny rights issues, at least when U.S. citizens are involved.

This administration appears to be more muscular, more assertive, and were seeing Putting Americans First play out, said John Kamm, the founder of the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco who has advised U.S. administrations on Chinese human rights issues. But what Im hoping is that Putting Americans First doesnt mean putting other people last.

Kamm noted that two U.S. citizens  Texas businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis and aid worker Aya Hijazi  were released by China and Egypt, respectively, in recent weeks in response to high-level pressure from U.S. officials. Yet the U.S. notably did not sign onto a letter from 11 Western countries who, spurred by Xies allegations, protested the torture of Chinese human rights lawyers, he added.

Now safe in Texas, Chen said she wanted to thank the State Department and the Trump administration. But her sense of relief has been tempered by a painful reckoning of the ruin and chaos she left behind.

Xies trial began yesterday. A government-appointed defense lawyer is representing him (see separate article).

Chen Jiangang, Xies former lawyer who helped release his account of torture, was detained last week in a Chinese province near Myanmar, human rights observers say.

The relatives of Chen who were pressed by the government to travel to Thailand have had their passports confiscated upon their return to China. They have been repeatedly interrogated, and their jobs have been threatened, she said.

The electricity at Chens apartment has since been cut, forcing her elderly father to move back to his village. Authorities have emptied her Chinese bank accounts, she said.

For now, Chen and her daughters are living off the charity of her supporters. The former professor plans to seek a job, a home, and school for the girls. Chen said she was happy to start over in America. She has little money, but still has her voice.

All the things we tried to expose, all the articles we used to write about the truth of 7-09  the harassment, the torture, the denial of our childrens schooling, the forced evictions  we were always smeared so quickly, she said.

If Ive escaped the country, they cant control the situation anymore. Now, what can they do? Gerry Shih, Beijing, AP
Chinas exports expanded at a slower pace in April while import growth also decelerated as demand cooled both at home and overseas, according to data released yesterday.

Exports rose to USD180 billion last month, up 8 percent from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. They grew 16.4 percent in March.

Imports rose 11.9 percent to $142 billion, slowing from 20.4 percent growth the previous month.

Both were below forecasts by economists, who said lower commodity prices also contributed to the weaker growth in trade.

Economists said the latest numbers, which follow softer readings in the most recent China and U.S. factory activity indexes, indicate slowing trade momentum.

We think these may signal a softening momentum in Chinas export growth in the second quarter although the pipeline of electronic products in the global supply chain is still likely to keep Chinas export outlook stable through 2017, Betty Wang of ANZ Research said in a commentary.

Chinas politically sensitive global trade surplus came in at $38 billion, up from $23.9 billion in March. The trade surplus with U.S. rose to $21.3 billion, from $17.7 billion the previous month.

Earlier this month, the U.S. reported that its trade deficit was at its narrowest in months but rising imports of Chinese cellphones and telecoms gear pushed the trade gap with China higher.

U.S. President Donald Trump has often decried trade deficits with other countries including China. He blames unfair trade practices by China for the loss of hundreds of factories and millions of manufacturing jobs. AP
Major cities in China have seen their biggest and angriest demonstrations for years in response to the destruction by Nato bombs of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade with the loss of four lives.

Hundreds of students chanting anti-American and anti-Nato slogans marched in Shanghai, Chengdu, Guanghzou.

In Beijing about 100,000 people invaded the embassy district, massing on streets littered with rocks and broken bottles from earlier protests.

Buses packed with students headed out of campuses across the city. Correspondents said the authorities appeared to be deliberately encouraging the action.

The residence of the US Consul General in the south-western city of Chengdu was stormed and partially burned.

Nato said its pilots hit the embassy in the early hours of 8 May with precision-guided bombs by accident  they had mistaken the embassy for a legitimate military target.

The Chinese press has carried front-page pictures of the victims of the embassy bombing.

At an emergency session of the UN Security Council, the Chinese ambassador accused Nato of carrying out a war crime.

The Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, condemned the bombing as a violation of international law and called for an immediate end to the air strikes on Serbia.

Serbian state television reported that Yugoslavias President Slobodan Milosevic has conveyed his deepest sympathy to China over the deaths.

President Clinton has offered deep regrets to the people of China, but said the bombing was an accident, not a barbaric act.

He echoed the words of the Nato Secretary-General, Javier Solana, in saying that the incident would not deter the alliance from continuing its air campaign.

As Nato countries try to contain the damage from the embassy bombing, Russias special Balkans envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, said that the conflict itself must be resolved by political means as quickly as possible.

He was speaking after talks in Bonn with the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, about the G8 countries outline peace plan for Kosovo.

Both the chancellor and Mr Chernomyrdin later held separate talks with the Kosovo Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

In 1998 the Kosovo Liberation Army  supported by the majority ethnic Albanians  came out in open rebellion against Serbian rule over Kosovo.

International pressure grew on Serbias President Slobodan Milosevic to stop the escalating violence against ethnic Albanians, and Nato launched air strikes against Yugoslavia in March 1999.

Within days, tens of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees poured out of Kosovo with accounts of killings and atrocities at the hands of Serb forces.

Eleven weeks later on 10 June 1999, Nato stopped the bombing after Belgrade agreed to a full military withdrawal from Kosovo.

Nato troops were deployed in Kosovo under Operation Joint Guardian to oversee the departure of Serb forces and maintain law and order.

Milosevic was ousted from power in September 2000 and arrested for corruption in April 2001. In February 2002 he stood trial in the Hague for war crimes but died in his cell in March 2006.

The US and China broke off diplomatic contact for about four months until discussion on Chinas entry into the World Trade Organisation  which finally happened in September 2001  softened relations between the two nations.
An environmental watchdog has accused Vietnamese government and military officials of taking payoffs to ignore vast smuggling of lucrative lumber from neighboring Cambodia.

Millions of dollars in bribes have been paid by Vietnamese timber traders to both Vietnamese and Cambodian officials, the report issued yesterday by the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency alleges.

It says the Vietnamese officials are paid off in exchange for granting import quotas for the timber and Cambodians are paid to open up logging areas and smuggling routes. The logging itself in Cambodia is often illegal, taking place in protected areas such as national parks.

Cambodia has banned the export of logs and since early 2016 has closed its border with Vietnam to timber as well. However, Vietnam has official quotas for such imports, which are also taxed.

Sear Ra, deputy chief of Cambodias Forestry Administration, noted that such exporting was stopped 2016, and if it had happened since then, it would have been done secretly and illegally.

Cambodia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, much of it due to illegal logging and corrupt land deals.

Much of the timber trade is protected by military units that profit from deals with the loggers.

Vietnams official quotas facilitate the smuggling from Cambodia and even allows Vietnam to profit by taxing the smuggled logs, the report says.

Approximately 300,000 cubic meters of logs have been smuggled out of Cambodia and laundered in Vietnam under these quotas, it says, estimated the kickbacks have totaled more than USD13 million since the beginning of November 2016

The watchdog says Vietnam and the European Union are expected to sign an agreement to try to ensure only legal timber is exported from Vietnam.

This is the single largest log-smuggling operation that we have seen for years, the groups senior forests campaigner, Jago Wadley said in a news release. Vietnam must address this weak approach to any agreement with the EU to combat illegal logging and the associated trade.

The report points out that the illegal trade comes as Vietnam is working hard to protect its own forests, even as Vietnams government has promoted the rapid expansion of an export-oriented wood processing sector, which has become the sixth largest in the world.

It says Vietnamese exports of wood products are projected to total $8 billion this year, while imports account for at least 80 percent of the raw materials consumed by its factories.

Cambodia and Laos, another neighbor of Vietnam, together provided Vietnam with illicit timber worth almost three quarters of a billion dollars in a single year, says the report, noting that a crackdown in Laos has shifted the smugglers attention to Cambodia. AP
Chinese human rights lawyer Xie Yang told a court yesterday that he wasnt forced into confessing to crimes after being detained in a large government crackdown on the countrys legal professionals.

The Intermediate Peoples Court in Changsha posted a brief video on social media in which Xie was asked that question as his trial opened Monday. He replied, No, I havent, and furthermore Ive not been tortured.

Xie gave his lawyer an account in January saying he had been beaten, deprived of sleep and held in stress positions. The statement said any future confession from Xie would be due to prolonged torture.

Arrested in July 2015 along with dozens of other lawyers and activists, Xie faces charges of inciting subversion against state power and disturbing court procedures.

His wife, Chen Guiqiu, and two daughters fled to Thailand, where they were pursued by Chinese agents, and then to the United States after she distributed Xies account of his torture.

Prosecutors told the court that Xie used the encrypted messaging app Telegram to conspire with people inside and outside China to distort incidents of police brutality to subvert state power, overthrow the socialist system and harm national security and social stability, according to the courts account.

Xie also testified that he briefly attended a legal training course in Hong Kong and South Korea, it said. Prosecutors said that indicated he had shadowy ties to foreign elements.

The accusations against Xie mirror those brought against other lawyers and activists detained as part of the July 2015 crackdown.

With little evidence shown, they have been accused of contacting international news media to spread stories about human rights abuses and of receiving aid and training from overseas rights groups, an indication, prosecutors say, that they sought to destabilize China and smear its government.
Zhang Dejiang was at the government headquarters listening to the SAR government delivering their work report in a session led by Chief Executive Chui Sai On. The session also included all the governments secretaries and the heads of Commission Against Corruption and the Commission of Audit.

The session, held yesterday afternoon, was open to the media for only seven minutes, during which time the Chief Executive launched the meeting and Zhang delivered his opening speech before the government closed the door.

Zhang pointed out that ever since Macaus handover, the One country, two systems policy and the regions Basic Law have been implemented fully, and that the Central Government comprehensive control rights have also been implemented effectively.

Macau SARs high autonomy is fully protected, stated Zhang, adding the administration driven system has been operated nicely.

In Zhangs opinion, Macaus economy developed rapidly, livelihood improved steadily, and the society remains harmonized and stable.

Moreover, he expressed the belief that all sectors have been continuously improving. These facts prove that the One Country, Two Systems has been practiced in Macau successfully, concluded Zhang, who then declared himself to be happy to see the current Macau government, under the leadership of Chui Sai On, diversifying Macaus economy.

The Central Government feels satisfaction towards what is going on, revealed Zhang.

Zhang pointed out that, right now, Macaus overall status is good, although there are problems and challenges, and the residents do have high expectations of the government.

He expressed the hope that the SAR government can unify all departments and sectors, and have the courage to undertake even more responsibilities. He also hopes to improve the administration ability and work efficiency, and to push forward Macaus One Country and Two Systems successful practice.

During his speech at the government headquarters, the chairman of the National Peoples Congress noted that with the support of the Central Government and the country, in conjunction with the hard work of everyone and also a full interpretation of the One Country, Two System, Macaus future will be more beautiful and more prosperous.

Chui Sai On thanked Zhang Dejiang for his concerns and for the support he has shown Macau by saying that the regions overall development is positive.

During Zhangs appearance at the government headquarters, yesterday, the police restricted the roads from the Praca De Lobo De Avila bus stop to the Calcada De Santo Agostinho bus stop. JZ
North Korea has detained another American citizen accused of committing unspecified hostile acts against the country.

The countrys official Korean Central News Agency said Kim Hak Song was detained Saturday and that a relevant institution is now conducting detailed investigation into his crimes.

He worked at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, the same workplace as another American, accounting instructor Kim Sang Dok, whose detention was announced last week. The KCNA didnt say whether the two cases are connected.

The university said in a statement yesterday that Kim Hak Song was doing agricultural development work at an experimental farm. It said his detention was not related to his work at the university and therefore it could not comment further.

In Washington, the State Department said it was aware of the report of the new detention and that the security of U.S. citizens is one of the departments highest priorities.

Kim Sang Dok, the former accounting instructor at the Pyongyang university, was arrested at the Pyongyang International Airport on April 22, the KCNA said. It said he was intercepted for committing criminal acts to overthrow the Norths government, but didnt elaborate.

The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology is the only privately funded university in North Korea and is unique for having a large number of foreign staff.

South Korea, the U.S. and others often accuse North Korea of using foreign detainees to wrest diplomatic concessions, which have sometimes involved high-profile Americans sent to secure the release of the Americans.

Two other Americans detained in North Korea 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.

Warmbier, a University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, made a tearful public confession to stealing a propaganda banner while visiting North Korea with a tour group last year. Kim Dong Chul, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen told CNN he was president of a trade and hotel services company in Rason, North Korea. In his public confession, he said he had spied for South Korean intelligence and had tried to spread religion among North Koreans.

Some foreigners have said after their release that their declarations of guilt had been coerced while in North Korean custody.

When an American citizen is reported detained, the U.S. works with the Swedish Embassy in the North Korean capital, since the U.S. and the North do not have diplomatic relations.

North Koreas announcement of the detainments comes amid tensions over fears that Pyongyang is preparing another round of nuclear or missile tests and comments. U.S. President Donald Trump has further spiked animosity by saying he isnt ruling out military action against the North, although Trump has also said he would be willing to talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances.

North Korea last week accused the U.S. and South Korean spy agencies of an unsuccessful assassination attempt on leader Kim Jong Un involving biochemical weapons. Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP
Taiwan is pushing for a last-minute invitation to an annual World Health Organization summit amid rising pressure from Beijing to isolate the island by blocking its participation in international events.

Online registration for the 10-day World Health Assembly closed yesterday. Although Taiwan has attended as an observer since 2009, China has been stepping up diplomatic pressure on Taiwans government over President Tsai Ing-wens refusal to endorse Beijings view that Taiwan is Chinese territory.

Tsai tweeted Sunday that the self-governing democracy deserves inclusion at the summit in late May in Geneva. She linked to an article detailing Taiwans medical magic and cross-border humanitarian efforts.

Foreign Minister David Lee vowed last week to take action if Taiwan cant attend, although the island appears to have little leverage to counter Chinas efforts to sideline it.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the organization understands that there is a concern about Taiwan participating as an observer at this years assembly, but declined to specify the nature of the concern or who had raised it.

While Taiwan has received some international support, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said most countries back Chinas stance.

Taiwans participation in international organizations activities must follow the one China principle, Geng said, referring to Chinas claim of sovereignty over the island.

Only a few individual countries have voiced their support for Taiwans participation and we are firmly opposed to that, he told a daily news briefing.

Beijing insists that Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are part of a single Chinese nation and has vowed to take control of the island by force if necessary. It doesnt recognize the islands government and refuses to have diplomatic ties with any of the handful of foreign countries that do so.

China has also used its clout as one of five veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council to exclude Taiwan from the U.N. and other world bodies that require sovereign status for membership.

Beijing has increasingly sought to hinder Taiwans attendance at even sporting, cultural and trade gatherings, including a meeting on the international trade in blood diamonds last week in Australia, where a disruption of the proceedings by the Chinese delegation resulted in Taiwans representatives being forced to leave.

Since Tsais election last year, China has also discouraged tourism to Taiwan, with Taiwans government saying the number of Chinese visitors fell by more than 50 percent in the first four months of the year. Beijing severed limited contacts with Taiwanese officials in June shortly after Tsais inauguration.

The animosity dates to a post-World War II civil war between the two sides led by Communist leader Mao Zedong and Nationalist Chiang Kai Shek, who fled to Taiwan with his government after losing the fight over the mainland.

WHO was established in 1948 by members of the United Nations as the global guardian of public health with offices in more than 150 countries. Its assembly is used to appoint a director general and adopt a health agenda for the coming year.

For the past decade, WHO has been led by Margaret Chan, the former director of health for Hong Kong, which is a special administrative region of China. Her current five-

year term expires in June. AP
Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National Peoples Congress and the official responsible for overseeing Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, arrived yesterday in Macau for a three-day visit.

The Times knows that this morning, among other visits, Zhang will be at the Legislative Assembly for a closed-door meeting with lawmakers. Its the first time that one of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party visits the local parliament.

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac of the Macau International Airport right after he set foot on the territory, Zhang said that since Macaus handover, its economy and society have made notable changes, the life of the population has improved significantly, and there is a vitality in all aspects.

Zhang said that he was in Macau at the behest of President Xi Jinping to observe the evolution of the region and to hear the local governments work report. He added that his first goal in Macau is to feel Macaus development, success, and the happiness of its citizens.

Zhang noted that, since he oversees Macau and Hong Kong affairs, he follows up Macaus development and changes daily. He said he will walk a lot, listen a lot, and see a lot during his three-day trip to Macau.

The high official of China, when referring to Xi Jinpings directives, said that he is in Macau specifically to listen to the work report from the government and related departments; listen to opinions from all sectors; and, ensure that Macau improves.

He said that the central government will keep supporting Macaus economic and social developments.

At the very beginning of Zhangs speech he asked the media to convey cordial greetings and kind wishes from chairman Xi Jinping and the Central Government, and from the countrys people from all ethnicities.

According to Zhang, his first visit to Macau traces back to the year of 2004, when he was still working for Guangdong Province. In order to push forward the collaboration among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, following the approval of the Central Government, and in order to push forward the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD), I came to Macau, explained Zhang.

Aside from these recent changes, in the past, Macau and Guangdong were planning to explore the Hengqin Island as well as the relocation of the University of Macau. During that period, [Macau] left us with beautiful memories, admitted Zhang, adding that the fruitful results of these projects were witnessed yesterday.

In order to show Macaus enthusiastic welcome to the top Chinese leader, Macau sent 240 primary school students to the airport. The students were holding Chinas national flags, Macau SAR flags, and flowers, and repeatedly shouting welcome, welcome, warmly welcome to Zhang.

Macau Chief Executive Chui Sai On, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Wang Guangya, and the head of the Central Government Liaison Office in Macau, Wang Zhimin, among other current and previous Macau government high officials, welcomed Zhang, yesterday morning, at the airport.
Facebook can be a fun tool to chat with old friends, catch up on news and scroll through cute puppy pictures. But scammers have a different idea for fun when using the social media site. With over 1.86 billion monthly active Facebook users, this gives scammers the opportunity to target potential victims from all over the world.

Better Business Bureau Serving the Northwest advises to watch out for these common Facebook scams:

Facebook friend impersonator: Scammers will pose as a friend or family member either by hacking their account or creating a fake profile. These friends will message you on Facebook telling you he or she has won money and your name is on the list of winners too. All you have to do is pay tax and shipping fees in order to claim your prize.

Facebook lottery: Theres no such thing as a Facebook lottery. If you receive a message or email from an employee of Facebook saying you have won thousands of dollars in prize money, delete the message. If you are ever asked to pay upfront fees for something you have won, dont fall for it. Its a scam!

Fake military members: Victims believe they are in a relationship with an American soldier, but some scammers are playing with victims emotions to try and hustle them for money. Last year a woman reported to BBB that she lost about $5,000 on what she thought was transportation and medical fees for a man who said he was stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan.

And of course, the coupon scam: The post looks to be from a major retailer offering a significant discount. All you have to do is click a link and fill in some information. Watch for this phishing scheme! You could end up giving sensitive personal information to scammers, or signing up for endless spam email that is difficult to cancel.

To avoid these schemes, start with who you allow to connect with you on social media. Be wary of accepting friend requests from people you dont know. Before accepting a friend request from a stranger, check out their profile. A recently created page with little or no posts or other information may be a fake.

Be cautious when accepting friend requests from someone you thought you were already friends with. Scammers will create a fake version of a friend or family members profile to try to gain personal information. If you see a request from someone you are already friends with, contact that person directly and let them know there may be an issue with their account.

Never wire money, provide debit or credit card numbers or prepaid debit card identification numbers to someone you dont know. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. Legitimate giveaways do not ask winners to pay a fee to claim their prize.

Report any fake profiles and fraud attempts to the social media site you are using.
HANSEN  An Eden man set to stand trial later this month on charges that he killed his longtime girlfriend while driving drunk last Memorial Day fired his attorney Monday, saying he was happy with Steven McRaes counsel but wanted to seek a second opinion.

Jody Dee Neaderhiser, 52, is charged with felony counts of vehicular manslaughter and aggravated driving under the influence for running a stop sign and causing a crash last May 30 that killed his longtime girlfriend, 51-year-old Evette Phillips, and injured Trell Down, the passenger in another vehicle.

Prosecutors say his blood alcohol level at the time was 0.259, more than three times the legal limit to drive in Idaho. Neaderhisers trial was scheduled to begin May 23 but has been postponed until Nov. 14.

Im satisfied with Mr. McRae as an attorney, your honor, Neaderhiser told District Judge Randy Stoker on Monday during a pretrial conference. I just feel I owe it to the deceased to try another avenue. There are children at play here, and they need me in their lives.

Both Neaderhiser and Twin Falls County Deputy Prosecutor Jethelyn Harrington referenced a plea agreement the two sides have been working on, but Neaderhiser appears to have rejected the deal.

The state was hoping wed have this finished up today, Harrington told Stoker. Apparently thats not going to happen, and the state is not pleased.

Harrington, obviously frustrated by Neaderhisers decision, said prosecutors believe McRae is an excellent defense attorney, implying there is no need for him to seek a second opinion.

Neaderhiser said he received the states plea offer Monday morning  Stoker cut him off before he could describe the details of that offer  but still wished to fire McRae and try another avenue.

Neaderhiser has been in custody since his arrest on July 26 and will remain in custody until his November trial unless he posts $100,000 bond.
Q: I read that Idaho produces 75 percent of the trout in the nation. Is it available fresh and frozen in our local stores?

A: Any local retailer could carry our product but that is a decision of the seafood buyer for the retailer, said Cally Grindstaff, VP Corporate Relations/Organizational Development for Clear Springs Foods, Inc. in Buhl.

Leo Ray, president and owner of Fish Breeders of Idaho, agreed that customers should ask for local fish in their grocery store.

We sell retail at our processing plant at 18374 Hwy. 30 in Hagerman, he said. Stop in and buy some good trout.

Clear Springs products most generally would be available in the fresh fish counter area of the store, Grindstaff said.

Customers could make a request to the fresh fish manager at their favorite local retailer, she said. We do have frozen product available at Smart Foodservice Cash n Carry in Twin Falls. Our products are also available via Omaha Steaks. Additionally, our products are occasionally available via some of the on-line meal kit providers such as Sunbasket.

More than 70 percent of all rainbow trout raised in the U.S. is grown in a 30-mile stretch along the Snake River in the Magic Valley. Clear Springs, the worlds largest producer, is responsible for about 60 percent of this total, processing over 20 million pounds a year.

Clear Springs is an employee owned, vertically integrated food company that markets its rainbow trout products throughout the country, Grindstaff said. The majority of trout raised in the country is produced here in the Magic Valley due to the abundance of pure, natural spring water. Products are shipped on the day of the pack and transported on the company owned trucking fleet to retail customers and food-service distributors throughout the country. Deliveries are made to regional retail food chains and distributors on a twice per week basis where it is displayed and available for consumers in the fresh fish counter of retail stores. Clear Springs enjoys an excellent reputation in the food industry and products are available to all retail food outlets. Additionally, products are available for consumers at various food-service establishments across the country.

Locally, customers can enjoy our products at Jakers Bar and Grill in Twin Falls, The Pioneer Saloon in Ketchum, and the Cracker Barrel restaurants nationwide just to name a few, Grindstaff said.

According to Idaho Preferred, Idaho is the No. 1 trout-producing state in the U.S., growing more than 70 percent of all farm-raised trout. Sturgeon meat and caviar, tilapia, and catfish are also raised in Idaho.
TWIN FALLS  Acting Idaho Gov. Brad Little declared a state of emergency Sunday for Blaine County due to flooding caused by melting mountain snowpack.

And according to a report from The Associated Press, officials with the Blaine County Sheriffs office say 30 homes have been asked to voluntarily evacuate because of flooding.

KTVB-TV says some emergency crews were called out to rescue a family over the weekend. Meanwhile, workers at the Sun Valley Resort have surrounded certain buildings with sandbags to protect the encroaching water.

The declaration of a state of emergency allows the county to get state resources to help respond to the flooding, Littles office said in a Monday statement. Idaho Gov. C.L. Butch Otter is out of the state, leaving Little as the acting governor.

We had a tough winter, and now with warmer weather Blaine County is seeing the effects of heavy snowfall and the resulting runoff, Little said in the statement.

This emergency declaration means the State of Idaho will share in the financial burden the floodwaters are causing to our state and municipal infrastructure.

Flooding has been reported not only along the Big Wood River in Blaine County, but also from the Boise River outside of Boise and the Payette River near Emmett.

In total, 29 of Idahos 44 counties now have either a county or state emergency declaration in effect.
PAUL  Gene Sorg has a message hes wants to deliver on his bicycle  dont ever give up.

Sorg turned 80 in January. On Sunday, the Paul resident plans to ride his bike 100 miles to raise money for the American Cancer Societys Relay For Life.

His ride on Mothers Day will honor his mother who died of cancer when he was an infant and four of his sisters who also died from the cancer.

I know people half his age that couldnt do this ride, said his wife, Juanita Sorg.

Sorg started riding a bike only five years ago as therapy, days after a double knee joint replacement.

He started out on an old mountain bike, and after seeing his dedication to his new sport his children bought him a new 21-speed bike with a spring seat and shock absorbers, to cushion his ride a bit.

Sorg has more than 60 grand and great-grandchildren and he is inspirational to all of them, his granddaughter Trista Kraus said.

He is a hero to all his grandkids, but he is so humble about it, Kraus said. He is really an inspiration for people of any age.

Kraus, who lives in Twin Falls, said her grandfather taught her that no matter what is going on in her life, she needs to get up and get moving.

For so many people, when bad things happen in life they let it drag them down, she said. But hes never been that way.

Last year Sorg rode his bike 60 miles in seven and a half hours.

My bike wasnt working right, he said in explanation, as if the feat didnt quite measure up. It was stuck in high gear and I had to walk part of the way.

This year he figured hed turned another year older, so why not attempt a 100 mile ride?

The route hes plotted is nearly 102 miles, and Juanita will drive their pickup along the route with him to offer moral support, along with water and protein bars.

I know how far I can go, Sorg said. I need to stop every 20 miles and walk around a bit to stretch my legs.

Sorg also works 40 to 50 hours a week as a cook at Duck Uglys. And when hes not cooking, he grabs his fiddle and gets on stage to entertain the crowd. He also likes to climb on a ladder to trim the trees at the couples home, much to his wifes consternation. And he makes walking sticks in his spare time.

I love cooking, and I love the people I work with and for, Sorg said. Therefore, Ill over extend myself a bit sometimes because I enjoy it.

If he just stayed home all the time relaxing, Sorg said, his life would be shortened.

Last weekend he travelled to Swan Valley, where he grew up, to compete in a 5K race.

I dont meet many people in their 80s at the races, he said. Instead of running he walks fast during the races and he often gets an award as the oldest competitor.

Juanita said Sorg had six children of his own and helped raise her two as well.

They all got their good work ethic from Gene, she said.

Staying young is all in the mind

Sorg has always stayed active, and as a preteen he ran a 10-mile trap line that he tended before school for extra spending money.

He also milked 15 cows every day before school along with performing other ranch chores.

There was also a lot of stuff to do when we came home at night, he said.

Now, many children spend all their time inside watching television or playing video games.

It burns me so bad when Im in a restaurant talking to my kids and wife, and there are 50 people in there on cellphones and they are not talking to anybody, Sorg said. That is going to be the ruination of everything weve worked for.

Despite the knee replacements, a gallbladder and hernia surgery, Sorg said, hes been blessed with good health.

I just dont get sick, he said. I havent been sick in 20 years.

He credits staying well to getting outside in the fresh air every day.

And age, he said tapping his temple, is up here.

The mind will rule the body. Let your mind tell you that you are old and you will act old, he said. I dont feel like Im over 60. And for being 80 I dont think I look too bad.
Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Trump called Emmanuel Macron on Monday to congratulate him for his victory in France's presidential election, according to the White House.

In the second round of the country's election on Sunday, Macron, a centrist, defeated far-right Marine Le Pen in a landslide.

The White House said in a statement the president "emphasized his desire to work closely with President-elect Macron in confronting shared challenges, and noted the long and robust history of cooperation between the United States and its oldest ally, France."

President Trump and Macron will meet on May 25 during the NATO leaders meeting in Brussels, the statement said.

He also congratulated the new leader on Twitter on Sunday.

Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France. I look very much forward to working with him!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2017

Although he did not endorse a candidate in the race, President Trump tweeted on April 21 that the attack on the Champs-Elysee in Paris that killed a police officer would "have a big effect" on the country's presidential election.

"Another terrorist attack in Paris," he tweeted. "The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!"

Another terrorist attack in Paris. The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017

Le Pen, who was viewed as France's version of Trump, campaigned on promising a crackdown on immigration.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Filipino and American soldiers conducted live firing and counter-IED (improvised explosive devices) training during the first day of Balikatan 33-2017 in Luzon and Visayas regions, the US Embassy said Tuesday.

US Ambassador Sung Kim, Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ariel Y. Abadilla, and representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the US military officially opened Balikatan 33 on Monday at Camp Aguinaldo.

The AFP and US forces partnered to improve their counterterrorism capabilities to build safer communities and work towards the eradication of global terror networks, the embassy statement said.

During Balikatan, US and Philippine forces conduct operational and counterterrorism training exercises in diverse areas of expertise, including live fire advanced marksmanship, counter-IEDs, maritime interdiction, and amphibious raids.

Balikatan 33-2017 incorporates high value training events designed to enhance the capabilities of both AFP and US armed forces, Kim said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The training also focuses on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and counterterrorism operations to improve response effectiveness and speed in the event of natural disasters and other crises that endanger public health and safety, the ambassador said.

No nation can face todays challenges alone, said Kim. Whether a natural disaster ravages part of the world or a man-made crisis shocks a community, our two militaries can deliver much stronger responses together.

In this years Balikatan, the Philippines and the United States will continue to collaborate with regional partner nations, and the AFP has invited military forces from several other nations to be part of the International Observers Program, including South Korea, East Timor, Brunei, Thailand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

The 33rd iteration of Balikatan, scheduled from May 8 to 19, will take place at multiple locations in Luzon and the Visayas, according to the US Embassy.

Philippine and US forces began work in mid-April for Balikatan 33-2017 through community engagement activities in Panay, Leyte, and Samar, including the renovation of five schools and community medical engagements with residents.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Lets say that somehow Britain had let its opportunity pass by (lost the wrong war?), or perhaps never had been in the right position at all (no Gulf Stream?). When would the world have seen an Industrial Revolution? Keep in mind Song China came relatively close to having a break through of some kind, but still did not pull it off; some commentators suggest the same about the Roman Empire.

My initial presumption is that industrial revolutions, if we can even make the term plural in that way, are remarkably difficult to see through. I offer a few points:

1. Mankind spent about a hundred thousand years before making enough progress to attain the civilizations of Sumeria and Mesopotamia. Along the way, people discovered how to tame fire and use various stones and metals, but still it was a long, tough slog to a point that still was almost 6000 years short of an industrial revolution.

2. I see, in world history, only two regional units being in a position at all to make a run at an industrial revolution, namely Rome and its offshoots, and China. That is discouraging, especially because each of those required a fairly large, semi-unified territorial area. (As an aside, I view how did China get so big so quickly? as one of the most under-discussed questions of world history. Try it sometime, its better than arguing about Trump or ACA.)

2b. Were the Roman Empire and China actually independent events?

3. I fear what I call the James C. Scott dead end, namely that many territories will develop strong enough state capacity-resistant units that further Chinas and Romes will be difficult to achieve in terms of the size of the political unit. Imagine a world like Laos or northern Thailand. You may think that is a mountains effect, but neither the Great Plains nor Africa developed a China or Rome equivalent in earlier times, or much in the way of a very large or effective political unit. By the way, when is the next James C. Scott book coming out?

4. I also fear the energy dead end. The Aztec empire and its precursors created an amazing time, most of all for biotechnology  they bred corn out of a crummy weed, one of mankinds greatest achievements, and without external grants. Tenochitlan may have been larger and more impressive than any European city, and the residents probably ate better too. Yet they used the wheel only for childrens toys and, more importantly, they stuck with direct uses of solar power. There is no evidence of them coming remotely close to a major deployment of fossil fuels. They did burn coal for fuel, and to make ornaments, but seemed to have no idea of how to put the pieces together to make it an energy source for powerful machines. For most of their purposes, solar energy seemed to work remarkably well, and Mexico had plenty of it. It nourished their food and kept them warm.

5. The economic historian R.C. Allen overrated the role of coal in the British Industrial Revolution, and this has kept many people away from seeing #4. Dont assign coal a dominant monocausal role in the Industrial Revolution, just have an n-factor model where fossil fuels are one of the binding constraints; circa 2017 we still need them! By the way, here is an Allen essay on the Britishness of the Industrial Revolution, closely related to this blog post. I agree with most of his sentences as stand-alone claims, though he vastly underrates the role of non-energy factors in the bigger picture.

6. The Incas also had a remarkably advanced civilization, in select areas ahead of Europeans and spanning a fairly large geographic area at its peak with plenty of state capacity. They too seemed to be in a cul-de-sac with respect to an industrial revolution, energy again being one factor as best we can tell.

7. Many people fear internecine warfare as preventing an industrial revolution in alternative locales, and while that is a factor, I worry more about the James C. Scott dead end and the energy dead end. What other possible dead ends are there?

8. At what point was a European/British industrial revolution in the bag? 1740? 1600? 1050? If the Brits had failed us, at what point would Japan or Bohemia have picked up the ball and run with it? Seventy years later? Three hundred years? Never?

9. The optimistic perspective is gained from studying the history of the arts. Then one sees European culture as having a series of mini-industrial revolutions, starting in late medieval times and rapidly accelerating progress in painting, sculpture, perspective, bookmaking, goldsmithing, musical instruments, musical notation, paper-making, and many other areas, most of all in northern Italy and also Franco-Flemish territory and a bit later Germany. Bach came before the British Industrial Revolution and his genius had a lot of preconditions too! The special thing about the British IR is that it overturned Malthusian assumptions, but from the point of view of understanding how the inputs related to the outputs, and how so many new, complex innovations were possible all at once, that is arguably of secondary import. Study Monteverdi, not coal!

For this post I am thankful to a recent lunch conversation with John Nye, Bryan Caplan, and Robin Hanson, of course implicating none of them in these views, though can you guess who disagreed the most?
Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday laid into the US, advising President Donald Trump to abandon plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city of Jerusalem.

The debates over the possibility of US moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem are extremely wrong and should certainly drop from the agenda, Erdogan said.

The Turkish leader speaking in Istanbul at the International Forum on the Middle East conflict noted that any such an idea will be wrong and should be forsaken immediately.

The Trump administration is mulling plans to shift the US embassy to Jerusalem, which constitutes a bone of contention between Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinians want to make the holy city their capital after granted full statehood status.

Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem will kill Palestinians dream of a state.

Erdogan said everyone should be careful on issues that concern the status of Jerusalem, warning that even relocating a stone in the city could have serious implications, Times of Israel reports.
Blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood group is willing to abandon its demand for the return of deposed and jailed Mohamed Morsi as the movement seeks to revamp its image for public acceptance, a document has revealed.

A document published by the movements acting leader in exile Mahmoud Ezzat suggests the organization is undertaking efforts to win other political forces.

Reported to be a genuine document, it was drafted by a group affiliated to former Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Kamal, who was killed in clashes with police in 2016.

Morsi, elected Egypt President in 2012, was removed by Abdelfettah al-Sisi. He has been jailed along with several members of the Islamist organization. The organization has made of Morsis return to power a critical condition.

Egyptian authorities in 2013 blacklisted the group as terrorist organization.

The document also suggests that the group seeks to re-establish itself in the Egyptian political landscape and scrap its classification as terrorist group.

Analysts note that the document emerged at the time the group is trying to rebrand itself nationally and internationally. Former Brotherhood leader Islam Kettani told Al Arabiya.net that the document was released at this time because the group has been weakened.

For him the group is losing its external affiliates. Hamas and branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia and Morocco are no longer affiliated with Egypts main group, he told Al Arabiya.net.
The office of the UN mediator in the Syrian intra-talks indicated Monday that the mediator would meet with protagonists in Geneva for a new round of talks, few days after Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to create de-escalation zones.

Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura will reconvene the intra-Syrian talks under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on 16 May 2017, the UN said in a statement.

The May 16 talks in the Swiss town will add to a series of other fruitless talks.

The next week talks come on the heel of Astana conference between Russia, Iran both backers of the Syrian regime and Turkey supporting the rebels. In the Kazakh capital, the three agreed to create de-escalation zones in a move to bolster a cease fire agreement signed in December.

The de-escalation zones agreement, which has been reinforced, will lead to halt of hostilities between regime forces and rebels and allow aid to reach displaced populations.

Staffan de Mistura who was at the signing of the agreement hailed the Russian initiative as an important, promising, positive step in the right direction toward de-escalation, the AFP reports.

The UN envoy hopes the Astana document will be implemented in full  thus bringing about a significant de-escalation in violence, and helping shape an environment conducive to the political intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.

Previous talks failed over several issues including the fate of President Bashar al Assad and violence on the ground.

Over 320,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the beginning of the crisis in March 2011.
King Mohammed VI has renewed his pledge to continue his endeavors to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, to adapt his country to future changes and to make it meet its growing energy needs in a sustainable manner.

This came in the acceptance message the monarch addressed to the Energy Efficiency Global Forum, which granted him its annual Energy Efficiency Visionary Award.

The acceptance message was read out by Moroccos Ambassador to Washington Lalla Joumala Alaoui at a ceremony during which the forum organizers hailed the leadership of King Mohammed VI in the field of developing renewable energies and energy efficiency in Morocco and beyond.

This Award confirms the Kingdom of Moroccos positioning as one of the countries that have managed to make the most of their renewable energy potential by developing solar power plants, wind farms and hydroelectric plants, and by introducing energy efficiency measures in all key sectors of the Moroccan economy, said the King in his message.

I pledge to keep up efforts at the national, regional and continental levels and do all I can to promote an environment conducive to the sustainable development of energy efficiency, renewable energy, technological innovation and green jobs in general, said King Mohammed VI.

Morocco constantly seeks to adapt to future changes, both to ensure its economic and social development and to meet its growing energy needs in a sustainable manner, the Monarch said, adding that the security of energy supply, energy availability, energy efficiency and environmental protection are the bedrock of my countrys energy strategy.

Underlining his keen interest in energy efficiency, he explained that his vision for socio-economic development, energy efficiency plays an important part in enhancing the fundamental rights of citizens, in environmental protection, in the preservation of public health, in curbing dependence of energy and in rationalizing public spending.

The pressing challenge for our world today is not so much to confront the lack of energy resources as to mobilize the investment needed in this field. It is, therefore, necessary to build the energy infrastructure required and to develop alternative technologies, King Mohammed VI said.

Our commitment to developing an efficient, carbon-free energy model for the well-being and prosperity of our citizens is essentially based on the growing importance of renewable energy and the consolidation of energy efficiency measures, he insisted, recalling Moroccos efforts to promote renewable energy to increase its share in power generation from 42% in 2020 to 52% in 2030.

Also, in our Energy Vision for 2030, energy efficiency has been made a priority as an efficient tool to save energy resources, ensure energy conservation and rationalize energy consumption, he said, insisting that his commitment in this field does not stop at Moroccos borders. This, I believe, is clearly reflected by the actions and projects I have launched within the framework of win-win partnerships, particularly with African sister nations.
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.
A new crowdsourcing tool aims to map all the locations in the world, beginning with the United States, where individuals with autism live to determine which communities need more resources for diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

The tool, called GapMap, was developed at the Stanford University School of Medicine and is described in a study published online May 4 in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance.

Data from an early version of GapMap show that people living near autism diagnostic centers are more likely than those who live far away to have been diagnosed with autism, indicating likely inequities in who gets diagnosed.

The data also show that there are far fewer U.S. autism treatment centers than needed. Across the country, the average demand for treatment is 18 times larger than the available supply of caregivers, the research showed. Prior studies have indicated that the number of children affected by the developmental disorder is still rising.

There is a growing imbalance between the number of people who need autism care and the number of places that can provide care, said the studys senior author, Dennis Wall, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of biomedical data science at Stanford. Its a geographic distance problem. We need to quantify, in real numbers, the geographic disconnect between people and treatment options so that we can see where the gaps are.

Children who are diagnosed quickly and receive early, intensive autism therapies fare better than those who do not, but parents who suspect that their child has autism often face months-long waits to see caregivers who can make the diagnosis, prior research has found. And current estimates of autism prevalence do not identify geographic gaps in autism resources; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 1 in 68 children nationwide have autism, but this estimate relies on data from only 11 states. Incidence elsewhere across the globe has not been rigorously established.

Pilot study

The first iteration of GapMap, described in the paper, used data that the researchers collected by programming a web spider to gather information from the websites of 840 autism treatment centers in the United States and 135 centers in the United Kingdom. These were placed onto geographic heat maps of the two countries. Autism prevalence in each part of the United States was estimated by assuming a rate of 1 case of autism per 50 people, and then using U.S. census data to generate a map estimating where people with autism live. Data on people in the United Kingdom with autism was also used to confirm that GapMap works as expected. (Comprehensive data on people in the United Kingdom with autism is already publicly available.)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled the country for 36 years, left the country on Monday for medical check-ups in Singapore, the Ministry of Information said in a statement.

Mugabe appeared frail last week at a World Economic Forum Summit in South Africa, when he stood for more than an hour in a chair to address delegates as a panelist.

The president travels regularly to the southeastern Asian country to seek medical attention for what his aides have repeatedly said is eye cataract.

The 93-year-old, who took charge of Zimbabwe following its independence from colonial rule in 1980, has faced widespread protests in 2016 as the country continues to suffer from high unemployment and economic woes.

The ruling Zanu-PF party has been riven by factionalism for years as Mugabe has declined to name a successor.

There was consensus he should quit active politics after being at the helm of the country for the past 38 years.

However, Zanu-PF has endorsed him to be the partys presidential candidate at next years polls tentatively set for July.

Senior Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen as a leading contender to be the next president, as is Mugabes 51-year-old wife, Grace.
Members of parliament in Ghana on Monday urged the west-African nations Agriculture Minister to declare a state of emergency as armyworms invasion threatens a $133m agriculture project.

The government earlier this year launched an ambitious farm project to boost the countrys food production and create jobs for teeming unemployed youth.

The Agriculture Minister, in a memo to the Cabinet, described the armyworms as being capable of leveling farms to ground zero, hence the need for urgent action to avert the looming crisis.

The armyworms are hungry caterpillars that eat crops before turning into a moth. They feed on several crops including -staple food source  maize, cotton, soya bean, potato and the cash crop  cocoa. Once established in an area, the adult moths can fly large distances and spread rapidly.

The armyworms have invaded parts of the countrys food basket areas, the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions.

Experts say chemicals can be used to deal with the pest in its early stages, but after that, it becomes much harder, and some populations of fall armyworm have developed resistance.
The News in Brief

President, Parliamentary Chairman Clash over Constitution Reform



President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Parliamentary Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze traded accusations over the ongoing constitutional reform process.



Speaking to reporters on April 28, Irakli Kobakhidze accused Giorgi Margvelashvili of disrupting the constitutional reform process and threatened to conduct the upcoming 2018 Presidential Election through indirect ballot instead of the initially proposed direct popular election.



We still have a great hope that compromise will not become senseless, Kobakhidze stated, referring to the decision of the ruling party to move to indirect election procedure from 2023 only.



Our opponents are taking incorrect steps under the guidance of the President, Kobakhidze went on. The President, who should be a supra-party figure in this system, reached an agreement with the political parties through the head of his administration who met the political party representatives, as well as the so called experts, and agreed with them on how to challenge the Parliament of Georgia.



We still have a great hopes that the compromise will not lose its sense but, if these processes continue, such a compromise will become senseless and we will move on to the system that is more appropriate institution-wise [and the transfer] will simply happen relatively earlier, the Parliamentary Chairman added.



President Margvelashvili was quick to fire back at Irakli Kobakhidze. Speaking at his Constitution Belongs to Everyone campaign meeting in Akhaltsikhe on April 28, Giorgi Margvelashvili accused the Parliamentary Chairman of horsetrading over the constitution and of attaching internal [party] interests to the document.



The Constitution, according to Margvelashvili, should serve as a unifying document, instead of accumulating the ambitions of individual politicians.



I have never speculated with this issue and no one should ever dare to try to bargain with me over the countrys main document, President Margvelashvili quipped. Do not spare your efforts in vain; it is not my interest to engage in a behind-the-scene deal over the constitution.



The President also called it regretful that the draft constitution was tabled without consensus: all political parties in the reform commission quit the commission and the document is approved by a single political force only.



President Giorgi Margvelashvili, who regards the reform process as a tool in the hands of the ruling party to reduce the presidential powers, has been boycotting the work of the Commission. On March 13, Margvelashvili launched the Constitution Belongs to Everyone campaign to engage the public in the constitutional reform process, saying that all previous changes were held behind the closed doors in the interests of one particular political force and that a new tradition for jointly planning the constitution should have been pursued, instead.



Margvelashvili has been outspokenly against the introduction of indirect presidential election, abolishing of the National Security Council and banning the creation of party blocs ahead of elections while leaving the 5% threshold intact.

(Civil.ge)







Russian biker gang Night Wolves plans Georgia trip



The Russian biker gang Night Wolves plans to visit Georgia to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War II.



The gang is known for its support of the Kremlin, and leader Alexander Zaldostanov (the Surgeon) has appeared at many public events next to Russian President Vladimir Putin.



Some of the over 5,000 members regularly go abroad in connection with May 9, which is the anniversary of victory on the Eastern front in WWII. Their trips often end in confrontations.



It still uncertain whether the Russian bikers will come to Georgia this time. It depends on whether the Georgian police can guarantee their safety, Irakli Kipiani, a pro-Kremlin Georgian non-governmental organization called the Union of Russian and Georgian Youth told the Rezonansi newspaper.



It was Kipianis NGO which invited the motorcycle gang to Georgia. He told the newspaper that they are expecting provocations by supporters of the United National Movement party.



The police will oversee the visit and respond adequately, Deputy Minister of Interior Shalva Khutsishvili said.



Altogether, 30-35 bikers are expected and their trip will include paying tribute to Georgians fallen in the war, visiting monuments dedicated to WW2 and meeting with war veterans.



In 2015, the group was barred by Poland from travelling to Berlin through its territory, while Germany revoked their Schengen visas. Several members were deported. However, some of them managed to get in.



Some of the bikers have been reported to have taken part in the war in eastern Ukraine and a sabotage action in Crimea.



The United States and other countries have included Night Wolves in their sanctions against Russia.



A handful from the motorcycle gang visited Georgia in 2015, when they clashed with members members of Tavisupali Zona (Free Zone), a youth group affiliated to the UNM.



Alexander Zaldostanov is rumored to have Georgian ancestry as his last name resembles the Georgian noble name of Zaldastanishvili, though he has never spoken about this himself.

(DF watch)




@martindvassolo

In between the jeers and chants, the tri-colored flags and the somber singing of a national anthem, it was silence that overcame a crowd of about 300 Venezuelan supporters on Monday afternoon.

They were silent for the imprisoned, for the hungry, the dead.

Then they erupted in solidarity with their compatriots in South America: Libertad! they yelled.

In the midst of increasingly violent tensions between the Venezuelan government and protesters, which have left at least 35 people dead in the past few weeks, a swarm of supporters flocked to the Venezuelan eatery, El Arepazo 2, in Doral to call for an end to violence and the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott hosted the rally, which featured a recorded audio message from Lilian Tintori, the wife of the imprisoned Venezuelan activist Leopoldo Lopez. Lopez was honored with a medal of freedom at Mondays rally in abstentia.

Our morals are still intact, our strength is still intact and awards like this make us fight harder, she told the crowd in Spanish.

More here.

Photo credit: Jose A. Iglesias, el Nuevo Herald
@martindvassolo

Former state Rep. Phillip Brutus alleged negligence in managing a trust account has led to a year-long suspension from practicing law and two years of probation, Floridas Supreme Court ruled last week.

Brutus, who served as a Democrat in the state House from 2000 to 2006, called the ruling extreme and theorized the court may want to send a message to other attorneys by making an example of a public figure.

I agree its wrong, but one year? he said, adding he was unsure how he would remain financially afloat without his job.

After serving District 108 in the House, Brutus ran to serve District 38 for the Florida Senate in 2016 under no party affiliation but lost to Democrat Daphne Campbell.

The suspension stems from a 2014 complaint from the Florida Bar alleging Brutus violated Bar rules by disbursing funds to his client in a divorce proceeding without court approval.

After learning his clients ex-husband had taken out a $100,000 home-equity loan against their home and spent $40,000 of it, Brutus filed a motion to preserve the assets. The presiding judge issued an order directing the remaining money, about $60,000, into Brutus trust account.

That money was deposited on March 3, 2008, without a court order or settlement regarding how the money would be distributed.

Ten days later, Brutus began disbursing the money, giving his client $46,128.55 and paying himself $12,475 in attorney fees, according to the high courts opinion. The remaining money  just under $2,000  went toward adding bars to the homes window for safety and toward a tax payment his client had to make, Brutus said.

It would have been approved if I filed it, but I just made a bad decision in disbursing it, Brutus said.
@ByKristenMClark

In the wake of U.S. House Republicans voting last week to repeal Obamacare, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum says state lawmakers need to step up and enact protections that will safeguard Floridians' right to health care coverage.

"There's not a lot we can do about Washington, D.C.," said Gillum, who is the mayor of Tallahassee. "But in the mean time, what we ought to be doing is making sure we're providing every single protection possible in the state of Florida."

At a press conference in Tallahassee on Tuesday, Gillum said if he were elected Florida governor in 2018, he'd work with the Republican-led Legislature to pass a new state law that would prohibit health insurance companies from doing three things: Denying coverage based on individuals' pre-existing conditions, charging higher premiums for those conditions and charging higher premiums for women than men.

"We've got to make sure that in the state of Florida we stand up and say we're going to stop insurers from denying coverage from any individual with pre-existing conditions," Gillum said.
@JeremySWallace

It comes as no shock that Gov. Rick Scott is unhappy with the state budget the Florida Legislature passed late last night.

Scott put out a three paragraph earlier today slamming the Legislature for cutting Enterprise Florida, reducing Visit Florida funding and hammering out the final details of the budget mostly in secret. Since January, Scott has taken to television ads, rallies around the state and face-to-face meetings with lawmakers warning them not to cut Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida - two agencies he credits with helping the state add more than 1.3 million private sector jobs since he was elected. In his statement to reporters today, Scott acknowledges he has the authority to veto the entire state budget, something that has not been done by a governor since 1992 when then-Gov. Lawton Chiles vetoed the budget.

"I am beginning to review the budget and I have the option of vetoing the entire budget or vetoing the items that circumvented the transparent process and do not have an acceptable return on investment for hardworking taxpayers," Scott said. "Just like I do every year, I will make my decisions based on whats best for our families because my job is to wake up every day and fight for Floridians.

Scott said the Legislature's refusal to fund tax incentives for him hand out to companies to entice them to create jobs in Florida is shortsighted. He had asked the Legislature for $85 million for tax incentives. The put nothing in the budget for the tax incentive program.

"Once again, the Florida Legislature has turned their back on Floridas ability to fund economic incentive deals that help our state outcompete our top competitors for important jobs," Scott said. "This is very concerning to me and is an action that each member will have to defend as their local communities lose out on new manufacturing facilities, headquarter relocations and thousands of high wage jobs for families."

He also made clear once again he opposes the House-led effort to cut Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing agency that came under fire for striking secret contracts with celebrities like Miami music star Pitbull to promote the state.

Furthermore, the legislatures decision to cut tourism marketing could lead to a drastic reduction in visitor spending to our local businesses and revenue to our state," Scott said.

PHOTO: Gov. Rick Scott in Miami on Monday. (Jose A. Iglesias jiglesias@elnuevoherald.com)


@PatriciaMazzei

On what was likely his final day in the Florida House, Rep. Jose Felix Diaz chose to speak to his young sons, Dominick and Christian.

"Your father is the luckiest man in the world," he began.

The Miami Republican was taking the rare step of giving his legislative farewell speech one year early -- because he expects to be either Miami U.S. attorney or in the state Senate (or out of office entirely) by the 2018 session.

WATCH DIAZ'S SPEECH HERE

Most lawmakers wouldn't get that sort of accommodation before they've even resigned from office. But Diaz, known as Pepi, is one of the best-liked House Republicans, the chairman of the influential regulatory affairs committee, and the head of the powerful Miami-Dade County delegation. He wanted to say goodbye, and he did.

Diaz delivered a poignant speech to lawmakers -- "some of my closest friends in the world are in this room" -- but mostly to his boys, whom he calls "tornadoes." He thanked his Cuban parents, who immigrated "with nothing."

"I was never supposed to be here, because as a kid I spoke funny, didn't believe in myself, and I let others define my expectations of myself," Diaz said. "I pray that you realize that helping others is everything. There are rich people, and there are poor people. Help the poor ones. Help the disadvantaged. Help the sick. And don't do it because someone is watching. Do it because it will make a difference in their lives, not yours."

In a speech more personal than political, Diaz offered his sons life advice.

"Don't be afraid to cry," Diaz continued, his own voice about to break. "It means that you are alive."

"Love early, love often, and love profoundly so that your heart dances," he added. "Be careful with your words. They are your strongest weapon. They protect you, but they also leave lasting scars."

When he concluded, he received a standing ovation. And then some of his friends -- led by Miami Reps. Carlos Trujillo, Jeanette Nunez and Michael Bileca, approached him one by one to give him hugs.

Photo credit: Mark Wallheiser, Associated Press


@PatriciaMazzei

A national Hispanic conservative group is giving a political boost to five Florida Republican lawmakers who pushed to bring more charter schools into the state.

The LIBRE Initiative, which is backed by the industrialist Koch brothers, will send mailers beginning Tuesday to voters in five districts represented by Rep. Michael Bileca of Miami, House Speaker Richard Corcoran of Land O'Lakes, Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah, Rep. Chris Latvala of Clearwater and Senate President Joe Negron of Stuart.

The bilingual, campaign-style fliers will "thank" the legislators for voting to "empower our kids." The "schools of hope" legislation allows out-of-state charter school operators to set up shop for a minimum of five years in low-income Florida communities with long-struggling public schools.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run. Critics counter that more charter schools will divert state funds from traditional public schools, which will be left to languish.

Photo credit: Scott Keeler, Tampa Bay Times
@ByKristenMClark

Lawmakers struggled to pass a controversial $419 million, 278-page K-12 public schools bill on Monday, the final day of the annual session  as senators acknowledged parts of the rushed legislation were flawed and would need to be fixed when the Legislature reconvenes in 2018.

However, the prospect of a possible veto by Republican Gov. Rick Scott was floated even before the Monday night vote, which would stop the legislation from becoming law.

The Senate endorsed HB 7069 by the narrowest possible margin after two hours of lackluster and largely negative debate, voting 20-18 to pass it.

Three Republicans joined the 15-member Democratic caucus in opposition: Rene Garcia of Hialeah, Denise Grimsley of Sebring and David Simmons of Altamonte Springs  who, as the pre-K-12 education budget chairman, handled the bill on the floor and struggled to defend it.

MORE: Parents, school leaders urge no vote on mammoth education bill

Earlier in the day, the Republican-led House made quick work to pass the bill within an hour, by a 73-36 vote with all but one Democrat  Miami Rep. Roy Hardemon  opposed.

HB 7069 was a top priority of land O'Lakes Republican and House Speaker Richard Corcorans. Miami Republican Michael Bileca and Hialeah Republican Manny Diaz Jr.  the House education policy and pre-K-12 budget chairmen, respectively  were heavily involved in crafting it.

But in a manner that drew heavy criticism, the large and wide-ranging bill was negotiated and finalized in private and made public for the first time Friday evening  less than 66 hours before the House voted and 71 hours before the Senate voted. (Simmons said he saw a first draft of HB 7069 only at 7 p.m. Thursday.)

This isnt a finished bill, its got problems  big problems, Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, said. Its a litany of bad ideas  that do not take the needs of the student into account.

More here.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  I first met Garth Brooks in October 2006. His wife, Trisha Yearwood, was performing that night at a benefit in the VooDoo Lounge at Harrah's casino in Kansas City, Mo., and he accompanied her.

A couple of hours before her show, Brooks met with several members of the local media, giving each of us five minutes or so of his time. He was friendly, polite, sincere and charming, the kind of guy who looks you in the eyes as he shakes your hand  all the traits he is known for.

I met Brooks again a year later, this time at a bigger event. In October 2007, he cut the ceremonial ribbon at the official opening of the Sprint Center. Lots of media and local dignitaries were there for the ceremony and a tour of the arena. Inside, Brooks held court again with the local media, this time meeting us in small clusters of four or five people.

When he got to my group, he shook hands and introduced himself to each of us. As I reached to shake his hand, he looked me in the eyes, again, and said: "I met you last year, at the VooDoo Lounge. You're from The Kansas City Star, right?"

Impressive.

Just days before that ceremony, in a matter of two hours, Brooks had sold out nine Sprint Center shows scheduled Nov. 5-14. Those shows were his first performances since his 1996-98 world tour.

His siege of the Sprint Center was an international event, drawing people and media from all over the country and the world. (At one of the weekend shows, I met a couple who'd flown in from Ireland.)

The Star covered all nine shows, and the reviews drew online interest from fans everywhere  those who attended the shows and others who had to do it vicariously.

Brooks returned to Sprint Center this weekend, performing five shows May 5-7 with two more shows this upcoming weekend. These Kansas City shows are part of a tour Brooks and Yearwood launched in 2014. By the time it leaves Kansas City, the tour will have performed more than 300 shows in 64 North American cities, an average of five shows per city.

If you're wondering how a guy in his mid-50s who lived outside the music world for nearly a decade can still fill arenas four and five nights in a row, you need only to understand the myth and legend Brooks has cultivated and preserved throughout his career.

Behind the gargantuan numbers  the best-selling solo artist of all time (135 million-plus in the U.S. alone)  stands an artist who barged onto the music scene in 1989, releasing a self-titled album that has since sold more than 10 million copies.

He was competing then in a music world that was more interested in flamboyant pop and R&B acts like Milli Vanilli, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Bobby Brown and New Kids on the Block, and big-hair rock acts like Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses and Bon Jovi.

Brooks, on the other hand, was just a humble guy from Oklahoma who liked Kiss, James Taylor and Billy Joel as much as he did George Strait and Merle Haggard. And it showed in his music and his concerts, which quaked with rock-show theatrics: flash pots and pyrotechnics and high-flying gymnastic feats.

Brooks was never a matinee idol or pretty boy. He never strutted the male-stripper body of later country stars like Tim McGraw or brandished the tough-guy personae of artists like Trace Adkins or Toby Keith.

But he exuded a handsome appeal, endearing himself to both genders: to the ladies who appreciated his advocacy in songs like "The Thunder Rolls," in which a wife discerns the aroma of a "strange new perfume" for the last time and takes matters into her own hands; and to the guys, who tapped deep into Brooks' palatable version of bro' country in his biggest hit ever, "Friends in Low Places," in which the protagonist crashes his ex's posh wedding and peacocks his blue-collar roots.

If he wasn't the first, Brooks was one of the earliest country stars to acknowledge the diverse music world flourishing outside of country and had the savvy to make that music part of his personae. During one of those nine Sprint Center shows in 2007, he played a medley of songs that showcased his many favorites and influences: "She Thinks I Still Care" (George Jones); "Mama Tried" (Merle Haggard); "Mrs. Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel); "Wild World" (Cat Stevens); "Piano Man" (Billy Joel); "Turn the Page" (Bob Seger); "Amarillo By Morning" (George Strait); "1982" (Randy Travis); "Ten Feet Away" (Keith Whitley); and "American Pie" (Don McLean).

Brooks also has managed to elude the traps of novelty and the attachments to the fashions and trappings of any era that can turn a guy into a heritage act. Unlike the other bands and stars who emerged in the early 1990s, his act has accommodated his passage to middle-agedom. Brooks on stage at 55 looks as comfortable in his own skin as Brooks in his late-20s. And his music has aged well, too, especially his greatest hits but even his most cornball ballads.

In 2000, Brooks divorced his first wife and high-school sweetheart, Sandy Brooks, after 14 years of a marriage that produced three daughters. He has been married to Yearwood since 2005.

For the most part, his odd dodge into his alter ego Chris Gaines notwithstanding, Brooks has eluded scandal and tabloid scurrility. He has long portrayed himself as a genuine family guy  the desire to enjoy his children's childhoods prompted his retirement in the late 1990s  and established himself as a devout philanthropist and a staunch supporter of gay rights.

Brooks' legend and the demand for his music and live shows have survived because he has lived the life he portrays on stage, and because he has a knack of impressing those in his presence with his decency, sincerity and humility  whether it's 16,000 people in an arena or a guy in a news conference he remembered meeting a year before.
BILLINGS  In Montanas U.S. House race, Republican Greg Gianforte leads Democrat Rob Quist by 8 percentage points, according to a Gravis Marketing poll released Monday.

The poll shows Quist closing the gap in the final three weeks before voting ends Thursday, May 25.

The Democrat is gaining  among independents hes doing well, which is good for him," said Doug Kaplin of Gravis. "They dont dont have as many Democrats in Montana, compared to the Republicans."

Gravis has done several polls in the Montana race to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in the U.S. House. Zinke, a Republican, resigned Montanas lone House seat March 2. Gianforte, Quist and Libertarian Mark Wicks are the candidates listed on the ballot.

Gravis finds that 45 percent of Montanans who say theyre likely to vote would vote for Gianforte, a Bozeman businessman. Roughly 37 percent of the likely voters told Gravis they would vote for Quist. Wicks' support was 5 percent.

Quists polling surge comes as voters tire of the political calls. Kaplin said Gravis polled 462 people in its latest round of polling; the low sample rate stems from election-weary voters hanging up. The margin of error for the poll, taken May 2 through May 4, was 4.6 percent.

Despite the margin of error, Kaplin said there is a trend favoring Quist. Gravis polled 836 likely Montana voters April 27 and found Gianforte leading the pack with 52 percent of the vote. Quist had 39 percent in that poll. The erosion in support for both candidates showed up in a growing number of undecided voters, 10 percent as voting started last week.

Other signs the race is tightening include a secretly recorded campaign phone conversation last week in which Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., recognized the Republican's lead as being in single digits, while noting that no poll had Gianforte trailing.

Garin-Hart Research Group, a polling firm surveying Montana voters for the Senate Majority Super PAC, reported in a memo that its late-April results that 44 percent of the 601 Montana voters it interviewed intended to vote for Gianforte, while 38 percent intended to vote for Quist.

Garin-Hart noted an enthusiasm gap that favored Quist. Among voters who identified as most motivated to vote, Gianforte had 48 percent support to Quists 47. The memo provided no margin for error.

Montanans are voting. Absentee ballots went out in the mail May 1. Sunday night, Montanas secretary of state reported that 17 percent of those absentee ballots had been returned. In Yellowstone County, the Monday ballot count was about 22,000, said Elections Administrator Bret Rutherford. Thats roughly a third of the vote submitted in a county that represents one-seventh to one-eighth of the vote in most statewide elections.

Rutherford suggested anyone wondering about the status of their ballot should check the My Voter Page at the Secretary of States webpage.
A Missoula man has pleaded guilty to smothering a 5-month-old infant last spring.

Marc Allen Palmer, 26, will be sentenced July 18 by special District Court Judge James Wheelis.

Originally charged with deliberate homicide, Palmer pleaded guilty to an amended charge of negligent homicide on Monday as part of a plea agreement.

Palmer also pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment for covering the mouth of the infants sibling, and entered an Alford plea to a felony for evidence tampering, meaning he admits that the prosecution could prove the charge at trial.

Chief Deputy County Attorney Jason Marks said he will be recommending 40 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence for Palmer. Palmer has been in custody since he was arrested in July.

According to court documents, emergency responders were called to a Missoula home on March 30, 2016, after a report that infant Brayden Beal wasnt breathing. The infant was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Medical staff noticed bruising around the babys mouth, according to a court affidavit.

Investigators later learned Palmer  who is not the baby's father  and the childs mother had been staying with Palmers mother. She told detectives she had woken up the morning of the baby's death and heard Palmer saying knock it off, Brayden.

An autopsy of the infant determined that he died of asphyxia by smothering, and found bruising around the childs nose and mouth, and a tear on the skin inside of his lip.

While Palmer told police that blood on baby wipes found in the home was his because he used them to clean up after waking up with a bloody nose, DNA tests later matched the blood to the baby.

Palmer has a juvenile criminal record in Washington state, where according to court records he was charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl on six occasions over the course of a year when he was 15. He would later plead guilty to charges of child rape and child molestation and was sentenced to two years of community supervision.
Only a few short weeks remain before the end of the school year. With sunrise arriving earlier and sunset coming later each day, Missoulas students are doubtless finding it a little easier to get out of bed in the morning  and a lot harder to get to sleep at night.

Research shows that, even in the darkest days of winter, teenagers have a lot of trouble falling asleep before 11 p.m. Due to biological changes that occur during the teenage years, even those who manage to get to bed earlier will simply find themselves lying awake. And since most teens between the ages of 14 and 17 need at least eight to 10 hours of sleep each night, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most students should set their alarm clocks to go off no earlier than 8 a.m.

Yet three of Missoulas high schools require students to be in class before 8 a.m. Factor in the time it takes to dress, eat breakfast and get to school, and some students have to set their alarm clocks for 6:30 a.m. or earlier. A number of Hellgate High School students have to rise even earlier than that to get to school by 6:50 a.m. for the start of zero period classes.

For many years, concerned parents and community members have been urging Missoula County Public Schools to look into pushing the start of the high school day back to 8:30 a.m., which is about the same time local elementary and middle schools start their day. In early 2016, the movement gained major momentum when Jennie Dixon, a Missoula County planner, informed the school board that she had started the states only chapter of Start School Later, a national group that advocates for later school start times.

In November 2016, Superintendent Mark Thane put together a 24-person working group to study the issue, and last month, the group presented a four-page white paper and offered a formal recommendation to the Board of Trustees to start the process of pushing back the school day.

A slightly later school day means bus schedules and after-school activities will require some rescheduling. However, the benefits far outweigh the relatively minor, temporary inconvenience of ironing out any scheduling conflicts.

After all, other high schools in MCPS already have different start times. The Willard Alternative program starts at 8:30 a.m., and Seeley-Swan, which has a four-day-per-week schedule that necessarily makes for longer school days, starts at 7:53 a.m.

Nearly every national study agrees that Americas adolescents are not getting enough sleep, and that sleep plays a significant role in academic performance, overall health and safety.

Nearly two out of three teenagers gets less than eight hours sleep, with school being the primary reason for rising before 8 a.m. The American Psychological Association found that adolescents who got more sleep showed gains in memory and learning capacity, emotional regulation and mental health. They even saw benefits in weight control. On the other hand, a lack of sleep corresponded with problems in information retention, student behavior, classroom conflict and mood regulation.

The evidence has led a long list of organizations, including the American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control and others, to call for later school start times. They point to an even longer list of benefits for teens who get more sleep, from fewer motor vehicle crashes to decreased use of stimulants, to increased physical activity and greater impulse control.

Most significantly for the goals of MCPS, healthy sleep for students is strongly associated with higher attendance and lower dropout rates. As noted in the school start times white paper, the mission of Graduation Matters Missoula is to remove barriers to graduation, address specific challenges that impede student success, and create an environment that enhances student learning. Later school start times certainly fit with these goals.

The direction MCPS must take is clear; however, the details of figuring out transportation and extracurricular events, plus the effect on employment schedules and family circumstances, remain to be worked out. Thats where Missoulas high-school students, parents, staff and others need to share their concerns and suggestions for overcoming any hurdles.

The Board of Trustees will discuss this issue tonight starting at 6 p.m. in the Business Building at 915 South Avenue West. Members of the public should first read the white paper, available online, then plan on offering a comment at the meeting. Cant attend in person? Email your comment to publiccomment@mcps.k12.mt.us.

Its important for the community to help the district identify and overcome any obstacles so that a later schedule can be implemented as soon as possible. The sooner Missoulas high schools make the transition to a later school day, the better off our teenagers will be.
Greg Gianforte, Republican candidate for Montanas lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, will work hard in Congress to create good-paying jobs for all Montanans. Hell protect access to public lands so we can continue enjoying our outdoor activities. Hell fight to defend our borders against illegal aliens and the drug cartel. Hell protect Social Security and Medicare for our seniors. And Gianforte will fight to protect our Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

Gianforte is under attack by Democrats, including Michael Bloomberg, who are funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Rob Quist campaign for false, negative attack ads against him. They want bigger government, with even more control over our lives so that more Americans are dependent on government; they want porous borders to let in even more aliens who sneak across our border and receive public benefits, including public education, at taxpayers expense; and they work tirelessly to abolish the Second Amendment, our ability to defend ourselves and our families against vicious criminals and terrorist attacks.
I have been living in Montana my entire life, third generation. As I got older, my hunting has declined to the point that I have not purchased a hunting license for 20 years.

I still enjoy the great outdoors of Montana, possibly more than some avid hunters, but I don't shoot animals anymore. My fishing days are still ahead of me, I hope, when time allows a person some true peace and tranquility.

Now in light of the fact that Rob Quist has not hunted nor fished for at least 16 years, and that his disgraceful actions do not qualify him to be a true Montanan anymore, I find myself in the same boat! Am I to leave? Sixty years just gone? Perhaps I could win the lottery, buy a $12,000 shotgun, shoot a television and get elected to office in Idaho.

Wake up, Montana, before we are living in New Jersey West.

John D'Orazi,

Missoula
BOZEMAN  Many times over the last six years, 65-year-old Barbara Selyem thought of giving up and dropping her quest to earn a college degree in math at Montana State University.

But Selyem stuck with it. Thanks to her professors, to her friendships with younger students, and thanks to her own hard work, determination and faith, she graduated Saturday with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

"I've been faithful to what I started out to do," she said. "But I've had a lot of help. Nobody gets anywhere without a lot of help."

Her professors told her they couldn't recall any woman older than her graduating in math. Roughly 23 percent of MSU students are older than traditional age, having been out of school at least three years when they enroll. Of all 2,204 students who graduated Saturday, MSU officials said Selyem has the earliest birthday.

"I'm the oldest math co-ed," Selyem said, right after her last final. She wore her gray hair long, a small cross around her neck and a tired smile.

"I will not miss finals or exams or homework," she said. "I will miss the students, my classmates, a lot. And some favorite teachers. I can't say enough about the math department. Everybody has been so good to me, so gracious."

The state of Montana offers free tuition to state residents 65 or older. Selyem said she didn't take advantage of that program, and paid the same tuition as everyone else. Money left to her by her mother helped cover tuition.

Asked why she decided to enter college at age 59, Selyem said it's a story that goes back to St. Louis, where she grew up.

Married at 16, she earned her high school diploma through correspondence courses. She took a college entrance exam and won a four-year college scholarship, but she didn't want to leave her infant son. Divorced at 22, she tried night school, but with two sons to raise, she dropped out.

She landed a job as a secretary with a company manufacturing grain elevator buckets. Over two decades, she rose through the company, becoming office manager, selling, loading trucks, packing, training, and marketing. She became a vice president.

***

In 1998 she moved to Montana and married Bruce Selyem, a Museum of the Rockies photographer. He loved photographing old grain elevators and started the Country Grain Elevator Historical Society. She wrote histories to go with the photos, and they published books and calendars.

One day Barb Selyem told a neighbor she'd had a dream about going back to school and studying math. She enrolled at MSU.

"I tell people, I believe this is where I'm supposed to be," she said.

Earning a math degree is hard enough, but it's even harder for an older student to memorize equations and theorems. She often found it frustrating.

"Believe me, I've cried a lot over the last six years," she said. "I've wanted to quit so often."

Driving to MSU one day on Stucky Road, she was crying, thinking of dropping half or all her classes. She needed a sign. Passing a cattle field that sometimes held a bison, she thought if the buffalo were standing by the fence, that would be a sign. Not only was the buffalo standing by the fence, she said, "but he was staring right at me."

Technology proved a big help. She used a Livescribe Smartpen that recorded the professor's lecture while she took notes. She listened to recordings of every single lecture a second time. She used her smartphone to photograph classroom boards full of equations.

Professors were great, always welcoming when she sought help. Friendships with students provided her greatest support.

"I love them all," she said. "I'm going to miss them."

***

She and younger students formed small study groups, corrected each other's math mistakes and encouraged each other. She became like a second grandmother to one young woman. Looking back, she sees those friendships as her purpose.

"The reason I had to struggle was so that other people could help me," she said.

As to the future, she plans to write a book  not of math, but of poetry.

She plans to hand down her graduation robe to her grandson.

"I feel proud that I've been faithful," she said. "There's no part I've done all on my own. It's been all these people coming to the party that I've got to thank."
As I understand it, an amendment to our U.S. Constitution can be initiated by either Congress or by two-thirds of the states.

Our U.S. Congress is totally out of control. Wealthy lobbyists utilizing "dark money" control their every action. This is why we never see Congress tackle difficult issues.

For example, we keep hearing Social Security and Medicare are going broke but Congress does nothing. We often hear drug prices are outrageous but Congress does nothing. I think the primary reason these and several other issues are being ignored by Congress is because they are not affected.

If we had a constitutional amendment that stated "Congress will pass no law that exempts the members of Congress," many things would change. For example, if the primary retirement Congress had was Social Security, this problem would be addressed. If Congress, upon turning 65, had to sign up for Medicare as their only medical insurance, this problem would be addressed. If the only drug insurance Congress had was Medicare Part D, the drug problem would be addressed.

The only way I can see we might regain control of our Congress is to make them live under the laws they pass. Right now they routinely exempt themselves from any law they don't like. They hear our concerns but do nothing if the lobbyists object. In this electronic age, if you want to see opinions stated and restated by the millions, all you have to do is get it on the internet or something like Facebook.

I am proposing Montana starts the ball rolling on regaining control of our Congress by contacting and insisting our governor call for a constitutional amendment that requires Congress live under the laws they pass. They cannot exempt themselves from any law that we have to live under.

I am also sending a copy of this opinion to our governor and urge you to do the same. Maybe we can regain control of our Congress if we take action instead of merely complaining.

Larry Hayden,

Alberton
The original version of this story incorrectly described the height of the zip-lines rather than the length. Below the story has been updated to state the approximate length of the zip-lines, not the height. The length of the zip lines could be between 1,500 to 3,000 feet.

Montanans could soon be zipping and zooming in the hills of Anaconda if a newly formed limited liability company gets the green light from Anaconda-Deer Lodge County.

Montana Zipline Adventures LLC has submitted a proposal to the countys planning board that could result in a 420-acre zip line facility being built west of Anaconda along North Cable Road.

A zip line is a cable suspended above an incline to which a pulley and harness are attached for a rider, according to Merriam-Webster.

The affected land, 528 North Cable Rd., resides on rural, hilly terrain and abuts an area that is sparsely dotted with residential properties.

Butte residents Andre and Mianne Jenrich Graa are the owners of the new LLC, which was formed in mid-April.

The Graas will appear before the countys planning board May 15, at which time theyll ask for a major development permit.

According to documents Andre Graa submitted to the department, the facility would be part of a two-phase project that includes six or more zip lines. Graa told The Montana Standard Monday the length of the zip lines could range from 1,200 to 2,500 feet and that a line on the eastern portion of the property could reach about 3,000 feet.

In addition to the six or more segments of zip lines, Montana Zipline wants to make upgrades to an existing road that switchbacks northeast into the property from North Cable Road. The company also wants to build a new one-and-a-half-mile road within the property and two parking lots.

One of the parking lots, a 20-stall lot near the base of the switchback, would be used for guest parking. The other would have five or six stalls for employees and would be located along the third switchback, about 600 feet as the crow flies from North Cable Road.

Tentative plans for the facility include a pavilion and office along the third switchback and the construction of walkways on areas with steep grades.

According to Graas application, Montana Zipline will be certified by the Association for Challenge Course Technology - an organization that sets safety standards for zip line courses. In addition, the company will require all employees to receive first-responder training.

On Thursday, Planning Director Chas Ariss said the departments staff is still studying the project and is investigating potential nuisances, such as the impact of noise and traffic and disturbances to wildlife. If staff recommends approval of the project, Ariss said, it will be with the condition that the company gets certification from Association for Challenge Course Technology.

In a letter to the planning department, meanwhile, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said animals that could be impacted by the facility include deer, elk, and bighorn sheep.

Regional Supervisor Randy Arnold, who wrote the letter, said the property resides within the winter range for elk and mule deer but would likely not displace any animals as the facility would not operate in the winter. Arnold also said that bighorn sheep occasionally use the site and would likely relocate elsewhere when the facility is in use.

Graa said Monday that he believes the facility will be a boon for tourism.

He noted that a six-line facility is something worth getting off the interstate for, unlike a one- or two-line course that doesnt take long to complete.

By contrast, Graa said, Montana Zipline could offer a three-hour experience where instructors lead groups of about 20 people.

Were trying to make something special, said Graa.

Positioned half-way between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, Montana Zipline would be well positioned to attract summer tourists looking for things to do as they travel, Graa added, in addition to people living in and visiting nearby towns.

I think (Anaconda) needs more things that are anchor activities, said Graa. This will have an attraction for people.

Montana Zipline has a goal of completing the first six lines of the course by May 2018.
Officials have put to rest an undocumented Facebook report about a gun incident at Butte High School following an investigation by administrators and the school resource officer.

Superintendent Judy Jonart on Tuesday characterized the posting as false. The report has since been removed from the public group Facebook page.

Last Thursday, someone  who hasnt been identified  posted word of a supposed gun incident at the high school. Jonart said administrators and SRO Kyle Barsness investigated the allegation and found nothing to substantiate the claim.

There was never a threat, said Jonart on Tuesday. They checked it out, talked to students and followed regular procedure.

The district took action after receiving calls from parents who either saw the post or heard through the grapevine, she added. On Friday morning, after the investigation, the district sent mass text notices to parents via the automated Shout Out texting program, alerting them that all was safe, Jonart said.

The text to parents read:

"This is an important message from Butte High School Administration: Despite the unfounded rumors there is no threat at Butte High School and there never has been a threat at Butte High School. Thank you."

Principal John Metz and Associate Principal Brenda Floreen handled the matter, said Jonart.

I dont know how it got started, but it was misinformation (posted) on social media and texting,'' Jonart said.
The part owner of Butte Highland Mine and Garnet USA agreed to a $7.9-million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday for securities fraud against foreign investors through a pay-to-play immigration scheme.

Sima Muroff and his administrative assistant, Debra Riddle, who was also named in the SECs complaint, did not admit or deny the allegations in their agreement to pay the fines.

The defendants lawyer, Idaho-based Nels Mitchell, said via an emailed statement Monday that Muroff and Riddle cooperated with the SEC. The settlement still requires approval from the U.S. District Court in Idaho.

The SEC alleges that Muroff raised approximately $140.5 million from 280 foreign investors through the sale of securities in two of his many Idaho-based companies: Blackhawk Gold LLC and Quartzburg Gold LP. The investment strategy is part of a controversial U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services program called EB-5. EB stands for employment based.

Through the program, foreign nationals can pay large amounts of money into job-creating projects. The projects are supposed to create jobs specifically in rural communities.

In exchange, the foreign nationals can apply for a green card to become U.S. citizens.

The SECs complaint states that Muroff used $5 million of the investment money for personal purposes. That included $1.1 million to purchase two residential properties, $423,000 to invest in a zip line operation in Washington state, $47,000 to buy a Range Rover, $40,000 to purchase a BMW, and $97,000 for living expenses.

The complaint also claims that Muroff engaged in a series of acts designed to hide his misappropriation from both investors and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including secretly using investor funds to purchase the real estate and mining assets for himself and then selling them back to investors at an inflated price so he could pocket the profit.

Riddle transferred millions of dollars and facilitated Muroffs use of investor funds, according to the SECs complaint.

The SEC declined to comment on the complaint or the settlement, citing the fact that the judgment is pending in the court.

Mitchell said through his emailed statement that Muroffs companies will retain their mining and real estate interests and continue operations under the direction of a new independent manager with the oversight of an SEC-approved monitor.

John Swallow, chief executive officer for New Jersey Mining Co., the co-owner of Butte Highland Mine, said via an emailed statement Monday that New Jersey Mining Co.  based out of Idaho  is not the manager of Butte Highland Mine. Swallow said that the long-term goal is that New Jersey Mining Co. will take over the daily operations, but that agreement has not been reached yet with Muroff.

Garnet USA Houston-based spokesperson Deena Reimer had no comment.

Brian Dickens of Star, Idaho, has been selected as the candidate for the role of independent manager. Dickens said Monday that the SEC still has to approve him as the choice.

Muroff bought a half share into the Butte Highland Mine in September 2012 for $24 million, according to a 2012 Montana Mining Report. He also sought to raise $25.9 million from Chinese investors for projects, which included Garnet USA, a garnet mine located in Alder, 10 miles northwest of Virginia City.

Butte Highland Mine, an underground gold mine, is still on hold, said Swallow. The Department of Environmental Quality permitted the mine in 2015, and the U.S. Forest Service also ruled in 2015, allowing Butte Highland Mine to use either of the two available routes to the mine, contingent on road work to either route. But there has been no effort to move forward on the project, which is expected to provide about 50 jobs in Butte, while Muroff has faced litigation.

Muroff faces a second lawsuit, filed by 29 Chinese nationals in 2015, alleging that he defrauded them of at least $14.5 million in investment money through the EB-5 program. That lawsuit is pending.
HELENA  Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed a proposal that would bar doctors from performing late-term abortions and another that sought to allow lawmakers to carry concealed weapons in the Capitol and other state property.

The vetoes were among the seven his office announced Tuesday as he continued to sift through a pile of bills sent to him by now-adjourned lawmakers.

Bullock also signed 13 bills into law, including a measure that would require NorthWestern Energy to absorb at least 10 percent of the cost of obtaining electricity on the open market because of power plant outages.

The measure by Rep. Tom Woods, D-Bozeman, had a tumultuous path through the Legislature amid intense lobbying against the bill by NorthWestern. The utility was ordered by the Public Service Commission to refund Montana ratepayers $8.2 million when it had to buy electricity after a 2013 outage of the Colstrip coal plant. NorthWestern is contesting the PSC's order.

The governor's veto of the abortion measure was expected, even though it was among the bills Republicans had hoped Bullock would sign in exchange for more Republican votes on a failed infrastructure bonding package.

In his veto message, Bullock said lawmakers should not interfere in "deeply personal medical decisions." The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Al Olszewski of Kalispell, would have banned late-term abortions by requiring doctors to try to save the life of a viable fetus.

"If this bill were enacted, a woman could be subjected to forced caesarian section or inducement of labor if continuing her pregnancy after viability threatened her life - in violation of established legal precedent," the governor said.

In another key veto, Bullock rejected assertions that allowing legislators to carry concealed firearms would make the Capitol safer. He said current security measures, including the presence of Helena Police officers during legislative sessions, were adequate.

The governor also said the measure sponsored by Rep. Randy Brodehl, R-Kalispell, was too broad by allowing lawmakers to carry concealed weapons not only on Capitol grounds but also at other state facilities such as public college stadiums.
HELENA  Donald Trump Jr. will be in Butte Thursday, May 11, as part of a day-long swing through the state to campaign for Greg Gianforte.

He'll also be in Helena, Great Falls and Sidney. People can register to attend via trumpinmontana.com

Trump Jr. will speak at the Kleffner Ranch near Helena at 9 a.m. Tickets will be $10. Gianforte will also attend the Helena event, he said.

Trump Jr. will be at Pioneer Equipment and Supply Co., 215 Centennial Ave., in Butte, at 10:15 a.m., said Shane Scanlon, spokesman for the Gianforte campaign. Admission is a $10 donation to the campaign, according to the Gianforte for Congress website.

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.

He'll be at Holman Aviation in Great Falls at 5:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence will visit Billings Friday, May 12, to help Gianforte stump for votes. The Gianforte campaign says the vice president will headline a 6 p.m. fundraiser at the MetraPark pavilion.

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.
Despite Sundays catastrophic fire, the R.L. Winston Rod Co. is determined to continue making bamboo fly-fishing rods in Twin Bridges, general manager Jeff Wagner said Monday.

The fire, at 105 E. Third Avenue in Twin Bridges, affected only the companys bamboo rod-making facility. The companys graphite rod-making and Bauer Reel operations were unaffected. But the bamboo operation, Wagner said, was a total loss.

More than the money, the fire feels like the passing of a cherished family member, Wagner said. Countless hours through many hands have shaped the fine bamboo rods that have passed through the now-charred doors.

Among those talented hands were those of Glenn Brackett, who helped former Winston owner Tom Morgan move the Winston business from San Francisco to Twin Bridges in 1975  to the building that burned Sunday. Brackett made many rods in that building before moving on to establish his own company, Sweetgrass Rods, in 2006.

On Monday, Brackett toured the burned-out building. It was sad beyond belief, he said. Theres absolutely nothing there to be salvaged, except the memories.

The building and everything in it was completely lost, Wagner confirmed. That includes all of our tools; raw materials, including our bamboo; and finished goods.

The bamboo, he said, will take time to replace. It isnt an easy resource to acquire, he said, Especially not when youre as concerned about quality as we are. Theres a constant culling process that takes place.

He declined to release a dollar estimate of the damage, saying the company is still working through the lost inventory and dealing with its insurer.

Wagner said Winston is determined to treat the setback as an opportunity.

Its not surprising the emotion that people at Winston are feeling, he said. The healing process will take time. But as we grieve, we look to the future.

He said he spoke Monday with Winston owner David Ondaatje, who bought the company 25 years ago this year. Ondaatje expressed determination to double down with bamboo rod building, Wagner said.

Even though his company now competes with Winston, Brackett was one of several people in the industry who reached out Monday with offers of help.

The bamboo rod building community is tight-knit. Not a lot of people do it. Were so grateful to everybody who has reached out, Wagner said.

Were confident we can come up with a short-term solution and get some production going again over the next two to four weeks. Then, well come up with a longer-term solution over the next few months.

Bracketts offer might just help in the short term. He has a shop in Twin Bridges that hes no longer using, having moved Sweetgrasss operations to Butte recently. Monday he offered his competitor the use of his Twin Bridges facility.

I hope they take me up on it, he said. It is sort of serendipitous, having that building available in Twin Bridges.

Bracketts offer says a lot about what a great person Glenn is, Wagner said.

Bamboo fly rods have a special place in the sport. While high-tech materials like Winstons trademark Boron III graphite have surpassed bamboo in some respects, many anglers prize bamboo above all for the special feel it conveys  and for its connection to the sports earlier days.

Bamboo rod-building is a craft that has been passed literally from one set of hands to the next, and Winston, one of the revered names in a sport that cares about tradition, hopes to be building more bamboo rods than ever in the years ahead.

We still have all of our patterns and the intellectual property that goes into the bamboo process, Wagner said. There are two sides to everything. Theres this tragedy and theres the opportunity behind it.

The R.L. Winston Rod Company has been in business for almost 90 years, he said. A fire will not impede that history and our continued growth.
The U.S. Senate has been considering rolling back the Bureau of Land Managements Methane and Waste Prevention Rule  key protections that limit the waste of minerals  through the use of the Congressional Review Act. Now, senators have only a few more days before the time limit is up to rescind these protections, enacted during the Obama Administration. So far, enough senators have had the common sense to resist doing away with these protections that save taxpayers money, create energy, and protect the air we breathe.

I have spent most of my life on the family cattle ranch in the heart of the Bakken in Montana. The methane protections are critically important to me and my family. The protections, which reduce the amount of methane burned off, released directly into the air, and leaked at oil and gas operations, are good news for people living in oil country. Wasting gas is an extremely short-sighted practice; it not only takes potential tax revenue from communities that could sorely use it to address their infrastructure needs, but it also poses serious threats to our health.

Flares in Montana

The BLM protections strike close to home for my wife and me. Our family cattle ranch sits east of Bainville amid extensive oil and gas development. We live with the impacts. I have driven past countless oil well flares spouting huge flames into thin air because Montana has few controls on methane waste.

Although some of these wells are connected to gas collection lines, some are not, and all are flared at least part of the time. All wells, especially Bakken wells "out gas" both methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from their storage tanks.

Since the Bakken boom began, weve had increasing amounts of respiratory trouble in our cow herd. Bakken oil workers have been found dead on location, slumped over tanks they have been monitoring. My stepson, whose job involves checking oil wells, often has to wear a breathing apparatus on location.

My wife has chronic and severe asthma, and since the Bakken boom it has become much worse. Three years ago, while alone in our house, she lost consciousness. She came to enough to use her rescue inhaler, and drive to the ER. Because the local medical community was overwhelmed by the boom, she had to wait five hours to see a physician. Its clear much of her problem is related to worsened air quality.

Asthma trigger

Sign Up!On a trip to New Mexico, we discovered that her breathing improved so much that now we spend part of every year there, in large part because of her health. Its made a huge difference for her. In Bainville, she uses her inhaler two or three times a day. In New Mexico, she might use it three or four times over the course of the winter.

Our personal experiences are supported by a growing body of scientific evidence. According to a recent study by Texas Tech researchers, people living within 500 feet of well sites in areas of intensive oil and gas activity had a five times increased risk of noncancer illness compared to those living 2,500 feet away. Even worse, children and the elderly are at much greater risks from out-gassing air toxins.

Do we really wish to treat public resources in such a wasteful, abusive, hazardous way? Do we really want to expose our oil country communities to unnecessary health risks? I urge the Montana delegation to vote to uphold these much needed protections.

-- Pat Wilson is a rancher near Bainville.
The U.S. House and Senate have a total of 535 members; of which approximately 55-60 percent of them are millionaires or multi-millionaires.

Do we really want another rich individual representing Montana in Congress? Ask yourselves, do we subscribe to Abraham Lincolns famous quote government of the people, by the people, and for the people, or do we want a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich?

The upcoming Special Congressional election provides a clear choice to Montana voters. On the one side, we have another rich, out-of-state transplant that tried to buy his way into the Governors Office, but fortunately for Montanans, did not succeed. Now he is trying to buy his way into the U.S. House of Representatives and once again the amount he is spending on this election is obscene. This same individual sued the state in 2009 regarding a public access issue, although allegedly he is a supporter of public lands and access.

The other candidate, Rob Quist, is a NATIVE Montanan that is committed to representing all of us, not just the privileged class. He strongly believes that we should not have to be millionaires to hunt, fish, or hike in our beautiful state. He adamantly supports keeping our Public Lands public for all residents, visitors, and future generations of Montanans. He also strongly supports Womens Rights, a strong Public Education system, strengthening Social Security and Medicare, and contrary to his opponents half-truths, Second Amendment rights.

I prefer a Congressman that is empathetic to the issues facing Montana working families rather than a millionaire originally from New Jersey not grounded in reality. Rob Quist will represent all of us, not just the elites. He is not perfect by any means, and while he has gone through some financial difficulties in his life, (as have many other Montanans), he understands that if you work hard, anyone can better themselves if given a fair opportunity. VOTE Rob Quist for Congress on May 25, 2017.

-- Mark Savinski, Sheridan
HELENA  Donald Trump Jr. will return to Montana this week, appearing in Helena, Great Falls, Sidney and Butte 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.

He'll be at Pioneer Equipment and Supply Co., 215 Centennial Ave., in Butte, at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, May 11, said Shane Scanlon, spokesman for the Gianforte campaign.

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.

He'll be at Holman Aviation in Great Falls at 5:30 p.m.

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.
HELENA  The family of a man who killed himself at the state prison in Deer Lodge is suing the state, claiming the prison ignored his previous suicide attempts and failed to address his mental health issues.

Matthew Brandemihl was found dead in his cell on Sept. 24, 2014. A lawsuit filed by his brother and father and on behalf of his three children claims Brandemihl, who was 32 years old, tried to kill himself at least three times since being arrested in Gallatin County after violating his probation.

The wrongful-death lawsuit, filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court last year, claims the prison was negligent, and engaged in cruel and unusual punishment. It seeks unspecified monetary damages for emotional pain and distress and mental suffering, as well as lost wages and contribution to care for Brandemihls children. According to a Belgrade News report from 2014, Brandemihl would have been eligible for parole about a year after his death.

In a court filing from March 21 of this year, the state denies claims made in the lawsuit. The state also said Nathaniel Brandemihl, the deceased's brother, does not have any legal authority to bring a lawsuit and that the statute of limitations has expired. The suit was also filed by Dale Brandemihl, the father of the prisoner who died.

Brandemihl was arrested in May 2013 after he led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen car, eventually crashing, stealing another car and then running into the Tobacco Roots. He turned himself over to law enforcement officers after a search.

According to the lawsuit, Brandemihl attempted suicide at the Gallatin County jail by biting a two-inch hole in his wrist. At the time he told an officer he believed he was the son of God and had been alive 1,000 years. He also said he believed his brother was the devil and capable of possessing other peoples bodies, the jail was designed to keep his mind locked up and someone or something had erased his memory.

After Brandemihl was transferred to Montana State Prison on May 12, 2014, a nurse who conducted a clinic intake assessment wrote he was sad, depressed and dysthnmic, according to the lawsuit.

On June 20, 2014, he became agitated at the prison infirmary and refused to leave when asked. He declared his name was Jesus and accused prison staff of trying to poison his food and water. He was subdued and placed in a locked housing unit, according to the lawsuit.

The suit claims a prison investigator recommended discipline instead of mental health treatment, concluding Brandemihls behavior was not symptomatic of a mental illness that would prevent knowledge of his actions. Brandemihl was placed in locked housing and solitary confinement.

Its unclear what documents the lawsuit is citing. In its response the state says its disciplinary investigator disciplined Brandemihl because he had no symptoms of a mental illness. The state also said it does not know what the lawsuit means by solitary confinement because that is not a housing designation used at the prison.

A 2014 lawsuit filed by ACLU of Montana on behalf of Disability Rights Montana said the prison has solitary confinement cells within locked housing that involve different levels of isolation and sensory deprivation. Prisoners receive meals through a food slot and have little or no access to natural light, according to that lawsuit.

A doctor referred to as Dr. Edwards in the lawsuit dismissed Brandemihls issues as feigned psychosis, according to the suit, saying he was not mentally ill but probably most unhappy about being incarcerated at this point and that the behaviors were because of just frank malingering and being uncooperative and the side effects of substance abuse.

The state in the response filed in court denied the characterization that Edwards was dismissive and said his report speaks for itself.

Brandemihl attempted suicide again on July 3, 2013, again by trying to chew through his arm and wrist. In an email dated July 8, 2014, registered nurse and certified correctional health professional Jill Buck wrote the mental health department feels (Brandemihl) knowingly, willingly and purposefully engaged in self-harm behavior and should be held accountable for his actions.

At a disciplinary hearing three days later, Brandemihl was found guilty of infractions and sentenced to 10 days in locked housing. On July 18, 2013 Brandemihl attempted suicide again, chewing his arm and wrist and taking 50 multivitamin pills. He was placed on a behavioral management plan. The lawsuit characterized the measure as punitive, something the state disputes. Brandemihl was taken to Deer Lodge Hospital, where records show a psychiatric follow-up at the prison was recommended, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Brandemihl told an investigator four days later, Look at me, I need serious medical attention. You guys just throw me in the hole. Youre hoping I  die. Youre trying to kill me. The state denied that characterization of the investigator's report.

Brandemihl was again placed in locked housing for 11 days. By Aug. 30 he reopened his wounds. The lawsuit claims he did not receive proper follow-up care, something the state denies.

On Sept. 23, 2014 the lawsuit claims he was found sleeping in his cell near a plastic bag filled with blood, something the state denies.

Brandemihl was later placed in locked housing. A corrections officer said he found two bottles of orally ingestible pain reliever and two plastic deodorant rolls, which Brandemihl had broken to create sharp pieces of plastic.

The following day prison records say he was found in a pool of blood with handwritten notes near his body and had been dead for several hours. A response filed in court from the state says it does not have enough information to admit or deny if he had been dead several hours.
MISSOULA  It was a purely serendipitous moment for Courtney Little Axe.

The anthropology major graduates from the University of Montana on Saturday after spending much of the past two years holed up in the wonderland of UMs little-known ethnographic collections in the basement of the Social Sciences building.

It hasnt been without struggles, Little Axe related last week.

I went through a time when I was having trouble staying in school and stuff, she said.

Her therapy in hard times is to browse through old pictures, which led to a startling discovery.

Little Axe cant give details, for cultural sensitivity reasons that well discuss later. What she can say is that she noticed something familiar in one of the old internet photos. It was associated with a tribal member, and she recognized it as one of hundreds of Native American artifacts in the UM collection that dates back to the universitys founding in the 1890s.

Super-surprising and a rewarding situation, Little Axe said. I was able to find its origin, where it came from. Honestly, I dont know how something like that happens. I think I was led to it.

***

Call it the museum that isn't.

Reopened in 2012 after 20 years in dead storage and more than a century of deferrals by UM leadership (see Page A1), the basement Anthropological Curation Facility, or UMACF, is home to upwards of a million items if you count the pottery fragments and projectile points in its archaeological section.

Most people arent aware it even exists because its been behind closed doors for so long. More know about its sister collection at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Montanas only state-owned art museum. The two have the same origin story that dates back to 1895 with the creation of the University Museum, collections of which were displayed and stored in Main Hall when it was completed three years later.

MMAC has a public presence in the Performing Arts/Radio Television building near the Adams Center but still hungers for a building of its own to adequately showcase 11,000 art and art-related pieces, including works by Rembrandt, Picasso, Remington and Rockwell.

The art is kept in 10 secure locations around town, including a larger storeroom across the hallway from the 1,500-square-foot cinderblock walls of the UMACF.

Walk into the latter and you feel rather than see the centuries peel back.

Most of the artifacts are boxed and shelved in varying sized containers of archival quality. Ten years ago, during the collections dormant years, it was a mess down here, said Riley Auge, curator of the curation facility.

Everything was literally just jumbled together like garbage, said Auge.

A graduate student who wrote her thesis on the plight of the collection spurred an effort to breathe life and order back into the room. In the following years it was upgraded to National Park Service standards, and efforts resumed to investigate and inventory the collection to make it available to researchers, students and faculty.

Our big dream for the future is to actually have exhibit space so that some of these materials can go on public exhibit, said Auge. We have some really amazing things.

Theres a mix of the bizarre (a boar tusk necklace from a warthog); international (a New Zealand Maori war club and 19th century Chinese pottery), and local, such as artist Edgar S. Paxsons Native American pouch made of woven grasses. It was later stuffed with horsehair, sewn shut and made into a pillow.

Paxson painted the historical murals on the walls of the state Capitol and Missoula County Courthouse in the early 20th century, and he painted any number of works depicting American Indians in his studios in Butte, Deer Lodge and at 611 Stephens Ave. in Missoula. Along the way he collected an impressive array of artifacts in order to lend authenticity to his works, said anthropology professor Kelly Dixon.

***

NAGPRA is a well-known acronym down here in the vault.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in 1990, and its effects have been felt on campus, where remains found during various construction projects have been quietly moved to reservations to which they belonged.

The act also applies to other cultural items  funerary and sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony. Its a federal civil offense to withhold such artifacts, museum quality or not, from their rightful indigenous tribes.

Those are the culturally sensitive artifacts in UMs collection that Little Axe cant talk about in detail and that cant be photographed without a go-ahead from appropriate tribal entities.

Maybe, mused Dixon, the best place for these things isnt in a sterile box in the basement of UM.

In 1936, then-Montana State University of Missoula received the collection of John Ellsworth Lewis, who built what became Lake MacDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park. Lewis sister Nettie donated some 100 Indian and pioneer objects after his death.

The gift would belong to the university so long as the University shall remain free from Church Domination, Nellie Lewis stipulated.

Valued at thousands of dollars, the Lewis collection includes complete mens and womens costumes in skin, entirely sinew sewn and embroidered with porcupine quills; early Indian weapons; a magnificent and authentic collection of war bonnets, many of which were once the property of chiefs and warriors famous in the Northwest, newspapers reported at the time.

Its considered the largest and most impressive collection in the Anthropological Curation Facility.

Herein also lie pipes, moccasins, ceremonial objects, clothing and other American Indian artifacts from the collection of Missoula architect A.J. Gibson, who built Main Hall, and his wife. Maud Gibson had an in on the Blackfeet Reservation, where her brother Joseph Sherburne ran the Sherburne Mercantile Co. in Browning at the turn of the 20th century.

Both Gibsons were aficionados of the early automobile and were known for their many travels in it.

They had an intense interest in Native American things, and so they spent a tremendous amount of time up on the Blackfeet Reservation, as well as traveling all around the state and going to Native communities, said Auge.

It was with compliance to NAGPRA in mind that the UM collection was resuscitated in 2012.

We realized going through the ethnographic objects  the drums and the pipes and the tunics  that there might be some culturally sensitive issues with regard to handling these things, Dixon said. Maybe some of them shouldnt be touched by women, or men. We got very concerned with how we should move forward without adult supervision, meaning regional tribal cultural leaders.

In 2015 and 2016, money from Humanities Montana, donors, and a few UM administrators funded two on-campus tribal summits for historic preservation officers and cultural leaders from Montanas state and federally recognized tribes.

According to a summary statement, the unprecedented summits were called "to establish dialogue emphasizing reconciliation, respect, the spirit of cultural resource laws and importance of defending the well-being of cultural collections under UMACF stewardship."

Dixon said they've drawn interest from others in the world of cultural collections and are "especially important in the era of Standing Rock."

Groundwork was laid for a programmatic agreement, a scope of collections, and procedures and policies. But the next steps are on hold after funding for a 2017 summit dried up.

Dixon said nothing has left the collection yet.

The process of figuring out what gets repatriated could take years, she said. It requires all of the tribal historic preservation officers being in one room and putting our heads together, so we still have a lot of bricks to put into that foundation.

***

Auge has been curator of the anthropology collection since 2014 and stands in awe of it.

"This is a facility that is so rich in what is contained here and has just amazing potential for learning, not only for research but taking some of these objects out into the public," Auge said.

Little Axe couldnt agree more. In June, three weeks after she graduates, shell be in Salem, Massachusetts, where shell spend the summer working on research and exhibitions at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Its a step, she said, to maybe getting a museum going on the (Northern Cheyenne) reservation.

That would be my dream to do that, Little Axe said.  I feel like its a really important component to keeping our culture alive and connect it to present-day members  not only tribal members but other people, tourists coming through town, to maybe better understand what its all about.

Two other students from the anthropology department, Michaela Shifley and Danny Smith, are among just a dozen nationwide to receive fellowships to the Smithsonian Museums Summer Institute of Museum Anthropology.

Shifley, whos in her first year of a four-year doctoral program, is an intern at the curation facility. Shell spend four weeks in Washington researching Blackfeet moccasins.

After working here for a semester and learning all the cool things we have, it kind of inspired me to learn about the Blackfeet culture collection, she said. Im really passionate about advocating for descendant communities and making sure that their rights and cultural restrictions are considered when we put things on display, and that their voices are heard. The university really has people here who believe the same thing.

Montana, Shifley said, has one of the largest American Indian populations in the nation.

I think were really in position here to lead the charge on descendant community rights in terms of museum exhibitions and cultural collections. What a wonderful opportunity that is.

This story has been updated to correct the location of Courtney Little Axe's summer fellowship in Massachusetts. She'll be at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Build your health & fitness knowledge Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
MUSCATINE  The Columbus Junction Parks and Recreation Board hopes new weekly events will cause of flurry of activity at its parks this summer, and encourage residents to exercise and explore the outdoors.

The city began its pilot program, called Discover Columbus, Monday with the opening of the Columbus Junction Farmers Market downtown.

Parks and Recreation Board member Bev Nielsen said the farmers market will be held from 5-7 p.m. each week during Market Mondays. The park board also will host Touring Tuesdays and Walking Wednesdays throughout the summer.

"What we're doing is trying to generate some events that will encourage people to get together and interact," Nielsen said. "We have such a wonderfully diverse community, so we're trying to get something going for several days a week."

Nielsen said the farmers market has been moved this year to 241 Main St., at the downtown viaduct near Community Bank & Trust.

"We plan to add music and activities to it as the summer goes on and we'll have more vendors," Nielsen said.

She said the city is still looking for vendors to participate in the farmers market.

Nielsen said Touring Tuesdays will start next week, but she spent Tuesday afternoon riding her bike 15 miles to test the route.

"We're going to go out on bicycles, touring and spreading some joy around the community and around the neighboring counties," she said.

Nielsen said anyone interested in a "weekly biking adventure" should meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays at the United Methodist Church's parking lot.

The park board has held Walking Wednesdays since last month  it includes a three-mile walk along the city's trail system. The park board also is collaborating with the Columbus Junction Public Library for a week-long "storybook adventure."

Nielsen said from May 24-31, individuals will be able to walk along the trail and stop to read pages of a children's story book, hung on posts along the way.

On May 27, the library will hold an interactive presentation from 12:30-1:30 p.m., where volunteers will be available at each post, handing out "trinkets" related to each page of the story.

"This will promote summertime literacy for all community members and guests," Nielsen said. "The objects will encourage children to retell the story when they get back home."

Nielsen said plans to hold Thirsty Thursday events are still being considered.

At a Columbus Junction City Council meeting last month, Nielsen said she hopes at least 200 people will come out for the summer events.

"We want to encourage interaction at the park, and to promote active lifestyles for our community members, as well as healthful activities," Nielsen said.

Nielsen said the timing of the Discover Columbus events in Columbus Junction this summer should be "perfect" because children begin summer vacation May 24.
iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A simmering conflict in South Sudan has forced more than one million children to seek refuge in neighboring countries, creating one of the most significant refugee crises in the world, the United Nations said on Sunday.



No refugee crisis today worries me more than South Sudan, said Valentin Tapsoba, Africa Bureau director at UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency. That refugee children are becoming the defining face of this emergency is incredibly troubling. We, all in the humanitarian community, need most urgent, committed and sustainable support to be able to save their lives.



The U.N. estimates that some 1.8 million people have fled South Sudan, more than 6 in 10 of whom are minors under 18 years of age.



At least 75,000 minors have crossed South Sudan's borders either unaccompanied or separated from their families.



More than 1,000 children have been killed since conflict flared up in 2013, and more than three quarters of the country's children are not in school, the highest share of any country in the world, the U.N. said.



Some five million people in South Sudan struggle to find enough food, according to the U.N. World Food Programme, with more than 250,000 children facing malnutrition as a result.



South Sudan became the world's newest country when it seceded from Sudan in 2011 after nearly four decades of civil war that crippled development and left some 2.5 million people dead.



In 2013, the young country again fell into conflict with the two main warring parties allied along ethnic lines. Armed groups on both sides have been accused of recruiting children and regularly targeting civilians with war crimes such as sexual assaults, ethnically motivated killings and attacks on aid workers.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Local Weather Get the daily forecast and severe weather alerts in your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
For a coalition certain of 10 million votes, youd think the guy set to be the Deputy Premier would sit pretty and wait for his appointment.

But alas! Moses Wetangula will still vie for Bungoma Senator on a Ford Kenya ticket.

At a press conference in Bungoma Town, county secretary Peter Wakhuleka said that they had convinced Wetangula to vie as there is no replacement who can fit in his shoes.

It is a sealed deal and we are going to present his name to the IEBC as an unopposed candidate, he said.

Mr. Wakhuleka added that Wetangula would relinquish his seat if Nasa forms the next government, so that he can take the Deputy Premier position.

In essence subjecting Bungoma to a by-election.

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto has also gone the same route, and he is expected to defend his seat on a Chama Cha Mashinani ticket. If Nasa forms the next government, he will take up the Deputy Premier position.

Analysts have concluded that the two would not want to subject themselves to a situation like Raila and Kalonzo have found themselves for 5 years. Should Uhuru win in August, theyll still have political jobs.

However, it says a lot about their confidence in a victory, and the message they send Nasa supporters.

In Bungoma, those who have declared interest in Wetangulas post include journalist David Makali (ANC), Bonny Nyongesa (ODM) and educationist Juma Mukhwana (Jubilee).
Maendeleo Ya Wanaume (MAWE) chairman Nderitu Njoka is back at it once again!

Mr Njoka, in yet another astounding stunt, has appealed to the United Nations Security Council to prosecute Egyptian Pharaoh and King Herod at The Hague court in Netherlands over a Biblical saga he finds atrocious and horrifyingly wicked.

The appeal is part of his latest dossier, State of the Nation Study on Violence against Men and Boys [VAMB] released last week.

According to the mens right champion, UN should revisit the infamous Biblical scandal of King Herod and Pharaoh boys massacre, where hundreds of boys below two years were drowned and slaughtered following a political decree.

He makes a passionate appeal to the United Nations to prefer murder charges on the two supposed miscreants for those Biblical crimes that targeted boys only.

The UN should file a criminal case against the key suspects in The Hague and open prosecution charges against King Pharaoh and Herod posthumously in order for boys worldwide to feel a sense of justice and security on earth, reads the report.

Through Mawe, Mr Njoka also demands an apology from the Catholic Pope Francis for the churchs role in Pharaoh and Herod boys massacre. He argues that boys need

He argues that boys need an unreserved apology from the church because the institution was the political and spiritual pivot of society at the time and did nothing substantial to protect the boy child.

In the report, Njoka also calls for the Kenyan government to declare circumcision free of charge to all boys and ban wearing shorts in schools.

Shorts are colonial and disadvantageous to boys, particularly in primary since most dont have inner wear thereby affecting their education and moral confidence.

He also urge the government to ban selective gender empowerment programs and improve on equal gender budget allocation henceforth.

These funds discriminate against men above 35 years who have no income activities. Family Fund will help place such men at par with the empowered wives, Njoka argues in the report.
Defendant Ryan Scott Warner admitted to spanking Kayleigh Slusher, but denied abusing her during his interview with Napa Police on Feb. 2, 2014, the day after the 3-year-olds body was found.

Video of his interview was shown to the jurors assigned to his case in Napa County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Warner, 29, is on trial along with the childs mother, Sara Lynn Krueger, 26. The two are being tried at the same time in the same courtroom, but separate juries will be deliberating their cases. Kruegers jury was dismissed before Warners interview was shown.

The approximately one-hour video begins with Warners head resting face down on a table in an interview room. Hes cuffed, wearing a gray beanie, red shirt and a jacket. Hes skinny and bearded  much different than he appears now as he sits in court in a dress shirt and dress pants. Warner, who has been in custody since his and Kruegers arrests on Feb. 2, 2014, is visibly heavier, cleanly shaven and wears his long hair in a slicked-back ponytail.

In the video, jurors can hear Napa Police Sgt. Andrew Hess, who was the lead detective on the Kayleigh Slusher case, address Warner and say Let me take those cuffs off you.

Warner tells Hess that hes relieved to be there.

After being read his rights, Warner lets out a deep breath and begins to tell Detective Hess the nature of his and Kruegers relationship. Although the two never put a label on their relationship, Warner said that he had been staying at Kruegers apartment and sleeping in her bed for six months. During that time, he said, he and Kayleigh became close.

At one point during the interview, he characterized his role in Kayleighs life as fatherly, but the two would say that they were best friends.

When Hess asked Warner about what happened to Kayleigh, Warner said that Kayleigh became sick after possibly drinking cleaning solution on Jan. 29, 2014.

I remember going into the bathroom and Kayleigh was kind of hunched over, Warner told Hess. He said that he found the measuring cup the cleaning solution was in near Kayleigh as she got sick in the bathroom. Kayleigh told him that she had put fresh water in the cup before drinking it, he said. That was in the early evening, he said, before Napa Police came to the apartment at 2060 Wilkins Avenue for a welfare check.

Krueger and Warner then discussed what they should do to help Kayleigh, whether or not they should call Poison Control and if she could flush out the toxin by drinking water and throwing up, he said.

At this point Im stepping back (as a parent), Warner said. He let Krueger make the final decision about what to do with Kayleigh, he said.

Interrupting Warner, Hess asks why neither of them called the paramedics or police to help Kayleigh.

I was scared of the reality of what would happen, Warner said. I was scared we could get in trouble or something like that. The two of them, he said, had been using methamphetamine earlier and were both high.

After the officers who came for the welfare check were gone, Warner said he checked on Krueger who was in the bathroom with Kayleigh.

Shes like Oh my God, I almost lost my daughter, he said. Kruegers biggest fear, he said, was Kayleigh being taken away from her, especially since Child Protective Services had been in their lives previously.

Warner said that he listened to Krueger deal with Kayleigh for a while before stepping in and helping Kayleigh go to the bathroom. At about 4 a.m., he said, he helped Kayleigh on the toilet and, when she said she was going to be able to poop, he gave her a hug and a kiss, told her he was proud of her and, before he left the room, Kayleigh gave him a thumbs-up. Warner then went into the bedroom with Warner and fell asleep, he said.

When Krueger and Warner woke up 12 hours later at 4 p.m., he said he told her to go check on Kayleigh. The next thing he said he heard was Krueger saying Why is my daughter sleeping on the bathroom floor? Then she said Oh my God, Ryan, shes dead, he said.

Warner said that he listened to Kayleighs heart and looked at her fingers.

I dont know, dude, he told Hess. Bottom line, shes dead.

After finding Kayleigh, the two of them discussed calling the police, but didnt, he said.

Now Im kinda like scared, in shock, Warner said. It feels like were gonna get in trouble for this shit. They knew Kayleigh drank something that might have made her sick, but they didnt take action, he said.

They put Kayleighs body into her bed and shut the door, Warner told Hess.

Krueger told him that the two of them had to get out of the apartment, run away and start a new life somewhere else, Warner said.

The following day, Jan. 31, Warner said that he put Kayleighs body in a plastic bag, then put that bag into a red duffel bag.

Trust me I felt f***ing demented, he tells Hess.

Then, he said, he and Krueger left the apartment to take a walk. They ended up going to Target and buying some ice cream, he said.

We come back and its like OK, reality has set back in, Warner said, noting that Kayleighs body was still in the apartment. When the two decide that they are going to leave Napa, he said that he decided to put the red duffel bag carrying Kayleighs body into the freezer so that her body would be preserved for an autopsy. An autopsy, he said, would reveal the truth about Kayleighs death, which he believed was caused by the solution she drank.

Kayleighs body was in the freezer for about six hours, he said, before Krueger decided on Feb. 1 that she had to get her out of there. She tucked Kayleighs little naked body into bed, covered her with blankets, read her a story and gave her some toys, he said.

Then it was time to go, Warner said. The two traded a PlayStation console and some games for a ride to Vallejo, then went to Frisco to wait until Kruegers money came through on Feb. 2.

At this point Id never been in a situation like this, Warner told Hess. Sara seemed to have control of it.

When Hess asked about putting Kayleigh in the suitcase, which Warner said was his idea, Warner said that it was basically kind of a mutual thing.

After a coffee break and a brief conversation about Kayleighs potty-training, Hess asked Warner about the bruises found on Kayleighs body.

He had noticed them, he said. Kayleigh had bruises on her back and down her butt from getting spanked, he said.

She (Krueger) would spank her and once in a while I would spank her too, Warner said. Over the course of six months, he said, he spanked Kayleigh on the bottom maybe four or five times. Other times, he said, he would discipline her by having her sit in the corner for 20 to 30 minutes.

I know that there was a lot of bruises on her, Warner admitted to Hess. Krueger had been flipping out on Kayleigh the night before she died, he said.

Hess asked if Krueger had beaten Kayleigh that night.

I think thats a possibility, Warner said. He later said, though, that he didnt think Kayleigh had been beaten to death.

You need to start manning up to this mess, Hess told Warner, noting that he was the last person with Kayleigh before she died.

I did not beat that child, Warner said.

The jury was shown two other videos before being dismissed for the day, both seemingly bolstering prosecutions argument that the defendants were acting normal even while Kayleigh was dead in the apartment. One vidoe showed Krueger and Warner at the South Napa Marketplace Target buying ice cream and another showed the two of them riding the AirTrain at San Francisco International Airport.

They looked to be having a good time, Hess said of the airport security footage. Warner and Krueger could be seen talking, giggling and snuggling, he said.

The approximately 16 minutes of video showed Krueger and Warner sitting beside each other on the AirTrain. For the majority of the time, Warners hands were folded in front of him while Kruegers remained in her jacket pockets. Krueger swung her feet, Warner shook his head like someone trying to wake up, they both took turns yawning and, for a moment, Krueger rested her head on Warners shoulder.

At one point, they got off the AirTrain and got back on. When Warner lay down, Krueger sat next to him. They exited at West Field Road.

Warners jury was dismissed until 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Prosecutors are planning to show Kruegers interview to the jury deliberating her case when the trial continues at 9 a.m.

Both juries were present during several witness testimonies Tuesday morning, including during testimony from forensic toxicologist and expert witness Nadina Giorgi who said that neither Warner nor Krueger had methamphetamine in their systems on the day of their arrests. They did, however, test positive for marijuana, she said.

That doesnt mean that they hadnt done any methamphetamine, but, if they had, it wasnt within a time frame that was detectable, Giorgi said. Depending on the individual and the amount of the drug used, she said, meth can be detected in the blood for several days.

When Deputy District Attorney Kecia Lind asked hypothetically if methamphetamine could be detected almost four days after use, giving a time-frame from 8:40 p.m. Jan. 29 until 4 p.m. Feb. 2, Giorgi said probably not.

Marijuana, though, can stay in someones system up to several weeks depending on the individuals use, Giorgi said.

Witnesses testified earlier in the trial that Krueger and Warner were heavy users of methamphetamine in the weeks before the childs death, raising concerns about Kayleighs welfare.

Four peace officers also testified on Tuesday morning about their roles in investigating the death of Kayleigh.

Napa Police Officer Keri Sedgley, was involved with transporting both Krueger and Warner from El Cerrito to Napa and processed Krueger, she said.

Inside Kruegers black-and-white floral purse, Sedgley found a cellphone, a dream catcher, two thawed freezer pops and a wallet containing her and Kayleighs medical cards. Sedgley noted that Kruegers right index finger was swollen.

Both Warner and Krueger were found with BART tickets for that day in with their belongings, officers testified.

The trial, which began last week, continues Wednesday. The trial is scheduled to last through the end of the month, possibly into the first week of June.
Rep. Mike Thompson announced the start of the Summer Reading Challenge. Open to students from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade, the Challenge encourages kids in the Fifth Congressional District to read as many  or all  of the books on the Library of Congress and American Library Associations Summer Reading List.

The list is divided into four age groups, with 25 books in each category. Students who participate in the challenge are eligible for special recognition from Thompsons office.

A good book opens countless doorways  both to new worlds within its pages and bright futures right here, said Thompson. The Summer Reading Challenges encourages our kids to keep reading, experience new perspectives, and enjoy wonderful stories.

Students interested in participating can sign up with Thompsons office at https://go.usa.gov/x5MVg. A flyer with more information can be found here.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)  A portion of a tunnel containing buried rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday at a sprawling storage facility in a remote area of Washington state, forcing an evacuation of some workers at the site that made plutonium for nuclear weapons for decades after World War II.

Officials detected no release of radiation at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

No workers were inside the tunnel when soil collapsed two to four feet (half to 1.2 meters) over a 400 square foot (37.1 square meters) area. The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet (2.4 meters) of soil covering them, the agency said.

Nearby workers were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

"No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties," the Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. "There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point."

The accident occurred at a plant known as the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, or PUREX, located in the middle of the 500-square-mile Hanford site, which is half the size of Rhode Island, the Energy Department said.

The collapse was discovered during a routine inspection, the agency said. It was not immediately clear why it happened at the facility with about 9,000 employees.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation's largest depository of radioactive defense waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

As part of a huge, ongoing cleanup, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into tunnels and buried, Bradbury said.

The Hanford site was built during World War II and made plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, at the end of the war.

The cleanup has been under way since the 1980s and costs more than $2 billion a year. The work is expected to take decades and cost tens of billions of dollars.
Sally Yates didn't bring a smoking gun to the latest episode of the long-running political melodrama entwining the White House and Russia.

But in a Senate hearing on Monday, the former acting attorney general produced just enough fresh intrigue to offer Democrats a new opening in the war of attrition they are waging against Donald Trump's presidency.

In her long-awaited first public accounting of her dealings with the Trump administration, Yates testified that she explicitly warned White House counsel Donald McGahn in January that former national security adviser Michael Flynn had been compromised and could be a target for Russian blackmail.

Her intervention provoked an awkward new question that the White House will now have to answer. Why did it then take 18 days for Flynn to be fired -- a step that only took place when The Washington Post reported he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his calls with Russia's envoy to Washington?

"The vice president was unknowingly making false statements to the public and ... we believed that General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians," Yates said. "We felt like the vice president and others were entitled to know that the information that they were conveying to the American people wasn't true."

The revelations did not in themselves represent a development that could break open the mystery of Moscow's meddling with last year's election and increasingly vocal Democratic claims of collusion between Russia and members of the President's inner circle.

But they did cast new doubt on Trump's judgment in choosing Flynn, a controversial Washington figure, for such a crucial job in the first place -- on a day when it emerged that outgoing President Barack Obama counseled him to pick another national security adviser.

And the Yates claims were also an apt metaphor for the long and corrosive drama over Russia. Like many other allegations, hers were enough to tarnish and raise suspicions about the administration's conduct, but were not sufficient to pitch it into an existential crisis.

It may also not be easy for the administration to discredit Yates. Her calm presentation and refusal to get riled by some Republican senators trying to knock her off her game made her come across as a credible witness.

The presence of her co-witness, Washington veteran and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, also had the effect of bolstering Yates' comments.

More substantively, her testimony to a judiciary subcommittee represented the latest incremental step yet toward a broader understanding of why so many links have surfaced between Trump world and Russia.

Alone, her appearance didn't prove much. But collectively with the other multiple channels of investigation, it could add up to more. Still, Democrats must be frustrated that they still have not made serious claims about Russian collusion with the White House. And their repeated calls for a special counsel they have no power to task often serves to stress the futility of their minority status on Capitol Hill.

But if Trump's quick and dismissive reaction to her appearance is any guide, the Yates testimony put another dent in the administration's defenses.

"Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today -- she said nothing but old news!" Trump said in a volley of tweets, possibly designed as a head-fake away from the substance of the hearing.

He added: "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?"

Investigation could run into next year

The answer to that question may not come for a long time yet -- not at least until the FBI probe into Russian interference in last year's election and possible links to the Trump campaign wraps up.

FBI Director James Comey has given no timeline for the investigation. And there are new signs that congressional investigations into the affair may linger deep into Trump's term.

CNN's Manu Raju reported Monday that a mountain of evidence and partisan disagreement mean it could be 2018 before the job is wrapped up. And even then, hopes are fading that there can be a bipartisan conclusion on the extent of Russian election meddling.

The White House downplayed the hearing by pointing out the lack of a smoking gun -- a reality that so far has been central to the administration's claims that the Russia story is an invention of Democrats smarting at losing the election.

"Remember, the bottom line with the Russia stuff is the question of collusion during the campaign," a White House official said.

"If there is any other observation to make beyond the fact that after roughly 11 months of inquiries, no evidence of collusion has been presented, it is that there are divisions among Democrats between those willing to admit there is nothing there and those who would rather score political points," the official said.

"President Obama's former Director of National Intelligence and his former acting CIA Director have both said they have seen no evidence of collusion. Clapper repeated his assertion today."

More questions for the White House

Still, in the short term, the testimony of Yates likely means another lost day ahead for the White House as it uses up time and political energy brushing off a new round of questions and allegations about ties to Russia.

No doubt White House spokesman Sean Spicer and Trump himself would much rather be talking about the House vote to repeal Obamacare last week or the President's debut foreign trip in a couple of weeks.

But instead, Spicer, and the President if he appears on camera Tuesday, will be pressed to answer a series of questions arising out of the Yates hearing. The most pressing one is why it took 18 days for Flynn to be let go, after the White House was told he was compromised.

During that time, Flynn was the most senior national security official in the West Wing, privy to every intelligence and foreign policy decision and secret, all the while, at risk of being blackmailed by Moscow, according to Yates.

Then there is the apparent contradiction between how Yates described her efforts to raise the alarm about Flynn and the White House's description of the encounters.

The former acting attorney general said that she walked McGahn through Flynn's conduct in two meetings, on January 26 and again on January 27.

She was understood to be referring to telephone calls between Flynn and Russian ambassador to Moscow Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office.

Strikingly, Yates warned that not only was Flynn not telling the truth about the calls, the Russians knew and could probably prove he was lying -- therefore opening him up to blackmail.

"The Russians can use compromising material in a variety of ways, sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly," said Yates.

'Lying to the FBI is a crime, correct?'

Monday's hearing was also a master class by Democrats in the use of innuendo and suspicion to maximize the political damage to the administration.

Yates for example testified that she had seen a readout of an interview Flynn gave to the FBI during January, before she headed to meet McGahn.

She would not comment on the substance of the interview but her comment allowed Democratic senators to lead her on a path that raised the unspoken possibility that Flynn had not only not told the truth to Pence, but to the bureau.

Flynn has requested immunity from congressional committees in order to testify about Russia issues, but has not so far been charged or accused of a crime.

But Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut deliberately raised the question of Flynn's possible guilt in an exchange with Yates.

"Lying to the FBI is a crime, correct?" Blumenthal asked.

"It is, yes," Yates replied.

"Violation of 18 United States Code 1001?" Blumenthal continued.

"That's right," Yates said.

"And it's punishable by five years in prison?" was the next leading question.

"Yes, it is."

Blumenthal again: "So, if Michael Flynn lied to the FBI, he had a ton of legal trouble facing him?

"He could face criminal prosecution if he lied to the FBI, yes."

CNN's Jim Acosta contributed to this report
On Tuesday May 9, we will have a second, and perhaps, final "Study Session" to allow for public hearing on the question of retaining the Napa High Indian identity. It is very important for readers to understand what is at stake here and why there are so many passionate defenders of the "Indian."

The issue was raised initially by the Vallejo-based SSPRIT group, an extreme organization that considers Napa under a state of "colonization" and racist because we have a high school identified as "The Home of the Indians." This group found an ally in the Suscol Intertribal Council, an organization founded by Natives but not a Indian band itself.

These two activist groups found a sympathetic ear in school Superintendent Patrick Sweeney, who in response formed a "Working Group," including them and giving them three votes on whether to retain or remove the Napa Indian symbol.

In an example of outrageous bias, there were no Native representatives invited to participate who support keeping the "Indian" despite there being many such voices in our community and elsewhere. The Superintendent also invited onto his group Jose Hurtado, the NVUSD board member who has indicated strong opposition to the Napa Indian. Add to this the number of the advisory group members who are actually employees and answer to Dr. Sweeney and you get the picture- a complete sham that was designed to produce only one result -- recommendation to remove the Napa High Indian.

Despite the vicious attacks of "White Supremacists" and "racists" who have been hurled at the majority in favor of keeping the Napa Indian symbol, there are a few important facts for Napa residents to be aware of.

Contrary to being the Neanderthalic knuckle-draggers we are portrayed as being because we advocate a "politically incorrect" position, you will find most, if not all, of the Indian proponents highly educated and very aware of our history. It is because we honor the sacrifices, contributions and, yes, injustices suffered by our Indian predecessors that we are fighting to keep the identity alive. It is a wonderful opportunity to teach our children about our early Napa Indian history-- such as the brave and kind Wappo people.

It is an opportunity for them to learn about Native culture and bring the history of people -- like the Wappo -- into our school curriculum and for it to have meaning and resonate with our students. This opportunity to connect with our Native peoples should only be deepened- not banished to the dark musings of angry extremists.

The second key point is one that strikes at the issue of improper governance by Dr. Sweeney and the board. After coming up with a contrived recommendation to remove the Indian by the "Working Group," Dr. Sweeney has publicly stated (in recorded April 20 proceedings on the NVUSD Board website) that this this is not about a public or democratic vote. In other words, no matter how large the majority and no matter how honorable the intentions of the people wanting to preserve the Indian, because he has found a few that claim discrimination he feels justified in ignoring the people he serves.

I find his attitude and that of any board member in sympathy with this position alarming. Other than a matter that falls under the law and litigated as such, his duty is to serve the interests of the majority who employ him -- not cater to special interests who claim discrimination where none exists.

I will also point out that the California legislature recently looked at this entire matter in depth and passed Assembly Bill 30, which provides that the term "Redskins" is considered derogatory and should be changed in schools but no such finding was indicated for the word "Indian." Dr. Sweeney is inventing and advocating on behalf of an issue that is out of step with mainstream California.

The last point the public should consider is the huge deficits that the NVUSD is looking at over the next few years. Assistant Superintendent Wade Roach has estimated that we'll have a $24.5 million deficit by 2020-21 and half that deficit, $12.4 million will arrive as soon as next year. When asked by the public where the money will come from to pay for all the changes to buildings and school uniforms if the Indian is removed, Dr. Sweeney only said cryptically "we have sources." Oh really? Then why not use those sources to offset the projected deficits?

For all these reasons, it is imperative that concerned Napa residents show up in force on Tuesday, May 9, and let our district administration know that this is all about the public and democratic procedures and no one should be allowed to take that right away from us.

Rich Jacobson

Napa
SANTA ROSA -- A parolee and registered sex offender from Orange County was arrested at Santa Rosa Junior College today where he was attending classes using a different name, the SRJC District Police Department said.

Daniel Jaebok Lee, 41, was wanted since October in Orange County for a felony violation of sex offender registration requirements. His past offenses include indecent exposure, child molestation, attempted lewd acts on a child under 14 and assault with intent to commit rape, college police said.

Campus police became aware of Lee because of reported unusual behavior in one of his classes, police said.

"There were quality of life medical issues. He was reported to be despondent in class," Lt. Robert Brownlee said.

Police conducted a routine threat assessment and learned Lee was using an alias to attend the college as a student, failed to register as a sex offender and illegally fled Orange County where he was on parole, Brownlee said.

After a week's search, Lee was arrested outside a class at Emeritus Hall around 10:50 a.m. today. He was booked in the Sonoma County Jail and will be extradited to Orange County, police said.
Troop One Eagle Patrol wins top award

The Eagle Patrol of Boy Scouts of America Troop One, St. Helena, captured the Presidential Award (top honors) at this years BSA Silverado District Camporee held April 28-30 at Skyline Park in Napa.

Led by Star Scout Ben Fitzpatrick (16, from Calistoga) the Scouts competed against troops from Napa, Vallejo and Benicia in contests judging team spirit and skills ranging from first aid, compass, fire-building, knots, cooking and much more. They were commended by the Silverado District Camporee Staff for their great attitude and fellowship, as often shown by enthusiastically cheering on the other troops.

The Patrol Members were Life Scout Gabriel Cornejo (15, from Napa); Life Scout George Conwell (15, St. Helena); Second Class Scout William Dappen (13, St. Helena) and Second Class Scout Cleo McClain (12, St. Helena). The adult leaders were: Scoutmaster Jon Dodge and Assistant Scoutmasters Jody Hunt, Carl Ericson and Christy Fitzpatrick.

The Troop meets from 7-8:30 on Wednesday nights at St. Helena Scout Hall. Their schedule includes canoe practice in May, leading to a canoe odyssey down the Middle fork of the Eel River at the end of the month. June will find them on the summit of Mt. Shasta. July will be summer camp in Mendocino County, and August will include a trek in the Trinity Alps high country. Theres still time to get included in the adventure for all boys from ages 11-17. Ask a Scout or just drop by a meeting to find out.
In March Josh Phelps, the young native St. Helena entrepreneur and winemaker, announced that he had sold his interests in the Taken Wine Company to Trinchero Family Estates, the company that produces the brand.

Phelps started the company with his childhood friend Carlo Trinchero back in 2009. The two friends had made a couple barrels of cabernet from grapes sourced from some of the best vineyards available to them and ended up with about 100 cases of wine.

In an interview with the St. Helena Star in December 2013 the two partners described how they coined the name of their new company.

Each time they sent off their naming proposals to the oracle of the Internet, they received the same results: That name was taken. So finally, in a stroke of humorous insight, they used the rejection as inspiration and The Taken Wine Company brand was born.

According to Phelps in that interview, their target customer was the young professional who had a passing interest in wine, but who might have been reluctant to spend big dollars on a bottle: young people who might pick up a bottle for a special dinner or a date. With a certain price sensitivity in mind, they pegged their wines to sell between $18 and $30.

In a publication called Grail, Phelps said the label had grown from the initial 100 cases in 2009 to about 50,000 cases in 2016 under the companys partnership with Trinchero Family Estates.

Now, according to a press release, Phelps said the time had come to set out on his own to start a new wine company, and so he sold his interest in the brand to Trinchero Family Estates, the company that still produces it.

According to the press release, Josh Phelps is forging his own entrepreneurial path in St. Helena and intends to continue to produce wines under the guidance of his renowned winemaking father, Chris Phelps.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller began a two-day visit to Austria on Friday (5 May 2017) with a speech at the Vienna Centre for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP). Addressing a seminar on NATOs Enduring Commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Ms. Gottemoeller outlined the Alliances efforts to preserve peace, limit proliferation and reduce the number of nuclear weapons.

The Deputy Secretary General stressed that nuclear and conventional arms control agreements help to keep the world a more peaceful place and will always have NATOs support. The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, for instance, bolsters Allies common, collective defence. In signing the NPT, non-nuclear powers agreed to refrain from acquiring nuclear weapons, and in return nuclear powers would strive to reduce and eventually eliminate their own weapons. Without the NPT, we would have had no impetus to peacefully address the Cold War overbuild of nuclear weapons  over 70,000 at the peak of the building frenzy of the 1960s, said Ms. Gottemoeller.

The Deputy Secretary General emphasised that all Allies are strong supporters of the strategic arms reduction process. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), in particular, is a crucial element of Euro-Atlantic security, and eliminated an entire category of nuclear weapons that threatened Europe.

On Saturday (6 May), the Deputy Secretary General will participate in a panel session on NATO-Russia relations, as part of a diplomatic workshop hosted by the VCDNP and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will travel to London on Wednesday, 10 May 2017.

During his visit, the Secretary General will meet the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Right Honourable Ms. Theresa May.

Media Advisory

10:00 (Local time) Press opportunity outside Downing Street

The press opportunity will be available live on the NATO website.

Still and video imagery of the visit will be available on the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui to NATO Headquarters on Tuesday (9 May 2017) for talks on regional security and the partnership between the Alliance and Tunisia.

The Secretary General and Minister Jhinaoui discussed the strong partnership between NATO and Tunisia, and agreed on the importance of regular political dialogue and practical cooperation. Mr. Stoltenberg highlighted that the Alliance is committed to strengthening its cooperation with Tunisia, including in the fight against terrorism. NATO has provided support for the training of Tunisian Special Operations Forces and is also providing advice to the Tunisian authorities on the development of a Tunisian Intelligence Fusion Centre
Today (9 May 2017) marks another important step in the consolidation of NATOs support to Iraqi security institutions in strengthening their capabilities in the fight against terrorism. NATO trainers and advisors and Iraqi high ranking officers have concluded a three day-workshop designed to enhance Iraqi leadership and training skills in the domains of countering improvised explosive devices, explosive ordnance disposal, and demining.

Iraqi attendees included Generals from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior, and the Counter-Terrorism Service.

The workshop provided the opportunity to strengthen the coordination between NATO experts and Iraqi Security Forces and to exchange views on the future outlook of the Iraqi security forces and institutions.

In January 2017, NATO deployed a Core Team to Baghdad. The Team includes eight civilian and military personnel. The Core Team provides advice to the Iraqi authorities and coordinates with the Global Coalition against ISIL and other stakeholders in Baghdad. Specialist training courses are delivered primarily by Mobile Training Teams (MTTs), provided by NATO Nations. These teams travel to Iraq, as required, to support specific training and capacity building activities agreed with the Iraqi authorities. These include the following: countering improvised explosive devices (C-IED), explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and de-mining; civil-military planning in support of operations; civil emergency planning; training in military medicine; technical maintenance training on Soviet-era military equipment; and reform of the Iraqi security institutions.

NATOs goal is to increase Iraqs own training capacity in the medium and long term.
(Natural News) Frances Left-leaning presidential contender, Emmanuel Macron, was accused in recent weeks of being a tax cheat, allegations that he has consistently denied. But now, based on new evidence, it seems he wasnt being honest.

As reported by The Gateway Pundit, new documents published online by an anonymous source at Anon on /pol/ (the 4Chan threat that also recently unmasked the real fascist organization Antifa, among other revelations) has now uploaded alleged proof that Macron has been evading the French tax collectors.

Now, new documents prove he lied about  almost  everything, The Gateway Pundit reported.

The documents published online show Macrons involvement with a company called La Provicence LLC, with his signature affixed to an operating agreement. A banking associate, Brian Hydes, is located in the Cayman Islands, home to many offshore accounts that principles would rather not be discovered. (RELATED: Witch Hunt: Le Pens Chief Of Staff, Bodyguard Detained By Police)

The first image from 4Chan appears to show that Macron is hiding income/assets in the Cayman Islands, said The Gateway Pundit. A second image promises that more details about Macrons financial dealings are on the way.

Meanwhile, Macron is in a very high-profile race against Marine Le Pen, a Right-leaning populist candidate whom many see as Frances female version of President Donald J. Trump.

Recent polling has Macron up by as much as 24 percent, but these revelations may damage his ability to be elected.

The press, which has been largely friendly to the Left-wing Macron, is continuing to repeat his denial that he has no accounts in the Bahamas, refuting earlier charges.

Hes right  apparently the accounts are in the Caymans.

Not only did /pol/ find out where his accounts were, but the extent of money he has hidden from the French government  a massive amount, The Gateway Pundit reported.

More information and document analysis is located at GotNews.com, which purports that the documents posted online are genuine.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

GotNews.com

TheGatewayPundit.com

Corruption.news
(Natural News) Emaciated and unrealistic are just some of the choice words Dr. Eric Robinson has used to describe female mannequins. Robinson, a behavioral scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool, has criticized female shop mannequins as representations of what hes called the ultra-thin ideal. His concerns over mannequin size were brought out by a shopping trip, reported the BBC.co.uk. According to Robinson, he was perplexed by the dimensions of the mannequins and deemed this anomaly worthy of further investigation.

He collaborated with Paul Aveyard, Professor of Behavioral Medicine at the University of Oxford, and together they conducted a study on the proportions of mannequins gracing the windows and interiors of fashion stores. Originally, the researchers planned on physically measuring the mannequins of national fashion retailers that had outlets in Liverpool and Coventry. However, none of the high street stores gave the researchers permission to examine the mannequins in this manner. Robinson and Aveyard then turned to utilizing visual assessments instead. The researchers and two research assistants studied 58 mannequins  32 females and 26 males  across 17 stores. The mannequins were then compared to the figures in a BMI-based body size guide rating scale.

Based on the scale, none of the female mannequins had a normal body size. All of the female mannequins were underweight, while only two male mannequins were considered to be in the same category. In an article for TheConversation.com, Robinson wrote: The ultra-thin ideal is something that I, and many others across the world, loathe. Size zero culture and glamorization of unrealistic and unobtainable body sizes has meant that the ideal body size frequently and implicitly communicated to women is dangerously unhealthy.

Touching on the much lower percentage of underweight male mannequins, Robinson commented that this fits well with what we know about ultra-thin body ideals and gender: it is primarily communicated to women, who are a lot more likely than men to develop an eating disorder like anorexia.

Robinson has acknowledged that not every person who sees a fashion store mannequin will develop an eating disorder. However, he also stated that members of the academic community were convinced that the promotion of ultra-thinness played a large role in eating problems. Furthermore, he chastised female mannequins for also having a hand in the proliferation of body image issues among young women. (Related: Vogue confession: Many supermodels eat tissue paper to feel full while starving themselves)

Men, on the other hand, were likely to experience body dissatisfaction because of unattainable muscle ideals set about by male mannequins. In the study, first published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, the researchers wrote: Although male mannequins were less likely to be slender than female mannequins and therefore more representative of what constitutes a normal male body weight, during data collection it was noted that a number of the male mannequins appeared unrealistically muscular.

According to Robinson, the problem with female fashion store mannequins has been going on for decades. He talks about a 1992 study by researchers who scrutinized mannequins from 1930s to 1960s, most of which had been housed in museums. The researchers stated that real women who possessed similar proportions would be so thin that theyd be incapable of menstruating. (See also: Starvation.news)

Since the study was conducted in 2015, some retailers like Debenhams have introduced plus-sized mannequins into their stories. However, the unhealthily thin mannequins are still the norm among the displays of high street shops. There is no excuse for the continued use of emaciated mannequins, said Robinson.

Visit Slender.news for more information on health issues concerning women and men.

Sources Include:

BBC.co.uk

TheConversation.com

BioMedCentral.com
(Natural News) In a bizarre chain of events, a five-year old boy narrowly missed being killed by a common schoolhouse implement. According to the FoxNews.com, the young boy was running with a pencil in his hand when he tripped and fell right on top of the pencil, which impaled him in the chest. His parents immediately rushed him to the Lianjiang Peoples Hospital, near the familys home in South Chinas Guangdong Provice.

The doctors at the state-run medical facility rejected the young boys case due to the severity of his injury. They advised the parents to have him transferred to the Central Peoples hospital of Zhanjiang in Guangzhou. He was rushed to surgery upon arrival, and doctors were able to extricate the pencil without incident. As of April 28, the boy, whose name has not been disclosed, has been recovering from his injury while under observation.

In a statement to AsiaWire.news, Head of the department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Dr. Dai Ming said that the pencil tip pierced the young boys superior vena cava. This vein is the larger of two venous trunks that return deoxygenated blood from the body to the right atrium of the heart. The doctor noted that, if the pencil had been thrust forward by just 0.2in, then it would have punctured the artery and caused fatal internal bleeding. Dr. Dai Ming also praised the young boys parents for not pulling out the pencil from their sons chest and seeking medical assistance instead. Had they removed the pencil themselves, then excessive bleeding would have occurred and most likely cause the boy to die from blood loss.

The Guangxi Minzu Hospital in Nanning witnessed a similar case in February. A three-year old girl nicknamed Xiao Hua was admitted for emergency treatment for a pencil that had pierced her throat. Xiao Hua arrived at the hospital with the pencil lodged in her neck but fully conscious. The parents claim that their daughter was drawing at her desk one evening when she accidentally flipped the table and caused the sharp end of the pencil to pierce her neck. Surgeons safely removed the pencil, which had not ruptured any major arteries.

Dr. Ban Zhangfeng, Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist at the hospital, commended the young girls parents for keeping the pencil in place as they carried her to the medical facility. The girls parents acted correctly, Dr. Ban Zhangfeng said. (Related: Every Parent Should Know Basic First Aid)

Pencil-related accidents among children are not a recent phenomenon, however. In 2012, a two-year old girl in Peasedown St John, Somerset had part of her skull removed to take out the pencil that speared her eye socket and became deeply embedded in her brain. An identical occurrence transpired in 2013 in New Boston, New Hampshire. A 19-month old toddler fell off a reclining chair and onto a pencil that entered her eye and remained fixed inside her brain. In 2009, a one-and-a-half-year old boy in Meridian, Idaho, was brought to St. Lukes Children Hospital after an accident in the playground resulted in a swing jamming a pencil into the back of his neck. All of the children survived their harrowing accidents.

You can read up on more unusual news by visiting Unexplained.news.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com

AsiaWire.news 1

AsiaWire.news 2

DailyMail.co.uk

HuffingtonPost.com

Today.com
Saturday, May 06, 2017 by: News Editors Tags: America , obamacare , trumpcare This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) Get out your shovels, you will soon be burying the elderly much earlier than we should be. Save wisely while you can, because of Trumpcare, America, most of your will never see an inheritance. Pray that you will stay healthy. Why? Because very soon, many of you will be without healthcare and will see that we have returned to the days of George W. Bush and having tens of millions without healthcare which will put many millions in danger of dying because they do not have proper medical treatment.

(Article by David Hodges republished from TheCommonSenseShow.com)

I would like nothing better than to say that President Trump rediscovered his resolve to serve the American people and he delivered a healthcare bill that will put America on a par with our counterpart nations.

America, you have just entered the danger zone because of healthcare.

Trumpcare Is Worse Than Obamacare

Unfortunately, Trumpcare is not only bad for average Americans, in many ways, it is worse than Obamacare. I got to look at the numbers thanks to an Arizona state legislator who wants to remain anonymous. This person was angry, shocked and dismayed, as we all should be.

Lets take a look at the problems associated with healthcare and then analyze our new plan in terms of the soon-to-be-threats.

High costs for treatment that are escalating out of control Escalating pharmaceutical costs America is the only nation that does not allow its citizens to shop for prescription drug overseas. Treatment exclusions form a national average of at least a 10% denial of care for health insurance policy holders. Part B Medicare prescription costs are escalating to the point where senior citizens, forced to be on Medicare, can no longer afford to pay for many of their required prescription costs. This is a life-threatening event for many of the elderly and it serves to destroy their financial base forcing them to move in with their children and for many, they leave an inheritance. The increased cost for senior citizen medications essentially performs euthanasia on many of the elderly because they are cut off from treatment based on their age (65 or and over). This is what the NHS does in the UK where they essentially kill the elderly based on denial of service because of age. For example, under NHS, anyone under the age of 55 cannot get dialysis, unless they are part of the super rich. Today, CEOs of healthcare corporations, the managed care companies and Big Pharma are raping the American people. They are making billions while Americans are prematurely dying. America spends 10 times more for healthcare than the next 10 countries combined. Yet, we only have the 51st longest lifespan according to a recent CIA Factbook. We are behind Cuba in healthcare and longevity. This is slow-burn genocide.

The following paragraphs address Trumps healthcare promises and what he delivered in relation to the six principles listed above.

The Lie of Healthcare for All

Repeatedly, on the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump pledged that his plan for health care would assure that every American had healthcare coverage. For example on the campaign trail, he said that he was promising to take care of everyone. That was a lie. Seven million Americans will lose healthcare from their employer.

Many organizations including IBT, are saying that Trumpcare takes healthcare away from 24 million American citizens, but does not touch programs designed for free health care for immigrants.

Trumpcare Makes the Rich, Richer

As if they do not make enough money, the managed care companies and the pharmaceuticals will $600 billion in tax breaks. The middle class and poor Americans get no tax breaks. An obscene total savings of $275 billion in tax cuts goes to the richest 2%. People making a million dollars per year will receive a $50,000 tax break each year from repeal of the ACAs taxes on the rich.

As a result of this loss of tax revenue due to the tax cuts for the wealthy, an estimated 15 million American low-income children and senior citizens will lose their medicaid coverage leading to more financial devastation among these group, not to mention being at risk for premature death. Meanwhile, the managed care companies will receive $145 billion in tax breaks over the next 10 years.

Some sources, who have analyzed Trumpcare, state that the 400 richest families will receive a tax cut of $7 million per year due to the generous Trumpcare policies.

Americans Left Defenseless Against Healthcare Increases

For Medicare and Medicaid participants, insurance companies could increase the elderlys health care by a whopping $13,000 per year. This is a life-threatening event! Additionally, there are no protections from prescription increases of any amount. Can you say euthanasia for the elderly? Meanwhile, the prescription companies are going to realize $25 billion in tax cuts on a yearly basis.

Trumpcare slashes coverage for low to moderate-income households so insurers, drug companies, and wealthy Americans can get huge tax cuts 

Republicans who support Donald Trumps health care plan would vote for what Democrats have slammed as a package of tax breaks for the wealthy. One of the new tax breaks in the GOPs bill to repeal Obamacare which will benefit Republican lawmakers and top officials in the Trump administration, an International Business Times review has found. Trumpcare implemented a Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT), which slapped a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for the wealthiest Americans. The tax covers couples making over $250,000 a year and single people making over $200,000 a year, so not many people end up paying it: only 3.4 million out of 147 million tax returns filed in 2014 paid the tax, or 2.3 percent of all filers, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice.

Graft and Corruption for Politicians In Relation to Trumpcare

Forget what I say, lets look at what IBT is reporting the following disturbing news:

This is all distressing beyond words. Unquestionably, this is a slow-burn genocide against tens of million supporters.

Stay tuned America, it is time for some good ole civil disobedience. Any thoughts or ideas on this? Please leave a comment.

HERE IS A BRIEF VIDEO SUMMATION HEALTH CARE, TO SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY:

Read more at: TheCommonSenseShow.com
Sunday, May 07, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: Big Pharma , biological warfare , Merck This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) Merck may as well be a household name; the corporation is one of the worlds largest pharma companies and is known for manufacturing a variety of vaccines. Some of their products have garnered a lot of bad press lately, due to the damage theyve done to people across the world. Their HPV vaccine has been particularly problematic, and has even caused some young women to become paralyzed. The company is also known for producing the MMR vaccine, which we all know has been the subject of many controversies.

To put it simply, Merck is a major pharmaceutical company that has produced products which have had a negative effect on many peoples lives. But is there an even darker secret that Merck is hiding?

A recent report has revealed that the pharmaceutical company we all love to hate may have deep ties to biological warfare. As Cassius Methyl writes for Waking Times, Merck & Co. is not to be confused with the German Merck KGaA, but they both originate from the original German Merck. Merck was founded in 1668, in Germany. A U.S. division was founded in New York by 1887, thanks to George Merck. It was called Merck & Co. In 1891, George Merck had moved to New York as well.

Merck & Co was seized by the U.S. government in 1917 as the country entered WWI  after the federal government announced that companies with ties to Germany would be overtaken. However, George Merck and his partners formed the McKenna Corporation, and managed to buy their company back when it was put up for auction in 1919. From then on, it is thought that the company severed all its ties to Germany, and made great efforts to remain on the American side of the war. In 1925, George Merck passed the company on to his son, George W. Merck. And this is when the company started to take a more sinister turn.

George W. Merck ruled the corporation for 25 years and was president of Merck during the years of WWII  and he was a leader in the United States biological warfare program during the same time frame. Merck was the appointed head of the War Research Service. Reports indicate that the United States biological warfare headquarters, Fort Detrick, was constructed in the small town of Frederick, Maryland. The facility is said to have had top secret plants to engage in open-air testing of biological agents on the unsuspecting American people.

As sources report:

By the the end of World War II, the government had amassed a massive arsenal of biological weapons (using anthrax and other various bacteria)  all under the strictest secrecy. Soon, justification for continuing the research shifted to the need for national defense.

Work in this field cannot be ignored in a time of peace, Merck warned officials. It must be continued on a sufficient scale to provide an adequate defense.

Unsurprisingly, the government was convinced, and so, the research and experimentation continued. George W. Merck was even the recipient of several awards and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine during the summer of 1952. Albeit, readers were totally oblivious to his involvement in the development of biological weapons and the experimentation of such weapons on innocent citizens.

Even after Merck left the War Research Service, Ft. Detrick went on to become the epicenter of experimentation on American civilians, and one the most recognized centers of biological warfare development in U.S. history.

To put it simply, Ft. Detrick  which was essentially Mercks creation  was a place where very bad things happened. And to make matters worse, George W. Merck was running the nations biological warfare efforts at the same time as his pharmaceutical company.

The companys ties to biological warfare are frightening enough even without their terrible track record of harming human beings with their products and lying about the efficacy and safety of their vaccines.



Sources include:

WakingTimes.com

Priceonomics.com
Sunday, May 07, 2017 by: Vicki Batts Tags: corruption , Monsanto , trolls This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) Things just keep getting worse for Monsanto: Not only has the biotech firm been found guilty of crimes against humanity by the International Monsanto Tribunal, the corporation has also recently been involved in a number of scandals. First, it came to light that the worlds most hated company had been colluding with the EPA, and now theyre being accused of yet another misdeed.

Recently obtained court documents have revealed that Monsanto has been secretly feeding money to think tanks, such as the infamous Genetic Literacy Project. From the document obtained by US Right To Know:

Monsanto quietly funnels money to think tanks such as the Genetic Literacy Project and the American Council on Science and Health, organizations intended to shame scientists and highlight information helpful to Monsanto and other chemical producers.

For example, the American Council on Science and Health has recently published articles accusing the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of ignoring the science on glyphosate. The Genetic Literacy Project, led by exposed wife beater and former Forbes.com writer Jon Entine, has also published articles calling for the IARC to possibly be abolished and has even gone so far to accuse the US of unwittingly funding conspiracies against Monsanto.

Sources say that these allegations are backed up by a string of emails which were used in court as evidence. Some of these exchanges even involved Monsanto executives instructing their staff to ghost write material on their products and then have some phony independent scientists sign their names to cut back on costs. One such exchange occurred between Monsantos William Heydens and his colleagues:

A less expensive/more palatable approach might be to involve experts only for the areas of contention, epidemiology and possibly MOA (depending on what comes out of the IARC meeting), and we ghost-write the Exposure Tox & Genetox sections. An option would be to add Greim and Kier or Kirkland to have their names on the publication, but we would be keeping the cost down by us doing the writing and they would just edit & sign their names so to speak. Recall that is how we handled Williams Kroes & Munro, 2000.

In addition to the emails and evidence of Monsantos collusion with government agencies and think tank organizations, there is also reason to believe that Monsanto has been hiring trolls to defend the company on the web  and to attack anyone who dares speak out against them.

Evidence presented in the pretrials of Monsanto court cases at the US District Court in San Francisco has revealed that under their ever-so-aptly titled Let Nothing Go program, Monsanto reportedly hired individuals who appeared to have no relation to the company for the sole purpose of trolling the internet with positive comments, defend Monsanto, and praise their toxic chemicals and GMO crops.

The goal of the Let Nothing Go program is to leave nothing, not even Facebook comments, unanswered and the plaintiffs say that Monsanto has been targeting all forms of social media and other online materials under this initiative. Even comments on social networks that merely mention the potential hazards of things like glyphosate or genetically modified crops have been targeted by Monsantos trolls.

Anti-GMO activists like Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, have been particularly susceptible to these attacks. Unsurprisingly, Adams has been a prime target for GMO trolls: The Genetic Literacy Project and other shills have published hit pieces on him and other activists  all with the goal of trying to discredit them and silence journalists who expose Monsantos nefarious operations.

The evidence revealed in these court documents certainly leaves Monsanto with a lot of explaining to do. But it seems that they are already losing in the court of public opinion. (RELATED: Learn more about Monsanto at MonsantoMafia.com)

Sources:

RT.com

USRTK.org

USRTK.org

USRTK.org [PDF]

Upriser.com
(Natural News) I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer recited in many public schools. While some have criticized its excision, the reality is most Americans dont agree with all or parts of the pledge.

An increasing number of Americans dont believe in the Christian God the pledge acknowledges. Some dont respect our flag and feel as though it is a sign of repression. Others dont believe our country is just or righteous or moral. Scores more dont think we have much liberty left.

These divisions and disagreements have been exacerbated  intentionally, and by several actors  in the Age of Obama and Trump. President Obama only averaged a 47.9 percent approval rating; President Trump, so far, is averaging about 41.2 percent. Both presidents elicited very strong emotional support or disagreement among the electorate; both have seen partisanship widen and harden.

The end result is that we are no longer a nation of Americans  but rather citizens of American regions, factionalized along religious, political, social and cultural lines. People living in the south have little in common with people living in the north; the east and west coasts have little in common with people living in the Midwest; the Northwest has little in common with people living in the Southwest.

These divisions are beginning to manifest themselves in increasing calls for secession, a concept that was allegedly resolved by our Civil War but which today is getting renewed interest from Americans living all over the country.

As reported by the Pew Charitable Trust, there are now residents in a half-dozen states openly talking about and pushing for secession, and whats critical to understand is that the secession movement, in general, is becoming more and more popular to many Americans across the political spectrum. (RELATED: Calexit picking up steam as conservatives set to wave good-bye)

During the Obama years, Texas and Texans who supported secession were mercilessly mocked and derided by the political Left as being out-of-touch kooks who were taking their hatred of the president to extreme levels.

But almost immediately after Trump was elected, a secession movement began in California  a movement born out of hatred for Trump. In fact, according to a recent survey, fully one-third Californians favor secession.

Nationally, according to Reuters, one in four Americans want to leave the union, with the greatest number (34 percent) living in the Southwest  Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

In addition to secession movements in California and Texas, movements are also afoot in Oklahoma, Maine, Utah, West Virginia and New Yorks Long Island, among others. In North Carolina, there was a recent legislative effort to overturn the states ban on secession.

We have two diametrically opposed philosophies in our country, and were just not getting anywhere, said Edward Meisse, a supporter of the Yes California secession group that just disbanded, but has since been replaced by another group that has vowed to collect enough signatures to put the issue before voters in 2018. I think we should allow states to secede so California can be California and Texas can be Texas.

Dwayne Yancey, editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times, wrote a largely satirical piece in March titled, Should Southwest Virginia secede from the rest of Virginia? But he believes as tens of millions of Americans do that the national government  and often their own state governments  do not reflect their values or mores.

Historically we have felt left out, and a number of those issues are coming to a head, said Yancey, whose portion of the state is largely rural, white-dominated and poor.

The problem states and secession movements face is both legal and practical. In 1869, just four years after the end of the Civil War, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that the U.S. is an indestructible union. The late originalist Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a letter in 2006 that if there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede. Scalia further pointed to the Pledge of Allegiances one nationindivisible, as further evidence that states have no legal or constitutional right to secede. (RELATED: Ron Pauls good news: De facto secession movement is underway as states reject federal supremacism)

Other experts arent so sure. They point to the 10th Amendment, which gives states authority to decide issues not explicitly reserved to the federal government. And while the process for admitting states into the union is specifically covered in the Constitution, our nations founding document is silent on secession.

Regardless, the secession movement is growing, and while neither Congress nor the Judicial Branch is on board with allowing states to leave, you have to think neither entity would want states choosing the revolutionary path if left with no other choice, as our founders did.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

PewTrusts.org

Reuters.com

TheNationalSentinel.com
(Natural News) Englands Cancer Drugs Fund was launched in 2010 and was up and running through 2016. The funds aim was to help patients gain access to cancer medications that were not covered by the National Health Service (NHS). After spending over a billion British pounds, it seems that the fund was not very helpful to cancer patients in the U.K., after all.

The Cancer Drugs Fund cost citizens 1.27 billion, which is equivalent to $1,64 billion in U.S. dollars. Conservatives in England promised that the fund would help pay for cancer treatments, but it seems that those treatments provided very little benefit to patients. The fund did not use the normal NHS process for assessing the cost and benefits of new cancer treatments. Its primary goal was to address concerns that patients were not receiving the latest cancer treatments available. While proponents of the fund maintain that the Cancer Drugs Fund gave patients precious extra time, researchers have a slightly different story to tell.

According to a recent study, only about one-in-five patients benefited from a treatment provided by the Cancer Drugs Fund. Approximately 100,000 patients received cancer drugs from the fund, but only a few of them are thought to have received any discernible benefits from the treatment they were provided. When judged by internationally recognized criteria for clinical benefits, only 18 percent of the patients treated with cancer drugs under the fund have been helped by it.

Lead researcher, Prof. Richard Sullivan, from Kings College London, has called the Cancer Drugs Fund a huge waste of money, as well as a major policy error. Overall, the findings of the research have led the team to believe that more people suffered from cancer drug side effects needlessly than were helped by the increased availability of medication. And, while some drugs were found to be at least somewhat beneficial, the average was a mere 3.2 extra months of survival. Emlyn Samuel from Cancer Research U.K., also agreed with the finding that the fund wasnt fit for purpose.

While the fund is now going to be under the supervision of NICE, and will be used only to pay for cancer treatments that are deemed viable, the findings of this research raise questions about the efficacy of many new cancer treatments. After all, their research revealed that on average, many of these new treatments are not effective at all and provide no benefits to patients. Furthermore, some of the side effects included hair loss, nausea and upset stomach, swelling of the joints and even an increased risk of stroke.

Past research has demonstrated that cancer drugs like chemotherapy are not always worth the effort, especially in the instance of palliative, end-of-life care for terminally ill patients. In 2016, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) even made a list of drugs that were not beneficial to patients, and as one might expect, chemotherapy was one of the top contenders. Doctors from the AMRC explained that chemotherapy cannot cure terminal cancer, and may make the last months of life more uncomfortable than they need to be.

As reported, The treatment is by its very nature toxic, the college said. Therefore, the combination of failing to achieve a response and causing toxicity can do more harm than good.' Studies have also shown that a majority of top doctors would refuse chemotherapy in a similar situation.

If chemotherapy, which is one of the most popular forms of cancer treatment, is of such little benefit, how are we supposed to have faith in any of the other drugs the industry is pushing?

Sources:

BBC.com

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) The fact that America is losing the desperate battle against the horrific opioid epidemic has been reported by many media sources. However, with all the other news going on, it can be easy to lose track of one of the biggest public health crises America is facing today. Every day, an increasing number of people are overdosing or are found dead in hotel rooms, alleyways, or their homes.

An opioid addiction usually starts with prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin. According to a study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, more than 80 percent of heroin users reported taking prescription opioids before they turned to heroin. These prescription meds are highly addictive, and once they are no longer legally available, many people turn to heroin or other opioids available on the black market to fill the void.

The latest addition to the list is an elephant tranquilizer, carfentanil, a chemical cousin of fentanyl which has not been approved for use in humans. Called the Serial Killer and Drop Dead on American streets, this drug is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, the drug that killed the American pop star Prince last year. Reported to be 50 times stronger than heroin, fentanyl is the most powerful, synthetic prescription painkiller on the market.

Now an even stronger synthetic drug has hit the U.S. streets, causing mass overdoses. Used by vets to tranquilize elephants or other large animals, carfentanil is so powerful that emergency staff is having a hard time reversing the effects of an overdose. Since this drug is engineered to knock out an elephant, just a few granules, or 20 micrograms, is lethal to humans.

Recently, heroin laced with carfentanil has emerged on the streets, wreaking havoc in many states. Authorities are highly concerned because this drug can cause deadly effects just by touching someones skin, reported AntiMedia. Emergency responders must wear gloves and masks to protect themselves from accidentally ingesting or touching minuscule amounts of the substance.

Americas increasing struggle with opioid overdoses

Over time opioid drugs trigger tolerance, leading to people taking higher doses to get the desired effect. To create a greater high, carfentanil is now being mixed with heroin, putting users at increased risk of accidental overdose or death.

This stuff is so deadly, you could die before you can get high, said Lloyd Jackson, spokesman for the Wayne County medical examiners office.

Tim Ingram, Hamilton Countys health commissioner, told Global News that in his 20 years of being a health commissioner he has never encountered as many overdoses in such a short time frame. Last year, Cincinnati recorded 108 overdoses along with three deaths over the course of just a few days. In August 2016 Cleveland counted 52 overdose deaths, while in Akron another 24 overdoses were recorded in a single day.

Though it is uncertain how many people have died from this new deadly synthetic opioid, similar reports are pouring in from across the country, with an increasing number of the overdoses and fatalities being linked to carfentanil or carfentanil spiked heroin.

As state and local authorities dont know which way to turn, further restrictions on the already heavily regulated opioid drug market will only add fuel to the fire since people will start turning to the black market for their opioid or heroin fix. As stated by AntiMedia, its time to look deep into how the opioid crisis started and tackle the root cause to find a solution to this ever-growing problem.

To locate the root cause, we at Natural News believe authorities should look in the direction of the money-greedy, pill-pushing pharmaceutical industry backed by their army of white coats, which gave rise to Americas opioid epidemic in the first place.

Learn more about the dangers of opioids at Opioids.news.

Sources:

TheAntiMedia.org

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

Freep.com

GlobalNews.ca

Independent.co.uk
Anna Beanie Little Eric Michelle Nicholas Sisters Anna and Michelle , and their brothers Beanie , Little Eric , and Nicholas , are very affectionate babies who love giving you kisses. We rescued their pregnant mother, a Cocker Spaniel named Mary Poppins from a government-funded shelter. She had reportedly been bred with a Scottish Terrier. We placed Mary Poppins in a loving foster home and she gave birth to these five angels and raised them there. Mary Poppins is going to be adopted by her foster family. Her puppies are now 3 months of age, spayed/neutered, and ready for adoption. Please carefully puppy-proof your home and yard for their safety and protection.


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

TITUSVILLE, Florida  A kitten trapped between a wall was rescued by members of the Titusville Fire Department on Monday.

When firefighters arrived, they were met by the owner of the residence who had just evicted the occupants. Following the eviction, the owner heard a cat meowing from the inside of a wall.

The firefighters were able to locate the entrapped feline by using their thermal imaging camera. Then crews opened the wall and safely retrieved the kitten. The kitten was turned over to animal services for evaluation and treatment.

Image credit: Titusville Fire Department
Elizabeth Hillard with a swamp rabbit captured during her study of swamp rabbit population in Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Hillard will apply a radio collar to the rabbit so she can track its movement with a radio telemetry system. The study may contribute to management policies for wildlife habitat. (Photo provided)

Swamp rabbit focus of habitat study in Cypress Creek refuge

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Elizabeth Hillard wants to know more about the health of the Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge in southernmost Illinois, so shes checking with some of the residents -- swamp rabbits.

Hillard, a doctoral student studying forest-wildlife relationships in the Department of Forestry at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is part of a study to help guide ecosystem management in the refuge. Her study includes live-trapping swamp rabbits and outfitting them with radio collars in a bid to study their population, their range and how they live and die.

Swamp rabbits are a large variety of cottontail rabbit and they have specific habitat needs. They like lowlands near water -- cypress swamps, marshes, floodplains. Unlike most rabbits, they like to swim. They do so to avoid predators, and they swim to travel. Theyve been known to hide underwater with just their noses exposed.

Hillard explained that the swamp rabbit is an indicator species of bottomland hardwood ecosystem integrity. In other words, if the rabbits are doing well, with plentiful numbers and evident animal health, then the habitat they need -- the swamps and marshes -- are also likely to be healthy. If the population diminishes, then something in the ecosystem has likely changed.

Previous SIU studies showed that swamp rabbits dont thrive in mature forests. They prefer brushy, young forest, sometimes on the edge of mature forest, and proximity to wetlands. Researchers on those studies found that swamp rabbits were prospering in areas new to federal conservation programs -- areas that had been farmland and were now reverting to forest.

Public opinion generally favors preservation of old growth and mature forest, particularly on public land. That ecosystem isnt beneficial for the swamp rabbit -- or for other species who need the same type of habitat it does.

Hillards work will contribute to policy-making in Cypress Creek, where wildlife habitat is a priority. Her research links forest stand structure with habitat suitability to help refuge management determine the value of maturing stands of trees in relation to early stage forest. There is value, Hillard said, in both habitats.

Other animals that share the swamp rabbits preferred habitat include a number of amphibians and reptiles as well as non-migratory songbirds and wild turkey.

Ive had three field seasons to collect data, Hillard said. Im in the analyzing phase now. The importance of this type of research is that we have to stay on top of habitat management. Weve altered the landscape, and habitat is fragmented. In Cypress Creek, habitat is a primary concern, so we need to understand how to balance different species habitat needs.

Hillards advisers are project investigators John Groninger and Clay Nielsen, both professors in the Department of Forestry. Hillard's research puts together some of the final pieces regarding swamp rabbit-habitat relationships in this critical portion of their range, Nielsen said.
Eclipse Comic Con planned for eclipse weekend

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Eclipse Comic Con, a galactic event in more ways than one, is coming to Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Aug. 19-20, one of many events planned in conjunction with the total solar eclipse.

Thousands of visitors are expected to converge on the SIU campus for the Aug. 21 eclipse, for which the point of longest duration is very near campus.

The inaugural Eclipse Comic Con will feature about 50 vendors, comic artists, a costume competition with cash prizes and trophies, a game room for board and video gamers featuring the role-playing game Pathfinder, and assorted other popular competitions and special guests. There will be special Eclipse Con T-shirts, solar eclipse glasses and posters, an ongoing rotation of educational panels and informational sessions, celebrity guests, a mini expo highlighting SIU colleges, departments and programs and much more. The event is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day in the Student Center Ballrooms.

Several ticket options are available. The VIP Maroon Pass, priced at $20, includes convention admission both days, an exclusive Eclipse Con T-shirt, a special edition solar eclipse poster and eclipse-viewing glasses and a VIP pass for the autograph lines. The regular two-day pass is $15 and includes admittance both days as well as the T-shirt and glasses. A one-day ticket is $10. All SIU students will be admitted free with a valid student ID.

Organizers are accepting vendor, exhibitor and artist applications now for Eclipse Comic Con. All vendors/exhibitors selected to participate will receive a 10-foot square booth space including a 6-foot table and two chairs along with two convention passes. The vendor/exhibitor fee is $100 and the artist fee is $75. The committee will begin selecting vendors, exhibitors and artists on May 15, working to assure a wide variety of offerings at the event. Applications are available online.

Find additional information about Eclipse Comic Con 2017 at studentcenter.siu.edu/eclipsecon/. The website will be updated as plans are finalized. You can also email eclipsecon@siu.edu to learn more.
Graduate focused on excellence in academics and in life

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Whether she was competing on the track in junior Olympics or high school, participating in her volunteer activities, or maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average, Avona Greene always focused on her goals.

That inner drive enabled the 20-year-old Southern Illinois University Carbondale senior from Champaign to complete her bachelors degree in health care management, with a minor in psychology, in three years. Greene will participate in commencement exercises for the College of Applied Sciences and Arts at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, May 13, at the SIU Arena.

I think that I have a drive for academics and anything that I do -- I want to execute it with excellence. That has been my goal since I stepped on campus, she said. Everything that you do reflects who you are and your character. If you do things in a mediocre manner -- that is going to reflect who you are.

Greene said her commitment to volunteerism, which included working as a young child in a church soup kitchen, come from a family dedicated to volunteer work. Her grandfather worked with the American Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, as well as the recent water crisis in Flint, Mich.

The daughter of Edgar and Janice Greene of Champaign, Avona has two older sisters, Janasha Eakins and Erica Smith, and a younger sister, Valena, a junior at Champaign Centennial High School.

While a student at Centennial High School, Greene founded a mentoring group that urges middle school and junior high students to resist negative peer pressure. She has also been involved with community toy drives for children.

At SIU Carbondale, Greene was an academic peer advocate during the 2016-2017 school year for 480 students in Pierce and Warren residence halls. Academic peer advocates help students focus on personal and academic success. She also participated in the I Can Read program for grade school students at the Eurma C. Hayes Center in Carbondale.

My parents have always showed me it is important to have a caring heart, volunteer, and give back to your community, Greene said. One day, you may need the help; and even if you dont, you should care for your neighbors.

Working as a volunteer in her former churchs soup kitchen as a child was one of the most pivotal service roles Greene experienced.

It was humbling, she said. People would come and really need the food we were offering that day. Just listening to their stories touched my heart and led me to realize those services are needed. It gave me a new perspective, and I believe that fueled my desire to be in service to my community and really want to help people.

While at SIU Carbondale, Greene was a Saluki cheerleader her first two years but stopped prior to her senior year to spend more time on research work and involvement with several registered student organizations; she is vice president of the Student Health Care Management Association.

Greene credits the faculty for her success in the classroom. The transition from going to class and engaging in lively discussions to being in the corporate world will be bittersweet, in part because of the faculty, she said. College also helped her gain confidence.

Greene earned the MidAmerica Healthcare Executives Forum Award in 2016, and was second in the universitys CURCA Undergraduate Research Forum in April. In October, Greene was the featured student speaker at the SIU Academic Scholarship Brunch where more than 375 students met and thanked scholarship donors.

Greene was a proactive student who continually sought out opportunities beyond the classroom where she could both increase her knowledge and make a positive impact on the community, Sandra Collins, Greenes research supervisor and an associate professor in the School of Allied Health, said.

It seemed everything she did or was motivated to do was based on an intrinsic desire to help others, Collins said. Her research on workforce diversity will launch areas of further study for students in the health care management program for years to come. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such a rising star.

Collins was an excellent mentor who Greene said held her to a high standard she tried to meet. Collins has definitely been a pivotal point in developing me as a better researcher, better student and a better professional.

Greene said she considered several offers to attend graduate school in audiology. But the desire to help others and to put her management training to work led Greene to accept a position as a hearing instrument specialist with Audibel Hearing Aid Center in Champaign.

Working as a job shadow in the audiology department at Carle Foundation Hospital last summer gave Greene the belief that this is her career path. Greene said she has known since she was in the first grade that she wanted to be involved in the medical field.

The level of focus they had on quality of life within audiology and the positive environment that I felt in the field is one I absolutely fell in love with, she said. I fell in love with the technology and the science.

Greene is a big believer in time management. She and her father charted her academic plan before she stepped on campus in fall 2014 so she could graduate in three years. She utilized academic proficiency credits earned during high school and summer school classes.

Having an end goal is important, Greene said. You want to do things that are in line with that plan all the way.
Defence sources said Pakistan Army started firing at the Indian positions in Manjkot area of Mendhar sector at 8.40 a.m.

"They used small arms and automatics to target the Indian positions. Effective retaliation was given from the Indian side," they said.

Firing exchanges continued for nearly an hour, the defence sources said.

--IANS sq/in

( 92 Words)

2017-05-09-10:26:10 (IANS)
A senior police official told Dawn online on Monday that the complaint was lodged against the premier by Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmed Mirza on May 3 which was disposed off after an investigation found the contents of the complaint were untrue and fabricated.

The police had earlier told the complainant, who is chairman of the political party I.M Pakistan to approach the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) since the matter was related to cyber crime.

The complainant had, however, refused to approach the FIA arguing this was a police case and that the police was bound to register an FIR, reports Dawn online.

He said if his complaint was not entertained by the police, he will go to a sessions judge.

--IANS ksk/bg

( 161 Words)

2017-05-09-11:52:09 (IANS)
"Chief of Provincial Ulema Council Abdul Rahim Shah Hanafi was killed following an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion inside a seminary school," Xinhua news agency quoted the officials as saying.

The attack took place when Hanafi was holding a class in the provincial capital city of Charikar. Seven students were injured.

No group has claimed responsibility yet.

--IANS ksk/bg

( 86 Words)

2017-05-09-11:58:09 (IANS)
Wajid Zia, Additional Director at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) who is heading the six-member JIT, was chairing the session to set out investigation methods for implementing the apex court's Panamagate verdict, reports Geo TV.

Last month's verdict said there was not enough evidence to disqualify Sharif, but in a 3-2 judgement the Supreme Court ordered a fresh probe into allegations against the Prime Minister of financial irregularities and money laundering.

The court also ordered to provide the JIT an initial amount of 20 million Pakistani rupees ($190,794) to carry out the probe.

The team of investigators has decided to seek assistance from the FIA and experts from the private sector.

The head of the JIT has already written a letter to FIA's Director General in this regard.

Earlier on Monday, JIT members met at the Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad, which has now been declared the JIT Secretariat, Geo TV reported.

The members also moved their offices to the location ahead of the investigation.

Along with the Prime Minister, the apex court also cleared his daughter Maryam Nawaz in the Panama Papers case.

Last year's Panama Papers leaks, which documented the offshore dealings of many of the world's rich and powerful, alleged that Maryam was the beneficial owner of the London properties owned jointly by her brothers as well.

Other members of the investigation team include Brigadier Kamran Khurshid from the Military Intelligence (MI), Amer Aziz from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Bilal Rasool, an executive director at the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Irfan Naeem Mangi, a Director at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Brigadier Muhammad Nauman Saeed from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

--IANS ksk/rn

( 326 Words)

2017-05-09-13:32:10 (IANS)
"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court," she said in a tweet.

She also said that legal luminary Harish Salve was representing the country on the matter.

Article 74, paragraph 4 of the ICJ rules says "pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects". Under this provision, the ICJ's President Justice Ronny Abraham has written to Pakistan seeking the suspension of the sentence.

India had moved the court on Monday seeking a set of reliefs including "by way of suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused", and "restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court".

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistan said Jadhav worked for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) fuelling the Baloch separatist movement and attempting to sabotage the CPEC project.

A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad.

New Delhi had warned that if Jadhav was hanged, it would be considered "premeditated murder" by Islamabad.

--IANS sku-vd/

( 272 Words)

2017-05-10-00:46:10 (IANS)
The ratification of the newly introduced bill in state assemblies across the country is crucial for rolling out of the new pan-India indirect tax regime.

In August 2016, the Goa legislative assembly had unanimously passed a resolution ratifying the amendments to the Constitution to pave way for the Presidential assent to the Goods and Services Bill, 2016.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who also holds the Finance portfolio, will be tabling the bill for passing.

Representatives of political parties across Goa, have underlined the need for the passing of the legislation, which is expected to streamline and simplify tax structure throughout the country.

--IANS maya/in

( 144 Words)

2017-05-09-09:04:10 (IANS)
Both platforms use a 14nm FinFET process and provide 4K video capture and playback capabilities, along with 8GB maximum memory and Vulkan API support.

"With the introduction of the Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms, we are thrilled that features such as improved image quality and fast LTE speeds will now be available in a wide array of devices without sacrificing performance or quality," Kedar Kondap, Vice President, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies Inc, told IANS.

The Snapdragon 660 mobile platform is the successor to the Snapdragon 653 and features a 20 per cent improvement in the Qualcomm Kryo 260 CPU and 30 per cent improvement in the Qualcomm Adreno 512 GPU performance.

The Snapdragon 630, which succeeds the Snapdragon 625, offers a 30 per cent increase in the Adreno 508 GPU performance over its predecessor, as well as a 10 per cent increase in CPU performance over its predecessor.

The Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms focus on camera, audio/visual processing, connectivity, improved CPU and GPU, security, machine learning and supports Quick Charge 4 which provides five hours of talk time in just five minutes of charging.

The Qualcomm Spectra 160 premium camera ISP supports improved photographic image quality for more natural skin tones, superior low light photography, as well as better power efficiency and higher throughput for dual camera smartphones.

The Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP featuring vector extensions (HVX) on the Snapdragon 660 mobile platform enables high performance, power efficient processing of imaging, computer vision, and machine intelligence workloads.

The Snapdragon 660 and 630 both feature a Snapdragon X12 LTE modem, paired with the new SDR660 RF transceiver, which support peak downlink data rates of 600Mbps to the 600-tier lineup of SOCs for the first time.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and developers can also power immersive and engaging user experiences with machine learning on the Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK.

The Snapdragon 660 mobile platform is now shipping and the Snapdragon 630 platform will begin shipping towards the end of May.

--IANS anuj/in

( 386 Words)

2017-05-09-09:44:13 (IANS)
Bhanulal Saha said that passing of the State GST Bill in the state assemblies was mandatory for the rollout of the new indirect tax regime in the country.

"The Business Advisory Committee would decide the number of days and other business of the upcoming session," Saha told IANS.

On April 6, the Parliament had passed four legislations thereby paving the way for the roll out of the GST from July.

--IANS sc/in

( 114 Words)

2017-05-09-10:06:09 (IANS)
Japanese-Indian automobile joint venture Toyota Kirloskar Motor is focusing its efforts on reducing the waiting period for its two mega revamped models-sports utility vehicle (SUV) Fortuner and multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) Innova Crysta, said a senior company official. "We are capitalising all our efficiencies towards reducing the waiting period. The new Fortuner along with the Innova Crysta is produced in Plant 1 in Bidadi, Karnataka. Plant 1 has a production capacity of 100,000 units in a year and is currently running at 90-95 per cent capacity," N. Raja, Director and Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing) told IANS. "The new Fortuner currently has a waiting period of three months and our focus right now is to reduce the waiting period so that we can deliver the vehicle to our customers," Raja said. The Innova has a waiting period of close to three weeks to a month. Toyota Kirloskar has sold over 12,200 Fortuners -- price ranging from Rs 26.66 lakh to Rs 31.86 lakh depending on the engine and the variant-since it was relaunched in November 2016 with more than 20,180 booking orders. Similarly the company has sold over 85,000 Innova Crysta's since its launch in 2016. According to Raja, Innova Crysta has achieved a huge milestone since its launch considering the segment which it is in and the price bracket - over Rs 14 lakh to Rs 21 lakh depending on the engine and the variant. Couple of days back Toyota Kirloskar launched Innova Touring Sport - a dynamic and sporty offering, for the first time from the brand Innova. As an MPV with a SUV-like styling, the new Innova Touring Sport is a blend of dynamic exterior design, sporty interiors. Toyota Kirsloskar has two plants in Karnataka with a total annual capacity of 310,000 units. Japanese company Toyota Motor Corporation holds 89 per cent stake while the India's Kirloskar group owns 11 per cent stake in Toyota Kirloskar. Queried about LC Prado and LC 200, Raja said the company is studying the market. "We have sold 1,170 units of the LC Prado and 665 units of the LC 200 in India through the CBU (completely built unit) route," he added. "The two models (Fortuner and Innova) are ruling the Indian roads in their respective segments. They are certainly owner's pride and competitors envy," a senior official of a rival company told IANS preferring anonymity. Queried about the company not launching models for different market segments given the brand equity it enjoys, Raja said: "Toyota's aim in India is not just to sell volumes and chase numbers. We believe that Toyota should not just be a company to make new models, we believe in sustainable growth." Toyoka Kirloskar also makes and sells models like Etios, Etios Liva, Etios Cross, Camry, Camry Hybrid and Corolla Altis. --IANS vj/in ( 477 Words) 2017-05-09-10:24:10 (IANS)
China's GDP continues to decelerate, with a growth forecast of 6.6 per cent for 2017, as it transitions from an export and investment based economy to one based on domestic consumption, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. In its latest report on the Asia-Pacific, the IMF said that despite its own growth slowing amid economic transition, China continues to drive global growth, Efe news reported. According to the IMF data, China's GDP grew by 7.3 per cent in 2014, 6.9 per cent in 2015 and 6.7 per cent in 2016, while growth projections for 2017 and 2018 are 6.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively. "This slowdown is predicated on a cooling housing market, partly reflecting recent tightening measures, weaker wage and consumption growth, and a stable fiscal deficit," it said. IMF experts believe the transition will have negative effects in the short term for most exporting countries, such as South Korea and Malaysia, but in the long term will be beneficial, especially for the import of consumer goods and services, as well as tourism. The slowdown in large investments and exports in China, which currently imports 40 per cent of metals and 10 per cent of the world's oil, will affect raw material prices, according to the report. China's Consumer Price Index grew by 2 percent in 2016 and the forecast for 2017 and 2018 is 2.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. The IMF warned of some risks to the Chinese economy such as the ageing of its population, a phenomenon it shares with several countries in the region, and the protectionist stance of the US. --IANS ksk/bg ( 285 Words) 2017-05-09-13:38:09 (IANS)
New Delhi [India], May 9 (ANI-NewsVoir): With Mother's Day 2017 fast approaching, Jugnoo, one of the leading hyper-local startups in India, has come up with some excellent last minute gift ideas at affordable prices for its patrons to express their love to their mothers. Now, sending gifts is as easy as a single tap on phone. Users can choose from a range of exciting gift offer combos that include flowers, chocolates and coupons worth Rs. 500 from a leading beauty and wellness brand-VLCC. These gift combos can be ordered through Jugnoo's Menus service at prices starting from Rs. 299, with no additional delivery charges. Users can start placing their orders from May 10 till May 13 and the gifts will be delivered on Mother's Day i.e. May 14, 2017. The coupons can be redeemed for services at VLCC centers. "Jugnoo is no stranger to celebrating occasions, whether it's Valentine's day or Holi, we bring the fun to you at the touch of a button. This Mother's Day, for all those who like to plan late, we've got your back. Get ready to pamper your mothers and spread love with #unspokenLove," said Head-Marketing at Jugnoo, Madhura Yale. "Mother's Day is a special occasion to thank mothers for their endless love and support. This year we have partnered with Jugnoo to offer special coupons for mothers that can be redeemed for services at our centers. We offer a wide portfolio of beauty services at our centers to choose from. We look forward to welcoming mothers and will ensure that they feel pampered and have a memorable session at VLCC," said Chief Business Officer-Wellness Services VLCC, Ashutosh Bhardwaj. The cities where this service will be available are Chandigarh, Indore, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Noida, Bhopal, Vadodara, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Nasik, Ludhiana, Pune and Nagpur. (ANI-NewsVoir)
The bank announced receiving of the approval to raise the amount for the fiscal year ending March 2018, which may be mopped up through a QIP, FPO (qualified institutional placement, follow-on public offer) or a rights issue, reported the MoneyControl.

If completed, the issue by the bank will become the first such sale by SBI since 2008 to raise Rs. 16,740 crore by selling shares via a rights sale.

The last date of submission of bids by merchant bankers for managing the QIP/FPO issue is May 22.

Earlier in March, a statement on the BSE read that SBI had reported that the sale could be an FPO, QIP, rights issue, Global Depository Receipt, American Depository Receipt or combination of these.

If approved by the shareholders on June 15, the state-owned bank will be able to raise Rs 15,000 crore by selling shares in India or abroad anytime this year.

Last year, SBI had received Rs. 7,575 crore from the government as part of its capital infusion plan.

As per the market estimates, the public sector bank would require Rs. 1.80 lakh crore to meet Basel III norms, while the government will provide only Rs. 70,000 crore for a four-year period till 2019. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt in a case filed by a consortium of 13 banks he owes over Rs 9,000 crore to. A bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit gave Mallya an opportunity to present his case on punishment on July 10, when the case will next be heard. The court held Mallya guilty of contempt on two counts - for not appearing before it as directed in the first hearing and not making full disclosure of his assets and that of his family. The court order came on a contempt plea by a consortium of 13 banks led by State Bank of India seeking the recovery of more than Rs 9,000 crore that they had given to now grounded Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya, in a hearing on April 26, 2016, had said: "If I come, I will be taken to Tihar Jail. When my liberty is at stake, how can you expect me to come back." The top court had on July 25, 2016, issued notice to Mallya on a contempt plea by the consortium of banks for not makings full disclosure of assets, both in India and abroad, held by him, his wife and children. The top court by its April 7, 2016, order had asked Mallya to disclose all assets -- movable and immovable and tangible and intangible -- and other shareholdings and beneficial interests in India and abroad held by him, his wife and children. By the said order the court had also asked Mallya to indicate the date when he could appear before it in person. Senior counsel C.A. Vaidyanathan, appearing for Mallya, had said on April 26, 2016 that the moment his client "will come, he will be arrested. Then no purpose would be served". Besides SBI, other banks on the consortium are the Bank of Baroda, State Bank of Mysore, Axis Bank, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, UCO Bank and United Bank of India. --IANS pk/vd ( 359 Words) 2017-05-09-20:22:09 (IANS)
Akshay met Modi here.

He tweeted: "Met PM Narendra Modi and got the opportunity to tell him about my upcoming 'Toilet-Ek Prem Katha'. His smile at just the title made my day," the actor wrote along with a photograph featuring him engrossed in conversation with Modi.

It was earlier said that the film was based on Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. But the film's dialogue writers Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal told IANS that the movie was conceptualised much before Modi became the PM.

The movie delves on the need for toilets for sanitation in the country, and this message is conveyed via a love story.

Modi has been campaigning for the need for toilets in every home for better health and sanitation.

--IANS rb-nn/bg

( 165 Words)

2017-05-09-13:40:11 (IANS)
In yet another jolt to absconding businessman Vijay Mallya, the Supreme Court on Tuesday found the liquor baron guilty of contempt of court and summoned him to personally appear on July 10th. The apex court was hearing a plea by a consortium of banks, who moved the apex court after Mallya received $40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February 2016 and allegedly transferred the money to his children, instead of repaying loans that he owes to the banks. The absconding businessman was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on fraud allegations, which triggered his extradition process in the British courts. However, Mallya was released on bail as he assured the court to abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, including surrendering his passport. Despite the extradition treaty signed in 1992 between India and the UK, only one successful extradition has taken place - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October 2016 to face trial over his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002, the report says. Last February, India gave a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale. Meanwhile, a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London on Tuesday. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. 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. 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. (ANI)
The Left Front government has decided to raise minimum eligibility criteria of 20 social pension schemes from BPL to the people having annual income ranging up to Rs 1 lakh, said Information Minister Bhanu Lal Saha. The reason of rising has been argued in a meeting of the council of ministers last night to bridge the deficit in rural economy due to less fund availability from the Centre under MGNREGS, Mr Saha stated. He, however, underlined that the decision of withdrawing BPL cap for social pension would become helpful for at least one lakh people in the state who are poor but not included in the BPL list. Tripura has currently got 25.02 lakh people under the BPL and are eligible to avail a host of social security benefits apart from highly subsidized ration. "We are hopeful that this decision will have a good impact on the rural economy," Mr Saha said, adding that it would incur an additional financial involvement of Rs 100 crore. An estimated 3.23 lakh people in the state are now availing benefits of the social pension scheme. He pointed out that the Tripura government has been sponsoring as many as 25 social pension schemes along with three others were funded by the Centre. Apart from that Left Front government has been implementing several other social support programs in health care and education of the poor people outside the state. The decision of increasing the ambit of social security schemes are assumed to be significant a day after BJP Chief Amit Shah's visit with bunch of promises for the people of Tripura for upcoming election and accused the Left Front government of improper utilisation of central fund.UNI BB AD0916 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-886045.Xml
The statement of CPI-M Central Committee member and party's spokesperson Gautam Das against the judgement of Supreme Court regarding the decision of termination of jobs of 10,323 government teachers for flouting norms and law. Talking to media, Mr Das alleged that the apex court's verdict on the termination of teachers' job as 'mysterious decision' and raised allegation that RSS and BJP leaders have influence behind the judgement. "For two days at least three top lawyers of the country explained everything before the court and in a minute the judges terminated the jobs upholding the High Court decision without any consideration," he said. Such verdict on termination of 10,323 teachers' job within a minute hints that RSS and BJP leaders in New Delhi might have influenced the decision of the apex court, he alleged. On the other hand, he labelled serious allegations against BJP national president Amit Shah for misguiding the people of Tripura and condemned his speeches against the Left Front government to cover up the failure of the Modi led government. Reacting to the statement of CPI-M leader, BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb said the allegations levelled by Mr Das was unprecedented and showing disrespect to the highest judiciary and a deliberate attempt to undermine the dignity of Supreme Court. The party will decide the next course of action over such statement soon, he stated. He reiterated that the Left Front government and CPI-M leaders are solely responsible for the termination of job of the teachers. They did not follow any rule and has given job to the persons knowing it fully well that one day they would be terminated.UNI BB AD0940 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-886057.Xml
With the Supreme Court holding absconding businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt and directing him to appear before the court, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday accused the Centre of not taking necessary steps to get the extradition order. "The question is if you want to bring Mallya back to India, you are required to have an extradition treaty in order. Our relations with the British Government are excellent. I don't know why this is happening. The government is not taking a necessary step, that's why we are not getting the extradition order," CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury told ANI. He further added that the Indian Government is just talking and nothing is being put into action. "I don't know why the government is unable to get this from a government which is very friendly to India. The Indian Government has to answer," Yechury asserted. In a yet another jolt to Mallya, the Supreme Court today found the liquor baron guilty of contempt of court and summoned him to personally appear on July 10. The apex court was hearing a plea by a consortium of banks, who moved the apex court after Mallya received $40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February 2016 and allegedly transferred the money to his children, instead of repaying loans that he owes to the banks. The absconding businessman was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on fraud allegations, which triggered his extradition process in the British courts. However, Mallya was released on bail as he assured the court to abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, including surrendering his passport. Despite the extradition treaty signed in 1992 between India and the UK, only one successful extradition has taken place - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October 2016 to face trial over his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002, the report says. Last February, India gave a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale. Meanwhile, a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London on Tuesday. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. 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. 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. (ANI)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a notorious Afghan warlord known as the "Butcher of Kabul," returned to the city he so often attacked with rockets and was welcomed Thursday by President Ashraf Ghani, who thanked him for "heeding the peace call."





Hekmatyar, 69, is among the most prominent surviving figures from the early days of war that began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and grinds on to this day.





"Let's end the war, live together as brothers and then ask foreigners to leave our country,"

.





On the one hand, Hekmatyar's peaceful return to the Afghan capital  made possible by his agreeing to abide by the country's constitution and renounce violence  cautiously raises hopes that Ghani's government can persuade rivals and enemies to stop fighting and bring an end to nearly four decades of conflict.





Yet Hekmatyar is despised by many Afghans. There's also the possibility that he and his followers in the hardline Hezb-i-Islami party will only increase tensions as the government struggles with political, economic and military challenges.





Hekmatyar has been involved in every stage of the Afghan war.





As seven main Afghan factions fought the Soviets in the 1980s, Hekmatyar's group was considered to have the best fighters. The U.S. and its allies funded the rebel effort, with Pakistan serving as the conduit. The Pakistanis were also partial to Hekmatyar and his fighters, and are believed to have given more weapons to Hezb-i-Islami than any other group.





President Reagan and other U.S. officials

and there were no worries at the time about the radical Islamist positions that Hezb-i-Islami and others espoused. The larger aim was driving out Soviet forces, and Hekmatyar's group was very effective.





But after the Soviets pulled out in 1989, U.S. interest in Afghanistan declined dramatically, and the Afghan mujahideen factions waged a bitter civil war during much of the 1990s.





Once again, Hekmatyar was a central figure.





His group controlled the hills on the edge of the capital and fired rockets indiscriminately on the city, destroying entire neighborhoods that dated back centuries. An estimated 50,000 were killed and many more injured, almost all civilians, from 1992 to 1996.





This was an extremely nasty period in the war, and Hekmatyar, accused of atrocities and human rights violations, became known as the "Butcher of Kabul"  the most ruthless warlord in a country dominated by warlords. - Read More, NPR




The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that triple talaq was a violation of the Indian Constitution and that the rights of women cannot be violated in the name of personal law. The court's ruling came as it heard a case filed by a Muslim woman from Varanasi, with regard to harassment for dowry followed by a triple talaq by her husband Aqeel Jameel. A single judge bench of Justice S.P. Kesarwani also refused to quash the dowry case as demanded by Jameel, who contended that he has divorced his wife and also procured a 'fatwa' in this regard by the Darul Ifta Jama Masjid in Agra. The court also ruled that the summon to the husband by the Varanasi Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate was valid on the grounds that prima facie the case was a criminal one as any fatwa did not enjoy the backing of law or have a legal sanctity. No personal law is above the Constitution and triple talaq was a violation of the fundamental rights given to citizens under the Constitution's Articles 14, 15 and 21, the court said. The court also said that any fatwa that is against law cannot be accepted. --IANS md/vd/rn ( 212 Words) 2017-05-09-16:44:09 (IANS)
President Pranab Mukherjee today paid floral tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on the occasion of his birth anniversary at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President paid floral tribute in front of a portrait of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Officers and staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan were present on the occasion. UNI AR RSA SHK 1606 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-886563.Xml
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh today paid homage to the two martyrs who died in a blast at Lokchao on Monday. The two personnel were from Manipur and the CM interacted with the family members. Sepoy Arjun Baral and Naik Varesho Hungyo of 165 TA (H&H) (Assam) deployed in combating insurgency under Red Shield Division in Manipur, laid down their lives in the highest traditions of the Indian Army on May 8 near Lokchao, Tengnoupal district while on counter insurgency duty. The martyrs sustained serious injuries caused due to cowardly act of unidentified terrorist who carried out an IED attack on their vehicle. A solemn wreath laying ceremony was held at old Airfield, Koirengei for the brave soldiers. The martyrs shall be remembered for their dedication and devotion towards service of the nation. The Army also prays for their soul to rest in peace and extends all support to their families. Chief Minister N Biren Singh strongly condemned the violent attack on the Territorial Army killing its personnel and leaving many casualties by the suspected militants in the Lokchao area of Tengnoupal district. The Chief Minister further expressed deep grief and anguish over the killing and casualties of Army personnel in the unfortunate incident. He said that such attack is an act of cowardice and should be condemned by every section of the society. He conveyed his deep sympathies with the bereaved families of the soldiers and prayed for speedy recovery for those injured persons. He also expressed his concern over the recent killings of civilians including those killed by the militants in the State. Those culprits would be booked and punished under the law soon, he assured. Chief Minister N Biren Singh also condemned the recent cases of rape including the gang-rape of minor girls that took place in the State last month. Condemning these incidents in the strongest terms, Chief Minister said that such beastly and barbaric acts will not be tolerated by this government. The government is committed to give befitting punishments those perpetrators who are associated with such inhumane crimes.UNI NS AKM 1620 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-886609.Xml
Nagaland Chief Minister Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu was warmly received here by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh. A felicitation was held at Classic Grande attended by large numbers of people. In a press conference here, Chief minister Dr. Shurhozelie Liezietsu told the media persons that "Peaceful co-existence of different cultures and ethnic groups would bring development in the region." He said the meeting with Chief Minister N Biren Singh was just a courtesy call. Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu said that different ethnic communities should learn to live together and should strive to retrieve the bond of living together peacefully as a good neighbours in the region. Liezietsu said, people of the Manipur has seen a new ray of hope in the new government and the Meitei community should play the role of big brother to create peace and friendship among the different ethnic communities. He further said, "We must realise that it is our due responsibility that the peace would be uphold to usher development in the both the States". Talking about the responsibility of media, he stressed that the media has a constructive role and responsibility to project the positive image of the people and government to the outside world. He appealed that the people have to live together as good neighbours as existed since time immemorial between our forefathers. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh warmly welcomed Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu at his office chamber and presented paintings. Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu gifted a traditional Gong to Manipur Chief Minister. The Nagaland Chief Minister was accompanied by former Nagaland chief minister T R Zeliang, who is also advisor of finance and chairman of DAN, minister for school education Mr Yitachu and others. Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu who visited Manipur for a few hours to meet Chief Minister in a private helicopter landed at Kangla Helipad. Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu and his associates were received by Chief Minister N Biren Singh and other ministers and officials. Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu left Imphal for Kohima. UNI NS AKM 1650 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-886686.Xml
To ensure young girls know how to face the stigmas and battles prevalent in the society since decades, parents need to tell daughters about feminism. Parenting expert and child psychologist Steve Biddulph has shared his thoughts in a new book 10 Things Girls Need Most to Grow up Strong and Free. According to the Australian, these are: a secure and loving start, the time to be a child, friendship skills, the respect and love of a father, a spark, aunties, a happy and healthy sexuality, a backbone, feminism and spirit. When deciding on the 10 components, Biddulph reflected on things that research show to be strengthening of girls' development as well as working back after talking to women about what they felt harmed their childhood and development. "The book is a kind of self-diagnostic guide, and so if parents have concerns about their daughter, they can pinpoint what might be missing," he told The Independent. "Each girl is different, and the most important for one girl might be to have positive messages about sexuality and her right to choose what happens to her body and have it be a happy thing. For another, the interest and support of a dad might be needed - if he is too distant, busy or unsure of his role." The key pressures, stigmas and battles that face young girls and women today are recognised in the book and advice is offered on how parents can help their young daughters try and overcome some of this. For example, Biddulph advises parents clear their homes of "the insane media pressures about how you look" and not to convey any of their own hang ups or insecurities about their bodies in front of their daughter. Similarly, the importance of strong female role models is stressed, including aunties, as is the open nature of talking about sex in a positive way while also stressing that she, and no one else, is in charge of her body. In the book, Biddulph explains that a lot of girl's and women's individual problems are actually not that individual at all. They are often a result of the forces, pressures, inequalities, stigmas and abuses of women throughout the years. This is why feminism listed as one of the ten components for raising strong girl. "It [feminism] matters because often a girl individualises," Biddulph says. "She hates her own body, feels stressed around boys, or pressured to have sex when she doesn't really like it or want it. She feels less free to move around the place, and may be bullied or told she can't do the work or interests she wants. "Realising that this has been a battle fought for over a century and in every corner of the world, that it is not just her, has been found to be a great mental health boost, because it makes you angry instead of frightened or inadequate. You feel part of something larger." This helps to explain why Biddulph's parenting advice is gender specific. Previous bestselling books of his have included Raising Girls and Raising Boys. He says much of what is in the new book could be applied to boys but there are unique risk factors for girls such as being more prone to suffering from anxiety, depression or eating disorders. On the other hand, boys are statistically more likely to die, be violent or end up in jail. "One day we think these differences may well disappear and that is a goal I have," he says. "But we have to start with the boys and girls of today." However, the biggest problem facing children today, Biddulph says, affects both genders - albeit in different ways - and it is busyness. "From babyhood on, people do not have or make time to really be peaceful, and be close in their families," he explains. "We don't protect or care for young parents enough for them to parent. Neo-conservative governments want everyone in the workforce and make us feel that parenting is an inferior activity.. I say that 'hurry is the enemy of love' and that our reflexive busyness has simply got out of hand. We are a herd animal, and it is hard to go against the tide, though people are starting to make that choice. When people are busy then connections are weakened, kids don't tell us their problems, mums and dads start to get tense and unhappy for lack of peace or intimacy, and kids are managed and herded about instead of being really nurtured. It is the same in school where teachers all over the world tell me they don't have time to care." Biddulph says the busyness starts from early childhood with aged four being too young for children to start school. "We are rushing childhood and so even little kids are pressured and stressed. The result is one in five having diagnosable anxiety, and an incredible one in three self-harming, according to UK figures." Men are in no way excluded from 10 Things Girls Need Most. There is a section specifically for fathers on how they can help their daughters grow up to be strong, independent young women but not one for mothers. "Dads are the good news story in this picture because they are much more engaged than a generation ago," Biddulph explains. "We have trebled the time dads spend with kids in the last 30 years. Dads are coming through really well now. "But they often don't know their role with daughters, especially in the teens so we offer some very concrete tips for that. One is to have regular one-to-one outings with daughters, so they know and feel that they are special to us. To always be reliable and safe, not to be loud or scary, and to treat their mother respectfully and well. These are huge things for girls." (ANI)
Acclaimed historian and author William Dalrymple's book on arguably the world's most coveted gem -- the Kohinoor -- unearths fascinating new information as it moves from the Mughal court to Persia to Afghanistan, from Maharaja Ranjit Singh's durbar in Punjab to the Crown of the Queen of England. At a recent book reading event organised by the Bhartiya Group, Dalrymple presented stories, facts and images inspired from his book, "Kohinoor: The Story of the World's Most Infamous Diamond" that has been co-authored by journalist Anita Anand. Dalrymple feels that there is a gap in the historical understanding of the Kohinoor. "The stone has passed through the hands of Mughals, Iranians, Afghans and Sikhs, and the origin of the diamond surrounded by airily insubstantial fog of mythology is still mysterious," he said. "We do not know anything about it in clear terms till the 1740s, when one of the historians of Nader Shah, Muhammad Kazim Marwi, mentions that he saw it clearly when he was in Herat, attached to the head of one of the peacocks in the Peacock Throne," he added. He further elaborated on Nader Shah, saying that other kings inherited power but he was the son of a shepherd who worked his way up. "He was a very puritanical and unpleasant character." The book re-catalyses a heated debate whether the rock should finally be brought back to India even as Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and even the Taliban have all claimed ownership of the gemstone. In a previous interview given to IANS, Dalrymple said that Kohinoor was not gifted to the British but they took it away by force from India, The "rock star gem" that has a complex history and has been the subject of intrigue and enigma for centuries. The most famous diamond, now in the Tower of London, "is a symbol of looting of colonial times", according to Dalrymple. The Scottish historian, who has lived in India on and off since 1989, says they "have successfully cleared facts from the fiction" that fogged the history of the "celebrated imperial trophy". "There is absolutely no doubt about (how the gem was taken away). It is complete nonsense to say it was gifted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh," he said. Dealing with one of the most controversial diamonds in the world, the book is an account of a saga of loot, murder, torture, deceit and colonial greed which has been associated with the diamond and according to Dalrymple, his writing is an attempt to separate history from myth. --IANS mg/vm ( 430 Words) 2017-05-09-17:34:15 (IANS)
A day after conference of Chief Ministers of naxalite affected states in New Delhi on measures to be taken to combat naxalism, Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav todayasserted that corrupt politicians were worse than naxalites and demanded death penalty for them through speedy trials within three months of institution of cases. Mr Yadav, also chief of Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), told mediapersons here that naxalism was a serious problem but politicians involved in corrupt practices were posing more serious threat to the society andthey deserved death penalty through speedy trial within three months of institution of cases against them. The JAP chief, while elaborating how corrupt politicians were posing more threats to society than naxalites, said that naxal elements involved in violence had very limited effect on society in wellidentified and restricted zones of the country but corrupt politicians affected lives of crores of the people across the country. Mr Yadav while quoting ADR reports, said that 34 RJD MLAs, 28 JD(U) MLAs and 19 BJP MLAs in Bihar had criminal back ground while a large number of 'crorepatis' managed to get elected to assembly in last Bihar assembly elections held in 2015. It was noticed that assets of politicians increased considerbly once they were elected to assemblyor Parliament and became ministers, he said adding that a thorough inquiry should be ordered to ascertain how their assets increased in such a short span of time after being elected.MORE UNI KKS-DH AKM 1733 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-886805.Xml
Border Security Force (BSF) jawans today arrested fourBangladeshi nationals with 2.3 lakh US dollar worth 1.32 Crore Indiancurrency from Srimantapur border of West Tripura when they were travellingto Bangladesh with valid passport. The BSF Assistant Commandant of 145 battalion Muzzamle Khan told UNIthat acting on a tip-off, BSF contingent detained four persons identified asAbul Kalam Azad, Muhammad Ali, Sajibur Rahaman and Parimal Saha; allare the residents of Comilla district of Bangladesh. They were travelling from Agartala today but came with visa yesterday viaSrimantapur checkpost along with one more person of Comilla AbdulMannan,Mr Khan said adding that the detainees did not yet reveal about hislocation and from where they got the US currency. According to BSF, the five persons had recorded their destination at a cityhotel in Agartala and they were allowed visa as a traveller. However, sourcesindicated that after crossing the border they went to Kolkata and this morningthey flew back to Agartala. It is suspected that their fifth accompany Abdul Mannan had crossed theborder in other locations. The money, which was recovered from them, wassuspected to have been brought from Kolkata. The intelligent officials werebaffled as to how they could manage airport security both in Kolkata and Agartala. After medical test they were handed over to Sonamura police in the evening.UNI BB KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-887087.Xml
They placed the corpse of Yadav in the middle of the road, created a traffic jam. Four buses and a water tanker were also damaged.

The villagers demanded a compensation of 50 lakhs for the parents of the deceased and a job for his son.

District Magistrate Balkar Singh and Superintendent of Police Shailesh Pandey managed to bring the situation under control. (ANI)
A fast track court on Tuesday pronounced the death sentence for three prime accused in the sensational October 2009 gangrape and murder of a 28-year-old software engineer Nayana Phatak-Pujari. Special Judge L. L. Yenkar, who on Monday convicted Yogesh Ashok Raut, Mahesh Balasaheb Thakur and Vishwas Hindurao Kadam for kidnapping robbing, gangraping and then killing the victim, sentenced them to death after a hectic day full of arguments between the prosecution and defence lawyers. Raut (32) and Thakur (31), both belong to Pune, and Kadam (34) is from Satara district. Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar forcefully argued for the death penalty against the convicts, terming it as "the rarest of rare cases" considering the brutality of the crime against the victim. He said that the prosecution conclusively managed to establish the complete chain of circumstances that led to the serious crime and said they deserved "the maximum punishment" under the laws. "Considering the brutal manner in which the victim was gangraped and then killed, this falls under the category of rarest of rare case," he said pressing for the death penalty after the conviction. As co-accused, Rajesh Pandurang Chaudhari, who was arrested as an accomplice, later turned an approver and was granted a pardon, defence lawyers B.A. Alur, Ranjit Dhomse-Patil and Ankush Jadhav, who sought a milder sentence, also argued that he was also guilty and should face the same punishment. Raut pleaded that he was innocent and was being framed in the case, the vehicle was not in his possession at the time of the incident and the court should consider that he had an aged mother, wife and daughter before pronouncing its verdict. Both Raut and Kadam also said that Chaudhari was an equal accomplice in the crime, though Thakur didn't say anything. The victim's husband Abhijit Pujari, and sisters Manisha G. and Madhuri J. who had demanded the death penalty for the accused after their conviction on Monday, expressed their "relief and satisfaction" over the verdict before the media. Around 8 pm on the evening of October 7, 2009, Phatak-Pujari had completed her duties at Synechron IT company in Kharadi and was waiting for a bus to go home, when Raut, who worked there as a driver, offered her a lift in his car. However, instead of driving towards her home, he diverted the vehicle towards Rajgurunagar, while picking up two other friends en route. The three repeatedly raped her in the moving car and then stopped at a desolate spot, where they snatched her debit card, forced her to reveal the pin at knife-point and later withdrew total of Rs 61,000 from her account. They subsequently strangled her with her scarf, smashed her head with a large stone to mangle her face and dumped her body in the forests of Zarewadi from where it was recovered after two days. The case created a scare among Puneites, especially those working in late-night shifts in the IT sector and resulted in enhanced security measures both by the companies and police. The three and Chaudhari, a guard at the company, were subsequently arrested. On September 17, 2011, Raut managed to escape from police custody while being taken to a hospital for treatment and was nabbed only in May 2013 after the shocking case of Nirbhaya gangrape case in New Delhi. In his statement, Chaudhari said he was threatened by Raut, Thakur and Kadam that they planned to eliminate the victim and he should keep his mouth shut about it. Arrested on October 16, 2009, he claimed that he was "extremely remorseful" about the incident but was equally scared over the death threats issued by the accused. However, he later mustered courage and agreed to turn an approver in the case. The trial, which continued for over seven years, saw four different judges hearing the matter in which the prosecution examined 37 witnesses and the defence another 13 witnesses. A large number of civil rights activists and groups had assembled outside the court for the past two days, carrying placards and banner demanding "justicea for Phatak-Pujari and "death for the convicts". --IANS qn/vd ( 696 Words) 2017-05-09-20:26:12 (IANS)
The Congress also accused the party of diverting attention from the real issues by holding a demonstration on EVM tampering in the assembly.

"When the AAP called the special assembly session, we expected that corruption charges against the Chief Minister and problems faced by the people of Delhi will be discussed," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said in a series of tweets.

Maken said he hoped issues like Kejriwal taking bribe, dengue on the rise, water and power shortage and Metro fare hike would be discussed. "But none of the issues were discussed in the assembly," he said.

"Kejriwal diverting public attention from governance-failure and corruption," he tweeted.

Maken also slammed Kejriwal for raising doubts over electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"All doubts regarding EVM can be put before the ECI (Election Commission of India) on May 12," the former Union Minister said.

"EVM be tested before EC!" Maken said, adding, "The AAP lost deposit in Rajouri by-polls where VVPAT and paper-trail was used."

"VVPAT should be implemented asap!" Maken added.

The Congress leader's remarks came after AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj sought to demonstrate in the assembly as to how an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) could be tampered with.

The AAP is in the throes of a crisis with its sacked Minister Kapil Mishra accusing Kejriwal and other senior leaders of corruption.

The AAP, which termed Mishra's allegations as "baseless", suspended him from the party's primary membership at the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting on Monday.

--IANS aks/lok/dg

( 297 Words)

2017-05-09-20:28:09 (IANS)
Lambasting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over corruption charges, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on Tuesday said the people have now witnessed both right and wrong. "The people have now witnessed both right and wrong. It will be revealed in the future. But it is very much necessary to have proof before blaming someone. It was wrong that I was blamed without testimony," Vadra told reporters. Vadra, who has been at the receiving end of Kejriwal's accusations of dubious land deals, took a dig on the Delhi Chief Minister through his Facebook post. "From inception in 2010, the people who threw baseless, false accusations at me are now having to face a similar plight. That too from an insider who claims to have substantial proof," Vadra said. "Well, I've borne so many false accusations from various politicians, mostly to gain publicity for themselves or divert the public mind from important national issues that I'd like to see how this one plays out. Had been on the receiving end, of a political and media campaign to malign me," he added. Vadra wished Kejriwal to come out clean in the matter for the sake of people of Delhi who trusted the AAP leader by giving him an enormous majority to lead. "I sincerely wish Mr. Kejriwal all the best. I hope he comes out clean for the sake of the people who believed in him. Also for the respect of his immediately family, especially the children, for whom such trials by media, of those they love and look up to are painful and sad," Vadra said. Nearly five years ago, Kejriwal was among the first ones to have accused Vadra of benefiting from land deals made in Haryana when the Congress was in power for 10 years. The deals were held up by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during poll campaigns for years as proof of massive corruption on Congress watch. Vadra has consistently rejected the allegations that were inquired into by a commission set up by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana. Last month, wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra issued a statement that her finances were separate from those of her husband and his company. (ANI)
Earlier in the day, the police dispersed the people of the Dalit community who had assembled in the Gandhi Park to hold their meeting.

"There was a mahapanchayat organised by a community which the police stopped. The dispersed crowd then created an atmosphere of violence and even put some vehicles on fire. Some people have been arrested and investigation is underway," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Subhash Chand Dubey told ANI.

On being dispersed, the angry crowd got many along with them and disrupted the traffic there, leading to traffic jam.

When the police arrived at the spot to control the situation, the crowd resorted to stone-pelting and even set many vehicles on fire.

The police also shot some rounds of fire in air but it did not affect the crowd.

The angry crowd even set a police station on fire, along with police vehicles. (ANI)
"Let the police do its work. I am cooperating with the police," he told the media here.

Chatterjee was found inebriated while driving a car that led to the death of Sonika.

Chatterjee was booked by the police under Sections 304A (causing death due to negligence) and 279 (rash or negligent driving) of the Indian Penal Code.

Chatterjee said he was deeply sorry for Sonika's family's loss, adding that he was not driving in an inebriated state. (ANI)
It was a joint operation of the SSB, local police and the Indian Army.

One INSAS rifle was recovered from the place of action.

Combing operation is still on.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
"One gone yesterday, another today. Yet when I cautioned last week, was contradicted. Now large sections unrepresented, resentment everywhr (sic)," Panda tweeted.

His reaction came after two senior members of the BJD - Jayaram Pangi and Amar Nayak - joined the BJP.

Both leaders decided to join the BJP after the BJD suffered a humiliating loss in the recently concluded Panchayat elections.

Reports indicate that a section of BJD leaders were inclined to split the party to join the BJP.

Earlier, Pradhan said the BJP would welcome "clean and strong" leaders from other parties if they showed commitment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We want to strengthen our party. Whoever is committed to the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and party president Amit Shah are welcome to join us. We will welcome clean and strong leaders," Pradhan told reporters here.

While Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik blamed the BJP for fuelling such "false" reports, the BJP instead blamed the internal discord within the regional party and maintained it had no role in it.

The 2017 Panchayat elections conducted for 846 Zilla Parishad seats saw the BJD winning 473 seats and the BJP winning 297. `

The election results forced Naveen Patnaik-led BJD to announce a massive Cabinet reshuffle. As many as 12 ministers were inducted in the Cabinet and 10 ministers were shown the door. (ANI)
At least 16 people were killed and several others injured when hailstorm hit different parts of Bihar early this morning. While two people each were killed in Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Aurangabad and Supaul districts, one each was killed in Patna, Nalanda, Purnea, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Munger, and Kaimur due to hailstorm. Several others were also injured in the nature`s fury. State government announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to family members of each deceased. Meanwhile, state Disaster Management Department directed district authorities to assess the extent of crop losses due to hail storm in the state and submit reports to the department. The state government decided to compensate farmers against their crop losses at the earliest. A Lakhisarai report said a huge banyan tree fell on two people including a woman near amosque at Urain village under Kajra police station area in the district, killing both them. While Dharmendra Choudhary (24), a native of Sabalpur village died on the spot, a 20 year old woman Neetu Devi, a native of Champanagar died on way to a government hospital at Suryagarha in the district.MORE UNI DH BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0132-887409.Xml
While mostly massive solar storms are often preceded by some kind of warning, sometimes mysterious slower-moving 'stealth' storms appear seemingly out of nowhere, leaving scientists baffled. Now, an international team of scientists, led by the Space Sciences Laboratory at University of California, Berkeley, and funded in part by NASA, has developed a model that simulates the evolution of these stealthy solar storms. A paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research summarizes this work. The scientists relied upon NASA missions STEREO and SOHO for this work, fine-tuning their model until the simulations matched the space-based observations. Their work shows how a slow, quiet process can unexpectedly create a twisted mass of magnetic fields on the sun, which then pinches off and speeds out into space -- all without any advance warning. Compared to typical CMEs, which erupt from the sun as fast as 1800 miles per second, stealth CMEs move at a rambling gait -- between 250 to 435 miles per second. That's roughly the speed of the more common solar wind, the constant stream of charged particles that flows from the sun. At that speed, stealth CMEs aren't typically powerful enough to drive major space weather events, but because of their internal magnetic structure they can still cause minor to moderate disturbances to Earth's magnetic field. To uncover the origins of stealth CMEs, the scientists developed a model of the sun's magnetic fields, simulating their strength and movement in the sun's atmosphere. Central to the model was the sun's differential rotation, meaning different points on the sun rotate at different speeds. Unlike Earth, which rotates as a solid body, the sun rotates faster at the equator than it does at its poles. The model showed differential rotation causes the sun's magnetic fields to stretch and spread at different rates. The scientists demonstrated this constant process generates enough energy to form stealth CMEs over the course of roughly two weeks. The sun's rotation increasingly stresses magnetic field lines over time, eventually warping them into a strained coil of energy. When enough tension builds, the coil expands and pinches off into a massive bubble of twisted magnetic fields -- and without warning -- the stealth CME quietly leaves the sun. Such computer models can help researchers better understand how the sun affects near-Earth space, and potentially improve our ability to predict space weather, as is done for the nation by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (ANI)
Obama warned Trump about Flynn during their Oval Office meeting on November 10 last year, days after Trump was ascended to the chair of the president.

Flynn served as the head of the Defence Intelligence Agency under Obama until he was reportedly forced out of the post 2014 over internal disagreements over policy and management.

Obama's concerns were related to the course of the investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 elections.

According to a senior Obama administration source, "Flynn's name kept popping up."

The White House has also confirmed that Obama did raise concerns about Flynn.

Press secretary Sean Spicer said, "It's true President Obama made it known he wasn't exactly a fan of Gen. Flynn's," adding that the concerns "shouldn't have come as a surprise, since Flynn was an outspoken critic of the Obama administration's shortcomings on foreign policy."

Trump did not, however, pay heed to Obama's counsel on Flynn, bringing aboard the former military intelligence officer who supported Trump during his campaign as his National Security Advisor.

Trump fired Flynn when news broke of his conversations with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. (ANI)
Former director of National Intelligence James Clapper has told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that he still has not seen "any evidence of any kind of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian foreign nationals." Clapper testified on Monday before a Senate judiciary subcommittee about Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-N.C., asked if Clapper's prior statement was correct, when he said that there was "no evidence' of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. He replied in affirmative. Clapper had earlier said, "We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, 'our,' that's NSA, FBI and CIA, with my office, the Director of National Intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report." Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates declined to answer, when asked the same question. Clapper was also asked why the original report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election did not include the so-called "Russian dossier" which cropped up weeks later in the Trump administration. He said, "We couldn't corroborate the sourcing." Clapper also said that Russia's meddling in last year's U.S. presidential elections amounted to a "high-water mark" in its decades-long efforts to interfere in political contests. He hoped Americans recognised the severity of the threat posed by Russia and that the U.S. moved to counter Moscow before it "further erodes the fabric of our democracy," he added. Clapper also asserted that Russia was now "emboldened" to interfere in elections in the U.S. and around the world. Clapper ended his statement with a reminder to the American public and the Senators of what this investigation was really about, CNN reports. He quipped, "Russia did, without doubt and with little consequence, deploy resources and tactics to disrupt America's presidential election -- to undermine Hillary Clinton, and to help Trump's campaign. Stated without drama or emotion, it was nonetheless sobering." (ANI)
As a part of the implementation of an agreement to put an end to all armed manifestations in Syria, more than a thousand of militants left the Barzeh district in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Syrian media reported, citing Damascus governor Bishr Sabban. The first group of militants, including 1,022 people, has already left Barzeh. Several buses carrying militants and their family members headed toward the northern countryside, according to the Syrian Satellite Channel. The evacuation from the district will be carried out throughout the next few days until it is completely cleared from militants. The total number of people set to leave the district in several groups should reach 8,000 under the deal, Sputnik International reports. Russia, Turkey and Iran - the representatives of the countries-guarantors of the truce in Syria, on May 4 signed a memorandum on the creation of four zones of de-escalation in Syria, which include the province of Idlib and seven other regions. According to the memorandum, any clashes between the government forces and opposition armed groups would stop within the zones. The memorandum took effect on May 6. (ANI)
Voting is underway across South Korea in the presidential election on Tuesday as the nation is set to elect a new leader after a year of political upheaval, media reports said. The early poll was triggered by the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in March over a massive corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving her close friend, aides and business moguls, Yonhap News Agency reported. About 42.4 million South Koreans are eligible to cast their ballots. Voting began at 6 a.m. in 13,964 polling stations across the country and is scheduled to end at 8 p.m. As of 9 a.m., electoral participation stood at 9.4 per cent, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) said. Front-runner Moon Jae-in, 64, of the Democratic Party cast his ballot at a polling station in northwestern Seoul, together with his wife. "I felt the people's earnest desire for government change to create a country worthy of calling a country," the former human rights lawyer and chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun, told the media. "I plead with you to join forces to build a country worthy of being called a country by participating in the vote until the end." Moon's closest rivals are conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo and the People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, who is also a liberal. According to latest opinion polls, both are close to 20 per cent in the race. Hong cast his ballot at a polling station in southern Seoul, also with his wife. "This election is a war of regime choice in which people will accept the pro-North Korea, leftist administration or choose a government that will defend the free Republic of Korea," he said. If elected, Hong promised to swiftly form his government to fill the vacancy left by Park's ouster and stabilise inter-Korean relations through summit talks with US President Donald Trump. Ahn expressed hope that more voters will come out and achieve a record high turnout. Speaking to the media after voting at a polling station in northeastern Seoul, he said: "That is the way democracy will develop." The last opinion poll on the presidential election published on May 3 had Ahn and Hong tied at 18.6 per cent with Moon in the lead with 42.4 per cent. Unlike the previous elections, the president-elect will be sworn in immediately after the NEC makes an official statement of the election result at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning, Efe news reported. There are a total of 13 candidates in the fray. Two others withdrew earlier. Over 26 per cent, or some 11 million, have already cast their ballots over a two-day early voting period held on May 4 and 5. The turnout marked the highest rate ever in early voting, apparently indicating high public interest in the election that followed the first impeachment of a President. --IANS ksk ( 491 Words) 2017-05-09-09:34:11 (IANS)
In April, prosecutors called for the blasphemy counts to be dropped in exchange for a lesser charge of "spreading hate", but the judges on Tuesday appeared to have ignored that recommendation, reports CNN.

The controversial Christian politician was put on trial in December over accusations that he insulted Islam while campaigning to retain his position.

However, Ahok has denied the charges.

Ahok quoted a verse from the Quran to prove to his supporters that there were no restrictions on Muslims voting for a non-Muslim politician, CNN reported.

Since an edited video of his remarks was released, hundreds of thousands of Muslim Indonesians protested against him on the streets of Jakarta, with many calling for his imprisonment.

Roads near the Agriculture Ministry where the verdict was due to be delivered was closed from Monday evening in preparation, according to local media reports.

The verdict comes less than a month after Ahok lost his bid for re-election as Jakarta governor.

He was defeated by former Education and Culture Minister Anies Baswedan.

--IANS ksk

( 218 Words)

2017-05-09-09:50:16 (IANS)
The news of his arrest came on May 7 after North Korea's state news agency announced that security services had detained Kim Hak-song "on suspicion of hostile acts against the state".

His wife, Kim Mi-ok told CNN on Monday that she waited in a Chinese border city for her husband to step off the train on May 6 from North Korea.

"I waited until the last passenger. I waited until the train doors closed, but I couldn't find him," Kim Mi-ok said.

"I was speechless, I was in shock," she said.

Kim Mi-ok said her husband had been falsely accused.

"He went to the country and served with love and I believe his words that there was nothing else," she told CNN.

Kim Hak-song is an ethnic Korean who was born in China.

He became a naturalised US citizen over a decade ago. It was here that he was also ordained as an evangelical Christian pastor affiliated with the Oriental Mission Church in Los Angeles.

According to Kim Mi-ok, Kim Hak-song had been teaching agricultural techniques at Pyongyang University for Science and Technology and did not engage in any missionary work.

In April, North Korea had detained another US citizen for alleged hostile activities and there are two other Americans serving jail terms for anti-Pyongyang activities.

--IANS ksk

( 255 Words)

2017-05-09-09:56:09 (IANS)
"Mawlawi Abdul Rahim Shah Hanafi,head of the Parian Ulema Council including eight students were killed in an explosion in Madrassa in Parwan provinve of Afghanistan," Tolo News reported.

Tolo News reported that the explosive device was placed inside a classroom and was detonated while the students were busy in class.

No group, including the Taliban, has so far claimed responsibility for the blast.

Parwan is among the most volatile provinces in northern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are active and carry out frequent insurgency activities such as suicide attacks and bombings.

The group had announced its spring offensive last month and vowed to carry out more attacks across the country. (ANI)
The former Republican House of Representatives member was confirmed on Monday after a 76-22 vote, Xinhua news agency reported.

Wilson, 56, graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1982 and obtained a doctorate from the University of Oxford, after which she served in the Air Force for seven years.

She was appointed to the National Security Council in 1989 under former President George H. W. Bush and after an intermediate period in the private sector, she was elected to the House of Representatives.

Wilson was the first female military veteran elected to a full term in Congress.

The position of Air Force Secretary was the first of three service secretary jobs to be filled, with Trump's nominees for the Army and the Navy facing substantial objection from the Senate.

Mark Green, Trump's second choice for Army Secretary dropped his bid last week after his anti-minority remarks came to light.

Trump's first pick for Army Secretary Vincent Viola, withdrew in February due to financial entanglements, three weeks before Phillip Bilden, the Navy Secretary nominee suffered the same fate.

--IANS ksk/bg

( 207 Words)

2017-05-09-12:08:09 (IANS)
Several Turkish soldiers and their families who had previously stationed at Nato facilities in Germany have filed applications for asylum in Germany after facing prosecution charges following the failed coup of July 15, 2016.

"Only 'several' Turkish soldiers and their families have been so far given asylum in Germany. The asylum seekers are reportedly Turkish officials with diplomatic passports who used to be stationed at NATO bases in Germany and were later dismissed by Ankara," Russia Today reported.

A total of 414 asylum applications had been filed in less than a year by Turkish soldiers, diplomats, judges and other government officials living in Germany.

German authorities' decision to grant asylum to Turkish officials is likely to escalate the tensions between Ankara and Berlin. Erdogan has accused Germany of acting like "Nazis" and "fascists" as Berlin banned referendum rallies to drum up support for the President.

The failed coup led to massive crackdown on political dissidents and mass arrests of people including military officers, journalists and judges.(ANI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an address on Victory Day on Tuesday, called for international unity and cooperation to fight against violent threats. Speaking to troops before the celebrations at Moscow's iconic Red Square that mark the 72nd anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi forces, Putin said Russia was open to cooperating with the rest of the world to counter violence, Efe news reported. In order to wage an effective fight against terror, extremism and neo-Nazism, among other threats, unity in the international community was needed, he said. He highlighted that Russia's military was prepared to repeal any threat, just as it had during the Second World War against Nazi Germany, and that no force would ever dominate the Russian people. In front of the more than 10,000 troops that were ready to parade, Putin paid tribute to veterans of the war, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. Putin remembered Soviet soldiers' sacrifice during the war, which left around 26 million dead throughout the Soviet Union, and said the conflict's lessons forced us to remain alert. Victory Day, celebrated annually, is one of Russia's most important festivals and is used by the country to flaunt its military might. The Defence Ministry announced ahead of the start of the festivities that this year the Air Force exhibition would be cancelled due to bad weather conditions, though military planes had been releasing chemicals throughout the night to try to disperse the clouds over Moscow. --IANS ksk/dg ( 259 Words) 2017-05-09-14:36:11 (IANS)
Pakistan's political history has been marredby instability and deviations throughout its 69 years of history. In Pakistan, it is a struggle for the government just to complete its five year term without succumbing to its power-hungry army, civil-military conflicts, political corruption, and the periodic coup d'etats by the military establishment against weak civilian governments. Nawaz Sharif- 7 June 2013: After the overwhelming election victory of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif was appointed as Prime Minister (PM) for a third term. While Nawaz Sharif's previous tenures were shaded by social conservatism, his third term is being credited to be socially centrist. Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani- 25 March 2008: Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani was elected as the 16th PM of the country. He was ousted and disqualified as PM and a member of parliament by the SC on 19 June 2012 on grounds of being guilty of contempt for refusing to comply with a SC order to reopen dormant fraud investigations against President Asif Ali Zardari. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali- 21 November 2002: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was sworn in as the 13th PM of the country. He signed a sudden resignation from the office after serving for only 2 year, on 26 June 2004. Reasons cited for the untimely resignation from the office were Jamali's strained relationship with Musharraf, who was serving as the President at the time, on the execution of government policies as well as the result of deteriorating relations with his party's president Shujaat Hussain who then served as interim PM. Nawaz Sharif- 17 February 1997: The second term of Nawaz Sharif lasted for a very brief time as he was overthrown in a military coup on 12 Oct 1999. A controversial resignation of the Chief Justice, and President, conflict with the new army commander, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and the controversial 13th amendment marked his tenure. Sharif was overthrown by Musharraf in a military coup d'etat and subsequently charged with hijacking and terrorism, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, he agreed to be exiled to Saudi Arabia for 10 years in exchange for having his jail sentence commuted. In 2000, having agreed to leave Pakistan for 10 years, Sharif was released from prison and went into exile in Saudi Arabia. Benazir Bhutto- 2 December 1988: Benazir Bhutto served as the 11th PM of Pakistan and became the first woman to head a Muslim majority country. Her tenure was marked with major political and economical instability and was dismissed by the President on 7th August 1990 on the grounds of nepotism and corruption. Bhutto once again led her party to the 1993 election win, and became PM on 19 October 1993. Her government was again dismissed by the President on grounds of corruption on 4th November 1996. Ahead of 2008 elections, Bhutto was shot during an election campaign. Muhammad Khan Junejo- 23 March 1985: Elected as the 10th PM, Muhammad Khan Junejo served 3 years as the PM of Pakistan. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq dismissed the Junejo government in 1988 stating Article 58(2)B. The rift between the PM and the Chief of Army Staff started following an investigation into the Ojhri Camp disaster and the PM's decision to sign the Geneva Accords on Afghanistan. Khan was finally dismissed on 29 May 1988 from the office. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto- 20 December 1971: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as the 4th President and 9th PM of Pakistan. He was the founder of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was appointed the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator. His term as the PM ended on 5 July 1977, as chief of army staff General Zia-ul-Haq removed him from office in a bloodless coup. He was later controversially tried and executed by the Supreme Court in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent, Ahmad Raza Khan Kasuri. Feroz Khan Noon- 16 December 1957: Serving as the 7th PM of an independent Pakistan, Feroz Khan Noon held many posts in government both before and after independence. He held his position till 7 October 1958 when Pakistan's first martial law was enforced by President Iskander Mirza. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy- 12 September 1956: Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy served as Pakistan's 5th PM. Within a year, the PM was entangled in a confrontation by the business community who sought a dismissal of Suhrawardy. The PM also has differences with President Iskander Mirza who wanted a stronger control over the democracy. President Mirza refused Suhrawardy's request to convene a meeting of Parliament for seeking a vote of confidence movement. After losing considerable party support, the PM resigned from the office on 17 October 1957. Chaudhry Mohammad Ali- 12 August 1955: Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, the 4th PM of Pakistan was credited with introducing its 1956 Constitution. Rifts among his political party, the Muslim League led to the formation of The Republican Party. Ali resigned from both his political party and as the PM on 12 September 1956 amid growing political pressure and conflict. Khawaja Nazimuddin- 17 October 1951: Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin served as Pakistan's 2nd PM after the assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan in 1951. The PM was asked to step down for the wider interest of the country in April 1953 following wide spread riots and communal violence . Though Nazimuddin contested the request, Governor-General Malik Ghulam used reserve powers granted in the Government of India Act, 1935, to dismiss the PM. Liaquat Ali Khan- 15 August 1947: Acting as the 1st PM of independent Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan served during the penultimate times with several challenges infront of him. The PM was assassinated on 16 October 1951 during a public meeting of the Muslim City League. The accused was identified as Saad Akbar Babrak even as the motives remain unrevealed. Though the founding fathers envisioned Pakistan as a democratic power, the country's reality has been plagued by instability and hostile takeovers. The actions of both civil and military leaders have exhaustively tried the Pakistani people and their struggle as a nation.(ANI)
The children were aged four and seven and lived in the city of Weihai in Shandong province where the accident happened, local media reports.

"At least nine children were confirmed dead and three others missing after a fire triggered by vehicles broke out in a tunnel in Weihai city, east China's Shandong Province, The Global Times reported.

The bus burst into flames in the tunnel at around 9:00am, according to Xinhua news agency.

The cause of the crash is not known and investigation has been ordered to find out the details of the accident. (ANI)
The dismantled camps were located near the Porte de la Chapelle prefecture and had housed hundreds of migrants including Eritreans, Afghans, Sudanese and Romani people.

A Paris official told Efe news that some 350 police officers were involved in the evacuation operation, supported by an additional 100 state-run social service workers and NGO staffers.

According to France Info news, some 460 migrants had been expelled from the camps and were transferred by bus to refugee processing centres.

The prefecture stressed the fact that these were illegal campsites with serious health and security risks, both for migrants and local neighbours.

However, the police reassured that every migrant will be offered accommodation in the city.

These illegal campsites were located near a temporary refugee shelter, currently over capacity, which was created to accommodate potential asylum seekers in an attempt to shut down the illegal refugee and migrant campsites that sprang up across Paris and its periphery.

--IANS ksk/bg

( 187 Words)

2017-05-09-15:46:11 (IANS)
Of the 11 children, who were aged between three and six, five were from South Korea and six Chinese nationals, Xinhua news agency reported.

They were all students at an international kindergarten school in Weihai city, the police said.

The accident occurred at about 8.59 a.m. inside the Taojiakuang tunnel when the bus was on its way to the school with 13 people onboard, including the children's teacher.

The driver also died and the teacher sustained serious injuries.

The provincial government has assigned a team to investigate the cause of the accident.

--IANS ksk/bg

( 135 Words)

2017-05-09-16:02:11 (IANS)
Abdulmalk A., 30, is accused of having joined the IS and committed a war crime, as well as having killed someone during a non-international conflict whose protection he should have guaranteed according to international law, Efe news reported.

Mousa H.A., 23, is accused of belonging to the Nusra Front.

According to the arrest warrants issued by Germany's higher court, the two joined a Nusra combat unit in the Syrian civil war in 2012.

Mousa is thought to have participated as a fighter in operations against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Abdulmalk, who was allegedly a commander in the east of the country, is believed to have participated in the taking of several oil wells and the city of al-Tabqa.

In 2013, Abdulmalk allegedly took a Syrian regime sniper hostage in al-Tabqa, forced him to dig his own grave and decapitated him.

A few months later, Abdulmalk was suspected to have joined the IS in Der Ezzor, his hometown, and after participating in several operations as a fighter he was put in charge of managing the Euphrates dam.

The arrests occurred in Berlin and in the central region of Saxony-Anhalt.

--IANS ksk/dg

( 231 Words)

2017-05-09-16:40:10 (IANS)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 03:39:46|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BUCHAREST, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Moldovan President Igor Dodon on Monday left for Russia to take part in the victory parade in Moscow and to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Dodon wrote in a posting on social media that that he goes on a working visit to Russia on May 8, at the invitation of Putin and this is his third visit to the Russian Federation this year.

The president stressed that many problems were solved especially regarding the export of Moldovan products and migrants during his visits to Russia.

"The export of Moldovan goods to Russia grew by 42 percent, which significantly compensated its reduction in 2014-2016. In the first two months of the year, wine exports to Russia increased almost by five times, while apples by 7.3 times! " wrote the president in his posting, quoting the latest data published by the National Bureau of Statistics on the country's foreign trade in the first quarter of this year.

"The supply of Moldovan apples to the Russian market has already exceeded the volume of their exports in January-February 2014, before the ban was introduced, 39,000 tons against 18,000 tons," he added.

"This is the result of the work we are doing to resume our strategic partnership with the Russian Federation. We will work further," stressed Dodon.

Dodon made his first foreign visit as president to Moscow in mid-January, less than a month after becoming the head of state.

He stressed that restoring full-fledged ties with Russia, his "priority goal as head of state," will have a positive impact on the economy of Moldova, and hundreds of thousands of farmers and migrant workers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 03:49:58|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

ARUSHA, Tanzania, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday called upon responsible authorities to review modes of transport for schoolchildren as part of the long-term measures to tame road carnage in the east African nation.

Samia made the directives when she leads thousands of mourners in Arusha to pay their last respects to 33 pupils, two teachers and a driver who were killed in an accident in Karatu District last Saturday.

Apart from sympathizing with the bereaved families, who were gathered at 12,000-capacity Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial stadium, the vice president expressed worry over the rising number of deaths from road accident.

She denounced reckless driving, urging responsible authorities to put up more road signs in accident-prone areas across Tanzania.

"It is imperative to put more road signs to prevent such deaths," she said.

"Take all the necessary steps to ensure children are safe when boarding a school bus. This will help to rescue our children from unnecessary accidents," she said.
U.S. President DonaldTrump (L, front) is greeted by former U.S. President Barack Obama after delivering his inaugural address during the presidential inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, on Jan. 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

By Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The legacy of former U.S. President Barack Obama is in trouble as his successor Donald Trump seeks to repeal and replace Obama's landmark legislation - the controversial healthcare overhaul known as Obamacare.

Trump earlier this week pushed his replacement legislation for Obamacare through the House of Representatives, and the new bill is going next to the Senate for a vote.

The Republican Party (GOP) has blasted Obamacare for years, calling for it to be repealed and replaced for myriad reasons, including high cost of deductibles it has caused, the de-facto tax levied on those who do not purchase health insurance, and severe limits on choice of healthcare plans the law has created in the market.

Supporters of the law countered that it has enabled around 24 million Americans to purchase healthcare insurance, who previously did not have it. And many people like the stipulation that now, under Obamacare, no health insurance company may refuse coverage to someone who is already sick.

If Trump's healthcare plan passes the Senate and Trump signs it into law, the move would take away Obama' s major achievement during eight years in office.

"Obama's legacy is in trouble because Republicans are seeking to repeal everything he did," Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

"In the healthcare area, the repeal effort has weakened the protection of people with pre-existing medical issues and could leave 24 million Americans who currently have health insurance without coverage," West said, referring to the Obamacare stipulation that insurance companies are not allowed to refuse coverage to anyone with pre-existing medical conditions.

"That would represent a stunning reversal for Obama," West said.

However, "several of these changes won't be phased in for several years and that gives Democrats a chance to fight the GOP changes," West said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, wrote earlier this week on CNN's website that the vote to repeal and replace the Obamacare "demonstrates the serious threat that the president, when he is able to work in tandem with the Republican Congress, poses to President Obama's legacy."

"Despite the conventional wisdom that it is almost impossible to dismantle domestic programs once they are up and running, the House just took a big step toward doing so," Zelizer argued.

"This presidency is far from over. The stakes of what takes place in the next few months are enormous. Democrats should take this vote as a lesson that this White House and Congress can still pack a powerful punch," he contended.

Still, some experts noted that Trump's healthcare plan - or Trumpcare, as some are calling it - is being done within the guidelines outlined by the previous administration.

"I think Obama's legacy remains firmly in place because even the changes the Republicans are proposing are taking place within many of the outlines put in place by Obama, and the debate is over the aspects of Obamacare that are seen as costly and intrusive by GOP leaders and conservative activists, but increasingly popular amongst the public," Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua.

The bill is also being blasted by pundits and experts for the lighting-fast timeframe in which it was written and passed in the House - just three months after Trump's inauguration.

A bill of that magnitude, with far-reaching impacts on major parts of the economy, needs to be evaluated over a period of a year or more, experts said.

Indeed, there's been not one Congressional hearing on the bill, and the administration has not been particularly transparent about what it contains.

Mahaffee said three months was a highly compressed time frame to tackle something as complex as health care.

"I think the House (and some in the Trump Administration) were increasingly pushed to move something, even if large swaths of it are dead on arrival in the Senate," he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a joint press conference in Moscow, Russia, on April 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

MOSCOW, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a working visit to the United States on May 9-11 and meet U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

"On May 10, talks are scheduled in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State R. Tillerson, during which it is planned (for the two sides) to exchange views on key international issues and current issues of bilateral relations," The ministry said in a statement on its website.

The visit was arranged in accordance with an earlier agreement, the document said.

According to the statement, Lavrov will also take part in the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in Fairbanks, the second largest city in the Alaska State.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 08:50:30|Editor: ying

People hold placards during a rally to mark International Thalassemia Day in eastern Pakistan's Lahore, May 8, 2017. Thalassemia is a genetic disease of the blood that patients can not produce enough hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that transport oxygen from the lungs. (Xinhua/Sajjad)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 09:06:40|Editor: ying

Students take part in a workshop as part of exhibition "Tolerance" in front of the Fine Art Academy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), on May 8, 2017. The Delegation of the European Union to BiH held numerous cultural and music events to celebrate the Europe Day which will be on May 9. (Xinhua/Haris Memija)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 09:04:08|Editor: ying

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Drones have banned from flying near, or above, Victorian prisons in an Australian-first crackdown, it was announced on Tuesday.

The Victorian government has established strict no-fly zones for drones near and above the state's most secure jails after incidents of inmates using the devices to smuggle in contraband.

The law will also include helicopters hovering lower than 120 meters altitude, with a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment for those caught violating the laws, the same punishment for smuggling contraband into a facility by any other means.

Gayle Tierney, Victoria's Corrections Minister, said drones could be used to smuggle drugs, weapons and mobile phones into prisons.

She said they could also be used as a surveillance tool to probe for weaknesses in a facility's security.

"If someone wants to use a drone to drop contraband into a prison they might find themselves on the wrong side of the wall," Tierney told reporters on Tuesday.

Prisoners at the Melbourne Assessment Prison were evacuated from an exercise yard in May 2016 when a drone, which was carrying out architectural work, flew near the facility.

Drones have also encroached on airspace near the Metropolitan Remand Centre, Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and the newly-built Ravenhall in recent years.

A man was arrested in March 2014 for allegedly trying to use a drone to smuggle drugs into the Metropolitan Remand Centre but was later released without charges.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 11:37:11|Editor: An

Video Player Close

Photo taken on Oct. 17, 2015 shows the aerial view of Beihai city, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Beihai city, starting point of China's ancient marine silk road towards outside world, plays an important role in China's foreign trade over 2,000 years ago. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative will "open up huge opportunities" for the international capital markets due to the potential colossal financing needed to undertake the huge project in years to come, U.S. experts said recently.

The project, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with other parts of the world along the ancient Silk Road trade routes over land and sea.

"This is such a monumental project in terms of creating the whole new infrastructure, sea and land," Caroline Owen, CEO and founder of an independent renminbi (RMB) internationalization advisory firm -- RMB Global Advisors, told Xinhua at a business seminar organized by Bank of China and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

The initiative will help boost RMB internationalization, Owen said.

"Also in terms of trade, as these roads and routes are built, there will be more use of RMB along the way," said Owen, who advises having extensive cooperation in the consumer goods, retail, industrial and commodity sectors on redenominating their invoicing from U.S. dollars to RMB.

The cumulative investment in the Belt and Road Initiative is estimated at trillions of U.S. dollars in the coming years and it takes joint efforts of the countries involved to offer long-term and sustainable financial support.

Part of the funding will come via the 40-billion-dollar Silk Road Fund, and the 100-billion-dollar Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), whose membership has increased to some 70, second only to that of the World Bank.

"I think the development of AIIB is kind of a complement, rather than competition to other international financial institutions, like the world Bank, Asian Development Bank and etc.," Antony Mak, a HKTDC director, told Xinhua.

"AIIB really gives a lot of opportunities for developing nations, especially for East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, etc., to have access to funding which previously they did not have," he said.

"There is a lot of research which shows the infrastructure opportunities are a lot larger than the current capital available from financial institutions," he added.

Mak also noted that Hong Kong, an international financial center in Asia and a new AIIB member, can make good use of its unique advantages in its possession of world-class talents and expertise in handling large-scale projects to make the bank more successful.

In late February, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the emerging Asian nations are expected to need about 26 trillion dollars in infrastructure investment from 2016 to 2030. That is 1.7 trillion dollars a year, more than twice what the ADB had forecast in 2009.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 11:52:23|Editor: Hou Qiang

Video Player Close

HANOI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China has overcome the United States to become Vietnam's biggest importer of tra fish, a common kind of catfish, a local association said on Tuesday.

Vietnam exported 69.7 million U.S. dollars worth of tra fish to China in the first quarter of this year, recording a year-on-year surge of 56.8 percent, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said, noting that the export turnover to China accounted for roughly 19 percent of the total to the world market.

Nearly 40 Vietnamese firms currently export tra fish to China via border gates in the three northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son and Cao Bang.

Chinese demand for tra fish for domestic consumption, especially at hotels, restaurants, schools and enterprises, has recently sharply increased, so Vietnamese companies are intensifying tra fish export to China through border trade, many local entrepreneurs said, adding that they are also seeking ways to export large volumes of the catfish to the neighbor country via big ports.

Vietnam earned nearly 305 million dollars worth of tra fish to China in 2016, nearly doubling that in 2015, and 4.2 times higher than 2000.

Vietnam reaped over 2.1 billion dollars from exporting various kinds of seafood, including tra fish, to the world market in the first four months of this year, up 9 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 12:27:54|Editor: Hou Qiang

Video Player Close

SYDNEY, May 9 (Xinhua) -- An Australian man has been charged on Tuesday after allegedly trying to smuggle a substantial amount of methamphetamine into Tasmania in his underwear.

Jean Michel Christophe Wimmer, 32, was arrested at the Hobart Airport after a random, routine inspection by a drug detection dog of passengers arriving on a flight from Sydney.

Two police officers subsequently searched the man and found 522 grams of methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, with an estimated street value of 370,000 U.S. dollars.

Acting Detective Inspector Marco Cosentino said the find was "a significant seizure for Tasmania."

"It is one method of bringing ice into Tasmania, and we had a win for the good guys today. I believe the drugs were destined for the communities, for the users," he said.

Wimmer was charged with one count of unlawfully importing a controlled substance and one count of trafficking a controlled substance and could face life imprisonment if found guilty.

Cosentino said the man was calm throughout the arrest and had been remanded to appear in a Hobart court at a later date.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 12:58:04|Editor: ying

Video Player Close

HANOI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Operator of the Vietnamese Dung Quat Refinery has sent letters of invitation to 15 investment funds locally and overseas, calling them to buy shares at the oil plant.

According to Dung Quat Oil Refinery's owner, the state-run oil giant PetroVietnam (PVN), shares of the country's largest oil refinery will be officially offered to the public by the end of this year.

The privatization is set to mobilize capital for strategic projects in the future, improving transparency and shareholders' benefits, PVN said on Tuesday.

In the first quarter of 2017, the Dung Quat Oil Refinery earned some 80.4 million U.S. dollars in after-tax profit, achieving 30 percent of its annual target.

The three-billion plant Dung Quat Oil Refinery went into operation in 2009 with designed capacity of 6.5 million tons of crude oil annually or 130,500 barrels per day.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 13:18:08|Editor: ying

Video Player Close

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Michel Temer sent a written message of congratulations on Monday to France's President-elect Emmanuel Macron for his victory in the presidential elections.

In the message, President Temer reaffirmed Brazil's willingness to work alongside France for democracy and said that Brazil and France are "united by the determination to promote modernization reforms" which will increase the partnership between the two nations.

The Brazilian president sent a short message to Macron on Sunday evening, after his victory over Marine Le Pen was confirmed.

In the message, published on the president's Twitter account, Temer congratulated Macron on the victory and highlighted Brazil and France's longtime relations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 14:24:00|Editor: Mengjie

Liu Jieyi (L), Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses the opening of a photo exhibition on China's Belt and Road Initiative at the UN headquarters in New York May 8, 2017. The photo exhibition would last for one week. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A photo exhibition on China's Belt and Road Initiative opened at the UN headquarters on Monday, showing the outcomes the initiative has achieved so far and its future prospects.

The photos depict such historic moments as when the UN Security Council adopted a resolution incorporating the initiative for the first time, and when the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway built by a Chinese company officially opened to traffic.

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.

At the opening ceremony, China's Ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi said the Belt and Road Initiative is "an international public good" that benefits all parties.

"With its focus on various aspects of connectivity regarding policy, infrastructure, trade, finance, people-to-people...the initiative widens and deepens partnerships in multi-dimensional and multi-layered networking," said Liu.

Amina Mohammed, UN deputy secretary-general, said that the initiative is a demonstration of a global partnership that really fits the ambition of the UN agenda for sustainable development.

She said by empowering women and young people, creating job opportunities and bringing people together, the initiative offers a chance to unlock trillions for investment.

Entitled "Strengthening International Cooperation for Win-Win Development," the exhibition is scheduled to run from May 8 to May 12. It is organized by the Chinese Mission to the UN and Xinhua News Agency North America.

Zhou Xiaozheng, director of Xinhua News Agency North America, said putting on such an exhibition at the UN headquarters is of significance since more UN member states and UN agencies are seeking cooperation with China in this regard.

It is also a good timing as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, he noted.

Anatolio Ndong Mba, ambassador of the Equatorial Guinea to the UN, told Xinhua that the photos reflect the dynamism of China's development in economy, infrastructure and communication.

Hailing the initiative as "formidable," Ndong Mba said that it is going to be a complete success.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 14:49:11|Editor: xuxin

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres(C) speaks during an interview with UN-based Chinese media outlets at the UN headquarters in New York, May 8, 2017. Guterres on Monday spoke highly of China's Belt and Road Initiative, saying "China plays a very central role" through it in uniting the world in addressing today's global development challenges. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Xinhua writer Gu Zhenqiu

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday spoke highly of China's Belt and Road Initiative, saying "China plays a very central role" through it in uniting the world in addressing today's global development challenges.

The UN chief, in an interview with several UN-based Chinese media outlets, made the remarks prior to his attendance at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled for May 14-15 in Beijing.

"When we look at a the Belt and Road Initiative, we see a very important contribution to this solidarity in addressing global problems with international cooperation, where China plays a very central role," the UN chief said. "So I am very happy that I have the chance to participate in the Belt and Road summit."

STRONG PILLAR OF MULTILATERALISM

"China has been a strong pillar of multilateralism," which serves as a sound basis for solving global problems, he said.

"We live in a globalized world, we face enormous problems -- climate change, population growth, food insecurity, water scarcity in many parts of the world," he said. "We understand there is no solution for this problem at the country level, the solution must be at the global level."

"So we need globalization, but we need the globalization (which) is more fair than the globalization in the past," he said. "So we need multilateral governance institutions. Multilateralism is the solution for the global problems, and China has been a strong pillar of multilateralism."

Asked to use just one sentence to describe the most important feature of the Chinese initiative, he said: "I think what it demonstrates is a vision of how important it is not only to connect the countries, but also to connect the peoples to address the global challenges of today."

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 and comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network along ancient trade routes connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond.

The initiative has so far gained the support of more than 100 countries and international organizations, and more than 40 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China.

Guterres knows why it has won wide world attention. "Because we felt that in the moment in which many people doubt about globalization, in the moment in which many people doubt about free trade... We need the initiatives of international solidarity" to "make people believe that free trade can benefit all, to make people believe that's possible not to leave anyone behind."

IMPORTANT INSTRUMENT

The Chinese initiative can also be an important instrument for the global undertaking to carry out the Agenda 2030, a blueprint for the worldwide efforts to achieve sustainable development in the next 15 years starting from 2016.

"This (the forum) is an excellent opportunity to see of the projects that the Belt and Road Initiative is developing," he said, adding that the upcoming high-level forum can facilitate discussion, in which people can see "how we can extract the maximum possible value of the Belt and Road Initiative for global inclusive and sustainable development."

Touching upon the contribution of the Chinese initiative to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he said: "The two things move in the same direction."

"The investments that are made, especially the investment in infrastructure to facilitate contact among peoples, to facilitate trade, to facilitate development, are an important part of the Agenda 2030, and they relate to several objectives of the sustainable development," Guterres said.

It is important to cooperate with China in South-South cooperation, which is "one of the priorities in the activities of the UN, not to replace North-South cooperation," he said.

The initiative is also conducive to "building a community of shared future for mankind," a Chinese concept that has won global endorsement and has been incorporated in several UN resolutions, just like the Belt and Road Initiative.

The UN Security Council on March 17 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.

INTEGRATION INTO NATIONAL PROGRAMS

The sound implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative lies in its good integration into the national development programs or strategies of various countries, the UN chief said.

"If it is not well integrated into the strategy of development of a country, it can have counter-productive aspect," he said.

"The UN organization can be very useful for the countries where this project will be implemented in order to enable government to take maximum profit of those projects and to integrate them into their own development strategy and into their own Sustainable Development Goals programs," he said.

"It (The initiative) is exactly doing the projects that are uniting countries, benefiting countries, namely, infrastructure that links different regions of the world. We are creating exactly that kind of shared prosperity that your president was offering," he said.

"This reveals a very important strategic breakthrough and I think the Belt and Road Initiative is demonstrating that new vision that China has brought to global development," he said.

"We are in the beginning of its implementation. But I think that there is now an enormous amount of enthusiasm, so I must say that I have high expectations," he said.

Guterres' upcoming visit will be his second trip to China in half a year and it will also be his first trip to the world's second largest economy as UN secretary-general.

"It's a very simple message to say how much we cherish the Chinese engagement in strengthening multilateralism, to strengthen the multilateral institutions, to strengthen the United Nations, to cooperate in finding global solutions for global problems, the leadership, for instance, in climate change response, how much we count on the Chinese engagement in relation to those objectives," he added.

At the end of the interview, he wrote down a signed message -- "With my best wishes of success for the Belt and Road Forum."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 15:55:37|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

KABUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan security forces have pressed on to clear the militants in restive provinces and killed 71 militants in the latest operations, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

"The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces carried out cleanup operations in several provinces within the past 24 hours, killing 71 armed militants, wounding 35 and detaining seven others," the ministry said in a statement.

The security forces also found and seized weapons, the statement said, without adding if there were any casualties on the side of security forces.

They also defused several roadside bombs and landmines during the above raids conducted in 17 of the country's 34 provinces, according to the statement.

The Afghan security forces have beefed up security operations against militants recently, as spring and summer, known as fighting season, are drawing near in the Central Asian country.
Source:Xinhua| 2017-05-09 16:41:24|Editor: Mengjie

A staff member works at the workshop of Chinese-funded company Vinasolar within the Van Trung Industrial Park in Bac Giang Province of Vietnam May 6, 2017. The Van Trung Industrial Park, about 40 kilometers from the capital Hanoi, is developed by Chinese-funded enterprise Fuhua Co. Ltd. More than 60 plants have been established, covering an area of 258,000 square meters. Over 20 enterprises are settled in the park, many of which are photovoltaic companies, forming a pattern for the capacity cooperation between China and Vietnam. (Xinhua/Le Yanna)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 16:41:17|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

PHNOM PENH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Tuesday convicted a Romanian and a Nigerian of cross-border drug smuggling, and sentenced both of them to life in prison.

Romanian man Adrian-Calin Varadi, 40, was caught on Aug. 14, 2016 when he arrived at the Phnom Penh International Airport from Brazil with 4.96 kg of cocaine hidden in his luggage.

Nigerian man Chukwuemeka Ibe, 35, was arrested later that day when he waited at his hotel room to receive the drugs to take them to neighboring Thailand.

The duo are charged with "illegally transporting the drugs" under the country's Drug Law, said a verdict read by Phnom Penh Municipal Court's Presiding Judge Im Vannak.

"The court decides to sentence each of them to life in prison and to fine them 40 million riel (10,000 U.S. dollars) each," the verdict said.

During a trial last month, Varadi confessed to the crime, but Ibe denied the charge, claiming that he did not know the package he supposed to receive was carrying drug.

Under the Cambodian law, the convicts have one month to appeal against the ruling.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 16:41:21|Editor: xuxin

MANILA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Four policemen were injured, three seriously, when a roadside bomb exploded in the southern Philippines Cotabato City on Tuesday, police said.

Police said the improvised explosive device (IED) went off around 10:15 a.m. (local time) in front of a public market and a school in Rajah Buayan town in Maguindanao province, wounding the policemen on board a police patrol car.

Initial investigation showed the IED was detonated using a mobile phone.

The wounded policemen were reportedly in the area to attend a conference on anti-illegal drugs campaign launched by the town officials.

According to the police, the blast may have been carried out to retaliate last week's police anti-narcotics operation in the town that killed a mother, her two children and a drug pusher.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 16:46:24|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

PHNOM PENH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen will attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held on May 14-15 in Beijing, the Cambodian foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the forum, Hun Sen will have bilateral meetings with Mongolian Prime Minister Jargaltulga Erdenebat.

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

To back the initiative, China has established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 17:16:48|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

LHASA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have identified three distinct periods over the past four decades that feature notably different variations of lake area and volume on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Zhang Guoqing, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, was part of a team of domestic and foreign scientists that examined annual changes in lake area, level and volume from 1970s to 2015.

The team found that the three indexes changed at similar rates. They saw a slight decline from 1970s to 1995, followed by a rapid increase from 1996 to 2010, and then a recent deceleration during the period from 2011 to 2015.

They also found that increased precipitation contributed the most to lake volume increases, followed by glacier mass loss and the melting of ground ice due to permafrost degradation.

These results suggest that the hydrological cycle on the plateau has intensified remarkably during recent decades.

The study was published in the U.S. journal Geophysical Research Letters on May 2.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 17:37:11|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MONROVIA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The mysterious disease plagued Liberia's southeastern county of Sinoe in the past two weeks appears to be meningitis, a Liberian health official has said.

Health Minister Bernice Dahn told reporters here on Monday that laboratory tests carried out on victims' blood specimens had proven that the West African country was "dealing with a probable outbreak of meningitis."

The disease that originated from Greenville, the capital of Sinoe county, has spread to other parts of the nation during the past two weeks. A total of 31 cases, including 13 deaths, have been reported so far.

"We are taking public health measures so that it will not further spread," said the minster, adding that an investigation is underway to clarify all doubts on the outbreak.

Liberia has never been hit by meningitis, since the disease usually emerges in countries with hot climate and long-term dry seasons, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, according to Dahn.

She also warned that the disease, though treatable and preventable, can be spread via saliva and close body contacts with the infected. Common symptoms of the disease include fever, headache and neck stiffness. Early symptoms also include altered consciousness and vomiting.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 17:42:16|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

RIYADH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia, a hub connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, is one of the first countries that have responded positively to China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Hoping to diversify its heavily oil-dependent economy, the Middle East nation is open and cooperative to explore business opportunities and reap win-win fruits.

Currently, there are more than 100 major Chinese companies in Saudi Arabia involved in various projects related to roads, maritime ports, bridges, accommodations, railway, power stations, communications and other national projects.

Those companies bring huge benefits to Saudi Arabia and help expand its cooperation with China under the Belt and Road Initiative.

SAFETY AT RAINY SEASON

In Jeddah, the largest city in the west of the Kingdom, there is a 37 km long Flood Water Channel that crosses the city in three phases, in which the rain and flood water that fall from the high areas gather around the city in a cheerful scene with the bird flocking on both sides. Meters away, there is a busy highway.

Ma Chifeng, Director of Jeddah City Project for Flood Drainage run by Chinese Communication Construction Group (CCCG), told Xinhua that "The rain water that falls from the nearby mountains of Mecca and the high areas in Jeddah go through this flood drainage channel and then to the Red Sea."

"It might be an ordinary channel in another area, but it isn't the same in Saudi Arabia and it has special importance and came after painful lessons," Ma added.

In November 2009, Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia, witnessed a wave of unprecedented rainstorms that killed more than 120 people. And in 2011, 10 people were killed by the storm.

Due to the lacks of comprehensive rain and flood drainage system, whenever heavy rain fall, floods come down from the nearby mountain areas to cross the natural waterways toward Jeddah.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered the Jeddah government to act fast for an appropriate flood water control system that is capable of tackling heavy floods.

In July 2013, CCCG won the tender to build the 500 million U.S. dollar project. After nine months, the project was completed.

In November 2014, the city witnessed two rainstorms with no tragic accidents happened.

As acknowledgement of the success, the Jeddah Municipality sent an appreciation letter to the Chinese company for its work.

LIGHT RAILWAY TO FACILITATE TRAFFIC OF PILGRIMS

In Mecca, the holiest city to Muslims, located 80 km east of Jeddah, there is the Green Dragon metro, another landmark that goes between high mountains and hills to transport pilgrims.

For the comfort of around three million pilgrims coming from around 100 countries every year, Saudi Arabia has ordered the construction of a metro linking five areas in order to ease congestion and limit stampede during Hajj rituals in the holy city.

In January 2009, the Chinese Railways Construction Corporation (CRCC) signed an agreement with the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to build a light railway in Mecca.

The light railway started its operation in 2010. Although it is only 18.25 km long, it is the most complicated line in the world and has the largest capacity to transport passengers within certain period.

The project attracted attention from both Saudi and Chinese governments, especially after Saudi Arabia announced in 2010 that the light railway will be used for the first time to transfer pilgrims in the history of Hajj for 1,300 years.

With Muslims from all over the world taking the new Chinese trains between five stations in Mecca, the Chinese company was overwhelmed with the praise by the media and Saudis.

The appreciation reached high to an extend that locals were thumping up to the Chinese drivers when seeing the vehicles with the logo of CRCC on Mecca's roads.

By 2014, the CRCC successfully completed running the trains for five consecutive years without any safety-related accidents. At the same time, it has provided job opportunities for locals and training courses on managing the train trips.

VALUABLE TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT

With the discovery of large areas of oil fields in the huge desert, Saudi Arabia depends major on oil revenues to invest in education, science and technology.

Since its entry in the Saudi market in 1999, Chinese Huawei Technology Company has cooperated with three Saudi major communication companies, offering the best and latest services for individuals in the kingdom.

Through the contributions of Huawei, the number of mobile phone users in the kingdom increased from 36 million in 2008 to 51 million in 2014, and the world ranking of Saudi Arabia in IT indicators jumped from 27 to 24.

Huawei has implemented 90 percent of Saudi government projects in the remote areas and satisfied the basic needs of 3.5 million Saudis for communication services. It also offered the latest technologies and products, such as TDD and LTE networks, the basic GIP 400 networks and the Client Experience Management system.

Throughout the last ten years, Huawei has provided wireless communication services to 3 million pilgrims each year in the 180 km Hajj areas. With more than 1,000 employees in Saudi Arabia, it has offices in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah. Saudi Arabia has becomes one of the most important foreign markets for Huawei.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 17:52:28|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

RIYADH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday the decision to stop hiring foreign dentists to provide job opportunities for locals, Al Riyadh online news reported.

The decision, announced by the Labor Ministry on Tuesday morning, aims to encourage private sectors to hire more locals in the medical area.

The latest move is part of Saudi Arabia's effort to expand and reinforce its labor force.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 18:17:38|Editor: MJ

This photo taken on May 9, 2017 shows one of the two bomb attack sites at a store in Pattani, Thailand. Blasts at a downtown discount store in southernmost Thailand on Tuesday injured more than 30 people, police said. (Xinhua)

BANGKOK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Blasts at a downtown discount store in southernmost Thailand on Tuesday injured more than 30 people, police said.

Two bombs were separately detonated in early afternoon Tuesday at the parking lot of Big C discount store and at a spot inside the store in Pattani province, about 1,050 kilometers south of Bangkok. Most of the victims were slightly injured while two others were seriously wounded.

The blasts reportedly injured more than 30 shoppers and devastated a number of parked vehicles, the police said.

Insurgents in the turbulent Deep South of the country were believed accountable for the bomb attack.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal units scrambled to the scene to investigate.
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, May 9 (Xinhua) -- At least eight Taliban militants were killed and 14 others sustained injuries during overnight operations in Ashkashim district of the northern Badakhshan province, army official General Mohammad Jalal said Tuesday.

The operations, according to the official, were launched at 02:00 a.m. local time Tuesday and so far four villages had also been liberated from the clutches of insurgents.

Taliban militants who overrun Zebak district over weekend and have been attempting to capture the neighboring Ashkashim district haven't commented on the situation.

Government forces launched cleanup operations in Zabak on Sunday and so far, according to local officials, scores of militants have been killed.

The northern Badakhshan province with Faizabad as its capital, 315 km northeast of Kabul, has been the scene of Taliban group activities over the past few years.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 18:47:55|Editor: xuxin

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) speaks during a joint news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the West Bank city of Ramallah on May 9, 2017. Abbas announced Tuesday he is ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the U.S. sponsorship for peace making.(Xinhua/Fadi Arouri)

RAMALLAH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Tuesday he is ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under the U.S. sponsorship for peace making.

Abbas made the remarks in a joint news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Abbas told reporters he reiterated to U.S. President Donald Trump during their last week's meeting in Washington his readiness to cooperate and meet with Netanyahu under Trump's sponsorship for peace making.

Trump is expected to visit Israel later this month and Abbas said he "accepted our invitation and we are looking forward to meeting him soon in Bethlehem,"in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian President also said "I expressed to President Trump our commitment to jointly working in the frame of a full partnership to fight terrorism and extremism in our region and in the world."

On May 3, Abbas met with Trump at White House and expressed his optimism to the possibility of Trump's success to reach a historic peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians.

Last direct U.S. sponsored peace talks between Palestine and Israel stopped in April 2014, after nine months without reaching any breakthrough due to deep differences on the issue of settlements.

For his part, Steinmeier expressed satisfaction that the American side contacted both Israel and the Palestinians, which he hoped that will lead to the renewal of their meetings for making peace.

"There is no solution for both sides to negotiate on except the solution of the two states," said Steinmeier, hoping that all parties would work together to succeed it.

He added that Germany will continue its efforts to build the Palestinian state and improve the living condition of the Palestinian people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 18:47:58|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

PYONGYANG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday congratulated Russia on the 72nd anniversary of the former Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

The victory in the Great Patriotic War was historic and the Soviet Union won the victory at the cost of blood, shouldering the heavy burden of World War II, according to Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the ruling Korean Workers' Party.

"The Korean people extend congratulations and friendly greetings to the Russian people on the 72nd anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, hoping that everything would go well in Russia," said a commentary published on the paper.

"The DPRK-Russia friendship favors the interests of the two peoples and guarantees peace in the region. The bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation will grow stronger thanks to the joint efforts of the two countries," it added.

Russia on Tuesday celebrated the anniversary with a grand military parade at the Red Square in Moscow.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 18:53:07|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Three Kenyans and one Somali refugee have been arrested in South Sudan while on their way to join extremist groups in Libya.

The Kenyan police said the four were arrested by South Sudanese security officers while seeking facilitation to travel to Libya to join the Islamic State (IS).

"Kenyan security agencies in liaison with their counterparts from South Sudan have foiled yet another attempt by Kenyan youths to escape the country to join militant groups in Libya," the police said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Tuesday.

According to the police, the four men were arrested over the weekend together with another group of young men who are believed to have been waiting for facilitation to travel to Libya through South Sudan.

The police said the arrest followed an intensive operation between security agents across the East African region.

"The Kenyan government working in close collaboration with their relatives facilitated their safe return into Kenya. The four have implicated a radical cartel in their recruitment and movement facilitation," said the police.

The police said the cartel is led by Mohamed Dahir, a notorious criminal who has since escaped the police dragnet.

Dahir works in cahoots with others in the infamous Magafe network based in Libya in facilitating both terrorist suspects enroute to Libya and economic immigrants.

According to the police, some of the other local human trafficking key players who are also suspected to have close links with IS in Libya have been arrested and their case is still pending in court.

"The two who include Ali Hussein Ali and Ibrahim Abasheikh are suspected to have been involved in facilitating illegal immigrants from Kenya to Libya or other destinations," said the police.

The latest arrests come against the backdrop of intensified counter terrorism and counter human trafficking efforts in the country and across the region.

Kenyan security agencies warned members of the public to be wary of phony human traffickers who dangle the lure of the so called "good life" in Europe to brainwash young people into embarking on the treacherous journey through the Sahara Desert.

The police promised a sustained crackdown on human trafficking rackets to save Kenyan youths from the stranglehold of ruthless human traffickers and terrorist recruiters.

Meanwhile, police said they are closely trailing Nicholas Karanja Mwangi alias Said Mwangi, an IS recruiter and radicalizer who is currently on the run.

"With the growing number of youths getting lured into none existent opportunities in Libya and Syria, it's only prudent for parents and guardians to be extra vigilant and to continuously monitor movements of youth under their care," said the police.

"In the case of those missing or not communicating for long periods of time, it's important for such cases to be availed to the authorities so that they may be traced by the relevant security agencies."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 18:53:11|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

BERLIN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- German exports reached a record high in March, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Tuesday.

After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports totaled 105.4 billion euros (114 billion U.S. dollars), up 0.4 percent compared with February, while imports rose by 2.4 percent to 85.8 billion euros.

The foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of 19.6 billion euros.

German exports surged 10.8 percent and imports jumped 14.7 percent in March year-on-year. Both exports and imports reached record heights.

European Union (EU) remains the largest importer of "Made in Germany" goods in the reported month.

German foreign trade imbalance draws wide criticism, as other countries accuse the EU largest economy has done little to boost domestic demand. (1 euro=1.09 U.S. dollar)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 19:13:36|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

By Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Asia is all set to become the world's new economic center of gravity as China's Belt and Road Initiative will pave the way for new trade links to alter the economic landscape of a vast area stretching from Asia to Europe, said experts and officials in Bangladesh.

The initiative of reviving the ancient Silk Road through a network of roads and maritime waterways will surely be a boon for cooperation between China and the various regional blocs across the world, they said at a high-level conference here Monday.

The Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, a leading local think-tank, held the conference on "Bangladesh-China Relations: One Belt and One Road Initiative" ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing.

Scores of top leading academics, economists, diplomats and business leaders who joined the conference said Bangladesh is extremely fortunate to have a great country like China as a neighbor.

"Our partnership with China is extremely important. In 2015, we celebrated 40 years of our diplomatic ties," said Gowher Rizvi, international affairs adviser to the Bangladesh prime minister.

He said China has been immensely supporting Bangladesh in its economic development.

"We are today looking forward to prioritizing the development of our infrastructures, including transportation and power. In both these areas China has been a prominent partner and we look forward to having better associations in both these matters," he added.

Now with Bangladesh's inclusion in the initiative, he said the country is going to be able to take advantage and expedite its connectivity vision further with a great hope to realize its sub-regional development aspirations.

Prominent Bangladesh Professor Rehman Sobhan, chairman of Bangladesh's top leading think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said what they are now witnessing over here is a re-concentration of economic and financial power within the Asia region.

"This means the whole concept of the initiative, of constructive infrastructure, is not some sort of imaginative concept. It is really grounded in certain objectives such as economic and financial realities."

He further said, "Huge resources are readily available with China and beyond. Asia is now poised to create a more integrated global order, the center of which is no longer in the Atlantic region, but in the Asia region."

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ma Mingqiang said BRI is one of the most hotly talked about topics in the world. The initiative was proposed by China in 2013 with a view to reviving the old silk road in response to changes and causes of time across the world.

The BRI answers to the calls of a fast-changing world, Ma said, adding that the Belt and Road is an initiative for all interested parties to consider.

"It's not the Chinese version martial plan. It's not a sword of China. It is an orchestra of all. It is inclusive rather than exclusive. It's voluntary rather than compulsory. It's based on equality and mutual respect rather than discrimination. It's a win-win situation rather than winner takes all," he said.

Abdul Matlub Ahmad, the president of Bangladesh's apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said: "We have been traveling all over the world and investigating where people are going. Well, people say it is the time for Asia. So, this gives China a great chance, as it's the leading economy in Asia."

M. Humayun Kabir, former Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States, said the scale of this project is encompassing Asia and Europe.

"I don't know if in recent decades we have seen such a big project," Kabir said.

He added that China is setting out or bringing about a project that is now being considered a kind of new template for collaboration and cooperation in the world.

"Within a changing global context, developing countries have an opportunity to take leadership roles," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 19:33:59|Editor: Zhou Xin

The hotel Burj Al-Arab is seen during sunset in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dec. 30, 2016. The UAE, located at the intersection of the Belt and Road Initiative, is an important partner for China to promote the Belt and Road Initiative. (Xinhua/Li Zhen)

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- While many countries are excited to be attending the upcoming Belt and Road Forum from May 14 to 15 in Beijing, some Western media continue to hold a the Cold War mentality and smear the initiative as neocolonialism.

Some media reports arbitrarily politicalized the initiative, alleging it is not mutually beneficial as China proposes and accusing the country of "seeking to dominate" and taking a grab at "global leadership".

Facts and figures show this viewpoint is not correct.

Although the Belt and Road Initiative was put forward by China, all parties are involved in carrying it out. China has no intention to stage a solo play.

Since 2013, over 100 countries and international organizations have responded warmly to the initiative, and nearly 50 inter-governmental agencies have signed agreements of cooperation.

Openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit are the hallmarks of the initiative and source of much of the extensive support it has garnered.

As the world economy is still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, it is in urgent need of an efficient, inclusive platform that can help all parties cope with the global challenges.

Official data showed Chinese businesses signed new contracts totaling 126 billion U.S. dollars in countries along the Belt and Road in 2016, with projects spanning energy, infrastructure and industrial cooperation, up 36 percent year on year.

In the process, China and the other participants of the initiative have driven globalization forward and contributed to global economic recovery through freer trade and cultural exchanges.

Unlike the Marshall plan, which some media have compared the initiative to, no political conditions have been imposed on participants in the Belt and Road.

Nor is the initiative ideologically oriented. The participants include Western developed nations, socialist countries, Buddhist countries as well as Islamic states.

While some media have drawn attention to the expected absence of some major Western leaders from the forum, they should also be aware that the leaders of 28 countries are attending, including the Italian, Spanish, Greek and Polish prime ministers and Swiss and Czech presidents.

British Finance Minister Philip Hammond will attend on behalf of the country's prime minister, while, due to ongoing electoral matters, Germany and France will send high-level representatives to voice their support for the forum.

The initiative is based on equality, accessibility to growth and mutual benefit. It is not an exclusive club for Western countries, but serves mostly for the extensive developing nations. The forum is a circle of friends, with representatives from more than 100 countries and regions attending.

Admittedly, given that so many countries are involved, the initiative has its fair share of difficulties and challenges, such as technical, language and cultural barriers.

However, the early harvests and determination of the participants demonstrate the limitless potential waiting ahead. The initiative is bound to bring prosperity to the people living along the Belt and Road.

Living in today's interconnected world, prejudice and fear toward the well-intentioned initiative of openness and shared growth do not hold water.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:04:31|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

PHNOM PENH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative and the rising China-ASEAN relations will be among scheduled talks to be held at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on ASEAN from May 10 to 12 in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, a WEF's senior official said on Monday.

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

To back the initiative, China has established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund.

Justin Wood, head of the Asia Pacific at the World Economic Forum, said the Belt and Road Initiative would be one of the important topics discussed at the upcoming forum with a presentation to be given by AIIB President Jin Liqun.

He said that the initiative would provide enormous benefits to ASEAN member states that needs capital for connectivity infrastructure development.

"As we all know, the AIIB has around 100 billion U.S. dollars to invest, and that money is to go into building critical infrastructure such as ports, roads, railways, and power stations in countries involved in the Belt and Road," he told Xinhua in an interview.

"For ASEAN, it's particularly significant because the investments needed to continue the region's growth is huge and the region does have enough money," he said.

According to Wood, it was estimated that some 20,000 people across ASEAN have moved from countrysides to cities every day and the trend was projected to continue for another 10 years, so ASEAN countries needed a large amount of capital to invest in houses, roads, power stations, schools and hospitals to support such rapid urbanization.

"I think that China's Belt and Road Initiative can play an important part in funding and building that infrastructure," he said.

Wood said that the upcoming forum would bring together Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith as well as more than 700 senior officials, business executives, academics and civil society representatives.

He said the forum would also touch on the relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

China is currently the biggest trading partner of most of the ASEAN member states, he said, adding that the forum would help further deepen China-ASEAN relations, particularly in economics, trade, investment and tourism.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:09:34|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

MOMBASA, Kenya, May 9 (Xinhua) -- At least three more people were killed in the coastal city of Mombasa on Tuesday following heavy rains pounding the region, bringing death toll to nine after six died on Monday.

Changamwe police commander Peter Omanwa said a father and daughter were killed while the mother was seriously injured during the incident. She is currently admitted at Coast provincial general hospital's Intensive care Unit (ICU).

"The wall collapsed on their house killing the two on the spot, the mother was rescued and rushed to hospital in critical condition," said the police commander. Omwanwa said one more person as swept away by floods.

The incident occurred just hours after County Government issued an alert of possible mudslides and more flooding in the county.

County Secretary Francis Thoya warned residents residing in areas prone to mudslides to move to safer ground. Thoya identified Changamwe, Mikindani and Jomvu as likely areas to be affected during ongoing heavy rains.

Omanwa said several houses have been submerged due to landslide as result on heavy rains witnesses in Mombasa County. He said the police and Red Cross are assessing the situation amid fear that death toll might rise.

On Monday, four children were among six people killed after a wall collapsed on a semi-permanent structure in Mbaraki area, Kizingo. The six were sheltering from heavy rains when the wall caved-in and buried them alive inside the structure.

The bodies were retried and transferred to the Pandya private hospital mortuary as police launched investigations.

Thoya said they had set up an emergency rescue team to assist victims due to the heavy rains that have made many roads inaccessible.

Residents are accusing County Government of failure to address the drainage system that has resulted into an outbreak of diseases.

Meanwhile, thousands of commuters and motorist were on Tuesday stranded after Kenya Ferry Services (KFS) suspended operation indefinitely due to heavy rains pounding the coastal region.

KFS suspended services at busy Likoni channel after one ferry MV Nyayo with commuters on board was pushed by heavy tides off the Likoni channel towards the deep sea.

"Ferry services were suspended due to high tides. We are only ferrying few passengers we anticipate delays," KFS Managing Director Bakari Gowa said.

Efforts by the Kenya Ports Authority tower boat to push it to the Island ramps were unsuccessful, but after reinforcement, the ferry was towed to the Island.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:19:49|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China's insurance regulator said Tuesday it will find and defuse hidden risks in the use of insurance funds, a fresh move to tighten supervision of the multi-trillion dollar sector.

Authorities will stop the illegal use of insurance funds, keep the leverage ratio under control and fill regulatory gaps, according to a statement from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).

Inspections will be focused on major investment in stocks, equities, real estate, alternative and financial products as well as overseas investment.

The sector will be screened for compliance risks, regulatory arbitrage, asset-liability mismatches and other major risks.

Those who violate laws and regulations will receive the maximum punishment.

Chinese insurers grabbed headlines for using leveraged money to buy shares in listed companies, triggering sharp volatility in the market late last year.

Tuesday's move came two days after the CIRC called for a strict and effective supervision framework, pointing out that regulatory loopholes had given rise to risky practices.

It was also part of the deleveraging of China's economy to ward off financial risks after years of a relatively eased monetary stance.

In Tuesday's statement, the CIRC said insurance funds should serve the real economy and help supply-side structural reform.

By the end of December, the combined assets of China's insurance sector totalled 15.12 trillion yuan (2.2 trillion U.S. dollars), official data showed.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:19:51|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

WELLINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee on Tuesday named Bradley Sawden as next ambassador to Iraq.

New Zealand established an embassy in Baghdad in 2015 to support New Zealand and Australia's joint mission "Building Partner Capacity."

"This mission has trained over 20,000 Iraqi police and army personnel who are on the frontlines of the fight against Daesh (Islamic State)," Brownlee said.

Sawden will be charged with supporting New Zealand's non-combat training mission to Iraq and assessing how to support and build relations with the Iraqi government, as well as maintaining relations with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, according to Brownlee.

Sawden has been involved in national and international security issues across the defense and security sector of the New Zealand government.

His most recent posting was in New York as counsellor at the New Zealand permanent mission to the United Nations during New Zealand's tenure as a member of the United Nations Security Council.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:30:06|Editor: xuxin

Moon Jae-in of the liberal Minjoo Party celebrates at a hall of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on May 9, 2017. Moon Jae-in of the liberal Minjoo Party led media exit polls in South Korea's presidential election by a large margin, an official survey from three local broadcasters showed Tuesday. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

SEOUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Moon Jae-in of the liberal Minjoo Party led media exit polls in South Korea's presidential election by a large margin, an official survey from three local broadcasters showed Tuesday.

Moon came closer to becoming the country's 19th president with 41.4 percent support, beating conservative and centrist rivals by a wide margin.

Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, with which ousted President Park Geun-hye was affiliated, won 23.3 percent support, trailed by Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party garnering 21.8 percent.

Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Righteous Party gained 7.1 percent support, and Sim Sang-jung of the liberal Justice Party had 5.9 percent.

The exit polls were conducted for 13 hours to 7 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) at 330 polling stations with around 89,000 voters. It has 0.8 percentage points in margin of error.

The final turnout was 77.2 percent, or 32,808,377 voters among the electorate of 42,479,710 people. It was higher than the previous election's 75.8 percent in 2012.

An early voting, which was introduced in 2013 and first applied to this year's presidential election, was conducted from May 4 to May 5. The early voting rate was 26.06 percent.

The elected president will have no 70-day transition period as it is the first by-election caused by the removal of former President Park Geun-hye from office over corruption allegations.

The election commission is forecast to declare the winner early Wednesday after completing the vote count.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:35:09|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

WELLINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has declared New Zealand's banking system resilient and recommended ways to improve the strength of the country's financial sector and the regulatory framework, according to New Zealand's Reserve Bank on Tuesday.

In its Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), the IMF said that the banking system is well-placed to manage risks and vulnerabilities associated with current developments in the housing sector, the high level of household debt, and low dairy prices.

The FSAP included a range of "stress tests" of large New Zealand banks.

The report said that New Zealand has a good institutional framework for macroprudential policy and that Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) restrictions have generated financial stability benefits, although it could be strengthened further.

The IMF advised New Zealand increase the intensity of supervision for both the banking and insurance sectors.

New Zealand Finance Minister Steven Joyce has welcomed the IMF's positive assessment of New Zealand's economy and its financial system.

The IMF has endorsed the Reserve Bank's current legislative proposal to improve the regulation and oversight of financial market infrastructures.

The Reserve Bank said it is considering the FSAP findings and recommendations in its areas of responsibility and the degree to which these might further its statutory purpose of promoting a sound and efficient financial system.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:40:23|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

by Christine Lagat

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government on Tuesday launched new measures to enhance security during the August general polls that are expected to be competitive.

Officials said the electoral body, national police service and the judiciary vowed to collaborate to enforce elaborate measures that guarantee a safe and secure electoral process.

Wafula Chebukati, the Chairman of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said robust vigilance will be prioritized during the campaign season, voting, tallying and announcement of results to avert breaches that may compromise national security.

"As a commission, we are prepared to deliver fair, peaceful and free elections on August 8 and will collaborate with sister agencies to ensure security is maintained throughout the electoral cycle," Chebukati said.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has supported development and implementation of the new security guidelines to ensure Kenya conduct peaceful and credible polls in August.

Chebukati said the government has put adequate measures in place to ensure electoral related violence that occurred in 2007 to 2008 does not recur.

"We have not only put in place adequate safeguards to guarantee free and fair polls but are also prepared to deal firmly with electoral violence," said Chebukati.

Kenya's electoral body and its partners have developed a handbook that will be used by judicial and security apparatus to oversee August polls.

Chebukati said the handbook offers guidelines on how to detect and prosecute electoral offences alongside resolving disputes that may arise from contested results.

"Successful preparations and management of elections must integrate security as a key pillar," said Chebukati, adding that training of security officers to oversee August polls commences this week.

Kenyan security personnel will be on the lookout during the entire electoral cycle to prevent eruption of violence and other threats to civil order.

The Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinnet said that security apparatus are working closely with the electoral body, political parties and the public to facilitate peaceful voting in August.

"There is a multi agency taskforce already in place to foster peaceful campaigns and general election. Acts of violence will be nipped in the bud," said Boinnet.

Kenyans head to the polls on August 8 to elect a president, lawmakers and county executives.

The electoral agency has already gazetted names of aspirants to vie for elective posts.

At the same time, the electoral body has announced the official campaign period commences on May 28 and ends on Aug. 6.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:40:26|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The establishment of "Chinese Brands Day" will help independent brands, a senior official said Tuesday.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has approved a Chinese Brands Day, to be held on May 10 each year from this year. The first falls on Wednesday.

Influential brands are symbols of the overall competitiveness of companies and countries, and can help lead economic transition, according to Wang Dong, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.

Compared with developed countries, China is still short of globally influential brands but well equipped to accelerate brand development, Wang added.

Chinese Brands Day will publicize brands owned independently by Chinese companies, tell the stories of the brands and raise brand recognition, according to Wang.
Photo taken on May 3, 2017 shows the Pireaus Port's container terminal in Greece. (Xinhua/Panos Tomadakis)

ATHENS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Years since Chinese giant COSCO Shipping's arrival at Piraeus port, the image of Greece's largest port has changed dramatically.

Greeks and Chinese continue to work hard together to realize the vision to transform Piraeus into a shining star, Tassos Vamvakidis, a manager of Piraeus Container Terminal S.A (PCT), COSCO Shipping's subsidiary at Piraeus, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Chinese investors initially took over the upgrade and management of Pier II and III for a span of 35 years from Greeks, while last year COSCO SHIPPING also acquired the majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) which manages Pier I.

"There is no comparison between the before and after," Vamvakidis said, pointing to the numbers. In 2010 container handling in Piraeus totaled 880,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent (TEUs,) in 2016 it reached 3.74 million TEUs.

The terminal's connection to the railway in 2013 gave a significant boost to the plan to turn Piraeus into a key transit hub and logistics center for the growing trade between Asia and Europe, also in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Major companies such as HP, SONY, ZTE and Huawei chose the Greek port as their gateway in Europe, saving time and money in the distribution of their products.

The path to success was not rosy. Initially a part of the local society had strong reservations about the investment, fearing that the arrival of a strong Chinese company would exacerbate unemployment rates. Within three years, once they saw that PCT's miracle at Piraeus built by Greeks and Chinese, the climate had changed and today everyone talks about PCT and wants to be on board, Vamvakidis said.

Vamvakidis is on board from day one. Born and raised at Piraeus and working in shipping since 16, the 60-year-old manager is one of the 1,500 Greeks employed at the port.

The Greek manager has learnt a lot working with the Chinese, in particular when facing obstacles. He was impressed with the Chinese side's understanding of the initial atmosphere.

"We faced challenges in the Chinese way: with patience. I think that as someone working closely with the Chinese, I learnt a lot. One of the first lessons I learnt is to be patient and persistent. When you know your goal and you are trying, you are working hard to achieve it, you must also have patience and you will make it," he said.

Vamvakidis feels proud being part of a team which sees its targets fulfilled. He also feels the burden of responsibility working for such a big, landmark project in Sino-Greek cooperation.

COSCO Shipping's investment at Piraeus creates jobs and helps invigorate the ailing economy. The development of logistics platforms for combined transport and value-added services at the port will open bigger horizons for the Greek economy, Vamvakidis noted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 20:55:35|Editor: Mengjie

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- In the not-too-distant future, winds from the North Pole could power neon lights in Beijing, while solar energy collected in equatorial regions will propel electric cars in Marrakech.

Though it sounds like science fiction, this soon-to-be reality is the result of an ambitious energy network scheme.

As the world's biggest energy consumer and fastest growing non-fossil fuel market, China is pushing for global energy interconnection (GEI), an integrated, smart and clean grid to revolutionize lagging energy infrastructure.

The plan, proposed nearly two years ago, is expected to gain new momentum from the upcoming key forum on the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative and will contribute to the revival of the ancient trade routes.

CHINESE SOLUTION TO WORLD ENERGY MIX

For five years, a 500-kilovolt converter station towering on the China-Russia border has steadily transmitted hydroelectricity from the other side to China's northeastern regions.

Located in Heihe City, Heilongjiang Province, the project, the largest of its kind in China, is helping the transformation of the country's falling industrial heartland, with a stable flow of cost-efficient and pollution-free power supply from Russia. Greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced and economic ties have become closer.

It not only represents reciprocal cooperation between two complementary economies but a fresh effort to overhaul localized and backward power generation and transmission globally, which have been challenged by regional energy imbalance, environmental disruption and climate change.

The Chinese leadership suggested the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015 to discuss establishing the GEI to meet power demand with clean and green alternatives.

"It pointed the direction and path for a global energy revolution," renowned Chinese economist Li Yining said.

Half a year later, the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) was founded in Beijing to promote the proposal. By April, it had gathered 274 members from 22 countries and regions covering five continents.

GEIDCO secretary-general Wang Yimin said the GEI is a platform that connects electric grids around the world to facilitate extensive development, deployment and utilization of clean energy, with ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission technology as the backbone.

With technological advantages and more than half of the global wind and solar power capacity, China is able to and should seize the opportunity to push forward the GEI, Li said.

BOON TO B&R AREAS AND THE WORLD

The regions along the B&R routes boast enormous untapped potential in energy infrastructure.

Average power capacity per capita in B&R areas excluding China was less than 0.3 kW and annual power consumption per capita was only around 1,600 kWh, lower than half of the world's average, according to the International Energy Agency. Given the low base, those areas will likely see booming growth in the future, with capacity installed each year expected to soar to more than 80 million kW in 2040.

A veteran in the energy sector, GEIDCO Chairman Liu Zhenya believes energy infrastructure in B&R areas is likely to see the quickest improvement among all sectors highlighted in the B&R Initiative.

Chinese companies have moved swiftly. The State Grid Corporation of China has joined in the building of 10 transnational power transmission lines that run through countries including Russia, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, with combined electricity traded over 20 billion kWh. China Southern Power Grid Company has built 12 lines connected to Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, with 47.12 billion kWh of power traded.

Addressing lingering regional power shortages and stimulating economic growth, the projects have received strong support from countries involved, with more progress in the pipeline.

Another GEIDCO official, Wan Haibin, has disclosed that the organization will sign more cooperative agreements with international peers during the B&R forum, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and some regional blocs.

Experts predicted the GEI will attract more than 50 trillion U.S. dollars of investment, thus serving as a new engine for global economic growth. The emerging industries of high-tech manufacturing, new energy and materials, and electric vehicles will be boosted.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the GEI should be incorporated into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

GEIDCO plans to put intercontinental grids in place by 2050, after transnational grids on each continent are completed by 2030, and countrywide grids by 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 21:10:39|Editor: MJ

Video Player Close

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenya seek to end the rugby Sevens World Series on a high note as they departed for Paris and London, the final two stops in the nine leg circuit.

Kenyan players Sammy Oliech and Darwin Mukidza have expressed their optimism ahead of the final rounds.

"We are looking to finish on a high, get whatever points we can get, hopefully play in the cup semifinals onwards," Oliech said on Tuesday prior to the team's departure from Nairobi.

With just two rounds remaining on the series, South Africa lead the standing with 157 points followed by Fiji 132, England 130, New Zealand (110) in fourth while giants Australia (94) are just outside the race for a top four finish, with the side currently in sixth position behind the USA (101 points). Kenya have 57 points in 11 position, their worst in the last five seasons.

The Pool draw for the Paris Sevens Canada as the top seeds after winning the eighth round of the series in Singapore.

The Canadians are drawn in Pool A with series leaders South Africa, Scotland and Japan. Pool B features Singapore, runners-up USA who are drawn alongside New Zealand, Wales and Argentina.

England, who are third in the series standings, are in Pool C with Kenya, France and invitational side Spain, who were recent series qualifier winners in Hong Kong. Australia top Pool D and will face Fiji, Samoa and Russia on day one in Paris.

Kenya's Mukidza is returning for the first time since the opening rounds in Dubai and Cape Town and wants to make amends for missed opportunities.

"It feels great to be back. It is going to be a real test for me...I expected to go and perform well."

Kenya will start their Paris Sevens fixtures with a Pool C clash against hosts France on Saturday before facing Spain and finish off their group matches against England.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 21:20:48|Editor: xuxin

Soldiers salute during the Victory Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 9, 2017. Russia marks on Tuesday the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. (Xinhua/Irina Motina)

MOSCOW, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Tuesday staged a military parade on Moscow's Red Square to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the victory in World War II (WWII).

About 10,000 Russian servicemen from the ground force, the navy, the air force, the airborne troops and the Federal Security Service participated in the parade, and dozens of military vehicles and armaments were displayed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior officials and war veterans.

In an address prior to the parade, as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, Putin congratulated all on the Victory Day, saying that the victory will forever remain in the history of humankind as "a supreme triumph of life and reason over death and barbarity," to which Russian people made a huge contribution.

"We will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won back Europe's freedom and the long-awaited peace." Putin said while paying tribute to the soldiers who fought and died for their country.

The president underlined that Russia will strengthen the traditions of patriotism and loyalty to the fatherland, and that Russian servicemen, ready for any sacrifice for their homeland and people, "will forever guard Russia as the soldiers of Victory did."

"The lessons of the war teach us to be vigilant, and Russian Armed Forces are ready to counter any potential aggression," Putin said.

Warning that the world is still being plagued by neo-nazism, terrorism, extremism and other threats, Putin called on the strengthening of combat potential and concerted efforts from the international community to meet common challenges.

"We are open to such cooperation. Russia will always side with the forces of peace, with those who stick to equitable partnership," he added.

The parade started at 10 a.m local time (0700 GMT). Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, riding in an open-roof limousine, reviewed the neatly-dressed troops in orderly alignment, before the 27 foot formations marched across the ribbon-decorated Red Square to Russia's national anthem played by the military band.

Following the troops were dozens of pieces of armaments, including a Tigr armored vehicle, a T-14 Armata tank, BMD-4 M Sadovnitsa infantry fighting vehicles, a Msta-S self-propelled howitzer, and the S-400 Triumf air defense missile system, among others.

The Pantsir-SA air defense system and Tor-M2 air defense system were showcased for the first time during the military parade.

The air show that traditionally serves as the conclusion of the parade was canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions.

After the parade, Putin laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers outside the Red Square.

Apart from Moscow, 25 Russian cities including St. Petersburg, Volgograd and Murmansk had their own military parades to commemorate the victory.

In addition to celebration, the Russians also see the annual commemoration as a good opportunity for their country to showcase its military forces and to stir up national pride.

"I'm spending the Victory Day with my family," well-known vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva told Xinhua, "The military parade is of great significance to our country, and I feel extremely proud and honored."

The Victory Day is one of the most ceremonious festivals in Russia. Members of the Commonwealth of Independence States have been following the tradition since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 21:25:52|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

CANBERRA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities on Tuesday expressed concern about the risk posed to the public by the drug fentanyl, which has been responsible for a rising number of deaths in North America.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain medication which can be 100 times more effective than morphine, but has been found to be lethal if abused - even in small doses.

Representatives from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Border Force (ABF) have said they were working together to prevent fentanyl deaths in Australia, following a spate of fatalities in North America.

CEO of the ACIC Chris Dawson said while authorities had intercepted more than 50 shipments of the drug over the last five years, many distributors and users were able to obtain lethal levels of fentanyl from legitimate sources such as at hospitals.

"Fentanyl is a pharmaceutical which has therapeutic application, but is also diverted to the illicit market," Dawson told News Corp on Tuesday.

"The ACIC assesses that most non-medical use of fentanyl is a result of domestic diversion from legitimate sources of supply, rather than importation.

"(But) the ACIC is aware that small amounts of these substances are being imported through a number of Internet sites and various countries."

Meanwhile, ABF Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg told News Corp that officers were constantly monitoring online activity on the deep web to prevent importation and online sales of the drug, after his office was "alerted to the prominence of fentanyl abuse" at a meeting between Australia's border protection heads in February last year.

"We know fentanyl has caused a large number of deaths across North America in recent years, and we are alert to the risk of it having a similar impact here in Australia," Quaedvlieg said.

"As a result of these discussions ... We are well-positioned to identify and intercept fentanyl at the Australian border.

"This has included the creation of a dedicated intelligence team working to identify suppliers, buyers and routes into Australia for this dangerous drug."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 21:25:54|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ISTANBUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish prosecutor on Tuesday asked for 40 times aggravated life sentences plus 1,540 to 2,370 years in jail for the attacker on a nightclub in Istanbul on first day of this year, who gunned down 39 people in a shooting spree, local media reported.

Abdulkadir Masharipov, a Uzbek national, is blamed by the Turkish authorities for the mass shooting at Istanbul's Reina nightclub early on New Year's Day that wounded 69 others.

Masharipov was charged mainly with "attempting to remove the constitutional order," "deliberately killing and deliberately attempting to kill" and being a member of an armed terrorist organization, the Hurriyet daily said.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility soon after the shooting spree, and Masharipov was captured after more than two weeks on the run.

The prosecutor demanded the same penalty for Zarina Nurullayeva, wife of the assailant, Hurriyet said.

For the other 51 suspects currently under detention, the prosecutor demanded an aggravated life sentence plus 7.5 to 15 years in jail for each of them over charges of "attempting to remove the constitutional order" and being a member of a terrorist organization, according to press reports.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 21:30:58|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia plans three new hydro projects as part of its ambitious strategy to meet its power generation capacity to 17,300 Mega Watts (MW) by 2020, a government official said Tuesday.

The country currently has an installed energy capacity of 4,200 MW from hydro, wind and geothermal energy sources.

Minister of the Ethiopia Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy Sileshi Bekele made the announcement on the sidelines of the 2017 World Hydro Congress, which is being held here from May 9-11.

Bekele says preliminary works on the 2,160 MW Koysha hydro project in southern Ethiopia has started while preliminary studies are being done on the 385 MW Geba and the 1700 MW Tams hydro projects.

The bulk of finance for the Koysha hydro project, which is expected to need 1.7 billion dollars to finish, has already been secured last year with an Italian export credit agency SACE.
A health worker (R), checks the blood pressure of a Nairobi resident during World Kidney Day celebrations, at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, March 9, 2017.(Xinhua/John Okoyo)

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government has suspended funding to activities carried out by Kenya's ministry of health for failure to meet unspecified conditions, which it said are yet to be met by some of the implementing partners.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said the directive will be effected in all ministry of health departments until conditions which were unspecified in the letter dated May 8 are met.

USAID Kenya and East Africa Contracting Officer, Brian Woody however said the funding for procurement of commodities and equipment related to life-saving treatment, prevention, outbreak or emergency response have been exempted.

Woody cited activities that directly strengthen county health systems will still be funded but noted that salaries and wages for all Global Security Agenda (GHSA) and PEPFAR staff such as project coordinators, administrative staff, supply chain officers, financial officers and field epidemiology and laboratory training program staff will be affected.

Woody said all its officials should immediately refrain from contracting any business with the health department.

"However, whether you receive a separate letter or not, you are to refrain from any activities further specified in this letter and or inform your contracting or agreement officer immediately," he said.

Woody said funding for domestic, international travel and activities undertaken during such trips like training, conferences, site visits and conventions have been suspended.

Marijke Wijnroks (R), Chief of Staff at the Global Fund to Fight Aids and Jackson Kioko (L), Kenyan Director of Medical Services flag off trucks containing medical equipment donated by The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, March 7, 2017. The medical equipment is supported by the Global Fund and on behalf of the Kenyan government, and will be distributed to about 1,800 health facilities across the 35 Kenyan counties. (Xinhua/John Okoyo)

Other activities the agency will not fund include meetings, events, and workshops as well as the printing of communication material such as brochures, training materials, and guidance documents.

Woody stressed that any activities conducted with the health ministry during the period of suspension will not be reimbursed by Washington.

Woody, however, said that clinic data collection tools and national guidelines may be exempted from the suspension.

"USAID will host an information session on Wednesday in order to address any questions or requests for clarifications related to this suspension notice," Woody said.

He did not give specific reasons for the suspension of the funding but observers linked the drastic decision to U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to cut aid.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 21:36:02|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

PHNOM PENH, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Tuesday that one Cambodian peacekeeper was killed and three others missing after a rebel group attacked their convoy in Central African Republic (CAR).

The attack took place on Monday night when the Cambodian peacekeepers were escorting Moroccan troops, he said, adding that five Moroccan peacekeepers were also injured and one was also missing in the attack.

Hun Sen said that Captain Phim Sam, who was a driver, was confirmed dead in the attack.

"On behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, I would like to express my profound condolences to the bereaved family for the death (of Captain Phim Sam)," he said during the inauguration ceremony of a new Tboung Khmum provincial hall in southeastern Cambodia.

The Cambodian prime minister said that it was in question whether the four missing peacekeepers were escaping from the attack or being held hostage by the rebel group, as three helicopters had been used to search for them.

"I call on the United Nations to take a high responsibility to ensure the lives of the missing Cambodian troops as well as a Moroccan troop," he said.

According to the prime minister, the rebel group attacked the peacekeepers in an attempt to liberate their group members.

Cambodia has sent its peacekeepers to join a UN peacekeeping operation in CAR since 2014. Currently, some 216 Cambodian peacekeepers are on their mission there.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 22:32:04|Editor: xuxin

Video Player Close

COLOMBO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A group of Sri Lankan refugees returned from south India on Tuesday, the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation and Resettlement said.

A spokesman for Minister D.M Swaminathan said that 16 Sri Lankan refugees returned and were greeted by officials at the main international airport outside Colombo.

The spokesperson said that over the past two weeks, 56 Sri Lankan refugees had returned to the country from India.

The refugees were among thousands who had fled Sri Lanka during a 30-year conflict between Tamil Tiger rebels and the military.

The spokesperson at the Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation and Resettlement said that mobile connections are given to the refugees so they can keep in touch with their family members till they reach home.

He also said that arrangements are made to resettle all the refugees who return to the country.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 22:42:15|Editor: An

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China said on Tuesday it has noticed the talks between representatives of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States in Norway, calling on solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue via peaceful means.

Dialogue between the DPRK government officials and U.S. experts was held on Monday and Tuesday in Oslo, according to reports.

The DPRK delegation is reportedly led by its Foreign Ministry's North America bureau chief Choe Son-hui. Her counterpart is Suzanne DiMaggio, director and senior fellow at a Washington D.C.-based think tank and former official in the Obama administration, said Yonhap News Agency of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The previous informal talks between the DPRK and the United States were held in Geneva, Switzerland last November.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing that China has always advanced that the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue should be solved via peaceful means.

China has kept contact with parties concerned, urging for restraint and avoidance of provocation, he said.

He said China has also noticed the positive signals in recent U.S. statements expressing the willingness to solve the nuclear issue via peaceful negotiation.

"China will continue to actively engage with all relevant parties and promote the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue back on the right track of dialogue and consultation," Geng said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 22:52:27|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his election as French president.

In a telephone conversation, Xi said that China-France relations, with a profound historical foundation, hold an important position in China's diplomacy.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 53 years ago, Xi said, bilateral relations have weathered volatile changes on the international scene and have been increasingly strategic.

It meets the common expectation of the two peoples and international community to lift China-France relations from a new starting point to a new level, he said.

Xi stressed that China attaches great importance to France and China-France relations, and has, as always, regarded France as an important priority cooperation partner and viewed bilateral relations from a long-term strategic perspective, Xi said.

He called on both sides to carry forward their friendly ties, strengthen strategic mutual trust, accommodate their respective core interests and major concerns, and expand practical cooperation in various areas.

Xi said China welcomes the French side's participation in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, urging both sides to keep contact and coordination on international and regional issues, continue to advance global governance reforms and safeguard achievements of global governance such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The Chinese president also reaffirmed China's support for the European integration.

Macron, for his part, said he attaches great importance to France-China relations.

He said the new French government will continue to pursue its positive and friendly policy toward China, stick to the one-China policy, deepen practical cooperation in such areas as diplomacy, trade and industry as well as in the framework of the Belt and Road construction.

The new government will maintain close communication and coordination with China on major international issues such as climate change, the president-elect added.

Xi and Macron agreed to keep contact and meet each other at an early date so as to exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 22:57:33|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

CAPE TOWN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A warning was issued on Tuesday to residents in Mpumalanga, northern South Africa after five lions escaped from the Kruger National Park (KNP).

The South African National Parks (SANParks) urged residents of Komatipoort and adjacent areas in Mpumalanga to exercise extra caution as the five lions were believed to be roaming the area, SANParks spokesperson Rey Thakhuli said.

A resident reported a sighting of the five lions in the area on Monday morning after they escaped from the KNP, one of Africa's largest game reserves.

"The person alerted the officials who then went out to chase the lions back into the park ... However it is believed that they had managed to find their way back to the area and had disappeared in the sugar cane farms about four kilometres away from the KNP," Thakhuli said.

Police have called for residents to be extra vigilant and report any sighting of these dangerous predators to the authorities.

The KNP, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and South African Police Service (SAPS) have jointly launched a search operation.

A helicopter with a vet have been dispatched to dart the animals, according to Thakhuli.

But this was not an easy operation as the animals were believed to be in sugar cane farms and the area was known for its thick fog in the morning, which made the search operation quite difficult, he said.

"However, we are doing everything in our power to return the animals safe into the park," Thakhuli said.

It was believed the animals were still in the area and might have split up at the moment due to spectator value and people wanting to take pictures of the animals, Thakhuli said.

"We urge people to refrain from taking photographs of these animals as they are dangerous predators... and believed to have already killed a cow," he added.

An investigation was underway to determine how the lions managed to escape from the park.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:07:46|Editor: An

Video Player Close





Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (front R) visits the Kaifeng comprehensive service center of China (Henan) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Kaifeng, central China's Henan Province, May 8, 2017. Li made an inspection tour to central China's Henan Province on May 8 and 9. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

ZHENGZHOU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed administrative reform and industrial innovation to attract investment and boost the country's economic development.

Li made the remarks during an inspection tour on Monday and Tuesday to central China's Henan Province, where a pilot free trade zone (FTZ) was set up on April 1, 2017.

Visiting a part of the FTZ in Kaifeng city, Li praised local efforts to streamline business registration that shortened the time needed for registering a company from more than 50 working days to only a few.

Li said amid increasingly fierce market competition, local governments should reduce institutional transactions costs, delegate powers and improve regulations and services.

"In this way, they will be able to attract more investors and people will be more willing to start businesses and make innovations," Li said.

In a visit to Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Li urged the company to seize the opportunity of the country's "Made-in-China 2025" drive to upgrade the manufacturing sector.

The company should value innovation and craftsmanship and work on core technology for important equipment, the premier said.

In electronics manufacturer Foxconn's Zhengzhou technology park, Li said that China is still a magnet for overseas investment, and investors should set up both production bases and research centers in China to realize win-win development.

Li also went to a floodplain in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, home to about 2 million people from Henan and Shandong provinces, and met with local authorities on poverty alleviation through relocation.

Relocation is necessary for both the safety of regions along the Yellow River and for helping residents in the region out of poverty, Li said.

Local authorities should complete relocation of people from low-lying and extremely dangerous areas within three years, he added.

The premier also underlined the restoration of ancient cities, saying that cultural relics should be protected.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:07:49|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

HONG KONG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative, with an emphasis on infrastructure development, "fits well" into the world's pursuit for sustainable economic development, participants at a United Nations forum said here Tuesday.

"Since the 2008 global financial crisis, there has been a global emphasis on the importance of infrastructure investment as a way of raising the productivity of economies and driving international trade in a sustainable way," said Chris Heathcote, CEO of Sydney-based Global Infrastructure Hub.

"One of the reasons the world is so interested in the Belt and Road Initiative is that it fits well into the context," he said at the International Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Forum co-held by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and Hong Kong City University (CityU).

The forum, themed "Implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through effective, people-first PPP", included a high-level debate on how the international community could support China to operationalize the Belt and Road Initiative. The debate was participated by representatives from governments, international institutions as well as academic organizations.

In her inaugural remarks at the forum, Yvonne Choi, commissioner for Belt and Road of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said the forum "is a timely and topical event, especially as we get here just a few days ahead of a high-level Belt and Road forum to be held in Beijing".

According to Choi, in the same year when the UN set the 2030 sustainable development goals, China released a document to outline its vision and action plan for the Belt and Road Initiative, which listed infrastructure development as one of the key areas of cooperation.

A study released earlier this year by the Asian Development Bank estimated the annual infrastructure investment requirement in Asia from 2016 to 2030 at around 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars, while the region's current investment level is only about half of that amount.

"The gap cannot be filled by public money alone, and this is where the PPP model comes in," Choi said.

"We all believe that infrastructure supports economic growth, but that dose not happen automatically," Danny Alexander, vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said during the debate, adding that challenges lie in making sure it is a right project that can support the growth, as well as in incorporating the needs of local people so as to remain sustainable.

He predicted that the Belt and Road Initiative "can be generally transformational" for related countries since it emphasizes on win-win cooperation with infrastructure linking these countries to enable trade growth.

Alexander, a former chief secretary of the British Treasury, stressed that "it is not only China that is talking about the importance of infrastructure investment", European countries including Britain has also emphasized the importance of connectivity.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:07:56|Editor: An

Video Player Close

NICOSIA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road forum for international cooperation to be held in Beijing in mid-May will promote all-round practical cooperation and address problems in the global economy and globalization, a scholar from Cyprus told Xinhua in an interview.

Kosta Gouliamos, rector of European University Cyprus, said the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping is "the most appropriate means" to strengthen international economic and cultural cooperation.

"I strongly believe that this initiative comprises more than physical connections as it aims to create the world's largest platform of economic coordination, including policy coordination, trade, finance collaboration and social and cultural cooperation," he said.

An expert in political communication as well as media and cultural studies, Gouliamos' many books on international economy and globalization have been translated into English, French, Spanish and Italian.

"We strongly support the Chinese president's leading effort to create the world's largest economic and cultural platform within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, a modern network that would link China with the various areas and countries of the world," he said.

He said Cyprus could be an important player in promoting this initiative given its geographical location in the world, and could perform "a vital geo-political and geo-cultural role."

"First of all, I would like to see the financial type of cooperation within the framework that also includes energy collaboration. Secondly, the cultural and educational aspect of this initiative is of paramount importance for us," said Gouliamos, who believed investments in those areas are viable and will bring mutual benefits to Cyprus and China.

The European University Cyprus boasts the largest number of Chinese students in the island country. According to Gouliamos, around 60 students from China currently attend classes in the university during the current semester, a number he said is small in quantity but big in ratio given the small size of the university.

"Some students are doing their master's degree here, so we are in cooperation with a number of Chinese universities and we think it is extremely important to enhance this relationship," he added.

"We would also like to send students from here to China. One of our students is currently doing her master's degree in law in China," Gouliamos said.
File photo taken on Oct. 25, 2016 shows a lion in its enclosure at Lionsrock Big Cat Sanctuary, Bethlehem of Free State Province, South Africa. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

CAPE TOWN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A warning was issued on Tuesday to residents in Mpumalanga, northern South Africa after five lions escaped from the Kruger National Park (KNP).

The South African National Parks (SANParks) urged residents of Komatipoort and adjacent areas in Mpumalanga to exercise extra caution as the five lions were believed to be roaming the area, SANParks spokesperson Rey Thakhuli said.

A resident reported a sighting of the five lions in the area on Monday morning after they escaped from the KNP, one of Africa's largest game reserves.

"The person alerted the officials who then went out to chase the lions back into the park ... However it is believed that they had managed to find their way back to the area and had disappeared in the sugar cane farms about four kilometres away from the KNP," Thakhuli said.

Police have called for residents to be extra vigilant and report any sighting of these dangerous predators to the authorities.

The KNP, Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and South African Police Service (SAPS) have jointly launched a search operation.

A helicopter with a vet have been dispatched to dart the animals, according to Thakhuli.

But this was not an easy operation as the animals were believed to be in sugar cane farms and the area was known for its thick fog in the morning, which made the search operation quite difficult, he said.

"However, we are doing everything in our power to return the animals safe into the park," Thakhuli said.

It was believed the animals were still in the area and might have split up at the moment due to spectator value and people wanting to take pictures of the animals, Thakhuli said.

"We urge people to refrain from taking photographs of these animals as they are dangerous predators... and believed to have already killed a cow," he added.

An investigation was underway to determine how the lions managed to escape from the park.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:28:09|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

ADDIS ABABA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Tecno Mobile sales reached 25 million devices, including 9 million smartphones in 2015, helping it to sustain the most "popular" brand status in Africa.

Globally, it sold 60 million devices last year while the sale of smart phones manufactured by the company increased by 40 percent. The company also produces tablets for the middle and high end market.

A statement was made to Xinhua on Tuesday by the firm while announcing the launching date of its newest smartphone Camon X.

The smartphone will be launched on May 10 with Tecno saying it will be made available to 41 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America promising a brighter, clearer and faster selfies than before.

Mohammed Hasseni Marketing Manager of Tecno Mobile Ethiopia says with 25 percent share of Africa's phone market, it's confident its newest offering will attract the eyes of prospective customers.

Stephen Ha, General Manager of Tecno Mobile explains the launch of Camon X Smartphone is part of a plan to sustain its most popular brand status in Africa by utilizing easy-to-use new technology.

With Tecno already having two assembly lines in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation at around 100 million people it already plans to expand its dominant share in Ethiopia's market.

Mohammed Belay, a government employee who has been using Tecno for a year, says the affordable price of Tecno Smartphones is what attracted him to buy one initially.

"Since then I've seen that my smartphone has a good quality camera, is easy to receive and send applications, has long battery life and charges fast," he remarked.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:38:13|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BANJUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Persons who lack legal identity, including a nationality, are more vulnerable to radicalization, said an official of the UN refugee agency on Tuesday.

Volker Turk, the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said this as he addressed ministers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Banjul.

"I want to underscore that the right to a legal identity is also a matter of state security, particular at a time such as this when the ECOWAS member states have legitimate concerns about the protection of their citizens in the face of growing threats," he said.

"Persons who lack legal identity, including a nationality, are more vulnerable to radicalization, exploitation and abuse including recruitment by armed groups due to their marginalization from society. Such persons are also more difficult to identify," added Turk.

He noted the situations of statelessness that remain unaddressed may contribute to inter-communal tensions or lead to forced displacement.

The ministerial meeting seeks to put an end to the scourge of statelessness, which affects more than 10 million people worldwide, including over 1 million in West Africa.

"This is a clear signal underlying the Gambia's renewed commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights, including both its commitment to the protection to eradicate statelessness and its recognition of the fundamental importance of this cause as a regional and continental priority," he said.

According to him, statelessness impedes access to the most fundamental rights and services and prevents people from participating fully in society.

"Denying someone their right to a nationality creates suffering, exclusion and marginalization. Ensuring that all persons have a nationality helps build social cohesion and integration and enables societies to capitalize on the capacities and talents of all its members," he precised.

The regional ministerial meeting on statelessness in West Africa is expected to validate an eight-year draft Plan of Action that seeks to end the statelessness by 2024.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:48:25|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will send an official delegation to the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held this weekend in Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang confirmed the attendance of the DPRK at a daily press briefing. But he did not say who will head the delegation.

The Belt and Road Initiative is open and inclusive, said Geng, adding that China welcomes all countries that share common goals and interests to join the initiative.

The China-proposed initiative aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trading routes.

The Belt and Road forum will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing. At least 28 heads of state and government will attend the forum, the highest-profile international meeting on the Belt and Road Initiative.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-09 23:53:30|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Interior Ministry announced Tuesday that the number of Iranians eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential elections is over 56 million, Tasnim news agency reported.

A total of 56,410,234 Iranians can cast their ballots in the country's 12th presidential vote slated for May 19, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, the head of the Interior Ministry's State Elections Committee, said on Tuesday.

Ahmadi said that some 1.35 million of those eligible will be first-time voters who have turned 18 years old.

Iranians will cast their votes in more than 65,000 ballot boxes across the country on May 19.

According to election authorities, Iranian nationals abroad can also vote in more than 140 countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 00:08:41|Editor: An

Video Player Close

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China's top procuratorate has declared war against crimes related to international freight and passenger railway services along the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Smuggling and human trafficking by international trains and crimes endangering railway safety were highlighted in a guideline issued by the railway division of the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Tuesday.

China now has express freight services to 28 European cities.

Procuratorial organs will also exert more strength in investigations into cases regarding the erosion of state assets in overseas railway projects, the guideline said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is China-proposed trade and infrastructure plan connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

China will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 14 and 15.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 00:13:44|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

The airstrikes target IS militants and destroy car bomb-manufacturing sites, as well as suicide bombers' safe houses. (AFP photo)

BAGHDAD, May 9 (Xinhua) -- One hundred Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Tuesday during 15 airstrikes by Iraqi jets against IS posts in Iraq's western province of Anbar, said the Iraqi military.

According to intelligence reports, jet fighters carried out 11 airstrikes against IS militant hideouts in the IS-held town of Aana, killing 47 IS militants, said Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) in a statement.

Aana is located 180 km northwest of Baghdad, Iraq's capital city. The warplanes also carried out four further airstrikes against IS posts in the IS-held town of al-Qaim, 330 km northwest of Baghdad, killing 53 IS militants, according to the statement.

The airstrikes targeted IS militants and destroyed general as well as car bomb-manufacturing sites, as well as suicide bombers' safe houses, elaborated the statement.

In late April, the JOC said that Iraqi F-16s and Sukhoi warplanes attacked IS hideouts within and nearby the town of al-Qaim, killing 46 IS militants.

Iraq's security forces' attacks which are backed by the anti-IS international coalition come as a major offensive is underway to drive out IS militants from their main stronghold in Mosul's western area in northern Iraq.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 00:13:48|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

ELDORET, Kenya, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police and wildlife rangers on Tuesday arrested suspected poachers and seized six pieces of ivory worth 30,000 U.S. dollars in Eldoret in northwest Kenya.

The police and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers trailed the suspects after a tip off by the members of the public and arrested the suspects at Eastleigh residential area in Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu County.

Eldoret West divisional police commander Samuel Mutunga said the officers raided part of the Eastleigh estate and managed to seize 30 kilograms of ivory in a black vehicle driven by the suspects.

Mutunga said they have launched investigations into the source of the ivory adding that some suspects were still at large. He said they have launched a manhunt for the missing suspects.

He said the suspects are in custody and they will appear in court Wednesday.

The arrests of the suspects came amid spirited effort put by the government and the international organization to stamp out rampant illegal wildlife trade in the country.

He appealed to the public to volunteer information to police and the Wildlife officials of any illegal wildlife trade in their area.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 00:23:59|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

DAR ES SALAAM, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 12 contestants from six Tanzanian secondary schools attended a Chinese language competition on Monday evening in the country's capital Dodoma.

The competition consists of three sections, dictation, speech and dialogue.

During the competition, Sada Zacharia, a student from Morogoro Secondary School, emerged as winner thanks to her fluency in Chinese, and the second place went to Bilali Yahya (Kiwanja cha Ndege secondary School) and Devotha Robert (Kilakala Secondary School).

Third place winners were Nasra Manyanya (Benjamin Mkapa schoold), Ashraf Mtinazi (Kiwanja cha Ndege school) and Lilian Milanzi (Kilakala school).

Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Education, Science and Techonoligy Simon Msanjila encouraged the students and thanked the work of volunteer language teachers from China and wish them a prosperous life.

Ten volunteers who have completed their two-year service in Tanzania also received certificate of appreciation from the official.

Zheng Xueyu, Chinese language coordinator in Tanzania, commended all the students who are taking part in the competition, encouraging them to work hard for better results.

Tanzania has introduced Chinese language teaching in its education system in 2016. Currently, there are six pilot secondary schools offering Chinese classes to a total of 2,631 students.
China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang (L front) shakes hands with lawmakers at the Legislative Assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region on May 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

MACAO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang on Tuesday called upon lawmakers, judges and prosecutors of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) to exercise the rule of law so as to maintain long-term prosperity and stability of the SAR.

Zhang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, made the remarks at the Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR.

The Legislative Assembly, created in accordance with the Basic Law of the Macao SAR, is an important part of the political system of the SAR, he said.

Since Macao's return to the motherland, the SAR's Legislative Assembly has earnestly performed its duties to support, coordinate and supervise the SAR government according to law, and has contributed significantly to the promotion of Macao's democratic development, rule of law and social advancement, Zhang said when meeting with all members of the assembly.

The achievements have been made by the SAR's Legislative Assembly as it functions in the spirit of the rule of law and under the Constitution and the Basic Law, Zhang said.

The Legislative Assembly is an integration of electoral democracy and consultative democracy, which should play a greater role in the future, he added.

He asked the lawmakers to fulfill their oath of office and keep the motherland in mind.

Zhang said they should have a full and accurate understanding of the "one country, two systems" principle, uphold the central government's overall jurisdiction over the Macao SAR, and ensure the effective functioning of the SAR's administration-led system set up by the Basic Law.

China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang (R 2nd) inspects the Court of Final Appeals of the Macao Special Administrative Region on May 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

The lawmakers were also reminded of trying and carrying on mechanisms related to the implementation of the Basic Law in order to establish a legal system commensurate with the Macao SAR's condition.

The democratic consultation with Macao's characteristics has to be maintained, Zhang told the lawmakers, emphasizing the importance for them to express aspirations of different sectors in the society objectively and supervise the SAR government in its policy implementation rationally.

Zhang urged the lawmakers to join hands with the SAR government to promote unity among the public in Macao, in order to build a strong, positive power to safeguard the national sovereignty, security and interests, and Macao's long-term prosperity and stability.

Zhang also met with the SAR's judges and prosecutors at the Court of Final Appeals and encouraged them to firmly establish consciousness about the Constitution and the Basic Law.

The Macao SAR is endowed with independent judiciary and final adjudication by the Basic Law. Courts and prosecutorates in the SAR have made substantial contribution toward the implementation of "one country, two systems," Zhang said.

He also stressed the importance of judicial impartiality in order to protect the legal rights of Macao residents and guarantee the promotion of successful implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle in Macao.

Zhang arrived in the Macao SAR on Monday for a three-day inspection.
President Trumps top military and foreign policy advisers reportedly proposed a new military strategy in Afghanistan that would deploy U.S. troops to fight against the Taliban, according to

.





Such a decision would mark a major shift in governments approach, if approved.





The goal of an expanded military presence would be to fight back against the Taliban to the point that the terror organization will negotiate, U.S. officials tell the Post.





Trump has yet to approve the plan, but his top Cabinet officials reportedly support it. The Post said the plan would give the Pentagon broader authority to decide how many troops are stationed in Afghanistan and when to use airstrikes on Taliban fighters.





It also calls for expanding the U.S. military role as part of a broader effort to push back an increasingly resurgent Taliban and bring it to the negotiating table, U.S. officials told the Post.

The Posts report comes after Trump repeatedly promised to start winning again, amid worsening security in a region destabilized from more than 15 years of war.





Restrictions created under the Obama administration would likely be lifted, giving military advisers more freedom to make decisions on the battlefield.




Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 02:20:20|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

TIRANA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Tuesday formally launched its election observation mission for Albania's June 18 parliamentary election.

"We are well aware that this process is being contested by a number of parliamentary parties, however, our duty is to ensure transparency," Peter Tejler, chief of OSCE Mission, told a press conference.

He explained that the mission deployed in Albania represented the same organization as the OSCE Presence in Tirana but were independent in their approaches, duties and also act independently of other OSCE institutions.

Meanwhile, he informed that a few days before the elections, short-term observers will also arrive in Tirana to monitor the election process.

Some 15 political parties are running for June 18 elections. The main opposition parties have not registered for the polls, saying that the current government could not guarantee the free vote.

Since Feb. 18, the Albanian opposition led by Democratic Party, has been boycotting the parliament. They also protested in front of Prime Minister's office, seeking the formation of a caretaker government.

Despite requests, PM Edi Rama has refused to step down and reconfirmed that general elections will be held as scheduled on June 18.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (Standing in the car) inspects troops during the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Wu Zhuang)

MOSCOW, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Tuesday staged a military parade on Moscow's Red Square to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the victory in World War II (WWII).

About 10,000 Russian servicemen from the ground force, the navy, the air force, the airborne troops and the Federal Security Service participated in the parade, and dozens of military vehicles and armaments were displayed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, senior officials and war veterans.

In an address prior to the parade, as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, Putin congratulated all on the Victory Day, saying that the victory will forever remain in the history of humankind as "a supreme triumph of life and reason over death and barbarity," to which Russian people made a huge contribution.

"We will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won back Europe's freedom and the long-awaited peace." Putin said while paying tribute to the soldiers who fought and died for their country.

The president underlined that Russia will strengthen the traditions of patriotism and loyalty to the fatherland, and that Russian servicemen, ready for any sacrifice for their homeland and people, "will forever guard Russia as the soldiers of Victory did."

"The lessons of the war teach us to be vigilant, and Russian Armed Forces are ready to counter any potential aggression," Putin said.

Warning that the world is still being plagued by neo-nazism, terrorism, extremism and other threats, Putin called on the strengthening of combat potential and concerted efforts from the international community to meet common challenges.

"We are open to such cooperation. Russia will always side with the forces of peace, with those who stick to equitable partnership," he added.

The parade started at 10 a.m local time (0700 GMT). Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, riding in an open-roof limousine, reviewed the neatly-dressed troops in orderly alignment, before the 27 foot formations marched across the ribbon-decorated Red Square to Russia's national anthem played by the military band.

Following the troops were dozens of pieces of armaments, including a Tigr armored vehicle, a T-14 Armata tank, BMD-4 M Sadovnitsa infantry fighting vehicles, a Msta-S self-propelled howitzer, and the S-400 Triumf air defense missile system, among others.

The Pantsir-SA air defense system and Tor-M2 air defense system were showcased for the first time during the military parade.

The air show that traditionally serves as the conclusion of the parade was canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions.

After the parade, Putin laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers outside the Red Square.

Apart from Moscow, 25 Russian cities including St. Petersburg, Volgograd and Murmansk had their own military parades to commemorate the victory.

In addition to celebration, the Russians also see the annual commemoration as a good opportunity for their country to showcase its military forces and to stir up national pride.

"I'm spending the Victory Day with my family," well-known vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva told Xinhua, "The military parade is of great significance to our country, and I feel extremely proud and honored."

The Victory Day is one of the most ceremonious festivals in Russia. Members of the Commonwealth of Independence States have been following the tradition since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 03:51:48|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

HELSINKI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish government on Tuesday published its landmark freedom of choice act, which would put public and private health and social care providers onto an equal footing.

In the future, a patient would pay the same fee irrespective whether the service provider is public, private or third sector. Patient fees only cover a fraction of the costs and the rest is reimbursed from tax payer money. The reform is to take effect gradually in 2019 and requires parliamentary approval this spring.

Patients cannot shop around on a daily basis, but have to register with a service provider for a fixed period.

The public financing of the service providers will be based on the quality of patients: the older and sicker the patient, the better the compensation to the service provider.

Under the new system, public health centers may face fierce competition from private providers and may even go bankrupt if their patients rather choose a private provider.

The reform also features a plan that public services must be converted into provincially owned businesses. The newly established provinces will be in charge of health care instead of the municipalities, authorizing private and public service providers, operating on public money.

Even though the reform of the health care system had been prepared for years, the latest plan dates back to a deal between the conservative National Coalition Party and the Center Party in late 2015.

In the deal, the establishment of provinces favored by the Center was approved, while the Conservatives got in return "freedom of choice" in health care.

Juha Rehula, Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services and a MP from the Center Party, defended the legislation on Tuesday and said that many changes were made on account of feedback. However, political opposition parties and some social affairs experts criticized the plans.

Critics say distant areas may not attract private operators at all, while competition will be hard in urban centers. Most of high level specialized care will remain outside the business conversion requirement.

Health care specialist Tiina Merikanto said on national broadcaster Yle that the reform was prepared at great speed.

"The conservatives are in a rush as there is no certainty that the next parliament, elected in 2019, would back these principles," she said.

During the last ten years, ownership of Finnish private health care has been consolidated. Some leading companies are owned by foreign capital investors.

Internationally owned health companies in Finland have often used legal tax planning and been able to pay only a minute tax in Finland. In the newly announced act, a demand was that service providers must divulge their taxes and where they have been paid.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 03:56:54|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

TIRANA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) delegation in Albania announced Tuesday the five winners for start-up and young entrepreneurs of the national contest Start Up Albania 2017, the EU office here said in a press statement.

The project was realized through the EU information network, in cooperation with the Albanian Ministry of Innovation and Public Administration as well as Albanian Investments Agency.

While awarding the prizes, the head of EU delegation to Albania Romana Vlahutin highlighted that such initiatives encouraged young entrepreneurs and offered them opportunities to compete on the European markets.

Start-Up Albania 2017 aims to strengthen the climate of business embracing innovation and technology as key elements for business development with special focus on youth, she told at a conference.

According to Vlahutin, startups still find it difficult to find favorable environment in Albania, so EU will provide support to an innovative eco-system by establishing an incubator, improving access to finance and acceleration support to innovative start-ups.

"EU support for Competitiveness and Innovation sector includes an allocation of almost 50 million euros (2014-2020), of which we have targeted 6.6 million euros for innovation," Vlahutin noted.

The Start Up Albania 2017 was launched on March 1, 2017, with the participation of 77 applicants. The applications cover areas like information technology, social business, and agriculture.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 04:11:57|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

PARIS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- La Gare du Nord, one of Paris' main railway station, reopened in early Tuesday morning after police evacuated it to search for possible terrorist suspects, the Paris prefecture said.

"End of security checks. Gradual return to normal," Paris police said on its Twitter account.

Police had intervened for operation checks, it said without elaborating.

According to the local news paper Le Parisien, officers, with assault weapons, searched a high speed train arriving from northern France to hunt presumed terrorist militants who were believed to be on board.

An alert about the three suspects was issued by a "partner country" and it was circulated to police last Friday, it added.

France remains top target of terrorist cells due to its military intervention in Iraq, Syria and the Sahel region.

Over the past two years, waves of attacks broke several times the calm at home, with the bloodiest staged at Rivera city of Nice where a man drove his truck into a crowd, killing 86 people on Bastille Day last year.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 04:17:06|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed defense minister, Mehdi Barghathi, on Tuesday paid a visit to the Tunisian border in Nalut city in western Libya.

Barghathi met with security officials of Nalut and the Tunisian border, and discussed the challenges for further development of security and fighting smuggling and illegal trade, as well as strengthening military actions in the region.

Nalut crossing is considered the second Libyan-Tunisian border after Ras-Jdair. Tunis is a main destination for Libyans who seek medical care and tourism.

Amid insecurity and chaos, the UN-backed government of national accord lately launched a campaign against smuggling across land and sea.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 04:17:08|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

LOS ANGELES, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Antonio Sabato Jr., an actor best known for his roles on several reality television shows, announced to run for congress in South California in the west coast of the United States.

According to local KTLA 5, the actor filled documents to the Federal Election Commission on Monday and pledged to challenge the two-term Republican Congresswoman Julia Brownley in upcoming mid-terms election in 2018.

Strategist Charles Moran, who would serve as Sabato's fundraiser and a top adviser, was quoted as saying that the 45-year-old actor had long been interested in politics and public policy, but his experiences at the Republican Nationals Convention last year prompted him to consider running for office.

The issues Sabato planned to focus on were veterans' needs and substance abuse, Moran said, adding that the Italian-born actor's good relationship with the White House and Republican leadership would help him to success.

Sabato was a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and was one of the few celebrities to turn out for Trump's inauguration in Washington DC in January.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 04:21:53|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency believed on Tuesday that 245 people were feared dead while trying to cross the Mediterranean, a UN spokesperson has said.

The Agency said they had received alarming information on two shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at the daily news briefing.

"The first took place on Friday night, with some 82 people feared dead or missing," said Dujarric. Another shipwreck took place off the coast of Libya on Sunday, with some 163 people feared dead or missing, he said.

This brings the total number of people believed to have died or missing while trying to reach Italy from North Africa to more than 1,300 since early this year, he said.

So far this year, more than 43,000 migrants and asylum seekers have used the Central Mediterranean route to reach Italy, according to the spokesperson.
U.S. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts speaks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States, on May 5, 2017.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

by Xinhua writers Gao Pan, Yan Liang

OMAHA, the United States, May 8 (Xinhua) -- As someone who grew up in the city of Omaha in the midwest, Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts believes the United States and China could learn from the city's legendary investor Warren Buffett, taking a long-term value investing approach to manage their ties.

"The Sage of Omaha has done wonders for the investing community by really helping people think through that idea of value investing for the long term," Ricketts said of Berkshire Hathaway's chairman and CEO Buffett on the sidelines of the company's annual shareholder meeting held at the weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.

Over the past six decades, the 86-year-old Buffett has transformed Berkshire from a struggling textile business into a financial powerhouse with insurance, energy, transportation and manufacturing units through his famous long-term value investing strategy.

His shrewd stock picks and acquisitions have contributed to the steadily rising earnings of the company, a U.S. Multinational conglomerate headquartered in Omaha, and earned him the nickname of the "Sage of Omaha", or the "Oracle of Omaha".

"I think that's why so many Chinese investors appreciate Mr. Buffett, because he thinks about the long term the same way the Chinese people think about long term," said Ricketts, who has visited China twice since becoming Nebraska state governor in January 2015

"That's exactly how we should be thinking" about relations between the United States and China as well, he said.

"Certainly we may have challenges short term, but we also have to remember how important the relationship between the United States and China is and that is for the long-term good of all the nations of the earth that we have good relationships," Ricketts said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"We think about that long-term relationship because both countries are going to be here for a long time," he said.

U.S. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts speaks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States, on May 5, 2017.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL TRADE RELATIONSHIP

Ricketts said the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month in the U.S. seaside resort of Mar-a-Lago in Florida "went very well", noting "the fact that two leaders got the chance to meet personally is good" for both countries and the entire world.

At the meeting, the two leaders agreed to create a four-pronged high-level dialogue mechanism to deal with major issues on security, economic relations, cyber security and law enforcement, and people-to-people exchanges.

The two sides also agreed on a 100-day plan to boost economic cooperation and address trade concerns, which likely includes expanding U.S. beef exports to China, according to analysts.

"Beef is our number one export, we're the number one state that exports the most beef around the world, and we certainly would appreciate the opportunity to be able to export what we have here in Nebraska to China," Ricketts said.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, an old friend of the Chinese people and the longest-serving U.S. governor, has been tapped to be the next U.S. ambassador to China, something Ricketts believes is "a very positive sign" that shows Trump's commitment to the relationship with China.

"Obviously Governor Branstad and President Xi Jinping have known each other for a long time ...I know he'll do a great job of representing agriculture and our relationship with China," he said.

While the United States and China may have differences with regard to trade policies, Ricketts urged the two countries to foster mutually beneficial trade ties, "so that both countries can continue to see the prosperity that's been created by our trade relationship," he said.

U.S. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts speaks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States, on May 5, 2017.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

NEBRASKA TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH CHINA

Recalling his last trade mission to China in November 2016, Ricketts believes "there's tremendous opportunity for both Nebraskans and Chinese in developing that relationship further."

"China is our second biggest trading partner outside of North America and we exported over 1.2 billion (U.S.) dollars to China last year," he said, adding the rising standards of living in China "creates not only a great future for China but a huge opportunity for states like Nebraska to meet the needs of the Chinese people."

During the trip, Nebraska and China's Shaanxi Province signed an agreement to cement a sister state-province tie and launched a demonstration farm, known as Nebraska (Yangling) Agricultural Sci-tech Park in Shaanxi Province, to showcase farm equipment and techniques used in Nebraska.

"It"s a cooperation with the state of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska, and Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University to really showcase the technology that we're using in Nebraska that could help Chinese producers," Ricketts said, eyeing irrigation as useful technology for Chinese farmland.

"Nebraska is actually the largest irrigated state in the United States with over 8 million acres (3.2 million hectares) of irrigated farmland and that is an opportunity for China as well to look at using that technology to be able to expand the number of acres that the Chinese can irrigate," he said.

"So it's about 80 hectares of land in Shaanxi Province that we use to really strengthen that relationship between Nebraska and China," Ricketts said of the demonstration farm.

The U.S. governor also welcomed Chinese companies to invest in the state's top two industries, agriculture and manufacturing, listing central location, great workforce, business-friendly regulatory environment, and competitive taxes in Nebraska as advantages.

"Jiangsu World Group has invested in the Worldlawn Power Equipment in Nebraska to make lawn mowers, but they also make agricultural equipment in China, so that's a great example of a Chinese company that has really found that synergy between what they do in Asia and what they can do in North America," he said.

The Chinese logistics firm Easyway International of Shaanxi province also chose to locate its North American headquarters in Gretna, Nebraska, he added.

"Nebraska is centrally located and so you can get within anywhere in the continental United States within two days of trucking. So it's a key location if you're in logistics, we've got a great transportation infrastructure already for both roads and rails," he said.

Drawing from his previous business experience, Ricketts said his state government really focuses on "being customer-oriented, more effective and more efficient" to be able to help companies.

Meanwhile, there's a lot of common characteristics between the culture here in Nebraska and Chinese culture concerning the emphasis on family, education, working hard, being patient, and thinking long term, said Ricketts.

"Those are all characteristics of both the Chinese people and Nebraskans," he said, noting that's why he believes the state's relationship with China will grow. Ricketts adds that he will certainly be returning to China again some time in the future.
The airstrikes target IS militants and destroy car bomb-manufacturing sites, as well as suicide bombers' safe houses. (AFP photo)

BAGHDAD, May 9 (Xinhua) -- One hundred Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Tuesday during 15 airstrikes by Iraqi jets against IS posts in Iraq's western province of Anbar, said the Iraqi military.

According to intelligence reports, jet fighters carried out 11 airstrikes against IS militant hideouts in the IS-held town of Aana, killing 47 IS militants, said Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) in a statement.

Aana is located 180 km northwest of Baghdad, Iraq's capital city. The warplanes also carried out four further airstrikes against IS posts in the IS-held town of al-Qaim, 330 km northwest of Baghdad, killing 53 IS militants, according to the statement.

The airstrikes targeted IS militants and destroyed car bomb-manufacturing sites, as well as suicide bombers' safe houses, elaborated the statement.

In late April, the JOC said that Iraqi F-16s and Sukhoi warplanes attacked IS hideouts within and nearby the town of al-Qaim, killing 46 IS militants.

Iraq's security forces' attacks which are backed by the anti-IS international coalition come as a major offensive is underway to drive out IS militants from their main stronghold in Mosul's western area in northern Iraq.
Photo taken on Oct. 17, 2015 shows the aerial view of Beihai city, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Beihai city, starting point of China's ancient marine silk road towards outside world, plays an important role in China's foreign trade over 2,000 years ago. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative will "open up huge opportunities" for the international capital markets due to the potential colossal financing needed to undertake the huge project in years to come, U.S. experts said recently.

The project, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with other parts of the world along the ancient Silk Road trade routes over land and sea.

"This is such a monumental project in terms of creating the whole new infrastructure, sea and land," Caroline Owen, CEO and founder of an independent renminbi (RMB) internationalization advisory firm -- RMB Global Advisors, told Xinhua at a business seminar organized by Bank of China and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

The initiative will help boost RMB internationalization, Owen said.

"Also in terms of trade, as these roads and routes are built, there will be more use of RMB along the way," said Owen, who advises having extensive cooperation in the consumer goods, retail, industrial and commodity sectors on redenominating their invoicing from U.S. dollars to RMB.

The cumulative investment in the Belt and Road Initiative is estimated at trillions of U.S. dollars in the coming years and it takes joint efforts of the countries involved to offer long-term and sustainable financial support.

Part of the funding will come via the 40-billion-dollar Silk Road Fund, and the 100-billion-dollar Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), whose membership has increased to some 70, second only to that of the World Bank.

"I think the development of AIIB is kind of a complement, rather than competition to other international financial institutions, like the world Bank, Asian Development Bank and etc.," Antony Mak, a HKTDC director, told Xinhua.

"AIIB really gives a lot of opportunities for developing nations, especially for East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, etc., to have access to funding which previously they did not have," he said.

"There is a lot of research which shows the infrastructure opportunities are a lot larger than the current capital available from financial institutions," he added.

Mak also noted that Hong Kong, an international financial center in Asia and a new AIIB member, can make good use of its unique advantages in its possession of world-class talents and expertise in handling large-scale projects to make the bank more successful.

In late February, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the emerging Asian nations are expected to need about 26 trillion dollars in infrastructure investment from 2016 to 2030. That is 1.7 trillion dollars a year, more than twice what the ADB had forecast in 2009.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 05:13:14|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

ALGIERS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Fayez al-Sarraj, held talks on Tuesday with Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, regarding the Libyan peace process developments.

The meeting is part of Algeria's efforts to further a consensual political solution in Libya, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office.

Sellal reassured his Libyan guest that Algeria will maintain its support toward Libya in its struggle for peace, added the source.

Al-Serraj's visit comes following Libya's neighbouring countries' 11th ministerial meeting held in Algiers on Monday.

"My visit to Algiers is part of the ongoing political consultations between Algeria and Libya, as I'm due to discuss several issues with Algerian officials," al-Seraj told reporters in Algiers International Airport.

"I would like to salute the efforts exerted by Algeria to boost the Libyan peace process," he added.

On Monday, Algeria hosted Libya's neighboring nations' 11th ministerial meeting, urging Libyan opposing parliament to stick to the political peace agreement reached in December 2015 in Morocco.

Participants also reiterated their rejection of any military intervention in this chaos-ridden nation.

The meeting gathered representatives from Libya's six neighboring nations, namely Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Egypt, in addition to representatives from the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union.

Libyan central figures reached a shaky peace accord following UN-sponsored talks held in Morocco on Dec. 17, 2015, in an attempt to end over six years of civil war.

Both a national unity government and a cabinet were established, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Seraj, whose top mission is uniting Libya's opposing parliament in order to stand united in their fight against the Islamic State militants.

Currently, Libya has two rival parliaments, the House of Representatives which is the internationally recognized one, based in the eastern port city of Tobruk, and the General National Congress parliament, based in the capital city of Tripoli.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 06:49:20|Editor: yan

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will reconvene the intra-Syrian talks under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on May 16 to end the Syrian conflict, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced here Tuesday.

"As preparations for talks continue, the special envoy reiterates his hope that the agreement reached last week in Astana will be implemented in full, thus bringing about a significant de-escalation in violence, and helping shape an environment conducive to the political intra-Syrian talks in Geneva," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

De Mistrua will brief the UN Security Council later this month, he said.

On May 6, during the Astana talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum on the creation of four or more safe zones in Syria.

The de-escalation zones deal went into effect in Syria at midnight of last Saturday, reports said. By June 4, guarantors of the deal will establish the exact borders of the zones, according to Russia's Defense Ministry.

The third round of the Syria talks was held in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, 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| 2017-05-10 06:54:22|Editor: ying

People gather at the site of a fireworks blast in Chilchotla, Puebla state, Mexico, on May 9, 2017. At least 14 people were killed and more than 20 were injured in the fireworks blast here where fireworks were stored, the regional government said on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Str)

MEXICO CITY, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a fireworks explosion in central Mexico on Monday night has climbed to 14 with 22 more injured, the state government of Puebla announced Tuesday.

In a statement on Twitter, the regional government said the explosion went off at 9:30 p.m. in a fireworks warehouse, ahead of a village festival on May 15.

According to early reports from rescue teams, the explosion was sparked by a lit firework outside the house.

Puebla's interior secretary said the explosion caused the building to collapse, killing a total of 14 people.

In December, a massive explosion at a fireworks market in Mexico City killed 35 people and injured many more.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-10 06:59:25|Editor: ying

Video Player Close

BOGOTA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla group in Colombia, freed eight hostages on Tuesday in a rural area of the northwestern province of Choco.

"Under pressure by public forces, the eight hostages were freed in Novita, Choco. They are already in the care of our troops," wrote President Juan Manuel Santos on his official Twitter Tuesday morning.

The commander of police of Choco, John Arevalo, also wrote on Twitter that "intimidation by the Colombian police and army allowed for the freeing of the eight people kidnapped by ELN in Novita, safe and sound."

Relations between the government and the ELN are fragile as the two sides began peace talks in Quito, Ecuador in February.
Its just scandalous

I called in to point out that I feel the same way you feel and that as prime minister, Ive set about doing something about it. He recalled his governments colloquium at the Hyatt Hotel, Portof- Spain a few months ago, at which the riot act was read to all heads of State agencies, on a lack of timely financial statements for submission. We gave them a deadline. Rowley said he instructed Minister of Finance Colm Imbert to mandate in writing that all State enterprises submit their financials by March 31, regardless of the documents condition. Nearly all have complied in submitting financial statements. He said the Ministry will go through all reports and any non-compliance will incur serious consequences.

Weve been paying people handsomely to manage agencies, theyve been spending taxpayers money but even when the law requires them to report to the Parliament they would not do that. Some disregarded their duty to report to the Ministry of Finance, Rowley added.

We intend to draw the line. And what youre seeing in the Auditor Generals Report is a synopsis of the situation. Asked about TSTTs $255 million purchase of Massy Communications, he said much misunderstanding exists in the public domain.

It is not correct to say Cabinet was not informed. TSTT is a very strange company in that it is not wholly State-owned. The State owns 51 percent and an international company owns 49 percent. He said TSTT faced a serious threat from external and internal forces and so detailed its budget and future plans to Cabinet. Rowley related that in one case, Cabinet advised TSTT to consider using the Corporation Act to make its case.

TSTTs Strategic Plan has been approved by Cabinet. What is not expected to happen is that TSTT will be micro- managed. He said the buying of Massy Communications was not unusual in the corporate sector, adding It is not correct to say it is wrongdoing. Asked why TSTT did not tell Cabinet about buying Massy, he replied, The Strategic Plan that we approved pretty much covered that kind of action. He said Massy is listed on the TT Stock Exchange so any wrongdoing would cause all in the firm to have to account to the Securities Exchange Commission (SE C), but that is not happening.

So this is somebody looking for a story when one doesnt exist.

Cabinet is not complaining.
Khan hits Deyalsingh non-issue

In a message posted on YouTube, Khan not only defended his share ownership at St Augustine Private Hospital (SAPH) he reiterated his belief that the attack by Deyalsingh was inspired by someone within the Opposition United National Congress, of which Khan is a member.

The Minister of Health indicated that I had 250,000 shares in St Augustine Private hospital which Ive had since 1999. Ive always declared that to the In tegrity Commission, Khan said adding, Its unfortunate that it was used to say that I should not be signing licenses as an administrative duty as a Minister for hospitals in this country. He continued: I delegated that to the Chief medical officer because I recused myself from everything occurring at St Augustine Private Hospital when I was Minister of Health. Khan said he also resigned as a director after becoming Health Minister and had allowed the board of directors to deal with the shareholding assets.

I declared everything to the Integrity Commission so to be hit like that is unfortunate, he said. However, as Mr (Basdeo) Panday always said, the PNM is the enemy however you have to be careful of the people around you because somebody obviously fed that to the PNM to deal with me in some manner.
Gopeesingh knocks EFCL payment

This despite the fact that several contractors have for many years, been owed tens of millions of dollars.

He in a statement, said any decision to pay a specific contractor may be a breach of the official State Enterprises Performance Monitoring Manual and maybe even the Integrity in Public Life Acts code of conduct.

The manual lists strict processes on procurement and compliance and the oversight role of the Investments Division of the Ministry of Finance which has explicit duties with respect to corporate governance.

Citing recent media reports, Gopeesingh alleged, The Stateowned company was reportedly instructed to make payments to the contractor. The high-handed action undermines the duties and functions of the companys Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and executive managers, as indicated in the Manual. The move also compromises the Companys Audit Committee. Gopeesingh said that under the Companies Act of 1995, the Board of Directors directs the management of the business and affairs of the Company, while line ministries (in this case the Ministry of Finance) merely handle policy matters. According to the Manual, the Board has responsibility for planning, monitoring and controlling the activities of the Company. He said the Investments Division promotes good corporate governance, including economic and financial appraisals.
EMP Commission expert: North Korea preparing satellite launch of nuclear weapon that will wipe out U.S. electrical grid

An expert in nuclear weapons design and delivery and member of the Congressional EMP Commission says its very likely North Korea is developing technology that would enable it to launch a small-yield nuclear weapon from a satellite that is capable of knocking much of the U.S. power grid.

Dr. Vincent P. Pry, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News radio host Aaron Kline over the weekend, noted that much of the international community and global news media are focused on North Koreas intercontinental ballistic missile tests and its nuclear weapons program. However, he said the real danger comes from the EMP  electromagnetic pulse  threat that has the potential to destroy most of our electric-powered infrastructure.

Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and chief of staff of the EMP commission, noted that North Korea has two satellites currently orbiting above the U.S. at trajectories that are prime for a surprise EMP attack. (RELATED: North Korea Ready To Nuke America  World Should Be Ready Warns High-Level Defector Who Confirms Nuke Launch Plans With NBC News)

Those satellites  the KMS 3-2 and KMS-4  are earth observation vehicles that Pyongyang launched in April 2012 and February 2016 respectively.

They are positioning themselves as sort of a nuclear missile age, cyberage version of the battleship diplomacy in my view, he told Kline. So that they can always have one of them (satellites) very close to being over the United States or over the United States.

He said the plan is to essentially prevent any U.S. attack on North Korea, under threat of EMP retaliation.

[I]f a crisis comes up and if we decide to attack North Korea, [Leader] Kim Jong-un can threaten our president and say, Well, dont do that because we are going to burn your whole country down. Which is basically what he said. I mean, he has made threats about turning the United States into ashes and he connected the satellite program to this in public statements to deter us from attacking.

Pry said the North Koreans may be mimicking a technology he said was developed during the Cold War by the Soviet Union, in which an attack via EMP was one element of a surprise assault against the U.S. aimed at destroying much of the U.S. military.

During the Cold War, the Russians had a secret weapon they called a fractional orbital bombardment system, Pry said, adding that the strategy involved a preemptive EMP attack using a warhead disguised as a satellite.

The idea was to put a nuclear weapon on a satellite, he said. Launch it on a trajectory toward the south so it is also flying away from the United States. Orbit it over the South Pole and come up on the other side of the earth so that it approaches from the south.

Earlier, a report co-authored by Pry and former CIA Director James Woolsey for the commission found that an EMP attack that destroyed a large swath of the power grid would result in a 90 percent death rate among Americans, from starvation, societal collapse and deprivation.

Interestingly, there are several skeptics, many from the Left, that believe this kind of technology and scenario could not possibly exist.

In an April column for Newsmax, Pry took on National Public Radio for its focus on interviewing experts on this topic who, frankly, are not:

[O]n April 27, NPR science editor Geoff Brunfield (who, according to his NPR bio, has a Masters in science writing from Johns Hopkins University) interviewed EMP non-expert Jeffrey Lewis in a segment titled The North Korean Electromagnetic Pulse Threat, Or Lack Thereof.

Why Brunfield would interview Jeffrey Lewis about EMP, and not the vastly more knowledgeable former Director of Central Intelligence Jim Woolsey, is explicable only as a combination of incompetence and possible NPR bias against the politically incorrect EMP threat.

The technology has long existed, Pry argues, dating back to 1962-63 when the Soviets conducted successful EMP tests. (RELATED: If You Want To Know Which REAL Assets Will Survive War, Revolution And Financial Collapse, Listen To The Health Rangers Advice)

As for the what would happen to American society if the U.S power grid suffered major widespread damage, one need only to look at disasters on a much, much smaller scale to determine that outcome. What happens in major cities following flooding (New Orleans, 2005) or jury verdicts (Baltimore, Ferguson, Mo., Rodney King) is a microcosm of what would occur in U.S. cities big and small all around the country if our power grid was largely destroyed.

Only a Left-wing kook would dismiss that reality.

Meantime, the Trump administration remains focused on the North Korean threat.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

Breitbart.com

Newsmax.com

Bugout.news

Submit a correction >>
The International Criminal Courts prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Monday told the UN Security Council that her office was collecting evidence of crimes allegedly committed by human traffickers against migrants in Libya.

According to the UN, so far this year nearly 33,000 people have arrived in Europe, the majority from Libya while almost 850 are feared to have died in the Mediterranean crossing attempt.

Thousands of vulnerable migrants, including women and children, are being held in detention centres across Libya where crimes, including killings, rapes and torture, are alleged to be commonplace, Bensouda said.

She said the ICC prosecution is carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya if these cases fall under the courts jurisdiction.

The International Organization for Migration has recently reported that migrants are being bought and sold openly in modern-day slave markets in Libya, as testified by survivors helped by the UN agency to return home.

Trafficked people passing through Libya have previously reported violence, extortion and slave labor.

The North African country is a major exit point for refugees trying to take boats to Europe.
Amnesty International has deplored the absence of the rule of law in Libya wherein armed militias have the upper hands, leaving civilians living in a country descending into chaos and lawlessness.

Kidnappings of civilians by militias, often for ransom, have risen sharply since 2014, particularly in the west of the country, where hundreds have gone missing and abductions have become a feature of daily life, said AI in a press release.

Among the latest victims to go missing is Tripoli University professor Dr. Salem Mohamed Beitelmal, who was abducted over two weeks ago not far from his home in the area of Siyyad on the outskirts of Tripoli. His whereabouts remain unknown and his family have had no contact with him since his abduction on April 20, 2017.

The case of Salem Beitelmal illustrates the constant dangers posed to civilians by militias who have continued to intimidate the population, instilling fear and dread through a ruthless campaign of abductions. It also highlights the complicity of political and state officials who have thus far failed to put a halt to this lucrative practice by militias, said Heba Morayef, North Africa Research Director at Amnesty International.

The authorities must take all measures to end the cycle of violence and fear civilians in Libya are living under today, by effectively investigating such crimes and bringing those suspected of responsibility to justice.

Libyan activists and journalists alike have identified abductions as one of the most harrowing realities of daily life in Libya today. According to media reports citing the Tripoli Criminal Investigations department of the Ministry of Interior, there were at least 293 abductions between 15 December 2016 and 31 January 2017. Many families choose not to report cases of abductions for fear of reprisals and as a result many incidents go undocumented.

Rival armed groups and militias in Libya have been carrying out gross human rights abuses with near total impunity. According to Amnesty International, its time to stamp out the pervasive culture of impunity which has emboldened perpetrators of these crimes so far.
Leaked documents of the German Federal Agency for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) show that Germany is planning a project to build two reception centres in Morocco to deport underage refugees who are involved in criminal activities, the German Die Tageszeitung (taz) daily newspaper reported.

Each centre will have a capacity to host 100 minors and will be equipped to offer education and vocational training to the underage refugees who will be deported from Germany on ground of their criminal activities, the paper said.

According to the same paper, the leaked documents show that the project will be launched in late 2017 at a total cost of 960,000. The German migration agency is also planning to find Moroccan NGO partners to help run the centres and offer assistance to the deported refugees.

The same source said that the centres will be open to homeless Moroccan minors and to unaccompanied underage asylum seekers who voluntarily wish to leave Germany.

The German Interior Ministry had previously confirmed that there are plans to build centres for underage Moroccan refugees.

More than 60,000 unaccompanied underage refugees  asylum seekers under the age of 18  now live in special centres in Germany, according to Die Zeit. The paper also said the German government plans to spend some 4 billion on accepting and supporting refugee minors in 2017.

Almost 40,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in Germany in 2016, Deutsche Welle reports, citing data provided by the BAMF. According to the German media, no underage refugees have been deported from Germany so far, although about 170 left voluntary last year under the German governments repatriation and reintegration programs.
The leadership of King Mohammed VI was celebrated in Washington by the Energy Efficiency Global Forum which awarded the Moroccan Monarch its annual Energy Efficiency Visionary award.

The award was handed to Moroccos Ambassador to Washington Lalla Joumala during a ceremony in which the forum organizers highlighted the leadership of King Mohammed VI in the field of developing renewable energies and energy efficiency in Morocco and beyond.

Speaking on this occasion, Gil Quiniones, co-president of the Alliance to Save Energy, which organizes the international event lauded the endeavor of King Mohammed VI to achieve energy efficiency in Morocco, while highlighting that the Kingdom stands as a model for developing clean energy. He also recalled that the Kingdom offered a venue for the UN climate Summit (COP22) in Marrakech last November 7-18.

Thanks to the Kings vision, Morocco is on track to meet the goals set in Paris Agreement in terms of energy efficiency, said the President of the Alliance to Save Energy.

The Alliance was founded in 1977 to promote energy efficiency to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and enhanced energy security.

During the event, Moroccos Ambassador read out an acceptance message sent by King Mohammed VI in which he voiced pride at receiving the Award and commended the actions led by the Alliance to Save Energy.

This Award confirms the Kingdom of Moroccos positioning as one of the countries that have managed to make the most of their renewable energy potential by developing solar power plants, wind farms and hydroelectric plants, and by introducing energy efficiency measures in all key sectors of the Moroccan economy, said the King.

Energy efficiency plays an important part in enhancing the fundamental rights of citizens, in environmental protection, in the preservation of public health, in curbing dependence of energy and in rationalizing public spending, underscored the King.

He stressed the need for developing energy infrastructure and shed light on the Kingdoms experience to adapt to future changes and meet its growing energy needs in a sustainable manner. The security of energy supply, energy availability, energy efficiency and environmental protection are the bedrock of my countrys energy strategy, he said.

The Monarch highlighted Moroccos ambition to bring renewable energys share in power generation from 42% in 2020 to 52% in 2030, adding that the Kingdoms Energy Vision for 2030 assigns particular importance to energy efficiency and rational energy consumption.

Moroccos renewable energy endeavor does not stop at Moroccan borders, said the King, but has an African dimension as well evidenced in efforts to harmonize the continents action for the achievement of low carbon development.
As Morocco continues to undertake mediation efforts to bring the warring factions in Libya into accepting a political solution that safeguards Libyas stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Algeria has meddled in the countrys crisis, violated its sovereignty and took sides in a Libyan internal power struggle.

Moroccos mediation efforts previously culminated with the Skhirate Agreement in 2015 establishing a unity government, called the Government of National Accord (GNA). The agreement failed to impose its authority over the whole country, as Libya continues to be split between two rival governments: one based in Tripoli and the other based in the eastern city of Tobruk. The government in Tripoli is backed by the United Nations, while the government in Tobruk, which supports Khalifa Haftar, has long expressed its unwillingness to abide by the Skhirate Agreement.

Haftar, supported by Russia, Egypt and the UAE, has on multiple occasions called for a new government and threatened a military takeover of Tripoli.

In this tense context, Speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament, the internationally-recognized House of Representatives, Salah Aguila, an ardent supporter of Haftar, paid a visit to Morocco. He told the press following a meeting with Moroccos Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita that his parliament recognizes the Kingdoms efforts to mediate a negotiated solution to the Libyan conflict and asked for the Kingdoms help to lift the arms embargo imposed on the Libyan army.

This visit reflects Moroccos standing as a credible and neutral mediator in the conflict treating the rival parliaments in the country on an equal footing. This adds legitimacy to Moroccos mediation efforts breaking away with the interferences practiced by Algeria and Egypt whose support for Haftars military advance was evidenced on multiple occasions.

Speaking to the press following talks with Aguila in Rabat, Moroccos foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said that Morocco will, upon directives from King Mohammed VI, continue efforts to facilitate a political solution in Libya.

Bourita said that the Skhirate agreement offers a basis for settling the Libyan crisis. The agreement should evolve in tandem with changes on the ground, he said, adding that amendments can be added if necessary.

Morocco has a clear position concerning the situation in Libya. The Kingdom calls on all parties to undertake voluntary efforts in favour of the Libyan people and its unity, said Bourita.

In the meanwhile, Algerias Minister for Maghreban and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel has undertaken a second tour in Libyas south without informing Libyan authorities. This act has been viewed by Libyan officials as a meddling in the countrys internal crisis.

Algerias past generous support for Haftar and now its shift towards an unconditional support for the Tripoli-based Government gives little credence to Algiers endeavor to show itself as a regional power capable of overseeing negotiations in Libya.

The Tobruk-based Parliament has indeed vented its frustration at Algiers lack of neutrality. In a statement, the Parliament denounced the Algerian Ministers violation of Libyas sovereignty and warned of the consequences of this Algerian meddling.

The statement denounced the visit by the Algerian minister to cities in southern Libya without receiving an authorization as if he was on a tour in a southern Algerian province.
Constituents break out the red flags at Blums town hall. Photo: Rachel Mummey/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Only 14 of the 217 House Republicans who voted for the American Health Care Act last week are holding town hall events during this weeks recess. Representative Rod Blums Monday is probably reinforcing that decision for most members.

The Iowa congressman is holding four town hall events this week, but his decision to limit the events to people from his district has generated controversy. Those hoping to attend were required to register beforehand, providing their name and address, and they were not allowed to bring signs or noisemakers.

Ahead of Monday nights event in Dubuque, Blum sat down for an interview with Josh Scheinblum of KCRG-TV9 at the Dream Center, which assists lower-income children. Scheinblum said on Twitter that he had been trying to set up the interview for weeks, and Blum selected the location.

Scheinblum started off the interview by asking why Blum was limiting the event to his constituents. Some would make the case that you represent all Iowans  shouldnt all Iowans have a voice at the table or at least have the option to? Scheinblum said.

Blum countered that he doesnt represent all Iowans, only those in the 1st district. Would you still take donations from a Republican in Iowa City? Scheinblum asked.

At that point, less than two minutes into in interview, Blum stood up, removed his microphone, and stormed out of the room. This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. Hes just going to sit here and badger me, Blum said.

As the Washington Post notes, Blum raised $1.8 million for his 2016 reelection campaign. His top two donors were a PAC controlled by Representative Mark Meadows, the Freedom Caucus chairman, and the Club for Growth, which are both out-of-state entities.

Later Blum said he walked out because he was ambushed. It was very apparent that he had an agenda. Its my right to say that this interview is over, he said.



As it turns out, Blums vetting procedures didnt prevent him from being shouted at all evening. Blum originally opposed the American Health Care Act, but he flipped his position last week. The roughly 1,000 constituents who showed up to Dubuque Senior High School on Monday night did not seem pleased. In lieu of signs, local Democrats distributed red and green paper for people to wave when they agreed or disagreed with Blum. The red sheets got a lot of use.

Blum brought charts and graphs to the event, and claimed that the bill would only affect a small percentage of his constituents.

This bill, Trumpcare  whatever you want to call it  is about the individual market only, he said. Thats 12,000 people in my district. Twelve thousand people in my district. So if youre in the group health insurance program through your employers, if youre getting your insurance through the group health insurance, nothing changes.

Blum also claimed that for those who are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, Nothings going to change.

Thats not true! Thats not true! shouted his constituents.

Woman: "You voted yes because the bill was made so much worse that it satisfied the Koch brothers." Will you vow never to take Koch money? pic.twitter.com/n88brp54Fr  Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 9, 2017

HuffPost reports that one woman challenged Blum on why the health-care bill had to be passed so quickly. You voted for this bill in a rush. There were no committee hearings. This is my life, she said. The Congressional Budget Office didnt score this bill  what was the rush?

Blum said hes always said the process was bad, but the bill is better than what we have [under the Affordable Care Act]. Its heading in the right direction. The audience booed.
No, youre the puppet. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Late last month, reports emerged that President Trump was about to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Just 12 hours later, the White House announced that the U.S., Canada, and Mexico had agreed to renegotiate the trade deal.

The next day, several major news outlets tried to make sense of the dramatic reversal. The president himself shared some concerning details about his process for deciding the fate of a deal that affects millions. I was all set to terminate, Trump told the Washington Post. I looked forward to terminating. I was going to do it.

According to the president, his plans changed because his advisers presented a map that showed how termination would affect Trump voters, and he received friendly calls from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Two people that I like very much, the president of Mexico, prime minister of Canada, they called up, they said, can we negotiate? I said, yes, we can renegotiate, Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania to mark his 100th day in office. So well start a renegotiation.

On Monday, Canadian outlets reported that the real story might have been even more bizarre. The National Post said White House officials called Canadian officials seeking Trudeaus assistance in convincing their boss to save NAFTA. The Canadian Press identified Jared Kushner as the White House aide who may have rescued the trade deal, while the Associated Press said Ottawa reached out to Trumps son-in-law first. Others have suggested that the entire incident was a mistake, or perhaps an elaborate ruse orchestrated by the White House as a negotiating tactic.

Heres a rundown of the new theories on why the trade deal still exists, though, as the president put it, I was really ready and psyched to terminate NAFTA.

The White House "Globalists" Enlisted Trudeau to Outmaneuver the Nationalists

Previously, several reports suggested that the confusion emanating from the White House on April 26 was the result of another battle between the West Wing Democrats and the Breitbart faction going public. Politico reported that the executive order that would have started the process of withdrawing from NAFTA was crafted by two White House populists, trade adviser Peter Navarro and chief strategist Steve Bannon. More moderate Trump advisers  including Kushner, National Economic Council head Gary Cohn, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson  were said to be scrambling to convince the president not to kill it.

Canadian government sources told The National Post that part of that effort involved White House officials calling them and asking Trudeau to help persuade Trump to renegotiate. The Canadian Press reported that it was Kushner, whose massive portfolio includes relations with Canada, who reached out to our neighbors to the north:

A pair of sources described the chain of events. At about 6 p.m., the senior White House aide contacted a counterpart in Ottawa. The presidents son-in-law and adviser called PMO chief of staff Katie Telford, and said: Trump has a free moment, right now, to speak about NAFTA.



He suggested Trudeau might want to call the White House.



Telford veered to a stop. She happened to be in a carpool, commuting with her colleague Gerald Butts. The senior officials pulled over to the side of the road in Tunneys Pasture, an industrial-park-like federal area in west-end Ottawa.



They got in touch with Trudeau, and the prime minister contacted Trump.

Trudeau and Pena Nieto spoke with Trump in the afternoon, and around 7 p.m. the White House put out a statement saying NAFTA would be renegotiated.

You never know how much of it is theatre, but it didnt feel that way, said a senior Canadian diplomatic source. Maybe theyre just learning how to be a government. At least they were open to the conversation, and that stopped them doing something rash and destructive.

The next day Trudeau described his call with Trump, saying he pointed out that they were both elected because voters felt they would help improve the economy. Disruption like cancelling NAFTA, even if theoretically [it] eventually might lead to better outcomes, would cause a lot of short- and medium-term pain for a lot of families, Trudeau said.

Kushner Just Set Up a Phone Call

The Canadian Press report fits into the familiar narrative of Kushner or his wife, Ivanka Trump, pulling strings behind the scenes to prevent President Trump from following his worst impulses. However, on Monday, a White House official suggested Kushner was acting more like a high-profile receptionist.

The White House official told the Associated Press that Trudeau aides reached out to Kushner first because they were concerned by the press reports about NAFTAs imminent demise. In this version it sounds like Kushner is deferential to his father-in-law, rather than manipulative:

Kushner told his Canadian counterpart that this was a matter the leaders needed to discuss themselves, according to the White House official, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss private conversations. The Canadians asked when Trudeau should call. After checking at the White House, Kushner called back to say Trump was ready to talk now.

For what its worth, in his own brief account of the NAFTA debate, Kushner didnt sound like he was so passionate about the issue that he would go behind the presidents back. During his Post interview, Trump asked Kushner to confirm that he was serious about pulling out of NAFTA. Yeah, Kushner said. I said, Look, theres plusses and minuses to doing it, and either way he would have ended up in a good place.

It Was All a Misunderstanding

Weirdly, while Trump repeatedly insisted that he was very close to killing NAFTA, last week his Commerce secretary suggested that the executive order was just one of many drafts floating around the White House, and Trump was only spurred into action because it leaked.

I think what people dont understand is that the president encourages lively discussion within the White House and between the White House and the cabinet, Ross told CNBC. In the course of those discussions, all kinds of alternatives come up. I think whats unfortunate is someone leaked one of the many potential papers that was floating around and created a whole skirmish over something that had not been decided upon by the president.

It Was All a Ruse to Pressure Congress

Under this scenario, Kushner or some other White House official may have placed frantic calls to Trudeau, but it was Trump pulling the strings.

While the threat of pulling out of NAFTA prompted a quick response from Canada and Mexico, both nations were already eager to renegotiate the trade deal. The only thing standing in the way is the U.S. Congress, and a day after the NAFTA debacle, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray suggested Trumps threat was really aimed at U.S. lawmakers. There has been a significant delay in starting the process that would enable a renegotiation, he noted in a radio interview.

A negotiating ploy, Gary Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute in Washington told the Canadian Press. True to Trumps style.

If the Trump administration was trying to light a fire under Congress, its hard to say if the effort worked. The issue is that the White House is required to tell Congress 90 days before it begins renegotiating NAFTA, and the notification must come from the U.S. trade representative. The confirmation of Trumps nominee for that position, Robert Lighthizer, has been held up by his previous work for China and Brazil.

Congress has moved on his confirmation in recent days, albeit very slowly. A waiver to allow Lighthizer to serve as trade representative even though hes represented foreign governments was tucked into the massive spending bill that Trump signed into law last week. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will vote on Lighthizer next week, when they return from recess.

Senate plans to vote this week on USTR nominee Robert Lighthizer. A waiver for his past work for China was included in omnibus spending law. pic.twitter.com/tXcY7hu9Av  Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) May 7, 2017

Some say it doesnt make sense for Trump to take such drastic measures to get Republicans to act.

You dont go and float these rumors and have the markets crash, and currencies, and threaten bilateral relations just to prod your own party into acting in Congress, said Jorge Guajardo, a former Mexican diplomat and senior director at the D.C. international strategy firm McLarty Associates.

Then again, a president having his adviser slash son-in-law conspiring with the Canadian prime minister, or pretending he was about to kill a major trade deal to cover up for a leak doesnt make much sense either.
PARIS -- A new law banning the use of super skinny fashion models in France came into effect on Saturday, in efforts to target unrealistic ideas of beauty and eating disorders.

Models operating in the fashion hub will be required to provide doctor's certificate to state their overall physical health and prove their body mass index (BMI) sits within a healthy range.

The index, a measure of weight in relation to height and age, will be compared to the World Health Organization's standards of underweight to decide whether a model is certified.

Marisol Touraine, French minister of social affairs and health, explained the new rules on Friday in a statement, saying that they were aimed at avoiding the promotion of inaccessible beauty ideals and preventing youth anorexia.

The previous version of the law, backed and adopted by French parliamentarians in late 2015, suggested a minimum BMI for models, prompting protests from the country's fashion industry. Employers breaking the law could face fines of up to 75,000 euros ($82,000) and up to six months in jail.

In addition, another law obliging magazines and advertisers to label digitally altered images will come into force on October 1.

According to the law, images where a model's appearance has been manipulated need to be labeled "photographie retouchee" (retouched photograph).
James Clapper and Sally Yates. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

Just days before she was fired by President Trump, former acting attorney general Sally Yates told the White House that thenNational Security Adviser Mike Flynn could be blackmailed by the Russians, she testified to a Senate judiciary subcommittee Monday.

Yates took this information to White House counsel Don McGahn on January 26, two days after the FBI interviewed Flynn about his contacts with Russia. While she did not go into specifics in her testimony about what she told McGahn, she did say that she shared information that made it clear Flynn was misleading Vice-President Mike Pence, and Pence was making public statements based on this misinformation.

Clearly, Yates was referring to the lies Flynn told Pence regarding conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, something Flynn would later apologize for.

The problem, Yates said, was that the intelligence community wasnt alone in the knowledge that Flynn was misleading the vice-president. The Russians also knew, she said.

To state the obvious, you dont want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians, she added.

All told, Yates said she spoke with McGahn three times, twice in person and once on the phone, about the Flynns misleading statements to Pence. Her concern, she said, was that Pence had been misled and was in turn misleading the American people. She shared the information with the White House so it could take actions it deemed appropriate.

Initially, the White House didnt see anything wrong with what they learned from Yates, Trumps Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Meet the Press in February. It wasnt until 18 days after Yates met with McGahn that Flynn was fired, and that only happened after media reports that Flynn had lied to Pence.

Despite the opportunity to learn more about Russias attempts to influence the presidential election, several Republican members of the judiciary subcommittee focused their questioning of Yates and former director of National Intelligence James Clapper on leaks. Thats just what Trump asked them to do on Twitter this morning.

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Senator Lindsey Graham asked Yates and Clapper a version of that question and neither of them said they knew how it happened.

In addition to the details of laffair Flynn, a few senators also asked Yates about Trumps travel ban and her refusal to enforce it. That refusal ultimately led to her firing. Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz both tried to characterize her decision as partisan overreach, but Yates batted them down.
The Twitter profile of the most powerful person in the world.

President Trump wants Americans to know that the allegations that his campaign colluded with Russia are completely false. In less contentious times, the president could have simply released a statement saying hes confident the Senates investigation of this matter will show none of his aides engaged in any wrongdoing, and he wont let the controversy distract him from his duties.

But since everyone knows the mainstream press mostly reports fake news nowadays, Trump was forced to highlight the key points from todays Senate hearing himself. In a series of tweets on Monday afternoon, Trump noted that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he was not aware of any evidence that proves there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. (He did not mention that Clapper also said he was unaware that the FBI was investigating Trumps Russia ties until the probes existence was publicly revealed in March, or that former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said she could not comment on the matter because it involves classified information.)

Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is "no evidence" of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today --- she said nothing but old news!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Biggest story today between Clapper & Yates is on surveillance. Why doesn't the media report on this? #FakeNews!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Still, Trump couldnt be sure that the American people would see his take on the Senates hearing, since interest in his tweets has been dropping off in recent months. How could he make everyone aware of this irrefutable proof that the Russia story is a total hoax? Suddenly, Trump had a genius idea: make someone in the White House Photoshop his tweet into his Twitter banner:

This is the actual Twitter header of a person who is president of the United States. Let that sink in. pic.twitter.com/0tRfXnq2sy  Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) May 9, 2017

There was just one problem: if someone viewed Trumps Twitter profile on a desktop computer rather than a mobile device, it looked like this:

By early Tuesday morning, the banner had been removed. If only Twitter had some way to keep a tweet pinned to the top of your profile!
Jerry Falwell Jr., appropriately enough, kneels before an image of Donald Trump as he prepares for the presidents visit to his university. Photo: Julia Rendleman/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Liberty University, where Donald Trump will deliver the commencement address this weekend, was not exactly a hotbed of support for the mogul during his unlikely rise to the presidency. His appearance there in January of 2016 is mainly remembered for his mangled Two Corinthians Bible verse citation, which drew guffaws from the scripturally sophisticated student audience. In Virginias March 2016 Republican presidential primary, Trump finished a poor fourth in Libertys voting precinct, even though he won statewide and also carried the congressional district in which the conservative Evangelical school is located. And even during the general election there was an uproar when approximately 2,000 people connected with Liberty signed an open letter complaining that they were tired of being associated with one of the worst presidential candidates in American history.

That association, of course, was largely attributable to Libertys president, Jerry Falwell Jr., who was one of the first and most outspoken conservative Evangelical boosters for Trump. So now it is almost certainly a source of vindication for Falwell, the son and heir of the man who founded Liberty, that he can bring Trump back to campus as president of the United States, and thus as something of a trophy.

Despite all the uproar of the election season, Liberty ultimately surrendered to Trump, as did an estimated 80 percent of self-identified white Evangelical voters. Now everythings hunky-dory, as the Washington Post reports:

If Trump needed a safe space to deliver his first commencement address, he would be hard-pressed to find a more accommodating school. At the University of Notre Dame, where presidents are often invited to speak during their first year in office, the prospect of a Trump address sparked vociferous protests. The prominent Catholic university ultimately invited Vice President Pence to speak.

At Liberty, an evangelical university with a pronounced conservative political bent, Trump will be in friendlier territory. Students at the school, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southern Virginia, voted overwhelmingly for Trump in November. Of the 3,205 votes cast on campus, Trump took 2,739. Democrat Hillary Clinton received just 140.

Falwell has been loud and proud about Trumps payback to this constituency. Even as other Christian right folk muttered publicly and privately about the underwhelming nature of the presidents recent executive order on religious liberty, Falwell said it showed the Trump was a dream president for Evangelicals. The man is sure on message for Team Trump.

It will be interesting to see if Trump reciprocates with something he has never been able to deliver in religious venues: a theologically competent statement of religious belief that takes some of the abiding bad odor among the faithful away from Trumps infamous denial that he needed divine forgiveness.

But perhaps the president feels hes doing just fine with conservative Christians by keeping his relationship with them (and presumably, with God) on a purely transactional basis. It is, after all, working out nicely for Jerry Falwell Jr.
Minnesotas David Stras is one of Trumps Court of Appeals nominees who could get blocked by his states Democratic senators. Photo: Glen Stubbe/AP

Today, as expected, Donald Trump rolled out a batch of ten lower federal court appointments, including five for district courts and five for courts of appeal. The en masse appointments were likely designed to show some momentum in one of many personnel areas where the administration has been laggard. And it was certainly intended to reinforce the warm and cozy feeling many conservatives felt over Neil Gorsuchs nomination and confirmation to a seat on the Supreme Court.

Best we can tell, the ten-pack of proposed new judges are carefully vetted conservatives. Two, in fact, were from Trumps famous SCOTUS prospect lists: Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras, nominated for the Eighth Circuit, and Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen, nominated for the Sixth Circuit. These 40-something rising stars got the seal of approval from the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation commissars who put together Trumps two lists, a very important ingredient in the thawing of #NeverTrump sentiments on the right late in the 2016 campaign. And its clear the new batch is pleasing to the very conservative judicial activists who will be fighting for rapid Senate confirmation of these and other judges:

When it comes to fulfilling his campaign promise to appoint strong, principled judges, Trump is knocking it out of the park, said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, which spent millions of dollars to help win Gorsuchs confirmation.

But there is a cloud  a blue one, to be specific  over the conservative celebration of a judiciary more likely to side with corporations over consumers. With the judicial filibuster long gone (it was abolished for lower-court judicial nominations by Senate Democrats in 2013 and for SCOTUS nominees by Senate Republicans this year), the main obstacle to this and other steps toward remaking the federal judiciary is an obscure but very important Senate practice called the blue slip. Its basically a tradition (honored to varying degrees in the past) whereby the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee refuses to move a nominee for the judiciary (or for a U.S. attorney or U.S. marshal position) unless her or his home-state senators agree to it by returning a blue piece of paper signaling assent. It obviously gives senators individually and collectively great leverage over a presidents judicial nominees  especially an opposite-party presidents nominees. And it is sometimes used less as a senatorial veto than as a negotiating tool by senators who want influence over the selection of judges.

Current Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, like his immediate Democratic predecessor Pat Leahy, has been a staunch defender of the blue slip tradition. But now that there is a Republican president appointing conservative judges, Grassley is about to come under unholy pressure to abandon or at least modify it. Conservative opinion-leader Hugh Hewitt launched the campaign to come in the Washington Post last month:

The blue slip isnt a law, and it would be anathema to the framers. Its a leftover of decades past, a means by which individual senators could control their regions judicial future. The non-return of a blue slip should receive no weight, or at most a trigger of a few weeks delay so as for the concerned senator to assemble a package of his or her reasons for the Judiciary Committee to review. There is no reason in the Constitution or common sense that voters from Michigan, which went for Trump, closely divided Virginia or even deep-blue New York should be denied judges because they have two senators that dont like Trumps nominees.

You can just imagine Donald Trump going nuts on Twitter over the blue slip once he become aware of it. And that could happen sooner rather than later: Both Stras and Larsen are from states with two Democratic senators (all but one of the other appointees are from states with two Republican senators). Expect a hue and cry to begin soon about potential Democratic obstruction of these fine Constitution-loving jurists.

In the end, as was the case with the judicial filibuster, Grassley and other Republicans will have to decide whether their short-term interest abolishing the blue slip tradition outweighs their long-term interests in maintaining it for use against future Democratic presidents. And Democrats may figure out ways to use blue slips carefully and strategically to resist an ideological overhaul of the federal courts without unduly provoking Grassley. It could be a chess game with a lot of lifetime appointments at stake.
Way back in 2010, Moldovan pop trio SunStroke Project took the stage for the annual Eurovision song contest. The competition, which pits bands from every European country against each other in a bid for pop supremacy, rarely yields breakout stars Stateside. But in 2010, Epic Sax Guy emerged as the biggest Eurovision celebrity since ABBA.

The product of a simpler time and a smaller memescape, Epic Sax Guy became very popular on the internet because he played a funky horn very enthusiastically. He wasnt a meme that explained fascism, or spoke to our cultural anxieties, or whatever. He just put his head down and did the damn job, which was grooving like his life depended on it.

Heres the original performance.

Heres a popular remix.

Now, in our darkest hour, he has returned to shred again. SunStroke Project and the Sax Guy himself (IRL: Sergey Stepanov) performed again today at Eurovision 2017. Gone are the cutoff sleeves and pelvic thrusting, replaced by a fancy tuxedo.

Hands up who's practising Sunstroke Project's dance move 

AND EPIC SAX GUY IS BACK! #ESC2017 #MDA pic.twitter.com/E5D2XEQlLP  Eurovision (@Eurovision) May 9, 2017

The song the group is performing is Hey Mamma. Welcome back, Sax Guy. Thank you.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Montblanc

Its not the best of times to be online, in New York City or anywhere. In Washington, the current administration is dismantling FCC privacy rules that would prevent internet-service providers from selling user data. Visitors, immigrants, and others may be asked by customs agents to surrender their social-media passwords at the border. And many of New York Citys poorest residents  who have the most to gain from a steady internet connection  remain unconnected.

These developments run contrary to the internets original  and best  nature: a decentralized, level playing field controlled and shaped by individual users, not select corporations and governments. Developments like these also carry major implications. Today, the internet and society are deeply entwined. When the internets founding principles are cast aside for profit and control, human rights, inclusion, and equality suffer greatly.

But it doesnt have to be this way. Imagine this: A group of recent immigrants gather around a table at a Brooklyn Public Library branch, learning online privacy and security basics from a trained librarian. Nearby, a low-income resident uses her library card to check out a device to bring free, fast Wi-Fi home to her family. One borough over, at City Hall, city government is enacting new rules that put New Yorkers, and not ISPs, in control of their personal data. This is the internet as it should be  a public resource, open and accessible to all  and its closer to reality than you might think.

Last week, New York City announced several new initiatives to keep residents connected and safe online. My team and I are acutely aware of the threats to privacy and human rights that come with internet use, wrote Miguel Gamino Jr., New York Citys CTO. New York Public Librarys Library HotSpot program is already providing otherwise unconnected patrons with hot spots they can take home to study, pay their bills, and connect with family. The citys librarians and other staff will now receive online privacy and security training, which will cover topics like password security and how personal data is transacted online.

And with FCC privacy regulations freshly dismantled, and net neutralitys future up for a vote later this month, the city is undertaking a legal review intended to explore its authority to enact its own protections for residents online, as well as conducting a review of current city broadband projects with an eye toward human rights, inclusivity, and privacy. The internet belongs to the people  not giant corporations. We wont give up net neutrality without a fight, the mayors office recently tweeted.

The city has also partnered with Mozilla and Research Action Design (RAD) to create a digital security-training program for city-contracted, community-based organizations that serve vulnerable populations. For example: groups that provide immigration legal screenings and assistance to NYC residents. This training will allow these organizations to address evolving threats to digital security. Were aiming to make the program scalable, so it can serve all New Yorkers.

New York City has a long history of digital savvy, from its 2025 broadband commitment, to the outsize influence of Silicon Alley, to community-run programs like Mouse and Eyebeam. But last weeks news is something bigger: The City is recognizing  loudly  just how deeply the internet and society are entwined. New York City is saying: Sound digital policies are about more than the latest hardware, or JavaScript classes. Theyre about upholding civil liberties, free expression, and an open society. This is something we all need to herald and applaud.

Were buoyed by all this news. And New York City residents should be, too. By supporting a better internet, their government is also supporting a better city. Weve seen it before: In Chattanooga, Tennessee, a municipal, city-owned fiber network has given residents internet access that outstrips average speeds by more than 200x. And a network of local entrepreneurs and educators have layered canny innovations atop this infrastructure, creating custom education and workforce development technologies.

This is heartening for New Yorkers and for Chattanoogans. But it also holds promise for cities everywhere: Municipal leaders can play an important role in making sure their citizens have a healthy and accessible internet. Last week was a good week for those across the five boroughs  and for the internet broadly.

Hopefully, it is also the harbinger of things to come: A municipally led movement  in America and around the world  to put the internet back in the hands of the people.

Mark Surman is the executive director of Mozilla.
Photo: Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Conde Nast via Getty Images

Go to her closet and smell her clothes, someone told me after my mother died last September. Inhale every last bit, they explained, because soon the scent would fade.

On a recent trip to visit my father, I found myself standing on the plush caramel-colored carpet of the walk-in closet they had shared, my mothers clothes still hanging  all her pants, including her favorite mid-rise Gap jeans, slipped carefully through matching hangers.

I buried my face in the soft arms of her sweaters. The family friend had been right; what I smelled was nothing, just the real-time scents of Dads dinner heating in the microwave, laundry tumbling in the dryer, and the salty whiff of their rescued dachshunds urine that lurked inside my parents home since Mom had gotten really sick.

Time, I was learning, is a great steamroller, flattening memories and turning well-loved belongings into pilled black leggings and stacked-up pairs of scuffed ballet flats. Ashes to ashes, stuff to stuff.

My eyes fell on a small vanity crowded with my moms lotions and skin creams, eye makeup and perfume. A wig that had approximated her cut and color  which she wore a handful of times  rested on a white Styrofoam head. I went to the shelf and one by one, I opened the products. With each container her presence rebuilt itself  their soapy, cosmetic scents floating forward like invisible ribbons. I had found my new dead-mom fix.

As a beauty copywriter for brands like Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Erno Laszlo, and Creed Perfumes I rarely get the chance to meet the products I am tasked to describe. The order of operations usually starts with some marketing spreadsheet Fwd: Fwd: Fwdd to my inbox with a thumbnail photo of the tester package and a grab bag of claims from the lab. Its my job to alchemize this jargon into something tactile with words like creamy, cushiony, velvety, rich. Each line of copy should be an invitation  a curling, come-hither forefinger begging you to open the cap. And yet, deep down, I know I am bullshitting. The serums and CC creams are imaginary to me. Sometimes, when I am feeling snarky, I tell people I write fiction.

Sifting through Moms half-used products, feeling the weight of their packaging, I felt instant relief, like finding a misplaced ring swimming in a forgotten pocket. There, under the silver lid of her Lancome Progres Eye Cream  a formula she religiously trekked to Macys for  were the contours of where her finger had run across the surface of its white cream.

That eye cream was the lone department-store product she used; her skin-care routine was admirably steadfast and barebones. Ive never had a pimple, she once told me, not to brag, but to illustrate her complete and striving sympathy during my long stretch of cystic teenage acne. This was all pre-YouTube-tutorial, and we would fumble our way through the skin-care aisle at Walgreens loading the basket with Clearasil Daily Face Wash, Humphreys Witch Hazel, Oxy Pads, and Niki Taylorapproved Cover Girl Clean Make Up plus a bag of fresh wedge sponges. The attack plan my 14-year-old complexion required confounded us both.

It was true: My mothers skin was paper-dry and her one relief was Niveas Original Skin Oil  with its clean, inimitable scent of sweet citrus and powder  which she slathered all over her face and neck morning and night so that her skin always shone. (When the formula was discontinued in the mid-2000s, an Amazon find named Dorothys was the only match for its motor-oil-esque viscosity.)

Once slicked up, my mother would then apply toothpaste-thick Retin-A (she believed the Nivea provided a good buffer against tretinoins peeling side effects). As a child, I remember her buying the vintage-looking blue-and-white metal tubes from Janssen-Cilag pharmaceuticals by the box-load, without a prescription, during road trips to Tijuana. A doctor once told her it was the only thing that was proven to fight wrinkles; whenever she was mistaken for being younger she would brush the compliment off then shrug to me later, I told you: Retin-A.

The satisfaction of picking through her products made me forget about all her clothes. A beauty regimen is more intimate, more specific to a woman than a scarf. Like the self-tanner smell of my moms LOreal Paris Sublime, a new addition to her routine that spoke to the medical treatments that had made her photosensitive. All her life my mother looked for the sunniest spot in the room, but her stem-cell transplant meant a sunburn could awaken her immune system to her donors cells launching a war on her organs. Neutrogena Dry Touch SPF 100 had become my mothers most surprising beauty habit.

I prefer to think of her before her illness though, specifically her cheerful lipsticks (she trafficked in salmon pinks). The bullets of color always wore flat  something I can never get my own weird stalagmite lipstick shapes to do. Her go-to was Hot Coral, a Revlon Moon Drops shade I loved for its emerald-green plastic case. When I scored a tube of Rose Sugar Lip Gloss during a copy project at Bobbi Brown, I complimented her every time I saw her wearing it  the luster made her look modern and showed me the power of changing one small thing on your face.

She would hate if I never mentioned her hair, a Sisyphean exercise in growing it out thanks to overzealous stylists and the short, sporty do they seem to give every woman over 55. Ripped magazine pictures of Kim Cattrall and Goldie Hawn were always showing up on my mothers desk as inspiration. I wonder if these actresses ever tell people how many stylists they have and how much money it takes to have that hair at this age, she often spurned. What I wish I could tell my mother now is that in certain family photos she had managed to have Goldies hair all on her own.

In the short time that my mother slept atop the rented hospital bed in the guest room of my parents house  a rotating cast of hospice nurses notating her pulse and oxygen levels on the hour  a visit from her medical massage therapist left me with a persistent and magical idea. As she placed doTerra essential oils on my mothers collarbones, she told me that scent is the last sense to leave us; that some say we can still smell for a short time after we are clinically dead.

Later that night, around three in the morning, as my father snored in my parents bedroom alone and my brother tossed on the living-room couch, my mother slipped away.

When it was time to say good-bye  when the solemn-faced mortuary driver and his pony-tailed assistant stood by in our hallway  I prepared my mom as though she were leaving the house for lunch with a friend. I patted Progres beneath her eyes and swiped Bobbis shimmering lip gloss over her lips. I combed her thinning bangs across her forehead and, as my brother and I looked down on our put-together mom, it seemed as though she had just laid down for a short nap. The very last thing we did was take turns spraying her neck with Sung, a jasmine-y fragrance my mother adored for which my brother haunted the clearance bins of Marshalls to find.

She was ready.

My mothers official cause of death was Graft Versus Host Disease, or GVHD for short. It can happen when a bone-marrow donor isnt a perfect match (my mothers was anonymous). The donor cells attack your own bodys organs  in my mothers case, her lungs  and her skin stiffened like petrified wood no matter how much Organic Coconut Oil we put on it. She called herself the Tin Man and when I look at the unopened box of Philosophys Renewed Hope in a Jar I bought for her the week before she passed, I cry like a baby now.

Losing a loved one is like living inside a locked box; I go pawing at its solid walls, searching for the hidden trap doors of memories. For now, the quickest trigger is the handful of products I have saved  my moms eye cream, Sung powder puff, and the tube of lipstick she last carried in her purse: LOreal Tropical Coral #444.
this just got a lot more interesting!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Taika is so cute

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

haha I like this gif

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

love your gifs

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





I was like, "Wait a minute, that name sounds familiar"

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

IIRC he was also married to Pamela Anderson for 5 minutes.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Was this the trust fund brat who we once applauded for stopping a fight or some basic shit? Honestly no is surprised by the racist, homophobic tirade or the arrest.



This family is consistent, I'll give em that.



Edited at 2017-05-09 01:32 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

That was a Kennedy kid.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Whoops, wrong Nantucket red clad trust fund child. Damn, there is nothing redeemable about the Hiltons.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

What shocks me is how this white asshole gets to be a fucking turd to the police and noone felt threaten and shot him down.





Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Wow that'd be a hell of a twist if that was the case

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i literally still don't know who this is, there's like 3 other conrad hiltons before his time.

Reply

Thread

Link

I thought it was Paris' dad before I came into this post!



Why are rich whites so self-absorbed they can only name their children after themselves

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

They lack originality but have the highest level of confidence.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Her dads name is rick but yea, his dads name is baron and his grandfather is Conrad iirc

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

But George Foreman...

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

A Hilton being a racist piece of shit? Must be a day that ends in "y"

Reply

Thread

Link

mte

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I ripped a guy i know into pieces for using the f word in my presence. it reminds me of being gay bashed in high school lmao. i hate how people think it's okay to say now, like ??? Honey, no.

Reply

Thread

Link

what. a. piece. of. SHIT

Reply

Thread

Link

wasn't he stalking voice actresses eg dailys daughter

what a waste of human filth

Reply

Thread

Link

Yeah apparently he's been stalking and harassing her for years.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i feel so bad for her

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

...who is apparently Rick Salomon's daughter.



The Hilton family runs in tight circles, I guess!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I was trying to understand the Tommy Pickles connection. Bless you.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

He's 23 for anyone else who couldn't remember. For some reason I thought he was still like 12.

Reply

Thread

Link

Rick Salomon? Wasn't he the one getting that sad and pathetic BJ in 'One Night in Paris'?

Reply

Thread

Link

he was also married to Shannen Doherty!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Wait. You mean to tell me that constantly bailing out your children with your money and never teaching them responsibility leads to them being pieces of shit as they get older? You don't say!

Reply

Thread

Link

Lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Still one of my fave gifs ever. Lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

legit would have never guessed omfg

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol mte

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

mte lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Men are so unpleasant.

Reply

Thread

Link

Surprise, surprise

Reply

Thread

Link

He lucky he yt and rich cause if a poc popped off like that they would be tazed or dead.

Reply

Thread

Link

This is making me laugh so hard. But same.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

oh my fuckgig

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

ded

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmfao waiting for this to load was worth it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmfao why is this tomato so disappointed?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

he always thought he was a vegetable, but was just informed he was a fruit

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

LMAO

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Lmfaoooo

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I fucking love this gif! Bob<3

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
My nipples are dark brown why the fuck would I wear lipstick that color??

Reply

Thread

Link

damn I'd suck Andrew's VanWyngarden dry

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

You know the person who came up with this was white.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Brown lipstick has been back for a while. Get into it!

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

brown lipstick works as standalone color tbh, just not as a ~nude.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The 90s are truly back~

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Same, idgaf if it's trendy or the 90s are back, the brownest I will ever go for nude lipstick (and this is only for work) is Mac Spice/Taupe.



This match your nipple crap sounds like a white person came up with it.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I absolutely love Too Faced matte shades. They're pricey, but they last forever.

I used to love KVD but she recent upped her price and dipped her quality IMO

Reply

Thread

Link

lol wut

Reply

Thread

Link

yessss love velvet teddy

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

So I should be rolling up to Sephora and telling them to shade match my nipples?

Reply

Thread

Link

Go to their foundation shade matcher machine thing and lift your shirt up.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I did not know that foundation machine was a thing and now I really want to try it because I am horrible at matching foundations to my skin

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

please ohhhhmygod

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yes, but please make sure to follow up with us in a Roundup or FFAF post.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yep. do it sis

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Same! Ever since I cut my hair my waves have been at an awkward length and they're not grown out enough to look good so I have to straighten it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Protip for easy curly hair: Tie a ponytail at the top of your head. Curl sections of the ponytail piece by piece until the entire thing is done. Take out the ponytail tie. Instant voluminous curls. Spray with hairspray if ya want.

I've been doing this lately and it has changed my life.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

LOL Nope! My nipples are darker than my lips. My perfect nude shade is Whirl my Mac or Barbara by Nars.



Just wanna take a minute to praise the Bite Beauty pencils. They are the best high end lip liners out there and the new Becca bronzers are amazing!

Reply

Thread

Link

More clickbait nonsense from a show/site trying to go viral with their "revelation." It has been a drag queen joke for years that the best nude lipstick matches your asshole, but that was probably too graphic to go viral on FB, so they dumbed it down to be yet more shit these shows/influencers steal from queens.



Edited at 2017-05-09 02:38 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

The color of my nipples would be nowhere near a nude shade on me.



Anyway, I'm about a NW43 in Mac and my fave nudes are 1993 by Urban Decays, Molasses by Bite Beauty, and Mink by Revlon.

Reply

Thread

Link

"1993" is a godsend.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

1993 is my fave nude as well

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I've never heard of the Urban Decay, I will check this out.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

1993 is perfect!



My other faves are Estee Lauder Color Envy in Irresistible & NYX Chocolate Crepe + Ginger Snap

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Nyx - Chocolate crepe is the best!

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

UGH I love 1993

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I love mink. I keep that one in my purse.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

This post brought to you by the misguided notions of White Men

Reply

Thread

Link

Forever the producers of the worst content no one asked for

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Next time I'm at Sephora I'll be sure to pop my titty out so I can find the best match for me!

Reply

Thread

Link

OMG this is killing me. I don't think I will. between all the nudes I have, there is probably one there.



my most used nude lipstick is velvet teddy, from mac. its a great color. and I just got some liquid lipsticks from a brazilian brand (quem disse berenice) and I'm obsessed. they last long and are very pigmented. and are great nudes lol



Edited at 2017-05-09 02:41 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

ooh tell me more about Brazilian brands that have good lipsticks pls, I might visit Brazil later this year so it would be nice to support the local beauty brands.



(Also there's prob a better chance of finding nude shades for a brown girl in Brazil, I hope)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
scary stories really lose their allure when Trump is President

Reply

Thread

Link

I appreciate that even Stephen King has basically said the same thing.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Scary stories are more appealing 2 me now bc I can imagine maybe some demon or beast will break through Earth's crust and steal me away to be queen of the damned, which is a way higher rank than PRESIDENT, and I can send my minions to make his life hell.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao I'd accept you as our new leader bb

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I still enjoy things post-Trump but, yeah, that's how I view horror, now (and, honestly, it's how I viewed some of it before, because humans and the News was trash then too). The possibility of demonic possession or a hostile alien invasion is a welcome one.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

That's such a Keanu reaction

Reply

Thread

Link

Didn't Ari used to talk about hunting demons or something? Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.



I don't know how much I believe in ghosts.

Reply

Thread

Link

yep and she'd go to a few famous murder scenes with Demi. I would never and I sideeye it, but I love that she has this darkside tbh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





omg lmao @ Lucy, gurl...

Reply

Thread

Link

Lol irl

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmaooo it's the first thing that comes to mind with ghost sex

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i hope that ghost is wearing protection.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

your icon, that gif... lmfao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Megan's and Jessica's sounds like sleep paralysis (or not dundunDUN)



One time I was napping on the couch and I could have sworn that my roommate came home from work and we had a conversation and she was doing her usual after work stuff and then I actually woke up as she was walking thru the door



Still better than the time I was napping on my bed and someone came in and started choking me with my covers. I hated that house.

Reply

Thread

Link

Oohh good point, esp to Megan's! It didn't occur to me that hers could've been sleep paralysis too but that could make sense. I had a sleep paralysis episode a week or so ago and totally hallucinated a conversation. It was so eerie and I was really confused when I woke up. Sleep paralysis is scary af.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Peter Jackson's, too. That's a really common hallucination.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeah, I never had hallucinations with sleep paralysis thank god but I would get a very sinister feeling for why I couldn't get up and it felt like I was trying to avoid something bad in the room. Nah, just fuckin sleep paralysis from the new pills I was taking.



My friend used to have awful hallucinations though, he would see an old woman with sharp teeth in the corner of his room sitting in his chair...just smiling at him 

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i get sleep paralysis pretty often and both those stories are common instances

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My old roommate and I used to love going to cemeteries, but I think we ended up bringing something home with us. A few months after we started living together, we started hearing someone walking around in one of our spare bedrooms. It was located right off the living room and you could hear the shuffling of feet right up to the door. The closet in that bedroom would creak like it was being opened. Her and I were hanging out in there one day and a globe key chain that was hanging off the dresser started spinning on it's own. On separate occasions, we each heard the disembodied voice of a man say something next to our ear. My roommate said she saw an orb fly down the hallway one night too. Oh, and you could feel something press into your back when you were sitting on the couch. Like a hand was pushing through the cushion then go away. It only happened a handful of times. We ended up moving after a kitchen fire, but we both believe we brought that spirit into our home.

Reply

Thread

Link

Lmao it s almost 6 am here, and yet I m properly spooked. I would have moved out omg.D8 For just one or two things you mentionned. Let alone all of it.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

This comment is me rn with it being 5:42 and my boyfriend's alarm just went off and I JUMPED lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door.

Reply

Thread

Link

I love that story

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

about a month after my grandfather died, I had a dream that he visited me. what made it out of the ordinary especially to me is how vivid everything was and how he looked healthier than he did when he was on his death bed. he was surrounded by this white light and in his hospital gown still, but...he... looked like he was recovering from dying. like he looked healthier but he still was a lot skinnier than he was when he was healthy. and he just said to me "I'm okay, sweetheart. Tell them." And I just remembered waking up feeling very calm, which is not like me at all.



A few years later I had another dream where we were in his study. same vivid detail. he looks more like his old healthy self. I remember the sun shining especially bright through the window. and I remembered thinking how in the dream how we both knew he was dead, but we just carried on like normal. he was smoking a cigar, which he loved doing (and I always hated it but it made me happy in this instance). and I finally just said, "Can I tell you a secret?" And still to this day I don't know what prompted me to say this. And I finally said "thank you for being more of a father figure to me and my mom than any man ever was" and i started crying and he smiled and I woke up sad. I never saw him again

Reply

Thread

Link

i love when dead people visit me in my dreams. its always uplifting too, like theyre okay.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My sister had a really similar dream about our grandma a few weeks after she died. I never had one where I got to speak to either of my grandparents directly, but later that year when our grandpa died, I did have an unusually vivid dream where I was in their kitchen, and they both looked a little younger. They couldn't see me there, but I watched them making dinner and it felt like closure, thinking they're happy together somewhere.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm so jealous, I really needed a dream like this when my grandma passed away. I dream about her often but it's just day to day mundane things like she never left.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I scrolled up to this so at first I thought people were reacting to your Harry gif lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





omfg

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol the gif choice + story = A+

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

What story?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

do you have a link to the story bb?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I was a little kid and I thought, 'Okay, well that's interesting.' And I looked over at the nanny and she's like this [making this terrified face]. And I'm like 'Oh wow. So that was real.'"



lmao that's exactly how I'd imagine Keanu to react to something like that.



I don't have any scary stories, but I was watching Twin Peaks and then reading a bunch of /r/nosleep scary stories last night before bed and I had SO MANY NIGHTMARES. They were like all in a row and SO intense and all interlinked, omfg. istg my heart was racing even while sleeping.



I wish I could have nice dreams. It's either no dreams at all that I can remember or fucking intense nightmares ;_;

Reply

Thread

Link

oh my god the first time I watched twin peaks I had my back to the door and my dad came in behind me and crouched behind the arm of the sofa and then popped out when killer bob was on screen. I cried lmao

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lmao I would have too! I once fell asleep to Twin Peaks while babysitting and woke up when Bob was creeping towards the camera and I almost pissed myself D:

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Great post and icon OP!

Reply

Thread

Link

ty <3 <3

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i lovewhen you guys post articles/videos etc about unsolved mysteries/missing people

Reply

Thread

Link

same

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I loveeee unsolved cases/missing/doe.



I found a YT channel that is fantastic about all this kind of cases and does very unknow cases (and let me tell you i know a lotttt of cases and with this channel i found more that i never knew). The channel is Criminally Listed.



One of my fav cases of john doe was grateful doe that I followed the case since 2007 when I found the case on myspace. It was a happy when they found ou who he was last year.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I always worry that someone is in my house with me and I don't know they're here... I live in my boyfriend's family's house, but his parents aren't here most of the year and we keep their bedroom door shut. And we have a basement... there are just too many places for someone to hide. So when I read shit like this, I literally get shook lol https://www.reddit.com/r/LetsNotMeet/comments/5km2pq/phone_stalker_with_a_key_to_my_apartment/

Reply

Thread

Link

There was this murder that happened in my state years and years ago. It's had me fucked up ever since. Basically it was a town where they didn't lock doors. And while this family was at church this person got into their house and hid in a closet all day long until the family was alseep that night and killed them all. He was never found. So now I constantly think someone is hiding somewhere waiting to kill me lol I'm gonna read that story and freak myself out even more.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

oh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

oh my god! that's fucking awful!!! shit, i'm not gonna sleep tonight

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The only upside to having a homicidal German shepherd is that this will probably never happen to me. I mean they could kill the dog but that'd be a pretty major tip-off that something was wrong, lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

why did i read this comment.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Tip: buy a poodle.

Thankfully I have a noisy ass poodle. If a stranger got in my house she would bark the whole day. She hates everyone that's not me or my mom.

Ofc the murderer could kill her but I'd know instantly something was wrong "Where the hell is Mimi's noisy ass???"

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

wait a minute...



i've read this before!



and you were the one who linked it to me in the first place 





Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link
Hola Unblocker is really bad: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/37xlgo/stop_using_the_hola_vpn_right_now_the_company/

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Oh yikes. Thanks for the heads up. Recommend any alternatives?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Seconding what the above user said about Hola. I used it to watch American Netflix ONCE, and three months later I had the cops at my house over someone fucking uploading child porn on 4Chan from my IP. (hola lets people use your IP while you use someone else's)



Long story short: NOT fun. I was showed the picture they posted and it haunts me to this day. Luckily the cops were really nice and understanding. They even made jokes about how I had the tamest PC they'd ever seen, and how the only "pussy" pictures I had were of cats.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Welcome to the Balladvision semi 1!





Reply

Thread

Link

although my favorite in this semi is actually a ballad. I'm going to cry if Portugal doesn't qualify.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yess at work watching this!!!



GO FINLAND, MOLDOVA AND LATVIA!!!

Reply

Thread

Link

I'm watching at work too!!



It's the corner of my screen, I'm still responsibleish

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Sunstroke Project is the best

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Isn't Graham Norton the commentator only for the finale?

Reply

Thread

Link

yup mel and someone else is hosting this, the semi finals air on bbc 4

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

noooo, really? I was looking forward to streaming the UK version tomorrow just to listen to him....

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





The commentator won't shut up though >:( Here's the Georgian stream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp-3fFPe2aY The commentator won't shut up though >:(

Reply

Thread

Link

Are you in Georgia?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My country isn't in this semi and I don't know any of the other songs so I'm ready

Reply

Thread

Link

Any stream? the yt channel keeps reload and nothingggg



Reply

Thread

Link

but this one is in Swedish: https://www.svtplay.se/video/13572581/eurovision-song-contest/eurovision-song-contest-2017-semifinal-1-9-maj-20-00

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

a female host in there would've been nice

Reply

Thread

Link

why tho it's mostly gays and straight women watching anyway

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Here for Sweden, Montenegro and Greece!!

Reply

Thread

Link

bless you for this stream

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Bless you. Took a couple clicks, but got it to work

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Thank you!! This works in Canada as well <3

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

thank you!!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

the iplayer keeps freezing so I'm already sure that my stream is behind. oh well at least the vpn is working. these hosts are not cute.

Reply

Thread

Link





i still havent heard our song (Finland) but people say it's good, so I hope so! But I hope more for crazy glitter extravaganza and less ballads



YASSS THE BEST SEASON OF THE YEAR!!i still havent heard our song (Finland) but people say it's good, so I hope so! But I hope more for crazy glitter extravaganza and less ballads

Reply

Thread

Link

this semi is almost entirely ballads. Semi 2 will be better.



But there is one very Eurovisiony act in this semi.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

let's hope at least the performances are weird if the songs are boring

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Finland issss amazingggggg

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

*3 white male hosts*

"this year's theme is diversity"



Reply

Thread

Link

i'm so not up to date this year

who are the favorites?

Reply

Thread

Link

Italy is most probably the winner, but Portugal and Bulgaria also have a chance.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
As production in the Permian Basin continues to increase, the accompanying infrastructure has struggled to keep up. Expansions to pipeline capacity are needed to handle the heavier flow, as more investment is pumped into the Permian and new production comes on line.

Thats got a host of Texas-based Permian players excited, as new pipeline projects are launched, existing lines are expanded and new acquisitions bring fresh capital into midstream ventures.

According to the EIA, the rise in Permian output is expected to add 420,000 bpd by the end of 2017. Permian production in April 2017 was measured at 2.3 million bpd according to the Drilling Productivity Report, an increase of 300,000 bpd from last year.

But existing pipelines cant quite handle the load, and this has thrown spot prices off-kilter. WTI Midland, a local hub for the Permian, boasts a significant discount compared to WTI Cushing, though the discount spread isnt quite as wide as it was a few years ago, when the Permian was just getting started. Thats just one indication of a glut on the supply-side, hinting that existing pipelines are carrying near their full capacity.

To handle the increased load, major pipeline expansions are underway. In April, Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners announced plans for a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from gas processing plants in the Permian to storage facilities in Mont Belvieu, Texas. With an initial capacity of 250,000 barrels a day and a planned total capacity of 600,000 bbl/day, the line will be 571-miles long and is expected to be completed in 2019. Related: Oklahoma Taking Advantage Of Mexicos Oil Boom

While Enterprise works to give NGLs a home, other companies are focusing on increasing capacity for crude. Plains All American Pipeline is increasing the capacity on the Cactus line by 140,000 bbl/day, while Magellan Midstream Partners is adding 100,000 bbl/day and Sunoco another 100,000 bbl/day to their lines. Even Enterprise, despite its plans for NGL, has opted to increase the capacity on its Midland-to-Sealy pipeline from 300,000 bpd to 450,000 bpd, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Other midstream plays are in the works as well. DCP Midstream and Kinder Morgan have joined forces to build and operate a natural gas pipeline, connecting the Permian to Gulf Coast markets 430 miles away. Magellan Midstream Partners is evaluating a pipeline project from the Permian to Corpus Christi, and is also planning an expansion of its 300,000 bbl/day line to Houston, boosting its capacity to 475,000 bbl/day. That line is currently in the midst of an expansion to 400,000 bbl/day which will be completed by the end of Q2 2017.

The demand for pipeline capacity accompanying the boom is attracting new midstream players. On May 4, San Antonio-based midstream NuStar Energy LP closed a deal acquiring the Dallas-based Navigator Energy Services LLC for $1.475 billion. The company owns 500 miles of pipelines and terminals, totaling 1 million bbl storage capacity. NuStar spent most of April issuing new shares to finance the deal.

Theres a chance that all this new capacity may not be enough. The EIA estimates total additions will equal 340,000 b/day, while the Enterprise projects will add another 450,000 bpd. A related issue is how and where all that capacity will be refined. With most of the refinery throughput on the Gulf Coast engineered for heavy crudes, and lighter crude refiners currently sated by cheap Nigerian imports, its believed that much of the new Permian output is destined for export. While facilities for exporting LNG, such as Chenieres LNG-export terminal at Sabine Pass, are starting to crop up in Corpus Christi and elsewhere, infrastructure for crude exports needs to be expanded to handle the growing volume of crude flowing east from the Permian. In 2016 U.S. crude oil exports to countries other than Canada rose sharply, according to EIA data, and there are strong reasons to suspect exports will increase further in 2017, despite the on-going price slump. Related: OPEC Confident In U.S. Shales Lack Of Longevity

Enthusiasm from Permian operators is strong, with Pioneer Natural Resources President and CEO Tim Dove predicting hundreds of thousands of barrels and maybe many millions in exports in the coming years, according to Oil & Gas Journal. Existing lines carry Texas oil and gas to Mexico, and the increase in Chinese refinery capacity for lighter crudes hint that the China market may be the ultimate destination for American crude exports.

In 2017, as Permian production increases, so too will the capacity of pipelines to carry both crude and NGLs to storage facilities and refineries along the Gulf Coast. Where it goes from there is open to debate, but theres little doubt that midstream companies are ready to get in on the action. Even with prices hovering near $45 a barrel, there are few signs that the Permian boom will slow this year or the next.

By Gregory Brew for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The current discussion about the future of oil is how soon will it be before petroleum becomes a sunset industry. If it isnt already. Flat or falling demand. Carbon taxes. Electric cars. Renewable energy. Oil has no future. It is only a matter of time, although how much time remains is subject to considerable discussion and debate. Various prognosticators put forth differing view about when world oil demand will peak. Some say as early as 2030, others much later. Nobody says never.

As for actually running out of oil, that issue has run its course. At least for now.

How long the world stays in the oil business is of critical importance. This is illustrated by a Financial Post article April 28 titled, Next battleground; Enbridges aging Great Lakes pipeline stirs new protest in Michigan. Until recently, the battle against pipelines has been opposing new construction. Now it is existing pipelines. This opens yet another can of worms the industry and regulators have never really grappled with.

Enbridge Line 5 crosses from Wisconsin to Michigan under the Mackinac Straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, a distance of about 4.5 miles. Built in 1953 to the most demanding standards of the day, the Enbridge website says Line 5 transports about 540,000 b/d of Canadian light and synthetic crude and natural gas liquids to markets in Michigan and beyond. What has emerged is concern among campaigning Michigan politicians about the potential for a major spill into the Great Lakes, an event being politically branded as inevitable.

Gretchen Whitmer, a former Michigan senator now campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor, was quoted in the article as saying, Common sense dictates that a pipeline which is already 28 percent past its viable life will eventually be decommissioned. Government would be wise to plan for that proactively  before disaster strikes. Viable life apparently means it was intended to be in service for 50 years and is now on year 64. Not wanting to be left behind on an emerging issue, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, expected to run for governor as a Republican, has also expressed his concerns about the integrity of Line 5.

Replacing this submerged section of the line is reported to cost $2.4 billion. Where it would go and who would pay is not mentioned. Enbridge routinely inspects the line and claims it is in good shape. Unfortunately, the failure of Enbridge Line 6B in 2010 which leaked 20,000 barrels of oil into Michigans Kalamazoo River in 2010 is still fresh in peoples memories. Having a campaign issue in Michigan which allows politicians to appear concerned by raising alarms about a Canadian companys assets is a no-lose proposition, at least in the short term.

The subject and cost of maintaining producing, processing and transportation assets doesnt arise often. While the profile of decommissioning suspended wells has been rising, keeping what still works going is not frequently discussed. But it should be because after they become public, issues like the future safety of Enbridge Line 5 seldom go away.

The ongoing maintenance of producing, processing and transportation assets is the responsibility of the owner, the same as changing the oil, tires and brakes on a car. It is assumed operators will maintain their sets in good working order, and the vast majority do. Maintenance capital budgets are part of every company.

But what happens when cash gets tight? More importantly, what happens if and when the industry starts going out of business as so many hope?

Back in 2008 Matthew R. Simmons, founder of Houston-based oil and gas investment bank Simmons & Company International, gave a slide presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) titled Oil And Gas Rust: An Evil Worse Than Depletion. Simmons was often outspoken on oil issues saying things people didnt want to hear or hadnt thought about. His 2005 book, Twilight In The Desert, was about how Saudi Arabias oil production from its gigantic fields was destined to fall.

Both Matt Simmons, as he was called by friends and associates, and his firm are no longer with us in original form. Matt passed away in 2010 and his namesake company was acquired by Piper Jaffray Cos. in 2015. But the issue of the deterioration of steel remains.

Simmons went back to the first 100 years of oil when the big fields were on land, in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico or inland bodies of water like Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. Starting in 1965 the focused shifted from what Simmons called brown water to blue water further offshore. In response, the OTC was launched in 1969. But by 2008 Simmons said the offshore industry was mature and the North Sea was already long in the tooth. This was nine years ago. Related: How Much Further Could Oil Prices Fall?

Simmons wrote, The entire oil value chain is built of steel and steel begins to corrode the day it is cast. The oil industry never grasped this profound risk as it built a house for oil out of steel. The thought was steel would last forever but forever was defined by investors as profits and by governments and regulators as secure and immediate supplies of essential hydrocarbon energy. Simmons noted much of the core assets of North America and the world  pipelines, refineries, storage tanks, wellbores - dated back to the big expansion years of the 1950s and 1960s.

Simmons acknowledged the industrys determination to prevent or control rust and deterioration. Cathodic protection. Downhole and surface chemical corrosion inhibitors. Smart pigs to inspect pipeline integrity from the inside. Ultrasonic and non-destructive radioactive testing of vessels, pipe and components. Internal and external coatings for everything. Improved metallurgy. Make it last as long as possible for obvious reasons of economic returns and public and worker safety. The original NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) was founded in Houston in 1943 for the sole purpose of addressing all aspects of this subject.

But Simmons started raising alarms about infrastructure nine years ago. He alleged the 20 years following the oil price collapse of the mid-1980s to early this century when prices started rising again were tough on maintenance worldwide. Simmons concluded, Bottom Line: The Energy Patch Has To Be Rebuilt. He called this a reconstruction project along the lines of the World War Two war machine or the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe stating, If the world wants to continue to use energy, its assets need to be rebuilt. Simple law of nature. He figured higher prices (which we dont have) would help pay for it, but that this was a major issue the industry could longer ignore. In 2008.

Which brings us back to todays reality. The point isnt to be alarmist. Matt Simmons wasnt right about Saudi Arabia or peak oil and he may have overstated the problem at the OTC in 2008. But as illustrated by the emerging Enbridge Line 5 issue, the infrastructure upon which the world depends isnt getting any younger. The vast majority of western operators are very committed to the safety and integrity of their assets. But capital is precious. Where will the money come from?

The pressure from some governments and all regulators and environmental groups is for the industry to pay more for everything. More rules. More obligations. Higher corporate taxes. The highest possible royalties. More development restrictions. Obstruct infrastructure. Carbon taxes. Emission caps. Investment and endowment funds discouraged from owning oil investments. Standard tax depletion and amortization deductions for capital investment for any business called subsidies for oil and gas. If the people of the world wont quit using oil then opponents are using every tool they can think of to starve the industry of capital.

Meanwhile, the industrys financial commitments to keep aging infrastructure in good working order increase annually because of the age of the assets and despite the good work done by the companies themselves to stay in business in the face of collapsed oil prices and pro-active organizations like NACE. With money from where? Investors and lenders provide capital to grow the business, not sustain it. Thats up to the company.

The fork in the road has two options, neither attractive.

The first is the most likely. Petroleum will continue to be a key element of the worlds energy mix for decades. This means assets must be kept in good working order. Those demanding the industry do more with less better think this through and appreciate not only will the oilpatch require capital to sustain demand-driven growth through reserve replacement, but to keep everything in good working order to operate safely and efficiently. The current direction of taxes and regulations do not anticipate this outcome. The industry must rely on common sense, which outside of industry and capital providers, is in increasingly short supply.

The other option is worse. Technology and regulations combine to provide economically viable alternatives to petroleum. Now the industry must face decommissioning liabilities for assets no longer commercially profitable to operate. Except they dont have the cash. And they wont be able to get the money from debt or equity investors. Who is going to finance a company or industry going out of business?

The numbers are big. Take one example, Suncor Energy Inc. In its Management, Discussion and Analysis notes for its 2016 audited financial statements, Suncor reported sustaining capital investments primarily for oil sands and refining and marketing of $2.8 billion, nearly 50% of total CAPEX of $6.0 billion. A serious amount of money to sustain $71 billion in book value property, plant and equipment. But of course, Suncor is a serious company with no immediate plans for obsolescence. Related: A Hard Brexit Could Spell Disaster For UK Oil And Gas

But under Contractual Obligations, Commitments, Guarantees and Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements there are other numbers. For decommissioning and restoration costs Suncor estimates $382 million for 2017 and $419 million for 2018. This stays about the same through 2021. But the figure for 2022 and beyond is $9.6 billion and the total is $11.7 billion. This is a company which ended 2016 with $16.1 billion in long-term debt and another $2.1 billion in other liabilities, mostly pensions and post-retirement benefits.

Suncors total obligations for debt and decommissioning are approaching $30 billion. Thats a lot of capital to service if the company is going out of business because nobody needs its products. As was proven in the recent Redwater Energy Corp. case where Albertas energy regulator tried to insert itself ahead of creditors when the assets were sold  decommissioning obligations before debt repayment  lenders rank ahead of cleanup under current law. So, the Alberta Energy Regulator intends to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.

There is nothing wrong with Suncor. It is a responsible company. But there is something terribly wrong with how the world regards the future of the oil business.

Whether the world decides to stay in or get out of the oil business; governments, regulators and opponents must learn to read an income statement and balance sheet before dispensing any further advice on how the petroleum industry conducts itself. This industry supplied the energy mankind demanded for generations and paid as much in taxes and royalties as governments could extract. Often governments took too much then had to give some back to keep the lights on. Now it is being asked to do much more with much less and perhaps, if the greens get their way, nothing at all.

Indeed, lets talk about the future of oil. But from a much different perspective.

By David Yager for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Recognizing that something had to be done to halt the latest crash in oil prices, Saudi Arabias energy minister went public with his support not only for an extension of the OPEC cuts for another six months, but he also dangled the possibility of an extension into next year.

Based on consultations that I've had with participating members, I am confident the agreement will be extended into the second half of the year and possibly beyond, Khalid al-Falih said during an industry event in Kuala Lumpur, according to Reuters. At the same time he waived away the signs that the market is still woefully oversupplied, acknowledging the larger-than-expected rebound in U.S. shale, but still noting that the fundamentals are improving. "I believe the worst is now behind us with multiple leading indicators showing that supply-demand balances are in deficit and the market is moving towards rebalancing," he said.

Up until now the decision was whether or not to extend for six months. Now, with a six-month extension looking assured, there are questions about whether even that will be enough. The oil markets no longer appear to be impressed by a six-month extension, judging by the increasingly languid price responses that have come after OPEC comments in recent weeks. OPEC was very successful at talking up oil prices last year, but the rhetorical power of al-Falih is on the wane.

With the six-month extension now baked in, OPEC is growing concerned that inventories might still be elevated by the end of the year. As a result, OPEC is starting to look at a nine-month extension, according to Reuters. To increase production in those months may have a negative impact (on prices). So we may ask for an extension until the end of Q1 of 2018, an OPEC source told Reuters. Related: Is The Market Ignoring OPEC?

However, the Saudi energy minister also cautioned that oil watchers are being myopic, becoming overly-focused on the near-term while neglecting the longer-term fundamentals. He argues that demand will continue to rise and the severe cutbacks in exploration over the last several years are sowing the seeds of a shortage by the end of the decade. The comments echo recent warnings from the IEA about the pending supply shortage because of a dearth of discoveries since 2015.

Conservative estimates predict that we will need to offset 20 million barrels per day in combined demand growth and natural decline over the next five years, Falih said over the weekend. That is why I fear...we are heading into a future of supply-demand imbalances.

Many of the top energy analysts tend to agree with al-Falihs near-term assessment  that the recent selloff might have gone a little too far due to some technical trading particulars rather than the reemergence of a supply glut. The oil market, however ploddingly, continues to adjust towards some sort of balance.

But even as he agrees with al-Falihs characterization of whats taking place right now, Ed Morse of Citi disagrees very much with the ministers medium-term assessment. That is, Morse argues there will not be a supply shortage at the end of the decade. Related: Saudis Set To Cut June Crude Oil Exports To Asian Markets

In an FT column, Morse lays out his case, arguing that U.S. shale will add new sources of supply; other sources of supply will come from Russia, OPEC and other non-OPEC countries; demand is softening because of improved efficiency; and even oil sands and deepwater drilling have become cheaper by some 20 to 30 percent. Morse also said that natural depletion is not as much of a concern as many think, arguing that only 40 million barrels per day of non-OPEC production  rather than all of the worlds 100 mb/d  is of real concern for natural decline. That means that only some 10 mb/d of oil requires replacement over five years and technology and capital efficiency put that easily within reach, Morse wrote in the FT.

Ultimately, Citi does not foresee the price spike towards the end of the decade and into the 2020s that the IEA has warned about. The industry has structurally reduced costs and can grow production even with oil trading at todays prices. That could ultimately mean that prices never go back to $100 per barrel.

Volatility could pick up, especially in the short run, but Citi is projecting oil prices to trade within the $40 to $65 per barrel range over the next five years.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
New data from GasBuddy is tracking the decline of gasoline prices in the United States as the summer season approaches, reporting that an estimated 5,100 stations across the country are now selling a gallon for less than $2 a pop  over two times as many stations as last week.

The national average stood at $2.302 per gallon, down four cents from last week and eight cents from last month. Still, year-over-year gasoline prices were up by ten cents.

Factors playing a role [in the falling gasoline prices include]: weak demand and strong production, which continue to weigh on OPEC's output cut last November designed to cause prices to rise, according to GasBuddys senior petroleum analyst, Patrick DeHaan. The recent drop in crude oil is posing a much more serious threat and OPEC must soon decide how much market share it will sacrifice to keep oil prices higher - clearly the last cut just isn't enough.

Gallon prices in certain states, notably California ($2.966), Washington ($2.886), Hawaii ($2.792), Oregon ($2.774), are higher than in others: Oklahoma ($2.038), South Carolina ($2.041), Tennessee ($2.103), Mississippi ($2.1137).

Brent and West Texas Intermediate barrel prices are down in recent weeks as Libya and Nigeria  both exempt from OPECs big production reduction - confirm high outputs for April. The two nations were spared from restrictive quotas due to long periods of domestic strife that had already hampered oil facilities. American shale oil producers have also ramped up the number of active rigs, rejuvenating a once abating supply glut.



Related: A Hard Brexit Could Spell Disaster For UK Oil And Gas

The bloc will meet on May 23rd in Vienna to discuss extending the cuts through the end of 2017. Currently, the group, as well as 11 other NOPEC nations, are only bound to their quotas until June. Led by Saudi Arabia, OPEC has reached a compliance rate of between 90-100 percent over the implementation period of the deal.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Libyas oil production has reached 780,000 barrels per day  the highest level since October 2014, according to new data collected from an anonymous source by Bloomberg.

Oil prices have been tumbling since last week, when both Libya and Nigeria  the countries exempt from OPECs production reduction deal  reported climbing outputs as the nations recover from years and months of domestic strife, respectively.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is expected to extend the deal it made amongst itself and 11 non-OPEC countries last November. On May 23rd in Vienna, the bloc will meet to make a final decision regarding the future of the 1.2 million-barrel output cut.

Oil profits will be the lifeblood of any successful future government in Libya. Under dictator Muammar Gaddafis reign, fossil fuels made up over 90 percent of Tripolis revenues, which the government used to provide heavy food and consumer goods subsidies to its citizens in exchange for loyalty.

After years of internal struggle, the National Oil Company (NOC) has managed to develop a firm grip over 90 percent of Libyas oil export revenues. The company achieves this by claiming to maintain its independence from various factions vying to run the country until elections are held, but in recent weeks, an NOC official condemned the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord, breaking from established protocol.



Related: Four Charts That Explain OPECs Fall From Power

The new brazen face of the NOC comes as production recovers quickly due to a drop in fighting within the country.

The Waha field in eastern Libya has recovered lost production to a 75,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) level as of Friday, according to a field engineer who spoke to Reuters last week.

Fighting between militia groups affiliated with a rival government and other violence had caused a linked pipeline to become damaged, hampering output since early March, when the field last produced at the current level. Wahas total capacity is 120,000 bpd.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
The Trans Forcados pipeline, operated by Shell, may be restarted before the weeks end, according to local sources who spoke to Reuters. The Astro Perseus tanker, sailing under a Greek flag, is en route to Nigeria at the moment, and according to the sources, may load at the Forcados terminal later this week.

The Trans Forcados pipeline was the object of several militant attacks last year, which meant that for the most part of 2016 it remained shut down. The first attack that stopped the flow of crude came in February 2016, followed by another in July. Repairs continued until October and the pipeline was restarted, only to be shut down before the month ended, after a bombing from a new militant group that had emerged in the Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate.

This bombing was followed by two more in November, which crippled the pipeline for several months. The renewed violence came at a time when Nigeria was ramping up its crude oil output, with the Forcados terminal, among others, restarting operations after several months of force majeure after earlier attacks. Also in November, President Buhari had intensified negotiations with militants in the Delta, to broker some kind of a peace agreement in the restive oil-rich region.

The Trans Forcados pipeline has a daily capacity of 240,000 bpd, with average daily flows ranging between 200,000 bpd and 240,000 bpd. Shell, which operates both the pipeline and the Forcados terminal, with a capacity of 400,000 bpd, is now testing the pipeline. According to Reuters, the company will not issue a loading program for the terminal before the tests are completed successfully.



Related: Iran Plans To Raise Crude Oil Production Capacity By 3 Million Bpd

Nigeria is producing less than 2 million bpd of oil currently, with a production capacity of 2.2 million bpd, but plans to expand this capacity to 2.5 million bpd over the next three years. To enable the increase, Abuja changed its funding arrangements with foreign companies operating in the Niger Delta, abandoning the cash call system of funding its part of international JVs with majors including Shell, Exxon, and Eni.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Dr Francis Nsiah, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Coast (UCC) has stressed the need for the country to develop effective mechanisms for the collection of reliable occupational health and safety data.



He said Ghana, though a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) did not have any reliable data on occupational health and safety for the purposes of policy formulation and research.



Dr Nsiah, an expert in Workplace Safety and Health was speaking at a Stakeholders Seminar in Cape Coast to mark this years World Day for Safety and Health at Work.



He spoke on the topic Optimize the collection and use of occupational safety and health data, a contribution to the implementation of sustainable development Goal 8.



The seminar, organised by Health and Safety Ghana (HESAG), Ghanas premiere health and safety policy institute brought together representatives of the various trade unions, employers, health and safety practitioners, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in health and safety, academicians and government agencies in charge of workplace safety and health.



Dr Nsiah said the collection and utilisation of reliable occupational safety and health data were indispensable for the detection of new hazards and emerging risks.



He said it would also help in the identification of hazardous sectors, the development of preventive measures, as well as the implementation of policies, systems and programmes at international, national and enterprise levels.



There is the need to get accurate occupational health and safety figures to help us plan against occupational injuries, accidents and diseases he added.



Dr. Nsiah said there was the need to educate workers and employers on occupational health and safety issues and to make occupational health and safety information available to all adding that awareness is good but knowledge is very important.



He maintained that workers need to be protected against workplace hazards at all times and that the Ministry of Employment and Labour must lead the way in these matters.



He said workers must be aware of their working environment and take personal responsibilities for their health and safety at all times as workplace safety remained a shared responsibility between the employer and the employee.



The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8, Target 8.8, focuses on the protection of labour rights and promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
President Trump should release White House visitor logs to the public, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, said at at town hall forum live streamed on Mountain Lake PBS on Monday evening.

Stefanik also reiterated that Trump should release his tax returns.

He should release his taxes  100 percent. Ive said he should release his taxes, she said, in the forum that Mountain Lake PBS will broadcast at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Stefanik, responding to a question from the audience, said she does not support House Democratic tactics to force a floor vote on legislation that would require U.S. presidents to release their tax returns.

Stefanik said legislation should proceed through the committee process.
Most everywhere I have gone the past month, I have been asked what I thought was going to happen with the Alexander West trial.

I confided in a few friends that I believed he would be convicted of manslaughter and leaving the scene of the an accident but acquitted of vehicular manslaughter, after the blood test results -- the main evidence for the vehicular manslaughter count -- were withdrawn because of problems with the search warrant to take his blood. (The lesser counts were ancillary for sentencing purposes.)

It's tough to predict a trial when you know things about a case that a jury doesn't, such as blood test results or what three of the defendant's friends could have told the jury about that tragic night.

A lot of people ask me and other reporters how we sit through these cases, seeing the horror and pain firsthand over-and-over. My response is always that I am just an observer, I get to go home to my family at night and put the day behind me, and the people who are really suffering are the victims and their families.

What we witnessed over the past 16 days in Warren County Court was the most unusual and closely watched criminal case and trial in my 26 years here.

And that says something when we have had cases like a tour boat capsizing that killed 20 people, a triple murder in Washington County, a house explosion that killed six, the death of a firefighter in an arson fire and too many child killings to count over the past two decades plus.

During most trials, media attention tends to wane as it goes on, until a verdict approaches. That didn't happen here, as the media crush continued throughout. Spectators were being turned away even in the last days of testimony.

This case resonated with the public for a number of reasons: death of an innocent child in her mother's arm during vacation at a world-renowned summer destination, a defendant who fled the scene, showed little remorse and hired a hotshot legal team to try to beat the charges.

Emotions aside, trials can be tough to cover for reporters, as you sit in court with family of the defendant who are usually not real enthused about your reporting about their loved one.

The prosecution files its evidence in court first, which leads to the media initially focusing on that part of the case , and many defense lawyers won't discuss their client's case, for a variety of reasons. So that often leads to coverage that is one-sided before trial, and I have had my share of, shall we say, uncomfortable and sometimes heated conversations in and around court in these situations.

That was not the case in the West trial, as he and his family were beyond cordial despite all of the drama. West said good morning to many reporters each day, introduced himself to a number of us and one Monday even asked me how my weekend was.

At first I thought it was an act, but the more I saw him interact with people, and learned about him, it seems he is genuinely a nice young man, albeit a man who made some terrible mistakes on July 25. I came to the conclusion he and his family legitimately believed he was not guilty of many, if not most or all, of the crimes that he was charged with.

The Knarr and McCue families handled themselves with dignity throughout as well. Family members on both sides of the case sat feet away from each other for weeks, with nary a cross word that I heard.

It was clear early in the trial, as witnesses talked of the "blood-curdling" screaming coming from the boat West hit, that the leaving the scene of an accident charges -- stiff felonies in their own right -- would be nearly impossible for the defense to overcome. Between the screaming, and the actions of West and his friends in the minutes after the collision, it was clear they knew something bad had happened.

And while West was to blame, many noted that the directions to not talk or post on social media after the crash seemed to be coming from passenger Kristine Tiger, a person who was among three who refused to cooperate with prosecutors as they went after West.

We will get to Tiger and her to other non-cooperators shortly.

Defense lawyer Cheryl Coleman can't be blamed if she never tries another case in Warren County Court. Last summer, days before the boat collision that claimed the life of 8-year-old Charlotte McCue and landed West in a heap of trouble, Coleman tried an attempted rape case before Judge John Hall, and her client was convicted of all charges and netted a 29-year prison sentence.

He had turned down a plea deal, and the case went to trial despite some of the most overwhelming evidence I have seen in a case that went to trial.

Coleman is a former prosecutor and clearly an experienced lawyer who knows the law very well, and knows the issues on which to focus at trial. But her rough-and-tumble style seems to play much better in the Capital District, and maybe not as well when you try to beat up on a grandfather who watched his granddaughter die on his boat.

Her tactics toward and comments about boat passenger Cara Mia Canale, the only one of the four who had the fortitude to come into court and say what she saw happen, were sad on many levels. Bringing a drug test into court and putting it on the witness stand before her drew a harsh rebuke from Judge Hall, and if it had been done by a prosecutor, would likely have resulted in a mistrial.

Coleman had sought a change of venue based on pre-trial publicity, and many noted the irony of Coleman speaking to the media at every turn. Most notable to me was a press briefing she did in the courthouse parking lot during a lunch break as jury selection went on. Prospective jurors were walking within 10 feet of her as she spoke to cameras. Almost every day after court, she gave on-camera interviews.

Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan, on the other hand, did not make a public comment on the case outside of court after his indictment, to my knowledge.

There still seems to be a whisper campaign that went on for months among those who believed West did no wrong, who claimed Knarr was intoxicated.

Now Knarr clearly made some mistakes in the hour or two after the crash, when he refused to take a breath test, then made a comment about talking to a lawyer that was untrue. Only he knows why he did that. Was it fear that just the hint of alcohol on his breath from his wine at dinner what turn the case on him? But every police officer who spoke with him that night, those who testified and those who didn't, agreed the saw no signs of impairment or smell of alcohol on him.

To the credit of the Warren County Sheriff's Office, they got a court order to take his blood when he did not initially cooperate.

To me, the surveillance video was one of the strongest pieces of evidence the prosecution presented, and unless you have seen it, you really can't have an informed opinion as to who was physically to blame for the crash.

The defense had claimed Knarr violated Navigation Law and did not have the right of way. But the video shows one boat slowly puttering along, estimated at 5 to 7 mph, seemingly headed south based on its visible navigation lights, when another going the same direction and much faster goes right into it. The faster boat clearly had plenty of time to avoid a collision, if the driver is paying attention.

The damage to the Knarr boat seemed to show a crash at an angle, not broadside.

(The video can be found here on NewsChannel 13's website, about four minutes into Hogan's closing statement.)

How did West not see the boat? My guess is he was talking to others on his boat, not paying attention, didn't pick up the lights of the Knarr boat or mistook them for lights on shore, or some combination thereof. He told police he just didn't see it.

Now West is in Warren County Jail and faces up to 7-1/3 to 22 years in prison for unintentional crimes, albeit crimes that stemmed from drinking-and-driving and likely drugged driving as well.

Hall has never been shy about imposing the maximum, or near maximum, in serious cases. Coleman may succeed in getting West out of jail pending appeal, which could result in whatever sentence he receives being effectively stayed for the year or two it will take for an appeal to play out.

What will become of West's boat passenger friends as they face prosecution for lying to police and/or obstructing the police investigation remains to be seen. I wondered what impact the jury not hearing from Tiger, her boyfriend Matthew Marry and passenger Morland Keyes would have on the case, as the prosecution didn't call them out of concern as to their potential testimony.

They refused to cooperate with the District Attorney's Office, and when the defense made overtures to get them on the witness stand, their lawyers indicated they would invoke their constitutional rights to self-incrimination.

Of course Tiger and Marry's legal problems got significantly worse last week when they were jailed on drug charges in Saratoga Springs, arrests that had curious timing, to say the least.

They obviously had targets on their backs, but Hogan's office would have loved to those arrests happen two months ago, potentially leading to cooperation agreements for the West trial.

Instead, the jury did not hear from three people who had crucial first-hand accounts of what happened, but chose self-preservation over doing the right thing, whether that was to testify for or against West.

Those arrests during jury deliberations were just another strange twist in a sad, real-life tragedy that played out before our eyes.

-- Don Lehman
FORT EDWARD  Amy Stumvoll plans to open Stumpy's Pizza in the old Angelina's Pizza building downtown.

Those who have lived west of Albany along Interstate 90 may also welcome the news that, along with pizza, she will serve some dinners, including a central New York dish called chicken riggies.

"I've been in the business for 15 years, and after working for other people for a long time, you want to open your own place," said Stumvoll, who bought the building at 165 Broadway and is renovating it in advance of a June 19 opening.

Stumvoll, who lives in Fort Edward, had been working at a pizza restaurant in Saratoga Springs but wanted to open her own place.

"I had been looking for my own place for a while," she said. "When I saw the Angelina's building was for sale, I jumped at it."

Since she is originally from Syracuse, she is bringing to her menu a traditional dish of Syracuse and Utica  chicken riggies, a creamy pasta dish made with rigatoni and chicken.

"It is my absolute favorite dish," Stumvoll said.
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that two area businesses received Small Business Excellence awards at a ceremony May 2 in Albany.

The Bullpen Tavern on Glen Street in Glens Falls won for Warren County for its successful business comeback after a 2013 fire that heavily damaged the building.

Paul Bricoccoli Jr., Scott Endieveri, David Krogmann Jr. and Jason Krogmann are partners in the business.

Glens Fall National Bank nominated The Bullpen for the award, according to a press release.

ICC Management and Consulting of Cambridge won for Washington County, based on its project to covert the former Cambridge Hotel to an assisted living facility.

George Scala and Kristen Vanderwarker are partners in the consulting firm, which specializes in residential facilities for the elderly.

The 504 Co. nominated the consulting firm for the award, according to a press release.

Small Business Excellence Awards recognize businesses that demonstrate entrepreneurial thinking.
GLENS FALLS  Just after starting her keynote speech Tuesday, author Patti Kerr related a personal story about her mother, who had Alzheimers disease.

You need to talk to people who have really experienced what you are going through, Kerr told an audience of more than 100 at the Alzheimers Associations 12th annual Adirondack Caregivers Forum at The Queensbury Hotel. My mother kept going over to the television and hitting it with her shoe. I asked my friends, none of whom were dealing with a relative with Alzheimers, and they just shrugged their shoulders.

Then, Kerr asked a friend who was taking care of a parent with the disease.

She asked me what was on the TV when my mother hit it with the shoe, and I said, The news. My father likes to watch news shows,  Kerr said. My friend said, Change the channel, and when I turned it to Lawrence Welk Show, she stopped doing it.

Thats the kind of thing only someone who has been through it would know, Kerr said.

It was that sort of specific advice that kept the audience focused on Kerr, whose mother and grandmother both had long-term Alzheimers, resulting in her book, I Love You, Who Are You: Loving and Caring for a Patient With Alzheimers.

Kerr said having a relative with Alzheimers is a journey that usually lasts between four and eight years, although she noted some patients live as long as 15 to 20 years.

She listed four important points for those just starting out on the journey:

Get an official diagnosis and find the right doctor.

Get the family together to talk about the situation, no matter how difficult that might seem.

Get legal and financial issues in order.

Get support.

Kym Hance, program manager for Alzheimers Association Upstate New York Chapter, who coordinated the forum, said the support is especially important.

Thats why we are here, Hance said. We want to connect people and help them support each other.

Hance said her group is setting up several programs to help caregivers and patients, including one for early support.

Following Kerrs keynote address, four afternoon workshops were held, which included alternative care models for Alzheimers patients, effective communication strategies, using holistic and alternatives practices to help the caregiver sustain themselves and a discussion of Capturing Your Loved Ones Journey.

But perhaps the most important part of the conference came before, between and after sessions, when people who are caring for relatives with Alzheimers were able to tell each other stories, ask questions and talk to the professionals who were attending.

While Tuesdays conference was focused on caregivers who take care of family members, the association will offer a Train the Trainer workshop for those involved professionally in memory care. That will be held June 20 at the Warren County Human Services Building.

Information on that conference, as well as the Alzheimers Associations other upcoming workshops, is available at 867-4999, ext. 200.
PLATTSBURGH  Mike Trudo once supported Rep. Elise Stefanik, but on Monday evening he joined a large crowd on Sesame Street to speak out against her.

The Plattsburgh resident was among nearly 200 people who came to the Mountain Lake PBS studio to protest the lawmaker's recent vote in favor of the American Health Care Act.

I think government should be open and transparent, and Elise Stefanik has not been," Trudo said. "I will not vote for her again, and she has lost my trust and my vote.

"This health-care (bill) is not good for Americans, and it hasn't been investigated fully, and I think it needs to be."

The crowd began assembling at the location at about 4:45 p.m., just ahead of when Stefanik, R-Willsboro, would participate in a TV forum, set to begin filming inside the station at 6:30 p.m.

Many attendees carried signs bearing messages, such as "R.I.P. 377,000 Uninsured New Yorkers," "Repeal & Replace Elise" and "Health Care is a Human Right."

Our group, (Plattsburgh) Change Through Action, has spent weeks calling Elise's office and consistently not getting clear answers as to what her stance was on the American Health Care Act, said Tara Palmer, one of the event organizers.

And when the lawmaker finally voted in favor of the bill on May 4, she continued, we knew that it was the time to bring people together from potentially all sides of all political backgrounds because this affects everybody.

Along with chanting messages like "Shame!" and "I want the health care politicians have," protesters heard from several speakers, including Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Michael Cashman, a Democrat.

"Trumpcare will no doubt harm millions," he told the crowd. "The independent Congressional Budget Office says it will increase the number of uninsured, slash Medicaid and raise premiums and deductibles, especially for folks with pre-existing conditions.

"Good thing we have an opportunity to get a second opinion from the Senate. I can only hope their diagnosis will be to kill the bill."

At the front of the crowd sat a coffin covered in red rose petals and the names of numerous medical conditions, such as HIV, alcohol abuse, lupus, cerebral palsy, pregnancy, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

This coffin represents the death of American health care under Trumpcare, and it lists the names of many, many existing conditions which will not be covered under Elise Stefanik's Trumpcare vote, Carole Slatkin of Essex told the Press-Republican.

We wanted something that would be powerful and dramatic and really hit home and kind of a visual reminder of what this is going to mean for many people if it goes into law, added fellow event organizer Amber Germano, who built the coffin for the event.

About 14 people showed up to support Stefanik outside the forum, including Clinton County Republican Chairman Don McBrayer, Essex County Republican Chairman Shaun Gilliland and Franklin County Republican Chairman Ray Scollin.

In a statement afterward, the GOP chairs said Stefanik has been successful because she "is smart, dedicated to NY 21, willing to reach across the aisle when collaboration benefits the district, and she has a proven track record."

They said that since the election, "a passionate group of liberal protesters" has opposed virtually all the national Republicans and their plans.

"We share Elise Stefaniks concern, and our friends on the left concerns, that health-care reform is essential to America," noting that Stefanik "was overwhelmingly elected making a promise to repeal and replace the ACA.

"Obamacare is falling apart and has saddled the American people with rising costs, less choice and skyrocketing premiums," the local GOP chairs said.

'Doing nothing' is exactly what would happen if any health-care bill remained in the hyper-partisan House of Representatives. Elise Stefaniks efforts has moved the process to the United States Senate.

"Democrats have a clear choice to make: whether to work together with the Republicans to deliver a health-care system that works for every American or continue to work against Americans and protect the proven ACA failures."

Laurie Davis of Canton said she, too, had written letters and made phone calls encouraging Stefanik to vote against the bill.

Her 32-year-old daughter, Sasha, has Down syndrome and receives Medicaid, which provides her with services, including transportation to sites, such as an animal shelter where she volunteers in her St. Lawrence County community.

Laurie fears the Medicaid cuts proposed in the bill will mean Sasha will no longer have such opportunities.

There's not a lot in the North Country. ... And when you cut these services, we will be hurt more up here.

"I think this legislation is an abomination," added Anne Morgan. "It's definitely anti-woman. There's no doubt about that."

She also expressed concern about what would happen to people with pre-existing conditions under the bill.

"If we don't have a healthy society," she asked, "what do we have?"
PLATTSBURGH  U.S. Rep. Elise Stefaniks support of the American Health Care Act took center stage during a TV community forum here Monday night.

Stefanik, R-Willsboro, was at Mountain Lake PBS studios just four days after she voted in support of the legislation intended to replace the Affordable Care Act.

The bill, approved by a 217-213 vote, still requires Senate approval before it could be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Numerous Republican senators have said they will not act on that bill but instead offer their own version of legislation designed to replace the Affordable Care Act signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010.

Participants at the forum, hosted by Thom Hallock, were chosen by lottery, with numbers drawn to see who would step to the microphone to ask questions.

Greta Heilman of Brant Lake said Stefanik and her Republican colleagues cheered and celebrated last weeks vote while millions of Americans watched, many of them scared about losing their health insurance and access to care.

She said, despite opposition from every major medical association and the American Association of Retired Persons, the bill was pushed through without a Congressional Budget Office report of its effects.

Heilman said about 64,000 people would lose coverage in Stefaniks district alone under provisions of the bill.

The ACA gave my parents health insurance for the first time in 20 years and me for the first time since I was 18 years old. How did you give a voice to your constituents? she asked.

Stefanik outlined some of the reasons for her vote, saying that costs to consumers have increased with Obamacare, insurers have opted out of providing coverage through state exchanges and some physicians have refused to accept that insurance.

I think we deserve better health care, she said.

Stefanik identified three issues she fought to have included in the new legislation: an amendment to make members of Congress subject to the provisions of the legislation, funding for maternity coverage and Medicare funding with a more equitable balance between the federal and state governments, although that wouldnt take full effect until 2020.

Sara Carpenter of Queensbury said her husband, Bob, receives chemotherapy to treat leukemia, which runs about $11,100 a month for the rest of his life, unless a cure is found.

Their insurance has paid $250,000 to keep him alive so far.

Without this medicine, hell be dead in less than a year, she said.

Carpenter blames the exorbitant prices on pharmaceutical manufacturers, who seek maximum profits when a medicine is unique.

They know its pay or die. Its extortion, Carpenter said.

She asked Stefanik what she would do to provide consumers with leverage to negotiate better prices for life-saving medicines. She also asked if Stefanik would sponsor a bill to prohibit legislators who receive funding from pharmaceutical companies from voting on health-care legislation.

I think this is an opportunity for bipartisan agreement, looking at how our drug pricing is structured in this county, Stefanik said.

She said President Trump has reached across the aisle to see if the government can negotiate prices with drug companies. Stefanik said she would also like to see additional funding for research and development of new life-saving drugs by the National Institutes of Health.

She skirted the question of banning votes from legislators who accept money from drug companies.

Nina Matteau of Westport noted that Stefanik said federal health funding should go only to federally qualified health centers, not Planned Parenthood. In this rural district, that sometimes means a 20-to-50-mile trip, Matteau said, which can be especially difficult for low-income families.

Matteau said that, while President Trump and Republicans have stated people with pre-existing conditions will be covered, there are loopholes.

For example, if someones coverage lapses for too long, they can be charged higher premiums when they seek insurance. That again disproportionately effects low-income individuals and families, she said, as they are the group most likely to let insurance lapse.

The McArthur amendment allows states to opt out of the pre-existing condition clause, but only if they provide coverage through high-risk pools, Stefanik said.

But Matteau said that in those cases there are no caps on the premiums an insurer can charge for people with pre-existing conditions, which include heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

As a breast cancer survivor, Matteau said, she is a high risk pool candidate. An estimate she found on CBS Money Watch showed she could be charged between $28,000 a year to $78,000 a year, depending on where she lived.

How does this provide better health care at lower premiums, as promised? she asked.

Stefanik said she realizes the issue is on the mind of many of her constituents.

There is language in the AHCA that expressly prohibits insurers from not accepting patients that have pre-existing conditions. It also doesnt allow them to increase prices and charge an individual more if they have pre-existing conditions, she said, to dissenting murmurs from the crowd.

Other topics covered at the forum included climate change, single-payer insurance, coverage for people with disabilities and mental illness and areas where Stefanik differed with Trump, including opposing the construction of a southern border wall. She also said he should release his tax returns.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
He said that the position he occupies is a critical one to help realise the governments agenda of creating more jobs for Ghanaians.

Hitherto, the YEA has been used for other purposes other than what was originally intended by the former NPP government, which established it. I am committed to modernising it to achieve its original purpose. The NPP government came into power on the promise of massive Job creation for Ghanaians.

He added that the Youth in ICT Module will be the pivot around which jobs will be created.

If we can reorient the youths exposure to the Internet, I believe that we can end Cyber fraud and equipment them with stills to make legitimate income using the same computers.

Justin Kodua Frimpong was addressing journalists in Philadelphia when he visited to explore strategies to solve the unemployment among young people in Ghana.

READ ALSO: Ghana has one of the best aviation regions in West Africa

He has, therefore, began talks with executives of Online Trading Academy to make Ghana the first in Africa to benefit from internet trading education.

The way forward for any economy in our generation is to maximise the power of technology. Over the years, the youths in Ghana either have not taken the fullest advantage of Technology or they have simply just abused this unbelievable resource, explained.
His first concern when I entered his Maamobi home was to make sure I was comfortable by adjusting the ceiling fans regulator, offering me water and consistently asking if I am okay.

This is not surprising for a man who has spent 42 years of his life serving people in restaurants.

Well I can say Its a very nice businessit is this business that has made me to take care of my children, Tufour says with a smile which lights up his face.

Joining the hospitality business was an easy decision for him. His passion to serve people and the satisfaction that follows anytime he does were so strong he could not imagine himself in any other profession. As a result, he enrolled into the State Hotel Training school in 1974 to turn his passion into a profession.

READ ALSO :One woman's quest to groom boys into responsible men

After training, the first place he was sent to was the kitchen. But as fate would have it, he was later asked by one of his supervisors to come to the restaurant to serve.

I went there for three days and I [saw] that the place was good, referring to the kitchen that is why I still continue with the restaurants.

Tufour has worked at Ambassador hotel, Meridian hotel, Akosombo Continental Hotel and a host of others in the capital.

He is now the Food and Beverage manager at Afrikiko Restaurant and Bar here in Accra. His job now is to train and supervise the waiters as well as serve customers.

Living on a waiters salary

Surviving and taking care of a family of seven as a waiter has never been about the salary, the sexagenarian says. His salary is nothing to write home about.

Those days the salary was just a peanut. But we depend on tips. Before you close work as least you will have your daily bread. That helped me to care for my children.

Serving Heads of States

One of his biggest tips was from a former Head of State of Ghana Edward Akufo -Addo. He says that was one of the high points in his career.

When he went to open Weija Dam, I served him. I gave him Champagne and he asked me to take it before him. I was not afraid.

You know if you are serving a man like that you have to take it like you are serving a small boy because if you look at the personality you may even shake and do something which is not good.

So, I served him and he said I should taste it first so I [tasted] it, when I was about to give his own to him he said no he likes my glass so I gave the glass to him. From there he said I should go to the army I said no I like this work.

He gave me money, he gave a check about 10,000 cedis at that time I made good of that money. I used to start my project in my hometown.

He has also served former president Jerry John Rawlings who he considers a friend.

JJ was even my friend, he says beaming with smiles when I went to Meridian Hotel a place called zero room he used to come there for coffee.

The late PV Obeng and Totobi Kwakye have all had the pleasure of being served by Tuffour.

To say it has all been rosy for him throughout his career will be a lie. He has had his fair share of difficult and sometimes even violent customers.

READ ALSO : Exclusive : In the mind of Anas Aremeyaw Anas

He recalls with a lot of anger how he was hit by a man for demanding to be paid for the services he had rendered.

When I was at Tills No 1 Beach Hotel I remember one musician came there to lodge [at ] the hotel for about five days. So, when he was about to leave and we gave him the bill he said the food was not good so he is not going to pay.

You stayed there for five days eating breakfast lunch and dinner and now you are telling me that you cant pay, you lie you will pay- and the man slapped me. In this world, they say every customer is right but if customer is right you are not right to slap me if you have to pay your bill and you dont want to pay [there is no need] to slap me so me too I slapped him and he {fell}.

The issue was eventually resolved at the police station where the customer was made to compensate Tufour.

Despite doing this job for over four decades, he has no plans for quitting any time soon. He believes age will catch up with him quickly if he retires.
An Ikeja High Court sentenced her following a plea bargain where the initial charge of murder was changed to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm to which she plead guilty.

Justice Josephine Oyefeso also rejected a clause in the plea bargain agreement where it was proposed that the housewife should serve a sentence of community service instead of a prison term.

In view of the defendants pleading guilty, I hereby find her guilty of one-count charge of grievous bodily harm.

I hereby sentence her to seven years in prison starting from the day she remanded in prison custody which was March 28, 2015, Oyefeso said.

Before the sentence was pronounced, Akunnes counsel, Mrs P.O. Onu, in her plea for mercy, told the court to temper justice with mercy.

The defendant is a first-time offender, she is a mother of a toddler which she gave birth to while in prison custody. Her daughter is a year-and-seven months old, she still has a lot to offer to the society, Onu said.

The judge ordered that the convicts daughter after weaning her, should be removed from the female prison and be kept in the custody of the relations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that during Akunnes arraignment on March 6, the State Prosecutor, Mrs C.K. Tuiyi-Carena, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on March 28, 2015 at her residence located at No. 85, Idimu Road, Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos.

On the day of the alleged murder, Onyinyechi was preparing a meal while Abuchi was sitting on a chair in their home looking at his Baba Ijebu lottery tickets.

Angered by her husbands action, Onyinyechi scolded him for his love for gambling and a fight ensued between them.

She took the kitchen knife she was using to cut vegetables and stabbed her husband fatally in the chest.

The stabbing inflicted a deep cut in Abuchis chest which led to excessive blood loss and his eventual death.

The victim died before he could be taken to a hospital by Onyinyechi and concerned neighbours, she said.
Emmanuel, who resides at Kubwa Village, Abuja, was convicted on a charge of stealing.

The prosecutor, Florence Auhioboh, had told the court that one Sani Jubril of Wuse 2, Abuja, reported the matter at the Utako Police Station, Abuja, on May 8.

Auhioboh said the convict opened the complainants car to enable him steal the battery.

The prosecutor said the convict was caught in the act.

He said Emmanuel confessed to the crime and begged for mercy during police investigation,

The convict prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that hunger pushed him to commit the crime.

Auhioboh said the offence was punishable under Section 95 of the Penal Code.

The presiding judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, sentenced Emmanuel to two months imprisonment.

Sadiq, however, gave the convict an option of N6,000 fine.
The accused, who resides at Ajegunle Area of Lagos, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing brought against her.

The prosecutor, Insp. Tony Elibeh, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 14, at No. 36 Adekoya St., Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos.

The prosecutor said that the accused, who was an employee of Omoniyi, diverted N182, 000 proceeds from sales he made for the company to his own personal use.

When the complainant confronted the accused about the missing money, he denied stealing the money.

The complainant reported the case to the police and the accused was arrested, Elibeh said.

He said that the offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Section 285 prescribes three years imprisonment for stealing.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Titus Abolarinwa, admitted the accused to N200, 000 bail, with two sureties in like sum.
I found it quite difficult to tell him because I didnt want to knock his confidence or his ego.

Reminiscing on this, I wondered how hard it would be for me to point it out to a boss or a grumpy in-law when they smell funny.

I confronted a good friend of mine with this and she would have no qualms at all and would go ahead and hit the nail on the head. Another friend of mine, on the other hand, said he would find it extremely difficult to address it.

How would the random Ghanaian handle being told he/she has body odour?

I took to the streets and put this question before random Ghanaians. A majority of the people said they would be straight forward about it regardless of the consequence. John, a business man I came across, mentioned that he would buy an anti-perspiring deodorant as a gift for the person in question.

I would go to a store and get him a deodorant, depending on the kind of relationship that we have, he said in the local Twi dialect.
She was remanded by the court alongside five other Chinese male nationals and are expected to reappear on the 23rd of May.

According to the judge, Justice Edward Ekow Baiden, he granted the plea by the Immigration asking for them to be remanded for further investigations because he did not believe the suspects will make themselves available if granted bail.

Her arrest follows a revelation by editor of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Kweku Baako that she has been arrested and released three times.
President of the Ghana Drunkards Association, Moses Onyaa, also known as Dry Bone said his members will hit the streets on Friday if the decision is not reversed.

We gave FDA three weeks to lift the ban or we would demonstratethis is the third week and the ultimatum we gave would expire on Friday, if after Friday they dont lift the ban, all drunkards in Ghana would take to the streets and demonstrate against the FDA, he told Accra-based Adom FM.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has suspended the registration and advertisement licence of Angel Group of Companies, manufacturers of Adonko Bitters, for allegedly selling alcohol to minors at a concert organised by the company at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Easter Monday.

According to the FDA, most of the youth passed out at the event due to excessive intake of the alcoholic product.

The company has also been slapped with an administrative charge of GHS25,000 for failing to comply with the regulatory requirements.

But the drunkards have argued that the ban has resulted in a shortage of the alcoholic drink at bars.

The president of the Drunkards Association said his outfit has since issued a statement ordering our members not to drink any brand of alcohol apart from Akpeteshie.

He also wondered why the Alcohol Producers Association have failed to speak on the ban against its member.

Adonko is a drink that our members nationwide likes a lot, some also sell as well, the ban is destroying their work too, he said.
The minister said she is quiting the social media platform due to trouble-makers posting unnecessary things on her Facebook wall.

READ MORE: Bugri Naabu threatens to sue Otiko Djaba

Speaking on Joy TV's The Pulse, Otiko Afisa Djaba said:

"Im going to block my Facebook account. People use it to post things I dont like."

"Social media is the thing but when people abuse it and deprive poor people of their little income, we have to take a measure like that From today, Im going to shut down my Facebook account. Its not right," she added.

Otiko has been in the media after she had an altercations with Bugri Naabu on Friday when the NPP National Women's Organizer met the women organizers in the Norther Region.

The Gender Minister alleged that Bugri Naabu has collected peoples monies, goats, cows and other things from people and promised them jobs with the School Feeding programme.

Bugri Naabu however, denied the allegations and accused her of plotting to kill the late NPPs Upper East regional chairman, Adams Mahama.
Some of the 21 Chibok school girls released are seen during a meeting with Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja, Nigeria, October 13, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations welcomes the released of 82 Nigerian Chibok schoolgirls that were kidnapped by the extremist group Boko Haram in 2014, said a spokesperson here on Monday.

The extremist group freed the girls on late Saturday in exchange for Boko Haram suspects. On April 14, 2014, more than 200 schoolgirls were seized by the extremists, and 21 of them were set free in October 2016.

"We remain deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the schoolgirls and other victims still in captivity," UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a daily briefing.

"We appeal to all Nigerians, including the families and local communities of the liberated girls, to fully embrace them and provide all necessary support to ensure their reintegration into society," said Dujarric.

He also urged the international community to continue supporting the government of Nigeria in its efforts to ensure the release, rehabilitation, and reintegration of all Boko Haram victims.

Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of more than 20,000 people and displacement of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since their insurgency in 2009.

Nigeria has made a considerable gain on the Boko Haram front, with its security forces operating in the restive region dislodging Boko Haram fighters from the Sambisa Forest, the group's largest training camp in the country, in January.
They were arrested at Prampram for allegedly using fishing light attractors for fishing.

The suspects, including women and minors, were arrested in two separate exercises by a local watchdog committee set up by the Prampram fisherfolks along the coast.

They were, subsequently, handed over to the Prampram Police.

READ ALSO: Gas explosion injures over 30 people

The Prampram Police Commander, DSP Issah Mohammed Cantonam, said the suspects had been granted police enquiry bail.

He said they would be prosecuted in court to "serve as a deterrent to all fishermen across the country to desist from engaging in illegal fishing activities".

Some fishing gear and implements, including a number of generators and light attractors, with the canoes of the suspects, had been impounded, he said.

The arrests were in line with the Ministrys efforts to clamp down on illegal fishing practices, which are adversely affecting the fishing industry.

Light attractors, when used for fishing; attract all kinds of fishes irrespective of their sizes.

The practice, however, threatens the sustainability of the fish stock and the fishing occupation.

Such illegal fishing methods, in 2012, cost the country in excess of 100 million.
Asia Huang, also known as Aisha is behind the booming illegal mining (galamsey) in the Ashanti, Western and Eastern Regions.

She was arrested over the weekend at her residence in Kumasi. Confirming the arrest to the media, Kwame Takyi, the Comptroller General at the Ghana Immigration Service said :We picked information about this lady called Aisha so we immediately had to take effective action and arrest her. We sought permission from the Minister of Interior and his deputy, Mr. Ambrose Dery and Henry Quartey and they gave instruction to quickly arrest her. 

He also added that Aisha is in the custody of the GIS in Accra, undergoing investigations.

Her arrest follows a revelation by editor of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Kweku Baako that she has been arrested and released three times.
Charlotte Nana Yaa Nikoi went missing in South Africa while she was exploring Cape Towns iconic Table Mountains.

We appeal to anyone with information to assist the police to locate Ms Nikoi so that she can be reunited with her family. The South African Police and other departments such as Social Development will continue to provide as much support as possible during this difficult time, President Zumas spokesperson said.

READ ALSO: Ghanaians express mixed reaction to soldier lashing driver and mate

If anyone is holding her, please dont hurt her, release her because her family needs her. We have done all efforts of searching Table Mountain and clearly she is not there. She is somewhere against her will, he added.

Nikoi, who is a director at the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has been missing since March 2017 and had initially gone to South Africa to celebrate her wedding anniversary. A comprehensive search has already been conducted over the area on the ground and from the air.
Mr Bugri Naabu on Friday disrupted a meeting called by Ms Djaba in Tamale after accusing the minister of attempting to cause confusion over the appointment of a Coordinator of School Feeding Programme.

The Minister subsequently in an interview accused Mr. Bugri Naabu of collecting money, goats, cows and other things from people with the assurance of jobs with the National School Feeding Programme.

Bugri Naabu has since threatened to sue Ms Otiko Djaba for accusing him of taking a bribe.

John Boadu, the National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party has also downplayed the bribery allegations, adding that the party will investigate the issue.

But speaking on the 'The Pulse' on Joy News channel on MultiTV Tuesday, Ms Otiko Djaba said she is sorry for her actions.

According to her, she was forced to react to Bugri Naabus comments because she felt disrespected.
Victor Ehikhamenor, one of the artists representing Nigeria in Venice Biennial and presenting the Biography of the Forgotten, a large-scale work fusing abstract shapes with traditional sculpture, informed by an investment in classical Benin art and the effect of colonialism on cultural heritage posted this on his Instagram page earlier today.

ALSO READ: Nigeria in Venice

Ehikhamenor captioned the post, "The British are back for more from 1897 to 2017. The Oni of Ife must hear this. "Golden heads (Female)" by Damien Hirst currently part of his Venice show "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" at Palazzo Grassi.For the thousands of viewers seeing this for the first time, they won't think Ife, they won't think Nigeria. Their young ones will grow up to know this work as Damien Hirst's. As time passes it will pass for a Damien Hirst regardless of his small print caption. The narrative will shift and the young Ife or Nigerian contemporary artist will someday be told by a long nose critic "Your work reminds me of Damien Hirst's Golden Head". We need more biographers for our forgotten. "

He also posted a photo of the Hirst's postcard of Golden heads which he captioned, "This postcard of "Golden heads (Female)" by Damien Hirst with no reference to Ife and great artists that originally made these timeless classic will travel far and wide. Once again the hunter has glorified his tale in the absence of the lion. "

Damien Hirsts "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" exhibition which is a result of extensive work carried out by the controversial artist in the last decade has done nothing but invoke anger in Nigerians, who upon seeing Ehikhaemenor's post on the internet didn't take the news so well and have vented their anger as seen in their various comments on Instagram.

Some Nigerians went on to blame the government for this kind of calamity.

Some others ensure they play their part in spreading the news far and wide the country and across and also tagging media houses.

Others feel it's disheartening and unfair on our parts as such wouldn't be condoned if a Nigerian does such.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The fellowship, which began in 2014, is the flagship programme of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) which is structured to empower young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking from Sub-Saharan Africa.

The selected fellows, who are mainly between the ages of 25 and 35, are expected to have established records of accomplishment in promoting innovation and positive impact in their organisations, institutions, communities, and countries.

Fellows participate will to be taking through an intensive, six-week programme on academic excellence and leadership focused on business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, public management, and renewable energy at over 40 U.S. colleges and universities.

Reports from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) indicated that only 86 Nigerians have been able to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship since its inception in 2014.

In a statement by the Embassy, a total of 1,000 young leaders from would be hosted by different Universities in America for the programme this year.
In an interview with "Fox and Friends," Ryan said that despite a stop-and-start process in the House, he expected the Republican healthcare bill, the American Health Care Act, to flow through the Senate.

"The legislation should not take that long," Ryan said. "Hopefully it takes a month or two to get it through the Senate. Hopefully it takes a month or two because we need to give people the ability to plan. Insurers are pulling out very, very quickly, and we need to show the insurers that there is a better system coming."

Insurers in states like Iowa and Virginia have announced exits from some of the Affordable Care Act's individual insurance markets in recent weeks. They have cited financial losses and political uncertainty  specifically the unsure future of the AHCA and the possibility that key payments from the Trump administration could be cut off  as reasons for their exits.

Asked by the Fox hosts whether the bill would be complete by the fall, Ryan responded affirmatively but cautioned that it could take a few years to implement the legislation.

But while Ryan predicted a quick turnaround on the legislation, Republicans in the Senate are still ironing out numerous thorny issues.

For one, Senate GOP leaders have decided to write their own version of the healthcare bill instead of trying to pass the version introduced by the House GOP. Also, Republicans can afford to lose only two votes in the Senate to get the bill through and must satisfy a wide array of viewpoints within the caucus.

Ryan acknowledged the wide range of views among the Senate Republicans but called it a strength rather than a hurdle. Ryan also addressed some Republican House members' acknowledgment that they had not read the AHCA in its entirety, often leaving it up to staff members.

"Our bill was online for a couple of months  the last amendment was a three-page amendment," Ryan said. "Obamacare was over 2,000 pages. Our bill is less than 200 pages. Ours was posted only for over a month  any American, anyone in the world, could read this bill."

The original version of the AHCA text was posted March 24, but most Democratic criticism has stemmed from what Democrats say is lack of understanding about later additions to the bill. One key amendment  which authorized $8 billion in funding for state healthcare programs  was released to the public less than 24 hours before the bill eventually advanced through the House. The Congressional Budget Office's score assessing the bill's effects also was not released before the House passed the bill.

Ryan dismissed the idea that elected officials and the public had not gotten a chance to fully understand the bill as "the left trying to throw sand in the gears" of repealing and replacing the ACA.
Evan Spiegel, the reclusive 26-year-old Snap CEO, is considered the product visionary who turned the disappearing-messages app into a global phenomenon. And with Snapchat facing intense competition from Facebook  and its stock trading below the opening price of its initial public offering in March  Spiegel is the man Wall Street is betting on to lead the company to victory.

"People invested based on Evan's product genius," said Eric Kim, a partner at Goodwater Capital, a firm that specializes in consumer-company analysis.

Investors want to get a sense of who Spiegel is, what his demeanor is like, and what his vision for the product is.

Spiegel is still a relatively unfamiliar figure in the eyes of investors. When Snapchat was a privately held startup, Spiegel didn't take the stage at flashy product launches, as many of his peers do, and he made relatively few public appearances. Compare that with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is currently on a tour of the US, regularly posting photos of his various stops on his profile page.

Since Snap's IPO, Spiegel appears to have done only one interview, with the Los Angeles Times, despite backlash about remarks he supposedly made about India and Spain.

Wednesday's earnings call will provide Spiegel a chance to lift the veil a bit on who he is and what he's thinking about Snap's future, especially amid Facebook coming at the company with guns blazing. The question is whether Spiegel will stick to his under-the-radar image or address investors head-on.

Spiegel could skip the call altogether, leaving COO Imran Khan and CFO Drew Vollero, who run the business side of things, to handle the investors' inquisitions.

Snap declined to comment on whether Spiegel would be on the call.

Under attack

While some high-profile CEOs like Amazon's Jeff Bezos have eschewed investor calls, many tech CEOs, including Zuckerberg, carry the mantle of explaining their business to the world.

Yet nothing about Spiegel's history suggests he's willing to follow tradition for tradition's sake.

The greatest example is how Snap conducted its IPO.

Instead of offering traditional voting shares, Snapchat's parent company offered only nonvoting shares to the public on March 2. The nonvoting shares and Snap's corporate structure set it up so that Spiegel and his cofounder, Bobby Murphy, retained control of the company despite its public status.

Now that Spiegel's brainchild is about to issue its first earnings report, Spiegel has a chance to share his vision for the product with the world and lay out how the company plans to fight back against Facebook's attempts to thwart its user growth. Snap, however, has already said it won't issue forward-looking guidance about its business.

A Spiegel no-show on Wednesday would be "disappointing," Kim said. He says he believes Spiegel has to be on the call because it's Snap's product under attack, not its financials or ad business.

Kim wants to know how Snap plans to address the moves Facebook has made to claw away Snap's user base. According to a recent Goodwater Capital survey, Facebook increased its share of the so-called Stories market when it cloned one of Snapchat's most popular features. Meanwhile, Snap's share had stayed flat.

RBC's Mark Mahaney also found mixed results on Snapchat's traffic trends. He said in his report that Comscore data showed that total time spent in the app had declined, although its average number of monthly unique visitors increased in the first quarter.

Investors bought into Snap's vision during the IPO roadshow, and Spiegel was there to present and answer questions. But the competition from Facebook means Spiegel needs to make an appearance to explain what happens next with the product, Kim said.

On whether Spiegel could afford to not lead the call, Kim said, "Maybe pre-Facebook Stories, yes, but post-Facebook Stories, no." He said that when Spiegel went public, "Facebook didn't have this product feature that went after his core user base."
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
The sources told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the police officer, who is believed to be a senior officer at Ijeshatedo Divisional Police Headquarters (name withheld) allegedly shot and killed Ayoade on Sunday evening in the area.

The incident which occurred at about 7.30 p.m. at No. 49, Wosilat Daudu St., Ijeshatedo, also left two persons injured.

The deceased, Ayoade had gone to the area to attend a friends birthday party when he met his untimely death, one of the sources said.

It was learnt that the officer and his men had stormed the venue of the birthday party in two patrol vans at about 6. 30 p.m. and left after observing what the youths were doing.

Som minutes later, the officer and his men came back to the venue and one of the policemen shot sporadically into the air.

The officer, who was sitting in front of one of the patrol vans allegedly alighted from the vehicle and brought out his service pistol and went straight to where Ayoade was sitting close to his girlfriend and shot him on the head at close range, said another source.

ALSO READ: Dismissed police officer arraigned for alleged impersonation, extortion

Attendees and residents of the street, who were shocked by the gruesome murder of the boy, wept profusely and rained curses on the police officer.

The elder brother of the celebrator, Mr Jelili Bakare, told NAN that they were shocked by the manner Ayoade was killed.

My younger brother, Abubakar Animashaun, was celebrating his birthday with some friends in a low-key at our late fathers house when the officer and his men came at about 6. 30 p.m.

The officer called a woman on the street and they left. Surprisingly, the policemen came back to the street again and where I was sitting, one of the policemen that followed him shot into the air believing that some of the youths at the birthday party would run, but they stayed.

The officer came out in anger from his vehicle and went to where Ayoade was sitting in the passage of the house and shot him on the head.

Contacted on telephone, the State Police Commissioner, Mr Fatai Owoseni, said he had yet to be briefed on the incident.
The community also banned visiting irrigation farmers from the village.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that the youths  Tonzum Ngwalamba, Nentawe Leptak, Sati Tongleb and Ngompang Ngoshim  aged 1825, drowned in the said well while trying to push the nozzle of a water pumping machine into it.

The first victim had tried to push the nozzle when he fell into the well.

The second victim jumped into the well to rescue the first, but did not come out; such rescue effort continued until the well swallowed four of the youths within a very short time.

NAN reports that the entire community resolved to close up the well after discussing the incident at a meeting on Tuesday.

According to Damulak, the entire community unanimously agreed to close up the well because of the unfortunate incident, and the fear of the unknown.

We used sand and stones to fill up the well and close it permanently. We do not want such misfortune to reoccur, he told NAN.

Damulak, Councillor for Works in Pankshin Local Government, however, refused to comment on the resolve to ban visiting irrigation farmers from the community.

The only thing I can say is that the community is prepared to take any step to avoid a recurrence of that ugly incident, he said.

Mr Luka Nenfot, a farmer in the village, however told NAN that 30 visiting irrigation farmers had been sent away from the community because of the mysterious deaths.

The entire community sat and took that painful decision to avert any further loss of innocent lives."
The daughter of the former Governor of Oyo State, Victor Olunloyo, was remanded in prison custody by a Magistrates' Court Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after a frontline man of God, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, the General Overseer of Salvation Ministries, got her arrested for allegedly publishing defamatory and malicious stories against him.

Shortly after she was granted bail, she was rearrested after a Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo who was also mentioned in the said defamatory publication had filed a case at a High Court in the state.

She was also granted bail in the sum of N200,000 but has been unable to meet her bail conditions which have made her remain behind bars till now.

However, Olunloyo's media handlers and close friends have taken to the social media to beg Nigerians to donate towards her legal expenses.

Kemi Olunloyo has had several run-ins with many celebrities in Nigeria with her brand of journalism by which she exposes their alleged secret deals and got away with them but this time, it seems she has picked on the wrong set of people.
Delivering judgment, Justice Abubakar Sadiq said since the defendant had pleaded guilty to the charge, the court had no option than to sentence him accordingly.

He, however, gave the convict an option to pay N10,000 fine, and warned him to be of good behaviour and desist from committing crimes after serving out his punishment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lawal, who resides around Jabi Motor Park, Abuja, was sentenced on a two-count charge of criminal trespass and theft.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Dalhatu Zannah, had informed the court that on May 3, one Cpl. Aminu Ahmadu of Army Head Quarters, Abuja, reported the case at Utako Police Station.

Zannah said that Ahmadu reported the incident for proper investigation, which led to the arrest of the convict.

He said that convict entered the complainants official vehicle parked at Jabi garage on the said date at about 6 a.m. and stole his two phones valued at N42, 000.

The prosecuting counsel said the convict could not give satisfactory account of the stolen phones during police investigation and interrogation.
The state Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, who handed out the sentence, said the evidence before the court showed that he was guilty of murder as charged.

Daramola held that the prosecution had proved the case of murder beyond all reasonable doubts, hence, the guilty verdict.

The judge said the convict should be hanged by the neck until life goes out of him.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the trial lasted for about seven years.

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, who prosecuted the case, told the court that the slain father had six wives and eighteen children.

Ajayi said the deceased had shared his property, including parcels of land, among his children.

Apparently not happy with the share allotted to him, Blessing traced his father to the farm and attacked him with cutlass and an axe, killing him in the process and fled the town.

The prosecutor said Blessings siblings were shocked to meet their father in a pool of his own blood and took him to the hospital but was confirmed dead on arrival.

According to the prosecutor, the convict turned himself in after six months of hiding.

He said the police later arraigned him on one-count charge of murder.

Ajayi said the convict made a confessional statement to the police and admitted killing his father in the hut.
The judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, however gave him an option of N10,000 fine.

The judge warned him to desist from committing crimes, adding that the sentence would serve as deterrent to other would-be offenders.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Florence Auhioboh, told the court that one Okika Anthony of STB shop, Utako market, Abuja, reported the matter at the Utako Police Station on May 6.

Auhioboh said that the complainant said on that same date, the convict criminally entered into his shop with the pretence to buy some baking ingredients.
The Magistrate, Mrs Bola Folarin-Williams, who pronounced the verdict, convicted Jamiu for conspiracy and stealing a phone, an ATM card and N8,850 cash all valued at N26,850.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused at his first arraignment on April 4, had pleaded guilty to the two-count charge.

He later changed his plea on the next adjourned date and this prompted the magistrate to speed up his trial.

Sgt. Kehinde Olatunde, the Prosecutor, had earlier informed the court that the accused committed the offences by robbing a woman, Mary Idu, at knife-point on March 27 at about 8.30 p.m. at UPS Bus Stop on Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway, Lagos.

He told the court that the accused with others still at large who were armed with knives and cutlasses, robbed Idu of her phone, an ATM card and N8,850.

The complainant was able to raise an alarm and passers-by helped to apprehend Jamiu while others escaped.
My husband proposed to marry me the same time he met my pastor and asked my hand in marriage.

I told my pastor that he should give me three months to think about it.

But my pastor said that three months was too long to think about it. He then gave me only two weeks to pray over it which I did; after which I told my pastor that I agreed,she said.

Victoria said that since she married her husband, it has been one trouble or the other.

My husband keeps acquiring debts and most times when he gets into trouble as a result of that, I have no other option than to pay, the petitioner said.

She also said that she was not aware that her husband had several children before the marriage.

My pastor told me that he had only one child out of wedlock, but after the marriage, I realised that myhusband had several children

One of the women came to our house one day, dropped one of his children and absconded, I went through stress taking care of the child, she said.

The petitioner also told the court that her husband beats her always.

She said that she had to move out of the house because she was tired of the marriage.

She also begged the court to dissolve the marriage.

Joseph Igbo, the respondent, who was present in court, denied all the allegations, and begged the court not to dissolve the marriage.

The judge, Jemilu Jega, advised the couple to go back home and try to reconcile.
Cambodia Online reports that Ibe was arrested alongside a 40-year-old Romanian, Adrian-Calin Varadi, when they smuggled drugs into the country from Brazil.

The Romanian was reportedly arrested on August 14, 2016, when he arrived the Phnom Penh International Airport from Brazil with 4.96 kg of cocaine hidden in his luggage and during interrogation, he said the drugs were to be delivered to Ibe who was later arrested in a hotel he was waiting for the consignment.

During investigations, it was understood that Ibe was to receive the drugs for onward transmission to some barons in neighbouring Thailand.

When the suspects were arraigned before a Cambodian court on Tuesday, May 8, 2017, they were found guilty of the offence and were duly sentenced to life in prison.

The suspects were charged with illegally transporting the drugs under the country's drug Law, a verdict read by Phnom Penh Municipal Court's Presiding Judge, Im Vannak, stated.

"The court decides to sentence each of them to life in prison and to fine them 40 million riel (10,000 U.S. dollars) each," Judge Vannak said.
Mrs Beatrice Eluaka, CS-SUNN Project Director, said this at the organisations capacity building for the media under the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health project (PACFaH) on Monday in Kaduna.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that PACFaH is a social accountability project implemented through the strategy building of indigenous CSOs champions and activists to catalysed government at national and state levels to fulfil commitment on child and family health.

Eluaka identified factors that contributed to the prevalence of malnutrition in the country as inadequate funding and monitoring of appropriated funds, poor infants and young child feeding practices, high diseases burden, limited access to nutritious food, vitamins and mineral deficiencies.

The director noted that over the years both the federal and state governments have not prioritised funding for health and nutrition.

The capacity building, according to her, was aimed at empowering media to bring to the fore adequate nutrition practices, malnutrition causes, good infants and young child feeding practices and other issues relating to nutrition as well as promote effective reportage.

The training was aimed at among others to bring to the limelight funding gaps and placing nutrition in the front burners of agenda of policy makers to improve interventions and funding for nutrition.
Ms Aleksandra Mosimann, Communication Coordinator, ICRC, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Mosimann said ICRC acted as a neutral intermediary based on the agreement of the two parties involved as specified in its mandate.

We were not involved in the negotiation for their release, as negotiations often imply a political process which is contrary to the political and neutral nature of ICRC work.

I can confirm that in the early hours of Sunday May 7, the ICRC only transferred 82 Chibok girls from the armed opposition to the government of Nigeria.

We transferred the girls with the agreement of both parties involved.

This however means the girls were handed over to us by the armed opposition group that had held them and we handed them over to the military, she explained.

ALSO READ: These are the names of the released 82

Mosimann also recalled that in October 2016, ICRC transferred 21 Chibok girls and a baby released from armed opposition to Nigerian authorities, but was not part of the negotiation that led to their release.
Presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said the Islamist militants had agreed to the release of 83 of the teenagers, who were abducted from their school in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, in April 2014.

But Shehu told the local Channels television station: "One said, 'No, I have a husband. I'm happy where I am'. And then 82 came back."

The 82 were released on Saturday following months of talks and the exchange of a number of suspected militants held in government custody.

Twenty-one of their classmates were freed in October last year; three had previously been found or escaped. Talks are understood to have started to free all or some of the remaining 113.

Shehu said the government was working to verify the identities of the 82, so they can be reunited with their families as soon as possible.

A list of the girls' names was published on Sunday evening and photographs of them have been sent to the remote town of Chibok and the surrounding area for cross-checking.

"When we had the first 21, because of similarities in names, more than two, three sets of parents came to Abuja. So, we don't want to create that confusion," he said.

"When they get the pictures, they see them and verify, then they come on board to Abuja to see their daughters."

Aisha Yesufu, coordinator of the #BringBackOurGirls pressure group, told AFP: "We have to reach out to the parents and ensure that we match the parents and the daughters.

"We are still working on it."

Nigeria's government has come under fire for the length of time it has taken to reunite the former hostages with their families.

In December, families complained that the girls were blocked from celebrating Christmas with them.

Amnesty International said on Saturday that holding the released girls in lengthy detention and for security screening "can only add to their suffering and plight".
Tinubu made the call in a message in Lagos to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians over the release of more of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls

He urged the government to help the families of the girls to nurture them, for their proper reintegration into the society.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 82 of the over 200 girls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno by Boko Haram in April 2014 were released by the sect on Saturday following negotiations with the federal government.

Tinubu said: I congratulate President Buhari and Nigerians over the release of more of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

This shows President Buharis unwavering commitment to freeing these and other innocent children from the cruel hand of Boko Haram and returning them to their families and community.

Yet, we must keep this good news in proper context. The released children need to be nurtured and cared for in a special way in order to overcome the sad experience that they had to suffer.

Moreover, we must not forget the girls still held by Boko Haram and we must not forget the grief of their families.

 We owe it to them to press forward until all the girls have regained freedom and Boko Haram is so defeated that it may never again be able to do what it did in Chibok.

Boko Haram must be defeated. President Buhari has said as much. We all must stand with him and support his strategy to accomplish this humane and necessary goal,  he said.

ALSO READ: How Buhari secured release of 82 Chibok girls from Boko Haram

The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader said the release of the girls showed that President Buhari had kept his eye on the true objective to reunite families and communities under the reign of peace and rule of justice.

According to him, the northern Nigeria, and Nigeria as a whole, may begin to rebuild in a way that brings a decent life and a taste of enduring prosperity to all Nigerians.

This is the ultimate goal, and the release of these girls is an important step on this pathway.

I congratulate the President. I congratulate our gallant armed forces. After waiting so long for the return of their children, the parents of these girls must feel a great sense of relief and elation,  Tinubu said.
In a congratulatory letter to the President-elect, Osinbajo said he received the news of the election of Macron with satisfaction.

He noted that under successive governments, the relations between Nigeria and France had blossomed.

The acting president expressed optimism that the incoming French Government would further strengthen the bond of friendship between both countries.

Under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, there has been very close collaboration between Nigeria and France in the war against terror, the acting president said.

He commended the role that France had played in the successes so far recorded in the implementation of the regional initiative against terrorism in Africa.

Osinbajo said Macrons election was a source of inspiration, especially for the French people.

According to him, Macrons election portends a greater future in which the French Republic will continue to play its active role in boosting relations between Europe and the rest of the world.

Osinbajo said the Buhari administration is looking forward to working closely with President-elect Macron to promote international cooperation, advance peace and security.

He also expressed the hope that such relationship would consolidate mutual trade relations and strengthen economic partnership for the benefit of citizens of both countries

The French on Sunday elected 39-year-old Macron as their president to take over from Mr Francois Hollande.
A VIO source says the Governor asked the officers to go for a re-training course in the use of modern technology.

According to Punch, the source said that VIOs might be called back to their beats soon.

The Lagos state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde said that the government is restructuring the ministry of transportation including the VIOs.

Ayorinde said The truth is that the transport ministry is undergoing restructuring, including the VIOs. The commissioner for transportation had made some recommendations, which he will present at the State Executive Council meeting and things can move forward from there.

But we all believe that the VIOs activities should be technologically driven and more. These will be seen soon.

Anotehr source who spoke to Punch, said The story on a painter, whose car got burnt in VIOs custody, caused a discreet investigation into the activities of the outfit and I can tell you that the report was not palatable.

Apart from this, complaints about the overzealousness of some VIO men have reached a high level.

The governor, who said he would not tolerate any highhandedness in his administration, ordered them out of Lagos roads until further notice.

The Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) is a directorate in the Ministry of Transportation. The service is established to inspect, control regulate and enforce the road worthiness of motor vehicles in the state.
DSP Jude Madu, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, said this on Tuesday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Madu, however, said that the casualty figures had not been ascertained.

According to him, the Commissioner of Police, Titus Lamorde, had deployed officers to the affected community and directed that they remained in the area till normalcy was restored.

We have not ascertained the casualty figures but we will do so on completion of investigation after normalcy has been restored in the area, he said.

A doctor at the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) where the victims were admitted, Dr Lawrence Nwangele, said that the victims were brought to the hospital around 4 p.m. on Monday.

The first batch of seven victims was brought as one died on the way to the hospital while another batch of seven victims was later brought to the hospital.

The victims sustained severe gunshots and machete wounds and are now in stable condition after we overcame initial constraints in handling their cases, Nwangele said.

ALSO READ: 3,000 Ebonyi women farmers stage protest over herdsmen attacks

One of the victims, Mr Peter Ochi, said the invaders attacked them with sophisticated weapons such as AK-47 rifles and machetes as theywere cultivating on their farms at about 2 p.m. on Monday.

They confronted us and started destroying our crops and when we demanded for explanation, they unleashed their weapons on us, Ochi said.

He said that two persons were killed in the process while many were wounded.

Mr Sunday Uguru, another victim said that he could only remember the names of Reggae Igboke and Linus Ugoru as those killed, among several others that were killed by the invaders.
Bala arrested and detained on October 24, 2016, after honouring an invitation from the commission over allegations bothering on corruption charges during his tenure.

Reports say the EFCC, On Tuesday, December 13, 2016, dropped the five-count charge which it levelled against the ex-FCT minister.

According to Daily Trust, the anti-graft agency re-arrested Bala on Wednesday, May 3, 2017.

The former FCT minister is accused of "bribery and false declaration of assets amounting to the sum of N864m, including owning properties in Abuja and Kaduna."

The EFCC also alleged that Bala received N550m as bribe from the Aso Savings and Loans Ltd., with respect to some properties in the Asokoro area of Abuja.

The anti-graft agency said Bala also allegedly failed to make full disclosure in an EFCC asset declaration form about property No 54 Mike Akhigbe Street, Jabi Abuja and declared property at Angwan Sarki, Kaduna State as undeveloped plot whereas it is a fully built house, Daily Trust reports.

According to the EFCC, Bala also used his position as chairman Board of Aso Savings to confer corrupt and undue advantage to himself, by allocating four numbers fully detached duplexes and 11 numbers semi-detached duplexes valued at N314 million only through the Presidential Taskforce on Sale of Governments Houses.

Bala Muhammeds counsel, Chris Uche (SAN) filed a motion in court challenging the re-arrest of the former FCT minister.

Uche wants the court to grant Bala bail, pending his trial. He also told the court that the EFCC dropped the initial five count charge levelled against the ex-minister.
Morris alleged that SPDC abandoned recovery of spilled crude oil site in impacted environment located Edagberi/Betterland community in Ahoada-West LGA of Rivers.

He said that the site was abandoned two years ago; but SPDC returned to site in April to resume cleaning.

He said the oil leak occurred in July 2015 from Shells Adibawa Well 8 facility, adding that it polluted the ecosystem and destroyed flora and fauna.

Morris called on the oil company to ensure compliance with international best practices to restore the polluted site to its natural state.

He urged the company to ensure adequate supervision of the cleanup.

He said that abandoning the site for two years had caused the spilled crude to sink deeper into the soil, adding that turning the top soil had not removed the crude oil which had sunk into the soil.

The volume of crude oil gushing from the Wellhead was high and it took Shell about four days to stop the spill, Morris said.

He called on regulatory agencies like the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and Rivers State Ministry of Environment to follow up with inspection.

He said that sample should be tested to ascertain the state of the environment and recommend appropriate measures for cleaning.

He said that the people of the community accused Shell of setting the impacted area ablaze, an allegation the companys spokesman Joseph Obari denied.

Ambrose Osuolo, Secretary of Edagberi/Betterland Community Development Committee (CDC) confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria that Shell had returned to site.

After burning the impacted site, we expected Shell to come and continue work on the site but we did not see anything until recently."

They worked for only two weeks and when rain started, the contractor rushed out from site with his equipment telling his workers he has finished his job, Osuolo said.
A source in the presidency also revealed that Osinbajo will swear-in the two ministerial nominees that were confirmed by the Senate.

The source said Look, the President, before leaving, had briefed Osinbajo. He had empowered him to do certain things on his behalf. Both had some discussions on a wide range of issues. So, those things may be part of what they discussed.

Reports say the acting President will implement the recommendations of the panel set up to investigate Babachir Lawal and Ayo Oke

The suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Lawal, and suspended Director-General, Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), Oke were quizzed by the Osinbajo led panel.

The acting President quietly submitted the panels recommendations to President Buhari before he travelled, Vanguard reports.

Osinbajo will remain in acting capacity till the President, who went to London for a series of medical checks, returns.
From what I have seen at close range, my boss is quite fit for 2019 electoral battle, he said according to The Cable.

Buhari has nothing to fear. President Buharis fitness status was played up in 2015 general election, he survived the campaign rigour, won the election and on the verge of taking Nigeria to the Promised Land.

Buhari is quite all right, he is fit to pass through a familiar terrain, and its human to fall sick, and Im highly confident he would get better.

Those who have legitimate ambition should step forward, but they should also have at the back of their mind the fatal consequence of such misadventure in 2015," he added.

Buhari, on Sunday, May 7, travelled to London for an indefinite medical vacation.

The presidents health has been the subject of controversy since January 19, when he travelled to London for what should have been a 10-day medical vacation.
The former Governor recently dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC

Speaking on the issue, the Deputy Senate President described the former Governor as a political novice.

Ekweremadu said this while speaking with Chimes kinsmen at the Enugu state Governors lodge.

The former Governors kinsmen under the aegis of Udi Consultative Forum also pledged their allegiance to the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

Reports say members of the Udi Consultative Forum also disowned Chime for decamping to the ruling APC.

According to Punch, Ekweremadu said The problem is that our former governor (Chime) does not have sufficient experience in politics.

If you watch what happened in Udi on Saturday (rally held to welcome Chime to the APC), no APC senator came; no APC member of the House of Representatives was there. The only governor that came there from Sokoto State (Aminu Tambuwal) was only passing by.

Former governors that left in the past never recovered from their action.

Ekweremadu also said Ugwuanyi will be Governor in 2019, despite Chimes claim that the APC will take over power.
The panel was set up by the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the allegations of violence and malpractice in the election.

The judge gave the judgement on Tuesday, May 5.

"Section 4 of the police act allows the police to set up such a panel to carry out investigations, the section does not however, state that the police can carry out such an investigation with apparatus outside the force," he said.

He said the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami should be careful in using the report presented to him by the illegal panel.

Justice Kolawole, however, rejected the prayer by the plaintiff asking him to squash the report of the panel.

ALSO READ: We have not been informed of police panel report  INEC

The judge said he could not take action on the report because it was not before him, adding that the panel had already submitted its report to the attorney-general.

According to him, if it report contains useful information, it could be useful if turned over to a proper body under the law.

Governor Nyesome Wike and the Rivers government had asked the court to nullify the outcome of police investigation into the violence that characterized the election.
The Head, JAMB Information and Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Bwari.

Benjamin said that the figure was higher than the 201 candidates registered for the examination in 2016.

He said that adequate arrangement has been made for the visually impaired candidates to participate fully in the forthcoming UTME.

According to him, the board used to conduct the Computer Based Test (CBT) using Braille Apex Machine, but most of them complained about its usage.

They said they do not know how to use these machines: we are going to bring all visually impaired persons to come and write the exam in a particular location."

It could be Digital Bridge in Lagos or Digital Bridge in Abuja."

One of the things we have always done for them is to ensure that the few of them that meet the minimum requirement get it."

We encourage universities to admit them; we also give them courses that they want to read, so that we can give room for inclusiveness."

So that is our preparation as it relates to visually impaired candidates; they are 321 that is 18 per cent of the 1.7 million candidates that registered for this years UTME, the JAMBs spokesman said.

The visually impaired candidates who sat for the 2015/2016 UTME practiced with the Braille Apex machine at their respective centres a day before the main examination.

The practice was also done in the 2015 edition of the UTME through the use of CBT platform.

He explained that the Board often encourage universities to offer admission to visually impaired candidates who met the basic requirement, saying that 2017 will not be an exception.

Benjamin said plans were underway to employ the services of experts in the field of education, to be able to achieve the desired goal.

We will get some of Nigerias best hands in some of those various subjects that they are going to write; these are professors, and people with integrity."

They will sit down together with the visually impaired candidates; ask the candidates questions, assess them and then rate them, so it is that rating that will be used for admission purposes.

On preparation to hold the UTME on May 13, he said all hands were on deck to conduct a hitch free exercise.

He noted that the Board did not receive any complaint about irregularity in the course of registration of candidates, as being alleged in certain quarters.

There is no complaint from anybody; we have passed the stage of registration, we registered 1.7 million candidates, so if there are issues, we will not have arrived at that number."

The hitches that we had were experienced at the initial stage of registration, which was basically as a result of non-compliance with our instruction."

We have made necessary effort to ensure that those instructions are adhered to, there is no complain as regards registration again across the country, he added.
In a statement to Pulse Tech, Samantha Allenberg, Uber spokesperson, said, A small group of drivers had concerns about the fare reduction and yesterday choose not to use the app. We have made contact with them to explain how the payment guarantees work. Business continues as normal.

Uber Nigeria had reduced the fare prices for rides on its service by 40% on May 4, 2017, after which the drivers on the tech companys platform took to the streets of Lagos to protest the reduction.

When Pulse Tech paid a visit to the Uber Nigeria office in Ikoyi on Monday, May 7, 2017, where the protest was at its fiercest, security officials told us Uber staff had not been in all day. The drivers at the scene were also threatening to ditch Uber for its competitors.

Meanwhile, a reliable source told Pulse Tech that there has not been any statement to the drivers from Uber since the strike began yesterday. The source also stated that several attempts have been made by the elected leaders within the Uber driver community to open a dialogue with Uber to no avail.
"Even dreams must one day come to an end," Nike told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

Wagner was one of Adolf Hitler's favourite composers and the Nazi leader entertained close personal ties with the Wagner family.

The composer's two grandsons Wieland and Wolfgang jointly took over the running of the festival after World War II.

But when Wieland, Nike's father, died in 1966, Wolfgang was left in sole charge, much to the chagrin of Wieland's family who felt they were being sidelined.

The frequently bitter internecine feud for control came to a head not long before Wolfgang's death at the age of 90 in 2010, when he made it clear that he wanted his only daughter by his second marriage, Katharina, to take over.

In the end, however, a compromise solution was found, handing over the joint reins to Katharina, now 39, and her much older half-sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier, now 72.

That arrangement came to an end last year, leaving Katharina in sole charge.

A legal case Nike launched to try and secure more influence over the storied "Green Hill" where the opera house stands failed in December.

But she has not let the long-running feud distract her from other tasks, becoming director of the annual Beethovenfest in Bonn in 2014 -- after previously directing Weimar's Franz Liszt festival, dedicated to another illustrious ancestor.

'Abominably boring'

In any case, it's "abominably boring to always do nothing but Wagner," Nike said.

There is "no personal animosity" between herself and her cousin, she added, despite the fact that she has in the past aimed sharp comments at Katharina's organising the festival "in the image of her father".

"You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs," she said of her criticisms' impact on the family tensions.

A highlight of the year for Germany's political and social elite, the festival in southeastern town Bayreuth opened with Wagner's monumental Ring cycle in 1876, on the stage of a theatre built to Wagner's own designs and partly funded by a loan from "Mad King" Ludwig II of Bavaria.

So vital is the opera event to the cultural life of the nation that both the federal government and the state of Bavaria are shareholders.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is a passionate opera fan and has trodden the Bayreuth red carpet almost every year that she has been head of government.

Her husband Joachim Sauer is jokingly known as the "Phantom of the Opera", as it is one of the rare events where he appears in public.
No new date was given for the session, which aims to bring together President Donald Trump -- who is flirting with pulling out of the agreement -- with top climate and economic advisers.

"It's been postponed," a senior official told AFP on Tuesday.

While campaigning last year, Trump called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China, and promised to cancel the deal if he won the presidency.

Now, after months of uncertainty, he appears to be edging toward a decision on whether to honor the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global warming.

Senior State Department environmental official David Balton said Monday that Trump has indicated he plans to decide over the next couple of weeks whether the US will abide by the accord.

A US withdrawal would seriously undermine global efforts to limit carbon emissions, which the vast majority of experts say are changing the climate in dangerous ways.
Trump and his top climate and economic aids will kick-off discussions in earnest on Tuesday in the US, a senior administration official said, adding that "they are meeting tomorrow at 1.30 pm".

Uncertainty over America's future has already loomed large during the 11-day meeting to work out the nuts and bolts of implementing the international deal, which Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, was instrumental in bringing about.

David Balton, the US deputy assistant secretary for international environmental affairs, said Monday: "The last thing I heard is that the president, our president, has indicated that he plans to make a decision some time over the next couple of weeks, but not this week."

A total of 196 countries are now parties to the climate deal, clinched in 2015 after years of tough bartering, which Trump threatened to "cancel".

The May 8-18 Bonn meeting is meant to start drafting a guide for member countries to execute the pact, which seeks to brake global warming by curbing fossil fuel emissions.

But the negotiations risk being hamstrung over fears that the world's number two carbon polluter will pull out and throw the pact into disarray.

"There's no question that if the US withdraws it is going to create difficulties... in the negotiations," Paula Caballero of the World Resources Institute think-tank said as climate envoys met for their first session since Trump took office.

No renegotiation

The US did send a delegation to the talks, led by Obama-era negotiator Trigg Talley, who declined to comment on their brief.

A State Department official told AFP: "We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity."

Numerous speakers at a plenary session Monday stressed that the deal cannot be "renegotiated" -- a proposal of Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Widely hailed as the last chance to stave off worst-case-scenario global warming, the Paris Agreement was savaged by a campaigning Trump, who called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China.

With the rest of the world waiting ever since, Trump has said he will make his decision before the next G7 meeting on May 26-27 in Sicily.

Salaheddine Mezouar of Morocco, who presided over the last high-level climate negotiations in 2016, said he trusted that "the good sense and pragmatic spirit President Trump and his team" would prevail.

"It would be difficult, crazy, to go against public opinion, against the domestic will, and the will of the international community," Mezouar said in Bonn.

Some fear a US U-turn would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories for more efforts on emissions-cutting targets.
"The eight kidnap victims... have been freed, thanks to public pressure," Santos wrote on Twitter.

The seven men and one woman were seized by gunmen believed to belong to the ELN in Novita, a small town in the Choco region, the poorest part of the country in northwestern Colombia.

Recent hostage-takings by the ELN, whose initials stand for National Liberation Army, come with the leftist guerrilla group and the government poised to begin peace talks after decades of hostilities.

Colombia's government and the ELN, the country's last active rebel force, are due to resume talks on May 16 in Ecuador after initiating negotiations in February.

In November, a larger rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), signed a peace deal with the government after four years of talks.
Macron's election was welcome news at the United Nations as it battles to ward off plans from US President Donald Trump to cut funding to the world organization.

Guterres will write a letter to Macron to congratulate him and propose a meeting "in the very near future," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding: "We look forward to rapid engagement."

Stressing that France is "a highly-valued partner of this organization", the UN spokesman said climate change, the fight against terrorism and peacekeeping were among the issues that would be discussed during a first meeting.

Macron, who defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff on Sunday, promised during the campaign to defend the Paris climate deal on combating global warming.

His firm support for the accord signed by 175 countries at the United Nations last year stands in contrast with Trump, who has threatened to pull out of the deal.

The US administration is expected to decide in the coming weeks on whether it will withdraw.

In a swipe at the United States, Macron released a video message inviting American climate scientists to move to France. "We like innovation, we want innovative people," he said in the message.

Step into the void?

France is also a leading voice on UN peacekeeping, which has come under heavy US pressure to draw down and close its missions, many of which are in Africa.

As the biggest contributor to the peacekeeping budget, the United States has made clear it wants to reduce its share and has begun a mission-by-mission review to assess whether some peace operations are no longer needed.

A former Socialist prime minister of Portugal, Guterres won backing early on from French President Francois Hollande in the race to be UN chief.

The top UN diplomat has worked closely with France since he took over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1.

"France now has an opportunity to both provide a real source of support to Guterres and possibly to step into a leadership role with Germany, Canada, Britain and a few others," said Bathsheba Crocker, a former US assistant secretary of state for international organizations affairs.

With the United States weighing a retreat from UN diplomacy, Crocker said France could "step into the void left by the US on a range of issues in Africa and take a primary role."

No timetable was given for a possible meeting with Macron, who will take the oath of office on Sunday.
The suspect, identified only as Maximilian T., 27, was stationed at the same Franco-German base near Strasbourg as army lieutenant Franco Albrecht, who was arrested on April 26.

Albrecht, 28, had managed to create the false identity of a Syrian fruit seller from Damascus and to register himself as a refugee who was granted asylum, a space in a shelter and monthly state benefits.

Their plan, say prosecutors, was to commit an attack, for which they had obtained a pistol and drawn up a hit list of pro-refugee politicians, including Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas.

The pair, along with 24-year-old student Mathias F., had hoped the murder would "be seen by the population as a radical Islamist terrorist act committed by a recognised refugee," said a statement from the prosecution.

Albrecht was first questioned by Austrian police in February at Vienna airport after he tried to retrieve a loaded, unregistered handgun he had hidden in a toilet there days earlier.

This sparked an investigation that threw up the big surprise -- that Albrecht had in December 2015 created a false identity as a Syrian refugee even though he spoke no Arabic.

Death list

Germany has taken in more than one million asylum seekers since 2015, many from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, amid an initial wave of goodwill followed by an anti-foreigner backlash and a spate of racist hate crimes.

Prosecutors say the three suspects "planned an attack against a high-ranking politician or public figure who was supportive of what the accused saw as the failed immigration and refugee affairs policies".

Albrecht "was meant to carry out the attack" and had created the fictitious identity of a refugee who was meant to be seen as the perpetrator.

Maximilian T., who served in the same infantry battalion, allegedly made excuses for him during his absences from the Illkirch base, penned the death list, and helped Albrecht procure the French-made handgun in Vienna, prosecutors said.

News portal Spiegel Online said the newly-arrested suspect was also a lieutenant and a close friend of Albrecht, and that both were part of an online chat group in which they shared right-wing extremist content.

The strange case has heaped pressure on Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who is often mentioned as a potential successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The scandal worsened after she criticised "attitude and leadership problems" within the military, angering many in the armed services.
Davenport police are investigating a stabbing that left two people injured.

Just after 9 p.m. Monday, police responded to a disturbance call in the 3500 block of Rockingham Road.

They were informed by witnesses that there was an altercation involving at least three people, with one person who was possibly stabbed, according to a news release from the Davenport Police Department.

Those involved in the altercation had left the scene prior to police arrival. Police on scene learned from dispatch that two stabbing victims were located in rural Scott County and were being transported to Genesis Medical Center for treatment, according to the release.

Officers who responded to the hospital learned that a 17-year-old male from Davenport and a 25-year-old man from Scott County were being treated for stab wounds.

The injuries were determined to be related to the disturbance call on Rockingham Road. The 17-year-olds injuries were described as serious and potentially life-threatening, while the 25-year-old sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release.

Detectives are currently investigating this incident.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked call the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-6125 or submit an anonymous tip via the departments mobile app entitled CityConnect Davenport, IA.
A Rock Island woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that she provided a fatal dose of cocaine to a Mineral, Illinois, man in January.

Charlonda M. Crittenden, 42, appeared at the Rock Island County Justice Center and waived her right to a preliminary hearing.

She is charged with drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, and unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

She will be back in court June 23 for a pretrial conference. A jury trial is slated for July 10.

Crittenden remained in the Rock Island County Jail Tuesday on a $250,000 bond.

According to court documents, Crittenden delivered less than a gram of cocaine to Adam John Verdick, 44, between Jan. 18 and 19.

Just before 7 a.m. Jan. 19, police and fire departments responded to the 3700 block of 9th Street for an unresponsive man. They found Verdick dead when they arrived, according to police.

Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said Verdick died from "adverse effects" of cocaine.
CUMMING, Iowa  Each and every day, people pass through Mississippi River Distilling Co. in LeClaire and say they are disappointed that they can't buy a glass of the spirits that are made there.

That's about to change, thanks to new state regulations signed into law Tuesday.

At a public ceremony held at Iowa Distilling Co. in Cumming, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed into law a package of changes to the states alcohol regulations, including a provision that allows small distilleries, including Iowa Distilling Co. and Mississippi River Distilling Co., to sell individual servings of their spirits on-site.

The law goes into effect July 1.

The law is welcome news across the state for small distilleries that have sought the changes for five years. They say the new law provides equity by allowing small distilleries the same freedom that small breweries and wineries have.

Its such a customer expectation. When you go into a brewery, when you go into a winery, you expect that you can have a glass. And in a distillery, you couldnt, said Garrett Burchett, who co-owns Mississippi River Distilling with his brother Ryan. Both attended Tuesdays bill-signing event. It just, it makes sense.

Distilleries across the state began making renovation plans as soon as the changes were approved by state lawmakers in mid-April. Many distillery owners, like the Burchetts, attended Tuesdays bill-signing.

Garrett Burchett said Mississippi River Distilling plans to overhaul its tasting room to create an area where people can buy individual servings of its whiskeys, vodkas and other spirits. He said it will include a bar, which was being constructed Tuesday as the new law was being approved, seating and a patio that overlooks the Mississippi River.

Jeff Quint, owner of Cedar Ridge Distillery in Swisher, said his distillerys tasting bar has been torn out and replaced.

Quint and other distillery owners said the law provides equity not only with breweries and wineries, but with distilleries in neighboring states that already permit the on-site sale of individual servings of spirits.

Were excited about it. It feels good to kind of level the playing field with  some people say with wineries and beer, but I say more importantly with the distilleries in the states surrounding us, Quint said. Theyve had this right, and now we have it as well.

State Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, who co-sponsored the legislation that became law Tuesday, said it will help small distilleries to expand.

"It will allow our businesses across Iowa to grow, hire more employees and sell their product not only in Iowa, but all across the country," Smith said in a statement. "This is a great bill for Iowa's economic development and small businesses."

Branstad praised the state Alcoholic Beverages Division and economic development board for working together prior to the legislative session to come up with a proposal on an issue that has been festering for years.

In previous years, similar proposals were opposed by the states beer wholesalers.

They did a great job of working together, looking at this from a perspective of controlling alcohol in a way that still protects public safety but also grows the economy and provides job opportunities in distilleries and breweries and wineries across the state of Iowa, Branstad said. Im really excited to see it happen.

So are the distilleries.

Five years effort and we got it behind us, and Im looking forward to not hanging out at the Capitol anymore, Quint said.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to China.

The governor hasn't had any opposition to his nomination since President Donald Trump tapped him for the job in December, and last week, he won bipartisan praise at his hearing.

After the committee's action, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted: "The vote indicates easy approval on floor. On to China to do good work for USA"

Branstad was in Des Moines on Tuesday, where he was signing a bill to legalize fireworks in the state.

The governor said he was pleased with the committee's vote and hopeful that he would get a similar reception from the full Senate, which could vote as early as next week.

Im very hopeful," Branstad said. "I thought the hearing went very well, and obviously, the vote today is an encouraging sign. Its a big responsibility I take it very seriously, and I know I have a lot to learn."

He said that, once confirmed, he would resign as governor "in a matter of days" and expects to arrive in China in June.

In a statement Tuesday, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, praised Branstad and urged the full Senate to move quickly to confirm his nomination.

(Rod Boshart contributed to this story.)
Good afternoon, Quad-Cities. Here is your National Weather Service forecast. It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 68 degrees.

Overnight there's 20 percent chance of showers during the early morning hours. Skies will be mostly cloudy with a low around 49 degrees.

Wednesday there is a chance of showers before 10 a.m. There is a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. with showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m.

Skies will be mostly cloudy with a high near 67 degrees. East winds will be 5-10 mph. The chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New rainfall amounts could be between a tenth and a quarter of an inch. Higher amounts are possible during thunderstorms.

Wednesday night showers are likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1 a.m. then a chance of showers. Skies will be cloudy with a low around 51 degrees. Northeast winds will be 5-10 mph. The chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts could be between a tenth and a quarter of an inch. Higher amounts are possible during thunderstorms.

2 injured in Davenport stabbing

Davenport police are investigating a stabbing that left two people injured, one seriously.

Just after 9 p.m. Monday, police were called to a disturbance call in the 3500 block of Rockingham Road.

Witnesses said there was an altercation involving at least three people, with one person who was possibly stabbed.

Those involved in the altercation had left the scene prior to police arrival. Police on scene learned from dispatch that two stabbing victims were located in rural Scott County and were being transported to Genesis Medical Center for treatment, according to the release.

Officers who responded to the hospital learned that a 17-year-old male from Davenport and a 25-year-old man from Scott County were being treated for stab wounds. Read more.

Car windows shot out in Davenport

Police are investigating multiple reports of car windows being shot out in Davenport late Monday.

Shortly after 9 p.m., Davenport police officers responded to the area between the 1500 block and 1800 block of Ripley Street for reports of multiple vehicles having windows shot out by a BB gun.

At this time the number of vehicles that have reported damage in this area is five. Davenport Police Department Detectives are currently investigating this incident.

Senate panel approves Branstad for China post

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to China.

The governor hasn't had any opposition to his nomination since President Donald Trump tapped him for the job in December, and last week, he won bipartisan praise at his hearing.

After the committee's action, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted: "The vote indicates easy approval on floor. On to China to do good work for USA"

What to check out year at the Farmers Market

During opening day of the Freight House Farmers Markets outdoor season on Saturday, there were plenty of new foods to sample and old favorites to revisit. One thing's for sure: Theres a story behind every vendor. Check back later today at qctimes.com for more to be seen at the markets opening day.

And from today's news of the weird ...

 Teen earns college degree before high school diploma: A Pennsylvania girl has earned an associate's degree at a community college even before she has received her high school diploma.

Sadira Stallings, 17, will receive her degree in business administration from Harrisburg Area Community College on Thursday.

Stallings completed 63 credit hours through the schools dual-enrollment program and is the first high school student from the community college's Gettysburg campus to earn her degree before finishing high school.

Stallings took the courses online, which gave her the time to work two jobs and also participate in high school activities.

She'll receive her diploma from South Western High School in June.

 Teen girl shows up for prom in coffin: A New Jersey high school student who hopes to become a funeral director has surprised her classmates by arriving at her prom in an open prop coffin.

Megan Flaherty says she mainly wanted to have fun while attending Pennsauken High School's junior prom Saturday. The 17-year-old says she checked with her date to make sure he had no reservations about her plans.

Flaherty's open coffin slid out of the back a hearse. She then stepped out of the coffin on the hand of her date and smiled as other prom goers looked on in amazement.

Photos and video of Flaherty's entrance have become an online topic.

Many commenters seem to like the entrance, with some joking Flaherty was "drop dead gorgeous." But others say her actions were insensitive and tasteless.
In a classic bait and switch, Iowa Legislature passed an agenda never campaigned on. Lawmakers wiped out minimum wage increases and strangled public employee and teacher negotiating power. In addition, lets look at a few less noticed but important actions that also hurt Iowas working citizens.

Two years ago, an increased gas tax made real the promise of much needed bridge and road repair. This year in what was called the Road Fund Swap a federal Buy-American provision and other quality protections were stripped from your city and county allocation of road money allowing for foreign made construction materials. Further, under the guise of reducing red-tape and stretching dollars, local construction wage rates protected by federal law were eliminated opening the door to lower wages in rural areas and out-of-state contractors undercutting local jobs.

An example would be where a county farm to market bridge was being rebuilt and an out-of-state contractor utilizing a cheap workforce from a southern-tier state is able to underbid local contractors and is awarded the job. Iowans lose. If cheap Chinese steel is used America loses. Republicans passed the swap on party lines and our soon to be ambassador to China signed it, opening a market for Chinese steel as a gift from Iowa taxpayers. While President Trump promises American Steel, our state GOP does the opposite.

The long-standing bargain struck between business and injured employees in Iowas worker compensation law was ravaged rather than reformed this year. Changes to retaliatory discharge after an injured employee is wrongfully terminated, when an injury is first reported, penalties for late compensation payments and how preexisting injuries are treated detrimentally impact Iowa employees in all workplaces. For employees suffering a shoulder injury, the new law drastically reduces benefits without compensating for an injured workers lack of employability.

Take for instance the situation of a long-term employee who suffers a catastrophic shoulder injury in a workplace accident. As someone who requires shoulder strength for his livelihood, his lifetime earning power is greatly diminished by the workplace injury. The new law shortened the period for benefits. While the new law does provide for re-training at a local community college, a one-size-fits-all solution severely limiting compensation may not be the answer for some injured workers. The new law is predicted to increased litigation while Iowas injured workers are projected to suffer an 80 percent reduction in benefits for shoulder injuries and reduced permanent partial disability payments.

These changes shift the responsibility for injured employees from the employer funded Workers' Compensation program to taxpayer funded disability services while lowering the quality of life for injured employees and their families. These changes were also enacted by Republicans on party line votes without justification that Iowas workers compensation policy was out of whack. Big business wins and working Iowans lose.

In a reversal to conservative local control philosophy, the Republican-controlled state Legislature adopted a prohibition on Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Des Moines, Polk and Linn county ordinances to protect taxpayers on public construction projects.

Local Taxpayer Quality Assurance policies aid local governments in selecting capable and qualified contractors. Determination of bidders track records when awarding public contracts are essential to give taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck.

The prohibition takes from local officials a valuable tool widely used in the private sector and is at odds with Iowas constitutional tradition of Home Rule. The change is akin to prohibiting a homeowner from checking Angies List or the Better Business Bureau before hiring a contractor to do an improvement and would force the homeowner to take the low bid of the traveler passing through town.

The healthy future of Iowa requires economic growth in our towns and cities. It needs a skilled workforce, opportunities for training and a promise of good jobs for our young people. This past legislative session was full of partisan votes without compromise. It was divisive and pitted Iowan against Iowan. Rather than push for jobs with security and benefits, envy and jealousy won the day. Rather than working toward a livable wage for all Iowans, Republicans stripped from your communities the ability to enact minimum wage increases, gutted employee bargaining power, undercut local construction wages, eliminated disability protections for hurt workers, and opened a market to cheap Chinese steel. These new law changes inject uncertainty, dissatisfaction, and a flight mentality in our youth looking for local opportunity to make a life in Iowa.

Now is the time to have a reasoned discussion with your legislators about these issues and your concerns because this Legislature has gone in the wrong direction for Iowa.
With South Dakotas agriculture industry enduring low cattle and crop commodity prices and state sales tax revenues suffering as a result, state officials are looking to another sector of the economy to pick up the slack.

Across the state, if our numbers are down in agriculture we have to look to the next healthy industry, which is tourism, said Julie Schmitz Jensen, executive director of the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

South Dakota officials, kicking off National Travel & Tourism Week in the state, expressed optimism Monday that South Dakota will have another strong tourism season this summer, even without major anniversaries that have drawn large numbers of visitors in recent years.

Tourism Secretary Jim Hagen said preliminary information for the 2017 summer season looks positive, even without landmark events. The 75th Sturgis motorcycle rally and the 50th annual Custer State Park buffalo roundup were held in 2015, and last year marked the 75th anniversary of the completion of Mount Rushmore National Memorial and the centennial celebration for the National Park Service.

"When we look at some of the stats that are coming in, we really feel very hopeful, despite not having these epic anniversaries, that it's going to be another solid summer," Hagen said.

Jensen said the urgency of promoting the state to outside visitors doesnt change without anniversary events to key interest in tourism.

Anniversaries are always special. You love to have those hooks. Nothing has changed from last year to this year. All these amazing attractions are still here, she said.

The peak summer tourism period typically runs from about Memorial Day into September. Gov. Dennis Daugaard is hoping for the state's "best travel season ever" this year, he said after tourism events at Falls Park in Sioux Falls and at Mount Rushmore National Memorial later on Monday.

He said the combination of high consumer confidence and low gasoline prices bodes well heading into summer.

Thats good for tourism, he said.

The state Department of Tourism says hotel revenue was up in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period last year, and visits to many national parks also increased.

Daugaard is also encouraged by what he said were strong nonfarm employment and income numbers, along with recently released figures showing April sales tax revenues coming in about $2 million ahead of projections.

I hope thats the beginning of a trend, he said.

Other parts of the state are showing a strong year for tourism as well.

Visits in the first quarter to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site are up more than 57 percent over last year, according to the tourism department.

Superintendent Eric Leonard said that the site drew roughly 100,500 people in 2015 and about 134,000 visitors in 2016, and he's aiming for 150,000 this year.

Leonard in part attributes the growth to a highly visible visitor center finished in 2014 that has since been populated with exhibits.

"We're really excited for the summer," he said. "There's a lot going on here."

The tourism department has said last year was the seventh consecutive year of economic growth for tourism in South Dakota. A study by Tourism Economics found that 13.9 million people visited the state in 2016, an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous year.

Visitors spent $3.8 billion last year  a jump of 1.5 percent  and generated more than $279 million in state and local taxes.

The study also found tourism supported more than 53,000 jobs in South Dakota last year.
Sorry, Mr. President, but the US can't get out of Afghanistan. Not now, maybe never. The only real question is how deep do we stay and for how long?
A proposed budget approved by the Rapid City school board Monday night is $5.23 million lower than this years, primarily due to the lack of any big-ticket building projects, according to Assistant Superintendent Dave Janak.

The budget may change before its final approval in July, however, as uncertainty still looms over how much funding  if any at all  the federal Department of Education will pass down to South Dakota.

We have not received allocations on any federal dollars at this point, Janak told the school board. The state hasnt even opened up the program for us to be able to put in our application for those funds and will not do that until they have dollars to distribute.

Anticipating a loss in Title I funding as a result of President Donald Trumps budget plan, the South Dakota Department of Education has previously instructed the Rapid City school district to plan for a 15 percent budget cut at all of its Title I schools.

Janak said the district is still bracing for this potential cut and has drawn up an alternative budget proposal to accommodate it if it comes to pass.

We have prepared an 85 percent budget and a 100 percent budget, Janak said.

Another problem on the financial horizon is that the district will soon scrape the bottom of the barrel when it comes to capital outlay reserves.

The capital outlay fund is traditionally used to pay for building projects. The district usually starts the budgeting process with millions of dollars left over in the capital outlay fund, a surplus referred to as the capital outlay reserve.

There was as much as $80 million in the capital outlay reserve fund in recent years. But according to Janak, that number is on course to dip below $10 million within the next fiscal year, during which $5.4 million in reserves will be used to pay for a slate of maintenance projects.

When we have been lean in the past, capital outlay has acted as the bank. Weve borrowed from capital outlay so we wouldnt have to go to Wells Fargo to borrow the funds, Janak said. And you can see that reserve is projected to decline fairly consistently over the next several years.

Depending on how much the fund grows over the next year, the district probably has one more year in which it can rely on the capital outlay reserve fund, according to Janak. Any building and maintenance projects beyond that point, he said, will likely require the school board to seek alternative forms of funding.

Overall, the total budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is expected to sit at about $189.2 million, or about $5.23 million less than the current fiscal years budget.
The mood was tense outside Heather Wilsons office Monday afternoon as the results of her confirmation hearing trickled in.

Aides paced back and forth in the reception area of her office in the OHarra building on the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology campus, speaking to each other in muted tones beneath the televised sound of votes being counted live in the U.S. Senate in Washington.

When the final word came through around 4 p.m. that she would indeed serve as the next secretary of the Air Force, Wilson emerged and announced that her resignation as president of Mines would take effect Wednesday.

Her plan, she said, is to begin the long drive to her new office on the East Coast almost immediately, either Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

Senators voted 76-22 to approve Wilson. Speaking to reporters moments after she learned of her confirmation, she described the news as bittersweet.

I really love the School of Mines, she said. Its a wonderful university. Its a beautiful part of the world. Big cities on the East Coast arent really my thing, so it will be a bit of an adjustment, and I really will miss the students, faculty and staff.

Wilson said that her top priority in her new role is to restore readiness of the force.

About 50 percent of Air Force aircraft are not ready to perform air missions, she said. Were short on pilots, equipments aging. The Air Force is the oldest and the least ready in its history.

Remedying this, Wilson said, will require a modernization of the Air Forces equipment, from its fighter jets to its nuclear arsenal.

Strengthening the schools finances, enrollment and community outreach efforts were among the list of achievements that Wilson reflected on from her four years at the School of Mines. Increasing learning space and the need for refurbished facilities remain on the horizon, she said, for whoever replaces her.

Its been a tremendous feeling to be welcomed here even though I wasnt from South Dakota, Wilson said. The community embraced me and my family, and Ill leave a big part of my heart here in the Black Hills.

Wilson is President Donald Trump's first service secretary nominee to be approved by the GOP-led chamber.

She represented New Mexico in the House from 1998 to 2009 before becoming a defense industry consultant. Her post-congressional work drew scrutiny from several Democrats, who had questioned an arrangement with government laboratories that paid her $20,000 a month. Wilson denied any impropriety.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said he voted against Wilson's nomination because of his lingering concerns with the payments. Reed also cited as troubling a call Wilson made a decade ago while still a member of Congress to a federal prosecutor handling a politically charged corruption probe.

Trump's attempts to fill the other two service secretary jobs have failed so far. His picks for secretaries of the Army and Navy were forced to withdraw from consideration.

After serving five terms in Congress from New Mexico, Wilson collected nearly half a million dollars in questionable payments from federally funded nuclear labs, the Energy Department's inspector general said in a 2013 report. Wilson failed to provide documentation for the consulting work she did to earn $20,000 a month from the Los Alamos and Sandia national labs in New Mexico from January 2009 to March 2011, the report said.

Wilson deflected questions about the payments, saying during her Senate confirmation hearing that she'd performed the work and that the inspector general had found no fault with her.

The telephone call referenced by Reed, the senator from Rhode Island, was made by Wilson in October 2006 to David Iglesias, a U.S. attorney in New Mexico. Iglesias was one of seven federal prosecutors fired a few months later by the Bush administration. At the time, Iglesias was handling a number of public corruption cases. Reed said the call raised the possibility Iglesias may have felt pressured by Congress in an ongoing investigation. Wilson said she did nothing improper.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called Wilson a "proven leader" and said she would lead the service to a stronger future.
As he frequently does, President Donald Trump used a tweet last week to share a decision  but this one, which ran counter to a campaign promise, provided some good news for Nebraska.

"I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate," the president tweeted. "I agreed subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good-deal very possible!"

Rather than shooting from the hip, the president appears to want  at least for now  to avert what he said would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system."

For that, Nebraskans  who overwhelmingly supported Trump  should be thankful. Unilaterally withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement would have had disastrous effects on this state, which is heavily dependent on the farming and ranching industries boosted by the deal since its enactment in 1994.

One in four Nebraska jobs are connected to farming and ranching, according to the state's Department of Agriculture, and business with Canada and Mexico brings billions of dollars into the Cornhusker State.

Shortly after Trump's election, we noted in this space that, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Canada ($2.2 billion of Nebraska imports) and Mexico ($1.3 billion) marked the states two largest foreign customers for goods in 2014.

That can't be jeopardized without widespread collateral damage in Nebraska. Canada and Mexico represent two of the state's top agricultural markets; losing access to them would further depress demand and, accordingly, prices for those farm commodities.

The Nebraska Farm Bureau estimated departing NAFTA would cost farmers and ranchers $2.6 billion in lost exports  annually. Nebraska's two U.S. senators have been vocal, unsurprisingly, in advocating for NAFTA, given its importance for the state they represent.

Scrapping NAFTA would be a disastrously bad idea," Republican Sen. Ben Sasse said. "It would hurt American families at the checkout, and it would cripple American producers in the field and the office."

We agree.

Within his first few days in office, Trump removed the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, widely supported by Nebraska agricultural groups. That executive order ended a trade agreement anticipated to increase Nebraska's agricultural cash receipts by $378 million.

Doing the same to NAFTA would indeed be a nightmare for the states leading industry. While ultimate judgment will be withheld until the promised negotiations take place and yield a supposedly better trade agreement, Nebraskans need NAFTA  which must be preserved long into the future, beyond the whims of a single president.
GREAT FALLS  A Montana woman has been charged with her boyfriend's stabbing death in Great Falls.

The Great Falls Tribune reports 38-year-old Linda Roseann Christianson was charged Tuesday with deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence in the March 5 death of 41-year-old Steven Fletcher. His body was found on a couch at his residence.

Christianson initially reported Fletcher's death as a suicide, but court records say investigators found evidence that the knife used to stab him was placed in his hand after he died.

Prosecutors say Christianson ran to a neighbor's house to call 911 and that neighbor reported she said, "oh my God, I killed him," then later said "he killed himself."

Investigators say they learned Fletcher planned to end his relationship with Christianson. She did not enter a plea during her initial appearance.
MISSOULA  Flathead County search and rescue teams are looking for a 25-year-old Arizona woman who went missing after a day hike in the Great Bear Wilderness.

"We have people in the area as we speak," Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said on Monday afternoon. "But we probably will scale down during nighttime. At this point, we have no evidence of a bear encounter. There are bears in the area, but there are occupants in the area too."

Jim Pierce, director of Two Bear Air, said search teams have seen an adult black bear and two cubs in the area where Madeline Connelly went missing and have come across bear tracks around the places where Connellys footprints were found.

According to Sheriff Curry, teams began looking for Connelly on Saturday, two days after she went on the hike. Connelly was in the Kalispell area visiting relatives, who found her vehicle at the Bear Creek trailhead near Essex.

Pierce said Two Bear Air has been shuttling search crews into the area since the search began, and are also conducting night vision and thermal imaging searches after dark. Flathead County Sheriff's deputies, Glacier National Park rangers and North Valley Search and Rescue members are helping with the ground search.

He said teams found Connelly and her dogs footprints and tracked them around 12 miles into the backcountry near Twentyfive Mile Creek before losing the prints.

Weve been concentrating on trying to pick them back up, Pierce said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Guwahati, May 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from Guwahati on May 26 next on the marks of completion of three years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA government.

BJP's Assam unit president Ranjit Kumar Das on Tuesday said that, the first anniversary of the BJP-led Assam will also being celebrated on the same day.

Das said that, PM Modi will visit to Assam on May 26 and he will address the nation from Guwahati, where a public meeting to be held, on the occasion of three years completion of the NDA government.

During his day-long visit to the state, PM Modi will inaugurate the Dhola-Sadiya bridge and to lay foundation stones of AIIMS and a major institution.

"BJP-led Assam government will also celebrate its first anniversary on the same day," Ranjit Kumar Das said.

Sarbananda Sonowal led Assam government will complete its first year on May

24.

The BJP's Assam unit president also said that, the state BJP and the state

government have been prepared for the grand function.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
The Asian Age, May 8, 2017,

A jurist who broke barriers

With Leila Seth passing away, feminism has lost one of its strongest pillars.

by Flavia Agnes

This is what Justice Leila Seth, a pioneering jurist who became the first woman chief justice of a high court in India, and died in New Delhi late on Friday night, wrote in a national newspaper in 2014:

aMy name is Leila Seth. I am 83 years old. I have been in a long and happy marriage of more than 60 years and I am the mother of three children... I love them all. My husband and I have brought them up with the values we were brought up with a honesty, courage and sympathy for others. We know that they are hardworking and affectionate people, who are trying to do some good in the world.a

aBut our eldest, Vikram, is now a criminal, an unapprehended felon. This is because, like many millions of other Indians, he is gay; and last month, two judges of the Supreme Court overturned the judgment of two judges of the Delhi high court that, four years ago, decriminalised homosexuality. Now, once again, if Vikram falls in love with another man, he will be committing a crime punishable by imprisonment for life if he expresses his love physically. The Supreme Court judgment means that he would have to be celibate for the rest of his life a or else leave the country where he was born, to which he belongs, and which he loves more than any other.a

aI myself have been a judge for more than 14 years a first, as a judge of the Delhi high court, then as chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh high court. Later, I served as a member of the Law Commission, as well as the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, which resulted in the Criminal Law Amendment Act 2013 being passed. I have great respect for legal proprieties in general, and would not normally comment on a judgment, but I am making an exception in this case.a

aBut what has pained me and is more harmful is the spirit of the judgment. The interpretation of law is untempered by any sympathy for the suffering of others.a

aThe voluminous accounts of rape, torture, extortion and harassment suffered by gay and transgender people as a result of this law do not appear to have moved the court. Nor does the court appear concerned about the parents of such people, who stated before the court that the law induced in their children deep fear, profound self-doubt and the inability to peacefully enjoy family life. I know this to be true from personal experience. The judgment fails to appreciate the stigma that is attached to persons and families because of this criminalisation.a

Leila Seth (1930-2017)

As her comments indicate, though as a retired judge she was well aware of the confines and boundaries of the law, she could transcend them in defence of a higher sense of justice.

Nothing that I may venture to write will better communicate to the reader the courage of conviction, extreme sensitivity and the deep commitment to human rights of Justice Leila Seth than the above excerpt. It aptly demonstrates her ability to weave together constitutional jurisprudence with feminine sensibilities of being the mother of a gay son and brings to life the slogan of the early feminist era a the personal is political.

Reading this article three years ago made me wonder about the inner conflict which she must have gone through to come to terms with this reality and the battles she would have had to wage within her family, community and within the legal field, first as a lawyer and then as a judge. I have never forgotten this article and with her passing away, the words carry a new meaning to me and bring to life her sterling qualities.

And yet, her appearances were highly deceptive of the bold public stand she had taken on many occasions. Dressed in traditional silk sari, a big red bindi adorning her forehead, the traditional mangal sutra (the black bead chain worn by married women) around her neck, just half inch above five foot, the average height of an Indian woman, she looked every bit a traditional Indian homemaker. It was difficult to imagine her seated on the stately high-backed chair carrying the state emblem on the high podium reserved for a chief justice and delivering judgments on constitutionalism or complex matters of taxation.

Perhaps it is easier to visualise this today when four of our important high courts have women chief justices, but must have been very difficult for her, as she was the first to break the glass ceiling when she was appointed the chief justice of Himachal Pradesh high court in 1991. Extra cushions had to be placed on her chair so that she could become visible to lawyers and litigants in the large court hall.

Equally difficult it would be to imagine her as a headstrong feminist carrying the flag of womenas rights and gender mainstreaming. And yet she did both. She was the member of the 15th Law Commission of India (1997-2000), which ushered in far reaching changes to the Hindu Succession Act that were finally enacted in 2005, giving daughters rights in the ancestral property. She was also an important member of the Justice J.S. Verma Committee constituted to make recommendations after the December 16 brutal rape and murder case in 2012 which broadened the definition of rape. But she stood firm against the death penalty. It is indeed a travesty of justice that she breathed her last on May 5 a a day after the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for rapists in the Nirbhaya case.

However, when she started her legal practice, she didnat opt to specialise in a branch of law considered to be in the domain of the afemininea a matrimonial law a and instead opted to practice in areas traditionally considered as amasculinea a taxation, corporate law, civil and criminal appeals and constitutional law and made a mark, which led her to be appointed as the first woman judge of the Delhi high court in 1978. A fine example of mainstreaming gender.

And yet her foray into the law was a sheer accident. While in London accompanying her husband from the corporate field, she enrolled for a course in law, as it did not require her to attend classes regularly. This was convenient as she had tiny tots to care for. She thought she would fail the exams and was pleasantly surprised to find that she had topped the bar exams and had become the first woman to hold this position. And from there on, there was no looking back.

Justice Seth could traverse with ease the two seemingly opposing poles that of the formal justice system and of feminist legal domain. Even after her retirement, she never rested. Apart from being on several commissions, she published three books, the last one at the ripe old age of 84, Talking of Justice: Peopleas Rights in Modern India (2014), which provides an analysis of several critical issues she experienced during her legal career spanning 50 years.

With her passing away, feminism has lost one of its strongest pillars. It would indeed be very difficult to fill the void left behind by her. But she has left behind a legacy and it is for us now to walk in her footsteps. For me, the loss is personal, as she was not just a friend, but also someone I looked up and hugely admired.

The writer [Flavia Agnes] is a womenas rights lawyer
You have permission to edit this html.

Edit Close
MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a working visit to the United States on May 9-11 and meet US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

"On May 10, talks are scheduled in Washington with US Secretary of State R. Tillerson, during which it is planned (for the two sides) to exchange views on key international issues and current issues of bilateral relations," The ministry said in a statement on its website.

The visit was arranged in accordance with an earlier agreement, the document said.

According to the statement, Lavrov will also take part in the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in Fairbanks, the second largest city in the Alaska State.
Disparate documentaries reveal turbulent decade from opposite ends of the spectrum

Writer-Director Cevin Solings new documentary, The Gilligan Manifesto, is garnering interest from distributors because of its unique spin on a classic television series as a commentary on the 1960s and the Red scare. Currently, he is in post-production on his highly-anticipated film, The Summer of Hate, a documentary that focuses on the summer of 1966, where the Beatles US tour took an unexpected turn for the worse, and became an integral part of the volatile political landscape in response to comments on religion and as payback for their forcing the Gator Bowl in Florida to desegregate two years prior.

In 1963, just one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, radio and television writer Sherwood Schwartz began filming Gilligan's Island, which depicts seven Americans shipwrecked on a deserted island. Solings film reveals that this seemingly innocuous sitcom was an analogue for a post-apocalyptic world where survivors had to rebuild civilization as this was a major concern during the Cold War where many families had fallout shelters in their homes. What is even more shocking is that the society depicted on Gilligans Island is founded on Marxist Communism. Solings revelation was first published in the prestigious academic journal, Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture.

To convert his article into a feature documentary, Soling interviewed creator Sherwood Schwartz. He also spoke with Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells, who played the Professor and Mary Ann, as well as several professors from Harvard.

The political messages of Gilligan's Island are as relevant today as they were when the show originally aired. Genuine threats to Western civilization still persist from outside and within that feed escapist fantasies to a utopian world, says Soling. Today, Gilligan's Island would be set on Mars and again, the society would be communist and, again, no one would notice because most people have no idea what communism is and erroneously equate it with the totalitarian governments of the Soviet Union or China.

On a totally different track from the same decade, Solings The Sumer of Hate documents the backlash the Beatles faced during their 1966 tour when John Lennon stated that they were more popular than Jesus. The band received international scorn after the quote was deliberately misinterpreted and exploited by a couple of disc jockeys in Alabama. While the Beatles had received numerous death threats in the past, calls for violence became blatantly open where the KKK even went so far as to lynch the Beatles in absentia. Scores of radio stations boycotted the Beatles and bonfires were staged all over the country including as far north as Albany, New York. One consequence was that the Beatles decided to stop touring and became exclusively a studio band  something unheard of at the time.

When asked what stands out as most about this film, Soling replied: When people think of the division between the conservative world of the 50s and the tumultuous 60s, it is really 1966 when the American landscape changed dramatically becoming visibly fractured and violent. There was a mass shooting in Texas, a serial killer in Chicago, race riots, war protest, record burnings, and KKK rallies. Many of the same issues persist, but in the 60s the Beatles helped steer a generation out of the darkness and watching them prevail over hate as they ushered the world into the summer of love the following year, can provide solace and guidance for viewers today.

The film features interviews from many of those relevant in the summer of 1966. Among them: Civil Rights activist James Meredith, iconic DJ George Klein, guitarist Reggie Young and bluesman Clarence Frogman Henry (I Aint Got No Home.)

Soling produced and directed the first theatrically released documentary on education, The War on Kids, which was honored as the best educational documentary at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival and has been broadcast on Pivot, The Documentary Channel, and The Sundance Channel.

He wrote, produced, and directed Ikland, which documented his efforts to rediscover the lost Ik tribe of northern Uganda, who were famously disparaged in the early 1970s as the worst people in the world. The film won Best Documentary Content at the Boston International Film Festival and was heralded by the NY Times and other major media outlets. Last year, he completed Mr. Cevin & the Cargo Cult, a documentary about a tribe in Vanuatu who worship America.




In a relatively short six years of existence, Dallas' Oak Cliff Film Festival has put itself on the map as one of the most adventurous and carefully curated events in the Southwest. Based in the historic southern Oak Cliff neighrborhood of Dallas, the festival pushes at the edges of commercial fare while always bringing amazing repertory screenings to attendees.

This year is no different. The festival will open on June 8th with absurdist comedy Lemon, hot off its premiere at Sundance with director Janicza Bravo and actor Brett Gelman in attendance. Closing the fest on June 11th will be David Lowery's new film A Ghost Story, which was shot and produced in and around Dallas.

In between those two events the festival will show an additional 23 features, many of which are having their Texas premieres, and several of which are quite good. Among the highlights are Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya's ode to the dying of the projector light, The Cinema Travellers, Harry Dean Stanton starrer and SXSW hit, Lucky, the Texas Premiere of Alejandro Jodorowsky's Endless Poetry, and many more.

On the repertory side I am incredibly excited that they are showing Jodorowsky's 1990 masterpiece Santa Sangre with star Adan Jodorowsky in attendance and a tribute to the late Jonathan Demme with a free outdoor screening of Something Wild.

It's going to be a great festival! Check out the full details below:

OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ITS 2017 FEATURE PROGRAMMING INCLUDING THE TEXAS PREMIERES OF DAVID LOWERYS A GHOST STORY AND ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKYS ENDLESS POETRY

The 6th annual edition of the festival brings the celebration of film to the historic Texas Theatre and other venues in Dallas Oak Cliff neighborhood from June 8 - 11, 2017

DALLAS, TX (May 9, 2017)  The Oak Cliff Film Festival (OCFF) announces its Feature Program for the 6th edition of the festival, taking place June 8-11, 2017. The schedule is comprised of 25 feature-length films, seven of which will make their Texas premieres at the hyper-local festival that filmmakers and film-lovers alike call their favorite retreat of the year.

Critically acclaimed director David Lowerys (Aint Them Bodies Saints, Petes Dragon) A GHOST STORY will close the film festival on Sunday, June 11, marking the first Texas screening of the film. ENDLESS POETRY, the latest masterwork by venerated, 88 year-old cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre), will screen Saturday, June 10. Jodorowskys son, Adan Jodorowsky, who stars in the film and composed its score, will be in attendance for a Q&A and will perform a live concert set by his alter ego, Adanowsky, following the screening.

We are extremely excited to host the homecoming screening for Davids new film A GHOST STORY as our closing night program, said Barak Epstein, OCFF Festival Director. This is a film that everyone in Dallas will want to see on the big screen. Also, we are proud to host the latest film from legendary filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky who we have always championed at the Texas Theatre. Having his son and composer Adan Jodorowsky make an appearance is a real honor.

A GHOST STORY was produced and shot in and around Dallas, Lowerys hometown, with frequent collaborators Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston (Aint Them Bodies Saints, Listen Up Philip), and OCFF Co-Founder Adam Donaghey. The film stars Academy Award-winner Casey Affleck and Academy Award-nominee Rooney Mara.

"I presented a film at the Oak Cliff Film Festival last year, just twelve hours before our first day of shooting on A GHOST STORY, so it only feels proper (and thematically accurate to the film!) to bring it to Oak Cliff for its local premiere, said Lowery on coming home to show at OCFF.

Opening the festival on Thursday, June 8 is the dark, absurdist comedy LEMON, directed by lauded filmmaker Janicza Bravo (Divorce, Atlanta), with both Janicza Bravo and writer/actor Brett Gelman in attendance.

Additional Texas premieres include: THE LITTLE HOURS directed by Jeff Baena (Life After Beth, Joshy), a rowdy comedy about some very unholy and unapologetic nuns in the 14th century, with Jeff Baena in attendance; Kevin Phillips SUPER DARK TIMES, a psychological tale about two teenagers growing up in mid-90s suburbia; the dark and absurdist Romanian comedy SCARRED HEARTS, directed by Radu Jude, about a sanatorium patients' attempts to live life to the fullest as their bodies slowly wither; and a new anti-documentary film from Jem Cohen (Instrument, Museum Hours), WORLD WITHOUT END (NO REPORTED INCIDENTS).

The live musical performances and art installations that are a hallmark of the four-day event will once again be a major part of the Oak Cliff Film Festival. In addition, OCFF will host educational events, including a free-to-students cinematography workshop on Saturday, June 10 at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center.

OCFF takes place at the historic Texas Theatre, Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Kessler Theater, the Basement Gallery, and other venues in North Oak Cliff.

Festival VIP passes (which provide access to all screenings, events, and access to the VIP Filmmakers lounge all weekend), ticket four-packs, and individual screening tickets are on sale now at www.filmoakcliff.com via OCFFs official ticketing sponsor, Prekindle. For the latest news and developments, follow the festival on Twitter and Facebook. The full schedule including shorts programs for the 2017 Oak Cliff Film Festival will be announced on May 15.

OCFF 2017 FEATURE PROGRAM

OPENING NIGHT SELECTION

LEMON (USA, 90 mins)

Dir. Janicza Bravo

Drama teacher Isaac Lachmann (Brett Gelman), a tall, balding man of extreme moods, is argumentative with everyone except for one student, Alex (Michael Cera). Willing to debase himself to get any kind of job in TV commercials, Isaac lets his relationship with longtime girlfriend, Ramona (Judy Greer), a blind woman, fall to pieces. In her directorial debut, Janicza Bravo displays an impressive sense of composition, timing, and humor wrapped in absurdist comedy.

DFW PREMIERE

Filmmaker Janicza Bravo and writer/star Brett Gelman in attendance

CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION

A GHOST STORY (USA, 87 mins)

Dir. David Lowery

With A GHOST STORY, acclaimed director David Lowery (Aint Them Bodies Saints, Petes Dragon) returns with a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection. Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost (Academy Award-winner Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Academy Award-nominee Rooney Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, confronting lifes ineffable questions and the enormity of existence. An unforgettable meditation on love and grief, A GHOST STORY emerges ecstatic and surreal.

TEXAS PREMIERE

Filmmaker David Lowery in attendance. Producers Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, and Adam Donaghey in attendance

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

ASSHOLES (USA, 75 mins)

Dir. Peter Vack

Adah and Aaron are recovering addicts who are struggling to stay sober. After meeting in their psychoanalysts waiting room, they fall in love, relapse on poppers, and become the biggest assholes in New York City. Literally. Writer/Director Peter Vack makes his feature directorial debut with an undeniably special, WTF film, that will have you cry-laughing-nauseated.

DFW PREMIERE

Director Peter Vack in attendance

Preceded by CHILD PSYCHOLOGY (USA, 15 mins)

THE STRANGE ONES (USA, 81 mins)

Dir. Christopher Radcliff, Lauren Wolkstein

Co-directors Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolksteins feature length debut stems from a short by the same name, following the mysterious events of two alleged brothers as they travel across a remote, American landscape. Along the way, questions arise as to the nature of the relationship between the two drifters, as what first seems an innocuous vacation, slowly burns, giving way to a much more complicated and darker truth. Atmospheric and heady, THE STRANGE ONES focuses on isolation and dissonance, while presenting hints at the supernatural and ambiguous nature of two wanderers hiding from something in their past.

DFW PREMIERE

LUCKY (USA, 88 mins)

Dir. John Carroll Lynch

Does legendary character actor Harry Dean Stanton play himself in this pseudo comedy western about a 90 year-old cowboy who cant figure out how hes still alive? Probably. The film also features great turns by Ron Livingston and Tom Skerrit, as well as David Lynch as an old bar friend who just wants to find his pet tortoise.

DFW PREMIERE

Producer John Lang in attendance

INFINITY BABY (USA, 80 mins)

Dir. Bob Byington

Owing to a genetic mix-up involving stem cell research, the recently founded company Infinity Baby, run by the garrulous Neo (Nick Offerman), is able to offer a service for aspiring parents who never want to leave the baby bubble: infants that do not age. Ben (Kieran Culkin), a serial monogamist who says he wants to find the right woman, but is always looking for the next one, and his competent pals Larry (Kevin Corrigan) and Malcolm (Martin Starr), are hired to market the service to those keen to nurture. Does having a baby automatically confer some level of maturity? Will Ben's mom, the sarcastic and demanding Hester (Megan Mullally), approve of Ben's new girlfriend (Trieste Dunn)? Will Malcolm recover from a disastrous accident with kitchen cleaner? The answers to these questions and more await in Byington's heady and hilarious potpourri.

DFW PREMIERE

Director Bob Byington in attendance

LA BARRACUDA (USA, 100 mins)

Dir. Julia Halperin and Jason Cortlund

A young British woman named Sinaloa comes to Texas to find Merle (Allison Tolman), her half-sister by way of their dead country musician father. And while the family music legacy brought this stranger to town, darker motives are woven into the songs she sings, showing glimpses of a violent rage thats been building for years. LA BARRACUDA is a subtle, creeping thriller with a good dose of country music.

DFW PREMIERE

Filmmakers Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin in attendance

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

AS I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY (USA, 81 mins)

Dir. Ronnie Garza and Charlie Vela

An overlooked part of America, the Rio Grande Magic Valley boasts one of its most eclectic music scenes. From 1960s garage rockers, to Tejano punks wearing lucha libre masks, and everything in between, the area has served as a melting pot over the years - not just for different genres, but for Mexican and Texan cultures. Covering four generations worth of music history through testimonials and archival footage, AS I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY champions the do-it-yourself spirit and finding your voice.

DFW PREMIERE

CINEMA TRAVELERS (INDIA, 96 mins)

Dir. Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya

Showmen riding cinema lorries have brought the wonder of the movies to faraway villages in India once every year. Seven decades on, as their cinema projectors crumble and film reels become scarce, their patrons are lured by slick digital technology. A benevolent showman, a shrewd exhibitor, and a maverick projector mechanic bear a beautiful burden: to keep the last traveling cinemas of the world running.

DFW PREMIERE

CALIFORNIA DREAMS (USA, 83 mins)

Dir. Mike Ott

Filmmaker Mike Ott (Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock) follows a rag-tag ensemble of small-time underachievers whose shared, cherished fantasy of making it in the movies gets them up in the morning, but not much further than that. Blurring the line between simulated verite and authentic observation, its often impossible to tell whether those on camera are playing themselves, simply being themselves or a combination of the two. Throw in Mike Gioulakis (It Follows) serenely gorgeous cinematography and youre in for both a beautiful and perplexing experience.

DFW PREMIERE

TRUE CONVICTION (USA, 84 mins)

Dir. Jamie Meltzer

Theres a new detective agency in Dallas, Texas started by Johnnie Lindsey, Christopher Scott, and Steven Phillips, who have decades in prison between them. Now exonerated, the trio has formed their own pseudo-detective agency that frees innocent people from behind bars. The cases they pursue resemble their own: the sort of cases that the justice system should backstop, but usually does not. Taking viewers into the real-life crime drama that surrounds these imperfect freedom fighters on their quest for justice, TRUE CONVICTION highlights the importance of asking the questions that bureaucracy does not.

DALLAS PREMIERE

The men of TRUE CONVICTION - Christopher Scott, Johnnie Lindsey & Steven Phillips in attendance

WORLD WITHOUT END (NO REPORTED INCIDENTS) (USA, 57 mins)

Dir. Jem Cohen

Jem Cohen, best known as the filmmaker behind the Fugazi document Instrument and the elegiac Museum Hours, brings us a new anti-documentary film in WORLD WITHOUT END. Cohen travels to a sea village near London to interview locals and survey the land. As per his Viennale statement, I embraced the chance encounter and rejected the very idea of the definitive. What I discovered is that the estuary and its insistent tides brought in not only nature and history, but prize-winning Indian curries, an encyclopedic universe of hats, and a nearly lost world of proto-punk music.

TEXAS PREMIERE

SPOTLIGHT FEATURES

ENDLESS POETRY (Chile, 122 mins)

Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky

Alejandro Jodorowskys films are like no one elses. The 88 year-old Chilean maestro sends perhaps his most autobiographical film to OCFF as a continuation piece to 2014s Dance of Reality. The film stars two of Alejandros sons, Brontis Jodorowsky and Adan Jodorowsky (who also composed the score), as father and son; sometimes Alejandro himself breaks the fourth wall and enters the family within the film as well. (Dont worry it will all make sense once you lick that Aztec frog.)

TEXAS PREMIERE

Composer and Lead actor Adan Jodorowsky in attendance

68 KILL (USA, 93 mins)

Dir. Trent Haaga

Ex Troma screenwriting hero Trent Haaga comes out swinging hard in his sophomore directorial effort. Lead actor Matthew Gray Gubler (Intern from A Life Aquatic) throws everything into hyper-drive in this punk-rock after-hours epic bloodbath about femininity, masculinity, and the theft of $68,000.

DFW PREMIERE

THE LITTLE HOURS (USA, 90 mins)

Dir. Jeff Baena

A young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the middle ages. Yet another scene-stealing performance from Aubrey Plaza will quench the thirsts of the faithful, A blessed ensemble cast, including Alison Brie, whose turn as a nun feels ordained, fills out this entertaining medieval romp with foul mouthed nuns. If you wanted an absurdist version of The Witch, this will work just fine for you.

Short Synopsis: A young servant fleeing from his master takes refuge at a convent full of emotionally unstable nuns in the middle ages.

TEXAS PREMIERE

Filmmaker Jeff Baena in attendance

PORTO (USA/ Portugal, 76 mins)

Dir. Gabe Klinger

Gabe Klingers PORTO brings a new style and sensibility to the American-meets-a-pretty-girl-in Europe genre. Lensed by Wyatt Garfield, the film uses mixed films stocks and aspects via Super 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm to present a certain melancholy, lived-in feel and one of the last on-screen roles from Anton Yelchin.

DFW PREMIERE - Presented on 35mm

Filmmaker Gabe Klinger in attendance

PERSON TO PERSON (USA, 84 mins)

Dir. Dustin Guy Defa

Bene hosted a party at his place last night, and this morning, theres a stranger passed out on his floor who wont leave. This is NYC, so Bene isnt the only character grappling with the mundanity of life. An ensemble cast of Michael Cera, Abbi Jacobson, Michaela Watkins, and Bene Coopersmith together depict a group of New York oddballs - a reserved apartment dweller, an impassioned record collector, and a field reporter on her first day of work, among others - over the course of one day. Their stories dont necessarily intersect, but its their experience of the city that ties them together.

DFW PREMIERE

Producers Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston in attendance

DEATH OF LOUIS XIV (FRANCE, 115 mins)

Dir. Albert Serra

The annual OCFF Sunday Slow-Core returns with French King Louis XIV (played to perfection by Jean-Pierre Leaud - the kid from 1959s The 400 Blows!) wearing a wig and surrounded by servants who just want him to eat an egg. Candlelit Cinematography: Check; One Epic Dolly Shot with equally Epic Music Cue: Check; Crying out in the night for water: Check; Bloodletting and other questionable medical practices: Check. Nursing your hangover with the depiction of the laborious, painful death of an elderly king: Check!

DFW PREMIERE

THE CHALLENGE (FRANCE/ITALY, Arabic language, 70 mins)

Dir. Yuri Ancarani

Falconry has a history that stretches back over 40 centuries. In the West, it was a prevailing passion of the medieval aristocracy, but its prestige continues undiminished in contemporary Arab culture. The spirit of a tradition that today allows its practitioners to keep a close rapport with the desert, despite their predominantly urban lifestyle, is captured grace of three years of field observation. In the glaring light of an empty landscape, following flight lines and lures, the film recounts a strange kind of desert weekend, in which technological and anthropological microcosms hang in the air, like the falcon, drifting on the irreversible currents of images. Also one of the shieks owns a well behaved cheetah and an impractical Lamborghini.

DFW PREMIERE

SUPER DARK TIMES (USA, 100 mins)

Dir. Kevin Phillips

Best friends Zach and Josh are like any other teenagers growing up in mid-90s suburbia. They lead normal lives that revolve around high school, their crushes on the same girl, and loitering about town. When an afternoon in the park takes a grave turn, however, the boys try to pretend as though nothing has happened. The guilt soon starts to eat away at Zach as he is caught between nightmares and an increasing paranoia that Josh is no longer the same.

TEXAS PREMIERE

SCARRED HEARTS (Romania, 141 mins)

Dir. Radu Jude

Emanuel, a man in his early 20s, spends his days at a sanatorium suffering from bone tuberculosis. He narrates his and his fellow patients' attempts to live life to the fullest as their bodies slowly wither, but their minds refuse to give in. SCARRED HEARTS is a dark and sometimes silly comedy inspired by Romanian author Max Blecher's 1937 book about love, terminal illness, and how to sometimes look on the bright side of life. Shot on 35mm in a 1.37 Academy ratio with bright colors and gorgeously framed static shots, the film presents a stylized window in the past. An art film with many rewards for the patient moviegoer, or as The Hollywood Reporter recently warned, beyond a tough sell.

TEXAS PREMIERE

A LIFE IN WAVES (USA, 74 mins)

Dir. Bret Whitcomb

I wanted technology to be sensual, that was always my directive. Early synth music pioneer Suzanne Ciani was behind some of the most innovative sounds and jingles of the 70s and 80s, including spots for Atari and Coca-Cola and multiple soundtracks. A LIFE IN WAVES utilizes a wealth of archival footage from Suzannes endless catalog of music. Its a compelling look at one womans ability to break into a mostly male-dominated field, against all odds.

DFW PREMIERE

Director Bret Whitcomb in attendance

REPERTORY

SANTA SANGRE (1989) (MEXICO, ITALY, 123 mins)

Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky

In SANTE SANGRE, the traumatized son of a circus knife thrower and a trapeze artist bond grotesquely with his now-armless mother. The movie is often considered Jodorowskys most accessible and, although many Jodorowsky films defy easy categorization, the film has found a life as a cult horror film. Roger Ebert said of SANTA SANGRE: It is a horror film, one of the greatest, I am reminded by Alejandro Jodorowsky that true psychic horror is possible on the screen  horror, poetry, surrealism, psychological pain and wicked humor, all at once. The film stars Alejandross sons Axel Jodorowsky and, in his first on-screen performance, Adan Jodorowsky, as the young son who would grow up to be insane.

Actor Adan Jodorowsky in attendance

SOMETHING WILD (1986) (USA, 114 mins)

Dir. Jonathan Demme

The uneventful life of a the businessman Charles Driggs (Jeff Daniels) suddenly changes when he meets the wild and sexy Lulu (Melanie Griffith). But, the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband (Ray Liotta) shows up. An unbridled Jonathan Demme effortlessly weaves a slapstick tone with unflinching drama. Part romance, part road movie, part blood-spattered drama, its a schizophrenic movie, Mr. Demme has said, a screwball comedy that turns into a film noir, as life itself does.

FREE OUTDOOR SCREENING

About OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL

The Oak Cliff Film Festival was established in 2012 as a regional film festival in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. The festival has been received national acclaim from prominent sources including The New York Times, Filmmaker Magazine, and Moviemaker Magazine. Led by the Aviation Cinemas team, who took over operations at the Texas Theatre in December of 2010, and backed by the 501 3(c) Oak Cliff Foundation, the Oak Cliff Film Festival features the very best of Oak Cliffs theater venues, highlights the popular restaurants and bars of the area, and seeks to showcase the best of independent and brave filmmaking of all stripes from Texas and beyond. If you would like to get more information about the Oak Cliff Film Festival or its line-up, visit www.filmoakcliff.com or follow us  @filmoakcliff.
The second installment in the series, Iron Sky: The Coming Race has been a long time coming, but judging by a new teaser trailer, it looks like it will be worth the wait for fans of the first, crazed action movie.

If you somehow missed the original, here's what you missed, and what also what the sequel promises:

Iron Sky is a science fiction film about Nazis from the Dark Side of the Moon. The sequel - Iron Sky The Coming Race takes the story deeper underground where our heroes will fight against Hitler's dinosaur army!

Check out the teaser below, which does a good job of selling the spirit of the film. Iron Sky: The Coming Race is now aiming for release on February 4, 2018.
A guilty verdict was reached Tuesday morning in San Jose court in the long-awaited murder trial of 26-year-old Antolin Garcia-Torres, long held as the sole suspect in the kidnapping and presumed murder of Bay Area teen Sierra LaMar in 2012. As ABC 7 reports from the courthouse, shortly after 9 a.m. the jury announced their verdict, finding Garcia-Torres guilty of first degree murder, murder while in the commission of a kidnapping (a special circumstance), guilty of attempted kidnapping in the commission of a carjacking, and guilty of the attempted kidnappings of three women in Morgan Hill in 2009.

The LaMar family expressed relief but ongoing grief outside the courthouse, with Sierra's mother saying in the press conference you can see below, "Nothing can take away the pain and the sorrow that we experience every day and will continue to experience for the rest of our lives. But truly we've been praying for the chapter to have this type of ending  justice."

Prosecutors took a risk in bringing to trial the presumed murder of LaMar, the 15-year-old Morgan Hill girl who disappeared on her way to school one morning in March 2012, because despite community and police efforts over the years, her body has never been found. The search was finally suspended in 2015, but by then investigators had a mountain of physical and circumstantial evidence against Garcia-Torres, who has maintained his innocence despite making strange and incriminating statements along the way.

As the Chronicle recounts, Garcia-Torres was living in a trailer park about seven miles from where LaMar went missing while waiting for a school bus. Soon after her disappearance, evidence surfaced suggesting she had not run away but was likely abducted, including the discovery of her cellphone in a field less than a mile from her home  and the early phase of the search was muddied with media reports of the fact that Sierra's father, Steve Wayne LaMar, was himself a registered sex offender.

Soon thereafter, though, Sierra's clothing and school books, including her underwear, were found near a shed, and mud on the clothing suggested she'd been dragged, according to investigators.

The most incriminating evidence against Garcia-Torres came when his DNA was found on the girl's pants, and her DNA was found in his car, along with her hair found on some rope in his trunk.

Garcia-Torres's only alibi for the six hours in which he was unaccounted for the morning of her disappearance was that he had gone fishing by himself, and infamously in this case he gave a statement saying that he had masturbated into a tissue in his car and tossed it out a window, apparently trying to explain how his DNA might have arrived on the girl's clothing  although investigators had never told him that what they found had been semen.

In closing arguments last week, Garcia-Torres's defense attorney Alfonso Lopez attempted a theatrical gesture, tossing balls into what he called his "shame bucket" as he counted up the pieces of missing evidence the prosecution could not produce, including Sierra's remains. "We don't see evidence she's deceased. She's missing, nothing else," he argued.

But in this case, the prosecution's gamble paid off, and even resulted in convictions on three counts of attempted kidnappings at a Safeway in Morgan Hill where Garcia-Torres formerly worked as a checkout clerk.

Garcia-Torres will now return to court for sentencing, with the jury reconvening on May 16 to begin that phase.

Previously: Defense Lawyer In Sierra LaMar Case Says She's Not Dead, Just Missing
It's not technically summer yet but this week's event line-up definitely has a strong case of senioritis. Free coffee day at Peet's, a baguette show-down, and a diva double-feature all made the cut of the long list of things we're definitely doing - until mom makes us come home.

TUESDAY, MAY 9

SURF MOVIE: Head to one (or all?) of tonight's three screenings of Under An Arctic Sky, a film about six surfers along with adventure photographer Chris Burkard and filmmaker Ben Weiland in search of awesome waves in Iceland. Burkard will be on hand for a meet-and-greet and Q & A. Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th Street; screenings at 6, 8, and 10 p.m.; $15.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10

BATTLE OF THE CARBS: Who will win the title of Best Baguette in San Francisco? The answer will be determined when French Morning hosts the Best Baguette San Francisco 2017 Finals at Le Colonial. Finalists Jane the Bakery, Le Marais Bakery, Fournee, and The Midwife and the Baker are competing for what is quite frankly, probably the most important award in city food history. Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, 6 to 8 p.m., $15-$60.

DOUBLE JOAN AND BETTE: The Castro Theatre is delivering the drama with a Double Feature of The Women and All About Eve. Described by the theater as a "star-studded all-female bitch-fest," The Women features Joan Crawford as a manipulating home-wrecker, and All About Eve is the Oscar-winning classic all about Hollywood's most fabulous aging actress, played by Bette Davis. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, "The Women" plays at 1:50 and 7pm, "All About Eve" starts at 4:20 and 9:30pm, $12.

THURSDAY, MAY 11

NO PLACE LIKE SF: Check out RuPaul's Drag Race star Courtney Act's show, "The Girl From OZ," right here in SF in a command performance. According to Oasis, Act is going to take us "over the rainbow and down under" with her one-woman show, which also plays on Friday. SF Oasis, 298 11th Street, 8 p.m., $25 to $35.

WILD THING: Hosted by Francesca Fiorentini, Nato Green, and Natasha Muse, "Verdi Wild Things Are" is a monthly comedy showcase in a vintage Italian social hall. This month's guests Grant Lyon, Emily Van Dyke and Priyanka Wali will probably, hopefully keep SF's iconic underground comedy scene alive and well. Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa Street, 8 p.m., $11.54.

FRIDAY, MAY 12

GIRLS WHO <3 GIRLS: Every second Friday night of the month, head to Oasis for UHAUL SF, the party for girls who love girls. China G opens for DJ Gunn Lundemo  direct from Stockholm. SF Oasis, 298 11th Street, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., $20 but free before 10:30 if you show ID that somehow proves you U-Hauled with your wife.

FREE PEET'S: In celebration of Peet's Coffee's Cold Brew Kick-off of cold coffee-based summertime beverages, swing by participating Peet's locations and crab a complimentary cup of (presumably) whatever you want. Free coffee connoisseurs might want to order one of this year's new menu items, Cold Brew Fog, Cold Brew Fog Latte, and Mojito Black Tie. Any participating Peet's Coffee, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., free.

SATURDAY, MAY 13

LIVE ART: "Hot Glass, Cold Beer" celebrates its 20th anniversary of glass demonstrations, live music, craft beer and great local food at Public Glass. This Saturday's event features renown glass artist Dante Marion. For $35, select your own hand-blown glass and keep if full of beer and wine all night. Public Glass, 1750 Armstrong Avenue, 6 to 10 p.m. $35 or $65 for VIP.

SPRING OVER TO ALAMEDA: Downtown Alameda's 17th Annual Spring Festival is a Bay Area Mothers Day tradition  and if it's not already then maybe you can make it one. 150 vendors and over 50 shops will be selling quirky things you don't need but will definitely want at this outdoor shopping-based street fair. There will also be live music, food, beer, wine, and kids' activities. Park Street Spring Festival, Park and Central Streets, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, free.

SUNDAY, MAY 14

SUMMER OF MOM: Combine Mother's Day and the 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love at the Presidio Picnic. Enjoy food and drinks from dozens of Off the Grid vendors, a DIY flower crown-making stations, a 60's-themed photo booth, yoga classes, lawn games, and a DJ. Presidio Main Parade Ground Lawn, Presidio of San Francisco, 11am to 4pm, free.

EDIBLES CLASS: Puff, Pass & Pastry Oakland is a two-and-a-half-hour cooking class and brunch featuring cannabis cuisine. Sallie B of Slim's Baked Goodies will guide aspiring weed chefs through cooking skills and dosage lessons, along with a light brunch. Bring your own cannabis and booze. Oakland Cannabis Creative, 2607 Mandela Parkway, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., $69.

SUNSET FLEA: Explore the first of this summer's six Inner Sunset Sunday's Flea Market featuring fascinating flea market finds, friendly neighbors, a food truck, kids activities, and a Sunset Neighborhood Merchant Hop. Irving Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., free.
The San Francisco Police Department's new chief, Bill Scott, will face his first use-of-force town hall meeting Wednesday morning, as the SFPD has announced the meeting to provide updates on last week's fatal police shooting of 26-year-old Nicholas Flusche.

Flusche, who had reportedly moved to SF fairly recently to start a fitness company, was witnessed arguing with an employee at the Subway restaurant at 11:22 a.m. last Wednesday after Flusche allegedly refused to pay for his meal.

Flusche was witnessed attacking the Subway employee and stabbing him. Mid-confrontation, two SFPD officers who were on foot patrol happened upon the altercation. One of the officers, Kenneth Cha (the same officer behind SFPD's controversial shooting of an unarmed civilian in January), fired at Flusche and killed him.

Other than some shocked statements from Flusche's friends and family, that's all we know. But the SFPD is promising more details in a town hall on the shooting scheduled for today at 11:30 a.m.

"Why at 11:30, and not at night?" you might be asking  a reasonable question, since demonstrations at SFPD town halls so displeased then-acting-chief Toney Chaplin that he, through a spokesperson, declared them "unproductive and disruptive" and briefly suspended the practice last May, resuming them following the October shooting of Nicholas McWherter near Stern Grove. However, in a conversation with SFist last April, then-SFPD spokesperson Officer Albie Esparza said that town halls are scheduled "at or around the time of the incident, because that's when the people near or who witnessed [the shooting] are most likely to be able to attend."

"I've been a [Public Information Officer] for six years, and I've gone to all of these" Esparza said in 2016. "We've always had the meeting near the [hour] of the incident."

According to the SF Examiner, "it remains to be seen how the new chief will handle the unfolding details of the case, which some police watchdogs say will be a telling comparison between Scott and his predecessor, former Chief Greg Suhr, when it comes to accountability and transparency."

Wednesday's meeting, should you be free to attend, will be held at 969 Market Street on the first floor.

Previously: Man Shot By SFPD Had Moved To SF To Start Fitness Business

Fatal SFPD Shooting Was Sparked By Argument Over Subway Sandwich
Cudahy Burgers owner Jay Mulloy chose to serve his hamburgers on buns from Milwaukees Wild Flour bakeries. He liked those buns so much that he decided to enter into a partnership at Wild Flours home base and build a bistro around the bakery.

Bakehouse Bistro (2800 W. Lincoln Ave.) is a hybrid operation. The dough still rises every morning in the Wild Four bakery, operating from the back of the storefront complete with its century-old brick oven. Up front is Mulloys counter-service bistro with an intriguing menu, a few tables and a railed-in patio with outdoor seats. The idea behind it? says Mulloy. Wild Flour makes the best bread in the world, so why not build great sandwiches on it?

And yes, you can still buy loaves of Wild Flour olive-rosemary bread, cranberry-walnut bread, five-cheese bread and other selections at the Lincoln Avenue location.

The Bistros sandwiches include such staples as grilled cheese and chicken and tuna salad along with la torta carnitas with slow cooked pork on a bun. But the Bistro also uses that great Wild Flour dough for something less common in Milwaukee: potpies. As with much of the menu, there are anchor potpies and a changing cast of guest stars. One anchor is the hearty chicken potpie with peas, carrots, potatoes and chunks of chicken breast. A recent visit found a pair of tasty specials: a Moroccan lamb pie with couscous and tender pieces of roasted lamb; and an African peanut pie with yams, carrots, roast chicken thigh, okra, a spritz of white wine and Ethiopian seasoning.

Similarly, the soups will always include chicken dumpling and a 13-spice jambalaya made with four kinds of peppers and Klements sausage. But there will always be specials such as the white bean salsa verde with cilantro, wine and jalapenos. The specials will often be spontaneous creations, decisions made the morning of, depending on whats fresh at the market that day, Mulloy explains.

With its tiled floor and leaded glass windows, the Bakehouse Bistro is a modestly elegant setting for eating in. However, take outs are encouraged. Buy a loaf of bread and carry it home along with a freshly baked potpie.

The Bakehouse Bistro is open 7 a.m.-6p.m., Monday-Friday and Saturday 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
The story of Polands rebirth as an independent nation gets a close examination in A Minor Apocalypse. Reading Warsaw newspapers and the diaries of residents, Robert Blobaum finds that Polish patriots fighting for an independent homeland were hard to find as World War I began. The capitals citizens displayed great enthusiasm for their Russian overlords, even enlisting in their army in numbers. When the fortunes of war turned, they cooperated with the Germans. Polish combat deaths during the war were mostly incurred in the armies of their occupying countries, Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary. A Minor Apocalypse includes many fascinating chapters on the rapid rise of women in Polish society during the war along with cultural movements such as the spread of satirical cabaret and young people protesting social-economic conditions by going barefoot.
Every week, the Shepherd Express will serve as a clearinghouse for any and all activities in the greater Milwaukee area that peacefully push back against discriminatory, reactionary or authoritarian actions and policies of the Trump administration and other activities that seek to thwart social justice. We will publicize and promote actions, demonstrations, planning meetings, teach-ins, party-building meetings, drinking/discussion get-togethers or any other actions that are directed toward fighting back to preserve our liberal democratic system.

Friday, May 12

Breaking the Transportation Funding Gridlock, 9:30-11:30 a.m., 1451 Renaissance Place (1451 N. Prospect Ave.)

The Democratic Partys Business Advisory Committee will hold a forum on the transportation funding gridlock. The forum will be moderated by UW-Milwaukee Economics Professor Emeritus William Holahan and is an opportunity to listen to three varying viewpoints on the transportation funding issue.

This Land was Made for You and Me: ACLU of WI Fundraiser, 6-10 p.m., Brenner Brewing Company (706 S. Fifth St.)

At this fundraiser for the ACLU of Wisconsin, a $30 ticket gets you two beers, food from Hamburger Marys, entrance to a trivia contest, art from Milwaukee-based artists and much more. Also, the proceeds from every beer bought will go to the ACLU.

Saturday, May 13

Peace Action Wisconsin: Stand for Peace, noon-1 p.m. @ Corner of Bluemound Road and Hawley Avenue

Every Saturday, from noon-1 p.m., concerned citizens join with Peace Action Wisconsin to protest war. Signs will be provided for those who need them. Protesters are encouraged to stick around for conversation and coffee afterwards.

Where is the Love?, 12-4 p.m., Lincoln Park Pavilion (1301 W. Hampton Ave.)

This event, hosted by the Milwaukee Police District Five and Seven and Sojourner Family Peace Center, sets out to bring awareness to domestic violence, as well as provide information and resources to strengthen and empower attending families.

Wednesday, May 17

Refuel the Resistance, 5-8 p.m., Bounce Milwaukee (2801 S. Fifth Court)

Every Wednesday, Bounce Milwaukee offers a space to organize, as well as a free drink to anyone who brings evidence of resistance in the past week, including protest signs, an email to an elected official or a selfie at the capital.

To submit to this column, please send a brief description of your action, including date and time, to savingourdemocracy@shepex.com. Together, we can fight to minimize the damage that this administration has planned for our great country.
If all the decent people in Wisconsin who believe in honest, good government were asked to name the most shameful, embarrassing election in their states recent history, most of them would name that big one in November.

It was certainly humiliating for a once progressive state to vote for an openly bigoted, unqualified, unprincipled, charlatan president. But the dominance of presidential elections causes far too many people to ignore crucial elections closer to home.

Wisconsins biggest, most shameful recent embarrassment was a statewide election a month ago in which few people even bothered to vote. There was no reason since the only candidate was a brazenly corrupt state Supreme Court justice who ran unopposed.

It was the re-election of Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler, an openly unethical member of the equally unethical five-justice right-wing majority that makes Wisconsins court one of the most corrupt in the nation.

That might seem like an extreme statement, but Ziegler proved it two weeks later. She voted once again with the majority against creating any ethical standards for the court requiring justices to recuse themselves from cases involving their own financial sponsors who contribute millions of dollars to elect them to the court.

Having an ethical state Supreme Court really shouldnt be a partisan issue. Both Republicans and Democrats should want courts to have integrity and apply the law equally and honestly. Why do I hear snickering?

The statewide petition calling upon the state court to adopt clear ethical standards regarding conflicts of interest was certainly bipartisan. It came from 54 retired state judges, both Republicans and Democrats, including two former state Supreme Court justices Janine Geske and Louis Butler. Not only did the corrupt majority summarily dismiss the petition 5-2 without a public hearing, but Ziegler herself demonstrated her profound ignorance of both ethics and the law by declaring it would be unconstitutional for the court to set any ethical standards for itself.

Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE

The petitioners here have asked us to do something that does not comport with the Constitution as I view it, Ziegler said. That may accurately reflect Zieglers own twisted view of the Constitution, but the most recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on ethical conflicts that financially corrupt state courts established exactly the opposite.

In the 2009 West Virginia case of Caperton v. Massey, the Supreme Court ruled a state justice had to recuse himself from a case involving the chief executive of a coal company who contributed $3 million to that justices election.

Bias Demeans Reputation and Integrity of Court

The appearance of bias demeans the reputation and integrity of not just one jurist, but of the larger institution of which he or she is a part, the court said. Both the appearance and reality of impartial justice are necessary to the public legitimacy of judicial pronouncements and thus to the rule of law itself.

Since that 2009 decision, several state courts around the country have strengthened their ethical standards. The corrupt majority on Wisconsins courtZiegler, Michael Gableman, Pat Roggensack and then Justice David Prosserdid just the opposite. In 2010, they adopted an explicit rule declaring political contributions from any party to a case, no matter how enormous they might be, would not require Wisconsin justices to ethically recuse themselves.

That rule paid off big time for Wisconsin Club for Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce in 2015 when those four justices killed a statewide John Doe investigation into suspected illegal coordination of anonymous dark money from those lobbying organizations with Republican Gov. Scott Walkers campaign.

Of course, buying decisions from the Wisconsin Supreme Court isnt cheap. Those two groups contributed nearly $10 million to the campaigns of the four majority justices. Prosser is retired now. But Walker replaced him and the late Patrick Crooks with appointees Rebecca Bradley, since elected on her own, and Daniel Kelly, both former presidents of the Milwaukee chapter of the right-wing Federalist Society.

There is absolutely no requirement that politically conservative justices be corrupt. Its just become a habit these days. Bradley and Kelly immediately created a new five-member majority opposed to the court following any ethical standards of recusing themselves from cases in which they have glaring conflicts of interest. You know, like receiving millions of dollars in campaign contributions from one side.

The most depressing part about Ziegler running unopposed in April was it seemed Wisconsin had given up on ever restoring judicial integrity to its Supreme Court. Its encouraging that Madison attorney Tim Burns, who chairs the American Bar Association committee on impartial courts, has already announced his candidacy against the sleazy Gableman in 2018.

The only way to reverse the corrupt imbalance on Wisconsins Supreme Courtor the Republican majority in Congress dishonestly promising health care for all as it votes to destroy itis one candidate at a time. That means fielding strong candidates and voting in every election, especially in lower-turnout, non-presidential years.
WAYNE, Neb. -- Local leaders consider the citys $1 million investment into Wayne State Colleges new Center for Applied Technology as an investment in the communitys future.

Earlier this month, the Wayne City Council agreed to provide a $1 million to the $15.2 million project over the next two years, a move championed by Mayor Ken Chamberlain.

The Wayne City Council has the responsibility to grow our community, Chamberlain said in a news release. If Wayne State grows, our community grows.

Construction on the 53,000-square-foot facility begins this month on the center, which is designed to deliver education for industry, provide a career academy for local school districts, and serve as a regional hub for innovation and workforce development.

Additionally, the new facility will provide updated and adequately sized drafting, construction and woods, manufacturing, welding, power and energy, electronics, and skilled and technical science laboratory/lab support space; two classrooms; faculty and staff offices; and administrative support space.

It also will offer networking, computer hardware, robotics, and general computer instructional laboratory space for the college's computer science and computer information systems programs.

Stan Carpenter, chancellor of the Nebraska State College System, which oversees the states public colleges that are not part of the University of Nebraska system, noted this is a unique and innovative arrangement between the city and Wayne State.

The Center for Applied Technology will be an impetus for strengthening economic development in northeast Nebraska," he said. "This facility will bring incredible opportunities to the community and our students.

Set to be completed in December 2018, the Center for Applied Technology is projected to have a direct economic impact of more than $10 million over 10 years, with a net effect of more than $15 million.

This is an exciting extension of a great partnership that Wayne State enjoys with the city of Wayne, Wayne State President Marysz Rames said.
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.
SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man has been arrested and accused of breaking windows at the Siouxland Community Health Center, and police say he could be responsible more more than 30 cases of vandalism in the downtown area.

Carl Mohr, 43, was arrested Monday on a charge of second-degree criminal mischief. He is accused of throwing rocks through two large windows of the Siouxland Community Health Center, 1021 Nebraska St., and the windshield of a health center van. Damage was estimated at $5,000.

According to court documents, Mohr caused a disturbance at the health center on Friday and had to be removed from the facility by police. Police said that video obtained from the health center showed a man matching Mohr's description throwing the rocks that caused the damage at 7:32 a.m. Sunday.

After police located Mohr, he admitted to carrying around rocks, but denied he was responsible for the damage, court documents said.

Police believe Mohr may be responsible for more than 30 cases of broken windows in the downtown and near northside areas, with damages in the tens of thousands of dollars.
SIOUX CITY | Repair work has begun and could conclude as soon as this week at the site of a massive sinkhole in a north side park area.

Grundman-Hicks LLC of Cherokee, Iowa, is working on fixing the broken storm sewer that last fall caused a more-than-30-foot-deep sinkhole at Sutherland Park, in the area of 37th and Jones streets.

The Sioux City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $93,000 contract with the construction firm for the work. Work is already about halfway complete on the 10-working-day project, which had been bid out as an emergency when the city feared the lack of support could threaten stability of a vital water main in the area.

"We started to have concerns about the water mains as well as other things that made it more urgent in our minds to resolve this quickly," utilities director Mark Simms told the council Monday.

All bids came in at least $25,000 above the engineer's estimate. Asked by the council why the bids came in so high, Simms suggested that the engineer's estimate may not have accounted for the urgency of the project.

Pierce Street bids rejected

In other action, the council voted 5-0 to reject all three bids for a planned reconstruction project on Pierce Street from 24th to 29th streets. The council also adopted revised construction documents for the project with a series of clarifications.

The city had received three bids for the project in mid-April, with the low bid of $4.2 million, submitted by Sioux City Engineering Co., coming in 22 percent above the engineer's $3.44 million estimate.

The new bidding process will push the project back, now to be completed during both the 2017 and 2018 construction seasons.

Hotel vote deferred

The council also voted to defer a vote on plans for a 150-room hotel proposed next to the city's convention center until its May 22 meeting. The development agreement will award $6 million in tax rebates to the developer, Kinseth Hospitality Co., for construction of the $20 million hotel.

The deferral will allow city staff to continue negotiating a separate management agreement that would give Kinseth management of the city's convention center.

The vote tally was 4-1, with Mayor Bob Scott voting against.

Civil penalty

The council also voted to assess a $500 civil penalty against Fuji Bay Japanese Restaurant, 513 Sixth St., for violation of the Iowa beer, wine and liquor laws.
SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Community School District has paid $262,500 to an elementary school student's mother who said her son was injured because staff members failed to protect him from another student's bullying behavior.

The school board approved the settlement with Amber Greene in December, but other legal matters prolonged the case, which was dismissed on April 28 by Greene's attorney.

As part of the settlement, the school district does not admit any liability.

The total settlement amount was reimbursed by the district's insurance carrier, district spokeswoman Allison Benson said.

Greene sued the district in August 2015 in Woodbury County District Court, saying that physical contact between her son and another student on April 1, 2011, led to her son needing a second cornea transplant in his eye.

According to the lawsuit, Greene was concerned that the other student had been picking on her son, who was in kindergarten at Riverside Elementary School at the time. After her son had a cornea transplant in his left eye, Greene said she asked school staff to make sure that when her son returned to school, he not be anywhere near the student who had been picking on him.

When Greene's son returned to school, he had a doctor's order to have indoor recess only, but school officials allowed him to go outside for recess on his first day back in school. When the children lined up to go back inside, the lawsuit said, Greene's son was hit in the left eye by the same student Greene had earlier complained about.

As a result, Greene's son needed a second cornea transplant and has significant vision loss in the eye, according to the lawsuit.

Greene sued the district for past and future medical expenses, which could include additional future cornea transplants.

The settlement includes a district payment of $161,636 for the purchase of an annuity that will disburse five payments totaling $266,768 to Greene's son beginning in 2023 and ending in 2039.

The settlement also included district payments of $8,452 to the Iowa Department of Human Services and $90,410 to the law firm that represented Greene.
SIOUX CITY | Seniors and their caregivers will be able to turn in unused or outdated prescription drugs and have personal documents shredded for free at the upcoming "Shred-tastic" event.

The event is for seniors age 60 and older and their caregivers and will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 19 at the Center for Active Generations, 313 Cook St.

The Sioux City Police Department will accept unused or outdated prescription drugs for proper disposal. Document Depot is providing a shredding truck for shredding of personal materials and paperwork as a way to prevent identity theft.

A drive-through lane is available to drop off papers such as Medicare Summary Notices, documents from insurance companies, bank statements, credit card billings and other personal documents. Items not accepted include business papers, magazines, phone books, plastic folders, corrugated cardboard and binders with metal clips.

More than 2 tons of papers were shredded during a two-hour period at a similar event last fall.
SIOUX CITY | Jackie Stellish said she finally found a use for her yoga mat.

The Sioux City woman was one of about 12 people lying flat on their backs on the sidewalk in front of the downtown Sioux City office for Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, Monday morning.

"We are protesting Republican House members who passed the bill to repeal Obamacare," Stellish said, laying a new blue mat onto the sidewalk. "This is not good for (Iowa's 4th District) where approximately 300,000 people will be dropped due to preexisting conditions."

The activists staged the demonstration as part of the Women's March Iowa, one of 12 locations across the state, including in front of King's district office in Spencer. The protests, timed to the six-month anniversary of President Trump's election in November, were organized by the American Civil Liberties Unions People Power, United We Dream, National Lawyers Guild, The Gathering for Justice, Indivisible Guide and other national and local groups.

On Thursday, the GOP-led House narrowly passed the American Health Care Act, or AHCA, a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, approved by a Democratic congress and President Obama in 2010.

Protesters on Monday also picketed in front of district offices of King and two other Republicans who backed the bill -- 1st District Rep. Rod Blum and 3rd District Rep. Rep. David Young.

Brandishing a sign that read "Obamacare was healthcare for all ... with Trumpcare, some people will die," Jean Carlson, a retired educator of Sioux City, said she was "standing up for the little guy."

Between leading the group with chants of "Trumpcare is welfare for the rich," Carlson said Republicans rushed the health bill through the House without knowing what was in it.

"The Republicans did exactly what they accused the Democrats of doing with Obamacare," she said. "The difference is that Trumpcare will very likely hurt a lot of people by depriving them of their health care."
SIOUX CITY | Ten students were selected May 1 to be mentored by Sioux City Mayor's Youth Commission members, beginning this fall.

The grades 4-7 students selected are: Mara Aesoph, North Middle School; Nora Chmielewski, Bryant Elementary School; Cali Cooper, Sunnyside Elementary School; Maclayne Dolan, Liberty Elementary School; Sidney Koob, Mater Dei; McKayla Marreel, Mater Dei; Jack Petty, Sacred Heart; Noah Sewalson, East Middle School; Sadie Snyder, Morningside Elementary School; and Jackson Wagner, North Middle School.

The students were selected from the 36 Young Ambassadors who were nominated. To be eligible, the student had to be in fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh grade during the school year, be enrolled in a Sioux City public or parochial school, reside in Sioux City while attending school outside of Sioux City, or be home schooled in Sioux City.

Recommendations were written by a teacher, family member or anyone associated with the child who is aware of the child's good character and service.

This program is a partnership between the city of Sioux City, the Mayor's Youth Commission and Siouxland CARES.
DAKOTA DUNES | NAI United, the commercial division of United Real Estate Solutions Inc., will move to a new office in Dakota Dunes.

The Sioux City-based company announced the move Tuesday to the under-construction office complex at 400 Golden Circle Drive. It's adjacent to Interstate 29 in the planned community in southeast South Dakota.

The opening will give United Real Estates a presence in all three states that include Siouxland. The firm already has locations in the United Center at 302 Jones St. in downtown Sioux City and at 1913 Dakota Ave. in South Sioux City.

United Real Estate Solutions works with clients in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, so this new space allows us to better serve all three states, company president Kevin McManamy said in a statement. It offers convenience for our customers and associates, while providing necessary tools and technology to assist agents in the fast-paced field of real estate.

The space at 400 Gold Circle will become the first Cafe Style real estate office in the area, which works well with the mobile demands of the business, according to United. The first floor of the building also will house a coffee shop restaurant when completed this fall.

NAI United President Chris Bogenrief welcomed the move, which he said would allow his staff to better serve customers in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Our home base will move, but we will still have the flexibility to host meetings in our downtown Sioux City and South Sioux City offices," he said in the news release. "We are also looking forward to hosting meetings in the neighboring coffee shop restaurant, which we believe will become the centerpiece of the Dakota Dunes community."
American Midstream Partners, LP provides midstream infrastructure that links the producers of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), condensate, and specialty chemicals to various intermediate and end-use markets in the United States and Mexico. Its Gas Gathering and Processing Services segment offers services to producers of natural gas and crude oil, including transporting raw natural gas and crude oil from various receipt points through gathering systems, treating the raw natural gas, processing raw natural gas to separate the NGLs from the natural gas, fractionating NGLs, and selling or delivering pipeline-quality natural gas and NGLs. The company's Liquid Pipelines and Services segment transports, purchases, and sells crude oil. Its Natural Gas Transportation Services segment transports and delivers natural gas from producing wells, receipt points, or pipeline interconnects for shippers, local distribution companies, and utilities, as well as industrial, commercial, and power generation customers. The company's Offshore Pipelines and Services segment gathers and transports natural gas from receipt points to other pipeline interconnects, onshore facilities, and other delivery points. Its Terminalling Services segment provides petroleum products, distillates, chemicals, and agricultural products storage services at its marine terminals for commodity brokers, refiners, and chemical manufacturers. As of May 10, 2018, the company owned approximately 5,100 miles of interstate and intrastate pipelines; gas processing plants and fractionation facilities; an offshore semisubmersible floating production system with nameplate processing capacity of 90 thousand barrels per day of crude oil and 220 million cubic feet per day of natural gas; and terminal sites with approximately 6.7 million barrels of storage capacity. American Midstream GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property. The Personal Lines segment writes insurance for personal autos and recreational vehicles (RV). This segment's products include personal auto insurance; and special lines products, including insurance for motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, watercrafts, snowmobiles, and related products. The Commercial Lines segment provides auto-related primary liability and physical damage insurance, and business-related general liability and property insurance for autos, vans, pick-up trucks, and dump trucks used by small businesses; tractors, trailers, and straight trucks primarily used by regional general freight and expeditor-type businesses, and long-haul operators; dump trucks, log trucks, and garbage trucks used by dirt, sand and gravel, logging, and coal-type businesses; and tow trucks and wreckers used in towing services and gas/service station businesses; as well as non-fleet and airport taxis, and black-car services. The Property segment writes residential property insurance for homeowners, other property owners, and renters, as well as offers personal umbrella insurance, and primary and excess flood insurance. The company also offers policy issuance and claims adjusting services; and acts as an agent to homeowner general liability, workers' compensation insurance, and other products. In addition, it provides reinsurance services. The company sells its products through independent insurance agencies, as well as directly on Internet through mobile devices, and over the phone. The Progressive Corporation was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Mayfield, Ohio.
Is Samoa still a democracy, the way of life that ensures fairness, classlessness, consensus and social equality, will always prevail no matter what?

Were not sure.

All we know is that in rural Samoa today, where many families have been living in squalor all these years, they would have been denied their basic needs for far too long, and yet theyd still not raised a peep of a complaint.

That way their patience would have been a miracle for sure for crying out loud, and that they never complained, so that the question remains: What are those basic needs of theirs anyway?

Decent houses, clean water, emough money that ensures the children are enrolled in school, reliable electricity as well as healthy food, which, in this day and age, are the prerequisites that ensure civil societies like ours are assured of being able to maintain at all times, lives that are lively, productive, peaceful and happy.

And that is what the column called Village Voice, that is published daily in your newspaper, the Samoa Observer, is all about. It is about addressing those basic needs wherever - and whenever  they arise in the hope that our government would treat this matter, with the urgency that it rightly deserves.

Indeed, it should do so while bearing in mind that since abject poverty had surely been hurting those families back there in the villages all those years, the thing to do now is mend the damage that had been caused, and lets move on.

And how is the damage to be mended?

Well that is for the government to figure out.

On the other hand, if our opinion was sought, we would suggest that those basic needs  especially a clean water supply to every home that does not have one in place - should be attended to now.

In addition, perhaps the government should look into setting up a loan scheme where families can borrow money so that they can build better homes, and have clean water and reliable electricity supply, in those homes.

After all, if the government is prepared to take from the public purse millions of Tala, and then lend them to business owners and corporations, knowing well that by doing so it was giving them the chance to become multi-millions at the publics expense, who is the government to deny that poor family in the village the change to own a fridge, and their son the attend school?

Now lets see.

A Chinese businessman has been granted a loan of $5.7 million by the government to turn the money-gorging, government-owned Vaitele Market, into a profitable venture.

Borrowed from the government-owned, Samoa National Provident Fund (S.N.P.F.), the money is bound to make the Chinese businessman, whose name is Tuituioaiga Teeking Weng, a wealthy man in no time.

As it turned out though, Mr Wengs business dealings in Samoa, is shrouded in secrecy.

Apart from the companys name, Super Wing Samoa Limited, the company statement shows it has been dealing with the S.N.P.F. since 2016, and it had an initial transfer of $412,119.40.

A statement from S.N.P.F. said: The details of individual loan accounts are protected by confidentiality and cannot be made public.

It also said: We can assure our members and clients that their account details can only be accessed by the client themselves.

Fine.

Now lets move on to the next client who has just borrowed from the government. It is Gold Star Company Limited, and it has borrowed $7 million from the governments Accident Compensation Corporation (A.C.C.)

Revealed the A.C.C. Minister of State, Lautafi Fio Purcell, sometime ago: I can confirm that the Accident Compensation Corporation is buying the building at that cost $7million.

And having said so, he added: I am quite confident that the government will generate good returns from its investment.

We dont doubt that either, and if hed been kind enough to ask for our opinion there and then, we would have told him precisely that.

What we cannot be sure about though was when he said: The market price given to us at first was $9.5 million but we managed to bargain down a lot ... I mean we had to really bargain hard.

So hard it seemed, according to Minister Lautafi Fio Purcell, so that finally he admitted: In fact, the family was nearly at a point where they did not want to sell their property to A.C.C.

Well, wouldnt that be an unforgivable mistake, as Lautafi would later reveal.

Lautafi said: The purchase had to be approved by Cabinet first and foremost, the A.C.C. wants this (building) so that they use it to generate more money.

Wonderful!

Explained Lautafi: The building is fully occupied by ten tenants and they are very good tenants.

The money that the A.C.C. will receive from the building is way better than taking this money and depositing it in the bank for return.

This is a good investment for our people.

Lautafi went on to reveal there are other options the government is looking at to generate more profits from the building.

That includes a car park on the top, or possibly other shops, but that is for the future. It all depends.

As you can see the building is right in the middle of town and so people are buying stuff everyday.

Finally Lautafi explained: The Corporations mission is to create a sustainable accident compensation scheme and to be more responsive to the needs of the scheme beneficiaries.

And lastly, theres the Salelologa Market, yet another victim of the governments sheer management ineptitude, and a wonderful example of how encroachingly real bureaucratic corruption has become, if you really want our opinion.

Poor Minister, Lautafi Fio Purcell!

It looks as if trying to explain what had caused the sad demise of one of our governments pride and joy, the Salelologa Market, is causing him so much sadness he feels like crying.

Its been very slow other than when it was initially opened, he explains. Its been going downhill; almost running at a loss.

And then he points out: One problem is that people just come and go without paying their outstanding balance, so its just debts that we are looking at without good returns.

How sad!

How utterly sad!

And there are the empty benches.

Laughed one Salelologa resident, Lautafi points out: The benches are mostly used for people to sleep on. And public transport is not regular.

Still Lautafi is one heck of an optimistic chap.

He said: There are other options like relocating the market somewhere but build the town in here (where the markets located) as a centre, like T.A.T.T.E. for all the government services.

The other side would be business and a bus terminal so there would be a smaller market. These are just some of the things that Im thinking of now.

If all of these things are done, where businesses cover the other side and people come to work here every day, then I think that would be a fresh start for the market. But thats for the near future.

As for today, its best to just sit and listen to what Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielgaoi, has to say.

After all, this is his kind of mission.

Naturally, he knows.
"...criticism of Islam would constitute a speech crime in Canada.

"This motion uses the term 'islamophobia' without defining it, and without substantiating that there is in fact any such widespread problem in Canada.

"This will lead to ideologically-driven overreach and enforcement against alternative points of viewincluding mature, reasoned criticisms of Islam.

"Criticism of the treatment of women in Islamic-majority Middle Eastern countries could be criminalized;

"It could be a punishable offense to speak out against the Mustlim Brotherhood, or to denounce radical Imams who want to enact Sharia law in Canada;

"Criticism or depiction of Muhammad could be punishable by law;

"Schools that teach the history of Islam's violent conquests could be finedor worse. "That kind of content-based, viewpoint-discriminatory censorship is unacceptable in a Western liberal democracy."



" ...Khalid is a former President of York University's Muslim Students Association , a student group with documented ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Similarly, Omar Alghabra is a former director of the Canadian Arab Federation, an association that has published statements in support of terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.



"M103's supporters in the Muslim community have questionable ties of their own. It has been reported that Samer Majzoub was the manager of a Montreal private school that received a $70,761 donation from the Kuwait embassy, while the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM)  formerly the Canadian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations  published an open letter linking M103 to a wide-ranging campaign aimed at reducing systemic racism and Islamophobia in Canada.

...

"While the NCCM's open letter does not directly call for Sharia law or the criminalization of criticism of Islam, it does advance the notion that the famously tolerant nation of Canada must set up anti-racism directorates in each province to track instances of Islamophobia, institute a mandatory course on systemic racism for Canadian high school students, and train its police officers to use bias-neutral policing ."



Canada's top Muslim cleric, Iqbal Al-Nadvi, who is chairman of the Canadian Council of Imams, president of the Canadian branch of the Islamic Circle of North America and the Muslim chaplain of the Canadian army, has openly quoted the Islamic Prophet Muhammed asserting, "Jihad will continue till the Day of Judgment." (Image source: ICNA video screenshot)

"The objective of Jihad... warrants that one must struggle against Kufr (disbelief) and Shirk (polytheism) and the worship of falsehood in all its forms. Jihad has to continue until this objective is achieved."



Ruthie Blum, a journalist, is the author of "To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama and the 'Arab Spring.'"



Growing concern in Canada over liberal policies benefitting Muslim extremists sheds light on why an "anti-Islamophobia" bill -- proposed in the wake of the deadly January 17 Quebec City mosque attack and approved by parliament on March 23 -- spurred such heated controversy there.Motion 103, tabled by Liberal Party MP Iqra Khalid, a Muslim representing Mississauga-Erin Mills, calls on the Canadian government to "develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia." Because the bill makes no mention of any other religious group targeted by bigots, it was opposed by most Conservative Party politicians and a majority of the public.Ahead of what would turn out to be a 201-91 vote in favor of the motion, a petition was circulated asking MPs not to support it. According to the petition, Motion 103 would "lay the groundwork for imposing what is essentially a Sharia anti-blasphemy law on all of Canada."The petition further stated:Meanwhile, citizens bemoaning what they view as the increasing radicalization of Muslim communities in Canada, due largely to the unfettered immigration policies of the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took to the streets of Toronto, Ottawa and other cities to denounce the bill. This response took place in spite of its being non-binding.A closer look at Motion 103's initiator, supporters and other respected Muslim figures in Canada, however, indicates that there is cause for worry."Now that Islamophobia has been condemned, this is not the end, but rather the beginning... All of us must work hard to maintain our peaceful, social and humanitarian struggle so that condemnation is followed by comprehensive policies," wrote Samer Majzoub , a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate of the Canadian Muslim Forum -- presumably meaning that the next steps are to make it binding.According to Islamist Watch's Josh Lieblein, writing in The Daily Caller This attempt to turn free speech on its head in Canada is in keeping with the teachings of the country's top Muslim cleric, Iqbal Al-Nadvi , chairman of the Canadian Council of Imams, president of the Canadian branch of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim chaplain of the Canadian army.ICNA is an organization that strives "to build an Exemplary Canadian Muslim Community" by "total submission to Him [Allah] and through the propagation of true and universal message of Islam," according to Jonathan D. Halevi Al-Nadvi, he pointed out, has openly quoted the Islamic Prophet Muhammed asserting, "Jihad will continue till the Day of Judgment."ICNA Canada's website states:In a piece for Gatestone Institute last October, Canadian terrorism expert Thomas Quiggin pointed to the enabling of, and contribution to, the rise of Islamic radicalism by Prime Minister Trudeau himself.According to Quiggin, Trudeau lauded a mosque in Ottawa, whose imam is part of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, an organization that was placed on the United Arab Emirates list of designated terrorist organizations in 2014. Trudeau called the mosque a shining example of "diversity... within the Muslim community in Canada."Two months later, during the days prior to and following the Quebec City mosque attack, a survey revealed that more than half of the citizens of Canada and Quebec consider the presence of Muslims to be a security concern. An even greater majority said they support some form of vetting of immigrants to test their appreciation for Canadian values, and believe that immigrants should integrate into and adopt Canadian culture once they settle in the country.In this context, the passage by the Canadian Liberal Party establishment of Motion 103, pushed and backed by influential Muslims with radical records, was a slap in the face to democracy -- just as its opponents have been claiming.
"The entire Yezidi population was displaced in less than one day on August 3, 2014! The Yezidis and Chaldo-Assyrian Christians face this genocide together. Why? Because we are not Muslims, and because our path is the path of peace. For this, we are being burned alive. For living as men and women of peace."



"The Yazidis of Mountain Shingal are terrified. They feel threatened and unsafe. They thought ISIS days were almost done and they can return to their villages and towns, but now they face a bigger problem," Yakhi Hamza, country director of the 1st New Allied Expeditionary Force, a humanitarian nonprofit delivering medical help to the most vulnerable Yazidis.

...

"The strikes hit the only civilian clinic on the Mountain Shingal," Hamza said. "The clinic was run by a volunteer, Dr. Khansa, who was selflessly serving displaced Yazidi community on the mountain from Day One."

Before being bombed the clinic... was a makeshift room with six beds and a handful of medications run by a 36-year-old woman the locals lovingly call "Hero Doctor Khansa."



In 1915, up to 1.5 million Armenians were expelled from their native lands in Ottoman Turkey. Not only Armenians were targeted. Between 1914 and 1923, Assyrian and Greek Christians were also massacred, according to a report by the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Pictured above: Armenian civilians, escorted by Ottoman soldiers, marched through Harput to a prison in nearby Mezireh (present-day Elazig), April 1915. (Image source: American Red Cross/Wikimedia Commons)

"Denying the genocide is not only saying 'we didn't do it.' It's much, much worse. It is inflicting the genocide to the grandchildren of its victims every day, again and again with countless tiny little details of daily life. It is declaring murderers as heroes. It is honoring the genocide's perpetrators... [and] saying to the grandchildren of genocide victims, 'Murderers of your grandfathers and grandmothers are our heroes; they did it well, God bless them. If necessary, we would do it again.'"



"Studies by genocide scholars prove that the single best predictor of future genocide is denial of a past genocide coupled with impunity for its perpetrators. Genocide Deniers are three times more likely to commit genocide again than other governments."



"It has now been revealed who acts in obedience to foreign forces and who acts in obedience to Allah.... We are determined to root out traitor gangs completely while we will also never forget that the Muslims cannot be bitten on the same wound over and over again."



Uzay Bulut, a journalist born and raised a Muslim in Turkey, is currently based in Washington D.C.



Just a few hours after the commemoration of the 102anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2017, Turkish warplanes dropped bombs on the Yazidi homeland of Sinjar (Shingal) on April 25, at around 2 AM local time, according to reports from the region.The strikes reportedly killed at least 70 people in the area, with one bomb hitting a Kurdishpost in Sinjar, killing at least five and severely wounding several more.Yazidis say they have been subjected to 72 genocidal massacres. The latest genocide, committed by ISIS, is the 73and is still going on. Tens of thousands of Yazidis have been displaced and are refugees in several countries. Hundreds of Yazidi girls and women are still bought, sold and raped by ISIS terrorists -- the same men who murdered their husbands and fathers.While Yazidis are still suffering from these atrocities, Turkey, evidently still no friend of non-Muslims, has attacked them yet again.On August 3, 2014, Islamic State terrorists invaded Sinjar, the homeland of the Yazidis in Iraq, and started slaughtering the Yazidis; many survivors fled up Mount Sinjar.In his speech to the U.S. Congress, Mirza Ismail, founder and chairman of the Yezidi Human Rights Organization-International, described the genocide in Sinjar and pled for help:The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking, non-Muslim minority indigenous to northern Mesopotamia, oppose violence. Their faith combines aspects of ancient Mesopotamian religions, including Zoroastrianism. Fox News reported on the attack:In the face of ISIS attacks, Yazidis formed defense forces. [1] Turkish officials apparently consider these groups "terrorists." The general staff of the Turkish armed forces issued a statement concerning the airstrikes, saying "operations will continue until the terrorists have completely been eliminated."In 1915, up to 1.5 million Armenians were expelled from their native lands in Ottoman Turkey. Not only Armenians were targeted. Between 1914 and 1923, Assyrian and Greek Christians were also massacred, according to a report by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). The report described the situation as "a state-organized and state-sponsored campaign of destruction and genocide, aiming at wiping out from the emerging Turkish Republic its native Christian populations."During the Armenian genocide, Yazidis, as well as Christians, were targeted. "To this day," writes professor Israel Charney in the report, "the Turkish government ostensibly denies having committed this genocide." Actually, Turkey not only denies the genocide, but also honors the perpetrators.Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha and Djemal Pasha, known as "the three Pashas," were the senior officials who ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. They were also the masterminds behind the Armenian Genocide. Their names, as well as the names of other officials who were responsible for the genocide, are still bestowed on many schools, neighborhoods and streets across Turkey.On April 24, the Committee Against Racism and Discrimination of the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) held a commemoration of the 102anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in front of the Turkish-Islamic Arts Museum, a former prison where Armenian intellectuals were held prior to deportation.Its statement read, in part: According to Professor Gregory H. Stanton , president of Genocide Watch:Meanwhile, in a recent speech , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to Turkey's military operations in Iraq and Syria:Turkey did not bomb Sinjar when ISIS attacked and invaded the region in 2014. Turkey also did not run to the rescue of Iraqi and Syrian Kurds when ISIS targeted them. Turkey, however, did bomb Sinjar after the region was liberated from ISIS, at a time when thousands of Yazidi civilians are still seeking shelter there.Many Yazidi survivors of genocide still wish to return to their homeland. They request only infrastructure and international protection, after their homeland was largely destroyed by ISIS.Matthew Karanian, the author of the 2015 book, explained in his recent speech at Pasadena City College why Armenians are still fighting for recognition of their genocide. "The alternative," he said, "is a world in which crimes against humanity are committed with impunity, leaving the victims -- and the world -- forever at risk." [1] The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), its all-women offshoot, the Ezidxan Women's Units (YJE), and the Protection Force of Sinjar (HPS) founded the all-Yazidi joint commando umbrella structure "Sinjar Alliance," and took part in the November 2015 Sinjar offensive against ISIS.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
The morning after being honored as a global LGBT leader, Senator David Norris of Ireland was back creating controversy.

Boasting of breaking Irelands Victorian era laws on sexuality and calling former United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher a bitch, Norris held court for nearly two hours Sunday afternoon in Wilton Manors in front of a crowd of about two dozen.

Norris, described as the father of the Irish LGBT rights movement, received the Harvey Milk Foundations Lilla Watson Global Leadership Award Saturday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. The next morning, Norris, 73, sat on a panel discussion at Pride Center offering reflection on a lifetime of work.

When I first started off there was no such thing as gay rights, Norris said. We didnt even know the word gay.

Norris said gays were described as homosexuals, akin to a rare butterfly, he added. During his career, Norris fought to repeal laws criminalizing same-sex conduct. The Irish Gay Rights Movement, Norris said, started with 10 fairies and one question mark at Trinity College in Dublin. The group would recruit new members through record hops once a month.

We had the best disco in Ireland, Norris recalled. It was fantastic.

SFGN publisher Norm Kent moderated Sunday afternoons panel which included Stuart Milk, co-founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation and Robert Boo, Pride Center Chief Executive Officer. Norris, Kent said, gives new meaning to the phrase, he who can laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.

Milk updated the audience about on-going battles in Europe with regard to anti-gay propaganda laws. Hungary, Milk said, continues to be a major human rights violator with Russias influence creeping into Lithuania. Moscow, Milk said, has launched an investigation into alleged tortures and killings of gay men in Chechnya.

At the end of the day theres this out in the EU (European Union) called cultural authenticity, Milk said. Most people dont know that the propaganda law that everyone is so upset about with Russia  that you cant have LGBT propaganda and cant have young people see images  that has been in the law in Lithuania for over a decade. And Lithuania is a member of the European Union. They do it through cultural authenticity. This is their out clause.

Ireland, Milk said, is shining star in Europe in that the country has not seen a rise of a far-right nationalistic movement. Other countries such as Denmark, Milk said, have not been so lucky.

Protections and anti-discrimination ordinances for LGBT people are designated by the Council of Europe through the European Court of Human Rights, Norris said. Ireland has community centers for LGBT to organize in Dublin and Belfast to the north, but a space in Cork seems to have fizzled out.

Community centers were damaged by the development of a commercial gay scene, Norris said.

In the old days, Norris said, gays organized around bars, clubs and discotheques. In addition to lecturing at Trinity College Dublin, Norris worked five nights a week at the discotheque, doing work the government shouldve done.

Norris described his political activity as independent. He identified this way in order to critique government legislation in a way that members of a political party cannot and will not do.

During the most recent session of Irelands Seanad, Norris opposed a bill criminalizing the purchase of sex. Norris said he fails to see the logic in a transaction where a woman can sell herself, but a man cannot buy. Norris said he has never used a prostitute, but has spoken to them and understands their feelings.

The World Health Organization, Norris said, backed his opposition to the bill.

Its a piece of utter middle class hypocrisy, Norris said. The people who are promoting it are disgruntled radical lesbians and ex-nuns. Enacting a law like that will not end prostitution. If you could be convinced that it would end prostitution then there might be some argument for it, but its only going to drive it underground where its more of a health risk.

Milk said the issue of prostitution is controversial in America, but not so much in Europe.

We have a very puritan country in America, Milk said.

During the discussion, Milk revealed Milan Rozsa, a Hungarian LGBT activist killed in November 2014, had been a sex worker. Rozsa, reportedly, stepped in front of train in Budapest.

Previously, he had led marches on the Russian embassy and traveled with Milk to the White House where he met former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Every year the Milk Foundation presents an award honoring Rozsas memory at Diversity Honors. This years award went to Isaiah Henderson, a survivor of last summers Pulse Nightclub Massacre.
(AP) Four married lesbian couples expecting children through artificial insemination filed a lawsuit Monday over concerns that a new Tennessee statute requiring use of the "natural and ordinary meaning" of words in state law could strip them of their rights as parents.

Less than a week after Gov. Bill Haslam signed the legislation, the couples sued the Republican governor, the state of Tennessee and the state Department of Health and its commissioner, John Dreyzehner, in Davidson County Chancery Court.

After signing the measure into law Friday, Haslam said it doesn't change the fact that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling makes same-sex marriage the law of the land.

Gay rights groups have contended that the law offers a sneaky way to deny same-sex couples the legal rights and protections granted to a "husband," a "wife," a "father" or "mother."

In the lawsuit, the couples say they fear the law will be used to interpret gender-specific words literally so one parent won't be recognized.

If the woman who gave birth dies or becomes incapacitated, or the couple divorces, the lawsuit says this law could limit child custody, parental decision-making rights or other benefits for the partner who didn't give birth.

Children may also be denied health insurance if the parent whose employment provides family coverage isn't recognized as a legal parent, the lawsuit says. Only the legally recognized parent could accompany their child into a neonatal intensive care unit. And Social Security benefits wouldn't be passed on to the child if the parent who isn't legally recognizes dies, the lawsuit states.

The couples are asking a judge to interpret the law to mean that "the spouse (not just husband) of any married woman who gives birth in Tennessee is the legal parent of the child to whom she gives birth."

"It is a denial of the principles of equal protection in the United States Constitution and the Tennessee constitution to treat children conceived with donated sperm by opposite-sex married couples differently than children conceived with donated sperm by same-sex married couples," the lawsuit said.

The law was pushed by the Family Action Council of Tennessee, which advocates for one-man, one-woman marriage.

A different bill that gained no traction explicitly cited "husband," ''wife," ''mother," and "father" as having natural and ordinary meanings based on the biological distinctions between men and women. The measure that ultimately passed avoids those specifics, and merely states that any word undefined in state law must be used according to its "natural and ordinary meaning."

The measure also addresses questions raised in a same-sex child custody case in Knoxville, in which the Family Action Council tried to intervene on behalf of dozens of Republican state lawmakers, only to be rejected by the circuit court judge.

Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, insisted that his bill isn't aimed at LBGT people. He said he simply wants undefined words to mean what they meant at the time lawmakers put them into the law.

Asked if the bill could infringe on same-sex couples' ability to have kids or be married, Stevens said he has "no idea."

Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, last week joined LGBT advocacy groups in calling for Haslam's veto.

The legislation passed despite reservations by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery that it potentially conflicts with Obergefell v. Hodges in some instances, as well as a state law that requires gender-specific words to be interpreted as inclusive.

Slatery's opinion predicted that judges would side with the gender-inclusive interpretation when requirements clash. Slatery took the same position when he weighed in on the same-sex custody case, urging that judge to interpret "husband" and "wife" gender-neutrally, as "spouse."

On Monday, Haslam spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals said it is not appropriate to comment due to the pending litigation.
Courtesy of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center



(EDGE) People who are transgender are much more likely to be sexually assaulted than other members of the general public. A 2015 survey of approximately 28,000 transgender people found that nearly half of all respondents (47 percent) reported that they had been sexually assaulted during their lifetime. The reasons for this are myriad and complex, but one contributing factor is that transgender people have few legal protections, which makes them more vulnerable overall to discrimination and assault.



The decision in February by the Trump administration to reverse Obama-era guidance on protections for transgender students holds the potential to do great harm. The move leaves vulnerable transgender youth across the country at the mercy of individual school districts for a range of civil rights protections related to bullying, harassment, and access to restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity and expression. It also scuttled a promising lawsuit on trans equality that was headed to the Supreme Court (promising in part because Gorsuch wouldn't have been on the bench for the March 28 oral arguments).



In the following interview, Gina Scaramella, the executive director of Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC), breaks down the impact of rescinding the federal guidance for transgender students in Massachusetts and beyond, and how it relates to BARCC's work supporting all survivors of sexual violence.



Q: Can you give a little background on the new policy affecting transgender students?



A: Back in February, the federal Departments of Education and Justice notified the U.S. Supreme Court that they are ordering public schools to disregard guidance issued by the Obama administration to treat students in public schools in accordance with their gender identity. The Obama administration guidance was issued in response to multiple anti-transgender laws targeting transgender students' use of locker rooms and bathrooms that match their gender identity. It was also responding to lawsuits by transgender students seeking access to school facilities that match their gender identity. The letter issued by the Departments of Education and Justice noted that the federal government must defer to the "primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing educational policy."



Q: How does this relate to or affect BARCC's work to end sexual violence?



A: It makes our work harder. More people will be emboldened to discriminate and dehumanize. These are two powerful roots of sexual violence perpetration. We have already seen increased hate-motivated threats and violence across the country, and the Massachusetts attorney general is tracking these incidents in our state. Children who grow up feeling like they do not belong and are unprotected are more likely to be victimized. This is evident in current data showing 47 percent of transgender individuals have experienced sexual assault, and 12 percent of transgender youth report being sexually assaulted in school settings. We expect this to persist or increase without these protections in place.



Q: How does Title IX fit into all this?



A: In 2016, the Obama administration issued guidance to schools that fall under Title IX. The guidance specifically stated that discrimination based on a student's transgender status is a prohibited form of discrimination under Title IX. It stated that schools must treat a student consistent with the student's gender identity. The current administration is now telling educational institutions that they are not required to comply with that guidance.



Title IX is a federal civil rights law, which isn't changed by the administration's current actions. It continues to state that educational institutions cannot discriminate on the basis of sex. A given administration's guidance on the law is its interpretation of what a school must do in order to comply with the federal law. While these kinds of administrative actions are important and they set the tone, they are not law.



One more thing: saying that civil rights should be left to the states to regulate (and that transgender students aren't subject to the protections that Title IX outlines) does not make it so. Civil rights are enforceable and protect everyone in all states. And state laws that violate federal civil rights laws will not be upheld. However, this is little solace for teens facing discrimination at school.

(Source:fenwayfocus.org)

Q: What are BARCC's biggest concerns about the revised guidance on transgender students' access to school facilities?



A: BARCC is deeply concerned about the false claims that anti-transgender laws and policies regarding access to sex-segregated facilities reduce sexual violence. Transgender students are far more likely to be targets of sexual violence in public school bathrooms and locker rooms. In Massachusetts, 5.5 percent of students (and 7.6 percent of students in Boston) report being physically forced to have sex, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, and many LGBTQ students report experiencing harassment and assault at Massachusetts schools. By scapegoating transgender students, this administration is ignoring proven prevention approaches and is actually making schools less safe for all students.



Q: What are BARCC's plans moving forward in the face of such policy changes?



A: BARCC will speak out when the threat and fear of sexual violence is misused to justify discrimination. We will continue to support transgender survivors as well as encourage their healing and leadership in influencing change. We will educate the communities we serve about the realities of who commits sexual violence and how we can effectively work to prevent it from occurring in the first place. We will support legislation that increases civil rights and helps us with our mission to end sexual violence through healing and social change.



Q: Is there anything else you'd like people to know?



A: There are two things we want you to know. The first is that Massachusetts has two important laws that protect transgender people. Since 2012, state law prohibits discrimination against transgender students in public schools. Students must be granted access to facilities that match the gender they live. And, since October 2016, state law also requires that places of public accommodations permit access consistent with a person's gender identity. These laws are not affected by the federal administration's actions.



Second, you can make a difference. Every single one of us can speak out in support of civil rights and protections for all students, share this information, and support the transgender community. For members of the transgender community, know that you are not alone, that we will advocate with and for you, and that BARCC is a resource for you. For everyone, please know and spread the word that BARCC services are here for everyone who is affected by sexual violence and that our services include community education. You can participate in one of our bystander intervention trainings (or host one for your group) so you can be informed and ready to help your family and community.

Gina Scaramella is the executive director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center. For more information, visit barcc.org.
In an age where gay men are being allegedly persecuted from the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, one group is stepping up to save lives.

The Russian LGBT Network is evacuating gay men from the country after reports from Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that over 100 gay men were detained and tortured  with several reported murders.

The network has helped 40 gay men evacuate the republic so far, according to the communications manager in an interview with NPR. The manager chose to remain anonymous due to the risks to her job.

For most of them, (it) is just deadly dangerous to stay in Russia, the manager said, noting that they evacuate men first to other Russian regions, then out of the country.

According to one survivor, men are allegedly interrogated and tortured in Chechen prisons, and families are told to kill their gay children.

Some of them are being hunted by their relatives, the manager added. Because homosexuality is considered to be a stain on the whole family and it is believed that the only way to wash away this stain is to kill this person.

The network set up a helpline for gay Chechen men to contact, but according to the manager, many are reluctant to call or email out of fear for their safety.

Since the very beginning, the first people who contacted us  were terribly scared, they were not even sure if we [could] be trusted [or] if we were going to kill them.

The Russian government offers no support to any LGBT organizations, she claimed.

What we want from them right now is for them to have a proper investigation on the matter, she said. There was lots of attention from the international community; there was a lot of pressure, and Russian authorities were asked a lot about whats going on in Chechnya and at some point they were unable to be silent anymore, and they started to do something.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, alongside his spokesperson, has denied the persecution of gays. His spokesperson stated you cant detain and harass someone who doesnt exist in the republic.

The manager claims the Russian government members are monsters for their inaction.

If you want to help gay men flee Chechnya, you can participate in this Facebook fundraiser here.
We can't seem to find the page you are looking for.

You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link.
News today from the Puget Sound massif, as South Sound roaster-retailer heroes Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. have signed a lease to open their first coffee bar in the city of Seattle, Washington.

Speaking exclusively to Sprudge, Olympia Coffee Co-Owner & Green Buyer Oliver Stormshak confirmed the impending opening, happening at 3840 California Ave in West Seattle (corner of California & Bradford). Plans call for a cozy new cafe600 sq. feetlocated between the Junction and Admiral neighborhoods in West Seattle, occupying street level retail in the Rally live / work complex, currently finishing construction.

Target opening day is October 1st, 2017, says StormshakWeve given ourselves a lot more time than we usually do, he tells Sprudge. Olympia Coffee will partner with the custom design firm Artisans Group to construct the project, having worked previously with AG designer Roussa Cassel on their Capitol cafe and Cherry Street cafe and headquarters in Olympia. Artisans Group focuses on the passive house design movement, and theyll bring that outlook to work on this project at the LEED certified Rally space, Stormshak tells Sprudge.

Its early days for gear planning, but Stormshak is predicting efficiency as a focus for the small space, with espresso machines by La Marzocco, batch brew by FETCO, and then individual pour-over service by the cup for those with a bit more time to lingera focus at Olympias cafes.

This is both expansion and homecoming for Olympia Coffee, whose Co-Owner and Director of Training and Education Sam Schroeder (a lauded barista competitor) is a West Seattle native. Thirsty Seattleites can enjoy Olympia Coffee already in Fremont at Vif Coffee | Wine, on Capitol Hill at Analog Coffee, and at Canlis, the Burien Press, and projects by Heavy Restaurant Group, but this will be their first cafe north of Thurston County. Weve looked at other regions: Salt Lake City, Miami, places where we might have an impact, says Stormshak, but were Northwesterners. We grew up here, were attached to this region, and we think theres potential for doing amazing coffee in this community. Seattle feels like coming home.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

Photos courtesy of Rally and Olympia Coffee Roasting Company.
Bruce Kennedy and Tri County Stable's Wakizashi Hanover won his Harrington Raceway debut Monday with a 1:53.3 win in the $15,000 featured Open Pace.

The five-year-old Dragon Again gelding, in rein to Allan Davis, notched his first win of the year for trainer Jim King, Jr.

The complexion of the race changed when heavily favoured Poisonous went off stride while on the lead near three-quarters as Im Supersonic A inherited the lead. Im Supersonic A maintained a lead through the stretch and appeared to be en route to victory before being reeled in late, courtesy of a fierce deep stretch rally from Wakizashi Hanover, who gobbled up ground with urgency near the wire. He paid $10.80 to win.

Wakizashi Hanover, well-known in racing circles for his win in the 2015 edition of the Pepsi North America Cup, recorded his 16th career win and boosted his lifetime bankroll to nearly $1.5 million with the win.

(With files from Harrington Raceway)
Despite six consecutive wins, Odds On Amethyst wasnt sent off as the publics top choice in Mondays $34,000 Preferred Trot at Mohawk Racetrack.

Oops.that was a big mistake.

The streaking gelding made his non-believers pay thanks to a gritty score in 1:53.2 for trainer/driver Pat Hudon.

Odds On Amethyst got away fifth from the gate while Finish Line powered to the top and sliced out fractions of :27.2, :56.4 and 1:25. Odds On Amethyst was off the rail in the backstretch, and he powered up to challenge the leader in the middle stages of the contest before putting him away and using a :28.2 closing quarter to win by a neck over the 1-2 favourite, Major Athens, in 1:53.2. Emoticon Hanover was third.

Sent off as the 9-5 second choice in the wagering, the six-year-old son of Muscle Hill-Mystical Sunshine now boasts a stellar record of 8-1-1 from 14 starts this season for Hudon and partners Adam Kean, Charles Gazzola and William Cripps. The 23-time winner has banked $378,562 to date.

To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results  Mohawk Racetrack.
Do you eat, sleep and breathe harness racing? Do you enjoy promoting harness racing and have exceptional Customer Service skills? If this sounds like you and you feel like you have the potential to be an outstanding Ambassador for Canadian harness racing, read on!

The Industry Marketing Department of Standardbred Canada is seeking a summer student/intern to assist with various marketing activities. Knowledge of harness racing is required.

This position requires an energetic self-starter with strong interpersonal and computer skills, outstanding organizational and presentation skills, and experience in social media applications. This individual will have the ability to work independently while contributing to a team. The work environment will be a combination of SCs office in Mississauga, Ontario, events at Ontario racetracks and community outreach events.

Some of the duties include:

Assist with special events and promotions as required

Writing for Websites and blogs

Assist with industry research

Data entry

Assist with off-site events (weekends)

Administrative duties

Photography  taking photos at special events

Qualifications

Currently enrolled in a Marketing, PR, Event Management, Journalism, or business program

Knowledgeable about harness racing

Past hands-on experience with Standardbreds

Computer Skills Required

Excel/MS Office/Power Point

Experience with Social Media Tools

Experience working with InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop an asset

Applicants must be returning to a post secondary program in the fall of 2017, have reliable transportation and be willing to work some evenings and many weekends.

Duration: June 1  end of August

Please submit applications via email no later than Tuesday, May 23 at 5:00 p.m. to:

Industry Marketing - Kathy Wade Vlaar

Standardbred Canada

2150 Meadowvale Blvd.

Mississauga, ON L5N 6R6

e-mail [email protected]

We thank all those who apply, but only those applicants who are selected for an interview will be contacted.
Point 27 Makes National Impact Honoring Military, First Responders and Families of the Fallen in May

Contact: Marcia Davis, 972-834-5898, freelantzmedia@gmail.com ATLANTA, May 9, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- May marks the busiest month of the year for U.S. Army (Ret.) Col. David Dodd as the nonprofit he heads, Point 27-Strength for the Fight point27.org , delivers and sends scripture-inscribed Shields of Strength www.shieldsofstrength.com across the country to honor members of the military and first responders, and to encourage families of fallen soldiers and responders.Photo: At a Carry The Load Memorial Day event last year in East Texas, US Army (Ret.) Colonel David Dodd, director of Point 27--Strength for the Fight, presented this Gold Star widow of a WW II soldier a silver Folded Flag Shield of Strength pendant necklace. Her husband was lost when the plane he was in went down in a combat mission. It was decades later, when she received word from the military that his remains had finally been located."It's a month to honor those who sacrifice daily for our safety, and to encourage those who have made the ultimate sacrifice," Dodd says.For National Police Week in Washington D.C., May 14-20, Dodd coordinates with Concerns Of Police Survivors to present several thousand Thin Blue Line Shields of Strength inscribed with Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God," and Folded Flag Necklaces engraved with John 15:13, "Greater love hath no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."Dodd is among former members of the 82nd Airborne Division attending the division's 100 Year and the 82nd Signal Battalion reunions May 25 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He brings Shields of Strength for those attending the reunions, and Folded Flag Necklaces for family members of the 82nd's fallen.Memorial Day weekend, Point 27 delivers 2,000 Folded Flag Necklaces to Gold Star Families attending the annual Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors gathering for military families in Washington D.C.Point 27 has also given Folded Flag Necklaces to Carry The Load leaders to share with Gold Star Families during the two cross-country relays that begin from each coast and converge in Dallas on Memorial Day. The teams are giving out Thin Blue and Thin Red Line Shields of Strength to first responders along the routes. The Thin Red Line Shields of Strength for firefighters are inscribed with Isaiah 6:8.Dodd commanded one of the first battalions deployed to Afghanistan following 9/11, equipping each soldier in his command with a Shield of Strength dog tag necklace inscribed with Joshua 1:9. During his active military service, he distributed more than 10,000 Shields of Strength.He says sharing his faith came full circle when he retired and founded Point 27, awarding tens of thousands of Shields of Strength every year and providing opportunity for others to help.For more information, contact Marcia Davis 972-834-5898, freelantzmedia@gmail.com
Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the...
At the last minute Monday, the administration of Gov. Jay Inslee delayed a decision on a bill that would help KapStones Longview pulp mill profit from production of renewable biomass energy.

Inslee initially was expected to sign the bill Monday morning, but his office withdrew it for further review and rescheduled it for his signature May 16, the governors press office said. Spokeswoman Tara Lee said the governor still is expected to sign the measure, but she said nothing is certain until it is inked.

The bill would allow older biomass facilities like the one owned by KapStone to sell renewable energy credits. KapStone stands to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually under the legislation. The bill glided through both houses of the Legislature. It was sponsored by state Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview.

Burning wood waste (biomass) to generate electricity is considered a carbon-neutral form of energy because the wood on its own would eventually decay and release stored-up carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. So biomass is considered renewable energy that does not add to global climate change.

If the bill gets Inslees signature, KapStone would be able to sell credits to utilities who need meet the states new mandates for using renewable energy.
Southwest Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler will host a telephone town hall 6 p.m. Tuesday with constituents to discuss health care, taxes, the economy and "whatever else is on their mind," according to a press release.

The town hall is expected to last an hour. The phone conference can also be joined by calling 1-877-229-8493 and entering the pass number 116365.

Herrera Beutler will follow up the town hall with a round table discussion on Wednesday morning with Southwest Washington school superintendents about chronic absenteeism in the United States.

Herrera Beutler will also discuss her proposed legislative solution titled the Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Act. The act would allow schools to use funds to create school-based mentoring programs, enhance data collection about why students miss school and emphasize alternatives to school suspensions.

The round table begins at 8:45 a.m. and runs until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and will be held in the Howard House on Fort Vancouver, 750 Anderson St.
Aditya Madanapalle

The responses to Trai's consultation paper on net neutrality regulations are coming in. The paper asks stakeholders a series of questions, and one of the questions is how net neutrality should be applied to enterprise solutions, the internet of things (IoT), content delivery networks (CDNs) and virtual private networks (VPNs). Out of these, regulations on CDNs are likely to have a direct impact on the way regular users experience the internet.

CDNs are a way to provide access to content and data at higher speeds. Publishers of content, such as media houses and video streaming sites, pay CDNs to make their content available faster to the end users. The CDNs then pay ISPs to host the content locally, in data centers that are closer to the end users. The end result is a better and faster user experience, for accessing ebooks, looking up information and audio or video streaming. This is the typical business model of a CDN, but there can be variations. A CDN may not necessarily pay the ISP to host a copy of the data, or a content owner may directly host their content with the ISP.

Google has a Google Cache in the local data center of all the major service providers in India. Akamai and Limelite are CDN service providers in the traditional sense, and have implemented their CDNs on the data centers of the operators. Tata Communication is one of the leading Indian providers of CDN services. Netflix has its own single purpose CDN known as Open Connect, bears the cost of integrating, and does so with any service provider. Netflix does not pay or get paid for prioritisation. Delivery of video content is one of the biggest benefits offered by CDNs, and regulations on CDNs will affect video content owners the most.

Industry bodies and trade associations

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) wants a separate consultation paper to formulate the regulations necessary for India, based on more data with specifics on how CDNs are deployed in India. "When consumers request content, it can be delivered from a local server operated by the CDN provider, rather than a remote internet server. As the information is not delivered over the internet core, there is less traffic congestion and the quality of services is higher. It is our recommendation that TRAI should collect more data about CDNs specific to India, and a separate consultation paper to this effect would also help."

The Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) has recommended that CDNs should be treated as network optimization solutions, and does not need any regulatory oversight. Provisioning of services by network optimization solutions by establishing CDN networks and direct interconnection agreements are in the right direction since it enhances the end user experience. These should be allowed and no restrictions should be applied for these. Such arrangements should be permitted based on mutual agreement without any regulatory oversight.

The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) has pointed out that video traffic in particular can lead to congestion and overload the network. The AUSPI has asked for exclusion of video content based CDNs from net neutrality regulations. Ensuring TSP's manage event based video traffic based on their own classification, will ensure overall better quality of internet experience and should not be considered as a violation of net neutrality guidelines. It is, therefore, is strongly suggested that the CDN s and their video traffic should be considered as an exception to the 'prioritization' core principle for Net Neutrality and paid or otherwise should be allowed for video traffic.

Nasscom has recommended that the use of CDNs should be monitored for potential net neutrality violations by the service providers. It is important to note despite CDNs, the responsibility of last mile delivery still the rests with the TSPs and there is no direct link between the CDN and end user. Therefore, we believe that compliance to Net Neutrality principles should rest with the TSPs, and their adherence thereto by TSPs should be enforced by Trai.

Service Providers

Tata Communications has recommended that CDNs should not come under the purview of net neutrality regulations, "While CDNs help deliver content in a more efficient manner to end users, the service arrangement or contract is actually between the content provider and the CDN. As such the even the direct interconnection arrangements between CDNs and TSPs should be left to the market forces."

Idea has indicated that CDNs benefit everyone in the value chain, and as such should be encouraged without any need for regulation. CDNs "not only reduces latency and thus improves network efficiencies, but also drives major improvements in the end-customer experience. Additionally, the bandwidth requirement between the Origin of content and TSPs or the ISPs is reduced substantially. It is a practice that is increasingly being adopted by the internet world, and all major content providers are resorting to this practice. Such an arrangement results in a win-win situation for all the players in the value chain, such as the content providers, TSPs and consumers, and thus needs to be encouraged further without being regulated in any way, based on mutual commercial arrangements."

Airtel has also recommended that service providers and content owners should enjoy the freedom to make private arrangements for CDNs, without regulatory intervention. "We recommend that the provision of CDN and direct peering arrangements between content providers and TSPs should be based on mutual agreements. Adequate freedom should be provided to both parties (TSPs and content providers) to construct their arrangements without any regulatory intervention," is Airtel's response to the question of CDNs.

Aircel has reccomended that net neutrality regulations should not apply to CDNs. CDN and direct interconnection should also be kept outside the purview of net neutrality

The state run service providers are of the opinion that Trai needs to keep a watch on CDNs.

BSNL has agreed that certain types of specialized services such as enterprise solutions and IoT require a different approach to quality of service, and as such should be excluded from net neutrality regulations. However, BSNL has recommended that CDNs should not be excluded as a specialized service. "It is felt that services delivered by content delivery networks and direct interconnection arrangements should not be treated as a specialised service, and no differential treatment be matted (sic) out by them."

While MTNL has indicated that CDNs improve speeds without affecting access to other content, reduces congestion in the network, it still recommends that CDNs should be monitored by the telecom watchdog for anti-competitive practices adopted by the content owners, the CDNs or the service providers. "The regulator/ agencies must keep a watch of such liberty by any service provider for controlling the market in such a way being adverse to competition in the industry."

CDN service provider: Akamai

Akamai, one of the leading providers of CDN services, has recommended that CDNs should not be covered under net neutrality regulations. Further, Akamai has recommended that service providers have the freedom to choose which CDNs to host. TRAI should allow for ISPs ability to differentiate among CDN providers, such as by offering network access to some CDNs but not others. If ISPs were unable to differentiate among CDNs in this way, it could potentially mean that ISPs would not allow any CDNs network access because they would be unable to find the physical space to accommodate all CDNs, which would slow Internet performance and work to the detriment of Internet users. Since CDNs utilize different technologies to provide their services, they require different things from ISPs, and ISPs should have the flexibility to accommodate these different needs. Further, we encourage TRAI to advocate for a more flexible and principles-based approach to net neutrality as the best method of achieving TRAIs aim of promoting innovation and investment in broadband infrastructure.

The Internet Freedom Foundation

The Internet Freedom Foundation recognises the potential of CDNs to violate the net neutrality principles, but cites lack of enough publicly available information about the contracts between content owners, CDNs and service providers to recommend policy decisions. There is potential for TSPs to abuse interconnection agreements to violate net neutrality principles, but we lack enough information for clear policy recommendations on this at present. Part of this information asymmetry is the nature of how the peering and transit ecosystems function, with any commercial arrangements in this space being directly negotiated by private parties with TSPs and not made available for study or trend mapping. TRAI should seek more information and put in place a reporting framework or knowledge sharing sharing process for TSPs requiring regular disclosure of privately negotiated interconnection agreements, paid peering/transit arrangements.

Video Content Owners

As pointed out before, video content is among the most demanding when it comes to bandwidth, and CDNs are most beneficial when implemented for bringing video content closer to the point of delivery. Any regulations on CDNs are likely to most affect the ability of video content owners to reach their audiences.

Hotstar is of the opinion that CDNs should not come under net neutrality regulations, "Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and direct interconnection arrangements should not be subject to net neutrality. They form part of the backbone of the Internet infrastructure and do not connect to the last mile access network. Besides, CDNs and direct interconnection arrangements do not connect to all end-points of the Internet and are the subject of private arrangements between contracting parties."

Netflix suggests that "Policies should facilitate non-discriminatory interconnections between ISPs and CDN providers to enable a better and more efficient Internet. It is important that regulation not inhibit the deployment of CDNs."

By and large, as the content is hosted on the data centers of the ISPs and delivered to the customers, the stakeholders are of the opinion that CDNs should be excluded from net neutrality regulations. However, there may be asymmetries in the ease of access to a particular site or service, depending on the private arrangements between the content owners, the CDNs and the service providers. A localized copy of the data saves bandwidth on international cables, and reduces congestion on the internet.

The recommendations show that the internet cannot be made up of neutral pipes, and absolute net neutrality is actually disastrous when it comes to ensuring a high quality of service, as well as reduce congestion in the network. A 2002 essay by Tim Wu, "A Proposal for Network Neutrality" that coined the phrase "net neutrality", itself notes that total net neutrality is not possible, considering the sophistication of modern networks.

Whether or not CDNs should be under the ambit of net neutrality regulations remains a point of contention. However, the consumers and the regulator would definitely stand to benefit with more details on the private arrangements between the service providers and the CDNs. The kind of arrangements made, the amount of money paid by the parties, and the specific services that have tied up with service providers will allow stakeholders to suggest better regulations, the consumers to make more informed choices, and the authorities to better monitor the implementations for potential net neutrality violations or anti competitive practices.
tech2 News Staff

Google has put up a Doodle to mark the 181st birthday of Ferdinand Monoyer. Ferdinand Monoyer was a famous ophthalmologist, more importantly known for developing the dioptre. The doodle includes two eyes instead of the two os in the word 'Google' that are trying to focus on the eye chart. The eyes try to focus on the eye chart using both eyes together as well as testing each eye separately.

For the uninitiated, the dioptre is a measurement of vision that is used to this date. It is the distance from the text that you have to stand so that you can read it without any problem. To help the measurement, he developed the Text box that ophthalmologists and eye specialists use to this day to measure your eyesight.

Each letter on the chart or more conventionally the box represents a different dioptre ranging from the smallest to the largest. He noted that the letters on the eye chart should be as legible as possible because that is the scale that you will be measuring and judging the eye-sight of your patient. Google has also paid him a tribute by adding his name in the eye chart.

Google has been using Doodles as a way to celebrate important personalities and events in the history. This celebration also helps spread awareness about the events and important dates that people many not be aware of.
tech2 News Staff

Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi 4X a couple of months back along with the Mi 5C in China. At the time of its announcement, the handset was announced in two variants, 2 GB RAM with 16 GB storage and 3 GB RAM with 32 GB storage.

Now a new variant of the handset has been unveiled which includes 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

Apart from the new memory configuration, rest of the features remain the same. Which means you get a 5-inch 720p display with 2.5D glass on top, a metal body with curved edges, an octa-core Snapdragon 435 chipset and a 4,100mAh battery which is said to offer two days of backup on a single charge. There is a 13 MP rear camera with an f/2.0 aperture, 5P lens, PDAF and LED flash while there is a 5 MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture.

The pricing of the Redmi 4X starts at 699 Yuan ( Rs 7,000 approx) for the 2 GB + 16 GB model, 899 Yuan (Rs 9,000 approx) for the 3 GB + 32 GB version while the new 4 GB + 64 GB model comes with a price tag of 1,099 Yuan (Rs 11,000 approx). The new variant will start selling on 9 May. The handset is still exclusive to China.

The company is also expected to announce the Redmi 4 in India soon as recently it released a teaser for the upcoming handset.
tech2 News Staff

ZTE's sub-brand Nubia has launched a new smartphone in India called the M2 Lite. The handset was first announced in China back in March earlier this year and is a more nimble version of the Nubia M2.

The smartphone features a 5.5-inch HD (1280 x 720 pixels) display with a 2.5D curved glass on top. On the inside there is an octa-core MediaTek MT6750 Helio P10 chipset coupled with 4 GB of RAM. As for storage, there's 32 GB of internal memory that is expandable using microSD cards of up to 128 GB. The smartphone runs on Nubia UI 4.0 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The Nubia M2 Lite also features a 13 MP primary camera with f/2.2 aperture and a 16 MP selfie camera with 5P lens, f/2.0 aperture and a 79.8 degree wide-angle lens. The camera software which the company calls Neovision 6.5, is said to enable a "strong multifunctional" camera. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS and USB OTG. There is also a 3,000 mAh non-removable battery that offers fast charging. A fingerprint scanner is embedded in the home button. It also features NeoPower 2.5 suit, which is said to offer improved battery life with new power optimization features.

The M2 Lite will be available at Rs 13,999 exclusively from Amazon India starting 12 PM on 9 May.

Nubia India Country Head Eric Hu said, "Nubia as a brand identifies with the youth. In India we see young people with a lot of energy, passion and desire to do more in society. M2 Lite is a product inspired by such youngsters who are creating a mark in society. We have created a product that looks stylish, matches the aspiration levels and performs superlatively. Be yourself is not just a tagline we believe in it and with the M2 Lite our customers can capture moments that our true to their style."
Editor's Note: Fu Ying, the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress, offers a Chinese perspective on the Korean nuclear issue, which has become the focus of attention in the Asia Pacific and the world.

File photo of Fu Ying,the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Korean nuclear issue is the most complicated and uncertain factor for Northeast Asian security. It has now become the focus of attention in the Asia Pacific and even the world at large. Now, as the issue continues to heat up, one frequently raised question is: Why can't China take greater responsibility and make North Korea stop its nuclear weapons program?

China started to mediate on the Korean nuclear issue and host talks in 2003, at the United States' sincere request. As a developing country, China upholds its five principles of peaceful coexistence. On the Korean nuclear issue, which has a direct bearing over regional security, China's position is to strongly oppose nuclear proliferation. Upon taking up its role as a mediator, China firmly requested the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, commonly referred to as North Korea) to stop its nuclear weapons development while requesting other concerned parties, especially the U.S., to address the DPRK's legitimate security concerns. But the deep mistrust between the U.S. and the DPRK made it very hard for any consensus or agreement made during the years of negotiations to be effectively implemented.

China had been working hard to play its role both as a mediator and a party to U.N. sanctions, but it did not have the leverage to force either the U.S. or the DPRK to assume their respective responsibilities. Without holding the key to the DPRK's security concerns, China has no leverage to convince this foreign nation to stop its nuclear program. The U.S., which the DPRK sees as the source of threats to its security, has been neither interested nor willing to consider responding to the DPRK's security concerns.

As the two sides reached an impasse, the DPRK took the opportunity to move forward with its program and, since 2005, has carried out five nuclear tests and numerous missile tests. In the meantime, the U.N. Security Council has stepped up sanctions, and the US and the Republic of Korea have been carrying out heightened military exercises to exert greater military pressure on the DPRK. Consequently, tensions are now running high and the channel for talks is closed, and the situation is increasingly dangerous.

On the international stage, the main players are states who enjoy sovereign rights endowed by the U.N. Charter and international law. Powerful states may have greater influence over the international situation, but they should also bear the consequences of what they say or do.

Smaller or weaker states may counter or respond to pres- sure from powerful states, but there is a price to pay for doing so. The international situation often evolves as the result of actions and counteractions by states over specific issues, whereby tension between states can rise and even intensify, leading the situation in an unexpected direction.

That is why China believes that peaceful negotiation is the "Pareto optimal" path. Although it may not meet the optimal demands of any party, it would bring maximal benefits to all parties with minimal cost. This would of course call for all par- ties, the U.S. included, to take their due responsibilities and make the necessary compromises. The reason that no results have been achieved to date is precisely because of the failure to implement negotiated agreements and the suspension of negotiations.

China remains committed to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. It has been and will continue to work to safeguard regional peace and stability. China stands for dialogue as the right route to address the Korean nuclear issue. North and South Korea are geographically connected and both are China's close neighbors; North Korea, in particular, shares 1,300 kilometers (808 miles) of common border with China. Any military conflict or disturbance in this region will endanger peace and stability, inflict huge damage to innocent people, and may even escalate tensions beyond control. The international community has witnessed enough bitter outcomes caused by the unwise use of military action over the past decades.

This article intends to revisit the recent history of the Korean nuclear issue, including how the Three-Party Talks evolved to Six-Party Talks and then broke downa process in which I had been personally involved at its early stage. The goal is for readers to better understand the origin as well as the trajectory of multilateral efforts regarding the Korean nuclear issue: How did things reach this point? How and why were potential moments of successful resolution missed? Hopefully recounting this period of history can be of some guidance for making wiser choices in the future.

As the Chinese saying goes, "He who tied the bell should be the one who unties it." To open the rusty lock of the Korean nuclear issue, we should look for the right key.
Trump admin insists travel ban not anti-Muslim

Donald Trump has vowed to fight the latest \"flawed\" ruling all the way to the Supreme Court.

AFP, Washington :

Did Donald Trump's contested travel ban deliberately single out Muslims? The US administration fiercely denied it during an appeals court hearing Monday-despite the president's campaign call for a blanket Muslim ban.

The hearing came as Trump seeks to bounce back from a series of stinging judicial defeats over his controversial effort to bar travelers from half a dozen mainly Muslim countries.

The question of intention is key since the US Constitution forbids religious discrimination. Trump's detractors say it is beyond doubt that Muslims were the ban's intended target, but the administration says it is motivated strictly by national security concerns, an area where US presidents have wide powers.

Trump "never intended for that to discriminate on the basis of any particular religion," Jeffrey Wall, the US acting solicitor general, told judges of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond during an intensely argued afternoon hearing.

"He made clear he was not talking about Muslims all over the world," said Wall. "That's why it's not a Muslim ban."

But a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Omar Jadwat, whose side is supported by several Democratic-led states, argued that Trump the candidate made clear he wanted to ban all Muslims for a time while studying enhanced immigration vetting.

A lower judge's ruling dealt Trump a blow by freezing his second attempt to close US borders to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

Given the public importance of the case, the full appeals court in Richmond heard the arguments-bypassing the usual initial three-judge panel-for the first time in a quarter-century.

Thirteen of the court's 15 active judges took part. Two recused themselves over potential conflicts of interest, including the conservative J. Harvie Wilkinson, Wall's father-in-law.

The court, once considered the most conservative appeals court in the country, now has nine judges named by Democratic presidents including Barack Obama, according to Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.

The judges aggressively questioned both Wall and Jadwat, making it unclear which way they might be leaning.

They pressed Wall over whether Trump had acted in "bad faith," disguising an order targeting Muslims as one intended to prevent terrorism.

They said Trump's comment, while signing his second order, that "you know what I mean" by the order was a "wink and a nod" to let supporters know he was really aiming at Muslims.

Judge Barbara Keenan suggested that Trump's country-based order was bound to be sweeping and indiscriminate. "You're talking about 82 million people aren't you? It seems to me there has to be some linkage to show that there is a detrimental interest to the United States posed by 82 million people."

The judges also pressed Jadwat over whether an identical order issued by a president who had not made remarks against Muslims might be acceptable-and whether a president should not be granted some deference on security matters.

The federal court judge in Maryland issued a nationwide block on the ban's core provision concerning travel from the short list of countries, saying the order raised the prospect of religious bias against Muslims. That decision came just after a broader one issued in Hawaii that halted both the travel ban and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee admissions program.
Flood-hit Quebec declared state of emergency, military called in

146 Quebec municipalities have been affected by flooding that inundated thousands of residents.

Reuters, Quebec :

Canada's Quebec police hope to send divers into a swollen river on Monday to search for a toddler and a man who were swept away as heavy rains flooded homes and streets and the government sent troops to lay sandbags to protect homes from the deluge. Schools and government buildings were closed in some areas as the province grappled with the worst flooding in decades. Montreal, Quebec's largest city, declared a state of emergency on Sunday and the military was sent in to assist.

A Quebec police spokesman said the man and toddler were swept away after their car swerved into a river in the province's eastern region on Sunday evening, and that divers would hunt for them if conditions improve.

The man, child and a woman had climbed onto the roof of the vehicle but choppy waters flipped the car over, sending all three into the water, Sgt Claude Doironthe said. The woman hung onto a branch and escaped; the man and child were swept away and remained missing as of Monday morning, police said.

About 30 police officers and firefighters were patrolling the riverbanks after the weather made helicopter assistance impossible. Three to four divers are expected to join the search.

The floodwaters are expected to peak in Montreal later on Monday, the Quebec public safety minister, Martin Coiteux, told reporters. The Red Cross asked for donations to provide emergency aid to more than 1,500 displaced by the floods.

"Now we have to start from zero a second time," said Mina Tayarani, 53, whose family moved from Iran in 2004.

Tayarani and her family have been sleeping at a local preschool for two days since their Montreal home was flooded.

The Canadian military has deployed close to 1,600 troops to deal with the aftermath of the deluge. Approximately 60 mm of rain (2.4 inches) fell in eastern Ontario and western Quebec late last week.

Both provinces have been grappling with the impact of heavy spring rainfall.

As of Sunday evening, 146 Quebec municipalities were affected by flooding that inundated thousands of residences and forced the evacuation of about 1,520 people, according to Urgence Quebec.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited a flooded community on Sunday, and helped to fill sandbags in his home province.
Eminent statistician Prof Kabir passes away

Campus Report :

Country's renowned statistical expert Prof Dr M Kabir, Former Professor and Head of the Department of Statistics of Jahangirnagar University and former member of Academic Council and member of External Expert Panel of Teachers Recruitment Board of Daffodil International University died by massive Cardiac Heart Attack last mid night on Monday. (Inna lillahe-------------Rajeon).

He was 72. He left behind him two Sons, wife and a host of relatives and well- wishers to mourn his death.

Management, faculty members employees, and students of Daffodil International University expressed deep condolence at the death of Professor Dr. M. Kabir and conveyed sympathy to bereaved family members.
World Bank resumes aid to impoverished Malawi

AFP, Blantyre :

The World Bank has resumed direct budget support to impoverished Malawi with an $80-million injection three years after donors pulled out due to a "cashgate" corruption scandal, officials said Saturday.

Donors, which provide about 40 percent of Malawi's budget, in 2013 pulled the plug on aid of around $150 million (110 million euros) after British auditors said at least $30 million was stolen from state coffers over a six-month period.

The Bank, a major backer of the southeast African country's tough economic reforms, had in the past said support would only come if Malawi implemented financial management systems that would stop fraud and massive theft of state funds.

The "cashgate" affair erupted with revelations about funds going missing involving dozens of officials, businessmen and politicians. Four people were jailed.

The scandal led to the withdrawal of aid by numerous countries. It also contributed to the defeat of president Joyce Banda in elections in 2014, won by her rival Peter Mutharika who took office vowing to fight corruption.

Laura Kullenberg, the Bank's country manager, said Malawi had "taken some very important reform steps and it is critical to maintain momentum and deepen reforms going forward to move Malawi out of the circle of vulnerability and onto a development path".
Iran to hold int'l tender to finance plane purchase

Xinhua, Tehran :

Iran will hold an international tender to find financers for its plane purchases from the aviation giants Airbus and Boeing, Press TV reported on Sunday.

The national flag-carrier "Iran Air is preparing the tender documents so that they would be sent to all credible financers across the world," Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan, Iran's deputy minister of road and urban development, was quoted as saying.

"We are in conditions that allow us choose our desired financers in a competitive atmosphere," Fakhrieh Kashan was quoted as saying.

Britain's key export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), has proposed a plan to Iran to facilitate the financing of aircraft purchases from Boeing and Airbus, he said, adding that the UKEF has announced that it could resolve any banking problem that might occur as a result of U.S. pressures.

The agency has announced that it would even provide cash for the purchases if they would face problems with banks regulations, he said.

Iran will hold the tender to provide the funds for its purchases through competitive mechanisms so that it would not have to rely on one single source, Fakhrieh Kashan said.

Following the implementation of Iranian nuclear deal in September 2015, Iran started negotiations with major international commercial plane manufacturers to renew its aging fleet.
Todays Events



Memorial meet

Kabi Chandrabati Foundation organises a memorial meeting on agriculture journalist Dr Niaj Uddin Pasha in the Conference Lounge of the Jatiya Press Club at 11 am.

Conference

Bangladesh Auto Re-Rolling & Steel Mills Association organises a press conference about VAT on Steel and Re-Rolling Sector in the National Budget in the VIP Lounge of the Jatiya Press Club at 11:30 am.


Judgment against 6 Gaibandha war crimes accused any day



The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 will pronounce judgement any day in a case filed against six Gaibandha men for their alleged crimes committed during the liberation war in 1971 as the hearing of the case ended on Tuesday.

"We are keeping the judgement CAV (a Latin legal term meaning the court awaits judgement)," Justice Anwarul Haque, chairman of the three-judge panel, said.

The six accused are former lawmaker Abdul Aziz alias Ghoramara Aziz, 65, Md Ruhul Amin alias Monju, 61, Md Abdul Latif, 61, Abu Muslim Mohammad Ali, 59, Md Nazmul Huda, 60, and Md Abdur Rahim Miah, 62.

All the accused but Latif are being tried in absentia as the law enforcement agencies are yet to arrest them.

Earlier in the day, the prosecution and the defence concluded their legal arguments in the case.

Senior prosecutor Syed Haider Ali, Syed Sayedul Haque Sumon and Sheikh Mushfeq Kabir were present on behalf of the state, while advocates Rezaul Haque and Gazi MH Tamim stood for the accused.

The ICT-1 on March 20, 2016, indicted the accused, framing three charges of crimes against humanity against them.

A total of 15 prosecution witnesses, including two investigation officers, testified in the case, while there were no defence witnesses to vouch for the accused.

According to the prosecution, Ghoramara Aziz and Monju raised local Peace Committee and Razakar Bahini during the liberation war in 1971. They committed crimes against humanity including genocide in their locality with the help of other accused.


Family banks not good to protect depositors` interest

THE Cabinet on Monday approved the draft 'Bank Company (Amendment) Bill, 2017; 'which will allow four members of a family to be directors of a bank. The Cabinet approved the Draft Law at the weekly Cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, a report in a national daily said.



The existing law permits only two members of a family to be directors of a bank. Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said it was the desire of the founding directors of private banks that four members of their families should be allowed to be directors of a bank instead of two under existing law.



As per the amended law, a director will be able to remain in his post for nine consecutive years -and that will essentially be indefinite as he will be able to retain his directorship for another nine years with a three-year break. Currently, one is allowed to remain director of a bank for six years and after a three-year break he or she can be director for another six years.



The Draft Law also restricts commercial banks from selecting, nominating, appointing and posting anyone to the posts of Director, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer without any prior approval of the Central Bank. If Bangladesh Bank rejects the selection, nomination, appointment and posting that will stand cancelled.

It is interesting as to why the government would bow down to the wishes of the Bank Directors and allowing them to have four family members to the posts of Directors. We must say that the government should not bow down to the wishes of any pressure group when making a law - unless the law greatly improves equity and fairness in the land.



This does not seem to have occurred in this case. While private banks have, on the whole, been highly successful in snatching away funds from public banks, and in fact hold a clear majority of bank deposits now, it has occurred solely due to the sheer inefficiency and corruption of the state run banks in the first place. However allowing them to retain four directors from a single family can give rise to nepotism and inefficiency and mismanagement of loan portfolios. Corruption and misuse of power may protect family interest risking safety of depositors' money in the bank.



Only moral judgment may not be sufficient to prevent bank interest. It is entirely possible such banks may end up with massive bad loans and other irregularities to become sick or insolvent. The government may have to bail out them at the end. It appears that most owners of private banks are ruling party men who want their families absolute control on banks. But in fairly good situation it should not be the case. In our view the government should review the bill before making it a law.






Diagnostic centers must stop deceiving patients

DESPITE phenomenal progress in the treatment of various diseases therapeutics remains to be the mainstream treatment and it can be said with certainty that it will continue to be so in the future. Proper diagnosis of illness is always high on the agenda of physicians for successful treatment but corruption and irregularities relating to diagnostic tests services are making proper treatment almost impossible.



Lab tests have indeed become very sensitive part of treatment. Pathologists and radiologists now carry out tests in highly equipped laboratories. X-ray, blood tests and such other radioactive tests include the major diagnosis activities physicians prescribe and patients follow at laboratories doctors refer. But the problem is that the surging cost of diagnostic services has already become so prohibitive for patients to disrupt treatment. Doctors commission business is increasing the cost of laboratory tests holding the patients hostage in the process.



The life saving treatment is now multi-billion dollar business all over the world and Bangladesh is not behind anyway. But what is highly reprehensive here is the high cost of diagnostic tests at various city laboratories and in district towns. What is noticeable is that physicians and even private individuals have set up laboratories as a lucrative business and charges for such laboratory tests are only increasing overtime.



Like others, physicians at government hospitals mainly refer patients to diagnostic centers of their choice as they benefit from a commission based on the bills for the tests. In case physicians are also owners, their benefit multiplies. But problem is that the cost of such diagnostic tests has become so enormous for patients that often force them to abandon treatment. People are becoming penniless in the process selling property and ending up losing everything for the family to survive.



Media reports show many physicians, most of them from government hospitals are now deeply involving in commission business referring patients to particular diagnostic centers. There are allegations that they suggest large number of tests though many are not necessary. But since they get from 30 to 50 percent commission, they do it making it a big part of their monthly income, besides attending patients at different city clinics.



We must say treatment of patients should not be taken as full-scale business instead serving ailing humanity. It is no secret that party men and dishonest people have taken up the business to make huge fortune, but the government can't sit idle to what is happening. In our view the concerned authorities must fix charges of major diagnosis tests based on quality of the laboratories. They should not also allow physicians engaging in commission business to continue to deceive the people. There must be some watchdog body to rein in the situation.
Arrest of accused anytime: Police

People waiting outside the house of Banani Hotel rape suspect Safat Ahmed, son of the owner of Apon Jewellers\' as police raided the house again on Tuesday at Gulshan.

Police on Tuesday said the five accused in a case filed over the rape of two private university girls in a Banani hotel will be arrested anytime as they are now under law enforcers' watch.

Since the rape incident came to the fore, different law enforcement agencies, including Detective Branch (DB) and Rapid Action Battalion, started 'shadow' investigation into it alongside thana police. One of the rape victims filed a case with Banani Police Station on May 6 accusing five people.

Of the accused, Shafat Ahmed, 26, and Nayem Ashraf, 30, were sued for raping the two female university students while Sadman Shafiq, 24, Shafat's driver Billal, 26, and his unnamed bodyguard for abetting in the crime.

Inspector (Investigation) of the police station Abdul Matin was made investigation officer (IO) of the case.

Contacted, the IO told UNB that his team has been carrying out drives in various areas, including Gulshan and Banani, to arrest the culprits. "We raided several places, including the Gulshan residences of Shafat and Nayeem, on Monday night to arrest them but couldn't find them. A special police team also raided the Shafat's residence on Tuesday noon," he said.

Deputy Commissioner (Gulshan) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Mostak Ahmed has formed the special team to arrest the accused, the IO said, adding that other agencies like DB and Rab were also hunting for the suspected rapists.

He expressed the hope that the perpetrators will be arrested anytime as police and other agencies were hunting them.

According to the case statement, the plaintiff along with her friend went to the residential hotel at Banani to attend the birthday party of Shafat around 9pm on March 28.

The two prime accused-Shafat and Nayem-confined them to two rooms of the hotel at gunpoint after the rooftop birthday party was over at midnight. The two girls were made to drink liquor before being raped. Shafat raped the plaintiff while Nayem her friend. Shafat's driver Billal filmed the incident, she said in the FIR adding that they got introduced with Shafat and Nayem through Sadman Shafiq.
Govt moves to probe allegations over `Padma graft`

Inquiry Commission under process

Staff Reporter :

The government now steps in to constitute a probe commission to find out the real conspirators who engineered 'false graft allegations' over the Padma Bridge construction contract.

With submitting a report on such allegations to a High Court Bench on Tuesday on behalf of the state, a process on formation of an Inquiry Commission started. The High Court Bench consists of justices Quazi Reza-ul Hoque and Mohammad Ullah.

The report was submitted by Assistant Attorney General Titus Hillol Rema. Besides, the Road and Bridges Division prayed to the court to enlist it as a party in the rule. The court fixed July 3 for the next hearing.

Earlier on March 20, the High Court had given the government 90 days to file an update over any measures against those who made 'false graft allegations' over the Padma Bridge project.

The court ordered the Cabinet Secretary, Secretaries to the Law, Home Affairs ministries and the Bridges Division, Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman and Inspector General of Police to file a report within May 7.

On February 15, the court issued a rule asking why it would not instruct the government to form a committee or a commission to find out the 'conspirators' in line with the 1956 Inquiry Act and other related laws. The respondents to the ruling were also asked for explanations in two weeks.

The HC issued the rule following a report published in a Bengali daily demanding the trial of Professor Muhammad Yunus and seeking apology by the World Bank and Transparency International Bangladesh.

The World Bank raised the allegation of corruption in execution of the Padma Bridge project and suspended funding. Bangladesh was forced to withdraw funding request and is now implementing the project on its own resources.

A case was started at a Canada court against SNC-Lavalin, accusing the company of bribing Bangladeshi officials to secure contracts in the Padma Bridge project in 2010-11. After a long process, the Canadian court acquitted the three employees of Canada-based SNC Lavalin of the bribing charges. The verdict said the evidence produced in the case was "nothing more than assumptions and rumours."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the allegations were part of a conspiracy and claimed some Bangladesh nationals were involved in it.

In the Parliament, the PM blamed Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus for using the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to disrupt World Bank funding. The editor of a national newspaper was also blamed for the conspiracy.

Prior to it, the then Communication Minister Abul Hossain was forced to resign following allegations of his involvement in the scam. Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury also faced similar allegations. Former Bridge Division Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was sent to jail over the case.

The Anti-Corruption Commission in a probe found no evidence against them. The Padma bridge graft case was dismissed in 2014 after ACC submitted its final probe report. The court acquitted seven, including the Secretary, of the charges.
Varsity student narrates Dhaka`s Raintree hotel `rape`

One of the raped university students has claimed that Apan Jewellers owner's son Safat Ahmad pestered her and friend to join his birthday party and it was with reluctance that they went to the Banani hotel.The victim shared with bdnews24.com the 'tales of torture' that she claims to have endured with another university friend at the Raintree Dhaka hotel on Mar 28 that has kicked up a storm after a case was started last Saturday. According to her, Safat, 26, and his friend Nayem Ashraf, 30, both were getting high on yaba party drug every now and then as they raped her and her friend on that night.

Safat's former wife Faria Mahbub Piasa, a contestant of the NTV's reality show 'Super Hero Super Heroine,' also claims that Safat was an addict. The two tied the knot in 2015 and got divorced on Mar 8 this year, 20 days before the alleged incident of sexual assault.

The victim said she got to know Safat through her friend Shadman Sakif, 24, at a party in a Gulshan hotel on Mar 7.

Safat's former wife Piasa was also present there, she said.

"Safat was yelling at his wife, spewing outrageously lewd words. We were disgusted at his behaviour. He saved his number on our mobile phones and sent us friend requests on Facebook the same day."

"This is how we were introduced. I met him twice at Gulshan's Picasso Restaurant afterwards. When he tried to get closer, I told him that I was engaged. He used to say that he was also involved with someone and that he did not like his wife," she continued.

Safat, son of one of the owners of Apan Jewellers, Dildar Ahmed, is the prime suspect in the case.

Besides Safat and Nayem, Sakif, son of one of the owners of Picasso Restaurant Mohammad Hossain Jony, is another accused.

Safat's bodyguard and chauffeur have been named for aiding the perpetrators carry out the crime and filming the incident.

No arrests have been made over the case started with Banani Police on Saturday. All of the accused are fleeing from justice.

"That day (Mar 28), he (Safat) was relentlessly calling us to join his birthday party, saying he won't cut the cake if we two didn't join in. After we arrived there with two other friends, we saw Safat, Nayem, Sakif and two girls there. A man brought cake for Safat introducing himself as the owner of the hotel," said the student, who initiated the case. "Safat and Nayem said they had been on yaba for the last three days," she added. According to the case dossier, the four - the two victims and their friends - wanted to leave the hotel as they did not like the environment but Safat and Nayem took their car key away and dragged the victims inside a room on the ground floor of the hotel.

They ravaged them throughout the night and finally released them at 10am the next day.

"We screamed. Begged to Safat and Nayem to let us go but we were not spared," the victim, a university student, told bdnews24.com.

"While raping us, they were going to the toilet to have Yaba. They were assaulting us, calling us names."

"Safat said he owned gold business and that they won't be in any trouble even if they had killed us."

The bodyguard videotaped the whole incident, she added.

"A car came in the morning. My friend could barely walk. We were crying like anything." "Our two other friends were held captive inside another room. Safat and Nayem assaulted them as well before and after raping us." "They wanted us to remain as their mistresses for the rest of our lives. Or else, they said they would release the video on Facebook. At this point we could not keep quiet anymore."

She said she, Safat, Nayem, and Sakif later met at Picasso Restaurant later where two 'elder brothers' tried to settle the matter.

"They were indifferent, as if nothing had happened. They said they could not control themselves as they were on yaba," said the plaintiff.

Safat's father Dildar claims the 'act of sex', if any, was consensual, a claim that the plaintiff has rejected.

Sakif's father Jony is the managing director of Regman Group to which Picasso Restaurant is a tenant.

The girl claimed she knew Sakif for two years.

"I used to trust him (Sadman) a lot and shared thoughts with him as a friend. I went to Safat's birthday party only for his sake," she said.

"But I guess they pre-planned the whole thing."

Piasa told bdnews24.com that she believed whatever the plaintiff has said.

"Safat used to speak ill of me to draw attention of other girls."

Safat's father claimed that Piasa was behind all these to trap his son.

"It is a false case. She (Piasa) even accompanied the two girls to the police station to lodge the case," he said.

Piasa denies the allegation.
Many BD workers jailed in Malaysia

14 died in 2 yrs: Violation of law by recruiting agencies blamed

Reza Mahmud :

A number of Bangladeshi workers have been passing their hard days in Malaysian prisons allegedly due to the illegal activities of their recruiting agencies.

Among them, 14 migrant workers died in last two years, sources said.

"There are numbers of Bangladeshi workers in different jails in Malaysia. Most of them are there due to the violation of laws by their recruiting agencies," Khabir Hossain, a Bangladeshi working in Malaysia, told The New Nation.

He added 14 Bangladeshi workers have died between 2015 and 2016.

According to the Malaysian Home Ministry, a total of 161 foreign workers died in Malaysian jails in last two years. Among them, 73 from Myanmar, 23 from Indonesia, 14 from Bangladesh. Sources said, many of the workers breach laws of that country which lead them to the jail. Some foreign workers, including Bangladeshis, are allegedly being recruited there with false experience certificates.

The sources said some Bangladeshis have taken jobs after reaching Malaysia with tourist visa, which is illegal according to the law of that country. If any one of them is identified then he must be arrested and punished by the courts.

Many Bangladeshi workers also accused that some officials of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) had given them fake experience and training certificates. "The workers get job with the fake certificates. But when the employers found that the experience and training stated in the certificate is not real they file cases against those workers. Then the court sent them to the jail," said a managing director of a recruiting agency, preferring anonymity.

It was further alleged that some Bangladeshi students have joined different firms in Malaysia leaving their educational institutes permanently. It was the violation of the country's law which also led them to jail.

"Around 80 percent Bangladeshi students come here not for study, just to work," Masum Billah, a Bangladeshi Journalist working in Kuala Lumpur told The New Nation.

Workers from Malaysia accused that some dishonest employers give them low salary and engaged them in risky jobs in collaboration of Bangladeshi recruiting agencies.

But Benjir Ahmed, President of Bangladesh International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) refuting the allegations said that the recruiting agencies always try to protect the interests of the workers. Sources said, there are around ten thousand Bangladeshi workers in jails in 38 countries.

Nurul Islam, Minister for Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment said, "If the workers breach laws in a concern country, they will surely be punished. We always cautioned the migrant workers not to violate the concern country's laws and rituals."

The workers in Malaysia alleged that the Bangladeshi High Commission in Kuala Lumpur totally ignores them. They said the officials of the Embassy never listen to their problems. They are always uncooperative.


Ministries to report losses in Haors

Govt allocates Tk 272cr for affected people : TIB for punishing corrupt DAM officials

Staff Reporter :

The Cabinet Division has asked the concerned Ministries to submit reports pertaining to financial loss incurred by flashflood that destroyed almost all crops in the country's six haor districts recently.

Ministries of Agriculture, Disaster Management and Relief, Health and Family Welfare, Fisheries and Livestock, Environment and Forests, and Water Resources have been asked to submit reports by this week, according to Cabinet Division sources. Besides, the concerned Ministries have also been asked to become very cautious in distributing relief goods among the affected people. The Cabinet Division and the Finance Ministry are overseeing the overall activities, they said.

Heavy downpour and flash-flood have destroyed paddies, killed fishes and ruined duck farms in six haor districts -- Sunamganj, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Moulvibazar, Brahmanbaria and Netrokona.

Meanwhile, Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) Chairperson Sultana Kamal, now visiting flood-affected areas of Tahirpur upazila in Sunamganj district on Tuesday demanded exemplary punishment for the persons who were responsible for protecting the embankments.

"We all will have to stand beside the haor people. The government will have to ensure trial of corrupts responsible for such disaster. No corrupt will be spared," she said while addressing a farmers' rally in Tahirpur upazila headquarters yesterday.

Sultana Kamal also demanded to declare the region as disaster prone area, saying corrupts must be brought to the act and ensure financial support to victims' families.

In the meantime, the government has so far allocated Taka 272 crore for the flood-affected people in the haor districts.

"Relief goods worth Taka 272.26 crore will be distributed among the flood-hit haor people till next July. Besides, 80 percent of the district-wise allocations have already been distributed by Tuesday (May 8)," said Md Riaz Ahmed, Director General of the Department of Disaster Management.

The government also earmarked Taka 82.07 crore for generating employment for some 91,447 extreme poor under different employment generation programmes, he said.

About 8 to 9 lakh families have been devastated by floods in 62 upazilas under six haor districts. So far, a total of 587 relief distribution centres have been opened at the Union and Ward levels for smooth distribution of the relief materials in the affected areas.

Under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF), the government has allocated 32,340 tons of rice and Taka 49.50 crore as cash which would be distributed among 3.80 lakh flood-affected farmers and fishermen in the six haor districts.

The VGF will continue till the next harvest, officials said.

The government has formed a 24-member committee headed by the Additional Secretary of the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, according to the decision of a meeting held on April 23.

The committee has been asked to identify the causes of early flood and make recommendations on future tasks. The committee has already started its activities.

Apart from this, two flood control rooms have been set up at the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry for exchanging information round-the-clock between the centre and the field level administration.

Fulltime relief control rooms have also been opened at the offices of the Deputy Commissioners and the Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNO) in the affected regions, officials said.

An inter-Ministry proposal with short, medium and long term programmes has been submitted to the Prime Minister for her consideration for quick recovery of the flood-affected haor people.

The proposals include exemption of interest on credits disbursed by NGOs and keeping repayment of capitals postponed for one year, repayment of farm loan under installments, exemption of electricity bills, taking agriculture rehab programes, 100 percent stipend for students, exemption of tuition fees for a year, creating employment for women, construction of embankments and innovation of short duration paddy for the flood-prone haor areas.
No respite from sufferings

The picture shows piling of sand, mud, bricks and other wastes on Dutabas Road while development work is going on in the city's Baridhara diplomatic zone. Even, the residents of the locality are also facing difficulties in entering their houses. People are also compelled to parks their cars and other vehicles in a haphazard way blocking the normal movement of traffic. Not only that, it is impossible to find any officials of the authorities concerned, including Dhaka City Corporations and contracting firm, to lodge complaints about the irregularities. It is not only the scenario of Baridhara. In fact, the movements of vehicles and pedestrians have become difficult as most of the roads and footpaths in the capital city Dhaka are now unusable due to incoordinated digging by different utility services. The situation turns for the worst if there is a little rain. Besides, hundreds of ditches and potholes have created in the roads pushing the drivers to a miserable situation. Nobody knows when the people will get respite from such sufferings.


3 `JMB men` held in Sirajganj

Staff Reporter :

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a drive arrested three suspected members of the banned outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Battala on the Solanga-Nimtali Road in Sirajganj district on Tuesday morning.

The detainees have been identified as Najibul Bashar alias Naji, Mamunur Rashid Mamun, Abdullah Bin Masud, son of Maksudur Rahman, from Alipur village of Ullapara Upazila in the district, RAB official said.

Major Safayet Ahmed Sumon, Company Commander of RAB-12, said that a team of the elite force raided in the area and arrested them.

The arrested persons were charge-sheeted as fugitive accused under an Anti-Terrorist Act, the RAB official said.

They are being interrogated in the custody, said Major Safayet.
Sen. Beth Mizell's SB54 would have the Department of Children and Family Services play a key role in responding to the victims of child exploitation. However, the state budget passed by the House cuts funding for the department by $69.8 million. Something's got to give.

The Senate's Judiciary A Committee was scheduled to consider SB54 by Franklinton Sen. Beth Mizell when it convened Tuesday morning. The bill addresses the issue of child exploitation and would give the Department of Children and Family Services a central role in responding to the needs of these victims of a broad range of activities including sexual and labor abuses.

The abuses provoke a moral outrage that provides the impetus behind legislation like Mizell's. Crafted by the Louisiana Law Institute, the bill provides that children who are found to be victims of abuse should be placed in a shelter care facility if the child has been exploited. It provides that children of exploitation "shall be diverted into services that address their needs." The bill puts DCFS at the center of the process of finding the appropriate services to respond to the needs of these exploited children.

DCSF announced in April that human trafficking cases in Louisiana are up 25 percent. The department says there were 447 victims discovered in 2016, 201 of which were classified as juveniles; 20 of the victims were under the age of 12. You can read the full report here.

The problem is real but so are the constraints on the department's ability to respond, particularly going into the next fiscal year. During the House floor debate on HB1, Rep. Malinda White of Bogalusa argued that eliminating positions in departments like DCFS translates into cuts in services. She also argued that low pay and large case loads in the department lead to high turnover which drives up training costs in the department. The majority of the House was unmoved by her case. The staffing cuts stuck.

Under present law, responsibility for dealing with child victims of exploitation resides with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Mizell's bill would shift that to DCFS at the very time the budget approved last week by the Louisiana House cuts funding for the department by $69.8 million dollars. Most of the cuts come at the expense of eliminating what are now vacant positions in the department.

According to the governor's office, HB1 eliminates 128 positions in DCFS, including 67 child welfare positions.

If Sen. Mizell's bill wins passage, the question becomes how would DCFS provide the services given it in SB54 while complying with the staffing cuts contained in HB1.

However, during this morning's committee hearing, Sen. Mizell says amendments made to her bill during the hearing will reduce if not eliminate any need for additional spending by DCFS to provide the services contained in the bill. She explains that because of the way the language of the bill was modified, DCFS will be providing services to children already under its jurisdiction.

Sen. Jay Luneau of Alexandria

Sen. Jay Luneau of Alexandria was skeptical. He called the DCFS cuts in HB1 "the elephant in the room." He said DCFS struggles to meet its responsibilities now and that the cuts would not increase the department's capacity.

"There comes a time when you can't do more with less," Luneau says. "I think that's the situation at DCFS now. These are drastic cuts. I don't know how we can expect them to meet their current responsibilities much less take on new ones."

It's a collision between conscience and budget priorities that frequently defines differences between House and Senate versions of the state budget in each session.

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on the HB1 later this week. These are the kinds of issues they'll be grappling with as they rework the budget to account for its impact beyond the numbers on the line items.
CARBONDALE  The Carbondale Public Library will host a free showing of the award-winning documentary "Screenagers" at the library at 2:30 p.m. May 27.

This screening is available to anyone; the film is appropriate for teens and adults. "Screenagers" is the first feature documentary to explore the impact of screen technology on children and to offer parents proven solutions that work, according to a news release from the Carbondale Public Library.

According to the release, filmmaker, parent and physician Delaney Ruston reports the average child spends 6.5 hours a day looking at screens. This caused her to think about the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time  friction she knew all too well.

In "Screenagers," as with her other award-winning documentaries on mental health, Ruston probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including her own, to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction, according to the news release. Through poignant stories, along with insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, "Screenagers" reveals how tech time impacts children and teens development and offers solutions on how adults can empower youth to best navigate the digital world and find balance.

The documentary will be followed by a discusison, which will be moderated by Michelle Thomas and Tessie Ojewuyi. Thomas, a teacher at Carbondale Community High School, is a mother to a child with autism. She has first-hand experience with autism and the effects of screens. Ojewuyi, a financial advisor and mother of four, has experience with youth in our community and in Nigeria, Africa.

Light refreshments will be served at the event.

For more information, call the Carbondale Public Library at 618-457-0354.
DU QUOIN  Excitement greeted the creation of the Du Quoin swimming pool back in the 1970s, when the city's mayor at the time and Park Board members sought out a grant to fund the project.

Over the decades, the pool served the community of Du Quoin well, offering a cool respite from summer's heat and a site for fellowship for hundreds of guests each year.

Over the years, though, the pool has also aged, getting leaks and being subjected to Southern Illinois' weather, and in need of updates.

A year ago, city officials thought it was time to get serious about overhauling the pool. Fundraising started, and the work that began in 2016 has concluded, and it's time to celebrate  again. The community can see the updated pool during its open house from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Robert M. Armstrong Complex.

Guests will see the pool's new vinyl liner, from the Indianapolis-based Reno Sys, which was placed over the exiting foundation and walls; two diving boards; about four feet of skid-free grip around the edge of the pool; and two sets of steps leading into the pool, which bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The children's pool also got a new liner, Mayor Guy Alongi said. In August 2016, Du Quoin's city council voted to name the pool after the Du Quoin Swimming Indians youth swim team.

The pool also had a pump that was leaking, and city workers removed it and had it shipped to a company in Chicago for repair, Alongi said.

The pool was never closed for the work, Alongi said.

It was Armstrong and the chairman of the Park Board, Alongi's father, Jerome "Mimi" Alongi, and others, who sought the grant that created the L-shaped pool. The pool is 125 feet long by 45 feet wide in the shallow end.

About 600 to 700 people use the pool each year, and pool and birthday parties are regularly hosted there, Alongi said.

"It gets really used," Alongi said.

The project cost about $130,000, with a little bit more than half  $70,000  coming from private donations, Alongi said. He credited the community, especially the swim team parents, who in two weeks raised about $35,000 of the private donations.

The rest of the money came from monies owed the city by the Du Quoin School District 300's repayment of funds from bonds issued years ago.

"We didnt spend a dime of the citys money out of our reserves to do this," Alongi said. "The swim pool parents really rallied around that pool. Hats off to them. When we came up with the idea, they just took it and ran with it.

"We feel like weve taken the pool and probably given it another 15 years of life," Alongi said.
MARION  In the latest round of challenges facing the Illinois Star Centre Mall in Marion, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition was filed Thursday, May 4, by Illinois Star Centre LLC.

Those challenges include a failed sealed-bid auction in November 2017, in which the buyer backed out of purchasing the property during the due-diligence period, and the 2015 conviction of Illinois Star Centre Mall owners or their relatives for a bid-rigging scheme in Madison County.

The bankruptcy petition refers only to what is effectively the center portion of the mall. Anchor stores Target and Dillard's, both of which own their own parking, as well as Sears, Pirate Petes and the remainder of the parking area are, as of now, unaffected.

Additionally, a case filed under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code is frequently referred to as a "reorganization" bankruptcy, according to a U.S. Courts website. This suggests that Illinois Star Centre LLC may be using this action to regain their footing in their quest to bring the mall into solvency.

Illinois Star Mall tenant Josh Stockinger, part owner of of Joes Records, said he was relieved to hear the bankruptcy was geared toward reorganization.

Our business is doing really well at that location," he said. "We have grown and expanded, and used the proceeds from that to expand our business. We dont want to leave and dont have any plans to. Were just waiting to see what is going to happen next.

Stockinger said they have good foot traffic and regular customers at their location, and could only imagine how well the store would do with the vacant storefronts filled.

He said staff from his store had been in touch with mall management in the last 10 days to talk about the business' lease and future in that location. All indications point to the fact that they are trying to make this work, he said.

According to documents, the declared value of the debtors interest in the property, including real and personal assets, to be $5,605,127.04. Notices of the petition were sent to 37 different businesses and government agencies.

A list of top 20 creditors who have the largest unsecured claims include ASCAP Licensing, the City of Marion, the Williamson County Clerk and the Williamson County Treasurer, all of which are listed as unliquidated and disputed.

According to the American Bar Association, the Bankruptcy Code requires creditors to file a proof of claim if their right to payment from the debtor is contingent, unliquidated or unmatured. Corporate creditors in this action must file by Aug. 28, 2017, and governmental creditors must file by Oct. 31, 2017, according to the documents.

The mall is represented by Rob Eggmann and Tom Riske of the Carmody MacDonald P.C. who issued this statement on behalf of the embattled LLC: Illinois Star Centre LLC filed A Chapter reorganization due primarily to financial problems caused by an ongoing dispute with the City of Marion regarding disputed bonds. The mall anticipates that it will be business as usual for all of stores and anticipates no interruption in service or change in the hours.

In a 2016 report, companies associated with the Rochman family purchased the delinquent taxes of the Marion mall after a 2015 Williamson County tax sale. Barrett Rochman was one of the owners convicted in 2015, and has since served his time and been released. Rochman said he is no longer associated with Illinois Star Centre LLC.

In that sale, two parcels associated with Illinois Star Centre Mall were purchased from the county trustee by Roc Enterprises LLC. At the time, those taxes were the 2014 taxes due in 2015 in the amount of $478,000.

The mall property contributes in excess of $46,000 annually to the Marion Community Unit School District 2, so the purchase of these taxes effectively ensured that the local taxing bodies received those monies.

According to the Williamson County website, the owner has about two and a half years to make the payments on the taxes purchased, or the deed to the property can be transferred via court to the tax buyer. It is unclear if those taxes have been redeemed by Illinois Star Center LLC, or if Roc Enterprises is the current owner.

Spokesmen for companies previously associated with the property, Sansone Group, the St. Louis commercial real estate firm that once acted as leasing agent for the property, and Tranzon Asset Advisors, the auction company which handled the failed sealed-bid auction, said their firms declined to relist the mall for rent or for sale.

This story has been updated to clarify a quote from Stockinger and to clarify Barrett Rochman's role in Illinois Star Centre LLC.
CAIRO  After shouting at the top of their lungs for at least 10 years, if not more, Cairo leaders seem to have finally been heard  at least thats the way it seems.

Some of that attention, like that on the recent public housing crisis, is less than ideal for those trying to make progress in developing the quickly shrinking city between the rivers.

However, some recent attention from State Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, has many feeling hopeful.

Hes really been advocating for the city of Cairo and this area, Cairo Mayor Tyrone Coleman said after an afternoon spent with the senator and Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill.

Like Fowlers visit in March with Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, city officials toured Cairo and discussed plans for a new river port along the Mississippi. Fowler, who said he has been to Cairo about 14 times since being elected last November, said this recent stop is just one part in his big plan for the city and the region.

This is just part of that momentum train we are creating of bringing more people in until we all become one here and we all jump in together and revitalize this town. Its not just about Cairo, its about Southern Illinois opportunity, Fowler said, citing the impact a river port in Cairo would have to the entire region.

The enthusiasm for the project, which proposes building on 160 acres along the Mississippi River, is real. But, the big question is financing. Fowler said an initial investment of $1 million is needed for soft money, to pay for legal fees, permits and surveys before any real development can start. The states nearly two-year budget impasse has made things hard, but not impossible.

Theres some other resources that we might be able to utilize, Fowler said, adding that he believes that once these costs are covered then private sector will jump in.

Masingill came to survey the region and see how his organization, one focused on infrastructure grants for eight states along and just north of the gulf of Mexico, could help.

Right now its about reviewing," he said. "Its about getting a better understanding of what the realities are and then how we can play a role."

Masingill said that the DRA can jump in at many places in a project's life, whether it's at the beginning, providing seed money, or providing bridge funding in the middle stages, and at the end by helping to fund the final project.

Masingill said the project is of special significance to the DRA because of its ties to the Mississippi River, a commonality amongst many of the states and counties it serves. He said it is vital to the region that the river be capitalized on.

That river is a major economic artery for the entire region, Masingill said.

Nobody said any of this would be easy.

We didnt get here overnight and were not going to get out of it overnight, Masingill said.

Fowler echoed this, saying nothing happens without a first step.

Its not going to happen overnight, we all know that. But its not going to happen if we dont try, he said.

It takes some seeing to envision Fowlers dream, but hes not alone in seeing it. Larry Klein, Cairo Public Utility general manager, said he knows the potential of his town but said it can be a hard sell.

What have we got to offer? Nothing, accept a geographical location and hopefully some good people, Klein said.

Knowing Cairos challenges, he said economic development is the only way to turn Cairo around. He has seen it decline in his more than five decades in the city and hopes he can be one to help put it on the right path.

My hopes are my kids  can one day say, Well my dad helped maybe get Cairo a leg up, Klein said.

He said finding a way to keep young people around is key, and he hopes this river port will do that with entry-level jobs that can build to career positions. Without something like this, he said the citys future is grim.

Thats the only way a town could thrive is the have young people in it, Klein said, likening it to a church that doesnt court families. When the babies quit crying, your church is generation or two away from extinction."

Coleman said meetings, like the one Monday, are the start of his prayers being answered. He said while hes seen many people come to town with big dreams and big promises, the interest Fowler is showing feels substantial. He said today, the future of Cairo is starting to look brighter.

I cant see anything but better days ahead, Coleman said.
SPRINGFIELD  Pat Quinn, who after four decades in politics and government service stepped into governor's office when his predecessor was ousted for corruption, returned to the state Capitol Monday to unveil his formal portrait.

The 68-year-old Democrat donated to the Hall of Governors its first "interactive" painting, with illustrations of significant people and events from his past which visitors can research later at home or on the spot with a smartphone.

The painting features Quinn, wearing his "lucky" purple-striped tie, standing in front of a background of 44 "found items" representing key people, issues and events from four decades of public work. It was created by Illinois artist William Chambers, who also created the images of Republican Govs. James Thompson and Jim Edgar.

"As we look at all these portraits of men who were elected to lead the state of Illinois, it's important to remember all of the men and women whose votes brought them into office," Quinn said. "We hope to remind visitors that, in a democracy, the highest office is the office of citizen, and that all of us have a responsibility to participate in our government."

Quinn, who conducted his own private fundraising campaign to finance the painting, served from January 2009, after ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached for corruption and ejected from office, until 2015.

One of the found items in the painting is a photo of Quinn signing legislation for an advisory ballot referendum on a minimum-wage increase while surrounded by supporters, many of them racial or ethnic minorities. Quinn noted the photo is the first to appear in a portrait in the Hall of Governors, covering 197 years of executive leadership. Those in the photo with him stood to applause when he introduced them.

There's a wedding-day photo of his father, Patrick, and mother, Eileen, whom the ex-governor pointed out was born before women's suffrage. But most of the items recall milestones in Quinn's public life, including his advocacy for Illinois military families, his work on a $31 billion capital construction program just after he took office during a deep recession, expansion of the earned income tax credit for low-income working families, and his signing same-sex marriage into law.

Each is explained on the "Governor Quinn Portrait " website. With the Thyng app, pointing a smartphone at the portrait will automatically launch a video describing some of the items.

The 41st governor's portrait joins 39 others in the north wing of the Capitol's second floor. Absent is that of No. 40, Blagojevich. In 2010, as governor, Quinn signed legislation barring the use of tax dollars to subsidize the portrait of any governor removed from office.

Public money had traditionally been used to help finance portraits. The last one hung, that of Republican George Ryan  who also spent time in federal prison for corruption but was not convicted until after leaving office  cost $15,000.

Quinn lost a bid for re-election in 2014 to incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Orangeburg County officials on Monday celebrated the persistence that allowed for the construction of an improved Interstate 95 interchange, saying the work will lead to new development.

"Big stuff takes a long time," Orangeburg County Development Commission Chairman Kenneth Middleton said. "Youve got to continue to grind and grind and grind until it comes forward."

"Today's event is the aftermath of a whole lot of days in the trenches," Middleton said. "When you are grinding it out, it does not feel very good, but when you are able to stand at the podium today and see success, you want to go back home and say what are we going to do next?"

The newly revamped Interstate 95-U.S. Highway 301 interchange opened to traffic in February. Officials gathered Monday to cut the ribbon on the U.S. 301 extension to Old Number Six Highway, the final piece of the project.

Officials say the $45 million interchange project will help draw development to the Global Logistics Triangle, which is the name Orangeburg County uses to market the area bordered by I-26, I-95 and U.S. 301.

The interchange and connector road are expected to handle increased traffic volumes from commercial and industrial development.

Middleton said the county is poised for great things and there are great things in the pipeline.

A person at a very high level has informed Middleton that youve got some things coming that you will be very proud of and that it will be almost like a BMW in your area.

"The world is coming. We will be ready."

Sixth District Congressman James Clyburn described the exchange as part of a larger effort to improve the area for development.

When he first entered Congress in 1993, Clyburn sat down with the chair of the S.C. Department of Commerce and discussed the area bordered by U.S. 301, I-95 and I-26, he said.

"He said to me there are significant infrastructure issues that must be addressed successfully if you want to get things done," Clyburn said.

Clyburn said he sat down with Johnnie Wright, who is now chairman of Orangeburg County Council, and tried to find out how they could bring infrastructure to the area.

The Lake Marion Regional Water Agency was born.

The agency provides more than 8 million gallons of treated water per day to Orangeburg, Calhoun and Dorchester counties, as well as the town of Santee. The LMRWA is a collaborative effort among the Army Corps of Engineers, Santee Cooper, local governments and area businesses.

Clyburn said the community and its leaders had a vision and stuck with it. He said the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency gave birth to the Volvo plant that is being developed in Berkeley County.

The state was within days of losing Volvo to Georgia, but then officials began to look around for a water source, Clyburn said.

"If we had given up on the Lake Marion water system, if we had walked away when others did, we would not be on the eve of celebrating one of the biggest economic development industries to come into this area in decades," he said.

Clyburn said as long as individuals here have the guts, the I-95 interchange can experience growth like the Interstate 85 interchange in the Upstate.

OCDC Executive Director Gregg Robinson said Mondays ribbon-cutting marks a new day in Orangeburg County and is the development of a vision from long ago.

"We stand here today ready now to recruit those companies and create those jobs in an area that desperately needs it in a state that is on the move, Robinson said.

Orangeburg County Councilman Johnny Ravenell said teamwork lead to Mondays success.

"If we were not together, this project would not have happened. When you look at Orangeburg County, if we stay together to do everything, we can to be prosperous, he said.

Ravenell thanked voters for approving the 1 percent capital project sales tax, which helps fund infrastructure and recreational projects.

Preliminary work started at the interchange in August 2013 and a formal groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2014.

The project was scheduled to be complete by Oct. 18, 2015, but officials said that months flooding delayed the project. Last years Hurricane Matthew delayed the project as well.

Because the project was done in a design-build format, the contractor has been responsible for any delays or added costs.

The interchange upgrade was funded by the Lower Savannah Council of Governments, $17.2 million; a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grant, $12.1 million; federal earmarks, $11.2 million, and $500,000 in local funding from the Orangeburg County Transportation Committee.

Jafza South Carolina donated about 43 acres of its land to help facilitate the construction of the interchange.

The project was constructed by McCarthy Construction and designed by Civil Engineering Consulting Services out of Columbia.
Mark London, MD, and Jackson Ewart, MD, have joined world-renowned surgeon Dr. John Ross at the Regional Medical Centers Dialysis Access Institute.

Ross established the DAI when he joined RMC in 2011, and the free-standing, 16,000-square-foot facility was completed in 2013. The DAI serves end-stage renal (kidney) disease patients whose access to the bloodstream for dialysis needs to be established or has been compromised. The team completes more than 4,000 dialysis-access procedures each year.

London, a native of Australia, joins the DAI from Warren General Hospital in Warren, Pennsylvania, where he was a general surgeon specializing in dialysis access, advanced laparoscopic, minor thoracic, vascular, endoscopic and all general surgery procedures. He is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery.

London received his medical degree from St. Matthews University in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. He completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Chicago and a residency in internal medicine at Michael Reese Hospital/University of Illinois College of Medicine, also in Chicago.

Ewart brings more than 30 years of experience in providing dialysis access to the DAI team. Prior to joining RMC, Ewart worked with Low County Surgical Associates in Georgetown. He is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Ewart received his undergraduate degree from Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He completed an internship at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Ewart also completed an internship and residency at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia.

The Dialysis Access Institute houses four advanced surgical suites. DAI also provides extensive teaching capabilities both on-site and via live video streaming. Ross is considered one of the world's experts in dialysis access procedures and is a pioneer in the field of dialysis access placement and management. Physicians from throughout the world visit RMC to be trained in these procedures.

For more information about the Dialysis Access Institute at RMC, call (803) 395-2145 (toll free in S.C. 1-800-476-3377, ext. 2145).
Never mind that at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the president of the United States recently delivered what former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson described as "arguably the most hate-filled presidential communication in modern history."

Nor that Donald J. Trump's old pals on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" are suggesting that the great man shows signs of senile dementia and needs a neurological workup.

Gee, no kidding.

Never mind, too, that Alabama Republican congressman Mo Brooks has suggested (also on MSNBC) that people with pre-existing medical conditions are morally deficient and deserve to pay much higher health insurance premiums than right-living specimens like himself.

It's tempting to observe that when you've said "Alabama Republican congressman," you've said it all.

Even so, like any proper Democrat, I find myself distracted by party infighting. Not that I've ever actually participated in a political campaign. Readers may not be shocked to learn that I normally vote Democratic.

Never mind my misgivings about Sen. Bernie Sanders. When Bernie's right, he's right. He and fellow New England puritan Sen. Elizabeth Warren are certainly correct about the dreadful optics of former President Barack Obama's decision to accept a $400,000 fee for a one-hour speech to a Wall Street bank. Bernie thinks it's "unfortunate," while Warren pronounced herself "troubled."

Actually, it's worse than that. Granted, the investment firm Cantor, Fitzgerald wasn't among the major malefactors in the 2008 financial system collapse, and that it's a health care conference that Obama will be addressing. Given Republican attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I'm confident he'll have something interesting to say.

But ordinary voters aren't going to hear it. What's more easily noticed is the conjunction of "Wall Street" and "$400,000." Many will be tempted to think pretty much what they thought when Hillary Clinton accepted similarly preposterous speaking fees from Goldman Sachs before setting up to run for president as the working family's friend.

To wit, that Lady Bountiful already had more money than she knew what to do with, but no understanding of their everyday lives. I think people were wrong about Hillary's lack of compassion, but it's easy to see how they got the idea. It's the sheer symbolism of the thing.

Despite the fact that the Clintons have donated vast sums to charity, and that Bill Clinton has devoted his post-presidency to downright heroic efforts to alleviate Third World suffering (see Joe Conason's book "Man of the World: The Further Endeavors of Bill Clinton), the message behind those Wall Street paydays proved hard to overcome. (It didn't help that the establishment media has all but refused to cover the Clinton Foundation's charitable enterprises except to hint at scandal where none has been shown to exist.)

And then came "basket of deplorables."

But back to the equally unfortunate symbolism of Obama's $400,000 speaking gig. Yes, Ronald Reagan once earned $2 million in 1989 dollars for a gig in Japan (For which he was bitterly criticized). And yes, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have both cashed in, big time.

Nor do I begrudge former President Barack and first lady Michelle Obama a nickel of their reported $60 million book deals. No more than I resent the outsized riches of Steph Curry or the Rolling Stones. One way or another, I figure they've earned it.

Given their international celebrity and the fact that both Obamas had already written highly successful books, publishers competed to sign them. Ultimately, these are market decisions, paid for by the ticket- and book-buying public. You can read Obama's presidential memoirs or not; it's entirely your call.

But with the Democratic Party struggling to redeem itself in the wake of Hillary Clinton's loss, Obama's Wall Street payday sends exactly the wrong signal at a very bad time. The Washington Post's Greg Sargent writes about focus groups put together by a Democratic-oriented polling firm called Priorities USA.

Researchers talked to two kinds of voters: those who switched from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016; and those who switched from Obama to "did not vote."

"Skepticism about the Democratic Party," Sargent writes, "was echoed rather forcefully in the focus groups that I watched. In one, Obama-Trump voters were asked what Democrats stand for today and gave answers such as these:

'The one percent.'

'The status quo.'

'They're for the party. Themselves and the party.'

One woman, asked whether the Democratic Party is for people like her, flatly declared: 'Nope.'"

Shockingly, twice as many respondents said Democrats' policies favor the rich as said that about Trump and the Republicans. It appears that Trump's relentless vulgarity protects him against the Scrooge McDuck aspects of his personality. He may be a jerk, but such voters don't think he's a snob.

About Wall Street Democrats, they're not so sure.
Some actions by lawmakers do not get a lot of fanfare. There are few critics, many times because the laws do not impact a large number of people. They get little publicity and many people may not even be aware the laws have been approved.

Such is the case with two recent pieces of legislation in South Carolina. To his credit, Gov. Henry McMaster gave a high profile to both with ceremonial signing ceremonies.

McMaster this past week signed a bill authorizing the director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to waive hunting and fishing license fees for anyone under the age of 21 who has been diagnosed with a terminal or life-threatening illness or injury. The person must also be sponsored by the Outdoor Dream Foundation in order to qualify for the waived fees.

The Outdoor Dream Foundation is a 501(c)(3) based in Anderson and it is completely driven by volunteers. It works with sick and injured children from all across the United States and has a close working relationship with three pediatric oncology centers located in South Carolina.

Outdoor Dream Foundation Founder Brad Jones commented on what the change can mean: Were really excited about this. Getting these kids outside aids in the healing process and lets them have a sense of accomplishment.

SCDNR has hosted special hunts for sick children for many years, and the officers involved in the cause say they are happy to see this bill pass.

We support non-profit, charitable organizations like the Outdoor Dream Foundation who offer children with life-threatening illnesses the opportunity to experience hunting and fishing in our state, SCDNR Maj. Jamie Landrum stated. Its a great way for us to give back to the people who support us.

Idea: South Carolina is an outdoors paradise. Beyond the present free hunting and fishing opportunities for young people, lawmakers and state officials should look at further ways to promote more participation. Outdoors enthusiasts are the leading stewards of the land and its resources. Building appreciation at a young age is crucial to the future.

Meanwhile, McMaster on Monday held a ceremonial signing ceremony for a law that is potentially very important to foster children in the state. It authorizes foster parents or other adults responsible for a teen to sign an application for a beginner's drivers permit or license. Previously, only parents or legal guardians could sign, making it nearly impossible for some young people to get licenses.

The governor was joined by DSS Director Susan Alford, DMV Director Kevin Shwedo and foster parents from around the state to celebrate the bill and designate May as Foster Care Awareness Month.

This a terrific example of cabinet agencies working with the General Assembly to pass laws that will truly make a difference in the lives of South Carolinians, McMaster said. Our young people will one day be the leaders of our great state, and the ones who will now have the opportunity to get their drivers license will gain independence and learn responsibility that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

DMV and DSS worked collaboratively with the General Assembly to develop the law and it was passed overwhelmingly before the governor signed it on April 5.

The law may only benefit a portion of the more than 900 children between ages 15-18 in foster care in the state, but for those it does impact, the change is a really big deal.

As DSS Director Alford stated: The passage of S.198 ensures that children in foster care can experience the normal rites of passage that mark their development to adulthood, as well as develop skills critical to independent living.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
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!)
Celebrating Newcomers in May

This May, there are two events for newcomers in Toronto that you won't want to miss!

On Monday, May 15, the third annual Toronto Newcomer Day will take place at Nathan Phillips Square. Between 11:30 am to 3:30 pm, there will be family-friendly activities, showcasing Toronto's diverse communities. Be sure to mark this date on your calendar and come celebrate Toronto Newcomer Day! Everyone is welcome!

Toronto Public Library will be there! Come by and visit our table at the Information Fair or stop by City Hall Branch to register for a library card if you do not have one.



I really like this Toronto Newcomer Day video from last year, everyone shared what they love about Toronto. What do you love about Toronto?

Just shortly after Toronto Newcomer Day, come and visit the TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library for the new and interesting exhibit called "Destination Canada."



Presented in partnership with Passages Canada, the exhibit explores our diverse experiences of migration, arrival and finding a place of belonging in Canada from early settlement to present day. This exhibit will run from May 20 to July 30.

Toronto Public Library also offers a variety of newcomer services. Check out our New to Canada page for more information.

Library Settlement Partnerships is offered at several library branches where settlement workers can help newcomers with their settlement needs. This is funded by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

Be sure to come out for these events!
Kuwait remains committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 in oil & gas sector and in other sectors by 2060, said its foreign minister at the UN climate summit COP27, adding that it had executed several projects to preserve the environment and cut emissions.
First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAEs largest bank and one of the worlds largest financial institutions, has launched its new brand identity today (May 1).



The logo inspired by the combined strengths and ambitions of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and FGB, as well as the UAEs vision for the future, a statement said.



The new brand embodies FABs long-term strategic goals to empower its customers, shareholders, employees and communities to Grow Stronger, through initiating a powerful social movement which goes beyond banking.



This new brand identity reinforces the banks core values of putting customers first, collaboration, trust, empowerment and an enterprising approach to everything it does.



Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of FAB, said: The launch of our new brand marks the culmination of the historic merger between National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and FGB, and reflects the successful union of these two renowned institutions. FAB represents the genesis of a story, built upon our sturdy Abu Dhabi roots and is set to spark a movement dedicated to helping everyone we interact with, to grow stronger. This is an exciting milestone, as we establish a new identity which draws on past achievements, whilst symbolising our vision for the future.



Abdulhamid Saeed, Group CEO of FAB, added: The new brand represents our promise to inspire and help our stakeholders across our global network to grow stronger and deliver top shareholder value, through personalised and market-leading financial solutions and technology that put our customers first. It will also serve as a strong platform for FAB to support the prosperity of the UAE and its global network, as well as our strategic aims to grow locally and internationally, and build on our position as a financial services leader.



The First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) name reflects the two banks deep roots and experience in the region, combining the strong Abu Dhabi and First identities from NBAD and FGB. The bank has adopted the acronym F.A.B in its logo, which also features the well-recognised Awwal brand mark, enlarged to represent growth and leadership.



The blue, red, black and white colour palette represents a bold, crisp aesthetic, which provides a modern, progressive look and feel for the new brand. The brand colours reinforce FABs position as a strong and visible financial institution which is confident in its future. The brand identity is dual language, supporting the banks strategic plans at home and abroad.



Abdulhamid Saeed added: The new branding reflects our aspirations as the UAEs largest bank by total assets worth Dh682 billion ($185.6 billion) and one of the regions dominant banking players by market cap of Dh120 billion. FAB is set to build on our proven track record of strong business performance and loyal customer base, and will leverage synergies across core business groups, create as well as capitalise on new opportunities, and most importantly, meet the evolving needs of our customers.



As part of the brand launch, FAB has developed a strong platform, Grow Stronger, which will support the banks aspirations to ignite a new social movement that supports the growth ambitions of its stakeholders, and goes beyond financial products and services.



FAB is striving to create a community of people who are inspired and empowered to achieve their goals and grow stronger, together.



Abdulhamid Saeed concluded: Grow Stronger is more than just a slogan  its a passionate movement which embodies our values, and our mission to motivate, educate and inspire our customers, at each stage of their lives. Helping our customers to achieve their goals and reach important milestones is at the heart of this movement, which will serve as a catalyst for growth and prosperity. Growth brings strength and strength brings growth  we want our customers to benefit from the movement and Grow Stronger with us.



Customers will be invited to join the movement via a dedicated website, which will be launched in the near future. The website will provide access to expertise, tools, tips and ideas to help customers Grow Stronger.  TradeArabia News Service
Mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity in the Mena region declined in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 recording 84 deals, compared to 115 deals in Q1 of 2016, according to the Q1 2017 M&A report from global professional services firm EY.



However, Mena deal values remained broadly stable reaching $18.2 billion in Q1 2017, compared to $18.4 billion in Q1 2016.



The outbound announced deal value increased substantially by 636 per cent from $1.3 billion in Q1 2016 to $9.3 billion in Q1 2017, the report said.



Furthermore, the announced inbound deal value also rose exponentially from $0.5 billion in Q1 2016 to $5.7 billion in Q1 2017.On the contrary, the announced deal activity value for domestic transactions witnessed a significant decrease of 81 per cent in Q1 2017 compared with Q1 2016. Within the Mena region, the overall top ten deals contributed over 90 per cent to the total deal value registered in the period.



Phil Gandier, Mena Transaction Advisory Services leader, EY, said: As oil prices continue to stabilize, and Government initiatives foster greater economic certainty, Mena executives are feeling more optimistic that the economic conditions are right to return to dealmaking. Consequently the M&A pipeline has never been better - both quality and quantity. Furthermore, we expect the recent reversal of certain austerity measures in the GCC to result in more confidence in dealmaking.



In the region, Saudi Aramcos acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Malaysian state-owned energy company Petronas RAPID project for $7 billion was the largest deal of the quarter. The biggest technology deal of the quarter was the acquisition of Souq.com by Amazon for approximately $650 million. Amazons acquisition of Souq marks the companys first move into serving the Middle East region.



Mena executives expect deal activity to increase



Executives in the region are feeling more positive about the global economy, with 47 per cent expecting deal activity to increase in the next 12 months, according to the latest EY Capital Confidence Barometer (CCB). Furthermore, 41 per cent indicate they have five or more deals in the pipeline, with 54 per cent of Mena companies looking to close deals over the next year.



However, Mena executives expect a slowdown in global trade flows and an increase in protectionism, high fluctuation in currencies and capital markets, and increasing geopolitical uncertainty as significant economic risks. Market fluctuation and lower oil prices have 54 per cent of Mena executives looking at organic opportunities first to meet growth objectives.



Anil Menon, Mena M&A and Equity Capital Markets leader, said: Mena executives consider growing market share as the main strategic driver for pursuing an acquisition. Twenty-four per cent of the CCB respondents place the greatest attention and resources on organic growth as one of the largest capital management issues.



Given the new taxes that the Gulf countries will impose, and the difficulty in bringing skilled labour into the country, many companies are turning to automation. They are not looking to reduce their workforce  16 per cent expect to maintain the current workforce domestically; 20 per cent anticipate doing the same internationally.



The most interesting aspect of the current deal environment is the emergence of the strategic buyer. Whether it's the Tronox Cristal deal, or the Amazon Souq deal, Strategic Buyers, in particular international strategics, doing deals is a strong vote of confidence in the entire M&A ecosystem, Menon added.



Public sector companies and governments are looking at significantly restructuring their portfolio mix as they look to invest in areas beyond healthcare and education. Among Mena countries, the UAEs public finance appears to be faring best. Real estate in particular is flourishing when compared to countries in the region as the UAE prepares for Expo 2020 and beyond. Of the CCB respondents surveyed, 66 per cent have increased the frequency of their portfolio review process to capitalize on disruptive forces.



Improving economic conditions are a contributing factor to the positive outlook of Mena executives. In the public sector, Mena countries are on track in terms of improved GDP growth in 2017. The pipelines remain robust and companies are feeling good about the quality of the deals in the market. We expect to see a significant uptick in deal activity over the next 12 months, concluded Gandier.



IPO activity on the rise in Mena



IPO activity in the region picked up in Q1 2017 with the region raising nine IPOs as compared to two in Q1 2016. However, the capital raised declined by 39 per cent from $0.6 billion in Q1 2016 to $0.4 billion in Q1 2017.



In the private equity space, 13 Sovereign Wealth Funds and Private Equity deals were announced in Q1 2017, with January having the most activity of six deals.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabia's air-conditioning market is expected to grow at the compounded annual growth rate of around 8.7 per cent for the next five years, making it a whopping SR7 billion ($1.86 billion) market by 2017.



According to experts, climate change in the kingdom has raised the attention of many stakeholders as the country is witnessing an upsurge in the demand for air conditioners during the summer season as the temperatures shoot up to as high as 46 deg C or sometimes even higher.



Under such extreme conditions, air conditioners have emerged as a necessity in the nation, and industry reports confirm a robust and growing residential air conditioning market in the coming years.



Saudi Arabia dominates the GCC air-conditioning solutions market. The central and western regions of Saudi Arabia have the highest demand for air conditioners in the country, and their dominance is expected to continue until 2021, according to Saudi Arabia Air Conditioners Market Forecast & Opportunities 2017.



As the summer approaches, conversations about energy consumption and efficiency arise, especially as the climate in the kingdom prompts the search for solutions to alleviate the burden of the extreme heat and to help reduce electricity bills that tend to rise.



Experts pointed out that the continuing growth in infrastructure developments, the industrial and housing sectors are also augmenting the sales of air conditioning systems in Saudi Arabia.



The emphasis on energy efficiency in air-conditioning systems has played a major role in the search for solutions that are more compatible with the kingdom's climate.



Another factor complementing the positive impact on the country's air conditioners market in the coming years is the implementation of the energy efficiency labelling system and standardisation for air-conditioners, they stated.



Considering that the standards of energy efficiency in air conditioners in Saudi Arabia were only modified recently, air conditioning currently consumes about 70 per cent of the total electricity consumption in buildings, which is equivalent to more than two thirds of the electricity consumed in the kingdom.



The specifications have been modified based on the Saudi Organization for Standardization, Metrology and Quality System, the Commercial Fraud Control System, internationally agreed technical standards and procedures that take into account the local conditions of the private sector, said experts.



With this booming market for air-conditioning solutions and with the demand expected to accelerate in the coming years, there is a growing need to find solutions to advance energy saving, reduce energy consumption apart from awareness campaigns that have been sought by many stakeholders in the kingdom, said a leading player in the region LG Electronics.



It was one of the first companies to invest in technology to address environmental and energy issues.



"In an effort to provide residents within Saudi Arabia an optimal air-conditioning solution that saves energy while maintaining cooling performance, we are introducing its latest air conditioners using Dual Inverter technology, stated a company spokesman.



"This new technology helps reduce energy consumption and is the ideal solution for air-cooling, working at temperatures as high as 65 deg C. The solution offers 60 per cent faster cooling with high energy efficiency, providing 53 per cent energy consumption compared to conventional air conditioners," he explained.



"Other key features include: quiet and fast cooling, dual protection filter, automatic cleaning, and smart display which allows users to check the condition of the air conditioner easily," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Municipality has signed agreements with two major real estate developers Emaar and Dubai Properties Group (DPG) to boost co-operation in the field of energy conservation, said a report.



As per the memoranda of understanding (MoUs), the duo will install the energy-efficient LED Dubai Lamp - that saves 90 per cent of electricity bill compared to the conventional lamps due to its life span of 25,000 hours - in all of their upcoming projects, according to state news agency Wam.



The first MoU was signed by Hussain Nasser Lootah, the director-general of Dubai Municipality and Ahmed Al Matrooshi, member of the board of directors at Emaar, while the second one was signed by Khalid Sharif Al Awadhi, the assistant director-general of Dubai Municipality for Environment, Health and Safety Control Sector and Abdulla Mohammed Lahej, the chief executive of DPG.



As per the four-year deal, Dubai Municipality will coordinate with the other parties in installing Dubai Lamp in their buildings and facilities as well as in conducting studies to evaluate the savings achieved through the installation of Dubai lamps in their projects, said the report.



These agreements can be renewed before the end of the term on the basis of official communication between the parties, it stated.



The municipality's Applied Sustainability and Renewable Energy Department has worked on this unique initiative through a partnership between Dubai Municipality and Philips, which is the largest manufacturer of LED lamps, according to Wam.



Paolo Cervini, the president of Philips Lighting, Middle East and Turkey, lauded Emaar and DPG for its collaboration with Dubai Municipality on the Dubai Lamp Initiative.



Philips Lighting will be working with Dubai Municipality to supply two million Dubai Lamps for residential and professional use across the city this year, which is expected to be increased to 10 million lamps by 2021.
Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) said its large-scale housing complex for staff working on Saadiyat Island projects, has been named as best and happiest workers village in the UAE.



The Best and Happiest Workers and Accommodation Village in the UAE award was given to Saadiyat Accommodation Village at a ceremony held during the Labour happiness event in Abu Dhabi.



Fuad Mashal, the chief executive of Al Barakah Holding, the operating company for Saadiyat Accommodation Village, received the top honours in front of a large gathering in Saadiyat Island.



The award comes in recognition for TDICs commitment to the welfare of workers, stated Mashal.



The Abu Dhabi firm has over the years invested in top quality living quarters and sustainable initiatives that enhance the safety, welfare and social wellbeing of residents within the community, he added.



Opened in 2009 on Saadiyat Island, the accommodation village offers an array of social, recreational and educational facilities for its residents, including multilingual libraries, grocery stores, computer rooms with internet access, sporting facilities and a range of additional conveniences.-TradeArabia News Service
For the first time in Bahrain and the Middle East, a revolutionary new technology has been used to save the life of a patient with a critical heart condition.



Earlier this year, a Bahrain-based heart valve team led by cardiologist Dr Hussam Noor implanted an eagerly awaited and newly sized aortic valve into an elderly patient with aortic stenosis. This new heart valve technology is now being used by doctors in Bahrain and will address issues of aortic stenosis across the kingdom, said a statement from Medtronic.



The team involved in the procedure also included Dr Haitham Amin, Dr Sadanada, Dr Habib Al Tarief, Dr Leena Sulaibeekh, Dr Nezar BuKamal and Dr Mohd Amin.

Often affecting the elderly population, aortic stenosis is a common heart problem caused by a narrowing of the hearts aortic valve. When the valve narrows, the heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. Eventually, this causes the heart to weaken and function poorly, which may lead to heart failure and increased risk for sudden cardiac death. Symptoms often include shortness of breath, chest pain and fainting.

The patient, who was originally diagnosed with aortic stenosis in October 2016, suffered from severe chest pain and difficulty in breathing. He had to wait for few months for the new larger valve to be launched in Bahrain before undergoing the procedure, known as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Previously, aortic valves available in Bahrain were too small to treat the 75-year old patient.

Once the patient becomes symptomatic with aortic stenosis, treatment becomes critical, Dr Husam Noor, head of the TAVI Team at Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa Cardiac Centre, explained. This was a concerning time as the patients diseased valve was so big, we had to delay operating and wait for the larger valve to receive its official CE mark and be launched in Bahrain before operating.

Earlier this year, the new 34 mm valve was launched by Medtronic in Bahrain. The valve currently stands as the largest valve available in the healthcare industry to treat severe aortic stenosis patients with large anatomies. As soon as it was available, the diseased aortic heart valve was replaced with the new valve through a minimally invasive procedure, without the need for open-heart surgery.

Speaking on the impact this new valve will have, Dr Husam said: Having this valve available means we can now treat more patients in Bahrain who have larger anatomies. Before this valve was launched, patients with larger anatomies would have had their condition either left untreated which often has fatal consequences or undergo high risk traditional surgical aortic heart valve replacement with its associated morbidity and mortality risks. This large valve segment is estimated to account for approximately a quarter of the eligible TAVI patient population which just shows how much it is needed.

Medtronics CoreValve Evolut R 34 mm valve, the largest sized transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system, is now available in Bahrain and will serve the local community and the surrounding region. - TradeArabia News Service
SR Technics, a leading maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service provider, and flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) recently signed a 12-year Integrated Component Services (ICS) agreement.



The agreement covers the servicing of a total of 45 A321 and 15 A330-300 aircraft, including component maintenance, component pooling and consignment of the main base kit, ensuring flexible access to spare parts, said a statement from the company.



The services will be managed by the SR Technics Centre of Excellence for component maintenance in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which currently serves over 460 aircraft in the Asia Pacific region, it said.



Jaime J Bautista, president and chief operating officer, PAL, said: Safety remains the cornerstone of our operations. As such, we put premium in cultivating relationships with entities like SR Technics to help ensure the reliability of our fleet.



Jeremy Remacha, CEO, said: We are delighted to contribute to the success of PAL, extending our partnership for another 12 years. Our company been expanding its presence in Asia over the past few years, and we are committed to further developing our services on this fast-developing market.



This new agreement demonstrates our world-class quality and reliability, providing our customers with genuine added value. We look forward to supporting PAL for many years to come, he said.



SR Technics has a longstanding relationship with PAL. Last year, the companies signed a five-year engine maintenance contract to support PALs entire fleet of CFM56-5C engines, said a statement.



As part of the agreement, SR Technics and AerFin are providing services to Philippine Airlines under their jointly managed Beyond.Fleet.Services, a product suite which extends the life of maturing fleets and reduces the day-to-day operating costs for engines, airframe and component maintenance, it said.



SR Technics' services cover nose-to-tail, customer proximity and optimized inventory management. The company provides Airbus, Boeing and Embraer operators worldwide with guaranteed 24/7 component availability, combined with high-quality maintenance services and an established worldwide logistics network, it added.  TradeArabia News Service
Infosys, an India-based global leader in consulting, technology and next-generation services, today announced that it plans to hire 10,000 American workers over the next two years.



As part of this initiative, Infosys will open four new Technology and Innovation Hubs across the country focusing on cutting-edge technology areas, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, user experience, emerging digital technologies, cloud, and big data.



These four hubs will not only have technology and innovation focus areas, but will closely serve clients in key industries such as financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, energy and more. The first hub, which will open in Indiana in August 2017, is expected to create 2,000 jobs by 2021 for American workers and will help boost Indiana's economy, the company said.



The move is seen by analysts as a result of the crackdown on H-1B visas by the US government. American market accounted for over 60 per cent of Infosys' $10.2 billion revenue in the 2016-17 fiscal.



Recently the Trump administration had accused Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services of "unfairly" cornering the lion's share of the H-1B work visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system. Every year, the US grants 65,000 H-1B visas while another 20,000 are set aside for those with US advanced degrees.



However, Dr Vishal Sikka, chief executive officer of Infosys, said: "Infosys is committed to hiring 10,000 American technology workers over the next two years to help invent and deliver the digital futures for our clients in the United States.



"Learning and education, along with cultivating top local and global talent, have always been the core of what Infosys brings to clients; it is what makes us a leader in times of great change. In helping our clients improve their businesses and pursue new kinds of opportunities, we are really excited to bring innovation and education in a fundamental and massive way to American workers. New advances in technology - artificial intelligence, in particular - are radically transforming our world, and it is within our reach to learn these new technologies and to be the innovators and entrepreneurs who bring solutions based on these technologies to our clients in all industries."



"It's so good to welcome Infosys to Indiana, and to expand our growing tech ecosystem with the addition of their estimated 2,000 Hoosier jobs," said Indiana Governor Eric J Holcomb . "Indiana continues to put the tools in place, such as the Next Level Trust Fund and incentivising direct flights, that allows us to attract and retain great companies like Infosys. In addition, our higher education institutions are producing a world class workforce, establishing Indiana as the innovation hub of the Midwest. I look forward to working with Infosys to elevate Indiana to the next level."



In filling these jobs, Infosys will hire experienced technology professionals and recent graduates from major universities, and local and community colleges, to create the talent pools for the future. To ensure that American workers are fully equipped to innovate and support clients in the rapid digitisation of all industries and consistent with Infosys' over 35 year-long commitment to the US, the company will institute training programmes in key competencies such as user experience, cloud, artificial intelligence, big data and digital offerings, as well as core technology and computer science skills.



In the last three years, Infosys has set up an innovation hub in Silicon Valley. A unique, open environment that encourages new ways of working, collaborating, thinking and delivering breakthrough next-generation projects to clients.



Infosys pursues its mission of inspiring children, young adults and educators to become creators of technology through its charitable foundation, Infosys Foundation USA. Since 2015, more than 134,000 students, over 2,500 teachers and almost 2,500 schools across America have benefited from high quality computer science training and classroom equipment funded by Infosys Foundation USA. The foundation also partners with organisations such as Code.org, CSTA and others to advance the skills development of millions of students, it said. - TradeArabia News Service
Luxury Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil announces a new addition to its series of music special edition timepieces, which celebrate influential and iconic musicians, with the launch of the Buddy Holly maestro watch.

Recent partnerships with The Beatles and Frank Sinatra cement the brands continued commitment and credentials as supporters of the music industry and charities, said the Swiss group in a statement.

Designed in collaboration with Maria Elena Holly, the limited edition maestro pays tribute to legendary musician Buddy Holly, who is recognized as the pioneer of Rock n Roll and who influenced and inspired so many artists, including; The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Elton John.

Raymond Weil has designed a truly unique Buddy Holly watch with distinctive features and references to the artist. The 39.5 mm maestro has a polished stainless steel maestro case houses an automatic mechanical movement RW4250 with a 38 hour power and polished stainless steel bracelet.

The silver galvanic dial has highlights of pale blue (Buddys favourite colour) encircling the rim, and on the secondary second sub dial, which also wears a miniature pair of glasses (the iconic emblem of the musician) on the sweep of the second hand.

The oversized number 9, featured as a reference to Buddys lucky number, is balanced by the date dial at the 3 oclock, said the statement.

Holly was born in Lubbock, Texas on September 7, 1936 and this limited edition maestro watch pays tribute to the 80th anniversary of his birth.

A contribution from each watch sold will be donated to the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, a charity set up to provide music education and opportunities to young people worldwide.

The Foundation also lauded BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, the steward of Buddys intellectual property rights, for its assistance in the project.-TradeArabia News Service
The US is trying to push through a multi-billion dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia ahead of US President Donald Trumps visit to capital Riyadh, according to a report.

The President is set to visit the Vatican, Israel and Saudi Arabia this month, as part of his maiden international trip.

Trump's administration is keen to repair the relationship with the regional power following tensions caused by the Obama administrations nuclear deal with Iran, reported The Independent.

The arms sales contracts are likely to comprise Lockheed Martin program packages with a Terminal Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system worth $1bn, a C2BMC software system, and a package with satellite capabilities, it stated.

Provided by BAE Systems, a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and an M109 artillery vehicle are also under consideration as part of the deal.

In addition, a $11.5 billion package made up of four multi-mission surface combatant ships, which had been approved by the US state department in 2015 but never made it to final contract, will also be revisited, the report added.
Boeing and the US Air Force recently demonstrated that multiple aircraft and ground stations can efficiently and securely communicate using the Boeing-developed Talon HATE airborne networking system.



During flight testing at Nellis Air Force Base, Talon HATE pods on two F-15C aircraft enabled test pilots to share information through the militarys Link 16, Common Data Link and Wideband Global SATCOM satellites.



The tests also validated intra-flight datalink network capabilities used by F-22 aircraft.



Pilots using the system can transmit information quickly between the F-15C and other Air Force aircraft and weapon systems, enabling efficient information sharing in real time.



Weve completed developmental flight test, said Lt Col Christopher Bradley, Air Force Talon HATE manager. We look forward to fielding this system, not only to immediately provide aircrews with actionable information faster and at a higher quality, but also to help the Air Force learn important lessons for the employment of tactical gateway systems in the future.



This aerial network is a giant leap forward in tactical fighter capability with real-time connectivity and expanded information sharing, said Paul Geery, vice president, Phantom Works Mission Solutions and Boeings Talon HATE program manager.



We are now demonstrating secure datalink connections between F-15Cs and F-22s in a way that integrates information for the pilot into a common operating picture.



Boeing will conduct additional tests later this year with advanced sensors, which will offer improved aircraft targeting capabilities.  TradeArabia News Service
Ford has recently rebranded its aftersales maintenance packages as Ford Protect to better describe the all-encompassing nature of offerings to customers.



All new Ford owners are offered this Extended Service Plan (ESP), said a company statement.



Uniquely, ESP is a service and maintenance contract 100 per cent backed by the Ford Motor Company, something that no other automotive manufacturer offers, and guarantees repairs are made with genuine Ford parts by factory-trained and certified technicians, it said.



Coverage is even 100 per cent transferrable, which may increase the resale value of the car, it said.



In essence, Fords comprehensive Extended Service Plan takes the anxieties out of vehicle ownership by providing peace of mind as it covers a spectrum of manufacturer-recommended maintenance services, including normal wear items, said the statement.



Its comforting to know that your new Ford is well protected. And when you buy a new Ford in the Middle East, it comes standard with a three-year/60,000 km Ford warranty. Sometimes youd like a little extra peace of mind, though, wanting to protect yourself from unexpected vehicle repair costs; thats where ESP comes in, with more than 1,000 components and associated labour covered under the PremiumCare plan, it said



And every customer is different; some may work their powertrain harder than others, some may push the limits of mechanical products and decide to play it safe with an extended premium care package  good for eight years or 300,000 km depending on the package selected, Ford said.



In the Middle East, Premium Maintenance is the best seller. That covers all recommended and required maintenances. Thats everything in the book! In comparison to some of Fords biggest competitors in certain segments  who offer little more than two years of oil changes  you cant get better, it said.



For instance, if you buy a big Expedition with heated and cooled seats, underneath that seat, theres a filter that has to be changed every 60,000 km (before it starts to biodegrade); Ford covers that. Anything from a big filter to a little filter, to an oil filter or oil change, to a tyre rotation  whatevers in your maintenance schedule that is required to be replaced. It might start with a tyre rotation at 10,000 km, a pollen filter at 30,000 km; and end at 160,000 km with your automatic transmission fluid. Its all covered by Ford Protect, the company added.



On top of that, Ford offers wear coverage on parts through its Ford Protect Premium Maintenance plans. Wear items are those that effectively wear out, like brakes  which arent covered by the factory after the first year  clutch, shock absorbers, belts and hoses, spark plugs, and windshield wiper blades (which can get torn or melt).



Most service contracts on the market from other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are backed by a third-party insurance company, which means the coverage isnt an exact mirror of the factory, said Evan Hubenka, business manager of Ford Protect, Ford Middle East and Africa. But when a customer is registered into Fords system, they get factory-like coverage for the term they have selected.



Hubenka continued: Whats even more unique about Ford Protect is that the contract is so complete, it lists only whats not actually covered  which makes for much lighter reading. If its not on that list, its a covered component. So its an exclusionary contract, which is one of the only ones youre likely to see on the market. Theres no deductible, like youd find with many competitors.



Additionally, Ford will give a customer a rental vehicle for up to 10 days (per repair) during the repair of the vehicle, when its held overnight or the vehicle is inoperable.  TradeArabia News Service




Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider, today announced the launch of OpenLab Dubai, the companys first, to serve customers and partners in the Middle East.



Huawei plans to add seven new OpenLabs across the world in 2017, and in the next three years will invest $200 million and appoint nearly 1,000 people globally, bringing the total number of OpenLabs to 20 by the year 2019, the company said.



OpenLab Dubai is committed to providing innovative solutions for IoT, cloud computing, large data, intelligent analysis, eLTE, converged communications and other new technologies to build public safety, smart city, oil and gas solutions, and has attracted YITU, Zenith, Walkbase, 7G , IOmniscient, Nedap, Richfit and more than 20 other partners.



With the "Platform + Ecosystem, accelerate the Middle East digital transformation of the industry", OpenLab Dubai brings together partners and customers from around the world to discuss the importance of collaboration in the development of a local digital ecosystem.



At the launch ceremony, Fan Siyong, president of public sector, Huawei, said: The digital transformation is causing disruption across every industry. Huawei has established OpenLabs across the world with the theme "platform + ecosystem", and is committed to working with global multi-specialty and industry partners to build customer-centric, innovative industry solutions to promote digital transformation and promote ecosystem development through the creation of an 'open, flexible and safe platform that fully supports the ecosystem. Huawei is committed to helping governments and enterprises in the Middle East to rely on new ICT technology and applications to maintain steady growth, achieve excellence and enhance the competitiveness of the ICT industry in the region. Huaweis OpenLab Dubai was built based on local market demands, talents, and technologies, and will focus on cooperation between enterprises, services, partners and customers in Middle East.



"The special climate, resources, culture and industry in the Middle East pose different challenges compared to other regions," said Xijiang Lin, director of Middle East Solution Development Center, Huawei EBG.



OpenLab Dubai will aggregate the world's best resources to meet local digital transformation needs, and continuously enhance the ICT platform capabilities and development of local ecosystems. OpenLab Dubai is focused on building capabilities to easily apply technical solutions in the actual network environment; developing competitive, commercially viable and industry-oriented solutions; empowering innovation capabilities, rapid response to market demand; achieving industrial chain value aggregation and a customer/partner/vendor win-win-win situation.



OpenLab Dubai has been jointly launched with more than 30 solutions and over 20 partners in Public Safety, Smart city and Digital Oil & Gas. It gives customers a hands-on experience in these areas.



Public safety sector: Based on Huaweis strong infrastructure of wireless network, eLTE-LiTRA, cloud computing, large data technology integration, Dubai OpenLab is working with YITU, Zenith and other partners, for face and license plate recognition, population density analysis, public opinion analysis solutions, working towards creating a harmonious and safe social environment



Smart City: Huawei combines low-power, wide-coverage NB-IoT / eLTE-IoT, Smart Gateway, cloud computing and large data, working with Honeywell, Nedap, Johnson Controls, and other partners. Huawei is also working with Esri in data management to jointly build intelligent parking, intelligent buildings, smart meters, intelligent lights and many other smart solutions.



Oil and Gas: Huawei will combine 4G wireless broadband network eLTE with Honeywell and Emerson's various oilfield sensing devices to provide digital field-wide connection solutions to solve real-time communication problems in oil fields, help oilfield visualization production, improve oil recovery and reduce security risks.



As part of Huawei's commitment to innovation, OpenLab Dubai will be connected to Huawei's global OpenLab network, to promote new business models, market demand and technical solutions for the exchange.

Russell Hammad, CEO , Zenith; Mohamed Hassan, wireless business development manager, Honeywell; Alaa ElShimy, managing director and vice president, Huawei Enterprise Business Middle East; Xijiang Lin, director of Middle East Solution Development Center, Huawei EBG; and Dr Adel Bolbol Fernandez, SE & Data Analytics SME, Esri signed strategic cooperation agreements to mark the opening of the Huawei OpenLab Dubai.



At the opening ceremony, Esri, Zenith, Honeywell shared their solutions in public safety, smart city and oil and gas sectors, and their involvement with Huaweis OpenLab Dubai aiming for a successful digital transformation trend.



At the opening, Huawei also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Zenith, eSri, NeA and Smart IOT to establish long-term partnerships aimed at providing customers with industry-leading solutions.  TradeArabia News Service
Qatar-based RasGas, one of the world's premier integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) enterprises has delivered its 2,000th cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas), a report said.



The cargo was lifted by the Kogas vessel, SK Summit, which also carried the first cargo of LNG supplied by RasGas to Korea in August 1999.



We are deeply proud of our longstanding partnership with Kogas, which has been maintained for more than two decades, RasGas chief executive Hamad Mubarak al-Muhannadi was quoted as saying in a Gulf Times report.



Over the last few decades, RasGas and Kogas have been proving the power of harmonious partnership between seller and buyer. I strongly believe that the partnership brought us this achievement today, said Kogas chief executive Seung-Hoon.



This 2,000th cargo delivery does underline the commitment of both our companies to provide customers with flexible, competitive and cleaner energy. Our relationship with Kogas has been mutually beneficial in this respect, but it has also ensured a sustainable energy supply for the people and the economy of Korea, RasGas interim marketing and shipping officer, Ali Khalaf al-Kaabi said.




ABB has won an order worth more than $30 million from Societe nationale d'electricite (SNEL), the national electricity company of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) for a partial upgrade of the Inga-Kolwezi high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission link.



The contract is part of the FRIPT project financed by Glencore and managed by Congo Energy, a subsidiary of Forrest Group International, said a statement from the company.



The link transmits power from the Inga hydropower station on the Congo River to the mining district of Katanga in the south-east of the country. It also exports the excess power to the Southern African Power Pool countries, it said.



The 1,700-km link was built by ABB in 1982 and was, at the time, the worlds longest transmission line. ABB upgraded the link in 2009, installing new thyristor valves, high-voltage apparatus and its MACHTM control and protection system, it added.



ABBs advanced Mach system, supports the companys ABB Ability based digital offering and acts like the brain of the HVDC link  monitoring, controlling and protecting the sophisticated technology in the stations, managing thousands of operations to ensure the reliability of power supply.



ABB has now been entrusted to carry out a refurbishment that will boost transmission capacity, enhance grid reliability, extend life span and ensure the efficient transmission of hydro-electricity across the region.



The retrofit will make it possible to increase transmission capacity from 520 megawatts (MW) to 1000 MW, securing power supplies to the mining region in Katanga and strengthening the power infrastructure in the DRC. ABBs project scope includes system studies, supply of key equipment such as high voltage apparatus and commissioning.



Claudio Facchin, president of ABBs Power Grids division, said: We are pleased to continue our long association with the Inga-Kolwezi HVDC Link and contribute to the strengthening of the DRCs power infrastructure. This upgrade will boost supply of clean hydropower to industrial and domestic customers.



This order reiterates our leading HVDC position, strategic focus on the service business and our growth drive in Africa. It also reinforces our position as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid, he said.



The DRC is the 11th largest country in the world, with a land mass about one-fourth that of the US. It has a population of around 80 million, and one of the lowest rates of electrification in the world, with over 80 per cent of the population still lacking access to electricity, said a statement.



The total installed generation capacity is estimated at around 2,500 MW which is almost completely hydropower. Most of this is allocated to the mining sector, especially in the copper belt, where lack of adequate power is seen as a constraint to growth. Currently, the DRC utilizes just 2 per cent of its estimated 100,000 MW of hydroelectric potential, 40 per cent of which is concentrated at Inga, where the government is boosting capacity, it said.



ABB pioneered HVDC technology more than 60 years ago and has been awarded more than 110 HVDC projects, representing a total installed capacity of more than 120,000 megawatts, accounting for around half the global installed base. The company further developed HVDC in the 1990s by introducing a voltage sourced converter (VSC) solution named HVDC Light and leads the way in this technology as well, having delivered 18 out of 24 VSC HVDC projects commissioned in the world, it added.



The company has operations in 23 African countries and employs about 5,000 people across the continent. As a pioneering technology leader serving utilities, industry and transport and infrastructure customers globally, ABB supports Africas growth with innovative solutions designed to address local challenges, from access to electricity, to industrial development, to sustainable transport.



As part of its commitment to Africa, ABB provides scholarships and internships for talented engineers who need financial support to complete their studies. ABB has annual sales in Africa of around $1.5 billion and manufacturing operations in Egypt and South Africa, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Big data and advances in computing power have transformed the worlds biggest industries, and travel is no exception.



Data analytics has become the strategy of choice for organisations of any size looking to secure competitive differentiation and seek out new revenue opportunities.



New deal sites, last minute offers, the rise of Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) and economic growth in emerging economies have given travellers a much larger choice of destinations when planning their next trip.



As consumers become used to a recommendation-led experience across other industries, their expectations of the travel experience increase. Chatbots and artificial intelligence are just some of the new technologies travel companies are using: Thomas Cook last year began using virtual reality in its marketing to allow travellers to try before [they] fly. There is an ever-greater need for travel companies to employ sophisticated personalisation techniques and intelligent merchandising.



Travel companies must move past getting people from A to B, but think about collecting information to build a 360-degree view of the traveller to create a tailored and memorable experience  right from the moment they are inspired to travel, to the time they return home from their trip.



As Francisco Perez-Lozao Rter, senior vice president, Strategic Growth Businesses at Amadeus said: At every moment in the travellers journey, from the time they make an air booking or search for a train timetable online, to their hotel check in, their actions create data. This data, picked up from hundreds of points across the travel ecosystem, presents a valuable opportunity for travel companies to provide better-individualised services to the traveller and improve his or her experience.



We have entered an age of experimentation where travel companies must test new ideas and take an analytics-enabled approach to innovation. It is no longer enough to continue with the products and services that have been effective so far: innovation requires travel companies to imagine ways to do things differently, or do new things altogether.



In this big data, machine-learning world, almost anything is possible. The rise of data may at first seem unnerving, but it provides the raw material for real innovation. Travel brands must encourage an openness and willingness to use the insights from this and experiment with new ideas and approaches. Disruptive ideas  though some will fail  will define the future travel experience.



Traditional destinations may now find themselves competing for visitors with locations they previously hadnt considered competitors, and Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) are often working harder than ever to encourage arrivals.



DMOs are an important part of the travel industry, helping to shape consumer interest in new and established destinations around the world and taking centre stage in driving economic growth through tourism in their markets.



In 2015, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to global GDP was $2,229.8 billion (3.0 per cent of GDP), and this is forecast to reach $3,469.1 billion (3.4 per cent of total GDP) by 2026. Against this backdrop, DMOs are taking centre stage in driving economic growth through tourism in their markets.



However, they too need to adapt to meet market changes.



Destinations are at the heart of a travel and tourism marketplace that is changing faster than ever, thanks to an increasingly connected global audience, emerging new middle classes and rapidly changing global economics, said Pascal Clement, head of Travel Intelligence at Amadeus. DMOs need the tools that highlight new opportunities as they arise and enable them to shape their strategy even as its in progress  so they can keep up with this pace of change.



The growing sophistication of data analytics and business intelligence offers DMOs an opportunity to engage with travellers in new ways. Although consumers now have seemingly endless destinations to choose from, understanding travel trends and traveller intentions can be critical for DMOs to inspire travellers and increase inbound tourism.



In such a fast-changing environment, DMOs need new approaches to identify and capitalise on opportunities. Its becoming increasingly necessary to be flexible in your strategies, said Steven Valke, Business Intelligence, Marketing at Visit Flanders, a DMO based in Brussels, Belgium. If you look at the wider landscape, factors like environmental issues and even currency changes have an impact on traveller behaviour and demand. Right now, for example, theres a lot of volatility and fluctuation in currency values. DMOs need to be able to adjust quickly to these developments.



Whilst the evolution in traveller behaviour presents challenges for DMOs, there are also significant opportunities on offer. Destinations that can understand todays travellers, predict their behaviour through data, and respond with innovative, effective marketing campaigns, will be well-placed to capitalise on the appetite of an ever-wider range of travel consumers.



As Clement explained: One of the most game-changing aspects of big data is that it enables organisations to look into the future and anticipate the needs of customers. Now, DMOs have unprecedented insight, not only into future arrivals, but also into customers wishes, thanks to analysis of billions of traveller searches. With this information, destinations can tailor their offer in line with demand.



Combining search and booking data with additional third-party data sources, such as weather data, oil price data (which affects air fares), user generated content or currency exchange rates could help further augment a DMOs ability to predict traveller demand.



Data analytics is already transforming business for DMOs. New technologies emerge every day,

helping DMOs understand trends in visitors, forecast behaviour from origin markets, and identify and benchmark their performance versus competitors. Having these insights ensure DMOs can build a comprehensive, strategic plan for growth, optimising their marketing campaigns to reach the right people at the right time. It can also help DMOs measure ROI, a requirement for publicly-funded organisations.



As Jennifer Iduh, Head of Research at the European Travel Commission, said: Some DMOs are making good use of data analytics, while others are merely touching the surface. But we are a very innovative industry. The latest trends show that DMOs are changing. They are spreading out and making use of new technologies. Where in the past they were more like tourist offices, they are adapting to the needs of the industry and using data to become centres of excellence.



This will create innovation opportunities for DMOs in the future. For example, with Big Data

technologies like Hadoop, which can process huge amounts of unstructured data from social media

such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, destinations could identify trends  as they emerge

and develop - in how people feel about the destination, whether potential visitors, current visitors or past visitors.



This kind of sentiment analysis becomes especially powerful when connected with real travel insights, giving destinations a much more effective way of knowing the real cause and effect of both external events and their marketing campaigns, rather than having to take a best guess.



Valke added: The winners will be those who can use data to become proactive, basing decisions on insight rather than external market developments. This will really disrupt the way DMOs work, for the better  today, its typical to develop action plans for the year ahead, but with sophisticated data analytics, DMOs will be much better placed to adapt strategies as-and-when needed, and will benefit from much more flexible decision-making.



The growth of data analytics can be unnerving, but it sets the framework for real innovation. The revolution unleashed by digital will only intensify. DMOs are in the inspiration business, and must prioritise meeting the travellers needs. Technology and data will become more important than ever in helping DMOs connect with and inspire travellers. - TradeArabia News Service
Cyberattacks on the government sector doubled in 2016, hiking to 14 per cent from seven per cent of all cyber security attacks in 2015, according to new research.



Attacks on the finance sector also rose dramatically from just 3 per cent in 2015 to 14 per cent of all attacks in 2016, said Dimension Datas Executives Guide to the NTT Security 2017 Global Threat Intelligence Report.



The manufacturing sector came in at third place at 13 per cent, while the retail sector, which topped the list of all cybersecurity attacks on all sectors in 2015 moved down into fourth place (11 per cent).



The report was compiled from data collected by NTT Security and other NTT operating companies including Dimension Data, from the networks of 10,000 clients across five continents, 3.5 trillion security logs, 6.2 billion attempted attacks, and global honeypots and  sandboxes located in over 100 different countries.



The report pinpoints a number of global geo-political events which could have contributed to the government sector being a cybersecurity attack target. These include:



 the US presidential election campaign

 a new US administration with a more aggressive stance toward China and North Korea

 China adopting a more aggressive policy stance in securing its vital core interests

 US and European Union-led economic sanctions against Russia

 Russian state-sponsored actors continuing cyber operations against Western targets

 growing negative sentiment in the Middle East against the Wests aggression towards Syria



Matthew Gyde, Dimension Datas group executive  Security said, Governments all over the world are constantly under the threat of sophisticated attacks launched by rival nation-states, terrorist groups, hacktivists, and cyber criminals. Thats because government agencies hold vast amounts of sensitive information  from personnel records, budgetary data, and sensitive communications, to intelligence findings. Whats interesting is that this year we saw numerous incidents involving insider threats.



Commenting on the financial services industry, Gyde said the ongoing attacks in the financial services industry is no surprise. These organisations have large amounts of digital assets and sensitive customer data. Gaining access to them enables cybercriminals to monetise personally identifiable information and credit card data in the underground economy.



Other highlights in the report:



 63 per cent of all cyberattacks originated from IP addresses in the US. The US is the predominant location of cloud-hosted infrastructure globally. Threat actors often utilise public cloud to orchestrate attacks due to the low cost and stability of this infrastructure.



 Of the IoT attacks detected in 2016, some 66 per cent were attempting to discover specific devices such as a particular model of video camera, 3 per cent were seeking a web server or other type of server, while 2 per cent were attempting to attack a database.



 The top cybersecurity threats facing digital businesses are phishing, social engineering, and ransomware; business email compromise; IoT and distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks; and attacks targeting end-users.  TradeArabia News Service
Salini Impregilo, an Italian specialist in the construction and civil engineering business, has won a SR1.1-billion ($293 million) contract from Saudi-based Al Khozama Management Company for the redevelopment of its ambitious Al Faisaliah District in capital Riyadh.

As per the agreement, Salini Impregilo will upgrade Al Khozama's retail, hospitality and commercial assets commencing with the renewal of the iconic Al Faisaliah Mall.



A leading developer and manager of luxury, hospitality, retail and commercial properties in the kingdom, Al Khozama Management Company said this announcement marks another strategic step forward for realising its renewed vision to be the leading thinker, developer, creator and manager of luxury properties in Saudi Arabia and beyond.



Designed by award-winning architects Gensler, the redevelopment plans for the mall promises a larger and richer luxury shopping experience adding over 16,000 sq m of hitech, contemporary and interactive retail spaces for shoppers and tenants alike, said the Saudi developer.



The Al Faisaliah District Redevelopment Project kicks off with a SR200-million ($53.2 million) refurbishment of the renowned Al Faisaliah Mall, home to some of the worlds leading designer brands, it stated.



The remaining SR900-million ($240 million) will be purposed to demolish the adjacent Seyahiah and Al Khozama Centre buildings paving the way for the construction of the malls new luxury extension, the new modern lavish five-star Al Khozama Hotel and generous intelligent subterranean parking systems, it added.



On the project revamp, Abdulaziz S Al Habib, the president and CEO of Al Khozama Management Company, said: "We are very excited to begin this substantial redevelopment project with the introduction of the innovative designs of the new Al Faisaliah Mall to the Riyadh retail landscape."



He pointed out that the new Al Faisaliah District Redevelopment designs offer a fresh perspective on the future of retail, hospitality and lifestyle experiences,



Reflecting the worlds highest architectural standards and lifestyle trends, the new Al Faisaliah Mall extension will create the longest street retail facade in Riyadh and together with the new five-star Al Khozama Hotel will ensure the strongest presence on Olaya Road within the central business district, stated Al Habib.



"Al Faisaliah Mall has been and remains the beacon of the kingdoms retail industrys modernisation, bringing exclusive, luxury and premium global brands under one roof, and creating an unprecedented retail experience in the kingdom," he remarked.



The new Al Faisaliah Mall will see a significant overhaul and expansion of the current malls internal and external space, it added.



The Saudi developer said the project will be remodelled and upgraded over phases spanning a 16-month time period. Renovations will start at the malls Olaya Road entrance and a gradual demolition of the Seyahiah building on Olaya Road will also take place.



On the contract win, Pietro Salini, CEO of Salini Impregilo, said: "Our aspiration as a global organisation is to develop projects that serve as a catalyst for growth in their respective communities and contribute to the economic and social development of those communities."



"The Al Faisaliah Mall renovation and the overall Al Faisaliah District Redevelopment project is representative of the kind of projects that inspire our continued passion for excellence," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabias General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) has awarded the contract to operate the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah to Singapores Changi Airport Group for up to 20 years, a report said.



The statement from the kingdoms aviation authority did not provide any details other than that the selection was made after an evaluation of bids, the Reuters report said.



The Saudi Arabian airport is also home to the worlds fourth largest terminal in the world: the Hajj terminal, a whopping 510,000 sq m in size.
Luxury hospitality brand Shaza Hotels has appointed the new members to its managerial team across Oman and Saudi Arabia.



Sherief Abouelmagd joins the group as cluster general manager of Oman, a role that will see him take responsibility for both Mysk Muscat and Shaza Salalah with the entire teams of both hotels reporting to him.



An American national of Egyptian origin, Abouelmagd has nearly 30 years of quality hotel experience from the US, Middle East, and other parts of the GCC. Some of the key positions he has held over the course of his career are at the Cairo Marriott Palace Hotel, the Melia Hotels across Egypt and Doha and in both city hotels and resorts. Shaza will this year be inaugurating a Mysk in Muscat and a Shaza Resort in Salalah.



Mohammed Ghanem has been appointed as the general manager of Shaza Makkah. Hailing from Jordan and holding a diploma in Hospitality Management, Ghanem brings with him 20 years of quality experience in the hospitality industry. Of these two decades, his most recent years had him concentrate predominantly on the Makkah market. He has previously worked with the InterContinental Hotels and more recently with the Marriott Group.



Shaza Makkah is situated a small stroll away from the Holy Mosque and the beating heart of the city and the entire Islamic world. The lyrical rapture of the call to prayer within earshot, the hotel is close enough to feel the pulse of the haram, yet just far enough to provide calm and serenity to replenish the pilgrim. Shaza Makkah will witness a soft opening on November 1.



Shafik Alaaeddine has been named the general manager of Mysk by Shaza, Al Mouj in Muscat, Oman. He returns to the Shaza family after a gap of three years, having worked earlier with Shaza Al Madinah as executive assistant manager. A Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality Management and Alumni of Starwood Leaders Program, Alaaeddine brings with him 12 years of quality experience in the hospitality industry, having recently held the position of hotel manager with Starwood Hotel & Resorts  Le Meridien, Gabon.



Mysk by Shaza Al Mouj will witness a soft opening on August 15.



With the imminent opening of Shaza Makkah, Amjad Irshaidat has been promoted to the post of country general manager for Saudi Arabia. He first joined the Shaza family in 2010 for the opening of Shaza Al Madinah, and has been part of the family since.



Set within the illuminating city, Shaza Al Madinah basks in the shadow of the haram. With minarets peeking through the vista, the aura of the haram is everywhere to be seen and felt. Shaza Al Madinah is the intimate and discreetly luxurious choice of the culturally refined. - TradeArabia News Service
SalamAir, Omans first budget airline, sealed multiple partnerships with leading regional and international companies for general sales, car rental and distribution services at Arabian Travel Market (ATM).



The agreements will collectively support and reinforce the new budget airlines dynamic growth and development strategy in the region.



Al Tayyar Travel Group in Saudi Arabia, Sharaf Travel in the UAE and Gerrys Travel in Pakistan have joined the airlines roster of general sales agents. In addition, the fast-growing airline has initiated talks with potential partners in new markets.



Speaking at ATM, the leading global event for the Middle East inbound and outbound travel industry, SalamAir CEO Francois Bouteiller said: This marked our first participation at ATM and the agreements signed clearly demonstrated to the global travel industry how we are redefining the budget airline sector with a unique approach that focuses on offering choice and value added services to guests both on-ground and on-board.



He added, As we serve the increasing demand for tourism, leisure and business travel in the region, we are proud to be playing a role in the Sultanates burgeoning tourism and hospitality sector. In doing so, SalamAir is contributing to the nations future progress and prosperity, spurring investment and generating a range of opportunities for employment and business creation.



SalamAir now flies daily from Muscat and Salalah to Dubai and Jeddah, as well as thrice weekly to Madinah. The budget airline has also set plans to introduce services to Taif in Ramadan and expand its network to Pakistan with the addition of flights to Sialkot, Multan and Karachi.



Flights can be booked online through the airlines easy to use website: www.salamair.com. All routes offer a choice of three easy fare options: Light, Friendly & Flexi. Delivering on its promise of offering value for money and choice, a cost-conscious menu of additional services is also available to guests, which includes extra luggage allowance, seat selection, and priority check-in. - TradeArabia News Service


The Mercure Grand Hotel Doha City Centre, Qatar recently appointed Sebastien Vincent as its new general manager.



Born in Strasbourg, Vincent graduated from the School of Tourism and Hotel Management in Strasbourg, France, and in 1994 started his career in the food & beverage field as a chef.



He joined AccorHotels in 2002 as executive chef of the Novotel Al Dana Resort, Bahrain and has continued to grow throughout his 14 years seniority in Accorhotels properties.



He has undergone the AccorHotels International Hospitality Management Program - Promotion 2010, a fast-track career progression for future leaders.



Vincent has accumulated 23 years of experience in the hospitality management industry in nine countries, including extensive experience in the Middle East, Indian Ocean, Europe and Asia. As a leader, he is focused on core values and to be inspirational to his associates by sharing his accumulated expertise in various departments.



Prior to joining Mercure Grand Hotel Doha City Centre, Vincent held a position of cluster general manager in Oman during his four years at the ibis Muscat and recently opened the Mercure Sohar.



In Doha, he will be responsible for overseeing the operations at the 175 roomed hotel including extensive Food & Beverage facilities, pool and meeting rooms as well as maximizing revenue and profitability. - TradeArabia News Service


The Etihad Aviation Group Board of Directors today appointed Ray Gammell as interim Group CEO, and confirmed that James Hogan, current President and Group CEO, will leave the company on July 1.



Consistent with the companys leadership transition plan, Gammell will assume full management responsibilities from today. Gammell is Etihad Aviation Groups current chief people and performance officer and has been a member of the executive leadership since joining the business in 2009, where he has led the creation of a performance culture across the group.



A parallel handover will occur as Ricky Thirion assumes full responsibilities of the Group CFO from James Rigney, who will also leave the company on 1 July 2017. Thirion joined Etihad Airways in 2007 and is the current senior vice president Group Treasurer.



Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei, chairman of the Board of the Etihad Aviation Group, said: Ray and Ricky are experienced leaders and have the complete confidence of the Board. Ray will now take full management responsibility for the Etihad Aviation Group, ensure a coordinated group approach, and continue to advance the strategic review that was initiated by the Board in 2016 to reposition the business for continued development in what we anticipate being a prolonged period of challenges for global aviation.



We have strengthened our group leadership with recent appointments and are now in the advanced stages of recruitment for a new Group CEO. The Board has been very pleased with the calibre of candidates, and we expect to make an announcement in the next few weeks.



Ray Gammell was appointed as interim group chief executive officer of Etihad Airways Group in May 2017 from his position of group chief people and performance officer.



He joined Etihad in 2009 as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, developing and leading the companys people strategy to create a performance driven culture, enabling the growth of the business and positioning Etihad as one of the most attractive employers globally and in EMEA.



Gammell has been responsible for driving the award-winning Emiratisation strategy contributing to the total Emirati workforce of over 3,000 which is the largest nationality among the 154 nationalities at Etihad Aviation Group.



Gammell has 20 plus years leadership experience, gained internationally across the technology, financial and government sectors. He has held executive positions for the Intel Corporation in the US and Ireland, Royal Bank of Scotland, and was an officer in the Irish Armed Forces. He has been a chief officer at Etihad Airways for over eight years.



Ray is a chartered fellow at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and holds a Masters Degree from University College Dublin.



Ricky Thirion has overseen the Group Treasury of Etihad since July 2007. His areas of responsibility cover the treasury, corporate and structured finance, tax, insurance, payment solutions and fraud management, as well as the property and infrastructure portfolio.



Prior to Etihad, Ricky held roles as group treasurer at South African Airways and managing director in the Standard Bank Group.



Thirion holds a Masters Degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering and is an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK). - TradeArabia News Service


Solar power advocates say a 250-megawatt renewable-energy facility could be in place in time for the late-2019 closure of the Navajo Generating Station, if permitting and construction began right away.

But thats too soon for the Navajo and Hopi, who hold hope that the coal-fired power plant in Page  and its close to 1,000 mining and plant jobs, most held by tribal members  will be around well beyond 2019.

Between the mine and NGS we have over 3,000 indirect jobs, said Meghan Cox, a spokeswoman for the Navajo Nation. A solar field wont come even close to that.

Bullish solar advocates are quick to point to a January report from the Department of Energy that said more than 370,000 people were employed in solar in 2016 compared to around 160,000 in coal.

But those jobs arent exactly sustainable. Jessie Audette Muniz, senior director of project development for Apex Clean Energy, said that construction of a solar plant would employ about 750, but operation would only take about 45 workers.

Its a function of this type of technology, she said.

She said the plant would generate revenue through lease payments on the land needed for a solar field and have a low resource impact in an area thats been severely impacted by coal generation.

A 250-megawatt plant capable of producing 500 gigawatt hours of energy a year would generate land-lease payments of $500 to $600 per acre per year, Muniz said, which could total about $1.1 million a year.

She said it would take about $325 million to build a solar plant of that capacity  and 10 such fields would be necessary to meet the generation capacity that would be lost if NGS shuts down.

Muniz said Salt River Project, which operates and partly owns the plant, has interest in renewables. It recently said it would purchase power from NextEras planned 20-megawatt-capable solar plant with 10 megawatts of storage in Pinal County  a format Muniz said would be likely for a solar plant in Page in order to ensure consistent power is available, addressing a frequent criticism of solar fields.

An SRP spokesman said the utility is in talks with the Interior Department on the future of the land on which NGS sits, though he emphasized that the company would not be involved in any operations there after 2019.

The land that NGS sits on may be attractive for future solar development, said Scott Harelson of SRP. We will fully support the Navajo Nation if they should choose another operator for the plant or a transition to renewable energy at the site.  We could consider purchasing energy from any new facility at NGS in the future if the price is similar to other resources available on the market.

But he said solar would be unlikely to fully replace the power generated by NGS, as coal-fired plants produce around the clock, whereas solar is limited by literal outside factors  sunshine.

Cox said the Navajo have not rejected solar, but the tribe wants to consider other options, including a 10-year extension on the NGS lease so the tribe can examine other revenue streams and power options. That would include getting access to transmission lines needed to sell power generated there.

Cox said over $180 million is tied to salaries related to NGS and the Kayenta mine that supplies it with coal.

We have retained energy experts to specifically work on those plans, she said. As far as anything concrete, thats up in the air. It depends on what the federal government allows. But discussions include major a solar field in the Page area. Its part of the long-term plan.

Its still not an ideal replacement, one official said.

The bottom line is, we can definitely install a solar plant in Page and connect it to the grid, Jackson Brossy, executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, said in an email. We would love to do so, and we would love to sell solar electricity to Arizona, California and Nevada customers.

However it is nearly impossible to replace the 3,000 NGS-related jobs with 3,000 solar-related jobs  not to mention the tens of millions of dollars from coal revenue, Brossy said.

A solar facility in Page, even one big enough to match the wattage lost by the NGS closure, is certainly doable, said Kris Mayes, a professor of utility law and energy policy at Arizona State University and a former chair of the Arizona Corporation Commission.

I would hope that the states utilities would do everything in their power to allow the Navajo Nation to develop renewable energy as a potential replacement to NGS if its closed, she said.

Mayes agreed that solar doesnt employ nearly as many in the long run as a coal-fired plant, but said clean energy is still a worthy goal.

Building renewable energy, helping the Navajo and Hopi nations build and operate renewable energy is only the first step, she said. The state of Arizona is obligated to do much, much more than that to replace those jobs. Thats going to go beyond the energy field.
PHOENIX  Arizona is on the verge of authorizing its farmers to start growing hemp.

But how quickly fields of the relative of the better-known marijuana plant will start springing up around the state remains unclear.

Without dissent the House gave preliminary approval Monday to SB 1337, which directs the state Department of Agriculture to start issuing licenses for the growing of industrial hemp. That is essentially a type of marijuana, but with a concentration of tetrahydrocannibinol, the psychoactive element of marijuana, of not more than 0.3 percent.

Put in more basic terms, Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, said even if someone got their hands on the stuff and smoked it, all theyd get is a bad headache.

His goal is to allow farmers to grow what he sees could be a good cash crop, with hemp useful for everything from fibers for clothing to oils.

As approved earlier this year by the Senate, the legislation would have given the go-ahead regardless of the fact that the federal government still treats hemp as a variant of marijuana. Borrelli said the state should not wait for federal approval.

Once again, we have another regulatory agency telling us what we can grow, he said.

Anyway, he said, since the Department of Justice appears uninterested in pursuing those who grow marijuana legally in states where thats allowed, it would be a contradiction for the federal government to take a harsher approach over the growing of hemp.

That logic, however, proved unacceptable to prosecutors.

So Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Payson, added language Monday to say the state cant issue hemp-growing licenses to anyone unless and until hemp production is legalized at the federal level.

But there is a window of sorts: A farmer who first gets approval from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration can get a state license. And there are some options there.

A 2014 federal law allows universities and state departments of agriculture to begin cultivating industrial hemp in certain circumstances, including research. Some states already are moving in that direction.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports 16 states have legalized hemp production for commercial purposes, with another 20 having laws allowing research and pilot programs. NCSL reports that some are in compliance with federal laws that already allow research; some of the laws are conditional on changes in federal laws.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer, who opposed Borrellis initial legislation, said the version approved by the House is more acceptable. She said there now appear to be sufficient regulatory and testing requirements to ensure that what the state is legalizing does not become an excuse for farmers to start growing fields of marijuana and claiming it is hemp.

While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, the state Department of Health Services does issue licenses to cultivate medical marijuana. Those, however, are subject to strict regulations.
The cost of battling the Mulberry Fire southeast of Tucson so far is $700,000, and it remained at 1,755 acres, state authorities said Monday.

Two houses and two other structures were destroyed in the blaze, said Tiffany Davila, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

The fire, which began Saturday afternoon 8 miles southeast of Vail, is burning grass and brush and is 80 percent contained, Davila said.

The Pima County Sheriffs Department is the investigating agency, and the cause of the fire is undetermined and remains under investigation, said Deputy Ryan Inglett, a sheriffs spokesman.

One of the homes destroyed belonged to Betty Ecret. Family members of Ecret, who was out of town when the fire tore through her home, contacted the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross on her behalf, said Mike Sagara, a spokesman for the organization.

Ecret was flying back, and Red Cross officials had not spoken to her, Sagara said late Monday. They expected to speak with her Tuesday, he said.

A Gofundme page was set up Sunday evening to help raise money to clear the land and begin rebuilding.

Officials do not have a monetary damage estimate on the two houses or other structural destruction, said Davila.

Tucson Electric Power Co. replaced four power poles and was expecting to work overnight to replace four more poles, said Joe Barrios, a TEP spokesman.

Two-dozen customers were without service, but crews hoped to have power restored to all customers by Tuesday morning, said Barrios. Rocky terrain was making it difficult for the crews to gain access to all the poles, he said.

Between 150 to 200 firefighters will continue working Tuesday to secure the perimeter and monitor for hotspots, said Davila. She said staff is expected to be reduced on Tuesday.

Weather is helping us a lot, said Davila. The cooler temperatures are playing a big factor on this fire, she said.

A 30 percent chance of rain is predicted on Tuesday, and wind gusts have lessened since the weekend, said Davila.

The fire is expected to be contained by this weekend, officials said.

An evacuation order for residents was in place but has been lifted.
The USS Gabrielle Giffords, an Independence-class littoral combat class warship, left Mobile, Alabama, from Austal's ship manufacturing facility Monday.

Named for Tucson's Giffords, the ship will be commissioned, June 10, in Galveston,Texas, according to Austral USA, the ship's manufacturer. It was christened in June 13, 2015.

#USSGabrielleGiffords (#LCS 10) sailed away from Austal's ship manufacturing facility today. She'll be commissioned, Jun 10, in Galveston,TX pic.twitter.com/9LjEa3zwJd  Austal USA (@Austal_USA) May 8, 2017

The 421-foot-long Giffords will be the ninth in a series of high-speed vessels designed to navigate in shallow coastal regions known as littoral waters. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has cited the $12.4 billion spent for 26 littoral combat ships as the worst example of wasteful Pentagon spending.

The ships name also has been a target for conservatives who see it as promoting stricter gun laws, a cause Giffords has promoted. Some critics lampooned the ship as being gun-free, a bit of parody and fake news that was debunked on snopes.com.

The Navy said it chose to name the ship in honor of Giffords because of the perseverance she showed after the shooting.

Courage comes in many, many forms  physical, mental, spiritual and political. Gabby has truly modeled courage and resilience, Vice Adm. Philip Cullom said at the christening ceremony.

Constructed from aluminum and featuring a distinctive trimaran design, the Giffords is armed with missiles, machine guns and fast-firing weapons designed to hit a variety of targets. Its normal crew of 40 sailors and officers can be supplemented as needed for missions.

A sister ship of the Giffords, the USS Montgomery, sustained hull damage in October while navigating the Panama Canal. The same ship was damaged in a collision with a tugboat weeks before.
A Tucson couple accused of operating a prostitution ring in Tucson for more than four years were unable to reach a plea agreement during a settlement conference in court Monday.

Clarissa Lopez and Ulises Ruiz were charged with multiple felonies in February 2016 in connection with the By Spanish prostitution ring, that had locations scattered across Tucson until it was shut down during a January 2015 raid.

The couple was indicted on six felony charges each, including illegal control of an enterprise, keeping a house of prostitution, receiving the earnings of a prostitute and money laundering.

Lopez was also charged with an additional two felony counts of pandering, for recruiting women to lead a life of prostitution, court records show.

At the settlement conference in Pima County Superior Court, attorneys for Lopez and Ruiz argued that their clients should be allowed to plead guilty to one undesignated offense each, as opposed to the multiple felony counts theyre facing.

An undesignated offense is treated as a felony, but the court can later enter a ruling to designate it as a misdemeanor, according to Arizona law.

A class six felony is the lowest level one can be charged with. The charges Ruiz and Lopez are facing are all class three or class five felonies.

Pima County Prosecutor Bruce Chalk said he was not interested in an undesignated offense plea and was ready to proceed to trial.

Lopezs attorney, Cornelia Honchar, argued that the Tucson Police Departments investigation was sloppy and a cover your a-- operation once law enforcement officers were found to have been involved.

Honchar also reiterated that none of the men identified as customers were charged with any crimes and argued that the charges against her client were excessive, as its a misdemeanor for men to pay for sex.

Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell asked why Lopez and Ruiz should be allowed to plead to the open-ended offenses, to which Honchar replied that they deserve a fresh start.

Assistant Public Defender Sean Bruner, who is representing Ruiz, said there was no evidence that his client did anything to merit the charges levied against him.

He said there are no financial records to indicate Ruiz was involved in money laundering, saying that the county Attorneys Office was trying to pull him in because hes the boyfriend.

Bruner argued that Ruiz has no criminal history, despite the fact that he was convicted of disorderly conduct in November in connection with assaulting a neighbor who was taking pictures of the alleged brothel.

Ruizs only connection to By Spanish was that he answered the phone once or twice, Bruner said.

However, from 2011 to 2015, while By Spanish was allegedly operating, Ruiz and Lopez had no documented source of income but were able to purchase a home, two cars and two businesses  a pet store and a hair salon, Chalk said.

The county Attorneys Office has receipts for over $200,000 in purchases and a huge amount of that cash can be directly attributed to Ruiz, Chalk told the court.

Lopez and Ruiz, who were seated in the court gallery, remained silent throughout the proceedings, giving no indication whether theyd be willing to plead guilty to a felony charge.

The couple are due back in court May 17 for a status conference, at which time they can submit a change of plea if theyre ready, Fell said.
Help India!

TCN News

With the basic objective of to establish closer interaction between the Government and the Muslim Community on issues of larger national interest which has been highlighted by the slogans like Sab ka Sath Sab ka Vikas and Meri Sarkar Sabki Sarkar, a delegation from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Support TwoCircles



Delegation of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind led by Maulana Qari Mohammad Usman Mansurpuri, President Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind met Prime Minister Narendra Modi today at his residence in New Delhi.

The delegation discussed with the PM several issues including the current communal situation of the country.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Qari Usman and its General secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani while spoke to media after conclusion of the meeting. JUH said that meeting was satisfactory and positive.

Maulana Mahmood Madani said, PM heard us passionately and agreed with our concerns.

He said, PM also appreciated our stand that the divorce was internal issue of the Muslim community and the community itself should take reformative steps.

The meeting between prime minister and JUH leaders was mainly focused for opening the door of mutual communication and closer understanding that would lead to further opportunities.

According to Madani, PM Modi was apprehensive about growing hatred in the name of cow protection and he assured that he would not let this trend prosper.

While notifying Narendra Modi about the cow vigilance and related terrorism, the delegation said, Your recent reprimand to private groups taking law in their hands and launching murderous attacks for salvaging cows has sent the correct message but much has to be done by law enforcing agencies and the state administration.

The recent incidents of manslaughter on the pretext of cow slaughter have sent shock waves of terror and fear through Muslim, Dalit and the weakest sections of the society. We are afraid that the fear and despondence if unchecked could prove highly counterproductive, said the letter handed out to Modi.

Although JUH seemed happy the Modi praised Islam and Sufism, as it said, We are happy to note that in the context of tarnishing the image of Islam and Muslim globally you made the Indian Muslim communities hold their head high by projecting Indian Muslim communitys ideology of peaceful Islam with reference to Indias tradition of Islamic Sufism and their aversion to extremist ideology.

Muslim community has issues and grievances just like any other community which have to be dealt with as per the exigency but this shouldnt undermine their aspiration to be equal stake holder.

The delegation requested Narendra Modi to create mechanism for access to him or his appointee for continuing dialogue and closer understanding so that Muslim community is assured of its role and share in the development of our country.
Help India!

New Delhi, (IANS): Keen to improve BJPs reach among Muslims in view of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a meeting was held here on Tuesday in which the partys Muslim leaders urged the backward sections of the community to take advantage of the governments pro-poor initiatives.

The meeting, organised under the banner of Bharatiya Mulim Pichada Varg Mahasammelan, was addressed by leaders including former MP Sabir Ali, who had left the Janata Dal-United to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Minorities Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Support TwoCircles



Ali, the main organiser of the event, said that Muslims were keen to take advantage of the development initiatives of the NDA government and were not willing to be treated as vote banks by political parties.

We need to introspect seriously. Its been 70 years since the country got independence but the condition of Muslims still remains the same. The person who used weave clothes or apply punctures, their families are still in the same trade. We should take advantage of Modi governments pro-poor policies, he said.

Ali said Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas was not a mere slogan of the government and there was no discrimination in implementation of various government schemes.

He said they will reach out to Muslim community and make them aware about the initiatives of the government including in areas of boosting entreprenuership and skills.

Naqvi, in his speech, said Congress had done did little for the Muslim community in its long rule and accused it of practising an appeasement policy.

During the Congress rule, the benefits of schemes for minorities were derived by a section and it did not reach the masses. Now the schemes are reaching the poor and the needy including those belonging to the minority community, he said.

He said NDA government had started several schemes for the minority community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during the BJP national executive meeting at Bhubaneswar in April this year had said that there were backward and marginalised sections among Muslims the government must address their concerns.

Modi had asked the party leaders and workers to hold district-level meetings over the issues of backward Muslims and women.

BJP sources said that it was the first ocassion when Ali and Naqvi had come together on a public platform. Naqvi had opposed Alis entry into BJP the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Ali was inducted into the party in 2015 ahead of Bihar assembly polls.
Help India!

By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter

A ministerial-level delegation led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will meet MHRD and UGC authorities seeking steps to set up a higher secondary school with the Aligarh Muslim University Malappuram centre. The decision was taken at a meeting held at Speaker P Sreeramakrishnans chamber in Thiruvananthapuram.

Support TwoCircles



The meeting was convened by the speaker to discuss the development woes of AMU Malappuram centre. The move is aimed at increasing the representation of Keralite students in the centre.

Once AMU schools become functional, students from Kerala will be given more chances. As per the present rules, 50% of the total seats in graduation and post graduation programmes of AMU and its centres is reserved for pass outs of AMU school, said centre director K M Abdul Rasheed.

Presently, 20% students are from Kerala as per figures with authorities. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, Education Minister C Raveendranath and AMU vice chancellor will accompany the chief minister.

Apart from Chief Minister and speaker, Minister for Local Administration K T Jaleel, Minister for Education C Raveendranath, P K Kunhalikutty MP and Manjalamkuzhy Ali MLA also attended the meeting.
The American businessman and billionaire George Soros was in Italy to speak with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in a secret meeting that happened on the first days of May.

Asked about the reason for the encounter, Mr Gentiloni confirmed it (which strangely haven't been announced through the official channels of the government), but he didn't say what they talked about.

Alitalia or NGO?

Someone thought the theme was Alitalia, the Italian flight company near to failure and a few weeks ago saved by the State, which now wants to find an investor to whom sell it.

Others suggested they could have spoken about NGO: Mr Soros financed a lot of organisations and apparently some of them are being investigated by Italian prosecutor's officers because of their relationship with traffickers that carried migrants from North Africa to Europe (the situation is still disastrous).

Even if the European co-director of Mr Soros' foundation, Jordy Vaquer, denied relations with those NGO that are operating between Libya and Sicily in search-and-rescue operations, there are some unclear financing among the known money movement.

Soros' interest on refugees

It's true that, according to some files on the activities of Soros' Open Society Foundation, leaked and published in 2016, the only three Italian organisations directly financed by Mr Soros are: "Urpe", which promotes Rom culture, "Arcigay" which is interested in LGBT themes, and "21 Luglio", which put together activists paying attention to human rights and to wellness of the children.

However, there are collaborations, according to Mr Vaquer, with other Italian associations: "A buon diritto", interested in human rights, "Carta di Roma", which deals with correct information on migration, and "Asgi", involved in migrations' rights. Also, Mrs Maria Grazia Bruzzone observed in the Italian newspaper "La Stampa" (quoting a French post by Lucien Pons) that Soros' foundation gave around 50 thousand dollars to "Italiani Alternativi", that it is not a single group, but a label under which various organisations that give voice to "migrants and young people" are listed in.

After all, one of the aims of the Foundation is clear and declared: make the European people favourable toward the fall of the borders and the coming of the migrants.

Call for transparency on the meeting

Despite the absence of a direct intervention on the migration phenomenon from North Africa to Europe, Soros could have interests in the welcoming of refugees in the country.

So, some Italian politicians and members of Parliament called for transparency on the reason for the meeting.

Mrs Angela Mauro suggested in the "Huffington Post" that the Italian PM could have organised it, looking for some investors, after a decrease of capital in the country in the last 9 months of 2016 (around 100 billion dollars fewer). The hospitality of refugees could be a great card to persuade Soros to bet on Belpaese.
#British Psychological Societys (BPS) new President Nicola Gale of City University London began her one-year term during the societys annual general meeting held on the sidelines of the 2017 BPS Annual Conference on May 3-5 in Brighton.

Gale served the British Psychological Society in several roles including as Chair of the Representative Council, the Division of Counselling Psychology and various working groups, as well as member of the Professional Practice Board and representative on the Ethics Committee.

An academician in City University Londons Department of Psychology, Gale is a senior lecturer on the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology programme focusing on professional standards of practice in psychology, clinical practice and supervision, diversity issues, equality and inclusion.

Apart from her responsibilities with the British Psychological Society, Gale was clinical lead and head of service for an occupational health psychology service in the National Health Service. She has a background in human resources development as well as organisational development and training. Gale also served in professional services as a management consultant and as an accountant.

Gale to focus on inclusion

Gale said she felt honoured for her election as President of the BPS which she said has a long history as the professional body for the practice and science of psychology.

It is the mission of the BPS that people know themselves and others better and be equipped with the day-to-day psychological knowledge and skills in facing life challenges, she further said.

Gale also reiterated the British Psychological Societys particular focus in the coming year on inclusion, investing in future generations and developing and disseminating evidence-based psychology relevant to today's public policy.

The new BPS President also pledged to work on these issues over the coming year with communities across the UK, Europe and also the rest of the world with support from the organisation's office bearers and staff.

Gale was the BPS President-Elect in 2016-2017. She is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the BPS and Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Registered Psychologist.

Kate Bullen elected as incoming President

Meanwhile, Head of the University of Brightons School of Applied Social Science Professor Kate Bullen has been elected as incoming President for 2018-2019 and will serve as President-Elect for a year while Gale is President.
Among the many great qualities that the British as a nation have shown through centuries of adversity, it is the ability that when our backs are against the wall, we summon up the Bulldog-Spirit and come out fighting we are most proud of.

Try telling that to the upper echelons of the current Labour Party at the moment, as the collective response would be to bluff and bluster as the Shadow Home Secretary seems to do whenever questioned. Smile, as Corbyn does when the Party Leader is asked anything of substance, or show that you are still a back-bencher at heart when you, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, starts showing admiration for the theories of Karl Marx.

Karl Marx! Who's he?

For anyone who is unsure, Karl Marx was a middle-class, revolutionary socialist, who spent most of his life living in the East End of London after being made stateless by his Prussian homeland. Writing Das Capital - not to be read by anyone mildly suicidal - he expounded the Chaos-Theory of social change, which became the doctrine of the many parties who tried to change Russia before the Bolsheviks eventually did in 1917.

Of course, this is the basis of the many parties who have tried to change the World ever since. Along with his partner Freidrich Engels, they expounded the belief that change would only come when the masses had risen up and thrown off the yolk of capitalism.

With such an idea, if worked into an act and toured the Music Halls, would they have become the Morecambe and Wise of their day?

The curse of the Sunday interview?

John McDonnell appeared on Sunday TV yesterday morning promising a number of bizarre offerings from the Labour goodie-bag. Firstly, that those earning above 80K per annum should by expected to be taxed more once he is in Downing Street; by exactly how much?.

Well, who knows? Secondly, that both he and Mr Corbyn would remain in power, no matter the extent of Labour's defeat, and thirdly, that the world could learn a lot from the doctrines of that master of the one-liner, Karl Marx. Of course, all the time ignoring that the party had just lost 380 seats in the local council elections.

A little later he was followed by Emily Thornberry, prominent Labour front bencher, on another program, whose main contribution was that people will vote for Theresa May, because she has, 'nice hair, ' or they like her 'shade of blue,' and that the electorate is allowing shallow choices to influence their decisions. She, of course, agreed with her 'would be' Chancellor, that there was no doubt that Labour would win in 4 weeks time, as there was no credible alternative.

Well good for them! The very thought of having a Marxist leaning Chancellor of the Exchequer, who would rail against private enterprise, private ownership, personal thinking, and instating punitive taxes for all, must have gained at least some support from those who are posting their ballots from North Korea...
Jeremy Corbyn, currently having every word that comes out of his mouth analysed by the political minds of Britain as he leads the Labour Partys campaign towards next months surprise general election, has today insinuated that, if elected, he will lead Britain in a stance against NATOs request that the UK send more soldiers to the frontlines of the conflict in Afghanistan.

I want to see a peace settlement in Afghanistan, says Corbyn

According to Corbyn, speaking to a crowd of reporters, this would not help any part in fixing the conflict. The speech came after Corbyn christened the Labour Partys General Election campaign bus.

He said his desire is to see a peace settlement in Afghanistan, and reminded voters that he was against the deployment of troops in the first place in Afghanistan.

He said that a much better strategy to resolving the conflict in Afghanistan  much, much better, since sending more troops wouldnt do any good whatsoever, at least in Corbyns eyes  would be to look at promoting political stability in Afghanistan. However, Corbyn did promise to review the request from NATO if and when it came through under his potential government in the near future.

Does Corbyn think British soldiers are destabilising the political system of Afghanistan?

When one of the journalists Corbyn was speaking to asked him if he believed the UK troops presence in Afghanistan had undermined the countrys political stability, he said that our troops have suffered a great deal in Afghanistan, and that the ones he has spoken to about their experiences have been through awful, awful situations there. He added that they share his view that we should be aspiring to a secure political solution in Afghanistan, which isnt going to happen if British troops are deployed there, because at the end of the day, wars are not solved by the presence of foreign troops.

Corbyn outlined that what I believe (because what he believes is important because we have to decide if he gets to run the country and therefore make these decisions, so his beliefs are very important) is that wars are instead solved by political solutions.

Corbyn might be staying on as Labour leader if he loses the election

Yesterday, Corbyn pledged that he would be carrying on as the leader of the Labour Party, even if it loses the general election on 8 June (it looms!).

However, today, he refused to say anything further on such a matter, leaving it up in the air as to whether or not he will indeed be keeping his position in the face of possible failure.

Corbyn might not have been talking about what he would do if he fails because he wants to stand boldly in the face of the election and not even consider the possibility of losing it in order to show off his confidence to voters.

One of Corbyns aides must have told him that talking so decisively about what he plans to do if he loses the election shows a lack of faith in his partys chances in the election, so when he was asked about it today, hed all of a sudden changed his tune: I think well win this election. Thats the only question. Then an aide (quite possibly the same, aforementioned aide who told him about the publicity problems involved with contemplating an election loss) jumped in and quickly said, Moving on... to deter the journalists.

It was awkward.

Also, Corbyn shot down the notion that voters who usually vote Labour should feel this election out and vote instead for parties like the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party in an effort to bring down the Conservative majority and save the government from the bad guys, which has been coined the PC name, a progressive alliance. Corbyn said I want people all over the country to have the chance to vote Labour, which theyve got. He wants people to vote for the Labour candidates all over the country, and for the policies well bring forward, which will change this country, which will produce more opportunity, more equality, wherever you are.
Earlier today, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn launched his partys General Election campaign bus by giving a speech to a pack of journalists. Ever since, the press community have been speaking out with their thoughts on the speech. Corbyn and current Prime Minister Theresa May have come under particular scrutiny in the British media recently as they have emerged as the frontrunners in the election  its basically between the two of them; no other party has a chance of winning, making this a much tenser and more focused election race already, especially since the damn thing is coming up so soon!

ITVs Daniel Hewitt accuses Corbyn of doubling down on his core vote

Daniel Hewitt, a political correspondent for ITV News, tweeted a list of boilerplate, anti-1% phrases that Corbyn uses  Many not the few, us v them, rich against the rest, greedy bankers, tax cheats, press barons  before concluding that Corbyn is doubling down on his core vote as a campaign strategy.

Jennifer Williams from the Manchester Evening News tweeted Corbyns speech was in no way designed to win over Tory voters or potential Tory voters, as he should be trying to do in order to get the majority vote and therefore the government, and instead the speech simply spoke to the core Labour electorate.

Sam Coates of the Times tweeted that the speech was focused too much on areas of overlap with Ed Miliband...rather than areas of difference. James Tapsfield from the Daily Mail sent out his own tweet in response to Corbyns speech, saying it confirms Corbyns ambitions are entirely within Labours core support. But this is essential, since Labour are losing support with Corbyns controversial ideas, which some Labour figureheads have been publicly disagreeing with.
In the next ten years, climate change will not only affect everything from your sex drive to your worsening allergies, it is now going to make the turbulence on your next flight bumpier! Research suggests that in the second half of this century air travelers will experience greater incidences of turbulence especially on routes between North American and European countries.

Airlines should pay emissions fee

Last year, the European Union (EU) tried to have all airlines that were flying into and out of EU airports pay an emissions fee via a carbon-trading agreement. That attempt nearly caused a trade war.

It was then put on hold for a year in order to avoid any major problems with intercontinental flights.

Clear-air turbulence (CAT) is what we are subjected to when climate change begins to strengthen. According to Dr. Paul Williams of the University of Reading, a stronger jet stream means more clear-air turbulence.

Clear-air turbulence is the most common

Apparently, clear-air is the most common type of turbulence, and can sometimes cause in-flight injuries. Research conducted by Williams proved the severity of all turbulence increases with a warming climate. Severe turbulence on an Aeroflot flight recently injured at least 27 passengers, however, this is not the usual case. During winter months is when you generally get your bumpiest flights.

Airline industry emits loads of C02

As ironic as this may seem, think of all the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses the airline industry emits every single day, which, of course, contributes heavily to climate change that contributes to the worsening of turbulence. According to Williams, the rise of injuries due to a shaky flight started as early as the 1980's, adding that the evidence they've been collecting needs to be looked at more carefully.

Frequently traveled routes

Frequently traveled routes between Europe and North America are a cause for concern due to the movement of the jet stream being closer to both the north and south poles. Based on the current travel routes, climate change has the potential to impact thousands of flights a day. With increased shaking in airplane cabins airliners will most likely try to avoid known problem areas. This will result in the necessity to increase their fuel intake, making trips longer, more expensive and contributing even more to greenhouse gas emissions.
Florida's high heroin-related deaths have continued to skyrocket out of control, prompting the Governor to declare a public-health emergency. However, while the governor considers a bill to fight the epidemic, advocates from the public health department said it will only worsen the situation. The governor's bill will mandate the minimum amount of drugs dispensed to each individual rather than increasing prevention awareness and treatments.

State overburdened with burial assistance requests

According to a new report by the Medical Examiner's Office, Fentanyl deaths jumped to 135 percent.

This is 410 more than the same period of 2016. Additionally, when compared to the first half of last year, the report indicated that heroin deaths had also risen by 25 percent. Last Wednesday, Florida's Governor Rick Scott declared that the state has been struggling with a Drug overdose problem. Florida's opioid epidemic is now a Public Health Emergency.

The governor had allowed state officials to tap into grant money of more than $54 million to help curtail the problem. The US Department of Health and Human Services reported that more families are asking for burial assistance due to the increase in drug overdose deaths. The announcement was made after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report that shows the national average of each state's drug-related deaths.

Reportedly, Florida's Surgeon General Celeste Philip had approved the distribution of Naloxone. The anti-overdose drug, when administered by first responders, would effectively reverse the effects of a lethal drug overdose. The governor's spokeswoman Kerry Wyland said the opioid problem has been on the radar as the state's death toll continues to rise at an alarming rate.

Florida's Governor slowly responds to drug epidemic

Florida received federal funding to help fight its drug epidemic on April 21. However, this was done after state officials traveled throughout the region and collected input from several communities. Executive Director Mark Fontaine of the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, said the heightened drug epidemic started about four years ago.

The non-profit organization spokesperson added that the Governor had finally responded to the cries of numerous parents, who have witnessed many friends and family succumb to drug overdose.

Reportedly, the Governor came under immense pressure from lawmakers and other state officials admonishing him to take a more serious approach towards dealing with the deadly epidemic. Republican Senator Jack Latvala said Governor Scott should be commended for finally making this important decision, although it took a while for him to implement the effective protocols necessary to eliminate the problem.
There is yet one more question that #Democrats and the majority of American citizens want answered: Why, if #President Trump was aware that national security adviser #Michael Flynn had lied to his White House colleagues (and therefore stood as a vulnerable target to Russian decoys) did he not fire him at once?

This enigmatic question has floated in the air for many months and yet America still feels that it doesn't have an #adequate answer. All the newspaper columns, inches of online news space and op-eds in the world don't seem to give the country the answer that it deserves, or indeed, the feeling of an adequate conclusion to a surprising and perplexing development in the capital's seat of power.

On Monday, during acting attorney general #Sally Yates's testimony, the mystery merely deepened as the questions about #Michael Flynn's delayed resignation still lay unanswered, an enigma that taunts and teases.

Yates's testimony read like a dramatic episode from a political thriller  House of Cards perhaps, or maybe even All the Presidents Men  as she told of her frazzled and hectic rushing  on exactly the 26th of January  to caution the newfangled #White House counsel that, surprisingly, the national security advisor Flynn may possibly be a compromised target of #Russian interference and corruption. This, she said, since he had lied both in public and in private about his connections and communications with Russian bureaucrats and officials.

And then.

President Trump waited out exactly #18 days to pull the trigger and fire Flynn; this after reports by the Washington Post detailed the information and warnings that the White house had been given on the worrying matter.

And only hours later, White House press spokesperson #Sean Spicer declined to re-litigate the delay of 18 days when he gave his everyday briefing on Monday January 14th at the White House.

There were then a number of elucidations and supposed justifications given by Trump's administrative officials in the following months.

White House's cracked reasoning

The next day following Michael Flynn's firing, Spicer was busy during most of his daily briefing answering those questions that the 18-day delay had inspired.

He recalled being warned by Mrs Yates and described this as merely a 'heads up' and then described how her information was swiftly passed onto President Trump.

#President Trump, according to Spicer, had his own doubts, being of the opinion that the national security advisor hadnt done anything wrong and wanted a review taken out of the whole issue. Spicer relayed this to the press, saying that Trump instinctively thought that General Flynn did not do anything wrong" and that the White House's counsel substantiated that point of view. And he then added that in permitting the legal team at the #White House to review whether there had been a law broken by the national security advisor, immediately the officials determined that there hadn't.

When questioned further about President Trump not acting with more urgency, Spicer chalked this up to Trump giving Flynn a fair right to innocent before proven guilty  or 'due process', in Washington talk.

And then only 48 hours after Spicers January 14th comments, #Trump, questioned about Flynn during a news conference, said that the national security advisor was a fine person but they he himself was not content with the style and tenor in which Flynn had given information to #Vice President Mike Pence. Trump focused on the ethics of the press instead, claiming they had broken libel laws to access records.

Then on February 19 White House chief of staff #Reince Priebus was questioned about the delay in the media and he, like Spicer, also called the Sally Yates message a 'heads-up' that alerting them to the fact that something in the Flynn story wasn't adding up to a full and adequate picture.

Reibus described the conversation as veering into the territory of 'did he lie to us and Pence'; that that's when they asked Flynn to stand down. Reibus thus called the whole process a slow-speed development along the lines of what the White House counsel was simultaneously discovering.

How interesting then, that on March 6th, the #White House explanation had become more concise and more adequate. Flynn had not been straight with the vice president.

He asked him to resign. I think the #president dealt with it. And then another four days alter the press questioned Spicer on ethical standards in the White House and the press secretary didn't mention the 18-day interval. This is when Spicer said that Flynn had betrayed the vice president's trust and was hence let go.
Ever since the early days of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has been the butt of the joke for many comedians. After a month-long break, "Saturday Night Live" returned and made sure to take a stiff shot at the president right out of the gate.

SNL on Trump

Not long after Donald Trump made his presidential announcement offical, it was only a matter of time before comedians took notice and made the billionaire real estate mogul a corner stone of their act. While many have made jokes about the former host of "The Apprentice," none have quite done it like the cast of "Saturday Night Live." After tapping actor Alec Baldwin to play a satirical role of the president, the show quickly received rave reviews and watched their ratings increase in the process.

However, Trump has not been pleased, and lashed out on a weekly basis during the election at both Baldwin and the entire cast of SNL. However, since being sworn into the White House, Trump has been silent with his reaction to the show, though behind the scene reports have claimed the president is not happy with how his administration has been portrayed. After over two months in office, Trump has been surrounded by constant controversy, which was highlighted during the April 8 edition of "Saturday Night Live" on NBC.

Kicking off the show with their cold open, "Saturday Night Live" and Alec Baldwin quickly trolled Donald Trump.

At a mock version of Kentucky town hall meeting, "Trump" made a surprise appearance to brag to those in attendance about his recent meetings with world leaders, as well as his attack on Syria. "What a difference 50 tomahawk missiles can make!" Baldwin's Trump said in reference to the media no longer speaking as much about the Russian scandal.

"You people stay by me no matter what," he went on to say to his supporters at the town hall, noting, "It's like you found a finger in your chili but you still eat the chili."

"You people stay by me no matter what. It's like you found a finger in your chili but you still eat the chili." https://t.co/c9pX24aOl2  Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 9, 2017

After taking a question from a voter in the audience who asked about losing his job in coal, Alec Baldwin fired back "God I love coal!," Baldwin said, "As president I will do everything I can to make sure you work in coal for the rest of your lives." "When it comes to America, men work in two places; coal mines and Goldman Sachs," he continued.

The satirical Donald Trump then took additional questions, all poking fun at the president's recent failures on health care, in-fighting in the Republican party, and Melania Trump not living in the White House.

Next up

As "Saturday Night Live" continues to ride their rating's success against the backlash of Donald Trump, the president has more important things to worry about then those who mock him. With the Russian scandal growing by the day, a potential war with Syria possibly on the horizon, as well as in-fighting in his own administration and the inability to unite the Republican party, Trump is starting off his time in White House with problems that don't seem to be going away anytime soon, with the team at SNL most likely to exploit it all as the weeks and months go on.
"Bachelor in Paradise" stars Jade and Tanner Tolbert revealed the gender of their baby with their fans last week. The reality TV stars were thrilled to announce that they are expecting a Baby Girl. Although the couple is thrilled to have a daughter on the way, Tanner told People that he' going to keep trying for a boy, even if it means having four children.

When is Jade due and what are some of the names they are in mind for Baby Tolbert?

In early March, the "Paradise" stars announced that they were expecting their first child. After revealing the gender of their baby earlier this week, the couple confirmed that their little girl is due September 14.

That means the couple has just four months to prep for their new arrival. And considering they are still in the midst of building their new home, they have a busy few months ahead.

As far as a name for their daughter, that's already been decided. Tanner tells People magazine that have both decided on a name but have yet to reveal what that is. Fans can expect Jade and Tanner to share the name of their baby girl when she arrives in September.

Don't be surprised to see an article in People magazine about the baby name, weight, and arrival time. Jade is currently doing a pregnancy vlog on the magazine's online site, so it's likely they are being compensated for giving the mag an exclusive on not only the gender but the birth details.

Jade and Tanner are a "Bachelor" franchise success story

Jade was a contestant on Chris Soules season of the "The Bachelor." Chris sent her home after hometown dates but maybe that was a good thing considering Prince Farming is in a bit of hot water after leaving the scene of a fatal accident last week.

After her appearance on "The Bachelor," Jade joined the cast of "Bachelor in Paradise" Season 2.

Little did she know she would find love, marriage, and a baby not long after meeting Tanner in "Paradise."

Tanner appeared on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of "The Bachelorette," but it wasn't until he arrived in "Paradise" that the Kansas City resident found the love of his life.

Last year, Jade and Tanner's wedding was televised on ABC's "The Bachelor at 50" special.

They exchanged vows at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in California in front of "Bachelor" alums including Nick Viall, Trista and Ryan Sutter, Chris Soules Andi Dorfman, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Shawn Booth, Ben Higgins, Ashley Iaconetti, Michelle Money, Clare Crawley, and the rosemaster himself, host Chris Harrison.
Kailyn Lowry indulged in some questionable behavior over the weekend and her former husband, Javi Marroquin, has taken notice. Following Lowry's trip to Los Angeles, where the "Teen Mom 2" star attended the MTV Movie & TV Awards, Marroquin spoke to Radar Online about her time in bed with a shirtless man.

According to the report, Lowry, who was seen dancing with a man named Dan during the show, and shared a photo of herself and another man on Snapchat but quickly deleted the controversial photo. As the outlet noted, Lowry received tons of backlash for the photo because she is currently pregnant with the baby of ex-boyfriend Chris Lopez.

Kailyn Lowry confirmed her baby news months ago and revealed she would give birth to her third child sometime this summer. Lowry is also mom to seven-year-old Isaac from her previous relationship with Jo Rivera and three-year-old Lincoln from her marriage to Marroquin.

Javi Marroquin thinks Kailyn Lowry's behavior is 'sad'

Its just sad. It makes me sad for the boys," Marroquin said of Isaac and Lincoln. "I have nothing else to say about her. According to Radar Online, Marroquin also reacted to Lowry's tasteless photo on Twitter by telling fans, Im disgusted.

What does Chris Lopez think of Kailyn Lowry's bed photo with another man?

Although Chris Lopez, the father of Lowry's third child, didn't directly reveal what he was thinking when he saw Lowry's photo of herself and DJ in bed together, Radar Online confirmed that he did tweet to a fan about the pic.

As the outlet explained, Lopez confirmed he was not the man in the photo and later added a tweet, which read, I wanna vent but I know it aint safe."

He later added a second post. I knew I matured when I realized every situation doesnt need a reaction," he disclosed. "Sometimes you just gotta leave people to do the lame s*** they do.

Radar Online didn't receive a response to the backlash from Lowry herself but a source did speak out on her behalf and insisted she and DJ were just hanging out with one another.

As for why the pregnant reality star was in bed, the insider said her feet were swollen.

"DJ was in LA for something else and hung out with [Kailyn Lowry], Amber [Portwood] and Matt [Baier] when he was done, the source said.

Kailyn Lowry will soon be a single mother of three

After Lowry's third child arrives this summer, she will officially be a single mother of three, and in a recent blog post, she vented about the issue, complaining to fans that she will have "no help."
The main source for finding ancient human DNA has been to get it from fossilized bones, despite how scarce they are to find. However, a new technique that was published in the journal Science could change how human DNA is extracted and help scientists reconstruct the history of how humans evolved. Also, an ancient Chinese tomb that was first discovered in 2013, only to have been found recently looted, yielded new discoveries in the form of murals.

Human DNA from dirt

Scientists say that they have found a way to extract small traces of human DNA from dirt in caves that lack any human remains, but have shown signs of human activity.

There are many caves around the world where scientists have found stone tools made by humans, but no bones to study.

The researchers collected 85 sediment samples from seven caves in Europe and Russia that humans were known to have lived in within the last 14,000 to 550,000 years. They used a method that has been refined to detect human DNA, as animal and plant DNA have been extracted using dirt samples in the past. This is done by focusing on mitochondrial DNA, because it is best suited for being able to tell closely related species apart. Then, the damaged molecules are analyzed to separate ancient human DNA from any modern human DNA.

The sediment samples had genetic traces of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA.

This was even the case with samples from Trou Al'Wesse, a cave in Belgium where human bones have never been found. This new method can help scientists learn more about humanity's ancestors, fills in gaps in human history, and increase the number of sites to study in America and around the world.

The tomb with the 'blue monster' mural

In the 1,400-year-old ancient Chinese tomb, located in the city of Xinzhou, researches discovered an array of unique murals that, for the most part, have not been seen in other ancient tombs of the same age. Their findings and images of the tomb were recently published in the journal Chinese Archaeology after being translated to English.

The murals were found in a side corridor during the excavation that the looters missed. The most notable mural is of a "blue monster" that has archaeologists puzzled as to what it could represent. There is also a winged horse and a naked god called the "master of wind" running in the direction of the burial chamber. Along with these, there are also simpler scenes of people hunting, trading horses, and working on a gatehouse.
Abigail Washburn can play folk music in two different countries and languages.

The banjo player and Grammy Award-winner is coming to Chicago for a performance at the Symphony Center on Friday.

She has toured much of the Silk Road in China, performing American and Chinese folk songs to Chinese audiences before, and now, along with her Appalachian music, she is bringing some Chinese folk songs to the American heartland.

"Music renders people's hearts and connects people in profound ways," Washburn said.

Washburn began learning Mandarin Chinese when she was in college in 1995 and takes pride in promoting cross-cultural understanding between China and the US.

Banjo player Abigail Washburn and her husband Bela Fleck. Provided to China Daily

The experience of learning Chinese exposed her to the ancient culture and different ethnic groups in China, Washburn said.

Washburn has lived in China, and in 2008, was a teacher of American folk music at Sichuan University.

In her search for traditional American culture to share with her Chinese friends, she came across the Appalachian music and the banjo.

"Appalachian music traces way back to Scotland and Ireland," she said.

She found a common ground to connect peoples in the two countries.

She learned to play banjo and attributed her success in music to her learning of Chinese.

"For four years when I was learning Chinese, I was repeating syllables and tones. That really helped me to be a musician," Washburn said. "I mean that's what we do in music."

Armed with her banjo and American folk songs, Washburn began to perform in China in 2003 and would go there once or twice a year ever after.

In 2011, with a grant from the US embassy in Beijing, she embarked on a tour with a band that would cover Lanzhou, Hohhot, Urumqi and Lhasa.

"I felt in a sense married to China," Washburn said, laughing.

During the tour, Washburn played at many schools and public venues, many times with local musicians from different ethnic backgrounds on the same stage.

"I probably have done a thousand shows, it's rare that I don't do something in Chinese or sing a Chinese folk song," she said.

"It's really special to see the reaction of the audience to the Chinese material. They really love it. A lot of them don't speak Chinese, and maybe don't even know much about China," she continued, finishing her sentence with the humming of a Chinese song.

Washburn had started performing on the Silk Road before the Belt and Road Initiative, a multinational economic and cultural collaboration along the old Silk Road and beyond, was created by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

"I'd love to be part of the One Belt and One Road initiative," she said.

At the performance in Chicago, Washburn will be joined by her husband, banjo player Bela Fleck, and they will play bluegrass music. The concert will feature selections from their album that won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

"Of course I'll sing a Chinese song," Washburn said.

"Tai Yang Chu Lai Xi Yang Yang," she said was the song, in fluent Chinese.

Upon request, she said the title in English: "The sun has come out, and we are so happy."

For China Daily

(China Daily USA 05/09/2017 page2)
Customers at an auto exhibition in Beijing. ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY

The idea of borrowing to buy items is not new among young Chinese consumers, who are familiar with buying homes using mortgages.

But compared to the United States and Europe, where 70 to 80 percent of cars are bought on credit, China's car financing market is in its infancy, leaving great potential for farsighted players to explore, such as Yixin Group, a leading Chinese online automobile transaction platform.

According to Zhang Xu'an, CEO of Yixin Group, young consumers, especially those born after 1985, have no such aversion to debt as their parents. Saving cash for future use and buying something with low-rate interest loans is popular among many of them.

"Their understanding of credit is comparatively positive and mature, which offers a great opportunity for e-commerce automotive transaction platforms like us to promote financing deals," Zhang said. His company has just floated 2 billion yuan ($294 million) of asset-backed securities (ABS) on Monday on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making its total ABS volume exceed 10 billion yuan.

"Shifting to the internet has become almost every industry's solution to development, and the automotive industry is no exception. Buying cars at a traditional dealership often means more time and higher costs, as well as a lack of information, a long transaction period, and insufficient service," said Zhao Xiang, an analyst at domestic internet research firm Analysys.

A child riding a scooter passes by a car at an auto exhibition in Beijing. [ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY]

According to Yixin's findings, it is almost impossible for China's millennial generation (born after 1985) in major cities to buy a car priced above 120,000 yuan with cash because they have limited savings.

As a result, the idea of buying cars on credit has become popular, as the buyer only need to pay between 10 percent and 20 percent as a down payment before buying either a brand new or good-quality used car.

Traditionally, a car purchased with cash is owned by the same user for between five years and seven years, but the introduction of automotive financing may shorten the ownership period to between one and three years.

Chinese automakers' annual production capacity is more than 40 million vehicles, but their actual output is less than 30 million, which means more than 10 million of capacity is in idle.

"When cars change hands at a higher rate, the capacity of automakers won't be wasted, and the efficiency of the market will increase too," said Zhang.

"More than 35 percent of automobile transactions last year involved financing and leasing. We expect this figure to exceed 45 percent this year, and to quickly reach 50 percent soon," said Zhang.

Nearly 30 percent of Chinese car buyers bought on credit in 2015, up from 18 percent in 2013, according to a Deloitte report, which also predicted China's penetration rate of auto retail finance products will exceed 50 percent by 2020.
Workers examine the billet at a steel mill in Dalian, Liaoning province. LIU DEBIN / FOR CHINA DAILY

China's steelmakers should avoid expanding production capacity continually, setting the scene for a subsequent decline in price in the second quarter, with excessive inventories, experts have warned.

The sector's mills churned out a record quantity of steel in April in spite of falling orders, an industrial index showed.

"The move is nearsighted and high inventories must lead to falling prices of steel products and a decline in profits," said Zhou Yusheng, a professor at the Central Iron and Steel Institute, China's biggest research and development institution in the metallurgical sector.

The Purchasing Managers' Index of the steel sector continued to slide to 49.1 in April, comparing with 50.6 in March and 51.4 in February, according to the China Federation of Logistics&Purchasing.

The sub-index for new orders fell 3.7 percentage points to 46.9, down below the 50 boom-bust line after three months, and also its lowest since July last year, CFLP data showed. However the sub-index for production rose for the fourth-consecutive month to 56.2, an almost one-year high.

The PMI reflects the manufacturing sector's performance. A figure above 50 indicates growth in the sector, while anything below points to contraction.

Analysts said the fact that steelmakers kept producing more and more steel in April was due to several reasons.

"Inspired by surging profit in the first quarter, most steelmakers have an optimistic forecast for the whole year," said Wang Guoqing, an analyst from the Lange Steel Information Research Center.

Although steel prices plummeted in mid-April, she said they thought market demand would push them up in May and June, due to the elimination of inferior steel products and stable market demand.

More than 500 companies which produce inferior steel have been urged to close by the end of June, involving 119 million metric tons of production capacity, according to a statement from the China Iron and Steel Association.

But inferior steel production will be added from other operational steel plants, which will lead to growing output, Wang said.

"Steel, a key part of China's development and infrastructure, is forecast to have stable demand this year, inspired by the construction of the Xiongan New Area and infrastructure development," she added.

However the Central Iron and Steel Institute's Zhou said, China's excessive output in the steel sector has been criticized by the United States, European Union and even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which will lead to its exports shrinking, although it isn't clear how long that will continue.

"In addition, iron ore prices are on the rise, which will increase the costs at steel mills," Zhou added.

He said the steel makers may earn some profits temporarily through output expansion, but the profits would not last long and the move would harm the whole industry.

"The companies should introduce advanced energy saving and emission reduction technology, instead of chasing output and profit," Zhou said.

Li Xinchuang, director of the Metallurgy Industry Association, said that generally speaking there was more demand for steel in summer in a healthy market, but demand for the rest of the year was not certain.

Both Li and Zhou both warned steel makers to press ahead with capacity cutting and deleveraging.

China closed 65 million tons of capacity last year and plans to close another 50 million tons this year, according to a speech in early March by Premier Li Keqiang.
Amanda Stamp (left), global education director at the World Affairs Council and moderator, and panelists discuss diversity of participation in global education, specifically in Chinese language and cultural education at the Global Ties seminar held at the Confucius Institute US Center Wednesday night in Washington. Panelists are, from left, Franklin Eneh, program coordinator of the Johns Hopkins Nanjing Center; Brian Luckett, China-Africa researcher at Howard University; Muriel Cooper, senior manager at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and Jiang Yu, director of the Confucius Institute at Xavier University in New Orleans. YUAN YUAN / FOR CHINA DAILY

WASHINGTON  Brian Luckett's China story began with hanging out and watching Chinese movies in Washington's Chinatown from a young age.

"Before gentrification and demographic shifts in Chinatown, it was really Chinese," said Luckett, who will soon begin as a China-Africa PhD researcher at Howard University. "There was one store that had like Chinese clothing, tea, movies and we could get all kinds of movies. I was really a big fan of the films. I got hooked, I was addicted to Chinese culture from that point on."

As one of four panelists at the Global Ties: Increasing Diversity in Chinese Language and Cultural Education seminar held by Confucius Institute US Center Wednesday night in Washington, Luckett provided insights from his own experience in China.

Determined to one day figure out a way to travel to China, he applied to the Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation's Year in China program.

"I went to Guangzhou, and I taught in a middle school there. I was the first American there, first black guy they saw, and I had culture shock," he said.

Slowly but steadily, he adopted the Chinese culture and his "global consciousness exploded" because he interacted with not only Chinese people but also African migrants living in Guangzhou, the capital and most populous city of south China's Guangdong province.

"I wanted to get out of the Western, American bubble, so I enrolled in Sun Yat-sen University, and studied Chinese. I went there to teach originally but ended up studying Chinese, and it has been a snowball effect from that point," Luckett said.

Graduating from American University with a master's degree in international affairs, he will begin his doctoral studies at Howard University looking at Mandarin language learning in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Franklin Eneh, the current program coordinator of the Johns Hopkins Nanjing Center, also shared his stories of studying in China.

As a second-generation Nigerian American growing up in southwest Connecticut, he had little exposure to Asian culture until he went to college in Massachusetts. He quickly developed a strong passion for Chinese language and culture, and over time made friends with the Chinese students on campus and, determined to go abroad, studied in Harbin, Beijing and Qingdao during his junior and senior years.

"You learn so much about yourself and also about the world through studying abroad, meanwhile, you represent your culture to the host country," Eneh said. Although the diversity of study abroad participation has increased in recent years, minority students are still greatly underrepresented, according to the National Association of Foreign Student Affairs.

"The demographic of our students has changed," said Amanda Stamp, global education director at the World Affairs Council and the moderator of the seminar. "But of those 500,000 students a year studying abroad, 74.3 percent are white. It really becomes a question: What are we doing to bring diversity to study abroad and cultural exchanges?"

The seminar aimed to "create a space for participants to share ideas, experiences and best practices on facilitating global education opportunities for underserved populations."

"When I'm here doing great things, meeting new people and learning about theses different cultures, it is noticeable that minority students are usually not a part of this experience," said Cheyenne Boyce, an intern at the Confucius Institute.

Muriel Cooper of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation discussed their efforts to send African-American students to study in China through the Emerging Leaders: US-China Study Program at Beijing Foreign Studies University and Fudan University in Shanghai.

Jiang Yu, the director of the Confucius Institute at Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically black college, also shared some of his experiences.

Led by Jiang since 2012 and the first Confucius Institute founded at a historically black college, the institute at Xavier has provided credit Chinese classes to students and become the leading Chinese language instruction center in Louisiana, as well as the go-to platform on Chinese culture, history and travel. Last year, it was chosen as one of top 25 Confucius Institutes worldwide.

"The major challenges of establishing a Chinese language and cultural education platform in a primarily black community are their general unfamiliarity with China and the Chinese language, and the lack of financial bases for our students to really study abroad in China," Jiang said.

He attributed the success of their Chinese education programs to the university's attention and support, the collaboration with other departments within the university and the students' curiosity and enthusiasm in learning about Chinese language and culture.

"Resource integration is the key, and we are actively working on that to create even more opportunities for our students," he said. "Our relationships with Louisiana's business and tourism sectors have created internship positions for our Chinese-speaking students."

Yuan Yuan in Washington contributed to the story.

CHINA DAILY
French President-elect Emmanuel Macron celebrates on the stage May 7, 2017 at his victory rally near the Louvre in Paris, France. Picture taken May 7, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BRUSSELS - The election of Emmanuel Macron as French president on Sunday has brought relief to some European allies.

By defeating the National Front's Marine Le Pen, the far-right one who had threatened to take France out of the European Union (EU), the centrist's emphatic victory offers comfort to those who had feared another populist upheaval would follow Britain's vote to quit the EU.

Macron's win is certainly good news for political supporters of the European project as his program focuses on a deeper integration and better cooperation between the various countries in the EU.

Macron has consistently reasserted the European idea and raised the possibility that France and Germany will conjure a revival of European idealism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, through her spokesman, immediately hailed Macron's win as a "victory for a strong and united Europe."

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Macron's victory was also a "clear rejection" of a "dangerous retreat plan for Europe."

After the victory of Prime Minister Mark Rutte over far-right candidate Geert Wilders in Dutch election, and the recent collapse of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party in the local elections in Britain, France is opting for a "project geared towards better Europe," Michel reckoned.

Macron offers a pro-business, pro-Europe, outward-looking and optimistic vision. He has been among those who advocate the creation of a eurozone budget to be controlled by a eurozone finance minister, and the floating of Eurobonds to boost economic convergence and narrow the EU's north-south gap.

Macron's pro-EU beliefs pose potential problems for British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Brexit negotiators. He does not favor a hard Brexit, but will be a tough negotiator in British talks to leave the EU, according to the French president-elect's chief economic adviser Jean Pisani-Ferry.

Ferry said Britain and Europe shared "mutual interest" in maintaining economic prosperity.

Last year, Macron reacted with dismay to the prospect of Britain leaving the EU, describing the referendum result as a "crime" for which Britain should be punished by a "total exit."

As supportive of the EU as he is, Macron has also warned he would consider pulling France out of the EU if the bloc does not reform.

Denis MacShane, former Europe minister under British ex-prime minister Tony Blair, said, "Macron has put the need to reform and re-energize Europe at the forefront of all his speeches and at his election meeting."

"He has been very hard on Brexit, describing it as a "crime" and saying there can be no concessions to the UK which must not be seen to benefit from Brexit." Giles Merritt, the highly respected Brussels-based EU commentator, said, "Winning a dramatic election victory without the support of a conventional party and with no Members of Parliament points to some significant shifts in France's political landscape."

Next month's legislative elections for the National Assembly will give a clearer guide. If the candidates who will campaign under the banner of Macron's new En Marche (On The Move) movement become a substantial parliamentary bloc, then France's new president will indeed be a trend-setter, said Merritt.

But a setback for populism doesn't necessarily mean its defeat. Macron's pro-European stance as a presidential candidate now needs to be endorsed by French voters in the coming round of parliamentary elections, and then turned into solid EU policies.
Banjo player Abigail Washburn and her husband Bela Fleck. Provided to China Daily

Abigail Washburn can play folk music in two different countries and languages.

The banjo player and Grammy Award-winner is coming to Chicago for a performance at the Symphony Center on Friday.

She has toured much of the Silk Road in China, performing American and Chinese folk songs to Chinese audiences before, and now, along with her Appalachian music, she is bringing some Chinese folk songs to the American heartland.

"Music renders people's hearts and connects people in profound ways," Washburn said.

Washburn began learning Mandarin Chinese when she was in college in 1995 and takes pride in promoting cross-cultural understanding between China and the US.

The experience of learning Chinese exposed her to the ancient culture and different ethnic groups in China, Washburn said.

Washburn has lived in China, and in 2008, was a teacher of American folk music at Sichuan University.

In her search for traditional American culture to share with her Chinese friends, she came across the Appalachian music and the banjo.

"Appalachian music traces way back to Scotland and Ireland," she said.

She found a common ground to connect peoples in the two countries.

She learned to play banjo and attributed her success in music to her learning of Chinese.

"For four years when I was learning Chinese, I was repeating syllables and tones. That really helped me to be a musician," Washburn said. "I mean that's what we do in music."

Armed with her banjo and American folk songs, Washburn began to perform in China in 2003 and would go there once or twice a year ever after.

In 2011, with a grant from the US embassy in Beijing, she embarked on a tour with a band that would cover Lanzhou, Hohhot, Urumqi and Lhasa.

"I felt in a sense married to China," Washburn said, laughing.

During the tour, Washburn played at many schools and public venues, many times with local musicians from different ethnic backgrounds on the same stage.

"I probably have done a thousand shows, it's rare that I don't do something in Chinese or sing a Chinese folk song," she said.

"It's really special to see the reaction of the audience to the Chinese material. They really love it. A lot of them don't speak Chinese, and maybe don't even know much about China," she continued, finishing her sentence with the humming of a Chinese song.

Washburn had started performing on the Silk Road before the Belt and Road Initiative, a multinational economic and cultural collaboration along the old Silk Road and beyond, was created by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

"I'd love to be part of the One Belt and One Road initiative," she said.

At the performance in Chicago, Washburn will be joined by her husband, banjo player Bela Fleck, and they will play bluegrass music. The concert will feature selections from their album that won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.

"Of course I'll sing a Chinese song," Washburn said.

"Tai Yang Chu Lai Xi Yang Yang," she said was the song, in fluent Chinese.

Upon request, she said the title in English: "The sun has come out, and we are so happy."

For China Daily
Liu Jieyi (left), China's ambassador to the UN, speaks at the opening ceremony of photo exhibition featuring the Belt and Road Initiative titled Strengthening International Cooperation for Win-Win Development on Monday at UN headquarters in New York. Amina J. Mohammed (second from left), deputy secretary-general of the UN, and Zhou Xiaozheng, director of Xinhua News Agency North America attended.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is not China's solo, but a symphony performed by all the relevant parties," said Liu Jieyi, China's ambassador to the UN, in describing the core value of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Liu made the remarks at a photo exhibition titled Strengthening International Cooperation for Win-Win Development, which was kicked off at UN headquarters in New York on Monday night.

With about 40 photographs along the South Wall on the first floor, the exhibit showcases the thinking behind the BRI, its achievements so far, and its prospects and promises.

Photos are divided into five sections: Connectivity of Policy, Connectivity of Infrastructure, Connectivity of Trade, Connectivity of Finance and People-to-People Connectivity - in line with the initiative's five focuses.

Visitors look at the photos on display at the exhibition featuring the Belt and Road Initiative. Photos by Hong Xiao / China Daily

The BRI, short for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to enhance complementarity of development strategies and promote common progress of participating countries through closer international cooperation.

The BRI follows the principle of "extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits".

Liu said that the BRI is an open and inclusive initiative, aiming not to replace any existing regional platform or initiative, but to seek synergy among various strategies and achieve common development through closer international cooperation.

Countries along the Belt and Road have their own resource advantages, and their economies are mutually complementary, which provide great potential and space for cooperation.

Liu said that three years after its launch, the initiative has received widespread recognition and active participation across the world. More than 100 countries and international organizations have come aboard, and more than 40 of them have concluded cooperation agreements with China.

"This concerted effort has registered steady progress; the economic corridor development is making headway; trade and investment are growing substantially; key joint projects are well underway," Liu said.

And the initiative strongly reinforces the undertaking of the United Nations.

"Everybody is extremely excited because it is a demonstration of the global partnership that really fits the ambition of the 2030 agenda," said Amina J. Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of the UN.

"It does show us that with China's 13th Five-Year Plan, right at the very beginning, they had the 2030 Agenda at the core," she said. "This is a demonstration of what can happen when you want to lay down infrastructure that will help to grow economies not just in China but (with) genuine collaboration across borders, across borders for triangular cooperation; it is not just South-South but North-South-South as well."

Anatolio Ndong Mba, Equatorial Guinea's ambassador to the UN, said the initiative reflects the "dynamism" of Chinese development and economic activities. "This initiative is going to be a complete success," he said.

The exhibition is co-organized by the Chinese mission to the UN and Xinhua News Agency North American Bureau.

From May 14 to 15, China will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, during which all parties will discuss ways to boost cooperation, build cooperation platforms and share cooperation outcomes.

The forum also will explore ways to address problems facing global and regional economy, create fresh energy for pursuing interconnected development and make the BRI deliver greater benefits to the people of all countries.

xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com
More than 100,000 Chinese students learn English and study in the US, but the number of Americans who study Mandarin and go to China is not even close to that figure.

Dan Murphy, the new executive director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University and the Harvard China Fund, believes his own personal experience can help to change that.

"We need to engage students on topics that interest them. Some will be attracted by history, others by international relations, economics or the arts. Whatever area it is we need to nurture that interest," Murphy said in an interview.

"I grew up in upstate New York and had very little contact with Chinese people or information about China," he said. To fulfill a second language requirement in college, Murphy selected Mandarin.

"That was over 20 years ago and I am still learning about China. In college I studied in Harbin (capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province) and that set the course for my entire career," he added.

Murphy said the center - which was founded in 1955 by China scholar John King Fairbank - has professors, scholars and students engaged in the study and research of a complex and dynamic China that is now the world's second-largest economy.

"Our mission is to advance and expand the study of China and we do this in part by partnering with colleges and scholars in China. We also host visiting scholars from China," he said.

Murphy said the Fairbank Center is actively engaged in learning more about China's second- and third-tier cities along with its rural areas.

"Last year we formed a partnership with Sichuan University and started a research center for the study of western China," he said. Initially, the center will focus on four research areas: the archaeology and art history of western China; Tibetan and Buddhist studies; pre-modern, modern, and contemporary history and society in western China; and research on the minority cultures of western China.

Before assuming his role at Fairbank and the Harvard China Fund last month, Murphy was the program director at the Yale Center Beijing. He has also worked at the National Committee on US-China Relations in New York. His major responsibility was the Public Intellectuals Program (PIP), a project that connects America's next generation of leading China scholars with policymakers and the media.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com
Greenville, South Carolina is home to great museums, scenic parks, attractions and activities, providing visitors with plenty of choice on their weekend trip. If you love art, the Greenville County Museum of Art is one of the top museums in the U.S. Best things to do in Greenville, South Carolina for families include the Childrens Museum of the Upstate which offers hands-on learning, and the Greenville Zoo which lets you see rare animals.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Falls Park on the Reedy  Courtesy of cvalle - Fotolia.com

Falls Park on the Reedy is an exquisite natural oasis in the heart of the city that is one of Greenville's greatest treasures. Located in downtown Greenville's Historic West End, this well-maintained city park offers a green urban space for both locals and visitors to enjoy and is one of the best things to do in Greenville, South Carolina. It provides an opportunity for people of all ages and interests to participate in a wide variety of outdoor and recreational activities. The park is home to a selection of public art and sculptures, appealing stonework, and the Liberty Bridge, an architecturally aesthetic walkway above the park offering splendid views. Visitors can enjoy 360-degree virtual tours of the park, walk along the Swamp Rabbit Trail that leads from Falls Park to Cleveland Park, or relax with a picnic basket on the lawns or at the sheltered River Lodge.

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

2. Roper Mountain Science Center  Courtesy of Don - Fotolia.com

The Roper Mountain Science Center is a learning center dedicated to encouraging and inspiring an interest in science, from life and natural sciences to space and physical sciences. Home to a number of faculties and buildings, including a planetarium, an arboretum, a living history farm, a butterfly world, and an observatory, the Roper Mountain Science Center offers a range of educational programs throughout the year, including Starry Nights, Science on Wheels, and Summer Adventures. If you are looking for fun things to do in Greenville with kids, this is a great place to visit. A mile-long nature trail winds through the pine forests on the mountain side of the center, where visitors can explore a beautiful butterfly garden and a pond filled with aquatic and insect life, as well as enjoy picnics along the way. 402 Roper Mountain Road, Greenville, SC, Phone: 864-355-8900

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

3. Greenville County Museum of Art  Greenville County Museum of Art

The Greenville County Museum of Art (GCMA) is considered to be one of the top art museums in the country and is one of the best things to see in Greenville, South Carolina. It mainly features American art, with a particular focus on Southern American and South Carolina-based artists. Located at 420 College Street on Heritage Green in downtown Greenville, the museum houses the worlds largest public collection of watercolors by world-renowned American artist Andrew Wyeth, as well as an extensive collection of works by contemporary artist Jasper Johns. The museums respected Southern Collection takes an introspective look at American art from colonial times to the present, showcasing particularly rare works, including 1726 pastel portraits and Civil War vistas. The museum offers a broad range of programs on Sunday afternoons, including gallery talks, musical performances, and hands-on demonstrations. 420 College Street, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-271-7570 More SC destinations: 21 Best Things to Do on Hilton Head Island.



-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

4. The Children's Museum of the Upstate  The Children's Museum of the Upstate



The Childrens Museum of the Upstate was founded as a place to inspire hands-on and interactive learning in a safe and comfortable environment for children of all ages. The museum aims to provide children with opportunities for exploring, questioning, discovering, and inspiring curiosity through a range of exhibitions, displays, programs, and workshops. Interactive exhibits at the museum include the Reedy River Bed, which features an intricate system of waterways, pipes, and fountains and Start Your Engines, an exhibit that explores the science of speed, sound, and aerodynamics. The museum also features Construction Zone, a hands-on building and construction-focused display. Finally, the museum offers a range of arts and early education programs, after-school classes, and fall break camps. 300 College Street, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-233-7755

-- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina this Weekend with Friends" -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina this Weekend with Friends" Back to Top

5. The Peace Center, Greenville, South Carolina  Courtesy of 1L26 - Fotolia.com



Situated next to Falls Park in the heart of Greenville, the Peace Center is a renowned cultural center and hub for the performing arts. Featuring a 2,100-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theater, and a state-of-the-art amphitheater, the Peace Center plays host to more than 300 events each year, from nationally-acclaimed Broadway shows to classical music concerts and international ballets. Built on a six-acre campus, the center is also home to the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, the Greenville Chorale, the Carolina Ballet Theater, the South Carolina Children's Theater, and the International Ballet, and it boasts a modern patrons lounge and a range of rehearsal and event spaces. Next read: South Carolina beaches and South Carolina resorts 300 South Main Street, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-467-3000

-- You are reading "What to Do in Greenville, South Carolina this Weekend" -- You are reading "What to Do in Greenville, South Carolina this Weekend" Back to Top

6. Greenville Glides  Courtesy of jonbilous - Fotolia.com



Greenville Glides offers a unique and fun way to explore the city of Greenville  on a Segway. Segway tours are offered year round seven days a week, and they explore several different parts of the city. The Historic West End and Falls Park Tour allows you to explore the bustling energy of Greenville as you cruise through downtown Greenville to the historic West End and wind along the Swamp Rabbit Trail and Falls Park. The Haunted Segway Tour of Greenville, on the other hand, provides you with a more eerie persepctive of the city as you meander through the haunted paths of the Springwood Cemetery and the buildings, hotels, and mills along the banks of the Reedy River. Greenville Glides also offers bicycle tours and rentals, which need to be booked in advance. 233 North Main St., Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-214-0119

-- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

7. Artisphere, Greenville, South Carolina  Courtesy of Sergey Nivens - Fotolia.com

Artisphere is an annual signature event that takes place in Greenville each year to celebrate the arts and the regions rich international and multi-cultural flair. The hugely popular event showcases local and international talent through a range of live performances, demonstrations, displays, and exhibits, and it attracts thousands of visitors each year. Aiming to entertain, educate, enrich, and inspire audiences through the beauty and diversity of art, the festival features various attractions, including University demonstrations, wine and craft beer exhibitions, science, technology, and engineering displays, culinary arts demos, and a special exhibition center for children called Kidsphere. The Artisphere Festival will take place from May 13th to Sunday 15th in 2016. B, 101 Augusta St, Greenville, SC 29601, Phone: 864-271-9398



, From LA -- You are reading "What is There to Do with Kids in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

8. Things to do in Greenville, SC: TD Saturday Market  Courtesy of Chuck Place - Fotolia.com

Downtown Greenvilles Main Street comes alive on Saturday mornings between May and October with the bustling and vibrant TD Saturday Market. Featuring over 75 vendors selling the seasons freshest produce, from colorful fruit and vegetable, aromatic herbs and spices, to handcrafted jewelry, clothing and arts and crafts, the market prides itself on only selling products that have been grown or produced in the Greenville region. Market-goers can enjoy live music, cooking demonstrations, and tastings of delicious freshly prepared foods and baked goods. Naturally, they can also purchase their fresh produce for the following week. The TD Saturday Market is open every Saturday from the beginning of May until the end of October. Main Street at McBee Avenue, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-467-4494



9. Greenville, SC Things to Do: Soby's  Soby's

Located in a renovated 1800s historic cotton mill in downtown Greenville, Sobys is one of Greenvilles favorite restaurants, whether for a family dinner of an office celebration. Brick walls, gleaming wood, and a beautifully restored stone fireplace create a warm and unique atmosphere, while the spacious outdoor patio is a great spot for people watching. Sobys offers New South Cuisine, an imaginative blend of American traditional food blended with Southern ingredients and flavors. Sobys award-winning wine list contains over 500 bottles, something for every taste and pocket. Sunday brunch at Sobys is one of Greenvilles favorite traditions, with a large selection of the restaurants favorites offered buffet style and $3 Bloody Marys and mimosas. 207 South Main Street, Greenville, SC 29601, Phone: 864-232-7007

-- "Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" -- "Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" Back to Top

10. Larkin's on the River, Greenville, South Carolina  Larkin's on the River

Located on the banks of the Reedy River in a historic pre-civil war building with exposed brick walls and open ceilings, Larkins on the River is an award-winning restaurant owned and managed by Mark and Larkin Hammond. Teaming up with Executive Director of Cuisine Alex Castro, the Hammonds have transformed the once old steakhouse into one of Greenvilles premier dining destinations, famed for their premium cut steaks, super-fresh seafood, fine boutique wines, and outstanding service. The restaurant boasts a casual ambiance, stylish decor, and warm lighting, and the impressive wine list features a selection of local and internationally renowned labels that serve as a perfect accompaniment to any dish on the menu. 318 S. Main Street, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-467-9777



11. What to Do in Greenville, SC: Greenville Zoo  Courtesy of Jill Lang - Fotolia.com

The Greenville Zoo, located at 150 Cleveland Park Drive in Cleveland Park, is home to a wide variety of animals from around the world. Founded in 1960 with the aim of promoting an appreciation of nature and wildlife and educating the community about nature conservation, the zoo features a range of diverse habitats in which animals are kept and looked after, from African lions, giraffes, and Amur leopards to domestic animals, reptiles, frogs, and snakes. The zoo has an excellent conservation and research program called Quarters for Conservation, which provides funding towards the protection of endangered animals such as giant anteaters, turtles, Gibbon monkeys, and Amur leopards. The zoo has a network of walking and bicycle paths, playgrounds for children, tennis and volleyball courts, and several picnic sites for visitors to enjoy. 150 Cleveland Park Drive, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-467-4300

-- "New cool stuff to do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- "New cool stuff to do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top or Romantic Getaways

12. Passerelle Bistro, Greenville, SC  Passerelle Bistro

Passerelle Bistro is a casual French-style bistro located at the base of the Liberty Bridge in the heart of Falls Park. The inviting eatery serves a menu of chef-inspired French fare with a local twist created by Chef Teryi, whose innovative take on traditional dishes like ratatouille (served as a brie cheese and crab bechamel omelet) bring diners back again and again. Dine inside the bistro, whose cozy interiors are intimate and warm, al fresco-style on the patio overlooking the Falls, or in the culinary front row at the chef's bar, where you can watch the kitchen staff expertly prepare the cuisine. 601 South Main Street, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-509-0142



13. Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail  Courtesy of bulashenko - Fotolia.com

The Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail is a 28.6-mile (46.0 km) multi-use trail system that winds its way along the Reedy River, connecting various sections of the city and offering an array of recreational and outdoor activities. Following the bed of a former railroad that was nicknamed after the indigenous swamp rabbit from south to north, the trail begins at the Greenville Technical College and winds its way through the city, Falls Park, and the campus of Furman University to end a mile north of Travelers Rest. Non-motorized trail activities include walking, jogging, running and cycling, geocaching, and bird and wildlife watching.



14. Sigal Music Museum  Sigal Music Museum

Home to several hundred historically significant musical instruments, the Sigal Music Museum features a variety of instruments made by some of the worlds most iconic instrument makers over the past four hundred years. Among the hundreds of instruments are woodwinds, pianos, harpsichords, and much more, including traditional West African instruments, a rare triple flageole, early American banjos, a Kirkman Double Manual Harpsichord from 1761 owned by Queen Charlotte, and a Baffo Italian Virginal spinet from 1575. The Sigal Music Museum Library also contains reference books, sheet music, and a rare record album collection of more than 1,000 pieces. 516 Buncombe St, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-520-8807



15. Grill Marks  Grill Marks



Owned by Mark and Larkin Hammond of Larkins on the River, Grill Marks is a casual eatery that serves classic American fare with gourmet upgrades. The bright and airy restaurant boasts a laid-back ambiance in which to enjoy a menu of all-American fare, including creative burgers with delicious toppings, soups, salads, sides, and desserts, as well as gourmet milkshakes and sundaes. The restaurant also boasts an impressive wine list. Burgers are made with the finest Angus Beef packed with decadent toppings and served with golden fries and adults can enjoy spiked milkshakes like the JackHammer, which is made with Jack Daniels. 209 S. Main Street, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-233-5825

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top or Amazing things to do around me

16. Things to Do in Greenville, SC: Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum  Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum



The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum is dedicated to showcasing the life of famous baseball legend Joe Jackson. The museum is located in the house where Joe lived and died. The building relocated to Field Street in the historic West End of Greenville in 2006, where it stands today and has the house number of 356, which stands as a reminder of Joes incredible lifetime batting average of .356. Famous for being both a brilliant baseball player and for fixing the World Series, Jackson is one of the most beloved ballplayers of all time. The museum boasts a magnificent collection of records, photographs, memorabilia, artifacts, and other baseball-related items from the life of Shoeless Joe Jackson, as well as a rare book collection dedicated to his career. 356 Field Street, Across from Fluor Field, Historic West End, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-346-4867



17. The Lost Cajun, Greenville, SC  The Lost Cajun



The Lost Cajun is a popular nationwide franchise that has become famous for their classic Louisiana fare, gumbo, and Cajun classics. Founded by Raymond Griffith and Jon Espey, who wanted to share their love of Cajun food with the world, The Lost Cajun serves traditional Southern dishes such as red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, lobster bisque, and their famous gumbo. The menu boasts classics such as seafood gumbo, jambalaya, Po-boys, beignets, and lagniappe, accompanied by a range of Abita beers, root beer, and homemade lemonade. 3612A Pelham Road, Greenville, South Carolina, Phone: 864-605-7117 You may also like: 20 Best Things To Do in Charleston.

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

18. What to Do in Greenville, SC: Caesars Head State Park  Courtesy of Jenner - Fotolia.com



Located in northern Greenville County about an hour from Greenville, Caesars Head State Park is a recreational park known for its magnificent panoramic vistas, beautiful hiking trails, and untouched natural landscapes. Home to some spectacular waterfalls, including Raven Cliff Falls, which is spanned by a suspension bridge, the park is popular for outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, mountain biking, and picnicking. Visitors to the park can also enjoy fishing, birding, and wildlife watching, as thousands of migrant hawks head to the park during the summer, and many animals such as black bears, peregrine falcons, and the endangered green salamander call it home. The park features a modern visitors center with an interpretive museum documenting the parks history and excellent relief maps of the entire region. More vacation ideas: 29 Best Romantic Weekend Getaways in South Carolina.



19. Paris Mountain State Park  Liudmila/stock.adobe.com



Paris Mountain State Park in Greenville, South Carolina is monadnock, or in other words, a stand-alone mountain. Established by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, Paris Mountain State Park now features a Park Center with a gift shop, historical exhibits, and a classroom. Theres also approximately fifteen miles of biking and hiking trails, over thirty paved campsites with electrical and water hookups, and a lake where visitors are able to fish, paddle, and swim. Other features of the park include trailside camping, a 15-acres reservoir for fishing, and Campbuckhorn with its cabins and central lodge dining area. 2401 State Park Rd, Greenville, SC 29609, 864-244-5565

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

20. Greenville, SC Things to Do: The Lazy Goat  The Lazy Goat



The Lazy Goat is an upscale riverside Mediterranean restaurant in Greenvilles West End that offers fresh made-from-scratch dishes influenced by the cuisines of Spain, Italy, Morocco, France, Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa. The communal tables encourage sharing and the opportunity to try several small and large dishes. Dont miss the delicious spanakopita, marinated olives, Moroccan lamb, or polenta fries. There are of course pizzas, pastas, paella, and plenty of other Mediterranean favorites as well. Guests can enjoy the view of the Reedy River from the bar or the patio while sampling the inventive house cocktails and small plates. 170 River Place, Greenville, SC 29601, Phone: 864-679-5299



21. Southern Pressed Juicery - Superfood Bowls and Juices in Greenville, SC  Andrey Lapshin/stock.adobe.com



Southern Pressed Juicery is a Greenville-based company selling juice cleanses, smoothies, snacks, superfood bowls, and more from a friendly and welcoming shop in the heart of the city. Giving you access to the healthy ingredients you crave, all blended together and served in exciting, innovative, and ever-delicious ways, Southern Pressed Juicery is making healthy eating so much more accessible than ever before. As well as offering an awesome array of juices and juice cleansing programs, Southern Pressed Juicery also makes use of high quality and 100% fresh ingredients to offer a menu of terrific treats including smoothies, sweets, snacks, superfood bowls, and full meals. Southern Pressed Juicery is situated at 2 West Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601. Southern Pressed Juicery juices are also being sold at other locations around Greenville, including the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery at 205 Cedar Lane Road and Caviar and Bananas at 1 North Laurens Street, so you're never too far away from these amazing juices, no matter where you are in Greenville.



22. Cancer Survivors Park  lovesan353/stock.adobe.com



Cancer Survivors Park was established in Greenville, South Carolina to provide a space for the community for hope, healing, learning, and celebration. This special area is a unique mix of natural walking paths and spaces for gathering that offer a place for healing and renewal for everyone who visits the park. Along with the restful and peaceful park setting, Cancer Survivors Park features educational elements, sculptural elements, specialty gardens, and a central pavilion. There are also a variety of community programs hosted at the park that are designed to help people learn to live with any life-altering loss or illness. 52 Cleveland St, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-255-5010

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina" Back to Top

23. Six & Twenty Distillery  Six & Twenty Distillery Six & Twenty Distillery is a local Greenville distillery that does it all, from grain to glass. The distillery mashes, ferments, distills, ages, and bottles all of their spirits on site with their custom Artisan Still Design. Visitors can join one of the Grain to Glass Spirits tours of the Six & Twenty Distillery offered at three different times on Saturdays. There is also the Tasting Room & Cocktail Bar at the distillery where guests can sample an array of handcrafted local spirits, as well as a rotating selection of craft cocktails. 556 Perry Ave B103, Greenville, SC 29611, 864-236-7886



24. Museum and Library of Confederate History  bryanpollard/stock.adobe.com The Museum and Library of Confederate History in downtown Greenville, South Carolina houses a large collection of Confederate artifacts and relics, both personal and military. It also contains a gift shop and a research library. Situated in the Pettigru Historic District, the museum is dedicated to preserving the artifacts, history, and memory of the Souths cultural heritage and its contribution to the country. Among the items included in the Museum and Library of Confederate Historys collection are history books, newspapers, letters, clothing, currency, edged weapons, flags, photographs, and firearms. There is no fee for admission to the museum. 15 Boyce Ave, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-421-9039



25. Thomas Creek Brewery  Thomas Creek Brewery Since the beginning of Thomas Creek Brewery in 1998, this Greenville brewery has been winning over the taste buds and hearts of beer enthusiasts from all over the southeast region and beyond. The local South Carolina brewery is open for the general public to tour, enjoy pints of the craft brews, and attend special events. Home brew supplies, as well as six-pack and growler purchases, are available at Thomas Creek Brewery as well. Brews here include the Dockside Pilsner, Coffee Oatmeal Stout, River Falls Red Ale, Deep Water Dopplebock Lager, Appalachian Amber Ale, Class Five IPA, and the Trifecta IPA. 2054 Piedmont Hwy, Greenville, SC 29605, 864-605-1166



25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina

More ideas:

Greenville Theatre

The largest and oldest producing professional theatre in Upstate, Greenville Theatre strives to connect, educate, entertain, and inspire the local community through high quality theatrical experiences. Leading the thriving theatre scene of Upstate, the theatre has been a part of the community for more than ninety years and still entertains more people in South Carolina than any other locally producing theatre. In addition to the numerous performances presented throughout the season and the shows produced for the holidays, Greenville Theatre also provides a number of education programs, such as performances classes, tours, and the GT Junior Players.

444 College St, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-233-6238

You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Greenville, South Carolina " Back to Top


Dallas, Texas, is one of the most exciting cities to visit in North America, home to beautiful parks, historic sites, free attractions, date ideas, excellent sports teams, cultural centers, romantic parks, and a vibrant arts scene. Plan a quick weekend getaway with kids and have fun learning through interactive exhibits at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas  Photo Courtesy of Dallas CVB

Located in the heart of the vibrant Dallas Arts District, the Nasher Sculpture Center is one of the top Dallas attractions, home to one of the worlds finest collections of contemporary sculpture. Designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano, together with landscape architect Peter Walker, the museum was established by artists Raymond and Patsy Nasher, who wanted to create a one-in-a-kind museum experience. The building was designed to seamlessly integrate art with nature by connecting beautiful outdoor garden spaces with the indoor galleries through vast floor-to-ceiling windows, skylights and glazed walls. The Nasher Sculpture Center features rotating exhibitions from the Nasher family collection, as well as special exhibitions in both the indoor and outdoor galleries that showcase, enhance and conserve modern and contemporary sculpture. The center presents a variety of educational and cultural programs, and monthly events such as twilight strolls and Target First Saturdays for children. 2001 Flora St., Dallas, TX 75201, Phone: 214-242-5100

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

2. Dallas Farmers Market, Dallas, Texas  Photo Courtesy of Dallas CVB

Located in the Farmers Market District in downtown Dallas, the Dallas Farmers Market is a beautiful public market that is packed with stalls selling fresh farm produce, ranging from fruit and vegetables to flowers and farm-to-table fare. The market was established in the late 19th century with farmers selling their fresh produce from their wagons in various locations around the city, and since then it has grown in leaps and bounds to become one of Dallas largest markets. The market is spread out over four sheds, selling specific produce. Shed 1 and 3 house local farmers selling their own homegrown produce, as well as produce dealers reselling refrigerated produce and food for export. Shed 2 is home to an array of eateries and delis selling specialty foods and food related products. Shed 4 boasts wholesale produce dealers selling large quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables. If you are wondering what to do in Dallas with kids, this is a great place to visit. 920 S. Harwood, Dallas, TX 75201, Phone: 214-664-9110 Weekend & day trips: 20 Best Weekend Getaways from Dallas.

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

3. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX  Photo Courtesy of Dallas CVB

Situated in the vibrant and eclectic Arts District, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is one of the citys major art museums with a large permanent collection of works dating back to the 3rd century. Designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the museum won a Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects and is home to over 24,000 works of art from around the world that celebrate the human power of creation and include collections of Mediterranean, South Asian, European, and African art. The European collection includes works by Gustav Courbet, Paul Cezanne, Auguste Renoir, and Vincent van Gogh. There are expansive collections of decorative arts and design, as well as ancient American art. The Dallas Museum of Art is one of the best things to do in Dallas TX for art lovers. The museums non-circulating research library, The Mildred R. and Frederick M. Mayer Library, contains over 50,000 volumes available to the general public and curators alike. 1717 North Harwood, Dallas, TX 75201, Phone: 214-922-1200



-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

4. Klyde Warren Park  Courtesy of suti - Fotolia.com



Spread out over five acres between Pearl and St. Paul Streets over the recessed Woodall Rodgers Freeway, which was once a barrier between the two neighborhoods, Klyde Warren Park is a beautifully manicured urban green space in the heart of Dallas urban hub. Designed by the Office of James Burnett and named after the son of billionaire Kelcy Warren, the park offers a lovely space to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and relax. Resting on the edge of the vibrant and eclectic Dallas Arts District, the park serves as a gateway between downtown and the Arts District and offers a variety of activities, including free daily programs such as boot camp, yoga, outdoor concerts and films, photography courses, drumming classes, and book signings. Trendy food trucks serve delicious food and drinks. There are tables and chairs dotted around the park for the perfect romantic picnic. 2012 Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Dallas, Texas 75201, Phone: 214-716-4500 More ideas: 15 Best Lunch & Dessert Spots in Dallas.

-- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in Dallas, Texas this Weekend with Friends" -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do in Dallas, Texas this Weekend with Friends" Back to Top

5. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas  Photo Courtesy of Dallas CVB



Located in a building once known as the Texas School Book Depository, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is a tribute to the late President John F. Kennedy, narrating and chronicling his life, death and legacy. Featuring photographs, films and artefacts, the Museum's exhibitions take an introspective look at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the legacy he left behind and its impact on todays global society. The museum features a number of temporary exhibitions, which aim to foster discussion, education and understanding, as well as an extensive library and Reading Room. 411 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75202, Phone: 214-747-6660

-- You are reading "What to Do in Dallas, Texas this Weekend" -- You are reading "What to Do in Dallas, Texas this Weekend" Back to Top

6. Dallas Heritage Village, Dallas, Texas  Dallas Heritage Village



Home to the largest assemblage of 19th century pioneer and Victorian homes, buildings and commercial structures in Texas, Dallas Heritage Village is an excellent example of living history in the heart of a modern city. Located in Old City Park, the Dallas Heritage Village is a collection of beautiful historic buildings from around the region that have been brought together for preservation and interpretation. Built during the nineteenth century, the village is designed to reflect what life would have been like for a typical Northern Texas community between 1840 and 1910 and consists of 21 impressively restored buildings including a school, church, saloon, hotel, general store and a bank. This is one of the top Dallas, Texas attractions. Tours around the village give a fantastic insight into life during that period, and a calendar of interpretive programs aims to educate, preserve and assist in bringing the history of the quaint village to light. 1515 South Harwood, Dallas, Texas 75215, Phone: 214-421-5141 More TX destinations: 10 Best Things to See & Do in Austin.

-- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

7. Texas Discovery Gardens, Dallas, TX  Courtesy of Buffy1982 - Fotolia.com

Located in Dallas' historic Fair Park, Texas Discovery Gardens is a 7.5-acre botanic garden that is organically maintained year-round and is home to a wonderful array of native and naturally-adapted plants. Using environmentally-sustainable methods that help to conserve water, and protect the surrounding natural environment to maintain the gardens, they are the first gardens to be 100% organically certified in Texas. If you are looking for romantic things to do in Dallas, this is a great place to explore. The gardens are home to the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium, which boasts a lush tropical rainforest teeming with hundreds of fluttering butterflies. Other collections in the garden include the Benny J. Simpson Texas Native Plant Collection featuring over 300 species native to Texas; the Faerie Blanton Kilgore Heirloom Rose Garden, an intimate enclave of antique and fragrant roses; and the Shakespeare Garden, filled with flora mentioned in the Bards works, as well as an antique sundial. 3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Fair Park, Dallas, Texas 75210, Phone: 214-428-7476 Where to go next weekend: Best Romantic Things to Do in Houston.



, From LA -- You are reading "What is There to Do with Kids in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

8. Cattleack Barbeque  Cattleack Barbeque

Cattleack Barbeque was originally founded in 2010 by pitmaster Todd David, acclaimed today for its melt-in-your-mouth signature smoked meats. The restaurant is open limited hours, making it one of Dallas' most exclusive dining experiences. Diners can enjoy excellent lunchtime specials, highlighting smoked meats like beef brisket, pork ribs, homemade sausages, and savory turkey, all smothered in the restaurant's signature Special Reserve barbecue sauce. Delicious sandwiches are also served up, along with hearty homestyle sides like loaded baked beans, cheesy jalapeno grits, and classic potato salad. Diners should note that long lines form early and that a maximum of around 500 people can be served each day. 13628 Gamma Rd, Farmers Branch, TX 75244, Phone: 972-805-0999



9. Dallas by Chocolate, Dallas, Texas  Courtesy of Rozmarina - Fotolia.com

Learn all about Dallas chocolate history on a unique specialty taste-and-testing food tour run by Dallas By Chocolate. Led by some of Dallas' most knowledgeable food experts, chocolate tours include the history of chocolate, where it originates and how it is made, as well as an assortment of fun chocolate trivia with prizes. Tours venture to all parts of the city, including Uptown, Downtown, Oak Cliff, Park Cities, and beyond, in luxury mini buses and usually last between three and four hours. On arrival at each venue, visitors are treated to samples of the product, which could include delights such as mouth-watering chocolate croissants and dark chocolate toffees, to name but a few. Phone: 972-814-5997

-- "Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" -- "Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" Back to Top

10. Reunion Tower, Dallas, Texas  Courtesy of andreykr - Fotolia.com

One of the most recognizable landmarks in Dallas, the Reunion Tower is a 561-foot (171 m) observation tower in the Reunion District in downtown Dallas. Locally known as The Ball, the freestanding structure is part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. The tower features three circular floors around a central glass-encased shaft, which offers magnificent city vistas in the lift ride up to the observation deck. The observation deck is called the GeO-Deck, which offers interactive digital experiences featuring information about various Dallas landmarks and telescopes for breathtaking views. Enjoy a snack at the Cloud 9 Cafe whilst soaking up the views. The tower's rotating top level is home to celebrity chef Wolfgang Pucks award-winning fine dining restaurant, Five Sixty, so named as a reference to the restaurant's elevation, while the second level is used for special events. 300 Reunion Blvd E, Dallas, Texas 75207, Phone: 214-712-7040



11. Fearings Restaurant, Dallas, Texas  Fearings Restaurant

Fearings Restaurant offers outstanding all-American fare and superb service in the relaxed, elegant setting of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. If you are looking for romantic date night ideas, this is a great place to try. Managed by renowned celebrity chef Dean Fearing, author of The Texas Food Bible, the restaurant features seven spectacular Dallas dining and gathering settings where visitors gather to enjoy Fearings Elevated American Cuisine with Bold Flavors and No Borders. Have an intimate dinner under a vaulted stone ceiling in the Wine Cellar; dine in the elegant surroundings of a magnificent art collection in The Gallery; or watch your meal being prepared by expert chefs in Deans Kitchen. For the ultimate dining experience, dine in the breathtaking glass dining pavilion of Sendrero, which overlooks its own walled garden with water features and the beautifully landscaped Ocaso patio. Enjoy a drink at the legendary Rattlesnake Bar or next to the outdoor fireplace at the Live Oak Bar. 2121 McKinney Ave, Dallas, Texas 75201, Phone: 214-922-4848

-- "New cool stuff to do in Dallas, Texas" -- "New cool stuff to do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top or Romantic Getaways

12. White Rock Alehouse and Brewery  White Rock Alehouse and Brewery

White Rock Alehouse and Brewery is a lively brewpub opened in 2017 by Greg Nixon and Dave Kirk, located in Dallas' lovely White Rock Lake district. The brewery is known for its award-winning craft beers, which are prepared in house at the company's brewing facility. Year-round brews include selections like the company's Big Thicket Blonde Ale, White Rock IPA, Dave's Perfect Pils, Bonnie Barge Brown Ale, and Weiz Ass Bass German Hefeweizen. Diners can enjoy drafts or flights alongside delicious gastropub fare throughout the week, including artisanal flatbread pizzas and shareable appetizers like fried chicken sliders, brewmaster's beer mustard pretzels, and ahi tuna nachos. Creative cocktails are also served up, along with a selection of fine international wines. 7331 Gaston Ave #100, Dallas, TX 75214, Phone: 214-989-7570



13. Gemma Restaurant, Dallas, TX  Gemma Restaurant

Gemma Restaurant is a casual California-inspired new American eatery and one of Dallas most popular and inviting restaurants. Owned by Allison Yoder and Stephen Rogers, who previously worked in the Napa Valley, the menu and wine list have a distinct Californian influence, from the relaxed casual ambiance and excellent service to the exciting and seasonal menu and compelling wine list. Enjoy wintery dishes such as tender braised veal cheeks, served with Japanese turnips, carrots and cipollini onions on black peppery spaetzel, or house-made cavatelli with wild boar ragu, while summer sees lighter delights, such as grilled striped bass with summer beans, tomato and toasted cashew gremolata. Dessert consists of cream cheese crepes with huckleberry compote and Meyer lemon ice cream. 2323 N Henderson Ave #109, Dallas, Texas 75206, Phone: 214-370-9426



14. Spa Habitat Organic Spas, Dallas, Texas  Spa Habitat Organic Spas

Spa Habitat is a brand of award-winning organic spas in various locations around Dallas that offer personalized spa services and high quality organic products. Spa Habitat spas are located in the West Village in Uptown Dallas, the Historic Downtown Plano, The Shops at Legacy, and the WinStar World Casino Hotel. The day spas have a relaxed, eco-friendly atmosphere, and professional, experienced spa staff, who will pamper you in style. Services include a selection of luxurious massages, body wraps and scrubs, facials, hand and foot treatments, as well as tailor-made spa packages. Inside the spa, you will find an organic apothecary, which stocks the highest quality organic products, sourced both locally and from around the globe. 3699 McKinney Avenue #304, Dallas, Texas 75204, Phone: 214-522-9989



15. Le Bilboquet, Dallas, Texas  Le Bilboquet



If you fell in love with Le Bilboquet in New York, you can now enjoy its sister in Dallas. Located in the Knox area, in the Travis Walk center, Dallas Le Bilboquet is very charming and very French, bright and sunny with white table cloths and rattan furniture, a perfect little French bistro where chefs Momo Sow and Jared Robinette use organic, fresh, and seasonal ingredients to create delicious French-American fusion and select French staple dishes. You have to try their poached halibut with snap peas, sauteed wild mushrooms, and mint pesto sauce or the Dover sole  pan seared and served with mixed vegetables, shaved black truffle, and lemon butter. Their wine list is extensive and well selected. 4514 Travis St Ste 124, Dallas, TX 75205, Phone: 469-730-2937

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top or Amazing things to do around me

16. Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, Texas  Photo Courtesy of DCVB



Designed by renowned Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta and his son Victor, the Latino Cultural Center is a brightly colored space with a tower, plaza, fountain and other features inspired by the Latin American traditions. Visitors can take a free 45-minute tour to admire the architecture, sculpture courtyards, the lobby and current exhibitions. The Oak Farms Dairy Theater hosts a series of events, including dance, ballet, music and movies. Cultural festivals are held outdoors in the plaza. Gallery exhibits showcase art by local and regional artists and change every few months. On Second Saturdays, families can participate in arts and crafts workshops, listen to stories in Spanish and watch performances. 2600 Live Oak St, Dallas, TX 75204, Phone: 214-939-2787



17. Snowbaby  Snowbaby



Snowbaby is a unique Taiwanese-style shaved ice joint, opened in 2018 within Dallas' Lakewood neighborhood by Chrissy Kuo. The restaurant serves up unique takes on the popular ice cream-snow cone hybrid dessert, prepared with sweetened condensed milk and ingredients free of all artificial additives. Diners can select from Snowbaby flavors like locally-sourced Whiterock Coffee cold brew or creamy organic coconut, with seasonal selections offered on a rotating basis throughout the year. Topping selections range from honey and oat granola or seasonal fruit selections to sweet treats like cake bites or cookie crumble from local bakery Unrefined Bakery. Asian-style bubble waffles are also served up, along with fruit bubble teas. 6404 Gaston Ave, Dallas, TX 75214, Phone: 214-843-1193

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

18. Things to Do in Dallas, Texas: NorthPark Center  NorthPark Center



NorthPark Center is one of Dallas largest and most popular shopping malls. Located at the intersection of the North Central Expressway (US 75) and the Northwest Highway (Loop 12), NorthPark is home to over 235 stores, ranging from world-renowned department stores, designer boutiques, superb restaurants, cafes and bars, and offers an unrivalled luxury shopping experience. The center is housed in an award-winning architectural structure complemented by beautiful landscaping, manicured gardens and internationally-acclaimed 20th century artwork, for which it has won countless awards, including the coveted Best Design of the Decade awarded by the American Institute of Architects. Watch a movie at the state-of-the-art AMC NorthPark 15, or dine in style at a range of outstanding restaurants. The center also features deluxe services such as a valet service, duty-free shopping for international visitors and a car-wash-while-you-shop service. 8687 North Central Expressway, Dallas, Texas 75225, Phone: 214-363-7441



19. The Library Bar, Dallas, Texas  The Library Bar



Located on Oak Lawn Avenue at the Warwick Melrose Hotel, the Library Bar is a go-to spot for after-work cocktails and drinks. The bar is elegantly furnished with a beautiful lapis lazuli bar and candlelit tables. The full-service bar has a comprehensive menu of cocktails, aperitifs, wine and beers, while a simplified bar menu includes specialty appetizers and light meals. Evenings offer live entertainment with top local entertainers in a stylish, sophisticated ambiance. Stay for dinner at the Landmark Restaurant which serves hand-stuffed duck ravioli, great seafood and grilled dishes. 3015 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75219, Phone: 214-521-5151

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

20. Things to Do in Dallas, Texas: Dallas World Aquarium  Courtesy of Ritu Jethani - Fotolia.com



Located in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, the Dallas World Aquarium is non-profit aquarium and zoo with the aim of conserving threatened or endangered animals through co-operative breeding programs with various other zoos from around the world. The aquarium is home to a superb collection of exhibits, including an artificial reproduction of the Orinoco Rainforest where you will find a variety of exotic birds, and animals such as three-toed sloths, tamarins, poison-dart frogs, and vampire bats. Ten main aquatic tanks house marine life from regions around the world, including Indonesia, Fiji, Southern Australia, Japan, British Colombia and the Solomon Islands. An awe-inspiring, interactive 40-foot (12 m) tunnel displays fish that live on the continental shelf, while a number of smaller displays boast colorful corals, jellyfish and vibrant sea anemones. 1801 N Griffin St, Dallas, Texas 75202, Phone: 214-720-2224



21. Kennys Wood Fired Grill, Dallas, Texas  Kennys Wood Fired Grill



Offering a warm and welcoming atmosphere with friendly service and a delicious menu showcasing New England cuisine with a twist, Kennys Wood Fired Grill in Addison Walk Shopping Center has an elegant club-like feel evocative of a 1940s Chicago-style steakhouse, with dark wood tables, gleaming red leather seating and rustic face brick walls. The menu features wood-grilled seafood and prime-cut meats, including the famous Steak and Cake  an 8 oz. fillet topped with a succulent crab cake. Entrees include chunky clam chowder, smoky, wood-grilled asparagus and delicious homemade mac-and-cheese, with the cheese of your choice, and for mains, the chilled lobster salad is sublime. Enjoy a glass of wine from a great wine list featuring vintages from around the world, or a James Bond-style Grey Goose martini poured from the signature frozen tap system and shaken or stirred to your taste. 5000 Beltline Rd. #775, Dallas, Texas 75254, Phone: 972-392-9663 More TX trip ideas: Best Things To Do in Houston with Kids.



22. What to do in Dallas: The Dallas Symphony Orchestra  Courtesy of beeboys - Fotolia.com



Established in 1900, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra began as a 40-member ensemble and has since grown into a world-renowned orchestra performing in one of the finest concert halls in the world. The orchestra is hosted in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, a world-class symphony hall that has become a famed landmark on the Dallas skyline. The center rests in the heart of the Dallas Arts District, a unique, 19-block neighborhood in the heart of the city that is the center of the region's cultural life. Home to some of the citys finest architecture, consisting of museums, churches, performing arts centers, hotels and restaurants, this buzzing district plays a vital role in the orchestras function. In addition to The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, visitors enjoy outstanding cultural entertainment, including innovative chamber opera and grand opera performances by the Dallas Opera at the Winspear Opera House, classic and groundbreaking theater by the Dallas Theater Company at the Wyly Theater, and a variety of performances and programs throughout the district. 2301 Flora St, Dallas, Texas 75201, Phone: 214-849-4376

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas" Back to Top

23. Garden Cafe, Dallas, TX  Garden Cafe This Old East Dallas cafe is a cozy neighborhood restaurant where locals go for their Sunday breakfast or brunch to indulge in chicken-salad sandwiches, meatloaf, turkey melts, eggs and bacon and pancakes. The dining room is cozy with exposed brick and comfortable banquette tables but if weather permits sit in the garden, or on the patio, and enjoy all the veggies and herbs that are more than a decoration, some of them are in your plate too. They are strong proponents of the 'farm to table' philosophy and put it in practice long before it became a fad by growing much of their produce. There are chickens running around too, so you can be sure your eggs will be fresh. They have daily specials, so if you want Cajun catfish, you better come in on Friday. 5310 Junius St, Dallas, TX 75214, Phone: 214-887-8330



24. Things to Do in Dallas, Texas: Soluna  Courtesy of Voloshyn Roman - Fotolia.com SOLUNA is a Dallas art festival that brings together international artists and Dallass best arts organizations while bridging the gap between modern culture and classical music. SOLUNA combines performing and contemporary arts with strong science and educational components by inviting audiences to experience art and music while interacting with the Dallas community. This multi-disciplinary art festival was established four years ago and lasts three weeks. It consists of a traditional part, with classical music performances, while the contemporary part of the festival features hip, edgy hip artists and performers. The festival normally ends with a big concert and great fireworks. Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St, Dallas, TX 75201, Phone: 214-849-4376



25. Things to Do in Dallas, Texas: The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum  Photo Courtesy of DCVB The 14,000 square foot George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum houses Presidential records, collections, electronic records and audiovisual materials from the White House Photo Office. Visitors can walk through a full-size replica of the Oval Office, a Texas Rose Garden and a Decision Points Theater. The 67-foot Freedom Hall features a 360-degree high definition video depicting the 44 United States' Presidents. In addition to the permanent exhibits, the museum hosts a series of special exhibits throughout the year, showcasing items from museums and Presidential Libraries across the nation. 2943 SMU Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75205, Phone: 214-346-1650



25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas

More ideas:

The South Dallas Cultural Center

Located on the corner of Robert B. Cullum Boulevard and South Fitzhugh Avenues, just outside the southern gates of Fair Park, the South Dallas Cultural Center features an innovative visual arts gallery, a 100-seat theater, various studios for dance, photography and multi-dimensional arts, as well as digital recording and video-production studios.

The cultural center offers a variety of youth programs, as well as visual and performing arts programs. Visitors can go on a public tour at no cost and learn about the SDCC history, exhibitions and facilities. The center holds a number of events and performances throughout the year.

3400 S Fitzhugh Ave, Dallas, Texas 75210, Phone: 214-939-2787

You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas " Back to Top



Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is a natural history and science museum located in Victory Park in downtown Dallas with an aim to inspire children to be the future leaders of tomorrow. Called a world of wonder by the The Dallas Morning News, the museum has a number of interesting and exciting exhibitions, experiences and programs that inspire curiosity and encourage learning through science and technology.

The park has two campuses: the main campus, which is located in Victory Park and a secondary campus in Fair Park, the latter of which features an IMAX-theater, a fully equipped and functioning planetarium, and an on-site paleontology lab. Visitors can explore the museum at the Fair Park campus, which features no less than 11 permanent exhibit halls, and a unique display of historical dioramas. You can also experience National Geographic educational films in the state-of-the-art theater.

2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, Texas 75201, Phone: 214-428-5555

You are reading "25 Best Things to Do in Dallas, Texas " Back to Top


South Padre Island is nestled on the Gulf of Mexico, near Brownsville, at the southeastern-most tip of Texas. Because the island is only a half a mile wide, you can see beaches from nearly any vantage point on the island. There are ecological tours, dolphin sightings and peaceful walks along the sand. South Padre Island, TX is a choice destination for honeymooners, couples and families.

We recommend that you call the attractions and restaurants ahead of your visit to confirm current opening times.

1. Sea Turtle Inc, South Padre Island, Texas  Courtesy of Vladlens Studios - Fotolia.com

Sea Turtle Inc. was formed to protect and recover an endangered sea turtle species. Since then the mission has expanded into three: Education, Conservation and Rehabilitation. Donations keep the doors open, the turtles cared for, and the educational programs afloat. Even without any government assistance, 1/5thof the income is used to fund conservation projects involving sea turtles worldwide. Sea Turtle Inc. provides college scholarships and a summer internship program for biology students. It rescues, aids, and releases injured sea turtles and assists with conservation efforts for all marine turtle species, all while endeavoring to educate the public. 6617 Padre Blvd. South Padre Island, TX 78597, Phone: 956-761-4511

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

2. South Padre Island Dolphin Research & Sea Life Nature Center, South Padre Island, TX  Courtesy of geraldmarella - Fotolia.com

The family-friendly Life Center offers boat tours to see bottleneck dolphins, field trips, and a hands-on experience which lets guests become familiar with creatures they may have never met before including: fish, crabs, octopi, snails. Guests even have the opportunity to touch starfish. Staff and volunteers are on hand to show you how to feed the rescued giant turtles and to demonstrate how seahorses are fed. Meet all the rescued animals and learn how to become ecofriendly. Boat tours give a unique insight into the lives of the dolphins in the wild. 10 N. Garcia St., Port Isabel, Texas 78578, Phone: 956-299-1957

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

3. The South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, South Padre Island, Texas  Courtesy of nataba - Fotolia.com

This is Rio Grande Valley's top destination for birdwatching, and an ideal place to observe butterflies and natural wildlife in coastal South Texas. You can walk down the boardwalks; take a birding tour; and experience the nature center. The butterfly garden is full of fluttering visitors from summer to late fall, when the Monarchs arrive. Any number of varieties of warblers arrive in the Spring. Orioles and numerous species of hummingbirds and other species are forced to land here because of severe weather during their migration routes. Experience the wonderful views of the Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, the Wood Stork and countless warblers. Brown Pelicans, White Ibis, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Red-winged Blackbirds, and many other species of birds reside here year round. 6801 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island,TX 78597, Phone: 956-761-6801



-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

4. Padre Island National Seashore, South Padre Island, Texas  Courtesy of philipus - Fotolia.com



South Beach begins where the paved road ends. This national park has 60 miles of beach you can drive on. South Beach ends at the Port Mansfield Channel. Texas beaches are public highways, so all traffic laws apply, and all vehicles traveling on Padre Island National Seashore must be street legal and licensed, including ATVs because The National Seashore uses ATVs to patrol for nesting sea turtles in the park. The driving conditions at the beach are constantly changing due to the currents, winds, and tides. Toilets and cold-water showers can be found at Malaquite Pavilion. Enjoy birds, turtles and other beach wonders without distractions. P.O. Box 181300, Corpus Christi, TX 78480, Phone: 361-949-8068

-- You are reading "Fun Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas this Weekend with Friends" -- You are reading "Fun Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas this Weekend with Friends" Back to Top

5. Southern Wave Sailing Charters of South Padre Island  Southern Wave Sailing Charters



Southern Wave's 48 custom-built Catamaran is a safe way to experience state-of-the-art sailing while enjoying the beauty of South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to Dinner Cruises and Snorkeling trips Southern Wave rents out Kayaks, Paddle Boats and Paddle Boards. Catamarans have a double hull construction and flotation devices which make them almost unsinkable. Our experienced personnel help rookies and the experts alike on the snorkeling trip. All snorkeling gear is provided for the 4 hour snorkeling trip, as well as a delicious lunch. Enjoy a memorable day of sailing, an afternoon of dolphin watching, or an evening of beautiful sunsets on one of the famous dinner cruises. PO Box 833, Port Isabel Texas, 78578, Phone: 866-704-7245

-- You are reading "What to Do on South Padre Island, Texas this Weekend" -- You are reading "What to Do on South Padre Island, Texas this Weekend" Back to Top

6. Isla Blanca Park, South Padre Island, Texas  Courtesy of CrackerClips - Fotolia.com



Isla Blanca Park is a state park, surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico, the Brazos Santiago Pass and the Laguna Madre. For day trips, there is ample parking and excellent bathroom facilities. For longer stays, it offers over 500 RV spots. Walk out on the jetties to see surfers, shrimp boats, cargo ships, dolphins, and the enormous Cristo De Los Pescadores statue. Sea shells abound for collecting. Three restaurants are within walking distance from the park. The park features a fishing area and a bait shop. It is a clean, well maintained park with a wide paved trail around the 1  mile perimeter of the park which is perfect for walking, jogging or biking. 33174 State Park Road 100 South Padre Island, TX 78597, Phone: 956-761-5494

-- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "Top Romantic Tourist Attractions on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

7. Laguna Madre Nature Trail, South Padre Island, TX  NPS Photo

The Laguna Madre Nature Trail is a boardwalk that runs from the South Padre Island Convention Center to the Laguna Madre wetlands. This is a great place to see almost 300 species of birds. The Laguna Madre Nature Trail is open 24 hours a day and there is no charge. Visitors rave about the diverse amount of animals they were able to see on the Laguna Madre Trail, especially all the alligators and the different varieties of birds. The Laguna Madre is a hyper saline lagoon. It is saltier than the ocean, one of only 6 such lagoons in the world. It is the nesting area and home of many creatures found nowhere else. 7355 Padre Boulevard South Padre Island, TX 78597, Phone: 956-761-3000



, From LA -- You are reading "What is There to Do with Kids on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

8. Beach Park At Isla Blanca, South Padre Island, Texas  Beach Park At Isla Blanca

Experience the most popular waterpark, a 25 acre attraction, in the Rio Grande Valley. Enjoy the best waterpark attraction in the Texas Gulfcoast region. Roar down 13 amazing indoor and outdoor water slides, or float down one of the river systems. The resort includes lodging, great Gulf beaches, wonderful dining experiences, and unlimited use of both the indoor and outdoor water features. Seasonal packages are available for the whole family. Plan a weekend getaway. Enjoy a fun filled day; then stay the night in a room just steps away from the beach with the best indoor water attractions in the area. 33261 State Park Rd 100, South Padre Island, TX 78597, 956-772-7873



9. Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas: South Padre Island Adventure Park  South Padre Island Adventure Park

Ride horses, enjoy the Zip-lines and the petting barn. Take a hayride on the beach, swim in the ocean, then end the day on the beach with a luau menu and a bonfire. Birthday parties are a specialty, with ponies and barn animals, hotdogs and refreshments. This park specializes in special events and parties, just tell them what you want, and it will be organized for you. Groups of all sizes are welcomed. With the state-of-the-art quick zip-line transition system, you will be able to go around the circuit as fast, or as slow as you want to. There are several horseback riding opportunities available. P.O. Box 3633,South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-415-0546

-- "Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" -- "Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas for Locals & Tourists - Restaurants, Hotels" Back to Top

10. Coastal Studies Laboratory, South Padre Island, Texas  Coastal Studies Laboratory

The Coastal Studies Laboratory located on South Padre Island was established in 1973, and provides educational opportunities, research and community outreach about coastal concerns in the Gulf of Mexico with an emphasis on the South Texas region. The Coastal Studies Lab is open to the public Monday - Friday 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm for self-guided tours, to see marine aquaria with local fish and invertebrate species. There is a touch tank, as well as sea shell collections featuring shells found locally and elsewhere around the world. There are nature videos and a gift shop. No admission is charged, but donations are accepted. School groups can arrange to visit the Coastal Studies Lab. The group sponsor should visit www.utrgv.edu/csl for details and pricing on guided tours. 100 Marine Lab Drive, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-761-2644



11. What to Do in South Padre Island: Osprey Cruises  Osprey Cruises

A great way to enjoy South Padre Island from the water is to board one of the six boats in the Osprey Cruises fleet. Each boat offers a different adventure. The luxury passenger cruiser will take you on a leisurely dinner cruise and serve fresh seafood and excellent drinks while the sun is setting. You can go sightseeing and dolphin watching, while learning about the ecology of the Texas Gulf Coast. Spectacular Black Dragon sailboat will show you how pirates lived, fought, and looked for treasure. The Thriller speedboat will take you on an adrenaline-pumping trip around the local fun spots at 50 mph, while dolphins ride the Thrillers wake  they love speed too. All boats leave from Pier 19. 1 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-761-6655

-- "New cool stuff to do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- "New cool stuff to do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top or Romantic Getaways

12. Sand Castle Lessons, South Padre Island, Texas  Courtesy of emmeci74 - Fotolia.com

South Padre Island, Texas is one of the rare places in the United States where you can learn how to make a great sand castle. The magnificent beaches of South Padre Island have a number of professional sand sculptors who have decided to help people have more fun on the beach by offering lessons in sandcastle building. There are beginners, intermediate, and advanced classes. The instructors meet you on the beach of your choice and bring all the equipment  there is more to it than just a plastic bucket. The classes last from one to three hours, and you are guaranteed to have fun and learn a few tricks about working with sand. You will never be embarrassed by your sand castles again. Phone: 956-433-9948



13. Fins to Feathers, South Padre Island, Texas  Fins to Feathers

Fins to Feathers offer small group tours of Laguna Madre Bay aboard their vessel Laguna Skimmer. The tours are run and narrated by Captain Ford Locket, who has been sharing his love of all things wild with guests since 1997. His dolphin tours are very special experiences because the dolphins know his boat and literally come to play with him, much to the delight of those watching. When taking tours with bird watchers, the boat approaches the birds habitats slowly and quietly so that the birds are not disturbed and continue with their natural behavior. The captain will share his knowledge of South Padre nature and history with you, and after the trip with Fins to Feathers you will understand more about the need for conservation and protection of the wild places. South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-299-0629



14. Things to Do on South Padre Island, TX: Skydive South Padre Island  Skydive South Padre Island

There is probably no greater adrenaline rush than jumping from a perfectly good airplane flyint at 11,000 feet. The views of South Padre island and the ocean are certainly spectacular, but once you jump, for about 60 seconds you are falling at speeds of almost 150 miles per hour and you do not have the time to take in the view. Then at 5,500 feet your parachute opens and you cruise for about seven minutes over the island. You can look out on the sea and feel a sense of total exhilaration as you soak up the sights you cannot get in any other way, until you land on the sand. Skydives are done in tandem, and you will be harnessed to an experienced skydiver who has taken thousands of jumps, so there is no training necessary and you will feel perfectly safe. 2500 Padre Blvd #5, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-744-5867



15. Gravity Park, South Padre Island, Texas  Gravity Park



When the kids, or you, get enough of sun, sand, and swimming, head to Gravity Park. Located just a few steps from the beach in the heart of the entertainment district of South Padre Island, Gravity Park is a local amusement and adventure park with a range of fun attractions for the whole family. Their reverse-bungee called the Rocket is considered the tallest in the world. There is also a Skycoaster, a roller coaster that will show you the best view of the island, unless you jump out of a plane. There are go-carts for adults and for kids, mini-golf, an arcade, a trampoline, and a climbing wall. 106 W Marlin St, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-761-8588

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top or Amazing things to do around me

16. Isla Tours, South Padre Island, Texas  Isla Tours



Every Friday and Saturday night, from Memorial Day to the end of October, fireworks light up the night on South Padre Island. The best place to watch them is aboard of Isla Tours party yacht Murphy's Law. Their party cruise starts with a dolphin watch, after which you enjoy the glorious sunset. After the sun goes down, the party really heats up. The captain turns on the party lights, a live DJ pumps up the volume, and you can dance to your hearts content. Then the captain anchors the boat so you can watch the fireworks exploding all over the night sky. Isla Tours also offers eco-tours, Port of Brownville tours, and deep sea fishing trips. 33256 State Park Rd 100, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-761-4752



17. The Original Dolphin Watch, South Padre Island, TX  The Original Dolphin Watch



Seeing dolphins while on South Padre Island is a must, as it is one of the rare places where you can get close enough to them. There are few pods of bottlenose and spinner dolphins that live permanently in the area, and when youre aboard the 60 cruise boat the Double Sunshine with experienced guides like those with the Original Dolphin Watch, you can watch them play and feed as they follow the boat. Dolphin Watch offers light refreshment and a well-prepared presentation about dolphins while you are cruising to Devils Elbow. Dolphin Watch also organizes snorkeling trips to the Laguna Madre Estuary where crystal clear water from three to six feet deep is perfect for any ages and abilities. 33256 Park Road 100 Sute 104, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-761-4243

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

18. Blackbeards'  Blackbeards'



Late in the Spring of 1978, an idea was conceived to serve delicious burgers, ice-cold beers, and to do enough business to live in an awesome beach town. This gave way to the very first Blackbeards and paved the road to the Blackbeards that South Padre Island residents know and love today. The restaurant is best known for its burgers and seafood offerings, which are sure to delight any diners tastebuds and have them coming back for more. Try menu offerings like Blackbeards Seafood Platter Supreme, the Ginger Teriyaki Tuna Steak, or their freshly made Crab Cakes. For meat lovers, the Rib Eye, Tenderloin Filet, and Bourbon Strip Steak certainly wont disappoint. 103 East Saturn Lane, South Padre, Texas 78597; Phone: 956-761-2962



19. Wyland Whaling Wall Number 53, South Padre Island, TX  Wyland Whaling Wall Number 53



The magnificent, enormous, life-size paintings of orca whales on South Padre Island Convention Center are part of the worldwide campaign Wylands Walls, organized by the renowned painter Wyland and the Wyland Foundation, who had the goal of completing 100 life-size marine murals in public places around the world. They completed their goal in 2008 after 27 years. The murals are meant to encourage greater understanding of and appreciation for aquatic habitats and the aquatic life. The life-size paintings are supposed to change peoples attitudes about marine conservation worldwide. With its Wyland Whaling Wall #53 Orcas off the Gulf of Mexico, South Padre Island is proud to be one of the 79 cities in 17 countries and 5 continents to raise its voice for marine conservation in this unique way. 7355 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 800-995-2630

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

20. Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier, South Padre Island, Texas  Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier



Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier is located in the park in Cameron County on the southern side of South Padre Island. The crowning glory of the lovely one-acre beach park is an old fishing pier, which used to serve as a causeway that stretched across the bay until the new bridge was constructed in the early 1970s. A central part of the original causeway has been removed, and the portion of the causeway on South Padre Island has been named the Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier. It became a part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which turned it into a fishing pier where fishermen can catch sand trout, speckled trout, croaker, sheepshead and other fish. 501 E Maxan St, South Padre Island, Texas 78578, Phone: 956-943-7437



21. What to Do in South Padre Island: Andy Bowie County Park  Courtesy of pixelliebe - Fotolia.com



Andy Bowie Park, located just across from the South Padre Island Convention Center on the north side of South Padre Island, is a lovely beach park with 20 miles of hard packed sand that is popular among off-road drivers  driving on the beach is permitted. It is stretched along the Gulf of Mexico and has two large picnic pavilions on the beach side, food concessions, BBQ areas, RV sites, beach equipment rental concessions, a swimming area, a fishing area, restrooms, and showers. You will also find a flagship hotel and a number of condo developments all around it. Andy Bowie County Park is only about five miles from Isla Blanca. 7300 State Park Rd 100, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-761-3704



22. Eh Brah SUP, South Padre Island, TX  Eh Brah SUP



A fun way of exploring Laguna Madre and watching for turtles or dolphins is on top of a paddleboard. Even if you have never done it, count on the experienced guides of Eh Brah to show you the ropes and take you on an adventure on the calm, warm waters of South Padres Laguna Madre. Or, if you are an experienced paddleboarder, you might want to try the rougher waters of the Gulf of Mexico. You can go in the morning with a bunch of friends or family or watch a stunning sunset from your board. Your guides provide everything: life preservers, booties, bottled water, and even sunscreen. The tours take about an hour and a half, and you can bring your dog aboard. Eh Brah also offers surfboarding lessons and sells boards and other equipment. South Padre Island, Texas, Phone: 956-433-9116

-- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" -- You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas" Back to Top

23. Crystal Flats Guide Service, South Padre Island, Texas  Crystal Flats Guide Service South Padre Island is famous for its fantastic fishing locations. Whether you're a tourist wishing to experience south Texas fishing, a beginner, or an experienced angler, your best option when it comes to fishing the waters of South Padre Island is with Captain Fleming, who knows all the best spots better than anyone else. He and his Crystal Flats Guide Service offer customized fishing charters on board his 22-foot Bay boat near shore, in the clear "flats," in the Lower Laguna Madre Bay, Port Mansfield, or Ports Brownsville, or wherever the fish are biting at the time. The tours leave from South Point Marina.v 103 S Manautou St #1701, Port Isabel, Texas 78578, Phone: 956-320-0556



24. Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas: South Padre Island Watersports  South Padre Island Watersports When visiting South Padre Island, South Padre Island Water Sports is the place to go to learn any of the watersports you always wanted to tackle, but you either never had time or were afraid of it being a bit too challenging. Their experienced instructors will respect your pace, have patience with you when things do not go well, work with your schedule, and put your safety above everything. Whether you are interested in learning kayaking, kiteboarding, surfing, flyboarding, stand up paddleboarding, skimboardingm or boogie boarding, they will provide you with excellent training, reliable equipment, and loads of fun. You can also rent equipment from them and take off on your own if you are already experienced in any of the sports. All trips leave from their private boat ramp, which drops into the calm waters of a protected channel. 5709A Padre Blvd, South Padre Island, Texas 78597, Phone: 956-299-9463



25. Sea Ranch Restaurant-Bar  Andriy Blokhin/stock.adobe.com Dig into the freshest seafood on South Padre Island when you head to the Sea Ranch Restaurant Bar. A must-visit of South Padre, Sea Ranch has been joyfully serving diners at this family dining establishment for over 35 years. Their specialty? Local, wild-caught seafood that comes straight out of the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the restaurants recommended dishes off the menu include the Oysters or Shrimp Rockefeller, and the Seafood Enchiladas, as well as Sea Ranch Signatures like the King Crab Legs, the Live Maine Lobster, Gulf Coast Shrimp, and the Red Snapper. Sea Ranch also has a bar and lounge to enjoy which opens at 4:30 pm daily. Meanwhile, the restaurant is ready to welcome guests from 5:30 pm onwards. 1 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island, Texas, Phone: 956-761-1314



25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas

You are reading "25 Best Things to Do on South Padre Island, Texas " Back to Top


Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page.

Loading...

Checking your browser before accessing the website.

This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly.

Please wait a few seconds.
Ty was seized by local police last Monday night when he was carrying the bomb on his three-wheel vehicle.  Photo tienphong.vn

Ignorance is bliss, sort of

What do you do when you see a bomb, especially a bomb with its detonator? The answer is you run away as fast and far as you can. However, there are exceptions to this rule.

A man named Le Van Ty, 39, from the central coastal province of Quang Tri, did the opposite. Ty dug up a 322kilo bomb and a detonator in a rubber tree forest in Vinh Ha Commune. The first thing he thought when seeing the bomb was how much money he might make selling it.

Ty was seized by local police last Monday night when he was carrying the bomb on his three-wheel vehicle. The police then found that the bomb labelled M177, produced by the US, was left after the American War ended in 1975. The bomb contained about 185 kilos of explosives and could have gone off at any time. It was handed over to Quang Tri Military Command to deactivate.

Ty may have rued his fate in being caught by police. But on second thought, the police probably saved his life.

To quote an old adge, "he who knows nothing doubts nothing."

Hold on to your dear ones

People often drop things; however, dropping your wife is unusual.

A 65-year-old member of the Muong ethnic minority from the northern province of Phu Tho, was found yesterday frantically searching for his wife in Van Mieu Commune. He said he had dropped her but did not know where and was very worried.

Turns out the man was driving his wife on his motorbike to Tan Son District General Hospital to visit a relative. On the way home, the man drove fast and upon returning, found the back seat empty. He immediately got back on the motorbike and went to look for her. He searched in two communes - Van Mieu and Vo Mieu - along the way, to no avail. He then met a couple in Van Mieu Commune who joined the search. They eventually found her sitting near a beer restaurant in Long Coc Commune. A joyful family reunion ensued.

Moral of the story? Hold on tight to those near and dear.

Too clever is not clever

A first-year student in Ha Noi recently visited her boyfriends house. Before the visit, she prepared at length to present her cooking skills to his family.

First, she prepared breakfast with bread, an omelette, fresh milk and fruit. Her boyfriends father thanked her because he often had to eat instant noodles for his breakfast. Then for lunch she cooked fried beef and helped her boyfriends mother cook sticky-rice. After lunch, she washed the dishes and also put lotus flowers in a vase. Her boyfriends father continued praising her. She felt very happy and thought that she had made a perfect impression.

A week later, the girl received a message from her boyfriend. He said his mother wanted him to end his relationship with her because she was too clever and his mother did not like that.

Too clever is not clever, especially when you meet a mamas boy.  VNS
CAN THO  Thoresen Thai Agencies Public Limited is planning to invest in logistics services and ports in Can Tho City, according to the Peoples Committee of the city.

On May 8, vice chairman of the Peoples Committee of Can Tho City Truong Quang Hoai Nam met Sigmund Stromme, executive vice president for shipping and logistics at Thoresen Thai Agencies Public Limited from Thailand. The Thailand-based company is looking for business opportunities in the local seaport and logistics industry.

Speaking at the meeting, Nam said Hoang Dieu Port in Binh Thuy District and Cai Cui Port in Cai Rang District are both located in Can Tho. "Logistics is a key industry of the city," he said, adding that the Government had approved Can Tho Citys proposal to build a logistics hub for the Mekong Delta, which would cover 242ha in Cai Cui Port, Cai Rang District.

The city has proposed to the Government the merger of three ports -- Tan Cang Cai Cui, Vinaline Cai Cui and Cai Cui  to make it the largest port in the region with wharf length of some 1,200m. Site clearance for the logistics hub is underway and firms have visited the site to learn about investment opportunities.

The city has also suggested merging ports and supporting expansion of business for companies providing logistics services at ports.

Nam said Thoresen could buy stake in Viet Nam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) to join the port-merging project, build a new port at another site along the Hau River or invest in the existing warehouse and transport system at Cai Cui Port.

For his part, the executive vice president of Thoresen gave Nam an overview of the Thai company, saying the company had been operating in fertiliser production and shipping and logistics in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

Stromme expressed hope the company could partner with Can Tho City to improve port management and expand local shipping and logistics services with emphasis on container transit service to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Singapore. Its investment in logistics services in this city is expected to promote cooperation in logistics activities with southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and support the transport of cargo in the Mekong Delta region.

Can Tho has a large potential to develop logistics because of its favourable location in terms of water and land transport, besides having many ports and warehouses, he said. After the meeting concluded, the two sides took a field trip to Cai Cui Port.  VNS
HA NOI  A workshop on promoting trade with EU market via Amazon online shopping channel will be held in Ha Noi on May 10, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas).

The workshop will be a venue for businesses and experts to discuss online shopping trend on Amazon, the worlds leading online shopping website.

It will look into measures to promote advantages of textile of and leather footwear products in export.

Two German experts in e-commerce and marketing strategy, Andre M. Aslund and Ryan Ong, will share their experience with and give advice to participating businesses.

The signed EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has opened up many opportunities for Vietnamese commodities to enter the EU market, said Truong Van Cam, Vice President of Vitas, adding that the trend of e-commerce towards this huge market has also grown rapidly thanks to the agreement.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam is witnessing the potential for fruit and vegetable exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE has banned the import of certain fruits and vegetables from five countries in the Middle East, according to the Department of Africa, West Asia and South Asia Markets under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

According to the ban authorised by the UAEs Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, imports from Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen will be stopped from May 15 over concerns about the high level of pesticides. The list of banned items includes all varieties of pepper from Egypt; peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, squash, beans and aubergines from Jordan; apples from Lebanon; melons, carrots and watercress from Oman; and all types of fruit from Yemen.

Due to unfavourable natural environment and weather conditions for agricultural production, the UAE has to depend on fruit and vegetable imports to meet its local consumption demand, the department said.

The country imported US$3.2 billion worth of fruits and vegetable in 2014. The figures were $2.6 billion in 2015 and over $2.5 billion in 2016, the department said, quoting statistics from the International Trade Centre.

Meanwhile, a report from the Viet Nam General Department of Customs revealed that Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports to the UAE reached $14.2 million in 2014, $16.2 million in 2015 and $22.8 million in 2016, accounting for a modest part of the UAEs annual import turnover of this commodity group.

The department called on Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exporters to improve their understanding of the Middle East countrys rules on food hygiene and safety to effectively tap into the lucrative market.  VNS
HA NOI  The central province of Thua Thien  Hue aims to attract around US$300-400 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year, according to the provinces recent investment promotion plan.

The central province is calling for investment from both local and foreign groups in all sectors, but with priority given to sectors of the provinces strength, such as tourism  service, information technology, healthcare, aquaculture, light industries, urban area development and economic zones.

Investment promotion from traditional investors like Thailand, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and the US will be stepped up, as well as from countries which would benefit from bilateral and multilateral trade agreements of which Viet Nam is a member.

The province will work with FLC Group, Vingroup, Bitexco, and Viglacera, as well as foreign investment promotion organisations like the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Korea International Cooperation Agency, and Japan External Trade Organization.

Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, Nguyen Van Cao, said that the province wanted to promote investment by connecting with investors partners such as banks, infrastructure businesses and consultant firms.

The locality also planned to forge connectivity via direct dialogues between authorities, investors and investment management and trade counseling agencies, he added.

Currently, investors are studying several projects in the province, including an infrastructure project worth VN600 billion ($26.3 million) at a Thien Ha Kameda JSC Industrial Park. The Chan May JSC has registered to pour VN850 billion in capital in building a wharf at the Chan May Port. Phu Quang Spinning JSC poured VN400 billion into a spinning line project.
HA NOI  An upcoming G2B (Government to Business) conference will target creating favourable conditions for business growth, not merely on solving existing problems facing enterprises, a senior official said yesterday.

Le Manh Ha, Vice Chairman of the Government Office, was addressing a press conference held to announce details of the second annual meeting between the Prime Minister and businesses on May 17.

He said the conference will broadly focus on the promulgation and implementation of Resolution 35/NQ-CP, taking in suggestions and requests from business associations and individual firms about improving the business environment in Viet Nam.

The inputs will be assessed and action by appropriate Government agencies under the PMs guidance, he added.

Vu Tien Loc, President of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said at the press meet that his institution will submit to the PM around 200 opinions, divided into five groups, from businesses across the country.

He said the feedback largely dealt with administrative reforms, protection of corporate rights, and the need to reduce operational and production costs.

Two noteworthy requests from businesses are the streamlining of overlapping legal directives and administrative regulations, he said.

Businesses mainly want cheaper loans, easier access to credit, a transparent dispute settling mechanism, a transparent inspection regimen and logistical solutions, Loc said.

A majority of 420 requests sent by businesses to the 2016 conference have been resolved and the few remaining are being processed, he said.

Resolution 35 has been positively received by 75 per cent of total national businesses, while about 30 per cent considered the changes wrought to be limited.

Key sector

Ha said that this years conference will reinforce the importance of the private sector as being on par with foreign direct investment and the State-owned sector.

Loc also said that in order to achieve the 2020 goal of establishing a million domestic enterprises, local authorities and firms will have to work closely together.

G2B meetings are seen as an effective way to increase understanding and communication between the two sides on many topics of shared interest, including market mechanisms, administrative regulations, legal documents and public sector divestment.

About 2,000 representatives of domestic enterprises, roughly four times that of 2016, are set to attend the upcoming conference. Of these, 1,500 belong to the household business sector, the FDI sector, State-owned and equitised enterprises, and representatives from foreign embassies and major financial institutions.

Senior leaders from 63 provinces and cities will attend the meeting via online streaming. The PM and Deputy PMs will monitor the conference, while the Government Office, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the VCCI will chair the event.

This years G2B conference, themed Side by side with Enterprises, will be held at the Viet Nam National Convention Centre.  VNS
HA NOI  Rising sea levels have exacerbated saline intrusion and coastal erosion in Viet Nam, but farmers can make the best out of a bad situation by shifting from agriculture to aquaculture, raising brackish water shrimp.

This view was expressed by the Directorate of Fisheries (DoF) at the fourth agricultural promotion forum held in the southern province of Bac Lieu last Friday.

Attending the forum were leaders from relevant sectors, scientists and nearly 200 shrimp farmers from the Cuu Long (Mekong) river delta provinces of Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, Long An and Bac Lieu.

DoF official Ngo The Anh said at the forum that raising brackish water shrimp was a key target in the nations aquaculture development plans, especially in coastal localities.

Currently, brackish shrimp is a leader in the seafood sector, accounting for about 45 per cent of the sectors export turnover. Its seen as a product with significant advantage and potential in the context of global climate change.

Anh said localities in the Mekong Delta needed to take advantage of all its potentials including natural conditions, available markets, processing technology and experience of local breeders.

We have to develop shrimp farming on a large scale using modern technology; this will not only be environmentally friendly but also create high-quality products.

The DoF also informed the meeting that various Vietnamese shrimp products had high potential because they were favoured in the world market. There is currently no limit on shrimp products, because its price has almost never dropped.

Truong The Hung, a shrimp farmer in Soc Trang Province, said he and his peers were more concerned about the quality of post-larvae because they could not check this with the naked eye.

Most shrimp farmers who expressed their views and opinions at the forum also mentioned difficulties they faced, including raising capital, disease outbreaks, the quality of post-larvae and veterinary medicines, which they said were hurting the shrimp breeding industry.

Shrimp farmers suffered last year from drought and salinity, which damaged more than 188,000 ha of ponds in Ca Mau, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang provinces.

In the early months of this year, Delta farmers raised shrimp on 556,000 ha, more than double the same period last year.

Kim Van Tieu, Deputy Director of the National Agricultural Promotion Centre, suggested that the DoF continues to focus on managing the quality of post-larvae, probiotics and antibiotics, as well as products to treat the environment, in order to protect the rights and interests of shrimp farmers.

Research institutes, schools and businesses need to study and engage in the production of quality, disease-free post-larvae, and produce disease-resistant varieties in the future, he said.  VNS
JAKARTA  The Embassy of Viet Nam in Indonesia and the Indonesia  Viet Nam Friendship Association (IVFA) jointly organised a forum to connect the two nations enterprises in Jakarta, Indonesia on May 8.

The event was attended by Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister Abdurrahman M. Fachir, Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Hoang Anh Tuan, IVFA President Budiarsa Sastrawinata, and representatives from businesses of both countries.

It offered an opportunity for the enterprises to meet and share trade-investment experience and information, thus promoting the bilateral economic co-operation.

Addressing the function, the host Deputy Foreign Minister highlighted the traditional relationship between Viet Nam and Indonesia, which was founded by late President Sukarno and late President Ho Chi Minh, has been upgraded to a strategic partnership.

He also expressed his hope that the two nations, with the biggest population in the region, will continue being active members of ASEAN, contributing to realising the blocs targets and maintaining the stability and prosperity in the region.

The two governments need to strengthen cooperation, promote trade and people-to-people exchange, as well as tap their strengths to overcome difficulties and raise bilateral relations to a new height.

Le Hong Minh, head of the Viet Nam Trade Office in Indonesia updated participants on incentives offered by Vietnamese localities in terms of tax, salary, offices renting.

Indonesian firms have recognised investment potential in the 90-million-people Vietnamese market with a high economic growth rate, Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan, said, adding that many Indonesian businesses have found business and investment opportunities in Viet Nam.  VNS
HA NOI  The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cancelled the import licences of 679 Vietnamese food and beverage manufactureres that did not re-register with the agency as required, or did so without following current procedures.

The Viet Nam Trade Office (VTO) in the United States has reminded domestic export firms to check the validity of their business codes before shipping food and beverage products for human and animal consumption into the US.

According to recent FDA data, before this re-registration requirement, Viet Nam had a total of 1,485 enterprises with valid business numbers provided by the FDA; however, this number had currently dropped to 806.

ao Tran Nhan, head of US-based VTO, said that under US law, all foreign firms exporting food and beverages for people and animals into the US market must re-register every two years. This included registering their manufacturing facilities and representatives in the United States so that they could be issued with a new valid business code. This task needed to be completed before the shipment arrives in the US.

Since 2017, the FDA has changed the method of verification for issuing new business codes and established further regulations. For example, after being designated by the manufacturing facilities and registered with the FDA, the firms representatives in the United States must send a letter or document to the FDA confirming their authorisation to represent a Vietnamese manufacturing facility in the US.

If the FDA does not receive this letter or document, the re-registration is considered incomplete and the business code will be cancelled.

Shipments by Vietnamese firms that are unaware that their FDA business codes have been revoked will be refused entry to the port.

Further, companies proceeding with goods delivery without valid registration will be considered violating the law and may be subject to criminal or other severe penalties under the United States Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Data provided by the General Department of Viet Nam Customs reported that in 2016 the countrys export turnover to the United States hit US$38.5 billion, growing 15 per cent compared with the previous year and accounting for 22 per cent of the countrys total import-export turnover.

Eight types of product exported to the US earned over US$1 billion for the country last year. Viet Nams textiles and garment shipments were at the top with an increase of five per cent from a year ago to US$11.5 billion, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of Viet Nams total export turnover to the United States.  VNS
By Ha Nguyen

Come summer, and we look for food and drinks that are not heavy, and have a cooling effect  different kinds of salads, lemonade made with kudzu powder (bot san day) and so on.

One food that has emerged as a gourmet favourite for summer is the jellyfish, which is appreciated not only for its taste, but also for its medicinal properties. Herbalists say jellyfish is good medicine for hypertension.

This seafood lends itself to many dishes, including nom sua (jellyfish salad) and sua muoi (salted sua) and many others.

In fact, on hot summer days, sua should be a must in every household menu.

My friend, Vi Hong Nhan, a native of Tinh Gia District in the coastal province of Thanh Hoa, is prone to get wistful during summer about the days she and her friends rushed to the immense sandy beaches.

Despite the heat, under the sunlight, we could enjoy a mass carpet of very beautiful and colourful jellyfish pushed to the shore by waves. They looked like the moon during a mid-lunar month.

I liked the jellyfish a lot, and would often select several big ones to bring home for my mother to make nom sua, Nhan said.

Nhans mother, Nguyen Thi Toan, said choosing fresh sua was very important to ensure a tasty dish. The jellyfish should have been pushed fresh to the seashore and they have to be cleaned very carefully because their tentacles have a lot of sand in them.

To make sua more tasty and crispy, Toan said she would wrap it with tender guava leaves for 30 minutes and re-clean it with strong tea before mixing it with pieces of cucumber, young fresh mango, banana slices and some homemade shrimp paste.

This salad is often had with rau mui (cilantro), rau ram (fragrant knotweed), marjoram, young cassava and inh lang (polyscias fruticosa) leaves, said Toan, adding that her grandparents always asked her to have rau ma (centella) while enjoying jellyfish salad.

Sua muoi

A relative in Thai Binh Province, Vu Van Tam, recently sent us several kilos of salted sua, coloured dark red.

I cleaned the sua with cool, boiled water and then cut it into pieces. My husband, a native of Nghe An Province, enjoyed it, saying the most tasty and crispy part of sua was its tentacles.

I immediately remembered Toan saying that salted sua should be had with a salad of rau mui, rau ram, marjoram, young cassava and inh lang leaves and fried groundnuts.

The dish gets even more tasty when it is dipped in Cat Hai fish sauce that comes from Hai Phong City or fish sauce from Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province. A bit of lemon juice, crushed garlic and red chilli should be added to the fish sauce.

My Thai Binh relative said there were many varieties of jellyfish, including sua sen, which locals choose as good food. The sua sen season lasts from the fourth to the eighth lunar month every year.

After catching this jellyfish, fishermen rub it repeatedly on the spot to remove the slime. Then it is cut into pieces and put into a large glazed terracotta jar that has guava leaves, alum and salt. The jellyfish is kept in the jar till it shrinks..

Tam said his family earned between VN80-100 million from last years sua season by exporting it to mainland China and Taiwan, where it is a specialty food that commands a high price.

Sipping salted sua with locally made wine, known as ruou cuoc lui, is so good that no man can refuse, said Tam, adding that he and his fellow fishermen often celebrate a bumper sua catch with a party.

Apart from being good food in summer, sua sen is very good medicine for patients with high triglyceride, constipation, pneumonia and many other ailments, according to herbalist Ho Van Sinh of the Nghe An Centre of Traditional Medicine

It is also very effective for treating children with prickly heat and other skin disorders. Boil sua and salt, and wash the skin with the water, he said.  VNS
HCM CITY  The French-Vietnamese Week of Architecture kicked off on May 8 in HCM City to honour the work of architects.

The event brings together local and international professional architects as well as architecture lovers to exchange ideas and discuss issues related to modern urban management.

A wide range of activities has been scheduled during the event, including an exhibition, a seminars and talks, with the participation of international renowned French architects.

The exhibition, which includes images of French architecture throughout the world, is opened to the public from May 8-13 at the University of Architecture in HCM City.

Seminars on architecture and urban planning and talks themed Urban Mutations will be held during the event.

The special week has been organised by the French Institute in Viet Nam in collaboration with the Academy of Architecture, independent initiative An Ordinary City, French Architects Overseas Organisation (AFEX) and Business France. VNS
HA NOI  The Vietnamese film Cha cong con (Father and Son) has won the Best Cinematography award at the 17th Milano International Film Festival (MIFF).

The MIFF, taking place in Milan from May 10 to June 10, selects features, documentaries and short films nominated by the cultural non-profit Leonardo Da Vinci Film Society. The Best Film award will be announced in late May.

Ten years ago, I came to Tokyo, Japan to receive the Best Film award at the 29th Tokyo Video Festival for my 13-minute film The Boat Man. I was surprised, excited. I kept the awards envelope till today and as a reminder of my starting point on a long road, wrote director Luong inh Dung on Facebook on Monday.

This year, [the success of] Father and Son is a another step towards the aspiration of a film maker. The success of Father and Son today is small but it creates inspriration for me to continue to make an effort. The dream of bringing Viet Nam film to the world may be hard, but there will be a path to it, he wrote.

The movie, directed by Luong inh Dung, also won Best Foreign Feature and Special Jury Award for Outstanding Cinematography at the 26th Arizona International Film Festival last month in Arizona, which drew 96 films from 20 countries.

Previously, Father and Son received the Indie Spirit Best Storyline award at the 15th Boston International Film Festival in April, which saw the participation of over 3,200 movies from around the world.

The main character in the movie is a little boy named Ca. He lives with his blind father, who has spent his entire life by the river. Cas world revolves around the river and everything associated with it, including the animals, flowers and the wooden fish his father carved for him.

Ca dreams of touching the clouds and of visiting the fancy fairy tale lands described by his father. However, Ca suffers from an incurable disease and cannot wait for the day his father has enough money to take him to the doctor.

The script for the film was inspired by Dungs own experiences when he wrote Father and Son in 1995.  VNS
Nguyen Manh Ha, vice chairman of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Agency, speaks to Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) about the pros and cons of building tiny flats in Viet Nam

Do you think that the Ministry of Constructions decision to give a nod to the construction of an apartment of 25 square metres goes against the 2004 Housing Law?

Under the 2004 Housing Law, the minimum construction floor area for an affordable housing apartment shall be 30sq.m and that of a commercial housing apartment shall be 45sq.m. However, under the 2014 Housing Law, such specific regulations were abolished.

It now says the standard area of each commercial residential house shall be decided by the project investor in conformity with the detailed construction zoning plan, construction standards and regulations, and the document approving the investment project. As such, the minimum area for each house type shall be decided by the investors themselves and not be regulated by the 2014 Housing Law.

The Ministry of Construction (MOC) will soon issue a set of National Technical Standards for Residential Buildings. While waiting for that legal document, the MOC approves construction of apartments with a minimum area of 25sq.m. However, the MOC also states clearly that all the small apartments must be designed and constructed as standard self-contained apartments.

Many people are concerned this may result in the spread of slum residential areas. How do you respond to that?

I dont think small flats are to be blamed for slum residential areas. As we all know, living conditions do not depend on the apartments people live in. They depend on the design of that urban area and its surrounding infrastructure. If 25sq.m flats are built in a big residential area like Vinhomes in Ha Noi, Im pretty sure people living in these small flats will have better access to convenient facilities offered by the project owners than in areas which are quite far away from the city center.

Further more, the MOC has stated clearly that in a construction projects proposal, the owner must specify clearly areas dedicated to each type of housing construction in specific percentage. According to experience from other countries, apartments are divided into four categories: studio, one bedroom; two bedrooms, three bedrooms or more. Of course, there are set standards for these apartments. For example, in Ha Nois My inh area, a 45sq.m studio is designed to have only one room with a kitchen and a toilet. Meanwhile an apartment with one bed room has an area of 55sq.m while a two bedroom will have an area 75sq.m.

In the case of Australia, a minimum area of a studio is 30sq.m, while in South Korea it is less than 22. In other words, the rule varies from one country to another depending on their economic conditions. But the common standard in the world is that the number of studios in a construction project will be capped at 10 percent of the total projects apartments; 20 percent are one-bedroom apartments; 50 percent are two-bedroom apartments; 20 percent are three-bedroom apartments.

However, under our law there is no rule on how many people can live in a studio. Thats why a few people share studios. This burdens the building infrastructure as well as urban management. Do you have any comments?

I should say there is no rule that an apartment with three or four bedrooms must have four people living in it. Sometimes only one person lives in that apartment and in other cases, only a couple lives in a villa covering 500sq.m. I should say that most families living in flats/apartment in Viet Nam have only three members. Quite a few have four members.

What I want to emphasise here is that we should do urban management in accordance with our laws, not someone elses.

So do you think that we should have a specific law regulating that 26sq.m apartments must be built on the outskirts?

I object to that idea. Where they should be built depends on market demand not on the will of certain groups of people.

We are now living in a market economy. Many people prefer to live in a small flat with good facilities rather than living in a big flat with poor facilities. In other words, we cannot force investors to go to outlying districts to build small flats or to force people wanting to own small flats with good facilities to go to outlying districts to buy them.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday receives Trade Minister of New Zealand Todd McClay in Ha Noi.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday held a reception for visiting Trade Minister of New Zealand Todd McClay in Ha Noi.

He expressed hope that the visit will contribute to promoting bilateral trade relations between Viet Nam and New Zealand.

The PM suggested the two nations continue their co-ordination to promote common benefits within APEC and other multilateral economic links, towards a successful APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting slated for May 20-21 in Ha Noi.

He said he hopes that two-way trade will increase in the future, with more investors from New Zealand in Viet Nam.

PM Phuc spoke highly of New Zealands respect for the international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in addressing the East Sea (South China Sea)-related issues, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.

He also thanked the Government of New Zealand for supporting Viet Nam in training human resources and expected that the country will continue its assistance in the field.

For his part, Minister McClay underlined growing bilateral trade between Viet Nam and New Zealand, hoping that it will continue to thrive.

The two sides will reach the goal of doubling bilateral trade value, the guest said, adding that his ministry and Viet Nams Ministry of Industry and Trade need to discuss measures to realise the target.

New Zealand also wishes to contribute to the success of APEC Viet Nam 2017, he affirmed. VNS
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) meets Japanese leaders during his ongoing visit to Japan from May 8-10 at the invitation of Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.  VNA/VNS Photo Gia Quan

TOKYO  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met Japanese leaders during his ongoing visit to Japan from May 8-10 at the invitation of Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

Meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tadamori Oshima and President of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka, Minh expressed delight at the development of the Viet Nam-Japan extensive strategic partnership in recent years.

PM Abe thanked President Quang for inviting him to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) 2017 and pledged to support preparations for the event in a Nang and to attend the groups meetings.

Speaker Oshima, for his part, hailed Viet Nam as an important partner in the region and wished to further promote bilateral ties with Japan.

JICA President Kitaoka said Viet Nam is JICAs largest co-operative partner and vowed to work to contribute to Viet Nams development.

Minh affirmed that the Vietnamese Party, State and Government consider Japan a leading and long-term partner and stand ready to deepen the two nations extensive strategic partnership.

During talks between the two FMs and the ninth session of the Viet Nam-Japan Cooperation Committee (VJCC), both sides debated measures to implement agreements reached by the two countries high-ranking leaders during the Viet Nam visit by PM Abe last January as well as the agenda for the upcoming Japan visit by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Host and guest agreed to hold the VJCCs second session on co-operation in industry, trade and energy in June and organise a fourth high-level agriculture dialogue for the second half of this year.

On economic co-operation, they decided to promote bilateral economic connectivity and work together to implement the sixth stage of the Viet Nam-Japan Joint Initiative to Improve Business Environment while strengthening joint work in industry and energy.

Japanese FM Kishida promised continued support to Viet Nams economic development via the provision of official development assistance and increased partnerships in building infrastructure.

Japan will help Viet Nam carry out action plans for six industries chosen in Viet Nams industrialisation strategy within the Viet Nam-Japan collaboration framework until 2020 with a vision to 2030, encourage Japanese investment in Viet Nam and assist the country in reforming State-owned enterprises.

The two sides consented to look into measures to develop Viet Nams support and automobile industry and to make it easier for Vietnamese agro-fisheries firms to trade in Japan.

Deputy PM Minh asked for Japans support to strengthen pollution monitoring in Viet Nams key industries such as coal-fueled thermal power, steel and chemical fertiliser, and build the Law on Support Industry Development.

Apart from agreeing to increase partnership across agriculture, climate change response, personnel training and labour, they lauded negotiations by the two countries ministries and agencies towards the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a joint crediting mechanism and a MoU on support for apprentices.

The two leaders promised close collaboration to prevent workers migrating illegally.

On global and regional issues of shared concern, host and guest vowed to support each other at global and regional forums such as the East Asia Summit, ASEAN, the Asia-Europe Meeting and the UN while consolidating partnerships in international economic connectivity such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

The Vietnamese FM asked Japan to back Viet Nams candidacy for non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021 and UNESCO General Director for 2017-2021.

Kishida said Japan supports Viet Nam and will work with the country to hold the APEC Year 2017.

As regards the East Sea (South China Sea) issue, both sides shared the international communitys deep concern over recent developments in the East Sea and agreed on the importance of ensuring peace, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom, and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and reaching a Code of Conduct in the East Sea soon.  VNS
As asserted many times previously, Viet Nam has sufficient legal grounds and historical evidence proving its sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, stated Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.  VNA/VNS Photo Van iep

HA NOI  As asserted many times previously, Viet Nam has sufficient legal grounds and historical evidence proving its sovereignty over Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, stated Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.

She made the statement yesterday in response to reporters queries about Viet Nams response to the visit to Truong Sas Thi Tu (Thitu) island by Philippine National Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana along with Philippine and foreign reporters on April 21.

Viet Nam asks parties concerned to respect her sovereignty over Truong Sa archipelago, fully and seriously implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, exercise restraint and refrain from actions that cause tension and further complicate the situation, and settle disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, she said.  VNS
HA NOI  Hosting events of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum demonstrates the strategic diplomatic vision and growing stature of Viet Nam on the world stage, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

In a recent article published by muliple local media outlets, Minh, also Chairman of the APEC 2017 National Committee, wrote that APEC Year 2017 would be a critical opportunity for Viet Nam to affirm its diplomatic wisdom, especially in multilateral external activities, amid strong efforts to integrate internationally.

He said APEC Vietnam 2017s theme, Creating New Dynamism, Fostering A Shared Future, had been praised by members of the 21-nation Pacific Rim trade association, the events of which Viet Nam is hosting this year.

Based on APEC cooperation outcomes in past years, Viet Nam put forth the following priorities: promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening micro, small and medium enterprises competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.

The theme, priorities and co-operation directions for APEC Year 2017 illustrate the vision of the countrys diplomacy, that targets a peaceful and stable Asia-Pacific with dynamic development driving growth and economic connectivity in the region and the world, the article says.

"APEC activities this year must prove that APEC is a forum for people and businesses. It is also urgent to attain the Bogor Goals - a set of targeted goals for realising free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific agreed by member economies in 1994, maintain connectivity within frameworks like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and work to form a Free Trade Area for the Asia-Pacific.

"After 28 years of development, its time to shape APECs post-2020 vision, which needs to clarify long-term orientations and cooperation pillars for the next 10-15 years. It is necessary to bring into play the spirit of equal, win-win, voluntary and non-binding cooperation to ensure the forums dynamism and attractiveness in a region with diverse history, culture and development levels," the article says.

Growing stature, practical benefits

Minh wrote that activities this year would allow Viet Nam to boost the stable and sustainable development of the partnerships it had set up, particularly with key APEC members.

Additionally, accelerating the realisation of the Bogor Goals and APECs strategies and action plans, along with Viet Nams efforts to fulfill commitments in free trade agreements, would help promote reforms, economic restructuring and the shifting of the growth model in the country while improving the local business and investment climate.

Some 200 planned APEC 2017 activities would generate co-operation, business and tourism opportunities, Minh wrote, saying that the APEC Economic Leaders Week in a Nang City alone would be attended by 10,000 delegates and entrepreneurs in November.

Deputy PM Minh voiced his belief that with Viet Nams efforts and other member economies support, APEC Vietnam 2017 would be successful, contributing to the countrys development and affirming its vision and stature.  VNS
HA NOI  The second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM 2) and related meetings began in Ha Noi yesterday, with participants discussing various issues of regional interest.

They include trade and investment liberalisation, business facilitation, human resource development, education, network economy, food safety, science, technology and creativity, mining, the automobile industry and urbanisation.

During a series of events which will last until May 21, APEC delegates are expected to speed up the implementation of long-term co-operation programmes and plans in key areas and reach consensus on documents to be submitted to ministers for approval. This will lay a foundation for documents for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting and APEC Ministerial Meeting in central a Nang City in November.

A multi-stakeholder dialogue on APEC towards 2020 and beyond, a high-level policy dialogue on human resource development in the digital age, a Pacific Economic Cooperation Council meeting, a Senior Finance Officials Meeting and the 23rd Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting will also be held.

The first working day saw meetings and workshops on mining, export, food safety, womens role in the economy, and the disabled.

Womens role

At the first Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) Meeting to discuss womens role in the global economy, participants heard that women make immense contributions to development in the 21 APEC economies.

In her opening remarks, Hoang Thi Thu Huyen, Deputy Director of the Gender Equality Department under Viet Nams Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) said APEC member economies employed about 600 million women, with more than 60 per cent working in the formal sector, contributing up to US$89 billion annually to APEC.

Huyen, also chair of PPWE 2017, said APEC economies were working to remove barriers encountered by women as their potential to contribute to the region had not been realised.

She added that this goal was being realised through the efforts and leadership of the PPWE.

The meeting also aims to ensure the realisation of PPWE outcomes from 2016 and recommend steps to remove barriers faced by women.

MoLISA Deputy Minister Doan Mau Diep applauded the PPWEs work in the past ten years in showing the importance of women in the economy. The PPWE has contributed to closer ties between the public sector and private sector, as well as to mainstreaming policies and programmes on womens economic empowerment in APEC activities, he said.

However, "more needs to be done to make APEC co-operation more beneficial to all women to ensure that no woman is left behind by social and economic growth, and that women can contribute to the development of APEC economies," he stressed.

Export certificates

A workshop was held in the framework of SOM2 yesterday to look into export certificates and their role in facilitating trade in safe food products in APEC.

The two-day workshop was organised by the Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance, the Food Safety Cooperation Forum and the Partnership Training Institute Network.

Participants spent the first day discussing topics such as developing baseline assessments and self-reporting among APEC economies in implanting principles for certification set by the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems.

They also held dialogues on using innovative options to improve communication and information flow related to export certificates and discussed past deliverables included in the APEC Export Certificate Toolbox and suggested possible updates.

They were provided with information on useful tools when considering export certificate regulations, including the use of good regulatory practices, using Codex guidance to determine when an export certificate is necessary, ways to streamline requirements, appropriate use of technology and elimination of unnecessary certificates.

Promoting rights of the disabled

At a meeting of the Group of Friends on Disability (GoFD), also in the framework of SOM2 yesterday, APEC delegates shared experience in promoting the rights of the disabled.

On behalf of the host country, Viet Nams MoLISA Deputy Minister Doan Mau Diep praised the outcomes of the meetings of GoFD over the past years. He said the outcomes have laid an important foundation for co-ordination in APEC on issues relating to the people with disabilities in economic development.  VNS
Nguyen Van Thu, President of the Viet Nam Association of Mechanics.  Photo dantri.com.vn

HA NOI  Viet Nam needs to invest in human resources to take advantage of and keep updated about the fourth industrial revolution or industry 4.0, Nguyen Van Thu, President of the Viet Nam Association of Mechanics said.

The next step, according to him, is technological reform and co-operation among enterprises to avoid investment overlap.

According to experts, enterprises need labourers with professional skills, especially those developing and designing products. This will create ressure and opportunities for Vietnamese training institutes.

One example of co-operation between enterprises and training institutes is the partnership between the Vietbay company, specialisng in software distribution and information and technology professional services, Siemens Industry product lifecycle management and three universities - Military Technical Academy of Viet Nam, School of Mechanical Engineering under Ha Nois University of Science and Technology and University of Transport Technology.

Vo Hong Ky, director of Siemens Industry product lifecycle management Viet Nam said that the collaboration aims to enhance competency and quality of graduates and offer them post-graduate job opportunities and to improve lecturers abilities. The co-operation is expected to provide high-quality human resources for the engineering sector.

Mai Duy Quang, vice president of Viet Nam Software Association said it is impossible for enterprises to put into operation the internet of things, big data and artificial intelligence in the near future. However, enterprises can increase productivity by improving staff quality and management.

Vietnamese human resources have ten to twenty years of experience in information technology application and outsourcing; therefore, the country will be able to keep updated on state-of-the-art technology easily.

However, the Government must take actions to create conditions for companies to design initiatives rather than paying lip service to the problem, he said.

Traditional enterprises must improve production capacity by not only depending on low-cost labour but also creative hi-tech workers, he said.

Isara Burintramart, executive director of Reed Tradex, ASEANs leading exhibition organizer, said that Viet Nams human resources are ready to learn and step into Industry 4.0. The best way to approach it is to map out strategies and pilot projects.

Industry 4.0 refers to the trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the internet of things and cloud computing. VNS
HA NOI  Hoang Van Ta, 53, was the first person to farm salmon in his commune in the mountainous province of Lang Son in 2007. Now he earns as much as VN4-5 billion (US$180,000-$220,000) a year from salmon.

Mau Son Commune, Loc Binh District is located about 170km northeast of Ha Noi, with the highest peak reaching about 1,600 metres above sea level. The area is a famous tourism site for its spectacular landscape, its tea from tea buds plucked from the mountains vast tea fields, and now, for its delicious salmon, as well.

In 2007, when Ta traveled to Sa Pa District and had a chance to visit a salmon farm there, he thought of building the same farm in Mau Son Commune, where the weather conditions are similar.

He invested VN1 billion (US$44,000) in building artificial pools, pumping machines, and salmon breeding. But the beginning was hard. Ta had to travel back and forth from Mau Son to Sapa for seven months to learn from the experience of veteran salmon farm owners. Breeding salmon is like baby-sitting. It doesnt mean success even if youve learned by heart all the theories, Ta said.

Initially, his salmon died after a short time. Salmon can only survive in clean water and in temperatures from 5-17oC, anything above which they die. They also need a high supply of oxygen in water, Ta said, adding that it was a hard job.

At the beginning, Ta let rain water run directly through the salmon pools, but found that leaves and other components in the rainwater killed the fish. After a while, Ta got adopted other techniques and things improved.

Salmon are easily caught fungus in polluted water. So in the rainy season, when the water is mixed with leaves and other kind of waste, I have to stay by the pools the whole day and night to filter the water from the stream, or else the fish would all die, he said.

Ta also had to use lots of salt to help the fish stay clean. Sometimes I have to buy a tonne of salt a month. Summer is the most difficult time because fish often get bacterial contamination from stream water, he smiled.

Starting with 800, Ta now has 2,000 salmon each year.

Previously, Ta could only harvest salmon once a year, but currently thanks to modern technology, he can do so twice a year. A mature fish weighing between 1.5kg and 2kg brings in up to VN500,000 ($22) per kilogram.

Ta has been co-operating with another resident in his commune, Trieu Van Trinh, to expand the farm model. Trinh now has 10 salmon pools with over 3,000 fish.

Ninh Van Xa, deputy head of the Mau Son Tourism Management Board, said Tas salmon farming model was the first of its kind in the area and opens up many opportunities for local residents.

Salmon and sturgeon were first raised in Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province, in 2005. After 10 years, cold-water fish farming has thrived in Sa Pa, with a total output of 265 tonnes in 2015.

The Research Institute for Aquaculture No 1 is the countrys first cold-water hatchery and is currently home to nearly 30,000 salmon, including 17,000 mature fish raised from eggs. Each year the centre provides 50-60 thousand salmon roe to the local market.--VNS
Agricultural production in the capital city remains small-scale and outdated, despite successful land reform and investment in irrigation networks for many years, says the Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper.  VNA/ VNS Photo Nguyen Dung

HA NOI  Agricultural production in the capital city remains small-scale and outdated, despite successful land reform and investment in irrigation networks for many years, says the Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper.

The outdated production methods are due to slow application of modern technologies, and it has led to low economic values.

Land use certificates have been successfully granted, which is a prerequisite for farmers to expand production or contribute land as a capital contribution to investment projects.

However, the citys agricultural production has not yet reaped high economic value because most of households still use traditional production methods.

Explaining the slow application of technology in agricultural production, chairman of Quoc Oai District Peoples Committee, Nguyen Manh Quyen, told the paper that at present the municipal authority fixed land areas for rice planting.

This is an obstacle for transitioning the land for other crops that require high technologies and bring higher economic values, said Quyen.

However, in Quoc Oai District, some businesses have bought lands from residents to set up hi-tech farms and achieved some progresses, he said.

Still, though, businesses face the difficult fact that agricultural land prices rocket upward when locals hear about hi-tech farming projects, he said.

Analysing the situation, Dr. ang Van ong, director of Vegetable and Fruit Institute, said this is due to ineffective management and a lack of close co-operation among farmers, businesses, scientists and authorities.

So far, we havent mobilised sources from domestic private and foreign businesses to invest in hi-tech farming, he said.

Chu Phu My, director of Ha Noi Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said in the context of fierce climate change and rapid urbanisation, farming is indispensable to surviving and competing in the international integration process.

The capital city set a goal that by 2020, hi-tech- agricultural production value will account for 35 per cent of the total agricultural value.

However, so far, the hi-tech in farming area designated for the period of 2016-2020 is still slow, according to review of the citys steering committee of new rural development.

According to Ha Minh Hai, director of Ha Noi Finance Department, appropriate policies are considered a prerequisite for luring capital to hi-tech farming. Each local needs to review agricultural production plans to attract investors.  VNS




HA NOI  Ha Noi Police have arrested three Chinese nationals on the charge of using fake ATM cards to appropriate property.

The suspects were identified as 40-year-old Zhu Hai Rong, 41-year-old Qiu Shui Bing and 37-year-old Zhong Jian Hue. They all reside in Jiangxi Province.

They said on April 20 they received 110 ATM cards from an unknown person, who asked them to use the cards to withdraw money in Viet Nam, promising to pay 5,000 yuan (US$724) to each person if successful.

Earlier, in March, Zhu and Qiu were instructed by a Chinese national on how to use the fake ATM cards to withdraw money at ATM machines.

After arriving in Viet Nam on April 22, they withdrew money from ATMs machines in Ha Nois Hoan Kiem District. They successfully conducted several transactions worth 10,000 yuan (US$1,448) that night.

However, they were caught red-handed by Ha Noi Police while attempting to conduct more transactions the following day.

All the cards and money relating to the crime have been seized by the police. An investigation into the incident is underway.  VNS
HCM CITY  Infectious diseases kill about 300 people per year, whereas non-infectious infectious diseases kill about 400,000 ones, said Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.

He was speaking during a conference to discuss the prevention and control of non-infectious diseases held in HCM City yesterday.

Despite the Ministry of Healths efforts in controlling non-infectious diseases, Long said, the incidence of such diseases in Viet Nam had reached alarming levels.

As many as 70 per cent of the fatalities every year is caused by non-infectious diseases, of whom 40 per cent are under 70 years old.

Non-infectious diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, mental diseases and cancer not only affected the longevity, but also the quality of lives of the citizens, he said.

If the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers non-infectious diseases as a red tide, in Viet Nam it is a greater red tide, because the prevention efforts are not up to the mark, whereas the treatment for such diseases is not conducted according to the community requirements, he said.

Deputy Minister Long said the reasons for this problem were that residents did not have awareness on prevention of such diseases. As many as 49 per cent of the men smoke and 77 per cent of the total population drink alcohol, while 11 per cent of them drink at an alarming level.

Vietnamese people also use double the amount of salt recommended by the WHO.

Dr Lokky Wai, WHO Representative to Viet Nam, said that non-infectious diseases had caused great economic burden.

It is estimated that in the next 20 years, the world will lose US$47 trillion due to the occurrence of non-infectious diseases.

In Viet Nam, diseases related to smoking caused losses of about US$1 billion per year.

In other developing countries, the rate of cardiovascular diseases and stroke have decreased, as they have managed to control diabetes and blood pressure. In Viet Nam, cardiovascular diseases and stroke were the chief killers, he said.

Dr Lokky Wai recommended that Viet Nam should control non-infectious diseases better to reduce expenses on treatment, and prevent hospital overloading and economic burden on the citizens.

Policies and management changes will be needed for this, he said.

The Ministry of Health has set up a strategy to ensure that by 2025 the fatalities caused by non-infectious diseases are brought down to 20 per cent. The proportion of people smoking will have to be reduced by 30 per cent and those drinking alcohol by 10 per cent, while the salt intake among people should be reduced by 30 per cent.

To reach the targets, the ministry has set up laws concerning alcohol and beer consumption, a law on preventing cigarette smoking and a plan to implement the national strategy on nutrition. The ministry also completed the system of supervising, managing and treating non-infectious diseases from the central level to grassroots level.  VNS
SEOUL  Tens of millions of South Koreans were casting their votes on Tuesday to elect a candidate to lead the country for the next five years.

Voting in the countrys presidential election began at 6am at 13,964 polling stations throughout the country, the National Election Commission (NEC) said. As of 11am, voter turnout reached 19.4 per cent.

The figure will later be combined with turnout during last weeks two-day early voting period, which came to 26.04 percent.

The turnout marked the highest rate ever in early voting, apparently indicating high public interest in the election that followed the first impeachment of a president.

The election comes in the wake of the March 10 ouster of former President Park Geun-hye over a massive corruption scandal that also led to her arrest and indictment.

Thirteen candidates are vying for the top elected office, but many believe the election is, in reality, a three-way race between Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party, Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the center-left Peoples Party.

Moon, together with his wife, cast his ballot at a polling station in northwestern Seoul.

"I felt the peoples earnest desire for government change to create a country worthy of being called a country," he told reporters at the station set up at a middle school. "I plead with you to join forces to build a country worthy of being called a country by participating in the vote until the end."

Hong Joon-pyo, the nominee of the conservative Liberty Korea Party affiliated with Park, cast his ballot at a polling station in southern Seoul, also with his wife, saying he will wait for the peoples judgment.

"This election is a war of regime choice in which people will accept the pro-North Korea, leftist administration or choose a government that will defend the free Republic of Korea," he said, apparently referring to Moons campaign.

Speaking to reporters after casting his ballot in northeastern Seoul, Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the center-left Peoples Party, said he expects the nation to make a wise choice.

"It was a very short election period, but I did my best to explain my vision, policy and values," he said.

Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Bareun Party, which splintered off from Parks party after her impeachment, returned to his hometown of Daegu, 302 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to vote.

"I think this election is a very important election that should properly transform the world," he said to his supporters there. "Please dont obsess over a mere change of government, but think carefully about who is the person to truly change the world, and if you pick me, I am confident I will fulfill my duties well."

Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, the candidate of the progressive Justice Party, cast her vote at a polling station in her electoral district in Goyang, northwest of Seoul.

"I trust that (the people) will vote for Sim Sang-jeung to achieve stronger reform and greater change," she said.

Voting was set to end at 8pm instead of the usual 6pm because it was a by-election.

"There was high participation in overseas voting and early voting conducted in advance, and a voter survey by the commission shows that more people are eager to vote," an NEC official told Yonhap by phone. "We expect turnout to reach the 80 percent level."

If the rate exceeds 80 per cent, it would mark the first time since the presidential election in 1997 that participation has been so high.

Unlike the previous elections, the president-elect will be inaugurated immediately after an official declaration of his or her victory by the NEC in a meeting slated for early on Wednesday.

A total of over 42.4 million people, or 82 percent of the countrys 51 million population, were eligible to vote in the presidential election, marking the largest number of voters in the countrys history.  YONHAP/ANN
UNITED NATIONS  The International Criminal Court is considering whether to investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya, which has become a "marketplace" for human trafficking, the chief prosecutor said on Monday.

Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council that her office was collecting evidence of crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya.

Thousands of vulnerable migrants, including women and children, are being held in detention centres across Libya where "crimes, including killings, rapes and torture, are alleged to be commonplace," she said.

Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and ICC chief prosecutor since 2012, said she was "dismayed by credible accounts that Libya has become a marketplace for the trafficking of human beings".

The ICC prosecution is "carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya" if these cases fall under the courts jurisdiction, she said.

Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gadhafi, its territory controlled by two rival government backed by rival militias, some of whom have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The chaos has been a boon for migrant smugglers and human traffickers who have turned Libyas coast into a key departure point to Europe.

Noting that Libyas overall security has "deteriorated significantly" since last year, Bensouda warned that migrant-smuggling could help organised crime and terror networks expand their hold in the north African country.

The number of people leaving Libya to reach Europe is up nearly 50 per cent this year compared with the opening months of 2016.

On Monday, UN agencies reported that 11 migrants died and nearly 200 were missing after two boats sank off the coast of Libya.

Bensouda said her office was closely following the offensive by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi after a video emerged showing the Libyan National Army allegedly committing serious crimes such as summary executions of detainees.

Bensouda also urged Libyan authorities to arrest former security chief, Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, who she said is currently residing in Libya and is wanted for war crimes trial at the ICC.

A warrant for Khaleds arrest was unsealed in late April.  AFP
WASHINGTON  Did Donald Trumps contested travel ban deliberately single out Muslims? The US administration fiercely denied it during an appeals court hearing on Monday -- despite the presidents campaign call for a blanket Muslim ban.

The hearing came as Trump seeks to bounce back from a series of stinging judicial defeats over his controversial effort to bar travelers from half a dozen mainly Muslim countries.

The question of intention is key since the US Constitution forbids religious discrimination. Trumps detractors say it is beyond doubt that Muslims were the bans intended target, but the administration says it is motivated strictly by national security concerns, an area where US presidents have wide powers.

Trump "never intended for that to discriminate on the basis of any particular religion," Jeffrey Wall, the US acting solicitor general, told judges of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond during an intensely argued afternoon hearing.

"He made clear he was not talking about Muslims all over the world," said Wall. "Thats why its not a Muslim ban."

But a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Omar Jadwat, whose side is supported by several Democratic-led states, argued that Trump the candidate made clear he wanted to ban all Muslims for a time while studying enhanced immigration vetting.

A lower judges ruling dealt Trump a blow by freezing his second attempt to close US borders to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

Given the public importance of the case, the full appeals court in Richmond heard the arguments -- bypassing the usual initial three-judge panel -- for the first time in a quarter-century.

Thirteen of the courts 15 active judges took part. Two recused themselves over potential conflicts of interest, including the conservative J. Harvie Wilkinson, Walls father-in-law.

The court, once considered the most conservative appeals court in the country, now has nine judges named by Democratic presidents including Barack Obama, according to Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.

Outcome unclear

The judges aggressively questioned both Wall and Jadwat, making it unclear which way they might be leaning.

They pressed Wall over whether Trump had acted in "bad faith", disguising an order targeting Muslims as one intended to prevent terrorism.

They said Trumps comment, while signing his second order, that "you know what I mean" by the order was a "wink and a nod" to let supporters know he was really aiming at Muslims.

Judge Barbara Keenan suggested that Trumps country-based order was bound to be sweeping and indiscriminate. "Youre talking about 82 million people arent you? It seems to me there has to be some linkage to show that there is a detrimental interest to the United States posed by 82 million people."

The judges also pressed Jadwat over whether an identical order issued by a president who had not made remarks against Muslims might be acceptable  and whether a president should not be granted some deference on security matters.

The federal court judge in Maryland issued a nationwide block on the bans core provision concerning travel from the short list of countries, saying the order raised the prospect of religious bias against Muslims.

That decision came just after a broader one issued in Hawaii that halted both the travel ban and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee admissions programme.

The White House is fighting that ruling in the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco.

The scope of Trumps revamped ban, signed in early March, was reduced from his original January effort, which blocked travelers from seven-majority Muslim countries, including Iraq, as well as all refugees.

The first decree -- which prompted mass protests and sowed chaos at US airports -- was blocked on grounds it violated the ban on religious discrimination, a ruling upheld on appeal.

The modified version removed Iraq from the ban, but ran into the same objections.

A ruling is expected to take anywhere from one to six months.  AFP
Virginia Tech student Amina Rahimi, of Burke, Virginia, a double major in biochemistry and microbiology in the College of Science, has been selected as a 2017 Goldwater Scholar.

In addition, Kylie Campbell, a junior majoring in water: resources, policy, and management in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, earned honorable mention.

The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. This years scholars were selected based on academic merit from a field of 1,286 natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering students nominated by campus representatives from among 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide. Of those reporting, 133 of the scholars are men, 103 are women, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their highest degree objective.

After graduation, Rahimis goal is to obtain a M.D.-Ph.D. in cancer immunology and bioengineering and work as a lead scientist and practicing surgeon at a major cancer research and treatment center, such as the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard.

But, as a first-generation Mexican-Afghan college student, Rahimi began her tenure as an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech with one goal in mind: to become a doctor. She saw participating in research as a necessary stepping-stone to achieving that goal.

Honestly, when I first started research, I started it to get into medical school," she said. "There was this whole check sheet you had to check off. So, I get into a lab freshman year, and literally two days into it I realize, I really like this. It was exciting because I havent always been a top 1 percent student. I was academically talented, but I wasnt a stand-out student. But, I think one thing that I always did have was a natural curiosity for what was unknown.

Rahimis initial research experience was in the lab of Carla Finkelstein, associate professor of biological sciences. As a first-year undergraduate student, she was assigned to lead a project using sugar, rather than traditional plastic, for 3-D printing of vascular networks for the development of in vitro three-dimensional tumor microenvironment models. This was a project that required, in addition to molecular biology and biochemistry, skills and knowledge in computer science, mathematics, and engineering; areas well outside the bounds of traditional life science disciplines.

In the spirit of an idea Rahimi holds dear, everything with purpose, she rose to Finkelsteins challenge, putting together an interdisciplinary research team to tackle the questions in front of her.

That was the first instance that allowed me to find purpose within research, Rahimi said. It was an experience that opened her eyes to the potential that collaborative, interdisciplinary research has for revolutionizing health care.

Rahimi also worked in the structural biology laboratory of Deborah Kelly at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, developing better imaging techniques to study viral interactions. Under the mentorship of Kelly and Cameron Varano, a doctoral student in Virginia Techs Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program, Rahimi published two papers in scientific journals, Chemical Communications and Journal of Analytic & Molecular Techniques.

Through research, we find solutions, we develop better diagnostics, better drugs, Rahimi said. I want to be able to tell my patients that I am working toward something that will hopefully improve their lives.

This interdisciplinary perspective is one she has worked to cultivate within herself as well. In the fall of her junior year, in order to strengthen her social science knowledge for the Medical College Admission Test, Rahimi signed up for the course Medical Dilemmas and Human Experience, taught by Monique Dufour, assistant professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. The experience transformed her by requiring Rahimi to learn how to think and communicate in a manner very different from that of science and engineering.

That class flipped me upside-down, Rahimi said. But the thing was, I needed to shift my perspective. I had been solely focused on developing my research skills to address the pathology of disease and health, and I needed to expand my perspective to include the biography of health and the societal factors that permeate an individual's health."

She took two more courses with Dufour. Through them she learned the value of communicating science well. She also gained an understanding of narrative both as a powerful tool for conveying the impact of research to society at-large, as well as for the critical role it can play in clinical settings. As Rahimi stated, by understanding the patient beyond a set of symptoms, but as an individual with a unique story, a physician can best serve the patient's priorities.

While Amina is among the most intelligent and ambitious students I have ever known, what truly sets her apart is her dedication to learning itself and the difference that it can make in her own life, in her research projects, and in the world around her, Dufour said. In each of the three classes that she has taken with me, she has taken up assignments in the spirit that they are offered  not as tasks to be ticked off a list, but as opportunities to ask and pursue questions. I can't wait to see where her fierce curiosity and intellectual integrity will take her.

The admiration is mutual. When asked about what it means to her to be awarded the Goldwater Scholarship, Rahimi credits a good portion of her success to the long list of individuals who have acted as mentors to her during her tenure as an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech and as a researcher at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard.

What made me so proud to win it was, looking at the list, they have the students name, what you aspire to become, and then they have a list of your mentors," Rahimi said. "My list of mentors was, I think, the longest list there. It goes to show that I didnt win this by myself, but that it takes an entire team to make this happen. And by 'this, I dont just mean Goldwater, I mean have a student come to this point in their undergraduate career.

Rahimi will return to work at the Wyss Institute this summer. In the fall, she will resume her research on developing on-chip technology to simultaneously detect pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines during sepsis with assistant professor of biology Caroline Jones.

Among many other extracurricular activities, Rahimi will continue her work as an ambassador for the Office of Undergraduate Research and as a volunteer with the Virginia Techs Adult Day Services program.

She expects to graduate from Virginia Tech in spring 2018.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established by Public Law 99-661 on Nov. 14, 1986. The scholarship program honoring Sen. Barry Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. The award will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

Since its first award in 1989, the foundation has bestowed 7,921 scholarships worth approximately $63 million.

Current Virginia Tech students who are interested in applying should contact Christina McIntyre, director of major scholarships.

Written by Melissa Ripepi.
Waterloo Fire Log

Waterloo

Rajih Donley, 29, of 114 West 14th St., Cedar Falls, was arrested May 4 at the police station and charged with going armed with intent, willful serious injury, carrying weapons, terrorism/intimidation with a weapon and two counts of felon in possession of weapons. He allegedly shot Ornandes Bennett in Waterloo.
CEDAR FALLS  Grants totaling $142,000 to the Cedar Falls Public Library will fund a variety of special events and programming.

Grants were made from three funds established with the Cedar Falls Community Foundation for the benefit of the Cedar Falls Public Library.

We couldnt do these special events without that funding. The funds were left to the library by generous donors for dispersing annually by the Community Foundation of Cedar Falls, explains Cedar Falls Public Library Director Sheryl McGovern.

The city of Cedar Falls supports the library building, staff and collection, but any programming at the library receives no tax funding. It is paid for through Friends of the Library or the foundation grants.

I cant even describe what it would be like at the library without these funds. It makes a huge difference to us, McGovern says.

The Kathryn L. Ray Fund supports programming and collections projects at the library. Kathryn Kay Ray and her husband Paul Ray owned Paul Rays Paving Plant. After his death in 1978, Kay remained active and established two funds, one benefiting the library and a second for the Cedar Falls Recreation facilities.

The Ray grant will support Novembers LitCon 2017, an interactive celebration of literature. It also funded the Childrens Book Festival and Cedar Valley Youth Reads 2017.

The Robert & Shirley Berg Fund also supports programming and collections at the library. Robert Berg was a local business owner, and both Bergs were active in community affairs. Robert died in 2006, and Shirley in 2007.

Through the Cedar Falls Community Foundation, they established a fund for the library and another for the James & Meryl Hearst Center for the Arts.

The fund will support the 2017 Summer Library Program, MakerSpace equipment, Book Club Bonanza, library furniture and e-materials.

The summer library program is our crown jewel. June and July are our busiest months with special programs, mostly for children, but also for teens and adults. It encourages children to read over the summer, McGovern explains.

Dan Wardell, host of Iowa Public Televisions KIDS Clubhouse show, will be the special guest at the Summer Library Program kickofff June 22 at the Community Center.

The Cedar Falls Public Library Building Endowment, a component fund of the Cedar Falls Community Foundation, was generated from gifts and contributions by individuals, companies and organizations to enhance the librarys facility and services. A grant from the endowment will support new self-checkout machines.

The library serves more than 250,000 patrons each year, providing opportunities and services made possible by the careful estate planning and vision of donors such as Kay Ray and Robert and Shirley Berg. It is exciting to see their legacy continue in our community, making a positive impact on generations of library patrons, says Cynthia Sweet, executive director of the Cedar Falls Community Foundation.
MARENGO  The fate of a Tama man accused of killing his fiancee 17 years ago is now in the hands of a jury.

Jurors began deliberations around 3:35 p.m. Tuesday in the case of Tait Otis Purk, 50, who is charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Cora Okonski. After about an hour and a half considering the case, they were released to return Wednesday.

Okonski was last seen April 16, 2000, and prosecutors allege Purk killed her in his Fifth Street home that evening and then buried her in a remote area the following day. Her body has never been found.

She isnt missing. Shes dead, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Laura Roan told jurors Tuesday morning.

Standing directly in front of the defense table, Roan leveled both her index fingers at Purk and continued the defendant killed her.

She noted Okonski, who had mental health issues and substance abuse problems, never picked up her Social Security disability checks after April and never gave the government a forwarding address for the checks.

Purk, who said Okonski simply left and never returned, had told authorities they had been arguing about possibly postponing their pending wedding, according to testimony.

The states crucial evidence came from two witnesses  a man who said Purk told him he killed his girlfriend because she was going to go to authorities about his involvement with a stolen truck and a store burglary, and a man who had been in prison with Purk who said Purk told him he choke slammed Okonski and then buried her.

Roan said the fatal attack wasnt an accident. She said Purk knew how much pressure was needed to incapacitate Okonski because witnesses had seen him do it before. This time it was different, she said.

What happened wasnt an accident. What happened wasnt in the heat of passion, Roan said.

She also noted Okonski had told a neighbor Purk had threatened to kill her that day.

He said he was going to do it, and he did it, Roan said.

Purks account to law enforcement that Okonski had stepped out to get cigarettes and never came back wasnt true, Roan said, because the neighbor had been watching the house and never saw her leave.

Defense attorney Scott Hunter said there is no evidence Okonski is even dead.

They dont have any witnesses who can testify they saw it happen. They are guessing, they are speculating, and they are bringing in witnesses with rumors and hearsay and inconsistent statements, Hunter said.

Hunter characterized the states main witnesses as case jumpers, people who went to authorities with information about Purk in an attempt to take care of their own legal troubles.

Even if jurors accept the account for the former inmate who said Purk recounted how he choke slammed Okonski following an argument, Hunter said the state also lacked any evidence Purk intended to kill Okonski.

Their best evidence, if you believe it, is an accident, Hunter said.

In an attempt to pick apart the account of a witness who said Purk had described burying Okonski in a hole so deep he needed steps to climb out, Hunter said the effort would have taken several hours, hours Purk didnt have before heading into work.

Hunter said investigators ignored accounts of people who had reported seeing Okonski after she allegedly died. These included a Tama bartender who reported seeing her at his establishment around 11 p.m. that night, two Chicago truck stop employees who identified her through a photo and a Chicago resident who knew Okonski and reported talking with her.

Hunter also read excerpts from intake notes from care workers who worked with Okonski in the months leading up to her disappearance. They painted a picture of chaos involving daily bouts with anxiety and outright panic attacks and abuse at the hands of a prior boyfriend. In the picture, Purk was the person who helped her obtain a lawyer to fight for custody of her then 18-month-old son.
WATERLOO -- The Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office is investigating a road rage incident, which left one man injured Monday.

The incident was reported shortly after 4 p.m. when deputies were sent to Highway 63 and Dunkerton Road for a stabbing. Deputies learned that there was some type of road rage incident in which the driver of a semi and a passenger car stopped their vehicles and an altercation ensued.

During the altercation, the driver of the passenger car, a silver 2012 Kia 4 door with MN plates 153LSX, stabbed the semi driver twice. The semi driver, Peter Klassen, 37, of Ionia, was transported to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital by Denver Ambulance. His injuries are not life threatening.

Deputies are currently working with Minnesota authorities to determine the identity of the other vehicle.
MARENGO  Tait Purk took the stand Monday, saying more than once he didnt kill his fiancee Cora Okonski and doesnt know what happened to her in April 2000.

Purk said he and Okonski, 23, had relationship problems, and he thought Okonskis drug issues were to blame. Now, he said, he thinks she had mental health issues. Later he said their relationship was good  they just had arguments.

I wasnt violent, Purk said. She got violent.

Purk, 50, is charged with first-degree murder and facing trial in an Iowa County District courtroom.

The trial was moved from Tama County due to pretrial publicity. The trial began May 1.

During testimony Monday, Purk explained the large bruise on Okonskis back a dispatcher testified about last week was from her falling, and the scratch on the top of her arm was from a cat, not the result of domestic abuse as Okonski claimed. In another incident witnesses testified about last week involving him setting her belongings on fire and her getting burned, Purk admitted to burning the items but said Okonski slipped near the fire and was injured.

The prosecution says Purk put Okonski in a choke hold and slammed her body to the floor, killing her. At the time, the couple was arguing over money and their upcoming wedding, which Purk wanted to postpone. The defense argues theres no proof Purk killed her or even that shes dead because a body has never been recovered.

Purk said Monday he and Okonski got into an argument April 16, 2000, over the discussion of a wedding dress. He wanted to slow things down because he didnt have the money. Purk said Okonski was upset and went for walk about 10 or 11 a.m.

Her 2-year-old son, Austin, stayed with him and Okonski didnt return until 8 or 8:30 p.m., Purk said. She was still upset and eventually went to borrow a writing pad from a neighbor.

Purk said he could see her in the bedroom when she returned and she was writing a letter. She then asked him for money to buy cigarettes. She then took the money and left.

Purk watched her go out the back door, around the side of the house to Fifth Street and walk west toward the store. He said it was the last time he saw her.

The next morning he went to five friends houses where he thought she might be. He drove by Ricky Jo Sanchezs, the neighbor who lived behind them, but didnt see her car and didnt stop. Nobody had seen her.

He had to go to work at 2 p.m., so he left a note for her on the door and took Austin to stay with his sister-in-law. Purk said the note was still there when he got home.

The next day, he called police and asked them to check area jails for Okonski, Purk said. Police told him to file a missing persons report and he did the next day.

Purk said he also called Okonskis parents to ask if they had heard from her. He said they offered to come and pick up their grandson.

Purk denied telling Sean Ward and Chad Rogers, who testified last week, he killed Okonski. He began tearing up and wiped his eyes with a tissue in refuting their testimony.

I dispute (that) story 100 percent, Purk said. I didnt kill her.

On cross examination, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Laura Roan asked Purk several questions, including whether he was using drugs at the time of Okonskis disappearance, how many years he had spent in prison and whether he once stole a pickup truck and who he was with when he did.

Purk said he occasionally used drugs on weekends, he spent 13 years in the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., on a conviction for manufacturing methamphetamine and firearms, and he did steal a truck and Okonski was with him when he did.

You always denied Cora was with you before, Roan said.

Rogers, who testified last week, said Purk told him he killed Okonski because she threatened to expose him for stealing a truck and robbing a convenience store.

The defense rested after Purk testified. The prosecution rested after one witness in the morning. Closing arguments are to start at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
DES MOINES  Gov. Terry Branstad put a charge into Iowans Fourth of July celebration plans Tuesday by signing legislation to legalize the possession, sale and use of consumer-grade fireworks on a limited basis  if local officials dont later defuse the activities.

With the signing of Senate File 489, Iowa joined 43 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing fireworks beyond the sparklers, caps and snakes that were the only fireworks products legal until now.

Let the fireworks begin, Branstad said after signing the bill before about three dozen supporters at a Capitol ceremony. The governor said he expected the State Fire Marshals Office and other state agencies will have rules in place in time for retailers to begin sales before the Independence Day holiday.

Branstad noted the bill will make fireworks legal in the state again, as was the case decades ago, and will mean Iowans no longer would feel it necessary to travel to border states to purchase products for illegal use here.

Were eliminating an 80-year ban thats been put in place and Iowans are now going to be able to celebrate the Fourth of July just like many other American citizens across the country are able to celebrate by using fireworks, said Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, who guided the bill in the Senate.

Well see how many communities opt out. I know there are some here in the metro area that are looking at doing that, but I think a vast majority are going to allow it, Chapman noted.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo, another longtime supporter, said he was glad to see Iowa changing a ban he considered to be the silliest law ever.

Iowas previous law, allowing only the sale and use of sparklers and other novelty fireworks, has been among the nations most stringent.

Do we let you own a barbecue grill and not put a steak on it? Heavens no, Danielson said.

SF 489 permits licensed retailers or community groups to sell consumer-grade fireworks to adults in permanent structures between June 1 and July 8 and between Dec. 10 and Jan. 3. A similar provision applies to temporary structures such as tents from June 13 through July 8 each year. It also places time restrictions for the display of fireworks.

The measure sets a fee structure for various license levels, allows counties or cities that do not want to legalize fireworks to opt out of the use but not the sale and bars the sale or purchase involving anyone younger than 18. A violation would be punishable by a fine between $250 and $625.

During the legislative debate over fireworks, critics expressed concerns about fires, injuries and deaths as well as problems caused for pets and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder if fireworks were legal.

Basically, people shoot off fireworks anyway, Branstad said, but this way they can sell them in Iowa.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Iowa Gov. Terry Branstads nomination to be U.S. ambassador to China.

The governor hasnt had any opposition to his nomination since President Donald Trump tapped him for the job in December, and last week, he won bipartisan praise at his hearing.

After the committees action, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted: The vote indicates easy approval on floor. On to China to do good work for USA.

Branstad was in Des Moines on Tuesday, where he was signing a bill to legalize fireworks in the state.

The governor said he was pleased with the committees vote and hopeful that he would get a similar reception from the full Senate, which could vote as early as next week.

Im very hopeful, Branstad said. I thought the hearing went very well, and obviously, the vote today is an encouraging sign.
Election video receives award

WASHINGTON  The Iowa State Association of Counties and the Iowa State Association of County Auditors have been recognized with an achievement award from the National Association of Counties for an election video in the category of civic education and public information.

Due to its exceptional results and unique innovations, the Voting in Iowa Video Series was chosen to receive the honor of Best in Category.

NACo will recognize various award-winning counties at its 2017 Annual Conference and Exposition July 2124 in Franklin County, Ohio.

Black Hawk County Auditor Grant Veeder is a board member of ISAC, ISACA and NACo and appears briefly in the videos.

MCC will host camp for girls

CEDAR FALLS  The University of Northern Iowa Metal Casting Center will host a week-long interactive STEM camp in June in Waterloo for girls entering seventh and eighth grade.

The camp, titled New Dimensions in Art and STEM with 3-D Printing, will center on 3-D modeling and printing.

The camp will be held daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 12-16 at the TechWorks Campus in Waterloo. Campers will experience printing in plastic and sand. In addition, they will be able to pour a cast of one of their own designs at the MCC foundry located on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Admission to this camp is $125 per camper, but camperships are available for those financial need. Registration is limited to the first 16 campers who are registered. For more information, go to mcc.uni.edu/summer-camp-2017 or contact Roberta Roberts, UNI STEM secretary, at roberta.roberts@uni.edu or 273-7399.

Last school day set in Waterloo

WATERLOO  The last day of school for Waterloo K-12 students will be June 7. The last day for graduating seniors will be May 26.

All Pre-k students last day is June 6.

The last day of school will be a full day.

Contact your childs school for more information.

Foreign students need host homes

AMES  Iowa Resource for International Service, an Ames-based nonprofit, is seeking host homes across Iowa for 2017-18 foreign exchange students.

Homes are needed for approximately 25 students from Indonesia, Liberia, Mali, Tanzania, Jordan, Israel, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Bahrain, Egypt, Pakistan, India, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Kenya. All students are fluent in English, and often several other languages. All students are between 15 and 18 years old, but will technically be high school juniors. The students, who typically hail from Southeast Asian, Middle-Eastern and African countries, are all in Iowa on scholarship.

IRIS is a consortium partner of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program, which was founded following 9/11 to help promote understanding between American citizens and the citizens of predominantly Muslim countries. The YES program is funded by the U.S. State Department as a form of diplomacy.

For bios on particular students, or for more information on hosting in general, go to www.iris-center.org/yes-program/17-18students or email John Jordan at yessupport@iris-center.org.
WATERLOO  RSVP and Covenant Medical Center are offering Welcome to Medicare seminars from 5 to 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month at Covenant Medical Center, 3421 W. Ninth St.

The next seminar is June 7 in Room 2. The free one-hour seminar will be given by a Senior Health Insurance Information Program volunteer who has been trained in Medicare issues by Iowas Insurance Division. It will cover Parts A & B, Part C Medicare Advantage Plans and Part D Drug Benefit as well as Supplemental Insurance.

Park in the visitors lot and use that entrance. Turn left at the desk and left down the first hallway and Room 2 is on the right half way down that hall.

This seminar is open to anyone approaching Medicare age, anyone on Medicare who would like to understand it better, family members as well as any interested community members.

To register please call RSVP at 272-2250 by May 31.
WATERLOO  The Waterloo West High School Class of 1965 gave a lot - and paid a dear price  in the Vietnam War. And a large number of members of that class participated in Tuesdays Cedar Valley Honor Flight, the first of three locally this year.

More than 100 Northeast Iowa veterans of all branches of service from World War II through Vietnam left from the Waterloo Regional Airport to tour U.S. military and other memorials in Washington, D.C.

Included on that flight were seven Vietnam veterans of the West High Class of 65, as well as Honor Flight coordinator Linda Bergmann, also serving as a veteran guardian on the trip.

They went, in part, to honor classmates who died in Vietnam. Five classmates and the spouse of another were killed in that war. It is believed to be one of the largest numbers of individuals lost out of a single graduating class among the Waterloo-Cedar Falls metro area high schools of that era.

We honored all six at our 50th anniversary reunion a year and a half ago. said Dave Allbaugh, one of the veterans in the class. While were still friends, we dont get together as much, The trip was an opportunity for us to bond and reflect on our service to our country.

The West Class of 65 was a large one, with about 660 members, Allbaugh said. It was a most inopportune time to be graduating and coming of age, he said, as the war in Vietnam was escalating and more troops were being sent over prior to the early 1968 Tet offensive, when the U.S. had about half a million troops in country.

Linda Bergmann kind of put us all together for our class, said Larry DeMaris, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, who served on an RC-135 reconnaissance plane and still speaks fluent Vietnamese.

The inspiration was all the guys in our class that died in Vietnam, said Matt Nutt, who served on a Navy gunboat in the Mekong Delta. We were all 19 years old. Makes me sick.

Of course the Vietnam wall was what most impressed me. But the World War II, Korea memorials, theyre all very, very important pieces of our history, Nutt said by phone.

At The Wall, Nutt said, I found the name of a real close friend of mine  David H. Paulsen. He was a West classmate and Marine killed near Da Nang in November 1966. I was home on leave. Dave only lived a block and a half from my folks. They were close friends.

West 65 classmate Phil Boyenga served in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. He was wounded in combat May 19, 1969, and was hospitalized until the following January. He was interested in finding comrades names on The Wall.

One of the guys that saved my life got killed at the same time I was wounded, Boyenga said. He found that soldier and looked for others in his squad.

Its pretty emotional. Were looking up the guys we graduated with now, Boyenga said at The Wall. All the people that got killed in Vietnam. All the names on each panel. It makes it hard, I guess. All the memorials  the Korean one and the World War II memorial  are real nice. But this one means the most to me. Its the war that I fought in, and lost people I was close to.

This is great, Boyenga said of the day. Im glad I can take my son (Jordan) so he can see it too.

Its a sobering experience, DeMaris said. Ive stood watch at the traveling Wall  the Wall that Heals, a smaller scale version scheduled to stop in Cedar Falls later this month. But the sheer scope of it out here is really awesome.

We have different memories of our classmates on The Wall. It creeps into you, said Loren Homann, a Navy veteran of Vietnam who now lives in Cedar Falls. You remember them, but you remember them as they were. Young men. Were standing here and were a lot of old guys ... . Speaking for myself that is, he said as his classmates razzed him a little. But you picture them in your minds eye and theyre still young. They lost everything way too soon.

Thats what its all about, said Allbaugh. Ive seen this wall a number of times. And every time Im here, the sheer number of names is overwhelming. These are 10-foot high marble slabs filled with names.

Another U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran, Tim Cox, was a 1965 East High graduate. He served on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal during a devastating July 1967 fire off Vietnam that killed 134 shipmates. He found them all on one panel on The Wall.

They have (names) listed by the day they died, and they all died on the same day, Cox said. He also found a Forrestal memorial at Arlington National Cemetery where 15 of his shipmates are laid to rest. Staff at The Wall and Arlington were extremely helpful.

This is so neat. Its fantastic, just ... wow, Cox said. Of The Wall, he said, The feeling is strange. Quiet. Its a strange feeling standing there. I talked to other people and they said the same thing.

Vietnam veterans make up the majority of veterans on this particular flight  a change from several years ago, when the original flights were initiated exclusively for World War II veterans.

The one-day trip also includes a visit to the Arlington National Cemetery and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, a stop at the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force memorials and a tour of Washington.

The veterans were slated to return to a Tuesday evening homecoming reception at the Waterloo airport.

Additional flights this year are Sept. 12 and Oct. 10.

Military veterans from Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Grundy and the northern half of Tama counties who served in warm or Cold War peacetime from World War II through Vietnam are eligible.

Applications can be picked up at any of the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Waverly Hy-Vee Stores or by going to the organizations website, www.cedarvalleyhonorflights.org, or the Cedar Valley Honor Flights Facebook page. Donations are being accepted to continue the flights.

Questions may be directed to co-organizer Black Hawk County Supervisor Craig White at whitedog67@q.com or co-organizer and County Supervisor Frank Magsamen at fmagsbhc@hotmail.com.
Letters to the Editor





Health care

ROGER WHITE

CEDAR FALLS  On May 4, 2017, Republican congresspersons succumbed to Trumps pressure to finally eke out a legislative victory and they shamelessly voted to terminate health care for 24 million Americans. If you do the simple arithmetic, it equals 111,111 uninsured Americans for every Republican vote.

Since all three Iowa Republicans (Blum, Young and King) voted for Trumps kill-health-care bill, the combined Americans that will be without health care that can be attributed to them is 333,333. That is essentially the total population of Des Moines and Cedar Rapids combined, based on 2014 population estimates. Or it is more people than the combined populations of Iowas 37 most rural counties based on 2016 population estimates.

We are so fortunate to have such thoughtful and caring representatives in Congress to team up and eliminate health care for the equivalent of Iowas two largest cities or the 37 most rural counties (which voted heavily for Trump). You proved your Republican loyalty despite the risks of devastation to your constituents. Nice going, guys!

GOP health care

HAROLD TUCHEL

WATERLOO  The Republican health bill is doomed to failure. Obamacare did not itself set premiums; the insurance for-profit corporations did. That is the exact reason any Republican plan is doomed to failure.

Remember insurance companies charge for their expenses and add for profit. Epi pens are $600 for two, Hep C pills are around $18,000 per treatment, diabetes drugs, formerly cheap, are now nearly unaffordable to many. Congress refuses to intervene in this piracy; they will not bite the hand that feeds them.

Health care should operate under the same parameters our utilities do. Berkshire Hathaway seems satisfied with its regulated return from MidAmerica and my rates are reasonable. Until Congress demands an open price/cost accounting in health, pharma and insurance reforms are doomed. Soft corruption and influence peddling in Congress doomed Obamacare and will doom any Republican alternative.

Paying it forward

BRIAN DOLAN

WATERLOO  Once a month a group of retired military meet at Gravys Diner in Cedar Falls for breakfast. On April 11, a large group of retirees was there. There was another smaller group seated at some tables next to them. It was after they left that one of the waitresses came to our tables and informed us someone from that group who had just left said he wanted to pay for the retirees breakfast and included a 20 percent gratuity.

There were more than 30 people there, but the entire bill was covered. As a whole, the group of retirees would like to say thank you very much for the generous gift. It just shows the quality of people here in the Cedar Valley and shows how much they appreciate the sacrifices and effort made by people in the military. Again, thank you very much. We wont forget the kindness shown to us.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 08, 2017 | 01:04 PM | PADUCAH, KY

Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless has written a blog post about the proposed rezoning of property at 4231 Pecan Drive to allow a new nursing facility to be built, and residents' fears about potential flooding issues that may arise from its construction.The proposed rezoning would change the 18-acre property from R1 (low density residential), to R4 (high density residential), which would allow a new 100-bed, 77,300 square foot nursing facility to be built there. The zone change request was made by CDB Service Finance, LLC.The Paducah Planning commission held a public hearing in April where some residents voiced concerns about potential flooding. Harless held a meeting later that month at Heartland Worship Center, where residents again spoke out against the zone change. Paducah City Commissioners ultimately delayed their vote on the change to allow more time to consider the issue and listen to concerns from the public.In a blog post Saturday on her website, Harless said she doesn't think flooding issues in the area will ever be totally solved, but she laid out some ways she thinks they can be mitigated. She listed larger detention ponds and structure enhancements designed to lessen the volume of water released into the storm sewer system as potential methods to deal with excess water. She also said city leaders are looking into building a 2.5 acre park in the area to help absorb some of the runoff, and implementing some changes to traffic patterns in the area.Harless said she doesn't want to "choose sides" on the issue, and added that "smart growth" can be accomplished.Commissioners are set to vote on the measure at their meeting Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m.Click the link below to read Mayor Harless' blog post.

On the Net:
past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1)
Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are
A startup needs to test an idea quickly. For this, an MVP is created. MVP, Minimal Viable Product  a test version of a product or service with a minimum set of functions (up to one or two), which allows you to see the product's value for consumers and the market. MVP is created to test hypotheses and check the viability of the intended product: is it worth developing the project further, what changes should be made? The sooner a startup brings its MVP to market and tests the idea, the better. This article will look at how no-code technology can help founders achieve their business goals.

This article will try to cover everything that a founder needs to know about no-code at the initial stage of creating a startup.

What is no-code?

No-code, zero-code platform is a tool for creating websites, applications, chatbots, and other programs without the need for direct code writing by programmers. No-code is a valuable alternative to traditional development.

No-code is confused with low-code, but there is a difference in these terms. Low-code includes no-code and the ability to "finish code", add parts of code and the functionality.

A user of a no-code platform usually does not need to know layout, programming languages, or hire a team of programmers. The user of the no-code tool creates an application using a visual block constructor, which he fills with the necessary content and functions, and the no-code platform itself does the processing of requests, compiling the application and other "magic." It generates code using AI and/or contains blocks of code pre-written by programmers.

No-code allows the startup founder to create an MVP himself, entrust it to his employee with basic technical literacy and understanding of the project, or hire a no-code developer. Even in the case of hiring a no-code developer, the cost of creating an MVP will be significantly lower than with classical development with programmers. For example, you can read the interview of a startup and no-code developer on our website, who initially worked as a Product Manager and was able to master no-code for his project himself.

Benefits of no-code for a startup founder

There are the following key advantages for a startup founder in using no-code technology:

a large selection of no-code tools, platforms, and their integrations at the moment  already in 2022, there are many tools and platforms for creating an MVP, a larger project, or even a finished product on no-code, but few people still know about them, and others are far from all startups and founders use their potential;

cost  no-code development saves the money by speeding up the development process, not hiring professional programmers or no need to maintain a developer department, monitoring functions and quick bug fixes, avoiding or reducing the growth of technical debt;

speed is the main advantage over classical development  no-code allows you to build a simple application in a weekend, and a more complex one can be built in a month. In this way, you can test an MVP and even several versions of an MVP very quickly;

low entry threshold  to master a no-code platform, you often do not need technical education at all, but only an understanding of a company's business processes or product from the inside. In the case of pro-level no-code platforms, technical education is required, but you can get used to it hundreds of times faster than with any programming language. This makes no-code available to almost everyone who wants to work with technology;

ease of use  no need to write hundreds of code lines  just move the blocks and assign links between them. Work on a project can be entrusted to your employee without communicating with a team of third-party developers. You can speak "in your language" without the need to understand the "inner kitchen" of developers;

flexibility  with the help of no-code, it is easy for a startup founder to add new functionality and new features right during a project or a MVP testing without a significant increase in development costs.

Possible disadvantages of no-code for a startup founder

As often, any property can be, under certain conditions, both a disadvantage and an advantage. In no-code, many of the benefits with the wrong choice of tool can turn into disadvantages:

no-code is not always a budget solution for a project. Sometimes in a no-code development package, you get unnecessary functions and additions (on AppMaster.io you can separately connect the frontend and pay only for the backend or only for those functions that you are using); if you do not understand the needs of your project, then you can make a mistake with the choice of a no-code tool and not be able to implement the necessary functions on it, or it will be too difficult to implement them; often, no-code tools fail to ensure proper data security and contribute to data leakage (but AppMaster.io allows you to host a finished application on any server); no-code tools often do not provide the ability to upload source code or provide uploading in an inconvenient format, which makes it difficult to move to another tool or to your development. You have to choose a no-code tool "once and forever immediately" (AppMaster. io gives you the ability to download the source code. Also, we generate human-readable code and you will not have any difficulties with its transportation); most no-code tools on the market are not suitable for creating a finished product, and there are significant difficulties with scaling the project if the MVP is successful (AppMaster.io is a professional no-code platform and our capabilities allow us to implement and support the finished product and scale it in the future).

Forewarned is forearmed. Choose your no-code tool wisely and take full advantage of your choice.

Types of no-code platforms

Conventionally, all no-code tools can be divided into several types: no-code devices with a low entry threshold (you can create frontend and not very powerful backend on them), integrators that help connect applications and services, and professional no-code platforms (they strive to replace the code completely, provide the ability to create a robust backend and high bandwidth).

The basic principle of operation of your MVP and the choice of a no-code platform depend on such a conditional division into types. For example, if you make a simple application like a diary, you can limit yourself to a no-code tool with a low entry threshold and a beautiful design.

If your application has powerful potential, high bandwidth, multi-user interface, and works with large amounts of data or real-time data, it is better to choose a professional no-code platform like AppMaster.io or Direcual.

If you use several services at once, link them on integrators like Integromat and Zapier.

Adalo

An easy-to-learn designer with a relatively user-friendly interface. The free version is helpful for learning. The free version contains Adalo watermarks and does not allow you to upload your applications to GooglePlayMarket and AppStore. Beginners often choose this no-code platform to create their first applications with simple logic.

Bubble

It will take more time to learn Bubble , but the platform allows you to work with the backend, databases, business processes, and layout. There are many plugins. The free plan allows you to master the tool, and you can start developing at the middle rate. The price increase is due to the rise in the number of users.

Integromat

It is an integrator. Experts talk about it as a simple and affordable platform for linking applications and services. Scenarios can be created personally, or you can use templates. If you need to connect an application with a service not from the Integromat database, fill out the form and connect to its API via HTTP.

Zapier

This is an integrator for linking applications with each other or with other external services. You can transfer data between thousands of applications. There is a script constructor (one event starts a chain of necessary actions).

Directual

The no-code platform positions itself for creating MVP applications (Minimal Viable Product, minimum viable product) and full-fledged applications of finished products. Scenarios are the backbone of the platform. Using scripts, you can automate the backend logic of the application, create and combine workflows. The Directual catalog includes out-of-the-box connectors, HTTP requests, webhooks, database listeners, and integration with popular services.

AppMaster.io

No-code next-generation platform for creating native and web applications on a real backend. Visual drag-and-drop designer, user-friendly business process designer, one-click app publishing to AppMaster Cloud, or integration with any cloud platform. Push notifications, authorization using social networks. Networks, email, and more. Connect applications to hundreds of services or programmatically access them using APIs. The ability to upload source code and documentation in a human-readable format and transfer it to your servers. Documentation auto-generation. Modern and fast language GoLang at the core.

No-code perspectives for startups

No-code development is gradually gaining popularity around the world. There are already more than 500 no-code tools for creating websites and various types of applications.

According to the forecasts of IT world experts, no-code will develop more and more actively and capture parts of the market responsible for medicine, small online business, small business, and all niches where it is possibly necessary to optimize and automate development processes.

The mass shift of businesses and their customers online and to gadgets has increased the demand for the fast and inexpensive creation of mobile applications that would work according to a single quality standard and have a simple, understandable, user-friendly interface.

Conclusion

No-code is visual programming in the form of a constructor without directly writing code. Usually, basic knowledge in development is enough to build applications on no-code.

The logic of no-code constructors is intuitive: the application interface is assembled from blocks, icons, buttons, and text which are connected to the database. Usually, you can choose a suitable template or do everything from scratch. Speed and economy are the main advantages of no-code tools.

No-code is suitable for creating an MVP, testing an idea or new features in a product, saving time for solving standard tasks. PRO level no-code platforms can provide you with a finished product, an application.

If you don't have an account on AppMaster.io yet, join us. After registration, you will be given a free trial period for 14 days, in which all the basic functionality of the platform is available. It will allow you to learn the intricacies of working with a professional-level no-code platform and understand its potential.
John Thomason in The Point:

Shortly after Barack Obama was first elected, a young man from Texas drove a thousand miles to the presidents former sanctuary, the Trinity United Church of Christ (UCC) in Chicago. He felt its teachings were evil, and that he had to do something about it. During the service he had a change of heart. Afterwards, he approached the pastor. I came here to hate you, he confessed tearfully. But while Ive been here, Ive experienced the love of God. He turned and fled the sanctuary before the pastor could find the words to respond.

A few years later, during Obamas second term, a different young white man journeyed to a different black church. He too felt he had to take action against an evil he believed to be nourished there. And he too was surprised to find himself moved by the kindness he encountered. In this case, however, it was not enough to stop him. He drew his handgun and killed each parishioner in the sanctuary, one by one.

Barack Obama, through no fault of his own, was implicated in both events. After his first presidential campaign brought intense scrutiny upon his hometown church, anti-American remarks uttered during sermons in the early 2000s incubated fevered conspiracy theories in the young Texan and countless others. Years later Dylann Roof massacred a Bible study group at Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina, because he felt blacks were taking over the country. It does not take much imagination to conclude the president was among those he had in mind.

More here.
Using a validated screening instrument such as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Single-Question Test or the U.S. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption (USAUDIT-C) takes only a few minutes for most patients but can help them make healthier choices regarding alcohol use.7,8,9 If a brief intervention is necessary, reimbursement codes are the established workflow, involving multiple professionals in the office rather than depending on the physician alone to incorporate. For example, your office could include a prescreening instrument in the patient intake forms the front desk personnel asks patients to fill out or embed these questions in an existing form that asks about nutrition, exercise, depression, and other health-related behaviors. (See Alcohol prescreening questionnaire.) The medical assistant or nurse who rooms the patient could score the questionnaire and determine the need for a full screening instrument, such as the USAUDIT full questionnaire, and administer it when appropriate. That information would be documented in the patient's record for the physician to review. Depending on the result, the physician could engage in a brief intervention to support the patient either cutting back or quitting alcohol use. In practices with integrated behavioral health services, a behaviorist could meet with the patient for a more in-depth discussion or refer the patient to more formal alcohol treatment resources.
Wigfield quickly, and laughingly, follows up to clarify that her New Jersey mom, Kathy Wigfield, 61, isnt a crazy person. But she would come visit more than anyone elses mom would come visit, because no one elses mom would ever come visit!

So when 30 Rock creator Tina Fey, with whom Wigfield won an Emmy Award for best comedy writing in 2013, asked her to pitch a show of her own, the young writer went right for what she knew best  and loved most.

In thinking through ideas, the relationship that seemed interesting for me to explore was that relationship between me and my mom and, specifically, what would happen if someone like my mom came to her daughters workplace and never left.

The result is Great News, the very funny new comedy that airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. The show centers on Katie (played by Briga Heelan), a TV news producer whose mom, Carol (Andrea Martin), frequently visits her shows set and ends up bonding so tightly with the cast and crew that shes offered a job as an intern. Sound familiar?

Beyond the mother-daughter themes, the setting and characters allow Great News to point a cuttingly hilarious lens at the modern workplace, where millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers often work side by side while seeing everything from their age-based viewpoint.

Carol, an intern returning to work after a decades-long absence, has her own adjustments to make. And then theres Chuck (John Michael Higgins) a long-in-the-tooth news anchor fending off the nagging sense that hes aging out of the workplace. Hes paired behind the anchor desk with Portia (Nicole Richie  yes, that Nicole Richie), his Snapchat-addicted, social-media-savvy counterpart. Their oddball pairing leads to moments like their bonding over a shared love of lemonade (shes talking about the Beyonce album; hes talking about the refreshing summer drink).

Wigfield says she and her writing staff, who range in age from 30s to 60s, take pains not to come off as making fun of the older characters.

Especially Carol, but also Chuck, these are characters who are drawn with a lot of respect and love, she says. I think the best way to poke fun of generational differences is sort of to skewer everyone involved. It turns out, when they argue, Carol often is right and Katie is the one who ends up with egg on her face. Everyone gets a win now and then, like it is in real life.

The bond between mother and daughter isnt just an act. As we talk, Wigfield, recently married and now living in Los Angeles to work on the show, is sitting in her parents kitchen in New Jersey. Shes visiting the East Coast to receive an award from her alma mater, Boston College, and popped down to her hometown to enjoy a Great News viewing party with her moms friends.

Just like Carol, Kathy Wigfield hardly needs prompting to have a quick chat, and she seems nonplussed by both her daughters success and that her own outsize personality inspired a network sitcom.

Ever since Tracey was little, she was always doing these little shows and saying, Mom, can you film this? Can you film that? I was always involved somehow, so it almost seems to be surreal where its just another one of her shows that shes doing.

Its hard to understand that all these different people are watching, she adds in her thick Jersey accent. But Im enjoying that she finally gets to show what she really can do.
American politicians have been known to have large age gaps in their marriages: First lady Melania Trump, who is 47, is nearly 24 years younger than her husband.

American politicians have even married their teachers: The first wife of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Jackie, was his high school math teacher. When they wed, he was 19 and she was 26.

But the Macrons are different: At 39, he is the youngest president-elect in Frances history, and their marriage reverses the usual May-December stereotype of a man marrying a much younger woman.

One reason this has caused less controversy in France than it would have in this country, aside from the usual French sangfroid about matters of the heart, is a savvy two-year public relations campaign that was managed by a Paris media agent and designed to normalize the unorthodox marriage in the eyes of the public.
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.
AnastasiaDate aims to bring together all music loving members by recommending its top 5 summer music festivals in Europe.

AnastasiaDate, the number one international dating website looking for European matches, has identified its top 5 summer music festivals taking place in Europe. The aim is to bring together music-loving singles and help them find compatible matches at these exciting musical destinations.

AnastasiaDate has shared its top 5 summer music festivals taking place in Europe to inspire singles in finding their ideal partner. A mutual love of music is always a great ice-breaker when it comes to conversation. Music is a passionate subject and can lead to exciting connections between new couples.

The first name recommended by AnastasiaDate on its list of rocking European festivals is the famous EXIT Festival of Serbia. This festival will be held in Novi Sad from July 5-9 and will play host to the Killers, Liam Gallagher, Jake Bugg, and Ragg n Bone Man among others.

The second summer music festival that has been a hit with AnastasiaDate is the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. It is one of the biggest European music festivals where a host of bands including Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, and The XX will wow the crowds from June 24 to July 1.

Third on the list of AnastasiaDates top European summer music festivals is the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary. Scheduled to be held from August 9 to 16, it will bring a host of global bands onto the same stage. The main participants will be Kasabian, Interpol, P J Harvey, Rita Ora, and The Kills.

AnastasiaDate has identified The Firenze Rocks Festival to be held in Florence, Italy as the fourth must-visit summer music festival in Europe. Music lovers can enjoy the best performances of popular artists such as Eddie Vedder, Placebo, Aerosmith, and The Cranberries from June 23-25.

The fifth and final sensational summer festival suggested by AnastasiaDate is Afisha Picnic in Moscow. It will be held on July 29 and is expected to attract a large number of fans and music lovers, with Kasabian as headliners.

Music lovers can find a common platform on AnastasiaDate and chat about their favorite music and festival experiences using the websites amazing features including Live Chat and CamShare.

For more information, visit AnastasiaDate.

About AnastasiaDate:

AnastasiaDate is the leading international dating service that facilitates exciting and romantic companionship between men and women all over the world. Founded in 1993, AnastasiaDate now has over 20 million international users and attracts more than 80 million visitors annually. Additionally, over 1.5 million conversations are exchanged onsite daily. AnastasiaDate is committed to member safety, customer satisfaction and the ongoing pursuit of innovation. Part of the Social Discovery Ventures network, AnastasiaDate is headquartered in New York with additional representation in every country it touches, providing a high level of customer service to a worldwide clientele. All members are able to communicate across a variety of top-notch multimedia platforms, including video chat and a mobile app for Android devices available in Google Play.

Media Contact

Company Name: AnastasiaDate

Contact Person: Media Relations

Email: pr@anastasiadate.com

Phone: +1 (212) 609-0533

Country: United States

Website: http://www.AnastasiaDate.com
Thomas R. Cutler announced the Manufacturing Media Consortium will meet on June 18, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. The meeting with several hundred members of the European members of the Manufacturing Media Consortium will address increasing global trends in e-commerce. The professional organization includes journalists, editors, economists, and other industrial leaders worldwide. Members write about trends, data, case studies, and profiles, in the manufacturing, industrial, and distribution sectors. Cutler works with thousands of media outlets to expand manufacturing media coverage.

Cutler is ranked as the leading manufacturing journalist worldwide and a contributing editor for hundreds of publications annually. Thomas R. Cutler has been writing extensively about manufacturing and industry for more than twenty years. According to Cutler, The dynamic stories of global manufacturers and best-practices create a never-ending stream of feature articles and important, newsworthy content. There are challenges to be sure along with opportunities for growth and worthy of media attention which is the purpose of the global Manufacturing Media Consortium.

About TR Cutler, Inc. and Thomas R. Cutler

TR Cutler, Inc. (www.trcutlerinc.com) was founded by Thomas R. Cutler seventeen years ago. Maintaining extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide, TR Cutler, Inc. has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler founded Manufacturing Media Consortium in the 1999. Cutler is the author of several books and has become the go to resource among those who write about manufacturing and distribution. Cutler is the author of more than five hundred feature articles annually regarding the manufacturing, distribution, industrial, and material handling sectors. Follow on Twitter @ThomasRCutler.

Media Contact

Company Name: TR Cutler Inc.

Contact Person: Thomas R. Cutler

Email: trcutler@trcutlerinc.com

Phone: 954-682-6200

Address:3032 S. Oakland Forest Dr. S-2803

City: Fort Lauderdale

State: FLORIDA

Country: United States

Website: http://www.trcutlerinc.com


Completion of First Shipment of MC Products into Australia

Perth, May 9, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MMJ PhytoTech Limited ( ASX:MMJ ) ("MMJ" or "the Company") is pleased to advise that the Company's Australian distribution partner, Melbourne-based HL Pharma Pty Ltd. ("HL Pharma"), has successfully imported its first shipment of medicinal products from the Company's Swiss-subsidiary, Satipharm AG, ("Satipharm").



- HL Pharma Pty Ltd successfully imports first shipment of Satipharm's Gelpell CBD capsules into Australia under new Government legislation



- Importation includes two strengths of Gelpell CBD capsules to be stored at secure HL Pharma facility prior to Australia-wide distribution in compliance with Federal and State legislation



- Gelpell CBD capsules are one of the first medicinal cannabis products available to approved prescribers in Australia



The imported products include two strengths of cannabidiol capsules, which are able to be used in the treatment of a variety of medical conditions as approved by prescribing physicians under Australian Federal and State legislation.



Satipharm's Gelpell CBD capsules are one of the first medicinal cannabis products available to approved prescribers in Australia, further strengthening MMJ's position as a first-mover in the evolving Australian market.



The successful importation of Satipharm capsules into Australia follows HL Pharma's receipt of a medicinal cannabis Import Licence in March 2017.



Satipharm Gelpell CBD Capsules - Product Overview



Satipharm's Gelpell CBD capsules have successfully undergone a Phase 1 Clinical Trial for safety and bioavailability and are produced under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) protocols in Switzerland. The capsules' active ingredient, cannabidiol, is derived from medical cannabis grown under Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) in controlled environments. The capsules will be available in a 10mg and a 50mg CBD presentation and contain no detectable levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).



MMJ PhytoTech's Managing Director, Andreas Gedeon, commented:



"We are very pleased to have completed this initial shipment with HL Pharma, as it solidifies our position as one of the first providers of world-class medicinal cannabis products to Australian prescribers.



The Company views the evolving Australian market as a significant near-term growth opportunity, and we are fully supportive of the Australian Government's decision to facilitate easier access to medicinal cannabis products for all approved prescribers.



With an expanding European distribution network and increasing product sales, Satipharm is well positioned to become a leader in the global supply of medicinal cannabis products, and the Company looks forward to providing shareholders with further updates on growth in this area of the business in the near-term."





About MMJ Group Holdings Ltd





MMJ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:MMJ) is a global cannabis investment company. MMJ owns a portfolio of minority investments and aims to invest across the full range of emerging cannabis-related sectors including healthcare, technology, infrastructure, logistics, processing, cultivation, equipment and retail. For MMJ's latest investor presentation and news, please visit: https://www.mmjphytotech.com.au/investors/
Aerospace logistics specialist, B&H Worldwide, is growing so rapidly in Singapore that the company is moving to a new facility four times larger than its current premises.





B&H Worldwide Group CEO, Stuart Allen said: "Singapore is an important strategic hub for our global operation and with our customer base of airlines, spare part stockists, MROs and repair vendors, we are committed to ensuring we meet their requirements through a single, dedicated far larger facility.

"Through opening our new site, we will continue to expand our services and provide a full range of specialised solutions for handling critical aerospace parts, from aircraft engines and specialist avionics through to components and consumables.

"In particular the demand for the B&H FSL (Forward Stocking Location) service and storage of aircraft engines in Singapore has driven the requirement to expand into a larger facility.



The company has operated in Singapore's Free Trade Zone since the 1980s but has now outgrown that building and is moving to a new 16,000 sq ft location within the ALPS Free Trade Zone which will enable it to continue to meet customers' service and warehousing requirements. The B&H team in Singapore will continue to be led by Station Manager, Bhupesh Malik and operates a 24/7 service.



The new B&H Worldwide address is:



B&H Worldwide (SG) Pte Ltd

70 ALPS Avenue, Unit 01-03 & 02-03

Singapore 498801




Thank you to our friends at World Mercury Project for this share.



By Alison Fujito

Its one thing to recommend something you believe in. Its quite another to demand that everyone else believe in it as well. Add hostility, politics, lobbyists, and an industry with a long history of dishonesty, and the result is the antithesis of the founding principles of this country.

Last month, Cosmopolitan posted a very disturbing opinion piece by a lobbyist for vaccine mandates, attorney Jinny Suh. Ms. Suh is the creator and leader of the activist group Immunize Texas which she terms a grass-roots community group. Its actually a branch of Immunize USA, which is funded by vaccine companies GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, and vaccine inventor and industry spokesman Paul Offit, among others.

The article is liberally sprinkled with pejoratives and thinly-veiled accusations directed towards those who dont agree with the author. The end result leaves a strong impression encouraging fear, repression, and hatred against anyone wanting to maintain the right to determine which invasive medical procedures they are willing to have performed on their children, and when.

Empathy or hostility?



Ms. Suh begins the article with several paragraphs telling us how she is an incredibly supportive and sympathetic person. And maybe she is.

One would expect that a sympathetic parent whose children were lucky enough NOT to suffer adverse vaccine reactions, would lobby for research on causes, prevention, and treatment of such harm. After all, over 10,000 claims are filed every year with the adversarial, problematic Vaccine Court.

Nobler efforts to help children might include fundraising for families of children who suffered truly catastrophic reactions, requiring lifelong 24/7 care not covered by insurance, especially for those who were unaware that the government compensation system even exists until well after the short three-year statute of limitations. In fact, there are many such families in Ms. Suhs home state.

Instead, the remainder of the article reads as an attack on those who criticize or even question vaccine safety, starting with her incongruous announcement that its time to stop acting like not vaccinating is a parenting decision.

Lets remember the facts here:

Vaccination is an invasive medical procedure.

Medical procedures may be declined by the patient.

Medical procedures on infants and children ARE PARENTING DECISIONS.

Media mantra

Dismissing all who would disagree with her, Ms. Suh ignores 73,454 reports of serious reactions associated with vaccines from 1989 through April of this year, and 6,469 reported deaths in the same time period. She insists that vaccinesall vaccines are safe and effective, and basically demands that everyone who has not already had an approved medical reaction agree to fully vaccinate their children. Links to three articles, none of which prove safety or efficacy, are provided in an effort to justify such a drastic demand.

As responsible parents, we cannot ignore legitimate reports of vaccine-associated systemic harm and submit unquestioningly to such demands because of three erroneous articles. One can easily find three articles claiming safety and efficacy of various medications in pill form, but that wouldnt support a claim that pills are safe and effective, and it wouldnt necessarily prove safety and efficacy of those particular pills. Vioxx and thalidomide are only two of many examples of FDA-approved medications that turned out to be deadly. Vaccines, classified as biologicals rather than drugs arent held to the strict standards of science and tightly-controlled clinical trials that Vioxx was before it receivedand maintainedapproval from both the government and our medical system.

The author links to a CNN news report with video, which wrongly claims that thimerosal does not cause any difficulty. This is blatantly false: thimerosal is strongly associated with phonic and motor tics, which are neurological disorders, as well as problems with attention and executive functioning. In other words, thimerosal causes difficulties.

CNN here also claims in error that only trace amounts of thimerosal are in influenza vaccines. Again, this is untrue: approximately 30% of flu vaccines today still contain 25 micrograms of thimerosal in each dose; the CDCs chart shows that only FDA-licensed influenza vaccine recommended for children under the age of three is FluZone Quadrivalent, which contains a 12.5 mcg/dose of thimerosal. Not only is that NOT a trace amount, but its being given to the population most susceptible to harm from thimerosal. CNN got both of these important facts completely wrong.

In contrast, back before the vaccine manufacturers were permitted to advertise on, and, for all practical purposes, own and control commercial TV, there was this special news report in 1979 on the government cover-up of harm from swine flu shots, as well as this one, in 1982, DPT: Russian Roulette.

There is a well-documented history of cover-up of harm from vaccines in this country; this is in no way refuted by CNNs misinformed (at best) claims of safety.

Ms. Suh also links an article from the WHO, which recklessly recommends vaccinating everyone who comes into contact with an infant for pertussis, ignoring the fact that those vaccinated for pertussis are still able to colonize and transmit pertussis to infants, even if they have no symptoms. The article also credits vaccines for reductions in death and disease in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America without acknowledging that adequate nutrition, clean water, improved sanitation, and modern medical care would have had the same effect.

The third effort to convince us of the supposed safety of vaccines is a disturbingly vitriolic article by the controversial Brian Deer, who, amidst accusations of his own questionable ethics, falsely claimed that Dr. Andrew Wakefields study misrepresented the medical status of the children involvedfalsely, because those childrens parents have gone on record rebutting and criticizing Deer, and supporting Wakefield.

Moreover, Deers article purports to address only one vaccine, MMR, out of the 54 vaccines recommended for US children from the day of birth to age 18. So it completely fails to address safety concerns regarding the other 53 vaccines, the poor quality of design and reporting of safety outcomes, the absence of any testing for carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, or impairment of fertility (stated on every package insert!), and the possibility of unanticipated synergistic reactions.

An argument that rests on mistaken assumptions, on false claims, and that ignores or denies valid concerns, is not only unconvincing; it calls the entire pro-vaccine-mandate position into question.

Not one of these examples proves safety or efficacy of vaccines, nor do they rule out a vaccine-autism link, nor do they rule out a link between vaccines and the myriad serious health issues that have been suggested by literally hundreds of studies.

This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved, as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision.

-From The Nuremberg Code, 1947

Attacking parental rights

Its extremely disturbing that, with strong evidence of serious health risks from vaccines, anyone would insist with such authority that parents unquestioningly accept the conclusions presented here.



Read more here.
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Customers of Coyne Airways and Air Charter Service are helping life-saving support from War Child UK get through to the children of Yemen.

Money raised goes towards the charitys vital work, for example providing some of the most vulnerable households with food vouchers.

"The funds contributed by Coyne Airways and ACS are based on Coynes idea of a Structured Donation Plan (SDP), which gets companies to make a small donation based on a fixed amount per transaction every time one of their customers makes a purchase from them, explained Coyne chief executive, Larry Coyne.

The SDP is designed to get the freight industry to donate painlessly to good causes particularly those around families and children caught up in war zones.

Coyne and ACS are hoping to persuade more companies to use the SDP to contribute to good causes like War Child in 2017.

War Child has been working in Hajjah, in the north-west of Yemen, and Sanaa, the largest city in Yemen, to reach approximately 6,000 people since it was granted a licence last December. Its chief executive, Rob Williams, said: We are incredibly grateful to Coyne and ACS. Support like theirs has meant that as soon as we were granted our licence, we could invest in setting up our operations in Yemen to respond to the unfolding humanitarian disaster. said

Family-run Coyne Airways and ACS launched the initiative to back War Child last autumn, donating one US dollar to the charity from every booking.

Customers have the opportunity to match the donation on a quarterly basis and, so far, thousands of dollars have been raised through the programme.

Children are already benefitting from this initiative and we would urge other companies in the air cargo community to join us in supporting War Child in this very simple way, said Coyne.

Chris Leach, Chairman of Air Charter Service, commented: Larry and I have both been in this industry for over 40 years and we set up this initiative after witnessing, first-hand, some harrowing scenes in those times.

"We feel that this is, in a small way, is giving something back. As Larry says, if everyone were to join us in donating just one dollar per booking, think of how much money the air cargo community could raise for this worthy cause.

Share this story
May 8, 2017

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the ruling Shiite Iraqi National Alliance, in Egypt on April 18. Sisi said, Egypt believes that it is important to overcome differences between the various political blocs and to thwart attempts to ignite strife and sectarian split in Iraq. A presidential statement issued following the meeting in Cairo stated that Sisi stressed the need that all religious communities in Iraq join forces to bring about national reconciliation that would help promote the unity of the national fabric.

Hakim had launched in late 2016 a political settlement designed to address sectarian and racist policies against Iraqi Shiites, Kurds, Sunnis and other minorities. This UN-sponsored settlement involves all political actors in Iraq, except for the Baath Party and Islamic State (IS) in the development of a framework for the political process in the post-IS era.

There are three challenges that Iraq needs to overcome: seizing all IS-held areas, achieving unity among Iraqs religious components (Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds) and preventing any component from monopolizing power.

Sectarianism and rivalry between a Shiite majority and Sunni minority have been at the core of the political conflict in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Husseins regime following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Although 60% of IS-held areas have been restored, there is a need that military operations and political reforms be concurrent, to prevent extremism from finding a favorable environment in Iraq. The Carnegie Middle East Center wrote in April 2014, Sunnis feel increasingly marginalized and are radicalizing, providing extremist groups with an ideal environment for mobilization and action.

As for Iraqi Kurds, they have sought to promote an autonomous government in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. President of the Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani, had called more than once for a referendum on independence from Iraq, most recently on March 30 at his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Erbil. The date of the referendum is yet to be revealed.

Nevertheless, Hakim opposes the Kurdish plans to hold a referendum on independence. He told Reuters April 20, If the referendum happens, it will be unilateral.

Kifah Mahmoud, the media adviser at Barzani's office, told Al-Monitor, The so-called Iraqi National Alliance-led historic settlement must necessarily have credibility and allow the Sunni and Kurdish components to join the political process and government, or else it is deemed unsuccessful.

He anticipated that Hakims efforts to bring about consensus on the settlement will not be a success, particularly since the Shiites themselves are divided over the draft settlement.

Internal differences over a successor of Hakim, whose term will end in September, prevail over the Iraqi National Alliance, particularly since the internal elections that are scheduled for early 2018 are approaching.

Mahmoud said that Hakim's visit to Egypt is just for show, and that Cairo is of little influence on the Iraqi political affairs. He noted, I do not believe that Egypt will be able to bring about consensus on a political settlement.

Mahmoud was shocked with Hakim carrying on with marketing the political settlement at a time when the Kurdistan Region seeks secession. The biggest roles in Iraq are assumed by the United States and Iran. Should they refrain from leaving a fingerprint, this settlement would be unacceptable, he said.

In contrast, Ayman Samir, an expert on international affairs and the editor-in-chief of As-Siyasa al-Misriya newspaper, rejected Mahmoud's statement. He told Al-Monitor that the visit was a success, as Egypt emphasized standing at equal distance from all parties and factions.

He said that Egypts role has declined in Iraq since 2005, after Egyptian Ambassador to Baghdad Ihab el-Sherif was killed, but that this role was resumed with the appointment of a new ambassador in 2009. He noted that Egypt has a great opportunity to assume a mediator role among the Iraqi parties, particularly since Cairo has neither political nor economic ambitions in Iraq.

He added that Egypt is introducing itself as a party accepted by all Iraqi parties, and that it is the only regional country that can assume an active role in bringing closer the different positions in Iraq.

Hakim said at a press conference following the meeting with Sisi that he had suggested the idea that Egypt hosts a regional meeting that would include Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey to calm sectarian tensions in the Middle East and work to put an end to conflicts.

Commenting on the regional meeting, Samir said, Egypt is highly accepted by all Iraqis. It has neither taken sides with the Shiites, like Iran, nor with the Sunnis, like Saudi Arabia. For this reason, [Egypt] is capable of assuming an important role in Iraq.

Fadel al-Badran, a professor of international media at the Iraqi University in Baghdad, endorsed Samir's remarks. He told Al-Monitor that during his visit to Egypt, Hakim sought to have Egypt assume a Sunni mediator role via Al-Azhar.

On April 19, Hakim met with al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb in Cairo. Following the meeting, Tayeb told the press that Al-Azhar is concerned with the Iraqi unity, and stressed that there must be a great deal of trust among Sunni and Shiite scholars to serve as a basis to initiate dialogue among all Iraqi components. He noted that Al-Azhar is still the umbrella under which Muslim Sunnis and Shiites meet. Hakim invited Tayeb for a visit to Iraq and dialogue with all religious components.

Badran, however, said that passing a law legalizing the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in parliament, with the support of the Shiite forces, has hampered all political settlements. He believes the law harms the sense of the settlement draft. This law was adopted on Nov. 26, 2016, while members of parliament of the Iraqi Forces Alliance, which is the largest Sunni alliance in parliament, boycotted the session, considering the legislation to be a blow to national partnership.

The law has legalized the PMU, considering it to be a backup force for the Iraqi army. The Iranian-backed PMU, which are engaged in the Iraqi armys operations against IS, are accused of abuses against Sunni civilians.

According to Samir, Cairo can assume a role in the reconstruction of Iraq in the post-IS era, provide military training for the Iraqi army and police, and play a mediator role to make successful a political settlement that would restore Iraqs unity and bring closer the views of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

Hakim handed over the text of his political initiative to Egyptian Prime Minister Sameh Shoukry. Following the meeting, Shoukry told the press April 18 that Egypt supports the quest to achieve national reconciliation, halt the bloodshed and concert efforts to counter terrorism, and for the reconstruction of Iraq.
May 3, 2017

Egypt's highest court for the first time has upheld the death penalty against a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, prompting fears that it won't be the last time.

The Court of Cassation ruling April 24 prompted objections from human rights groups and politicians.

Since July 2013, when current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coup to overthrow then-President Mohammed Morsi, the only related death sentences upheld have been against individuals alleged to have belonged to jihadi movements  but not against actual members of Morsi's Sunni Islamist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, or even against Morsi himself.

In this context, the final ruling issued against Sheikh Fadl al-Mawla, an Islamist cleric accused of killing a taxi driver during the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in strike in 2013, has prompted many people to ask the most important question to be raised in four years: Will the regime officially carry out death sentences issued against the Brotherhood's members?

Many of the Muslim Brotherhood members are awaiting the decisions that the Court of Cassation will soon take regarding their death sentences," said lawyer Khalaf Bayoumi, the head of the El-Shebab Center for Human Rights.

Part of the motive behind the question is the nature of Mawlas case. Bayoumi, who has been closely following Muslim Brotherhood cases, said the ruling is shocking and contrary to all legal norms and traditions. He called the ruling a continuation of the judiciary politicization that is taking place in Egypt, and expressed concerns over the political exploitation of the ruling, which could set the stage for similar verdicts."

Bayoumi explained to Al-Monitor what he considers to be legal shortcomings in the verdict and said, The verdict was based on the testimony of one witness only, and this testimony was abnormally contradictory." The court disregarded a request by Mawla's lawyer to nullify the arrest because Mawla wasn't caught in the act. The court also disregarded the defense's information about the arrest operation that was "quite different from the story told by the criminal investigation agent," Bayoumi said. He also pointed out, "The death sentence is only applicable when there is an aggravating circumstance behind the intentional murder, and this was not the case.

Many Muslim Brotherhood leaders and activists told Al-Monitor they have been expecting such an escalation as the 2018 presidential elections draw nearer. So far, they said, all deaths among former Brotherhood leaders were extrajudicial because of medical neglect or torture in prison. However, some people believe that even the sentences handed down by the Criminal Court should be considered "extrajudicial," alleging that politics, not justice, is the motivating factor.

"This issue reflects the mobilization practiced by the head of the regime, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, for the 2018 elections," Yasser Fathi, a political observer close to the Brotherhood, told Al-Monitor. "This is a trend in public policies, and it has been made clear by Sisis desire to show more dominance and rigor in dossiers related to the judiciary and Al-Azhar, which are institutions affiliated with the state.

Fathi believes all indicators show the Muslim Brotherhood is being used as a scapegoat, especially at the political level. "The Brotherhood is always the category that is easy to target and blame for the failure to combat terrorism and other matters. We fear that Mawla might be executed at any time, and we feel that the danger will be more serious moving forward, especially amid the state of great anger within the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood at what is happening," Fathi said.

Al-Monitor spoke to Mawla's wife, who said her husband was targeted due to his beard, religious appearance, advocacy activity and activity against the coup. This, she said, would help distort his image in the state media. She believes her husband is a scapegoat, especially as none of those arrested with him received a death sentence. She said she was shocked when she heard the news with her five children.

Though the court upheld Mawla's death sentence, Ashraf Sharif, a comparative politics professor at the American University in Cairo, said, It remains to be seen whether the sentence will be executed, especially considering that the law does not compel the authority to immediately implement the sentence and its execution could be delayed for years."

Sharif said judicial decisions in Egypt are often subject to individuals' motives and conspiracies, which could mean the court's decision "was not issued under the direct guidance of the regime. However, This does not negate the fact that the regime's decision to take escalatory measures against the Brotherhood has been indeed ongoing for some time. The evidence of that escalation, he said, is the regime's rejection of reconciliation and "its repressive measures against what it calls radical groups within the Brotherhood.'"

Sharif, who researches Islamic movements, said there are two approaches within the Egyptian state when it comes to dealing with the Brotherhood. "The first is based on eradication and is represented by Sisi, who wants to succeed in the areas that [Gamal Abdel] Nasser failed in and completely eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood, while the other approach favors the traditional [Hosni] Mubarak-state style, which is based on containment and calculated repression."

Al-Monitor asked Sharif if Egypt might be feeling less pressure regarding its use of the death penalty because of the new US administration. The previous administration would have been likely to criticize Egypt strongly, but perhaps Egypt feels its relations with the United States have improved under President Donald Trump. There have been Brotherhood reports of links between Sisis visit to the United States and the ruling, but Sharif said the Trump administration is unlikely to have affected the ruling.

The United States has been under pressure to decide whether to officially label the Brotherhood a terrorist group, but so far it has not weighed in on its leanings.

Trump's administration has not yet decided on the Brotherhood matter, especially given the practical difficulty of declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group and having such a declaration serve as a reason to accept  executions against the group, he added.

Meanwhile, Mawlas family lives in hope that the ruling will be disrupted. His wife said, We submitted a petition to the prosecutor general to quash the ruling amid the ongoing constitutional dispute over the law.

Bayoumi said his legal center and lawyers submitted several complaints to the African Commission to stop the sentence from being carried out: "In a joint statement with several human rights organizations, we called on the international community to intervene and place pressure on the Egyptian regime to stop the implementation of the sentence."

Although it remains to be seen if the regime will weigh in publicly on the execution, there are Brotherhood activists who believe the regime could threaten to implement the ruling at any time, sending a political message to the group whenever it might consider supporting any presidential candidate running against Sisi.
May 9, 2017

The Iranian capital played host to the four-day FINEX 2017 exhibition April 15-18. The annual event gathered more than 250 Iranian entities involved in banking and finance. While organizers dubbed it an international expo, only three foreign firms took part.

One of the driving factors behind the reluctance of foreign companies to engage with FINEX 2017 was the uncertainty over the future of Iran. Overshadowing the expo was the hostile rhetoric between Tehran and Washington and the upcoming May 19 presidential elections, which some argue could lead to the election of a conservative president.

As such, the presence of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the opening ceremony of the exhibition was perhaps an attempt to highlight the event in the face of negative sentiment against Iran. The moderate administration of President Hassan Rouhani believes that Irans ambitious economic objectives cannot be achieved without the strong presence of multinational investors in the Iranian market. This might be why Zarif, who served as Irans top nuclear negotiator, in his April 15 speech attacked those criticizing the nuclear deal, which put an end to crippling sanctions against the country.

If the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was not signed, Irans crude oil export could not exceed 1 million barrels per day [bpd] now, he said, referring to the more than 2.6 million bpd of crude being exported about one year after the implementation day of the nuclear deal. In other remarks, Zarif also noted that the state of Irans financial sector has improved significantly over the past 12 months.

Other speakers at FINEX 2017, including Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayebnia, Securities and Exchange Organization Chairman Shapour Mohammadi, Central Bank Gov. Valiollah Seif, Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari, and Central Insurance Company CEO Abdolnaser Hemmati, all voiced support for the Foreign Ministrys efforts that led to the sanctions lifting and also to positive movements in Iranian monetary and financial markets.

The most striking speech, however, was that of Sattari, who urged authorities to move from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. It would be a strategic mistake if authorities keep relying on oil and gas as a major source of revenue, he said. We need to adopt an entirely new culture in the financing industry to make startups and tech companies grow, he said, praising the rise of 3,000 knowledge-based companies in the country over the past three years.

In this vein, the second-largest Iranian equity market  Iran Fara Bourse (IFB)  was authorized by the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) to dedicate a hall for emerging fintech (financial technology) companies on the sidelines of FINEX 2017. The effort, dubbed FinStarts 2017, was aimed at connecting tech-based entrepreneurs with investors. This event was the second of its kind ever held in the country, with 50 fintech firms taking part. Amir Hamouni, the CEO of IFB who spoke at the closing ceremonies of the event on April 18, said officials are planning to launch a permanent online secretariat this year to help provide immediate financial support to smart and innovative ideas if need be.

Crowdfunding is another practice that Hamouni said IFB is pursuing to help fund fintech projects by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people. He expressed hope that the instrument, along with emerging venture capital funds, would be a good way to boost fintech in the country. When asked about major barriers to a more mature market, Hamouni told Al-Monitor that legislation related to fintech must be updated. He also warned that financial institutions must either adapt to new conditions or face serious challenges, as the fintech industry is set to boom. Merger and acquisition could be a good solution for financial institutions to avoid bad days, he said in an interview with Al-Monitor on the sidelines of the event.

It appears that the Rouhani administration intends to staunchly support private fintech companies, though influential semi-private firms that are already involved in the app market might resist giving up their market share. Alireza Daliri, an official from the vice presidents Office for Science and Technology, noted in an interview with Al-Monitor that his team had done its best to keep state-affiliated groups away from the fintech industry to help improve competition. But he acknowledged that despite a recently approved law that puts a 5% cap on state companies share in knowledge-based companies, some semi-state organizations still try to get a larger piece of the cake.

Observers believe that the financial regulator has in broad terms appropriately managed the market by trying to review and adapt domestic practices, standards and procedures to international norms in the past year. Ahmad Araghchi, an SEO board member, told Al-Monitor that sanctions cut off Irans access to global financial markets for years, resulting in a lack of common literature between Iran and global markets. We already took measures to fix this problem, he said, noting that his organization has to also address a weak information technology (IT) infrastructure. Weve been negotiating with global software and hardware majors to earn their expertise and technical support to remove our IT shortcomings, he said, adding that some contracts in this vein have already been signed.

If not all, at least some European companies agree that the situation is getting better in Irans financial markets. A representative of a multinational company who participated in FINEX 2017 said European and Asian investors have been increasing their awareness of the Iranian market in the past six months. The financial consultant, who spoke with Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, said his company, a multinational professional services firm, already has clients in France, Germany, South Korea and Japan who are weighing whether to enter Irans financial market. He pointed out that the Iranian regulator is aware of the shortcomings and has already begun to address them through deregulation and structural reform. But to see the outcome of these new policies, Rouhani needs another four years to prove that his approach toward foreign policy and the economy will result in major boosts in investment and job creation. Whether that will occur remains to be seen.
May 9, 2017

Irans incumbent moderate president, Hassan Rouhani  who is seeking a second term  has changed his approach ahead of the May 19 presidential elections. In the past few days, Rouhani has become unprecedentedly straight and clear in his speeches, injecting more hope in his supporters.

Since the beginning of the presidential election campaigns, conservative candidates  namely Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Mostafa Mirsalim  have been attacking the moderate government of Rouhani, saying he has been unsuccessful in solving peoples problems such as unemployment. And from the beginning, Rouhani unexpectedly didnt answer many of the criticisms and only tried to explain his plan for the second term, a decision that made his supporters angry. Now he has changed his tactic, responding to every challenge laid forth by his conservative rivals.

On May 7, in a speech in Orumiyeh province in northwest Iran, Rouhani said, They state that [everyone] must pay their taxes, but no one asks them [if they] have paid [their] taxes where [they] are the manager?"

In recent days, one of the slogans that conservative Raisi has emphasized is to tax the influential and wealthy companies and figures instead of poor people. However, Raisi is the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Imam of Shiites and hasnt paid taxes since he took office in the last year.

Rouhani also slammed conservatives for questioning freedom of expression in his government, saying those who silenced people in recent years and issued media bans on figures are behind these slogans against his administration.

Please dont talk about freedom of expression, and [dont] put liberty at shame. Do not talk about the tolerance of criticism while nobody dares to criticize the body you are working for, said Rouhani, referencing his conservative rivals  especially Raisi, who used to work in the judiciary as the prosecutor general.

You must know that those who had taken over the country in that eight years [of Mahmoud Ahmadinejads presidency] are active in their campaigns, and you saw what they did to the youth and employment issue," added Rouhani, hitting at Raisi  who has chosen many of his campaign managers from Ahmadinejads government.

In a speech on May 8 in Hamadan in western Iran, Rouhani accused his rivals of striving to enforce gender segregation in the streets. In a meeting, they decided to build walls in streets. They sought to divide the streets for women and men, just like when they issued a circular for gender segregation in their workplace. You dont know them; I know them, said Rouhani, adding, If you dont cast your votes, they will come to build walls in the streets."

Rouhanis target in this part of his speech was Ghalibaf, who issued a circular in 2013 ordering gender segregation in the municipality of Tehran.

Mentioning the media ban on former President Mohammad Khatami by the judiciary, Rouhani said, Why have you isolated the great figures of our society  the ones who brought up the dialogue of civilizations? Based on which law and rule [have you banned them]?

Rouhani also criticized the approach of hard-liners against Israel, saying, Every time you chanted a slogan, Israel received 3 billion dollars more from the US for strengthening its military power.
May 8, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Several Israeli media outlets, including Israels Channel 10, reported April 27 that the Palestinian Authority had asked the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to stop funding electricity for the Gaza Strip.

Channel 10 reported that the PA submitted a formal request to the body's head, Yoav Mordechai, to halt funding in the amount of 40 million shekels ($12 million) a month, which Israel withholds from Palestinian tax revenues. However, Israel did not respond to the Palestinian demand and continued to supply electricity to Gaza.

The request appears to be part of the PAs plan to pressure Hamas to hand over control of the Gaza Strip. Gazans rallied to condemn the Palestinian request.

Fathy Sheikh Khalil, deputy head of the Palestinian Energy Authority (PEA) in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, We contacted the concerned Israeli authorities, who confirmed that the PA did in fact make the request to Israel.

Al-Monitor contacted PA officials about the matter, but they declined to comment.

PEA acting director Zafer Melhem told the Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Ayyam April 28 that the PA is likely to try to halt the electricity supplies in Gaza should the officials of the electricity company in Gaza governorates continue to collect taxes without sending them to the PA treasury in Ramallah. When asked about Channel 10's report, he said no Palestinian party informed him that the PA had made such a request.

Sheikh Khalil said that the Israeli lines supplying Gaza with 120 megawatts are the only source of electricity in Gaza after Egyptian power lines halted operations April 20 for maintenance and the only power plant in Gaza stopped operating April 9 due to lack of fuel. The PEA refused to continue to purchase fuel with the heavy taxes imposed on it by the PA, which pushes costs to 270% of the fuels original price.

Sheikh Khalil warned that should Israel decide to halt the supply of electricity to Gaza via its lines, which provide a portion of Gazas energy needs, amounting to a total of 450-500 megawatts a day, Gaza will face a complete blackout, which could lead to environmental and health disasters.

Electricity is available in Gaza homes for only three to four hours a day. Some citizens get a few extra hours of electricity from small generators.

Sheikh Khalil further noted that the PEA has been in contact with several donor countries in the past several days, including Qatar and Turkey, to try to solve the problem and pressure the PA to supply fuel to Gazas power plant tax-free.

On April 25, Israels Yedioth Ahronoth quoted an unnamed Israel Defense Forces officer as saying, The Gaza Strip will live without electricity in the next few days.  It is important to know how Hamas will act. Will it continue to strengthen its military structure, or will it mobilize its efforts to solve the electricity problem?

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the news of the PA request points to a worsening political rivalry between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Gaza.

Qassem warned Israel not to comply with the PA's request because it would bring Gaza into major crises. Speaking to Al-Monitor, he called on the PA to ease the siege on the Gaza Strip and treat it as part of the Palestinian homeland.

Until recently, Gaza partially relied on its own power station that has run out of fuel. The station supplied Gaza with 60 megawatts a day. The Israeli lines supply Gaza with 120 megawatts, while Egyptian lines that provided 32 megawatts are currently out of order.

Political analyst and former head of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network Mohsen Abu Ramadan told Al-Monitor that Israel has a consistent policy of not tightening the siege on the Gaza Strip, as a crisis would have undesirable results  potentially including violent reactions by Hamas.

He does not believe that the PA's pressure on Hamas will succeed. On April 27, the PA announced that it will no longer pay for the electricity Israel supplies to Gaza. Before that, it cut 30% of the salaries of PA employees in Gaza to pressure Hamas to hand over Gaza, he said.

Abu Ramadan explained that there are no feasible alternatives for Hamas and the PEA, as alternative sources of energy such as large generators and solar cells are very scarce. He added, A radical solution to the problem would be for Hamas to hand over control of the Gaza Strip in return for Fatah ending its dominance over the Palestinian political system, to include Hamas in the PLO and its Temporary Leadership Framework and to maximize [the PA's] partnership with Hamas.

Mustafa al-Sawaf, a political analyst and former editor-in-chief of Felesteen newspaper, told Al-Monitor, Israel probably denied the PAs request to stop the electricity supply through its lines out of fear that the situation in Gaza would spiral out of control. Israel wants to avoid an explosion in the Gaza Strip and is not ready to face one now.

He said that Hamas leadership is in constant contact with several donor countries that consider Abbas actions toward Gazans inhumane.

Several economists believe Abbas will continue to pressure Gaza and Hamas, while local and international bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, warn that the perpetuation of the electricity crisis in Gaza will lead to health and environmental disasters.
May 9, 2017

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq  In a May 8 meeting with the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad, Iraqi Vice President and prominent Sunni leader Osama al-Nujaifi said that the role of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq is destructive and the PKK is a threat to the region, just as the Islamic State is.

Iraqi officials and authorities have been stressing the need for diplomacy to deal with any Turkish intervention in Iraq following April 25 air raids by Turkish forces on the PKK headquarters in the Sinjar Mountains. However, Sinjar District member of parliament Majed Sinjari did not rule out armed confrontations between the two sides should Turkey hit Iraqi territory in the future.

Sinjari told Al-Monitor, Escalation and one-upmanship will occur to the detriment of both sides. If the attacks are repeated and Turkey makes a ground intervention, the rhetoric will change and there will be armed confrontations.

The Iraqi government and parliament, the Peshmerga Ministry in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and many other political forces condemned the Turkish raids on Sinjar, which also targeted peshmerga forces' sites located near the PKK headquarters, killing five peshmerga fighters and wounding nine others.

In a press statement, Kurdistan Security Council adviser Masrour Barzani said that the Turkish raids on Sinjar came as a surprise to the Kurdistan Regional Government and the KRG demanded clarifications from Ankara.

Sinjari called on Baghdad to coordinate with Erbil to remove the PKK and any other non-Iraqi forces from Iraqi territory, noting that the PKKs presence gives ground for Turkeys intervention in the Sinjar Mountains and other areas.

Baghdad should take advantage of the support of the US-led coalition to remove the PKK and pressure Turkey to withdraw its forces from Bashiqa and not to carry out any aggression on Iraqi territory, Sinjari said.

Sinjari indicated that the Iraqi government provides PKK-affiliated Sinjar Defense Units (HPS) with weapons, funds and military equipment. There has been talk that many Yazidis belong to the PKK and are now affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units [PMU] and receive their salaries from Baghdad.

Sinjari said the threatening language employed by Ankara is aimed at pressuring the Iraqi federal government to remove the PKK and stop funding and arming its members.

Brig. Halku Hikmat, director general of the Information and Culture Department in the KRG Peshmerga Ministry, said the PKK forces presence in Sinjar is unconstitutional and illegal.

He said PKK forces are still on the list of terrorist groups in the world. If Turkey wishes to take future measures against these forces, there should be greater coordination between them [Turkish officials] and us in order to avoid any attack on the peshmerga forces, Hikmat told Al-Monitor.

Hikmat said that after the raids on Sinjar, the Turkish consul in Kurdistan and the Turkish president and prime minister expressed regret that the peshmerga forces were affected. Hikmat said both Ankara and Erbil do not want such an incident to happen again.

Asked how peshmerga forces would react should Turkey repeat the attacks on Sinjar, Hikmat said, Turkeys attacks on the PKK are related to the international coalition more than to the position of Kurdistan and the peshmerga. The international coalition is working against terrorism and should have an understanding with Turkey to this effect.

He said the KRG asked the PKK members to withdraw from Sinjar. The HPS was formed by the PKK in the Sinjar Mountains when IS took control of the Yazidi-dominated city and its villages and towns in early August 2014. The HPS fighters are trained by the PKK, who directly command these forces in Sinjar.

HPS leader Kandil Sinjari said Turkey is likely to take ground military action against HPA fighters in Sinjar, while adding that they were ready to face any military attacks. Our resistance to any future Turkish attacks will be in the form of popular protests and military resistance. We will defend ourselves against the Turkish army. We are ready for this confrontation and we have no problem with that, he told Al-Monitor.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated recently his countrys intention to take ground action against the PKK in Sinjar.

Kandil Sinjari accused Ankara of supporting IS. This is not the first time Turkey attacks us. When IS attacked Sinjar, the Turkish state was supporting it. As long as IS is present on the border of this area we will fight it, although Ankara does not want us to do so. If Turkeys goal was to eliminate and expel IS, it would have helped us in the fight against the terrorist organization, he said.

Peshmerga leader Jamal Murtaka told Al-Monitor the United States may need to deploy forces in Sinjar. The US might send out forces to Sinjar in the future." He indicated this could cause some minor problems with the PKK, which he said "is implementing the agendas of regional countries in Sinjar and working on stirring up problems, not to the mention the PMU and other movements implementing regional countries agendas in the area.

Informed Iraqi political sources said repeated Turkish military interventions could prompt the KRG and the Iraqi government to use the US card to expel the PKK from Sinjar. Meanwhile, other political parties are seeking to implement the strategic framework agreement between Baghdad and Washington, whereby the United States would protect Iraq from any external interference.
May 9, 2017

One can never be sure what's going through Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mind when he lashes out at Israel. At a conference on Palestine in Istanbul May 8, Turkeys mercurial president criticized Israel for racist and discriminatory practices against Palestinians. Erdogan added that the only solution" is "the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the lines of 1967. Erdogan also called upon the worlds Muslims to visit Jerusalem in support of Palestinians.

Israels response came almost immediately. First, the Israeli Foreign Ministry tweeted, Those who systematically violate human rights in their own country shouldn't preach to region's only true democracy. Meanwhile, true to his cerebral style, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin responded to Erdogans remarks by claiming that Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority since Ottoman rule and that Israel will continue to ensure freedom of religion for all. (There is no consensus among historians regarding Rivlins point about a Jewish majority during Ottoman times.)

But why would Erdogan threaten to derail Turkish-Israeli relations after it took so much time and effort to reconcile the two sides in June 2016?

Selin Nasi, a Middle East analyst and columnist for Hurriyet Daily News and the weekly newspaper Salom, responded to Al-Monitor in an email: This sudden change of tone toward Israel might be to mobilize the domestic audience around the Palestinian issue. Even though the [presidential] referendum is over, the government acts as if it is still in an election mode. Escalating tensions  might be a strategy to mobilize domestic support and thus to lay the ground for snap elections before 2019. Nasi added, The timing of this diplomatic spat is important because May 14 (the fifth day of Iyar) is Israels Independence Day, and the following day marks the Palestinians Nakba, the Day of Catastrophe.

Gabriel Mitchell, a doctoral candidate in government and international affairs at Virginia Tech and the US representative of the Mitvim Institute, thinks Turkey wants to maintain and expand its role in regional problems beyond the civil war in Syria. Mitchell told Al-Monitor over email, Erdogans comments seemed timed with several events. First, his meeting with PM Minister Rami Hamdallah. Second, the election of new Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Finally, Trumps upcoming visit to the region and outward interest in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Not only does Erdogan want to remain a significant regional player, his comments were a reminder that Israel and the Palestinian Authority cannot ignore Hamas.

Mitchell thinks that Turkish-Israeli rapprochement is not likely in trouble." He said, "The conditions which drove Israel and Turkey to reconcile still exist  but the mini-honeymoon period, where Israeli and Turkish officials made every effort to avoid commenting on the affairs of the other, may have come to an end.

Karel Valansi, a Middle East expert and columnist for the weekly newspaper Salom and the website T24, wrote to Al-Monitor in an email exchange that the recent spat is an unexpected but not surprising development. Valansi pointed out that officials from the Israeli Energy and Foreign Affairs Ministries had told her how they were expecting to conclude a deal for energy trade between the two countries  in a matter of 3-4 months. She went on, It looks like the flawless progress achieved in the last couple of months was a dream too good to be true.

Valansi, too, pointed to the role of Turkish domestic concerns in Erdogans remarks. Sparring with Israel was a useful tool to gain and increase domestic support in the past.  There are a lot of conferences and exhibitions going on in Turkey about Jerusalem these days. This may be the result of the approaching Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), the 50th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem following the 1967 War which will be celebrated on May 24 in Israel.

Like Mitchell, Valansi suggested, The affair has ended without escalating further.  However, both sides are ready to retaliate if the tension continues. For now, she added, Turkish-Israeli reconciliation remains a bold and strategic decision taken in defiance of popular sentiment.

Whether it will remain that way remains to be seen.
Judges_Gavel.jpg

( )

A Jefferson County circuit judge today struck down Alabama's Workers' Compensation Act.

Circuit Judge Pat Ballard found two provisions, the $220 a week cap in compensation and the 15 percent cap on attorneys fees, unconstitutional.

However, because one or more provisions were found unconstitutional, the entire act is nullified.

Ballard is staying his order 120 days so the Alabama Legislature can correct it, due to what he called the "magnitude" of the ruling.

Attorney Lawrence King, speaking for the plaintiffs, said Ballard had "turned the lights onto a horrible inequity that has penalized and injured members of Alabama's labor force for decades, and I really am encouraged that his clarion call for change will finally be heard."

The ruling in the case of Nora Clower vs. CVS Caremark, in Jefferson County Circuit Court, came this morning. Clower's attorneys filed suit in November 2013, stating she had injured her back on the job and was entitled to workers' compensation benefits. According to an affidavit filed in February of this year, Clower said she earned an average of about $335 a week for CVS, being employed there for less than a year before her injury.

Under the current law, workers hurt while on the job are eligible for $220 a week in compensation for a disability once their condition has stabilized. Lawyers for the plaintiff argued that that law dated to 1987, and $220 per week was above minimum wage level and the poverty level at that time. However, living costs and wages far exceed that number now. Attorneys argued a similar cap would total just under $500 today.

In his order, Ballard also said the grouping of compensated injured workers into two classes which basically received the same benefit "makes no rational sense."

"There is little credibility in telling two injured workers, both of whom are 99 percent disabled due to work injuries, that they both get $220 per week... when one earns $8.50 per hour for a 40-hour work week, and the other earns an annual salary of $125,000," he wrote.

In fact, $220 a week for a family of four is more than half below the poverty line, Ballard stated.

Don Rhea, another plaintiff attorney, said an injured worker on a six-figure salary had no expectation of adequate assistance with a $220 per week compensation.

"How can I honestly tell them that we have fair laws in Alabama?" he said.

On the question of a 15 percent cap on attorney's fees, Ballard held that it "fails to afford due process of the law." He also ruled that a cap on fees is a function of the judiciary branch and not the legislative.

King said the attorneys had argued that the system, as it existed, was "set up to keep injured workers from getting easy access to legal help." Handing workers' compensation cases were economically unfeasible for some lawyers, leaving up to 20,000 Alabamians each year suffering workplace injuries dependent on the insurance industry for relief, he said.

Ballard stated he understood the far-reaching implications of his ruling.

"There will be impact on medical providers, who presumably draw great income from the provision of medical care billed to workers' compensation insurers, employers, and self-insurance funds," Ballard wrote. "There will be impact to insurers, given that the sales of, and premiums collected for, workers'

compensation insurance in Alabama will halt in the absence of workers' compensation laws...And workers will have to turn to other sources  or none at all  for the provision of medical care or subsistence compensation upon suffering the misfortune of workplace accidents."

Ballard went on to write that "inevitably, this will mean that Alabama's taxpayers will shoulder a large measure of the burden."

"These crises are the direct result of a problem created and allowed to persist by the Legislature," he stated, before issuing a stay.
Here are some of today's top AL.com business headlines:

A Jefferson County Circuit Judge today declared Alabama's Workers' Compensation Act unconstitutional. Circuit Judge Pat Bullard found two provisions, the $220 a week cap in compensation and the 15 percent cap on attorneys fees, unconstitutional.

--

HealthSouth officially broke ground on the hospital near the intersection of Interstate 65 and Shelby County 52 with an expected opening in March of 2018. It's a final resolution to a eight-year process to get clearance from the state to build the hospital.

--

There are currently three payday lending bills in the Alabama legislature. The group Reform Alabama's Toxic Lending Problem encouraged those who seek reform to call their senators and support Senate Bill 284, and not House Bill 535 or House Bill 314. The Senate bill would extend the borrowing term to 30 days.

--

AdCare Health Systems is expanding its portfolio with the purchase of an assisted living and memory care facility in Alabama. The company confirms it has acquired Meadowood Retirement Village on 509 Pineview Ave. in Glencoe for $5.5 million.

--

TGI Fridays shuttered its Huntsville restaurant Saturday night after more than three decades in business, but a new eatery will soon take its place. Jim 'N Nick's spokeswoman Rosie Pihakis said the barbecue restaurant will open at the former TGI Fridays property on 4935 University Square.

--

Aerojet Rocketdyne will continue to invest in Huntsville by funding a $1 million endowment to establish the Aerojet Rocketdyne Chair in Space Science at UAH. The establishment of an endowment also will fund an academic chair for Dr. Gary Zank, the director of UAH's Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research and the chair of the Department of Space Science.

--

For more news, visit AL.com/business.
The artichoke and spinach dip from Publix may contain glass, prompting a recall through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Publix announced Monday it is voluntarily recalling 16-ounce plastic containers of artichoke and spinach dip sold at Publix stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee due to the possibility they could contain small glass fragments.

"As part of our commitment to food safety, potentially impacted product has been removed from all store shelves," said Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said. "We were made aware of potentially impacted product through customer complaints."

The Florida retailer said customers may return the product for a full refund.

For more details, click here.
The Avenue

Cool Spaces - The Avenue in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. (Bob Gathany / bgathany@AL.com)

( )

A women's boutique founded in Raleigh, N.C., 15 years ago will soon find a new home in downtown Huntsville.

Scout & Molly's will open a 1,272-square-foot store in August at The Avenue, downtown's newest mixed-use project featuring residential and street-level commercial space along Jefferson Street. Scout & Molly's is the third new tenant announcement at The Avenue, which will also be home to Church Street Purveyor and Soda Jerk.

The Avenue developer Charlie Sealy said they visited Scout & Molly's Nashville location and immediately knew it would be a good fit for downtown Huntsville.

"It will complement the new shops at Clinton Row and other boutiques that will soon be established at The Avenue," he told AL.com.

The franchise boutique sells clothing, jewelry, and accessories under a variety of brand names. The new-to-Alabama store will also provide a free styling program, closet makeovers, and private shopping events.

Lori Mullins, owner of Scout & Molly's future Huntsville location, has been watching downtown's revitalization. When the opportunity to open Scout & Molly's at The Avenue came available, the North Alabama native jumped on it.

"I'm thrilled to get to bring something that's going to benefit the Huntsville area and Huntsville women because I know lots of times we have to drive to a neighboring city like Nashville or Birmingham to go shopping," she said.

A recent study on retail market demand in the city center found downtown Huntsville could support an additional 275,000 to 325,000 square feet of new retail over the next five years.

There are been recent efforts to improve downtown's retail scene, starting with Clinton Row, a 3-year-old small retail incubator at Clinton Avenue and Jefferson Street. Last year, officials opened The Garage at Clinton Row, a series of retail shops on the first floor of the Clinton Avenue parking deck across from the Downtown Storage building.

CityCentre at Big Spring is also under construction at the former Holiday Inn site on Williams Avenue between Monroe Street and Lowe Avenue near the Von Braun Center and Big Spring Park. The project will be home to Wahlburgers and other retail concepts to be announced at a later time.

Developer Scott McLain also expects to share news soon about Constellation, a proposed mixed-use project at the Memorial Parkway-Clinton Avenue interchange. Tenants are unknown, but Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson has said Constellation will increase the live-work-play options in downtown.

The Avenue features a 400-unit parking deck, two galleries for socializing and events, and an indoor/outdoor open air space. Sealy, who is developing The Avenue with his wife Sasha, said they have leased about 70 percent of the lofts.

"We are excited that we will be announcing other shops and dining venues very soon that will be a part of The Avenue," he said.
A soil collection project is commemorating the forgotten victims of lynching and helping to tell their stories.

Alabama, United States  Its a sunny day in early May, in Thorsby, a small town in rural Alabama.

As we make our way down Peachtree Drive, the houses begin to give way to trailers as the dusty road turns into a dirt track.

It leads to a lake, trees lining its banks.



This is where John B Smith, a 73-year-old civil rights activist from Atlanta, Fabian Medea, my South African husband, and I get out of the car.

We take in our surroundings. The serenity of this place  rippling water, rustling leaves and a clear blue sky  belies its ugly past.

On June 4, 1895, a young man by the name of Jim Powell was lynched here.

It must have been hot then, too, one of those sweltering summer evenings, when Powell, an African American farmhand, allegedly entered the room of 15-year-old Mary Bussey. According to accounts, she screamed and he ran.

Some hours later, his lifeless, badly beaten body dangled from a tree at this lake.

John is on his knees, digging vigorously with a small trowel.

We recognise that you have lived, Jim Powell, and we feel your pain, he says, before depositing some earth into a large glass jar with Jims name on it and the date and place where he died.

The world now knows that you lived, says John, pausing to look across the lake.

READ MORE: KKK members leave Klan after befriending black musician

John is participating in the Equal Justice Initiatives (EJI) Soil Collection Project.

Drenched in their blood

Earlier that day, John, Fabian and I are at the EJIs office, in a former warehouse where slaves were kept before being sold at a nearby market, in downtown Montgomery.

Old people with walking sticks, teenagers with headphones on, people of all ages and races, are filing through the doors into the main presentation room.

The EJI was founded by Bryan Stevenson in 1994 to represent people on death row, but has since broadened its focus to include other issues pertaining to racial justice.

Stevenson thanks the 100 or so people who have gathered and begins his address.

Lynching was racial terrorism. It is not true that 9/11 was the first domestic instance of terrorism. African Americans who lived through lynchings, bombings and persecution were terrorised on American soil, he says.

The EJI started its soil collection initiative in 2015, as a symbolic commemoration of victims of lynching, Stevenson explains.

Victims of lynchings were not recognised and not remembered. But the Earth is drenched in their blood, he declares.

I am here

Then Stevenson speaks about a woman he met while defending Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully accused and sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman in Monroeville in 1989. After a protracted legal battle, McMillian was exonerated in 1993.

He describes how an elderly lady, Mrs Williams, had walked towards the metal detectors at the entrance to the court and how she had retreated after spotting the sniffer dogs checking the bags of those entering.

The next day, she returned. Muttering to herself, I aint afraid of no dog, she walked through the detectors and past the dogs.

Then she said to me: I am here, Stevenson recalls. I said I was so happy to see her back in the courtroom, so I welcomed her and I returned to my papers.

When McMillian was led into the courtroom, I heard Mrs Williams voice again. You didnt hear me, I said I am here, she proclaimed in a loud voice. After the judge came in, Mrs Williams didnt sit down, like everyone else. She again reiterated her mantra, I am here.'

In Just Mercy, his 2013 bestseller about racial justice in the United States, Stevenson writes about the moment he understood what Mrs Williams was trying to say. I may be old, I may be poor, I may be black, but Im here. Im here because Ive got this vision of justice that compels me to be a witness, he wrote.

This notion of being here and bearing witness is central to the EJIs racial justice work, and to its Soil Collection Project in particular.

This is what you will be doing today, Stevenson tells the crowd. You will say I am here, you will bear witness.

And with that, the EJI staff hand out leaflets with information about those victims we will be focusing on today, directions to the lynching sites, trowels and glass jars.

Fleeing Mississippi

As we drive to Thorsby, with our jar on the back seat of the car, John begins to share some of his earliest memories.



My parents were sharecroppers in Mississippi, he says.

Sharecroppers had to pay rent to their landlords by giving them a share of the crops. This tied them to the land and often left them unable to harvest enough food to feed their families. But Johns parents wanted to escape the extreme poverty sharecropping had trapped them in. So they fled.

I was about four years old and I remember that we had to flee when there wasnt a full moon, because otherwise the night watch would catch and return us to the farmer, John recalls. And that could lead to a lynching.

After he finished high school, John joined the army and served in Vietnam.

Upon returning home, he joined the Invaders, a Black Power group that was organising on behalf of the African-American population in Memphis.

In 1968, he met Martin Luther King Jr when he became involved in the sanitation strikes by black waste collectors in Memphis.

John explains how his journey to the site where Jim Powell was lynched is intimately linked to his own experiences of racial subordination, exclusion and hate.

4,075 lynchings

Efforts to document the scale of lynchings in the American South started in 1882 when the Chicago Tribune published its annual list of African-Americans who had been lynched.

Shortly after its inception in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began publishing statistics of lynchings.

The Tuskegee Institute also kept track of lynchings and began releasing a list in 1912.

In 1995, sociologists Stewart Tolnay and E M Beck published a study, A festival of violence, which collated and, in some instances, corrected these earlier efforts.

The EJIs February 2015 report, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, is one of the most comprehensive attempts to document the scale of these murders. They found archival evidence of 4,075 lynchings that took place in the South between 1877 and 1950.

The four-year investigation saw EJI researchers and lawyers scour archives, newspapers and court records for evidence of lynchings. They also interviewed local historians and the descendants of victims.

As in Jim Powells case, the evidence was often minimal.

A posse gave chase

On June 6, 1895, the Louisiana newspaper Times-Democrat reported: Jim Powell went the way of all violators of the persons of white women  Ms Bussey was awakened from sleep by the presence of the negro, Powell, in her room. The negro having crawled into her room through an open window.

The New Orleans-based Times-Picayune reported: Her father ran in from another room, but in doing so stumbled over a sewing machine and fell, giving the negro time to escape. A posse was immediately organised and gave chase.

The Constitution, a Birmingham newspaper, reported that a posse was at once formed and pursuit was begun. The negro was overtaken  15 miles from the scene of the attempted assault. The men looked like they were determined and the negro was in a badly frightened condition.

According to the newspapers, Powell was caught and returned to Mary Bussey, who identified him. The mob then marched to Clinton, the county site, ostensibly to jail the negro. This morning his dead body was found hanging to a tree, the Times-Democrat read.

Beck has studied and documented lynchings in the south for 30 years. In his inventory, Jims lynching is listed as ambiguous as he found two newspaper articles on a convicted criminal called Oliver Jackson, who entered the room of a Mary Bussey around the same time.

According to the Atlanta Constitution newspaper on June 7, 1895: When the negro was captured and taken before the girl, she stated that he had not attempted any assault and so the captors decided to turn the culprit over to the sheriff.

But five other newspapers reported sightings of Jims dead body dangling from a tree.

How to define lynching



These discrepancies point to the inherent difficulties in researching lynchings, explains EJI researcher and lawyer Jennifer Rae Taylor.

Part of the challenge of doing this research is that we are trying to document events that occurred many years ago, when standards of reporting and verification were different from how they are now, and communication was more difficult across distances, and many publications and individuals did not have much interest in collecting accurate information about lynchings, she says.



A further complicating factor is that the definition of what constitutes a lynching can vary. According to Beck the definition developed by the NAACP is commonly used. This is that: (1) there must be evidence that a person was killed; (2) the person must have met death illegally; (3) a group of three or more persons must have participated in the killings; and (4) the group must have acted under the pretext of protecting justice or tradition.

But in their investigation, the EJI refined that definition. We distinguish racial terror lynchings  the subject of this report  from hangings and mob violence that followed some criminal trial process or that were committed against non-minorities without the threat of terror. Racial terror lynchings are directed at racial minorities who were being threatened and menaced in multiple ways, its report reads.

The vast majority were black men murdered by white mobs, explains Beck. But there were a significant number of whites lynched  which EJI doesnt count  by white mobs and a trivial number of whites lynched by black mobs, and a smaller number of blacks lynched by black mobs.

Beck is one of only a few academics attempting to document lynchings in the US. This paucity in academic interest, he says, is a result of the shame attached to it for many white academics. It is the same shame that Beck felt when his father confessed on his deathbed that Becks grandfather had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

Many white people did not and do not want to know what kind of atrocities were committed against black people, sometimes literally in their backyard, he says.

Taylor thinks the actual number of racial terror lynchings that took place in the South is probably much higher.

We definitely believe that there are countless victims of racial terror lynching whose deaths never resulted in a newspaper article, whose fates were only remembered through oral history and community memory, many of which have since faded, she says.

We are committed to continuing to refine and amend our list, but we believe it will always represent a significant undercount to the many lives lost and many, many more lives and communities impacted by racial terror lynching.

A memorial to the victims of lynching

The EJI has so far organised three soil collection events, in which approximately 300 people have participated.

But its work on the legacy of lynchings goes beyond collecting soil.

The organisation purchased 2.5 hectares of land in Montgomery in 2015, where it intends to build a national monument to commemorate the victims of lynchings.

Stevenson has raised several million dollars of the total estimated cost of $20m to build the monument, which is scheduled to open in 2017 and was designed by the Boston-based MASS Design Group.

The collected soil will be deposited in the main feature: rows and rows of columns, some built from the ground up, others suspended, hanging in the air, evoking the victims of lynchings, who were often hung from a tree. The names of the forgotten victims will be engraved on the columns.

The EJI intends to erect identical columns in a field next to the memorial, one for each county where lynchings took place. The organisation hopes that local authorities will collect their column and turn it into their own memorial to the people who were lynched in their county.

Amnesia in a post-genocidal society

But it remains to be seen how well different counties will respond to this invitation. In many, the remnants of a racist past remain tangible.

Alabama is a case in point.

Confederate Memorial Day, a public holiday marked in Alabama on April 25, brought the countys racial tensions to the fore. People dressed in Civil War-era outfits held a ceremony at the state capital in Montgomery to commemorate the Confederate soldiers who died  defending slavery  during the Civil War. The Confederate flag fluttered in the spring breeze. Black Lives Matter and Black Panther activists also gathered to protest against the celebration. The police intervened and a tense standoff ensued. Bulletproof vests were distributed among both groups.

Stevenson reflects on this in an interview in the EJIs office. The Germans built a monument in Berlin to commemorate the people who perished in the Holocaust and to remind everyone: never again, he says. But in the south of the US, the history of racial terror is not acknowledged. Here, we celebrate Confederate Memorial Day every year. Imagine if the Germans would commemorate the Nazis. That would be absurd. We are a post-genocidal society without any recognition for the atrocities of the past.

That amnesia, he says, enables the perpetuation of abuse. The states where the highest number of lynchings took place currently have the highest number of executions  and those executed are disproportionately African American. According to Stevenson, it has also contributed to the mass incarceration of black men. While African Americans make up 13 percent of the population, more than a million of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in the US are black. According to a Washington Post online database that tracks police killings, a black man in the US is seven times more likely to be killed than a white man.

Extrajudicial lynchings have simply been replaced by legal mechanisms, Stevenson postulates.

A public spectacle

Jims jar is filling up. John pats the light brown earth. Barely audible, he mumbles: Which tree did they hang him from?

I scan the horizon, assessing each tree for its age and sturdiness.

It must be that one, John concludes, pointing to a gnarled old oak tree. All of the trees suddenly look ominous.

Had they gouged out his eyes, I wonder. Did they chop off a finger and sell it as a souvenir? Did his family hear of what was happening to him and attempt to save him or had they already fled north, among the six million African Americans who did so during the Great Migration?

According to Beck, the public spectacle lynchings where picnicking families bought chopped off fingers, were relatively scarce. This happened in about 10 percent of the lynchings I documented, he says.



The brown sand suddenly looks bloody. I shiver. As an atheist on most days and an agnostic on others, I feel an unusual but desperate urge to put Jims soul to rest.



Protecting white womens honour

The victims of lynchings were often black men who had been accused of raping a white woman. But, as African American journalist and activist Ida B Wells pointed out in her 1892 book Southern Horrors, Lynch Laws in All its Phases, addressing a white woman in a way deemed to be insufficiently respectful or failing to step off the pavement as a white woman approached could also lead to a lynching.

The dark and bloody record of the south shows 728 Afro-Americans lynched during the past eight years, she wrote in 1892. One-third of those victims had been charged with  but not convicted of  rape.

Merely walking into a room where a white woman was present could result in death. The EJI references the case of Keith Bowen in their report, a black man who in 1889 in Aberdeen, Mississippi, entered a room where three white women were seated.

Though no further allegation was made against him, Mr Bowen was lynched by the entire white neighbourhood for his offense, the report states.

The idea of protecting a white womans honour stems from the notion of white supremacy, Beck explains. Black people were classified as an inferior species and having sexual relations with them would be an aberration of nature.

The anger generated by the idea of black men and white women having sexual relationships ran deep. When Wells wrote an editorial about the myth of black-on-white sexual violence, pointing out that some relationships were consensual, her office in Memphis was burned to the ground.

White men, on the other hand, were at liberty to have sexual relationships  consensual or otherwise  with black women.

The white man is free to seduce all the coloured girls he can, Wells wrote.

OPINION: Now and then, who to blame?

Government indifference

The federal government ignored the problem, failing to enforce anti-lynching laws such as the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871.

Efforts to define lynching as a federal crime were stopped by people in Congress from the South. Local governments also did close to nothing. Very few indictments or prosecutions took place, Beck explains.

The Colfax massacre provides a stark example of this indifference. White Democrats in Colfax won a local election that was widely perceived to be fraudulent by black Republicans. When the Republicans staged a peaceful protest at the court, a white militia retaliated by slaughtering 150 African Americans in the worst racial violence recorded during the Reconstruction Era.

Charges were brought under the Enforcement Act and several white men were arrested, but they were subsequently either acquitted or the jurors in their cases failed to reach a verdict.

In his 1906 State of the Union speech, President Theodore Roosevelt appeared to offer implicit approval for lynchings when he said: The greatest existing cause of lynching is the perpetration, especially by black men, of the hideous crime of rape  the most abominable in all the category of crimes, even worse than murder.

OPINION: White supremacys inferiority complex

Anti-miscegenation laws

I look at my husband who has taken the trowel from John. Jims jar is nearly full. He catches my eye and smiles. I think about how we met  in South Africa  where our relationship would once have been illegal. The 1949 Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act outlawed interracial marriages, while the 1957 Immorality Act banned interracial sexual relations, leading to the establishment of a special division of the police force tasked with peeking into peoples bedrooms. If caught in the act, a seven-year prison sentence could be imposed on both parties.

In the US, European settlers introduced anti-miscegenation laws in the early 17th century.

According to Rachel F Moran, a law professor at UCLA and author of the book Interracial Intimacy, the Regulation of Race and Romance, early anti-miscegenation laws only punished the white partner.

In Maryland, freeborne English women who married negro slaves had to serve their husbands master during their husbands lifetimes, she explains, referencing the case of Nell Butler, or Irish Nell, an indentured white woman who married a slave called Charles Butler and subsequently spent the rest of her life as a slave. Their children were also born into slavery.

Later, however, the punishments were made equivalent.

Charles Robinson is a history professor at the University of Arkansas and author of the book Forsaking All Others: A True Story of Interracial Sex and Revenge in the 1880s South. It tells the story of Isaac Bankston, a white man, and Missouri Bradford, an African American woman, who married in 1883 and were prosecuted under anti-miscegenation laws in 1884. During the trial, he successfully argued that his great grandfather was half Creek Indian and so the anti-miscegenation law did not apply to him. He later died in a fight with one of the lawyers who had prosecuted him.

It took several more decades to end the ban on interracial relationships. In 1958, a mixed-race couple named Loving were arrested and convicted in Virginia under the Racial Integrity Act, one of the many anti-miscegenation laws that 17 states throughout the South enforced. The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in 1967 that these laws were unconstitutional.

It is unclear exactly how many people had been prosecuted under them by then. The state by state nature of the enforcement greatly complicates any such computation, explains Robinson.

OPINION: Does the Confederate flag signify heritage or hate?

The same inhumanity

You cant stop the idea that people want to be together. Or, in Powells case, that people are just allowed to talk, allowed to sit down in the same room, Fabian says as he continues to dig through the pebbles and sand. They were so afraid of the idea that they would sit down and talk and realise, Oh my God, we are actually the same, there is no difference between us, the difference I was told about was a lie.





John walks back to the car with Jims jar. He is one of us, he says. The inhumanity that led to his death, still exists, to this day.



We drive in silence for a while, mulling over Johns statement on the unfinished state of race relations in the 21st century.

Then, Fabian breaks the silence. The only way we can truly evolve as a species is to acknowledge our wrongdoings, to acknowledge the horror that we have done to each other. You cant really ever know who you are; you cant really ever heal if you dont acknowledge your past. If you dont know where you come from, you dont know where youll go, he says.

The three of us return Jim Powells jar to the EJIs office, where it is placed on a shelf next to the jars of other victims of lynching.

The EJIs office is a testament to the treatment of African Americans throughout history. Framed pictures of sharecroppers, the Lovings, whites only or coloureds only signs and images of the mass incarceration of African Americans line the walls. They are a reminder that racial oppression is not a thing of the distant past.



Returning to Ellisville, Mississippi

One-hundred-and-seven-year-old Mamie Kirkland, who was awarded the Champion of Justice Award at the EJIs annual benefit in New York in April last year, is a living testament to that past.

As she received her award, she recalled the events that had uprooted her life a century earlier, when she was a seven-year-old girl in 1916 in Ellisville, Mississippi.

Her father came home and instructed her mother to pack their bags and get the children ready, she recalled. A crowd had gathered, calling for him and his best friend, Mr Hartfield, to be lynched.

Her father left immediately, her mother ushered her five children onto a train the next morning. The family made it to East St Louis, Illinois.

But Mr Hartfield, her fathers friend, decided to return to Ellisville to be with his white girlfriend. The mob made good on their threat: shooting, hanging and burning him.

He could have been my father, said Mamie.

I didnt even want to see Ellisville, Mississippi on a map, she added.

But the EJIs lynchings report changed her mind. When her son read about the lynching of Mr Hartfield in it, he contacted the EJI. Then, he convinced his mother to return to Ellisville.

So, last year, on the spot where Mr Hartfield had been hanged from a gum tree, Mamie, several of her relatives and EJI lawyer Jennifer Rae Taylor held hands and prayed together.
As the sounds of his supporters cheers filled Seouls air, celebrating a projected landslide victory in South Koreas presidential election, Moon Jae-in stepped on to a platform at his partys election headquarters and declared: Today is the day to open a door for a new Republic of Korea.

Hours later, the National Election Commission declared him the winner with 41 percent of the vote.

Moon inherits leadership of a country fed up with corruption and hungry for a leader with a new vision.

His term begins on Wednesday, and he will be tasked with managing relations with North Korea, China and the United States, and attending to multiple domestic challenges.

Moon, 64, has humble origins. He was born on Geoje, a small island off South Koreas south coast, to refugees who had fled war in North Korea. Despite living in poverty as a child, he excelled in school and earned a spot at a university in Seoul in the 1970s, where he majored in law.

At the time, South Korea was a dictatorship, under military ruler Park Chung-hee (father of recently ousted president Park Geun-hye), and Moon took a prominent role in student protests against Parks suspension of civil and political rights. He was arrested and expelled from university, but later allowed to return and complete his studies. After graduation, his history as an activist disqualified him from government jobs in courts or the prosecution.

He relocated to Busan, South Koreas second-largest city, where he became a human rights lawyer, working with Roh Moo-hyun, who in 2003 took office as South Korean president. Roh appointed Moon to his secretariat, giving Moon his first experience in governance.

Since embarking on his own political career, Moon has carried the baggage of his close association with Roh, who though popular among liberals for his warmth and charisma, is remembered by many as an ineffective statesman  Roh committed suicide in 2009 as allegations of influence peddling began to envelope his family and close associates.

Conciliatory approach to the North

By demographic, Moons support is lowest among South Koreas older generation, who tend to be conservative and are put off by his more conciliatory tone on dealing with North Korea.

On right-wing television shows and online message boards, Moon is often accused of being an apologist for the North, and depicted as a pushover who lacks the gravitas to responsibly handle South Koreas national security. The top-polling conservative candidate in the election, Hong Joon-pyo, released one campaign ad in which he superimposed a North Korean flag over Moons place on the ballot, depicting a vote for Moon as a vote for Pyongyang.

Much of the Western media coverage of South Koreas election has honed in on how Moon might handle relations with the Donald Trump administration in the US, and how he will address North Koreas growing arsenal of missiles and nuclear weapons.

Moon has pledged to strengthen South Koreas long-standing alliance with the US and to cooperate with Trump. In an interview with The Washington Post, Moon voiced his opinion that Trump is more reasonable than he is generally perceived.

At the same time, Moon has vowed to breathe life into South Koreas frozen relations with the North, saying he supports holding direct talks and restarting economic cooperation projects.

Under Roh, Moon was an architect of the so-called Sunshine Policy, which mandated unconditional aid with the hope of spurring North Koreas denuclearisation. Conservative critics condemned the policy as a waste of money that failed to induce better behaviour from Pyongyang.

Jobs, corruption and the economy

The domestic conversation about South Koreas election has revolved around how a new president could make society fairer, and how to boost a sagging economy beset by rising unemployment and inequality.

A poll by Gallup Korea, released the week before the vote, found economic vitalisation and job creation the respondents top two choices for the most important tasks facing the next president, with national security coming third.





To address concerns about employment, one of Moons campaign pledges was the creation of 12,000 new jobs in government and civil service. Government jobs are particularly sought-after by young South Koreans nowadays owing to their stability and generous pensions.

Park Geun-hye, Moons predecessor as president, was forced out of office by allegations that she used her influence as the countrys leader to help a shady confidante amass millions in corporate donations.

Protesters filled public squares across the country for months, decrying what they saw as unfair collusion among the top ranks of South Korean government and business. As president, one of Moons tasks will be addressing public demands to root out corruption, and rein in the corporate conglomerates that dominate the South Korean economy.

A prosecutors probe over the corruption scandal that led to Parks impeachment has also convulsed the countrys biggest conglomerate, Samsung Group, with its chief Jay Y. Lee under arrest for bribing the countrys president and a close friend of hers.

Geoffrey Cain, a business analyst and author of a forthcoming book on Samsung, noted that pledges for stricter corporate regulation disappeared from Moons platform as the campaign wore on.

Previous South Korean presidents, including Park, have come into office promising to get tough on conglomerates, only to later prove unable, or unwilling, to follow through.

The conglomerates have a hand in everything. They are the cash engine and political patrons of nearly every successful president. Its not wise, politically, to move hard against them, Cain said.

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump

Moon will not have a long time to savour his victory, as his term as president will start on May 10.

Celebrations in the Moon camp will be brief, as Moon will have to contend with an impending North Korean nuclear test, the Trump administrations still-unclear policies in the region, frictions with China, and an electorate that expects immediate reforms of the South Korean political system, said Markus Bell, an assistant professor in Sheffield Universitys School of East Asian Studies.

Bell added: Moon may not have the luxury of prioritising these challenges, as Kim and Trump are likely to test him from the outset.
On May 6, 2017, Hamas, the Palestinian political movement that rules Gaza Strip, elected Ismail Abdulsalam Ahmed Haniya, 54, as the head of the groups political bureau, replacing Khaled Meshaal.

The move to elect Haniya has raised a number of questions over the timing and reasons for the decision. It comes as the group is introducing changes to its organisational structure and policies towards Israel.

Haniya, who lives in Gaza, has a reputation for being pragmatic and flexible. His election is seen by some analysts as being in line with the movements decision to accept a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, a position he has long supported.

But who is Ismail Haniya? Here is a quick guide to the man running the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas political bureau:

Born in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza to parents who fled from the city of Asqalan after the state of Israel was created in 1948, Haniya studied at the al-Azhar Institute in Gaza and graduated with a degree in Arabic literature from the Islamic University in Gaza.

While at university in 1983, Haniya joined the Islamic Student Bloc, a precursor to Hamas.

The year he graduated, 1987, marked the start of the first Palestinian mass uprising against Israeli occupation, known as the First Intifada, and the subsequent founding of Hamas as an official group.

READ MORE: What is next for Hamas?

Israeli authorities imprisoned Haniya for 18 days when he took part in protests against the occupation. A year later, in 1988, he was jailed again for six months and spent another three years in prison in 1989 on charges that he belonged to Hamas, as the Intifada unfolded.

Following his release, Israel deported Haniya to southern Lebanon along with other senior Hamas leaders, where he spent a year. After the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, he returned to Gaza.

Haniya climbed the ranks within the movement as a close aide and assistant of Hamas cofounder, the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in 1997.

In 2001, as the Second Intifada erupted, Haniya consolidated his position as one of Hamas political leaders, third in ranking after Yassin and Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi.

Haniya and Yassin escaped death in 2003, in a failed Israeli assassination attempt in the form of air raids on an apartment block in downtown Gaza where the two men were meeting. A few months later, Yassin, who was a quadriplegic, was targeted and killed by Israeli helicopters as he left a mosque after the early morning prayer.

Haniya rose to prominence in 2006 when he led Hamas to a legislative election victory over the Fatah movement, which had been in power for more than a decade.

READ MORE: Timeline  Hamas-Fatah conflict

Though he served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) for a short time, the refusal of the international community to work with Hamas, and the deadlock and violence between the two parties eventually led to the dismantling of the unity government in 2007, after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Haniya was dismissed as prime minister by the president of the PA, Mahmoud Abbas, but he remained the de facto leader of the movement in the Gaza Strip.

On several occasions, Haniya has said that he would accept a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital. He has also said that the Hamas government would be willing to work with Western governments that vow to support the rights of Palestinians.

In a series of interviews conducted via email with the Beirut-based al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies in 2013, Haniya explained that Hamas makes a distinction between political efforts and compromise; we are not opposed to any diplomatic or political efforts to restore our rights, but we are against bargaining or exchanging our rights.

He also described the Oslo Accords as not only a fundamental compromise of Palestinian rights to the occupation, but were also a source of major division in the Palestinian arena over both means and objectives, transferring the conflict into the Palestinian domestic scene.

During the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, two nephews of Haniya were killed and parts of his home destroyed as a result of Israeli shelling.
On paper, Emmanuel Macron is an antonym to Donald Trump. Yesterdays French presidential elections will have ramifications on both transatlantic relations and the Middle East. The two novice leaders, who never held elected office, have a choice to either mend fences, confront or manage their deeply rooted ideological and political differences.

After all, Macron officially declared his candidacy just one week after Trumps election victory. That monumental shift in the United States, as well as the fallout from Brexit, became a wake-up call in French politics, causing people to start scrambling around the country to find an acceptable candidate to beat the far-right contender, Marine Le Pen. In that sense, Macrons ascendance to power was meant to be the French rebuttal to the wave of populism and anti-globalisation in London and Washington. Yet, its not the first time that politics in both countries were so intimately intertwined and overtly polarised.

US-French relations hit a low between 2003 and 2008 following Jacques Chiracs defiance of George W Bushs invasion of Iraq. Nicolas Sarkozys honeymoon with Barack Obama was short-lived and the US in the past eight years favoured Germany as the main European interlocutor. Trump will now have a working relationship with a French leader who sought the endorsement of his nemesis, Barack Obama. The US president will need to make overtures after tarnishing the French pride during his campaign by asserting Paris is no longer Paris.

Trump versus Macron





What they have in common though is a similar business background, and both are non-traditional and non-ideological leaders who claim to lead a movement. An independent centrist, Macron leans to the left on social issues and veers to the right on the economy. He believes in a protective Europe, which would strengthen Germanys hand in trade negotiations with the US. The challenge is whether key differences on trade and climate change will cloud their cooperation on foreign policy and the Middle East.

While Trumps source of inspiration is mostly Richard Nixon, Macron operates on a platform inspired by Charles De Gaulle, Francois Mitterrand, and Jacques Chirac. Hence, he might have no hesitation in diplomatically challenging US influence when it serves French national interests. He might even entertain the idea of playing up differences with Trump for domestic reasons.

Macron wants France to be an independent, humanist, European power, whereas Trump has an America first slogan strengthened by a hard power approach. However, both leaders are generally cautious in getting entangled in wars. Since Brexit became a reality, France has become the only European Union member holding a veto power in the United Nations Security Council, which will give Paris a unique opportunity to assert itself and might subsequently lead to occasional disagreement with Washington. Macron believes that European major powers should fill the vacuum of the US gradual retreat from the world, hence will be keen to raise doubts about the US-Russian coordination and even challenge it when needed.

PROFILE: Who is Emmanuel Macron?

Since both leaders have no clear doctrine, they share three similar trends: flip-flopping on issues from left to right; infighting between their team; and leading a conventional foreign policy. In a similar fashion to Trump, Macron has moved from suggesting a balanced approach in Syria last January to hinting a military intervention under the auspices of the UN after the Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack. While Macron believes in the logic of building peace rather than the logic of intervention, he seems, like Trump, to be more inclined to use surgical strikes when needed.

Macron's description during the election campaign of France's colonial past as 'genuinely barbaric' will give him credit to re-assert French influence in North Africa where the US role will be in retreat under the Trump administration. by

US-French coordination in the Middle East

The only viable document to assess Macrons programme, the platform he released last March, had little mention of foreign policy. While it is too soon to assess what foreign policy team Macron will have, his support comes from a wide spectrum; from those who have previously supported Jacques Chirac, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Francois Hollande. Even names such as defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Jean-Claude Cousseran and Aurelien le Chevalier are among his supporters. While it took Trump three months to begin identifying with the US national security establishment, the new French president will have a head start as a conventional president.

Macron is closer to the US view that toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should not be the prerequisite of every move in Syria. His stated focus is to cooperate with the US to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and al-Qaeda, while attempting to secure a place for France on the table instead of having Washington and Moscow play it alone.

Like Obama, Macron has no clear stance on Turkey and wants to put Iran and Saudi Arabia on an equal footing. He seems interested in taking distance from Gulf countries unlike Sarkozy and Hollande before him. It is yet to be seen if he can get this balanced approach through the French establishment, however he will probably succeed given French economic interests in both the Gulf countries and Iran.

OPINION: US expects allies to pick up the pieces after ISIL

The new French president aims to refocus efforts in North Africa, the Sahel and the sub-Saharan Africa. He sees Libya through the lense of the refugee crisis and fighting terrorism, which might result in expanding military advisers in areas controlled by renegade general Khalifa Haftar while encouraging the latter to forge a unity deal with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj. Macrons description during the election campaign of Frances colonial past as genuinely barbaric will give him credit to re-assert French influence in North Africa where the US role will be in retreat under the Trump administration.

What to expect in the future

Impulsive characters, such as Bush and Sarkozy, have clashed with more reserved personalities such as Chirac and Obama. The same rule might apply now for Trump and Macron. While Chirac doubted US intentions to invade Iraq, Sarkozy pushed Obama to intervene in Libya. The lesson of Libya helped Hollande and Obama cooperate on Mali, while Hollande did not use his anti-Syrian regime policy to convince Obama to intervene in Syria. Both Hollande and Obama worked on the campaign against ISIL and Irans nuclear deal, but differed on who would lead the mediation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

OPINION: Macron, Putin and the boomerang effect

It is safe to say that the relationship between Trump and Macron will not be a replica of the one between Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette, neither in substance nor in synergy. The coming four years will most likely extend two decades of cool transatlantic relations during which Washington and Paris managed their differences with a diplomatic face while occasionally bickering or cooperating in a case-by-case approach. The challenge and opportunity for both leaders are that neither has a doctrine nor a Middle East strategy.

Joe Macaron is a policy analyst at the Arab Center Washington, DC.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
India claims that the Maoists are on their way out, but the grievances that gave rise to the conflict are not answered.

Last month, 25 paramilitary soldiers from Indias Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in a Maoist ambush in the Sukma district of the countrys central Chhattisgarh state.

Predictably, the media outrage that followed the attack, the solutions offered by security pundits and the statement issued by the Maoists had a strong sense of deja vu.

The Leftist rebels, or Naxalites as they are popularly known, have been active in the Bastar division of the Chhattisgarh state, which encapsulates the Sukma district, for more than three decades. They have been taking up issues of land and forest rights for the indigenous people or Adivasis, keeping out mining companies, and establishing an almost parallel state. In the last decade, however, the war between them and the Indian government has intensified, ever since the government sponsored Salwa Judum, a vigilante movement aimed at depopulating the region and forcing villagers into camps.

In April 2010, 76 men from the CRPF were ambushed and killed by the Maoists in the same stretch of the Sukma district. More recently, in March this year, Maoist rebels killed 12 paramilitary men after ambushing their convoy. There have also been several unmarked deaths among the Maoist cadres over the years. But above all, there have been continuous, relentless assaults on the lives and human rights of indigenous villagers across the region.

Assaults on the human rights of Adivasis





In March 2011, security forces burned down at least 300 homes in three villages in Bastar, a brutal attack during which three men were killed and three women were raped. And this was not the first time that these indigenous villages were burned to the ground: In 2007, men from the state-sponsored Salwa Judum vigilante movement, which included members of the security forces, had burned down the same villages.

To this day, villagers across the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh are living lives of desperate fear. First of all, they are under the pressure of sustained combing operations. Security officers pick up men sleeping in their homes or minding their business in the market. They claim that these men confessed to being Naxalites and surrendered to the security forces. Government data, however, reveals that of the 1210 people who surrendered in Bastar in 2016, only some three percent have been classified as real Naxalites.

READ MORE: Indias Maoist rebels  An explainer

Indigenous women are also subject to government pressure and they are often brutally beaten for trying to resist attacks by security forces. Indias National Human Rights Commission acknowledged that between November 2015 and January 2016, indigenous women in Chhattishgarh suffered three major incidents of mass gang rape and physical assault at the hands of security forces.

More recently, on April 2, 2017, a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in her home in a Sukma village by CRPF men. After spending three days in police custody, she was forced to retract her statement  she was not even allowed to meet the womens rights activists who were trying to help her file a complaint.

But people of Bastar are not only suffering at the hands of security forces. On their part, the Maoist rebels seem to have turned inwards on their peasant base, killing and threatening any potential informers.

It is true that the Maoist footprint has considerably reduced since their peak in 2008-9, that many senior leaders of the movement have been arrested or killed, and public sympathy is waning, but for a movement which celebrates its golden jubilee this year, the conditions that gave rise to a sense of deprivation and injustice have not changed. by

Given this pincer movement from both the state forces and the Maoists, it is hardly surprising that the local population is not willing to provide intelligence about impending ambushes.

The way forward

Every time there is a major attack, Indias security establishment talks of the need to maintain standard operating procedures, to send in more boots on the ground, to fill vacancies in the state police forces and so on.

After the latest ambush in April, the Maoists made off with AK-47s, under-barrel grenade launchers, LMGs, INSAS rifles, AKM assault rifles, wireless sets, binoculars, bulletproof jackets, AK magazines and ammunition  an indication of the kind of weaponry that is being deployed against them.

Every few years, the minister responsible for internal security announces that the Maoists are on their way out and that in a mere couple of years the conflict is going to come to an end. Chidambaram, Indias former home minister, said this in 2010 and Rajnath Singh, the current home minister, is saying it now in 2017. Only the party labels have changed, from Congress to BJP.

It is true that the Maoist footprint has considerably reduced since their peak in 2008-9, that many senior leaders of the movement have been arrested or killed, and public sympathy is waning, but for a movement which celebrates its golden jubilee this year, the conditions that gave rise to a sense of deprivation and injustice have not changed.

In fact, the situation has got much worse for villagers, with schools, health centres, weekly markets, all becoming casualties of the war, and nutritional standards deteriorating sharply. Even if the movement is militarily crushed in the near future, there is no saying that it will not find willing followers again.

IN PICTURES: Indias Maoist heartland

The Indian government has plenty of resources that it can use to create an alternative mechanism to end the conflict. First of all, there is a constitution that can provide for the welfare of Adivasis or scheduled tribes if it is implemented.

Also, the government has a past record of successful peace talks with the secessionist Mizo National Front in Mizoram. There are international examples of negotiated settlements between left wing guerillas and the government, and an active human rights community which has in the past shown a desire to mediate talks between the Indian government and the Maoists. Even the Indian Supreme Court has invoked the example of the Colombian peace talks while hearing petitions related to ongoing human rights violations in Chhattisgarh.

Unfortunately, there is more money to be made in war than in promoting peace.

Nandini Sundar is Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University. She is the author of The Burning Forest: Indias War in Bastar, published by Juggernaut Press in 2016.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
As fighting continues in many parts of Afghanistan, displacement has soared in recent months, says new UN report.

The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has forced 88,481 people to leave their homes since the beginning of 2017, according to a United Nations report.





Displacements occurred in 29 of the countrys 34 provinces, stated the report on Tuesday. It noted that the security situation across all regions had grown more volatile as clashes continue in a number of provinces.

Northeastern Kunduz and Badakhshan provinces have been witnessing especially fierce fighting as Taliban forces captured two districts within a week after the announcement of their spring offensive.

Since January, 34,881 individuals have been displaced in that region: just under 40 percent of the total population displaced countrywide, says the report.

In Kunduz, the UN estimates that, additionally, more than 30,000 individuals have been displaced by fighting in the district of Qala-e-Zal, as well by fighting along the Kunduz-Khanabad highway in the past days alone.

Assessments to verify these reports are ongoing.

READ MORE: Is Afghanistan new battlefield for traditional rivals?

In 2016, more than 660,600 civilians fled their villages and homes. This year, the UN expects to see another 450,000 displaced persons inside the country.

More than half a million Afghans fled conflict in the country last year, according to the UN.

Shockingly high number of losses

Earlier this month, the US governments Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said Afghan security forces were killed at a shockingly high rate during what has historically been a winter lull in fighting against the Taliban.

In a report, SIGAR said 807 troops from the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) died between January 1 and February 24.

Afghanistan remains in the grip of a deadly war. Casualties suffered by [ANDSF] in the fight against the Taliban and other insurgents continue to be shockingly high, says the report, released on Monday.

Levels of violence have traditionally dipped over Afghanistans cold winter months, but this year the Taliban continued to battle government forces, most notably in an April 19 attack on a military base outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The massacre saw fighters armed with guns and suicide bombs slaughter at least 144 recruits, a US official told AFP news agency, though multiple sources have claimed the toll was higher still.
Palestinian leader says hes ready to collaborate with Trump, whos expected to visit the occupied territories soon.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that he was ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a peace initiative by US President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit the Palestinian territories soon.

Trump is to visit Israel later this month as part of his first foreign trip and Abbas said we are looking forward to his visit soon to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, amid speculation a stop in the occupied Palestinian territories will take place on May 23.

Abbas met the US president in Washington last week for their first face-to-face talks.

We told him that we were ready to collaborate with him and meet the Israeli PM under his auspices to build peace, Abbas told reporters as he met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Ramallah on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Trump-Abbas meeting an exercise in futility

Trump announced last week that his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.

The visit to Israel is expected on May 22, though it has not been officially confirmed.

A senior Trump aide last week did not rule out the possibility of a presidential visit to the occupied West Bank,

Trump has been seeking ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, which have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.





As he hosted Abbas in Washington, Trump confidently predicted that a peace agreement was within grasp, without, however, offering any concrete details about how to resolve the long-running conflict.

We will get it done, Trump said at the time.

It is something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.

Trump added that any agreement could not be imposed by the US.

The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship and thrive and prosper in peace, he said.

Abbas said on Tuesday that we told him again of our commitment to a peace based on justice, with international resolutions and the two-state solution as references.

OPINION: Donald Trump and the death of the two-state solution

Abbas made last weeks trip to Washington while politically unpopular back home, with polls suggesting most Palestinians want the 82-year-old to resign.

He is hoping Trump can pressure Israel into concessions he believes are necessary to salvage a two-state solution to the conflict  the idea of Israel and Palestine living side by side and at peace has been the bedrock of US diplomacy for the past two decades.

No other solution

But Trump, who promised during his election campaign to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, has previously challenged the legitimacy of Palestinian demands for a state and dropped his countrys commitment to a two-state solution.

At the same time, he has urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a long-standing concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

For his part, Steinmeier said the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict is truly urgent.

Speaking after meeting with Abbas, the German president said much time has already been spent on efforts to set up a state of Palestine alongside Israel.

In our view there is no other solution, he said, adding that its high time to work on the requirements for it.
President Xi Jinping says he will uphold climate change agreement amid fears US may pull out of pact.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he will uphold the Paris agreement on curbing climate change, in a telephone conversation with French President-elect Emmanuel Macron.

The Chinese leaders comments on Tuesday came as climate negotiators entered their second day of meetings in Bonn, Germany, aiming to start drafting a guide on how to implement the landmark deal amid fears the United States may pull out of it.

The historic accord, which came into force last year, aims to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

Most of the worlds largest emitters of greenhouse gases, including China, the United States, India and the European Union, have ratified the agreement, seen as a turning point for global climate policy.

Xi told Macron that both China and France should protect the global governance achievements contained within the Paris Agreement on climate change, according to a statement by the Chinas foreign ministry.





China is the worlds top producer of greenhouse emissions, but support for the Paris deal was recently considered one of the few bright spots of cooperation between Beijing and Washington.

US President Donald Trump has expressed scepticism about the deal and threatened to pull out. Advisers are presenting him with a range of policy options and a final decision is not expected to be made before the G7 summit on May 26 and 27.

Its a sign that the president wants to continue to meet with his team  and come to a decision on whats [in] the best interest of the United States, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Tuesday.

Many nations want Trump to remain in the agreement, which is meant to rein in rising world temperatures by shifting towards cleaner energies such as wind and solar power, even though he plans to bolster the US coal industry.

READ MORE: The quest to save the worlds coral reefs

In Bonn, where representatives of the nearly 200 countries that are party to the agreement are meeting to go through the technical aspects of implementing the accord, discussions are overshadowed by the uncertainty over Washingtons position.

Al Jazeeras Dominic Kane, reporting from Bonn, said that although there are delegates here that implement the Paris agreement in their own legislation, they very much fear what comes around the corner from the US.





For US allies, Trumps wavering has uncomfortable echoes of President George W Bushs decision to withdraw from the 1992 Kyoto Protocol.

It could also have a negative effect on Trumps careful diplomacy with China, which the White House wants to assist with tackling North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

Politically it would be a disaster; diplomatically it would be a disaster. The whole world would put the US as a pariah, Jeffrey Sachs, from the Center for Sustainable Development, told Al Jazeera.

The core of the Paris deal was an agreement between Xi and the then US president, Barack Obama. Both men have this week pressed Trump to stay on board.

The US is the worlds number two producer of greenhouse gases after China.
Recommendation is made after broad review and comes while NATO asks UK for more troops as well, reports say.

US military officials and advisers to Donald Trumps administration have drafted a proposal to increase the number of soldiers in Afghanistan, according to several media reports in the United States.

The reported recommendation comes after an alleged broad review conducted by the Pentagon, State Department, intelligence agencies and other government institutions.

Official sources quoted anonymously by US media said the increase would range from between 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers, including Special Operations forces.





The aim of such a step would be to break the military stalemate in Afghanistan and push the Taliban  who have made gains in recent months  to negotiate with the Kabul government, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump will receive a proposed new approach to the war within a week, Theresa Whelan, a Pentagon policy official, told US senators last week during a hearing.

Al Jazeeras Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, described the leaks to US media as classic Washington.

The US military wants to send in an additional 3,000 to 5,000 troops to Afghanistan, the president is on the verge of making a decision  and suddenly it ends up in all of the newspapers, in many ways trying to box in Trump, she said.

They did the exact same thing to ex-President Barack Obama when it came to Afghanistan.

Call for negotiations

Matthew Glanville, former special adviser to Iraqi, Afghan and US governments, said that a troop increase without a strong commitment to force the Taliban to the negotiating table would have limited impact.

AL JAZEERAS PATTY CULHANE IN WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump had asked for a review, and this is the militarys response  given very publicly. This is going to be a tough spot for Trump  he is the self-styled America First president who had told all of his supporters that he was going to get out of foreign entanglements and was going to stop spending US money overseas  we are talking about a substantial investment of tens of billions of dollars if he is to go along with that. But in the campaign trail he had also said he was going to defeat extremists at all costs and let the generals do what they want  so they are asking now this is what we want to do. Trump is expected to make his decision before he goes to the May 25 NATO meeting. It seems clear that one thing he will insist on  because we have heard this rhetoric from him over and over  is that if the US is going to send in additional troops, then NATO needs to do just as much. There is probably one thing that is pretty clear that he will do. The Pentagon is asking for authority to basically decide for themselves what the troops should be [doing] on a day-to-day basis and they want to have more authority to attack the Taliban after Obama put in some limits to as to exactly how and when they could strike. The military wants these rules suspended and Trump has shown every willingness to let the military do what it wants to do when it comes to that.

Theres got to be a serious engagement with negotiating with the Taliban, he told Al Jazeera from London.

The Taliban will only negotiate under pressure or in the face of significant international forces.

READ MORE: Nearly 90,000 Afghans displaced in 2017

The US has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, with about another 5,000 from NATO allies.

Back in February, General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told Congress that he would need an extra few thousand troops to make gains against the Taliban and break what he called a stalemate against the armed groups fighters.

Most US forces in Afghanistan are taking part in NATOs training mission, seeking to boost Afghan forces who have been straining to beat back the Taliban since international forces ended their combat mission in 2014.

The US at one point had 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and they were not able to defeat the Taliban  so what can they do with 10 times fewer troops? Al Jazeeras Culhane said.

What they are saying behind the scenes is that they dont think they can defeat the Taliban, but they need to try and change the balance; to try and incentivize the Taliban to get to some sort of political solution.

Taliban attacks

Afghanistan has seen intensified Taliban attacks across the country, leaving Afghan forces  already beset by killings, desertions and vacuums in leadership and morale  stretched on multiple fronts.

They have faced high casualties, up 35 percent in 2016 with 6,800 soldiers and police killed, according to a US watchdog.





In April, the Taliban announced the beginning of its annual spring offensive and last week the armed group stormed and seized a district in the vicinity of Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan.

Glanville told Al Jazeera that it was not surprising that the Taliban had taken advantage of President Obamas decision to reduce troop numbers from well over 100,000 down to 8,000.

He added that the Afghan army still needs a lot of logistical support, intelligence and air support.

The world has a commitment to try and prop up a stable Afghan government and this small number of troops is a contributing factor, Glanville said.

READ MORE: Is Afghanistan new battlefield for traditional rivals?

The potential increase in US troop figures comes amid NATO calls for the UK to also increase the number of its own soldiers in Afghanistan, according to British media reports.

While the request was reportedly made some weeks ago, it is expected that the subject will be on the agenda of a meeting between Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, and British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday in London.

Currently, the UK has 500 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, providing security and training for local forces in the capital, Kabul.

The last British combat forces were pulled out of Afghanistan in October 2014.

NATO taking on more

In April, Stoltenberg told German media that the alliance is considering an increase of its 13,000 troops in Afghanistan and that the decision would be taken by June.

Speaking to Welt am Sonntag, Stoltenberg said that plans included more engagement in Jordan and Tunisia, which he called islands of stability in the region.

Separately, NATO sources told the German weekly Spiegel that the Trump administration is asking the alliance to formally join the international coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

At present, all NATO countries are taking part in the US-led coalition, but the alliance per se has not joined.

The leaders of NATO countries are to meet on May 25 in Brussels, in a meeting that will also be attended by Trump.
Thailand police say more than 40 people were injured in two explosions at a Pattani province shopping centre.

At least 40 people were wounded on Tuesday after two bombs detonated outside a shop in the Pattani province of Thailands violence-plagued south, police said.

The first explosive was packed inside a motorcycle parked in the car park, spreading panic among shoppers.

The second blast was a huge car bomb, which occurred five minutes later and injured at least 40 people, while one is in a serious condition, said Captain Preecha Prachumchai of Pattani Police.

Pictures posted by rescue workers showed a thick plume of black smoke over the supermarket car park and a damaged store entrance.

Police were on the scene and appeared to be encouraging people to move back when the second blast struck.

I heard a very loud explosion. Minutes after that, I heard the sirens of rescue cars and ambulances, said a resident who lives near the supermarket, on condition of anonymity.

I feel bad about it  it happened at a place where people go to buy things.

READ MORE: South Thailands battle against the trauma of conflict

The car bomb could be seen in a video clip that went viral on social media, although the car in question was not visible.

Pattani Police suspect hardline rebels of carrying out the attack, but no culprit has yet been identified.

The bomber was believed to have fled the scene before the explosion. Investigations are under way, said Rewat Srichantub, Pattanis Deputy Police Chief.

Increase in violence

Thailand is mostly Buddhist, but parts of the south are majority Muslim. The region has been plagued by a long-running separatist insurgency as ethnic Malay rebels battle Thai troops for more autonomy from the Buddhist-majority rule.





Attacks in Thailands deep south have intensified over the past few months. Six army rangers were killed in an attack last month.

According to Deep South Watch, an independent monitoring group, daily shootings and bomb attacks have claimed more than 6,500 lives since 2004, with both sides accused of rights abuses.

The biggest faction spearheading the insurgency is the Barsian Revolsui Nasional (BRN).

The government recently rejected a conditional offer for peace talks from BRN, which demanded international observers or mediation and protections for the Malay-Muslim culture.
US president says move essential to restore public trust but fuels concerns about integrity of Clinton emails inquiry.

US President Donald Trump has abruptly dismissed the director of FBI, saying that James Comey was no longer able to effectively lead the law-enforcement agency.

Comey had been leading an FBI investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with Trumps campaign.

His dismissal on Tuesday is likely to prompt concerns about the integrity of the inquiry and renew calls for an independent investigation.

Comey had been embroiled in a controversy surrounding his investigation into whether Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while US secretary of state during Barack Obamas first term as president compromised national security.

It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law-enforcement mission, Trump said in a letter to Comey released by the White House.

Trump told Comey in the letter he accepted the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he could no longer provide effective leadership.

Comeys term was to run through September 2023.

Political bombshell

The decision, announced by Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, in a brief appearance before reporters, caught Washington off guard.

President Trumps nearly four months in office have been controversial, but this is almost certainly the most controversial decision yet, said Al Jazeeras Washington Editor James Bays, calling the move a political bombshell that will reverberate for a long time.

It doesnt end here, because a new FBI director has to be confirmed by the Senate, where the Republicans hold a very slim majority.

Comey had said in July the Clinton email case should be closed without prosecution, but then declared  11 days before the November 8 election in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee  that he had reopened the investigation because of a discovery of a new trove of Clinton-related emails.

Clinton said last week that she partly blames Comeys decision for her election loss.

The White House released a memo by Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general, that provided the administrations justification for firing Comey.

I cannot defend the directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken, Rosenstein wrote.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic senator, said firing Comey was a big mistake, and questioned the timing of the move.

We know the FBI has been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, he said.

Were these investigations hitting too close to home for the president?

Russia investigations

In his letter, Trump told Comey: While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.

There are several Russia investigations ongoing in Congress.

The US House of Representatives main investigation has been blocked in recent weeks by squabbles, while the Senates parallel probe has been slow moving and equipped with a much smaller staff than previous prominent congressional investigations.





Richard Burr, the Senate Republican leading that investigation, said he was troubled by the timing and reasoning behind the firing.

He said he found Comey to a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by his panel.

Matthew Schmidt, an assistant professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven, says Trumps move gives the impression that his administration has something to hide, as there have been no new revelations about the email inquiry to motivate the timing of the firing.

Now theres no way that any report coming out of the FBI that is favourable to the president will be seen as being not tainted, he told Al Jazeera.

The only way to save this is to appoint a special prosecutor that is seen as being independent of White House interference.

The presidents decision to remove the FBI director only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee.

Some Republican politicians supported Trumps argument that the FBI needs a fresh start.

Given the recent controversies surrounding the Director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 9, 2017

However, Republican Senator John McCain, a former presidential candidate, said he was disappointed by the dismissal of Comey, whom he called a man of honour and integrity.

McCain said he had long called for a special congressional committee to investigate Russias interference in the 2016 election.

Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, said Trumps decision to fire Comey raises serious questions about what his administration is hiding.

President Trump has repeatedly taken steps to kill inquiries into Russias involvement in the US election. It is clear that whomever President Trump hand picks to lead the FBI will not be able to objectively carry out this investigation, he said in a statement.
IOM says refugees are being sold in slave markets and being held for ransom, sexual exploitation and forced labour.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor has expressed alarm at the inhumane detention of thousands of vulnerable refugees and migrants in Libya and said she was examining whether an investigation could be opened into crimes against them.

Libya is the main gateway for refugees and migrants attempting to reach Europe by sea.

The UN migration agency said more than a thousand refugees and migrants have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea this year, while an unknown number perish in the desert.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 20,000 refugees and migrants are held by criminal gangs in irregular detention centres in Libya and growing numbers of migrants are traded in what they call slave markets before being held for ransom, forced labour or sexual exploitation.





The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the United Nations Security Council that her office was collecting and analysing information related to serious and widespread crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya.

I take this opportunity before the council to declare that my office is carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya should the courts jurisdictional requirements be met, Bensouda said.

The Security Council asked the court in 2011 to investigate crimes committed since the start of an uprising the same year that led to the fall of leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The North African state slipped into turmoil and been riven by factional strife since then.

The ICC, which opened in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the Security Council.

The IOM recently said that hundreds of African refugees and migrants passing through Libya have been bought and sold in modern-day slave markets before being held for ransom or used as forced labour or sexual exploitation.

READ MORE: African migrants traded in Libyas slave markets

People are bought for between $200 and $500 and are held on average for two to three months, Othman Belbeisi, head of the IOMs Libya mission, said in Geneva last month.

Migrants are being sold in the market as a commodity, he said. Selling human beings is becoming a trend among smugglers as the smuggling networks in Libya are becoming stronger and stronger.

The refugees and migrants  many from Nigeria, Senegal and The Gambia  are captured as they head north towards Libyas Mediterranean coast, where some try to catch boats for Italy.

Along the way, they are prey to an array of armed groups and people-smuggling networks that often try to extort extra money in exchange for allowing them to continue.
Army chiefs warning following 10 soldiers deaths rejected by Pakistan as against the spirit of brotherly relations.

Pakistans foreign office has summoned the Iranian ambassador over an ultimatum by the head of Irans armed forces that his country will attack areas sheltering terrorists in Pakistan unless it tightens control over its borders and stops what he calls cross-border attacks.

Major-General Mohammad Baqeri made the comments on Monday, nearly two weeks after 10 Iranian border guards were killed in clashes near Mirjaveh, a town near the Iran-Pakistan border.

Jaish ul-Adl (Army of Justice), a Sunni armed group fighting for independence in Irans Sistan-Baluchestan province, claimed responsibility for the attack.





It said it had shot the guards with long-range guns fired from inside Pakistan.

We expect Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases, Irans FARS news agency quoted Baqeri as saying.

If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are.

On Tuesday Pakistans foreign office said the comments went against the spirit of brotherly relations.

During the visit of the Iranian foreign minister [Mohammad Javad Zarif] to Islamabad on 3rd May 2017, the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation on the border issues, it said.

The Iranian side was urged to avoid issuance of such statements that could vitiate the environment of fraternal relations.

Zarif visited Pakistan last week and asked Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, to improve border security.

Pakistan assured Iran it would deploy additional troops along its border.

In 2014, Iran said it would send troops to Pakistan to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish ul-Adl.

READ MORE: Irans election  Its not about moderates or hardliners

Pakistan said at the time that such action would be a violation of international law and warned Iranian forces not to cross the border.

Iran refrained from sending troops when a local religious leader stepped in and resolved the situation.

Four of the guards were released a few months later, but one was killed by Jaish ul-Adl.

Sistan-Baluchestan province has a long history of unrest with the mainly Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination at the hands of Irans Shia Muslim authorities.
Outgoing Governor Basuki Ahok Purnama sentenced to two years in jail over comments he made during political campaign.

An Indonesian court has found Jakartas outgoing Christian governor guilty of blasphemy against Islam.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday in a south Jakarta courtroom over comments he made regarding what he believed to be the misinterpretation of certain verses of the Quran.

As hundreds of protesters gathered outside calling for the maximum penalty to be given, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, the presiding judge, told the court that Purnama was convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy.

Purnama has denied wrongdoing, though he apologised for comments he made last year criticising his opponents use of the Quran in political campaigning suggesting to Muslim constituents that they cannot be governed by a person of another faith.





Purnama lost his bid for re-election in an April runoff  after the most divisive and religiously charged election in recent years  to a Muslim rival, Anies Baswedan.

Thousands of police were deployed in Jakarta on Tuesday in case clashes broke out between Purnamas supporters and opponents who are demanding he be dismissed and jailed.

His supporters, for their part, delivered thousands of red and white balloons to City Hall in advance of the court session.

Both groups will have the opportunity to demonstrate, but we are taking steps to prevent clashes, said Setyo Wasisto, the national police spokesman.

Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence for Purnama on charges of hate speech.

His opponents believe that is too light. The maximum sentence is four years in prison.

The Indonesian government has been criticised by rights groups for not doing enough to protect religious minorities.

However, President Joko Widodo, an ally of Purnama, has urged restraint over the trial and called for all sides to respect the legal process.

Al Jazeeras Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta on Sunday, said critics of Purnama celebrated outside the court after the sentencing, which has been harsher than expected.

OPINION: Islam and politics  Indonesias identity crisis

Of course, a lot of people in Indonesia are going to question this verdict, she said.

They are going to wonder what kind of precedent this will set for other cases, how easy it will be to [bring] blasphemy charges against other opponents, especially if they happen to be from a minority in the country.

She said Purnama was likely to be detained immediately, adding that the verdict perhaps makes it harder for religious minorities to run for office in the future.

It will make it difficult to hold speeches, Al Jazeeras Vaessen said.

People will have to be more careful over the wording they use, because apparently its quite easy to run the risk of being accused and getting a verdict of blasphemy now.
Khalifa Haftar named as Libyas army chief, provided he recognises GNA as Libyas sole authority, foreign minister says.

Libyas foreign minister has named renegade General Khalifa Haftar, the controversial chief of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), as the head of the countrys army  provided that he recognises the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) as the only authority.

Haftar, whose LNA forces control key oil ports, is a dominant figure for factions in eastern Libya that have rejected the GNA, contributing to its failure to expand its power in the capital, Tripoli, and beyond.

In a press conference in Algerias capital, Algiers, on Monday, Mohammed Siyala, of the GNA, announced that Haftar was the commander-in-chief of the Libyan army. He later added that Haftar first must recognise the Tripoli-based GNA as Libyas sole authority.

The Algiers conference was also attended by Abdelkader Messahel, Algerias minister of Maghreb affairs, African Union and Arab League, and UN envoy to Libya Martin Kobler.

Siyala later told the AFP news agency that Haftar must accept to work under a civilian authority in order to play a role in the countrys future.

The announcement came after Haftar met last week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with the head of the GNA, Fayez al-Sarraj, in an effort to end the countrys ongoing crisis.





Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said the statement about Haftars new role had been met a wave of criticism.

Many people are angry and are wondering how a general whose forces have committed atrocities in Benghazi, whose aircrafts have been raiding ports and airports all over Libya, can be called by the UN-backed GNA as the commander and chief of the Libyan army, he said.

There is a contradiction here because Haftar himself does not recognise the UN-backed government.

Tanks and armoured vehicles deployed to protect the GNAs headquarters as tensions soared in the Libyan capital shortly after Siyalas comments, witnesses said.

On Tuesday, a powerful GNA-allied militia in Tripoli denounced the ministers remarks in a statement.

It said the idea of the parliament giving Haftar legitimacy went against the Libya political agreement inked in December 2015 that gave rise to the UN-backed government.

READ MORE: Libya rivals vow to calm tensions after UAE talks

That UN-brokered deal gave no role to Haftar or his forces, but the general has since imposed himself as a key player, especially after seizing the countrys key oil terminals in September.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, with rival militias and authorities vying for control of the oil-rich country.

Haftar is a divisive figure among Libyans. While he has been criticised for his aggressive use of force, including air raids, he has also been praised by some for attempting to restore order to the war-torn country.

UAE meeting

International powers had for months been pushing Serraj and Haftar to discuss resetting a UN-mediated agreement that led to the creation of the GNA in late 2015.





In statements last week in Abu Dhabi, the two men called for a resolution to Libyas political and economic crises and for joint efforts to battle armed groups, but offered no shared way forward for a political deal to unify the country.

Sarraj said the two sides had agreed to put in place a strategy  to form a unified Libyan army under civil control.

The statement issued by his office also said the meeting with Haftar had been held in order to achieve a peaceful settlement for the Libyan crisis and called for an expanded dialogue to establish national consensus.

Haftars 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 airbase on the edge of the southern city of Sebha.
Dawabsheh family, who lost 18-month-old Ali and his parents in 2015 Israeli settler attack, demand state responsibility.

Relatives of a Palestinian family burned alive have filed a lawsuit against Israel demanding it be held responsible and pay damages over the 2015 attack blamed on Jewish groups in the occupied West Bank.

Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsheh died along with his parents when their house was firebombed in July 2015.

His brother Ahmed, now six, was the sole survivor but was left with severe burns.

Today we filed a complaint with the Nazareth district court demanding the state of Israel be held responsible for the burning of the Dawabsheh family in the village of Duma in the West Bank, Hassan al-Khatib, a lawyer who represents the family, said.

Ahmeds uncle Nasser Dawabsheh said they were seeking an admission of responsibility from the state and $4.4m in damages.

Medical incapacity

Israel has occupied the West Bank for 50 years and Khatib said the state must accept responsibility for the killings.

The child, Ahmed, suffers from disability, he added, as well as medical and psychological incapacity from the loss of his father, mother and brother.

Amiram Ben-Uliel, 21, from the northern West Bank settlement of Shilo, was charged with three counts of murder and one of attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a hate crime.

READ MORE: The death of Ali Dawabsheh

A 17-year-old, whose name remains under a gag order, was charged with being an accessory to committing a racially motivated murder.

An Israeli defence official said the family would not be eligible for compensation that applies to terror victims since it is only open for Israeli citizens, AFP reported.

The official said that the family would be able to apply instead to an alternative committee that compensates people for so-called nationalist attacks.

Nasser Dawabsheh confirmed to AFP that they had rejected a previous compensation offer because they were demanding the state accept responsibility, which he said had been refused.
Pizza Hut shamed over Facebook post used as ad mocking Palestinian leader of mass hunger strike in Israeli jails.

Palestinians are calling for a boycott of Pizza Hut after the food companys Israel branch shared a picture on social media mocking the leader of a mass hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

The franchises official Facebook page on Monday posted an image released earlier by Israeli prison authorities, allegedly showing Marwan Barhgouti breaking his hunger strike.

Israels Pizza Hut used the picture as an advertisement, writing on top of the photo: Barghouti, if youre going to break a strike, why not pizza?

A Pizza Hut pizza box was also Photoshopped into the photo, poking out beneath the prison bunk bed.

Barghouti is leading more than 1,500 prisoners in an open-ended hunger strike against the practice of medical negligence, solitary confinement, arbitrary attention, the denial of family and lawyer visits, and detentions without charge or trial.

They have gone without food since April 17.

Israeli prison authorities claim Barhgouti broke his hunger strike  now on its 23rd day  twice by eating cookies and a candy bar.

Representatives of the Palestinian hunger strike on Monday called the claims false rumours and an Israeli attempt at physchological warfare.

The National Committee for the Freedom and Dignity Strike said the footage of Barghouti released by the Israeli Prison Service dates back to 2004.

#Boycott_PizzaHut

The advertisement sparked widespread criticism, with Palestinians and Palestine supporters taking to social media to call for a global boycott of Pizza Hut and legal action.

Pizza Hut is ridiculing the prisoners strike, activist Alaa Abu Diab wrote on Facebook, using the hashtag #boycott_pizzahut.

Others shamed the company for attempting to capitalise on a hunger strike aimed at garnering dignity for Palestinian prisoners.

https://twitter.com/Esrachahine/status/861977074201964544

https://twitter.com/PSMAY97/status/861696381060341761

Pizza Hut taking some advantage of the hunger strike to make some money.#boycottPizzaHut @pizzahut @pizzahutisrael pic.twitter.com/KaloSkoAX7  Marina Boursheh  (@marinaboursheh) May 8, 2017

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement also called for a worldwide boycott of the chain for its mocking of the prisoner leader and its involvement in the Israeli occupation.

Some Twitter users created their own graphic, redesigning the Pizza Hut logo to include barbed wire, prison bars and a guard tower.

https://twitter.com/ibrahimkhader90/status/861968380521304064

The initial post has since been removed from Pizza Hut Israels Facebook page.

In a public apology posted to its international Facebook page, Pizza Hut apologised for the completely inappropriate advertisement and said that it does not reflect the values of our brand.

According to polls, Barghouti is the most popular political figure in the occupied West Bank, and would probably replace the current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if elections were held today.
A gifted mathematics student, Hjeijs family do not believe the Israeli polices version of what happened.

Occupied West Bank, Palestine  At the Hjeiji family home in the occupied West Bank village of Qarawat Bani Zeid, classmates, friends and relatives of Fatima Hjeiji lined up to pay their respects.

One by one, the women and girls hugged Fatimas mother Dareen and offered sympathetic words.

She was such a lovely girl. Everybody at school loved her, said Nadin Imad, 17, who attended the girls school in the village with Fatima.

I was in class with her since the first grade. She had a very strong character and was not afraid to say whatever she wanted.

The previous afternoon had begun like any other afternoon in the Hjeiji household. Fatima, 16, had returned home from school around 1.30pm and updated her mother on the mornings events.

It was a normal day, nothing unusual, said Dareen Hjeiji.

READ MORE: Voices from the Palestinian uprising against Israel

She told me about her school day, friends, teachers and her work. I had to visit the doctor so I left the house to go to the appointment. Fatima didnt tell me she was going to Jerusalem to visit her relatives.

Fatimas uncle Salameh Hjeiji told Al Jazeera that he believed the teenager had gone to visit another uncle and aunt who lived in the Old City of Jerusalem.

However, the teenager had not told her immediate family of any plans to do so and did not have an entry permit that would have enabled her to pass through the Israeli checkpoints that separate Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank.

Alleged attack

Later that evening a family member received a phone call from the DCO, the joint Palestinian-Israeli military coordination office in the West Bank, informing them that Fatima had been shot dead by Israeli paramilitary police close to Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.

Soon afterwards, Fatimas father Afeef received a call from an Israeli intelligence official, asking him to come to Jerusalem and identify Fatimas body.

He was also questioned by intelligence officers for three hours that evening, he told Al Jazeera.

The Israeli police said in a statement that Fatima had been holding a knife and tried to attack Israeli paramilitary officers close to an entrance to the Old City, who then shot and killed the teenager.

The statement added that a letter had been found on the dead girl, which cited Quranic verses, addressed her family and was signed martyr.

But Fatimas mother could not fathom what had happened the previous evening and believed that the police officers had no justification for shooting and killing her daughter.

I could never imagine that my daughter would do this, she said. I dont believe what the Israeli police said.

According to eyewitness reports cited by local media, Hjeiji had been standing around 10 metres away from the police officers when they shot her.

Some accounts noted that the police officers continued to fire at the teenager after she had fallen to the ground and no longer posed a threat.

Since a wave of sporadic violence began in October 2015, mostly involving Palestinian street attacks on Israelis, a number of local and international human rights groups have raised concerns that Israeli security forces have used excessive force when confronting Palestinians who had carried out attacks or been suspected of doing so.

The Israeli police relaxed its open-fire regulations in December 2015, permitting officers to open fire with live ammunition on those throwing stones or firebombs as an initial option, without having to use non-lethal weapons first.

In a recently published investigation, Israeli human rights group BTselem found that 101 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli security forces in 2016, including 31 minors.

The NGO reported that these incidents were made possible by an open-fire policy that permits both shooting to kill in instances defined as incidents of assault and a trigger-happy approach to demonstrations or stone-throwing.

DCI-Palestine (DCIP), a childrens rights NGO, noted that Fatima was the seventh Palestinian child to be killed by Israeli security forces in 2017.

Israeli security forces routinely use intentional force against Palestinian youth, Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability programme director at DCIP, said in a statement.

Such excessive force, without a modicum of accountability, signals tacit approval for killing children with impunity.

The eldest of four siblings, Fatima had been a strong pupil and enjoyed writing poetry and speeches in her spare time, but she really excelled in mathematics, her family said.

She was part of a club for gifted mathematics students in Ramallah, said her mother Dareen.

Dareen described her as quiet, calm and kind, noting that she was popular among her classmates.

The teenager was politically aware and had ambitions to work in the media after completing her education.

She was a good speaker and a good writer, said Dareen. She always watched the news because she wanted to be a journalist when she was older.
The United Nations says one peacekeeper remains missing after an attack by Christian anti-Balaka attackers on Monday.

Four UN peacekeepers have been found dead and one remains missing after an attack on a convoy in the Central African Republic (CAR), United Nations officials said on Tuesday.

The UNs MINUSCA mission said the convoy was attacked by fighters of the anti-Balaka armed group near Yogofongo village, more than 470km east of the capital, Bangui, close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CAR has been plagued by conflict since early 2013, when mainly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power, triggering reprisals by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

IN PICTURES: Displaced and forgotten in Central African Republic

MINUSCA, which had earlier announced the death of one Cambodian peacekeeper, said later on Tuesday that it was deeply saddened to confirm that three of the four peacekeepers that were missing in action since [Mondays] attack have been found dead.

At least eight peacekeepers, one Cambodian and seven Moroccans, were wounded in the attack.

Eight anti-Balaka attackers were killed and several wounded in the crossfire, MINUSCA said.

War crime

Killing a UN peacekeeper is considered a war crime, MINUSCA spokesman Herve Verhoosel told the AFP news agency, saying the convoy comprised police and UN military staff.

The UN sent a helicopter and soldiers to secure the area and search for the missing, while the wounded were evacuated to Bangui, MINUSCA said.

READ MORE: Dozens of civilians killed in CAR violence, HRW says

The Central African Republic is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for aid agencies, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last week, with at least 33 attacks on aid workers in the first quarter of 2017.

On Saturday, at least four international aid agencies said they were temporarily suspending their operations in northern CAR due to attacks on aid workers by armed groups, the UN said.

The Seleka and other groups have splintered after violence broke out in March 2013, prompting further fighting despite the election in March 2016 of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, which raised hopes of reconciliation.

The UN mission has 13,000 peacekeepers on the ground, but some civilians complain that it does not do enough to protect them against dozens of armed groups.

Around 425,000 people have been uprooted by the fighting within CAR, some 465,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, and more than 2.2 million, nearly half the population, need humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
About 1,000 refugees and migrants, mostly Afghans and Africans, expelled from the Porte de la Chapelle area.

French authorities have moved to clear out a makeshift refugee camp in northeast Paris.

Local media reports estimate that the site housed about a thousand mostly African and Afghan refugees and migrants.

Up to 350 members of the police force took part in the operation at the Porte de La Chapelle area, police said on Tuesday.

No clashes were reported.

The settlement at the Porte de la Chapelle area of the city was located just metres from a new refugee transit centre set up by Paris city authorities late last year to take asylum-seekers off the streets but which has limited space available.





The makeshift camps present major risks for the security and health of their occupants as well as for local residents, Paris police said in a statement.

Police halted road traffic on a major crossroads in the north of the city in order to gain access to the camp, where a fight between residents last month left several injured.

The government will take us into houses. I dont know where but its fine, said Said, who said he had been sleeping outside for a month.

For some, its been three months or more.

Last month, a huge fire gutted one of Frances biggest migrant camps, housing 1,500 people near the northern French port of Dunkirk, which started after a brawl involving hundreds of Afghans and Kurds.

As millions of refugees and migrants arrived in Europe in recent years after fleeing war and economic devastation, France has welcomed only a fraction of the newcomers.

Makeshift camps crop up again and again in the French capital due to lack of capacity at official accommodation centres for refugees and migrants.

Jungle refugee camp

A similar operation took place in November, when thousands of migrants were cleared out from a squalid camp in Paris, which had doubled in size after the closure of the so-called Jungle refugee camp in Calais, northern France.

The clearance six months ago of the Calais camp has not stopped refugees from gathering there, the charity Care4Calais warned last month.

About 400 refugees live in three small camps in the French port city, in far worse conditions than the Jungle, the report said.

READ MORE: One day in Calais with the refugees hiding in the forest

Living rough on the streets means no access to sanitation at all, with scabies, fungal infections and gum infections at an all time high, the organisation said.

Calais has been a magnet for refugees trying to reach Britain for more than a decade. From there, refugees try to break into lorries heading to Britain.

French authorities are determined to demonstrate that Calais is now a migrant-free zone, which has led to an increasingly hostile environment for refugees.

Police focus on arrests and detention to discourage a refugee presence on the streets.
Qatari foreign minister says de-escalation zones are a step towards reaching a solution and not the solution itself.

The implementation of de-escalation zones should not be used to delay a solution to the Syrian conflict and the question of political transition, Qatars foreign minister has said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera in Washington, DC, on Monday, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said President Bashar al-Assad ought to leave office in any final peace agreement.

He said the de-escalation zones are a step towards reaching a solution and not the solution itself.

There should be a clear message that political transition is based on the Geneva I declaration, which ends with Bashar al-Assad and his regime leaving power and the establishment of a transitional authority.

Al Thanis remarks came as the office of Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy to Syria, announced that talks between the Syrian government and the opposition on ending the war will reconvene in Geneva on May 16.

READ MORE: Syrians sceptical of de-escalation zones

De Mistura says he hopes that an agreement reached in Astana, Kazakhstan, last week involving Russia, Iran and Turkey  to set up the Russian-sponsored de-escalation zones  will be fully implemented.

On Monday, Walid al-Muallem, Syrias foreign minister, said there would be no role for the United Nations or other international forces in the so-called de-escalation zones but that Russia saw an observer role for its military police.

He gave no further details.

We do not accept a role for the United Nations or international forces to monitor the agreement, he said.

Russia said on Monday that it had tabled a draft UN Security Council resolution backing the de-escalation zones deal.

Military advantage

A source at the UN told Russias Interfax news agency that a vote on the draft will take place possibly this week.

Russia and regional power Iran have helped President Bashar al-Assad gain the military advantage against rebels fighting for six years to unseat him.

Russia has led most of the recent diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Muallem also addressed what he described as an apparent change of attitude towards Syria by the US administration.

It seems the United States, where [President Donald] Trump has said the Syrian crisis has dragged on too long, might have come to the conclusion that there must be an understanding with Russia on a solution, he said.





Muallem cautioned that if forces from Jordan, a supporter of rebel groups in southern Syria, entered the country without coordinating with Assads government, it would be considered an act of aggression.

However, he said Syria was not about to confront Jordan.

Speaking about the military situation inside Syria, Muallem said regaining Deir Az Zor, a city and province occupied by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in the east, was the fundamental objective of government forces  and more important for the average Syrian  than Idlib.

Asked about US backing for Kurdish forces battling ISIL, also known as ISIS, in northeast Syria, he said what Syrian Kurds were doing against the group was legitimate at this stage and fell within the framework of preserving Syrian unity.

The Syrian civil war was born from unrest that started in March 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed.
Voters galvanised by bribery scandal and high unemployment head to polls to replace indicted president Park Geun-hye.

South Koreans are heading to the polls to choose a new president after Park Geun-hye was sacked and indicted for corruption, and against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North.

More than 139,000 voting stations opened on Tuesday morning across the country.

One in four voters cast ballots in early voting last week, and officials think higher participation by younger people could drive turnout to the highest in three decades.

Voters have been galvanised by anger over the sprawling bribery and abuse-of-power scandal that brought down Park, which increased frustration over jobs and slowing growth.

Left-leaning Moon Jae-in, a former human rights lawyer, has held a commanding lead in opinion polls for months, with the final Gallup Korea survey before a week-long pre-election blackout giving him 38 percent support, followed by former tech mogul Ahn Cheol-soo on 20 percent.

Hong Joon-pyo, of Parks Liberty Korea Party, languished in third place in the 13-strong field on 16 percent.

OPINION: South Koreas next leader will face intense challenges

Se-Woong Koo, managing editor of the Korea Expose, said the events that led to Parks downfall had energised the electorate.

People have seen what they can achieve by taking to the streets and demanding that their voices be heard, he told Al Jazeera. They want to continue the momentum, they want to cast their votes and were expecting a rather big turnout, unless the weather somehow interferes with this process.

It was a cold and cloudy election day in Seoul, where voters came out under overcast skies.

Chung Tae-wan, a 72-year-old doctor, cast his vote at a polling station in prosperous Seocho district in southern Seoul. I voted for Hong, as security [against North Korea] is the most important thing, he told AFP.

Kim Kyung-min, 24, said she cast her ballot in advance last week. I was so disappointed in Park and the establishment, she told AFP, but refused to say whom she voted for.

North Korea tension

The campaign has focused largely on the economy, with North Korea less prominent, but after a decade of conservative rule a Moon victory could mean a sea change in Seouls approach towards both Pyongyang and key ally Washington.





The 64-year-old  who is accused by his critics of being soft on the North  has advocated dialogue to defuse tensions and to bring it to negotiations, and is seen to favour more independence in relations with the US, Seouls security guarantor with 28,500 troops in the country.

Seoul needs to take the lead on matters in the Korean Peninsula and South Koreans should not take the back seat, he said in a recent media interview.

The North has carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

Washington has said military action was an option, sending fears of conflict spiralling.

More recently US President Donald Trump has softened his message, saying that he would be honoured to meet the Norths leader, Kim Jong-un.

Moon has said that he would also be willing to visit Pyongyang to meet Kim and advocated resumption of some of the inter-Korea projects closed down by his predecessors, including the Kaesong joint industrial zone.

But for many South Korean voters, corruption, slowing growth, unemployment and even air pollution from China top the list of concerns.

Record unemployment

South Koreas rapid growth from the 1970s to 1990s pulled a war-ravaged nation out of poverty but slowed as the economy matured, and unemployment among under-30s is now at a record 10 percent.

Frustration over widening inequality in wealth and opportunities fuelled anger over Parks scandal, which exposed the cosy and corrupt ties between regulators and powerful family-oriented conglomerates, known as chaebols, that have endured for decades.

Park is awaiting trial over corruption charges for offering governmental favours to top businessmen  including Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong  who bribed her secret confidante, Choi Soon-sil.

BJ Kim, an adjuct professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, told Al Jazeera that integrity will be an issue after Parks departure, although the five major candidates have not had major issues of integrity brought up against them.

Integrity will be a key priotity in the minds of the people but, in terms of making specific choices on whom they are going to vote for, I dont think its going to be on top of their list.

Moon, Ahn and other candidates have both promised to reform the chaebols, which dominate the economy and have long been criticised for operating with little scrutiny from investors or regulators.

Another issue is relations with Beijing, which imposed a series of measures seen as economic retaliation over the deployment of a US anti-missile system, THAAD, in the South.

China is South Koreas top trading partner  and also a major source of pollution.
General Paul Malong is accused of ethnic war against people not belonging to his ethnic majority tribe.

South Sudans President Salva Kiir has dismissed Paul Malong, the war-torn countrys powerful army chief of staff.

Malong was sacked via a presidential decree that was announced on Tuesday on national television by Kiir himself.

General James Ajongo Mawut, the former deputy chief of general staff for administration and finance, was named the new head of armed forces.





Minister of Defence Kuol Manyang Juuk downplayed the move as routine, calling it just a normal practice of changing somebody and bringing [in] another person.

South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013 after Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar, whom he had sacked earlier that year, of plotting a coup.

The clashes that followed set off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the worlds newest country, which won its independence from Sudan in 2011, along ethnic lines.

As Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, fought it out with rebels allied to Machar, a Nuer, both sides committed atrocities, including massacres and gang rape, according to the United Nations and the African Union.

In February, several senior army officers resigned, accusing Malong of conducting an ethnic war against non-Dinkas and ruling with an unqualified clique of friends and relatives.

Among those who quit was Lieutenant-General Thomas Cirillo who has since announced plans to launch his own rebellion.

Malong is widely regarded by some as being the mastermind of fighting that erupted in the capital, Juba, last July, killing hundreds and dashing hopes of a power-sharing government between Kiir and Machar

Foreign diplomats repeatedly accused him of undermining the countrys 2015 peace agreement.

The conflict has triggered famine in parts of the country, forced millions from their homes and killed tens of thousands so far.

READ MORE: Two million children displaced by South Sudan conflict

Separately, gunmen attacked the vice presidents convoy on Tuesday and wounded three of his bodyguards, a government official told the Reuters news agency.

First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, who joined the government after defecting from the main rebel group last year, was not in the convoy because he was travelling by plane at the time.

The vehicles were attacked as they headed north from Juba to the town of Bor.

Three people were wounded. These are security guards of the first vice president, State Minister of Information Jacob Akech Deng said.

No soldier died and the convoy of the first vice president has reached Bor safely.
Private company to remove the wasps from tea fields which the Indian Prime Minister will tour on Friday.

Sri Lanka has taken the unusual step of clearing thousands of wasps from a tea plantation to ensure Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not stung during his forthcoming visit.

Police in Hatton, some 125km east of the capital Colombo, hired a private company to remove the wasps from its tea fields which Modi will tour with his entourage on Friday.





The private Bee Protection Organisation said they removed nests from two locations to ensure that the Indian visitors could land in helicopters without stirring up trouble with the aggressive locals.

There were two big nests near two helipads. At the time of landing, helicopters can disturb the wasps and they could sting people in that area, Bandara Thambavita, the head of wasp removal unit Tissa, told the AFP news agency.

We have cleared the nests and declared the area safe for the VVIPs to visit.

The winged evictees were removed humanely and relocated to a nearby jungle, Thambavita added. A team will remain on site to ensure those kicked out do not return before Modi touches down.

READ MORE: Sri Lanka seeks to mend ties with India

It will be the second time in just over two years that the Indian leader has visited neighbouring Sri Lanka.

He will return Thursday as chief guest at the Buddhist celebration of Vesak, which marks the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha.

Modi will address a Buddhist conference in Colombo before travelling by helicopter to the central tea country to open an India-funded hospital and address Indian-origin plantation workers.

He will also visit Sri Lankas holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Tooth, before leaving on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka police have said they will deploy more than 6,000 officers to provide additional security during Modis overnight visit.
The United States on Tuesday announced that it would supply weapons and military equipment to Kurdish fighters battling ISIL in Syria, despite intense opposition from NATO ally Turkey.

Dana White, the Pentagons chief spokeswoman, said in a written statement that US President Donald Trump had authorised the arms shipments on Monday.

She said Trumps approval gave the Pentagon the go-ahead to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIL in Raqqa, the armed groups self-declared capital in Syria.





The Kurdish elements of the SDF are from the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and they have been the main faction fighting ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and is also known as ISIS, on the ground in Syria.

The Pentagon statement said they are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future.

But Turkey says YPG fighters are linked to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists inside Turkey, who have waged an armed campaign since 1984 that has killed more than 40,000 people.

There was no immediate reaction from Turkish officials, but the move is expected to anger Ankara which considers the Kurdish forces to be terrorists.

The Turks are going to be unhappy with this because, in no way, they want to see any kind of bolstering of strength of Kurdish forces in that area, Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkish side of the Syria-Turkey border, said.

The SDF now are saying that after Raqqa they want to push further south to take Deir Az Zor  [and the] Trump administrations reaffirmed support is no doubt going to upset the Turks very much.

READ MORE: Kurdish YPG fighters dominate Turkey-US talks

The Pentagons announcement comes before a scheduled meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump in Washington next week.

Speaking to Al Jazeera last month, Erdogan criticised Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, over an agreement between the two to fight what he described as terrorist groups operating in Turkey.

With President Obama, we had a mutual agreement about the PKK  but Obama deceived us. I dont believe the Trump administration will do the same, Erdogan said.

The YPG is an arm of the PKK. We must put an end to this, he added.

We cant destroy one terrorist group with another one. We are strategic partners with the US.

While the Pentagons statement did not mention the kinds of arms to be provided to the Kurds, other officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machineguns, ammunition and light armoured vehicles were possibilities. They said the US would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

As many as 1,000 US troops are working alongside the SDF inside Syria.

Senior US officials including General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara.

Ankara has insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but US officials said there was no real alternative.

In her statement, White, the Pentagon spokeswoman, said the US prioritises its support for the Arab elements of the SDF.

We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey, she said.

We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the US is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally.

Other officials said Trumps authorisation includes safeguards intended to reassure Ankara that the additional US weaponry and equipment will not be used by the Kurds in Turkey.

OPINION: The US must heed Turkish concerns in Syria

The intent is to restrict the distribution and use of the weaponry by permitting its use for specific battlefield missions and then requiring the Kurds to return it to US control.

The decision to arm the Kurds was announced just hours after James Mattis, the Pentagon chief, met a Turkish official in Denmark at an anti-ISIL coalition summit.

Mattis sounded upbeat on the relationship with Turkey, but it was not clear if the arming of the Kurds had come up in the discussion.

The Pentagon chief said he had useful discussions with Turkey and described the two countries as working out differences over the US alliance with Syrian Kurds.
Former official says she told the White House that its former national security adviser could be blackmailed by Russia.

The White House was warned in January that President Donald Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn was vulnerable to Russian blackmail, a top former official has told politicians, as the issue of Moscows meddling in the US election returned to the spotlight.

Former acting attorney general Sally Yates, a Barack Obama appointee who was sacked by Trump early in his presidency, made the disclosure during hotly-anticipated testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.

Yates said she told the White House six days into Trumps administration that Flynn, a former military intelligence chief, had not been honest with Vice President Mike Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador to Washington, leaving him vulnerable to leverage from Moscow.

It nevertheless took 18 days before the president, pressed by Pence and others, dismissed the retired army lieutenant general, who had advised him on security issues throughout the 2016 presidential campaign.

We believed that General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians, Yates told the hearing in her first public comments on the scandal over ties between Trumps team and Russia, that has dogged the opening months of his presidency.





This was a problem because not only did we believe that the Russians knew this but that they likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.

The testimony by Yates, who was fired on January 30 after defying Trump over his contested travel ban, confirmed reports that she had informed the White House early on of the justice departments concerns about Flynn.

Yates did not say what Flynn had discussed with ambassador Sergey Kislyak in a number of December 2016 phone calls, which were secretly monitored by US intelligence.

Pence said in January that Flynn denied those calls involved sanctions placed on Russia by the Obama administration in response to its election meddling.

Obama warning

Yates comments came after former Obama officials revealed that the outgoing president himself firmly warned Trump against naming Flynn as national security adviser, only two days after the November 8 election.

Obama had cautioned against Flynn, whom he fired in 2014 as head of the defence intelligence agency, due to his poor record in administration and personnel management.

The warning was based on Flynns role as head of DIA, a former administration official told the AFP.

Yates testimony returned the spotlight to the simmering controversy over Russias meddling in last years US election.

Known as a tough and independent prosecutor, Yates has been a target of Trumps anger since her refusal in January to support his controversial immigration ban on nationals from several Muslim-majority nations  for which he fired her.

Trump has repeatedly branded the issue of Russian interference fake news despite leaders of the US intelligence community concluding that President Vladimir Putin himself was behind the meddling.

Investigations by several congressional committees have been bogged down for weeks amid accusations by Democrats that Republicans have stalled progress to protect the White House.

Earlier in the day Trump shot off a series of pre-emptive Twitter strikes, accusing Obama of enabling Flynn, and assailing Yates for allegedly leaking classified information.

General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama administration, he said.

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to WH Counsel.
After about three years of construction and planning, university administrators, alumni and donors gathered to celebrate the official unveiling of UFs new multimillion-dollar chemistry building.

Joseph Hernandez Hall, which sits on the corner of University Avenue and Buckman Drive, cost about $66.6 million and was completed over the span of 2 1/2 years.

At a ceremony held April 21, guests including UF President Kent Fuchs and Board of Trustees Vice Chair Mori Hosseini cut a ceremonial ribbon and spoke about the role the facility will have in the future of the university.

Fuchs said the new facility, which will serve about 9,000 undergraduate students each year, symbolizes research, science and teaching.

Hosseini said the 6,777 yards of concrete used to construct the building is enough to lay a sidewalk from Gainesville to Micanopy and back.

Many people have worked very hard for many years to make this building a reality, Hosseini said.

Hanging over the entrance of the building is a 650-pound stainless steel sculpture depicting fullerene, which is a form of carbon. The art installation, which includes a Plexiglas centerpiece, is suspended by six steel cables.

In addition to brand new equipment, the buildings interior has a general chemistry lab that accommodates about 300 students. Gigi Marino, the communications director of UF's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the upgrades are notable in comparison to the existing chemistry facilities: Leigh Hall and the Chemistry Lab Building.

At the ceremony, speakers praised UF alumnus Joseph Hernandez, who donated $10 million toward the completion of the building.

Hernandez, a 43-year-old entrepreneur based in New York, is the youngest donor in UFs history to provide a donation of this magnitude, Marino said.

Hernandez, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba, has received a bachelors degree and two masters degrees from UF.

Hernandez said he made his contribution not only to enhance the universitys chemistry department, but to show appreciation toward the institution that positively altered the trajectory of his life.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

I hope the message of the building is that this country is a place where you can come from nothing and choose something in life, Hernandez said. I hope it inspires students to not look back at whats their history, but move forward as to what impact they can make in life.

A 650-pound sculpture depicting a form of carbon is suspended by six steel cables over the entrance of Joseph Hernandez Hall, a $66.6 million building that was officially unveiled April 21.
I am not a Jew, so therefore I do not feel any moral necessity to keep kosher, but neither do I feel a necessity to forbid it. However, the issue of kosher slaughter -- the ritual killing of animals to make the meat kosher -- has come up, once again, this time in Belgium; and though charges of anti-Semitism are being hurled, the real crime is left-wing illogic.

Belgian region outlaws kosher slaughter Wallonia government outlaws kosher slaughter, Jewish world expresses outrage. -- Israel National News

Belgium's linguistic communities have idiosyncratic laws, and recently Wallonia (the French-speaking south) has passed a law outlawing kosher slaughter as ostensibly inhuman to animals. One should not think that this is uniquely a Francophone idea. The Dutch-speaking Flemings are going to follow suit.

Lawmakers in both Flanders and Wallonia have agreed to ban kosher and halal slaughter by 2019, a move that triggered the protest of the World Jewish Congress, who gave today a tribune to Philippe Markiewicz, the president of Belgiums Central Jewish Consistory. -- New Europe

Norway, New Zealand, Denmark, etc. have all banned Kosher slaughter. Their concern to prevent suffering would make sense if they also banned abortion, which they do not.

This impetus for this law probably did not originate in Belgium's large Muslim immigrant community, who also practice a form of religious slaughter. So we cannot chalk this up to mere sympathy with Muslims against the Jews, not when Muslim practices are also being targeted.

The Muslim and Jewish communities in Flanders have criticised a proposal by the Belgian region to ban the unstunned slaughter of small animals, which they say would contravene their rules for ritual killing. -- Reuters

Clearly this law is coming from the indigenous Celts (descendants of the ancient Belgae, from which Belgium derives its name). Religion is probably not a major factor in this decision. Most Belgians are fully secular, with church attendance very low.

There is clearly more to this than raw anti-Semitism, as some Jewish commentators have opined, even though the Belgian law does appear to be similar to Nazi legislation against kosher slaughter, as the Nazis proclaimed in this 1940 propaganda reel: The Eternal Jew. (Severe content warning). But, to avoid all histrionics, we have to note: Belgians are not Nazis.

This law is rather the result of a secular, leftist view taking over.

I do not argue in favor of all minority rights without discretion or necessarily against laws which curtail some minority communities. Clearly the Muslim communities should assimilate, and forego some of their practices. But this new law attacks a rather harmless practice common to more than one community; and offensive to nobody but extremist tree huggers.

The Belgians want to impose a tree-hugging liberal worldview on the people in their country; and that view raises animal rights to absurdly high levels, while diminishing the rights of religious communities -- including, as we shall see, some secular Gentiles.

Now, logically, nations have a right to govern themselves, and to set standards for their own country, as this Jewish comment on Israel's right-wing Israel National News noted:

-- Israel National News

But clearly, this law is not aimed only at Jews, but at the other, which would also include Muslims.

The core issue here is that of logic. Are we ignoring that Kosher slaughter may not only be more humane to animals, but also to humans?

The alternatives to kosher slaughter would be more dangerous to the consumer. Drugging the animal would introduce possibly toxic, and certainly deleterious chemicals into the meat the consumer would then ingest. Stunning the animal would introduce brain matter  and possibly mad cow disease  into the bloodstream and the meat. Kosher preparation limits exposure to E. coli. Natural food activists recommend kosher meat as safer  giving innumerable reasons why.

Forgetting about being merciful to the animals, why not have some pity on the consumer?

This is not just a Jewish issue. In New York State, where there is a large Jewish community, the state polices Kosher certification as a consumer fraud issue.

Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004 The Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004 requires that consumers of food represented as kosher in New York be provided with information identifying the person or organization certifying that food as kosher. -- New York State Department of Agriculture

Many have complained that New York State should not be policing religious practices, and I would agree, but this is something more involved here. It became obvious that there was a large Gentile population which sought out Kosher meat as healthier, better meat; and that was given as a reason for the state to police kosher products as a consumer quality issue. In New York, more Jews were eating kosher meat than Gentiles.

A growing number of supermarket shoppers are going kosher -- not for religious reasons, but because they are convinced the foods are safer and better for health. -- NY Times

This issue is being ignored in Belgium. Kosher meats are sought out by more than Jews.

This is the illogic of left-wing animal rights activists who ignore the core issue. Is Kosher meat more humane to the consumer? Belgium many have the right to pass this law; but it is insanely illogical, and indicative of a leftist world view that tramples on the rights of those who are not so left-minded.

I could see outlawing truly harmful practices such as the Muslim FGM, or banning the oppressive burqa or hijab, or even the very questionable Hasidic Metzitzah P'beh, but how is anybody hurt by kosher slaughter?

As a Gentile, I love cheeseburgers; but I learned a long time ago, be sure to buy Kosher frankfurters when buying hot dogs, or you will pay later on that evening.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, lo those many decades ago.
In a strained bit of humorous idiocy, a flak at the Washington Post spins Emmanuel Macrons win and Marine Le Pens thumping as an embarrassment for President Trump.

Aaron Blake, writing for The Fix, betrays the MSMs obsession with pinning anything and everything negative or failed on Trump. Crows Blake:

I argued on this blog that Trump's comments about Le Pen amounted to an endorsement. He had said that she was the best candidate when it came to the most important issue: the security of her country. And he clearly suggested that her popularity was rising after the terrorist attack, a claim that in retrospect looks haphazard, at best, and foolhardy, at worst.

Sorry, Aaron, but this merits a Dope Alert. Most Americans couldnt give a hoot that the president said nice things about La Pen or even suggested her election as good. Most Americans care about their kids, jobs, and safe streets. Trumps utterances on the subject matter only to inbreds who breathe the rarified air in DC, New York, and Boston. Or guys like you who get paychecks pulling this inanity from their rears.

Nowhere in Blakes brilliant analysis did he mention Barack Obamas profound embarrassment for endorsing Hillary Clinton, whose loss wasnt predicted by the MSM or all those very smart guys and gals in coastal blue redoubts. After all, Le Pen, trailing badly in the polls, was expected to be hosed. Hillary was practically measuring the drapes in the Oval Office. Who has more egg on his face, Aaron?

Actually, its the French who have the most souffle on their faces. In Le Pens concession speech, she acknowledged that the French voted for continuity. That they did, but not in any good way. Macron, who served in Hollandes government, was repackaged and rebranded as an independent with a fresh take on Frances growing troubles. Hes actually just old shoes in a new box.

The 39-year-old Macron is a quick, clever invention of Frances globalist, EU-devoted elite. No? Well, he strode to the podium on Election Eve to proclaim his victory to the EUs anthem, Ode to Joy. Hows that for an In-your-face gesture? And get this: the guy who composed the Ode, Ludwig Van Beethoven, is a German, no less. We all know about the evidence-rich Trump-Putin conspiracy in our own elections. Might Macron taking the stage to a German ditty reveal Angela Merkels conspiracy with him in the French contest?

A big problem for France is that its economy is practically stagnant. It has been for decades (thats correct, decades). But who would blame big, central, bureaucratized government for an economys woes? Or a bevy of entrenched interests that profit handsomely from a government-dominated economy? Not the EUs Jean-Claude Juncker.

Reported the Guardian on April 30:

There is a familiar rhythm to French politics. President gets elected amid a wave of optimism. President says root and branch reform of the economy will lead to stronger growth and falling unemployment. President fails to deliver the promised transformation. Economy continues to struggle. President gets booted out of office. In the past 30 years, Francois Mitterand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande have won elections for the mainstream parties of the centre left and centre right but Frances economic problems have not been resolved. It says something about how poor performance has been under Hollande that growth of barely more than 1% in 2016 was good by recent standards.

Frances unemployment rate hovers around 10% (higher than its pre-EU rate of 8%). Germanys stands at about 4%. French youth unemployment -- thats under 25-year-olds -- is about 25%. Germanys is much lower. Idle minds make for the devils workshop.

As the Guardian points out, the French have developed an inferiority complex vis-a-vis their German allies, who are outperforming them economically. Without getting too much into the weeds, Macron wants Frau Merkel to reflate the German economy and boost consumer spending. He wants monetary reform to prop-up the Euro, too.

Youd think that Macron, an ultra-sophisticated Frenchman, would have deeper insight into the German mind and character.

Germans retain memories of what reflation did to the Deutschland between the great wars. Moreover, Germans are notoriously frugal. Perhaps thats a bit overdrawn, but Germans arent typically about Mall-bingeing and conspicuous consumin. Theyre savers, not spenders, and they eschew debt. Go ask the Greeks about the latter.

The Germans seem to run the EU behind the scenes, too. That must chafe the French and stoke their sense of inferiorite. Not that anyones suggesting that the EU is a front for German dominance of Western Europe. That smacks of conspiracy, and the Messieurs and Mesdames at the Washington Post would never indulge conspiracy hokum.

Then theres the little matter of unassimilated Muslims in Paris and throughout France that Macron will have to address -- somehow.

How many Muslims are unassimilated is a guess. In fact, its a guess as to how many Muslims are in France, period. In a February 20, 2017 article for the Gatestone Institute, Yves Mamou provides some insights to Frances Muslim Demographic Future.

Notes Mamou:

France's Muslim population could quickly grow to close to 15-17 million, but no one can know precisely unless the law prohibiting the official collection of ethnic data is changed.

These figures do not take into consideration the Muslim population that immigrated to France from North Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s. There are a few million of them -- nobody knows how many exactly. For demographers, their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are not regarded as immigrants anymore. These Muslims are, rather, integrated into statistics as French citizens born of French parents. They are Muslim, but under the statistics radar.

Continues Mamou:

In other words, if the Muslim population of France can be estimated at around 6 million today, it could grow to 12 million by 2020-2025.

Thats just in the 2020-25 window. More Muslims to come -- unless vigorous policies are put in place to change the dynamic.

As they say, demographics are destiny. Millions of French Muslims -- or Muslims in France -- cannot be ignored. Politics eventually will yield to numbers and organization. The more radical elements in most populations tend to be more assertive, more intent on imposing their worldviews and ways. Fundamentalist Muslims -- true believers -- have demonstrated their aggressiveness for centuries. Its happening in France already; unrest among swaths of Muslim habitues is routine.

Christianity -- Catholicism, in particular -- has been waning for decades in France. The bloodless, godless materialism of Frances non-Muslim populous is no match for the convinced beliefs of Mohammeds followers. The rash of Muslim terror attacks on French soil is testament to the force of passionate, transcendent faith over the supposed allure of material comfort and cradle-to-grave welfare statism.

Macron is very likely no different from Hollande or their immediate predecessors. Hes surely a captive of a conceited, politically-correct ethos thats impotent in confronting doctrinaire Islamic faith and practice. Countering and rolling back Islam in France would take a de Gaulle. Macron is no de Gaulle. He appears more a Petain, and thats unfortunate for France.
Iran is engaging in an unprecedented buildup of military assets thanks to the billions obtained through the Obama-brokered and highly flawed nuclear deal. Irans military leaders are boasting of carrying out a transformation of their fighting capabilities, giving the regime the option of becoming an offensive juggernaut throughout the Gulf region. Such claims are already the source of major concern amongst senior figures in Washington.

Late April reports from inside Iran cited officials describing a 145% increase in the defense budget under the tenure of the so-called moderate President Hassan Rouhani and the regimes military forces aiming to launch a massive restructuring with the objective of becoming a force always on the initiative.

Since the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, senior regime officials have used the resulting windfall to purchase new military hardware and additional armaments. Note that there is no mention of using such funds for the greater good of the Iranian people, despite a high percentage living in poverty. Iran has also signed huge multimillion-dollar contracts with Russia.

Senior U.S. officials and members of Congress have major suspicions that Iran is using a significant portion of the highly controversial $1.7 billion in cash provided by the Obama administration to back its network of terrorist groups spread across the Middle East.

Such disturbing disclosures have raised new concerns over the use of U.S. cash provided to Iran -- the leading state sponsor of terrorism, in the words of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson -- to adopt a more aggressive approach in the face of U.S. forces stationed across the already flashpoint region.

Irans military additions were announced by Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari during ceremonies marking the regimes Army Day. Despite the lack of attention such an announcement gained in Western mainstream media, insiders of the national security community are known to have been discussing the issue for the past few weeks.

Irans objective is to transform its army into a force with offensive capabilities, signaling a significant overhaul from its support role for the leading Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), considered Tehrans primary force.

Boosting its logistical, weaponry, and support capabilities are the goals the Iranian regime hopes to revamp in its classic army. Experts are analyzing this announcement as a major policy shift in the Iranian military, with a far-reaching potential of making Tehran capable of intervening across the Persian Gulf region. This is a sensitive area where the U.S. military already enjoys noteworthy influence and presence.

Iran channeling the cash it received under the nuclear deal for its military apparatus should come as no surprise, and the Obama administration had even predicted such a scenario. Former Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged some of the money Iran received in sanctions relief would go to groups considered terrorists, according to a CNN report.

Iran also has a long history of funneling billions to its military and paramilitary programs. Iran used the currency windfall gained from the European Union through the period of 1998 to 2005 to invest heavily in its clandestine nuclear and missile programs. Ironically, the person at the helm of these efforts was none other than the regimes then secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rouhani, who is now wrongly and naively dubbed a reformist by various parties in the West.

Concerns are being raised about the safety of American forces in the Middle East, among reports of Iranian forces continuing to harass U.S. Navy ships. (Although rest assured, the regime in Iran may talk the talk, but will not walk the walk to provoking a serious military confrontation with the U.S. and its allies in the region.)

Capitol Hill is already witnessing a renewed push to reinstall economic sanctions against the regime in Tehran. Knowing their window of opportunity will end this fall at the latest, the Iranian regime is using this period to the utmost extent. Tehran is continuously expanding its arsenal while saber-rattling against U.S. allies in the region by taking advantage of the Obama administrations refusal to beef up sanctions.

As the Trump administration weighs its options on Iran, designating the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization would send the right signal to the mullahs. Already in control over vast portions of the countrys economy, the IRGC also plays a major role in domestic crackdowns and human rights violations, Irans meddling in the region and involvement in Syria, and spearheads the regimes nuclear program and ballistic missile ambitions.

This force must be reined in through sanctions.
On Tuesday, May 9, the Republic of Korea will elect a new president. All signs indicate that the next president will be a socialist, after a decade of governance by the country's relatively conservative party --- a party which, in a desperate attempt to save itself from being tarred with President Park Geun-hye's recent impeachment, has tellingly rebranded itself as Liberal Korea.

Given that in Korea, "socialist" has always meant "sympathetic to the communist North," it is not surprising that some Western analysts are seeing a bleak future for this tiny but economically and strategically vital peninsula. In March of this year, for example, the New York Post's Seth Lipsky authored an op-ed titled "Are we about to lose South Korea?" to which his answer was an ominous "Maybe."

At this precarious moment in Korea's history, with the North becoming increasingly belligerent and increasingly nuclearized, and the South carelessly lurching leftward, perhaps concerned Western observers will benefit from an on the ground report focused not on the practical politics of the moment, but rather on the condition of the national soul from which political choices issue. As an expatriate resident here, and a university professor in regular contact with young, middle class Koreans, I have a privileged vantage point from which to examine the spiritual winds of this nation.

Such spiritual winds are much more identifiable and easily observable here in a country that, having seamlessly married its collectivist "we're all one family" cultural history to its rapid-paced Westernized consumerism, has forged a society characterized by an almost maniacally monolithic trend-hopping, even in politics, as though new laws and moral codes were to be picked up as unreflectively as a new designer bag, merely to keep up with the Joneses. And keeping up with the Joneses is actually a major factor in the current Korean situation, due to certain psychological aspects of this country's difficult history and recent growth.

Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party, the socialist who ran a competitive second to Park Geun-hye in 2012, is well-placed to reap the benefits of Park's downfall. And there is no doubt he is a "Sunshine Policy" type -- ideologically sympathetic to North Korean communism and supportive of detente and a softening of rhetoric leading (in pipe dreams) to political reunification -- though he is not an out and out traitor. But even if, as expected, Moon becomes president, Korea has a one-term limit on presidential administrations which is sacrosanct in a democratic republic founded in the ashes of the autocratic rule which ended within the lifetimes of most current voters. This practical restriction on long-term adventures would severely hamper the implementation of any ambitious strategies for reunification, such as Moon's "two-step plan." And those strategies would be unlikely to get anywhere beyond feel-good optics in the first place, given the unlikelihood of the North really cooperating. (Again, this assumes that Moon is not literally a traitor, which I have seen no reason to believe.)

So a progressive win would definitely change the South's rhetoric, and therefore change the national tone in a harmful way. One key to the election's outcome will be the youth vote, which has been galvanized by Park's influence peddling scandal, or more specifically by progressives' effective exploitation of the scandal as an ideological talking point: "See how those hard-hearted conservatives and their corporate cronies disrespect the people!" While the youth vote has always been a little pro-North, or rather anti-American, that could get worse with a concerted propaganda effort from certain major media outlets and education officials working in cahoots with a socialist government.

Having said that, Koreans are an emotional people and still in the relatively nascent phases of their democratic development; political movements and popular waves are always tempestuous here, which can have both positive and negative effects. At least such fickleness tends to obstruct the long-term entrenchment of specific party factions with corruptive goals.

(If you can't see the potential positives of emotional tumult in a democracy, consider the hardening of the arteries that has reduced American political life to its intractable uniparty establishment framework, from which no escape seems conceivable. A true, constitutional republican structure would obviate the need for fickleness and immoderation to save the nation from political paralysis, but there is at present no nation on Earth with such a stable structure in practice.)

Due to their unstable and famously impatient collective temperament, Koreans have a tendency to unravel their political idols in a hurry. What they did to the so-called conservative Park over the past year, so they have also done to almost all previous elected leaders, including President Roh Moo-hyun, the anti-American socialist whose top advisor Moon Jae-in once was, and who maintains a real mystique here as a "great and noble man" (the kind of mystique leftists always get), in spite of having plummeted to subterranean levels of support during his term in office, and later committing suicide in the midst of a wide-ranging bribery scandal that was in the process of destroying his legacy, such as it was.

In sum, then, I don't like the prospects for either the short or long term, but I don't see the ROK fundamentally "changing sides" anytime soon. The current anti-Park monolith -- polls during the final stages of the impeachment scandal showed near-unanimity among young voters -- is a less serious concern than the general lack of deep principle guiding Korea's political evolution. Political beliefs tend to be a matter of taste or mood here, wherein the younger generations are easily swept up in enthusiasm for "new ideas," mostly those related to governmental "compassion."

While a few young Koreans express strong sympathy with the communist North, most merely tend to believe mindlessly in the Euro-fantasy of the welfare state -- viewed roughly as the hot new Western product they haven't imported yet. Still, to oversimplify slightly (but only slightly) for the sake of clarity, while many university students will speak with naive certainty about how wonderful the welfare state would be if older Koreans would just stop being so stubborn, most of them love their K-pop and expensive makeup much more. When they begin to realize the two preferences are incompatible, they will likely choose their pleasures.

Admittedly, this reliance on the attractions of superficiality to save a nation from progressive authoritarianism is not a promising prospect for long-term societal health, but it does conform to a certain (arguably small-minded) American foreign policy tradition: spreading "capitalism" (i.e., amoral materialism) to quell popular totalitarian inclinations.

As I have noted, the danger here, and the chief cause of the country's recent leftist surge, is more psychological than ideological. I see no evidence that most mainstream young adults admire North Korea or communism, per se. But many Koreans suffer from some degree of short man syndrome, partly due to their relatively short period of politico-economic development. Though fiercely proud of their national identity, they also feel self-conscious and even embarrassed about any perceived lack of what they identify as Western-style development. But at the moment, partly due to the universal idolization of their own Ban Ki-moon and the UN -- International Relations is one of the trendiest university departments here -- Western-style development largely entails advanced European progressivism.

Hence, in spite of their nation being relatively conservative or unprogressive on most economic and moral issues -- or perhaps because of that -- many university-age Koreans knee-jerkingly speak of welfare programs, redistribution, abortion on demand, and the like, as unambiguous ideals. In general, Koreans inclined to feel self-conscious standing before the outside world (and young people are of course most susceptible to all forms of self-consciousness) see their successful nation as backwards for all the very virtues that defined their incredible rise: low taxes, high levels of entrepreneurship, brilliant frugality (the product of long-term poverty), familial self-reliance, moral self-restraint based on a sense of public shame. They therefore foolishly seek to embrace a more "forward-looking" social model that would actually destroy their many real achievements and advances, as is already happening in most of that Europe they blindly idealize.

It's sad to watch Koreans -- many of whom are very dear to me -- craving the means to their own destruction. Not unfamiliar to a North American expatriate who has seen all this before -- Justin Trudeau represents the second generation of socialist populism within one damn family, for crying out loud -- but sad nonetheless, because, just like their near-miraculous rise from third-world poverty and dictatorship, Koreans' current rush to progressivism is occurring at a speed that puts the West to shame, and almost guarantees that there will be no time for a deep breath or second thought before Nemesis greets them at last.

Daren Jonescu writes about politics, philosophy, education, and the sunset of civilization at

www.darenjonescu.com.
An ACLU lawyer arguing against the Trump travel ban in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday told a federal judge that the executive order initiating the ban would have been constitutional if a President Hillary Clinton had issued it.

The lawyer cited Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric as demonstrating "animus" thus delegitimizing the order. The judge was understandably perplexed.

NTK Network:

Jadwat argued that Trumps campaign animus motivated the order, making it illegitimate. This claim was challenged by the Fourth Circuits Judge Paul Niemeyer. If a different candidate had won the election and then issued this order, I gather you wouldnt have any problem with that? Niemeyer asked. Jadwat dodged on directly answering the question at first, but Niemeyer persisted, asking the question again. Jadwat again tried to avoid the question, asking for clarification on the hypothetical, but Niemeyer once again demanded an answer. We have a candidate who won the presidency, some candidate other than President Trump won the presidency and then chose to issue this particular order, with whatever counsel he took, Niemeyer said. Do I understand that just in that circumstance, the executive order should be honored? Yes, your honor, I think in that case, it could be constitutional, Jadwat admitted. Jadwat also denied that presidents actions should be nullified by campaign statements, despite the fact that his entire argument seemed to rest on that claim. The ACLU lawyer also tried to claim that the order was illegitimate due to its being unprecedented, but this point also crumbled under a quick cross-examination.

Liberal judges are banning the travel order based on specious grounds; that campaign rhetoric should carry weight when determining the constitutionality of an executive order.

Candidates say many things to get elected. Trump himself first proposed banning all Muslims from travel to the U.S. -- rhetoric that has now been deleted from his campaign site. The executive order that was issued after Trump took office, however, proposed no such thing. Citizens from the three most populous Muslim majority countries in the world are still free to travel to the U.S., making the idea of a "Muslim ban" ridiculous.

But liberal judges are desperately casting about for legal reasoning that would allow them to prevent the travel ban from going into effect. That's why it's a virtual certainty that the executive order banning travel to the U.S. from certain countries will end up before the Supreme Court.

We should thank that ACLU lawyer for telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth when trying to explain why the travel ban is "unconstitutional." In fact, as Powerline puts it, "The only thing wrong with Trump's travel ban is Trump."
According to this news article, "Capitol Hill, with its marble floors and magnificently landscaped grounds, is for many a desirable place to work. ... [L]ong winter and summer recesses, for example, help compensate for the [low] wages. And for many, the opportunity to work in arguably the world's most powerful legislative body is a huge stepping stone for future endeavors."

However, not all is perfect in paradise. A number of complaints were made by members of Congress in an open hearing. They include the following:

Low wages for aides

Crummy and expensive the food in the cafeterias.

The vulnerability of House garages to a terrorist attack.

How security precautions make it inconvenient for staff to navigate the workplace.

Nobody knows how many lawmakers carry firearms into the Capitol complex, perhaps increasing safety risks.

Whether women should be charged for feminine hygiene products in the congressional convenience store.

Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) complained, "When you need a feminine hygiene product, you need one. Immediately." Quoting the article, "[s]he even showed a photo of out-of-order signs slung across feminine hygiene dispensaries around the Capitol."

Okay, members of Congress, since you obviously cannot run your own branch of the government, allow me, an ordinary citizen and voter, to do your job for you. Here are my solutions to your problems.

1. For the feminine hygiene products problem, carry them in your purse. And if it's a matter of gender equality, require men to carry them also (but not in purses).

2. For the weapons and security problems (this is a twofer):

a-fer) Require every member of Congress to carry a gun. Make it an open-carry requirement.

b-fer) Have periodic military-style exercises simulating a terrorist attack. Make the exercises live-fire to add realism. If there are friendly fire casualties, well, just call them term limits.

3. For the food problem:

Brown-bag it, you idiots.

If you cannot even run a snack bar, what makes you think you can run a country?

4. If your underlings are underpaid, pay them out of your salary. Either that, or improve the economy so they can afford stuff.

5. Don't bother to thank me.
Retired Professor Armando Simon offered us his thoughtful reflections on the rotten state of American universities and colleges in "A Professor Looks at the College Racket."

Racket, indeed. We are indebted to Professor Simon for outing his colleagues. Like victims of the numbers racket or the drug racket, undergraduate students in America are being fleeced and harmed instead of given the opportunity to acquire a real education. Even the serious, career-oriented engineering or pre-med student, in order to graduate, must submit to courses that are part of what Roger Kimball has called "the vast cornucopia of absurdity that is university life today."

Surveys show that most college graduates don't know what you would expect an educated person to know  and how could they?

Professor Simon also offers this thought:

It did not always use to be like this. One of the most intelligent things that the United States Congress ever did (and, yes, sometimes it does something intelligent; not lately, though) was to provide returning veterans of World War II with the opportunity to go to college in order to go to a university in order to get a career instead of giving veterans the traditional "war bonus." Thus began the rise of universities and community colleges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over a third of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher, whereas in 1940 it was 4%.

Here again Professor Simon's words no doubt meet with widespread agreement. Praise of the G.I. Bill is about as universal as condemnation of the deplorable state of higher education. But there is a problem here: those "universities and community colleges" are the epicenter of the racket Professor Simon is exposing. What if that explosion  4% to over a third of the population  was not a good thing? What if that was what destroyed higher education in America?

I witnessed that explosion up close. In 1962, my state university had recently made the leap from a tiny hilltop space to an abandoned military base with plans to fill that vast area. Barracks and even Quonset huts were being used for temporary classrooms and offices. My professors were nearly all WWII veterans who had gone to college on the G.I. Bill. By and large, the professors were excellent. The best were holdovers from the earlier tiny campus. My debt to them all is beyond reckoning. But the university they built is one of those academic swamps you read about in the press from time to time.

What went wrong?

Isn't it obvious that the universities became academic swamps because they were swamped with young people unsuited to and uninterested in academic pursuits? I saw it happen right before my eyes. Affirmative action programs together with the need to fill the vast new campus with an ever growing number of students swiftly brought changes. At first, the flood of unserious students had to deal with serious professors, but the need for more professors introduced a rapid decline in quality. Too many of the new professors were radicalized by the Vietnam War and more interested in politics than scholarship. The rest of the story you already know.

Professor Simon is certainly correct that it was not always this way. Back when it was 4%, my maternal grandparents impoverished themselves to send my mother and her sister to teachers' college so they would have a profession. The sisters worked to pay their way. Their brothers helped, too, though there was no money to help them, and they never had the opportunity to attend college. People were awfully serious about college then, and getting arrested for disorderly conduct on spring break in Florida was not common in those days.

Today the taxpayers are on the hook for over a trillion dollars of student loans. Taxpayers are underwriting those loans, paying the vast numbers of professors, deans, administrators, and other employees who operate the college racket. You may not like what is going on in those places, but you are paying for it even if you never spend a penny on college tuition.

The solution to the college racket is simple: serious students and professors dedicated to the hard work of education and learning. Putting an end to the racket would result in a much, much smaller number of students and professors. My guess is that the number of students might once again approach 4% fairly quickly.

Robert Curry is the author of Common Sense Nation: Unlocking the Forgotten Power of the American Idea from Encounter Books. You can preview the book here.
It appears already that fierce internal disputes among Iranian regime officials have risen to new levels during the first two 2017 presidential debates held on April 28 and May 6. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani repeated his strong remarks against the camp loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. However, a close review of the debates sheds light on the truly disastrous conditions inside the mullahs' regime.

At first, one-on-one debates were canceled, and steps were taken to call off all live debates. Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli went so far as to say, "Our security is more important than the election."

But sensing the need to inject new life into the election and encourage people to participate, the regime put the debate broadcasts back on schedule. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for a high voter turnout, saying whom the people vote for is "not important."

Of course, knowing the nature of this regime, one cannot rule out the possibility that behind-the-curtain arrangements were made to keep certain issues off limits during the debates, including:

The criminal past of Ebrahim Raisi and especially his role in the 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners.

The theft record of Rouhani's own brother.

Embezzlement cases involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Plasco building embarrassment for Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a current candidate in this election.

The day leading to the first debate, Khamenei and other senior regime officials warned all candidates to refrain from creating any rifts. A similar warning was also issued on Friday, May 5, before the second debate by Movahedi Kermani, Tehran's Friday prayer leader and a staunch Khamenei camp loyalist, reminding candidates to stick to "presidential issues." Despite all the reminders, the candidates took their gloves off in both face-offs.

Iran's domestic crises reflect social calamities and the unending dispute between the Iranian people and the ruling regime. To add insult to injury for Khamenei and the entire mullahs' apparatus, regional and international issues have flared into turmoil far worse than four years ago, creating major side-effects within the regime. One such result is the scene witnessed in the first debate.

"Those of us inside this system, who claim to be the opposition, we are doing so just to legitimize our positions," Hashemi Taba, a presidential candidate, said on April 28.

This means that the regime is so utterly hated and illegitimate that the same figures who have been involved in the crimes of the past four decades are now forced to distance themselves. For those who listened carefully, during the debates, there was no mention of Khamenei or regime founder Khomeini, the candidates being well aware of how hated the two figures are among the public.

Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri lashed out at Ghalibaf over the Saudi embassy raid, showing how Tehran has found itself facing a major crisis in international relations. Jahangiri went as far as to accuse Ghalibaf of hiring the main organizer of that raid as part of his election campaign team.

And recently, the "moderate" Rouhani's defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, threatened Saudi Arabia not to carry out any "ignorant measures," or else "we will leave no area untouched" in the kingdom.

A look at the past shows that there is a continuing trend seen after presidential "elections." When Rafsanjani took over this post in 1989 after the Iran-Iraq War, he raised the flag of "reconstruction" and "adjustments" in order to lure foreign investors into Iran.

When that scenario failed, Mohammad Khatami took over in 1997 claiming to be a "reformist," only to fail miserably, and is now under house arrest by the very regime he served.

Khamenei then resorted to giving the helm to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 to pursue his dream of obtaining nuclear weapons. The Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), however, has shed important light on Tehran's nuclear weapons drive and continues to do so.

And in 2013, Rouhani raised the flag of "moderation," all under orders from Khamenei to relieve the regime of international pressures. The debates, however, may have given notice of his expiration date.

Raisi's failure in presenting an acceptable image and bungling the opportunity to take it hard to his rivals sealed the fact that the debates have so far been a major failure for the regime as a whole. It has become obvious that Raisi is Khamenei's candidate, and the mere fact that the man who has the final word in all national security and foreign affairs has no other choice but to place his weight behind a figure involved in so many executions is another sign of Khamenei facing a dead end.

The supreme leader has also failed to resolve the rifts in his faction by at least convincing Ghalibaf to step aside in favor of Raisi.

To this end, as far as the regime is concerned, there are no differences among Rouhani, Raisi, Ghalibaf, or any other individual currently running for the presidency. Whatever the result of this sham election, this regime is spiraling fast towards unprecedented and very dangerous crises.
Former acting attorney general Sally Yates told a Senate Committee that she warned the White House back in January that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was compromised and may have left himself open to Russian blackmail.

Reuters:

Yates testified at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing that focused primarily on Flynn, and did not shed much light on other aspects of investigations of allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and whether there was collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Moscow.

Yates repeatedly declined to discuss details of the investigation in a public forum. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who also testified, said he stood by past assertions that he had not seen evidence of such collusion but also declined to comment on classified matters.

Yates briefly led the U.S. Justice Department until Trump fired her on Jan. 30 for declining to defend his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. She told White House counsel Don McGahn on Jan. 26, less than a week into Trump's presidency, that Flynn had not been telling the truth about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington.

Making her first public statements about the issue, Yates said she feared Moscow could try to blackmail Flynn because it also knew he had not been truthful about conversations he had with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about U.S. sanctions on Russia.

Flynn, a retired general once seen as a potential Trump vice president, has emerged as a central figure in the Russian probes. Russia has repeatedly denied any meddling in the election and the Trump administration denies allegations of collusion with Russia.

Yates told the hearing she had been concerned that "the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians."

"Logic would tell you that you don't want the national security adviser to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him," she said.

Trump, who continued to praise Flynn, waited 18 days after Yates' warning before Flynn's forced resignation for failing to disclose the content of his talks with Kislyak and then misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
On Sunday, the people of France voted overwhelmingly for their demise. Of course, that's not what they think they voted for. But it is.

They think they voted for "inclusion," "fairness," "diversity," and all the rest of the hogwash served up by the leftist/globalist/communist/Islamo-fascists because hogwash is a favorite dish among useful idiots.

But make no mistake: the French people voted to assure their ruin by electing a candidate who doesn't even believe there's such a thing as "French culture." Because, of course, France is "diverse."

Hey, no kidding.

France's diversity includes a massive uptick in violence, including rape (here, here, here, and here), thanks to their new friends from Islamic lands.

So the French voted for more murder and mayhem.

[Photo credit: Time Magazine; 2015]

[Photo credit: UK Telegraph; 2016]

[Photo credit: The Geller Report; 2017]

Macron made his priorities clear in speeches on Sunday, stating that "we will not yield to fear" while noting that it is his responsibility to "assuage fear."

If they choose not to yield to fear, then they will yield to the sword. Or the knife. They will yield to guns and bombs. To trucks mowing people down. To gang rapes and a stream of threats. They will yield to all manner of destruction. Until France is gone.

And the country is well on its way to extinction. Given that the Muslim population in France is approaching 10% (the largest in Europe) and extrapolating from Peter Hammond's book Slavery, Terrorism, and Islam, here's what French people have to look forward to:

From 5% on they [Muslims] exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.



 [T]hey will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia[.] ...



When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions[.] ... Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats[.]

Dr. Hammond's book was published in 2005. In my view, his predictions are manifesting even sooner than noted (with examples seen here in the United States).

The situation in France is bleak, and with the result of Sunday's election, it is even bleaker. But apparently, most French people don't care  a testament to the result of decades of inculcated stupidity.

So now that Frenchmen have voted for their demise, many comments on blogs ask why we should care, with some noting that France gets what she deserves.

In my view, we should care.

France is our ally, and that counts for something.

France also serves as a weathervane for the future of the West. The United States is following in her footsteps. If we don't change course dramatically and quickly (and we're not, by the way), we'll also reach a point of no return. And between today and that point, we'll continue to suffer all manner of needless horrors because we were fools who embraced those clinging to an ideology that mandates our destruction.

In addition, the larger the Islamic footprint grows in the West, the more power it has. And that is exceedingly dangerous.

If Le Pen had won, she would have been a leading voice on the world stage speaking the truth about Islam and mass migration from Islamic countries to the West. And she would have taken action to protect and defend her country from the army that has infiltrated and continues to advance. We need more people on our barely existent team fighting a war being waged against us that most refuse to acknowledge.

And finally, if France falls to the caliphate, the Islamic world will have access to nuclear weapons. That is no small thing and is reason enough as to why we should care about the outcome of Sunday's election.

As Robert Spencer wrote:
Donald Trump has kept a campaign promise! When running for office, Trump promised to nominate conservative judges for the judiciary. He picked Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court and now has nominated ten conservative candidates for circuit court judgeships.

To recap: President Trump...

1) made a campaign promise

...and...

2) kept his campaign promise.

Praise him with great praise!

Unfortunately, it looks as though at least two of those ten circuit court judges won't be going to the bench any time soon. That's because of an archaic Senate practice that helps judges, of either party, torpedo nominees from their state by withholding their consent, or "blue slips."

Two of the 10 judicial nominees that the White House unveiled Monday were on Trump's short list of potential Supreme Court justices during the campaign: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen, who will be nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Justice David Stras, who sits on the Minnesota Supreme Court and is Trump's pick to sit on the 8th Circuit. Minnesota and Michigan are represented by two Democratic senators. That gives Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, who hail from Minnesota, and Michigan Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters what amounts to veto authority over the nominees, who are already drawing objections from other Democrats. Democrats will retain the blue-slip leverage, at least for now. A broad swath of Senate Republicans is opposed to doing away with the tradition, even as GOP senators blew up the old filibuster rules for Supreme Court nominees while they shepherded Gorsuch through to confirmation earlier this year. Some prominent conservatives, such as conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, are urging Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to ignore the century-old blue slip tradition. But Grassley said he plans to abide by it. In addition to Grassley, more than a half-dozen other Republicans on the judiciary panel said in interviews that they have no plans to ditch blue slips. That's the case even though doing so would allow Trump to more easily install conservative judges, particularly in states with two Democratic senators.

What this means is that Democrats in states with at least one Democrat senator can block judicial nominees from those states. So Democrats can block district court nominees from 19 states. Even worse than that, Democrats can also block appellate court nominees from the same states.

I understand that Republicans like the "blue slip" power when a Democrat is president, but you can be sure that Democrats will use it every chance they get to veto Trump's nominees.

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.
Well, quelle surprise: the polls, in France, at least, were correct. As predicted, Emmanuel Macron has been elected president of France thanks to Russian hacking; the superpower and influence of former U.S. president Barack Hussein Obama (D)'s strong endorsement; and, of course, votes from older French women  entranced, rejuvenated, and living vicariously because of his teenage romance with his 24-year-older teacher, which actually led to marriage years later.

Non?

The young (39 years old), inexperienced (this is his first elective office; sound familiar?) former socialist, now president-elect, founded his own political party, En Marche (Onward), just last year and led it to victory. However, while Macron decisively won 65% of the popular vote, what is even more telling is that 24% of French voters stayed home and didn't vote, which is high for France, while 12% of dissatisfied voters turned in either the spoiled or blank ballots. Adding in Le Pen's voter percentage, this indicates that an impressive majority of French voters did not vote for their new president.

Other telling French voting demographics:

And while Macron defeated Le Pen in every age group, she achieved higher support among younger voters, according to early analysis of voting by polling group Ipsos. (snip) Sunday's result also underscores a deep geographical divide in France. In Paris, 90 percent of voters backed Macron  in contrast to rural areas, far from the capital, where Le Pen enjoyed the greatest support.

Hmmm.

For some reason, Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) did not state that the French election outcome was a disaster for women everywhere and that Le Pen lost, like herself, because of misogyny. Mais non! Actually, Madam Clinton gratefully supported Le Pen's male opponent, tweeting:

Victory for Macron, for France, the EU, & the world.



Defeat to those interfering w/democracy. (But the media says I can't talk about that)  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 7, 2017

Huh? As if the media ever opposed Hillary. And democracy is doing quite well in the U.S. and France but not in...oh, say, Benghazi, Libya, but then "what difference at this point does it make?" And Clinton is a liberal  no mobs silencing her as she self-victimizes on multiple media platforms.

But the French, being the French, will wisely ignore her.

Onward they go.
The "moderate" Muslim country of Indonesia just jailed a popular Christian politician for two years on a charge of blasphemy against the Koran.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as "Ahok," made an off-the-cuff comment about a verse in the Koran being used against him. Apparently, the video showing the comment was incorrectly subtitled, leading to mass protests by Muslims.

The comment occurred during Ahok's campaign for re-election, which he eventually lost to an Islamist candidate.

Reuters:

As thousands of supporters and opponents waited outside, the head judge of the Jakarta court, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, said Purnama was "found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment". Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch described the verdict as "a huge setback" for Indonesia's record of tolerance and for minorities. "If someone like Ahok, the governor of the capital, backed by the country's largest political party, ally of the president, can be jailed on groundless accusations, what will others do?,"Harsono said. Purnama told the court he would appeal the ruling.The governor was taken to an East Jakarta prison after the verdict and his lawyer Tommy Sihotang said he would remain there despite his appeal process unless a higher court suspended it. Shocked and angry supporters, some weeping openly, gathered outside the prison, vowing not to leave the area until he was released, while others vented their shock on social media. Some lay down outside the jail blocking traffic, chanting "destroy FPI", referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline group behind many of the protests against Purnama. "They sentenced him because they were pressured by the masses. That is unfair," Purnama supporter Andreas Budi said earlier outside the court. Home affairs minister Tjahjo Kumolo said Purnama's deputy would take over in the interim. Thousands of police were deployed in the capital in case clashes broke out, but there was no immediate sign of any violence after the court's verdict. Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence on charges of hate speech. The maximum sentence is four years in prison for hate speech and five years for blasphemy. Hardline Islamist groups had called for the maximum penalty possible over comments by Purnama that they said were insulting to the Islamic holy book, the Koran. While on a work trip last year, Purnama said political rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Koran to say Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim. An incorrectly subtitled video of his comments later went viral, helping spark huge demonstrations that ultimately resulted in him being bought to trial.

If this was an attempt to appease the Islamists, it won't work. There is no appeasement of these fanatics  only submission to their will. Instead of dousing the fire of extremism, the action by the court just made it burn hotter.

Indonesia is a multiethnic, multisectarian society that, until recently, was known for its tolerance of religious and ethnic minorities. It was believed that radical Islam could never get a foothold in the country due to its enlightened administration.

Ahok's conviction changes that perception dramatically. Even though the government just banned a well-known Islamic extremist from entering the country, it may be far too little, too late. You can't purport to support religious freedom and tolerance when sentencing someone to serve two years in jail for what amounts to a mistaken translation.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is off and running.

Let's add the Los Angeles city council to the growing list of people who have not read the U.S. Constitution:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

In other words, we impeach and remove presidents based on criminal behavior, not because we don't like them.

The L.A. Council wants an investigation on whether or not to impeach President Trump:

The Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution Friday calling for an investigation in Congress into whether President Donald Trump has committed any impeachable offenses. "Today I ask the Council to put our city on the record and tell Congress to do its job by investigating whether President Donald J. Trump has violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution or committed any other high crime or misdemeanor sufficient to warrant commencement of impeachment proceedings," L.A. City Council member Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) said in a written statement. "With this resolution the city of Los Angeles calls on our Congress members and our Senators for the good of the country to investigate Trump's international finances and make sure that he is actually working on behalf of the American people," Blumenfield, who sponsored the measure, added. "Every day more alarming information comes out regarding Trump's business dealings and brazenness about lack of transparency and conflicts of interest."

Let me ask you this: shouldn't a city council be worried about city issues, such as public schools, crime, or the quality of life?

According to news reports, the Los Angeles Unified School District's graduation rate last year was 67.9%. So 30% of L.A. high school students failed to graduate, and these people are worried about Trump?

Violent crime in L.A. jumped for the third straight year, according to news reports:

[R]obberies were up by 13%, aggravated assaults were up by 10% and rapes were down by 4% through Dec. 17, compared with the same period last year. Homicides were up by 5%. Overall, violent crime was up by 10% over last year and 38% over two years ago."

Here is my advice to the L.A. city council: fix your schools and take care of your streets. Also, get over the election and do your job!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk), (YouTube) and follow me on Twitter.
Beleaguered conservatives reeling from the turmoil at Fox News have at least a glimmer of hope that a second national conservative news outlet could result from a huge merger announced yesterday. Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of 173 terrestrial television stations in 81 markets, will be acquiring Tribune Media, which owns 42 stations reaching 24% of the American public, including outlets in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, as well as a cable channel, WGN America. Combined, the two station groups would reach 70% of the American public, according to Jennifer Saba of the New York Times, unless the FCC requires divestitures.

Sinclair is generally regarded as conservative in outlook and has won the admiration of many by employing Sharyl Attkisson and giving her a program carried in all its markets. There is now the hope that Attkisson could soon reach 70% of the public very soon. But the really intriguing possibilities include launching a second conservative cable news outlet, capitalizing on discontent with Fox News's turmoil and firings, especially of its leading personality, Bill O'Reilly. The fact that the company will already have a cable channel (WGN America) on most cable systems reduces the most formidable barrier to entry for a cable news network.

Sinclair will have enormous bargaining leverage over 21st Century Fox, the parent of Fox News and the "Big Fox" television station group and broadcast network through its ownership of the largest group of affiliates, including many major markets.

Chart from Bloomberg

If hostility breaks out between the two parent organizations, Sinclair has the means to retaliate by denying carriage to "Big Fox" programming on the affiliates it owns. This could be very useful if Sinclair decides to challenge Fox News in going for conservative viewers, and FNC goes to the mattresses, attempting to enforce non-compete clauses in talent it had under contract and may continue to pay in order to keep them off the air at a new competitor. Or Sinclair could simply counter-program FNC with on-air programming.

Regardless of what Sinclair does or doesn't do to start a cable news competitor, it is taking a huge gamble by borrowing billions of dollars to buy a player in a declining industry like broadcast television. With the proliferation of outlets for video, from Netflix to YouTube, the share of eyeballs for broadcast television is in a long-term decline, and pressures are building on ad rates. Sinclair does have considerable experience with buying stations while enhancing revenues while cutting costs.

Saba of the Times:

The Baltimore-based media company outlined a host of advantages that it expects Tribune to bring to the table. They include collecting more fees paid by cable and satellite distributors to Sinclair to carry local TV. Yet executives refused to disclose what cost savings they have identified. To justify the $800 million premium Sinclair is paying, its chief executive, Chris Ripley, needs to trim annual expenses by around $120 million before tax, assuming a 30 percent levy and capitalized on a multiple of 10. At some 8 percent of Tribune's total expenses last year, that ought to be pretty manageable. For example, Gannett  now Tegna  which is famous for wielding the knife, targeted 36 percent of Belo's costs when it bought the TV station group in 2013. Mr. Ripley's decision to hit the mute button on expenses, though, spooked investors, who at one point wiped almost 5 percent off Sinclair's value, before allowing it to recover some.

As Saba notes, and as the left are sure to fuss over, the acquisition could not have taken place unless the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, had reinstated what is called "the UHF discount," which counts UHF viewers at a severe discount in calculating total market share. This is a remnant of the days when fewer households could receive UHF broadcasts. But in an era of digital broadcasting, the logic for reapplying the discount seems weak. Unless one takes the view that in a concentrating industry, allowing further mergers to produce a new major player actually enhances competition. (This is the logic that allowed antitrust approval of the acquisition of Virgin America Airlines by Alaska Airlines: that the merged carrier would be a more robust competitor to United, American, Delta, and Southwest.)

Anything that allows Sharyl Attkisson to reach a broader audience is fine with me. And so is competition for Fox News. In a nation roughly equally divided, there should be two conservative cable news outlets matching two liberal ones. David Shine, who was Roger Ailes's right-hand man in building Fox News, is available, having been let go a few days ago.

The pieces are all there in place for Sinclair. Good news for unhappy Fox folks and former employees, but bad news for the Murdoch children who have wanted to reshape FNC.
"Islamophobia" is a word conceived by the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1990s, long before the 9/11 attacks, to invalidate any criticism of Islamist ideology  i.e., Muhammad's view of the outer jihad that is now used by the worldwide movement of Islamists.

The word "Islamophobia" means unwarranted fear of Muslims. It is used to portray Islamists as a persecuted, peace-loving minority so that all "right-minded people" will stand up against the voices of hate and intolerance. It is frequently used by Islamists, and what the Communists called "useful idiots," to label critics of Islam as fundamentalist bigots in order to stifle criticism. "Islamophobe" is used as a political tool to silence people the same way the words Nazi, Hitler, fascist, racist, misogynist, bigot, and homophobe are used. Thus, many people in Europe and the USA today do not recognize the existential threat from the Third Jihad.

Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a former member of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood front, has stated that in the early 1990s, the idea of using the word "Islamophobia" as a political weapon was adopted. He went on to say, "This loathsome term is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics."

It is true that not all Muslims are Islamists, but all Islamists are Muslims. There are modern Muslims who are not part of the Third Jihad. They want the religion of Islam  as contrasted with the ideology of Islam  only to help them struggle against baser human instincts. On the other hand, there are so-called "moderate" Islamists, who claim that Islam is a religion of peace similar to Christianity and Judaism but are more dangerous than the militant Islamists who use violence. Through deception and lies, they aim to weaken those who oppose the Third Jihad. They are wolves in sheep's clothing. They call those who do not accept their views Islamophobes in order to demonize them. But many of these "moderate" Islamists are moderate only because they lack the will, courage, resources, or motivation to pick up an AK-47 to kill infidels. These distinctions will remain confusing until the distinction between the religion of Islam and the ideology of Islam is recognized.

Nevertheless, Muslims moving into Europe and the USA have the burden of proof upon them to make it clear that they fully support Western culture and want to assimilate. Islam has both a history and present-day tenets. Until Muslims clearly disavow the ideology of Islam, they must be considered a threat. It is only rational for others to be wary of them.

Few of us have the time or ability to distinguish between Islamists and other Muslims. Certainly, it is not our job to distinguish between those Muslims who want to kill us and those who want to live in, but not to assimilate into, Europe and America. It is their responsibility to make it clear that they are not a threat, and also to help us identify those who are part of the Third Jihad.

If Muslims will not accept this responsibility, they should be expelled. This is logic, not Islamophobia.

It is the outer jihad, the practice of Muhammad from 622 to 630 as he conquered Medina, that is the ideal for the Islamists. This is a fact they want to hide. We must not allow the use of the word Islamophobia to hide this truth.

The Islamists of the Third Jihad want to establish a worldwide caliphate under sharia law, therefore they want all non-believers converted, killed, or reduced to a dhimmi status. This is an existential threat to Western culture.

Do you recognize this? Do you value the culture given you? How strong is your civic virtue?

Sam C. Holliday, Armiger Cromwell Center, LLC.
Bias media: Daily Express rejects Crusader Jeremy Corbyn over NHS parking charges

On July 1 2014, the Daily Express launched a Crusade against parking charges at NHS hospitals. Readers were urged to sign a petition, which began: I petition the Prime Minister to step in to end the scandalous cost forced on patients and families when parking at hospital

Sarah OGrady had news:

THE Daily Express has launched a crusade to help the sick, the elderly and hard-pressed families across the country by calling for an end to the disgraceful and unfair practice of sky-high parking charges in hospital car parks.

The campaign thundered on. It was backed by a pretty impressive 97% of Daily Express readers.

Things improved for patients in August 2014 when Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ordered a relaxation of rules on hospital car parking to ensure seriously ill patients are not penalised.

Daily Express Crusade victory as ministers get tough on rip-off hospital parking, cheered the paper, aligning its crusade with political policy. When politicians promise to end the charges they do so because they are on the same side as the Express. The paper reported:

Under new guidelines announced by ministers today, priority groups should be allowed to park without charge or at a greatly reduced cost. They include visitors with relatives who are gravely ill or who have to stay in hospital for an extended period. People with disabilities, those who make frequent outpatient visits and staff working shifts will also be able to take advantage of the concessions, the Department of Health said. The announcement is a major victory for the Daily Express crusade to prevent thousands of people up and down the country being ripped off by extortionate charges of up to 4 an hour. More than 10,000 people have pledged their support via postal coupons or on our website calling for the sky-high parking charges to be abolished or reduced. The Daily Express will continue to press for the guidelines to be adopted by hospital trusts.

But the charges kept on coming.

On December 22 2015, the paper picked up its simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of fair play to slam the Greedy hospitals earning up to 3.7m a year each through parking charges. Their current behaviour is completely at odds with the ethos of the NHS, it added.

As the BBC notes:

Hospital car parking fees were abolished in Scotland and Wales in 2008, although a small number of hospitals still charge as they remain tied in to contracts with private companies that manage their parking facilities. Fees may be charged in Northern Ireland. In England, whether to charge fees is a decision for individual trusts, with some making parking free for particular patients, such as cancer patients or those using dialysis, or for parents staying overnight with their children.

Who will end this greed? One man will. Its Jeremy Corbyn, who will end this tax on serious illness. He says:

Labour will end hospital parking charges, which place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff. Hospital parking charges are a tax on serious illnesses.

So how does the Express report on this breakthrough, the arrival of a champion to lead their Crusaders into Jerusalems free parking zones? It doesnt. Theres not single a word on it in the paper. You can, however, read about it on the Express website  but youll find no word on how Corbyn is part of the papers Crusade. In fact, theres no mention of the Crusade at all. The 97% will be disappointed.

Spotter: Liz Gerard  follow her here and here. And read her on Sub-Scribe.

Anorak

Posted: 9th, May 2017 | In: Politicians, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
TEL AVIV - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said he is ready to meet with Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu under the "patronage" of US President Donald Trump. He made the proposal during a meeting in Ramallah with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to official news agency Wafa.

''We can't wait to meet Trump in Bethlehem - he added - and we have confirmed we are available to meet Netanyahu under his patronage of peace''. Trump - who is arriving in Israel on May 22 - could go to Bethlehem to meet President Abbas on May 23, according to Palestinian sources.



Wafa also said that, after claiming he was ready to meet Netanyahu under the auspices of the US president, Mahmoud Abbas said he was committed to a ''two-State solution based on the borders of 1967 that would enable Israel and Palestine to exist side by side in peace, security and friendship''.
PALERMO - The sixth edition of cultural event 'Settimana delle culture' (week of cultures) is scheduled to take place in Palermo on May 12-23 with 235 events across 100 locations.

The initiative, which will last two weeks, will focus on a range of countries and areas including the Middle East, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Britain, Austria and Afghanistan, to cite a few.

An event on May 23 will also commemorate the 1992 assassination of crusading anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo and police officers Rocco Dicillo, Antonio Montinaro and Vito Schifani near Capaci, Palermo.

The initiative, which was awarded by President Sergio Mattarella, was presented this morning at Palazzo Sant'Elia.

It is promoted by the association 'Settimana delle culture' in cooperation with the city culture councilor, the Sicilian region, local university and the culture ministry, along with public and private partners.

Events include 27 exhibitions, 17 theater performances, 26 laboratories, 25 conferences, 44 guided tours, 36 concerts, two street food and Arab gastronomy events.

''We want everybody to get acquainted with little-known locations said Gabriella Renier Filippone, president of the settimana delle culture - we are proud that different ethnic communities and disabled people are taking part and that schools are paying attention''. The conference was attended by Mayor Leoluca Orlando and Culture Councilor Andrea Cusumano, who spoke of the initiative as a ''project of civil growth in a complex reality like Palermo''.

A preview of the event is scheduled on Thursday, May 11, at 5:30 pm in the Pompeiana hall of the Massimo theater with the exhibit ''Artisti e artigiani di eccellenza''. With theater costumes, and then at 7:30 pm in Piazza Sant'Anna with live music and at 9 pm at the Santa Cecilia theater with the concert ''Samba, tango e noi'' with Argentine, Brazilian and local music.

The San Sebastian choir of municipal police will officially open this edition at 5 pm in Palazzo Sant'Elia with authorities.

A ceramics panel representing late anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino by artist Giuseppe Gerbino will be exhibited.

On May 23, the anniversary of the attack in Capaci, the Santa Cecilia theater will host a concert by Aida Satta Flores ''Il profumo dei limoni 25 anni dopo'' (the fragrance of lemons 25 years later) dedicated to Falcone. The Lux movie theater will host a theater performance ''Ribelle'' (rebel) directed by Orazio Bottiglieri. The full program will be published on the website settimanadelleculture.it
BUENOS AIRES - Italian President Sergio Mattarella said in Buenos Aires that ''we are experiencing times during which migration issues take on new, enormous relevance.

The media bring to our attention inhuman tragedies in which the themes of solidarity and dignity of the person clash - before concerns connected to security - with intolerance, discrimination and the widespread inability to understand what is going on, what is happening in the world''.

Discussing migration flows in the Mediterranean Sea, Mattarella said that ''we can just look at the experience of the Argentine land and the issues that concerned our country even before the Unity of Italy was reached''. The president made the statements in a speech at the Coliseo Theater in Buenos Aires, attended by an Italian-Argentine public.

The president spoke about all the Italians who left the country to migrate, ''803,000 emigres in 1906 alone! In 100 years (1876-1975), 26 million Italians emigrated! A nation outside the nation! This is why - continued the head of State - there isn't one history of Italy but, with the one regarding national territory, a history of Italians has unfolded: as many stories of Italians as the Italian communities that had settled abroad. The history of Italian emigration is, before the Unity of Italy, the history of unity of our people''.


Cultural event 'Settimana delle culture' returns to Palermo 235 events on May 12-23 across 100 locations

(ANSAmed) - PALERMO, MAY 9 - The sixth edition of cultural event 'Settimana delle culture' (week of cultures) is scheduled to take place in Palermo on May 12-23 with 235 events across 100 locations.



The initiative, which will last two weeks, will focus on a range of countries and areas including the Middle East, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Britain, Austria and Afghanistan, to cite a few.



An event on May 23 will also commemorate the 1992 assassination of crusading anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo and police officers Rocco Dicillo, Antonio Montinaro and Vito Schifani near Capaci, Palermo.



The initiative, which was awarded by President Sergio Mattarella, was presented this morning at Palazzo Sant'Elia.



It is promoted by the association 'Settimana delle culture' in cooperation with the city culture councilor, the Sicilian region, local university and the culture ministry, along with public and private partners.



Events include 27 exhibitions, 17 theater performances, 26 laboratories, 25 conferences, 44 guided tours, 36 concerts, two street food and Arab gastronomy events.



''We want everybody to get acquainted with little-known locations said Gabriella Renier Filippone, president of the settimana delle culture - we are proud that different ethnic communities and disabled people are taking part and that schools are paying attention''. The conference was attended by Mayor Leoluca Orlando and Culture Councilor Andrea Cusumano, who spoke of the initiative as a ''project of civil growth in a complex reality like Palermo''.



A preview of the event is scheduled on Thursday, May 11, at 5:30 pm in the Pompeiana hall of the Massimo theater with the exhibit ''Artisti e artigiani di eccellenza''. With theater costumes, and then at 7:30 pm in Piazza Sant'Anna with live music and at 9 pm at the Santa Cecilia theater with the concert ''Samba, tango e noi'' with Argentine, Brazilian and local music.



The San Sebastian choir of municipal police will officially open this edition at 5 pm in Palazzo Sant'Elia with authorities.



A ceramics panel representing late anti-Mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino by artist Giuseppe Gerbino will be exhibited.



On May 23, the anniversary of the attack in Capaci, the Santa Cecilia theater will host a concert by Aida Satta Flores ''Il profumo dei limoni 25 anni dopo'' (the fragrance of lemons 25 years later) dedicated to Falcone. The Lux movie theater will host a theater performance ''Ribelle'' (rebel) directed by Orazio Bottiglieri. The full program will be published on the website settimanadelleculture.it (ANSAmed).




ROME - Transparency, equal opportunities and new communication strategies took centre stage during the second morning of the Festival of Global Media at the Rome Cavalieri hotel in the capital.



Gerry D'Angelo, P&G Global Media director, explained how the multinational is planning to make major changes in relation to transparency.



"It is an example of how to raise the bar  that requires time and money," he said.



It is an investment "in something that really makes a difference in terms of output", D'Angelo added. Kim Kadlec, senior vice president of global marketing at Visa, instead explained how marketing has a decreasing role in company strategies. "Data and technology are changing the sector, these are useful gifts if you know how to use them," even if today "80% of the data is unusable", she said. In order for marketing to resume its strategic role it must change from being "a simple function" to become "an activator of business".



Equal opportunities and inclusion can also be an important growth factor in the absence of rules and culturally bound behaviour that hamper progress in this area. Channel 4 has launched the platform Project Diamond to monitor the level of inclusion in companies. "Our idea is to be as diverse as possible," Channel 4 sales director Jonathan Allan said. "Greater diversity leads to greater commercial success," Sam Phillips, Cmo at Omnicom Media Group UK, said.



"Not having women in a company creates a disconnect between production and consumers," Hopscotch founder Helen McGuire explained.



The question "does not concern only women, it is a global problem," she added. The morning also saw the presentation of innovative business and communication models and examples of the use of geo-behavioral data to create targeted communication campaigns. In addition, space was also given to the continuing importance of customer relations for a successful communications strategy. "If we are focused on the behaviour of the customer our content is sure to be everywhere," Linda Yaccarino, head of Advertising Sales & Client Partnerships at NBCUniversal, said.
Obama stands up for Paris climate agreement in Milan Former president confident US will keep going in right direction

(ANSAmed) - Milan, May 9 - Former United States president Barack Obama stressed the importance of the Paris agreement on combatting climate change during a speech in Milan on Tuesday.



"With (Italian ex-premier) Matteo (Renzi) we helped give the world a very significant agreement on the climate," said Obama, who is on the second day of a two-day visit to Italy's business capital. Incoming French President Emmanuel Macron asked Obama's successor President Donald Trump not to abandon the Paris agreement during the phone call the tycoon made to congratulate the former on his election, CNN reported a Macron spokesperson as saying.



A crunch White House meeting on whether the Trump administration should dump the deal was set to take place on Tuesday, but has been postponed.



Obama, in Milan to address the Seeds and Chips fair, said he was confident that "the United States will continue to move in the right direction" on the Paris agreement.



He added that the fact the Trump administration had differences of opinion with him was "part of democracy". Obama said his work after leaving the White House is to "train the next generation of leaders" in the world. He said he had talked to Renzi on "setting up an efficient network of global activists".



He also spoke about terrorism in Milan, arguing a shortage of jobs was a factor. "Technology is creating high capital intensity in many economic sectors and less demand for labour and this will become a problem in the advanced world," he said. "This is one of the things that worries me most. I am certain that this is part of the problem that instigates radicalization and terrorism in many countries of the Middle East and south Asia. "If many young people are unemployed they will channel their energies in an unhealthy way".




ROME - The 'Festival of Media Global Awards', an award ceremony for the best ideas and campaigns in the communication sector, wrapped up the first day of conferences of the Festival of Media which is being held at the Rome Cavalieri hotel.



Global media agency MediaCom won six prizes, including the Agency network of the year and Campaign of the year, thanks to the project 'Missing Type' through which the agency raised the public's awareness on the need for blood donors in the United Kingdom. Its parent company GroupM also won the prize Media group of the year.



Other winners included the Touche! Agency as Agency of the year, while Mediaplus won the award for Independent agency of the year with the campaigns WhatsGerman and The Fashion Mag hijack and the agency OMD won six prizes thanks to its campaigns End of Silence and Capacity Mac Delivery. Prizes were also awarded to winners from New Zealand, Mexico, Israel, Costa Rica, Norway, Singapore, South Africa and the Dominican Republic.



The jury this year, formed by experts in the sector from all over the world, was divided in two groups chaired by Sarah Mansfield, vice president of Global Media for Europe and the Americas of Unilever and Gerry D'Angelo, Global Media director of P&G. ''It is an honor to chair the Festival of Global Media Awards this year, the work has been high-level and a source of inspiration'', stressed Mansfield.


Migrants: 1,000 in makeshift camp north of Paris evacuated 350 policemen deployed in relocation operations

(ANSAmed) - PARIS, MAY 9 - Over 1,000 migrants from Afghanistan and Sudan who had been illegally sleeping on the street in the area of Porte de la Chapelle north of Paris were evacuated this morning by 350 police officers and 100 personnel of the city of Paris and NGOs.



Some 1,400 migrants had been living in a makeshift camp close to a migrant hosting center in Paris in unsafe conditions for the security and health of its occupiers and local residents, the prefectures of police and the Paris region said in a joint statement.



Another factor that caused concern was the strong tension registered between Afghan and Sudanese groups that had led to a violent nighttime brawl mid-April. The statement said everybody will be granted temporary accommodation in the region of Paris and then will be offered accommodation that is ''suitable to their situation''. (ANSAmed).




ROME - A humanitarian emergency has been reported in Yemen after 25 months of conflict, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has once again denounced. The organization said that ''all actors at war are carrying out indiscriminate attacks without any kind of respect for civilians nor infrastructures like hospitals, schools and markets''.

''MSF structures were hit four times between October 2015 and August 2016 - according to an MSF statement - leading to a temporary evacuation of our team from the north of the country''.

This year in February MSF ''resumed activities at the Haydan hospital'', the statement said. Doctor Roberto Scaini, who heads the medical team of MSF, has just returned to Italy and has spoken about his experience in this ''conflict behind closed doors in an area that is out of time, where civilians are ignored as they die under the bombs and children die fighting to defend interests that aren't theirs''.

The hospital of Haydan was abandoned in the summer of 2016 after an attack on another medical center on August 15 had killed 19 people and wounded 24 others. Over the following days, others teams with Doctors Without Borders were forced to leave several hospitals in the region, leaving thousands of patients without doctors and treatment.

According to the United Nations, over 600 medical structures in Yemen have stopped functioning due to the damages sustained during the war or due to lack of personnel and equipment, with an impact on access to treatment for millions of people. MSF is present in 13 hospitals and healthcare centers and provides assistance to over 18 hospitals and health centers where 1,600 humanitarian operators work.
Mahmoud Abbas says he is ready to meet Netanyahu with Trump On eve of president's trip to Middle East

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, MAY 9 - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said he is ready to meet with Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu under the "patronage" of US President Donald Trump. He made the proposal during a meeting in Ramallah with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to official news agency Wafa. ''We can't wait to meet Trump in Bethlehem - he added - and we have confirmed we are available to meet Netanyahu under his patronage of peace''. Trump - who is arriving in Israel on May 22 - could go to Bethlehem to meet President Abbas on May 23, according to Palestinian sources.



Wafa also said that, after claiming he was ready to meet Netanyahu under the auspices of the US president, Mahmoud Abbas said he was committed to a ''two-State solution based on the borders of 1967 that would enable Israel and Palestine to exist side by side in peace, security and friendship''. (ANSAmed).




'Trump approves arming Kurds in Syria with heavy weapons' Media reports say

(ANSAmed) - NEW YORK, MAY 9 - US President Donald Trump has approved a plan to arm Kurdish rebels in Syria directly, US media report.



The plan involves supplying the Kurds with heavy weapons, the sources say. (ANSAmed)
Turkey desires to continue process of EU accession  Erdog Message for Europe Day

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MAY 9 - Turkey wants to continue the process of accession to the European Union, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote in a message for Europe Day on Tuesday. "Our country, which historically, geographically and culturally was part of Europe for centuries, has the desire to continue the process of accession to the EU, which it considers to be a strategic aim, based on reciprocal respect, quality and the concept of win-win," Erdogan said. "Our desire is to raise cooperation with the EU to the highest levels in areas such as migration, the economy, energy, the customs union and accession negotiations," he added.



The Turkish president then cited the March 2016 accord on migrants as "the most concrete and recent example" of this desire.



His message came after weeks of strong tension with the EU accompanied by Turkey's threat to suspend negotiations, possibly after holding a referendum on the matter. In his missive Erdogan also mentioned the current difficulties facing the EU.



"Without a doubt the greatest threat to the future of the Union is that an exclusionary discourse has become an instrument of populist policies in Europe," he said, referring particularly to "social ills such as discrimination, cultural racism, xenophobia and islamophobia". Turkey's minister for European affairs and chief negotiator Omer Celik is expected for fresh talks with European Commission first vice president Frans Timmermans and Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in Brussels on Wednesday. Meanwhile the nationalist party MHP, which supported Erdogan in the recent constitutional referendum on presidentialism, has resumed its call on the governing majority to reintroduce the death penalty in Turkey. This would be unacceptable for Europe. (ANSAmed).




If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both
A total of 450 participants from around 80 airlines worldwide will learn about the latest developments in the portfolio of the airline IT specialist. The focus is on Commercial Planning and Operations solutions from the NetLine and ProfitLine product lines. This industry meeting, which is traditionally held in the Lufthansa Training & Conference Center in Seeheim, is one of the most important events in the airline IT sector, said Ulrike Behrens, Head of Marketing at Lufthansa Systems, who organises the Airline Forum. Lufthansa Systems advises and supports airlines in their digital transformation. The aviation IT experts show what sustainable airline processes can look like and provide hands-on support to customers in implementing their projects.

Digitalisation has a significant influence on working processes, business models and our daily life. This applies to the aviation industry as well. The core of our company strategy is to put airlines in a perfect position for the digital future, said Olivier Krueger, CEO of Lufthansa Systems. We are delighted to welcome so many of our customers representatives to the Airline Forum again this year.

Customers will have the opportunity to speak and report on successful projects. The next two and a half days will be devoted to some 80 lectures and workshops as well as personal conversations with product experts and other airlines. Attendees can put together their own individual program from a comprehensive range of topics. The focus will be on new product developments and innovations in the NetLine and ProfitLine product lines, which will be introduced by experts from Lufthansa Systems and its industry partners.

Automation and integration are key aspects in this context. Modern technologies make it easier to collect and evaluate data in order to identify anomalies and automatically learn from them or carry out certain actions. But it is also increasingly important for IT solutions  especially in the field of operations  to be able to share this data and interact with one another in order to make the best decisions and optimize processes. Communication also plays an essential role in the digital world. It should be fast, simple and possible from anywhere. Mobile solutions and a user-friendly layout help meet these demands.

At the Airline Forum, we present new industry trends and product portfolio developments to our customers. We also want to talk with them about market challenges, new technologies and smart solutions for their specific requirements, said Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Lufthansa Systems.
The agreement, the first of its kind in the air cargo industry between a mainline airline and a specialised freighter operator, will allow cooperation between two carriers with complementary strengths and shared values for customer service excellence. The agreement was signed at the Air Cargo Europe event in Munich, Germany.

Under the terms of the agreement, Emirates SkyCargo and Cargolux will seek to work closely on a number of operational aspects including:

Aircraft capacity: Emirates SkyCargo will utilise Boeing 747F aircraft from Cargolux. Emirates SkyCargo will therefore continue to have access to Boeing 747F aircraft to service customers with heavy/outsized cargo that will require nose loading or adding additional capacity, complementing its own fleet of Boeing 777 freighters.

Block space and interline: Both carriers will further develop block space and interline agreements for use on each others networks permitting access to capacity on routes where they do not currently operate. This offers customers of both carriers an enhanced global reach for transporting cargo from key production markets to consumer markets. Cargolux will have access to Emirates SkyCargos high frequency distribution network through the belly-hold of passenger flights to over 150 global destinations in 83 countries, whilst Emirates will have access to main deck 747 capacity on Cargoluxs network.

Hub connectivity and cargo handling: Emirates SkyCargo will commence freighter operations to Luxembourg from June 2017. Cargo from both Emirates SkyCargo and Cargolux will be handled at the same facility in Luxembourg. Cargolux will also increase the frequency of freighters to Dubai World Central (DWC) from its current three times a week service to facilitate connectivity between the two cargo hubs. Additionally Cargolux freighters operating to Dubai World Central will be handled by Emirates SkyCargo.

Handling cooperation at both hubs will facilitate seamless movement of cargo between the two operators. Transportation of products requiring special care such as pharmaceuticals will also be smooth given that both operators have EU Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certification for transportation of medicinal products for human use. In addition, hub connectivity between Dubai and Luxembourg will contribute to strengthening the position of both locations as major logistics hubs and distribution centres in their respective regions.

Emirates SkyCargo is committed to being the leading player in the global air cargo industry providing our customers with the highest standards of products and services. Cooperating with Cargolux who is a leading, established and specialised air cargo operator with strengths that are complementary to our own will allow us to present a broader enriched product offering and add value to our customers, said Nabil Sultan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Cargo.

Cargolux is delighted to be working with Emirates SkyCargo on this agreement. As one of the leading carriers worldwide, Emirates SkyCargo is an important player in the industry as Cargolux is, and our supplementary capabilities allow us to develop service offerings that both of us could not provide on our own, said Richard Forson, Cargolux President & CEO. Emirates SkyCargos choice of Cargolux as their preferred partner shows that our quest for quality and personal attention to customers is recognised and well received.
Aircraft types it has been cleared to work on include the Gulfstream G450/G550; Embraer 135/145 regional jets and Embraer 190/Lineage 1000. (Falcon Aviation is already an Authorised Service Centre for Embraer Executive Jets at its Abu Dhabi Al Bateen Executive Airport base.)

Falcon Aviation is also GCAA approved to provide maintenance support for the Pilatus PC-12 at DWC, complementing the support it provides to the regions first PC-12 commercial operator, GI Aviation at Al Bateen. This will give added advantage to GI Aviation as it prepares to start operating its second PC-12 in the Gulf region.

Falcon Aviations line maintenance approval at Dubai South also extends to Airbus Helicopters, including the EC130, Bell 412, Leonardo AW189, AW169 and AW109. Falcon Aviations also offering operations from the new adjacent Heliport, which formally opened last month under Falcon Aviations AOC.

We are very pleased to be expanding our expertise at our new Dubai South Base, said Falcon Aviation Director of Maintenance, Nicolas Tejera. Accordingly, we have merged our extensive AOG teams at Al Bateen with Dubai South (DWC) and have recruited and trained up more aircraft engineers so they can multi-task at either of these bases. This means we can offer our clients the flexibility they need with line support, coupled with a strong availability of inventory and spare parts.

We are offering customers easy access to reposition between Abu Dhabi and Dubai South (DWC), added Ronnie McCrae, Service Centre Manager, which will be especially convenient for helicopter operators. There are increasing constraints regarding hangar space in Dubai so our offering will be welcomed by the numerous companies we support, he added. Falcon Aviation estimates that bulk of its activity will be in supporting third party customers, versus its own charter and managed fleet.

Having embarked on a recruitment and training drive these past six months, Falcon Aviation has some 220 licensed engineers and technicians in its dedicated MRO team, reflecting the importance Falcon Aviation places on aviation services activity. It is progressing with plans to open a 20,000 sqm MRO hangar facility at DWC, on course to open at the end of 2018.

This is all part of our long-term plan to offer a full one-stop-shop offering in the region. Line maintenance and AOG support is a crucial part of that, added Nicolas Tejera: We are very excited by this challenge and are looking forward to creating a solid proposition for full service support for business aviation operators and owners in the region.

Falcon Aviation is committed to building important infrastructure in the region. Not just for its own operations, but to support others as they expand too, said Captain Raman Oberoi, Falcon Aviations COO.
Irans Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan told Reuters that an offer has been received from UK Export Finance (UKEF), Britains export credit arm. The offer could potentially financially support the purchase of some of the Airbus aircraft built on EU territory.

Not many banks are keen to finance and cooperate with Iranian airlines in fear of persisting sanctions, mostly by the US, Amin Chini, aviation expert at iranaviation.com told AeroTime. The financing issues have been solved for a number of aircraft but it still doesn't cover all of them.
According to the SITA Baggage Report 2017 releases this week, the rate of mishandled bags was 5.73 bags per thousand passengers in 2016, down 12.25% from the previous year and the lowest ever recorded.

This is good news for the rising number of passengers, which last year hit an all-time high of 3.77 billion. Since 2007, the rate of mishandled baggage has fallen 70% due to investment in technologies and process improvements by the worlds airlines and airports. Over the coming 18 months, this is expected to improve even further. IATA members, the majority of the worlds airlines, have adopted a resolution requiring every piece of checked baggage to be tracked along its journey by June 2018.

Ilya Gutlin, SITA President, Air Travel Solutions, said: It is frustrating for passengers and airlines when bags go missing but the days of not knowing where your bag is will soon to be a thing of the past. We are on the brink of a new era in airline baggage management because the worlds airlines are committing to track baggage throughout its journey. This requires data capture, management and sharing across airlines, airports and ground handlers giving a better view of where each piece of luggage is at every stage. At SITA we are providing several tracking innovations that will allow the air transport community to scale up their tracking capabilities without massive capital investments.

The IATA Resolution 753 is coming into force in June 2018 and from then every bag must be tracked and recorded at four mandatory points - at check-in; aircraft loading; at transfer between carriers; and on arrival as the bag is delivered back to the passenger. When this is in place airlines will be able to share the information with their passengers and code share partners allowing them to track their bag, just like a parcel. Having this information means passengers will stay informed and all parties involved in their journey can take action if flights are disrupted and their bags are delayed.

A critical pinch-point in the bag handling process is when passengers and their luggage need to move from one aircraft to another, or from one carrier to another. Bags have a higher risk of being mishandled at this time, particularly if connections are tight. In 2016, close to half (47%) of delayed bags were in the process of being transferred. Introducing mandatory tracking at this point of the process will provide real-time data that can be used to avoid delays.

Mishandled baggage negatively affects both the passenger experience and the airlines finances and SITAs report shows that the financial costs remain high despite the 12.25% drop in the mishandled rate. SITA reports that the global bill for recovering and reuniting passengers with their bags was in the order of US$2.1 billion in 2016.

Gutlin added: We are using technology to transform baggage management which will improve both the passenger experience and help to reduce the cost to the airlines. To be successful we need to cooperate and collaborate across the industry and challenge ourselves to find new ways of working and sharing data to upgrade the experience for air travellers and to improve operations.
Carl Hansen & Son is delighted to announce the opening of its new showroom in New Yorks Flatiron District in February 2017. The Danish furniture brand opened its first US space in 2011 in Soho and has grown its business five fold since that time. On the heels of this success and in order to grow its offering to the citys architecture and design community, the company has relocated to a new, purpose-built showroom at the centre of New Yorks emerging design district.

One of Scandinavias best-known brands, and the company behind some of the greatest furniture classics in Danish design history, Carl Hansen & Son offers the finest in classic furniture craftsmanship from Hans J. Wegner, alongside modern classics from Ole Wanscher,

Frits Henningsen, Kaare Klint, Poul Kjaerholm and most recently collaborations with contemporary designers such as Japanese architect Tadao Ando and Austrian design trio EOOS. Since Carl Hansen founded his company in Odense, Denmark in 1908, it has built its reputation on outstanding craftsmanship and the highest quality furniture.

CEO Knud Erik Hansen, who is the third generation family member running the company, says: "After years of success and significant growth in the US market, it is time to strengthen our presence in

New York with a new and larger showroom. New York is a hub for furniture design with some of the worlds best architects and interior designers working out of this design-led city. At the same time, interest in sublime craftsmanship and quality is also on the rise in the US.

Located at 251 Park Avenue South in a historic prewar building, the new 7,659 square foot, full floor space has been designed as an inspirational and loft-like apartment rather than a traditional showroom. It is comprised of three separate glass-enclosed concept rooms inspired by the New York loft interior, each with its own theme and colour palette.

These include a dedicated space for contract projects, a spotlight room celebrating Carl Hansen & Sons distinctive soft, neutral tones, and the Wegner room, which pays tribute to the brands long-standing collaboration with the legendary designer Hans J. Wegner. A dedicated materials lab will also allow architects and specifiers to review samples and finishes for their projects. Surrounding the concept spaces is a series of open lounge areas that give the showroom a relaxed, residential atmosphere. At the heart of the space is a state-of-the-art working kitchen and dining area to host regular events for the architecture and design community, as well as private clients.

"New York is a renowned centre for modern design. Our timeless aesthetic has been so well received here, perfectly complementing both contemporary and classic interiors," explains Thomas Vagner, Carl Hansen & Sons President of Americas. Our plan for the new showroom is to create a dynamic and exciting space  using it to host meetings, exhibitions and events. I look forward to bringing architects, interior designers, dealers and private customers together in our new showroom.
YEREVAN, MAY 3, ARMENPRESS. The entry of Pegasus airlines to the Armenian market has been delayed for an uncertain period of time, Sergey Avetisyan, head of the general department of civil aviation told reporters on May 3.

Yesterday we received a letter from the airline. Several technical issues appeared, and the entry of the airline to our market is being delayed for an uncertain period, he said.

Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish lowcoster. The airline had recently announced its intentions on launching direct flights from Istanbul to Yerevan three times per week.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Artsakh Republic told Armenpress on May 8 and overnight May 9 the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime over 65 times by firing more than 970 shots from various caliber small arms at the Armenian positions in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

In the southern direction of the line of contact the Azerbaijani forces fired also 60mm mortar (11 shells) and automatic grenade launcher (3 grenades).

The Defense Army forces of Artsakh took countermeasures and continued confidently conducting the military service.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan addressed a message on May 9 on the occasion of Victory and Peace Day, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress.

The message reads:

Dear Compatriots,



I cordially congratulate you on the occasion of Victory and Peace Day.

I first of all congratulate the veterans whose ranks, regrettably, diminish by year. This holiday is the perfect occasion for us to show them our profound respect and admiration. It is also an opportunity to express our gratitude to the heroic generation which went through the superhuman challenges and secured prospects of peaceful work and development for our country.

The World War II was a grave trial for many peoples of the world, including the Armenians.

Our warriors at the battlefield and our workers in heartland here in Armenia as well as our compatriots abroad withstood that trial with honor. For us, it became the Great Patriotic War indeed. We toiled with all our ability, accomplished heroic tasks which were above our abilities and brought the victory and desirable peace closer.

After May 9, 1992 this date acquired additional meaning for us.

Liberation of Shushi saved not only Stepanakert but the entire people of Artsakh from physical annihilation. This epic deed of the Armenian warriors and its compound historic significance are so overarching that are still being studied and analyzed by the researchers.

One thing became clear on May 9, 1992 and the same thing is clear today: We have not and we will not sacrifice our life and our freedom, our rights and our dignity.

Dear Compatriots,

I once again congratulate you all on the occasion of Victory and Peace Day. This is the holiday of those who stood against misanthropic propaganda and violence, and the heroes who won in that fight. The immortals are with us, and this is our common holiday.

I wish you all peace and creative work.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan on May 9 addressed a congratulatory message on the occasion of the Victory Holiday, the 25th anniversary of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Defense Army and the Liberation of Shushi.

The message runs as follows:

"Dear compatriots,

Dear veterans of the Great Patriotic and Artsakh Liberation wars,

Respected generals, officers and soldiers of the Defense Army,

On behalf of the republic's authorities and personally myself I cordially congratulate you on the Victory Holiday, the 25th anniversary of the NKR Defense Army and the Liberation of Shushi, glorious victories that our people carved in various crossroads of history due to the bravery and courage of their brave sons, their selfless love towards the Motherland.

The feat of our legendary fathers and grandfathers in the Great Patriotic War, their lives have always granted us pride and become a landmark for us leading to new victories. We have liberated Shushi having in sight their heroic example that instilled unshakable faith towards our own strength and victory of justice, taught to be steadfast and resolute, ready to struggle and determined.

The Artsakh Liberation War has become one of the greatest victories of the Armenian people in the range of our heroic battles.

Today we are twice proud as we have a worthy shift, generation of aweless young people who place above all the defense of homeland's borders and the security of the native people. They continue the work of their ancestors with great dignity leaving new examples of selflessness in the history.

Honor and glory to all our heroes!

Honor and glory to our martyrs, who have sacrificed their lives for the sacred mission of defending the Motherland!

Dear compatriots,

On this festive day I congratulate all our people in Mother Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora. Together we have carved this cherished triple holiday, together we have overcome all the difficulties and trials, paving our heroic path. It was so in the past, and so it will be forever!

I once again congratulate all of us, wishing peace, welfare and all the best!
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. Police Chief of Armenia Vladimir Gasparyan commented on the activity of former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, reports Armenpress.

Gasparyan told reporters in the Victory Park on May 9 that Ohanyan didnt act against the leadership, he just carried out an election campaign. But during the campaign mistakes are being made, the Police Chief said.

Asked what was Ohanyans mistake, Vladimir Gasparyan said: Calling Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun) as heroes: the officer has no right to make such an expression addressed to the murderer of an officer.
YEREVAN, MAY 9, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II addressed a congratulatory message on the occasion of Victory Day, the Liberation of Shushi and the foundation day of the Defense Army of Artsakh Republic, Armenpress was informed from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The message reads:

From the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, we extend our Pontifical blessings and congratulations to our faithful people, on the occasion of the day of the glorious victory of May 9, the Liberation of Shushi and the foundation day of the Defense Army of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).

This triple wonder and celebrations of May, again fill our souls with joy. Today, we reflect on and reevaluate the significant efforts that our people have made, which contributed to the victory in the Great Patriotic War and the establishment of peace in the world. This victorious day during the Artsakh Liberation struggle, our heroic sons, with unbending will and a brave spirit, liberated Shushi, which was of important strategic significance, and the center of our national culture. During those decisive days, the Defense Army was established which is the guarantee of peace and security of Artsakh.

Today, despite the peace-loving spirit of our people, the defense of the frontline continues to be urgent. Facing these war challenges, we are pledged to national unity, the prospering of the homeland is an necessity for us, as well as the strengthening of the Armenian Army, which is the guarantee of our security.

We pray that Almighty God grants comfort to the souls of our hero sons who died for the homeland, grants peace to the world, and strengthens and keeps our people and our native statehood secure, now and forever. Amen.
Investigations revealed the victim was gang-raped in a car and robbed of cash by using her ATM card before she was strangulated to death.

Pune: A Pune court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to three convicts in

the 2009 Nayana Pujari gangrape-cum-murder case.

The court yesterday found the three accused guilty, seven years after the case first came to light.

Pujari, a software engineer from an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on the evening of October 7, 2009, from Kharadi bypass, when she was waiting for transport to go home.

Two days later, the 28-year-old techie's body was recovered from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

Special Judge L L Yenkar also held the trioYogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam--guilty of robbery, misappropriation of property (possessed by the deceased) and criminal conspiracy.

Meanwhile, investigations revealed that the victim was gangraped in a car and robbed of cash by using her ATM card before she was strangulated and bludgeoned to death in the forest area.

Police probe later led to the arrest of four persons including one Rajesh Chaudhari, who later turned an approver in the case. Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar said Chaudhari was acquitted by the court.

Also, when the trial was underway, main accused Raut escaped from the Sassoon Hospital here on September 17, 2011, while being escorted to the hospital for medical treatment. He was later re-arrested from Shirdi after 20 months. 37 witnesses were examined during the trial.
It is not the first time that the company has landed in controversy for selling things related to India.

The seller goes by the name of 'DIYthinker' and is selling Vinyl wall stickers of the map for C$ 25.35. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi: Amazon Canada is once again in trouble after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader observed that the online site was selling an incorrect version of the map of India.

BJP Delhi spokesperson bjTajinder Pal S Bagga found that Amazon Canada is selling a map of India that differs from the Indian government's official one.

Bagga took to Twitter to raise concern about the vinyl wall sticker map that excludes areas disputed by Pakistan and China asking them to take it down.

"Amazon.ca is selling distorted Map of India. It's unacceptable. Remove this from ur website & stop selling immediately [sic]," Bagga Tweeted.

The product which is said to have transgressed the 2016 Geospatial Information Regulation Bill is being sold by an unknown seller who recently registered on the website.

The seller goes by the name of 'DIYthinker' and is selling Vinyl wall stickers of the map for C$ 25.35.

According to the draft, it will be mandatory to take permission from a government authority before acquiring, disseminating, publishing or distributing any Geospatial Information of India.

It proposes up to seven-year jail term and Rs 1-100 crore fine if one doesn't abide the rules.

It is not the first time that the company has landed in controversy for selling things related to India.

In January this year, Amazon had apologised for selling doormats bearing the Indian national flag on its Canadian website, and removed the product.
The delegation members appreciated the Prime Minister's stand on the issue of Triple Talaq, the statement said.

Modi's remarks came against the backdrop of CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury saying that the Prime Minister's 'campaign against triple talaq is a communal campaign'. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked Muslims not to allow the triple talaq issue to be politicised and urged a leading organisation of the community

to take the lead in initiating reform in this regard.

He made the comments while interacting with leaders of the leading Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind who called on him here.

Welcoming the members of the delegation, the PMO said in a statement that democracy's greatest strength is harmony and amity.

Emphasizing that the government does not have any right to discriminate among citizens, Modi said India's speciality has been its unity in diversity, it added.

On triple talaq, the Prime Minister reiterated that the Muslim community should not allow this issue to be politicised, the statement said.

He urged the delegation members to take the responsibility for initiating reform in this regard, the PMO said.

The delegation members appreciated the Prime Minister's stand on the issue of Triple Talaq, the statement said.

Modi's remarks came against the backdrop of CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury saying that the Prime Minister's 'campaign against triple talaq is a communal campaign'.

Modi also said that the new generation in India must not be allowed to fall victim to the rising global tide of extremism.

Praising Modi's vision, members of the delegation expressed hope that the 'nationwide trust' that he has among the people will ensure prosperity and well-being of all segments of society, the statement said.

They said that the Muslim community is keen to be an equal partner in the making of the 'New India', it said, referring to the ambition of the Prime Minister. Noting that terrorism is a major challenge, they expressed a common resolve to combat it with all their might, the PMO said.

According to the statement, they added that it is the Muslim community's responsibility that under no circumstances should anyone compromise the nation's security or well-being. They said the Muslim community would never allow any conspiracy against India to succeed.

Expressing concern at the situation in Kashmir valley, members of the delegation said that only Modi can resolve the issue.

The delegation also appreciated the implementation of minority welfare schemes under the Union Government.

Welcoming the delegation, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said the whole world is looking at India and it is the responsibility of all segments of the Indian society to take the nation forward.

Leaders from the delegation agreed with him and said the objective should be to take the country forward, together, following the Prime Minister's slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (cooperation of all, development for all), the PMO statement said.

The delegation included Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman

Mansurpuri, president of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind; Maulana Mahmood A Madani, general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i- Hind; Zahir I Kazi, president of Anjuman-i-Islam, Mumbai; Akhtarul Wasey; and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal.
Top court also bans media from publishing the content of orders passed by Justice Karnan.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan to six months in jail for contempt of court and said its order needed to be executed forthwith.

Justice Karnan is the first judge in Indian judicial history to be sent to jail.

The apex court also banned the media from publishing the content of orders passed by Justice Karnan last night by which he "sentenced" Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment.

The top court ordered the Bengal Director General of Police to arrest Justice Karnan immediately.

The 61-year-old judge earned the top courts ire after he named 20 corrupt judges in the judiciary earlier this year and demanded an investigation alleging corruption.

He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging a probe.

The Supreme Court then transferred him from the Madras High Court to Kolkata  a decision he critiqued as victimisation 'since he was a Dalit'.

Justice Karnan had on May 4 declined to undergo a mental health checkup as ordered by the Supreme Court, telling a team of doctors he was "absolutely normal" and had a "stable mind".

The apex court has taken suo motu 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.
The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday held businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order.

The apex court directed Mallya, who is presently in the United Kingdom, to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.

India had recently asked Britain to ensure early extradition of Mallya, who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

"We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said.

The order came on a plea by consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.

The apex court had on March 9 asked the liquor baron about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

The bench had reserved its order on two pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo respectively.

The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in "flagrant violation" of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.

The bench had also posed several queries to consortium of banks and asked it whether any criminal proceedings have been initiated against Mallya.

The court had asked Mallya as to why he did not disclose the receipt of USD 40 million from London-based company Diageo Plc and subsequent transfer of money to trusts to which his three children were the beneficiaries.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the banks, had contended that unless Mallya deposits USD 40 million before this court, he does not deserve to be heard and, moreover, he needed to appear personally as the contempt notice has already been issued.

The AG had also told the court that the government is seeking deportation of Mallya from the UK.

Divan had referred to various orders passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), the High Court and the Supreme Court and said that the DRT has passed a decree in favour of the banks and the amount to be recovered is approximately Rs 9,200 crores.

There was a specific order of the High Court that Mallya will not transfer or alienate any movable and immovable assets to any person, he had said.

The bench had asked as to how the decree of the DRT to recover Rs 9,200 crore would be executed, to which the AG had said "God knows, how will it get the money back," adding that Mallya has taken this court for "a ride".

The bench had also asked C S Vaidyanathan, Mallya's counsel, about the response on the contempt notice.

The lawyer had said that an application for recall of the order has been filed and according to him, no contempt is made out and hence, the plea itself can be considered as the reply.

Mallya's counsel had said the money which came from Diageo belonged to his children and not him.

The bench had shot back: "Somebody who is faced with a default of Rs 6,200 crore and suppose if he gets Rs 3,000 crore, he should have given it to repay the dues".

Vaidyanathan maintained that the USD 40 million was not covered under the injunction order.

In October last year, the court had rapped Mallya for not making full disclosure of his overseas properties and had asked him to do so within a month.

The bench had also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had allegedly received from Diageo in February last year, saying it was of the "prima facie view" that proper disclosure as per its earlier order was not made.

The banks had on August 29 last year told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets including the USD 40 million he received on February 25 from Diageo.
The SC told Bihar government to pay Rs 3 lakh relief to a rape victim whose 26-week-old foetus cannot be aborted.

The Bench said the question of payment of compensation by the state for its negligence in not taking prompt steps to abort the foetus on time will be considered in August.

New Delhi: With the AIIMS medical board in New Delhi informing that it will be difficult to allow a woman to abort an HIV-positive 26-week-old foetus, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Bihar government to pay Rs 3 lakh to the rape victim.

A Bench of Justices Dipak Misran and A.M. Kanwilkar, however, asked AIIMS to give a treatment graph for the safety of the mother and the foetus.

It asked Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna to follow the treatment to be provided by AIIMS.

The Bench said the question of payment of compensation by the state for its negligence in not taking prompt steps to abort the foetus on time will be considered in August.

Earlier, counsel Vrinda Grover appearing for the woman said that since the medical board stated that it will be dangerous to abort the foetus, steps should be taken to protect the mother, and compensation should be paid by the state as per its victim compensation scheme. The petitioner, a 35-year-old woman, sought termination of pregnancy on the ground that after being sexually assaulted, she was given rehabilitation at a women rehabilitation centre in Patna, where her pregnancy was discovered. It was also found that she is HIV-positive. She expressed her desire to terminate the pregnancy on March 4, 2017.

Then she was examined by Patna Medical College and Hospital. As nothing fruitful happened, the petitioner was compelled to move the Patna high court.

The HC took up the matter for hearing and, after referring to certain decisions of this court, came to hold that the medical board report had stated that it would be unsafe to the life of the petitioner and.

It said there is also compelling states responsibility to keep the child alive.
Jaxport CEO Eric Green said the $23.5 million grant marks a milestone in our initiatives to build the port of the future and move cargo in the most efficient and eco-friendly way possible.
Over 1,200 infra work worth Rs 15 lakh crore face delays, cost overruns.

New Delhi: Attempts by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) to personally monitor delayed infrastructure projects seemed to have had no impact. Despite constant personal monitoring by it almost on a monthly basis, especially of those projects which have been stuck for quite some time, nearly 1,200 projects with a total original cost of Rs 15 lakh crores stand delayed.

Owing to delays, their anticipated cost is likely to go up to Rs 17 lakh crores approximately and according to information available with this newspaper, the overall cost overrun will be around 11 per cent.

The grim situation regarding the 1,200 delayed projects was as on February 1, 2017 and out of these projects, 329 are showing time overruns, 293 are showing cost overruns and 95 are showing both time and cost overruns with respect to their original project implementation schedules.

Most of these are infrastructure projects related to aviation, road, rail, power, oil and gas as well as health sectors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly meetings with all secretaries of Central ministries, in which chief secretaries of states also participate through video conferencing, lays emphasis on clearing long delayed projects and get them running. The idea behind these meetings is to ensure that all bottlenecks which have been stalling these projects for a considerable period of time, can be resolved through direct interaction with departments concerned.

During these interactions, the concerned departments cite various reasons behind delays in projects. Most prominent ones among these are under-estimation of original cost, spiralling land acquisition costs, delay in land acquisition, delay in forest and environmental clearances, shortage of skilled manpower and changes in projects scope.

However, sources aware of developments said that on many occasions, during these meetings, the actual reason behind a particular delayed project does not get properly highlighted and, owing to the blame games played by departments concerned, the issues leading to the delay remain unresolved.

Highly-placed officials who are present in such meetings told this newspaper that despite Prime Ministers pro-active measure of personally monitoring these delayed projects, it is not easy to get into nitty gritties of each and every project during deliberations, owing to paucity of time and sheer number of projects. Therefore, even as several projects have been cleared due to the intervention of the PMO, the number of delayed projects remains on the higher side.
Calcutta HC judge guilty of contempt; West Bengal DGP told to arrest him.

New Delhi: In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday slapped six months of imprisonment on Calcutta high courts Justice C.S. Karnan for committing contempt of the judiciary and also the judicial process of the gravest nature.

This is for the first time that a sitting high court judge has been jailed for contempt. A bailable warrant was issued earlier to secure his presence in the court to answer contempt charges for calling certain judges corrupt, but he refused to do so. The court said the media should not publish any further statements made by him.

A seven-judge bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices Dipak Misra, J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph passed the order as the court felt that Justice Karnan by his statements and orders had committed contempt of court, which warrants strict punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act. The bench asked West Bengals DGP to constitute a team of officers to take him into custody forthwith.

On May 1, the court had ordered his medical examination in Kolkata on May 4 on the ground that he was medically unfit to defend himself to the contempt proceedings initiated on February 8 for his letters to the Prime Minister and other constitutional authorities seeking a probe against judges. But Justice Karnan refused to subject himself to the medical examination.

Additional solicitor general Maninder Singh informed the court that Justice Karnan had even on May 8 passed an order against eight SC judges. He said a message should go that this kind of conduct cannot be left unpunished and that he should be held guilty of contempt.

Taking note of this, the bench in its order said that since incidents of contempt which include public statements and press conferences made by Justice Karnan have been published by the electronic and the print media, we are of the view that no further statements made by him should be published by the media.

Earlier senior counsel Rakesh Diwedi appearing for West Bengal informed the court that a team of doctors went to the residence of Justice Karnan on May 4 and he had refused to undergo the test. The doctors have sent a report to this court to this effect.

The CJI told the counsel, The medical board has not contradicted the statement of Justice Karnan that he is medical fit, if that was so it could have informed us.

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal appearing for Madras high court said Justice Karnan had declared himself medically fit but the question is whether this court will get the blemish that a sitting HC judge will be punished.

The CJI told the counsel, We are looking at him not as a judge. He is a citizen. This case has no colour. We cant distinguish him from others as he is a sitting judge. The blemish is one against the other, whether this court can leave him.

Justice Karnan did not appear before the apex court on February 13 as directed by a seven-judge bench on February 8. He was given a second opportunity to appear on March 10. As he did not appear, a bailable warrant was issued. On March 31 he appeared but did not file his reply. He again did not appear on May 1, when a medical test was ordered. Even on Tuesday, he did not appear.
Oppn puts pressure on CM Nitish over SC order against Lalu in fodder scam case.

Patna: RJD chief Lalu Yadav suffered a major setback on Monday after Supreme Court reinstated criminal conspiracy charges against him and others in a multi-crore fodder scam case.

Mr Yadav was barred from the electoral politics after the CBI court in September 2013 had convicted and sentenced him to five years in prison in the fodder scam case involving the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7crore from Chaibasa treasury. He is currently out on bail.

The Mondays verdict also gave rise to speculation regarding a split within the Grand Secular Alliance, in which Mr Yadavs RJD is a constituent. Sensing fissures within the ruling coalition, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi challenged Mr Kumar to snap ties with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

He said, The BJP Central leaders may take decisions if he breaks his alliance with the RJD but he wont as he will be happier to see a weaker Lalu Yadav and his sons who will listen to him obediently.

The statement evoked anger within the Grand Secular Alliance and sharp reactions started pouring in against the BJP leader. Speaking on the issue JD (U) spokesperson Niraj Kumar told this newspaper that such statements are part of politics of the BJP that has been trying to create differences within the Grand Secular Alliance. He added the BJP always raised questions on the Grand Secular Alliance government in Bihar but never answered when asked about their political alignment with fodder scam convicts like Jagannath Mishra and others during the Assembly polls.

Our alliance is with the RJD and not with any particular person but they (BJP) should also come out in the open and speak about their tie-up with tainted political leaders, Niraj Kumar said.

However, Mr Modi later denied making any such statements. Earlier, Sushil Kumar Modi had alleged that Mr Yadav during his tenure as railway minister he had acquired land at a prime locations from RJD leaders in lieu of creamy posts during the UPA regime. On Saturday, the senior BJP leader had demanded action from Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar after an audio tape exposed Lalu Yadavs close nexus with mafia don Mohammad Shahabuddin.

According to political analysts, the apex courts directions may also hamper RJD chief Lalu Yadavs efforts to stitch a larger secular alliance at the national level.

RJD insider Shivanand Tiwary said: Efforts to bring all like-minded secular parties on one platform will continue and Mr Yadav is very confident to stop the BJP in 2019 if a larger secular alliance at the national level is formed.
Ministers comments came at the inaugural session of the Women Economic Forum here in response to a question on cyber stalking of women.

New Delhi: Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore on Monday asked netizens to be soldiers by not forwarding malicious content circulated by enemies on social media.

You need not wear the uniform to be a soldier of this country, you need not go to the borders now, because the enemy can actually strike in your home (through social media), he said.

The ministers comments came at the inaugural session of the Women Economic Forum here in response to a question on cyber stalking of women.

All you have to do is be aware and not forward any malicious content

or anything that you are not aware of and actually be a soldier by preventing forwarding of such information, he added.

He asked people to self-regulate, contending that governments across the world are yet to find solutions to deal with the issue of circulation of malicious content on the Internet.

He said that although the issue was being handled by the information and technology ministry, people should try to solve it at an individual level and spread the word on social network.

The Olympic medallist also called for self-regulation of media, adding the government has not taken any restrictive action against it.

Slovenias development minister Alenka Smerkolj also attended the event.

The issue of trolls harassing genuine accounts on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook has been of concern to both users and the authorities.

Cyber experts have so far been unable to control the menace of trolls. Recently, the CEO of social media giants had even hinted at state-sponsored disruptive activites on the Internet.

Facebook is one of the firms that has promised to take steps to proactively control fake news and trolls.
Akhilesh has said that his friendship with the Congress would continue, the Congress has made it clear that the alliance is over for them.

Lucknow: As the Samajwadi Party inches towards a formal split, it is the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that is more worried.

According to BSP sources, Ms Mayawati is now undecided about joining hands with SP led by Akhilesh Yadav or going with the Shivpal Yadav-led Samajwadi Secular Morcha.

Ms Mayawati, sources said, was more inclined towards SP since Akhilesh himself had made the first move by suggesting that a grand alliance with the BSP would help in stalling the BJPs victory march.

But if the Samajwadi Secular Morcha is formed with Mulayam Singh as its head, it would render any other alliance meaningless. Besides, Ms Mayawati is still not comfortable with Mr Mulayam and vice versa though she is sympathetic to Mr Shivpal Yadav, said a party leader.

The BSP president, at a party meeting last month, has told party workers that she would assess the ground support for the SP and Congress before taking the final decision regarding an alliance. The BSP, after facing serious reverses in the Lok Sabha and then the UP Assembly elections, finally seemed prepared for an alliance to regain lost glory when Ms Mayawati showed willingness joining hands with secular parties.

Another development that has further queered the pitch for the BSP is the Congress decision to part ways with SP for the municipal elections in the state.

Though Akhilesh has said that his friendship with the Congress would continue, the Congress has made it clear that the alliance is over for them.

In any case, the Mulayam faction of SP will not join hands with the Congress though the Akhilesh faction is willing.
The Leader of the Opposition urged the Mr Anil Baijal for urgent cognisance of the matter and to ensure that culprits are brought to book.

New Delhi: Following Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kapil Mishras startling claims against Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendra Jain, the Centre on Monday said that the development has completely exposed the AAP. Taking a dig at the AAPs humiliating defeat in the recent elections, Union minister of human resource development Prakash Javadekar told the media, The AAP has lost the trust and faith of the people of Delhi and the nation and the latest development has clearly exposed the former.

The Aam Aadmi Party, who boasts of zero tolerance against corruption, is now itself embroiled in all corruption related controversies, added Mr Javadekar.

A delegation of the BJP legislative party, under Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, met lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal and urged him that strict action be taken against the Kejriwal government for its involvement in serious cases of corruption.

The BJP delegation submitted documents related to the water tanker scandal to the L-G, claiming that both Sheila Dikshit and chief minister Mr Arvind Kejriwal are responsible for the Rs 400 crore scam.

Mr Kejriwal was apprised of the irregularities in the scam on August 28, 2015. However, he chose to maintain no action policy for more than a year. The guilty firms have not been black listed till date. As a result, the exchequer continues to bear a loss of Rs 6 crore per month, said the BJP delegation.

The Leader of the Opposition urged the Mr Anil Baijal for urgent cognisance of the matter and to ensure that culprits are brought to book.
The government directed to convert the single bed private rooms into twin sharing rooms so that more patients can be accommodated.

New Delhi: Following reports that some government hospitals have not waived off user charges for tests as announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last year, Delhi government has asked all hospitals under it to provide status reports on the direction.

The CM last year in February had announced that user charges for diagnostic tests and for private rooms will be waived off and medicines and diagnostic tests (MRI, CT scan) will be made free, in all state-run hospitals. User charges are nominal amounts collected by public hospitals for certain tests and imaging services.

The government directed to convert the single bed private rooms into twin sharing rooms so that more patients can be accommodated. The health minister on April 28 wrote to the health secretary about reports of some hospitals like Guru Nanak Eye Centre not following the governments directives and asked him to look into the matter. It has been brought to my notice that some hospitals are continuing with the practice of private rooms and charging for the same. Also that in certain hospitals, private rooms are only being provided to the staff of the hospitals or their relatives and other VIPs, wrote health minister Satyendar Jain to the health secretary Madhup Vyas.
Justice Kumar said various courts have passed orders for relocating venue to some other place but nothing has been done till date.

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday pulled up the Delhi government for not exploring alternative sites to Jantar Mantar for allowing protests after a plea alleged that massive noise pollution was caused due to the agitations.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said that various courts have passed orders from time to time for relocating the venue to some other place, but nothing has been done till date.

It asked the AAP government to look into the possibility of shifting the venue to Ramlila Maidan, which is also used for holding major political rallies and meetings.

"Have you ever visited Jantar Mantar? Have you ever seen the condition and plight of the residents in that area? You have laws in place. Supreme Court and Delhi High Court have already passed orders on this issue. Why don't you implement them on the ground?" the bench said.

The green panel said people were living there for months even though they are not part of the agitating lot and moreover there are stalls which provide food to protesters and 'business' was being run there.

During the hearing, Delhi government lawyer told the bench that they were ready to shift the site for protests to some other place as the police officials of the nearby Tilak Marg police station too face problems and they are not able to reach their office.

He submitted that the authorities keep a regular vigil on the protests and whenever there is any violation of the noise standards, they immediately take action.

The observations came while hearing a plea filed by Delhi resident Varun Seth and others who had alleged that processions and agitations held by social groups, political parties, NGOs at Jantar Mantar road were a major source of noise pollution in the area.

The plea had said that regular dharnas violate their right to live in a peaceful and healthy environment, 'right to silence, right to sleep and right to life with dignity.'

They had also claimed that despite law being in place which does not allow noise to cross 40 decibels, they have to bear loudspeakers which sometimes go up to as high as 300 decibels.
The victim is in the 16th week of pregnancy now.

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Monday ordered termination of pregnancy of a 15-year-old rape victim.

Justice A S Supehiya gave the order on the victim's plea, filed through her father, seeking permission for abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.

The victim is in the 16th week of pregnancy now.

The court had earlier ordered a panel of doctors from Dindayal Upadhyay General Hospital in Rajkot to examine the girl, who is from Bhayavadar town in the district.

The panel said in its report that as the victim was in early stage of pregnancy, it can be terminated legally.

"In view of the said report, a further necessary examination shall be undertaken by the team of doctors and they shall proceed for undertaking procedure for termination of the pregnancy at the earliest," the court directed on Tuesday.

The court also ordered the medical superintendent of Rajkot hospital to hand over the DNA identification report of foetus to the police for the purpose of investigation of rape case registered at Bhayavadar police station.

The accused in the case is currently in judicial custody.
A Government Resolution issued a list of 12 categories of foods which can not be sold.

Mumbai: Maharashtra government on Monday imposed a ban on sale of `High in Fat, Salt and Sugar' (HFSS) food at school canteens across the state.

A Government Resolution (GR) issued a list of 12 categories of foods which cover potato chips, noodles, carbonated soft drinks, pizza, burger, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, etc., which can not be sold.

It also gives a list of 20 items that can be sold, which include wheat roti, vegetable pulav, idli-vada, coconut water and jaljira.

The GR said the Union Government had set up a Task Force under the chairmanship of Director, National Nutrition Institute, Hyderabad to promote consumption of healthy food by children in schools and to ban sale of junk food.

The task force in its report said that junk food containing high levels of fat, salt and sugar and very little nutritional content leads to obesity, dental diseases, and diabetes and heart ailments in later life.

Taking note of recommendations of the Task Force, the state government decided to impose a ban on junk food in school canteens, the GR said.

The GR also calls for creating awareness among children about consuming nutritional food. Schools should counsel students on this, it said.

The broad list of 12 banned food categories covers following foods: fried food items like potato chips, sherbets, ice gola, carbonated soft drinks, non-carbonated soft drinks, rasgullas, gulab-jamoons, pedha, kalakand, noodles, pizza, burger, tikka, pani-puri, all kinds of toffees, chocolates and candies, jalebis, imarties, all kinds of sweets, cakes, biscuits, buns, pasteries, jams and jellies.

The food items that are allowed to be sold are: rotis made of wheat, parathas, multi-grain rotis, rice, vegetable pulavs, rice with cereals and pulses, rice and black gram, halva made out of wheat with channa, sweet daliya, rice with rajma, idli-vada sambar, kheer, firni, milk and milk products like curds, lassi and buttermilk, vegetable sandwich, vegetable khichadi, coconut water, shikanji, jaljira.
After the apex courts decision, 16,301 shops were slated to be shut down.

The state has found a way to protect the interests of the shop owners.

Mumbai: The state governments move to denotify highways in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to ban the sale of liquor within a radius of 500 metres from national highways has protected 1,268 liquor shops in the state.

After the apex courts order, the state government immediately found a way to protect the interests of the shop owners by referring to a notification that was issued on June 9, 2011. As per the notification of the Public Works Department (PWD), on the request of local civic bodies, the state government could denotify national and the state highways. The civic bodies have no norms for the sale of liquor along the roads under their jurisdiction.

After the apex courts decision, 16,301 shops were slated to be shut down. However, the state governments move to denotify highways run by MMRDA and local bodies has protected 318 liquor shops in Mumbai alone.

The MMRDA came forward to acquire Mumbai highways so that sell of liquor around it can continue. In Mumbai, 318 shops were protected, and across the state, total 1,268 liquor shops got a new lease of life, the data from the excise department said. More highways would be denotified in coming days on the request of the local bodies, an official from the excise department said on condition of anonymity.

The Supreme Courts directions are aimed at reducing drunk driving accidents. As per the orders, the licences of shops that are within 500 metres of national highways will not be renewed after March 31, 2017.
Sena leadership wants to make inroads into this BJP bastion by raising farmers issues.

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena is going to kick off the second phase of its Shiv Sampark Abhiyan from Vidarbha on May 14. The region became stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after it wrested it away from the Congress in aftermath of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls in 2014. However, the Sena leadership wants to make inroads into this BJP bastion by raising farmers issues.

Farmer suicides have remained one of the major issues of the region, especially in Yavatmal district, party sources said.

The Shiv Sena had started the movement last week to connect with farmers in the states Marathwada region where cases of farmers suicides have been increasing. In the second phase, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray himself will visit Vidarbha on May 14 and 15 to take a stock of the situation, a party leader said.

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had recently concluded a similar campaign to turn farmers against the BJP-led government. The campaign received a good response in its later stage. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis too had ordered his workers to go among the people and take stock of their problems.

Taking a cue from the Opposition and the BJP, the Sena has decided to reach out to farmers and win their trust by championing their cause. from May 14
Kejriwals ambitions seem to march ahead faster than his ability and experience as a political leader and administrator.

The recent charges of corruption levelled by Kapil Mishra against Arvind Kejriwal, questioning the personal integrity of the self-proclaimed messiah of the anti-corruption crusade, adds to a list of controversies that the Aam Aadmi Party faces since it took office in Delhi two years ago. As the AAP seems to be collapsing under the weight of alleged misdeeds and controversies, one wonders what went wrong with the party and its firebrand leader, Mr Kejriwal, who had caught the nations imagination ever since the AAP was launched in November 2012. There seems to be major structural deficiencies within the party, glaring contradictions in its polity and style of functioning.

Its an undisputed fact that the AAP begins and ends with Mr Kejriwal. Anyone daring to question him must go. If just after coming to power, some founding members like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan are humiliated and shown the door, it not only shows the AAPs inability to absorb dissent, but also raises questions on the sanctity of principles like internal democracy and transparency in decision-making  the fundamentals on which the AAP was formed.

Personality cults are nothing new in Indian politics. Such cults grew around late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, as well as current PM Narendra Modi. There are also regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee and the late J. Jayalalithaa. However, a cult grew around these leaders only after they had been in politics for years, with substantial political or administrative achievements to showcase. Indira Gandhi had her moment of triumph in the Bangladesh liberation war, and again her glorious re-emergence after the post-Emergency debacle. Mr Modi had his Gujarat model of development to showcase, whether real or perceived is another matter. Ms Banerjee had to fight on the streets of West Bengal for over 25 years to demolish the Left Front. Jayalalithaa was a AIADMK general secretary and Rajya Sabha member before she took control of the party and introduced her own brand of politics with populist pro-poor schemes like the Amma canteens. While Mr Kejriwal could identify and ride on the peoples anger against the perceived corruption of the incumbent government in particular and the functioning of traditional parties in general, his cult was developed on the basis of hope; not on past achievements, but on the promise of future delivery. But after taking office, he could not deliver on his promises and meet voters expectations. Mere rhetoric cant sustain a personality cult for long. The bubble was bound to burst sooner rather than later.

Mr Kejriwals ambitions seem to march ahead faster than his ability and experience as a political leader and administrator. He had his Veni, Vidi, Vici moment in Delhi. But to replicate that in other states, he needed far more than free wi-fi promises and a Rs 526-crore advertisement budget. Political parties need to have a solid grassroot organisation with strong local leadership, which is something that cant be built overnight. Effectively, there are only two national parties in India  the Congress and the BJP. The Congress is Indias oldest party, while the BJP had to struggle for years to reach where it has today. From 1984, where it had just two Lok Sabha seats and not a single state government, it has taken the party 33 years to reach its current position. The AAP lacks a solid organisational base and credible local leadership in the states where it wants to fight elections. It is working in reverse order; not giving enough time to build an organisation and local leadership and then fight elections, but first deciding on the states where it wants to contest, and then trying to gather followers, mostly a bunch of inexperienced opportunists. One cant win elections, as Mr Kejriwal hoped to do in Punjab and Goa, with imported leaders and volunteers from Delhi.

The AAP has not provided any vision or alternative ideology to replace the existing national parties. The sole agenda of anti-corruption cant substitute for a substantive political ideology. Anti-corruption should in fact be the one of the most basic and natural components for any political party. Which party would say its not against corruption? Its not the words, but deeds that count. In just two years, the allegations of corruption and nepotism now tumbling out of the AAPs cupboard put it at par with much older traditional parties.

Mr Kejriwals style of politics, that put him in power, is also now backfiring. The politics of confrontation might be suitable while in Opposition, it doesnt help in running a government. His personal attacks on political rivals, including the Prime Minister, indicate an intellectual inability to analyse, criticise or attack at policy levels. The constant blame game is an attempt to hide his inexperience and inability to govern. Lets not forget India has a federal system that allows different parties heading the Centre and various state governments to co-exist and govern. While parties may fight, there has to be cooperation and coordination between governments to ensure smooth governance. Delhi has a complex administrative structure, but earlier governments have functioned and delivered under these same complexities.

The chikungunya and dengue epidemics, the garbage strewn on the streets, the repeated strikes by government employees over non-payment of salaries, ceaseless controversies over forged degrees, nepotism, corruption charges against senior leaders, with the latest allegation being against Mr Kejriwal personally, the decline in revenue collection in past two years that puts Delhi in danger of becoming a revenue-deficit state from a revenue-surplus one, the constant bickering and blame games have punctured the myth of the AAPs good governance. The party seems to be collapsing like a house of cards under the weight of myriad controversies, internal rebellion and its own overambitious agenda. Only time will tell if its leader has the political acumen and ability to pull it out of the current mess, or whether the AAP will also follow many other erstwhile parties into oblivion and become a mere footnote in Indias contemporary political history.
Indian Marxists, like their comrades elsewhere, are a threatened species.

The problem is that these three are the ones they count among the 59 per cent that didnt vote for the BJP.

As a dalit student from Maharashtra who became a Buddhist, my friend Chandan Kamble was curiously sceptical of Marxism. He was sinfully prankish and was never bereft of a wild observation about anyone. He was at his acerbic best when within earshot of a dyed-in-the-wool Communist. In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, its the other way around. The kindergarten lines were deliberately parcelled and farmed out depending on the moment, and Chandan was a practitioner of precision timing, like a jester in a serious play.

I have no idea where Chandan has disappeared. We were in the same hostel at JNU. A common JNU friend in Princeton said he last saw him years ago in a US university campus, possibly Harvard. Why am I suddenly thinking of the missing Mahar friend whose cryptic homilies on politics and Marxism, in particular, I indulged but disagreed with? A possible answer lies in the question itself.

Why did the Marxists shun dalits as dalits? They worked hard to get the dalit students priority in admission and so forth. Yet there was a pronounced aloofness at an intellectual level, a palpable snobbery. Or was it because B.R. Ambedkar had poured vitriol on Indian Marxists in his great work on the revival of the dalit cause? If that was so, why didnt any comrade woo the lowest in the caste heap to his or her side, ignoring or critiquing Ambedkar if they had a valid argument?

What puzzles me equally is the shocking ability of the BJP to woo dalits  in Gujarat, in Uttar Pradesh and so forth. It is perhaps this worry that has sent me cartwheeling into the past. Here is a perfectly casteist party, one that Ambedkar would have loathed. And his followers are today marching mindlessly into the Hindutva fold.

Of course, there is Chanakyas wily wisdom at play. Divide and rule, Emperor Chandraguptas brahmin counsellor had decreed, way before the advent of colonialism of any stripe. It worked in Uttar Pradesh last month. Jatav versus non-Jatav dalits; Yadav versus non-Yadavs among the OBCs; something similar with Muslims is afoot. Thats BJP. What about the Marxists?

Indian Marxists, like their comrades elsewhere, are a threatened species. The BJP is out to swallow their two remaining hubs  one in the tiny tribal state of Tripura and the other, of course, Kerala, the redoubtable Communist bastion. One should have thought that the BJP was a cause for serious worry. But the Marxists seem to have different priorities. They look keener to bring down the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, possibly in cahoots with the Congress. The BJP would be only too happy to let them do its dirty work.

The thought is horrifying for the sheer lack of sensitivity. The Marxists took a lead in fighting Indira Gandhis Emergency, and they were a source of strength to the movement that ended in the Janata Party experiment. The experiment included the BJP then called the Jan Sangh. And the first thing that the Janata Party government did was to ban school textbooks on history that were authored by Romila Thapar, R.S. Sharma and Bipan Chandra.

The ground was laid in 1978 for the assault on Wendy Donigers study of Hinduism and A.K. Ramanujans Three Hundred Ramanayas  a brilliant research of the diverse Rama legends. The Marxists didnt give up here, as they again came together with the BJP to shore up an anti-Congress V.P. Singh government in 1989.

For better or worse, they then came up with the formula of supporting non-BJP, non-Congress parties and alliances. There are three that fit the bill. They are Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, the Lalu-Nitish coalition in Bihar and the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. All three are targeted by the BJP. The Congress too has joined the expedition in two, barring Bihar, where it is a junior partner in the state government. The Marxists set up candidates against all three.

The problem is that these three are the ones they count among the 59 per cent that didnt vote for the BJP. The three are also those that stopped the BJP juggernaut. All three are accused of corruption by the BJP, a ruse that is seen as a first step towards their dismissal.

Any sane observer of the unfolding Indian scenario would have thought that it was time all Opposition parties came together as they once came up against Indira Gandhi. What is happening instead is that one by one the non-Congress and non-BJP governments, including the Left Front, are coming in the cross hairs of the Modi establishment.

It is worrying that the main Marxist groups  and not to forget the Congress  seem to believe that the threat posed to Indias democracy by the BJP is comparable with Ms Banerjees rule in West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwals in Delhi.

By arrangement with Dawn
Clinton has written a string of books, including his post-office 2004 best-selling memoir My Life.

Clinton is collaborating with bestselling US author James Patterson on "The President is Missing" to be published in June 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company. (Photo: File)

New York: Bill Clinton might have hoped to spend this year back in the White House as America's "first gentleman," should his wife Hillary have won the 2016 election.

Instead, the two-term Democratic president is moving into fiction, writing his first thriller about drama behind the scenes in the White House, his publishers announced Monday.

Clinton is collaborating with bestselling US author James Patterson on "The President is Missing" to be published in June 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company.

The book "will offer readers a unique amalgam of intrigue, suspense and behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power. It will be informed by insider details that only a president can know," the publishers announced.

It is certainly the world familiar to the 70-year-old, one of America's most popular former presidents but whose eight-year administration was clouded by his 1998 impeachment over an affair with a White House intern.

"Working on a book about a sitting president -- drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works -- has been a lot of fun," said Clinton.

"And working with Jim has been terrific." The best-selling author of "Kiss the Girls" and "Along Came a Spider" has sold more than 350 million books and holds the Guinness World Record for the most number one New York Times bestsellers, his website says.

He called his Clinton collaboration "the highlight" of his career. "Having access to his first-hand experience has uniquely informed the writing of this novel," said Patterson. "I'm a story-teller and ex-president Clinton's insight has allowed us to tell a really interesting one."

Forbes values Patterson at USD 95 million, calling him publishing's richest and busiest penman who produces more than a dozen books a year with co-authors.

Clinton has written a string of books, including his post-office 2004 best-selling memoir "My Life."
The North Korean Kim Jong-un leader is quite possibly the world's youngest ruler.

Paris: Emmanuel Macron, who is 39 years old, will join the ranks of the world's youngest leaders when he is inaugurated as president of France on Sunday. Other leaders past and present, elected and otherwise, were even younger when they came to power. Among the leaders who were under 45 when they took office are:

Moammar Gadhafi, Libya: The late Libyan leader was 27 when he seized power in 1969. The dictator held on to power until he was ousted in 2011. He was captured and killed a few months later.

Fidel Castro, Cuba: The Cuban revolutionary leader, who died last year, was 32 when his rebel forces took control of Cuba. He ruled for nearly five decades as one of the world's last communist leaders.

Kim Jong Un, North Korea: The North Korean leader is quite possibly the world's youngest ruler. But, like so much about his country, his exact age remains something of a mystery. He is thought to be 32 or 33. Kim, the third generation in North Korea's ruling dynasty, assumed power in December 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.

Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua: Ortega was 33 when he became a leader of the junta that ran Nicaragua after the Sandinista revolution ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza in July 1979. In November 1984, just before his 39th birthday, Ortega was elected president. He was voted out in 1990 and then won re-election in 2006, 2011 and 2016.

Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt: Nasser was 38 when he became president of Egypt in 1956. He nationalized the Suez Canal and championed the pan-Arab cause, becoming one of the world's most prominent anti-imperialist figures by the time of his death in 1970.

Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Iceland: In Iceland, Gunnlaugsson became prime minister at 38 in 2013. He resigned in 2016 after details of his offshore financial holdings were revealed in the Panama Papers leak.

Rajiv Gandhi, India: Gandhi was catapulted to India's highest office at age 40 when his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in 1984. He began his premiership with promises of modernizing India's creaking government. Within a few years, he was forced to resign amid allegations of taking bribes in an arms deal. He was assassinated in 1991 while campaigning to return to office.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey: Ataturk, the revered founder of the Republic of Turkey, was 42 when he became the country's first president in 1923. The revolutionary leader's last name means "Father of the Turks."

John F. Kennedy, United States: Kennedy was the youngest person ever elected to the presidency of the United States. The wealthy senator and war hero was 43 when he took the oath of office in 1961. But he was not the youngest U.S. president ever - that was Theodore Roosevelt, who was 42 when he took over after the assassination of President William McKinley.

Justin Trudeau, Canada: Trudeau was elected as Canada's prime minister in 2015, when he was 43. Like Rajiv Gandhi, he had a strong family connection to the office. His father, Pierre Trudeau, also served as prime minister.

Tony Blair and David Cameron, Britain: Blair was 43 when he was elected Britain's prime minister in 1997 - the country's youngest leader since 42-year-old Lord Liverpool in 1812. Cameron was also 43, but a few months younger than Blair, when he became Britain's leader in 2010. Things did not end well for either: Blair led the Labour Party to three straight victories, but was discredited for joining the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Cameron resigned last year after failing to convince Britons to remain in the European Union.
Abbas met Trump in Washington last week for their first face-to-face talks.

Ramallah: Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday Donald Trump was expected to visit the Palestinian territories "soon" and that he was ready to meet Israel's prime minister as part of the US president's peace efforts.

Trump is expected in Israel later this month as part of his first foreign trip and the Palestinian president said "we are looking forward to his visit soon to Bethlehem" in the occupied West Bank, with speculation it will occur on May 23.

"We told him that we were ready to collaborate with him and meet the Israeli PM (Benjamin Netanyahu) under his auspices to build peace," Abbas told reporters during talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Abbas met Trump in Washington last week for their first face-to-face talks. Trump announced last week that his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican -- the spiritual centres of Islam, Judaism and Catholicism.

The stop in Israel is expected on May 22, though it has not been officially confirmed. A senior Trump aide last week did not rule out the possibility of a presidential visit to the West Bank, but said that it was likely to be contingent on security and Abbas taking concrete steps toward peace.

Trump has been seeking ways to restart moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. As he hosted Abbas in Washington, Trump confidently predicted that a peace agreement was within grasp, brushing aside the complexities of a decades-old conflict that has bedevilled successive US leaders.

Embassy move

Abbas said Tuesday that "we told him again of our commitment to a peace based on justice, with international resolutions and the two-state solution as references."

Trump has however sent mixed signals over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He backed away from the US commitment to the two-state solution -- Israel and an independent Palestinian state side-by-side -- when he met Netanyahu in February.

He said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting Israeli right-wingers who want to see their country annex most of the occupied West Bank.

Trump also vowed during his campaign to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, a prospect that alarmed Palestinians but which has been put on the back burner for now.

At the same time, he has urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

One of Trump's top advisers, Jason Greenblatt, held wide-ranging talks with both Israelis and Palestinians during a visit in March.
Deleting the suggestion to rename the project will most likely continue to impact bilateral ties between India and China.

Luo said that China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. (Photo: PTI)

Beijing: Soon, the day after Beijing proposed to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, to allay Indias concerns, it made a U-turn. The portion of the speech made by Chinese envoy to India, Luo Zhaohui, which offered to rename the project, has been removed from the governments website on Tuesday.

Luo, in his address at the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi on Friday, had said that China is ready to change the name of CPEC passing through PoK. Luo while denying China's involvement in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, said the CPEC is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity.

"It (CPEC) has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. Even we can think about renaming the CPEC. China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. China is sincere in its intention to cooperate with India on the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, as it is good for both of us," he said.

Citing China's earlier measures to help tackle issues related to Kashmir, Luo said contrary to media reports of aiding Pakistan, China's initiatives focus more on reaping its own benefits rather than supporting the stance of any other nation. "We always put China first and we deal with problems based on their own merits," he said.

It is not clear why the statement has been removed. According to a Hindustan Times report, the move came a week ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs visit to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum (BRF).

The report said that there could be a possibility of Pakistan having raised an objection at the suggestion since the CPEC connects Kashgar to Pakistans Gwadar city.

It is also not clear whether Luo made the suggestion independently. The idea of renaming the corridor was to address Indias concern that the name violates its sovereignty since it passes through PoK.

The deletion of the line, however, clearly indicates that the CPEC will continue to impact bilateral ties between India and China. On Sunday, Pakistan and China agreed to jointly oversee the CPEC and ensure transparency in the project as an agreement in this regard was signed between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Beijing.

A combined initiative focusing on enhancing economic cooperation between China and Pakistan, the CPEC is being hailed to create 85,000 jobs for Pakistani youth. It is being facilitated to modernise infrastructure and transport networks in Pakistan through the creation of special economic zones and energy projects.

The initial proposal was made in April 2015 during Chinese President Xi Jinping's official state visit to Pakistan.

On April 20, 2015, Pakistan and China signed an agreement to commence work on the USD 46 billion agreement, with approximately USD 28 billion worth of fast-tracked projects to be developed by the end of 2018.
China also said that Beijing respects New Delhi's dominion-related concerns, and is willing to mediate in India-Pakistan disputes.

According to the daily, China has no regional or military hegemonistic designs and only advocates peaceful development. (Photo: AP/File)

Hong Kong (China): In an editorial, a state-run Chinese daily has cautioned India not to "exaggerate" its concerns over the USD 51 billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or to "overly interpret" or be anxious about China's military development.

An opinion piece appearing in the state-run Global Times said, "India is viewing Beijing and Islamabad as potential threats and is suspicious of Beijing's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)."

The daily further goes on to say that Beijing respects New Delhi's dominion-related concerns, and is willing to mediate in India-Pakistan disputes, but on the condition that the wishes of both India and Pakistan are addressed.

According to the daily, China has no regional or military hegemonistic designs and only advocates peaceful development.

The comments in the wake of India's Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, recently airing the view of the need for New Delhi to enter into strategic and defence-related partnerships with countries in its vicinity such as Iran and Afghanistan to counter any threat from either China or Pakistan without naming these two countries.

These comments also assume significance in view of the fact that later this month China will be hosting a key summit on OBOR in which at least 28 heads of state and government, including the prime ministers of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have confirmed participation.

The article says, "Instead of being overly concerned about China's rise, New Delhi should consider taking or playing an early role in B and R initiative. China's infrastructural initiative will not only bring economic benefits but also fulfil India's ambition to be an influential economic power in the region."

The OBOR initiative includes a maze of road, rail and port projects through a number of countries to connect mainland China to markets in Asia and Europe.

While the CPEC is highlighted as the "flagship project" of the initiative, it also includes the Bangladesh-China- India-Myanmar (BCIM), New Eurasian Land Bridge, China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
by Mathias Hariyadi

The Jakarta governor has been brought to Cipinang Prison. The sentence is hasher than the demands of the public prosecutors. The case divided the nation and gave force to radical Islamic groups. The contrast between radical movements and moderate groups underscored. The political situation is not beneficial to President Joko Widodo.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The North Jakarta district court has declared outgoing governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama guilty of blasphemy for suggesting that some people have abused a Koranic verse to block his re-election. The college of judges led by Dwiarso Budi Santiarso sentenced Ahok to two years in prison for this offense. The Christian governor, whose mandate expires in October, has announced that he will appeal the verdict.

Originally Ahok was accused of blasphemy in accordance with Article 156a of the Criminal Code and defamation under Article 156. Prosecutors, however, had dropped the blasphemy charge in their request for a judgment, saying there was no evidence that the governor committed blasphemy. They therefore requested that Ahok be sentenced to two years with the conditional release and one year of imprisonment if he recommitted the offense.

The allegation of blasphemy against Ahok has divided the nation and has given force to radical Islamic groups. It was in fact instrumental in the defeat of the outgoing governor in the government elections of 19 April. In a speech to the Thousand Islands Regiment last September, Ahok had stated that some people were "deceived" by those who use the Al-Maidah 51 for political purposes. Some religious believe that the Koranic verse prohibited Muslims from electing a non-Muslim leader.

The verdict has stirred controversy throughout the country. Most people express feelings of anxiety and comment that the ruling is unjust, given the undue pressure exerted on the five district court judges by Ahok's political opponents. What is striking is that the sentence is far harsher than the demands of prosecutors.

During the final hearing today, Ahok explained that the court has politically distorted the nature of his meeting with the local people in Thousand Islands in September 2016. The judge said that instead of discussing fisheries issues among fishermen Local, Ahok has deliberately "diverted" the problem by making offensive comments that were not "related" to his intention to meet locals.

With Ahok in jail, the Jakarta governorate will be handed over to his deputy Djarot Saiful Hidayat, a nationalist figure of the Indonesian Democratic Party (Pdip) until October 2017. From then on, Anies Baswedan's mandate will begin. In the last elections he defeated the out-going governor thanks to the support of Islamic fundamentalist movements.

While his lawyers try to file a lawsuit at the District State Court for a lighter sentence, Ahok is now being held in Cipinang, the largest detention facility in East Jakarta.
A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression.
In communion with the pope in Fatima for the centenary of the apparitions, Aleppo Christians pray for the end of the war. For Bishop Audo, this will be a moment of "hope" and "testimony" of a faith that is strong in times of hardships. The event will show unity among the various confessions. Thousands of believers are expected. People can respond to violence "with fanaticism or communion; the Church chose the second.

Aleppo (AsiaNews)  The Christian community in Syria's second largest city is preparing to celebrate Our Lady of Fatima and consecrate the city to her.

For Antoine Audo, Chaldean Archbishop of Aleppo, who spoke to AsiaNews, this will be a time of "hope" for Christians, who will bear witness to a faith that remains "strong in times of hardships, but also a time of shared "community" feelings, fuelled by years of bloody war that "strengthened" unity among the various confessions.

This event coincides with Pope Francis's apostolic journey to Fatima, Portugal, on 12 and 13 May, for the centenary of Virgin's apparitions to the three shepherds.

"It must be said that the whole month of May is important for Aleppos Christian communities, the prelate said. All the churches are full of worshippers who pray the Rosary, approach the Eucharist, and recite litanies. This is a very important time of prayer and communion around Mary, a pleasant tradition rooted in time."

In fact, the people of Aleppo "love popular devotion a lot". They want to "participate" and perpetuate a "long tradition" that unites churches and families around Mary. This, he adds, "is very beautiful because it creates an atmosphere of serenity. May is the privileged month to pray for peace, for the end to all conflicts."

The three days of celebrations dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima in Aleppo  on the initiative of the Latin parish of St Francis  will begin on Thursday 11 May, with a community prayer at 5 pm.

This will be followed throughout the next day by the recitation of the Rosary, invocations for peace to Our Lady, films and screenings devoted to the Virgin, and community Masses.

The climax of the celebration will come on Saturday, 13 May, in conjunction with the papal Mass in Fatima, when a solemn Eucharistic co-celebration will take place, attended by all the bishops and priests present in Aleppo.

Believers from over every Christian confession in northern Syrias largest city are invited to the service. What was the epicentre of the Syrian conflict will be consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima, following a procession with the statue of Our Lady.

This highly symbolic gesture will be carried out with the hope that it can help restore peace not only in Syria but throughout the Middle East after decades of conflicts.

"The climax, Mgr Audo said, will be the solemn Eucharistic co-celebration in the Franciscan cathedral, to which all Christian denominations are invited, in communion with Pope Francis. This will be followed by the procession inside and outside of the church, led by the statue of Our Lady gifted by the Sanctuary of Fatima. The statue arrived in the city a few days ago. It will be a beautiful function, a time of celebration for up to 3,000 faithful."

"The consecration of Aleppo to Mary and the theme of peace are a source of hope and a sign of our presence, the Chaldean bishop said. We want to take advantage of the event to renew the themes of dialogue, unity and outreach not only between the different Christian denominations, but also with Muslims by taking advantage of the vast echo created by the popes visit to Egypt. People are still talking about it, a testimony made of gestures rather than words."

For Mgr Audo, people could have responded to the tragedy of war "with fanaticism or communion: the Church helped to choose the latter. The faith of Christians is solid and strong, and this leads to optimism, even if uncertainties and shadows for the future still remain.

Next weekend, Pope Francis will travel to the Portuguese town to mark hundred years since the apparitions.

On 13 May 1917, as the Great War raged in Europe, a Lady appeared to three children  Lucia dos Santos, 10, Jacinta Marto, 7, and Francisco Marto, 9, Jacinta's brother and Lucia's cousin. She was dressed in white with a rosary in her hand, and was identified as Our Lady. In 1930, the Catholic Church proclaimed the supernatural character of the apparitions and authorised worship.

A shrine was built in Fatima, first visited by Pope Paul VI on 13 May 1967 for the 50th anniversary of the apparitions. Saint John Paul II, who was close to Fatimas Marian tradition, came on a pilgrimage to the Portuguese town more than a few times.

The apparitions  which fall within the category of private revelations  are also linked to the secrets of Fatima, which are in fact a single revelation divided into three parts. (DS)
The Spirit guides us to do no wrong, but to receive the spirit with docility, to know the Spirit in the Word and to live according to the Spirit. This is the opposite of the resistance for which Stephen scolded the doctors of the law: You always have resisted the Spirit!

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis celebrated Mass this morning in Casa Santa Marta, offered to the nuns of the house itself, who today celebrate their foundress, Saint Louise de Marillac. During the service he noted that the attitude to receive the Word is docility, openness of the heart, and familiarity with it, an attitude shown by those who do not resist the Holy Spirit.

Todays readings, from the Acts of the Apostles, note that Stephens martyrdom was followed by a great wave of persecution in Jerusalem. Only the apostles remained, whilst lay believers fled to Cyprus, Phoenicia and Antioch, where they proclaimed the Word only to the Jews.

However, in Antioch, some of them began to proclaim Jesus Christ also to the Greeks, i.e. "to the pagans", because they felt that the Holy Spirit urged them to do so. "They were docile, the pope said, Lay people brought the Word after the persecution because they had this docility vis-a-vis the Holy Ghost. "

In the first chapter of his Letter, James exhorted believers "to receive the Word with docility". People must be open, "not rigid". The first step on the path of docility is therefore to "receive the Word, which opens the heart".

The second thing to do is to "know the Word", "to know Jesus", who said "My my sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. They know because they are docile to the Spirit.

The third step to undertake is "familiarity with the Word. To always bring the Word with us. To read it, to open our hearts to the Lord, open our hearts to the Spirit who makes us understand the Word. And the fruit of this  to receive the Word, to understand the Word, to take it with us, to have this familiarity with the Word  is a great fruit! A person who does this displays goodness, kindness, joy, peace, self -control and meekness.

This is the style that gives docility to the Spirit. But I have to receive the Spirit which brings me the Word with docility. And this docility, by not resisting the Spirit, brings me this way of living, this way of acting. To receive the Word with docility, to know the Word and call to the Spirit to grant us the grace to understand and then to give space for this seed to sprout and grow into this attitude of goodness, meekness, gentleness, peace, charity and self-control. All this shows a Christian attitude.

According to the First Reading, when news arrived in Jerusalem that people from Cyprus and Cyrene had announced the Word to the pagans in Antioch, people were a bit frightened and sent Barnabas there, wondering, the pope said, why the Word was being preached to the uncircumcised, and why "these people we do not know" preached it instead of the apostles.

"Whats great," said the Pope, is that when Barnabas arrived in Antioch and saw "the grace of God," he rejoiced, urging people "to remain resolute, loyal to the Lord" because he was a man full of the Holy Spirit ".

The Spirit guides us to do no wrong, but to receive the spirit with docility, to know the Spirit in the Word and to live according to the Spirit. And this is the opposite of the resistance for which Stephen scolded the doctors of the law: You always have resisted the Spirit! Do we resist the spirit? Do we create resistance? Or do we receive him? With docility. These are Jamess words. To receive with docility. Resistance is the opposite of docility. Let us call for this grace.

The Pope ended his homily by noting that in Antioch, we were given our last name". In Antioch, the disciples were called Christians for the first time.
Russian Energy Minister agrees with partners' efforts to "rebalance the market". He adds that the initiative is "effective". The Saudi counterpart "confident" that the agreement could be "extended" for the second half of the year. Opec's decisions are expected at the next meeting scheduled for May 25th.

Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world's leading oil industry leaders, yesterday reached a major deal on extending crude oil production ahead of the Opec summit scheduled for the end of the month. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak points out that Moscow "is in solidarity" with the "efforts of our partners" in an effort to "rebalance the market" and considers that the "joint initiative" aimed at "stabilizing" the world's crude oil market "is effective".

"We are discussing the various options," he adds, "and we believe that an extension for a longer period will help accelerate the return of more favorable conditions to markets."

Speaking at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falib says he was "confident enough" that the agreement can be "extended" throughout the second half of the year and "possibly even beyond ". He adds that the group of producer countries is "determined" in doing everything possible to "reach the goal" to bring the levels back to "the five-year average."

Last November, the Opec oil exporting cartel (Opec) decided to cut crude production of 1.2 million barrels a day in the next six months to boost the price, in downfall since 2014. The measure should have been in force for six months from January.

The move was followed, at least in part, by nations that do not belong to OPEC and are led by Russia. It remains to be seen whether the cartel will decide to extend the measure for another six months in the context of the next summit to be held on 25 May.

Last week, oil prices fell below $ 50 a barrel. The price was affected by global concerns about the effectiveness of cuts as a way of reducing inventory levels. On a worldwide scale, demand and supply of crude oil began to re-emerge, with the decisive contribution of Russia and Opec. However, according to analysts in the second half of the year there is a sharp decline in inventories.
The nuclear threat, the economic crisis and the park's impeachment have resulted in a 10 percentage point vote rate higher than in 2012. The favorite candidate, Moon Jae-in, opens a dialogue with North Korea, which make a suggestion for his candidacy

Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies)  There is already a record turnout at South Korean presidential elections, according to the National Election Commission, which underlines the strong public interest in the election of the new president who will lead the country over the next five years.

After the first case in the country's history of deposing a president for corruption, turnout reached 55.4% by midday, seven hours after the opening of the polls. 26.06% who participated in the special voting section last week for those who are unable to go to the polling booths must be added to this figure. The participation rate is 10.1 percentage points higher than the 45.3 percent registered at the same time during the last presidential elections in 2012. If the participation rate exceeds 80 percent, it will be comparable to the record of the 1997 presidential elections.

The number of voters is also high: in fact, 42.48 million have the right to vote, 82% of the population of 51 million people. South Koreans must choose between 13 candidates, but the challenge lies between Democratic candidate Moon Jae-in, given as a favorite, and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, judged by pollsters as his main challenger.

The election was called to vote after the corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye. "I have heard the people's serious desire is for government change and create a country worthy of this name," Moon told reporters at the polling station set up in a high school in the capital where he went with his wife to vote.

This election campaign is closely monitored by international public opinion given the growing tensions with North Korea and the economic crisis. Internal security has been a constant concern at all stages of the electoral campaign. Moon wants to increase dialogue with North Korea, while maintaining pressures and sanctions, in contrast to the policies of former leader Park who cut almost all ties. He therefore criticized the two previous conservative administrations because they did not prevent the development of North Korean armaments.

On the other hand, North Korea has made a clear suggestion of who it would like to be the winner of these elections. A party daily editorial argued that the current North and South relationship was built by the conservative South Korean groups that have been in power for the past ten years and who "have maximized political and military rivalry within the same people" . A position in favor of Moon, who in the past was one of the architects of the so-called Sunshine Policy, when Pyongyang and Seoul were able to communicate and collaborate. A policy that stopped in 2008 when North Korea began experimenting with nuclear devices but had already received a hard blow in 2006 when South Korea stopped sending aid to the North.

On the economic front, the program appears the same for all candidates, namely the need to protect the fragile recovery of the fourth most important production sector in Asia and to reduce the youth unemployment that is steadily growing. There were also many pledges to put a stop to the privileges of the South Korean political class and to reform the family conglomerates - chaebols - that dominate the domestic economy.
Maui Vacation Tips: where to stay Last fall my husband and I took a trip to Hawaii to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. Selecting an island to visit was no easy feat. We contemplated the pros of each Hawaiian island, and really you cant go wrong with any of them, but eventually decided on Maui. We stayed for 7 nights and spent the entire week exploring every part of the island we could. If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat, you often see photos and live videos of our travels. Today Im sharing the first part of our trip to Hawaii and discussing the most commonly asked question  where did we stay. Weve had several friends and family members ask about our hotel and today Id like to share our experience with you. When it comes to selecting a hotel I tend to go with trusted brands that Im familiar with and have had great experience with in the past. We heard wonderful things about the Westin Maui Resort & Spa in Kaanapali and felt it would provide a great resort-like experience for our vacation. I cant recommend this hotel enough. The entire hotel is absolutely beautiful! From the lobby, to the room, the spectacular pools and even the gym with a view of the pool area and ocean.

Upon arriving, the hotel staff were very welcoming and the concierge upgraded our ocean view room to a premium ocean room after discovering it was our anniversary. It was incredibly kind and we were grateful for their generosity. In addition, they sent chocolate and wine to our room to celebrate. It was very unexpected but it made our experience that much better. This was the view from our room The pools are what dreams are made of! Every day we were there I kept thinking about how much the kids would enjoy the water slides. The pools are divided so that you can enjoy a family pool or adults only pool area. Theres even a hidden jacuzzi through a waterfall.

Maui Vacation Tips

The resort wildlife was another exciting part of the experience. You can find flamingos, parrots, turtles and koi fish right in front of the lobby as you walk to the pool area. We booked our trip through Costco and were provided a daily breakfast buffet. The buffet is incredible! I didnt get a picture but trust me when I say you have every breakfast food you could possibly think of provided to you. It even had a great selection of gluten-free and vegetarian options. In addition to the buffet we often snacked at the pool area during the day. The nachos were my favorite!

The hotel is located near Black Rock, a popular snorkeling site. Every day wed walk down the beach to Black Rock for snorkeling and we even jumped off the rock a few times. For someone afraid heights, like myself, it was terrifying but exhilarating at the same time. On our last night in Maui we had dinner at the Relish Oceanside restaurant. Our table was a few feet away from the sand and the sunset views were incredible. I will never forget the beautiful pink and orange sky as we reminisced about the past 10 years together. It was truly a wonderful trip and I cant wait to go back with the kids next summer.

Ill be back soon to share some of my favorite things to eat in Maui!

Note: we paid for the entire trip ourselves, we just love this hotel and think you would too! All opinions are my own.
Free newsletter

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole.

Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer.
Top firms have acted on a myriad of matters in relation to the sale of Origin Energys 110MW Darling Downs solar project in Queensland to APA Group, which said the cost to buy and build the project is about $200m. Herbert Smith Freehills acted for the APA Group, while King & Wood Mallesons advised Origin Energy, which originally proposed the project. DLA Piper advised the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which has provided a $20m grant to fund the project.Under the agreement, Origin will buy all power produced by the solar farm from when it is finished in late 2018 until December 2030. Origin will also acquire the associated Renewable Energy Certificates. The APA Group said that the deal, which financially closed on 1 May, came with the option to acquire the nearby Beelbee solar farm development site.The HSF team, which advised on the acquisition, off take, procurement, and ARENA funding arrangements for the project, was led by partners Peter Davis on the acquisition and off-take, Toby Anderson on procurement, and John Angus on ARENA funding. They were assisted by senior associates Brodie Same and Daniel Ficyk, and solicitors Peter Ip and Lan Wei.The KWM team was led by partner Scott Gardiner with support from solicitor Shirley Cheng. Partner Shannon Etwell advised on the construction related aspects of the deal with support from solicitor Nicole Wieringa.The DLA Piper team was led by finance and projects partner Kate Papailiou, who was assisted by senior associates Marnie Carroll and Bing Wang. DLA Piper is ARENAs portfolio counsel.2017 has seen a significant amount of attention and investment in the renewables sector so far, with several more projects in the pipeline. We are excited to continue our work in the rapidly-growing Australian renewables sector over the rest of 2017, said Anderson, who also leads HSF's Asia Pacific renewables team.The sentiment was echoed by Papailiou, who said that large solar projects have come of age in the country.Utility-scale Solar PV has certainly 'come of age' in Australia over the past six months, and we're excited to see a healthy pipeline of large-scale projects building beyond the completion of the funding round, said Papailiou.
By Jonti Horner, Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, CC BY-SA

This is an article from Curious Kids, a new series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions theyd like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome  serious, weird or wacky!

What plants could grow in the Goldilocks zone of space?  Jesse, 9, Miranda.

Imagine a planet like the Earth, orbiting a distant star. Could that planet have life? Well, life on Earth (the only life we know) needs liquid water. So to find life on another planet, we think that that planet would have to be just right.

If the planet is too close to its star, it will be too hot, and any oceans would boil. Too distant, and any oceans would freeze. Somewhere in between lies the Goldilocks Zone - not too hot, not too cold, but just right.









NASA/JPL-Caltech





We still havent discovered life on any other planet, so we cant say for sure what such life would be like. One thing is certain, though - alien life will be very, very different to anything on Earth.

We can try to imagine plants that could live on other planets based on the facts we do have. Using your imagination like this is a very important part of being a scientist, trying to explore the vast ocean of the unknown.

So many planets

One thing weve learned over the last 20 years is that planets are everywhere. Almost every star has planets  so there are more planets in our galaxy than there are stars.

Goldilocks planets could be bigger or smaller than the Earth. Smaller ones have weaker gravity, so you would weigh far less there than on the Earth. Plants (and animals!) growing there could easily be much taller than on Earth, since it would be easier for them to grow up!

On a bigger planet, more massive than Earth, plants would probably be much shorter  thanks to the stronger gravity on such a world. We can work out how strong gravity would be on different planets. This cool website lets you work out how much you would weigh on other objects in the Solar system, for example.









NASA/JPL





Water, wind and light

Also, not all planets are equally wet. Some are likely dry, desert worlds, while other Earth-like worlds might have oceans tens, or hundreds of kilometres deep. What kind of plants could grow on those desert or water worlds?

If a Goldilocks planet had a thin atmosphere (like Mars), even the strongest winds would push more gently than a soft breeze here on Earth. Any plants probably wouldnt need to be very strong to protect against bad weather. With a really thick atmosphere, though, winds push harder  and any plants in those conditions would have to evolve to be really tough.

And then we get to light. Plants on Earth have evolved to use the light from the Sun to get their energy, using a chemical called chlorophyll. It absorbs blue and red light, but reflects green light.









NASA/JPL-Caltech





That chemical is really useful for Earth plants, because the Sun gives off lots of energy in the blue and the red. But imagine a dull, cool, red star. That star would be red because it doesnt give off much yellow or blue light  and so plants using chlorophyll would starve!

But there are probably lots of other chemicals that plants on those worlds could use to live under their own suns. There may even be life on planets out there with more than one sun - with each star a different colour in the daylight sky!









IAU/L. Calcada





Put all that together and you have lots of fuel for your imagination! Plants that are different colours to those on Earth, using different coloured starlight. Tall, wispy plants, living on worlds with low gravity and thin atmospheres. Squat, low, strong plants on worlds that are massive, or have thick atmospheres.

Plants on other planets are bound to be even weirder than the strangest ones we find on Earth  and probably stranger than we can even imagine!

Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question youd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to us. They can:

* Email your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au





* Tell us on Twitter by tagging @ConversationEDU with the hashtag #curiouskids, or





* Tell us on Facebook









CC BY-ND





Please tell us your name, age, and which city you live in. You can send an audio recording of your question too, if you want. Send as many questions as you like! We wont be able to answer every question but we will do our best.

Jonti Horner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Perth Reviews

Perfect Stranger | Kuah Jenhan

brings a new perspective to Perth Comedy Festival, from Malaysia via Uzbekistan.No stranger to Perth audiences, nominated for FringeWorld award for Best Comedy in 2016,hits the right notes early and keeps the audience with him. He regularly appeals directly to the expat Malaysians in attendance, their warm responses verifying his claims and demonstrating his hits on key topical targets.covers lots of ground in, geographically more than topically, with a keen eye for people and reactions to common situations. His physical demonstrations and clever accent work bring scenes to life as he discusses censorship in Malaysia, the way that religion informs cultural expression and the ways that societies are tied to the age of their countries. Special moments include a vivid re-enactment of an interview between an earnest but baffled reporter and the Chief Censor in Malaysia, discussing the risk of spreading homosexual propaganda to young people, via Beauty and the Beast, and an architectural analysis of the National Costume round entry of Miss Malaysia in the Miss Universe beauty pageant.The recounting of episodes of life in Malaysia and the contrast with the Australian approach to various issues is effective asdescriptions encapsulate the impossibility of working as a comic commentator in such a stifling environment where everyday life already satirises itself.decision to go to a totally different environment to seek inspiration is contextualised, although his choice of Uzbekistan as his muse remains a quirky mystery.travellers tales of his trip to Uzbekistan with its associated cultural misunderstandings and slapstick adventures in communication is recounted with much zest and humour, managing to convey his Malaysian view of the world to an Australian audience. Highlights include his description of the process of obtaining a visa to Uzbekistan from Malaysia, including a biography of the consular official in charge of processing the application.sweetly balances storytelling in his anecdotes while revealing all the cultural angles to his mixed audience, with plenty of enthusiastic mime and laughs at his own expense. He further develops his social theories before neatly returning to Australia.While appearing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival,featured in an ill-advised Herald-Sun promotional series comparing famous international comedians with up and coming performers. The series was retracted after criticisms that the comparisons were being made on ethnicity and appearance rather than performance styles. In this series, Kuah Jenham (sic) was compared with the famous Ronny Chieng, with commentary describing Jenham as hirarious (yes, hirarious)  spelling and repetition from the original.Using display boards,analyses the article, and discusses the reactions to the article in Australia and Malaysia. His bemusement at the shame and apology from Australians, the positive reactions from Malaysian friends and his admiration for the pieces ability to offend two separate cultures in distinct and directed ways leads to incisive, perceptive and witty discussion about racism in various contexts.The tension in the room dissolves asties everything up with his theories of Meg Ryan being a force for global unity, leading to everyone in the audience holding hands and moving together in harmony. A great night out and a talented addition to this years Perth Comedy Festival.2017 Perth Comedy FestivalKuah JenhanState Theatre Centre of WA, Perth Cultural Centre5  6 May 2017$21  $26
We tell you how Isuzus upcoming seven-seat SUV stacks up against its chief rivals.

If youre out looking for a big, burly, seven-seat SUV for Rs 25-30 lakh, Isuzu might just have the right model for you, the MU-X, which has been launched at a starting price of Rs 23.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). It steps in place of the MU-7 as Isuzus flagship in India, and is shooting straight for a slice of the Toyota Fortuners and Ford Endeavours pie. But does it have the vital stats to hold its ground against these heavyweights?

Dimensions

Theres no doubt that all three contenders here are huge, but, at nearly 4.90m, its the Ford Endeavour that is the longest here; not that the 4.82m-long MU-X will be easier to park. The Toyota Fortuner measures the least here at 4.79m.

The three SUVs are neck-and-neck in terms of width, with the Ford and the Isuzu spanning an identical 1.86m, just 5mm more than the Fortuner.

Its a similar story with their heights, wherein the three are millimetres apart; the MU-X being taller than the Endeavour and the Fortuner by just 3mm and 5mm respectively.

Dimensions Isuzu MU-X Toyota Fortuner Ford Endeavour Length 4825mm 4795mm 4892mm Width 1860mm 1855mm 1860mm Height 1840mm 1835mm 1837mm Wheelbase 2845mm 2745mm 2850mm Tyre size 255/65 R17 265/60 R18 265/60 R18

Fat, high-profile tyres are, again, unsurprisingly common on all contenders, as they should help the SUVs take lots of beating from our cratered roads. The India-bound MU-X is expected to come shod with 255/65 R17 tyres, which are the smallest ones here. On the other hand, the Fortuner and the Endeavour come with slightly larger 265/60 R18 tyres on their fully loaded variants.

Powertrain

To shift all their bulk and heft, what these SUVs need is a lot of pulling power, which they get from big, industrial turbo-diesel motors. Of the lot, the MU-X is likely to get a 3.0-litre diesel engine that produces 177hp and 380Nm and is paired with a five-speed automatic gearbox. Now, for those who remember, this is the same powertrain that lugged the MU-7 around, though it was a 163hp version of the motor. Since we are looking at a large-displacement, automatic SUV, we have considered the diesel automatic variants of the Toyota Fortuner and the Ford Endeavour here; the more powerful 3.2-litre motor in the case of the Ford.

Among the Isuzus rivals here, its clearly the Ford that has the upper hand in terms of outright grunt. Its 200hp and 470Nm overshadow the numbers of the Isuzu by quite a lot.

While the Toyota may look a touch humble against the Endeavour, at 177hp and 450Nm, it produces the same power, but a lot more torque than the MU-X, that too from a smaller engine.

Engine and Gearbox Isuzu MU-X Toyota Fortuner Ford Endeavour Engine 2,999cc, inline, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel 2,755cc, inline, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel 3,198cc, inline, five-cylinder, turbo-diesel Power 177hp at 3,200rpm 177hp at 3,400rpm 200hp at 3,000rpm Torque 380Nm at 1,800-2,200rpm 450Nm at 1,600-2,400rpm 470Nm at 1,750-2,500rpm Gearbox Five-speed automatic Six-speed automatic Six-speed automatic

Sticking with the Fortuner and the MU-X, what works in their favour is that both can be had in 2WD and 4WD avatars (the Endeavour 3.2 comes only in 4x4). This means, you can have all the presence of a large SUV, plus the (relative) efficiency of a 2WD SUV.

The price you pay

Heres an area where the MU-X has a sizeable advantage over the Fortuner and the Endeavour. WIth the 2WD variant priced at Rs 23.99 lakh, and the range-topping 4WD variant costing Rs 25.99 lakh, the Isuzu MU-X undercuts the Toyota Fortuner 2.8 Auto by about Rs 6 lakh and also the Ford Endeavour 3.2 Auto by Rs 4-6 lakh, depending on the variant. (all prices ex-showroom, Delhi).

Ex-showroom, Delhi prices Isuzu MU-X Toyota Fortuner AT Ford Endeavour 3.2 AT 4x2 Rs 23.99 lakh Rs 29.88 lakh 4x4 Rs 25.99 lakh Rs 31.86 lakh Rs 27.91 - 31.50 lakh

Read our review of the new Isuzu MU-X
To celebrate the milestone, Gang of Dusters is organising 12-day drive from Agra to Bhutan.

Renault Indias community of Duster owners, known as the 'Gang of Dusters', has surpassed one lakh members, becoming one of the largest four-wheeler adventure driving communities in India.

Celebrating the milestone, the Gang of Dusters is set to embark on its first international drive from Agra to Bhutan. The year 2017 also marks the fourth anniversary and successful journey of the community in India.

The Gang of Dusters is a special initiative curated by Renault India to bring together the Duster owners with a penchant for adventure. The event provides an excellent opportunity for customers and their families to enjoy long drives across the country along with the Renault team.

On the drive, the participants will get to meet and share experiences with other Duster owners, visit historic sites, go on a wildlife safari, talk to a rally expert, take part in off-roading, go rock climbing and attend interactive service sessions.
LOOP PNG

THE Media Council of Papua New Guinea has been alerted to incidents of government officials calling newsrooms to interfere in independent editorial processes.

This has compelled journalists and news editors to self-censor news and consequently deny Papua New Guinean readers and viewers access to factual, balanced, impartial and objective reporting.

Last year had its challenges for media industry personnel, said Media Council president Alexander Rheeney (right), and the first four months of this year appear to be no different, with news organisations alerting us to two incidents of interference by those in authority.
A Tampa, Florida high school teacher who was accused by an extremist anti-LGBT organization of banning crosses while advocating for gay rights has been cleared of wrongdoing after a school district investigation.

Lora Jane Riedas, who teaches freshman math at Riverview High School and is faculty adviser of Riverviews Gay Straight Alliance, said she did not allow rosaries, as they are considered gang symbols and not allowed in the school dress code.

The Liberty Counsel, the group that represented Kim Davis, the Kentucky court clerk who made headlines in 2015 after refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. The group alleged that Riedas didnt let students wear crosses and that her efforts to help LGBT students feel comfortable in her classroom had crossed a line into political activism. It made the others feel marginalized and excluded, and not full members of the classroom community,

Liberty Counsel founder Mathew Staver says the messaging goes too far. Its not just a symbol, he says, but the combination.

Its the rainbow stickers Riedas is accused of placing on student folders. Its a poster that says Ally, a term for people supportive of their LGBT friends.

The original complaint took issue with posters in the classroom that say Ally and Safe Place. Principal Danielle Shotwell saw nothing wrong with the posters. Riedas said the terms do not refer specifically to gay and transgender students, but to anyone who fears being bullied

Shes free to do what she wants to do in her own time outside of that classroom, Staver said. Shes free to be a sponsor of a student-initiated, student-led club. But she crosses the line when she brings things into the classroom that pushes her ideas onto the students. You talk about being inclusive. But shes not including people who do not agree with her.

Superintendent Jeff Eakins said Monday he is pleased to have ordered a thorough investigation. We, as a district, have a responsibility to our employees to give them due process, he said.

This investigation revealed that we are being respectful to all students. Were being respectful to our employees in giving them due process. We always have to make sure that we are hearing the whole story.

I still have no idea what student is even complaining, Riedas said. No one asked to be taken out of my class. instead the Liberty Counsel began building its case.

Staver also said the fight is not over.

Well be following up with another letter to the school, he said. We have other students who have come forth in other classes as well. Well likely get that letter out tomorrow, Wednesday the latest.

Last month Mat Staver, The Liberty Counsel and Liberty University were added to a RICO lawsuit over their involvement in the kidnapping of 9 year-old Lisa Miller.

Share this: Tweet



More

Email

Print




Until such is improved, there is no guarantee that the legal process will churn out refined leaders for public office. The ultimate decision rests with the people to identify and elect the honourable candidates.

There are many legal qualifications on the constitutional right to stand for public office but the real challenge is enforcement. Mr Yalis situation was a recurrence of a known controversy hence it was brought to light quickly. However, many others who would have been disqualified had the relevant authorities firmly enforced the law.

WHEN a controversial Papua New Guinean politician like James Yali is allowed to nominate whilst being under a sentence of imprisonment for more than nine months, anybody can.

The public office that each of the 3,332 candidates is vying for is an honourable office and only the honourable are qualified to occupy it. It is not for rogue people. But it is quite a challenge to identify and elect honourable people.

The political views held by many Papua New Guineans are influenced by their cultural structures and values, religious beliefs, levels of understanding and poverty driven opportunism.

These are factors that distort proper judgement of a leaders capability for public office. We have a politically pliable population that can easily be subdued by the workings of these factors. And candidates, trying to sell themselves to voters, skilfully craft their language to distort the truth in ways that are difficult for even the most careful observer to detect.

In this article I want to debunk the myths and illusions about public office. The intention is to enlighten voters to identify and elect the ideal candidate for leadership in public office.

Election is not a process to produce leaders. It is a process available to voters in a representative democracy to identify the ideal candidate amongst contenders.

A godly Christian leader?

The Christian tag is a sellable one because PNG is predominantly Christian. To convince voters to buy into their campaign policies, candidates often hold themselves out as god-sent. The Bible does provide examples of how God appointed political leaders and I believe He still does today in His own divine ways, which are always higher than ours.

The leading figures in the Bible like Joseph, Moses and David had some exposure to the privileges of power before being entrusted with the responsibility to lead. This points me to the view that God would not be reckless in entrusting someone with leadership responsibilities without first trusting that person. Trust is built on experience. Christ himself also warned us in the Bible about those who would come as sheep in wolves clothing.

One of the most common Christian tagged campaign promises is an allocation of a 10% tithe out of public funds. One should ask the proponent of that promise whether he pays his personal tithes faithfully to his local church for he cannot promise credibly for what he is not himself.

And by the way, there is no such provision in law or the Bible for public funds to be apportioned as tithes purportedly for God. The Bible calls for Christians to tithe individually to their local churches as their act of worship.

The Bible does not impose a duty on governments to tithe to local churches for the upkeep of the clergy and day to day church operations. The practice around the world is for governments to partner with churches mostly in the provision of social services such as health and education. Therefore, those who promote a 10% tithe ideology promote the breaching of both the Bible and the law. It may also be viewed as a disguised form of election bribery.

Another related confusion to debunk here is the failure to distinguish between faith in God and His divine workings on one hand, and mythical beliefs.

People plucking numbers such as 40 and 7 and claiming that these are Gods numbers that will bring good luck both individually and as a nation are not genuine. What the country needs is authentic leadership, not numerologists who place their faith in numerical patterns purportedly drawn from the Bible.

Many Christians allow their political views to be distorted by their beliefs. Dr James Dobson, a renowned Christian figure in America, was taken to task by the media last year about Evangelicals supporting Donald Trump, who has got many unChristian character flaws. Dr Dobsons response marks the distinction we all should adopt. He said, We are electing a commander-in-chief, not a theologian-in-chief.

Indeed, the ideal candidate is not going to be a pastor, evangelist, prophet, teacher or bishop. Sometimes people tend to set their focus so high that they do not find anyone possessing all those Christian attributes. In the circumstances, they throw away their votes in hopelessness. It would be a blessing to have Godly people in Parliament. Remember, PNGs parliament has been graced with so-called Christians and clergymen in the past but have they not failed?

In the American case, very many Americans are sceptical about the choice of President Trump; only time will tell whether the Evangelicals made a mistake.

The Evangelicals made the decision to elect a candidate who, among the contenders, demonstrated he could not be easily corrupted. Once theyve done their part in electing him, the rest is left in the care of the system of formal checks and balances.

The candidate occupies a political office where he will be exposed to money and power. These are dangerous tools that can make or break a person. So, if God was in your shoes, would He not trust the person before providing him with these tools.

Apart from the Christian regalia, you must assess whether the candidate is capable of running an honourable office. If he claims he will fight societal evils, does he demonstrate a track record of doing so? Look beyond misguided Christian illusions and find a person who is built to withstand the temptations associated with power and money. Christians are called to open their eyes and pray lest you fall into temptation in trying times like this.

God is not an excuse for deliberate human failures. God inspires Christians through His Word to act appropriately and if they fail to live accordingly, one cannot then turn around and say God is somehow missing in the equation.

It is human beings who have failed both God and us. Christians should prayerfully and diligently find humans who will not fail us this time.

A Melanesian big man leader?

The people we elect are the representatives of the people in parliament. Our expectations of them and their obligations towards us is structured around them representing us. But there is a conceptual difference between a Melanesian big man leader and an elected representative to Parliament.

Many of our people expect that a political leader is the one who takes the frontline in participating and contributing towards customary obligations such as haus krai, compensation, bride price, moka and so on.

Unfortunately all these expectations can distract our MPs from attending to their core duties as legislators. They feel obligated to be in front of everyone else in distributing largesse to voters.

There is a wave of big-heartedness in PNG around election time and every candidate has suddenly become generous. Many candidates distribute cash, goods and other largesse as a way of demonstrating their leadership capabilities.

Instead of marketing their policies and debating issues that matter, candidates get bogged down competing in attending to all these customary ceremonies and obligations. Whilst this may be appealing in the Melanesian context, it is not a useful method to identify a leader capable of public office. Such generosity may also be viewed as a disguised form of election bribery.

This Melanesian big-man-in-front syndrome, as I call it, has also captured the formal systems of government service delivery in PNG. MPs have established a meddlesome system where they are actively involved in everything from policy and law making to frontline service delivery they want to be seen in front of it all.

This political patronage of service delivery has been one of the main contributing factors that has not only eroded the boundary between politicians and administration, but rendered the bureaucracy weak and dysfunctional.

The ideal candidates PNG needs now is not another Melanesian big-man-in-front. PNG needs leaders who understand the limits of their power in a state structure. The ideal representative is not one who will keep his mouth shut to collect a pay cheque. He needs to be the voice of the voiceless majority.

The ideal candidate is not the one who provides momentary goodies and largesse to maintain his front-line image, but one who has a strategic focus on improving the living standards of his people.

A relative or tribal candidate for leadership?

Another aspect of our cultural values which undermines free and fair elections is tribal solidarity.

Although the law grants individuals the right to vote for the candidate of their choice, that right has to be exercised in a polling booth established at a selected location within a tribal community (metropolitan centres may be an exception). If there is a candidate from the tribe or of the tribes choice, though he may be a rogue the first choice is tied to that tribal choice.

To maintain harmony and unity in the tribal community, one is placed in an inescapable situation where it is necessary to vote against personal convictions because those who vote against the tribal choice are as seen as traitors. In a way, this undermines the rights granted in our Constitution.

The three choices preferential voting system we have now is an antidote to this and has so far worked well. If the first vote is tied to tribal choice, the second and third choices can be distributed to candidates preferred out of free will.

This also explains why some candidates lack leadership credentials but have strong base votes to perform well in elections.

The ideal candidate for leadership in public office is not a tribal representative of a predominant tribe. The votes should demonstrate that the MP was the preferred leader of the electorate.

The ideal candidate for leadership

The ideal candidate does not have to be a perfect leader, no one is as perfect as God, but someone who demonstrates a strong character. What he says he is must be who he is, which gives us the assurance of who he will be.

Character and competence are attributes of an authentic leader and that is the ideal candidate we are seeking. The ideal candidate may not be politically skilled but has the attributes of an authentic leader.

The ideal candidate does not necessarily have to be someone who is highly educated although that is a bonus  but someone who is competent enough to understand the limits of his power within the state structure.

He must possess the appropriate level of competency to know how to lead within the context of an organisation and must have the ability to adapt with time, industry and place. As a member of parliament in the 21st century, he must be able to bring some level of intellectual rigor to the fore when it comes to debating laws and policies.

The ideal candidates we should seek are altruistic leaders those who display a consistent and genuine motivation to live for others against their personal interest.

Sometimes leaders have to take risks and, if a candidate claims that he or she lives by a particular set of values, discover whether he or she had taken a risk to be true to those values.

We should not make the same mistakes again by electing supine leaders who are morally weak when it comes to standing up for what is right for the country and its people.

So its election time and we are seeing many aspiring politicians parading in front of the masses asking for their support.

There are a lot of opportunists out there who display an appealing image but lack substance and it is my hope that this article enlightens voters to depart from distorted political views, inclinations and biases and vote for candidates who display distinctive leadership traits with unmarred credibility and competence to become effective leaders in public office.
The village of Fair Haven is taking additional action in response to rising Lake Ontario water levels.

Mayor Jim Basile issued an emergency order Monday to close the village's boat launches and West Barrier Bar Park until further notice. Village officials decided to close the boat launches and park after consulting with the Cayuga County Office of Emergency Services.

Basile said in a phone interview that docks at the boat launches are under water. West Barrier Bar Park has low-lying areas that are also under water.

Closing the launches and the park was due to safety concerns.

"I don't want an emergency on top of an emergency," Basile said.

The rain stopped in Fair Haven Sunday morning, but Basile said the wind shift didn't help. The change in wind direction drove more water into Little Sodus Bay.

The National Weather Service issued lakeshore flood warnings over the weekend. The warning for northern Cayuga County was scheduled to expire at 11 p.m. Monday.

As water levels continue to rise, Basile said crews have deployed more sandbags. Emergency personnel and volunteers took a break Sunday, but resumed work at 8 a.m. Monday. The sandbagging operation ran until 8 p.m.

Levees have been built around the bay in an attempt to protect businesses and residential properties. More sandbags were added to some of the walls Monday, according to Basile.

As the water levels increase, officials are growing more concerned about flooding. Fair Haven is at a higher elevation than other communities along the lake. In Monroe and Wayne counties, flooding has been a more pressing concern.

In Fair Haven, flooding has impacted a few properties, but it's not as widespread as it is in other Lake Ontario communities.

"The challenge is what do you do if it's just going to keep coming up?" Basile said.

In other news:

 High water levels are impacting state parks along Lake Ontario in central New York.

The boat launch at Fair Haven Beach State Park is temporarily closed due to the current lake levels. The park remains open for visitors.

The boat launch at Mexico Point State Park and the Pine Grove Boat Launch at Selkirk Shores State Park, both in Oswego County, are closed.

Dan Keefe, a spokesman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said parks have shoreline erosion, but no infrastructure damage has been reported.

"The situation is still evolving, so people should call the park or check the website if they are planning to visit in the near future," he said.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

A woman who stayed for eight nights in four Bath hotels and racked up 1,000 in unpaid bills skipped her sentencing court date because she was away in Denmark.

Louise Chantry went to Denmark and buried her head in the sand hoping [her crimes] would all go away  but they did not.

The 39-year-old appeared in Bath Magistrates Court on Monday (May 8) after she was arrested at a leisure centre near her home in Angmering, West Sussex.

She was originally due in the Bath court for sentencing on Wednesday, January 18. However, she did not appear as she was staying with family in Denmark and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

Chantry is due to be sentenced for a number of offences.

Between December 1 and 15 she stayed a number of nights at The Bath Priory, The Queensberry, Villa Magdala and The Paradise House Hotel.

(Image: Google 2017)

She left all four without settling a total of 1,045  including 230 for a one night stay at The Priory in Weston Road on December 7 and 100 for one night at The Queensberry in Russell Street on December 15.

She also stayed for five nights at Villa Magdala in Henrietta Road between December 10 and 15 costing 576 and one night at Paradise House in Holloway on December 1 costing 139.

Chantry, of Angmering in West Sussex, has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining services dishonestly.

She has also admitted three assaults - including two against police officers  and an additional charge of skipping court.

Jeremy Oliver, prosecuting, explained the sentencing had been adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be made.

However, Chantry did not visit probation for this report to be carried out. She then skipped her January court date.

Mr Oliver told the court: This is quite a sorry tale and theres background to it.

Defence solicitor Neil Brooker gave some background into Chantrys very difficult circumstances.

He told the court there was a break down in her marriage and she had precarious mental health.

(Image: Google 2017)

Mr Brooker said: When she appeared before the court in the last occasion, she was persuaded by her family to stay in Denmark. And so she went.

Her situation didnt improve and she became aware that a warrant had been issued for her arrest.

She had buried her head in the sand hoping this would all go away, and indeed it hasnt.

Chair of the Magistrates Anthony Davies has adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be carried out.

Chantry has been released on conditional bail until her next appearance next month.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

The new Mayor of the West of England has outlined his ambitions for the area after being officially sworn in to office today at the Engine Shed in Bristol.

Conservative councillor and businessman Tim Bowles will be responsible for an average of more than 30 million a year over the next four years after being elected last week.

He said he was very proud to become the very first West of England Mayor and that the region can now be much more ambitious with the new powers.

Working with Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire councils, Mr Bowles will be responsible for new transport, housing infrastructure, skills training and business support.

Read the full transcript of his speech

Firstly may I say Im very proud to be elected as the first West of England Mayor.

This is an exciting time for our region as the West of England Combined Authority takes on new powers, funding and responsibilities from central Government.

This means that as a region we can be much more ambitious - we can make decisions here in the West of England about things that affect our residents every day  decisions about homes, transport, skills for jobs and how we support business to ensure our economy continues to grow.

I think it is important that I take some time to listen to what people have to say to me, especially the Mayor and Leaders of the local authorities who are already working closely together.

I am committed to working collaboratively and constructively with my colleagues in the Combined Authority Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, Cllr Tim Warren, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council and Cllr Matthew Riddle, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council.

Together we will make decisions about what is best for our region, cutting across the divides of council boundaries.

I know the three councils have worked together very successfully over many years  I want to complement and build on that track record and ensure that the benefits of our devolution deal can be used to benefit everyone across the region.

Whilst we appreciate that North Somerset Council is not part of the Combined Authority at this stage, we will continue to work closely with them to ensure we can deliver economic growth for the wider region.

The devolution deal unlocks a billion pounds of funding over the next 30 years. This will help us work together to tackle priorities such as improving transport, delivering affordable homes and investing in the skills training needed for the local economy.

I hope this is just the start  I want us to plan ahead and work with Government to secure more funding and future devolution deals to benefit our area.

Our area

The West of England region is already well and truly on the map. We are one of the UKs most prosperous regions, well-connected, nationally, internationally and digitally.

In the last decade, our economic contribution to the UK has outperformed the national average. That kind of performance has not happened by chance.

Since its inception in 2010, the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership has supported the creation of over 11,000 new jobs; supported 477 businesses and levered hundreds and millions of pounds of public sector and private sector funding into the region (126m in public sector and 104 million in private sector.)

I will work closely with the LEPs new interim chair, Steve West, and look forward to him attending the Combined Authority meetings to represent the views of the Local Enterprise Partnership and its members.

Jobs

The new Combined Authority will work to ensure that local people benefit from more job opportunities, a stronger economy and a higher quality of life.

We have high quality jobs in many areas including aerospace, civil engineering architecture, professional services and global finance and benefit from highly-skilled talent, grown locally at our world-class universities.

We have many dynamic new businesses developing. A very recent Tech Nation annual report shows Bristol and Bath as the most productive area in the country with the highest digital business concentration of any major city region.

I want to see our businesses fulfil their potential, and will ensure our policies support businesses to start and grow here in the West of England.

Attracting new investment into the region, bringing more job opportunities for our residents, will also be key to our future development.

Yet, despite these characteristics, the West of England is not without its challenges. We must do more to ensure our region provides opportunity for all.

Skills shortages are a barrier to growth in some sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, creative and digital.

So we must plan ahead, working with employers and colleges, to ensure that local people have the skills that local businesses need.

We will encourage more employers to get involved in careers advice and apprenticeships and I am passionate that we take a positive message to our next generation about the great job opportunities that exist for everyone in the region.

Housing and transport

The region is a great place to live and work so our population is growing and this brings pressure on our existing infrastructure.

We need to plan ahead to ensure that we have transport fit for the future, and that we provide the right mix of homes in communities where people want to live.

We will prioritise improving transport to make it easier for people to get to work.

One of our first actions as a Combined Authority will be to agree the key route network. These are the priority roads that enable people and business to move effectively across our region.

We will work to improve our public transport provision, developing smart ticketing and improved bus and rail services.

We must increase the availability and affordability of housing in places where people want to live and work.

House prices are high and there is a wide disparity in wealth across the region. This means parts of our community are being disconnected - cut-off from living and work here.

The scale of the challenge will require a joined-up approach. We will work with the Leaders and Mayor to address these challenges together.

Over the coming weeks and months Ill be going out and about to meet as many people as I can.

Ill be talking to businesses of all sizes, transport operators, our local colleges and universities and community groups, to talk about the challenges we face and how we can work together

The West of England offers an exceptional quality of life, with significant cultural and environmental assets.

We must work together to deliver good growth that benefits all our residents, communities and businesses.

Finally I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to bring devolution to our region, including the staff here today. I look forward to working with you all.

I know it has been a long journey and today is a testament to all those involved who have worked together for the greater good of the region.

I believe we have a great future together and look forward to helping deliver a stronger region for all of us.
Lock them up -- your cars, that is.



Thats part of the message law enforcement officials stressed at a meeting Monday afternoon, hosted by Congressman Charlie Crist at the St. Petersburg College Midtown Campus.

Law enforcement leaders talked car theft problem in Pinellas

Pinellas Sheriff Gualtieri said he's looking into stiffer penalties

Crist said he hopes for more meetings

The room was filled with leaders from local police departments, city council and county commissioner and department of juvenile justice officials. Law enforcement officials said car theft is a dangerous problem in Pinellas County.



We do want to combat it," said St. Pete Police Chief Anthony Holloway. "Again, we cant arrest our way out of this, because were arresting a lot of kids. Theyre being released but theres still some people, they just need to remember, 'Please Im begging you, just take your keys out of your car.



Leaders talked about programs that already exist to monitor young people caught stealing cars and some of the real dangers they face. Many of them referenced the case where three teenage girls drowned after the stolen car they were driving sank to the bottom of a pond last year.



The leadership assembled at the meeting sent the message that young people stealing cars isnt something theyre ignoring. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said looking to new legislation with stiffer penalties.



Weve made progress," said Gualtieri. "Weve got a bill thats coming out of the legislature that will be going to the governor and will be very instrumental in making change."



But law enforcement said theyre also going to need the publics help.



Just take two seconds and take your keys out of your car, said Holloway. He referenced there were 17 cars stolen in St. Pete last week. Out of those 17 cars, 11 of those victims left their keys inside and two others left their cars running.



Outside of telling people to lock their cars, Crist hopes the work people in this meeting are doing with young people will help curb the growing problem.



This is a serious problem in our community," Crist said. "People are dying because of whats happening and you cant ignore that and let it just go. We all have a responsibility as I said before. Each and every one of us to make sure we do everything possible to make this a better place to live."



People who attended the meeting said they dont have a quick fix for the growing problem. They all, however, expressed interest and concern to keep the conversation going.



They also want to continue educating the public and giving the young people something to look forward to.



Crist says he hopes to have another meeting like this one in the near future.
After a rough few days with heavy rain and strong winds that pushed water into Little Sodus Bay, the village of Fair Haven is getting a reprieve from rising Lake Ontario levels.

Niel Rivenburgh, deputy director of the Cayuga County Office of Emergency Services, said Tuesday that water levels have receded slightly over the last 24 hours.

While the water levels are expected to rise through May and possibility into the summer months, Rivenburgh said the weather forecast, for now, is in the village's favor.

According to the National Weather Service, rain isn't in the forecast for Fair Haven until Friday night. The wind will be relatively calm over the next few days.

"We're going to continue to stay ahead of it and keep our finger on it very closely," Rivenburgh said.

The main focus of the response operation this week will be stockpiling sandbags. As of Monday, more than 25,000 sandbags have been deployed to protect properties along the lake in Fair Haven. Rivenburgh estimated that roughly 5,000 sandbags were deployed Tuesday and an additional 5,000 will be distributed Wednesday.

Crews have built one-foot levees, but some have been extended to two feet due to higher water levels.

The sandbagger provided by the state could be used to help other communities, including those in Wayne County, that have been more impacted by flooding. Rivenburgh said they could help prepare sandbags that would be sent to Wayne County for additional support.

"If there's a need in Wayne County and we can stay ahead of bags, then we're all in this together," he said.

Federal and state officials have been in regular contact with the local agencies about conditions in Fair Haven. Rivenburgh said U.S. Rep. John Katko, whose district includes all of Cayuga County, visited the village Tuesday.

State Sen. Pam Helming, who represents Fair Haven and the town of Sterling, called Rivenburgh Tuesday.

"We've gotten all the support we could ask for from New York state," he said. "They've been great."

The village's boat launches remain closed due to flooding. Fair Haven Mayor Jim Basile issued an order Monday to shut down the boat launches and the West Barrier Bar Park until further notice.

The boat launch at Fair Haven Beach State Park is also closed. There is some shoreline erosion at the park, but it remains open for visitors.
A recent University of Tampa graduate is headed to Africa this summer.

Ashley Peiffer will teach science in Tanzania

She leaves for Peace Corps training next month

LINK: Learn more about the Peace Corps



Ashley Peiffer, 21, is volunteering with the Peace Corps.

"It just felt like the right thing to do," Peiffer said.

The Peace Corps is a volunteer program run by the United States to provide assistance and promote cultural understanding. Volunteers serve in more than 60 countries.

Peiffer volunteered to teach science in Tanzania for the next two years. Her mother said it's a perfect fit.

"She just always loved to help others," said her mom, Rebekah Dreese.

This will be Peiffer's first trip out of the country. She said applying for the Peace Corps was the easiest decision she ever made. Ashley has wanted to be part of the volunteer program since she was 10 years old.

"People keep asking me if I'm scared. I'm not. I'm just ready," Peiffer said.

Peiffer leaves for Peace Corps training next month.


After months of rallies urging him to hold a town hall meeting, U.S. Rep. John Katko will participate in an open forum next week.

The town hall meeting will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday, May 15 at Onondaga Community College's Storer Auditorium. The event, which is sponsored by CNYCentral, will be televised on WSTM channel 3 and WTVH channel 5.

The forum will be moderated by CNYCentral's Michael Benny, Megan Coleman and Matt Mulcahy.

Because of the auditorium's limited seating capacity, CNYCentral will hold a random drawing to select at least 100 attendees. Anyone interested in attending the town hall meeting should submit their name, address, email and phone number to inyourcommunity@cnycentral.com. There is a limit of one entry per person.

The participants must live in the 24th Congressional District, which is comprised of Cayuga, Onondaga and Wayne counties, plus the western portion of Oswego County. To gain access to the event, you must have a valid driver's license or other identification that lists your name and address.

There are other rules for the town hall meeting, including no signs or any noise-making devices.

Those selected to attend the forum will be alerted by email after a drawing on Thursday. Applicants whose names are chosen must notify CNYCentral by 8 p.m. Sunday if they plan to attend. Notification can be sent to inyourcommunity@cnycentral.com.

A separate random drawing will determine the order for asking Katko, R-Camillus, questions.

The event will be the first general town hall meeting Katko has held since being elected to Congress. He held several town hall meetings during his first congressional campaign in 2014.

During two terms in Congress, he's held issue-specific forums. He recently held a listening session on opioid abuse and synthetic drugs in Oswego County.

"Since I was elected to represent central New York in Congress, I've hosted numerous community forums, as well as regular telephone town hall meetings. This town hall is another opportunity to hear directly from the people that I represent on the issues most important to them," Katko said.

One week after the CNYCentral town hall meeting, Katko will participate in a Facebook Live interview with The Citizen. The discussion will be streamed live beginning at 10 a.m. Monday, May 22.
It's one of the Cayuga County Health Department's most successful immunization campaigns: vaccinating inmates at the Cayuga County Jail.

The program, which began in June 2016, is perhaps an unlikely partnership between the county's sheriff's office and its health department, but both are pleased with its results. Kevin Zippel, a registered professional nurse with the health department, said in the last year the program has given 509 shots to 173 inmates through eight visits.

Vaccines are funded by the state and federal government, and the health department's administrative fees are funded by the inmates themselves.

"There was some apprehension on our part that maybe we wouldn't be well-received," Zippel said. "They wouldn't understand the importance of vaccines, but it was quite the opposite. They want to do everything they can to protect their loved ones."

But things didn't necessarily start off smoothly. Sgt. Stan Silliman of the county sheriff's office said he understood inmates' hesitation with the new program. When Undersheriff Jim Stowell assigned him to lead it, Silliman was skeptical himself, he said. Having served 14 years with the sheriff's office, he'd never heard of a program like this.

"Imagine yourself incarcerated and you have no control over what goes on, and you say, 'Hey, you, want some shots?'" Silliman said. "It could potentially be something to think about."

Jail inmates are considered a vulnerable population when it comes to communicable diseases. Like college students or nursing home residents, they can catch things more easily being housed together in a concentrated area.

So Silliman learned about what the health department was offering, then explained what each vaccine was to the inmates. Education, he said, was important in getting the participation rate up.

The health department offers five core vaccines, Zippel said, including those for the flu, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, the human papillomavirus and tetanus. The flu is the No. 8 killer of Americans, Zippel said, but only about half of those eligible for the shot get it each year. Hepatitis A is a foodborne illness that infects the liver, while hepatitis B is a bloodborne one.

The human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That vaccine is given to people up to the age of 26, and it has the lowest coverage rate countywide, Zippel said. Finally, people need a tetanus booster every 10 years, and Zippel added that anyone around a newborn child should get one.

Health department staff work with the inmate to find out what vaccines they may or may not have had in order to see what could be best for them. About once a month, nurses come to the jail's clinic, and Silliman will bring five or six inmates at a time who are interested in getting vaccinated.

Zippel said some of the vaccines require a booster shot, so staff see inmates again and develop a rapport with them. Silliman said the jail has a certain amount of recidivism, too, which can allow for more visits to the clinic.

"The people who come to jail today have a chance to come to jail again, and if they're inoculated against diseases that are communicable, potentially we could be preserving the jail population's health, staff health and the community's health at large, really," Silliman added.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials investigating a suspicious business in South Texas ended up finding a lot more than just potato chips. But it took them two tries to find the contraband.

A criminal complaint revealed that on May 2 DPS agents investigated a building emblazoned with a sign that said: "International Wholesales and Trade" in Mission, roughly 250 miles south of San Antonio.
AUBURN  An Auburn man with a history of domestic violence was sentenced to prison Tuesday for repeatedly harassing and threatening his ex-girlfriend.

Craig Laird, 28, of 7 Wright Ave., was arrested New Year's Day and charged with nine felonies from at least three separate incidents.

According to Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann, Laird began harassing the victim  a 24-year-old woman  in November 2016 when he sent her more than 100 text messages, including several that threatened to cut her throat and stab her.

Then, on Dec. 28, 2016, Budelmann said Laird violated an order of protection when he illegally entered the woman's Auburn home and stole a PlayStation and some clothing.

And finally, on Jan. 1, 2017, the district attorney said Laird got into a physical altercation with the victim, assaulting her with a plastic snow shovel while she was walking home from work.

In March, Laird pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal contempt and two counts of aggravated family offense in full satisfaction of the charges. And on Tuesday, he appeared before Judge Mark Fandrich for sentencing.

"This is not a new or recent issue," Budelmann said in court, noting that Laird has a prior history of domestic violence. "I think it's time for prison."

Fandrich agreed, and sentenced Laird to 1 1/3 to four years in prison on each of the four counts. He added that all sentences will run concurrently with one another.

"I was wrong in everything I've done," Laird said Tuesday. "I'm really sorry."

Also in court:

 An Auburn man has been sentenced to six years in prison for selling cocaine in Cayuga County.

Travis Swift, 35, of 35 Wall St. Apt. 3, pleaded guilty in March to one count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a class B felony. At the time, he admitted that he sold cocaine in Auburn in March 2016.

In court Tuesday, Swift apologized to the court, saying he turned to selling drugs last year to support his own addiction.

"I started experimenting with drugs ... and I did this to support my habit," he said, noting that he overdosed four times in the last year. "It's not an excuse, but that's what happened."

A second felony offender  previously convicted of second-degree burglary and attempted robbery in 2002  Swift could have faced up to 15 years in prison. However, Judge Fandrich agreed to give him the minimum sentence Tuesday: six years in prison plus two years post-release supervision.

 Another Auburn man was also sentenced to prison Tuesday for selling cocaine in the city.

Robert O'Hara III, 40, of 233 State St., pleaded guilty in March to one count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance for selling cocaine in June 2015. He also admitted to violating his probation, as he was previously convicted of second-degree aggravated harassment in 2014.

On Tuesday, Fandrich sentenced O'Hara to two years in prison and two years post-release supervision. However, the judge ordered O'Hara's sentence be completed as parole supervision.

In addition, O'Hara was ordered to pay $400 in restitution.
Black Book Research conducted a crowdsource survey of 8,845 physicians about MACRA from February to April. Here are the key trends and statistics from the report:

1. Three-quarters of the small practices with three or more physicians are seeking to purchase a Merit-based Incentive Payment System compliant technology solution by the end of this year. But 92 percent weren't aware of branded technologies from vendors supporting all MIPS registry requirements apart from their EHR.

2. Eighty-three percent of the physicians using the top eight EHR systems plan to upgrade or optimize their current systems for MIPS, while 72 percent of the physicians that aren't using EHR products from the top eight vendors reported they weren't working with vendors to prepare for MIPS.

3. Almost all  80 percent  of the practices felt performing technology surveys was essential to see how far their current EHR and other data systems could take them; 75 percent of the small practices struggle to manage the technology basics and can't afford to pay a consultant this year.

4. By the end of the second quarter, 80 percent of the organizations that haven't developed a MACRA strategy or plan expect to choose a turnkey software or outsourcer to catch up by the end of the year; 22 percent are banking on the program being delayed.

5. Three-quarters of independent physicians are considering selling to a practice or hospital to eliminate administrative burden and capital costs, with 68 percent viewing MACRA as a burden or bust to independent practices over the next three years.

6. Sixty-four percent of hospital networked physician organizations report including performance incentives in their compensation model for MIPS.

8. Almost 70 percent of the practice managers surveyed reported knowing they needed to report on six quality measures, but just 22 percent knew they could choose the metrics they reported on.
More than half of Indiana's 590,315 low-income beneficiaries enrolled in the state's Medicaid program failed to make monthly payments required to receive "top tier" service, the Indy Star reports.

Here's what you should know.

1. The state revoked coverage from 4 percent of people who missed a payment. State officials moved 90 percent of beneficiaries to lower tier coverage plans, with fewer benefits and increased cost-sharing.

2. The payment requirement was Vice President Mike Pence's expanded Medicaid program's keystone, which CMS Administrator Seema Verma designed.

3. If Republicans repeal and replace the ACA, analysts expect CMS to be receptive to approving programs similar to Indiana's Medicaid program.

4. Left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Vice President for Health Policy Judy Solomon, a critic of Indiana's program, said to the Star, "It's time to really step back and think about this as an experiment and whether it's successful."

5. Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families Executive Director Joan Alker said to the Star, "The evaluation makes clear that Healthy Indiana's complicated use of premium payments is not working. More than half of the enrollees have missed a payment at some point, and as a result are bouncing around in and out of coverage sources or no coverage at all. These are very poor people for whom premiums are a hardship."
Here are seven updates:

HCA Holdings to become HCA Healthcare

HCA Holdings, based in Nashville, Tenn., is changing its name to HCA Healthcare. CEO Milton Johnson told investors during an earnings call the company was changing its name to "better reflect how the company interacts with patients."

2 NY health systems clinically affiliate

Great Neck, N.Y.-based Northwell Health formed a clinical affiliation with Syracuse, N.Y.-based Crouse Health. Crouse performs more than 17,000 procedures on an inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory basis each year. Over the past couple years, Northwell has expanded its ASC presence. The health system completed its ninth ASC joint venture in February.

Gastro Health acquires Dr. Orlando Torres' practice

Miami-based Gastro Health acquired the Hialeah, Fla.-based practice of Orlando Torres, MD. The acquisition is Gastro Health's first in Hialeah, Fla., and its 26th in South Florida.

Nearly 50% of US physicians received $2.4B in 2015 industry payments

An Open Payments analysis found 48 percent of physicians received industry payments in 2015. In sum, these payments totaled $2.4 billion that year.

Valeant considering name change follow tumultuous year

After weathering several financial scandals, CEO Joe Papa said Valeant Pharmaceuticals is considering changing its name. Valeant appointed Mr. Papa CEO in May 2016 and he has attempted to settle the company's $30 billion in debt.

AmSurg Partner Dr. John Pajka completes mission trip

John Pajka, MD, of Lima-based Eye Surgery Center of Western Ohio, and Robert Derick, MD, of Columbus (Ohio) Eye Surgery Center, completed mission trips to Nicaragua and Jamaica. Dr. Pajka is an AmSurg partner.

Sentara BelleHarbour breaks ground on $34M building housing ASC

Suffolk, Va.-based Sentara BelleHarbour, an outpatient medical center, is building a new medical building which will house an ASC in Suffolk. The $34 million building will also include two operating rooms, an expanded emergency department, medical office space, 14 observation beds and a helipad.
The American Gastroenterological Association announced the recipients of its 2017 annual recognition awards.

Julius Friedenwald Medal

AGA awarded its highest honor to Anil K. Rustgi, MD for his contributions to the gastroenterology field and the AGA over several decades.

Dr. Rustgi is a former AGA Institute president. In a release the AGA said Dr. Rustgi is a "world-class investigator, leader and mentor whose career has spanned over 25 years, during which he has played an instrumental role as an investigation and clinician in GI oncology with a focus on esophageal, pancreatic and colon cancers.

William Beaumont Prize

The AGA awarded David Ahlquist, MD, the William Beaumont Prize for discovering that multitarget DNA testing detects significantly more cancers and premalignant polyps in asymptomatic patients at average risk for colorectal cancer than fecal immunochemical tests.

Distinguished Achievement Award in Basic Science

Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Basic Science for her work in the field of transcription factors and its application to gastric physiology and pathophysiology.

Distinguished Educator Award

The AGA awarded Hari Conjeevaram, MD, for his entire academic career and his commitment to education, mentorship and empowerment of medical students.

Distinguished Mentor Award

The AGA awarded two distinguished mentor awards to John Carethers, MD, and to Emeran Mayer, MD. The AGA recognized Dr. Carethers for his GI fellow mentorship and Dr. Mayer for his three decades of trainee mentorship.

Distinguished Clinician Award

The AGA presented private practice and clinical academic practice Distinguished Clinical Awards to Steven Burdick, MD, and David Metz, MD, respectively.

The AGA stated Dr. Burdick "dedicated his life to the advancement of the field of interventional gastroenterology." He continues that mission to this day.

Dr. Metz is well-versed in all gastroenterology areas, which the AGA says "has resulted in him being a respected teacher/clinician and a highly sought-after clinician and visiting professor in his areas of expertise."

AGA Research Service Award

The AGA honored Majorie Merrick. Ms. Merrick is an advocate for research, training and education as well as patient support in the inflammatory bowel disease field.
Florida lawmakers agreed to cut $521 million in hospital funding for the upcoming fiscal year beginning in July, according to a Miami Herald report.

Here are five things to know.

1. The hospital funding cuts come from the state's general revenues as well as federal matching Medicaid monies, according to the report.

2. The cuts are projected to have a particularly significant affect on hospitals in the southern part of the state, especially public hospitals seeing a large number of Medicaid and uninsured patients. Of the $521 million, $160 million of the cuts would affect south Florida hospitals, according to the report.

3. Hollywood, Fla.-based Memorial Healthcare System, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health and Miami-based Jackson Health System are slated for cuts of $26.6 million, about $24.3 million and $32.5 million, respectively, Miami Herald reports.

4. The proposed hospital funding cuts come as Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the federal government agreed to a $1.5 billion annual commitment for Florida's Low Income Pool program to aid the state's safety-net hospitals. Gov. Scott and the federal government made the commitment announcement last month. However, the exact methodology for those monies is unclear, Aurelio Fernandez, CEO of Memorial Healthcare System, told the Miami Herald. Therefore, hospital executives said it is unknown at this time exactly how the funding cuts will affect their organizations, the report states.

5. The Florida legislature passed an $82.4 billion state budget Monday, according to another Miami Herald article. The budget still awaits a decision from Gov. Scott, who could reject or approve the budget.
Columbus (Ga.) Regional Health and Piedmont Healthcare, an eight-hospital system in Atlanta, signed a letter of intent to enter into exclusive negotiations to form a potential partnership.

If negotiations prove successful, Columbus Regional, including its two hospitals and mulitple urgent care centers and physician practices, will become Piedmont Healthcare's "regional hub" for clinical services in southwest Georgia.

The financial terms of the agreement, if any, were not disclosed.

"Piedmont is committed to making a positive difference in every life we touch. We share a commitment to high-quality, patient-centered care with Columbus Regional and welcome this opportunity to increase access and enhance care across Southwest Georgia," Kevin Brown, president and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare, said in an emailed news release. "Columbus Regional has a rich history of caring for its community and region, and we are thrilled to start working on a partnership with an organization that shares so many of our values."
Several elected officials allege they were told Greenville (S.C.) Health System expressed interest in acquiring Spartanburg, S.C.-based Mary Black Health System, which is owned and operated by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, according to The State.

State Reps. William Chumley, R-Spartanburg, and Merita Allison, R-Spartanburg, along with state Sen. Scott Talley, R-Greenville and Spartanburg Counties, told The State they were informed of GHS' interest in Mary Black Health System last week, according to the report.

David Britt, Spartanburg County councilman, said he was informed of the specific price Greenville Health System would pay for Mary Black, but did not disclose his information source, according to the report.

Both health systems denied the potential sale. A spokesperson for CHS told The State the for-profit hospital operator is "very invested in Mary Black Health System and remain[s] committed to [the] community  there are no discussions about a potential sale of Mary Black Health System," according to the report.

A spokesperson for Greenville Health System reiterated CHS' comments, stating, "GHS is not in negotiations to buy Mary Black," according to the report.
Few healthcare leaders disagree on the importance of patient-centered care, yet many are challenged to effectively move the needle on patient satisfaction metrics as reported by HCAHPS. To identify and address the drivers of patient satisfaction, hospital leaders are seeing value in deploying both analytics and nonclinical rounding to foster connections with individual patients.

In the last decade, patient satisfaction surveys have gained attention from hospital leaders as a useful tool to identify opportunities for quality improvement. Patient satisfaction is a patient's cumulative evaluation of his or her healthcare journey, from the first phone call through discharge. As such, consumer feedback reflects the quality of a hospital's personnel, processes and physical environment.

Patient satisfaction can also affect care quality outside of the inpatient setting. Studies have shown patient satisfaction influences a number of key outcomes post-discharge, including clinical effectiveness, medication adherence, patient retention and even patient payment behaviors.

As such, "it's no surprise healthcare organizations dedicated to improving quality are examining patient satisfaction surveys more closely than ever," said Alison Saine, global healthcare director of patient insights and experience at Sodexo, during an executive roundtable discussion April 18 at Becker's Hospital Review 8th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Ms. Saine, joined by Ryan Sawyer, president of operations management software firm Hydracor, discussed three key learning points on driving patient satisfaction, including how to enhance the patient experience through informal data collection, help environmental services partners manage their performance and use nonclinical rounding to improve satisfaction.

More patient feedback doesn't equate to more satisfied patients

Gathering and analyzing patient feedback is integral to better understand and serve a patient community. Two important data sources are HCAHPS surveys and nonclinical rounding, during which hospital leaders  executives, directors, managers and supervisors  meet with patients to collect firsthand feedback about their experiences.

Some hospitals have implemented analytics programs that use feedback data to assess past and near-time performance and predict HCAHPS scores, such as discharge information and cleanliness scores. Tracking and managing performance is useful to identify environmental issues affecting patient satisfaction. However, using data analytics alone to improve HCAHPS scores can have less-than-desired results, according to Mr. Sawyer.

"Analyzing extensive patient satisfaction data has helped organizations to hone their accuracy in predicting HCAHPS scores, sometimes to within a decimal," Mr. Sawyer said. "But that doesn't necessarily equip [hospital leaders] with the information they need to raise HCAHPS scores."

Instead, healthcare organizations see a greater change in patient satisfaction when they both analyze feedback and promote connection between hospital leaders and patients.

Studies have positively linked nurse leader and other clinical rounding with higher patient satisfaction rates. Nonclinical rounds are another opportunity to address patient satisfaction. Hospital administrators that use rounding to connect with and listen to patients, as well as collect feedback, demonstrate a true patient-centered approach to care from the top down.

In fact, Mr. Sawyer found hospital systems that divided their resources between analyzing feedback and connecting with patients during rounding saw substantial improvement in patient satisfaction levels, compared to their peers that invested in data analytics alone.

Collecting patient feedback during rounds is important. But "when it comes down to it, your labor hours are better spent driving patient value than in duplicating the data already present in your HCAHPS surveys," Mr. Sawyer said. For this reason, Mr. Sawyer recommends rounding hospital leaders strike a balance between collecting patient feedback and personally connecting with patients to positively affect an organization's HCAHPS metrics. Every interaction with the patient should drive value for that patient.

Find ways to guarantee consistent and effective operations across service lines

Promoting connection between leadership and patients is the first step toward driving patient satisfaction. The second step is finding ways to ensure and maintain high quality, consistent operations across environmental service lines. Creating a "service line depot," or an enterprisewide quality assessment team, can help hospital leaders efficiently identify and resolve problems that affect patient satisfaction in nonclinical departments, such as food and nutrition, housekeeping and administrative assistance.

Patient experience is shaped by a variety of environmental factors generally grouped under people, process and place. Factors such as cleanliness, infrastructural and cosmetic maintenance, noise levels and food quality have substantial affects on how patients perceive the quality of their care  and HCAHPS surveys evaluate hospitals' performance in each category. Environmental services partners who have tools to track near-time performance and maintain quality can help hospitals to improve satisfaction scores.

"Everybody needs to be aware of performance, every operator needs to see where they're at," Mr. Sawyer said. To reduce variability and improve patient satisfaction, he recommends implementing technology that gives environmental services partners near-time insight into performance data. This helps operators pinpoint and correct issues, such as replacing unpopular food options or using a different laundry detergent.

The most effective and actionable analytics platforms represent this data visually, as charts and graphs are often easier to understand than black-and-white statistics, he adds. "If [end users] can't analyze large data sets in 30 seconds or less, then the technology really isn't helping," Mr. Sawyer said. Operations leaders can then incorporate data into strategic, specific action plans.

Define and drive value for patients  not just for hospital staff

Finally, improving patient satisfaction is about putting the patient's needs before the hospitals' needs, Ms. Saine said.

Rounding is one example of an opportunity to put the patient's needs first. To sick patients and their families, not all rounding is created equal. Patients generally enjoy rounding by their nurses and physicians since this makes them feel physically safe.

However, patients are often less thrilled when it comes to rounding related to their nonclinical experiences  or rather, lack of thereof. It is far better to focus on discussions they will find valuable, such as orientations. In fact, a patient experience study in U.S. World & News Report found that a lack of orientation to their room and dining plan by staff was one of the top 10 complaints patients had about their hospital experiences, according to Mr. Sawyer.

The vice president of operations for a large nonprofit physician group on the East Coast suggested one way hospitals can address this complaint. Leaders who perform nonclinical rounding should focus on making the patient comfortable during their visit rather than collecting feedback on the patient's experience.

"When the rounding benefits [the hospital], then you aren't driving patient value. It's important to make sure rounding is adding value to the patients, rather than valuable to you as a hospital," he said.

"To help improve patient satisfaction, hospital and health system leaders should ensure they are taking a holistic, team-based approach that uses their organization's available resources  including the third-party professionals who manage those important nonclinical services and spaces," he added.

To learn more information about Sodexo and patient satisfication, click here, or email Alison Saine, Sodexo's global healthcare director of patient insights and experience, at Alison.Saine@sodexo.com.
Indianapolis-based Anthem requested an additional 60 days to gain approval for its merger with Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna, in an effort to stop Cigna from ditching the deal and collecting a $1.85 billion break-up fee, Reuters reports.

On April 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed a district court decision blocking the $54 billion proposed merger between the health insurance giants. Anthem filed a petition May 5 calling for a Supreme Court review of the decision.



As Anthem awaits a decision from the Supreme Court, the company is seeking a 60-day preliminary injunction from Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of Delaware's Court of Chancery to block Cigna from ending the deal, the report states. Mr. Laster said he would make a decision on the request as soon as possible, after hearing roughly five hours of arguments.



Anthem's attorney, Glenn Kurtz of White & Case, said he hoped the Supreme Court would decide if it would address the case before July, Reuters reports. Mr. Kurtz added Anthem will attempt to reach a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice after officials appointed by the Trump administration are in place.
A family of drug-resistant bacteria previously referred to as "nightmare bacteria" by former CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, is on the rise around the world. Illinois may be ground zero for the deadly pathogen in the United States, according to Chicago-based physicians cited in an NBC Chicago report.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae is one of 12 priority pathogens identified by the World Health Organization for which the creation of new antibiotics is urgently needed. CRE was one of three drug-resistant strains on the WHO list designated as a critical priority.

In 2013, Illinois saw one of the largest outbreaks of CRE in the nation's history with 39 patients sickened with the drug-resistant bacteria at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Two of the patients died. Nationally, Illinois has seen more cases of CRE than any other state since the bacteria was first detected in the U.S. in 2009, according to data compiled by the CDC.

Sign up for our FREE E-Weekly for more coverage like this sent to your inbox!

"We have a very robust medical system. We have many large hospitals," said Sameer Patel, MD, director of antimicrobial stewardship at Lurie Children's Hospital, according to the report. "Whenever you have more medical care, you're going to have more use of antibiotics, and therefore more resistance to organisms."

CRE typically infects hospitalized patients whose immune systems have been compromised. The bacteria carry a high level of resistance to antibiotics, making infections difficult to treat. One report, cited by the CDC, found the bacteria contributes to the death of as many as 50 percent of patients who become infected.

To learn more about CRE, click here.

More articles on infection control:

Sacramento health officials investigate botulism outbreak

Top 10 infection control stories, May 1-5

3 dead in San Diego County hepatitis A outbreak
An Auburn man has been arrested after a domestic dispute in the town of Ithaca, New York State Police said.

Jason T. Fields, 32, was arrested Monday, May 8, and charged with felony first-degree criminal contempt, two misdemeanors  second-degree unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree criminal mischief  and second-degree harassment, a violation.

According to state police, troopers were advised of a dispute that occurred March 25, 2017, at a home on Maple Avenue in Ithaca. Upon further investigation, police said they determined the dispute was physical as Fields allegedly shoved a woman several times and did not let her call police for help.

Police said a child was present during the dispute and that Fields' conduct violated an order of protection that was issued on behalf of the victim.

Fields was arraigned in the Town of Ithaca Court and remanded to Tompkins County Jail without bail.
When physicians diagnosed Bao Lee with a large hole in her heart, she knew exactly who to turn to: her mother.

Lee's mother, Mai See Vang, has spent the last two decades building and inspecting medical devices for Saint Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude Medical, which Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott acquired in early 2017, reports FOX9.

When Ms. Vang learned her daughter would be treated with the very same device she inspects on a daily basis, she asked her boss if she could examine the exact implant that physicians would use to close the hole in her daughter's heart.

"I told them, 'I want the one that I inspect for my daughter  I want a really good one for [her],'" Ms. Vang told FOX9.

Ms. Lee underwent a successful surgery two years ago and her health continues to improve.

"It's neat to know that I'll always have a piece of [my mom as] a part of me forever," Ms. Lee told FOX9.

More articles on supply chain:

Blue Cross member plans spent 73% more on drugs in 2016 than 2010

FDA approves 1st ALS treatment in 22 years

Forget clothes  this thrift shop sells medical equipment
Vermont's State Senate recently passed a bill aimed at helping independent physicians earn more, according to VT Digger.

Here are five things to know:

1. Independent physicians say insurance companies pay hospital-employed physicians two to three times more for the similar services.

2. The bill would implement plans to reduce pay disparities between independent physicians and academic medical center physicians by the "maximum achievable" amount in the next three years.

3. The bill's authors claim low pay is a reason independent physicians leave Vermont or sell their practices to hospitals.

4. Vermont State Senate passed H.29 after pay parity language was added to it. The House must now vote on the Senate's changes.

5. Hospitals, insurance companies and the chairs of two State Senate committees advocated against the bill's passage.

More articles on practice management:

Regional Health to build $55M Advanced Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute  5 key notes



Democrats see no solid healthcare bill until after 2018 elections  4 insights



Merger: Commonwealth Orthopaedic Centers, Reconstructive Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine to create 10-location practice  5 things to know
Researchers studied the impact of herniated disc surgery on elderly patients, according to News-Medical Life Sciences.

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology as well as Trondheim, Norway-based St. Olavs Hospital conducted the study, published in JAMA Surgery.

The study involved 381 patients over 65 years of age and 5,195 younger patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery. Researchers compared patient-reported treatment outcomes, pulling data from the Norwegian quality register for spinal surgery.

Here are four insights:

1. Researchers found the older patients received as great a benefit form lumbar spine surgery as the younger patients.

2. The older patients saw greater improvement in their low back pain than the younger patients.

3. Younger patients experienced fewer non-serious complications (2.3 percent) compared to older patients (4.2 percent).

4. Researchers concluded age along should not impact surgical decision-making in this case.
Lateral spine surgery continues to be a game-changing procedure for many surgeons, yielding enhanced patient outcomes.

Here are 15 insights into the lateral spine surgery space.

Market

1. Lateral lumbar interbody fusion is designed to treat spondylolisthesis, lumbar degenerative disc disease, scoliosis and recurrent lumbar disc herniation.





2. Minimally invasive lateral lumbar interbody fusion is gaining popularity, due to outcomes involving enhanced spine alignment, less blood loss and less tissue damage, according to a Transparency Market Research analysis.





3. The spine industry is witnessing a trend toward oblique lumbar interbody fusion and lateral lumbar interbody fusion and away from minimally invasive posterior lumbar interbody fusion and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion devices, according to iData Research.





4. The U.S. lateral lumbar interbody fusion market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.05 percent through 2020, according to a ResearchMoz study.





5. Key players in the lateral lumbar interbody fusion market include NuVasive, DePuy Synthes, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, Medtronic, Paradigm Spine and Alphatec Spine.





Studies

6. NuVasive developed the eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion approach in 2003, and surgeons have performed more than 150,000 successful XLIF procedures to date. Supported by more than 350 published clinical studies, XLIF has been shown to:

 Reduce operating time

 Lessen blood loss

 Reduce postoperative pain

 Cut recovery time

 Shorten length-of-stay

In March 2017, the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated guidance for lateral interbody fusion. NICE reported evidence proving lateral interbody fusion efficacy is "adequate in quality and quantity." The institute received peer-reviewed journal articles outlining 14 years of investigation into NuVasive's XLIF procedure.





7. By April 12, Inspired Spine reported surgeons had performed more than 500 Oblique Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusions  a minimally invasive procedure using an incision of 15 mm and incurring 80 percent less blood loss compared to a traditional fusion. A study published in Cureus found OLLIF saved hospitals an average of $9,500 per case compared to transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.





8. Researchers compared concave and convex approaches in lateral lumbar interbody fusion for scoliosis correction, and presented the data at the 2016 Society of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Annual Forum. Of the 63 patients who underwent MIS reconstruction, 40 received the concave approach and 23 received the convex approach.

The researchers concluded, "Patients undergoing cMIS surgery for adult degenerative scoliosis had equivalent complication rates, clinical and operative, with concave or convex LLIS approaches."





9. A study published in Spine investigated single-level lateral lumbar interbody fusion for patient suffering from adjacent segment disease. The 52 LLIF patients experienced reduced back and leg pain, increased segmental lordosis and decreased segmental coronal angulation. Researchers also discovered increased intervertebral height at the surgical level. The study noted a 21.2 percent reoperation rate.

Researchers concluded LLIF "may be an effective surgical treatment option for ASD with regard to both the clinical and radiographic outcomes in a large portion of cases."





10. Researchers analyzed the effect of transformational lateral interbody fusion on patients undergoing surgery for one-level lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis with the posterior approach. The study compared 30 patients undergoing isolated instrumented posterior fusion to 30 patients receiving the associated instrumented posterior fusion and transformational lumbar interbody fusion approach.

The study revealed significant improvement in pain and disability among patients in both groups. Based on radiographic assessment, the posterolateral fusion rate proved better for the TLIF patients. The results showed TLIF isn't mandatory for the degenerative spondylolisthesis indication.





Surgeon thoughts

11. Frank La Marca, MD, chief of University of Michigan Health System's department of neurosurgery, spine section, told Becker's minimally invasive lateral approach techniques have contributed to the advancement of spinal surgery over the last decade.

"These surgical techniques, such as lateral interbody arthrodesis with or without anterior longitudinal ligament release, are not new per se but thanks to the introduction of minimally invasive approaches have become more accessible to a broader number of surgeons and often eliminated the need for an assistant surgeon to help in the surgical exposure."





12. James J. Lynch, MD, founder of Reno-based SpineNevada, told Becker's the lateral lumbar spine approach is the "single most influential technique" introduced in the last 10 years.

He argued no other procedure has enhanced "patient wellbeing by minimizing the approach to fusion techniques and certainly changing the way surgeons address global alignment strategies and overall sagittal balance issues by avoiding more outdated, scoliosis, open, destructive surgical procedures."





13. Brian R. Gantwerker, MD, of The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles, told Becker's the lateral interbody technique changed his practice: "It has allowed us to look at the spine as a true three-dimensional construct and to start really thinking about how to change coronal and some sagittal issues."





14. Edward H. Scheid Jr., MD, president and founder of Capital Region Neurosurgery & President, Capital Region Special Surgery in Slingerlands, N.Y., said minimally invasive lateral interbody fusion techniques changed how spine care is delivered.

"By allowing a surgeon to correct coronal imbalance with lateral grafts placed via a minimal approach, XLIF and other lateral fusion techniques have opened up an opportunity to treat patients more effectively, and allow fusions to be performed without long incisions and large posterior constructs," he told Becker's.





15. Vladimir Sinkov, MD, of Nashua-based New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center, noted the lateral lumbar interbody fusion with direct visualization of the psoas has offered the least invasive approach for fusing the thoracolumbar spine safely.

"My outcomes have improved [and] length of hospital stay has decreased. I can offer this surgery to patients who would not be able to tolerate the traditional open lumbar fusion due to their health, anatomy or history of previous spine procedures," he told Becker's.




To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below
A Belfast finance business which offers firms an alternative to bank lending is launching a new 30m fund for green energy projects.

Clearpath's Green Energy Fund will be available for new and existing wind farms, and anaerobic digester businesses and projects across Northern Ireland.

Conor Devine and James Gibbons said they set up Clearpath Finance to help businesses and individuals secure cash without going through the traditional banks.

Conor Devine of Clearpath said: "We are committed to helping green energy projects in Northern Ireland.

"Continued growth and investment into this sector is vital as we move to harvest renewable energy sources.

James Gibbons of Clearpath said: "Obtaining and delivering finance in this current market can be extremely difficult.

"At Clearpath, we have identified the support and solutions needed for businesses who are seeking to finance or refinance their business or project at more competitive finance rates than those currently on offer.

"We will continue to provide new finance streams to businesses across NI."
A Northern Ireland telecoms company has bought over two businesses in a multi-million-pound deal.

Connect Telecom, based in Belfast, acquired the Aberdeen-based Vodafone partner Coltel and also purchased Carlisle-based Nortech Communications.

The acquisition of the firms will bring Connect Telecom's total connections to around 30,000 customers.

Coltel's Vodafone base will now be managed in partnership with Connect Telecom, which provides customers with access to additional Vodafone products.

It's understood the deal will create 15 new jobs over the next two years, in addition to around 50 staff currently working with Coltel.

And Coltel's managing director Neil Collie will join the senior management team at Connect Telecom and will continue to lead Coltel's Scottish operations.

Connect Telecom has also taken on the Vodafone base of Nortech, which was previously part of the Atlas Group.

Scott Ritchie, managing director at Connect Telecom, which has offices in Belfast and the Strathclyde Business Park, said: "We are delighted to expand our presence in the Scottish market through the acquisition of Coltel and the Nortech Communications Vodafone base.

"Coltel will continue to operate as Coltel Limited and I look forward to working with Neil Collie, and the extended team as we aim to grow the business whilst maintaining consistency and stability of service and support to customers who will now receive more choice than ever before.

"As a Vodafone Total Communications Partner, our relationship with Vodafone is stronger than ever and ensures our customers have faster and more efficient access to the latest communications solutions across fixed line, mobile, converged and cloud technology.

"Our increased presence within the Scottish market means more business customers than ever before in the region will benefit from Connect Telecom's ability to deliver not only the best value, but also the very latest technology and communications solutions as they emerge."

Connect Telecom has trebled its size in terms of customers and connections, since being taken over by Mr Ritchie in 2015.

And Neil Collie, managing director at Coltel, said: "This partnership between Coltel and Connect Telecom allows us to be more dynamic and flexible in the communications offering to our Vodafone customers.

"This is extremely important as we aim to support the development and growth of local businesses by providing intelligent communications solutions.

"The business will continue to operate as usual and communication with existing account managers will remain for our customers who will be advised of the greater choice of Vodafone products and services now available to them.

"Having operated in Aberdeen for 25 years, Coltel has unrivalled knowledge of the local market, which coupled with Connect Telecom's UK and Ireland-wide expertise, presents a very exciting opportunity not only for our customers, who will now benefit from the best value, products and services, but also for the b2b telecoms market across Scotland."

The latest expansion for Connect Telecom is being funded by Danske Bank, which has been named the number one company in Northern Ireland according to the Belfast Telegraph Top 100 Companies 2017 in association with Arthur Cox.

Ian Beatty, business acquisition manager at Danske Bank, said: "Connect Telecom is a prime example of the types of trading businesses Danske Bank is keen to support in their growth journey.

"The company has a strong track record of working with some of the biggest names in the telecoms sector and we are delighted to be able to provide them with further funding to expand the business."

Earlier this year it emerged that Northern Ireland's independent telecoms sector has a new challenger as Onecom has announced it is setting up in the province in a 5m investment.

The business telecoms provider, which is based in England, is opening an office at Arthur Street in Belfast and expects to have a staff of 30 by 2022.

The company is Vodafone's biggest enterprise partner and manages more than 325,000 connections.

Its services include fixed line, mobile, broadband and cloud computing.

In Northern Ireland the company will be led by Paul Lawther, alongside business development managers Stuart Lunn, Mark Fraser and Darren Brown.
Yasufumi Hirai of Rakuten during a visit to Belfast

A Japanese online retail and electronics business is creating 20 jobs at its new office in Belfast.

Rakuten said it is setting up a fintech software development centre in the city.

Invest Northern Ireland has offered Rakuten 140,000 to support its investment.

Rakuten's new centre will focus on developing blockchain technology, which is the technology underpinning the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

Eleven of the 20 new roles are already in place and include positions for both experienced software professionals and graduates.

Yasufumi Hirai, Rakuten's chief information officer and chief information security officer, said: "Northern Ireland is fast becoming a global hub for cyber security professionals and we are keen to leverage the expertise which exists here to drive growth across our businesses.

"Invest NI's support, combined with the availability of local skills and talent, made Northern Ireland our preferred location to establish our unique blockchain lab.

"The engagement and work ethic of the personnel we've recruited locally is impressive and we're confident the team in Belfast will be an invaluable addition to the Rakuten Group."

And Invest NI's chief executive Alastair Hamilton said: "Rakuten is a significant player in global financial technology and its investment to establish the organisation's only blockchain lab in Belfast is a major coup for Northern Ireland.

"The 20 new software engineering roles will generate 855,000 annually in additional salaries and support the ongoing development of Rakuten's global businesses.

"Its focus on ecommerce and fintech will make Rakuten a valuable addition to the cluster of cyber security businesses already investing in Northern Ireland.

"Rakuten has begun to explore opportunities with Queen's University's Centre for Secure Information Technology (CSIT) and have representatives from their global security team in Japan attending the seventh World Cyber Security Technology Research Summit being held in Belfast next week."

Rakuten has more than one billion customers worldwide and is based across almost 200 countries.

In 2015, it bought over rights to Belfast-based business Bitnet's technology, relating to blockchain software.

Bitnet was created by John McDonnell and Downpatrick man Stephen McNamara.
The bank said it would let go of 154 contractors by the end of the year

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is f acing a union backlash amid plans to cut more than 250 tech staff and offshore dozens of jobs to India.

The bank informed staff on Tuesday that it would be letting go of 154 contractors by year-end, while 180 permanent roles have been put at risk - with a total of 92 staff positions set to be axed.

It also emerged that RBS is on track to offshore 38 tech roles to India.

The move comes just months after chief executive Ross McEwan ordered a 2 billion four-year cost-cutting drive, which is widely expected to result in significant job losses and branch closures.

An RBS spokesperson said: "As RBS moves towards becoming a simpler, smaller bank UK focused bank, we're continuing to restructure our back office support and reducing its size so it's a better fit for our business.

"Unfortunately, these changes will result in the net reduction of 92 roles.

"We understand this will be difficult news for staff and we will be offering support to those affected, including redeploying people into other roles where we can".

The cuts are expected to affect tech staff across a number of the bank's departments including risk solutions, digital engineering services, finance solutions, core and payments, and NatWest markets technology.

Rob MacGregor, a national officer at Unite, said the union has hit out at the bank over the job cuts and is now now calling on RBS to introduce a moratorium on the offshoring of jobs.

"Unite cannot understand how RBS, which continues to be taxpayer-backed, can justify hundreds more staff cuts and continue transferring important work out of the country.

"It is wholly inappropriate and unjustified for these technology roles to be sent offshore. Unite has called on RBS to halt the offshoring announcements and impose a moratorium on the offshoring of jobs.

"The loss of these jobs to India does nothing to support the well-being and livelihood of UK workers and their families. This is not in the taxpayer interest."

The union is also pressing RBS - which is still 72% owned by the Government - to guarantee that there will be no forced job losses as a result.

The news comes just days before RBS faces investors at its annual general meeting in Gogarburn, Scotland on Thursday.

Shareholders in RBS are being urged to cast vote against a new remuneration policy, which makes Mr McEwan eligible for a long-term award of 175% of his salary, and finance chief Ewen Stevenson 200%.

The vote on the bank's executive pay policy will be binding.
National Nurses Week is observed each year  coinciding with the May 12 birthday of Florence Nightingale  to honor the enormous contributions made by nurses each and every day. The nursing profession has evolved incredibly over the years: Today, nurses are found not only in hospitals, but wherever skilled care, wellness support and patient advocacy are needed.

One such service area is Hillside Family of Agencies, where more than 100 nurses support children and families as part of the Hillside mission. A Hillside nurse is often the first staff member that a youth or their family may encounter when receiving services. These initial interactions help to create a foundation for trusting, therapeutic relationships.

On behalf of everyone at Hillside, I salute our nurses  and every member of this proud profession  for the remarkable skill and tireless dedication they bring to their work. Improved community health is a goal that benefits everyone, and nurses play an invaluable role in achieving that goal.

Ann Cott

Rochester

Cott is director of nursing for Hillside Family of Agencies
Bananarama are coming to Belfast this year with the record breaking Eighties girl group adding a November 9 date at the SSE Arena to their much anticipated comeback tour.

The shows will be the only time the pop trio of Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward and Siobhan Fahey will tour in their original line-up.

"Keren and I have toured as a duo for years, but we never toured or played live with Siobhan," explained Sara. "The moment has finally arrived, it's incredibly exciting. Lots of fans have often asked 'please just do one tour with Siobhan,' so now their wishes have come true."

Keren added: "We'll be performing all the hits and some surprises too, I really can't wait it's gonna be an amazing party every night."

"These were my formative years," adds Siobhan. "I never thought it would happen again. It's like going back down the road to find a piece of myself that I left back then. The older I get, the more I realise it was pretty magical."

With 30 hit singles to their name, more than any other girl band ever, Bananarama are listed as the most successful female group of all time in the Guinness Book of Records.

Tickets for the SSE Arena show go on sale on Thursday, May 11, at 9am.
MS sufferers Tina McGonagle, from Belfast, and Antrim dad David McCullough tell Linda Stewart how, thanks to advances in drug treatments, they wont let the disease stop them living life to the full.

Its one of the most common conditions of the central nervous system to affect young adults  yet one in five people from the UK dont know what MS stands for, and almost 70% admit to being unaware of the major symptoms.

And thats despite one-third of people knowing someone who lives with MS (multiple sclerosis).

MS affects around 4,500 people here. And we have a particularly high level of MS when compared to countries with similar population sizes.

This is not going to kill me ... life has just got a little slower

Retired pharmacy dispenser Tina McGonagle (34), who lives in south Belfast with her daughter Emma (13), volunteers with the MS Society. She says:

As a teenager I was always out doing things. You couldnt keep me in the house at the weekend. I was also working from the age of 13 in clothes shops.

I walked everywhere  into town and home again  and I would never think twice about it.

The hardest part of being disabled is facing up to the fact that you dont have the energy any more. Because Im on medications I cant drink alcohol, so I cant go out and socialise the way I used to. But I still love getting out for a meal with friends. Im always the designated driver but dont mind.

When I was pregnant with my daughter Emma I suffered from pre-eclampsia. When Emma was a baby I used to walk with her in the buggy, but found I would feel shaky and have to take a break. I also had pain in my neck and lower back.

I constantly felt weak and as though there was something wrong with me, but I kept getting up and going to work. I put the back pain down to other things, and the fatigue was because I was new mum and back at work.

In 2008 and 2009, my symptoms came to the fore. It started with a lack of feeling in my legs and there were symptoms of vertigo and dizzy spells.

But things came to a head in 2011 and 2012, when my lower back got an awful lot worse. With working in a pharmacy I was aware of MS and its symptoms and they rang true to me.

Then the numbness started to spread. I couldnt feel my thighs and then it started from the other direction and I lost sensation in my left big toe.

One day I was standing in work and the numbness spread from my calf right up to my thigh within minutes. That was the second of my A&E trips  the doctors said it could be a slipped disc, MS or thrombosis.

No slipped disc was found after an MRI, but an anomaly was, which I knew could be an MS lesion on my spine.

I was on the waiting list for a while to get a referral, but once Id seen the neurologist and they ran through my history and got an MRI, there was no doubting that it was MS. Then, from one MRI to the next more changes were detected and I was diagnosed with relapse remitting MS of a highly active nature.

I was due to start self injection in 2013, but because it was rapidly evolving I needed to start a much stronger drug. By October that year, I began hospital administered IV drugs, which meant two to three hours at outpatients every month.

Since being on the drug, Ive only had normal sensory issues like pain, fatigue and being prone to infection  Ive had shingles a couple of times. There has been no relapse.

Emma has been there with me every step of the way  she is a very helpful little girl indeed. Shes in grammar school now and is learning home economics so shes able to make dinners as well.

There are misconceptions about MS.

I use a stick and have a blue badge but people think there is nothing wrong with her. MS affects everyone differently  like a snowflake, no two patients are exactly the same.

People dont really know about MS and what it is, and those who do tend to think of somebody being in a wheelchair which is how it used to be.

The drugs we have now are very different to what was available 25-30 years ago when MRIs didnt exist.

It doesnt have to be awful. There are absolutely rubbish days and okay days. Ill never be 100% back to what I was or do the things I used to do.

I work as a receptionist at the MS Society for a couple of hours on Friday, but if Im not having a good day, thats fine and I dont need to go in. If that was a normal job, it wouldnt go down that well.

Some days the pain is absolutely everywhere  if my hair had feelings, it would hurt.

But having MS is not the end of the world. Its not going to kill me  life has just got a little slower. Ive been diagnosed at such a good time  now there are so many drugs available.

'Im going to climb up Mont Blanc in June for charity'

Retired government worker David McCullough (51) lives in Antrim with his wife Karen (40), a civil servant, and their son Matthew (4). He says:

I grew up across the road in a farmhouse. Weve just finished building a house here  it was designed to take into consideration any future issues with my MS.

I was one of seven children. We grew up on the farm, a big gang of us  there was always work to be done, animals to feed and to be cleaned out.

When I was 21 I started working for the government and part of that involved going abroad. I was normally in good health and didnt have a check-up until a trip in 2007. I was in New York doing some training and my symptoms started. I couldnt understand it.

The first symptom was that I couldnt stay awake after 7pm at night as a massive fatigue would overcome me. I was also dragging my left leg  some of my colleagues thought it was possibly stroke-related. I flew back home and was admitted straight away into Antrim Area Hospital.

I was fortunate to get a clear diagnosis of MS quickly. Some sufferers can wait for years before they know they definitely have it.

Ultimately the MRI scan showed up the lesions on the brain and that was the indicator that it was MS.

Having said that, my wife had practically diagnosed me on the computer before the doctors told me. She was going home every night and checking out the symptoms and she suspected that was what I had.

I got into treatment as soon as I could. Three different injectable drugs were tried out until I could find something that worked without causing massive side effects. Last year my meds were available in tablet form which I take twice a day now.

I didnt go into a big depression about having MS. Im pretty easy going and very little bothers me  I couldnt change what I had so I get on with life as best I can.

There are many people far worse off, both with MS and other diseases. In the last couple of weeks Ive read about people with MS who are in a bad way.

The diagnosis more or less forced me into early retirement.

Its almost 10 years now since I was diagnosed and I get fatigued quite easily.

A weakness on my left side is getting worse and the symptoms are slowly creeping up on me.

So I keep taking the medicine and have a positive attitude.

My advice is to not let it obstruct you and just carry on with life as well as you can.

Whenever I get a chance, I go to meetings of the MS Support group in Antrim.

When I was diagnosed we had been trying for Matthew. Ultimately he was an IVF baby as we had been trying for five years and in our last go, he appeared, which we were overjoyed about. At the minute Im a part-time childminder.

My family are very supportive when you need them. When Im overcome with fatigue, Karen would take on her share of looking after Matthew and I have to go to bed as its the only thing that helps.

Last year in London a friend, who is a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London and has MS, came up with this idea of climbing Mont Blanc to raise money for the MS Trust and asked me to be on the team.

So Im committed to climbing Mont Blanc in June. Id never climbed Slieve Donard in my life until January and now Ive dragged myself up it 10 times, although it never seems to get any easier. Theres six of us and were trying to raise 60,000. Our page is www.mtblancforms.com.

While Matthew is only four he has, on occasions, climbed Slemish with me and even part of the way up Slieve Donard.

Weve also climbed up past the caves on Cave Hill.

He knows Im going to try and climb Mont Blanc and, when it suits, he comes along with me. He likes to get involved.

Facts and treatments behind multiple sclerosis

 More than 100,000 people in the UK have MS. For Northern Ireland the figure is around 4,500.

 Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition of the central nervous system. It is unpredictable and different for everyone  one day you can be fine, the next you might lose your sight or be unable to move.

 A substance called myelin protects the nerve fibres in the central nervous system. In MS, your immune system mistakes myelin for a foreign body and attacks it. Nerve damage causes the increase in disability that can occur over a period of time.

 Symptoms usually start in your 20s and 30s and can include sight loss, pain, fatigue, incontinence and disability. Once diagnosed, MS stays with you for life, but treatments and specialists can help you to manage the condition and its symptoms.
Noble Caledonia's Ocean Nova cruise ship sailed into Derry. Passengers greeted by local Irish dancers on their arrival at Derry quay. Photo Lorcan Doherty Photography

Noble Caledonias Ocean Nova cruise ship sailed into Derry, bringing an exclusive group of passengers and crew to explore the city and region as part of their Bird Watch cruise, an exploration of the seabird islands of the UK and Ireland. Photo Lorcan Doherty Photography

A cruise ship of avid bird watchers has docked in Northern Ireland.

Noble Caledonias Ocean Nova cruise ship sailed into Derry on Tuesday as part of its "bird watch cruise" to allow the passengers to enjoy the sights around the North West city.

Their voyage will see them travel around the British Isles to observe the diverse marine life.

The focus of the expedition is the prolific birdlife we will visits the spiritual island of Iona, Dunvegan Castle, the seat of the MacLeods and as well as Derry.

The Ocean Nova can accommodate 84 passengers. Built in Denmark in 1992, it was completely refurbished in 2006 and is described as a small, comfortable expedition ship.
A 15-year-old boy has been released on bail after appearing before Londonderry Magistrates Court charged with raping a 17-year-old girl

A 15-year-old boy has been released on bail after appearing before Londonderry Magistrates Court charged with raping a 17-year-old girl.

The alleged incident took place at St Columb's Park in the Waterside area of the city last Friday night.

Members of the youth's family were in court yesterday for the hearing before District Judge Oonagh Mullan. The youth denies the rape charge.

A detective constable in the PSNI's Child Protection Unit told the court that the girl told police she went to the park at 6.30pm on Friday with friends. She drank half a bottle of vodka and a quarter bottle of rum, and by 10.30pm she was drunk.

She met the defendant, who she knew, and they went for a walk together. The girl said the defendant kissed her on the neck and tried to pull down her tights. She asked him to stop but he pushed against her and they both fell into bushes, where he allegedly raped her.

The police witness said because of her drunken condition, the girl could not fight the defendant off. She said after the alleged rape one of the girl's friends went looking for the defendant but could not find him. The friend then phoned for a taxi to take the girl home.

The detective constable said two police officers who spoke to the girl said she was in pain, crying and upset. Her tights were torn around her crotch area and they were twisted and hanging below her denim skirt.

The two police officers also saw what appeared to be thorns on the backs of her lower legs and skirt and there were small blades of grass attached to her torn tights. She also had nettle stings to her legs and multiple injuries to her upper thighs, buttocks, back and wrists.

The detective constable said the defendant was interviewed by the police twice over the weekend. In his first interview, he said he had consumed four bottles of beer but that he was not drunk. He said he knew the girl and knew she was drunk, and told the police that she had sustained her stings and injuries after she had fallen down a slope because of her drunken condition.

The youth denied raping the girl and in his second interview he said they had engaged in sexual activity, to which she had consented. He admitted straddling her chest and touching her on the chest and in the genital area.

"He said he then told her to fix her clothes and said she was not upset but quiet," the police witness said.

The officer said when asked by the two police officers if the girl had consented, the defendant replied "she didn't say no".

Opposing bail, the police witness said the girl's statement was "consistent with the suspect leading a drunk girl off by herself to rape her".

She said more witnesses had yet to be interviewed and she believed the defendant could interfere with witnesses. She also said the forensics element of the police investigation was at an early stage.

Applying for bail, defence solicitor Tom McClafferty said the forensic evidence would take months to complete and it would therefore be unjust to remand the defendant in custody pending the outcome of that evidence.

Mr McClafferty said the defendant was willing to abide by any court imposed bail conditions, including living outside of the city.

The district judge said she was "concerned about the safety of this defendant, given what has been said in court today".

She released the defendant on his own bail of 200 together with a cash surety of 500 until his next court appearance on May 23.

As part of his bail conditions the defendant was banned from consuming alcohol and from possessing a mobile phone.

He was ordered to live at an agreed address outside the city and not to enter within the 30 mph zone except for court appearances. He was additionally ordered not to contact any witnesses in the case.

The district judge said she was not ordering the defendant to be electronically tagged, because if the tag was seen by school colleagues that could identify him and lead to the possible identification of the girl.
Independent councillor Warren Robinson in the tunnel where his brother Mark was beaten to death 16 years ago

A man whose 22-year-old brother was beaten to death by an IRA gang has said he will never give up his search for justice.

Londonderry man Warren Robinson (42), who sits as an independent councillor on Derry City and Strabane District Council, said his family have been through hell and called on the IRA to admit what happened.

Mark Robinson was beaten with an iron bar and stabbed with a knife by a gang as he walked home in the Galliagh area of the city in 2001 - long after the IRA ceasefire.

He was found with catastrophic head injuries and rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he died of his injuries three days later. Mark's heart was donated to his uncle, and the transplant saved his life.

"He was my little brother," Warren says. "

He was generous and kind and would have went out of his way to help.

"He was so good and caring towards our mum. He was just a typical young fella, trying to get on with his life. He had a young son and wanted to see him grow up.

"He was the same age as my own son is now when he was killed. I can't put myself in my mother and father's place, it is just too painful, the loss of their son just totally devastated them."

Mark encountered the IRA gang in the streets near his home as he was coming home from a friend's house at around 2am.

Warren said they had just come from burning an alleged drug dealer's car.

"Mark just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They attacked him near a tunnel at Moss Park, smashing the back of his skull in.

"They stabbed him so viciously they broke the tip of the knife off in his thigh bone. His injuries were horrific. It is so hard to take in that someone would do that to a young man of just 22-years-old."

For the next three days, Warren said the Robinson family kept a vigil at Mark's hospital bedside before doctors told them there was no hope. As they said their goodbyes, his uncle lay dying of heart disease in the City Hospital less than a mile away while waiting for a heart transplant. Mark was able to give his family that one last gift.

"Our uncle Lorney McMonagle was literally hours from death, suffering from heart disease. Two days before he died Mark signed the donor register, inspired by our uncle's plight," said Warren.

"When Mark died he perfectly matched Lorney's requirements and his heart was transplanted into his uncle. Lorney has Mark's heart beating in his chest and is doing well now."

Warren said his family's grief was compounded by intimidation, threats and a campaign to blacken Mark's name when they called for justice. Now they want the investigation reopened.

"I would like the IRA or their political representatives to acknowledge that they did this," said Warren. "Sinn Fein should, at the very least, provide any information they might have on this to the family and to the police. And I would call on the police to reopen this case and seek convictions."

Sinn Fein and the PSNI had not responded to a request for comment on the matter at the time of going to press.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said the incident occurred at an address in Enniskillen on Saturday evening

Timuras Koslov (21) has appeared in court on charges of attempted murder of a baby in Enniskillen. Photo Ronan McGlade/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 09/05/2017 A 21-year-old man has been charged with the attempted murder of a baby in Enniskillen. The child is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after being seriously injured at a house on the Castlecoole Road on Saturday night. The baby was taken to hospital shortly after 9pm Photo Ronan McGlade/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 09/05/2017 A 21-year-old man has been charged with the attempted murder of a baby in Enniskillen. The child is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after being seriously injured at a house on the Castlecoole Road on Saturday night. The baby was taken to hospital shortly after 9pm Photo Ronan McGlade/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 09/05/2017 A 21-year-old man has been charged with the attempted murder of a baby in Enniskillen. The child is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after being seriously injured at a house on the Castlecoole Road on Saturday night. The baby was taken to hospital shortly after 9pm Photo Ronan McGlade/Pacemaker Press

Timuras Koslov (21) has appeared in court on charges of attempted murder of a baby in Enniskillen. Photo Ronan McGlade/Pacemaker Press

A man accused of attempting to murder a baby in Co Fermanagh told police the boy's injuries were an accident, a court has heard.

Timuras Koslov, 20, of Derrychara Drive in Enniskillen, appeared at Omagh Magistrates' Court charged with the attempted murder of the boy on May 6.

A defence solicitor told the court that during four police interviews the Lithuanian national claimed the incident "was an accident".

He added: "(The defendant) has co-operated with police in terms of answering all questions. He is not known to police in this jurisdiction or Lithuania."

Speaking through an interpreter, Kozlov, who is employed locally, replied "yes" when asked if he understood the charge.

A detective constable told the court she believed she could connect the defendant to the charge.

Kozlov, dressed in a grey tracksuit, was remanded in custody after his lawyer said he was not applying for bail.

He will appear at Enniskillen Magistrates' Court by videolink on May 22.

Police said earlier that the incident occurred at another address in Enniskillen on Saturday evening.

The baby, who is understood to be about six months old, sustained serious injuries. He is in a stable condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
An industrial tribunal has found that an advice service in north Belfast discriminated against a woman who worked for them as an adviser.

The tribunal awarded Maria McKeith, who was supported by the Equality Commission, 18,886 in compensation following the case against the Ardoyne Association.

Ms McKeith had worked as a paid adviser for the Ardoyne Association for 16 hours per week, on four mornings since 2010.

She has a disabled daughter, is responsible for her care, and a friend looked after her daughter while she was at work.

Ms McKeith was dismissed at the end of March 2015. The tribunal found that there was evidence from which it could conclude that the dismissal was associative direct discrimination within the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 because she was the primary carer for her disabled daughter.

It found that the Ardoyne Association "did not put forward any convincing or coherent explanation for its decision". It also found that she had been unfairly dismissed.

Ms McKeith had been sent home from work for two extended periods during the months before her dismissal, even though she had not asked for extended leave on these occasions.

The tribunal considered that, in her managers' minds, "because the claimant had a disabled child, her position was not properly in the workplace. Her daughter was 'her priority'".

The tribunal held: "That is not the legal position. People who are disabled themselves, or who are the primary carer of a disabled person, have a right to work within the protection afforded by the 1995 Act."

The tribunal's finding of disability discrimination was appealed by the Ardoyne Association.

The appeal was dismissed in a decision given by the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland on November 29, 2016.

It stated that there was such evidence that, "in the absence of an adequate explanation, a tribunal could conclude that the employer committed an unlawful act of associative disability discrimination". It concluded: "We are not satisfied on any of the appellant's grounds of appeal. The appeal is dismissed."

The matter returned to the tribunal for a hearing on remedies for Ms McKeith. The tribunal awarded her 10,000 for injury to feelings, 6,760 for loss of earnings, and a total of 2,126 in interest.

Maria McKeith said: "I did not ask for any special treatment and I did not welcome it.

"I enjoyed coming to work, meeting people and being able to advise and help them and I knew my daughter was being cared for while I was at work.

"I'm very pleased by the decisions of the tribunal and of the Court of Appeal, and grateful for the help of the Equality Commission through this stressful process. But most of all, I hope that this will help make sure that other people in my position are not treated in this way."
Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd accused the SDLP of entering "spoiler candidates" in next month's General Election

Sinn Fein has attacked the SDLP for running candidates in constituencies "they haven't a snowball's chance in hell of winning", as relations between the two nationalist parties deteriorate further.

John O'Dowd MLA accused the SDLP of entering "spoiler candidates" in next month's General Election after the party rejected a call by Sinn Fein to stand aside in two constituencies.

He said they should "re-appraise their spoiler attitude."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he was not interested in standing aside for a political party that will not take their seats in Westminster to vote against Brexit and Tory cuts.

However, Mr O'Dowd hit back, saying the SDLP's attendance at Westminster does not make any difference.

"The SDLP have been taking their seats at Westminster for decades and they still cannot point to any situation where they have affected substantial change to the British governments policies in the North.

"Indeed, they failed to safeguard the interests of the north at Westminster during the Brexit debate," said Mr O'Dowd.

He accused the SDLP of entering spoiler candidates in North Belfast and Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

Mr O'Dowd said these were constituencies the SDLP "know they haven't a snowball's chance in hell of winning the seat".

Relations between the two parties deteriorated after Sinn Fein's northern leader Michelle O'Neill said the SDLP should "do the right thing" and not field candidates in Fermanagh and South Tyrone and North Belfast.

But Mr Eastwood said: "We're not interested in standing aside for a political party that won't even take their seats to go and vote against Brexit, to go and vote against Tory cuts or to do any of that."
The Irish government has given the go-ahead for a probe into the Republic's toxic assets agency Nama and its controversial Project Eagle sale.

A State inquiry into the biggest property deal in Northern Ireland's history will investigate if dealings between Stormont and Dublin leaders were appropriate.

The Irish government has given the go-ahead for a commission of investigation into the Republic's toxic assets agency Nama and its controversial Project Eagle sale.

The massive collection of Northern Ireland property loans, taken over by Nama after the economic crash, was sold to US investment fund Cerberus in April 2014.

The deal was "seriously deficient", the Irish parliament's Public Accounts Committee concluded earlier this year after a long-running probe into aspects of the sale.

Another big investment company said last year it pulled out of buying the portfolio because it was asked for a fixer payment of 16 million for three parties behind the scenes.

Former Stormont finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir has said Northern Ireland's entire political system was corrupted by the 1.2 billion euro sale (1 billion) - while the region's business, legal and accounting sectors were left tainted.

Agreeing terms of reference for an inquiry, the Dublin Cabinet said it would investigate whether the sale was appropriate, if the price paid was appropriate and whether there were any conflicts of interest among Nama's Northern Ireland advisers.

It will also probe fees allegedly payable to a former adviser.

Furthermore, it will investigate if the decisions and actions of Dublin's Finance Minister Michael Noonan, "including communications with members and officials of the Northern Ireland Executive" and meetings with potential bidders were appropriate.

The commission will also inquire into "anything arising outside the State that it considers relevant", the government has announced.

An interim report to the Taoiseach is expected within three months of the inquiry being set up.

A final report on the first module of its work must be finished by the end of June 2018.










This email was sent to automatblog@gmail.com. If this isn't the best email address at which to reach you,



Paid for by the Democratic National Committee, 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington DC 20003 and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National Committee are not tax deductible.This email was sent to automatblog@gmail.com. If this isn't the best email address at which to reach you, update your contact information . Our email list is the best way we have of staying in regular contact with supporters like you across the country and letting you know about the work Democrats are doing. If you like staying in touch, but want to receive only the most important messages, click here . Click here to unsubscribe from our supporter list, but if you leave, it will be harder for you to stay involved in the organization that youve been such a critical part of. This organization is powered by you, and we'd love to hear your ideas. Send us any comments, criticisms, or feedback here , or just reply to this email! Thanks for supporting our party.
Lobby group Into the West fears the stations Victorian frontage will be lost

The lobby group that led a campaign to restore the old Waterside Railway station to its former Victorian glory has objected to Translink's plans to revamp the building's exterior.

The selection of the derelict Grade 2 listed building as the site of a new transport hub in Londonderry was made last October by former Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard.

Eighteen months was set aside for the planning and tendering process to be completed. The project is dependent on 26m of European funding.

As part of this, Translink has submitted plans to Derry and Strabane District Council.

But Eamonn McCann of Into the West said the group was concerned that the building's character will be lost.

He said the plan envisaged the replacement of the frontage with a more modern design, instead of restoring the original Victorian appearance.

"Given its uniqueness, given that the Waterside Station is the last terminal train station in Northern Ireland capable of being brought back into use in its original grandeur, full restoration should be the preferred option - as in the cases of the Belfast Opera House and Derry Guildhall," Mr McCann said.

The group is also concerned that trains arriving at Derry will not actually enter the station shed - even though this was what the building was specifically designed and built for.

He added: "The key aim of our campaigning over a number of years in relation to the station is that the building be brought back to its original use as a functioning terminal railway station, not converted into a spacious waiting room with built-in ticket office and a large car park alongside.

"The widely admired re-emergence of Moor Street in Birmingham as a working station and one of the jewels of the city provides an apt example for Derry.

"We are concerned that the proposals amount to a rejection of the clearly-expressed wishes of a substantial majority of respondents to the public consultation exercise conducted by Translink in 2014. Under the proposals, visitors using rail will arrive into and leave Derry from a building which will have been deprived of its historical and architectural integrity. This would be starkly inconsistent with Derry's often-stated aspiration as a signature tourism destination.

"The intended outcome would fall far short of other landmark post-conflict conservation and restoration projects, including other Foyle riverside projects such as the Guildhall."

Into the West has also questioned the need for land Translink has set aside for parking.

Mr McCann said: "No evidence is offered of any compelling need for new car parking adjacent to the station or of plans for any new bus routes which would terminate at the station.

"It would be the irony of ironies if the long campaign for the enhancement of public rail provision for Derry should have as one of its major outcomes the expansion of facilities for private cars on the banks of the Foyle.

"For economic and social as well as for aesthetic reasons, it is unacceptable that so much of our riverside should be left bleak, empty and concreted over."

The application is due before the next meeting of the council's planning committee.

Translink said: "The designs are in keeping with modern design standards and as such planners will make an informed decision on the application within the relevant legislation.

"It would be inappropriate of us to make further comments at this stage, which may be seen as attempting to influence their thought process.

"This development is a boost for Derry-Londonderry and the north west region and would see integrated rail, bus and active travel facilities and services for the north west.

"It would include restoration and refurbishment of the old listed Waterside Station building, new platforms, enhanced Park & Ride, Active Travel provisions and public realm works which will regenerate the surrounding area."
Mike Nesbitt on the floor of a Belfast hotel. The Sun/ News Syndication

Senior Ulster Unionist figures have rallied behind former party leader Mike Nesbitt after images emerged showing him lying face down on a Belfast hotel floor.

The bizarre pictures showed the politician flat out on the carpet while a woman appeared to sit on him and another holds him by the collar.

It's understood the scene unfolded at Stormont Hotel in east Belfast last month.

The hotel sits yards from the entrance to the Stormont Estate.

Read More

According to reports, the Strangford MLA had been out with friends when it is understood he became involved in a dispute with two guests.

The pictures show Mr Nesbitt lying face down on the carpet. A woman is seen holding him by the collar while another appears to be sitting on his legs.

It was reported that Mr Nesbitt was out with three friends for a drink and was approached when he entered the hotel and asked about his work as a politician.

While the UUP failed to respond to a request for comment, senior party figures gave their backing to the Strangford General Election candidate.

Upper Bann MLA Doug Beattie said that he and others are standing by him.

"Mike is an incredibly honourable and a really decent man.

"He is a very genuine man," he said.

"We don't know the background, but you look at it and say, 'Here is a man who has gone out with friends on a social night and has found himself in the papers, even though he's not out in a political guise'.

"Or you can say that we all know that when you go out we are all liable to this sort of attention, and it's a game that we are in.

"I don't think many people have raised much about this picture.

"I look at it and I find it an extraordinary picture - but that's all.

"The one who is holding him by the collar seems to be trying to pick him up, it's nearly a farcical picture.

"This is Mike's business and it's up to him to comment on it.

"People are standing by him as they are looking at it and saying we don't know what it's about and we are not going to speculate. If there was an altercation and that was the end of the altercation I would imagine that Mike has nearly stepped aside and allowed it to stop it from getting worse.

"No-one is paying much heed to it."

Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliott also backed the former party leader.

"There's no issues with it that I have heard, no one is questioning it," he said.

He added that he knew nothing about the incident.

When he was asked about what had occurred, Mr Nesbitt told a national newspaper that "things happened" and did not elaborate on how he ended up on the floor.

"I don't want to say any more," the told The Sun.

"When you have a profile and you go out in public, you can't expect people to fully respect your privacy."

Yesterday, the Belfast Telegraph visited the General Election hopeful at his constituency office in Newtownards.

Mr Nesbitt refused to be drawn on the circumstances surrounding the pictures and declined to answer any of the Belfast Telegraph's questions.

But it was business as usual as the former UUP leader met with constituents in his office.

Mr Nesbitt resigned as UUP leader following a poor show in the Assembly election in March.

A representative for the Stormont Hotel said it would not comment. UUP leader Robin Swann did not reply to a request for comment when contacted by the Belfast Telegraph.
The exterior of Leinster House in Dublin, home to the Dail

A number of left wing TDs have refused to stand for the Dail prayer.

Members of Solidarity/People Before Profit (PBP) held up placards today which read: Separation between Church and State.

The Dail last week voted to impose new rules which include saying a religious prayer followed by a period of silent reflection.

But six TDs in total today refused to stand for the prayer, which technically is breach of the rules.

Two TDs, Dublin West deputy Ruth Coppinger and Cork North-Central deputy Mick Barry raised the placards over their heads while the prayer was being read by Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail.

Read more

Read More

Speaking prior to the Dail sitting, Dublin South Central TD Brid Smith said: No way we wont pray.

Ms Coppinger said that the new rules have turned Ireland into an episode of Father Ted.
A wanted British drug baron has been captured overseas after being found holed up on a Thai paradise island.

Jonathon Moorby, 47, spent years on the run from a jail sentence for trafficking cocaine and amphetamines in the UK.

He was snared on the palm-lined island of Koh Samui, southern Thailand, in a joint operation between Thailands Narcotics Suppression Bureau and Interpol.

Expand Close British national Jonathan Moorby pictured on a video (AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp British national Jonathan Moorby pictured on a video (AP)

The fugitive trafficker was sentenced in absentia at Teesside Crown Court in December 2014 to 15 years for possession with intent to supply controlled class A and class B drugs, a court official said.

In July 2016, he was ordered to repay 575,860 of his ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Thai Police said on Tuesday that Moorby will be charged for holding a fake passport and illegally entering the country before he is deported to Britain.

Police were led to the drug dealers hideout by tracking his son, who had come to visit his father, police major general Soontorn Chalermkiat said.

Moorby is alleged to have bought a fake Belgian passport on the Thai black market for a million baht (22,000).
Jeremy Corbyn has suggested he could turn down any Nato request for Britain to send more soldiers to Afghanistan to strengthen efforts against the Taliban, if he was prime minister.

The Labour leader said at the end of the day wars are not solved by the presence of foreign troops as he called for a political solution to the violence in the war-torn nation, while vowing to look at any request.

The United States has written to Nato countries about the 13,000-strong presence in Afghanistan and future contributions will be considered at a meeting in Brussels later this month, a Nato official told the Press Association.

The BBC said this could include deploying additional British troops as the US looks to increase its presence by 3,000.

Mr Corbyn said he would study any request from Nato if he is PM after the June 8 General Election, but highlighted the suffering of UK troops in Afghanistan.

In total there have been 456 British forces personnel or Ministry of Defence civilians killed while serving in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001.

British combat troops left Afghanistan in 2014 but around 500 remain on the ground to train local military forces.

Expand Close Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's General Election campaign (Peter Byrne/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's General Election campaign (Peter Byrne/PA)

Speaking to reporters after officially launching Labours General Election campaign in Manchester, Mr Corbyn said: I want to see a peace settlement in Afghanistan. I was opposed to the deployment of troops in the first place in Afghanistan. I think we have to look at promoting greater political stability in Afghanistan and well look at that request when it comes.

Asked if British troops work against stability in Afghanistan, he replied: I think British troops have suffered a great deal in Afghanistan and Ive talked to many former soldiers who have been through awful, awful situations there and they want to see a secure political solution in Afghanistan and of course in neighbouring areas of Pakistan.

Expand Close Britain has approximately 500 combat troops in Afghanistan to help train military forces. PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Britain has approximately 500 combat troops in Afghanistan to help train military forces.

At the end of the day wars are not solved by the presence of foreign troops, they are solved by a political solution and thats what Ill be working for.

A Nato official told the Press Association: The US authorities have written to the Nato secretary-general, Nato allies and partners about the future of our presence in Afghanistan.

Allied leaders will consider future contributions at our meeting in Brussels later this month, and the issue will be examined in further detail by defence ministers in June.

It is important that Nato continues to provide the right level of support to the Afghan security forces as they stabilise their country.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: The UK keeps its contribution in Afghanistan under regular review to ensure it remains suited for the needs of the mission.
Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter feed of David Charles @davecharlesF1 of an air ambulance at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Drayton Manor, Tamworth, where the Splash Canyon ride has been closed after reports of someone falling in the water. PA

An 11-year-old schoolgirl has died after falling from the Splash Canyon ride at the Tamworth-based Drayton Manor Theme Park.

Police said the girl, believed to be from the Leicester area, was airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital but later passed away.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "On arrival, crews discovered a girl with serious injuries who had been rescued from the water by park staff.

"Ambulance staff administered advanced life support before she was flown to Birmingham Children's Hospital with the doctor continuing treatment en-route.

"Unfortunately, shortly after arrival at hospital the girl passed away."

Police superintendent Carl Ratcliffe said: "Specially-trained officers are supporting the girl's family at this difficult time. Our thoughts are very much with her family and friends following this tragic incident."

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating.

The ride was closed following the incident.

The theme park's website states the ride, which opened in 1993, features up to 21 boats, each with up to six people in.

It is open to anyone at least 0.9m (3ft) tall, although those under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult.

Expand Close Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter feed of David Charles @davecharlesF1 of a police vehicle at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Drayton Manor, Tamworth, where the Splash Canyon ride has been closed after reports of someone falling in the water. PA PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter feed of David Charles @davecharlesF1 of a police vehicle at Drayton Manor Theme Park in Drayton Manor, Tamworth, where the Splash Canyon ride has been closed after reports of someone falling in the water. PA

The website promises "a wild ride" with "fast-flowing rapids".

It adds: "Swerve around corners, splash through the waves, and get soaked as your boat is swept along our fast-flowing rapids. No two experiences are ever the same ...

"You'll feel like you're in the middle of the jungle as you speed, bounce, and splash your way around our river, past other rides and through the trees, experiencing the most unpredictable and thrilling of river rapid rides. It's called Splash Canyon for a reason."

The theme park said: "The Splash Canyon ride has been closed following an incident this afternoon. Emergency services are at the scene and our fully trained park staff are assisting."

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said: "The HSE has been made aware of today's incident at Drayton Manor and is making initial inquiries along with emergency services."

Other incidents at UK theme parks

The Drayton Manor closure is the latest incident involving a ride at a UK theme park.

Here are the details of others in recent years:

More than 30 thrill-seekers were left stuck on a rollercoaster at Alton Towers in September last year - 15 months after the notorious Smiler crash which left riders with life-changing injuries.

In May last year, the Velociraptor rollercoaster at Paultons Park near Romsey in Hampshire broke down just a week after opening.

Around 20 people had to be evacuated after what a spokesman said was a "minor fault". The ride re-opened later that day.

Two months earlier, eight people had to be rescued from the Tornado rollercoaster at M&D's theme park in Motherwell, near Glasgow when it stopped working 20 feet above the ground.

No-one was injured and the ride was closed while the theme park investigated.

In June 2015, five people were seriously injured in a collision on the 18 million Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers. An investigation found a computer block stopping the ride because of a stationary car on the track was over-ridden by staff, causing the crash.

As a result, the full carriage ploughed into the rear of the empty car. Leah Washington, then aged 17, had to have her left leg amputated above the knee - while Vicky Balch, then 19, also lost a leg in the crash.

The Smiler ride was temporarily closed in November 2013 after plastic guard wheels came loose and hit front-row riders.

The 14-loop rollercoaster, which took more than eight months to build, was shut for four days in July that year after a piece of track became dislodged, and was closed again for five days the following month because of another technical issue.

In July 2011, a number of people on a ride at M&D's theme park were stranded for more than eight hours when it came to a halt 60 feet above the ground.

In June 2006, firefighters had to rescue eight children and four adults trapped 40ft above the ground on the Terror Rack ride at the Pleasure Island park in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire. It took the fire crews about an hour and a half to bring the people down to the ground after a safety device kicked in and halted the attraction.

In July 2005, four people were injured when a car came off its track at Ocean Beach amusement park in Rhyl, north Wales, when they were hit by another car.

A 32-year-old woman and 30-year-old man were taken to Glan Clwyd Hospital for treatment to chest injuries. Two other people received minor injuries and did not need treatment.

The previous year, a 16-year-old girl plummeted to her death from a ride at Oakwood theme park near Tenby in west Wales.

Hayley Liane Williams, of Pontypool, south Wales, died after falling from the Hydro Ride.

She plunged 100 feet from the ride on April 15, 2004. Swansea schoolboy Martin Rothwell, aged 10 at the time, was hit in the head and injured by the teenager as she fell past him. Safety changes were later made to the ride.

In November 2006, a French firm was found guilty of breaches of health and safety law after the death of a 20-year-old student on a rollercoaster.

Durham University student Gemma Savage died when two cars collided on the Treetop Twister ride at the Lightwater Valley theme park, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, on June 20, 2001.

Paris-based Reverchon Industries SA, which manufactured and supplied the ride, was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of two charges of failing to ensure its safe design and construction, and failing to give information necessary to ensure the ride was safe when open to the public.

In July 2002, teenager Salma Saleem plunged 30ft from a Ferris wheel at Gulliver's World in Warrington, Cheshire.

It was not clear how the 15-year-old, who had Down's Syndrome, managed to fall from the gondola, but Chester Crown Court - which fined the operators 80,000 - heard that locks on the restraining lap bars had a history of breaking.
UNHCR said more than 1,300 people have disappeared and are believed to have died while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Italy this year

Two wrecks of migrant ships in the Mediterranean Sea have claimed as many as 245 lives, including those of at least five children, according to survivor accounts given to UN agencies and authorities in Italy.

Some of the survivors of one wreck were taken to hospital in Pozzallo, Sicily, where they were being treated for hypothermia and exhaustion.

They told authorities who interviewed them that their traffickers had crammed some 130 to 140 people, apparently all from central African countries, into a motorised rubber dinghy designed to hold at most 20 people.

The dinghy started deflating on one end, the passengers quickly shifted their positions in the boat, and the craft tipped over, authorities said, based on numerous survivors' descriptions.

The dinghy was not equipped with any distress signalling equipment.

The 50 or so survivors clung for hours to the wreckage of the dinghy until they were spotted by a patrol plane and rescued by a Danish cargo ship, which was dispatched to their aid by the Italian Coast Guard, which co-ordinates rescue operations.

One survivor is a Nigerian woman, whose five-month-old baby died.

The infant's corpse was one of the few bodies so far recovered, authorities said.

Police in Sicily said in a statement that many of the survivors recounted that among the 80 or so who drowned was one of the smugglers who had been steering the boat.

"They couldn't even remember who saved them. They were completely shocked and traumatised," said Carlotta Sami, Rome-based spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency.

Meanwhile, at its Geneva headquarters, the refugee agency said that one of its partner agencies, the International Medical Corps, reported a shipwreck on Sunday off the Libyan coast in which 163 people are missing and feared dead.

The UN agency said one woman and six men were rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard.

That boat was intercepted by the Libyan coast guard, said Ms Sami, who had no other details.

Many of those who brave the risky central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy are migrants from Africa seeking to flee from conflicts, political persecution at home or to find better economic opportunities in Europe.

Overall, UNHCR said on Tuesday that more than 1,300 people have disappeared and are believed to have died this year while crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy, while some 43,000 migrants and asylum-seekers reached Italy.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in separate remarks, gave a lower estimate of the total number of migrant lives lost - 190 - in the two shipwrecks.

It estimated about 80 people died from the sinking of the dinghy off Italy, and at least 113 following the shipwreck off the coast near Az Zawiyah, Libya.

IOM said its Rome branch, meanwhile, was reporting operations to help 6,612 people rescued from a dozen locations off Italy since Friday.

IOM spokesman Joel Millman feared the better weather has been feeding the Mediterranean's traditional summer migration surge.

"There is normally pent-up demand," Mr Millman said. "The summer tends to be very, very busy because sea conditions are better."

And in Spain on Tuesday, officials said about 300 migrants tried to scramble across the six-metre (20-foot) border fence separating Spain's North African enclave of Melilla from Morocco, with many throwing stones and other objects at police.

Melilla's Interior Ministry said most of the migrants were pushed back by Spanish and Moroccan police, but about 100 managed to enter the city.

It said three officers and three migrants were treated for injuries.

Many of the thousands of economic migrants or refugees who have been brought to Italy after rescue at sea told authorities that they spent months in inhumane detention facilities in Libya, often suffering torture, sexual abuse or labour exploitation, before the smugglers sent them out to sea.

A Rome-based IOM spokesman, Flavio Di Giacomo, said in an interview in Tuesday's La Stampa newspaper that there have been recent indications that some migrants have decided to flee the harsh conditions in Libya to return to their homelands, renouncing their dream of reaching Europe and safety, although "the majority take the risk of the sea".

And that voyage is getting ever riskier.

Ms Sami told The Associated Press in an interview that the smugglers no longer provide satellite phones so the migrants can call for help, "nor engines or even fuel".

"They are completely adrift" and at the mercy of sea, she said.

In some cases, migrants have recounted that their smugglers removed the dinghy's motor and sped off in another dinghy after travelling a few miles out from Libya.

The IOM said 41,196 migrants have arrived in Italy this year, up from around 31,000 in the same period last year. Some 1,222 have died.

The figure for the Mediterranean as a whole, including Greece, Cyprus and Spain, was 49,310 as of Sunday.

For the same period last year, the total number of sea arrivals was far higher - 187,569.

That was because some 155,000 arrived in Greece from Turkey, compared with only 5,555 this year.

AP
Well, that was a sight I never expected to see. Former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt spreadeagled on a Belfast hotel floor, pinned down by two women. When people talk about a politician being brought low, they usually don't mean literally.

It's a bizarre picture, whichever way you look at it.

All that's visible is Nesbitt's venerable grey head and the back of his neck, which is exposed as one of the women holds his collar in both hands, while the other woman can be seen in the background, her hand on his back.

It's difficult to tell from a still image, but he doesn't appear to be struggling or resisting. These ladies seem to have him well and truly licked. And that's it, no further information is (so far) forthcoming. Of the mystery women - clearly proficient in advanced restraint techniques, if this picture is anything to go by - we know nothing.

And whatever Nesbitt knows, he isn't saying. His one gnomic comment was "things happened" after he went to the hotel for a drink with friends and a political argument with other guests ensued.

"When you have a profile and you go out in public, you can't expect people to fully respect your privacy," Nesbitt said.

True. A politician out and about among the people is never really off duty. But then again, we don't expect to encounter our senior representatives being physically apprehended by members of the public. I think that in this particular situation it's a bit much to expect us all to look the other way.

It's one of those stories that only gets weirder the more you think about it. An unnamed source told The Sun newspaper - where the report first appeared - that the encounter "started out good-natured and the discussion got heated and he ended up on the floor and one of them sat on him".

I've had many public discussions with people, political and otherwise, but it's never ended with me literally flooring my opponent - or being floored myself.

In my experience it's best to do your fighting with words, no matter how irritating the other person may be.

I do wonder what was going through Nesbitt's head as he lay there, nose buried in the fusty hotel carpet, pinioned by two female ninjas.

"Please God let there be no photographs?"

No chance of that, everyone has a camera on their phone these days, and the urge to snap a pic of the former UUP leader laid out like a trussed turkey would be almost impossible to resist. And someone clearly did.

"Thank God I'm not UUP leader any more?" Bad as the situation is, it would have been worse if Nesbitt was still in charge of the party. The public face of the Ulster Unionists (or any other party), face-planted in a Belfast hotel - no, that's never a happy picture.

"What will Lynda say?"

Best to draw a veil over that particular marital discussion, perhaps.

There's no getting away from the embarrassment, of course, especially because Nesbitt cultivates an image of urbane dignity - suave, smart and authoritative.

He looks like what he is - an ex-UTV anchorman, assured and comfortable in the public eye. There are other politicians (both male and female) that I can quite easily imagine rolling around on the floor in some kind of undignified fracas, but I'd never say that Nesbitt was one of them.

The temptation for Nesbitt's political enemies to make capital out of this humiliation will be mighty. But in the absence of the full facts, it wouldn't be right to use this unfortunate image against him.

Being pinioned by a random pair of women may be highly embarrassing - and I bet Mr Nesbitt is currently experiencing extreme levels of cringe - but it bears no relationship to his ability to do his job.

To humiliate him further, at this point, would be the very definition of kicking a man when he's down.
An ageing telephony infrastructure is the Achilles heel for many large organisations.

The thought of transforming a system which lies at the heart of a critical 24/7 organisation is too much to bear for some, encumbered as it is with thoughts of service disruption.

But it neednt be.

The advancement of technology in telephony and IT combined with the expertise, attention to service and partnership which BT can offer means the day-to-day experience of users wont be interrupted.

For proof, just ask the Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT).

It provides health and social care services for three council areas of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Mid Ulster District Council, a remit which includes 14,500 staff.

Their old telephony system consisted of 140 separate premises and 70 legacy telephony platforms from a mix of suppliers, John Mitchell, the Telecoms Manager for SHSCT, explained.

The system needed modernised and BT were the winning bid following a rigorous Public Procurement competition. Having recently delivered similar projects for Belfast and the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust, BT were selected under their Voice & Data Communication Partnership (VDCP) agreement.

What we had wasnt fit to meet the future telecoms demands of the trust, so we entered into a partnership with BT with a view to centralising the process, he said. That was quite a task as it meant rolling out a single managed service to 7,000 users.

Following early discussions with the organisation, Richard Eccles, Health Sector Account Director at BT Business in Northern Ireland, quickly realised that a unique system was needed.

This project is a great example of how transformation in partnership really works, Richard said. BT are different to other suppliers in that we sit down with customers, work through their needs and help them design a product which addresses those specific issues.

In todays technically advanced Health Care industry a world class communications infrastructure is vital to ensure the right form of communication reaches the right place at the right time. Never has there been such a high demand for our health service as today and being able to work smarter with better communications is critical to meeting this demand.

From the off it was clear the system itself would bring benefits to the Trusts operations.

The new VOIP (voice over internet protocol) telephones operate from a centrally managed, high availability system, offering the ability for all trust employees to work in a completely different manner. The ability of staff to have their calls delivered to any device regardless of location is just one simple feature, while more advanced features include Contact Centre and Call Recording services.

Calls can be recorded to provide more governance for triage and, future possibilities include home working out-of-hours GPs using the phone system regardless of their location - in general, the Trusts employees are better connected.

It is also clear that BTs ability to operate swiftly and efficiently is a big plus for an organisation which wants minimal disruption. The VDCP service arrangements are backed up by guaranteed service levels and guaranteed fix times unlike any other similar contract.

BT can scale up quickly on a project like this when needed and have a dedicated team working on a ward to get the job done in as quick a time as possible, Richard said. No other provider can do that.

Another huge plus is the service agreement with a local onsite telecoms helpdesk, manned by BT engineers, to deal with any issues as quickly as possible.

A centralised support team provided by BT offers a one-stop shop for all our needs, John said, adding that his experience of working with the communications company on the project has been hugely positive.

The ongoing transformation of our telephony infrastructure at SHSCT has been the result of a strong and successful partnership with BT. They have brought innovation with the right products and the right skills when we needed them. Their extremely helpful and hands on approach has seen the project operate smoothly and efficiently and were delighted with the results to date and we look forward to the completion of the project.

For further information and to contact BT Business in Northern Ireland please email enterprise.accounts@bt.com
Here is a conclusion from a Pew study conducted in 2007, released in 2008, and revised in 2011: Americans change religious affiliation early and often. In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Religious switching is part of the enormous freedom of American life. We like to choose our music and our clothing. And, increasingly, we dont consider our birth religion as final. We also like to choose our religion. Most of the religious switching that occurs is between one Protestant denomination and another, but each year thousands of Americans who were not born Jewish join the Jewish people. We dont know the exact number because no official record is kept of conversions to Judaism , no central authority is responsible for keeping track of how many occur or who exactly is becoming Jewish.

There are, naturally, many reasons why people convert to Judaism. In the show Seinfeld, Jerry's dentist became Jewish, but Jerry accused him of doing so only for the jokes. Perhaps the reputation the Jews have as funny people is justified, but there are other, more substantive reasons, why American Gentiles become American Jews.

There are, broadly speaking, four types of reasons why people become Jewish: spiritual, romantic, communal, and personal.

Many people, for example, examine Judaism as part of a wider spiritual search. Perhaps a specific event such as an illness, or the death of a loved one, or a painful divorce, or a breakup prompted a spiritual crisis that resulted in the need to form a new spiritual self-definition. After examining their options, some people conclude that the Jewish worldview, set of values, and set of ethics provide them with the sort of spiritual compass they need to get them traveling along the spiritual path that is right for them. Some people see in Judaism very familiar spiritual ground that they are familiar with from reading the Hebrew Bible in their Sunday School classes, or they have gone in search of the Jewish roots of Christianity . Perhaps they find religious services attractive. Perhaps, for example, they have attending a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or a Sabbath dinner, or a Passover Seder.

It should be noted, though, that Judaism does not intend that any conversion be done out of fear, emotional pressure, bribery of any type, or religious coercion. Judaism specifically doesnt see itself as the only route to salvation. The righteous among all people, Judaism says, have a share in the world to come. Indeed, many potential converts are encouraged first to study their birth religion before embarking on the course of study that leads to conversion.

Many people, the large majority of whom are women, are introduced to Judaism because they fall in love with a Jewish partner. This relationship leads to family concerns. Some want to ensure that their children are raised in a unified religious household, one that promotes family harmony. Some find that the person they love is already deeply Jewish, or that he or she discovers a deep-seated attachment to a Jewish identity, and that partner wants their love to share that identity.

There are also communal reasons for conversion to Judaism. Many who convert admire the way Judaism encourages questioning. In the Bible , Abraham and Moses are shown arguing with God. The Talmud, a central Jewish religious text, begins with a question. There have even been times in Jewish history in which rabbis or ordinary Jews put God on trial for allowing Jewish suffering. For example, a prominent Hasidic master named Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev by tradition challenged God on one Rosh Hashanah to a lawsuit. After all, Rabbi Levi argued, God had no right to prolong Israels exile from the Promised Land, when other nations, including some cruel and violent ones, still were permitted to reside in peace in their native lands. In his incredible memoir Night, the Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel recounts how some inmates in Auschwitz held a trial to condemn God for allowing the evil and human suffering that they saw on a daily basis. Wiesel later wrote a play, though not one set in the Holocaust, titled The Trial of God.

Many people admire the fierce family closeness that characterizes Judaism, or the love of lifelong learning, or the unique history of the Jewish people, who, for four thousand years, have been everywhere, done all that good be done, reached the spiritual heights, suffered deadly persecution, and lived to tell about it all. The Jews, after all, two thousand years after the loss of their homeland summoned the will to rebuild that homeland and reclaim Hebrew, their ancient, sacred language. The Jewish story is invariably fascinating, and some potential converts love to hear it.

And, finally, there are a myriad of personal reasons why people become Jewish. They were, perhaps, looking for a new life, or were excited by the possibility of embarking on a religious path strange to them. Judaism, after all, is unfamiliar to many people with its religious language, its books, its rituals and rites, and its customs.

It is not always obvious why people become Jewish; sometimes it is not obvious even to themselves. More than one person, for example, has decided to explore Judaism and when they began that exploration they discovered that they had Jewish ancestors. Many millions of people do without realizing it. One woman told me that she felt she had been born into the wrong Earthly religion, that her becoming Jewish was a way to correct a cosmic error.

Whatever the reasons why people become Jewish, they are certainly needed. The Jewish people remains a numerically small minority, in need of new members to provide new ideas and new energy. The Jewish community, for many reasons, only recently has re-discovered its ancient history of welcoming converts, a history as long vanished as the Jewish nation that re-established itself. Its an interesting phenomenon to observe Judaism discovering its legitimate but often forgotten heritage of welcoming converts and the converts themselves who, with some courage, have decided to cast their fate with the Jewish people and join that people on its historic spiritual journey.
Unidentified men grab a demonstrator as clashes erupt between police and people protesting the proposed Rampal power plant, Jan. 26, 2017, in Dhaka.

Bangladesh will go ahead with building a massive coal-fired power plant despite a new report by environmental watchdog Greenpeace warning that some 6,000 people will die prematurely over a 40-year period from health problems caused by project-related pollution.

The 1,320-megawatt plant that will be constructed on the edge of the Sundarbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest, threatens to harm public health and could damage the environmentally sensitive region in southwestern Bangladesh, Greenpeace said in the report published on May 5.

Main construction on the project will begin within several weeks and is expected to be completed in the year 2020, officials said.

We do not take the report into cognizance, Energy Minister Nasrul Hamid told BenarNews on Monday, acknowledging he had read the Greenpeace report. They are doing their job and we are doing our job.

It is not understandable how they say that over 6,000 people will meet premature deaths, he added. We are going ahead with the construction of the project.

On Sunday, Hamid told members of parliament that there was no risk of air pollution from the coal plant, and he brushed off such concerns raised by environmental conservation groups as propaganda.

Bangladesh approved the coal plant as a joint venture with India, despite protests from environmental activists and experts who have warned that toxic gases released from the coal plant could destroy the Sundarbans, which the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed as a World Heritage Site in 1997.

The plant will be built in Rampal, a sub-district of Bagerhat district in Bangladeshs Khulna division.

Even if Bangladesh currently had zero air pollution, the plant alone would cause the premature deaths of 6,000 people, and low birth weights of 24,000 babies, Amsterdam-based Greenpeace International said in its new report.

Fragile ecosystem

The Sundarbans, named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997, is a cluster of low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal. It is the largest single-block mangrove forest in the world and home to hundreds of species, including the Bengal tiger and the rare Irrawaddy dolphins.

The Sundarbans covers about 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles), most of which lie in Bangladesh with the remainder in India. Its dense mangroves provide a buffer against violent storms that often roar into the delta, experts say.

The Greenpeace report, prepared by coal and air pollution specialist Lauri Myllyvirta, said emissions from the plant in Rampal would increase the risk of stroke, lung cancer, heart and breathing problems in adults, as well as respiratory symptoms in children.

It said localities in the Sundarbans fragile ecosystem would be affected and people in Dhaka and Kolkata, India, would also be harmed by high levels of mercury, a potent neurotoxin that damages childrens brains and nervous system.

The plant is projected to discharge about 125,000 cubic meters of chemically tainted water every day into nearby water catchments, Greenpeace said.

Projected mercury releases could be sufficient to render fish unsafe to eat over an area of approximately 70 square kilometers (44 square miles), its report noted.

It said health and environmental impacts were assessed using four different scenarios that vary based on the levels of allowed emissions.

Greenpeace said that if the much stricter new Indian standards were followed, the predicted number of deaths would fall to 50 per year, avoiding 3,800 premature deaths over the plants 40-year operational lifetime.

Coal-burning

The $1.7-billion Rampal power plant involves a joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDP) and Indias state-owned National Thermal Power Corp. The partnership, established in 2012, is known as the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Co. Ltd.

The plant would be powered by almost five million tons of coal shipped annually along the fragile waterways of the Sundarbans, a natural habitat for about 450 endangered Bengal tigers and tens of thousands of spotted deer, according to experts. The United Nations warned in October that the plant would irreversibly damage the forest.

Greenpeace said it arrived at the projected impacts on air quality by using the CALPUFF modeling system, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys preferred model for assessing long-range transport of pollutants.

It said emissions would elevate the levels of toxic particles, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air over southwestern Bangladesh, with worst impacts felt up to a hundred kilometers to the northeast.

These emissions would make the Rampal power plant one of the largest point sources of air pollution in Bangladesh, the report said, adding that millions living in Bangladesh and as far as neighboring India would potentially be affected.

Bangladesh currently has a power-generation capacity of about 12,000 megawatts, but the BPDP has estimated that demand would almost triple within 13 years and expects that about 15,000 megawatts of the demand will be supplied by coal-fired plants.
At Tuesdays city council work session, the council will discuss the possibility of a tax incentive to Vintage Partners, the developer of a commercial project near Interstate 40 and Country Club Drive, which would help cover the cost to Vintage Partners to realign Soliere Avenue.

Vintage Partners, a Phoenix-based company that is also involved with moving the Harkins Theatres to the new location behind the Flagstaff Mall, relocating the Arizona Department of Transportation to the old cineplex, creating a new student housing complex on Milton Road and creating 1,300 homes in a development called Timber Sky on Route 66 and Woody Mountain Road, originally approached the council about the tax incentive last fall.

The rebate would offset half of the cost of road improvements, not to exceed $2.5 million, by the city, giving some of the new sales tax from the development back to Vintage. David Scholl, one of the companys partners, suggested the rebate be given over a period of 10 to 12 years. In the executive summary for the discussion, city staff wrote the city can anticipate recapturing more tax revenue than the incentive, if given, within 15 years.

At a city council meeting last fall, Scholl said the total project, which will include widening Soliere to five lanes in certain areas, as well as improvements to the Fanning Wash drainage and a dedication of the floodway, would cost between $9 million and $11 million. Scholl said the sales taxes the city will receive from the resulting development could help Vintage Partners recoup some of that cost.

The project on Country Club Drive is a three-part project, which includes two hotels, retail space and residential space. The tax incentive will only apply to the commercial portion, which will be located on the north side of Soliere Avenue, according to the citys staff report.

In order to qualify for the tax incentive, it is required that the development would not occur without the assistance. At the meeting in September, Scholl said the off-site costs that would come with the project would not make financial sense for Vintage without the incentive.

Arizona law also requires that, in order to allow the incentive, the project must generate more money in tax revenue than what is being given as the incentive. A third party consultant, in this case Rounds Consulting Group, Inc. was brought in to analyze the amount that would be generated from the development.

The council will discuss the incentive with city staff at Tuesdays work session, and will later have the chance to vote on the incentive at an upcoming meeting.
Wiranto, coordinating minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, announces the governments plan to disband hardline Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia in Jakarta, May 8, 2017.

Human rights activists expressed concern after the Indonesian government announced Monday its intention to begin efforts to disband Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), the local branch of an international organization that calls for uniting Muslims worldwide under an Islamic caliphate.

Registered as a civil society organization under Indonesias Home Ministry since 2006, HTI has been preaching in Indonesia for decades, and is thought to have about 2 million members.

After looking carefully at several considerations and weighing the aspirations of the people, the government has to take firm steps to disband HTI, Wiranto, the coordinating minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, told a press conference Monday.

HTI has not played a positive role in Indonesias national development, he said. Its activities undermine the 1945 Constitution as well as Pancasila, the state philosophy emphasizing national unity and pluralism.

Human rights group said the move could infringe on constitutionally protected freedoms.

The government needs to exercise restraint and be careful not to take repressive measures that could threaten the rights to freedom of association in Indonesia in the current era of democracy, Wahyu Wagiman, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) said in a written statement to BenarNews on Monday.

National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Commissioner Maneger Nasution said creating a stigma around criticism of the state or its philosophy was a fascist way of silencing political opponents.

Only a court may decide whether a person or organization is guilty against Pancasila, Nasution told BenarNews.

Applicable law

Wiranto said the process of disbanding HTI would follow a 2013 law that lays out a series of steps including issuance of a warning, cessation of activities and administrative sanctions.

The government wont act in an arbitrary manner, but will rely on applicable Indonesian law, he said.

Government officials claim that HTI activities have created tensions that threaten security, order and unity.

Wiranto said the decision did not mean that the government was against Muslim organizations, but had been taken following President Joko Jokowi Widodos remarks about problematic civil society groups, and following extensive study of the matter and community input.

HTI spokesman Ismail Yusanto rejected the notion that his organization undermines Pancasila. He said HTI had never received a warning regarding the governments plan to dismantle it.

In remarks at his office Monday night, he said his groups mission was to convey the teachings of Islam as a solution to problems in the country, such as poverty, injustice and corruption.

It is not right we are treated like this. Its very despotic and based on false accusations, Ismail said, adding that HTI would take the necessary steps to challenge the action.

This government move must be stopped, because stopping dawah (preaching of Islam) is not only against the law but also violates the rights of people to express their opinions. This is also against the teachings of Islam.

But Gerakan Pemuda Ansor, the youth wing of Indonesias largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, welcomed the government initiative.

Ansor chairman Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, who is also a member of the House of Representatives, told BenarNews that HTI should be disbanded because it wants to replace Indonesias unitary state with an Islamic caliphate.

Its the same as dissolving Indonesia. Yet we are convinced it is not just Islam that helped found and liberate the country. Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and others also had a role, Yaqut said.

Of course we are against it, Yaqut said, referring to HTI. They intend to replace Pancasila with Islamic ideology. Whereas Pancasila has proven itself able to unite all the differences that exist in this archipelago.
Philippine policemen stand beside a patrol vehicle that was hit by a roadside bomb in Rajah Buaya, in the southern province of Maguindanao, May 9, 2017.

The Philippine Army said Tuesday it had killed 20 suspects from a breakaway Muslim faction during a counter-militant offensive in the southern province of Maguindanao this past week.

Among the slain suspects were Esmael Abubakar, also known as Commander Khalid, and Bungos, a sub-leader of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a spokesman for the Armys 6th Division said, adding that six Indonesians were among militants targeted in the offensive.

BIFF is a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the Philippines three years ago and dropped its separatist bid.

The assault started on May 6 until today. We utilized our air, artillery and armored assets," division spokesman Capt. Arvin Encinas, Encinas told BenarNews.

This was a well-planned, well-coordinated and focused military operation against the BIFF that resulted in the deaths of 20 people from the enemy side.

He said seven soldiers were also wounded in the fighting, which occurred days after a joint police and military operation targeted a BIFF commander wanted for drug trafficking. That operation led to the deaths of a mother and her two young children who were shot by the fleeing BIFF gunmen, officials said.

Encinas said the latest operation began a few days ago after the military launched an air strike following the sighting of an estimated 100 BIFF men who were preparing to attack a military detachment in the remote town of Datu Salibo, about 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from Manila, the Philippine capital.

Among the targets were six Indonesian suspects in the group, he said, but declined to elaborate, citing security reasons.

Abu Misri Mama, BIFF spokesman, confirmed Bungos death, but denied that the rebels suffered major casualties.

In 2008, the BIFF broke away from the MILF and vowed to carry on with the uprising, claiming that Malaysian-brokered peace talks would not lead to a separate Muslim homeland in Mindanao, the southernmost major island in the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

Also on Tuesday, a roadside bomb planted by the BIFF wounded four police officers, three of whom remained in critical condition, officials said.

The officers were aboard a patrol car when a remotely triggered improvised explosive device was set off at mid-morning, police said.

The blast occurred near a crowded public market in the town of Rajah Buaya, also in Maguindanao province where military air strikes took place, Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello, the local police chief, said.

Tello said police believed the attack could be in retaliation for a police raid last week that targeted a notorious local drug lord identified as Willie Akil Utto, a member of the BIFF.

This was a revenge attack, as our men are continuing with the follow-up operations, to capture the drug lord, he said.
ein Google-Unternehmen

Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben

Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen

Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern.

neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern

Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen

personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen

personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen

Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke.

Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten.

Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen.
Coconino County Sheriffs detectives were en route to Colorado Monday to investigate a possible suspect connected with a double homicide in the Red Lake area north of Williams last week.

According to CCSO, a Dolores County Sheriffs Office in Colorado arrested the suspect after a high-speed chase on Saturday.

On May 2, a neighbor called CCSO to report that he had found his neighbors dead. At 9 a.m., deputies responded to the home and found Michael Dimuria, 67, and his wife, Nora Dimuria, 64, had been shot to death and their Jeep Liberty missing. CCSO Commander Rex Gilliland said detectives believe that Nora may have been killed after she returned home from work around 8 p.m. on Monday.

On May 6, CCSO received a tip that a possible suspect was leaving the area for Colorado. Gilliland said detectives believe that the suspect was visiting the area and left for the Cortez, Colo. area. CCSO deputies contacted several Colorado sheriff offices.

Dolores County Sheriffs Office located the missing Jeep after they received a call about a suspicious vehicle that may have been abandoned. The suspect apparently got a different vehicle and fled the area.

A high-speed chase ensued with the suspect. A Dolores County deputy was able to perform a pit maneuver on the suspects vehicle causing it to roll.

Dolores County deputies arrested Derrick Shawn Barnett, 29, from Grand Junction, Colo., on outstanding Colorado warrants. He is currently in custody in Montezuma County, Colo.

Gilliland said Barnett had not been arrested or charged yet in connection with the Red Lake homicides, because deputies are still investigating the situation. Detectives have not identified a motive for the deaths and they dont believe Barnett and the Dimurias knew each other.
Welcome to the Associates for Biblical Research Store

The ABR bookstore provides resources for Christians from all walks of life, from new believers, to pastors, to professional academics. Our offerings includes ABR's attractive flagship archaeological magazine, Bible and Spade, which is published quarterly. Subject areas for our books and DVD's include: Biblical archaeology, Bible history / theology / and text. apologetics, creation and evolution / global flood, and resources for children. We hope these resources will inform, bless, and encourage you in your walk with Jesus.
For Immediate Release, May 8, 2017 Contact: Randy Serraglio, (520) 784-1504, rserraglio@biologicaldiversity.org Forest Service May Approve Rosemont Mine Prematurely

But Mine Cannot Move Forward With Other Permits Still Outstanding TUCSON, Ariz. The U.S. Forest Service today published a notice in the federal register indicating it will issue a decision on the proposed Rosemont open-pit copper mine in early June. The Coronado National Forest, where the mine would be located, gave preliminary approval to the controversial project three years ago. A final decision was withheld pending other outstanding permitting reviews, including a Clean Water Act permit that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has recommended for denial. The Rosemont project would blast a mile-wide, 3,000-foot deep pit in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona and bury thousands of acres of public land in more than a billion tons of toxic waste.



No rational analysis could lead the stewards of our public lands to conclude that this devastating project is acceptable, said Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. This decision is motivated by politics and corruption. It's a hollow paperwork maneuver that will certainly be challenged. The mine's footprint lies squarely in jaguar critical habitat, land that's been scientifically determined to be critically important for the survival and recovery of jaguars in the United States. In fact the mine would destroy much of the home territory of the famous jaguar El Jefe, who was photographed more than 100 times living in the Santa Ritas over a period of three years. Forest Service officials have said repeatedly that they would approve the Rosemont Mine only if it complied with all other applicable laws, Serraglio said. Apparently, with the Trump administration, laws no longer have meaning and promises are meant to be broken. The American people, our public lands and wildlife deserve better. More than a dozen imperiled species could be harmed by the mine, including ocelot that have been photographed immediately adjacent to the mine site and endangered fish and frogs living in nearby Cienega Creek. The creek could be dried up by the mine's vast groundwater pumping. The Cienega Creek watershed also provides up to 20 percent of the annual natural recharge in Tucson's groundwater basin, a vital resource that could be polluted and significantly diminished by the mine. There is no compelling reason for the Forest Service to move forward with this decision at this time, said Serraglio. It's a slap in the face to other agencies that are still carefully considering the devastating impacts of this proposal. There are still far too many unanswered questions about Rosemont to plausibly pretend that a decision is warranted. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.3 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
It can be tough to be a vegetarian. You have to work harder than everyone else to make sure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs. So, when its time to take a
Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews

India needs to connect OPD with the cashless insurance network to bring them into the digital economy

After having raised $1.2 million from Entrepreneur First and GrowX Ventures in 2021, how do you see the perfor...Read more
The company has acquired WRB Communications to expand its offerings for pharma partners and service organizations.

Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc. has completed its acquisition of WRB Communications, Inc., a health care service center company based in Virginia.

WRB specializes in relationship management programs for leading pharmaceutical manufacturers and health care service organizations.

WRB will join Envoy Health Management, LLC, as part of Diplomat's commercialization support services for manufacturers, biotech firms, and other service companies. Together, WRB and EnvoyHealth will offer extensive solutions to meet growing demand for patient access; medical information; customer care; reimbursement; inside sales and tele-detailing; and unique distribution.

WRB is a leading provider of multichannel service center solutions for pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech, medical device organizations, and other health care industries. WRB's management team has more than 100 years of combined experience in health information offerings and customer service programs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Diplomat is paying WRB $24.5 million cash and $4.5 million of Diplomat common stock. Under the terms of a two-year contingent earnout, WRB can earn an additional payout of up to $1 million based upon achievement of EBITDA-based targets in the 12-month periods ending May 31, 2018, and May 31, 2019. In 2016, WRB generated $15 million in revenue and $2.2 million in adjusted EBITDA.
PHOENIX  The state House voted 41-19 Monday to guarantee free speech to student journalists despite claims it will give children more rights than their professional adult counterparts enjoy.

SB 1384 pretty much requires college and high school administrators to take a hands-off approach to what writers and cartoonists for student newspapers publish with the guidance of their teachers and advisers. They would be allowed to intercede only under several narrow circumstances.

And even in the case of high school papers, administrators could block publication only briefly, and only after providing justification.

That alarmed Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert.

These are children, he said.

They don't have the maturity, Farnsworth continued. That's why minors can't sign contracts.

He said these high school newspapers are being put out as part of a classroom exercise.

More to the point, Farnsworth said the papers reflect on the school. And he said administrators need the ability to decide what is appropriate.

That's not the conclusion of Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, the sponsor of the legislation. In fact, she told colleagues during hearings on her bill that it was her experience as a high school journalist in the 1990s whose stories and cartoons were censored by administrators that led her to believe there needs to be greater press freedom.

During Monday's vote, Rep. Ray Martinez, D-Phoenix, reminded colleagues about students at Pittsburg High School in Kansas who went digging into the credentials of the school's new principal. She was forced to resign after the reporters unearthed the fact that advanced degrees she claimed in her resumt to get the job came from from a university that apparently was not accredited.

I think there are a lot of folks out there that have a lot of talent, Martinez said. And I think that's where good journalism comes from.

Farnsworth said he foresees darker issues.

What about a student journalist who advocates for abortion? he asked colleagues. How does this prevent that?

A strict reading of the legislation suggests it does not.

The measure says the only things not protected include libelous or slanderous material, an unwarranted invasion of privacy, violations of federal or state law, or acts that create the imminent danger of students breaking the law or disrupting the orderly operation of the school.

And SB 1384 says the only time publication can be halted is in the case of high school papers. But even then the school has the burden of providing lawful justification without undue delay.

Rep. David Stringer, R-Prescott, has a different scenario he thinks will emerge if student papers suddenly are unshackled from administrative oversight.

Stringer said Yee has sold the measure to Republican colleagues at least in part on her belief that some of the voices that have been stifled have been on the conservative end of the political spectrum.

That's not my experience, he told colleagues. You think our public schools are full of conservative faculty and conservative students that are being repressed and silenced?

Stringer suggested that he might be able to support some sort of press freedom legislation as it applies to college students and their publications.

High school journalists can be as young as 13 or 14 years old, he said. So I would ask you if it really makes sense to allow minors to have statutorily protected free speech and to limit the ability of school administrators to determine whether publications in a tax-supported student newspaper are appropriate.

At one time student journalists and their publications did have the same legal protections as their professional counterparts. That followed a landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring student press freedom to be absolute.

But nearly 20 years later, she said, the same court partly reversed itself, declaring that student newspapers do not have the same constitutional rights as other publications. The justices said that school officials can exercise editorial control over both style and content of school-sponsored papers as long as it is related to legitimate concerns over school operations.

The measure now returns to the Senate to vote on the changes made by the House; if approved, it then goes to the governor.
#OneShow2017: Michael Farmer on fixing the problems in ad agencies

I chatted to Michael Farmer of Farmer & Co, author of the bestseller Madison Avenue Manslaughter and numerous articles on the state of the advertising industry, at the One Club's One Show Educators' Summit, part of their Creative Week.

Michael, its an absolute honour to be chatting to you Michael, its an absolute honour to be chatting to you

Im delighted to meet you!

Give me your perspective on the ad industry and your background in terms of writing this book, Madison Avenue Manslaughter. Give me your perspective on the ad industry and your background in terms of writing this book,

Michael Farmer of Farmer & Co, author of Madison Avenue Manslaughter.

For 20 years or more I was a straightforward management consultant, working on corporate strategy matters with the Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Co around the world. In 1990 I started my own firm, Farmer & Co in London, and one of my first clients was an ad agency that called me up and said, We need a strategy consultant to solve our big problem. I said, Fine, Id be happy to do it,  it was Ogilvy & Mather London, and in 1992, they werent making any money. So I went in to do what I normally do, which is to get all the data. I didnt know the industry  in fact, I never know the industry when I do a strategy piece  and there were three things I wanted to know for every client: how much work they did; what kind of work it was; what they were paid and how many people it took. I figured if I could get that data over time, over a couple of years in the past, Id figure out what had changed that they went from making no money to making something. As it turned out, they didnt have any information or records or data on how much work they did. They could describe in general, Were doing TV ads for Ford, and that kind of thing, but how many, what type, how many people it takes, whats the work  they didnt have any documentation, so had to reconstruct. I had to find a way of gathering the work that they did and figure out through building a model how many people it should take, and 25 years later Im still doing the same thing.

Because 25 years later, agencies  despite the fact that their fees have gone down every year and theyve gone through globalisation, the rise of procurement and many other challenges  are still not keeping track of how much work they do. Because they dont think theyre in the ad factory, they think theyre in the business of creating brands or creating emotion or coming up with big ideas. But the truth of the matter is, theyre making ads, and they make a lot of them.

Ive got an agency I work with in Mexico that did 3,500 ads last year and 11,500 this year because of the rise of internet advertising. So, what I have found is that workloads have been growing  Ive been keeping track of that for 25 years  fees have been going down, and agencies generally are owned by public holding companies that force them to generate a margin every year, so they downsize. So youve got an environment in which life is getting more complicated for their clients, brands arent growing, theyre doing more work, theyre doing it with less money, theyre doing it with more junior people and theyre not doing a very good job.

To me, coming out of a consulting background, I thought, Hey, Ive figured this out. How tough can it be to recommend what you need to do is keep track of the work that youre doing, have a methodology for calculating the number of people it takes, and use that in fee negotiations to halt the erosion of price?

But isnt that what agencies are currently doing, when they go into procurement to negotiate their fees? But isnt that what agencies are currently doing, when they go into procurement to negotiate their fees?

Absolutely not. First of all, most fees are given to them by a client thats already budgeted how much theyre going to spend on production and on agency, so theyve already figured it out. Lets say for a calendar-year basis, a clients figured out what theyre going to spend in October. They tell the agency We spent $2m with you last year, its going to be $1.5m this year as were having tough times. The agency says, Oh thats so unfair but OK. In the meantime, there has not been a jointly negotiated scope of work; there has not been a programme of work put together for the purpose of solving the brand problem.

In fact, either the scope dribbles out of the client quarter by quarter, or its severely changed. But agencies as a rule normally do not participate in that. Even if they did, the documentation of scope is so poor that its extremely hard for anybody to figure out whats in it. So there is a major gap in process that agencies go through just to figure out how much work theyre going to do with you this year, for what purpose and whats a fair fee. They dont go through that at all.

After 25 years, Ive observed that agency executives have not grappled with this problem and have not fixed it. Instead, they blame the client for the situation theyre in.

So what would your advice be, to these agency executives? So what would your advice be, to these agency executives?

Number one  do the simple thing. Have a policy of every client that we work on will document its scope of work within the agency, in a uniform format, and we will use that to renegotiate our fees and we will use that to review the performance of our client heads to carry out that set of responsibilities.

Do you think the clients are going to be receptive to this? Do you think the clients are going to be receptive to this?

I think the clients have got a problem with their brands. So if an agency said, Look, were in this with you to fix your brand performance problem, heres our recommended media plan and scope of work that has the highest probability of getting to that goal, I think the clients would be overjoyed.

It seems really weird that this is not happening. It seems really weird that this is not happening.

Thats why I wrote the book. I thought after 20 to 25 years of doing this work and seeing nothing happening, this is really weird. I thought it was me. I thought, Im working on a one-on-one basis with my clients and I need a broader platform. So I figured Id write a book about what is going on in the industry: Why the fees keep on going down, why the work keeps on going up, why no one is doing anything to relieve the workload and all the other things that they could do to fix the problem. I figured it would give a broader platform for defining the problem that agencies actually have.

Is it working yet? Is it working yet?

Nope! Which is why Im now writing a weekly article for Media Village and doing a number of other things to try to raise the level of awareness and create a dialogue, so that agency executives in effect will be shamed if they arent doing something about it.

Visit our One Show special section for the latest updates!
The cutting edge radio-surgical technology, Leksell Gamma Knife Icon - used in the treatment of selected brain tumours, head and neck tumours, vascular malformations in the brain as well as functional disorders - has been installed at Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, the first of its kind in southern Africa.

Left to right: Neurosurgeon and radiation oncologist, Dr Dheerendra Prasad of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in New York; radiation oncologist, Dr Sylvia Rodrigue; patient, Melanie Thomson, and neurosurgeon Dr Frans Swart. Thomson, who suffers from trigeminal neuralgia, was one of the first patients to receive Gamma Knife Icon treatment at Netcare Milpark Hospital.

Says neurosurgeon, Dr Maurizio Zorio, who practices at the hospital, The introduction of Gamma Knife Icon is a tremendously exciting advancement in medicine in our country, as this is the most precise radiosurgery device on the market internationally. The technology delivers powerful doses of precision-targeted radiation that acts as a surgeons scalpel. This greatly reduces many of the risks associated with traditional cranial surgery as it enables us to consistently limit radiation doses to healthy tissue, explains Zorio.

The Icon is the sixth generation of the Leksell Gamma Knife system and introduces a number of new innovations, such as integrated imaging and software, and an advanced patient motion management system to continuously control dose delivery. The system was brought to South Africa by Gamma Knife South Africa.

South African patients who could benefit from this highly advanced treatment will, therefore, no longer have to travel abroad in order to access the very latest in cranial radiosurgery. In addition to serving local patients, the new centre will also provide hope for patients from across the African continent and elsewhere in the world. We expect to provide treatment to some 400 patients a year, he adds.

Advantages of Gamma Knife Icon treatment

The Gamma Knife Icon is the only technology of its type with micro-radiosurgery capabilities, allowing for the treatment of virtually any target in the brain with ultra-high precision. The inbuilt image guidance and frameless features of the technology enable surgeons to treat patients who were not previously candidates for stereotactic radiosurgery therapy.

What distinguishes the Gamma Knife Icon from other stereotactic radiosurgery devices is that it is better able to preserve healthy nerves and tissues while delivering highly concentrated radiation to the targeted area. In the brain this is particularly important because of the density of vital nerves contained in the brain structures, Zorio observes.

Another advantage of the Gamma Knife Icon is that there is usually no need for the patient to be admitted to the hospital, as the Gamma Knife Icon treatments are performed as day procedures. Oncologist Dr Samuel Fourie says that this treatment has a number of advantages, for certain patients and conditions, over traditional surgery. Frequently, a single treatment lasting up to 90 minutes can be as effective as open brain surgery, yet it incurs far fewer risks, as there is minimal chance of damage to healthy tissue around the treatment site and no need for the patient to undergo general anaesthetic.

Gamma Knife Icon

Multiple treatment sessions over time can also be used for the treatment of larger tumour volumes, targets close to critical brain structures and new or recurring brain metastases.

Fourie says that this surgery without a scalpel is also more comfortable for patients, as they cannot feel the radiation and are able to communicate with the specialist team during the procedure. In addition, Gamma Knife Icon treatment does not require the comparatively lengthy recovery period associated with traditional cranial surgeries, he observes.

Treatment a team effort

Zorio and Fourie assert that the treatment is very much a team effort, being planned and executed by a highly specialised multidisciplinary team, including surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists, medical physicists, and radiotherapists.

The Gamma Knife Icon, which utilises both CT (computerised tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) technologies, is indicated for a number of selected cases of neurological disorders including malignant and benign tumours or cancer metastases in the brain, spinal cord in the neck, or the membranes surrounding these.

It can also be used for the treatment of acoustic neuromas, growths on the hearing and balance nerves near the inner ear, vascular malformations such as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), and functional disorders including trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic condition that causes severe facial pain, and unresponsive medication tremor in Parkinsons patients. The technology has been used to treat more than a million patients worldwide, notes Fourie.

Cause for hope

According to Noeleen Phillipson, director of Netcare Oncology, the first local patients were treated at the new Gamma Knife Icon centre at Netcare Milpark Hospital towards the end of April under the guidance, or proctorship, of a team of renowned international experts.

It is a sobering reality that we are seeing increasing numbers of cancer diagnoses, not only in South Africa but around the world. Medical and technological advances in cancer treatment, such as those offered by the Leksell Gamma Knife Icon, are cause for hope.

By equipping medical specialists and caring healthcare professionals with cutting-edge technology and establishing centres of excellence for improved cancer treatments, the treatment interventions are becoming more effective all the time, she concludes.
If you're a healthy adult and there's nothing to complain about, you likely have no immediate plan to go for a checkup. However, serious conditions can be diagnosed during a checkup and these can be treated and managed at a much lower cost than if you leave the condition undiagnosed for a while.

Andriy Popov via 123RF

Inspired by the World Health Organizations World Health Day last month, heres how to keep a finger on the pulse of your health:

Step 1

Once youve accepted the value of a regular medical check-up, put it in your familys diary every year (ideally, at the beginning of the year).

According to Robinson (2016), check-ups detect the potential onset of specific diseases, finding problems before they start. By getting the right screenings and treatments, youre improving your chances of a longer, healthier life.

Whats usually included? A basic health exam should include a detailed history, a review of systems, a social history, past medical history and family history, as well as a good nose-to-toes exam, and then age-appropriate screening and blood work, advises Dr Thomas Weida, a family physician with the Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania (CFAH, 2014).

Step 2

Know the top four screenings that are included in a medical check-up. There are four key health indicators according to Tanner Health Systems (2015), and knowing the results of these tests  cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure and Body Mass Index  can help you improve your general health, control or prevent diabetes, avoid heart disease and preclude certain cancers.

If your numbers are not at the target level, you can work with your healthcare provider to develop a practical, realistic plan to reach these goals.

Step 3

Get tested. Once you get your results, understand what they mean.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in all cells of the body and some foods. It produces hormones, vitamin D, and substances that aid in digestion.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol is the main source of cholesterol build-up in the arteries. The higher your LDL, the greater your chance of developing heart disease.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol transports cholesterol from other parts of the body to the liver and helps keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries. HDL lowers the risk of developing heart disease. TC/HDL ratio is the relationship between total cholesterol and HDL - the lower the ratio, the lower the risk.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (2016) recommends that your total cholesterol reading should be below 5mmol/l. The value for HDL should be greater than 1,2mmol/l and LDL should be less than 3mmol/l. A reading of over 7mmol/l suggests a need for immediate lifestyle changes and perhaps medication, so plan a visit to your healthcare provider.

Glucose

Throughout the day the pancreas produces insulin  the hormone that converts sugar, starches, and other foods into energy. Glucose is the main sugar in the blood, responsible for providing the energy needed to perform everyday activities. But when there are defects in the bodys ability to produce and/or use insulin, diabetes is a group of diseases that can result.

Normal blood glucose readings are between 3,3 and 6mmol/l, while fasting blood glucose (blood glucose measured before breakfast) of over 7.8mmol/l should give you reason for concern, says Health24 (2015). If you have a family history of diabetes, are overweight or obese, and have high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol, have your glucose tested.

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the force of the blood against the walls of the arteries. Systolic pressure (the top number) is the highest pressure in the arteries, and diastolic pressure (the bottom number) is the lowest pressure.

Hypertension is when blood pressure stays elevated over time, often referred to as a silent killer (AHA, 2014) as it typically has no symptoms. Pay close attention to your blood pressure, which is graded as follows (Health24, 2015):

A reading of over 130/85 means you should schedule a doctors visit.

Body Mass Index

Ideal body weight varies by gender, age, height, and frame. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a widely accepted indicator of whether youre in a healthy range.

This is what the figures mean, says Shaw (quoted in WebMD, 2017):

Your BMI either needs to be 18.5-24.9 or it needs to be 25,0-29.9 with a waist circumference of under 94cm for males and under 80cm for females. Why waist circumference? This is linked with obesity-related diseases, for which people who carry fat around their midsection are at greater risk.

Whats the next step?

Visit your healthcare provider for a medical checkup. If you dont have a regular health care provider, chat to a pharmacist, your medical scheme or a GP, so they can suggest the essential tests (Radhakrishnan, 2017). Later, if an ailment is detected, you can consult the relevant specialist.
The publishing of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil World Rankings (EVOOWR), lists Willow Creek as the only South African brand on the list of global champions, an achievement the Nuy Valley olive oil producer has now repeated for the third consecutive year.

Willow Creek Estate is positioned 26th on the international list of Top 100 Societies or producers of extra virgin olive oil. Two of its products  the Directors Reserve as well as the Estate Blend  formed part of the 227 extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) that earned bragging rights to Olive Oil of the Year, with the Directors Reserve also included in the Top 100 EVOOs at 73rd place.

This ranking is the recognised indicator of quality for olive oil producers over the globe, says Willow Creek Estate brand manager Louise Rabie. We are pleased with our significant rankings and the honour to claim representation for South Africa on the list. It is gratifying for us to see our olive oils receive the recognition that we believe they deserve. The achievement at the EVOO World Ranking is a credit to every individual on the farm who made it possible.

International ranking based on multiple awards

The importance of every international competition is determined according to the number of participating countries and the number of entries received. In order to be certified as Olive Oil of the Year, a particular extra virgin product must receive multiple awards in a variety of international competitions during a calendar year to score more than the required 160 points  the proof of its consistent excellence.

In order to claim its position on the international ranking list, Willow Creeks Directors Reserve earned Prestige Gold in both the Terra Olivo and Olivinus competitions, a Gold Medal at Domina IOOC, runner up at LOrciolo DOro, Special Mention at Sol DOro and a Silver Medal at the Los Angeles International Olive Oil competition.

The olive oil and other products are available at delis and retailers including Woolworths, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Food Lovers Market, Spar, Makro, Game and Montagu Dried Fruit & Nuts. Willow Creek Estate also has a tasting room and shop on the estate, which are open to the public, as well as a nursery that sells olive trees.
Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) has announced the sale of 21.5% of its shareholding in Appletiser South Africa (ASA) in two BEE deals.

Black-owned investment company, African Pioneer Group (APG), has acquired 17.5% and an additional 4% has been sold to a new entrant black empowerment partner, Sipho Excellent Madlala, a 20-year veteran of CCBSA. The value of the respective stakes was not disclosed.

The sale of the equity stakes was sealed after a process of evaluation and selection, facilitated by Standard Bank. It meets one of the merger conditions agreed to with the Competition Tribunal in relation to the creation of CCBSA last year. These were agreed when the southern and east African non-alcoholic ready-to-drink bottling operations of SABMiller, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and Gutsche Family Investments were combined last May.

SABMiller previously wholly owned Appletiser but, with the merger, the manufacturing facility, ASA, became a subsidiary of CCBSA, the South African operation of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA).

The Tiser brands (Appletiser, Grapetiser and Peartiser), also previously owned by SABMiller, were sold to TCCC as part of the CCBSA merger agreements. This meant that following the brand sale, the operating model of ASA changed from one of an owned-brand production company to a licensed manufacturer of TCCC brands.

Board members ready for action

As part of the merger conditions, the company undertook that ASAs operations in Elgin (as well as related ASA operations) would be maintained and grown and that CCBSA would sell 20% of Appletiser in South Africa to a black economic empowerment holding which we have concluded ahead of the required timeline.

Through its 17.5% shareholding, APG will have a seat on the board of Appletiser. Stephen Dondolo, its CEO, already has experience sitting on the CCBSA board (and the Coca-Cola Fortune board before that). Through his 4% acquisition, Madlala will also acquire a seat on the board of ASA. Both will be active partners in the business, in keeping with the provisions of the merger conditions.

International expansion plans

Apart from Elgin, the Tiser brands are produced at one other South African facility, in Midrand, and at facilities in the UK, the Canary Islands, Belgium and Australia. However, the Appletiser facility in the Elgin valley in the Western Cape is the original  and the largest  producer of the products and accounts for some 59% of Tiser brands produced globally. Tiser products produced at ASA are marketed in a range of territories including Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Mauritius and Swaziland.

In terms of the Merger Agreement, at least 80% of the apples, pears, grapes and similar fruit inputs used for all juice concentrate used in producing Tiser products will be procured from fruit grown in South Africa. Plans are sufficiently in progress to increase the procurement of South African grapes for juice concentrate in Grapetiser over the next five years. Currently, all apple and pear concentrate is sourced from South Africa, with grape concentrate increasingly sourced locally, depending on availability and affordability of supply.

CCBSA MD, Velaphi Ratshefola said the company was confident that Appletiser has the capacity to increase production output considerably to serve the domestic market and to be used as a base for export to the rest of the continent and elsewhere in the world. There are plans in place for ASA to produce other TCCC brands (in addition to Tiser) that are currently produced at the other CCBSA manufacturing sites. With the addition of 200ml, 330ml and 440ml cans of other Coca-Cola products, the facility will produce around 5 million physical cases, which is well in excess of prevailing volumes at the time of the merger.

We are delighted to have these two partners on board. African Pioneer Group has a long history with CCBSA through Coca-Cola Fortune. Madlala has worked his way up the ladder through hard work and perseverance. His experience in our industry is of enormous value and we have in both APG and Excellent long-term, dedicated and active partners for Appletiser.

Success story

Madlalas personal story is one of constant self-improvement and achievement, having started his working life as a cleaner at Amalgamated Beverage Industries (now part of CCBSA). Rising through the ranks, and earning a marketing qualification from Durban University of Technology along the way, he was promoted into positions that were more senior.

Given his leadership skills, he achieved a leadership position as district manager at ABI before the company merged to become part of CCBSA last year, heading up a 94 member-team. Madlala will retain this role in CCBSA following the transaction.
The admissions process for the Pan African University Institute for Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES) masters programmes (engineering and policy), starting in September 2017, is now open. All AU citizens (including diaspora) are encouraged to apply, especially candidates from under-represented regions at PAUWES and women.

The Pan African University Institute for Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES) is hosted by the University of Abou Bekr Belkaid in Tlemcen, Algeria. Since its establishment in 2014, a total of 152 students from 25 countries across Africa have enrolled in the programmes. Another 80 candidates will be admitted in 2017. PAUWES benefits from its numerous international research and teaching collaborations and the support from the German cooperation programme with the African Union.

Future engineers

PAUWES offers four, two-year post-graduate masters programmes in the fields of water and energy. Students striving to be future engineers have the choice between the Master of Science (MSc) in Water Engineering and the MSc in Energy Engineering. Students interested in governance can choose between the MSc in Water Policy and Energy Policy. The language of instruction of all courses is English.

PAUWES strives to balance theory and practice through international internships, case studies, field trips and summer schools. To provide the students with specific technical skills in their field of interest, a broad range of electives (e.g. solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energies, water and sanitation, integrated water resource management, policy analysis and research or ethics and leadership) is available.

Interested students are invited to apply until 31 May 2017. Click here for more info.
The small, palm-fringed fishing town of Palma was meant to become a symbol of Mozambique's glittering future, transformed by one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas projects.

But construction has fallen far behind schedule and the town's fate is uncertain after gas prices fell and the government became engulfed in a $2bn debt scandal.

Tucked between the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean and thick tropical forests, Palma remains a sleepy village of 3,000 people, still waiting for the promised arrival of new jobs and infrastructure.

The discovery of gas reserves in 2010, estimated at 180-trillion cubic feet (five trillion cubic metres) in the surrounding Rovuma Basin, was the biggest natural gas find in recent decades.

Experts have predicted that Mozambique could become the world's thirdblargest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) - and an African version of wealthy Qatar.

Plans to exploit the reserves moved fast, and Palma's residents were soon looking for opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty in one of the world's poorest nations.

"It's only through such projects that we will get proper jobs because otherwise we just depend on the sea," said 46-year-old fisherman Pedro Abuda-Nchamo.

Since the discovery of the gas, the face of the town has started to change.

Excavators and construction vehicles are working on the planned liquefaction plant and export facilities.

A gated residential complex for the anticipated influx of skilled workers is almost ready, and the town's first shopping mall is being built.

But the much-touted gas project has run into strong headwinds.

Initial estimates were that the first LNG would come on stream in 2016 but now it is expected in 2023 - or later.

The plunge in global gas prices has led energy companies to slow down capital expenditure.

Meanwhile the government in Maputo is caught up in a debt scandal that has triggered an economic crisis unseen since the end of the southern African country's civil war in 1992.

Vast secret debts

News emerged last year that the government had borrowed massively - including three secret loans amounting to $2bn - between 2012 and 2014 to fund a coastal protection project.

As a result, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have suspended budgetary support.

The loans, which the government is unable to repay, were taken out in anticipation of the gas windfall that remains elusive.

"The government thought it would repay the loans with gas money," said Borges Nhamire, analyst with CIP, an anti-corruption non-governmental organisation.

Analysts fear that Mozambique's state-owned Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), a minority partner in the gas project, may now struggle to raise its contribution of the share capital - although ENH insists it will honour its share of the deal.

Meanwhile, other players in the multi-billion-dollar gas project appear to be making investment decisions.

In March Exxon announced that it was buying for $28bn, a 25% stake in Italian energy giant ENI's Mozambique gas resource.

That same month another major player, US oil and natural gas company Anadarko, also said it was investing $770m in its deepwater project in Mozambique where it "expects to continue advancing" and that it has "made good progress on the legal and contractual framework".

But Nhamire said it will take a "long time" for any benefits from the gas project to reach average Mozambicans.

'Blessing or curse'?

The long-running conflict between the ruling Frelimo party and opposition Renamo fighters engaged in a low-key armed insurgency resurfaced in 2013, but a ceasefire in place since December has raised hopes of progress towards permanent peace.

Yet the debt controversy has dented investor confidence and provoked fears that Mozambique is another African victim of the "resource curse".

"It's been really a pretty serious disaster that impacted right throughout the economy," said Peter Fabricius, a consultant with the South Africa-based Institute of Security Studies.

"What it does indicate is serious deficiency in governance and that is at the heart of any discussion about whether resources are going to become a blessing or a curse."

For a decade until 2014, Mozambique experienced galloping growth of more than seven percent annually, fuelled by foreign capital inflows on the back of coal and natural gas discoveries.

But growth has slowed by half from 6.6% in 2015 to 3.3% last year, and the central bank in April forecast "a continuation of the weakening of economic activity".

"Foreign direct investment declined by 20% indicating a decline in confidence in the economy," said the World Bank in its latest country overview.

For Palma residents, delays in the start of the gas project are breeding anxiety and frustration.

"They promised that when the companies come we would get jobs but until now it has not happen and people are complaining," said Amade Mussa, a village leader.

The government insists the Palma project is still on track and that local people will benefit even as some have to be relocated for the construction of the gas terminal.

"Our priority is to take that community out of poverty," Land Minister Celso Correia told AFP.

Source: AFP
Delegates from across 17 African countries are attending FIDIC-GAMA 2017 - a gathering of global players and partners in the infrastructure and consulting engineering sector. Under the theme "African Partnerships for Sustainable Growth", the conference seeks to facilitate the creation of innovative, sustainable solutions and business opportunities.

Following the FIDIC-GAMA 2017 Young Professionals Congress held the previous day, Monday, 8 May saw the annual Conference on Infrastructure get under way with Chris Campbell, CEO of CESA, playing programme director. Providing opening remarks was Abe Thela, FIDIC-GAMA 2017 LOC chair; Kofi Asare-Yeboah, GAMA chairman; Moncef Ziani, FIDIC vice president; CESA president Lynne Pretorius; and executive mayor of the City of Cape Town Councillor Patricia de Lille.

Councillor Patricia de Lille at FIDIC-GAMA 2017.

African partnerships

The focus during the opening session was on building and strengthening partnerships at all levels, particularly inter- and intra-African partnerships that will see greater collaboration across the continent.

"Amongst the African countries that are members of GAMA, none of them, with the possible exception of South Africa, has the right number and strength of indigenous consulting firms to undertake the multiplicity of infrastructure development projects being executed on the continent," said Kofi Asare-Yeboah during his keynote address on African Partnerships for Sustainable Growth.

"To their advantage, consulting firms must form intra and inter-regional partnerships to efficiently and effectively use human capital spread over the continent to meet these challenges. Such collaboration would overcome difficulties and complications associated with project identification, funding, and implementation."

Quality and uniformity

The FIDIC-GAMA Conference provides the opportunity for cross-border collaboration, bringing together consulting engineers from across Africa, providing a forum and networking opportunity for stakeholders working within the built environment. FIDIC recently expanded its African membership base to include Mali and Cote d'Ivoire, the former set to host next year's conference.

"Partnerships between FIDIC and its member associations, and the regional group GAMA, will ensure quality and uniformity in the practice of consulting engineering and will create a conducive business environment for working within Africa," said Lynne Pretorius.

She believes that African infrastructure development is critical to social development and economic growth on the continent, pointing to relevant partnerships with similar values as the key to furthering respective strategic objectives.

Lynne Pretorius, CESA president, at FIDIC-GAMA 2017.

Building resilient cities

Patricia de Lille concluded the morning keynote session highlighting the impacts of urbanisation and climate change on cities and how engineering solutions were needed in developing and designing resilient infrastructure. De Lille also pointed to cities as key drivers for national economic growth, saying, "If you can grow the economy in our cities, you can grow the economy of your country."

Key areas for infrastructural development in the City of Cape Town involve the provision of low cost housing, alleviating traffic congestion in the city, and addressing the drought currently gripping the area. As part of the 100 Resilient Cities network, the city looks to collaboration and partnerships with other cities in addressing its challenges.

"That is how we will save our continent," said De Lille, "Work with the cities, let the cities take the lead and not national government - they just tend to talk, they never walk the talk," she concluded.

Go to www.fidic-gama2017.org.za for more info on the annual conference. For more info on FIDIC and its members, go to www.fidic.org. FIDIC-GAMA 2017 is currently underway at the CTICC, 7-10 May.
US President Donald Trump's threats to pull America out of the climate-rescue Paris Agreement is expected to cast a long shadow over UN talks that started on Monday to work on the nuts and bolts of the deal.

The 11-day haggle in Bonn is meant to start drafting a "rulebook" to guide member countries in the practical execution of the pact, which seeks to brake global warming by curbing fossil fuel emissions.

But the negotiations risk being sidetracked by fears that the world's number two carbon polluter will withdraw and throw the entire process into disarray.

"Obviously, the speculation coming out of Washington is now at the top of our minds," environment and energy minister Thoriq Ibrahim of the Maldives told AFP.

This is the first round of negotiations under the UN's climate convention (UNFCCC) since Trump's ascent to the White House.

His predecessor Barack Obama, alongside China's Xi Jinping, led a diplomatic push which saw 195 countries seal the climate deal in the French capital in 2015, after years of tough bartering.

Widely hailed as the last chance to stave off worst-case-scenario global warming, the pact was savaged by Trump during his presidential campaign.

He called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China, and promised to "cancel" the deal as president.

With the rest of the world on tenterhooks ever since, Trump has said he will make his decision before the next G7 meeting, 26-27 May, in Sicily.

"The question of whether this creates a difficult backdrop for the negotiations is clearly a 'yes'," said Paula Caballero, who heads the climate programme at the Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI).

Some fear a US withdrawal from the agreement would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories for ramping up national emissions-cutting targets.

Current pledges place the world on track for average global warming of around three degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels - far over the limit of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) targeted in the Paris deal.

A State Department official confirmed last week that a US delegation will travel to Bonn, though it will be a "much smaller" one than in recent years.

"We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity," said the official, when asked about the US negotiators' brief.

The Trump administration has already proposed slashing funds for the UN climate science panel, for the Green Climate Fund that helps poor countries combat global warming, and for the UNFCCC itself.

The forum's budget is a key item on the Bonn agenda.

There has been a chorus of appeals from US and foreign business leaders, politicians and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for Washington not to abandon the agreement - including from the prime minister of Fiji, which will preside over the next round of high-level talks in November.

"Don't let the whole team down by leaving when we have a clear game plan and have put so many scores on the board," Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama appealed last week.

The key mission of the 8-18 May meeting is to start drafting "rules" for putting the agreement into action: what information must countries include in their emissions updates, for example, and how must they report.

The rulebook must be finished by 2018, when the first global emissions-cutting stocktake is due to be held.

"In Bonn this week it's important that progressive forces come together to manage any fall-out resulting from any US retreat," said analyst Mohamed Adow of Christian Aid, which tracks climate impacts on poor countries.

Source: AFP
Egypt's parliament on Sunday adopted a law whose aim is to attract foreign investors to the country as authorities seek to redress its struggling economy.

Political instability and jihadist attacks in Egypt have put off tourists and foreign investors since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak.

The law, which still has to be approved by the president, seeks to boost foreign direct investment, which totalled $6.8 billion in the year to June 2016 compared with $13.2 billion before the uprising.

Lawmaker Medhat al-Sherif, a member of the parliamentary commission on economic affairs, said the new legislation provides for tax exemptions of up to 50% for investors in the country's poorest regions and other incentives in sectors such as electricity and renewable energy.

It provides for "a service centre for investors", which will be "a one-stop-shop to allow them to deal with one body," Sherif said.

Under the new law, authorities will have a 60-day deadline to provide investors with all requested authorisations, the lawmaker said.

Investment Minister Sahar Nasr said the new service centre aimed to "eliminate bureaucracy", including through services online.

In November, the International Monetary Fund approved a $12-billion loan to Egypt, conditional on its adoption of ambitious economic reforms including reducing state subsidies on energy.

Egypt received a first tranche of the loan worth $2.75 billion that month, and Finance Minister Amro al-Garhi has said a second tranche of $1.2 billion could be delivered next month.

Source: AFP
More than 150 farmers and members of the general public attended the Farmers' Day recently held by the Sernick Group on its Liebenbergstroom Farm just outside of Edenville in the Free State. According to one of the speakers, Nick Serfontein, founder and chairman of the Sernick Group, the event was motivated by the political and economic uncertainty in South Africa caused by recent cabinet shuffles and rating downgrades.

Nick Serfontein

The event also included commentary by Dr Theo Venter, a political and policy analyst at the North-West Universitys School of Business and Governance, Prof Johan Willemse from the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State, and Hennie Snyman from Paradigm Landboukundige Adviseurs.

What farmers can expect during these uncertain times

Theo Venter, a frequent commentator in the political arena, delivered a presentation on what the country can possibly expect during these uncertain times. Despite both rating agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poors, downgrading South Africas credit rating to junk status, Venter is convinced that our robust, but stable political system will keep the situation intact in the long term in spite of what many fear mongers might say in the news or on social media.

We have both an independent judiciary system and media outlets which is probably two of our strongest assets at the moment and which we should not take for granted. We should keep in mind that were in the midst of a typical political cycle of a developing country and negative aspects such corruption, crime, a slow economy, unemployment and then, of course, an inefficient government are inevitable.

Venter finished his presentation saying that we can expect even more political noise in the coming months especially within the ruling party in addition to more economical unrest. Regardless of what happens Venters underlying message to farmers was to not be deterred by whatever may happen and always keep in mind that these things are cyclical. Farmers should stay unwavering in their efforts to maintain a stable agricultural position.

Farmers encouraged to have a vision for their business

In turn, Willemse, a well-known analyst and speaker within the agricultural community furthered the positive message during the day. If farmers want to see this uncertain time through they have to keep their eyes on their plan, whether it be a three or a five-year plan. Those who choose to focus on the ever-changing politics and economy will lose sight of what is important and they will be the ones who will be forced to sell their land, warned Willemse.

His overall message spoke of optimism while he encourages farmers to have a vision for their business: If we are being honest our farmers are doing well, but if they want to keep it up they need to understand that like politics and the economy, agriculture growth also runs in cycles. Farmers should find out where in that cycle they find themselves and make smart decisions based on the three or five-year plan they have set up. Stay patient and calm and you will see it through.

Establish more precise farming methods

Finally, Serfontein ended the days proceedings encouraging farmers to establish more precise farming methods: If you want to be a success in todays modern times you will need to be more precise with regards to how you go about farming. If youre not measuring then you cant control, its as simple as that. But at the end of the day, you must enjoy it, if you dont then theres no point in doing it. We farm because we love it.
Office vacancies remain static, which may prompt more companies to convert some of their offices into residential or other property types.

Emira Property Fund intends to convert some of its office buildings in Rosebank into residential buildings. Other funds could soon follow suit.

The South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) reported a national office vacancy rate of 11.1% at the end of the first quarter of 2017.

"A significant factor driving the excess demand has been the amount of space left behind by large corporations which have consolidated into larger offices. This backfill risk has already contributed to an increased vacancy rate in certain nodes with the potential for more as several large development projects come on line in the short term," Sapoa said.

The likes of Discovery, law form Webber Wentzel, consulting and accounting advisory PwC and Redefine Properties have all moved into larger premises or announced that they will.

Areas such as Rivonia, Sunninghill, Woodmead and Randburg are under pressure, as they have fallen out of favour with prospective office tenants.

Evan Robins, listed property manager of Old Mutual Investment's MacroSolutions boutique, said some office conversions were already under way.

"Yes, we are already seeing this trend. The demand for residential space is meeting an office market with obsolete stock and high vacancies. In some, but not all cases, the numbers show that converting a property is the best thing to do to make that property work.

"The conversion trend is happening in Cape Town's central business district. Residential property in the mother city demands very high rentals," Robins said.

Growthpoint Properties MD Estienne de Klerk said the owners of older B-grade offices were struggling to sign up new tenants. "We have been able to bring our office vacancies down quite considerably but we are operating in P-, or premium, and A-grade space, which has helped us, as many of our deals have been for large corporates. The B-grade space is meanwhile proving to be really difficult."

MD of Octodec Investments, Jeffrey Wapnick, said last week there was strong demand for properties with rentals of between R4,000 and R7,000, a sweet spot for landlords.

Source: Business Day
If the thought of cold weather has you feeling all gloom and doom, read this and perk up: On the first wintery Saturday of May we sampled the soup trio at boutique wine estate Constantia Glen, up a winding pathway hugged by emerald trees shaded by the towering peaks on Kirstenbosch and Constantia that were just begging to be photographed - trust me, we did!

If youve not been before, Ill paint you a picture: The main wine tasting hall is buzzing and brimming with secrets, as is the cosy inner dining hall with quaint zebra panels and chandelier-lit sofas, but it was the main menu we were interested in, so on the outside patio we sat, with a view of the Constantia Valley in near entirety. The flagstone terracotta floors throughout highlight the old-school charm of wicker chairs with comfy green-striped cushions that match the jade-and-white sectioned sloped awning, with clear plastic curtains that display that gorgeous valley while blocking out the bulk of the nasty bite of the wind as you bite into something far warmer and tastier.

Constantia Glen's tasting deck. Constantia Glen's tasting deck.

Offering a simple variety of easy meals to linger over  think platters, soups and salads  we were also met with a tempting choice of drink  you can opt for a glass of the estate's own award-winning wines, with three of the pack having just broken the 90-point barrier in reviews by Neal Martin in Robert Parkers esteemed Wine Advocate, with another two wines rated 91/100 by James Molesworth of Wine Spectator. Teetotallers have an extensive range to choose from, with Constantia Glens tartly-sweet homemade lemonade tickling our taste buds, along with their own rooibos-and-guava iced tea as well as a selection of hot teas and strong coffees including cappuccino, latte, flat white, espresso or even hot chocolate. These are on par with everything else at Constantia Glen, even warranting our praise of the cappuccino to the friendly servers bustling past. But the soups are the real stars of the show

Slurp-worthy spoonfuls and plentiful platters

Battling to decide, we ended up with the ditherer's dream: the trio sampler, offering appetiser portions of the three homemade soups on offer: The beefy traditional Australian Rindsgulasch suppe the estate is known for, a traditional French onion with hint of the beef stock-base and topped with slice of gruyere croute, and a creamy honey-roasted butternut-sage topped with coconut-milk swirl. All are equally delicious and I was happy we went with the trio over a full bowl of just one flavour as I know my FOMO would have been activated.

The beef goulash. French onion soup. Honey-roasted butternut and sage soup.

In order to provide as broad a review as possible, we also tucked into Constantia Glens signature artisanal cheese and charcuterie platter. Presented on a handled wooden breadboard with knife to slice the accompanying slim baguette with generous scoop of butter and my favourite find of the day: a dish filled with their delicate rose grape jelly. We made short work of this along with the olives, green pear and red apple slices, caper berries, crisp finger-sized mini gherkins, as well as four soft white cheeses of various levels of smelliness and various cold meats. Theres definitely enough for two here, be careful not to over-order.

Raising our star-struck eyes to our surrounds we noted full soup bowls whizzing past to our fellow diners. Wrapped in cheery green gingham cloths and served with full slim baguettes and butter pats, these were just asking diners to lift their lids, close their eyes and breathe in the steamy soupy deliciousness.

Glowing praise aside, the fruit slices and olives could have been better de-pipped, but we were glad they weren't as this added to the overall hearty rustic experience. Also, no need for the sharp knife served with the platter as the baguettes are ideal for tearing off hunks and topping with cheese and meat before dunking into those soup bowls. Just the thing as winter shakes out its duvet and settles in for a few months.

The grounds are sprawling and invite a leisurely stroll after your meal to settle your stomach before you're ready to leave, all the more fulfilling if you catch a glimpse of the squirrels darting up tree trunks and sheep with fluffy lambs frolicking near the exit gate.

PS: Dont forget to visit the bathrooms on your way out. With their birdie-patterned walls and tiny honeycomb-mosaicked floors, they're also just begging to be Instagrammed. As is the rest of the menu  the breakfast croissants paired with glass of the MCC Brut Rose caught our eyes, maybe next time...

*Leigh Andrews was a guest of Constantia Glen. The soup sampler trio costs R95, you can also opt for a full portion of the individual soups at R90 per bowl until the end of August. Theyre open from from 10am until 5pm on Sunday to Thursday and from 10am to 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Especially popular on weekends, call +27 021 795 5639 or email moc.nelgaitnatsnoc@snoitavreser to make your booking.
The Select Committee on Trade and International Relations and the Portfolio Committee on Tourism has been briefed by the Department of Tourism on its strategic plan, Annual Performance Plan (APP) and Budget in Parliament on 3 and 5 May 2017, respectively. Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa emphasised that the APP, premised on the Departmental Strategic Plan for the period 2015/16 2019/20, has taken into account the President's call at the State of Nation Address for radical economic transformation to ensure inclusive growth and the need to contribute to the reduction of poverty, inequality, and unemployment in South Africa.

A focus on inclusive growth

Xasa noted that while the overall economy has witnessed a slowdown, the tourism growth trajectory has been on the rise with regard to tourist arrivals, employment, GDP, and tourism spend. She cautioned that while these positive signs are welcome and impressive in all respects, there is a need to focus on

achieving inclusive growth that benefits more people with increased broad-based participation.

She further added that the effective use of state procurement, particularly of travel and tourism value chain products and services worth more than R10 billion, will also ensure inclusive participation in the tourism economy, including by township and rural based enterprises. The Department also recognises the potential for leveraging from state-owned tourism assets to bring in black management capacity, concessioners, and expansion of affordable products for the domestic markets.This also includes land, particularly in prime areas, for new tourism investment which is largely in the hands of municipalities. The Department will work closely with provinces and municipalities, in that regard.

The Department's plan calls for focus on key areas to promote growth of the sector, including, amongst others:

 Sector transformation to improve the levels of broad-based participation within the tourism sector and to promote inclusivity;

 Enterprise development targeted at women and youth entrepreneurs, with the view to increase value contribution of the small enterprise and medium size enterprises to the tourism economy.

 Skills development to improve the supply of required skills in the tourism sector with a special emphasis on youth development; and

 Destination development, including coastal and marine tourism, to enhance and diversify tourism offerings.

The Minister reported that the Department will also be setting up a tourism transformation fund in partnership with a local Development Finance Institute to promote access to funding for new projects and expansions, including for community-based projects. Details of the fund will be announced during the upcoming Budget Vote Speech on 23 May 2017.

Minister Xasa and Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe will provide more information on the 2017/18 financial year's plans during the Budget Vote which will take place at 2pm on 23 May 2017.
fastjet recently appointed Hein Kaiser, who played an integral part in building the Mango brand, as general manager of marketing and communications to oversee all the low-cost airline's African markets. We spoke to Kaiser about his new role and the fastjet brand.

Hein Kaiser, fastjet GM Marketing and Communications

Africa. It is enticing, exciting and an absolute passion. Fastjet is a brand with immense potential and working with the team, across borders and cultures, presents a massive opportunity for me individually.

Can you share some insight regarding fastjets customers from its key markets Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa? Who are they and what do they value?

There is a universal theme that holds true for all customers. The right product, the right price, at the right time. In short, delivering a compelling value proposition. Cultural and language nuances aside, this is a fundamental truth across all consumer groups.

As weve often heard, no African country is the same. How will you approach fastjets various African markets in terms of shaping communications to speak to customers from a particular country while maintaining the overall brand message?

The key is simplicity. It is easy for marketers and communicators to overcomplicate everything. Its what we do, but the key lies in accessing simplicity and universal messages that hold true and deliver authenticity. Implementation of a tactical plan based on strategic intent is key, and it is here where message delivery assumes the socio-cultural vehicle of each particular market.

What lessons did you learn from your time with Mango and how, in your opinion, will those lessons help you with your marketing and communication strategy and the implementation thereof at fastjet?

That is a tough question. Mango has taught me a lot both about my profession and about myself. Lessons are learned every day, and whether in success or less-of-a-success, the experience at Mango was invaluable. While Mango is a domestic carrier and fastjet cross-continental, the principles remain the same and the pursuit of simplicity within a complex environment, similar.

What do you look forward to most in working with the fastjet brand?

Africa. It is enticing, exciting and an absolute passion. Fastjet is a brand with immense potential and working with the team, across borders and cultures, presents a massive opportunity for me individually. I am just as excited to work with key team members that I have had the privilege to work with at both Mango and SAA  Nico Bezuidenhout, who in my opinion is one of the most accomplished airline chief executives globally, Ann Verster who is an exceptional revenue manager, Angelique Claassen, a channels genius as well as the highly-experienced Sylvain Bosc in commercial and Sean Bradley in sales.
Global innovation accelerator, Startupbootcamp, launched its first African-based programme last month. Kicking off in September 2017 and led by innovation experts Zachariah George, Philip Kiracofe, and Paul Nel, a three-month intense bootcamp will take place in Cape Town to scale selected startups.

The aim is to grow disruptive startups and connect them with dynamic corporates, providing both with an opportunity to collaborate and build the African innovation ecosystem, shares George.

The 10 most promising teams will be selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants and provided with 15,000, 100+ highly engaged industry mentors, free office space, access to funding and a network of industry partners, investors and venture capital firms.

FastTrack events

Ahead of the application deadline, 16 FastTrack events will be held all over the globe for the local talent to present their ideas to the Startupbootcamp Cape Town team and sponsors for pre-application advice and feedback.

The South African FastTracks will be held in Cape Town (Thursday, 11 May 2017) and Johannesburg (Thursday, 18 May 2017) and hosted by sponsors RCS and PWC respectively. Startups can apply now to attend.

RCS wholeheartedly believes in supporting initiatives such as Startupbootcamp Africa, and looks forward to hosting the very first FastTrack event on at our head office in Cape Town, said Regan Adams, CEO of RCS.

These FastTracks will then move to other cities within the African continent as well as the Middle East and Europe. The cities include Accra, Amsterdam, Cairo, Doha, Dubai, Johannesburg, Kampala, Lagos, London, Nairobi, Paris, and Tel Aviv.

Details

- Cape Town, 11 May 2017

- Johannesburg, 18 May 2017

How to apply?
Many brands, particularly those from countries associated with poor production quality, attempt to disguise their origins. Some even attempt to deliberately associate their brand with a country that has a strong image to win over customers. Chinese consumer goods company, the Haier Group, for example, adopted the German-sounding name and dropped Qingdao from its original moniker in the early 1990s to inspire confidence

With Haier, the name change was accompanied by a turnaround in the companys quality control and manufacturing process, but the association with Germany certainly helped promote this image. And its not the only company to use a name that doesnt obviously reflect its origins. Research shows that consumers are misidentifying the country of brand origin nearly half the time for local brands and as high as 88% of the time for overseas brands.

Research Ive carried out with Meltem Cakici suggests that this can backfire, however. When customers find out the truth about a brands origins, they are not happy about it. In fact, they feel discontent and are put off buying from them in the future. With access to information at the palm of our hands, customers are increasingly finding out the truth about a brands origins, which can have dire consequences for its bottom line.

The Conmunity / flickr, CC BY

In a recent study, we found that when people become aware that they had misclassified a brands origin it can automatically trigger something called cognitive dissonance  a state of mental discomfort as a result of being exposed to contradictory information. We found that if people identified the brand to be from a country they have a high regard for, and then they realise that the real origin happens to be one they have a lower affinity for, their negativity towards that brand and purchasing it increases.

Plus, the higher the affinity felt towards the misclassified brand, the greater the reduction in their likelihood to purchase it once they learn its true origin. So, even though they liked the brand, just knowing that they mistook the brand origin puts people off purchasing or even considering that brand.

Staying true to your origins

In an opposite scenario to the above, you would assume that if people learned that a brand was actually from a country that they had a high affinity with, then they would become more likely to buy it. But what we found was counter-intuitive.

Even when people had a higher affinity for the revealed brand origin than to the misclassified brand origin, their desire to purchase the brand still decreased. For example, if people thought a brand was British or American and then they discovered that it was actually from India, and they happen to have a higher affinity towards Indian brands, we still found that people would become less likely to buy this brand as a result of finding out the truth.

This surprising finding shows just how important it is that brands stay true to their origins. This is because consumers dont like being tricked  its enough to put them off buying at all.

We further examined this phenomenon among people who claimed to have higher product knowledge of fashion (experts) versus those who did not (novices). You might assume that the experts would be keen to possess as rich an amount of knowledge as possible of brands, and so, when informed that they had misclassified the origin of one, they would be happy to improve their knowledge bank. But we found that experts were more put out than the novices when they learnt that they had misclassified a brands origin. With self-styled experts abandoning brands, this could lead to significant brand damage in todays social media-driven consumer society.

People that consider themselves novices when it comes to the sector the brand represents also reject the brand when they become aware of their misclassification. This would obviously be reflected in their future purchasing decisions. So its clear that brands stand to lose a lot if they build their strategy on misinforming or hiding their origins, once people become aware of the reality.

Hiding their true origins should be considered a threat to a brands image and profits and should, therefore, be avoided or reversed. If the product is of good quality and offers what people want, the authenticity of the brand itself will shine through and this should ensure its success.
WASHINGTON - Sinclair Broadcast Group announced on Monday a $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune Media, in a major consolidation of local television operators in the United States.

The deal gives Sinclair some 233 television stations in 108 markets, adding the 42 operated by Tribune Media including large stations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

If approved by regulators, the deal would end the run of Tribune Media, which was part of the media conglomerate Tribune Co. broken up in 2014 into television and publishing units.

"This is a transformational acquisition for Sinclair that will open up a myriad of opportunities for the company," said Chris Ripley, president and chief executive of Sinclair.

"The Tribune stations are highly complementary to Sinclair's existing footprint and will create a leading nationwide media platform that includes our country's largest markets."

The deal became possible under a loosening of antitrust regulations this year kept a single company from controlling stations reaching more than 39 percent of the US population.

Critics of the tie-up, which had been reported for weeks, have argued the deal is a boon for Sinclair, which had unique access to President Donald Trump during his 2016 election campaign.

"It's a scandal," said Craig Aaron of the consumer group Free Press.

"Sinclair -- the Trump-favoring broadcast mega-chain -- gets some... rules changed and expects others to be erased. All so that Sinclair can air its cookie-cutter newscasts to nearly 70 percent of the country's population in local markets across the country."

FCC officials argued the regulations, which aim to ensure diverse media voices, should be modified to take into account the digital transformation of television.

Some reports said Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. had expressed interest in Tribune Media.

In 2014, Tribune was broken into two separate companies, with the publishing division later renamed Tronc.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Gullible residents of Midtown are at risk if they swallow the bait arriving in the mail this week from a writer posing as an exile of the African country of Ivory Coast. In the letter, which seems to arrive at homes which still have a landline telephone with a listed address, the writer offers to share 30 per cent of $77.8 million if the sucker who gets the letter helps my mother and myself to get the cash out of some sort of political limbo. The recipient is invited to get in touch with the man who claims he is the son of a former president of Ivory Coast, by email or telephone, in the United Kingdom. The letter is postmarked in Malaysia. .

Related
The KIO has submitted its resignation letter to leave the UNFC last week, whose name has been withheld, told the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN).

KIO and SSPP are two EAOs from northern regions of Burma who have attended the UWSA-led Panghsang ethnic submits in recent months. The two armed organizations have a close relationship with northern alliance armed groupsMyanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Arakan Army (AA), and Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) as they are active geographically on the same trans-region.

Does the KIO alone leave UNFC; and how about if Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) would also leave?

I think UNFC is founded on the principle of political allies it does not help them at the negotiation table with its counterpart Burma army; they have been cornered and pressed; they have been crushed into pieces, said U That Hmu, an ex-student army combatant and now a Lu Baung Thit (Democratic Party for New Society) officer.

Nevertheless, Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), a key UNFCs ally the military-alliance affairs officer Maj-Gen Sai Htoo has told to media recently that they will not leave UNFC. However, some observers raise an eye on the need to keep watching as SSPP/SSA has close relationships with northern allied ethnic armed organizations.

While the government is in a high hope and assume that the five members of UNFCthe Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the Arakan National Council (ANC), the Wa National Organization (WNO), and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) would be given a good chance to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), all of their central executive committees have been busy with their ongoing high level meetings.

NMSPs meeting will come to an end today, 8 May; KNPP is on the tenth of this month. The decision of signing NCA is depending on the outcome of those meetings. NMSP holds that signing of the NCA shall be done by the consent of all members under the umbrella-term of UNFC, not an individual organization. There will be a meeting between the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN), a negotiation team formed by UNFC and the governments Peace Commission (PC) within May 14-18. By then, we will get to see a better picture of how signing the NCA would go, said a Burma-ethnologist Nai Banya Aung from Mon News agency.

On the other hand, the ethnic military allies headed by UWSA is yet to come up with their new approach proposal to peace as they have rejected the NCA, and the government has denounced the motion and insisted on the 6 May that negotiation is acceptable only if follow the NCA path to peace. Meanwhile, the UNFCs proposal of 9-point policy has been agreed only on principle, not yet fully accepted. Most members of UNFC whose bases are active in southern Burma is known to have come closer to the signing of NCA are NMSP and KNPP, quoting Burma analysts as saying.

Wouldnt it be possible that the WNO, a member of UNFC is being persuaded by the UWSA for re-integration? asked U Maung Maung, an ex-BCP combatant, northern region and ethnic affairs study.

Among the Wa people, ex-BCPP (Burmese Communist Programme Party) members were known as red Wa, while the Wa who did not integrate with BCPP became white Wa. Therefore, no strange that if WNO, the white Wa leaves UNFC and becomes united with UWSA, the red Wa. The LDU, on the other hands, has a strong link with UWSA. The LDUs troops have been closely active with UWSAs 171 Military Zone or otherwise known as Monghsat region.

Curiosity is that if Arakan National Council/Arakan Army (ANC/AA) will sign the NCA or will follow the UWSA-led new political approach to peace, whose fellows United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) is an ally, yet remains to be seen. KNPP, although less military manpower, yet able to stand on their own feet.

Nevertheless, NMSP who is taking a leadership role of UNFC/DPN is rather challenging. Geographically, the NMSP is largely active amidst of not only within reach of Burma military, but with also some other NCA-signatories Border Guard Force (BGF) troopers. Therefore, the NMSP may have not much choice but swallow their bittersweet.

In the meantime, the political challenge for NMSP and KNPP being their request to update the NCA treaty with the 9-point proposals. If the government and military insist no amendment to the original NCA can be made, what they would do? And if in case of military challenge is imminent, what is their alternative?

We can conclude that under any circumstance, the remaining five members of UNFC to sign the NCA is, however, unforeseeable at least for now.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Village Where Polyandry Is Followed Life oi-Syeda Farah

Fb: The reason why this village practices Polyandry will simply shock you.

Though there are many things that are improving at the speed of a rocket, there are those things as well that are still yet to be addressed and needs immediate attention.

One such example is that of a practice followed in a Rajathan village, where polyandry is strictly followed. The reason for following this practice will simply shock you.

Also Read: This Is The Black Magic Capital Of India

Check out the story of the village named Mankhera, which is located about 66 km from Alwar, Rajasthan.

This village has got famous after the polyandry practice that the villagers have been following here and how things need to change here for the betterment of the society! Read further to know more on this.

The Population Of This Village Compromises Of. The population comprises mainly of the Jat Community with only a handful of Brahmin and Dalit people who are mainly of the chamar and balmiki households. Sex Ratio Vs Marriage Due to small landholdings, many males are unmarried. According to a survey done recently, there were about 8.1 per cent of households with at least one unmarried male member; from 5.7 per cent in 2007. The Open Secret Rule This is nothing but an informal arrangement of sharing the wife between the two brothers in a family to save their property and wealth. Also Read:An Abandoned Village Near Jaisalmer: Kuldhara Agricultural Communities Practice Polyandry More The trend of polyandry was most prevalent among those agricultural communities for whom the land is the only means of production. The Land-Holding And Marriage Concept! Division of land through many generations is cited to be the sole reason behind the falling per capita landholding and high fragmentation. Due to this, Polyandry is practiced in this village! It Is Related To The Pride Of The Community Since the people belonging to the landlord caste never work as labourers, the belief of a small family with consolidated landholding is a better option is what the villagers opine. Hence, this practice of polyandry is quite common, as women do not reproduce early.

Do you think this practice needs to be banned? Do share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado

Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION
Max Harris, author of The New Zealand Project, will speak in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Timaru in May. Max will discuss politics in New Zealand today and why it needs impatience, imagination and creativity.What: Michael King Memorial Lecture at the Auckland Writers' FestivalWhen: 4pm - 5pm, Friday 19 MayWhere: ASB Theatre, Aotea CentreTickets: available for purchase nowRead more: Website What: A BWB Winter Series conversation, with Morgan Godfrey and Laura O'Connell Rapira as panelistsWhen: 5.30pm, Friday 26 MayWhere: Caroline, upstairs at 1 Manners StreetFree entry, no rsvp neededRead more: Facebook What: A BWB Winter Series conversation, with Sam Johnson, Sylvia Nissen and Lindsey MacDonald as panelistsWhen: 7.00pm, Wednesday 24 MayWhere: Gibson Centre, Rangi Ruru Girls' School, 59 Hewitts Rd, MerivaleFree entry, no rsvp neededRead more: Facebook What: A BWB Winter Series talkWhen: 5.30pm, Tuesday 23 MayWhere: Timaru Library, 56 Sophia StreetFree entry, no rsvp neededRead more: Facebook What: A BWB Winter Series talkWhen: 6.00pm, Monday 22 MayWhere: Dunedin City Library, 230 Moray PlaceFree entry, rsvp needed. Book your seat by emailing library@dcc.govt.nz or calling 03 474 3690.Read more: Facebook
In Montanas U.S. House race, Republican Greg Gianforte leads Democrat Rob Quist by 8 percentage points, according to a Gravis Marketing poll released Monday.

The poll shows Quist closing the gap in the final three weeks before voting ends Thursday, May 25.

The Democrat is gaining  among independents hes doing well, which is good for him," said Doug Kaplan of Gravis. "They dont have as many Democrats in Montana, compared to the Republicans."

Gravis has done several polls in the Montana race to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in the U.S. House. Zinke, a Republican, resigned Montanas lone House seat March 2. Gianforte, Quist and Libertarian Mark Wicks are the candidates listed on the ballot.

Gravis finds that 45 percent of Montanans who say theyre likely to vote would vote for Gianforte, a Bozeman businessman. Roughly 37 percent of the likely voters told Gravis they would vote for Quist. Wicks' support was 5 percent.

Quists polling surge comes as voters tire of the political calls. Kaplan said Gravis polled 462 people in its latest round of polling; the low sample rate stems from election-weary voters hanging up. The margin of error for the poll, taken May 2 through May 4, was 4.6 percent.

Despite the margin of error, Kaplan said there is a trend favoring Quist. Gravis polled 836 likely Montana voters April 27 and found Gianforte leading the pack with 52 percent of the vote. Quist had 39 percent in that poll. The erosion in support for both candidates showed up in a growing number of undecided voters, 10 percent as voting started last week.

Other signs the race is tightening include a secretly recorded campaign phone conversation last week in which Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., recognized the Republican's lead as being in single digits, while noting that no poll had Gianforte trailing.

Garin-Hart Research Group, a polling firm surveying Montana voters for the Senate Majority Super PAC, reported in a memo that its late-April results that 44 percent of the 601 Montana voters it interviewed intended to vote for Gianforte, while 38 percent intended to vote for Quist.

Garin-Hart noted that there was enthusiasm gap that favored Quist. Among voters who identified as most motivated to vote, Gianforte had 48 percent support to Quists 47. The memo provided no margin for error.

Montanans are voting. Absentee ballots went out in the mail May 1. Sunday night, Montanas secretary of state reported that 17 percent of those absentee ballots had been returned. In Yellowstone County, the Monday ballot count was about 22,000, said Elections Administrator Bret Rutherford. Thats roughly a third of the vote submitted in a county that represents one-seventh to one-eighth of the vote in most statewide elections.

Rutherford suggested anyone wondering about the status of their ballot should check the My Voter Page at the Secretary of States webpage.
Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) President Duma Boko has said that the factional wars at Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) are a true test for the partys stability. Boko appealed to members of the UDC especially, to allow the BMD to resolve its issues without interference.

Boko, who was officially opening a Botswana Congress Party Youth League (BCPYL) Conference in Ramotswa, said he is convinced that the BMD would come out of this mess a united party. BMD is currently embroiled in factionalism. This saw some BMD youth converge in Ramotswa this past weekend to host an elective congress even though the party leadership announced that the congress has been postponed.

BMD National Working Committee met last week Tuesday to deliberate on the BMDYL congress and concluded that the congress must be postponed. Party National Executive Committee leads the BMD factions. Party President Ndaba Gaolathe and his deputy Wynter Mmolotsi leads one faction while Chairman Nehemiah Modubule and Secretary General Gilbert Mangole lead the other faction.





Gaolathe-Mmolotsi faction pushed for the congress while Modubule-Mangole faction was against the congress. Modubule-Mangole faction is supporting Kagelelo Kentse for the youth presidency while Gaolathe-Mmolotsi support Jacob Kelebeng. Gaolathe officially opened the weekend congress, which was said to be unlawful.

Only one faction voted at the congress as Kentses team did not attend the congress. When opening the BCPYL conference, which was meters away from the BMDYL congress, Boko said all the UDC affiliates have experienced what the BMD is going through. UDC is made up of BMD, BCP, Botswana National Front [BNF] and Botswana People Party [BPP].

Boko told delegates that when he became president of the BNF, the party was divided. He revealed that those who were not strong at the time fell off and the movement remained and emerged stronger. He said the BCP and the BPP have also experienced the same. Give them time. Let them fight their own fight internally.

There is no disarray. It is an opportunity for degeneration and growth. It would have been disappointing if the BMD could have not gone through this stage. Those who are not strong will leave the BMD and join the BDP. I am calling on all UDC members not to debate the BMD issues but to give them space, stated Boko. With only two months left the BMD has not yet decided where it will hold its elective congress in July where a new leadership will be elected.
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Secretary General aspirant, Jacob Nkate could soon be back to his former lobby group led by Party Chairman and Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi. Nkate was dumped by the camp prior to the partys National Council held in March this year after his utterances in the media in which he was quoted saying that he would be running for the presidency of the party.

The former Ambassador to Japan found himself left in the cold after he received a communication to the effect that he is no longer part of team Masisi for the upcoming BDP elective congress billed for Tonota in July this year. Nkate was replaced by former BDP Secretary General Mpho Balopi in the lobby list.

Masisi will be going up against Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Nonofo Molefhi. Information reaching this publication indicates that party Treasurer Satar Dada is trying to broker a deal between the two. Negotiations started during the BDP Womens Wing Congress held in Maun in March 2017. At the congress, which both Nkate and Masisi attended, some councillors from the Ngami District approached the two to try and bring them back together. Four of our councillors approached the duo and from the look of things the vice president did not have a problem.





It seems there has been miscommunication between Nkate and Masisi. Nkate has promised that he is open to going back to the camp. What is however worrisome is that Nkate was not happy with the way he was dumped as the vice president is not the one who communicated but rather Balopi did so and at the same time Balopi is an interested party, said a councillor from Ngami who did not want to be mentioned. It is said that councillors in Ngami are all in full support of Masisi to be retained as party chairman.

There has also been news making rounds that Nkate has been approached by some of Molefhis foot soldiers. Nkate confirmed in an interview that he is in talks with Masisis team for his return. Nkate however said he would not want to sit with that thinking that they would be working together.

He said currently his focus is on campaigning for the secretary general post. If we get back together it would be good for both of us. It is true that some councillors have approached me. We did talk and they told me they would approach VP on the matter. I am busy with my campaign and I cannot be derailed. Nna le VP ga re a ngalelana and people need to understand that, he said. He stated that he would be waiting for feedback from Masisi. Nkate was also shocked to have received a call from someone else other than the VP terminating their working relationship. I believe the VP could have just given me a random call and asked me on the media statement. I could have explained clearly and he could have discovered that he had nothing to worry about.

Nkate will battle it out with current Secretary General Botsalo Ntuane, former secretary general Mpho Balopi and Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness Phillip Makgalemele. Balopi, who is said to have replaced Nkate, said he is not aware of any formal communication to the effect that Nkate and Masisi belong to the same lobby list. The issue of support of the party leadership has never been based on lobby lists, said Balopi when asked if he would decide to reach a compromise with Nkate and allow the latter to stand.
Sathya Sai Baba Free Medical Clinic team recently hosted its first outreach programme with the aim of taking their free special services to villages within 50 km radius of Gaborone.

Sathya Sai Clinic has operated for the past 10 years. It helps those who cannot afford medical aid to get special health care for free. The clinic provides General, Dental and Optical services every week on Sundays offering consultation, treatment, medication and spectacles for free.



Chairman of Sathya Sai Central Trust of Botswana, Dr Sonil Kadiyala said: The goal of the outreach programme is to take health care to those people who do not have the accessibility to visit the clinic in Gaborone, thereby inspiring the team to conduct mobile health camps in selected villages at regular intervals, he said.







Kadiyala said that during these camps consultation, good advice and medicines are provided to patients for free by a team of experienced doctors and trained volunteers. Minister of Tertiary Education Dr Alfred Madigele applauded Sathya Sai clinic for servicing the underprivileged and students.



I am impressed by the fact that the clinic conducts Sai Student Vision support programme on a yearly basis for 10 public schools, to improve vision among the students. Vision is critical to achieve good academic progress. Yearly 400 students benefit from this programme, Madigele said.



100 patients from Molepolole support group were the first to be assisted under this outreach programme on Sunday, which has been scheduled to take place every month depending on the needs of selected places.

Kadiyala told this publication that they will take the outreach programme to Francistown and other places in the North in future.



The Satya Sai Centre conducts blood donation camps twice a year, organised jointly by the centre and the ministry of health and hopes to equip itself with a mobile van to transport medicines and equipment to villages every month.
Funeral Parlour Association of Botswana (FPAB) has revealed that Botswana does not have efficient policies and laws on the funeral industry.

Speaking during the FPAB annual conference in Gaborone this week, FPAB President Bushie Mosala said the industry has no code of conduct and no regulatory body which leaves the association with several challenges that hinder its growth. Trade unions seem to have found loopholes in our industry and have opted to ease their members lives through what appears to temper with FPAB, he said. He stated that FSG and Botswana Life partnership is an anti competitive behaviour in the funeral industry and the matter is still pending before the Competition Authority.



Mosala said they are talking to the Ministry of Health on matters of the funeral industry. We have discussed that the Police should end the use of vans to transport victims of accidents. The ambulances are for the sick while funeral parlours have hearses used to transport corpses, said Mosala.



He cited that the time for Road Transport Accidents (RTAs) has now arrived and everyone must do their bit. Funeral parlours should be the only people to transport human remains, the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) should also stop conveying corpses and the public should also be educated on this matter.







According to Mosala the association will involve Business Botswana as the umbrella body of business entities to assist funeral industry deal with issues they encounter. Mosala believes that FPAB should be approached for improvement of services pertaining to registration of deaths, clearance of international deaths as well as privatisation of cemeteries.



He said that the ministry should stop foreign companies from doing funeral undertaking along with tombstone manufacturing as this takes away jobs from local companies.



FPAB also emphasised that the Ministry of Local Government should be approached on issues pertaining to management of cemeteries in towns and villages as well as tendering for destitute provisions. Heritage sites should be diversified. The association is also requesting the Ministry of Land Management Water and Sanitation Services to give each funeral parlour a piece of land-at least half a pitch plots so that its operations can move smoothly. Vehicle for funeral parlours should be washed within its premises and this calls for ample space, Mosala.



He added that the funeral industry has employment opportunities in areas such as Embalmers, Funeral Directors and Assistants, Gravediggers, Florists, Tomb stone manufacturers and counsellors. The association will embark on training in partnership with Human Resource Development Council. The National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association (USA) is to train Botswana and SADC countries on several aspects of Funeral parlour industry, the training will also cover public education on the industry, as well as differences in local tradition and western.

Mosala said there is need for standardising the industry in Southern Africa to cover capacity building-including training. Standardisation should cover standardising equipment-fleet and hardware like coffins, crematoria and florists, he said. For her part, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Shenaz El Halabi called on the industry to familiarise itself with existing relevant statues such as the Conveyance of Dead Bodies Act and Public Health Act which are inclusive of the International Health Regulations relevant to their profession.




NEW DELHI (PTI): The much-awaited strategic partnership model for roping in select private industry for defence production is likely to be finalised by the defence ministry soon.



A final round of discussion with key stakeholders on the policy will take place this week, following which the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is expected to deliberate on it later this month.



If the policy is cleared by the DAC, which is the defence ministry's highest decision making body for capital acquisition, then it will be sent for consideration of the Cabinet Committee on Security.



Under the strategic partnership model, select private Indian defence firms will be allowed to exclusively make various military platforms for a specified period of time.



A number of issues relating to policy will be discussed with the stakeholders in the coming days, official sources said.



There has been debate over whether to select only one private sector company for each of the segments identified for defence indigenisation or look for other options.



The SPM was proposed by the Dhirendra Singh Committee in July, 2015. It had said that for the 'Make in India' initiative to become wider in the defence sector, the government should adopt a strategic partnership model, whereby a private firm is chosen for the development of a specific identified platform.



Last year, then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had made announcements that the policy on SPM would be unveiled soon.






TOKYO (AP): Japan and India have affirmed plans to strengthen their military cooperation amid rising tension in the Asian region.



Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday told his Japanese counterpart, Tomomi Inada, in Tokyo that his country hopes to pursue a strategic partnership with Japan for regional peace and stability.



His visit comes at a time of rising tension in the region, including territorial rows in the South China Sea and nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.



Jaitley welcomed a planned trilateral naval exercise among the US, India and Japan in July as a way of strengthening cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.



"This is all reflective of the level of cooperation our armed forces have with each other," he said.



Japan and India have been stepping up defence cooperation amid China's increased assertiveness in the region.



China has long been wary of joint maritime exercises between India and the United States.



Japan, a staunch US ally that hosts about 50,000 American troops, has in recent years developed military cooperation with other countries, including Australia, France, Britain and the Philippines.



Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to expand Japan's defence role and capability amid security concerns over China and North Korea.



Jaitley, who is also India's finance minister, visited Japan to attend an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank that ended on Sunday.


Already have an account? Log in here 

Items were stolen from six vehicles in Brandons south end over the weekend.

We need your support!

Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
A group of Wyoming citizens that meets regularly with federal regulators on land and resource management has been suspended by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke until Washington can review the groups mission.

The decision to delay has frustrated locals who say the group was a way to engage with federal land managers.

The Resource Advisory Council is among 200 such advisory boards across the country temporarily disbanded pending the federal assessment.

Neighboring states' councils and committees were also suspended. Unlike the more populous states to the north and south, Wyoming has only one such group that works with the Bureau of Land Management.

Wyomings council has appointees from energy development, environmental groups and local politics. Council members are meant to offer input to BLM offices on issues affecting their areas of Wyoming and their interests, from sage grouse management to federal planning on public land.

In a statement, the Department of the Interior said the review would ensure that advisory panels are in line with recent presidential mandates. President Donald Trump has signed a bevy of orders concerning federal department initiatives, rules and regulations, including reviews of all environmental regulations that may have a negative economic impact. The Environmental Protection Agency has similar reviews ongoing and announced this week that it would replace half of the members on a key scientific review board.

"The Secretary is committed to restoring trust in the Departments decision-making, and that begins with institutionalizing state and local input and ongoing collaboration, particularly in communities surrounding public lands, the Interior Department said in a statement. As the Department concludes its review in the weeks ahead, agencies will notice future meetings to ensure that the Department continues to get the benefit of the views of local communities in all decision-making on public land management."

Members in Wyoming learned last week that their meeting in mid-June would be canceled and the federal assessment would end in September at the earliest.

The states BLM office is not heading the review but is available to advise Washington on Wyoming issues should Interior seek input, said Brad Purdy, a spokesman for the BLM in Wyoming. Purdy could not answer questions about whether the Wyoming RAC could be disbanded as a result of the review. The councils mission of connecting the BLM offices with local voices appears to be in line with the departments initiative.

Thats about as much as members know as well.

Its somewhat frustrating in not knowing the reasoning behind it right now, what the administrations thoughts are, said John Espy, a member from Rawlins and a local county commissioner.

The group is no stranger to federal red tape interrupting its work. Espy's application to join took more than a year to process. The council has also experienced setbacks in recent years as Washington plodded through the vetting of new members and the council faced quorum shortages.

Of the 10-person council, three members terms expire in August, before the current review is set to end.

Purdy said the BLM application for new members is open.

Most view the current suspension as a delay in continuing conversations with the federal regulators who live and work in Wyoming.

Its disruptive to discussion when youve got to pick up in a few months and remember where you left off, when important topics have changed, said Christi Haswell, a member of the council, whose business, SWCA in Sheridan, offers consulting services to industry and environmental groups on issues like wetland development.

The council serves an important purpose in the state, she said. All the meetings are open to the public. Appointed members voice concerns from diverse interests in federal land management in Wyoming, as well as hear from BLM representatives on what issues may be on the horizon for the federal regulators, she said.

Its hard when we are working with people outside the state to make sure we can keep meeting, Haswell said. We are really hoping we can meet in September, but thats anybodys guess at this point.
The Garda decision not to prosecute Stephen Fry for blasphemy has been criticised by Atheist Ireland.

Chairman Michael Nugent says it creates an incentive for people to demonstrate outrage, when they see or hear something they believe is blasphemous.
Author Mary Rose Glennon claims she has been left with a 2m debt because of an alleged failure by a law firm to properly supervise her now deceased partner who worked for the firm and who took out mortgages on their properties without her knowledge, writes Ann O'Loughlin.

Ms Glennon, who is described in her High Court proceedings as a retired copywriter living in Newcastle, Co Wicklow, has sued Hugh J Ward & Co, of Seville Place, Dublin.

She lived in Newcastle with Earl Gollogly, who she says was a partner in HJ Ward and carried out consultancy work for them until December 2006. He died testate on September 12, 2013.

HJ Ward says her claims are without foundation. The firm says Mr Gollogly operated consultancy offices between 2001 and 2006 from his Wicklow home and only spent a few days a month in the Dublin offices. It also says Ms Glennon acted as Mr Gollogly's legal secretary.

She was a highly educated author and freelance writer who appeared, on the basis of what she said herself, to have consciously signed documentation which she now says was done without her knowledge, it is claimed.

The law firm applied to have the case dealt with in the fast-track Commercial Court because it was an urgent matter. From investigations so far, going back over ten years, there was no basis for her allegations, it claimed.

Lawyers for Ms Glennon were not opposed to entry of the case into the commercial list but said there may be a second set of proceedings against another firm of solicitors.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern, head of the Commercial Court, refused to admit the case to the list saying he was not satisfied the matter had proceeded as expeditiously as it might have. It now goes through the normal High Court list.

In a statement of claim, Ms Glennon said she and Mr Gollogly owned four properties bought jointly by them in the 1990s. They are two houses in Belgrave Square, Ranelagh, and Grosvenor Road, Rathmines, both Dublin; another property at Seapoint Court, Bray, Co Wicklow, and a commercial premises in Camden Street, Dublin.

She says that in 2005, Mr Gollogly, without her knowledge or consent, got mortgages totalling 750,000 from AIB on Belgrave Square.

The same year, he mortgaged the Camden Street property, again with AIB, for 400,000, she says.

In 2006, he got 700,000 from Permanent TSB mortgaged on Grosvenor Road and Seapoint, she says. The application for this loan was purportedly on her behalf, Mr Gollogly's behalf and for Mr Gallogly's son, Cormac Gollogly.

He got a further 1.25m, from PTSB, that same year under another mortgage for Grosvenor Road.

In each instance, she says she was required to sign documentation by Mr Gollogly which he misrepresented the nature of to her. She was unaware of the contents or nature of the documents.

HJ Ward & Co, its servants or agents, purported to witness her signature on documents in her absence, she says.

The monies for the loans were forwarded, following solicitor's cheque requisitions signed by the law firm, to accounts in Mr Gollogly's sole name, she says.

The transactions were facilitated and/or contributed to by the negligence, breach of duty and misrepresentation on the part of the defendant firm, she says.

Those failures, she alleges, include not exercising supervisory control over Mr Gollogly in the course of his employment and not putting in place safeguards to prevent employees or agents facilitating loans/mortgages to the detriment of others.

Ms Glennon says she had no awareness of the transactions until after his death in 2013.

She says the funds from them were used by Mr Gollogly for the purchase of UK property in his name and his brother's name.

AIB has appointed a receiver over the Belgrave Square and Camden Street properties.

PTSB requires her to make repayments totalling 2,862 per month on the 2m outstanding on its loans.
Update 2.20pm: Housing experts say the introduction of rent pressure zones are not working, and that rents are still rising drastically.

The average cost of renting is now 1,131 a month, up 13.4% year-on-year.

Fewer houses are also available for rent, with just over 3,000 properties available on May 1st.

Martin Clancy from Daft.ie outlines some of the most expensive area.

"It is an increase of 8.2% on this period last year, but the difference in prices obviously in Roscommon compared to other parts of the country are huge.

"In Waterford a three bed property would be 764, Cork would be 1,140, and the same property in Stillorgan would be 1,958," he said.

Update 12.45pm: Fianna Fail's spokesperson on housing has said the situation regarding rental properties is an "emergency" and a "crisis".

Speaking on Today with Sean O'Rourke on RTE Radio 1, Barry Cowen said compulsory purchase powers are there to address social need and they should be "used extensively" and immediately.

He said a programme should be initiated by the Minister for Housing and the Dept of Housing where "the local authorities should instructed to start proceedings to compulsorily purchase those properties to bring them into use."

He said he was referring to the "vacant units, the vacant dilapidated buildings in many villages and towns and cities throughout the country where people are looking to see those come into use."

"And I say to Minister Coveney and I say to Fine Gael now that they have at their disposal, compulsory purchase powers, which are there in order to address social need.

"I say to them use them. Use them extensively and use them immediately. They have the potential to get results and they will crystallise the issues that is holding this property back," he said.

Earlier: The Housing Minister is being urged to introduce rent certainty as new figures show prices are at an all-time high.

The monthly rental rate now stands at over 1,100 around the country - but in parts of Dublin it is more than 1,800.

Analysts are blaming the hikes on a supply shortage caused by inadequate building levels.

Social Democrats Co-leader Catherine Murphy says the Government needs to take control of the situation: "I think that you have to realise that housing is a public good as well as a market function and essentially we have to see housing as something different then a commodity.

"We have a piece in the constitution that protects private property, it does so in the context of respecting the public good."
Ibrahim Halawa's trial has been delayed for the 23rd time.

The Irishman was arrested in 2013 during demonstrations against the ousting of president Mohammed Morsi in Egypt.

Ibrahim has now spent 1,348 days in prison, since his arrest at the age of 17.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan says "the case continues to be a high priority for the Government".

The next hearing is scheduled for May 17.

Amnesty International has declared Ibrahim Halawa a Prisoner of Conscience, based on its own eye-witness evidence that he could not have carried out the violent acts he is accused of.

It is beyond farcical that almost four years after his arrest, Ibrahim Halawas trial has been delayed for the 23rd time. The continuing imprisonment of this young Irish and EU citizen is a serious violation of both international and Egyptian law.

"Over the last 45 months, Ibrahims ordeal has been nothing short of horrific. He has spent almost four years of his young life in harrowing conditions in a number of different prison cells, said Fiona Crowley, Research and Legal Manager with Amnesty International Ireland.
An injured sailor has been airlifted to hospital from a British Royal Navy submarine off the Irish coast.

The alarm was raised early today when the UK Coastguard and Maritime Agency (UKMCA) requested assistance from the Irish Coast Guard.

The Sligo-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 118, was tasked to the scene at around 9.20am while Rescue 115, located at Shannon Airport, was sent to assist by providing communications top cover.

The casualty was airlifted him to Sligo University Hospital. It is understood that the sailor sustained leg injuries.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport has confirmed: A medevac was carried by R118 our Sligo based helicopter, who picked up an injured crew member mid-morning following a message that was relayed through the UKMCA. Follow-on support/top cover was provided by R115 our Shannon based helicopter.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Navy said: "We can confirm that a crew member from a Royal Navy submarine was today airlifted to hospital by the Irish Coastguard."

"It would be inappropriate to comment further; for security reasons we do not discuss submarine operations and any questions relating to the casualty would be medical in confidence, the spokeswoman added.

The operation was coordinated by staff at the Irish Coast Guards marine rescue sub centre at Malin Head in Donegal.
A 34-year-old man who was seriously injured during an assault outside a Dublin night club has died in hospital.

The incident took place outside a club in the Airside Retail Park in Swords in the early hours of Sunday.
An incoming group of middle school to high school age youth from the Life Skills and Transition Center in Grafton prompted Bismarck Public Schools to add two new teaching positions.

The Bismarck School Board approved two full-time special education teachers to accommodate the secondary school students, who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. HIT Inc., of Mandan, is building two new group homes for its clients in Mandan, and plans to repurpose one of its current homes in Bismarck, which will become the home of six youth transitioning to Bismarck from the LSTC.

HIT Inc. is a community provider, offering services to people with disabilities in the Bismarck-Mandan area. Last year, the provider got approval from the state to build the new group homes in Mandan, which align with the LSTC's goal to reduce the number of youth in the state-run institution. As of Jan. 1., there were 19 youth on campus, according to testimony the LSTC Superintendent Sue Foerster gave during the legislative session.

The two new positions will not cost the district any additional money, Superintendent Tamara Uselman told the board Monday afternoon.

"The reason it's cost-neutral is that these students are served as state-responsible students ... or they're residents of another school district, who move here into the group home," Uselman said.

Mike Remboldt, CEO of HIT Inc., said in an email that the six youth will move into the group home, located in south Bismarck, in August. The new adult group homes in Mandan will serve eight adults, and will open in June.

Uselman said the district still has to decide where it will place the new teachers. Bismarck schools have about 105 special education teachers, serving students pre-K through age 21.
Update 5.17pm: The trial of a man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in a hotel room has heard that she was dressed when her body was found on the floor of Room 346 in the Plaza Hotel.

The State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy told the jury that Sonia Blount's black jeans were buttoned and zipped but were low down over her hips.

The prosecuting barrister Remy Farrell said there was a suggestion Eric Locke may have dressed her after he killed her.

Prof. Cassidy said that would have been difficult after she died.

She said there was evidence of recent sexual activity, but she said there was no way of knowing if it had been consensual.

She said Sonias death was due to strangulation and could have been a combination of manual and ligature strangulation.

She accepted the cable of a mobile phone charger found next to her body could have been used and said the placing of a gag in her mouth would have also contributed to her death.

Update 2.24pm: A Dublin murder trial has been shown CCTV footage of the accused man running from the hotel where he strangled his ex-girlfriend to death.

CCTV footage taken from a pub in Clondalkin on the night of the alleged murder shows Eric Locke ordering a whiskey just before he went to the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght.

His ex-girlfriend Sonia Blount checked in just after 9pm and went to room 346 where she waited for a man she met online called Shane Cully.

But unbeknown to her, Mr Locke had assumed a false identity on Facebook and effectively lured her to the hotel that night.

CCTV footage shows him arriving just before midnight. He leaves five and a half hours later.

Garda Barry OMahoney told the jury he appears to deposit something outside the hotel before running away.

This morning, Garda Robert Whitty said there was a blood-stained cloth stuffed into Sonias mouth when he found her body on the floor of the room.

He said she was dressed and there were unused cable ties strewn across the room.

Earlier: The trial of a Dublin man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend has heard there was a blood-stained cloth stuffed inside her mouth when her body was found on the floor of a hotel room.

Eric Locke of St. Johns Park East in Clondalkin denies murdering Sonia Blount in room 346 of the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght in February 2014.

The 35-year-old admits strangling her to death but claims he was overcome by a mental disorder and did not mean to kill her.

When Garda Robert Whitty entered room 346 at the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght on February 16 2014, he said he found a womans motionless body lying on the floor between the bed and the window.

He said she was dressed and had a ligature mark on her neck that was consistent with a strangulation mark.

She was later identified as Sonia Blount, a 31-year-old single mother.

The court heard there was a blood-stained cloth stuffed quite deep into her mouth and some unused cable ties were strewn around the room.

Garda Whitty said there was a roll of black duct tape close to her body and an imitation firearm was found under the bed

It is the prosecutions case that he lured her to the hotel by assuming a false identity online.
Independent ministers have failed in their bid to discover how Ireland voted in a contentious UN vote last month.

Three independent members of cabinet were unhappy at the secrecy around whether Ireland supported Saudi Arabia's bid to join a UN commission on women's rights.
A pigeon racing enthusiast has secured a temporary High Court injunction preventing one of the sport's administrative bodies from suspending his membership of the organisation, writes Ann O'Loughlin.

The injunction was secured by Maurice O'Donnell of Crompan View the Burgery, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, who has been involved in pigeon racing for 48 years.

The action has been brought against members of the Management Committee of the Irish Homing Union National Flying Club, a pigeon racing club and the Irish Homing Union (IHU) Southern region, which is one of the IHU's two administrative regions.

The Irish Homing Union governs and regulates the sport.

Mr O'Donnell sought the orders over last month's decision by the IHU's Southern Region to suspend his membership. He claims he has not been informed why he was suspended and by whom the decision was taken.

He claims his suspension is in clear breach of the rules and very damaging to him personally.

The injunction was granted by Mr Justice Paul Gilligan, on an ex parte basis at the High Court today.

The injunction restrains the defendants from suspending Mr O Donnell's membership of the organisation.

The defendants are also restrained from holding a meeting concerning the decision to suspend Mr O'Donnell's membership or any other issues concerning the parties.

The case will come back before the court next week.

In a sworn statement Mr O'Donnell said he had been on Management Committee of the club, but resigned after relations between him and other members broke down irretrievably.

He said the problems related to a stance he took over the disciplining of another club member. That person had been disqualified from a race over an allegation that Mr O'Donnell said was untrue.

Mr O Donnell said that he gave evidence on that person's behalf. The other individual eventually had the race ban overturned on appeal by the IHU's supreme council.

A second incident related to the spending of the proceeds of a fundraiser.

Mr O'Donnell said money had been raised to buy a vehicle for transporting pigeons, but another person on the club's management committee decided the money was to be spent on the weaving of wicker pigeons crates.

Out of frustration Mr O 'Donnell says he resigned from the club's management committee.

In December he said he received an email saying threats he was alleged to have made against officers and the committee of the club were to be discussed at a meeting.

He said any suggestion he made a threat against members and officers of the club is categorically and completely untrue and defamatory of him. He was suspended.

In March he said his suspension was lifted and he was elected the clubs President following its AGM.

He had hoped matters were at an end. However in April he was informed by an IHU Southern Region official that the suspension had been reinstated.

He says not been provided with any reasons or grounds for that decision. The decision has had an adverse impact on his ability to race his pigeons. He took part in a race in Kinsale but was later told he had been disqualified.

No reasons were given to him as to why he had been disqualified.

He said he has been called to attend at a regional meeting fixed for May 21st to try and resolve matters between him and the club.

He says he fears the meeting has been called simply to affirm what he says is an unlawful suspension.
The Prince of Wales stressed the possibilities inherent in breaking down barriers on a Northern Ireland visit that took in a cross border hospital and a centre dedicated to one of his favourite poets.

Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall began a four day trip to the island at a gleaming new facility dedicated to the memory of late Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney.

Later the Royal couple travelled to Derry to meet cancer patients from both sides of the Irish border at a treatment unit that has been hailed a shining example of north-south co-operation.

The 50m facility at Altnagelvin hospital is jointly funded by health authorities in Stormont and Dublin.

As well as treating patients from the north west of Northern Ireland, it also enables people from Co Donegal to make the short trip across the border to receive care, rather than travelling large distances to hospitals in Galway or Dublin.

Earlier, addressing a packed conference hall at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in the poet's native Bellaghy, Co Derry, the Prince said "varied histories, voices, and traditions" could create "all the greater harmony" when brought together.

"After all it is differences that make harmony possible, even as it is the barriers that have been overcome to make friendship all the stronger," he said, alluding to Northern Ireland's emergence from conflict.

The Prince is a big fan of Heaney and was recorded reciting one of his poems - The Shipping Forecast - for the exhibition centre in Bellaghy that celebrates his life and work.

Heaney said his rural childhood in his home village was the source of the extraordinary memory-hoard from which his greatest work sprang.

He was buried in a churchyard in the village in 2013 after a life lived in Dublin and around the world.

After closing their first day of engagements by attending a cultural performance at Hillsborough Castle, the Royal couple will head to Belfast on Wednesday where they are due to officially open a memorial garden to members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) who lost their lives on duty.

Later in the day they will travel south to the Irish Republic.

The Prince has officially visited the Republic of Ireland four times before, most recently in May 2016.

In 2015 they travelled to Mullaghmore in Co Sligo where the Prince's great uncle and mentor Lord Mountbatten and three others were killed by the IRA in 1979.

Highlights of the couple's latest visit to Ireland will include an engagement at Kilkenny Castle, where they will see some traditional music and watch a hurling demonstration by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).

Charles will tour the United Nations Training School Ireland at the Curragh Camp, while Camilla will visit the Irish National Stud. Both will attend ceremonies at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin to commemorate those who lost their lives in the First World War and during the Easter Rising.

Irish President Michael D Higgins will meet the Royal couple in Dublin.

Whilst in the city, the Prince will also meet Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny and he and the Duchess will conclude their visit by attending a reception at the British ambassador's residence.

The trip to Ireland is at the request of the British Government.

A statement from Clarence House said: "This visit will showcase the strength and vitality of the connections between the United Kingdom and Ireland; and the friendship and partnership that has defined our relationship over recent years."

At Hillsborough Castle the Royal couple enjoyed an evening of music.

The Music and Words for a Spring Evening event saw the world premiere of a new piece by Belfast composer Neil Martin, which was commissioned by Charles.

As part of a packed programme the Royal couple were also entertained by the children of the Tir Na n-Og School of Irish Dancing.
Latest: Labour Party spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Sean Sherlock, has called for the Government to immediately begin talks with public sector trade unions.

What we know so far:

Update 5.42pam: Labour Party spokesperson on Public Expenditure and Reform, Sean Sherlock, has called for the Government to immediately begin talks with public sector trade unions.

It is clear from the Public Sector Pay Commission report that talks on public sector pay must begin immediately, he said.

Issues such as working hours, pay, recruitment, tenure and much more need to be brought to the table.

"For months the Labour Party has called on the Government to move on opening discussions to put in place a longer-term deal, delivering pay restoration, with Lansdowne Road folded into it.

The Minister has been stalling on this issue, using the Public Pay Commission to kick the can down the road on pay restoration.

The Government have been sticking their heads in the sand on this issue, and repeating ad nauseum  'the Lansdowne Road Agreement is the only show in town'. Well, that mantra isnt good enough anymore.

Now that we have the report, there is no reason for Minister Donoghue to delay these talks any further.

Update 1.49pm: The Public Expenditure Minister says there will be "no ATM created for public servants" in pay talks.

A report from the Public Service Pay Commission says the value of pensions in the public service for pre-2013 entrants equals between 12% and 18%.

It says that as the emergency FEMPI legislation is unwound, greater contributions to pensions from public servants should happen.

Minister Paschal Donohoe has said it is his intention to issue an invitation to unions for talks on an extension to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, but he has warned against any expectations of large-scale pay rises.

"The demands in relation to resources that are available are just hugely insignificant.

"I face everyday as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, continued demands for more investment in public services and this is in the background of what is happening with Brexit," he said.

Update 1.21pm: A report from the Public Service Pay Commission says any pay increases must be matched with continuing reforms and productivity.

The report, which has been published this lunchtime, has been analysing the pay and wages of both the public and private sector.

It finds that the value of the public sector pension is between 12% and 18% for pre-2013 public servants.

The Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, has welcomed the report, which he says will be a key input to the negotiations on an extension to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, which will get underway in the coming weeks.

Earlier: Hundreds of thousands of public servants will discover how their pay compares to private workers when a report is delivered to Cabinet later.

The Public Service Pay Commission has been analysing wages and pensions for both sectors.

Its findings are expected to form the basis of talks to replace the Lansdowne Road deal, but the report will not contain any recommendations.

Industry Correspondent Martin Wall says those details will be worked out by talks between the Government and unions.

"The value of public service pensions has increased over the last decade since the benchmarking report.

"The benchmarking report put a value on public service pensions at around about 12% and I think this report will basically suggest that the range has now increased between 12% and 18%.

"So when the talks commence later this month the issue of public service pensions is going to be, if not at the very centre, it will be really crucial," he said.
Same sex partners of people in workplace pension schemes will be able to claim their spouse's pension, after a change in the law.

The Social Welfare and Pensions Bill contains a provision covering a small number of occupational pensions.
A surfer rescued after more than 30 hours stranded at sea has been discharged from hospital after making a "remarkable" recovery.

Matthew Bryce, 22, has been treated for hypothermia after he was found drifting on his surfboard in the North Channel - 13 miles from Northern Ireland and 16 miles from Scottish shores - on Monday May 1.

Surfer saved off Antrim thought he would die at sunset https://t.co/FjBpAsurvR pic.twitter.com/4MOjMslNKW  RTE News (@rtenews) May 4, 2017

The Scot praised the medical care he received at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, Belfast, as "second to none" as he was discharged from the unit.

Mr Bryce, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, thanked everyone involved in his treatment "for all the love, care and support shown to me through this particularly traumatic experience".

He added: "To each and every one of you, thank-you very much."

His parents John and Isabella also thanked the public for the many get well wishes sent to their son.

They too praised the medical treatment he received, saying: "The staff here in the Ulster Hospital have been so thoughtful, kind and considerate, and this has helped make a traumatic experience for us much more bearable. They helped turn a negative experience into a positive one."

South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, which released the statements, said: "Matthew Bryce has made a remarkable recovery and has now been treated and discharged from the Ulster Hospital."

Mr Bryce, who has vowed never to surf again, recently told how he thought he was going to die just moments before he was found by a helicopter.

He was reported missing by his 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 the following day.

As the sun began to set on a second night at sea, Mr Bryce told how he thought he had just hours to live and had "made peace" with himself.

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.''
Four orders were issued by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) during the month of April including two Closure Orders, one Prohibition Order and one Improvement Order.

The orders were for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010.
A woman jailed for stealing more than 270,000 from a firm of solicitors she worked for has lost an appeal against sentence, with the Court of Appeal viewing her 18-month jail term as lenient.

Donna Magee (47), with an address in Holyfields, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stealing in excess of 270,000 from her then employers, O'Mara Geraghty McCourt Solicitors.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended by Judge Martin Nolan on March 31, 2017.

Magee lost an appeal against the severity of her sentence today which came on for hearing some six weeks after it was imposed.

Giving judgment in the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Alan Mahon said the mother-of-one, while engaged as a financial controller at the solicitors firm from 2008 to 2009, stole 270,597 by transferring monies from an account in the practice to a personal account.

A sum of 173,000 was subsequently recovered from the bank through civil proceedings, the judge said.

In 2014, she served a nine month sentence in Northern Ireland for more than STG100,000 VAT fraud dating back to 2010. She also had an earlier fraud conviction in Northern Ireland from 2002, the judge said.

Dismissing her appeal, Mr Justice Mahon said the fact Magee had recently served a nine month sentence was referred to by the judge and it was therefore understood to have been considered by him and factored into the discount for mitigation, contrary to what had been submitted by Magee's lawyers.

Mr Justice Mahon said it would be difficult to understand why a nine month sentence for a six figure VAT fraud would warrant less than an 18 month prison term for this offence.

He said there were stark differences between Magee's case and the case of 'Jacqueline Durcan'. Both cases involved the defrauding of monies including client monies in solicitors firms, both involved sums of almost a quarter of a million euro and both were mothers: Durcan a mother-of-five and Magee a mother-of-one.

Mr Justice Mahon said Durcan had no previous convictions while Magee had two including significant previous convictions for fraud.

The loss was fully compensated in 'Durcan' by reason of her own efforts but in Magee's case the partial recovery was as a result of actions taken by the firm of solicitors rather than on Magee's part.

Mr Justice Mahon said it was sad to hear that Magee's 14-year-old daughter was restricted by her mother's incarceration. Nevertheless, incarceration can rarely be avoided simply on this basis, the judge said.

He said a net custodial sentence of 18 months for a fraud of one quarter-of-a-million euro was lenient in the view of the court.

Mr Justice Mahon, who sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Hedigan, dismissed the appeal against sentence.
It's that time of year again ..... IT'S EUROVISION 2017 and it all kicks off tonight, writes Karl Fradgley.

"Celebrate Diversity" is this year's Eurovision theme and tonight the semi finals burst onto our screens live from the Kyiv International Convention Centre in Ukraine's capital with 18 countries battling it out for 10 places in Saturday's final.

The Eurovision bandwagon rolled into Kyiv to "Celebrate Diversity" through the magic of music and madness. Rehearsals have been fast and furious for the past week and a bit and it all culminates in the first of 3 live shows tonight.

Today is the day. Enjoy the show, support your favourites and just be happy  #eurovision #CelebrateDiversity pic.twitter.com/ZTiNHBOa5X  Joana Patricia (@joanaplucas) May 9, 2017

This evening's lineup features some of the big fan and bookie favourites, so let's take a look at what is in store.

First up and opening the show is Sweden - "I Can't Go On".

Robin Bengtsson's dreamy looks, funky pop track and superb stage performance combine to make this a dead cert for the final, as well as an almost certain top ten finisher on Saturday. Probably the best show opener ever - have a look and see what I mean. Currently 3rd favourite in the betting.

Next comes Georgia's entry - "Keep The Faith"

"Keep the Faith" is a big hair, big dress, big voice, big song affair. Its got the Bond theme thing going for it but it does descend into shouty 90's divadom towards the end. Despite a very strong vocal, this is a very borderline qualifier at the moment.

Australia were runners up last year in Stockholm. They want to win this year - but it's not gonna happen.

"Don't Come Easy" is performed by Isaiah Firebrand who won The Voice of Australia. He is just 17 and a great talent.. Shades of Sam Smith in this one and again another Bondesque song. This has nothing near the punch that Dami Im brought to Stockholm last year. I do think it will qualify but it's destined for Australia's worst result to date. There is just way too much good stuff yet to come.

Onwards to Albania - "World".

Another powerhouse ballad sung by a wonderful singer . This is right up my alley but it's dated - I admit it. Lindita gives it everything but I can see Georgia and Albania cancelling each other out and both missing the final. One of them certainly will.

Next we strip it all back to a very modern sound. Belgium - "City Lights" was immediately installed as second favourite when the song selection was announced but the live performance seems to be falling flat. This very cool on track. It's an awkward song to stage and they don't seem to have gotten their heads around it. Belgium have had a good run of it lately with at 4th and 10th place finish in the last two Eurovisions but this year it could go either way. Shock non qualifer I think.

Finally some fun. Montenegro have gone all Venga Boys on us. "Space" performed by X-factor alumni Slavko is about as camp as it gets. Hair-whipping, skimpy outfits and crotch grabbing - what's not to love? Enrique Iglesias has tipped this to win, (lol) I think Enrique Iglesias needs to have his ears checked. It's fun .... but I still think this is coming dead last people!

How do you follow all the Montenegrin madness? By bringing out the pure magic that is this year's Finnish Entry.

"Blackbird" by Norma John is sheer quality. It's a gorgeous song and arguably Finland's best ever entry. Think - a cross between Enya and Metallica!

This is a dark horse for the crown, it does depend on the running order though and whether the viewers want a second dark song in a row to win. Regardless of all that - this is sailing into the final and one of my personal favourites this year.

Another strong entry from Azerbaijan is next, "Skeletons" by Dihaj.

This is super cool, radio friendly and very now. It has a Sia vibe and an arty presentation that is sure to stick in voters minds. Easily in the final again and another terrific effort from the Azeris. Good job.

Next up is the second favourite to win, for Portugal - "Amar Pelos Dois"

Absolutely sheer magic, Portugal's entry is literally perfect. If anything can beat the favourite (Italy) then it is this. It's vintage, 1960s sound is authentic and timeless and this is destined to be a Eurovision classic regardless of where it finishes.

Salvador Sobral is the singer. He hasn't been able to attend the rehearsals due to a heart condition so his sister - who wrote the sing - has been standing in for him. So instead of her rehearsal performance, have a look at Salvadors winning performance at Portugal's national selection and you'll understand why Europe is going to fall in love with the Portuguese entry. If I had my way this would win the whole thing by a country mile.

Greece follows that wow moment. No easy task. Demy is the singer and she has a big fan base. This song "This Is Love" is fun and summery with a hint of Disney. It's well sung, well performed but it is Eurovision by numbers and that only gets you so far. Should qualify though.

Kasia Mos represents Poland this year. We all remember how Poland jumped from last to 8th as the new voting system was unveiled in 2016. This year though they have a much better song which means in theory this could be a dark horse contender. Kasia is a great singer and her ballad - "Flashlight" is moody and dark. This will qualify easily.

Moldova bring us back to fun ... only this time it actually works. "Hey Mama" is a fun, summery track that sees the return of Epic Sax Guy to the Eurovision stage. (Fan's love him). You gotta hand it to Moldova, year after year they bring good stuff to the stage with a great sense of humour. This is a borderline qualifer and with Romania not voting tonight it could just miss out.

Now we come to a few entries that are unlikely to qualify. Iceland with the song "Paper". it's well produced but it just feels lazy in this line up.

The Czech Republic have a very good singer with a very old-fashioned song. I like this - "My Turn", but I can see why most fans don't.

Cyprus - Gravity. Another well-produced entry but it's just boring. A lot of fans have this in the final but I can't see it. We have had some seriously good entries up to now and people will use these three for toilet breaks.

The fate of the above three is basically sealed by the arrival of Armenia's entry - "Fly With ME" by Artsvik. This is pure class and justifiably among the favourites to win outright on Saturday. It's cool, really clever on stage and a breath of fresh air after the blandness of the last few songs. This is the first ethnic sound of the year and for that reason alone it stands out. Soaring to the final and could well win this semi tonight. Bravo Armenia.

Slovenia are second last in the running order and I fear may well be second last on the night. "On My Way" in it's original form had an authentic cheesy charm. The reproduced the track and now it's just plain cheesy. Omar Nabar represented Slovenia the last time Eurovision was in Kyiv - 2005. He failed to make the final .... I sense deja vu!

The final song on offer tonight comes from Latvia. "Line" performed by skater band Triana Park. These guys have a big following in the Baltics but there are no other Baltics voting tonight so Latvia are borderline to make the final I think. It's cool, sort of retro and trancey. I think older viewers won't like this and younger voters will,. but will the younger viewers actually vote? Of course my massive generational generalisations may be totally off. Personally I like this.

So there you have it - your comprehensive guide to tonight's semi final - live from Kyiv at 8pm.

It is a tough semi to call this one and Ireland's Brenda Murray is lucky to be in Thursday's line up because there is no way we would qualify from this selection of songs.

In short - Portugal, Armenia, Sweden, Finland and Greece are all dead certs to make Saturday's final. It gets tricky from there. I think Poland and Azerbaijan are in and that Australia will scrape through leaving two places for either Latvia, Moldova, Belgium or potentially Georgia or Albania if one or the other soaks up the screaming woman vote.

Let's call it - Belgium make a shock exit and Moldova and Latvia qualify. Ouch it's too close to call!

Long Live Eurovision.
Donald Trump has hit back angrily over new claims about his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned amid controversy over his links with Russia.

Former acting attorney general Sally Yates spoke publicly for the first time in Monday, saying she had warned the White House in January about Mr Flynn.

She said he "essentially could be blackmailed" by the Russians because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with Moscow's ambassador in Washington.

Ms Yates was appointed by the Obama administration and was fired by Mr Trump on January 30 for refusing to defend his travel ban.

She appeared before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and told of her discussions with White House counsel Don McGahn.

She said she had warned him that Mr Flynn had apparently misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador.

White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, had insisted that Mr Flynn did not discuss US-imposed sanctions with Mr Kislyak during the presidential transition period.

But they asked Mr Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had lied about the nature of the calls.

Ms Yates said: "We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was unknowingly making false statements to the public and because we believed that General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians,"

She added: "To state the obvious, you don't want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians."

Mr Trump has repeatedly said he has no ties to Moscow and is not aware of any involvement by his aides in any Russian interference in the election.

He has dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaign's possible ties to the election meddling as a "hoax" driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House.

After the hearing, Mr Trump tweeted: "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?"

He also tweeted: "Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today - she said nothing but old news!"

Before the hearing, the president had tweeted that it was the Obama administration, not he, that had given Mr Flynn "the highest security clearance" when he worked at the Pentagon.

Mr Trump made no mention of the fact that Mr Flynn had been fired from his position by the Obama administration in 2014.

Separately on Monday, former Obama officials said he had raised general concerns about Mr Flynn with Mr Trump and had told the incoming president there were better people for the national security post.

Mr Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer said in response that if Mr Obama "was seriously concerned" about Mr Flynn's connections to Russia or other foreign countries, he should have withheld Mr Flynn's security clearance.

The hearing on Monday is one of multiple congressional probes into the Russia interference, along with House and Senate intelligence panels. All the committees are led by Republicans.

- AP
Update 8.04pm: An 11-year-old girl has died after falling from a ride at Drayton Manor Theme Park, Staffordshire Police said.

The girl, who is from the Leicester area, fell from the Splash Canyon water ride at Tamworth-based Drayton Manor Theme Park this afternoon.

Reading a statement from the park, a visibly shaken company director George Bryan said: "We are all truly shocked and devastated, and our thoughts are with the family and friends at this horrendously difficult time."

Earlier:

An 11-year-old girl has been airlifted to hospital after falling from a water ride in a British theme park today.

Staffordshire Police confirmed the girl was hurt after she fell from the Splash Canyon water ride at Tamworth-based Drayton Manor Theme Park this afternoon.

Superintendent Carl Ratcliffe said: "We were called at 2.25pm this afternoon to reports that a child had fallen from a water ride at Drayton Manor Park.

"The girl, believed to be 11-years-old from the Leicester area, has been airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

"Her parents have been informed and are being supported by officers.

"The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) have been informed of the incident."

The ride was closed following the incident.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was "called to reports of a patient in the water at Drayton Manor, Tamworth, at 2.18pm this afternoon".

"An ambulance, a senior paramedic officer, a paramedic area support officer, a rapid response paramedic, a community first responder and the Midlands Air Ambulance from Staffordshire were sent to the scene.

"The first resource was on scene within seven minutes."

The theme park said: "The Splash Canyon ride has been closed following an incident this afternoon. Emergency services are at the scene and our fully trained park staff are assisting."

The theme park's website states the ride, which opened in 1993, features up to 21 boats, each with up to six people in.

It is open to anyone at least 0.9m (3ft) tall, although those under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult.

The website promises "a wild ride" with "fast-flowing rapids".

It adds: "Swerve around corners, splash through the waves, and get soaked as your boat is swept along our fast-flowing rapids. No two experiences are ever the same ...

"You'll feel like you're in the middle of the jungle as you speed, bounce, and splash your way around our river, past other rides and through the trees, experiencing the most unpredictable and thrilling of river rapid rides.

"It's called Splash Canyon for a reason."
Update 8.17pm: A former bus driver arrested over a string of killings that terrorised several neighbourhoods of Phoenix, Arizona, has declared "I'm innocent" during a brief court hearing.

Aaron Saucedo appeared before a judge and acknowledged that he understood the purpose of the court appearance to inform him of the allegations.

"I'm innocent" were the only other words Saucedo said during the appearance before the judge, who agreed with a prosecutor that he should be held without bond.

Earlier:

A man has been arrested in connection with a series of shooting attacks in the US that left nine people dead.

Phoenix police announced that 23-year-old Aaron Juan Saucedo was taken into custody in connection with the case that authorities said was the work of a serial killer.

For more than a year, police were stumped by the string of killings in which a shooter stalked victims after dark and gunned them down as they stood outside their homes or sat in their cars.

Officers fielded thousands of tips, went door-to-door in Phoenix and analysed ballistics from a different, unrelated serial shooting case.

Yesterday, they announced they had arrested Saucedo, a former city bus driver, over the killings while providing scant detail about what motivated him or details about how they made a break in the case, other than to credit tips.

Saucedo faces 26 felony counts of homicide, aggravated assault and drive-by-shooting for 12 shootings that took place between August 2015 and July 2016, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said.

The investigation into the serial killings had focused on what authorities said were seven fatal shootings.

However, police said on Monday they had tied Saucedo to nine killings in all - eight random victims and one man that he knew.

Saucedo was a bus driver for the city of Phoenix through a temp agency for several months in July through August 2015, Phoenix police said.

Records show Saucedo was pulled over for allegedly running a red light on October 27 2015, just a month after the first killing.

On Monday, Ms Williams and Mayor Greg Stanton appeared alongside other top officials, including Maricopa County's top prosecutor, to announce the break in a case that had appeared largely stalled in recent months as leads and tips dried up.

"This case plagued our community for more than a year... and left behind a trail of victims that included mothers, sons, brothers, sisters and families still mourning the loss of their loved ones," Ms Williams said.

Police say they do not know what motivated Saucedo and that he did not have any connection to eight of the people who were killed.

They said they would be giving out the US$75,000 (68,442) reward offered for tips, but they would not reveal details about whether the money was going to one person or multiple people.

The case finally broke when Saucedo was arrested last month in connection with the August 2015 fatal shooting of a man, 61-year-old Raul Romero, who had a relationship with Saucedo's mother.

Authorities investigated Saucedo more closely and connected him to the serial killings.

Police say that after Romero's killing, Saucedo struck again about four months later in killing 22-year-old Jesse Olivas, who was gunned down on New Year's Day 2016 while standing in front of a home.

The suspect then went on a killing spree from March of last year until July, police said.

In the end, nine people were killed in 12 separate shootings.

All of the killings were random except for the first one, Ms Williams said.

"We hope that our community will rest a little easier and that our officers will get a little more sleep knowing that the wheels of justice are finally in motion," she said.

Gisela Castro, the mother of shooting victim Manuel Castro-Garcia, said news of the arrest felt like she was reliving the day she was told her son had been killed.

Mr Castro-Garcia, 19, was fatally shot on June 10 2016.

"For one part I'm happy because there's going to be justice in my son's death and others' deaths and that person is not gonna do more damage.

"But my son is not coming back," Ms Castro said.

"I waited every day for justice, but things don't change. The pain is the same."

Ms Castro said her son was a noble person who studied and worked hard and was loved by everyone he knew.

She said he was never a trouble-maker and preferred playing basketball with friends over partying.

"The only thing I can say is thank God there's going to be justice and we leave it in God's hands.

"May God bless (Saucedo), and I'm not anybody to wish bad upon him," she said.

Marina Smith, the partner of 21-year-old Diego Verdugo-Sanchez, who was gunned down on April 1 2016, said she welcomed news of the arrest but was still struggling with his loss.

She was seven months pregnant with the couple's child when Mr Verdugo-Sanchez was fatally shot in front of a home.

Ms Smith said she had grown frustrated over the past year as detectives kept her in the dark about the investigation.

"The fact of them finding somebody, at least it was some type of news," she said.

Police say Saucedo shot at two teenage boys on March 17 2016, striking one of them in the arm.

The suspect struck again the next day but did not kill anyone.

The next shooting did not happen until April 1 2016, when Mr Verdugo-Sanchez was fatally shot.

Police also have linked Saucedo to the April 19 2016 death of 60-year-old Krystal White; the June 3 2016 death of Horacio de Jesus Pena; and to the killings of two women, Angela Linner and Stefanie Ellis, and 12-year-old girl Maleah Ellis on June 12 2016.

He killed Manny Castro Garcia on June 10 2016, police said.

In the most recent attack on July 11 2016, a 21-year-old man and his four-year-old nephew escaped injury after the gunman shot at a vehicle they were sitting in.
French police said they are searching for three men suspected of plotting an Islamic State-inspired attack, after authorities conducted a major operation at a Paris train station.

A ticket vendor in the northern town of Valenciennes thought he recognised one of the three men listed on police wanted notices, prompting the operation and temporary closure of Gare du Nord late on Monday.

No arrests have been made.

Rocco Contento, of Unite SGP police union, told The Associated Press the vendor informed local police.

The suspects have been identified as Belgian citizens Bilal Al Marchohi and Tarik Jadaoun, and Afghan national Zabihullah Sarwari.

The busy Gare du Nord - the terminus of a large suburban and national rail network as well as the hub for Eurostar trains from London - was evacuated after 11pm on Monday night as officers from the special BRI intervention force started pouring into the station.

A security perimeter was established and all passengers on the train from Valenciennes were taken to a nearby brasserie to be searched, Mr Contento said.

"Unfortunately it was determined that the person was not in the train," he added.

Police said the operation went smoothly and ended early on Tuesday.

The operation came the day after a tense presidential election won by independent Emmanuel Macron, who has said one of his top priorities will be ensuring France's security.

France remains under a state of emergency imposed after a series of Islamic extremist attacks in 2015.

- AP
Prosecutors in Istanbul are seeking 40 consecutive life sentences for the man who attacked a nightclub in Istanbul during New Year's celebrations, killing 39 people, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.

Uzbekistan citizen Abdulkadir Masharipov was captured in Istanbul after evading police for more than two weeks.

The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the mass shootings at the upscale Reina nightclub.

The Anadolu Agency said the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office demanded in a 90-page indictment that Masharipov receive life sentences for each of the 39 victims and for attempting to overturn Turkey's constitutional order.

Masharipov, 34, also faces separate charges of membership in a terror group, the attempted murder of 79 people wounded in the attack and other alleged crimes, Anadolu said.

The prosecutor's indictment also seeks sentences of varying lengths - ranging from life to a maximum 15 years in prison - for 52 alleged accomplices of Masharipov's, the private Dogan news agency reported.

It is not unusual for Turkish prosecutors to demand multiple life sentences in cases of violence that result in victims.

A court in Istanbul needs to approve the indictment before a trial date may be set.

A lawyer appointed to represent Masharipov could not immediately be reached for comment.

Turkish media have quoted Masharipov as telling his interrogators that he had received orders to carry out a New Year's Eve attack in Istanbul from Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS group in Syria.

AP
The United States watched Russians hack France's computer networks during the election and tipped off French officials before it became public, a US cyber official told the Senate today.

France's election campaign commission said on Saturday that "a significant amount of data" - and some fake information - was leaked on social networks following a hacking attack on centrist Emmanuel Macron's successful presidential campaign.

France's government cybersecurity agency is investigating what a government official described as a "very serious" breach.

The leak came 36 hours before the nation voted in a crucial presidential run-off between Mr Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The election commission said the leaked data apparently came from Mr Macron's "information systems and mail accounts from some of his campaign managers" - an attack that mimicked Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee in last year's US presidential election.

"We had become aware of Russian activity.

"We had talked to our French counterparts and gave them a heads-ups - 'Look, we're watching the Russians. We're seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructure. Here's what we've seen. What can we do to try to assist?'" Admiral Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He said the US is also working closely with German and British counterparts.

Mr Rogers added that the US is still working on a comprehensive cyber policy to counter what he called a "brave new world" in the cyber domain.

He said the United States is improving its ability to defend itself against cyberattacks, but "I would also tell myself, Rogers you are not moving fast enough".
Almost half of Canberra's independent schools will have their funds slashed over the next 10 years under a new school funding policy touted by the federal Education Minister as a fairer model.

Daramalan College will be hardest hit, according to the new data, with per student funding to drop more than $2200 compared to what was allocated in 2017. The figure represents an almost 30 per cent cut.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham launched the School Funding Estimator on Tuesday, designed to help parents understand how their school will be affected by his policy launched last week. Also revealed on the hit list:
A protester has doused herself in flammable liquid before attempting to light herself on fire outside Parliament House.

Channel 7's Sunrise program was broadcasting from the lawn of Parliament House on Wednesday morning, when a woman doused herself in petrol.

Emergency services treat the protester on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra. Credit:Courtesy of Channel 7

A security guard managed to take a lighter out of the woman's hand, before she could set herself alight.

ACT Policing confirmed they took a woman into custody outside Parliament House about 8am.
Tigerair one-dollar seats between Canberra and Melbourne sold out within five hours of the promotion opening at midday.

Three-hundred discount fares on the Canberra-Melbourne route were offered online in the airline's "return for $1" promotion.

The impostor mascot who welcomed the first Tigerair flights from Melbourne to Canberra. Credit:Paul Sadler

As part of the sale, 14,000 bargain fares for travel between mid-July and mid-September 2017 were available from noon today until noon Saturday, May 13 or until sold out.

The deal enabled customers to travel for just $1 on the return sector of any route the airline flies across Australia, but seats were limited.
Treasurer Scott Morrison used to like to say Australia "doesn't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem". It turns out this sentiment was true in 2016. The Conversation

Now this year's federal budget is a big-taxing, populist, and nakedly political one. It's not all bad news, or even all bad policy, but it marks a break from the rhetoric and policy attempts of the past.

The treasurer referred to the $13 billion "zombie" measures the Senate has failed to pass as a "Senate tax", in justifying the tax increases in this budget.

The first major tax increase is a 0.5 per cent increase in the Medicare levy from 2.0 per cent to 2.5 per cent. This raises over $4 billion a year on a run-rate basis. It's also a major slug on the bulk of Australian taxpayers.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is promising a "practical" budget, saying he has been listening to frustrated Australians.

Arriving at Parliament House where he will present his second budget later on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said he understood that while the Australian economy had grown ahead of other advanced economies, not everyone had experienced the benefits.

"Australians have been making big sacrifices to ensure that we've achieved the growth that we've had and I want to tell them that it's been worth it," he told reporters.

There were issues facing Australians every day and he invited the Parliament to meet those challenges together.
It was said in advance that Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison needed to walk a tightrope with this budget.

It appears their strategy has instead been to straddle it, taking a step to the left economically, while leaning to the right on various social issues likely to appeal to the conservative base.

Measures leaning left economically

A tax increase, via the Medicare levy

A $6 billion raid on the big banks

More funding for the disabled

Increased school funding

Guaranteeing Medicare's future and dumping the rebate freeze

Rail investment

Measures leaning conservative, socially

Drug tests for welfare recipients

Charges for companies employing foreign workers, making life harder for foreign property investors

More funding for the AFP and anti-terrorism measures

University sector targeted

Little on the environment

On the delicate issue of housing affordability, they have tried to negotiate a middle ground, doing enough to be seen to be taking action while not upsetting their home-owning base by making major changes to negative gearing.

Mr Morrison said he had been listening to the Australian people, but he has certainly been listening to the criticisms made of his government by his various opponents. One thing this budget will do is force both Labor and the Greens to the left and Pauline Hanson and Tony Abbott on the right to recalibrate their attacks as the government seeks to neutralise their arguments.

Can they pull off this fight on two fronts? It should make for a fascinating few days ahead.
As we prepared to go onstage after some encouraging backstage words from Sturgeon, I was struck by the contrast with Trudeau when Turnbull's stern words echoed across the sold-out audience: refugees arriving by boat "will never settle in this country".

Speaking before us, Trudeau repeated his now famous words : "To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians welcome you, regardless of your faith." He insisted the credit was due not just to him and his government, but to the people of Canada for their compassion and willingness to help refugees.

But such is the growing international concern about Australia's treatment of refugees in our offshore detention centres: I was invited to speak alongside whistleblowers Alanna Maycock and Viktoria Vibhakar at the Women in the World Summit about what they described as "Australia's Shame". President Trump's infamous first phone call with Prime Minister Turnbull calling the Australia-US refugee deal "dumb" brought global attention to Australia's offshore prisons  and gave us a global platform alongside world leaders.

It's not every day you get invited to speak on the stage of New York's Lincoln Centre between the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon , and the woman who very nearly became the first female President of the US, Hillary Clinton  and just after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau .

In a comparison that resonated for the US audience, Yahoo anchor Bianna Golodryga introduced Australia's offshore detention centres in Nauru and Manus as "Guantanamo for asylum seekers". The difference, I pointed out, is that Australia is not locking up alleged terrorists  we are locking up civilians fleeing persecution and seeking our protection. But we did copy the US: few recall that Guantanamo was first used by the Clinton administration in the early 1990s as a detention centre for Haitian refugees intercepted at sea but was shut down after a federal court judge ruled it was "outrageous, callous and reprehensible".

For good reason, the New York Times has reported that "[t]he world's refugee crisis knows no more sinister exercise in cruelty than Australia's island prisons": 1262 women, men and children seeking asylum have been indefinitely detained in conditions the UN Committee Against Torture condemn as torture. Amnesty's report, Island of Despair, documents horrific conditions driving vulnerable asylum seekers to desperation, including a Pakistani man who tried to commit suicide twice in ten weeks by dousing himself in petrol and drinking dishwashing liquid and a 13-year-old Afghan boy who has attempted suicide multiple times using a knife, petrol and by drowning.

Despite valiant efforts by human rights lawyers over many years, domestic litigation has not been able to end the offshore detention regime. The audience was surprised to hear that Australia has no bill of rights which would allow the kind of challenge that stymied Trump's Muslim ban  and that it took a legal challenge before Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court, under their bill of rights, to get a ruling that Australia's indefinite detention of refugees on Manus is unlawful and must end. Challenges to detention in Nauru have failed.

The audience was audibly affected by what they heard from whistleblowers Alanna and Viktoria: women and children being raped and living in fear of repeated sexual abuse, women being denied access to sanitary supplies and forced to use fabric from the tents they live in to stem menstrual blood, being denied basic and necessary medical treatment.

As an international human rights lawyer I deal with abhorrent cases all over the world, but I felt sick listening to what the Australian government is doing in Nauru in our name. Seeing the audience reaction to Alanna and Viktoria's stories reinforced my firm belief in the power of storytelling as an entry to empathy which is needed to create the collective political action required to address this problem.
If legislated by Parliament, there's no doubt that Gonski 2.0 will fail to lift academic standards and, in fact, will exacerbate Australia's downward spiral in international test results.

While the debate in response to the Turnbull government's Gonski 2.0 model centres on the fact that low fee-paying Catholic schools serving disadvantaged communities will lose money, it's vital to realise there is another serious complaint.

When announcing the new Gonski 2.0 funding mechanism, the Commonwealth government also announced a review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools. The review, chaired by David Gonski and involving Ken Boston, will identify "proven initiatives that make a difference to student outcomes".

Read the Gonski 2.0 media release and it's clear that Australian students are going backwards, especially in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) international tests results, and that the focus must be on "how money is spent" instead of "how much is spent".
Washington: The United States will participate in advancing climate change research in the Arctic, a State Department official said on Monday, ahead of a summit of Arctic nations later this week where Washington's commitment to tackling climate change will likely be questioned.

The administration of President Donald Trump, who has taken steps to bolster the US oil and coal industries, is reviewing former president Barack Obama's plans to curb climate change.

An LNG tanker sits at anchor in a fjord outside Hammerfest, northern Norway. Credit:Bloomberg

Trump vowed during his campaign to "cancel" the Paris climate deal within 100 days of becoming president  a time period that has already passed  and has asked his advisers to debate whether the US should stay in the pact.

The Paris climate pact was agreed by nearly 200 nations in 2015 to curb global warming by slashing carbon dioxide emissions.
A $140 million commercial development to be built above Brisbane's Fortitude Valley train station has been given the tick of approval.

Brisbane City Council's City Planning committee discussed the split-tower, 20 and 25 storey, development on Tuesday.

Brisbane City Council has approved the split-tower development, Valley Metro, in Fortitude Valley

City Planning chairman Julian Simmonds said the site bordering Alfred Street and Brunswick Street had plans submitted to the council for a split design commercial office tower with commercial spaces, food and drink outlets or hotel bar be built on the two currently vacant lots above the train station.

"A new pedestrian arcade link from Alfred Street will also be included in the development, extending through to the Valley Metro entrance to the train station from the site."
Accusations have flown between Brisbane City Council and state government as they move to approve the Upper Kedron neighbourhood plan.

On Tuesday, council's city planning boss Julian Simmonds accused state government minister Kate Jones of being secretive and going behind the community's back.

Council city planning chairman Julian Simmonds said the zoning of the Newmarket Brickworks site was changed during the development of the Ashgrove-District Neighbourhood Plan. Credit:Glenn Hunt

Cr Simmonds said the council recently received the draft neighbourhood plan back from state government review with the direction to increase housing density by 50 per cent.

The council sent the revised plan to the state government in December 2016.
A Queensland government proposal to give the companies that run the state's major dams new powers to change target water storage levels at their dams is unnecessary and would reduce public accountability, according to a veteran dam engineer.

Ken Pearce, who helped design Wivenhoe Dam in the 1980s and later worked in state government roles in flood and drought management, said such decisions should remain solely in the hands of politicians, who unlike dam owners had obligations to balance competing interests.

Ken Pearce, who helped design Wivenhoe Dam in the 1980s, believes decisions about target storage levels in dams should remain solely in the hands of politicians. Credit:Dean Saffron

The Palaszczuk Labor government has put forward a bill proposing to give dam owners "express power to reduce the full supply level of their dam in response to emerging engineering issues" as part of a suite of measures to streamline decision-making.

"It's giving them power over policy," Mr Pearce said. "A dam owner only has to take into consideration his interests, not the state's interests, whereas the FSL is a public issue, an issue for the politicians.
A jury sitting in a trial of three people accused of killing a man in a violent Gold Coast robbery following a drug and sex bender has been discharged.

The Brisbane Supreme Court trial of Benjamin Samy Ghobrial, Milan Chante Walker and Lee Benjamin Feld began last week but was halted on Tuesday when the jury was sent home without returning a verdict.

Gregory John Hudson was found dead inside a residence in Varsity Lakes. Credit:Queensland Police

The trio were on trial after the naked body of Gregory John Hudson, 57, was found face down with bound hands on the floor of spare room at a friend's Varsity Lakes townhouse in October 2014.

Ghobrial and Walker admitted to stealing from him.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's challenge to the federal government to fund Brisbane's Cross River Rail project has gone unanswered, for now.

The Queensland government wanted the federal government to at least match its $850 million commitment to the $5.4 billion proposal for a second rail crossing over the Brisbane River.

But the federal budget only went as far as saying it is one of a number of projects that could be considered as part of a $10 billion national rail program.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison said projects such as Cross River Rail and the Brisbane Metro have the potential to be supported through the rail program, subject to a proven business case.
Former Victorian Speaker Telmo Languiller has returned to Parliament after taking time off amid an allowances scandal, and says he will serve out his full term.

Mr Languiller resigned as Speaker in February after Fairfax Media revealed that he had claimed almost $40,000 in second-residence allowances to live in Queenscliff  and not in his western Melbourne electorate of Tarneit  for most of 2016.

The allowance is designed to help country MPs maintain a second home in the city for when Parliament sits.

But an audit committee found gaping holes in the rules that allowed Mr Languiller and his former deputy Don Nardella to claim the perk.
A hero bus driver has thwarted a would-be hijacker, leaping into a moving vehicle and pulling on the handbrake outside a shopping centre in Melbourne's east.

The bus was parked outside Westfield Doncaster about 9.30pm on Monday when a man got on board, damaging the vehicle and intimidating the driver.

A bus driver saved the day after a Transdev bus was hijacked at Doncaster in Melbourne. Credit:Getty Images

The bus driver got off the bus and the offender drove 100 metres along a service road before another driver jumped on board, police said.
A Perth man has been charged with assaulting two airline staff members before boarding a plane to Melbourne.

The 43-year-old man was initially approached by an airline staff member at Perth Airport on Monday night before boarding his scheduled flight to Melbourne.

The man was due to board a flight to Melbourne. Credit:Craig Sillitoe

It will be alleged the man became hostile when questioned about the amount of alcohol he had drunk before punching the staff member.

It will be alleged the man punched a second staff member who came to help.
Travellers returning to Perth, be warned: That spring in their step might be more than just the result of a much-needed South East Asian holiday.

Recently, a live banded bullfrog was found in a passenger's shoe at Perth Airport after stowing away in Thailand.

Frogstomp: a "recently dead" black-spined toad found in a passenger's shoe. Credit:Department of Agriculture and Water Resources

He was not the only adventurous amphibian to try such a move but he was perhaps the luckiest. There was a poor toad who died in a shoe - his escape route being cut off, he didn't know what to do.

The black-spined toad was found in the shoe of a passenger arriving back from Indonesia at Cairns Airport - while they were wearing it.
Qantas' new multi-million dollar international wing at Perth Airport will feature the first outdoor patio in Australia where passengers can dine out on a barbecue before jetting non-stop from Perth to London.

The national carrier announced in December it would operate non-stop flights from Perth to London using the 787-9 Dreamliner from March 2018 - the first regular, non-stop flight between Australia and Europe.

The route of almost 14,500 kilometres will take 17 hours and will be the third-longest passenger flight in the world and the longest Qantas flight.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce - fresh from getting a pie thrown in his face at a business breakfast in Perth on Tuesday - said the state-of-the-art facility at the airport was a "game changer".
Perth's embattled Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi has told a City of Perth Council meeting "walking is not an option for me" as calls for her to resign grow.

The 57-year-old was found on Tuesday to have seriously breached the local government act 45 times during a State Administrative Tribunal decision hearing.

Lisa Scaffidi will learn her fate on Tuesday. Credit:Louise Kennerley

She now faces the strong possibility of a lengthy suspension or dismissal from her role as Lord Mayor as a consequence, with her matter listed for a penalty hearing on May 16.

The decision prompted both sides of politics to urge Ms Scaffidi to resign, with Premier Mark McGowan and WA Liberal leader Mike Nahan saying the finding had made the Lord Mayor's position untenable.
Bangkok: At least 56 people, including children, were wounded when two huge bombs exploded at a busy supermarket in Thailand's south where Muslim insurgents have been waging a bloody insurgency.

Police said the first bomb ripped through the entrance of the Big-C shopping mall in the city of Pattani, 1050 kilometres south of Bangkok, followed soon after by a second bomb left in a vehicle that targeted shoppers running for their lives.

Forensic experts were sifting through debris and twisted remains of vehicles scattered over a wide area on Tuesday night, hours after the blasts.

More than 20 of the victims suffered serious injuries and Pattani Provincial Hospital appealed for blood.
Yet again, cellphone video has captured a chaotic slice of air travel - this time, on the ground.

Anger and confusion boiled over at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida on Monday night as nine Spirit Airlines flights were cancelled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

What followed was chaos as frustrated passengers clashed with Spirit employees, and law enforcement officers tried to maintain order.

Video from the airport showed crowds clustered around Spirit Airlines ticket counters, with people pushing, screaming and cursing.
FBI director James Comey speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, in June. Credit:Bloomberg Officials at the FBI said they were not immediately aware of Comey's dismissal. Memos released by the White House show that Rod Rosenstein, the newly sworn-in deputy Attorney-General, recommended Comey be fired over how he disclosed the investigation into Clinton. President Donald Trump has sacked FBI boss James Comey. Credit:AP On October 28, less than two weeks before Election Day, Comey notified Congress that new Clinton-related emails had been found on a laptop belonging to disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

Days later, investigators obtained a search warrant to examine about 3000 messages on the device that were work-related. Hillary Clinton's emails found on a computer belonging to the husband of her senior aide Huma Abedin derailed Mrs Clinton's presidential campaign. Credit:AP Of those, Comey said, agents found a dozen that contained classified information, but they were messages investigators had already seen. Comey broke with long-standing tradition and policies by discussing the case and chastising the Democratic presidential nominee's "careless" handling of classified information. Then, in the campaign's final days, Comey announced that the FBI was reopening the case, a move that earned him widespread criticism from Democrats - including Clinton - who say it was a major factor that contributed to her presidential election defeat to Trump in November.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a post on Twitter that Comey "should be immediately called to testify in an open hearing about the status of Russia/Trump investigation at the time he was fired". Comey misstated key findings: FBI Earlier in the day, the FBI notified Congress that Comey misstated key findings involving the Clinton email investigation during testimony last week, saying that only a "small number" of emails had been forwarded to Weiner, not the "hundreds and thousands" he had claimed in his testimony. The letter was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, more than a week after Comey testified for hours in defence of his handling of the Clinton probe. "This letter is intended to supplement that testimony to ensure that the committee has the full context of what was reviewed and found on the laptop," FBI assistant director Gregory Brower wrote.

In defending the probe at last week's hearing, Comey offered seemingly new details to underscore the seriousness of the situation FBI agents faced last year when they discovered thousands of emails from Abedin on Weiner's computer. "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 I think to print out for her so she could then deliver them to the secretary of state." At another point in the testimony, Comey said Abedin "forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information". Neither of those statements is accurate, people close to the investigation said. Tuesday's letter from the FBI to Congress said "most of the emails found on Mr Weiner's laptop computer related to the Clinton investigation occurred as a result of a backup of personal electronic devices, with a small number a result of manual forwarding by Ms Abedin to Mr Weiner".

The letter also corrected the impression Comey's testimony had left with some listeners that 12 classified emails were among those forwarded by Abedin to Weiner. "Investigators identified approximately 49,000 emails which were potentially relevant to the investigation," the letter said. "All were reviewed with a particular focus on those containing classified information. Investigators ultimately determined that two email chains containing classified information were manually forwarded to Mr Weiner's account." Ten other emails chains that contained classified information were found on the laptop as a result of backup activity. The letter also clarified some of the figures Comey gave regarding ongoing terrorism probes. The issue of Comey's misstatements was first reported by ProPublica.

At the hearing, the statements about Abedin's email practices were immediately seized on by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and others, who demanded to know why Abedin wasn't charged with a crime. Comey said it was difficult finding evidence those involved in Clinton's use of private email knowingly engaged in wrongdoing, and that traditionally the Justice Department has not prosecuted such cases without some indicator of intent. Comey's incorrect comments about Abedin surfaced again this week at a different Senate hearing, when Cruz pressed former director of national intelligence James Clapper jnr to say how he would handle an employee who "forwarded hundreds or even thousands of emails to a non-government individual, their spouse, on a non-government computer". Clapper said such conduct "raises all kinds of potential security concerns". At the hearing last week, Comey said it made him "mildly nauseous" to think his decisions might have affected the outcome of the presidential election, but insisting that he had no regrets and would not have handled it differently. Comey's public comments about the Clinton case have been a source of public debate since he first announced last July that he would not recommend charges against anyone in connection with her use of a private server for government business.

At the time, he called the use of the server "extremely careless" but said it did not rise to the level of a crime. The misstatements in testimony aren't the first time Comey has overstated a key fact in a high-profile probe. A year ago, while speaking at a security forum in London, he miscalculated the price the FBI had paid for a technique to crack into a locked iPhone belonging to one of the dead suspects in a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. At the event, he said the cost of the phone hacking tool was "more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months, for sure". Based on Comey's salary, his comment strongly implied the bureau paid at least $US1.3 million to get into the phone, which belonged to Syed Rizwan Farook. Farook and his wife killed 14 people during a December 2015 terrorist attack.

People close to that case said the FBI actually paid about $US900,000. A long-time prosecutor who served as the deputy attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, Comey came into office with widespread bipartisan support. Comey sacked to shut down probe: Beazley Former ambassador to the US Kim Beazley believes Trump sacked Comey to shut down the investigation into his campaign's links with Russia. The former federal opposition leader, who served as ambassador from 2010 to 2016, told a post-budget breakfast in Brisbane he was not surprised by the move.
London: It was a striking moment when Emmanuel Macron, newly elected to be president of France, torchbearer of a new politics, strode onto a courtyard of the Louvre to celebrate his victory: As the crowd cheered, waving the French flag, the choice of music was "Ode to Joy," the anthem of the European Union. Some people even waved the bloc's flag, with its circle of golden stars.

For the past year, and longer, the European Union has been politically radioactive, deemed untouchable by most mainstream candidates for national office in Europe. Yet Macron, 39, not only embraced the embattled bloc, but also proclaimed membership in it to be a necessity for France's future. It needed reform, certainly, he said, but it was something to embrace rather than run from. And he defeated the most europhobic of opponents, the far-Right nationalist Marine Le Pen.

The motorcade of Emmanuel Macron and Francois Hollande drives down the Champs Elysees after attending the ceremony to mark Western allies' World War Two victory. Credit:Getty Images

Nathalie Tocci, director of the Institute for International Affairs in Rome, said Macron's victory had helped the bloc avoid a cataclysm. "The alternative would have been the end of the European Union," she said. "It means France is back in the picture."

If France is again vital to European affairs, any euphoria is certain to be short-lived. First, Macron faces many domestic challenges in translating his centrist promises into policy and in assuaging those millions who voted for Le Pen, cast blank ballots or did not vote at all.
Emmanuel Macron will take office as France's next president on May 14, President Francois Hollande announced on Monday, a day after Macron, an independent centrist, defeated Marine Le Pen in a battle for the country's leadership.

Macron appeared beside Hollande at a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe to observe the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

French president-elect Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony to mark the Western allies' victory in World War II. Credit:Jeff J. Mitchell

He did not make a statement, but his attention will already have turned to the choice of a prime minister and to the legislative elections of June 11 and 18, when all 577 seats in the National Assembly  the lower, more powerful house of the French Parliament  will be up for grabs.

Expectations could hardly be higher. "Beyond the symbols, the new, optimistic president of this country in depression will have to demonstrate by concrete signs, very quickly, that he received the messages from this extraordinary campaign," Jerome Fenoglio, the editorial director of Le Monde, wrote in a front-page editorial.
Paris: French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the leak of large quantities of hacked data from Emmanuel Macron's campaign two days before Sunday's presidential election, which the centrist won, a judicial source said on Tuesday.

Macron's team said a "massive" hack had dumped emails, documents and campaign financing information online just before campaigning ended on Friday and France entered a quiet period which forbade politicians from commenting on the leak.

French authorities worked to keep the hack from influencing the outcome of the election, with the electoral commission warning the media on Saturday that it could be a criminal offence to republish the data.

Prosecutors are investigating "entry into an automated data system and violating the secrecy of correspondence", the judicial source said.
Police are investigating the possible murder of 63-year-old Australian man Stephen James Richardson who was found dead in a villa in the seaside Bali precinct of Sanur.

Mr Richardson, who lived alone in a villa in Sanur in Jalan Danau Poso, was found naked on a mattress covered in blood from open wounds to the back of his head and upper body.

The Sanur residence where Stephen Richardson's body was found.

The head of Sanglah morgue Dr Dudut said an autopsy was yet to be conducted but he had most likely died from the wound in his head because his skull was broken.

He said several wounds from sharp and blunt objects on his arms and head indicated there had been some kind of struggle.
It might take a few days to see unofficial results in Pa. Here's why

politics
MINOT -- Congressman Kevin Cramer found himself defending the American Health Care Act, passed by the U.S. House last week, for most of a 75-minute town hall in Minot on Monday night.

Arguments from residents ranged from total federal removal from the individual health care market to support for universal federal health coverage.

Some in the town hall crowd of about 65 people in Minot on Monday felt Congress may be on the right track with health care reform, but opinions mostly were divided on the topic..

Cramer, who said he read all the bill's nearly 200 pages, stated the AHCA will bring more young people back into the insurance market, creating a healthier pool and lowering premiums for all. He said 19.2 million people chose not to buy insurance but to seek exemptions or pay the penalty under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. About 45 percent of those people are aged 26 to 35, he said.

"Imagine what that does to a pool," he said, noting ACA premiums are up 25 percent on average this year and are projected to go up 27 percent next year. In addition, a third of the counties in the country have one insurer or less on the ACA health-care exchange, he said, repeating a claim President Trump has made. That claim has been fact-checked as accurate, although most of those counties are rural so the percentage of people with only one insurer is about one-fifth of those using the exchange.

The market most impacted is the individual insurance market, where about 7 percent of Americans buy their products.

"This individual market has been decimated. What our bill does is it allows tax credits to go right to the person, who then purchases in the market they want," he said.

The Republican plan provides tax credits starting at $2,000 a year for younger people, gradually increasing to $4,000 a year for people aged 60 or older, he said. The tax credits are capped at $14,000 per family.

"That's what some conservatives hate about this bill, because it's very generous. They see that as too much government in health care," Cramer said. "But Congress says we need to have a safety net. We want the market to work, so the difference is by giving you a tax credit it is yours. You buy the product you want as opposed to being forced into a product."

Residents questioned how the credits would work for families who don't owe enough taxes to match what they are eligible for in credits.

Cramer described the subsidies as refundable, advance tax credits. The amount that exceeds the owed taxes is cash toward a health-care policy.

"You take the money and buy the insurance you want," he said. "We provide an incentive to buy insurance. We want these 19.2 million young, healthy Americans to have insurance."

Some residents questioned whether those young people would buy insurance, and if they didn't, it could undermine the Republican plan.

"A $2,000 incentive is not going to do it," said Beth Odahlen. "So what's the backup plan? If you are 25 years old, you think you can live forever. You do not have to buy in. The same issue is going to come up again for this type of plan."

Other concerns raised at the meeting  some to applause  were the fears that lifetime coverage limits would be resurrected, pre-existing conditions wouldn't be covered and health care would get too expensive for older people who could be charged more by their insurers. Residents challenged House approval of the bill without a final analysis from the Congressional Budget Office and noted the bill had only 17 percent public support.

"It's a massive tax break for the wealthy," one resident said.

Cramer, who fought for the floor a few times with the Minot residents, sought to clarify features of the bill and defend removal of taxes imposed by the ACA, saying some of the taxes, such as on medical devices, ultimately are paid by the end user.

AHCA doesn't repeal the ban on lifetime limits and forbids insurers to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, he said. There is concern nationally that, under certain scenarios, insurers could price people with pre-existing conditions out of the market. Cramer said $8 billion was added to the bill to assist people with pre-existing conditions.

Regarding higher premiums based on age, Cramer said the ratio of what insurers can charge older people versus younger people would increase from three times to five times. However, he said, the bill will reduce premiums overall so that five times the premium of a younger person under the AHCA would be less than three times the premium of a younger person under ACA.

The most animated discussion was over a single-payer health plan. Several in the audience supported universal coverage based on what other developed countries are doing, while Cramer disparaged the concept, claiming America still has the highest quality health care.

Cramer heard from a resident at the other end of the spectrum, who wanted to know what happened to the promise to repeal Obamacare, not produce Obamacare Light.

One young father asked Cramer to let the free market work so he can afford his family's health care. He challenged Cramer's statement of support for the free market, saying, "Your actions don't match your words."

Daryl Lies, president of the North Dakota Farm Bureau from Douglas, said ACA destroyed the opportunity of farmers to buy health insurance. Premiums tripled for some members of his extended family.

"So anyone who says Obamacare did not destroy rural America, think again. I have proof within my own family," he said.
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...
There are only five couples left on Dancing with the Stars season 24, and surprisingly, the men have done pretty well. Less surprising is the fact that four athletes remain in the competition, with Fifth Harmonys Normani Kordei as the exception. This week the couples will take on two routines each, including the Trio Dances which will be filled with some unfamiliar faces.

Is Bonner Boltons time finally up? Can someone other than Normani get a perfect score? Will anyone fart in their partners face again?

LIVEfrom Hollywoodthis is Dancing with the Stars!

The show opens with a preview o the new tour, Hot Summer Nights, and it is definitely hot. And Julianne Hough is back.

Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater: Jive

This is all about Rashads happy, positive attitude. Emma really loves having him as a partner, probably because hes her first real contender. This routine gives him the chance to show off his energy and swag, but his feet are a tad sloppy at times. Also, the dance does that thing I hate where they perform on a stage and a bunch of people are on the ballroom floor cheering them on. The judges all agree that his footwork needs to be sharper.

Judges Scores: 9+9+9+9=36

There are only three scores at this point: 8 is bad, 9 is OK, 10 is great.

Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy: Contemporary

The routine is about how she got bullied on social media with some disgusting racism. The choreography is very literal, with a bunch of other dancers beating down Normani and holding her back while Val helps her to break free. Its powerful and beautiful as a PSA, but it speaks to my complaint about this style being a part of the show. The judges all talk about the profound message of the dance, but theres very little talk about dancing. Len Goodman speaks for me (and many others) by saying that hes not a fan of Contemporary or Jazz either.

Judges Scores: 10+10+10+10=40

Yet another perfect score.

Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess: Argentine Tango

This dance is all about overcoming adversity, like his near-death experience. He doesnt like thinking about that stuff, which is understandable, and he starts to get frustrated. But he does it in the most polite way imaginable. He does a better job with the dancing than he has in recent weeks and it plays to his strengths with stilted movements. But he doesnt excel with the storytelling and character. Bruno Tonioli found it clanky. Len speaks his mind and says Bonner should blame the viewers for keeping him on this show too long. Wow, hes not even trying to hide the fact that he thinks Bonner stole Nancys spot in the Final 5.

Judges Scores: 8+7+8+7=30

The female judges saw some improvement.

Simone Biles and Sasha Farber: Foxtrot

She thinks its super cheesy that he chose What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction, which kind of perfectly sums up their relationship. And theres a very cute moment where she flirts with the cameraman during rehearsals. Its another fun and bubbly routine, yet the judges once again criticize her for not having enough connection and performance. The judges are being absurd like when Julianne says that nothing wowed her or disappointed her, it was just really good.

Judges Scores: 9+9+9+9=36

These judges want her to be raw and less of a perfect little gymnast. Theyre setting impossible and unfair standards for her that they dont apply to anyone else, and even Simone and Sasha are kind of getting annoyed by it.

David Ross and Lindsay Arnold: Waltz

Lindsays song choice is Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw, which says it all. She thinks of him as a second dad. Its a very sweet and tender dance, like a father with his daughter at her wedding. Hes so gosh-darn likable and may have just earned a spot in the finale. Theres a cute part where she stands on his feet. Honest Len applauds him for working hard on the footwork, which most celebrities dont care about. Damn, Len is fed up tonight.

Judges Scores: 9+9+9+9=36

So we have a big tie in the middle of a Normani/Bonner sandwich.

Rashad and Emma with Witney Carson: Argentine Tango

Witney isnt sure if Fleetwood Mac is a rapper or the name of the song. The two female pros, who are each others bridesmaids, are very giggly and excited. It starts with him dancing with each girl separately, then they all do it together and it gets a little loose. I think Rashad was a tad overshadowed, but the double lift was cool. Len complains about his feet again.

Judges Scores: 10+9+10+10=39

Really? Weve reached the overly generous part of the night.

Normani and Val with Alan Bersten: Jive

Theyre going for a country theme, and Normani makes it clear that she thinks Bonner is a sexy Southern gentleman. Its a very fun routine with Val and Alan both ripping off their shirts to impress Normani, but it ends with her going to the pick-up truck where Bonner is waiting for her. Julianne claims Normani owned the stage, but honestly, I was focused entirely on the boys. The judges rave, but Len complains that Normani wasted too much time just standing on the table and not doing much.

Judges Scores: 10+9+10+10=39

Len is keeping it real for these Trio dances. Like Maks, Val pimps Alan to be a pro next season, calling him the future of the show.

Bonner and Sharna with Britt Stewart: Jazz

The concept is that Bonner is an oil tycoon and the girls are his two sexy secretaries. So its basically the opposite of Normanis Mulan routine when it comes to feminism. The whole thing looks like a bad porno film, with some lame non-dancing as Bonner just sways around and doesnt really move. Dear God, this was a disaster. Even Carrie Ann found it too raunchy, and she loves raunch. The judges try to be as polite as possible, but you can tell that they thought it sucked.

Judges Scores: 7+7+7+7=28

If he doesnt go home tonight, this show should be canceled or viewers should NOT be allowed to vote.

Simone and Sasha with Brittany Cherry: Paso Doble

Why is Simone the ONLY star who gets a Trio partner who is the same gender? But Simone actually seems to work better with another girl. Simone blends in nicely, but the gender imbalance definitely draws the focus to Sasha. Carrie Ann liked the mystery but says shes a little too precise. Len says that she has more 9s from him than anyone and she has his highest scores, but she has yet to crack that 10 ceiling. Wow, the judges are really hating on her for some reason.

Judges Scores: 9+9+9+9=36

This poor girl cant get a 10 to save her life.

David and Lindsay with Hayley Erbert: Paso Doble

The concept is a Gladiator battle set to Gangstas Paradise. Its an awesome idea, but David is overwhelmed and it feels very rushed. I wish a better dancer had this routine, because it wouldve been cool. Len didnt like it at all and saw no dance quality. The judges all criticize the shaping and dancing.

Judges Scores: 7+7+8+7=29

Yikes.

THE RESULTS

After a night filled with some very angry and bitter judges, its time to find out which four couples will advance to the Semifinals.

The first couple in the SEMIFINALS isNormani and Val!

The second couple in the SEMIFINALS isSimone and Sasha!

The third couple in the SEMIFINALS isDavid and Lindsay!

Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess ARE ELIMINATED!

Whew. I was really worried it was going a different way. As Len said, they made it farther than they should have, so good for them and I hope Sharna gets a super ringer next season so she can FINALLY win.

THE LEADERBOARD

79: Normani Kordei

75: Rashad Jennings

72: Simone Biles

65: David Ross

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.

(Image courtesy of ABC)
UB Alumni Association to present 12 awards at annual ceremony

BUFFALO, N.Y.  James Smist was seven years old when his father, Felix Smist, graduated in mechanical engineering from the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Felix earned a bachelor of science degree after taking classes at night and on weekends at UB for 16 years, all while working full time to provide for his wife and children.

James Smist remembers how proud he and his siblings were of their father.

His example made me realize that education is a precious thing, said Smist, who earned his own bachelor of science degree summa cum laude in chemical engineering from UB in 1980. Smist is president and co-founder of Dean & Company, a management consulting firm.

In 2005, Smist and his wife, Mary Smist, established the Felix Smist Scholarship, named for his father, which pays up to six years of tuition for a part-time student in the UB engineering school. Thus far, 15 students have been supported by the award.

Smist, a resident of McLean, Virginia, is this years recipient of the UB Alumni Associations (UBAA) highest honor, the Samuel P. Capen Award, to be presented during the annual awards ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 11, in the UB Center for the Arts.

UB President Satish K. Tripathi and Mary Garlick Roll (MS 88, BS 84), president of the alumni associations board of directors, will present 12 awards at the event to alumni and friends in the UB community. To attend, call Erin Zack in UBs Office of Alumni Engagement at 1-800-284-5382.

This years other UBAA awardees include:

Philip B. Wels Outstanding Service Award

Wayne Anderson, of Williamsville, dean emeritus of the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has spent nearly 50 years at the university teaching, leading efforts to make UB the first school in New York State to offer a doctoral pharmacy degree and raising funds to build the schools new home on its original South Campus location.

Richard T. Sarkin Award for Excellence in Teaching

Robert Genco (DDS 63), of Snyder, is a SUNY Distinguished Professor who served as chair of the oral biology department for 25 years, became vice provost of the UB Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR) and now directs the UB Microbiome Center.

Clifford C. Furnas Memorial Award

Hratch Kouyoumdjian (MS 70), of El Cerrito, California, was born in Baghdad, earned a civil engineering bachelors degree there, then left the country secretly, sans travel papers and money, and arrived in Buffalo where George Lee, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, mentored him as he earned a masters degree. Kouyoumdjian, who founded and led KPA Group, an engineering and architectural consulting practice, serves on the UB engineering deans advisory council.

George W. Thorn Award

Joel Lunenfeld (BA 99), of Tiburon, California, began as an engineering major at UB, but switched to anthropology because he didnt know anything about computers. Hes now vice president of global brand and creative strategy at Twitter, working to ignite conversations between the worlds most iconic brands and Twitters 300 million users.

Community Leadership Award

Juanita Hunter (EdD 83, MS 74, BS 71), of Buffalo, earned three UB degrees and taught community health for two decades at the School of Nursing before retiring, only to continue her deep involvement in local, state and national nursing organizations. Most recently, Hunter volunteered alongside UB nursing students during the Million Hearts Campaign to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Distinguished Alumni Awards

Edward Dong (MBA 91), a graduate of the UB China Dalian executive MBA program, became founding chair of the U.S.-China committee of the International Leadership Foundation based in Washington, D.C., following a successful business career with the China division of NDC Systems. A resident of Arcadia, California, he serves on the management deans advisory council.

Michael Garz (BA 72), of Philadelphia, is design manager and project architect for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, built on the former Twin Towers site. The complex joins 11 subway lines, commuter PATH trains serving New Jersey and Long Island, a web of pedestrian passages, a shopping mall and an expansive public plaza. Garz also oversees engineering and architectural design for STV Inc. in New York, Baltimore and New England.

Ram Kumar Krishnamurthy (MS 95) is senior principal engineer at Intel, where he heads the high-performance and low-voltage circuits research group. He holds 95 issued patents and has more than 50 patents pending. Krishnamurthy, a resident of Portland, Oregon, also has published 135 professional papers and three book chapters on high-performance, energy-efficient microprocessor design.

Dean Seneca (BA 90), of Atlanta, Georgia, is a senior health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His newest role, as president of the CDCs American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Coalition, draws on his heritage as a Seneca Indian and his education at UB in environmental design.

International Distinguished Alumni Award

Holger Schunemann (PhD 00, MS 97), of Hamilton, Ontario, is chair of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University  the birthplace of evidence-based medicine and problem-based learning. He also is a research professor in the UB Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health. He received an MD degree in 1993 from the Medical School of Hannover, Germany.

Walter P. Cooke Award

L. Nelson Hopkins, MD, is a physician scientist and medical pioneer who redefined the field of vascular neurosurgery in the management of stroke and stenting of vascular lesions. A SUNY Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery, Hopkins graduated from Albany Medical College in 1969, then returned to Western New York to practice and to teach at UB. A resident of Buffalo, Hopkins is a founder of the Global Vascular Institute at Kaleida Health, the Jacobs Institute and the Toshiba Stroke and Vascular Research Center.
John Nicholls Building and Plumbing Merchants has won the Established Business Award at the Cherwell Business Awards.

Held at Heythrop Park Hotel on 5 May, the 6th annual Awards celebrate the best businesses across 10 categories within north Oxfordshire.

The Established Business category is for businesses that have been trading for more than seven years and the key criteria that the judges were looking for were evidence of business growth, proven success and achievement during the past 12 months, a committed and strong team, excellent customer service, and a clear strategy for the next three to five years.

The judging for the award included a visit by the judges to John Nicholls head office and to the new supersite at Bicester, which comprises a building and plumbing merchant, as well as a large kitchen and bathroom showroom, where they were impressed with what has been achieved in its inaugural year.

Despite being a large business with over 200 employees, the culture and values of the family business set up 50 years ago, have remained. Jez Hampson, managing director of John Nicholls (Trading), said: When we were notified that we had been selected as one of the three finalists we were delighted, and to actually win the award against two other really strong local businesses made for a fantastic evening.

We are all very proud that our business has won this award and been recognised for being a great company with great people and great customers.
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.
GRAND FORKS  After more than 40 years at the University of North Dakota, Leigh Jeanotte, director of American Indian Student Services, is retiring at the end of June. As he considers the end of his career at the university, Jeanotte reflected last week on the beginning.

I would say the first year that I was employed here, we probably went back to the reservation every weekend, said Jeanotte, who is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. He said his early days at the school were marked by a real fear that he was out of his element. I used to think, What am I getting myself into? With all these bright, educated professors and other people, will I be able to fit in? 

Not only did he fit, he stayed to help students find their own niche on campus. Soon enough, Jeanotte found himself as the leader of an advocacy center that at one time maintained almost 30 campus programs geared toward Native American studies and students from tribal communities across the country.

He first came to UND as an employee in 1972 when he was hired to work for the Northern Plains Indian Teaching Corps. He worked there for the better part of the 1970s until moving into the directorship of AISS, which was founded by legislative direction in 1971.

What we typically say is that, when a student has any type of issue, they can come here first, Jeanotte said of the center. Though the employees at student services might refer a student to some other area of campus, he said AISS is built to consider the unique backgrounds of many Native students. As he himself can attest, its basically a huge transition for such students to leave the reservation community.

Coming to a major institution like UND, its a culture shock for them, Jeanotte said.

The mission of AISS has always emphasized the recruitment and retention of Native American students at UND. The program also seeks to foster collaborations with tribal colleges.

Jeanotte described the AISS building on campus as a home away from home for students. His office reflects that intent, packed as it is with photos of loved ones, Native American cultural artifacts and various knickknacks that reflect his hobbies.

Keith Malaterre, AISS program coordinator and a UND graduate, described Jeanotte as a kind and humble leader with a genuine interest in helping students acclimate to campus, going so far as to help them with winter car trouble. Malaterre, who also is from Turtle Mountain and taught sixth-grade classes on the reservation for about a decade before coming to work at UND, said he frequented the AISS offices in his own days as a student.

Leigh wants whats best for American Indians and he does what he can to achieve that, Malaterre said. He estimated about 75 percent of the approximately 500 UND students with some Native background will come through the AISS center during their time on campus.

One of the best jobs in North Dakota

Because of the wide reach of UND and the role of higher education in contemporary Native American life, Jeanotte sees the directorship position of AISS as one of the most important administrative roles in the state. After his departure this summer, the center will be directed on an interim basis by Linda Neuerburg, its current assistant director and a longtime employee.

UND has been home for decades to such Native-focused programs as Indians into Medicine, or INMED, and other professional initiatives for Native students. But as Jeanotte looks to the future, he worries the universitys focus on Native American students is in decline.

Campuswide budget cuts last year caused the loss of the recruiter for AISS, an employee who focused specifically on bringing Native American students to Grand Forks. Though the schools general recruitment programs have picked up some of the slack, AISS leaders say the outreach to tribal communities isnt as strong as it used to be.

Jeanotte said the loss of as much as $110,000 in funding going into next year will trickle down to other AISS efforts on campus, such as the programs writing center.

I fear were losing sight of educating Native people, he said.

Given some of the unique challenges faced by Native American students, who are more likely to be affected by issues associated with historically underserved populations, Jeanotte said the funding hit is a tough load to carry. He believes the additional needs of the indigenous student community, plus their tendency to remain in North Dakota after graduation, are ample reason to for university leaders to make a reaffirmation of commitment to Native students.

Gavin Nadeau is one such student. Nadeau, the graduating president of the UND Indian Association, earned his associate degree from Turtle Mountain Community College before coming to Grand Forks for his bachelors education. He recently was accepted to pursue his masters level education at UND and says Jeanotte was an inspiration to him to continue down his path in higher education and one day be a mentor to the next generation of students.

I want to show them its possible (to succeed in higher ed) and through positions like Leighs, you can, Nadeau said. Its important to have that figure, to have people that you can relate to in those positions. It helps motivate you to finish.

Given Jeanottes role at the university and the length of time hes been a fixture on campus, he has built a wide network among midwestern Native American communities and has seen the work of UNDs graduates along the way. He notes the presidents of four of North Dakotas five tribal colleges are graduates of UND, as are many of the leaders and administrators of the tribes themselves. Jeanotte says leaders of some of those colleges have already asked if hed be interested in doing some work with them after leaving Grand Forks.

The prospect is appealing to him, but he says he plans to take it easy for at least a little while to start off his retirement. At 68, Jeanotte laughs when he says he doesnt feel his age.

In some ways, retirement seems to have snuck up on him. He still enjoys the work, particularly with the students who come to AISS.

Its been a good journey for me, he said. I can honestly say that I feel I have one of the best jobs in North Dakota for American Indian people.
With win of Rs 4,500 crore worth self-propelled (SP) guns order recently, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) may be finally scripting its defence story. The current financial year (FY) and the next may prove significant for the company with the expected new defence manufacturing policy, fresh orders and rising defence exports.
Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app.

Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006.

Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more.

Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them.

26 years of website archives.
Eyeing the lion's share of the government's Rs 98,000-crore smart city initiative, Japanese business conglomerate Hitachi has brought in smart city solutions in every space nad is hoping to bag projects in the 100-plus proposed smart cities.
Indian banks have asked the promoters of to bring in fresh equity worth Rs 2,500 crore into the company before it can go ahead with its proposal for loan restructuring.
Indian IT service providers such as Infosys and Wipro have tightened performance appraisals for employees, weeding out non-performers, as they see businesses slowing for traditional services, technology shifts towards digital, and growing protectionism in their main markets.
American car maker produced more cars than Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors in 2016-17 to emerge as the third biggest car maker in the country.
Japans SoftBank, the largest investor in Indian online marketplace Snapdeal, might finally be on the verge of orchestrating the biggest consolidation in the e-commerce sector in India. Sources said SoftBank was close to convincing Nexus Venture Partners (NVP), an early stage investor in Snapdeal, to sell its stake in the beleaguered company. If Nexus agrees, it will pave the way for Snapdeals merger with Flipkart.
L&T will build and develop the spaces, CLINT will market them; most of the projects are to be started from the second half of 2024
carrier will launch flights to three new destinations in the US as well as to Stockholm, Nairobi and Tel Aviv this year, its CMD Ashwani Lohani said on Tuesday.

Making it the fifth non-stop destination in the United States, a direct service would start to Washington from July 7, followed by a flight to Los Angeles from September 1 and then to Dallas.

The airline, which is working on ways to revive its fortunes, would commence service to the Swedish capital Stockholm from August 15.

Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said it would also start flights to Tel Aviv (Israel), Nairobi (Kenya) and Dallas (the US) this year.

"To Washington from July 7, Stockholm from August 15 and Los Angeles from September 1 to be followed by Tel Aviv, Dallas and Nairobi sometime later during the year 2017 itself. spreads its wings far and wide," Lohani said in a Facebook post.

Washington would be the airline's fifth non-stop destination in the US after New York, Newark, Chicago and San Francisco.

The move to fly to more destinations in the US also comes against the backdrop of the carrier seeing higher demand on the flights to America after the Trump administration imposed restrictions on flights originating from certain airports in the Middle East and North Africa.

Citing terror concerns, the US in March had imposed restrictions on travellers to the US from certain countries in the Middle East and North Africa, whereby they are not allowed carry large electronic devices as cabin baggage.

As part of expanding its flights to the US, Air India would also be inducting seven Boeing 787-9 planes.

Services to the US account for nearly 20 per cent of the carrier's total annual revenues.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Can drivers working for app-based taxi companies like Ola and Uber be considered as their employees?



This was a question raised on Monday before the Delhi High Court which sought to know the Centre's stand on the issue.

Apart from the central government, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva also issued notice to the Delhi government, Uber and ANI Technologies, which provides cab services under the name of Ola, and sought their responses by August 10 on the issue raised by a drivers' union.

The Delhi Commercial Driver Union, which claims to represent around 1.5 lakh drivers operating in the national capital region, has alleged that the two companies were not treating them as employees and instead "exploiting" them.

It has claimed in its plea that the drivers were being exploited with regard to their pay and service conditions and were also being denied benefits like compensation in case of accidents or deaths while on duty, under the labour laws.

The Delhi government, during the hearing, told the court that the issue raised was either an industrial dispute or a policy decision to be taken by the administration.

It said no representation has been made to it by the drivers highlighting their grievances.

The central government, on the other hand, said a Bill amending the Motor Vehicles Act for regulating companies like Ola and Uber has been passed by the Lok Sabha.

However, the petitioner, represented by advocates Akash Vajpai and Shoumendu Mukherji, contended that the problems faced by the drivers were not covered by the proposed legislation.

The union has contended that the drivers work under "deplorable working and pay conditions".

It has sought the setting up of a committee to look into their grievances and give appropriate recommendations to improve their conditions and pay.

It has also sought the grant of a fixed amount as compensation to the drivers, or their next of kin, who are injured or killed due to road accidents while employed with Ola and Uber.

In support of their claim that they were employees of the companies, the drivers union has contended that Ola and Uber select a driver for a customer on their sole discretion and therefore, there is no element of freedom and independent decision making on the part of the driver.

The union is also opposed to the change in the fares on a daily basis allegedly on the "whims" of the two companies and without any prior notice to the drivers.

It has said that the drivers are demanding a revision in the minimum fares and restoring bonuses that were offered in the initial days. They also said that the issue of whether these drivers are employees has been decided in their favour in the USA and the UK.

With regard to the recent protests by some taxi drivers' unions against the fare system of Uber and Ola, the petitioner union has said that such agitations were held worldwide and not just in India.
Wardi Devi, a senior citizen, hails from a remote town of Rajasthan. Shes tried to enrol for the thrice and even paid Rs. 150 and Rs. 50 to agents while making the first two attempts. Tired of coughing out her hard earned money from her meagre wages, she refused to pay anything the third time. Despite having visited the centre on multiple occasions, she is yet to receive her UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). Since she is not an Card holder, she is not entitled to subsidised food grains under the public distribution system (PDS). In the absence of an Aadhaar Card, she is also deprived of various other government entitlements, including the right to work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Ninety-year-old Fefi Devi and her husband Nathu Singh haven't received ration from the local Fair Price Shop (FPS) ever since Aadhaar-based biometric authentication was introduced in their village, Kukerkheda in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, in 2014. The Point-of-Sale (PoS) machine doesnt recognise their thumb impressions since the lines on their thumbs have disappeared due to rigorous manual labour  their source of daily wages.

UIDAI  more commonly known as Aadhaar  which was introduced in 2009 is essentially a paperless online anytime-anywhere identity assigned to a resident to cover his/her entire lifetime. The project assures inclusion of the entire Indian population into various government entitlements and programmes from which citizen were often wrongly excluded. The project aims at making the downtrodden and underserved independent by removing the middlemen, thereby reducing corruption and challenges related to implementation. However, as is evident from the cases above, a number of people are losing out on their basic rights such as food and work.

Citizens are still in search of their identity

The Constitution guarantees both Fefi Devi and Wardi Devi the Right to Life and, hence, right to be included in government welfare schemes. However, a mandate like Aadhaar, for accessing these schemes, does not. If we dig a little deeper, we realise that the projects initial claims were based on a basic misunderstanding of the causes for exclusion. Worse, the experience of the past eight years of the project suggests that nothing has changed, except the project itself has become a source of exclusion from government programmes for thousands.

Rajasthan, the second state to implement use of Aadhaar authentication at all ration shops or FPSs after Andhra Pradesh, is one such example. The state principal secretary of food and civil supplies department claimed last year that 63 per cent of beneficiaries were able to collect their grains after Aadhaar authentication, as per data from August 2016. This means that 37 per cent of the population were turned down ration because their thumb impressions werent recognised due to several possible reasons. In some cases, citizens were denied their right to subsided ration because they did not have the mandatory Aadhaar Card. In some other cases, the individuals had an Aadhaar Card but the PoS machine was out of order. In yet other cases, the citizen had an Aadhaar Card and the PoS machine was functional but there was no Internet connectivity in the village. There were also cases where everything was in place  Aadhaar, PoS and Internet  but the machine refused to recognise the biometrics of a rugged thumb.

It has been repeatedly pointed out to the government agencies  supported by evidences from Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Delhi  that the most vulnerable groups, such as elderly and migrant workers who do manual labour, face difficulty in accessing benefits due to failed biometric authentication. Yet, there is no system in place to handle such cases.

The FAQ section on the UIDAI website asks, How will the biometric of the differently-abled and people with no finger prints or rugged hands e.g. beedi workers or people with no fingers be captured? The answer to that question is listed as follows: The policy will take into consideration these exceptions and the biometric standards prescribed will ensure that these groups are not excluded. In the case of people without hands/ fingers only photo will be used for identity determination and there will be markers to determine uniqueness. However, as we know, no such mechanism has been put in place yet.

Clearly, not much has changed in the last eight years since UIDAI was introduced. Citizens are still in search of their identity. Jyothi Alamadamu (Gollaprolu Mandal), a tribal resident of the Sweeper Colony in Andhra Pradesh, works as a maid. In her blog, Reetika Khera had shared the story of this women whose three-year old twins were starving because the e-POS did not recognise her biometric or identify her ration card number. In her blog, Khera quotes an angry villager: There is no point of giving Rs. 1 per kg rice and Rs. 2 per kg wheat if the poor has to forego Rs. 250 of their wage, excluding the cost of transportation, in the bargain.

In another case story from Chendurthi village (Gollaprolu Mandal), Andhra Pradesh, villagers shared they had to travel at least 5-10 kilometres to reach the nearest Fair Price Shop and then stand in the queue for hours. As the day progresses, the queue becomes longer because it often takes more than one attempt for the POS machine to authenticate the biometric details.

There are numerous articles written on challenges that UIDAI faces. These are cultural, social and infrastructural challenges. We do not have roads, electricity or connectivity in place to execute such a mandate.

Today, Aadhaar has become an integral (read coerced) part of our lives. Initially introduced as a voluntary mechanism, it was clarified by the central government on May 2, 2017, that Sections 7 and 54 of the Aadhaar Act made it mandatory for people to get enrolled [in the Aadhar scheme]. And that citizens cannot claim absolute right over their body parts and refuse to give digital samples of their fingerprints and iris for Aadhaar enrolment.

Further, there is the challenge of data protection. Through UIDAI, the Indian government has tried to replicate the European e-citizenship model which assigns every citizen a unique identity number. For example, Estonia has nearly a population of nearly 1.3 million inhabitants  this is half of South Delhis population. Every ID-card owner gets an official e-mail address, which is intended for official communication with the State and is defined as an official electronic residence of the citizen. More than 300,000 private individuals and over 56,000 companies are using this opportunity today in that country (April 2017). The country maintains an elaborate database, which can only be accessed if the concerned government department  or anybody else  states their purpose. Further, when this data is accessed, the citizen gets an official communication, informing him/her who has accessed the data and for what purpose.

On the hind side, UIDAI has major privacy issues and has no such mechanism to either protect the data or inform the citizens of the consumption of their data unlike Estonia. Indian citizens have no say or information about how their personal information is being used and by whom. According to the Aadhaar Act (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) of 2016, in fact, In the interest of national security, a Joint Secretary in the central government may issue a direction for revealing to concerned authorities (i) Aadhaar number, (ii) biometric information (iris scan, finger print and other biological attributes specified by regulations), (iii) demographic information, and (iv) photograph. Also on the order of a court, (i) an individuals Aadhaar number, (ii) photograph, and (iii) demographic information. This is despite the Human Rights 34th Resolution that states storing metadata is a human rights violation.

Instead of fighting court cases and wasting energy and public money, India should rather invest in developing robust infrastructure, putting in place strong data protection and privacy laws and conducting pilot studies before rolling out mandatory Aadhaar-based delivery of rights and entitlements for citizens across the nation.

Osama Manzar is founder & director of Digital Empowerment Foundation, which works across 200 villages in 22 states enabling citizens with digital resources to access information and entitlements. He tweets as @osamamanzar. Eshita Mukherjee works with DEF as research officer.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
The Supreme Court on Monday said the former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad will be tried in each of the five remaining cases against him in connection with the multi crore fodder scam. The ruling came on an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation against a 2014 order from the Jharkhand high court that said Prasad could not be tried for the same crime twice, referring to his previous conviction that also led to his disqualification from Parliament and earned him a ban from contesting elections. Out of 64 cases arising from the scam, Yadav was named accused in six cases cases and he has already been convicted in one of the case involving fraudulant withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from Chaibasa treasury which now falls in Jharkhand between period April 1, 1994 to January 31, 1995.
The West Bengal government on Monday said it will write to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to lodge a "strong protest" over the alleged "tough" questions in Bengali in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), conducted for admission to undergraduate medical courses in government and private medical colleges in the country.

Aspirants who had appeared for the test in Bengali on Sunday had alleged that the level of difficulty in the vernacular question paper was much higher than the questions framed in the English version.

NEET was conducted in 10 languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada and Odiya.

"It was said that questions would be identical. But questions in Bengali were much tougher than the ones framed in English.A With the promise of identical question papers, they framed tough questions for the Bengali board students. The English paper was closer in format to that followed by CBSE. We are strongly protesting this," state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told the media here.

The Central Board of Secondary Education organised on Sunday in as many as 104 cities across the country, for which more than 11 lakh aspirants had registered.

Chatterjee accused the Centre of stifling the talent in Bengal.

"They also tried the same thing in engineering exams but we opposed it strongly. This is centre's tactic to deprive Bengal and neglect the talent of the State. Bengal cannot be deprived like this," he added.
In a double blow to beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is all set to file its first chargesheet in the money laundering case, while the Supreme Court (SC), on the other hand, found Mallya guilty of contempt of court and asked him to be present in the court on July 10 when it would decide the sentence.
A 20-year-old Indian woman, who approached the Indian High Commission with a request to repatriate her, on Monday told a court here that she was subjected to violence and sexual abuse after her forced marriage with a Pakistani citizen at gunpoint, marking a new turn in the case.



Uzma filed a plea with a court here against her husband Tahir Ali alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated by him. She also recorded her statement before a magistrate.



She told magistrate Haider Ali Shah that she came to to see her relatives and not for marriage, a court official told PTI.



"I was forced to marry at gunpoint and my immigration documents were also taken away from me," she said, according to the official.



Uzma, who was brought to the court under strict security, also alleged in her statement that she was subjected to violence and sexual abuse by Tahir, said the court official.



She further said she does not want to leave the Indian High Commission premises till she could safely travel back to India.



The court adjourned the case till July 11 and issued notices to Tahir to appear for next hearing. It also summoned cleric Humayun Khan, who solemnized the marriage, to appear in person in the court on the next hearing.



Tahir was not available for comments but Uzma's father- in-law Nazir ur Rehman told BBC that Uzma contracted court marriage with his son before local judge in Daggar, the main town of Buner district in Khyber Pakhtunkwa, on May 3.



"The judge had asked her if she was marrying with free will and she said yes," according to Rehman.



He also said that his name (Rehman) was written as her relative in the visa application filed with High Commission in New Delhi. He also said that Uzma knew that Tahir was already married and had four children.



Tahir in his application to local police station on May 5 had said they had come to Indian High Commission to get visa as Uzma's brother in India had invited them for honeymoon.



He said he stayed outside and Uzma went inside the High Commission but never came back. He had asked police to help recover his wife who in his opinion was held against her will.



According to reports, Uzma's husband met her in the High Commission this morning but he was not present in the court.



Tahir has also switched off his mobile. But earlier he told media that Uzma was aware of his first marriage.



Uzma reached on May 1 and traveled to Buner district in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa to marry Tahir on May 3. The couple reportedly met in Malaysia, where Tahir was working as taxi-driver.



The Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi said that the immigration documents state that Uzma obtained the visa under the visit category.



Pakistani authorities have said she did not share her plans to marry in Pakistan when she applied for the visa and expressed her intent to visit her relatives in Pakistan.



Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria last night said "the Indian High Commission informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an Indian national, Ms Uzma, 20, had approached them with the request to be repatriated to India."



He said that according to the Indian High Commission, she claimed to have married Tahir and alleged that she later came to know that he was already married and has four children.



Government sources in New Delhi said the Indian woman has sought the help of the Indian mission in Islamabad on May 5.



The High Commission is providing necessary consular assistance to her and is in touch with the Pakistan Foreign Office on the matter and the girl's family in India, said the sources.



Meanwhile, a page of Nikah (marriage) document of the couple, filled in Urdu and available on local media, shows that Uzma D/o Muhammad Noshad is an Indian citizen. She has signed it with full name, starting with Dr (doctor). But only "Dr Uzma" is clear while the last name cannot be deciphered from signatures.



According to the document, Tahir promises to take her to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj pilgrimage for Mehr - a gift from husband to his wife at the time of the marriage.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will soon deploy a fresh squad of about 2,000 commandos from its special guerrilla warfare CoBRA battalions in and around the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh to defang the Maoists and their arsenal.



Sukma and its adjoining areas have witnessed some of the deadliest ambushes on security forces recently like the one where 25 CRPF men were killed in the Burkapal area of the district on April 24.



12 CRPF men were similarly killed by Naxals on March 11 in Sukma.



A top official privy to the development said the paramilitary has prepared a blueprint to mobilise at least 20 to 25 companies of the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) from their present locations in West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh to the Bastar region that has some of the worst Maoist violence-hit districts of the central state.



A CoBRA company has about 100 personnel each.



The official explained the rationale behind the move to "very soon" airlift these teams from their current bases.



"The CoBRA does operations based only on intelligence inputs and has been raised as a team of highly-trained commandos who neutralise the enemy and destroy their hideouts with minimal collateral damage. The CoBRA teams will specifically be used to increase the kill ratio of the forces and deliver heavy blow to the Naxals TCOC campaign," the official said.



The Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) is launched by Maoists every year in summer to kill security forces personnel and loot their weapons by catching them off guard when they are either out on a long patrol in the blistering sun or are deployed in these hard terrain areas for protection tasks like road construction and others.



At present, 44 CoBRA teams (of the total 154) are deployed in Chhattisgarh for these operations and all of them are in the Bastar region comprising the districts of Sukma, Dantewada and others.



A proposal in this regard was also discussed during the meeting of chief ministers of Naxal-hit states today that was chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.



While the home ministry has expressed its inability to deploy more battalions of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) as demanded by some Left Wing Extremism-hit states, the Centre wants that the quality of operations are improved without the forces taking casualties on their side.



"In the present circumstances where there are no regular battalions to spare and operations by them have faced reverses, it is the CoBRA that will pave the way. They will undertake special operations to decimate the Naxals' manpower and firepower," the official said.



Also, some battalions of the CRPF and the Border Security Force will be "re-deployed" in the Bastar region to target special areas where armed Naxal cadres are active.



In order to assist them, the official said, it has been planned to seek additional flying hours from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to undertake more sorties to aid CoBRA operations.



At present, an IAF chopper flies a maximum of 120 hours per month which is expected to be raised to 160 hours soon, the officer added.



Another official present in today's meeting said the regular CRPF teams will be provided with more teams of expert troops who are adept at handling improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which have killed or maimed over 300 security forces personnel in the last year itself.



"159 IED blasts were reported in 2016 as against 131 in 2015, which is an increase of 21 per cent in the usage of these killing devices. The forces will have to bring this threat down drastically," the official said.



The leakage of explosives and detonators meant for legal mining has to be curbed as these are stolen by Naxals to create IEDs and the home ministry asked the states to ensure this, the official added.



Two new Joint Command-and-Control Centres will also be established in Gaya in Bihar and East Singhbhum in Jharkhand for the security forces, led by CoBRA, to launch inter-state operations.



A similar control centre is functional in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur where the operations of troops on ground, helicopter sorties and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) recce missions are handled from one base.



The CoBRA Battalion was raised in 2009 by the central government under CRPF to act as a special guerrilla combat wing for tackling violence perpetrated by Naxalites as well as insurgents in the northeast.
The Supreme Court today held businessman guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order.



"We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said.



The apex court directed Mallya, who is presently in the United Kingdom, to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.



The order came on a plea by consortium of banks led by SBI, which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million which he had received from British firm Diageo, to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.
The Gujarat assembly on Tuesday passed the state goods and services tax (GST) Bill in a special one-day session. Admitting that Gujarat would lose some income under regime because of the state's dependence on manufacturing, deputy chief minister and finance minister Nitin Patel said the five-year compensation from the Centre should suffice.
In the run up to three years of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge) Nirmala Sitharaman says it is time to consolidate some of the major initiatives as well as take new steps. She tells Subhayan Chakraborty and Indivjal Dhasmana in an interview that the government will find a way to incentivise sectors, even if the World Trade Organization norms force India to phase out export subsidies by 2018-end. Edited excerpts:
To prepare the Indian iron ore industry to meet the feedstock requirements of a 300-million tonne (mt) steel capacity projected for 2030, it is essential to speed up the process of auctioning new deposits, says Kishore Kumar, CEO of Sesa Goa, in an interview with Kunal Bose. Edited excerpts:



India is targeting a steel capacity of 300 million tonnes (mt) by 2030. In order to use that capacity, steel producers will need 480 mt of iron ore against the estimated production of 180 mt in 2016-17. How will the iron ore industry prepare to meet this big future local demand and also export fines and low grade ores?



Our iron ore resource base had grown from 22.1 billion tonnes (bt) in 2020 to 31.3 bt in 2013. This is despite our exploration being historically restricted to shallow depths and high grades. Deeper drilling and lower cut-offs of mineable ore will give a further boost to the resource base. We have in the past, between 2007-08 and 2010-11, produced well over 200 mt of iron ore.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has instructed the District Magistrate of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh to provide the current status of action taken against the indulging officers and employees found accused in the illegal land transfer cases. The instruction was given in a meeting held under the Chairmanship of Shri Nand Kumar Sai, Chairman, NCST New Delhi. The Commission has also asked to return the land taken against rules to the original owners and speedy disposal of cases under sections 170(1&2) of Chhattisgarh land revenue manual. The same has to be intimated to the Commission immediately. It was also instructed that information should also be furnished about the actual payment made to the real land owners in such cases wherein land transfer was done after the permission of District Magistrate. Commission has also directed to cancel such nominations in cases where DMs permission was not accorded. The same should also be returned back in revenue records. Action should also be taken to identify the Benami purchase of land. .

.

The Commission directed the Senior Superintendent Police of the District to enquire into the circumstances of the death of Jailal Rathiya on the basis of available evidences and also whom he met before the death and the people he visited. Enquiry should also be done about the threat given to him. Commission asked the police to enquire into his mobile calls details and persons accompanying him. .

.

The Commission directed officers to take action under SC and ST (Eradication of Atrocities) Act 1989 in cases wherein the land of ST persons were transferred in the name of persons of other community by forgery and its information should be sent to the Commission. .

.

The Commission gave necessary directions to DRM Bilaspur to provide detailed information regarding cases of land acquisition/ purchase- sale from persons of ST community for Railways siding. .

.

It may be noted that Jailal Raithiya who brought into light the 300 acre land dispute in the Kunkuni village of Raigarh District died suddenly on March 17, 2017 under mysterious circumstances. As per media reports the deceased tribal activist leader had opened front against land mafia. It was alleged that his body was cremated without carrying out postmortem. .

.

ST/JD/jk
Shri Piyush Goyal to visit Vienna and London from 10-13 May 2017

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy and Mines will be visiting Austria and United Kingdom from 10th to 13th May 2017 for an Energy Dialogue with both the countries.

On Wednesday, 10th May 2017, Shri Goyal will participate in Investors Meet organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO). Further, the Minister will deliver key note address at Vienna Energy Forum 2017 on Thursday, 11th May, 2017, after which he will be having dialogue with Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to explore prospects of better business opportunities in the energy sector. Shri Goyal will also participate in a Ministerial Panel Discussion on 2030 Development Agenda for Energy, focusing on the SDG7: Energy Access, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He will also talk about International Solar Alliance and RE Invest on the occasion.

On 12th May 2017, apart from regular business meetings, Shri Goyal will be participating in U. K.- India Business Roundtable on Energy organised by FICCI and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in London. The Minister will also witness the listing of NTPCs bonds at London Stock Exchange on the same day. NTPC is a fairly regular issuer of Offshore medium-term notes (MTN) . The current issuance is the second Masala Bonds offering by NTPC within a 12 months period.

The first Masala Bonds issuance in August 2016 was for Rs. 2000 crores (~ US$ 300 million) as is the current one (~US$310 million). Both the Masala Bonds are of 5 years tenor. The latest Masala Bonds 2017, carry a coupon of 7.25% payable annually with reoffer yield of 7.28% (tightest yet by any Indian Issuer). NTPC Masala Bonds would be the 1st MTN and 1st Masala Bonds to list on the new International Securities Market (ISM)
The Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, Mr. Bert Koenders and Lt. Governor of Delhi, Sh. Anil Baijal laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of work on cleaning the Barapullah drain in New Delhi today. The dignitaries also present were Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, DDA Vice-Chairman, Shri Arun Goel and the Netherlands Ambassador to India H.E. Alphonsus Stoelinga. .

.

The highlight of the ceremony was the laying of the Foundation Stone for the on-site laboratory and pilot plant and the start of the cleaning and beautification of the Barapullah Drain with unveiling of an art work. The art work represents Indo Dutch collaboration for the LOTUS HR project in form of two flowers - lotus and tulip, depicting the union of Indian and Dutch strengths. .

.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis Government has underlined cleaning of our rivers as a major, indeed key mission. The clean Ganga project is being personally monitored by the Prime Minster himself. .

.

There are many available technologies to clean rivers. Their implementation must go ahead with speed. At the same time new de-centralised technologies need to be constantly developed and tested. Some new technologies could be more cost-efficient or better implementable in our context. .

.

With this in mind, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and NWO, the Netherlands Science Agency announced a joint call for proposals for cleaning the Barapullah drain. DBT in consultation with DDA has identified the Barapullah drain, Sarai Kale Khan, in the state of Delhi for setting up on-site experimental testing lab and for the establishment of a pilot plant. DDA has leased to DBT, a land measuring 200 Sq meters for a period of 5years adjacent to the Sun Dial Park for this purpose. .

.

After a rigorous and robust selection process on both sides, the project Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS)" has been finalised for setting up a demonstration plant for cleaning the Barapullah drain. .

.

The project LOcal Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS HR) is an Indo-Netherlands joint project funded by Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Govt of india and NWO/STW, The Govt of Netherlands. The project has stakeholders from both Academia and Industry from India and Netherlands. It is coordinated by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi with participation of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi and National Environment Research Institute, Nagpur from India while Technical University Delft is coordinating it from The Netherlands, with participation of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology Department, UNESCO, Wageningen University and its Aquatic Ecology Department. There is also commitment from industry, especially from The Netherlands, in terms of both cash and kind towards the project. .

.

The project aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste-) water management approach, that will produce clean water that can be reused for various proposes (e.g. industry, agriculture, construction etc.), while simultaneously recovering nutrients and energy from the urban waste water, thus converting drain into profitable mines. Special attention will be paid to pathogen removal and removing conventional and emerging pollutants. .

.

The project will develop an innovative pilot scale plant, suitable to cope with Indian conditions in a location specific manner. The final design of the pilot plant will be scalable and modular, to fit into the highly populated urban terrain. .

.

The participation of end-users in the project will ensure that the demonstration site becomes a self-sustaining initiative that will not finish at the end of the project and will be taken up by the end-users. From the early start of the project, end-users (municipality, DDA, DJB, NGOs, and companies like Shell, Hydrorock, Nijhuis, Berson, etc.) will be engaged in design at the pilot location as well as in formulation of specific research sub-questions. This will facilitate rapid adoption of the Water Resuse safety plan and the newly developed products. .

.

Dutch and Indian companies will contribute to the project by sharing their existing technologies, which may need adjustments for becoming functional in the pilot plant. Architects like Schulte Holding will advise on incorporating these water treatment units in urban mega cities. Engineers from DDA will help in site preparation and civil construction of the pilot plant. .

.

RDS/nb
When did the White House know  and exactly who knew  about conversations that Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, had with the Russian ambassador? That was the focus on Monday at a Senate hearing where Sally Q. Yates, the former acting attorney general, testified about Russias interference in the presidential election.

James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, also testified, giving senators a chance to go well beyond the Flynn affair and ask about leaks of classified information to the news media; the F.B.I.s investigation into the Russian interference and possible collusion by Trump associates; and  this being a hearing in the Republican-controlled Congress  Hillary Clintons emails.

Here are six highlights from the testimony:

1. Whos afraid of Mr. Flynn?

Perhaps the biggest takeaway on Monday was that a lot of people had serious concerns about Mr. Flynn serving as national security adviser. But none of them was named Donald J. Trump.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who briefly led the Trump transition team, did not think that Mr. Flynn was qualified to be the national security adviser. President Barack Obama, who fired Mr. Flynn as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, warned Mr. Trump against hiring the retired three-star general when the two met in the Oval Office after the election.

And, days after the inauguration, Ms. Yates, the acting attorney general at the time, warned the White House that Mr. Flynn was vulnerable to foreign blackmail because he had misled his bosses about conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador  and that Russian operatives would know about it.

To state the obvious: You dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians, Ms. Yates told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee.

But what was obvious to Ms. Yates appears to have been less so to Mr. Trump.

Even after being warned that Mr. Flynn represented a blackmail risk, Mr. Trump kept the general on as national security adviser for another two weeks, firing him only after The Washington Post found out about the warnings.

2. Leaks trump all else.

In a Twitter message posted hours before Mondays hearing, Mr. Trump suggested that Ms. Yates had tipped off journalists about Mr. Flynns conversations with the Russian ambassador.

The president presented the accusation against Ms. Yates without evidence, but such details have rarely stopped him. Since taking office, Mr. Trump has made it clear that he believes the leaks of classified information are far more significant than the actual connections between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.

Ms. Yates said Monday that she had never leaked classified information, and was not the source of any reports about Mr. Flynn.

She also pointed out that there were three other people in the room for the conversation, including Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel.

3. The F.B.I. keeps secrets  from everyone.

Among the most secretive investigations conducted by the F.B.I. are those that examine the links between American citizens and foreign governments, which are known as counterintelligence investigations. So when the F.B.I. began examining possible connections between Trump associates and Russia this past summer, it appeared to have told almost no one  not even Mr. Clapper, who was then overseeing the bureau as the director of national intelligence.

Mr. Clapper testified Monday that he was unaware of the investigation into the Trump campaign until James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, acknowledged it when testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on March 20.

For Mr. Clapper, the issue is also one of personal integrity. In early March, after Mr. Trump accused Mr. Obama of wiretapping him during the campaign  a universally rejected accusation for which there is no evidence  Mr. Clapper went on NBCs Meet the Press and made a sweeping denial.

There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign, Mr. Clapper said.

Journalists have since revealed a wrinkle in that story. The F.B.I. obtained a court-approved wiretap on Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trumps campaign, based on evidence that he was operating as a Russian agent.

4. Letting go (of Clintons emails) is hard.

Few would disagree that Mr. Flynns falsehoods or Russias meddling are important. But for some Republicans, the alpha and omega of any congressional hearing is Mrs. Clintons use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.

In the midst of all of the talk of Russia and Ms. Yatess warnings about Mr. Flynn, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a former Republican presidential candidate, steered the hearing toward the email issue. He asked Mr. Clapper what he would do if, hypothetically, his employee forwarded emails containing classified information.

The question was a thinly veiled reference to Huma Abedin, an aide to Mrs. Clinton, forwarding emails containing classified information to her husband, Anthony D. Weiner, a former New York representative. Mr. Comey said Ms. Abedin forwarded the messages for Mr. Weiner to print for her to give to Mrs. Clinton.

Several current and former government officials familiar with the investigation into Mrs. Clintons handling of delicate information said that while some emails had been forwarded, a vast majority were instead backed up to Mr. Weiners computer.

Mr. Clapper did his best to keep on his game face  and to stick to the hypotheticals.

It raises all kinds of potential security concerns, again depending on the content of the email, what the intent was, a whole bunch of variables here would have to be considered, Mr. Clapper said. But given a hypothetical scenario, Id be quite concerned.

5. You can learn a lot from the news media.

Ms. Yatess brief tenure as acting attorney general came to an abrupt end on the evening of Jan. 30 when she refused to defend Mr. Trumps executive order barring refugees and travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

On Monday, Ms. Yates said the order came as a surprise to her. Not only was the department not consulted, we werent even told about it, she said. I learned about this from media reports.

She then defended the decision that got her fired, explaining that she could not defend the order largely because Mr. Trump himself had indicated that it was intended to single out Muslims. Federal judges have since made similar findings as the case winds through the courts.

Republican senators, though, pressed her to admit that she objected to the executive order as a policy. But she refused.

I dont believe there are reasonable arguments that are grounded in truth that would defend the travel ban, she said.

6. Still, those reporters are pesky.

There was a lot of talk about leaks of classified information  some of it comical.

Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, asked Mr. Clapper if he had ever leaked information, classified or unclassified, to the press?

Mr. Clapper said that he had not done so knowingly, and then added: Well, unclassified is not leaking. Thats sort of a non sequitur.

So Mr. Kennedy clarified, asking Mr. Clapper if he had ever given information to a reporter that you didnt want to have your name connected with.

Mr. Clapper said that he had not, and that he had had many encounters with the media over my career.

Im sorry about that, the senator said to laughs.

2017 The New York Times News Service
FBI director generated national headlines last week with his dramatic testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining his "incredibly painful" decision to go public about the Hillary Clinton emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop.
Facebooks latest campaign in Britain comes after vocal criticism of the networks role in spreading false information during the 2016 US presidential election Photo: reuters
It was the first major piece of legislation that President Trump signed into law, and buried on Page 734 was one sentence that brought a potential benefit to the presidents extended family: renewal of a program offering permanent residence in the United States to affluent foreigners investing money in real estate projects here.
declared victory in South Koreas leadership race, pledging to unify the nation after nine years of conservative rule that culminated in the countrys biggest street protests since the 1980s.
South Korea's presidential election has been won by liberal Moon Jae-in who favors a more open policy towards the country's hostile neighbour, North Korea.

Early results suggested that Moon, the Democratic Party's candidate in the election to replace ousted president Park Geun-hye, won by a substantial margin, reports the CNN.

The election of Moon, a 64-year-old former human rights lawyer, is likely to mean an overhaul for Seoul's policy on North Korea as he favors engagement with Pyongyang and has challenged the deployment of US missile defense system, THAAD, on South Korean soil.

"This is the great victory for the great people who have been with me to build a just country, united country and a country where principle and common sense works," said Moon.

With around 34 per cent of the vote counted, Moon had 39.36 per cent of the vote followed by conservative Hong Jun-pyo at 26.71 percent and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo with 21.8 percent.

Park, who narrowly beat Moon in 2012 to become South Korea's first female president was impeached for sharing government documents with her confidante Choi Soon-sil who held no official government position.

Choi is accused of using her relationship with Park to accumulate millions of dollars in donations to her foundations.
The campaign for the French presidency revealed a stark fault line on Europe. The openly pro-European Emmanuel Macron called for the EU to be strengthened while the staunchly anti-EU Marine Le Pen promised a referendum on Frexit. Victory for the former therefore raises interesting questions about what his stance will be on negotiating the UKs exit from the union.
hit 52-week high of Rs 90.40 on BSE in intra-day trade on back of heavy volumes, after the company said it is in discussion with banks for arriving at long terms solution for the debt but nothing is finalised so far.
When a stock exchange delists companies, it is not exactly good news for investors holding shares of these firms because there is little hope that they will get some value for their holdings.
Shares of dipped 3% to Rs 1,242, its fresh 32-month low on BSE in intra-day trade, on reported that US health regulator issued eight observations for its Aurangabad plant. The stock is currently trading at its lowest level since August 26, 2014.
At least 50 people, including children, were on Tuesday injured in twin explosions outside a shopping mall in Thailand's Pattani.

According to media reports, the first explosion was a bomb planted in a motorcycle while the other was a car bomb. The attack was a latest by Muslim separatists in the south of the predominantly Buddhist country.

A decade-old separatist insurgency in the largely ethnic Malay Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has killed more than 6,500 people since 2004, according to independent monitoring group Deep South Watch.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A former employee of Kingfisher Airlines on Tuesday appealed to courts in Britain to declare Businessman Vijay Mallya guilty. "After the Supreme Court's directions now even the UK government should announce the judgment against Vijay Mallya," former Kingfisher Airlines employee Neetu Shukla told ANI.

Expressing her delight over the apex court's decision, she said, "Even though it seems the government is not fighting for the common man but at least the Supreme Court has acted".

She further asserted that being a member of parliament; he should uphold the directive of the apex court and, if he evades this as well, it will be an extreme insult of the Indian judicial system.

The apex court on Tuesday found Vijay guilty of contempt of court and asked him to make a personal appearance in court on July 10.

The apex court was hearing a plea by a consortium of banks, which moved the apex court after Mallya received USD 40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February 2016 and allegedly transferred the money to his children, instead of repaying loans that he owes to the banks.

The absconding businessman was arrested by Scotland Yard last month for fraud, which triggered his extradition process. Mallya is out on bail after assuring the court about abiding all conditions related to extradition proceedings, including surrendering his passport.

Despite the extradition treaty signed in 1992 between India and the UK, only one successful extradition has taken place, that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October 2016 to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition is in progress.

Mallya, reportedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks. He fled India in March 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The creator of 'GI Joe' and co-creator of 'Thundercats,' Stanley Weston has died at age 84.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stanley Weston, inventor of the G.I. Joe action figure, died on May 1 in Los Angeles.

His daughter, Cindy Winebaum, announced his death.

Weston was born in Brooklyn in 1933 and served in the army shortly after the Korean War ended.

He found a job with the advertising agency McCann Erickson and enrolled in night courses for an MBA at New York University, where he had studied as an undergraduate.

When Mattel's Barbie dolls were introduced in 1960, Weston realized boys were an untapped market for the doll industry after noting that many of them played with Ken dolls.

He conceived of the idea of a military action figure and in 1963 sold what would become 'G.I. Joe' to Hasbro.

In 1989, he was among the inaugural class for the Licensing Industry Hall of Fame, which includes notables Walt Disney, George Lucas and Jim Henson.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday said that Gandhian Anna Hazare's criticism of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is based on media reports and he is not aware of the facts.

Eminent lawyer and AAP leader H. S. Phoolka told ANI that Hazare has made his 'opinion' about Kejriwal and AAP from the media reports as "he is not aware about the facts'

"Hazare has made his opinion based on the media reports because he doesn't know the facts. Once he is aware of the facts, then I am sure that he would also change his opinion," said Phoolka.

After his historic anti-corruption movement in 2011 at Jantar- Mantar in Delhi, Hazare had advised Kejriwal not to enter into politics.

But defying his Guru's advice, Kejriwal launched the AAP on November 26, 2012 promising to give people an honest, transparent and different kind of politics.

Hazare clearly told Kejriwal and the AAP not to use his name and photo for his new political party.

Initially, Hazare used to be soft on Kejriwal whenever he was asked about his opinion Kejriwal and the AAP.

But when ministers of the AAP Government started losing their ministerial births due to controversies, Hazare too started criticising Kejriwal openly.

In the recent past, Hazare censured Kejriwal after the AAP's routing in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.

"Kejriwal has lost credibility," said Hazare.

He said the voters of Delhi taught lesson to the AAP because instead of focusing on governance in Delhi, Kejriwal became over ambitious and fought elections in Punjab, Goa and Gujarat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed Indian Kulbhushan Jadhav's hanging in Pakistan, External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj said she spoke to former Indian naval officer's mother about the ICJ's order.

Tweeting about the development, Swaraj informed that senior advocate Harish Salve was representing India before the International Court of Justice in the case.

"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court," she tweeted.

"Mr.Harish Salve, Senior Advocate is representing India before International Court of Justice in the #KulbhushanJadhav case," she said in a series of tweet.

The development came after an appeal from India, which accused Pakistan of "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention" and sought a stay on Jadhav's death sentence.

Pakistan had claimed that Jadhav was arrested from the Balochistan province last year.

A military court sentenced him to death, alleging he was involved in espionage and anti- activities.

This led to an outrage in India and other countries which criticised Pakistan for sentencing Jadhav to death with formally informing India.

India outrightly denied the claims saying he was kidnapped from Iran where he was running a business, and adding he was a retired Navy officer.

Pakistan has turned down 16 requests from India for consular access to Jadhav.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a major development, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has put a stay on the death sentence given by Pakistan to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The development came after an appeal from India, which accused Pakistan of "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention" and sought a stay on Jadhav's death sentence.

Pakistan had claimed that Jadhav was arrested from the Baluchistan province last year.

A military court sentenced him to death, alleging he was involved in espionage and anti- activities.

This led to an outrage in India and other countries which criticised Pakistan for sentencing Jadhav to death with formally informing India.

India outrightly denied the claims saying he was kidnapped from Iran where he was running a business, adding he was a retired Navy officer.

Pakistan has turned down 16 requests from India for consular access to Jadhav.

A letter has been sent to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in this regard by the ICJ.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two minesweepers of the Indian Navy--INS Karwar and INS Kakinada were bid adieu at a solemn ceremony in Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on Tuesday evening.

Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, the Chief of the Naval Staff, who was the second Commanding Officer of Kakinada, was the Chief Guest for the occasion.

INS Karwar (M67) was the first of the 'Natya' class minesweepers acquired from the erstwhile USSR.

She was commissioned on July 14, 1986 at Riga (Russia) under the command of Commander R.K. Sinha.

The ship operated from Vishakhapatnam till 2013 after which she was based at Mumbai.

Manned by a crew of six officers and 90 sailors, INS Karwar has stood proud by her motto "Hamesha Tayyar" even as the last Commanding Officer Commander Kaushik Dhar saluted the naval ensign for the last time today.

INS Kakinada (M70) was the second of the class and also commissioned at Riga on December 23, 1986.

Like her sister ship, Kakinada also operated from Vishakhapatnam till 2013 before shifting base port to Mumbai.

Her first Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Satish Soni, rose to the rank of Vice Admiral and retired as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Easter Naval Command in 2016.

Cdr Amarjit Singh Yumnam, the last Commanding Officer, and her "Better Than the Best" crew bid an emotional farewell to INS Kakinada.

Both ships have rendered over 30 years of stellar service to the nation.

The ships have undertaken countless minesweeping missions using both, the older mechanical sweeps as well as the modern Side-scan SONARS.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In what can be termed as a major relief to India, the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has put a stay on the death sentence given by Pakistan to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The development came after India instituted proceedings against Pakistan, accusing the latter of "egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations" in the matter of detention and trial of Jadhav, and sought a stay on Jadhav's death sentence.

India on Monday contended that it was not informed of Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights, an official release from the ICJ said.

India further alleged that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the authorities of Pakistan were denying it its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite its repeated requests. It's also pointed out that it learned about the "death sentence against Jadhav from a press release."

India submitted that it had information that Jadhav was "kidnapped from Iran, where he was carrying on business after retiring from the Indian Navy, and was then shown to have been arrested in Baluchistan" on March 3, 2016, and that the Indian authorities were notified of that arrest on March 25, 2016.

India also asked the ICJ to declare the decision illegal being violative of international law and treaty rights and restrain Pakistan from acting in violation of the Vienna Convention and international law by giving effect to the sentence or the conviction in any manner, and directing it to release the convicted Indian forthwith, if Pakistan is unable to annul the decision.

Pakistan had claimed that Jadhav was arrested from the Baluchistan province last year. A military court sentenced him to death, alleging he was involved in espionage and anti- activities. Pakistan also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."

This led to an outrage in India and other countries, which criticised Pakistan for sentencing Jadhav to death with formally informing New Delhi.

India outrightly denied the claims, saying Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was running a business, and adding he was a retired Navy officer.

Pakistan has turned down 16 requests from India for consular access to Jadhav.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and urged him to address the Kashmir issue politically.

The meeting lasted for over half-an-hour. Abdullah briefed the Prime Minister on the growing unrest in the Kashmir Valley.

It was the first meeting between the two after Abdullah was elected to Parliament recently.

Abdullah urged the Prime Minister not to treat the Kashmir issue as a mere law and order problem.

He later briefed Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on the issue as well.

"Our main issue is Kashmir. We discussed that how we can make Jammu and Kashmir a heaven again. For that, we are trying hard so that we can bring back harmony," Abdullah told ANI.

Yechury said there is a need to put an end to Kashmir's problems.

"We will discuss on how to take steps that would benefit in future. We all have to work together to solve this issue," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Commenting on the ongoing political turmoil in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress on Tuesday said that the turbulent development indicated the demolition of the ideas propounded by the party, while calling for a detailed enquiry into the allegations made by party MLA Kapil Mishra against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"I think this is much larger issue than merely an issue of individual personality. The allegations are extremely serious. It means a demolition and destruction of all the ideas and representation propounded by the AAP. It is not a common allegation," Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told ANI.

Demanding a detailed enquiry into the Mishra's allegations, Singhvi said that the entire fiasco will leave people of Delhi disillusioned.

After being suspended from the party's primary membership, Mishra earlier in the day issued an open letter to Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal while challenging him to contest open elections.

Asserting that Kejriwal once used to be his 'guru', Mishra said that he was going to lodge FIRs against the one who taught him as to how to fight against corruption.

"I am releasing an open letter for Kejriwal. I am going to file FIRs against the person from whom I have learnt to fight against corruption and to take a stand for the truth. He used to be my 'guru' and today I am fighting against him. This is very painful for me but I can't keep quiet. From whom I have learnt these things, today I want his blessings for the victory in this war against corruption. I will file FIR against you and I am apologizing for the same," Mishra said.

He further said that he was sacked from the state cabinet minister post because he wrote a letter to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).

"If I had not written letter to the ACB then he would have not sacked me as state cabinet minister. I have many evidences against Kejriwal. I know Kejriwal will try to give clarification on all the allegations made by me in the Delhi Assembly today and also brand me liar and corrupt. I know his every tactics. I am taking every next step very cautiously," he added.

Asserting that Kejriwal is planning to remove him as member of legislative assembly, he said the decision would not affect him adding he is ready give resignation.

"I am ready to give resignation. I am all alone in this fight and ready to sacrifice everything. But I would like to say that if you have a morality then accept my challenge and contest elections from either of our seats. Do you have the courage to face the people's mandate? If you have a fear of losing seat then contest the election without giving resignation. I am waiting for your reply," he added.

Earlier in the day, Mishra said that he would also go to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office at 11:30 am.

Mishra will also slap Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with multiple FIRs today.

Venting out his ire against Kejriwal on social media, Mishra in a series of tweet had said that he would lodge multiple FIRs against him in different cases.

Taking to Twitter, the AAP MLA said that he would file the first FIR in connection with cash deal between Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Kejriwal, while the second one would be on illegal land deals between the duo.

Mishra is also mulling to file third FIR against AAP leaders Satyendar Jain, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chaddha, Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak for using illegal money for foreign tours.

Responding to Kejriwal's tweets where he claimed that truth would win and everything would be clarified in the Delhi Assembly special session , Mishra said that he have to face the probe.

Mishra further said he has received 150 complaints on his newly launched mail ID, letscleanaap@gmail.com from AAP volunteers.

Earlier, the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the AAP suspended Mishra from the party's primary membership.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday castigated Pakistan for its unprovoked aggression along the Line of Control (LoC) recently.

Addressing a gathering here, Rajnath said that Islamabad was not changing its devilments despite India's repeated efforts for cordial relationships with Pakistan.

"Considering Pakistan as neighbour, we tried many a times to develop good relations with it, but Pakistan has not stopped its devilments," said Rajnath.

This was Rajnath's second warning to Pakistan on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the Home Minister had advised Pakistan to read India's 2016 surgical strike's message.

Addressing a function in Pali, Rajasthan, Rajnath said that 2016 surgical strike was a message to Pakistan that if need arises India can anytime cross the border.

Rajnath said Indian Border Security Force (BSF) had his standing orders to give a befitting reply to Pakistan if it shows any type of aggression.

"There is my standing order to the Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) that first bullet shouldn't be fired from our side but if Pakistan fires bullet then bullets fired from our side shouldn't be counted," said Singh.

The Home Minister's warnings come in the backdrop of recent ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

On May 1, Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) with the help of Pakistan Army killed two soldiers- Army subedar Paramjit Singh and Border Security Force (BSF) head constable Prem Sagar- and later mutilated their bodies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As many as 25 leaders from the Muslim Community, under the umbrella of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.

Welcoming the delegation, Security Advisor Ajit Doval said that the whole world is looking at India today and it is the responsibility of all segments of Indian society to take the nation forward.

Leaders from the delegation agreed with Doval. They said that the objective should be to take the country forward, together, following the Prime Minister's call of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

Praising the Prime Minister's vision, members of the delegation expressed hope that the nationwide trust that he has among the people, will ensure prosperity and well-being of all segments of society.

They said that the Muslim community is keen to be an equal partner in the making of New India.

Noting that terrorism is a major challenge, they expressed a common resolve to combat it with all their might.

They added that it is the Muslim community's responsibility that under no circumstances should anyone compromise the nation's security or well-being.

They said that the Muslim community would never allow any conspiracy against India to succeed.

Expressing concern at the situation in Kashmir valley, members of the delegation said that only Prime Minister Modi can resolve the issue.

"His (Prime Minister Modi) attitude on all issues was reasonable and satisfactory. We are leaving with lot of hopes," Maulana M Madani said.

They appreciated the Prime Minister's stand on the issue of Triple Talaq.

Members of the delegation, who are associated with educational institutions also mentioned the progress made by their institutions in government initiatives such as cashless transactions, start-ups, and the Hackathon recently organized by NITI Aayog.

The delegation also appreciated the implementation of minority welfare schemes under the Union Government.

Welcoming the members of the delegation, the Prime Minister said that democracy's greatest strength is harmony and amity.

Emphasizing that the government does not have any right to discriminate among citizens, the Prime Minister said that India's speciality has been its unity in diversity.

He said that the new generation in India must not be allowed to fall victim to the rising global tide of extremism.

On Triple Talaq, the Prime Minister reiterated that the Muslim community should not allow this issue to be politicized and urged the assembled gathering to take the responsibility for initiating reform in this regard.

The members of the delegation included Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman Mansurpuri - President of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind; Maulana Mahmood A Madani - General Secretary of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind; Dr. Zahir I Kazi, President - Anjuman-i-Islam, Mumbai; Prof Akhtarul Wasey; and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The authorities allegedly forcing a girl to remove the button of her jeans and another to remove her bra in a bid to 'stop cheating and irregularities' in one of the centres where the Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) exam was conducted in Kerala has invited the ire of many politicians across the country.

The social activists and politicians have demanded for an investigation against the officials who committed the aforementioned.

Congress leader Sangeeta Sharma said, "Such kind of investigation during examination especially with girls is very wrong. If such kind of investigation is needed, then it should be conducted only by women. I condemn such things. This is very shameful for whole country and to all the women. If such kind of checking during examination starts to happen, then for sure women will start stop giving exams."

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V.V. Rajesh said, "It is reported that some unfortunate things happened yesterday with candidates, who appeared for the NEET exam. I think the investigation has already been started to find out the actual culprits and stringent action will be taken against the person who has directed the invigilators to remove the clothes of the candidates. It is unfortunate and the BJP's stand is very clear on this."

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja told ANI, "This is a very shameful thing. There needs to be a proper investigation against the person who has given such instructions. Instead of having metal detector at the venue, the children were asked to take off their clothes; their clothes were torn off. Those involved in this must be given punishment."

Earlier on Sunday, the authorities allegedly forced a girl to remove the button of her jeans which was metallic. Another 17-year-old student was forced to remove her bra as a part of stringent measures to "stop cheating and irregularities" in the medical entrance examination.

Many students faced the same issue. In one of the reported cases, the sleeves of their clothes were also torn off, citing it was against the issued norms.

The incident has triggered a controversy in the state and the state human rights commission said it would look into the issue.
Imran Khan led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intends to file a petition with the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for taking bribe money from slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to finance the jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said he would file within the ongoing week a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Prime Minister Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", reports the Express Tribune.

The PTI intends to approach the apex court based on some interviews and excerpts from a book titled Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman.

The book was written by Shamama Khalid, the widow of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was murdered by the Pakistani Taliban in 2010.

The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took a total of Rs.1.5 billion from Bin Laden to promote jihad in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan.

They also claim that later an amount of Rs.270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1989.

Last week, the PTI also announced that it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case against Sharif.

The case determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Chaudhry said the two cases would be filed during the ongoing week, and that he would represent his party in both.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lambasting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over corruption charges, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on Tuesday said the people have now witnessed both right and wrong.

"The people have now witnessed both right and wrong. It will be revealed in the future. But it is very much necessary to have proof before blaming someone. It was wrong that I was blamed without testimony," Vadra told reporters.

Vadra, who has been at the receiving end of Kejriwal's accusations of dubious land deals, took a dig on the Delhi Chief Minister through his Facebook post.

"From inception in 2010, the people who threw baseless, false accusations at me are now having to face a similar plight. That too from an insider who claims to have substantial proof," Vadra said.

"Well, I've borne so many false accusations from various politicians, mostly to gain publicity for themselves or divert the public mind from important issues that I'd like to see how this one plays out. Had been on the receiving end, of a political and media campaign to malign me," he added.

Vadra wished Kejriwal to come out clean in the matter for the sake of people of Delhi who trusted the AAP leader by giving him an enormous majority to lead.

"I sincerely wish Mr. Kejriwal all the best. I hope he comes out clean for the sake of the people who believed in him. Also for the respect of his immediately family, especially the children, for whom such trials by media, of those they love and look up to are painful and sad," Vadra said.

Nearly five years ago, Kejriwal was among the first ones to have accused Vadra of benefiting from land deals made in Haryana when the Congress was in power for 10 years.

The deals were held up by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during poll campaigns for years as proof of massive corruption on Congress watch.

Vadra has consistently rejected the allegations that were inquired into by a commission set up by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana.

Last month, wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra issued a statement that her finances were separate from those of her husband and his company.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After the Supreme Court found liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt and summoned him to personally appear on July 10, lawyer representing SBI consortium, Soumik Ghoshal on Tuesday said that if Mallya is not able to give reasons for the contempt of court then he will be punished.

"This is not a conviction but there is definitely an order which holds him in contempt. The problem that he has faced with currently is that he has not made full and proper disclosure of his total assets. There is an expectation that if Vijay Mallya is not able to give reasons for the contempt of court then he will be punished," Ghoshal told ANI.

He added that Mallya did not mention anywhere about the amount he got for getting removed from United Breweries.

"He will be present in court and he will have to face questions by the court on why he should not be held for contempt. I think he should be punished. My expectation is that he will have to face the punishment under the contempt of court act," he said.

Ghoshal further said that it was a high time that an order was passed against him.

"He received a certain amount of $40 million from that company which has not been disclosed before the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court. That's why he has been held guilty of contempt," he added.

In a yet another jolt to Mallya, the Supreme Court today found the liquor baron guilty of contempt of court and summoned him to personally appear on July 10.

The apex court was hearing a plea by a consortium of banks, who moved the apex court after Mallya received $40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February 2016 and allegedly transferred the money to his children, instead of repaying loans that he owes to the banks.

The absconding businessman was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on fraud allegations, which triggered his extradition process in the British courts.

However, Mallya was released on bail as he assured the court to abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, including surrendering his passport.

Despite the extradition treaty signed in 1992 between India and the UK, only one successful extradition has taken place - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India in October 2016 to face trial over his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002, the report says.

Last February, India gave a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale.

Meanwhile, a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London on Tuesday.

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him.

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.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If people of faith want to reduce global poverty, they must begin by accurately measuring the problem. But a well-publicized report on international poverty distorts the problem and promotes solutions that would leave the worlds poorest people worse off, according to two free market experts.

Every year, Oxfam releases a report on global wealth inequality to further the agenda of the World Economic Forum. This years entry, titled An economy for the 99 percent, was released with the headline: Just 8 men own the same wealth as half the world.

The groups executive director, Winnie Byanyima, said, It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when one-in-10 people survive on less than $2 a day. But Philip Booth and Ben Southwood of the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), based in London, point out that there are significant problems with the report.

First, its method of measuring wealth (not income) is misleading. Those at the bottom of the net wealth distribution include, for example, recent Harvard graduates with high levels of student debt and yet huge earning potential: they are supposed to be amongst the poorest people in the world, Booth and Southwood write. Not that long ago, that would have included the Obamas, no ones idea of the dispossessed and powerless.

Second, the report does not take into account lifes natural fluctuations. A lot of people in the world have little or no net wealth, Booth and Southwood note.

People accumulate wealth over the course of their life cycle, and even the better-off in this country do not tend to accumulate significant net wealth before their 30s. So if you consider that the global median age is about 28 years, it is hardly surprising that a huge proportion of the worlds population does not own any wealth.

Their conclusions reiterate the findings of a recent report from Canadas Fraser Institute, which details how different stages of life bring different average earnings. Assets usually increase throughout ones working years, until they are drawn down during retirement.

Oxfam recommends that Davos attendees pursue the global redistribution of wealth. Byanyima encourages politicians to stop obsessing with GDP growth, and the report recommends governments increase the amount of progressive tax.

But crushing poverty has fallen, thanks in large part to the free market, Booth and Southwood write. Globally, extreme poverty has fallen from 44 percent in 1980 to around 10 percent today. One could call as the first witness Oxfam itself, which stated recently, The growth generated by private actors has contributed to an unprecedented reduction in poverty around the world in recent decades.

The IEA cites examples from South Korea and Kenya to India and China. In Vietnam, income per capita rose from $100 a year to $2,000 after the country took measures to liberalize its economy 31 years ago. China saw the same measure increase from $193 in 1980 to $6,807 in 2014. This is not due to redistribution, the authors write; it is due to trade and the liberalisation of some markets.

Growing global wealth produces innovative products and services that serve the worlds poorest. For instance, Frank McCoster notes at The Conservative Online that internet connectivity is transforming the way Africans access vital services like electricity.

And as French President-elect Emmanuel Macron, the former economy minister of a socialist administration, said, We must first produce in order to be able to distribute. The richest 0.003 percent of the worlds population, those with a net worth of at least $240 million, donates $25 million to charity during his life.

People of faith who care about feeding the world should embrace policies that stimulate the growth of wealth, the structures that allow flourishing in the developing world, and the religious and philanthropic worldviews that encourage us to become our brothers keeper.

You can read Booth and Southwoods article in the Spring 2017 issue of the IEAs Economic Affairs.

(Photo credit: Giorgio Minguzzi. CC BY-SA 2.0.)
Urging liquor baron Vijay Mallya to end his game of 'ducks and drakes' with the Supreme Court, former attorney general Soli Sorabjee on Tuesday said non-compliance with the court's orders could prima facie be declared as contempt of court.

"Instead of giving a statement from London, Mallya must present himself before the SC and clarify the matter. Failing to do so would give a very wrong message to the authorities in London," Sorabjee told ANI.

Furthermore, he said, compliance with the norms of the apex court would give him a fair trial.

"The SC is not a kangaroo court. Mallya will be given a chance to justify his acts. In fact, I would say, in this regard, the SC is being very fair in its judgement," said Sorabjee while defending the apex court.

Earlier in the day, the SC found the liquor baron guilty of contempt of court and summoned him to personally appear on July 10, 2017.

The apex court was hearing a plea by a consortium of banks, which moved the former after Mallya received USD 40 million from a British firm, Diageo Plc, in February 2016 and allegedly transferred the money to his children, instead of repaying loans that he owes to the banks.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016, and has been living in Britain since then.

The absconding businessman was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on fraud allegations, which triggered his extradition process in the British courts. However, Mallya was released on bail as he assured the court to abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, including surrendering his passport.

Last February, India gave a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale. Meanwhile, a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London on Tuesday.

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bengali film actor Vikram Chatterjee was on Tuesday summoned by the Kolkata Police over car accident that claimed model Sonika Chaihan's life.

"Let the police do its work. I am cooperating with the police," he told the media here.

Chatterjee was found inebriated while driving a car that led to the death of Sonika.

Chatterjee was booked by the police under Sections 304A (causing death due to negligence) and 279 (rash or negligent driving) of the Indian Penal Code.

Chatterjee said he was deeply sorry for Sonika's family's loss, adding that he was not driving in an inebriated state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Saharanpur Police on Tuesday assured that the wrongdoers, due to which clashes broke out between two communities, would be dealt with strongly.

Earlier in the day, the police dispersed the people of the Dalit community who had assembled in the Gandhi Park to hold their meeting.

"There was a mahapanchayat organised by a community which the police stopped. The dispersed crowd then created an atmosphere of violence and even put some vehicles on fire. Some people have been arrested and investigation is underway," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Subhash Chand Dubey told ANI.

On being dispersed, the angry crowd got many along with them and disrupted the traffic there, leading to traffic jam.

When the police arrived at the spot to control the situation, the crowd resorted to stone-pelting and even set many vehicles on fire.

The police also shot some rounds of fire in air but it did not affect the crowd.

The angry crowd even set a police station on fire, along with police vehicles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates has defended her decision earlier this year to not enforce United States President Donald Trump's first ban on travel from several majority-Muslim nations, dubbing the order as "unlawful."

"All arguments have to be based on truth," Yates said during testimony before a Senate panel.

"We're not just a law firm. We're the Department of Justice."

Yates appeared before the subcommittee on Monday to testify about alleged Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.

When Sen. John Cornyn said Yates' actions with regard to the executive order were "enormously disappointing" and accused her of undermining the powers of the President because she disagreed with Trump's order "as a policy matter," she said that her actions were not done "purely as a policy matter" and cited her confirmation hearing, where she was asked about enforcing actions she viewed as against the law.

"I made a determination that I believed that it was unlawful," Yates added.

"I also thought that it was inconsistent with the principles of the Department of Justice, and I said 'no.' And that's what I promised you I would do, and that's what I did."

Earlier, shortly after Trump issued his first travel ban, Yates had directed the Justice Department to not enforce it, following which Trump promptly fired her and appointed U.S. Attorney Dana Boente to take her place until the Senate confirmed Jeff Sessions to be the attorney general.

Yates was an Obama appointee whom Trump asked to stay on as the temporary head of the Justice Department.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With effect from 08 May 2017

GEE announced that Omkar Chandrakant Mhamunkar has resigned from the post of Company Secretary of the Company for personal reasons with effect from close of business hours of 08 May, 2017. Consequent to his resignation as Company Secretary, Omkar Mhamunkar also ceases to be the Compliance Officer of the Company.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
S Chand and Company will list on the secondary equity market today, 9 May 2017. The company priced the initial public offer (IPO) at Rs 670 per share, the top end of the Rs 660 - Rs 670 per share price band for the IPO. The IPO closed on 28 April 2017. It was subscribed 59.49 times, with total bids for 45.72 crore shares.

On a consolidated basis, Bharti Infratel's net profit fell 16.95% to Rs 596.60 crore on 13.20% increase in net sales to Rs 1605.30 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

ABB India's net profit rose 3.2% to Rs 88.17 crore on 8.4% increase in net sales to Rs 2146.04 crore in Q1 March 2017 over Q1 March 2016. The orders received in Q1 March 2017 was Rs 2342 crore. An order backlog of Rs 12023 crore, as on 31 March 2017, provides solid visibility for future revenue, the company said in a statement. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

Novartis India announced that Novartis AG (NVS AG) entered into an asset sale agreement with Torrent Pharmaceuticals, pursuant to which NVS AG has agreed to sell to Torrent Novartis brand (Regestrone) including the intellectual property rights residing in the related product dossier. The transaction was approved by the Competition Commission of India on 20 April 2017. Accordingly it may be noted that, effective 8 May 2017, Novartis India will cease to have the ability to market or otherwise use the brand in any manner whatsoever. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

Smartlink Network Systems said it has made an additional investment of Rs 1 crore in its wholly owned subsidiary Telesmart SCS. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

Eros International Media announced that it signed a significant television syndication deal with Zee, a leading Indian global television network, for a slate of its forthcoming releases this year, including Sarkar 3, Munna Michael and Shubh Mangal Savdhaan. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

The multi-film deal with Zee gives the channel syndication rights to the third installment of one of the most impactful franchises of Indian cinema, Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar 3 starring Amitabh Bachchan which will be released worldwide on 12 May 2017. Tiger Shroff and Sabbir Khan's action-packed musical Munna Michael which is scheduled for release on 21 July 2017 and a quirky romantic comedy Shubh Mangal Savdhaan by south director RS Prasanna, starring Ayushyamann Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar, set to be release on 1 September 2017.

Skipper said it has been certified by The Equipment and Materials Test Laboratory (LAPEM). The certification was completed post visit of LAPEM representatives to the company's manufacturing units for a rigorous audit of the manufacturing and quality processes. With this certification, Skipper now gets an entry into the highly potential Mexican Power Transmission market.

LAPEM is a Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) organization that provides specialized engineering studies, laboratory and field tests on equipment and materials, as well as quality management systems and supplies. CFE is owned by the Mexican Government which generates, distributes and markets electric power, for supplying Power Transmission & Distribution structures to the Mexican Market. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

G M Breweries turns ex-dividend today, 9 May 2017, for dividend of Rs 3 per share for the year ended 31 March 2017 (FY 2017).

GPT Infraprojects turns ex-dividend today, 9 May 2017, for interim dividend of Rs 1.50 per share for FY 2017.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Regional Economic Outlook, Asia and Pacific-IMF

On November 8, 2016, the Government of India withdrew the legal tender status of all existing 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes, effective the next day, in a bid to nullify black money hoarded in cash, address tax evasion, tackle counterfeiting, and curb financing of terrorism. The initiative affected notes with a total value of about 15 trillion rupees, which accounted for about 86 percent of all cash in circulation. At the time of the withdrawal, the introduction of a new series of 500 and 2,000 rupee banknotes was announced. However, the supply of new banknotes in the months following the initiative was insufficient, even as the authorities took multiple steps to ease the currency transition. While there was no limit on the amount of bank deposits for the phased-out bills, the scarcity of new banknotes prompted the government to suspend cash exchanges and impose tight caps on cash withdrawals by individuals as well as by corporations. As disruptions to payments arose, several temporary exemptions were granted to ease the cash crunch. These exemptions aimed at easing transactions in some public offices and for the farming sector, as well as making payments for public utility services and purchasing key primary products.

The key factor behind the short-term economic disruptions was the primarily cash-based nature of the Indian economy and its limited electronic payments infrastructure. At end-2015, currency in circulation in India stood at about 12 percent of GDP, one of the highest levels among countries covered by the Bank for International Settlements' Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure. Cash accounted for about threequarters of the narrow money base, as a large number of households (particularly in rural areas of India) rely on cash for everyday transactions. Numbers of bank branches and ATMs per capita are relatively low in India; few payment cards with a cash function exist; and the average number of transactions per Indian made with payments instruments in 2015 totaled 11 transactions.

The severity of the cash crunch, in conjunction with a slow pace of remonetization, led to a slowdown in economic activity. India's Purchasing Manager's Index for services, which also covers retail and wholesale trade, collapsed from 55 in October 2016 to 43 in November, 2016. The growth of credit to the nonfood private sector decelerated from 9 percent at end-October 2016 to a 10-year low of just 4 percent by end-December, 2016. The consumer goods component of the index of industrial production declined by about 7 percent in December 2016, with production of consumer durables falling by 10 percent. Domestic sales of motor vehicles declined by 20 percent in December 2016 compared to December 2015, with the largest drop taking place in India's mass-consumer-oriented segment of three-wheel and two-wheel passenger vehicles. Although the slowdown in industrial activity has been relatively muted, with overall industrial production falling by less than of 1 percent from the previous year, investment activity appears to have been severely affected. As per the data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy, the number of new investment projects announced during the October-December 2016 quarter was the lowest in over a decade, and their combined value was only about one-half of the average recorded during the previous two years. While the remonetization proceeded slowly over the first few months, about 75 percent of the pre-demonetization level of currency in circulation was restored by late March.

IMF staff analysis suggests that, compared to the October 2016 IMF World Economic Outlook forecasts, cash shortages are likely to slow FY2016/17 growth by about 4/5 of 1 percentage point and FY2017/18 growth by about of 1 percentage point. A decline in currency supply can be calibrated as a temporary tightening of monetary conditions, using previous money demand studies for India.1 The currency shortage associated with the currency exchange, assumed by the staff to gradually unwind through early 2017, corresponds to a substantial tightening of monetary conditions in the initial weeks of the initiative, which will ease as currency is replaced. Consequently, based on the IMF's India Quarterly Projection Model, GDP growth is expected to slow in the second half of FY2016/17, before gradually rebounding in the course of FY2017/18. An analysis of sectoral accounts that takes reliance on cash into account leads to similar estimates of growth for fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18. It is likely, however, that national accounts statistics, at least in the near term, may understate the economic impact of the cash crunch. Specifically, the impact on the informal economy and cash-based sectors, which are relatively large and have been affected the most by the cash crunch, is likely to be understated because these sectors are either not covered in the official statistics or are proxied by the formal sector activity indicators. Nonetheless, the economic repercussions from the currency withdrawal remain a key domestic risk in India, in part as the near-term adverse economic impact of accompanying cash shortages remains difficult to gauge.

Notwithstanding the near-term economic disruptions, the currency withdrawal and exchange initiative may help secure some long-term gains, particularly if complemented by reforms to strengthen India's formal economy and the financial system. The scope for medium-term gains could span several dimensions:

Fiscal gains- Bank deposits of large amounts (above US$4,000) were expected to attract high scrutiny from the Indian tax authorities and the information obtained as a result of income verification could lead to a durable impact on the tax revenue base. With only about 1 percent of the Indian population paying personal income taxes, the scope for broadening the tax base is clearly large. In principle, unreturned cash could also produce a one off revenue gain for the Reserve Bank of India that can enable an increased dividend transfer to the Government of India. Any such windfall revenue would need to be clearly established, should be only realized once, and should be absorbed prudently and preferably in a nonrecurring manner, for example through greater capital injections to public sector banks.

Banking sector liquidity-The increase in banking system liquidity as a result of the currency exchange initiative has been massive, and it can reduce banks' funding costs and thereby lead to a decline in bank lending rates. With a surge in bank deposits and waning demand for credit, the weighted average lending rate of banks on new loans declined by 56 basis points during November 2016 to January 2017. That said, even though the financial system is expected to weather the currency-exchange-induced temporary growth slowdown, the authorities should remain vigilant to risksin view of the potential further buildup of nonperforming loans, including among private banks and elevated corporate sector vulnerabilitiesand ensure prudent support to the affected economic sectors.

Digitalization and de-cashing-The demonetization initiative can be seen as a follow-up to Indian authorities' strong policy push toward greater financial inclusion. Over the past few years, 250 million previously unbanked Indians have been provided with a bank account, and more efficient customer identification is now in place, including with the rollout of a unique identification number (Aadhaar) and the adoption of know-your-customer technologies. More recently, an important technological milestone was the rollout of the Unified Payment Interface, which is an instant virtual fund that transfers service between two bank accounts using a mobile platform that was accompanied by the roll out of e-payment and point of-sale technologies. While the push for greater digitalization of the economy and the financial system is logical, large gaps in consumer access to digital technologies remain. For example, about 350 million Indians do not yet have cell phones, and only 250 million people own smartphones.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar's offer to the Union Government to hand over the 1948 made Douglas DC3 'Dakota' Aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) that will arrive in India shortly, is now getting all the mandatory clearances.

Speaking to IANS, the businessman-turned-lawmaker said the aircraft was currently in London.

"Since it is a long haul flight and has to fly over 11 countries, one has to get sanction from all these countries, for which we have applied for. I expect the aircraft to arrive in the country in the coming months and wish to officially hand it over on Vijay Diwas," Chandrasekhar said.

Incidentally, he first made this offer to the UPA Government, but failed to get a positive response and it was only last year that a green signal came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

After buying this aircraft from Ireland in 2009, he has now made the aircraft airworthy in London, where it is waiting to begin its flight to India.

--IANS

sg/sku/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A joint forum of seven northern states will on Friday discuss at the 28th Northern Zonal Council meeting in Chandigarh issues related to health, social welfare and security.

The meeting will be chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Chief Ministers of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Delhi and the administrator of the Union territory of Chandigarh are expected to attend it.

Issues of common interest like infrastructure, health, security, social welfare, linguistic minorities and border disputes are likely to be taken up in the meeting.

The 27th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council was held in New Delhi on April 25, 2015.

A meeting of the Standing Committee of the Northern Zonal Council was held on May 26, 2016 in Srinagar to scrutinise the agenda for the upcoming meeting.

As many as 35 agendas were taken up in the Srinagar meeting, out of which 28 issues were resolved at the level of the Standing Committee.

Five zonal councils -- central, western, northern, southern and eastern -- have been established under the State Reorganisation Act, 1956. Each zone has its council comprising the Chief Minister, two ministers and the Chief Secretary of each state.

The zonal councils provide a forum where problems between the Centre and states and amongst the states themselves can be resolved through free and frank discussion and consultations.

These being advisory bodies, there is full scope for free exchange of views at their meetings.

--IANS

rak/ahm/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday announced he is ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart peace talks with the support of US President Donald Trump.

Abbas made the remarks during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Palestinian leader told reporters he reiterated to Trump during their meeting in Washington last week his readiness to cooperate and meet Netanyahu under the US President's sponsorship for peace making.

Abbas said he is looking forward to meeting Trump during his scheduled visit to the region on May 22. The two leaders are expected to hold a meeting in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on May 23.

German President Steinmeier expressed his support for the Palestinian state and its institutions and acknowledged the need to improve the lives of Palestinians in West Bank.

Steinmeier advocated the two-state solution as the "only solution" in negotiations between Israel and Palestine and highlighted Trump's initial contacts with both leaders.

Besides visiting Israel and Palestine in his first foreign tour as President, Trump will also travel to Vatican City and Saudi Arabia.

--IANS

soni/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Power of Packing

Tuscaloosa--[May 8, 2017] -- Safari Club of Stillman College has partnered with nonprofit organization, Pack for a Purpose, to provide educational and medical supplies to residents of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Pack for a Purpose encourages travelers visiting various places to reserve as little as five pounds of space in their luggage for items needed in schools and clinics close to their destination. On May 15, Stillman students, faculty and alumni journeying to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana are setting aside space in their luggage for needed school and medical supplies.

"Donating supplies is something simple each of us can do," said Dr. Askhari Johnson Hodari, one of Safari's advisors. "With our first trip to Africa, we are establishing a tradition of voluntourism and demonstrating the power of packing. We can easily make space in our luggage for batteries, mosquito nets, Band-Aids, and markers." Hodari goes on to say, "we will be flying seventeen hours each way and will be away for fourteen days, but we will leave meaningful materials that last longer."

Stillman president, Dr. Cynthia Warrick encourages donations, "At Stillman, we teach our young Americans as they travel the world, it is important we anticipate and make gestures to demonstrate thoughtfulness and consideration. Bringing small tokens and gifts is one way to overcome stereotypes about Americans. We often forget that many people in the world lack small items Americans regularly take for granted." Stillman's 2017 Commencement speaker, Melissa Bishop-Murphy echoes the sentiments of Dr. Warrick, "As a Stillman alum, I am excited about participating in the Pack for a Purpose mission. Service for the common good is at the core of Stillman's values and I look forward to continuing this tradition."

According to Pack for a Purpose founder, Rebecca Rothney, "Leaving one pair of shoes at home lets you bring 150 pencils or four solar calculators. Five pounds equals a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff and 500 Band-Aids ... or 400 pencils. Five pounds can make a big impact to a community."

Lokuthula Lodges, one of the hotels housing Safari Club members will facilitate donations by delivering supplies directly to educational and medical facilities. Stillman faculty, staff, students and alumni have already begun making donations to Safari Club.

Donations of materials to take to South Africa and Zimbabwe may be made in person at Stillman. Financial donations may be mailed to Stillman College c/o Safari Club. A list of requested supplies for projects can be found at: https://www.packforapurpose.org/destinations/africa/zimbabwe/lokuthula-lodges/



# # #

About Safari Club:

The Safari Club is a Tuscaloosa based travel club bringing together students, staff, faculty and alumni who share a passion for traveling. Safari gives the Stillman community opportunities to learn about global cultures, the world in which we live and make new friends all over the world. For more information about Safari, please send electronic mail to: safari@stillman.edu

About Pack for a Purpose:

Pack for a Purpose has delivered more than 169,400 pounds of items worldwide. Pack for a Purpose is a Raleigh, NC, based nonprofit that supports over 500 community-based programs in 60 countries. Travelers use their luggage to take school, medical and other supplies to the communities they visit. For more information about travel locations, lists of needed supplies and ways to get involved, visit www.packforapurpose.org
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that triple talaq was a violation of the Indian Constitution and that the rights of women cannot be violated in the name of personal law.

The verdict drew a sharp reaction from Muslim religious leaders who said the matter was part of religious law and courts could not intervene in it.

The court's ruling came as it heard a case filed by a Muslim woman from Varanasi, with regard to harassment for dowry followed by a triple talaq by her husband Aqeel Jameel.

A single judge bench of Justice S.P. Kesarwani also refused to quash the dowry case as demanded by Jameel, who contended that he has divorced his wife and also procured a 'fatwa' in this regard by the Darul Ifta Jama Masjid in Agra.

The court also ruled that the summon ordered to the husband by the Varanasi Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate was valid on the grounds, that prima facie the case was a criminal one as any fatwa did not enjoy the backing of law or have a legal sanctity.

No personal law is above the Constitution and triple talaq was a violation of the fundamental rights given to citizens under the Constitution's Articles 14, 15 and 21, the court said. The court also said that any fatwa that is against law cannot be accepted.

Reacting to the judgment, senior Muslim scholar Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali told IANS that the matter was within the shariat rules and laws of Islam and nobody had the right to interpret it in their own way.

"The matter is of personal belief and if the courts feel that this breaches the constitution it should do way with the provisions enshrined in the constitution which allows us to follow personal law in such matters," he added.

Accusing "institutions" of "targeting the Muslim community by raking up such non-issues", he instead called on the court to rather focus on clearing the piling up cases of divorce in the courts across the country.

They should try and resolve divorce cases by holding day to day hearings rather than pointing fingers and interfering in our matters, he said.

Wali Farooqui, another senior voice in the Muslim community, said that the matter of triple talaaq was "khalis mazhabi masla (a purely religious matter" which needed no meddling by anyone.

Charging the people raking up the matter with wanting to intimidate the minority community, he also urged the courts to at least tell what should be the process if the husband and wife want to separate.

Anuraag Awasthi, a legal expert, however said that the High Court was within its rights to pass the ruling. "It is strange that while the Muslims do not follow shariat in criminal matters, they take recourse to it in civil matters," he said.

--IANS

md/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced last month that he will be abolishing the existing 457 Visa programme, currently used by temporary foreign workers to gain employment, the country's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said on Tuesday that she did not expect the move to affect Indians much.

Speaking at a media interaction organised by the Indian Women's Press Corps here, Sidhu said the move to abolish the 457 Visa programme was aimed to ensure that people who come to Australia should be properly qualified.

The 457 Visa programme is used mainly to hire foreign workers in the restaurant, IT and medical industries and the majority of such visa holders came from India, Britain and China. Turnbull's statement, coming days after he visited New Delhi, caused a lot of consternation in India.

According to government statistics, 95,758 people were living in Australia under 457 Visa programme last year, with the highest proportion coming from India (24.6 per cent), followed by Britain (19.5 per cent) and China (5.8 per cent).

Sidhu said that most of the Indian 457 Visa holders work in the IT sector and, given the "great shortage" of IT workers in her country, "we expect Indians to continue to qualify" for Australian visas.

"This (457 Visa) is just a temporary visa that allowed people to come and work for a week to four years," she said.

She said that the number of student visas issued to Indians has also continued to rise over the last three years.

From 46,000 student visas issued in 2014, the number rose to 53,000 in 2015 and to over 60,000 in 2017, the High Commissioner said.

As for incidents of racism in Australia, Sidhu, who is a person of Indian origin, said that Australia was "one of the most successful multicultural societies" with people from 120 countries.

"There is a policy of zero tolerance at all levels of government (on racism)," she said.

In this connection, she also pointed out that 48 per cent of Australia's total population of 24 million are first and second generation migrants.

As for India-Australia ties, the High Commissioner said that both countries shared "a fairly strong bilateral relationship".

She said that during Prime Minister Turnbull's visit to India last month, he and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed to "add fresh momentum" to the bilateral ties.

Stating that both countries shared common strategic and security interests, Sidhu said that military ties were growing in numbers, "notably bilateral naval exercises".

She also said that both countries shared a "strong economic relationship" while mentioning that Modi and Turnbull have agreed to "move forward" on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

Later this year, the largest ever Australian trade delegation will visit India for the Australia Trade Week.

According to the High Commissioner, the personal relationship between Modi and Turbull is very important for growth of businesses in both countries.

--IANS

ab/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP on Tuesday apprised the Election Commission of irregularities in the donation records of AAP and demanded the Delhi's ruling party be "derecognised".

"We have submitted a complaint letter regarding irregularities in the donation records of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Election Commission," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi President Manoj Tiwari, who led the delegation, told reporters.

"We have requested the EC to order a thorough inquiry into the matter, as prima facie it is a clear case of violation of the Representation of People Act 1951 and Election Symbol (Allotment and Reservation) Order 1968.

"If the irregularities get established against them, the recognition of AAP should be withdrawn by the EC," he added.

Earlier in the day, Tiwari accused the AAP and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of lying to the poll panel by not revealing the exact amount of funds it received through donations.

"Kejriwal and his party have lied to that institution, which acts as a watchdog for political parties," Tiwari said at a press conference.

Citing a news report by CNN-News18 channel, he said: "CNN-News18 in its report showed discrepancies in the donations that AAP received. We also probed and were shocked to find the details.

"We were shocked that the AAP lied not only to the Income Tax department but also to the Election Commission."

"The AAP in its affidavit to the Income Tax (IT) department in 2013-14 said that it received Rs 50.64 crore donation, while on its website it disclosed that it received Rs 19.82 crore," Tiwari, who also represents the northeast parliamentary constituency of Delhi, said.

"They informed the Election Commission that they received only Rs 6 crore donation in 2013-14," he alleged.

"Was it the money which (sacked Delhi Minister) Kapil Mishra saw you (Kejriwal) receiving from (Health Minister) Satyendar Jain?" Tiwari asked.

"They again lied in 2014-15, as in their affidavit to IT department they claimed that they only received Rs 65.52 crore as donation, while on their website it was mentioned that they received Rs 27.48 crore.

"Where did the rest of Rs 40 crore go? Is it the same money which is being converted into white?" he asked, terming the AAP a "gang of fraudsters", where if anyone raising his voice is ousted from the party.

Tiwari also accused the AAP government of betraying the people of Delhi who voted for a corruption-free government.

"People of Delhi voted for a corruption-free government, but what did they get in return -- betrayal, corruption, loot, lies, hawala and bribery," he said.

--IANS

aks/bns/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese authorities arrested 12 people on suspicion of using a live-streaming mobile app to spread pornography, police said on Tuesday.

As part of the "Clean Internet 2017" campaign, China has increased efforts to address online pornography, Xinhua quoted the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications as saying.

--IANS

ksk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A three-year-old Afghan boy got a new lease of life as doctors at a hospital here removed a 750-gram tumour from his chest in a six-hour surgery on Tuesday.

According to the doctors, the tumour had covered the entire right lung of Muzamil and started affecting other vital organs such as heart and blood vessels.

"This was a very unique case. The tumour was so big that it covered the entire right lung and was connected to the vertebra of the back and ribs of the lungs," Vipendra Sabarwal, Director of Jeewan Hospital, told IANS.

His parents approached several hospitals in Afghanistan but when none of them took up the case due to lack of advance medical treatment, high cost and high risk involved, the patient was brought to India.

However, the problems did not end there for Muzamil as several private hospitals in the national capital quoted upto Rs 5.5 lakh for removing the tumour without any assurance of his survival.

Later, Jeewan Hospital came to his rescue as the doctors not only took up the case but also helped in meeting the cost of the treatment.

Sabarwal said such medical cases are extremely rare and occur one in a million people.

"Usually such patients have 10-20 per cent chances of survival but it increases depending on the progress of health within days of the surgery. In Muzamil's case now there are 70-80 per cent chance of his survival," he said.

Muzamil continues to recover at the hospital ICU.

--IANS

rup/lok/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sacked minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday alleged that a demonstration on alleged EVM tampering in the Delhi assembly was just a tactic employed by the Aam Aadmi Party government to divert public attention from real issues.

Mishra's comment came after MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj demonstrated in the assembly what he said was the manner in which the electronic voting machine (EVM) could be manipulated to cast votes in favour of a particular candidate/party.

"People don't want to vote for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal anymore; and they just want to hide this fact," he said.

During the day, Mishra also wrote an open letter to Kejriwal, challenging him to a poll battle.

Mishra had on Sunday claimed that he saw Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain hand over Rs 2 crore to Kejriwal, a charge denied by the party.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has suspended the death sentence on alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court," she said in a tweet.

She also said that legal luminary Harish Salve was representing the country on the matter.

Article 74, paragraph 4 of the ICJ rules says "pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects". Under this provision, the ICJ's President Justice Ronny Abraham has written to Pakistan seeking the suspension of the sentence.

India had moved the court on Monday seeking a set of reliefs including "by way of suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused", and "restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court".

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistan said Jadhav worked for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) fuelling the Baloch separatist movement and attempting to sabotage the CPEC project.

A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad.

New Delhi had warned that if Jadhav was hanged, it would be considered "premeditated murder" by Islamabad.

--IANS

sku-vd/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a first-of-its-kind move, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee on Tuesday offered the party membership to the state's diaspora.

The move came after the party's state Political Affairs Committee gave the nod to the move.

"It is for the first time that we are offering party membership to the diaspora. All those interested to enrol as party members should log on to the KPCC website," state Congress President M.M. Hassan said.

The opposition Congress also discussed the coming party organisational polls and a membership drive that ends on May 15. A final list of party members will be published on May 31.

"We have printed 2.25 lakh membership booklets, with each containing 25 forms. The membership fee is Rs 5 and no photograph is required," added Hassan.

As per the schedule, Congress Kerala unit chief will be elected in October.

--IANS

sg/tsb/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a reprieve for alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, the International Court of Justice has suspended the death sentence on him by a Pakistani military court, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court," she said in a tweet.

She also said that legal luminary Harish Salve was representing the country on the matter.

Under Article 74, paragraph 4 of the ICJ rules, which says "pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects", ICJ President Justice Ronny Abraham has written to Pakistan seeking the suspension of the sentence.

India had moved the court on Monday seeking a set of reliefs including "by way of suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused", and "restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court".

It had also sought the sentence of the military court "arrived in brazen defiance of Vienna Convention rights" as well as the rights of the accused be declared violative of international law.

Citing "the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes India", it urged the court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately "without waiting for an oral hearing".

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistan said Jadhav worked for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) fuelling the Baloch separatist movement and attempting to sabotage the CPEC project.

A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad.

New Delhi had warned that if Jadhav was hanged, it would be considered "premeditated murder" by Islamabad.

--IANS

vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over 100 Islamic State militants were killed on Tuesday during 15 airstrikes by Iraqi jets against IS posts in Iraq's western Anbar province, the Iraqi military said.

According to intelligence reports, jet fighters carried out 11 airstrikes against IS militant hideouts in the IS-held town of Aana, killing 47 IS militants, Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The warplanes also carried out four further airstrikes against the IS posts in the IS-held town of al-Qaim, killing 53 IS militants, according to the statement.

The airstrikes targeted the IS militants and destroyed general as well as car bomb-manufacturing sites, as well as suicide bombers' safe houses, elaborated the statement.

In late April, the JOC said that Iraqi F-16s and Sukhoi warplanes attacked IS hideouts within and nearby the town of al-Qaim, killing 46 IS militants.

Iraq's security forces' attacks which are backed by the anti-IS international coalition come as a major offensive is underway to drive out IS militants from their main stronghold in Mosul's western area in northern Iraq

--IANS

ahm/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Portrait of Ole Worm ( Credit: Wellcome Library, London; Creative Commons)

Ole Worm (1588-1654) was the first, and most well-known, collector in Scandinavia during the Renaissance. In his homeland, Ole was attributed as the founder of the modern disciplines of archaeology, museology, philology, ethnology, and folklore. Oles cabinet of wonder, documented in a catalog of its holdings, Museum Wormianum (which we highlight in this post), was the foundation for what would become Denmarks National Museum.

Ole was born in Arhus, Denmark, the son of a mayor, and went to grammar school in his hometown and then in Germany, after which he moved to Emmerich on the Rhine in 1603 to study at a Jesuit school. He returned to Denmark but set out again in 1605 on a grand tour of Europe, visiting important cities, museums, and centers of learning; taking such a grand tour was popular at the time among the sons of nobleman and the newly rich. While on his grand tour, Ole studied philosophy, anatomy, medicine and theology, acted as a private tutor, and received a doctorate in medicine in 1611 for writing a dissertation on almost all known diseases (at the time) and their cures.

It was while Ole was on his grand tour of European cities of learning and culture that he began collecting objects that would come to inhabit his cabinet of wonderalso interchangeably called cabinets of curiosity during the period, or as he referred to it in a letter, his cabinet of naturalia. (For more on cabinets of wonder, see our blog post on Ferrante Imperato and his cabinet of wonder here). Ole visited a well-known collector in Italy in 1609, went to Germany and saw a famous art collection, and in Enkhuizen, the famous collector Bernhard Paludanus gave Ole a coffee bean and an exotic reedboth objects obtained through foreign travels and international trade. Cabinets of wonder during this period especially valued the exotic, objects that came from America or other faraway lands that were now accessible through foreign trade and colonialist empire-building.

Lapis sceleton serpentis, also known as snake-stone, found in the section on stones in Museum Wormianum here.

In the 1600s, some thought snake-stones from India could heal venomous snake bites, and snake-stones are attributed as the divine stones Homer mentioned in The Iliad that healed Philoctetes wound.

Ole continued to correspond with various European collectors who were famous for their pursuits of knowledge and virtue. How does collecting objects make one virtuous? The pursuit of knowledge was a virtue, and collecting physical objects aided in pursuing knowledge.

According to the philosophy of the time, by collecting physical things that reflected Gods creative powers, one was highlighting Gods power. And those things that were once considered monstrous in the medieval periodSiamese twins, deformed fetuses, strange creaturesnow represented Gods omnipotent ability to intervene with creation and produce wondrous rarities worthy of gazing upon and studying in cabinets of wonder.

Since Ole lived during a period after the Reformation (a break with the ways of the medieval church), scholars and wealthier individuals were able to establish themselves as creators of knowledge, collectors and curators of cabinets of wonder, studying by means of a proto-empiricism where knowledge was gained by physical experience with an object (rather than the later definition of empiricism as knowledge gained through experimentation).

Ole Worms cabinet of wonder, from the frontispiece in Museum Wormianum. The table in the center of the room, where the name of the book is inscribed, is where Ole would have taken down objects for himself, and visitors, to handle and observe.

(View the image here.)

After Ole returned from his grand tour, he took a position at the University of Copenhagen and was the chair of pedagogy, Greek and physics, consecutively, and in 1624 became a professor of medicine. Around 1620 he began creating his museum, Museum Wormianum.

In its nascent form, the museum contained the curiosities Ole collected on his grand tour, mostly geological and biological, along with cultural items. The majority of his museums holdings, or wonders, were donated to Ole from other European collectors whom he met and with whom he corresponded and sometimes asked for items. By the time Ole died in 1654, his museum was held in high regard and contemporaries wrote that the museum had wonderful, curious and odd rarities that were visited by famous and royal people from all over Europe.

What people in the 17th century, and prior, thought was a unicorn horn.

(View the image in Museum Wormianum here.)

During the period, people believed they could purchase unicorn horns to use for medicinal purposes. Having never seen a horn attached to a skull, Ole was skeptical. When presented with this unicorn skull by another collector, Ole determined that it likely belonged to a narwhal, and he was correct.

(View the image in Museum Wormianum here.)

Illustration of a narwhal, whimsical but not completely accurate, in Museum Wormianum, which can be viewed here.

The reason for collecting objects from the natural world, as well as curiosities and antiquities, was to enrich visitors own knowledge. In 1639, Ole wrote of his museum and its curiosities saying:

I have collected various things on my journeys abroad, and from India and other very remote places I have been brought various things: samples of soil, rocks, metals, plants, fish, birds, and land-animals, that I conserve well with the goal of, along with a short presentation of the various things history, also being able to present my audience with the things themselves to touch with their own hands and to see with their own eyes, so that they may themselves judge how that which is said fits with the things, and can acquire a more intimate knowledge of them all.

During this great period of collecting, a new form of literature was created: the catalog. Collectors used catalogs of their items to promote their collections and display their own wisdom. Ole published two catalogs (one in 1642 and one in 1645) with inventories of the wonders in his cabinet of curiosity. However, it was the third catalog, which came to be the version of Museum Wormianum we explore today, published posthumously in 1655 that contained the most information, as well as engravings.

The catalog is divided into four categories: minerals, plants, animals and artificialia (man-made objects); the books go in ascending order from lowest form of life, minerals, to highest form of life, animals, with the fourth category, artificialia, existing outside that context of the three kingdoms of nature.

Man is cataloged with animals in Book III, along with divine monstrosities such as deformed fetuses, a giant tooth and giant skull believed to have come from an ancient race of giant humanoids. Curiously, mummies, although they are human remains, are cataloged with minerals in Book I.

Book II deals with plants, and includes a section on tree monstrosities, so-called because they were thought to resemble animals or other objects.

Horse mandible around which a tree has grown, found in Book III, on Animals (including man), in Museum Wormianum.

(View the image here.)

Book IV, De artificiosis, discusses man-made objects in the collection, including both contemporary-but-exotic items like bows, arrows and tobacco pipes from America, and antiquities like Roman and Danish jewelry and metal weapons from India and Norway.

Two of the most amazing man-made creations were wooden automata created by contemporaries: mus rotis actus, a wooden mouse covered with a mouse hide that operated by means of internal clockworks; and statua librata pondere mobilis, a human automaton made of wood with flexible limbs that could imitate human movement by means of a wheel crank. This figure was dressed in clothes believed to be worn by native peoples in America and given a spear to hold, and is clearly visible in the frontispiece to the book in the middle of the image of Oles cabinet of wonder (see image below).

If one views the objects in the frontispiece to Museum Wormianum from right to left, the order of objects mirrors the order of the same objects as they are listed in the books that comprise this work.

Humanoid automata, visible in the frontispiece to Museum Wormianum here, could run around and pick things up. It was dressed to represent what the creator thought native people in America looked like, and held a spear.

Ole Worm inspired future generations of collectors and multitudes of visitors to his cabinet of wonder by showing them curiosities they likely never would have seen otherwise. For Ole and many of his contemporaries, these items were outward symbols of the divine creative powers of God and of the powerful knowledge and virtue possessed by the scholar who collected them.

Interesting Facts:

Ole was considered a great academe and writer in Europe after publishing a compendium on Danish runestones in 1643, called Danicorum Monumentorum Libri Sex. To create this work, he sent artists around the Danish kingdom to accurately sketch the monuments and their engraved runes.

In attempting to create a book of medieval Icelandic sagas, Ole worked with a prominent Icelandic historian, Arngrimur Jonsson; when both men had no luck finding the sagas, Arngriumur told Ole that he heard of an old woman who lived on a distant coast who knew about the medieval sagas and could perhaps retell them, and that they could send a poet to her to have them written down. There is no record of any success in this venture.

During his grand tour of Europe, Ole had an autograph book which he filled with the signatures of famous cultural figures, including professors and dignitaries, whom he met during his travels.

Shop Objects of Wonder in the BHL Store

Ole Worms cabinet of curiosity is one of the many wonders you can find in our Objects of Wonder BHL Store collection.

Shop today to bring some curiosities home with you.

100% of the proceeds from the sale of products in the store are used to digitize more books for BHL. Learn how these books help save biodiversity.

References:

Barroso, M.D.S. (2013). Bezoar stones, magic, science and art. In Duffin, C.J., Moody, R.T.J., & Gardner-Thorpe, C. (Eds.), A history of geology and medicine (pp. 193-208). London: The Geological Society.

Grice, G. (2015). Cabinet of curiosities: Collecting and understanding the wonders of the natural world. New York, N.Y.: Workman Publishing.

>Hafstein, V. (2003). Bodies of knowledge: Ole Worm & collecting in late Renaissance Scandinavia. Ethnologia Europaea 33(1), 5-20.

Hoskin, D. (2015). Born on this day: Ole Worm  collector extraordinaire. Victoria and Albert Museum Blog. Retrieved from http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/creating-new-europe-1600-1800-galleries/born-on-this-day-ole-worm-collector-extraordinaire.

Meier, A. (2013). Ole Worm returns: An iconic 17th century curiosity cabinet is obsessively recreated. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved from http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ole-worm-cabinet.

Richards, S. (2012). The world in a cabinet, 1600s. The Scientist. Retrieved from http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/31897/title/The-World-in-a-Cabinet1600s/.
A group of 16 girl students from Jammu and Kashmir met the Indian Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, here on Tuesday, an official statement said.

The group, hailing from the remote Gingle town in Uri in Srinagar district, are on a tour to Bengaluru and Delhi from May 2-11 as part of the Indian Army's ongoing outreach programme "to foster a spirit of national integration".

General Rawat motivated the youngsters to work hard and contribute actively to nation-building.

The national integration tours are educational and motivational for schoolchildren, youths and the local populace of Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states. They aim to provide an insight into the country's rich heritage, various developmental and industry initiatives and provide them an opportunity to interact with renowned personalities.

The students have so far visited various cultural and historical places in Bengaluru and Delhi.

--IANS

ao/tsb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday telephoned Emmanuel Macron, the President-elect of France, and congratulated him on his victory and said he is looking forward to working with him.

"Called President Emmanuel Macron to convey my congratulations on his victory in the French Presidential election," Modi said in a tweet.

"I look forward to working with President Emmanuel Macron to further deepen cooperation between India and France," he added.

Macron, 39, was elected France's next president on Sunday after he emerged victorious over his far right rival Marine Le Pen.

--IANS

aks/ps/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former US president Barack Obama met privately with former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi in Milan on Monday.

Obama was hailed by hundreds of locals and tourists in the northern Italian city, who reportedly waited hours to catch a glimpse of him outside his hotel where he was staying, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Glad to have seen a friend and a great leader, Barack Obama, in Milan," Renzi wrote on Facebook after the two met in a closed-door meeting that reportedly lasted about two hours.

"He was in great shape: he still has a lot to say and to give to global politics," wrote Renzi.

The two politicians also telephoned French president-elect Emmanuel Macron to congratulate him together.

Both Obama and Renzi publicly declared their support for Macron, a pro-EU independent, before the runoff vote that swept him to power on Sunday, defeating far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

--IANS

sku/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In November, then-President warned President-elect Donald Trump against hiring retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, former Obama administration officials said on Monday.

Obama warned Trump about Flynn during their Oval Office meeting on November 10, days after Trump was elected president, the officials told CNN.

Obama's concerns, which he relayed to Trump, were not related to the firing of Flynn from the Defense Intelligence Agency but rather in the course of the investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election, CNN added.

The White House confirmed later on Monday that Obama raised concerns about Flynn during his Oval Office sitdown with Trump in November.

"It's true President Obama made it known he was not exactly a fan of Gen Flynn's," press secretary Sean Spicer was quoted as saying.

He said the concerns should not have come as a surprise, since Flynn was an "outspoken critic" of the Obama administration's shortcomings on foreign policy.

Spicer said if the Obama administration was "truly concerned" about Flynn, there are steps it could have taken, including suspending his security clearance.

Flynn previously served as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under Obama until he was reportedly forced out of the post 2014 over internal disagreements over policy and management.
Title: Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India's Most Famous; Author: Sunetra Choudhury; Publisher: Roli Books; Pages: 266; Price: Rs 395

Jail is a fearsome word for almost everybody and the general perception that revolves around the lives of inmates -- that they lead a miserable life with yucky food, little care and all things contrary to comfort -- is challenged in this well-researched offering that attempts to throw sufficient light on the "prison tales of India's most famous".

Penned by journalist and news anchor Sunetra Choudhury, the book takes its readers on an unusual ride through many jails in the country and shows how the treatment that the inmates receive may vary from person to person. Those that people think have been punished by the law, the book reminds, may well be leading a comfortable life inside the prison.

What is more astonishing is the fact that Choudhury provides enough evidence to suggest that these high-profile inmates are not only at ease in prison but also operate as easily from jail as they do outside. No matter how grave the charges are, the jail term can be quite an easy life for those with strong political backing or comfortable economic status, the author claims.

Choudhury's book is an eye-opener of sorts. Not that we do not necessarily know about the comfortable lives many convicted have led or are leading inside the jails, but this book is perhaps the first detailed insider's account into their lives. In the process, Choudhury provides enough evidence and secondary research to suggest that there is an underground economy of the jails that thrives on the comfort that goons receive in prisons.

The book is based on extensive first-hand interviews with some of India's most well-known inmates and the author provides the readers a peek into VIP life in prison. Perhaps for the first time, India's most famous prisoners share their own stories -- ranging from air conditioners in cells to food from five-star hotels, from cushy beds to private parties -- and how they negotiate life in prison or the so-called "jail-ashram".

With extraordinary details of the life inside prison and the sorry state of hundreds of undertrials languishing in jails, this book questions the primary purpose of imprisonment -- is it actually reform, punishment or just misusing the system we are a part of?

The author creates portraits of 13 well-known figures, who have either spent or are spending their terms in jails across the country. While politicians Amar Singh, A. Raja and Pappu Yadav grab eyeballs, the tales of others who find mention are equally thought-provoking. Anca Verma, the wife of arms dealer Abhishek Verma, and Star India CEO Peter Mukherjea make curious case studies too.

Apart from certain depictions in popular culture or the occasional news report, there is little information about how rules are bent and law takes a backseat when it comes to people like Sanjeev Nanda, Vikas and Vishal Yadav, Anca Varma and Manu Sharma, who were given special benefits and often sent out on parole and furlough for "good behaviour".

How unfair is the treatment that inmates receive inside the jails?

"If you steal 1,000 rupees, the hawaldar will beat the shit out of you and lock you up in a dungeon with no bulb or ventilation. If you steal 55,000 crore rupees then you get to stay in a 40-foot cell which has four split units, internet, fax, mobile phones and a staff of 10 to clean your shoes and cook you food," Anca Verma says in the book.

In similar fashion, the author has sourced first-hand experiences of the rich, powerful and well to do to make this book a credible insight into the malfunctioning of our jails and the corruption that has enabled these powerful convicts to take advantage of the system.

Choudhury reminds readers that such VIP treatment is not a new phenomenon but has been a regular practise in many Indian jails, dating to Charles Sobhraj's time in the late 1970s. But at the same time, she regrets, the poor life that other inmates lead inside the jails goes unnoticed too.

Quoting the increasing number of deaths in Tihar Jail every year, Choudhury makes a conscious effort to strike a balance between the extravagant lives of the powerful and shabby treatment that the helpless receive. The larger message of the book is a paradox of sorts as even though Choudhury says that "we only sit up and take notice when it is a familiar face that's gone behind bars" , the majority of her book, like its title, too narrates the tales of the powerful.

(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)

--IANS

ss/vm/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior district and police officials here on Tuesday took refuge in a residential colony after a mob attacked them and set fire to many vehicles, authorities said.

Members of the "Bheem Army" went on a violent spree after the police tried to clear a park of protestors as they did not have official permission for the demonstration.

All hell broke loose thereafter as the mob targeted police and other vehicles passing by, creating panic, witnesses said.

More than a dozen motorcycles belonging to the media and police were set on fire. The mob also torched a police outpost and a police van.

Senior officials including Additional District Magistrate S.K. Dubey, City Magistrate Harish Chandra and senior police officers ran and sought shelter in a residential colony to escape the wrath of the mob.

District Magistrate N.P. Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey rushed to the scene of violence with reinforcements and took control of the situation, officials said.

A Home Department official said the situation was tense but under control.

The "Bheem Army" had been staging a sit-in in protest ever since clashes last week between Dalits and Thakurs left one person dead and over two dozen injured.

--IANS

md/mr/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Under fire from various quarters, the Punjab Education Department on Tuesday suspended two officers and withdrew its controversial order prescribing a dress code for women teachers in government schools.

Education Department Deputy Director Amrish Shukla and Assistant Director Amarbir Singh were suspended by Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary, who took strong exception to the dress code order issued "without proper authorisation".

The controversial order, issued in Punjabi language, said "jeans, tops, bhadkeela pehrawa (brightly coloured clothes) and fashionable dresses" worn by women teachers had a bad influence on students.

It also directed district education officials to conduct regular inspections in government schools to ensure that women teachers did not wear such clothes.

Chaudhary said the letter contained "very denigrating language (about) female teachers", adding the two officers were responsible for issuing it without taking higher authorities into confidence.

"Any affront to the dignity of nation-building teaching community will not be tolerated. Such a language in respect of women teaching staff smacks of regressive thinking and such a mindset needs to be condemned," the Minister said.

But the officers concerned justified the order, saying that complaints were received that government teachers, especially women, reported for duty wearing "bhadkeela pehrawa".

--IANS

js/tsb/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The remains of an American sailor who killed during the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbour in 1941 is set to return to his hometown in Iowa state for burial, officials said.

Fireman 1st Class William H. Kennedy was killed aboard the USS Oklahoma but his remains were not properly identified until earlier this year, reports Radio Iowa.

Kennedy's remains will be brought back for proper burial as planeside honorus will be conducted on the tarmac of the Des Moines International Airport on Thursday with the funeral in his hometown of Titonka on Friday.

Kennedy was identified by a Department of Defence programme that used DNA analysis to identify the remains from the Oklahoma.

Oklahoma capsized on December 7, 1941, when Japanese forces launched the sudden attack on te harbour Hawaii.

More than 400 crew died when the battleship capsized.

In the attack, 188 US aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans killed and 1,178 others injured.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) owner Sanjiv Goenka on Tuesday dismissed rumours of him having already bought stakes in Rajasthan Royals after the Indian Premier League officials made it clear that his side and Gujarat Lions will not get extensions for the 2018 season.

"What kind of a statement is that. The answer is 'no'," Goenka said replying to a question on similiar lines.

Asked if it's a possibility next season, Goenka, who co-owns Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Atletico de Kolkata (ATK), he said: "Maybe. You are trying to create a controversy here."

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla had said before that Pune and Gujarat will have to go through a fresh bidding process in order to play IPL after this year.

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who were banned in 2015 after serving a two-year suspension period for 2013 spot-fixing, will feature in 2018 edition of the IPL.

--IANS

dm/pur/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of the contempt plea against Kerala Chief Secretary Nalini Netto after it was informed that its order directing the reinstatement of IPS officer T.P. Senkumar as Director General of State police has been complied with.

The bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta closed the contempt plea as the court was told that the Chief Secretary has already tendered an unconditional apology for delay in reinstating Senkumar as Kerala police chief.

Senkumar was reinstated as state police chief on May 6. He is set to retire on June 30. The top court by its April 24 order had directed restoration of Senkumar as police head.

Senkumar was removed as police chief when Pinarayi Vijayan took over as Chief Minister on May 25, 2016.

The top court had imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 on Kerala government on May 5 as it dismissed the State plea for a clarification on its April 24 order directing the reinstatement of IPS T.P. Senkumar as the Director General of State Police.

Senkumar had moved the top court challenging his removal as State police Chief and his transfer. Senkumar had moved the top court after his plea against his transfer was turned down by the Kerala High court.

Reinstating Senkumar as DGP, the top court in its April 24 judgment had said that he was dealt with "unfairly and arbitrarily" and it was post the Puttingal Temple tragedy and the Jisha murder and not the two tragedies themselves that led to it.

The top court had brushed aside the state government's submission that its subjective satisfaction in removing Senkumar could not be gone into.

The court had said, "The subjective satisfaction of the State Government must be based on some credible material, which this court might not analyze but which can certainly be looked into."

--IANS

pk/rn

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Normal life came to a halt in Srinagar on Tuesday when clashes erupted between students and the security forces, police said.

Students from Women College and the adjoining S.P. Higher Secondary School bunked classes, came out on Maulana Azad Road and pelted stones at the police and CRPF. Police used batons and tear smoke shells to disperse them.

Kashmir has been witnessing student unrest since April 15 when security forces entered a college in south Kashmir's Pulwama district and roughed up students inside the campus.

--IANS

sq/ahm/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two young girls -- Sonam (16) and Aarti (24), daughters of a retired defence personnel -- were found murdered in their home in Ram Vihar colony in Para locality of the state capital on Tuesday, police said.

While one body was recovered from a bedroom, the other was found lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. Their throats had been slit.

The father of the deceased girls, L.B. Singh, told police that his son had gone for work and he, along with his wife Renu, had gone for some medical tests at the Command Hospital in the Cantonment area.

But, as the machine was not working, they returned around 9:30 a.m from the hospital only to find their daughters murdered.

After an on-site inspection, Inspector General of Police (Lucknow) A. Satish Ganesh told reporters that teams from the crime branch and forensics had been requisitioned and police would be able to say anything concrete only after they filed their reports.

The IG, however, said it looked like someone had entered the house with the intention of robbery but killed the two girls after they apparently tried to resist the robbers.

There have been a string of incidents in the state capital.

--IANS

md/nir/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State run UCO Bank on Tuesday said it is planning to raise Rs 75 crore of equity capital during the current financial year in one or more tranches.

The bank's board in its meet scheduled to be held on next Friday will consider the proposal of raising equity capital.

"The Board of Directors of our bank at its meeting scheduled to be held on May 12, 2017, will, inter alia, consider the proposal for issue of Rs 75 crore equity shares during the financial year 2017-18 in one or more tranches through FPO (follow-on public offer), QIP (Qualified institutional placement)/ preferential issue/ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans) etc., at such an issue price to be determined in accordance with the external guidelines," UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The board, in March, had also approved the proposal for issue of Tier II bonds of Rs 1,000 crore from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country's largest insurer.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.60 per cent at the end of December quarter of the last fiscal against 10.49 per cent in the September quarter.

Government shareholding in the bank was 76.67 per cent as on March 31, 2017.

On Tuesday, UCO Bank's scrip increased marginally by 0.71 per cent to Rs 42.65 at the end of day's trade on the BSE.

--IANS

bdc/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bengaluru's former independent corporator V. Nagaraj, evading arrest since April 14 after seizure of demonetised currency from his office-cum-residence, on Tuesday offered to surrender before Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara.

"My (other) condition for surrender is that police should withdraw cases foisted against me," said Nagaraj.

"Parameshwara is a gentleman. I trust him more than Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is corrupt and untrustworthy. I am ready to surrender before the Home Minister," Nagaraj said in an audio-video clipping his counsel Sriram Reddy released to Kannada news channels here.

Nagaraj, 54, was a corporator of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in 2002-07 from Prakashnagar ward.

He is absconding after police raided his office-cum-residence in the city's western suburbs and allegedly seized Rs 14.8 crore in demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from there.

Police has formed three special teams to look for Nagaraj.

"I have no comments to offer on Nagaraj's conditions to surrender. We are looking for him and his two sons," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Hemant Nimbalkar told reporters here.

A city court on May 5 rejected Nagaraj's anticipatory bail plea filed on April 17. He was fearing arrest on charge of exchanging banned notes for new ones after the November 8 demonetisation.

In another audio-video tape on April 22, Nagaraj accused police of filing a false case against him and feigned ignorance about the source of banned notes found on his premises.

"I know nothing about the banned notes. They belong to the Chief Minister's Special Personal Assistant Manjunath. The raid on my house and office is illegal as it has been carried out without a court warrant to implicate me in money laundering or eliminate me in an encounter," the former corporator had claimed.

--IANS

str/fb/tsb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Weekend feature, The Mutiny through monuments accords a prominent place to the grave of John Nicholson, a brigadier general in the British Army, who was killed in Delhi fighting against the mutineers. When the general was on his deathbed, the only person tending him was his faithful orderly, Muhammad Hayat Khan. Touched by Khans devotion, the dying Nicholson wrote a letter to the British authorities in his blood, eulogising Khans service and recommending that he be adequately rewarded after his (Nicholson) death.
It was like the proverbial last straw on the camels back. After Calcutta High Court judge C S Karnan sentenced the Chief Justice of India and seven Supreme Court judges to imprisonment from his home court, the apex court was left with no alternative but to send this recalcitrant judge to jail for six months holding him guilty of contempt. It was unusual for the apex court to constitute a seven-judge bench for a contempt of court hearing signalling its seriousness in addressing such appalling conduct of a current High Court judge.
A group of Hindu priests here are not pleased with UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's order to take action against touts and "Pandas", saying that this will bring misery to the whole community.

An effigy of Yogi was burnt at Nagar Palika crossing in Vrindaban on Monday as some members of Panda community raised slogans against the UP CM's latest order.

"Chief Minister Yogi with his order for crackdown on Panda community, virtually has withdrawn the facilities available to the pilgrims from remote areas," RLD leader Tara Chand Goswami said.

"It is unconstitutional also, since the government can not withdraw facility available to pilgrims," he said, adding it is also an attempt to create a hurdle in the profession of Panda community.

The community has stressed that following the order, the police and administrative action would bring the whole priest community under the lens and hence cause a lot of distress.

Adityanath, during his maiden visit to Agra yesterday, had ordered authorities to take action against "Lapkas" (touts) and "Pandas" (Purohits) as they are a source of nuisance to international as well as domestic tourists.

Taking exception to this order, the community has demanded its immediate withdrawal, as it would deprive pilgrims the basic facilities that "the government has failed to provide themso far".

"The chief minister should disclosethe facilities he has provided to pilgrims so far, as a pilgrim is still hankering for transport, drinking water, proper food, guide, lodging etc," president of Akhil Bhartiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha Mahesh Pathak said, adding that probably Yogi has not been apprised of the "sacrificing and cooperating" attitude of Pandas.

While President Pranab Mukherjee needed a Tirth Purohit during his visit to Badrinath, in Kedarnath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also needed one, he said.

"If Yogi does not amend his order on Pandas, we would hold a convention of All India Tirth Purohit Mahasabha in Mathura on June 11 to decide future course of action," Pathak added.

He said that he had earlier requested the district administration of different pilgrim centres including Mathura, to issue cards to valid Tirth Purohits of Brijbhumi, since Lapkas (touts) are jeopardising the basic culture of pilgrimage.

"Yogi should know that a Tirth Purohit has such cordial relations with pilgrims that they,instead of staying at a hotel, loves to stay at the residence ofsuch Purohits," Girish Sharma, the head of Panda association Jatipura said.

The president of Panda Sabha Vrindaban- Nand Kumar Pathak said, if the chief minister is really interested toprovide relief to the pilgrims, he should improve the infrastructure.

Krishna Gopal Parasar, another Panda from Baldeo has demanded withdrawal of the "draconian order", failing which the entire Brahmin Community and Panda Community here would "teach a lesson" to the party Yogi belongs to, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A non-governmental proposal to hold a conference to discuss the current situation in Jammu and on Tuesday received a shot in the arm when it found support from former Jammu and (J&K) Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.
Bihar is in the news, with a Supreme Court order calling upon Lalu Prasad Yadav to face trial in four cases related to the fodder scam. The fodder scam is a collective term for a set of 64 cases, of which 53 were filed in Ranchi. It all began in 1985 when then Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG), T N Chaturvedi sniffed a possible embezzlement of funds from the Bihar Treasury and various departments. Of the 64 cases filed, Yadav was named accused in six and has already been convicted in one involving fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from Chaibasa treasury, which now falls in Jharkhand.
Eleven Chinese and South Korean kindergarten children were among 12 people killed today when a school bus crashed and burst into flames in a tunnel in east China.

Of the 11 children, aged between three and six, five were South Koreans and six Chinese. They were all students of an international kindergarten in Weihai city, local authorities said.

The accident occurred this morning inside Taojiakuang tunnel in Huancui District when the bus was on its way to the kindergarten with 13 people onboard, including teacher.

The driver also died and the teacher sustained serious injuries, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

The provincial government has assigned a team to investigate the incident. It will be headed by a vice provincial governor.

Approximately 260,000 people die in China as a result of road accidents each year, according to the latest estimates by the World Health Organisation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fifteen people, including a groom, were killed and 22 injured, in two separate road accidents, both involving wedding parties, in Madhya Pradesh today.

In the first accident, which took place on the Agra- Mumbai National Highway in Khargone district this morning, nine members of a family, including the groom, were killed when a container-truck hit their car, an official said.

Two persons were injured in the incident. They have been taken to Indore for treatment, the official said.

The marriage party was on its way to Sirsi village in Dhar district from Icchawar town in Sehore. The container- truck hit the car at the Ganpati ghat section of the highway in Khargone. Eight persons died on the spot while one succumbed to his injuries later, Dharampuri's tehsildar R S Guha said.

The groom, Mukesh Jaat (30), was among those who died. The other victims were identified as Teena Jaat (12), Suresh Jaat (26), Nandram Jaat (30), Radheshyam Jaat (26), Mahesh Jaat (32), Babulal Jaat (32), Kailash Jaat (42) and the truck driver Suresh (32).

A case has been registered at Maheshwar police station, Additional SP Antar Singh Kanesh said.

In another mishap near Karahal tehsil of Sheopur district, six members of a marriage party were killed and 20 others injured when a tractor-trolley, on which they were travelling, overturned, police said.

The victims were returning from Bhela Bhemlat village to their hamlet in Bhotipura after a wedding ceremony when the trolley got overturned, Karahal police station in-charge Sunil Sharma said.

The deceased were identified as Ramdas (35), Sanjay (40), Vishal (12), Soni (26), Ramhet (40) and Ramcharan (40), the police said, adding the injured were admitted to a hospital in Karahal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sixteen people have been detained in a crackdown on drugs manufacturers in China.

Police from the public security bureau of Laibin City received a report on April 27 that a gang of drug manufacturers from Huizhou City of Guangdong Province gathered to produce ketamine and planned to transport raw materials for drug production from Shandong Province to Xiangzhou County in Laibin, state-run Xinhua agency reported today.

After investigation, police detained eight suspects at the drug manufacturing site in a tree farm in Xiangzhou County on Friday last week.

They also seized about 250 kilogrammes of ketamine, 1,078 kilogrammes of semi-finished drugs, equipment for drug manufacturing and four vehicles at the site.

Police seized two other suspects and drug-related money totalling 1.4 million yuan (USD 220,000) in a residential community in Laibin City on the same day.

After the drug manufacturing site in Guangxi was busted, the Huizhou police then detained another six suspects from the gang in Guangdong.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Air Intelligence Unit of the customs department today arrested 21 people at the international airport here who were involved in a bid to smuggle 5 kg gold bars worth Rs 1.70 crore into the country.

All of them belonged to Tanda village in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh and were allegedly acting as carries for a Lucknow-based gold smuggling syndicate, an official said.

"We intercepted 21 people, who came to Mumbai from Saudi Arabia, carrying 5.665 kg of gold bars valued at Rs 1.70 crore. They were carriers for a Lucknow-based gold smuggling syndicate," he said.

"All of them were arrested and subsequently released on bail," the official said, adding the gold bars were concealed in bottles being carried by them.

According to the official, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) also seized 2.3 kg of gold, valued at Rs 69 lakh, from two persons at the airport last night in two separate cases of smuggling.

In the first case, AIU sleuths intercepted one Hameed Shaikh who had arrived here from Dubai via Muscat, the official said, adding "On searching him, 1.8 kg gold worth Rs 55 lakh was seized. Following this he was arrested."



Another passenger, Muslim Yaseen Mohammed Ali, a Sudanese businessman, had arrived from Khartoum in Sudan via Riyadh. On searching him, 500 grams of gold worth Rs 14 lakh was seized, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Vikram Chatterjee today appeared at Tollygunge police station in connection with the probe into the accident that killed his co-passenger, model and TV host Sonika Chauhan, and injured him last month.

Vikram was served a notice by Kolkata Police last week and he appeared before the investigating officers tonight, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

Police sources said that the officers interrogated Vikram for almost an hour.

The actor then left the police station.

The investigating officers asked Vikram to give them the list of places he and Sonika had visited that night, the source said.

Earlier today, the police spoke to a few of Vikram and Sonika's friends in connection with the investigation.

Forensic experts had also conducted another set of chemical tests on Vikram's car during the day.

Vikram had surrendered in connection with the accident case involving his car in which actor and model Sonika Chauhan was killed.

A city court had granted bail to him on May 5.

The Kolkata Police had booked Vikram and started a suo motu case.

Sonika's family had lodged a complaint against him also. Later, the cases were tagged.

In the early hours of April 29, a car with Vikram at the wheel and Sonika seated on the front seat swerved and crashed into the pavement along south Kolkata's Rashbehari Avenue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Director Ali Abbas Zafar is shooting for his upcoming film "Tiger Zinda Hai" at a cement factory in the UAE.

The 36-year-old filmmaker took to Twitter to share the picture from the sets of the movie and thank the authorities for their support.

"Shooting @TigerZindaHai at the stunning Arkan cement factory thank you authorities for your priceless support, trust me it looks beautiful," wrote Zafar.

They had earlier shot in Tyrol, Austria.

The movie, which is the sequel to the 2012 film directed by Kabir Khan, will see Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif reprise their roles as spies Tiger and Zoya.

Salman will be also be seen in Kabir's "Tubelight" based on the 1962 Indo-China War, which releases this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP in West Bengal today accused the ruling TMC of trying to hush up the incident of bomb blast that took place in a TMC party office in Burdwan district on Sunday evening and demanded an NIA investigation into it.

"The TMC is trying to hush up the matter. A conspiracy is being hatched there. We have heard that a few people were present inside the building at the time of the blast. What happened to them? Where are they? Who stored such high intensity explosives inside a party office? There are a lot of unanswered questions. Only an NIA investigation can bring out the truth," state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

The TMC office was blown off by a huge explosion suspected to have been caused by explosives stored inside the structure. The exact location of the office is Pichkudi Dhaal in Ausgram in Burdwan district.

A team of BJP leaders led by BJP state secretary Locket Chatterjee today visited the place and spoke to the villagers.

Chatterjee said that the bomb blast was suspected to be a handiwork of jehadis.

"It's a big conspiracy and the TMC is also involved in it," Chatterjee alleged.

She claimed, "In the Khagragarh blast, also in Burdwan district, we had said that jehadis were making bombs and it was proven later in an NIA investigation. In this case too Jehadi link will come out."



"The TMC can't shirk its responsibility as the blast took place inside the party office," she said.

The Khagragarh blast, which occurred on October 2, 2014 had claimed two lives. The NIA later found that the two killed were all Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen operatives from Bangladesh.

Senior TMC leader Anubrata Mandal dismissed BJP's tatement as 'baseless'.

"The allegations are baseless. The law will take its own course," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP, a partner in the Jammu and Kashmir government, today disfavoured any dialogue with the separatists, saying that talks on addressing the Kashmir issue should take place only with those who "accept the Constitution of India".

The party's state unit president Sat Sharma also said that the Agenda of Alliance (AOA) with PDP, which envisages talks between the Centre and all stakeholders of the state, will be implemented over a period of time.

Sharma, who was here to preside over a convention of party workers, noted that the AOA is a roadmap for the coalition government's tenure of six years, of which only two-and-a-half-years have passed.

"As far as talks are concerned, whether the Prime Minister or anyone else has talked about this issue, I think the talks about Kashmir should happen only with those who accept the Constitution of India and you will see with the passage of time that such an atmosphere will be built," Sharma told reporters here.

The PDP has been batting for talks with the separatists.

Sharma was asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would follow the footsteps of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose government had held talks with even the separatists.

"Obviously, Atal ji tried to make India a good country, now Modi is improving it... If this (talks offer) comes from the Centre, then it must be after thorough deliberations.

"As far as the state unit of the BJP is concerned, I feel that talks should happen only with those who accept the Indian Constitution and talk within the constitutional limits," he replied.

He said the Agenda of Alliance was framed keeping in view the needs of the two regions -- Kashmir and Jammu.

"It has been framed for six years. Only about two-and-a- half years have passed since the formation of the government. So it will be implemented and other things, which will take J&K towards development and good governance, will also be implemented," the BJP leader said.

Referring to the recurring incidents of stone-pelting and protests in the Kashmir Valley, Sharma said the civil society should come forward so that the youth focus on their education.

The state government as well as the Central government are keeping an eye over it.

"I think our media, intelligentsia and civil society should come forward if we want such an atmosphere in Kashmir where the students can compete with those in Bengaluru, Mumbai or Delhi.

"They should come forward so that our youth move towards proper development," he said.

When pointed out that the educated youth of Kashmir were joining the militant groups, he said the government is serious on the issue and there are no two ways about it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BJP national secretary and the party's co-incharge for Delhi, Tarun Chugh, today hit out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the "live demonstration" on how EVMs can be programmed to favour any political party.

"Giving a live demonstration of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Delhi by AAP is a disgraceful and irresponsible act," Chugh said in a statement issued here.

During a day-long special sitting of the Delhi Assembly today, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj put on a "live demonstration" on how EVMs can be programmed to favour any political party.

Stating that the post of chief minister is a constitutional post, Chugh accused Kejriwal of "hatching a conspiracy" to defame the country's electoral process.

Chugh demanded a probe to find out from which company the EVM was procured by the AAP for the "live demonstration" and the Election Commission should take action in this regard.

Bhardwaj claimed that a voting machine could be manipulated by simply feeding it a "secret code".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Mexico has killed at least 14 people and wounded 22, an official said today.

The blast occurred Monday night in a rural area of central Puebla state, Diodoro Carrasco, a senior official in the state government, told radio station Cinco Radio.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A British man was today found guilty of being a senior member of the Islamic State terrorist group and jailed for seven-and-a-half years by a Turkish court.

Londoner Aine Davis had been arrested in Istanbul in 2015 and is believed to be one of a four-man ISIS cell nicknamed "The Beatles", in reference to their British roots.

Jihadi John, killed in a US drone strike in Syria in 2015, was also a member of this cell.

According to the BBC, Davis told the judge that press stories claiming he was an accomplice of Jihadi John and behind the kidnapping and killing of hostages were untrue.

Speaking in English before the verdict, he told the court: "I am not ISIS. I went to Syria because there was oppression in my country. I want to make clear I am innocent of the charges. I don't even know why this case has taken so long to judge. I just want my freedom."



Davis is believed to have crossed the border from the terror network's stronghold of Raqqa last year and was detained by anti-terror police on November 12, 2015 - the day before coordinated ISIS terror strikes in Paris.

Turkish officials have never released details of the charges against Davis and his alleged accomplices, and their trial took place largely in secret.

A former London Underground worker, Davis is a convert to Islam who has a string of drug and firearms convictions in the UK. He left his home in west London in 2013 and joined ISIS.

His wife, Amal El-Wahabi, was jailed in November 2014 for funding his terrorism following a trial at the Old Bailey court in London.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Cambodia's prime minister says a Cambodian soldier attached to the UN peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic has been killed in an ambush.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said today that another Cambodian peacekeeper was also wounded and three more are missing after their convoy was attacked yesterday.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible. Central African Republic has been embroiled in chaos since 2013, when Muslim rebels overthrew the nation's Christian president.

The United Nations began a peacekeeping mission in the country in 2014 and now has more than 12,000 troops there.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fair trade regulator CCI has given its nod to IT major HP's acquisition of global printer business of South Korean firm Samsung, in addition to two other deals.

In a tweet, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that it has approved the "acquisition of printer business of Samsung by HP Inc".

For the deal, the two companies had entered into a Master Purchase Agreement in September 2016.

Last year, HP had said it would acquire Samsung Electronics' printer business in a deal valued at USD 1.05 billion.

HP, created as part of the breakup of Hewlett-Packard Co, sells personal computers. It is a global provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to individual consumers, small and medium sized businesses and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors.

Samsung's global business operations are organised into three broad divisions -- consumer electronics (which includes its printer business), information technology and mobile communications and device solutions.

In another tweet, CCI said that it has approved the "increase in stake by Highdell Investment in Kalyan Jewellers".

While Kalyan Jewellers is engaged in manufacturing and sales of gems and jewellery in India, Highdell is an investment holding company incorporated under the laws of Mauritius.

Highdell has proposed to buy compulsorily convertible preference shares of Kalyan, which upon conversion would give the company more than 25 per cent stake.

The regulator has also approved "demerger of non- financial services investments of Sundaram Finance into Sundaram Finance Invt Ltd & group restructuring".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chelsea Manning, the transgender army private jailed for one of the largest leaks of classified documents in US history, said today she can finally imagine a future for herself, as she prepares to walk free.

Manning had served seven years of a 35-year stretch when outgoing president Barack Obama commuted her sentence earlier this year. She is due to be released next week from the all- men's jail where she was incarcerated, although a precise date has yet to be given.

"For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world," said the 29- year-old, who still identified as male when she was arrested.

Manning twice attempted suicide in jail, where she was often kept in solitary confinement after being sentenced in 2013 for passing more than 7,00,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which released them in collaboration with international organizations.

"I am forever grateful to the people who kept me alive, President Obama, my legal team, and countless supporters," she said in a statement.

"Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine.

"Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts."



Originally named Bradley, Manning became a hero to anti- war activists and a villain to government officials outraged over her leaking of classified files.

Three days before leaving office in January, then- president Obama slashed Manning's sentence by 28 years after more than 1,15,000 people signed a petition calling for her release.

Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union which lobbied on Manning's behalf, said that "like far too many people in prison, particularly transgender women, Chelsea Manning has had to survive unthinkable violence throughout the seven years of her incarceration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Clashes broke out between student protestors and security forces on the busy Moulana Azad Road near Lal Chowk here today.

Students of S P Higher Secondary School and Women's College clashed with security forces who fired several tear gas shells to chase them away, a police official said.

There were no reports of injuries to anyone so far, the official said.

The traffic and the business activities in the commercial hub in the heart of the city were badly affected, the official said, adding that clashes were going on when last reports came in.

He said they were protesting against the alleged high- handedness of security forces against students of the government degree college in Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests across Kashmir.

They were also demanding release of the students arrested during these protests.

The police raid on the college triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 which have been going on intermittently since then. Authorities suspended class work in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month as a precautionary measure.

A number of students were arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The country's first ATR simulator was inaugurated today at Flight Simulation Technique Centre (FSTC) here.

The facility has also added its second Boeing-737 simulator to the existing three simulators.

The ATR simulator will help pilots who have to travel to Toulouse, Madrid and Bangkok for type-rating training.

With the Centre's emphasis on regional connectivity, airlines are looking to acquire more number of smaller aircraft, such as ATR.

IndiGo today announced that it will be purchasing 50 ATR 72-600 aircraft. Air India's subsidiary Alliance Air also plans to expand its fleet by leasing 10 ATR planes this year.

Capt Sanjay Mandavia, MD & Accountable Manager, FSTC said they are in talks with Air India to train their pilots. Currently, FSTC trains pilots from SpiceJet and Jet Airways.

The Centre has trained nearly 500 pilots since it was set up in 2012. The facility also has a B-737 simulator and two A 320 simulators.

IndiGo today said it plans to induct upto 20 ATR aircraft by December 2018.

Alliance Air already has 8 ATR 72-600s and 2 ATR 42-320s and Jet Airways has 15 ATR 72-500s and 3 ATR 72-600s.

Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation RN Choubey and Director, Directorate General of Civil Aviation BS Bhullar were present at the inauguration ceremony.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat government and activist Teesta Setalvad today traded charges against each other in the Supreme Court during the hearing of a case registered against her for alleged misappropriation of funds received by her NGOs for the riots victims of 2002.

While the state government alleged that Teesta and her husband Javed Anand had "siphoned" the funds collected in the name of charity by spending it on "dining and wining", her counsel refuted the claims saying she had spent the money from her own pocket.

The apex court was hearing the pleas by Teesta, Anand and their two NGOs - Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace - who had approached the top court challenging the October 7, 2015 verdict of the Gujarat High Court rejecting their pleas for defreezing their personal bank accounts.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state, alleged before a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar that Teesta and Anand had diverted crores of rupees received by their NGOs in their personal accounts and spent it on shopping and Dubai tour.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Teesta, her husband and the two NGOs, countered the claims saying these allegations have been "fabricated" as they have spent the money from their credit cards.

"I am challenging them (state) to show even a single document which says so. They must show document to justify what they are alleging. He (Mehta) has made public statements against these individuals who are fighting against the state," he told the bench, which fixed the matter for further hearing on July 5.

Mehta alleged before the bench that there was misappropriation of funds which were collected for charity by Teesta and her husband and police was in the midst of probe in the matter.

Referring to bank account summaries of the two NGOs, he alleged that money was spent on "dining bills, wining bills, shopping in Dubai" by them and police required their custodial interrogation for the ongoing investigation.

Sibal, however, said the probe agency could have freezed the account of Gulbarg society memorial as this was a subject matter of the FIR, but there was no justification in freezing other bank accounts.

He said that money had come to these accounts from legal source and after Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) clearances and this matter was not related to FCRA in any way.

"He (Mehta) is mentioning about FCRA matter, which has nothing to do with this matter. The FIR relates to Gulbarg society. FCRA proceedings are going on separately," he said.

Mehta gave details of the donations received by the NGOs and also about the funds which were allegedly diverted to the personal accounts of Teesta and her husband.

"I am arguing at a stage when the probe is pending. Our investigation can effectively progress only when we have their custodial interrogation," he said, adding that the possibility of cash donations received by them cannot be ruled out.

Sibal said Teesta and her husband have provided 20,000 documents to the investigating agency but it has "prepared its own chart on its own interpretation which cannot stand the legal scrutiny."



"They must show documents to justify what they are alleging. If they will show, I will be out of this court and withdraw the petition," he asserted.

As they were trading charges against each other, the bench observed, "we will go by the counter affidavit which is placed on record. The basic issue is whether during pendency of investigation, there can be seizure of this extent".

The bench fixed the matter for July 5 and asked both the parties to file their written submissions.

The apex court had in February questioned the source of money in the bank accounts of Teesta and others which were frozen by the Ahmedabad police in 2015 after allegations of misappropriation had surfaced.

One of the residents of Gulberg society, Firoz Khan Pathan, had filed a complaint against Teesta and others alleging that money was raised to make a museum at Gulberg society in the memory of 69 people killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, but it had not been utilised for the purpose.

The freezing of the accounts by Ahmedabad Police had come soon after its crime branch had started probing a case in which Teesta and others were accused of embezzling Rs 1.51 crore collected to convert Gulbarg Society into a museum.

The high court had upheld the verdict of a lower court in this regard observing that the probe was at a serious point in the alleged case of Gulbarg society fund embezzlement.

In the embezzlement case lodged by the Gujarat Police, the couple had challenged the cancellation of bail in the apex court, while in the alleged FCRA violation case, CBI has challenged the anticipatory bail granted to them by the Bombay High Court. Both matters are pending before the apex court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone is currently filming in Oxford for her upcoming British-Irish biographical historical drama "The Favourite".

The film, which follows the political machinations behind the scenes during the reign of Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House of Stuarts, also stars Olivia Coleman and Rachel Weisz.

Weisz, who plays Sarah Churchill in the film, was also spotted having lunch with actor husband Daniel Craig at the Cherwell Boathouse, reported The Tab.

The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, will release next year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Incoming French president Emmanuel Macron was starting to build his centrist government today, with his former Socialist boss jockeying for position in a radically changed political landscape.

Macron, 39, was elected France's youngest-ever president on Sunday, crushing far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a bruising campaign that left France's traditional parties by the wayside.

He faces a huge task to unite a fractured, anxious country and to win a parliamentary majority in June's general election, without which he could struggle to implement his ambitious reform agenda.

Macron's victory at the head of a year-old movement that has presented itself as a home for progressives of all stripes has blown up France's long-standing left-right political divide.

Today, former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls -- a failed candidate for his party's presidential nomination -- said he wanted to run for parliament on Macron's ticket.

"This Socialist Party is dead, it is behind us," said Valls, a reform-minded premier from 2014 to 2016 when Macron was economy minister.

"I will be a candidate for the presidential majority," the 54-year-old Valls told RTL radio, while insisting he remained a Socialist and "a man of the left".

Macron's "Republique en Marche" (Republic on the Move) movement, which has been keeping its distance from the political old guard, reacted warily to the announcement.

A spokesman for Macron's campaign said Valls "had a good chance" of being accepted into the fold but would have to submit an official application.

Socialist leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis attempted to prevent a wave of defections to Macron's camp, warning Valls he could not remain a party member and run for parliament on Macron's ticket.

"That's impossible," he said.

A relative newcomer to politics, the europhile Macron swept to victory with 66.1 per cent of the vote on a tide of opposition to Le Pen's anti-immigration, anti-EU platform.

He has promised to liberalise the economy and rejuvenate France's jaded governing class by bringing more people who, like him, have never held elected office into government and parliament.

Half of the candidates for the 577 seats up for grabs in the two-round June 11-18 election to National Assembly will be new to politics, Macron has said.

The rest will be from the centrist Modem party or rebels from the Socialists and right-wing Republicans. The candidates will be announced by Thursday.

The losers of the presidential election are aiming to capitalise on a general lack of enthusiasm for the pro- business Macron -- whom many voters backed solely to bar Le Pen -- to bounce back in the parliamentary vote.

The Republicans, Le Pen's National Front and Socialists all held meetings today to discuss strategy.

The Republicans, whose scandal-hit candidate Francois Fillon crashed out in the first round of the presidential election, are hoping to come out tops in parliament and impose their choice of prime minister on Macron.

Republicans grandee Alain Juppe said the party should not adopt a policy of "systematic obstruction" of Macron if it failed to win a majority.

Macron, who will be inaugurated on Sunday, takes over from his former mentor, the deeply unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande, who decided against seeking a second term.

One of Macron's first acts will be to name a prime minister -- a choice that will show whether he leans more to the left or the right.

The former investment banker's victory over Le Pen has been hailed as the strongest sign that populism may be peaking in Europe after setbacks for nationalists in the Netherlands and Austria.

"Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

But Le Pen's historic score of 33.9 per cent, or 10.6 million votes, showed the far right to be a formidable force in a country wracked by concern over immigration, national identity and globalisation.

The fervently pro-European Macron wants to team up with Germany to reform the EU, which has been weakened by Britain's vote to leave.

Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici today urged him to tame France's budget deficit, which is forecast to rise above a eurozone limit of three percent of GDP in 2018.

Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has appealed to him to mind the public purse.

"We have a real problem with France," Juncker said in Berlin yesterday. "The French spend too much money and spend it on the wrong things.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NC leader Farooq Abdullah, who has been recently elected from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to adopt a political approach to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir situation and not consider it solely a law and order issue.

Abdullah, who is also a former Union minister and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, met the prime minister for over 30 minutes during which wide ranging issues pertaining to the situation in the valley were discussed.

"Farooq Abdullah sought a political approach from New Delhi to deal with the Kashmir Valley and to not deal with it solely through operational and law-and-order mechanisms," a National Conference spokesman said.

The spokesman said Abdullah, president of the National Conference, apprised the prime minister about several measures that need to be initiated in the valley at the earliest.

"Treating the issue merely as a law and order problem will continue to compound the already grave situation," the spokesman said.

This is the first meeting Abdullah had with Modi after being elected to Parliament. He had defeated PDP-BJP alliance candidate Nazir Ahmed by over 10,000 votes from the seat which had fallen vacant after Tariq Karra had resigned from the ruling PDP.

Abdullah urged the prime minister to take urgent steps to address the Kashmir issue politically, saying it was not a mere law and order problem.

He assured complete support to any efforts being initiated by the Centre for restoration of peace in the valley which has been virtually on boil for last 10 months.

The former chief minister, in his earlier addresses and interaction with public, had warned that if immediate attention was not paid to the problems of the people, the valley may witness a troublesome summer in 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following is the chronology of the events in which the on Tuesday held businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring $40 million to his children in violation of the court's order:

Mar 8, 2016: A consortium of PSU banks moves SC seeking direction that Mallya is not allowed to leave India.

Mar 9: Centre informs SC that Mallya has left India.

Mar 30: Mallya's lawyer favours settlement, offers to repay Rs 4,000 crore to banks.

Apr 7: Banks reject Mallya's proposal before SC.

Apr 25: Banks tell SC that Mallya not cooperating in probe.

Apr 26: SC orders assets details of Mallya family be given to banks.

Jul 14: Banks seek contempt action in SC against Mallya.

Jul 25: SC issues notice to Mallya on plea of consortium of banks.

Aug 29: Banks tell SC that Mallya deliberately didn't disclose full assets.

Oct 25: SC seeks Mallya's overseas asset details.

Jan 11, 2017: SC asks Mallya's response on banks' plea alleging that he transferred $40 million to his children.

Mar 3: SC agrees to hear the contempt plea of the consortium of banks.

Mar 9: SC reserves order on the plea filed by consortium of banks seeking contempt action against Mallya.

May 9: SC holds Mallya guilty of contempt of court. Directs him to appear before it on July 10 to argue on quantum of sentence.
Himachal Pradesh today signed an agreement with a Belarusian company for starting a skyway transport facility in the tourist destination of Dharamshala.

The MoU was signed by Himachal Pradesh government with Sky Way Technology Corporation, a transport and infrastructural development company of Belarus.

Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said the facility would be started in the next three years.

Dharamshala would be the first town in the state to provide this transport facility at reasonable rates.

He said the facility would be developed in two phases in a radius of 15 kilometres in Dharamshala.

In the first phase, 8 kilometre-long airway would be constructed for which the work would start in next three months, whereas the remaining work would be completed in the second phase.

Sharma said that a train-like bogie would run at a speed of 50 kmh with the facility of travel for six passengers at a time.

Passengers will have to spend Rs 60 for travelling a distance of 15 kms and as many as 20,000 passengers would be able to use the facility in a single day.

He claimed this is an accident-free transport service and there would be no impact of earthquake on it as well.

The minister said Rs 38 crore would be spent on developing one-km skyway track.

The facility, he said, would not only benefit tourists visiting Dharamshala, but also locals who could transport their goods through it.

The train would be constructed within India, said the chief executive officer of the company.

The aim of the facility would be to attract tourists in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Supreme Court today said that an HIV positive destitute woman, who was raped on the streets of Patna and is 26 weeks pregnant, cannot abort the foetus as a medical report has suggested it would be risky for both.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar said the 35-year-old woman, being a rape victim, was eligible for compensation under the provision of CrPC and directed Bihar government to pay her Rs three lakh within four weeks.

The apex court also asked the state government to provide her all medical facilities at Patna's Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (IGIMS) as per the treatment chart which would be given to her by the doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here.

The bench referred to a report of AIIMS's medical board, which had examined the woman, and said the doctors have opined that at this stage, the procedure involved in termination of pregnancy would be a risk, both to the woman and the foetus.

The report, which was placed before the court, also said that the woman has been advised antiretroviral therapy (ART) to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to the foetus.

"In view of the aforesaid opinion, it is an accepted position at the bar that there cannot be termination of pregnancy," the bench said.

"The IGIMS shall work in coordination with AIIMS so that the health condition of the petitioner does not deteriorate further," the court said.

During the hearing, advocate Vrinda Grover, representing the woman, said the victim was entitled to compensation from Bihar government and she should be awarded seperate compensation for the negligence by the authorities there, which has led to this situation.

The counsel referred to the victim compensation scheme under section 357(A) of the CrPC and said the woman shall be entitled to compensation under the scheme as well.

"Needless to say, the petitioner (woman) is eligible to get compensation under the said scheme (section 357-A of CrPC) and therefore the petitioner shall be paid sum of Rs 3 lakh (by Bihar) as she has been a victim of rape," the bench said.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, told the bench that the government would make appropriate arrangements, so that the woman, who is presently in Delhi, be sent to back to Patna.

When Grover said that doctors at AIIMS should give an appropriate treatment graph to the woman, Mehta said it would be given to her by tomorrow.

The bench also granted liberty to the petitioner to file an additional affidavit with regard to other aspects of the compensation within four weeks and asked Bihar to respond to it as well as on the plea filed by her.

The apex court, which as an interim measure stayed the operation of the Patna High Court's order which has been under challenge before it, has fixed the matter for further hearing on August 9.

During the brief hearing, the bench asked the advocate appearing for Bihar whether the state had contested the woman's plea before the high court.

When the counsel said "yes", the bench shot back, "What right did you have?"



"The question is when the matter was listed before the high court, somebody should have opened the 1971 Act (Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act) and say this is the law," the bench observed.

The apex court had earlier said it would not go into the orders of the high court which had held that the medical board's report has stated that it would be unsafe for the life of the petitioner and there was a compelling responsibility of the state to keep the child alive.

The high court had said the woman's pregnancy had crossed the legal embargo of 20 weeks under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

The petitioner had told the apex court that high court had failed to appreciate that the woman was 35 years of age and completely fit to make her own reproductive choices without any interference.

In her plea, the woman said she was a destitute and had come to know about her pregnancy for the first time around the 13th week, and that too after she was rescued by Shanti Kutir, a Women's Rehabilitation Centre, and taken a pregnancy test on January 26.

She was deserted by the husband, while her parents had refused to accept her for reasons including alleging that she was of an unstable mind.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An illegal elephone exchange has been busted at Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram District by TERM (Telephone Enforcement, Resources and Monitoring) cell of BSNL and three persons arrested in this connection.

"The exchange was terminating international calls through Internet using an illegal setup, installed in the first floor of a building on Gandhi Road at Paramakudi," TERM Tamil Nadu Director, Anitha Ramadas said today.

It was distributing such international calls throughout India by using 54 mobile SIMS issued by a private service provider, she said.

The exchange was busted during a raid on April 24.

Two routers with 54 SIMS mounted on them were found from the premises, Anita said in a press release today.

The set up was unauthorised as the system deployed was interconnecting Interenet/VoIP and mobile connections which is not permitted as per Indian Telecom laws.

This was not only causing revenue loss to the country,but also posing a possible threat to the national security as International calls handled by the setup could not be lawfully monitored or traced, Anitha said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Indian-origin businessman has been spared jail time by a UK court after he refunded thousands of pounds to people he conned into buying faulty second-hand cars.

Harsikander Dhillon, 34, had pleaded guilty to eight counts of engaging in misleading commercial practice at Leicester Crown Court.

CourtRecorder Timothy Walker handed Dhillon and his sales agent, Barry Porter, suspended jail sentences on Monday, the 'Leicester Mercury' reported.

Dhillon was handed an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Porter was given a six-month sentence, suspended for 14 months, as well as 160 hours of unpaid work.

Asuspendedsentencein the UK relates to asentencewhere the accused can escape jail time by serving a period of probation.

The court was told that he had deposited 24,550 pounds in a bank account to refund all eight customers, and that the duo had agreed to pay 15,000 pounds in court costs.

"You were acting with a disregard for your customers that was quite astounding. You were greedy. It must have become apparent you were acting unlawfully, but it better suited you to continue to act unlawfully. It plainly crosses the custody threshold," Walker told Dhillon and Porter.

Dhillon, Director of Granth Cars in Belgrave area of Leicester, was investigated by the UK's trading standards after 11 complaints were made within six months of them going into business together in May 2015.

He was responsible for buying eight defective cars and selling them on for sometimes thousands of pounds more than they were worth.

Cameron Crowe, representing Dhillon, told the newspaper that his client had "relied on the expertise of others who were supposed experts and he ultimately failed to take the necessary steps to rectify further verification".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan today said it will send back an Indian woman, who alleged she was sexually abused after her forced marriage with a Pakistani man at gunpoint, once all legal requirements in the case are completed.

Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that FO and Indian authorities were in touch over the issue and the woman would be allowed to go back once her legal issues are settled.

"Her case is currently in the court and she would be repatriated after completing the legal requirement," he said.

He said Indian High Commission have provided details about the woman and has also sought documents of her marriage.

However, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court told PTI on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue that the woman, identified as 20-year-old Uzma, can be repatriated immediately if she is issued a new passport by Indian High Commission and Pakistan's interior ministry issues a visa to legalise her stay.

"Marriage or court proceedings are not a legal bar on her going back to India. She can delegate power of attorney to anyone to contest her case with the help of a lawyer," he said.

The lawyer also said that marriage contracted through force can be dissolved by the court, if she testifies.

"Even if it is legal marriage, she can file case for Khula (a kind of divorce right exercised by Muslim woman) and her marriage would be dissolved by the court," he said.

Uzma yesterday filed a plea with a court in Islamabad against her husband Tahir Ali alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated by him. She also recorded her statement before magistrate Haider Ali Shah.

She told the magistrate that she came to Pakistan to see her relatives and not for marriage, a court official told PTI.

"I was forced to marry at gunpoint and my immigration documents were also taken away from me," she said, according to the official.

Uzma, who was brought to the court under strict security, also alleged in her statement that she was subjected to violence and sexual abuse by Tahir, said the court official.

She further said she does not want to leave the Indian High Commission premises till she could safely travel back to India.

The court adjourned the case till July 11 and issued notices to Tahir to appear for next hearing. It also summoned cleric Humayun Khan, who solemnised the marriage, to appear in person in the court on the next hearing.

The cleric has said that he had asked Uzma if she was marrying by free will and she responded in affirmative.

Tahir in his application to local police station on May 5 had said they had come to Indian High Commission to get visa as Uzma's brother in India had invited them for honeymoon.

He said he stayed outside and Uzma went inside the High Commission but never came back. He had asked police to help recover his wife who in his opinion was held against her will.

Uzma reached Pakistan on May 1 and travelled to Buner district in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa to marry Tahir on May 3. The couple reportedly met in Malaysia, where Tahir was working as taxi-driver.

However, the story took a turn when Uzma claimed she was forcefully married to Tahir and that she was unaware about him being already married.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The International Court of Justice today stayed the hanging of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "spying".

The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month, official sources said.

India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.

Following India's appeal, the ICJ stayed Jadhav's execution.

India, in its appeal, contended that it was not informed of Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights.

It further asserted that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the Pakistani authorities were denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite repeated requests.

"Referring to 'the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes to India', India urges the Court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately, 'without waiting for an oral hearing'," India's appeal said.

Reacting to the development, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, "I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court."



"Mr Harish Salve, Senior Advocate is representing India before International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case," she tweeted.

Jadhav, 46, was given death sentence last month by the Field General Court Martial in Pakistan, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.

Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."



India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government.

India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.

The appeal on behalf of Jadhav was given to Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who also handed over a petition by Jadhav's mother seeking the Pakistan government's intervention for his release and expressing the desire to meet him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A senior Israeli official telephoned Turkey's ambassador today to express indignation over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and anti-Muslim discrimination, diplomatic sources said.

Foreign ministry director general Yuval Rotem spoke with ambassador Kemal Okem at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's behest, the Israeli sources said.

Israel had said in a statement on Monday night, in a reference to Erdogan, that those who "systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region."



It also rejected "baseless smears" from the Turkish leader.

Erdogan has vowed to prevent a draft bill being advanced in Israel that would prevent the use of speakers mounted on minarets to summon Muslims to prayer and accused Israel of apartheid practices.

"What's the difference in Israel's current practices from the racist and discriminatory policies implemented towards the blacks in America in the past, and in South Africa more recently?" he asked at the International Jerusalem Foundations Forum in Istanbul.

Erdogan, a fervent supporter of Palestinians, normalised relations with Israel in June last year after bilateral ties deteriorated over a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed 10 Turkish activists.

Israeli parliament speaker Yuli Edelstein lashed out at Erdogan on Tuesday, telling public radio that "one mustn't forget: Erdogan was an enemy and will remain one."



"As long as Erdogan leads Turkey the ties (with Israel) won't return to what they were," Edelstein wrote on his Twitter account.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant, however, said that Turkey and Israel need their ties.

"We must keep correct relations with them," Galant told army radio.

"The fact that from time to time (Erdogan) makes inflammatory remarks that reflect his own rhetorical political interests -- let him talk, we know how to talk too."



"When it comes to practice, I think the Turks have other interests," Galant said, pointing to the number of Israeli tourists who visit Turkey and the possibility of building a pipeline to Turkey to export natural gas from Israel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Defence Minister has hinted that incentives are being worked out to encourage domestic manufacturing in the defence sector so as to cut imports of combat planes, ships and submarines. In an interview to PTI, he said the government is working on a policy that will incentivise companies to set up manufacturing bases in India.

We have so far liberalised our rules as far as investment is concerned... our companies, both defence PSUs and private sector companies have already started entering into arrangements with international majors with the object of establishment of manufacturing units in India, he said.

But, with government being the only buyer, manufacturing units generally will be set up only after orders are secured. Now, in the context of defence, government is the only buyer and therefore, people will establish units only if there is a likelihood of they getting business and therefore, our policies have to be tuned to this reality, he said.
Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu today called on Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki here and discussed issues of mutual interest.

Singh briefed the ambassador about various initiatives taken by the Haryana government in the state.

He said Haryana is ranked among the highly developed states of the country.

The state is not only known for its achievements in the agriculture sector but is also doing well in the industrial sector. There is immense potential for investment in both these sectors, an official release quoted Singh as saying.

Hiramatsu said the meeting was held to develop more economic relations between India and Japan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JNUSU and ABVP on Tuesday protested against the contentious seat cut issue, outside the JNU convention centre where 143rd academic council meeting took place.

"We want the administration to give up on seat cuts which will affect a large number of students," Saurabh Sharma, ABVP leader said.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) President Mohit Kumar Pandey had yesterday called for a protest against "undemocratic" way in which the VC was making decisions.

"VC claims to have emergency powers and is trying to push anti-student, undemocratic agenda," said Pandey.

However, ABVP blamed JNUSU and JNUTA (Teachers Association) for filing a court case, which they claimed thwarted their plans to make the VC withdraw seat cuts.

"After we held a hunger strike in February this year, the VC accepted our demands to not implement seat cuts, but after the court case the VC upheld the seat cuts," said Sharma.

Ensuring deprivation points was another demand that was synchronous to both the camps.

ABVP pitched for a high-level committee to enquire into Muthukrishnan's death and suspension of four professors who "abetted" the suicide, Sanskrit center to be converted into a school and installation of CCTV cameras in a month.

Among other issues, JNUSU demanded for upholding of the stay order issued by the Delhi High Court on implementation of seat cut till July 27.
Controversial Calcutta High Court Judge C S Karnan reached Chennai today on a day when the Supreme Court sentenced him to jail for six months in a contempt case.

The judge, who arrived in the city before the apex court delivered its verdict, moved into a state guest house.

In the afternoon, Justice Karnan addressed the media in his room.

This is the first time that a sitting high court judge has been awarded jail sentence by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt.

A seven-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, also disallowed the media, both print and electronic, from publishing the contents of further orders passed by Justice Karnan.

"The sentence shall be executed and he be taken into custody forthwith," the bench said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn launched the party's general election campaign today but was quickly caught in a muddle over his position on Brexit.

Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election for June 8 seeking a bigger mandate going into the Brexit negotiations with the European Union.

"This election isn't about Brexit itself," Corbyn said at the Labour campaign launch in Manchester, northwest England.

"That issue has been settled.

"The question now is what sort of Brexit do we want -- and what sort of country do we want Britain to be after Brexit?"



The veteran socialist said Labour wanted a "jobs-first Brexit" that safeguarded industry and improved the economy.

But his position quickly became less clear when the BBC asked him five times if Britain would leave the EU if he was prime minister, and he did not answer directly.

A party source told AFP afterwards that there was no question that Britain was leaving the EU, stressing Corbyn had said in the past that he would respect the vote to leave and that there would be no referendum re-run.

Conservative Brexit minister David Davis said Corbyn was incapable of negotiating with Brussels.

"The chaotic incoherence of Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit means that the 27 other EU countries would make mincemeat of him in the negotiations," he said.

"This morning he said he was settled on leaving the EU -- this afternoon he can't say whether he will do it.

"We simply cannot take the risk of Corbyn in Downing Street in four weeks' time negotiating Britain's future."



In his campaign launch, Corbyn said the British economy was "rigged in favour of the rich and powerful".

"To tax cheats, the rip-off bosses, the greedy bankers: enough is enough," he declared.

"We have four weeks to ruin their party. We have four weeks to have a chance to take our wealth back."



Corbyn insisted that he would stay on as party leader whatever the general election outcome.

"I was elected leader of this party and I'll stay leader of this party," he told Buzzfeed.

The latest poll, by ICM for The Guardian newspaper, put the Conservatives on 49 per cent, Labour on 27 per cent, the Liberal Democrats nine per cent, UKIP six per cent and the Greens three per cent.

It is ICM's biggest Conservative lead since 1983.

ICM interviewed 2,038 adults online from Friday to Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man arrested near the British parliament last month has been charged with terrorism offences, as well as two historic charges relating to explosives in Afghanistan, police said today.

Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, a 27-year-old from north London, is accused of preparing terrorist acts after being arrested not far from Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street office on April 27.

In two further charges, dating to January and July 2012, he is accused of having explosives with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, or to enable any other person to do so.

"Counts two and three relate to activity in Afghanistan in 2012," the statement from London's Metropolitan Police said, without giving further details.

He is due to appear in court tomorrow.

His arrest came the month after five people were killed in an attack on parliament. Khalid Masood, who was British, drove his car along a pavement before stabbing a policeman to death, before being shot dead by armed officers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With Meghalaya ranking 276 in a country-wide cleanliness survey, the state government today said the Centre's cleanliness ranking will be taken with a "pinch of salt" as it was not conducted by an independent agency.

Meghalaya Urban Affairs Minister Ronnie V Lyngdoh told PTI, "We will take the ranking with a pinch of salt as the survey was conducted by an agency of the NDA Government at the Centre."



The ranking may not be justified in view of the political situation at the Centre and the state, which he said, is one of the last few bastions of the Congress.

The state capital got a cleanliness score of 839 out of 2000 and is ranked a little above the other north eastern cities of Dimapur at 277 with a score of 838, Agartala at 290 with score of 806 and Dibrugarh at 297 with a score of 798.

However, the minister admitted that the government has taken the report "seriously" and necessary action will be initiated to improve its water bodies - Umshyrpi and Umkhrah rivers, both flowing through the city.

He also said the government will initiate actions to improve solid and liquid waste management.

"Umkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers used to be very clean in the 1970s, but look at these water bodies now. They are in a bad state," he said.

Stating that proper septic waste management was the need of the hour, the minister also said the treatment of waste water should be done at a locality level taking into consideration the hilly terrain of the city.

Recently he said, 12 localities, outside the municipal area in the city, have come forward to sign an MoU with the department to implement the Asian Development Bank-funded project to segregate waste at source and safely disposing it.

According to the Swachh Survekshan 2017 (Swachh Bharat survey 2017), which was conducted in 434 cities and towns of the country, Indore is India's cleanest city.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chancellor Angela Merkel today ruled out any participation on German soil in a potential Turkish referendum on bringing back the death penalty.

Immediately after winning a close vote last month that boosted his powers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mooted a second referendum on reinstating capital punishment, which would mean an end to the country's EU membership prospects.

Merkel said Berlin would not make it possible for the 1.4 million Turkish voters living in Germany to participate if the referendum were to be held.

"We will not give permission for something we are not obligated to do, and whose content we absolutely reject, for example, the death penalty," she told public broadcaster WDR.

Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 as a key pillar of its bid to join the EU.

The April referendum had already opened a new rift between NATO allies Germany and Turkey, and inflamed tensions within Germany's three-million-strong community of Turkish origin.

After Germany and the Netherlands blocked campaign events by Turkish ministers in March ahead of the vote, Erdogan repeatedly accused both countries of using "Nazi" methods.

Relations took a fresh hit with the arrest of German- Turkish journalist for Die Welt daily Deniz Yucel, who was jailed in February on terror charges and is awaiting trial.

Erdogan and top Turkish officials have also threatened to rip up an EU deal for billions in aid in return for Ankara halting a flood of migrants coming to Europe because of a lack of progress in membership talks.

Germany has urged its EU peers not to end accession talks despite deep misgivings over Turkey's rights record, saying the country is key to European interests.

Since the July 2016 failed coup in Turkey and subsequent crackdown, 414 Turkish officials and their families have sought political asylum in Germany, according to the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees.

Unconfirmed media reports said successful applicants included numerous Turkish military personnel and their families holding diplomatic passports.

Asked by AFP, the German interior ministry said "some cases" involving Turkish diplomatic passport holders had been approved but declined to provide further details.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Venezuelan military courts have ordered the detention of at least 50 civilians involved in the deadly mass protests against the embattled government of President Nicolas Maduro, a non-governmental organization said



Alfredo Romero, an attorney with the NGO Foro Penal (Criminal Justice Forum), told AFP yesterday that military hearings involving civilian suspects were known to have been taking place for several days.

"So far, 75 people have been brought before Venezuelan military courts. Fifty of those remain in custody," said Romero, who is representing the detained civilians.

Another forty or so people were expected before judges later yesterday, said the lawyer, who denounced what he called an "illegal" bid by a military court to try civilians.

Government officials have not confirmed the arrests, or the military processing of civilian suspects.

The 50 people being held are in Guarico state, according to legal expert Luis Betancourt with Foro Penal.

Riot cops fired tear gas yesterday as thousands pressed ahead with a weeks-long campaign of protest against Maduro's efforts to reform the constitution.

Clashes at protests have left 36 people dead and hundreds injured since the unrest erupted on April 1, according to authorities.

Demonstrators blame Maduro for an economic crisis that has caused food shortages in the oil-rich state and say his constitutional move is a ploy to resist calls for early elections.

Maduro says the crisis is a US-backed capitalist conspiracy against his elected socialist government.

His own chief prosecutor has spoken out against the detention of protestors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to kick off his government's 3rd anniversary celebrations from Assam on May 26, as the BJP makes vigorous efforts to expand its presence in the north east.

Modi will launch developmental projects and make a public address from the state where his party came to power for the first time last year. The Assam government completes its first year on May 23.

Assam and the entire north eastern region has become important for the BJP and RSS as the saffron party has made big strides there, capturing power in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur besides Assam since it formed the government at the Centre in 2014.

Tripura, another north eastern state, will have assembly election early next year and BJP chief Amit Shah has been making concerted efforts to galvanise the party to unseat the CPI(M), which has been in power there since 1993.

BJP sources said Modi's speech is likely to underline his government's commitment to the eastern and north eastern India which he has often emphasised was critical to the country's overall progress.

Though the BJP has expanded its footprint across western and northern India under Modi and Shah, success has largely eluded it in the southern states, besides Bihar and West Bengal.

As part of his nation-wide tour Shah has been especially targeting these regions for the party to grow with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The BJP has made elaborate tour plans for its office bearers and central government ministers to reach out to people on the Modi dispensation's third anniversary.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Muhajirs have no future in Pakistan, a top leader of Muttahidda Qaumi Movement has said, ruing that India has adopted an approach of indifference to gross human rights violations against MQM members in Karachi.

"It is a reign of terror inside Karachi against MQM members," Convener of MQM Pakistan Coordination Committee Nadeem Nusrat told PTI.

Nusrat is currently in the US as part of his party's global outreach effort to appraise the world community on alleged human rights violations against MQM members in Pakistan and inside Karachi in particular.

"We, Muhajirs, whose forefathers were at the forefront of the movement for the creation of Pakistan and who actually sacrificed their homeland, migrated to Pakistan, haven't been accepted (inside Pakistan)," he said, alleging that it was tough for Muhajirs to get in the civil services now. And for the army, it is has been a trend for long.

"There is absolutely (no future for Muhajirs). As in we stand now, I see no future," he said.

The MQM, Karachi's biggest political party, is facing a crackdown after its former self-exiled leader Altaf Hussain in London last year delivered an anti-Pakistan speech and asked his workers to launch attack on media.

The MQM emerged as a largely ethnic party in the 1980s. It has political dominance in the southern Sindh province's urban areas - notably in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur where a large number of urdu-speaking people who migrated from India during partition reside.

Nusrat said he wants to travel to India to raise awareness about the plight of Muhajirs so that people of India can pressurise the Indian government to come to their rescue.

"When (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi can raise the issue of Balochis and other people around the world, after all we were once part of India, why can't he raise the issue of Muhajirs," he said.

"He (Altaf Hussain) has already knocked the door (of Indians). We know that there are severe repercussions for Muhajirs and MQM for raising the issue with Indian authorities," he acknowledged, noting that for doing so they have been branded as Indian agents inside Pakistan.

"But we see it in a different context, in a different spectrum. If we can approach the US, we can approach (European Union in) Brussels, we can approach (UN bodies in) Geneva, we can approach UN, why not India...We expect political support from our relatives still living in India. Yes, I think it's already happening to an extent," he said.

Refraining to give details of his meetings here, he urged the Trump administration to use its influence over Pakistan to end gross human rights violations against its own people.

In the last few years, he alleged, thousands of MQM members have gone missing or killed extra-judicially.

"The rate of missing persons in Pakistan have gone so high that some people now call Pakistan Islamic Republic of Ghayabistan or the land of missing, not the land of pure anymore," Nusrat said.

"Life of slavery, you can live in Pakistan absolutely fine. The moment you stand up for your rights as Muhajir and demand equitable treatment or a life of honor and dignity, then you are branded as traitor, agent of India," he said.

On the other hand, he alleged, Karachi is now being developed as a safe havens for terrorist and its leaders.

"While we are being denied political space in Karachi, the banned outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Harkat ul-Ansar, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Al-Qaeda, Daesh, Taliban, they all have license to roam, operate, and collect funds freely in Karachi," the MQM leader alleged.

He said he has the video evidence to confirm that these banned groups were allowed in the presence of the Paramilitary Rangers to collect funds for Jihad against American soldiers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a significant order, the Allahabad High Court has held that divorce by a Muslim man cannot be in a manner which may infringe his wife's fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, and that the personal law can always be superseded by legislation.

Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani, in his order which began with the Sanskrit verse "yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devata" (gods reside where women are worshipped), said that all citizens, including Muslim women, have fundamental rights which cannot be infringed under the garb of personal law.

The order, dated April 19, 2017, assumes importance as it comes in the backdrop of the raging debate over 'triple talaq'.

"The personal law operates under the authority of legislation, subject to constitutional limitation, and not under the religion. The personal law can always be superseded by legislation," the court said.

It was passed on a petition filed by Aaqil Jamil and two others, who had moved the court challenging summonses issued by an Agra court in connection with a case filed by Jamil's estranged wife under the Dowry Prohibition Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The petitioners' contention was that the proceedings initiated by the CJM's court at Agra were "null and void" since the complaint was registered by Jamil's wife a few days after he had divorced her "by saying thrice that I divorce you Sumaila Afgani".

The petitioners had contended that following the divorce, Jamil had rendered his wife "free to lead her life in the manner she wants" and even obtained a "fatwa" whereby the Mufti City, Agra "has affirmed the talaqnama".

However, the court turned down the application observing that it did not "find any good reason to interfere with the impugned summoning order or the impugned proceedings".

The court made it clear that "fatwa, issued by whatever body, not emanating from any judicial system recognized by law, is not binding on anyone including the person who had asked for it".

In the concluding part of its 40-page order, the court remarked "a society that does not respect its women, can not be treated to be civilized".

"All citizens, including Muslim women, have fundamental rights", the court pointed out, adding "under the garb of personal law, individual or collective rights of the citizens" could not be infringed.

The Supreme Court is all set to begin on May 11 its hearing on constitutional validity of triple talaq.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nagaland Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu today announced that efforts were on to improve inter-state relations between Nagaland and Manipur.

"All must realize that only when there is peace, there can be development and this applies to the entire North East region as the problems faced by the states are almost the same", Liezietsu, who is on a visit to Manipur, told reporters here.

He claimed that "some leaders" in the past had exploited the situation for their "selfish ends" and created feelings among different communities.

"However, with the change of the government that has changed and there is no tension between the two states," the CM said.

Stating that Naga People's Front (NPF) had extended its assistance in forming the BJP-led government in Manipur, Liezietsu exuded confidence that a "new era has begun".

Replying to a query on the economic blockade along highways in landlocked Manipur, the NPF president said it was over and there are considerations to create a separate road for truckers heading toward Manipur as Kohima experiences heavy traffic jam during the day and trucks are not allowed to enter the city.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As outrage grew over a student in Kerala being asked to remove her bra at a medical entrance test, four teachers at the exam centre in a school were today suspended for the "overzealous act" by the CBSE which also ordered the principal to apologise to her.

The directive for the apology came after Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Chairman RK Chaturvedi met Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi, two days after the incident to check cheating was reported from a school in Kannur.

The CBSE described the incident that occurred before the girl was allowed to sit for the exam on Sunday as an "overzealous" act and suspended the four teachers pending inquiry. The incident also rocked the Kerala Assembly.

In a related incident, examination officials at a school in Ernakulam in Kerala were booked for allegedly trimming the shirt sleeves of a student as part of the CBSE's steps to curb cheating in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), held on May 7.

The CBSE, which conducts the examination at over 1,900 centres across India for admission to undergraduate medical and dentistry courses, however, defended the stringent dress code it had imposed.

It was a measure to "secure the sanctity" of the high- stake examination in which 11 lakh students vie for 95,000 seats, it said.

"The incident reported in Kannur is unfortunate and a consequence of the overzealousness of a few persons involved in the process. However, the inconvenience caused to the students inadvertently in the process is regretted by the Board," CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma said in New Delhi.

Sharma said the principal had been directed to apologise to the candidate who was made to remove her bra and added that the Board would "sensitise" the frisking staff at exam centres to prevent such incidents.

There were reports of students' long sleeves being cut off at examination centres, candidates being asked to take off their shoes and of a girl student being ordered to change out of her jeans as they had pockets with metal buttons.

But the student in Kerala being asked to remove her bra triggered widespread outrage, leading to a political outcry in the state assembly and the suspension of four Kannur teachers.

Jamaluddin K, principal of TISK English Medium school, one of the NEET centres, told PTI that the teachers had been suspended pending an inquiry though he was yet to receive any complaint.

The issue found angry echo in the Kerala assembly with both the treasury and opposition benches condemning it.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he would bring the matter to the Centre's notice and that the police had been asked to examine the incidents.

A furious Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, said the CBSE norms were "an insult to humanity".

The stripping of students and using metal detectors for physical examination were "cruel, inhuman and insulting" and created mental pressures on the students, he added.

The Kerala Child Rights Commission has sought a detailed report from the CBSE within 10 days, while the Kerala Human Rights Commission registered a suo motu case against the education board and demanded a high-level probe.

To prevent any kind of cheating by candidates in the examination, the CBSE had asked students to bring only their admit cards along with the required documents.

The don'ts included big buttons, brooches and heeled shoes for female candidates and kurta-pyjama, full-sleeve shirts and shoes for male candidates. The candidates were also not allowed to carry electronic devices inside the exam centre.

"Candidates were repeatedly instructed through the website, information bulletins, printed instructions on admit cards and individual communication through emails and SMSs about the steps to be taken before entering the exam centres in the high-value and high-stake examination," the CBSE spokesperson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The benchmark Nifty settled with modest gains, up 3 points in a range-bound session following mild buying in some sectors amid positive global cues.

Overseas, European stocks edged higher as investors searched for the next catalyst following the French elections.

Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend.

The NSE 50-share Nifty index opened higher at 9,337.35 and hovered between 9,338.95 and 9,307.70 before finishing at 9,316.95, a marginal rise of 2.80 points, or 0.03 per cent.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 31.25 points.

Sector-wise, infra rose (0.94 per cent) metal (0.77 per cent), IT (0.69 per cent), energy (0.60 per cent) and realty (0.45 per cent).

Among the laggards, PSU banks fell (1.28 per cent) followed by media (0.63 per cent) and bank (0.26 percent).

Continuing their winning momentum, the broader mid-cap and small-cap rose by 0.51 and 0.58 per cent, respectively.

Major index gainers were IOC 2.86 per cent, Adani Ports 2.06 per cent, Larsen 2.05 per cent, Axis Bank 1.37 per cent and Wipro 1.31 per cent.

Hero Moto fell by 3.50 per cent, while other notable losers were India Bulls Housing Fin (3.04 per cent), Lupin (2.32 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.72 per cent) and Auro Pharma (1.70 per cent).

A total of 918 scrips advanced, 747 declined, while 94 remained unchanged. Total securities that hit their price bands were 105.

Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 23,564.99 crore, from Rs 22,094.46 crore yesterday.

A total of 12,362.45 lakh shares changed hands in 8,467,836 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms stood at Rs 12,368,783.25 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Norwegian Ambassador to India Nils Ragnar Kamsvag today called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and discussed issues relating to the implementation of several programmes under the Norway-India partnership initiative 2013-17 in the state.

"The envoy met Vohra at Raj Bhavan and discussed with him issues relating to the implementation in J&K of the several programmes, under the Norway-India Partnership Initiative 2013-17," an official spokesman said.

Recalling his experiences as the founder co-chairman of the Indo-European Union Round Table (2001-08), the Governor complimented the ambassador for his country's sustained support to human development programmes, particularly in the arena of health, from which India had benefitted immensely through aid under NORAD.

Vohra invited the envoy to pay a longer visit to the state and view the fruitful possibilities which exist for Norwegian investors to launch mutually beneficial projects in Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesman said.

He said the Governor also referred to the high potential of Indo-Norwegian collaboration in the education sector and fostering of joint research programmes in identified fields.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As much as 73.07 lakh metric tonnes of wheat has arrived in the mandis of Haryana so far.

Out of the total arrived wheat, the five government procuring agencies have purchased about 73 lakh metric tonnes (MT) and traders have purchased 6,854 MT of wheat at Minimum Support Price.

A spokesman of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said the procurement process was running smoothly in the mandis.

He said 18.03 lakh MT of wheat has been procured by Food and Supplies Department, whereas HAFED has purchased 26.37 lakh MT of wheat.

Food Corporation of India has purchased 8.55 lakh MT of wheat, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation has purchased 6.70 lakh MT and over 13.33 lakh MT of wheat has been procured by Haryana Warehousing Corporation, he further said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Portugal Ambassador to Indian Joao da Camara today called on Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, V P Singh Badnore at the Raj Bhawan here.

During the course of the meeting, both called for a comprehensive partnership to work together to enhance economic, scientific and technological cooperation, an official spokesman said.

Comprehensive strategies were also discussed to promote peace, security and prosperity between the two countries, he said.

Expressing satisfaction at the mutual understanding between India and Portugal, both affirmed their strong commitment to further strengthen ties and build a forward- looking 21st century partnership based on the strong links of shared history, culture and people-to-people relations.

Taking positive note of the progress being made by India and Portugal in the renewable energy sector, Badnore welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding signed during the recent meeting between the prime ministers of both the countries in the national capital Delhi, focusing mainly on promoting closer cooperation in wind, solar and hydro- electricity sectors, the spokesman said.

He also highlighted that India's target to produce 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy by 2022 offered immense opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between India and Portugal.

Discussing various issues at length, Badnore said India enjoys mature bilateral relations and strong socio-cultural linkages with Portugal.

The Governor said Punjab has achieved a major breakthrough in the solar energy sector and the state is emerging as a progressive and vibrant investment destination due to various facilities extended to the cross country investors.

He said India's economic capability is growing at a faster pace as the country has enormous dynamism and business potential.

He added that there was a major scope to further expand economic and business cooperation in a wide range of fields like information technology, marketing of agriculture produce and sharing of educational tools and technologies, which can be of immense mutual benefit for the people on both sides.

Camara was accompained his wife.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Reserve Bank today extended the last date for companies undertaking billing business under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) by seven months to December 31, 2017.

"This extension is in view of the difficulties expressed by various entities in meeting the deadline," it added.

The extension applies to those companies wanting to become an agent of an authorised Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU) or also exit the business of bill payments, it said in a statement.

This will include companies which did not apply for authorisation as a BBPOU or whose application for BBPOU has been returned by RBI and also ones which were granted extension of time by RBI but were not able to achieve and report the required networth by December 31, 2016, it said.

The RBI may also consider re-opening the process of granting of approvals or authorisation to operate as BBPOUs by inviting fresh applications at a future date depending on the developments, growth and expansion in the scope of BBPS, the apex bank said.

As per the guidelines for implementation of BBPS dated November 28, 2014, banks and non-bank entities presently engaged in the bill payment activities covered under the current scope of BBPS can participate in BBPS either as Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) or as an agent of an authorised BBPOU.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Resentment is brewing among BJD MLAs over non-representation of around 12 districts in Naveen Patnaik's council of ministers and a number of legislators, who were eyeing berths during the recent reshuffle, have openly expressed their dissatisfaction.

At least six MLAs have so far come to the fore expressing their dissatisfaction over the manner in which a large number of districts were "ignored" while choosing new ministers.

BJD MLA from Sambalpur Raseswari Panigrahi and Dibya Shankar Mishra from Kalahandi district, Mangala Kissan from Sundergarh district, Padmanav Behera from Subarnapur district and Debashish Nayak, Pramila Mallick and Amar Prasad Satpathy from Jajpur district have gone on the record expressing discontent over the ministry reshuffle.

Over 12 districts, including some backward ones, like Kalahandi, Bolangir, Rayagada, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Sundargarh have not been represented in the new council of ministers.

The ministry reshuffle on Sunday is said to be the biggest ever since Patnaik become the chief minister in 2000.

Pramilla Mallick and Debasis Nayak had a close door parley at Amar Prasad Satpathy's residence last night over the possible impact of non-representation of Jajpur in the council of ministers even though all the seven assembly segments of Jajpur district have by BJD legislators.

"People have started asking us why none from Jajpur got a berth in the ministry," Satpathy said.

Nayak termed the ministry as "imbalanced."



Supporters of Raseswari Panigrahi and Padmanav Behera have already hit the streets against their leader not being included in the council of ministers.

In Sundargarh, BJD workers expressed their grievances over non-inclusion of tribal leader Mangala Kisan in the ministry and even threatened to leave the party if he was not inducted.

Dibyashankar Mishra, who is also a BJD spokesperson, said lack of a minister from Kalahandi will have an adverse impact on the development prospects of the backward district.

Kalahandi needs representation because it is one of the most backward regions of the state, he said adding, "Not only Kalahandi, the whole of western Odisha needs more representation in the council of ministers."



Party spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said once the chief minister returns from New Delhi he will discuss the issue with the BJD members who have expressed their discontent over the reshuffle.

"It is not possible to make representation of all the 30 districts in the ministry. The number of ministers including the chief minister can be a maximum 22," Deb said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Punjab Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu today visited various solid waste management projects running successfully in the state.

In a statement, the minister said during past decade, the urban population of Punjab was "befooled" in the name of establishing solid waste management projects but in reality the people living in urban areas had to live in hell.

He said that on assuming charge, he had promised a permanent and fool proof mechanism of solid waste management.

As part of that commitment, he reviewed the solid waste management projects.

He further said that the urban population is reeling under multitude of problems including foul smell emanating from sewerage with plastic and building construction materials blocking these.

Minister also divulged that ultra modern super suction machines would be pressed into service to tackle the problem with regard to blockage of sewers which results in stagnant water during rainy season.

Sidhu said that emphasis would be on establishing plants to manufacture green coal (used in cement plants), compost manure, plastic granules (as part of short term projects) biogas and electricity (as part of long time projects).

The initial focus would be on short term projects to provide immediate relief to the people, he said.

Laying stress on Punjab being predominantly an agricultural state, Sidhu said that the farming community of the state would be provided with the compost manure to spare their lands from the harmful effects of pesticides.

He said the soil of Punjab is suffering from the destructive effects of harmful and toxic pesticides whose viable alternative can be found in the compost and organic manure.

The minister further informed that with the tour of the plants today, he has witnessed the process and procedure in the establishment of these plants.

Sidhu, an MLA from Amritsar East said that top honchos of companies like RAMKI, Metro Transit, Anthonese, Jindal Waste to power plant which operate these plants also met him and assured of their full cooperation in providing clean environment as well as civic amenities to the people of Punjab.

He also made it clear that no departure would be made from quality in this regard.

The minister also said that keeping in view the tremendous potential of Punjab in unlocking the renewable energy sources and no effort would be spared in providing assistance to those exhibiting interest in establishing the plants in these spheres.

He also divulged that he has instructed the officials of the department to seek detailed reports regarding technical know how which would be placed before the Chief Minister for his approval.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least five persons, including a policemen, were injured in brick-batting by people in the Tollygunge area over a stone-throwing incident, prompting the police and a state minister to step in to bring the situation under control.

Four persons were arrested for alleged involvement in the incident when two groups of slum-dwellers in south Kolkata's Tollygunge Road area fought, a senior police officer said.

Contingents from the Tollygunge and Charu Market police stations with reinforcement from the Control room intervened and dispersed the warring groups.

Local MLA and state power minister Shobandeb Chatterjee rushed to the spot last night and intervened to pacify the agitated people of the area.

The groups of slum-dwellers again fought this afternoon throwing stones and glass bottles, the officer said.

Huge police team from Tollygunge Police Station, Charu Market Police Station, Alipore Police Station, New Alipore and Chetla Police Station along with force from Kolkata Police Control and a contingent of RAF went to the spot, he said.

Minister Chattopadhyay, who again wen the spot today, alleged laxity on the part of policemen posted there leading to the reoccurrence of the incident.

"Our officers tried hard and during the melee five persons and one ASI were injured. Our officers managed dispersing both the groups by 3.45PM," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Through an anonymous donation, all outstanding lunch balances for students in the Ocean Springs School District have been paid -- a total of $760 affecting 171 students.

Superintendent Bonita Coleman took to Facebook Monday night to share the news:

"I thank God for the wonderful person who stepped in and made an anonymous donation to pay off every lunch charge in the district for the entire year," Coleman wrote. "Thank you for feeding the children. Thank you for thinking of them and being a true blessing.

"I will never know your name but we thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

Coleman told The Mississippi Press Tuesday students in grades K-8 are allowed to charge lunches if their parents have not added money to their account.

"Then we wait for the parents to pay off the balance," she said. "We don't want to deny a child lunch. But every year we went up just absorbing the balance when parents don't pay."

Coleman said she was taken aback when she learned of the generous donation.

"Whoever this person is -- I was floored," she said. "Whoever it is -- man or woman -- is an angel, that's all I can say. The food service director came in and told me about it."

Gail Schultz, Director of Child Nutrition for the district, said the donation was made by an individual through a school district employee, who also wishes to remain anonymous, and then given to her.

Schultz laughed when asked her reaction to the donation, adding that she has "no idea" of the donor's identity.

"It was just a little overwhelming that someone would want to pay the entire district charges," she said. "We have had people in the past -- churches, for example -- who want to give a little bit to help. But this took care of all the charges that had accumulated for the whole district.

"So, yes, we were a little overwhelmed and felt really blessed. Needless to say, the parents were very thankful that someone would even think to do that for their children."

The last day for graduating seniors at the high school is Friday. For the remainder of the district, the last day is May 24.

Schultz said, while parents are ultimately responsible for paying for their child's lunches, the district recognizes that circumstances may arise (death in the family, out of town, etc.) which results in an outstanding balance.

High school students are the only ones not allowed to charge lunches.

"The reason we don't do the high school students is they are older, more responsible," Schultz said. "Plus, they have an app where they or their parents can go and check their available lunch balance at any time. There are 1,800 students at the high school and it would be overwhelming to manage that many charge accounts. In all the years I've been with the district, it hasn't really been an issue."
Supporters of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poured today into the southern city of Curitiba ahead of the leftist standard bearer's corruption court case.

He is accused of receiving a seaside apartment as a bribe in a much wider corruption scheme investigated in the so- called "Car Wash" operation that has upended Brazilian politics.

Wearing the Workers' Party red and waving red flags, hundreds of people came in on buses from around the vast country to back Lula, who will face senior "Car Wash" Judge Sergio Moro tomorrow.

The leftist movement Free Brazil Front told AFP that 100 buses of activists had already left Sao Paulo for Curitiba.

There were high-profile allies of the beleaguered former president too. Workers' Party Senator Humberto Costa flew in today and Lula's successor in the presidency, Dilma Rousseff, was due in tomorrow, a spokesman said.

Lula, 71, became an icon of Latin America's left during a 2003-2010 presidency that saw Brazil enjoy a commodities- fueled boom and tens of millions of people lifted out of severe poverty.

But now facing a total of five corruption cases, he is fighting for his reputation and the chance for an epic comeback in elections next year.

Although heading opinion polls, Lula has become the country's most divisive figure, with opponents painting him as the corruption kingpin and supporters calling him the victim of a plot.

"We came here because we understand that the trial against Lula is skewed, a prosecution that breaks Brazilian justice rules," said banking employee Jo Portilho, 54, just after arriving in Curitiba.

The crowds were there to show Moro that "the people are watching, observing," he said.

Lula, the fiery, bearded orator who rose from great hardship to found the Workers' Party and lead Brazil, is already one of the most famous people in the country. Moro, a quiet, intense 44-year-old legal high-flier, is rapidly catching up.

As the face of the "Car Wash" probe that has gripped Brazil for more than two years, Moro is a hero to many.

He is weighing allegations that Lula accepted a luxury seaside apartment near Sao Paulo as a bribe from the OAS construction company.

The apartment and other alleged benefits from OAS are said to have been typical of a vast network of bribery uncovered by "Car Wash," with major companies paying politicians to obtain influence with lawmakers and secure big deals with the Petrobras state oil company.

Already, senators, former ministers and the once seemingly untouchable speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, have been arrested or convicted, while scores more high-flying politicians face probes.

Lula denies any wrongdoing, saying there is no proof he had anything to do with the apartment. If he is found guilty when Moro hands down his verdict in an estimated 45 to 60 days, and then loses an appeal, he'd be barred from running for office again and face prison.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi today questioned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's silence on the apex court's order in a fodder scam case involving Lalu Prasad, but said if he severs ties with the RJD and requests to join hands with the BJP, it will be considered.

In a major setback to the RJD supremo, the Supreme Court had yesterday held that he has to face separate trial in each of the cases in which he is an accused in the multi-crore fodder scam and if found guilty, he may be punished separately.

"The Supreme Court order will pose a major problem for the Grand Alliance government (in Bihar) and it will not be able to complete its term," Sushil Modi told mediapersons.

Asked if the JD(U) can have ties with the BJP, he said, "Let Kumar first come out of the Grand Alliance and then request the BJP. It (BJP) will then consider it."



Pressed about the expected time when the alliance would break, Sushil Modi, who was one of the petitioners in cases related to the fodder scam during Lalu Prasad's rule, said, "I am not an astrologer... But one thing is for sure - the Grand Alliance government will not be able to complete its five-year term."



Questioning Nitish Kumar silence on the matter, the BJP leader said the chief minister is not speaking on the apex court's order against his ally while he has sent K C Tyagi to stand in support of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who has been accused of being involved in graft.

"Nitish Kumar has compromised with the RJD chief for the sake of the CM's chair. It was on his and erstwhile JD(U) chief George Fernandes' direction that party leaders Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and Shivanand Tiwari had filed a second petition in the Patna High Court against Lalu Prasad during the NDA rule in the state," he said.

Sushil Modi, who is also the leader of opposition in the state Legislative Council, said Lalu Prasad's political innings is "almost over" after the SC directed the trial court to conclude the proceedings in nine months from now.

The end of the RJD leader's political career will trigger a fierce "war of supremacy" within Prasad's family, he said, adding it would ultimately would lead to the party's doom and a fall of the Grand Alliance government before completion of its term.

Senior RJD vice-president Raghubansh Prasad Singh dismissed Sushil Modi's claims saying, "Whenever there is an attack from outside the Grand Alliance, it faces it with 'chattani ekta' (rock solid unity)."



Prasad's old friend and former MP Shivanand Tiwari said the BJP "knew that it would not be able to have its sway across the country till Lalu Prasad is there".

"This is the root of the problem for the BJP and not corruption," said Tiwari, who is not in any party at now. However, his son Rahul is an RJD MLA.

"If corruption is really intolerable for the BJP then how is it bearing Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan after the Vyapam scam ?" he asked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today hailed India's unanimous election as the president of UN-Habitat.

Rao, who is camping in Delhi, hoped that the country's prestige would be enhanced under the leadership of Union Urban Development and Housing Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who will preside over the deliberations of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.

"He (Rao) hoped that under Venkaiah Naidu's leadership attempts would be made to make everyone in the world to get a decent habitat," a release from the Chief Minister's Office said.

India has been unanimously elected as the president of the UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations to promote sustainable human settlements across the globe.

UN-Habitat reports to the United Nations General Assembly.

Naidu was in Nairobi in Kenya to preside over the deliberations of the 58-member General Council of UN-Habitat.

Meanwhile, official sources said Rao's visit to Delhi was personal.

Rao reportedly underwent medical tests in the national capital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State-funded adoption agencies backing Texas legislation that would sanction the rejection of prospective parents on religious grounds already routinely deny non-Christian, gay, and unmarried applicants because they are wary of their beliefs or lifestyle.

But now they also want legal cover in case of potential lawsuits.

The private organizations, which are paid by the state to place foster children with adoptive families, want to continue the practice and are seeking legal protections through Texas' "Freedom to Serve Children Act," which is up for consideration today in the GOP-controlled House.

If it clears the House, the bill heads to the even more conservative Senate and then for an approval signature by Gov. Greg Abbott, who has not commented on the bill.

The bill would be the nation's second allowing state- funded adoption agencies to reject families on religious grounds. South Dakota passed similar legislation in March but it's too soon to measure its practical effects.

While the Texas proposal may not pass constitutional muster, that hasn't stopped the state's lawmakers before, who have recently approved a voter ID law and abortion restrictions that were overturned in court.

Randy Daniels, vice-president of Child and Family Services for the Dallas-based Christian child welfare organization Buckner International, said religious agencies are terrified of lawsuits for turning away parents.

"We want to make sure we can practice within the framework of our sincerely held religious beliefs," said Daniels.

Buckner only accepts Christian heterosexual couples who have been married for at least four years, in addition to some single individuals -- which is more liberal than many other faith-based groups, which refuse single parents, said Daniels.

"These are our requirements, and we're clear, this is just who we are," said Daniels. "We want to make sure that groups like Buckner continue to have a place at the table because we bring solutions."



The state's child welfare system is overburdened with about 3,800 children currently up for adoption. Private firms receive state funding to handle the "vast majority" of adoptions, said Patrick Crimmins, a Department of Family and Protective Services spokesman.

Republican sponsors of Texas' bill say it is designed to retain providers by shielding them from possible court fights. "We want to make reasonable accommodations so everyone can participate in the system," said state Rep. James Frank of Wichita Falls. "Everyone is welcome. But you don't have to think alike to participate."



Megan Lestino, vice-president of public policy for the National Adoption Council, said she knows of faith-based adoption agencies denying LGBT and other prospective parents around the country -- which upsets families but does not violate the law unless the state fails to present other options.

"Equal protection requires that there's another option for every family," said Lestino. "And there typically is some option for every family."



Four states have passed legislation protecting private adoption agencies only, which Cooper said was seen by some to "codify" existing practices and fall within legal limits. South Dakota, and now Texas, seek to go further.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three persons were given death penalty on Wednesday by a special court for killing 28-year-old software engineer Nayana Pujari after abducting and gang-raping her eight years ago near here.

Special Judge L L Yenkar awarded death sentence to the trio - Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam, a day after convicting them in the eight-year-old sensational gang- rape-cum-murder case.

While convicting the three yesterday, the court had let off the fourth accused who had turned approver in the case.

Pujari, who worked at an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on October 7, 2009 evening from Kharadi bypass, while waiting for a transport to return home.

Her body was recovered two days later from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

Yogesh, Mahesh and Vishwas, who were given death penalty today had been convicted of seven counts of various offences including those of kidnapping, gang-rape, murder, robbery, misappropriation of property after hatching a criminal conspiracy in furtherance of their common intention.

The three, however, had been acquitted of three other charges including those of abduction with an aim to commit murder, causing hurt while committing the robbery and the destruction of evidence as the prosecution failed to prove these charges.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today offered prayers RPT prayers at the hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara near here.

The Chief Minister, who is on his maiden visit, took part in the 'Astadala Paadapadmaradhan' ritual conducted for the presiding deity inside the sanctum sanctorum this morning, temple sources said.

He was accompanied by his wife and other family members.

After offering prayers, he was honoured with a sacred silk cloth and holy 'prasadam' by the temple management.

He later left for Chennai.

Palaniswami arrived here last night.

Tight security arrangements were put in place for his visit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The White House said today that Donald Trump will not decide on future US participation in the Paris climate accord before he returns from a trip to the Middle East and Europe later this month.

"The president has been meeting with his team for quite a while on this matter and he will not be making an announcement regarding that agreement until after he returns from the G7," said Sean Spicer.

The meeting, in Sicily, will take place on May 26-27.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump today nominated Indian-American Neil Chatterjee to a key administration position in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an agency charged with overseeing America's power grid and deciding on multibillion-dollar energy projects.

The While House said Trump intends to nominate Neil Chatterjee, 40, of Kentucky as a Member of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term expiring June 30, 2021.

Chatterjee, who is energy policy advisor to US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has played an integral role in the passage of major energy, highway and farm legislation, the White House said.

Prior to serving McConnell, he worked as a principal in Government Relations for National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and as an aide to House Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce of Ohio.

He began his career in Washington, DC, with the House Committee on Ways and Means.

A Lexington, Kentucky native, he is a graduate of St Lawrence University and the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Chatterjee needs to be confirmed by the Senate before he can be sworn in as member of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Last week, US lawmakers had expressed concern over vacancy in this important federal regulatory commission.

"I'd like to see some names now. It's very frustrating that we are here at May 3 and there hasn't been a quorum at FERC for months now," said Senate Energy Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski.

"We can't do much of anything in the energy space until there is a functioning quorum at the FERC. First, we need to get names so that we can actually act as a committee. Believe me, I am urging anybody who will listen that they need to get moving on it," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ahead of US President Donald Trump's maiden foreign visit, the White House said today that he is making policies to reassert American leadership and strengthen allies while weakening adversaries.

"While on the trip, the President will further our strategic objectives in the region, creating new opportunities that will strengthen the United States and our allies, while weakening our enemies," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily conference.

Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium, Italy and Vatican on his maiden foreign trip as the 45th President of the United States.

Trump today met his National Security Adviser Lt Gen H R McMaster in preparation of his visit.

"This week, the President has been focused on meeting with the team, getting ready for the various stops that he'll be making and meetings that he's going to be having," Spicer said.

During his many conversations with world leaders, Trump has seen a great desire for America to reengage and be a leader once again in helping solve the world's complex problems, he said.

"He has already made moves, both behind the scenes with leaders and his public statements, to show them that America is reasserting its leadership on the world stage. These visits are another important part of this American resurgence," Spicer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States and Turkey will work together as operations continue to retake the Islamic State group's Syria bastion of Raqa, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said today.

His remarks come weeks after Turkey launched air strikes against a key US-backed Kurdish militia ground force, drawing an angry response from Washington.

"Our intent is to work with the Turks, alongside one another to take Raqa down," Mattis said, speaking at a conference following an anti-IS summit in Copenhagen.

"We are going to sort it out and figure out how we are going to do it, but we are all committed to it."



But the United States does not envision Turkey actually participating in the ground offensive for Raqa, which IS has held for more than two years.

Turkish war planes carried out strikes on Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces in Syria on April 27 and also hit Kurdish forces in neighbouring Iraq in what Ankara described as "terrorist havens".

Turkey says YPG fighters are linked to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists inside Turkey, who have waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed over 40,000 people.

But Washington has backed the YPG with training and air support and the Kurds make up much of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF have largely surrounded Raqa and are expected to begin an offensive shortly, though it is not clear what role the YPG will play.

"The tactical activities on the ground -- I don't want to go into details right now," Mattis said.

Mattis met with Basat Ozturk, deputy undersecretary at the Turkish defence ministry, during the anti-IS conference.

The US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria discussed the campaign's next steps as the jihadists' "caliphate" around Raqa is collapsing.

Though officials warn that military action will continue for some time, they are generally upbeat about the progress and quickening momentum of the fight.

"We examined the enemy situation and discussed the next steps to make sure we are all on the same sheet of music. We are going to further accelerate this fight," Mattis said after the summit.

After months of brutal, street-by-street combat, IS has now lost control of most of its stronghold of Mosul in Iraq, while the jihadists have become largely isolated in Raqa.

Several coalition countries are keeping a nervous eye on the region as IS-held territory diminishes.

Thousands of foreign fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, and coalition nations -- particularly in Europe -- are bracing for a possible wave of battle-hardened jihadists returning home.

According to a senior US administration official, Interpol has identified 14,000 foreign fighters it knows have travelled to Syria and are still alive.

The largest numbers come from Tunisia, followed by Saudi Arabia. Thousands more have travelled from Europe, including 100 or so from Denmark, said the official, who asked not to be named.

The international law enforcement agency Interpol is now part of the anti-IS coalition, becoming the alliance's 68th member.

The campaign against IS began in autumn 2014 and has seen the Iraqi security forces -- backed with coalition training and air power -- reverse humiliating losses and recapture several key cities including Ramadi and Fallujah.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- An 18-year-old Ocean Springs man and four juveniles have been charged in a total of eight auto burglary cases in the Gulf Park Estates and St. Andrews subdivisions near Ocean Springs.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said Tuesday all of the crimes were committed during the first week of May and all of the property stolen in the burglaries has been recovered.

The adult, Christopher Swanner Jr., is in the Jackson County Adult Detention Center, charged with two counts of auto burglary. The juveniles, ranging in age from 14-17, are being held under the jurisdiction of the Jackson County Youth Court.

Ezell said residents should remember to not leave valuables in plain sight inside the vehicles and to not leave their vehicles unlocked -- even in their own driveways.
With the Punjab government launching a drive against the drug menace, the UK today offered technical assistance to the state in the enforcement of drug control measures.

Britain also evinced keen interest to scale up business engagement with the state.

The issues came up for discussion at a meeting here between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and British Deputy High Commissioner to India Andrew Ayre who invited the chief minister to visit the UK to meet industrialists for attracting investments to the state, said an official spokesperson.

The British envoy also offered assistance to Punjab in the training and modernisation of the police force, as well as in handling cyber crime, with the two sides agreeing to explore mutual cooperation across a wide range of subjects, including law and order, industrial development, agriculture, dairy farming, and animal sex embryo transfer, among others.

Amarinder also suggested working together in the fields of urban management, civil services, transportation in big cities, and other areas, said the spokesperson.

The British envoy said his government was looking to raise Punjab to the highest category in terms of business cooperation, for which the two sides could identify several important areas.

Noting that his government was in the process of eliminating red-tapism and promoting ease of doing business in the state, the chief minister directed government officials to arrange a meeting with British officials to identify areas of mutual cooperation.

Pointing out that the previous Akali regime had turned a "blind eye" to the drug problem, Amarinder said his government had made significant advances in arresting the flow of drugs and the Special Task Force was on the verge of cracking down on some big fish.

He reiterated that India needed a comprehensive national drug policy, which he had already raised with the Centre.

It was decided at the meeting that the chief of the Special Task Force (STF) on drugs would meet British enforcement experts to discuss cooperation in fighting the drug menace in Punjab, in view of the smuggling of drugs into and out of India to other countries.

The two sides also discussed law and order problems and the financial crisis facing Punjab, with the chief minister apprising the envoy of the work done by his government to tackle the same.

The task force set up by his government to deal with the gangs which had "mushroomed" during the Akali rule had met with significant success, with several gangsters already in the police net, said Amarinder.

On the fiscal crisis in the state, he said his government was making all-out efforts to get Punjab's economy back on the growth track and he had received excellent response from both domestic and foreign industry who are keen to invest in Punjab.

Elaborating on the "financial mess", inherited from the previous regime, Amarinder said his government would soon come out with a white paper to highlight the situation on the ground.

Pointing out that 9 million youth in the state were unemployed, the chief minister said his government was looking for ways and means to rescue the state from the abyss into which it had been plunged in the past 10 years.

He also sought the UK's support in promotion of modern agricultural practices, dairy farming and sex embryo transfer to check the uncontrolled birth of male calves which are seen to destroy farm crops.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has reprimanded some state officials here for coming to a meeting unprepared and also warned of stern action which may include suspension.

Rawat had summoned the meeting here last night to discuss the pending issue of distribution of assets between Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

After chairing the meeting, Rawat asked Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy to review all matters related to distribution of assets between the two states over the next 15 days and ensure that all officials come prepared in the next meeting to be held over the issue after a fortnight.

He asked the officials concerned to divide all matters related to distribution of assets between the two states into categories like -- matters pending in courts, those which have been disposed of, disputed issues and those pending before the Centre, and make a strong case in favour of the state.

Categorisation of the pending matters will help in their early resolution, he said.The chief minister said he will himself review the progress made in this regard after a fortnight.

Resolution of theissue of distribution of assets, pending for the last 16 years since Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, is among the top priorities of the state government.

Rawat has already had a meeting with his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath, seeking speedy disposal of the matter.

With the same party in power in both the states,it is an ideal time for a smooth resolution of the pending issue, an official release said.

There has to be a distribution of 1,313 residential and non-residential buildings between the two states, out of which Uttarakhand has demanded 1,013 buildings.

However, Uttar Pradesh has so far agreed to give only 278 buildings to the state, the release said.

A consensus needs to be evolved between the two states over distribution of 4,230 hectares of land under irrigation department including the Kumbh mela area in Haridwar, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 10,000 people waving Russian flags and carrying portraits of Stalin watched tanks roll through Ukraine's de facto rebel capital Donetsk on today in celebration of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.

The display of military might used by the Moscow-backed insurgents in their three-year conflict against government forces violated the terms of a long-ignored 2015 peace deal.

Donetsk straddles a demarcation line in the industrial east of Ukraine from which both sides' big guns were meant to have been withdrawn almost two years ago.

An AFP reporter counted 45 pieces of heavy military equipment -- ranging from a lone World War II-era tank to its modern versions used in the current war as well as rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns -- roll through the city's main street.

Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko led a march of about 1,000 fighters who held up a long banner painted the black and orange colours of Russia's patriotic Saint George's ribbon.

Others in the parade carried portraits of warlords killed in Europe's only war, in which more than 10,000 people have died.

Zakharchenko told the crowd that May 9 "is the holiest day for us all".

On the other side of the frontline Ukrainian authorities have joined European nations in marking the end of World War II on May 8 after its 2014 pro-EU revolution.

The decision was meant to underscore Ukraine's split with Russia and embrace of the West.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a group of soldiers on Tuesday that "we will no longer celebrate this holiday along the Russian scenario."



But several hundred people carrying photographs of relatives who fought in what the Soviet Union called "The Great Patriotic War" still marched through Kiev on Tuesday.

They were confronted by a small group of nationalists who pelted them with several smoke bombs before being restrained by the police.

The atmosphere was calmer on Donetsk's central Lenin Square.

Entire families watched the hardware roll by and cheered. Some parents dressed up their children in military fatigues.

Lenin Square itself was adorned by a 1960s L-29 Delfin military jet trainer used during the Cold War by nations in central and eastern Europe that were under the Kremlin's thumb.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American companies continue to bet big on India, a top US corporate leader has said, noting that the world's two largest democratic countries have incredible opportunities to come closer through digitisation.

"At a time of global uncertainty, the only constant element that businesses and markets across the world will continue to face is technological disruption," USIBC chairman and CISCO executive chairman John Chambers said yesterday.

The US and India have incredible opportunities to come closer through digitisation; creating jobs, driving citizen engagement and transforming the lives of 1.3 billion people in India and over 300 million in the US, he said.

"We have strong partners in the government of India. Leaders like Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, (Andhra Pradesh) Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and (IT) Secretary (Aruna) Sundararajan understand the urgency to bring about digital transformation of India. That is why Cisco and so many other American companies continue to bet big on India," Chambers said in his address to the West Coast Summit of the USIBC.

The summit in Silicon Valley was attended by approximately 200 senior-level business leaders and investors including those from Amazon, PayPal, Deloitte, Facebook, iCreate, Nuveen, Mastercard, Mobility Infrastructure Group, Varian Medical and Visa Inc.

Naidu was awarded the 'Transformative Chief Minister Award', in recognition of his achievement in championing US- India ties in the areas of trade, politics and culture.

"The companies that are here - you are at the global level, with global knowledge. You are all doing well. I invite you to take technology and best practices, and together we can take it to India to transform India," Naidu said.

"I am with you. We are prepared to implement; we will produce a pilot project, then produce on a larger scale for overall benefit of the country," he said.

USIBC president Mukesh Aghi said with India's move towards a cashless society, plans to build smart cities and the explosive growth of e-commerce, it is imperative that there are deliberations on what the challenges are towards creating a digitally driven economy and how American companies can help in this endeavour.

Maintaining a strong and healthy relationship between the US and India is critical, and USIBC facilitates closer collaboration as both nations look to harness the power of digital transformation to accelerate economic growth and social progress, said Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO and USIBC board member.

"The actions we take have profound implications not only on our respective economies but have ramifications around the world. As someone who grew up in India and lived all of my adult life in the US, I have experienced the first-hand opportunities that can result from deep bilateral ties.

"We are two of the largest democratic forces on the globe and can set the standard for how nations work together toward transformative results," Renjen said.

Senior vice president of Global Government Relations, Visa Inc Demetrios Marantis said, "Visa applauds India's bold move toward a less cash society and we remain committed to supporting India's continued economic growth.

PayPal's Chief Technology Officer Sri Shivananda said India is on an unprecedented growth path, boosted by Modi-led Digital India, Startup India and Make in India initiatives.

"The progress made is visible across sectors. The vision of the government to make India a less cash, digitally empowered society and leading digital economy is commendable. India continues to be a strategic market for PayPal," he said.

"There is an interesting wave of experienced, mid-career professionals who are entering the start-up space in India using advanced technology components to deliver innovative, low cost solutions," said Anupam Jalote, CEO of iCreate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The United States today announced it would supply arms and military equipment to Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State group in Syria, a move sure to anger key ally Turkey which considers the Kurdish forces to be terrorists.

The weapons are being delivered for use by Kurdish fighters ahead of the upcoming offensive to recapture Raqa, the last major bastion for IS in Syria and the capital of their supposed "caliphate."



President Donald Trump yesterday "authorised the Department of Defence to equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqa," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

"The SDF, partnered with enabling support from US and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqa in the near future."



The Kurdish elements of the SDF are from the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and they have been the main faction fighting IS on the ground in Syria.

But Turkey says YPG fighters are linked to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists inside Turkey, who have waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed over 40,000 people.

Turkish war planes carried out strikes on YPG forces in Syria on April 27 and also hit Kurdish forces in neighbouring Iraq in what Ankara described as "terrorist havens".

Today's announcement comes ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Washington next week to meet with Trump.

Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said it is unclear how Washington can soothe Turkey's concerns over the arming of the Kurds.

He noted that the US government's National Counter- Terrorism Center previously labelled the YPG as the PKK's Syrian affiliate, but scrapped that description once the US began working with them in late-2014.

"There really cannot be any ignoring the fact that the YPG is the official affiliate of a terrorist organization that Turkey has been fighting for over 30 years," Lister told AFP.

"We have many reasons to be very frustrated with the Turks, but Ankara has a justified reason for being infuriated by our support for the YPG."



Pentagon chief Jim Mattis, who arrived in Vilnius late today as part of a Europe trip, earlier attended a summit in Copenhagen for senior leaders from the top 15 countries in the anti-IS coalition, including Turkey.

Though Mattis met with Turkish officials, he did not tell them of the decision to arm the Kurds, a US official said.

Still, Mattis gave a positive assessment of the role Turkey will play in the lead up to the Raqa fight.

"Our intent is to work with the Turks, alongside one another to take Raqa down," Mattis said.

The US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria discussed the campaign's next steps as the jihadists' "caliphate" around Raqa is collapsing.

Though officials warn that military action will continue for some time, they are generally upbeat about the progress and quickening momentum of the fight.

"We examined the enemy situation and discussed the next steps to make sure we are all on the same sheet of music. We are going to further accelerate this fight," Mattis said.

After months of brutal, street-by-street combat, IS has now lost control of most of its stronghold of Mosul in Iraq, while the jihadists have become largely isolated in Raqa.

Several coalition countries are keeping a nervous eye on the region as IS-held territory diminishes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Venezuela's opposition and rights campaigners have voiced alarm over claims that the military is holding and prosecuting scores of people detained in recent anti-government protests.

One lawyer working for those detained, Tony Marval, said 70 of them were being held in the northern state of Carabobo on the order of military courts.

The non-governmental criminal justice body Foro Penal said a further 11 were in a similar plight in Caracas and the northwestern state of Lara.

President Nicolas Maduro has yet to respond to the claim, which has raised claims of an authoritarian turn in Venezuela's political crisis.

Government officials have not confirmed the arrests, or the military processing of civilian suspects.

Maduro was scheduled to appear at a rally of his supporters yesterday, while opposition lawmakers planned to pass a motion condemning the detentions.

"The constitution is clear: military courts are not for civilians. Bringing demonstrators before them is a violation of their human rights," said the opposition speaker of the legislature, Julio Borges.

Clashes between protesters and riot cops have left 36 people dead and hundreds injured since the unrest erupted on April 1, according to authorities.

Demonstrators blame Maduro for an economic crisis that has caused food shortages in the oil-rich state.

His move to reform the constitution has further inflamed protesters, who say it is a ploy to resist calls for early elections.

Maduro says the crisis is a US-backed capitalist conspiracy against his elected socialist government. He has branded protesters "terrorists" and insurgents.

A senior military commander, Jesus Suarez, said that 780 people had been arrested in protests.

He said 251 of them were sent to military courts for charges such as attacking security forces and "rebellion."



Constitutional law expert Jose Vicente Haro said the detentions violate article 261 of the Venezuelan constitution which says military courts can only handle "crimes of a military nature."



"This is a violation of citizens' right to be judged by their peers in a civil manner with due process," Marval told AFP by telephone.

Alfredo Romero, an attorney with Foro Penal, told AFP that many of the detainees were arrested for robbery but face charges such as rebellion and contempt.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega has broken ranks with the government to speak out against detentions of protestors.

Human rights groups said the military courts were a way to try cases that she had dismissed.

Maduro has the public backing of the military high command -- a decisive factor in the political crisis, analysts say.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two Ministries today told the National Green Tribunal that they had "no role" in permitting the cultural extravaganza of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living (AOL) that had caused damage to the Yamuna floodplains, saying the DDA was responsible for it.

In separate submissions, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Water Resources also told the green panel that they were not responsibile for the damage to the eco-fragile floodplains, as alleged by the spiritual guru.

The two ministries were responding to the charge levelled by Ravi Shankar that the government and the NGT should be held responsible for permitting the AOL to hold the 3-day World Culture Festival on the Yamuna river bed in March last year.

The AOL head had also said last month his foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so fragile and pure.

"Delhi Development Authority (DDA) granted the permission for holding the function on the floodplains. AOL conducted the whole event. We had no role to play in this and we are not liable to pay for the damages," the ministries told a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The Environment Ministry said the event did not require Environmental Clearance under the provision of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification and hence it had no role in approving the holding of the festival.

Senior advocate Rajiv Bansal, appearing for DDA, said the permission was granted to AOL for the festival after making it clear to them that no permanent or semi-permanent construction of any kind was allowed on the riverbed.

He said the floodplain demarcation was not done at the time when permission was granted to the AOL for the event and hence the department cannot specify clearly whether there was impact on the floodplain or not.

"I was approached for seeking permission for the World Culture Festival which was bonafidely given. I own complete responsibility for the event. According to my interpretation, NGT has not banned any event on the floodplains by its 2015 judgement," the DDA lawyer said.

He also vociferously opposed Ravi Shankar's statement that the authorities which had granted permission for the event should be held liable for the damage to the floodplains.

"They (AOL) are asking us to pay for the damages. But under which provision of law and for what? DDA can't be held liable for vicarious liability (responsible for granting permission). We were unaware about the size of the whole event at the time of granting permission," he said.

Delhi government echoed the same views and said it had "limited responsibility" in the entire matter as it had only granted no objection certificate on behalf of the Delhi Police and other law and order related issues.

Advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioner and Yamuna activist Manoj Misra, said the AOL chief was guilty of "scandalising" the court and should be held liable for criminal contempt of the court.

"Once you have accepted the order of NGT and the findings of the expert panel appointed by it, they (AOL) cannot say they have not caused any damage to the environment," he said.

Parikh also said the initial amount of Rs five crore, which AOL had deposited as environment compensation, should be used for restoration of the damaged Yamuna floodplains.

"There is urgency in the matter because the monsoons are about to reach. The initial amount deposited should be used for rejuvenating the Yamuna riverbed without any delay before the advent of rains," Parikh said.

The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on May 11.

Earlier, an expert committee had told the NGT that a whopping Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to a cultural extravaganza organised by AOL last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The White House today congratulated Moon Jae-in on his landslide victory in South Korea's president election, a vote which could complicate President Donald Trump's hardline stance on North Korea.

"We look forward to working with President-elect Moon to continue to strengthen the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A meeting that was to decide whether the US would stay or exit from the landmark Paris climate agreement has now been postponed by the White House, in an apparent bid to flesh out arguments between warring factions in the Trump administration, media report said today.

The meeting, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed because of scheduling conflict, The Hill reported quoting an unnamed White House official.

No new date has been scheduled yet.

"Participants were expected to focus on potential legal implications of staying in the pact. People familiar with the discussions said it could have been the last chance for the administration's warring factions to flesh out arguments," the report said.

Last month while addressing a public rally on the occasion of 100 days in office, US President Donald Trump had said that a "big decision" on Paris Agreement is on the anvil.

"I will be making a big decision on the Paris accord over the next two weeks and we will see what happens," Trump said on April 29, adding that the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is one sided.

"Like the one-sided Paris climate accord where the United States pays... Billions of dollars while China, Russia, and India have contributed (to pollution) and will contribute nothing," he had alleged.

Trump claimed it is estimated that for compliance with the agreement could ultimately shrink America's GDP by USD 2.5 trillion over a 10-year period.

"That means factories and plants closing all over our country," he said and alleged that the Washington's "dishonest media" would not report because it is part of the problem.

"Their priorities are not my priorities, and they are not your priorities, believe me, Trump said.

A few days later, a dozen odd American governors urged Trump to keep the country in the Paris Agreement.

"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 governors said in a letter to Trump.

"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 had added.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A woman, who was arrested in a theft case, has alleged that she was forcibly stripped at a police station and sexually assaulted, a charge denied by the police.

28-year-old married woman, after getting bail from the court, alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the police in Police Station Kanachak in the outskirts of the Jammu city.

She alleged that she was stripped and a beer bottle and chilli powder was inserted in her private parts. She accused Station House Officer and a woman constable for the act.

Police has ordered a probe by a SP level officer into the allegation of the woman.

Woman, who was working as as domestic help, was arrested on the charges of stealing gold jewellery from the house of her employer in Domana area on April 30.

She alleged that she was tortured for 4 days before being sent to Women Police Station, Canal road on May 3.

Her husband and mother-in-law were also allegedly beaten up by the police.

Advocate Vijay Kumar Attri, who is pleading the case, accused the police of manipulating the medical report and alleged that police is trying to save the accused.

A Court in Jammu has directed Inspector General of Police to investigate the case. IGP should constitute a three-member probe team and submit the report in the court with in 15 days.

The Court also asked IGP Jammu Zone to ensure proper medial treatment for the woman.

SHO Kanachak Rajesh Sharma denied the charges.

A senior Police officer of Jammu said a departmental probe was ordered against him.

"The probe in the allegations by the woman has now been given to the SP Rural, and investigation into the case of theft has been handed over to a DySP rank officer," the officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With clothing producers like VF going fur-free and expanding their policy to other animal products, there is reason to hope for millions of animals caught up in this cruel industry. Above, at a rabbit fur farm in China, rabbits are packed so tightly in cages, they cannot stand. Photo by VShine

12.2K shares







No more skin in the game.

Thats the message from the parent company of more than two dozen popular clothing brands, including The North Face, Vans, Timberland, Wrangler, and Nautica, which today announced it will cleanse its supply chain and all of its garments of animal fur, angora, and exotic leather. VF Corporation has partnered with The HSUS and Humane Society International to release its first animal welfare policy, which not only bans some of the cruelest materials used in the apparel supply chain, but makes clear that animal-friendly alternatives are the future of fashion.

Letitia Webster, VFs Vice President of Global Corporate Sustainability said: As we continue to promote the development of viable commercial substitutes to animal materials, this policy will help to ensure that the materials we use today are procured from sources that prioritize animal welfare and responsible business practices.

VF has also banned down feathers from force-fed, live-plucked geese and wool from sheep who are subjected to the particularly cruel practice of mulesing, a procedure in which farmers pull strips of wool-bearing skin off sheep without painkillers.

There has been a trend within the fashion industry in recent years of switching to humane alternatives. Last year, Armani announced it would go fur-free. Brands and designers like Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Stella McCartney, and Ralph Lauren have also disassociated themselves from animal cruelty and switched to cruelty-free alternatives that are indistinguishable from the real thing. The HSUS and HSI continue to talk with companies to point them toward the humane economy, and todays announcement is one of the most important.

VF itself had been taking steps toward switching to humane products in recent years. In 2015, Napapijri, a European premium casualwear brand owned by VF, released THERMO-FIBRE, an alternative to down feathers. This new material is lighter than down and maintains just as good insulation, leading the brand to make the decision to now go 100 percent down-free.

Consumers today, including some of the worlds leading trendsetters, are also increasingly demanding humane products. Just last week, news reports quoted a spokeswoman for Melania Trump clarifying that the first lady no longer wears fur. Mrs. Trump joins the ranks of other recent first ladies, including Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, and Hillary Clinton, who have shunned fur.

With clothing producers like VF going fur-free and expanding their policy to other animal products, there is reason to hope for millions of animals caught up in an industry that literally takes the skin off their backs.
By Mayank Bhardwaj and Sudarshan Varadhan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India looks likely to receive higher monsoon rainfall than previously forecast as concern over the El Nino weather condition has eased, the chief of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday, raising prospects of higher farm and economic growth.

The IMD on April 18 forecast this year's monsoon rains at 96 percent of the 50-year average of 89 cm.

"Things have changed for the good since then," K.J. Ramesh, director general of the IMD, told in an interview.

The monsoon delivers about 70 percent of India's annual rainfall, critical for growing crops such as rice, cane, corn, cotton and soybeans because nearly half of the country's farmland lacks irrigation.

"We assessed 96 percent based on the climatological conditions up to March. Now, conditions are becoming favourable for an improvement over our April 18 estimate," Ramesh said.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology recently said there were signs of concerns easing over El Nino.

El Nino, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically occurs every few years and was linked to crop damage, fires and flash floods, faded in 2016.

The establishment phase of the monsoon north of the equator has already started, and the Indian Ocean Dipole phenomenon - which counters the impact of an El Nino - will have an incremental positive effect on the Indian monsoon, Ramesh said.

Pre-monsoon showers have already hit certain dry areas in the southern part of the country, he said, bringing much needed relief to farmers ahead of the start of the four-month monsoon season beginning June.

India defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96 percent and 104 percent of the 50-year average.

NEW PREDICTION MODEL

Jettisoning a statistical method introduced under British colonial rule in the 1920s, the India Meteorology Department has for the first time relied on the so-called dynamic model to improve the accuracy of one of the world's most vital weather forecasts.

The new system, based on a U.S. model tweaked for India, requires large computing power to generate three-dimensional models to help predict how the monsoon is likely to develop.

Experts say better forecasting could help India raise its farm output by nearly 15 percent, by helping farmers tweak the best time to sow, irrigate or apply fertiliser and if rains fail, plan state-wide measures.

This would be a major boon for a country already either the world's biggest or second-biggest producer and consumer of rice, wheat, sugar and cotton.

Higher farm output will raise the income of some 600 million people, who depend on farming for their livelihood, and boost demand for an array of goods and services.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan and Mayank Bhardwaj, editing by David Evans)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Commercial Feature is a Business Standard Digital Marketing Initiative.

The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles.

For further information, please write to assist@bsmail.in
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya used around 40 companies to siphon off more than Rs 100 crore abroad, Moneycontrol reported.

"We have found 30-40 companies to which he siphoned off more than Rs 100 crores," the report quoted a senior Enforcement Directorate official as saying.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Board of Investigation (CBI) have tracked down the companies - based out of financial hubs like Singapore and London - which were used to divert loan money from the country, the report said.



Vijay Mallya was on Tuesday ordered by the Supreme Court to appear in person on the July 10, 2017 as he had failed to disclose his assets in Kingfisher airlines loan default case.



The SC found the embattled liqour baron guilty of contempt of court after he failed to comply with orders for disclosures of assets.

The Supreme Court said it would allow Mallya the opportunity to present his case.

The 61-year-old liquor baron is facing charges in Indian courts in connection with loan default cases.



Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2, 2016.

The banks moved the Supreme Court and pleaded for contempt proceedings after the businessman received $40 million from British firm Diageo Plc in February last year but transferred the fund to his children, instead of repaying the loan.

Mallya was arrested by British authorities on April 18, 2017 on India's extradition request in connection with a Rs 900-crore loan default case of IDBI Bank being probed by the CBI.

He was released on bail within hours by a London court which fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing.

The CBI has two cases against him-one related to the IDBI Bank case and the other related to a loan default of over Rs 6,000 crore filed on the basis of a complaint from a State Bank of India-led consortium.

In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans.


"It is the age of compassionate capitalism. As companies look at creating their brand stories, they have to inject meaning in brands because that is what connects with millennials," said Harsh Verma, Professor of Marketing at Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, at the Content Marketing Summit Asia 2017.

According to Verma, brands are creating narratives that question the existing sociocultural ecosystem while trying to create a positive change. This has led to clear shift in priorities where brands do not talk about economic utility of the product but focus on becoming the means for consumers to negotiate their cultural plane.

But to do that, brands will have to understand the psycho-socio-cultural world of consumers. Brand stories will have to juxtapose compassion with commerce, good with bad and relevance with resonance to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and ultimately, will have to drive profitable customer action, added Verma.

He shared the story of the denim brand Diesel that made 'Be Stupid' its philosophy. The brand explains that through a series of taglines such as 'Stupid is the relentless pursuit of a regret-free life. Smart may have the brains but stupid has the balls.' Or 'The smart might recognize things for how they are. The stupid see things for how they could be.' Or 'Smart critiques. Stupid creates.' Or 'Being stupid means listening to your heart.'

Similarly, take the sportswear brand Reebok, which is not just talking about hard core sport and performance. It has changed its positioning to be a fitness brand, said Kanika Mittal, Director (Brand Marketing and Communications), at Reebok India. It has changed the tagline to 'Be More Human' where the brand is not asking people to be physically active. It is saying fitness not only improves the physical self but it is also about mental toughness and helps people to be a better version of themselves. The company's more recent campaign 'Fit to Fight' is about celebrating real-life stories of inspiring women.

Several studies have shown it is meaningful content that gets shared most on social media, says Anamika Sirohi, Business Strategy and Marketing Leader, Nestle India. Brand builders have to work on two pillars: Focus on fundamentals that are timeless and adapt the reality of the new world. In doing so, brands have to inspire, educate, reward and inform consumers, adds Sirohi.
Nokia is finally coming to India. After a long wait, the brand is launching in India with not just one or two but four new phones. Despite being the cheapest among the four, Nokia 3310 ruled the headlines across the global websites.

Nokia has finally announced when these phones will hit Indian shores. According to India Today Tech, the company will be launching the phones next month. Apart from that, the company also released a tweet saying Nokia 3310 has started shipping.

The company's move to re-launch a feature phone when the general trend is moving opposite, towards high performance smartphones, is a legitimate way of invoking tremendous nostalgia for the brand. The Nokia 3310 was one of the most popular phones in MWC this year and it sucessfully got the brand the much needed attention.

The Finnish brand has not revealed the exact prices of the devices yet but considering that a few retail outlets have already listed the device online we have a fair idea of the price tags coming along with the Nokia devices.

The Finnish company also made pre-order listings available for the Nokia 3310 in Germany and Austria with the phone hitting stores on April 28.

The four models have been listed on Clove - leading retailer in UK - with June as the release date.

Clove has also started accepting pre-bookings for the phones with price tags as follow:

Nokia 3: 149.99 pounds (roughly Rs 12,400)

Nokia 6: 229.99 pounds (roughly Rs 19,000)

Nokia 5: 189.99 pounds (Roughly Rs 15,700)

Nokia 3310: for 59.99 pounds (roughly Rs 4,900)

A site called OnlyMobiles.com has listed the device at a price of Rs 3,899. Another website called IpMart.in, which deals with bulk orders has also listed Nokia 3310 at a price of Rs 3,499. They have clearly mentioned that the device has not been launched yet and the price is subject to change.

The original 3310 sold 126 million phones, the 12th best-selling phone model in history. The re-modelled device is slightly different from its original one with a 2.4-inch display - larger than the old model, a 2MP rear camera, microSD card support, 2G connectivity and a 1200MAh battery.
Passengers and members of different Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) protested the Metro fare hike on Monday in New Delhi. The new fare will come in effect from tomorrow.

However, the protesters demanded to roll back the hike as soon as possible.

According to a report in DNA, RWAs, including the United Residents Joint Action (URJA) and Delhi Residents' Forum, are now planning to write to the authorities to reconsider their decision.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that the new minimum fare will be up from Rs 8 to Rs 10 while the maximum would be Rs 50 as against the existing Rs 30.

This arrangement will be in place till September. From October, the maximum fare would go upto Rs 60.

On Sundays and national holidays, the maximum fare would be Rs 40, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Chief Spokesperson Anuj Dayal and Director Finance K K Saberwal told a news conference.

The new fare structure is: up to 2 kms -- Rs 10, 2 to 5 kms -- Rs 15, 5 to 12 kms -- Rs 20, 12 to 21 kms -- Rs 30, 21 to 32 kms -- Rs 40, and for journeys of over 32 kms Rs 50.

This is in tune with the recommendations of a three- member Fare Fixation Committee, which were accepted by the DMRC board headed by the Union Urban Development Secretary Rajib Gauba. The DMRC had last revised the fares in 2009.

Earlier, this year, NITI Aayog requested the Prime Minister's office to take a call on raising fares.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has opposed the Centre's decision. Delhi government's Media Adviser Nagendar Sharma tweeted against the hike.



Delhi Metro fare hike is a wrong decision. Elected Del govt had opposed the move - it will adversely affect the regular passengers 1/n Nagendar Sharma (@sharmanagendar) May 8, 2017 He added that the government had told the DMRC that women and students would be adversely affected in case of a fare hike. 2/n Delhi govt in its opinion had told DMRC that women and students would be adversely affected in case of a fare hike Nagendar Sharma (@sharmanagendar) May 8, 2017 n/n Del govt had told DMRC increase in fares will force commuters to shift to personal vehicles and infact fares should be reduced Nagendar Sharma (@sharmanagendar) May 8, 2017




After a bizzare incident of putting the lives of 305 passengers in danger by allegedly allowing a trainee pilot to fly the aircraft while the pilot from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) reportedly took a nap in a passenger seat last month, another pilot from PIA has put the airlines into an embarrassing situation.

According to a report published in the Daily Pakistan, a PIA pilot forced out his crew members from the cockpit in a bid to spend some time with a Chinese lady.

The unexpected incident took place on the PIA flight PK-853 heading from Tokyo to Beijing on Monday where a pilot reportedly asked his crew members to leave the cockpit during take-off and landing and invited a Chinese lady inside.

According to the rules, nobody except the crew can be allowed to enter the cockpit area. The Pakistani paper said the motive of PIA pilot spending time in the cockpit with Chinese lady was "still under the wraps".

Meanwhile, PIA, which operates a weekly flight between Mumbai and Karachi, has decided to suspend its service from May 11 .

The national flag carrier of Pakistan operates the flight on every Thursday.

However, the PIA communication did not specify the reason for the suspension of its flight service, a company official said.

Also Watch:




Hurricane Katrina marked the start of dramatic school reforms in the city of New Orleansand now, 12 years later, a survey gives some insight into the impact of those changes on the teachers who are still there.

After the hurricane, all public school teachers were fired and neighborhood schools, which had been chronically failing for years, were dismantled. The state of Louisiana took over most of the citys schools, which were then turned into charter schools.

For a paper released today , researchers at the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans surveyed 323 of the 771 total teachers who taught in New Orleans public schools both before Hurricane Katrina and in the 2013-14 school year. They wanted to know: Did these reforms ultimately change what happens in schools and classrooms?

They found that multiple aspects of the learning environment have improved: Teachers reported that their current schools had greater emphasis on both academic and social-emotional goals. A little more than half of teachers in tested grades said they used testing data for instruction now more than they did in their pre-Katrina schools.

And these reforms have paid off by some indicators: Teachers (and other data measures) say that students are more likely to stay in school, post-Katrina.

But 61 percent of teachers reported that their level of satisfaction in their job was lower under the reforms. They said that while there was an increase in school autonomy, there was no corresponding increase in teacher autonomy.

The researchers note that while education reform advocates would be pleased that teachers say there is now a higher likelihood of low-performing teachers being dismissed, and a greater use of data in administrative decisions, this might cause stress for teachers.

Black teachers reported a larger average decline in their job satisfaction compared with non-black teachers, and male teachers reported less of an increase in their work hours and in their administrators use of data than did female teachers.

Teachers who now work in charter schools reported a smaller decline in satisfaction with their evaluations and jobs. The paper notes that its possible this is because reform-minded teachers chose to work in charter schools. Its also important to note that teachers who have returned to teach after Katrina comprise just 10 percent of all the teachers in the city.

The report concludes with some questions to consider as accountability-based school reforms continue to evolve: How can academic improvements be achieved while still supporting teachers? Can improvements in the learning environment be sustained if teachers arent satisfied with their jobs?

Teachers job satisfaction matters, not only because attracting and retaining good teachers is essential to students achievement, but also because teachers work environments directly affect the learning environments and experiences of students, the researchers write.

In 2015, to mark the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Education Week published a series exploring the post-Katrina schools. One of the stories explored the plight of the teachers , primarily black and female, who lost their jobs after the storm.

In too many places in this country, the strategy of ed[ucation]. reform is shutting down black schools, firing black teachers, and I just dont see that as the strategy for going forward, says Howard Fuller, a supporter of charter schools and school choice reforms, in that article.
The major trigger for the markets is, of course, the earnings. We may see some stock-specific movement but this is one of the secular bull trends that we have been witnessing over the past few months. We can go way back and look at the bottom of 6,826. Post that we have moved up more than 30 per cent till now and we may continue to do so since we are in a bullish trajectory.

The rally has seen some of the major events - from the Union Budget to Fed Reserve Policy and from rate cuts to GDP numbers - and every event has been absorbed smoothly. As far as growth is concerned, along with earnings, we may see stock-specific actions and it will be crucial to follow large caps from across the sectors, which may further guide the momentum of overall sectors. In near-term, though, we may continue to see some pressure in IT and pharma since the bias is negative and post Infosys results, we may see some more corrections.



Banks may guide the overall momentum, coupled with metals, since they have a higher weightage in broader indices. Going forward, one can also look at realty because nearly after a decade, we are witnessing a high volume inflow with most stocks having already given long-term breakouts. So, from the overall perspective, earnings may further set the tone for specific sectors that can lead the rally while the secular bull trend may continue.

If we look at the banking space, it has higher weightage in the broader indices and HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI will further give direction to market. It will also be prudent to look at the banking numbers post demonetisation. Whipsaws and corrections may happen (which are part of the overall process), coupled with some market rotation and accumulation. Monsoon projections, along with its progress, will further set the tone for markets in the coming months. At this point, there are external factors that may also put some pressure on the markets as a lot of geopolitical stress is seen in Syria, the US and North Korea. This will surely give a shakeout in case of any unexpected move from any of these countries.



Since the markets are at an all-time high, corrections will be overdue when we stretch towards the upside with some gains. As any correction is healthy in nature, it will give traders an opportunity to follow the trend. There may be supports, which will work - be it short-term moving averages or any dip that is testing the previous point of inflection. Although any dip on the daily chart will change the trend, we must acknowledge them with a buying mindset, especially as we are in a bull run.

Mustafa Nadeem is Chief Executive of Epic Research.


Chinese handset-maker Xiaomi will most likely launch its mid-range smartphone Redmi 4 on Amazon today.

The event will be live streamed on Xiaomi India's website. The launch is scheduled to begin at 11:30 am IST.

The company has already launched the Xiaomi Redmi 4A and Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 in India last month at starting prices of Rs 5,999 and Rs 9,999 respectively.

Xiaomi India vice president Manu Jain also shared some information about the launch of a new Redmi phone on Twitter.

The new Redmi phone is SO beautiful. Can not stop appreciating the beautiful, symmetric, elegant design #Excited @RedmiIndia @XiaomiIndia - Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) May 15, 2017

Jain had earlier confirmed that successor to Redmi 3S and Redmi 3S Prime will come to India soon.

Redmi 4 is expected to come with a 5-inch 720p display which is likely to be 2.5D curved. The Redmi 4 will carry a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset as compared to the Redmi 3S Prime which has a Snapdragon 430 chipset inside. Xiaomi Redmi4 will have 3GB of RAM along with 32GB of internal storage which will be expandable via microSD.



Xiaomi Redmi 4 is expected to come with a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 5-megapixel front camera.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, second from right, is joined by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, right, during a press conference Monday, May 8, 2017, at the Butler Wash trailhead within Bears Ears National Monument near Blanding, Utah. Zinke says he wants to make sure Native American cultural standing is preserved in a new national monument but cautioned that not all tribal members share the same opinion about it. (AP Photo/Michelle Price)

BLANDING, Utah (AP)  U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said sacred tribal lands he toured Monday in Americas newest and most hotly contested monument should be preserved but he questioned whether the monument designation was the right way to do it.

Zinkes aerial and ground tour of the Bears Ears National Monument was part of a review ordered by President Donald Trump to determine if 27 monuments were properly established.

Zinke spent the day getting familiar with the 1.3-million acre (5,300 square kilometers) swath of southern Utah with red rock plateaus, cliffs and canyons on land considered sacred to tribes.

His tour guide was Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, one of several prominent Republican leaders in the state who oppose Bears Ears National Monument.

Zinke, a Montana Republican, said he wants to make sure Native American culture is preserved but cautioned that not all tribal members share the same opinion about the monument designated by former President Barack Obama near the end of his term.

He spoke before taking a short, winding hike in the afternoon sun with Herbert and other state and local officials to a lookout post above ancient ruins.

Of course, the legacy and what Ive seen should be preserved, Zinke said, The issue is whether the monument is the right vehicle.

Herbert, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and the rest of the all-GOP congressional delegation consider the monument creation by former President Barack Obama an unnecessary layer of federal control that will hurt local economies by closing the area to new energy development. They also say it isnt the best way to protect the land.

In Blanding, with a population of 3,400 people, two large banners read, #RescindBearsEars, reflecting the popular sentiment among residents.

Bears Ears supporters made their voices heard too. They believe the monument adds vital protections to tribal lands where members perform ceremonies, collect herbs and wood for medicinal and spiritual purposes, and do healing rituals.

Tara Benally, a member of Navajo Nation, was standing just outside the Blanding airport wearing a shirt commemorating the December declaration of Bears Ears National Monument.

We want it left as is. We have history going through there, said Benally, who lives south of the nearby town of Bluff. That was basically my moms playground as she was growing up.

A group of Bears Ears supporters greeted Zinke when he arrived to the trailhead. One woman asked why he only met with tribal leaders for an hour.

Zinke, who was shaking another supporters hand, turned around to face the woman and said: Be nice. The woman responded that she always is.

The monument review is rooted in the belief of Trump and other critics that a law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt allowing presidents to declare monuments has been improperly used to protect wide expanses of lands instead of places with particular historical or archaeological value.

Conservation groups contend that the monument review puts in limbo protections on areas across the country that are home to ancient cliff dwellings, towering Sequoias, deep canyons and ocean habitats where seals, whales and sea turtles roam.

After his arrival Sunday in Salt Lake City, Zinke was met by about 500 protesters who chanted, Save our monuments, stand with Bears Ears.

He held a closed-door meeting with a coalition of tribal leaders who pushed for the monument then spoke of his admiration for Roosevelt.

Davis Filfred of the Navajo Nation said Monday that the one-hour meeting Sunday wasnt enough time for the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition to make their points to Zinke. Filfred, who was in the meeting, said it seems Zinke is listening more to opponents of the monument than people who want it preserved.

Zinke insisted there is no predetermined outcome of his review, saying he may not recommend the monuments be made smaller or rescinded, and he might even recommend an addition.

The two monuments hes reviewing in Utah are quite large. Created in 1996, Grand Staircase-Escalante is 1.9 million acres (7,700 square kilometers), about the size of Delaware. Bears Ears is smaller at 1.3 million acres.

Zinke has been tasked with making a recommendation on the Bears Ears monument by June 10, about 2 months before a final report about all the monuments.

Environmental groups have vowed to file lawsuits if Trump attempts to rescind monuments  a move that would be unprecedented.

On the way back from his hike to the ruins, Zinke stopped at the trailhead and spoke with several people on horseback and admired their horses. On Tuesday, Zinke plans to tour more of the Bears Ears area on horseback.

He said his upcoming decision is not just about how the local tribes, county officials or the governor feel about the monument, but its also about how the entire country feels about it because its Americas public land.

President Trump, Im going to tell you, is a great boss. The reason why I think he felt so strongly about this is he feels like sometimes Washington makes these rules and we dont have a voice, Zinke said. He put this in motion to make sure that local communities count. States count. America counts.
<a href=http://www.intechchs.org/ target=_blank>InTech Collegiate High School</a> in North Logan has once again been ranked by U.S. News & World Report and the Washington Post among the top high schools in the country. For the fifth time in the past six years, U.S. News & World Report recognized the school as one of <a href=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools target=_blank>Americas Best High Schools,</a> ranking it eighth in Utah and awarding the school a silver medal of excellence.

In addition, the Washington Post included InTech on its 2017 list of <a href=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/high-school-challenge-2017/ target=_blank>Americas Most Challenging High Schools,</a> a distinction achieved by just 12 percent of high schools in the country. InTech is ranked number five among only six schools in Utah making the list.

Jason Stanger, the schools executive director and principal, said earning both distinctions reflects InTechs ongoing commitment to excellence.

Its nice not only to be recognized by U.S. News, but also to be recognized across rankings, he said. [It] just really helps us feel like, yeah, we are consistently doing these things across multiple measures and making an impact for students.

With a student body just under 200, InTech is known for drawing students with a strong interest in science, math, engineering and technology education (STEM). Stanger said while a handful of flat-out brilliant kids attend the school, many of the students are solid performers who work hard to succeed academically.

And then there are kids who struggle, he said, but if theyll work hard and come get additional help, they can be successful here as well, and so well continue doing what were doing, including looking for the next thing that will help students. Were always looking for ways to improve and tweak our program to make it more meaningful for students and to help people of all ability levels.

Stanger said InTech has a rigorous curriculum and expects a lot of its faculty and students. He appreciates how the schools instructors take initiative, care about their students and are passionate about their work. Stanger also expressed the role a limited enrollment plays in the schools success.

We have a small school size, and that matters for early colleges to be able to have that connection with students, he said. We ask our parents and students every year what they love about the school, and the number one thing is not our early college program or our STEM programs. Its that we are small, and that makes the teachers approachable and theres a sense of community.

Stanger said keeping the school small is especially important to first-generation college students, minority students and female students studying in STEM areas.

In addition to InTech Collegiate High School, two other area high schools achieved rankings among Americas Best High Schools. <a href=https://www.ccsdut.org/Domain/528 target=_blank>Mountain Crest High School</a> was ranked #20 in Utah and <a href=https://www.ccsdut.org/SkyView target=_blank>Sky View High School</a> was ranked #21, with both campuses being awarded silver medals.

U.S. News & World Report based its 2017 Americas Best High Schools rankings on an evaluation of 20,487 public high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Five hundred schools nationwide achieved gold medal status, 2,107 schools received silver medals and 3,432 were awarded bronze. In Utah, more than 400 public high schools were evaluated, with 173 achieving rankings. Determining factors in the ratings are student performance, performance of disadvantaged students, graduation rates and college-readiness performance.

The Washington Post list of Americas Most Challenging High Schools considers the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge tests given at a school each year divided by the number of seniors who graduated. More information about these designations is available at <a href=http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools>www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools</a> and <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/high-school-challenge-2017>www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/high-school-challenge-2017</a>.

<hr />

jennifer@cvradio.com
Louisiana Supreme Court Upholds 18-Year Sentence for Marijuana Possession in 'Ridiculous' Decision

Gary Howard was arrested, charged, and convicted of marijuana possession with intent to distribute after he was found with 18 grams of pot. To put that amount into context, that's about enough for 18 joints. And, because Howard had a prior felony on his record, those 18 grams got Howard 18 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.

Howard appealed his harsh sentence, and was rebuffed by the Louisiana Supreme Court. But the court's Chief Justice Bernette Johnson slammed her colleagues' decision, calling it "outrageous," "ridiculous," and of "little societal value."

Commerce or Consumption?

According to the AP, Howard had previous convictions, at least one for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. And while there was a gun found in the bedroom where Howard was arrested, he was acquitted of the firearms charge in this case. Instead, his conviction and sentence rested on whether the 18 grams of marijuana he was found with were for distribution or personal use.

The majority of the court focused on the alleged absence of smoking paraphernalia in the house, the presence of sandwich bags in the bedroom, and the fact that the marijuana was divided into "four separate bags inside a larger bag tied around the waistband of [Howard's] boxer shorts" as proof that Howard intended to sell the miniscule amount of marijuana. But the Chief Justice wasn't swayed.

"Even More Ridiculous"

Johnson noted the absence of "cash or scales, or any other pertinent indicia of distribution, found at the house," and went on to blast the length of Howard's sentence under the state's habitual offender statutes:

I find it outrageous that defendant's conviction of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and sentence of 18 years imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, resulting from the discovery of a mere 18 grams of marijuana, will be allowed to stand. Considering the rapidly relaxing social attitudes toward the use of marijuana, the increasing number of states whose voters have approved the recreational use of marijuana,1 and changing laws (even in Louisiana) providing more lenient penalties relative to marijuana possession, the result of this case is even more ridiculous.

Johnson also questioned the impact of such a sentence on Louisiana as a state:

As a practical matter, in light of the inconsequential amount of marijuana found, imprisoning defendant for this extreme length of time at a cost of about $23,000 per year (costing our state over$400,000 in total) provides little societal value and only serves to further burden our financially strapped state and its tax payers.

Still, Howard's conviction and sentence remain in place under the court's ruling.

Related Resources:
Why are politicians such messy eaters?

Published on May 4, 2017

Story by Phil W. Bayles

en

de

pl

es

it

fr

Politicians on the campaign trail are desperate to be seen like normal, everyday people - and what could be more everyday and normal than enjoying a bite to eat? Unfortunately, since eating is also rarely dignified, many politicians find themselves the subject of very unflattering pictures.

Theresa Mays campaign trail visit to Cornwall has been poorly received by the British media, not least because she locked journalists in a cupboard and refused to let them ask questions while she toured a factory. But the coup de grace may turn out to have been a small slice of fried potato. Photographers snapped the prime minister in the middle of eating chips from a traditional Cornish chippy, with a bizarrely aggressive expression on her face. Maybe she was imagining that the chips were all tiny versions of Jean-Claude Juncker.

May is not alone - being caught with an awkward facial expression mid-meal is quickly becoming a campaign tradition for British politicians. In 2014, then-leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband was caught tucking into a bacon sandwich with gusto:

The Sun newspaper ran the photo on their front page the day before the May 2015 election, with the legend: This is the pig's ear Ed made of a helpless [sandwich]. In 48 hours, he could be doing the same to Britain. It was part of an ongoing narrative to paint Miliband as a hapless geek, and sadly, it seemed to work: Labour lost 26 seats in the election, and Miliband himself resigned as party leader.

Obviously a good leader needs some table manners, but going too far can cause problems, too. Just a month before that ill-fated front page, David Cameron was pictured at a barbecue eating a hot-dog with a knife and fork:

He still seemed more normal than Donald Trump, however, who was widely mocked when he tweeted a photo of himself using cutlery to eat a bucket of fried chicken in the luxury of his private plane:

Of all the foodstuffs politicians are thought stuffing in their faces, perhaps the worst is ice-cream. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy demonstrated as much when tucking into this cone:

And the less thats said about this picture of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, the better

Whats perhaps most baffling about the majority of these photos is how little the subjects seem to be enjoying her food. At least smile, like French president Francois Hollande:

Story by Phil W. Bayles
The victims were identified as madrasa student Arafat Hussain, 17, and a driver named Armat Ullah, 19. Both were from Thawin Chaung Village, said Mohin, a Rohingya villager from Maungdaw south.

The villagers informed the local police station. Police sent the two bodies to the hospital and opened an investigation, a police source told Kaladan News.

The two teenagers were believed to have been killed on the evening of May 4 by a group of robbers. The villagers said a gang of robbers from Teknaf, in neighboring Bangladesh, has been terrorizing the local residents and shot and wounded another man in April.

Edited by Laignee Barron
Fon Teche and Paul Biya W. Musa

Members of the North West Fons Union, NOWEFU, have appealed on President Paul Biya to stand as candidate for the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, CPDM, in the 2018 Presidential elections.

The Post newspaper reports that the appeal is contained in two motions of support addressed to the Head of State on May 5, 2017 during the Executive Committee meeting of NOWEFU that held in Bamenda.

In the appeal, the Fons under their President Fon Teche congratulated the President Paul Biya for creating the National Commission for the promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism and for appointing Cornelius CHI as the scribe of the Commission.

The traditional rulers also lauded efforts made by the Head of State for the approach he has been taking so far to solve the Anglophone problem and promised that they will take the bulls by the horns and force parents to send their children to school.

The Fons called on government to take drastic measures to punish teachers who do not go to school to teach the few pupils and students present.

Present during the meeting were Director of cabinet at the Prime Ministers office Prof Paul Goghomo Mingo and Minister in Charge of supreme State Audit, Mbah Acha Rose who used the occasion to enumerate a number of issues resolved by the government which according to them should have pushed the striking denizens to put down their tools and maintain peace and unity.
The UNFC formerly comprised of seven ethnic armed groups that had not yet signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

The resignation of the KIA and the WNA comes amid a growing rift among ethnic armed groups over the signing of the NCA. The UNFC and a delegation led by the chair of the governments Peace Commission met in Chiang Mai, Thailand on April 28 to discuss signing the NCA and attending the second session of the Union Peace Conference, also called the 21st-Century Panglong Conference.

At the same time, another faction formed under the United Wa State Army (UWSA) is pushing for a rejection of the NCA, and a redrafting of the ceasefire agreement. This faction of seven gathered at the UWSAs headquarters in Panghsang/Pangkham in April. At the meeting, four of the ethnic armed group leaders, including from the KIA, forged the Union Peace Dialogue Committee, a new bloc for negotiating a solution for peace outside the NCA.

An official from the UNFC confirmed the KIA and the WNA have both submitted letters of resignation.

Its true that a resignation letter has been submitted. The UNFC hasnt made any decisions yet so I cant speak in great detail. I can only speak about the details after a meeting has been held, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In a released copy of its resignation letter, the WNA said that it was difficult to cooperate with allied ethnic armed organizations at the moment due to on-going political and military changes.

The UNFC is slated to meet again with government peace negotiators between May 14 to 18.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by Laignee Barron
| BY Kim Shaw |

De-robing of inhibitions at the check-in desk, guests will be able to stand proud in all their glory like Michelangelos David, gracefully recline in the nuddy like an Art Series Schaller figure, or robe up a la the Renaissance.

The No Robe package asks guests to reveal the real them for a team of artists to capture the image in art form, forever.

DT conceived the idea, produced the video and delivered the experience via an app. Long time agencies of Art Series Hotel Group, Toben and The Mint Partners, will look after art direction, creative rollout and public relations and influencer engagement, respectively.

The campaign will run from the 1 May to the 15 June. Guests across the Groups seven hotels located in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Bendigo are invited to sleepover and strike a pose in front of a custom built photobooth and app in the privacy of their hotel suite. Their photo will be sent via an encrypted link to a team of artists who will bring it to life in a sketch. Guests will then receive their very own life drawing after their stay.

The human body has been a constant source of inspiration throughout history. From thousands joining in the Dark Mofo Nude Solstice Swim to NSW Gallerys recent exhibition Nude,, Art Series Hotel Group will join the growing movement to celebrate this age-old subject matter and will be exploring all manners of self-expression.

Says Will Deague, CEO of Art Series Hotels: Art Series Hotels are passionate about supporting the arts and delivering unique art inspired experiences for our guests and welcoming them with their creativity. The No Robe campaign certainly goes back to the history of the nude form in art and self-expression.

Guests who prefer not to pose for a life drawing can still get involved by sharing a photo on Instagram, encapsulating the campaign mantra of being free within one of the Groups seven hotels. Guests need to simply tag #norobe, tag and follow @artserieshotelgroup to be in with the chance of winning a gift voucher to sleepover on Art Series Hotel Group.

Art Series Hotel Group will be spearheading campaign management, digital integration, media planning and media buying, plus the expertise of DT, Toben and The Mint Partners.

Art Series Hotel Group is renowned for their creative campaigns including the Overstay Checkout, award winning Steal Banksy and Reverse Reviews campaigns.

DT  Idea, video and app build

Jonathan Pease, Chief Creative Officer

Jeff Mimery, Creative Director

Christopher Armstrong, Senior Engineer

Jacky Lau, Principal Architect

Gabrielle Teasdell, Senior Art Director

Krystyna Frassetto, Client Partner

TOBEN  Art direction and creative rollout

Katja Hartung, Creative Director, Co-Founder

Thorsten Kulp, Creative Director, Co-Founder

THE MINT PARTNERS  Public Relations and Influencer Management

Genevieve Taubman Campbell, Managing Director & Co-Founder

Alice Ford, Account Director

Lauren Cowan, Senior Account Manager

ART SERIES HOTEL GROUP  Campaign Management, Digital integration, Media Planning, Media Buying

Ryan Tuckerman, Group Director of Sales & Marketing

Beckie Mitchell, Marketing Manager
| BY Ricki Green |

As part of this years Head On photography festival, World Wide Mind director and photographer Tim Georgesons Oracles is being exhibited at The Olsen Gallery in Woollahra until 20 May.

Says Georgeson: Oracles is the elliptical suite of longing subjects suggest the intangible more than they render the physical, and so invite the experience of spiritual feeling. There is a sense that something important, from somewhere deep, is receding or emerging. These poignant symbols offer clues to the riddle of their own mysterious narratives; that the nebulous is always more illuminating than clarity.

Says Michelle Parker, EP, World Wide Mind: We are delighted that Tim has chosen WWM to represent him as a photographer and director, joining our growing roster of incredible stills and motion storytellers. His work crosses the genres of film and photography by merging found moments and fine art.

Georgesons photos have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Paris, Perpignan, London, Tokyo, FOAM Amsterdam, ICP New York, Olsen Irwin and Stills Gallery. His work has been collected in private collections in Australia, Holland, France, Japan, Canada, and the US, and in the permanent collection at The National Portrait Gallery of Australia. His prizes include World Press Photo, Leica Camera & Cannes awards, NY Festival and Australian National Portrait prizes.

Click here for more information on Oracles at The Olsen Gallery.
"When allegations are raised in relation to the behaviour of any employee working in this setting, these are taken very seriously and investigated appropriately while affording all parties appropriate procedural fairness," she said.
Dr Kelly also said such blood tests can only detect fairly recent exposures, within a few weeks or months and that children were of higher concern than adults exposed, given their propensity to put their hands in their mouth, and the amount of time spent on the ground.
The leader of the Restoration of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) takes over from Khun Htun Oo, chair of the Shan State Joint Action Committee.

The CSSU was established in 2013 to boost cooperation among Shan organizations. Lt Gen Yad Serk was one of the founders, and chaired the group previously from 2015-2016.

This CSSU was founded with Lieutenant General Yawd Serks idea. So I believe he can serve his duties well, said Sai Leik, spokesperson of the CSSU and secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).

The leadership of the CSSU was supposed to proceed alphabetically from the RCSS, to the Shan Nationalities Development Party and then to the SSJAC. But the SNDP said it was not ready to take up the position in the previous leadership selection, so Khun Htun Oo stepped up instead.

At the annual meeting held last week, the CSSU pledged to push for amending the 2008 constitution.

First, we need to strive for a constitution which is needed for the Shan State. We plan to work on this with everyone at the Union-level political dialogue, CSSUs spokesperson Sai Leik told reporters at the annual meeting.

In his inaugural speech, Lt Gen Yawd Serk pledged to continue strengthening ethnic Shan unity.

We have expectations about unity. We desire it. Thats why we need to serve our duties to strengthen solidarity. All of us have the responsibility to work to this end. We need to educate those who do not understand and agree to solve problems together. The CSSU will try to become an umbrella that can cover everyone, he said.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by Laignee Barron
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 ...
Nang Kham Phong told Shan Herald that the incident occurred within a temple compound in Mong Yen Tract, Namtu Township, at about 10am. She said that eight novice monks were wounded by shrapnel from the blast.

Six monks were seriously wounded because they were hit on their heads and stomachs. The two other monks sustained injuries to their legs and hands, she explained. They were all young novice monks between 10 and 15 years old. They do not know that these were bombs and they were playing with them.

Nang Kham Phong continued: Bombs were planted here a long time ago, when the Burmese army set up their camp. They didnt clear the landmines before they left and no one knows where they are all planted.

She added the boys were taken immediately to Lashio Hospital, however they did not arrive until 2pm.

Reached for comment, Jarm Hom, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) representing Namtu Township, confirmed that a landmine blast had wounded eight young novices.

There were two bombs and they were rusted, she said. They were playing them when one exploded.

On July 7 last year, Shan Herald reported that a villager was killed and another seven seriously injured by a bomb blast in Namtu Township.

Namtu Township has long been a conflict zone between the Burmese armed forces and ethnic armed groups including the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Restoration Council of Shan State/ Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA). The fighting has compelled hundreds, if not thousands, of villagers to flee their homes. According to a report from Shan Herald published in January, some 1,300 civilians remain displaced in six makeshift camps in Namtu Township.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Since the advent to government of the National League for Democracy last year, there have been hopes that the country is on the brink of national peace and long-needed reforms. In reality, the experiences of the past 12 months have shown that the administrative structures of the new government represent a hybrid system between the NLD and the national armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, which continues to wield effective decision-making power over many aspects of national life. There can be no doubt that the political climate has changed considerably since the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein came to power in 2011, but warning signs are now increasing that, despite the NLDs landslide election victory, the party is unable to usher in the democratic reforms that it promised in its campaign manifesto. The continuity in Tatmadaw domination, which began with a military coup in 1962, is not ended.

There are two main obstacles to political breakthroughs at present: the constitution and the failure to achieve nationwide peace. The two issues are closely related. The inability of the NLD to rewrite the constitution, make political amendments or bring about national reconciliation through peace negotiations are anchored in the Tatmadaw-drafted constitution of 2008. This is not by chance. The constitution was deliberately drawn up in ways that preserve the Tatmadaws supremacy in national politics by being reserved 25% of all seats in the legislatures as well control of three key ministries: home, defence and border affairs. Furthermore, constitutional amendments are only possible with the endorsement of more than 75% of parliamentary votes, meaning that the constitution can never be amended without military consent.

Similar impediments face the national peace process, which has lost momentum during the past year. In an important change in policy, the previous government of the Union Solidarity and Development Party-Tatmadaw called for a nationwide peace process in 2011 after recognising that development and national prosperity cannot be achieved without ending the countrys long-running civil wars. However, the haste to produce a concrete sign of progress before President Thein Sein left office resulted in a partial Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in October 2015, which only eight armed organisations signed. The remaining thirteen refused, including several of the most influential forces in the country. In January 2016, the outgoing government attempted to jump-start talks with a Union Peace Conference, but it was clear that progress was already slowing.

Optimism then revived when the new NLD government, headed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, took over the reins of office and sought to breathe new life into President Thein Seins peace initiative by holding a new national conference between 31 August  3 September last year. Ambitiously titled the Union Peace Conference  21st Century Panglong (UPC-21CP), expectations were high as over 700 representatives from different organisations assembled in Nay Pyi Taw from across the country. Conflict, however, swiftly resumed, and nationwide peace has still not materialized at the time of writing. Rather, one year after the NLD government assumed national responsibility for the peace process, war has been continuing with heightened intensity in the Kachin and northern Shan States, while serious violence and community displacement have occurred again in the Rakhine State.

It should be stressed that not all the difficulties can be laid at the NLDs door. Many indications were already pointing towards the peace process hitting a roadblock before the UPC-21CP took place. There is a long history of peace failures within the country. At present, three main obstacles especially stand out. First, the two-tier or hybrid nature of government administration between the NLD and Tatmadaw is causing problems in peace communications and negotiations. The military continues to function as a state within a state, employs different strategies in different parts of the country, and rejects the inclusion of all ethnic armed organisations in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. Second, military officers are still maintaining their leadership role in the countrys political transition through the 2008 constitution, preventing the NLD from moving forward independently on national reforms in parliament. And third, there remain very different conceptual views or positions on the key issue of federalism between the two prime movers among the ethnic Bamar (Burman) majority population: the NLD and Tatmadaw. This last issue  the federal question  has been at the heart of the countrys political crisis since independence.

Clearly, new thinking and initiatives are needed if the cycle of political failures in the country is to be broken. At this juncture, the holding of another conference without common aims and ambitions among the different participants is unlikely to achieve positive results at any time soon. The current peace process has already continued for over five years without successful conclusion, and this, it should be stressed, follows over two decades of peace initiatives under the previous military government led by Snr-Gen. Than Shwe. There is little point, then, in convening conference after conference just for the sake of holding them. The Panglong name will soon be diminished, and the next UPC-21CP meeting has already been rescheduled several times. The latest announcement is that 24 May will be the new date. This follows a Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting between government officials and ethnic armed organisations that have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.

Thus, as the latest countdown to another peace conference continues, the question must be asked as to how to break the prevailing atmosphere of logjam, make the next meeting viable and usher in positive change. The need is to make the peace process meaningful by focusing attention on the key ethnic issues that have always underpinned the political impasse in the country.

The revival of the historic name of Panglong, where the principles of equal union were agreed, has been an important start for its symbolism. But, in this writers opinion, the best place to resume again will be the federal amendment debate of 1961-62. The demands of the ethnic nationalities today are closely identical to what they were in 1962, and the Federal Amendment Proposal was very much a response to the failures of Panglong and the 1947 constitution. It would therefore be a major mistake to overlook the lessons of Panglong for a second time. The Federal Amendment Proposal marked a vital moment in our post-colonial history when the Tatmadaw seized the reins of government, quashing the possibility of reform discussion and setting the stage for half a century of military rule.

The conclusion is clear. If meaningful political change is to come now, it needs to be asked why cant we think of picking up the Federal Amendment Proposal from where our predecessors were abruptly stopped in 1962. Far from saving the country from disintegration, the 1962 coup halted vital discussion and made a constitutional crisis very much worse.

Background to Constitutional Crisis and Military Rule

The Union of Burma was barely 14 years in existence when the Tatmadaw seized power from the parliamentary government of Prime Minister U Nu in March 1962. The country that gained its independence from Great Britain in 1948 was democratically governed under a multi-party parliamentary system until 1962, with an eighteen-month break for a Military Caretaker government under Gen. Ne Win during 1958-60. Officially, the justification for military rule was that the country was becoming ungovernable due to an irrevocable split between the ruling Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League Clean faction, led by U Nu, and an AFPFL Stable faction, led by the socialists Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein. Unofficially, the real reason was a fear by both Ne Win and U Nu that the Shan and Kayah (Karenni) States would exercise their rights of secession in the 1947 Union Constitution after a 10-year period. This time was now up.

In April 1960, U Nus renamed Pyidaungsu (Union) Party won the general election with 52% of the vote and 157 seats in the Lower House, while the military-backed Stable AFPFL led by Ba Swe and Kyaw Nyein captured 30% and 40 seats. It was to be the countrys last general election for thirty years. On 2 March 1962, Gen. Ne Win staged his military coup, suspending the constitution, dissolving parliament and arresting U Nu and leaders from different political and ethnic nationality backgrounds. From then on, Myanmar was ruled by successive military governments  the Revolutionary Council, Burma Socialist Programme Party, State Law and Order Restoration Council and State Peace and Development Council  until 2011 when the quasi-civilian government under President Thein Sein was installed. The political landscape was severely changed.

In defence of their takeover this time, the reason given by military officers was the Federal Amendment Proposal, popularly known as Shan Federal Proposal, which they claimed was about to break up the Union, causing the Tatmadaw to intervene to save the country from disintegration. This notion is still accepted by many among the rank-and-file in the Tatmadaw, including the present Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, but it is widely regarded as false or misconceived by many neutral observers and those who lived through the events at the time. The Federal Amendment Proposal was in fact a legal effort by democratically-constituted leaders to defuse conflict and brewing grievances among the Bamar and non-Bamar populations by political solutions through the introduction of amendments to the 1947 constitution that was failing to live up to the promises of equal union at Panglong.

As all now know, the angst that the conflict would bloom into nationwide violence has proven to become true. The 1962 coup not only suppressed democratic governance but it also witnessed the spread of full-blown armed conflicts across the country. Until the present day, over 20 ethnic armed organisations, numbering some 100,000 troops, have resisted successive Bamar and Tatmadaw-dominated governments without any hint of imminent ending. From this debilitating sequence of events, it is very evident that the termination of the 1962 Federal Amendment Proposal by military coup, with the pretext of saving the Union and maintaining national unity, has resulted in just the opposite outcomes. Myanmar has been pushed into more than 50 years of ethnic conflict that is still in progress, contributing to a staggering economic cost and human toll that has been draining the countrys resources all these years.

The Federal Amendment Proposal: 1961-62

Before delving deeper, it is important to note that the Federal Amendment Proposal of 1961-62 has to be read together with the Panglong Agreement and Union of Burma Constitution of 1947 to understand the subsequent history of events. The 1947 Panglong Agreement, which was signed by Aung San and Chin, Kachin and Shan representatives, was understood to prepare the way for the formation of a federal Union of Burma, leading to the formulation of the 1947 constitution and independence from Great Britain in January 1948 on the basis that equality and inclusion had been agreed between the different peoples and territories of British Burma. In line with the Panglong principles, in May 1947 Aung San, who headed the Interim Burmese Government, submitted his Seven Basic Principles or Directives, based upon federal precepts, that would form the main components and guidelines in drawing up the new constitution at the future Constituent Assembly. These principles included:

An independent, sovereign republic Autonomy with fully-fledged rights of self-administrative power (self-determination) for all constituent states Sovereign power derives from the people Equality in political, economy and social spheres for all people as is practised in a democratic society Adequate safeguards for the rights of minorities Territorial integrity Peace and friendly cooperation with the international community

From his words and actions, it is clear that Aung Sans constitutional formulation in the drive for independence was voluntary association, equality and the right of self-determination that should be anchored in a system of federalism. According to Dr Maung Maungs book on Burmas Constitution, published in 1961, Aung San was quite explicit regarding the political system the country should adopt:

When we build our new Burma, shall we build it as a Union or as a Unitary State? In my opinion it will not be feasible to set up a Unitary State. We must set up a Union with properly regulated provisions to safeguard the rights of the national minorities.

Maung Maung also confirmed the union rather than unitary agreement between Aung San and the nationality founding fathers of the Union at Panglong: The original idea was that the Union States [meaning: all ethnic States] should have their own constitutions, their own organs of state, viz. Parliament, Government and Judiciary. In support of these goals, Aung San added some cautionary words that continue to have historical resonance: But we must take care that United we stand and not United we fall.

To our countrys great cost, neither the Panglong agreements nor Aung Sans principles were incorporated into the 1947 Union of Burma Constitution. The eventual text was inappropriately drafted and implemented after the assassination of Aung San and most of his cabinet by the gang of a political rival in July that year. Although Aung San was sincere in his commitment to the formation of a union or federal system of governance, his successor U Nu was not to be the same. U Nu asked Chan Htun, a constitutional adviser, to redraft the text into a semi-unitary Union Constitution that was promulgated by the Constituent Assembly of the Interim Burmese Government in September 1947. Chan Htun and U Nu were assisted by the appointment of Tin Tut, Sir Ba U, E Maung and Kyaw Myint, all of whom were ethnic Bamar and educated in the law school of Cambridge University. The result was that the new Union of Burma, despite the prior promises and agreements with ethnic nationality leaders, did not become a genuine federal union, an ambiguity that Chan Htun himself later admitted: Our country, though in theory federal, is in practice unitary.i

The new union has since paid a heavy price for these constitutional failings. As political and inter-ethnic violence continued across the country, in 1961 the Shan State government produced a resolution widely known as The Shan Federal Proposal that was a legally-based initiative to try and right the obvious weaknesses in the 1947 constitution. This proposal was unanimously adopted by the Shan State government on 24 January 1961 and subsequently endorsed by delegates, all of whom were non-Bamar, at the All States Conference on 16 June 1961 in Taunggyi. Following the resolution, the All States Unity Organization was formed by the conference, with Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Chin, Arakan, Shan and Mon as members.

To amend the 1947 constitution, a key part of the federal proposal reads:

The provisions for equal rights and opportunities between the various states and nationalities are not adequately prescribed in the present Constitution of the Union of Burma.

The Steering Committee has therefore unanimously decided that to ensure equal rights and opportunities for all, the Constitution should be revised in accordance with the principles of a truly federal constitution.

The Steering Committee hereby resolves that in redrafting the Constitution, in accordance with genuine federal principles, the following basic requirements for ensuring equality shall be included:

Establishment of a Burmese State; Assignment of equal powers to both Chambers of the Union Parliament; Each State to be represented by an equal number of representatives in the Chamber of Nationalities; The following Departments shall be vested in the Central Union, while all other powers, rights and entitlements shall be transferred to the states.

(a) Foreign Affairs;

(b) Union Defense;

(c) Union Finance;

(d) Coinage and Currency;

(e) Posts and Telegraphs;

(f) Railways, Airways and Waterways;

(g) Union Judiciary;

(h) Collection of Custom duties at Seaports. Union revenue to be distributed equitably.ii

Of the five basic requirements, the first needs a little more clarification: the creation of a Burmese or Bamar State. The All States Unity Organisations document on the Federal Amendment Proposal, which was presented to U Nu in January 1962 by ethnic leaders prior to a forthcoming national conference, noted that the 1947 constitution had a fundamental problem. Prior to independence, Burma Proper was one element in a diarchic system of government under colonial government whereby parliamentary home rule was introduced among the Bamar majority in what became known as Ministerial Burma, while the non-Bamar peoples of the Frontier Areas were largely left under their traditional leaders and rulers. It was only at independence in 1948 that the two territories were constitutionally combined. However, instead of the administration of Burma Proper having a separate state government for itself, under the 1947 constitution it had come to serve as the central government as well. This meant not only a usurpation of the central powers of the government by Bamar-majority politicians in the former Burma Proper but also that the political rights of the non-Bamar territories and peoples were mostly denied.

The Federal Amendment proponents therefore put up a solution in their document to U Nu. On the type of federation to be established, the All States Unity Organisation stated in chapter two:

To ensure that the Union of Burma becomes a true federal union, it must be based on the national stand that all states coming together to form the union are equal. Therefore a true federal union cannot be a combination of Burma Proper and the states. Burma Proper must be established as a state, after which a true federal union of states should be formed. As the usurpation of the central powers of government by Burma Proper means a lack of equality, thereby creating dissatisfaction, we strongly desire the removal of the dissatisfaction by establishing a Union of Burma with Burma Proper as one of the constituent states.iii

Quite what might have been agreed between U Nu and ethnic nationality leaders can never be known. The U Nu government knew that constitutional reform was essential. But as the national conference continued to debate the federal issue in March 1962, U Nu, his colleagues and the federal leaders were all arrested and many were to spend long years in jail.

Comparing the 1962 Federal Amendment Debate and the 21st Century Panglong

Over half a century later, the main political issues of the 1962 federal amendment debate and the Union Peace Conference-21st Century Panglong are, more or less, the same. The central demand in 1962 was for the ethnic rights of self-determination, democracy and equality based on a federal form of government, and this is what most ethnic parties are now demanding and will do so again at the next UPC-21CP meeting. The main difference is that in 1962 the ethnic stakeholders were parliamentarians using legislative processes but, in the present UPC-21CP, the ethnic armed organisations play a larger role as stakeholders and negotiators while the ethnic political parties are participating in a minor role. This situation has been enabled by the mechanisms of the October 2015 Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement under the President Thein Sein government. In 1962, in contrast, Gen. Ne Wins Revolutionary Council arrested parliamentary leaders but then, in 1963-64, held unsuccessful negotiations with ethnic armed organisations during a national Peace Parley.

Five decades later, after the issue of federalism was forcefully put on ice by successive military governments, the call for a genuine federal union is louder today than ever by ethnic nationality parties, whether armed organisations or those in parliament. This does not mean that a political solution is imminently in sight. It needs to be recognised that the 1947 Panglong Agreement, 1947 Union of Burma Constitution and 1961 Federal Amendment Proposal did not achieve federalism nor a nationally agreed language on federal reform. Still today, ambiguities continue in the NCA-based negotiation process that vaguely says: Establish a union based on the principles of democracy and federalism in accordance with the outcomes of political dialogue. This lack of clarity is a key reason why a majority of ethnic armed organisations did not sign the NCA at its 2015 inception, and it continues to underpin wariness by both signatory and non-signatory groups as to whether the NCA is a ploy by the government and military authorities to outdo the political aspirations of ethnic nationalities once again.

Outlook: The Need for Creative Thinking and a Federal Solution

On the eve of the next UPC-21CP, we are confronted with two schools of thought. One way is to ponder how the countrys constitution could be formulated, based on the NCA guidelines, through extensive discussions. In other words, a completely new set of solutions will need to be worked out and dubbed a new Union Accord that will have little to do with the 1947 Panglong Agreement, 1947 Union of Burma Constitution and 1961 Federal Amendment Proposal. The other way is to revisit the 1961 Federal Amendment Proposal and pick up from where a previous generation of politicians left off when all discussion was ended by military rule.

When considering the two schools of thought, the consequences have to be factored in of the ending of the Federal Amendment Proposal by military coup. This has resulted in more than 50 years of ethnic armed conflict that is still in progress, causing immeasurable humanitarian suffering, community displacement and economic loss. And with this long postponement the problematic issues of forging a common national identity and national unity have become only deeper, fuelled by a rising tide in ethno-nationalisms, including Wa, Pa-O, Taang (Palaung) and Tai-Leng, who are demanding the upgrade of their administrative status to states within the union. Clearly, military rule and the suppression of federalism have not brought peace and national unity to the country.

Seen against this backdrop, the school of thought that is banking on achieving a Union Accord, based upon the NCA alone, is becoming more and more problematic. Many difficulties are emerging. The situation has not been helped by the NLD adopting a wait-and-see posture, refusing to be pinned down on what the party is really aiming for in a future system of federalism. It is indeed unusual that a political party, which considers itself a national party cutting across ethnic lines, either does not have a position paper on federal reform or will not spell it out publicly. To give just one example: top leaders like U Win Htein have said that the present configuration of seven ethnic States and seven Regions (formerly known as Divisions) is appealing to the party, but this can be construed in two ways. It could mean NLD acceptance of a territory-based form of federalism but, equally, it could also mean continuance of a unitary form of government with only some devolution of powers to the States and Regions. Such uncertainties mean that the NLD positions on federalism is still open for speculation, and this is causing disquiet in many ethnic nationality communities.

In contrast to the NLDs hesitation, the leaders of the Tatmadaw have openly reiterated time and again that they will protect the 2008 military-drafted constitution which, they claim, has all the necessary structures to be moulded into a federal form of government. This, however, is regarded as impossible, indicating that the present Tatmadaw leaders are not at all keen to achieve a genuine federal union. Rather, while giving lip-service in agreeing to the countrys transformation into federalism, they are more interested in clinging on to the present constitutional setup that ensures their continued political advantage in the national landscape.

As for the ethnic nationality parties, whether armed or electoral, their aspirations on federalism continue to be an ethnic-based federalism that is based upon the principles of the Panglong Agreement and Federal Amendment Proposal. The only modifications needed are those that are in tune with the political configurations and realities of the present day.

Such a diversity of views means that the current NCA-based negotiation process is unlikely to bring us close to a political solution, because the three prime players  the NLD, Tatmadaw and ethnic nationality parties  are far apart in conceptual-thinking about federalism and the Union of Burmas emergence as a nation-state entity. Most obviously, the military-dominated governments after 1962, and now even some NLD supporters, regard the present day country as a continuation of a unified nation or empire, largely under ethnic Bamar governance, since the reign of the first Bamar kings, starting with Anawrahta of Pagan, from time immemorial. In contrast, the non-Bamar nationalities maintain that the Union of Burma of 1948 is a newly-created territory and political entity, based upon the principles of the Panglong Agreement, whereby independent territories that had been annexed into the British India Empire merged together on an equal basis at the departure of colonial power in 1948. It needs to be added, too, that the difficulty in discussion of these differences is further exacerbated by the inability to create a level playing field in the present peace process, which is not only harming the negotiation atmosphere but fuelling animosity as conflicts and loss of life still continue in several parts of the country.

On a more positive note, it is common knowledge in Myanmar today that the ongoing ethnic conflicts have long hindered the countrys development in all social and economic arenas, which was the main reason why former President Thein Sein, himself an ex-general, started the present peace process after he came into office in 2011. However it should be no surprise that there has been little political progress to date, if the intention is to rely on a top-down approach by those in government who disregard our countrys history. Such an approach, which has come from Bamar-dominated governments and the military establishment after independence, wants to whitewash a whole line of historical conferences and agreements, starting with Panglong in 1947, that are the only legal bonds between the different territories of the former Burma Proper and Frontier Areas.

The ethnic nationalities, however, have not been passive in seeking to correct these political failings. It is an important step, therefore, that the language of Panglong and federalism has officially been revived in the present peace process. But for real progress to be achieved, the next step should be returning attention to the 1961 Federal Amendment Proposal, which was the last time national leaders sought to resolve the countrys challenges by political dialogue together. In the 21st century, for most ethnic nationalities the political demands of 1961-62 are still the only way to defuse the countrys conflicts, foster national reconciliation and achieve political settlements that will be sustainable into future generations. These demands are just, legal and entirely feasible.

It is true that, after more than five decades, the setting of the conflict has changed in different parts of the country, but not the underlying nature of conflict or the need for equality and an inclusive federal solution. For example, the configuration of Burma Proper has been re-demarcated over the years into seven Divisions, now known as Regions, while the ethnic nationality lands now consist of seven States (Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine and Shan), with six further self-administered territories delineated under the 2008 constitution (Danu, Kokang, Naga, Pa-O, Taang and Wa). But ethnic nationality leaders remain convinced that they can bank on the 1961 Federal Amendment Proposal, with necessary innovations, to be the key ingredient to jump-start the stalled peace process and begin political dialogue in line with the goals of the 21st Century Panglong.

To break the deadlock, creative thinking is now essential, and ethnic consensus has been growing around these goals. Agreement on a Panglong Handbook was discussed at a plenary meeting of ethnic armed organisations at Mai Ja Yang, a town controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation near the Chinese border in July last year. These principles have since been widely supported among ethnic nationality parties. Most recently in early April this year, fourteen ethnic armed organisations,iv including seven NCA signatories and seven non-signatories, resolved that the 1947 Panglong Agreement, Promises and Spirit, according to the Panglong Handbook, would be the cornerstone of guidelines among ethnic nationalities to resolve conflict, political settlements and national reconciliation. At the same time, the influential United Wa State Army has also confirmed in a position paper delivered during last years UPC-21CP, and recently again in February of this year, that the Panglong Agreement is being treated as the inalienable political legacy of the ethnic nationalities. In short, commitment is strong among ethnic nationality parties that the Panglong Agreement, which encompassed the rights of self-determination, democracy and equality, has to be anchored in a genuine federal form of government, as envisioned by our founding forefathers back in 1947.

Finally, we should heed the words of the late Bogyoke Aung San who cautioned us in 1947 that we should not do anything that would lead the country in the direction of united we fall. Sadly, this is exactly what has happened under successive governments since independence which have tried to hold the union together by sheer military might. Instead, it is time to return to Aung Sans notion of united we stand through dialogue, compromise and political solutions that include all peoples and territories. And the current peace process today, after the bitter abyss of armed conflict, is the timely opportunity to revitalize the Federal Amendment Proposal to realise Aung Sans aspiration for unity and national harmony. Many challenges remain and detailed negotiations will be needed. But like the Panglong Agreement, the Federal Amendment Proposal is a vital part of our countrys history that provides a critical platform from which debate can be started to take the Union Peace Conference and21st Century Panglong to the long-needed deliverance of peace and justice for all peoples in our country.

Sai Wansai is a Shan political analyst and the ex-General Secretary of the former Shan Democratic Union.
As usual, Im reporting what took place there, topics that were discussed, and decisions that were taken at the event. For I believe that the better the people are informed, the surer their decision-making will be.

But, as usual, I have to be careful of what I disclose, as carelessness may lead to killing the goose. If I say nothing, nothing will be known. But if I say everything, everything will be ruined.

I hope my policy: to disclose what is useful but not too sensitive, but to refrain from saying anything thats too delicate works for all.

Day One. Thursday, 4 May 2017

Strangely enough, the NCA that forms the basis of the current peace process does not contain the terms reconciliation or national reconciliation anywhere in the text. However, it significantly refers to the Spirit of Panglong, which has come to be seen as the historic starting point of reconciliation in Myanmar.

Aung Naing Oo, Myanmar times, 27 April 2017



Khun Tun Oo gives is opening speech

(Photo: Irrawaddy) Khun Tun Oo gives is opening speech(Photo: Irrawaddy)

The outgoing chair Khun Tun Oo gives his opening speech in Burmese, for the sake of media representatives, who are present at the Ratanakosin Hotels meeting room on the 6th floor.

Recently, weve been hearing things we had never heard of before:

The order from the government not bring back (ugly) past incidents (in other words not to rattle any skeletons in the closet) The declaration by 1990 Members of Parliament Union (MPU), the United Nationalities Democratic Union (UNDU), and 3 others (on 2 May) to sue the government for holding the 2008 referendum on the present constitution based on inaccurate population statistics. (The then military claimed there were 57 million, but the 2014 census found only 51 million) A report coming across the Sino-Burmese border says another united front, calling itself the Seven States Liberation Union (SSLU) is either in the making or has been formed.

If we are not united and at peace with one another, theres a chance the Irrawaddy could become the border between India and China.

I therefore solemnly urge you to seriously keep in mind what I have said in our 2 day deliberations on our struggle for equality and self-determination.

Here are excerpts from speeches delivered by other leaders:

The CSSU objective is three-fold: Unity among the Shans, unity with other ethnic nationalities in Shan State, and the attainment of self-determination. Out of 55 townships in Shan State, Shans are majority in less than half of them. This we need to consider when planning for the 2020 general elections.

(More than a million were estimated to have either been displaced or gone into exile since the 1996-98 forced relocation campaign waged by the then military government Author)

Everyday, new settlers from lower Burma are coming to Shan State. They are issued house registers within 6 months, but tens of thousands of Shans are without house registers or ID cards.

In Chiangmai, there are about 100,000 Shans, but only 60,000 have proper ID cards, passports and work permits



Participants of the CSSU Annual. Photo taken on

4 May 2017. Participants of the CSSU Annual. Photo taken on4 May 2017.

Next, a progress report is submitted by the secretariat headed by Sai Nyunt Lwin, the outgoing Secretary General.

For those who are not familiar with the CSSU, I hope the following summary explains its nuts and bolts: The CSSU was formed on 17 October 2017. Its 12 guiding principles were adopted at the summit meeting in Bangkok in October 2014. According to its constitution adopted in 2015, all chairpersons of each member organizations form a presidium, and take turns to preside over meetings for one year. Secretaries of each member organization meanwhile form a secretariat which is headed by the Secretary General, who is also the general secretary of the member organization whose chairperson is serving as president on rotation. All major decisions are made by consensus.

The following are the extracts from the report:

The original member organizations are;

Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) Shan State Joint Action Committee (SSJAC) which is made up of three organizations: Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD),

Shan State Progress Party (SSPP),

and Shan Peoples Militia Shan State Lawyers Network New Generation Shan State (NGSS) Shan CBOs Thailand Tai Youth Organization (TYO) Tai Nationalities Association-Thailand (TNA)

During the 2016-17 period, the CSSU gained two more members: Eastern Shan State Development and Democratic Party (ESSDDP) and Tai Youth Network (TYN)

The CSSU, among others, held one public consultation and one ethnic Shan-based pre-National Dialogue (ND). It is still negotiating with the government-Tatmadaw for a venue to hold a proper ND before the 24 May Union Peace Conference 21st Century Panglong (UPC 21 CP).

On 1-2 June 2016, the CSSU held the Seminar on National Reconciliation, Peace Process, Democracy and Federalism in Taunggyi which was participated by 21 political parties, that included among others the NLD and the USDP, and 3 CSOs.

The Secretariat ends its report with a 3 point proposal: a 2 year tenure for the rotating president and secretary general, to find a suitable mechanism for small member organizations to be able to serve as rotating presidents and secretary generals

Increased mutual sharing of information among members

The rest of the day is spent in self-evaluation. The following are extracts from the discussants:

Shans have their strengths (which need not be mentioned here.) But their greatest weakness is disunity.

The non-Shans, because of Shans disunity, are demanding separate statehoods

They used to speak Shan, but they no longer do.

The Wa took over leadership on the peace process, and we were unable to say No.

We have many talented people, but they need to be united.

And several more.

The day ends with an agreement for the leaders to hold a separate meeting in the evening, the results of which are to be reported on the next day.
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. We love Google for a multitude of reasons. It's the most-used platform for everyone, from students learning a new skill to grandmas who need to find out how to ruin Thanksgiving dinner again. The most READ THE REST
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.
Putin got your tongue? President Donald Trump's history of remarks on U.S. election hacking makes his current silence on the France election cyberattacks very strange. Russia is suspected of being behind those recent hacking attacks, which appeared to be directed at helping the fascist, hardcore right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen win. Despite open support from Donald Trump and others aligned with the U.S. President, Le Pen lost to the more moderate candidate, Emmanuel Macron.

"The White House's failure to mention the attack on one of America's oldest allies has worried Democrats, cyber policy specialists and former White House officials who say the omission reveals a troubling inability to call out Russia over its digital aggression," reports Politico's Eric Geller.

Snip:

In the hack  which some researchers have linked to Russian intelligence  tens of thousands of internal documents and emails appeared online late Friday after being pilfered from the political party of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron. The dump came less than two days before Macron's resounding victory on Sunday. The White House's lack of comment on the incident comes just over a week after President Donald Trump publicly renewed his own skepticism about Russia's role in the hacking of Democratic Party emails during the U.S. presidential race, despite the U.S. intelligence community's forceful conclusion that senior Kremlin officials personally orchestrated the campaign with the aim of undermining Hillary Clinton. "The silence is just a sign of how unprepared we are to deal with these things," said James Lewis, a cyber expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After Macron's victory, the White House issued a congratulatory statement from press secretary Sean Spicer that made no mention of the email hack. Trump's tweet congratulating Macron on his "big win" likewise ignored the hack. Trump later spoke with Macron by phone, but a readout of the call didn't mention the cyberattack. White House spokespeople did not respond to emails asking whether the administration would denounce the apparent Russian operation.

I'm sure it's nothing.
Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) to declare the results for the state Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams on May 12, 2017, at 3 PM.

When was the Karnataka SSLC exam held?

The Karnataka SSLC exams 2017 were held from March 30 to April 12, 2017.

How many students appeared for the exam?

As many as 8.77 lakh students appeared Of those who appeared, there were 4.69 lakh boys while 4.07 lakh girls.

About the paper pattern:

The Board this year issued separate question papers and answer sheets so that students can take the question papers home.

How to check Karnataka SSLC result 2017?

Log on to official website

Click on the notification on the home page for the Karnataka SSLC result 2017.

Enter your roll number in the fields provided.

Click to submit.

Download the Karnataka SSLC Class 10 Results 2017

Take a printout for future reference.

Also read: Karnataka II PUC Exam Results 2017: Expected On May 10


Damien Henry, co-inventor of Google Cardboard, trained a machine learning algorithm using footage shot from a moving vehicle and then had the machine generate this beautiful video.



"Graphics are 100% generated by an algorithm in one shot. No edit or post-processing," Henry writes. "Except the first one, all frames are calculated one by one by a prediction algorithm that tries to predict the next frame from the previous one."





The soundtrack is the Steve Reich masterpiece "Music for 18 Musicians."






Popularized by Ayelet Waldman's book A Really Good Day, microdosing LSD (ingesting LSD in such minuscule amounts that its psychedelic effects aren't felt) is said to improve cognitive function and relieve pain and depression. At least that is what microdosers claim. Of course this isn't backed by science, since acid was made illegal in 1968 and researching the controlled substance is almost impossible.

But researcher Amanda Fielding, who once drilled a hole in her head in the name of consciousness exploration and who now runs the Beckley Foundation for psychedelic research, is planning a study to see if these microdosing claims are legitimate.

According to Motherboard:

As the first scientific trial to investigate the effects of microdosing, Fielding's study will consist of 20 participants who will be given low doses10, 20 and 50 micrograms of LSDor a placebo on four different occasions. After taking the acid, the brains of these subjects will be imaged using MRI and MEG while they engage in a variety of cognitive tasks, such as the neuropsychology staples the Wisconsin Card Sorting test and the Tower of London test. Importantly, the participants will also be playing Go against an AI, which will assess the players' performance during the match. By imaging the brain while it's under the influence of small amounts of LSD, Fielding hopes to learn how the substance changes connectivity in the brain to enhance creativity and problem solving. If the study goes forward, this will only be the second time that subjects on LSD have had their brain imaged while tripping. (That 2016 study at Imperial College London was also funded by the Beckley Foundation, which found that there was a significant uptick in neural activity in areas of the brain associated with vision during acid trips.)

But Fielding faces two hurdles before she can begin the study: 1) funding, and 2) acquiring the LSD.

In terms of funding, she says she needs to raise about $350,000.

"It's frightening how expensive this kind of research is," Fielding said. "I'm very keen on trying to alter how drug policy categorizes these compounds because the research is much more costly simply because LSD is a controlled substance." To tackle this problem, Fielding has partnered with Rodrigo Nino, a New York entrepreneur who recently launched Fundamental, a platform for donations to support psychedelic research at institutions like the Beckley Foundation, Johns Hopkins University, and New York University.

The second obstacle might be trickier to clear.

In 2016, she was able to use LSD that had been synthesized for research purposes by a government certified lab, but she suspects that this stash has long since been used up.

Fielding says the benefits are too great to be ignored. If anyone is going to make a study like this happen, it will be her.

Image: AlmudenaFM
Former General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz has remained out of the news for quite some time but it has just been revealed that he is continuing to frolic in the automotive world by building Hummer H1s and selling them in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and China.



As General Motors still owners the Hummer trademark, the vehicles are sold as the Humvee C-Series and are currently being constructed in small numbers at VLF Automotives factory in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The venture isnt the brainchild of Lutz and is instead that of five Humvee enthusiasts and entrepreneurs from Michigan. Speaking to Car and Driver, VLF Automotive president John Costin revealed that the company had been contracted to assemble the trucks.

This is possible despite GM killing the Hummer brand in 2010 as the vehicles contract manufacturer, AM General, has been offering C-Series kits for $60,000 since 2013. The company behind the project, Humvee Export, gets VLF to make them and then exports them internationally.

According to Costin, VLF will build up to 100 Humvee C-Series vehicles by the end of 2017 with most being sold to wealthy Chinese buyers.

The vehicle made its Chinese debut at Aprils Shanghai Auto Show and for the most part, looks identical to the Hummer H1 were all familiar with. Power can be provided from a 6.5-liter diesel V8 with either 190 hp and 385 lb-ft, 205 hp and 440 lb-ft or 250 hp and 440 lb-ft. An LS3 6.2-liter petrol V8 is also available with 430 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque and mated to a 4L85-E four-speed automatic transmission.

PHOTO GALLERY
Group B. Just say the words in certain company (as in, our kind of company) and youd better be prepared with a mop and bucket for all the drool youll need to clean up. It was, without a doubt, the ultimate age of rallying, with the most incredible machines ever to slide and jump their way along mixed surfaces.



As with some other racing classes, Group B regulations required homologation. So participating manufacturers had to produce a limited number of road-going versions of the machinery they were fielding on the rally stage.

Two of those homologation specials are now coming up for auction. Both were made in 1985 in limited quantities of 200 or less, and both are headed to the RM Sothebys auction later this month on Lake Como with six-figure pre-sale estimates.

In one corner we have a red Lancia Delta S4 Stradale, with what looks like a beautiful tan Alcantara interior. Its powered by a 1.8-liter inline four with both supercharger and turbocharger, kicking out 300 horsepower to all four wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. Well documented and presented in flawless condition throughout, it carries less than 1,000 miles and is projected to sell for between 450,000 and 550,000 (or as much as $600k at current exchange rates).

Prefer German engineering over Italian craftsmanship? The Lancia is joined by a white Audi Sport Quattro of the same year. The 2.1-liter turbocharged inline-five was dinod at 343 hp, and has been completely overhauled. One of just 164 road-going versions sold, this example has been used extensively, having accrued over 56,000 miles  less than 6,200 of which were covered in the last ten years. The heavy usage, however, means that its expected to sell for less: 300-350k, according to the auctioneer (or about $350k in US funds, give or take).

Check em both out in the galleries below, captured by Cymon Taylor and Dirk de Jager, respectively, for RM Sothebys.

1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale

1985 Audi Sport Quattro
The 2018 Hyundai Kona was spotted in Lisbon, Portugal, wearing its birthday suit. The Korean automaker prepares to aim its new sub-compact crossover at the likes of Renaults Captur and Nissans Juke.



The images come courtesy of Autoweek reader Patrick Kramer who was on location where Hyundai was shooting a commercial for the Kona, which is actually named after a Hawaiian district.

Until recently, we only had a general idea about its overall styling, which is now proven to feature a set of headlights underneath the slim LEDs found on each corner of the bonnet.

The rest of the car comes with a dual-tone paint job, a flared wheel arch design both front and back, and a pair of slim taillights at the rear. We previously caught a glimpse of its interior as well, and we can tell you that its instrument dials have a classic, analogue design, and that its infotainment display has a clunky and rectangular appearance, sitting on top a pair of center-mounted air vents and climate control dials.

Based on the i20 platform, the 2018 Hyundai Kona is said to use parts from both the i20 as well as the i30 compact, where it could also utilize some of the latters power units. As for a Kia sibling of the sub-compact variety, it is to be expected, yes.

Also, based on previous spy shots, it appears the Konas front fascia design language might also apply to the Korean automakers all-new Santa Fe SUV, which is scheduled to hit showrooms in late 2018.

The 2018 Hyundai Kona will reveal itself to the world either this summer or at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show, a little over 4 months from now.

Thanks to Lars from Autoweek.nl!

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Contributed

The developers behind a controversial proposed seniors development travelled to Summerland on Monday to meet with council, in front of a mostly hostile crowd, providing an update on the project.

The Lark Group is hoping to build a $125-million seniors living facility in the Bristow Valley, above the Summerland trout hatchery.

From the very beginning, local opposition to the project has been loud, something the senior vice president of the Lark Group, Kirk Fisher, sums up to poor communication.

We felt there was just some communication not being presented to the neighbours, he said, which led to Monday's visit to council.

Fisher was joined by the projects manager Malek Tawashy and Helen Byrne, the vice president of St. Elizabeths health care, the non-profit that will be managing about 60 per cent of the developments units, once construction is complete.

St. Elizabeths is coming onboard with a 10-per-cent stake in the project, and 50-year agreement, to provide care for residents ranging from basic massage therapy to hospice care. The project has been criticized for heavily relying on tele-health services, but thats something Byrne says has worked well in the other facilities they manage through 8,000 employees.

Being able to remotely connect in with a physician or nurse practitioner and have that support, we are finding more and more people want to do that versus actually going to see a physician, she said.

The developers told councillors they are 7-10 days from getting the results back on a crucial test, that will guide them in their quest to find the hatchery a contingency water source. Further environmental reports from the District of Summerland are due in a few days.

Developers couldn't answer questions about the total size of the project, initially pegged at 380 units. With the development planned for three stages, the Lark Group said its hard to predict what the exact numbers will be at this point. Fisher also left the door open to leaving some units in the third and final building open to those under 55, if the market demands them at that point.

About 150 of the units will sell as market condos, with the rest being operated by St. Elizabeth's. However, the entire building will have access to St. Elizabeth's services.

Councillor Doug Holmes drew applause from the gallery when he tore into the group for trying to jam it (the development) into this gully.

Id like to ask, rather than us change our official community plan to fit your development, would you be prepared to change your development to fit our OCP, he asked.

Fisher responded, stating they need to be sure the community they build will be self sustaining, adding that traffic reports and feng shui consultants have determined the development will not negatively impact the neighbourhood, in their opinion.

In the 19 years that weve been developing care, there has never been a project that has not been approved by council going forward, never, Fisher told Castanet after the meeting. There has never been one thats been turned down.

He added that strong initial opposition to some of their developments is not unlikely, and they welcome the feedback.

If you come to a community, and there is concern, that means you have a strong community.

The feedback outside council chambers, from some residents, was a bit less civilized, with one man calling the developers all crap as they left the building. Other residents approached the men to angrily let them know they were opposed to the plan. In both cases, the developers stopped to speak with them.
Photo: Contributed

The Town of Osoyoos will be taking a hard look at a called-for medical services centre in the community.

In a media release issued Monday, the town announced it will be applying for a $100,000 rural dividend grant to hire a consultant to review the needs of the community and develop a feasibility study for the centre.

The announcement comes off the heels of a meeting between council and area doctors last week.

Council and the doctors are committed to ongoing communication and cooperation to eliminate barriers that negatively impact health services in the community, the release reads.

The town cautions that healthcare is complex and needs to be addressed cautiously, to make sure any new delivery model comes after research and evidence supports the plan.

The media release also notes that a new physician will be moving to the community in July 2017, which should lead to improvement in some areas.
Photo: Randy Millis

Several roads remain closed around the Central Okanagan due to the flooding situation.

Shannon Lake Road from east of Shannon View Drive to the intersection with Stevens and Bartley Roads, due to unsafe conditions caused by high water at the bridge over McDougall Creek.

Motorists accessing Lenz Road will be allowed through the east side of the closure, and Crystal Springs residents will be allowed through the west side of the closure.

Residents taking students to school at Shannon Lake Elementary are asked not to park on Shannon Ridge Drive as this is currently an alternate route for Shannon Lake Road traffic. Please consider parking on Woodstock Drive, Sandstone Drive, Shannon Way.

Residents taking students to school at Const. Neil Bruce Middle School are asked to not park on Daimler Drive. Please consider parking on Auburn Road.

Gellatly Road from Witt Road to Angus Drive is closed due to unsafe conditions caused by slope instability.

Gellatly Road bridge over Powers Creek is closed due to unsafe conditions caused by high water. Motorists are asked to avoid parking on the west side of the bridge (from West Kelowna Yacht Club to the Cove Resort) as cleanup and restoration efforts are underway.

Travel is not recommended on Chute Lake Road due to washouts and deteriorating conditions.

Old Vernon Road between Bulman and Anderson Roads.

Bulman Road.

These closures will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Engineering and public works crews will continue to monitor the roads, and the public will be advised as soon as they are safe for use.
They may not be as alluring as osprey, but the Town of Osoyoos appears to be stuck with them.

Several goslings have hatched under the caring gaze of their mother, on top of a FortisBC pole that was originally an osprey nest and webcam. The geese beat the osprey to the nest in early spring and never gave up control like many thought they would once the birds of prey returned.

In a message posted to the Town of Osoyoos website, FortisBC indicated that the displaced osprey have made it work at a different location, so they plan on leaving the young family alone.

Next year, however, FortisBC will be installing a goose deterrent device (cover the nest) that will remain in place until the start of the osprey breeding season so the situation doesnt repeat itself.

Until then, viewers have been enjoying the baby geese.
Photo: The Canadian Press Police stand guard outside Paris' Gare du Nord station. (AP Photo/Raphael Satter)

Police poured into Paris' Gare du Nord station late Monday, evacuating passengers from platforms and sealing off the area for several hours in a new security scare to hit the French capital.

Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the operation was aimed at "removing doubt" and ended with no arrests, but she would not say what prompted it. A station employee said the operation focused on a train from Valenciennes in northern France.

The busy station is the terminus of a large suburban and national rail network as well as Eurostar trains from London.

The operation came the day after a tense and closely watched presidential election that was won by independent Emmanuel Macron, who has said one of his top priorities will be ensuring France's security.

France is under a state of emergency imposed after a series of Islamic extremist attacks, and while police would not indicate the reason for the Gare du Nord operation, its scale and nature recalled the kind of anti-terrorism actions that have grown increasingly frequent around Paris and beyond.

Police from the special BRI intervention force started pouring into the station just after 11 p.m. and asked where the train from Valenciennes was, according to a station employee, who was not authorized to be publicly named. Station staff directed officers to platform 10, where they were quickly joined by more and more police. Within minutes, authorities began evacuating the entire station, the employee said.

Dave James Phillips, a 39-year-old technology consultant from Britain, said he was getting off the last train in from London when he saw officers flooding the station.

"There were police immediately, and a chap with his hand on his gun," Phillips told AP. "As we were walking down the platform, one came down and said, 'Rapide, rapide. Out, out.'"

Phillips said police kept pouring into the station as passengers were hustled out and police buses and unmarked cars were "driving quite dramatically up the road."

Another witness said she was separated from her children by the operation and described a quick and somewhat chaotic scene.

"My children were inside the railway station. They couldn't come with me. They (police) told me there were suspect persons and that I had to leave. I told them that I would not leave without my children," said the witness, who would give only her first name, Vanessa. "There was a lot of noise. People left running."

By 2 a.m., police were packing up and removing the cordon that had been set up around the station. Within an hour, the passengers on the Valenciennes train were also being let go.

A Eurostar spokeswoman said the incident did not appear to have any relation to its trains and did not appear to affect its passengers. The operation began after the last Eurostar arrivals and departures late Monday.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Jessica Boldin and her family evacuated 15 horses, six dogs and other animals from their ranch in rural Georgia as a vast wildfire emerging from the Okefenokee Swamp blackened trees behind their home.

Flames that pushed within five kilometres of St. George over the weekend continued spreading Monday after jumping a state highway not far from the centre of the southeast Georgia community.

But Boldin said her family wasn't ready to leave yet, though the entire community was under a mandatory evacuation order.

"We don't budge on our property very easy," Bolin said Monday afternoon. "If it's down on top of us, we're ready to leave. We're not going to burn down with the house. But we're staying until it's on our behinds."

Many in this community of about 2,000 near the Georgia-Florida state line stuck around Monday in spite of the evacuation order, not yet ready to leave everything to the mercy of the flames.

With temperatures forecast to climb amid low humidity and no chance of rain, firefighters worried what would come next.

"It's going to be ideal for extreme fire behaviour and a high potential for fire growth," said Tom Stokesberry, a spokesman for the multi-agency team combatting the fire.

Lightning sparked the wildfire April 6 inside the vast Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The blaze posed little threat to people or homes until Saturday, when strong winds pushed the flames across the fire breaks plowed along the refuge perimeter.

As of Monday, the fire had burned 545 square kilometres.

As the week opened, more than 600 firefighters and support personnel were fighting the fire. Helicopters dumping water and tanker planes spraying fire retardant managed to keep the fire from spreading to homes in St. George over the weekend. Firefighters with tractor plows worked to carve a path of bare soil around the town as a barrier to the flames.
Photo: Twitter

The cartoonist who created Pepe the Frog has killed off the character in a rebuke to far-right extremists who transformed a benevolent internet meme into a racist, anti-Semitic symbol.

A Pepe cartoon released Saturday in comic book stores shows Matt Furie's creation in an open casket. Furie didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.

In a Time magazine essay last year, Furie described Pepe as "chill frog-dude" who debuted in a 2006 comic book called "Boy's Club" and became a popular online subject for user-generated mutations.

But internet trolls hijacked the character and began flooding social media with hateful Pepe memes more than a year before the 2016 presidential election. Pepe became a tongue-in-cheek symbol of the "alt-right" fringe movement and its loosely connected brand of white nationalism, neo-Nazism and anti-immigration.

The Anti-Defamation League branded Pepe as a hate symbol in September 2016 and promoted Furie's efforts to reclaim the character, with a social media campaign using the "#SavePepe" hashtag.

Kyle Bristow, a Michigan attorney who founded a self-described "alt-right" non-profit educational group called the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas, said he already has seen a meme depicting Pepe as Jesus rising from the dead.

"The Republicans have an elephant. The Democrats have a donkey. The alt-right has a cartoon frog," Bristow said with a laugh.
Photo: Twitter

UPDATE: 8:30 a.m.

Officials in South Africa are rounding up five male lions that escaped from Kruger National Park, the country's biggest wildlife reserve.

The national parks service said on Twitter on Tuesday that teams had darted two of the lions, and the remaining escapees had been spotted. The service believes a dominant pride had chased the lions out of the park.

Authorities say a resident spotted the lions on a road in Komatipoort, a town near the park, on Monday morning.

Earlier, parks spokesman Rey Thakhuli described the search as difficult because the lions were believed to be in sugar cane farms in an area that has thick fog in the mornings. Thakhuli had urged people not to stop to take photographs of the animals because they are dangerous.

ORIGINAL: 7 a.m.

Officials in South Africa are searching for five lions that escaped from Kruger National Park, the country's biggest wildlife reserve.

The national parks service said Tuesday that a resident spotted the lions on a road in Komatipoort, a town near the park, on Monday morning.

Parks spokesman Rey Thakhuli says the search is difficult because the lions are believed to be in sugar cane farms in an area that has thick fog in the mornings, and he speculates that the animals may have split up.

Thakhuli is urging people not to stop to take photographs of the animals because they are dangerous and are thought to have already killed a cow.

Twitter reports say two of the lions may have been captured.

Officials are investigating how the lions left the Kruger park, a major tourist destination.
Photo: National Geographic

A species belonging to the human family tree whose remnants were first discovered in a South African cave in 2013 lived several hundred thousand years ago, indicating that the creature was alive at the same time as early humans in Africa, scientists said Tuesday.

A meticulous dating process showed that Homo naledi, which had a mix of human-like and more primitive characteristics such as a small brain, existed in a surprisingly recent period in paleontological terms, said Prof. Lee Berger of The University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Berger led the team of researchers, which also announced that it had found a second cave with more fossils of the Homo naledi species, including a relatively well-preserved skull of an adult male.

The conclusion that Homo naledi was living between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago  and had not become extinct much earlier  shows that the human "Homo" family tree was more diverse than previously thought, said John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wits University.

The next step in research is to "sort the relationship of these different species to each other and also their role in our process of becoming human," Hawks said during an announcement of the discoveries at the Cradle of Humankind, a site near the South African town of Magaliesburg where the fossils were found. The research was also published in the journal eLife.

Richard Potts of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington said it was likely that Homo naledi evolved and persisted in isolation from other species of Homo.

'"Island habitats'" can occur on continents, too, in small environmental refuges that are sustained long term," Potts said. "Yes, on continents it's typically lizards, butterflies, fish, and small mammals that are susceptible to separation and isolated evolution, and the effects of that isolation can arise rapidly. To me, naledi and floresiensis are nature's experiments of isolated evolution in two of our evolutionary cousins."
Photo: Twitter

French officials say that three people have died in an avalanche that struck the ski resort of Bonneval-sur-Arc in the Alps.

The Savoie prefecture said the avalanche struck around noon Tuesday, without giving details about the casualties' identities. The rescue operation ended in the afternoon and French authorities said the death toll is final.

French media reported that the victims included two men and a woman and were experienced hikers.
Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 2:40 p.m.

Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says help from Ottawa will be available for the community of Grand Forks, should the provincial government request it.

Goodale was responding to a question from South Okanagan - West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings, directed at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Goodale told the House of Commons his department is in close touch with their British Columbian counterparts.

The situation is being monitored very carefully and we have indicated to the Province of B.C., if they need federal assistance, it will be provided, and we will give our answer instantly.

Large parts of Grand Forks have been swamped as the levels of the Granby and Kettle Rivers spiked following heavy rains and snow melt.

ORIGINAL: 12:23 p.m.

Disaster relief benefits have now been extended to Kootenay residents who qualify after flooding hit the region last week.

Disaster financial assistance has been extended to those residents in the Kootenays, on top of assistance already announced for the Okanagan and other areas, Sunday.

Assistance is available to homeowners, residential tenants, small business owners, farmers, charitable organizations and local government bodies who were unable to obtain insurance to cover disaster-related losses.

Applications include the Regional District of East Kootenay, Regional District of Central Kootenay and Regional District of Kootenay Boundary in addition to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, North Okanagan Regional District, Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District and Central Okanagan Regional District (including all electoral areas, municipalities and First Nations within each district's boundaries).

All applications must be submitted to Emergency Management BC by Aug. 5, 2017.

Click here to access the DFA online application.
Some daring deer approached a group of hunters in central Indiana, and one was so unafraid that it licked the barrel of a shotgun and allowed one of the men to stroke its neck.

Perhaps they knew the men were hoping to bag a turkey?

Leon Champine says the young animals didn't have their mother with them "to teach them what is dangerous."

Champine, of Indianapolis, told WXIN-TV that he and his friends encountered the inquisitive animals over the weekend in Hendricks County.

One of the men, Corey Cook, recorded video showing the deer wandering toward the camouflaged men who are hidden in the undergrowth. The video shows one nuzzling the barrel of a gun in the waning afternoon sunlight.

Champine calls it a "once in a lifetime encounter."
I like Norm Letnick. I like the many service activities that Norm has done over his career. I like the fact that Norm was cautious about the changes that the province made to the Agricultural Land Commission Act. I wish he had more influence in cabinet, but unfortunately even as agriculture minister, Norm was not able to stop changes to the legislation that undermine the protection of agricultural land in our province.

Norm is right that agriculture has been doing well in BC. Seeing new orchards being planted around Kelowna is great, and we are the lucky beneficiaries of growing global demand for our agricultural products and new trade agreements that make it easier for our products to get into foreign markets. This is great, but really doesn't have much to do with provincial government agriculture policy. Good agricultural policy would include a provincial agricultural extension service with agricultural experts available to help farmers make good decisions. Alberta has an extension service and BC used to. Why is it gone? Most of the agricultural community recognizes the value that extension provides, particularly smaller farmers who cannot afford to hire consultants.

Here in the Okanagan, irrigation is necessary to grow most crops. Farmers need secure access to enough water that they can accommodate whatever the climate throws at them. Here in Kelowna, the South East Kelowna Irrigation District is in the process of being absorbed into the city of Kelowna, with no real protection for farmers. An advisory committee is promised, but such committees only exist at the pleasure of council, and their input is only advisory. Where was Norm when the province insisted that SEKID could only get financial support for dealing with drinking water issues if it merged with the city? Why didn't Norm stand up and publicly say he would not support this unless control of agricultural water was put in the hands of irrigators? Like the changes to the ALR, was Norm just ineffective behind those closed cabinet doors at really protecting agriculture?

I like Norm Letnick. He seems like a really nice guy. Wish he wasn't being overrun by the political machine that is the Liberal party.

John Janmaat
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 1:40 p.m.

No workers were inside a tunnel at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation when soil collapsed over a 400 square foot area. The tunnels are hundreds of feet long, with about eight feet of soil covering them.

Nearby workers were evacuated and hundreds of others farther away were told to remain indoors, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

"No action is currently required for residents of Benton and Franklin counties," the Energy Department said, referring to the nearly 300,000 residents near the site. "There is no indication of a release of contamination at this point."

The collapse was discovered during a routine inspection, the agency said.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the nation's largest depository of radioactive defence waste, with about 56 million gallons of waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

ORIGINAL: 11:30 a.m.

A portion of a storage tunnel that contains rail cars full of radioactive waste collapsed Tuesday morning, forcing an emergency declaration at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington state.

Officials detected no release of radiation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

There were no workers inside the tunnel when it collapsed. But nearby Hanford workers were evacuated and others who were farther away were told to remain indoors, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The accident occurred at a facility known as PUREX, located in the middle of the sprawling Hanford site, which is half the size of Rhode Island, Bradbury said.

Hanford is located near Richland, about 200 miles southeast of Seattle.

The closed PUREX plant was part of the nation's nuclear weapons production complex.

Hanford for decades made plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now the largest depository of radioactive defence waste that must be cleaned.

It contains about 56 million gallons of radioactive waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

Bradbury said the collapse occurred at one of two rail tunnels under the PUREX site.
Photo: Google Street View

A fake handgun prompted a lockdown and disrupted voting at an Aldergrove polling station this morning.

RCMP locked down Aldergrove Community Secondary School for a short time after a young male was seen in the school with a handgun. The school is also a polling station in today's provincial election.

Police ensured all entrances to the school were monitored until the student was found, 14 minutes later.

The fake gun was a prop used in the school's drama department.

The student had posted a photograph of himself on Snapchat holding the gun in the school hallway.

Classes and voting have now resumed.
Photo: Dustin Godfrey

Several voting stations over a number of ridings have been reassigned due to flooding in the Southern Interior.

That includes stations in Kelowna-Lake Country, Boundary-Similkameen and Shuswap.

In Kelowna-Lake Country, the Holiday Park Resort isn't available due to the flooding, and voting areas 017 and 018 are being reassigned to Winfield Memorial Hall at 10130 Bottom Wood Lake Rd., which is also serving voting areas 011 to 016.

In Boundary-Similkameen, voters assigned to vote at Grand Forks Sr. Hall are now asked to go to Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Voters affected by local flooding may vote at their nearest voting place, according to Elections B.C.

Also in Boundary-Similkameen, the district electoral officer is keeping an eye on water levels in the Kettle River, which could affect access to the Rock Creek and Boundary Fair Pavilion. If roads do close due to flooding, Elections B.C. staff will be deployed to the area to instruct.

Further north in the Shuswap, Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road is closed at Robinson Creek due to a landslide.

Residents who have been evacuated can vote at the closest voting station to them, while election officials are being deployed by water taxi to the area northeast of the road closure. Those officials are providing special door-to-door voting.

Due to closures on Highway 8, some voters in the Fraser Nicola riding are being rerouted, while others still have access to their designated voting station.

A full list of the voting station changes can be found on the Elections B.C. website and will be updated as conditions change.
Blog Archive November 2022 (20) October 2022 (65) September 2022 (62) August 2022 (64) July 2022 (66) June 2022 (61) May 2022 (64) April 2022 (63) March 2022 (62) February 2022 (56) January 2022 (62) December 2021 (65) November 2021 (60) October 2021 (64) September 2021 (62) August 2021 (62) July 2021 (66) June 2021 (62) May 2021 (64) April 2021 (61) March 2021 (64) February 2021 (57) January 2021 (62) December 2020 (62) November 2020 (62) October 2020 (65) September 2020 (60) August 2020 (62) July 2020 (65) June 2020 (61) May 2020 (62) April 2020 (61) March 2020 (63) February 2020 (59) January 2020 (67) December 2019 (65) November 2019 (61) October 2019 (65) September 2019 (66) August 2019 (67) July 2019 (65) June 2019 (65) May 2019 (64) April 2019 (62) March 2019 (63) February 2019 (60) January 2019 (64) December 2018 (64) November 2018 (61) October 2018 (75) September 2018 (68) August 2018 (63) July 2018 (70) June 2018 (63) May 2018 (67) April 2018 (68) March 2018 (66) February 2018 (57) January 2018 (63) December 2017 (64) November 2017 (61) October 2017 (67) September 2017 (64) August 2017 (64) July 2017 (64) June 2017 (66) May 2017 (64) April 2017 (73) March 2017 (65) February 2017 (58) January 2017 (63) December 2016 (66) November 2016 (69) October 2016 (79) September 2016 (67) August 2016 (65) July 2016 (71) June 2016 (64) May 2016 (65) April 2016 (80) March 2016 (69) February 2016 (61) January 2016 (63) December 2015 (64) November 2015 (64) October 2015 (65) September 2015 (64) August 2015 (62) July 2015 (64) June 2015 (63) May 2015 (63) April 2015 (61) March 2015 (64) February 2015 (56) January 2015 (62) December 2014 (63) November 2014 (60) October 2014 (65) September 2014 (61) August 2014 (64) July 2014 (63) June 2014 (62) May 2014 (64) April 2014 (61) March 2014 (63) February 2014 (59) January 2014 (64) December 2013 (66) November 2013 (60) October 2013 (63) September 2013 (63) August 2013 (63) July 2013 (65) June 2013 (62) May 2013 (64) April 2013 (61) March 2013 (63) February 2013 (57) January 2013 (63) December 2012 (64) November 2012 (60) October 2012 (62) September 2012 (62) August 2012 (68) July 2012 (63) June 2012 (62) May 2012 (63) April 2012 (61) March 2012 (63) February 2012 (60) January 2012 (63) December 2011 (67) November 2011 (63) October 2011 (67) September 2011 (75) August 2011 (65) July 2011 (66) June 2011 (62) May 2011 (63) April 2011 (65) March 2011 (94) February 2011 (66) January 2011 (66) December 2010 (64) November 2010 (70) October 2010 (69) September 2010 (65) August 2010 (67) July 2010 (68) June 2010 (63) May 2010 (64) April 2010 (68) March 2010 (66) February 2010 (60) January 2010 (63) December 2009 (70) November 2009 (66) October 2009 (66) September 2009 (68) August 2009 (70) July 2009 (66) June 2009 (74) May 2009 (68) April 2009 (70) March 2009 (74) February 2009 (70) January 2009 (79) December 2008 (74) November 2008 (66) October 2008 (72) September 2008 (67) August 2008 (66) July 2008 (75) June 2008 (69) May 2008 (85) April 2008 (83) March 2008 (80) February 2008 (66) January 2008 (76) December 2007 (71) November 2007 (75) October 2007 (69) September 2007 (74) August 2007 (70) July 2007 (79) June 2007 (73) May 2007 (90) April 2007 (87) March 2007 (99) February 2007 (81) January 2007 (104) December 2006 (74) November 2006 (81) October 2006 (103) September 2006 (105) August 2006 (70) July 2006 (80) June 2006 (88) May 2006 (122) April 2006 (91) March 2006 (107) February 2006 (91) January 2006 (91) December 2005 (54) November 2005 (65) October 2005 (58) September 2005 (29)
Steady turnout is reported at voting stations across the Central Okanagan as British Columbians head to the polls to elect a new government.

More than 27,000 voters in the Central Okanagan cast their ballots early at advance polls, part of a record turnout across the province that was up 70 per cent from the last provincial election.

Whether that's a harbinger of change or simply a matter of convenience remains to be seen.

Polls remain open until 8 p.m.

Don't forget to bring your voter registration card and identification.
Photo: Christopher Barclay

UPDATE: 3 p.m.

An electrical fire that started above a cardboard compactor is what caused the Superstore to be evacuated on Tuesday.

Store employees had extinguished most of the fire using a fire extinguisher.

The store was evacuated before firefighters could arrive on scene.

"There were no injuries to staff or fire personnel," said Platoon Capt. John Kelly.

BC Safety Authority will be notified to determine a cause.

UPDATE: 1:14 p.m.

Smoke has been cleared from Superstore, and customers have been allowed back in.

The fire was apparently at the back of the grocery store, where electrical wiring was giving off smoke.

It does not appear the store was damaged, and business continues as usual.

ORIGINAL: 12:50 p.m.

Castanet is receiving reports the Real Canadian Superstore on Baron Road in Kelowna has been evacuated.

Kelowna Fire Department crews are on scene for what is believed to be an electrical fire.

The building has been emptied, and the situation is developing.

Castanet has a reporter heading to the scene.

Send your news, photos and video to [email protected]
Photo: Twitter

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Tuesday dropped his re-election bid for a second term after four men claimed he sexually abused them when they were teenagers, claims vehemently denied by Murray as an anti-gay political conspiracy aimed at derailing his campaign.

Murray said for weeks after the allegations emerged that he would press on in his campaign for a second term but told reporters that he decided it was best for Seattle to end his campaign and not seek another term. He said he will serve out his term through the end of this year.

"It tears me to pieces to step away but I believe it's in the best interest of this city that I love," Murray said.

The 62-year-old Murray was elected in 2013 and successfully pushed to raise Seattle's hourly minimum wage to $15.

Before winning the city's top job he served for 18 years 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.

Last month a man filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually abused by Murray in the 1980s when he was a teenager. Three made similar allegations, and all were denied by Murray.

A judge last week sanctioned the lawyer for the man who sued Murray for "flagrant" violations of ethical rules.

Before the lawsuit emerged, Murray was expected to win a second term in a field that included high-profile challenger Nikkita Oliver, a community activist and attorney.

Shortly after the claims were announced, former Mayor Mike McGinn announced he would join the race to run against Murray. Murray defeated McGinn in 2013. Also Monday, state Sen. Bob Hasegawa said he would also run. Both are Democrats.
Photo: Contributed 2015 Rock Creek wildfire

Natural Resources Canada is forecasting an average wildfire season for much of the country this year.

Researchers say dry conditions and low precipitation in areas of B.C., Alberta, southern Yukon and the Northwest Territories may cause a gradual increase in fire threat in the coming weeks.

The danger for these areas  which include forests, shrubs and grasslands  is expected to peak in June and taper off later in the summer.

The 10-year average for a season is about 6,000 fires and a burn area of about 25,000 square kilometres.

The Canadian Forest Service warns there have been significant fires in the past under average conditions.

Scientist Kerry Anderson notes the Fort McMurray fire last year happened in what was forecasted to be a below-average season.

"We may have a below-average fire season, but given enough spark things could still ignite," he said Tuesday.

The Fort McMurray fire burned about 5,900 square kilometres.

The forecast for fires in forested areas of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario next month is moderate. It is moderate to low in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.
Photo: Contributed

National Aboriginal Day has officially become a statutory holiday in Yukon.

"It's great to see," said Grand Chief Peter Johnston of the Council of Yukon First Nations about June 21 as a territory-wide paid day off.

It's the first piece of legislation to be passed under the new Liberal government.

The Yukon Party voted in favour of the bill but reiterated concerns about the financial impact of an additional statutory holiday on the government and on the business community.

Based on figures from Canada Day in 2016, the government said the holiday would cost the government an estimated $1.28 million.

The figure includes $1.16 million for payroll and an additional $116,700 in overtime pay for essential service providers, cabinet spokeswoman Janine Workman said Tuesday.

Before Monday's vote, the Yukon Party's community services critic Scott Kent noted that an economic analysis of the holiday had not been done.

Kent suggested the government consider phasing in the holiday over two years to give businesses time to prepare and to allow municipalities to account for it in their budgets.

The holiday could be a government day off this year and a vacation day for all Yukoners starting in 2018, he said.

The Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce proposed the same idea.

Community Services Minister John Streicker told the house that there is symbolic importance in instituting the holiday during the same year as Canada's 150th birthday.

"It's not even about having the day off," he said. "It's about formal recognition of the value of indigenous culture and heritage." (Whitehorse Star)
Photo: Contributed

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement, warning of heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout large parts of the Southern Interior later this week.

Meteorologists are expecting a cold front to stall over the region late Thursday, before transitioning out on Friday. Rain and the threat of thunderstorms are likely, beginning late Thursday.

The public is advised to remain well clear of quickly flowing water and riverbanks, as the heavy rain combined with snow melt will likely cause more flooding.

Large parts of the the Southern Interior are still recovering from the weekend's flooding, which evacuated homes, washed out bridges and roads, and caused boil water notices in communities across the area.

The weather statement is in effect for the entire Thompson - Okanagan, Boundary - Similkameen, West Columbia and Kootenays, the Shuswap and Nicola regions.
Photo: Contributed

Kelowna RCMP responded en masse to Orchard Park shopping centre Monday evening.

Police say they were given a third-party tip of an altercation, possibly involving a firearm.

Witnesses say as many as a dozen police vehicles descended on the mall's north parking lot. One person suggested guns were drawn at one point.

Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey said officers quickly determined the report to be false.

"Officers subsequently located their subject of complaint, who was found grossly intoxicated," said O'Donaghey.

"The 24-year-old Kelowna man was taken into police custody without incident."

He spent some time in lockup until he sobered up. O'Donaghey said he was released without being charged.
Photo: Google Street View

A trucker and some Good Samaritans managed to avoid disaster when they put out a fire in a big rig.

On May 9th, 2017 at 1p.m., Chase RCMP received a report of a semi trailer unit on fire at the Chase pullout on the Trans Canada Highway.

The Chase fire department was dispatched, but upon arrival it was found that the driver and passersby had used fire extinguishers to put out the fire.
Photo: CTV

A Surrey man pulled over for speeding is now facing firearms charges after a gun was found in his vehicle.

Members of the RCMP's Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit/Uniform Gang Enforcement Team were conducting routine patrols in the area of 132nd Street and 104th Avenue in Surrey on May 5th.

Officers observed a black Acura TL speeding and stopped the driver.

After a check of the vehicle, officers discovered a loaded 40 calibre firearm, a magazine with ammunition, a ski mask and gloves in the centre console, police reported.

Gurkamal Singh Khakh, 19, was arrested and later charged with failure to comply with order, two counts of possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm with altered or removed serial number, two counts of a carrying a loaded restricted weapon, one count of occupying a vehicle knowing firearm is present, and possession while no license and/or registration.

Khakh is scheduled to appear in Surrey provincial court on Wednesday. RCMP didn't say if he was a member of a criminal gang.
News / Agriculture

by Simbarashe Sithole

Some tobacco farmers have moved from Tobacco Sales Floor to Boka (TFS) after the skirmishes in Harare on 4 March.The farmers who demonstrated against the golden leaf buyer and banks were later dispersed by anti- riot police.The police rampage scared away many farmers as some have shifted to Boka and Premier tobacco.Farmers who spoke to Bulawayo24.com said TSF was offering good money, $4-5 per kg, but the tear gas used on them by police on the 4th of May chased them away."We were selling at TSF because it is offering good money but the chaos of 4 May has chased us away, it is better to get less money without hassles, tobacco is not an easy crop to grow," lamented a farmer.
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 Constantine Chiwenga, who earlier this week warned Zanu-PF factions over their continued public brawling and attacks on the nonagerian.This comes as well placed sources said that cracks were beginning to emerge within the ZNLWVA executive, as disgruntled ex-combatants send conflicting signals over their position on Mugabe.Meanwhile, the Herald reported that the ZNLWVA chairperson Christopher Mutsvangwa said his association stood guided by Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantino Guveya Chiwenga's counsel that they must respect the leadership in Zanu-PF and Government.War veterans, Mutsvangwa said, would give Gen Chiwenga's words the weight they deserve. Gen Chiwenga is the surviving most senior commander of the Second Chimurenga on the Zanla side.Mutsvangwa said Gen Chiwenga was a very senior commander who seldom strayed into political issues and it was wise to listen and abide by his words when he spoke. On why some war veterans had of late been engulfed in negativity, Mutsvangwa said opinions differed, but the ideology remained the same.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Zimbabwe Communist Party Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena has lamented that some people were celebrating the deportation of Zimbabweans from South Africa when such people were victims of a collapsed economic system.Mabhena said it is a pity that some are celebrating the arrest and deportation of Zimbabwean nationals who are or had South African Identity Documents."The reality is that, these are victims of both a collapsed economic system and Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe. They came to South Africa for a better life. Upon arriving in South Africa, they could not qualify for any permits, other than to apply for the South African ID. When in 1995 the Mandela administration gave them an amnesty, they did not come forward for fear of losing their jobs as they were known by their workmates and employers as South Africans," he said."This was again the case in 2010. While the South African government has a duty to enforce its laws by arresting those who fraudulently acquired these IDs, there is no reason for any Zimbabwean to celebrate. Assuming that the South African government does not renew the Zimbabwe Special Permits, some holders of the ZSP will seek to follow the route taken by those years back who are now facing deportation. We know that some ZSP holders have lost thousands of rands trying to get Permanent Residents Permits. When they get cheated of their hard earned money, we do not celebrate. So why celebrate when those who had IDs are getting deported?"He said the solution to all this in my view, is to industrialise the SADC region. South Africa can not afford to be surrounded by poor countries."This requires all of us to deal with the Elephant in the room. I know there are people from Swaziland who cross the border every month to earn a grant in South Africa and go back to their country. These Swazi nationals, just like Zimbabweans, are victims of dictatorship in their own countries and were forced to fraudulently acquire South African IDs. As long as we continue to roll out the red carpet for Mugabe and Mswati, our countries will remain poor, forcing millions of workers to flock to South Africa," he said."I call on my Zimbabwean friends who are legally in South Africa to feel for our brothers and sisters who found themselves applying for the South African IDs. A true revolutionary must feel for others!"
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has challenged the tax payers to stop engaging in a cat and mouse game with its officials and try to abide by the taxation procedures and regulations.Zimra Acting Commissioner General Happias Kuzvinzwa said they all agree that it is not good for taxpayers to play cat and mouse games with the Authority or to say, catch me if you can'.He said the advice is soon or later the arm of the law will catch up with any tax evader and smuggler."ZIMRA is, therefore, determined to promote a culture of voluntary tax compliance in Zimbabwe. The media fraternity is encouraged to continue playing the important function of disseminating tax information to improve on voluntary compliance," he said."After this workshop and going forward, the culture of voluntary compliance and voluntary disclosure on tax matters will be part of the DNA of the Zimbabwean taxpayers. My team will unpack for your appreciation ZIMRA's role, mission and mandate, major projects which the Authority is undertaking and bring clarity to some issues for your ease of coverage and to enhance our two-way relationship so that together we can reach out to our audiences with balanced and accurate messages."He said the deeper understanding of Tax and Customs matters is critical as the media are the opinion leaders and mouthpieces of the voiceless and the Nation at large."Enjoy the workshop and let's partner for a good cause and give dignity to your tax collector. Let's take taxation to the people," he said.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Rural district councillors in Masvingo yesterday launched a provincial campaign, part of a grand project for all councillors in the country to mobilise at least 2,3 million votes for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF in next year's harmonised elections.The campaign would also be launched in other provinces and is anchored on mass mobilisation of people at ward level to ensure they register to vote and eventually vote for President Mugabe and the ruling party.The campaign project is being spearheaded by Association of Rural District Councils of Zimbabwe president Dr Killer Zivhu.Zivhu urged the councillors not to dabble in factional politics.Meanwhile, youths have been urged to emulate President Robert Mugabe's iconic leadership and shun fly-by night politicians whose agenda is to push for regime change.Tehillar Christian Network (TCN) founder Reverend Sam Malunga said the youths should embrace President Mugabe's wise guidance given his commitment to selflessly serving the nation. Youths, he said, should not be influenced by national detractors seeking to cause civil unrest by sponsoring violent demonstrations against the lawful Government of President Mugabe.
When youre traveling abroad, you probably think youre out of the woods when you arrive on time and with your luggage in one piece. But you need to be careful about how you conduct yourself, even after you get through airport security and spend hours on the plane. Americans inadvertently do plenty of rude and offensive things when they travel abroad.

Check out some of the things you should never do when you travel to Japan, France, Morocco, and other exciting destinations.

1. Dont point at people in China

Vogue reports traveling to China sets you up for some major culture shock. Many of the etiquette taboos with which Americans are indoctrinated seem to go out the window, like: Dont slurp your soup! Dont ask personal questions to strangers! And whatever you do, dont invade someones personal space. A good example? You should never point at someone. Even though the gesture is harmless in the U.S., its considered hostile and rude in China.

2. Dont try to split the bill in China

Another custom youll need to remember when you visit China? You shouldnt expect to split the bill when you go out to a restaurant in China. Vogue explains, One person will pay  usually the most senior person or whoever extended the dinner invitation. And whereas in America it might be polite to do the obligatory fight-over-the-bill scramble, this is unacceptable in China. If it is clear who the host is, dont try to pay  its offensive. The only exception would be if youre in a group of friends your own age. In that case, splitting the bill might be acceptable.

3. Dont pour your own wine in France

Conde Nast Traveler reports among certain Americans, France has a prickly reputation. After all, the countrys language gave us the words etiquette and faux pas. But getting along in this ancient European culture is relatively simple if you play by the rules. One of the most surprising? You should never pour your own glass of wine at a restaurant. Wait for the server to pour it. If you find yourself at a dinner party, your host will pour the wine for you. If you dont want more, dont finish your glass. And if you attend a dinner party, always arrive 15 minutes late and never bring a bottle of wine.

4. Dont talk loudly in France

Another rule to keep in mind when you visit France, whether on vacation or for business? You shouldnt speak loudly in public. Conde Nast Traveler reports doing so is regarded as an ugly American trait. You shouldnt shout into your cellphone. In fact, you should silence it when youre in public or with company. Additionally, you should try to avoid taking up too much space in public. Carry a smaller bag if you can.

5. Dont eat with your left hand in India

A trip to India can quickly feel overwhelming, both because of the chaotic streets and the numerous social rules youll need to follow. Conde Nast Traveler reports when you sit down to a meal in India, you should never eat with your left hand. You should use your left hand only to hold your drink or to pass food to others. Only use your right hand to tear the chapati (flatbread). And before every meal, you should wash your hands.

6. Dont call businesses in India

Another interesting etiquette tip Conde Nast Traveler says visitors to India should keep in mind? Most small businesses are run with cellphones. But many business owners prefer that you text them instead of calling them. In fact, some will be surprised if you first contact them via a phone call instead of sending a text. When in doubt, send a text message.

7. Dont tip in Japan

Japanese culture can feel equally welcoming and inscrutable, according to Lonely Planet. Most travelers know you should bow politely when you meet someone. And theyre also aware you should remove your shoes when you enter a private home or a temple. But did you know even when you get great service at a restaurant in Japan, you should never leave a tip? There is no custom of tipping in Japan. Leaving a little extra cash on the table at a restaurant will often result in a waiter chasing you down the street to give it back.

8. Dont talk on your phone on Japanese public transportation

Another interesting rule you should remember to follow when you visit Japan? You should never talk on your phone when youre on a train or a bus in the country. Lonely Planet reports, Its considered rude to speak on your mobile phone while on trains and buses, and announcements encourage travelers to switch phones to silent mode. People also tend not to speak loudly when traveling on public transport, so as not to disturb fellow passengers.

9. Dont talk about America in Mexico

According to the SFGate, Everyday Mexican customs can feel just as foreign as Espanol to a U.S. traveler  and can present a potential minefield of embarrassment. One of the most interesting things to keep in mind when you visit Mexico is you shouldnt refer to citizens of the United States as Americans or even North Americans. (The term North America includes Mexico and Canada, as well.) The publication advises, If you cant work in Im from the United States (or California), then U.S. American will work.

10. Dont smoke during a meal in Mexico

Many people know in Mexico, youll have to ask the waiter for the check. He wont just give it to you, for fear of making you feel like hes rushing you out the door. But speaking of restaurants, you should know its common to smoke in restaurants  but never during a meal. SFGate explains, Lighting up is acceptable only after the plates have been cleared. And keep in mind Mexicans dont split the bill. If youre dining with a Mexican, either pay the whole bill or keep quiet.

11. Dont wear revealing clothing in Morocco

Frommers reports though Morocco is a Muslim and conservative country, Moroccans understand Western culture. But you shouldnt take advantage of their tolerance and dress disrespectfully. Travelers will be treated with undoubtedly higher respect by all Moroccans if dressed conservatively. Men should wear a collared shirt or a T-shirt with long pants or jeans. You should only wear running shorts, sleeveless shirts, and beachwear on the beach or when playing sports. Women should wear loose pants, short-sleeve shirts, or even a full-length Moroccan robe. Frommers recommends classy over revealing when choosing your wardrobe for a trip to Morocco.

12. Dont photograph the interior of a mosque in Morocco

We all love taking photos when we go on vacation. But Frommers advises that you should always show respect when youre near a mosque. Photographing a mosque is usually acceptable, so long as youre not too close or appear to be photographing the interior. You may be invited to come closer, but its best to wait for this. Other subjects that are off-limits to amateur photographers in Morocco? Border checkpoints, military, police, and airport installations.

13. Dont use your car horn in Norway

Depending on where you live in the United States, you might be used to honking the car horn to express your frustration with fellow drivers. But TripAdvisor reports in Norway, you should never use the car horn. In fact, Norwegians only use the car horn in an emergency. And TripAdvisor warns that abuse is an offense. Other traffic violations that might get you in trouble with the police? Failing to keep your headlights on, neglecting to yield to pedestrians at intersections without traffic lights, and making risky maneuvers to pass other cars.

14. Dont shout or whistle for a taxi in Norway

If you choose to travel by taxi instead of driving in Norway, TripAdvisor notes Norwegians consider it rude to shout or whistle for a taxi. And drivers are likely to ignore you if you do. Instead, you should wave your hand or phone at the taxi, or simply walk up to one that has a lighted sign on its roof. If you take a bus or another form of public transportation, its unusual to say excuse me to someone whos blocking your exit or seat. You should grunt, shuffle, or clear your throat to get their attention instead.

15. Dont give a firm handshake in the Philippines

In the United States, most people prefer a firm handshake. But the opposite is true in the Philippines. Fodors reports, Men and women shake hands with everyone present at any gathering, both on arrival and departure. That sounds easy enough. But dont count on your usual handshake to do the trick. The publication warns when youre meeting Filipinos, Handshakes should be limp, not firm.

16. Dont eat all the food on your plate in the Philippines

Fodors also has a word of advice for travelers who eat out at restaurants in the Philippines. You shouldnt expect people to arrive on time when you schedule a dinner together. In fact, Fodors explains, Filipinos are relaxed about time and are usually late for appointments. Another custom you should keep in mind when you meet friends at a restaurant? You should never finish all of the food youve been served. Instead, leaving a small amount of food on your plate shows you have had enough.

17. Dont smile at strangers in Russia

The Atlantic reports, Grinning without cause is not a skill Russians possess or feel compelled to cultivate. Theres even a Russian proverb that translates, roughly, to laughing for no reason is a sign of stupidity. The society doesnt encourage casual smiling. And psychologists have determined Russians associate smiling with a lack of intelligence. NPR reports Russians think the American smile is insincere. Smiles in Russia are personal and intimate, exchanged only between family and friends. So if you smile at strangers in Russia, you might make them feel uncomfortable or suspicious about your intentions (or intelligence).

18. Dont be too familiar in Russia

As you might imagine after learning Russians dont casually smile at strangers, you might want to avoid being too friendly when you visit Russia. Conde Nast Traveler explains, One thing to control is an Americans natural tendency to go straight into personal topics like family, upbringing, and education. Most Russians would prefer you dont get so friendly or familiar too quickly.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere yesterday came under fire from several youth organisations and individuals for failing to put water-tight measures to safeguard the $10 million Youth Development Fund from abuse, the anti-Kasukuwere Herald reported.The fund was set up by Government in 2012 to help unemployed youths start businesses as part of empowerment initiatives, but disbursement has since been stopped owing to a high default rate estimated to be over 80 percent.This came out here during a public hearing conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment chaired by Gokwe Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena (Zanu-PF).During yesterday's hearing, youths recounted several irregularities which they said could have been avoided had policy measures been put in place.Kasukuwere, who is now the Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, was lambasted over his failure to put necessary measures aimed at raising awareness on the existence of the fund.In one of the lists of beneficiaries read out by Wadyajena, at least 15 people from Victoria Falls who share the same surname benefited, thereby raising suspicion of possible collusion.An official with Hwange Development Association said Minister Kasukuwere convened a meeting with youths at Chinotimba Hall in Victoria Falls in 2012, where they were told of the fund, but alleged that the disbursement was shrouded in secrecy."We also agreed with Minister Kasukuwere that there be a youth office here in Victoria Falls, but it was not taken seriously," said the official who did not give his name."We went to one of the financial institutions and were told that the money was already exhausted."Some of the people who benefited were from the Ministry of Youth and not ordinary young people. It was not done in an orderly way."The youths also questioned why very few people in Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Bulawayo provinces benefited compared to those in Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central provinces.Wadyajena told them that financial institutions had indicated that people from the southern provinces like Matabeleland South tended to cross to neighbouring South Africa, hence they were cautious in releasing the funds.The youths dismissed the assertions.One of the youths, Mr Clayton Mashoko, said he got $600 from an application of $2 500."I got far less than what I applied for, hence the money failed to make an impact, resulting in me failing repay all of it. I only repaid $280 from the $600 because I was not be able to buy enough materials," he said.Wadyajena rapped deputy director in the ministry, Mr Taffi Mashonganyika, for failing to bring all the 10 youth officers in the district, as only two were in attendance.
It's official. I survived the first year as a new business owner virtually unscathed. Of course, I rode the roller coaster of emotions that most new business owners or entrepreneurs face during the first year  the highs of a new adventure to the valleys of self-doubt or fear of failure. If you can get past the negative emotions and push forward, you have won half the battle.

I spent most of my career in the corporate world. It was hard to fathom leaving the security of regular paychecks and benefits to enter unchartered territory. But the desire to create something of my own was far too strong to ignore. I was willing to take the risk; otherwise, I would have always wondered what would have been.

Advertisement

A planner by nature, I took a methodical approach  developing a business plan and even a detailed project plan of tasks that required completion before leaving the corporate world behind. But what I learned is that you are never as prepared as you think you are. Just like managing a project, there are many unknowns and roadblocks along the way.

On the other hand, I have spoken to successful business owners that had a complete opposite approach. They took the plunge with only an idea and $1,500 in the bank.

Advertisement

Clearly, that takes someone who is comfortable with risk! So, how comfortable are you with risk? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously said: "In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."

Here's what I learned:

Understand the level of risk you are willing to take

Before taking the plunge, it's important to understand the level of risk you are willing to take. I was once told that leaving a job without having one lined up is "career suicide." To me, this is someone that is the least comfortable with risk or change. I am comfortable with taking career risks as long as I am somewhat prepared (i.e. having more than $1,500 in the bank).

Are you comfortable with ambiguity or frequently changing scope and direction? What about financial risk if you don't have revenue for six months? If you are the type of person that thrives when challenged and has the courage to endure all the ups and downs  what are you waiting for?

Get used to being outside of your comfort zone

Once you've made the decision to move forward with your venture, you will be thrust into situations that may or may not be your expertise. You need to be comfortable handling all aspects of your business, whether you like it or not. Some are strong at sales and marketing; others are better at details and execution. You don't have to be a whiz at everything to have a successful business, but you can seek guidance from those in your network who are more knowledgeable in areas that you are not.

Take advice with a grain of salt

Advertisement

Just because something did not work for someone else does not mean it won't work for you and vice versa. For example, I received a lot of advice on networking and ways to generate leads  some were against networking functions altogether, and others swear by it. Don't be afraid to try different things. Some may not work out but some may prove to be very effective. Determine what works best for your business.

Have a strong support system

This is key, especially during the first year when you may be feeling impatient or frustrated. Someone said to me, "I don't understand why you don't have any clients yet" after I had only been in business for a few months. Don't let these types of comments deter or pressure you. There will always be those who try to make you feel insecure when in fact, they are insecure themselves. Surround yourself with a positive, supportive group of people.

Set goals and deadlines

Hold yourself accountable by setting goals and deadlines for your new business. Write down two or three milestones that you want to achieve within the first six months, and then add target completion dates. For example, "launch new company website by X date" or "first client consultation by X date." I went as far as developing a timeline diagram for the first year. It's interesting to look back and see how much was accomplished in a short period of time!

Whether you aspire to be an independent consultant, freelancer, entrepreneur or business owner, there is nothing more challenging and rewarding than seeing your dream come to fruition. The only regret I have is not doing it sooner!

Advertisement

How much risk are you willing to take to achieve your career goals?

Veronica Thraen is the Owner and Principal Consultant at Maven Project Management, a technology project management consulting firm in Phoenix, Arizona that helps growing organizations put processes and tools in place to keep projects on track for long-term growth and success.

More Blue Sky Innovation stories:

7 things to know about selling your business

8 game-changing strategies to become more influential at work
Companies like Conagra use Fooda to bring pop-up restaurants  like Burrito Beach  to its Chicago office. (Keri Wiginton / Blue Sky 2016)

How are you getting your lunch today? Perhaps you brought it from home, or planned to stop by your building's cafeteria or a nearby restaurant  or maybe you're getting it on demand through a tech company.

People spend an average of $20 a week  or $1,043 a year  on restaurant lunches, Visa found in a 2015 survey. Last year, a Morgan Stanley study estimated the overall food-delivery market is worth $30 billion, of which it said $11 billion comes from online orders.

Advertisement

Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB), the Chicago-based online food ordering and delivery company, is expanding into feeding hungry office workers with a new platform, Grubhub for Work. The website lets employees and managers order meal delivery from area restaurants such as Burrito Beach and River Roast in Chicago. Orders have a $50 minimum, a price point right for catering or a group of coworkers getting lunch from the same place.

But its growth may come at a price for another local company: Pop-up lunch favorite Fooda, whose recent offerings included pita pockets at 200 W. Jackson Blvd. and Cuban rice bowls at River North Point, with entrees all under $10.

Advertisement

Aaron Turner, an analyst who covers Grubhub for Wedbush Securities, said Fooda should be worried about losing its catering business to the larger company.

"Grubhub has the size and scale to innovate on the products that they bring to these businesses," Turner said. "It also most likely has a wider restaurant selection."

Grubhub has been moving smaller and medium-sized companies to Grubhub for Work since earlier this year, a Grubhub spokeswoman said. Those companies came from smaller delivery companies it acquired. She said Seamless Corporate continues to serve larger companies, and also has some smaller companies on the platform.

CEO Matt Maloney  highlighted Grubhub for Work during a call with analysts in April.

"This product offers robust functionality around scheduling recurring orders, catering orders and customized group ordering," he said. "While in the very early stages, we will refine and grow this product over time to serve the broader overall (small and medium-sized business) market nationwide.

While Seamless Corporate offers more features desired by corporate management, Grubhub for Work is intended to be more nimble  easier for smaller companies or simply a group of coworkers to use. Grubhub for Work lets users place on-demand or scheduled orders for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The spokeswoman declined to say how many customers are using Grubhub for Work.

Fooda, a venture-backed company based in Chicago, has targeted the lunch market for years, using a pop-up model to expand variety for office workers who usually stay within a close radius of their workplace. CEO Orazio Buzza said his goal is to be the go-to office food provider  but by reaching individuals, not necessarily their bosses. He thinks the market for companies who actually buy food for their workers is less promising than providing restaurant food, but more conveniently, to employees buying their own lunch.

Advertisement

"In a city like Chicago that has trading firms and lots of startup businesses  there are companies that pay for food, and it's a good healthy market," Buzza said. "But once you get into your second-tier cities that don't have trading, financial services and as many startups, paying for food is not a thing."

The majority of Fooda's business comes from pop-ups that feature different area restaurants every day, Buzza said. It started with that model in Chicago in 2011 and is now in nine cities including New York, Atlanta and Nashville. The pop-ups serve companies or buildings with at least 400 employees, and Fooda has about 800 customers in this category, Buzza said. (Tribune Tower is an upcoming location for the service.)

Fooda does offer options for companies with less than 100 employees, such as catering and employer-paid meals. Buzza said that's a smaller part of his business, though he would not provide details.

Buzza said Fooda sees homemade lunches and brick-and-mortar restaurants as its top competitors. But on-demand services  Buzza mentioned UberEats, but Grubhub would also qualify  can also steal a piece of the lunch pie.

There's another possibility: Grubhub, which has already rebranded past acquisitions including LABite and DiningIn as Grubhub for Work, could just buy Fooda. Turner, the analyst, said he has noticed a pattern of Grubhub acquiring smaller restaurant delivery services to beef up and expand its own delivery presence.

Posed with that possibility, the Grubhub spokeswoman declined to comment on speculation. Buzza said Fooda is happy as an independent company.

Advertisement

aelahi@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @aminamania

More Blue Sky Innovation stories:

Fooda loads up plate with $5.9 million in funding

Grubhub shares shoot up on earnings, revenue beat for first quarter

Grubhub's office delivers in-house restaurant, vintage throwbacks

Veteran-run Rumi Spice lands Mark Cuban investment on 'Shark Tank'

'People will judge you': Black execs share stories of getting to the top
ActiveCampaign's current Riverside Plaza headquarters is pictured May 8, 2017, in Chicago. The company plans to hire 225 employees in the Loop in the next two years and will more than triple the size of its headquarters; it has leased about 52,000 square feet in a Dearborn Street building. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Software firm ActiveCampaign will more than triple the size of its headquarters as it plans to add 225 employees in the Loop in the next two years.

The company has leased about 52,000 square feet in a 17-story vintage office building on Dearborn Street, where it plans to move in August, CEO and founder Jason VandeBoom said.

Advertisement

ActiveCampaign has outgrown a 16,000-square-foot office along the Chicago River near Union Station, after growing from fewer than 30 employees in 2015 to about 125 now, he said.

"It can't some soon enough," VandeBoom said of the move. "It's kind of a big jump in space, but we expect conservatively to be at 200 to 250 (employees) by year-end, because we're behind on hiring."

Advertisement

The new space can accommodate 350 workers, and the company expects to reach capacity by 2018 or 2019, VandeBoom said. The 10-year, single-floor lease includes options to add additional floors, he said.

The building extends from Dearborn to State Street, along the north side of Madison Street. It is also home to Chicago Public Schools' headquarters, and was previously Sears' downtown flagship until that store closed in 2014.

ActiveCampaign's deal is the latest example of older buildings with wide floors attracting technology and creative firms as office tenants. The Merchandise Mart, Sullivan Center and former Apparel Center  now known as River North Point  also have attracted companies that want wide, open floors in order to foster collaboration.

"They're absolutely at a premium right now," office tenant broker Jeff Skender said of big floors. Skender, Ari Klein and Scott Shelbourne of Cushman & Wakefield represented ActiveCampaign in the lease.

Building owner Beacon Capital Partners was represented in the lease by Jack O'Brien and Caroline Colnon of the Telos Group. Boston-based Beacon bought the 940,341-square-foot building for $202 million in October 2015.

ActiveCampaign moved into its Riverside Plaza offices just two years ago, when it leased 4,000 square feet, VandeBoom said. After expanding twice in that building, the company has run out of room to grow, and plans to have some employees in co-working spaces until construction of the Dearborn space is completed, VandeBoom said.

The company provides technology for email marketing, automated marketing campaigns and customer retention, mostly serving small and midsized companies.

ActiveCampaign CEO and founder Jason VandeBoom is photographed May 8, 2017, with the company's logo. He said the company has grown from fewer than 30 employees in 2015 to about 125 now and plans more hiring. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

ActiveCampaign raised $20 million, its first outside funding, from Boston-based Silversmith Capital Partners in 2016, and has no immediate plans for additional funding rounds or an eventual sale of the company, VandeBoom said.

Advertisement

Annual revenues at the company top $20 million and VandeBoom said he believes that number can grow to $100 million within three years. Revenue growth comes from new customers as well as existing customers adding services, he said.

The new space will be designed with an open, collaborative cafe area in the center. Teams will be located together in sections along the outer walls. Features will include a game room and a "speak-easy" meeting area hidden behind bookshelves.

"It's a quiet place to work when you really want to get away from everyone," VandeBoom said. "We're trying to maximize the benefits of (open space) while minimizing any issues that come with that."

rori@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @Ryan_Ori
Fidget spinners are toys designed to enhance concentration and stimulate learning, but schools are starting to see them as a distraction and banning them. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Just like its customers' kids, Toys R Us is itching to get its hands on more fidget toys.

"They're pretty much evaporating the minute they get on shelves," said Richard Barry, Toys R Us executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.

Advertisement

Enthusiasts say the colorful toys, which sell for $2.50 to $25 or more online, help kids pay attention by keeping their hands occupied. One version spins when the fidgeter pinches a central ball bearing, another is a cube with buttons and levers on each side. But some schools have banned the toys from classrooms, saying the frenzy has turned a focus aid into a distraction.

Toys R Us is a bit late to the party. Chicago's Building Blocks Toy Store was billing them as a hot stocking stuffer over the holidays. Toys R Us' first shipments didn't hit shelves until last week.

Advertisement

The toy retailer said it wanted to take its time to find the right partner. The chain plans to make up for lost time by tapping into bigger trends around collectibles and tactile toys.

This summer, Toys R Us will stock DC Comics and Marvel-themed spinners, along with exclusive light-up, metallic and glow-in-the-dark versions.

The goal? Turn the tiny toys from a fad into something kids want to collect. "You won't want to have just one, you'll want all your favorite characters," Barry said.

Collectibles  including trading cards, figurines, dolls, action figures and blind packs  were a big contributor to the toy industry's growth last year, according to market research firm NPD Group. Sales, up 33 percent, hit $1.8 billion, or about 9 percent of total toy industry dollars.

Kids' obsessions can be fickle even when it comes to collectibles. When's the last time you heard a child clamor for digital Giga Pets or Silly Bandz, the colorful rubber-band bracelets formed into shapes that sparked a similar frenzy about six years ago?

But Toys R Us is bullish on a broader trend around toys that keep fidgety fingers busy. It noticed an uptick in sales of Rubik's Cubes and yo-yos late last year, around the same time it started keeping an eye on fidget toys, Barry said.

When you see a change around established hits like those, "you know something's going on," he said.

"We think the overall fidget trend can be very sustainable," he said. "The life cycle for any one product could be long or short, and only time can tell, but other products will come in and we think it will last at least the year," he said.

Advertisement

In the meantime, Toys R Us is airfreighting "tens of thousands" of fidget spinners and cubes to stores to meet demand, and Barry isn't worried backlash from teachers will slow sales.

"You know it's a craze when schools are starting to ban the products," he said.

lzumbach@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @laurenzumbach
Latreece Smith rests as her friend Tamari Cameron checks flight information May 9, 2017, at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. The Chicago pair were stranded as Spirit cancelled flights; the airline blamed a labor dispute with pilots. (Joe Cavaretta / Sun Sentinel)

There have been dozens of Spirit Airlines cancellations  but no reported passenger conflagrations  at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as a labor dispute between the discount carrier and its pilots continues.

Six Spirit flights were canceled at O'Hare Tuesday, with seven more scratched for Wednesday, according to the live flight-tracking website FlightAware. More than 50 Spirit flights out of O'Hare have been canceled since May 1.

Advertisement

In a lawsuit filed Monday against the Air Line Pilots Association, Spirit alleges that pilots represented by the union have "engaged in a pervasive illegal work slowdown" that has caused 300 flight cancellations in a week. The airline contends that pilots are refusing to pick up open flying assignments, which Spirit claims is a plot to apply pressure during contract negotiations.

A federal judge in southern Florida sided with the airline Tuesday, ordering its unionized pilots to stop boycotting flights.

Advertisement

U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas issued an order saying Spirit likely would win its lawsuit charging that the union was engaged in work slowdowns that violated federal law. The union has denied the accusation.

A Spirit spokesman did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

The pilots have been in negotiations with Spirit for more than two years, seeking "industry-standard compensation," according to the union's website.

The union issued a statement Tuesday afternoon agreeing to comply with the federal judge's order.

"Spirit pilots are committed to helping impacted passengers and the company restore normal operations," the statement said. "Spirit pilots were instrumental in returning operations to normal in 2015 and several times since then by going above and beyond their schedules, and waiving contractual restrictions in order to accept more flying. The court has spoken and Spirit pilots will fully comply with the order handed down, which is completely in line with our overriding goal: the resumption of normal operations. We call on the company to join forces with ALPA and the Spirit pilots to do just that."

Spirit has carved out a niche as a fast-growing, "ultra low-cost" airline, a no-frills approach that has proved profitable but less than satisfying for passengers. The airline had the worst ranking of any U.S. carrier in an annual passenger survey released last month by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

The airline is not likely to fare any better after a week of cancellations that have left passengers frustrated, angry and, in at least one case, ready to throw down.

Chaos ensued at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Monday night after flight cancellations by Spirit Airlines due to labor issues. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Irate passengers at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., stranded by nine flight cancellations Monday that Spirit blamed on pilots' failure to show up, swarmed ticket counters, with some starting a near-riot.

Advertisement

Deputies arrested three people from New York in the airport, charging them with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing.

The Broward County sheriff's office said about 500 people were crowded into Spirit's terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport late Monday after the airline canceled the flights. Video posted online showed deputies grappling with screaming passengers and breaking up fights.

The Florida incident was the latest in a string of high-profile customer service problems for airlines that have gone viral after being caught on video. The incidents began in April with a video of Dr. David Dao being dragged off an overcrowded United Airlines flight at O'Hare after refusing to give up his seat to airline employees.

The Associated Press contributed.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertChannick
The University of Chicago is facing unionization efforts from both graduate and undergraduate student workers.

Graduate Students United, a group that has campaigned for improved conditions for grad student workers at U. of C. since 2007, on Monday filed a formal petition with the Chicago regional office of the National Labor Relations Board for a union election, the group said in a news release.

Advertisement

The election to join the Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers and American Association of University Professors is expected to take place in late June. Its bargaining unit would include more than 2,000 graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants.

Separately, on Sunday a group of U. of C. undergraduate students who work in the school library filed a petition with the NLRB to hold a union election to join the Teamsters Local 743. The group, which is calling itself the Student Library Employees Union, has a proposed bargaining unit of 174 people.

Advertisement

Unionization efforts, common in public universities, have been spreading at private universities across the country among part-time and nontenured faculty as well as graduate students, whom the NLRB declared last year to be employees covered by federal labor law.

aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @alexiaer
News / National

by Staff reporter

The war of words between Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing Association (ZAHA) director Dr Killer Zivhu and Norton legislator Mr Temba Mliswa over the Galloway housing project in the area has escalated.Dr Zivhu's organisation is developing land in the Galloway part of Norton, with a number of his clients having already built their houses after purchasing the stands.Mr Mliswa has made a police report against Dr Zivhu over what he claims are shady land transactions in the town.Reacting to Mr Mliswa's comments made over the weekend, Dr Zivhu said the legislator was not qualified to comment on his projects. "Mliswa is not a member of ZAHA and he does not have a residential stand at Galloway for him to be the complainant and make a police report. If our members, those who have bought stands from us, have any issues with ZAHA they should report to the police, not for Mliswa to do so."Mliswa is representing himself through cheap politics after realising that people did not vote for him because they wanted him to lead, but because they were disgruntled because of other reasons. Even if it was a baboon, it was going to win. In this instance, the clueless and confused monkey (Mr Mliswa) was ushered to Parliament by default," he said.Dr Zivhu said there were people of high regard in society who were ZAHA's clients in Galloway. "These people include those in the Judiciary like magistrates, teachers, police and army officers," he said.He said everything with regards to the Galloway project was being done aboveboard. "Titles deeds are not like birth certificates which can be obtained soon after giving birth, it is a process. We applied for a parallel development permit so that people can build their homes while we finalise the process of title deeds."This is the process followed in many of the housing development projects in the country, perhaps Mliswa is not well versed with this," Dr Zivhu said.
Robert and Dana Garvey already have plenty of fans, having served artisanal pizzas out of their Gold Coast home (including charity-auction pizza dinners) for years. Now, the duo is going public.

Robert's Pizza Company is aiming for a March 30 opening in the former Flour & Stone space (355 E. Ohio St.). "We've given the place a facelift," Robert Garvey said. "It'll be a comfortable space, a mix of high-tops and low tables on the main floor, but leather bench seating on two levels upstairs. And I put in a classic brick oven, which is great for my pizza."

Advertisement

Garvey said he's spent upwards of 15 years perfecting his crust. "I've been tuning the recipes down to grams of salt and yeast," he said, "experimenting with a few grams more, a few less, and recording how the crust responded.

"I came up with a pie that I describe as a really-good French baguette meats a great Indian naan," he said. "A slice you can fold, that will crack but not break."

Advertisement

The restaurant will debut with a rotating lineup of 15 pizzas, from basic cheese-and-sausage pies to roast duck to clam-calamari-shrimp.

"You can put anything you want on my crust and it tastes amazing," Garvey said. "I've done kimchee, lamb vindaloo -- as we go along, I'm looking forward to be more creative with the menu."

One of the hallmarks of the Garveys' dinner parties was the multi-course pizza menu, beginning with a prosciutto-arugula white pizza, then fennel sausage and onions, perhaps an artisanal-cheese pie and finally a dessert pizza. Eventually, Garvey envisions that option being available in Streeterville, perhaps on special evenings.

The craft-beer and wine selections are in development, but Garvey seemed certain that beers from local producers Moody Tongue and Half Acre would be in the mix.

A couple of veteran chefs -- Dean Zanella and James Gottwald -- have been helping the Garveys get the project up and running.

Phil Vettel is a Tribune critic
Grilled chicken is mixed with a yogurt, cider vinegar, bacon and tarragon dressing, and bolstered with a sweet/tart crisp green apple and the bite of green onions. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune )

The white wines of Europe are far more diverse  and flavorful  than the mass-produced pinot grigio you usually grab at the supermarket. Take these three from Chablis, Santorini and the Ribeira Sacra region of Spain. Each would make a fresh companion to a light dinner, like this grilled chicken salad in a wrap.

MAKE THIS

Advertisement

Chicken salad wraps

In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt with honey; 3 tablespoons each cider vinegar and chopped fresh tarragon; 2 tablespoons each olive oil and bacon bits; 2 green onions, chopped; 1 small unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored, diced; and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 2 grilled chicken breasts, in 1/2-inch dice. Divide 3 cups baby spinach across 4 large flour tortillas; top with chicken mixture. Wrap ends around the filling and enjoy. Makes: 4 servings

Advertisement

Recipe by Renee Enna

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

DRINK THIS

Pairings by sommelier Alan Beasey of The Purple Pig, as told to Michael Austin:

2015 William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis, France: The wine's aromas of lemon curd and toasty biscuits and flavors of ripe green apple on brioche accentuate the apples and honey in the dish. The elegant minerality and crisp acidity of the Chablis will balance the richness of the yogurt, and its long finish will carry through the wrap from end to end.

2015 Santo Wines Aspa, Santorini, Greece: This fresh, rustic wine is a blend of assyrtiko, athiri and aidani grapes, with candied citrus on the nose and crisp acidity on the palate. That acidity is balanced by brief aging in new French oak barrels, adding structure and depth, which will play well with the chicken and bacon. Also, the signature salinity of Santorini wines will help tie everything together in this fresh and hearty wrap.

2015 Guimaro Vino Blanco, Ribeira Sacra, Spain: Made solely from the godello grape variety, this wine has rich, honeyed aromas with hints of ripe apple and summer melon. The palate exudes apple and pear flavors with beautiful acidity and undertones of fresh herbs. The wrap's tarragon and onions will accentuate the herbal notes in the wine, while the wine's rich fruit will contribute to the harmony of the various elements of the dish.

food@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @pour_man






Throngs pack the lines outside the main entrance to the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. A new pricing plan was approved Wednesday by the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners and set to take effect July 1. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Shedd Aquarium entry lines will move faster and its pricing will be simpler, although, for some, more costly, under a plan approved Wednesday by the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners and set to take effect July 1.

The new pricing model is flat-fee -- $19.95 for Chicago adults, $39.95 for outsiders -- and includes all exhibits, even the aquatic show, except for movies, which will be $4.95.

Advertisement

The aquarium is concurrently changing its 52 annual discount days for Illinois residents to free days, meaning visitors then will also have the run of the aquarium. Shedd officials said the new plan is expected to make the line to get in move 40 percent more quickly and will save a Chicago family of four an average $60 per visit. Eliminated is a tiered ticketing policy, which including a bargain, but little used, fee of $5 (Chicagoans) and $8 (Illinoisans) to visit the central, oldest parts of the building.

But what's really behind the plan, CEO Bridget Coughlin said, is months of analysis aimed at making the lakefront institution's notoriously long entry lines move faster and its notoriously complex pricing structure less Byzantine.

Advertisement

"In our first quarter, we had over 500 ticket prices," she said, taking into account the many pricing tiers, discounts and premiums available.

Indeed, if you read through the Yelp reviews submitted by some of the almost 2 million people who visit each year, long waits to get in and pricing woes are pre-eminent among the complaints for what is one of Chicago's leading tourist attractions. And trying to explain the various pricing options and the effect on them of age, residency and occupation becomes an exercise in caveats and complication.

It's an issue that Coughlin, who took over the lakefront institution's reins last April, doesn't dodge.

"It was clear that we had become unduly restrictive, through normal historic evolution, and it was time to reset that," said the biochemistry Ph.D. and former infectious disease researcher. "This really is about redefining general admission with the intent of bigger access to the full offerings of the aquarium."

On busy days, Coughlin said, "there'll always be a line, but that line will move 40 percent faster (because) people will make quicker decisions."

Some key changes: Chicago residents will get a steeper discount over out-of-towners than in the past, while the Shedd's 52 annual discount days for Illinoisans will become free days. That means no-charge access to almost the entirety of the aquarium, including the aquatic show and the current "Amphibians" special exhibit, not just the older, central exhibits.

The basic $5 admission to the central aquarium that had been available to Chicagoans goes up to $19.95, but, again, with the whole of the aquarium now included in the package. That's a change from the current, three-tier pricing that tops out at $36.95 to see it all. (The new price will be $14.95 for Chicago kids ages 3-11.)

The number of people who bought that $5 admission last year and would see a price increase was 36,000, Coughlin said, while about 54,000 Chicago residents paid for entry at the two higher-tier prices and would see a discount. Overall, 813,000 2016 guests, 42 percent, got in free or at a discount, while 351,000 Chicagoans did.

Out-of-towners, including suburbanites, would pay one price as well, the current $39.95 charge for the all-inclusive top-tier ticket known as the Total Experience Pass. Eliminated is a $30.95 Shedd Pass that gives access to all but the aquatic show, the "Amphibians" special exhibit, the movie theater and the Stingray Touch warm-weather outdoor exhibit.

Advertisement

Under current pricing, Illinois residents are able to buy an $8 basic general admission ticket at the aquarium, but the numbers who do so are small, officials said.

Chicagoans make up about 23 percent of aquarium visitors, but the great majority get in free, including about 160,000 Chicago Public Schools students. An additional 23 percent come from the suburbs and Illinois, while about one-fourth are from neighboring states, one-fourth are from the rest of the country and about 3 percent are international.

The aquarium currently is free to police officers, firefighters, teachers, active military personnel and school groups. Like many local museums, the Shedd will add free admission for families with a "government funded provision card" under the Museums for All program.

Because the Shedd sits on CPD land and receives an annual subsidy ($4.1 million in 2016, about 7 percent of its $62.5 million budget), the district has control over general admission. The Shedd's request was more complicated because it is a reworking of the fee structure more than just a cost-of-doing-business bump.

But Coughlin is confident in the logic for the changes.

"The reasons are twofold," she said. "One is that during our free days (which have been labeled 'discount days'), we wanted to be able to see more people and in order to do that, you have to use all of your square footage. It's simple fifth-grade math.

Advertisement

"And two is to make that experience better, to not have so many ... gates and to connect all of our 1.9 million visitors to as many animals and animal stories as possible. We want to show them every ecosystem we have."

It's hard to tell the story of endangered beluga whales, for instance, or of coral reef bleaching without letting people see the animals in question.

Coughlin said the aquarium projects an attendance increase of perhaps 50,000 annually, mostly on free days. And the new pricing is expected to be revenue-neutral while greatly improving efficiency, she said.

Online ticketing improves, with a new ability to verify Chicago residency. Instead of 9 internal checkpoints to see whether people have paid for access, there'll now be just two: at the main entrance and at the movie theater. (Movie theater tickets, in the new plan, become a separate, $4.95 charge).

The people staffing those checkpoints will be reallocated. "We want this many people on the floor, but they will be helpful in different ways, rather than internal bouncers," she said.

"All of these decisions, while motivated by access and experience, were data-driven," Coughlin said. "We hired an outside firm, IMPACTS Research, to model for us the capacity, the price tolerance. We interviewed thousands of people on what the price value was and also to model our line. We're really optimistic ... people will be able to move throughout the entire aquarium more seamlessly and there'll be higher and better use of the space."

Advertisement

sajohnson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @StevenKJohnson

RELATED STORIES:

Penguin love triangle at Shedd Aquarium

Australian lungfish 'Granddad,' the oldest zoo animal in Chicago, dies

Simplification of ticket prices will speed up lines (Chicago Tribune)






Karen Fishman, retiring executive director of Chicagos Music of the Baroque, says shes proud of what we have been able to achieve during her 18 seasons in the post. Im going to miss it. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

When a performing arts group enjoys artistic and financial stability for as long as Music of the Baroque, it's almost always because there's a sharp, well-connected people person pulling the administrative strings.

Few CEOs in classical music in Chicago have managed that feat quite as adroitly as MOB's executive director, Karen Fishman.

Advertisement

While not a musician herself, for nearly two decades Fishman has kept the midsize organization's many working parts operating in sync, the books balanced, the musical reputation solid and the customers coming back for more. A tough juggling act, to be sure. But building on what MOB founders Thomas Wikman and Lucille Ollendorff achieved and carrying it in new directions has been a privilege and a pleasure for her, she says.

Now that Fishman is retiring as executive director after 18 seasons, Music of the Baroque finds itself with exceedingly big shoes to fill. This weekend's season finale, Georg Philipp Telemann's oratorio "The Day of Judgment," will be the final concerts she will oversee as MOB's executive director.

Advertisement

Stepping down was a tough decision, but the timing was right, she says, as the city's flagship exponent of the 17th- and 18th-century choral and orchestral repertory looks to its 47th season, beginning in September.

"I honestly never expected it to last this long," Fishman observes. "It's not without some sadness that I am leaving. But I am getting a little bit older and would like to explore a few other things. The organization is in very good shape, our public is generous and I'm proud of what we have been able to achieve. I'm going to miss it."

In the course of Fishman's nearly two decades on the job, MOB has built a large and loyal base of audience members and donors, despite a roller coaster arts economy and competition from newer classical groups that also ply the waters of early music. She sees her role over those years largely as a facilitator who has helped forge a partnership of trust between those who make the music and those who raise the money.

To her lasting credit, she brought in the team that has kept MOB's artistic level consistently high under her watch  music director Jane Glover, principal guest conductor Nicholas Kraemer and chorus director William Jon Gray. Glover and Kraemer were hired in 2002, Gray in 2010.

"After more than four decades in this business, I can honestly say that I have never met anyone in it who better combines every possible aspect of what is desirable in an executive director," Glover says of Fishman via email.

"She has such a clear mind, which goes to the heart of every issue; she has a formidable business sense, with all that that entails; and she has a real feel for the artistic side too. I completely trust her instincts and leadership in all matters artistic as well as practical and administrative." What's more, "her sense of humor has sustained us through many happy years of collaboration."

Fishman is the only executive director Glover knows in the arts world who attends each and every rehearsal and concert given by the organization.

MOB's CEO doesn't see anything particularly unusual in that, since being able to explore the richly varied baroque and classical repertory is what she loves most about her job, she says.

Advertisement

"If you're like me and can't play or sing a note but really love music," Fishman says, "it's a thrill to know you had something to do with making great music happen on stage."

Ask her about her personal favorites among the hundreds of performances Music of the Baroque has given over the past 18 years and she will happily rattle off a long list. Pride of place goes to several big Bach masterpieces Glover and Kraemer have done  the B minor Mass, "Christmas Oratorio" and "St. John Passion"; Monteverdi's "Vespers of 1610"; and a performance of Haydn's "The Creation" in San Diego, Calif., in 2014 that marked MOB's first out-of-state concert in more than 30 years.

Music of the Baroque  once virtually the only professional organization in Chicago that paid any attention to the pre-classical choral and orchestral repertory  has been both a catalyst and role model for the smaller early music groups that have sprung up during her years with MOB. Fishman finds that gratifying.

"Well, we certainly were a pioneer, and I'm a great believer in letting all forms flourish," she says. "A healthy classical musical scene is healthy for everybody. We at MOB have a particular identity, we perform on modern instruments, and we do so with a particular style. We are lucky to have a significant audience and such a committed board and donor base."

Fishman had no experience managing an arts organization in 1999 when the former executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago came on board at Music of the Baroque. But her skills and energy were more than enough to recommend her to the board. The fact that she had been attending MOB concerts since the group's inception undoubtedly worked in her favor.

Keeping Music of the Baroque in sound working order through the coming decades obviously will be job one for Fishman's successor.

Advertisement

"The overall challenges are not very different from what they were 18 seasons ago and probably will not be very different 18 seasons from now," she observes. "We are all struggling to continue building audiences, funding and boards of directors."

A MOB search committee has been combing the landscape for a replacement for Fishman since last summer, when she informed the board she would be leaving at the end of the current season. Her successor is expected to be announced by the end of May.

Fishman sounds a gracious note in parting.

"One of the advantages of being in a relatively small organization is that you really get to know your audience," she says. "I'm looking forward to rejoining them this fall as just another audience member! It will be great to see them, because that's where my friends are."

The Music of the Baroque orchestra and chorus will close its season with Telemann's "The Day of Judgment," under the direction of Jane Glover. The concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St.; $27-$75; 312-551-1414, www.baroque.org.

Ravinia's big Bernstein bash

Advertisement

The Ravinia Festival is among the countless arts organizations and presenters worldwide taking part in "Leonard Bernstein at 100," a two-year celebration of the life and career of the legendary composer, conductor, pianist and educator. The celebration, spearheaded by the New York-based Leonard Bernstein Office, will include more than 1,000 events on six continents, honoring one of the cultural giants of the last century.

As previously announced, Ravinia's contribution will extend over the summers of 2018 and 2019 and will be curated and directed by conductor Marin Alsop, one of the last proteges Bernstein took on before his death in 1990. Performances and a traveling exhibit will focus on multiple aspects of his protean career.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform six Bernstein-themed programs under Alsop's baton in 2018. Other participants will include violinist Joshua Bell; the Chicago Symphony Chorus; Chicago Children's Choir; pianists Marta Aznavoorian and Christopher O'Riley (performing the complete piano music); and artists from Ravinia's Steans Music Institute (performing the complete songs).

Of special note will be the CSO premiere of "Mass," written for the 1971 opening of the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington. Other Bernstein orchestral works will include "Serenade (after Plato's Symposium)," Symphony No. 1 ("Jeremiah"), "Candide" Overture and "Chichester Psalms." The latter piece will share Ravinia's 2018 gala benefit evening with the Beethoven Ninth Symphony.

Ravinia has engaged Jamie Bernstein to host a late-night evening of music, anecdotes and remembrances of her father. She also will produce and narrate a "New Young People's Concert" honoring Bernstein the educator/TV personality.

Other Bernstein works Ravinia expects to slot into its 2018 and 2019 schedules include "Songfest," "Candide" and "Trouble in Tahiti." Screenings of the films "West Side Story" and "On the Waterfront," accompanied by live orchestra, also are planned.

Advertisement

Rounding out the Alsop concerts in 2018 will be symphonic works by Mahler, Copland, Gershwin, Ravel, Shostakovich and other composers central to Bernstein's concert repertory.

Each of Ravinia's venues, including a new Ravinia Music Box "experience center," will feature Bernstein-related events and activities. The new building, located near the north lawn seating area of Ravinia Park, will comprise two galleries and a 65-seat theater. It is scheduled to open in 2019 with a traveling exhibit of memorabilia including Bernstein's own piano.

The global "Bernstein at 100" celebration will kick off Sept. 22 at the Kennedy Center and will continue through August 2019, it was announced Tuesday.

Has any major American classical music figure of the 20th century received so concentrated a tribute, by so many, and in so many places? Somewhere, the Great Man must be smiling.

John von Rhein is a Tribune critic.

jvonrhein@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter @jvonrhein

RELATED STORIES:

Murray Perahia hit all the right notes at his solo outing

Bolcom sex farce draws lively staging from Chicago Fringe Opera

Muti launches CSO Brahms cycle with refreshment for jaded ears







Watch the latest movie trailers.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Arts Alliance Illinois will honor the opera star Renee Fleming with the inaugural Creative Voice Award, it was announced Tuesday.

Fleming, a creative consultant at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, will accept the award at the Fifth Annual Benefit Luncheon for her artistic, educational and developmental contributions to classical music and opera.

Advertisement

Chicago cultural leaders Janet Carl Smith and Mel Smith will be honored with the Alliance's 2017 Citizen Advocate Award. Past honorees including cellist Yo-Yo Ma, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, actor John C. Reilly, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Martha Lavey and David Hawkanson, and philanthropists Richard P. and Susan R. Kiphart and Jim and Kay Mabie.

The luncheon, which will also include presentations by the youth poetry and performance group Kuumba Lynx, Natya Dance Theatre and musicians from the Chicago Academy for the Arts, is slated for June 8 at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 E. Monroe St. The sculptural awards to be presented are being created by participants in After School Matters' downtown mosaic program.

Advertisement

Arts Alliance Illinois is currently under the leadership of executive director Claire Rice and board chair Brooke Flanagan.

More information regarding the Fifth Annual Benefit Luncheon, including sponsorship and visibility opportunities, is available at artsalliance.org/luncheon.

MORE FROM THE THEATER LOOP:

Bryce Pinkham sings 'On The Street Where You Live'

In 'Hookman,' college freshman copes with grief, horror movie monsters

The Lyric's 'My Fair Lady' has an Eliza who deserves better
Syrian refugee Abdulkarim Younes resettled in Chicago with his wife and young daughter, Bisan, but his mother and extended family remain in Jordan. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Abdulkarim Younes still can't sleep. Despite escaping the war that ravaged his Syrian hometown and surviving years in limbo in Jordan before arriving in Chicago as a refugee in January, he stays awake at all hours, awaiting calls from his family.

His mother and siblings, who hope to join him in the U.S., remain in Jordan.

Advertisement

"Every day, she cries on the phone," Younes said in Arabic through a translator at the apartment in Albany Park he shares with his wife and almost 2-year-old daughter.

The separation and uncertainty weigh on him as he waits for a reunion that might never come.

Advertisement

Refugees in Chicago are reporting more stress and fear following President Donald Trump's moves to restrict arrivals, including proposed bans on refugees and a reduction in the number allowed in the U.S. annually to 50,000 from 111,000. Mental health professionals say treating things like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder are an integral part of helping refugees resettle and avoid isolation, depression or other unintended consequences, including radicalization.

Chaos at airports earlier this year, when Trump's executive order restricting entry was in effect for nearly two weeks before being halted by the courts, prompted local advocates to increase mental health services. Although immediate fears brought on by the ban have subsided, advocates say the needs have not.

"We're inundated," said Aimee Hilado, a therapist at RefugeeOne, a nonprofit that helps refugees integrate into Chicago. Hilado launched a program in January that trained more than 70 local therapists  whom she calls first responders  to treat immigrants and refugees. About 25 volunteers rotated in shifts at O'Hare International Airport, and the rest volunteer time to treat anyone asking a local nonprofit for help. She is considering holding more training sessions this summer.

Even those thrilled to finally set foot on U.S. soil bring years of trauma with them. Experts say the suffering is threefold: what caused refugees to leave, what they faced during migration or a refugee camp and the stress of adjusting once settled.

"Often the symptoms manifest when you're in a safer environment," said RefugeeOne therapist Samantha Allweiss, who primarily treats refugees. "A part of it is also grieving the life you left behind."

At Heartland Alliance, a nonprofit that provides immigrants mental health counseling and legal assistance, dozens of refugees who have been settled in Chicago for years have returned to request mental health help this spring, said case manager Marie Shebeck, a notable rise from the one or two she met with last year. She received so many distressed phone calls from the refugees and asylum seekers she treats at the Marjorie Kovler Center for torture survivors that she organized "Know Your Rights" workshops there for the first time.

The organization has more requests than it can serve, with a monthslong waiting list.

For refugees, "this is an absolute repeat of what happened in their country of origin, feeling fearful that at any moment they're going to have to up and leave," said Joan Liautaud, senior director of clinical operations for Heartland Health Outreach.

Advertisement

Catholic Charities resettlement director Elma Kulovic described confusion and distress among refugees unlike anything she's seen in the 19 years she has worked at the organization. Even with the ban halted, refugees who have limited English or cannot read or write struggle to understand its implications, she said. Refugees are asking, "What's going to happen to us? Are they going to return us?"

"This is something that I didn't experience before, the uneasiness that our clients are feeling," Kulovic said. In response, Catholic Charities held workshops to answer questions and assuage refugees' concerns after the executive orders were issued.

Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder have long threatened refugees' adjustment.

Fears that family members still living in their homeland might be dead play out in midnight phone calls and cable news scenes. Refugees sometimes face discrimination because of their religion or how they dress. Bombings revisit them in nightmares. Years of living in fear can lead to isolation within apartment walls.

Still, seven months into a new life, Zahid Jamil feels safe here, in his West Rogers Park home filled with pink and purple toys for his 6-year-old daughter Sharon, who carefully lugs around baby sister Illyria, born in January.

He does not miss Pakistan, the country he fled in 2013 when his father, a pastor targeted for his Christian faith, was shot in the head while opening Jamil's cosmetics shop. Jamil escaped with his wife and older daughter, then lived in one room in Thailand on an overstayed visa for years until their refugee application was approved. They flew to Chicago in October.

Advertisement

On the living room floor next to gurgling Illyria, Jamil shows photos of his father with a bullet hole in his head.

Yet in many ways, they seem like any American family. They spend Saturdays at the Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview, and Sharon arrives from school bubbling about art class and singing "Wheels on the Bus."

But it's hard to learn English when exhausted from overnight shifts. For months, Jamil has been working nights at a Skokie gas station, commuting on a bus and train each way. The hours spent as a cashier stand in contrast to the entrepreneurial career he left behind. Still, he tries not to complain.

"I have already experienced the harder time," said Jamil, who hopes to enter the hospitality field after taking classes through Catholic Charities.

Refugees are resilient, notes Kulovic of Catholic Charities. Even if the adjustment is hard, many might not say so. Some are relieved to be safe and feel they shouldn't complain. Others might be nervous to say anything negative about the U.S.

In some cultures, mental illness is stigmatized as a curse or weakness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed mental health as a top concern for Syrians, who might consider illness a personal flaw.

Advertisement

Hadia Zarzour, a psychologist born and trained in Syria who now has a green card and works as a counselor in Chicago, said refugees grew up learning to repress feelings.

"After all, many want to forget," said Zarzour, who is vice president of the Syrian Community Network. Many refugees would rather talk to her about a migraine than a memory, she said. Explaining that therapy can be a beginning point, she tells clients: "Trauma is when pieces of your soul are scattered."

Agencies that connect refugees with counselors are shifting to meet changing needs. RefugeeOne launched an art therapy group for Congolese women and this spring started a support group specifically for Syrians, in hopes that a shared community could add comfort.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Younes fled Syria in 2011, leaving with $4,000 scraped together by his mother by selling furniture and her jewelry. Since then, the years have been marked by waiting: Waiting for the fighting to end. Then waiting between steps of the long refugee application process  one year and five months between interviews, he recalled. Waiting for his family to join him in Jordan. Now waiting, and hoping, for their arrival in the U.S.

In the apartment where his wife serves juice on a platter and his toddler brings each guest a chocolate cookie, Younes said he is grateful to talk to family abroad, even in the middle of the night. He remembers 11 days without word as his siblings and mother made the dangerous journey through shelled Syrian towns to join him in Jordan. "Every day like a year," he said.

They escaped together but remain apart. On a recent afternoon, his face was resigned as a caseworker explained that reuniting them, if possible, will likely take years.

Advertisement

He knows his mother might not meet her newest grandson, due in July. But he also knows he can't wait too long to feel at home.

"If I don't adjust, the only person who loses is me," he said. "God willing, we will see her soon."

abowen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @byalisonbowen
WASHINGTON  The Interior Department welcomed a new breed of visitor to its Washington headquarters on Friday, one on four legs, covered with fur and on a mission to boost morale at the agency in charge of public lands.

The first federal agency to go dog-friendly opened its doors at 7 a.m. to 85 dogs - dachshunds, Labradors, spaniels, Yorkies, border collies, Portuguese water dogs, beagles and many others, purebred and mutt - in a test run of perhaps the most nonpartisan policy change of the Trump administration.

Advertisement

"We've become so polar on political issues," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a Republican former congressman from Montana, acknowledged as his energetic Havanese, Ragnar, raced around his office sniffing both reporters and an English Lab named Daisy owned by acting deputy chief of staff Megan Bloomgren.

"This should not be a political issue," Zinke said.

Advertisement

Zinke, who brings Ragnar to the office most days, hopes Friday's pilot and another "Doggy Day" scheduled for September will catch on across the government and become a regular fixture at the Interior Department and its sprawling offices across the United States.

"I'm competitive," Zinke said. "You may have heard the president is very competitive, too. We want to win."

Zinke was referring to a race to be the first to have dogs in federal offices - a race he has won. President Donald Trump, with no dog or other pet in the White House at the moment, could not compete in the "Doggy Days" sweepstakes. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is considering a similar policy, Zinke said proudly.

The Interior Department dogs - carefully vetted for vaccinations, behavioral problems and assurances that they were housebroken - spent the morning lying under their owners' desks, sleeping, attending meetings (quietly) and walking along C Street NW when they needed to relieve themselves. They became new fixtures in the budget office, the office of congressional and legislative affairs, the cultural-resources office, legal offices and the inspector general's quarters, too.

The dogs - on leashes and the small ones in arms - formed a line with their owners to enter Zinke's carpeted suite, where the secretary shook hands and posed with them for the cameras. It was, for many employees, their first opportunity to meet the new secretary.

"This is pretty cool," said Steve Farrell, an analyst in the budget office, after posing for a photo with his black Portuguese water dog, Annie. Lately, Farrell has been working long hours crunching numbers for Trump's first budget, which proposed spending cuts of 12 percent at the Interior Department. "It's been quite intense," he said.

Tavish, a rust-colored Hungarian pointer standing patiently next to Annie, had already had a busy morning, standing by while her owner, museum curator Tracy Baetz, reviewed an introductory film under production for the Interior Department museum and accompanying her to pay the parking meter. Then, a nap.

Baetz said she was pleasantly surprised by how many fellow employees she spoke with for the first time because they brought their dogs to work.

Advertisement

Like Baetz, who drove in, many employees organized the day around their dogs, who can't take Metro to the office. Caesar and Olive, two Yorkies owned by Carrie Soave from human resources, were getting ready to Uber home to NoMa with Soave's husband after lunch.

The first pilot day was scheduled for a Friday when many people work from home, to allow employees who would rather not be around dogs to stay away. As with any federal function, an after-action report will be done on the dogs for lessons learned. "Doggy Days" will probably extend to Interior Department offices throughout the country, giving managers flexibility to decide when and whether to allow them.

Members of Congress have been bringing their dogs to the Capitol since the 19th century, but few other taxpayer-funded workplaces have allowed them. Private companies, on the other hand, are increasingly touting their dog-friendliness as an employee perk.

Zinke, a retired Navy SEAL, said his dog policy's primary goal is to boost morale at the far-flung Interior Department, which comprises the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and six other departments. The agency ranked 11th in employee morale of the 18 largest federal agencies in last year's Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey, with just 61 percent of its 70,000 employees saying they were happy in their jobs.

Several of the policies Zinke has pursued since taking office have rankled some of the more liberal career employees at his agency, including his support for reversing restrictions on oil and gas drilling in national parks and wildlife refuges, as well as a sweeping review of any national monument designated in the past 21 years that's 100,000 acres or larger. Employees also are anxious about possible budget cuts and what they would mean for their jobs.

Asked whether "Doggy Days" are an antidote to these problems, Zinke said he wants his agency to be the "happy" department. Inattention by headquarters to the staff "on the front lines" is largely to blame for morale problems, he said, pledging to be "more attentive" to those employees. "Our front lines have gotten too thin," Zinke said.

Advertisement

He also expressed confidence that despite impending budget cuts, employees can take heart that his department is working hard to increase revenue from oil and gas drilling that he said fell precipitously under the Obama administration. "Revenue - that helps morale, too," Zinke said.

The celebration of "Doggy Days" against a backdrop of shifting environmental policies was not lost on critics of the new administration. Greenpeace, the environmental group, took the opportunity to poke fun at Zinke in a blog post, noting that he's a dog lover "like most Americans." It continued, "Unlike most Americans though, he's also super into denying climate change, increasing carbon emissions, and selling off public lands to the oil and gas industry."






My girlfriend and I flew from Minneapolis to Naples, Italy, on Delta Air Lines and Alitalia recently. We missed our connection in Paris. Alitalia put us on the next flight to Naples, and confirmed that our bags would be placed on that flight.

Unfortunately, our bags didn't make it that day. When we arrived in Naples, Alitalia confirmed that the bags were still in Paris and would be sent the following day. We did not receive our bags for three more days.

Advertisement

An Alitalia employee at the Naples airport told us to purchase the clothes that we needed for our vacation and that the airline would reimburse us. As we were vacationing in the Amalfi Coast, we informed them that the replacement clothes would not be inexpensive.

When we arrived back in Minneapolis, we submitted our claims for reimbursement through the Alitalia website. Alitalia responded very quickly and graciously agreed to pay the amount we submitted, $1,042, in the form of two checks of $521  one to my girlfriend and one to me. As of this date, only one of the checks was received (by my girlfriend). I still have not received mine.

Advertisement

I have tried to follow up with Alitalia, but I have not received one email response from the airline. Can you help?

 John Nealon, Minneapolis

A: Alitalia should have paid both checks, as promised. Airlines typically compensate passengers when their luggage is lost by paying for new clothes and toiletries, and Alitalia had agreed in writing to do so. This should have been an open-and-shut case; instead, the airline just left you hanging with half the promised compensation.

Alitalia's published policy contradicts what you were told. You should have filled out a lost-luggage report and, if you were not a resident of the city in which your bags went missing, received some "basic necessities," including toiletries.

Instead, the Alitalia representative sent you shopping. That may have been a misunderstanding on the part of the employee.

Even so, the airline agreed to cover the costs of your clothing for your Amalfi Coast vacation. And if it said it would, then it should have. You could have appealed your case to one of the supervisors at Alitalia. I list their names, numbers and email addresses on my consumer-advocacy site: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/alitalia/.

The paper trail of correspondence between you and Alitalia is frustrating. It shows the airline promising two checks within five business days. When you ask about the second check, it revises its promise to one check in total. Perhaps something got lost in translation?

I contacted Alitalia on your behalf. The airline apologized and cut you a second check.

Advertisement

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of "How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler." You can read more travel tips on his blog, www.elliott.org, or email him at chris@elliott.org.
Life in Cook County Jail just got a little bit more like the college dorm experience, thanks to Sheriff Tom Dart.

Inmates in the jail's primarily medium-security Division 11 can now order piping hot pizza  delivered direct to their cells, according to the sheriff's office.

Advertisement

Cooked on-premises by their fellow inmates in the jail's own pizza oven, the pizzas cost between $5 for a plain margherita and $7 for a fancy "four seasons" pie, loaded up with mushrooms, soppressata (salami), olives and egg.

The sausage pizza is a favorite, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Cara Smith.

Advertisement

But "this isn't coddling the detainees," said Smith, who said the revenue generated from the pizza sales will support the jail's "Recipe for Change" program, run by chef Bruno Abate.

Chef Bruno, an Italian immigrant who owns the Wicker Park restaurant Tocco, teaches inmates skills they can use when they're released and looking for work. But he told the Tribune last year that his main goal was to improve inmates' self-esteem and love of food.

Looking for a way to ensure taxpayers aren't on the hook for the program, Dart originally planned to have Bruno's students sell pizzas to jail staff, but the jail guards "wanted nothing to do with anything made by detainees," Smith said.

So since April 20 pre-trial detainees in Division 11, which holds up to 1,536 men, have been able to use their commissary cash to buy six different kinds of pizza. As of Monday, 208 pies had been sold, Smith said.

Plans to start a food truck serving food cooked by inmates are still in the development stage, she added.

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimjnews
Area residents and neighbors pray for 17-month-old Semaj Crosby outside the house where she was found dead, in the 300 block of Louis Road Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Joliet. Semaj was reported missing Tuesday and was found dead inside the home about midnight Thursday. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

Whenever a child dies, it is troubling. But the death of 17-month-old Semaj Crosby, whose body was found underneath a couch in a filthy home in Joliet Township, is particularly disturbing.

It is a harsh reminder that even as America's economy strengthens, too many of our children still live in poverty. More than 15 million youngsters whose families are too poor to afford basic necessities, according to one estimate.

Advertisement

There is much we still don't know about Semaj's life or her death. She lived with her mother and her siblings in a rented house so squalid that officials in Joliet Township later declared it uninhabitable. There were piles of clothes everywhere, a stove that did not work, filthy carpets, garbage strewn about and roaches climbing the walls.

That was by no means acceptable, not by most standards, at least. But I wonder where else could they have gone? How many children have we seen with their mothers huddled under blankets in doorways along the Magnificent Mile?

Advertisement

Authorities called the residence a "squatters" house because people moved in and out. But it most likely was also a "family home," where relatives and friends stayed when they had nowhere else to go. That's often how poor people live.

Investigators have not yet determined how the toddler ended up under a couch that was flush to the floor with no legs. All they will say is that the death is "suspicious." Hours after Semaj was buried Friday, the house burned down early Saturday in a fire that officials say may have been deliberately set.

Questions also have been raised about whether child welfare workers who had contact with the family at least 16 times in the last year should have removed the children sooner. The decision to leave them with their mother, who was being investigated for neglect, was a judgment call that ended tragically, and someone should certainly be held accountable.

But I am struck by a statement George Sheldon, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, made during a state budget hearing in Springfield last week. When asked about Semaj's death, Sheldon said DCFS does not take children into state custody "because of a dirty house." He went on to say that it is often an indication of poverty, not a lack of love or care.

So in this case, the social worker who had visited the home just hours before Semaj was reported missing had asked the mother to clean up and assemble the bunk beds the agency had given the children. The caseworker had promised to follow up in three days.

On previous visits, caseworkers had provided cleaning supplies and a vacuum cleaner. Sometimes when a caseworker arrived for an unannounced visit, the mother would be in the midst of cleaning or would promise to do it later.

Sheldon was right, to an extent. Poverty isn't a legitimate reason for removing children from their home. There are many parents who do without things in order to provide for their children as best they can.

In such cases, families would be best served by support services such as helping them obtain permanent housing, employment and counseling, if necessary. Dropping off a vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies and bunk beds is not nearly enough.

Advertisement

There is also a more practical reason for leaving families intact. There is simply no place to put all the children who would be taken away because they are poor.

Nearly half of children in the United States live dangerously close to the poverty line, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

About 44 percent of children younger than 18  31.4 million  live in low-income households, according to the center. More than 21 percent  15.4 million  live in poverty. Both numbers have risen significantly since the 2008 recession.

Very young children such as Semaj are most at risk. Some 47 percent of children age 5 or younger live in low-income families, compared with 45 percent of children 6 to 11 years old.

By the time the questions surrounding Semaj's death are resolved, there likely will be plenty of blame to go around. While we are assigning fault, let's not overlook how poverty can create dangerous living situations that sometimes place vulnerable children at risk. Without addressing the poverty, everything else is a Band-Aid.

In this case, being poor did not cause Semaj's death. But it certainly contributed to it.

Advertisement

dglanton@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @dahleeng
Opinion / Columnist

"Afrobarometer, polled 1 200 adults in Zimbabwe's urban and rural areas in January and February. It discovered that more than half consider their personal living conditions to be "very bad" or "fairly bad", reported News24."But 64% of Zimbabweans surveyed said they still put their trust in Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980 and says he will stand in next year's polls."There is more trust in the president in rural areas (69%) than urban centres (55%)," Afrobarometer said in a press release to accompany the findings.I would readily believe Afrobarometer's finding if the researchers whom did the people believe would win the next elections.As long as Zanu PF has total control of the whole electoral process and has billions of dollars looted from Marange and Chiadzwa Diamond Fields to bankroll its vote rigging schemes; it is inconceivable that the party will rig the vote and lose the elections.The truth is Zimbabwe's opposition politicians have themselves resigned to the reality of Zanu PF rigging the elections. Of course, they will never publicly admit that they are resigned to Zanu PF rigging elections. And so, with each election Tsvangirai and company have had to put up a brace face, tell the public all manner of lies to justify why they are going to win regardless of the vote rigging. This time the lies are wafer thin, most Zimbabweans are not fooled, they can see right through them!After nearly two decades of Tsvangirai and company promising to bring democratic change and having nothing to show for it, it is easy to see why most Zimbabweans have rightly lost confidence in this opposition. During the 2008 to 2013 GNU MDC leaders had the golden opportunity to implement the necessary democratic reforms to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. They failed to get even one reform implemented. They lied when the promised the people the 2013 elections will be free and fair as Tsvangirai himself has since readily admitted that Zanu PF "stole" the elections.After the rigged July 2013 elections Tsvangirai & co. admitted they had made a serious mistake of contesting the elections with no reforms. They told the nation they would never again contest any future elections until the reforms are implemented.Zanu PF leaders like Professor Jonathan Moyo and VP Mnangagwa have made it clear that "Zanu PF will never reform itself out of power".The right to free, fair and credible elections is not a privilege to be given to some and denied to others. Zanu PF's past record of failing to hold free and fair elections is per se a serious human rights violation and the restitution of this basic and fundamental right is therefore a constitutional and moral imperative.Implementing all the democratic reforms to restore the individual freedoms and rights, including the right to a meaningful vote and the right to life itself is constitutional and moral imperative. As such, implementing the reforms is not subject to negotiation or compromise not certainly not subject to Zanu PF's dictatorial whim!Frankly, if Tsvangirai & co. were not so corrupt and incompetent, one expected them to implement the democratic reforms during the GNU when SADC had President Mugabe in the sin-bin. After wasting five years of the GNU Tsvangirai & co. had the opportunity to redeem themselves in the dying months of the GNU by boycotting the flawed elections to force the implementation of the reforms, as David Coltart rightly noted in his book."The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious  withdraw from the elections," explained former MDC Minister and Senator in the GNU, David Coltart."The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."If the case for boycotting the elections to force the implementing of the reforms was "obvious" in 2013 it is a moral imperative today. Tsvangirai and company have no excuse for discarding their own "No reform, no elections!" party resolutions. None, other than same feeble 2013 excuse of fighting over the scraps Zanu PF throws at the opposition to entice them to contest the flawed elections.Of course, the people of Zimbabwe are not going to risk life and limp to elect an opposition whose sole ambition is the bragging rights to being the country's main opposition party.Zimbabwe's political and economic situation is now more desperate than ever; unemployment has soared to 90%; basic services like health, education, water and electricity supply have all but collapsed; etc. Millions of Zimbabweans now live in abject poverty; the kind that kills because they cannot afford decent a meal, medicine, etc."We don't like bond notes but we do trust Mugabe," Zimbabweans said, according to Afrobarometer report.The people "trust Mugabe"; what is there for them to trust in the tyrant? There is not even one Zimbabwean out there who does not know that the country is in a serious, serious economic and political mess. The people do not like bond notes but they are the ones spending hours queuing at the bank for a misery 50 bond notes! They are stuck with the bond notes; whether they like them or not is academic!"We are not a poor country and we can't be a fragile country. I can call America fragile  they went on their knees to China," President Mugabe told a forum in SA last week. "Zimbabwe is the most highly developed country in Africa after South Africa."So not only is President Mugabe in denial of Zimbabwe's economic plight and thus denying responsibility for the economic meltdown but, worst of all, he is doing nothing about it. The people of Zimbabwe are in this economic and political mess because, for the last 37 years, the nation has been stuck with the corrupt and murderous tyrant, Robert Gabriel Mugabe.The only way the people of Zimbabwe are going to end President Mugabe's tyrannical rule and thus end the economic and political crisis gripping the nation, is by standing firm in demanding the implementation of all the democratic reforms BEFORE the next elections. There is no other way out!The people are desperate for meaningful democratic change and many of them now know that Tsvangirai will never deliver that change. NEVER EVER! The people "trust Mugabe!"; yeah right! Since when has "stuck" become synonymous with trust!
Part of a memorial on the 2500 block of West 46th Place in the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago on May 8, 2017, near the site where two people were killed and eight others were wounded at a memorial for another shooting victim. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

The young woman in black with hot pink hair stood at the curb at 46th Place and Rockwell.

It is not a place of sanctuary. It is a place of death, one of many such places in Chicago's street gang wars, and she was marking it again.

Advertisement

She knelt down, sobbed, covering her face with her left hand, using her right to begin reconstructing a shrine to a dead gangster. She fished into the gutter and pulled out a stem of a broken rose. She plucked up handfuls of torn red rose petals from the gutter and put these on the curb too. She also put three candles, two rosaries and a mini bottle of tequila on the curb.

She said someone had already dismantled a makeshift shrine that had been there the day before, where 10 people were shot Sunday, two of them killed.

Advertisement

"I was going to take it down there where there's a Virgin (statue)," she said, waving the back of her hand north on Rockwell. "But they don't give a s---. They threw his s--- away."

Chicago police drove by and a cop begged her to leave "before you get yourself killed."

"We don't need any more people killed here," said the officer.

"I don't want you killed," he said. "I understand you've got to grieve. I'll wait. But you'll have to go."

He sat in his squad car, waiting, and she waved him away, sobbing, curling up on that curb, hugging herself with tattooed arms.

It is from this place of death that the life of Ald. Ray Lopez, 15th, was threatened by the street gangs the other day for telling an inconvenient truth: that the only innocents are the decent families in the neighborhood and their children who walk past the gang shrines on the way to school.

"The gangs aren't innocent," Lopez told me. "They put out their shrines, they try to recruit children and they kill. The neighbors know how bad it is, but I really don't think Chicago knows how bad it is."

It is an intergenerational problem, of grandfathers and fathers and sons and mothers and daughters wearing their gang colors. And it is woven into the history of Chicago politics, where for more than a century street gangs have been political muscle for the Democratic Party.

Advertisement

Symbolic politics take place elsewhere, in the media world, in the Twittersphere, with much snarkiness and virtue signaling. It is in this media world where Mayor Rahm Emanuel scores points for mocking President Donald Trump on immigration and sanctuary city policies.

Emanuel has problems with black voters  the trial of a white cop in the killing of black teenager Laquan McDonald is coming up, and the mayor's disastrous handling of it all will be resurrected.

So Emanuel pivots and becomes Mayor Zorro, championing Latino causes, seeking re-election by thumping his Trump pinata.

But the mayor wasn't at that corner of 46th Place and Rockwell. It is far from his politics. I didn't see any pinatas there.

And no sanctuary, either, just a woman on a curb, trying to grab her breath on a quiet morning as police guarded her.

In other countries, say, on the side of a bad mountain road, the places of death are marked with white crosses, and you can see them from miles off, stretching along the hillsides below.

Advertisement

But on 46th Place, you turn the corner and hear the sobs and there she is, with her candles and the broken rose.

If you've been following the news, you know about that place of death on 46th Place and Rockwell.

A 26-year-old gang-banger, Daniel Cordova, a reputed member of the Satan's Disciples, was killed there early Sunday morning. He'd put up video on Facebook, taunting other gangs, bragging that he planned to stay out all night in his car.

He posted it around 3 a.m. Authorities say the Almighty Saints found him a half-hour later and shot him to death.

That afternoon, on that spot, at a makeshift shrine to Cordova, a crowd including his friends and family and Satan's Disciples, gathered to pay their respects, with their flowers and their candles and the mini tequilas and other markings of street dead.

A van pulled up. Two men got out and started shooting with rifles, police said. Eight people were shot and wounded and two more were shot and killed: Cordova's friends, Adriana Williams and her brother Michael, were dead.

Advertisement

That evening, Ald. Lopez stood with neighbors and cops and said something most aldermen in gang-infested communities don't dare say after killings at gang shrines.

He said that "no innocent lives were lost." And immediately came those death threats. And now he has police guarding his home.

"We had a meeting Monday night right there at that place," he told me. "Some of them got angry. But you know something? Some of the neighbors stood up to them and said their kids could have been killed. That's what's required here. The neighbors have to stand up."

But Chicago's hot summer hasn't even hit yet. It's still cool. And there will be more gang shrines, and other women with their candles.

I remember the woman with pink hair this way: trying to put that broken rose back together, putting handfuls of torn rose petals on the curb, patting them with her fingertips, touching the rosaries and the candles and the mini tequila again and again with the cop idling in his car.

And then she gathered them up and walked away.

Advertisement

Listen to "The Chicago Way" podcast, with John Kass and Jeff Carlin, at www.wgnradio.com/category/wgn-plus/category/thechicagoway.

jskass@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @John_Kass
Chicago police are searching for a 75-year-old woman who was last seen May 8, 2017, on the Southwest Side. (Chicago Police Department)

Chicago police are searching for an elderly woman who has dementia and was reported missing Monday afternoon in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Bettye Jackson, 75, was last seen about 5:30 p.m. Monday in the 6600 block of South California Avenue, according to a police news release.

Advertisement

She is described as a black woman who is 5-foot-8, 165 pounds and has red hair, according to the release. She was wearing a blue hat, blue jacket, jeans and brown shoes.

Anyone with information about Jackson's whereabouts is asked to call Area Central Special Victims Unit at 312-747-8385.
Schaumburg police are asking the public to assist in their search for a missing 27-year-old college student.

Sheila Khalili is a resident of Schaumburg and attends Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.

Advertisement

She was reported missing after failing to return to her parents' house in Schaumburg on Friday, Schaumburg Sgt. Christy Lindhurst said.

Police said Tuesday the case is still an "ongoing investigation."

Advertisement

Khalili is described as being 5 feet 2 inches tall and 175 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair. She drives a 2016 white Toyota Corolla with the Illinois license plate Z750932.

Schaumburg police ask anyone who sees Khalili or her car to call 911. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Schaumburg Police Department Investigations unit at 847-882-3534.

Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelance reporter.
Demond Coffee, 28, shown in a 2015 Cook County sheriff's office booking mug, was arrested on charges of possessing a gun that was used to kill 7-year-old Amari Brown in July 2015. (Cook County sheriff's office)

A reputed Chicago gang member on the verge of trial has pleaded guilty to a charge of illegally carrying a handgun linked to the shootings of two children, including the high-profile slaying of 7-year-old Amari Brown on the Fourth of July 2015.

Demond Coffee, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon Monday, the day his bench trial had been scheduled to begin before U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo, court records show.

Advertisement

In his seven-page plea declaration, Coffee, an alleged member of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang, did not admit to having any knowledge of the violence tied to the blue steel semiautomatic pistol he was carrying at the time of his August 2015 arrest.

While preliminary sentencing guidelines call for about a year and a half in prison for Coffee, the plea declaration said prosecutors would likely argue other factors that "would substantially increase the sentencing range." The charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Advertisement

The Chicago Tribune first wrote about the connection between Coffee's gun and Amari's shooting in a front page story in March 2016 after federal prosecutors used gun tracing information to argue that Coffee should remain locked up as a danger to the community while awaiting trial.

Prosecutors alleged at a detention hearing that in addition to Amari's killing, the weapon had been used in another shooting just five weeks later that left a 15-year-old boy wounded.

While Coffee has not been accused in either shooting, prosecutors argued that because the crimes had taken place just weeks before Coffee's arrest, it was very likely he had been in contact with those responsible.

Coffee's attorney, Beau Brindley, did not immediately respond to a call for comment Tuesday.

Amari was shot and killed on July 4, 2015, just before midnight in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. The 7-year-old was outside a relative's home watching fireworks with his father and others when shots rang out, fatally striking Amari in the chest and wounding a woman who was standing next to him.

The day after the shooting, then-Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy publicly chided Amari's father, alleging that he had been the target and his gang ties were what led to his son's slaying. The father had been arrested dozens of times and was also a reputed member of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang.

Rasheed Martin, 21, was charged with first-degree murder in Amari's shooting in July 2015 and is being held without bail in Cook County Jail pending trial, records show. In April 2016, a second man, Jamal Joiner, was also charged in Amari's killing, records show.

On Aug. 7, just over a week after Martin's bond court appearance, the same Glock pistol used to kill Amari was used to shoot a 15-year-old boy in the Homan Square neighborhood on the West Side, authorities said. The victim was standing on the sidewalk when an occupant in a passing dark-colored sedan shot him in the abdomen, arm and hip, police said. A friend took him to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

Advertisement

Court records show no one has been charged in that shooting.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Coffee was arrested Aug. 17, 2015, after officers responding to a call of a person with a gun approached him and another man as they stood near a West Side elementary school, according to the police arrest report.

The men ran in different directions, and during the chase, Coffee threw a gun into a yard on West Wilcox Street, according to the report. Police recovered the gun  which was loaded with 15 live rounds, including one in the chamber  as well as about $1,900 in cash that Coffee had on him, all in small bills. A drug-sniffing dog detected the "scent of narcotics" on the money, the report stated.

When police inventoried the Glock, a trace of the serial number revealed it had been reported stolen that April from Indianapolis, the arrest report stated.

Court records show Coffee has a long rap sheet, including weapons offenses, but no history of violent crimes. In 2011, he was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon and given probation, records show. That was followed by convictions for fleeing and eluding police and unlawfully possessing a handgun by a felon, netting him a sentence of three years in prison, authorities said.

Most recently, Coffee was charged in 2014 with marijuana possession in Berwyn, authorities said. He pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to time served.

Advertisement

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jmetr22b
Chicago police are searching for a man who performed a sexual act in front of a 14-year-old girl walking home from a Northwest Side school in the Albany Park neighborhood Monday afternoon.

About 4:30 p.m., the girl was walking near Sacramento Avenue and Gunnison Street when a man about 30 years old approached her in his black vehicle, according to a police news release. He asked the girl to look at something he was holding. When the girl leaned in to look, she saw that the man was not wearing pants and was performing a sexual act, according to the release.

Advertisement

The girl ran away, and the man was last seen heading south on Sacramento.

The man is described as Hispanic with short black hair and a patchy beard, according to the release. He was wearing a blue and white short-sleeved collared shirt.

Advertisement

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Area North Detectives at 312-744-8261.
Between 40 and 50 people have joined the search for a 23-year-old River Forest native who went missing last week in Montana following a hike in the Great Bear Wilderness, according to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry.

Authorities in Montana are attempting to locate Madeline Connelly, 23. She had planned to spend a night camping with her dog, Mogi, following her hike May 4, but she hasn't been seen since. The Flathead County sheriff's office said her car was found two days later at the Bear Creek trail head, but it said a ground and air search had turned up nothing else.

Advertisement

Curry said the search area encompasses more than 40 square miles of difficult terrain.

"We're very mountainous here, and there's still snow at the higher elevations," Curry said. "This is a remote area that is, where the trail head is, on the edge of a designated wilderness area, so it's even more remote than normal. It's very steep terrain, heavily wooded and kind of in the middle of nowhere."

Advertisement

If still mobile, Curry said Connelly could have realistically hiked several miles since she was last seen. He said nothing to date would lead them to believe the search is a recovery mission.

"We're continuing to evaluate our search," Curry said. "At this point, we have no plans on scaling it back, but we'll continue to re-evaluate that as it goes on."

Family and friends gathered Monday at St. Luke Catholic Church in River Forest to pray for Connelly. She is a 2012 graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, school officials confirmed.

Laura Maychruk was one of the many who attended the service at St. Luke and said she has known the family since they moved next door to the Connellys 12 years ago.

"She loves animals, is super kind, super sweet, super caring, compassionate, thoughtful and really sensitive to people's needs," Maychruk said. "She's a really great girl."

Maychruk said the mood at the church was positive and upbeat, as everyone is hopeful for Connelly's safe return.

"It was packed," Maychruk said. "Every seat was taken, and there were people standing in the back. The (authorities) haven't had any reason to believe something has happened, so we're staying positive."

Connelly, the oldest of four daughters, is described by those close to her as an outdoor enthusiast. She had stopped in Montana on her way to Alaska, where she was going to take a job running a bakery.

Advertisement

"We have all the faith in the world," said her aunt, Elaine Cinkay Connelly. "She has done more things in her life than we have collectively as a family."

Madeline Connelly, originally of west suburban River Forest, was found safe after going missing for several days in the Montana wilderness. She is pictured with her dog Mogi. (Flathead County sheriff's office)

Last week, Madeline Connelly parked her car near the town of Essex and went for a hike, planning to spend one night camping out, her family said. Connelly had no known travel plans or itinerary when she left, authorities said.

Search and rescue teams found footprints from Connelly and her dog, as well as bear tracks, but the sheriff's office said there was no evidence of a bear encounter.

Anyone with information about Connelly should contact the Flathead County sheriff's office at 406-758-5610.

WGN-TV contributed.

sschering@pioneerlocal.com

Advertisement

Twitter @steveschering
Alderman Raymond Lopez at City Hall talks about police issuing him protection after what they termed "credible threats" against him from gang members. (John Byrne / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

The Southwest Side alderman who's under police protection after being threatened by gang members is standing by his statement that "no innocent lives were lost" in a Brighton Park mass shooting and says he will continue to speak out against the violence plaguing his ward.

Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, said the Chicago Police Department posted officers at his home, office "and when I'm out in public if it's something that needs to be there" after what officials termed "credible threats" from gang members.

Advertisement

"We'll be discussing how much longer this additional support is required, but I know that's not going to stop me from doing my job, being out in the community," Lopez said at City Hall Tuesday.

The alderman made his "no innocent lives were lost" comment Sunday night after two people were killed and eight others wounded when two masked gunmen with rifles opened fire on a group congregating at a makeshift memorial for a man who had been slain in an earlier shooting.

Advertisement

Asked Tuesday whether his remark prompted the gang threats, Lopez said it's not important how gang members react to his comments. He said he doesn't regret what he said.

Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th Ward, talks during a press conference down the street from where 10 people were shot, two killed and eight wounded, at the 2600 block of West 46th Place on May 7, 2017, in the Brighton Park neighborhood. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)

"However my comment is taken, the point remains we have people who are willing to kill indiscriminately to maintain this culture of gang violence and retaliatory warfare in our communities," Lopez said. "Standing up against that is what brought this on; not remaining silent is what brought this on."

"(Police) will continue to monitor the situation, but in the meantime I'm just going to continue doing what I have done since I was elected, which is to stand up for my communities and fight back against the gang and gun violence that has been plaguing them for decades," he said.

Daniel Cordova, who police said had gang affiliations, was found fatally shot at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday near 46th Place and Rockwell Street. Later that day, a crowd had congregated at a memorial for Cordova near where he was shot when two masked gunmen emerged from an alley and opened fire on the group with rifles. Killed were siblings Adriana Williams and Michael Williams, and police said the brother had gang affiliations.

Chicago police Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro, Deputy Chief Kevin Ryan and 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez speak at the scene of a shooting that left two people dead and eight wounded in Brighton Park on May 7, 2017. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

That evening, Lopez spoke at a news conference with police officials on the scene. "I am thankful today that no innocent lives were lost," Lopez said then. "No children were shot; no police officers were shot."

By Monday, police were providing Lopez with a security detail, according to a law enforcement source who indicated the alderman had received threats.

On Tuesday, Lopez mentioned that gang members previously have threatened him on social media when he took steps to crack down on them in the Southwest Side ward, which also includes parts of Back of the Yards, Gage Park and West Englewood.

jebyrne@chicagotribune.com

Advertisement

Twitter @_johnbyrne
The ping-pong game of elections in the North Shore between Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider and former Republican Rep. Bob Dold is over.

Dold has decided not to seek election in 2018 to the 10th Congressional District, aides familiar with his decision said privately.

Advertisement

"Serving as a strong, independent voice for the 10th District has been one of the greatest honors of Bob's life. Commitment to public service will remain a top personal priority for him, but after deep consideration with his family, Bob has decided not to run for Congress in 2018," Danielle Hagen, the former congressman's spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The district has been one of Illinois' most competitive in the last few elections, heavily pursued by both parties and attracting national interest. Dold won election to the seat in 2010 but was defeated by Schneider in 2012. Dold again won the office by defeating Schneider in 2014, but Schneider took back the seat by beating Dold in 2016.

Advertisement

That doesn't mean Republicans are walking away, though. On Tuesday, Jeremy Wynes, 37, an attorney from Highland Park, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. He served for seven years as Midwest regional director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee before moving in 2014 to head up a Chicago office for the Republican Jewish Coalition.

In an announcement, Wynes said in his previous roles he spent time "working with lawmakers of both parties for positive foreign policy outcomes, like pursuing a stronger relationship with Israel, and, critically, pushing for crippling sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Wynes described himself as a social moderate and as being "fiscally responsible" and said he would work to overhaul the tax code, reduce regulatory burdens on business, take a lead on foreign policy to defeat terrorism and seek "affordable education from cradle to career."

"You and I live in a place unlike any other in American politics. It's a true swing district  one of the few in America traded back and forth between a different Republican or a Democrat every election year this decade," he says in an announcement video.

"We need bold independent leaders (in Washington) who will never let party politics dictate how we react when our security and that of our allies is at stake," Wynes says.

James Slepian, who oversaw Dold's campaigns, produced Wynes' announcement video. Working as consultants on the campaign are two former top aides to Gov. Bruce Rauner: his 2014 campaign manager Chip Englander and former top spokesman Mike Schrimpf.

Wynes was born and raised in the Quad Cities, graduated from Illinois State University and got his law degree from DePaul University.

Rap30@aol.com

Advertisement

Twitter @Rap30
President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, dramatically ousting the nation's top law enforcement official in the midst of an FBI investigation into whether Trump's campaign had ties to Russia's meddling in the election that sent him to the White House.

In a letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore "public trust and confidence" in the FBI. Comey has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his public comments on an investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's email practices, including a pair of letters he sent to Congress on the matter in the closing days of last year's campaign.

Trump made no mention of Comey's role in the Clinton investigation, which she has blamed in part for the election result. But in announcing the firing, the White House circulated a scathing memo, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton probe, including the director's decision to hold a news conference announcing its findings and releasing "derogatory information" about Clinton.

Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the bureau's Trump-Russia probe, Rosenstein has been in charge.

This is only the second firing of an FBI director in history. President Bill Clinton dismissed William Sessions amid allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.

Comey, who was in Los Angeles to speak at an FBI recruiting event, boarded his plane and headed back to Washington instead.

Democrats slammed Trump's action, comparing it to President Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre" decision to fire the independent special prosecutor overseeing the Watergate investigation in 1973, which prompted the resignations of the Justice Department's top two officials.

"This is Nixonian," Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., declared on Twitter. "Outrageous," said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, calling for Comey to immediately be summoned to testify to Congress about the status of the Trump-Russia investigation. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the White House was "brazenly interfering" in the probe.

WASHINGTON  Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he told Trump he was making a "very big mistake."

"Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?" Schumer asked. "They fired Director Comey, the very man leading the investigation. ... This does not seem to be a coincidence."

Advertisement

Schumer and others said the Justice Department should now appoint an independent special prosecutor for the Russia inquiry.

Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Congress must form a special committee to investigate Russia's interference in the election.

Sen. Richard M. Burr, a typically genteel North Carolina Republican and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said he was "troubled by the timing and reasoning" of Trump's firing of Comey.

In an unusually forceful statement, Burr said Comey's firing "confuses an already difficult investigation" and is "a loss" for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the nation.

Democrats expressed deep skepticism about the stated reasons for Tuesday's firing, raising the prospect of a White House effort to stymie the investigations by the FBI and congressional panels.

Trump will now appoint Comey's successor. The White House said the search for a replacement was beginning immediately. Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, takes over in the interim.

Trump has ridiculed the investigations as a "hoax" and has denied that his campaign was involved in Russia's meddling. In his letter to Comey, he asserted that the FBI director had informed him "on three separate occasions that I am not under investigation."

Tuesday's stunning announcement came shortly after the FBI corrected aspects of Comey's sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week. Comey told lawmakers that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent "hundreds and thousands" of emails to her husband's laptop, including some with classified information.

On Tuesday, the FBI told the Senate Judiciary Committee that only "a small number" of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

Some lawmakers did welcome news of the dismissal.

"Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well," said Republican Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating the Russian campaign interference.

Comey, 56, was nominated by President Barack Obama for the FBI post in 2013 to a 10-year term, though that appointment does not ensure a director will serve the full term.

Praised frequently by both parties for his independence and integrity, Comey has spent three decades in law enforcement.

But his prominent role in the 2016 presidential campaign raised questions about his judgment and impartiality. Though the FBI did not recommend charges against Clinton for mishandling classified information, Comey was blisteringly critical of her decision to use a personal email account and private internet server during her four years as secretary of state.

Comey strongly defended his decisions during the hearing last week. He said he was "mildly nauseous" at the thought of having swayed the election but also said he would do the same again.

Clinton has partially blamed her loss on Comey's disclosure to Congress less than two weeks before Election Day that the email investigation would be revisited. Comey later said the FBI, again, had found no reason to bring any charges.

Trump disagreed with Clinton's assessment, tweeting 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!"

Clinton's advisers were stunned by Trump's decision Tuesday. Former campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said that while he believed Comey had "inflicted severe damage" on the FBI, "the timing and manner of this firing suggest that it is the product of Donald Trump feeling the heat on the ongoing Russia investigation and not a well thought out response to the inappropriate handling of the Clinton investigation."

Though Comey was well-liked within the bureau, his independent streak occasionally rankled the Obama administration, including his repeated contention that a spike in violent crime might be linked to police officer anxiety over public scrutiny.

Before the past months' controversies, Comey, a former deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, was perhaps best known for a remarkable 2004 standoff with top officials over a federal domestic surveillance program.

In March of that year, Comey rushed to the hospital bed of Attorney General John Ashcroft to physically stop White House officials in their bid to get his ailing boss to reauthorize a secret no-warrant wiretapping program.

Comey described the incident in 2007 testimony to Congress, explaining that he believed the spy program put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks was legally questionable.

When he learned that Andrew Card, the president's chief of staff, and Alberto Gonzales, the White House counsel, were heading to Ashcroft's hospital room despite Ashcroft's wife's instructions that there be no visitors, Comey told Congress, Comey beat them there and watched as Ashcroft turned them away.

"That night was probably the most difficult night of my professional life," Comey said.

Los Angles Times reporter Lisa Mascaro and AP writers Darlene Superville, Ken Thomas, Vivian Salama, Catherine Lucey and Sadie Gurman contributed to this report.
SEOUL, South Korea  New South Korean President Moon Jae-in said as he took office Wednesday that he is open to visiting rival North Korea under the right conditions to talk about its aggressive pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles.

Moon's softer stance on North Korea could create friction with Washington, which has swung from threats of military action to hints of dialogue as it seeks to formulate a policy under President Donald Trump.

Advertisement

South Korea's first liberal leader in a decade, Moon also said he'll "sincerely negotiate" with the United States, Seoul's top ally, and China, South Korea's top trading partner, over the contentious deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system in southern South Korea. The system has angered Beijing, which says its powerful radars allow Washington to spy on its own military operations.

In a speech at the National Assembly, Moon pledged to work for peace on the Korean Peninsula amid growing worry over the North's expanding nuclear weapons and missiles program.

Advertisement

"I will quickly move to solve the crisis in national security. I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula  if needed, I will fly immediately to Washington. I will go to Beijing and I will go to Tokyo. If the conditions shape up, I will go to Pyongyang," Moon said.

Moon assumed presidential duties early in the morning after the National Election Commission finished counting Tuesday's votes and declared him winner of the special election necessitated by the ousting of conservative Park Geun-hye, whose downfall and jailing on corruption charges is one of the most turbulent stretches in the nation's recent political history.

At his first news conference at the presidential Blue House, Moon introduced his nominees for prime minister, the country's spy chief and his presidential chief of staff. The usual circumstances of the election and immediate transition into office meant Moon inherited several officials from Park's government, and he has moved quickly to replace them.

The nomination of Lee Nak-yon as prime minister was seen as an attempt to get more support from the southwestern liberal stronghold where Lee had served as governor and lawmaker. Lawmakers must approve Lee for the country's No. 2 job, which was largely a ceremonial post before Park's removal made current Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn a government caretaker.

Moon's pick for National Intelligence Service chief is Suh Hoon, a longtime intelligence official Moon said would be the right man to push reforms at NIS, which has long been accused of meddling in domestic politics. The NIS nomination does not require lawmakers' approval, although Suh must first go through a National Assembly hearing.

Talking to reporters, Suh endorsed Moon's call for a summit meeting with North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, although saying it would be difficult for such a meeting to take place soon, considering the tension over the North's nuclear program.

"The talk about a South-North summit is a little premature, but regardless of that, there's a need for a summit meeting," Suh said. "If conditions ripen and provide opportunities to significantly lower military tension in the Korean Peninsula and open a path toward solving the North Korean nuclear problem, which is the most urgent threat to our security, then I think (Moon) will be able to go to Pyongyang."

In his earlier speech at the National Assembly, Moon thanked the millions of South Koreans who peacefully protested for months seeking the ouster of Park, who was impeached and arrested in March and faces a trial later this month that could send her to prison for life if she is convicted. Moon also offered a message of unity to his political rivals  Moon's Democratic Party has only 120 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly, so he may need broader support while pushing his key policies.

Advertisement

"Politics were turbulent (in the past several months), but our people showed greatness," Moon said.

"In face of the impeachment and arrest of an incumbent president, our people opened the path toward the future for the Republic of Korea," said Moon, referring to South Korea's formal name. To his rivals, Moon said, "We are partners who must lead a new Republic of Korea. We must put the days of fierce competition behind and hold hands marching forward."

Moon began his duties earlier in the day by receiving a briefing about North Korea from Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he visited a national cemetery in Seoul where he wrote in a visitor book: "A country worth being proud of; a strong and reliable president!"

The leaders of China, Japan and other countries sent their congratulations. South Korea's relations with Japan are strained by the Japanese military's sexual exploitation of South Korean women during World War II, and relations with China have been irritated over the THAAD anti-missile system deployment. Moon made a campaign vow to reconsider THAAD.

Associated Press writer Foster Klug contributed to this report.
Opinion / Letters

If you want to share your opinion on this matter please send your message via email or WhatsApp.

Email: editor@bulawayo24.com

WhatsApp: +447496478384

The Editor,I would like to refer to an article in Byo24 by a cop titled " Cop exposes serious extortion in Zimbabwe police force ". I am a cop myself.I totally agree with the cop. All that he said is very true and is not taking place at Depots only but in every police establishment.The Commissioner General of Police Chihuri is aware of that and seems to be supporting it.The reason why I say so is because so many articles of such nature have been appearing in newspapers but no action is being taken to address it.The police bosses must know that failing to address the concerns of the juniors has serious consequences for example these juniors resort to corruption in order to sustain their families.I would like to urge the Head of state to intervene because the disgruntled cops are likely to hate the government of the day and as a result may end up supporting opposition parties.YoursZRP Officer
Protesters hold signs and march outside the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on May 8, 2017. The court will examine a ruling that blocks the administration from temporarily barring new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It's the first time an appeals court will hear arguments on the revised travel ban, which is likely destined for the U.S. Supreme Court. (Steve Helber / AP)

RICHMOND, Va.  A challenge to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that the Republican's past anti-Muslim statements can be used against him.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled Monday with whether the court should look beyond the text of the executive order to comments made by Trump and his aides on the campaign trail and after his election in order to determine whether the policy illegally targets Muslims.

Advertisement

"That's the most important issue in the whole case," said Judge Robert King, who was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton.

The panel of 13 judges peppered both sides with tough questions but gave few clues as to how they might rule. The judges did not immediately issue a decision on Monday.

Advertisement

A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the travel ban in March cited Trump's comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of his repeated promise to bar Muslims from entering the country.

The administration argues that the court shouldn't question the president's national security decisions based on campaign promises.

"This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion," Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told the appeals court.

The countries were chosen because they present terrorism risks and the ban applies to everyone in those countries regardless of religion, Wall said. Further, the banned countries represent a small fraction of the world's Muslim-majority nations, lawyers for the administration say.

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that Trump's call for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S. remained on his campaign website even after he took office. That call, which was still online earlier Monday, appeared to have been taken down by the afternoon hearing.

Jadwat claims the administration has failed to provide a legitimate national security reason for the policy.

"The order is completely unprecedented in our nation's history," Jadwat said.

Several judges expressed skepticism about the idea that the court would blind itself to Trump's comments about Muslims.

Advertisement

"Don't we get to consider what was actually said here and said very explicitly?" asked Judge James Wynn Jr., who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Another judge said he was worried about the idea of a court opening the door to using a president's past to evaluate the constitutionality of a policy.

"Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to businessmen 20 years ago?" asked Judge Paul Niemeyer, who was tapped by President George H.W. Bush.

The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours.

After a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused in February to let the travel ban take effect, the administration tweaked the order and issued a new one.

The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas. It removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries.

Advertisement

But critics said while the new executive order impacts fewer people, it remains a realization of Trump's promised Muslim ban and cannot stand.

The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center brought the case on behalf of several organizations, as well as people who live in the U.S. and fear the executive order will prevent them from being reunited with family members from the banned countries.

Elite universities, democratic attorneys general and former foreign policy and national security officials like ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called on the court to block the travel ban.

Meanwhile, a group of 12 state attorneys general and the governor of Mississippi argued that the action is not a "pretext for religious discrimination" and should be allowed to take effect.

Attorneys for the president likely see the moderate 4th Circuit as friendlier territory than the 9th Circuit, which conservatives have long accused of being too liberal. Three 9th Circuit judges appointed by Clinton are scheduled to hear a more-sweeping challenge to Trump's revised travel ban next week.

While the 4th Circuit was long considered one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country, it moved to the center under Obama, who appointed six of the 15 active judges.

Advertisement

Two Republican-appointed judges  Judge Allyson Duncan and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III  didn't hear the travel ban case. Wilkinson's daughter is married to the acting solicitor general. It was not immediately clear why Duncan was recused.

Associated Press reporter Sarah Rankin contributed to this report.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump make their way across the South Lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 2017. (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images)

Coming on top of months of revelations of China-related conflicts involving President Donald Trump and his relatives, reports that Jared Kushner's family used his position to solicit Chinese investors were a tipping point. The president's son-in-law and daughter Ivanka Trump should now broadly recuse themselves from working on China-related issues.

According to media reports, Kushner's sister pitched a roomful of Chinese investors to participate in the EB-5 visa program and qualify for a path to U.S. citizenship by investing at least $500,000 in a New Jersey real estate project, Kushner 1. The proposal reportedly included dropping Jared Kushner's name, alluding to his administration role and noting that the president will be a key decision-maker about the future of the controversial visa program. The implications were unmistakable; one Chinese investor who attended told a reporter that the Kushners' proximity to the president was a key part of the project's appeal.

Advertisement

This sales pitch is clearly unacceptable. The family business should not benefit from Jared Kushner's name and position as assistant to the president. Moreover, while it's not clear whether Kushner had any knowledge of or involvement in this conduct, he retains a financial interest in many family businesses. Thus, he stands to benefit when the company trades on his name. Kushner's lawyers assert that he sold his interests in this particular project to a trust of which he is not a beneficiary  although we know of no reason he couldn't be reinstated as a beneficiary in the future.

Kushner and his wife have in the past said they will comply with all ethics rules. If so, as a starting point, Kushner must immediately take steps to ensure that businesses with which he is or has been associated refrain from using his position to promote investments. In fact, no Trump or Kushner companies should utilize the EB-5 program; the possibility for the appearance of improper influence, and perhaps worse, is too great. Kushner also initially indicated that he would recuse himself from "particular matters" involving the EB-5 program, but under pressure this weekend appeared to be stepping back more broadly from participating in any issues related to that program  a welcome development.

Advertisement

But given the complex ties at issue here, and the events of the past several months, that is not enough. Other ties and negotiations between Kushner companies and China have emerged in recent months, and under federal ethics rules, these interests must be considered together with those of Ivanka Trump, also a senior presidential adviser. Ivanka Trump's companies, in which she retains ownership interests, do business in China, and she was recently granted provisional approval for valuable trademarks by China just as she was engaged in high-level contacts with Chinese leaders.

These involvements raise profound questions about whether the couple should more broadly recuse themselves within the area of China policy. There can be little doubt now that both Kushner and Trump face at least the appearance of a conflict  indeed, of multiple conflicts  when it comes to China policy, particularly on issues of trade, investment and immigration.

As one of the president's most trusted advisers, Kushner has a much broader and more fluid portfolio than most other administration officials. Kushner's situation is vastly different than that of former Obama administration secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, who was permitted to retain her interests in a publicly traded hotel company that has properties in China. Compared with Pritzker's situation, involving a company that was required to file public documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, there is much less transparency into Kushner or his family's privately held business investors and lenders, or the degree to which these businesses are leveraged, at the same time that his influence within the administration appears unparalleled.

This is far more than a technical issue about the scope of ethics rules. We now face core questions about whether administration decisions relating to an important  perhaps the most important  foreign power are being made based on the interests of the country and the American people, or based on the business interests of senior officials.

Of course, we already had that concern with the president himself, who has refused to divest from ownership of his global web of business interests. With regard to China specifically, the president has also received valuable trademarks from the Chinese government, including one that the government had denied for a decade but granted after Trump switched course and reaffirmed the one-China policy. In addition, a bank owned by the government of China is a major tenant in Trump Tower in New York.

Can the president, Kushner and Ivanka Trump be trusted to protect American jobs from flowing to China or to pressure China if necessary in containing North Korea, or act appropriately on any of the other difficult issues that will arise with respect to China when these vast conflicts of interest persist?

It is well past time for this administration to begin drawing real and meaningful lines to avoid catastrophic conflicts of interest. The latest reports make it is even more important that Kushner and Ivanka Trump step forward and do the right thing. A broad recusal on China policy would be a good  and essential  start.

Washington Post

Advertisement

Eisen is the chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and served as chief White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama. Bookbinder is executive director of CREW and a former federal corruption prosecutor.
President Donald Trump congratulates House Republicans after they passed legislation aimed at repealing and replacing ObamaCare, during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House, on May 4, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

For all the fireworks of the French election, please note that Marine Le Pen gave a simple elegant concession speech, congratulating the winner and thanking her supporters and campaign workers. She did not claim voter fraud or a media conspiracy or accuse the government of tapping her phone. She is, after all, French. Liberty, equality, dignity.

And so our country, the land of the pilgrims' pride where our fathers died, remains No. 1 in blithering tastelessness, naked self-promotion and delusional hypocrisy, thanks to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and James Comey. North Korea is a close No. 2, followed by Sudan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Ku Klux Klan, the Fall of Man and the Republican health care plan.

Advertisement

That was a remarkable photo, Republicans on the White House lawn celebrating the House passage of a bucket of horsefeathers. It looked like the Kappa Delts gathered at the country club for the Eight-Ball Roll-'Em and Martini Scramble. Actually it was the D-minus students collecting a pile of partial term papers regurgitated by dogs and sending them to the Senate to be made into something coherent and perhaps defensible. As the man said, nobody knew health care could be so complicated. Good luck, Senator McConnell! Take your time! Read the whole thing!

The American people do not wish their president to be on the front page every single day, especially not for saying stupid stuff.

Senate approval is an archaic legal requirement  so much easier to simply write an executive order stating that everyone gets the care they need, pre-existing conditions or not, a beautiful deal for less money, and let's move on to something else. Sign another order that cancer has been cured  that would pay for everything.

Advertisement

This guy is in love with the executive order. It's his idea of a selfie. He sits at his bare desk, grinning, holding up the two-page large-print document with his big bold signature, in a nice leather binding like an Award for Meritorious Achievement from the Federation of Organizations, his smiley vice-president looking over his shoulder, a select group of happy citizens clapping. Last week, he signed one assuring ministers of freedom of speech in the pulpit. Next week maybe he'll order ladybugs to fly away home, their house is on fire, their children are gone.

What is so remarkable this spring, as we all wait for the next shoe to drop, is how completely the Republican virtues we grew up admiring  caution, respect for history, attention to the fine print  have been thrown to the winds and the party has united behind an aging New York playboy with no fixed principles except an insatiable urge to be on the front page every single day including weekends and holidays. It would be like the Democratic Party electing Big Bird and applauding whatever comes out of his big beak.

Big Bird is a costume. There is a person inside it. He says what is in the script. But if he says whatever is going through his mind and starts ranting about conspiracies and TV ratings and the Civil War (how come?), you have a Big Turkey for a leader. Some people might think it edgy and cool to have an eight-foot president covered with yellow feathers, but I believe that most Democrats would not go along with this, even those who feel the party has gone elitist and needs to regain the common touch.

The American people do not wish their president to be on the front page every single day, especially not for saying stupid stuff. They would prefer government to be effective, functional, honest, rational  in other words, boring. Think of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. You want it to operate quietly without drawing attention to itself. You don't want to read in the paper that when you hold a $20 bill up to ultraviolet light now, it says "Invest Kushner" with a blinking 800 number.

Same with the National Park Service. We don't need to sell ad space on the foreheads at Mount Rushmore. The U.S. Coast Guard is a fine operation, if you ask me. Ditto the F.A.A., and so is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  imagine the complexity of it, administering the oceans and the atmosphere  and yet it goes about its mission without fuss. The White House could write up an executive order  "Let the waves be still, let the tides not encroach upon Mar-a-Lago"  but NOAA would simply build an ark for the president and life would go on as before. And that is the whole point.

Washington Post

Garrison Keillor is an author and radio personality.

Related articles:

Advertisement

Trump's firing of Comey looks like a politically motivated hatchet job

If Trump fired Comey over Russia, he should be impeached

Trump's executive order of religious nothingness

Donald Trump is a lazy president
J.B. Pritzker, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor, poses for pictures with union members after a rally against Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 in Chicago on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. Pritzker for governor was endorsed by 14 labor unions. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Well, that was fast. Fourteen trade unions already have made their endorsement in the 2018 race for Illinois governor. It might be the earliest and least-vetted endorsement ever.

Unions representing the building and construction trades, including the politically active International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, put their chips on billionaire J.B. Pritzker, snubbing the other Democrats in the race. It was so fast, some of Pritzker's rivals complained they didn't have a chance to court the unions with an interview or a written survey or even a phone call. And Politico reports that the Illinois AFL-CIO is preparing to endorse Pritzker.

Advertisement

While it's no surprise organized labor leaders will be gunning for Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2018  he advocates policies that would limit the influence of union officials on government spending  many rank-and-file trade union members understand the bigger picture. Organized labor's historic, unwavering fidelity to one party in this state has had serious consequences. There are reasons why, nationwide, Hillary Clinton topped Donald Trump among voters from union households by only 8 percentage points, 51-43.

Union members, too, are taxpayers. They're on the hook for the mountains of debt accumulated by the governments of Democratically controlled Chicago and Cook County and the state legislature.

Advertisement

Yes, unions tend to stick with Democrats in this state because Democrats talk a good game. They claim to be the party of the little guy, protecting the middle class. House Speaker Michael Madigan mentions that point frequently.

Except in this state, Democrats are not. Madigan's not.

Protecting the middle class would mean crisp financial stewardship of state government, not piling government debt onto the backs of taxpayers and their children. Protecting the middle class would mean tight oversight of pension funds, not making funding promises that would be broken. Protecting the middle class would mean lowering the overall tax burden, not ratcheting up spending that skyrockets property taxes for the thousands of union members who own homes. Protecting the middle class would mean adopting workers' compensation, tort reform, tax and other policies that encourage economic growth. Job growth.

Our weekend editorial, "Sizing up Illinois," explored how poorly Illinois ranks in job creation. Our metrics and explanations, available at chicagotribune.com/illinois, argue that no state can thrive if jobs are leaving for neighboring states or overseas. Yet this state still is down 19,600 jobs from a high in September 2000. Surrounding states are clobbering Illinois on job growth. Indiana has added 116,000. Iowa added 99,900. Missouri added 121,100. Wisconsin added 113,000. Those states have business climates that drive job creation. Illinois? Vamoose, employers.

The building and construction trades depend on Illinois job growth for their own job security. They need employers to expand here, to move here, to prosper. They need companies to build and renovate their facilities. They need hotels and restaurants and tech firms and manufacturing companies and home developers to make Illinois a destination.

Except Illinois is not a destination. The state lost more people in 2016 than any other state  for the third consecutive year. Illinois' downward spiral didn't start in 2015 when Rauner was sworn in as governor. The financial crisis has been more than a decade in the making.

An important point: The unions endorsing Pritzker are private-sector trade unions  unlike some public-sector unions, they tend to be reasonable in their contract demands for wages and benefits. Nearly 20 trade unions struck collective bargaining agreements with Rauner after he took office.

Much of Rauner's criticism of unions has been aimed at Illinois' public employee unions, whose demands create great burdens on public finances. Taxpayers are on the hook for these union members' pay, health care packages and pensions.

Advertisement

Trade union members understand the distinction. Most of them don't have Cadillac benefits or pensions.

We can't say what sold the union leaders on Pritzker. We don't know many of his policy positions. It's early in the race. Five other Democrats so far say they're running. Maybe the trade union bosses just think Pritzker can win.

Well, Pritzker did win the support of 14 union leadership teams. We're not sure their rank-and-file members will agree.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.

Read more:

Emanuel and Rauner: Is revenge blocking a good deal on the Thompson Center?

Advertisement

Fact-checking Speaker Michael Madigan

Running for Illinois governor? Offer real solutions

Become a subscriber today to support editorial writing like this. Start getting full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks.
I attended the question and answer session with U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles on April 18. The event, which drew more than 700 attendees, was Hultgren's reluctant response to demands from protesters outside his Campton Hills office in late February for a town hall meeting with their elected official.

The primary concern of the night was his approach to health care reform. The audience applauded loudly when Hultgren was asked if he would support a single-payer Medicare-for-all system. He responded, "I love Medicare. I want to make sure that we keep Medicare strong for the people who need it, especially our seniors." Asked if he would oppose any bill that cuts Medicaid funding he said, "I want to make sure that Medicaid is protected. My voice will be loud on that."

Advertisement

Last Thursday, Hultgren voted alongside 216 of his Republican colleagues to pass a health care bill that has been widely criticized by hospitals, doctors and insurers. He voted without an official Congressional Budget Office score, without any public hearings, and with only 16 hours for the public to read the full language of the bill. His voice on this matter was certainly a lot quieter than he claimed it would be.

The AARP opposed the bill on May 7, writing, "AARP opposes this legislation, as introduced, that would weaken Medicare, leaving the door open to a voucher program that shifts costs and risks to seniors." The American Medical Association also opposed the bill, citing the "expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm it would cause to vulnerable patient populations."

Advertisement

According to the CBO, the new law would cut Medicaid by $880 billion, or 25 percent, over 10 years and impose a "per-capita" limit on funding for certain groups of people, such as children and the elderly. More than 3 million Illinois residents  about 1 out of every 4 people in the state  have health insurance through Medicaid. Illinois spends the third-lowest of all states at $4,682 per enrollee and could fare far worse under the new legislation's Medicaid limits than other states.

Hultgren violated his public promises to protect Medicare and Medicaid. His reckless vote on this rushed legislation shows he cares more about his party's image than the health of his constituents. We deserve better.

 Josh Broadhurst, Batavia
Bryce Green, 12, center, takes part in a Black Lives Matter protest march with his friend Danilo Petrovic, 13, right, and others Saturday, April 15, 2017, in Seattle. Several thousand people attended a downtown rally and then marched to the federal courthouse to call attention to minority rights and police brutality. (Ted S. Warren / AP)

As various movements have sprung up like flash mobs to protest against Donald Trump's election to the White House, a question gradually occurred to me: Where's Black Lives Matter?

Ever since the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was born after a jury acquitted neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012, the loosely formed movement has turned up repeatedly to protest fatal shootings of unarmed black men and other racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system.

Advertisement

But since President Trump's election, we have seen new eruptions of racially suspicious police incidents, but not of major protests.

Last week, for example, we saw a suburban Dallas police officer charged with murder for allegedly firing his rifle into a car full of black teens, killing a 15-year-old boy.

Advertisement

Last month we saw the stunning video of a group of black boys, ranging in age from 12 to 14, being detained by police officers, with at least one officer aiming his gun at the boys.

Yet, as much as these disturbing stories made national news, they did not spark the major protests we have seen elsewhere. Why?

A Washington Post reporting team came up with one answer after interviewing what they described as "more than half a dozen leaders" in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The movement has entered a new phase, the team was told. It is focused more on policy than on protest, all in response to President Trump.

"There are less demonstrations," said Alicia Garza, one of three women credited with coining the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. "People are channeling their energy into organizing locally, recognizing that in Trump's America, our communities are under direct attack."

Indeed, that makes a lot of sense at a time when Trump's election seems to have changed everything about how we Americans view the world.

But I think the energy and enthusiasm for Black Lives Matter street protests peaked sooner than that. I think it happened last July when five police officers in Dallas were killed by an African-American sniper at a Black Lives Matter protest. Ten days later, three more police were killed by an African-American man in Baton Rouge, La., following street protests over the shooting of another black man.

No, I don't believe it is fair to blame peaceful protesters for the shootings of the officers any more than I think it would be fair to blame Republicans for every deranged right-wing shooter who also happened to vote for the GOP. Still, it's a little harder to criticize President Trump for his various inflammatory remarks, if you dodge accountability for any anti-police tone in your own protests.

Advertisement

Loosely organized flash mob movements with weak leaders and vague agendas have become a trend in the Twitter age. But these leaders tend to lack control over their members, their message and their momentum.

Lack of organizational discipline leads to embarrassments like the foolish protesters in St. Paul who chanted, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon," while marching behind police officers at the Minnesota state fairgrounds two years ago. Conservative commentators still replay that video today.

Everybody seems to have an opinion about what Black Lives Matter should do with itself. Here's mine. I think it's time for the movement to move up from protests to planning, policies and programs. Protests have a lot of romantic appeal but they're no substitute for an agenda, firm goals and a plan to get there.

Conservative media have pinned all manner of racist beliefs on Black Lives Matter, yet the movement has not put much of a priority on appointing official spokespeople to push back.

On the contrary, members of today's young, self-styled "woke" (politically conscious) generation, I have found to my chagrin, too often think it is beneath them to arm themselves with knowledge and employ the simple art of persuasion to win people to their side. "It's not my job to educate you" I have been told by some righteous activists in a form of intellectual snobbery that is bound to lead to failure.

Indeed, a lot of people find it easier to call for dialogue than to actually engage in one. That's changing. Some Black Lives Matter activists have organized a formal agenda and leadership development programs, just for starters. Leaders matter. Whether things go right or wrong, somebody has to be where the buck stops.

Advertisement

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

cpage@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @cptime
WGN-AM 720 originated a number of shows in radios heyday, including The Tom Mix Show, above in 1946, Little Orphan Annie and Sam n Henry, the precursor to Amos n Andy. Its content reaches more than 30 states at night. (Russell Hamm / Chicago Tribune)

What does a Sinclair Broadcast Group talk radio station sound like?

That was the first thing I wanted to know Monday morning when I learned that the suburban Baltimore broadcasting chain had entered into an agreement to buy WGN-AM 720, among dozens of other Tribune Media broadcast properties.

Advertisement

The $3.9 billion deal also involves the transfer of ownership of WGN-Ch. 9  more about that later  but the imminent handoff of the city's most storied radio station seems like a bigger deal to me.

WGN-AM has been around since the 1920s and has always been a classic, full-service powerhouse station with uber local, sometimes idiosyncratic programming that generally stays near the middle of the political and cultural roads.

Advertisement

Sinclair is on the far right side of those roads, using its outlets to unabashedly promote conservative viewpoints and, lately, to champion President Donald Trump.

It now owns one talk radio station (it will own or operate 233 TV stations after this deal goes through). But the programming on that outlet, KVI-AM in Seattle, is consistently slanted.

Lars Larson, billed as "one of the top conservative voices in America," has three air shifts every weekday. Former GOP operative John Carlson, "THE conservative voice in Seattle," handles the morning drive. Kirby Wilbur, a former state Republican Party chairman and state director of Americans for Prosperity, holds down middays. The balance of the lineup includes such syndicated right-wingers as Michael Savage and Sean Hannity.

Will Sinclair remake WGN-AM in the mold of KVI-AM? Replace the current lineup with a mix of local propagandists and syndicated tub-thumpers all singing from the tea party hymnal?

A Sinclair spokeswoman would say only that the company had no plans to offload the radio station.

From a business standpoint, such a change doesn't look like a good idea. Chicago already has two talk stations that cater to conservatives  WIND-AM 560, which is wall-to-wall right, and WLS-AM 890, which airs syndicated conservative talkers Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, as well as "Red Eye Radio," the same overnight show that airs on KVI-AM.

Neither comes close in the overall ratings to WGN-AM, which was in fourth place with a 4.2 percent share of the Chicago-area listening audience in the March ratings. In the latest Seattle-Tacoma radio ratings, KVI was in 22nd place with a 2.1 percent audience share.

But from an ideological standpoint, who knows? For a massive TV empire with a big political ax to grind, the prestige value alone of being able to pump out a message on a legacy clear channel radio station that reaches more than 30 states at night might be worth the rounding-error loss against maintaining the station as is.

Advertisement

I hope Sinclair will decide to leave well enough alone. Yes, I appear regularly on the station in unpaid guest spots and podcast segments where I'm permitted to spew my liberal poison. But that's not why.

WGN-AM, in all its quirky and sometimes corny variety, is a reliable Chicago institution, a comfortable, familiar and still profitable oasis on a commercial radio dial increasingly clogged with cookie-cutter programming.

I'm less concerned with the fate of WGN-Ch. 9, the local legacy TV station, in this deal. When Sinclair took over WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., in 2014, The Washington Post reported that the station merely took "a subtle but noticeable turn to the right."

Management added a conservative pundit to the morning news lineup, increased the station's emphasis on reporting about government waste and upped the number of stories critical of then-President Barack Obama, the paper reported.

But new owners of major broadcast TV stations don't tend to make the sort of wholesale format changes seen in radio, so I'm more sanguine that Channel 9 will retain its essential character.

Because of their roots as subsidiaries of the Chicago Tribune, the WGN call letters once stood for "World's Greatest Newspaper." Our corporate connection was broken in 2014 when the publishing and broadcasting components of the old Tribune Co. split.

Advertisement

So it's from the sidelines that I'm left fearing that WGN will soon become informal shorthand for "wing nut."

Eric Zorn appears on "The Bill and Wendy Show" on WGN-AM 720, Mondays at 11:30 a.m. He appears weekly on the WGN Plus bipartisan "Mincing Rascals" podcast. He will be interviewed by WGN host Justin Kauffman at 8 p.m Wednesday.
Twenty-four hours after his son and daughter were killed in a mass shooting, Gabriel Gomez returned to the crime scene in Brighton Park.



Someone had to pick up his daughter's car.



Yellow crime tape was still tied to sign posts near the spot where Adriana and Michael Williams  two of his five children  were gunned down Sunday as they gathered at a memorial for a friend who had been shot to death down the street hours earlier.



Adriana, 27, had picked up Michael, 24, at the Little Village home where Michael lived with their father. They drove to the memorial for their friend, Daniel Cordova, at the corner of West 46th Place and South Rockwell Avenue.



"She came to the house, took a shower, changed some clothes and brought me some stuff that she was going to be moving with me," Gomez said. "We were about to get a bigger apartment."



Around 5 p.m., two men with rifles stepped from an alley and opened fire on the vigil, killing the brother and sister and wounding eight other people.



"My daughter-in-law came in crying, she walked straight up to me," Gomez said. "I said, 'What is it, you guys got into, got into a fight or something?' "



"She said, 'No, Michael is dead, Adriana is dead.' I thought she was playing. You never think something like this could happen. Two of them gone. It's impossible. I've been crying all day and all night.



"They're in the morgue right now. We can see them tomorrow."



He returned to the scene Monday to retrieve his daughter's car. She had parked the silver Dodge Neon a few feet from the corner where she was shot, but the police had been unable to find her keys.

"We got the ignition open and went and got a different key. But this thing don't want to fit in it," Gomez said, pacing the sidewalk while a friend worked. He was anxious to get moving but took a look around the neighborhood while he waited.



"Adriana, when she was like 2 1/2 years old, we used to live in a place like this, on the second floor," Gomez said, looking up at a two-flat. "We had one of those 5-pound bags full of apples. We were walking up, me and her mother, and we started seeing apples everywhere. She was throwing them down from the windows. When we got up there we saw the bag by the window, and she had no more apples."



He smiled at the memory. "It's sad, man, Chicago. I never thought my kids was gonna be leaving just like that. Bam."

Advertisement

The car's engine turned over a few times but wouldn't start. Gomez has automotive experience and owns his own rig. He spent the weekend replacing shocks in a trailer, but his daughter's ignition remained stubborn.



"Now I gotta go get some clothes because I normally wear clothes like this," Gomez said. "Going to a funeral, and I don't like funerals. I hate funerals. Cannot even be there for more than five minutes. And now I gotta go to a funeral for my kids. It's not supposed to be like that. They're supposed to put me down before they go. I'm supposed to be going, not them."



The corner stayed busy as students in school uniforms wandered by a man selling chicharrones and sno-cones from a cart. A few neighbors gestured toward the shooting scene, but only one candle remained from Sunday's memorial.



"I didn't really worry about them because they blended in the neighborhood," Gomez said of his children. "But I know that s--- like this can happen at anytime. 'Cause people are crazy, in any neighborhood mostly. When they grow up, when they get over 21, you don't control their actions. You don't even know, until they call you."





Unable to start Adriana's car, Gomez climbed behind the wheel.



"He's gonna push and I'm gonna drive so we can get out of the area," Gomez said. His friend pulled a van directly behind the bumper and pushed the car north, over a strip of yellow tape, toward home.

Advertisement

(Yesterday, these blocks were homicide scenes. The day after a fatal shooting on their block, police tape is gone and residents live, work and play. Annually, more Chicagoans are shot and killed than there are days in the year, but there's a lot going on in our neighborhoods around the violence. Visit The Next Day collection for more.)
When Lincoln Square resident Peter Kujawinski was a kid, he often stayed up until midnight or 1 a.m. reading. Now the bestselling co-author of "Nightfall" and the Dormia trilogy writes books that he hopes readers will also lose sleep over.

"We want to channel the type of reader that we were when we were growing up and that we are nowreaders that love books that are immersive and draw you in from the very beginning," he said. "I want people to be hooked. I dont want them to put the book down because they have to go to bed.

"Edgeland," the latest book written by Kujawinski and Jake Halpern, delivers on that goal. The novel is set on an island where people send their dead into a massive whirlpool that they believe leads to purgatory. But when two friends are accidently sucked into its waters, they find that no one leaves purgatory for the promised paradise and that the rulers of the realm of the dead actively hunt "breathers" who might disrupt their power.

We wanted to write a book that hopefully resonated beyond just a thrilling adventure," Kujawinski said. "I think both of us were very intrigued about the conception of the afterlife. The more that we delved into that world, the more fascinating we found it.

While the religions in "Edgeland" are original, Kujawinski said that the plot was inspired by Greek and Norse mythology, and funeral rites that Halpern observed while spending time in India.

"All these different cultures had different visions of what the afterlife was like and their visions were, in some cases, very complex and filled with all these interesting things," Kujawinski said. "I think a lot of the books that Jake and I write start with a concept that were really excited about and a crazy thing for characters to go through.

Kujawinski is a former U.S. diplomat and he met Halpern in Jerusalem, where he was working as a journalist. They published their first book, "Dormia," together in 2009 and often use their backgrounds traveling the world as inspiration.

"We get excited about similar things," Kujawinski said. "If we know that the other person is excited about the concept, you know at the very least its got potential. Were each others best supporters and best critics. Were trying to build a world and its hard to do that by yourself. When it comes to stuff like 'Edgeland,' I could not have come up with that on my own and Jake couldnt do that on his own.

Sometimes their first ideas aren't the ones that see publication. Their initial version of purgatory in "Edgeland" was much more true to Greek myth, with the underworld being a reflection of the world above. But the book didn't have the sense of "ratcheting tension" that Kujawinski said they wanted, so they kept working until they came up with the idea of the dead being kept in catatonic states where they endlessly mutter mantras they hope will allow them to leave.

The whole idea of repeating of the mantras freaked us out," Kujawinski said. "We thought if were freaked out, theres a chance that it will work. We wrote it out that way and then we read it over and said 'Ahh, this is it.' That conception of the underworld was really one of the last things that entered into the book. I really wish we had come upon this idea at the very beginning, because it would have saved us a lot of heartache.

Peter Kujawinski and co-author, journalist Jake Halpern.

As part of exploring the afterlife, "Edgeland" also deals with the need to take risks and accept the unknown. That's something that's been on Kujawinski's mind in the two years since he left behind his 16-year diplomatic career to focus on writing full time.

Time will tell whether or not its a successful decision for me," he said. "Sometimes you make the decision because you have to. I dont think those decisions get easier throughout life.

While it doesn't have any of the same characters, "Edgeland" is set in the same world as Kujawinski and Halpern's novel, "Nightfall," and the authors are considering more directly connecting the two.

Both are very independent," Kujawinski said. "They have different characters, different story arcs and are set in different parts of the world, but at the end of both books the characters are headed in the same direction. You can have a version of a trilogy where the first two books are completely standalone books but the third would bring together the first and the second. We havent made a decision, but its a thing were intrigued by.

"Edgeland" will be released on May 9 and Kujawinski will be at a book release party at The Book Cellar (4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-293-2665) from 4-6:30 p.m. May 13 that will feature pizza and a performance of songs based on the book and his previous works.

"Book release parties are a pretty joyous occasion," he said. "You spend all this time putting this thing together and its a cathartic release. Im hopeful that we get folks from the neighborhood and lots of kids and adults that Ive met since I moved back.

Rather than reading from "Edgeland," Kujawinski said he'll be telling a story based on its first few chaptersending on a cliffhanger.

"Its a neat way to get people excited about the book because they want to know what happens next, he said.

Samantha Nelson is a RedEye freelance writer.
Outgoing Mooseheart Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Company Commander Aishah Adebayo looks over "the troops" with Mooseheart Executive Director Gary Urwiler (front) and Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Jeff Szymczak (background) during the Change of Command ceremony. (Mooseheart / Handout)

Change of Command event staged at Mooseheart

Just because no tears fell during Mooseheart's Naval Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NJROTC) Change of Command Ceremony May 5 doesn't mean there weren't heightened emotions as outgoing Company Commander Aishah Adebayo handed the ceremonial sword to incoming commander Styles Redmond.

Advertisement

"It was really sad. I thought I was going to cry, but I didn't. (Redmond) deserves it though," Adebayo said in a press release from Mooseheart.

U.S. Navy Warrant Officer (Ret.) Rick Smith, Mooseheart's lead NJROTC officer, said the Change of Command should be an emotional moment for those involved. While a month remains before the June 3 high school commencement, this is the first of many shifts as the seniors prepare to leave campus, he said in the release.

Advertisement

"It is a big deal. The person who's in charge has worked for four years in the program, earning that position. They spent a year in command, and now they have to turn that over to someone else, and you know it's hard for them," said Smith.

West Aurora citizens group to meet

The West Aurora Concerned Citizens neighborhood group meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 17 at Orchard Valley Restaurant in Aurora.

The guest speaker at the meeting will be John Diederich, Chief Operations Officer for Rush-Copley Medical Center. He will discuss the new walk-in Convenient Care Clinic that is due to open at West Plaza.

For information about the meeting, call Pat Malin at 630-844-9223.
Demolition began Monday at Matteson's largely vacant Lincoln Mall, with the village eyeing a possible redevelopment of the site, southeast of U.S. 30 and Cicero Avenue.

A crew from Environmental Cleansing Corp., hired by the village for the work, began by knocking down a section of the former Sears store on the mall's south side. It will take about four months to complete the razing, said Matt Konopko, Environmental Cleansing's president.

Advertisement

Opened in 1973, Lincoln Mall once counted Sears, J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward and Carson Pirie Scott as anchors. The Carson's store remains open. J.C. Penney opened a free-standing store in Matteson just east of the mall a few years ago.

The mall closed in January 2015.

Advertisement

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Tom Condon, in early February, ordered the mall's demolition proceed in response to a request from the village, which cited safety concerns.

At an April 3 hearing, Condon approved the contract with Markham-based Environmental Cleansing.

Even though Matteson doesn't own the entire mall property, the court order gives the village authority to demolish the entire 711,000-square-foot structure, according to village administrator Brian Mitchell.

The Village Board previously had agreed to use up to $3.5 million in tax increment financing funds to purchase receiver's certificates to finance demolition.

A Tinley Park company, Mack Developers, was given an exclusive six-month contract to come up with a redevelopment strategy for the mall property. Trustees were expected to discuss Mack's recommendations during a closed-door meeting Monday evening, with plans for further discussion at a public meeting at a later date, Mitchell said Monday.

Any redevelopment would require the village to acquire the rest of the mall that it doesn't currently own.

Matteson last year bought, for $525,000, Sears Holdings' property at the mall, which includes the retailer's vacant anchor store space and adjacent parking areas.

Ownership of the remainder of the mall, except for the Carson's store, is still in the hands of New York real estate developer Michael Kohan, who bought Lincoln Mall for $150,000 at a property tax auction in 2012. Kohan previously agreed to hand over ownership in exchange for a still-to-be-determined price, to enable a redevelopment of the property to proceed.

Advertisement

A court-appointed trustee, Collateral Trustee, which was named in August 2013 after Matteson sued Kohan over building and fire safety code violations at the mall, controls all of the property and is overseeing the demolition.

Using a large backhoe, a crew from Environmental Cleansing began clawing away at the concrete exterior walls of the former Sears. Konopko said the concrete would later be crushed on site and saved for use as fill at the site, and other materials, including steel, would be extracted during demolition and recycled.

"Over 90 percent (of materials recovered from a demolition project) is usually recycled," he said at the mall site.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

His company recently was involved in the demolition of Evergreen Plaza in Evergreen Park, which was razed to make way for a new retail development. A few years ago, the company was hired to raze the six-story Standard Bank and Trust Co. building across the street, at the northwest corner of 95th Street and Western Avenue in Evergreen Park.

Both the Evergreen Plaza and Lincoln Mall jobs have similarities in that both involve tearing down structures around a still-operating Carson's store, Konopko said. At Evergreen Park, a new free-standing store for Carson's was built.

"We take our time, there's a little more hand work (rather than relying on heavy equipment), and it's a little more time consuming," he said.

Advertisement

Despite the building's age, Environmental Cleansing has found little asbestos in the structure, which has been confined to some floor tiles in non-public areas of the mall, such as storage rooms, Konopko said.

His company is no stranger to Lincoln Mall, having been hired about 10 years ago to tear down portions of the mall, including the empty Montgomery Ward store space, during a prior redevelopment effort under then owner Realty America. Montgomery Ward had closed in 1999 followed by J.C. Penney the following year, but Penney's opened a new store in October 2007 along Promenade Way, a road built to connect Cicero and U.S. 30.

mnolan@tribpub.com

Twitter @mnolan_j
New Lenox police said they are investigating an April 25 incident in which a school bus aide allegedly struck a student with special needs.

The young girl was on a Lincoln-Way Area Special Education District 843 bus, enroute to Cherry Hill School in New Lenox District 122, officials said.

Advertisement

A video from the bus shows her allegedly being struck by the aide, according to police.

Parents of the student asked police to investigate the matter May 4, Deputy Chief April DiSandro said.

Advertisement

Police have seen "snippets" of the video and are conducting interviews, she said.

"We will put everything together and consult with the state's attorney's office to see where it goes," DiSandro said, adding that the aide "definitely hit the child, but we have not seen the entire video."

According to New Lenox District 122 Superintendent Peggy Manville, District 843 provides the bus, driver and aide, under a contract agreement.

Parents buckle their students on the bus and when the bus arrives at school, District 122 staff boards the bus and unbuckles the students, Manville said.

On this day, when they saw the aide carrying this student off the bus, that prompted them to request the video, she said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"We had asked them to view a video regarding their procedures for student unloading practices. When 843 viewed the video they saw the interaction between 843's aide and our student, and reported it to us," Manville said in a prepared statement.

District 122 contacted the student's parents and asked that 843 "immediately remove the aide," she said.

District 843 "has assured us that they are fully investigating the incident and appropriate measures are being taken. Student safety is our district's first priority and we expect any service contracting with us to fully comply with this priority," Manville said.

Advertisement

Sarah Rexroad, executive director of District 843, declined to comment on an "ongoing investigation," saying only "student safety is our Number One priority and that is what we are focused on."

District 843 special education cooperative is governed by representatives of its five member school districts, Manhattan 114, Frankfort 157-C, Mokena 159, Summit Hill 161 and Lincoln-Way High School District 210. New Lenox District 122 is not a co-op member, but contracts for its bus service.

slafferty@tribpub.com

Twitter @SusanLaff
Dot Foods President Dick Tracy speaks recently at the grand opening of Dot Foods facility in University Park. (Dot Foods \ Handout)

A food distributor from downstate Mount Sterling held a grand opening for its 10th distribution center, in south suburban University Park, last week.

Dot Foods is the nation's largest food industry redistributor. On May 4, it opened a 191,000-square-foot facility at 251 Central Ave.

Advertisement

The company supplies more than 118,000 products from 835 food manufacturers to food distribution companies, which in turn send the food service, convenience, retail and vending products to grocery stores and supermarkets and other retailers in all 50 states and 25 countries.

"We buy in bulk and send items to distributors throughout the area," said Chicago-area General Manager Mike Ford.

Advertisement

The University Park facility was purchased in 2015 from Reinhart Food service and includes dry, frozen and cooler warehouse space.

Since the purchase, Dot Foods has added a gate station, garage, fuel station and scale. More work on the building is continuing.

"We're working on a $1 million break room for the employees," said Ford, adding the company has about 30 additional acres on which to expand operations.

Ford said Dot expects to double the size of the warehouse by 2020, which would make it the second largest in the company behind only its main complex in Mount Sterling.

Dot employs more than 150 people at its new facility. Over 100 of those were hired within the last year, with the remainder being employees who transferred from the company's former Joliet operation. Dot Foods Chicago is hiring both Regional Class A Company Delivery Drivers and Warehouse Order Selectors with a goal of employing 350 people from University Park and the surrounding area by 2020.

"We have had a presence in the Chicagoland area almost since we started," said company president Dick Tracy. He took over in January as president of the family-owned and operated business.

"After gaining more and more customers and adding more and more area food manufacturers, we knew we needed a stronger presence," said Tracy, who is the youngest of the second generation of the founding Tracy family.

"We started looking about three years ago," he said. "Normally, we would have built a distribution center from scratch, but Reinhart said this site was available and it was about as close to something we would build ourselves as we have ever seen."

Advertisement

"We were worried about finding workers with the right skills, but the employees we have found have been great," said Tracy. "We're still looking for good employees as we expect to triple the number of jobs as we expand."

Tracy said Dot Foods attracts good employees through competitive pay as well as a top benefits package that includes health insurance, prescription drug insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k) with company match, profit sharing and college tuition reimbursement.

To learn more about careers at Dot Foods visit DotFoods.com/careers and follow @DotFoodsCareers. For more on opportunities available with Dot Transportation, visit DriveForDot.com.

New Dollar General opens in Monee

Tennessee-based Dollar General's newest store at 25700 S. Governors Highway in Monee is now open.

"Dollar General is committed to delivering a pleasant shopping experience that includes a convenient location, a wide assortment of merchandise and great prices on quality products," Dan Nieser, Dollar General's senior vice president of real estate and store development, said in a release. "We hope our area customers will enjoy shopping at Dollar General's new location."

Advertisement

Dollar General stores feature a selection of national name brands and private brands of food, housewares, seasonal items, cleaning supplies, basic apparel and health/beauty products.

Dollar General stores usually employ from six to 10 people, store officials said.

Redbird Cafe now open in Homewood

A new farm-to-table restaurant is now open in Homewood.

The Redbird Cafe opened May 1 at 2057 Ridge Road and is open for breakfast and lunch, though dinner hours may be added.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Owner Kim Nolen aims to provide healthy, locally produced food for the south suburban community.

Advertisement

The space at Redbird includes artwork provided by local artist Annie Lawrence and Erin McLeod. Other work was provided by students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

In addition to regular tables, Redbird features a long community table topped with pennies that is designed to have strangers break bread together.

Hours are from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, but the full menu is only available until 2 p.m. There is a separate brunch menu from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Sephora now open at River Oaks

The new Sephora store is now open inside the J.C. Penney store at River Oaks Center in Calumet City.

Bob Bong is a freelancer.
About 30 people attended Sunday's inaugural Beer Choir event at River Street Tavern in East Dundee. (Erin Sauder / The Courier-News)

The crowd at River Street Tavern was a little different for a Sunday night.

While people on the first floor were at the East Dundee restaurant to eat and drink, those on the second floor were hoisting beers and harmonizing during the inaugural Beer Choir event.

Advertisement

Beer Choir is the brainchild of Michael Engelhardt, St. Louis choral conductor, composer and craft beer enthusiast, with the goal of bringing together community members to sing from the Beer Choir Hymnal he created and to enjoy craft beers together. The East Dundee evening was led by Chris Cherry, Hampshire High School choral director, Jake Stouffer, coordinator of fine and performing arts for School District 300, and local music teacher Greg Matushek.

"If anyone is here for a serious singing experience, you are in the wrong place," Cherry warned.

Advertisement

The crowd loved the Beer Choir Theme Song, written by Engelhardt. Lyrics include "The Beer Choir is the choir that sings while drinking beer. So bottoms up! Cheers! Let's sing while drinking beer!"

The song "Dough-Ray-Me," based on the Sound of Music song "Do Re Mi," but with lyrics about beer, even got those at the first-floor bar singing, said Tina Anton, who owns River Street Tavern with Loren Rattner. It is described In the Beer Choir Hymnal as being "Like Julie Andrews, but more surly ... and slurry." Lyrics include, "Dough, the stuff that buys me beer. Ray, the guy who serves my beer. Me, the guy who drinks my beer. Far, a long long way for beer. So, I think I'll have a beer. La, la la la la la beer. Tea? No thanks, I'm drinking beer! And that brings us back to beer, beer, beer, beer!"

Friends Alexa Mount of Bartlett and Meagan Zahora of Chicago are choir leaders and this was their first Beer Choir event.

"We thought it sounded awesome," Zahora said. "I like beer and we like choir, so I figured this would be a good time."

After every few songs, the audience was encouraged to take a break and order another beverage. Beer, obviously.

"We all sound better after two or three," Stouffer said.

He, Cherry and Matushek hope to host Beer Choir events at least once a month this summer.

For information on meet-ups, go to the Facebook page of Beer Choir--NW Chicago Suburbs.

Advertisement

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Delbert "Del" Seaton, left, was handed an award by Harry Sawyer, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, for his volunteer work. (Janelle Walker / The Courier-News)

Mary Jo Imperato, director of welfare services for Hanover Township, remembers meeting Delbert "Del" Seaton at a Streamwood Fourth of July parade in 2012. The U.S. Marine veteran asked about volunteer opportunities in the area.

That encounter led to Seaton being honored May 5, by the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, with the Patriotic Volunteer and Appreciation Award.

Advertisement

Seaton helps pick up and deliver food for the township's food pantry, collects and distributes toys at Christmas for nearly 1,000 families, and collects and distributes backpacks for students at the start of the school year, among many other tasks, said Nicole Mandeville of the veterans' agency.

"He has been a very important part of our team in Hanover Township," Imperato said. "He has helped deliver tons and tons of food."

Advertisement

Friday was also named Delbert Seaton Day in Hanover Township, said Supervisor Brian McGuire.

Seaton sighed as he accepted the award, struggling with the emotions of being honored for his work. He laughed when another veteran encouraged the Marine to toughen up.

"I wasn't going to show up here today," Seaton said, thinking that he'd instead spend the time volunteering. "Seriously, I am overwhelmed, I am beyond myself. I don't think I have been this emotional since my father died.

"I am honored and I am privileged to receive this award. I hope it reflects on Amvets, the American Legion, the Veterans Network Committee and my township," he said, naming a few of the places he volunteers.

He also asked those who came to the ceremony at the township's Route 59 Senior Center to not forget the troops currently serving.

"They are in trouble  they are always in trouble. Stand by them, stand by the veterans and your community to help them out," he said.

On his visits to Hines Veterans Hospital in Chicago, he's asked by veterans in wheelchairs how he's doing, and nothing means more, Seaton said.

It means a lot "just to see them smile, just because you showed up and talked to them," he said.

Advertisement

Volunteering with seniors doesn't have to mean calling bingo or visiting the hospital.

"Walking in the door and saying thank you to them for their service," can help veterans immensely, he said.

Seaton served in the Marines from 1974 to 1982, and in the Vietnam War participated in Operation Eagle Pull  the evacuation of Saigon. He earned numerous awards and decorations for his service, including the Good Conduct Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Rifle Expert Badge, Pistol Sharpshooter Badge, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Cold War Certificate, according to the veterans' administration.

The award he just won is set to be given out quarterly from the nominations received, and then a veteran of the year will be chosen from among those four, Mandeville said.The veteran selected will be honored at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield in August.

Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Messages You have no messages
5 things to know about Adam Frisch

Laure Boebert is in a tight race for s second term in Congress with Democrat Adam Frisch looking to unseat her and represent Colorado's 3rd district.
By Weining Hu

Unlike the US at-will employment system, China uses contract employment. This means employers must make formal written employment contracts with all of their full-time employees. Further, during any term of contract, employers can only terminate employees contracts under certain circumstances in accordance with Chinas Labor Contract Law (LCL).

China is highly protective of employees employment rights. When it comes to salary reduction, employers will encounter many legal restraints when making a potential unilateral pay cut. Employers and HR managers should understand Chinas regulatory details before making reduction in an employers remuneration, so that they can effectively avoid labor-related legal risks.

Employer and employee agreement

Employee salary is an indispensable element of the employment contract. Therefore, modification of salary can be perceived as modifying an organic part of a contract. According to Article 35 of the LCL, an employer can modify an employment contract only if the employer has made successful consultation with the employee, and have agreed upon the modification. An employer should document the changes in written form, and both parties should retain a hard copy of the agreement.

Successful consultation here means that the employee accepts, or expresses no objection to the employers pay cut decision. It is often a common practice for the employer to obtain the employees signature on a written payroll modification or pay cut notification following the consultation. This notification services as additional written evidence of the employees consent on top of the contract.

RELATED: Payroll and Human Resource Services

Employee incompetence

Chinas LCL does not explicitly state that the employer has the right to make a pay cut to an employees salaries if they are proved incompetent in his or her role. However, the extended implication of Article 40.2 indicates that the employer can unilaterally change the employees position if he or she proves incompetent for their job.

The right to assign a new role not only entitles the employer the legal right to adjust the job duties, but also HR management rights, such as deciding a salary for the new role. However, this unilateral salary adjustment right must be made in accordance with consolidated internal rules and policies.

If the employer does not have an explicit set of internal payroll management rules, then the employers unilateral action is not permissible under Chinas LCL. In such circumstance, the employer should seek prior agreement with the employee before making the demotion and pay cut decision.

Proceed with caution

Chinas LCL provides several conditions when an employer can unilaterally terminate an employment contract, but only one condition is explicitly stipulated in the law for the employer to execute a pay cut. That means if an employer exercises pay cut without agreement with the employee, even if the employee proves incompetent, the employer might stand the chance of losing at court if the arbitrators or judges deem the action unreasonable. Considering there are numerous legal restraints on the reduction of an employees salary, the employer must stay cautious or seek legal consultancy before taking actions to decrease the salary of its employees.



About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. Dezan Shira & Associates is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact us at china@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure

Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

An Introduction to Doing Business in China 2017

This Dezan Shira & Associates 2017 China guide provides a comprehensive background and details of all aspects of setting up and operating an American business in China, including due diligence and compliance issues, IP protection, corporate establishment options, calculating tax liabilities, as well as discussing on-going operational issues such as managing bookkeeping, accounts, banking, HR, Payroll, annual license renewals, audit, FCPA compliance and consolidation with US standards and Head Office reporting.

Payroll Processing in China: Challenges and Solutions

In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we lay out the challenges presented by Chinas payroll landscape, including its peculiar Dang An and Hu Kou systems. We then explore how companies of all sizes are leveraging IT-enabled solutions to meet their HR and payroll needs, and why outsourcing payroll is the answer for certain company structures. Finally, we consider the potential for China to emerge as Asias premier payroll processing center.

Dezan Shira & Associates
You are here: Home

Bruce Lee [Photo/Xinhua].

A biographical film on the boyhood of martial artist Bruce Lee is going to begin shooting this summer.

Titled Little Dragon, the film is set in Hong Kong dating back to the 1950s, where Lee grew up.

His daughter Shannon Lee will participate in script writing and movie production.

She recently said her father's early life in Hong Kong had profound influence on his entire life and was a good perspective to understand the legend.

The movie will be shot in China and Malaysia.

Shekhar Kapur from India will serve as the director. Mary Vernieu, a well-known casting director with Hollywood, is currently seeing the leading actor across the world.
The snapshots of an aging group living in Malta's fortified city of Birgu, by Joseph Smith, a veteran Maltese photographer, have recently been on display in Beijing. [Photo by Wu Jin/China.org.cn]

A photo exhibition of the aging life in the fortified city of Birgu, Malta, opened on May 8 in Beijing to mark the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Malta as well as the archipelago country's rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), lasting for six months from Jan. 1.

Joseph Smith, the photographer, didn't want to lose the chance to remember the now senile citizens who had experienced one of the biggest atrocities in human history during World War II. He used his camera to capture the stories of the aging population so that their experiences can be well reflected and preserved through photos and shared as a legacy to the entire world for generations to come.

"I think I have chosen a very important aspect for what it is like," said Smith in his interview with China.org.cn, "These people lived through wars and they have so many rich stories to tell about their experiences." Smith published an album of the people in 2009, who were calm, tranquil and sincere in their contemplations, and plans to create a second volume using cinematography.

"This is a vanishing population because they are getting very old enough and many young people are swarming out of the city," Smith continued. So I decided to publish their stories."

Departing from the Mediterranean Sea to Beijing, the photos in striking colors and vivid complexions has attracted a flock of Beijing locals.

"I feel the photographer has established a very close tie with the characters in pictures," said Ye Yongcai, the chairman from the Beijing Photographers Association. "It is because he knows too well the living style of those old people, the pictures he took have few artificial gestures."

"The photos are in exquisite detail and general simplicity. For example, there is an old woman sitting below her wedding photo taken at a young age while now she has only the company of her cat in her arms. The contrast epitomizes the spirit of the photographer," Ye added.

John Aquilina U.O.M, the ambassador of Malta in Beijing, is glad to share the photos with foreign audiences like Beijing Locals.

"Historically, culturally and environmentally, Beijing is a beautiful city sharing much in common with the beautiful country of Malta, and the historic capital city, Valletta," Aquilina commented.

"The lack of knowledge or words, can form barriersbut a picture can speak thousands of words," the Maltese ambassador said. "Joseph's photograph overcomes all barriers, to reach Beijing people, young or not so young, forming a bridge among the friendship of the people of Malta and people of China."

Tian Yan, the executive vice president of the Chinese People Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, echoed that the exchange between China and EU is long standing and the friendship between China and Malta is as mellow as wine.

The idyllic, wise and elegant masterpieces of Smith have shortened the distance between Beijing's Shichahai and the Mediterranean Sea, Tian said.

The exhibition was held at the Xicheng District No.1 Library.
You are here: Home

A trapped miner is lifted from the shaft at the Jilinqiao colliery in Huangfengqiao Township, Youxian County, central China's Hunan Province, May 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Six officials, including a deputy county chief, were sacked Monday after 18 miners died in a poisonous gas leak in a coal mine in central China's Hunan Province.

Rescuers confirmed the death toll Monday, after saving another 37 miners.

The accident happened on Sunday morning at the Jilinqiao Colliery in Youxian County.

Cai Yongheng, rescue team director, said rescuers had to carry oxygen tanks during the search.

Investigators are testing the makeup of the poisonous gas. Police have detained those allegedly responsible for the accident.

A miner who declined to be named said that after the mine manager was informed of the gas leak, he asked workers to enter the mine to rescue their colleagues.

Some of the rescue team, including the manager himself, were among those miners killed.

Another employee said a discontinued mine near the Jilinqiao Colliery had been discharging chemical waste gas, which may have triggered the fatal gas leak.

Local authorities placed responsibility for the accident on six officials, including the deputy county chief Wang Zhuowen, who were removed from their posts.
You are here: Home

Surgeons operate on the conjoined twin girls yesterday at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University. The 3-month old twins were connected by liver and stomach at birth. [Photo/Shanghai Daily]

Conjoined twin girls were successfully separated after an hour-long surgery at Children's Hospital of Fudan University yesterday.

The twins were delivered by cesarean section in Shanghai on February 9 when their 26-year-old mother, from neighboring Jiangsu Province, was at 34 weeks of pregnancy.

They were then sent to the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for treatment.

CT scans showed that they were connected by the liver and stomach.

Doctors said the best time for surgery would be when the twins were 3 months old and had a combined weight of 10 kilograms.

By early May, the twins weighed a combined 11kg and were reported to have had a normal growth index.

With the help of three-dimensional imaging technology, the baby girls were separated at 11:16a.m. yesterday. Doctors took another hour to close the skin incision and umbilicus.

Conjoined twins are rare  with a global incidence of 1 in 200,000. Most of them are connected by the chest and belly.

Doctors said about half of conjoined babies die before birth. Some could not live for more than a day after birth, and only about 30 percent of conjoined infants had the chance to survive.

In this case, the deformity was detected in a Jiangsu hospital when the mother was 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Local doctors suggested an abortion, but the mother insisted on visiting a hospital in Shanghai.

After tests, doctors at the Children's Hospital believed the twins would have a good chance of survival after liver separation surgery.
Supporters of Moon Jae-in, presidential candidate of the biggest Minjoo Party, hold a placard during a campaign in Seoul, South Korea, on April 17, 2017. Candidates kicked off official campaign on the day for the upcoming South Korea's presidential election which is scheduled on May 9, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The presidential election of May 9 in South Korea has special importance. After months of political paralysis and massive protests due to former President Park Geun-hye's alleged involvement in a corruption scandal and her subsequent impeachment, the country is finally in the process of filling the political vacuum.

Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn was politically weak  as a loyal aide to Park  while his duties were mainly administrative. Tasks for his successor will be difficult, including restoration of presidential dignity.

Hwang himself expressed no interest in participating in the presidential race, leaving three main candidates vying to enter the Blue House: Moon Jae-in from the Democratic Party, Ahn Cheol-soo from the People's Party and Hong Jun-pyo from the Liberty Party.

According to opinion polls, Moon is the front-runner with a widening lead over his nearest challenger Ahn; Hong is not far behind Ahn, but his chances have been reduced by public disenchantment with the Conservatives, allied with the Park family.

However, it's important to mention that over 20 percent of people polled in recent weeks claim to be undecided, while another 30 percent thought they could change their mind at the last minute. The poor performance of candidates in TV debates has increased indecisiveness. This might generate a high percentage of abstentions benefiting Moon.

As has been happening in all elections of late around the world, the principal public interest is in the economy. All the presidential candidates seem to lack a credible plan at a worrying time for the country.

Unemployment among young people reached 9.8 percent last year, the highest figure since 2010, and the total jobless figure has exceeded one million for the first time, after several companies experienced a severe depression in their particular industries.

Here, Moon has promised to raise the number of government employees. This may be attractive for many South Koreans seeking stability, but it is questionable whether it'spracticable.

Ahn has been more rational, placing emphasis on economic reform, believing small and medium-size enterprises, as well as startups, need to lead the country's growth, not the all-powerful chaebols, the business conglomerates long dominating the Korean scene. He's prepared to support the small fry with some public funds.

Foreign policy is equally dominant in the pre-election campaign. Attention is on the stance of candidates towards the American-deployed THAAD anti-missile system to cope with North Korea. The three leading candidates have different positions on THAAD. Moon has opposed its deployment; Ahn was against at the beginning but later said that "its placement must take place according to due process." Hong is in favor, supporting strategic decisions made by his party's former leader Park.

With reference to North Korea, Moon advocates trying to build trust with Pyongyang. In that regard, some analysts have drawn parallels with the so-called "Sunshine Policy," which refers to the support and cooperation offered by the South to the North from 1998 until 2008.

For his part, Ahn has left the option of dialogue with Pyongyang open, preferring to be tough in his rhetoric about the need of sanctions against it. Perhaps he believes that this is the only way he can attract conservative voters who traditionally support the Liberty Party. For his part, Hong has never hidden his hardline approach vis-a-vis North Korea and he even advocates redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea.

On this basis, the next president of South Korea will face a serious dilemma in dealing with Pyongyang as well as in advancing his country's partnership with the U.S. In a recent interview with Reuters, President Donald Trump said that he would either renegotiate or terminate what he called a "horrible" free trade deal with South Korea. In addition, he called on Seoul to pay $1 billion towards the cost of deploying and maintaining THAAD.

The next South Korean leader, therefore, will have to decode Trump's real intentions about North Korea, because it's the South that will first pay a heavy price in any military attack. A few days ago, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang while Trump himself does not exclude a major conflict, although he has also said he prefers the diplomatic way.

Last but not least, China is carefully looking at developments. It's not impressed with Moon's skepticism on THAAD, believing he might reverse approach after the election and actually continue the hardline policy of Park and Hwang.

In parallel with THAAD, the finding of a modus vivendi between China and South Korea will also have to be a priority after the election. The impact of China on the South Korean economy is profound and Moon is prepared to make diplomatic efforts to resolve the current misunderstanding. He will also seek cooperation from China on the North Korean imbroglio.

The settling-in process by the new president means Beijing will need to maintain a wait-and-see stance.

It is somewhat worrying that the majority of South Koreans see the relationship of their country with China as "competitive." It will be the responsibility of the new president to change this attitude via new bilateral and multilateral collaboration channels.

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.
You are here: Home

 Flash

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.[China.org.cn]

Tourists in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, will be able to enjoy helicopter tours from August this year.

Dawa Puncog, chairman of the Potala Tourism and Culture Group in Lhasa, said the first two helicopters will be delivered in June.

The maiden flight will be in August, he said. People will be able tour the city and its neighboring regions, including Namtso Lake, aboard six helicopters in the initial period.

The company has sent 28 Tibetan pilots and crew to receive eight months of flight training in Nanjing, Suzhou and Yunnan.

A general aviation airport, which covers an area of 4 hectares and can accommodate 30 helicopters, is expected to be operational in late July.

Dawa Puncog said the company is planning to offer aerial tours in the whole region. It will also offer emergency medical and rescue services, he said.

The company also has ordered a further 20 helicopters for pilot training and leasing.
 Flash

As one of China's four municipalities directly under the Central Government, Tianjin is the largest port city in Northern China.

Tianjin has historically been an important port and doorway to Beijing, being 120 kilometers away from the capital. By boarding on a bullet train at the Beijing Southern Railway Station, it now only takes around 40 minutes to get there.

The blend of Chinese and Western cultures also forms Tianjin's distinctive tourism resources. Listed as one of the first groups of outstanding tourist cities in China, Tianjin never loses its appeal to visitors from mountains, rivers, lakes and the sea to springs, wetlands and local delicacies.

Here are nine of the top places to visit in the city.

A night view of the Haihe River at the Tianjin Eye (center). (Photo by Li Hailiang/provided to chindaily.com.cn) A night view of the Haihe River at the Tianjin Eye (center). (Photo by Li Hailiang/provided to chindaily.com.cn)

1. Haihe River

As the mother river and symbol of Tianjin, the Haihe River, a 72-kilometer-long river, runs through the city and out to the Bohai Sea.

A total of 21 bridges stand over the Haihe River and each constitutes scenic attraction, forming a distinctive bridge culture throughout the region. Rising over the spectacular Yongle Bridge is the Tianjin Eye, an iconic ferris wheel which lights up the city every night.
 Flash

The remains of a U.S. sailor who died during the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese army in 1941 have been identified and will return to his hometown in Iowa state.

Fireman William H. Kennedy was killed aboard the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor in 1941. His remains were identified earlier this year, Radio Iowa reported on Monday.

Kennedy's remains will be brought back to Iowa later this week for proper burial. A funeral has been planned in his hometown of Titonka, Kossuth County on Friday.

The fallen sailor was identified through DNA analysis within a program initiated in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Defense to identify remains from the battleship.

Oklahoma was sunk by Japanese torpedoes on Dec.7, 1941, when Japan launched a sudden attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 400 crew died when the battleship capsized.
 Flash

Mexican government on Monday expressed its concern over a sactuary law just passed in U.S. state of Texas as it may be abused by overzealous anti-immigration authorities.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said it was concerned by Senate Bill 4 (SB4) which was signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott Sunday night, "because it contains elements that could be damaging to the rights of Mexicans or people of Mexican origin living in the United State."

SB4, also known as the "anti-sanctuary city law" and to take effect on Sept. 1, allows police officers to question anyone they detain about their immigration status, something they could only do in the past after arresting someone suspected of a crime.

SB4 generally grants authorities more power to move against undocumented migrants and punish those who offer them sanctuary.

"These types of measures further criminalize the immigration phenomenon, promote racism and reduce collaboration between migrant communities and local authorities," the Mexican foreign ministry added.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. LUIS DE LA ROSA, Petitioner, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. 15-859 Decided: May 05, 2017

PRESENT: BARRINGTON D. PARKER, RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., SUSAN L. CARNEY, Circuit Judges. FOR PETITIONER: Seanna R. Brown; Eric R. Fish; Erica Barrow, Baker & Hostetler LLP, New York, N.Y. FOR RESPONDENT: Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Mary Jane Candaux, Assistant Director; Edward E. Wiggers, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington D.C.

UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision, it is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review is GRANTED, the BIA's decision is VACATED, and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this order.

Petitioner Luis De La Rosa, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, seeks review of a March 9, 2015 decision of the BIA affirming a September 10, 2012 decision of an Immigration Judge (IJ) denying De La Rosa's application for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). In re Luis De La Rosa, No. A074 846 321 (B.I.A. Mar. 9, 2015), aff'g No. A074 846 321 (Immig. Ct. N.Y. City Sept. 10, 2012). We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history in this case.

Under the circumstances of this case, we review both the IJ's and the BIA's opinions for the sake of completeness. Wangchuck v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 448 F.3d 524, 528 (2d Cir. 2006). We generally lack jurisdiction to review a final order of removal against an alien like De La Rosa, who was found removable for having been convicted of a controlled substance offense. 8 U.S.C.  1252(a)(2)(C). We nevertheless have jurisdiction to consider constitutional claims and questions of law, 8 U.S.C.  1252(a)(2)(D), for which review is de novo, Frantzcia Pierre v. Holder, 588 F.3d 767, 772 (2d Cir. 2009). De La Rosa's arguments that the agency ignored material evidence and applied an incorrect standard to assess a claim of persecution raise reviewable questions of law. See Mendez v. Holder, 566 F.3d 316, 323 (2d Cir. 2009); Gui Yin Liu v. INS, 508 F.3d 716, 721 (2d Cir. 2007).

To establish eligibility for withholding of removal, an applicant must show that it is more likely than not that he  would be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. 8 C.F.R.  1208.16(b)(2). The BIA has defined persecution as a threat to the life or freedom of, or the infliction of suffering or harm upon, those who differ in a way regarded as offensive. Matter of Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. 211, 222 (B.I.A. 1985), overruled in part on other grounds by INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987); accord Ivanishvili v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 433 F.3d 332, 342 (2d Cir. 2006). Persecution can be harm other than threats to life or freedom, includ[ing] non-life-threatening violence and physical abuse, Beskovic v. Gonzales, 467 F.3d 223, 226 n.3 (2d Cir. 2006), but the harm must be sufficiently severe to rise above mere harassment, Ivanishvili, 433 F.3d at 341. To constitute persecution, the harm or suffering [must] be inflicted either by the government of a country or by persons or an organization that the government was unable or unwilling to control. Matter of Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. at 233. Economic harm constitutes persecution if it (1) deprives the victim of liberty, food, housing, employment or other essentials of life, or (2) deliberately imposes a severe economic disadvantage. Huo Qiang Chen v. Holder, 773 F.3d 396, 405 (2d Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). In evaluating a claim of persecution, the agency is required to consider the cumulative significance of the alleged incidents as opposed to the severity of each incident in isolation. See Poradisova v. Gonzales, 420 F.3d 70, 79-80 (2d Cir. 2005).

De La Rosa is correct that the agency erred by failing to assess cumulatively the harm he would face at the hands of private actors in the Dominican Republic and by failing to consider certain material evidence. Although the agency concluded without elaboration that discrimination does not amount to persecution, discrimination in housing and employment may constitute persecution when considered cumulatively in light of an applicant's particular circumstances, see Huo Qiang Chen, 773 F.3d at 405 ([W]hether a given  sanction constitutes persecution turns on its impact on the victim.  [A] sanction that impoverishes a poor victim would constitute persecution, while the same sanction imposed on a wealthier individual without such effect would not. (internal citations omitted)); see also Beskovic, 467 F.3d at 227 (requiring analysis sufficient to enable meaningful judicial review). And while the BIA found speculative De La Rosa's claim that he would become homeless due to discrimination in employment and housing and would therefore be unable to obtain his required medications under the national treatment program, De La Rosa supported the claim with credible expert testimony and evidence on societal discrimination and its impact on his ability to obtain his medications. The agency's failure to discuss this evidence compellingly suggests that it was ignored and that the agency failed to consider De La Rosa's alleged harm in the aggregate. See Xiao Ji Chen v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 471 F.3d 315, 337 n.17 (2d Cir. 2006) (presuming that the agency has taken into account all of the evidence before [it], unless the record compellingly suggests otherwise); see also Jin Shui Qiu v. Ashcroft, 329 F.3d 140, 149 (2d Cir. 2003) (recognizing that the agency must consider all factual assertions in an applicant's claim for eligibility [except] where the evidence in support of a factor potentially giving rise to eligibility is too insignificant to merit discussion. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), overruled in part on other grounds by Shi Liang Lin v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 494 F.3d 296, 30910 (2d Cir.2007) (en banc); Poradisova, 420 F.3d at 77 (We require some indication that the IJ considered material evidence supporting a petitioner's claim.). We therefore remand the proceedings for consideration of this evidence and a proper assessment of De La Rosa's claimed harm in the first instance.

In order to demonstrate eligibility for CAT relief, an applicant must show that he will more likely than not be tortured if removed to the designated country of removal. 8 C.F.R.  1208.16(c)(2), 1208.17(a) (providing the burden for CAT relief). The act of torture is defined as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person  for any reason based on discrimination of any kind  by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official. Pierre v. Gonzales, 502 F.3d 109, 114 (2d Cir. 2007) (quoting 8 C.F.R.  208.18(a)(1) and citing CAT art. 1). Cognizable official acquiescence requires only that government officials know of or remain willfully blind to an act and thereafter breach their legal responsibility to prevent it. Khouzam v. Ashcroft, 361 F.3d 161, 171 (2d Cir. 2004). In assessing whether it is more likely than not that an applicant would be tortured in the proposed country of removal, all evidence relevant to the possibility of future torture shall be considered, including, but not limited to  [o]ther relevant information regarding conditions in the country of removal. 8 C.F.R.  1208.16(c)(3).

De La Rosa is correct that the agency failed to consider material evidence in concluding that the Dominican government would not acquiesce in any torture of him. See Mendez, 566 F.3d at 323. The IJ found that the expert witness testified that there are two laws on the books in the Dominican Republic about discrimination, which have been enacted in an effort to protect the human rights of it's [sic] citizens. However, the IJ did not consider the expert's testimony that those laws are either not applicable to De La Rosa (because they protect only employees, and not potential hires) or ineffective due to lack of enforcement by the government. Nor did the IJ consider the record evidence suggesting that discrimination is often exacerbated by a lack of confidentiality. The BIA agreed with the IJ's acquiescence finding without explanation. The BIA further agreed that De La Rosa failed to establish eligibility for CAT relief because he did not demonstrate that Dominican authorities deprive similarly situated individuals health care with the specific intent of inflicting severe pain or suffering on them. That finding failed to take into account the proffered expert evidence regarding the scope and enforcement of the Dominican Republic's laws concerning intentional societal discrimination. It further ignored that, as a result of such intentional discrimination, De La Rosa may suffer severe pain and suffering amounting to torture because he would be denied access to otherwise available medical care. See Pierre, 502 F.3d at 114.

Accordingly, the petition for review is GRANTED, the BIA's decision is VACATED, and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this order. As we have completed our review, any stay of removal that the Court previously granted in this petition is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b).

FOR THE COURT:

Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
 Flash

A massive U.S., British and Jordanian military movement was spotted near the southern Syrian borders in what appeared to be the near "zero hour on the Syrian-Jordanian borders," pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV reported Monday.

The military buildup is along the borders with Syria's southern provinces of Daraa and Swaida, said the report, adding that British Challenger tanks, Cobra choppers and Black Hawks were also spotted.

Al-Mayadeen, meanwhile, cited "well informed sources" in Syria as stating that the Syrian government and its allies are "closely watching what is happening on the Syrian-Jordanian borders."

The sources said the current joint war games hosted by Jordan are "suspicious" and aim to "cover for the project of invading Syrian territories and occupying them under the pretext of fighting the Islamic State (IS) militants who have no presence in that part of the country."

Earlier in the day, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Jordan that any military intervention in southern Syria will receive the right response, and the Jordanian forces will be seen as enemy forces.

His remark came as a response to comments by a Jordanian official that Jordan might enter deep into Syria to protect its national security.

Previous remarks by Syrian government officials suggested that Jordan is planning an incursion into southern Syria, under the pretext of securing its borders from the spillover effect of the Syrian crisis.
You are here: Home

 Flash

Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao on Monday visited the Confucius Institute of Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal, and attended the unveiling ceremony of a new teaching building.

Li said the Confucius Institute, jointly launched by the UCAD and China's Liaoning University, has played a critical role in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and Senegalese peoples.

The vice president said he was moved by the enthusiasm of Senegalese people for Chinese culture, adding that the new teaching building will facilitate study of Chinese culture in Senegal.

Li extended good wishes for the future development of the Confucius Institute and encouraged its students to study hard and contribute to the Sino-Senegalese friendship.
 Flash

China on Monday provided Nigeria with 5 million U.S. dollars in emergency humanitarian aid as part of its support for relief efforts by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in northeast Nigeria.

The cash contribution from China is to help purchase 4,305 metric tons of rice to support 410,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in the northeastern states of Borno and Yobe.

A total of 184,500 men and 225,500 women are currently affected by the food shortage in that region, according to official data.

At the hand-over ceremony at the warehouse of WFP near Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, Chinese ambassador in Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, said the emergency support was to ensure food sufficiency in the region.

Nigeria's northeast region has been plagued by more than seven years' insurgency of Boko Haram, making life very difficult for the people, especially women and children, Zhou noted.

"Nigeria and China are very good friends. With this, we want to send a message that the Chinese will always give support to their Nigerian brothers and sisters," he said.

Ron Sibanda, country director and representative of the WFP, acknowledged China's contributions to support the food program in Nigeria.

The support had come to the west African country at a very crucial time, Sibanda said.

Governor of Borno State Kashim Shettima, when meeting Zhou later at the governor's office, praised the Chinese government for its invaluable support to Nigeria, saying the emergency humanitarian assistance underscored the very cordial relations between the two countries.
 Flash

The Egyptian armed forces foiled an infiltration attempt at the country's western borders with Libya and destroyed 15 vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunition, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement on Monday.

"The air forces detected and pursued the hostile targets, confirmed their location and dealt with them once they infiltrated the international border lines," military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay said in the statement, noting that the operation had continued over the past 48 hours.

He added that the 15 four-by-four vehicles were loaded with weapons, ammunition and other smuggled materials and they were all "completely destroyed."

Egypt has been suffering growing anti-government terrorist activities since the military removed former president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and launched a massive security crackdown on his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Later on, the new military-oriented leadership declared a "war against terrorism" nationwide, fighting against affiliates of the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group in the country's Sinai Peninsula and in the Western Desert.

In July 2014, at least 21 Egyptian soldiers were killed and several others wounded in a terrorist attack against security forces at Al-Farafra Oasis in the country's Western Desert.

In February 2015, the IS militants released a video showing the beheading of 20 Egyptians near the Libyan chaotic city of Sirte.

Experts believe that Egypt seeks Libya's stability to maintain the Egyptian national security, secure its western borders and uproot cross-border terrorism.
You are here: Home

 Flash

President Jacob Zuma has accepted the resignation of Justice Mabel Jansen who has been in hot water for making racial remarks, the presidential spokesperson said on Monday.

Jansen resigned as a judge of the Gauteng High Court Division with immediate effect, Bogani Ngqulunga said.

"The president has thanked Justice Jansen for her service and wished her well for her future endeavors," Ngqulunga said in a statement.

Jansen had been on special leave following comments she made on social media in 2015 that gave rise to a complaint to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

Jansen tendered her resignation last week after the JSC investigated the racial comments she made two years ago.

In a Facebook conversation with social justice activist Gillian Schutte in 2015, Jansen suggested that rape is an ingrained part of black people's culture.

Jansen's comments drew immediate outrage from members of the legal fraternity, political parties and ordinary South Africans.

Following her comments, the JSC proposed to Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha that Jansen be placed on special leave.

A new wave of racial tension has gripped South Africa over the past two years.

It all started in early 2015 when Penny Sparrow, an estate agent, labelled black revellers on public beaches in Durban during the New Year as "monkeys."

This prompted the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to push for the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill to criminalize racism, which many fear is rearing its head in South Africa.

Once it becomes law, the bill will criminalize several forms of discrimination, including on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and nationality.
 Flash

Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants on Monday pushed further into northern Mosul on the fifth day of a new push that initiated a new front in the northwestern edge of IS stronghold in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The army's 9th Armored Division and elite forces of the federal police, known as Rapid Response, freed the neighborhood of Harmat and raised the Iraqi flag over some of its buildings after heavy clashes against IS militants, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The troops also recaptured Harmat's residential buildings after heavy clashes against IS militants who were holed up in the buildings, leaving at least 17 militants killed, Qasim Nazzal, commander of the 9th division, told Xinhua in the western side of Mosul.

Nazzal confirmed that the troops are now initiating a new push at the edge of the neighboring July 30 neighborhood, which is one of the main IS redoubts in the northern part of Mosul's western side.

Meanwhile, the federal police forces pushed toward the adjacent neighborhood of al-Iqtisadi and opened a new front in southern July 30 neighborhood amid heavy clashes with the extremist militants, Raid Shakir Jawdat, the commander of federal police, said in a statement.

Also in the day, the commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) made a significant progress in the industrial area of Wadi Ugab in northwestern Mosul and seized most of the vast area, putting the troops at the edge of the IS stronghold in Islah al-Ziraie neighborhood, the JOC said in a separate statement.

The CTS Commander Abdul Ghani al-Asadi told Xinhua that the troops fought fierce street-to-street battles against IS militants, killing at least 13 of them, including three suicide bombers, and destroyed two suicide car bombs.

"The CTS forces are also fighting on other fronts; they are fighting alongside the army and the federal police in the neighborhoods of Harmat, July 30 and Zanjily which is adjacent to the old city center," Asadi said.

Early on Thursday, the Iraqi army and Rapid Response special forces pushed on the new front from the northwestern edge of Mosul toward the areas of Mushairfah, Kanisah and Harmat in the northern part of the western side of the city.

The new push would help the special forces of the CTS and the interior ministry federal police, who are making slow progress in the southern part of Mosul's western side because of the stiff resistance of the militants in the densely-populated areas of the old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule.

The IS militants are now being surrounded by the troops in the northern part of Mosul's western side, which includes the old city center.

Captain Mahmoud, commander of a federal police company fighting IS militants inside the old city center, said the new push in the northwestern part of Mosul's western side has reduced the pressure on the security forces in the old city center.

Observers say the new push was designed to pull some of IS militants from the narrow streets of the densely-populated city center to fight them in less densely-populated neighborhoods with wide streets in northwestern Mosul, in order to reduce the civilian casualties in the city center.

The new push would enable the troops to advance deeper inside the city center, in particular toward the old areas around the historical al-Nuri Mosque in the middle of Mosul's old city center.

The mosque with its famous leaning minaret, which gave the city its nickname "al-Hadbaa" or "the hunchback," has a symbolic value, as it was where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the cross-border caliphate in large areas in Iraq and Syria in his sole public appearance in July 2014.

Late in January, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, declared the liberation of Mosul's eastern side, or the left bank of Tigris, after over 100 days of fighting IS militants.

On February 19, Abadi announced the start of an offensive 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.

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 the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
 Flash

The election of Emmanuel Macron as French president on Sunday has brought relief to some European allies.

By defeating the National Front's Marine Le Pen, the far-right one who had threatened to take France out of the European Union (EU), the centrist's emphatic victory offers comfort to those who had feared another populist upheaval would follow Britain's vote to quit the EU.

Macron's win is certainly good news for political supporters of the European project as his program focuses on a deeper integration and better cooperation between the various countries in the EU.

Macron has consistently reasserted the European idea and raised the possibility that France and Germany will conjure a revival of European idealism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, through her spokesman, immediately hailed Macron's win as a "victory for a strong and united Europe."

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Macron's victory was also a "clear rejection" of a "dangerous retreat plan for Europe."

After the victory of Prime Minister Mark Rutte over far-right candidate Geert Wilders in Dutch election, and the recent collapse of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party in the local elections in Britain, France is opting for a "project geared towards better Europe," Michel reckoned.

Macron offers a pro-business, pro-Europe, outward-looking and optimistic vision. He has been among those who advocate the creation of a eurozone budget to be controlled by a eurozone finance minister, and the floating of Eurobonds to boost economic convergence and narrow the EU's north-south gap.

Macron's pro-EU beliefs pose potential problems for British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Brexit negotiators. He does not favor a hard Brexit, but will be a tough negotiator in British talks to leave the EU, according to the French president-elect's chief economic adviser Jean Pisani-Ferry.

Ferry said Britain and Europe shared "mutual interest" in maintaining economic prosperity.

Last year, Macron reacted with dismay to the prospect of Britain leaving the EU, describing the referendum result as a "crime" for which Britain should be punished by a "total exit."

As supportive of the EU as he is, Macron has also warned he would consider pulling France out of the EU if the bloc does not reform.

Denis MacShane, former Europe minister under British ex-prime minister Tony Blair, said, "Macron has put the need to reform and re-energize Europe at the forefront of all his speeches and at his election meeting."

"He has been very hard on Brexit, describing it as a "crime" and saying there can be no concessions to the UK which must not be seen to benefit from Brexit." Giles Merritt, the highly respected Brussels-based EU commentator, said, "Winning a dramatic election victory without the support of a conventional party and with no Members of Parliament points to some significant shifts in France's political landscape."

Next month's legislative elections for the National Assembly will give a clearer guide. If the candidates who will campaign under the banner of Macron's new En Marche (On The Move) movement become a substantial parliamentary bloc, then France's new president will indeed be a trend-setter, said Merritt.

But a setback for populism doesn't necessarily mean its defeat. Macron's pro-European stance as a presidential candidate now needs to be endorsed by French voters in the coming round of parliamentary elections, and then turned into solid EU policies.
 Flash

The inspector general of the German army Volker Wieker ordered a sweep of all barracks for Nazi artifacts, after an officer Franco A was caught trying to plot an attack disguised as a Syrian refugee.

Wall paintings depicting Wehrmacht (the name of the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany) soldiers and various collectibles were found in the course of an investigation of the barracks in Illkirch, where Franco A. was stationed.

German Minister of Defense Ursula von der Leyen made clear that: "The Wehrmacht does in no way form a tradition for the Bundeswehr (German army)."

She appealed to all members of the Bundeswehr to support the investigations saying "this is about nothing less than the reputation of our Bundeswehr.", der Leyen told German newspaper Bild on Sunday.

A Ministry of Defense representative confirmed the order to "investigate whether regulations concerning the handling of traditions with regard" to Nazi artifacts were met.

Bundeswehr inspectors will present a preliminary report Tuesday, while the investigations are scheduled to conclude May 16.
United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. WISCONSIN CENTRAL LTD., ILLINOIS CENTRAL R.R. CO., and GRAND TRUNK WESTERN R.R. CO., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant-Appellee. Nos. 16-3300 Decided: May 08, 2017

Before POSNER, MANION, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Beginning in 1996, the plaintiff-appellants, subsidiaries of the Canadian National Railway Company (to simplify we'll refer to the subsidiaries as the railway), began including stock options in the compensation plans of a number of employees. In this suit against the government, the railway argues that income from the exercise of stock options that a railroad gives its employees is not a form of money remuneration to them and is therefore not taxable to the railway as compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, 26 U.S.C.  3231(e)(1), which de-fines compensation as any form of money remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an employee to one or more employers. See also BNSF Railway Co. v. United States, 775 F.3d 743 (5th Cir. 2015).

As explained in Standard Office Building Corp. v. United States, 819 F.2d 1371, 1373 (7th Cir. 1987), the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, passed in 1937, is to the railroad industry what the Social Security Act is to other industries: the impo-sition of an employment or payroll tax on both the employer and the employee, with the proceeds used to pay pensions and other benefits.  The Act requires the railroad to pay an excise tax equal to a specified percentage of its employees' wages, and also to withhold a specified percentage of its employees' wages as their share of the tax. The railroad re-tirement tax rates are much higher than the social security tax rates.

The question presented by this case is whether the excise tax should be levied not only on employees' wages but also on the value of stock options exercised by employees who, having received the options from their employer, exercise them when the market price exceeds the strike price (the price at which the employee has a right to buy the stock) and thus obtain the stock at a favorable price. The Internal Revenue Service answers yes, see 26 C.F.R.  31.3231(e)-1, and the district court agreed, precipitating this appeal.

The lawyer for the IRS told us at oral argument that any-thing that has a market value is a form of money remuneration. That goes too far; it would impose a tax liability on an employer who bought an employee a birthday cake, even though the employee could do nothing with his cake except eat it or give it away. But if instead he exercises a stock option, he now owns stock, and stock has so well-defined a monetary value in our society that there is no significant economic difference between receiving a $1000 salary bonus and a share or shares of stock having a market value of $1000.

By compensating an employee with stock options rather than cash the employer encourages the employee to work harder for the company, because the better the company does the more valuable its stock is. The value of a company's stock is a function of the company's profitability, whereas the size of a cash bonus, once it is given, is unaffected by the company's future business successes or failures. Underscor-ing the point, we note that the railway's stock-option plans are performance-based: they can be exercised only if the company achieves specified goals.

As the discussion in the preceding paragraphs implies, the fact that cash and stock are not the same things doesn't make a stock-option plan any less a form of money remuneration than cash. Indeed the railway offers its employees a choice to have an agent exercise an employee's stock option, sell the shares of stock obtained by that exercise of the option, reserve part of the money received in the sale for taxes and administrative costs, and deposit the balance in the employee's bank account. An employee who uses this method will thus experience the stock option as a cash deposit.

It's true that the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, in which the term money remuneration appears, dates back to 1935, when the nation was mired in the Great Depression of the 1930s which had driven down the value of corporate stock. Maybe stock then wasn't a form of money remuneration, but there is no reason to think that the framers and ratifiers of the Act meant money remuneration to be limited to cash even if, as was eventually to happen, stock became its practical equivalent, just as today 100 dimes is the exact monetary equivalent of a $10 bill. A $10 bill is paper; so is a stock cer-tificate that can be sold for $10. The dictionary definition of money may remain constant while the instruments that comprise it change over time: sheep may have once been a form of money; now stock is. The Internal Revenue Code of 1939 is of limited help here; it treats money and stock as different concepts, but that's not inconsistent with stock options' falling within any form of money remuneration.

The equivalence of stock to cash is actually signaled in the statutory exception for qualified stock options, explicitly divorced from money remuneration by 26 U.S.C.  3231(e)(12). That exception, by virtue of its narrowness, supports an inference that non-qualified stock options, which are the options at issue in this case, are covered by the term money remuneration and are therefore taxable. There are moreover other statutory exceptions for other forms of non-cash employee benefits, and their existence reinforces the inference that non-qualified stock options are money remuneration and therefore taxable. See, e.g.,  3231(e)(1) (excluding payments for health insurance or health care and travel expenses); (e)(5) (excluding non-cash employee achievement awards); (e)(6) (excluding educational benefits); (e)(9) (excluding value of meals and lodging provided to employees); and (e)(10) & (11) (excluding contributions for medical and health savings plans).

The government's position also makes good practical sense by avoiding the creation of a tax incentive that might distort the ways in which employers structure compensation packages for their managers. And finally we are not alone in equating non-qualified stock options to money remuneration in the Railroad Retirement Tax Act. See BNSF Railway Co. v. United States, supra, 775 F.3d at 757; CSX Corp., et al. v. United States, No. 3:15-cv-427-BJD-JRK (M.D. Fla. March 14, 2017).

AFFIRMED.

The railroad plaintiffs have sought a tax refund on the ground that stock options they provided to their employees aren't taxable as compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act. Compensa-tion under the Act is defined as any form of money remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an employee to one or more employers. 26 U.S.C.  3231(e)(1). The railroads argue that stock options aren't money remuneration, so they are not taxable as compensation under the Act.

The court disagrees. Although it admits that [m]aybe stock  wasn't a form of money remuneration when the RRTA was enacted, the court posits that there is no reason to think that the framers and ratifiers of the Act meant money remuneration to be limited to cash in the event of future economic changes. Maj. Op. at 4. Even if that were true, our job is to interpret the Act as it would have been understood by people at the time it was enacted, not to speculate about the intent of Depression-era legislators. Because the plain language of the statute's definition of compensation does not cover stock or stock options, I respectfully dissent.

It is a fundamental canon of statutory construction that, unless otherwise defined, words will be interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning.  Sandifer v. U.S. Steel Corp., 134 S. Ct. 870, 876 (2014) (quoting Perrin v. United States, 444 U.S. 37, 42 (1979)). That means we look to the meaning of the word at the time the statute was enacted, often by referring to dictionaries. Jackson v. Blitt & Gaines, P.C., 833 F.3d 860, 863 (7th Cir. 2016) (citations omitted). There are some common law statutes whose meaning may evolve over time, such as the Sherman Antitrust Act. See Leegin Cre-ative Leather Prods., Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877, 899 (2007). But neither party has argued that the RRTA falls into that cat-egory, and the specific contrast Congress drew between it and the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) belies this contention. Thus, we must interpret the RRTA using normal principles of statutory interpretation, giving effect to the words Congress chose. If the stock options at issue wouldn't have been money remuneration in 1935, neither should they be in 2017.

As the statute is written, it is clear that money remuneration does not include stock options. For one, as I alluded to above, it is well established that RRTA and FICA are parallel statutes. BNSF Ry. Co. v. United States, 775 F.3d 743, 754 (5th Cir. 2015). But they are not identical; they contain different definitions of what is taxable. The RRTA subjects to taxation compensation, defined as any form of money remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an employee to one or more employers. 26 U.S.C.  3231(e)(1) (emphasis added). FICA, on the other hand, taxes wages, which are all remuneration for employment, including the cash value of all remuneration (including benefits) paid in any medium other than cash. Id.  3121(a) (emphasis added).

We must give effect to Congress's distinction between money remuneration and all remuneration. After all, it is axiomatic that such notable linguistic differences in two otherwise similar statutes are normally presumed to convey differences in meaning. United States v. Smith, 756 F.3d 1179, 1186 (10th Cir. 2014) (Gorsuch, J.); see also N. Haven Bd. of Educ. v. Bell, 456 U.S. 512, 530 (1982) ([A]lthough two statutes may be similar in language and objective, we must not fail to give effect to the differences between them.). The court's result effectively reads this contrast out of the statutes, render-ing the words money and all, as well as the two refer-ences to cash in the FICA definition, mere surplusage. That is always a disfavored result in the business of statutory interpretation. Smith, 756 F.3d at 1186. While it is possible that [these differences were] inadvertent, that possibility seems re-mote given the stark difference that was thereby introduced into the otherwise similar texts. United States v. Ressam, 553 U.S. 272, 277 (2008).

The difference in the statutes reveals that money, when contrasted with all, is a word of limitation. Further, its original meaning would not have encompassed company stock or stock options. The contemporary Webster's Second Dictionary defined money principally as [m]etal, as gold, silver, or copper, coined, or stamped, and issued by recognized authority as a medium of exchange. Webster's New Interna-tional Dictionary of the English Language 1583 (2d ed. 1934). More generally, money was [a]nything customarily used as a medium of exchange and measure of value, as sheep, wam-pum, copper rings, quills of salt or of gold dust, shovel blades, etc. Id. Its synonyms were cash, currency, and legal ten-der. Id. In other words, media of exchange issued by a recognized authority. Simply put (and as the court somewhat acknowledges), money remuneration meant remuneration in cash or cash equivalents.

Furthermore, the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, which included for the first time the definitions of compensation and wages under the RRTA and FICA, consistently treated money and stocks separately. One example is Section 115, which governed distributions by corporations. It said that when a distribution is payable either (A) in its stock or in rights to acquire its stock  or (B) in money or any other property (including its stock or in rights to acquire its stock), then the distribution shall be considered a taxable dividend re-gardless of the medium in which paid. 1939 Code,  115(f)(2). Section 115(h)(1) said that such a distribution would not be considered a distribution of earnings or profits of any corporation if no gain to such distributee from the receipt of such stock or securities, property or money, was recognized by law. See also Helverling v. Credit Alliance Corp., 316 U.S. 107, 112 (1942) (Section 115(h) was inapplicable because the distribution here was in property and money and not in stock or securities (emphases added)). And Section 1857 defined a safe deposit box as any vault, safe, box, or other receptacle, of not more than 40 cubic feet capacity, used for the safe- keeping or storage of jewelry, plate, money, specie, bullion, stocks, bonds, securities, valuable papers of any kind, or other valuable personal property. (emphases added). Examples are plentiful throughout the Code. This supports the conclusion that the original meaning of money did not encompass either stocks or stock options.

The court relies on later-enacted statutory exceptionsprincipally a 2004 exception for qualified stock options added to both the RRTA and FICAto draw an inference that money remuneration is broader than its original meaning suggests. However, absent a clearly established congres-sional intention, repeals by implication are not favored. Branch v. Smith, 538 U.S. 254, 273 (2003) (plurality opinion) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Implied repeal can occur only: (1) [w]here provisions in the two acts are in irreconcilable conflict; and (2) if the later act covers the whole of the subject of the earlier one and is clearly intended as a substitute. Posadas v. National City Bank of N.Y., 296 U.S. 497, 503 (1936).

Neither exception to the presumption against implied repeal is applicable. First, there is no conflict between a general definition and an exception that might cover things the general definition doesn't cover. In United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1395, 1402 (2014), the Supreme Court explained that, under the broad FICA wages definition, a statutory command that all severance payments be treated as if they were wages for income-tax withholding is in all respects consistent with the proposition that at least some severance payments are wages. After all, the statement that all men shall be treated as if they were six feet tall does not imply that no men are six feet tall.  Id. (quoting CSX Corp. v. United States, 518 F.3d 1328, 1342 (Fed. Cir. 2008)). The converse of this is that an exception might exclude, for whatever reason, some-thing the general definition already omits. There might be any number of explanations for this. Congress might have wanted to fill a potential gap without revisiting the general definition. In any event, there is no conflict between the general provisions and the exceptions, as both are consistent with the ex-cepted forms of remuneration not being money remuneration. Moreover, there can be no serious contention that an exception to a definitional statute covers the whole subject of the original definition, so the second exception to the presumption against implied repeal is also inapplicable.

To be sure, the implication of a later enactment  will often change the meaning that would otherwise be given to an earlier provision that is ambiguous. Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts 330 (2012) (emphasis added). However, the definition of compensation in the RRTA is not ambiguous with respect to the question presented here. As I have demonstrated, the original meaning of money remuneration was limited to cash and cash equivalents and did not include stock or stock options. Because the definitional statute is unambiguous, the later-enacted exceptions cannot alter its meaning.

In sum, Congress has long treated railroads differently than other industries. See, e.g., Federal Employers Liability Act, 45 U.S.C.  51 et seq.; Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C.  151 et seq. In the labor relations context, the Supreme Court has cautioned that parallels between the [National Labor Rela-tions Act] and the [Railway Labor Act]  should be drawn with the utmost care and with full awareness of the differences between the statutory schemes. Chic. & N. W. Ry. Co. v. United Transp. Union, 402 U.S. 570, 579 n.11 (1971). For whatever reason, the RRTA is another example of this. Given the increased liquidity of corporate stock, it may be long past time to remove the word money from the definition of compensation under the RRTA, but we lack the power to do so where Congress has declined. Therefore, I would hold that the non-qualified stock options provided to employees of these railroads are not taxable as compensation under the RRTA.

I respectfully dissent.

FOOTNOTES

. The court concedes that money isn't everything with a monetary value. Maj. Op. at 2-3. The value of this concession is limited. There is a market for everything, even the birthday cake that the court points to as the quintessential non-money item. The only difference between the birthday cake (and personal property, for that matter) and a share of stock is that the latter's value is more easily discoverable (because it's listed on a public exchange). But what about stock in a closely-held corporation, the value of which is not so obvious to the public? The court's result requires drawing a distinction on this non-textual basis. Interpreting the statute as it was originally understood avoids this problem.Moreover, although it's true that the stock options are not taxed until they are exercised (meaning that the employee purchases the stock at the strike price), it seems strange to call a stock option money remuneration when its value is so contingent on future performance. While a share of stock in a publicly traded company has a well-known value, a stock option's value isn't quite the same thing. If an employee receives an option to purchase one share of Canadian National stock at $50 per share, but the stock plunges to $40 per share the next day and remains there during the length of the option, the option would be worthless. Although it would never be taxed in that instance, it would also not be of much value to the employee, who would have preferred money remuneration.

. Furthermore, the RRTA was enacted during the Great Depression, when corporate stock would not have been understood to be as liquid as it is today. Employees in the 1930s would not have taken it kindly had they been asked to accept company stock options in lieu of money remuneration. That lends credence to the conclusion that stock and stock options were not money remuneration.

. I must point out that, although I would hold the non-qualified stock options non-taxable under the RRTA, the proceeds from the sale of stock are of course taxable under generally applicable laws when the employee makes a profit. From the railroads' perspective, of course, they would avoid paying the tax on their end of the transaction.

POSNER, Circuit Judge.
CAIRO - The future of economic relations between Egypt and China under the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative is promising and we urge further Chinese investments in Egypt to fasten the pace of Egyptian-Chinese economic integration, said the Egyptian trade and industry minister in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil is a member of an Egyptian high-profile ministerial delegation scheduled to visit China to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

"The main purpose of the visit is to take part in the B&R forum, as Egypt supports the initiative, and to meet with some Chinese companies that have investment opportunities in Egypt," said the Egyptian minister.

Launched by President Xi in 2013, the B&R initiative includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which aims at reviving ancient trade routes to link China with numerous countries in Asia, Africa and Europe through trade and infrastructure networks.

"I believe that the B&R initiative is great and China can surely make it a success," said Kabil, stressing that Egypt is a focal access point in the initiative for being the portal for Africa and for having many promising investment opportunities for Chinese companies.

He added that in order to ensure the success of the initiative, there should be agreement and coordination among all B&R states to complete the relevant infrastructures and also the initiative should provide win-win situations and mutual interests for all related parties.

The volume of trade between China and Egypt, a focal spot in the initiative, has mounted to 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, ranking Egypt as the third African trade partner with China.

Although most of the mutual trade between China and Egypt is represented in Chinese exports to the most populous Arab country, China imports of Egyptian commodities in the first two months of 2017 have reached 159 million dollars, with a 326.25 percent year-on-year growth.

"The Chinese investments in Egypt are less than 600 million U.S. dollars, which is very small given China's weight as the world's second largest economy and its focus on investment in Africa," the minister told Xinhua.

Through the initiative, Egypt as an Asian portal for Africa aspires to complete its related infrastructure to become "a large trading hub" for logistics among B&R states and to attract foreign investments in its strategic Suez Canal Corridor region.

The Egyptian parliament approved on Sunday a long-awaited investment law, which aims at removing obstacles facing local and foreign investors to boost the country's economy that severely suffered over the past few years of political turmoil and relevant security issues.

"The recently-approved new investment law will urge Chinese companies to invest in Egypt," Kabil told Xinhua, noting that his country has promising investment opportunities in several industrial fields including chemicals, textile, engineering, construction material and technology.

Egypt and China elevated their bilateral ties to the level of "comprehensive strategic partnership" amid exchanged visits between Chinese President Xi and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Kabil explained that boosting economic relations usually takes longer than political ones, as political relations can be addressed in a meeting or two but economic ties involve industry, investment, trade and many other factors that need further mechanisms.

The minister said that the Egyptian delegation during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing will explain the country's vision on the mutual interests among the B&R states and the Chinese investment opportunities in Egypt.

"All the world invests in China and China invests in Africa. Egypt has all the advantages to attract Chinese investors and we urge the Chinese government to encourage companies to invest in Egypt," the Egyptian minister told Xinhua.
A freight train operating on the Yiwu-London rail line arrives back at Yiwu West Station in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, April 29, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua] This is the first return leg of the train after it reached London in January. It took the train packed with commodities of European countries 19 days to cover 12,451 kilometers from London to the eastern coastal city of Yiwu.
China is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with Egypt on Saturday, with the aim of developing a cooperative network for technology transfers, top scientists in China and foreign representatives said.

Joint laboratories, platforms and institutions will be created to facilitate transfers that suit local needs and promote cultural understanding, they said.

China has strategic relationships with eight Arab countries, many of which are situated in areas of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Pan Jiaofeng, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institutes of Science and Development.

"Apart from our long-standing friendship, Arab countries also have valuable technologies and market opportunities that complement China,"he said. "We have to use both policy and market forces  combined with cultural understanding  to overcome the current obstacles and find out exactly how our technologies can benefit each other."

China-Arab technology transfers face four main obstacles: information asymmetry, difficulties in cross-border payments, lack of specialized talent and the management of risk, said Niu Guoyuan, chief engineer of the China-Arab State Technology Transfer Center, an organization created in 2014 by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the government of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

"The purpose of the center is to solve issues by finding the right match of technology supplier and receiver through big data analysis, and provide legal and risk evaluation services to ensure the transactions go smoothly,"he said.

There are about 10,000 business and academic entities registered with the center, and the number will swell to at least 50,000 by 2020, Niu said. "It is vital that scholars and entrepreneurs from China and Arab countries beef up their network and adapt to foreign business environments.

Wang Jiyang, a geophysics academician at the academy, said"China should play to its strengths and transfer technologies that address common concerns in countries along the Belt and Road."

Technologies having to do with water security and new energy  such as geothermal energy  are China's strong suits. These can benefit Arab countries that are struggling with shortages of water and energy, he added.

Hussein Ibrahim, a counselor at the Egyptian embassy in Beijing, said Cairo will sign a technology transfer memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Science and Technology on Saturday, the day before the Belt and Road Forum.

"The fruits of the initiative are already taking shape in my country,"he said, adding that there are around 200 Chinese factories in Egypt, and China is planning to build more electric power plants, "which the market really needs.

"We look forward to Chinese investment, as well as more projects and technological cooperation that can benefit the future of both countries,"he said.
Planes, trains and automobiles  and so much more. Many people think of the Belt and Road as a massive international infrastructure project. That's true  but far from the whole story, as journalist Erik Nilsson explains to his 5-year-old daughter, Liliana, in China Daily's "Belt and Road Bedtime Stories" series, awakening her curiosity and understanding of what it means for the future of globalization.
A CRH train production site of CRRC's Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's central State-owned enterprises will be the country's major force driving the Belt and Road Initiative, with their respective projects, plans and business layouts all in place by 2020, the top State-owned assets regulator said on Monday.

Before putting business plans into practice to further tap Belt and Road markets, the SOEs under central government administration are following stringent rules assessing projects, making feasibility studies and analyzing markets during the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

"SOEs are the market backbones. They have their own plans and strategies for the Belt and Road drive, in addition to the country's overall blueprint for the initiative," Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, told reporters on Monday.

As central SOEs have lengthy experience in setting up and managing transportation, energy, telecommunication and power projects, based on their financing ability, technology advantages and management expertise, Xiao said, adding that the regulatory agency is encouraging them to seize more market opportunities related to the Belt and Road push.

To help enterprises fend off potential risks, the State-asset watchdog will tighten supervision and punishment measures by providing more policy guidelines. Blind investment and bad administrative decisions leading to heavy financial losses will be headed off in a timely manner and strictly punished, according to the SASAC.

In addition, the SASAC will work with global partners such as the World Bank and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to assess risks and avoid losses.

To date, central SOEs have invested in 9,112 subsidiaries in 185 countries and regions. Forty-two central SOEs have participated in 1,676 Belt and Road projects via business models such as establishing joint ventures, making direct investments or becoming shareholders.

"The SASAC will encourage central SOEs to deepen cooperation with economies along the initiative in sectors such as equipment manufacturing, technology exports, standard-setting and management to advocate mutual benefits," Xiao said.

Liu Hualong, chairman of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp Ltd, said the country's top railway vehicle maker will deliver the first group of metro cars to Istanbul from its manufacturing facility in Turkey later this year.

"The facts prove that the Belt and Road Initiative has become part of international efforts to pursue joint development and common prosperity for economies to gain new growth momentum," Liu said.

Shu Yinbiao, chairman of the State Grid, said his company will further promote the standardization of China's leading patent technologies that are exported globally, such as ultra high voltage and smart grids.

The company has constructed 10 cross-border power transmission lines, including the China-Russia and the China-Kyrgyzstan lines. It is working on the Shivee-Ovoo, Mongolia to Hebei province project and others to strengthen power interconnection between China and neighboring countries.

In the rail sector, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is now in operation, with the Mombasa-Nairobi railway scheduled to open soon. The China-Laos railway is under construction and the China-Thailand railway is being accelerated.

In addition to business reruns, Xiao said Chinese companies' participation in the Belt and Road Initiative can help narrow the gap between landlocked areas and coastal countries and regions, thus bringing more benefits to participating economies.
A windfarm in Jiuquan, Gansu province. [Photo/VCG]

Deal is in line with trend to diversify earnings by investing abroad

Chinese wind turbine generator maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co Ltd announced its plan on Monday to purchase a wind farm project in Australia for A$110 million ($81.5 million), vying for a greater presence in the international market.

The project's 149 wind turbines will be Australia's largest single wind farm.

Goldwind said it will buy Stockyard Hill Wind Farm Pty Ltd from a unit of Origin Energy Ltd, and will invest up to A$335 million for further development to strengthen its competitive advantage in the country.

It had already obtained investment approval from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, said the Chinese company.

Analysts said the purchase is in line with the recent trend of Chinese companies in the electric power sector, seeking to diversify their earnings by investing abroad, and Australia's energy sector will continue to attract China utilities.

"This trend is unlikely to abate in the next few quarters given the high level of interest in the part of Chinese companies," said Joseph Jacobelli, a senior analyst with Asia utilities and infrastructure research at Bloomberg Intelligence.

"Chinese electric power utilities still find Australia an attractive investment target and will continue to seek assets there in the next few years."

According to Jacobelli, Australian energy markets remain open, the country has low sovereign risk and Chinese companies are also increasingly familiar with it.

"Australia attracted at least nine Chinese utility deals in the past 10 years, mostly State-owned grid operators and generators, with five of them worth more a total of more than $4 billion."

According to a report on China's power utilities M&A trend released by Bloomberg Intelligence by Jacobelli and Charles Shum, domestic and overseas M&A by Chinese electric power utilities could accelerate in the next few quarters thanks to financial strength, poor markets at home and policy support, and net debt to equity is the lowest in at least five years for many developers, increasing their acquisition firepower.

On the other hand, government policy also strongly supports Chinese power companies' expansion abroad, it said.

According to Goldwind, the deal does not require approval or filing by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange or other related institutions in China.

"The Stockyard Hill project may be particularly interesting because not only is Goldwind investing in a jurisdiction with a high level of transparency, which reduces investment risks, but it also managed to secure a 22-year long term power purchasing agreement, from 2019 to 2030, at A$60 per megawatt-hour with the seller of the wind farm, further lowering Goldwind's investment risks," Jacobelli added.

Zhuang Qiange contributed to the story.
Customers at an auto exhibition in Beijing. ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY

The idea of borrowing to buy items is not new among young Chinese consumers, who are familiar with buying homes using mortgages.

But compared to the United States and Europe, where 70 to 80 percent of cars are bought on credit, China's car financing market is in its infancy, leaving great potential for farsighted players to explore, such as Yixin Group, a leading Chinese online automobile transaction platform.

According to Zhang Xu'an, CEO of Yixin Group, young consumers, especially those born after 1985, have no such aversion to debt as their parents. Saving cash for future use and buying something with low-rate interest loans is popular among many of them.

"Their understanding of credit is comparatively positive and mature, which offers a great opportunity for e-commerce automotive transaction platforms like us to promote financing deals," Zhang said. His company has just floated 2 billion yuan ($294 million) of asset-backed securities (ABS) on Monday on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making its total ABS volume exceed 10 billion yuan.

"Shifting to the internet has become almost every industry's solution to development, and the automotive industry is no exception. Buying cars at a traditional dealership often means more time and higher costs, as well as a lack of information, a long transaction period, and insufficient service," said Zhao Xiang, an analyst at domestic internet research firm Analysys.

A child riding a scooter passes by a car at an auto exhibition in Beijing. [ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY]

According to Yixin's findings, it is almost impossible for China's millennial generation (born after 1985) in major cities to buy a car priced above 120,000 yuan with cash because they have limited savings.

As a result, the idea of buying cars on credit has become popular, as the buyer only need to pay between 10 percent and 20 percent as a down payment before buying either a brand new or good-quality used car.

Traditionally, a car purchased with cash is owned by the same user for between five years and seven years, but the introduction of automotive financing may shorten the ownership period to between one and three years.

Chinese automakers' annual production capacity is more than 40 million vehicles, but their actual output is less than 30 million, which means more than 10 million of capacity is in idle.

"When cars change hands at a higher rate, the capacity of automakers won't be wasted, and the efficiency of the market will increase too," said Zhang.

"More than 35 percent of automobile transactions last year involved financing and leasing. We expect this figure to exceed 45 percent this year, and to quickly reach 50 percent soon," said Zhang.

Nearly 30 percent of Chinese car buyers bought on credit in 2015, up from 18 percent in 2013, according to a Deloitte report, which also predicted China's penetration rate of auto retail finance products will exceed 50 percent by 2020.
A saleswoman at a real estate show in Zhengzhou, Henan province. XINHUA

Despite policy uncertainties, Asian investors regard real estate as safe haven assetsamid global low-interest-rate conditions, analysts said.

According to research by Zillow, the online US residential property portal, job opportunities and education resources are among the top priorities for Asian investors when choosing a destination for investment, as they believe these are factors supporting long-term yields.

Although policy uncertainties remain in US market, demand for real estate assets, particularly residential property, remains because investors mainly secure yields from stable cash flow from rental income, which has been rising steadily in key cities.

In the UK's key cities, such as London, mature markets are seeing slowing growth in yields, in a plateau-like situation in which yields remain high and go up slowly for mainstream segments.

In segments which are more capital-driven, there will be more volatility, said Yolande Barnes, head of Savills World Research, a real estate services provider.

Some cities with infrastructure that is attractive to young technology professionals, such as Tel Aviv and Dublin, are getting increasingly competitive because they attract people to move to there-a change in trends in global urban development, Barnes said.

China's key cities remain attractive to investors, and their business models have been shifting from mainly "develop-to-let" to "develop-to-lease", with an eye on long-term, stable cash flow, analysts said.

Urban renovation projects, such as turning idle factories and hotels into offices, are one of the most popular models among investors who wish to generate stable income when new land supplies are limited.

"More investors regard real estate assets in key cities as safe haven assets," said a research note from CITIC Securities.

"Investors are also further diversifying their investmentswhile they keep investing in mature markets with stable, single digit yields at around 4 and 5 percent, they will also seek new opportunities in emerging markets, such as smaller cities with fast-growing populations."
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. SPASKA STOIMENOVA NACHEVA; IVAN PANCHOV NACHEV; DESISLAVA IVANOVA NACHEVA; PANCHO IVANOV NACHEV, Petitioners, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 14-70135 Decided: May 05, 2017

Before: MELLOY,***CLIFTON, and WATFORD, Circuit Judges.

MEMORANDUM*

Petitioners Spaska Nacheva, her husband, Ivan Panchov Nachev, and their children, Desislava Ivanova Nacheva and Pancho Ivanov Nachev, are natives and citizens of Bulgaria. Nacheva and her family petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) decision affirming the Immigration Judge's (IJ) denial of their applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C.  1252, and grant the petition.

Petitioners entered the United States on December 21, 2010. On June 20, 2011, Nacheva filed her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. Nacheva sought relief due to her political opinion and membership in a particular social group. In a supplemental declaration included with Nacheva's application, she stated she was afraid to return to Bulgaria because she and her family would not be safe. Nacheva explained that the Bulgarian government harmed her because government officials believed she had documents implicating the prime minister and interior minister in corruption. Nacheva stated that on December 4, 2010, she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted and, during the attack, she passed out after one of the kidnappers struck her head against a table. Finally, Nacheva stated that her kidnappers showed her a picture of her daughter and told her, I would hate to see her and you end up working in a brothel in some God forsaken Middle Eastern country.

Nacheva testified before the IJ on March 29, 2012. Nacheva's testimony was consistent with her asylum application and supplemental declaration. In addition to Nacheva's testimony about the attack, Nacheva testified that she did not return to work after the attack. Nacheva further testified that she did not leave her house at all after the attack until she came to the United States on December 21, 2010. Nacheva testified that she has told only her husband and psychiatrist about the attack; she has not told her children or anyone else because it is too painful to talk about.

Nacheva testified that she and her family obtained tourist visas on November 22, 2010. Nacheva testified that their original plan was to visit relatives in the United States. Nacheva further testified that she is afraid she will be killed, kidnapped, or sent to be a prostitute with her daughter if she returns to Bulgaria.

Nacheva testified that she has not been able to work since coming to the United States and that she does not do anything with her time; her husband takes care of the children and her daughter cooks. On cross-examination, Nacheva testified that there was a posting online for her to work as a nanny. Nacheva explained that her daughter made the ad to try to get her out of the house and that she did not know what was written and could not work as a nanny.

In addition to Nacheva's testimony, Nacheva presented testimony from her psychologist, Dr. Lynlee Woodard, and submitted a psychological report prepared by Woodard based on her treatment sessions with Nacheva. Nacheva also submitted a psychological report prepared by Dr. Ruth Ann Wright, though Wright did not testify.

The IJ denied Nacheva's asylum application and other relief based on the IJ's adverse credibility determination. The IJ based his adverse credibility determination on a number of findings. In dismissing Nacheva's appeal, the BIA specifically relied on five of the IJ's findings: (1) that Nacheva testified she was unable to work but was impeached by the online ad for work as a nanny; (2) that Nacheva did not seek medical treatment after the sexual assault; (3) that the timing of Nacheva's psychological treatment was suspect; (4) that Nacheva's demeanor and non-responsiveness to questions supported an adverse credibility determination; and (5) that Nacheva's claim was implausible because of the timing of the attack and the timing of Nacheva's asylum application.

We review factual findings, including adverse credibility determinations, for substantial evidence. Singh v. Holder, 638 F.3d 1264, 126869 (9th Cir. 2011). [O]nly the most extraordinary circumstances will justify overturning an adverse credibility determination. Jin v. Holder, 748 F.3d 959, 964 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1041 (9th Cir. 2010)). Where the BIA does not independently review the record, or where the BIA relies upon the IJ's opinion as a statement of reasons, we look to the IJ's oral decision as a guide to what lay behind the BIA's conclusion. Kozulin v. INS, 218 F.3d 1112, 1115 (9th Cir. 2000). [W]e do not review those parts of the IJ's adverse credibility finding that the BIA did not identify as most significant and did not otherwise mention. Tekle v. Mukasey, 533 F.3d 1044, 1051 (9th Cir. 2008).

Substantial evidence does not support the first four of the IJ's findings. First, Nacheva testified on direct examination that she was unable to work but was impeached on cross-examination by an online ad, purportedly posted by Nacheva, looking for work as a nanny. Nacheva explained that her daughter posted the ad as an attempt to get her out of the house. However, the IJ did not address this explanation in his decision. As a result, this was not a proper basis for an adverse credibility determination. Rizk v. Holder, 629 F.3d 1083, 1088 (9th Cir. 2011) (If the alien offers a reasonable and plausible explanation for the apparent discrepancy, the IJ must provide a specific and cogent reason for rejecting it. (quoting Soto-Olarte v. Holder, 555 F.3d 1089, 109192 (9th Cir. 2009))); see also Guo v. Ashcroft, 361 F.3d 1194, 1201 (9th Cir. 2004) (An adverse credibility finding is not based on substantial evidence when [t]he BIA [or the IJ] did not comment on [an applicant's] explanation, nor suggest any reason that it found his explanation not credible.  (alterations in original) (quoting Garrovillas v. INS, 156 F.3d 1010, 1013 (9th Cir. 1998))).

Second, Nacheva's failure to seek medical treatment cannot serve as substantial evidence for the adverse credibility determination because it requires improper speculation. See Zhu v. Mukasey, 537 F.3d 1034, 1039 (9th Cir. 2008) ([T]he IJ's finding that petitioner's story was not plausible because, after being knocked unconscious and raped, a person would necessarily have gone to a doctor, is mere speculation and conjecturenot a proper basis for an adverse credibility finding.). That the IJ would have gone to a doctor after being raped has no bearing on Nacheva's credibility. Additionally, there are many reasons a rape victim may choose not to go to a doctor, such as not wanting a police report filed because the rapist is a powerful person, as in Nacheva's case. This further supports the rejection of this type of speculation in an adverse credibility determination. Accordingly, the fact that Nacheva did not seek medical treatment was not a proper basis for an adverse credibility determination.

Third, the finding that the timing of Nacheva's psychological treatment is suspect is not supported by substantial evidence. The IJ found it suspect that Nacheva did not seek psychological treatment until October 2011, after her asylum application was referred to the Immigration Court. However, in the psychologist report the IJ cites in his opinion, by Dr. Ruth Ann Wright, Wright notes that Nacheva's symptoms of depression have been present and increasing in severity over the last ten months since the sexual assault and threats against her daughter were made. The IJ failed to acknowledge the increasing severity of Nacheva's symptoms as an explanation for the timing of Nacheva's decision to seek psychological help.

Further, because the IJ found that the timing of Nacheva's psychological treatment was suspect, the IJ was required to provide Nacheva an opportunity to explain. See Soto-Olarte, 555 F.3d at 1092 (In any event, the IJ could not properly base her adverse credibility determination on the inconsistencies between Soto-Olarte's testimony and the police report that Soto-Olarte did not explain in his declaration, when she did not ask Soto-Olarte about these discrepancies or give him an opportunity to reconcile them.); Don v. Gonzales, 476 F.3d 738, 741 (9th Cir. 2007) ([T]he IJ must provide a petitioner with a reasonable opportunity to offer an explanation of any perceived inconsistencies that form the basis of a denial of asylum. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Because the IJ failed to give Nacheva an opportunity to address the timing of her psychological treatment, and failed to consider the full information in the psychological reports, the timing of Nacheva's psychological treatment cannot support the IJ's adverse credibility determination. Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1044 (To ignore a petitioner's explanation for a perceived inconsistency and relevant record evidence would be to make a credibility determination on less than the total circumstances in contravention of the REAL ID Act's text.).

Fourth, the IJ's finding that Nacheva's demeanor and unresponsiveness supported an adverse credibility determination is not supported by the record. We give special deference to a credibility determination that is based on demeanor. Singh-Kaur v. INS, 183 F.3d 1147, 1151 (9th Cir. 1999). However, while a general finding based on demeanor is accorded deference, under our case law, an IJ's determination that a petitioner's testimony is evasive or unresponsive may be insufficient to support an adverse credibility finding. While these judgments will usually encompass extensive non-verbal behavior or patterns of speech, we have held that they are, nevertheless, subject to review by comparison with the inert transcript. Jibril v. Gonzales, 423 F.3d 1129, 1137 (9th Cir. 2005). Where the record does not obviously show that the petitioner was evasive or unresponsive, our precedent instructs us not to accord deference to the IJ's demeanor finding, no matter how likely it was to have been supported by non-verbal, and therefore non-textual, factors. Id.

In this case, the IJ found that Nacheva did not impress as someone with more than 10 years of experience as a trial lawyer. She also did not impress as having the thought process of a trained lawyer, or the ability to answer questions skillfully and directly that one might expect from a trained lawyer. The IJ did not make inferences based solely on Nacheva's demeanor and did not point to non-verbal cues in his opinion. Cf. Paredes-Urrestarazu v. INS, 36 F.3d 801, 818 (9th Cir. 1994) (holding that an IJ is entitled to special deference when [t]he IJ's factual premise  is based solely on his purported eye-witness observation of Petitioner's reactions, [and] rests on inferences drawn exclusively from the petitioner's demeanor (emphasis in original)). Rather, the IJ's observations were based on the nature of Nacheva's responses to questions on cross-examination, and thus can be reviewed by comparison to the hearing transcript. See Jibril, 423 F.3d at 1137.

The IJ stated that Nacheva's demeanor changed on cross-examination, without citing any non-verbal behavior on which he was relying. The IJ then stated that Nacheva was unresponsive to three questions. A review of the transcript, however, shows that Nacheva answered those questions. The IJ did not identify particular instances in the record where the petitioner refused to answer questions asked of [her]. Singh v. Ashcroft, 301 F.3d 1109, 1114 (9th Cir. 2002). Because the IJ's finding regarding Nacheva's demeanor was based on Nacheva's responses to questions rather than on non-verbal cues, a review of the hearing transcript shows that the IJ's determination does not warrant the special deference usually accorded to demeanor determinations. As a result, this basis for the IJ's adverse credibility determination is not supported by substantial evidence.

Having found the first four bases for the IJ's adverse credibility determination to be either improper or unsupported by substantial evidence, we now address the implausibility of Nacheva's claim. The IJ found Nacheva's claim inherently implausible because (1) Nacheva waited several months to file her asylum application; and (2) the attack did not occur until after Nacheva already had a non-immigrant visa to come to the United States.

First, the IJ found Nacheva's claim implausible because the severity and recency of the allegations raised by [Nacheva] in her past prosecution claim would suggest that her first priority upon arrival in the United States, in December 2010, would be to request asylum. The IJ noted that Nacheva's application was timely, but, nevertheless, drew a negative inference from the fact that Nacheva and her husband started a family business in January 2011 but waited six months before applying for asylum.

Under 8 U.S.C.  1158(a)(2)(B), an asylum applicant has one year to file an application. Nacheva filed her application on June 20, 2011, about six months after she arrived in the United States and within the one year time limit set by the statute. We have held that an IJ may not speculate as to why an alien did not apply for asylum immediately upon entry to the United States. Karouni v. Gonzales, 399 F.3d 1163, 1177 (9th Cir. 2005). Further, if the IJ felt that the timing of Nacheva's application was implausible, he was required to give Nacheva the opportunity to explain. Without affording Nacheva that opportunity, the IJ could not base the adverse credibility determination on the timing of the application. See Soto-Olarte, 555 F.3d at 1092; see also Tekle, 533 F.3d at 1052 n.3 ([T]he IJ speculated that because Tekle applied prior to, but near, the one-year asylum filing deadline, her asylum claim was not credible. The IJ's finding is not supported by logic, much less substantial evidence in the record.). Finally, Nacheva retained an attorney to assist in the application process. It is improper to speculate about what an attorney would have advised; any filing delay may have been the result of advice from Nacheva's attorney or the attorney's workload. Cf. Karouni, 399 F.3d at 1177. Accordingly, the timing of Nacheva's asylum application was an improper basis for the IJ's adverse credibility determination.

Because the bases discussed above were improper or unsupported by substantial evidence, the only possible basis to support the IJ's adverse credibility determination is the IJ's finding that the timing of the attack is implausible. Considering all the evidence presented, including Nacheva's consistent and detailed testimony, the IJ could not permissibly infer that Nacheva's claim that she was attacked is implausible, even considering the timing. Nacheva consistently represented the timing of her decision to apply for asylum in the United States. Nacheva also consistently testified on direct examination, cross-examination, and redirect that she and her family were planning a trip to the United States to visit relatives when they obtained their visas and that they did not originally plan to remain in the United States. Nacheva testified in detail about the attack and stated that she was attacked because, on November 30, 2010, eight days after she obtained her visa, she met with a man who opposed the government. Further, the two psychological reports Nacheva submitted stated that Nacheva presented symptoms consistent with someone who was attacked as Nacheva claims she was. Finally, as the IJ noted, Nacheva testified consistently with her written declaration.

While the REAL ID Act's totality of the circumstances' standard is permissive as to the breadth of factors that may form the basis of an adverse credibility determination, the totality of the circumstances approach also imposes the requirement that an IJ not cherry pick solely facts favoring an adverse credibility determination while ignoring facts that undermine that result. Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1040. The IJ did not explain why, in light of all the evidence, the timing of the attack was still implausible. Further, the IJ did not address the psychological reports in his implausibility finding. Rather than considering the timing of the attack in light of the totality of the circumstances, and all relevant factors, 8 U.S.C.  1158(b)(1)(B)(iii), the IJ cherry-pick[ed] facts that supported an adverse credibility determination and ignored other evidence that undermined that determination. See Shrestha, 590 F.3d at 1040. Further, the IJ speculated about [Nacheva's] real motives when she and her family applied for non-immigrant visas. Paramasamy v. Ashcroft, 295 F.3d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2002). An IJ may not base a decision on personal conjecture or speculation. Id.

To support the implausibility finding, the IJ also focused on the fact that Nacheva's husband and children did not testify to corroborate Nacheva's claim that the family lacked intent to permanently remain in the United States when they applied for their visas. When an IJ finds that corroborative evidence is necessary, he must provide [the] applicant with notice and an opportunity to either produce the evidence or explain why it is unavailable before ruling that the applicant has failed in his obligation to provide corroborative evidence. Ren v. Holder, 648 F.3d 1079, 1090 (9th Cir. 2011). When lack of corroboration is a basis for an adverse credibility determination, Ren's notice-and-opportunity requirement still applies. Bhattarai v. Lynch, 835 F.3d 1037, 1043 (9th Cir. 2016). Specifically, when the IJ or BIA relied on the lack of corroboration as part of [an] overall credibility determination [,] and, on review, we reject[ ] each of the IJ's other reasonsbesides lack of corroborationfor the adverse credibility finding, the denial of relief cannot stand unless the IJ satisfied Ren's requirements. Id. (alterations in original) (quoting Lai v. Holder, 773 F.3d 966, 976 (9th Cir. 2014)).

In cases like Ren and Bhattarai, where the adverse credibility determination is based, in part, on the lack of corroborating evidence, our review requires a two-step analysis. Bhattarai, 835 F.3d at 1043.

First, we separate out the non-corroboration grounds for the adverse credibility determination and evaluate whether the IJ and BIA's determination is supported by substantial evidence. If it is, we defer to the IJ and BIA's adverse credibility determination. But if we overturn that determination, and only issues regarding lack of corroboration remain, we next ask whether the IJ satisfied Ren's notice requirement. If the IJ did not provide the applicant notice of the specific corroborative evidence that was required and an opportunity to provide it or explain why he cannot reasonably obtain it, we remand for the IJ to give the applicant that opportunity.

Id. at 104344.

As discussed above, the BIA adopted the IJ's adverse credibility determination based on five findings. We find that the first four bases either rest on impermissible grounds for an adverse credibility determination or are unsupported by substantial evidence. Thus, we do not defer to the IJ and BIA's adverse credibility determination. The only issue remaining is lack of corroborating evidence regarding Nacheva's intent when she applied for a non-immigrant visa. The IJ did not give Nacheva notice of what corroborative evidence was necessary. Though the IJ asked Nacheva about the online ad for her to work as a nanny and her career as a lawyer, the IJ did not ask about Nacheva's intent when she applied for her non-immigrant visa. Further, at the end of the hearing, the IJ discussed what corroborative evidence was necessary but mentioned only evidence regarding Nacheva's career as a lawyer.

We agree that Nacheva's husband and children may have corroborated Nacheva's claim regarding when she decided to permanently remain in the United States. However, the [IJ and] BIA's reliance on the absence of testimony from [Nacheva's family] was error under Ren because the IJ did not give [Nacheva] notice and an opportunity to present the corroborative testimony before denying [her] asylum application. Bhattarai, 835 F.3d at 1046. As a result, the IJ and BIA improperly relied on the lack of corroborating evidence in denying relief.

Accordingly, all five bases for the IJ and BIA's adverse credibility determination are either unsupported by substantial evidence or rely upon impermissible factors. Further, the IJ and BIA erred in relying on the absence of corroborating evidence without giving Nacheva notice and an opportunity to present that evidence.

PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED AND REMANDED.

FOOTNOTES

. See, e.g., Zhu, 537 F.3d at 1046 (Gould, J., concurring) ([R]egrettably, in many parts of the world, a young woman's report of a rape is likely to bring shame and discredit upon her and her family, as much as it is likely to result in any prosecution of the wrongdoer. Because the victim may be blamed for a rape or in any event subjected to some level of disgrace for it, it is understandable that a young woman like Petitioner  might prefer to maintain silence about a rape. This is all the more so where the rapist is a powerful person in the community. And where recourse to medical treatment is likely to cast a spotlight on the rape with all attendant consequences, it is no wonder that a young woman in such circumstances might not only remain mum but also pass up the possibility of a doctor's help.).
Vision for future looks to radical interconnectivity of energy sources

Global energy interconnection is a vision to form a massive global electricity grid powered by renewable sources. It will serve as a new engine to cement the Belt and Road Initiative, as economies along the trading routes are rich in clean energy and complement each other, said an expert.

Wang Yimin, secretary-general of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, said electricity interconnection is conducive to boosting regional economic and trade cooperation.

The non-governmental and non-profit international organization has been striving to boost big-ticket projects connecting the electricity networks of China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and other countries, he told a news conference.

GEI is a globally interconnected smart grid with ultra-high voltage grids as its backbone.

It also serves as an infrastructure platform to develop, transmit and consume clean energy on a massive scale worldwide, according to Wang.

"In essence, GEI is a smart grid, plus a UHV grid and clean energy," he elaborated.

To facilitate such efforts, GEIDCO is going to sigh cooperation agreements or memorandums of cooperation with several international governments and international organizations to construct the standard system during the upcoming Belt and Road summit, added Wang.

In 2015, China proposed to establish the GEI to help meet global power demand with clean and green alternatives.

The initiative was proposed as severe energy challenges, such as resource scarcity, environmental pollution, and climate change, pose a great threat to the survival of humanity.

GEI, as a Chinese solution to address these challenges, should be incorporated into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The China-led organization is planning to put intercontinental grids in place in each continent by 2050, after setting up a countrywide super-grid by 2020.

Among the world's three most significant networks, the integration of energy infrastructure lags far behind information and transportation sectors, said Liu Zhenya, GEIDCO's chairman and former chairman of the Beijing-based State Grid Corp of China.

Liu wrote in a recent article, saying "information and transportation are already well on their way to being integrated, powered by advances in electrification and fiber optics, as well as data analytics, automation and the internet of things ... electricity generation and transmission remain trapped within localized 20th-century grids."
By MENG FANBIN in Beijing and YUAN HUI in Hohhot | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-09 07:54

The second production line of China's biggest coal-to-polyolefins processing project is expected to go into full operation in July in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, with annual output worth 13 billion yuan ($1.89 billion).

The Ordos-based Zhongtian Hechuang Energy Co Ltd is expected to produce 1.37 million metric tons of polyethylene and polypropylenes each year from 25 million tons of coal.

Polyolefinspolyethylene, polypropylenes and some other polymersaccount for more than half of total plastics consumption in the world.

"Our coal-to-chemicals project started production last October. It produces polyethylene and polypropylenes from coal, through a series of high-tech procedures, following the government's call for transforming resources in the ground," said Wang Jun, a spokesman from the joint venture which is owned by three State-owned companies and one private firm.

Polyolefins are extracted from petroleum, but China is a country with rich coal reserves and a shortage of crude oil, he said.

"The coal-to-polyolefins project has an advantage in costs so we do not need to only sell crude coal with low profits."

The demonstration project is a good example of industrial upgrading, realizing coal deep processing from extensive production.

There will be more of such demonstration projects in the near future in Ordos and Baotou, two cities in the west of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, thanks to its success in industrial transformation and rich mineral resources.

Around 12 cities and economic areas including Ordos and Baotou were chosen to build demonstration areas, with all of them old industrial cities and resource-based cities, according to an April statement released by the National Development of Reform Commission and other four ministry-leval bodies.

"The statement is of great significance to the development of Baotou and Ordos," said a commission official in Inner Mongolia.

"It will help us break down more institutional barriers and promote more innovation, transformation and upgrading," he said.

The supporting measures will push forward regional economic transformation and deepen supply-side structural reform and economic efficiency and quality will be improved, he added.

Supporting policies on industry, innovation, investment, finance and land for these demonstration areas were initially identified, the statement said.

"Demonstration cities will be supported to build manufacturing innovation centers under the Made in China 2025 initiative," said Zhou Jianping, an official from the NDRC.

"Major scientific and technological infrastructure, high level innovation platforms and transformation platforms for scientific and technological achievements will also be pushed by concerned policies."

China Development Bank is expected to increase support for key projects in the demonstration areas in credit access, industrial investment funds and corporate bonds, he said.

Cities in demonstration areas will be included in redevelopment pilots for inefficient urbanland. In the pilots, industrial and mining wasteland is encouraged to be reclaimed and reused.

"The NDRC will set up special funds to support the construction of key industrial park," Zhou said.

The statement called for Baotou and Ordos to develop industrial cooperation in adjacent cities and upgrade traditional industries such as coal, steel and rare earths.

Because of their inefficient industrial structures, officials say older industrial cities rely more on raw resources instead of high technological products.

Zhou said that with preferential policies, the demonstration areas will act as models of the wider industrial upgrade, in improving the quality of economic and social development and in revitalizing old industrial plants.

"The government will then promote their successful experiences throughout the whole country."

Shenyang, Anshan and Fushun in the middle of Liaoning province, Tangshan in Hebei province and Changzhi in Shanxi province, are included in these cities, according to the statement.
American Express Co, the largest credit-card issuer by purchases, is seeking to extend its service to young affluent consumers in China, hoping to tap into their purchasing potential in outbound tourism and cross-border online shopping.

The company launched two credit cards in partnership with Bank of China, the country's fourth-largest lender by assets, on Monday.

Cardholders can enjoy benefits and services such as lodging privileges, cash rebates, airport shuttle service, free international Wi-Fi, dining discount, global medical assistance and emergency rescue services, according to the company.

Dave Keung, managing director for China at American Express, said the two credit cards will target young customers who are travel lovers and enthusiasts of online shopping.

"While maintaining our leading position among high-end customers in China, we are hoping to capture quality customers from different walks of life with strong spending power and sophisticated demand for lifestyle-related products and services," Keung said.

China has become one of the fastest growing markets for American Express. The number of its Chinese clients and the transaction value have increased substantially over the past four years, Keung said without offering the market data.

The company acknowledged the rapid development of mobile payment services led by Chinese third-party payment companies such as Alipay, the digital wallet run by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, and WeChat Wallet owned by Tencent Holdings.

"We hope to form complementary partnerships with local third-party payment companies. The ideal situation for us is to turn our competitors into our partners," Keung said.
BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced Tuesday that it will extend anti-dumping duties on chloroprene rubber imported from Japan, the United States and the European Union for another five years starting Wednesday.

China has imposed anti-dumping duties on chloroprene rubber imported from those countries since 2005 on the grounds that the products were being dumped on the Chinese market at lower-than-market prices.

The anti-dumping duties were extended for another five years in 2011.

The latest decision followed a review launched a year ago that found the domestic industry could be harmed if anti-dumping duties were discontinued.

The MOC said anti-dumping duty rates for Japanese imports range from 10.2 percent to 43.9 percent, while those for US producers are 151 percent and European companies are subject to rates ranging from 11 to 151 percent.

Chloroprene rubber, commonly known as Neoprene, is mostly used to manufacture electrical cables and waterproof products.
HANOI - China has overcome the United States to become Vietnam's biggest importer of tra fish, a common kind of catfish, a local association said on Tuesday.

Vietnam exported $69.7 million worth of tra fish to China in the first quarter of this year, recording a year-on-year surge of 56.8 percent, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said, noting that the export turnover to China accounted for roughly 19 percent of the total to the world market.

Nearly 40 Vietnamese firms currently export tra fish to China via border gates in the three northern provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son and Cao Bang.

Chinese demand for tra fish for domestic consumption, especially at hotels, restaurants, schools and enterprises, has recently sharply increased, so Vietnamese companies are intensifying tra fish export to China through border trade, many local entrepreneurs said, adding that they are also seeking ways to export large volumes of the catfish to the neighbor country via big ports.

Vietnam earned nearly $305 million worth of tra fish to China in 2016, nearly doubling that in 2015, and 4.2 times higher than 2000.

Vietnam reaped more than $2.1 billion from exporting various kinds of seafood, including tra fish, to the world market in the first four months of this year, up 9 percent, according to the country's General Statistics Office.
BEIJING -- The establishment of "Chinese Brands Day" will help independent brands, a senior official said Tuesday.

The State Council, China' cabinet, has approved a Chinese Brands Day, to be held on May 10 each year from this year. The first falls on Wednesday.

Influential brands are symbols of the overall competitiveness of companies and countries, and can help lead economic transition, according to Wang Dong, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.

Compared with developed countries, China is still short of globally influential brands but well equipped to accelerate brand development, Wang added.

Chinese Brands Day will publicize brands owned independently by Chinese companies, tell the stories of the brands and raise brand recognition, according to Wang.
BEIJING - Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai on Tuesday urged the social security fund to improve asset safety and contain financial risks.

At a meeting of the National Council for Social Security Fund, Ma said the council had realized sound investment returns, accumulated investment and management experience and nurtured a number of asset management professionals since its establishment.

To expand the fund, the council should focus on fund safety, maintaining and increasing fund value, Ma said.

The council should also improve management to prevent risk, raise the quality of its personnel and better help the country in tackling the aging problem and improving social security, Ma said.

Set up in 2000, the fund serves as a strategic reserve fund to supplement and adjust the social security spending, such as social insurance spending during the peak time of the aging of population.
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on May 8 signed a contract with a Chinese company to procure a S26T diesel-electric submarine. [Photo/en.people.cn]

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on Monday signed a contract with a Chinese company to procure a S26T diesel-electric submarine, a move experts believe will promote China's export of conventional submarines.

The contract was signed in Beijing by RTN chief of staff, Vice Admiral Luechai Ruddit and Xu Ziqiu, chairman of the stated-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). According to CSIC's official website, this is the company's second submarine export contract, after an eight-ship deal with Pakistan's navy in 2015.

"The submarines from China are the cheapest, with quality that is relatively acceptable. [China] also offers services after purchase, something extra that we have received," Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was quoted as saying by Nationmultimedia.com in March.

The S26T will be the RTN's first submarine since the end of World War II. Due to domestic politics and a budget shortage, the country delayed its plan to buy a submarine until China offered an unbeatable deal.

According to Nationmultimedia.com, the ship will be nearly 78 meters long and 9 meters wide. It will be equipped with the latest technology, including a AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) system, which will allow the ship to stay underwater for up to 21 days without resurfacing. Normal nuclear-based submarines can dive for around seven to 10 days at a time.
Louis Vuitton topped the list of the most popular gift brands among rich Chinese women, followed by Apple and Chanel, according to the Hurun Report Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2017 released by the Hurun Research Institute.

The report, which has been carried out for over a decade, was based upon a survey of 449 millionaires with a personal wealth of at least 10 million yuan ($1.45 million).

Here are the top 10 brands that rich Chinese women prefer when it comes to gifts:

No 9 Prada (1.4 percent female respondents' gift choice)
Visitors examine the products of the Valeo Group at the Shanghai auto show in April, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

French automotive supplier Valeo Group's sales revenue is up 22 percent from the same period last year, and has reached 4.8 billion euros ($5.26 billion) in the first quarter of 2017. China, for the Valeo Group, is one of the fastest growing markets.

Of the revenue, original equipment sales totaled 4.17 billion euros, a 21 percent growth year-on-year, which was much higher than the average of the global automotive production industry.

When it came to China, the first-quarter growth rate of original equipment sales firmly stood at 25 percent. Representatives of the Valeo Group said it was driven in particular by the strong growth with Chinese brands, accounting for more than 40 percent of the group's total sales in the country.

They added the pace of growth would enable the Valeo Group to double its sales in China in the next four years. In 2016, its sales revenue grew 14 percent to 16.5 billion euros, of which 28 percent was from China.

As part of its efforts to better meet demands of Chinese brands, the Valeo Group demonstrated 14 innovative technologiesranging from electrification, autonomous and connected car to new mobility services segmentsat the Shanghai auto show which concluded in late April, 2017.

The CEO and Chairman of the Valeo Group, Jacques Aschenbroich, said China, as the world's largest auto market, was a priority for the group's future development.

He made his remarks when the group opened a new research and development facility in Wuhan, at capital city of Hubei province, during April, 2017.

Aschenbroich said the technical center, which focuses on lighting technology and driving assistance systems, would further help it to take root in China and better serve global markets.

The first Valeo Group facility in China was built in 1994. The group now has 13 research and development centers, 30 manufacturing facilities and another 12 projects under construction across the country.
A citizen pays her taxes via Alipay, a mobile payment app developed by Ant Financial Services Group, the financial arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, at the Xihu branch of Hangzhou Taxation Bureau in Zhejiang province, the first in China to adopt mobile payments in civic services. XU KANGPING / FOR CHINA DAILY

Zhejiang province shows how to implement Internet Plus strategy at the ground level

This story is not about the use of e-wallets, QR codes and bar codes via mobile apps and digital payment tools for coffee, taxi rides, cinema tickets, groceries, sidewalk fast-food and what have you. That's old hat, in China at least.

Instead, this story is about how hundreds of social and other civic services of governments across China, particularly in some cities and regions, are becoming cashless, digital, real-time and internet-enabled.

Traffic fines, marriage pre-registration, remote diagnosis, utility bill payments, income tax filings, doctor appointments ... now need no more than a tap here and a code scan there.

Zhejiang province's capital Hangzhou, home to e-commerce major Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and its mobile payment unit Ant Financial Services Group, is spearheading the drive to make the national government's Internet Plus policy a reality at the ground level.

Hangzhou, Shanghai and Nanjing are among the cities that are utilizing mobile internet, big data and facial recognition technologies for frictionless and secure transactions in civic services, according to the 2016 China Internet Plus and Social Services Index.

In the process, they are showing how going digital could help streamline bureaucratic processes that bedevil government services.

Among the wealthiest provinces in the country, Zhejiang is keen to embrace digital channels so that citizens do not have to run an errand "for no more than once", according to Chen Guangsheng, the government's vice-secretary-general.

"This has become a reality thanks to the establishment of a virtual public payment platform, which effectively covers payments for the government's over 200 services. Residents can transact via the unified online portal," he said.

Zhejiang's virtual services were launched three years ago, and have since handled 15 million transactions worth 450 million yuan, said Chen. He foresees expansion into property transaction fees and health insurance.

Citizens can access the platform via Alipay. Combining location-based services with the payment function, Alipay guides users through its "City Service" that aggregates civic affairs, and redirects them to respective online pages to fill out information and make e-payments.

The self-employed and entrepreneurs find social security fund payments via the mobile app particularly convenient and time-saving. In the past, they had to spend hours and days on the paper work.

Twin sisters test the "smile to pay" device based on the facial recognition technology at a fair in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The device can easily distinguish the identical twins by scanning their faces. LONG WEI / FOR CHINA DAILY

For, employers typically offer such services free for their staff while freelancers have to fend for themselves, said Cai Yuge, head of tax collection and management of the Zhejiang Local Taxation Bureau.

"Now, with a few swipes on the phone, they are entitled to the same benefits like every other wage-earner."

What's more, a mobile payment can produce an e-invoice with a QR code that can be used to get a hard-copy within 30 seconds.

Alipay has teamed up with local public security bureaus to match photographs in its database with a real-time snapshot taken by mobile phone users. If the results produce a match, no more identity verification steps are needed. The user can simply proceed to the transaction, Cai said.

The digital wave is also transforming Zhejiang's healthcare sector through the increasing adoption of remote diagnosis, an emerging field to get test results interpreted by medical experts in other locations.

This approach helps provide affordable healthcare solutions to people in underdeveloped regions and those living in poor health conditions.

For instance, Zhejiang's Shaoyifu Hospital encourages patients to make appointments and pay for medical bills with Alipay. It has also developed an indigenous app that connects patients with doctors, making post-surgery treatment accountable and traceable, said Cai Xiujun, head of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, which is affiliated to the School of Medicine at Zhejiang University.

"Especially for those suffering chronicle diseases, patients can leave a message about their symptoms, and the doctors would reply at the end of their day shift. It adds a personal touch to the medical service and significantly enhances efficiency," he said.
Attendants stand in front of the logo of China Mobile at a venue for the launch of Xiaomi's new smartphone in Beijing. [Photo/Agencies]

China Mobile to build cross-border optical fiber cables with neighbors

China Mobile Communications Corp, the world's biggest telecom carrier by subscribers, said on Monday it aims to build a globally connected telecom infrastructure system, as it scrambles to promote regional connectivity and offer better services for economies along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The State-owned company announced on Monday that it will step up efforts to build key cross-border optical fiber cable projects to link China with neighboring countries, including Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.

It also plans to build eight internet data centers in economies along the Belt and Road within three years, and build new submarine cables and international communication services gateways to Asia, Europe and the United States.

"The move will create new business opportunity for us," China Mobile Chairman Shang Bing said. "It will not only help us gear up in the expansion of international business, but also promote the regional connectivity for China and overseas economies through the Belt and Road Initiative."

He did not disclose the specific investment size and timetables.

China Mobile has built eight land optical fiber cables and five submarine optical fiber cables across regions in Asia and Europe.

Over the next three years, the Beijing-headquartered company also aims to have 61 Point of Presence sites along the Belt and Road, up from the current 29. POPs are essential in connecting different networks and communication devices. The closer to home a POP is from where you're calling, the better your call quality will be.

"Telecom connectivity is an important foundation for international communication and cooperation," Shang said.

With more than 856 million users, China Mobile is the biggest telecom carrier in China, followed by smaller rival China United Network Communications Ltd and China Telecom Corp.

Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert and founder of the telecom industry website cctime.com, said that different from Western telecom giants which already have a big overseas presence, Chinese telecom players had focused on the domestic market.

"But as the technology gap is narrowing, telecom giants are aggressively venturing out into overseas markets," Xiang said.

In February, China Mobile said it would invest $200 million to expand its presence in Pakistan this year, where it has obtained 3G and 4G licenses.
[Photo/VCG]

Yidao Yongche, Chinese ride-sharing services provider controlled by internet conglomerate LeEco, has obtained an official operating license from Beijing transport authorities.

Jia Yueting, LeEco's founder and chairman, announced the news on his official weibo account on Monday, describing it as "a historic turnaround" for Yidao.

The news comes as Yidao drivers are demanding overdue payment while users are concerned about their deposits. The company's founder Zhou Hang accused LeEco of misappropriation of fund before he left.

The license, posted on Jia's weibo, allows Yidao to run car-hailing businesses for four years until May 7, 2021, and was issued by the Transport Administration Bureau of Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission.

It is the first such license granted by Beijing authorities to a private car-hailing company and also to a consumer-to-consumer platform, Jia said.

Shouqi Limousine and Chauffeur, a subsidiary of the State-owned Shou Qi Group, won the city's first online car-hailing license in February. Leading player Didi Chuxing received its in Tianjin.

China unveiled nationwide regulations for car-hailing services in July last year, urging the platform providers to seek formal qualifications. Major cities followed by specifying requirements.

Under the draft rules in Beijing, drivers on car-hailing platforms shall have a local household registration, or hukou, and their vehicles shall have local plates.

Analysts said it still remains to be seen whether the license can save Yidao given its rocky relationship with drivers and the strict operating rules.
Zhang Dejiang (R), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), meets with Chui Sai On, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region, in Macao, May 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

MACAO -- China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang inspected the government head office of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday and was briefed by principal officials of the SAR government on their work.

Accompanied by Macao SAR Chief Executive Chui Sai On, Zhang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, arrived at the SAR government head office where he heard briefings by principal officials.

Zhang expressed greetings and good wishes to all principal officials and civil servants of the SAR government on behalf of the central government as well as President Xi Jinping.

He said since Macao's return to the motherland, the principle of "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law have been fully and faithfully implemented, the central government's overall jurisdiction over the SAR has been effectively exercised, and a high degree of autonomy in Macao guaranteed.

Zhang noted that Macao's economy has been developing rapidly and its livelihood continues to improve, resulting in a stable and harmonious society, with different undertakings reaching outstanding achievements.

It is proven that the practice of "one country, two systems" in Macao is successful, he added, saying that he was delighted to see that under the leadership of Chui, the SAR government has worked out a five-year development plan by seizing the opportunities brought about by the country's 13th Five-Year Plan and the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to continue to push ahead with Macao's role as "one center, one platform" and the diversification of economic development. These have been fully affirmed by the central government, he said.

Macao is striving to become a world tourism and leisure center and a platform for business and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Zhang hoped that Macao can fully and faithfully implement the four requirements made by President Xi in his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the fourth-term SAR government, and to build a better future for Macao by utilizing the favorable initiatives offered by the central government.

On the same day, Zhang met with Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Ho Hau Wah and Macao SAR Chief Executive Chui separately.
Premier Li Keqiang receives an introduction to the Zoomlion 230-horsepower tractor from the company's deputy director, Wang Jinfu, in Kaifeng, Henan province, on Monday. China previously depended on overseas technology for such products. WU ZHIYI / CHINA DAILY

Premier Li Keqiang called on Monday for further efforts to drive agricultural modernization and manufacturing upgrades amid China's economic transformation.

Li, during his inspection tour in Central China's Henan province, visited an agricultural machinery manufacturing plant in Kaifeng and climbed aboard on a newly made tractor developed using domestic technology.

The premier had previously proposed developing high-powered tractors to achieve technological breakthrough.

Li also visited people living in a floodplain.

The tractor company recently designed and began making the farm tractor, which is powered by a 230-horsepower engine  a product that used to be dependent on overseas technology.

Wang Hongmei, the company's office director, said the tractors are eagerly awaited in Northeast China as well as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where large-scale farming and deep plowing are common.

Li, boarding the tractor and learning in detail about its operation from Wang Jinfu, deputy director of Zoomlion, stressed that such technology upgrades should be more widely applied to agriculture modernization.

With almost all control panels inside the operator's cab, Wang explained that the tractor can be controlled with only one hand.

The application of big data as well as an internet platform also is used by the company for product information collection, as it also developed an internet monitoring platform for all of its machinery products across China.

Breakdown in any area of a machine will be monitored by the internet platform terminal, while such information and data platform are also used for Zoomlion sales.

The company has seen a consecutive increase in sales from January to April this year.

Henan province, located alongside the lower reaches of the Yellow River, has long relied on agricultural production.

On Monday, Li paid visits to several households in Lizhuang township along the Yellow River floodplain area, where in villages scattered in low-lying areas suffer frequent flooding. Li urged the relocation of these villages. The township has 18 villages undergoing such conditions.
Liu Shuling, a Chinese artist (center), teaches Western Kentucky University faculty Carol Watwood and Daniel Peach how to hold a brush after lecturing at the university's Confucius Institute in Bowling Green on Wednesday.[Zhao Huanxin/China Daily]

Having a painter as the instructor is a good way to teach Chinese calligraphy to beginners. At least that was the case for new students at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

In a classroom on the first floor of the university's library, which has housed the Confucius Institute since 2010, Liu Shuling, an artist from China, used a brush, some ink and stacks of paper to teach a small class of avid calligraphy learners how to write Chinese characters on Wednesday.

A video of Liu teaching the class how to draw characters with a brush went viral on the internet. By Sunday it had generated nearly 1 million views and 13,000 likes on Miaopai, a Chinese video sharing and live streaming service.

"America," the 76-year-old said, "is transliterated into two charactersmei guo, meaning 'beautiful land' in Chinese."

As he wrote the first character, mei, on a whiteboard, his students watched a shape looking like a sheep with two long, sharp horns appear above a graphic representing "big".

"It has long been believed in China that a big sheep is beautiful, hence the meaning of the word mei," Liu said. "But I'd rather believe it represents a man wearing sheep-horned headgear that makes him look great."

He further pointed out that mei is a type of character called huiyicharacters formed by a combination of elements thought to be logically associated. As for guo, the second character in mei guoAmerica or the United StatesLiu drew a circle representing a walled land to be defended by a dagger-axe.

This character belongs to the most common type of Chinese character, called xingsheng, created by combining a semantic with a phonetic element intended to remind the reader of the word's pronunciation, according to Liu.

The Chinese traditionally divide the characters into six types, which also include xiangxing, characters that were originally pictographs, Liu said. He painted an animal standing on its rear feet.

"It is a horse," several students yelled. "Yes, this is the Chinese character for horse," the teacher said, giving them a gleeful thumbs-up.

Shaden Melky, a consultant at the university, said she had always wanted to learn Chinese calligraphy, and her first try was fascinating.

"This is my first opportunity and it's wonderful," Melky said. "It is also nice to learn the history of calligraphy as well."
A patient is given her physical checkup results at a community medical service center in Beijing in April, after a comprehensive medical reform started in the capital.[Wang Xin/For China Daily]

Cost of drugs eases; patients shift toward community clinics for care

A move to scrap drug price markups has shown early signs of success in optimizing medical resourcesparticularly the work of specialistsand in lowering the costs of medicine for most patients, according to the Beijing health authority.

As part of the general healthcare reform, measures introduced on April 8 aimed at ending the markup on drugs prescribed at public hospitals and modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatments.

The average drug cost for each outpatient visit during the past month has decreased by 9.6 percent compared with March, the Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission said.

For inpatient care, the average drug cost for each hospitalization has fallen by nearly 18 percent, while the entire cost dropped by 4.1 percent compared with March.

Fang Laiying, head of the commission, said the latest measures worked well to provide better and more rational treatment at more affordable prices.

Under a hierarchical medical system, he said, patients with minor diseases visit community clinics. Only the seriously ill go to large hospitals for specialist care.

But with no price difference, patients tend to swarm into already crowded large hospitals, even those suffering from a common cold, experts said. Meanwhile, community clinics are underused, resulting in a waste of medical resources.

After modifying the prices for registration, consultation and treatment in the latest reform, more residents, particularly those suffering chronic diseases, began to visit community clinics, Fang said.

Total outpatient visits in community clinics increased by 3.4 percent during the past month over March, according to official data, while visits at large top-level hospitals dropped by 15 percent.

All 3,600 medical institutions in the city, under the new reform, were required to purchase drugs directly from pharmaceutical manufacturers through an open public bidding platform to further reduce prices, he added.

That has helped the capital save 420 million yuan ($60.8 million) in the past month, according to the latest figures available.

Starting in the 1950s, a system to add an average 15 percent to drug prices was implemented at all public hospitals in China to help subsidize hospital operations.

But that led to hospitals prescribing too many medications, and more expensive ones, which contributed to soaring healthcare costs.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

License for publishing multimedia online 0108263



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
Beijing has dismissed a report by Japan-based Kyodo News regarding the April meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump as "sheer groundless remarks that don't even deserve refutation".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comment on Monday during a daily news conference in Beijing when asked about the report.

The report quoted an unnamed "source" as saying China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, asked on behalf of the Chinese government during the meeting for the United States to fire Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, in return for exerting more pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Geng suggested Kyodo News, "a major media organization", should "cherish its reputation", and said the report was "groundless" and "hype". Kyodo is a nonprofit organization founded in 1945, according to the company's website.

"I don't know if it is because Kyodo News was so puerile to have believed that China and the US would discuss the appointment or removal of US military personnel at diplomatic occasions, or its business was so bad that it had to get by making trouble out of nothing and selling hype.

"Or because it had ulterior motives and deliberately spreads rumor to achieve certain goals," Geng added.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, expressed doubt about the motives of the report, saying it was "not coincidental" that it has been released at this time.

Uncertainties in China-US ties have been significantly reduced since the meeting between Chinese and US leaders in Florida in April, Ruan said, adding that the report shows that Japan doesn't want to see a smooth development of China-US ties and was attempting to sow discord between the two countries.

However, Japan won't succeed in such an attempt, as the healthy development of China-US ties is "a general trend", Ruan said.
A central government spokesman said that Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party should take full responsibility for the island's absence from the World Health Assembly this year.

An Fengshan, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remark on Monday in regard to the WHA meeting set for Geneva, Switzerland, on May 22.

The closing for the international meeting's online registration was Monday, but Taiwan did not receive an invitation.

"The DPP administration refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which represents the one-China principle. This created an obstacle for Taiwan's participation in the WHA," he said.

Taiwan had participated in the WHA since 2009 as an observer, listed as "Chinese Taipei", which had been arranged through consultations against a backdrop of the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and on the political foundation that both sides of the Taiwan Straits adhere to the 1992 Consensus, he said.

But the DPP administration has not recognized the consensus, which damages the political foundation for cross-Straits relations and leads to the suspension of communications between the two sides, An said.

"The prerequisite and foundation for Taiwan's participation in the WHA no longer exists, and this has affected Taiwan's involvement, which had lasted eight years," he said.

The World Health Organization, as an agency of the United Nations, must deal with Taiwan-related affairs in accordance with the one-China principle, which is reflected in resolutions of the UN General Assembly and WHA, he said.

"Our attitude toward Taiwan's participation in international activities is always clear. That is, their attendance must be based on the policy and in line with the two sides' negotiations," he said, calling on Taiwan's ruling party to recognize the consensus as soon as possible.

"Only in that way will cross-Straits ties go well and will it be possible to negotiate on whether Taiwan can take part in activities of international organizations," he added.

Ni Yongjie, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies, suggested Taiwan make clear its fault as soon as possible, "as better communication and political foundation with the mainland will bring it and its residents opportunities to participate in international activities."
By Willa Wu in Macao and Luis Liu in Hong Kong | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-09 07:31

Chairman Zhang Dejiang (right) of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress greets well-wishers with Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on after arriving at Macao International Airport on Monday. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Zhang Dejiang vows 'unswerving support' for SAR's development

Zhang Dejiang, the nation's top legislator, praised on Monday the "splendid" achievements Macao has made since its return to China in 1999 and pledged the continuation of "unswerving support" from the central government for the economic and social development of the special administrative region.

The National People's Congress Standing Committee chairman, on behalf of the central government, encouraged Macao's people to unite in forging ahead.

Zhang is in the Macao Special Administrative Region for a three-day inspection visit commissioned by President Xi Jinping, during which he will meet with government officials, Legislative Assembly members and people from different sectors.

Zhang said after arriving at Macao International Airport that this visit could be summed up in three words, "to feel, see and encourage".

"I am here to feel the city's development, its accomplishments, as well as the joy and happiness shared by its residents," Zhang said, adding Macao had seen tremendous change economically and socially, while people's livelihoods had improved significantly.

Zhang said he would inspect the city to see whether Xi's instructions, the central government's requirements and a series of Macao-related policies are being carried out faithfully.

The legislative leader also said he would listen to opinions from different sectors.

Zhang encouraged Macao people to "pull together and open up new prospects" as the SAR undergoes an economic and social transition.

The world-renowned casino hub saw a period of slow economic growth from a lengthy drop in gambling revenue.

Zhang said he is in Macao to reinforce the central government's steadfast support for the city's economic and social progress, calling on the public to put more effort into advancing development.

Zhang met with Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on and attended a meeting with all senior local government officials. He said the central government fully endorses the work delivered by Chui and his administration.

Zhang cited statistics saying Macao's GDP last year was 5.9 times that recorded in 1999; per capita GDP amounted to $69,000, among the highest in the world, which proved the "One Country, Two Systems" policy was a success in the city and demonstrated the outcome of the SAR government's work.

Zhang said he hoped that Macao would seize opportunities offered by the nation's development policies.
Two private schools in Shanghai were punished by the municipality's education authorities for asking the parents of students who participated in interviews on Saturday to take exams.

Private schools in Shanghai held their recruitment interviews over the weekend. On Saturday morning, some parents complained online that Private Yangpu Primary School in the city's Yangpu district was asking parents to answer test questions, including logic problems.

Other parents complained that the Shanghai Qingpu World Foreign Language School in Qingpu district also asked them to answer questions that asked about the family's educational background.

The posts soon raised heated debate.

Most online respondents said the school should not force such tests on parents, while others supported the idea.

"My parents are farmers, and they will not be able to answer any of the questions. If the school selected students like this, I would be doing farm work instead of postgraduate studies," said Sina Weibo user Huo Guanzhong, a student at Fujian Normal University.

"If they test parents, they should test them on morality, not on reasoning and logic," said another netizen with the online ID "Xuejijinghong".

On Sunday afternoon, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission released a statement on its micro blog account stating that the two schools' practices "violate the compulsory education law and the city's basic principle of promoting fair education and protecting students' education rights".

In addition to canceling the questionnaires, the commission said it had also asked the two districts' education bureaus to launch an investigation.

It asked the schools to publicly apologize and announced a reduction in their enrollment quotas for next year. It also alerted other private schools to avoid similar practices, and to enroll students according to the city's admission regulations.

In recent years, entering elite schools has become hot topic among parents, especially those who want their children to enter prestigious institutions.

In Shanghai, students who want to enter public schools can select schools based on their neighborhoods. Students who choose private schools must attend interviews organized by the schools on days designated by educational authorities. Over the weekend, 171 private primary and middle schools in the city held interviews.

Guo Kai contributed to this story.
A university in eastern China known for producing aircraft technicians has introduced an embroidery class, aiming to inspire more students to learn about traditional culture.

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics launched the five-week course for a maximum of 50 students in late March with the help of Zhao Hongyu, a master in classic embroidery.

Zhao said she was initially surprised that more than a third of the students who signed up for the classes were male.

"In China, embroidery has generally been considered exclusive to women," she said. "I was glad when I first entered the classroom, and I was wondering how their work might turn out."

One standout, Zhao said, was a student who embroidered Albert Einstein's equations into a piece of cloth.

"He said he wanted to combine the beauty of engineering with traditional handicrafts," she said. "It shows there's no difference between men and women in the ability to develop embroidery skills. Both can finish complex works," she added.

He Zifan, a freshman who studies airworthiness technology, said he signed up for the embroidery class out of curiosity, but his interest increased as he learned more about the traditional handicraft.

"I gradually noticed that I cannot embroider well, and I even prick my fingers sometimes if I'm in an bad mood," he said. "It helps me to relax. I'm at peace when I'm embroidering."

Wang Zheng, who majors in automation, explained why he chose the course without hesitation: "I have great interest in learning traditional Chinese culture. Precious traditional techniques should be inherited by young generations."

Under Zhao's guidance, he said, he was able to embroider a flower pattern that requires various stitching skills.

Li Jiaying, an industrial design major, said he sought inspiration through learning other forms of design, and embroidery brings fun when piles of textbooks get boring.

To guarantee the quality of teaching, the class is restricted to 50 students, with instruction taking place one hour a week for five weeks.

Zhao started off as an apprentice more than 40 years ago before working her way up and developing her own stitching styles, including a technique in which she divides a silk thread into 70 to 80 pieces to get thinner threads to embroider more delicately.

"Teaching it at a university is not about passing on stitching skills. It's about attracting more young people to appreciate our traditional culture," she said. "I'm glad that it's still welcomed by many young people."

Lu Manman, an art teacher at the university, said that besides embroidery the university has also attempted to introduce paper-cutting and Kunqu Opera to its students.

"We invited experts and artists to give lectures and performances, but they didn't attract many students," she said.

Lu said the university will continue to offer traditional cultural courses and find more effective ways to interest the youth.

Guo Jun contributed to this story.
Forum explores mining them, or taking a ride into deep space

Chinese scientists will look at ways to harvest resources on asteroids and how to use these so-called minor planets as bases for interstellar journeys, according to a senior space expert.

Ye Peijian, a leading specialist in deep-space exploration at the China Academy of Space Technology, told an asteroid exploration forum in Beijing on Monday that more than 900 asteroids fly past Earth each year and many of them have rich resources of precious metals such as platinum, rhodium and iridium.

"In the near future, we will study ways to send robots or astronauts to mine suitable asteroids and transport the resources back to Earth. In the long term, we will consider using resources from asteroids to build facilities in space or to provide materials to support interstellar travel," he said.

"In addition, some asteroids can be used as bases for interstellar exploration. We can land an unmanned probe on it, and the probe will travel with the asteroid to deep space. When it reaches a certain point, we will activate the probe, which will leave the asteroid to execute its scientific mission," Ye said. "This will tremendously reduce the amount of fuel a probe needs to carry and extend its life span as well as its flight range."

He said that Chinese scientists and engineers must develop a number of technologies and special equipment to fulfill an asteroid expedition, including a large-thrust electric propulsion system, long-endurance power technology, a satellite-based navigation system and sampling devices.

Ye told China Daily in March that China plans to conduct at least one asteroid exploration mission between 2020 and 2025. He said the detailed schedule and the target asteroid have yet to be determined.

In a white paper on China's space activities published in December, the China National Space Administration said that from 2017 to 2021, it would undertake a feasibility study and research on key technology for the exploration of Jupiter and asteroids. These deep-space expeditions will be used to help explore the origin and evolution of the solar system as well as the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the administration said.

Xu Weibiao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Key Laboratory of Planetary Sciences, said at Monday's forum that asteroid expeditions will help researchers understand the physical and chemical traits of asteroids, which could lead to preventing collisions with Earth.

"So far, humans have discovered a total of 157 potentially hazardous objects in space with a diameter of at least 1,000 meters. Each is capable of destroying all civilization on Earth if it were to hit our mother planet. Therefore, we must study asteroids so we can work out how to break the dangerous ones or change their routes," Xu said.

He also said research on asteroids will help expand human knowledge of the solar system and the origin of life.

Pang Zhihao, a researcher of human space activity at the China Academy of Space Technology, said expeditions to asteroids will be technologically challenging for several reasons. For example, a typical asteroid is usually small, its gravity is weak and each asteroid has its own orbit. Such factors make it difficult for a probe to intercept a target asteroid and land on it.

To date, only the United States, the European Space Agency and Japan have carried out asteroid exploration missions.
Xi's telegram to Macron encourages renewed work on ties

China is ready to work with France to bring their comprehensive strategic partnership to "a higher level", President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to French president-elect Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

Macron won Sunday's runoff vote of the presidential election and is set to lead the major European country at a time when China has been France's largest trade partner in Asia. Bilateral trade amounted to $47.1 billion last year.

Officials and observers from both countries have voiced high hopes throughout the election cycle for the smooth transition of ties, as both countries are major players on global affairs and they both support free trade.

Xi noted that as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and countries with great international influence, both China and France have "special, important responsibilities in world peace and development".

France was the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, in 1964.

Xi said that the relations have "significant strategic importance and international influence".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said later on Monday that Beijing always has attached great importance to China-France ties and has "full of confidence" over future prospects.

Macron told Xinhua this year that if he won the election, he would deepen cooperation with China infields such as nuclear energy and tackling climate change.

Developing ties with China "has become a consensus" that transcends differences between political parties and individuals, Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun said in a speech on April 19.

Feng Zhongping, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, observed that Macron has unleashed a slew of messages of goodwill toward China during his term as economy minister and while on the campaign trail.

Macron has demonstrated a great understanding of the links between the two countries in the past, and he mentioned China's role in tackling global climate change and other major global and regional issues, which "illustrates the great importance he attaches to developing ties with China", Feng said.

"The new administration probably will stress cooperation with China when it deals with its domestic economy and seeks France's greater role in Europe and the world," Feng said.

Cui Hongjian, director of the Department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the two countries have a shared mission of championing free trade amid rising trade protectionism in the world.

Macron, then France's economy minister, defended a Chinese-led consortium's capital injection into Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southwestern France in an interview with newspaper La Depeche du Midi in 2015, Xinhua reported.

Asked about remarks against a Chinese company's acquisition of the airport stake, Macron said, "Our country must remain attractive because it is good for growth and, hence, employment."
16 detained over South China drug manufacturing case

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-05-09 13:06

NANNING - Sixteen suspects have been detained in a recent crackdown on drugs in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and neighboring Guangdong Province, local police said Tuesday.



Police from the public security bureau of Laibin City received a report on April 27 that a gang of drug manufacturers from Huizhou City of Guangdong Province gathered in the city to produce ketamine and planned to transport raw materials for drug production from east China's Shandong Province to Xiangzhou County in Laibin.



After investigation, police detained eight suspects at the drug manufacturing site in a tree farm in Xiangzhou County at 4 p.m. on Friday. They also seized about 250 kilograms of ketamine, 1,078 kilograms of semi-finished drugs, equipment for drug manufacturing and four vehicles at the site.



Police seized two other suspects and drug-related money totaling 1.4 million yuan (202,700 U.S. dollars) in a residential community in Laibin City on the same day.



After the drug manufacturing site in Guangxi was busted, the Huizhou police then detained another six suspects from the gang in Guangdong.



Further investigation is under way.
BEIJING -- Some 5,594 companies, or 66.2 percent of those examined, violated environmental standards during the latest round of air pollution inspections, China's environmental authority announced Tuesday.

The findings came after a month of inspections across 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and other nearby areas, which resulted in the discovery of problems including excessive emissions and insufficient pollution control equipment.

Inspectors reported the issues to the local authorities for further investigation, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said in a statement.

As of May 2, local authorities had shut down 131 companies and halted production at another 213 due to failure to meet environment protection standards.

Chinese enterprises were fined around 264 million yuan ($38 million) for violating standards in the first quarter of this year, the MEP said last month.

The ministry issued punishments in nearly 5,000 cases related to violations of environmental protection regulations and laws in Q1, up around 200 percent year on year.

In 224 cases, companies had to pay between 10,000 and 100,000 yuan per day after failing to rectify violations within the time frame set by the MEP.
Lin Wenxue, spokesman for the Supreme People's Court, made his first public appearance at a press conference on Tuesday.

He held a regular press conference to inform the media and the public about a legal interpretation issued by the top court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate .

Lin, also deputy head of the top court's publicity department, spent most time of his career in the country's top jurisdictional authority.

One of the trials he presided over when he worked in the top court's environmental resources division early last year attracted wide public attention.

The trial upheld the decision by a provincial court that six companies must pay 160 million yuan ($23 million) to victims affected by the companies' pollution and for restoring the damaged environment.

Lin, who is in his 40s and is a native of Zhejiang province, earned his PhD in Law from Renmin University of China in 2008. He also is the deputy head of the top court's department of political affairs.
Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, which outlines the political ideas of China's top leadership, contains 79 speeches, talks, interviews, notes and letters of the top Chinese leader between November 2012 and June 2014.

The 79 pieces are arranged in 18 chapters, and notes are added to help readers understand China's social system, history and culture.

The book also contains 45 pictures of Xi Jinping at work and in daily life, with focus on the period since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

Topics include: The Chinese Dream, Economic Development, The Rule of Law, Ecological Progress, National Defense, "One Country, Two Systems", New Model of Major-Country Relations, Combating Corruption, The CPC Leadership.

It helps readers around the world better understand China's development, domestic and foreign policies, and response to the concerns of the international community.

It has been translated into 16 languages and has a distribution of over 6.2 million copies around the world.

Book reviews

"I've bought copies of this book for my colleagues as well. I want them to understand socialism with Chinese characteristics."

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO, Facebook

"At great length, the ... Chinese leader ... explains to the world how China works, what it intends to do in the coming years during his tenure at the top and how its unique governing system will get it there."

Huffington Post

"I believe that to be a great leader, one has to be a good reader, good thinker, good speaker, good writer and good doer, and I found President Xi has achieved all of them after I finished reading this book."

-Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam

About the author

Xi Jinping, born in June 1953, is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the President of the People's Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

To know more about the book, click here.

Related: Hungarian version of Xi's book praised at Budapest launch

Xi's book praised for its vision at Turkish launch

Urdu version of President Xi's book launched in Pakistan

Cambodia launches Cambodian edition of Xi Jinping: Governance of China
Juyan, which lies deep in the Gobi Desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Alxa League, was once a key stop on the ancient Silk Road. It hosts ruins today.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Juyan, which lies deep in the Gobi Desert, is familiar to some when it comes to ancient frontier outposts, even though most people probably do not know where it's located.

Its fame is largely attributed to its mention in On a Mission Towards the Frontiers by Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Wang Wei.

Juyan, located in Ejin Banner, a county-level administrative region in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Alxa League, was once a key stop on the ancient Silk Road.

At a recent symposium organized by Peking University in Beijing, experts and local government officials said that preparations were underway to apply for Juyan to be inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

According to the plan, a cultural heritage park will be set up in the area before 2020, and official bidding documents will be handed in by 2025.

"The site was a witness to exploration and communication along the Silk Road," says Sun Jianjun, deputy director of Alxa's cultural heritage administration.

"It had huge political, economic and cultural significance in ancient times."

Juyan, covering an area of 15,600 square kilometers, has some of the largest surviving remains of the Great Wall, Sun says.

The remains, dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), comprise 172 beacon towers and over 12.8 km of wall.

"Juyan was created thanks to the Han idea of combining a military post and agriculture," he says. "It (Juyan) was a highly developed agricultural site in ancient times."
Bruce Lee [Photo/Xinhua]

A biographical film on the boyhood of martial artist Bruce Lee is going to begin shooting this summer.

Titled Little Dragon, the film is set in Hong Kong dating back to the 1950s, where Lee grew up.

His daughter Shannon Lee will participate in script writing and movie production.

She recently said her father's early life in Hong Kong had profound influence on his entire life and was a good perspective to understand the legend.

The movie will be shot in China and Malaysia.

Shekhar Kapur from India will serve as the director. Mary Vernieu, a well-known casting director with Hollywood, is currently seeing the leading actor across the world.
Over 20,000 authors from universities and research institutions across China have joined a project to write an authoritative online Chinese encyclopedia in an effort to promote China's historical heritage and soft power.

The digital encyclopedia, which is the third edition of the Chinese Encyclopedia, will feature more than 300,000 entries, each with an average length of 1,000 words. It will be twice as large as the Encyclopedia Britannica. The online encyclopedia will cover more than 100 disciplines and be put into use in 2018.

"The Chinese Encyclopedia is not a book, but a 'Great Wall of Culture,'" Yang Muzhi, the project's editor-in-chief told senior scientists at a meeting held in Beijing in April. "China faces challenges from every corner of cyberspace, so it should have its own online encyclopedia to lead public opinion."

According to Yang, the new encyclopedia's top rival is Wikipedia. The goal of the project is to surpass Wikipedia rather than play catch-up to it.

"People think Wikipedia is correct and authoritative, while it claims to be a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. The idea is alluring, but we have the world's largest group of authors, so we can do better," said Yang.
Wang Jianxin knows the ancient Silk Road like the back of his hand. He has visited hundreds of sites along the routes in the past twenty years and believes he is almost ready to lay bare the secrets of the Greater Yuezhi, an ancient nomadic kingdom.

Wang, 64, is a professor at the Northwest University of China in Xi'an, capital of the country during the peak years of the Silk Road's glories. He specializes on the corridor of territory which stretches from the city then known as Chang'an across thousands miles of Central Asia, home to many minority ethnic groups that have since vanished, often leaving very little trace.

Wang has been passionately committed to the study of ancient nomads for many years, and his resume is packed with notable archaeological research on the subject.

The disappearance of the Greater Yuezhi people has been a mystery to historians, anthropologists and linguists for many years, he said.

The ancient nomads were a branch split from the Yuezhi people who were first reported in Chinese histories living in the west of the modern Chinese province of Gansu. An answer to the mystery of their whereabouts is also about the ethnic origin and composition in Central Asian countries.

Wang found the ruins of the Greater Yuezhi's royal palace and tombs and some community sites, one of China's ten most important archaeological finds of 2007, but he was shocked when he first visited Central Asia in 2009.

"You should have come earlier! Why do you Chinese archaeologists come to join us so late?" an Uzbek archaeologists asked him. Archaeologists (and treasure hunters) from all over the world had flocked to Central Asia for archaeological or art purpose since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Wang knew Chinese archaeologists could never take their proper place on the world stage without overseas experience. So, in 2013, in the arid wilderness on the border of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, he set up his research base and began working with Uzbek colleagues. They have found a large tomb believed to belong to the royal family of the Kangju Kingdom in southern Uzbekistan.

Amriddin, director of Institution of Archaeology under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, is optimistic about cooperation with China. Chinese archaeologists know the importance of protecting sites after excavation, and their working methodology should be promoted, he said. But despite substantial international acclaim for his work, Wang has endured plenty of difficulties in his search for final destiny of the Greater Yuezhi.

He has trekked for hours across harsh terrain to reach inaccessible sites. He broke a rib in a traffic accident but returned to work only days later.

He and his team have been widely praised for their work in the western Tianshan Range and are leading the way in archaeological cooperation along the Silk Road, said Arnayev, a Uzbek professor at Termez State University in Uzbekistan who has often worked alongside Wang.

Silk Road is a great treasure of human civilization. With looming development expected to proceed more quickly than ever, the need to protect the cultural heritage and the many unique, often fragile, environments of the countries along the Belt and Road has never been more urgent.

Wang said more overseas archaeological centers and Silk Road-related archaeological centers should be established to attract experts from various fields such as geology, biology, and environmental planning, so as to come up with more academic achievements to benefit the mutual learning among different civilizations along the Silk Road.
The Beijing show Ethos and Fortitude is to celebrate the 120th birthday of Pan Tianshou, who devoted himself to the revival of Chinese ink painting in the 20th century.[Photo by Jiang Dong / China Daily]

The flower-and-bird painting style might have disappeared last century if not for Pan Tianshou, whose works are on display to honor his contributions. Lin Qi reports.

The traditional flower-and-bird painting genre may not have survived in the second half of the 20th century if not for Pan Tianshou (1897-1971).

He's recognizedas one of the four 20th-century masters of classic Chinese painting.

The luminary's works that blend scholarly elegance and aesthetic grandeur sell for tens of millions of yuan at auctions today.

Still, he led a low-profile and frugal life.

He committed himself to art education and taught at high schools and colleges. His students include such masters as acclaimed Chinese-French abstract painter Zao Wou-ki (1920-2013).

But his devotion to instruction meant he left behind only several hundred paintings - far fewer than other celebrated artists of his time.

Pan once said: "I have been a teacher all my life. Painting is my side job."

He headed the Hangzhou-based China Academy of Art for two tenures. His son, Pan Gongkai, now 70, later assumed the same position.

The academy is exhibiting 120 paintings out of his oeuvre at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing to mark the 120th anniversary of his birth.

The show, Ethos and Fortitude, commemorates his greatness as a man, educator and painter.

Pan Tianshou is known for his unyielding character. He dedicated himself to modernizing education about, and the creation of, Chinese ink-brush traditions at a time when the classic ink painting faced a decline in the chaos of early 20th century and Western painting was flourishing in the country.

The China Academy of Art's head Xu Jiang says Pan Tianshou's spirit demonstrated by two seals found on many of his works.
[Photo provided to China Daily]

Question: What makes an imported wine sell out in China in one hour?

Answer: Announcing the state dinner menu at Mar-a-Lago, when President Xi Jinping visited his US counterpart in Florida last month.

The bottle in question was Girard Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon, which retails for around 800 yuan ($116) in China.

Evo, the wine's distributor in China based in Shanghai and Hong Kong, is now in the process of restocking the brand.

VIP members of Morton's of Chicago steakhouse in Beijing recently got to taste the cabernet sauvignon, which Evo says is the top-selling wine at President Donald Trump's resort. At the dinner Trump hosted for President Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan, the Girard was paired with a dry-aged prime New York strip steak.
Editor's note: Four researchers share their views with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng on what the provinces and regions in western China should do to better integrate into and benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Excerpts follow:

Western region should also enjoy the fruits

Zhao Lei, a professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee

The Silk Road Economic Belt could bring tangible benefits to western China and the people who live there. But that must not come at the cost of undermining the already fragile ecology in the western region. In other words, local governments have to make extra efforts to reduce the side effects of exploitation and transportation of energy, keep at bay outdated and pollution-prone industries, and focus on the modern service industry such as cultural tourism.

Building a mature, radiated economic zone on the basis of major transportation routes, too, is necessary. The lack of westward routes has added to China's cost of trading with Central Asian countries, highlighting the need for developed modern industrial clusters that pivot on provincial capitals and thrive on advanced road infrastructure.

At the forefront of the Silk Road Economic Belt is mostly the less-developed western region where talents in international trade and global market are in short supply. To boost cross-border exchanges between western China and the economies along the Belt and Road routes, the region will require sufficient intellectual support. It will also have to take into account the complexity of ethnic and religious issues in the region.

To help western China, which has more than 80 percent of the country's minority ethnic groups and the longest land border, to enjoy the fruits of the Belt and Road Initiative, the government has to further secure its western borders and ensure benign integration between different ethnic groups. And that bottom line should never be crossed to expedite transnational cooperation.

Need to strengthen 'soft' connectivity

Xi Huidong, an associate professor at the Institute of Silk Road Studies, Northwest University

As a growth pole in northwestern China, Shaanxi province is striving to become an inland linchpin of the Belt and Road Initiative, which has pushed landlocked western China to the forefront of the "go global" reform. Its ambition emanates from its role as a trade and logistics pivot linking China with Central Asia, even Western Europea technological innovation hub and a cultural tourism center.

The international freight train Chang'an, which made its maiden run to Central Asia in November 2013, now travels up to Rotterdam, a seaport in the Netherlands.

Home to a number of leading universities and research institutes, Shaanxi has a versatile, complete industrial system, whose aerospace, energy and telecommunications sectors are well known nationwide. That allows the province to work closely with some resource-rich Central Asian countries in terms of exploration of resources.

Shaanxi is also home to a slew of cultural heritages related to the ancient Silk Road, giving it a unique advantage in boosting cultural, academic and people-to-people exchanges with Central Asian communities.

But since the province does not have enough scholars who specialize in South Asian and Southeast Asian studies, particularly with regard to issues related to customs and resources, in the economies along the Belt and Road routes, enterprises that have managed to "go global" often struggle to proceed with their projects for the lack of knowledge about local laws and regulations, as well as the endorsement of Shaanxi authorities. Besides, not many Shaanxi residents choose Central Asian destinations to spend their holidays. So, extra efforts must be made to strengthen the province's "soft" connectivity with the economies along the Belt and Road routes.


Starting in Greece and finishing in Switzerland, my intensive odyssey to nail down how European countries are responding to the Belt and Road Initiative, which President Xi Jinping raised more than three years ago, comes to an end this week.

Patiently talking with about 100 politicians, officials, thinkers, lawyers, businesspersons and digging out stories in ports, airports, factories and construction sites during the previous 40 days has been an enlightening journey.

These modern Silk Road messengers in Europe have embraced Xi's plan as Beijing prepares to host the first-ever international cooperation forum on the proposal on May 14-15.

The interviews have enriched my understanding even though I have been closely observing this initiative since its announcement, aiming to connect Europe, Asia and Africa.

Talks with former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi well summarized my major findings: by calling it a century project that will benefit half humanity, he says Europeans are competing with each other to find synergies with China's Belt and Road Initiative.

He urged that Italy should not be left behind in such competition.

Basically, this proposal is about China's clear-cut message of reinventing common peace and prosperity, especially given the worsening geopolitical situation in some regions of the world and the continuous negative impact of financial and debt crisis originating in the United States and Europe nearly 10 years ago.

For the previous three years, the biggest role the Belt and Road Initiative has played is working as a catalyst, helping other countries find their advantages and uniqueness in a geopolitical way, while placing Asia, Europe and Africa in a long production supply chain or economic corridors.

Many countries have rekindled their passion and taken the courage to roll out their long-term national development strategies.

For example, Greece is determined to become a regional shipping, energy and transportation hub. Hungary and Czech Republic have indicated they want to be regional centers of aviation, logistics and finance. Serbia aims to be a gateway in the Balkan region.

This is encouraging as their ambitions and their implementation will not only develop the countries' economies, create more jobs and improve local livelihood but also bridge the regional differences in Europe.

It is fair to say that West Europe so far has shown less passion than the rest of Europe and countries there have not clearly spelled out their national strategy in finding common ground in implementing Belt and Road Initiative.

This is not worth worrying. As times goes on, the countries will find more chances.

Italy has recently cooperated with the ZTE in a 1-billion-dollar project in boosting its telecommunication infrastructure and preparing the country for the 5G era. This means improving connectivity even has opportunity in the developed economies if both sides are determined to do so.

Switzerland has set another example by working as an observer in the cooperation framework of China and the 16 Central and East European countries. This has set very good condition for the third-party cooperation by involving Switzerland and China in the central and eastern Europe.

Nearly all the rich countries in Europe are members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and through this vehicle, they will find more cooperation opportunities.

In a nutshell, this initiative is not only about China's outbound flow of capital, technology, human resources and ideas, but naturally includes those foreign elements flow into China. And it is even more about the elements of China and Western Europe meeting in the middle.

Pragmatism dictates that delivering of the Belt and Road Initiative needs patience. Some European countries still need structural reform and their legal system is complicated, which requires the businesses to have second thoughts when finalizing their investment plans.

Western thinking dictates that Rome was not built in a day. Nearly everything takes time to change. In interviewing China's telecommunication giant ZTE's branch in Rome, its sloganTomorrow Never Waitsalso rings a bell with me.

In delivering the Belt and Road Initiative, inclusiveness, tolerance and even flexibility will count in achieving mutual understanding and joint actions.

The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
French President-elect Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech at his campaign headquarters after early results in the second round in the 2017 French presidential election in Paris on Sunday. Lionel Bonaventure / Reuters

The victory of independent centrist Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election run-off on Sunday has allowed those worried about rising right-wing nationalism in Europe to heave a sigh of relief.

With Macron winning just over 66 percent of the votes, it is evident that his message of a strong and progressive Europe struck a chord with voters, even after the populist victories of the leave campaign in the United Kingdom and Donald Trump's election as US president.

His triumph strengthens France's place as one of the central pillars of the European Union, and bodes well for what it stands for: open trade, the free flow of people and cooperation.

Macron's victory, therefore, was also a victory for reason over extremism.

Yet he still faces many challenges ahead. The country has deep economic and social divisions, with a high unemployment rate, especially among the young people. And the abstention rate of around 25 percent, highest this century, and a record share of blank or spoiled ballots by more than 11 percent of the voters, show many felt neither Macron nor his opponent, anti-EU, anti-immigration Marine Le Pen, was speaking for them.

Meanwhile, France is still in a state of emergency following a string of terrorist attacks since 2015 that have killed more than 230 people. All of which mean it will not be easy for Macron to deliver on his message of change, hope, unity and healing.

One source of support could be China.

As President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to the French president-elect immediately after his election win, both nations have significant strategic importance and international influence and share a responsibility for maintaining peace and facilitating development in the world.

Sino-French relations have been developing healthily and steadily in recent years, and there is ample common ground for win-win cooperation between China and France. Not least in the economic arena where Macron has pledged to promote globalization and free trade, for which China has now become the torchbearer.

There is also much space for improvement in their trade relations, which lag significantly behind Sino-German trade.

And as Macron noted previously, China can also be "an important ally" to France and Europe in tackling climate change and fighting terrorism.

Working together, as Xi proposed in his message, will "move the strategic Sino-French partnership to a higher level". This will benefit not only the two countries and peoples, but also global stability and development.
On April 27, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating April 21 as World Creativity and Innovation Day and formally incorporating the concept of mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

This is an initiative China has been vigorously pushing in recent years, believing it will add a new impetus to economic growth and create new opportunities for people around the world. The adoption of such a resolution signifies that the value of China's development concepts is appreciated and recognized by the international community.

The concept of mass entrepreneurship and innovation was raised by Premier Li Keqiang at the 2014 Summer Davos Forum, and then included into the Government Work Report in 2015 and a series of other government documents. At the Fifth Plenum of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in late 2015, "innovation" had pride of place among the major concepts for China's development, and has ever since been viewed as a key factor to drive its economic structural adjustments.

The country also promoted the concept at a time when the Chinese economy was confronted with a series of accumulated contradictions following the 2008 global financial crisis, and it needed to find new growth drivers to sustain its economic transformation and upgrading.

Sparking enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and innovation among Chinese people will release huge potential and offer a new engine for China's economy.

The UN General Assembly resolution on mass entrepreneurship and innovation also testifies that other countries have begun reflecting on the problems brought about by traditional development models, and they are increasingly willing to accept other development approaches.

Given that it is a consensus that the world needs to spark the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship to address the problems created by globalization, China's initiative has been a welcome inspiration.
Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said the Senate is now poised to confirm Dr. Scott Gottlieb to serve as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the Senate on Monday voted to end debate on his nomination.

With the remarkable discoveries our nations researchers are working on, there has never been a more important time to have the right person leading the Food and Drug Administration, said Senator Alexander. Dr. Gottlieb understands the importance of driving forward research to take advantage of these extraordinary medical miracles that have the potential to affect every American family. He has impressive qualifications from nearly every angle, and I look forward to the Senate voting to confirm him.

The Senates health committee held a confirmation hearing on April 5. With a bipartisan majority, the committee favorably reported out Dr. Gottliebs nomination on April 26, and after todays vote, the full Senate can have an up or down vote on his nomination.

Dr. Gottlieb has held several positions at the FDA, serving as FDA Deputy Commissioner, as senior advisor to the FDA Commissioner, and as the agencys Director of Medical Policy Development.
A government staff showing the app. [Photo/thepaper.cn]

THE REAL ESTATE REGISTRATION CENTER in Huangshi, Central China's Hubei province, allowed just 50 residents a day to complete the registration process, which is far from enough to meet the demand. When a journalist asked about this, Chen Hong, the head of the center, said he would rather delay ordinary residents than let his staff bear a heavy workload. Thepaper.cn comments:

It seems Chen had ample reason for his words: He wanted to cut the workload of his staff. The problem is, they are paid by taxpayers to serve the public. When Chen decided to sacrifice the convenience of the public for longer rest hours for his staff, he was using bureaucratic power to compromise the quality of service people should enjoy.

A closer look at the incident also reveals some deeper problems. It is hard to imagine such things would have happened if it were a private company, because a private company must serve its customers well in order to make a profit and survive, and it could not afford to make things hard for customers.

The root cause of Chen sacrificing customers' rights and convenience is that he only needs to serve his superiors, not ordinary people. Even though the slogan "Serve the People" is hung in every government office, it is higher government officials that decide their future, and ordinary people hardly have a say. That gave Chen the confidence to sacrifice people's rights.

The incident is not an isolated case. Many people have expressed online the difficulties they have encountered when visiting government agencies.

The central leadership has long been simplifying administrative procedures. A main objective of this is to make the bureaucracy more convenient for ordinary citizens. It is time that various levels of governmental departments, in Huangshi city and elsewhere, heeded the central leadership's call and improved their services.

Chen and several of his colleagues have already received their deserved penalties. While applauding the efficiency of the local disciplinary agency, we also hope more disciplinary agencies nationwide will learn from its example and put an end to such absurdities.
FRANKFURT - The United Nations Climate Change Conference kicked off Monday in the western German city of Bonn.

Around 3,000 delegates gathered here for talking over further implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, as well as for preparation for the next session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which is to be held November in Bonn.

The ten-day conference consists of three main sessions, according to the schedule released by UN, namely the session of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation(SBI), the session of Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice(SBSTA), as well as the third part of the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA).

Though it isn't an official topic, global concerns over the uncertainty that the new US government would probably exit Paris Agreement are casting shadow over the conference.

US President Donald Trump said last month on his 100th day in office that he would make a "big decision" on Paris within the next two weeks.

The Paris Agreement was agreed by the 195 member economies that attended the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to UNFCCC 2015 in Paris.

"That 195 countries have agreed on binding targets is huge achievement, which shall not be endangered," Jochen Flasbarth, state secretary of the German Environment Ministry, told the opening plenary.
BEIJING - China on Monday called for an appropriate settlement to conflicts along a disputed border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a routine press briefing. Clashes between border troops last Friday caused casualties on both sides.
Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testifies about potential Russian interference in the presidential election before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, US May 8, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON -- Former acting US Attorney General Sally Yates said on Monday that she had warned the White House in January that then US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn could have been "blackmailed" by Russia.

During a congressional hearing here, Yates told US lawmakers the fact that Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence about his telephone conversation with the Russian Ambassador to the United States could have created a "compromise situation."

"We weren't the only ones that knew all of this," said Yates. "This was a problem because not only do we believe that the Russians knew this, but that they likely had proof of this information, and that created a compromise situation, where the national security advisor essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians."

"Logic would tell you that you don't want the national security adviser to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him," she added.

Flynn resigned on Feb. 13 after it was revealed that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his telephone conversation with the Russian Ambassador to the United States, in which he made comments about US sanction against Russia.
To ensure the world that each of us won't forget the dark chapters of history, such as the Holocaust and World War II-related atrocities, a group of technology-savvy scholars and researchers is creating audio-visual accounts with survivors and witnesses.

I'm always amazed to learn how relatively little that Westerners have remembered, or know, that China was the first country to suffer from World War II atrocities by Japanese invaders in 1937.

There are even fewer people in the West who know that China was an ally of the US and UK from the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor to the Japanese surrender in 1945. I had a strong reaction last week when I was asked by a staffer from a national World War II museum to explain why in 2007, China turned the site of a prison camp run by Japanese armed forces in Shenyang during the war  which housed and tortured more than 2,000 prisoners from the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Australia between November 1942 and August 1945  into a museum.

Fortunately, there are individuals who are dedicated to preserving history and not oblivious to war crimes.

I met last week with Stephen Smith, the executive director of the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He demonstrated the foundation's New Dimensions in Testimony (NDT), which enables people to interact with, for example, Pinchas Gutter, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, whose account was pre-recorded to answer future war-related questions.

Born in Poland into a Jewish family in 1932, Gutter was 7 when he spent 3 1/2 years in the Warsaw ghetto, survived six Nazi concentration camps, including the Majdanek extermination camp, and is now a narrator and history teller.

"We need someone who'd talked a lot with students, who'd told their story countless times," said museum exhibition designer Heather Maio, who has facilitated NDT's development through cross-border partnerships.

There are approximately 100,000 World War II survivors worldwide, according to a statement from the conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, as compared with a recorded number of roughly 350,000 in 1993.

"We are almost out of time to have a deep conversation with Holocaust survivors," said Smith. "That conversation  that moment of dialogue  where I ask my question and I get it answered, is magic in the room. And we wanted to find a way to preserve that as best as possible," he said.

In April 2014, Gutter joined the NDT team to have his story recorded, videotaped and digitalized for preservation and education. Sitting on the light stage against a green backdrop for about 20 hours in five days, Gutter answered around 1,900 questions and generated 22 hours of content with high-definition cameras and 360-degree lights capturing the interview from all angles.

Now, the digitally replicated Gutter can swiftly find appropriate answers to many questions, "in person, life-sized and, eventually, in 3D  as if the individual was sitting there with you," Smith said.

The digital World War II archives at the USC Shoah Foundation won't be complete without stories from China's side.

Scholars started research collaborations with Chinese counterparts several years ago, and plan substantial exchanges. Xia Shuqin, a survivor as a child of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, traveled from Nanjing to Los Angeles in October 2016 to film an interview for the NDT project. It was the first NDT interview in a language other than English and with a survivor other than from the Holocaust.

The USC Shoah Foundation's Nanjing Massacre collection was initiated in 2012 by a partnership with the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in China. Smith led a delegation to Shanghai in October 2015, and the USC Shoah Foundation led a panel discussion on Nanjing: The Power of Survivors' Stories and Why Capturing them Matters. In June 2016, the foundation sent crew members to Nanjing to have 20 new testimonies recorded for the Nanjing Massacre Collection, a visual history archive to commemorate the 1937 tragedy.

About 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed over the course of two months during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, also known as The Rape of Nanjing.

Xia's Mandarin-language testimony, along with 29 other Nanjing survivors' testimonies, is already preserved and subtitled in English in the Visual History Archive, Smith said. An additional 70 testimonies of survivors of the Nanjing Massacre and expert witness interviews will become available in late 2017.

Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com
In welcoming scores of Chinese and US business leaders to Omaha, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said he believes the state's relationship with China will grow.

"In China, we see the middle classes are increasing tremendously," Ricketts said on Friday. "That presents opportunities for us to expand the relationship. In Nebraska, we think long term," he said.

The governor said that China is the state's second-largest trade partner outside of North America and one of the fastest-growing. Last year, Nebraska exported products worth $1.3 billion to China.

Elaborating his government's efforts to improve education, regulation and the tax system, Ricketts urged the business leaders to consider investing in the state.

"We seek those Chinese companies who look to invest in Nebraska to help them to grow their business in the US, help them to leverage our regulatory and tax environment, our central location and the shared culture value," Ricketts said.

Compared with other states such as Texas or California, Chinese direct investment in Nebraska is relatively small.

To attract more businesses from China, Ricketts has visited the country twice since taking office in 2015, with the last trip in November. Ricketts said he took more than 70 businesspeople with him.

During the last trip, Ricketts and Hu Heping, governor of Shaanxi province, formalized Nebraska and Shaanxi's relationship as sister states.

"We had investment meetings in Shanghai and Xi'an. We tried to connect business leaders together to see where we can find those relationships and where to invest."

Nebraska is strong in agriculture, and Ricketts said that's where Nebraska and China can grow the relationship the most.

"That's why when we were in China last fall, we broke ground on a demonstration Nebraska farm in Yangling, Shaanxi. The idea is to show what technology and processes we have in agriculture to Chinese farmers and see how they may be able to use that."

Ricketts said that Nebraska is the largest irrigable state in the United States, and 80 percent of center pivot irrigation equipment is made in the state. "China might take advantage of that technology," he said.

Contact the writer at mayzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
File photo shows Nepali mountain climber Min Bahadur Sherchan, 85, who will attempt to climb Everest to become the oldest person to conquer the world's highest mountain, performs yoga in Kathmandu, Nepal April 12, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

KATHMANDU, Nepal - Family and supporters on Sunday honored an 85-year-old Nepali man who died trying to regain his title as the oldest person to climb Qomolangma (known in the West as Mount Everest), while officials stressed the need to limit the age for such a daunting physical challenge.

The death of Min Bahadur Sherchan has revived concerns about allowing elderly people to attempt to scale high peaks.

Nepali law requires Qomolangma climbers to be at least 16 but there's no upper age limit.

"It is very necessary to immediately bring that age limit law. If there had been a limit, the loss of life could have been prevented," said Ang Tshering, head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

The association is planning to push the government to limit the age of climbers to at least 76, he said.

Sherchan died on Saturday evening at Qomolangma base camp. Another Nepali man, Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, died in 2011 at age 82 while attempting to scale the mountain.

Dinesh Bhattarai, who heads the Tourism Department, said that the government is seriously discussing an upper age limit.

Sherchan's body was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu on Sunday. The cause of death was still unclear and the autopsy result will be available in a few days.

Sherchan had first scaled Qomolangma in May 2008 when he was 76 at the time becoming the oldest climber to reach the top. But his record was broken in 2013 by 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura.

Meanwhile, a South African attempting to climb Qomolangma alone and without a permit has been ordered off the mountain, had his passport confiscated and will be fined $22,000, an official said on Monday.

Ryan Sean Davy, 43, told officials at base camp that he had climbed alone as far as camp two - 6,400 meters - to acclimatize ahead of a summit push before he was caught.

Foreigners have to pay the Nepal government $11,000 for permission to climb the 8,848-meter peak.

AP - AFP
Siblings Bethany Blanton and Riley Blanton, formerly of Rhea County, were among 17 cadets of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) who were commissioned as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force. The ceremony was held on Friday afternoon at Georgia Techs historic Academy of Medicine in Atlanta.



Lt Col Juan Silva, commander of Georgia Tech AFROTC Detachment 165, praised and challenged the new lieutenants during opening and closing remarks.

During the ceremony, both Blantons were administered the Oath of Office by their former AFROTC commander, Lt. Col. Michael C. Olvera. Upon completion of the oath, their parents, Doug and Becky Blanton, followed long-standing military tradition by pinning the shiny new second lieutenant bars on their sons and daughters uniforms.

Following another Air Force tradition, the newly commissioned officers were allowed to choose an active or separated military service member to render a ceremonial first salute. Rendering Lt. Bethany Blantons first salute, was her first Civil Air Patrol (CAP) commander and former Army Specialist, Mark Landrum. Rendering Lt. Riley Blantons first salute was Edward Stobart, of Rhea County, former Navy Seaman.



From 2010-2014, while living in Dayton, the Blantons were active volunteers in the CAPs Chattanooga Composite Squadron. Riley joined as a cadet, earned the rank of Cadet Captain (in record time),and was selected to serve as his squadrons cadet commander before later transitioning to senior member. Bethany, just over that age of being eligible for CAPs cadet program, joined as a senior member, and was appointed to serve as the squadrons Deputy Commander for Cadets, devoting her time to training and mentoring cadet leaders.

The Civil Air Patrol, an official auxiliary of the United States Air Force, has special provisions for cadets with three years of experience, or cadets who receive the General Billy Mitchell Award. These CAP cadets are eligible to enlist in the Air Force with the advanced pay grade of E-3. Further, the Blantons successful completion of the Air Force ROTC program, along with a four-year commitment to serve, jump started their military careers with a promotion to second lieutenant.

Both Lieutenants Blanton are graduating this week with academic honors from Georgia State University, having earned their degrees in Political Science. They have been assigned as intelligence officers, and will be reporting to Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas for advanced training.


BANGKOK -- Blasts at a downtown discount store in southernmost Thailand on Tuesday injured more than 30 people, police said.

Two bombs were separately detonated in early afternoon Tuesday at the parking lot of Big C discount store and at a spot inside the store in Pattani province, about 1,050 kilometers south of Bangkok. Most of the victims were slightly injured while two others were seriously wounded.

The blasts reportedly injured more than 30 shoppers and devastated a number of parked vehicles, the police said.

Insurgents in the turbulent Deep South of the country were believed accountable for the bomb attack.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal units scrambled to the scene to investigate.
Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, has hailed the Belt and Road Initiative as the greatest infrastructure project in history and said he is looking forward to building greater connectivity between China and his country.

"I will attend the forum, and the topic I am most concerned with is the Belt and Road, the world's largest initiative for infrastructure construction," Zeman said in an interview with China Daily on Monday.

He was speaking ahead of his departure for Beijing, where he will participate in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.

"I am glad to see that the Belt and Road Initiative, which connects China and Europe, also includes the Czech Republic," he said.

Zeman, whose visit to China will be his third since assuming the presidency in 2013, will join 27 heads of state and government leaders, more than 80 leaders of international organizations and more than 1,000 other participants.

A strong supporter of the initiative, which was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, Zeman has met Xi six times in the past three years.

China and the Czech Republic signed a memorandum of understanding on the initiative in November 2015.

The countries upgraded their relationship to a strategic partnership last year, when Xi became the first Chinese president to visit the Czech Republic.

During talks with Xi during the Chinese president's visit, Zeman expressed the hope that his country will become China's gateway to the European Union and a hub for transportation and finance in China-EU trade.

The Czech Republic is a member of the "16+1" group, formed by 16 Central and Eastern European countries and China.

The concept is China's mechanism for engaging with Central and Eastern Europe, and with the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative.

As a result, Zeman expects to see further developments, especially in infrastructure, transportation and the bilateral exchange of goods and services.

He will witness the signing of a number of agreements during his visit to China.

He added that he was particularly delighted about a project to train a group of Chinese pilots in the Czech Republic, despite the relatively small scale of the undertaking.

Zeman is keen to see more cooperation in aviation between the two countries.

He said opening more air routes will improve people-to-people exchanges between China and the Czech Republic, while cooperation in the rail sector will involve greater transportation of freight.

He pointed out that the number of Chinese visiting the Czech Republic has almost doubled in the past year, mainly thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative and the upgrading of bilateral relations after Xi's visit.
French president-elect Emmanuel Macronand his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, celebrate on the stage at his victory rally near the Louvre in Paris on Sunday. BENOIT TESSIER / REUTERS

Xi's telegram to Macron encourages renewed work on ties

China is ready to work with France to bring their comprehensive strategic partnership to "a higher level", President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory message to French president-elect Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

Macron won Sunday's runoff vote of the presidential election and is set to lead the major European country at a time when China has been France's largest trade partner in Asia. Bilateral trade amounted to $47.1 billion last year.

Officials and observers from both countries have voiced high hopes throughout the election cycle for the smooth transition of ties, as both countries are major players on global affairs and they both support free trade.

Xi noted that as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and countries with great international influence, both China and France have "special, important responsibilities in world peace and development".

France was the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, in 1964.

Xi said that the relations have "significant strategic importance and international influence".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said later on Monday that Beijing always has attached great importance to China-France ties and has "full of confidence" over future prospects.

Macron told Xinhua this year that if he won the election, he would deepen cooperation with China in fields such as nuclear energy and tackling climate change.

Developing ties with China "has become a consensus" that transcends differences between political parties and individuals, Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun said in a speech on April 19.

Feng Zhongping, vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, observed that Macron has unleashed a slew of messages of goodwill toward China during his term as economy minister and while on the campaign trail.

Macron has demonstrated a great understanding of the links between the two countries in the past, and he mentioned China's role in tackling global climate change and other major global and regional issues, which "illustrates the great importance he attaches to developing ties with China", Feng said.

"The new administration probably will stress cooperation with China when it deals with its domestic economy and seeks France's greater role in Europe and the world," Feng said.

Cui Hongjian, director of the Department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the two countries have a shared mission of championing free trade amid rising trade protectionism in the world.

Macron, then France's economy minister, defended a Chinese-led consortium's capital injection into Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in southwestern France in an interview with newspaper La Depeche du Midi in 2015, Xinhua reported.

Asked about remarks against a Chinese company's acquisition of the airport stake, Macron said, "Our country must remain attractive because it is good for growth and, hence, employment."

Contact the writers at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
President encourages strong ties with newly elected French leader

In their first telephone talk, President Xi Jinping and French president-elect Emmanuel Macron agreed on Tuesday to maintain contact and meet each other at an early date.

The phone conversation, reaffirming a shared commitment to tackle a range of global issues, came a day after Xi sent a congratulatory message on Monday to Macron on his victory the day before.

Macron scored a landslide victory in Sunday's runoff vote of the presidential election.

In the phone call, Xi congratulated Macron and said China "has always viewed France as a cooperative partner of great significance and priority".

Macron appreciated Xi's call and said he attaches great importance to ties with China, according to an official release from the Foreign Ministry.

The new French government will continue friendly relations with China and uphold the one-China policy, Macron said.

Xi said that by raising the relationship between China and France to the next level, as Macron takes office, both peoples and the international community will be served.

Xi said he hopes the two countries will support each other on major issues and deepen cooperation in various fields.

China welcomes France's participation in building the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi said, referring to the ongoing development of building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which has won support from more than 100 countries and organizations.

Macron echoed Xi's point, saying the new administration will deepen cooperation with China regarding diplomacy; the economy, trade and industries; and collaboration within the framework of building the Belt and Road.

Cui Hongjian, director of the department for European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the brief interval between Xi's message and the phone conversation "mirrors the strong readiness shared by both sides to establish a good working relationship between the two leaders quickly" and to manage a smooth transition of the ties.

"As the two countries share a great common ground on many issues, continuity (of policies) should be ensured to promote bilateral cooperation," Cui said.

He said it is possible the two sides may arrange a first meeting between Xi and Macron on the sidelines of a multilateral international meeting, such as the G20 Leaders Summit.

On regional and global topics, Xi said Beijing "will continue supporting the integration process of Europe".

Both Xi and Macron highlighted further communication and coordination between the two countries over regional and global issues, including the cooperation within the framework of the G20.

Xi said the two countries should further promote the reform of global governance and champion the fruits of global governance, such as the agreement reached at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015.

Both Xi and Macron agreed to exchange their views on the development of ties between their two nations develops and issues of common concerns are raised from both sides.
Manufacturers Road will be narrowed down to one lane between Food Works and the entrance to Renaissance Park from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday for Tennessee American Water Company improvements. Flaggers will be onsite to assist with traffic.In order to view a map of these closures, click here
green|spaces announced the winners of the Partners for Places grants at the neighborhood events featuring Jen Lewins The Pool. The Pool, an interactive LED light art installation, toured Chattanoogas Highland Park, East Lake, and East Chattanooga neighborhoods bringing awareness to energy and green|spaces and their Empower Chattanooga program. More than 3,000 people attended the events spanning 10 days.The grants will fund community energy efficiency projects furthering expanding the work of Empower, which provides educational classes to renters and homeowners teaching simple low and no-cost ways to lower their utility bills.Residents have amazing ideas on ways they can help solve the issue of high utility bills in their neighborhoods," said Sam Fulbright, Empower coordinator."We wanted to give people the opportunity to share their ideas and get funding for them.More than 20 applications were submitted proving that residents do have lots of ideas and want to help their neighbors save money on their utility bills. The grants are made possible by Partners for Places - a project of the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.Each of the grant recipients will be paired with a mentor from EPB and will work with green|spaces to refine and implement their ideas.Once again we are proud to partner with green|spaces and Empower on a great program that offers Chattanoogans more ways to actively manage utility bills, said Elizabeth Hammitt, EPBs director of environmental stewardship and community. There are so many great ideas and we look forward to attending some of these events and seeing the results once implemented.Grant recipients include:Avondale Block LeadersBoyce Station Neighborhood AssociationChurchville Neighborhood AssociationRidgedale Neighborhood AssociationOrchard Knob Neighborhood AssociationHighland Park CommonsEast Lake Neighborhood Association and Coming to AmericaEast Lake Neighborhood AssociationRincon VerdeFor more information about Empower and green|spaces and to keep posted on the implementation of the ideas contact Dawn Hjelseth at green|spaces by calling 423-648-0963.
(Photo : US Navy) Carrier Strike Group One and the USS Carl Vinson.

Advertisement

The U.S. Navy will continue its freedom of navigation patrols (FONOPS) in the South China Sea and there has been no change in the policy underpinning these patrols.



A spate of news stories in U.S. media said the Pentagon recently rejected a navy request to conduct a FONOP at Scarborough Shoal (which is owned by the Philippines but occupied by China). This refusal has led to speculation Trump is putting pressure on the military to back-off from confronting China.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Trump now relies on Beijing to strong arm North Korea into giving-up its nuclear weapons development program, thereby easing rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.



Two previous FONOP requests by the navy in February were also rejected by the Pentagon.



Not a single FONOP has been carried out under the Trump administration.



Admiral Scott Swift, Commander, United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT), however, said there has been no policy change as regards U.S. Navy FONOPS. These operations will continue, he said.



With fleet headquarters at Pearl Harbor Naval Station in Hawaii, USPACFLT provides naval forces to the United States Pacific Command, the unified combatant command of the U.S. armed forces responsible for the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.



"There is nothing that has significantly changed in the last two or three months," said Adm. Swift.



"We just present the opportunities when we have a ship in the area and there's an area of interest ... They are either taken advantage of or they're not."



Swift said there has been no change in the importance the United States places on the South China Sea issue.



"We are on track to conduct over 900 ship days of operations this year in the South China Sea," he pointed out.



In April, Admiral Harry Harris, Commander, United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), said the United States will carry out freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea soon, but refused to reveal details about these patrols.



Advertisement

TagsU.S. Navy, Freedom of navigation patrols, FONOPS, South China Sea, Scarborough Shoal, North Korea, china, Admiral Scott Swift, Admiral Harry Harris
(Photo : Getty Images) China is willing to rename its CPEC project to allay Indian concerns.

Advertisement

China is ready to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to assuage India's concerns about the project, Indian media reported on Monday.



The offer was reportedly made by Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui under the pretext of not disturbing India and China's bilateral relations. India has been critical of the CPEC as the project allegedly violated its sovereignty as it runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

"China and India have had successful experience of de-linking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. In history, we have had close cooperation along the ancient Silk Road," Zhaohui said as quoted by Sputnik News. "Why shouldn't... support this kind of cooperation today."



Luo also insisted that the CPEC was an economic cooperation and connectivity and that Beijing does not intend to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan. He also denied that China has been aiding Pakistan, saying that Beijing's focus is more on gaining its benefits rather than supporting the stance on other countries.



Meanwhile, China and Pakistan have both agreed to oversee and ensure the transparency of the CPEC projects, with a joint agreement signed between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Beijing.



Qamar Zaman Chaudry, the chairman of NAB, said it has devised standard operating procedures to reorganize workloads and timelines. It also formed a new system of combined investigation team to ensure the quality of work and avoid influences in the proceedings. NAB also teamed up with the Higher Education Commission to educate the youth about corruption and has signed a memorandum of understanding to build over 42,000 Character Building Societies on universities and colleges across the country.



Advertisement

TagsCPEC, china, Pakistan, India, One Belt One Road
(Photo : US Army) U.S. Army laser Stryker showing red "kill stickers" on its hull.

Advertisement

A specially modified U.S. Army Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICV) armed with an air defense system combining a 5 kilowatt high-energy laser with an electronic warfare (EW) system shot down 79 aerial drones during a series of tests culminating in April at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.



The surprising success of this dual air defense system -- called the Mobile High Energy Laser (MEHEL) - astounded even the experts. The tests were so successful, the crew of the "laser Stryker" attached "kill stickers" to the hull of their vehicle to show off their prowess at killing drones.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

Each kill sticker represents either a quad-copter or a remote controlled airplane shot down by the laser/EW system.



"We were skeptical at first, when we were first briefed we'd be shooting down drones with lasers," said Army Captain Theo Kleinsorge, who commanded the MEHEL Stryker.



"We achieved a success rate well beyond what we expected we'd have and we are excited to see this go to the next step of the experiment, shooting beyond the horizon, and showing this technology can solve the problem."



The laser/EW system acquired and tracked its targets with the aid of powerful cameras atop the roof of the MEHEL Stryker. The EW system shot down drones by jamming the signals from its control location. It also pinpointed the location of the drones' control station.



On the other hand, the powerful laser beam burned through the fuselage of the commercial quadcopter and hexcopter drones it targeted. Capt. Kleinsorge said his team shot down 50 aerial drones at Fort Sill.



The team shot down 29 other drones during a previous test at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico.



For each drone shot down, a kill sticker (a red "X" behind the silhouette of the destroyed drone) was attached to the side of the MEHEL Stryker.



Advertisement

TagsU.S. Army, Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle, 5 kilowatt high-energy laser, electronic warfare (EW) system, aerial drones, Mobile High Energy Laser, MEHEL, MEHEL Stryker
(Photo : NATO) Warships of Standing NATO Maritime Group One.

Advertisement

NATO is paying scant attention to attaining naval superiority over the Russian Navy, an omission that might prove fatal in the coming war against Russia for the control of Eastern Europe.



The alliance is, however, pouring massive resources into strengthening its land armies and air forces, which already enjoy numerical and technological superiority over the Russian Land Forces. To address its inferiority, the Russians are producing more and more tactical nuclear weapons and now seem no longer hesitant to use these weapons against NATO.



Like Us on Facebook

Advertisement

NATO superiority, however, doesn't extend to its navies and a new report, "NATO and the North Atlantic: Revitalizing Collective Defense," argues this inferiority must cease.



"If NATO does not have effective control of the North Atlantic, or at least the ability to deny Russia naval access to this maritime domain, Russia could block or disrupt U.S. reinforcement to Europe," wrote the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in a report issued yesterday.



RUSI is a British defense and security think tank founded in 1831 by Sir Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, and victor over Napoleon Bonaparte.



RUSI admonishes NATO to rethink its maritime strategy so as to defeat Russia's push for naval supremacy in the North Atlantic.



"We must have command of the sea," contends retired U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of NATO Allied Command Operations.



"The way forward is to strengthen both capability and sustainability, upgrade contingency plans, and reassess the current command and control structure to meet the challenges of tomorrow. NATO needs first-class intelligence and top-notch weapon systems for all domains: air; land; sea; submarine; cyber; and space."



Breedlove said NATO must put the North Atlantic Ocean back on its agenda while improving its readiness and responsiveness.



NATO must return to North Atlantic waters, said Col. John Andreas, the Norwegian defense attache in London and the survey's editor.



"The North Atlantic must yet again be recognized as an operational space in its own right as well as a continuous and interdependent transatlantic theater of operation," he said.



NATO maintains two standing maritime Immediate Reaction Forces: Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) deployed to the Atlantic Ocean and Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.



SNMG1 is a component of the NATO Response Force (NRF), which is a high readiness force comprising land, air, sea and Special Forces units capable of being deployed quickly on operations wherever needed.



It consists of 4 to 6 destroyers and frigates, with the Royal Canadian Navy, the German Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the U.S. Navy each contributing one warship on a permanent basis.



Advertisement

TagsNATO, Russian Navy, Eastern Europe, NATO and the North Atlantic: Revitalizing Collective Defense, Royal United Services Institute, General Philip Breedlove, North Atlantic, Immediate Reaction Forces, Standing NATO Maritime Group One, Standing NATO Maritime Group Two
Morning Pointe Senior Livings food service directors took home the culinary crown during the third annual Taste of Ooltewah and Harrison, hosted by District Nine Ooltewah Harrison Education Fund (D9). The Morning Pointe team was named the reigning Taste Champion for 2017.Arie Haynes, Beverly Spates, and Greg Cook, the trio from Morning Pointes assisted living and memory care campuses in Chattanooga and Collegedale, showcased classic treats like key lime pie and pineapple upside-down cake, to a creative cookie on a stick, and decadent dark chocolate macadamia cookies for nearly 2,500 guests during the annual event at Cambridge Square.Morning Pointe was among a dozen local restaurants, grocers and food service organizations competing for first place, including Publix, Food City, Mojo Burrito, and newly opened eateries Puleos Grille and Shanes Rib Shack.The contestants offered food samples from a variety of cuisines, ranging from appetizers and hors d'oeuvres, to entrees and desserts. Attendees carried around their appetites, visiting booth after booth to vote for the best local fare.Miranda Perez, executive director of D9, says she received much positive feedback about the delicacies offered by the Morning Pointe team, and expressed her gratitude for the companys ongoing support for local schools.We are proud to recognize Morning Pointe as a company that believes in our mission, said Ms. Perez. We appreciate their commitment to education in our community.For more than 20 years, Morning Pointe has supported education initiatives, and has partnered with D9 to improve public elementary schools in Ooltewah and Harrison, officials said.We are grateful to have this opportunity to share our dining experience with the Ooltewah and Harrison communities while benefiting such a great organization like D9, said Rob Pollard, regional vice president at Morning Pointe.
Kentucky is on its way to becoming the first state with no abortion clinics. There is only one abortion clinic left in the state and officials say that the clinic has not complied with basic safety standards.

LifeNews.com reports that the administration of Kentuckys conservative Christian Gov. Matt Bevin is working to end access to abortion in the state. Administration officials argue that EMW Womens Clinic--the last clinic open for business--is in violation of regulations that mandate the clinic obtain ambulance and hospital admittance privileges from a local hospital.

The clinic maintains that it is not in violation of these regulations and, along with Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, filed a lawsuit against the state.

Bevin and his administration remain committed to putting an end to abortion, however. Bevin says that he is unapologetically pro-life.

Though abortion activists allege that Bevin and his administration are trying to make abortion inaccessible in the state by targeting abortion clinics for their health safety standards, state spokesman Doug Hogan has a different view:

The Bevin administration is working diligently to protect the health, welfare and lives of women in Kentucky, Hogan said, adding that the regulations are not new and have been in place since 1998.

Bevin himself had some harsh words for Planned Parenthood: This administration will have no tolerance for the type of brazen disregard that Planned Parenthood has shown for both the safety of women and the rule of law. We will hold Planned Parenthood accountable for knowingly endangering their patients by providing illegal abortions at a facility that was not properly licensed nor prepared to handle an emergency.

Photo courtesy: Flickr.com

Publication date: May 9, 2017
Various Korean activists have started a campaign to gather signatures and rally for the release of Ronald Rhee, a Korean American who had been imprisoned for the past four and a half years.

Rhee, 25, had been arrested and imprisoned on the allegations that he had been involved in the murder of Brian Chin, who was 27 at the time of the crime in July 2006, with an Asian gang in Los Angeles. However, Rhees supporters argue that these are false allegations.

We cannot release all of the information at this moment because his case is still undergoing investigation, said Hyo-Woo Park, the co-president of the campaign, but its a fact that Rhee was not at the scene of the crime.

I and others can testify that Ive raised Ronald up as an honest man, said Soo Rhee, Ronald Rhees mother. Please consider Ronald as your own son and brother and join us in petitioning for his release.

Rhee was in Seoul, South Korea at the time of his arrest in March of 2010, at which point in time he had been working as an English teacher in the country. He was extradited from the country to be tried at a U.S. court in mid-April of the same year. Rhee himself became a U.S. citizen at the age of nine.

Rhees arrest and imprisonment comes as a source of even greater frustration to the Korean community after the cases of Chul-Soo Lee and Han-Tak Lee. In both cases, the men were arrested and convicted of murder. Chul-Soo Lee was convicted of the murder of an Asian gang leader in San Francisco in 1973, while Han-Tak Lee was convicted of murdering his daughter, Ji Yun Lee, in 1989. However, both men were eventually found innocent when their cases were tried again, but it came at the cost of spending years in prison10 years in Chul-Soo Lees case, and 24 years in Han-Tak Lees case.

Rhees supporters believe that, similar to these cases, Rhee is being wrongly accused and imprisoned, and that, as such, his human rights are being violated.

"Rhee is a U.S. citizen, but his human rights are being violated in the very country that emphasizes these rights," Park said. Park exhorted the Korean community and the church community to "be the dream, the future, and the parent of his young man," and to join in advocating "for his new life."
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that claimed to vigorously enforce Federal law's robust protections for religious freedom.

The order, titled the Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty, requires the Secretary of the Treasury to not take any adverse action against those who speak out about moral or political issues from a religious perspective. It also requires the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor to consider issuing amended regulations, consistent with applicable law, to address conscience-based objections to the Obamacare mandate requiring companies to provide coverage for birth control.

Though the order was meant to fulfill Trumps campaign promise to repeal the Johnson Amendment of 1954, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or actively opposing political candidates, a recent study has shown that most Americans  and Christians  do not believe religious leaders should endorse or oppose political candidates from the pulpit. A LifeWay Research study showed that almost 80 percent of Americans disagreed with the idea that it is appropriate for pastors to publicly endorse political candidates during a church service. Only 20 percent of Protestants, 13 percent of Catholics, and 25 percent of evangelicals supported the idea.

Experts have also said that it does little to actually change the existing Johnson Amendment.

President Trumps executive order did not ease the current restrictions on political activity by religious organizations, Lawrence Noble, the general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, was quoted as saying by CNN. The executive order allows the IRS to restrict the activity it currently considers political, but prohibits the IRS from expanding the restrictions to cover activity not covered before the executive order.

Since the signing of the executive order, many religious leaders have responded with disappointment that the bill has not offered individuals or organizations protection from penalties when they are acting on their religious conscience.

Still, some have expressed appreciation for the step taken by the administration.

After years of open hostility toward religious institutions and conscience from the previous administration, this executive order is a welcome change in direction toward people of faith from the White House, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told the Baptist Press.

Alliance Defending Freedom President Michael Farris said on Thursday that though he appreciates the spirit of todays gesture, the executive order is not enough to provide real protections. Giving vague instructions to federal agencies allow them wiggle room to ignore that gesture, regardless of the spirit in which it was intended, Farris said.

We strongly encourage the president to see his campaign promise through to completion and to ensure that all Americansno matter where they live or what their occupation isenjoy the freedom to peacefully live and work consistent with their convictions without fear of government punishment, said Gregory Baylor, senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom.

Meanwhile, the executive order was signed on the same day that many across the nation observed the National Day of Prayer, during which prayers for the nation and its leaders are offered up at an estimated thousands of gatherings.
Just over two weeks after Korean American Tony Kim was detained in North Korea, the Kim regime has detained yet another Korean American, named Kim Hak-Song.

Kim Hak-Song, who was detained on May 6, was also an employee of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), where Tony Kim had been teaching for a month before he was detained.

According to a statement from the university, Kim Hak-Song was working at PUSTs agricultural farm.

He was arrested for allegedly carrying out hostile criminal acts against North Korea, according to the regimes Korean Central News Agency.

No other details have been released regarding his detainment.

Both PUST and the U.S. State Department said that they are aware Kim has been arrested.

"We understand that this detention is related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way with the work of PUST. Therefore, we cannot comment on anything, PUST said in an email to NBC News.

"Life on campus and the teaching at PUST is continuing as normal, said PUST.

When a U.S. citizen is reported to be detained in North Korea, we work with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which serves as the United States Protecting Power in North Korea, a spokesperson from the State Department said to CNN. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.

PUST is a private university that has Christian roots, and is funded mostly by Christians outside of the country, according to reports. According to NBC News, the former president of PUST, James Kim, has been known as an evangelical Christian and missionary.

Kim Hak-Song was born in China, received university education in the United States, and became a U.S. citizen in the 2000s.

Along with Kim Hak-Song and Tony Kim, two other U.S. citizens are currently detained in North Korea: Kim Dong-Chul, who was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor, and Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Korean Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim has also been detained in North Korea since January of 2015.
I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
The City of Soddy-Daisy and the Soddy, Daisy and Montlake Historical Association invites the public to Pioneer Day this Saturday at Poes Tavern Historical Park, 9835 Dayton Pike in Soddy-Daisy, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

"This is a day set aside to reflect on the old days and how things were done then, as compared

to today. Demonstrations include hand-quilting, log-hewing, knitting, wood working on a shaving horse, and whittling. Telegraphy was the fastest form of communication in days gone by, much like texting is today.





Which is faster? Come to Pioneer Day and find out - you might be surprised," officials said.Artifacts from coal-mining, once a major industry in Soddy, Daisy and Montlake, will be on display.Carlos Wilson will present his Trail of Tears exhibit and Shelia Nelson will be cooking in the Poes Tavern fireplace where guests can sample her cornbread and peach cobbler.Daniel Webster, a Native American of the Oneida tribe from the state of New York, will display artifacts from not only his own tribe, but items used by Native Americans throughout the United States.The blacksmith shop was one of the most important places in a settlement, officials said. Jesse Welch was the blacksmith for the Daisy settlement and Soddys blacksmith was Daddy Lee Crest. Pioneer Day will feature a rebuilt traveling forge from the Civil War era, with demonstrations given throughout the day."These are just a few of the people and displays that will be at Pioneer Day. We hope you will come and spend a part of your Saturday with us," officials said.
|

Image: Bay Ismoyo / AFP

Ahok's sentencing hearing

Indonesias top Christian politician has been convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison.

Prosecutors had recommended a light suspended sentence for Jakarta governor Basuki Purnama (popularly known as Ahok) after blasphemy charges led to his failed bid for re-election last month. Instead of finishing his term running the capital city through October, Ahok will now have to appeal his conviction from jail.

The New York Times offers more details, as does Reuters.

Its a sad day, and its frightening, Andreas Harsono, an Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told the Times. If the governor of Indonesias largest and most complex city, and who is an ally of the Indonesian president, can be brought down and humiliated this way, what will happen to normal Indonesian citizens?

This verdict and the sentence imposed represent an outrageous miscarriage of justice, stated Christian Solidarity Worldwides East Asia team leader, Benedict Rogers. It also represents a further, and severe, erosion of Indonesia's values of religious pluralism as set out in the Pancasila, the state ideology.

Indonesias ability to hold itself up as an example of a moderate, tolerant, Muslim-majority democracy is further threatened and is now very questionable.

Being ethnically Chinese, Ahok is a double minority in the worlds most populous Muslim nation. About 1 percent of Indonesias 250 million people are ethnic Chinese, while less than 9 percent are Christian.

The verdict comes a day after Indonesias president banned a hardline Islamist group, Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia, because it threatened national unity with its protests ...
When it comes to morality, evangelicals and religious nones overwhelmingly agree on one thing: its declining.

One factor: Too many laws regulating moral behavior have been removed, according to 7 in 10 Americans with evangelical beliefs. Yet 6 in 10 believe that such laws are not effective at encouraging people to act morally.

A new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research finds that most Americans worry moral behavior is on the decline.

In a representative survey of 1,000 Americans, researchers found 81 percent of Americans agree with the statement, I am concerned about declining moral behavior in our nation. Nineteen percent disagree.

Worry about morals differs across demographic lines, but remains consistently high. Most Americans older than 65 (85%) are concerned about declining moral behavior, as are those 18 to 24 (71%.) Those with graduate degrees (72%) agree, as do those with a high school degree or less (85%).

So do Christians (85%), those of non-Christian ...

1
home US Alabama Governor signs bill allowing faith-based adoption agencies to turn away gay couples

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a measure that allows faith-based adoption and foster care agencies to refuse placing children with same-sex couples.

House Bill 24, titled "Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act," bars the state from denying licenses to adoption agencies as long as they do not receive state or federal funding.

"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," Ivey said after signing the bill on Wednesday.

The new law also prevents the state from revoking the state funding, contracts or tax-exempt status of faith-based adoption agencies.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Rich Wingo (R-Tuscaloosa), maintained that the legislation does not discriminate against anyone and said that its purpose was to make sure that faith-based agencies would not be forced to close due to their decisions based on their beliefs. He also noted that most of the adoptions in the state are handled by secular agencies.

The measure was approved by the Alabama House of Representative by a vote of 87a0, with six abstentions. It was passed in the Senate by a vote of 23a9, according to The Stream.

Wingo said he introduced the bill because states such as Massachusetts, Illinois, California and the District of Columbia have passed anti-discrimination laws that forced adoption and foster agencies to place children with gay couples in violation of their religious beliefs. Adoption agencies in those states have voluntarily shut down as a result.

David Dinielli, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, expressed disappointment over 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, according to AL.com. "If the Governor had hoped to signal a new day in Alabama government, this was the wrong way to do it," he added.

House Bill 24 closely resembles a legislation that was turned into law last month by the governor of South Dakota. Similar laws that provide exemptions to child-care facilities have also been passed in Michigan, North Dakota and Virginia.
home World Chinese authorities detain over 30 Christians, including American family, for attending church service

More than 30 Christians, including an American family with children, were detained overnight, following a raid on a house church in China's southern Guangdong province on Wednesday evening.

On the evening of May 3, the authorities raided the Zhongfu Wanmin Church approximately half an hour into their evening service. When the church members attempted to take pictures of the raid, the officers confiscated their cell phones, ID cards and bank cards, China Aid reported.

The officers reportedly beat up the pastor, Li Peng, for trying to take pictures. Li and 30 other church members were detained and interrogated overnight. The 30 church members were released the next morning, but the authorities have kept the pastor in detention.

The pastor's wife, Huang Xiaorui, went to the police station in the morning, but officers refused to let her visit her husband.

"They didn't let me see my husband," she said. She went on to say: "I insisted that I was there for a justification. I wanted justice. I waited at the police station all morning, to no avail. The other brothers and sisters were released in different orders and each of them were questioned for a very long time. I myself was interrogated for more than an hour. The oldest believer they detained is a grandmother, more than 80 years old. There were also children [among the detainees.]"

The authorities accused the church of "accommodating foreigners" because of the presence of the American couple and their two children.

Huang said that the police detained the American family after summoning them from their hotel. She noted that the couple were Americans, but they were registered as Hong Kong residents. She maintained that the family only wanted to have a look at their church on Wednesday.

The raid on Zhongfu Wanmin Church came after the authorities detained a Chinese-American pastor for hosting a seminar for more than 140 Chinese house church pastors in the Panyu district of Guangzhou, Guangdong.

Wang Zhiyong, who leads a Chinese church in Virginia, was detained on April 25 and interrogated for four hours before the authorities ordered him to leave China immediately.

After his release, he wrote on his Facebook page: "Thank God. Arriving in Malaysia safely and embracing freedom again! Even as a Chinese (person) in China, I have no basic right to freedom of religion."
home World Christian charity to begin reconstruction of first 100 homes in Nineveh Plains

A committee funded by a Christian charity is set to begin the reconstruction of the first 100 homes that were devastated by the Islamic State in the Nineveh Plains in Iraq.

Assyrian Christians who fled from their ancestral homelands across the Nineveh Plains are looking forward to rebuilding their villages now that ISIS forces have mostly been driven out of the region.

An "Olive Tree Ceremony" is expected to be held on Monday in the villages of Bartella, Karamlesh and Qaraqosh to inaugurate the rebuilding project.

The project was spearheaded by an organization called Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC), which received funding from the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Father Andrzej Halemba, the acting chairman of the NRC, said that the ceremony is a "historic and unrepeatable occasion for the future of Christianity in Iraq."

"By starting work on these first three reconstruction sites, we are hoping to send a clear signal to the thousands of Christian families who were driven from their homes on the Plains of Nineveh and who are now living in makeshift conditions in Erbil and other towns of Iraqi Kurdistan," said Halemba.

The project, which aims to rebuild an estimated 12,000 homes, is expected to cost over US$250 million. ACN has already provided 450,000 Euros (US$493,000) to fund the reconstruction program.

The construction of the first 100 homes is expected to be completed by the end of summer, according to Fox News.

"One hundred is not a large number compared to the many thousands that will eventually be worked on, but it's a very significant number," said Joop Koopman of ACN. "It's a concrete sign that this community is on its way to being rebuilt," Koopman added.

A survey conducted by ACN has indicated that as many as 41 percent of the displaced Christian families are eager to return to their homes in the Nineveh Plains. In November 2016, a similar survey revealed that only 3.3 percent of the families said they would seriously consider returning to their villages.

The Nineveh Protection Units, along with the Iraqi Special Forces, have recently liberated the villages of Bashiqa, Bartella, Karamlesh, Qaraqosh and Tellisqof from ISIS, but most of the infrastructure in the said villages has been reduced to rubble. Some have become polluted because they have been used as dumping grounds for dangerous chemical compounds.

Since 2014, ACN has been providing emergency aid including food for around 12,000 displaced families who fled to Erbil from their homes in Mosul and other towns and villages in the Nineveh Plains.

Halemba urged Christians in the West to pray for the Iraqi Christians who have decided to stay in Iraq and return to their hometowns.
home World Clarion Project's documentary 'Faithkeepers' draws attention to Christian genocide in the Middle East

The non-profit group Clarion Project has produced a new documentary, titled "Faithkeepers," to highlight the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.

The Clarion Project, founded in 2006, has teamed up with Emmy-nominated actress and producer Roma Downey and U.S.-trained lawyer Paula Kweskin to document the suffering of Christian, Yazidi and other minorities at the hands of the Islamic State terror group in the Middle East.

Kweskin said in a recent interview with The Stream that she decided to do the project after she learned the harrowing story of the escape of Assyrian-Christian activist Juliana Taimoorazy from the Middle East.

Other people who either witnessed or experienced persecution were interviewed in the documentary, but some were hesitant and wanted to be filmed in shadow. "It depend[ed] on how people responded to the trauma," Kweskin.

Those who were interviewed in the documentary witnessed beheadings of family members or experienced kidnapping, rape and torture.

Some of the stories of the victims were depicted through original black and white "cartoons" instead of the typical Hollywood practice of interjecting blood and violence.

Kweskin said she felt that viewers would be more connected to the story with the cartoons because the brain will "fill in the gaps." "It was a way to bring [victims' testimonies] to life in a creative way," she remarked.

She is hoping that the documentary would encourage people to feel concern and empathy for the persecuted and connect the Christians in the U.S. with believers in the Middle East.

"The Church doesn't know these stories very well," she recounted. "The people we profiled are waiting on their brothers and sisters to help ... wondering 'Where is the Church?'" she continued.

In a 2015 interview with Israel Breaking News, Kweskin expressed concern that Christians are being wiped out of the Middle East.

"Jesus was born in the Middle East and walked these lands. Middle Eastern communities were the first to accept Christianity. It is appalling that ISIS is erasing thousands of years of Christian history in the region with the goal of creating an Islamic world," she said.

Screenings of "Faithkeepers" will be held in churches across the U.S. beginning on May 23 for one month. The documentary will also be distributed through other platforms such as Direct TV, Comcast and Netflix.
home US Iowa Supreme Court blocks portion of pro-life measure that bans abortions after 20 weeks

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad approved a measure that would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks into pregnancy, but the state Supreme Court has blocked a portion of the law that requires women to wait 72 hours before undergoing the procedure.

The legislation prohibits abortion after 20 weeks into pregnancy, but exceptions will be allowed in cases when the mother's life or health is at risk. The measure also requires women to wait 72 hours before getting informed consent counseling and the abortion, and it increases reporting requirements for abortion practitioners and the state Department of Health, according to Life News.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood challenged the provision of the three-day waiting period as well as the requirement for women to make an additional clinical visit before an abortion.

On Thursday, a district judge denied the request for a temporary injunction against a portion of the measure, but it was granted by the state Supreme Court on Friday, just hours after the bill was signed into law by Branstad. The temporary injunction does not appear to affect the 20-week ban.

"We are pleased that the court granted the temporary injunction, ruling on the side of Iowa women who need access to, and have a constitutional right, to safe, legal abortion," Suzanna de Baca, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

Ben Hammes, a spokesman for the Republican governor, said that he is confident that the injunction against the measure will be lifted soon. He contended that the new law marked a "return to a culture that once again respects human life."

Jenifer Bowen, president of Life Right Action, hailed the new law as a victory for unborn babies.

"After a years-long battle to gain a pro-life Senate, Iowa finally succeeded in passing life-saving legislation that bans painful late-term abortions," said Bowen.

"Our state was previously one of the most permissive on abortion, allowing abortion on-demand well beyond five months, more than halfway through pregnancy," she added.

SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser congratulated pro-life lawmakers in Iowa, including the bill's House sponsor Rep. Shannon Lundgren.

"Momentum is building to enact a national ban on late-term abortion. We are encouraged by Iowa's bold move and look forward to the day when all unborn children are protected under the law," said Dannenfelser.

The law makes Iowa the 17th state to ban abortions after 20-weeks, the period when unborn babies are believed to start being capable of feeling pain.
home World Irish authorities launch investigation on Stephen Fry for blasphemous comment

Irish authorities have launched an investigation on British comedian Stephen Fry after he was accused of blasphemy due to the comments he made during a 2015 interview on the national TV channel RTE.

During an interview with Irish TV presenter Gay Byrne, Fry was asked what he would say if he was confronted by God.

"How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?" the comedian replied.

"I would say, 'Bone cancer in children? What's that about?' Because the God who created this universe, if it was created by God, is quite clearly a maniac, utter maniac. Totally selfish. We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him? What kind of God would do that?" he continued.

The footage of the interview went viral after it was aired and has now been viewed more than seven million times on YouTube.

According to The Telegraph, a citizen, who wished to remain anonymous contacted the police after Fry made the controversial remarks. The anonymous individual said that he felt that it was his "civic duty" to report the comments which he alleged were in breach of Ireland's Defamation Act.

The Defamation Act, which includes the offense of blasphemy, is punishable by a fine of 25,000 Euros or $27,500.

The individual who filed the complaint told the police that he had not been personally offended by the comedian's remark, and maintained that he is simply reporting a crime.

He said that he wrote to the head of the Irish police to follow up his report after nothing happened for 18 months.

The complainant said that he was recently contacted by the police after he followed up his complaint late last year.

After he was criticized on social media, Fry explained that he did not mention any particular religion and maintained that he did not intend to say anything offensive towards any particular faith.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Revd Justin Welby, has stated in 2015 that he supports Fry's right to criticize Christianity. He called on Christians not to attack the comedian for his views, saying he has the right to make his comments as much as Christians have the right to proclaim Jesus Christ.
home World ISIS leader warns Egyptian Muslims to stay away from Christian gatherings

The leader of the Islamic State terror group in Egypt has warned Muslims to stay away from Christian gatherings, suggesting that there may be further attacks against Coptic Christians after the two suicide bombings that killed at least 45 people last month.

In the latest release of the terror group's weekly Al Naba newspaper, the unnamed leader said that churches, security posts, institutions and places where "crusader nationals of western countries" gather were all "legitimate targets."

"We are warning you to stay away from Christian gatherings, as well as the gatherings of the army and the police, and the areas that have political government facilities," the leader said, according to Newsweek.

He also urged Muslims who do not join jihadis to carry out lone wolf attacks across Egypt and complained that many Egyptians are opposed to the group's campaign.

"This is an apostasy from Islam and they have to hurry up and repent," the leader said while calling on Egyptians who oppose the group to either harbor, support or join them.

He contended that security campaigns against the group tend to "backfire" and have a "positive impact on the Mujahedeen."

In February, ISIS released a video in which the group referred to Christians as its "favorite prey."

More than 150 Christian families fled from the northern town of El-Arish later that month after ISIS jihadists shot and killed at least seven Christians.

The militants have previously focused on targeting Christians in its base of the northern Sinai Peninsula, but it has shifted its focus to targets elsewhere in Egypt.

In December, more than two dozen people were killed in an attack at a Christian cathedral in Cairo during a Sunday mass procession.

Coptic Christians have long complained about suffering discrimination and outright attacks from the country's majority Muslim population.

Egyptian Christians supported general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in 2013 when he ousted his Islamist predecessor Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood group. Since that time, attacks on Christian homes, businesses and churches have surged, especially in the country's south.

The ISIS leader noted in the interview that his group is different from the Sinai-based ISIS affiliate which has been carrying out near-daily attacks against the police and the military in the past few years. He said that the relationship between the two groups is marked by "brotherly love and loyalty."
home US ISIS tells supporters to use Craigslist ads to lure hostages, murder victims

The Islamic State terror group has urged its supporters to place fake advertisements on websites such as Craigslist and eBay in order to lure potential hostages or murder victims.

In the latest issue of Rumiyah magazine, the terror group laid out a guide on how to select a target and lure a potential victim to an appropriate location before "attacking, subduing, binding and then slaughtering them."

ISIS advised its supporters to place an advertisement for a job Muslims would not take, then "subdue" each victim as they arrive for an interview in rented offices, PJ Media reported.

Another tactic suggested by the group is to advertise for a small single room or studio apartment for rent. "It may even help to include in the ad that the apartment is 'ideal for students,'" the article stated.

The jihadi group also encouraged its supporters to advertise items for sale on buy and sell websites like eBay, Craigslist, Gumtree and the Loot and indicate that "collection and payment is only available in person and that only cash is accepted."

"Also, the item being advertised should be something that requires the victim to enter one's property," the article stated.

"It is likewise important to be realistic when advertising and not advertise something far below its valued price, as this can attract the attention of authorities searching for stolen goods or possibly attract other suspicions," it continued.

The guide advised readers to keep some of their victims as hostages in order to attract wide publicity and "more effectively plant terror into the hearts of the disbelievers."

The terror group recommended malls, movie theaters, nightclubs, ice-skating rinks, restaurants and college campuses as ideal places to carry out public hostage-taking operations. It advised jihadists to consider carrying out attacks on days when police and security forces are preoccupied with national or local events.

The guide said that jihadists should start killing hostages "as quickly as one can before the initial police response" and leave a few hostages alive as human shields.

The article also encourages ISIS supporters in the U.S. to acquire weapons at gun shows and shops. Jihadists in Europe are told to buy guns in conflict zones or from underground dealers.

Rumiyah magazine often features articles advising readers how to carry out attacks in Western countries. In a recent article, ISIS advised its supporters to plow vehicles into crowds, similar to the attacks in Westminster and Nice. The terror group said that this was one of the most effective methods of mass-murder.
Lowes Heroes will be among more than 50 volunteers to join Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area to build decent and affordable housing as part of Habitat for Humanitys 10th annual National Women Build Week, May 6-14. Lowes helped launch National Women Build Week in 2008 to empower women to advocate for affordable housing and spotlight the homeownership challenges faced by many. Women are invited to devote at least one day to help families build decent and affordable housing in their local communities. This year, more than 17,000 women including Lowes Heroes volunteers from across the country, are expected to volunteer at construction sites as part of Habitats 2017 National Women Build Week.

Lowes donated $2 million to Habitats 2017 National Women Build Week and will provide the support of Lowes Heroes employee volunteers to more than 300 Habitat locations hosting National Women Build Week activities this year.


home World Pakistani Christian gets life sentence for 'blasphemous' text messages

A Pakistani Christian man received a life sentence on Wednesday for allegedly sending text messages that were deemed blasphemous from his mobile phone.

A court in the city of Rawalpindi in the Punjab province handed down a life sentence to Zafar Bhatti for the "blasphemous" text messages. However, the SIM purportedly used to send the messages was not under his name, Christians in Pakistan reported.

CLAAS, a U.K.-based advocacy group that has been providing legal aid to Bhatti, said that it will challenge the court ruling. The group has contended that the court overlooked the lack of evidence against Bhatti, who has been in Adiala Central Jail since the accusation was made against him in 2012.

"The lower court's judges always hesitate to make decisions on the merit, or free people accused of blasphemy, and instead transfer their burden to the higher court without realizing how their decision will impact the accused and their families' lives," Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, said in a statement.

"Bhatti is innocent and will be freed by the higher court. But it will take several years for his case to be heard by the High court, and until then he and his family will continue suffering needlessly," he added.

CLAAS has been trying to transfer the case to Lahore because there had been threats to Bhatti's life as well as to his defense attorney.

In 2012, the lawyers' bar passed a resolution that no attorney would defend the accused in court, but the legal team of CLAAS took up the responsibility to represent him in his legal battle.

Pakistan's blasphemy laws carry the death penalty, but there is no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness. Christian groups working in Pakistan have asserted that blasphemy allegations often stem from the accuser's desire to settle petty, personal disputes.

According to the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan, at least 65 people have been killed over accusations of blasphemy since 1990, and dozens more who are convicted of the crime are on death row.

In 2010, Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, was sentenced to death after a group of Muslim women in the town of Sheikhupura in Punjab province accused her of blasphemy. She is waiting for the appeal proceedings to begin, but her trial was delayed after Pakistan's Supreme Court rejected a request for her case to be heard in early June.
home US Pentagon reveals links between North Korea and Iran days after Greg Laurie's End Times warning

Pentagon officials have said that there is evidence that North Korea may have influenced Iran's recent attempts to launch a cruise missile, just days after evangelist Greg Laurie warned that the link between the two countries could play a part in End Times prophecy.

Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, noted in a Facebook video on Monday that Biblical prophecy does not seem to mention North Korea, but he suggested that it could very well be aiding Iran, which does play a part in the End Times.

The evangelist said that Iran could be acquiring weapons from North Korea, and he expressed concern that the current nuclear tensions between the Communist regime and the U.S. could potentially mean that America is destroyed before the Bible's End Times scenario.

"Here is what concerns me. We do not find the reigning superpower on the face of the Earth anywhere in the Last Days scenario. Other nations emerge. So where is America? I pray we are not out of the picture, because we have been in some kind of nuclear conflict," he said.

According to Fox News, intelligence reports have revealed that the "midget" submarine used by Iran to launch a cruise missile earlier this week was similar to a submarine that was used to sink a South Korean warship in 2010.

The attempt to launch a Jask-2 cruise missile underwater failed, but nonproliferation experts have long suspected that North Korea and Iran have been sharing expertise on their 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." he continued.

Pentagon officials have noted that back in January, Iran tested a ballistic missile that was based on a North Korean design. Last summer, Iran also tested another missile similar to a North Korean Musudan, which was the most advanced missile that has been tested by the Communist regime to date.

The officials explained that the extent of North Korea's involvement in the failed launch was never clear, apart from the sharing of technology.

Tensions have risen between President Donald Trump's administration and Kim Jong Un's regime in recent weeks. Trump has condemned Kim for his nuclear weapons rhetoric and ballistic missiles test. North Korea, on the other hand, recently issued a threat proclaiming that the White House will be "reduced to ashes."

Laurie said that the Trump administration should not dismiss Kim's threat to strike America with nuclear weapons. He called on Americans to pray for Trump, whether they voted for him or not.
home World Smithsonian Channel's 'Secrets' highlights stone tablet that could confirm existence of Tower of Babel

The first episode of the new season of the Smithsonian Channel's "Secrets" is drawing attention to an ancient stone tablet that is believed to be the first-ever image of the Tower of Babel.

The tablet, which dates to approximately 600 B.C., was discovered a century ago, but it has never been studied or exhibited until recently.

Dr. Andrew George, an expert in ancient Babylon, believes that the stone is the true source of the famed Biblical story.

In the episode, George, a professor of Babylonian at the University of London, examines the tablet that bears an image of a Babylonian tower known as a ziggurat. The stone also includes a drawing of a stepped tower and a figure of a human carrying a staff, as well as an inscription that identifies the structure as the "Tower of Temple of Babylon."

The stone tablet, which was captured on film for the first time by Smithsonian Magazine, is part of the private collection of Norwegian businessman Martin SchAyen.

Another inscription on the ancient stone provides information as to the extent of the tower.

"It reads, 'From the upper sea,' which is the Mediterranean, 'to the lower sea,' and that's the Persian Gulf," George explained.

"The far-flung lands and teeming people of the habitations are mobilized in order to construct this buildingathe ziggurat of Babylon," he continued.

Archaeologists generally agree that the tower was once situated in the ancient city of Babylonia, an area known today as Al Qasr, approximately 80 miles south of Baghdad. The original city was built in 2300 B.C. and was sacked by the Hittites in 1595 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt it in 612 B.C. and turned the city into his capital. He constructed a large ziggurat around the original ancient tower that is believed to have been almost 300 feet tall.

The professor believes that the builders of the tower, hailing from all over the region, could represent the Biblical "multitudes" of languages that led to the destruction of the structure.

"The myth about the multitude of tongues comes from the context described in the stele about the multitude of peoples enlisted in the construction of the tower," George told Breaking Israel News.

"There were many languages spoken on the construction site. From that it may be that the Bible got the idea of the confusion of tongues," he went on to say.

George expressed his belief that there is an actual building that inspired the Biblical narrative.

The professor said he is not a religious person, but he sees no contradiction between science and the Bible.

He noted that people began to ask which parts of the Bible were not true after Charles Darwin cast doubt about the story of creation, but he contended that the schism between science and religion is gradually being reconciled in his field.

"In the 19th century there was a discovery that the Assyrian kings described in the Bible were real and corroborated by archaeological evidence, making us ask now, how much more in the Bible is true?" he said.
home US Tennessee school district suspends bible club after complaint from atheist group

A Bible club at a local elementary school in Tennessee has been suspended after a Wisconsin-based atheist group sent a letter of complaint to the school district, claiming that the club was unconstitutional.

First and second graders at Altruria Elementary School have been participating in the Bible club since last fall, but Bartlett City Schools (BCS) closed it down after it received a letter of complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).

"This club, which functions as a Bible class, is unconstitutional because public schools may not provide religious instruction," FFRF attorney Rebecca Markert stated in the letter.

The FFRF urged BCS to investigate whether teachers and staff are participating in the club, which would be a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution.

One family expressed their disappointment that the Bible club was shut down because their two children were looking forward to joining it next year.

The Brown family contended that the club was not unconstitutional because it is an elective and it is held before school. They have contacted an attorney with the Center for Religious Expression to challenge the school district's decision.

"The message they are sending these kids is there is something terribly wrong with you wanting to meet and discuss the bible," said Nate Kellum, an attorney for the Center for Religious Expression, according to Local Memphis.

Kellum argued that the FFRF was wrong to assert that the club was unconstitutional because it is not required or endorsed by the school.

BCS has not commented on the FFRF's claim regarding the club's constitutionality, but it temporarily shut down the club after the school district found out that it did not have an outside sponsor.

"Per our understanding, religious clubs at elementary schools must be sponsored by an outside group. To our knowledge, the K-2 Bible Club at Altruria was not," the school district said in a statement.

"While this club has been postponed, we are working with the school to ensure the proper steps are taken to allow this club in the 2017-2018 school year," it added.

A Bible club for third through fifth graders at the school was allowed to continue because it has an outside sponsor.
home World Two men charged for assaulting security guard, parishioners at Hillsong church in Sydney

Australian authorities have charged two men for the assault of two parishioners and a security guard outside of Hillsong church in Sydney last week.

According to Australian media outlet 9News, the attack occurred on the night of April 28 when a group of young men who were headed to Redfern Station got into an argument with another group of men.

The 33-year-old security guard tried to intervene when he saw an 18-year-old man struck in the face. But the security guard himself was punched in the face and sustained a bleed on the brain and a fractured cheekbone. He was transported to St. Vincent's Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

A 21-year-old man was also assaulted before the group fled the scene, The Daily Mail reported.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims who are now recovering, and we are supporting them and their families," a Hillsong spokesman said in a statement following the attack.

"We are shocked that this happened so close to our church and we will continue to review security at our Waterloo campus," he added.

On Monday, the authorities arrested a 23-year-old man and charged him with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault. He was granted bail on the condition that he appear at Downing Centre Local Court on May 22.

A 22-year-old man was arrested at a home on Richmond Street in Earlwood later that day. He was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was denied bail.

A campus pastor said that the security guard, identified as Ashil Nada, has worked with Hillsong for many years.

"He is a really great guy and has served as part of the security team here for many years... and our thoughts are really with him," the pastor remarked.

He believes that the attack was not religious in nature and said that security will be reviewed.

Neighbors have noted that Hillsong's weekly youth service attracts rowdy crowds, with fights often breaking out on the street.

Pastor Christian Jeyaratnam said that the meetings at Hillsong were intended for young people, who sometimes have issues.

"Every young person has baggage and so we'll always have security so the young people here are safe," he said.
home US U.S. House advances measure to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that is aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. Under the legislation, Planned Parenthood will be blocked from receiving most of its federal funding for a year.

The House voted 217a213 on Thursday to approve the American Healthcare Act (AHCA), which would eliminate more than $390 million of over $450 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood, Life Site News reported. The measure would redirect funding to community health centers that do not perform abortions.

The bill has been praised by pro-life leaders for blocking federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

"It's about time that Planned Parenthood start looking somewhere else for revenue rather than American taxpayers, who have no interest in funding abortion," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, said.

"House leadership should be commended for listening to their constituents and getting a bill passed that defunds Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion vendor," she added.

Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said the "new health care bill ensures that we are one step closer to getting the federal government entirely out of the business of subsidizing abortion."

The House was originally supposed to vote on a health care bill on March 24, but the measure was pulled after many conservatives opposed it. Pro-life groups were initially hesitant to support the original bill due to their concerns that the health care tax credits it provides to people could be used for abortions.

The revised bill gives insurance companies the option whether to cover "essential benefits" like maternity care, which Obamacare critics say are "essential" for only half the population.

The measure also eliminates Obamacare tax penalties for those who do not buy coverage, and it continues family policies that cover grown children until age 26, according to CBN News.

The legislation is now headed to the Senate, where Republicans hold a 52a48 majority. Senate Republicans are using a process known as budget reconciliation so that only a majority vote is required to pass the bill.

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York contended that AHCA is "going nowhere fast" in the Senate. He urged Senate Republicans to reject the repeal of Obamacare and work with Democrats to "improve our healthcare system in a bipartisan way."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Sommelier Evan Turner, whose tireless championing of Greek cuisine and wine was responsible for bringing Helen Greek Food and Wine to fruition, announced on Facebook Monday afternoon that is parting ways with the restaurant.

In a brief post Turner said he is leaving the restaurant group responsible for Helen Greek Food and Wine in Rice Village and the new Helen in the Heights:

"It is with a broken heart I announce that I have resigned from Helen Greek Food and Wine and Helen In the Heights. Sadly it was necessary for me to leave in order to do what I truly believe is best for me and my career with Greek food and wine. Thank you for all the love and support I have received from so many of you I can not list. Yiamas everyone!"

OUT OF THE CITY: High-end restaurants in Houston's suburbs

The Chronicle reached Turner who confirmed the news in a telephone interview.

"I resigned. I felt it was the best thing for me going forward both for my own well-being and professional career promoting Greek food and wine," he said. "I think the concepts will do fine and well without me. The concepts are wonderful and the staff is brilliant."

Turner said he didn't leave the Helen restaurants for another job. But he said he plans to continue promoting Greek food and wine.

"Absolutely, I would never not continue to do that. I will never stop being the biggest cheerleader for Greek wine. There are ideas I have going forward for getting more people to eat Greek food and drink Greek wine."

His decision to leave, which he did not fully disclose, was obviously painful and bittersweet. "There will be days I will probably regret it," he said, "But deep down inside it's something I had to do."

He was effusive in praising the teams at both restaurants.

REBRANDING: Shade to close and reopen as Alice Blue

The news comes only a month after Helen in the Heights opened as a rebranding of the Helen team's Arthur Ave Italian American at 1111 Studewood. Turner was responsible for relaunching the failed Arthur Ave space as a casual Greek taverna. Helen in the Heights, serving classic Greek foods along with Greek wine and spirits, launched April 11.

But it was Turner's work with Helen Greek Food and Wine that brought him acclaim. The restaurant at 2429 Rice Blvd. opened in July 2015 to raves and immediate acclaim. The regional Greek cuisine, under chef William Wright, paired with one of the country's best all-Greek wine list curated by Turner, earned Helen a nod on the semifinals list for the James Beard Awards' Best New Restaurant. Earlier this year Wright also found himself on the semifinals list for the James Beard Awards' Rising Star Chef of the Year.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The trial for a man accused of slaying his wife in 2014 will move forward after psychological evaluation results, presented recently to a judge in the 111th District Court, revealed he is competent to stand trial.

Alberto Espinoza was found fit to stand trial for the slaying of his 23-year-old wife, Yolanda Martinez-Perez.

However, an insanity defense is expected to be introduced during his trial.

Espinoza, 30, was indicted Oct. 9, 2014 on a murder charge for allegedly slashing her throat.

Counsel for Espinoza, attorney Joaquin Amaya, requested a trial date be set in Espinozas case after submitting results of the evaluation to 111th District Court Judge Monica Z. Notzon.

READ MORE: Man charged with terroristic threat against Laredo police officer

A June 8 jury selection date has been set.

Notzon requested Amaya submit court documents related to an insanity defense that may be presented to the jury during trial before May 30.

Espinozas competency first came into question after his arrest in 2014, when he allegedly claimed to be hearing voices.

Laredo police responded to the 4500 block of Corrada Avenue on July 22, 2014 after a welfare concern call was placed at 9:23 a.m. by Espinozas relatives.

A woman told police that her nephew, Espinoza, called her saying he had done something bad.

Espinoza was found at the scene, along with the body of Martinez-Perez.

RELATED: Texas judge reprimanded for 'tree and a rope' post

According to the criminal complaint, Espinoza attempted to die by suicide before police arrived.

His self-inflicted wounds were non-life threatening.

Espinoza allegedly confessed to killing his wife during an interview at LPD headquarters.

He claimed to be hearing voices while he and his wife were preparing breakfast, police said.

Court records state that Espinoza claimed the voices told him someone was trying to kill him.

When his wife bent over by the oven to grab a pan, the voices told him that she had poisoned the diced potatoes, the complaint states. He then grabbed the knife and attacked her.

The couples two biological daughters, then ages 3 and 6, were present in the home at the time of the slaying but were not in the room where it took place.

Child Protective Services placed them with relatives who resided in the Laredo area.

Taryn Walters may be reached at 956-728-2528 or twalters@lmtonline.com
Port Houston is hosting a shipping conference to look at trends, problems and solutions for cargo owners importing and exporting through the Gulf of Mexico.

The 2nd Annual JOC Gulf Shipping Conference, organized by The Journal of Commerce and parent company IHS Markit, will be held Sunday through Tuesday at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. Port Houston was the host for the first shipping conference last year, which had more than 250 attendees.
While most Middlelands guests raved about the new festival, the party wasn't as fun for the dozens of people arrested over the weekend.

Roughly 38 arrests were made at the mega-concert, which merges electronic dance music with a Texas Renaissance Festival-like atmosphere. Charges ranged from driving while intoxicated to possession of a controlled substance, according to the Grimes County Sheriff's Office. Arrests were made from late Friday night through Saturday morning.
The County Commission on Wednesday lowered the overnight camping fee for in-county seniors and raised it for non-residents at Chester Frost Park.

The charge for non-Hamilton County residents for waterfront spots goes from $25 per night to $30 per night.

It drops for county seniors, veterans, military and ADA from $22.50 per night to $18.75 per night.

The remainder of the new price list includes:

Non-Hamilton County residents:

Inland $28.50

Tent and utilities $26

Primitive $21

Non-Hamilton County residents senior, veteran, military, ADA:

Waterfront $28.50

Inland $27.08

Tent and utilities $24.70

Primitive $19.95

Hamilton County residents:

Waterfront $22.50

Inland $21.15

Tent and utilities $18.90

Primitive $14.40

Hamilton County residents senior, veteran, military, ADA:

Inland $17.63

Tent and utilities $15.75

Primitive $12

County Mayor Jim Coppinger said he ran into a roomful of unhappy seniors at a recent meeting at the park.



He said, "One lady speaking up about charges at other campgrounds across the country probably saved us from being lynched."

County Mayor Coppinger said the seniors were upset that camping fees for them had been raised to $22.50 per night, and he said he was sympathetic.

He said many have been staying off and on at the popular park on Lake Chickamauga for many years. He said, "One camper had stayed 110 days in the same spot last year. Some of them are there long enough to grow tomatoes."

County Commission members, at a budget session on Tuesday, had recommended the increase for non-residents.

Chairman Chester Bankston said he believed the $25 per night could rise to $35 per night without much kickback.

About 40 percent of those who camp at the park are from out of county - many from out of state.

Lee Norris, general services administrator, agreed that the non-resident charge could go up some. However, he said he did not want to get above the rate at Harrison Bay State Park just across the lake.

Commissioner Joe Graham, whose family formerly operated Raccoon Mountain Campground, said Chester Frost Park can charge more because it has amenities that many other local campgrounds don't have - especially the lake itself.

County Mayor Coppinger said seniors complained that campers are the only ones being charged at the park, though there are many other users.

There was discussion of setting a $2 boat launching fee at Chester Frost Park.

The county will likely start charging promoters of bass tournaments for use of the park. County Mayor Coppinger said the promoters do not object to the fee.

There is a follow-up meeting at Chester Frost Park on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the pavilion.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Submitted Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Submitted Show More Show Less 3 of 3





The Houston Chapter of Hadassah is excited to kick off Breast Strokes: Hadassah Bares All for A.R.T (Awareness, Research, and Treatment).

New to Houston and chaired by Allison Levine and Melissa Poteet, this unique program blends the interests of the art, medical and local Houston communities, beginning with Paint Day. This is when a group of women, including some breast cancer survivors, will gather at the Jewish Community Center to volunteer to have their torsos painted and photographed for a future art auction that will raise money for breast cancer research and education.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The Texas House easily passed Houston's pension reform bill Monday, but not without making substantial changes to the version the state Senate approved last week, including exempting all retired firefighters from benefit cuts.

The lower chamber accepted four amendments before voting 112 - 28 to preliminarily approve Houston's reform measures. The bill now awaits another vote in the House, followed by reconciliation in conference committee.

PASSED: Senate approves Houston pension reform plan

"I believe this current version is Houston's best chance to significantly have pension reform and to assure that the fire, the police and municipal employees will have an ongoing pension," state Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, said of his bill.

The House's approval marks the next step in Houston's reform efforts, but Monday's amendments mean the bill's fate is far from sealed.

Most significantly, state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, amended the bill to exempt all retired firefighters from benefit cuts.

The version passed by the state Senate last week would have positioned the city to pay down its $8.2 billion pension debt over 30 years instead of allowing it to accumulate, cut retiree benefits by $2.8 billion and cap future costs if the market dips.

MONEY PROBLEMS: City likely to face $120 million budget gap

Mayor Sylvester Turner expressed optimism that the amendments would be stripped out of the bill during conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions.

"It is a major day, it is an historic day, and a major step in the city of Houston getting its financial house in order," Turner said. "I am very much grateful to every single person who invested time, effort, energy into this process to make it happen."

The House also approved an amendment by Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, to give firefighters permission to provide additional actuarial data to the city in an effort to negotiate smaller benefit cuts.

Flynn unsuccessfully tried to get the House to reject Huberty's amendment.

"This could derail the bill," he told House members at one point.

The House, which had come under intense lobbying pressure from firefighters across Texas in recent days, refused to kill Huberty's amendment, voting 90-42 instead to attach it to the bill, as nearly 100 retired firefighters in the gallery erupted in cheers and whistles.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

It's safe to say that everyone wants to see their children succeed, and a part of that is ensuring their education is challenging enough to prepare them for college.

On Friday, The Washington Post published their 19th annual America's Most Challenging High Schools ranking and Texas institutions dominated the top 30 campuses.

GO PRIVATE: Niche ranks the best private schools in Texas for 2017

Though Texas missed out on the number one spot, Houston's own Mickey Leland College Prep landed in second place. The top spot went to BASIS Phoenix in Arizona.

Story continues below...

Thirteen Texas schools - three of them from Houston - landed in the top 30, the most of any state in the country.

Click through the gallery above to see the top 30 high schools in America that excel in challenging their students.

To determine the rankings, The Washington Post created an index formula from a ratio: the number of advanced tests divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. Advanced tests included in the ratio are Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests. Read more about how the ranking works here.

The list started in 1998 and only 1 percent of U.S. institutions made the cut. This year's ranking has grown to about 12 percent of the 22,000 total American public high schools. To see the full publication and all of the Texas schools included, visit The Washington Post website.

AMONG THE BEST: Texas schools land in top 25 of the top public institutions in U.S.
After a decade on the run, a Houston man was hit with a life sentence Tuesday for the brazen murder of a college student.

Happy Tran Pham, 32, walked into the Cajun Kitchen on Bellaire in December 2006 and gunned down Pierre Mai, who was having dinner with his girlfriend and another friend, according to court documents.

"You're in my hood now, motherf-----," Pham said before opening fire. He fatally hit Mai once in the chest and at least twice in the legs before fleeing on foot.

A restaurant cashier followed Pham outside and tried to shoot him as he ran, but the suspect still escaped and launched a life on the run.

Mai's girlfriend later told police that she'd previously dated Pham.

During his years at large, Pham was featured three times on "America's Most Wanted."

When authorities caught up with him last year in Houston, he was using a friend's ID and had 5 pounds of pot and $26,000 in cash.

Although police followed up on tips across the country and in Canada, Pham was ultimately found at a friend's house less than 4 miles from the scene of the crime.

"This person went to great lengths to hide, and it took a lot of manpower and a lot of time to bring him in," Assistant District Attorney Ryan Trask said in a statement.

"You can run and you can hide, but eventually the past is going to catch up to you."

On Monday, Pham was convicted following a seven-day trial. He will be eligible for parole in 30 years.
The Coast Guard has suspended the search for a boater reported missing over the weekend near Corpus Christi.

The missing man is Kevin Ferrell, 53, of Rockport.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The Texas Democratic Party's foray into local, ostensibly nonpartisan elections yielded mixed results in Houston-area municipal and school board races on Saturday.

The party's biggest win, at least in terms of the attention it drew, was 18-year-old high school senior Mike Floyd's triumph over incumbent Rusty DeBorde for a seat on the Pearland school board. That race was the topic of a front-page story by the Chronicle's Shelby Webb, and of my latest Greater Houston column.

In other Pearland races, the party-backed candidate for mayor, Quentin Wiltz, forced longtime incumbent Tom Reid into a June runoff. But attorney J. Darnell Jones, supported by the Democrats, failed in his challenge to Councilman Gary Moore.

The Democrats had little success in Pasadena, where the city elections drew widespread attention because of a federal judge's ruling that a fairly new City Council system pushed by Mayor Johnny Isbell was discriminatory. Isbell cannot run again due to term limits, and the Democratic Party didn't endorse any of the seven candidates seeking to replace him. Retired police officer Jeff Wagner and community college trustee John Moon Jr. will compete in a runoff for mayor.

Two party-backed candidates in Pasadena City Council races, Oscar del Toro and Steve Halvorson, lost to incumbents Cary Bass and Don Leamon, respectively. (Halvorson fell short by nine votes, 407-398, according to unofficial returns. Bass prevailed by a wide margin.)

Party-backed candidate Felipe Villarreal finished second in another Pasadena council race and will face Daniel Vela in a runoff.

Two Humble school board candidates supported by the party, Abby Whitmire and Chris Herron, lost to incumbents Angela Cunningham and Charles Conrad, respectively. That campaign drew the attention of the right-wing website Breitbart News ("Leftists Target Texas School Board Election.")

In Galveston County, Nakisha Paul, backed by the Democrats, won a seat on the Texas City school district board. But party-supported candidate Arnetta Henderson lost her bid for a spot on the College of the Mainland board.

Across the state, candidates supported by the Democratic Party in contested races won seven campaigns outright, mostly in suburban communities such as Round Rock and Arlington in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a congratulatory statement from the party. Six additional candidates earned spots in runoffs.

The Texas Republican Party says it does not recruit or endorse candidates in nonpartisan races.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A man interrupted a northeast Houston home invasion early Tuesday, shooting two of the men who had tied up his relatives, police said. One of the suspects died at the scene.

Four young men wearing ski masks broke into a home's back door before dawn in the 3600 block of Crandon Street and tied up several family members who live there, police and family members said. There is no evidence the family was specifically targeted rather than picked at random.

"I didn't know what was happening until I saw the man holding a gun to my mom's head," said Ruben Garcia, 19. "They held her hostage and they told me to get on the ground."

The robbers then took the laces from Garcia's shoes and tied up him, his mother and his twin brother together, leaving them face down. His 10-year-old sister was also in the home but was not injured. His father and twin brother were pistol whipped, police said.

The twin brother said at first he didn't realize what happened when he was pistol whipped.

"At first I thought they punched me or something, but then I saw there was blood on the carpet," Rene Garcia remembered a few hours later. He said the robbers yelled at the family to say where they hid their money, at one point holding a gun to the mother's head and starting to count out loud.

It was then that someone told the robbers there was money in the parents' bedrooms -- the family's "life savings," Rene Garcia said.

The commotion of the home invasion roused Garcia's uncle, who lives in a nearby home.

His uncle came to the home and confronted the robbers, who may have opened fire, police said later. The uncle, who has not been identified, shot two of the robbers.

"He saved us," Rene Garcia said after returning home from the hospital. "I don't think I would be here right now if he hadn't come and saved the day."

Houston police responded about 4 a.m. to reports of a burglary in progress, homicide detective David Stark said. They found one suspect dead, wearing a ski mask and near a pistol. He has not yet been identified, as police are waiting for investigators from the medical examiner's office.

Another suspect found hiding nearby had a gunshot wound to his leg. Police will question that suspect after he undergoes surgery, Stark said.

As of 9 a.m., police were still looking for the other two suspects.

The two pistol-whipped men were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Lt. Larry Crowson said. Stark said they were released within a few hours.

They were "shook up, but they're glad that, for the most part, they're OK," Stark said.

The shooting will be investigated by Houston Police homicide detectives, as is standard in any fatal incident.

Ruben Garcia wondered whether his brother's plans for Tuesday would be interrupted.

"My twin brother, he goes to the University of Houston, and he has a test today," Garcia said. "I don't know what will happen."

Godofredo A. Vasquez contributed to this report.
Hamilton County Department of Education CSH Coordinator Cathy Jennings has been selected the 2016-2017 Southeast Regional Coordinator of the Year.

Ms. Jennings was presented the award this past weekend at the Coordinated School Health Institute at Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro.

School Health Services Coordinator Sheryl Rogers, R.N. said she was thrilled to join Ms. Jennings in Murfreesboro for the surprise honor. Cathy and her team Kathy Levy, coordinators assistant, and Brenda Coger, administrative assistant, have done an excellent in working with our schools. This a great honor for our school district, Ms. Rogers said.

The Coordinated School Health program believes in a link between physical well-being and the learning environment. Its implementation fits the needs and resources of each school community.

Colleagues describe Ms. Jennings as a true go-getter who goes out of her way to find areas of need that she can impact in the schools.

Just one example of how Ms. Jennings has turned the program around in a positive way is through her Polar Express pajama initiative. After visiting some schools on pajama day she noticed not every student participated. When Ms. Jennings learned from those students teachers that they do not have pajamas, she started a pajama drive with BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

HCDE Interim Superintendent Dr. Kirk Kelly added, Thats just one of the ways Ms. Jennings consistently goes above and beyond to make sure all of our students get a top-notch education and improved quality of life. Thanks to her teams tireless efforts, we are building great values here in Hamilton County.

In addition to starting the pajama program which BlueCross BlueShield has now taken over full-time, Ms. Jennings also regularly helps with before and after school programs, coordinated the installation of climbing walls at several HCDE schools, and has organized events to create and clear walking paths for students and their families to enjoy.

HCDE officials simply cannot say enough good things about Ms. Jennings and her impact on the culture and climate of the Hamilton County Schools, said officials.






A shirtless man got away from officers by stealing a police SUV in southeast Houston early Tuesday morning -- but not for long.

A Houston police officer was sent to investigate a reported break-in attempt at a convenience store in the 2000 block of South Wayside about 1:15 a.m. A deputy from the Harris County Precinct 6 Constable's Office came to assist.
There's a new twist in the gruesome murder of Shanna Riddle Vandewege and her 3-month-old son, Diederik. In December, Craig Vandewege was accused of slashing the throats of his wife and child. He's currently awaiting trial after being extradited to Fort Worth.

Now, the mortuary employee assigned to prepare their corpses has filed a lawsuit against his former employer.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Bexar County deputies jailed three men in connection with the gang rape and kidnapping of a 21-year-old woman Sunday on the Northeast Side.

Jamal Wolford, 23, Richard Taylor-White, 22, and Eugene Hodge, 20, all faces charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. All three remain in the Bexar County Jail on $150,000 bonds.

According to their affidavits, the men are accused of raping a woman around 11 p.m. on Sunday at two different locations.

The victim was allegedly picked up by Wolford, Taylor-White and another woman, Brandi Hall, that night and taken to a home in the 2600 block of Corian Glen Drive, the document states.

READ ALSO: 'My mama had blood all over': 7-year-old shot twice in apparent drive-by on East Side

There, Hall allegedly forced the victim to perform fellatio and have sex with Wolford.

Afterwards, the trio took her to a trailer home in the 6700 block of Walzem Road, where they met up with Hodge, according to the affidavit.

At the trailer home, Hall allegedly assaulted the victim, prevented her from leaving and then forced her to have sex with Wolford, Taylor-White and Hodge.

According to the affidavit, Wolford then took her back to the original location in the 2600 block of Corian Glen Drive, had sex with her again and then brought her back to the Walzem Road location.

READ ALSO: SAPD: Couple shot, robbed during while trying to buy weed in SE Side

The victim eventually fled and contacted law enforcement.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division met with the three suspects, who all allegedly admitted to consensual sex with the victim.

Deputies arrested all three men on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.

It is unclear at this time if Hall faces any charges in connection with the alleged gang rape and kidnapping.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A Harris County criminal court at law judge plans to publicly urge Harris County Commissioners Court at its meeting Tuesday to settle a lawsuit challenging the county's bail system.

Judge Darrell Jordan is one of 16 county court at law judges that being sued, but he is the fourth official publicly agreeing with the plaintiffs.

PROBLEM SOLVING: Judge tells county official to let him settle the bail suit

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez -- a party in the suit -- and Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis both have questioning the county's bail system. So has District Attorney Kim Ogg. All are Democrats who took office Jan. 1.

Jordan wrote a letter to County Judge Ed Emmett Friday asking if he could settle the case separately.

Broadly, most county officials -- including Emmett and Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack, both Republicans -- agree that too many poor people are locked up just because they cannot pay bail.

The county has taken steps to address the issue, but has also fought the suit in court, racking up close to $3 million in legal bills.

EXPENSIVE: Harris County legal bills hit $2.85M as pressure mounts to settle contentious bail lawsuit

Earlier this month, Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal issued an injunction against the county's bail practices and ruled that the system likely would be found unconstitutional during a trial. She set a May 15 deadline for the county to begin releasing low-risk inmates with misdemeanor charges who cannot afford bail on personal recognizance bonds.

Discussion of the case is included on the Commissioners Court agenda, with possible action to follow. That could include an appeal of Rosenthal's ruling or a settlement in the case.

"I know the issue backwards and forwards," Jordan said. "I'm hoping they don't sit there and let me talk and then don't have any questions."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Harris County has appealed a federal civil rights lawsuit that challenged the county's bail system, despite rising legal costs that have neared $3 million.

After a heated discussion and a closed-door meeting Tuesday, Harris County Commissioners Court voted 4-1 to appeal the suit and to ask for a delay to a May 15 start date that would require the county to consider an inmate's ability to pay when setting bail.

The stay was filed after the meeting and Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal promptly issued an order giving all parties until 5 p.m. Wednesday to respond to the defendants' request for a stay.

Elizabeth Rossi, an attorney from Civil Rights Corps, who represents indigent defendants held in jail because they cannot afford their bail rates said her clients "are disappointed to learn that the county and the judges are appealing Chief Judge Rosenthal's thorough and comprehensive decision but we are confident that every judge to review it will agree with her and uphold it." Rossi said her team would "vigorously" oppose a motion for a stay.

County leaders also urged their legal representatives to continue trying to settle the lawsuit, which had led to an order from Rosenthal declaring the county's system unconstitutional.

"We believe the system she wants to implement is arguably not legal," County Attorney Vince Ryan said.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who has pushed for settlement, cast the the lone vote against the decision to appeal.

"This is really asking the court to give you the funds to appeal," he said.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who is a named defendant in the lawsuit, also opposes the appeal. He declined to join the other defendants Tuesday in appealing the order, explaining after the Commissioners Court meeting, "We're just going to move forward to implement it the best way possible and see what all these other proceedings lead to."

Pressure against the county had been mounting in recent weeks after the sharply worded court order and the rising legal costs.

A chorus of local officials have called for the county to settle the lawsuit, including Ellis and one of the defendants in the case, County Criminal Court at Law Judge Darrell Jordan. The sheriff and District Attorney Kim Ogg have also supported changes in the bail system to eliminate cash bail for poor misdemeanor defendants who do have other charges or warrants.

"Money does not make people safe," Jordan told commissioners Tuesday. "If you are a dangerous person, you are a dangerous person."

Rosenthal issued an injunction against the county's bail practices and ruled that the system likely would be found unconstitutional during a trial. She had set a May 15 deadline for the county to begin releasing low-risk inmates with misdemeanor charges who cannot afford bail on personal recognizance bonds.

The county had shelled out $2.85 million to outside counsel in the case as of May 5, money that advocates have maintained could be used toward implementing reforms. Jordan wrote a letter to County Judge Ed Emmett asking that he be allowed to settle the case immediately.

BE DONE: County judge pushes settlement of bail lawsuit

Two civil rights groups - Texas Fair Defense Project and Civil Rights Corps - are handling the lawsuit with local law firm Susman Godfrey on behalf of Maranda ODonnell, a single mother who was held for two days on a charge of driving without a valid license because she couldn't afford the $2,500 bail. Similar lawsuits involving two others were merged into the case in August.

Commissioners Court on Tuesday also approved a plan to spend nearly $1 million to add more than a dozen positions to its pretrial services department and three additional pretrial hearing officers to preside over bail hearings, as part of a highly touted summer initiative to better identify, release and monitor low-risk inmates.

A new risk assessment tool, developed with the help of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, is scheduled to go into effect July 1. That same day, the county also plans to launch a pilot program that will include public defenders at the bail hearings.
AUSTIN  A move to pass controversial legislation to license family detention centers in onetime prisons was blocked for a time Tuesday after an emotional debate, a rare victory for immigration advocates in the conservative chamber.

But within an hour, after the Republican leadership marshaled its forces, the measure was brought back up for debate and was tentatively approved 20-11.

Coming just two days after GOP Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a controversial ban on so-called 'sanctuary cities' that is widely opposed by Hispanic groups, the vote along party lines highlighted the growing split between Hispanic lawmakers, most of them Democrats, and Republicans at the State Capitol.

Senate Bill 1018 would allow the state Department of Family and Protective Services to license two immigration detention centers in South Texas, in Dilley and and Karnes, as child-care centers.

"A federal court has ruled that if they are not licensed to child-care standards they must close," Hughes said.

Immigration advocates have complained for years that housing families in prison-like environments, when they have not committed any crime, is inappropriate and inhumane. Lawsuits for years have challenged the practice.

Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, said the centers have been the focus of repeated complaints about sexual assaults and conditions that are not appropriate for families. "The bottom line is these are prisons . . . a baby jail . . . that will result in children and women being harmed," he said.

"I personally feel its horrific to pass a bill that will incarcerate children," said Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville.

"They were both designed as prisons," added Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, insisting the centers are no place where families should be housed for months.

Hughes insisted the state inspections would ensure that conditions in the centers are appropriate. "It sounds like these issues are the reason the state should inspect these centers," said Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock.

After roughly 20 minutes of initial debate, Hughes abruptly withdrew his bill from debate, admitting he lacked the votes to pass the bill. Within an hour, after Republican leaders huddled, the bill was called back up for debate and was passed.

After a final vote in the Senate, the measure will go to the House where it faces additional opposition.
For those looking to escape their city life and live in the Italian countryside, one mayor has an offer for you.

Daniele Galliano is mayor of Bormida, a small village located in northwestern Italy, and he is looking to bring people to his tiny town of 394 residents. In order to do so, he is offering prospective residents an enticing deal: 2,000 ($2,185) to move there, with rent as low as 50 a month. A larger room would go for as much as 120 a month.
PAUL BUCKOWSKI

A 6-year-old girl was killed and six other children injured in Spain when a bouncy castle broke away from its mooring, soared more than 30 feet in the air and may have exploded, according to local reports aggregated by Time.

The children, between the ages of 3 and 11, were playing in the inflatable house Sunday at a restaurant in the northwest coastal town of Caldes de Malavella when the accident occurred. The Spanish news site El Pais reported that all seven were tossed out of the castle while it was between 32 and 65 feet in the air.
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.
Receiving a diploma Grads line up Dr. White speaking at Commencement Previous Next

Appearing before graduates, their friends and families, and many others from the Lee community, Austin Peay President Dr. Alisa White challenged graduates to make some room during Saturdays commencement, the largest graduation in Lees history.

On this day for the record books, more than 520 degrees were conferred at Saturdays ceremony, 80 of which were for graduate studies. Another historical aspect of the weekends festivities was the Pinning Ceremony for graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. In the Lee University Chapel, the School of Nursing honored its first cohort of 17 nursing graduates with a lapel pin signifying their accomplishments and an alabaster jar signifying their career ahead of pouring themselves out in service to others.

During Dr. Whites address, the Lee alumna encouraged the grads to make room for many things: for others who are different than them, for adventure, for others who know more than them, and for self-assessment, to list a few.

Bringing leaders in higher education to our campus to inspire our graduates is always a great pleasure, said Lee President Dr. Paul Conn, so bringing back one of our own graduates, who has distinguished herself across the nation, was a true delight. Even more than my pride in her selection as President at Austin Peay, I have been so proud in the last three years to hear of what a quick, positive, important impact she is making on that campus and in higher ed in the state of Tennessee.

Dr. White is an advocate for high-impact higher education practices that promote student success. She has served as a consultant for city governments and Fortune 500 companies, offering workshops on leadership, conflict negotiation, and creative management. She has also served as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas at Tyler, as well as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Midwestern State University.

Prior to joining the Austin Peay faculty, Dr. White served institutions such as the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, the University of West Georgia, the University of Texas at Arlington, MSU, and UTT as a professor, department chair, graduate adviser, dean, and provost.

Other activities during the weekend included a hooding for students earning master's degrees and a Commissioning Service on Friday night, which featured six student speakers sharing their Lee experience. This is one of three graduation weekends at Lee each year; commencements are also held in July and December.

View the entire Commencement exercise from Saturday morning, May 6, by directing a browser to https://livestream.com/leeu/events/7349597/videos/155719906.
We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.
The Bethlehem Center is partnering with Rivers of Living Water Christian Center and is hosting a free conference for women on June 3 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Bethlehem Center, 200 W. 38th St.

The mission of the conference is that, Every woman shall know the very essence of her being for the kingdom of God, according to Acts 17:28.

God birthed this awesome conference in my spirit while living in Atlanta in 2001, said Cornelia Williams, pastor of Rivers of Living Water Christian Center. God showed me that women did not understand their identity in Christ and how to walk in wholeness.

The purpose of the Titus II Women Conference is for spiritually mature women to teach other women biblical principles on personal finance, marriage maintenance, health and fitness by Minister of Fitness and 2015 Master Physique reigning champion Linda Bolton, and more.

For more information or to register for the Titus II Women conference, please contact member@rlwchristiancenter.info or 551-2801, or Brandi Allen at 266-1384 x.1. Participants may also stop by the Beth to register.

The National Titus II Women Conference will be offered at Embassy Suites at 2321 Lifestyle Way on Aug. 19. Contact Cornelia Williams.

Rivers of Living Water Christian Center is a non-denominational church in Chattanooga dedicated to transforming lives for newness of Life in Christ, based on Romans 6:4. To learn more about Rivers of Living Water Christian Center, email member@rlwchristiancenter.info or call 551-2801.
The Olsen Law Firm welcomes law school students Amos Bailey and Caleb Elwell to join the firm as summer associates. Through its Summer Associate Program, Olsen Law Firm focuses on bringing law school students from area law schools. The 2017 Summer Associate Program provides each participant an opportunity to work on matters involving immigration and international law issues with individuals and companies of diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Mr. Bailey is a native of Chattanooga. Currently, he attends Belmont University College of Law in Nashville where he will graduate with his Juris Doctor in May 2018. Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor of Science at Middle Tennessee State University where he majored in Political Science with a minor in Cross-Cultural Studies. During his undergraduate studies, Mr. Bailey studied abroad for a time at Bond University in Robina, Queensland, Australia. At Bond, Mr. Bailey focused his studies on political philosophy in order to better understand why countries choose to structure their governments the way they do.

Mr. Elwell is a current third-year law student at Vanderbilt Law School. He is originally from Hartland, Maine, and majored in History at the University of Maine, Orono. Mr. Elwell spent the summer of 2016 at the Maine Attorney Generals office where he worked on cases ranging from multi-state consumer and patent civil fraud actions against global companies to local tort cases. In the Fall 2016 while attending school, he interned at the United States Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Tennessee where he researched and drafted memos, responded to discovery, and prepared exhibits for trial, for a variety of federal criminal and civil cases.






By sharing Cisco's own IT experience, Cisco on Cisco can help customers and partners use technology to achieve business outcomes. Get an inside look at the inner workings of Cisco IT. Learn how we help organizations transform through technology.
The insurance and risk management fields are professions with legions of rapidly-retiring older employees, and they struggle to hire and keep promising new, and younger ones. How to accomplish this? Customized training is one way to do this, a millennial industry professional said during the recent RIMS 2017 annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Create individual development plans. Its important to link peoples objectives to the companys growth, Kathleen Crowe, an Aon Risk Solutions account specialist, said during the April 26 session.

We dont get a lot of opportunities to sit in front of your C-suite and have a conversation with them, Crowe said, adding that by doing so, it makes it feel like youre in it together [and its] not just about the companys bottom line.

It is about what you are looking for, working together to get where you want to go, Crowe added.

Crowe also offered a number of additional tips as to how to attract millennials to your company, and keep them engaged once theyre there. They include:

Know an employees aspirations and goals. Crowe said managers should consider a candidate or employees records, aspirations, five-year and 10-year goals and figure out how they can be achieved within their companies.

Manage both the quality and quantity of high potential-employees at the corporate level. Having year-over-year consistency and explaining and being very clear about whats going on with the company is very important, Crowe said. The lower rung can be uncomfortable about not knowing whats going on. We need to know where we stand with each other, as far as supervisor to younger person.

Dont rotate young employees into different departments. Crowe said many companies will hire younger employees and have them work in multiple departments during the first week and then pick the one they like. Dont burden them with that, she said. Dont burden them with thattake that project and say here, take it and run with it. Its having a really great and full idea about one or two things. [The employee] will be able to benefit much more long term and for your company.

Consider younger employees for challenging positions. Crowe argued that leadership develops under stressful situations, so giving that younger employee the opportunity to experience that and be able to fail is key for both employee and company. If you dont understand what it feels like to fail you are never going to be able to be successful, she said. When you are in risk management, not everything is going to go right all the time.

Reevaluate your top talent annually. Crowe pointed out that risk management field and insurance are both constantly changing, with the constant emergence of new products and technology, which means growth strategies are likely to change, too. Employers must communicate this, Crowe said, and also make sure their teams are synced and aligned as much as possible each year.

Pay incentives. Crowe urged employers to offer significantly differentiated compensation to help promising younger employees see that that are an emerging leader and someone you want to have on your team, and also a person you want to respect and continue to help grow.

End blast emails, and use individualized messages. Crowe said that this would show millennials that you care about their futures, with initiatives such as sending a personalized note to a young staff member informing the person that something is in the pipeline and [you are] happy to talk.

Crowe ended with a plea: Please dont hate millennials.

Were really not that bad, she said. We have a lot to learn from you all, but it is really important to provide opportunities for us to move up. We need to have the abilities and skills to manage that outside of being able to understand how to write a policy or write certificates of service.
The mother of one of three men killed during a 2014 police chase is suing police agencies involved in the Missouri pursuit, insisting her son was an innocent bystander in the vehicle and had begged police to call off the freeway chase.

Toya Steeds lawsuit alleges Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers and Pevely officers negligently caused the death Lavoy Savalas Steed, who she said told her by telephone during the Interstate 55 chase south of St. Louis that pursuers were aggravating matters.

The faster they chase us  the faster this dude goes, the lawsuit alleges Lavoy Steed told his mother of the fleeing SUVs driver before that vehicle crashed, ending the 25-mile chase involving speeds that reached 125 mph.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, also alleges the pursuers used excessive force and had reckless disregard for the risk of injury possible in such a chase. It seeks at least $75,000 in damages.

Associated Press calls seeking comment from Pevely police were directed to that citys legal counsel, who didnt return messages left Friday. The Highway Patrol also didnt respond to requests for comment.

The patrol has said an officer initially stopped the SUV driven by 18-year-old Jeromy Goode on I-55 for traveling at speeds exceeding 90 mph. But Goode then sped away, launching the chase in which he three times managed to elude spiked strips authorities laid in his path in hopes of flattening the SUVs tires.

Along the way, the lawsuit alleges, Lavoy Steed called his mother, telling her Goode wouldnt let him or the other two passengers out of the vehicle. Toya Steed said she reported that to a 911 dispatcher, then called her son back and heard her beg Goode to stop running man and to let him out.

Momma, he still wont stop. Are they gonna stop chasing us? the lawsuit alleges Lavoy Steed told his mother. Police tell them to stop chasing us.

He was still on the phone with his mother when the SUV crashed, killing him, the lawsuit says.

Law enforcement officers must, in their constant deliberations of analysis of high speed chases, discontinue the pursuit when it becomes apparent that the pursuit itself represents a more grave danger than letting the suspect of a minor traffic violation go, the lawsuit alleges.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The victims of a balcony collapse in Berkeley, California, that killed six college students have reached a settlement with some of the companies they sued in 2015.

The settlements are confidential, said lawyers for the families of the students who died and seven others who were injured.

This settlement will never restore health or life but reflects an element of justice from the wrongdoers for the deaths and serious injuries caused by the tragedy, said attorney Matthew D. Davis in a statement issued Friday.

The students, largely from Ireland, were at a birthday party in June 2015 when the balcony collapsed, sending them 50 feet (15.24 meters) down to the street below. Its a tradition for Irish students to visit the San Francisco Bay Area for the summer to work at tourist spots and enjoy the break.

The deaths and injuries horrified people on both continents. Among the dead were cousins, Olivia Burke of Ireland and Ashley Donohoe of Rhonert Park, California.

Eustace de Saint Phalle, attorney for the Donohoes, said the family will continue to push for legislative changes to building codes and reporting requirements for shoddy construction work.

Lawsuits filed in Alameda County Superior Court say previous tenants reported seeing mushrooms on the balcony, but the buildings manager did not close the structure off.

The mushrooms showed the balconys wooden support beams were rotting, the lawsuits said. A city investigation revealed the wooden beams had rotted through from water damage.

Segue Construction is among the seven companies that agreed to the undisclosed settlement. The lawsuits said Segue used cheaper materials to construct the balcony, making it more susceptible to water damage.

Building manager Greystar and building owner BlackRock did not agree to settle so lawsuits against those companies continue.

A spokesman for BlackRock declined comment. Greystar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Friday that would have limited monetary damages in civil lawsuits filed by neighbors of hog and poultry farm operations when judges determine the stench from animal waste is a nuisance.

Cooper said the measure, which now returns to the General Assembly for a potential override, improperly gave special protection to industrial farm operations and opens the door to weakening civil actions in other nuisance matters.

The agriculture and forestry industries are vital to our economy and we should encourage them to thrive. But nuisance laws can be used to protect property rights and make changes for good, Cooper said in his veto message. Weakening these legal remedies, he said, can allow real harm to homeowners, the environment and everyday North Carolinians.

The measure would restrict compensatory damages against farming and forestry operations to value of lost property or the rental value of affected properties. Critics called it a violation of property rights or a favor to the politically well-connected factory farming industry.

The bill was prompted by pending federal lawsuits by about 500 rural residents against Murphy-Brown LLC, the North Carolina-based hog production division of Virginias Smithfield Foods. The companies are U.S. subsidiaries of a Chinese company that is the worlds largest pork producer.

But the original legislation had been amended so that limits would not apply to pending cases. The measure, if it becomes law, doesnt alter the current rules on punitive damages a jury could assess.

The House and Senate approved the measure last week by veto-proof margins, but GOP Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Duplin County farmer and the bills chief spokesman, said legislators would assess the situation before attempting an override.

Its very unfortunate that the governor chose to veto this bill that was well intended to keep our agriculture community viable and continuing to produce quality and affordable food for our citizens, Dixon said in a phone interview.

Environmental groups praised the veto, saying people who cant fully use their own property because of animal waste odors, flies and other inconveniences from industrial farming shouldnt be limited in the amounts they can sue for.

North Carolina families and property owners should be able to exercise their right to obtain just compensation, to breathe healthy air and to have the quality of life they deserve, Dan Crawford with the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters said in a release.

The North Carolina Pork Council, which backed the legislation, urged lawmakers to override the veto, saying in a statement that the bill strikes a balance in providing clarity and certainty to farmers while ensuring that property owners remain protected.

The council pointed to several areas in state law where limitations on civil liability already exist, including horse farm operators, bars and roller skating rinks.

The Environmental Working Group and Waterkeeper Alliance estimate about 60,000 North Carolina homes are within a half-mile of livestock operations, the range within which families are mostly likely to pursue lawsuits to stop an alleged nuisance.

The veto marks the fourth by Cooper, a Democrat, since taking office Jan. 1. The Republican-controlled General Assembly has overridden the previous three.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Akron police car.png

A Barberton man was pistol-whipped during a mugging near a bar in Akron's Kenmore neighborhood, police said.

(File photo)

AKRON, Ohio -- Three robbers pistol-whipped a Barberton man who was walking home from a bar in Akron's Kenmore neighborhood, police said.

The 27-year-old man's face was cut and bruised in the robbery on West Waterloo Road near Cordelia Avenue, according to a police report.

No arrests have been made but the robbery remains under investigation, police said.

The Barberton man was walking home from a bar just after 2 a.m. when three unidentified robbers approached him in an alley. One robber pulled out a gun and demanded the man's cellphone and wallet, the report says.

The man began to empty his pockets, but the robber pistol-whipped him in the face. The man fell to the ground, and the three robbers continued to hit him as they took his Apple iPhone 5 and wallet, the report says.

The man went home and waited until the next morning to call police, the report says.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Broadview Heights man that federal authorities say was part of a scheme to defraud the Cuyahoga Heights school district out of millions of dollars was arraigned Tuesday after being captured in Spain, more than four years after a grand jury charged him.

David Donadeo, 43, has been wanted on a federal warrant since April 2013. Federal prosecutors say he and others formed companies and worked with former school district technology director Joseph Palazzo to defraud the school district out of more than $3.3 million by billing for services that were never provided.

Donadeo arrived in Cleveland from Spain on Friday. He was living in the Canary Islands and was arrested by authorities there in September, said John McCaffrey, his attorney.

Donadeo pleaded not guilty Tuesday to mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Ruiz. He has agreed to stay in jail until his case is completed.

McCaffrey said Donadeo's wife and two children still live in Spain. He said the family, all United States citizens, lived in Germany before Spain and had lived out of the U.S. prior to his indictment.

Donadeo's parents sat in the viewing gallery and their faces lit up when two deputy U.S. marshals brought him into the courtroom. Donadeo and his parents mouthed some words to each other prior to his arraignment.

The indictment says Donadeo, who also goes by David Rupp, founded a company called DDR Technology that was paid for services it never provided to the small suburban district. Palazzo would prepare the invoices to bill the district, authorities say.

Donadeo and the others kept half the money for themselves, while the other half went to Palazzo, the indictment says.

The scheme was uncovered by the Ohio Auditor's Office in 2012. Auditor Dave Yost said at the time that the stolen amount was "one of the largest findings for recovery" that his office has ever issued.

Palazzo, 35, is serving a prison sentence of more than 11 years.

Dominick Palazzo, Joseph's 43-year-old brother, was sentenced in June to 2 1/2 years in prison for his role.

Dennis Boyles, another defendant, served a 27-month prison sentence.

In addition to Cuyahoga Heights, the 900-student district serves Valley View and Brooklyn Heights.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
sixshooterflats.jpg

Six Shooter Coffee, which launched its first shop in Collinwood in 2015, is opening an espresso bar at the mixed-use Tenk building the West Bank of the Flats.

(Courtesy of Six Shooter)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - On Saturday, May 20, Six Shooter Coffee will open a full espresso bar at the Tenk West Bank mixed-use building, 2111 Center St. in Cleveland's Flats. The popular shop in the Waterloo Arts District moved their roasting to the facility in August 2016.

Though the 750-square-foot space will be mainly grab-and-go, the Tenk building will offer plenty of seating. Customers will also be able to see the roasting process as it happens.

The former Tenk Machine & Tool Co., purchased by investor Rafid Fadul in 2014, is now home to Radiate Strength and Fitness center, Marigold Catering and an office co-working space. Fadul recruited Six Shooter's owner, Peter Brown, to help service the growing occupants and neighborhood dwellers.

Collaboration is key here, as seen in the upcoming "2017 CoffeeFit Games" at the Tenk. The event, which brings together local companies for a fitness competition, happens the weekend of Six Shooter's opening.

"I think this building is going to be the cornerstone of the West Bank," says Brown. "The Tenk really embodies the comeback of the Flats."

Fadul says the mark the coffee company is making in Collinwood attracted him to the deal.

"They've got amazing coffee, a passion for their craft and are really invested in their community," says Fadul. "At Tenk, they're already a favorite amongst other tenants, and pretty soon the West Bank and Ohio City area will have a great new place with ample parking to meet and work, or hang out and just relax over coffee."

Since opening in late 2015, Six Shooter now services nearly 20 wholesale clients and carries out hundreds of pounds of roasting each week.

Its success, Brown says, has been "pretty surreal."

"As a small business owner, one of the perks is being able to be a part of this movement," he says.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
winchester2.jpg

The Winchester Music Hall closed in 2014, and was home to the Bevy in Birdtown until 2016. It will reopen under new ownership as the Winchester Music Tavern.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio - From 2002 until it closed in 2014, Lakewood's Winchester Music Hall attracted national touring acts and was a staple of the local music scene. Now, a new owner hopes to revive the spirit of that beloved Birdtown club.

On Memorial Day, Shane Motolik will open the Winchester Music Tavern at 12112 Madison Ave., which just so happens to be the former location of the Winchester Music Hall.

Like its namesake, the new club's main focus will be on music. Opening weekend features an eclectic mix, with performances by local indie act Goodmorning Valentine and Dayton psych-rocker M Ross Perkins on Saturday night. Sunday will feature Cleveland alternative hip-hop act Case Barge.

"Having a part in the Cleveland music scene is kind of a dream come true," says Motolik. "Music's been the biggest part of my life - through the good, through the bad."

A small food menu and bar snacks are planned. The front bar will feature cocktails, and craft brews will flow.

Motolik, a native of Wakeman, Ohio, was enchanted by the Winchester from a young age, when he and friends would make the trip to Cleveland for open mics. A lifelong folk fan, he found his niche at the Lakewood concert venue.

"Being from a small town, to be able to see these guys performing was amazing," he recalls. "We started going to the open mics religiously as we started playing music and growing as musicians. It was a groundbreaking place for me."

It's not Motolik's first foray into the industry. In 2011, he moved to Los Angeles for four years, where he worked as a bartender.

"I always thought I wanted to own a bar, but in L.A., it's not possible unless there's a lot of money involved," he says. "As a joke, I used to say that if I was to ever own a place, it would be the Winchester."

He returned to Cleveland in 2015, but by this time the The Bevy in Birdtown had taken its place. Owners Patty Lim and Beth Scebbi bought The Winchester and invested in extensive remodeling.

However, after the Bevy quietly closed in 2016, Motolik jumped on the opportunity to buy the space.

The venue will need minimal renovations, he says. But one main difference will take place in the back room's stage area. Instead of the Bevy's full seating, he'll create more of a concert feel by opening up more space for standing room.

As for future programming, little is off limits. Reviving an open mic is in the works, and an album-release show for Cleveland indie-pop buzz band Front Porch Lights is booked for June 2.

"We're looking at monthly niche parties, electronic and dance nights, comedy, possibly even burlesque," says Motolik. "It's an incredible space and there's a lot of talented people in Cleveland."

As to why Motolik chose to revive the Winchester name, he says with the flourishing new development in Birdtown, "bringing the Winchester back was the only option." He notes that he reached out to former owner Jim Mileti and has not heard back, but says, "I really respect what they did and I would love to talk to them."

When reached by phone, Mileti said he hadn't yet spoken with Motolik. However, Mileti reiterated the anti-alcohol stance he expressed after closing the bar in 2014, and added that he "hadn't really thought about the name business" relating to the Winchester.

"I don't have any part of alcohol or anything like that anymore, so the fact that he's going to be making his money off serving booze isn't something that I'd approve of," he said.

Still, Motolik is betting on the neighborhood to continue to gain momentum. Casablanca Urban Cantina, 12108 Madison Ave., a new Latin American-inspired eatery by the owner of Barroco, is planned for a 2018 opening. Cocktail bar and casual eatery L.B.M., 12301 Madison Ave., is also in the works.

"There's a lot of really cool things happening in the Birdtown neighborhood," says Motolik. "And I think it's all coming together."
Lavie Faust, 8, of Beachwood, is all decked out in Israel gear awaiting for Idan Raichel in concert May 2 at Israel's 69th Independence Day Celebration at Landerhaven.

(Marty Lerman/special to cleveland.com)

MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- From kids activities, to Kosher food to Israeli marketplace and Jewish music, a couple thousand people from the Cleveland community joined together in celebration of Israel's 69th Independence Day. Israel declared its independence in 1948. The celebration took place at Landerhaven.
Medina school board strategic plan.JPG

Medina City Schools Superintendent Aaron Sable, fifth from left, shares a rough draft of the district's new five-year strategic plan with Board of Education members at a special meeting last night.

(Ann Norman, special to cleveland.com)

MEDINA, Ohio - The Medina City Schools administration has unveiled its five-year strategic plan for the district, which could come with a price tag of about $1.4 million.

Superintendent Aaron Sable presented a rough draft of the plan to the Board of Education last night. Board members will have time to ask questions and offer feedback before voting on the final plan later this month.

The community will have a chance to learn about it at a Community Chat scheduled for 9 a.m. June 10 at the Medina Library, 210 S. Broadway St.

The full roll out could only be accomplished if district voters approve additional funds. But the strategic plan is structured so that many of its goals can be met at no further cost, Sable said.

"The financial planning process is probably the most challenging piece of the strategic plan. We didn't want to put the community in a position where they feel handcuffed," Sable said.

"It's a two-tiered approach. We're really trying to take a responsible approach to the roll out of this plan," he said.

The district is already facing the expiration of its current 5.9-mill, five-year emergency levy, which brings in about $6.6 million a year. That levy will drop off the tax rolls in 2018 if voters don't approve a renewal or replacement.

Sable said the administration is reviewing whether to ask for a renewal of the current emergency levy, a new continuing levy for the same amount or a higher levy that would include funds for all of the measures outlined in the strategic plan.

"We might be looking at putting something on the ballot next spring," he said.

He said having the strategic plan in place now would help the board determine the best path to take in regards to an operating levy.

"This plan will aid us in moving forward in making some of these difficult decisions," he said.

Sable started the strategic planning process when he began his new job as superintendent in August. He sought feedback from businesses, community members, parents, students and staff through social media and a series of meetings and community chats.

The strategic plan covers four broad areas: student academics, community engagement, facilities and finances. It covers 2017 through 2022.

Sable said the administration and four community committees sorted through the feedback, developed goals and action steps, and projected costs to implement those goals.

He said the two-tiered approach allowed the committees to be flexible in implementing the goals.

The first tier of the strategic plan outlines goals and action steps that could be taken under the district's current budget.

The second tier expands on the first tier, based on possible approval of funds by district voters.

Treasurer David Chambers said total costs for all four aspects of the plan, if implemented fully, would be $1,440,540.

He suggested that in order to cover that cost, the board would need to ask voters to approve a 1.47-mill additional levy. That levy would cost the owner of a home valued at $200,000 an extra $102.96 a year.

The main goals and costs outlined under the strategic plan include:

Student Academics

* Free all-day kindergarten to all incoming students by the 2022-2023 school year, pending additional funding. Tina Cassidy, director of educational services, said this was by far the top request of the community. It would cost about $810,000 to implement in the second year of the plan, with staffing costs ranging from $742,500 to $757,953 in the following three years.

* An increase in inquiry-based learning experiences, such as project-based learning and STEM programming. Projected costs would be $13,000 in the first year, $396,100 to set it up in the second year, and $72,522 to $75,452 a year during the last three years.

* An annual review of electives offered at the middle and high schools. Estimated cost for three new classes would be $213,300 to $239,883 a year.

* Consistent district-wide grading and homework practices. Cost would be minimal, at $8,600 spread out over the first two years.

* An academic recognition program at Medina High School to honor freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Cost would be about $5,300 a year. Seniors already have an academic recognition ceremony, as do students at the elementary and middle school levels.

* Additional outreach to students and parents regarding college and career opportunities, at an estimated cost of $500 in the first year. If the community wants the district to expand courses, the cost would be $91,600 to $95,852 a year.

* Increased communication with senior citizens, community members who don't have children in the schools and the business community. Cost would be $2,540 in year one and $90,540 a year in years two through five.

* Creation of a clear and concise brand identity for the school district, including logos, mission statement and vision statement. Cost would be about $9,000 a year.

Facilities

* Energy efficiency measures to conserve energy, educate students and staff about energy consumption, and save the district money.

* An annual focus on capital improvement projects in areas of safety, minimizing future costs and enhancing learning environments. Most of these projects would be funded as they currently are, through the sales tax, which brings in $1.2 million a year.

Director of Business Affairs Jon Burkhart is recommending a $1.6 million project to convert interior and exterior lighting at all 13 buildings to LED. This would result in an annual savings of $200,000, he said.

Burkhart noted that bigger projects - such as an addition to Claggett Middle School to replace the modular classrooms or the installation of central air conditioning at Claggett and several of the older elementary schools - would require a bond issue.

"The 1.2 million we get in sales tax is just scratching the surface," he said.

Finance

* Continuing to provide transparent communication about the use of district funds.

* Annual review of the strategic plan to align the goals and action steps with available funding.

* Alternative funding for programming and other district projects.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
IMG_5721.JPG

Chante'l Owens,19, works on a class paper as she completes her last semester before graduating from Kent State University.

(Karen Farkas, cleveland.com)

KENT, Ohio - Chante'l Owens will be one of Kent State University's youngest graduates when she receives her degree on Saturday but the 19-year-old worries that life is passing her by.

"It stresses me out," she said about what her future holds. "I am so young but life is moving so fast. I don't want to wait."

Owens, who will receive a bachelor's degree in public health, is undecided about the health career she will pursue.

But she's thrilled about the possibilities and completing college while still in her teens.

"I am excited to graduate," she said while working on final papers. "I love learning but am ready to start working and get a career."

Owens, who completed her studies in three years, is among four 18-year-olds and 10 19-year-olds who will have received degrees since last summer, Kent State officials said.

She grew up in Euclid, where she and her mother Heather moved when she was 4.

She decided in eighth grade she did not want to go to the city's high school.

"I wanted a new atmosphere," she said. She tested into John Hay Early College High School and her mother, a guidance counselor at East Tech High School, dropped her off each day.

Owens, whose birthday is in January, was 13 when she enrolled at John Hay. The school's three-year program combines ninth and tenth grades, and the last two years are in a dual-enrollment program at Cuyahoga Community College or Cleveland State University.

Owens chose to attend Tri-C and when she graduated from John Hay she had 45 college credits. She said she appreciated the rigorous education she received.

A career in medicine had always interested her so she looked at pre-med programs and was accepted at a number of in-state and out-of-state colleges, she said.

Her mother, however, was nervous about a 16-year-old traveling too far from home. Owens said her mother, who had received a degree in health education from Kent State, encouraged her to attend the school.

Owens said she had no trouble fitting in and making friends at college. But she admitted the age difference was striking and she missed college experiences.

"I went home almost every weekend," she said.

She switched her major to health promotion and education, maintained a high GPA and is still considering medical school. College loans are are a factor, she said.

Chante'l Owens models her cap as she prepares to graduate from Kent State.

She plans to continue her education this fall.

For now, she is working full-time as a nursing assistant at Cleveland Clinic's Hillcrest Hospital. She was hired about two months ago and works three 12-hour shifts a week.

She has lived in an apartment in Warrensville Heights for two years with a friend from John Hay who also enrolled at Kent State. She takes many classes online and goes to campus on Mondays and Wednesdays.

"I am happy I took this route," Owens said about fast-forwarding her education. "The sky is the limit and I can choose what to do. I want to live life to the fullest and there are a lot of opportunities."

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
Traffic Cameras Supreme Court

Rep. Tom Patton, a Strongsville Republican, reintroduced four bills that would ban or limit photo-enforced traffic camera programs in small Ohio communities.

(Tony Dejak, Associated Press)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- State lawmakers' war on red-light cameras, aka photo-enforced traffic tickets, is not over, and the village of Linndale remains a top target.

Rep. Tom Patton, a Strongsville Republican, on Tuesday introduced a package of bills that would ban traffic camera programs in small villages issuing a large number of citations.

Patton said the camera programs are more about generating cash than improving safety.

"Somebody telling me I'm making a mistake 30 days later doesn't help me correct my behavior," Patton said. "The police car out there reminds people what the speed limit is supposed to be."

The bills would:

Ban traffic cameras in jurisdictions with fewer than 200 residents.

Ban the cameras in jurisdictions without their own fire or EMT services.

Limit a jurisdiction to issuing no more than two tickets for every resident.

Prohibit a jurisdiction from collecting more than 30 percent of its total annual revenue from traffic camera tickets.

Each bill would shut down or threaten Linndale's program. Patton introduced the same bills last year, but they failed to pass before the end of the session.

Linndale officials did not return a call seeking comment about the proposals.

The ticket limit would also affect communities like Newburgh Heights, which oversee busy or problematic stretches of road but have small populations.

Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins said the village issues about 600 tickets a month for speeding on a stretch of I-77. That's a little more than three tickets per resident. Elkins said that bill shows Patton is not concerned about safety.

"There's no basis in the real world for that," Elkins said. "What you're saying is everybody who gets caught up until 5,000 tickets gets punished but everybody after that is permitted to break the law without repercussions -- that's laughable."

Elkins said the camera citation revenue does not fund village operations, and ending the program would not hurt its bottom line.

"The state supreme court has ruled these cameras are constitutional and are legal," Elkins said. "Instead of getting involved in municipal business, Rep. Patton needs to start instituting programs explaining to people speed is the No. 1 cause of fatalities and accidents on roadways."

Patton has long railed against Linndale's use of speed cameras. He sponsored legislation in 2012 that shut down mayor's courts, where the tickets were contested, in villages with fewer than 200 residents -- Linndale had about 178. An estimated $800,000 of the town's $1 million budget came from ticket revenue.

After lawmakers enacted more restrictions on the cameras, Linndale, Newburgh Heights and others complied with the law. They conducted traffic studies, posted signs notifying motorists of the cameras and stationed officers at fixed camera sites. Linndale built a shack so an officer could be present even in inclement weather.

Several cities sued the state over the 2015 law, and it is on hold as the Ohio Supreme Court decides the case. Meanwhile, several cities said that requirement negated the financial savings of their programs and ended their programs.

Patton said there are communities across the state using the cameras irresponsibly and the legislature's camera restrictions don't run afoul of the state's home rule protections.

"We're saying we'll let you buy the horse but you have to put a saddle on it," Patton said.

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
handgun concealed carry

Trustees at Cedarville University are considering allowing faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons on campus.

(Rogelio V. Solis, Associated Press file photo)

CEDARVILLE, Ohio --Cedarville University, a small, private college located near Dayton, is considering allowing faculty and staff to carry concealed weapons on campus, reports say.

If it approves the proposal, it would become the first university in the state to allow concealed weapons, according to wosu.org.

The school's trustees are expected to announce a decision this week, the Dayton Daily News reports.

Cedarville's policy would allow faculty and staff who are licensed to carry concealed weapons to carry them on campus.

Reports say the school studied concealed-carry policies from colleges in Virginia, Texas and Kansas. According to WOSU, the school also surveyed students, staff and faculty.

"It's not like we're doing something new that nobody else has ever done," President Thomas White tells the Daily News. "(If approved), we'll be following behind a whole lot of other people."

Cedarville, a Christian school, has 3,760 undergraduate, graduate and online students.
City's big 3 hospitals in an overhaul HOSPITALS Clinic, MetroHealth, UH each look to improve care with expansions, better efficiency from A1

MetroHealth System nurses will be able to obtain bachelor's and master's degrees from Cleveland State University on site.

(Plain Dealer file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - MetroHealth System nurses will be able to obtain a bachelor's or master's degree from Cleveland State University on site and be eligible for tuition reimbursement.

The university and health system said they "are combining forces to ensure the region has enough nursing professionals to meet health care demand by providing enhanced educational opportunities for nurses."

Northeast Ohio will need at least another 3,500 nurses to care for the rapidly aging local population by 2020, the Center for Health Affairs Northeast Ohio Nursing Initiative's Nursing Forecaster estimates.

Many hospitals require nurses to have or obtain a bachelor's degree.

The agreement with MetroHealth follows CSU's announcement in March of a partnership with University Hospitals to increase the number of nurses obtaining bachelor's degree.

CSU and MetroHealth plan to enroll up to 30 nurses in the master's program and up to 30 in the bachelor's program each year and will offer some openings in each program to nurses at other health systems in the region.

The blended delivery approach, which includes in-person and online coursework taught by CSU professors, is one of the first such programs offered by a university at a health care system, CSU said.

"CSU and MetroHealth both recognize the importance of expanding the number of qualified nursing professionals who can meet growing demand for quality care," Timothy Gaspar, dean of CSU's nursing school said in a statement. "This partnership seeks to provide a pathway for current nurses to augment their credentials and clinical expertise as an added value to MetroHealth and the community as a whole. This effort is just one of several unique initiatives we are undertaking to work with our health care partners to provide the best nursing education possible in our community."

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - William Lager, the rarely-seen founder of the controversial Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) online charter school, gave a passionate defense of his school at a rally outside the Ohio Statehouse today.

A few hundred ECOT teachers, students, parents and administrators chanted "We Are ECOT" and waved signs in support of the school as Lager, students and ECOT's school board president all praised the school as providing a needed alternative to traditional schools.

ECOT supporters gather outside the Ohio statehouse today in a "save our school" rally.

Lager told the crowd that he started ECOT nearly 18 years ago after having struggles finding help from traditional schools for his chronically-ill step-daughter.

Schools labeled her as truant, he said, when she missed class to be in the hospital.

Students like that are why online schools need to exist, he said.

"I got angry and upset and a bunch of us went to work to create this dream and made it what it is today," Lager said.

He also told the crowd that popularity of taking classes online was predicted years ago and is growing now, but he is still "trying to explain to the traditional 1850's school board that that's the way kids want it."

"We're still struggling to bring the state into the 21st Century," he continued. "It makes me angry again."

ECOT and other e-schools nationally are facing criticism for having low scores on state tests. Multiple studies have also shown in recent years that students lag behind traditional schools when they shift to online classes.

In addition, ECOT - Ohio's largest charter school - is fighting with the state over how it counts student attendance and its funding.

The school is appealing a determination by the Ohio Department of Education's that ECOT was overpaid about $60 million in state tax money last school year. The school could only document class participation of 6,300 of its 15,300 students, the state found.

That case before a state appeals court.

Parents said before the rally began that although ECOT has poor grades on state report cards, it has served their children well by allowing them to take their classes online at home.

Cara Henderson said ECOT is a great fit for her son Logan, 12, because of his attention deficit issues.

"He doesn't have the distractions he'd have at a normal school," she said.

ECOT Board President Andrew Brush tells the rally crowd that the online school wants rules to be applied to it fairly.

ECOT school board President Andrew Brush told the crowd that online schools like ECOT help students "get the education that's right for them."

He criticized the Ohio Department of Education as "unelected bureaucrats" attacking the school because it threatens the "education-industrial complex," while "never cutting one red cent" from districts where students miss school all the time.

"I have confidence despite the existential battle we face today that we will prevail," Brush said.

The rally has drawn criticism from charter school opponents, including the left-leaning ProgressOhio advocacy group. Citing Columbus Dispatch reports that ECOT ordered employees to attend, then withdrew that order when it became public, Progress Ohio questioned whether ECOT can pay teachers to rally for the school.

"Traditional schools are not permitted to take teachers and staff out of the classroom for a day-long political event - and charter schools should have to follow the same ban," said ProgressOhio Executive Director Sandy Theiss.

Some attendees came on their own. Others were bussed from ECOT headquarters in Columbus.
Ohio Statehouse spring.JPG

An amendment to the state budget would force school districts and other local governments appealing a property tax assessment to pay legal fees and court costs if they lose on appeal.

(Jackie Borchardt, cleveland.com)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio school boards, county governments and other local officials would be on the hook for legal fees and court costs if they lose tax assessment appeals under a little-noticed amendment to the state budget bill.

But lawmakers are also considering a separate bill that would ban such appeals altogether.

Legislators backing the proposals say the ability to appeal gives local governments the upper hand. Local governments, especially school districts, say the legislation would have a chilling effect. It would hurt their ability to ensure property owners pay their fair share of taxes.

"When districts do challenge them, it's a system of checks and balances that makes sure all the taxpayers are paying their fair share," said Barbara Shaner, a lobbyist for the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.

Under the budget amendment offered by suburban Dayton Republican Rep. Jim Butler, local governments can still make the initial appeal before the board of revision.

"They can still do it and they have home court advantage because it's before local officials," Butler said. "But if they appeal it after then, which is very expensive for a private citizen, it's only fair they have to pay attorneys' fees if they lose."

How do property value challenges work now?

Property owners can file a complaint challenging a property's value, which is set by county auditors, to the county Board of Revision. School districts are notified, and they can support or oppose the complaint.

School boards, county governments, prosecuting attorneys and township trustees can also initiate complaints challenging a valuation.

The board of revision makes a determination, which parties can then appeal to the county court of common pleas or the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals. The appeals stage could involve hearings, witness testimony and other evidence to support each side's claims.

Most property valuation disputes are settled outside of court or the Board of Tax Appeals.

What does it mean for schools?

A $1 million difference in valuation could translate to $35,000 or more in property revenue, and those amounts add up, especially for school districts, which keep the largest share of property taxes.

School districts, therefore, tend to file more complaints and appeals than anyone else.

The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals lists nearly 5,300 appeals were filed by school districts since 2010. Most stem from Board of Revision decisions. Of those, 465 are considered "active," or without a resolution.

Shaner said districts rarely appeal homeowner valuations and focus resources on properties worth the challenge, such as a recent sale of a large commercial property.

Here's what that looked like for one property: Dave's Market in Slavic Village. The store's market value remained about $1 million from 2005 to 2011, increased slightly in 2011 and jumped to $2.4 million in 2014. Upon review, the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision in 2016 changed the 2014 value to $2 million -- a retroactive revenue loss of about $15,000.

Cleveland Metropolitan School District appealed that ruling, seeking the original $2.4 million value.

Four months later, the district and property owner Saltzman H-Realty Co. settled at $2.1 million. The revenue gain from the original valuation: about $11,000.

Not a lot, but it adds up.

Levies are calculated to collect a certain amount. Undervalued properties pay less tax and the shortfall must be made up elsewhere -- either by making cuts in spending or raising more from other taxpayers.

What do lawmakers say?

The amendment doesn't require property owners to pay attorney fees if they lose an appeal, and it doesn't apply to cases brought by the property owner where the public entity is a party to the complaint.

Butler, an attorney who has represented property owners in real estate valuation appeals, said the amendment levels the playing field between taxpayers and governments that have more resources.

Sen. Bill Coley, a Butler County Republican, wants to take it a step further. Senate Bill 123 would allow only a property owner, spouse or county recorder to challenge property valuations. School boards and other government agencies could only file counterclaims.

"This legislation simply seeks to bring fairness to the process, ensuring that property tax re-evaluations are performed only for their intended reason- to rectify a potential improper evaluation, not simply as a means to reach the plaintiffs' desired outcome," Coley told lawmakers last week on the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

This is the fourth time Coley has pushed the idea, which has failed to pass in past years.

The House passed the 2018-19 state budget bill last week after making hundreds of changes to Gov. John Kasich's proposal. The Senate will begin reviewing the bill this week, with plans to vote on it in mid-June after making more revisions.

A disincentive to settle

David Seed, a Cleveland attorney who represents school districts in tax assessment appeals, said the threat of fees would hurt local governments and the state in settlement negotiations.

"The current system is you have a sale or appraisal, and it's based on the merits and not based on the threat of the opposing partying having to pay legal fees," Seed said.

Seed said the appeals process ensures independent review of a case and tilting the scales in favor of the property owner would mean more businesses would try to get their values lowered. For example, Seed said, what's to stop a casino from seeking a reduction from $87 million to $20 million based on the site's highest and best use as a parking lot instead of a commercial site?

"Major decreases happen over time," Seed said. "If you create a strategic advantage, you end up creating a tax break and pushing that burden on to other taxpayers and the state of Ohio."

cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
When Alli, a University of California-Davis student who prefers to be known only by her first name, first got to school, she assumed she would eventually get a retail job like the one she had previously held at a Hollister. Instead, a fellow student alerted her to the existence of a delivery app called JoyRun through which she could earn money delivering food to other people on campus. A year later, Alli had made over $10,000. To earn that money, she set her own schedule, working three or four hours a day, four or five days a week, without having to answer to a boss and often in the company of her boyfriend, who can accompany her on trips. And she's thrilled. "I love it," she tells CNBC. "I always feel like I have money and I always feel like I can take care of my responsibilities."

Alli, UC-Davis student and JoyRun driver.

Her income goes towards immediate needs, such as textbooks, supplies and car insurance, as well as towards the future in the form of savings. She's even able to pay down her student loans. "It's really great," she says. "I'm able to pay for everything and I have extra money to, like, go on little trips with my friends." Alli prefers making deliveries using JoyRun over working for a more well-established gig economy companies like Uber, Lyft or Task Rabbit because she's interacting with members of her own community. The people who order food through the app are almost all affiliated with her school. "Occasionally we get faculty members of UC Davis or people from all over. But it's mostly students and that's really nice," she says. "I'm not just doing a job for people I don't know; I'm doing a job for people I see every day." That's exactly the reaction co-founders Manish Rathi and Shama Pagarkar were hoping for when they took what Rathi calls "the Facebook approach to launch" and debuted their peer-to-peer app on select college campuses.

JoyRun drivers.
Reports of the demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement may be premature, as the deal's members consider proceeding without the U.S.

That's the wind in the air at the Institute of International Finance conference in Japan, despite U.S. President Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the TPP, a broad 12-nation trade deal, which he claimed was a "disaster" that would hurt U.S. manufacturing.

Although Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had initially said that the TPP would be "meaningless" without the U.S., more recently, Japanese officials have begun to second Australia's calls to proceed without the U.S.

Deborah Elms, executive director at the Asian Trade Centre, said the other 11 nations have decided they want to preserve the benefits of the deal.

"I think that's hubris on the part of the U.S. to assume that once we pull out, then everybody else is going to go home," she told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on the sidelines of the conference on Monday. "This is a 12-party agreement. The other 11 are equally important on their own right."

She noted that the TPP was skewed toward U.S. interests, which may pose challenges to shaping an ex-U.S. pact, but she still expected a deal could be reached by year-end.

Elms added that Japan may also be hoping the U.S. might rejoin the deal later.

Japan was set to be a major beneficiary of TPP, particularly the country's auto sector would have obtained cheaper access to U.S. markets.

The U.S. leader has also complained about his country's trade deficit with Japan, pointing particularly to an imbalance in auto sales: Japan exports more than a million cars to the U.S. annually, while the U.S. sells a little more than 10,000 vehicles a year in Japan.

Analysts generally attribute the imbalance not to trade barriers, but to U.S. cars being ill-suited to the Japanese market, which tends to prefer small, fuel-efficient cars, and to the lack of established dealer networks.

Others also expected an ex-U.S. TPP could proceed.
Like many of his peers in corporate jobs, David Nosibor had an itch to move on after just a few years in his role. He had been working as a social media specialist at Mazars, a global accounting and consulting firm with more than 18,000 employees globally.

"I took the risk. I really wanted to travel," he said on his decision to quit with little plans of what would come next.

But unlike most stories where he might do his traveling and then land in another corporate job or launch his own startup, his company called him again. This time, offering him a job to help change the corporate culture typically associated with accounting firms.

Nosibor was offered the newly made role of innovation evangelist, where he would be an advocate for change and disruption among its heavy millennial culture. At Mazars, more than 75 percent of its staff are millennials and the average age of its employee is 28 years old.

"They really wanted to address the fact that millennials want to have their voices heard and their ideas heard," he said. Nosibor moved to Singapore and set up an intrapreneur program  entrepreneurship within a corporation  where he found ways to foster innovation and facilitate creative ideas from employees.
Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, attends the unveilling ceremony of six themed parks of Shanghai Disney Resort at Shanghai Expo Center on July 15, 2015 in Shanghai, China.

In the high-visibility, high-stakes world of traditional media, no one has done it better for the last decade than Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger. Stocks in the media industry have caught up to Disney of late, but over the past three-, five-, 10- and 15-year periods, Disney stock has significantly outperformed the media sector. Disney shares have returned more than 13 percent on an annualized basis over the past decade, almost doubling the return of the S&P 500 and distancing itself from rivals like Viacom (2 percent) and CBS (8.5 percent), according to Morningstar data. In the past week after its earnings Viacom dropped 15 percent. Disney, which reports earnings after the close on Tuesday, recently extended Iger's contract again for another year. (Iger originally planned to step down in 2015.) In all, he's been with the company, starting at ABC, for more than four decades. The one thing that could finally get Iger out of the Disney corner office  there are rumors he may be among the business people planning a run for U.S. president as a Democrat in 2020.

watch now

Iger's messages about management are fairly consistent: Embrace technology, embrace risk and embrace positivity as a leader. "We have to exhort people, particularly our leaders, to take risks." Some accomplishments: The $7.4 billion 2006 deal to buy Pixar  which Iger pitched to Disney's board on his second day as CEO.

Turning ESPN into a cable colossus, though now cord-cutting has made ESPN his biggest problem.

Using movie acquisitions like Lucasfilm and Marvel to not only provide a bump at the box office but bolster Disney's theme-park business. The 66-year-old executive has earned a reputation as a steady hand in an industry dotted with embarrassing R-rated voice mails and mercurial phone-throwers. "I'm the conscience of the company," Iger has said. "We don't have a chief ethics officer, and I consider that one of my responsibilities." Some highlights of the Iger Way, culled from public talks and interviews he has given over the years:

1. Remember, the CEO decides what the company is.

With the Pixar deal presented on his second day as CEO  a company that wasn't for sale, would be an expensive acquisition and would threaten people within Disney's most-storied division  Iger clearly showed that a leader can't wait long to be bold or imprint their vision on the company. Disney decided early in Iger's tenure that it's a content company rather than a conglomerate that tries to do content and also run distribution.The strategy contrasts with rivals like Comcast and, more recently, Verizon . Once that's done, a leader has to set the organization's standards from quality and integrity  and then has to find a way to become its motivator in chief.

2. Be optimistic.

After deciding what a company is, the next question for the CEO is what attributes do managers need to have to carry out the vision? Iger's list begins with a hokey choice: optimism. "No one wants to follow a pessimist. ... You can be skeptical, you can be realistic, but you can't be cynical," he said, working in a reference to the dour donkey from Disney's Winnie the Pooh. "If your boss is Eeyore, do you want to work with someone like that? Oh, bother.'' This dovetails with his long-held belief that being fearless has been a key to success  though that isn't the same as taking extreme risk. "It's not that I'm a daredevil," Iger told the Los Angeles Times in 2015. "But I'm just generally not a fearful person. I don't conduct my life worrying about what could happen, what may happen."

3. Be thoughtful.

The other boss no one wants to follow is the one who makes things up as he goes along, so the next quality a leader needs is thoughtfulness. "You have to take the time to study; you have to know the issues, the facts,'' he said during a talk at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. "No. 1, the decision will be right. Second, it will be listened to. Third, it will be respected more. You won't be shooting from the hip.'' More lessons from Iconic leaders:

How Reed Hastings fueled Netflix from zero to $60 billion

The CEO letters that Warren Buffett reads for wisdom

Tim Cook's guide to following the toughest CEO act in tech Thoughtfulness, Iger explained, is the root of other leadership qualities, like openness, fairness and a respect for diversity. "You need to really want to learn about new things. ... You must listen to a diversity of opinions and surround yourself with a diversity of people.'"

4. Give subordinates time to prove themselves.

Iger makes a subtle distinction about hiring: It's easy to know within a few minutes whether to hire someone, he says, but it takes a few years to know whether they are truly leaders. Put executives in situations to demonstrate their people skills and their propensity to take risks and you'll find out what they're made of. "It's something you look for over time," he said. Iger distinguishes between two types of failure: Honest mistakes that deserve second chances, and reputational killers. "Working hard to fulfill a dream or instinct and learning over time it doesn't work, doesn't mean a career is over and a reputation killed. When a reputation is killed, it's when failure comes as a result of loss of integrity or judgement ... breaking of laws." He adds, "I'm a big believer in taking chances, particularly in a business where it is very dynamic and changing before our eyes, a lot led by digital technology."

5. Encourage risk-taking.

The most consistent theme in Iger's talks is that executives have to encourage subordinates to take bigger chances. He sees a big part of his role as that of a prod: "My role as CEO and leader demands I set direction and standards and act as a catalyst ... for risk-taking and change, and great quality and experimentation." On his own way up the ladder at Disney's ABC television network, Iger put the musical show "Cop Rock" on the air, only to see the format flop years before "Glee" cracked the code and became a hit on another network. "There is no science in creativity," Iger says, so leaders need room to make mistakes. "If you don't give yourself room to fail, you won't innovate."

There is no science in creativity. If you don't give yourself room to fail, you won't innovate. Robert Iger Walt Disney CEO

One point Iger often makes is that corporations tend to be more risky in business decisions than with people decisions. "We tend to want to be in business with, or have people working for us, who we are comfortable with, and sometimes overemphasize experience over vision, intelligence. ... Experience is not always right." Iger's prime example: himself. "I'm the product of a couple of bosses who took real chances, who put me in jobs I had no experience in whatsoever. That taught me a great lesson."

6. Be insurgent or you'll get killed.
Adecco 's first-quarter profit rose more than a fifth, better than expected, as the world's largest temporary staffing company continued to get a boost from major markets in southern Europe while projecting modest growth in the U.S. Net profit attributable to shareholders rose to 176 million euros ($192.2 million) in the three months ended March 31, the company said in a statement, beating the average estimate of 165 million euros in a Reuters poll of analysts. Sales rose to 5.73 billion euros, also better than the poll average of 5.68 billion euros. "We expect a continuation of that kind of momentum, especially when we look at the GDP (gross domestic product) forecasts for the U.S., which is about 1.6 percent, so it means a continuation of modest growth over there," Alain Dehaze, chief executive officer at Adecco Group, told CNBC on Tuesday. Analysts from Kepler Cheuvreux called the results "very strong". The Zurich-based company said on Tuesday its organic revenue growth momentum was maintained at 6 percent, despite a global economic outlook that remained uncertain. The positive trend continued in April, it added. Macron is 'good news for Europe'

In main market France, revenues rose 8 percent to 1.2 billion euros. Revenues there increased 9 percent in General Staffing, which accounts for over 90 percent of revenues.



Dehaze suggested the victory for the pro-business and market-friendly candidate, Emmanuel Macron, in the French election on Sunday was "good news for Europe".



"We know that France needs to become much more competitive if they want to attract investment - this about cost (and) this is for sure also about flexibility and Macron is intending to work on both. We will see what the parliamentary elections will give, because that is also a very important moment but I would say the direction is good for us," Dehaze added.



The company said it had completed about 10 percent of the 300 million euro share buyback programme that it launched in March. It cut its net debt at the end of the quarter to 823 million euros from 887 million at the end of 2016.
Check out which companies are making headlines after the bell on Tuesday:

Yelp shares tanked more than 25 percent during after-hours trading following its first-quarter financial report. Despite a narrower-than-expected loss, the company reported weak full-year and second-quarter guidance. Yelp had forecast its second-quarter revenue to be between $202 million and $206 million, while analysts had expected $215 million. The company also said it expects its full-year 2017 guidance revenue to be between $850 million and $865 million, compared with the Street's expectations for $889 million, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.

Shares of NVIDIA surged 11 percent during extended trading after an earnings and revenue beat for its first quarter. The semiconductor chip company reported earnings of 79 cents a share on revenue of $1.94 billion, while Wall Street expected earnings of 66 cents a share on revenue of $1.91 billion. The company also reported strong second-quarter revenue guidance, forecasting $1.95 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.

Fossil shares tanked more than 17 percent during extended hours after reporting a greater-than-expected loss and miss on revenue. The designer company reported losses of 65 cents per share on revenue of $581.8 million, while Wall Street's estimates were losses of 34 cents a share on revenue of $591 million, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. The company also reported weak second-quarter and full-year figures for revenue and earnings per share.

Priceline shares dipped more than 3 percent during after-hours trading following a slight revenue miss and weak guidance for the second quarter. The travel and restaurant services provider reported earnings of $9.88 a share on revenue of $2.42 billion, while analysts expected earnings of $8.89 a share on revenue of $2.45 billion. The company forecasts its second-quarter earnings to fall in the range of $12.55 a share to $13.25 a share, while Wall Street projected earnings of $15.02, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.

Shares of Disney slipped more than 2 percent during extended trading after a revenue miss and disappointing operating income for its cable network business. The media company reported earnings of $1.50 a share on revenue of $13.34 billion while analysts expected earnings of $1.41 a share on revenue of $13.45 billion, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. Disney's cable business reported an operating income of $1.79 billion, yet the Street expected $1.85 billion, according to StreetAccount consensus estimates.
No nation, "whether it's large or small, rich or poor, will be immune from the impacts of climate change," former U.S. President Barack Obama said in a speech on Tuesday.



Obama, who was speaking at the Seeds & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit in Milan, Italy, went on to add that the planet's changing climate was already "making it more difficult to produce food" and said that shrinking yields and spiking food prices were in some cases leading to political instability.

Obama's remarks come as speculation mounts that President Donald Trump could pull the U.S. out of the historic Paris Agreement, reached at the end of 2015.



Under that agreement, world leaders agreed to make sure global warming stayed "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Commenting on both his time in office and the Paris Agreement, Obama looked to send a strong message.

"Over my eight years in office we dramatically increased our generation of clean energy, we acted dramatically to curtail our use of dirty energy, and we invested in energy efficiency across the board," he said.

"In Paris we helped to lead the world to the first significant global agreement for a low-carbon future," he added.



"But here's the thing: even if every country somehow puts the brakes on the emissions that exist today, climate change would still have an impact on our world for years to come."

Obama went on to state that he did not believe the planet was condemned "to ever rising temperatures" and added that these problems had been caused by man, and could be solved by man.
Heavy equipment moving rocks for use in an attempt to repair damaged spillway at Lake Oroville Dam in Oroville, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2017.

The state of California just awarded a $500 million deal to Wells Fargo Bank , perhaps a sign the state is ready to move past the sanctions it slapped on the bank last year.

The bank is providing the state with short-term funds to cover repairs at Oroville Dam, which was damaged earlier this year after major erosion to its emergency and primary spillways.

CNBC has reached out to Wells Fargo for comment.

Treasurer John Chiang  the state's top banker  has been critical of Wells Fargo previously for setting up fake accounts without the permission of customers. In fact, Chiang announced in September he would suspend the state's relationship with Wells Fargo and one month later came on CNBC saying the resignation of the bank's CEO was still not enough.

Tim Schaefer, deputy treasurer for public finance at the Treasurer's office, said in a telephone interview Monday the decision to get a loan from Wells Fargo essentially came down to better deal terms.

"What he (the Treasurer) didn't do last September  and we didn't encourage the Department of Water Resources to do it either  was to reject a financially advantageous arrangement that was obtained through a competitive bid process and which resulted in lower costs to California," said Schaefer.

"To refuse to do that kind of business with them would be to punish California, not the bank."

Nearly $70 million has already been drawn from the available line of credit. Under the credit terms, the amount borrowed can reach up to $500 million, but must be repaid within a year.

According to Schaefer, the Treasurer's moratorium announced in September was on certain types of business with Wells Fargo, but also one where the Treasurer "gets to choose what we're doing with Wells Fargo."

Specifically, the Treasurer's suspension announced last fall applied to three areas: the state buying investment securities from the financial institution, using them to sell the state's bonds, and purchasing securities that are issued by Wells Fargo.

Schaefer said the Treasurer in September sought to "send a message that he doesn't condone or encourage  and in fact is outraged  by bad behavior from a financial institution that hurts Californians."

As for repair work at Oroville Dam, the state last month awarded a contract to Nebraska-based Kiewit for repair work on the dam's emergency and primary spillways. The employee-owned firm's bid was just over $275 million.

The state also incurred more than $100 million in costs earlier this year as workers dropped boulders and concrete into holes created by the damaged emergency spillway. Engineers and crews also removed debris below the spillways to allow water to flow from the channel and to reopen a hydroelectric power facility at the dam.

California could eventually get reimbursed for the Oroville crisis with federal funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Still, it is unlikely the federal government will fund all the Oroville costs.

Any uncovered repair costs not paid by FEMA, though, are expected to be financed through long-term bonds repaid by user fees from the roughly 20 million Californians who receive water from local contractors through the State Water Project.
Location may be the prime directive for real estate, but is it also a factor in mental health? The answer is maybe.

Depression has few direct cause-and-effect relationships; rather, a host of biological and environmental factors may, together or separately, trigger a mood disorder. Then again, they may not. Where you live is a perfect example. Many people actually prefer living in a cold, wintry climate, while many others prefer a sunny, warm beach town. Some people are energized by the commotion of city life, while others prefer the quiet of the country. Move either to the other's hometown, and both are at risk.

Checking the data reveals this quite clearly. Studies on location and depression are at best mixed, and they are often directly contradictory.

More from U.S. News:

10 Ways to Help Your Marriage Survive Retirement

9 Last-Minute Memorial Day Getaway Deals

12 Travel Rewards Programs You Probably Never Knew Existed

Urban or Rural?

A common research topic is mental health in urban versus rural locations. And for every study you find claiming that one is worse, you will find another saying, no, the other actually poses a higher risk.

Urban or Rural?

A common research topic is mental health in urban versus rural locations. And for every study you find claiming that one is worse, you will find another saying, no, the other actually poses a higher risk.

A 2006 study published in Family Medicine set out to examine the prevalence of depression in rural and urban areas. Looking at data from a nationally representative sample of 30,801 adults age 18 and older, it found that depression "is slightly but significantly higher in residents of rural areas compared to urban areas." But after adjusting for differences in population characteristics, there was no significant spread in prevalence. Rather, depression risk was higher among people in fair or poor health or whose health had changed during the previous year, those with high blood pressure and those whose daily activity was somehow limited.

Then there is a 2004 study published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, which looked at Canadian rural and urban areas and depression, and found that those in rural areas had fewer incidences of major depression. Again, though, the reasons for this are complicated, the authors write, and may depend on age, immigration status, race, working status and marital status as much as location.

A report on suicide rates among adolescents and young adults in this country found that those rates in rural areas were nearly double that in urban locations between 1996 and 2010. But once again, the reasons may be more cultural than geographic; lead author Cynthia Fontanella, of Ohio State University, suggests that easy access to more guns, fewer mental health care resources, more isolation and a culture of self-reliance may be why more rural residents resort to tragic ends.

Likewise, one urban-based study looked at the relationship between home location and depression in older Latino adults and found that depression correlated not with being in a city itself, but in the perceived safety of the neighborhood. Those who felt they could walk safely in their neighborhood were less likely to have mild depression turn into severe depression.

Or Maybe the Suburbs?

The best place to live, according to research out of Penn State University, may be the suburbs. Suburbanites reported the fewest poor-mental-health days, according to the researchers.

"People who live in the suburbs are closer to jobs and all of the amenities that a big city can provide, but they're also far enough away from the stress of the inner city," says lead author Stephan Goetz, a professor of economics at Penn State. "It may be that you don't want to be too close to people, but you don't want to be too far away, either." In addition, those living in a close-knit community  and in better winter weather and a climate free from natural disasters  tend to have better mental health, his research found. "The more supported you are by the community, the happier you are, and the better you are able to cope with troubles," Goetz says.

But is that because of the location itself? It's hard to ascertain. Dr. Peter D. Kramer, emeritus clinical professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, believes it's more about the person than the location. "Southeastern 'red' states have a lot of depression, but whether moving would help is a complicated question," he says. "The notion is that chronic stress is bad for those liable for depression, and it is probable that people develop depression because they are poor or social services are underfunded."

Stress Is the Problem

When looked at from a global perspective, the U.S. as a whole is among the least depressed nations in the world. A 2013 study published in PLOS Medicine found that the Middle East and North Africa have the world's highest depression rates. The most depressed country, Afghanistan, had diagnostic rates of depression in more than 20 percent of the population, followed by Honduras and the Palestinian territories. (The U.S., by comparison, is at between 4 and 4.5 percent, while Japan, the lowest, is at less than 2.5 percent.) The reasons, the authors argue, are continued military conflict, disease and other stressors to family and community. In other words, it's not the location itself, it's the circumstances that matter.

While some types of depression, such as seasonal affective disorder or other climate-triggered mood disorders, may improve by moving to a different location, for many cases of depression, it's not so much where you live as how you live.

"If you could find yourself in better circumstances, that might be better," Kramer says. "Places that have a lot of depression should invest more resources" to help those struggling with mental illness, he says.
One of China's largest train makers is angling for a piece of the U.S. administration's pro-growth infrastructure investment plans.

CRRC Chairman Liu Hualong told CNBC in an exclusive interview Tuesday that he hoped the rail car maker would continue contributing to development in the U.S. through investments and job creation.

"Since the company entered the U.S., we brought benefits such as employment; we provide almost 400 jobs," Liu said.

CRRC, which was formed by a merger between two state-owned enterprises  China CNR Corp. and CSR Corp.  has been rapidly expanding its presence Stateside by winning contracts in major states.

In 2014, before the merger, CRRC won a bid to supply 284 subway trains to Boston for $567 million. The company also invested in a manufacturing facility in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In addition, the company won a $1.3 billion contract from the Chicago Transit Authority and is also eyeing contracts in other major cities, such as New York.

More recently, CRRC signed a contract with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority worth as much as $647 million. CRRC said it will invest in a new facility in the Los Angeles region to manufacture major components, including propulsion, heating and air conditioning.

When asked if he was concerned about the anti-China rhetoric coming from the White House, Liu said he hadn't seen any impact on CRRC yet.
watch now

From President Donald Trump's travel restrictions to the United Airlines fiasco, Jim Cramer figured the $250 billion travel industry could be Wall Street's next big short. But that was not the case. Sharply better-than-expected earnings reports started trickling down from the travel cohort, and soon it became clear that those who bet against it were in trouble. "Now, you could argue that all of this is just pent-up demand after travel did indeed drop briefly when Trump's bans were in effect before the courts halted them," the "Mad Money" host said. But the "Mad Money" host believes in the power of experiential spending, and suggested another variable that could be boosting travel's numbers. "That money may just be coming out of retail," he said. "Remember, travel is as experiential as it gets, meaning it's something you can put on your Facebook page. Retail? It's just a chore made easier by Amazon . No wonder the travel and leisure stocks have been defying the short-sellers. They're the exact right place to be."

An American Airlines Inc. McDonnell Douglas MD-82 plane sits parked at a gate while a United Continental Holdings plane taxis down the runway at LaGuardia Airport in the Queens borough of New York. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

With oil prices teetering around $46 a barrel, Cramer turned to the charts of technician Carley Garner, the co-founder of DeCarley Trading and his colleague at RealMoney.com. In January, Garner said that the price of crude was stuck trading between the mid-forties and mid-fifties. Sure enough, after rallying to $55 in April, oil dipped back down to the mid-$40s on Tuesday. In her chart tracking West Texas Intermediate crude over the last six months, Garner noticed that two key indicators that show when securities are overbought or oversold put oil in oversold territory. "On previous occasions, Garner notes that oil eventually rallied out of holes like this one," Cramer said. "When crude gets ... this oversold, she says it's typically the kiss of a death for a bear market, although oil generally retests its lows or even makes slightly lower lows before rebounding. That's crucial. Garner suspects this time will be no different."

Workers at an oil well in Kazakhstan. Shamil Zhumatov | Reuters

Cramer also sat down with Brent Saunders, the chairman and CEO of Allergan , to hear more about how the company's aesthetic products, like its fat-freezing CoolSculpting technology, are gaining traction with younger generations. "We're seeing more young people enter the medical aesthetics [space]," Saunders told Cramer on Tuesday. "We're seeing it become less stigmatized. People are putting it on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram." And with the stigma around medical aesthetics softening, Saunders said another unexpected group is starting to feed into Allergan's wheelhouse. "We're seeing males start to move into the market. In fact, 30 percent of all CoolSculpting patients are men, which is 10 percent for Botox, so that's a gateway for men," he told Cramer.

Hill Street Studios | Blend Images | Getty Images
The Whole Foods box at a Whole Foods Market in San Francisco, California.

Investors hoping for any hint of what is next for struggling Whole Foods Market might want to tune in to the organic grocer's fiscal second-quarter earnings call after the closing bell Wednesday.

"This is another highly anticipated report given recent activist involvement," Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh said in a note Monday.

According to Thomson Reuters, the Street is forecasting Whole Foods will once again report a decline in same-store sales, or comps. If that happens, it would be the seventh consecutive quarter of negative comps.

The Austin, Texas-based chain is under pressure from two major shareholders and has faced calls to sell the company. Whole Foods has been criticized for its poor performance, and there is speculation the chain could be merged with another grocer.

On April 10, activist shareholder Jana Partners disclosed a nearly 9 percent stake in Whole Foods and suggested the "shares are undervalued and represent an attractive investment opportunity." Jana also said the company should consider putting itself up for sale.

Shares of Whole Foods have risen more than 20 percent since the Jana Partners news was reported.

Also, Neuberger Berman, which owns just under 3 percent of Whole Foods, last month notified the retailer's board that it should "immediately engage shareholders" to consider options, including a possible sale of the company, The Wall Street Journal reported.

There's also speculation supermarket chain Albertsons could be merged with Whole Foods, continuing industry consolidation in the sector. Cerberus Capital Management, owner of Albertsons, might bid for Whole Foods, the Financial Times reported last month. The report also indicated that Whole Foods hired Evercore to advise it on options, including a possible sale.

"With an increasingly competitive market, a number of internal changes, and now pressure from Jana, we see increased risk on the execution front, as the management team could become more distracted," said Oppenheimer's Parikh.

Whole Foods has been facing increasing competition from conventional supermarkets such as Wal-Mart Stores as well as smaller chains such as Sprouts Farmers Market , which has focused on a strategy of lower pricing.

During its February earnings call, Whole Foods said it no longer had a goal of expanding to 1,200-plus stores.

Whole Foods has been experimenting with its 365 chain, a smaller-store format that is more focused on value pricing. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey told investors in February the company was "optimistic about the future growth potential for our 365 format," although he added that they would see how the next batch of stores did "before getting more aggressive."

Management is expected to update the progress of the 365 stores on Wednesday's conference call and also could announce more store closings. The company announced in February that nine stores would close.

Whole Foods operates 465 stores, including 444 in the U.S., 12 in Canada and 9 in the U.K. Some analysts have speculated the retailer may want to shed its U.K. or Canada stores to focus on improving the performance of its core U.S. market.

"Whole Foods remains a well-respected brand and could create value for a strategic buyer," said Telsey Advisory Group analyst Joseph Feldman in a note last week.

"The company's urban locations, [its] focus on natural, organic and ready-to-eat products, higher income and millennial customer base, and superior customer experience stand out as qualities that make a solid brand that is desirable to others."

Whole Foods declined comment Tuesday ahead of the earnings.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters project a 3.1 percent sales decline in stores open at least a year for the company's fiscal second quarter ended April 9. That follows the chain's 2.4 percent comp decline in the fiscal first quarter.

Earnings per share are forecast at 37 cents in the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. That would represent a decline of almost 16 percent from 44 cents in the year-ago quarter. Revenue is forecast to reach $3.73 billion, up 1 percent from $3.69 billion a year ago.

"We expect slower category growth to exacerbate competitive pressures that have kept us guarded on the fundamentals and same-store sales on the decline," said Goldman analyst Stephen Tanal in a research note Monday.

Goldman expects Whole Foods will see lower comps through fiscal 2018, albeit at a moderating clip.
South Korea's liberal leader Moon Jae-in was sworn in as president in a simple ceremony on Wednesday, and said he was prepared to visit North Korea under the right circumstances.

A separate statement from Moon's Democratic Party said he was briefed on the status of the North Korean military and South Korea's military readiness.

In his first public act as president, Moon, 64, spoke by telephone with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lee Sun-jin, a JSC spokesman said.

Yonhap News Agency reported Moon had already decided on provincial governor Lee Nak-yon as prime minister, although a spokesman for Moon said he was unaware of the report and declined to comment further.

He will also name officials to the key positions of prime minister, head of the National Intelligence Service, chief of staff, and chief bodyguard, a parliament official said.

Moon plans to announce major cabinet and presidential staff appointments almost immediately to bring a swift end a power vacuum left by the removal of his predecessor , Park Geun-hye, in a corruption scandal in March.

Moon, who took the oath of office after his decisive victory in a snap election, faces the task of navigating the country out of rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear program and the risk of a rift with the United States .

The new president also said he was ready to negotiate with China and the U.S. over a controversial anti-missile defense system.

As president, Moon must find a way to coax an increasingly belligerent North Korea to ease its nuclear and missile threats while working with the United States, South Korea's main ally.

Washington wants to increase pressure on Pyongyang through further isolation and sanctions, in contrast to Moon's advocacy for greater engagement with the isolated North.

Moody's Investors Service said in a note that geopolitical tensions continue to be the most salient event risk for the Korean peninsula.

"The increased  albeit still very low  probability of conflict on the peninsula is credit negative for Korea's government. The new president's policy stance may alter the nature of geopolitical relationships and risks in the peninsula," Moody's said.

Moon's administration also needs to figure out how to ease tensions with China stemming from the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defence system in South Korea to guard against the threat of a North Korean missile strike.

Other challenges Moon faces include mending a society badly bruised by the corruption scandal that rocked South Korea's business and political elite.

"I will make a just, united country," Moon told a crowd gathered just before midnight to see the former human rights lawyer who entered politics to lead a party just five years ago.

"I will be a president who also serves all the people who did not support me," he said.

In his first public appearance as president, Moon visited the National Cemetery in Seoul on Wednesday to pay his respects to South Korean heroes.

MINORITY IN PARLIAMENT

Moon faces a divided parliament in which his Democratic Party lacks a majority. To push through major initiatives, including creating 500,000 jobs annually and reforming the country's powerful family-run conglomerates, he will need to forge partnerships with some of the parties and politicians he fought fiercely on his path to the presidency.

Moon won with 41.1 percent of the votes but that seemingly comfortable margin belied a deep ideological and generational divide in the country of 51 million people.

Data from an exit poll conducted by South Korea's top three television networks showed that, while Moon won the majority of votes cast by those under the age of 50, rival Hong found strong support from more conservative voters in their 60s and 70s.

The election has been watched closely by allies and neighbors, with North Korea believed to be gearing up for its sixth nuclear test and vowing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Moon's election could add volatility to relations with Washington, given his questioning of the deployment of the U.S. military's Terminal High Altitude Area Defenses (THAAD) anti-missile system, but is not expected to significantly change the alliance, a U.S. official said.

"It remains a concern that the left of center, left-wing party in South Korea is going to do well," the official told Reuters, asking not to be identified. "But they are going to have to do some coalition building, so I am not sure he's going be able to have an unadulterated anti-alliance, anti-trade stance."

The White House congratulated Moon, saying it looked forward to working with him to strengthen the longstanding U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Analysts say Moon will need to act quickly in naming key security and foreign policy aides and ministers in order to ease geopolitical tensions.

Daniel Russel, Washington's former top diplomat for Asia, told Reuters the differences between Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump would mean inevitable friction, but "don't portend a crisis or failure" for relations.

"The important thing is the degree to which he will consult, communicate and collaborate with the United States. Will he be a good alliance partner?" said Russel, diplomat in residence at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Moon pledged during the campaign to turn the presidential Blue House palace into a "rest space for the people" and work in a 19-story government complex building in Gwanghwamun, in central Seoul.

However, a Moon spokesman told Yonhap on Wednesday he would work in the Blue House for the time being while advisers discussed logistics.

 Reuters contributed to this report.
Deaths Attributed To Highly Powerful Opioid Rise Sharply In Chicago

By aaroncynic in News on May 8, 2017 8:32PM



Prescription pills (Photo by GREAT ARTIST via Shutterstock)

A highly powerful opioid has been linked to 40 deaths so far in 2017, according to the Cook County Medical Examiners office.

At least 44 deaths as of April have been attributed to the drug acrylfentanyl, an analog of Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used as a pain killer. Officials say the potency of the drug isnt yet fully understood, but is many times more powerful than other opioids like heroin, as

the Chicago Tribune reports.

"Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are very powerful drugs that are likely to be lethal," Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook Countys chief medical examiner, said in a statement given to NBC5. Just one dose can easily stop a person from breathing, causing immediate death.

Numbers of overdoses attributed to opioids have been steadily on the rise over the past few years. In total, 1,091 people died in 2016 of an overdose related to an opiate drug, which increased from 649 deaths in 2015.

We are seeing people in our emergency department who need increased doses of naloxone  in some cases as many as four doses  for the patient to be stabilized after ingesting fentanyl, or a heroin/fentanyl combination, Dr. Steve Aks, of Stroger Hospital, told the Tribune.

Officials say the number of deaths attributable to acrylfentanyl is likely to rise, given that some toxicology reports are still pending.
North Korean military participates in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 12, 2015.

Three experts downplayed a threat Tuesday from North Korea's ambassador to the U.K. of another nuclear test by the isolated nation and the destruction of U.S. strategic assets.

"I could be wrong, but this doesn't feel like an escalation to me," said Isaac Stone Fish, senior fellow, Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations.

In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday, Ambassador Choe Il said North Korea is ready to conduct a sixth nuclear test at the bidding of dictator Kim Jong Un.

"The U.S. cannot attack us first," the ambassador said in an interview with Sky News on Tuesday. "If the U.S. moves an inch, then we are ready to turn to ashes any available strategic assets of the U.S."

Tweet

The United States and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations.

Analysts pointed out that North Korea has repeatedly threatened many attacks on the U.S. without following through. Many have expected the sixth nuclear test for the last few months.

Each nuclear test gives North Korea a chance to further develop its weapons program. At least two of North Korea's missile tests in the last several weeks failed.

"First of all because North Korea really doesn't have a way of attacking the U.S. directly other than maybe special forces, teams, that's clearly an exaggeration," said Bruce Bennett, senior defense analyst at Rand Corp. "They may be able to cause some damage within the [Asian] region."

The late-afternoon report sent U.S. stocks to session lows, but the major averages recovered to end narrowly mixed.

Tensions around the North Korean nuclear threat have escalated in the last several months. President Donald Trump has made the issue a foreign policy priority and used trade deals to encourage Chinese President Xi Jinping to put pressure on North Korea over its nuclear program.

Scott Seaman of Eurasia Group agreed that the ambassador's comments were not new. But he noted that the threat "will likely set Beijing and Washington on edge, and prompt Trump to ask Xi Jinping once again to pressure Pyongyang."

The majority of North Korea's trade is with China, giving Beijing economic leverage over Kim. China suspended coal imports from North Korea for the year.

Adding more complexity to the tense situation, South Korea on Tuesday elected as president liberal Moon Jae-in, who has supported a more conciliatory approach to North Korea.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates testifies during the Senate Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing on Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Election on Monday, May 8, 2017.

After former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified on Capitol Hill Monday, President Trump took to Twitter to dismiss their revelations.

More from NBC News:

First Read's Morning Clips: Summing up the Yates testimony

The GOP's health care claims don't hold up

First Read's Morning Clips: Flynn and Yates back in the headlines

@realDonaldTrump Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is "no evidence" of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.

@realDonaldTrump Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today --- she said nothing but old news!

@realDonaldTrump The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?

@realDonaldTrump Biggest story today between Clapper & Yates is on surveillance. Why doesn't the media report on this? #FakeNews!

But here are four reasons why the entire Russia story  as it relates to the 2016 election, to former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and to any allegations of collusion  isn't fake news.

1. Russia interfered in the 2016 election and could do so again: "If there has ever been a clarion call for vigilance and action against a threat to the very foundations of our democratic political system, this episode is it. I hope that the American people recognize the severity of this threat and that we collectively counter it before it further erodes the fabric of our democracy," Clapper said yesterday.

2. The FBI is investigating whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia: "I have been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election," FBI Director James Comey said back in March. "And that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government  and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.

3. There APPEARS to be an investigation into Trump's business ties to Russia: When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked Clapper yesterday if he ever found a situation where a Trump business interest in Russia gave him concern, Clapper replied, "Not in the course of the preparation of [last winter's] intelligence community assessment." When Graham pressed if he later found a concern, Clapper said, "Sen. Graham, I can't comment on that because that impacts the investigation." Whoa.

4. It took 18 days for the Trump White House to oust Flynn after being notified by the Justice Department that Flynn wasn't telling the truth about his conversations with Russia's ambassador: "Yates said [White House Counsel Don] McGahn asked her, 'Why does it matter to the DOJ if one White House official lies to another official?' She explained that the American public was being misled, and that the Russians knew that. 'To state the obvious, you don't want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians,' Yates said she replied," per NBC's Ken Dilanian.
Foxconn is likely to build a new factory in the United States, where it will build displays that may be used for everything from internet of things products to Apple devices, according to DigiTimes.

China-based Foxconn is best known as one of Apple 's iPhone and iPad manufacturing partners. President Donald Trump has called on Apple to bring manufacturing to the United States, a move that may be harder than it sounds.

Foxconn is talking with the U.S. government in hopes to build a new facility where it can manufacture "small to medium displays for IoT applications, including automotive, medical care and mobile terminal displays," DigiTimes said, citing supply-chain sources.

The news outlet also said Foxconn may use its factory to develop new screens for Apple products, including the iPad, iPhone and MacBook.

There's been plenty of evidence that Foxconn will indeed invest in a new U.S. factory. In January, Foxconn CEO and Chairman Terry Gou said his company was planning to invest $7 billion in a new U.S. display factory. Last month, top executives visited the White House, though it was unclear what was discussed.




As the world continues to take in Emmanuel Macron's resounding victory in the French election, attention is already turning to his plans for the next five years, with the environment likely to be a key part of the independent centrist's presidency.

In a wide-ranging victory speech on Sunday night Macron said his country would be "active and mindful of respect for the commitments made on development and the fight against global warming."

In 2015, global leaders gathered in Paris for the COP21 summit. After hours of talks, leaders finally agreed to make sure global warming stayed "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and to "pursue efforts" to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

It is feared that U.S. President Donald Trump could pull out of the deal. Whatever Trump decides to do, it is clear that Macron wants to harness the talents of climate change researchers working in what appears - at least in some parts - to be an increasingly skeptical United States.

In February, Macron invited climate change researchers from the U.S. to move to France. In a video posted on Twitter, he described Trump as being "extremely skeptical about climate change."

Macron Tweet

"I have no doubt about climate change and how committed we have to be regarding this issue," Macron, speaking in English, said.

Going on to address American researchers, entrepreneurs and engineers working on climate change, Macron offered them a place in France.

"Please, come to France," he said. "You are welcome, it's your nation. We like innovation, we want innovative people, we want people working on climate change, energy, renewables and new technologies. France is your nation."
A congressional committee has opened an investigation of unusually heavy sales of painkillers in West Virginia, asking the nation's three major drug distribution companies about their sales and oversight practices in the opioid-devastated state.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee also is asking the federal Drug Enforcement Administration about claims that the agency has backed away from enforcement actions against companies that sell opioids.

The companies that received letters from the panel requesting information about hydrocodone and oxycodone sales in West Virginia were AmerisourceBergen , Cardinal and McKesson .

The companies also were asked about any actions they have taken after reports about a flood of painkillers into the state.

The companies, which together distribute nearly 90 percent of all legal drugs in the United States, were sued in March in federal court by two West Virginia counties accusing them of creating a public health hazard by shipping large amounts of opioids to the state.

The House committee, in its letters, noted several newspaper articles last December that detailed what the panel called "questionably high quantities of drugs" supplied to West Virginia  which in 2015 had the nation's highest number of painkiller opioid overdoses.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that drug wholesalers over the course of six years "showered the state with 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills, while 1,728 West Virginians fatally overdosed on those two painkillers."

"The unfettered shipments amount to 433 pain pills for every man, woman and child in West Virginia," the newspaper reported.

In one community, Kermit, population 392, a single pharmacy "received nearly 9 million hydrocodone pills over two years," the House committee noted.

The Washington Post reported that pill distributors "sent 66 million doses of oxycodone and hydrocodone into Kanawha County, population 190,000."

The Energy and Commerce Committee, in its letters to the companies, said, "If these reports are true, it would appear that the state of West Virginia may have received extraordinary amount of opioids from distributors beyond what that population could safely use."

In its letter to the DEA, the panel cited a Washington Post story that said that "while DEA pursued cases against some of the largest opioid distributors in the country, the agency's 'initiative was sharply curtailed in the face of pressure from the pharmaceutical industry beginning in 2013."

The letter to the DEA asks about the reported decline in enforcement actions, the agency's monitoring systems for unusual opioid orders and whether the agency is taking action in response to the news stories about the glut of pills in West Virginia.

In response to the letter, DEA spokesman Rusty Payne told CNBC that "DEA continues to combat the opioid crisis on a daily basis through enforcement, outreach, and robust demand reduction efforts."

"Specifically, DEA has increased the number of enforcement teams focused on criminal and civil investigations related to the opioid epidemic, and allocated additional resources to a successful drug take back program," Payne said in an email statement.

"We have improved outreach to - and education efforts with our communities and registrants through the DEA 360 Strategy. As recently as April 29, DEA's National Prescription Take Back Day brought in a record number of unused prescription drugs, collecting more than 900,000 pounds (450 tons) at close to 5,500 sites across the nation."

Gabriel Weissman, a spokesman for AmerisourceBergen, said, "We look forward to responding to the letter from the Committee and to continuing our work with regulators, enforcement agencies and other participants in the health care system to do our part in combating prescription drug abuse."

"AmerisourceBergen already provides daily reports about the quantity, type and receiving pharmacy of every single order of controlled substances we distribute directly to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and we maintain robust systems to stop and report suspicious orders and assist in preventing the possible diversion of prescription drugs," Weissman said.

"Our efforts to address diversion are balanced with the fact that we are a logistics company that is responsible for getting FDA-approved medicines from pharmaceutical companies who manufacture them to registered pharmacies who dispense them based on prescriptions written by licensed health care providers. We do not have access to patient information, have no ability to encourage prescribing or dispensing of pain medicines and are neither qualified nor authorized to interfere with clinical decisions between patients and their physicians."

"We understand the tragic magnitude of the opioid abuse problem in our country and we remain committed to working with stakeholders in health care and law enforcement to do what we can as a distributor to combat this problem," Weissman said.

Cardinal Health said, "We look forward to working together with the committee and responding to their letter."

"The people of Cardinal Health care deeply about the devastation opioid abuse has caused American families and communities and are committed to helping solve this complex national public health crisis," the company. "We are industry leaders in implementing state-of-the-art controls to combat the diversion of pain medications from legitimate uses, and have funded community education and prevention programs for a decade. We remain committed to doing our part."
President Donald Trump (C) turns to House Speaker Paul Ryan (3rdL) as he gathers with Congressional Republicans in the Rose Garden of the White House after the House of Representatives approved the American Healthcare Act, to repeal major parts of Obamacare and replace it with the Republican healthcare plan, in Washington, May 4, 2017.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday he hopes the Senate can pass a bill to replace the Affordable Care Act in a "month or two."

The House sent the replacement bill to the Senate last week amid protests that it acted too quickly on the plan. Now, the Senate  which often moves more slowly than the House  will look to craft a plan that's acceptable to nearly all of its Republican members, which could mean starting a bill from scratch.

Ryan told Fox News on Tuesday that the legislation "should not take that long."

"Hopefully, it takes a month or two to get it through the Senate," the Wisconsin Republican told "Fox and Friends."

The statement came ahead of an expected meeting of a 13-member working group of Senate Republicans who will craft a health-care plan. Several Republican senators have been skeptical about the House's American Health Care Act, partly due to a lack of a Congressional Budget Office assessment of its costs and effects, and its rollback of Medicaid expansion, among other issues.

The GOP has to balance the concerns of its members  it can only afford two Senate defections  while following rules that would allow it to pass a bill with a 51-vote majority. The Senate could take until its August recess to create a plan that can win the support needed, Politico reported Tuesday, citing Republican sources.

The senators working on the health-care plan will "continue to have regular updates with the entire conference so the Senate can continue to move expeditiously on the work ahead as it considers the House-passed legislation," David Popp, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said in a statement Friday.

President Donald Trump pushed the House to move quickly on legislation to replace Obamacare, a key Republican campaign pledge for most of the last decade. However, the White House has signaled it will not use similar tactics with the Senate.
watch now

Australia's Treasurer Scott Morrison insists he's not expecting a fight from Australia's big banks despite announcing a surprise levy on Tuesday night's annual budget. Australia's budget will impose a levy of 6 basis points on banks with liabilities in excess of $100 billion Australian dollars ($74 billion) in an attempt to raise more than A$6 billion over the next four years. "This is the bank's contribution to the budget repair task; it's something that happens in the U.K. and Europe and brings Australia in line with other jurisdictions." Morrison told CNBC in the budget lock up.

watch now

"Banks make around A$30 billion in profits and it's 6 basis points. Banks see more than that move in a week." Morrison added.

Dominic Lorrimer | Getty Images

The new levy will affect Australia's four big pillar banks and investment bank Macquarie. Credit Suisse analysts estimated in a note on Wednesday that the levy would cost financial institutions around A$1.6 billion a year, or around 5 percent of the banks' current profits. The analysts were forecasting a $7 billion increase in bank profits for the year ending June 2018, or a 7 percent increase, but noted the levy would drag down that forecast. When asked if he feared a campaign by the banks as a result of the new levy the Treasurer told CNBC "this is about making sure our budget balances and that the banks make a fair contribution." As well, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann called the levy "fair and proportionate."

watch now

In 2010, under former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Labor government introduced a new mining tax on big mining profits and faced an industry backlash which included anti-government television commercials. The government's planned banking levy wasn't likely to meet political opposition in Parliament. Wayne Swan, a former deputy prime minister for an opposition Labour party government, took a relatively sanguine view of the levy. "The banking sector here is very profitable. Their return on equity (ROE) is among the highest in the world," Swan told CNBC's "The Rundown" on Wednesday. "I think the government's position to impose this levy shows they don't think it will have any impact on investment or growth." There's another reason the government may not be overly concerned about an industry backlash.

watch now
An Indonesian court has found Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama guilty of blasphemy against Islam and sentenced him to two years in jail, a judge said on Tuesday.

Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (2nd R), popularly known as Ahok, arrives at a courtroom for his verdict and sentence in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017.

Purnama was "found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment," head judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto told the court.

The trial has been widely seen as a test of religious tolerance in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.
It was the first major piece of legislation that President Trump signed into law, and buried on Page 734 was one sentence that brought a potential benefit to the president's extended family: renewal of a program offering permanent residence in the United States to affluent foreigners investing money in real estate projects here.

Just hours after the appropriations measure was signed on Friday, the company run until January by Mr. Trump's son-in-law and top adviser, Jared Kushner, was urging wealthy Chinese in Beijing to consider investing $500,000 each in a pair of Jersey City luxury apartment towers the family-owned Kushner Companies plans to build. Mr. Kushner was even cited at a marketing presentation by his sister Nicole Meyer, who was on her way to China even before the bill was signed. The project "means a lot to me and my entire family," she told the prospective investors.

The sequence of events offers one of the most explicit examples to date of the peril of the Trump and Kushner families maintaining close ties to their business interests and creates an impression they stand to profit off Mr. Trump's presence in the White House. It also illustrates the problems of the so-called EB-5 visa program that prominent Republican and Democratic members of Congress want changed .

More from New York Times:

Grammy Awards Returning to New York After 15 Years Away

'American Idol' Is Coming Back to Television

China's Newest Propaganda Format: Children's Bedtime Stories



"It is just one more dilemma that a family with vast commercial interest has when relatives are in the federal government, particularly the White House," said Michael H. Cardozo, who served as a deputy White House counsel in the Carter administration, which struggled with its own controversies related to the president's brother, Billy Carter, and his work on behalf of an American company seeking to get into the oil industry in Libya. "The actions of relatives can come back and bite those serving those in the government."

Bipartisan critics in Washington say they want to revamp the visa program because it is often abused. It supports high-end luxury projects, like the Kushner family deal, instead of promoting job creation in rural America or distressed urban areas, as it was intended. It has also been criticized by federal regulators for insufficient safeguards against illicit money coming into the United States; in the case of one applicant, they found potential financial ties to a string of Chinese brothels.

There is no assertion that Mr. Kushner broke any conflict-of-interest rule; but the law does not prevent his relatives from attempting to exploit those ties to benefit the family business.

Mr. Kushner's portfolio includes a central role on China policy. That role has heightened the Kushner family name in a nation accounting for more than 80 percent of the EB-5 visas issued. Wealthy Chinese see the program as an easy way to legally move to the United States.

In fact, Kushner Companies  when Mr. Kushner was still at the helm  had received $50 million in EB-5 financing for a separate New Jersey project, a Trump-branded luxury high-rise tower in Jersey City that opened late last year.

On Monday, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, called the visa program "a stark conflict of interest for the Trump White House." Meanwhile, the ethics watchdog group Democracy 21 called for Mr. Kushner to recuse himself from all policy dealing with China. The group had previously called for Mr. Kushner to make public a full list of his family firm's overseas business partners and lenders as well as a full divestiture of his business assets into a blind trust.

After a surge in attention to the topic over the weekend, a spokesman for Mr. Trump said on Monday that the president also endorses changes to the visa program, including perhaps increasing the price foreigners must pay to get the special immigration status. A White House statement said the administration "is evaluating wholesale reform of the EB-5 program to ensure that the program is used as intended and that investment is being spread to all areas of the country."

The statement also said that Mr. Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, has recused himself from EB-5 related matters: "Jared takes the ethics rules very seriously and would never compromise himself or the administration." In a statement from Kushner Companies, Mr. Kushner's sister said it was not her intent to mention her brother as a way to lure investors.

Other family members of presidents have created stirs in past decades  including Neil M. Bush, President George Bush's son  as they have engaged in outside business ventures that intersected with the federal government. Hillary Clinton's brother Anthony Rodham was once cited for inappropriate appeals to government officials about a grant through this very same visa program.

But the matters involving Mr. Kushner, the White House and Kushner Companies are different. None of those previous presidential relatives took jobs in the White House while simultaneously benefiting from a multibillion-dollar business with international partners, who also stand to benefit from federal programs.

Although Mr. Kushner has shed stakes in some of the company's investments, he has retained most of his interest, as the main beneficiary of a series of trusts invested in the firm's various projects. His stake, along with some other investments, is worth as much as $600 million, and possibly much more, according to a government ethics disclosure form made public by Mr. Kushner in March. But Kushner Companies has declined to make public a list of its partners.

The firm has received investments or loans from around the world, including Goldman Sachs , the Blackstone Group, Deutsche Bank and Israel's Bank Hapoalim, the subject of a United States Justice Department tax investigation. Last month, The New York Times reported that the Kushners had partnered with at least one member of Israel's wealthy Steinmetz family. The family's most well-known member, Beny Steinmetz, is the subject of a Justice Department investigation into alleged bribes.

And in March, Mr. Kushner's firm said it ended talks with Anbang Insurance Group, a Chinese company with ties to ruling members of the country's Communist Party. Those talks began around the time President Trump secured the Republican nomination and also raised questions because of the potentially favorable terms for Kushner Companies.

When it was created in 1990, the EB-5 visa program was intended to provide a new source of financing for projects in underserved areas, defined as places with high unemployment. But there are no federal standards for defining such neighborhoods. And developers often provide gerrymandered maps to qualify under the program.

The Kushner project in Jersey City "is a textbook example of the abuses we have seen in the last six or seven years," said Shae Armstrong, a Dallas lawyer who has joined with members of Congress, including Senators Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, and Ms. Feinstein, to call for changes in the program.

That part of Jersey City, less than three miles from Manhattan, is hardly an economically depressed area, and a luxury apartment building is going to create few permanent jobs. "And it is why other towns in rural America are not getting EB-5 money," Mr. Armstrong said.

Indeed, in the Beijing presentation delivered by Mr. Kushner's sister, the firm cited the high household income of the majority of the residents  between $100,000 and $200,000  in the Trump-branded building that has already received EB-5 financing.

The $1 billion Kushner project at the center of the current controversy is a set of high-rise towers  including 1,730 apartments and 89,000 square feet of retail space. The company is seeking $150 million through the EB-5 program.

Traditional lenders can charge interest of 12 to 18 percent, said Gary Friedland, a professor at New York University who has written extensively about the program. But EB-5 loans can wind up costing developers as little as 4 percent, he said.

"The immigrant investor's primary purpose is to secure a visa, so they accept minimal interest, as low as half a percent," Mr. Friedland said.

For developers, said Steve Yale-Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell University, the appeal of EB-5 can be summed up in two words: "Cheap money."
A former White House ethics adviser says that a sales pitch by Jared Kushner's sister to potential Chinese investors that was centered on a controversial visa program came "very, very close to solicitation of a bribe."

"This is corruption, pure and simple," said Richard Painter, who was an attorney for President George W. Bush and is now a University of Minnesota law professor.

The latest conflict-of-interest uproar to roil President Donald Trump's administration arose this weekend as the Kushner Companies invited wealthy foreigners to sink cash into a New Jersey real estate project via the EB-5 program.

More from NBC News:

Obama Warned Trump Against Hiring Mike Flynn, Say Officials

Court Skeptical of Trump's Defense of Executive Order Travel Ban

Flynn Never Told DIA That Russians Paid Him, Say Officials

Addressing the crowds in Beijing and Shanghai at an event hosted by a Chinese immigration firm was Nicole Meyer, sister of Kushner, who is one of Trump's most trusted confidants and his son-in-law.

She name-checked Kushner, according to reporters from the Washington Post and the New York Times who attended. Trump's photo also was included in a slideshow that described him as a key decision-maker on the fate of the EB-5 program, but Kushner Companies said that was the work of the Chinese organizer.

The so-called "golden visa" program gives foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. development projects a faster track to pursue green cards for themselves and their families.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that Kushner, who has divested from his family firm, had "nothing to do" with the investor recruitment, and Meyer said through a spokesperson that she was sorry if anyone misinterpreted her mention of her brother.

But Painter and other ethics watchdogs said the episode was appalling and another example of the blurred lines between the Trump administration's business interests and public policy.

Even if Kushner knew nothing about the events, the company "had no right to use his name in this way or to use the president's image to try and raise money for their own family business," Painter said.

He said to avoid even the appearance of a conflict, the Kushner Companies and Trump's businesses should be removed from the EB-5 program, which was extended last week under a bill signed by the president.

@RWPUSA Macron should ask that the Statue of Liberty be returned to France and replaced with a giant statue of Jared Kushner with his hand out

At his daily briefing, Spicer said the EB-5 visa program, along with all visa programs, is under review by the White House.

Asked about the presentations in China, Spicer suggested there was no conflict of interest on Kushner's part.

"Jared has done everything to comply with the ethics rules ... and that had nothing to do with him per se," Spicer said at Monday's press briefing.

"He wasn't involved."

Kushner's personal attorney, Blake Roberts of the WilmerHale law firm, said in a statement that Kushner has "no involvement" in the operation of the Kushner Companies.

Kushner has also "divested his interests in the One Journal Square project by selling them to a family trust that he, his wife, and his children are not beneficiaries of, a mechanism suggested by the Office of Government Ethics," Roberts said.

"As previously stated, he will recuse from particular matters concerning the EB-5 visa program."

A spokesperson for the Kushner Companies said in a statement that Meyer mentioned Kushner at the China events "to make clear that her brother had stepped away from the company in January and has nothing to do with this project."

"Kushner Companies apologizes if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors. That was not Ms. Meyer's intention," the statement said.

But some event attendees told the newspapers that the company's connection to the White House was a definite bonus as they decided whether to put their money into the project.

"The Trump relationship is an extra point for me," Bi Ting told the Times after a presentation in Shanghai on Sunday.
Remember The Giant Rabbit That Died After Flying United? A Lawsuit Could Be Coming

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 8, 2017 9:01PM



'Today Show' / Screenshot / Darius (Simon's also-huge father)

United Airlines has of course settled its most infamous public-relations disaster, but the relatively smaller controversy over a relatively massive rabbit could be heating up again. An Iowa lawyer on Monday announced that the owners of the late Simon the rabbita Continental Giant rabbit, son of the largest rabbit in the worldare considering legal action as they demand more answers from the embattled airline.

Des Moines attorney Guy Cook said at a press conference that his clientsa group of businessmen in Iowa who bought Simon with plans to enter him into the Iowa State Fairwant to know why the rabbit was cremated before a post-mortem could be conducted, according to the AP. "United has taken no action to rectify this," Cook said. "This case is about more than one rabbit."

Cook also said that three-foot Simonone of the largest rabbits in the worldmight have been mistakenly put in a freezer for up to 16 hours after the plane on which he was transported touched down in Chicago, according to USA Today.

Charles Hobart, a spokesman for United Airlines, denied the claim about the freezer in an emailed statement to Chicagoist.





Lawyer to @united: 'This case is about more than 1 rabbit' https://t.co/WLJWmU46Uw pic.twitter.com/fmjL3awzhu  FOX 12 Oregon KPTV (@fox12oregon) May 8, 2017





Cook sent a letter on May 4 requesting more information and answers from United. Hobart said United has received and are reviewing the letter.

Hobart added:



"Our United team takes its responsibilities in transporting pets seriously, and is saddened by Simons death. However, the assertion that Simon died in a freezer is false. He was cared for by the United PetSafe kennel facility. He arrived at Chicago OHare airport in apparent good condition at 10:25 a.m. (local time). He was seen by a representative of the kennel facility moving about within his crate about 11:00 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a kennel representative noticed Simon was motionless and that he had passed away."

The super-sized Simon was traveling with breeder Annette Edwards on a flight from London's Heathrow to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, and was scheduled to then fly on to Iowa. Edwards told media after Simon's death that he had cleared a checkup just three hours before the plane left London. As noted above, United said Simon seemed in good condition when he was transported to a kennel after arrival in Chicago shortly before he died.

United posts transport safety tips on its website for traveling with animals. Rabbits can die unexpectedly in high-stress situations. But Cook said on Monday that Simon's death nevertheless casts larger questions about United's treatment of animals.
Silicon Valley might be hunting unicorns in the wrong places.

According to one top federal health official, entrepreneurs and investors are overlooking one massive population: Low-income Americans who qualify for Medicaid.

That's a big mistake, given that new funds are available for those that are bringing IT innovation to the space, said Medicaid chief medical officer Andrey Ostrovsky.

"My gut is that it's a big opportunity with $500 billion in federal spend every year in a system that hasn't evolved technologically much since 1965," Ostrovsky said.

"There are unicorns sitting in there," he added.

Ostrovsky, a doctor and former health entrepreneur, hit the headlines in March for speaking out against the Republican plan to replace Obamacare, despite the potential fallout from his political bosses. He describes that decision as one that was "morally necessary," as he took a Hippocratic oath to protect patients.

Ostrovsky said he grew up in project housing in Baltimore, Maryland. His family was reliant on Medicaid for three years.

These days, he spends a lot of time thinking about how he got out of the projects and become a successful doctor, while many of his childhood friends did not. And he regularly takes his five-year-old son to homeless shelters to "interact with fellow human beings who have the cards stacked up against them."
Angela Merkel has dismissed the idea of helping Emmanuel Macron by relaxing eurozone spending rules, quickly putting the onus on France's next president to implement economic reforms after his election win.

A day after Mr Macron scored a decisive victory in France's presidential election, the German chancellor, the most powerful national leader in Europe, said she wanted to help France but said: "German support cannot replace French policymaking."

The chancellor pledged to help France fight unemployment and improve its economy, and to co-operate closely with the youthful president-elect. "Emmanuel Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people and also of very many people in Germany and in the whole of Europe," she said.

More from Financial Times:

Pyongyang detente advocate wins South Korean presidency

Trump was warned twice on risk of Russia blackmailing Flynn

Macron win earns Europe a reprieve from the forces of populism



But Ms Merkel said: "I don't see why  as a priority  we should change our policy."

Mr Macron's relationship with Germany is set to be one of the most important of his presidency, with both countries keen to revive the idea of a more powerful Franco-German motor in EU affairs.

His election win has led to renewed calls for Germany to support his reformist agenda and make his task more palatable in France by acquiescing in easing eurozone spending rules. Germany's strict stance on spending, and its own restrictive fiscal policies, have been criticised repeatedly by a number of European countries and by Ms Merkel's own junior coalition partners, the Social Democrats.

Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democrat foreign minister, called on Sunday for an end to Ms Merkel's "financial policy orthodoxy" and said: "Whoever launches reforms [as Mr Macron plans] should not at the same time be forced into strict fiscal austerity."

However Ms Merkel's cautious message on Monday suggested that Berlin would be ready to allow Mr Macron more financial leeway only after he starts implementing reforms and after Germany's election in September. That would reduce the risks of a backlash from German voters opposed to potentially shouldering other countries' debts.

"What might happen is a policy change after the election," said a senior lawmaker in the chancellor's ruling conservative bloc. The chancellor is widely tipped to win a fourth term in office in September.Ms Merkel's officials on Monday excluded dropping their longstanding opposition to eurobonds, which would be common eurozone bonds jointly backed by member states. They were proposed by Mr Macron during his election campaign.

Mr Gabriel also proposed a French-German investment fund, without giving details. His spokesman later said this was "a political proposal" requiring further discussion. He and Ms Merkel's spokesman declined to say whether Mr Gabriel's statement had been agreed in advance with cabinet colleagues.

Norbert Rottgen, Bundestag international affairs committee chairman, told the FT: "If we can get economic reforms in France, it will be worth paying a price in terms of allowing greater economic flexibility [in the eurozone]." He said that Germany and France should soon launch some joint projects to emphasise their renewed co-operation  for example in foreign and security policy.Observers in Brussels said the president-elect must be able to show rapid progress on his domestic agenda to reinforce his credentials in Berlin. "If you see it now from the German perspective, there's

Observers in Brussels said the president-elect must be able to show rapid progress on his domestic agenda to reinforce his credentials in Berlin. "If you see it now from the German perspective, there's

"If you see it now from the German perspective, there's huge relief in Berlin that he became president but there still is a certain degree of fear that he won't be able to reform his own country," said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels.

The French leader would have to show progress by the time a new German government is in place at the end of the year, Mr Emmanouilidis said.

Mr Macron's team repeated his determination to ensure that Germany responded positively to his reform plans. Sylvie Goulard, a French liberal MEP who campaigned for Mr Macron, said Berlin's engagement with Paris had been reduced to a blame game in recent years. "Each of the partners has to take its responsibility. We have to take ours and they have to take theirs," she said.

Attention has already turned to parliamentary elections next month that will determine whether Mr Macron, whose En Marche! movement has no seats in the national assembly, can form a stable government.

Moody's, the credit rating agency, said En Marche! was unlikely to gain the 289 seats required for an absolute majority, meaning a cross-party "cohabitation" government was probable. "There is a very material risk that a period of cohabitation during a Macron presidency could prevent France from implementing policies that would address its growth and fiscal challenges," the agency said.
A daily morning look at the financial stories you need to know to start the day. STOCKS/ECONOMY -Stock futures are up after Monday's flat close. It's another day filled with key earnings reports, including Disney and News Corp. -The price of bitcoin has jumped to $1,700 and its market cap is up $1 billion in just the last 24 hours. THE TRUMP TRADE -Reports say that President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to convince the president to remain in NAFTA. OIL/ENERGY -U.S. crude oil is flat and holding at the $46 a barrel level. IMMIGRATION CASE -Judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals repeatedly grilled Trump administration lawyers Monday on why they should ignore then-candidate Donald Trump's comments calling for a "Muslim ban." THE TRUMP TRADE (continued) -Today's White House meeting to decide whether to stay in the Paris Climate Accords has been postponed. -The Trump administration's conclusions on the Dodd-Frank financial rules will now have reported findings released piece-by-piece with banking regulations coming first. BANK DEAL -Despite bashing and fining Wells Fargo for its phony account scandal last year, the state of California is going to the bank for a $500 million line of credit to repair the Oroville Dam. TRAVEL RULES -The U.S. may expand its airline rules banning larger carry on electronic devices on flights to the U.S. from Europe. RETAIL WARS -Target is testing next-day delivery service in Minneapolis.

A Israeli man buys Bitcoins at a Bitcoin ATM machine in Tel Aviv. Jack Guez | AFP | Getty Images
South Korea's election could unnerve markets if the new leader opts for a change in North Korea policy that undermines the U.S. or contradicts the current approach.

Current exit polls show liberal Moon Jae-in decisively winning the presidency with more than 40 percent of the votes. Official results are not expected until Wednesday morning in South Korea. Moon, a former human rights lawyer, has been criticized by his opponents for being a North Korea sympathizer, advocating for a dialogue between the two Koreas  a move which would likely ruffle Washington's feathers.

"A win for left-leaning Moon Jae-in, the favorite in the race, may cause turbulence in Seoul's relationship with Washington. Moon supports a version of the 'sunshine policy' towards the North Korean dictator, and has criticized President Donald J. Trump's attempt to stick the U.S. ally with a bill for the THAAD missile system deployment," said Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Bringing back the sunshine policy, which aimed for a more engaged approach with Pyongyang, would mark a sharp departure from current policy under U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea's previous president, Park Geun-hye.

"I am expecting things to be bumpier and more tension-filled in U.S.-ROK relations compared to the relatively easy road we have had during the past nine years of conservative Korean rule. But it should be manageable if the U.S. can avoid shooting itself in the foot," said Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The big test for Moon will be the current U.S. deployment of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system in South Korea which he has criticized in the past. While the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system is to protect South Korea from a North Korean missile attack, people in South Korea have been protesting. The fear among some South Koreans is that THAAD is instigating or encouraging North Korea to organize a strike.

However, any shift away from THAAD could upset Washington, which has been putting concerted effort into bringing more troops and personnel in and around the Korean peninsula.

"This is the worst time to show disagreements and differences in the U.S.-ROK alliance in the face [of] Kim Jong Un's turbulence," said Cohen.

Given the various tests South Korea is facing, some strategists say Seoul and the new leadership cannot afford to hurt its current relationship with the U.S.

But Washington's response to Moon's foreign policy will also be key.

"This increased willingness to be more assertive in defending South Korea's interests even if that means disagreeing with the U.S. will likely fuel tensions with President Donald Trump's administration. It would take months for these tensions to sort themselves out, especially if Trump publicly criticizes the new South Korean president or penalizes Seoul, perhaps through trade measures," wrote Scott Seaman, director of Asia at think tank Eurasia Group, in a note to clients.

Aside from the North Korea threat, South Korea is dealing with mounting backlash from China. It's currently seeing a slowdown in trade with its No. 1 trading partner following the deployment of THAAD, which Beijing strongly opposes. Naval forces in China see THAAD as a threat to their military in the broader region. Moon will have to find a way to manage both the defense efforts of the U.S. while also not completely abandoning China which it relies heavily on.

"As tensions with North Korea have risen and China continues to oppose South Korea's plans to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system, security and foreign policy has become a much larger campaign issue," wrote Seaman.
President Donald Trump Joshua Roberts | Reuters

President Donald Trump upset South Korea at precisely the wrong time. Liberal Moon Jae-in won the Asian country's presidential election Tuesday, exit polls showed, likely setting South Korea up to take a more conciliatory tone in dealing with North Korea and contrasting with a more aggressive turn in the U.S. approach. "Moon will almost certainly pursue a more conciliatory policy towards Pyongyang, which will make it more difficult for the United States to isolate North Korea with sanctions," said Isaac Stone Fish, senior fellow at Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. "And it could make Trump's offer of meeting with Kim [Jong Un] less attractive, if Pyongyang feels more able to get what it needs from Seoul." Late last month, Trump shocked the longstanding U.S. ally and trading partner in an interview with Reuters with two unexpected announcements: He wants Seoul to pay for a missile defense system the United States is deploying there, and he wants to renegotiate the existing free trade agreement between the two countries. The comments came against a high-stakes backdrop: Tensions are rising around North Korea's nuclear threat, and the South Korean election stands to mark a significant shift from nearly a decade of conservative rule. That puts a lot at stake, not just for South Korea, but also for the shape of its future alignment with the United States.



"In terms of South Korea's diplomatic politics, this came at a very bad time," said Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It creates an opportunity for [the missile defense] issue to be even further politicized in South Korea in ways that will not serve U.S. or South Korean interests."

watch now

"I don't think Trump did this intentionally, but [he] exposed a gap that may be widened," Snyder said. It "may be an opportunity for North Korea to exploit." The White House did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. The crack in the U.S. relationship with South Korea reduces the pressure on North Korea to denuclearize, just as China  which has the most leverage on Pyongyang  was just beginning to grudgingly step up economic constraints on the state. Chinese authorities suspended coal imports from North Korea in February.



Meanwhile, the Chinese have retaliated against South Korean companies to punish Seoul for allowing the U.S. to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the region.



"One of the reasons we tried to quickly finish THAAD deployment [is] because we believe the U.S.-South Korea relationship was a firm alliance," said Hyun-Wook Kim, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul, a school for South Korean diplomats. "But then Trump  gives me some internal debate about what to do with China and the U.S."

Election could go against US interests

If U.S. strategy against Kim Jong Un's North Korea is to squeeze the little connection Kim's isolated country has with the rest of the world, that may be more difficult now: South Korea looks more open to working with the dictatorship, especially after Trump's comments. Seoul could become even more open to talking with Pyongyang if Moon sticks to his talking points. Moon is a liberal who has opposed THAAD and supports more engagement with the North, rather than relying on economic sanctions. His opponent, centrist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, supported a more traditional, tougher diplomatic path, including reviving the six-party talks.

His biggest risk may be people in North Korea will start pricing in his bark is far much worse than his bite. Really, the biggest unknown in this situation may well be Trump, not Kim Jong Un. Scott Seaman director, Eurasia Group

"There could be some more coordination between Seoul and Beijing that could be different from how Washington wants to pursue" North Korean denuclearization, said John Park, director of the Korea Working Group at the Harvard Kennedy School. "Trump's statements have helped Beijing in its efforts to reverse or slow THAAD deployment in South Korea," Park said. Already last month, South Korean protesters had begun demonstrating against what they saw as a U.S. rush to get THAAD deployed before the election. Then Trump increased their ire by suddenly raising the idea that their government should pay for it. Moon's election comes after President Park Geun-hye was impeached and arrested for alleged corruption.

Business negotiation tactics in geopolitics

As president, Trump has applied negotiating tactics of the business world to foreign policy. After first criticizing China for stealing U.S. jobs and threatening the "One China" policy with a phone call with Taiwan's president, Trump then welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago in April. Trump also praised Xi in the Reuters interview last week for "trying very hard" to pressure North Korea. "When I look at this, what it seems like is one of the most volatile and confusing players is Trump," said Scott Seaman, who analyzes Japan and South Korea for consulting firm Eurasia Group.



"No one really knows what his intentions are. His biggest risk may be people in North Korea will start pricing in his bark is far much worse than his bite," Seaman said. "Really, the biggest unknown in this situation may well be Trump, not Kim Jong Un."

US gives mixed signals on THAAD

The U.S. began deploying THAAD in March, and officials from South Korea said in late April that the process was moving ahead smoothly. The following day, Trump said to Reuters: "I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. It's a billion-dollar system." Then South Korea said two weekends ago  and U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster reaffirmed  that the United States would cover the bulk of the cost.

watch now
This week, former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates held her own while testifying before a Senate subcommittee. Her composed performance generally received rave reviews, especially on social media outlets such as Twitter. TWEET Earlier this year, she also made headlines when she took a stand against her very powerful boss. Yates questioned the legality of President Donald Trump's immigration ban barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries  and the move got her fired, though ultimately, federal judges seem to have agreed with her and have kept two versions of the ban from being implemented. Regardless of your politics, developing the principles that enable you to stand up to the leader of the free world, and to maintain calm while being interrogated at length by senators, isn't something that happens overnight. Here's a look at the family background and career that helped form Yates' steely resolve. Growing up in Georgia Yates' grandmother was one of the first women admitted to the Georgia Bar, she recalls in an conversation with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "She would have been a heck of a lawyer. But women weren't hired as lawyers back then. It just wasn't done," says Yates. "So instead, she was a secretary, first to my grandfather, who was a lawyer, and then for my father and his brother and their practice."

Nobody is a success on their own. Sally Yates former acting Attorney General

She was inspired by her grandmother's resilience. "I realized that tenacity counts for a lot," Yates says. "She became a lawyer without support systems. I thought to myself that, if she did that, how hard could it be for me?" Yates' father, J. Kelley Quillian, served on the Court of Appeals for the State of Georgia from 1966 to 1984 and as the court's chief judge from 1981 to 1982. Prior to working in law, Quillian served in the U.S. Air Force as a sergeant in the Korean War and a captain in the Georgia National Guard. Quillian worked according to five principles, which he says he learned from his father, according to his bio on the Georgia State of Appeals website. Those are: "(1) Don't bend the law or legislate; (2) state the facts clearly and correctly; (3) clarity and conciseness are better than sesquipedalian words; (4) avoid flippancy; and (5) practice stare decisis."

Yates studied Journalism in college and graduated from University of Georgia with her bachelor's degree in 1982, according to her alma mater's website. She graduated magna cum laude from the university's School of Law in 1986. She launched her career at the Atlanta branch of the law firm King & Spalding doing commercial litigation. She went on to work as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia and then she prosecuted white-collar crimes in the Fraud and Public Corruption branch of the U.S. Department of Justice. Notably, Yates served as the prosecutor during the trial of Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, who set off a blast that killed one and injured more than one hundred people.

"One of the great lessons is that nobody is a success on their own," says Yates. "Off all the cases I've done, that's the greatest example of the power of a team. The leader of a team has to demonstrate their respect for each person's role on the team." A portentous exchange Yates was confirmed as Deputy Attorney General in 2015 and served under Attorney General Loretta Lynch. During her confirmation hearings, an exchange with Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL)  who is now President Donald Trump's Attorney General  eerily predicted the adherence to principle that ultimately cost Yates her job.

Sessions encouraged Yates to be ready to stand up to the President. Yates assured him that, if called upon, she would do just that. "Senator, I believe that the Attorney General or the Deputy Attorney General has an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and to give their independent legal advice to the president," she told the man who may now succeed her.

Yates was as good as her word. In a letter sent to top justice officials this winter, Yates disclosed reservations about the Constitutionality of Trump's first immigration ban. "At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful," she wrote. Higher courts concurred with her assessment and have blocked either version of Trump's immigration ban from going into effect. Cracking down on corporations In September 2015, Yates sent a letter to Department of Justice attorneys that became known as the "Yates memo." It declares that corporations need to be held to account. "Fighting corporate fraud and other misconduct is a top priority of the Department of Justice," writes Yates. "One of the most effective ways to combat corporate misconduct is by seeking accountability from the individuals who perpetrated the wrongdoing. "Such accountability is important for several reasons: It deters future illegal activity, it incentivizes changes in corporate behavior, it ensures that the proper parties are held responsible for their actions, and it promotes the public's confidence in our justice system."

Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, and Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. Pete Marovich | Getty Images

She details the reasons it can be challenging to hold corporations responsible, and she outlines best practices for doing it regardless. In it, Yates also shows a willingness to combat white-collar crime, even if it isn't the most lucrative choice. "Although in the short term certain cases against individuals may not provide as robust a monetary return on the Department's investment, pursuing individual actions in civil corporate matters will result in significant long-term deterrence." Career advice from one of the nation's top attorneys Yates urges young people to follow their hearts when looking for jobs. "The key to professional happiness and success is pursuing what is meaningful to you and pursuing it with a vengeance.

The key to professional happiness and success is pursuing what is meaningful to you and pursuing it with a vengeance. Sally Yates former acting Attorney General

"I know way too many people who are in powerful, high-paying jobs who don't get much satisfaction from it. They enjoy the lifestyle, but the work isn't terribly meaningful," she says. Yates is motivated by her own commitment to make the world a better place. "That's where I've been incredibly lucky in my professional life. What I do is meaningful to me and has made a difference in the big scheme of things. "I realize that we're not doing Mother Teresa's work here at the U.S. Attorney's Office, but I do think what we're doing makes a difference."
President Donald Trump has given Main Street and Wall Street "hope and optimism" on the economy, billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell told CNBC on Tuesday.

In an interview on "Squawk Box," Zell called former President Barack Obama's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 a "half-a----d stimulus bill."

Trump could repeal enough regulations to give a $1 trillion boost to the economy, Zell said, adding he's more optimistic today than he was before the election.

He said deregulation can "achieve the same objective [and] really create stimulus and spend no money."

Zell recalled that a couple years ago, he thought the U.S. economy was in the late innings.

But now, the Equity Group Investments chairman said the Trump presidency is sending the late-cycle growth picture into "extra innings."

Still, Zell said overall he's been more of a seller of assets than a buyer in the past few years.

While describing himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative, Zell said he likes Trump's choices on judges, and calls the president's Cabinet picks "great."
The logo of Japanese mobile provider SoftBank is displayed at an entrance of a shop in Tokyo's shopping district Ginza on February 8, 2017.

SoftBank is close to announcing that its technology fund has raised $95 billion, according to a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter.

The announcement will be as soon as next week. Companies like Apple and Qualcomm have previously said that they're investing money.

Softbank will contribute $25 billion of its own capital to the fund over the next five years. The Abu Dhabi based Mubadala Development Company is also expected to commit as much as $15 billion, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

SoftBank has agreed to spend more than $30 billion on technology companies itself in the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read the entire Bloomberg report.
Lack Of State Budget Is A 'Spectacular Failure,' Says Civic Federation

By aaroncynic in News on May 9, 2017 5:59PM



With the Illinois budget impasse approaching its *third* year, the Civic Federation released a scathing analysis calling the lack of a comprehensive budget for the state a stunning failure.

Operating Illinois on autopilot is not a solution, nor is it sustainable. Rather, it represents an abdication of the most basic constitutional responsibilities of proposing and passing a balanced budget, said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall in a press release.

The fiscal watchdog organization hefted blame on both Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly, saying it opposes both Rauners proposed budget and partial-year stopgap or other piecemeal appropriations solutions.

Cherry-picking certain areas of government to fund while pledging to work toward a complete budget sometime in the abstract future has not and will not end the crisis and in fact is making it worse, said Msall.

Attempts by lawmakers to come to a compromise or alleged grand bargain with the governorwho has still been pushing pieces of his Turnaround Agenda at the expense of passing a fully-funded budgethave mostly fallen flat, with each party laying the blame on the other. In the meantime, the impasse has severely harmed and even crippled social service agencies that rely on state funding and other entities that do business with it.

The Federation also said it would not support the budget Rauner proposed in February.

To close the deficit of $4.6 billion, it relies on uncertain savings, one-time revenues and a bipartisan agreement in the Illinois Senate, the provisions of which are in flux and likelihood of passage is unclear, said the organization.

Among things the Federation said it cannot support or is concerned about:

The $4.6 billion operating deficit and lack of a detailed plan to close the gap between revenues and expenditures.

Allowing the states backlog of unpaid bills to increase to $15.2 billion, which could balloon to $19.7 billion if the operating deficit isnt closed.

Rauners plan to cut General Funds contributions to pensions by $1.25 billion.



Enacting appropriations that arent part of a comprehensive and balanced budget, including partial-year stopgaps and K-12-only appropriations.

Relying on the one-time sale of the Thompson Center, which may not materialize in FY2018, to shore up resources.

A plan to save $120 million on the states Community Care Program by creating a new program, which might not provide adequate services.

The group recommends passing a comprehensive budget that fully funds state government with a mixture of spending caps, borrowing, and increased revenues. Among them including limiting the states expenditure growth to 1.7 percent until the States financial condition can be substantially improved, bumping the states individual income tax rate back up to 5.25 percent with an expansion in the Earned Income Tax Credit by 50 percent to balance the hike for low-income taxpayers, and increasing the corporate tax rate to 7 percent.

As part of longer-term solutions, the Federation recommends amending the state Constitution to allow for a graduated or progressive income tax, where people with higher incomes would be taxed at higher rates and those with lower incomes would be taxed at lower rates, and an amendment to specify the pension protection clause applies only to accrued benefits.

In a statement emailed to Chicagoist, a spokesperson for the governors office said that many years of fiscal mismanagement is how Illinois ended up in the crisis:

Decades of fiscal mismanagement are the reason why our state finds itself in this crisis today. Governor Rauner continues to urge legislators to pass a truly balanced budget with structural reforms that will create jobs and grow our economy across Illinois.

Others however, blamed the governor for the dire state of fiscal affairs in Illinois. "To borrow a phrase from the Civic Federation, Gov. Rauner has been a 'spectacular failure' in office, said Illinois Working Together. Instead simply doing his job and proposing a balanced budget, the governor would rather play big money political games in an attempt to ram through his partisan agenda. Gov. Rauner should listen to the countless Illinoisans who are being hurt by his wrong priorities, drop his agenda, and do his job."

Gubernatorial candidate and billionaire JB Pritzker also slammed Rauner. "Illinois needs a leader who can bring people together to put an end to this budget crisis, Pritzker said in a statement published by Capitol Fax. While Bruce Rauner has decided to hold the state hostage for his teardown agenda, millions are suffering the consequences and future generations will inherit the mess hes created."

The Grassroots Collaborative, which has long advocated for a host of progressive revenue solutions including a graduated income tax, a Lasalle Street Tax, closing corporate tax loopholes, and a bill currently in the House (HB3393) that would close the carried interest loophole,

The Civic Federation report correctly dispels Governor Rauners dangerous budget fantasy and outlines the harm being inflicted on Illinois residents," said Executive Director Amisha Patel. "However, we can not borrow our way to financial stability. To repair the damage that has been done and to transform Illinois into a state that all our families want to live in requires renewed investment in the people of our state and new progressive revenue to fund that investment."

Read the full report here.
South Korean presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea reacts after a television report on an exit poll of the new president at the party's auditorium in the National assembly on May 9, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea.

A South Korean exchange-traded fund jumped Tuesday to its highest level in two years after exit polls showed a liberal candidate won the country's presidential election.

Moon Jae-in had 41.4 percent of the votes, versus 23.3 percent for conservative candidate Hong Joon-pyo, according to exit polls cited by Reuters. The election ends months of political uncertainty for the longstanding U.S. ally, after President Park Geun-hye was impeached and jailed for alleged corruption.

The iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF (EWY) , which trades on NYSE Arca, climbed more than 1 percent in morning trade and is now up nearly 24 percent on the year. The 'EWY' is at its highest level since August 2014, completely reversing a two-year slog amid the political scandal.

The largest holdings in the U.S. ETF include the South Korea issues of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor. Samsung is 24 percent of the fund.

EWY two-day performance

Source: FactSet

Markets in South Korea were closed Tuesday for the presidential election. The Korea KOSPI closed Monday at a record high of 2,292.76.

To be sure, Moon appears less in line with a more aggressive turn in U.S. policy towards North Korea. Moon opposed the U.S. deployment of a missile defense system in South Korea and supports more engagement with North Korea.

The new leadership could consequently work more closely with China. Beijing has retaliated against South Korean businesses  especially conglomerate Lotte  for allowing the U.S. to construct a missile defense system so close to China's borders.

Earlier this year, shares of the firm's retail arm, Lotte Shopping , had dropped more than 17 percent from a February high. The stock has since more than recovered those losses.
A major Tennessee health insurer said Tuesday it is willing to re-enter Knoxville's Obamacare market  which has been at serious risk of having no insurers selling individual health plans in 2018.

The potential move by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee would fill the hole soon to be left by Humana , the only insurer selling Obamacare plans in that area this year. In February, Humana informed regulators it would exit that market next year.

But the re-entry of Blue Cross Blue Shield would come at a price.

The insurer warned Tennessee insurance regulators "given the potential negative effects of federal legislative and/or regulatory changes" it will have to seek higher premium rates next year in the state to "price-in those downside risks." Those risks could come from Republican moves to change Obamacare rules.

Blue Cross Blue Shield also revealed Tuesday that the financial performance of the company's Obamacare plans has improved in 2017 after suffering three consecutive years of losses totaling $400 million.

Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO J.D. Hickey, in a letter to the state's insurance commissioner, said the company "is willing to serve the Knoxville region in the 2018 individual Marketplace."

But, "I want to stress that our openness to this action is in no way a political decision," Hickey added. "Nor is it a reflection of our perspective on the stability of the individual Marketplace overall."

"In fact," Hickey added, "we can't justify doing so based solely on our current political uncertainty, but instead we believe it is an extension of our mission to serve our fellow Tennesseans, especially those who do not have other options for coverage."

Hickey noted that his company had chosen to remain in five out of Tennessee's eight Obamacare regions this year "to ensure every region had at least one coverage option and no one was left uncovered."

However, the company's decision to withdraw from three regions came relatively late in the year, shortly before open enrollment in 2017 plans began.

Hickey warned that "while we hope this is unnecessary, we reserve the right not to sign our" individual health plan sales agreements "in September in the event of any post-bid changes that destabilize the market and affect our risk exposure."

In his letter, Hickey cited the potential risks that could come from the elimination of the requirement that all Americans have some form of health coverage or pay a fine and elimination of collection of the health insurer tax. Both are features of the GOP's American Health Care Act, the Obamacare replacement bill that passed the House of Representatives last week.

Another big risk for the insurer  and others  that Hickey mentioned would be if the federal government stops reimbursing health plans for subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket health costs of low-income customers.

The insurer's decision to seriously consider re-entering Knoxville's market and its better financial fortunes so far this year are likely to be used as an argument by Obamacare supporters against opponents, including President Donald Trump, who have said the program is in a "death spiral" or "dead" or "failing" nationally.

As recently as three weeks ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the state's other big insurer, Cigna , were not ready to take Humana's place in Knoxville because of uncertainty over the Obamacare market stemming from efforts in Washington, D.C., by Republicans to gut the program in several ways.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and other Republican leaders have repeatedly pointed to the exit of Humana, Aetna and other insurers from individual health plan markets as evidence that Obamacare is doomed and needs to be replaced with the AHCA.

Julie Mix McPeak, Tennessee's insurance commissioner, said on Tuesday that Blue Cross Blue Shield's decision "is very much a glimmer of hope for consumers on the exchange in the Knoxville rating area."

"Their willingness to take this step and consider providing coverage for 2018 in the Knoxville area is a true commitment of theirs to the state of Tennessee," McPeak said in a YouTube video announcing the move.

"Time is of the essence for Congress to act and provide some level of indication of what the market regulatory perspective will be for 2018," she said. "The more certainty that we can provide around funding levels, reinsurance programs or any flexibility in Obamacare terms and conditions of participation on the exchange will only add to the certainty that Blue Cross Blue Shield will participate in the Knoxville area in 2018."

The tentative decision by Blue Cross Blue Shield was welcome news to Knoxville resident John Nehls, who currently buys individual health coverage from Humana.

"I am ecstatic. Blue Cross Blue Shield was who I had before," said Nehls, a quadriplegic who broke his back in a biking accident three years ago.

In a CNBC story last month, Nehls had expressed concern about Humana's departure from the market.

"The biggest concern we have is what's going to happen in 2018. We do have coverage for this year on the Humana plan, but in 2018 there will be zero options in this county, " Nehls said at the time.

Despite Nehls' relief on Tuesday, a major concern for Blue Cross Blue Shield and all other Obamacare insurers in the coming year is the fate of so-called cost-sharing reductions.

Those CSRs reduce the amount of money that lower-income Obamacare customers must personally pay when they receive health services or prescription medications. Insurers cover the cost of those reductions up front but then are supposed to be reimbursed by the federal government.

Trump, however, has suggested he might cut off those reimbursements to insurers, even while the insurers are still legally obligated under the Affordable Care Act to continue giving them to customers. If the reimbursements are ended, insurers have said they will have to raise their premiums for 2018 to make up their cost, which in turn could discourage some customers from signing up for coverage next year.

Republicans in the House have sued the U.S. Health and Human Services Department for continuing to make the reimbursements without specific funding authorization from Congress.

A federal judge ruled in the House's favor, finding that the federal government should not have spent the money, but her decision is basically in limbo as Trump and the House Republicans try to figure out how to resolve the issue.

In the meantime, the reimbursements continue to be made.

Hickey of Blue Cross Blue Shield, in his letter Tuesday, noted the potential elimination of the CSRs as a risk for the company. He said that and other factors are keeping the insurer from adding to its Obamacare business beyond the Knoxville area.

"With our past losses and the continued uncertainties associated with the individual Marketplace, we are not willing to consider expanding our current footprint in 2018 beyond the addition of the Knoxville region, as the other geographies are currently covered by other carriers," Hickey wrote.

"We believe this fiscally conservative approach to limit our risk profile in this market continues to be in the best interest of all the members Blue Cross serves across all lines of our business."
Matt Busigin is the CIO of Hover Networks and a portfolio manager at New River Investments. This post originally appeared on Medium and is duplicated here with permission.

Everyone's worried. Even Jack Ma thinks that his job is in danger from robots. And he's not alone. Nary a planetary rotation completes without a warning about the dire consequences of the ongoing robot uprising. Everyone is vulnerable: truck drivers, cab drivers, and even CEOs.

At the danger of repeating Paul Krugman's mistake in 1998 of forecasting that the Internet's impact would be no more than the FAX machine, if the robots are taking over, why is productivity growth at generational lows?

It's an old argument, perhaps typified by the Luddites destroying machinery that was putting them out of work (and maybe not quite fairly; there is modern argumentation that the Luddites were taking collective and property-destroying action as a reaction to their employers exercising their improved bargaining power; I frankly see little distinction).

The real problem with the industrialising United Kingdom (and Russian serfdom), was not technology. It was the threat and materialisation of state-sponsored violence to maintain class control.

A few days ago, William Baumol died. He contributed an observation, which we call Baumol's Cost Disease, which found that real wages in low productivity industries actually rose like those in high productivity industries, as workers left low-productivity industries for higher productivity industries. This simultaneously increases their income, as well as forces the employers in the lower productivity industries to raise salaries to retain and attract replacement labour.

What Baumol called a dilemma, and what we have come to describe as a disease, is actually precisely the salve for technological productivity gains to be distributed, even to parts of the economy that aren't experiencing productivity growth. The real disease would be if Baumol's dilemma didn't exist  but it does.

Of course, the story gets more complicated in the decades after Baumol's initial observation. In the past seven decades, real hourly compensation is up roughly two-fold, while productivity is up nearly four-fold, with the bulk of this divergence occurring after 1980. Karl Marx would refer to this gap as surplus value  the product of labour which it does not get to keep. The classical misinterpretation is that the surplus value flowed to owners of capital. This is wrong. As we've previously observed, the bulk of this surplus value had flowed to consumers, and to consumers who are not producers, subsidised by transfer payments.

The reality is that liberal economics and technology liberated most of the world from slavery, serfdom, and state violence enforced class control in the 19th and 20th centuries. The second reality, which often conflicts with the ideological priors of the exponents of the first reality, but is no less true, is that the mixed economy has promoted Baumol's Salve (yes, I am leading the charge to rename this phenomenon).
On the 85th floor of One World Trade Center in Manhattan, there are offices, conference rooms, kitchenettes and co-working spaces. There are not, however, very many people. The offices stand largely empty. And that is just fine with landlord Servcorp.

"We now have 40,000 customers that don't actually rent any space from us," said Marcus Moufarrige, Servcorp's chief operating officer. "They can use our space on a casual basis; they can use infrastructure, we've got in telecommunications technology, so their business is really well-represented. And they can use the really valuable address that we've got as part of our network, but they don't actually work with us."

It's called a "virtual office," and it's become a real moneymaker for the Australia-based company. Servcorp has been renting executive office spaces around the world since the late 1970s but only entered the U.S. office market during the last recession, when commercial real estate prices slumped. It took space in several prime locations, and now leases 22 spaces in 12 major cities.

Starting at $250 per month, clients can rent a "virtual office," which includes the fancy address, a local phone number (think Manhattan's coveted 212 area code), a dedicated receptionist to answer calls and receive mail, as well as the option to hold meetings or work in the space a few times a month. Clients can pay more for a dedicated office, a conference room or more "real" time in the space.

"The last 10 years has seen this real growth in small-business opportunity, or the boutique-ification of many industries and the automation of industries brought along by technology," Moufarrige said. "The thing that kills small businesses is rent and people."

The value of the address is also quite formidable, especially One World Trade, the crown jewel in Servcorp's portfolio.
President Donald Trump's travel and immigration ban is back in court this week. The only trouble is the case is still in the wrong court. The American people need to get the clarity on this issue, and only the U.S. Supreme Court can provide it.

Right now, the case is before a 13-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. (The full circuit is actually 15 judges, but 2 judges have recused themselves.) Ten of the judges were appointed by Democrats and three by Republicans. Next week it will be heard in the very liberal 9th Circuit Court in Seattle. Both the 4th and 9th Circuit Courts are either the most liberal, or among the most liberal courts in the country.

That's the first part of the problem. It's not so much that these courts are so liberal, it's the accepted fact that they're so easily identifiable along ideological lines. But it would be no better for a deeply divided America if this case was heard before a court with a very conservative bent.

The second part of the problem is that cases like this need to be held up to the most scrutiny and be heard by the most accountable judges in the legal system. With all due respect to the fame and accountability lower federal court judges have in the legal community, they are relatively anonymous in the wider sphere of American public life.

And that brings us to the highest court of the land. On both of the above criteria, the U.S. Supreme Court passes the test. On partisanship, the high court is much more balanced than the 4th, 9th or any other circuit court in America.

Even with the recent confirmation of decidedly conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court is only weighted in favor of conservatives by a razor thin 5-4 margin. And that number isn't ironclad, as we all learned in 2012 when the supposedly conservative-tipped court upheld Obamacare in the famed decision by Chief Justice John Roberts. This is probably the hardest major court in America to definitively label along partisan lines.
The Trump administration is weighing a drastic change when it comes to Afghanistan: Whether to send as many 5,000 more troops in the fight, a military official told NBC News.

Trump, however, is still deciding on a variety of options being presented to him by U.S. military leaders, senior administration officials told NBC News.

The Washington Post first reported that the plan could involve an increase of at least 3,000 troops, with the U.S. asking other NATO nations to match. The U.S.'s force in Afghanistan currently totals about 8,400.

More from NBC News:

South Koreans elect new leader after ouster of Park Geun-hye

Jakarta governor 'Ahok' jailed for blasphemy over viral video

Sally Yates, acting Attorney General fired by Trump, testifies on Flynn saga

A U.S. official told The Post that Trump wants to "start winning" again and has the backing of top Cabinet officials. He is expected to make his mind up on strategy before attending a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels, the newspaper reported.

One senior administration source told NBC News a decision would happen "soon."

But former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the president will need to better explain his strategy in a country that remains mired in conflict for over 15 years.

"What is the strategy now?" Rice said on TODAY. "It doesn't make sense to increase troop strength to keep doing the same thing."

Among the possibilities that are being mulled over: allowing Defense Secretary James Mattis to set the troop levels for Afghanistan  similar to the Pentagon doing so for Iraq and Syria, sending potentially several thousand more troops there, and ending some Obama-era rules on how the U.S. military operates in the country, including on its ability to go after the Taliban.

Discussion surrounding how to handle Afghanistan comes just weeks after the U.S. dropped the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used  also known as the "mother of all bombs"  to obliterate an ISIS tunnel complex in eastern Afghanistan. Two U.S. Army Rangers were also killed last month in the same region during a firefight outside of an ISIS compound.

Coalition forces have been engaged in a dual conflict against both the Taliban, which was toppled in 2001, as well as ISIS's regional branch for South Asia known as ISIS-K.

Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has suggested to Congress that the NATO coalition needs several thousand more troops in the country. He has also not refuted previous reports that Russia is helping to arm the Afghan Taliban.

Trump held a different view on Afghanistan before he entered politics, tweeting in 2013 that the U.S. should leave immediately or "if we have to go back in, we go in hard & quick."

@realDonaldTrump We should leave Afghanistan immediately. No more wasted lives. If we have to go back in, we go in hard & quick. Rebuild the US first.

Rice, who was also national security adviser under President George W. Bush, didn't specifically say whether she believes additional troop deployment would do the trick this time around  particularly after the Obama administration's surge that saw 100,000 troops there in 2010 failed to suppress the Taliban."

"Well, I'd certainly urge the President to look at how we can turn the tide in Afghanistan," she told TODAY. "I know we've been there a very, very long time and obviously the goal is to have a government that's stable in Kabul that can't be assaulted by the Taliban."

While the U.S. may find Russian diplomacy helpful for dealing with North Korea, Rice cautioned about trusting President Vladimir Putin when it comes to Middle East policy.

"One of the first conversations needs to be with Vladimir Putin and to say, 'Do you really want to get back into Afghanistan after what happened to you before in Afghanistan?' There's no reason for the Russians to be arming the Taliban," Rice added, "and so that conversation needs to take place."
Domestic U.K. stocks look like the best bet to secure returns as European markets come to terms with a muted Emmanuel Macron rally, GLG fund manager Henry Dixon has told CNBC.

"We're very much of the view that the domestic portion (of the U.K. benchmark) is where you want to spend your money," Dixon said.

Dixon pointed to what he sees as superior price-to-earnings ratios, which is an important metric used by investors to gauge the value of a stock. Dixon said these ratios are trading around a 30 percent discount relative to European peers, alongside a "constructive" sterling environment. The U.K. currency has remained stubbornly low since the U.K.'s Brexit vote almost one year ago.

Investors' jubilation at Sunday's victory for business-friendly Macron as France's next president was short-lived Monday and European indices quickly pared gains, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 ending the day in negative territory.

European banks, which started higher on Monday and may have expected to be among the strongest performers Monday, fell 0.6 percent.

"I think that natural home for money in banks yesterday (Monday) was probably actually spent elsewhere on relative valuation grounds in the U.K. bizarrely," said Dixon.

A note released Monday by Kensho, a data analytics firm, suggested that U.K. equities could be on track to continue their gains on Europe as Britain's snap election draws closer. Historically, the FTSE 100 has outperformed broader European equities ( the Euro Stoxx 50) in the final month before a U.K. election.

"Over the past seven U.K. general elections since 1987, the FTSE has traded positive 71 percent of the time with a median return of 0.78 percent one month prior to these election. U.K. equities have outperformed broader European equities over this span, with the Euro STOXX 50 up only 29 percent of the time with a return of -2.15 percent one month prior to these elections," the research said.

What next for European equities?

As the political landscape in French gains some certainty at long last, investors' eyes will now be turning to developments in Britain and Germany.

Both major European countries face general elections in June and September, respectively, though it is widely anticipated that their incumbent leaders will retain their seats.

This could bode well for European equities, said Dixon. Although Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel could drive a hard bargain with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit, he predicts that firm leadership could lead to strong economic growth.

"Do we want a great deal with a poor performing continent or do we want maybe a tougher deal with a poorly performing continent?," Dixon asked, referring to upcoming Brexit talks.

"If Europe is cohesive I think Europe is actually performing from an economic standpoint."

Meanwhile, Dolfin's chief investment officer, Vassilis Papaioannou, told CNBC Monday that he anticipates European equities reaching double-digit returns by the end of 2017 as political leaders set about reforming the economic landscape.

However, this boon could be short-lived, according to Brooks Macdonald's chief investment officer.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday defended the Trump administration's handling of Michael Flynn's firing amid criticism of how long it took the former national security advisor to leave the White House.

Former acting attorney general Sally Yates told a Senate panel Monday she warned the White House that Flynn "essentially could be blackmailed" by Russia more than two weeks before he was fired. President Donald Trump removed Flynn in February after it was revealed in news reports that he had lied about the nature of his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States.

"The decision that we made was the right one. ... He stands by it," Spicer told reporters.

Spicer aimed to cast doubt on the credibility of Yates, a career Justice Department official who Trump fired after she declined to defend the first version of Trump's divisive restrictions on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries. He alleged without evidence that Yates was a supporter of Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the November presidential election.

The White House spokesman cast Yates' warning as a "heads up" and said the White House did not want to "jump the gun" in response to it. Eighteen days went by between Yates expressing her concerns to the White House and Flynn being removed from the post.

Spicer added that he was not aware of any security restrictions placed on Flynn after the warning.

He reiterated that it was Flynn's misleading of Vice President Mike Pence about the topics of his conversations, not Yates' warnings, that led to his firing.

After the hearing Monday, Trump claimed in a tweet that Yates said "nothing but old news."
Activists Blast 'Leftist Cool Kids' After Anti-Gentrification Vandalism Of Alderman's Office

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 9, 2017 6:40PM

From time to time, we've seen businesses in certain neighborhoods in Chicago targeted with anti-gentrification vandalism. (Recall Bow Truss, in Pilsen, and Grandma J's, in Humboldt Parkboth now shuttered). But an alderman's office? That was a first for us. It happened last week, when vandals busted the glass door of the offices of Ald. Proco Joe Moreno (1st). The tag "Gentrifier" had been spray-painted next to the shattered-out door, as first reported by DNAinfo.

"It will not deter my efforts to bring economic progress, which provides opportunities for all types of people, into the 1st Ward," Moreno fired back in a statement, calling the vandalism "cowardly." Affordable-housing groupsnot always the first to rush to defense of Morenonevertheless seem to concur with that characterization. The Chicago Housing Initiative, which advocates for low-income residents, is the most recent activist group to denounce the smash-and-tag.

"Think bigger" was the message put forth to the property damagers in a fabulously snarky release:

CHI said in part:



"Yes, an unregulated housing market is going to wreak havoc on all communities where developers see a profit potential, and yes, profit potential in an unfettered capital system is synonymous with displacement. Communities that can be flipped are communities that can be profited from. And the inverse: Communities that are profited from are communities that are flipped, destroyed, re-made, obliterated. Yes, the plight of low-income families and especially low-income families of color is being monetized by this system. Yes, this system is violent and cruel. And yes, it needs to be transformed. But smashing windows doesnt transform. It doesnt educate, it doesnt call us together or build our capacity to make change. It just scapegoats a single public official for a broken system, very little of which he has control or influence over."

Moreo shared the statement on the First Ward's Facebook page. He wrote in part:



"I have always said I am willing to work with any person or group, because I know I don't have all the answers. It's easy to point out the problem. I think we all know what the problem is and if you are willing to help, I am willing to listen to your solutions. Not all solutions will be feasible, but perhaps they will help springboard into a realistic, workable plan that will benefit everyone."

Somos Logan Square, another prominent local advocacy group, which has often butted heads with Moreno in the past over gentrification and lack of affordable housing in Logan, condemned the vandalism shortly after it was reported.



Moreno's office sits just east of the North and California intersection (2740 W. North Ave). His ward map scans like a continuum from gentrifying to rapidly gentrifying to full-bore, rare-earth magnet for development. It includes parts of Logan Square and Humboldt Park (which his office essentially straddles) plus Wicker Park, West Town and Ukrainian Village.

Logan Square and Humboldt both continue to endure as major flashpoints for gentrification debates, as does Moreno himself at times. Activists demonstrated outside a $50-dollar-a-head dinner and discussion that Moreno led about the topic in January. In March, his office confirmed that he and Ald. Roberto Maldonado (Ward 26) are working on an affordable-housing ordinance to target properties near the 606 pedestrian/bike trailalong which, last year, single-family home prices shot up 48.2 percent in Logan and Humboldt.

[H/T Curbed]
What is billed as the Lord St. Oswald-Norweb 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar will be made publicly available for the first time since 1988, when Stacks Bowers Galleries offers the high-grade coin during its August ANA Worlds Fair of Money Auction in Denver.

What is billed as the Lord St. Oswald-Norweb 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar will be made publicly available for the first time since 1988, when Stacks Bowers Galleries offers the high-grade coin during its August 2017 American Numismatic Association Worlds Fair of Money Auction in Denver.

The coin was last sold at public auction in November 1988 in Bowers and Merenas auction of the Norweb Collection.

The silver dollar is now graded Mint State 64 by Professional Coin Grading Service. It shares some of its history and pedigree with another, even higher grade example sold in recent years.

Connect with Coin World:

Sign up for our free eNewsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

As a press release from Stacks Bowers states, This incredible specimen has a fascinating but familiar story coming just two years after the sale of its sibling, the MS-66+ (PCGS) Lord St. Oswald-Ostheimer example, in the Stacks Bowers Galleries D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part II sale. In that May 2015 auction, the Pogue counterpart realized an astounding $4,993,750, including the buyers premium.

Gambling on a Morgan dollar roll: Inside Coin World: This week, examines what happens when you gamble on a roll, as well as some unwanted surprises that buyers face.

Stacks Bowers adds, These two 1794 silver dollars remained together for the first 170 years of their existence, until they were offered as part of the Lord St. Oswald cabinet by Christies in 1964. The pair had been obtained by English gentleman farmer William Strickland on his tour of the young United States from September 20, 1794 to July 29, 1795. During his visit, Strickland journeyed throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic, even meeting with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and with then-President George Washington at Mount Vernon. The two 1794 silver dollars were among a diverse group of 84 federal and pre-federal coins gathered during his 10 months in America. Centuries later, those two souvenirs would immortalize the legacy of William Strickland and his descendants through the Lord St. Oswald provenance.

The firm continued, The near-Gem Lord St. Oswald-Norweb specimen is among the finest survivors of Americas first silver dollar coinage and is one of the great treasures of U.S. numismatics. The surfaces are impeccably preserved and lustrous, with just gentle traces of planchet adjustment at the obverse border. The coin exhibits strong peripheral definition for the issue, with considerable pronouncement to the left obverse stars and corresponding legend on the reverse. Ranked as fourth finest in the Condition Census and third finest among Mint State examples seen by PCGS, this is a significant world-class rarity.

Contact Stacks Bowers Galleries here.
May 8, 2017

 A six-year custody dispute over miniature bibles carried by a NASA astronaut to the surface of the moon has ended with a state agency dropping its claim to the lunar artifacts.



The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, or DADS, abandoned its pursuit of the religious lunar relics in late April, just days before a court hearing was due to rule on the disposition of the microfilmed King James Bibles, which had been carried by the late moonwalker Ed Mitchell aboard NASA's Apollo 14 mission in 1971. Accordingly, an Oklahoma judge ordered that the small printed squares be returned to Tulsa-based author Carol Mersch, according to the Associated Press.



The judge's edict came just a month after a similar bible, flown around the moon on the problem-plagued Apollo 13 mission in 1970, was also returned to Mersch as part of a related, but separate ruling.







"Apostles of Apollo" author Carol Mersch with Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell and a flown bible display in 2005. (Carol Mersch)

At issue had been whether Mersch had been legally gifted the well-traveled bibles by a former chaplain whose idea it had been to send them (and others) to the moon, or if they belonged to the reverend's son. Mersch insisted that she was provided the artifacts by John Stout, a former chaplain and scientist, in the course of researching her 2010 book "The Apostles of Apollo," which recounted Stout's story, his founding of the Apollo Prayer League in the 1960s, and the flights of the so-called "First Lunar Bibles."



The Apollo Prayer League, a group of NASA employees who prayed together for the safe flights of the astronauts, collaborated with crew members on the Apollo 12, 13 and 14 missions to fly the microfilm bibles to the moon. Three hundred of the 1 by 1 inch (2.5 by 2.5 cm) film squares, each printed with the 1,245 pages (and 773,746 words) of the Christian holy scriptures, were launched with Mitchell's personal items on the third mission to land humans on the moon.



Out of the 300 bibles that Mitchell delivered to lunar orbit, 100 descended to the moon's surface on the lunar module Antares on Feb. 5, 1971.



(The 300 bibles that flew aboard Apollo 14, along with 212 more, first flew with Apollo 13, but that mission's mid-flight explosion prevented a landing and so they were re-flown. A single bible also flew on Apollo 12, but a packaging error led to it staying in lunar orbit.)



When Mitchell returned to Earth, he gave the bibles back to Stout, who in turn presented some of the intact squares and numerous 50-page fragments to the members of the Apollo Prayer League. A small number of remaining bibles were kept by the Stouts.



Four decades later, Stout and his wife, Mary Helen, were deemed unable to care for themselves and declared wards of the state under the auspices of the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. According to Mersch, Stout had already given the lunar bibles to her, almost two years before the state became involved.







Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell (left) presents Rev. John Stout of the Apollo Prayer League with a package of flown lunar bibles.

The dispute between DADS and Mersch first came to the public's attention in 2013, three years after the state put a halt to Mersch's attempt at selling an Apollo 13 bible given to her by the Stouts. The state subsequently sought all the bibles in Mersch's possession, including eight that landed on the moon's surface on Apollo 14.



At first, the agency claimed title to the bibles to protect the Stouts' financial assets and to potentially provide a funding source for the couple's care. In the years since they were flown, Apollo 14 bibles have sold at auction for upwards of tens of thousands of dollars each.



After Stout, 94, died in 2016 (following the death of his wife two years earlier), the state continued to assert title to the bibles, arguing they should be inherited by Stout's son.



With her title to them now resolved, Mersch said she plans to honor Stout's wishes and donate some of the bibles to museums or seminaries, the Associated Press reported.
You are here: Home

The State Council, China's cabinet, said Monday that it had sent inspection teams to Beijing and nine provinces to examine the implementation of anti-bureaucracy policies.

The inspection will focus on local efforts to streamline administration and delegate power to lower levels, advance institutional reform in business, improve operational and post-operational oversight, make lists of powers and responsibilities and optimize government services.

Inspectors will listen to the opinions and suggestions of government staff at administrative approval halls, people in those halls, small businesses and researchers from colleges and institutions, t`he State Council said.

The teams will urge local governments to rectify problems detected and hold accountable those who are perfunctory, delay reforms or fail to rectify the problems.

Based on problems and suggestions from the local inspections, the State Council will soon begin inspections of its own ministries and departments.

To balance government-market relations, the government has put great emphasis on streamlining administration, delegating powers and improving regulations and services.

In 2016 alone, the government canceled 165 items for review, overhauled and standardized 192 items of intermediary services for government review, and removed 220 items of approvals and accreditations for professional qualifications.
In 2013, Microsofts then-CEO Steve Ballmer threw one of his monumental temper tantrums with the board of directors, threatening to quit if they did not approve of his proposed $7.7 billion purchase of Nokias handset business.

Rather than take advantage of this opening to finally be rid of him, the board capitulated, and it turned into a disaster. Microsoft would write off the whole acquisition just two years later -- $7.7 billion wasted.

Microsoft soldiered on with the Windows Phone business but its heart clearly wasnt into it. That much was obvious when Joe Belfiore, then the head of the group, took a year-long sabbatical from the company to travel around the world with his daughter. That told me all I needed to know about Microsofts dedication to Windows Phone.

With its most recent quarter, Microsoft made just $5 million on phone sales. Yes, $5 million, about what Apple makes in a minute. The company CFO said she doesnt expect phone sales to materially contribute to the company in the future, either.

Microsoft has denied its exiting the phone business, even if there is no business left to exit. Even though the company has not introduced new phones in 15 months, a lifetime by device standards, CEO Satya Nadella told a Minnesota public radio host "I'm sure we will make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today."

Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president for the Windows and Devices Group, said the same thing to Bloomberg. "We're not going to come out with another device that someone's done."

So what are they going to come out with? Well, Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman, who led development of the HoloLens headset, told Bloomberg "The phone is already dead. People just haven't realized it yet."

[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

Initially some Microsoft blogs took this to mean he was talking about Microsofts phone business, but I think Microsoft knows its phone is dead. More likely he meant the smartphone as a device and physical form. Kipman went on to say he thought mixed reality technologies would replace the smartphone as a device.

Now granted there is a trend of function consolidation where single-use devices get merged into multi-function devices. The iPhone basically killed the iPod, for example, and 2-in-1s are doing a number on tablets.

I can see the smartphone being merged in with another device, but a mixed reality device will need a major form factor overhaul because no one is going to want to walk around with a HoloLens on their head all day. The mere sight would be ridiculous.

Microsoft faces two challenges -- the first is finding a new form factor that works. A headset is out of the question, and Google Glass didnt do very well, either. So they need something new that works and is socially tolerable. Good luck with that.

The greater challenge is credibility. The fact is that while Windows Phone was in many ways a superior OS to iOS and Android, Microsoft completely pooched the handset market with the Nokia buy and its failure to secure OEMs. Its done so well with the Surface tablets and notebooks, too. Perhaps it learned its lessons from the handset failure.

But after the disaster of Windows Phone, falling from a billion dollar business to zero in under three years, any attempt to restart will be an uphill battle of epic proportions.

Microsoft has the resources and the patience, but will it work this time?
You are here: Home

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (C front) launches the 2017 National Vocational Students Skills Competition in north China's Tianjin Municipality, May 8, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had called for craftsmanship and innovation in developing vocational education.

Vocational schools should cultivate craftsmanship and encourage students to start businesses, said Li in a written instruction delivered to a competition of vocational students which started on Monday.

Vocational education is crucial to the transformation and upgrading of the real economy, in terms of strengthening the country's advantages in human resources, the premier said.

Vice Premier Liu Yandong, at the opening ceremony in Tianjin, called for vocational education to play a greater role in poverty reduction and offering more opportunities for youth.

Liu suggested vocational schools cover socialist core values throughout their curriculum.

The National Vocational Students Skills Competition has been held annually since 2008.
Arab films to be showcased at Cannes Film Festival

A delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to participate in the acclaimed annual Cannes Film Festival which is going to start from May 17 and continue till May 28. The delegation comprises key industry players including Dubai Film and TV Commission (DFTC), Dubai Studio City (DSC), Sharjah International Childrens Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

Scene from the film 'Joint Possession' which will be showcased at Cannes Film Festival. Photo courtesy: Joint Possession

A UAE pavilion will also be set up at the Cannes Film Festival which will offer international audiences the perfect window into new and compelling stories coming out of the Arab world and a chance to discover the best of local, Arab, Bollywood and Hollywood films produced in the Emirates over the past year. UAE Pavilion will be the epicentre of information, business connections and Emirati filmmaking promotion to international markets, helping maximise opportunities and further cement Arab cinemas place on the world stage.

This time, there are five films from the Arab world which will be showcased at the Cannes Film Festival including Joint Possession, Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf, Poisonous Roses, Until the End of Time and Wajib. The participating filmmakers will deliver a brief introduction of their project before each clip is screened.

Also read: Dubai International Film Festival : Showcasing of 156 films from 55 countries

In addition to this, a further six films presented at DIFFs 13th edition and supported by the DFMs Enjaaz production funding for Gulf short films are also set to impress at Cannes. Taking part in the Cannes Short Film Corner, the exclusive line-up comprises of- Fadhilat An Takona La Ahad (The Bliss Of Being No One) directed by Bader Alhomoud (winner of Best Muhr Gulf Short), Laila Fe Taxi (A Night In A Taxi) directed Aisha Alzaabi, Mahal Bu Teir directed by Sager L'Khrebani Al Nuaimi,

Mamsous directed by Shatha Masoud (winner of Best Muhr Emirati Short) and Robian (Shrimp) directed by Yaser Alneyadi (winner of Muhr Emirati Director).

Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of DIFF ( extreme right) will be part of the UAE delegation going to participate in the Cannes Film Festival. Photo courtesy: DIFF

Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), said, Its such a pleasure to be once again returning to the Cannes Film Festival and showcasing film talent and innovation of the Arab world. The UAEs film offering continues to grow from strength to strength and Cannes remains to the perfect platform for us to present the endless opportunities available in the Emirates to the film world. We hope all festival delegates take the chance to visit the UAE pavilion and discover the benefits of working with the UAE, from world-class facilities and infrastructure, a unique choice of locations and incredible film festivals putting the spotlight on the very best of Arab and world cinema.

Shivani Pandya, Managing Director of DIFF. Photo courtesy: DIFF

Praising the partnership and promising line up presenting at Cannes, Shivani Pandya, DIFFs Managing Director, said, The collaboration between the DFM and the Marche du Film is really an incredible tool for Arab filmmakers to pitch future projects and forge international connections, tapping into the host of sales agents, festival programmers and distributors in attendance. Its undoubtedly a very exciting time for Arab cinema and we are proud to be headed to Cannes with some of the most up-and-coming filmmakers from the Arab world. 

Sheikha Jawaher bint Abdullah Al Qasimi, Director of FUNN and the Sharjah International Childrens Film Festival (SICFF), said, Movies and film-making are an essential component of the cultural import and output of Sharjah. We are indeed delighted to be a part of the 70th Cannes Film Festival."
Now, death penalty for acts of nuclear terrorism in Singapore

A new legislation has been passed in Parliament whereby a person committing an act of terror using radioactive material or nuclear explosives will face the mandatory death penalty.

Speaking in Parliament, Desmond Lee, Second Minister for Home Affairs, said, While the likelihood of a nuclear terrorist attack in Southeast Asia was remote, the rise of terror group Islamic State means Singapore cannot discount such a scenario and must treat the threat seriously. Especially when many countries, including those in our region, use nuclear energy, or are actively exploring the use of nuclear energy.

A person committing an act of terror using radioactive material or nuclear explosives will face mandatory death penalty in Singapore. Photo courtesy: hype.my.

He added, In February this year, Malaysian authorities arrested eight people connected to the theft of Iridium-192, a radioactive material which can be used to make dirty bombs.

This legislation has paved the way for Singapores ratification of the United Nations (UN) International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT).

After passing of the legislation, it will now be a criminal offence to intentionally and unlawfully use any radioactive material or nuclear explosive device, or use or damage a nuclear facility leading to the release of radioactive material, to achieve the effects of terrorism.

The penalties will be pegged at the same level as a murder offence in the Penal Code and therefore, in the event of death caused, lead to the gallows, said Lee, adding that in any other case, life imprisonment will be the punishment.

Lee added, The new laws also provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction - meaning any person outside Singapore who commits an act which constitutes a nuclear terrorism offence if carried out in Singapore, is deemed to have committed the act here.

Desmond Lee, Second Minister for Home Affairs of Singapore. Photo courtesy: gov.sg

He said, If taken into custody, the person would be charged, tried and punished accordingly in Singapore. This provision allows us to prosecute the offender in Singapore, if it is not possible or desirable to extradite him. It ensures that perpetrators do not escape punishment, regardless of which country they are from, and where they committed the offences.

Lee also apprised the House about the measures that have been taken to control and face the risks of nuclear terrorism. He said, Agencies such as NEA (National Environment Agency) and SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force) have developed the necessary operational capabilities to deal with illicit use of nuclear and radioactive material in Singapore. MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and NEA have also been working together to tighten security measures at premises storing high-risk radioactive material.

An inter-agency committee continually assesses the threat of nuclear terrorism in Singapore, and in the event of an attack, there will be processes to deal with possible scenarios.

While outlining the plan for any kind of nuclear attack, Lee said, Should such an incident occur, MHA will coordinate a whole-of-Government response. SCDF will render assistance to casualties and contain the radioactive material, assisted by our armed forces where necessary. NEA will provide technical advice to help mitigate harm. The police will investigate the act, find the perpetrators and take them to task.
Cllr Paul Mercer is a member of Charnwood Borough Council. He is a member of its cabinet with responsibility for Strategic and Private Sector Housing.

On May 4th the Leader of the Labour Group on Leicestershire County Council, Robert Sharp, failed to get elected in what was ostensibly a safe Labour division. He was just one of 382 councillors to lose their seats and, on paper at least, the outcome was not dissimilar to other results around the UK. There were, however, three important differences.

The first is that the size of the division had been reduced by 1,792 electors from 11,373 to 9,581 by removing one of the six polling districts. This consisted of new private houses which, in the past, yielded a significant number of Tory votes. Ted Parton, the candidate and my fellow councillor on Charnwood Borough Council, needed to increase the Conservative vote by 64 per cent to win on the old boundaries. This change was therefore likely to have pushed the target past the 70 per cent point.

The second is, because Sharp was their leader, Labour put up a particularly determined fight to save him. On two occasions during the campaign we bumped into Willy Bach, Leicestershires Police and Crime Commissioner, who was canvassing for Sharp and on the day Labour activists were drafted in from across Leicestershire to assist in door-knocking. We knew that Labour would not relinquish this seat easily and we therefore planned accordingly.

The third reason is that Labour resorted to a vicious style of campaigning which it had never carried out before in Loughborough. In an attempt to emulate the way in which the Liberal Democrats sometimes misrepresent opinion in order to appear the underdog a Help me STOP UKIP letter was circulated in which the Labour candidate claimed  completely untruthfully  that the UK Independence Party had targeted the Shelthorpe Estate and are confident of replacing me as your County Councillor. He urged people to help me stop UKIP winning here. In fact, the UKIP candidate had not ventured out of his old peoples home.

A more vicious leaflet claimed that the Conservatives were running a fake campaign and that they obviously think they cant win clean. It made the ludicrous allegation that Ted had proposed street bouncers with tasers to deal with rowdy students. It suggested that being a county councillor demand[ed] a level of skill and competence that may be beyond him. And anonymous posters  which Labour denies responsibility for  appeared on the day of the election urging voters to support the Labour candidate and stating Dont let Dolly Ted ruin the Shelthorpe community like he did in Southfields!

In devising a strategy two years ago, we realised that it would be difficult to achieve such a significant swing using conventional campaigning techniques and we identified 10 specific tactics that we would use in order to get Ted elected. It would be injudicious to reveal all of them even though they were entirely legal and legitimate but some of them did appear to be particularly effective during the campaign.

The first challenge was to find new activists. Loughborough was fortunate in having an active group of Conservative Future students at the University and our MP, Nicky Morgan, put a lot of work into assisting them with their recruitment efforts. The chairman of the group, the indefatigable Adam Stares, also became vice-chairman of the association with responsibility for recruitment and had almost single-handedly boosted its membership by 35 per cent. This gave us enough volunteers to ensure that leaflets could be quickly and efficiently distributed across the division.

Ted was well known in his half of the division but it was important to get all of the electors aware of his existence and we had a logo created with the slogan Because YOU matter. This appeared on most of our election material.

A successful campaign in the 2015 borough elections had already given us a significant amount of intelligence about voting behaviour. We supplemented this with information gathered during the referendum campaign in 2016 and then a division-wide residents survey that we carried out in 2015-16. This enabled us to carry out far more precise canvassing during our five-week election campaign.

We had also discovered that simply canvassing a road once was insufficient and in the areas where we had a lot of support we went back again and again and again. Of course, each time the visit was easier because there were less people to call on. There were still some houses in the ward that have received more than a dozen visits in the four campaigns were we still have yet to meet the residents.

We knew which parts of the division we were most likely to find votes but were determined to visit every single house and flat at least once and we achieved this objective by the fourth week of the campaign. This left the final two weeks to concentrate on revisiting the more electorally lucrative areas. In total we put about 600 hours into door knocking.

Nicky was elected in 2010 after a considerable amount of hard work as the Conservative candidate having been selected before the 2005 general election. She was re-elected in 2015 with a comfortable majority and this was, in part, a consequence of the effort that she had put into the constituency. This meant that there was a gradually growing residual Conservative vote which also benefited us in 2015 and 2017.

One of the important techniques we have discovered is to keep an accurate record of our canvassing on a spreadsheet and in both elections this has enabled us to predict the result with a surprising degree of accuracy. In the final week of the campaign we had calculated that we should win, having achieved our objective of finding the same number of pledges as votes at the last county council elections in 2013. We were helped by one of Sharps fellow Labour councillors incautiously saying he thought Ted was going to win. We therefore politely declined offers of assistance, including one from Nicky, and instead suggested that it was more important to assist in other parts of the town.

We are still unsure about which of the ten tactics were most successful and both the national political situation as well as Nickys local support were clearly important factors. Sharp later claimed to the Leicester Mercury that he saw it coming, said that it has been tough on the doorstep adding: All we have had back at us is Brexit and Bloody Corbyn. He suggested that we cant hide behind it any more. Its a fact Jeremy Corbyn has had a negative impact on us in this campaign.

Sharps observation about the Corbyn effect was undoubtedly true but it does not completely explain why the Labour vote dropped by 342 votes and the Conservative vote  even after losing a favourable district increased by 408 votes.

A noticeable number of voters mentioned Corbyn as their reason for not voting Labour but it was also the case that a similar number  and especially amongst older women  mentioned how much they admired the Prime Minister, Theresa May, and several remarked that shes one of us. Corbyn and May definitely had a respective push-pull effect on the electorate.

What was also apparent from the results is that simple leafleting may not have a great deal of impact. The extreme right-wing British Democrats had also decided to run a candidate in the division and it distributed three different professional and well-written leaflets across the division  16,500 in total  but it only succeeded in attracting 30 votes. This suggests that it was generating one vote for every 550 leaflets. We were more selective and most electors only saw the election address, our regular newsletter and leaflets tailored to identify issues specific to an area. The latter tactic usually worked although one resident, when told that speeding cars was a key local issue responded: Yea  the new Audi, its really fast!

There is a limit to what any candidate can do because of the overwhelming effect of national political opinion but what we believe we have achieved in winning what one local journalist called a big scalp was to demonstrate that the use of fine-tuned campaign techniques coupled with hard work and rigorous statistical analysis can win enough extra votes to achieve a victory in an ostensibly safe Labour area.

The only downside of having run a successful campaign is that three constituencies have now asked for advice about how to defeat their Labour candidates at the forthcoming general election.
 Flash

It is scorching hot on Made Island in Myanmar (formerly Burma) in southeast Asia. U Hla Tun, a 55-year-old Ywama village native, is seeking respite sitting on his reclining chair in front of his shed. He chats with his fellow villagers from time to time, often gazing into the rice paddies on the other side of the dirt road.

U Hla Tun is one of the villagers whose farmland was confiscated for the construction of the Myanmar-China Oil Pipeline, an oil transport route starting from secluded Made Island and stretching all the way to Yunnan Province of China.

He was offered more than US$30,000 (in comparison to Burmese per capita income that stands at US$702 according to United Nations Development Program) as compensation for his loss of his two acres of land when the project began in 2010. He put the money into banks while working on remaining land that provides sufficient food for him and his wife.

"I often take care of the water purification facility here and drive away drunkards who sometimes accidentally break its windows," he told China.org.cn on May 3, pointing at a brick structure standing opposite his shed.

The water-cleaning facility is one of the public projects the pipeline company built to meet local needs. The oil pipeline, built by the joint venture South-East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Co. Ltd., is owned by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) holding a 50.9 percent stake and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) the remainder.

The Myanmar-China oil pipeline on Made Island in Myanmar on May 3. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn]

The Myanmar-China Oil Pipeline starting from Made Island in Kyaukpyu of West Myanmar, crosses four states before entering Yunnan Province. Construction on the 771-kilometer pipeline began in 2010 and was completed in 2015. It formally began operation on April 10 this year, when a 140,000-MT oil tanker offloaded its crude oil at the island port.

The pipeline has a designed transmission capacity of 22 million tons of crude oil per year, with Myanmar taking two million tons for its own needs.

A similar pipeline, known as the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline, runs parallel to the oil route. The 793-kilometer pipeline began operation in 2015 with a designed annual transmission capacity of 12 billion cubic meters, one-sixth of which can be retained by Myanmar.

The twin pipelines are part of the Belt and Road infrastructure and trade cooperation framework that China proposed in 2013 to connect Asia, Europe, Africa as well as the rest of the world.

The two pipelines are widely seen as allowing China to diversify its energy supply routes - mostly traversing the sea  but Jiang Changliang, president of CNPC South-East Asia Pipeline Company Ltd (SEAP), is convinced it is far more than that.

"The gas pipeline has already become a key energy artery for Myanmar and the oil pipeline will play an increasingly important role for the country in the near future," he told China.org.cn on May 3, "The two pipelines help bring China and Myanmar closer."
At last, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn! Nothing could be drearier, in these election diaries, than continually to reinforce the received wisdom that he is a total disaster.

In Newport West, held by Paul Flynn for Labour with a majority of 3,510 over the Conservatives, a 37-year-old woman who works part-time as a teaching assistant said: Ill be voting for Corbyn, I will, because at least he has some morals in him.

He wants to do good for people over making rich people richer. Well vote Corbyn. I like Corbyn. They say hes a terrorist  all the media bullshit  just because he doesnt want war doesnt mean hes a terrorist.

Other people believe media hype. I never ever bother to read these newspapers. If I run out of toilet roll theyd be useful.

As for Theresa May, do you remember the evil rabbit in Watership Down? She looks the spitting image. Even the teeth-marks.

With this, the woman swept into a pub in Commercial Street. She had earlier got annoyed after being tapped lightly on the back of her foot by a pushchair propelled by a young woman of Asian descent, who at once apologised for the collision.

An unemployed 39-year-old man who arrived in Wales 16 years ago from Bangladesh, and worked in the IG television factory in Newport which has now closed, said he voted Conservative in 2010 and 2015, but now intends to vote Labour: Jeremy Corbyn I think is a nice and soft leader.

ConHome: By soft do you mean gentle?

The speaker: Yes, gentle.

ConHome: Could anything persuade you to prefer Theresa Mays strong and stable leadership?

The speaker: I dont know. I dont think so.

Flynn, who has represented Newport at Westminster since 1987 and is 82 years old, likewise received some favourable mentions. An 18-year-old said with a smile he had visited her school: Yes, Ive met him. Hes lovely. Hes so cute.

But Corbyn supporters in Newport are outweighed by non-voters, some of whom feel a bit guilty about not going to the polls. As as 60-year-old woman put it: My mother, God rest her soul up there, shed kill me for not voting.

These non-voters do not, generally speaking, show up in opinion polls. They present, however, a considerable challenge to anyone who believes our political system commands general consent.

A number of people refused to discuss politics at all, and appeared to indicate they would feel compromised by having anything to do with such a grubby subject. Two men from Afghanistan, who arrived in Britain eight and three years ago respectively, conversed with each other in Pashto, but indicated that their English was not good enough to discuss the election.

Ken James, 61, who has worked for most of his life as an industrial cleaner, was sitting on a bench overlooking the muddy waters of the River Usk, which flows through the middle of Newport on its way to the Severn Estuary. He said: To be honest I havent voted since I was 18. In 1974 I voted for the Liberals, believe it or not.

I think it goes back to my father. He always said there are two groups of people you cant trust. One is the police and the other is politicians.

Ive been unemployed now for two years. Perhaps you can understand now why I despise politicians. I left school at 15, I signed on at the age of 59, I missed an appointment with a work adviser, it totally slipped my mind, and I had three months of sanctions [withdrawal of benefit] because of that.

All the years I worked, paid income tax and national insurance, to be treated like that, to me is absolutely disgusting. I lost my flat because of it.

He has since managed to get another flat, but does not see why MPs, who say their main motive is to help people, should be paid anything like as much as 74,000 a year: If they worked in a factory 40 hours or more a week they wouldnt be paid that kind of money. Thats directors wages, basically.

James is distressed that in the middle of Newport, you see young people kipping in doorways. Several people commented on this, including a shop assistant who said she sees these rough sleepers every morning when she comes into work.

She complained that potential customers for her shop are being put off coming to Newport by the sight of young people sprawled on the pavement, and went on: Cant they support the homeless in a more structured way?

If the Conservatives are to win a landslide general election victory, they will need to take places in Wales such as Newport West, where 6,466 people voted in 2015 for UKIP, almost twice the size of Flynns majority.

Who knows what will happen during the campaign, but Labour has just managed to retain control of Newport City Council in the local elections, and these conversations show no sign as yet of a tide flowing from either Labour or UKIP to the Conservatives, whose candidate is Angela Jones-Evans.

There are certainly Conservative voters here, but those I met, such as 81-year-old Michael Hooper, have long been loyal to the party.

A woman sitting on a bench in Commercial Street, much of which is pedestrianised, said: I wont be voting. I think it doesnt matter who gets in. Theres too much corruption in all the parties. I want to know when theyre going to start doing something about the paedophile ring.

Soon after talking to her, I came upon an inscription on the steps leading down from Friars Walk, a handsome new shopping centre, towards the footbridge over the River Usk, built in 2004 and ingeniously supported by steel cables attached to two enormous masts.

The inscription records the six points of the Peoples Charter, issued in 1838, which include A vote for every man, and Annual Parliaments, so MPs can no longer defy and betray their constituents as now.

This in turn commemorates the disastrous Newport Uprising of 1839, when an angry crowd of Chartists marched on Newport, where they believed some of their fellow campaigners had been taken prisoner. Troops opened fire, and about 22 of the Chartists were killed.

When I pointed out this inscription to a 34-year-old delivery driver who was sitting in such a way as to obscure a few words of it, he said in a jaunty tone: I think its just there for show. I dont think anyone pays any attention to it. I dont pay any attention to politics. I think its all crap.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Following the investigation of the Alice Street blaze which took place Monday, May 8, the Cornwall Fire Department revealed the cause of the blaze was careless use of smoking articles.

Emergency responders were on the scene around 11 p.m. at the second-floor apartment building, where the resident self-evacuated through the balcony. Paramedics treated the resident, who was treated and released in stable condition.

Deputy Fire Chief, Bruce Donig says that while the fire department has finalized their investigation, the report has not yet been finalized.

We dont have a monetary value of the damage yet, but the damage to the top unit was fairly extensive, said Donig. It appears that the contents were a total loss.

According to onlookers, firefighters had to demolish the apartments roof and walls to ensure the fire was fully extinguished.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Environment Canada is reporting that frost is likely in store for most of Cornwall and SD&G tonight.

Temperatures are expected to dip to near the zero degree mark under partly cloudy skies overnight though Wednesday morning, reads the advisory from Environment Canada.

It is recommended that any outdoor plants be brought in or covered if possible.

Environment Canada states that it issues frost advisories when temperatures dip below zero during the growing season because damage to crops and outdoor plants is a possibility.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Cornwall City Council learned more about the Vibrant Communities of Canada Charter, a movement dedicated to reducing poverty in Canadian communities.

The City of Cornwall signed the Charter on Dec. 12, 2016. Alex de Wit, the Executive Director of the Social Development Council (SDC), explained the charter and how the City could pursue those values.

In his presentation, de Wit explained that the Charter is a creation of the Tamarack Institute for Communities with support from the province and the federal government.

Every Canadian benefits when poverty is reduced; therefore, everyone has a role to play in poverty reduction. Communities play a critical role in poverty reduction, de Wit read from an excerpt of the Charter.

de Wit explained that by signing the Charter, the city committed to significantly reduce poverty in its jurisdiction.

One of the commitments of the Charter is the establishment of a multi-sector leadership poverty reduction round table. de Wit pointed out that the SDC already had a prototype for a nascent poverty round table in its Poverty Working Group, but pointed out that currently there is no representation from City staff or council on that committee.

The Mayor committed to meeting with de Wit privately to discuss exactly what a round table of this nature would require from any member of council or staff who participate.

The starting point is always the community round table and from there it goes in the general direction the community wants to go in, explained de Wit.

de Wit said that having community partners invested in the issue would give the round table a better picture of what poverty in Cornwall looks like.

We are missing businesses, we are missing City staff, police, get a more rounded idea of who is dealing with poverty on the day to day, he said. We are limited by membership and not having those key people on that that other communities have.

Councillor Carilyne Hebert acknowledged the importance for community involvement in this project and felt that poverty was something that needed to be further discussed.

None of Mr. de Witts requests are financial in nature, she said. We have a poverty problem and we dont like talking about it. The least we could do is give them these resources. We have a lot of invisible poverty in our city.

Ultimately, the Mayor agreed to meet with de Witt at a later date to explore City involvement in the SDCs Poverty Working Group.
Emmanuel Macron greets supporters in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, on May 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

France has given its verdict in the historic presidential run-off vote on Sunday. Emmanuel Macron, aged 39, became the youngest head of state since Napoleon Bonaparte more than two centuries ago.

He now faces numerous economic and security challenges.

The former investment banker and finance minister polled 64 percent against the 34 percent of his far right rival Marine Le Pen. He can perhaps be permitted a few moments to relish his tremendous success before getting down to handling the problems.

It is a generational change. Macron is not from the traditional political parties that dominated the political landscape for decades. That is why he was not burdened by the need to use the typical politico-economic nationalism to woo voters. He just talked sense, giving hope and shunning divisive ideas.

His election shows that the gradual drift of Europe and other societies towards radicalism in not inevitable. People are fed up with the traditional ways of politics and the exaggerated promises of power-hungry political magicians. They want change but not necessarily by going back to narrow national narrative, or riding a wave of extreme xenophobia.

Calls to shut the door on immigrants attract some, but not all. Nationalism should not mean hating others. It should be a creative process, raising people to a level where they can enjoy happiness and share it with others.

Some call it globalism. Hence, if it was confrontation between a globalist and traditional nationalist in France, then the former has clearly carried the day.

There is a comparison with Barack Obama. Though not as young as Macron, Obama was able to create hope in people that produced an election result that defied logic. Why would a dominant white majority stand behind a virtually untried colored candidate when men like John McCain were in the running?

The electorate rejected the establishment, as they had already done by preferring Obama to Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

Obama talked about hope and opportunities and got the people on his side. He was elected, but struggled to deliver, hardly able to move out of the hands of the establishment represented by the Pentagon and State Department.

At the end of his eight years, he was not that much different from his predecessors  a degree of economic prosperity and couple of high points on the foreign front, including killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

Macron used same recipe, but in his own style. Can Macron deliver a new, better and safer France over the next five years? It all depends on the choice of policies, selection of a core team of advisors and a mechanism to turn ideas into action. It means changing the "system."

He told an election rally in southern town of Pau that France's progress had been blocked by the "self-serving tendencies of its elite." Now, he has to work with that same elite. If he goes back to the age-old methods of wheeling and dealing, he might be doomed. Outright confrontation could unleash waves of protests on streets. Hence, he will have to find a method for his madness if he wants to make changes that will have long-term impact on the lives of common people.

He has some advantages. First, he has the reputation of being an untiring worker who doesn't need much sleep. His training as a private banker is also helpful. Second, the traditional left and right are in disarray due to the worst defeats in any French election. Therefore, no lethal political encounter should bother him in the first couple of years at least.

His main obstacle is fixing old thinking  rooted in the traditional leftist social model  within the official hierarchy. Whether it is job security or working hours and retirement benefits, the new president will have to reform several sectors. The gradual rise of extremism is another formidable challenge. So far, most countries are trying to address the issue through increased surveillance and targeted actions against sleeper terrorist cells. However, that's like trying to plug the holes in a leaking water storage tank, when the incoming stream is not being checked.

No one is a born extremist or terrorist. There are reasons, some general, others specific, that explain the growth of radicalism. France should look at the "why" factor attracting its citizen towards hate ideologies.

Macron has a chance to change the traditional handling of extremism. If he fails, then no one may be able to stop Marine Le Pen or her ideology in 2022.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
CORNWALL, Ontario  This statement is an update to South Nation Conservations (SNC) Flood Watch: St. Lawrence River issued on May 8, 2017.

South Nation Conservation (SNC) cautions residents along low-lying areas of the St. Lawrence River in the Township of Augusta, Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal, and the Township of South Dundas that water levels will remain high over the next few weeks.

Due to the precipitation and snow melt over the last few weeks, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are at historic water levels. It is expected that St. Lawrence River water levels will remain high over the next week while dams are being operated. The water levels along the St. Lawrence River will depend on the level of Lake Ontario and the outflow of the Moses-Saunders Dam at Cornwall.

According to Rob Caldwell, Canadian Regulation Representative, International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, the Board are hoping to further increase the outflow of the Moses Saunders dam by 200 m3/s this evening. It is expected this will help lower water levels along the upper St. Lawrence from about Cornwall to Iroquois.

Residents are also advised that wind may cause higher waves, further aggravating water levels which may affect structures closer to the shore.

Residents are advised to stay away from watercourses where flows are high and where banks might be unstable. Parents are encouraged to explain these dangers to their children.

Staff will continue to monitor the water levels and weather forecasts as part of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Program and will provide updates in the event conditions change.

The public is encouraged to visit www.nation.on.ca and to also report changes in water-related conditions, soil stress fractures (i.e. cracks in soil), abrupt changes in streambanks, or sudden leaning of trees in their local areas. All feedback and photos can be sent to waterwatch@nation.on.ca, posted on our Facebook page (/SouthNationConservation), or Tweeted to us (@SouthNationCA).

For more information please contact the Flood Duty Officers: Jason Symington at 613-984-2948 ext. 230 or 613-551-8934; or Michael Jones at 613-984-2948 ext. 310 or 613-551-8952.
You are here: Home

 Flash

Moon Jae-in (C) of the liberal Minjoo Party leads media exit polls in South Korea's presidential by-election by a wide margin. [File photo]

Moon Jae-in of the liberal Minjoo Party led media exit polls in South Korea's presidential election by a large margin, an official survey from three local broadcasters showed Tuesday.

Moon came closer to becoming the country's 19th president with 41.4 percent support, beating conservative and centrist rivals by a wide margin.

Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, with which ousted President Park Geun-hye was affiliated, won 23.3 percent support, trailed by Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party garnering 21.8 percent.

Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Righteous Party gained 7.1 percent support, and Sim Sang-jung of the liberal Justice Party had 5.9 percent.

The exit polls were conducted for 13 hours to 7 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) at 330 polling stations with around 89,000 voters. It has 0.8 percentage points in margin of error.

The final turnout was 77.2 percent, or 32,808,377 voters among the electorate of 42,479,710 people. It was higher than the previous election's 75.8 percent in 2012.

An early voting, which was introduced in 2013 and first applied to this year's presidential election, was conducted from May 4 to May 5. The early voting rate was 26.06 percent.

The elected president will have no 70-day transition period as it is the first by-election caused by the removal of former President Park Geun-hye from office over corruption allegations.

The election commission is forecast to declare the winner early Wednesday after completing the vote count.
Editorial

1939-45 Marking the defeat of fascism

Never forget

May 9 was celebrated throughout the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe as Victory Day, the day that commemorates the defeat of Hitlerite Fascism in Berlin in 1945. That day marked the end of a nightmare that for some countries began as early as 1933, when the Nazis won power in Germany.

By 1935, with the tacit co-operation of anti-communist Western powers (notably Britain and France), the Nazis had extended their control to Austria, which was incorporated into the German Reich at the point of a gun. Spain soon followed as did Czechoslovakia.

A world war was in the making, about which British and French imperialism were untroubled. They smugly thought they were the most powerful countries in Europe (perhaps in the world) and they were totally preoccupied with the possibility the war afforded for getting rid of Bolshevism once and for all.

They had no doubt that a rabble of Russian peasants and workers would be no match for the sophisticated civilised military forces of European capitalism, especially if they could persuade Germany to spearhead the assault. They had a cosy vision of Anglo-French forces mopping up after the Russians and the Germans had worn each other out (although they could also live with a German victory, just so those Bolsheviks got their come-uppance).

So, despite then Soviet Foreign Minister Litvinovs strenuous efforts to organise collective security for Europe, Britain and France would have none of it. German occupation of Poland was an essential step before Hitler could invade the USSR, so Poland was abandoned to its fate. The Second World War was off and running. Before it was over it would spread across the world and cause the deaths of tens of millions of people, 26 million of them in the USSR alone.

I was discussing the War with a Moscow schoolteacher friend of mine once and she said to me, with great feeling, about the Nazi advance: You have no idea of the horror that was coming towards us.

The Nazi horror totally consumed what is now the Republic of Belarus, which lost every fourth citizen.

If you visit the Hero City of Leningrad (since the overthrow of socialism in the USSR rechristened St Petersburg) you will still find many memorials to the siege by the Nazis, not least the huge mass graves where those who succumbed to cold and hunger (particularly in 1942) are buried.

The Soviet people bore the brunt of German imperialisms class hatred, so also had to face Germanys best weapons  its biggest, fastest tanks, its biggest guns, its fastest most powerful fighter planes and bombers, and of course by far the greater part of its armies.

Even against Japan, the USSRs Special Red Banner Army of the Far East, stationed in Siberia, kept Japans elite Kwantung Army pinned in China for the duration, unable to be moved south to bolster Japanese forces elsewhere.

But the capitalist world would rather wipe out that it was the Reds who broke the back of Hitlers war machine, that it was the Russian steamroller that crushed his dreams of world domination and brought the edifice of Nazism crashing down in ignominy.

Not content with largely ignoring the War on the Eastern Front (in marked contrast to books, magazines, newspapers and films of the time, which stood in awe of the exploits of the Red Army), many influential sources in the capitalist world today actively denigrate and smear or deny the crucial role of the Soviet Union in WW2.

This is particularly so in areas where the extreme right has gained the ascendancy. In that part of the Ukraine where the anti-Soviet elements are in control, they have actually sunk so low as to erect a memorial to a Wartime SS unit made up of Ukrainian traitors, which fought against the Ukrainian and Soviet people on behalf of Hitler!

Similarly, in Latvia (where the Communist Party is forbidden to use the word Communist and must be content with calling itself the Socialist Party), Soviet war memorials have been destroyed and pro-fascist terrorists honoured instead.

As the current world capitalist depression shows, capitalism as a system is already on its way to the rubbish heap of history. It may take a while yet before it is finally discarded, but discarded it assuredly will be.
1939-35

Marking the defeat of fascism

Julius Fucik remembered

Journalists in various parts of the world remember on September 8 Julius Fucik, the fighter against fascism, the teacher and the journalist crusader who was murdered by the fascists on that day in 1943. He left behind a global legacy  the famous Report from the Gallows, since his death translated from Czech into a number of other languages.

There are schools of journalism, roads, streets and factories named after him as a man who fought against fascism but also gave journalism an ideological content.

It goes to his credit that while in countries such as Australia awards are given in the name of press barons who, in their own words, could even commit murder for profit, here was a journalist for whom the world was seen as a call to action. To quote Fucik himself: A hero is a person who at a decisive moment gives everything in order to do what should be done in the interest of the society.

It would be more than correct to say that even when his physical space as an editor was confined within prison under the threat of the executioners guillotine, Fucik was able to look far ahead, far beyond the frontiers of his life. Indeed, journalism to him was very passionate and purposeful as well, without illusions of the most modern day scribes of being great newsmakers. It was on the contrary an artistic instrument calling for action.

September 8, 1943 was the day of a decisive victory over the German fascists in the battle at Kursk. It thus became a day of foreboding of the impending capitulation of fascism. For some, however, it was a day of deep sorrow as on the same day the Nazi executioners dragged Fucik from his cell and executed him.

Referring to his teachings, he once said that there is nothing known as a neutral journalist, a journalist who stands above everything. Of course, those were not the days of market-driven journalists, who could become political and ideological turncoats, daily changing sides for money and power. To him, anyone opting for this profession has to exercise it as a vital calling, to make an ideological choice, and learn to seek and recognise the new.

As he puts it: A good reportage consists of small specific facts, facts that are diverse which are in no case isolated exceptions. Only from them can one create a living and faithful picture of people and events, an image that we call reportage. Usually there is no lack of such small typical events, but it is necessary to single them out of the grey monotony of everyday materials.

If we want to properly judge a reporter, we must evaluate him not only according to the way he writes, but also the way he sees. On a visit to the Soviet Union after scrutinising one paper in depth, he made what has become a motto: Show me the newspapers of your country then I will tell you what the situation in your country is.

The fascist occupation of Prague marked the beginning of the most difficult test in his life. In the summer of 1942 he was arrested and brutally tortured. Every trick was tried to break him and to force him to betray his comrades. Then began the last period of his life when he wrote his greatest piece, Report from the Gallows.

Each of its papers bared evidence of not only his horrific experiences but also the methods of torture used by the enemy. One also got flashes about those who betrayed and those who withstood the trials. He also explained why he had embarked on such a difficult struggle with all its hardship. He observed: We lived for joy and for joy we are dying. Therefore never let sorrows be associated with your names.

Another aspect of Fuciks intellectual greatness was his refusal to slot people simply into categories of good and evil. He made a request to his readership: You, who will survive this time do not forget the good or the bad. Patiently gather evidence about the fallen. One day, today will be the past, there will be talk about a great age and about nameless heroes who created history. I want you to know that there were no nameless heroes. They all had their names, their faces, their longings and their hopes.

In present times, the onslaught of global capitalism has made the likes of Rupert Murdoch a hero. Mafia dons sit in the houses of the people and genocide takes place in a variety of forms as evident in the wars on Iraq, Libya, Syria  embedded journalism is the buzzword. It is in such adverse circumstances that names such as Julius Fucik have a significant place in the history of progressive and democratic journalism.

The anniversary of Julius Fuciks death is still, for many, a day to express human solidarity and determination to defend life against death. It is a moment to defend peace with his famous, historic appeal: People I love you. Be on your guard  an inspiring legacy for progressive democratic journalism. As he states in the preface to his book: I have seen the film of my life a hundred times, in thousands of details.

Now I shall attempt to set it down. If the hangmans noose strangles before I finish, millions remain to write its happy ending. He says in the end, We always reckoned with death. We knew that falling into Gestapo hands meant the end. And we acted accordingly, both in our own souls and in relation to others, even after being caught. My own play draws near its end. I cant write that end, for I dont yet know what it will be.

This is no longer a play. This is life. In real life there are no spectators: you all participate in life. The curtain rises on the last act. I loved you all, friends. Be on guard!

It was a call to be on guard against fascism in a variety of forms and guises. It is still visible in many parts of the world today.

Peoples Democracy, Communist Party of India (M)
Youth justice report highlights abuses

An independent investigation by Professor Megan Davis and Kathryn McMillan into Queenslands youth justice system has recommended an overhaul of the approach of punishing vulnerable children and instead working with communities to help young people.

The Queensland Independent Review of Youth Detention was announced last August, after Amnesty International exposed allegations of abuse in detention, including the use of dogs against children, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The report highlights serious abuses of children in Queensland youth detention and recommends a less punitive approach to dealing with children in the justice system. It recommends not using security dogs to discipline children, ensuring children are not physically restrained unless it is a last resort, better mental health support and limiting the use of solitary confinement.

It recommends the government consider justice reinvestment collaborations between existing community-based services and the Youth Justice Department. This is an approach where people and families going through difficult times are supported so they dont offend in the first place.

It also recommends that Indigenous organisations play a key role in stakeholder consultation around the issue of 17-year-olds in detention. Indigenous children are 28 times more likely to be detained in Queensland than other children.

Amnesty Indigenous rights campaigner Roxanne Moore welcomed the governments pledge to accept, in principle, all 83 recommendations and promise of $6.2 million for youth justice.

These are investments in young peoples futures to stop them re-offending. Now we need to see a time frame for these recommendations to be implemented promptly, she said. Solutions recommended in the report include investing in community-based wrap-around services to address the causes of young peoples offending.

In particular, Indigenous children need culturally specific support, Moore said.

Thats why this government must invest in innovative healing programs run by Indigenous leaders, which see outstanding success in keeping kids out of detention and with their families.

Programs

Moore said successful programs included the Red Dust healing program in Townsville and the Mona horsemanship program in Mount Isa, which are seeing impressive results in connecting with Indigenous children and keeping them in their communities.

The Queensland government came under fire for censoring the report with hundreds of pages fully or partially redacted (blacked out). Queensland Attorney-General Yvette DAth refused to say whether any children were hogtied in the states youth detention centres and defended a decision to redact large parts of the report, which she says was done on the advice of crown lawyers to avoid identifying minors.

DAth refused to comment on pictures in the report that allegedly showed children tied up. Im not going to start talking about the photos that are in (the report). That defeats the purpose of redacting them, she said.

However, she said one of the recommendations was to ensure staff were made aware of the proper procedure when youth had to be ground stabilised. We need to make sure that the staff are properly trained as to when restraints can be used, we need to make sure that when those incidents occur they are properly reported, and if there are any complaints they are properly investigated, DAth said.

It appears even the reports authors intended for its contents to be made public, with a disclaimer in the introduction warning of graphic images and case studies, all of which were redacted.

Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls slammed the redacting of the report.

Page 154 of the report ... talks about capacity concerns in youth detention in relation to the Premiers plan to move 17-year-olds into youth detention, Nicholls said. But simple statistics have been blacked out so nobody can see what the report says is a sobering statistical prediction.

The review was ordered following the emergence of footage of young detainees being allegedly mistreated, including one case in which a 17-year-old boy was restrained by five adults, stripped and left in that state for an hour.

DAth said the government had accepted all 83 of the report recommendations, and had begun to implement many of them before its release.

Koori Mail
Art as transformation

On April 20, the Communist Party of Australia (WA Branch) held a Politics in the Pub on the theme of Arts under Socialism. The event was chaired by Lorena Trigo.

The arts are an underrated topic in the discussion of societal transition and change in a capitalist society where the arts are often seen as a commodity to be used to express support and a mirror to reflect society without engaging in a reflection or criticism of the prevailing society.

The first speaker was Dr Christopher Crouch, a socialist and arts academic, who said that under a capitalist society all relationships had been reduced to economic relationships - what we can get for ourselves and what we can get from others. We had become alienated under this economic system where there is a material basis for our existence, he said. Culture, continued Crouch, is made to sit atop of our existence instead of being drawn into our material conditions.

However, our lives were too important to leave to the market and art instead should be used to offer a reflection and criticism of the social and economic forces which affect our lives. If we have no means to make sense or criticise the order of the world which often weighs us down we often feel powerless and it affects our being in the world and our relationships with other people.

We strive, observed Crouch, to have the freedom to act for our own good and for the good of others  the quest for individual autonomy and (ethical) agency helps to empower us and challenge the system.

As such, under socialism we would go beyond the manner in which capital measures or evaluates us like other commodities and instead art and culture can become transformative.

However, for art to be transformative of people, education needs to be available for people to learn artistic skills and be appreciative of the possibilities the arts have in enriching our communal lives. Crouch also suggested there needed to be a diversity of arts and culture, as a mono culture is dangerous just like mono agriculture and can lead to malnourishment of the soul. There was a saturation of bad art at the moment, he concluded, a saturation of superheroes evident in the culture industry of the West-Hollywood responding to the sense of powerless felt by many people in the world as events today threaten to overwhelm people: but that this formulaic art mostly addresses the symptoms rather than the cause.

The second speaker Olga Cironis  a community artist  continued with the discussion on the dangers of mono-culture in particular in the West where the need for spectacle and distraction is needed to keep people compliant.

Education was needed to develop artistic knowledge and skills. However, as education was becoming more a privilege than a right, those who developed artistic skills tended to be those with wealth and privilege, which usually meant being white and male.

The final speaker was Pilar Kasat, a former Director of Community Arts Network in Western Australia who gave an insight into the funding of the arts generally in Australia and especially the Australian Arts Council. Kasat said that owing to the way the arts are funded and run in Australia, the majority of the arts grants (85 percent) were received by performing arts companies while community arts received very little. Kasat gave a number of examples of how the community arts projects he had been involved with had produced transformative results for those individuals and communities who had engaged with these projects. This included a group of Noongar women in Narrogin in the south west of WA  members of the Stolen Generations  who made a series of symbolic dolls which were curated in an exhibition that has toured the world and were later displayed in the National Gallery in Canberra.

A lively Q&A followed the informative presentation by the three speakers and gave them an opportunity to expand on their earlier contributions. Dr Crouch spoke on the Communist Party of Australias draft policy on the arts which was warmly received.
Savage Fairfax sackings reflect big media changes

Last week staff of Fairfax Media went on strike for seven days over the companys decision to sack 115 employees. As Sydney Morning Herald journalist Marcus Strom stated on ABC TV, the sackings were announced with very little notice, and staff had no opportunity to discuss alternative approaches or make preparations for finding other employment.

The immediate effect is that the quality of Fairfax news coverage is likely to deteriorate, because most of those given notice are journalists.

The sackings reflect big changes in the commercial mass media, particularly the arrival of digital news broadcasting. Fairfax has announced that it intends to cut editorial management, video, presentation and section writer positions. The company says the sackings are necessary because it needs to cut costs by $30 million, and that its revenue had fallen 6 percent in the first 17 weeks of this year.

Theres certainly no shortage of demand for Fairfax publications. The number of digital subscribers to The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Financial Review now exceeds 226,000 and continues to grow.

The revenue from Fairfax real estate publication Domain has risen by 18 percent this financial year. However, overall revenue has fallen because more and more Fairfax customers are turning to its digital media news coverage, whose production costs are much lower than those of hard copy newspapers.

For the Fairfax Metro Media business, the digital and print audience has risen to 8.9 million, but revenue fell by 11 percent in the first 17 weeks of the year. Likewise, Fairfax regional publications audiences reached 3.7 million but revenue fell 11 percent, while Fairfaxs New Zealand Media now has an audience of 3.5 million but revenue there fell by 3 percent.

If these figures are a reliable guide Fairfax and other news publishers are likely to turn increasingly to digital publication, and if newspaper publication continues at all it will become a very small operation catering for a niche market of customers willing to pay far higher prices than at present.

But that alone is not sufficient to explain the sackings, because even a digital publication needs journalists to write its articles. The most probable reason for the sackings is that Fairfax management is preparing to use to an ever-increasing degree digital applications which provide journalists with standard copy, thereby allowing the corporation to cut the number of journalists it employs.

The slashing of positions will occur in other professions as well, including engineering, the law and accountancy, where professional digital applications are appearing or are already in use.

The big media shake-up

Much of the reason for the financial problems of Australian commercial broadcasters lies in the availability of alternative digital media outlets such as ABC iView, SBS On Demand and Skynews, as well as viewer competition from other commercial TV channels and the ABC.

Channel 10s recently-declared $232 million loss may account for the governments decision to replace current licence fees for TV free-to-air broadcasters, which earn the government $130 million, with a system of spectrum fees for digital as well as free-to-air broadcasters, which will bring the government a mere $40 million annually.

In the same week that the government stripped more than $27 billion from school funding, federal Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield made no secret of where his sympathies lie. He declared that the governments intention was to ensure that commercial TV is stronger and more viable, even if that meant. a loss of $90 million in licence fees for the government and taxpayers.

And now even more change is underway, because the Fairfax sackings have made it an attractive target for takeover bids. US private equity group TPG is in pre-bid discussions with Fairfax management. If it makes a bid, and it almost certainly will, it will have a good chance of success.

TPG proposes to split up the Fairfax business into separate organisations. Given its performance to date, the Foreign Investment Review Board is likely to give the bid its blessing and if TPG succeeds, the editorial position of the Fairfax newspapers is certain to swing to the political right  that is, if TPG doesnt just asset strip the company.

The struggle for the truth

In the 18th century, before the advent of radio and TV, the press was described as the fourth estate, because its power rivalled that of the parliament, the government or the judiciary. Although the power of the press itself has declined, the power of the media overall is even stronger than that of the press in earlier centuries.

Fairfax Media is not the only media organisation cutting staff. Rupert Murdochs News Corporation, which publishes The Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, has also announced plans to cut costs by $40 million, a move that will doubtless involve the loss of staff positions.

However, Murdoch will undoubtedly continue to fund The Australian, even if it continues to make a loss, because it enables him to exert tremendous political influence. If Fairfax ceased producing newspapers, the print media in Australia would be dominated by right-wing publications, of which Murdochs are the most powerful and ruthless.

Murdochs publications are already notorious for their scant regard for truth. They frequently rely on smear and innuendo, and sometimes on blatant untruths, in support of the causes they support, for example the repression of unions or the defence of the fossil fuel industries and the denial of climate change.

At the moment, however, they are constrained in their use of outright lies because of the existence of rival publications with greater veracity and a better political position, including the Fairfax papers, The Saturday Paper and the Australian version of the British paper The Guardian.

But that would change if the companies that produced those publications ceased newspaper production, leaving that area of the media in the tender hands of News Corporation.

More power in fewer hands

The government also wants to abolish the 2 out of 3 rule, under which media barons are not allowed to operate newspaper, radio and TV companies in any Australian state or territory.

That would produce a highly dangerous political environment. The commercial mass media is already under the direct or indirect control of very reactionary political forces, but social media provides an additional threat. An increasing percentage of the population now derives its news from Facebook, which is even more notorious than the Murdoch publications in terms of the accuracy of its news coverage.

The quest of media barons to cut costs is also having a drastic impact on the reliability of their news coverage. As the ABC TV program Mediawatch has pointed out, newspaper, radio or TV news editors frequently republish totally phoney social media news items. Hard-pressed editorial staff are not able, or are not encouraged to check whether they are genuine.

Fake news items are often placed on the internet as a prank, but they can have serious political repercussions. That was demonstrated in the recent US presidential elections, where some voters were influenced to vote for Donald Trump, not just as a result of his fear mongering about Muslims, or his empty promises of a revival of rustbucket industries, but on the basis of highly-questionable stories circulated on social media concerning his rivals.

Trump also attacked many of the more reliable news organisations which had criticised him before his election. He accused them of producing fake news, and heaped praise on sensational US tabloids which had supported him.

The current threats to accurate news coverage recently prompted the editor of the UK Guardian to write:

I think we have to face up to the prospect that for the first time since the Enlightenment you are going to have major cities in the UK and western democracies without any kind of verifiable source of news. That hasnt happened for 200-300 years and I think it is going to have very profound implications.

The media changes within Australia will undoubtedly result in a reduction in the quality and diversity of the media because of a concentration of power in the hands of a smaller and smaller group of news corporations.

That tendency will be exacerbated by the continuing attacks on the ABC, aimed at weakening its objectivity, limiting its news and current affairs coverage and offering a mouthpiece for right wing political forces.

The commercial mass media is committed to defending and perpetuating capitalism, a political economic system which in essence involves paying workers as little as possible for the value they create, and maximising their hours of work.

But the world now faces insidious new media conditions which could limit the ability of working people to win better conditions from the system, and to protect themselves in an era of multiple threats to human civilisation.
Seeing Guernica with clear eyes

Danny Watt took me to see Guernica when it was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the spring of 1959. It was a natural for Danny because his father was George Watt, a beloved veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who had fought as a volunteer against Franco fascism in Spain.

Danny, who had grown up in a cramped apartment on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx had come to visit us on our dairy farm in Sequim, Washington. Breathing the clean, fresh air of Clallam County, gazing at the snow-capped Olympic Mountains, had been a marvellous experience for Danny and now he was returning the favour, showing off his home town to me.

I had come down to New York City from Amherst College where I was a freshman suffering agonies of homesickness, failing the required Math-Science course.

The two hours I spent sitting on that museum bench looking at Guernica was the most instructive moment of that visit. It is a very large painting, a very black and white canvas, a very stark and unforgiving image of murderous Nazi mutilation.

It is also a highly symbolic painting and the symbols are mystifying. There is the bull standing near the centre of the canvas, his mouth open, his tongue out, as if frozen by the horror that surrounds him. Just beneath him is a mother, her head thrown back, holding the remains of her dismembered child. There is a long corpse lying flat along the bottom of the canvas. A horse, also disembowelled, has his head thrown straight up, screaming. The canvas is covered with a confused mass of body parts  as if a bomb, or more than one, has torn life itself into shreds.

Flying in the open door, her eyes full of anguish, her arm outstretched toward the bull, is a woman holding a lamp.

This is Pablo Picassos rendering of the genocidal crimes of Hitlers Condor Legion in its carpet bombing of the Basque city of Guernica, April 26, 1937. The Basque government reported that 1,564 women, children and men died in this totally unprovoked attack on an undefended city.

Picassos painting became a symbol of the struggle against fascism and imperialist war.

The mural-sized painting was first exhibited in Paris then taken on a brief world-wide tour before ending up at the Museum of Modern Art. Picasso had made clear the painting was not to be delivered to Spain until after democracy was restored to that tortured nation. When Franco died and the fascist dictatorship was abolished, Guernica was sent to Spain. It is now exhibited at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. [On September 10, 1981 Guernica was received by Spain after four decades of refugee existence.]

In the autumn of 1963, I returned to Amherst College with my wife Joyce and our infant son, Morgan. A classmate, Dick Stein, lived upstairs from our off-campus apartment. He and his partner, Carole, became close friends.

As I was trying to decide what courses to take, Dick suggested Dr Frank Trapps Art History course. He had high praise for Trapp. He had taken one of Trapps courses and was signing up for another one. I took his advice.

Trapps method was to project slides of paintings, drawings, statues, and architectural masterpieces on a giant screen and then talk about them. He was a marvellous teacher with deep insights into the meaning of the art he lectured about.

Trapp was lecturing on great art of the 20th Century offering insights into the genius of the French Impressionists, the post-Impressionists, the Expressionists, up to the period of modern, non-objective art.

Then one day, he flashed on the screen Guernica, full size.

He began to speak about the painting: the chaos, the disembowelled body parts flung on the canvas, the grim black, white, and grey colour scheme, Picassos refusal to give us any refuge in a well-ordered, easily understood reality.

Trapp argued that the bull symbolised the vicious brutality of the bombing attack, the face of fascism. The bull had charged into the room wreaking havoc, goring men, women and children left and right, leaving the dead and dying all around him.

I raised my hand. No, no, I said. That cant be right. There is no way Picasso would surrender the bull, a symbol of Spain, to the fascists. No. The bull is standing in the midst of the carnage, frozen, unable to act. He is a symbol of the Spanish people, confused by the mass destruction around him but also enraged, his tongue out, bellowing with anger. And see to the right, flying in the window, is a woman holding a lamp, the spirit of enlightenment. She is trying to reach the bull to bring understanding. It is Picassos message that once the woman with the lamp reaches the masses of the people  represented by the bull  then you have an invincible force that will defeat the fascists.

As I spoke, I heard Trapp in the darkened auditorium exclaiming, Yes! Yes! You are right. I see it now!

When the class was over, Dick and I walked back to our apartments together. That was great, Tim. Your interpretation of Guernica was a real eye opener.

That was a high point of my years at Amherst College. Learning to see Guernica through clear eyes, understanding what the great Pablo Picasso was telling us about the struggle to defeat fascism. I have carried that lesson with me my entire life.

Peoples World
Security News

RedLock Raises $12M, Intros A New Cloud Security Solution To The Channel

Sarah Kuranda

Share this

RedLock on Tuesday announced a 100 percent channel strategy and a cloud security solution that looks to provide visibility, monitoring, and control over public cloud infrastructure.

The company has also raised a $12 million Series A funding round, led by Sierra Ventures and Storm Ventures.

RedLock was created by CEO Varun Badhwar, a co-founder of cloud access security brokerage company, CipherCloud. The company's RedLock Cloud 360 platform offers a new way for companies to see what is inside of their cloud infrastructure, providing a common control point for workload discovery, continuous monitoring, and cloud forensics. Companies can use the solution to detect anomalies, do risk scoring, compliance reporting, and view and set security controls.

[Related: The 20 Coolest Cloud Security Vendors Of The 2017 Cloud 100]

The startup, based in Menlo Park, Calif., has already seen traction for its solution. RedLock was a finalist in this year's RSA Innovation Sandbox startup contest.

In an interview with CRN, Badhwar said that the early interest in RedLock signals growing security concerns as more customers move to the cloud. "Our technology, for the first time, allows organizations to get a complete and true picture of their usage and risk associated with public cloud infrastructure," Badhwar said.

The solution gathers data from 50 to 100 different API sources, Badhwar said, ingesting the raw data on configurations, network traffic, and developer and user activity and enriching it with its own threat feeds and machine learning. From there, RedLock creates a product risk map, where customers can get a visual depiction of their environments, including workloads deployed, changes being made, and more.

Robi Papp, managing partner at San Francisco, Calif.-based AvantGarde Partners, said security is one of the biggest concerns for customers moving to the cloud. He said the visibility and visualization of cloud environments that RedLock provides helps customers feel more comfortable and secure with their move to the cloud, as well as meet contractual obligations around cloud security.

"Its a very powerful proof-of-concept and [provides] immediate value when customers see it," Papp said. "A lot of companies, especially the older organizations moving to the cloud, they have security organizations that they need to maintain. That's been missing in AWS and Azure. They are used to having a certain level of security and a certain framework. What RedLock does is allow them to feel more comfortable when they move to the cloud."

"The cloud is here to stay," he said. "We look at it as a growth opportunity. We don't want to sell network equipment or storage. Since our clients have concerns around security, especially in the cloud, it's an area we want to concentrate on."

RedLock is coming to market with a 100-percent channel strategy. Badhwar said the company has already signed up a handful of partners, who have already sourced and closed deals. He said RedLock would launch an official channel program shortly. Badhwar said RedLock is focused on recruiting regional security VARs, though will also look to add some cloud implementation partners and managed service providers.

That focus on the channel is important, AvantGarde's Papp said. "I like when they are 100 percent channel. It just shows that there's not potential conflict."

While some of RedLock's new funding will go towards product investments, Badhwar said the focus of the funding would be on building out the company's go-to-market through the channel. That includes enhancing the product so it is zero-touch, making the company easier to work with for partners, and raising the awareness of the importance of the company's technology.

"I think a lot of this awareness around the problem and the extent of the problem, most importantly. Then, we will be building the machine that can go fulfill that demand that will hopefully come very soon with the launch," Badhwar said.
Storage News

Dell EMC World: Enterprise Sales Chief Scannell Says Partners Are Booting Competitors, Winning Big Deals Amid Huge Market Opportunity

Matt Brown

Share this

Global Enterprise Sales President Bill Scannell is ready to bring Dell EMC channel partners into an all-out enterprise sales street fight, and he likes their chances.

"I've never seen in my 32 years with this company the amount of market opportunity that's out there," Scannell told about 4,000 partners gathered for the Global Partner Summit at Dell EMC World in Las Vegas.

Scannell referenced a recent storage deal won by solution provider Insight that tipped the scales at $133 million for a single order. "That was a relatively new customer for Dell EMC, it was under-penetrated," Scannel said.

[Related: Dell EMC World 2017]

"We replaced 32 petabytes of 3Par storage because it just doesn't work. We have great technology that works really well together. We can deliver deployments for these customers doing transformations better than anyone else.

"I have, in any given market, anywhere in the world, 30 to 32 percent market share at best. There's 70 percent opportunity that we have to win together. We'll help you find those opportunities, and we'll work very aggressively with you to help you win those. Our win rate is going up. We haven't seen win rates like we did in Q1, and we're on a really strong pace for Q2."

The Insight deal was one of several significant partner wins highlighted by Channel Chief John Byrne. These include a $5 million storage deal won by NCS; a $20 million server deal won by Computer Center; a $32 million storage deal won by WWT; a $55 million storage deal won by Bechtle; and a $53 million deal won by Megaplus in Pakistan, thought to be the largest private-sector tech deal ever closed in that country.

"The customers love our messaging," Scannell said. "Only Dell Technologies can bring it all together. There's no other company that has the breadth of portfolio that we have. Increasingly, customers want to do business with fewer companies. As Dell Technologies, we can sit down with any customers and talk to them about the opportunity that's in front of them and in front of us working with our partner ecosystem to win, and win big."

That message is certainly resonating with solution providers, said Patrick Fettuccia, senior vice president of business management at Rolta Advizex, a Burlington, Mass.-based solution provider that works with Dell EMC. "About 60 percent of our registrations coming in are net-new business. It's new business, and it's our traditional customers expanding. It's market segment specific. Health care providers, we're seeing a lot of growth there, and public sector is on fire too."

Fettuccia added that he's optimistic about his company's ability to spur growth across the entire Dell EMC portfolio. "We're a long-time EMC partner, and Dell is new to us. We've always been a strong enterprise player in the storage space, so what's really exciting to us now is the compute side. To hear Billy talking about the focus on enterprise and being in there working together is great."

Ryan Heiden, the principal systems engineer at RoundTower Technologies, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based solution provider that works with Dell EMC, as well as several other major vendors, said Dell EMC seems to be hitting the right buttons for growth in the channel.

"The sky's the limit," Heiden said. "We're growing like gangbusters, and I'm sure the Dell portfolio we sell will probably grow at the same rate. The technology is coming out, and partners have the ability to reach into different areas and bundle deals together with multiple technologies. That helps drive the price up, and security is a big piece. The portfolio they have is best-of-breed in a lot of cases. The name, the trust, the quality resonates with customers on a lot of levels."
Red Nose Day USA

To learn how you can help children like Peaches, check out the official home of Red Nose Day and consider donating!

*Published 5/9/2017
Security architects are the people responsible for maintaining the security of their organizations computer systems, and as such they must be able to think as hackers do in order to anticipate the tactics attackers can use to gain unauthorized access to those systems, according to the InfoSec Institute.

Anyone in this position can expect to have to work odd hours on occasion, and needs to be constantly up to date on the latest security threats and available tools.

Sometimes people who ultimately take on the role of security architect, like Jerod Brennen, could not have predicted such a career direction when they were younger. When Brennen began attending Capital University, a small liberal arts college in Ohio, in the 1990s, he intended to pursue a career in the film industry as a composer.

Computer-generated music was an emerging industry at the time, so he started as a computer science/music composition double major. Some of the technology classes were not to his liking, so he quickly dropped the computer science major and focused on getting a degree in music education.

It wasnt until my student teaching experience my senior year that I realized teaching in the public schools wasnt my cup of tea, either, Brennen says. I spent a bit of time after school jumping from job to job, but when my wife and I decided to start a family, I decided to revisit my love of tech and computers to see if there was a career path I could pursue. Turns out if youre willing to dive in and learn from the ground up, you can find the opportunity youre looking for.

While working as a hardware technician at Rent-a-Computer from 1999 to 2000, Brennens job was to build computers from scratch and set up systems and local networks for training classes.

Next he worked at Sterling Commerces call center as a solutions support specialist, first on a contractor basis and then full time. His job was to provide software support for Sterlings electronic data interchange customers.

In 2001 Brennen joined power company American Electric Power (AEP), and after some time at the company responded to an internal posting for an information security position that needed someone with UNIX experience, which he had. While at AEP he earned a CISSP.

A big opportunity arrived in 2006 when a recruiter called about a newly created information security role at retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, and Brennen was hired as manager of information security.

Even though I was a full-time infosec pro at AEP, I was pigeon-holed, Brennen says. I wanted to do more. Abercrombie needed someone to come in and build out an information security program that supported its Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance efforts.

I had no management experience, no credit card security experience and no retail experience, Brennen says. But I threw my hat in the ring anyway. He spent the next four years building the security program from the ground up.

Initially he had no budget and no team, just time, local administration rights and whatever free or open source tools he could get his hands on. I spent the first few months taking on every project and adopting every security tool I could, Brennen says. It didnt take long before I had more on my plate than I could possibly handle alone.

Brennen was demonstrating value, though, and was able to justify expanding the team to four staffers supported by 20 representatives from throughout the company. The team deployed a security framework that aligned with the companys operating model.

Thats when things really clicked, Brennen says. By the end of my time there, we were supporting 12 enterprise-level security tools including a robust identity and access management implementation with a global user base. We were staying on top of our internal audit and external compliance obligations, and most importantly, we were protecting the personal information of tens of thousands of employees and customers who didnt even know we existed.

Other positions followed, including stints as CTO and principal security consultant at risk management company Jacadis, and associate director at Ohio State University (OSU).

At Jacadis, Brennen helped clients identify and implement the security controls, and conducted risk assessments and security program reviews. I worked on projects ranging from IT takeovers for small, not-for-profits to application source code security reviews for large federal clients, he says. The really rewarding part, though, was that I was able to apply my enterprise experience in helping our clients build their own security programs.

At OSU, Brennen built and managed a risk management program. From there, he moved to his current position as security architect at GBQ Partners in February 2017. GBQ is an accounting firm with audit, tax, and advisory services in six cities.

As much as I loved the risk management work I was doing at OSU, the decision was a no-brainer, Brennen says. Im back to architecting security services that will help our clients. Im back to building.

While working at Jacadis, Brennen developed a security framework that gets away from the hundreds of detailed controls that organizations should implement and focuses instead on the basic blocking and tackling, he says. My goal here at GBQ is to expose more and more organizations to that framework and to help them build a solid foundation in information security.

More important, though, Brennen wants to help clients build out information security programs that enable them to get back to the core mission of their business, whatever that mission might be.

Another security architect, Jerry Magginnis, also didnt start out planning a career in the field. Magginnis majored in both statistics and market research at Purdue University, where he received a bachelor of science degree in industrial management, and wanted to pursue a career in marketing research.

The first company he worked for out of college was advertising firm McCann-Erickson Worldwide, where he worked a variety of positions including associate director of consumer research, account executive, MIS manager, communications director; telecommunications director, and global telecommunications director.

He left the company in 1998, joining utility Louisville Gas & Electric as technical consultant. Following that Magginnis moved to healthcare company Kindred Healthcare, where he took on his first security-related position as senior security analyst.

CSO

In 2005 he joined BMW Financial Services, where he was senior application security architect. Next came a five-year stint at Abercrombie & Fitch, where he served as security architect and worked with Brennen.

Magginnis joined healthcare company Cardinal Health in 2010 and worked there for three years as senior security architect. In 2013 he joined his current employer, home security products company ADT Security Services, as IT security architect.

My background in each of the positions I held expanded my capabilities for the next opportunity, Magginnis says. I pushed myself to learn beyond the assigned job requirements into areas that augmented my role. I read a lot of books, did the hands-on work I assigned to my direct reports to understand what they went through daily, and I took courses for certifications.

Once Magginnis got well into information security as a career, he was always being sought out by recruiters. I have never been without a job, he says. I also made a point to never pass up an offer to interview for a position at another firm that promised to improve my career.

Each company had technologies Magginnis was not comfortably familiar with, so he signed up for vendor classes and read all their materials. A CISSP is a hard requirement for this field; [Im] glad I got mine in 2001, he says. It opened up a lot of doors in subsequent years.

His plan is to retire from his current employer. I have already started a gourmet pizzeria and meadery that will be my hobbies in the foreseeable future, Magginnis says.

Let us know what it takes. Head to our Facebook page.
BRIDGEPORT  Despite last-minute lobbying by the police chief, the City Council voted Monday for a $542 million no-tax-hike municipal budget that cuts Mayor Joe Ganims police overtime request by $1 million.

Were at 10 homicides  same as 2016  and were only in May, a frustrated Councilwoman Eneida Martinez said after emerging from a several-minute, closed-door debate that also included the mayor and some of his staff.

Police Chief Armando A.J. Perez spoke briefly with Ganim before the mayor joined the councils private discussion, but the chief remained in the audience at City Hall.

The $542 million 2017-18 budget the mayor forwarded to the council in April called for spending $6.2 million on police overtime. The one the council passed Monday dropped that to $5.2 million  still $200,000 over the current years allocation.

We have a responsibility to the public to ensure public safety, a disappointed Perez said in a brief interview. And they themselves (council members) have that same responsibility to the people that voted them in.

Councilwoman M. Evette Brantley, who also stepped out of that private council caucus, said the decision she and the rest of the budget committee made at their final meeting Saturday to shift that $1 million to the schools was a sound one.

Ganim was criticized for reducing education spending by $2.7 million. The budget committee added $3.1 million for the schools.

We did our due diligence. Worked very hard. Put in long hours, Brantley said. Our peers ought to support our decision-making.

Brantley added, Whose gonna get that overtime? The patrolmen or the top brass?

Ultimately, all 20 council members voted for the budget Monday. But six  Martinez, Milta Feliciano, Jose Casco, Alfredo Castillo, Jeanette Herron and Michelle Lyons  tried to block the reduction in police overtime.

The Board of Education needs this money immensely, Herron told her colleagues. And we dont want taxes to be raised. (But) Im not in agreement with taking money from the police department.

Monday was possibly not the end of that debate, however, and most certainly not the wrap-up to Bridgeports budget season. Ganim has 14 days to veto the document. He declined in a brief interview to say what he will do and avoided answering specific questions about the police overtime dispute.

I think the council did a lot of good, hard work, the mayor said.

Council President Thomas McCarthy declined to say whether Ganim had, privately, given the council insight into his plans. But McCarthy encouraged the mayor to drag out the process if only to get a better idea how much state aid Bridgeport can expect.

The councils budget assumes around $14 million. But the states financial outlook is bleak, and negotiations between Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly, where Republicans have gained in numbers, could last into the summer.

If Ganim vetoes the councils budget, the council has seven days to overturn it, then another week to set the tax rate.

It is in our best interests to try and prolong the process as much as we can, McCarthy said.

McCarthy and Councilman Scott Burns, a budget committee co-chairman, emphasized the councils budget invests more than $500,000 in police technology Perez wanted to help his officers better locate crime scenes and fill out reports from their vehicles.

Were not putting it into police overtime, but we are putting it into helping them do their job better, Burns said.

Burns co-budget chairwoman, Denese Taylor Moye, noted the city always manages to find police overtime when costs run over. When this fiscal year ends June 30, for example, Perez will have spent around $8.2 million  $3 million more than his budget.

Ganims budget chief, Nestor Nkwo, said the councils $1 million cut could be sound cost-containment strategy:

If you make it (the overtime budget) low, it puts pressure on them early to try to contain it. Its a psychological game theyre trying to play.

A few council members were concerned about how the independently elected Board of Education will spend the $3.1 million.

If our children dont succeed, we dont succeed, Councilwoman the Rev. Mary McBride Lee said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Unilever is recalling a limited number of boxes of Ben & Jerrys Chocolate Fudge Brownie Pint Slices, which may contain Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup Pint Slices. Although the slices were individually wrapped and identified as Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup Pint Slices, the ingredient peanut butter is undeclared on the outer product packaging. Persons with a peanut allergy run the risk of a serious allergic reaction if they consume the product.

The affected product is sold in a paperboard box, containing three individually wrapped ice cream slices with a UPC code of 076840657940, a Best By date of Aug. 12, 2018, and the lot number AUG1218LT2. The product was distributed nationwide.

The recall was initiated after receiving one consumer complaint, where it was discovered that Vanilla Peanut Butter Cups Pint Slices were distributed in outer packaging that did not call out the presence of peanut butter. Unilever has not received any reports of illness associated with this product.

Consumers who have purchased the recalled product are asked to immediately discontinue use of the product, retain the outer box and call 877-270-7397 to request a replacement coupon.

Sausage sold in CT recalled for plastic

Perdue Foods LLC. of Georgia is recalling 2,148 pounds of chicken sausage  some of it distributed in Connecticut  that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, according to the the U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The problem was discovered on May 5, when the Food Safety and Inspection Service was notified that they had received three consumer complaints of blue plastic materials in the sausage. There have been no confirmed reports of injury due to consumption of these products.

The recall involves 24-ounce plastic packages containing eight links of fully cooked ready to eat Perdue Harvestland Italian Style Organic Chicken Sausage bearing package code 64405 and a sell or freeze by date of June 25. The sausages were shipped to a retail distributor in Connecticut and Maryland.

Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them, but to throw them away or return them. Those with questions can call 877-727-3447.

Amanda Cuda
Excellence in Education banquet to recognize the 21 seniors and their educators who were honored. This is the fourth installment.

Morgan Lyberg

Lyberg, daughter of Erica and Nick Lyberg, is a senior at Chi-Hi. She chose her high school teacher, Brian Hefty, as her most influential educator.

Lyberg said of Hefty: Mr. Hefty is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. He is so caring toward all of his students, and hes always willing to listen to whats going on in my life. Every day I enjoy going to his class because he always makes me laugh. I will forever be thankful for the impact he has had on my life.

Hefty said of Lyberg: When I first met Morgan, she was a reserved but focused student. Still waters run deep, though. Now, while Morgan is still very dedicated academically, she also talks frequently about her loving family, the value of friendship and her highs and lows. Morgan is a wonderful and intelligent young lady with a vibrant personality and Im honored to be a part of her life.

Lyberg is planning to attend UW-Eau Claire, but is undecided about her major.

Alex Mazur

Mazur, son of Tiffany and Doug Mazur, is a senior at Chi-Hi. He chose his middle school band teacher, Eric Olson, as his most influential educator.

Mazur said of Olson: Mr. Olson has an unyielding persistence to, year after year, teach complete beginners to make sounds other than fart noises come out of their instruments. He gave me the solid foundation in my trombone playing which now has presented me with uncountable opportunities to share my passion for music with other people. I thank him deeply for never giving up on me and all the other seemingly hopeless musicians.

Olson said of Mazur: The thing that makes Alex Mazur stand out from other students is not just his educational and musical prowess, but also his commitment to helping others. This past year I was able to see him work with freshmen in the marching band and adults in the community band. All of these people looked up to him and appreciated the assistance. These qualities will take him far.

Mazur plans to pursue a major in a music-related field at UW-Eau Claire, and then hopes to study engineering at another Wisconsin university.
Evangelist Will Graham Shares the Gospel in Alabama, Implores Attendees to 'Come Home'

Hundreds respond during three-day outreach at the Dothan Civic Center

DOTHAN, Ala., May 8, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Approximately 52 years after his famous grandfather, Evangelist Billy Graham, preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Dothan, Ala., Will Graham followed in his footsteps by holding the Wiregrass Area Celebration. Approximately 7,700 attended the three-day outreach, which was held May 5-7 at the Dothan Civic Center.

"You've been running from the Lord. Like the Prodigal, you've gone away," said Graham from the stage, referencing the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son. "It's time to return to God. Jesus loves you unconditionally. He's waiting to say 'Welcome home!'"

More than 465 people responded to Graham's invitation to make a commitment to Jesus.

Charles Nailen, who served as the executive team leader for the local Celebration committee, was moved by what he saw. "When the people started walking down in response to his invitation, the tears started rolling out of the corners of my eyes, just to see how God had moved the hearts of the people in response to what Will had to say."

In addition to those who attended the Wiregrass Area Celebration in Dothan, more than 32,350 people representing 68 countries watched the worldwide live stream of the event. Each of Graham's messages was also broadcast via Facebook Live.

Graham was joined by award-winning Christian artists, including: Aaron Shust, who received the 2007 Dove Award's New Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Song of the Year (for "My Savior, My God") commendations; Colton Dixon , recipient of two Dove Awards for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year (albums "Anchor" in 2015 and "A Messenger" in 2013); The Afters , who have had multiple top-five hits on the Billboard Praise & Worship charts; hip-hop artist Aaron Cole , and worship leader Justin Unger

"I feel real positive that we've helped the community see the potential of what can happen when the churches come together and do a collaborative effort for God's glory," said Robert Tatum, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's celebration director, who has helped to lead the preparation and planning for the Wiregrass Area Celebration. "Not for a church's growth or individual personality, but when they all come together and they see, 'Wow, this can happen. We can fill the Civic Center. We can fill the stadium. We can reach many more people together than we can alone.'"

In addition to the Wiregrass Area Celebration, Graham's 2017 calendar includes the three-day Greater Fort Wayne Celebration in Indiana, as well as international outreaches in Mexico, Canada and Romania.

About Will Graham
France's new president, Emmanuel Macron, 39, appeared in a 90-minute film shown on French TV last night having a bar of chocolate snatched out of his hands by his 64-year-old wife, Brigitte.

The documentary, made over the past year, also shows him being refused an item at a motorway services because its part of the kids menu.

Meanwhile, a comedian on Paris-based Europe1 radio portrays an over-excited Macron boasting that Brigitte had let him stay up late now hes president.

Will he care less being joshed about as a juvenile than having Madame Macron depicted as a child-snatching cougar-crone?

Emmanuel Macron, 39, appeared in a 90-minute film shown on French TV last night having a bar of chocolate snatched out of his hands by his 64-year-old wife, Brigitte

Apropos Macron, a former teacher, Marc de Ferrand, said in a TV interview that he thought hed go on to become a great theatre actor, adding: I thought Emmanuel might be a Gerard Philipe for the 21st century.

Philipe, pictured, who died in 1959 aged 36, was a French cinema star with boyish, romantic features, whose big break was in 1947s Devil In The Flesh, in which, aged 24, he played a 17-year-old who seduces a pretty (and older) nurse while her soldier husband is fighting at the Front.

SO wholl stand alongside the Queen when Prince Philip retires? When HMQ hosted a reception for the Royal Lancers last month it was with Prince Andrew as deputy colonel-in-chief.

When Prince Philip was hospitalised for Trooping the Colour, the Duke of Kent was at the monarchs side.

For the big events like the State Opening of Parliament and Royal Maundy, Prince Charles is likely to be consort but that might not assist Project Queen Camilla.

A backlash against Camilla taking the Queens place alongside Charles is a real fear, says my source.

The Blackburn-born actor Ian McShane, 74, well-remembered for his TV series Lovejoy about an antiques dealer in East Anglia, recalls playing Richard Burtons gay lover in the 1971 film Villain.

During shooting 1971 film Villain, Richard Burton told actor Ian McShane that he liked working with him because he reminded him of his wife Elizabeth Taylor

McShane, who wore his hair at shoulder length in those days, says Burton expressed his pleasure at having McShane as his partner.

You know why, dont you? he asked a nervous McShane. Because you remind me of Elizabeth (Taylor).

Re HMQs future consorts on public occasions, Prince William was at her side for a private audience and lunch with Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday.

Charles maintained his growing independence by granting the Burmese leader a private audience at Clarence House before she headed up to the palace.

By the way, did the once-regarded-as-saintly Aung San Suu Kyi fix her visit and royal audiences prior to the bitter controversy over Burmas ethnic cleansing of its local (Muslim) Rohingya population?

Accused of plagiarism over her biography about Jane Austen, which she denies, perky TV historian Lucy Worsley is remembered fondly in the East Midlands from her time as English Heritages inspector of buildings until 2002.

We called her the Hoover because of her efficiency in vacuuming up everyones ideas, confides an admirer.
First dates can be awkward, but what if they lasted longer than just a cocktail or dinner? What if you had an entire long weekend at an exotic resort planned with a man or woman you'd never met before?

That's a reality for users of MissTravel, a dating website that offers jet-setters and wanderlusters the opportunity to search for love or companionship while away on vacation.

Users find matches on the site and plan trips together, flying out to a shared destination in another part of the country or world.

Last month, MissTravel offered me the chance to try the site, flying me to a luxe resort in Punta Mita, Mexico for a first date with a stranger.

Romance? I traveled to Mexico to enjoy a weekend away with a man I met on the dating website Miss Travel

Romantic setting: The two of us stayed at a picturesque beach resort (pictured)

When MissTravel first pitched us the trip, there were no immediate takers.

There seemed to be a distinct sugar daddy/sugar baby lilt to the site's sales pitch  it's from the same CEO as SeekingArrangement.com  and there are definitely women on there looking to score a free trip, and men offering to pay for it with a certain understanding in mind.

In fact, FEMAIL has even written about women who have used this very site in that way, traveling the world on the dime of various rich guys.

'This website attracts very successful men who don't have time to date in the normal way, so this allows them to accelerate the whole thing,' user Monica Lynn of Alabama explained of why she signed up.

'They're going on trips anyway, and they can afford to search through profiles and bring [someone] they like with them.'

Even footing: While the site offers an option for men to pay for women's trips, users can also split the cost. In the case of this trip, MissTravel footed the bill for me and my date

Landed! I met my date at the airport for an early flight to Mexico. Once we arrived at the resort, we were immediately in vacation mode, as we were served guacamole and margaritas

Monica has met men who paid for her trips to nine different countries including the UAE, Italy, and China, while a woman named Alyssa Ramos from Wisconsin has traveled to Ibiza, London, and Las Vegas, with men who've footed the bill.

That was, most definitely, not something I felt comfortable with. I wouldn't want a guy to have any  ahem  expectations, and I'm also not the kind of girl who is partial to posing in bikinis on top of Corvettes for Instagram likes, which I assumed was the M.O. of most of these ladies on MissTravel.

But then I looked more closely. A lot of the site's users are actually looking for something less transactional and simply want a travel companion  possibly because their friends are busy or can't afford the trip they have in mind.

After some enthusiastic encouragement from co-workers (who may have been looking forward to a good laugh should the trip have been a disaster), I decided to do it.

MissTravel would fly both me and a guest of my choosing  from a roster of finalists they'd selected from their site  to a high-end Mexican resort to share a very long, and very unusual, first date.

Nearly everyone I mentioned my impending trip to was intrigued, impressed, or excited  except my mother.

Sweet digs: The all-inclusive resort was right on the beach, promising a relaxing vacation

Both of us had our own rooms for the duration of the stay, which was especially fortunate since the showers (left) did not have doors

I was actually surprised by this; I assumed, in her thirst for knowledge about my love life, that she would be thrilled at the opportunity to get both pictures and an entire written report about a date I went on.

But when I told her on the phone, she seemed worried. After giving her all the details  including the fact that we would have separate rooms  she got quiet and then asked, 'Carly do you want me to come with you?'

No, thank you, mother, I did not, much as it would have made a great headline to write 'I flew to Mexico to go on a blind date and my mother tagged along to make sure I didn't get murdered.'

Luckily, she seemed to be the only one with this view, and even my grandma thought it sounded great  particularly when I told her the guy I picked was a Jewish doctor from Westchester, the gold standard as far as Jewish grandmothers are concerned.

The evening before I left, I stopped at a bakery to pick up some food for the next day. While checking out, the young cashier started chatting, and I told her I was headed to Mexico for a blind date for an article.

I jokingly added, 'My mom is pretty convinced I'm going to be murdered.'

'Oh, yeah,' she replied, nodding her head while putting my muffins in a bag. 'You're definitely gonna be murdered.'

There wasn't much to do except hang at the beach, relax at the pool, and drink strawberry daiquiris; making the getaway less-than-ideal for making memories together

While hanging at the pool, I told another couple that this was a first date  which the couple noted 'explained the dynamic'

Spoiler alert: I did not get murdered.

Adam (not his real name) and I only briefly texted in the days leading up to our trip, and met for the first time at an NYC airport for a Thursday six a.m. flight  not exactly happy hour.

Luckily, we were not seated next to each other on the way to Mexico, a trip which may have otherwise been filled with uncomfortable conversation and angling for the shared armrest.

When we pulled up to the Casa de Mita resort an hour outside of Puerto Vallarta, though, we had plenty to bond over, as the staff quickly sat us in front of the ocean with margaritas and guacamole. We both dug right in, which was a good sign, because you can't trust a man who doesn't like guacamole.

Ready to get into swimsuits, we went to our separate rooms. They were beautiful, but I was especially glad we weren't sharing when I spotted the shower  which had no door and opened right into the room.

I know some girls might be happy to put on a bath time burlesque on a first date, but I guess I'm just old-fashioned.

Speed dating: We ate every meal together at a table with a view of the water, which felt a bit like eight dates in very quick succession

Because most of the weekend involved laying around, most of the interaction was over meals

The first day was generally uneventful. After laying out by the pool for a bit, we each went to our rooms for a 'quick' nap, only to discover at nine the next morning that we'd both slept through the night.

So my second-ever meal with Adam  call it a second date, if you will  was over breakfast Friday morning.

Despite some worrying that we might not find anything to talk about and it would be a long, awkward weekend, the two of us actually had plenty to discuss: our favorite restaurants, our jobs, and  I wasted no time  the reason why a nice guy like him signed up for MissTravel in the first place.

Adam, who was a few years older than me at 35 (I'm 29), said most of his friends were married with kids  leaving him few travel partners. He signed up hoping to find people to hang with on foreign getaways, and had no interest in being anyone's sugar daddy. Phew.

Over the next two days, we spent some time on the beach, laid out by the pool to read, and ate all of our meals together.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a romantic spark  though I wondered if a different setting would have changed that. The resort, while beautiful and romantic, was tiny and intimate. That's great for longterm couples, but maybe not so much for a guy and girl just getting to know each other.

The spot was definitely romantic, which was perhaps more befitting of a longterm couple

Real world: While my friends were all excited about the trip, my mother was very worried about my safety

Had there been nightlife, dancing, shots, illicit party drugs (just kidding), or even some sort of sight-seeing, maybe the weekend would have progressed a bit differently. Or maybe not. Dating is dumb.

As it was, we really just hung out together all day  together, but not together-together. At one point on Saturday, Adam went up to his room to nap, and I struck up a conversation with another couple in the pool.

When they told me they'd been visiting there for years, I explained the story I was working on and revealed that Adam and I had just met that weekend.

'Ah,' the man said. 'That explains the dynamic.'

'Ah,' I thought to myself, silently. 'The people here have been judging us all weekend.'

That night, Adam and I had our last dinner together, watching the sunset over the beach. Around ten, we finished up and headed to our rooms for the night.

The next day, we traveled back together to New York, by way of a layover in in Minnesota. In between flights, my mother  the same lady who wanted to chaperone so I wasn't brutally dismembered by this internet stranger  texted me, and seemed disappointed that I didn't find true love with him. Moms. Go figure.

Though I didn't find love, I did find that traveling with someone I'd just met was an adventure

Finally, we began boarding again, when the flight attendants announced that they'd be checking our carry-on bags.

Realizing I didn't have an exciting finale for this story  we didn't elope, and he also didn't try to smuggle back drugs in my suitcase, Bridget-Jones-style  I briefly considered screaming that the airline could pry my carry-on out of my cold, dead fingers and having Adam record it on his phone. How's that for a finale?

Adam seemed amused, but also a little scared by my suggestion, and ultimately we boarded peacefully without our carry-ons, flying into JFK before hugging each other goodbye.

In the end, there was no romance, but it was still a fun way to spend a weekend.

Meeting up with a stranger on vacation seems like it could actually be a great idea, on two conditions: One, if you go somewhere where there is plenty to do to keep you busy. And two, if you're prepared to go solo should this stranger be a weirdo.

I can't vouch for the weirdo-to-normal-person ratio on MissTravel, but I did manage to find one totally normal, nice guy on the site  which seems like a pretty good sign to me.
Tiffany Trump may be headed to law school in Washington, D.C., but she spent Monday afternoon at a charity fashion show in New York City with her mother Marla Maples.

The 23-year-old attended the Spirit of Life Award luncheon and fashion show at the Plaza Hotel just a few hours after DailyMail.com revealed that she will be attending law school at Georgetown University in the fall.

The First Daughter looked every bit the budding law student in a black dress and a black tweed jacket as she posed for photos at the event.

Scroll down for video

Tiffany Trump attended the Spirit of Life Award luncheon and fashion show at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Monday

The 23-year-old donned a black dress, a tweed jacket, and studded heels for the event

Tiffany accessorized her look with a classic black handbag and studded black heels, and she kept her loose blond curls pulled back in a black headband.

The University of Pennsylvania graduate was all smiles as she posed for photos with her mother Marla Maples, who also attended the event.

President Donald Trump's 53-year-old ex-wife looked elegant in a black sleeveless top and a slate gray pencil skirt, which she accessorized with a quilted shoulder bag and pearls.

Earlier in the day, Marla took to Instagram Stories to share a video of herself being driven to the charity event, calling it a 'great cause' with 'a lot of great people'.

'I'm gonna see Tiffany's friend Andrew's fashion show, and most importantly being with my daughter is always the best,' she says in the clip.

Tiffany happily struck a pose with her mother Marla Maples who also attended the event

Tiffany had her loose blond curls pulled back in a black headband to match her outfit

Tiffany is close friends with Just Drew designer Andrew Warren who showcased his designs at Monday's luncheon.

Before the show, Andrew took to Instagram to share a 'pre-runway mirror selfie' that featured everyone from models Hunter McGrady and Daisy Lowe to Danielle Campbell and Sophie Simmons.

Trump's youngest daughter made her runway debut walking in Andrew's New York Fashion Week show in February 2016, and they recently posed for photos together at a party celebrating Bella Thorne's new show 'Famous in Love' and the White House Easter Egg Roll last month.

Before Tiffany headed to the luncheon, a spokesperson for the family revealed to DailyMail.com that she will b attending law school at Georgetown University in the fall.

Her decision to attend the prestigious institution means that she will now be just a few minutes away from her father's new residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The First Daughter posed for photos with her friend Andrew Warren, who showed his Just Drew designs at the charity fashion show

Tiffany was all smiles as she walked into the venue where the luncheaon and fashion show was being held

Andrew took to Instagram ahead of the show to share a 'pre-runway mirror selfie' that features everyone from Hunter McGrady and Daisy Lowe to Danielle Campbell and Sophie Simmons

Tiffany will also be close to big sister Ivanka, who attended Georgetown for two years before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania.

Georgetown is the alma mater of Tiffany's bother Eric, who earned a bachelor's degree in finance and management from the school in 2006, graduating with honors.

When asked about his sister's academic accomplishment, Eric told DailyMail.com: 'I am so proud of Tiffany. Georgetown University is a truly amazing school and she is going to love her time in Washington, D.C.'

Eric is still very involved with the school, and sits on the board of The Business, Society, and Public Policy Initiative at the McDonough School of Business.

A spokesperson for the First Daughter confirmed to DailyMail.com last month that Tiffany was planning on attending law school in the fall, making her the first of the academically accomplished Trump children to pursue a juris doctor.

Tiffany graduated just last May from the University of Pennsylvania, the same Ivy league institution that her dad Donald, big sister Ivanka and older brother Don Jr. received their degrees.

Earlier in the day, Marla took to Instagram Stories to share a video of herself being driven to the charity event, noting that being with her daughter is 'always the best'

Marla, 53, looked elegant in a black sleeveless top and a slate gray pencil skirt, which she accessorized with a black strappy heels and pearls

Tiffany will be attending law school at Georgetown University in the fall a spokesperson for the family revealed to DailyMail.com on Monday

There has been much speculation about Tiffany's legal ambitions ever since she was spotted on visits to Harvard and Columbia in December, the same month she took her LSAT.

Students also caught her sitting in a class at her brother-in-law Jared Kushner's alma mater New York University in February.

Tiffany first revealed she was considering law school in the same way most members of her generation share big news, on social media.

The sporadic Instagram poster shared a photo back in late August of an LSAT prep book along with a drop-in of her Bitmoji avatar and the words 'I Got This' splashed across her open study guide.

She appears to have taken her prep very seriously too, with the youngest Trump daughter seldom spotted out and about in the Big Apple over the past year.

Tiffany's older brother Eric graduated from the prestigious McDonough School of Business at Georgetown in 2006 (They are pictured in D.C. after their father's inauguration in January)

The First Daughter's decision to attend the academic institution in Washington, D.C. (above) means she will be just minutes away from her father and sister

Tiffany graduated from the University of Pennsylvania like her dad Donald, Ivanka and Don Jr. (Tiffany and Ivanka are pictured at her college graduation)

Her big moment in her father's campaign came the month before her LSAT prep pic, when she delivered an assured and humanizing speech about her father while appearing at the Republican National Convention.

Tiffany spoke not of her father's accomplishments in the business world or political rhetoric, but instead of his empathy for her and other close to him in their times of need.

'I always looked forward to introducing him to my friends, especially the ones with preconceived notions, because they meet a man with natural charm and no facade,' said Tiffany, describing a side of the man members of the public never get to see.

Tiffany's debut on the international stage went so well that she began making campaign stops with Ivanka over the next few months ahead of her father's eventual win.

She is now the first Trump child to not immediately go into the family business, though Ivanka did spend a year at a real estate development firm after her graduation from Penn before hopping over to the Trump organization in 2005.

Tiffany is the only child of President Donald Trump and his second wife Marla Maples (above with Tiffany at her graduation)

Tiffany publicly announced her legal ambitions by posting a photo of herself taking an LSAT prep test on Instagram last August (above)

Tiffany was spotted on visits to Harvard (above in December), Columbia and her brother-in-law Jared Kushner's alma mater New York University

Tiffany's professional interests appear to lie elsewhere however, something she realized while still at school as she skipped the Wharton Business School path her brother and sister went down at Penn, and instead majored in sociology with a minor in urban studies.

That does not mean she will not ultimately join the Trump organization however in a legal capacity.

Tiffany's father also has some pretty impressive contacts at the Supreme Court these days as well, in case Tiffany wants to follow in the footsteps of another family member.

In addition to Kushner, Tiffany's aunt Maryanne Trump Barry also attended law school, graduating from Hofstra.

President Trump's big sister had a very impressive career as an attorney and later a judge, with Ronald Reagan appointing Barry to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1983, where she served for 16 years.

She then got a promotion in 1999 from Bill Clinton, who placed her on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit where she served until 2011.

Judge Barry is now an inactive member of that court.
An eight-year-old girl who suffers from a rare condition where half her face deteriorated has undergone $200,000 worth of reconstruction operations.

Lucy Hancocks was diagnosed with Parry Romberg syndrome at eight months old after her mother noticed the left side of her face was smaller than the right at birth.

The South Australian schoolgirl has been battling the disease where the immune system causes the tissues beneath the skin to shrink.

Her devastated parents, Jodie, 47, and Nick Hancocks, 37, were told there was nothing doctors could do to save their daughter.

Lucy Hancocks (pictured left after her surgery and right six months ago) suffers from a rare condition where half her face deteriorated

Her devastated parents, Jodie, 47, and Nick Hancocks, 37, were told there was nothing doctors could do to save their daughter - but they were determined to find a surgeon who would help

'I knew something was wrong the minute Lucy was born, the left side of her face looked smaller than the right,' Jodie, a full time mum, said.

'After researching Parry Romberg syndrome, I was left devastated by reading what the future held for Lucy.'

But the family, from Moota Bay, refused to give up on their daughter after they managed to find a doctor overseas who was willing to help.

The parents raised $200,000 in just a few months and despite a few setbacks, Lucy has managed to avoid losing half of her face.

'Doctors had told us there was nothing they could do to stop the degenerative disease but we refused to give up,' the mother said.

'We managed to raise $200,000 so Lucy could have three operations in the US.'

After undergoing rounds of surgeries, the girl has managed to avoid losing half of her face

The parents raised $200,000 in just a few months and despite a few setbacks, Lucy (pictured after surgery) has managed to avoid losing half of her face

Her mother noticed the left side of her daughter's (pictured left at five months old and right at birth) face was smaller than the right at birth

Surgeons used pioneering techniques to transfer tissue from her scalp to help rebuild her shrinking features following rounds of procedures.

'This helped rebuilt her face and halt the vicious disease which also causes lesions on the left side of her brain,' Ms Hancocks said.

'To prevent these from getting worse she has been on steroids for the swelling but this has left her disfigured as her face has drooped.

'Lucy is so brave though, she isn't fazed by surgery, we don't treat her any different to our other children.'

Surgeons used pioneering techniques to transfer tissue from her scalp to help rebuild her shrinking features following rounds of procedures

Lucy's (pictured left at 10 months old and right after steroid treatment) condition isn't easy to disguise as it's on her face and she is often subjected to cruel taunts by strangers in the street

After undergoing three rounds of surgeries, her face stopped deteriorated from the disease

Lucy's condition isn't easy to disguise as it's on her face and she is often subjected to cruel taunts by strangers in the street.

Jodie added: 'We've had people staring and pointing and then questions such as "what's happened to her face?"

'Lucy gets embarrassed and just stands behind me as I explain her rare condition.

'Thankfully she's a tough kid and will say "I'm going to look so good after surgery," when we discuss her future operations.'

The disease has tried to ravage her face from the day she was born but thanks to surgery, Jodie and Nick have managed to gain back some control.

The disease has tried to ravage her face from the day she was born but thanks to surgery, Jodie and Nick have managed to gain back some control (pictured during her surgeries)

The eight-year-old girl has undergone $200,000 worth of reconstruction operations

Lucy pictured with her family after her surgery with her dad, mum, Charli, Lucy, Tom and Tayla

'The whole left side of Lucy's face has been replaced, which is known as a microvascular tissue transfer and she's also had a frontal lobe replacement - something that helped rebuild the front of her skull,' Jodie said.

'She has been through so much for one little girl but despite it all she never fails to smile and be happy.'

The family hopes by telling their story, they would encourage other sufferers to seek help no matter what the doctor says.

'I hope our story helps any other families going through something similar as without the fundraising and searching for alternative treatments, Lucy's quality of life would be completely different,' Ms Hancocks said.

Consultant Dermatologist and British Skin Foundation Dr Anjali Mahto said the autoimmune condition affects 'one side of the face in which there is a loss of tissue such as fat, muscle and bone beneath the skin'.

'It can be difficult to treat and often requires the use of drugs which suppress the immune system,' Dr Mahto said.
When Nikki Brownlie, 21, from the Gold Coast, lost 40 kilograms in weight, the unexpectedly negative side effect was what happened to her breasts.

'I was a EE before I lost all of the weight, but once I dropped 40 kilos, they were saggy, uneven, flat and left me seriously lacking in confidence,' she told FEMAIL.

After a short period of deliberation, the 21-year-old decided to go abroad to Thailand to have a breast lift and breast augmentation.

'It was the best decision of my life, I can wear a bikini with confidence now,' the 21-year-old explained.

Nikki Brownlie, 21, from the Gold Coast (pictured left and right) lost 40 kilos in weight and was left with saggy, uneven breasts (left) - she decided she wanted to have a breast lift and went to Thailand for it (right, after)

'I was a EE before I lost all of the weight, but once I dropped 40 kilos, they were saggy, uneven, flat and left me seriously lacking in confidence,' Ms Brownlie explained to FEMAIL (pictured pre weight loss)

Now she has had her breast lift and breast augmentation, the bikini model (pictured after) is extremely happy with the results - she said she has no regrets

Looking back to when she first lost the weight, Ms Brownlie said she did so by quitting drinking, eating healthily and working out:

'I also got into a great relationship, which I'm still in today, which helped to motivate me,' Ms Brownlie told Daily Mail Australia.

Once the 21-year-old had lost the 40 kilograms, she faced a new problem however:

'I felt like I had the breasts of an 80-year-old,' she said.

'They were like two empty sacks, and in a bra one was a C and one was an A cup.'

Speaking about her previous breasts, Ms Brownlie said: 'I felt like I had the breasts of an 80-year-old. 'They were like two empty sacks, and in a bra one was a C and one was an A cup' (pictured on Operation Thailand)

It took the bikini model from the Gold Coast all of two months to decide, book and travel over to Thailand for her breast lift and breast augmentation (pictured pre surgery)

'I'd always thought about getting a breast lift, as I wanted perky boobs, but when I saw an ad on Facebook, it all went pretty quickly,' Ms Brownlie explained (pictured on Operation Thailand)

She said she wasn't hugely nervous - more excited about getting back to Australia and wearing a bikini (pictured on Operation Thailand)

Six months later, Ms Brownlie said she has no regrets and would recommend a breast lift and breast augmentation to anyone who wants it (pictured after)

It took the bikini model from the Gold Coast all of two months to decide, book and travel over to Thailand for her breast lift and breast augmentation.

Her experience will feature on CosMediTour's new reality TV programme, Operation Thailand, on Channel Nine on Tuesday night.

'I'd always thought about getting a breast lift, as I wanted perky boobs, but when I saw an ad on Facebook, it all went pretty quickly,' Ms Brownlie explained.

'Before I knew it, I was in Thailand in November ready to have the surgery.'

She said it pays to do your research, know your doctor and book a consultation (pictured left: before surgery and right: after)

'You won't know until you've given it a go,' she said (pictured on Operation Thailand)

Ms Brownlie said she considers herself lucky because she her family and partner fully supported her decision:

WHAT NIKKI BROWNLIE HAD DONE * A breast lift. * A breast augmentation. * Implants of 275CC and 325CC - Ms Brownlie explained that they had to go uneven with the implants to make her breasts eventually even. Advertisement

'My dad was a little bit worried about what the hospital would look like, but he needn't have been,' she said.

'I think it was thousands of times better than some hospitals I've seen at home in Australia.'

And by the time the procedure was complete, and she had returned home to Australia, the 21-year-old was delighted with the results:

'I wanted natural, and I got it. I couldn't wait to get home and wear a bikini for summer,' she said.

Six months later, Ms Brownlie said she has no regrets and would recommend a breast lift and breast augmentation to anyone who wants it:

'Do your research, know your doctor and have a consultation,' she said.

'You won't know until you've given it a go.'

Nikki Brownlie's journey features on the new reality series, Operation Thailand, on Channel Nine at 9.40pm on Tuesday.
'We've lost Skye.'

These are the three words that still haunts journalist Laura Turner today after she received a devastating phone call from her mother following the death of her sister.

The US correspondent for Nine News Australia has penned an emotional article for 9Honey about the loss of her only sibling Skye Suzanne Turner.

The grief-stricken reporter has revealed the whirlwind of emotions she endured for seven weeks since her older sister died at the age of 33 on March 10.

Journalist Laura Turner (left) has opened up about the heartbreaking phone call she received from her mother following the death of her sister Skye Suzanne Turner (right)

The US correspondent for Nine News Australia has penned an emotional article for 9Honey about the loss of her only sibling

'There's the guilt that I didn't foresee my sister's death, the guilt that I didn't prevent it, the guilt that it was her and not me who left this world,' Laura wrote.

There's the guilt that I didn't foresee my sister's death, the guilt that I didn't prevent it.

The broadcaster also described the guilt she felt for her two young nieces who will now grow up without their devoted mother by their sides.

Laura paid tribute to her 'beautiful' sister, who was 'haunted by demons which in the end took her over and sucked her into a place so dark that she never returned'.

After arriving home in Victoria's Mount Dandenong, Laura said she was struggling to cope after 'the story of my sister was suddenly being told in past tense'.

In her powerful post, she described the hardest part of the traumatic ordeal was when she saw her mother, who was 'left wracked with guilt too'.

Skye (left) and her younger sister Laura right) grew up in the east hills of Melbourne

The television reporter revealed her constant struggle with the 'finality' of her sister's death

'I'd gone from years of talking to mum almost daily about how best to help Skye, to sitting in a Tobin Brothers office being asked to pick my sisters coffin,' she said.

Laura has since returned to work in the US but she revealed her constant struggle with the 'finality' of her sister's death.

'I just can't fathom the thought that I will never speak to my sister again. Never touch her, never smell her, and never have the honor of being on the receiving end of her sarcasm,' she said.

For confidential support 24/7, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
With their love for photography and creative minds, one couple has created amazing photos using themselves as the focus.

Rather than taking you're average selfie, Zuzu Galova, 28, and Peter Sedlacik, 32, simultaneously capture each other in two photos, known as diptych's, as they travel the world to with their project Lens Between Us.

'We played around with the layout , it's a creative way to show where we are and how travel,' the couple told Daily Mail Australia.

Scroll down for video

Couple Zuzu Galova, 28, (left) and Peter Sedlacik, 32, (right) have created amazing photos using themselves as the focus, offering viewres two perspectives of the same scene

The couple simultaneously capture each other in two photos, known as diptych's, as they travel the world to with their project Lens Between Us

The couple noticed when they were taking photos, they often looked similar and found their unique technique gave them a fresh perspective (Picutred at the Festival of Winds in Sydney)

(Blacksmiths Beach, Australia)

The couple noticed when they were taking photos, they often looked similar and found their unique technique gave them more options.

'We went to Uluru and sunset and there was this beautiful view,' the couple said.

'You don't see the other side full tourists.'

Originally from Slovakia, Ms Galova and Mr Sedlacik have called Australia home for the last three years and currently live on Sydney's Bondi Beach.

The world famous beach features in many of their pictures as does Queensland, Fiji, Indonesia, Korea and many others.

But they say they don't have a favourite place to visit.

'It's hard to say, each photo is like a memory, it works for us like a diary.'

'Though we really love Tasmania, that's one of our favourite places in Australia as well as Fraser Island.'

They don't have a favourite picture, instead each photo is like a memory, like a diary

A twist a typical shot of an Australian landmarks and then the area around it

The couple have travelled all across Asutralia (Pinctured Treachery Beach, NSW) as well as Fiji, Indonesia, Korea and many others

Originally from Slovakia, Ms Galova and Mr Sedlacik have called Australia home for the last three years and currently live on Sydney's Bondi Beach

But despite their skills and popularity online, the couple won't be quitting their day-time jobs working in a creative agency any time soon

Now the couple are jetting off to Bali in three weeks for 'at least two months' (Pictured in their native Slovakia)

But despite their skills and popularity online, the couple won't be quitting their day-time jobs working in a creative agency any time soon.

'If we could travel the world and be paid that would be amazing,' the couple told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's a passion project, its not a full time job.'

Now the couple are jetting off to Bali in three weeks for 'at least two months'.

'We're undecided yet whether we'll go to Sri Lanka, the Philippines or go back to Europe after,' they said.
The Duke of Edinburgh was described a 'randy' young officer by his former Royal Naval colleague on Tuesday.

Ex-naval commander Keith Evans, 97, who served alongside Philip in the late 1940s, joked about the Queen's consort when he visited his old school.

Mr Evans was a pupil at Pangbourne College in Berkshire and the Duke, who surprised the world with his retirement announcement last week, visited the institution with the Queen to mark its centenary.

Scroll down for video

The Duke of Edinburgh was described as 'very randy' by former naval colleague Keith Evans as he visited Pangbourne College in Berkshire

When he met the Duke they reminisced briefly about their service together and he showed Philip a letter the Duke had written to him in 1947, thanking Mr Evans for his note congratulating him on his engagement to the then Princess Elizabeth.

When asked about his recollections of the 95-year-old Duke, Mr Evans replied: 'He was a bit randy but you had better not put that down.'

The former naval commander was questioned further about his quip and willingly agreed to be quoted and, in a move worthy of the Duke himself, said the word 'very' should be inserted before randy.

When reunited with his old colleague the duke was presented with a letter of thanks he had written to Mr Evans after he had congratulated him on his engagement to the Queen

Mr Evans, who also greeted Her Majesty, served alongside Philip in 1947 on HMS Royal Arthur, an in-shore naval base in Corsham, Wiltshire in 1947

'Like Prince Philip, I'm standing down from most things in August,' he joked.

In an apparent reference to the Queen, Mr Evans said about the Duke's decision to give up public duties from the autumn: 'I think it is rather good news.

'He will do what he wants rather than what she tells him to do.'

Mr Evans served alongside Philip in 1947 on HMS Royal Arthur, an in-shore naval base in Corsham, Wiltshire in 1947.

The Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 25 when he was serving as a Royal Navy officer

The Duke was joined by the Queen at the visited a school to mark its centenary - his latest public engagement since announcing his retirement from public duties

The visit is the Queen's fifth to the fee-paying school since her first in 1943, as Princess Elizabeth

He said later about the Duke: 'He was 18 months (my) junior. He was a lieutenant. I was about to be promoted to lieutenant commander.

'He was then Lieutenant Mountbatten, they had got rid of all that Greek nonsense.'

Philip had joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1939 and during the Second World War rose through the ranks, becoming one of the youngest officers in the Royal Navy to be made First Lieutenant and second-in-command of a ship, HMS Wallace.

In February 1947 Philip renounced his rights to the Greek throne and became a British subject, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, by the summer his engagement to Princess Elizabeth was announced and the couple married in November that year.

The Duke was joined by the Queen at the visited a school to mark its centenary - his latest public engagement since announcing his retirement from public duties.

The visit is the Queen's fifth to the fee-paying school since her first in 1943, as Princess Elizabeth.

The Duke of Edinburgh joined the Queen as she visited Pangbourne school - his latest public engagement since announcing his retirement from public duties

The outing comes after it was announced that 95-year-old Prince Philip will retire this Autumn, and that 'Team Windsor' will step up to take on his duties as he prepares to end 70 years of royal engagements

On Thursday, Philip announced he will retire from public duties in the autumn, although his son the Earl of Wessex said he may still make appearances.

Edward said: 'I don't believe he's going to be putting his feet up completely and disappearing into the background ... He'll pick and choose what he wants to do and how he wants to do it and what's practical.'

The royal couple attended a service in its Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel to mark the centenary of the institution.

The Duke of Edinburgh's irreverent view on his decision to step down from royal engagements from the Autumn was revealed as he made the sudden announcement last week

The 95-year-old's life-long friend and relative, Lady Myra Butter, 92, told the Mail: 'He always used to say, quite openly, I'm past my sell-by date'

When the royal couple arrived, the Duke stepped out first from the state limousine and he dutifully waited for the Queen and followed on behind her.

The Queen was wearing an ensemble by Angela Kelly, a pastel tweed dress and coat in shades of pale pink, mint and gold and a matching hat, she also wore a diamond Tiger-Lilly brooch.

It was founded in 1917 by shipowner and shipbroker Sir Thomas Lane Devitt as the Nautical College, Pangbourne near Reading.

His vision was to prepare boys to be officers in the Merchant Navy but by 1969, with the merchant fleet shrinking rapidly and many boys opting for university, the college shed much of the nautical training in favour of a more traditional academic focus and was renamed Pangbourne College.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited Pangbourne College on the occasion of the school's centenary

The monarch was in high spirits as she arrived wearing a cream tweed coat and matching hat

The Queen looked radiant as she arrived at the college, which has firm links to the royal family

Prince Philip appeared in good spirits as he joined in wife for the occasion. He will retire from public duties in the autumn

Prince Philip is accompanied by Head Teacher, Thomas Garnier (L) during his visit to Pangbourne College, in Berkshire

Prince Philip mingled as he met with naval students and chatted enthusiastically - most likely about his military days

The Queen was wearing an ensemble by Angela Kelly, a pastel tweed dress and coat in shades of pale pink, mint and gold

The Queen donned a matching hat and wore a diamond Tiger-Lilly brooch as she arrived

Young Esme Sutton, daughter of a staff member, plays with a balloon and a national flag as she awaits the arrival of the royals

After the service the Queen and Duke met current students, parents, staff and past pupils and also have lunch at the college.

Later, the royal couple will watch a parade and the Queen will present a new military flag, or colour, to the college, and two Queen's Gold Medals to the chief cadet captains.

The Queen made her first outing without her husband since Prince Philip announced his retirement on Thursday.

Instead, Queen Elizabeth was joined by her grandson, Prince William, on Friday as she welcomed Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of a private lunch at Clarence House in London.

The outing comes after it was announced that 95-year-old Prince Philip will retire this Autumn, and that 'Team Windsor' will step up to take on his duties as he prepares to end 70 years of royal engagements.

Younger members of the Royal family, including Prince William and Prince Harry, will now 'rally around' and support the Queen with future events, after the Duke of Edinburgh revealed his decision to retire.

Founded in 1917 as a training college for officers of the merchant navy, Pangbourne College is now a co-educational boarding and day school for 400 pupils aged between 11-18

The Queen was gifted a simple bouquet of pink flowers by a youngster as she arrived

The Duke of Edinburgh meets people attending an event at Pangbourne College in Berkshire to celebrate its centenary

A youngster presented the monarch with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, which she looked delighted with

The Queen will be assisted by her other family members - particularly the younger ones - for future engagements. The Duke of Edinburgh made himself and a crowd of guests roar last week after mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah stopped him at a St James's Palace event to say: 'I'm sorry to hear you're standing down', to which he replied: 'Well, I can't stand up much longer'

The Queen made her first outing without her husband since Prince Philip announced his retirement on Thursday. Instead, Queen Elizabeth was joined by her grandson, Prince William

The pair welcomed Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of a private lunch at Clarence House in London

Noticeable by his absence that afternoon was Prince Philip, who has retired at 95 because he is said to have feared looking increasing frail in public and admitted to close friends in his typically frank style: 'I'm past my sell-by date'.

The Duke of Edinburgh's irreverent view on his decision to step down from royal engagements from the Autumn was revealed as he made the sudden announcement last week.

His life-long friend and relative, Lady Myra Butter, 92, told the Mail: 'He always used to say, quite openly, I'm past my sell-by date'.

And The Duke of Edinburgh made himself and a crowd of guests roar after mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah stopped him at a St James's Palace event to say: 'I'm sorry to hear you're standing down', to which he replied: 'Well, I can't stand up much longer'.

His jokes are indicative of Philip's train of thought, which came to a conclusion after long discussions with the Queen and other members of the family, including his grandchildren, who told him: 'Go for it, Grandpa!'

Philip remains in good health but is getting increasingly frail and understandably can have his energy sapped by the 200-or-so public appearances he makes every year on his own or with his wife.
He has years of experience discussing politics on the public stage.

But today Nick Clegg found himself answering questions on Strictly Come Dancing and playing 'snog, marry, avoid' as he took part in a live web chat with mothers.

Logging on to Mumsnet, the former Deputy Prime Minister revealed he would have Prince, Cate Blanchett and Angela Merkel at his fantasy dinner party - but declined to reply to the cheeky user who asked: 'Does anyone else find him a little bit sexy?'

Girl talk: Nick Clegg, pictured with wife Miriam in 2014, took part in a live web chat online

Important issues: The former Deputy Prime Minister swapped from politics to dinner parties

Mr Clegg, 50, who will defend his seat in Sheffield Hallam in the General Election next month, was not afraid to tackle some of the light-hearted questions on users' minds.

When one asked whether he would ever follow in Ed Balls' footsteps and sign up for Strictly, Mr Clegg said he would not, adding: 'My teenage kids find me embarrassing enough as it is.'

Among his most revealing responses was his fantasy dinner party line up, which included Prince, Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, Nobel Prize-winning author J M Coetzee, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the late Vaclav Havel, who served as the Former President of Czechoslovakia.

Getting to the nitty-gritty: Strictly Come Dancing was at the forefront of one user's mind

Harsh: The married MP knew who he wanted to avoid - but said snogging was not an option

Mr Clegg also answered candidly to a question about how he reacted to President Trump's victory.

'[I let out] A long, anguished groan,' he wrote. 'Followed, I must confess, by a sorrowful cigarette.'

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats also addressed issues parents had with the party.

Talking politics: Mr Clegg also took time to field questions about Brexit and the Lib Dems

One asked how she could ever trust the Lib Dems after they went back on their promise to abolish tuition fees, saying the subsequent increase cost her family '24,000'.

Mr Clegg responded: 'The truth is the Lib Dems found ourselves between a rock and a hard place. We hadn't won the election and there was very little money,' before going on to blame the Labour party for the state of the tuition fee system.

Asked what he thought of Jeremy Corbyn, the MP said he seemed like a 'perfectly okay bloke on a personal level' but said he thought his 'left-wing nostalgia' and hopeless attempt to ignore the disaster of Brexit' are 'not right for the country'.
A Pennsylvania judge has come under fire for callously suggesting a teenage boy should pay one dollar for each time he groped a younger girl.

Common Pleas Senior Judge Lester G Nauhaus decided on the nominal amount during a court hearing last week, according to a transcript obtained by the Pittsburgh City Paper.

The defendant, who hasn't been named because he was under 18 when the harassment happened, had been found guilty of harassment and initially fined $300. His appeal led to a new hearing, during which Nauhaus attempted to revise the sum.

Outrage: Pennsylvania judge Lester G Nauhaus (pictured in a file photo) has come under fire for suggesting a teenage boy should pay one dollar for each time he groped a younger girl

During the appeals session, the boy's attorney, Dawn Walters, acknowledged the boy had touched the victim, who according to BuzzFeed News is a 15-year-old girl, 'in various inappropriate sexual manners over a period of time'.

Walters also pointed out that the teen didn't have any money to pay the fine and asked that he be given community service instead.

The victim, who was present at the hearing along with her attacker, told Nauhaus the boy he had groped her several times in middle school and high school.

Fighting back: In response to Nauhaus' callous suggestion, District Attorney Stephen A Zappala Jr has threatened to report the judge to a watchdog

Nauhaus agreed with the community service suggestion and drastically revised the amount of money the boy would owe, at first declaring he would have to pay a $3 fine.

The judge then appeared to give the idea more thought and asked: 'How many times did he touch?'

The victim replied: 'I'm going to say about six times.' Nauhaus' responses to that was: 'A $6 fine.'

Upon hearing the suggestion, Assistant District Attorney Jeff Tisak tried to fight back, according to reports.

'It is just highly inappropriate to tell a young girl that inappropriate touching is worth a dollar a time,' Tisak told Nauhaus.

The judge, however, repeated the defense's argument that the boy didn't have any money, asking: 'What do you want me to fine him?'

Tisak replied that it was not the point, to which Nauhaus shot back: 'Of course, it's the point.'

The Assistant District Attorney tried to explain: 'I don't care if the fine is zero dollars. It's highly inappropriate to tell a young girl that--'

That's when Nauhaus jumped at the comment and ultimately declared the fine would, in fact, be waived completely, leaving the defendant with 20 days of community service and 90 days of probation during which he'd have to stay away from the girl.

And who would that be? In a bizarre moment during the hearing, Nauhaus said he could name 'at least one adult' who thinks 'that' - presumably, groping a woman's body - is okay

Justice by math? Nauhaus drastically revised the amount of money the boy would owe, at first declaring he would have to pay a $3 fine, then coming up with $6 for six instances

The judge claimed to 'feel badly' for the victim, but added: 'There is really isn't much I can do [sic]', according to the transcript.

In a bizarre moment during the hearing, Nauhaus said he could name 'at least one adult' who thinks 'that' - presumably, groping a woman's body - is okay. The judge added the person he was referring too was 'an important guy'.

Asked by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette if he was referring to President Donald Trump's comments about grabbing women 'by the p***y', Nauhaus told the newspaper: 'I was referencing that we live in this really crass, inappropriate society where people talk like this all the time.'

In response to Nauhaus' callous suggestion, District Attorney Stephen A Zappala Jr has threatened to report the judge to a watchdog.

'Such conduct has no place in our system and the district attorney will bring it to the attention of the appropriate persons and, if necessary, the Judicial Conduct Board,' spokesman Mike Manko told the Post-Gazette.

Nauhaus has attracted criticism in the past, the newspaper pointed out. In 2013, he ordered former Pennsylvania state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, who was convicted in a corruption case, to pose in handcuffs for a photo. He then required her to send the picture to every Pennsylvania judge with a handwritten note of apology.

An appellate court deemed the handwritten missives acceptable, but shot down the photo idea.
The latest teen trend sweeping American high schools  and Twitter  may seem a tad ridiculous at first glance. But deeper consideration may reveal that, really, it's just practical.

Some teenage prom-goers this season are skipping the traditional flower corsage in favor of a flaky, buttery croissant, which teen girls are wearing tied to their wrists.

Playing off the slight similarities between the two words  and the fact that sometimes a misspelling of 'corsage' autocorrects to 'croissant'  the decorative switcharoo has picked up steam on social media in the past year.

A French pastry for m'lady: Teenage boys have begun giving their prom dates croissants instead of corsages

Vocab joke: Some are attributing the joke to autocorrect errors, while some teenagers don't seem to know the word 'corsage'

Nom nom: This teen couple jokingly held up the croissant as a boutonniere as well

While there is some evidence on social media of girls getting croissants instead of corsages dating back to 2013, the joke had become a veritable trend this school year.

Several boys brought croissants for their dates for winter formals, using ribbon or hair ties to fasten them to wrists.

A few even decorated the French pastries with actual flowers, gemstones, and additional ribbon.

By prom season, which started in April and runs through May in many school districts, several girls were getting croissants  which curiously come in very similar plastic packaging to corsages.

Open up: Interestingly, croissants and corsages sometimes come in similar packaging

Brought a snack: The funny trend has grown more popular on social media this year

Thanks! Most of the teens seem happy with their pastries

'This is what happens when you take a typo seriously,' explained a Twitter user named Emily of why her date brought over breakfast instead of a mini bouquet.

Another girl named Lyss said: 'He told me he was gonna pick up my corsage but accidentally said croissant & then he gave me a croissant corsage.'

Naturally, many teens are posing for pictures with their humorous accessories, with some even sharing a romantic Lady-and-the-Tramp-esque bite together.

And while the joke might be a bit cheesy, the croissants likely come in handy during the festivities should someone be craving a snack after so much dancing.

The flower replacement likely comes in handy when the wearer is in need of a snack

Pretty AND buttery! Some are decorating the croissants with actual flowers, ribbons, and rhinestones

Emergency bread: The joke is corny but also quite practical for snackers

Popular: Though evidence of the joke first turned up on Twitter in 2013, it has gained momentum this year

One high school senior named Rocky Renteria was rocked for asking his date, Sophia Martinez, if he needed to buy her a croissant

Unfortunately for the young men, it seems none so far have managed to get a pastry version of a boutonniere.

And one young man faced backlash for his croissant joke when Twitter users made fun of him for confusing the two items.

High school senior Rocky Renteria from Mission, Texas asked his best friend Sophia Martinez to prom, and followed up to ask her if he needed to buy a 'croissant'.

Sophia corrected him, but eventually had to correct him a second time  and later shared the text conversation online, which led to the internet taunting.

Some posted memes, while others cracked jokes at his expense, to which he replied: 'STFU.'
The talk show The Doctors made headlines after airing a segment where the hosts claim that the best way to find the perfect nude lipstick shade for your skin tone is by matching it to the color of your nipples.

Male beauty vlogger James Charles was curious about whether the trick actually works, so naturally he put it to the test and documented the whole thing on his YouTube channel.

Clearly many others are curious too, because the video has racked up over 350,000 views in three days.

50 shades of nude: After a surprising hack that involves matching your lipstick to your nipple color to find your ideal shade, vlogger James Charles tested the theory for himself

Testing, testing: The YouTuber swatched ten liquid lipsticks around his nipples before choosing his top three matches

For the test, he grabbed ten of his favorite nude lipstick shades and swatched them around his nipples.

Once every lip color was swatched and dry, he compared them to his nipple color and chose the three closest matches.

Making the list was Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Bow N Arrow (a fawn nude), Jeffree Star x Manny MUA Liquid Lipstick in Daddy (a cool-toned brown) and Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in Pasadena (a mauve pink-brown).

'These three shades are honestly some of my favorite nudes of all time and they did look really good, so I feel like this test is kind of a complete success,' James concludes at the end of the video.

The results: James found that the three nude shades closest to his nipple color all looked great on his lips

The technique seemed to work for the male hosts on The Doctors, too.

In the segment, Dr. Stork chooses a caramel shade from a tray of lipsticks before peeking down into his sweater to compare. Unsurprisingly, when he swipes the lipstick onto his mouth, it's a highly accurate match.

Co-hosts Dr. Drew Ordon and Dr. Nita Landry can only stare open-mouthed and laugh along with the audience. Yet after seeing how well the trick works on Dr. Stork, Dr. Ordon unbuttons his shirt and offers up his nipple for color-matching.

Checking it all out: The Doctors' Dr. Stork inspects the situation below his sweater on the show, and the other hosts agree that the women in the audience will all soon be doing the same

While the men who have tried it seem to approve, make-up artist Elise Flowers told refinery29.com that the trick can be used as a loose guide, but nothing more.

One of the reasons she noted is that, 'the color on your lips and nipples will change with heat, cold and blood flow, not to mention hormone levels.' Another is that those who have very pale or very dark skin tones might end up with a shade match that washes out their complexions.

That being said, if you're running to Sephora to pick up a handful of lipsticks to swatch right now, we don't blame you - just wait until you get home to lift up your shirt.
Men in jodhpurs on galloping steeds, swooning women on the sidelines, the heady combination of wealth, champagne and summer sun. Is it any wonder people get so passionate at the polo?

And no one more so than the royals, who have a well-documented history of coquettish embraces, flirtatious glances  and full-on romantic kisses  in the vicinity of this very British of sports.

In his youth, Prince Charles was often snapped at Guards Polo Club, Windsor Great Park, in tight white trousers and knee-high boots, as he swooped off his horse and into the arms of an admirer.

Romantic: Harry and love Meghan Markle at Coworth at the weekend

It was here he was pictured making eyes at a young Camilla Parker-Bowles, and here that he swept Diana off her feet in the early days of their engagement.

His sons seem to have taken a leaf out of his book, too. William wooed Kate (and more than a few earlier loves) with his prowess on a horse, while just this week Harry was pictured leaning in for a kiss with his girlfriend Meghan Markle.

Here, we chart the royals pent-up passions and sexual tensions simmering at the polo

Harry and his hotties

Prince Harry loves getting passionate at the polo  and going by some of these smooches, he seems to forget hes doing it in plain sight.

In 2006, at the Cartier International Polo, Harry, then 22, pulled Chelsey Davy, the feisty Zimbabwean socialite he dated, into a romantic clinch. Their love didnt last, but that hasnt put Harry off pretty girls at the polo.

Getting closer: Harry and Jenna Coleman at Coworth Park

Coworth Park, Ascot, provided the perfect opportunity for Harry to get over his split from dancer Cressida Bonas by getting close to former Doctor Who actress Jenna Coleman at an after-match party in June 2015.

The pair drank champagne and chatted for hours. At one point the Prince was pictured with his hand resting on his companions knee. Another year, another lucky lady. This time, Ellie Goulding, 30, the pretty blonde pop starlet who sang at Harrys 30th. After hours at this charity polo match at Coworth Park, the pair were spotted chatting animatedly, hugging under a blanket and  eventually  sharing a kiss.

Smooch: With Chelsy Davy

Captivated by Claudia

Sporting a far fuller head of hair, a smug smirk and a suitably flushed face, a 20-year-old Prince William leans in for a much coveted kiss with German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, his boyhood crush.

She was presenting the young Prince with a cup for his winning team at a charity polo match at Ashe Park, Hampshire, in 2002.

All loved -up: William with Kate

Dream kiss: Wills and Claudia

A 20-year-old Prince William with German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, his boyhood crush

It was the summer after his first year at St Andrews, and William had already met Kate Middleton, though they wouldnt start dating for another year.

Two years after their temporary split  and a year before their engagement  a loved-up William was pictured with his arm around Kate at Coworth Park polo in 2009.

Even Charles and Diana couldn't resist a kiss

Charles and Dianas first appearance at the polo was in 1982, less than a year after their wedding, when Charles put a tender arm around his heavily pregnant wife at Windsor.

Wearing a billowing maternity dress, Diana looked every inch the doting young wife. William was born four days later.

Diana was also pictured sharing a tender kiss with Charles at the polo in Windsor in August 1984.

The couple were still in love, and here, Diana, was pregnant with Harry.

It wasnt until the following year that the first inklings all was not well in their marriage would begin to emerge.

Windsor knot: Diana shows her love for her Prince

Wills on the way: Charles and Di

Flirty Di's secret lovers

Despite their united front at Guards Polo, Diana only had eyes for Oliver Hoare, a suave art dealer and pal of Charles, pictured in 1986. Diana first met him at Ascot the previous year and quickly became infatuated.

Then at Tidworth Polo Club in Wiltshire in 1989, a blushing Diana presents a trophy to James Hewitt, the British Army captain with whom she was having a longstanding affair. At the time this photo was taken, their romance was in full swing.

Threes a crowd: Diana, Charles and Oliver Hoare

Winning ways: Hewitt and Diana

Prince Charming's decade of dating

Just two years after his lust-filled look at Camilla, Prince Charles was pictured with Lady Jane Wellesley, daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington.

Well into his infamous decade of dating, during which he was linked with more than 20 eligible singletons, Charles courted Lady Jane for a year in 1973.

Another year, and another brunette beauty; this time Sabrina Guinness, the heiress, who briefly dated Charles in 1979. Pictured together at Windsor Great Park in August that year, Sabrina, then 24, spent the match leaning coquettishly towards him.

Stamping ground: Charles squires Lady Jane Wellesley

Charles and and Sabrina Guinness at the polo

Charles and Camilla - still smooching after 30 years

Standing either side of a gigantic oak tree, poignantly carved with lovers initials, a 27-year-old Prince Charles gazes with unashamed adoration at Camilla, then 28, after a polo match at Cirencester Park in the Cotswolds in 1975.

The former lovers, who had met at the polo five years previously, dated for two years before separating  and Camilla married Andrew Parker-Bowles in 1973. Charles, on the other hand, was still single  and madly in love with her.

Look of love: Charles and Camilla gaze into each others eyes

Charles and Camilla are cosy together at the polo

The following year, the pair were pictured again looking cosy in each others company at the polo. Charles, dressed in polo shirt and jodhpurs, leant nonchalantly on a railing as Camilla hung on his every word.

Three decades on, back at Cirencester in 2005, this passionate exchange marked Charles and Camillas first official polo kiss as man and wife (right).

Having rekindled their love in the mid-Eighties, both had divorced  followed by Dianas tragic death in 1997  clearing the path for them to be together again.
Women may be hopeless at saving lives as they take longer to react in emergency situations, a controversial study has claimed.

In a test, female medical students took longer to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and spent less time with their hands on a patient.

The Swiss research team claims the study proves female trainee doctors are 'inferior' to their male colleagues.

Scroll down for video

Women may be worse at saving lives as they take longer to react in emergency situations, a controversial study has claimed (stock image)

FEMALE DOCTORS PROVIDE BETTER CARE Female doctors provide a better quality of care than their male counterparts, according to a new study, according to previous research. Canadian research found that female GPs tended to spend longer with patients, were more likely to prescribe recommended medication and referred more patients for further examinations. The research, which was carried out in Canada and compared 870 general practitioners, found the differences between men and women medics were greater among older doctors. Lead researcher Valerie Martel, from the University of Montreal, said: 'Women had significantly higher scores in terms of compliance with practice guidelines. 'They were more likely than men to prescribe recommended medications and to plan required examinations.' Advertisement

Knowledge, ability and the interaction between members of the resuscitation team are vital for swift action and a successful outcome.

Earlier studies have shown that efficient and strong leadership communication improves the patient's chances of survival.

Because of this, students are taught these communication skills during their medical training.

But to date there has been little research into how gender affects performance in resuscitation situations.

A study by the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel has now examined the differences between male and female medical students' performance and leadership behaviour during CPR.

Study leader Professor Sabina Hunziker, from the University of Basel, Switzerland, said: 'We found important gender differences, with female rescuers showing inferior CPR performance.

'Compared with male-only teams, female-only teams showed significantly less hands-on time and significantly more delays in starting chest compressions.

As part of the study, 216 medical students (108 women and 108 men) were divided into groups of three.

Researchers analysed the performance of the individual groups during a simulated cardiac arrest scenario on a dummy patient.

They focused on hands-on time, defined as the uninterrupted CPR time within the first three minutes after the onset of the cardiac arrest, and also noted how often the participants made clear leadership statements.

The Swiss research team claims the study proves female trainee doctors are 'inferior' to their male colleagues (stock image)

She added: 'We found important shortcomings in leadership behaviour of female rescuers, such as fewer secure leadership statements and less planning of pending tasks.

'A cardiac arrest situation should therefore favour males as primary leaders.'

However previous research has shown that female doctors provide better care than men.

Canadian research found that female GPs tended to spend longer with patients, were more likely to prescribe recommended medication and referred more patients for further examinations.

The research was published in the journal Critical Care Medicine.
Fathers who spend quality time with their children in their first few months of life have a positive impact on their baby's later intelligence, according to a new study.

Having a sensitive, calm and less anxious father also results in more intelligent youngsters, the research added.

Father engagement was found to boost a child's abilities regardless of family income.

Study author Professor Paul Ramchandani, of Imperial College London, said: 'The clear message for new fathers here is to get stuck in and play with your baby.

'Even when they're really young playing and interacting with them can have a positive effect.'

Fathers who spend quality time with their children in their first few months of life have a positive impact on their baby's later intelligence, particularly if they are sensitive and calm

DO YOU HAVE THE 'NURTURING GENE'? According to research published in April, some people carry a 'nurturing gene', making them destined to be a good parent. The study, conducted at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, used two species of mice: the deer mouse and the oldfield mouse. Researchers created a behavioral assay to track the behavior of both males and females of each species. They found oldfield mice fathers are relatively involved in raising pups but deer mice fathers participated relatively little. To test what impact those different parenting styles had, the team performed a cross-fostering experiment. 'What we found was there's no measurable effect based on who raises them,' said Dr Hopi Hoekstra of Harvard University. 'It's all about who they are genetically.' Advertisement

Researchers from Imperial College London analysed how 128 fathers interact with their three-month-old babies and measured the infants' cognitive development more than a year later.

They recorded videos of fathers interacting with their children without toys.

The researchers then watched families during a book-reading session when the infants were two years old.

At two years of age, they scored the child's cognitive development using a standard mental development index (MDI)  which involves tasks such as recognising colours and shapes.

They found a positive correlation between the degree to which fathers engaged with their babies and the children's test scores.

This demonstrates the importance of quality father-baby interactions at a young age, the researchers said.

The results, published in the Infant Mental Health Journal, also revealed that fathers with more positive outlooks are more likely to have children who perform better on the MDI scales.

The positive link between such fathers and higher infant MDI scores occurred regardless of the child's sex.

Professor Ramchandani, said: 'Even as early as three months, these father-child interactions can positively predict cognitive development almost two years later, so there's something probably quite meaningful for later development and that really hasn't been shown much before.'

Dr Vaheshta Sethna, a researcher at King's College London who was also involved in the study, said: 'This suggests that reading activities and educational references may support cognitive and learning development in these children.'

'Our findings highlight the importance of supporting fathers to interact more positively with their children in early infancy.

Father engagement with newborns boosted the child's abilities regardless of family income

'Specifically, considering interventions which encourage increased father-infant engagement with shared positive emotions and book-sharing sessions supportive of cognitive development.'

While the study provides an interesting window into the effects of fathers' involvement with their babies, there were a number of limitations.

Parents recruited to the study were drawn from a relatively well-educated population. In addition, the measure of interactions were taken from relatively short videos and may not represent how fathers interact with their children in other situations.

Nonetheless, a positive signal was identified.

Professor Ramchandani, said: 'For those fathers who are more engaged it may be that there is a lot more positive stuff going on in their lives generally.

'That might be the reason for the link, but we can't be sure of that. All we can say is that there is a signal here, and it seems to be an important one.

'The clear message for new fathers here is to get stuck in and play with your baby.

'Even when they're really young playing and interacting with them can have a positive effect.'.
Jillian Johnson was overjoyed when she and her husband Jarrod were informed they were expecting a baby boy - but that bliss quickly turned to tragedy when he fell gravely ill.

At just 19 days old, Jillian's firstborn son Landon died after the new mother devastatingly learned she had starved him while breastfeeding.

After rushing to the hospital, she was told her child was dehydrated, because Landon wasn't getting any milk out of her breast.

Jillian feels she was failed by being told exclusively breastfeeding was the best option for the child and now wants to raise awareness that breast isn't always best.

Jillian Johnson (left in 2017 and right in 2012) was devastated when she learned she essentially starved her firstborn child while she was breastfeeding him. She wasn't producing enough breast milk and Landon died at 19 days old on March 15, 2012

The mother is now taking her tragic experience as a chance to inform other mothers that breastfeeding isn't always the best option

SIGNS THAT A CHILD ISN'T BREASTFEEDING CORRECTLY The Fed is Best Foundation aims to inform mothers when their child may not be being breastfed correctly. They advise parents to look out for: Low blood sugar, with jittery hands, low body temperature, inconsolable and high-pitched crying Unsatisfied nursing, lasting longer than 30 minutes and occurring more frequently than every two hours Not waking up for feeding every three hours, difficult to wake up Growth or weight loss exceeding four percent in first 24 hours No wet diapers in six hours and/or red brick dust on diapers Yellowing of skin or eyes (jaundice) Source: Fed is Best Foundation Advertisement

Appearing on The Doctors, Jillian said: 'Life isn't the same after losing a child. There's a huge hole in my heart, all because we trusted everything that we were taught - that exclusively breastfeeding is best thing for a baby.

'His death was 100 percent preventable. There is no reason that he shouldn't be here today other than we were failed.'

Landon was on life support for several days and on March 15, 2012, he died.

Jillian, who works in finance, and Jarrod, an automotive industry worker, have since had two daughters, Stella, three and Aliona, one.

The Southern California woman made headlines earlier this year when she shared the heartbreaking story and said her family still celebrates Landon's birthday every year with a cupcake, singing Happy Birthday and writing his name in the sand.

To mark his fifth birthday, Jillian wrote an account of their experiences in which she said she still suffers from guilt and regret.

'If I had given him just one bottle, he would still be alive,' she wrote on Fedisbest.org.

She added: 'The best advice I was given by one of his NICU doctors while he was on life support is, "Sure breast is best, but follow with the bottle."'

Jillian is taking her tragic experience as an opportunity to teach other mothers there are other options and breastfeeding isn't right for everyone.

There are two reasons why a child isn't breastfeeding properly; the mother isn't producing enough milk or the baby isn't latching onto the breast appropriately.

The Southern California family still celebrate Landon's birthday every year with a cupcake, singing Happy Birthday and writing his name in the sand

Jillian said: 'His death was 100 percent preventable. There is no reason that he shouldn't be here today other than we were failed'

10 REASONS FOR LOW MILK SUPPLY WHEN BREASTFEEDING 1. Insufficient glandular tissue 2. Hormonal or endocrine problems 3. Previous breast surgery 4. Using hormonal birth control 5. Taking certain medications or herbs 6. Sucking difficulties or anatomical issues 7. Not feeding at night 8. Scheduling feedings and/or using a pacifier between feedings 9. Birth medications or jaundice 10. Supplementation Source: Today's Parent Advertisement

The Fed is Best Foundation aims to inform mothers of the signs when their child may not be being fed the right way.

There are several indicators that a newborn isn't breastfeeding correctly that parents can spot to make sure the child is given the proper supplements immediately.

In Jillian's case, her body wasn't producing enough milk for Landon.

Diana West, IBCLC (International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant) and co-author of Making More Milk, gave some reasons why mothers aren't making enough milk.

These include not having enough 'milk-making' ducts or glands, hormonal problems, previous breast surgery, certain medications and herbs, and hormonal birth control.

Experts advise mothers to exclusively breastfeed their child for the baby's first six months of life and then for six more months while introducing new food to them.

This is because breast milk is loaded with nutrients that babies need, including vitamins and healthy bacteria.

A new study by the University of California Los Angeles' Pediatrics Department found that microbes from the mother's milk and skin around the nipple were transferred to the baby's gut.

Gut colonization of healthy germs are essential to develop the baby's defense systems and studies show it can combat obesity, boost metabolism and immune systems, and even impact brain performance.
Kelly Derry, 29, was left without pain relief for hours after giving birth and was left in severe pain - until her husband brought her some

Kelly Derry first asked the nurses on the maternity ward for more pain relief at 6am.

The 29-year-old had given birth to her daughter 18 hours earlier, but the epidural - the anaesthetising injection given to some mothers in labour - was now wearing off, and she was in terrible pain.

'When the nurses did the early morning drugs round, I asked if I could have something and they said yes, but then continued on to the next bed,' says Kelly, a retail worker from Boston, Lincolnshire.

'I knew they were very busy, so I assumed they'd come back with some tablets as soon as they could, but an hour-and-a-half passed, I was in more pain - and still no relief.

'I asked another nurse, who said she'd get me some, but she never returned. Then I asked another, and another.

'All three said they'd get me something, but no one brought any. By mid-morning, I was experiencing severe abdominal cramps.

'I knew it was normal after a natural birth, because this was my third baby, but by lunchtime  a good six or seven hours later  I couldn't take it any longer.

'I ended up texting my husband, Steve, and asked him to nip to the shops and get me some painkillers.

'He arrived half-an-hour later, our other two children in tow, with some co-codamol. He was shocked that I'd not been given anything by the nurses, but I was just relieved to see him.

'I took the tablets and, within minutes, I was feeling better. I didn't say anything to the staff about it  I just wanted to get out of there.'

Failing to prescribe basic painkillers to a new mother may seem like a rare but unfortunate oversight, and even Kelly admits she had some sympathy for the staff on the very busy postnatal ward in her local hospital.

Sadly, though, her story is far from unique. Thousands of new mothers are being left without pain relief, food and water in NHS maternity units, according to a new survey.

So dire is the situation that one in five new mothers say they were psychologically scarred by the ordeal, so much so that many have vowed never to have another child.

The survey by parenting website Mumsnet of some 1,220 new mothers found that 45 per cent of those who'd given birth in the past three years said they felt abandoned, with insufficient pain relief.

Millie Gee said she felt abandoned on the ward with no pain relief and was unable to see her sons - which she believes led to her being diagnosed with post-natal depression and PTSD

Sixty-one per cent said they could not get food, and 22 per cent were not given water to drink. A fifth were without washing facilities.

Earlier this week, other damning figures were revealed when it emerged that maternity staff are making 1,400 mistakes in NHS wards every week.

A Freedom of Information request by the BBC revealed how a shocking 305,019 errors were recorded by midwives and nurses in the past three years.

These range from records being lost to the needless deaths of mothers and babies.

Figures show that at least 259 women or babies died between 2013 and 2016 due to avoidable or unexpected circumstances.

Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, says denying mothers basic standards of care on maternity wards is just the tip of a very worrying iceberg.

'Women who've just given birth should not be going hungry or thirsty, or having to ask repeatedly for pain relief, or wash in dirty bathrooms,' she says.

'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.

'New mums are often acutely aware of how much pressure NHS workers are under, and they're extremely reluctant to complain.

'But it's becoming clear that women need to be offered better ways to give detailed feedback to hospitals on their experiences, so that changes can be made where necessary.'

The Mumsnet survey highlights how nearly one in six mothers actually discharge themselves early to escape poor care.

Perhaps most worrying of all is that 5 per cent of those questioned developed post-natal depression, which they said was at least partly caused by how they were treated.

That was certainly the case for Kelly, who discharged herself early, against the wishes of staff, and who developed post-natal depression a week later.

'I'm convinced that my depression had something to do with how I was treated on that ward,' she says.

Lauren Woodley, 30, said it was two days before she could see her son because she wasn't brought a wheelchair and nurses were 'too busy to take me'

'I wanted to freshen up, but was told that I couldn't have a shower because there weren't enough staff to look after my baby  which I completely understood.

'But also I couldn't take my baby into the bathroom because she might overheat. If I went to the toilet, she had to come with me  and they were filthy.'

She adds: 'By teatime, I'd had enough and discharged myself. The nurses wanted to keep me in for another day, but I knew I could take better care of myself and my baby at home.' At home, though, Kelly began to feel the creep of depression.

'I was very weepy and clingy with my baby,' she says. 'I didn't even like Steve or family picking her up.

'A week later, my GP diagnosed me with post-natal depression. I'm fine now, but so disappointed that what should have been a lovely first few hours with my baby turned into something stressful and upsetting.

'The aftercare with my two other children, who are three and four now, had been fine, so I have no idea what's gone wrong in the past few years. It must be down to funding.'

Indeed, only 8.5 per cent of total maternity care spending in England goes on post-natal care, despite it being a crucial time for mothers to bond with their babies and learn to care for the child.

The National Childbirth Trust says women are being let down. 'It's completely unacceptable that new mums are not being properly looked after on post-natal wards,' says NCT senior policy adviser Elizabeth Duff.

'We know many women get good care in labour, then are left to fend for themselves  and their babies  afterwards, and this situation has to change. There must be enough midwives to support them.'

The Royal College of Midwives believes that much more investment is needed to help achieve the best outcomes for mother and baby.

'Surveys of women's views of maternity care  including this latest one  repeatedly inform us of their unhappiness with the current provision of post-natal care,' says Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the RCM. 'In 2017, this is certainly not good enough.

'If we are to invest in better post-natal care for women, we must invest in more midwives. England remains 3,500 midwives short, and our maternity services will continue to struggle in supporting women if this shortage is not addressed.'

In the Mumsnet survey, 62 per cent of women said their post-natal ward was understaffed and 19 per cent said staying in hospital affected their mental health.

It's particularly worrying because suicide is the leading cause of death among new mothers.

Yet 43 per cent of health boards in England provide no specialised maternal mental health service.

Milli Gee, 27, from Southend, who gave birth at 33 weeks to twins Ruby-Rose and Lilly-Joy in July 2015, feels that her post-natal depression and post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed last year was a result of her treatment on the maternity ward.

She's now having counselling.

'Although the pregnancy had been problematic, and it was a premature birth, I was fully prepared for my daughters to end up in Special Care,' she says.

'What I was unprepared for was being abandoned in the maternity unit with no pain relief and having to argue with nurses and midwives about seeing my babies.

A survey by Mumsnet found 45 per cent of new mother felt abandoned without pain relief, 60 per cent didn't get enough food, and 22 per cent went without water (file image)

'The girls were born at 2pm by C-section and I asked four nurses if I could have a wheelchair so my partner, Kenny, could wheel me to go and see them. But I kept being told I'd have to wait until morning.

'There was no way I was going to wait that long and had to demand that someone bring me a wheelchair. But it was 10pm before I met my daughters for the first time.

'I was in so much pain but at least I'd been given an ibuprofen tablet.

'The next morning, I was moved from a private room to the maternity ward and the curtains were closed around me. I felt I was pretty much forgotten after that.

'I remember being in terrible pain and asking for more pain relief, but nurses kept telling me: 'We're very busy' and they'd walk off.

'It was seven hours before I finally got some pain relief  and that was only because Kenny went up to the nurses' desk and got quite angry about it.

One of my friends witnessed a stranger actually trying to lift my baby from his cot

'I was hungry and thirsty, too. All I had to eat were some toffees that my mum had brought in. I kept thinking someone would pop their head round the curtain to make sure I was OK  even get me some water  but it never happened.'

Milli decided to discharge herself later that evening. 'I'd had enough,' she says. 'The doctors wanted to keep me in for one more night and wouldn't let me go until I'd passed urine, so I went to the toilet, but it was dirty.

'On the window ledge were four bowls of other women's urine samples. It was the hottest day of the year, so you can imagine the smell. I wanted to get home as soon as possible where I knew I'd be better looked after by my mum. Once home, I felt much better and, when the twins came home 21 days later, I was so relieved.

'I never put in a complaint. I wanted to get on with my life. All I know is that I felt forgotten about, at a time when just a little care and compassion would have gone a long way.'

Lauren Woodley, 30, a legal secretary from Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, was left in agony for more than nine hours after giving birth in February 2016.

The married mum-of-three had undergone four days of exhausting labour before her son Alex was born at 37 weeks by emergency Caesarean.

'After I'd had Alex at 2pm, he was moved to neonatal to be monitored while I was taken to a ward. We were told there would be a drugs round at 5pm so we'd get pain relief then,' says Lauren, who is married to Kevin, 31, an area installations manager for a kitchen company.

'But 5pm came and went but no one came. By 9pm all six of us on the ward were in so much pain. We were pretty much screaming for nurses by this point.

'It was 2am  12 hours after I'd given birth  when the drugs trolley came round and we were all woken to be given pain relief.

'Thankfully we were given food and drink but I didn't get to see my son for two days because no one could get a wheelchair for me and I was told that they were too busy to take me.

He was finally brought to me and placed in a cot, but at one point one of my friends witnessed a stranger  a male who was visiting the ward while I was sleeping  actually trying to lift my baby from his cot. He stopped when she approached him.

'When I complained to the nurses, they brushed the incident off, telling me that he couldn't have taken my son anywhere because he was tagged.

'But when I was discharged three days later, I discovered there'd never been a tag on him at all.

'I put in a written complaint to the hospital about the aftercare on the ward but heard nothing back.'

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 that if they needed attention they received it.'

Yet that leaves a disturbing 12 per cent who didn't. Among those questioned in the survey who would have been likely to have more children, five per cent said the experience had contributed to a decision not to expand their family.

Says Lauren: 'I'm a mum-of-three and had wanted four  but after my experience on that ward there's no way I'm putting myself through that again.'
Sacked water minister Kapil Mishra shot off another tranche of allegations against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his aides and dared the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to expel him.

The crisis within AAP deepened as Mishra alleged health minister Satyendra Jain 'settled a Rs 50-crore land deal' for Kejriwal's brother-in-law in Chhattarpur, apart from massive corruption during the Punjab and MCD polls.

Hitting out at the party for accusing him of a conspiracy, he also declared he would 'never join the BJP'.

Let's clean the AAP: Former AAP minister Kapil Mishra holds a press conference at his residence on Monday

Mishra said he would hand over evidence and documents related to corruption, financial irregularities, nepotism and dubious land dealings by Kejriwal to the CBI and file an FIR.

On Tuesday, he will file FIR on irregularity in land dealings, exchange of the Rs 2-crore in cash and foreign trips by AAP leaders on public fund. On the other hand, Kejriwal will break his silence over the ongoing AAP controversy on the floor of the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday.

Jain will also address the Assembly during the one-day special session.

'It was the BJP what 'dunnit': AAP return to pet defence

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday evening suspended Kapil Mishra from the party's primary membership.

The move came 32 hours after he levelled serious allegations against party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendra Jain.

The decision was taken by the AAP's political affairs committee (PAC) chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been under a lot of pressure recently

Mishra has been suspended from the party's primary membership but was not removed from the party.

According to sources, removing Mishra will have political implications as it will make him an independent candidate.

On the other hand, Satyendra Jain, who is at the centre of the charges levelled by Mishra, said he would file a criminal defamation suit against the sacked minister.

'He has lost his mental balance. There is no evidence to back his charge. Does he even have a single paper, document or proof which could make his allegation serious?' Jain asked.

However, Mishra is firm that he has sufficient evidence 'which would land Jain behind bars', although he has not released the evidence in public.

AAP also criticised Mishra for accusing Kejriwal's brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal, who died on Monday.

'It is shameful on part of Mishra. Levelling a baseless corruption charge is one thing, but defaming a person lying on a funeral pyre is sin.

'Even God won't forgive him for that,' said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that before levelling such baseless charges against Kejriwal and his relative, Mishra should have shown some sensitivity.

Singh claimed Mishra had himself written a letter to ACB in September last year, saying that the anti-graft body was trying to implicate the chief minister in the water tanker scam under pressure even when his name was not mentioned in the evidence.

He also showed the letter to that effect. AAP alleged a big conspiracy is being hatched against the party by the BJP through Mishra.

'A game of exploitation is being played against AAP. The BJP is hatching a conspiracy against the party through Mishra,' Singh said, adding Mishra was repeating what the BJP had been trying to allege in connection with the water tanker scam.
India is continuing to face challenges in its efforts to suffocate the black market due to the country's love affair with cash over digital alternatives.

Fat wads of bank notes still move across counters in Old Delhi's gold and diamond district, Chandni Chowk where cash remains king in the musty narrow streets.

That has been the case since the jewellery market was set up by Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century - and the vendors of today largely shrug off Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent 'demonetisation' drive.

Cash has been king in the musty narrow streets of Chandni Chowk since the jewellery market was set up in the 17th century

In a shock move on November 8 last year, Modi cancelled all 1,000 ($15) and 500 rupee notes in circulation, rendering about 86 percent of India's currency void.

Amid street protests, the decision triggered massive queues outside banks as the authorities struggled to print enough new notes.

Chandni Chowk is not alone in resisting the digital economy. At least 80 percent of business in India is estimated to be conducted in cash, much of it avoiding tax as well as fuelling corruption.

India's jewellers are not alone in resisting the digital economy. At least 80 percent of the nation's business is thought to be conducted in cash

'I'm sticking to cash,' one gold and diamond dealer, Kapil, who declined to give his last name, told AFP at his store in the backstreets.

'There have been many raids on the shops here so I don't keep as much stock of ready jewellery as I used to, but I don't take any cheques or cards,' he said. 'Only cash.'

Most of the gold, silver and diamond dealers approached in Chandni Chowk told news agency AFP that while a percentage of their transactions had switched to digital cards, cash still dominates.

'Demonetisation has had no impact at all,' said the proprietor of one jewellery store

Last year Kapil sold jewellery worth nearly 10 million rupees ($155,000) but declared sales of just 500,000 rupees ($7,770).

Indian Money Rs 100 = 1.19 1 Lakh = 100,000 (hundred thousand) 10 Lakh = 1,000,000 (a million) 1 Crore = 10,000,000 (ten million) Advertisement

But it is not just the sellers who prefer the tax-friendly cash system.

'Customers still want to pay in cash to save paying tax,' Ranjeev Panjali, whose family has been in the jewellery business for the past 60 years.

The government followed up the bank note action by banning all cash transactions above 200,000 rupees in March. It has promoted e-wallets and offered incentives for businesses that adopt digital payments.

The government said that the amount of tax collected in February was 10 percent higher than for the same month last year. It insists it is looking for long-term change.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been championing the use of cashless transactions

But the action so far has not deterred wily and wary Indians.

All sales witnessed by an AFP reporter during a visit to the gold market on a recent afternoon were in cash.

'Demonetisation has had no impact at all,' said the proprietor of a store who declined to give his name. 'You can never remove cash from our system.'

Cash withdrawals from bank machines are rising. In March the figure stood at 2.2 billion rupees, up 0.6 percent from the same month last year.

People stand in a long queue to dispense currency at a working ATM in December in New Delhi

And the government action hit the economy, at least temporarily. India's impressive growth fell to 7.0 percent in the final quarter of 2016 from 7.3 percent in the previous three months. That could yet be revised down as the full picture emerges.

Agriculture and real estate are as sensitive to the cash economy as Old Delhi gold dealers.

'Property sales have slowed in Delhi, but not just because of demonetisation,' said a real estate agent in the capital, who asked that his name not be revealed.

'Cash is more difficult, but more often than not there are big piles of notes on the table,' he added.

Ironically, jewellers made money in the initial days of the government cash ban as stunned consumers swapped suddenly worthless notes for gold, a traditional safe haven.

'There is not a single shop in this entire market that didn't make money during demonetisation,' one shop owner, who declined to be named, said with a laugh.

The owner said he doubled sales last year to 20 million rupees owing to the government action.

The government's 'longer-term success will depend on whether Indians return to cash in large numbers,' the Stratfor consultancy said in a recent report.

It predicted that Modi will not give up attempts to 'steer India's economy away from cash.'
Buy a collectible classic car and it should be a good investment. Purchase the absolute original model and you're on to a goldmine.

That's the opportunity that is just around the corner at Coys' London auction later this month when the first ever Ferrari 275 GTB/4 goes under the hammer.

It won't come cheap - the auction house has set an estimate range of 2,000,000 to 2,500,000 on the roof of this icon.

Blueprint for an icon: This is the original prototype for the 275GTB/4, and Ferrari collectors will be falling over each other to bid on it in London later this month

Just three years ago, a 1967 version of the same model that was previously owned by Steve McQueen sold for $10.175million (around 6.1million at the time).

That makes the higher estimate of this car seem good value, especially when you consider the history it has.

That's because this example was produced a year before the McQueen-owned version. In fact, it's what the Great Escape and Bullitt actor's car was based on.

It's the first prototype 275GTB/4. It's also the same car that was showcased at the 1966 Paris Motor Show to launch the all-new model that's gone on to become one of the most valuable Ferraris in the exotic carmaker's history.

Chris Routledge, CEO of Coys, said: 'The four-cam has always been considered the most beautiful 12-cylinder car from Maranello, and it is with some excitement that we are bringing the factory prototype, Chassis No 1 and 1966 Paris Motor Show car to the market.'

This is the car that Ferrari unveiled at its stand during the 1966 Paris Motor Show

The shape of the two-seat fixedhead coupe was penned by legendary car designer Pininfarina

The car will be sold at Royal Horticultural Halls, in London's Westminster, on May 18th, and is expected to generate plenty of interest from buyers across the world.

It's a car that's done some globe trotting already.

After debuting in the French capital, it was bought by a Mr Gordon Walker of Northbrook, Illinois, where it remained until 1983.

Under the bonnet it s 3.3-litre V12 motor capable of powering this 60s Ferrari to a top speed of 159mph, according to the Italian carmaker back then

The 275GTB/4 is widely regarded as one of the great looking 60s Ferraris. Coys believe it will sell for up to 2.5million

That year it was offered for sale by Ferrari South USA and was bought into the Swiss collection of Albert Obrist, who is known for owning some of the greatest Ferraris of all time.

After a brief spell in the UK in the early 2000s, the car was sold at the Coys auction in Monaco to the current vendor who has only used it for a handful of events.

Even with this high estimation, it will significantly fall short of the top 20 most expensive Ferraris sold at auction.
A woman pleaded guilty to killing her bedridden husband, who was neglected and left with maggot-ridden sores when he died, prosecutors said.

Debora Brichacek of Euclid, Ohio, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Monday in the December 2015 death of husband Richard Brichacek, who suffered from a neurological disorder.

Their adult children Wendi, Debbi and Brian Brichacek pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault on Monday.

All four family members, who were originally charged with murder, also pleaded guilty to failure to provide for a functionally impaired person.

Debora Brichacek (left) pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the December 2015 death of husband Richard Brichacek (right), who suffered from a neurological disorder

Their adult children Wendi, Debbi and Brian Brichacek pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault on Monday

Richard Brichacek suffered from a form of muscular atrophy known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, which affects both motor and sensory nerves.

He relied on family members to take care of him, but they failed to take him to the doctor for more than a year before he died, prosecutors said.

He was severely malnourished and weighed just 93 pounds when he died on December 12, 2015 from multiple organ failure, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office.

The 63-year-old also had maggot-infested bedsores that exposed a bone in his leg, and the family's home was declared unfit for habitation, prosecutors said.

The sentencing is scheduled for June 7.
The Mexican government, San Antonio's police chief and Travis county sheriff have slammed Texas' new 'sanctuary cities' law.

The measure lets police ask during routine stops whether someone is in the US legally and threatens sheriffs with jail if they do not cooperate with federal immigration agents.

Opponents fear it will lead to racial profiling and cause immigrant families to not report crimes over concerns talking to police could lead to deportation.

It has been blasted by critics as the country's toughest on immigrants since Arizona's crackdown in 2010 and they have vowed to challenge it in court.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed the law Sunday evening on Facebook Live with no advanced warning

Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed the law Sunday evening on Facebook Live with no advanced warning.

A few dozen people protested outside his mansion in Austin on Monday.

San Antonio police chief William McManus ripped into the Republicans who pushed the law through despite the objections of every big-city police chief in the state.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that Texas is home to more than 1.4 million people who are in the country illegally, including 71,000 living in the San Antonio area.

McManus and the other police chiefs, including those in Dallas and Houston, have said it will create a chilling effect that will cause immigrant families to not report crimes or come forward as witnesses over fears that talking to local police could lead to deportation.

Critics also fear it will lead to the racial profiling of Hispanics and put officers in an untenable position.

Referring to an officer's reason for inquiring about a person's immigrant status, McManus said: 'It's either skin color or language. What else does someone have to base it on?'

'That leads to profiling. Profiling leads to lawsuits. In my opinion, there is nothing positive this bill does in the community or law enforcement.'

Nevertheless, McManus said his department will abandon a policy that prohibits officers from asking about a person's immigration status.

'We're going to have to take it off the books,' said McManus, adding that it will probably have to spend a year now training his roughly 2,400 officers on immigration law.

On Sunday, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signs a so-called 'sanctuary cities' ban in Austin Texas. The ban lets police ask during routine stops whether someone is in the U.S. legally and threatens sheriffs with jail if they don't cooperate with federal immigration agents

The law also drew rebuke from Mexico, which is Texas' largest trading partner and shares close ties to the state.

The country's foreign ministry said in a news release that the law could trample on the rights of Mexican citizens who choose to live just across the border and promised to 'closely follow' the situation after the law takes effect.

'These types of actions criminalizes even more the topic of immigration, foments racial discriminatory acts and reduces collaboration between the immigrant community and local authorities,' the ministry said.

The law also requires police chiefs and sheriffs - under the threat of jail and removal from office - to comply with federal requests to hold criminal suspects in jail for possible deportation.

Sally Hernandez, the sheriff of Travis County, which includes liberal Austin, has refused to honor federal requests to detain immigrants if the suspects weren't arrested for immigration offenses or serious crimes such as murder.

Hernandez softened her policy after Abbott cut funding to the county, saying decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis. She said before Abbott signed it that she would conform to the ban if it became law.

By late Monday afternoon, Abbott's Facebook video had been viewed more than 700,000 times

Republicans have a strong majority in the Legislature and ignored Democratic objections, even as President Donald Trump's efforts to withhold federal funding for sanctuary cities have hit roadblocks in federal courts.

Texas took the unusual step on Monday afternoon of asking a federal court in Austin to preemptively find the law constitutional in anticipation of lawsuits from cities and minority rights groups.

One of the first legal challenges came from the League of United Latin American Citizens on behalf of a small border town near the Mexico border called El Cenizo.

The city has had a 'safe haven' ordinance since 1999 that prohibits city employees from asking about a person's immigration status, according to lawsuit, which LULAC attorney Luis Vera said was filed in federal court on Monday.

The term 'sanctuary cities' has no legal definition, but Republicans want local police to help federal immigration agents crack down on criminal suspects in the U.S. illegally.
A best-selling novelist is imagining how Hillary Clinton's life might have turned out had she never married Bill Clinton.

Random House announced Monday that Curtis Sittenfeld will tell the story from the point of view of Hillary Rodham.

In real life, the former first lady did turn down Bill Clinton's marriage proposals at first before agreeing to marry. In the novel, not yet titled, she turns down Clinton once and for all, then goes on with her life. No release date was announced.

Scroll down for video

Author Curtis Sittenfeld (right) is working on a novel about what would have happened if Hillary never married Bill (couple pictured left on their wedding day in 1975)

Over the years, Bill and Hillary have often recounted their meet-cute at Yale Law School in the 1970s.

Hillary says she was in the library one day when she noticed Bill looking at her, so she got up and made the first move.

In real life, Hillary twice turned down Bill's proposals before finally saying yes in 1975. Hillary Rodham pictured above on her graduation from Wellesley College in 1969

'I go over and I said, "If you're going to keep looking at me, and I'm going to keep looking back, we at least ought to know each other." You know I thought that was the proper thing to do, right?' Clinton recalled on the Steve Harvey Show last year.

Bill first proposed on a trip to Europe after graduation. They were standing on the shores of Lake Ennerdale in England's Lake District when he got down on one knee. But Hillary said no because she wasn't ready to settle down.

He proposed again a year later, this time using 'a different tack'.

'I said I really want you to marry me, but you shouldn't,' Bill recalled at the DNC convention last year.

'And she smiled and looked at me, like, what is this boy up to? She said "That is not a very good sales pitch." I said, 'I know, but it's true,"' Bill recalled.

Hillary turned him down yet again.

The third time proved to be the charm for Bill. Hillary finally said yes when he surprised her with their first home in 1975.

They got married in that same house in Arkansas that very year. Two years later, Bill became attorney general of the state at the young age of 30, and two years after that they moved into the governor's mansion.

This will be the second novel that Sittenfeld has written inspired by a first lady. Her 2008 novel American Wife (left) was based loosely on the life of Laura Bush (right)

This will be Sittenfeld's second novel inspired by a first lady.

The 41-year-old author's 2008 novel 'American Wife' was based loosely on the life of Laura Bush.

Sittenfeld broke out onto the literary scene in 2005 with the novel 'Prep,' about an East Coast boarding school.

The novel was inspired by Sittenfeld's own experience as a middle-class Midwesterner studying among trust-funders at the elite Groton School in Massachusetts.

Sittenfeld is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, considered the best creative writing graduate program in the country.

Sittenfeld's novel is just the latest to reimagine an alternate universe concerning the failed presidential candidate

Bill and Hillary are pictured above with their daughter Chelsea in 1992

Hillary holds a bible while her husband is sworn in for a second term as president in 1997

Bill stands behind his wife as she gives her concession speech after losing to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election

Sci-fi writer William Gibson is also writing a novel about what would have happened if Hillary Clinton won the election.

Yesterday, it was announced that Bill Clinton is working on a piece of fiction himself.

Clinton is partnering with popular novelist James Patterson on a book called 'The President is Missing,' which will give readers a 'behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power,' according to a press release from publishers Alfred A. Konpf and Little, Brown and Company.

'Working on a book about a sitting President - drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works - has been a lot of fun,' former President Clinton said in a statement.

The book is set to be released in June 2018, and will be Clinton's first novel. Jimmy Carter was the first president to write a piece of fiction. Carter's The Hornet's Nest details the lives of of a newlywed couple in the Revolutionary War.
Advertisement

Four people including a toddler are missing as historic flooding hits Canada.

Debris-filled choppy waters on Monday kept divers from searching for a toddler and her stepfather who were swept away in a swollen Quebec river as the military battled to protect the flooded province.

Meanwhile, in British Columbia, authorities are searching for two men - one of whom is thought to have been swept away by the floods, and another whose house was destroyed by a mudslide, according to The Canadian Press.

Quebec was in the grip of historic flooding, forcing more than 1,500 people in 146 communities to flee their homes, officials said.

Canada's federal government has deployed 1,650 troops and 250,000 sandbags to the inundated province, the officials said.

Scroll down for video

The above photo shows a house and vehicles affected by floodwater in Pointe-Calumet, Quebec on Monday

Montreal, Quebec's largest city, and several other municipalities have declared a state of emergency.

'Its a serious situation, but people should know that every level of government is pulling together seamlessly to do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe,' Ralph Goodale, public safety minister, told reporters in Ottawa.

The man and two-year-old girl were swept away after their car swerved into the Sainte-Anne River, a tributary of the Saint Lawrence River in the province's eastern Gaspe region, on Sunday evening, a Quebec police spokesman said.

The man, the girl and the child's mother had climbed onto the roof of the vehicle but choppy waters flipped the car over, sending all three into the water, Sgt. Claude Doiron said.

A family is evacuated on a boat from their house affected by floodwater in Pointe-Calumet, Quebec

According to reports, floodwaters, resulting from heavy rains in the previous days, created more than 1,500 evacuees and affected some 2,500 homes and 427 roads, prompting the states of emergency across the province

Michel Guerard and his dog Choco return with their boat to help their neighbors to evacuate from their houses affected by floodwaters in Pointe-Calumet. Some 1,650 soldiers have been deployed to help flood-hit communities

Quebec was in the grip of historic flooding, forcing more than 1,500 people in 146 communities to flee their homes, officials said

Debris-filled choppy waters on Monday kept divers from searching for a toddler and her stepfather who were swept away in a swollen Quebec river as the military battled to protect the flooded province

'Its a serious situation, but people should know that every level of government is pulling together seamlessly to do everything necessary to keep Canadians safe,' Ralph Goodale, public safety minister, told reporters in Ottawa

The woman hung onto a branch, escaped, then was taken to the hospital.

She was released from the hospital Sunday evening but her husband and toddler were swept away and remained missing as of Monday afternoon, police said.

About 30 police officers and firefighters patrolled the river banks as the severe weather made it impossible to use helicopters.

Divers headed to the scene Monday afternoon but conditions were expected to be too harsh for them to enter the water, Doiron said.

This aerial photo shows Ile Mercier, Quebec covered in floodwater on the Riviere des Prairies. The bridge leading to the island is closed with its residents evacuated

This aerial photograph shows a church in Oka, Quebec surrounded by floodwaters on Monday

The aerial photograph above shows the extent of the flooding as homes are inundated with water in Rigaud, Quebec

The flooding in Rigaud is seen in the above photograph from another angle. The floodwaters were expected to peak in Montreal later on Monday, Quebec Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux told reporters

This aerial photo shows the Galipeau Bridge over the Ottawa River on Highway 20 leading to Montreal on Monday

The floodwaters were expected to peak in Montreal later on Monday, Quebec Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux told reporters.

The Red Cross asked for donations to provide emergency aid to more than 1,500 displaced by the floods.

'We couldn't save anything,' Mina Tayarani, 53, whose family moved from Iran in 2004, told Reuters while standing outside her Montreal home.

'Now we have to start from zero a second time.'

Approximately 2.4 inches of rain fell in eastern Ontario and western Quebec late last week.

Canadian Forces personnel unload sandbags to protect the pumping station in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec on Monday

A man wades through the flooded streets of Laval, Quebec on Monday. Approximately 2.4 inches of rain fell in eastern Ontario and western Quebec late last week

Andre Belanger carries his dog Rocky through floodwaters in Gatineau, Quebec on Monday

On the other side of the country in BC, emergency responders are searching for Cache Creek Fire Chief Clayton Cassidy, 59.

He was checking creek-flow levels in the province's interior late on Friday before going missing. He is presumed dead, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told the BBC.

Meanwhile, a mudslide in Tappen, BC is believed to have swept away the home of a 76-year-old man who is still unaccounted for.
Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris, 46, has been arrested and charged in connection with repeated sexual abuse of a minor

The top coroner in one of the wealthiest San Francisco suburban counties has been arrested and charged in connection with sexually abusing an underage girl for nine years, police say.

Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris, 46, appeared in court Monday, but did not enter a plea on four felony charges and a misdemeanor count of sexually abusing a girl younger than 14 over the last nine years.

Some of the charges against Harris include lewd acts and oral sex with a minor.

Harris is in charge of the coroner's office in Marin County, a wealthy and politically liberal San Francisco suburb north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The married father of two was held for lack of $750,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on May 15.

Harris' attorney, Douglas Horngrad, told the Marin Independent Journal that the charges are uncharacteristic.

'I can only share with you that everyone, and I mean everyone, who knows him, is in absolute shock,' Horngard said.

Harris did not enter a plea on four felony charges and a misdemeanor count of sexually abusing a girl younger than 14 over the last nine years. He is pictured above with his wife and children

Harris (pictured with his wife and daughter) is in charge of the coroner's office in Marin County, a wealthy and politically liberal San Francisco suburb north of the Golden Gate Bridge

'Nobody believes it, from law enforcement to neighbors.''

His wife and son watched the proceedings and departed quickly afterward, the newspaper reported.

Harris reportedly left work on Thursday in a distraught panic as criminal charges were being prepared, a source told The East Bay Times.

He was arrested in Humboldt County on Friday, about 225 miles north of the Sonoma County address he gave police as his own.

He was transferred to the Marin County jail in San Rafael, about 20 miles north of San Francisco.

The complaint alleges one count of continuous sexual abuse of a girl under 14 years old.

Harris (pictured), who is a married father of two, was held for lack of $750,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on May 15. His attorney said: 'Nobody believes it, from law enforcement to neighbors.'

The charge alleges that the molestation occurred on at least three occasions between May 2008 and May 2011.

The other counts, which include charges such as lewd acts and oral sex with a minor, cover various periods from 2011 to 2015.

The girl was between the ages of 14 and 17 during that span.

The complaint does not say whether Harris met the girl while at work or the nature of their relationship.

The alleged crimes occurred in Marin County, but the nearby Santa Rosa Police Department investigated the case because of Harris' law enforcement ties.

Marin Sheriff Robert Doyle told the newspaper that the department has not made a decision on Harris' employment status.

The alleged crimes occurred in Marin County, but the nearby Santa Rosa Police Department investigated the case because of Harris' law enforcement ties. Harris is pictured above in 2004 preparing to move a body found at the yacht harbor in Sausalito

'Darrell has been an exemplary employee,' Doyle said. 'We're saddened by the allegations.'

The Marin County Sheriff's Office controls the coroner's office, where Harris has worked since 2003.

In October 2015, he was promoted to chief deputy coroner and placed in charge of the office.

Harris is also a part-time commercial photographer who publishes under the name D. Alan Harris.

The U.S. Census lists the county's median family income of $90,500 as the 17th wealthiest county in the nation.

Only Santa Clara County in the heart of California's Silicon Valley has a higher median state family income level.
A high school student who wants to be a funeral director surprised her classmates by arriving at her prom in an open coffin.

Megan Flaherty, of New Jersey, shocked friends when she turned up at Pennsauken High School's junior prom on Saturday in the back of a hearse.

The 17-year-old lay flat on her back in a navy gown in the prop coffin, which slid out of the back of the vehicle.

Her dramatic arrival prompted outrage from some critics, who branded her actions 'classless and distasteful'.

Others accused her of 'mocking the dead'.

Scroll down for video

Megan Flaherty, of New Jersey, who hopes to become a funeral director has surprised her classmates by arriving at her prom in an open coffin

The 17-year-old lay flat on her back in a navy gown in the prop coffin, which slid out of the back of a hearse in the dramatic arrival

She says she mainly wanted to have fun while attending Pennsauken High School's junior prom on Saturday (pictured with her date)

In a video of her arrival, she then steps out of the coffin and smiles as other prom goers look on in amazement.

Megan said she checked with her date to make sure he had no reservations about her plans.

After an onslaught of abuse, her mother Susan explained on social media that Megan meant 'no disrespect'.

She wrote alongside it: 'This is my daughter....Some agree that it is all in fun.....others don't understand the meaning behind it.

'Megan decided about a year ago that this is the profession she will enter into. She has already made her choice of a school.

After an onslaught of abuse, her mother Susan explained on social media that Megan meant 'no disrespect'

Photos and video of Flaherty's entrance have become an online topic

Megan said she checked with her date (pictured) to make sure he had no reservations about her plans

'She has already donated her time to helping in funeral services. The hearse driver is her mentor.

'No disrespect meant....just a celebration of knowing what she wants to do with her life after graduation and of course, celebrating Junior Prom.'

Many commenters seem to like the entrance, with some joking Flaherty was 'drop dead gorgeous.'

Anther wrote: 'I love it! It is fantastic that she found a career that she really loves.'

But others branded her actions insensitive and tasteless for 'mocking the dead'.

One commenter wrote: 'Classless, tasteless, and insensitive.

'I am not surprised her goal is to be a funeral director. When she applies for the job, I am betting more than one funeral home will reject her for mocking the dead.
Young brothers who were killed on Saturday when their car collided with a large truck near Dubbo were part of a 'beautiful family who love each other so much,' a family friend said.

Taite, 12, and Kobi Van Der Heyden, nine, died after their family's 4WD struck a B-double truck on Newell Highway, approximately 12 kilometres north of Dubbo, around 3.30am.

The brothers were travelling with their mum, Jen, and dad, Jason, and their four-year-old brother, Scout, when the tragic accident occurred, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Scroll down for video

Taite (left), 12, and Kobi Van Der Heyden (right), nine, died around 3.30am on Saturday after their family's 4WD struck a B-double truck on Newell Highway, north of Dubbo

The brothers (left) were travelling with their mum, Jen, and dad, Jason, and their four-year-old brother, Scout (right) at the time of the tragic crash

The Queensland couple, who also have a young daughter who was not with them at the time, were treated for shock after their eldest children died at the scene (pictured is the 4WD)

The Queensland couple, who also have a young daughter who was not with them at the time, were treated for shock after the death of their sons but did not require medical treatment.

Taite and Kobi died at the scene but Scout was airlifted to Westmead Children's Hospital in a serious condition with internal injuries.

A family friend has spoken of the family's heart-breaking loss.

'They are a beautiful family who love each other so much,' they told the Daily Telegraph.

'Family was everything to them.'

Scout, four, was airlifted to Westmead Children's Hospital in a serious condition with internal injuries (pictured is the B-double)

Emergency crews were forced to cut the 53-year-old male truck driver out of the truck

The accident stretched across 500metres of highway about 12km north of Dubbo (pictured)

Emergency crews were forced to cut the 53-year-old male truck driver out of his B-double following the accident, which stretched across 500metres.

He was treated at the scene for serious injuries and airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital.

The driver has a significant back injury, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The Police Crash Investigation Unit have assessed the scene and are investigating the accident.

A coroner's report will be prepared.

The Police Crash Investigation Unit have assessed the scene and are investigating the accident (pictured)




Does North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Un tune in to Morning Joe?

The government in Pyongyang has accused US Senator Cory Gardner of 'wicked blasphemy' over the weekend after the Republican from Colorado referred to Kim as a 'whack job' and a 'crazed maniac,' according to UPI.

The North Koreans were responding to an interview Gardner gave on Friday to MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Gardner is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.

'I think most people agree that Kim Jong Un is a whack job,' Gardner said.

'This is a crazed maniac at the helm of one of the world's nuclear regimes, trying to become a nuclear regime.

North Korea has accused US Senator Cory Gardner (right) of 'wicked blasphemy' over the weekend after the Republican from Colorado referred to the country's ruler, Kim Jong-Un (left), as a 'whack job' and a 'crazed maniac'

'We shouldn't be in the position of flattery.'

A spokesperson for the North Korean foreign ministry responded angrily on Friday, calling Gardner 'human dirt' and a 'psychopath' for his remarks about Kim.

'On May 3, some [expletive] by the name of Cory Gardner, who sits on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, perpetrated wicked blasphemy against our supreme dignity during an interview with NBC,' the government said in a statement read on state-run media.

'For a psychopath like the [expletive] Gardner, to hurl evil accusations at our highest dignity, is a serious provocation,' the Pyongyang spokesman said.

In this April 15, 2017 file photo, missiles are paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang. The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday to tighten sanctions on North Korea

'That a man mixed in with human dirt like Gardner, who has lost basic judgment and body hair, could only spell misfortune for the United States.'

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday to tighten sanctions on North Korea by targeting its shipping industry and companies that do business with the reclusive state.

The vote was 419 to 1.

Supporters said the legislation was intended to send a strong message to North Korea, amid international concern over the escalation of its nuclear program.

The measure would have to be approved by the Senate before it could be sent to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law.

Although legislation addressing North Korea has been introduced in the Senate, there was no immediate word on when or if the Senate might take up a bill.

Any new US sanctions against North Korea would likely affect China, the North's most important trade partner.

North Korea has claimed it has an invincible army and has warned it is waiting for an order to wage what it calls a final sacred war.

The strike, the state says, will turn into a sea of fire and destroy what it described as bluffing US imperialists.

The comments were made in Friday's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which is the official media outlet for the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, led by Kim.

The article, translated by KNCA Watch, told its North Korean readers the country's army was an 'invincible army equipped with powerful strike means and ever-victorious tactics.

In this December 17, 2015 file photo, North Koreans bow to bronze statues of the late leaders, Kim Il Sung, left, and his son Kim Jong Il, on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang. North Korea maintains that it must develop nuclear weapons because of the 'hostile' policy of the United States

It held a special mention for Donald Trump's administration, saying, 'the US imperialists are trying hard to attain its purpose through military threat and blackmail while brandishing all sorts of strategic and tactical weapons of demonstrative and threatening nature'.

'But it is nothing but a bluffing of the mentally weak and a last-ditch effort of those with miserable end at hand,' it added.

'The army of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), full of the spirit of annihilating the enemies, is waiting for an order to wage a final sacred war, with their guns leveled at the detestable targets.

'Our strike will all at once turn into sea of fire, completely destroying enemies and winning a final victory.'

The article insisted the words were not empty threats, and called the DPRK's stance on defence was an 'everlasting treasure'.

North Korea maintains that it must develop nuclear weapons because of the 'hostile' policy of the United States, which retains 28,500 troops in South Korea and holds bi-annual military drills the North considers rehearsals for invasion.

Tensions have spiked as President Donald Trump deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

Last week, North Korean Defense Minister General Pak Yong Sik said his country was ready to use pre-emptive strikes to defend against 'US imperialists,' warning nuclear war could break out because of the 'frantic war drills'.
Australian school students are being asked to choose a name for a new Antarctic icebreaker ship.

The competition 'Name Our Icebreaker' is being run by the federal government and is open to school students from Years 5 to 8.

The 12 winners will take part in a round-trip flight from Hobart to Antarctica for a day, landing at Australia's Wilkins Aerodrome.

Australian school students in Year 5 to 8 are being asked to choose a name for a new Antarctic icebreaker ship (stock image)

They will become the first children to set foot on the continent as part of the Australian Antarctic Program.

The Australian icebreaker will be more than 156 metres long and accommodate 116 expeditioners.

It will be equipped with an array of cutting-edge scientific equipment including a moon pool, multi-beam bathymetric echo sounders, hydrophones and underwater cameras.

The competition is similar to one in the U.K. where the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) put forward a public poll asking people to name a research ship.

The NERC asked the public to suggest an 'inspirational name' which would reflect the ship's mission - studying ice sheets - and celebrates Britain's long naval history.

Thousands of people opted for Boaty McBoatface, rather than following the tradition of naming ships after heroic explorers.

The winning entries will go in the draw to take part in a flight from Hobart to Antarctica - the first children on the continent as part of the Australian Antarctic Program (stock image)

The suggestion received 124,109 votes - more than three times that of its closest contender.

The 200m research ship was named Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough, and the accompanying yellow submarine finished with the name Boaty McBoatface.

When the decision was announced Sir David Attenborough said he was 'truly honoured'.

He added: 'I hope that everyone who suggested a name will feel just as inspired to follow the ships progress as it explores our polar regions.

'I have been privileged to explore the worlds deepest oceans alongside amazing teams of researchers, and with this new polar research ship they will be able to go further and discover more than ever before.'

The Australian program is designed to expand student's knowledge of Antarctica, its environment, climate, history and Australia's role on the icy continent.
A primary school who refused to celebrate 'Mother's Day' in an effort to be 'inclusive' has backflipped on its decision after a call from opposition leader Bill Shorten.

Moonee Ponds West Primary School, in Melbourne, shocked parents last week when it announced in a school newsletter it would 'not be holding a Mother's Day' in 2017.

The decision to instead celebrate 'International Day of Families' not only stopped any use of the phrase 'Mother's Day', but also ended the tradition of a stall, where school children spend their pocket money on a gift for mum.

However the school is believed to have reversed its decision after Mr Shorten, who is the local member, called principal Jeff Lyons directly to voice his concerns.

Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten (pictured) has stepped in to force a Melbourne primary school to backflip on its decision to abandon Mother's Day and instead celebrate 'International Day of Families' (pictured with his daughter Clementine)

Moonee Ponds West Primary School (pictured) announced it would be observing the 'more inclusive' celebration in a newsletter last week, leaving parents outraged

Stepping in to defuse the situation after it sparked outrage, Mr Shorten confirmed on Monday that the annual tradition would now go ahead.

'I've spoken to the principal this evening and I understand there will be a Mother's Day stall,' Mr Shorten said.

The newsletter sent out by Mr Lyons to the Moonee Ponds West P.S community last week, explained the school was following the United Nation's 'inclusive' celebration.

'This year we will not be holding a Mother's Day stall at Moonee Ponds West,' Jeff Lyon said.

'I believe celebrating International Day of Families is a more inclusive way of celebrating the richness, diversity and complexity of living and loving as a family in the modern world.'

Mr Lyon said International Day of Families celebrated 'all caregivers' rather than just the one.

The school's principal Jeff Lyons announced the decision to parents in a newsletter (pictured) which meant there would not be a Mother's Day stall allowing kids to buy presents for mum

In a statement on Monday, Mr Shorten (pictured with daughter Clementine) said: 'I've spoken to the principal this evening and I understand there will be a Mother's Day stall.'

'The day highlights the importance of all caregivers... be it parents, grandparents or siblings,' he said.

The principal's decision to scrap the holiday came under fire on social media, from users outraged at the 'politically correct' decision.

'What a disgrace! The education department should drag the Moonee Ponds West principal in and ask 'who gives you the right to dismiss Mother's Day?' 3AW's Shane McInnes said on Twitter on Monday.

On Tuesday it was also reported that Ashburton Primary School, in Melbourne's east, was also attempting to ditch its Mother's Day celebration.

However a spokesperson for the Department of Education told Daily Mail Australia this wasn't the case and that they were simply changing their Mother's Day stall.
An Australian teenager was left with 40 stitches in his face and forced to pay $2,600 after a taxi driver threatened to 'put him in a pit' during a horror holiday in Bali.

McKenzie Weir travelled to the popular Indonesian island last month to celebrate his 19th birthday with his stepbrother.

Just hours after arriving, Mr Weir's phone was stolen - but things quickly got worse.

McKenzie Weir (pictured) was left with 40 stitches in his face and forced to pay $2,500 after a taxi driver threatened to 'put him in a pit' during a horror holiday in Bali

The night before they were due to fly home, Mr Weir claims a taxi pulled out in front of him and came to a sudden halt as he rode a scooter home from dinner.

The 19-year-old slammed into the back of the cab, losing a tooth and suffering several deep cuts to his face.

Mr Weir, who was bleeding profusely, claims the taxi driver followed him to hospital where he demanded $2,000 for the damage to his car.

He said the driver threatened his life and told him police would lock him up if he did not pay.

'He was saying "do you want your life" and "I will get you thrown into jail",' Mr Weir told Daily Mail Australia.

The 19-year-old slammed into the back of the cab, losing a tooth and suffering several deep cuts to his face

Mr Weir claims a taxi pulled out in front of him and came to a sudden halt as he rode a scooter home from dinner (stock image)

'It was scary when he was threatening my life because you don't know what they are capable of following up with.'

The following day, a police officer ordered Mr Weir to pay the driver $1,900.

Mr Weir's mother, Jodee, who was in Australia at the time, told myGC that when she transferred the money, the driver wasn't satisfied and demanded an additional $700.

'The transaction went through, but as soon as the police walked away, the taxi driver said '"if you don't give me the rest of my money you're going to end up in a pit and you'll never leave Bali and get home again'',' she said, according to the publication.

Ms Weir paid the money. Her son issued a warning for people keen to visit the popular tourist destination.

'I'll never go back ... police are so corrupt over there... It's a beautiful country, but be careful ... be very careful,' he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Mr Weir (pictured) issued a warning for people keen to visit the popular tourist destination
Thousands of police investigations are under review after laboratory staff were accused of tampering with drug tests, police are expected to announce.

Scores of prosecutions and forthcoming trials are thought to be affected after two men were arrested at Randox Testing Services  which analyses blood, saliva and hair samples for police forces.

At least one murder case has been put on hold and rape and assault cases are said to be under review over fears drug test results could be flawed, the Mail understands.

Thousands of police investigations are under review after laboratory staff were accused of tampering with drug tests (stock image)

Earlier this year the National Police Chiefs Council said it was looking at 484 cases handled by the forensic firm, as it began a criminal investigation into the quality failure.

But last night it emerged the probe had been widened to thousands of cases dating back around seven years. Forces across Britain are considering if prosecutions have been based on compromised data.

It could lead to thousands of appeals if innocent people have been wrongly convicted based on faulty drug test results.

RTS, which has Home Office approval to carry out drug and alcohol tests on behalf of forces, called in police after an internal investigation found an anomaly in its test results, which led to the arrest of two staff.

The firm, based in Northern Ireland, said the police probe was limited to its Manchester site, where the arrested men worked for three years.

National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Forensic Science, Chief Constable Debbie Simpson

But it has emerged the men worked for two other forensic firms who held licences for the same site before RTS took on the premises.

In February Dorset Chief Constable Debbie Simpson, the NPCC lead for forensic science, said: We have been made aware of a quality failure with RTS which is currently being investigated and a criminal inquiry has been launched by Greater Manchester Police.

Randox has provided each force with a list of cases that could have been affected. Working in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service, we have provided guidance to forces so they are able to review each case to determine if compromised data played a part in prosecution and the CPS will then take appropriate action in any cases identified.

RTS denied reports that samples were interfered with and said tests could be re-run.

Last night it announced a partial suspension of services in support of the criminal investigation. It added: RTS acted as whistleblowers when employees uncovered evidence of data manipulation  and has been working tirelessly to resolve the issue.

Two men, 31 and 47, who were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, are on bail.
Politicians have begun arriving at Canberra's Parliament House ahead of the 2017 Federal Budget reveal on Tuesday night.

Treasurer Scott Morrison assured Australians the Government 'had been listening' and was 'optimistic' for better days ahead through an 'incredibly practical' budget.

'We understand that many other Australians feel frustrated that they're not getting ahead in the way they would like to,' he told reporters on Tuesday morning.

'Australians have been making big sacrifices to ensure that we've achieved the growth that we've had. And I want to tell them that it's been worth it.'

Scroll down for video

Treasurer Scott Morrison arrives at Canberra's Parliament House to deliver the 2017 Federal Budget. He told reporters it would be 'incredibly practical' on Tuesday morning

Big day: Holding a black brief case, Mr Morrison faced reporters as he prepares to unveil his second budget as Federal Treasurer

Mr Morrison (pictured left with Finance Senator Mathias Cormann) said the Government 'had been listening' and was 'optimistic' for better days ahead

Senator Morrison did not address reports dole bludgers would come under a driver-style demerit scheme, instead promising Australians that his second budget would focus on 'principles of fairness, principles of opportunity and principles of security.'

'We understand that while Australia has grown ahead of the large advanced economies in all the world  that not all Australians have felt the experience of that growth personally,' he said.

'Tonight, what youll see, what the prime minister and the government have sought to do, is to be incredibly practical.

'There are issues that we need to address that Australians face every day. Some of our politics, its not about any of those things for Australians. Its about just honestly and practically trying to deal with the challenges and the opportunities that are ahead.'

While the ins and outs of the Federal Budget won't be revealed until Tuesday night, many of the winners and losers are already known.

Mr Morrison did not address reports dole bludgers would come under a driver-style demerit scheme

Joker: Labor Senator hosted a mock budget reveal, enlisting the help of comedian Lawrence Mooney to play the role of 'Prime Minister Trumble'

Mooney did his best impression of Mr Turnbull, jokingly promising a 'cap on aging' and imitating the Prime Minister's hand movements and use of reading glasses

Announcements and leaks to the media have identified some key areas where major announcements are is expected in the government's annual financial blueprint.

Details of other issues - such as a possible response to Australia's housing affordability crisis - are unknown.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has already announced the government will pump an extra $19billion into schools over the next decade as part of 'Gonski 2.0.'

In other known spending measures, Sydney's new airport has been confirmed and the Australian Federal Police are set to receive an extra $321million to step up the fight against terrorism.

Just one day out from the handing down of the 2017 Budget, many of the winners and losers have already been revealed Treasurer Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are pictured on Thursday

The 2017 Budget will be handed down on Tuesday night (budget papers are pictured)

But $2.8billion in cuts to university funding sparked protests last week, with students set to pay up to $3,600 more for a four-year university degree.

The budget will also see foreign buyers taxed up to $5,000 per property if they do not live in it as part of a 'ghost house tax'.

Here is guide to what we know so far and what we can expect.

Schools

Last week, the government revealed it will pump an extra $19 billion into schools over the next decade under a plan labelled 'Gonski 2.0'.

All but 24 of Australia's wealthiest schools will get the funding boost.

Total federal funding for private and public schools will rise from $17.5 billion this year to $22.1 billion by 2021 and $30.6 billion by 2027.

On those figures  and based on the ABS total of 3,798,226 students enrolled in schools across the country in 2016  the funding boost represents an increase of $1,211 per student per year by 2021.

But Catholic schools are up in arms about the funding, saying they will lose out and estimating fees at Sydney schools could rise by $5000 over the next five years.

But the government says its new funding plans are fair and will lead to Catholic schools getting an extra $1.2 billion by 2021.

Last week, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said it would be a 'true, needs-based, sector-blind funding model'.

Scott Morrison (pictured) has already promised a helping hand to reduce the cost of living pressures as he prepares to deliver his second budget on Tuesday

The 2017 Budget will be handed down on Tuesday night (budget papers are pictured)

Last week, the government revealed it will pump an extra $19 billion into schools over the next decade under a plan labelled 'Gonski 2.0'

Universities

Last Monday, Mr Birmingham revealed the budget would include $2.8 billion in cuts to universities across Australia.

The reforms will increase student fees and lower the threshold for graduates to begin repaying debts.

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.

Previously, students only had to start repaying the loan when earning above $56,000.

The most expensive degree, medicine over six years, will cost $71,900, up from $68,000.

Australian university student fees could rise at least 25 per cent under changes to be unveiled by the federal government on Monday (stock image)

Under the changes, students might also have to start repaying higher educations loans earlier and a loan fee could be charged at the start of their studies (Pictured is the University of Sydney)

Pensioners

Scott Morrison has already promised a helping hand to reduce the cost of living pressures as he prepares to deliver his second budget on Tuesday.

Aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, veterans and those on single parent payments will get a one-off payment to help with this winter's power bills.

Singles will receive $75 by June 30 and couples $125.

There will also be a $350 million boost to help defence force veterans battling mental health conditions.

Aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, veterans and those on single parent payments will get a one-off payment to help with this winter's power bills (stock image)

Housing affordability

Treasurer Scott Morrison is expected to address the issue of housing affordability, and in particular, first home buyers getting into the property market.

'I don't agree with the cynics who say the Commonwealth Government can't make a difference in this area, as I think it can,' Mr Morrison said on Monday.

The government has flagged the establishment of a 'bond aggregator' as an intermediary to attract greater private sector investment into affordable community housing.

As well, there could be incentives to encourage older people to downsize in order to free up family homes.

He said there would be a comprehensive plan that worked with the states and territories in the budget.

'It will address everything from the needs of those who don't even have a roof over their head to those who are trying to buy one to put over their head,' he said.

But an expected 'ghost house tax' being put on foreign investors who buy a house could help Australians trying to get into the property market.

Foreign buyers could be charged up to $5000 if they choose to leave a property vacant.

Last month, it was revealed house prices across Sydney had risen by a staggering 13.1 per cent in just 12 months, with the median cost for a home surging to $1.15 million.

Treasurer Scott Morrison is expected to address the issue of housing affordability, and in particular, first home buyers getting into the property market (stock image)

The government has flagged the establishment of a 'bond aggregator' as an intermediary to attract greater private sector investment into affordable community housing (stock image)

Commuters

Last week, the government announced a second international airport in Sydney would start operating within the next ten years.

The airport, to be constructed at Badgerys Creek to serve 2.2 million people in western Sydney.

The federal opposition stressed a train link would need to be installed to save the new airport from turning into a 'complete joke,' and further details will be confirmed in Tuesday's budget.

The government is committed to a 2026 operation date for the airport, which would have a 3700 metre runway and terminal capable of servicing 10 million passengers a year.

On-site works are expected to start in 2018 and the airport is expected to create 60,000 jobs in the long term.

More road funding for congested capital cities, including Sydney and Melbourne, is also expected to be detailed in the budget.

The government will also address the $1 billion for the Brisbane-Melbourne inland rail link, with farmers hoping for a funding boost.

The freight route would make it cheaper and faster to transport grain.

The Government is committed to a 2026 operation date for the airport, which would have a 3700 metre runway and terminal capable of servicing 10 million passengers a year

The NSW government will support the federal government to ensure a second Sydney airport is built in the city's west, despite Sydney Airport turning down the opportunity to develop the project

Medicare

The federal government will likely lift its four-year freeze on Medicare rebates for some GP visits starting from July.

The standard Medicare rebate for a 20-minute GP consultation has remained at $37.05 for four years.

The freeze has meant the amount doctors and medical specialists have been reimbursed has remained static since 2014, while costs of rent, staff and utilities has risen.

The rebate would have been almost $40 in 2017 without the freeze and patients will now see the Medicare rebate rise to up to $2 extra a visit.

Before the lift of the freeze, many surgeries were forced to pass the extra cost onto patients, hitting the most disadvantaged the hardest.

Last year, Labor accused the government of 'privatising' Medicare, in a successful scare campaign ahead of the July 2 election.

At the handing down of the 2016 Budget, Mr Morrison caused outrage after extending the freeze on all Medicare services until June 30, 2020.

The freeze was started by Labor in 2013 as a 'temporary' measure.

The federal government will likely lift its four-year freeze on Medicare rebates for some GP visits starting from July (stock image)

Welfare recipients

Welfare recipients who persistently dodge their job-seeking obligations will be targeted through harsh punishments outline in Tuesday's budget.

The Turnbull team for weeks has proclaimed 'enough is enough' for those who do the wrong thing, but has been silent on the proposed sanctions.

The budget also contained funding for more trial sites for cashless welfare cards, after two test runs showed positive results for problem gambling and alcohol consumption.

The trials have introduced Cashless Debit Cards to ensure recipients cannot pay for liquor, gambling or withdraw cash with their welfare money, the ABC reported.

The current trials are costing taxpayers about $10,000 per participant.

Welfare recipients who persistently dodge their job-seeking obligations will be targeted through harsh punishments outline in Tuesday's budget

Funding to fight terrorism

The Australian Federal Police will receive an extra $321 million to step up the fight against terrorism, criminal gangs and drug rings.

The authority's cash injection will be doled out over four years and is included in this year's federal budget.

The number of surveillance personnel and crime scene investigators will be beefed up under the new funding package, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The Australian Federal Police will receive an extra $321 million over four years (stock image)
In a growing racial discrimination lawsuit against Fox News, two more plaintiffs were added to the complaint in Bronx Supreme Court on Monday.

With the addition of the two women, at least 16 current and former employees at Fox are now alleging they experienced 'systemic discrimination based on race, ethnicity and national origin' while at the network.

Attorney Douglas H. Wigdor is representing the employees in two related suits.

Tichaona Brown and Tabrese Wright, who filed the initial complaint at the end of March, accused the former controller at Fox News, Judy Slater, of making a barrage of racist comments during their time at the company.

Now, Claudine McLeod and Elizabeth Fernandez, who worked in the accounts payable department, also allege that Slater has made numerous discriminatory remarks to them over the past few years at Fox.

'Fox News terminated Judy Slater before a single lawsuit or any amended complaint was filed,' a Fox News spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

16 current and former employees at Fox News are alleging they were discriminated against because of their race

McLeod, a black Panamanian, first joined Fox News in 2007 and still works at the network.

Over the past 10 years, she states in the complaint that Slater has allegedly made frequent stereotypical and derogatory comments about her heritage.

Slater reportedly told McLeod that 'you people are high maintenance' in regards to health insurance costs and are 'driving up everyone's healthcare premiums.'

She also allegedly demanded to know whether McLeod and other minority employees were United States citizens, and threw pieces of candy at McLeod and other minority employees during a birthday celebration.

McLeod also claims that Slater threatened to replace her when she needed to take a day off due to the effects of her diabetes, and when she told Slater that her daughter suffered from panic attacks, Slater called McLeod's child a 'stupid little girl.'

Fernandez, who is Hispanic, worked for Fox News from August 2008 through July 2014.

She alleges that Slater also made racist comments towards her, including: 'I don't like Spanish people's food, you guys like eating pig feet, chicken feet, pig tongue and cow tail I wouldn't even feed my dogs your food; Liz, do you like pig feet?'

When Fernandez was pregnant with her first son, Slater asked if she knew the sex of the baby and if she planned on having more kids because 'Latinas like having a ton of kids' in front of others at a meeting, it is claimed.

The employees accuse Fox News of 'top-down racial harassment' in their complaint, claiming that executives including former CEO Roger Ailes (pictured) and current co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernathy 'allowed this repugnant racial discrimination to go unchecked'

Slater also told Fernandez that another minority employee was a terrorist and warned that he might drop a bomb, and would often ridicule other employees of color, including making fun of one's 'big butt,' according to the complaint.

'The only consistency at Fox is the abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination that was inflicted on minority employees that appears more akin to Plantation-style management than a modern-day work environment,' the complaint states.

Slater was fired from the company on February 28 after 18 years of working for 21st Century Fox.

The employees are accusing Fox News of 'top-down racial harassment' in their complaint, claiming that executives including former CEO Roger Ailes and current co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernathy 'allowed this repugnant racial discrimination to go unchecked.'

'The race discrimination class action complaint continues to grow evidencing a systemic and deeply troubling pattern at 21st Century Fox,' Attorney Wigdor said in a statement.

'Any suggestion by 21st Century Fox that it has taken prompt and remedial action distorts the reality that Fox's current General Counsel, Dianne Brandi, had knowledge of this racist behavior for many years.

'It is our collective hope that rather than reflexively denying these claims and declaring that they will be vigorously defended, 21st Century Fox will finally show some contrition, acknowledge it is at fault and issue an apology, and address the reality that these hard working men and women have been treated unlawfully.'

In a statement made last month, Catherine M. Foti, an attorney for Slater, maintained that 'all claims of racial discrimination' against her client are completely false.'
Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed Monday by the state Assembly.

Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill to repeal part of a law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and overthrow the US government was rampant.

The bill, which was authored by Democratic Assemblyman Rob Bonta, now goes to the Senate.

If passed there, it would eliminate part of the law that allows public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist Party.

Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed Monday by the state Assembly. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, now goes to the Senate. Bonta is seen here during a legislative session, in Sacramento, California in August 2016

Employees could still be fired for being members of organizations they know advocate for overthrowing the government by force or violence.

The bill updates an outdated provision in state law, said Bonta.

Some Assembly Republicans said the Cold War-era law should not be changed.

Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Southern California Republican who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China are 'still a threat.'

'This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians,' said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican who represents a coastal district in Southern California. 'Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against.'

This isn't the first time such a measure has been brought in the California legislature.

Then Democratic state Senator Alan Lowenthal called for a similar repeal in 2008.

Courts had already declared the basic tenants of the longstanding law unconstitutional as a violation of First Amendment rights, Lowenthal told Fox 8 at the time.

'Being a member of the Communist Party in and of itself does not mean you advocate the overthrow of the government,' he said in April 2008. 'It doesnt mean we agree with them, but theyre not a threat to our survival.'

Lowenthal is now a US Representative for California's 47th congressional district, and has been since 2013.
A jury has found two Sydney men guilty of being present while a girl was raped in an outhouse toilet by a third man.

The 18-year-old girl was throwing up at a house party in Blacktown in June 2015 when Loyd Bandao, 22, and James Bruce, 29, walked into the bathroom with Billy Joe Alcazar, a court heard on Monday.

Prosecutors claimed all three men sexually assaulted the woman before she passed out, however, a jury found Bandao and Bruce had not sexually assaulted the 18-year-old girl as Alcazar raped her, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The 22-year-old and the 29-year-old were found guilty of sexual assault in company for being in the outhouse at the time.

Loyd Bandao (pictured), 22, and James Bruce, 29, were found guilty on Monday of being present while an 18-year-old girl was raped in a Blacktown outhouse toilet by a third man

Alcazar, who has pleaded guilty to raping the woman, testified against Bandao and Bruce.

'I ripped her pants off she turned around and started smoking [having oral sex] with Loyd and I started rooting her,' he told the jury.

Alcazar said the 18-year-old girl 'never said stop or anything' so he believed the sexual act was consensual.

Bandao will remain in police custody until his sentencing, but Bruce was given bail, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Howard J Lavaty, 55, pictured, was arrested on Friday for stalking his ex-wife and slashing her tires on Thursday

An Illinois man who stalked his ex-wife using a phone-tracking app was found with 74 knives and an air gun.

Howard J Lavaty, 55, used the Find My iPhone app to follow his ex-wife to her daughter's high school softball tournament in Riverside, Illinois, even though his ex-wife has an order of protection out against him.

After they arrested Lavaty Friday, Riverside Police searched his car and found an air gun and 74 knives.

Lavaty, from La Grange, Illinois, slashed his ex-wife's car tires in the Riverside Brookfield High School's parking lot on Thursday evening and was caught on the school's surveillance video.

Police checked the video that night after Lavaty's ex-wife told them she had been having trouble with him. She then identified her ex-husband in the video, according to CBS Chicago.

The next day, officers tracked Lavaty's phone to a restaurant where he was eating lunch. They arrested him there without incident on Friday afternoon, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

'This offender, who was highly agitated when arrested by Riverside police, was definitely on the edge of causing serious bodily harm to his ex-wife,' said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel, according to ABC 7 Chicago.

After they showed him the video footage, Lavaty confessed and claimed he was stalking his ex-wife because he didn't like her new boyfriend, according to the newspaper.

When Riverside Police arrested Lavaty, they searched his car and found 74 separate knives. Some of those knives are pictured here

Lavaty took the phone of his mentally disabled son and used the Find My Phone app to follow his ex-wife to her daughter's softball tournament

He also admitted to taking the phone of his mentally disabled son and using the Find My iPhone app to follow his wife to the school parking lot. He waited there until she left her car before slashing her tires.

Police found a Daisy BB air pistol and 74 knives in Lavaty's car, including the one he used to cut the car tires. The Sun-Times reported that Lavaty did not enter the high school property and never went into the school building.

He was charged with one count of felony violation of order of protection and one count of criminal damage to property.

Lavaty is being held in the Cook County Jail on $25,000 bond and is due in court on May 11.

Riverside Police said Lavaty had been arrested multiple times before for domestic battery, violations of protection orders and aggravated battery to police officers and firefighters.

The two weeks before his arrest, Lavaty had been staying at a rehab center in Chicago.

Riverside Police also found this Daisy BB air pistol in Lavaty's car. After police showed Lavaty surveillance footage where he slashed his ex-wife's tires, he confessed, saying he stalked his ex-wife because he didn't like her new boyfriend
Aaron Saucedo is accused of carrying out the separate slayings which police previously described as the work of a serial killer

A 23-year-old man in Phoenix, Arizona, has been charged with nine murders which took place last year.

Aaron Saucedo is accused of carrying out the separate slayings which police previously described as the work of a serial killer.

He was taken in to custody on April 19 on suspicion of killing his mother's boyfriend in 2015.

A tip from a member of the public led to his arrest for the eight other murders, police revealed on Monday.

At a press conference announcing his arrest, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the arrest brought the families of the nine people killed 'closer to justice'.

'Our hearts go out to the surviving families. Today we are closer to providing them the justice they deserve.'

Police have been working to solve the killings for more than a year. During their hunt, they began referring to the suspect as the 'serial street shooter'.

Between March and July last year, seven people were killed by the murderer who randomly opened fire on pedestrians and cars in areas of west Phoenix.

The gunman committed the murders while driving one of a handful of cars including a black BMW 5-series and a white Cadillac.

Detectives produced sketches based on statements provided by witnesses and survivors and police stumped up a $75,000 reward for information which might trace him but the killer went unstopped for more than a year.

Twelve-year-old Maleah Ellis (left) was killed along with her mother Stefanie (center) and her mother's friend Angela Linner (right) on June 12

Horacio De Jesus Pena, 32, (left), was murdered on June 3. Manuel Castro Garcia, 19, (center) was killed a week later on June 10. Diego Verdugo-Sanchez, (right) 21, died on April 1, 2016

Krystal Annette White, 55, (left) died on April 19. Jesse Olivas, 22, (center) was killed in January 2016. Saucedo was first arrested for the murder of 61-year-old Raul Romero (right) in 2015

They received more than 3,000 tips from worried members of the community.

In April, detectives investigating the death of 61-year-old Raul Romero arrested Saucedo.

Investigators came up with this sketch of the suspect based on witness statements

Romero was killed in August 2015 at an apartment complex. He was dating Saucedo's mother at the time.

Police honed in on the 23-year-old after learning that he owned a 9mm handgun at the time of the killing. He pawned it days after Romero's death.

The next victim after Romero was 22-year-old Jesse Olivas who was shot dead on January 1, 2016.

He was found outside a home with multiple gunshot wounds and died in hospital.

The next killing came on April 1. Diego Verdugo-Sanchez, 21, was shot outside a home at around 9pm.

Next came the death of Krystal Annette White, a 55-year-old who was gunned down in the street at 4.30am on April 19.

On June 2, 32-year-old Horacio De Jesus Pena was shot while he stood outside a home shortly before 10pm.

Teenager Manuel Castro Garcia died next. The 19-year-old was gunned down on June 10 at 9.30pm while he stood outside a different house.

The bloodiest killings came on June 12 when 33-year-old Stefanie Ellis, her 12-year-old daughter Maleah and 31-year-old friend Angela Linner were gunned down in the street at 3am.

At a press conference on Monday, Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the arrest brought the families of the nine people killer 'closer to justice'

Police offered a $75,000 reward for information which could lead to the serial killer's arrest. They shared a photograph of the black BMW witnesses saw him driving

Several others were injured in separate incidents when the gunman opened fire in residential areas.

Mayor Greg Stanton revealed on Monday that a tip from the public identified Saucedo as the serial street shooter.

'Today is a good day in the city of Phoenix.

'When it became apparent there was a serial shooter terrorizing our communities, our investigators did not rest. They worked every lead to bring this killer to justice.

'I am grateful for the active citizens who helped this case. Those tips led directly to where we are today. It is our residents and our law enforcement working together that has helped put a community at ease.'

Chief Williams added: 'This case plagued our community for more than a year and left behind a trail of victims that included mothers, sons, sister, brothers, sisters.'
A would-be Everest climber caught hiding in a cave after trying to dodge an 8,500 fee to scale the peak said be was terrified he would be killed after being found.

Nepalese officials discovered South African Ryan Sean Davy in his hideaway after he had climbed more than 20,000 feet up the world's highest mountain.

He was ordered off the mountain, had his passport confiscated and will be fined 17,000 ($22,000), an official said.

In a Facebook post, he claimed to have been 'treated like a murderer' after being discovered and thought he was 'going to get stoned to death right there.' He now fears he will be jailed in Kathmandu.

Nepalese officials discovered South African Ryan Sean Davy (pictured above) in his hideaway after he had climbed more than 20,000 feet

In a Facebook post, Davy said he was 'ashamed' and now feared jail after admitting his Everest expedition 'has taken a very bad turn'

He wrote: 'Unfortunately the system caught up with me and I was eventually captured by the mountain Orks after two entries into the Ice Falls and managing an ascent of 24,000ft.

HOW MOUNT EVEREST'S PRICEY PERMITS HELP NEPAL'S TOURISM INDUSTRY Foreigners have to pay the Nepal government $11,000 for permission to climb the 8,848 metre (29,030 foot) Mount Everest - a major earner for the impoverished country. Nepal's lucrative high-altitude climbing industry nets the impoverished Himalayan country more than $3 million a year. Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, has more than 2,000 Himalayan peaks and 326 are open to foreign climbers. Mountaineering is an important component of tourism that makes up about 4 per cent of the impoverished nation's GDP. Along with the pricey climbing permit, Nepal's Department of Tourism requires Everest climbers to be at least 16 but there's no upper age limit. It is highly unusual for a foreign climber to attempt to scale Everest alone - most do so with the help of at least one sherpa guide and a large support team at base camp. There are 373 foreign climbers currently on peak who will attempt to summit in the coming weeks with the help of at least one Sherpa guide each. Nepal's Tourism Act bans climbers for up to ten years from visiting the country for mountaineering purposes if they violate mountaineering regulations in the region. Advertisement

'Expedition companies have no time for wanna be Everesters with no money so someone turned me in.

'I was harassed at basecamp to a point that I honestly thought I was going to get stoned to death right there. I'm not even exaggerating.

I was treated like a murderer. A true testimony of how money has become more important than decency.

'My passport has been confiscated and I am being sent to Katmandu where I will face penalties, apparently I'm in for jail time.

Foreigners have to pay the Nepal government $11,000 for permission to climb the 29,030 foot peak - a major earner for the impoverished country.

Gyanendra Shresth, a government liaison officer at the mountain's southerly base camp, said: 'I saw him alone near base camp so I approached him and he ran away.

'I followed him with my friend and found him hiding in a cave nearby. He had set up camp in an isolated place to avoid government officials.'

The climbers father, David Davy, told Mail Online his son had spent months preparing to scale Everest, but had no idea why he had decided to attempt the feat alone.

Mr Davy said Ryan would have known that his attempt required a permit, but believed that Everest belonged to the world.

Speaking from his home in Johannesburg, Mr Davy - who breeds horses  described how his son had spent months working with scientists, climbing in the Rocky mountains, worked on ice faces and climbed lower peaks in Nepal to acclimatize ahead of his challenge.

Describing his son as 'unique, truly unique', he said he was anxiously waiting to hear from him.

'He is a man who has always chosen the adventurous path but who has always prepared in every way possible to reach his goals,' he said.

'He does not go into any of these things blindly. He researches, he plans and he prepares.

'I am sure he would have known about the licence fees because it would have come up in his preparation.

'I just dont know exactly what happened on Everest but I imagine his thinking was that he was on a solo attempt, an unsupported ascent so he would be up and down by himself without needing the help of anyone else.

'Of course if he had got into trouble and fallen into a crevasse he would have needed to be dragged out by a search team but maybe he felt that was not going to happen.

'We dont know his thinking. All we know is that he is fine, not hurt and heading back to Kathmandu expected to arrive Wednesday morning where he is going to have to face up to the authorities.'

Mr Davy said his son, who is single and without any children, began working in conservation in his teens after leaving school and briefly trying college.

'He is a man  and you will think I am just a father talking up a son but I really believe this to be true  who is unique, truly unique.

'Whenever he sets about something he carries out extensive research and makes all possible preparation.

'His film work meant he had to put himself in risky situations so he learnt how to fly  he has a glider licence and a single-engine light aircraft licence  and he learned other things: he is a base jumper, a volunteer fireman, a lifesaver, a conservationist.'

Last year his son bicycled from across America from the West Coast to the East and is in good physical shape.

'He is not an experienced Alpine mountain climber but he is not a novice either, a person who has taken the challenge of Everest very seriously.

'He just came to believe that Mt Everest, as the worlds highest point, well it belongs to the world.

'He got the feeling that he wanted to summit this special place and he wanted to do it by himself, solo, unsupported.

'I really believe his intentions were good. He is not a callous character in anyway, he is a pure boy you know.'

Mr Davy said his son, a pescatarian, lives 11 months a year in Los Angeles but comes home to South Africa once a year because his filming and editing skills are in high demand.

It is highly unusual for a foreign climber to attempt to scale Everest alone - most do so with the help of at least one sherpa guide and a large support team at base camp.

Mr Davy could be banned from Nepal for five years or face a 10-year ban on climbing in the country.

Mr Davy could not be reached for comment, but photos on a Facebook page under his name appear to show a climber traversing the Khumbu Icefall, which lies between base camp and camp one.

Mr Davy told officials that he didn't have enough money to buy a flight from the Everest region to Kathmandu to collect his passport

In an accompanying post, Mr Davy - who identifies himself as a director and producer - said that he had reached a height of 23,000 feet (7,010) metres in six hours.

Mr Davy told officials that he didn't have enough money to buy a flight from the Everest region to Kathmandu to collect his passport.

He said he would instead walk and then catch a bus - a journey that would take at least four days.

Explaining his actions in the Facebook post, he wrote: 'This news is probably going to make a lot of people upset with me and I really hope you'll all forgive me.

'I'm willing to be as accountable as I know how but my Everest expedition has taken a very bad turn.

'I am going to be honest in saying that when I arrived at Base Camp it became evident that I didn't have nearly enough money for a solo permit because of hidden costs and even if I did they would have declined it because I had no previous mountaineering experience on record.'

He said he was 'ashamed' he couldn't afford the permit having gone through training with the help of others but that 'it would have been a total embarrassment to turn around and accept defeat because of a piece of paper.'

'So I took a chance and spent the little money I had on more gear to climb and practice on the surrounding peaks for acclimatizing in preparing for a stealth entry onto Everest,' he said.

Davy said his 'main incentive' for being on the mountain was to help people in trouble because of the number of fatalities and said at one point he saw 40 climbers walk past a dying man pleading for help.

'He inevitably died because all the climbers were fixed on the Summit and didn't want to get distracted. If I could at least have helped one person it would have made a difference, that would have been my Summit.'

Ryan Sean Davys adventure in the Himalayas is not the first time he has had an emergency in the mountains.

In 2006 he and three other paddlers were caught out by a storm surge as they paddled down the Keurbooms River in South Africa and were forced to spend the night clinging to a cliff face above a violent torrent before being rescued by helicopter the following day.
Jeremy Corbyn will today pledge to take back the nation's wealth in a 'reckoning' with the rich.

Deploying the rhetoric of the hard Left, he will launch Labour's election campaign with an aggressive pitch to bring down those 'ripping off workers and consumers'.

He will vow to 'ruin' the Conservative Party and transform Britain into a country 'for the many, not the few'.

Jeremy Corbyn will pledge a day of reckoning for the wealthy who 'thought they could get away with crashing our economy through their greed and ripping off workers and consumers'

Mr Corbyn will pledge to create a 'jobs first Brexit' which will rebalance an economy which he claims is 'rigged in favour of the rich and powerful'

Yesterday he described Karl Marx as a 'great economist' and backed his shadow chancellor John McDonnell over his suggestion that there was 'a lot to learn' from his most famous work, Das Capital.

Rebel former MP Simon Danczuk quit Labour  accusing the shadow chancellor of 'celebrating the reign of Joseph Stalin'.

And Tory candidate James Cleverly said: 'It's clear these two Marx brothers are determined to unleash their hero's dangerous ideas on Britain, sending taxes soaring and destroying jobs.'

Mr Corbyn will make his radical speech this morning. He will pledge a 'jobs-first Brexit, a Brexit that safeguards the future of Britain's vital industries, a Brexit that paves the way to a genuinely fairer society and an upgraded economy'.

'The economy is rigged in favour of the rich and powerful,' he will say.

'When Labour wins there will be a reckoning for those who thought they could get away with asset stripping our industry, crashing our economy through their greed and ripping off workers and consumers.

'Don't wake on up on June 9 to see celebrations from the tax cheats, the press barons, the greedy bankers, Philip Green, the Southern Rail directors and crooked financiers that take our wealth, who have got away with it because the party they own, the Conservative Party, has won.

'We have four weeks to ruin their party. We have four weeks to take our wealth back.

'We have four weeks to win and transform Britain for the many not the few.'

At least ten hard-Left groups  including the Communist Party of Britain  have backed Mr Corbyn's fight to enter Downing Street.

Earlier this week, the shadow chancellor was criticised by the Tories after saying there is 'a lot to learn' from Marx's Das Kapital.

Mr Corbyn's pledge comes after Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said there was 'much to learn' from the economic policies of Karl Marx

Mr McDonnell's comments prompted Simon Danczuk to quit the party and accuse the Shadown Chancellor of celebrating the reign of Stalin

Last night it emerged that both he and Mr Corbyn had spoken at the Communist conference in 2007, where extreme Left-wingers discussed 'developments in Marxism' and 'the crimes of capitalism'.

Yesterday Mr Corbyn said he had read both Marx and the works of free-market pioneer Adam Smith.

'All great economists influence all of our thinking,' he said. 'Yes, I have read some of Adam Smith, I have read some of Karl Marx, I have looked at the words of (David) Ricardo, I have looked at many, many others.

'I don't consider myself the world's greatest intellectual, but you learn from everybody, don't close your mind to the thoughts of others  that way, we're all better informed.'

Mr Corbyn and Mr McDonnell attended the 'Communist University of Britain' at Ruskin House in Croydon, South London, in 2007 attended by Marxist parties from Hungary, Pakistan and Sudan.

According to an article in the Morning Star, the event was set up to 'challenge the crimes of capitalism and imperialism, outline the choice between a global future or globalised disaster, discuss developments in Marxism and consider the relations between reforms, revolutions and socialism in the 21st century'.

The weekend meeting began 'with a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution' and a 'celebration of the life of Che Guevara'.

During his speech Mr McDonnell claimed there was a need to establish 'new power bases' in Labour  a comment which will be seen as a forerunner to Momentum.

Yesterday Mr Danczuk, who was suspended by Labour and told he could not be its Rochdale candidate for sending explicit texts, said: 'With frontbench people, such as John McDonnell, continually obsessing about Karl Marx, the benefits of communism and celebrating the reign of Joseph Stalin, I feel the Labour Party has totally lost touch with its social democratic values and, indeed, with reality in 21st-century Britain.'
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was attacked by an elderly man in a suit who shoved a pie in his face on Tuesday morning.

Mr Joyce had just begun speaking at a business breakfast at the Hyatt Regency in Perth when he was hit with what is believed to be a lemon meringue pie.

After wiping the remnants off his face and joking with the audience he continued his speech, and told reporters afterwards he had 'absolutely no idea' what flavour the pie was, and that he doesn't eat it.

Scroll down for video

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (right) was attacked by an elderly man wielding a lemon meringue pie (left) on Tuesday morning as he addressed business leaders in Perth

The man was seen walking up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving the pie in his face

'I didnt have a chance to test it, it was mostly on my glasses,' he joked.

'I think my issue is I need a good dry cleaner before I leave Perth, so if you have one, please recommend it to me.'

The man walked up behind Mr Joyce and rested a hand on his shoulder before pushing the pie into his face and rubbing it in, reported The West.

He then calmly walked off the stage and was quickly grabbed by security, but the reasoning behind the attack was unclear.

The airline boss took it well, and jovially told the audience: 'I don't know what that was about'.

After cleaning up, video shows the CEO joking about the incident with the crowd.

'If there are any more pies, can you get them over with now?' he said, before continuing to discuss the airline's recently announced direct flights to London.

He then walked off the stage calmly as Mr Joyce processed what had just happened

Before police arrived, pictures show the man who attacked Mr Joyce sitting in a grey suit with his head bowed as three other men stand around him.

A spokesperson for WA police told Daily Mail Australia officers 'have been called to a hotel in Adelaide Terrace, East Perth in relation to an assault.'

The spokesperson said one person is in custody, and they are helping police with their inquiries.

After shoving the pie in Alan Joyce's face, the man was detained by three hotel employees until police arrived
Theresa May has vowed to fight for UK border controls to stay in Calais amid fears new French president Emmanuel Macron will try to tear up the le Touquet deal.

Mr Macron pledged during his election campaign to renegotiate the crucial agreement between France and Britain, which helps limit illegal immigration.

The Prime Minister said she was ready to talk to the incoming president about the treaty - but stressed that it was mutually beneficial.

Before his victory, new French president Emmanuel Macron, pictured, vowed to scrap the Le Touquet agreement that allows UK border officials to operate in France

Ministers are thought to be gearing up to resist strongly should Mr Macron seek to follow through on his threat.

The Home Office has already signalled that ferry companies face fines of as much as 2,000 per stowaway.

An unnamed UK minister told the Daily Telegraph: 'What they need to bear in mind is that if they didn't have the Le Touquet agreement it would be the ferry companies who would have the responsibility for doing the checks.'

The Prime Minister told reporters yesterday she expects the new government to sit down and talk to Mr Macron about the crucial agreement which permits British officials to operate on French soil.

Mr Macron last year suggested Paris could tear up the deal signed in Le Touquet in 2003 but later said he was willing to work to 'improve' it.

During an election campaign visit in north-west London, Mrs May said: 'It works for the benefit of both the UK and France and obviously in the government that is elected after June 8, we will be sitting down and talking to Monsieur Macron and others about how that system has worked both to the benefit of France, as well as for the benefit of the UK.'

The agreement allows British immigration officials to check passports in Calais, while their French counterparts do the same in Dover.

But it has often been criticised in France for leaving the country to deal with huge numbers of migrants attempting to travel to the UK.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Tom Brake said: 'Theresa May has adopted Ukip's rhetoric, and now she is adopting their incompetence too.

'The Conservatives have repeatedly claimed that Brexit will have no impact on border agreements with France, but now the Prime Minister has admitted that they are up for negotiation.

'Changes to Le Touquet will mean an upheaval for people travelling across the Channel, risk making our country less secure, and are yet another consequence of the Conservative approach to Brexit.

'This is another clear reason why the British people must have the final say on the Brexit deal.'

It is understood ferry companies such as P&O could be made responsible for stopping migrants entering the UK illegally if the agreement is shelved (file picture)

Labour's Peter Kyle, a supporter of the pro-EU Open Britain campaign, said: 'This is just the latest in a long line of broken promises from those who campaigned to leave the European Union.

'They told us we would be no worse off, when the pound's value has fallen by over 10 per cent since the referendum.

'They said we would have an extra 350 million a week to spend on the NHS, when the Government's own forecaster says borrowing will rise by 58 billion thanks to Brexit.

'And they told us Brexit would lead to no change at all in the Calais border arrangements, when the Prime Minister herself admits they are up for renegotiation.

'The Government's hard Brexit course is putting our economy and our border security at risk.

'She needs to resist any changes to the Calais agreement that would make life harder for British holidaymakers, businesses and border control staff.'
Former First Lady Michelle Obama went on Good Morning America to congratulate the class of 2017 Monday morning.

In a taped message to the newly graduating class, she said: 'I want to congratulate you for reaching higher to get the education you need for the life you want to live.'

'Barack and I are so proud of you,' she said, referencing her husband, former President Barack Obama.

Last Friday Michelle participated in her fourth College Signing Day event, a nationwide tradition she started joining in as first lady to encourage young people to seek higher education. She was joined by GMA co-host Robin Roberts at the New York City event.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Former First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on Good Morning America Monday to congratulate the class of 2017. She told the recent graduates: 'Barack and I are so proud of you'

Her message to the graduates came three days after College Signing Day. Michelle is pictured at the event in New York City on Friday

In her message on GMA, Michelle continued: 'To to all the young people out there who are still figuring out your next steps, I want to encourage you to keep working as hard as you can and to empower yourself through higher education.

'And then get out there and use that education to give back to your family, your community and your country. Thanks so much and congratulations again to the class of 2017.'

The former first lady's message came ahead of a week where GMA will profile different students in the class of 2017 who excelled in school and beat great odds, according to ABC News.

At the College Signing Day event, Michelle said her departure from the White House won't end her passion for education.

'I might not live in the White House anymore, but Barack and I are going to keep on celebrating you all and supporting you and lifting you up no matter what house we live in,' she said.

'Our belief in the power of education to transform your lives is real and it's going to be at core of everything that we do going forward.'

She said: 'I might not live in the White House anymore, but Barack and I are going to keep on celebrating you all and supporting you and lifting you up no matter what house we live in.' Former President Barack Obama is pictured receiving the JFK Profile in Courage Award Sunday

In her message on Good Morning America, Michelle said: 'I want to congratulate you for reaching higher to get the education you need for the life you want to live'

At College Signing Day, the former first lady said her departure from the White House won't end her passion for education

The MTV-hosted event was held at the The Public Theater and was a star-studded affair.

Michelle and Roberts were also joined by celebrities such as Nick Cannon, Bella Hadid, Andy Cohen and Ashley Graham.

The former first lady donned a t-shirt with her Alma mater, Princeton University, and everyone else in attendance wore clothing signifying where they attended or plan on attending college.

During her brief remarks, Michelle avoided addressing politics or President Donald Trump, but did offer the students some wise words regarding social media.

'The number of acceptance letters you get should be more important than the numbers of followers you have on social media,' she said.

The former first lady was joined by GMA co-host Robin Roberts and other stars like Nick Cannon, left, Bella Hadid, Andy Cohen and Ashley Graham

This was Michelle's fourth time participating in College Signing Day, an event she started joining in as first lady to encourage young people to seek higher education

The former first lady had a legacy of encouraging students to achieve higher education.

While in Washington, she spearheaded the Let Girls Learn initiative in 2015 which was 'to expand educational opportunities for girls - including in areas of conflict and crisis.'

However, last week the Trump administration made a move to roll back some of her initiatives, such as her healthy school lunches and the Let Girls Learn program.

As his first major action in office, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the department will delay the requirement on lowering the amount of sodium in meals while continuing to allow waivers for regulations that all grains on the lunch line must be rich in whole grains.

He said those standards are too restrictive and that they will work on new long term solutions to help schools.

As for the Let Girls Learn initiative, in a letter to Peace Corps employees first revealed by CNN, its acting director Sheila Crowley said 'we will not continue to use the Let Girls Learn' brand or maintain a stand-alone program'.

'We are so proud of what Let Girls Learn accomplished and we have all of you to thank for this success,' Crowley said.

Michelle wore a gray t-shirt with her Alma mater, Princeton University, and others who attended also wore memorabilia from their own Alma mater or the college they were planning to attend
The wife of one of four Americans who have been detained in North Korea publicly pleaded on Monday for his release.

Kim Mi-ok openly wept and professed the innocence of her husband, Kim Hak-song, who was arrested by authorities in North Korea this past weekend 'on suspicion of hostile acts against the state,' CNN reported.

'I was speechless, I was in shock,' his wife told CNN in an emotional interview.

Kim was supposed to meet her husband on Saturday at the Chinese border.

North Korea has detained its fourth US citizen, Kim Hak Song (seen left with his wife, Kim Mi-ok), who worked for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology

Kim Hak Song worked alongside another US citizen Tony Kim, 58, (left and right) who was also detained last month

The other two Americans already held in the isolated country are Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old student, (right) and Kim Dong Chul, (left) a 62-year-old Korean-American missionary.

Kim Hak Song, who is of Korean descent though he was actually born in China, had been teaching farming techniques at North Korea's Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

He moved to the United States years ago and became a naturalized citizen. In the US, he was ordained as an evangelical pastor.

Kim Hak Song was due to meet his wife at a train station near the China-North Korea border this past Saturday.

'I waited until the last passenger. I waited until the train doors closed, but I couldn't find him,' Kim said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (center) hopes the detainees will act as human shields against American attack, experts say

The next day, the North Korean government announced his arrest. Kim says her husband has been detained on trumped-up charges.

'He went to the country and served with love and I believe his words that there was nothing else,' she said.

'He worked as a farmer,' Kim's wife said. 'He always loved the soil and the land.'

North Korea forbids anyone inside the country from engaging in missionary work.

Kim says her husband did not do any missionary activity while he was in the country.

She says that both she and her husband have made several trips to North Korea over the years as part of his collaboration with the university.

North Korea has detained its fourth US citizen as part of Kim Jong Un's strategy to use American hostages as bargaining chips.

Kim Hak Song was working alongside another US citizen, Kim Sang-duk, who was detained for 'hostile acts' last month - making him the third American to be detained in North Korea.

No further details were available about the circumstances related to the arrests of the two men associated with the college. A spokesman for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology was not immediately available for comment.

Both Kim Hak Song and Kim Sang-duk, were working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (pictured) before being detained

The other two Americans already held in the isolated country are Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old student and Kim Dong Chul, a 62-year-old Korean-American missionary.

Warmbier was detained in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years hard labor for attempting to steal a propaganda banner.

Two months later, Kim Dong Chul was sentenced to 10 years hard labor for subversion. Neither has appeared in public since their sentencing.

North Korea has in the past used detained Americans to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.

Indeed, former president Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea in 2009 and met with officials.

Un's father, Kim Jong-il, went on to pardon American journalists Euna Lee and Lisa Ling, who had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

Kim Dong Chul, center, a U.S. citizen detained in North Korea, is escorted to his trial last April where he was sentenced to 10 years for espionage

Warmbier told a North Korean court he tried to steal the banner as a trophy for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church (March 2016 photo)

Otto Frederick Warmbier, 21 (pictured), was detained at Pyongyang airport in January 2016 before he was due to board a flight back to China after a five-day trip

But his son appears less willing to negotiate.

In June, North Korean state media said the country will not negotiate with the US over the Americans citizens it had captive, until former detainee Kenneth Bae stops publicly talking about his time in prison.

North Korea arrested Bae, a US missionary, in November 2012 and sentenced him to 15 years' hard labor for crimes against the state.

He was released two years later, along with Jeffrey Edward Fowle and Matthew Todd Miller after James Clapper, then the director of national intelligence, made a secret visit to Pyongyang.

Bae has written an account of his detention in a memoir and spoken about his experiences at several public appearances - to the fury of Kim Jong Un and North Korea officials.

Experts believe that Kim Jong Un is holding Americans, not to get a seat at the negotiating table, but to act as human shields amid fears the US may attack amid worsening tensions between North Korea and the United States.

'Kim Jong Un is using hostage diplomacy as a part of his military and defense strategy with focus on preventing the U.S. from removing him from power as well as to prevent the U.S. from taking military options against North Korea, ' Dr. An Chan Il, president of the World Institute for North Korea Studies and a former defector, told NBC News.
The newly elected French President has threatened to block British businesses like BT and Serco from the 350 billion market for public contracts in the EU.

Emmanuel Macron included a 'buy European act' in his manifesto which would hurt British industry by locking it out of the all-important European market.

The proposal would bar foreign companies from bidding for lucrative public contracts in the 27 member states, once Britain has left the Union.

The measure is one of several aimed at protecting the EU and ensuring sizeable profits for member states.

Emmanuel Macron has threatened to block British businesses like BT and Serco from the 350 billion market for public contracts in the EU

Macron has said he will be tough negotiator and talked up the possibility of a hard Brexit. He called the UK's decision to leave the EU 'a crime' and has stated that Britain has two options: paying EU budgets or a 'total exit'.

His chief economic adviser, Jean Pisani-Ferry, told the BBC yesterday that the incoming French president would be 'a tough and demanding partner' in negotiations.

Pisani-Ferry said: 'He is not the kind of man [who would] agree with the dismantling of the EU.'

However the proposed 'buy European act' would put Macron in conflict with the European Commission, which recently pledged that it would 'never advocate a buy European only policy'.

The proposal has triggered fierce criticism from Leave campaigners and talk of retaliatory measures.

John Longworth, chairman of Leave Means Leave, told The Times: 'The continental Europeans have been playing this game on procurement for a very long time. It's about time we caught up.'

Macron swept to victory with a resounding 66 per cent election landslide that ended any hopes of victory for the nationalist firebrand Marine Le Pen, 48, and her National Front (FN) party.
The heartbroken family of an Australian man found dead in his rented Balinese home believed he suffered a heart attack - until they saw the horrific crime scene photos.

Stephen James Richardson, 63, was found lying on a mattress in his rented home in Sanur in a pool of blood with wounds to his right arm, right cheek, and forehead.

In a graphic image sent to the family by police and supplied to Daily Mail Australia, the beloved father can be seen lying stark naked on a blood-soaked blue mattress.

Local police say a shattered bedroom window and broken glass cabinet door are evidence a violent struggle occurred before his 'unnatural death'.

A knife was also reportedly found at the scene.

His heartbroken family believed he had died of a heart attack - until police sent them grisly crime scene photographs (Stephen is pictured with his partner Karen)

Police outside the rented villa of Australian man Stephen Richardson in Bali on Tuesday

South Denpasar police chief Wisnu Wardana told the Sydney Morning Herald that he did not believe the broken window was an entrance point for a potential intruder.

'The scene was intact - no sign of forced entry has been found yet,' Mr Wisnu said.

'The gate was locked, so was the door to the room where the body was found.

'We are still investigating. Because of the unnatural death anything is possible at this point. We have our forensic officers investigating the scene.'

Forensic testing of the blood found within the property is being undertaken, as is an autopsy.

Stephen's devastated son Ben Richardson, 29, said he would not rest until his father's killer was brought to justice.

'I will not stop until I know what really happened because it's very clear someone took him from us,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday night.

'I am fuming, he didn't even get to see us get married or have kids.'

He was found lying on a mattress in his rented home in Sanur with wounds to his arm, cheek and forehead. Police believe a violent struggle occurred before his 'unnatural death'

This is the rented house in Sanur, Bali, where Mr Richardson's bloodied body was found

Mr Richardson was in a defacto relationship with Karen East, who he was with for about 18 years, but lived alone the past month after she went to Darwin for work.

Denpasar police chief Hadi Purnomo said it was being treated as a murder case, especially as a knife was found, but detectives were still investigating the scene.

However, he did not discount the possibility that Mr Richardson's death was an accident.

'The first possibility is that the foreigner died due to an assault as there are wounds on his body,' he said.

'The victim also had a habit of drinking alcohol... so there is a possibility that the victim died due to be drunk and falling and hitting glass.'

His son Ben (pictured) has vowed not to rest until his beloved dad's killers were found

His body was discovered by friend Garry Croker on Monday about 4.20pm after he didn't show up to a wedding anniversary party and hadn't answered his phone for days.

The worried mate borrowed a ladder from the house's owner and jumped the fence on Jalan Danau Poso, only to be confronted with the horrific scene through the window.

'It (the door) was open for the cat and I seen him lying there. I jumped back and got the owner to ring the police,' he told News Corp.

'On Sunday night there was a party for a wedding anniversary and he was invited and he never turned up. He hadn't answered the phone for a couple of days actually and we got worried.'

Mr Croker gave police a statement while forensic officers and sniffer dogs searched the house and recovered his iPhone 5. His motorbike was also missing.

Another witness claimed to see him on Saturday at the Stand Up Bar in Sanur and friends said he hadn't been around for coffee in several days.

Ben paid tribute to his father, who was nicknamed 'the ape', saying he was a great father to both him and his brother

Ben Richardson, who works on an oil rig like his father once did, said the whole family was saddened and would be flying to Bali as soon as possible.

He recalled the last time he saw his father was six weeks ago when the whole family visited his brother Aaron, 31, in Sydney where he runs a holistic health centre.

They then enjoyed a family road trip to Wollongong to visit Mr Richardson's brother Peter, a trip he and Ben spoke about in their last ever phone call a few weeks ago.

'Everything was fine, he was being his normal self. Work was slow for me but he told me to keep positive and everything would be okay,' Ben recalled.

'One of my favourite things about dad was when he'd give me a hug and tell me its okay when something bad happened or I hurt myself or was upset.'

Ben paid tribute to his father, who was nicknamed 'the ape', saying he was a great dad to both him and his brother.

'He was a good guy, very strong minded but had a lot of time for his friends and the Bali people and their beliefs,' he said.

'He loved Sanur and living over there (and he) always tried to help where he could.

'I loved my dad so much. I feel very empty inside.'

Ben said his father lived in Bali on and off for the past 10 years after he retired following a bad fall at work, and couldn't think of why anyone would want to hurt him.

'From what I've seen and heard, every time I've come there, they loved him,' he said.
Actor Antonio Sabato Jr has decided to run for Congress after claiming he was blacklisted by Hollywood producers for his public support of President Donald Trump.

Sabato, 45, will challenge US House Representative Julia Brownley, a Democrat representing the Westlake Village area in California, in the 2018 election according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

His choice to run was confirmed by Republican strategist Charles Moran, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Actor Antonio Sabato, Jr, 45, will challenge US House Representative Julia Brownley, a Democrat from Westlake Village, California, in the 2018 election according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday

Moran will serve as Sabato's fundraiser and GOP strategist Jeff Corless will fill the role of his top adviser.

Sabato will attempt to reclaim California's 26th congressional district for the Republicans after a few years of losing out to Brownley, a Democrat.

'Being a Republican and with proximity to the White House and Republican leadership, hes going to be able to get more done  being in the majority, with his notoriety, for the residents of the 26th [Congressional] District,' Moran said.

Sabato spoke on then-candidate Trump's behalf during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland in July.

It was his experiences at the convention that inspired him to look into running for office himself, Moran said. Veterans' needs and substance abuse will be a focus of his campaign.

Sabato gave an interview around the time of the RNC where he said that that then-President Obama was a Muslim, which is not true.

Brownley, 64, has represented the southern central coast and a large portion of Ventura County since 2013. After some up and down over the years, her last victory in the 2016 election was by a margin of 20 points.

US Representative Julia Brownley, 64, is seen here speaking in Washington, DC in March 2014

Sabato (L) is seen here speaking at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July 2016; Brownley (R) is seen here arriving as a freshman US Representative in Washington, DC in November 2012

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waves to the crowd after being introduced by Brownley during a campaign stop in Oxnard, California on June 4, 2016

Brownley won the 2012 election for the US House seat after the boundary lines of her district were redrawn.

Prior to that, Republicans had consistently held the district since 2002.

The most recent data from the US Census Bureau shows the district was predominantly white in 2015.

Brownley won the 2012 election for the US House seat after the boundary lines of her district were redrawn; Makeup data for the district from 2015 US Census Bureau data is shown here

Brownley has previously served in the California state Assembly for six years.

Sabato is probably most well-known for his acting roles to include General Hospital and Melrose Place, and his commercial campaign as a model for Calvin Klein underwear.

Sabato has also appeared on Dancing With the Stars and in his own reality dating show, My Antonio on VH1.

He resides in Westlake Village and is an Italian-born American citizen.
A bikini model has pleaded guilty to possessing testosterone and a powerfully dangerous horse medicine after she was caught with the drugs at Broadbeach Waters in Queensland.

Gold Coast woman Aneta Maria Siedlecka, 38, pleaded guilty to three drugs charges on Monday just moments before she was due to stand trial at the Brisbane Supreme Court.

Ms Siedlecka was caught with the drugs at Broadbeach Waters, in Queensland on November 26, 2014, the Courier Mail reports.

Bikini model and former personal trainer Aneta Maria Siedlecka, 38, (pictured) has admitted to possession of testosterone and a dangerous horse drug

Ms Siedlecka admitted to the possession of more than 50g of testosterone, and clenbuterol.

Clenbuterol is an airway dilator for horses and was also used to increase lean meat yield in animals.

The drug was adopted by athletes as a performance-enhancing drug, despite being toxic for the human heart.

In Queensland, Clenbuterol is a schedule 2 dangerous drug for humans, which means abusing the drug could lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.

Ms Siedlecka also pleaded guilty to possessing implements in connection with producing dangerous drugs including labels, syringes, glass vials, vial lids and vial seals.

The bikini model also worked as a personal trainer in Queensland.

Ms Siedlecka (pictured) admitted to the possession of more than 50g of testosterone, and clenbuterol

She ran fitness training at Broadbeach, on the Gold Coast, under the name of Furiously Fit PT according to her Facebook page.

She also claims to be the owner of Integrated Wellbeing, a personal training business.

Ms Siedlecka is expected to appear in court for sentencing on May 19, when her co-accused Monica Alexopoulos will be sentenced.

Ms Alexopoulos was charged with the same offences, plus two more including possession of oxandrolone, clenbuterol and alprazolam, the Courier Mail reports.

Alprazolam is an anti-anxiety drug and can be an extremely addictive and dangerous if abused.
The Canadian government used Jared Kushner (above) as its messenger to ask President Donald Trump to stay in NAFTA

The Canadian government called White House adviser Jared Kushner in a panic last month asking for help avoiding a complete implosion of the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to a White House official.

Canadian media reported that Kushner called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ask him to persuade President Donald Trump to abandon a full NAFTA withdrawal, but it now appears it was the other way around.

When reports leaked that Trump was set to scrap NAFTA entirely, Canadian officials 'reached out to Jared,' the official said.

Kushner told them it was a matter that could only be handled at the highest level, and then 'called them to say the President was available to talk,' the official added.

On Monday the National Post reported that 'aides to Trump' asked Trudeau two weeks ago to call the president and persuade him to back down from his pledge to quit NAFTA.

Metro reported that Kushner was the messenger.

On April 26, Trump told Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto that he would not immediately pull out of NAFTA, just hours after administration officials said he was considering a draft executive order to do just that.

Kushner, who has an expansive profile that includes foreign policy, speaks regularly to Canadian officials on a range of issues.

Trudeau has also sought to publicly engage Trump's daughter, Ivanka, as part of his efforts to build bridges with the new administration.

A White House official says that it was Canada that initiated contacts with Kushner, who then arranged for a telephone conversation between Trump (left) and Trudeau (right)

On April 26, Trump told Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (above) that he will not immediately pull out of NAFTA, just hours after administration officials said he was considering a draft executive order to do just that

Trudeau sat in on a White House meeting chaired by Ivanka Trump about empowering women in the workplace and supporting female-owned businesses.

The Canadian premier and the president's daughter also attended a Broadway show about welcoming immigrants.

An unnamed White House source claims that Trudeau aides urgently phoned Kushner after hearing that the president was about to sign an executive order to pull out of NAFTA.

Kushner told his Canadian counterpart that this was a matter the leaders needed to discuss themselves, according to the White House official, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss private conversations.

The Canadians asked when Trudeau should call.

Trudeau (left) has sought to publicly engage Trump's daughter, Ivanka (right), as part of his efforts to build bridges with the new administration

After checking at the White House, Kushner called back to say Trump was ready to talk now.

Trump has cited the call from Trudeau that quickly followed as the impetus for his decision to abandon the executive order and instead move to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico.

The president also wielded the call from Trudeau, as well as a separate call from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

But accounts of Kushners involvement differed Monday in Canadian media reports, which claims it was he who first reached out to Trudeaus chief of staff to suggest a call between the two leaders.

After the phone calls with Trudeau and Pena Nieto, the White House made the surprise announcement that the US would remain in NAFTA pending a re-negotiation of its terms with its two neighbors.

'President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries,' said the White House.

Trump is also said to have reconsiders after his top advisers pleaded with him to do so.

Trump had pledged during his election campaign to end US participation in the agreement, which he branded 'one of the worst deals ever'.

But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue - who showed the President a map showing the areas which would be badly affected - talked him out of the move.

In an interview in the Oval Office, Trump told Washington Post: 'I was all set to terminate. I looked forward to terminating. I was going to do it.'

After being shown the impact the move would have on farmers in areas which supported him in the election last year, the President agreed to listen.

Trump had pledged during his election campaign to end US participation in the agreement, which he branded 'one of the worst deals ever'. But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (right) and Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue (left) talked him out of the move

He said: 'It shows that I do have a very big farmer base, which is good. They like Trump, but I like them, and I'm going to help them.'

Trump was reportedly being lobbied to take the US out of NAFTA by Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist, and Peter Navarro, who heads the National Trade Council.

The two men are believed to have drafted an executive order that just needed the president's signature in order to begin the process of terminating US participation in NAFTA.

'You never know how much of it is theater, but it didn't feel that way,' a Canadian government official told National Post.

'Maybe they're just learning how to be a government. At least they were open to the conversation, and that stopped them doing something rash and destructive.'
A North Carolina high school has denied a family's plea to recognize their dead daughter's name at the school's graduation ceremony.

The parents of Rachel Rosoff, 17, who was fatally electrocuted in a pool last September, appealed to William G. Enloe Magnet High School to recognize their daughter but were left disappointed when the school rejected their request.

In an email to sent to the girl's mother Michelle Schwartz Rosoff, Principal Will Chavis shared that he felt that remembering Rachel would potentially cause students to 'react in a way that would take trained professionals to support.'

The parents of Rachel Rosoff - who was fatally electrocuted in a pool last September - appealed to William G. Enloe Magnet High School to recognize their daughter at graduation but were left disappointed when the school rejected their request

Rachel's mother, Michelle Schwartz Rosoff (pictured left), received an email from Principal Will Chavis saying that paying homage to Rachel (right) would potentially cause students to 'react in a way that would take trained professionals to support'

'Because Graduation is meant to be a ceremony for students' accomplishments and a celebration thereof, we want to ensure that the ceremony maintains a happy, vibrant feel,' wrote Chavis in the email that was shared on Facebook on May 3

'Because Graduation is meant to be a ceremony for students' accomplishments and a celebration thereof, we want to ensure that the ceremony maintains a happy, vibrant feel,' wrote Chavis in the email that was shared on Facebook on May 3.

Rachel's sister, Jordana Rosoff, created a Change.org in retaliation hoping to raise awareness her family's struggle. The petition needs less than 200 signatures to meet its 7,500 mark.

'They want to pretend she did not exist, which not only hurts me, but my family and her friends,' she said in the post.

'This is so hurtful and wrong. I just want my sister to be recognized and acknowledged for the beautiful, goofy, funny, care free, caring person she was. She lived her life in a way we can all learn from, she was truly exceptional.'

Rachel's sister, Jordana Rosoff, created a Change.org in retaliation to the school's (pictured) response

'They want to pretend she did not exist, which not only hurts me, but my family and her friends,' she said in the post

She added: 'This is so hurtful and wrong. I just want my sister (pictured) to be recognized and acknowledged for the beautiful, goofy, funny, care free,caring person she was. She lived her life in a way we can all learn from, she was truly exceptional'

In an interview with news channel WRAL, student Alissa Brasington voiced her discontent with the decision.

'I think we are old enough to be okay and understand what is going on,' Brasington said.

'I think we'll be okay if they mention her. It will actually be better than if they don't mention her.'

Rachel Rosoff drowned in September after she was electrocuted while getting ready to start her shift at the pool in Raleigh.

Her colleague arrived later and found her face down in the pool. When he tried to resuscitate her he too suffered an electric shock but survived.

An inspection by Wake County found the shock was caused by wires in the ground installed almost 40 years ago.

An inspection by Wake County found the shock was caused by wires in the ground installed almost 40 years ago

Rachel's parents are now suing two companies, Williams Electric Motor Repair and Future Connections Electrical Inc, and claimed they failed to make repairs dating back to 2011

The New York Daily News reported her parents are now suing two companies, Williams Electric Motor Repair and Future Connections Electrical Inc, claiming they failed to make repairs dating back to 2011.

Their attorney, David Kirby, told ABC11: 'They knew of discovered conditions which were dangerous at this pool, and they didn't correct them.'

He saidL 'This was a horrible death. She was paralyzed by the electricity, but she consciously drowned.'

The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court this week, alleges Future Connections installed the wrong capacitor in the pool's pump motor.
FBI director James Comey has allegedly admitted to exaggerating the number of Hillary Clinton emails involved in the scandal that was blamed on her losing the presidency race.

In his sworn Senate testimony, the FBI chief told the judiciary committee top Clinton aide Huma Abedin made 'a regular practice of forwarding hundreds and thousands of emails to her husband Anthony Weiner, some of which contain classified information.

But it is understood FBI officials have privately acknowledged that Comeys testimony was false as a result of an inspection brought about by a DailyMail.com exclusive on Weiner's emails.

The bureau is also probing Comey's controversial decision to notify lawmakers just before the election that his team was re-examining its investigation into Clinton's emails by looking into messages found on Weiner's laptop.

The letter is viewed by many as costing Clinton the election, since she lost by less than a percentage point in key swing states after polling indicated she was well in front of her opponent before the FBI chief's move.

FBI Director James Comey (above) reportedly erred last week when he falsely claimed in testimony before Congress that top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin forwarded classified emails to the laptop of her husband, Anthony Weiner

The FBI chief told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that Abedin (left) had made a regular practice of forwarding hundreds and thousands of Clinton-related emails to Weiner (right), some of which contain classified information

Revealing the controversy last week, Comey said his agents had uncovered thousands of new emails that it had not yet reviewed in its Clinton investigation, because they ended up on the laptop of disgraced ex-Rep. Weiner.

Now it appears that he misspoke in his testimony.

An investigation by ProPublica revealed that FBI officials now acknowledge that Abedin forwarded 'just a handful' of emails - not 'hundreds and thousands' as Comey stated - to her husband so he could print them out.

It has also become apparent that none of the emails forwarded by Abedin contained markings that would indicate they were classified.

FBI officials are now said to be trying to figure out how to correct the record in light of the revelations, according to ProPublica

FBI Director James Comey speaks to the Anti-Defamation League National Leadership Summit in Washington, Monday, May 8, 2017

Clinton email timeline March 2015: Becomes publicly known that Hillary Clinton, during her tenure as United States Secretary of State, had used her family's private email server for official communications and FBI opened investigation. May 2016: The State Department's Office of the Inspector General released an 83-page report about the State Department's email practices, including Clinton's. July 2016: FBI director James Comey announces the bureau's investigation had concluded that Clinton was "extremely careless" in handling her email system but recommended that no charges be filed against her. Two days later the State Department reopenes its probe into the email controversy. October 2016: Eleven days before the election, Comey notifies Congress the FBI is reopening the case due to emails found on laptop linked to Clinton aide Huma Abedin's husband, Anthony Weiner, November 2016: Comey notifies Congress the conclusion is unchanged. May 2017: Comey 'misspeaks' in Senate testimony, exaggerating email details. Advertisement

Weiner's laptop was seized by the FBI as part of an investigation into a matter unrelated to the Clinton emails - the former Congressman's sexually explicit online relationships with young women - as a result of a DailyMail.com story.

After Comey's letter which revealed the existence of the emails on October 28 - just days before the November 8 election which Clinton would eventually lose to Donald Trump - the investigation found that the emails contained no incriminating information.

Comey was asked by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz about the 'hundreds and thousands' comment during his testimony why Abedin and Weiner weren't charged with mishandling classified information.

'You said Ms Abedin forwarded hundreds or thousands of classified emails to her husband on a non-government, non-classified computer,' said Cruz.

'How does that conduct not directly violate the statute?'

Comey backtracked, saying: 'If I said that, I misspoke. She forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information.'

He acknowledged that both Abedin and Weiner 'potentially' may have violated the law, but no charges were brought because the FBI could not establish that they acted with criminal intent.

The FBI chief said the bureau was unable to interview Weiner about the issue 'because he has pending criminal problems of other sorts'.

Anthony Weiner announcing his resignation on June 16, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The resignation comes 10 days after the congressman admitted to sending lewd photos of himself on Twitter to multiple women

Anthony Weiner was spotted in New York (left) three days after FBI Director James Comey revealed the email controversy and arriving with his wife at the Costume Institute Benefit last year

Anthony Weiner (left) with his wife Huma Abedin (right) as they speak at a press conference

Returning to Capitol Hill to get grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey was immediately challenged by the top panel Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California  and ended up giving his most detailed explanation of the cross-currents he faced.

Addressing his decision to announce the investigation into the emails, Comey told Senators he had no choice but to reveal new developments in the bureau's investigation just days before the presidential election, as he faced only bad options.

Comey was asked about his controversial decision to send a letter to lawmakers just before the election announcing that the FBI was re-examining its investigation into Clinton's (above) emails by looking into new emails found on Weiner's laptop

'Why was it necessary to announce, 11 days before a presidential election, that you were opening an investigation on a new computer without any knowledge of what was in that computer? Why didnt you just do that investigation as you would normally, with no public announcement?' Feinstein asked him.

Comey laid out the details of the investigation, saying in detail why he felt he had no choice but to divulge information to Congress, which ultimately made it public.

'I could not see a door labelled "No action here",' Comey responded.

Laying out his mindset at the time, he said: 'There's an election in 11 days. Lordy that would be really bad.

'Concealing in my view would be catastrophic.'

The FBI director was asked to explain the moment he was faced with the decision of revealing the email scandal or keeping a lid on it, with less than a fortnight left to run of the race for The White House.

He said: 'Whether it's a dog catcher election or president of the United States, but I sat there that morning and I couldn't see a door labeled no action here.

'I could see two doors and they were both actions. One was labeled speak the other was labeled conceal.'
Australia's first black African member of federal parliament has been sworn-in.

Kenyan-born lawyer Lucy Gichuhi was warmly welcomed by colleagues as she took her seat in the Senate on Tuesday, sharing a kiss on the cheek with Pauline Hanson.

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash also embraced the South Australian politician after she took her oath.

Senator Gichuhi, who is openly of Christian faith, fills the South Australian seat left vacant for more than six months by the resignation of Family First's Bob Day.

Kenyan-born lawyer Lucy Gichuhi (left) was welcomed by Pauline Hanson (right) after becoming Australia's first African member of federal parliament

The One Nation leader shook Senator Gichuhi's hand and then gave her a kiss on the cheek

Senator Gichuh fills the South Australian seat left vacant for more than six months by the resignation of Family First's Bob Day

'I am honoured and humbled to be sworn in today as the first-ever person of black African descent in the Australian parliament,' she wrote in a brief post on Facebook.

'I thank God, my husband and daughters, my father and all other friends, family and supporters for your encouragement, and sharing the vision we hold to unite Australia as one.'

Senator Gichuhi arrived in Australia with her husband and three children in 1999 and became an Australian citizen in 2001. She is the eldest of ten children.

Labor unsuccessfully tried to challenge her eligibility amid questions about her Kenyan citizenship.

Her swearing-in brings the total number of senators back to 76.

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts embraces Senator Gichuhi after she takes her oath

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash also hugged the independent senator

Senator Gichuhi snubbed Cory Bernardi (right), choosing not to join his Australian Conservatives party after Family First merged with it

Mr Day quit parliament last year to deal with the collapse of his building group.

But he has since been ruled ineligible to have been elected by the High Court, because he had indirectly benefited from a government lease arrangement on his Adelaide electorate office.

His former Family First party has since merged with the new Australian Conservatives party, launched by Liberal party defector Cory Bernardi.

But Senator Gichuhi has chosen not to merge with the new party and told the Senate she would sit as an independent.

Coalition and Labor senate leaders Penny Wong (left) and George Brandis (right) joined Ms Gichuhi as she walked into the chambers
Jimmy Kimmel doubled down on his criticism of President Trump's healthcare reform plans on Monday as he returned to the airwaves for the first time since tearfully revealing that his young son Billy had to undergo lifesaving heart surgery hours after his birth.

The comedian began his show on Monday with a fantasy in which his revelation stopped Republicans from voting to repeal and replace Obamacare.

'One week ago tonight I made an emotional speech that was watched by millions and as a result, Republicans had second thoughts about Obamacare and they realized what's right is right and I saved health insurance in the United States of America.

'Wait, I didn't save it? They voted against it anyway?' he said in to his earpiece, feigning shock.

Scroll down for video

Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves on Monday after taking time off to care for his newborn son Billy who, he revealed last week, underwent life-saving heart surgery hours after his April 21 birth

The comedian shared an adorable video of Billy yawning in his mother's arms as he told the studio audience that he was recovering 'well'

Kimmel, 49, took a more sincere tone to thank fans for their kind messages of support for his family and happily updated the audience to say that Billy is doing 'very well'.

'Since a lot of people have asked, Billy is doing very well. He's getting bigger, he's sleeping well,' he said, sharing a video of his son taken by his wife earlier in the day.

The footage showed a warmly swaddled Billy, who was born on April 21 yawning in his mother's arms.

On Wednesday, Kimmel broke down as he revealed on air how he and his wife discovered their new son's dangerous heart conditions hours after his birth.

His son was born at Cedars-Sinai, but had to be rushed to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles for emergency open heart surgery.

In an appeal to politicians not to do away with the Affordable Health Care Act, Kimmel said his family's ordeal made him all-too aware of the need for free healthcare for children.

'I hope you never have to go there but if you do you'll see so many kids from so many financial backgrounds being cared for so well with so much compassion.

'If your baby is going to die it should't matter how much money you make,' he said.

Billy had to undergo emergency open heart surgery three hours after he was born

On Monday, Kimmel said he and his wife Molly (above with Billy and their daughter Jane) were 'very grateful' for the 'outpouring of love'

Kimmel tearfully announced his condition on his show last Wednesday and made a desperate plea to lawmakers not to do away with Obamacare

Three hours after he was born, a sonogram revealed that a pulmonary valve in Billy's heart was completely blocked

Kimmel took the rest of last week off to spend time with Billy at the family's home

He shared a heartwarming photograph of his two-year-old daughter playing nurse for her little brother on Twitter last week

Since Kimmel's revelation, the hospital where his son was treated has been inundated with donations.

'What a humbling outpouring of support. My wife and I are very grateful,' he said.

Continuing his crusade against Trumpcare, which was passed on Thursday, the morning after his monologue, Kimmel lampooned Republicans and media outlets which labeled him a Hollywood elitist.

'It was so crazy to hear,' he said, continuing sarcastically: 'Yes, I would like to apologize for saying that children in America should have healthcare. It was insensitive and I apologize for any offence.'

Taking aim at former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who was among his critics, he continued: 'I wonder why we're so angry! Maybe it has something to do with, I don't know, you?!'

Kimmel then called on Bill Cassidy, the Republican US Senator for Louisiana, who earlier this week said any reform bill would have to pass the 'Jimmy Kimmel test' before it gets his vote.

President Barack Obama used Kimmel's family experience as a plug to save the act

President Trump's bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Health Care Act was passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday

In a proposed solution for how the country should pay for healthcare for everyone, Kimmel said passionately: 'Don't give a big tax cut to millionaires like me! That's how we pay for it!'.

The next segment of Monday's show carried on the theme. It saw show producers take to the streets of Los Angeles to ask members of the public for their view on entirely made-up elements of Trump's repeal plan.

One interviewee said she was 'all for' veterinarians being allowed to treat humans when presented with the possibility by a crew member.

'Of course I'd let them [operate on me]. They're doctors, as you say!' the woman said. The same woman later said she would support patients being given horse heart transplants as an alternative for human organs.

Kimmel invited US Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy on the show to talk about the future of healthcare

Another wholeheartedly supported the fabricated claim that ambulances would be substituted by 'Uber EMTs'.

Kimmel lampooned Newt Gingrich who criticized him for speaking on the matter

'Yeah! As long as you get to the hospital in a quick and reliable way. I'd be in for that!' he said.

A final interviewee said he support a program in which patients without healthcare paid for treatments by donating their own organs.

'Honestly, there's good and bad to everything here. Sometimes you have to cut and dry to make end's meet. You only need one kidney.'

Kimmel took the rest of the week off last week as paternity leave after making his tearful announcement about Billy's health.

After the show, President Barack Obama used his story in an attempt to put pressure on Republicans not to pass Trump's bill.
Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years on Tuesday after being found guilty of committing blasphemy, capping a saga seen as a test of religious tolerance in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was 'convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy and is sentenced to two years in prison', presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto told the Jakarta, Indonesia, court as Islamic hardliners celebrated outside by shouting 'God is greatest'.

The 50-year-old was hauled into court last year to face trial for allegedly insulting Islam while campaigning for re-election in a case critics said was politically motivated.

The governor, known by his nickname Ahok, had accused his opponents of using a Koranic verse, which suggests Muslims should not choose non-Muslims as leaders, in order to trick people into voting against him.

Purnama, who has been called 'fearless' by political experts, said that he would file an appeal following the sentencing.

Scroll down for video

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was hauled into court last year to face trial for allegedly insulting Islam while campaigning for re-election in a case critics said was politically motivated

Purnama was 'convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy and is sentenced to two years in prison', presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto told the Jakarta, Indonesia, court as he ordered the politician, known by his nickname Ahok, to be detained

There was shock among his supporters outside the court and some wept openly.

Meanwhile, Islamic hardliners outside the court cheered as news of verdict emerged and shouted 'God is greatest'.

Thousands of police were deployed in the capital in case clashes broke out, but there was no immediate sign of any violence after the court's verdict.

Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence on charges of hate speech. The maximum sentence is four years in prison for hate speech and five years for blasphemy.

Hardline Islamist groups had called for the maximum penalty possible over comments by Purnama that they said were insulting to the Islamic holy book, the Koran.

In September last year, in a speech to a group of fisherman during early campaigning for the elections, he accused his opponents of using a Koranic verse to trick supporters into voting against him.

Some interpret the verse as meaning Muslims should not vote for non-Muslim leaders.

The comments were filmed and an incorrectly subtitled video of his comments later went viral.

Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence on charges of hate speech. The maximum sentence is four years in prison for hate speech and five years for blasphemy

In September last year, in a speech to a group of fisherman during early campaigning for the elections, he accused his opponents of using a Koranic verse to trick supporters into voting against him

The video provided ammunition for fringe hardline groups who had long railed against a non-Muslim leader ruling the capital and his political opponents who were keen to oust him from the job and embarrass his ally, Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Widodo was a close ally of Purnama, an ethnic-Chinese Christian, and the verdict will be a blow to a government that has sought to quell radical groups and soothe investors' concerns that the country's secular values were at risk.

Despite Purnama's apologies and insistence that he only intended to attack his rivals, not the Koran itself, hundreds of thousands of conservative Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta in mass rallies last year, organised by hardliners and encouraged by his rivals.

Under intense public pressure, authorities put him on trial for blasphemy and his popularity slumped.

He lost last month's election to a Muslim rival, Anies Baswedan, and Tuesday was jailed for two years for blasphemy.

He will hand over to Baswedan in October.

Home affairs minister Tjahjo Kumolo said Purnama's deputy would take over in the interim.

Widodo - a moderate reformer and an ally of Purnama - has publicly played down concerns about rising Islamic intolerance in Indonesia. After Tuesday's sentencing, he urged Indonesians to respect the legal process, noting that Purnama will appeal.

The panel of five judges who delivered Purnamas sentence on Tuesday cited firebrand Islamist Habib Rizieq as a Koranic authority.

There was shock among Purnama's supporters outside the court and some wept openly, including the woman above

Indonesian police officers try to calm down an angry supporter Purnama following the sentencing

A Purnama supporter shouts as she reacts after the court sentenced Ahok to two years in prison

Supporters of Purnama, also known as Ahok, stage a protest outside Cipinang Prison, where he was taken following his conviction of blasphemy

Hundreds of Purnama's supporters gathered outside the Cipinang Prison to protest the governor's conviction. The sign above reads The sign reads 'Ahok is not guilty'

Imprisoned twice for inciting violence, the leader of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) had until recently occupied the fringe of Indonesian society, his followers regarded as thuggish vigilantes with a penchant for extremism and extortion.

His recognition by the court as a venerable Islamic theologian - and the court's verdict itself - highlights the rising influence of Islamist groups in Indonesia.

It is the world's largest Muslim-majority country but one with a multi-religious constitution and a tradition of tolerance.

The verdict, say critics, has also given a quasi-legal endorsement to a rigid interpretation of the Koran that could encourage the marginalisation of Indonesia's religious minorities.

Rizieq was mentioned among several witnesses as the judges dissected the contentious verse in the Koranic chapter known as Al Maidah.

The court endorsed his interpretation that it forbids Muslims voting for non-Muslims. Purnama had "deliberately" and "convincingly" blasphemed, the judges found.

"Rizieq is not qualified as an expert," said Todung Mulya Lubis, a leading Indonesian lawyer and rights advocate. "I was so shocked listening to that."

Shocking, too, said Lubis, was the verdict itself.

Rizieq had been a prosecution witness, but the prosecutors had asked only for a suspended sentence on the lesser charge of insulting language. In the end, the judges went for a jail term under the more serious charge of blasphemy.

"The judges did not really take into account what was submitted from the defence team," said Lubis, noting many senior clerics had sided with Purnama.

While Purnama repeatedly apologised for any hurt caused to Muslims, one judge, Abdul Rosyad, said the sentence was warranted because "the defendant didn't feel guilt".

Purnama was immediately taken to a detention facility in Jakarta after the sentencing. He had been due to hand over the governor's post in October.

Indonesian muslim protesters react as Purnama is sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy, outside the North Jakarta District Court

Indonesian hardline Muslims celebrated on Tuesday as Purnama was convicted of blasphemy

Indonesian muslim protesters react as Purnama was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday

Islamic hardliners outside the court cheered as news of verdict emerged and shouted 'God is greatest'

Analysts say the radical Islamist groups that organized mass protests against Purnama had a decisive impact on the outcome of the governor's election, which Purnama lost.

Indonesia, 90 percent of whose 255 million people are Muslim, has a long tradition of pluralistic values and is home to substantial populations of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. But there has been a rise in attacks on minorities in recent years

However the archipelago's sizeable religious minorities -- mainly Christians and Muslim Shiites and Ahmadis -- have been increasingly targeted as more conservative forms of Islam grow in popularity.

Some Christian churches and mosques where Muslim minorities pray have been closed due to pressure from hardliners. Shiites and Ahmadis - regarded as heretics by some Sunnis - have been forced from their homes in mob attacks and on occasion even killed.

In one of the most high-profile cases, a group clubbed, hacked and stoned three defenceless Ahmadis to death in front of police in 2011 in western Java, sparking international outrage.

Aleksius Jemadu, a political expert at Pelita Harapan University near Jakarta, praised Purnama for his 'courageous attitude'.

'Ahok is a rare figure, he's fearless. He appeared when the Indonesian people were thirsting for an honest leader,' he told AFP.

The government has been criticized for not doing enough to protect religious minorities but Widodo had urged restraint over the trial and called for all sides to respect the legal process.

Prison guards allow a supporter of Purnama to bring food into Jakarta Cipinang prison on Tuesday

Jakarta's deputy governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat (second right) leaves Jakarta Cipinang prison after visiting Purnama at the facility

Hardline Islamist groups had called for the maximum penalty possible over comments by Purnama that they said were insulting to the Islamic holy book, the Koran

Muslim protesters take to the streets after Friday prayers in Jakarta on May 5, 2017, to protest against outgoing Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama

His government said on Monday it would take legal steps to disband Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a group that seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate, because its activities were creating social tensions and threatening security.

During his time as governor, Purnama won much praise for his efforts to clean up the traffic-choked megacity but his popularity could not save him before the sentencing.

With his outspoken, combative style and can-do attitude, Purnama cut an unusual figure among the political elite in Muslim-majority Indonesia, where politicians typically take a more gentle, persuasive approach.

But the tall, bespectacled politician, who was the city's first non-Muslim governor for half a century and first ever ethnic Chinese leader, quickly overcame any doubts about his leadership as he took concrete steps to improve the city of 10million.

The 50-year-old regularly railed against corruption in one of the world's most graft-ridden countries and led sting operations to catch lazy bureaucrats, drawing praise from a public weary of the city's inefficiences.

The former deputy governor inherited the top job in 2014 after his predecessor, Widodo, won the presidency.

On Purnama's watch, roads were repaired, pavements improved, more parks started appearing in the city and its notoriously filthy rivers were cleaned up.

Some of his policies - particularly a drive to evict poor, riverside communities - caused anger, but many Jakartans said their lives had changed for the better since he took power.

Purnama was born into a well-off family on Belitung island in western Indonesia, and studied geology at university in Jakarta, before returning to his village and going into business.

His father urged him to use his talents to help those less fortunate than himself, and he entered local politics in 2004.

He was elected to the national parliament in 2009, where he met Widodo.

If Purnama's appeals failed, he would be prevented from holding public office under Indonesian law because the offence carried a maximum penalty of five years, said Simon Butt of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney.
A man who pretended to be a US Army veteran so he could lease a BMW and rent a luxury apartment was given a seven to 14-year prison sentence in the Manhattan Supreme Court Monday.

Jeremy Wilson, 43, was arrested in January last year and charged with seven criminal counts including forgery, possession of stolen property and possession of a forged instrument in New York.

He also faces larceny and check fraud charges in Massachusetts, but had to go to trial in New York first.

Before his sentencing, Wilson told the court he didn't know how to 'fix' the situation.

Jeremy Wilson, 43, pictured, was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison for pretending to be a US Army vet to lease a BMW and rent a luxury apartment

Wilson was arrested last January and charged with seven criminal counts including forgery, possession of stolen property and possession of a forged instrument in New York

'I've spent pretty much my entire adult life running and hiding from myself, and running and hiding from what I have done,' he said according to the New York Post.

Wilson has the Gaelic phrase 'Mair Fior' tattooed across his fingers. He says the phrase means 'stay true', according to the New York Times

'If things as fundamental as my last name can't get sorted out by investigators who are very good at their job.I don't know how to sort anything out.'

Wilson is a serial con man who has been convicted of fraud several times as far back as the early 1990s, according to the New York Times.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Neil Ross gave Wilson his most recent prison sentence and called Wilson, 'the antithesis of these selfless individuals who put their lives on the line for others,' in reference to Wilson's military claims, according to NY Daily News.

He claimed he was a US Army veteran with two purple hearts, as well as a doctor with two PhDs from MIT named Jeremiah Asimov-Beckingham.

He used a fake ID to get a luxury $5,000-a-month apartment in the Financial District and forged documents and checks to sign a lease for a $55,000 BMW SUV in Boston.

Before he was sentenced, Wilson said: 'I've spent pretty much my entire adult life running and hiding from myself, and running and hiding from what I have done'

Wilson is a serial conman who has been convicted of fraud several times as far back as the early 1990s, according to the New York Times. At the sentencing hearing Monday, prosecutor Diego Diaz said Wilson has had at least eight felony convictions and has been prosecuted in states including Montana, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania

When officers raided Wilson's apartment after his arrest in January, they found multiple fake IDs, military medals, including Purple Hearts and Silver Stars, military uniforms and items with MIT and Harvard logos on them. Some of those items are pictured

When officers raided his apartment, they seized multiple fake IDs, military medals, including Purple Hearts and Silver Stars, and uniforms, according to court documents cited by the New York Post.

They also found items with Harvard and MIT logos and a corporate credit card stolen from an MIT employee.

According to a criminal complaint, Wilson admitted in a video-recorded confession to using the Beckingham name in various 'larceny and identity theft schemes,' reported DNAInfo.com.

Assistant District Attorney Diego Diaz claimed Monday Wilson has had at least eight felony convictions and has been prosecuted in states including Montana, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the Post.

'He claims to have been in a Kibbutz in Israel, to have been shot in the head in Africa,' Diaz said in the courtroom. 'He continues to perpetuate this fraud.'

Wilson has also claimed to be the son of the late IRA leader Brian Keenan and his defense lawyer Robert Briere has filed motions asking for Wilson to be called Jeremy Keenan.

Wilson's first attorney Edward Hayes withdrew from the case saying he was worried he was being conned, according to the Post.

Wilson said in court: 'If things as fundamental as my last name can't get sorted out by investigators who are very good at their job.I don't know how to sort anything out'
The United States Forces Korea (USFK) will set up a unit in October specifically to gather human intelligence in North Korea, the Korean publication Chosun Ilbo reported on Monday.

The US government is also reportedly making preparations to form a special intelligence group dedicated to North Korean intelligence.

The Central Intelligence Agency has supposedly already selected individuals from the Director of National Intelligence and National Security Council for the separate department to handle the data collected from the new USFK unit.

The United States Forces Korea (USFK) will set up a unit in October specifically to gather human intelligence in North Korea, the Korean publication Chosun Ilbo reported on Monday. US General Vincent K Brooks (L), Commander of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and USFK, walks with Vice President Mike Pence (R) in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between North and South Korea on April 17

The October launch date for the new unit would correspond with the start of the 2018 fiscal year.

The unit is allegedly to be referred to as the 524th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion, per the US Eighth Army newsletter.

The Battalion will operate as a joint effort between the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, as it carries out its mission of gathering human intelligence and engaging in counter-espionage operations against North Korea.

The USFK is commanded by General Vincent K Brooks.

The 524th is expected to infiltrate the North across the border from the Sough as well as utilize informants already positioned in the North.

General Brooks is shown here during a press briefing at the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea on September 13, 2016

'The USFK operates a huge arsenal of weapons and equipment to monitor and spy on North Korea, but its human intelligence capability has been relatively weak, which makes it difficult to gather and analyze accurate information about the North,' a South Korean government official said.

'It looks like there was a realization of the importance of bolstering it.'

The US government has had difficulty accurately assessing North Korea's nuclear and missile strengths since leader Kim Jong-un came power.

'Gathering intelligence through wiretapping and satellite imagery has its limitations, so the missing pieces of the puzzle must be solved through human intelligence,' a military source said.

Meanwhile, US Democratic Representative Stephanie Murphy tabled a bill in April that would have authorized the integration of bodies handling North Korean intelligence, according to a Saturday report by Voice of America.

It would have permitted the creation of an 'integrated cell' by the US Director of National Intelligence to monitor illicit North Korean activities and gather information on whether the North is adhering to UN Security Council resolutions.

The cell would be capable of informing the US of upcoming North Korean nuclear and missile operations and other activities that may be in violation of UN sanctions.

A phone call to the after hours press line at the Department of Defense seeking confirmation of the reported USFK operations directed an email message that was sent to the overnight Duty Officer.

A response was not immediately received.
Antoinetta Baldassarre killed her husband Frank at their home in Staten Island, New York, in October 2014

A 69-year-old Staten Island woman confessed to bludgeoning her husband to death with a crowbar this week, claiming the killing was retaliation for decades of domestic abuse.

Antoinetta Baldassarre pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter on Monday for the 2014 death of her 80-year-old husband Frank.

The snowy-haired killer lashed out at him on October 7, 2014, bashing him in the head repeatedly before putting his body in the bathtub of their home in Staten Island, New York.

The next morning, she tried to set fire to their home and locked herself in their garage with duct tape on her hands to try to stage a break-in.

Firefighters found his body in their bathroom, The New York Daily News reports.

On Monday, she said she snapped after being beaten by her husband for almost 50 years.

'I was sick and tired of his abuse,' she told police at the time.

After being told to expect a sentence of at least 15 years, the woman replied to a judge: 'I already did 46 years'.

During her trial, prosecutors said there was no evidence Frank had physically harmed her.

Police said at the time that they were never called to their home to respond to physical altercations and that they only ever visited the house to break up verbal disputes.
Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi faces possible dismissal after allegedly taking 33 free flights, including a luxury $36,000 BHP funded Olympics trip and not disclosing them.

Ms Scaffidi committed 45 serious breaches of the Local Government Act by not disclosing travel and accommodation gifts, the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) found.

Action was brought against her after she made omissions in her 2008-09 annual return, including a luxury, $36,000 package to the Beijing Olympics paid for by BHP Billiton.

The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) found Ms Scaffidi (pictured) committed 45 serious breaches of the Local Government Act

The omissions were deemed serious misconduct by the Corruption and Crime Commission in 2015.

She faces possible suspension or dismissal from her role as Lord Mayor.

Her matter is listed for a penalty hearing on May 16.

The SAT also looked into her return for 2013-14 at a hearing in February, where she admitted five breaches of the act including the mining giant's gift.

Under the act, Ms Scaffidi should have disclosed any gift worth $200 or greater.

Under the act, Ms Scaffidi (pictured) should have disclosed any gift worth $200 or greater

She argued unsuccessfully to the SAT, which handed down its finding on Tuesday, that a distinction should be drawn between accommodation provided to her personally, as opposed to when she was in the course of carrying out an activity in her capacity as Lord Mayor or otherwise as a councillor.

Ms Scaffidi conceded she was not careful with her annual expense reports claiming she was sometimes 'too busy' to sort it out, WA Today reports.

In an email she wrote to a staff member, Ms Scaffidi said: 'Hope five star - let them know, I don't stay in trash'.

In October 2015 Ms Scaffidi said she 'would've disclosed my underwear' if she knew she had to, WA Today reports.

Perth Lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi hugs Monopoly character before the board game was embraced in Perth

Ms Scaffidi (pictured) has resisted repeated calls for her to step down, including from new Labor Premier Mark McGowan

Ms Scaffidi has resisted repeated calls for her to step down, including from new Labor Premier Mark McGowan, who vowed during the election campaign to sack the entire council if the Local Government Act allowed it, saying his party had a dim view of its propriety.

Mr McGowan later acknowledged not everyone on the council deserved to be punished, but wrote to Ms Scaffidi last month, asking her to consider the best interests of the City of Perth and make an honourable decision and resign.

She was characteristically defiant, telling reporters it was a 'desperate political move'.

Ms Scaffidi has resisted repeated calls for her to step down, including from new Labor Premier Mark McGowan (pictured)

'How far does this newly-elected state government intend to interfere with local government?' she said.

'What a sorry day this is for Western Australian democracy and the citizens of Perth.'

SAT president Justice Jeremy Curthoys adjourned the matter until May 16, expediting the delivery of penalties and costs as the adverse finding created uncertainty for the council.

A City of Perth spokesman told AAP the council would continue as usual until then.

Ms Scaffidi was kicked off the Local Government Standards Panel in 2015 over the scandal.
Tyerell Przybycien, 18, from Spanish Fork, was arrested on Saturday for investigation of murder and reckless endangerment

An 18-year-old in Utah helped his friend buy the materials to commit suicide and took a video while she did it, prosecutors have alleged.

Tyerell Przybycien from Spanish Fork allegedly told police that he wanted to watch someone die, according to the Deseret News. He was arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail on Saturday for investigation of murder and reckless endangerment.

A turkey hunter in Maple Lake first found the 16-year-old girl hanging from a rope in a tree around 7.30am on Saturday.

In two plastic grocery bags on the ground near her body was a handwritten note stating who the girl was and explaining that 'if there were any questions to watch the video', a cell phone and a receipt for rope with Przybycien's name on it.

After the phone from the bag was charged, officers watched a video that was taken shortly before and during the girl's brutal death.

Przybycien allegedly helped his friend buy the materials to kill herself and then recorded her while she did it

A turkey hunter in Maple Lake first found the 16-year-old girl hanging from a rope in a tree around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday

'You can clearly see the victim (in the video) with a noose around her neck while standing on a rock,' the investigating officer wrote, according to the Deseret News.

'Przybycien is heard asking the juvenile to say something. The female victim then inhales a large dose of the industrial strength air duster and loses consciousness.

'Przybycien then continues to film this incident on camera for approximately 10 to 11 minutes. Przybycien never offers assistance at anytime, and can be heard asking her to move or say something.'

The two friends can also be heard talking to each other as they prepared the scene together, according to Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon.

'Don't know if he encouraged her as much as he did not actively discourage her. They talked about it. He knew what she intended to do. They went together as he purchased the items she intended to use. And he played an active role in her death,' Cannon said.

'Przybycien also stated that he, too, was suicidal and wanted to watch the victim die to see if it was something he could go through with himself,' an affidavit stated

'He told detectives he had a sort of fascination with death, and wanted to watch someone die,' Cannon added.

Przybycien even allegedly returned to the scene of her death when officers were still there.

'He confessed to purchasing the industrial strength air duster, purchasing the rope, driving the victim up to the location, helping tie the noose, and filming the incident which resulted in the death of the victim and taking no action to stop it or render aid,' an affidavit read.

'Przybycien also stated that he, too, was suicidal and wanted to watch the victim die to see if it was something he could go through with himself.

'During questioning, Przybycien also expressed feeling that he was responsible for her death and that she would still be here if he hadnt helped her.'



The girl has reportedly struggled from mental health problems in the past and had suicidal thoughts.

Though investigators do not think Przybycien forced the girl to commit suicide, when he was asked, Przybycien said there 'may have been some consideration' about a suicide pact.

Suicide prevention help can be found at utahsuicideprevention.org/suicide-prevention-basic and the national crisis hotline is 1-800-784-2433.
A hard-line extremist group that wants everyone living under sharia law will be banned in Indonesia - but they are still free to preach their Islamist views in Australia.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is campaigning for a global Islamic caliphate, will be prohibited from staging protests or meeting in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation after the Indonesia government labelled it a 'threat to public order and national unity'.

They group is already banned in Germany, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Pakistan and a host of Muslim-majority nations.

Scroll down for video

Indonesia's hard-line Muslim groups burn an effigy of Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu

Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia's spokesperson Uthman Badar told followers killing former Muslims is the law of the Koran

Muslim hard-line protesters clash with anti-riot policemen during a protest against Jakarta's incumbent governor Basuki (Ahok)

Indonesia's Chief Security Minister Wiranto said action against the group needed to be firm.

'Hizb ut-Tahrir's activities... could threaten public security and order and endanger the unity of Indonesia.'

The group has been operating in Indonesia for decades and is believed to have about 100,000 members, the ABC said.

'We want to prevent the embryo from developing and disrupting public order, and disturbing the existence of a nation that's trying to achieve prosperity and justice,' Wiranto said.

In Australia, the controversial group is free to preach its hard-line teachings - with spokesman Wassim Doureihi even questioning this week whether Muslims could continue to live in the Australia.

Muslim groups protest outside a court where a controversial blasphemy case was taking place against Jakarta's Christian governor

Hizb ut-Tahrir will soon be banned in Indonesia, according to a government spokesperson

The group has been operating in Indonesia for decades and is believed to have around 100,000 members according to the

The video, released by Hizb ut-Tahrir, appeared to accuse people in the West of blaming Muslims for a range of problems, including homelessness.

Doureihi repeatedly refused to condemn ISIS despite being asked more than a dozen times in a 2014 ABC Lateline interview with Emma Alberici.

Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir last month released a video saying it was permissible for husbands to hit their wives with a stick.

This came after Daily Mail Australia recorded another of the group's spokesman, Uthman Badar, telling followers people who left the faith deserved to be killed.

'The ruling for apostates as such in Islam is clear, that apostates attract capital punishment and we don't shy away from that,' Badar said.

The group's impending ban in Indonesia comes after up to 500,000 protesters, many of which were involved in the group, swamped city streets to protest against a Christian Governor.

The Governor, Ahok, is being trialled for blasphemy after telling voters they could vote for a Christian leader without breaking the rules of Islam despite clerics of the Muslim faith claiming the Koran prevents it.

The group's impending ban from Indonesia comes after up to 500,000 protesters, many of which were involved in the group, swamped city streets to protest against a Christian Governor, including this young boy (above).
President Donald Trump changed his Twitter banner Monday night after the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

During the hearing, Trump tweeted four times in ten minutes, commenting on the testimonies from former Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

After the hearing, around 6.40pm, the President added one of those tweets to his banner picture on his profile.

The tweet said: 'Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is "no evidence" of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.'

After the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Monday night, Trump changed his Twitter banner picture to include one of his earlier tweets about the hearing

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, left, and former Attorney General Sally Yates, right, gave testimony at the Senate subcommittee hearing

Trump tweeted four times in ten minutes about the Yates and Clapper's testimonies at the hearing

He added that tweet to the bottom of his banner picture, according to the New York Daily News. The picture, which is still the banner on Trump's profile, is a photograph of House Republicans celebrating the American Health Care Act in the Oval Office.

But the tweet was gone from the picture by midnight, according to the Daily News. It only lasted for about three hours.

Trump's tweet was referencing a moment in the hearing when Senator Lindsey Graham asked Clapper if he stood by his March 5 statement that there was 'no evidence' of 'collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians'.

Clapper confirmed that he did.

Graham went on to ask Yates if she had any evidence of collusion with the Russians.

Yates responded: 'My answer to that question would require me to reveal classified information. And so, I  I can't answer that.'

After that first tweet, Trump continued to tweet for the next ten minutes.

He said: 'Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today --- she said nothing but old news!'

'The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?'

'Biggest story today between Clapper & Yates is on surveillance. Why doesn't the media report on this? #FakeNews!'

Trump then stopped tweeting for the night.

Trump's tweet was referencing a moment in the hearing when Senator Lindsey Graham asked Clapper if he stood by his March 5 statement. He added this tweet to his banner picture for three hours

At the hearing, Clapper said he found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Yates, however, said she couldn't say anything because that would 'reveal classified information'
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said having a pie shoved in his face by an elderly man on Tuesday was 'not unusual.'

Mr Joyce had just begun speaking at a business breakfast at the Hyatt Regency in Perth when an anonymous man walked up to him and hit him with what appears to be a lemon meringue pie.

He addressed the incident afterwards, claiming he was not altogether surprised by the sudden attack considering his job.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (right) was attacked by an elderly man wielding a lemon meringue pie (left) on Tuesday morning as he addressed business leaders in Perth

The man was seen walking up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving the pie in his face

'When you've been the CEO of an airline for nine years, there's a lot of things that have happened over that period of time, this is different, but it's not unusual. It is an unusual event, but things like this have happened in the past,' he said.

Mr Joyce said he had absolutely no idea what flavour the pie was because he's 'not a big pie eater.'

DO YOU KNOW THE PIE THROWER? Email nic.white@mailonline.com Advertisement

'I didn't have a chance to test it, it was mostly on my glasses,' he joked.

'I think my issue is I need a good dry cleaner before I leave Perth, so if you have one, please recommend it to me.'

In video footage of the incident, the elderly man walked up behind Mr Joyce and rested a hand on his shoulder before pushing the pie into his face and rubbing it in.

He then calmly walked off the stage and was quickly grabbed by security.

The reason behind the attack was unclear.

The airline boss took it relatively well, exclaiming 'f***ing heck' before jovially telling the audience: 'I don't know what that was about.'

The man then walked off the stage calmly as Mr Joyce processed what had just happened

The airline boss took it relatively well, exclaiming 'f***ing heck' before jovially telling the audience: 'I don't know what that was about'

After wiping the remnants off his face, Mr Joyce joked with the audience before continuing his speech.

'If there are any more pies, can you get them over with now?' he said, before continuing to discuss the airline's recently announced direct flights to London.

Before police arrived, pictures show the man who attacked Mr Joyce sitting in a grey suit with his head bowed as three other men stand around him.

A spokesperson for WA police told Daily Mail Australia officers 'have been called to a hotel in Adelaide Terrace, East Perth in relation to an assault.'

The spokesperson said one person is in custody, and they are helping police with their inquiries.

The 67-year-old from Perth was later released with a summons to appear in court for giving police false details.
New South Wales police minister Troy Grant says he believes convicted child sex offenders and rapists should have their 'their nuts taken off' if they refuse to change their ways.

Mr Grant announced reforms to the NSW justice system on Tuesday that would see the introduction of 'chemical castration' for paedophiles.

However Mr Grant, a father-of-two, said if the law was up to him he would go a step further and completely remove the testicles of men convicted of sexual offences.

New South Wales police minister Troy Grant (pictured) has said he believes child sex offenders should be punished severely and would advocate to 'take their nuts off'

'If I had my way, and I'm on the record, I would take their nuts off,' Mr Grant said.

'But this (chemical castration) is the appropriate way... and this is a step in the right direction to make sure the kids in our community will be safe from predators.'

Under the plan, child sex offenders would be able to seek chemical castration when applying for parole, a process that would involve taking anti-libidinal medication.

However Greens MP David Shoebridge was quick to criticise idea, slamming it as a medieval proposal.

'They say it's voluntary now but clearly they want to go to a path of compulsory chemical castration which is deeply troubling,' he told AAP.

'I thought we'd moved beyond 18th-century criminal justice concepts in 21st century Australia.'

Attorney general Mark Speakmen (front) announced other changes including the abolition of suspended sentences and introduction of a discount of up to 25 per cent for early guilty pleas

Among other changes announced were the abolition of suspended sentences and the introduction of a discount of up to 25 per cent for early guilty pleas.

The government said they hoped the changes would ease overcrowding in prisons, reduce court delays and ensure dangerous criminals are supervised upon release.

'This is all about faster justice - justice delayed is justice denied,' attorney general Mark Speakman said.

'At the centre of all this is community safety and driving down offending rates.'
A married couple have been arrested on suspicion of impersonating Adele's manager for more than a year in order to swindle concert tickets.

Jayce and Angel Lii, 30 and 25, allegedly used Jonathan Dickins' name to get memorabilia and tickets to see musicians like Katy Perry, Drake and Pharrell Williams.

The Florida-based pair's arrest in a Miami police sting has left Mr Dickins 'breathing a slight sigh of relief' after a year of being 'victimised', lawyer Brian Bieber said.

Jayce and Angel Lii (both pictured), 30 and 25, have been arrested on suspicion of impersonating Adele's manager for more than a year in order to swindle concert tickets

They allegedly used the superstar's representative Jonathan Dickins' name to get memorabilia and tickets to see musicians like Katy Perry, Drake and Pharrell Williams

The suspects used an email similar to Mr Dickins' to contact the manager of rapper Kendrick Lamar to get tickets to the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami, the Miami Herald reported.

But the manager at Interscope Records was suspicious and contacted Mr Dickins - who alerted police.

Officers said: 'It was confirmed that the email was not genuine, that this email address was known to be connected to the subject for making false claims such as this in the past.'

A Miami-Dade detective played along with the ruse and posed as a production manager, telling Lii his press pass was ready for pick up on the day of the festival.

Lii - who pretended to be Mr Dickins' assistant - and his wife showed up to pick up the passes on Saturday evening and were caught out by police.

They were arrested on suspicion of fraud and theft, the Miami-Dade Police Department said.

A third woman, Hayle Henegar, was with the couple at the time and was not arrested.

Mr Dickins became Adele's manager in 2006, while his sister Lucy Dickins is her agent.

The suspects used an email address similar to Mr Dickins' (pictured far left) to contact the manager of rapper Kendrick Lamar (right) to get tickets to the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami

The Florida-based pair's arrest in a Miami police sting has left Mr Dickins (pictured, third from right) 'breathing a slight sigh of relief' after a year of being 'victimised'

Lii was previously jailed for impersonating Madonnas manager to steal $2.4million worth of Chopard jewelry in 2007 - which he eventually sold at a South Florida pawn shop

The British representative's father is a bookings agent who looks after Diana Ross and Bob Dylan, while his grandfather Percy Dickins co-founded music magazine NME and invented the pop charts in 1952.

His uncle Rob Dickins was the chairman for Warner Brothers for 15 years in the UK,

The lawyer said the alleged fraud had not been sophisticated, adding: 'If he was trying to run a scam like in (crime film) Catch Me If You Can, he didn't do a good job.'

It is not the first time Mr Lii has taken on a fake identity, the New York Daily News reported.

He impersonated Madonnas manager to steal $2.4million worth of Chopard jewelry in 2007 - which he eventually sold at a South Florida pawn shop.

He was convicted of first-degree grand theft and served two years in prison.

He also once posed as Oprah Winfreys nephew, Scott Garner, an executive at her OWN network, and Barack Obamas former aide, Reggie Love, according to court documents.

Adele has amassed 40million over the past 12 months, making it the most lucrative year of her career so far

Mr Garner and Mr Love both sued Lii, accusing him of misappropriation of name, trademark infringement, dilution and civil conspiracy.

It comes as reports emerged that Adele has amassed 40million over the past 12 months, making it the most lucrative year of her career so far.

The 28-year-olds wealth has rocketed to 125million following the release of her third album 25, which has sold more than 20million copies around the world.

It reinforces her position as Britains richest ever female pop star, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2017.

She is the 19th richest musician - and only solo female artist - in the Music Millionaires list, which is topped by Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell who are worth a combined 780m.
Liberal Moon Jae-in has declared victory in South Korea's presidential election after his two major rivals conceded defeat.

The election sets up the country's first liberal rule in a decade.

A decisive win by Moon in a field of 13 candidates, puts an end to months of political turmoil stemming from a parliamentary vote in December to impeach former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal.

The concessions by conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo came after exit polls forecast that Mr Moon would win.

Scroll down for video

Liberal Moon Jae-in celebrates with supportesr after declaring victory in South Korea's presidential election after his two major rivals conceded defeat

South Chungcheong governor An Hee-jung kisses South Korea's president-elect Moon Jae-in at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul

South Korea's president-elect Moon Jae-in thanks supporters at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul following the election

Moon pledged Tuesday to represent all the country's people.

'I will be president for all South Koreans,' he told cheering supporters on Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.

Exit polls projected Moon would take 41.4 per cent of the vote, 18 percentage points ahead of his nearest challenger.

'This is a great victory of great people who stayed with me to create a country of justice... where rules and common sense prevail,' he said.

South Korea was plunged into political turmoil by the scandal surrounding Park - who is now in custody awaiting trial - and Moon promised to be a 'president of cohesion' who also took care of those who did not support him.

The Constitutional Court upheld Park's impeachment in March, making her the first democratically elected leader to be removed from office and triggering a snap election to choose her successor.

South Korean presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea reacts after a television report on an exit poll of the new president at the party's auditorium in the National assembly on Tuesday

Wearing a dark blue suit and blue tie, Moon was seen shaking hands with supporters and party officials and smiling on his way to a meeting of his Democratic Party after the exit poll results were announced

Supporters of the presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party react as they watch televisions broadcasting results of exit polls for presidential election at National Assembly in Seoul

Supporters of presidential candidate Moon Jae-in react as they watch results of the presidential election in Seoul

Wearing a dark blue suit and blue tie, Moon was seen shaking hands with supporters and party officials and smiling on his way to a meeting of his Democratic Party after the exit poll results were announced.

A Gallup Korea poll last week showed Moon had 38 percent support in a field of 13 candidates.

Moon is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday after the National Election Commision releases the official result. He has said he would skip a lavish inauguration ceremony and start work straight away.

He is likely to quickly name a prime minister, who will need parliamentary approval, and main cabinet positions, including national security and finance ministers, which do not need parliamentary confirmation.

Moon, who narrowly lost to Park in the last presidential election, in 2012, favours dialogue with North Korea to ease rising tension over its accelerating nuclear and missile programme.

He also wants to reform powerful family-run conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai, and boost fiscal spending to create jobs.

Moon has criticised the two former conservative governments for failing to stop North Korea's weapons development.

Moon, front left, of the Democratic Party takes pictures with a supporter after voting for a presidential election at a junior high school in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday

South Korean presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party and his wife Kim Jung-suk wave after voting on Tuesday. South Koreans voted Tuesday for a new president, with victory widely predicted for a liberal candidate who has pledged to improve ties with North Korea, re-examine a contentious U.S. missile defense shield and push sweeping economic changes

Outspoken conservative Hong Joon-pyo, the candidate from Park's Liberty Korea Party, described the election as a war between ideologies and questioned Moon's patriotism.

He advocates a two-track policy of dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.

Moon faces working with a fractured parliament where his Democratic Party holds 40 per cent of the single-chamber, 299-seat assembly, which will likely mean difficulties and deals to pass bills.

'He has to pursue cooperation with other liberal and centrist parties, since the Democratic Party does not have the majority,' said Kim Man-heum, head of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership.

'Moon has been criticized for running his own 'clique', so in order to get over that negative image, he'll seek cooperation to avoid rifts and conflicts,' Kim said.

His victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, the majority of whom voted for him, according to the exit polls. Many of his supporters participated in big, peaceful weekend rallies over the last few months of 2016 and early this year, demanding Park step down.

The vote was the culmination of a frenzied two-month race set up by the scandal that ousted Park-Geun-hye, now jailed while awaiting trial on corruption charges.

Conservatives worry that a victory by the liberal, Moon Jae-in, might benefit North Korea and estrange South Korea and its most important ally, the United States.

Outspoken Hoon described the election as a war between ideologies and questioned Moon's patriotism.

Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party and his wife Kim Jung-suk prepare to cast their ballot for a presidential election

Hong Joon-Pyo (L) of the Liberty Korea Party and his wife Lee Soon-Sam (R) cast their votes in the presidential election at a polling station in Seoul

South Korea's presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party comes out of a polling booth to cast his ballot for presidential election at a local polling station in Seoul

The vote was the culmination of a frenzied two-month race set up by the scandal that ousted Park-Geun-hye (pictured), now jailed while awaiting trial on corruption charges.

After voting, Hong said the election was a 'war of regime choices between people, whether they decide to accept a North Korea-sympathizing leftist government or a government that can protect the liberty of the Republic of Korea', South Korea's formal name.

Hong has pitched himself as a 'strongman' who can hold his own against other 'nationalist' leaders in Washington, Tokyo and Beijing.

He had called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea after withdrawing them in the 1990s.

Moon was chief of staff for the last liberal president, the late Roh Moo-hyun, who sought closer ties with North Korea by setting up large-scale aid shipments to the North and by working on now-stalled joint economic projects.

Voting stations closed at 8pm and South Korean TV stations released the results of their joint exit polls soon after the vote ends.

The National Election Commission said more than 55 per cent of the country's 42.4million eligible voters cast their ballots as of 1pm, a measurement that included the 11million people who participated in early voting last week.

The winner will be sworn in after the National Election Commission confirms the result Wednesday.

Women walk by posters showing candidates for the presidential election in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday

People gather to watch live broadcasts of coverage of South Korea's presidential election, in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul

South Koreans went to the polls to choose a new president after Park Geun-Hye was ousted and indicted for corruption, against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North. Pictured above, people gather to watch live broadcasts of coverage of South Korea's presidential election, in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul

Because the vote is a special election, the new president will forgo the usual two-month transition and will serve one full, five-year term rather than only completing Park's original term, which was to end in February 2018

Because the vote is a special election, the new president will forgo the usual two-month transition and will serve one full, five-year term rather than only completing Park's original term, which was to end in February 2018.

Park's trial later this month on bribery, extortion and other corruption charges, could send her to jail for life if she is convicted.

The allegations incensed many in South Korea, with millions taking to the streets in protest.

Park sympathizers later staged their own rallies. Dozens of high-profile figures, including Park's longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, and Samsung's de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, have been indicted along with Park.

Moon frequently appeared at anti-Park rallies and the corruption scandal boosted his push to re-establish liberal rule.

He called for reforms to clean up social inequalities, excessive presidential power and corrupt ties between politicians and business leaders.

Many of those legacies dated to the dictatorship of Park's father, Park Chung-hee, whose 18-year rule was marked by both rapid economic rise and severe civil rights abuse.

As a former pro-democracy student activist, Moon was jailed for months in the 1970s while protesting against the senior Park.

Moon has called Park Geun-hye's hard-line North Korea policy a failure.

Voting stations are set to close at 8pm and South Korean TV stations plan to release the results of their joint exit polls soon after the vote ends. They are expected to predict a winner before midnight

The winner will be sworn in after the National Election Commission confirms the result Wednesday

Voters form a queue to cast their ballots at a polling station in Incheon, South Korea, on Tuesday

A woman casts her ballot for presidential election at a local polling station in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday

Moon said as president he plans to employ both pressure and dialogue to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions. He also advocates building up a more assertive South Korea.

Following a standoff between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un over Kim's vow to advance his country's nuclear weapons programs, Moon has talked more about bolstering national defense in what analysts see as an attempt to woo conservative voters.

Many analysts say Moon, if elected, likely won't pursue drastic rapprochement policies because North Korea's nuclear program has progressed significantly since he was in the Roh government a decade ago.

A big challenge for whoever wins will be President Donald Trump, who has proven himself unconventional in his approach to North Korea, swinging between intense pressure and threats and offers to talk.

'South Koreans are more concerned that Trump, rather than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, will make a rash military move, because of his outrageous tweets, threats of force and unpredictability,' Duyeon Kim, a visiting fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, wrote recently in Foreign Affairs magazine.

'It is crucial that Trump and the next South Korean president strike up instant, positive chemistry in their first meeting to help work through any bilateral differences and together deal with the North Korean challenge.'
A blasphemy investigation into comments made by television star Stephen Fry has been dropped - because police could not find enough people offended.

The writer and presenter branded God an 'utter maniac' who is 'mean-minded and stupid' during an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE two years ago.

But Gardai sources have reportedly revealed they did not proceed with the investigation because there was no injured party.

Scroll down for video

An unnamed man made a complaint of blasphemy after Stephen Fry described God as an 'utter maniac'

Fry's comments were reported to the Gardai by a man who claimed to be doing his 'civic duty', saying they breached the Defamation Act.

'WHAT KIND OF GOD WOULD DO THAT?' FRY'S TV COMMENTS The footage, which showed Fry quizzed by Irish TV presenter Gay Byrne, went viral after it was aired and has now been seen more than seven million times on YouTube. Asked what he would say if he was confronted by God, Fry replied: 'How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. 'It's utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?' Questioned on how he would react if he was locked outside the pearly gates, he responded: 'I would say, 'Bone cancer in children? What's that about?' 'Because the God who created this universe, if it was created by God, is quite clearly a maniac, utter maniac. 'Totally selfish. We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him? What kind of God would do that?' Advertisement

A police source told the Irish Independent: 'This man was simply a witness and not an injured party. Gardai were unable to find a substantial number of outraged people.

'For this reason the investigation has been concluded.'

The man who made the report told the newspaper he was happy the matter had been investigated, stating: 'I did my civic duty in reporting it.

'The guards did their duty in investigating it. I am satisfied with the result and I don't want to comment further.'

He said he had not personally been offended by Mr Fry's remarks.

The case has put Irish blasphemy laws under scrutiny.

The country's Department of Justice has begun work on holding a referendum on the subject, The Irish Times reports.

Health minister Simon Harris branded the current law 'silly, a little embarrassing and needs to be changed'.

Current legislation makes it illegal to say or publish anything that is 'grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion'.

In order for it to be a crime, it needs to cause outrage 'among a substantial number of adherents of that religion'.

The offence of blasphemy, included in the Defamation Act, is punishable by a fine of 25,000 euro under Irish law.


A zoo which has been dubbed the worst in Britain will stay open after the council granted its new owners a licence - despite almost 500 animals dying there in four years.

Two months ago, a similar application from David Gill, the owner and founder of South Lakes Safari Zoo, was unanimously rejected.

Government inspectors pointed out concerns over its management structure and veterinary care which it labelled 'inadequate'.

But Tuesday's application from Cumbria Zoo Company Limited (CZCL), which has operated the zoo since January, has been approved.

A photograph taken by the Captive Animals' Protection Society shows an emaciated-looking kangaroo at the Cumbria zoo

David Gill is pictured with his wife Frieda Rivera-Schreiber, who was on the team responsible for providing that veterinary care at South Lakes Safari Zoo

Licensing committee members in Barrow-in-Furness were told the same inspection team was 'highly encouraged' by improvements made under a new management team.

It comes after it was alleged that Mr Gill was alleged to have made 300,000 by selling buffalo to hunters.

Mr Gill is also said to have sold deer to a ranch in Australia so they could be shot as he could not afford to feed the animals.

The allegations come after the 55-year-old found himself at the centre of a probe into the death of 486 animals in four years at his zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria.

South Lakes Safari Zoo was hit by a string of controversies during Mr Gill's reign, including the death of a keeper in 2013 after she was mauled by a tiger.

Animals he is said to have sold for the purpose of hunting came from his Mareeba Wild Animal Park in Queensland.

The park was raided by police and authorities in 2004 before going into administration with debts close to 2million.

Author Paul Stenning claims he was told about the sale while helping Mr Gill write his autobiography, The Sun reported.

Speaking to the newspaper, Mr Stenning said: 'He told me about the sale and said, 'We don't necessarily have to say it was a gaming ranch do we?'

A badly injured giraffe was among the animals being kept in 'appalling' conditions at the zoo

South Lakes Safari Zoo was hit by a string of controversies during Mr Gill's reign, including the death of a keeper in 2013 after she was mauled by a tiger

'I just looked at him. I can't understand how a conservationist allows animals to go to a hunting lodge.'

In March, Mr Gill had his own application rejected by Barrow Borough Council's regulatory committee.

Inspectors had previously criticised the zoo after a site visit in January, claiming the site was 'overcrowded' with a 'lack of proper welfare'.

They said the amount of deaths showed 'poor management' while it was also slammed over its 'uncontrolled breeding' and poor medicine programmes.

Seven healthy lion cubs were put down aged just five days old at a zoo where almost 500 animals have died in just five years

Councillors also issued a zoo closure direction, based on the zoo failing to comply with a licence condition related to the management and staffing structure.

Mr Gill said he was 'committed to exiting the zoo' and handing over management to the recently formed Cumbria Zoo Company Limited.

The company, which now runs the zoo, said although Mr Gill had been the licence holder, he had no role in the operation of the zoo.

In 2016, the zoo was fined 255,000 at Preston Crown Court after one of its employees, Sarah McClay, 24, was killed by a Sumatran tiger in May 2013.

It received an additional 42,500 fine after it also pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches when a keeper fell from a ladder while preparing to feed big cats in 2014.
The Queen of baking has admitted she never cooked as a student, as she addressed keen debaters at the Cambridge Union.

Mary Berry gave the union address on Monday night, alongside the Kooks, in an unusual line-up.

The former Bake Off judge also joked that her twin granddaughters believed she lived in Waitrose when they were young.

Explaining an exchange with her granddaughter's children, she said: 'Miss Sole said to Abi, where does your granny live? "Im not too sure but I think its in Waitrose!"'

Mary Berry addresses the Cambridge Union at the University on Monday evening - telling them the secrets of the Great British Bake Off

The food writer and former Bake Off judge took questions from a captivated audience after making her address

Ms Berry, 82, admitted to the largely student audience of 400 that she didn't cook when she was at university.

According to Cambridge Union, students asked how they get round the problem of not having ovens, when she made the confession.

But the food writer said stir fry was a good option for those unable to make her favourite dish of a baked vegetable lasagna.

Wearing a black and silver sequinned dress, Ms Berry also spilled some of the secrets of the nation's favourite baking show, with Paul Hollywood well and admitting she would not rule out working with the presenters Mel and Sue again.

Speaking to the Tab, she even gave her replacement Prue Leith her blessing, and said she'd be watching.

She said: 'Prue Leith was a perfect choice, I dont know the other comedians, they are not in my circle.

'Mel and Sue have been true friends ever since Bake Off I think we will do something in the future.'

The author signed copies of her books for fans after speaking. She donned a black and silver sequinned dress for the special occasion

The trio declined a lucrative offer to move to Channel 4, out of loyalty to the BBC, and there has been rumour of them working together again since.

Last week, Mel Giedroyc gave her blessing to the new line-up, featuring Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, saying she was a fan and friend of Fielding.

On Paul Hollywood joining Channel 4, she added: 'This is a personal decision. He is young and he has a great future. I felt I had done seven years and the BBC had launched me and given me great success. I felt my loyalty, as did Mel and Sue, to the BBC.

'Paul is young and Im sure he will go on to do well. It couldnt get bigger on the BBC, but who knows, I wish it well.'

Known for her high street style, Ms Berry said she likes to dress with a little colour, to her age and only for herself. She has developed a firm following with her floral jackets on the Bake Off.

Ms Berry told students she strived for honesty in judging the bakes each week and hoped the show would encourage and inspire more people to get in the kitchen.

Ms Berry told the audience she would skip breakfast and then have a light supper when she was filming Bake Off to make sure she didn't pile on the pounds

She also said she would work again with Bake Off presenters Mel and Sue, after the trio left the show when Channel 4 bought the rights

Ms Berry's most memorable contestant was 2015 winner Nadiya, who was crowned the winner in one of the show's most emotional episodes

One attendee said the author had made a good impression, and was even more glamorous than she expected

The cook's trick to keep trim during filming was to skip breakfast, eating a light supper so she didn't pile on the pounds when she tried each baker's offerings. But lots of the food would go to the cast and crew.

And although the contestants have a washer-upper on hand to deal with their dirty trays and tins, Ms Berry operates a tidy as you go policy in her own kitchen.

In a confession that will shock few Bake Off fans, she said Nadiya, the 2015 winner, was the most memorable of the show's talent.

She said: 'Who was the person I remember the most? I think Nadiya. Wasnt she wonderful! To see her children and husband rushing up to her when she won was wonderful.'

Ms Berry gave an emotional speech when Nadiya was crowned the champion saying she had 'enjoyed every moment' of the mother's competition.

The 82-year-old made the unexpected confession that she had not cooked at university and shared anecdotes of her home life

Ms Berry signed a wine bottle for one fan as she sold copies of her new book Mary Berry Everyday

She said one of her most memorable personal moments was being invited to Buckingham Palace to dine with the Queen and Prince Philip, where she wore a 35 dress she bought in a sale.

She said: 'I had a phone call saying the queen would like you to go to lunch and I immediately thought its one of my sons or their mates playing a trick. She gave me the date and I said actually I cant go as I had promised to go to Earnham Hall to give a demonstration. He came back with another date.

'First thing, what am I going to wear? The invitation said day dressesI dont do day dresses!'

She explained she left her wine largely untouched out of fear she would slur her words.

She said: 'The Duke said he loves to barbeque and he used the birds from Sandringham and he used haggis and added more breadcrumbs for stuffing.'

If she could only make one cake again, she'd pick her lemon drizzle, but whipped egg whites and ground almonds don't do it for her anymore, as she told students she bored of macarons.

Jonah Surkes, the speaker's officer, said: 'Mary was an absolute pleasure to interview and to host. More active than most half her age, she was candid, witty, sharp, and always happy. I've never seen a Cambridge Union audience move so quickly from raucous laughter to complete silence, all in awe and respect for this fabulous national treasure.'

Fans formed a huge queue outside the Union to hear Ms Berry speak on Monday night, as it was revealed tickets for Senator Bernie Sanders sold out in just 38 seconds.

The union has booked the former presidential hopeful to speak for an hour on June 2, and although they would not clarify how many tickets were released, it is believed to be a record.
Mother-of-three and teacher Suzanne Lakie, 48, was found dead in her home

A troubled mother-of-three used a notebook containing her younger brother's suicide letter to pen her own farewell message to loved ones before killing herself.

For seven years Suzanne Lakie was haunted by her brother's death which had changed her 'beyond all recognition'.

The 48-year-old teacher was found dead in her Derbyshire home by her children and a colleague in July last year, after she took an overdose.

Ms Lakie was said to be dedicated and driven to succeed at her job as a special needs teacher in a primary school, but struggled when she took on a managerial role.

Following her brother's death her marriage broke down and she increasingly turned to alcohol to help cope with her deepening depression.

And though she appeared 'lively and bubbly' to friends, she was worried about her older brother's plans to move abroad and her elderly father's faltering health.

After phoning in work claiming she was sick the 48-year-old took an overdose.

She had penned her suicide note in the same notebook her late brother had left an emotional farewell message in before his death in 2009.

Her emotional farewell which contained an 'apology' was written on the next page.

Ms Lakie (pictured here with here boyfriend James Cox enjoying a trip to Paris just weeks before her death), had spent several years struggling to overcome her demons

Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard in the months before her death on 4 July last year, the dedicated professional was binge drinking and taking time off work as she battled with her demons.

Ms Lakie was a Year 5 teacher and Special Needs coordinator at Harpur Hill Primary School in Buxton, Derbyshire.

She started the job in 2009, just weeks after her brother David's suicide at his home in Liverpool.

Her ex-husband, John Hardy, told the court: 'That had a profound impact on her.

'She never recovered from the sadness of it all, it affected her deeply. She was never the same person again.'

He said she was determined to make a mark in her new career. 'She was driven to do well and wanted to succeed,' he added.

But the pressures of work along her father's ill health and her brother Peter's planned move to China had 'got on top of her'. He said he was aware she was drinking more heavily.

'In the last six months of her life she was unrecognisable from the Suzanne I knew,' he said.

Ms Lakie's aunt, Janet Gamble, saw her niece hours before the tragedy and 'felt she was in a dark place'.

But Suzanne's boyfriend, James Cox, said while she was 'dealing with a lot' and working long hours, he never considered she would self-harm.

Police discovered the suicide letter in her late brother's notebook on Ms Lakie's bed

On the day of her death he returned home from work to find a text message from her asking for 'help', but he did not see it until just before midnight. Soon after he received another message from her daughter telling him she was dead.

Sarah Renton, a teaching assistant who worked with Ms Lakie, said she would do anything for anyone and the schoolchildren loved her.

She said the Manchester City fan was 'always bubbly and full of fun at school', and was also 'a very driven person'.

In the months before her death it had been noticed the teacher was taking an increasing number of 'unexplained absences'.

'We had a change of management at school,' she said. 'She was part of the management and she was feeling the stress of that.'

On the day of her death she had arranged to give her colleague a lift to work, but received a text just after 7am from Ms Lakie saying she had been ill and was not going in.

After finishing work Mrs Renton tried to contact her but got no reply. Later she made her way to her home to check on her, just as the teacher's son Luke Reynolds arrived at the address.

He had been contacted by his youngest sister Natalie who was locked out and did not know where their mother was.

They entered the house just after 9pm and Luke found his mother on the living room sofa, surrounded by packets of prescription drugs and empty bottles of wine.

Attempts to resuscitate her failed and she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Ms Lakie was found by her children and a colleague, who became worried after she called in sick

Police discovered the suicide letter in her late brother's notebook on Ms Lakie's bed.

Mr Reynolds said: 'David's death was the start of everything, that was at the heart of every problem.

'I had seen the notebook after he died, but I had no idea Mum still had it.'

He also said he had tried to get help for his mother in the past and said she had called him on a number of occasions begging for help.

'She would be in a right state. I would take her up to bed and she would be crying. I would see her taking tablets, but I tried not to make a big issue of it.' he said.

'She would say to me 'Please don't let me die'.

'But the problem was that one day I'd see her and she would be really down, then the next day she'd be laughing and joking.'

Toxicology tests showed the level of alcohol in her blood stream was four times the drink drive limit.

There were also 'excessively high levels' of anti-depressants and beta-blockers, which she had been prescribed for anxiety, in her system.

Derbyshire Assistant Coroner James Newman commended Mr Reynolds for trying to get professional help for his mother, who sadly did not want to accept assistance.

And he paid tribute to a 'dedicated woman who worked hard'. He said the 'overriding factor' in her life was the loss of her brother.

Mr Newman said it was clear the teacher had increasingly been using alcohol as a 'crutch' to help her cope.

And he added although the suicide note was undated and could have been written prior to the fateful day, he believed her intention was to kill herself, despite the previous incidents when she had telephoned her son, which he accepted were 'cries for help'.

He concluded Ms Lakie committed suicide while the balance of her mind was disturbed.
Labour politicians are airbrushing Jeremy Corbyn out of their election leaflets amid fears he is toxic with voters.

The veteran left-winger also does not feature on the party's battlebus unveiled with great fanfare today.

And even Mr Corbyn's leader's own election literature does not mention that he could become Prime Minister after the national ballot on June 8.

Labour's new battlebus, unveiled in Manchester today, mentions the party six times - but does not refer to Mr Corbyn

Mr Corbyn, pictured meeting student nurses in Worcester yesterday, is widely considered to be an electoral liability

Mr Corbyn's personal ratings have been consistently appalling since he took Labour's top job two years ago.

The scale of the problem was underlined in a poll today that found Theresa May is more trusted to protect the NHS - an issue on which Labour usually has a big advantage.

Mrs May was backed by 42.1 per cent in the Survation research for ITV's Good Morning Britain, while 39 per cent plumped for Mr Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn is routinely outscored by 'don't know' when voters are asked who they would prefer to have as PM.

The dire ratings have fuelled fears of a Labour bloodbath at the election, with the Tories leading by more than 20 points in some polls.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon is among the senior figures who have omitted Mr Corbyn from their literature, according to images posted online and on sites such as electionleaflets.org.

His pamphlet in East Leeds describe him as a 'strong local voice' - although his Twitter feed does refer to Mr Corbyn.

In contrast, the Tory campaign has been relentlessly focused on the PM as an asset - with placards branding the party's candidates 'Theresa May's Team'.

Even Mr Corbyn's own letter to constituents in Islington North does not mention the prospect of him becoming PM

A flyer sent out by shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer in Holborn & St Pancras urges support for a 'Labour government' but does not feature Mr Corbyn

Labour's Anna Turley, defending a 24,000 majority in Redcar, is among the candidates who have been playing down

Anna Turley, who is defending a 10,000 majority in Redcar, issued a leaflet recently billing herself as a 'local champion' and omitting Mr Corbyn.

Ben Bradshaw, who is trying to cling on in Exeter, has written to constituents stressing they are electing an MP rather than the 'party leader'.

A leaflet distributed by Rushanara Ali in Bethnal Green and Bow, where she has a 24,000 majority, include pictures and praise for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, but nothing about Mr Corbyn.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, a close ally of Mr Corbyn, has not included the leader in his election pamphlet

A leaflet distributed by Rushanara Ali in Bethnal Green and Bow, where she has a 24,000 majority, include pictures and praise for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, but nothing about Mr Corbyn

The Labour leader himself appears to be soft-pedaling in his constituency of Islington North.

In a letter to voters, Mr Corbyn urged them to 'vote Labour on 8th June to re-elect me as your MP and to elect a Labour government'.

The letter did not highlight the chance that he could become PM, or use Labour's 'for the many not the few' slogan.

David Cameron's election battlebus from 2015 proudly displayed his name and signature

Tony Blair had his name on Labour buses in 1997 - with a message across these three stating: 'Leading Britain into the future with Tony Blair'
A British drug trafficker convicted over a 1million ($1.3million) narcotics ring has been arrested in Thailand after years on the run, police said on Tuesday, in the latest example of global underworld figures using the kingdom as a bolthole.

Jonathon Moorby, 47, was detained by Thai police on the popular southern tourist island of Koh Samui on Monday following an investigation by British detectives.

The fugitive, nicknamed 'Mr Big', has a string of previous drug offences to his name but went on the run in 2014 shortly before an English court sentenced him to 15 years in jail in absentia for conspiracy to supply more than 1million of cocaine and amphetamines.

British national Jonathan Moorby, 47, was detained and questioned by police at his home in Koh Samui, Thailand, on Monday

Thai police said on Tuesday that they have arrested Moorby, who apparently fled charges of suspected drug trafficking and is wanted in England

Moorby has a string of previous drug offences to his name but went on the run in 2014 shortly before an English court sentenced him to 15 years in jail in absentia for conspiracy to supply more than 1million of cocaine and amphetamines

While still in handcuffs, Morrby showed police his multiple phones and the documents he used while in Thialand

At the time, prosecutors ordered him to repay 575,680 ($745,000) under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

But after fleeing to Ko Samui, Thailand, the twisted crime boss is alleged to have laundered money and organised arson attacks on his estranged wife.

Thai police said they charged Moorby with possession of a fake passport and illegal entry into Thailand before he is deported to Britain.

Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj said police seized a fake passport that identified Moorby as a Belgian citizen under the name Goossens Wouters.

'We were asked by the British embassy's Interpol representative to arrest the suspect,' Major General Soontorn Chalermkiat of Thailand's Narcotics Suppression Police, told reporters.

Thai police said they will charge Moorby with possession of a fake passport and illegal entry into Thailand before he is deported to Britain

Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj said police seized a fake passport that identified Moorby as a Belgian citizen under the name Goossens Wouters

'He is a key drugs trafficking suspect in Britian, dealing in cocaine and ice (crystal methamphetamine),' he said.

British prosecutors described Moorby, originally from Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, as a major drugs kingpin in the country's northeast, according to British media that covered the trial.

Teesside Crown Court confirmed to the Bangkok Post that it has had a warrant out for Moorby's arrest since December 2014.

Police found out that Moorby was staying in Koh Samui when they received a tipoff that his son would travel to Thailand to visit him.

Police followed the son to Thailand, which led them to a rented hotel room in which Moorby was staying.

After fleeing to Ko Samui, Thailand, the twisted crime boss is alleged to have laundered money and organised arson attacks on his estranged wife

Moorby was jailed in the UK after police found him with 250,000 drugs, pictured, in 2004

But when the son arrived, Moorby wasn't in the hotel and police found out that the drug kingpin had rented a boat to travel to nearby Koh Mudsum, where he was later arrested.

Thailand has long been a favoured destination for wanted criminals from across the world, something the police have vowed to end, adopting the official slogan: 'Good guys in, bad guys out.'

While they have had some notable successes, western law enforcement officials say high levels of official corruption and weak local law enforcement continue to make the country an attractive bolthole.

The country is also a major trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, the world's second largest drug producing region after Latin America.

Huge quantities of heroin and methamphetamine are produced in the triangle - the border regions of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and southwestern China - with record seizures across Asia having little effect on supply or street prices.
Advertisement

Thousands of Muscovites stood outside last night to witness a massive fireworks display to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazism.

Earlier in the day, Vladimir Putin warned the world his Russian army can 'repel any potential aggression' after 10,000 troops marched through Red Square with a terrifying arsenal of missiles in a military parade.

The annual march in Moscow marks the defeat of Hitler in the Second World War, but the Russian president was using it today to showcase the Kremlin's modern military might.

Putin was personally taking the salute at the parade involving 10,000 troops and 114 units of military equipment.

Scroll down for video

As the sun descended over Moscow, locals were treated to a spectacular fireworks and pyrotechnic display

The spectacular fireworks display was to mark the 72nd anniversary of Victory of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War

The skies above Moscow where lit up with the massive fireworks display celebrating the end of the Second World War

Vladimir Putin ensured he shook hands with many of the veterans who survived the 'Great Patriotic War'

The Russian Air Force had to cancel plans to fly 72 aircraft over Moscow were cancelled due a low cloud base

Putin ordered his military to spike the clouds above Moscow with chemicals to make them disappear but the plan failed

The parade gave the first public showing of Tor and Pantsir mobile surface-to-air missile that have been adapted for use in Russia's Arctic forces, their white-and-black winter camouflage standing out amid the olive drab of other war machines.

'The armed forces of Russia are capable of repelling any potential aggression,' Putin told thousands of military personnel.

Plans to send 72 aircraft overhead were defeated by the weather - despite the Kremlin spending 1.3 million to spike the clouds with a chemical cocktail to supposedly guarantee sunshine.

The fly-past was grounded because of low cloud, thwarting Putin's bid to showcase his air force and honour Russian pilots who have served in Syria.

The weather changing technology managed to stop predicted rain but couldn't disperse the thick, low-flying cloud

There were also large fireworks displays in St Petersburg, overlooking the St Peter and Paul Fortress and the Neva River

The evening sky turned red over the Moscow University Campus amid the spectacular fireworks display

Luckily the weather cleared as an earlier flypast by Russian military aircraft had to be cancelled due to low cloud

Thousands of Muskovites held their camera phones aloft on Poklonnaya Hill to record the spectacular fireworks display

The Soviet 'weather changing' technology successfully prevented rain on Putin's parade but failed to disperse the thick low cloud so only a display of armoured vehicles and missile systems went ahead.

Putin told the annual commemoration: 'We will always guard Russia just as you, the soldiers of the Victory, did.

'And [we will] strengthen the traditions of patriotism, loyally serving the homeland.

'The lessons of the past war force us to be vigilant and the Russian Armed Forces are ready to repel any potential attack.'

Earlier in the day Vladimir Putin warned that his massive army was capable of repelling 'any potential aggression'

Putin stood on Red Square as some 10,000 troops filed passed along with a range of military weapons systems

Putin said he the Russian people would never forget 'that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who brought freedom to Europe and the long-awaited peace on the planet'

He vowed: 'There was no, there is no and there will be no force that could ever enslave our people.

'They fought to the bitter end, defending their homeland, and did what seemed impossible, they turned the bloody wheel of the Second World War back, drove the enemy from our land where it dared to come, crushed Nazism, put an end to its atrocities.

'And we will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who brought the freedom to Europe and the long-awaited peace on the planet.'

Putin claimed during yesterday's speech that there was no power on earth that could enslave the Russian people

Moscow University's building was surrounded by light during the patriotic fireworks display to end Victory Day

Thousands of armed military personnel marched in formation through Red Square on a day of celebrations in Moscow

People found vantage points all over Moscow in order to get a view of the spectacular fireworks display over the city

Female personnel march in formation during the parade this morning. Putin used the event to show off his military might

Thousands of troops, including servicewomen, saluted as they passed Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured back centre) at the parade

Dozens of tanks rumbled through Red Square as troops saluted Putin during the massive military parade in Red Square today

As well as tanks and troops, this Russian Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile system was driven through Red Square

Snipers were seen on the Kremlin Wall during the Victory Day military parade amid heightened security with Vladimir Putin watching on

Putin also watched this S-400 Growler surface-to-air missile system trundle through Red Square

There were similar scenes in St Petersburg, Russia when an estimated 400,000 people walked through the streets carrying pictures of relatives killed in the Second World War

The Russian president was personally taking the salute as at the parade involving 10,000 troops, 114 units of military equipment and 72 aircraft

Hundreds of servicewomen wearing white skirts and blue military jackets were involved in the mass parade this morning

The military display included this Buk-M2 missile system. But a planned fly-past of 72 aircraft had to be cancelled due to the weather

Dozens of female military personnel wearing white jackets and skirts were involved in the huge rally in Red Square this morning

Columns of troops, servicewomen, tanks and missile systems were on display at Putin's showcase military event today

The annual event marks the anniversary of the end of the Second World War and sees thousands of military personnel marching through Red Square

Military might: Dozens of missiles and launchers were paraded through Red Square in a terrifying display of Russia's fire power

Russian Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles were brought in to the square after a parade by thousands of troops

These Russian T-14 Armata tanks were also driven slowly through Red Square. But the event did not go totally as planned after a fly-past had to be cancelled

Russian president Vladimir Putin (pictured meeting World War Two veterans) personally took the salute at the parade. But a fly-past of 72 aircraft was cancelled

Quick march: Vladimir Putin warned his Russian army can 'repel any potential aggression' after he watched 10,000 soldiers take part in the Victory Day parade

Putin told the annual Victory Day parade on Red Square that the horrors of World War II demonstrate the necessity of countries working together to prevent war

Tens of thousands took to the streets in Moscow to pay tribute to those killed in the Second World War. It followed a massive military parade at the Red Square

Russian and Soviet flags were waved while a banner was unfurled reading 'Immortal Regiment ', during the Victory Day event

The Russian president personally took the salute at the parade. But a fly-past of 72 aircraft was cancelled.

This meant no display by Russia's Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets, which have seen combat action recently in Syria.

A debut Victory Day march was scheduled for schoolchildren in Russia's new 'Yunarmia', a 30,000-strong militarised patriotic movement nicknamed the Putin Youth Army and established by the Defence Ministry.

It was scheduled to begin at 10am in Moscow, 8am London time, with other commemorations held in cities across Russia's 11 time zones.

On display in Moscow was the the newly developed Tor-M2DT short-range anti-aircraft missile system and the Pantsir-SA surface-to-air missile system, both designed to operate in the Arctic.

The air display included a first outing at the Victory Day event for the Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets, which have seen combat action recently in Syria.

On display too were the T-72B3M variant of the T-72 main battle tank.

Tens of thousands of Russians took to the streets of Moscow carrying portraits of relatives they had lost in World War Two

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (centre) greets guests at a Victory Day reception at the Moscow Kremlin this afternoon

Children hold portraits of World War Two soldiers as they attend the Immortal Regiment march in central Moscow today

The streets of Moscow were packed with people paying tribute to Russia's war dead. The Immortal Regiment march was part of the Victory Day celebrations

Two Second World War veterans dance at a traditional meeting point near Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow today

Vladimir Putin is today staging a vast military parade showcasing Russia's firepower, and hailing as heroes his troops who have seen service in Syria

A Russian TOR-M2 tactical surface-to-air missile 'Arctic edition' system was also driven through Red Square this morfing

The annual Red Square march and fly-past in Moscow marks the defeat of Hitler in the Second World War, but the Russian president was using it today to showcase the Kremlin's modern military might

A BTR-82A armoured personnel carrier rolls down Moscow's Red Square carrying military personnel dressed in white armu outfits

On display: Russian servicemen stand atop a T-72B3 main battle tank as the vehicle belches out thick black smoke

Russian servicemen lined up at the start of the parade marking the World War Two anniversary in Moscow this morning

in Vladivostok, Russia, tens of thousands of people took to the street to take part in the traditional Immortal Regiment march

Russian air force Commander Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said: 'What makes this year so special is that virtually each and every pilot who will take part in the 9 May flyby in Moscow has fought in Syria, is highly decorated, and will showcase skills that will make many countries salivate.'

This year marks the 72nd anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

The sombre occasion is a show of respect to the 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians who died during the defeat of the Nazis.

Many Russians were today honouring the dead in their own families by taking part in marches to the Immortal Regiment, holding pictures of relatives who perished in the war.

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people waving Russian flags and carrying portraits of Stalin watched tanks roll through Ukraine's de facto rebel capital Donetsk on Tuesday in celebration of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.

Russia celebrates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany every May 9 to honor those who fought and died for their country

About 10,000 soldiers participated, standing rigidly as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reviewed them while standing in an open-top limousine

Russian President Vladimir Putin (centre) holds a photograph of his father in a naval uniform, as he joins people carrying portraits of relatives who fought in the Second World War

Security was tight at the event and snipers could be seen monitoring the parade from outposts surrounding Red Square

President Vladimir Putin was pictured arriving for the Victory Day military parade in Red Square in Moscow this morning

Vladimir Putin took to the stage to tell thousands of soldiers: 'We will never forget that it was our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who brought the freedom to Europe'

This year marks the 72nd anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. The sombre occasion is a show of respect to the 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians who died during the defeat of the Nazis

This enormous Russian Topol M intercontinental ballistic missile launcher was among a terrifying arsenal of weapons on display

Russian guards march during the Victory Day military parade. On display too were the T-72B3M variant of the T-72 main battle tank

The display was scheduled to begin at 10am in Moscow, 8am London time, with other commemorations held in cities across Russia's 11 time zones

A debut Victory Day march was scheduled for schoolchildren in Russia's new 'Yunarmia', a 30,000-strong militarised patriotic movement nicknamed the Putin Youth Army and established by the Defence Ministry

The display of military might used by the Moscow-backed insurgents in their three-year conflict against government forces violated the terms of a long-ignored 2015 peace deal.

Donetsk straddles a demarcation line in the industrial east of Ukraine from which both sides' big guns were meant to have been withdrawn almost two years ago.

An AFP reporter counted 45 pieces of heavy military equipment - ranging from a lone World War II-era tank to its modern versions used in the current war as well as rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns - roll through the city's main street.

Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko led a march of about 1,000 fighters who held up a long banner painted the black and orange colours of Russia's patriotic Saint George's ribbon.

Former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbatchev (centre) was among the VIP guests who watched the parade this morning

Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Hero Cities memorial by the Kremlin Wall. He has warned his army can 'repel any aggression'

The Soviet Union is estimated to have lost 26 million people in the war, including 8 million soldiers, and the immense suffering contributes to Victory Day's status as Russia's most important secular holiday

Up to 10,000 servicemen and women lined up in Red Square ahead of the vast military display. Putin attended the event this morning

Parades were held across Russia's sprawling expanse as well as in the Russia-annexed Crimea Peninsula, but the Red Square parade is the centerpiece of the country's observances

About 10,000 soldiers participated, standing rigidly as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reviewed them while standing in an open-top limousine, then marching out to make way for a display of military vehicles ranging from armored cars to lumbering Topol ICBM launchers

Former president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev (centre) was given a helping hand as he attended the event today

At one point Russian artillery was fired as part of tributes to Russia's war dead. The Soviet Union is estimated to have lost 26 million people in the Second World War, including 8 million soldiers

Others in the parade carried portraits of warlords killed in Europe's only war, in which more than 10,000 people have died.

Zakharchenko told the crowd that May 9 'is the holiest day for us all'.

On the other side of the frontline Ukrainian authorities have joined European nations in marking the end of World War II on May 8 after its 2014 pro-EU revolution. The decision was meant to underscore Ukraine's split with Russia and embrace of the West.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told a group of soldiers on Tuesday that 'we will no longer celebrate this holiday along the Russian scenario.'

But several hundred people carrying photographs of relatives who fought in what the Soviet Union called 'The Great Patriotic War' still marched through Kiev on Tuesday.

Many Russians were today honouring the dead in their own families by taking part in marches to the Immortal Regiment, holding pictures of relatives who perished in the war

Russian President Vladimir Putin joined other dignitaries as he watched the massive parade this morning

Amid heightened security both President Vladimir Putin (left) and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (right) were there to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany

The Kremlin has been flexing its military muscle in the hydrocarbon-rich Arctic region, as it vies for dominance with rivals Canada, the United States and Norway

The strongman was using the parade today to showcase Russia's modern military might, with one senior military commander saying it would make foreign foes 'salivate'.

Preparations: Servicemen gathered in huge numbers before standing to attention as Vladimir Putin arrived this morning

A young child holds red flowers before the parade marking the Second World War anniversary in Moscow this morning

A number of war veterans were invited to watch the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in Moscow today

Vladimir Putin was among the high-ranking Russian officials who attended the event, which saw 10,000 troops march through Red Square

The event included a performance from a military band. Parades were held across Russia's sprawling expanse

Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Col Gen Oleg Salyukov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, review the troops during a Victory Day military parade marking the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War, the Eastern Front of World War II, in Moscow's Red Square

People in Sevastopol, Crimea, carry portraits of late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and World War Two soldiers during the Immortal Regiment march as they celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany

They were confronted by a small group of nationalists who pelted them with several smoke bombs before being restrained by the police.

The atmosphere was calmer on Donetsk's central Lenin Square.

Entire families watched the hardware roll by and cheered. Some parents dressed up their children in military fatigues.

Lenin Square itself was adorned by a 1960s L-29 Delfin military jet trainer used during the Cold War by nations in central and eastern Europe that were under the Kremlin's thumb.

A young student came to the rebel parade with a Russian Saint George's ribbon pinned to his shirt and a bouquet of flowers.

'I want to see the day when, at the end of our own war, we also get a chance to celebrate Victory Day,' the 20-year-old told AFP.

'Our war is almost as long as the Great Patriotic War. It is time to finish it already.'

World War Two veteran Vladimir Ivanov talks to a child during celebrations in Gorky Park marking the 72nd anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany

People carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War Two, and Russian and Soviet flags, during the Immortal Regiment march along the Red Square in Moscow

Russians came out in their thousands to remember the country's war dead, by carrying pictures and portraits of their relatives above their heads

Cadets from the Saint Petersburg Suvorov Military School march and sing in the city's Palace Square during a Victory Day parade

A pensioner in Ryazan, south east of Moscow, shares a dance with a young women as they celebrate Victory Day
This mother went into meltdown when her baby gurgled an apparent greeting after coming back home following his first 106 days spent in hospital.

Bennett, from Summit County, Ohio, who came into the world at 26 weeks and 3 days weighing only 2lbs and 1oz, appeared to say 'I love you' to his mother.

She giggled with delight and said 'I told you' after Bennett mumbled the words in his cot.

Bennett, from Summit County, Ohio, who came into the world at 26 weeks and 3 days weighing only 2lbs and 1oz, appeared to say 'I love you' to his mother

She went back up to the baby's face and repeated, 'I love you', back to him as he wriggled around in his seat.

Perhaps it was a way of saying thank you to his parents, who lived with him at the hospital for the majority of his stay.

The video was filmed on Friday, May 5, at the family's home on Darrow Road.

In March this year, another sweet video showed a baby sighting his father for the first time while wearing new glasses.

The mother (right) giggled with delight and said 'I told you' after Bennett mumbled the words in his cot

Nine-month-old Reagan Caldwell got his glasses just after his father Brandon was deployed to Antarctica with the Air Force for two months.

The little boy grinned and stared adoringly at his father through his new blue specs.
Australia's banks will be hit with a new tax to help raise $6 billion under changes to be unveiled in this year's Federal Budget.

But one major investment bank has already flagged the new tax could be passed straight onto consumers.

'The Australian banks have a very good track record of passing on higher funding costs, credit risks and other headwinds to customers,' UBS analyst Jonathan Mott said in a note to clients, The Age reported.

The billions, to be collected over four years, will be reaped from a tax on financial transactions.

Scroll down for video

Treasurer Scott Morrison arrives at Canberra's Parliament House to deliver the 2017 Federal Budget. He told reporters it would be 'incredibly practical' on Tuesday morning

Big day: Holding a black brief case, Mr Morrison faced reporters as he prepares to unveil his second budget as Federal Treasurer

Mr Morrison (pictured left with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann) said the government 'had been listening' and was 'optimistic' for better days ahead

The federal government is also expected to announce it will be scrapping its controversial Medicare rebate freeze.

The 2017 Budget will be revealed on Tuesday night.

Treasurer Scott Morrison assured Australians the Government 'had been listening' and was 'optimistic' for better days ahead through an 'incredibly practical' budget.

'We understand that many other Australians feel frustrated that they're not getting ahead in the way they would like to,' he told reporters on Tuesday morning.

'Australians have been making big sacrifices to ensure that we've achieved the growth that we've had. And I want to tell them that it's been worth it.'

Mr Morrison did not address reports dole bludgers would come under a driver-style demerit scheme, instead promising Australians that his second budget would focus on 'principles of fairness, principles of opportunity and principles of security.'

'We understand that while Australia has grown ahead of the large advanced economies in all the world  that not all Australians have felt the experience of that growth personally,' he said.

'Tonight, what you'll see, what the prime minister and the government have sought to do, is to be incredibly practical.

Mr Morrison did not address reports dole bludgers would come under a driver-style demerit scheme

Joker: Labor Senator Sam Dastyari hosted a mock budget reveal, enlisting the help of comedian Lawrence Mooney to play the role of 'Prime Minister Trumble'

Mooney did his best impression of Mr Turnbull, jokingly promising a 'cap on ageing' and imitating the Prime Minister's hand movements and use of reading glasses

'There are issues that we need to address that Australians face every day. Some of our politics, it's not about any of those things for Australians. It's about just honestly and practically trying to deal with the challenges and the opportunities that are ahead.'

While the ins and outs of the Federal Budget won't be revealed until Tuesday night, many of the winners and losers are already known.

Announcements and leaks to the media have identified some key areas where major announcements are is expected in the government's annual financial blueprint.

Details of other issues - such as a possible response to Australia's housing affordability crisis - are unknown.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has already announced the government will pump an extra $19billion into schools over the next decade as part of 'Gonski 2.0.'

In other known spending measures, Sydney's new airport has been confirmed and the Australian Federal Police are set to receive an extra $321million to step up the fight against terrorism.

Just one day out from the handing down of the 2017 Budget, many of the winners and losers have already been revealed (Treasurer Scott Morrison, right, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, are pictured)

The 2017 Budget will be handed down on Tuesday night (budget papers are pictured)

But $2.8billion in cuts to university funding sparked protests last week, with students set to pay up to $3,600 more for a four-year university degree.

The budget will also see foreign buyers taxed up to $5,000 per property if they do not live in it as part of a 'ghost house tax'.

Here is guide to what we know so far and what we can expect.

Schools

Last week, the government revealed it will pump an extra $19 billion into schools over the next decade under a plan labelled 'Gonski 2.0'.

All but 24 of Australia's wealthiest schools will get the funding boost.

Total federal funding for private and public schools will rise from $17.5 billion this year to $22.1 billion by 2021 and $30.6 billion by 2027.

On those figures  and based on the ABS total of 3,798,226 students enrolled in schools across the country in 2016  the funding boost represents an increase of $1,211 per student per year by 2021.

But Catholic schools are up in arms about the funding, saying they will lose out and estimating fees at Sydney schools could rise by $5000 over the next five years.

But the government says its new funding plans are fair and will lead to Catholic schools getting an extra $1.2 billion by 2021.

Last week, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said it would be a 'true, needs-based, sector-blind funding model'.

Scott Morrison (pictured) has already promised a helping hand to reduce the cost of living pressures as he prepares to deliver his second budget on Tuesday

The 2017 Budget will be handed down on Tuesday night (budget papers are pictured)

Last week, the government revealed it will pump an extra $19 billion into schools over the next decade under a plan labelled 'Gonski 2.0'

Universities

Last Monday, Mr Birmingham revealed the budget would include $2.8 billion in cuts to universities across Australia.

The reforms will increase student fees and lower the threshold for graduates to begin repaying debts.

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.

Previously, students only had to start repaying the loan when earning above $56,000.

The most expensive degree, medicine over six years, will cost $71,900, up from $68,000.

Australian university student fees could rise at least 25 per cent under changes to be unveiled by the federal government on Monday (stock image)

Under the changes, students might also have to start repaying higher educations loans earlier and a loan fee could be charged at the start of their studies (Pictured is the University of Sydney)

Pensioners

Scott Morrison has already promised a helping hand to reduce the cost of living pressures as he prepares to deliver his second budget on Tuesday.

Aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, veterans and those on single parent payments will get a one-off payment to help with this winter's power bills.

Singles will receive $75 by June 30 and couples $125.

There will also be a $350 million boost to help defence force veterans battling mental health conditions.

Aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, veterans and those on single parent payments will get a one-off payment to help with this winter's power bills (stock image)

Housing affordability

Treasurer Scott Morrison is expected to address the issue of housing affordability, and in particular, first home buyers getting into the property market.

'I don't agree with the cynics who say the Commonwealth Government can't make a difference in this area, as I think it can,' Mr Morrison said on Monday.

The government has flagged the establishment of a 'bond aggregator' as an intermediary to attract greater private sector investment into affordable community housing.

As well, there could be incentives to encourage older people to downsize in order to free up family homes.

He said there would be a comprehensive plan that worked with the states and territories in the budget.

'It will address everything from the needs of those who don't even have a roof over their head to those who are trying to buy one to put over their head,' he said.

But an expected 'ghost house tax' being put on foreign investors who buy a house could help Australians trying to get into the property market.

Foreign buyers could be charged up to $5000 if they choose to leave a property vacant.

Last month, it was revealed house prices across Sydney had risen by a staggering 13.1 per cent in just 12 months, with the median cost for a home surging to $1.15 million.

Treasurer Scott Morrison is expected to address the issue of housing affordability, and in particular, first home buyers getting into the property market (stock image)

The government has flagged the establishment of a 'bond aggregator' as an intermediary to attract greater private sector investment into affordable community housing (stock image)

Commuters

Last week, the government announced a second international airport in Sydney would start operating within the next ten years.

The airport, to be constructed at Badgerys Creek to serve 2.2 million people in western Sydney.

The federal opposition stressed a train link would need to be installed to save the new airport from turning into a 'complete joke,' and further details will be confirmed in Tuesday's budget.

The government is committed to a 2026 operation date for the airport, which would have a 3700 metre runway and terminal capable of servicing 10 million passengers a year.

On-site works are expected to start in 2018 and the airport is expected to create 60,000 jobs in the long term.

More road funding for congested capital cities, including Sydney and Melbourne, is also expected to be detailed in the budget.

The government will also address the $1 billion for the Brisbane-Melbourne inland rail link, with farmers hoping for a funding boost.

The freight route would make it cheaper and faster to transport grain.

The Government is committed to a 2026 operation date for the airport, which would have a 3700 metre runway and terminal capable of servicing 10 million passengers a year

The NSW government will support the federal government to ensure a second Sydney airport is built in the city's west, despite Sydney Airport turning down the opportunity to develop the project

Medicare

The federal government will likely lift its four-year freeze on Medicare rebates for some GP visits starting from July.

The standard Medicare rebate for a 20-minute GP consultation has remained at $37.05 for four years.

The freeze has meant the amount doctors and medical specialists have been reimbursed has remained static since 2014, while costs of rent, staff and utilities has risen.

The rebate would have been almost $40 in 2017 without the freeze and patients will now see the Medicare rebate rise to up to $2 extra a visit.

Before the lift of the freeze, many surgeries were forced to pass the extra cost onto patients, hitting the most disadvantaged the hardest.

Last year, Labor accused the government of 'privatising' Medicare, in a successful scare campaign ahead of the July 2 election.

At the handing down of the 2016 Budget, Mr Morrison caused outrage after extending the freeze on all Medicare services until June 30, 2020.

The freeze was started by Labor in 2013 as a 'temporary' measure.

The federal government will likely lift its four-year freeze on Medicare rebates for some GP visits starting from July (stock image)

Welfare recipients

Welfare recipients who persistently dodge their job-seeking obligations will be targeted through harsh punishments outline in Tuesday's budget.

The Turnbull team for weeks has proclaimed 'enough is enough' for those who do the wrong thing, but has been silent on the proposed sanctions.

The budget also contained funding for more trial sites for cashless welfare cards, after two test runs showed positive results for problem gambling and alcohol consumption.

The trials have introduced Cashless Debit Cards to ensure recipients cannot pay for liquor, gambling or withdraw cash with their welfare money, the ABC reported.

The current trials are costing taxpayers about $10,000 per participant.

Welfare recipients who persistently dodge their job-seeking obligations will be targeted through harsh punishments outline in Tuesday's budget

Immigration and Border Protection

The looming closure of Australia's offshore immigration detention centre on Manus Island is expected to reap a whopping saving in the budget papers.

The government is also expected to bank significant savings flowing from the refugee resettlement deal with the United States, with each detainee said to cost the country roughly $500,000 per year.

There is also swirling speculation funding may be allocated in the budget papers for a mammoth Homeland Department-style agency to counter crimes including terrorism.

Meanwhile, migrants will be able to bring their parents to Australia for up to 10 years under a new temporary visa program.

Citizens and permanent residents will be able to apply for the visa for five years at a cost of $10,000 and will then be able to renew it for another five years.

Funding to fight terrorism

The Australian Federal Police will receive an extra $321 million to step up the fight against terrorism, criminal gangs and drug rings.

The authority's cash injection will be doled out over four years and is included in this year's federal budget.

The number of surveillance personnel and crime scene investigators will be beefed up under the new funding package, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The Australian Federal Police will receive an extra $321 million over four years (stock image)

The money will help the AFP in its fight against terrorism (stock image)

Defence

Government to provide $350 million to help defence force veterans battling health conditions.

Otherwise no surprises expected for Defence. Funding allocations are expected to follow trajectory set out in the 2016 Defence blueprint.

Government likely to talk up shipbuilding in South Australia and Western Australia.

Foreign Aid

Treasurer Scott Morrison has hinted the foreign aid budget isn't a target with $11.3 billion already stripped out since 2013.

In 2017-18 aid is expected to increase to $3.9 billion from $3.8 billion this year because of indexation in line with the consumer price index.

Foreign aid is expected to hit an all-time low of 0.22 per cent of national income.

Foreign Affairs

Diplomats from 28 agencies at Australian posts overseas could have their generous allowances trimmed after a sweeping review.

Diplomats generally receive free accommodation while international school fees, babysitting costs, household expenses, wages for maids and drivers are also covered.
The cartoonist who created Pepe the Frog has killed off the character in a rebuke to far-right extremists who transformed a benevolent internet meme into a racist, anti-Semitic symbol.

After a failed attempt to reclaim Pepe last year, creator Matt Furie released a comic on Saturday showing the frog in an open casket.

Furie described Pepe as 'chilled out-frog who likes to eat snacks and talk on the phone [and] smoke weed' before the character was hijacked and branded a hate symbol in 2016, a decade after it first debuted in the comic Boy's Club.

The cartoonist who created Pepe the Frog has killed off the character in a rebuke to far-right extremists who transformed a benevolent internet meme into a racist, anti-Semitic symbol

Creator Matt Furie released a comic on Saturday showing the frog in an open casket. The frog was one of four characters in the comic Boy's Club before it was hijacked

The frog character later took on different forms like Adolf Hitler (left) or a member of the Ku Klux Klan (right) before the Anti-Defamation League called it a hate symbol in September 2016

The character, which became a popular online subject for user-generated mutations, was initially known for the catchphrase, 'feels good man'.

Other iterations of Pepe began circulating the internet, and even celebrities like Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry jumped on the bandwagon.

Drawings of the frog with his eyes filled with tears was a particularly popular meme among others versions used to express everything from smugness to rage.

But internet trolls hijacked the character and began flooding social media with hateful Pepe memes more than a year before the 2016 presidential election.

Pepe became a tongue-in-cheek symbol of the 'alt-right' fringe movement and its loosely connected brand of white nationalism, neo-Nazism and anti-immigration.

Pepe memes promoting Donald Trump's presidential campaign became so ubiquitous that Trump himself tweeted an image blending his likeness with the cartoon frog in October 2015.

The frog character also took on different forms like Adolf Hitler or a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The character was initially known for the catchphrase, 'feels good man' before it took on numerous other iterations. Pictured right, Katy Perry tweeting the meme in 2014

But internet trolls hijacked the character and memes promoting Donald Trump's presidential campaign became so ubiquitous that Trump himself tweeted an image in October 2015.

The Anti-Defamation League branded Pepe as a hate symbol in September 2016 and promoted Furie's efforts to reclaim the character with a social media campaign using the '#SavePepe' hashtag.

Furie asked people to flood the internet with 'peaceful or nice' versions of Pepe, telling the Guardian in 2016: 'We are in uncharted territory right now. But I have to take some responsibility for him because hes like my kid or something.'

But the campaign failed, and Oren Segal, director of the ADL's Center on Extremism, said he doubts Pepe's cartoon death will erode his iconic status with the 'alt-right' movement.

Richard Spencer, a white nationalist who popularized the term 'alt-right,' said it could have the opposite effect.

'The artist isn't in control of his work once it enters the culture in the way it has,' Spencer said.

Spencer was famously in the middle of explaining the meaning of a Pepe the Frog pin he fastened to his jacket when he was punched in the face in Washington DC.

The Anti-Defamation League branded Pepe as a hate symbol in September 2016. Furie tried but failed to reclaim the character with a social media campaign

Kyle Bristow, a Michigan attorney who founded a self-described 'alt-right' nonprofit educational group called the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas, said he already has seen a meme depicting Pepe as Jesus rising from the dead.

'The Republicans have an elephant. The Democrats have a donkey. The alt-right has a cartoon frog,' Bristow said with a laugh.

Furie wasn't amused by how his creation became an 'icon of hate,' calling it a 'nightmare' in his October 2016 Time essay.

'Before he got wrapped up in politics, Pepe was an inside-joke and a symbol for feeling sad or feeling good and many things in between,' Furie wrote. 'I understand that it's out of my control, but in the end, Pepe is whatever you say he is, and I, the creator, say that Pepe is love.'

Fantagraphics, which published the comic Boy's Club, also published the one-page strip in which Furie killed off Pepe. Fantagraphics spokeswoman Jacq Cohen said she would be surprised if Furie never draws Pepe again but she hadn't discussed his plans for the character with him.

'This whole Pepe co-opting experience has been pretty rough on Matt as an independent artist,' Cohen said.
A 20-year-old woman has been left permanently scarred after having acid thrown in her face by her own father after she reported him for allegedly selling women for sex.

Khushboo Devi was asleep with her husband and young daughter when Manik Chandra knocked on the door of her home in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

When she opened the door, he threw a bottle of acid in her face.

Scroll down for video

Khushboo Devi was left with horrific injuries after having acid thrown in her face by her father

Khushboo (pictured, left) was attacked outside her home by father Manik Chandra (right)

The liquid also splashed onto husband Vinod Kumar, 26, and daughter Trisha as they slept, and the three were rushed to hospital with burns to their faces, shoulders, arms and hands.

Kushboo has vowed to make sure her 40-year-old father spends the rest of his life in jail for a life time of crimes against women.

She said: 'My father threw acid on me because I know everything about him. He knows hell get locked up for life with the secrets I know; the number of marriages, the buying and selling of girls over and over again.

Before she was injured: Khushboo with husband Vinod Kumar and daughter Trisha

Khushboo suffered horrific injuries after having a bottle of acid thrown at her outside her home in Uttar Pradesh

'He bought nice girls and then sold them at a higher price for many years. He used to share everything with me thinking Id keep his secrets. He thought that if he killed me his secrets would be safe. He is a very cruel man.'

Khushboo claimed she and her four younger siblings grew up watching her father trade women after her mother, Sarita Devi, 35, left in 2007 unable to cope.

Khushboo said: 'My mother lived a very hard life with my father. What she had to tolerate was unbearable.

Khushboo Devi, 20, with husband Vinod Kumar, 26, and her three-year-old daughter Trisha Kumari after the attack

Khushboo's husband Vinod uses a fan to cool her, surrounded by relatives following the attack by her father

'I was too young to understand as a child, but he used to mentally and physically abuse her for years, once he hit her so hard he permanently ruptured her ear drum and she lost her hearing in that ear.'

But with Sarita gone, and unable to take her children with her, Kushboo was forced to became her fathers main support system.

'During those years in the house I saw him marry three girls without even divorcing my mother,' she said.

'Then he sold them. He used to charm these girls and marry them before getting a good rate and selling them to other men.'

At the time Kushboo thought the women were distant relatives, unaware of her fathers true crimes.

She added: 'He introduced one 22-year-old girl as his niece but later he married her.

'Sometimes he said our mother didnt him cook food or wash his clothes and this was why he brought girls to the house.

'He thought I was not mature enough to understand things but as the years passed I realised what was happening.'

Kushboo remembered when she was 12-years-old her father sent her to a Brick kiln to work but other workers told her to run away because her father was going to sell her.

Vinod suffered injuries to his face during the attack by his father-in-law at his home in northern India

Khushboo Devi with her three-year-old daughter Trisha Kumari and her mother Sarita Devi examine the young girl's injuries

'When I was about 12-years-old my father sent me to work in a Brick kiln; everyone there knew about him. I saw lots of young girls going into a room and one person told me girls were being raped and sold.

'My father was in there. These workers told me to run but I had no money, so I decided to just hide. But after an hour my father found me. He tried so many times to sell me but by Gods grace I got saved.'

Kushboo believes her father was involved in many deals selling women for 60,000 Rupees - the equivalent of 720 - to places like Aligarh, Delhi and Agra.

In 2012 when Khushboo was aged just 14 he eventually forced her to marry Vinod, an honest plumber. Her father owed Vinod 40,000 Rupees - 480 - so instead he offered his daughter.

'I initially opposed the marriage,' Kushboo said. 'I begged him to stop but I knew I couldnt do much. My mother said Vinod was a good man so it was a good arrangement.

'And thankfully after all these years I am happily married to Vinod. It was not a lavish wedding as my father didnt have any money but Vinod arranged what he could.'

Khushboo with her mother Sarita Davi, who she said suffered horrendous treatment by her father during her childhood

Over the years Kushboo said she and her mother tried to report Manik to the police but she claimed he used to always bribe local officers.

'We tried to collect evidence but he used to destroy it all,' Kushboo added. 'No matter how many times we tried to get him arrested he was always released by giving a bribe. The police didnt do anything.'

But in January this year Manik tried selling Kushboos little sister Anjali, 16, to a 50-year-old man.

Kushboo and her mother managed to quickly get the help of villagers to intervene and eventually the marriage was stopped.

They quickly reported Manik to officers at Sasni Police Station and got him arrested but within two days he was released.

A few weeks later, on February 6, he again secretly arranged for Anjali to marry a 30-year-old man, from Agra, and succeeded.

Vinod looks after his wife after she suffered horrific injuries in the attack by her father, who she accused of selling women for sex

Kushboo said: 'When I heard the news I immediately reported him again at Sasni Police Station telling them to charge him for child marriage and sex trade crimes. I submitted a First Information Report (FIR) but the police didnt arrest him.

'He turned up on my door step instead and threatened me to withdraw the complaint against him. But I refused.'

A few days later Manik turned up at Kushboos house and attacked her with acid.

'He just said my name and then threw the acid on me,' she said. 'As soon as the acid hit my face I started screaming. The pain was unbearable. The liquid hit my eyes and it was a burning sensation; I couldnt see a thing.

'My husband and daughter were sleeping beside me on the ground as it was a hot night. I fell on my husband and we were both screaming.

'Neighbours in our colony heard our screams and came out. But my father had fled. I told my husband to call the police.'

The police arrived within 30 minutes and quickly escorted the family to a local hospital. But as it was a Sunday there was limited staff so they were taken to Sarojini Naidu Medical Hospital, in Agra, 50 kilometers away.

Doctors confirmed Khushboo had suffered six per cent burns to her face, her right arm and right leg.

Vinod also sustained injuries to his face, neck, shoulder, stomach and right thigh.

Little Trisha suffered minor burns on her right forearm and leg.

Kushboo remained in hospital for four days but Vinod had to ask family for a loan to pay for the medical bills.

Back at home Kushboo is being looked after by her mother and little sister. But shes still in immense pain and Vinods salary of Rs 250 (3) a day is just about covering the cost of her medicine.

Vinod said: 'Ive promised her that Ill get her treatment at a private hospital so that she suffers no long term scarring. I will do all I can for her.'

Kushboo is now slowly coming to terms with the fact her father tried to kill her.

'I cant believe he hates me so much that hed try to kill me,' she said. 'Im still in shock. It gives me chills whenever I think about it. But my mother gives me strength. My father is a b*****d. I hope God gives him a harsh punishment. Itd be better if he died, only then will we have peace.'

Police arrested Manik Chand on the day of the attack and is currently in police custody.

Sub-Inspector Rajveer Singh, from the Highway Police Station, in Mathura, said: We have arrested Manik Chandra on the basis of the statement given by Khushboo and Vinod. We have imposed Section 326 A (punishment for acid attack) and 452 (House-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restrain). We are investigating the case and taking into account his earlier crimes and criminal record too.

The police have a period of 90 days to charge Manik and present him in front of the court. Khushboo fears he will be granted bail but she is determined to fight for justice.

She said: 'I will make sure he doesnt get out of prison this time. I fear he will send someone to finish me but I will fight till my last breath.'
A motorcycle rider who died after falling off her bike and became trapped under a parked car has been identified as 46-year-old Suzanne Jaen.

The Central Coast mother-of-two was placed into an induced coma after suffering serious head injuries when she was thrown from her motorcycle into a parked car in Tumbi Umbi on the Central Coast on Saturday.

Mrs Jaen was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital with serious head injuries, but died on Saturday morning, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Mother-of-two Suzanne Jaen (pictured left with husband Robert) died on Monday morning after she became trapped under a car when she fell from her motorcycle

Suzanne Jaen was flown from the Central Coast to the Royal North Shore in Sydney after the accident on Saturday

The mother-of-two was married to husband Robert Jaen and worked as an administration officer at Central Coast Local Health District.

The accident occurred when the mother attempted to turn left into Bellevue Road when she was flung from her bike and became trapped under a parked car.

Several bystanders came to the immediate assistance of Mrs Jaen before paramedics placed her in an induced coma and flew her to hospital.

Friends and family have offered touching tributes to Mrs Jaen on social media.

'R.i.p peace to my bestie i went to school with,' [sic] Roslyn Kenny wrote.

'My condolences go to her family her friends and all who had the pleasure to meet her She was such a great friend very caring person xxx.'

The 46-year-old was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital but died on Monday morning
Connie Johnson says she doesn't believe Christmas is 'on her radar' after stopping treatment for breast cancer in January, a disease she has been battling for seven years.

Connie, sister of Gold Logie winner Samuel, is aiming to raise $1 million for the Big Heart Project, a fundraiser that she describes as her 'last hurrah'.

'Over the past seven years I've gone into some very deep pits of despair. I feel like if I wasn't focused on the Big Heart Project right now that's where I would be', Ms Johnson told News Corp.

Scroll down for video

Connie Johnson has been battling breast cancer for seven years

Ms Johnson (pictured) says she feels she has 'let down' her children

'My health is declining quite rapidly.'

Ms Johnson, 40, has two sons Willoughby, 10, and Hamilton, 9, who she feels she is 'letting down'.

'Sometimes I see them grappling with what it means when Mum can't get out of bed for a whole day'.

She stopped her treatment to spend her remaining time with her children and partner, Mike.

'I can't be the Mum I want to be. I just don't have the strength'.

Her brother paid tribute to his brave sister's lengthy battle with the disease during his Logie acceptance speech, and together they have helped raise over $4.5 million through their foundation, Love Your Sister.

Connie (right) and Samuel Johnson (left) have raised $4.5 million through their Love Your Sister charity

Connie overjoyed as brother Samuel accepts his Gold Logie at 2017 awards

On Wednesday Connie, Samuel and the Big Heart Project are asking people to get to the Lyneham Netball Courts in Canberra to build a giant heart made of 5c coins.

Ms Johnson is hoping to break the world record for the most coins in a line at the event, which stands at 75.4km, and she hopes the heart will be visible from space.

Gates open at 7am and all proceeds will go to cancer research.

'Think about how you can be a part of the moon shot, to get rid of cancer forever.'

Connie (pictured) is hoping to create a giant heart made of 5c coins at charity event
Theresa May made clear the Tory manifesto will commit to a vote on bringing back foxhunting today - as she said she was personally in favour of the controversial practice.

The Prime Minister said her party would 'maintain' the pledge from 2015, opening the door to repealing the ban.

Answering questions from journalists on the campaign trail in York this afternoon, Mrs May admitted that there were strong opinions on both sides of the issue.

The Prime Minister, pictured at a rally in York today, said her party would 'maintain' the pledge from 2015, opening the door to repealing the ban

Theresa May also took a range of questions from members of staff at a door manufacturer in Morley & Outwood constituency this afternoon

'Personally I have always been in favour of fox hunting and we maintain our commitment - we have had a commitment previously as a Conservative Party to allow a free vote and that's what it will allow, (it) would allow Parliament the opportunity to take a decision on this,' she said.

The comments came after the a leaked email from Lord Mancroft, of the Council of Hunting Associations, suggested Tory leader had offered 'private reassurances' that the 13-year-old ban on fox hunting could be repealed.

With Mrs May on course for a large majority according to the polls, it's seen as the perfect opportunity to repeal the ban brought in by Tony Blair's government.

The Mirror reported that Lord Mancroft, the association chair and a Tory peer, told huntmasters there is more of a chance of repeal now with a big enough majority in government.

The email allegedly states: 'We need a Government that has both a manifesto commitment to repeal the Hunting Act, and a big enough majority to get repeal through the Commons.

'It now looks, unexpectedly, as if there is a very real chance we could get such a Government.'

MAY REFUSES TO RULE OUT NICs INCREASE Theresa May has refused to rule out increasing national insurance contributions after the election. The Prime Minister insisted voters would have to trust her 'instinct' to keep taxes low. Mrs May said during a campaign event in York: "It's not our intention to increase the level of tax but I'm not going to make any tax commitments that we are not absolutely sure we can keep. "But our instinct is to reduce taxes for working families.' Theresa May has promised not to raise VAT if the Conservatives win the General Election, but signalled she will scrap a flagship "tax lock" pledge which also rules out increases to income tax and national insurance. Labour has said it will put VAT and NICs on hold, but wealthier people will see tax hikes. Advertisement

But Sir Roger Gale, a patron of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting, said MPs in the next parliament will have 'more than enough to occupy' their time without considering 'yesterday's argument' of repealing the Hunting Act.

He added he 'cannot see many Conservative votes' for fox hunting in marginal seats the party is targeting at the General Election, while most of the newer MPs could turn out to be anti-hunting.

Sir Roger, seeking re-election in North Thanet, said he would oppose any attempt to repeal the Hunting Act should a free vote take place in the next parliament.

He added he understood there were around 30 to 50 anti-hunt Tories in the last parliament, with the potential for the 2017 intake to have similar views.

He said: 'I cannot see many Conservative votes for fox hunting in marginal seats we are hoping to win.'

Sir Roger said he believed a 'huge amount of parliamentary time and effort' has been spent on the issue, with the existing law 'probably as good as we can get' given the difficulty in satisfying everyone.

He added: 'We have more than enough to occupy parliamentary time with Brexit and all that follows.

'In my view, it'd be folly to waste further time on the issue.'

Tony Blair walks past protesters fighting the ban on fox hunting with dogs in England and Wales in 2005. The Labour Party brought in legislation to ban hunting with dogs

The legislation was unpopular with hunt groups and organisations such as the Countryside Alliance who continue to make the case against the ban

The scene in the Commons in 2004 when the Hunting Act was pushed through by the Parliament Act after 700 hours of parliamentary time

Asked about the leaked email, Sir Roger said: 'Lord Mancroft is possibly rather wide of the mark. He seems to be assuming those 50 will be pro-hunting.

'He might find the 50 Conservative members who are elected, or most of them, are anti-hunting.

PM'S ELECTION TOUR: YORK CENTRAL Won at the 2015 election by the Labour Party.

Rachael Maskell had a majority of 6,716 in 2015 - Labour's seventh smallest majority in the region of Yorkshire & the Humber.

One of the Tories' key targets in Yorkshire & the Humber, needing a swing of 7.1 per cent to change hands.

The city of York voted 58 per cent Remain in the EU referendum.

Entirely surrounded by the seat of York Outer, which was won by the Conservatives at both the 2010 and 2015 general elections. Advertisement

'In the last parliament, 2015 to 2017, we know there was not a majority in the House of Commons for a repeal because a number of the young new Conservative members were anti-hunting. They didn't want anything to do with it.

'It's yesterday's argument, move on.'

The Conservative manifesto has not yet been published, but promises for such a vote were included in the 2010 and 2015 manifestos.

Mrs May voted against the ban when she was in opposition.

Lord Mancroft is said to have told the Prime Minister he and other pro-hunting groups will only back her if she promises to put the free vote pledge in her manifesto.

The MailOnline has attempted to contact Lord Mancroft's office for comment.

A source close to the peer told the Mirror he stood by his email.

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance told the MailOnline: 'The hunting community has campaigned for many years against the failed Hunting Act, and that will continue to be the case.

Theresa May, pictured in York today, said she was personally in favour of fox hunting

Celebrities including Brian May have protested against the repeal, asking that the ban remains in place in England and Wales

Hunting has continued in the countryside despite the legislation to outlaw hunting with dogs

'We will wait to see what is contained in manifesto, but every party would agree with the premise that if you don't like a law, campaign against it and take your views to the ballot box.

'The case for hunting, and the case against the Hunting Act, remains strong, and we will continue to make the case to politicians of all parties.'

Lord Mancroft is said to have been given private reassurances the Commons will vote on repealing the Hunting ban

The Hunting Act 2004 made it illegal to hunt with dogs in England and Wales, and was passed after 700 hours of parliamentary time.

The Labour Party, under Tony Blair, made numerous attempts to get the ban through Parliament, failing due to a lack of time on more than one occasion.

In 1997, Worcester MP Mike Foster introduced a private member's bill to ban hunting with dogs of mammals.

It was killed off by filibustering, seeing it run out of time.

In 1999 and 2001 there was further talk of the proposed legislation returning to the Commons, and Scotland banned it in its own act in 2002.

When the legislation returned to the Commons in 2004, in an almost identical form to that of 2003, the Lords rejected it.

However, it was eventually forced through by ministers using the Parliament Act - which by convention can be deployed to ensure governments can implement manifesto commitments.
Theresa May has denied stealing her cap on energy bills from Ed Miliband's 'Marxist universe' as energy firms condemn the plan.

The Prime Minister confirmed she would intervene on the energy market because she was 'fed up' of rip off bills.

But the policy has left the Tories open to claims of plagiarism after Labour campaigned in 2015 for an energy price freeze.

Then Tory leader David Cameron claimed Mr Miliband lived in a 'Marxist universe' while Boris Johnson mocked the plan as 'catastrophic'.

Asked directly today if she now inhabited the Marxist universe, Mrs May said: 'No.'

At her latest campaign rally today the Premier said her plan was different because it would allow prices to move within the cap on standard rate tariffs.

Theresa May (pictured campaigning in York today) will include in her manifesto a vow to cut 100 off 17 million of household bills after the June 8 general election

The Prime Minister said yesterday she was 'fed up' with rip off bills as she set out her ambitions for change

Billions were wiped from some of Britain's biggest energy companies today as the Tories unveiled more details of their plans

Both Centrica, the owner of British Gas, and SSE saw the value of their shares plunge today after it was made clear the manifesto will vow to cut 100 off 17 million of household bills.

The plans would mean energy regulator Ofcom capping standard rate tariffs by reviewing wholesale prices.

Mrs May denied today her Cabinet had been split over whether to support the plans on capping energy bills.

At her event in York - a safe Labour seat the Tories hope to win - she said: 'What we have done is looked at the results of the competition authority findings.

'They found customers of the six largest suppliers were paying 1.4billion more than in a competitive market.'

Explaining why her policy was different to the Miliband version, Mrs May said: First of all, we are Conservatives. We believe in free markets and competition, but we want to see competition working...

'Ed Miliband didn't suggest a cap on energy prices.

'Ed Miliband suggested a freeze on energy prices which would have frozen them so that people paying above the odds would have continued paying above the odds, and crucially the prices would not have gone down.

'Under our cap prices will be able to come down.'

Mrs May denied today her Cabinet had been split over whether to support the plans on capping energy bills

At her latest campaign rally today the Premier said her plan was different because it would allow prices to move within the cap on standard rate tariffs

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has slammed the plan as stifling to competition. The firm's share price plunged by almost 5 per cent as the markets opened today.

SSE, another major energy firm, also saw losses on the FTSE100.

Mrs May was warned today by a former Tory minister that an absolute cap would damage the market far more than a relative cap would do for little gain.

A relative prices cap ties the standard tariff used by most customers to the price of the cheapest deals.

The Conservatives savaged Ed Miliband's Labour for proposing an energy price freeze at the 2015 election.

But Business Secretary Greg Clark defended Mrs May's plan on the BBC today.

He told Today: 'Labour's was a very crude policy. It was to freeze prices and actually wholesale prices fell.

'It was to directly intervene by politicians setting the tariffs.

'What we have responded to is the two-year investigation by the CMA that has established there is 1.5 billion a year on average of overcharging.'

Business Secretary Greg Clark defended Mrs May's plan on the BBC today, rejecting criticism the plan was the same as Labour's much derided policy at the last election (file picture)

Mr Clark said determining wholesale prices would be a matter for the energy regulator Ofgem, rather than politicians, but the policy would help to tackle abuses of market power by big energy companies.

In an article for The Sun, Mrs May said the energy market is not working and the Government needs to intervene.

'Like millions of working families, I am fed up with rip off energy prices,' she wrote.

'Too many people simply aren't getting a fair deal. And it is the vulnerable, and those on low incomes, who are being hit hardest.

'So I am making this promise: if I am re-elected on June 8, I will take action to end this injustice by introducing a cap on unfair energy price rises.'

Under the Tory plan, the cap would be set by the independent regulator for the energy market, Ofgem to keep it in line with wholesale prices.

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, has slammed the plan as stifling to competition. The firm's share price plunged by almost 5 per cent as the markets opened today

The Conservatives savaged Ed Miliband (file picture) and Labour for proposing an energy price freeze at the 2015 election

Justifying the move, the Conservatives pointed to a report last year by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which found 70% of domestic customers of the 'Big Six' energy companies were on SVTs.

MINISTER LASHED AFTER ADMITTING HE HAS NEVER SWITCHED ENERGY SUPPLIER Energy Secretary Greg Clark has been branded 'disgraceful' after admitting he has never switched provider to find a better deal. Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, waded in after Mr Clark said he had not switched because it is a 'hassle'. The confession comes despite the government encouraging consumers to do so and save themselves money. Mr Lewis wrote on Twitter: 'Disgraceful. That should probably disqualify him from being energy minister. He should've tried just so he has lived experience.' In March, Mr Clark said the Government has worked with the industry to make it 'quicker and easier' to switch supplier so consumers can find the best deal. But when pressed by BBC Breakfast on Tuesday about when he had last changed suppliers, Mr Clark said: 'I haven't switched, one of the reasons is... it is quite a hassle to do so. 'And in my view it shouldn't be necessary to have to switch, to have to go through the fuss, simply to avoid being ripped off.' Advertisement

The CMA calculated that cost to consumers of 'excessive prices' charged by the Big Six to be about 1.4 billion a year.

On Monday British Gas owner Centrica hit out at the proposed cap, warning that it could lead to higher bills for consumers and reduce competition in the sector.

In a trading update, the group said it had put forward 'alternative ways' to improve the market and address concerns as part of its regular dialogue with ministers.

'Centrica does not believe in any form of price regulation. Evidence from other countries would suggest this will lead to reduced competition and choice, and potentially higher average prices,' it said.

'We have had a regular and constructive dialogue with the Government and have proposed alternative ways to improve the market further and address their concerns, without resorting to price regulation.'

John Penrose, a former Tory minister, welcomed the Prime Minister's decision to intervene on energy prices.

But he warned: 'The only way to do this - without distorting the market  is by imposing a temporary relative price cap to protect all customers who forget to switch at the end of their contracts.

'It would limit the maximum mark-up the big 6 could impose so competition would be red-hot and the rip-offs would stop.'

Energy giants have been accused of ripping off their most loyal customers by leaving them on expensive tariffs that are far costlier than their best deals.

A review by Ofgem last year found the difference between some suppliers' best and worst deals was worth 300 a year to the average family.

Theresa May took her campaign to York Central today to defend her energy price cap. Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning in Manchester

Polls continue to show Mrs May with a commanding lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour in the polls with four weeks to go until the election

An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority said firms were able to exploit customers who did not regularly switch.

The watchdog accused firms of fixing standard tariffs 'materially above a level that can be justified by cost differences'.

Will Hodson of the Big Deal, which encourages consumers to switch to smaller providers, welcomed the proposal for a cap. 'The Big Six make hundreds of millions in profit by overcharging families across the country,' he said.

'They've had years to put their house in order but always refuse. A price cap will finally force them to do the right thing.'

Suppliers say a cap will reduce competition and encourage firms to 'cluster' around the level set by Ofgem. They also claim they will be less able to offer cheap deals to those who switch.

Since October  when Mrs May first floated the idea of a cap  several firms have withdrawn their cheapest deals and pushed up prices.

In the 2015 election, then Tory minister Eric Pickles warned that a price cap would lead to energy shortages and power blackouts.

Corbyn threatens hard-left regime and refuses to say SEVEN times he would deliver Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn has refused seven times to say he would definitely deliver Brexit at a campaign launch at which he promised a 'reckoning' for the rich.

The Labour leader was grilled on Brexit by reporters after a major speech setting out his hard-left vision for Britain.

Mr Corbyn's ailing campaign will be blown further off course by his refusal to spell out Britain would definitely leave Europe.

Asked by the BBC if he could 'categorically' say Brexit would happen 'come hell or high water' if he was in No 10, Mr Corbyn only said Labour was 'serious about the negotiations'.

Told he was not addressing the point specifically, Mr Corbyn again stopped short of answering 'yes' Britain would definitely leave the EU.

He said: 'We are negotiating a trade arrangement with Europe and protection of the things we we've gained from the European Union.'

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured with his shadow cabinet at his rally in Manchester today) has vowed to take back the nation's wealth in a 'reckoning' with the rich as he launched his push for power on June 8

Speaking in Manchester today, the Labour leader said he was angry about Tory Britain and promised to fix the 'rigged' economy.

Mr Corbyn addressed the major rally surrounded by banners promoting nationalised railways, a peaceful world and a funded NHS.

The speech was denounced by Tory Chairman Patrick McLoughlin as 'chaotic; and containing no reference to immigration or clearing the deficit and made only a passing remark on Brexit.

Labour politicians airbrush 'toxic' Corbyn out of their election leaflets as the leader's OWN battlebus doesn't mention his name

Labour politicians are airbrushing Jeremy Corbyn out of their election leaflets amid fears he is toxic with voters.

The veteran left-winger also does not feature on the party's battlebus unveiled with great fanfare today.

And even Mr Corbyn's leader's own election literature does not mention that he could become Prime Minister after the national ballot on June 8.

Labour's new battlebus, unveiled in Manchester today, mentions the party six times - but does not refer to Mr Corbyn

Mr Corbyn's personal ratings have been consistently appalling since he took Labour's top job two years ago.

The scale of the problem was underlined in a poll today that found Theresa May is more trusted to protect the NHS - an issue on which Labour usually has a big advantage.

Mrs May was backed by 42.1 per cent in the Survation research for ITV's Good Morning Britain, while 39 per cent plumped for Mr Corbyn.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon is among the senior figures who have omitted Mr Corbyn from their literature, according to images posted online and on sites such as electionleaflets.org.

His pamphlet in East Leeds describe him as a 'strong local voice' - although his Twitter feed does refer to Mr Corbyn.

In contrast, the Tory campaign has been relentlessly focused on the PM as an asset - with placards branding the party's candidates 'Theresa May's Team'.
Members of the public fought back as two armed moped riders wielding a hammer and an angle grinder allegedly attempted to steal a parked scooter.

Photographs have captured six brave passers-by chasing off muggers as they were confronted by a fearless elderly woman before fleeing the scene in Belsize Park, north London.

But police now have a clear shot of one of the men's faces and licence plate, captured on a mobile phone by a quick-thinking member of the public despite the imminent threat.

The latest incident comes amid an 'epidemic' of moped muggings bringing terror to the streets of London.

A member of the public took a picture of the men in Belsize Park, London, as they were confronted by brave onlookers and a fearless pensioner

Photographs show the two suspects clad in black clothes, crash helmets and gloves on a white moped - which may have been stolen

The pair were spotted acting suspiciously near a motorcycle in Lawn Road, Belsize Park around 6pm last Thursday (May 4) on a moped which may have been stolen.

Gangs riding mopeds attack every HOUR By Chris Greenwood A crime is committed every hour by moped-riding thugs, figures revealed. More than 11,389 incidents  an average of 31 a day  including thefts, robberies and acid attacks took place in the capital last year. And officers fear they are in the grip of a moped crime epidemic with similar offences taking place in all the countrys major urban centres. Police in one of the areas most badly affected released a map at the weekend showing how 20 moped thefts took place in one square mile in just one week. The Met have drawn up a list of about 200 people who they believe may be responsible for the majority of the moped-related offences. But crimes such as these are often hard to prosecute because of the difficulty in securing evidence as the identity of offenders is often disguised. Police in one of the areas most badly affected released a map at the weekend showing how 20 moped thefts took place in one square mile in just one week. Advertisement

Shocked eye witnesses ran to help after seeing an elderly woman challenge them.

Watching the astonishing scene unfold from a window, one quick-thinking onlooker took photos of the pair before alerting police.

The 48-year-old man who was almost robbed by a moped mugger a fortnight ago, then ran out to join some six other residents in a bid to chase the pair away.

He said: 'This was going on in broad daylight - it was absolutely incredible. I'm still shocked. They must have known I got a decent image of them but they still came back.'

The brazen duo allegedly returned to taunt their tormentors as one waved a hammer at them and they circled the crowd several times.

The Met Police said three youths have been charged by detectives investigating a series of moped-enabled robberies in Westminster.

Harry Stevens, 18, was charged with conspiracy to rob and appeared today at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Two other teenagers aged 15 and 16 were charged with conspiracy to rob and appeared at West London Youth Court.

A 17-year-old male who was charged with conspiracy to rob and appeared at West London Youth Court on Monday has been remanded in custody to appear at Southwark Crown Court on June 5.

Police rushed to the scene but were too late to catch the pair on Thursday evening

Weapon-wielding moped raiders brought terror to the heart of London - grabbing at least one iPhone from the hand of a pedestrian while clutching a hammer (circled)

Police say detectives continue to investigate following a series of moped-enabled robberies, with mainly mobile phones snatched, around Westminster and Camden on May 4.

'It just seems like an epidemic. We've been aware of the menace of moped thefts,' insisted the witness.

'You get kids doing stuff and guys robbing houses, but this seems like an escalation. These are desperate people.'

And on the same day in another part of London, a photographer captured moped riders in west London wielding identical weapons.

Crowbar-wielding thieves circled victims outside the BBCs landmark headquarters, just off Oxford Street.

At least one iPhone was stolen from a woman in her 40s when it was snatched out of her hand as she waited to cross the road.

The four thieves roared around the West End, waving their weapons, including a crowbar, pictured, to deter any have-a-go heroes from trying to tackle them

A gang tore through Wimbeldon in London terrorising pedestrians with an extinguisher and filming the stunt for social media in April

Just days ago, CCTV footage showed thieves on a motorbike trying to kick a member of the public off their bicycle before breaking in to a car.

The incident happened directly outside Prince George's future school on Battersea High Street.

The riders, who are believed to live locally, regularly wear balaclavas and appear dressed all in black.

The vehicle licence plates are often blacked out or ripped off, said residents, leading them to believe the vehicles themselves had been stolen.

And last month a moped gang tore through city streets terrorising pedestrians with an extinguisher and filming the stunt for social media.

Police say around 200 people are responsible for a crime wave in which offences involving mopeds has risen seven-fold in two years, from 1,053 in 2014 to 7,668 last year
A disgraced lawyer at the centre of false torture claims against British troops in Iraq was paranoid and difficult to work with, a tribunal has heard.

Phil Shiner was struck off in February for dishonestly pursuing torture claims against UK servicemen.

The relationship between him and Martyn Day was discussed at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, where Mr Day's firm Leigh Day is currently facing professional standards charges.

Martyn Day has spoken of the 'paranoia' of his former colleague Phil Shiner during a standards hearing into claims that compensation cases against British troops were 'concocted'

Mr Day said he had been in touch with Mr Shiner, whose firm PIL has since closed, since the 1990s.

Describing him, Mr Day said: 'He was never an easy man and he would take offence at the slightest of things.'

He added: 'In his work, my impression was always that he was a first-class lawyer. The difficulty was on a personal level.'

The tribunal heard that in 2008 Phil Shiner of PIL had become 'paranoid' about a paralegal who had gone to work with Leigh Day after leaving his firm.

Mr Dutton said: 'Is it fair to say he (Phil Shiner) is somebody you needed to be cautious about?'

Martyn Day said: 'By 2009, there was a significant souring of the relationship. It was difficult to separate out how he behaved as a lawyer and how he behaved in a personal way.

'He was quite difficult to disentangle, he was quite difficult to deal with.. I had the best relationship with him at the firm, I can't remember what started the rift.

'He was a very good lawyer but this personal paranoia stuff started worrying me more and more by 2011.'

(From left) Anna Crowther, Martyn Day and Sapna Malik face professional standards charges over their handling of the abuse claims against British troops

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has heard that law firm Leigh Day and solicitors Martyn Day, Sapna Malik and Anna Crowther had evidence that their clients, who were making the allegations, were members of a 'murderous' Iraqi Shia militia group and not innocent civilians.

Despite this, it is alleged they continued to bring cases against Iraq War veterans.

During a press conference in February 2008, Mr Day and Mr Shiner outlined accusations of the torture and execution of up to 20 Iraqi civilians and the torture of nine others at nearby Camp Abu Naji.

The central London tribunal has heard the pair 'endorsed' the claims even though there were suggestions the men could have been members of the militant Shia insurgent group the Mahdi Army.

The 31 million Al-Sweady public inquiry later dismissed the claims as 'false'.

Timothy Dutton QC, for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), said the press conference had been planned by both men weeks in advance.

Troops who served in Iraq faced months of agony as false claims of abuse hung over them

Yesterday, he suggested to Mr Day, a practising solicitor for nearly 40 years, he had 'lost sight' of his professional responsibilities when he made the claims public.

Mr Dutton said: 'A risk you took at the press conference was to see an agenda as being to get the issue of what happened at Danny Boy and its aftermath at Camp Abu Naji into the world's media, because you thought that was the best strategy and you actually lost sight of those other duties that cause you to keep that kind of strategy in balance.'

Mr Day maintains the solicitors' code of conduct was 'ingrained within me'.

He added: 'It (the code) was always in my mind, will always be in my mind should I remain a solicitor, that these are the six core duties that we have to try and ensure that we always maintain the integrity of what we do.'

Mr Dutton put it to Mr Day: 'If properly read, what you said at that press conference was you endorsing your client's claim, then it follows of necessity that they were accusing the Army of a cover-up.'

Mr Day replied: 'On the balance of the evidence that we had seen at that stage, we thought it was more likely to be true than not, but that it was important to have a public inquiry to get to the bottom of it.'

Mr Day, Ms Malik and the law firm face 19 charges, while Ms Crowther faces one allegation of destroying a handwritten English translation of the detainee list. They deny the charges.
Chris Froome has tweeted a picture of his mangled bike after being rammed off the road by a hit-and-run driver while training in southern France.

The Team Sky rider, who won last year's Tour de France, said he had been 'rammed on purpose by an impatient driver who followed me onto the pavement'.

Froome, who lives in Monaco, told his 1.3million Twitter followers he was 'okay' but that his bike had been 'totaled' in the collision.

Chris Froome has tweeted a picture of his mangled bike after being rammed off the road by a hit-and-run driver while training in southern France

Froome (pictured with his wife Michelle and their son Kellan) told his 1.3million Twitter followers he was 'okay' but that his bike had been 'totaled' in the collision

The Team Sky rider, who won last year's Tour de France, said he'd been 'rammed on purpose by an impatient driver who followed me onto the pavement'. He is pictured competing last month

The 31-year-old three-time Tour de France winner wrote: 'Just got rammed on purpose by an impatient driver who followed me onto the pavement!

'Thankfully I'm okay. Bike totaled. Driver kept going!'

The picture was geotagged from Beausoleil in France, close to Froome's home in Monaco.

Froome is known to be training there for this year's Tour de France, which takes place in July. It is understood he intends to report the incident to authorities.

A spokesman for the French national police said: 'Incidents like this are investigated as a matter of course, and everything will be done to find the driver involved.'

He said such road rage attacks were disturbingly common on busy roads which cyclists share with cars and lorries.

The 31-year-old three-time Tour de France winner wrote: 'Just got rammed on purpose by an impatient driver who followed me onto the pavement! Thankfully okay'

There is not thought to be any stationary CCTV of the incident, although Froome or his colleagues may have captured images, or got the number plate of the car.

Last month, former Giro d'Italia winner Michele Scarponi of the Astana team was killed when he was knocked off his bike by a van while training in Italy.

Scarponi, 37, who had a wife and two children, had just been named Team Astana leader for the 2017 Giro d'Italia following a knee injury to Fabio Aru.

The veteran won the 2011 Giro after Alberto Contador was stripped of the title and claimed three stage victories in the race over the course of his career.

He had only just returned home after completing the Tour of the Alps when the accident occurred on April 22. Gazzetta dello Sport said he died instantly.

Astana paid tribute to a 'great champion and a special guy'.

Froome is not the first Tour de France champion to be involved in a incident with a motorist while out cycling.

In 2012, Britain's only other winner Bradley Wiggins - who was victorious that year - was knocked off his bike by a van driver.

Froome (pictured with his wife and son) is known to be training there for this year's Tour de France, which takes place in July. It is understood he intends to report the incident to police

Froome is pictured with his son Kellan in a photo he posted to his Instagram account

In another he wrote: 'Enjoying every moment before the chaos of the season kicks off!'

The motorist, Cath Burrows, was said to have yelled repeatedly: 'What have I done? Oh my God, I've just knocked over Bradley Wiggins!'

Ms Burrows, who owns a Porsche garage, told a friend that she did not see the cyclist.

Her friend said at the time: 'It's bad enough to knock anyone off a bike but imagine you've just floored the most famous cyclist on the planet.'

Wiggins was treated in hospital for a bruised hand and ribs after being hit by the white Vauxhall Astra Envoy during a training ride near his home in Eccleston, Lancashire.

In July last year, Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman's mother Carol was killed after being knocked off her bike in North Wales.

In 2012, Britain's only other winner Bradley Wiggins (left) - who was victorious that year - was knocked off his bike by van driver Cath Burrows (right), who said she didn't see him

Wiggins was treated in hospital for a bruised hand and ribs after being hit by the white Vauxhall Astra Envoy during a training ride (pictured) near his home in Eccleston, Lancashire

Boardman, 48, who won individual pursuit gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games, announced her death on social media as he posted a full tribute on behalf of his family to Mrs Boardman - who he described as 'the most positive outgoing person you could ever hope to meet'.

He wrote: 'A racing cyclist of some standing in her day, she gave up competitive riding when Lisa and I came along but she never lost her love of the bike or of competing.

'A stealth combatant and full of energy; mum was one of those individuals who could quietly turn anything into a contest.'

Boardman added: 'Our mum was the most positive outgoing person you could ever hope to meet and her generosity of spirit inspired everyone she met.

'Wanting to share her passion for cycling, even well into her 70s, she often took groups of young novices out on their first forays into North Wales.

'We love you Carol, may the wind be ever at your back.'

In July last year, Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman's mother Carol was killed after being knocked off her bike in North Wales.
Dozens of people have been injured in a double bombing, believed to have been set off by Muslim separatists, in front of a supermarket in Thailand.

The blasts happened in the southern city of Pattani in the latest attack in the predominantly Buddhist country.

The latest attack happened at around 2pm local time, with two bombs going off in quick succession outside a supermarket near the city centre.

Scroll down for video

At least 40 people were injured in two blasts in the southern Thailand city of Pattani today

The bombs went off outside a supermarket in the southern town at around 2pm local time

Thick smoke was seen coming from the building after the two bombs exploded today

'The first bomb was small and no one was hurt but the second bomb was huge - I don't know yet whether it's a car bomb or not,' Captain Preecha Prachumchai of Pattani provincial police told AFP.

'Currently around 40 people have been wounded: one is in serious condition,' he said.

A decades-old separatist insurgency in the largely ethnic Malay Muslim provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat has killed more than 6,500 people since 2004, according to independent monitoring group Deep South Watch.

Officials said at least 40 people were injured in the blast, with one left fighting for their life

Investigators at the scene of the attack today, where two car bombs exploded in quick succession, according to police

Last month, the government rejected a conditional offer for peace talks by one of the main insurgent groups, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, which demanded international mediation or observation.

Pictures posted by rescue workers on Twitter showed a thick plume of black smoke over the supermarket car park and some damage to the store entrance.

Near-daily shootings and bomb attacks have claimed more than 6,800 lives since 2004, with both sides accused of rights abuses and atrocities.

The remains of a car outside the supermarket in Pattani today in the latest of a string of attacks
Viewers accused the BBC of wasting taxpayers' money after it aired a 'left wing victimhood politics' rant by poet Kate Tempest on its flagship current affairs show.

In an impassioned recital during the closing credits of Newsnight, the 31-year-old performed a political version of her song 'Tunnel Vision', urging the public to 'wake up and love more' and warning of impending 'storms'.

She told viewers: 'I am pleading with my loved ones to wake up and love more. Please, do what you remember, please: wake up and love more.'

Viewers accused BBC Newsnight of wasting taxpayers' money after airing a 'left wing victimhood politics' rant by poet Kate Tempest (pictured on the show)

In an impassioned recital during the closing credits of the show, the 31-year-old performed a political version of her song 'Tunnel Vision' (pictured, left and right)

But several people watching Newsnight were left baffled by the performance, accusing the programme - which is edited by former Guardian deputy Ian Katz - of wasting the licence fee on 'nasty left wing politics'.

One Twitter user said the poem 'sounded like a load of left-wing victimhood politics' while another asked: 'What did I do to deserve that Newsnight?'

James Martin tweeted: 'Newsnight is bonkers. What an embarrassment. I didn't think it could get any worse, I was wrong.'

And another said: 'Why was she shouting? She talked about loving more, yet shouted with hate. If she had talked calm I'd have listened more.'

Others complained about the cost, with Mowbray Jackson asking: 'What is this closing credits c***? How much of our BBC TV tax goes to pay for this nonsense?'

David Peterson added that the performance was 'probably the single largest waste of licence payers money in the history of the BBC.'

Karl Richardson described it as 'left wing politics all over', adding: 'Nasty loud angry and forced.'

Some viewers were left baffled by the performance, accusing the programme - which is edited by former Guardian deputy Ian Katz - of wasting the licence fee on 'nasty left wing politics'

During her performance, Ms Tempest recited verses which described how we were 'notching up our victories as other people's losses'.

She said: 'What are we going to do to wake up? We sleep so deep, it don't matter how they shake us. If we can't face it, we can't escape it. But tonight the storms come.'

The poet, who is from Brockley, south east London, also said we were facing 'another day, another chance to turn your face away from pain'.

She said: 'The tragedy and pain of a person you have never even met is present in your nightmares and your pull towards despair.

'They were our bombs that started this war and now it rages at distance we can dismiss all the victims as strangers.

'They were our boats that sailed, killed, stole and made frail; they were out boots that stamped, they were our courts that jailed, they were our banks that got bailed.

'Justice, recompense, humility, trust is something we will never see until love is unconditional.'

Some people celebrated the performance, with Zoe Sanders describing it as 'impassioned' and 'wonderful' poetry.

Simon Palastanga wrote: 'How did she ramp it up so high from a standing start? She is AMAZING', while Liz May Brice added: 'WOW. WOW. WOW.'

Ms Tempest (pictured) won the Ted Hughes award for her work Brand New Ancients in 2013

But even staunch Tempest fans were surprised that the poet had been selected to appear on Newsnight, a programme which was previously celebrated for the hard-hitting impartial interviews of Jeremy Paxman.

One person said on Twitter: 'I'm speechless. Newsnight (!!!) airing the most brutal neoliberal critique I've heard from UK? Bravo!'

And another said: 'One of the few voices of reason/rebellion/anger allowed on TV.'

In the past few years - largely since the departure of veteran anchor Mr Paxman - Newsnight has struggled with declining viewing figures amid criticism that the show has been 'dumbed down'.

In November 2013, presenter Kirsty Wark surprised viewers by ending the Hallowe'en edition of the show by dancing to Michael Jacksons hit Thriller.

The following year, viewers accused the BBC of 'new depths of dumbing down' after it interviewed Great British Bake Off contestant Iain Watters, who was forced off the show when his Baked Alaska collapsed.

When Paxman left the show that year, after 25 years at the helm, he claimed the show was 'made by 11-year-olds' and that the producers were 'idealists' on a 'fool's errand.'

Mr Katz joined the programme in 2013, replacing Peter Rippon who left the programme in the wake of the Jimmy Savile crisis.

In the past few years - largely since the departure of veteran anchor Jeremy Paxman (pictured) - Newsnight has struggled with declining viewing figures

He joined the Guardian in 1990 and has worked as a reporter, foreign correspondent, features editor and editor of the Saturday Guardian.

His appointment at the BBC reportedly raised eyebrows within the industry due to his lack of television experience.

Ms Tempest, who studied English Literature at Goldsmiths University, won the Ted Hughes award for her work Brand New Ancients in 2013 and was nominated for a Mercury Prize the following year.

She cites the marches through London in opposition to the Iraq war as a point of disillusionment because the views of millions of people did not change the political view.
Donald Trump is poised to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by 50 per cent despite having called the war on the Taliban a waste of billions of dollars.

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.

Defense chiefs are calling for 3,000 to 5,000 more soldiers to be sent to the country, which will have to be signed off by the President who last month dropped the Mother of All Bombs (MOAB) on Afghanistan.

If the Republican gives the move the go-ahead it will be a massive u-turn on his previous stance on the war against the Taliban, which he described as a waste of money and American lives in 2013.

Then Commander of US forces in Afghanistan General David Petraeus walks on Forward Base Wilson October 7, 2010 west of Kandahar, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

Royal Marine Commandos from 11 Troop, M Company, 42 Commando firing 51mm light mortars in to the Afghan village of Chinah after receiving incoming fire from 107mm Chinese Rockets, Rocket Propelled Grenades and small arms fire, in Northern Helmand, Afghanistan

The President has said during his time in office that he did not want to get bogged down in conflict overseas, and in his first speech as leader of the free world, he said: 'From this day forward, it's going to be only America first. America first.

'For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.

President of the United States Donald Trump

'We've defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own and spent trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.

'But that will change.'

In 2013, Trump was typically outspoken in condemning Barack Obama's defense policies in the country.

He said: 'Do not allow our very stupid leaders to sign a deal that keeps us in Afghanistan through 2024 - with all costs by USA. Make America great again.'

The property tycoon had earlier tweeted, mistaking the residents of the country for its currency, saying: 'Let's get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense. Rebuild the USA.'

The new troops, if given permission to travel, will mainly advise and train Afghan military and police who are still fighting terror in the Middle East.

According to the US Forces-Afghanistan, the local Islamic State presence peaked at between 2,500 to 3,000 but defections and recent battlefield losses have reduced their number to a maximum of 800.

Last month, the US dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on the jihadist group's hideouts in eastern Afghanistan, triggering global shockwaves.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, dubbed the Mother of All Bombs, killed at least 95 jihadists, according to the Afghan defense ministry.

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, which is considered a bigger threat than ISIS.

US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, who also serve in an advisory capacity.

Those numbers are 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.

The aftermath of an assault in March on Afghanistan's largest military hospital when gunmen dressed as doctors stormed the facility and threw grenades into crowded wards

The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan - believed to be the mastermind behind several high-profile attacks including an assault on a military hospital that claimed at least 50 lives - was killed yesterday, US and Afghan officials said.

Abdul Hasib, whose group is affiliated with IS in Iraq and Syria, was killed last month in a targeted raid by special forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the presidential palace in Kabul said in a statement.

'He had ordered the attack on 400 bed hospital in Kabul that resulted in the death and injuries of a number of our countrymen, women,' it said.

'The Afghan government is committed to continuing its operations against Daesh and other terrorist groups until they are annihilated,' it added, using the Arabic name for ISIS.

NATO commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson confirmed the killing of Hasib and warned that 'any ISIS member that comes to Afghanistan will meet the same fate.'

First emerging in 2015, ISIS's local affiliate in Afghanistan overran large parts of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, near the Pakistan border, but their part in the Afghan conflict had been largely overshadowed by the operations against the Taliban.

The group has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks, including an audacious assault on Afghanistan's largest military hospital in March, when gunmen dressed as doctors stormed the heavily guarded facility and threw grenades into crowded wards.
A topless waitress and her gym-junkie boyfriend have faced fresh charges in court for allegedly peddling steroids and human-growth hormones.

Nateesha Jennifer Barlin, 22, and Dyllan Shaw, 23, were arrested last November after a two-year steroid sting by the Australian Border Force.

Arriving hand-in-hand to front NSW's Gosford Local Court on Tuesday, the pair were charged with further counts of possessing and supplying the image-enhancing drugs, reports Daily Telegraph.

Nateesha Jennifer Barlin and Dyllan Shaw, both 22, are accused of importing liquid testosterone and growth hormones

Ms Barlin, whose profession was listed in court documents as a topless waitress, has faced fresh charges for importing the image-enhancing drugs

The prosecutor told the court it was likely the pair would go to committal to have their case dealt with in the District Court.

Ms Barlin was facing was charged with one count of intentionally importing 200ml of anabolic steroids, which carries a maximum penalty of five years jail or a $180,000 fine.

The selfie-loving blonde, whose profession was listed as a topless waitress and vet nurse, is now charged with unlawful possession of testosterone on November 7 and the ongoing supply of steroids between October 4 and November .

Mr Shaw was charged with five counts of importing human-growth hormone, anabolic steroids and liquid testosterone between February and October.

He now faces further charges of unlawfully possessing a prohibited imported drug and the ongoing supply of steroids on more than three occasions in August last year.

Border force raided homes on the NSW Central Coast and arrested the pair in November.

The pair arrived hand-in-hand to front NSW's Gosford Local Court on Tuesday

Mr Shaw (pictured) was charged with five counts of importing prohibited drugs between February and October

ABF had intercepted more than 17 consignments allegedly containing performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) between October 2014 and October 2016.

Investigators seized 13,672 tablets, 11.2L of testosterone, 600mL of anabolic steroids, 195 vials of somatropin, 120mL of clenbuterol, 20 vials and 55 ampules of human growth hormone, and 102 capsules of oxymetholone (anesterone), ABF said in a statement last year.

The subsequent raids on Central Coast properties allegedly unearthed 12L of PIEDs, 100g of cannabis and 300 vials of what's believed to be human growth hormone.

The drugs were headed for the black market, police will allege.

Ms Barlin was charged with one count of intentionally importing 200mL of anabolic steroids

ABF investigators raided homes on the NSW Central Coast last November, and arrested the couple

ABF Commander Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Anthony Seebach, said PEIDs have serious health impacts.

'These drugs can have serious health impacts for users and the ABF is committed to protecting our community by stamping out the illicit importation of these dangerous drugs,' Commander Seebach said at the time of the seizures.

They pair have not entered any pleas and return to court on June 13.

Neither of the accused entered pleas and return to court on June 13.
A family has been left heartbroken after yobs broke into their home, stealing their pedigree dog and silencing their pet duck by breaking its neck.

Darren Macneill realised something was wrong when he got home with his partner and three children and they were not met at the gates by their pets.

The bricklayer discovered a gang of dognappers had forced their way into his home in Ardee, Ireland, stealing the family's pedigree bulldog Cupcake from the conservatory.

Cupcake the bulldog, who was stolen by dognappers as owners Darren Macneill and family were out at school and work last week

Left, Darren with his youngest, Sophia, aged one, and the family's pet duck who was killed and left on the doorstep. Right, Tadhg, 6, with Cupcake

Cupcake is worth around 2,500 (3,000Eur) and because the thieves did not make off with much else, Mr Macneill thinks the pooch was their target.

His children, aged nine, six and one, were left in tears when they found the robbers had snapped their pet duck Duckie's neck - and dumped him dead by the back door.

The thugs had also released three-year-old Jack Russell Blackjack and their horse Arthur into nearby fields, where they were later found.

Cupcake is worth around 3000 Eur, or 2,500, and the family think because little else was stolen from the home, the pet was the main target

Right, Cole, aged 9, with Cupcake, and left, Cupcake and a friend. The family have another dog, a Jack Russell, who was released into a field, and a horse

Devastated Darren and his partner Karen Byrne, both 31, are offering a reward for any information to help police find the dognappers - and for the return of their pet.

Darren, from Ardee, County Louth, said: 'It's very much like feeding time at the zoo when I get home - the dogs and duck will always come rushing to the gate, and the cat, too.

'The first thing I did was go and search for the dogs down in the field behind our house.

'Then when I came back I found Karen crying and the kids very upset as they had discovered the duck.

'She was a very noisy duck and always very flappy when someone came to the gate, so I can only speculate that whoever did this gave her a few kicks or something to keep her quiet.

'We're obviously very angry at the people who did this, but we're trying to take a different approach with the kids, and say that the duck must just have got a fright.

'We're just really worried about how Cupcake must be being treated, given the way they treated the duck.'

The family - including children Cole, nine, Tadhg, six, and Sophia, one - returned home from work and school to find their home had been targeted on Thursday.

Duckie the duck was killed and dumped on the family's doorstep when intruders broke in and stole the family pet

Thieves had broken into the conservatory, where Cupcake was locked in because she was in heat, and stolen the pet, letting other dog Blackjack free at the same time.

Blackjack was luckily found on Saturday in another field near the family home with injuries to both back legs.

Mr Macneill said that no other valuables were taken from the house or car, including a brand new iPhone 6, leading him to think the robbers were just after the dog.

He added: 'They were obviously just there for the pets.

'Cupcake is a very expensive breed, worth about 3000Eur - but she's also a much-loved family pet, and we're willing to pay to get her back or for any information on her whereabouts.

'Even my youngest one is very astute - she can't even say Cupcake's name yet, but she knows something is not right, and keeps asking about her "bow-wow".'

'She was delighted when we got Blackjack back - she's been all over him. It's given us hope for Cupcake coming back, too.'

The family have set up a Facebook page, Help Find Cupcake, in the hope of spreading the word about the dog's disappearance.
Police are hunting a pair of brazen thieves who stole an unsuspecting shopper's phone as she browsed a New Look store.

CCTV footage has captured the pair picking up a pair of jeans to cover their hands as they take the woman's phone from her pocket.

Police have now launched a hunt for the man and woman following the callous theft in the shop in Bromley, south London.

CCTV footage has captured the pair picking up a pair of jeans to cover their hands as they take the woman's phone from her pocket

The Metropolitan Police released shocking video of the crime which happened around 3.30pm on Saturday, February 25, in The Glades Shopping Centre, High Street, Bromley.

Officers said the 52-year-old victim was in New Look when a man and woman pushed past her.

The man, wearing glasses and a long coat, appears to slip his hand into the pocket of the victims red coat.

They then wait for her to move away before turning round and walking off.

The victim then noticed that her phone had been stolen from her pocket.

The Metropolitan Police released shocking video of the crime which happened around 3.30pm on Saturday, February 25, in The Glades Shopping Centre, High Street, Bromley

A police spokesman said: 'Both suspects are describes as south Asian or Mediterranean appearance.

'The female suspect was described as 5ft 5 ins, medium build, aged in her 20s

'The male suspect is described as, 6ft, aged about 30 and wearing glasses.'

Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call Bromley police on 101 or contact via Twitter @MetCC.

To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.
A university is investigating a photo said to be of a white student rugby player who painted his face black to look like Serena Williams.

The student, believed to study at Anglia Ruskin University in East Anglia, is said to have dressed up in the costume for a sports-themed social night.

But his outfit has caused outrage among campaigners, who say it harks back to the minstrel shows in which black people were mocked by white entertainers.

A university student has come under fire for blackening his face so he looked like tennis player Serena Williams for a sport-theme social night

The picture was tweeted by another student and has since been shared more than 4,000 times

The latest so-called 'blackface' row broke out after University of Birmingham Sunchi Chen posted a photo of the rugby player online with the message: 'Blackface is still a thing.'

She added: 'I know the full picture, he messaged me. He admits it was a stupid mistake he shouldn't have done.

'Intent or no intent. It doesn't make it any less racist. The racism is the problem, not whether he meant it or not.'

Student news website The Tab published messages from the man, in which he said he was very sorry and removed the make up as soon as he realised it could be offensive.

The man, who has not been named, wrote: 'I would like to let you know how deeply sorry to have caused offence with this photograph [sic].

'The idea was just to be a fancy dress for a sporting theme social. I can assure I'm not racist, I promise you, and it was an error of judgment.

'I apologise to everyone who was taken offence I can guarantee it won't ever happen again.'

University of Birmingham Sunchi Chen (left) raised the issue online. Serena Williams was the subject of racist comments by former tennis star Ilie Nastase last month

Anglia Ruskin University thanked Ms Chen for raising the issue and tweeted: 'Anglia Ruskin does not condone or tolerate any form of racism and will look into this.'

The university's student union wrote: 'We are aware of a photo, reportedly of a member of the ARU rugby team, circulating on social media.

'The image shows behaviour that must not be tolerated. Racism in this or any other form has no place in society.

'We have sought and received assurances that Active Anglia and ARU will investigate and take appropriate action.'
A single woman who was fed up of receiving explicit pictures from men on Snapchat fooled one by pretending her home address was Buckingham Palace.

Tara Natasha, 26, from Cardiff, was outraged when a man sent her a picture of his genitals at 1am before sending her messages asking for sex.

So when he asked for her postcode, she gave him the address for Buckingham Palace - and he turned up undeterred.

Tara Natasha (pictured), 26, from Cardiff pretended to a Snapchat user that she lived at Buckingham Palace

Tara claims the Snapchat user then drove for 40 minutes - from Croydon to Buckingham Palace - so he could see her.

She said: 'It was 1am when I got a random add on my Snapchat. The guy immediately sent me two photos of him naked and one of his face.

'I completely ignored it at first, but half an hour later he sent me a crude message.'

Tara said she would usually ignore those messages but decided to have some fun and get her own back.

'I thought it'd be funny to reply back saying "fab" sarcastically,' she said.

'Not realising I was being sarcastic, he then asked if I would be up for it and I replied "of course", again being sarcastic.

Tara Natasha, 26, from Cardiff, was outraged when a man sent her a picture of his genitals at 1am before sending her messages asking for sex (pictured)

So when he asked for her postcode, she gave him the address for Buckingham Palace (pictured)

The man had no idea it was a prank and he turned up at the palace undeterred (pictured)

'So I pretended I was going to let him come to my house, and I thought to myself, where should I send this man?

The 26-year-old (pictured) let her friend upload screenshots of the whole incident on Facebook. The next day, the story had been shared more than 10,000 shares

'Then I thought the most outrageous idea, Buckingham Palace.'

Tara did not think he would go, but he turned up at the tourist landmark after putting the address into his SatNav.

He even messaged her during the trip, updating her on how far away he was.

She said: 'It was so funny I couldn't cope. When he was approaching Buckingham Palace, he still didn't click.

'I then sent him a funny photo of the queen smiling and he still didn't understand he had been pranked.'

She said the man even asked at one point if she lived at Buckingham Palace.

'He then realised and he just went mad, he did not appreciate it at all,' she said.

'He told he had drove 40 minutes from outside of London and had spent so much money on petrol.

'He then started sending me abusive messages. He started threatening me and told me he would come find me.

'I just had to end up blocking him. I do hope he has calmed down now, and just sees it as a bit of banter.'

She said the man even asked at one point if she lived at Buckingham Palace (pictured)

Tara said she would usually ignore those messages but decided to have some fun and get her own back

She added: 'I didn't think he would actually go, I thought he would just google it immediately and realise the joke. It bewilders me as to why men think women are so easy.'

The 26-year-old let her friend upload screenshots of the whole incident on Facebook. The next day, the story had been shared more than 10,000 shares.

Tara claims that her prank was an act of revenge and was a way of standing up for all women who are victims of sexual harassment online.

She said: 'Why is it sexual harassment if someone flashes a woman on the street, but it isn't if someone sends a woman their genitals online?

She even sent the man a funny photo of the queen smiling and he still didn't understand he had been pranked

Tara claims that her prank was an act of revenge, and was to stand up for all women who are victims of sexual harassment online

'I am so sick of men seeing women as objects, and although this was a bit of fun - I was highlighting the very concerning factor of online harassment in society today.

'It is not okay for men to send women disgusting, naked photos of themselves.'

Her story on social media has since had a mixture of reviews.

She added: 'Most women have reacted well to it and have said "you go girl". Men have defending him asking why I didn't just block him.

'Also women have taken that stance too, but in society women should build each other up not tear each other down.'
Jeremy Corbyn has refused seven times to say he would definitely deliver Brexit at a campaign launch at which he promised a 'reckoning' for the rich.

The Labour leader was grilled on Brexit by reporters after a major speech setting out his hard-left vision for Britain.

Mr Corbyn's ailing campaign will be blown further off course by his refusal to spell out Britain would definitely leave Europe.

Asked by the BBC if he could 'categorically' say Brexit would happen 'come hell or high water' if he was in No 10, Mr Corbyn only said Labour was 'serious about the negotiations'.

Told he was not addressing the point specifically, Mr Corbyn again stopped short of answering 'yes' Britain would definitely leave the EU.

He said: 'We are negotiating a trade arrangement with Europe and protection of the things we we've gained from the European Union.'

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured with his shadow cabinet at his rally in Manchester today) has failed seven times to say Britain would definitely leave the EU under his premiership

The Labour leader (pictured showing off his battle bus in Trafford today) had earlier launched his campaign with an aggressive speech promising a reckoning for the rich

Mr Corbyn immediately hit the road to stump for plans in Salford (pictured) with ally Rebecca Long-Bailey

Launching his campaign and battle bus in Manchester today, Mr Corbyn said he was angry about Tory Britain and promised to fix the 'rigged' economy.

The Labour leader addressed the major rally surrounded by banners promoting nationalised railways, a peaceful world and a funded NHS.

The speech was denounced by Tory Chairman Patrick McLoughlin as 'chaotic' and it contained no reference to immigration or clearing the deficit and made only a passing remark on Brexit.

But his message went off the rails during a round of media interviews after the speech, including the clash with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg.

After the speech and following interviews, Brexit Secretary David Davis seized Mr Corbyn's Brexit gaffe.

CORBYN'S VISION FOR BRITAIN Jeremy Corbyn said Labour had just 'four weeks' to convince Britain it can be 'transformed'

He claimed the economy was 'rigged for the rich'

The Labour leader promised to 'draw a line' under privatisation, stripping private firms out of the NHS and the railways

He promised a crackdown on 'greedy bankers, Philip Green, Southern Railway and crooked financiers'

Corbyn said he wanted build new infrastructure and to invest in jobs

Labour are promising to axe hospital parking charges paid for by taxing private health insurance

They have hinted at higher taxes on people earning more than 80,000

Corbyn also wants free school meals for every primary age pupil Advertisement

He said: 'The chaotic incoherence of Jeremy Corbyn's approach to Brexit means that the 27 other EU countries would make mincemeat of him in the negotiations.

'This morning he said he was settled on leaving the EU  this afternoon he can't say whether he will do it.

'We simply cannot take the risk of Corbyn in Downing Street in 4 weeks' time negotiating Britain's future.

'If you want strong, stable leadership through Brexit and beyond then you have to vote for Theresa May and her local Conservative candidate on 8 June.'

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Tom Brake added: 'This is Corbyn's Michael Howard moment, refusing repeatedly to answer a straight question.

'Jeremy Corbyn's Labour is refusing to give people the final say no matter how bad the Brexit deal on offer.

'Brexit will affect our country for decades  our jobs, the environment and our security.

'The Liberal Democrats' position is clear. We think you should have the final say in a referendum, and if you don't like the deal you should have the choice to remain in the European Union.'

Deploying the rhetoric of the hard Left, he launched Labour's election campaign with an aggressive pitch to bring down those 'ripping off workers and consumers'

Speaking in front of Labour's new battle bus, Mr Corbyn promised to transform Britain into a country 'for the many, not the few'

Mr Corbyn's speech came as Theresa May was stumping for her plan to cap household energy bills for 17 million homes stuck on standard rate tariffs.

The Prime Minister took her campaign to York Central, a reasonably safe Labour seat but one in which the Tories hope to win.

In his campaign launch speech, Mr Corbyn declared: 'When Labour wins, the British people win. The nurse, the teacher, the small trader, the carer, the builder, the office worker win.

'Labour is offering a real choice, a real alternative to the rigged system holding us back and to the Conservatives who are running our country down.

'The economy is rigged in favour of the rich and powerful.

'When Labour wins there will be a reckoning for those who thought they could get away with asset stripping our industry, crashing our economy through their greed and ripping off workers and consumers.'

The Labour leader said the Tories 'never' stood up to their financial backers but instead make nurses, carers, soldiers and the disabled 'foot the bill'.

And he claimed because of Theresa May's refusal to embrace reform, 'Britain is being held back'.

Labour's shadow cabinet (right) looked on as Mr Corbyn made his speech today (left) as the party faces up to an election while trailing far behind

Mr Corbyn launched his election push in front of his closest allies in the shadow cabinet including shadow home secretary Diane Abbott (centre) and shadow chancellor John McDonnell (front row second right)

CORBYN FAILS SEVEN TIMES TO ANSWER BREXIT QUESTION Jeremy Corbyn was repeatedly asked if Brexit would happen 'come hell or high water' if he is PM and he refused to answer BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg grilled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn about his views on Brexit in an interview after his campaign launch today. This is the full exchange of seven questions: Laura Kuenssberg: Jeremy Corbyn let's start with Brexit because if you become prime minister it will be the biggest task in front of you. You said today Brexit is settled. Does that mean if you're prime minister, come hell or high water, whatever the deal on the table, we will be leaving the European Union? Jeremy Corbyn: Look there's a clear vote in the referendum a year ago. But there is now the negotiations which have already begun. I sent a letter to President Elect Macron last night congratulating him on his election and also setting out in broad terms what our aims are in these negotiations: To have good relations with Europe of course, secondly to make sure there is a trade access, a tariff free trade access, to European markets. Thirdly, that we will of course protect the rights of EU nationals living in Britain which we will do straight away and that we will also ensure that the regulations that we got from the European Union such as Working Time Directive and employment conditions will be defended and maintained. It has to be put very clearly. LK: That is what you would hope to achieve. But on that specific point if you say Brexit is settled whatever happens in the negotiations - however well or badly they go - we would be leaving if you were prime minister. JC: We will go into the negotiations with the determination to achieve what I've just outlined. And it's not a one-off meeting, it's not a one-off discussion. It also involves relations with all the governments across Europe in every one of the member states as well as their parliaments and the European governments and the commission. LK: But forgive me Jeremy Corbyn that's not quite my question. My question is if you're prime minister we will leave come hell or high water whatever is on the table at the end of the negotiations? JC: We win the election we'll get the good deal with Europe. A good deal with Europe that will ensure that the very large number of manufacturing jobs in Britain that rely on trade with Europe won't suddenly find themselves under World Trade Organization rules where there'll be a tariff wall put up immediately around this country. LK: But on that specific point Jeremy Corbyn few few can predict how the negotiations will go either for Theresa May... JC: The specific point is we're negotiating to gain that market access to Europe. LK: But you won't say then that we might potentially stay or we might... just to be completely clear because people will want to know this. If you're prime minister we will leave whatever happens? JC: People know that there's been a referendum and a decision was made a year ago. We've set out very clear our terms for negotiations. Keir Starmer has built those relationships across Europe and that is what we'll be pursuing in the European Union. I don't know any more than you do exactly what is going to happen in the future on this, but I do know we are not approaching this from megaphone diplomacy. We're not approaching this from threats. We're not proposing to set up some kind of tax haven on the shores of the European Union. We're serious about these negotiations. LK: But forgive me Jeremy Corbyn this is a very important point to lots of people. As you say, we don't know what will happen in the negotiations. If you are prime minister can you categorically say that we would definitely leave because if you won't there is a chink of a possibility that things could change and we might end up looking differently at our options. JC: The danger is of the approach the Conservatives are taking in their megaphone diplomacy with Europe and approaching the whole thing as though what you've got to do is shout loud and be abusive to people across the Channel. Our view is you have to talk to them, negotiate with them and recognise there is actually quite a lot of common interest, particularly in manufacturing industry. That is the process we're following. LK: So you won't you won't address that point specifically? JC: We are negotiating a trade arrangement with Europe and protection of the things that we've gained from the European Union. Advertisement

In his rallying call to the Labour faithful, Mr Corbyn urged them to overcome Labour's dire position in the polls.

He said: 'Don't wake on up on 9 June to see celebrations from the tax cheats, the press barons, the greedy bankers, Philip Green, the Southern Rail directors and crooked financiers that take our wealth, who have got away with it because the party they own, the Conservative Party, has won.

'We have four weeks to ruin their party.

'We have four weeks to take our wealth back.

'We have four weeks to win and transform Britain for the many not the few.'

Responding to the speech, Mr McLoughlin said: 'This angry, divisive and chaotic speech makes clear the choice at this election  strong and stable leadership with Theresa May, or uncosted, nonsensical policies from Jeremy Corbyn.

'He didn't mention the deficit or controlling immigration  because he'd wreck our economy with higher taxes and more debt.

'And he's too weak to stand up to the leaders of 27 EU countries in Brexit negotiations  whereas every vote for Theresa May strengthens her hand to get the good deal this country needs.'

Labour's election campaign launch came against a backdrop of the party trailing by around 20 points in almost all opinion polls

Jeremy Corbyn took his campaign back to Manchester today for a rally in Stretford and Urmston while Theresa May is on the road in York Central

While Mr Corbyn was outlining his plans to attack the rich, Theresa May was in York Central promoting her plans for a cap on energy bills

Yesterday Mr Corbyn described Karl Marx as a 'great economist' and backed his shadow chancellor John McDonnell over his suggestion that there was 'a lot to learn' from his most famous work, Das Capital.

Tory candidate James Cleverly said: 'It's clear these two Marx brothers are determined to unleash their hero's dangerous ideas on Britain, sending taxes soaring and destroying jobs.'

At least ten hard-Left groups  including the Communist Party of Britain  have backed Mr Corbyn's fight to enter Downing Street.

Activists packed into a rally in Manchester (pictured) where Mr Corbyn pledged a day of reckoning for the wealthy

Mr Corbyn told his supporters today (pictured) he would create a 'jobs first Brexit' which will rebalance an economy which he claims is 'rigged in favour of the rich and powerful'

Earlier this week, the shadow chancellor was criticised by the Tories after saying there is 'a lot to learn' from Marx's Das Kapital.

LABOUR POLITICIANS AIRBRUSH CORBYN FROM LEAFLETS Labour politicians are airbrushing Jeremy Corbyn out of their election leaflets amid fears he is toxic with voters. The veteran left-winger also does not feature on the party's battlebus unveiled with great fanfare today. And even Mr Corbyn's leader's own election literature does not mention that he could become Prime Minister after the national ballot on June 8. Mr Corbyn's personal ratings have been consistently appalling since he took Labour's top job two years ago. The scale of the problem was underlined in a poll today that found Theresa May is more trusted to protect the NHS - an issue on which Labour usually has a big advantage. Mrs May was backed by 42.1 per cent in the Survation research for ITV's Good Morning Britain, while 39 per cent plumped for Mr Corbyn. Advertisement

Last night it emerged that both he and Mr Corbyn had spoken at the Communist conference in 2007, where extreme Left-wingers discussed 'developments in Marxism' and 'the crimes of capitalism'.

Yesterday Mr Corbyn said he had read both Marx and the works of free-market pioneer Adam Smith.

'All great economists influence all of our thinking,' he said.

'Yes, I have read some of Adam Smith, I have read some of Karl Marx, I have looked at the words of (David) Ricardo, I have looked at many, many others.

'I don't consider myself the world's greatest intellectual, but you learn from everybody, don't close your mind to the thoughts of others  that way, we're all better informed.'

Mr Corbyn and Mr McDonnell attended the 'Communist University of Britain' at Ruskin House in Croydon, South London, in 2007 attended by Marxist parties from Hungary, Pakistan and Sudan.

According to an article in the Morning Star, the event was set up to 'challenge the crimes of capitalism and imperialism, outline the choice between a global future or globalised disaster, discuss developments in Marxism and consider the relations between reforms, revolutions and socialism in the 21st century'.

Mr Corbyn was joined on stage by the new Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (pictured) who skipped a victory rally with the Labour leader after his election win last week

Mr Corbyn's pledge comes after Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell (pictured campaigning on Tuesday) said there was 'much to learn' from the economic policies of Karl Marx

The weekend meeting began 'with a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution' and a 'celebration of the life of Che Guevara'.

During his speech Mr McDonnell claimed there was a need to establish 'new power bases' in Labour  a comment which will be seen as a forerunner to Momentum.

Yesterday Mr Danczuk, who was suspended by Labour and told he could not be its Rochdale candidate for sending explicit texts, said: 'With frontbench people, such as John McDonnell, continually obsessing about Karl Marx, the benefits of communism and celebrating the reign of Joseph Stalin, I feel the Labour Party has totally lost touch with its social democratic values and, indeed, with reality in 21st-century Britain.'

'Monsieur Zen is fine': Corbyn is ridiculed for giving himself bizarre nickname

Jeremy Corbyn was lampooned for bizarrely branding himself 'Monsieur Zen' today - as he denied that catastrophic defeat on June 8 would force him to quit as Labour leader.

The veteran left-winger has started using the nickname when asked about his dire poll ratings and hapless public performances.

But the tag has sparked ridicule as Labour faces the real prospect of a bloodbath at the general election. Mr Corbyn was likened by some to cringemaking David Brent from comedy The Office, while others said giving yourself a nickname was 'never a good sign'.

Mr Corbyn was widely ridiculed on social media after deploying the bizarre nickname again in an interview. One user contrasted the tag with a notorious flash of fury from the Labour leader in a recent interview

Mr Corbyn gave his clearest sign yet that he wil try to fight on as leader even if Labour slumps to disastrous defeat.

'I was elected leader of this party and I'll stay leader of this party,' he told Buzzfeed.

'I'm serious about winning the election. I'm serious about going out there, I've been in Worcester and Leamington, I've been in Warrington, I've been in Croydon.

'I'm going all over the country on this because ours is an election to win. We're fighting a campaign to win.'

Private health insurance hike will pay for free hospital parking Jeremy Corbyn has threatened a tax raid of almost 100 on private health insurance to pay for free hospital car parking. The Labour leader pledged to ban NHS trusts from imposing the charges that are 'a tax on serious illness'. But he was accused of 'punishing aspiration' after it emerged the pledge will be paid for by an 8 per cent hike in insurance premium tax to 20 per cent. A Labour tax raid of 100 per year on private health insurance holders will be used to pay for free hospital parking, the party has announced (file image) More than half of English NHS trusts charge disabled patients - including cancer victims - despite Government guidelines saying they should park for free. Labour said English hospitals raise 162million a year from car parking charges. The party estimates the tax rise will raise 377million annually, meaning it will cost the 4million policy holders an average of 94 a year. Announcing the free-parking plan while visiting nursing students in Tory-held Worcester, Mr Corbyn said: 'Labour will end hospital parking charges, which place an unfair and unnecessary burden on families, patients and NHS staff.' But Alex Perry, chief executive of healthcare company Bupa Insurance, said: 'Hiking up insurance premium tax on health insurance makes no sense. 'It will mean more people give up their cover, increasing the pressure on an already over-burdened NHS.' Last night Tory candidate Andrew Bridgen said: 'While the Conservatives see tax as a means of funding public services we need, Labour sees it as a way to punish people for aspiration.' Advertisement

Theresa May denies stealing her cap on energy bills from Ed Miliband's 'Marxist universe' as power firms slam Tory bid to slash costs by 100

Theresa May has denied stealing her cap on energy bills from Ed Miliband's 'Marxist universe' as energy firms condemn the plan.

The Prime Minister confirmed she would intervene on the energy market because she was 'fed up' of rip off bills.

But the policy has left the Tories open to claims of plagiarism after Labour campaigned in 2015 for an energy price freeze.

Then Tory leader David Cameron claimed Mr Miliband lived in a 'Marxist universe' while Boris Johnson mocked the plan as 'catastrophic'.

Asked directly today if she now inhabited the Marxist universe, Mrs May said: 'No.'

At her latest campaign rally today the Premier said her plan was different because it would allow prices to move within the cap on standard rate tariffs.

Theresa May (pictured campaigning in York today) will include in her manifesto a vow to cut 100 off 17 million of household bills after the June 8 general election

Billions were wiped from some of Britain's biggest energy companies today as the Tories unveiled more details of their plans

Both Centrica, the owner of British Gas, and SSE saw the value of their shares plunge today after it was made clear the manifesto will vow to cut 100 off 17 million of household bills.

The plans would mean energy regulator Ofcom capping standard rate tariffs by reviewing wholesale prices.
Victim: William George, 38, pictured, was robbed of 8,000 in a villa scam ahead of a dream holiday and only found out hours before his family were due to leave

A family were robbed of 8,000 in a villa scam ahead of a dream holiday and only found out hours before they were due to leave, MailOnline can reveal today.

William George, 38, booked a last-minute family trip to Cascais, Portugal in August last year and inquired about a villa through the homeaway.com website.

Mr George, from Cambridge, was set to travel with his wife Carolina and their three children Sebastian, 13, Nicholas, 10 and Victoria, five, and god-daughter Elena, 10.

He paid for his stay by international bank transfer as requested by villa firm Sol Domus via email.

But when he telephoned the night before they were due to leave he discovered there was no record of their booking and their money was gone.

Homeaway.com, Sol Domus and Lloyds Bank have all refused to refund the money.

Mr George, a language course director, said: 'It turned out they hadn't heard of me. They didn't have any record of the booking. It was a scam.'

He explained that the firm's email account had been hacked, so even though he had been sending messages to the correct address, they were being accessed by a criminal.

'I just knew in the pit of my stomach that that money was gone,' he said. 'There was no way of getting it back.'

Mr George added: 'I've learnt not to be so confident in using the internet without questioning what I'm doing.

'I do buy a lot online. I have booked holidays online before. I think I can pick out a phishing email. I think I can spot a dodgy website. But you still have to be careful.

'When I was so busy when they were asking for the payment, I should have taken five minutes to phone up the villa company just to make sure that it was really them and that the payment was going to the right place.'

Ruined: The family booked a last-minute family trip to Cascais, Portugal in August last year - but they were ripped off

The family still travelled to Portugal but had to spend long periods speaking to the authorities in the country and in the UK.

Mrs George told MailOnline: 'We were packing on the Sunday evening and my husband called to confirm detail. It became clear that they were not aware of who we were. It was awful

'The money has gone and nobody has taken responsibility.

'We are going to take legal action. We run a business in the UK and have a responsibility to make sure payments made to us are safe and secure. They didn't do that.

'They offered us another villa but told us we would have to pay for it. The holiday cost us another 8,000'.

Other incidents of holiday booking fraud include a woman, Stephanie, from London, who paid 410 for a flight from Heathrow to Nigeria.

She received an e-ticket, but when she arrived at the airport there was no record of her booking.

Stephanie was initially told she would be given a refund but her calls to the company are now not being answered.

Another victim, John, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, paid 930 in March last year to someone who he thought was the owner of a villa in the Canary Islands.

But when he later tried to find the website it had disappeared, and he discovered several TripAdvisor reviews saying it was a scam.

He has since tried to contact the supposed villa owner but has not got hold of anyone.

The number of holidaymakers ripped off by booking scams rose by almost a fifth last year, new figures show.

There were 5,826 reported cases in 2016, up 19% on the previous year, according to the UK's national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre ActionFraud.

The most common scams related to airline tickets, online accommodation bookings and timeshare sales.

A total of 7.2 million was lost last year, at an average of 1,200 per victim.

More than a quarter (26%) said the scams had a significant impact on their health or financial well-being, while 259 were left needing medical treatment or at risk of bankruptcy.

Homeaway.com, Sol Domus and Lloyds Bank have all refused to refund the money because it was made by bank transfer

Fraud prevention group Get Safe Online, travel trade organisation Abta and City of London Police have launched a campaign warning of the dangers posed by holiday booking fraud.

Tony Neate, of Get Safe Online, said holidays are often a 'big-ticket item' and present 'the perfect opportunity for cyber criminals to swindle unsuspecting victims out of their hard-earned money'.

He went on: 'Always do as much research as you can about the organisation you're booking through, and ensure that they are a reputable travel operator that is a member of a recognised trade body like Abta.

'By booking in haste, you could not only risk losing a huge amount of money, but also disappoint family and friends when it comes to that long-awaited escape.'

Sporting and religious trips are a popular target for conmen due to the limited availability of tickets and subsequent higher prices.

Fraudsters are setting up bogus accommodation websites, hacking into legitimate accounts and posting fake adverts online.

Holidaymakers are also losing thousands of pounds by booking flights and not receiving genuine tickets. Flights to Africa and the Indian subcontinent were targeted last year.

Action Fraud says reports of travellers being swindled have consistently risen over the past five years.

Authorities believe criminals are taking advantage of travellers' lack of awareness of the strict regulations in place for UK-based travel firms.

The majority of those who are defrauded pay by methods such as bank transfer or cash, with no means of getting their money back.

Fraudsters are actively encouraging these payment methods by claiming they are the only ones protected by their own bogus insurance schemes.

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: 'Abta is regularly contacted by members of the public who have been caught out by increasingly sophisticated travel-related frauds.

'We know at first-hand that the loss and shock of finding that your flight or holiday accommodation has not been booked can be very significant.

'Follow the tips we have put together in partnership with the City of London Police and Get Safe Online to avoid falling victim and to make sure your hard-earned money goes towards your holiday and not lining the pockets of an unscrupulous crook.'
Jeremy Corbyn today finally got his photo taken with Andy Burnham - several days after the newly-elected Manchester mayor snubbed a rally thrown for him by his party leader.

Mr Burnham's election was one of the rare victories for Labour in last week's local elections on a day of humiliating defeats for the party, which lost over 380 seats.

The Labour leader raced over to Manchester to address party supporters at a hastily-arranged rally to celebrate the victory on Friday, but was left humiliated when Mr Burnham decided not to turn up.

Andy Burnham, pictured today at Labour's campaign launch in Manchester, waves alongside Jeremy Corbyn. Last Friday he snubbed a victory rally thrown by the Labour leader

The two men hugged and smiled for the cameras in front of Labour's battle bus

He was heckled with shouts of 'Where's Andy' as he addressed party supporters in central Manchester, while Mr Burnham was pictured enjoying a glass of champagne at a nearby bar.

But Mr Corbyn finally got his long-awaited photocall by dragging Mr Burnham out of the audience at Labour's General Election campaign launch in Manchester.

Calling out 'Andy' he ushered him out of the audience and onto the stage where the two men hugged and waved for the cameras in front of the party's newly-launched battle bus.

Mr Corbyn told the Manchester mayor to 'give them a wave Andy' before allowing him to finally leave the stage.

The pair were in Manchester to launch the party's official campaign.

Mr Burnham won 63 per cent of the vote, easily seeing off his rivals in the first round of counting.

But otherwise Labour was devastated by the loss of more than 380 councillors across the UK.

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured on Friday in Manchester at the victory rally thrown for Mr Burnham. He was heckled by the crowd who shouted 'Where's Andy?' after the newly elected Manchester mayor failed to show up

Mr Corbyn has threatened to take back the nation's wealth in a 'reckoning' with the rich in his campaign speech.

He told the audience: 'Labour is offering a real choice, a real alternative to the rigged system holding us back and to the Conservatives who are running our country down.

'The economy is still rigged in favour of the rich and powerful.

'When Labour wins there will be a reckoning for those who thought they could get away with asset stripping our industry, crashing our economy through their greed and ripping off workers and consumers.'
A family pit bull-terrier type dog bit and killed a six-month-old baby in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.

The attack happened in a home on the 9100 block of Brilliant Prairie Court, near North Durango Drive and West Centennial Parkway.

The child had been playing in a baby walker near the pet about 1pm on Monday when the animal suddenly began mauling the child.

Courtesy ABC 13 Action News

The attack happened in a home on the 9100 block of Brilliant Prairie Court, near North Durango Drive and West Centennial Parkway (pictured)

Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Laura Meltzer said: 'The baby's mother was able to stop the attack, but the baby had already suffered significant injuries.'

The mother was the only adult in the house at the time, police said.

She called 911 and traveled with the child in an ambulance to Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center, where the baby was later pronounced dead.

Metro spokesman Larry Hadfield said: 'It's an absolute, true tragedy.'

Yellow crime-scene tape blocked off the street where the family live, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

The child had been playing in a baby walker near the pet about 1pm on Monday when the animal suddenly began mauling the child

The investigation indicated the incident appears to be a tragic accident, and no criminal charges are anticipated.

Clark County Animal Control Officers took custody of the dog involved. The dog has been been quarantined for 10 days but it could end up euthanized.

A police spokesman said: 'Parents, guardians and caretakers are reminded to supervise interactions between family pets and small children.'
A Chinese woman who suffered from an acute heart disease has miraculously lived without a heart rate for 12 hours.

Ms Tang's heart stopped beating during the wee hours of May 7 after a critical operation to revive her.

Doctors used a sophisticated medical device, known as the Extra Corporeal Life Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), to keep her blood flowing and oxygenated as they worked to revive her heart.

The 25-year-old could breathe, eat and talk throughout the process. She told MailOnline during her heart failure, all she wanted to do was to eat apples.

Ms Tang (pictured), 25, lived for 12 hours without a heartbeat as the doctors used a high-tech medical device, known as ECMO, to keep her blood flowing and oxygenated

HOW DID MS TANG SURVIVE? According to Dr Zhao Shangping, the ECMO system drew blood from Ms Tang's body before processing it in a membrane oxygenator. The membrane oxygenator added oxygen into Ms Tang's blood, acting as a pair of artificial lungs. They oxygenated blood was then re-warmed and sent back to the patient's body. The system kept Ms Tang alive for more than 12 hours as the doctors tried to revive her heart. Advertisement

Ms Tang, from Hunan, China, was rushed to the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University at 9pm on May 6 after suddenly throwing up.

She suffered nausea, lack of muscle strength and dizziness.

Her condition was diagnosed as acute myocarditis.

Dr Zhao Shangping, who treated Ms Tang, described the seriousness of her illness: 'Her heart could stop beating at any moment.

'There wouldn't be blood supply to her organs.'

An operation was carried out by Dr Zhao and his colleagues to connect Ms Tang to an ECMO device.

A few minutes after the operation, Ms Tang's heart suddenly stop beating.

However, thanks to the medical device, Ms Tang was kept alive despite having no heart rate.

Ms Tang was filmed eating an apple and talking as the electrocardiogram showed a flat line

Ms Tang had been connected to the device to maintain a blood supply when her heart stopped

WHAT IS ECMO? ECMO is the use of an artificial lung membrane located outside the body. The system puts oxygen into the blood and continuously pumps the blood back into and around the body. It's used for patients with severe heart or lung failure. ECMO can take over the work of the heart to maintain a healthy blood supply to the brain and other organs in the body. Source: NHS Advertisement

Dr Zhao said Ms Tang could breathe, eat and talk during her heart failure.

A 24-second video taken by the hospital staff shows Ms Tang eating an apple while the ECG showed a flat line, indicating she had no heart rate.

Describing how she felt while having no heart beat, Ms Tang told MailOnline that she didn't feel any discomfort.

Instead, the woman said the process was 'amazing'.

Ms Tang also said that she wanted to eat apples when the doctors tried to revive her heart because 'it's said to be good for my heart'.

'I asked the doctor whether I died briefly,' said the patient, who is still in the hospital.

'But I was confident as the doctors told me I would be fine,' the woman continued.

After medical treatment, Ms Tang's heart resumed beating at 3pm on May 7, about 12 hours after it had stopped.

Dr Zhao said Ms Tang is recovering well.

He expected to disconnect her from the machine on May 10 if she passes a physical check.

Doctors operated on Ms Tang on May 6 as they connected the ECMO system to her body
A group of Peter Kay superfans went out on the town dressed as nine different characters from the comedian's Phoenix Night series.

Josh Galea-Hughes and eight of his friends spent a fortnight planning their costumes before embarking on a night out in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

One was so dedicated to his portrayal of Brian Potter that he remained in a wheelchair for the duration of the evening, while another dressed up as the show's infamous inflatable penis-shaped bouncy castle, Sammy Snake.

The group - which also included The Phoenix Club's bouncers Max and Paddy - embarked on a pub crawl to celebrate Mr Galea-Hughes' upcoming 25th birthday.

A group of friends on a birthday night out paid homage to Peter Kay by dressing up as nine different characters from Phoenix Nights

Callum Evans as wheelchair-bound Brian Potter. Mr Evans stayed in the wheelchair for the entire evening

Thomas Hannet as Paddy (left) and Thomas Hannett as Max (right), the two bouncers who had their own spin-off series Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere

Bolton-born funnyman Kay recently revealed that he had written a third series of the classic show, and superfan Josh said he would be 'delighted' at the prospect of it returning to screens for the first time since 2002.

Mr Galea-Hughes, 24, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, said: 'The reactions we got were absolutely hilarious. We're all massive Peter Kay fans and we'd been planning this for a while.

'A lot of us were down in charity shops buying our outfits and we did our own make-up as well. We had girls and bouncers asking for pictures all night.

'One of the lads Callum wanted to go the whole hog and replicate Brian Potter. He borrowed his auntie's brand new wheelchair for the evening so we had to make sure we looked after it.

Dayle Temple as Ray Von, who is The Phoenix Club's DJ in the popular series

Stephen Bambrough as Alan the keyboard player. He even learnt the theme tune and played it in the taxi. We were all in stitches.

Lewis Cook as Keith Lard, a safety inspector who shuts down The Phoenix Club during the series

'It was actually a bit of an eye-opener because not everywhere has disabled access but there was only maybe one place that turned us away.

'I couldn't believe the amount of attention we got. Obviously with Car Share being really popular at the minute people were loving anything to do with Peter Kay.

'We're big fans of Phoenix Nights, we've all got the DVDs and we're constantly quoting lines to each other so we thought it would be the perfect fancy dress. Everyone really put the effort in.'

The lads met up in Washington for a barbecue on Saturday afternoon before venturing into Gateshead and then Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Josh Galea-Hughes as Jerry St Clair, who is one of The Phoenix Club's cabaret performer, in character as Gay Satan

Adam Frater as Spencer, in character as Gary Glitter

Adam Kelly as Sammy The Snake, a penis-shaped bouncy castle that attracted a few looks on their night out

The full list of participants and their characters was; Josh as Jerry St Clair (as Gay Satan), Callum Evans as Brian Potter, Dan Grant as Max, Thomas Hannett as Paddy, Dayle Temple as Ray Von, Adam Kelly as Sammy Snake, Adam Frater as Spencer (as Gary Glitter), Lewis Cook as Keith Lard, Jamie Jenner as Young Kenny, and Stephen Bambrough as Alan.

Mr Galea-Hughes, a die technician, said: 'I thought because it hasn't been on TV in a few years nobody would know who we were, but everyone did. People were saying it was one of the best group efforts they'd ever seen.

The group can be seen in costume sat next to a family during their pub crawl in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear

'Stephen who went as the keyboard player Alan even learnt the theme tune and played it in the taxi. We were all in stitches.

'There were a couple of pubs during the day that still had children in and we were getting a few dodgy looks having a giant inflatable penis sat at the table.

'It was pretty messy in the end and generally a great laugh. It was pretty funny watching Callum in his wheelchair on the dancefloor.

'I don't know how we'll ever top this night out.'
The Turnbull government is providing more money to fight terrorism both at home and abroad, while making another raid on Australia's foreign aid program - taking more than $300 million.

'The first duty of a national government is to keep Australians safe,' Treasurer Scott Morrison told parliament on Tuesday.

But what the nation's two spy agencies - the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation (domestic) and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (overseas) - are getting remains a secret.

The Turnbull government is providing more money to fight terrorism both at home and abroad, while making another raid on Australia's foreign aid program

'The first duty of a national government is to keep Australians safe,' Treasurer Scott Morrison told parliament on Tuesday

The Australian Federal Police will get an additional $321.4 million over four years to spend on 100 additional intelligence experts, more than 100 tactical response and covert surveillance operators and almost 100 forensic specialists.

In the wake of recent terrorism attacks in London and Stockholm as well as France, Belgium, Turkey and Indonesia, the government is stumping up more cash to fight extremist groups abroad.

Operation Okra, Australia's commitment to fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, will receive an additional $430 million in 2017-18.

There are 780 Australian troops in the Middle East mentoring Iraqi soldiers, doing special operations and carrying out airstrikes as part of a broader coalition.

As well there are 270 Australians serving in Afghanistan as part of Operation Highroad which will receive an extra $72.8 million in 2017-18.

Overall, defence spending is up six per cent in 2017-18 to $34.6 billion, a figure that represents 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product.

Despite the funding boost Defence will forgo $304.1 million over four years as the number of consultants and contractors is reduced.

The government is on track to reach its commitment of defence spending reaching two per cent of gross domestic product by 2020-21 as outlined in last year's Defence white paper.

Operation Okra, Australia's commitment to fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, will receive an additional $430 million in 2017-18

In the wake of recent terrorism attacks in London and Stockholm as well as France, Belgium, Turkey and Indonesia, the government is stumping up more cash to fight extremist groups

Treasurer Scott Morrison after delivering the budget in the House of Representatives on Tuesday

The government is coy on what it specifically intends to do with the $303.3 million savings from the temporary freeze on foreign aid from mid-2018.

It has indicated it will be redirected it to 'policy priorities'.

Aid at that time will total $4.01 billion and remain static until indexation resumes in 2021/2022.

In the lead-up to the Tuesday's budget there was speculation aid money would be diverted to national security and counter-terrorism efforts, including increased funding for the overseas spy agency Australian Secret Intelligence Service.

The actual amount is not detailed in the budget papers.

The Australian Federal Police will get an additional $321.4 million over four years to spend

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tours the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Majura Forensics Facility in Canberra on Monday

Defence spending is up six per cent in 2017-18 to $34.6 billion, a figure that represents 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product.

After stomaching $11.3 billion of cuts since the coalition government came to power in 2013, the latest move will not please aid organisations.

There's little consolation in the aid budget increasing slightly next year to $3.9 billion from $3.8 billion.

Ahead of the budget, Plan International Australia criticised the prospect of further cuts to aid as 'bewildering'.

'Now all indications are that it is once more going to be used as an ATM,' chief executive Ian Wishart said.

Papua New Guinea and Fiji are set for slight decreases in their official development assistance to reflect changing circumstances.

PNG remains Australia's largest aid recipient and will lose $4.4 million to a total of $472.9 million in 2017/2018.

Fiji will receive almost $11 million less taking into account money allocated previously for Tropical Cyclone Winston, bringing its aid to $40.4 million in next year.

Aid programs for other countries are mostly stable.

Diplomats posted overseas with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other government agencies will have their allowances trimmed, saving $37 million over four years

The 2017 Budget will be handed down on Tuesday night (budget papers are pictured)

To reflect the unprecedented number of humanitarian crises world wide the emergency fund will increase to $150 million, up $20 million on the previous year.

Likewise there will be a boost to the humanitarian assistance kitty of $60 million in taking it to a total of almost $400 million.

In other savings measures, diplomats posted overseas with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as well as other government agencies will have their generous allowances trimmed saving $37 million over four years.

The government says the standardisation of allowances for things such as cost of living and hardship will help them better match 'community expectations'.

Plans to host leaders from the Association of South East Asian Nations in Sydney in 2018 for a special summit comes with a $37.7 million price tag for organisation and logistics.

The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands - a military and police operation to restore law and order - is set to end on June 30 this year.

However, $79 million over four years will be allocated to a police development program for the Pacific island nation.
A crowd of stampeding students caused a giant slide to topple over leaving two schoolchildren injured.

Dozens of youngsters scrambled up the inflatable at once at a university open day in Tlaxcala, Mexico.

The video shows that as soon as one student decided to jump on, hordes more followed suit.

Dozens of youngsters scrambled up the inflatable at once at a university open day in Mexico

The slide is quickly filled with young people climbing up it in the seconds before disaster strikes.

Then as a crowd of pupils get to the top of the inflatable it overbalances and topples on to its side.

Some can be seen falling several feet as the slide disappears out from under them.

At least two children were reported to have been injured although not seriously.

The slide is quickly filled with the pupils climbing up it - but as a crowd reaches the top of the inflatable it overbalances and topples on to its side

The slide had been put up at the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the University of Tlaxcala.

The children are thought to have been participating in an annual welcome ceremony that includes a competition.

One anonymous student blamed 'reckless and stupid pupils' for the incident in a comment left online.

They added: 'Didn't any of the organisers or the participants themselves have any idea what happens when that many people get on an inflatable? Ridiculous.

'Even though I am a student at the university, I would not participate in an event if it puts my safety at risk.'
This is the horrifying moment a child disappeared down to his waist after being caught in the steps of an escalator in Turkey.

Footage shows the nine-year-old boy playfully running the wrong way up the moving staircase in Istanbul before he slipped and fell.

But as he held on to the hand rail, his left leg somehow became trapped in a gap between the steps and he was dragged in up to his waist.

Footage captures the horrifying moment a child disappeared down to his waist after being caught between the steps of an escalator in Turkey.

Video shows the nine-year-old boy playfully running the wrong way up the moving staircase in Istanbul before he slipped and fell

As he held on to the hand rail, his left leg became trapped in a gap between the steps and he was dragged in up to his waist

Seconds later, the video shows a woman, believed to be his mother, rushing to the escalator and desperately trying to pull the boy out to safety.

Others then run over to help the boy, who has not been identified.

Separate footage then shows the moment firefighters staged a dramatic rescue operation.

Crowds rushed over to help the youngster after he slipped, fell and was dragged into an escalator in Turkey

After initial attempts to free him were unsuccessful, fire crews were called and used cutting tools to rescue the youngster

They used a circular saw to free the youngster in a tense operation that took several hours.

Incredibly, the child escaped with minor injuries to his foot.

A police investigation is underway.
New Zealand's deputy prime minister has told a court of fearing she would be struck with a dildo when she drove through a demonstration with a colleague.

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett testified Tuesday in the trial of MP Chester Borrows, who was accused of careless driving in Whanganui last March.

Ms Bennett says she feared an attack that day after seeing a picture on Facebook of a dildo with her name on it - just weeks after another MP was hit by a flying sex toy.

Ms Bennett was a passenger in Mr Borrows' car hen they drove past the demonstration

Two demonstrators, neither carrying sex toys, were slightly injured during the incident in March last year.

Ms Bennett was a passenger in Mr Borrows' car as it left the function and told him a protestor had threatened her in an "aggressive" social media post that morning.

The threat comprised a picture of a rubber device with "Paula B" written on it, captioned "see you shortly b***h".

Ms Bennett said the threat was taken seriously as a few weeks earlier an anti-globalisation protester had hit another minister, Steven Joyce, in the face with a pink dildo during an event marking New Zealand's national day.

"I think I was probably most expecting that they would throw the sex toy at the car," she said.

"I didn't really want a photo, or to be in the news, with this thing either hitting me or the window right next to me."

Ms Bennet told a court of her feared she would be struck with a dildo after seeing a Facebook image of a dildo with her name on it

MP Chester Borrows was is accused of careless driving in an incident in Whanganui last March.

Television news footage showed the demonstrator who made the threat had turned up with the sex toy at the protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.

However, he did not appear to be among the group who were impeding Mr Borrows' car as it left the function.

Mr Borrows, a former police officer, said he wanted to protect Ms Bennett, who at the time was social development minister and became deputy prime minister in December last year.

Weeks earlier another minister, Steven Joyce, was hit in the face with a pink dildo during an event marking New Zealand's national day

He denied a charge of careless driving causing injury, saying he inched cautiously through the protestors and had not believed they were at risk.

Judge Stephanie Edwards found Mr Borrows not guilty but said he "would be well advised in the future to leave currently serving police officers to manage these situations as they consider appropriate".
Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker embrace outside No 10 at the end of April before holding talks on Brexit. their relations have taken a battering after negative briefings from Brussels about the meeting

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has admitted that a poisonous briefing against Theresa May was a 'serious mistake'.

His aides opened up a rift with Britain by describing the PM as 'deluded' and 'in another galaxy' after meeting her for Brexit talks at No 10.

Sources told a German newspaper that the meeting had been a 'disaster' and that Mr Juncker told Mrs May 'I'm leaving Downing Street 10 times more sceptical than I was before.'

The briefing sparked a furious reaction from the PM, who accused Eurocrats of meddling in Britain's General Election in an explosive speech on the steps of No 10.

Mr Juncker has finally admitted the briefing spectacularly backfired.

In an interview with German newspaper, Handelsblatt,he said: 'Irrespective of the participants at the dinner [The] fact is that it was a serious mistake that parts of the talks were leaked.'

But the EU leader insisted that he was not behind the hugely damaging leak.

He told the newspaper: 'I am very good at being self-critical, but this I do not want to be accused for.'

Relations between Britain and Brussels have taken a nosedive after the negative briefings.

And Mr Juncker sparked fresh anger when he used a press conference in Florence last Friday to take another dig at Britain - saying he would speak in French because 'English is losing importance in Europe',

But he has been slapped down by No 10 and a number of Cabinet ministers who have lashed out at EU politicians for interfering in Britain's affairs in the lead up to the crucial General Election on June 8.

Jean-Claude Juncke, pictured in Brussels today, has made a series of jibes at Britain in recent weeks, contributing to the breakdown of realtions between the two powers

Mr Juncker, pictured last Friday at a press conference in Florence, said the briefing was a serious mistake, but has denied he was behind it

In her punchy speech last Wednesday, Mrs May 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.'

THE BRUSSELS THREATS THAT DREW THE PM'S WRATH 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

She was backed by Home Secretary Amber Rudd who lashed out at the meddling and said Brussels should put its 'aggression' on hold.

She told Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday that Mr Juncker had taken a 'very hostile approach'.

Ms Rudd added: 'It seems very clear that they did meddle insofar as they put out these very unhelpful slightly hostile comments, both in terms of the potential leak  I don't know how much of it was true in terms of the gossip from the dinner  and then putting out that Theresa May shouldn't be leading the negotiations.

'And then somehow supporting that there should be this 100billion bill.

'It is aggressive negotiating tactics.'

She added: 'Why would it not be possible to hold on to your aggression, perhaps your opening negotiation salvos, during an election period?

'It seems extraordinary to me that they would launch in during an election period.'

While Jeremy Hunt accused some EU countries of wanting Britain to 'fail'.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: 'They didn't have to leak these reports to newspapers of dinners that happened in the middle of an election campaign.

'It is the wrong approach to negotiations.'

He added: 'The answer is very clear that they are trying to leak reports that undermine Theresa May's position.'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reportedly angry at Mr Juncker over the leak - accusing him of 'inflaming' Brexit talks.

According to German newspaper Der Spiegel, which has close links with Ms Merkels government, she believes the leaking of private conversations is not helpful in heating up the mood in this way.

The Der Spiegel article, headlined Merkel angered by Juncker at Brexit dinner, said it had made her mood sour towards him.
Jeremy McConnell has been charged with assaulting his on/off girlfriend Stephanie Davis despite the pair giving their relationship another chance, police have said

Jeremy McConnell has been charged with assaulting his on/off girlfriend Stephanie Davis despite the pair giving their relationship another chance, it has been revealed.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police told MailOnline: 'We can confirm Jeremy McConnell, 27, of Swords, Ireland has been charged with assault and criminal damage following an incident in Rainhill on 9 March 2017.'

McConnell is due to appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

Former Hollyoaks actress Stephanie was reportedly 'shaken' after calling the police on McConnell at the home she shares with their four-month-old son Caben-Albi.

McConnell has previously vehemently denied any wrong-doing.

Last week Stephanie vowed to quit drinking after posting a worryingly incoherent tweet about cheating.

The pair are trying to rebuild their relationship but last Wednesday it appeared all was not well between them, with the 23-year-old tweeting: 'Someone who gives you and doesnt answer, dont I. There beat a cheat n always n in.'

The post was reportedly deleted 20 minutes later, but McConnell blocked the star following a holiday the pair took together.

Stephanie had revealed in an interview with Closer magazine just days before, that she and McConnell, who are parents to Caben-Albi, five months, would like to try for baby number two, following his recent stint in rehab.

She confessed she was feeling 'broody', adding that her boyfriend wanted to be there for her next pregnancy, after missing out first time round.

She admitted: 'Weve both talked about having another baby at some point.

Former Hollyoaks actress Stephanie (pictured right) was reportedly 'shaken' after calling the police on McConnell (left) at the home she shares with their four-month-old son Caben-Albi

Ex-Hollyoaks actress Stephanie (pictured with McConnell) made the official announcement that she was in a relationship with the father of her son once again on This Morning last month

Rebuilding: The couple, who share four-month-old son Caben-Albi, are trying to rebuild a relationship following his rehab stint, with the latest reports stating Stephanie had quit drink

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 month.
Advertisement

Scaling the top of Brooklyn Bridge with only a safety harness between them and the glinting East River below, this dizzying training exercise prepares NYPD elite crews for dangerous and high-rise rescues.

The New York Police Department's 400-officer Emergency Services Unit is among the most highly trained in the country in both rescues and law enforcement, and is one of the most coveted assignments at the 35,000-member department.

Candidates must undergo at least five years on patrol and then an eight-month training schedule which is followed by rigorous testing.

After that, they go on to work as SWAT teams, jump out of helicopters, rappel down skyscrapers and dive into waters in full scuba gear.

Scroll down for video

The New York Police Department's 400-officer Emergency Services Unit is among the most highly trained in the country

Candidates must undergo at least five years on patrol and then an eight-month training schedule followed by rigorous testing

Training exercises such as the recent climb to the top of the iconic bridge, protected only by a safety harnesses clipped to a wire, are designed to get team members thinking beyond the risk to their own lives so they can help save someone else's

'It becomes like second nature to you', said Police Sergeant John Flynn. 'Three stories is no different from 30 stories.'

He also revealed how he helped talk a jumper down from the top of Brooklyn Bridge in 2013. The man stood at the very edge, and it took hours to get him down.

He said: 'It's very hard. You've just convinced this person they should live, and then you've got to get them down.'

'You're working from the minute you get the call,' he added. 'You're thinking about how to best approach the climb, and how to approach the person even before you meet them, how to help them.'

Deputy Chief Vincent Giordano, the commanding officer of the unit, said: 'The officers are handling multiple different jobs all in the same tour. They're prepared for anything, and they train for anything.'

New York has the second-most skyscrapers in the world, just behind Hong Kong, with about 325 buildings over 500 feet

New York City police officers, including members of the Emergency Services Unit, walk up a cable to the top of the bridge

New York has the second-most skyscrapers in the world, just behind Hong Kong, with about 325 buildings over 500 feet.

While the fire department is also trained to handle high-rise rescues, the NYPD unit is brought in on cases in which people are resisting help, suicidal or otherwise mentally unstable.

Successful rescues over the years have included window washers dangling 17 stories up the side of a skyscraper, distraught people threatening suicide on the Manhattan Bridge and a young thrill-seeker who used suction cups and ropes to climb the glass walls of Trump Tower.
Three cross-country skiers have died today in an avalanche that struck the Alpine ski resort of Bonneval-sur-Arc, French officials say.

The skiers begun scaling the Vallonet glacier with their skis on their backs when the avalanche struck at an altitude of some 2,800 metres (9,200 feet), in south-eastern France close to the Italian border, local police chief Emmanuel Duboft told AFP.

The block of snow, between 100 and 200 metres wide, 'knocked them off-balance and they hit several rocky ridges,' he said.

Another climber nearby raised the alarm.

The Savoie prefecture said the avalanche struck around 10am on Tuesday, without giving details about the casualties' identities.

Three cross-country skiers have died in an avalanche that struck the French Alps (file photo pictured above) on Tuesday

One of the three skiers was a high-mountain guide. It is unclear if he was on an outing with friends or on duty as a guide.

French media reported that the victims included two men and a woman and were experienced hikers.

The avalanche struck in the Albaron area, the mayor of nearby Bonneval-sur-Arc, Gabriel Blanc, told AFP.

'We know from a reliable source that there were only three' victims, Blanc added.

French media reported that the victims included two men and a woman and were experienced hikers (file photo of the French Alps)

The three were headed toward the Col du Greffier, the mayor said. Authorities do not know what caused the avalanche, which slammed the skiers on to a rocky ridge.

They had left the village of Bonneval-sur-Arc in the morning via a normal cross-country route that runs along the slopes of the resort.

The resort is currently closed for the season, but it still has good snow cover.

The skiers were on the right-hand side of the pass when falling snow forced them off the edge, according to Le Dauphine.

Officials said the search and rescue mission ended just after 2pm local time. Earlier in the day, a CRS Alpes de Modane visited the scene in a helicopter to search for additional victims.

The winter period in the French Alps has passed, while mild temperatures, rain and snowfall over the last several days have weakened the snowpack, making skiing conditions risky.
The teen wanted for body-slamming a 68-year-old woman and then dragging her into a pool in a shocking viral video has turned himself into police.

Leon Balfour, 16, turned himself into police Monday evening, saying 'I messed up and I have to own up to it.'

He was charged with one count of battery on a person 65 years of age or older. Video shows him arriving at the Broward County juvenile detention center Monday night. He is set to make his first court appearance sometime Tuesday.

'Im very happened that they caught the person,' victim Nancy James told CBS Miami.

Scroll down for video

The teen wanted for throwing a 68-year-old woman into a pool at a ruckus pool party this weekend in North Lauderdale, Florida has turned himself into police. Sixteen-year-old Leon Balfour is pictured above arriving at juvenile hall Monday night

Witness video shows the moment James stopped by a ruckus pool party in her townhouse complex Saturday evening to ask the teens to turn down the music.

Several neighbors had called police to complain about the music, but sheriff's deputies were slow to arrive. So James, who is the director of the board for the townhomes, decided to stop by to ask the teens to turn down the music herself.

'We were just asking them, "lower the volume,"' James told WSVN. 'I didn't care what they were doing. It's not my job to police the place.'

Victim Nancy James said she's happy the person responsible is facing up to his actions

The 68-year-old woman was left with bruises to her shoulder and leg after the incident

Some of the partygoers then started to yell 'Throw her in!' and Balfour complied.

Balfour lifted James up and then body-slammed her to the ground, while she was still holding on to the leashes of her two dogs.

It's unclear if Balfour meant to body-slam James or if he slipped. Either way, it didn't stop him from continuing the attack. Once he got up, he dragged the woman into the pool with him. Her dogs were luckily able to escape before being pulled into the water.

The video ends with most of the teens fleeing the scene.

A viral video shows James going to ask the partygoers to turn down their music

Some of the revelers start yelling to 'throw her in!' and that's when Balfour grabbed her

After body slamming James to the ground, he drags her into the pool and jumps in after her

A sheriff's deputy who responded to the incident wrote that James was 'very frightened and upset' and was 'drenched in the water from her shoulders down'. She had her cellphone and her key fob in her pocket when she went into the water.

'No one should ever, ever, ever, ever, have to go through that, you know?' James told WPLG. 'It just shouldn't happen. The kid has not evolved yet into what you're supposed to be as a human being.'

When she spoke out to local news outlets following the incident, James sported a large bruise on her shoulder and one on her leg.

James declined to be taken to the hospital at the scene, neighbors told WPLG that she did end up going to the emergency room later. Another friend told WTVJ that James had recently undergone hip surgery.

While most of the 200 or so partygoers fled the scene, James says that a few stayed behind to help her and track down her dogs.

'Thank God, nice kids that live here, they helped me,' she said. 'They went and they found my dog for me. The kids that live here are wonderful kids.'

The Broward Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the incident and is looking to speak to more witnesses.
Most Australian workers will pay higher taxes from 2019, while the big banks are hit with a $6.2 billion levy, as the Turnbull government seeks to pay for disability insurance and balance the books.

Treasurer Scott Morrison has pitched his second budget delivered on Tuesday as making the right choices to take Australian families and businesses out of a 'difficult period'.

The 2017/18 budget projects a return to balance in 2020/21, improving from a deficit of $29.4 billion to a projected surplus of $7.4 billion within four years.

'This budget is about making the right choices to secure the better days ahead,' Mr Morrison told parliament on Tuesday.

Treasurer Scott Morrison (pictured) has pitched his second budget delivered on Tuesday as making the right choices to take Australian families and businesses out of a 'difficult period'

Mr Morrison announced a 0.5 percentage point rise in the Medicare levy will kick-in from mid-2019 (stock image)

The rise in the Medicare levy will held fund the national disability insurance scheme (stock image)

A 0.5 percentage point rise in the Medicare levy from mid-2019 will cost a worker on $80,000 about $400 extra a year to fund the national disability insurance scheme.

Labor immediately described it as a tax hit to workers, while the highest income earners were relieved of the deficit levy in the budget, but the opposition will consider supporting the rise.

The opposition will support a levy on big five banks, which will raise $6.2 billion over four years for budget repair.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the government was playing catch-up and trying to neutralise issues, rather than directly address problems.

'The only people who will see better days from this budget are big business and the well-off,' he said.

In a bid to reset the 'Mediscare' debate, the coalition will gradually lift the freeze on the indexation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule and reverse the removal of the bulk-billing incentive for X-rays and and pathology services and the increase in the PBS co-payment and related changes.

A 0.5 percentage rise in the Medicare levy will cost a worker on $80,000 about $400 extra a year (stock image)

Labor immediately described the rise in the Medicare Levy as a tax hit to workers (stock image)

Treasurer Scott Morrison also announced a levy on the big banks, which will raise $6.2 billion over four years for budget repair (stock image)

This comes at a cost of $2.2 billion over four years.

Mr Morrison also announced new laws to 'guarantee' Medicare and the PBS, with proceeds from the Medicare levy and a portion of income tax paid into a new Medicare Guarantee Fund.

A new schools funding plan announced last week was confirmed, costing an extra $18.6 billion over the next 10 years

Pensioners hit by an assets test change introduced earlier this year will get their concession cards back.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen (pictured) said the government was playing catch-up and trying to neutralise issues, rather than directly address problems

Treasurer Scott Morrison receives a pat on the back from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after delivering the Federal Budget in Parliament on Tuesday night

First home buyers will be able to save for a deposit by salary sacrificing into their superannuation account over and above their compulsory superannuation contribution from July 1.

Downsizers over the age of 65 will be able to make a non-concessional contribution of up to $300,000 into their super fund from selling the family home.

Economic growth of 2.75 per cent in 2017/18 is expected to be driven by a rise in household consumption, non-mining business investment and exports.

The jobless rate is set to ease from 5.75 per cent this year to 5.25 per cent in 2020/21.

Infrastructure received a boost with the government injecting up to $5.3 billion into the new Western Sydney airport and $8.4 billion for the 1700km Melbourne to Brisbane inland rail project.

Treasurer Scott Morrison's latest Federal Budget says economic growth of 2.75 per cent in 2017/18 is expected to be driven by a rise in household consumption, non-mining business investment and exports (pictured are Budget papers)

A $1.2 billion skills fund to provide new apprenticeships will be paid for by a foreign worker levy.

Defence spending will hit two per cent of GDP by 2020/21.

A further tax office crackdown on multinationals is set to reap $4 billion this year, with other tax measures - including allowing fewer deductions for negative gearers - to boost revenue by $2.1 billion over four years.

The government's overall gross debt is heading to $606 billion within four years, which has been met with concern by business groups.

Infrastructure received a boost with the government injecting up to $5.3 billion into the new Western Sydney airport (pictured is a design for the airport)

'We are pleased to see action to achieve a surplus by 2020/21, but are concerned that most of the improvement to the bottom line comes from more taxes rather than less spending,' Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson said.

Unions said the budget waged war on the vulnerable through cuts to welfare and higher university fees.

'This budget is an admission that the last four years of coalition government have been an economic disaster for working people,.' ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.
More British troops could be deployed to Afghanistan amid rising fears over security in the troubled country.

NATO has asked the UK to consider sending more personnel in order to help shore up the government.

Combat operations in Afghanistan ended in 2014, but there are currently about 500 troops providing security in Kabul and training at the Afghan Officer Academy.

UK forces ended combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, but have still been helping out with training and protection duties (file pictured from Helmand province in 2015)

Nato secretary general Jens Stolteberg is due to meet Theresa May (pictured on the campaign trail today) at Downing Street tomorrow

A request is said to have been made over the past few weeks for the force strength to be increased.

The Taliban have been creeping back, including regaining ground in Sangin province where many British soldiers lost their lives.

Nato's secretary general Jens Stolteberg is due to meet Theresa May at Downing Street on Wednesday and the subject is expected to be discussed.

US President Donald Trump is also considering increasing the military presence in Afghanistan to try to stabilise the situation.

American military chiefs have been suggesting at least 3,000 more US troops should be deployed.

There are 13,000 Nato troops in the country at present, 8,400 of them from the US.

Western special forces have continued to provide support to Afghan troops despite the formal end of combat operations.

An MOD spokesman said:'The UK keeps its contribution in Afghanistan under regular review to ensure it remains suited for the requirements of the mission.'

Mr Stoltenberg is said to have made the request for more troops over the past few weeks
A drunk passenger almost forced a plane to divert when she threatened to open the emergency doors mid-air unless she was served more vodka.

Carola Conti, 26, and her 27-year-old boyfriend Antony Grant were both spared jail despite swearing at passengers, banging chairs, spilling drinks and arguing with cabin crew on a 13 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to London.

When they were arrested at Heathrow at 11.30pm on March 7 the couple claimed they weren't drunk on Malaysian Airlines flight MH02, an aircraft with a capacity of 494 passengers.

But the pair later admitted one count each of entering an aircraft while drunk and one count of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner towards a member of cabin staff.

Carola Conti (left), 26, and her 27-year-old boyfriend Antony Grant (right) were both spared jail despite swearing at passengers, banging chairs, spilling drinks and arguing with cabin crew

The couple, who had been travelling in Cambodia, were flying from Kuala Lumpur to London

Both Conti and Grant had been travelling in Cambodia but stayed nearly twice as long as they intended after Grant was bitten by a poisonous spider and needed hospital treatment.

Conti had taken Valium on the flight for anxiety and both took diazepam before boarding to help them sleep, on the advice of a Malaysian pharmacist.

At Isleworth Crown Court today, Grant, wearing a dark grey suit, white shirt and blue tie, sat in the dock alongside Conti, dressed in a dark jacket, trousers and thick rimmed glasses.

The charges carry a maximum of two years jail but the pair were ordered to carry out community service and pay costs.

Ruxana Nasser prosecuting said: 'This is a serious case of being drunk on a aircraft.

'It was early in the morning at about 5am when two passengers boarded the plane.

'As they boarded passengers pointed out the defendants because they were clearly in a state of drunkenness.

'They accepted they were both drunk and abusing their fellow passengers and swearing at each other.

Conti (pictured) had taken Valium on the flight for anxiety and both took diazepam before boarding to help them sleep, on the advice of a Malaysian pharmacist

'The female defendant, Miss Conti, had difficulty with a screen whilst she was watching a film.

'Particularly Miss Conti was upset at the fact the screen in front of her was not working and clearly disturbing the passenger in front of her as she banged the seat.

'Some passengers tried to move away from the defendants, the crew were called and they asked for more drinks from the crew member.

'The crew warned them about their drinking and and that they needed to stop and allowed them to have one more drink.

'The crew then received further abuse from both Grant and Conti.

'They both began to become argumentative between themselves, the other passengers and crew.'

Pilot Nik Majid, who had worked with Malaysia Airlines for 37 years, said he nearly had to divert the plane because of the disruption.

Conti and Grant (pictured) were travelling in Cambodia but stayed nearly twice as long as planned after he was bitten by a poisonous spider and needed hospital treatment

In a statement he said: 'Around four hours into the flight I received a call from the crew saying there were two disruptive passengers at the back of the aircraft.

'They were so disruptive other passengers were getting involved and the crew were so concerned that as the safety of the passengers and the aircraft is my primary concern, I believed in the set of circumstances I needed to divert the aircraft.

'This request was granted and this information was relayed to the passengers as a final warning.

'Fortunately the passengers had calmed down and fallen asleep.

'In my 37 years of being a pilot this is the first time I have ever considered diverting the aircraft.'

Fellow passenger Philippa Drinkwater who was sitting next to the couple in the aisle seat, said Conti demanded more alcohol from staff and threatened to open the emergency exit if she was not given it.

She said: 'Immediately I could see they had both been drinking and were bumping into things.

'The male passenger said "we've both been drinking so might be getting up to use the loo, sorry about that".

'The female seemed aggravated and said to the male "f*** off I'm sitting next to the window".

'I became uncomfortable with them sitting next to me and hoped they would fall sleep.

'Both were fidgeting and huddling together.

'She became annoyed at the screen and began poking it. She also spilt water all down herself and me.

'The crew came over and the female was angry because they wouldn't give her another drink, she said "I f***ing paid for this, I could get up and open that door over there", meaning the emergency door.

Today Conti (left) and Grant (right) were fined and ordered to carry out community service

'I found the volatile behaviour of Miss Conti unacceptable and asked to be moved away from them.'

The court heard the couple had been travelling for 30 hours straight from Koh Chang in Thailand to Bangkok, then got three hours sleep before leaving for Kuala Lumpur and waiting nine hours for their flight to the UK.

Natasha Wong, defending, claimed Conti took steroids she bought in a Cambodian pharmacy to cope with her condition, known as hydroxylase deficiency, which causes excess testosterone to be produced.

She said: 'Both defendants are extremely sorry for their inexcusable behaviour.

'Miss Conti took these steroids because she believed they would help her condition. Who knows what she was really taking.

'Mr Grant was trying to smooth the situation.'

Judge Jonathan Ferris said: 'It's very unpleasant for passengers on a potentially 13 hour flight to be next to drunk and aggressive, possibly dangerous, passengers.

She said "I f***ing paid for this, I could get up and open that door over there", meaning the emergency door Fellow passenger Philippa Drinkwater on Conti's behaviour

'Miss Conti is smiling, she may not regard herself dangerous, but believing she may open the emergency door, people who may suffer from the same anxieties as you may find the experience frightening - it is extremely unattractive.

'She knew she had that condition and should not have got drunk before a flight.

'They were drunk before they got on the plane and continued to drink on it, then were abusive to passengers and staff.'

Judge Ferris, addressing the defendants, added: 'You behaved in an abusive and threatening manner.

'As a result of your behaviour your fellow travellers around you experienced a very unpleasant flight.

'The pilot was so concerned he considered diverting the plane. There's no excuse for this behaviour.

'Miss Conti, your behaviour was much worse as you threatened to open the emergency door if you didn't receive more alcohol.'

Conti, of Hove, East Sussex, was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay 530 in costs.

Grant, of Sevenoaks, Kent, will have to do 150 hours unpaid work and pay 530 costs.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie insisted on Tuesday that President Donald Trump 'acted decisively' to fire his national security advisor in February, despite revelations on Monday that it took him 18 days to throw him overboard after learning he was at risk of being blackmailed by Russia.

Then-acting attorney general Sally Yates testified Monday in a U.S. Senate hearing that she told White House counsel Don McGahn, less than a week into the Trump presidency, that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

Christie conceded on 'Good Morning America' that it's unclear why Flynn's ouster came more than two weeks later.

'I don't know what other work they were doing to try to check out what the acting attorney general had told them. But I think in the end what really matters is that the president acted decisively, very early in the administration, to get rid of General Flynn,' he said.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie praise Donald Trump for 'decisively' firing General Michael Flynn, even though it took the White House 18 days to do it after learning that Flynn was a compromised security risk

Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates testified on Monday that she warned the White House about contacts between Flynn and Russia that might make him vulnerable to blackmail

Christie said he spoke with President Trump the day after Flynn was removed from his post.

'I told him I thought it was the right decision, and I think he did the right thing by making sure General Flynn was no longer in the White House and no longer in a position of influence,' he said.

Christie also insisted he never saw any 'red flags' suggesting Flynn was compromised, although 'he was not always my cup of tea in terms of style, and I made that clear to the candidate at the time.

Christie also said on 'Good Morning America' that he has inside information suggesting that reports of a 95 per cent budget cut to the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy are baseless.

'I have a good reason to believe it's not going to happen,' he said.

'I believe there will be funding, and I think that funding will take different forms as well.'

Flynn lied to the vice president about contacts he had with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.  something Yates spelled out in detail to the White House, based on secret phone taps

The Trump administration is reportedly weighing a cut of almost 95 per cent of the governmental agency that combats drug use, but Christie says it won't happen

Trump promised during his campaign that he would tackle the nation's opioid addiction problem.

The ONDCP coordinates much of the United States' drug strategy, including responses to drug trafficking.

'These drastic proposed cuts are frankly heartbreaking and, if carried out, would cause us to lose many good people who contribute greatly to ONDCP's mission and core activities,' Richard Baum, acting director, wrote on Friday in a staff memo.

 Good Morning America (@GMA) May 9, 2017

Sarah Sanders, a White House spokesperson, said Friday that the president is committed to taking on this crisis, and dismissed reports about the proposed budget cuts.

'We haven't had a final document and I think it would be ridiculous to comment on a draft version of something at this point.'

Trump is scheduled to release his budget proposal for the 2018 fiscal year later this month.
Mom arrested: Kristal Richard, 33, has been charged with two counts of child neglect for allegedly keeping her young sons in filthy kennel-like boxes

A West Virginia mother-of-two has been arrested after authorities say they found her two young sons locked inside filthy enclosures similar to dog kennels.

Kristal Richard, 33, of Kanawha County, is accused of locking her children, ages two and five, in boxes made of tarp, plywood and mesh.

According to a criminal complaint, officers conducted a welfare check on Monday after receiving an anonymous tip.

Troopers who responded to Richard's home in the 3000 block of East River View Drive in Shrewbury say they found her children naked in feces- and urine-ridden boxes.

The younger of the two victims was sitting in a box that was 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide, while his older brother was in an even smaller enclosure.

The kennel-like boxes contained no beds for the children, who had no access to a bathroom and would relieve themselves inside the enclosures.

Richard, of West Virginia (left and right), admitted to locking her boys, ages 2 and 5, in boxes made of tarp, plywood and mesh for most of the day. When troopers rescued the older boy from his kennel-like enclosure, the child exclaimed, 'Yippee!'

Some toys and food were found on the floor of both boxes, where walls were smeared with feces and urine, reported the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

Troopers reported than when they rescued the 5-year-old from the kennel, the child exclaimed, 'Yippee!'

When questioned by the troopers, Richard admitted to placing the children in the box, and locking them in there for most of the day. She also reportedly said that she was unfit to care for children.

West Virginia Illustrated reported that Child Protective Services removed Richard's sons from the home and later released them into the custody of other relatives.

Richard was charged with two counts of child neglect and ordered held at South Central Regional Jail on $10,000 cash-only bond.
Robert De Niro slammed Donald Trump's 'draconian cuts' to arts funding as 'bulls**t.'

The veteran actor was speaking at a gala in his honor at the David Koch Theater, New York, as he accepted the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 44th annual Chaplin Award.

In his acceptance speech, he laid into the president's cuts to health care and the arts, and even referenced Trump's less than complimentary words about Oscar-winner Meryl Streep.

Robert De Niro (left at the David Koch Theater, New York, on Monday) slammed Donald Trump's (right) 'draconian cuts' to arts funding as 'bulls**t'

De Niro said that Hollywood aimed to make movies that entertained, and they were judged by the critics, the audiences who would pay to see them, and by the awards it received.

But he said Trump and his administration, 'for their own divisive political purposes' had claimed that money for these 'all-inclusive programs goes to rich liberal elites.'

'This is what they now call an 'alternative fact,' but I call it bullshit.'

He joked that he did not need to make movies for the rich liberal elite as, 'I've got my restaurants for that.'

The Godfather star added that he was concerned about the government's 'hostility towards art.'

'The budget proposal, among its other draconian cuts to life-saving and life-enhancing programs, eliminates the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In his acceptance speech, he laid into the president's cuts to health care and the arts, and even referenced Trump's less than complimentary words about Oscar-winner Meryl Streep (pictured with him and Christopher Walken during the 44th Chaplin Award Gala)

De Niro's speech was met with applause by the crowd at the event which also saw tributes from Streep, Barry Levinson and Ben Stiller while Michael Douglas presented a video on initiative Film Lives Everywhere

'By being here tonight, you are supporting arts for everyone,' he said onstage, reported Deadline.

'You're supporting the slapstick of Charlie Chaplin, the great body of work of Marty Scorsese and Barry Levinson, the dumb-ass comedies of Robert De Niro, the 'overrated performances of Meryl Streep' and your own taste and needs.'

De Niro's speech was met with applause by the crowd at the event which also saw tributes from Streep - a former recipient of the award - Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, Harvey Keitel and Ben Stiller.

Michael Douglas presented a video on initiative Film Lives Everywhere, while Martin Scorsese, presented the career honor to De Niro.

De Niro has been an outspoken critic of Trump ever since he announced he was running for president.

The Taxi Driver star previously launched into a rant against the businessman while filming a political testimony video =called #VoteYourFuture.

Robert Deniro and wife Grace Hightower during the 44th Chaplin Award Gala at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center

'I mean, he's so blatantly stupid. He's a punk. He's a dog. He's a pig. He's a con, a bulls*** artist. A mutt who doesn't know what he's talking about,' De Niro said at the time.

The actor even said he wanted to punch then-candidate Trump in October - a threat he repeated in February.

When asked by The View host Joy Behar about his wish to hit the president, De Niro responded: 'I said that because he said that about somebody, that he would like to punch them in the face. How dare he say that to the crowd? How dare he say the things he does? Of course I want to punch him in the face.'

He told Behar that his comments were 'only a symbolic thing', adding that 'it wasn't like I was going to go find him and punch him in the face'.
Mohammed Chaudhari is accused of spending huge sums of EU cash given to him to set up English classes for migrants in Birmingham

An alleged fraudster bought a Bentley and holidays in Dubai after securing 1.1million from an EU fund for immigrants, a court heard.

Mohammed Chaudhari, 37, used bogus documents to secure grants for schemes promoting 'social, cultural, and economic integration' in the UK, it is claimed.

The money, from the EU Integration Fund, was intended to help immigrants learn English through projects in Birmingham called 'Integrating Communities' and 'Communities Welcome'.

But Chaudhari used it to buy a 55,000 Bentley Continental, holidays to the Middle East, jewellery and luxury goods, jurors were told.

Southwark Crown Court heard Home Office officials tasked with ensuring the money was being used properly 'didn't have the resources to really closely scrutinise every document'.

Chaudhari denies fraud and claims he was set up by colleagues at his Birmingham-based businesses Inspire Futures and Accent on Training, which ran the projects.

His sister Suraiya Alam, 43, and Victoria Sherrey, 66, are also accused of joining the scam between 2010-2015, while Theresa May was Home Secretary.

Prosecutor Edmund Vickers QC said: 'Your speciality is pulling the wool over people's eyes, isn't it Mr Chaudhari?

Your speciality is faking documents. Your speciality is providing documents that look like genuine documents but are false.'

The defendant replied: 'No, Mr Vickers.'

His sister Suraiya Alam (left) and Victoria Sherrey (right) are also accused of joining the scam

Jurors heard Chaudhari used 20,000 from a company account that had received cash from the European Integration Fund towards the purchase of a 55,000 Bentley Continental.

Mr Vickers said: 'Did everyone drive a Bentley at Inspire Futures Group? Did anyone else have a personal registration number?'

Chaudhari replied: 'No. No they didn't.'

He is also said to have bought jewellery and luxury goods while on holiday in Dubai, despite officially earning just 35,000 a year after tax.

Chaudhari claimed to have paid for the trips 'through my own salary' and 'used my company credit card' to pay for luxury goods.

He accepted there had been a fraud at the companies but insisted he had been set up by colleagues including former Inspire Futures IT manager Daniel Douglas, who has previous convictions for theft and handling stolen goods, the court heard.

'Clearly there are gaps in the system and employees could benefit from the fraud, this is a not for profit organisation at the end of the day,' he said, adding: 'I believe the real perpetrator was Daniel Douglas.'

Mr Vickers told jurors Chaudhari 'micro-managed everything at Inspire Futures', but the defendant claimed: 'That would be very impossible for an organisation of that size.'

Their trial has begun at Southwark Crown Court. All three deny the charges against them

The defendant, who says he 'hates maths', also claimed the level of alleged fraud 'doesn't add up'.

'Projects were being run, people in the community were benefiting,' he said.

Mr Vickers said: 'It's just nonsense isn't it Mr Chaudhari - you were spending money that you weren't earning, you had come by it fraudulently hadn't you?

'When you say you had worked hard for it all your life and it was a moment of madness, it was just an example of your greed wasn't it, and your ego.'

Chaudhari said: 'No, Mr Vickers.'

Jurors previously heard the defendants were 'cynically taking advantage of the relative ease of granting funding'.

They allegedly made convincing applications by 'providing false documents that appeared to be genuine and when audited by the Home Office they gave the appearance that the money was being properly spent'.

Chaudhari and Alam, both of Birmingham, and Sherrey, of Kidderminster, each deny four counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Chaudhari alone denies eight further counts of fraud. The trial continues
A ten-year-old boy from Tennessee who has suffered from an eye condition since birth leaving him legally blind, is now able to explore the world clearly for first time after being given the gift of sight.

The community of Maryville, Tennessee near Knoxville managed to raise $10,000 for a special kind of electronic eyewear that will allow Andrew Borden to finally see in 20/20 vision.

Once word got out about campaign to raise money for Andrew, the entire school system and others living in town of 28,000 managed to raise the cash in just two days.

Scroll down for video...

Andrew Borden, 10, was born with ocular albinism leaving him with limited eyesight, but his school and community helped to purchase a $10,000 pair of glasses to help him see better

Andrew was given the glasses in a surprise assembly in front of his entire school

Andrew did not know what to expect as he was invited to open his present

Andrew's smile says it all as he shows off his new pair of glasses, ably assisted by dad, Justin

But how the caring community ended up giving the youngster the surprise that will change his life, had to be seen to be believed.

During a school assembly at Lanier Elementary, a teacher, Renee Powell, made an announcement.

'We had a package arrive at the school that needs to be opened. Are there any fourth graders with a birthday? You're the closest why don't you come up,' she said encouraging Andrew to come up to the stage.

The youngster eagerly ran up to the stage where his dad was waiting for him next to a wrapped box.

Upon opening the package he discovered a strange-looking pair of glasses which were in fact his new eSight eyewear.

The device is essentially a visor in which he puts his current glasses. On the outside are two cameras, a light in the front and a handheld remote.

The headsets from eSight transmit images from a forward-facing camera to small internal screens - one for each eye - in a way that beams the video into the wearer's peripheral vision.

The glasses allow Andrew to zoom into and out of images and even pause video

In the past, the little boy has had to look at things extremely close-up in order to see them

Andrew was was born with ocular albinism which affects at least 1 in 60,000 males

Video courtesy of WATE

It turns out to be all that some Andrew, who has limited vision, needs to see things he never could before.

He visual impairments degrade his central vision but his peripheral vision is largely intact.

Although eSight's glasses won't help people with total blindness, they could still be a huge deal for the millions of peoples whose vision is so impaired that it can't be corrected with ordinary lenses.

Andrew was born with ocular albinism and missed many of life's moments growing up, just because he couldn't see them very well.

With the aid of this new device, he is able to zoom in and out, and even pause live video  allowing him to correct his own vision.

The glasses let Andrew magnify the video feed up to 24 times. There's a hand control for adjusting brightness and contrast. The new glasses also come with a powerful high-definition camera.

Upon putting on the life-changing glasses, the little boy looked to be completely overwhelmed as he realized it would change the way he views his world forever.

'I've just been waiting and waiting - and now they're here!' said Andrew excitedly.

His family say the sky is the limit from here on out and they want to take their son to places old and new so that he can finally see the world for what it is.

Dad, Justin, and mom, Jennifer, say they have been overwhelmed with the level of support

WHAT IS ALBINISM? Albinism is inherited via a recessive gene that is passed from both the mother and the father of a person affected with the condition

It causes the body to be unable, or have limited ability to produce melanin which is responsible for the colouring in skin, hair and eyes

Albinism can affect the eyes, skin and hair (Oculocutaneous Albinism) or only the eyes (Ocular Albinism)

Most people with albinism have some degree of vision impairment, many are classed as legally blind Advertisement

Andrew's mom and dad have been overwhelmed with the amount love and support they have received from the community and say they had been waiting for this say for a very long time.

'Over the past few months I'd sit up at night after everybody went to bed and search the internet because I knew there had to be something out there,' said his father Justin Borden to WATE.

Mom, Jennifer, paid tribute to everyone that donated, 'It was people you don't even know, and there were a lot of anonymous donations on there. People that didn't even want you to know they gave money,' she said.
Alison Gray, 33, spent her week-long trip in Marmaris, Turkey, in a wheelchair

A mother spent her honeymoon in a wheelchair after being knocked down by a dinghy on a hotel waterslide.

Alison Gray, 33, hoped to spend her week-long trip in Marmaris, Turkey, swimming, diving and relaxing with new husband Brian, 39.

But the trip was ruined after she was 'wiped out' by fellow holidaymakers at the bottom of a waterslide - and was left fearing she had broken her neck.

She needed seven stitches in her chin and shin at a local hospital, was bandaged up and put in a wheelchair for the remainder of the holiday.

'Most couples say their honeymoon is their trip of a lifetime but for us it was a nightmare,' said Alison, a travel adviser.

Teaching assistant Brian and Alison met at a Holiday Inn in January 2013 and tied the knot there in January 2016, but waited until Easter for the week-long stay at a resort in Marmaris, Turkey.

'Brian and I are both adrenaline junkies so we planned lots of activities,' she added.

But disaster struck on the second day as they tried out the hotel's waterslide.

Alison and Brian Gray on the flight to their honeymoon destination in Marmaris, before the waterslide accident

She needed seven stitches in her chin and shin at a local hospital after being hit by the dinghy

She explained: 'It was a giant U-shaped slide, and the idea was to climb in a double dinghy and slide down until you come to a halt.

'Both Brian and I are thrill-seekers so we were having a great time.

'As we slowed to a halt at the bottom of the slide, we must have been obscured from the lifeguard's view because the next couple came hurtling towards us as we were walking off the slide.

'I was sent flying head over heels before smashing down onto the slide as the dinghy went up the other side.

'I remember everything going red and fuzzy before Brian yanked me off the slide to protect me, as the other dinghy was coming back down and threatened to knock me over again.'

The mother-of-two, from Bilton, East Yorkshire, tells how onlookers 'thought she'd broken her neck' from the way she hit the slide.

Unable to walk, the mum was rushed to Ahu Hastanesi Hospital where she was given x-rays and tests.

The happy couple cut their wedding cake during their wedding ceremony at the same Holiday Inn where they met in 2013

The mother-of-two, from Bilton, East Yorkshire, tells how onlookers 'thought she'd broken her neck' from the way she hit the slide

She had stitches in her chin and shin and was given a wheelchair for two days before she was transferred to crutches.

'I was gutted and completely shaken up,' she said. 'For one thing I was in a great deal of pain, which is the last thing you want on your honeymoon.

'And I also felt quite traumatised knowing the damage to my body could have been far worse.

'As it was we couldn't go for long romantic walks on the beach and I had to miss out on all the active things we'd planned. We had to cancel our mud baths and couldn't even swim in the pool.

'We went on a boat trip one day and I had to stay on board while Brian and all the other passengers jumped into the sea, I felt really resentful about it.

'The hotel staff were very apologetic and I know it was a complete accident, but I was really disappointed.

The 33-year-old had to spend the rest of her holiday on crutches following the waterslide incident

The slide that Alison Gray was standing at the bottom of when she was hit by the inflatable raft

Unable to walk, the mum was rushed to Ahu Hastanesi Hospital where she was given x-rays (left) and tests before being put in the wheelchair

'As we both have children it's really rare for Brian and I to have a holiday abroad together - so for this one to go so wrong was really sad.'

A year on, the mum - who was left with scarring following the ordeal - admits she avoids taking her children swimming and still feels upset about the events on her honeymoon.

'It's a shame that it went so wrong as Brian and I will never have another honeymoon,' she said.

'We've taken the kids on holiday since as a family, and thankfully there were no more collisions at the pool.

'But I imagine I'll always be nervous around waterslides.'
Douglas Herridge at court today in Maidstone where he denies murder and manslaughter

An 'aggressive' teenager denies murdering his stepfather with a single punch to the head in a row about money in the family home.

Douglas Herridge, then 17, hit Colin Payne, 54, with what was described as a catastrophic blow which led rapidly to his death.

The teenager had been arguing with his mother, Ina, at the Dartford home they shared with his older brother William, and Mr Payne, a national squash champion.

She had refused to lend the 'angry' teenager money, the court heard.

The break-up of the marriage between his parents five years earlier had caused traumatic emotional turmoil, said prosecutor Richard Hearnden, with Herridge becoming 'upset, angry and agitated'.

Mr Hearnden explained that the youngster had previously put his hand on his mother's throat, punched and kicked her, and even tried to push her down the stairs.

His behaviour deteriorated to such an extent that in 2014 it was decided he would live with his natural father, David.

The court heard that he returned to the family home in the summer of 2015 but his attitude and behaviour deteriorated again when he gave up a business course at college after three months and then quit his job with an air-conditioning firm.

Colin Payne with Fredrik Johnson. Mr Payne was a national squash champion and owned three bathroom businesses in Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Mr Payne, himself a father-of-two, had split from former wife Clare (together left) before meeting Ms Herridge. Mr Payne was Kent squash champion on five occasions (right)

Three days before Mr Payne's death, the 6ft 4in, fit and healthy divorcee, himself a father-of-two, told Mrs Herridge he had been frightened of her son when his violent behaviour escalated and he ripped Mr Payne's T-shirt.

The evening Mr Payne's t-shirt was ripped, Herridge had been arguing with his brother about 'highly inappropriate' content on his phone, the court heard.

Mr Payne told Mrs Herridge 'that child can't live in this house any longer behaving like that'.

Mrs Herridge, a risk manager for the NHS, and Mr Payne had contacted social services for help.

The court heard violence flared on the morning of Saturday, November 19 when Herridge told his mum she was treating him unfairly when she would not lend him money.

'He began to get tearful and agitated, he began swearing and flapping his arms about. He was getting wound up and aggressive,' said Mr Hearnden.

He also swore at his mum, calling her a c***.

Mr Payne, a businessman who ran three successful bathroom showrooms in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, had decided to stay at home on his busiest business day because he wanted to support his partner.

Mrs Herridge had been studying at home for a masters degree in executive business administration when she told her son it was 'not appropriate' for him to ask for money given his recent behaviour.

Mr Payne then tried to push the study door open but Herridge pushed back. Mr Payne then managed to open the door.

'He was saying in a fairly firm voice "You cannot talk to your mum like that. You cannot behave like that. You cannot behave like that in this house.",' Mrs Herridge told the jury.

Ms Herridge told the court she saw Douglas hit Colin who then fell to the ground, when she had gone to try to get help from their decorator to split the pair up

Mr Payne won the British over-50s squash title and played for England. The day he died, he had stayed at home from work to support his partner

'They were 20, 30cm apart. Both had raised voices. I stood up off the chair. It just all happened so quickly. I just went between them and said "Can you stop".

'They were holding on to each other. Both had their arms on each other but I don't know where.

'It was like they were in this different world. They didn't hear me.'

Mrs Herridge briefly left the room to call for the decorator Ziad Natour to help. She returned within seconds to hear Douglas calling Mr Payne "a pussy" and him replying "Come on then".

She told the court: 'Then I saw one punch. Douglas punched Colin. It landed on his face on the side of his head.

'Douglas left the room and Colin had his hands at the side of his head. He started going down slowly and I called Zi that I needed his help, to call an ambulance.

'Colin was slowly going down and I thought he still had a level of consciousness. But then he sat down and at that point I could hear him start snoring.

'He was sitting upright but slumped forward. Zi came down and at that point I was checking Colin's breathing and pulse. Being a nurse from my background I knew what to do.'

She could not recall seeing Mr Payne with his hands around Herridge's neck.

A decorator at the house had heard the disturbance and saw Herridge walk calmly out the front door, the court was told. Herridge did not see him collapse.

Mrs Herridge and the workman tried to give CPR to an unconscious Mr Payne. His lips were blue and his breathing sounded like snoring.

Paramedics also battled for almost an hour but were unable to save his life.

Cause of death was a traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage - a brain injury that results from damage to the blood vessels at the base of the brain from a sudden, violent movement.

Mrs Herridge agreed she did not think the single punch from her son, who was actually right-handed, would have such an impact.

Herridge was arrested by the River Darent in the nearby village of Wilmington at 3pm.

Herridge, above, denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter and is standing trial at Maidstone Crown Court

Ina Herridge, who was studying at home for her Masters, had told her son he could not borrow any money, when her partner stepped in to try to calm the situation

He said nothing during his police interviews, other than to confirm his name and date of birth.

Herridge, now 18 and living with his father in West Malling, denies murder and the alternative offence of manslaughter.

The jury was told he claims he acting in self-defence after Mr Payne 'barged' into the room, grabbed him around the neck and tried to throttle him.

Herridge claims his stepfather was choking him when he punched him. The blow had no effect so he punched him again.

The court heard he accepts this punch killed Mr Payne but denies using excessive force.

However, the prosecution said the manner in which the teenager left the house was 'not indicative of a fight in which he was being assaulted, and quite seriously assaulted'.

He did not act in self-defence, added Mr Hearnden.

The prosecutor said: 'Unfortunately the poor and deteriorating behaviour of the defendant is evidence, we say, of a violent temperament and a propensity to lose self- control and become violently aggressive.

'There is simply no evidence that Colin Payne acted other than appropriately with the 17-year-old boy living under his roof.'

Mr Payne had played squash for England and won the British over 50s title. He was also Kent champion on five occasions and won the county over-35 title 10 times.

His partner described him as someone who wouldn't hurt a fly, while he was said to have told people he couldn't 'fight his way out of a paper bag'. They had moved in together in August 2014, having met in February that year.

The trial continues.
Maisa Domingues, 36, who denies causing death by careless driving at the Old Bailey in London, ran over and killed an upholsterer

A careless motorist ran over and killed an upholsterer on a zebra crossing because she failed to look out for pedestrians, a court heard today.

Maisa Domingues, 36, hit Stephen Law, 55, as she drove to work along a 30mph road in New Malden, South London.

Mr Law was flung on to the windscreen and suffered fatal head injuries in the crash at 7am on March 10, 2015.

Domingues, of Hounslow, West London, who had been driving a black Ford Galaxy, later told police she had been watching the car in front of her rather than people on the side of the road.

Emily Dummett, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey: 'That was driving which fell below what would be expected of a careful and competent driver.

'Visibility was good, the road was dry and the traffic was light but building.

'There were no mechanical flaws to her vehicle and she wasn't travelling at excessive speed, she wasn't using her mobile phone and she wasn't under the influence of drugs or other medications.

Stephen Law, 55, was flung on to the windscreen and suffered fatal head injuries in the crash

'It was her failure to be diligent to look out for pedestrians, which is a basic and fundamental requirement as you approach a pedestrian crossing, which led to his death.'

CCTV cameras captured Mr Law walking to the zebra crossing near the junction of Kingston Road with Dunbar Road but did not record the collision.

Three other drivers who witnessed the collision told police that they saw Mr Law - who had cannabis in his system - and prepared to stop to allow him to cross.

Mr Law crossed to the central reservation without problem. But jurors heard he may not have checked before he stepped off it to cross the north side of the carriageway.

CCTV cameras captured Mr Law walking to the zebra crossing near the junction of Kingston Road with Dunbar Road (file picture) in New Malden, South London

Domingues hit Mr Law in the middle of the crossing, causing him multiple injuries. He was taken to St George's Hospital but died at 7.30pm.

Miss Dummett said there was no dispute that Domingues caused Mr Law's death.

She added: 'After the collision Domingues told police she had been watching the car in front of her which had been about five metres (16ft) ahead of her, rather than pedestrians coming from the side on to the crossing.'

Domingues denies causing death by careless driving. The trial continues.
The EU flag flies outside Parliament today to mark Europe Day. Ukip wants to ban it

Britain should mark Brexit by banning the EU flag from being flown on public buildings, Ukip has said.

The blue-starry flag is flying outside Parliament and other public buildings today to mark Europe Day - which celebrates cooperation in the EU.

But Ukip leader Paul Nuttall said the celebration is a waste of money which is as outdated as Empire day.

He compared hoisting the flag in front of public building to singing Beethoven's Ode To Joy - the EU anthem - and called for it to be scrapped when Britain leaves the bloc.

He said: 'Across Parliament square we see the flags of our many of our friends across the continent proudly displayed.

'But it is as relevant as the UK celebrating Empire day.

'That time has passed, and the idea that we in the UK will go out and proudly wave the blue starry flag and sing the Ode to Joy with gusto is laughable.'

He added: 'What isn't laughable is the cost of all this jollity, a cost picked up by the British taxpayer. It is time that the idea of Europe Day be put out to grass.

'It is time, since the referendum for our taxpayers to stop paying for such propaganda. It is time that we institute a rule.

'From March 31 2019, when Britain leaves the EU for good, that the EU flag, and all it represents be banished from any public building and it becomes treated, as it should, as a form of corporate advertising.'

The EU flag hangs in Parliament Square alongside the national flags of the member states to mark Europe Day

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, pictured at a campaign launch in London yesterday, has called for a ban on the EU flag being flown outside public buildings after the UK leaves the bloc

Europe Day marks the early steps towards economic and political integration in Europe .

It commemorates the Schuman Declaration of May 9 1950, when the then French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community,

Its members agreed to pool coal and steel production under one common high authority.

The declaration states: 'Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan.

'It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.'

It was a precursor to the increased political and economic integration which has proceeded over the next 67 years.
A man has survived a brutal crocodile attack that left him with bite wounds to his chest and arm.

The 54-year-old man was wading through a waterway near the remote community of Palumpa, in the Northern Territory, on Tuesday night when the crocodile struck.

He was rushed to Palumpa medical clinic, before being airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital at 6.40pm to undergo further treatment for bites to the chest and arm.

A man has survived a brutal crocodile attack that left him with bite wounds to his chest and arm

The man was 'bleeding a lot' but was 'in good spirits' while he was being treated, a CareFlight spokesman told NT News.

'It's understood the man was wading in a waterway near the Palumpa community when he was attacked by a crocodile estimated to be two metres in length.'

After the attack, the man was driven to the Palumpa medical clinic where the bites on his chest and arm were attended too, before he was airlifted in the NT CareFlight Rescue Helicopter.

He was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital in a stable condition.

The area of the 54-year-old's attack, known at the Daly River region, has a history of crocodile attacks.

Father-of-two Keith Parry, 20, was killed by a 4m crocodile while swimming across the Daly River in April 2009, according to NT News.

Peter Rowsell was attacked last Anzac Day while sleeping in his tent at Palm Creek, sustaining injuries to his right foot.

After the attack, the man was driven to the Palumpa medical clinic , before he was airlifted in the NT CareFlight Rescue Helicopter (pictured)
A seventh grader in Ohio was suspended from his middle school for 10 days after liking a photo of a gun on Instagram.

Zachary Bowlin was given the harsh punishment from staff at Edgewood Middle School in Trenton after he liked the social media post showing an airsoft gun that shoots pellets with the caption: 'Ready'.

'I liked it, scrolling down Instagram at night about 7, 8 o'clock I liked it,' Zachary told WXIX. 'The next morning they called me down (to the office) patted me down and checked me for weapons.'

He told WCMH, 'I don't think I did anything wrong... Then, they told me I was getting expelled or suspended or whatever.'

The middle school student was sent home with a note to his parents about the cause of his suspension Thursday.

Scroll down for video

Zachary Bowlin (pictured) received a 10-day suspension from Edgewood Middle School after he liked the social media post showcasing an airsoft gun on Instagram. The caption of the photo said, 'Ready.'

He said: 'I liked it, scrolling down Instagram (post above) at night about 7, 8 o'clock I liked it. The next morning they called me down (to the office) patted me down and checked me for weapons.'

The student was sent home with a note from Edgewood Middle School (above) officials at the school to notify his parents about the cause of his suspension

The letter said he was suspended for 'liking a post on social media that indicated potential school violence.'

His father, Martin Bowlin, said he was upset when his son came home.

'I was livid,' he told WCMH. 'He never shared, he never commented, never made a threatening post  [he] just liked it.'

His mother, Cindy Martin, took to Facebook to express her frustration with the situation.

'This sickens me! Not anywhere on the boys Instagram post did it say anything about taking a gun to school. This is a bunch of s*** if I ever seen any....... SMH,' she wrote.

'People wake up and teach your children right from wrong and teach them not to blow s*** out of proportion.

'Now 2 innocent harmless boys got in trouble over some pansy cry bag making s*** up!'

Courtesy of FOX19

His father, Martin Bowlin (pictured together), said he was upset when his son came home and was suspended. He said: 'I was livid. He never shared, he never commented, never made a threatening post  [he] just liked it.'

His mother, Cindy Martin, took to Facebook to express her frustration with the situation

Russ Fussnecker, the superintendent of Edgewood City Schools released a statement to WXIX that said: 'Concerning the recent social media posting of a gun with the caption "Ready", and the liking of this post by another student, the policy at Edgewood City Schools reads as follows:

'"The Board has a 'zero tolerance' of violent, disruptive, harassing, intimidating, bullying, or any other inappropriate behavior by its students."

'Furthermore, the policy states: "Students are also subject to discipline as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct that occurs off school property when the misbehavior adversely affects the educational process."

Administrators at the school agreed to lift Zachary's suspension after speaking with his parents. Cindy shared another post on Facebook after the suspension was lifted to thank people for their support

'As the Superintendent of the Edgewood City Schools, I assure you that any social media threat will be taken seriously, including those who "like" the post when it potentially endangers the health and safety of students or adversely affects the educational process.'

Administrators at the school agreed to lift Zachary's suspension after speaking with his parents and he was allowed to go to school on Monday.

Cindy shared another post on Facebook after the suspension was lifted and wrote: 'Just wanted to let everyone know that the matter we been dealing with over our son 'liking' a picture on Instagram has been resolved.

'Zach is not in any trouble whatsoever, nothing of this matter will be on his school record, it will be like it never ever happened.

'He got to go back to school, he gets to attend his dance and all other school functions.

'I want to say THANK YOU so much to all of our family, friends and all of you who shared our son's story, thank for all of your support, suggestions and kind words, with all of you by our side it made things so much easier to get through!'
Employers will be slugged at least triple the bill to bring foreign workers into the country as the Turnbull government eyes off more than $1 billion in new visa fees.

The federal government has outlined in the budget its plans for scrapping 457 visas for skilled migrants and replacing the scheme with short and medium-term streams.

Application fees for the short-term, two year visas will increase by $90 to $1150, while four-year visa applications will cost $2400 apiece.

The price hikes are expected to bring in an extra $47.6 million over the budget forward estimates.

On top of this, companies will also be slugged whopping annual foreign worker levies.

Employers will be slugged at least triple the bill to bring foreign workers into Australia under changes announced in Tuesday's Federal Budget (stock image)

The federal government outlined in the budget - handed down by Treasurer Scott Morrison (pictured) on Tuesday - its plans for scrapping 457 visas, as they eye off off more than $1 billion in new visa fees

Until now, employers have contributed one of two per cent of their payroll to training if they employed foreign workers.

But the requirements have proved near impossible to police, so the government is tacking a different tack.

From March 2018, businesses that employ foreign workers on certain skilled visas will instead be required to shovel money into a 'Skilling Australians' fund.

Companies turning over less than $10 million per year must make an upfront payment of $1200 [per visa, per year] for each employee on a temporary visa.

They must also make a one-off payment of $3000 for each staffer sponsored for a permanent skilled worker visas.

Businesses with turnovers above $10 million will be required to make up front payments of $1800 for each worker on temporary visas and $5000 one-off levies for those on permanent skilled visas.

The 457 visas for skilled migrants will be replaced with a scheme with short and medium-term visa streams (stock image)

The levy is expected to rake in $1.2 billion over the next four years, which will be funnelled into a new Commonwealth-State skills fund.

'States and territories will only be able to draw on this fund when they deliver on their commitments to train new apprentices,' Treasurer Scott Morrison said in his budget speech.

The revenue-raising measures were certainly not lost on the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

'It will become a lot more expensive for Australian firms who need to supplement their local workforce with skilled workers from overseas to bring them in,' ACCI chief executive James Pearson told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday night.

The government will also index visa application charges in line with CPI, from which it expects to rake in $410 million over the forward estimates.

Companies turning over less than $10 million per year must make an upfront payment of $1200 [per visa, per year] for each employee on a temporary visa, under changes announced by Treasurer Scott Morrison (right), who is pictured with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

A new class of temporary sponsored parent visas are expected to make about $99 million, with 15,000 visas to be made available each year from November 2017.

The visas will allow parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible Kiwis to stay in Australia for up to ten years.

Elsewhere, the Turnbull government has earmarked $185.4 to overhaul visa processing.

Australia's permanent migration program numbers will remain at a ceiling of 190,000, while its refugee intake will increase by 2500 to 16,250.
Shepard Smith opened up about his sexuality during a speech at the University of Mississippi, confirming that he is in fact in a relationship with another man and that being gay has not had any negative impact on his job at Fox News.

'I dont think about it. Its not a thing,' said Smith according to The Clarion-Ledger.

'I go to work. I manage a lot of people. I cover the news. I deal with holy hell around me. I go home to the man Im in love with.'

He also spoke about the October interview with Huffington Post in which he publicly reveled that he was a gay man.

'Someone asked me if [former Fox News CEO] Roger Ailes had been abusive to me, and I said, "No. He was always good to me, and that was the truth,"' said Smith.

'And when I told the truth, I guess it was considered that I outed myself. I didnt even think about it, because I didnt think I was in.'

Scroll down for video

Out: Shepard Smith (above in 2014) spoke openly about being a gay man during a speech at the University of Mississippi

Loved up: He also revealed that he had a boyfriend, saying: 'I go home to the man Im in love with'

Smith also revealed his initial fears about coming out as gay.

'A. Youre going to hell for it. B. Youll never have any friends again. C. What are you going to tell your family? And by the way, youre on television on the craziest conservative network on Earth,' said Smith.

'That will probably put you in front of a brick wall. Of course none of that was true, but thats how it felt.'

He said that instead of focusing on his sexuality he instead threw himself into his work.

'Nobody was going to outwork me, and no one did,' said Smith.

'My bosses were really so astounded. They were like, "How can you do this?"'

He later added: 'At one point, they were like,"You have to sleep. You cant continue to stay up."'

Smith, 53, said that he even missed his sister's wedding to attend the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

He confirmed the long-circulating rumor in October when he was asked if it was former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes who prevented him from coming out of the closet.

'That's not true. He was as nice as he could be to me. I loved him like a father,' Smith said of Ailes.

The 'love' Smith had for his old boss is why it was so difficult for him to deal with the network's sexual harassment scandal this past summer.

'I trusted him with my career and with - I trusted him and trusts were betrayed,' Smith said of Ailes.

'People outside this company can't know [how painful that betrayal was]. This place has its enemies, but inside, it was very personal, and very scarring and horrifying.'

It was Gawker that reported back in 2014 that Smith wanted to publicly come out but was told he could not after speaking with Ailes.

'This came up during contract negotiations,' a Fox insider told the website.

'Shep wanted to and was ready to come out, and Roger just said 'no.''

That was not the case at all though according to Smith, who also shot down past reports which claimed that Ailes had made homophobic comments and remarks in his presence.

'He treated me with respect, just respect,' said Smith of Ailes.

'I wasn't new in the business when I came here - I'd been doing reporting for 12 years - but I wasn't old in it either, and he gave me every opportunity in the world and he never asked anything of me but that we get it right, try to get it right every day.'

Smith then added: 'It was a very warm and loving and comfortable place.'

Ailes and Smith also released a joint statement after Gawker published their story two years ago, stating: 'As colleagues and close friends at Fox News for 18 years, our relationship has always been rooted in a mutual respect, deep admiration, loyalty, trust, and full support both professionally and personally.'

That changed for Smith however when Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit last July accusing Ailes of sexual harassment.

Busy bee: Smith said that he worked so much he did not have time to think about his sexuality earlier in his career (above with Roger Ailes)

'This was a real shock to the system, and it upended a lot of things that we thought we knew. We were wounded and horrified and very emotional, and we realize that as leaders we need to come in and face up to what we've learned,' said Smith.

'We have to make sure there aren't young victims wandering around here who need us. We have to get appropriate counselors in here.

'We have to make sure legally everybody's protected and have to make a commitment to be the most transparent, open and welcoming organization of our kind in the world, and I'm determined to be a part of the team that makes it happen.'

He reported on Carlson's lawsuit after it was filed, one of the few people at the network to address the scandal, while also giving Ailes' response at the time.

In addition to his duties as host of Shepard Smith Reporting, which airs weekdays at 3pm, Smith is also the managing editor of the network's breaking news division.

Smith said that after the scandal broke over the summer he sat down with Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch to talk about the future of the network, and liked what he heard from the Australian billionaire.

'He said, "I'm a newsman. I want to be the best news organization in America,''' Smith said of his conversation with Murdoch.

'He wants to hire a lot more journalists, he wants to build us a massive new newsroom, he wants to make more commitments to places like this [studio], to hire reporters to work on beats, just enlarge our news-gathering.'

Smith, who left University of Mississippi two credits shy of a degree to take his first job, also spoke about how he got his start on Fox News.

He said that Ailes saw him reporting on the OJ Simpson trial for Fox affiliates and then called him asking if he would fly to New York City to talk more about the possible new position.

Soon after, Smith moved to New York City and began his career at the network.
A mother's life has been 'destroyed' after her transvaginal mesh implant began to disintegrate inside her body.

Stella Channing said the constant nerve pain she lives with is so intense, 'like petrol burning inside me', that she almost took her own life.

'The raw pain of the erosion is like broken glass in your rectum and vagina. As we speak I am losing blood from my rectum and vagina and the pain is unbearable. This has totally destroyed my life,' she told WAToday.

The mesh is now the subject of a Senate inquiry after more than 200 women reported report 'adverse events' to the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Stella Channing before her life was 'destroyed' when her transvaginal mesh implant began to disintegrate inside her body

The Perth woman suffered from pelvic organ prolapse in her late 40s after having three children, and had the mesh inserted between her vagina and rectum.

Just a week after her eight-day hospital stay, the mesh already began to fall apart and she started bleeding with such severe pain she needed three months off work.

Ms Channing was only able to return to her full time retail job after they created a customer service role for her that could be done while seated on a cushion.

By 14 months post-surgery the pain was unbearable and she began having transient ischaemic attacks, or 'mini strokes'.

The Perth woman now lives with constant nerve pain so intense, 'like petrol burning inside me', that she almost took her own life

As the mesh fell apart and shrunk it constricted her vagina and hardened her rectum, trapping and scarring the nerves running through the rectum and legs and, damaging the flesh and muscles in her pelvis.

The mesh was threatening to punch through her vagina wall and cause blood poisoning.

Ms Channing cut her work hours to two days a week before her worsening condition forced her to quit altogether, and ruined her active fitness and social life.

Now she can't even sit still long enough to watch a movie, pick up her grandchildren, or walk around without a cane. She has to sleep on her side in a hammock.

'All that has been stolen. I am financially ruined. I lie down all day. I am isolated. Sometimes I cannot shower because the pain flare will be so great it will take days to recover,' she said.

A diagram of one of the meshes installed inside many Australian women to treat pelvic organ prolapse, more than 200 of which have failed and severely injured patients

Ms Channing said her situation made her so depressed she would likely have killed herself if it wasn't for her GP, pain psychologist and occupational therapist.

'Some days, I wake up and don't know why I have bothered waking up. Sometimes I think it would be better if I just didn't,' she said.

As the meshes are not supposed to be removed, only one surgeon in the U.S. knows a successful technique he has performed thousands of times.

But Ms Channing is not healthy enough to sit on a plane for the longhaul flight, and with only her meager disability pension could not afford the trip.

She hoped the doctor would travel to Australia to treat her and some of the other more than 200 women stuck in her horrifying situation.

It is now the subject of an Senate inquiry, with Senator Derryn Hinch (pictured) calling it 'one of the greatest medical scandals and abuses of mothers in Australia's history'.

The pelvic mesh implant was approved for use in Australia without going through clinical trials after it was endorsed by the U.S. regulator in 2002.

It is now the subject of an Senate inquiry, with Senator Derryn Hinch calling it 'one of the greatest medical scandals and abuses of mothers in Australia's history'.

After thousands of women reported disastrous side effects, the USA Food and Drug Administration in 2011 said serious complications were 'not rare' and it was concerned.

The year after, Johnson & Johnson, the company behind the faulty mesh, dropped the product from sale worldwide, but others were still in use.

The company also agreed to pay more than $120 million to resolve 3,000 American lawsuits, but more than 80,000 other transvaginal mesh lawsuits brought against it and other producers were yet to be settled.
The hacker collective Anonymous has issued a new video warning that World War Three could soon break out as tensions rise on the Korean peninsula.

The video, released Saturday by the loose collective of affiliated hackers, attempts to connect the geopolitical dots, concluding that 'all the signs of a looming war on the Korean peninsula are surfacing.'

Using the group's signature computerized voice and shadowy figure clad in a Guy Fawkes mask, the roughly seven-minute video highlights American military buildup in East Asia and warnings from the Chinese and Japanese government to their citizens, among other developments, as evidence that global war is inching closer.

'Watching as each country moves strategic pieces into place, but unlike past world wars, although there will be ground troops, the battle is likely to be fierce, brutal and quick,' the Anonymous video prognosticates.

North Korean soldiers seen marching in a military parade last month. The hacker group Anonymous warns that tensions on the peninsula could spark World War Three

The US missile defense system THAAD is seen being installed on a golf course in South Korea. This is just one military move that Anonymous says points toward a looming global war

Anonymous, a decentralized group that grew out of the imageboard 4chan in the 2000s, has a history of using hacked data, targeted harassment, and publicity campaigns in a self-described effort to spread 'information and facts the government doesn't want you to know.'

'With three superpowers drawn into the mix, other nations will be coerced into choosing sides,' the group says in its latest video, although it isn't clear which three nations the group is referring to. The video makes no mention of Russia.

The video goes on to highlight several recent developments in East Asia. First, it points to the recent roll-out of the American THAAD ballistic missile defense system in South Korea, a move condemned by the Chinese.

China's recent warning to its citizens to leave North Korea, and military buildup at the North Korean border in anticipation of a potential flood of North Korean refugees, also merit attention, according to Anonymous.

'The pragmatic Chinese, it seems, are starting to lose their patience,' the group says.

As further evidence of looming war, Anonymous points to a recent warning the Japanese government gave its citizens living near military bases, alerting them that they could only have a 10 minute warning in the event of a nuclear attack from North Korea.

Anonymous, a decentralized group that grew out of the imageboard 4chan in the 2000s, says it wants to spread 'information and facts the government doesn't want you to know'

The group notes that the US recently conducted a test launch of a Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile. The May 3 test launch is shown

The ominous video also notes that the US recently conducted a test launch of a Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile. Military officials said that test had been planned for 10 months as part of ongoing force readiness assessments.

The group also points out the mixed motives of the Chinese, who are considered the isolated North Korean regime's only ally on the international stage.

'Although China doesn't want radioactive fallout and refugees on its borders, do they really want their neighbor giving up nukes when keeps the US in check?'

North Korea is not believed to have nuclear-capable missiles able to reach the continental US.

Despite its ominous warnings, Anonymous does caution that all of this 'doesn't mean outright war yet,' adding forbiddingly: 'for the moment'.
A young Hobart woman remains in an induced coma in a critical condition with doctors expecting her to stay that way for months after she was doused in flammable liquid and set alight.

Nicole Evans, 20, was flown to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital after what detectives describe as a 'family violence incident' on April 24.

Tasmania police on Tuesday said they had spoken with medical specialists, who have described Ms Evans' condition as life-threatening.

'[She] is not expected to emerge from this [coma] for months,' a police statement read.

Nicole Evans (pictured) remains in an induced coma in a critical condition after she was doused in flammable liquid and set alight at a home in Hobart on April 24

Ms Evans' fiance Matthew John Davey, 34, (pictured right with Ms Evans) has been charged over the backyard incident

It's alleged Davey (left) doused Ms Evans (right) with an accelerant and set her alight in a backyard shed

'[Her] condition is described as critical and life threatening.'

Friends of Ms Evans say she suffered burns to more than 50 per cent of her body.

Ms Evans' fiance Matthew John Davey, 34, has been charged over the backyard incident and has been remanded in custody until his next court appearance in the Supreme Court in Hobart on June 13.

It's alleged Davey doused Miss Evans with an accelerant and set her alight in a backyard shed.

He is charged with causing grievous bodily harm and is also accused of hitting Miss Evans in the face and throwing a can at her.

Davey pleaded not guilty to all of the charges when he appeared in court the day after the attack.

Davey (pictured with Ms Evans) is charged with causing grievous bodily harm and is also accused of hitting Ms Evans in the face and throwing a can at her

Hundreds of people have donated to a GoFundMe page set-up to support Ms Evans and her family during her recovery

He did not apply for bail.

An interim family violence order and restraint order have been lodged with the court, Tasmania Police said.

A GoFundMe page has been pledged more than half of a $50,000 target to help pay for Ms Evans' treatment.

Hundreds of people have so far donated to the page.

Ms Evans is clinging to life after the horrific attack at a home in Hobart on April 24

'Nicole would have done the same for anyone she loved or cared for,' Hobart woman Sheena Mclean said on the site.

'It's a waiting game for everyone especially her family and money should be the last of their worries. So thank you to everyone from Nicole's family.'

Loved ones have sent their support to Ms Evans, calling her a 'natural beauty' and a 'beautiful soul'.

National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.
Patricia Risby, 62, (pictured outside court), where she was found guilty of theft

A care home manager stole more than 43,000 from elderly residents then launched a vicious smear campaign to vilify her boss and cover up her theft.

Patricia Risby tried to claim care home owner David Fitton was behind the thefts and accused him of waging a hate campaign against her.

She sent herself a string of abusive messages purporting to be from him, in one saying die b***h.

The 62-year-old also claimed she got a threatening Valentines Day card and accused him of sexual harassment before trying to take him to an industrial tribunal alleging sexual harassment, only for the case to be dropped.

As well as the care home fees, Manchester Crown Court heard Risby also stole almost 10,000 from a female resident and used the money to buy a 7,200 Skoda car, toiletries and pyjamas.

Risby is now facing jail after being found guilty of theft and perverting the course of justice after her web of deceit unravelled.

More than 33,000 in residential fees were found to have disappeared from the care homes accounts, while a further 10,000 had been stolen from a resident.

Suspicions was first aroused when Mr Fitton found 2,000 cash hidden inside a bag of shredded paper wedged down the side of Risby's office desk.

Police were called in and Risby was charged with theft - but she then falsely claimed Mr Fitton sent her voice mails, texts and threatening notes.

More than 33,000 in residential fees were found to have disappeared from the accounts of Meavy View Care Home (pictured), while a further 10,000 was stolen from a resident

Risby was hired in May 2010 by Mr Fitton and his wife Anna, 62, (pictured together) to run Meavy View Care Home. She won a manager of the year award in 2012

Police exposed Risbys campaign to slander Mr Fitton, 63, after officers found the mobile phone used to send the threatening text messages at her home in Heywood, Greater Manchester.

The incidents occurred after Risby was hired in May 2010 by Mr Fitton and his wife Anna, 62, to run the 30-room Meavy View Care Home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

She was said to be completely trusted by the couple and also won a manager of the year award at a local council event in 2012, presented by Dr Chris Steele of ITVs This Morning.

But later that year Mr Fittons daughter discovered large discrepancies between the cash and cheques which had been collected and what was in the bank.

In July 2011, 1,909 of fees were received but only 171 was banked whilst the following month 1,586 was collected but only 30 was paid into the homes account.

Prosecutor Alexander Langhorn said: Police were called but the defendant said David was a dishonest person and claimed he made her take the money.

Risby was due to face her first appearance in court charged with theft when she claimed she began receiving threatening letters, phone calls, voicemails and text messages. Messages included die, b***h.

Patricia Risby tried to claim care home owner David Fitton (left) was behind the thefts and accused him of waging a hate campaign against her

Mr Langhorn said: She said they were frequent and persistent. She also told police that she believed the letters were being left by David Fitton.

It was a campaign to vilify, discredit and slander Mr Fitton in an attempt to avoid the consequences of her actions.

Over two and a half years she stole money from the care home and then left herself notes outside her home and sent text messages and left threatening voicemails in an attempt to deceive the police in to thinking that she was the victim in all of this.

Police eventually exposed Risbys campaign to slander her boss

Mr Fitton told the hearing he and his wife were initially very confident in Risby.

He said: We had great trust in her. There could have been possibility of her taking on the whole thing where we stepped back and went into retirement.

I liked her very much as a manager, a team leader, she brought extra business; there was a vibrancy about her.

When we believed it was very possible she had taken the money, the way she behaved changed dramatically.

We were absolutely distraught, we had put a lot of trust in her.

She had been to my house for dinner, we let her use our apartment in Spain and all of a sudden the whole thing was shattered.

None of the money has been repaid, the court heard.

Risby  who appeared under the name Patricia Oliver - showed no emotion as she was found guilty of both charges following a trial.

She was bailed pending sentence next month by Judge Bernard Lever, who called her crimes despicable and said she was likely to be jailed for two to three years.

Your employers had a great deal of trust in you and you abused that trust, he said.
An Ontario smoker, 79, has been handed three tickets for sparking up alone in his own Porsche SUV.

Harry Kraemer, who owns Sparkles Cleaning Service, says he had just lit up a cigarette while parked in a Tim Hortons parking lot, when an overzealous member of the 'smoke police' - the Smoke-Free Ontario enforcement officers - handed him three tickets.

The agents claimed that Kraemer's luxury vehicle was covered by the city's strict anti-smoking laws which ban cigarette smoke in enclosed workplaces, among many other places.

Harry Kraemer has been handed three tickets for sparking up alone in his own Porsche SUV (stock image)

Kraemer was fined more than $1,000 for smoking in an enclosed workplace, failing to have a no-smoking sign in his SUV, and failing to properly supervise a workplace, the National Post reports.

However, the 79-year-old, who has been smoking for the past 60 years, said the Porsche was his own vehicle and was never used as part of his cleaning business.

And when Kraemer took the case to the Provincial Offences Court last week, the judge agreed, overtunring all three of his tickets.

'The justice of the peace said, 'I haven't heard one shred of evidence that that car was ever used for business for Sparkles,' said Kraemer.

'This is my personal car that I drive from home to work and from work to home.

'Who would use a Porsche to do house cleaning with?' he said. 'If a Porsche pulled up to your house to clean your house, you would say, "What the hell is going on here?"'

'It's just a waste of taxpayers' money as far as I'm concerned,' his lawyer added

Linda Stobo, program manager for the chronic disease prevention and tobacco control team at the Middlesex-London Health Unit, would not comment on Kraemer's case.

But she did not believe that the investigators were wrong to have ticketed him.

Kraemer says he had just lit up a cigarette while parked in a Tim Hortons parking lot (pictured) when an overzealous member of the 'smoke police' - the Smoke-Free Ontario enforcement officers - handed him three tickets

'The purpose of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act is to protect people from the harmful exposure to second-hand smoke at work,' she said, adding that a vehicle can fall under the law if its used for any type of work.

But Kraemer believes he was unfairly targeted as part of an ongoing dispute with the anti-smoking officers.

'I find some of the smoke police are overzealous. Very soon, they'll keep coming and coming and coming at us and pretty soon we can't have a smoke except in the middle of some farmer's field.'

Last year, he was fined after an officer found an ash tray and cigarette butt in his private second floor office at the Sparkles building. He says he smokes with the door closed, window open and fan blowing.

But he was slapped with two tickets for workplace smoking which sparked a huge row.

'I verbally told him to get the hell out of my office and I said some very nasty things maybe, I don't know,' said Kraemer after he was handed the ticket.

The officer, Kraemer said, told him, 'We'll be back.'

A year on, and an enforcement officer, working on what the claimed was an anonymous tip off, had approached him in his Porsche and handed him the ticket.

Ontario's anti-smoking team investigated 100 complaints of inappropriate smoking last year.
Authorities are searching for the armed robbers who crashed a prom afterparty at a house in Lancaster, Texas, leaving one teen shot and another assaulted.

Police believe that the two or three aggravated robbery suspects got wind of the party, meant for Red Oak High School students, when the party invitation spread on social media.

More than 500 party-goers were at the event when Dallas County sheriff's deputies responded to gunshots at about 3.15am on May 8, reports Dallas News.

Scroll down for video

Authorities believe that the armed robbery suspects saw this after-prom party invitation on social media and viewed it as a 'crime of opportunity.' More than 500 people were at the party

The suspects, who were armed with guns and not actually invited to the party, robbed revelers before shooting one teen in the arm and physically assaulting another teen, authorities said.

The wounded teen was taken to Methodist Hospital and released that afternoon.

Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Melinda Urbina said that the suspects were unfamiliar to the high school party-goers and that the party itself had gotten out of control.

Urbina speculated that the suspects saw the invite on social media and viewed it as a 'crime of opportunity.'

At this time, police do not know if the suspects were fellow teenagers or if they were adults, either way its believed that they were able to escape by blending in with the post-prom crowd as the teens started leaving the party.

Crushed party cups and empty bottles littered the area where the party was held

'The address just got spread around, and I guess the wrong people got it,' party-goer Kelvin Martinez told CBS DFW, noting that he and his friends had left the party before the violence began.

The invitation, obtained by CBS DFW, shows that the party's theme was based on the 2012 movie, 'Project X,' a comedy about three teens who throw a rager that gets epically out of control when one teen's parents leave town.

Copycat parties thrown in the wake of the movie's premiere led to multiple vandalism arrests around the country and one fatal shooting in Houston, Texas in 2012.

Authorities said that adult chaperones were present at the Lancaster party over the weekend. However, a neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said there wasn't enough adult supervision on hand that night.

'You can be a good kid and be in the wrong place. I'm sure more than half of those kids who were here last night just wanted to have a good time,' the neighbor told CBS DFW. 'They were just in the wrong place.'

'It's pretty scary. A part of me kind of knew that when you get this many people together  this many teenagers  it's not professionally organized,' Martinez said, 'there's a chance of something happening.'
Advertisement

The pin-up girl who flashed her knickers as she posed on Blackpool seafront in a spotty dress will be buried in the famous outfit after dying at the age of 83.

Pat Stewart was just 17 when she became known as the Girl in the Polka Dot Dress after her skirt was blown up by a gust of wind while being photographed by legendary cameraman Bert Hardy.

The 'Blackpool Belles' image - taken four years before Marilyn Monroe famously stood above a New York subway grate in a flyaway skirt - became synonymous with post-war, seaside Britain and was reproduced on countless postcards and posters.

Pat Stewart, the pin-up girl who flashed her knickers as she posed on Blackpool seafront in a polka dot dress (right), will be buried in the famous outfit after dying at the age of 83

Ms Stewart is now due to be buried in her famous polka dot dress, after dying of heart failure at the age of 83. She is pictured in Blackpool last year

Ms Stewart (right) was just 17 when she became known as the 'girl in the spotty dress' after she was photographed by legendary cameraman Bert Hardy

The mother-of-three, of Barry, South Wales, returned to the same spot in Blackpool, Lancashire, 66 years after the original photograph was taken

But it also made the teenager - a miner's daughter from Featherstone, Yorkshire - an instant pin-up and she went on to have a glittering career in showbusiness.

Ms Stewart is now due to be buried in her famous polka dot dress, after dying of heart failure at the age of 83.

Paying tribute to her mother, Ms Stewart's daughter Rachel, 47, said: 'Mum was still teaching kids how to dance to rock and roll up until a few weeks ago.

'She went into hospital with heart problems and was cracking jokes with the doctors right up to the end.

'She wanted to wear her famous spotty dress at her funeral and her wish will be carried out.'

Ms Stewart, a trained dancer, was a Tiller Girl at the Blackpool North Pier theatre in 1951 when she had her picture taken alongside friend Wendy Clarke.

As the camera clicked, a sea breeze lifted her skirt to give just a glimpse of forbidden flesh.

Speaking about the photograph in later years, Mr Stewart revealed that it was infact a modest, one-piece bathing costume beneath her skirt.

She said: 'It wasn't my knickers in the picture - I had a swimming costume on underneath the spotty dress.

'And it wasn't all that revealing - it covered the top of my thighs, not like the swimsuits of today which are cut up to the armpits.

This sequence shows some of the photoshoot which took place in Blackpool, Lancashire, in July 1951. The shoot later made Pat Stewart famous

The photograph made the teenager (pictured in 1951) - a miner's daughter from Featherstone, Yorkshire - an instant pin-up and she went on to have a glittering career in showbusiness

Pat Stewart (pictured) was a pin-up girl from the 1950s who became famous after a photograph led to her being named the girl in the spotty dress

LEGENDARY PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CAPTURED ICONIC IMAGE Bert Hardy, who died in 1995, became one of the greatest photographers of his time but was best known for his work at the Picture Post during the 40s. Born in London to a working-class family in May 1913, Hardy was the eldest of seven children. After leaving school at the age of 14, he got a job as a messenger, which saw him collecting and delivering film and prints for West End chemists. Bitten by the photography bug, he bought his first camera for 50p from a pawn shop. He had his first big break when he snapped King George V and Queen Mary passing by in a carriage down Blackfriars Road. The enterprising youngster printed off 200 postcards and sold them to friends and neighbours. Following his work as a laboratory assistant for a photographic agency, he was hired as a staff photographer at the Picture Post, where he worked between 1941 and 1957. There, he used his trusted Leica to capture the slums of London and Glasgow (including the gritty Gorbals neighbourhood), as well as assignments during World War Two and Korea. He covered the London Blitz, D-Day landings and the liberation of both Paris and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Advertisement

'I've always kept a copy of the photograph - I was so young and free and the picture captured that moment.'

Ms Stewart also revealed that she had been terrified of toppling over the railing and falling 12ft onto the beach below.

She said: 'My friend Wendy was holding on to the railings but Bert Hardy wanted me to sit perched next to her with nothing to hang on to.

'When the gust of wind came I had to choose whether to preserve my modesty by holding my skirt down or grab onto Wendy for safety.

'I let my skirt blow up and Bert got a picture which was very daring for the time.

'The war was not long over and the photograph seemed to capture the people's new found freedom.'

Despite the popularity of the photograph, the editor of the Picture Post magazine initially banned the picture for being too risque.

It appeared two weeks later after Ms Stewart's underwear was airbrushed out.

Ms Stewart, who is 17 in the picture, went on to have a successful career, working with Laurel and Hardy, Morcambe and Wise, Joan Collins and Benny Hill.

She also met the notorious East End gangsters The Kray twins during the 1960s.

Ms Stewart married stand-up comedian Johnny Stewart and the couple settled near Barry, South Wales, where she wrote her autobiography, The Girl in the Spotty Dress.

Around that time, the mother-of-three discovered another woman Norma Edmondson was claiming to be the spotty dress girl.

After spotting her rival on the BBC's One Show, Ms Stewart produced the original prints of Hardy's photographs to prove she was the real girl in the spotty dress.

She even rang the impostor telling her to stop or face legal action.

Speaking at the time of the discovery, she said: 'She's been doing it for years. I can't imagine why. Maybe she wanted her 15 minutes of fame.'

Speaking about the photograph in later years, Mr Stewart revealed that it was infact a modest, one-piece bathing costume beneath her skirt (pictured)

Ms Stewart was a Tiller Girl (second from left) at the Blackpool North Pier theatre in 1951 when she had her picture taken alongside friend Wendy Clarke (third from right)

Pat Stewart (pictured) showed off a selection of items bearing the iconic image at her home in at her home in south Wales

Last year, Ms Stewart returned to Blackpool for the first time in 65 years last year to recreate the photograph.

She said at the time: 'The tower is still there and it's windy just like it was on the day the picture was taken.

'I've changed a bit since then but I still managed to fit into another spotty dress for my return.'

Ms Stewart's funeral will be held in South Wales. Her coffin will be carried away to Gracie Fields singing: 'Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye.'
A huge sea eagle swoops down and plucks a young lamb from a farmer's field on the west coast of Scotland.

To bird lovers, the sight of the majestic predator hunting in the area again is a tribute to the success of a conservation project which reintroduced the once-extinct birds of prey.

But to local farmers, it is just another example of how the project has run out of control and is now threatening their livelihoods.

A sea eagle flies away with a lamb in its talons in a photo taken on the west coast of Scotland

The new photos have reignited a row over whether a conservation project to reintroduce the huge birds of prey to the area is hitting local sheep farmers

The latest photos were taken on a farm in North Connel, near the picturesque Ardmucknish Bay in Argyll and Bute, where farmers claim the birds have become 'as common as crows'.

The last of the indigenous eastern Scottish sea eagles was shot in 1918 and the huge bird - which has a wing span of around 8ft (2.5m) - disappeared from the area.

But conservationists then reintroduced the species by releasing birds brought in from Norway in 1975, 1993 and finally between 2007 and 2012, when 85 of the birds were released in the area.

The project is seen as a huge success by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) with the creatures breeding since 2013 and more than 100 pairs counted in 2015.

That number is likely to double in the next 10 years, with some experts predicting there could be more than 1,000 pairs by 2040.

But local farmers say the project is far from successful for them and is making sheep farming in the area impossible.

The huge bird - with an eight-foot wingspan, was chased by a buzzard after the lamb attack

A file photo shows the size of the birds, of which there are now thought to be over 100 pairs

Lochaber farmer Colin Cameron, 47, whose lamb was taken in the latest photos, added: 'There needs to be some sort of control as these birds are becoming as common as crows and we need to get the public's backing over this.

'People think we are just money-grabbing farmers, but we do everything we can to keep our sheep healthy and we don't like to see this happening to the poor lambs.'

Sea Eagles are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which means it is illegal to shoot, poison or otherwise kill them.

Argyllshire farmer and former Scottish NSA chairwoman Sybil MacPherson told Scottish Farmer magazine last month: 'Many farmers and crofters have already ceased breeding sheep on land which has been affected by predation over the last number of years.

'Some have been able to adjust their sheep management but in many cases, breeding ewes have disappeared from the most heavily affected areas.

The latest pictures of the eagles were taken near Ardmucknish Bay in Argyll and Bute

Ms MacPherson added: 'This has resulted in loss of businesses and resulted in land abandonment in some areas.

'As the population of birds is clearly increasing at a faster rate than anyone could have predicted in some areas, the problems associated with an unsustainable population of the birds are escalating at an alarming and completely devastating rate.'

A spokesman for Scottish Natural Heritage said: 'We are collectively trying to devise means of reducing risks of lambs being taken live.'

The RSPB has recently insisted locals should be proud that the bird is back in the area, bringing birdwatchers and other tourists.
A four-year-old girl has died of blunt force trauma to the abdomen in a case that authorities suspect may be child abuse.

Ivy Lynn Yurkus, four, was rushed to the hospital in Roseville, Michigan with stomach pain on Wednesday, and died the following day from what the medical examiner ruled was blunt force trauma.

The girl lived with her 28-year-old mother and her mom's boyfriend, 25, as well as a 7-year-old brother and infant sibling.

'The [Medical Examiner]'s office says no, this had to have been a purposeful blow by somebody and this is not the result of an accident or simple fall or anything along those lines,' said Roseville Police Chief James Berlin, Fox 2 reported.

Ivy Lynn Yurkus, four, died last week in Roseville, Michigan. Her death has been ruled a homicide and abuse is suspected, but no arrests have yet been made

On Wednesday, Ivy reportedly complained of a stomach ache and become unresponsive. After doctors examined her they believed child abuse was taking place, police said

On Wednesday, Ivy reportedly complained of a stomach ache and become unresponsive before the boyfriend drove the girl to her mom's workplace, a restaurant near their residence.

The mom then called EMTs who rushed the girl to a nearby hospital. It's unclear why the boyfriend did not call 911 himself.

'Originally when she was being transported, I believe they thought she was having some type of seizure or medical episode, and they didn't realize until the doctors actually started looking at her that they felt it was some type of child abuse taking place,' Berlin told the news station.

Ivy died on Thursday and her death was ruled a homicide on Friday.

Police say the boyfriend does not have a criminal record. The mother has done prison time for robbery, drugs and resisting arrest charges, according to court records.

No one had been charged or arrested in Ivy's death yet.

Berlin described the case as 'beyond tragic'.

'I just can't imagine how anyone could strike a child in such a way to cause such catastrophic injuries,' the police chief said.

Ivy's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday. Her siblings are in protective custody as the homicide investigation unfolds.
The White House is readying itself for a fight against Elizabeth Warren on the assumption Massachusetts senator will challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.

Trump told a gun rights group last month that Democrats may pit him against Warren, who he referred to as 'Pocahontas' in the speech, in the next election.

The Republican National Committee has meanwhile harped about Warren in emails to reporters that project her as a prospective presidential candidate.

A leading progressive organization told DailyMail.com that Republicans are right to be concerned about Warren, a populist with the ability to win back the working class for Democrats.

The White House is readying itself for a fight against Elizabeth Warren on the assumption Massachusetts senator will challenge President Donald Trump in 2020

'Elizabeth Warren is the best foot forward that Democrats have,' Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green said. 'She speaks with a clear, authentic voice in a way that positions Democrats squarely on the side of working people while challenging a rigged economy and corporate elites.'

Green added: 'That is Donald Trump's worst nightmare.'

Still in her first full term in the Senate, Warren 67, has said her focus is on her coming reelection battle.

The Democratic lawmaker signaled that she's considering a White House run when she accepted a position on the Senate's prestigious Armed Services panel, however.

Long seen as a training ground for higher office, Hillary Clinton joined the committee when she was preparing to run for president the first time.

Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the runner up to Hillary Clinton in the last Democratic elections, were derided by a source close to the White House as 'too old' to run in a February article in the New York Post.

'Elizabeth Warren is 100 years old. No one thinks that she could or would run. Shes Hillary Clinton 2.0 but worse,' a source in the article said.

According to Post, the Trump White House sees Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy - a member of the equally high-profile Senate Foreign Relations committee - as possible opponents.

Trump told a gun rights group last month that Democrats may pit him against Warren, who he referred to as 'Pocahontas' in the speech, in the next election

The Hill reported Tuesday that the White House is keeping tabs on her, and other prospective opponents, with help from the RNC's research department.

A White House official told The Hill that Warren's 'voice carries some weight' within the liberal wing of the party, and aides believe that her verbal assaults on the president cannot go unanswered.

'We dont think ignoring her is the right approach,' the official said.

Warren said last week at an EMILY's List gala, 'The way things are going, if the next three years and 261 days are like Donalds first 100 days, I wonder if America will ever be ready for a male president again.'

EMILY's List is an activist group that supports pro-choice women running for office.

The slap at Trump followed his jab at her a week before at the National Rifle Association's annual convention.

'You'll have plenty of those Democrats coming over, and you're going to say, "No sir. No thank you," ' Trump told them. '"No ma'am."

Making a reference to Warren, whose claim that she was part Native American caused her grief in her first Senate election, Trump said, 'It may be Pocahontas. Remember that. And she is not big for the NRA. That I can tell you.'

Warren said last week at an EMILY's List gala, 'The way things are going, if the next three years and 261 days are like Donalds first 100 days, I wonder if America will ever be ready for a male president again'

Warren recently published a book that the Republican Party's campaign arm says is 'ostensibly to set up a run for 2020.'

She must first pass a statewide test in Massachusetts, where she's up for reelection next year.

A Novus Group poll that came out last week gave her a 57 percent approval rating in her home state.

WBUR found earlier this year that she could be vulnerable, however. A survey that was conducted for the radio station by MassINC Polling Group showed 46 percent of voters would be open to supporting someone else for her seat.

She had a 51 percent approval rating in the January poll.


The woman who was killed alongside her horse after being hit by a lightning strike this weekend has been identified as a 36-year-old veteran of the Army National Guard.

Laura Miller was riding with a 15-year-old family friend on a trail in Sedalia, Colorado on Saturday when she got stuck in between two storms.

The equestrian and her horse were struck by lightning and died at the scene. The teen - who has not been named - was also injured but is recovering at the hospital in stable condition.

Scroll down for video

Army National Guard veteran Laura Miller (left and right) died along with her horse on Saturday after a lightning strike in Sedalia, Colorado

Miller pictured above with her horse, Roheryn, in a photo posted to Facebook by a friend after her death

'The Douglas County coroners office has confirmed the identity of the deceased as Laura Miller,' the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. 'We are still trying to acquire updated information for the 15-year-old female (from her family) but have not yet gotten a response. If we do receive updated information on the 15-year-old, then it will be posted on Twitter.'

Photos posted to Miller's Facebook show her hiking on a snow covered mountain and posing with fellow female soldiers.

One photo, posted by a friend, shows her riding her horse named Roheryn.

Neighbors say Miller had built a new outdoor riding arena and a barn and 'loved her horses'.

'So she did die doing what she loved to do,' neighbor David Curnutte told CBS Denver.

Miller was riding with a 15-year-old family friend on Saturday when the two got stuck in a storm. Above, sheets cover the body of the horse on Saturday

A lightning bolt struck this oak tree and killed Miller who was close by. Police say the woman was 10 feet away from the tree when she died

The two were riding together in Sedalia, Colorado to meet Miller's mother. Pictured is the Roxborough State Park, near where the two were riding

Authorities believe miller and the teen were riding to meet Miller's mother, who was also out riding. It's believed that the three were riding on trials that connect family properties.

Blanchard told the Denver Post that the riders were trying to stay ahead of the storm, but a lightning bolt hit the oak tree as they passed it on the trail, near West Rainbow Creek Road and Cherokee Drive in Sedalia.

'The strike was about 10 feet from where the woman and the horse went down,' Blanchard said.

Miller's death was the first this year in the U.S. due to lightning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Lightning kills an average of 49 people in the U.S. every year, according to the National Weather Service. Hundreds more are severely injured.

Colorado ranked third when it came to total lightning-related deaths between 2004 and 2013. The state had 18 lightning deaths in that time, compared to Texas' 22 and Florida's 46.
A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw was reportedly 'hung out to dry' by a stressed-out producer who wrongly told her the Queen was retiring instead of Prince Philip.

The veteran presenter she had 'confirmation' of the 'significant' news during a live cross with UK correspondent Michael Best outside Buckingham Palace.

Grimshaw was receiving details from the producer through an earpiece when she made the error, for which she was swiftly corrected.

Scroll down for video

A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw wrongly announced the Queen was retiring from public life

Channel 9 insiders slammed the unnamed producer whose meltdown allegedly caused the embarrassing error they believed never should have happened.

'To get something so significant so wrong, it is unforgivable. There is no situation ever where it would be OK to hang out to dry a presenter like Tracy was last week,' an anonymous source told the Daily Telegraph.

'A presenter of Tracys calibre should have an amazing team supporting her and the people working with her last Thursday were obviously not that.'

It took Grimshaw 39 seconds to recover from the error and get her team on the same page to get the royal announcement right, the source claimed.

'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?'

Channel 9 insiders slammed the producer whose meltdown caused the embarrassing error they believed never should have happened

She then announced 'we've got confirmation', before reporter Michael clarified: 'I think it's Prince Philip.'

Channel 9 said the delay was 'understandable' given that it was breaking news on live TV with 'a lot going on', and Grimshaw handled it well.

Media outlets the world over were scrambling to cover the story after the announcement of a top secret emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace.

It later emerged that Prince Philip was retiring from public royal duties at the age of 95 with the Queen's full support.

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,' a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

'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.'
A British terrorist who was part of the same ISIS cell - nicknamed The Beatles - as Jihadi John has been convicted in Turkey.

Londoner Aine Davis was found guilty of being a senior member of a terrorist organisation, and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

It means he will have to serve at least another three years on top of the 18 months he has already been behind bars.

Londoner Aine Davis (left) was found guilty of being a senior member of a terrorist organisation, and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison

Given the nickname because of their English accents, group members were responsible for guarding and executing hostages held by ISIS.

He was arrested in Turkey in November 2015, and was allegedly planning to carry out a terror attack in Istanbul. He had denied being an ISIS member.

Davis, a career criminal from London, was part of the group along with Mohammed Emwazi - Jihadi John.

The four-strong unit was also responsible for the killing of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and US aid worker Peter Kassig.

Court papers described Davis as a 'known high-ranking operative of Daesh', Middle East Eye reports, and claimed he used the alias Ebu Eyyup El Britani.

After his conviction, Davis told BBC journalist Daniel Sandford to 'f*** off'.

Davis was arrested amid allegations he was planning a terror attack in Istanbul in November 2015

Most wanted: The team of British executioners was led by Londoner Mohammed Emwazi - Jihadi John - who was killed in a drone strike

Other members of the group included Alexanda Kotey, 33, and El Shafee Elsheikh, both from west London, according to the US State Department.

In 2014 his wife, Amal el-Wahabi, was convicted of funding terrorism after she persuaded a friend to try and smuggle 16,000 in cash to him.

Kotey, Davis and Emwazi were part of the 'London boys' - a group of young radical Muslim extremists, predominantly from West London who advocated fanaticism and violence.

Davis' wife Amal El-Wahabi was convicted of funding terrorism in 2014

The group was linked to 7/7 bombings and the failed 21/7 attack in London.

The four ISIS jihadis were given the collective nickname The Beatles by hostages due to their distinctive British accents.

The whereabouts of Kotey and Elsheikh is unknown. Emwazi was killed in an airstrike in 2015.

Kotey, Davis and Emwazi were said to have attended the al-Manaar mosque in Ladbroke Grove, west London.

A local community worker said the trio were 'physically ejected' from the mosque because of their extremist views.

Prior to fleeing the UK, Davis was convicted six times for possessing cannabis and was also heavily involved in gang circles, where he was known as 'Biggz.'

The gangster worked as a gun runner, selling handguns before the weapons factory he worked for was busted by police.

It is unclear when Davis converted to Islam and adopted the name Hamza. When police raided his wife's home, Davis's ipod revealed he used to listen to lectures by radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

He met his wife Amal el-Wahabi at Westbourne Park mosque in 2006 and despite the disapproval of her parents, they developed a close relationship.

Davis' new found interest in religion led him to persuade his girlfriend that they should move to Yemen.

El Shafee Elsheikh, 27, was exposed as one of the brutal terrorists known as The Beatles because of their British accents, who tortured and killed western hostages in Syria. His father confessed that he lost his son to fundamentalism a decade ago

Kuwaiti born Emwazi, who later became the most reviled man in the world as ISIS's most notorious executioner, appeared to embrace British life after moving to the country as a six year old in 1993.

Neighbours remember a polite, quiet boy who supported Manchester United, wore 'Western clothing' and played football on the affluent streets of West London.

He became more religious after moving to Quintin Kynaston Community Academy, a secondary school in St John's Wood, in 1999.

But it was only after he won a place studying computing at the University of Westminster that his behaviour began to change.

The university has since been linked with several proponents of radical Islam - and Emwazi appeared to have fallen under their sway.

He began attending different mosques and was known to associate with Bilal el-Berjawi, who was killed by a drone strike in Somalia three years ago.
A holidaymaker on an easyJet flight to Alicante had such a blazing row with his girlfriend that he forced the pilot to return to Glasgow 10 minutes into the journey.

James McMahon, 37, got into an argument with Helen McInnes as the couple flew from Scotland to Spain on Hogmanay.

Staff told him to stop shouting at McInnes but he refused and began swearing at the cabin crew, forcing the captain to turn the plane around shortly after take-off.

James McMahon (pictured right), 37, got into an argument with Helen McInnes (left) as the couple flew from Scotland to Spain on Hogmanay

When he appeared in the dock today at Paisley Sheriff Court, McMahon was fined after pleading guilty to being so abusive he caused the flight to be diverted.

The easyJet flight had been due to take off at 12.15pm but bad weather in England delayed the departure till 1.50pm.

After McMahon's abusive behaviour, the pilot felt he had no option but to return to Glasgow Airport to have him removed.

He was arrested and the plane took off again without him at 3.15pm.

McMahon initially pleaded not guilty to two charges  being drunk on the flight and being so abusive that the plane had to be turned around.
Alex Chapackdee has been arrested in a bust

A police officer has been charged with taking payments of $10,000 a month to watch grow houses for his brother-in-law's marijuana and cocaine cartel.

Local boy Alex Chapackdee is a serving officer at Seattle Police and was detained on Saturday as part of a sting which involved the FBI, Homeland Security and DEA as well as federal and local police forces.

The 44-year-old officer appeared in court yesterday to answer charges of providing enforcement details and for his part in driving drugs from coast to coast in America, for which he is said to have taken $15,000 for every trip he made.

Agents said they regularly witnessed the gang driving drugs from Washington to the East Coast, stopping only to eat and fill up with gas on the 3,000 journey.

Nearly 200 pounds of marijuana was seized in the major operation, for which the prosecution claim Chapackdee oversaw security.

He was charged in the US District Court yesterday with conspiracy to distribute marijuana alongside three others - Tuan Van Le, his brother-in-law Samath Khanhphongphane and Phi Nguyen.

The investigation has been running since the authorities got a tip back in 2015, which is said to involve smuggling large quantities of drugs across the country.

FBI Special Agent Mark Nakatsu wrote in charging documents they observed the police officer and his alleged co-assailants 'regularly smuggling drugs from the Western District of Washington to locations on the East Coast, including but not limited to locations in the Baltimore, Maryland area'.

The cop was arrested a part of a sting which involved the FBI, Homeland Security and DEA as well as federal and local police forces (file)

Some of the suspects took it in turns to drive nearly 3,000 miles non-stop from Washington to various locations on the East Coast only stopping to eat and fill up with gas, it was claimed.

Having dropped off their stash, the men would repeat the journey and pick up $15,000 for their work, the prosecution said.

It is not known yet who the drivers were.

As well as the marijuana runs, Nakatsu said the gang also distributed cocaine and, according to KIRO 7, added: 'Tuan Van Le travels with six to 10 other Asian individuals on different flights and days to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) on one-way tickets.

'The Tuan Van Le DTO (Drug Trafficking Organization) has the powder cocaine delivered by truck from Seattle to New York.

'Once in New York, a portion is delivered by truck to Maryland.

'The cocaine is then put in storage units, which the customers access and pick up their purchase.

'The customers then meet and pay Tuan Van Le at casinos, such as Live Casino or the Horseshoe Casino. The money is placed in two large suitcases that are delivered or shipped back to Seattle.'

Chapackdee is charged with guarding his brother-in-law's grow houses, like the one pictured here

The FBI said Van Le paid $10,000 for every trip made to Baltimore.

Chapackdee was paid $10,000 every month to watch Van Les grow houses in Seattle and to provide information on law enforcement, according to an informant to the case.

The charging document read: 'A review of travel records and subpoenaed financial records similarly confirmed that Alex Chapackdee made several one-way flights in 2015 from Seattle to (the Baltimore airport), according to charging documents.

'Some of the trips to Baltimore were followed by charges to Alex Chapackdees debit card at convenience stores and gas stations along Interstate 90 and Interstate 94.'
Islamic State has issued a video showing the beheading of what it described as a Russian FSB intelligence officer captured in Syria, the US-based SITE monitoring website reported on Tuesday.

The Russian Defence Ministry has denied that any Russian serviceman had been captured or killed by the Islamic State in Syria.

The 12-minute Russian-language video, released on the day Russia celebrates the anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany with military parades, showed the man dressed in a black jump suit kneeling in a desert scene and urging other Russian agents to surrender.

It is believed that the man killed in the video was Colonel Evgeny Petrenko, a captain in the second division of the FSB, Russia's intelligence service, who lived in Moscow.

The 12-minute Russian-language video was released on the day Russia celebrates the anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany with military parades. It is believed that the man killed in the video was Colonel Evgeny Petrenko, a captain in the second division of the FSB, Russia's intelligence service, who lived in Moscow

The Russian Defence Ministry has denied that any Russian serviceman had been captured or killed by the Islamic State in Syria. ISIS first claimed to have captured Petrenko in September 2016, but called him a captain instead of a colonel at the time

'This idiot believed the promises of his state not to abandon him if he was captured,' the man, believed to be a 38-year-old Russian spy operating in Syria, says in the recording, before a bearded man beheaded him with a knife.

The authenticity of the recording could not immediately be verified, nor was it clear when the killing occurred.

The knifeman in the video is believed to be Chechen.

'One of my orders was to gain access to Omar al-Shishani or to his circle. But during this I was discovered and arrested by the security services of the caliphate,' the man believed to be Petrenko says in the video, appearing to speak under duress.

Shishani was a Georgian Chechen commander for IS in Syria who was thought to have been killed last year.

Meanwhile in Russia, people carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, Russian and Soviet flags, during the Immortal Regiment march along the Tverskaya Street in Moscow on Tuesday, celebrating 72 years since the end of WWII and the defeat of Nazi Germany

The captive then calls on the Russian government to remove its troops from Syria.

ISIS first claimed to have captured Petrenko in September 2016, but called him a captain instead of a colonel at the time.

The Russian Defence Ministry has denied that the capture and beheading occurred.

'All servicemen of the Russian armed force's group in Syria are alive, well and are carrying out their duties in the fight against international terrorism,' the ministry said.

It added: 'We condemn the actions of certain media outlets that have been citing information hoaxes spread by international terrorist groups on a regular basis.'

Russian forces are backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his war with rebels and militants seeking to oust him. The video showed scenes of what it described as the aftermath of Russian bombing raids in Syria.

The Russian defence ministry says about 30 Russian servicemen have been killed since the start of the Kremlin's operation there in September 2015.
The Trump administration will provide heavier weapons to Syria's Kurds as they and their allies move closer to an attack on the key Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation, but it clashes with the Turkish government's view that the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG is an extension of Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey.

The U.S. sees the Kurds as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria.

Boots on the ground: U.S. forces are already close to Raqqa and have been patrolling in Syria near the Turkish border in armored personnel carriers. Syrian Kurds will now get more arms

Target: Raqqa has become the de facto capital for the Islamic fanatics of ISIS but is now in the crosshairs of a US-coordinated operation

Sorting it out: Jim Mattis, the Defense Secretary who was in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, said differences wwith Turkey over arming the Syrian Kurds could be resolved

After lengthy deliberations, the administration approved plans to provide additional weaponry to the Kurds.

A full list wasn't immediately available, but officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities.

They said the U.S. would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

The U.S. officials who disclosed the Trump administration decision weren't authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity. They described no firm timeline, with the American intention to provide the new weapons to the Syrian Kurds as soon as possible.

A congressional aide said officials informed relevant members of Congress of the decision on Monday evening.

Senior U.S. officials including Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara.

The Turks have insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but U.S. officials insisted there was no real alternative.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit President Donald Trump in Washington next week. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, met on Tuesday with Thomas Shannon, the State Department No. 2 official.

And in Denmark earlier Tuesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he had useful discussions with Turkey and described the two countries as working out differences over a U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds in fighting Islamic State militants.

Fightback: ISIS has released propaganda images of their fighters near Raqqa using RPGs and assault rifles. They will face Syrian Kurdish forces armed with heavier U.S. weaponry soon

Target Raqqa: People of the city have been fleeing to internal refugee camps as the assault on it looms and aerial bombardment is stepped up

'That's not to say we all walk into the room with exactly the same appreciation of the problem or the path forward,' Mattis told reporters after meeting with officials from more than a dozen nations also fighting IS. Basat Ozturk, a senior Turkish defense official, participated.

'We're going to sort it out,' Mattis said. 'We'll figure out how we're going to do it.'

Tensions escalated last month when Turkey conducted airstrikes on Kurdish bases in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish military said it killed at least 90 militants and wounded scores. The Kurdish group in Syria said 20 of its fighters and media activists were killed in the strike, which was followed by cross-border clashes.

The instability has concerned Washington, which fears it will slow the effort to retake Raqqa.

'We've been conducting military and diplomatic dialogue with the Turks and it was a very, very useful discussion today,' Mattis said at a press conference with Danish Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen.
This is the moment police threatened to taser a man in the middle of a stand-off on a double decker bus in London.

Shocking images show a man being arrested and taken off the Number 28 in Kensington Church Street after he allegedly assaulted another passenger.

The man then allegedly refused to get off the bus, and officers in riot gear stormed the top deck, threatening to taser him.

Police aim the Taser at the suspect, but the Met later confirmed it was not deployed in the stand-off

The man allegedly assaulted another passenger on the number 28 London bus route and then refused to co-operate with officers

Police officers attended the scene with helmets on and pointed a Taser at the suspect, but did not need to deploy it

The officers were forced into a stand off with the man who appeared to refuse to get off the bus when police arrived

A Met Police spokesman said: 'Officers and London Ambulance Service (LAS) attended and found a man on the upper deck of a route 28 bus who was suspected to have assaulted another passenger.

'The suspect refused to cooperate with attending officers, including those armed with Taser and continued to make threats of assault.

'He was subsequently detained by police and arrested on suspicion of ABH and affray and taken to a west London police station for questioning.

'Taser was not fired during the incident.

'One man was taken to hospital for treatment of assault related injuries. His condition is stable.

'There are no other reported injuries.'

The scene in Kensington, west London, on Monday evening, during the stand-off at about 9.30pm

Other passengers got off the bus as they waited for the officers to deal with the suspect, who was later arrested
Chinese defense chiefs say the country's military has successfully tested a new kind of guided missile near the Korean peninsula.

The test in the Bohai Sea was to 'raise the operational capability of the armed forces and effectively respond to threats to national security,' the Defense Ministry said.

An official statement did not say what kind of missile was tested or when it was fired, only saying it happened 'recently'. The test 'achieved the expected result', the statement added.

Scroll down for video

China's military chiefs say they successfully test fired a new kind of guided missile close to the Korean Peninsula, without naming the weapon or saying when it was tested (file image)

Defense officials for the People's Liberation Army said the test was to 'effectively respond to threats to national security' (file image)

Officials also did not say what platform the weapon was launched from.

The announcement came a week after Beijing reassured North Korea that it wants to remain allies amid tensions with American over the country's nuclear programme.

In a rare rebuke, North Korea had accused China of 'dancing to the tune of the US' and 'stomping on a red line' in relations after it had backed calls for more sanctions on Kim Jong-un's regime.

China had described repeated nuclear tests by North Korea in a mountainous region near its border as a 'threat'.

Kim Jong-un has made it clear that his ultimate ambition is to develop a missile system capable of delivering a nuclear warhead on to the mainland United States. Donald Trump has said that 'will not happen'.

China has been involved in the standoff between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un over North Korea's nuclear programme, at first calling for more sanctions on Pyongyang, then reassuring its neighbour that it wants to remain allies

Beijing also issued a rebuke to America after it deployed a THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, with Chinese officials worried its powerful radar will be used to spy on them

In order to try and force North Korea's hand, the President reached out to Chinese premier Xi Jinping, having talks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

But last week China also issued its own rebuke to America after a $1billion THAAD anti-missile defense system was installed in South Korea.

Military chiefs from Seoul and Washington argue the system is necessary amid increased missile tests by Kim Jong-un, but the Chinese fear its powerful radar system will be used to spy across their border.

The system became operational last week, prompting immediate calls by Beijing to suspend its deployment.

Beijing also imposed a host of measures seen as economic retaliation against the South for the THAAD deployment, including a ban on tour groups.

South Korea on Tuesday elected Moon Jae-in, the son of North Korea immigrants, as its new President. He has vowed to open up fresh talks with the North

To further complicate matters, China and Russia have also moved troops and armour to the borders they share with North Korea, believed to be guarding against a wave of refugees should war break out.

Amidst this tension, South Korean elected left-leaning former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-In as its new President on Tuesday.

He was elected after the country's previous leader, Park Geun-hye, was impeached over corruption allegations.

Mr Moon, who is the son of North Korean refugees, used his first speech at the country's new leader to call for increased dialogue with the country of his birth.

Observers believe his administration will herald a big shift in relations with Pyongyang as it re-engages with the North after years of severed diplomatic links and increased sanctions.
Retired Reverend John Price arrives at Teesside Crown Court (pictured)

A Methodist minister used hypnosis to indecently assault four boys, a court has heard.

Retired Reverend John Price, 82, appeared at Teesside Crown Court where he denies 14 counts of indecent assault on boys aged between 11 and 17.

Price, of Bedale, North Yorkshire, is accused of indecently assaulting two boys while he was at York Methodist Church and another two youngsters while he was a minister in Pocklington.

One victim claims he was groped by Price in a vestry while he was being hypnotised by Price, who claimed to be helping the youngster with his 'nerves'.

The court heard how one witness told police he felt 'powerless and stupid' during the process.

He told a senior member of the church what had happened but was 'sent away with a flea in his ear' and told 'not to be silly', the prosecution said.

Another boy claims he was told by Price to hold a 50p piece until he dropped it, believing then that he was in a trance, the court was told.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, told the jury: 'During the late 1970s and some of the 1980s he was a minister at various churches in North Yorkshire and Humberside.

'You are going to hear from four men, and all four of these men, then boys, were members of his congregations.

'The prosecution says that all four make strikingly similar allegations against the defendant.

'Namely that whilst they were in their mid teens, the defendant attempted, so he said, to hypnotise them, he said to help them relax, and then he proceeded to abuse them sexually.

'The prosecution says what the defendant did was a gross breach of trust. This abuse was carefully planned and pre-meditated.'

Price (pictured), of Bedale, North Yorkshire, is accused of indecently assaulting two boys while he was at York Methodist Church and two while he was a minister in Pocklington

Mr Newcombe said the defendant's case was that the witnesses were lying.

Price offered to hypnotise one boy to help him cope with stress, touching his body, the court heard.

The experience left the youth 'embarrassed and confused', Mr Newcombe said.

He wrote to the Methodist Church in 2013 about what happened after he heard it was conducting a 'child abuse review', the jury heard.

Price indecently assaulted a third alleged victim at his home in Pocklington when his wife and daughter were out, the court heard.

After being hypnotised and molested, the youth said he felt 'shocked, frozen, appalled and at a loss as to know what to do', Mr Newcombe said.

One victim claims he was groped by Price in a vestry while he was being hypnotised by Price, who claimed to be helping the youngster with his 'nerves', Teesside Crown Court heard

The fourth complainant was hypnotised to deal with pain, the court heard.

Price got the boy to lie naked on a bed before abusing him, Mr Newcombe said.

'After this abuse was over the defendant would 'wake' the boy and tell him to forget,' the prosecutor said.

'No doubt the defendant was convinced that he was able to hypnotise these lads. It seems that all the boys feigned a trance as a coping mechanism.

'The defendant may think he got away with it because he was a successful hypnotist and also, he was a respectable figure.'

The court has heard that complainants saw a newspaper article in 1999 which said Price had indecently assaulted a 14-year-old boy after hypnosis.

The case continues.
A man has been jailed for life and another for 10 years following a vigilante attack which left a paedophile so badly injured he can no longer walk.

Marcus Hartley, 24, and Richard Lowry, 33, took the law into their own hands when they discovered their friend Anthony Bullough was a convicted child sex offender.

A police officer who knew Mr Bullough said he could not recognise him when he saw him unconscious on the ground.

Marcus Hartley, who had previously assaulted his father, was jailed for life with a specified term of five-and-a-half years

The three men met at the accommodation they shared for ex-offenders in Chorley, Lancashire and became friends, Preston Crown Court heard.

But when Hartley and Lowry discovered Mr Bullough's convictions were for possession of indecent images of children, their attitudes towards him changed.

They began to harass him, playing loud music and shouting insults at him through the door of his ground floor flat.

On November 3 last year, Hartley and Lowry were drinking and playing loud music in the flats upstairs from Mr Bullough.

Mr Bullough, who had previously spoken to the housing association about threats from his neighbours, became so concerned by their behaviour he climbed out of the window and fled the flat.

Hartly was accompanied by Richard Lowry in the attack. Lowry was sentenced to 10 years

But Hartley and Lowry followed him and attacked him on wasteland close by.

Hartley punched him to the ground and the men set about punching and kicking him to the head and face in a brutal attack.

At around 1.50am on November 4, two workmen discovered Mr Bullough lying unresponsive on the ground.

He was taken to hospital in a coma and underwent CT scans which showed bleeding to his brain and fractures to his jaw, eye socket and cheekbones.

Six months after the attack Mr Bullough remains in hospital and needs assistance with walking and daily care.

He started eating solid food last month but is not expected to be able to leave hospital until June, at the earliest.

Hartley and Lowry pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.

The Honorary Recorder of Preston, Judge Mark Brown, said: 'It was clearly a brutal, nasty and sustained assault and such was the nature of it that when he was observed lying unconscious in the street his injuries were so bad he could not be recognised.

'There was an element of premeditation, and certainly a sense of revenge because you understood him to be a convicted sex offender.

'You were taking the law into your own hands.'

Judge Brown said Hartley was a dangerous offender who had previously served a prison sentence for an attack on his own father.

He said: 'You have no victim empathy and you clearly have very serious issues with temper control and the situation is made worse because you are a heavy alcohol user.'

Lowry had convictions for domestic violence and arson, the court heard.

Judge Brown jailed Hartley for life with a specified term of five and a half years. Lowry was jailed for 10 years.
Three of America's shrewdest minds Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have thrown their support behind Donald Trump's stance on nuclear threat.

Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Munger and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates agreed national security, China and protecting the country from pandemics are what the President should continue to work on.

They were talking together on a panel show, where Gates said the future of the nation was vitally important.

In wrapping up the interview, Bill Gates said he would urge Trump to invest in the future

Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Munger and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the FOX Business panel show with Liz Claman

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, right, and Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and director at Berkshire Hathaway, chat during an interview

The trio appeared in an interview with FOX Business' Liz Claman, and Buffett said: 'I would certainly say to him [Trump] the same thing I would say to any other presidentthat their most important job is to protect us from weapons of mass destruction and that they are the most important person in the world, to put the emphasis on that.'

Munger nodded in agreement, saying the US President's efforts to get China on board was important.

'I am a great admirer of the Trump change of mind about China and making an ally out of China instead of screaming about their trade,' he said.

In wrapping up the interview, Gates said he would urge Trump to invest in the future.

He said: 'Whether it's research, making sure that pandemics don't come to get us and helping other countries  I'd make sure he knew all about it.'
German police have arrested a second soldier over a far-right plot to assassinate politicians and blame it on migrants.

The suspect, identified only as Maximilian T., 27, was stationed at the same Franco-German base near Strasbourg as army lieutenant Franco Albrecht, who was arrested on April 26.

Albrecht, 28, had managed to create the false identity of a Syrian fruit seller from Damascus and to register himself as a refugee who was granted asylum, a space in a shelter and monthly state benefits.

Their plan, prosecutors claim, was to commit an attack, for which they had obtained a pistol and drawn up a hit list of pro-refugee politicians, including former president Joachim Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas.

The pair, along with 24-year-old student Mathias F., had hoped the murder would 'be seen by the population as a radical Islamist terrorist act committed by a recognised refugee,' said a statement from the prosecution.

Their plan, prosecutors claim, was to commit an attack, for which they had obtained a pistol and drawn up a hit list of pro-refugee politicians, including former president Joachim Gauck

Prosecutors said the three suspects 'planned an attack against a high-ranking politician or public figure who was supportive of what the accused saw as the failed immigration and refugee affairs policies'.

Albrecht 'was meant to carry out the attack' and had created the fictitious identity of a refugee who was meant to be seen as the perpetrator.

Maximilian T., who served in the same infantry battalion, allegedly made excuses for him during his absences from the Illkirch base, just across the border from Kehl in France.

He apparently penned the death list, and helped Albrecht procure the French-made handgun in Vienna, prosecutors said.

News portal Spiegel Online said the newly-arrested suspect was also a lieutenant and a close friend of Albrecht, and that both were part of an online chat group in which they shared right-wing extremist content.

The pair also allegedly traded Nazi photos and far-right speeches online.

One investigator told Spiegel: 'They were prepared to kill for their cause, or at least that's what they claimed.'

After Albrecht's arrest at a Bundeswehr barracks in French Alsace, investigators said they found a lounge where he and like minded officers shared their enthusiasm for the Nazi Wehrmacht.

They called their retreat the 'bunker' and there they stored pictures romanticizing World War Two German troops alongside original steel helmets, guns and medals.

Defence Minister Ursula von Der Leyen (pictured) this week ordered the army's inspector general to search every army barrack, storeroom, munitions depot and training area in a bid 'to restore the reputation of the Bundeswehr'

The case is particularly shocking for the military leadership, because German soldiers have only been stationed in the Leclerc barracks in Illkirch since 2010, so there are no historical roots to the Wehrmacht.

'Anyone who decorates an entire room with devotional objects in such a barracks must be deeply convinced,' said Germany's MoD in Berlin.

In 2012 at the site soldiers made a huge four foot swastika on the ground outside a training site.

Defence Minister Ursula von Der Leyen this week ordered the army's inspector general to search every army barrack, storeroom, munitions depot and training area in a bid 'to restore the reputation of the Bundeswehr.'

She has come under fire for her handling of the case, with some saying her harsh tone towards the armed forces implied most soldiers were right-wing radicals.

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the minister today.

She told the broadcaster WDR: 'This is an unbelievable story with a right-wing extremist background and it was right that the defence minister did not try to minimize it but rather called it what it is, and we say we have to investigate whether such thing occurs often.'

Von der Leyen has apologized for her blanket criticism of the military, saying she regretted remarks that military leaders were weak and unable to deal with problems like sexual harassment claims and right-wing extremism.

The scandal has also raised questions about the competence of staff at shelters where migrants first register before they can apply for asylum.

Germany has taken in more than one million asylum seekers since 2015, many from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, amid an initial wave of goodwill followed by an anti-foreigner backlash and a spate of racist hate crimes.
A student who introduced Jeremy Corbyn at a campaign launch posted a series of racist and ant-Semitic tweets in which she talked about blacking up and used the n-word.

Bethany Barker has apologised for the 'disgusting' tweets and quit as general secretary of Nottingham Labour Students Committee after the messages were uncovered.

Ms Barker introduced Mr Corbyn at his local election campaign launch in Newark, Nottingham last month and the revelations are a major embarrassment to Labour.

Bethany Barker has quit from her role on Nottingham Labour Students Committee after offensive tweets she sent emerged

Bethany Barker has apologised for the 'disgusting' tweets and quit as general secretary of Nottingham Labour Students Committee

Ms Barker and Jeremy Corbyn arrive at the campaign rally, where the student served as the warm up act for the Labour leader

Mr Corbyn appeared alongside the student at Labour's local election campaign launch in Nottinghamshire last month

In one tweet she wrote: 'I cooked brandon chicken and rice, supporting the n***** race.'

In another she wrote: 'My dad just said I'm going to black myself up for my birthday tomorrow and be a n**** for a day.'

In another she said: 'I hate bbc one f***ing c***s black f***ing b**** I hate everyone #mayday.'

In another she describes a skull cap as a 'jew cap' and says the Norwegian far right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik - who killed 77 people in an armed rampage in 2011 - should 'go get slaughtered by a bunch of muslims and get forced to live in a synagogue'.

The tweets were posted by Ms Barker, who describes herself as a 'feminist and pino grigio enthusiast', between 2012 and 2014 from an account which has now been deleted.

University of Nottingham Labour Students said they condemned the messages.

In a statement, Ms Barker said: 'As some of you may have seen online, some anti-Semitic, homophobic, and racist tweets have resurfaced from my old Twitter account from 2012-14'

Jeremy Corbyn at the campaign rally in Newark in Nottinghamshire last month, where he was introduced by Bethany Barker

In a statement, Ms Barker said: 'As some of you may have seen online, some anti-Semitic, homophobic, and racist tweets have resurfaced from my old Twitter account from 2012-14.

'I understand the upset that these comments have caused and I want to extend my sincerest apologies to anyone that I have offended.

'I am appalled and ashamed by these comments and I condemn them in their entirety; they are outrageous and wrong and I should have never said them.'

She said she has apologised for the comments and wants to make amends for the 'mistakes' she has made.

She said: 'I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all of you reading this, too.

'These views are clearly not in line with what I believe today and do not reflect my character.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after speaking in Morley, Leeds today

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured getting on to his campaign battle bus in Manchester today. he was introduced at a campaign rally last month by Ms Barker

'I have grown up, developed and matured a lot since I was 14 years-old to the point where, looking back, I find it hard to recognise that person as myself.

'I am proud of how far I have come since then and will do everything in my power to make amends for the mistakes that I have made.'

In a statement, Nottingham Labour Students said the committee 'condemns these comments and would like to state that it is not representative of the Nottingham Labour Students Committee or our members.'

A Labour Party spokesman said: 'We have noted Bethany Barker's resignation as General Secretary of Nottingham Labour students and her apology.

'We don't comment on individuals' membership status.'
COLUMBUS  Stacey Gronenthal was wobbled momentarily by some great news she got in January, then the city woman couldnt wait to pass it on to her three kids.

You could have knocked me over with a feather, said the 36-year-old Columbus woman while describing the emotions she felt after learning she had been selected for the newest home being built by Habitat for Humanity in New Hope Addition.

I couldnt wait to tell the kids, said Gronenthal, the single mother of two girls, Jaina, 17, and Avri, 12, and one boy, Malikai, 5. I was overwhelmed.

The three-bedroom, one-bath home at 1358 45th Ave. is the sixth build for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter since 2010. The 1,100-square-foot house is expected to be completed in late August or early September, with a dedication ceremony to follow in September.

Habitat homeowners fill out a written application, receive a home visit from organization members and are approved by a selection committee.

(Habitat) called me in November and told me Id made it through the first phase of the selection process, then came a home visit to meet me and my kids and then two weeks after Christmas we got the best possible gift, Gronenthal said.

The city woman, who works full time as an administrative assistant for quality at Archer Daniels Midlands plant in Columbus and part time at Days Inn, will be booked on Saturdays for the next few months.

Gronenthal, along with her daughter Jaina and other family and friends, will be devoting their 200 hours of sweat equity to the building project on Saturdays as the new home takes shape.

Last weekend's work consisted of Columbus homebuilder volunteers installing the house's roof trusses.

Rick Cheloha is the projects construction manager. A site supervisor and contractors oversee the work done on Saturdays.

Habitat provides basic, affordable homes, typically valued at about $85,000, largely through a combination of volunteer labor and financial donations from companies and individuals, said Jamie Snyder, executive director of the nonprofit organization in Columbus.

Habitat is partnering with Thrivent Financial, which is providing a $40,000 grant for the newest home.

The money (for the Habitat homes) comes from the community, Snyder said.

Habitat homeowners receive a no-interest mortgage and make their monthly payments to the chapter to fund future builds.

Gronenthal is eager for her family to step into their new home.

The family is currently living in a three-bedroom mobile home with a leaky roof. They own the home, but not the lot space where it sits. Soggy conditions have created mold issues.

Jaina will spend her senior year of high school in the new home, then graduate and head on to college. She plans to get her own place when shes on her own after graduation in 2018.

When Jaina goes off to college, this new home will be perfect for me and my two younger kids, said Gronenthal. My son has never had his own room since the day he came home from the hospital.
Thousands of convictions, including rapes and murders, could be overturned amid allegations of data manipulation at a forensics lab.

It was previously thought that 484 cases were affected, but a police probe has found more than 6,000 toxicology samples could be at risk.

The investigation is focused on Randox Testing Services (RTS), a laboratory used by police forces across the UK to analyse samples used in prosecutions.

Two employees at the Manchester-based laboratory were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice earlier this year.

The men, aged 31 and 47, were later bailed.

Thousands of convictions, including rapes and murders, could be overturned amid allegations of data manipulation at a forensics lab (not pictured, file photo)

A team of forensic experts are identifying any live cases which require retesting and past cases where convictions could be unsafe, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said.

'The majority of cases affected are Road Traffic Act offences such as drug driving.

'However, RTS provided toxicology tests for other offences including rape, assault and murder so it is possible these cases could be affected,' a spokesman added.

Deputy Chief Constable James Vaughan, NPCC forensic expert, warned that the number of affected samples could change again as the investigation continues.

He said: 'This is a serious breach of the very rigorous professional standards set by the Forensic Science Regulator for staff and organisations working in this critical field.

'We now have a clearer picture of the scale of this data manipulation and have been able to set out a plan of action in partnership with RTS, the Forensic Science Regulator and the CPS.

'The numbers affected could change as our investigations progress.

It was previously thought that 484 cases were affected, but a police probe has found more than 6,000 toxicology samples could be at risk (file photo)

'We are prioritising the most serious and pressing cases but all cases where there could have been an impact on prosecution will be assessed, retested and appropriate action taken.

'It is important that we nationally prioritise retesting of samples to ensure that resubmitted samples do not flood the market and impact on other important ongoing cases.

'While there has been limited retesting to date, the evidence has shown that in the vast majority of cases, the original reporting was accurate.'

The Crown Prosecution Service has been warned that a number of cases due in court soon need retesting of samples.

The allegations came to light in January when concerns were raised about data from RTS in a drug driving case and a criminal investigation was launched by Greater Manchester Police.

Two members of staff at RTS Manchester laboratory, aged 47 and 31, were arrested and bailed on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
Prince's former producer has claimed unreleased recordings are fair game because he never signed a non-disclosure form.

George Ian Boxill, his former sound engineer, tried to release Deliverance EP last month before Prince's estate blocked the move.

They filed a legal motion saying any deal was was tied to the remodeling of a studio, but Boxill is insistent he has never signed anything that would restrict him from releasing songs.

Unreleased: It's believed that the musician, seen here at a Netherlands concert in 2013, left behind a huge vault of unheard material after his death in 2016

Last week, before the most recent revelation reported by TMZ, Prince's estate has been ordered to post a $1 million bond in a music licensing dispute.

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.

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

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.
When a 48-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in June 2015, neighbors feared the worst for her missing daughter, who was ill and wheelchair bound.

But after someone wrote That B**** is dead on the Facebook page Gypsy Blanchard shared with her mom Clauddine, she went from missing person to murder suspect.

Gypsy, who was arrested with her boyfriend just two days after the body was found, walked into her first court appearance on her own two feet - much to the shock and delight of her father Rod Blanchard, who watched a video of her arraignment online.

It turned out that Gypsy didn't need a wheelchair at all, and that she never suffered from brain damage, leukemia or muscular dystrophy like her mother claimed.

For years, Clauddine barred her daughter from attending school, shaved her head to make it appear as if she had undergone chemotherapy, fed her medication she didn't need, and pretended she was disabled.

Clauddine exhibited a disturbing case of Munchausen by proxy syndrome, a disorder in which caretakers exaggerate or induce illness in a child for attention and sympathy.

Her murder is now the subject of a new HBO documentary titled Mommy Dead and Dearest airing on May 15.

Gypsy, who is serving a 10-year sentence for second-degree murder, has the support of her father, who said: 'Bad as it sounds, [Clauddine] asked for what she got.'

Scroll down for video

Gypsy Blanchard (center) admitted to planning a murder plot against her mother, Clauddine 'Dee Dee' Blanchard, 48, as part of a plea deal to avoid a first-degree conviction in July 2016

Gypsy (pictured in court in July 2016) was convicted of second-degree murder and will serve 10 years

Clauddine and Rod Blanchard separated before Gypsy was born. The mother eventually moved to Springfield, Missouri, claiming she and her daughter fled from Hurricane Katrina.

The two lived in a home built by Habitat for Humanity, and Clauddine was a full-time caretaker for Gypsy, claiming the girl suffered from ailments including chromosomal defects, epilepsy, sleep apnea, leukemia, and severe asthma.

Clauddine's ruse fooled even doctors, who doled out prescriptions and performed surgeries on Gypsy.

The mother also accepted financial donations and the two went on charity-funded trips to Disney World. Rod's wife Kristy said the mother and daughter were inseparable, and neighbors described their relationship as 'sweet'.

'I really, genuinely believed that [Gypsy] had some issues,' Rod told the New York Post. 'Dee Dee was really good at convincing me that there was a problem.

'I never, ever can fathom that she was really in the hospitals, and the doctors wouldnt have caught on to something at some point over the years.'

Clauddine (right with Gypsy) barred her daughter from attending school and pretended she was disabled. Doctors said she had a severe case of Munchausen by proxy syndrome

Clauddine's ruse fooled even doctors, who doled out prescriptions and performed surgeries on Gypsy. Neighbors said the two were inseparable

Gypsy, who is now serving a 10-year sentence for second-degree murder, has the support of her father Rod Blanchard (above), who said: 'Bad as it sounds, [Clauddine] asked for what she got.'

Gypsy's attorney Mike Stanfield later told the court the mother barred her from attending school after kindergarten, adding: 'Her mother would not allow her to spend any time alone with any other human being. Her mother, when they went to the doctor, did all the talking.'

Clauddine even made her daughter shave her head so it appeared as if she lost her hair through chemotherapy.

Gypsy eventually met Nicholas Godejohn on ChristianDatingForFree.com and started an online relationship for two years.

When she opened up to her boyfriend about her mother's behavior, they came up with a plot to murder Clauddine so they could be together, a search warrant has revealed.

According to text messages and interrogation-room footage included in the new documentary, Godejohn slipped into the house and allegedly stabbed Clauddine while Gypsy hid in the bathroom.

The couple then took 'several thousand dollars' from a safe at Dee Dee's home and spent some time in Springfield following her death, police said.

Surveillance footage at local businesses showed Gypsy wearing different disguises and walking on her own before they took a bus 565 miles to Wisconsin.

A shocking Facebook status from Clauddine and Gypsy's shared account on June 14, 2015, read, 'That B**** is dead,' alarming neighbors who then called the police.

A second, more disturbing post, read: 'I - SLASHED THAT **** AND RAPED HER SWEET INNOCENT DAUGHTER. ..HER SCREAM WAS SOOOO LOUD LOL.'

The Facebook posts were traced to Godejohn's house in Big Bend, Wisconsin, and the two were arrested on June 16, 2015.

Gypsy (left) met Nicholas Godejohn (right) on ChristianDatingForFree.com, and maintained an online relationship before exacting a plot to murder Clauddine, according to a search warrant

A shocking Facebook status was put up on an account shared between Dee Dee and Gyspy. Neighbors called the police, who then found the 48-year-old had been stabbed to death

Godejohn, who was charged with first-degree murder, is currently awaiting trial and faces life in prison.

Gypsy admitted to planning a murder plot against her mother in July 2016 as part of a plea deal to avoid a first-degree conviction. She was sentenced to 10 years instead.

'When you look at this case, it's a murder. And it's a first-degree murder. But it's also one of the most extraordinary and unusual cases we have seen,' Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson told the News-Leader.

He acknowledged the abuse Gypsy suffered at the hands of her mother, and said he thought the second-degree murder conviction the 24-year-old received was 'more appropriate'.

The body of Clauddinnea 'Dee Dee' Blancharde, 48, was found at this Springfield home, which she shared with her daughter. The house was in a community established for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina

Rod, along with his wife, speak to Gypsy, who is working towards her GED while she awaits parole in 2024.

But the father still grapples with the abuse Clauddine put their daughter through, saying: ' How do you kill your own mother? You had to have been put through some serious trauma, abuse, to be able to consciously make that decision.

'I think if Dee Dee was right here, right now, I might do the same thing that Gypsy did. Its absolutely horrifying that you can do that to your child.'

Friends and family initially feared for Gyspy's safety when she went missing after her mother's murder, the News-Leader reported (pictured, Gypsy)
A retired paramedic told today how 'the blood flowed like a waterfall' as he tended to the bodies of a South African family who had been axed to death as they slept  allegedly by the surviving heir.

Christiaan Koegelenberg was forced to re-live 'the worst case' of his 39 years on the job as he recalled finding the 'chaos with all the blood and bodies' at the high security home of the wealthy Van Breda family.

Accused Henri van Breda looked emotional as he heard the paramedic describe how his sister Marli only survived the frenzied slaughter because of the paramedics' mercy dash to hospital.

Paramedic Christiaan Koegelenberg, pictured, claimed the scene he witnessed at the van Breda household in Cape Town was the worst he had seen during his 39-year career

Henri van Breda, pictured, is accused of killing his parents and his brother and attacking his sister, Marli who received several blows to the head with a 15lb axe, prosecutors claim

Marli van Breda, pictured, survived the attack despite being hit repeatedly with an axe

The van Breda family had recently returned to South Africa before the attack having spent seven years living in Australia.

'It hits me hard to go through it again looking at these photos,' the 65 year-old witness told Cape Town's high court, as he was asked to go through a bundle of shocking pictures of the bloodbath.

Members of the public, watching from above in the public gallery let out quiet gasps as they looked down at the family's horrific injuries in graphic images spread out on on the lawyers' benches below.

Van Breda, 21, is accused of raining more than 15 blows down on the heads of his parents, Theresa and Martin, and siblings Rudi and Marli with a 9lb axe in January 2015.

Private schoolgirl Marli, 18, is listed to give evidence against her brother, despite reportedly remembering nothing about the early-hours attack at 12 Goske Street on the exclusive De Zalze security estate, in the winelands outside Cape Town.

Speaking to the court in Afrikaans, Mr Koegelenberg told how the young defendant was sitting with a small dog outside the house, as he and his partner were led to tend to the victims.

Police claim van Breda used this axe to attack his family members to inherit 13 million

Prosecutors say Henri (left) murdered father Martin (right), mother Teresa (front right), brother Rudi (centre) and tried to kill sister Marli (front left) Read more:

Marli van Breda is set to give evidence against her brother despite not remembering the night

The life savers were told there were four bodies upstairs. Mr Koegelenberg attended to the mother and daughter, lying close together on the floor  Marli had been slashed through her jugular vein and endured five axe blows to the head, more than any of her loved ones.

'I tended to the first two bodies,' Mr Koegelenberg explained, in a cracked voice. 'My colleague went to the other two and signalled to tell me that there was no sign of life. I told him there was no breathing in one of the ladies, only one of them was still breathing, I saw one was still alive.'

As the medics moved the stricken girl, then 16, down to the ambulance 'the blood flowed like a waterfall to the bottom of the stairs,' he told the hushed court.

'In my 39 years of service this is the worst incidents I have ever seen' he added with a nod.

The former physics student stands to inherit a share of 13million if he is cleared of the frenzied attack on his family, which shocked even crime-weary South Africa. At the start of his trial, a statement from Van Breda was read to the court in which he claimed he had watched 'frozen' from the bathroom as a masked intruder set about his loved ones as they slept.

Van Breda, then 19, suffered only minor injuries on the night  described by police doctors as 'self-inflicted' - in the process of disarming the killer, before chasing him and unseen sidekick off the property, he claims.

After lighting a cigarette to 'calm' himself, he admitted he had failed to raise the alarm to tend to Rudi, who was then 'gurgling' and thrashing about, and Marli who was also showing signs of life. He claims he passed out and only summoned help four hours later.

Van Breda's statement explained that he didn't know any number to dial for help, having only recently moved back from Australia where the family had lived for seven years.

However, one crime scene picture showed a list of emergency numbers that was stuck on the fridge in the Van Bredas' kitchen. These included contacts for the estate's security guards, emergency medical assistance and the mobile numbers of neighbours.

Other police photographs revealed that valuables including laptops, phones, a handbag, flat screen televisions had remained untouched in the house.

The murder weapon was recovered at the scene, still bearing the shop barcode labels  suggesting it had been recently bought.

Van Breda denies three counts of murder, one of attempted murder and tampering with the crime scene.
A married couple who spent the last 62 years of their lives together held hands as they died about an hour apart from each other.

Holding hands on their deathbeds  the loving gesture that kicked off Tom and Delma Ledbetter's relationship all those years ago  was a fitting way to mark the last thing the couple would ever do together on this earth.

'It was exactly how they wanted to go. It couldn't have been any better,' their daughter Donetta Nichols told Click 2 Houston.

Still holding hands: Delma (left) and Tom Ledbetter, who married 62 years ago, fell ill within days of each other in April and passed away just an hour and a half apart from each other

The Lake Jackson, Texas couple died in hospice on April 21, with less than an hour and a half separating their passing. Tom was 84 years old and Delma was 82 years old.

Nichols, one of the Ledbetter's two daughters, said that her parents met when they were in their early 20s, after being introduced by mutual friends while living in Florida.

Their first 'date' barely even counted as a date  it took place while Tom was moving his car one day.

'They drove around two, three different blocks or whatever and they came back and they parked,' Nichols said, recalling what her father told her about the way her parents' long relationship began.

A vintage photo of Tom and Delma Ledbetter in their youth. They met while living in Florida

The Ledbetters were introduced to each other by mutual friends while they were in their 20s

'He said he reached over and he grabbed her hand and he said, "I don't know what made me do it." He said, "I just reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek." '

Thus began a whirlwind romance, with Tom and Delma marrying after just three weeks.

The couple had two daughters. Over the years, their family expanded to include seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

After Tom retired, he and Delma traveled around the US, spending their twilight years going from campsite to campsite, according to their obituary.

But, last month, Delma became sick and was unable to recover her health.

Happy couple Delma and Tom Ledbetter spent the last 62 years of their lives together

After retiring, the Ledbetters traveled around the US, going from campsite to campsite

The Ledbetters have two daughters, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren

'They couldn't get a pulse. They couldn't get a blood pressure. They couldn't get anything. Yet mama was just hanging on to something,' Nichols said.

That something must have been her husband, Tom.

He fell ill just a few days after Delma did.

'We got him over to the nursing home with Mama,' Nichols said.

'They had pushed their little beds together and Mama was laying right there, facing him. She was asleep and Daddy goes and he reached over there and he grabbed a hold of her hand and he just laid there with her, and it was so sweet.'

On April 21, the couple passed away.

'Together for 62 years here on earth and now they will continue to share their love in Heaven.

'My papa and nanny both passed away today holding each other's hands a little over an hour apart. What a blessing for them to be able to go together!' Stephanie Rutkowske wrote on Facebook the day her grandparents died.

The Ledbetters are buried side-by-side at Restwood Memorial Park in Clute, Texas.

Tom and Delma Ledbetter held hands all throughout their 62-year-long relationship
A jury on Tuesday found a man guilty of abducting and killing 15-year-old Sierra LaMar after she disappeared on her way to school roughly five years ago.

The jury will reconvene on May 16 to determine whether Antolin Garcia-Torres, 26, should be sentenced to death for the girl's death.

LaMar disappeared on her way to a high school bus stop in 2012, but her body has never been found. Volunteers continue to search for her body.

'Nothing will take away the pain and sorrow we experience every day,' Marlene LaMar, Sierra's mother, told reporters outside court.

A jury on Tuesday found Antolin Garcia-Torres (left) guilty of abducting and killing 15-year-old Sierra LaMar (right) after she disappeared on her way to school roughly five years ago.

Sierra (pictured) disappeared on her way to a high school bus stop in 2012, but her body has never been found. Police arrested Garcia-Torres two months after she disappeared by matching DNA he had submitted following a previous assault arrest to Sierra's pants and purse

'But it gives us peace as a family to know this isn't going to happen to another child.'

Garcia-Torres was also convicted of trying to kidnap three women from a supermarket parking lot late at night in 2009.

Prosecutors say those failed abductions show Garcia-Torres is a predator.

Garcia-Torres' attorney Alfonso Lopez told jurors that Sierra may have runaway because she was upset that she was moving from Fremont to Morgan Hills because of her parents' divorce. Morgan Hills is about 25 miles south of San Jose.

But prosecutors say a strand of Sierra's hair was found in the trunk of Garcia-Torres' car and his genetic material was found on her pants and purse found near a shed in a field about 2 miles from her home two days later.

The jury will reconvene on May 16 to determine whether Garcia-Torres (above in 2012), 26, should be sentenced to death for the girl's death. Garcia-Torres was also convicted of trying to kidnap three women from a supermarket parking lot late at night in 2009

Prosecutors say those failed abductions show Garcia-Torres is a predator. Above his family and supporters walk outside of the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice on Tuesday

Police arrested Garcia-Torres two months after she disappeared by matching DNA he had submitted following a previous assault arrest to Sierra's pants and purse.

Investigators say Sierra and Garcia-Torres did not know each other and that he randomly decided to abduct and kill her.

Garcia-Torres lived about seven miles from LaMar in a trailer he shared with his mother, girlfriend and young daughter.

He previously worked at the supermarket where the three attempted abductions occurred.

'We obviously will never get Sierra back,' said Steve LaMar, her father. 'It's not closure, but it's a good first step.'

Sierra's family and friends will be called to testify at the penalty phase of the trial next week when prosecutors plan to ask for the death penalty.

Garcia-Torres' attorneys left the courthouse without commenting to reporters.
Footage has emerged showing a police motorcyclist flung from his bike while escorting a member of the Royal family.

The embarrassing incident happened yesterday while specialist officers from the Met Police escorted an unnamed member of the monarchy during a drive through London.

The moment was captured by an onlooker who was recording the procession on his phone.

Footage has emerged showing a police motorcyclist flung from his bike while escorting a member of the Royal family

The man filming can't help but swear after witnessing the incident and concerned runners appear to rush to the officer's aid

The incident happened on Monday while specialist officers from the Met Police escorted an unnamed during a drive through London

It starts with a first motorcyclist driving along a road in London at great speed.

The biker is then followed by three others and two cars, believed to be carrying members of the Royal family.

Two further cars, which appear to be blacked-out multi-purpose vehicles, follow ahead.

Seconds later, another biker appears but the unlucky officer's wheel appears to turn 180 degrees as the wheel bends and he comes flying off his vehicle.

He is thrown some distance off his bike and narrowly avoids a nearby lorry, which is stood still in stationary traffic.

The man filming can't help but swear after witnessing the incident and concerned runners appear to rush to the officer's aid.

The moment was captured by an onlooker who was recording the procession on his phone

Seconds later, the unlucky officer's wheel appears to turn 180 degrees as the wheel bends, he comes flying off his vehicle

He is thrown some distance off his bike and narrowly avoids a nearby lorry, which is stood still in stationary traffic

The biker quickly sits up however, and jumps to his feet, indicating that he was not seriously harmed.

The 37 second clip was posted to Facebook where it was quickly shared thousands of times.

A spokesman for the Met Police said he did not know which Royal the police were escorting and said they were finding out the condition of the driver.

A former police officer suggested the motorist could have clipped the vehicle in front which caused him to turn his wheel before accidentally crashing.

Those on social media including fellow bikers expressed sympathy at the incident.

One man said: 'Just shows how experienced we are. We all make mistakes and hope he's okay, I am a motorbike rider it not nice when you come off. '

But others suggested the driver had lost control of his bike.

Another wrote: 'Any civilian would be searched, harassed, drug/drink tested, and spoken to in a horrible manor, bet this person walked away with none of it.'
The White House pushed off a meeting to hash out its position on the Paris climate agreement Tuesday for a second time.

Officials had already postponed the meeting once before, citing scheduling conflicts.

Today's discussion of the pact that Trump said he'd 'cancel' as president but his daughter Ivanka supports was called off without explanation.

Politico reported that the meeting was being rescheduled this morning, though a date has not yet been set.

The White House pushed off a meeting to hash out its position on the Paris climate agreement Tuesday for a second time. Today's discussion of the pact that Trump said he'd 'cancel' as president but his daughter Ivanka supports was called off without explanation

The White House had said it would have a formal position on the 2015 accord before Trump's trip to Italy for the G7 summit.

Trump leaves for Israel, Saudi Arabia and Europe at the end of next week. He'll end his foreign travel in Sicily on May 27.

Senior White House officials are divided on the international agreement that Barack Obama heralded, with Steve Bannon and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt arguing against it and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump pushing the president not to pull out of it.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has advised the president to renegotiate the pact that's been signed by 194 nations. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would prefer that the US did not renege on the commitment, either.

BP, Walmart, Google and other big businesses sent Trump a letter in support of the deal that aims to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions by 2025 in late April.

'US business interests are best served by a stable and practical framework facilitating an effective and balanced global response,' the letter said. 'We believe the Paris Agreement provides such a framework.'

The United States said it would reduce its emissions by as much as 28 percent, compared to 2005 levels, as part of the agreement.

If he chooses not to pull out of the accord that includes China, the world's largest polluter, Trump could relax the United States' commitment and embrace a less ambitious target.

'It is clear from the agreement that if you do change your target, you are encouraged to change it in a more ambitious direction,' a former State Department legal adviser, Sue Biniaz, told AFP. 'But it is equally clear that you are not legally prohibited from changing it in any direction that you choose.'

Senior White House officials are divided on the international agreement that Barack Obama heralded, with Steve Bannon and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt arguing against it and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump (pictured today outside her home) pushing the president not to pull out of it

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a spokeswoman for Trump, claimed last month that the 'discord' between senior administration officials over the international accord was being blown out of proportion.

'I don't think they can say that there's a lot of discord between where everyone is if that's the purpose of the meeting,' she said.

The meeting that was supposed to take place then was postponed because the president and his top aides were traveling to Wisconsin, the White House official said. Kushner was celebrating Passover.

Sanders said the meeting would be rescheduled 'at some point over the next couple of weeks.'

'Several of the people that wanted to participate in that meeting' are on the trip to Wisconsin, Sanders said to reporters riding on Air Force One 'and a couple of other things.'

Trump's top spokesman had said that the administration would reach a decision on the climate pact before Trump makes his first overseas trip.

'We are currently reviewing issues related to the agreement, and expect to have a decision by the time of the G7 Summit, late May-ish, if not sooner,' White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in March.
A Virginia man has been granted conditional release from a mental institution eight years after he beheaded his five-year-old son with a large serrated kitchen knife.

Joseph Henry Hagerman III, 42, was granted conditional release from Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia on Monday.

He had been institutionalized since being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the February 2009 homicide of his son Joshua Hagerman in Virginia Beach.

Hagerman, who suffers from schizophrenia, is required to live in an adult foster care facility on weekdays, but on weekends will live with his parents.

The parents' home is next door to the one that Hagerman once lived in with his wife, and the young son he killed.

Joseph Henry Hagerman III, 42, was granted conditional release from Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia on Monday

Hagerman was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2009 homicide of his son Joshua Hagerman, five (left and right). Joshua was putting his toys away when his dad attacked him

On February 10, 2009, five-year-old Joshua was putting his toys away in the family living room when Hagerman attacked him with a serrated kitchen knife, he later admitted.

Hagerman, then 34, had been obsessively reading the Bible's Book of Revelations and praying to people whom he believed could read his mind, according to a psychologist's report. Twice previously hospitalized for paranoid schizophrenia, he had stopped taking his medication for several days and was barely sleeping.

On the morning of the attack, Hagerman became convinced that his wife Shirley and others were 'anti-christs' intent on harming his son.

'I didn't want him to lose his salvation,' Hagerman explained on the night of the murder in a jailhouse interview with the Virginian-Pilot. 'I wanted him to go fast. I didn't want him to be tortured.'

Convinced that his wife Shirley would torture young Joshua until the boy renounced Jesus, Hagerman took up a large serrated kitchen knife and walked into the living room and decapitated the helpless boy.

While he cut the boy's head off, he told the boy to give his life to Jesus, his wife told police.

As the gruesome attack unfolded, Shirley tried desperately to intervene, suffering slashes to her hands from Hagerman's knife. The terrified mother then ran from the home, dialing 911 and banging on a neighbor's door for help.

Hagerman became convinced that his wife Shirley and others were 'antichrists' intent on harming his son Joshua, and decapitated the boy to prevent them from 'torturing' him

Hagerman was arrested quickly after killing his son. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity just three months after beheading the boy

After beheading Joshua, the crazed father ran out into the street, his white sweatpants and sweatshirt covered in blood. He was quickly arrested.

In the city jail, Hagerman is said to have drank toilet water, believing it safer than the food and water provided by jailers.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity little more than three months later.

At Monday's hearing, one of Hagerman's psychologists testified that he has been 'a model patient,' and responded well to treatment, the Pilot reported. 'We have had absolutely no issues with him.'

The release was requested by staff at the mental health facility. Although prosecutors opposed it, all the mental health experts who testified agreed that Hagerman is ready for supervised release.

His former wife Shirley has relocated, and prosecutors said they had lost touch with her. She did not return a message seeking comment from DailyMail.com.

'We're just happy that it's over with and that he's been given a second chance,' Hagerman's sister, Maria Teresa Lancaster, told the newspaper as she left the courthouse.

'My brother didn't do it out of malice. He's mentally ill. When he's medicated, he's fine and stable.'
Prime Minister Theresa May has tonight come under fire after she said there are jobs for 'boys and girls' around the home.

The 60-year-old was on The One Show with her husband Philip, 59, and the pair discussed a number of non-political issues including her love of shoes.

During the first few minutes of the interview broadcast live on the BBC, the married couple were talking about living together.

Mrs May said there are specific 'boys jobs and girl jobs' around the house after her husband said that he takes the bins out at their home.

Philip may joked that he still has to take the bins out as he gave his first broadcast interview with the PM

The couple appeared on the flagship show as Mrs May drums up support for the Tories ahead of the General Election

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale wrote on her Twitter feed: 'Seconds in to The One Show, the Prime Minister tells the country there are 'boy jobs and girl jobs' at home  I despair'

Her response was criticised online with some Twitter users saying that the remark was 'sexist'.

Mr May, who met his wife when they studied together at Oxford University, said that there is 'give and take in every marriage' when asked how tough it is to win a negotiation at home.

He said: 'Well it's a good question. There's give and take in every marriage. I get to decide when to take the bins out not if I take the bins out.'

Mrs May jumped in and added: 'There's boy and girl jobs, you see.'

Mr May continued: 'I definitely do the taking the bins out, I do the traditional boy jobs by and large.'

Her comment sparked outrage online.

Pamela Davenport tweeted: 'Theresa May on #OneShow, won't meet public, won't meet journalists won't debate. Sexist responses, job for the boys god help us #BBCBias'

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale wrote on her Twitter feed: 'Seconds in to The One Show, the Prime Minister tells the country there are 'boy jobs and girl jobs' at home  I despair.'

Another Twitter user said that the Prime Minister was 'already making sexist comments' on TV

The couple first met as students at Oxford and have been inseparable ever since

Mr May said he thought 'what a lovely girl' when he first laid eyes on his future wife

During the interview, Mr May also revealed it was 'love at first sight' when he met the PM when the pair were students at Oxford.

In a candid interview, he lifted the lid on life as the PM's husband - revealing that they never let the ministerial red boxes into the bedroom.

And Mrs May revealed that her mother-in-law was left a little 'disappointed' when it was wrongly reported that she was expecting a baby while trying to launch her political career.

Asked about how their romance blossomed, Mr May said: 'It was love at first sight, absolutely.'

Asked for his first impressions of the woman who would become his wife, he said: 'What a lovely girl!' And he gallantly added: 'And she still is.'

The couple said it was love at first sight when they met at Oxford University

Asked by presenter Alex Jones whether he 'fancied her instantly', Mr May replied: 'Absolutely, it was love at first sight.'

Mrs May chimed in: 'Likewise.'

The couple were introduced at an Oxford University student disco by mutual friend Benazir Bhutto - later prime minister of Pakistan.

In the highly-personal interview, Mrs May told how the couple had been hit by 'fake news' while she was starting out on her political career.

She told the show: 'We've had our own experience of fake news way back when I was wanting to be selected for a seat.

'One of the newspapers reported I was going to have trouble being selected to fight a seat as a Conservative candidate because of my new baby.

'Well we didn't have a baby, and we didn't think anything more of it until that afternoon my mother in law rang,'

Her husband interjected and said: 'My mum rang and she thought perhaps there was something we hadn't told her.'

The PM'sis famous for her love of fashion and shoe in particular - she wore a pair of sparkly tassled loafers for the television appearance

Mrs May added: 'Yes, so she was disappointed.'

The couple repeatedly glanced at each other and finished each other's sentences during the intimate interview.

The interview showed the PM's softer side at a time when some have criticised her for being 'robotic' by sticking rigidly to the party's key election slogans.

Mrs May also revealed that while Britain will be leaving the EU it will not be leaving the Eurovision Song Contest.

Although she quipped: 'I'm tempted to say in the current circumstances I'm not sure how many votes we will get.'

THE LOOK THAT SAYS 'DON'T YOU DARE COST ME THE ELECTION!' Theresa May looked nervous and feared her husband would say something which would 'cost her the election' when they appeared on national television together, according to a body language expert. Judi James watched the 60-year-old closely as she discussed a number of topics with her husband Philip on The One Show on Tuesday night. Ms James said the Prime Minister was 'leaning away' from her husband Philip, 59, so she could keep a close eye on him and watch what he was saying. The pair appeared on the popular BBC chat show and talked about a number of non-political subjects including Eurovision and Mrs May's love of shoes. Prime Minister Theresa May spent a lot of the time during the interview staring at her husband Body language expert Judi James watched The One Show and noticed Theresa May spent a lot of time looking at her husband Philip Ms James said Mrs May looked like she was worried he would say something which would 'scupper her chances' of winning the election However, after studying her behaviour throughout the interview, Ms James said that Mr May - who met his wife when they studied at Oxford University together - looked like her 'rock'. She said he is the 'perfect partner for a Prime Minister' after he constantly stepped in to help her out when she seemed anxious throughout the interview. Speaking to MailOnline, Ms James: 'Theresa May wasn't relaxed during the interview and was clearly very tense because she was staring at her husband a lot. 'She looked like she was worried he would say something wrong which would scupper her chances of winning the election. 'She was leaning away from him to watch him as he spoke on the sofa. 'Mrs May looked a lot more comfortable when she was talking about politics than she did when they were discussing non-political subjects like Eurovision.' Ms James added that the she found the pair 'fascinating' and believes he is the perfect partner for a Prime Minister. Ms James added that the pair both shook their shoulders when they laughed and have an 'identical smile' Ms James noticed that Philip May acted 'like a rock' to his wife and provided support throughout the interview on Tuesday night She added: 'He was very calm throughout the interview and he kept his eyes on her the whole time and looked like he was in total agreement with her every time she spoke. 'They showed signs of a great double act that we have not seen in the UK before. He was nodding even before she started talking and telling her story.' Ms James also said that the 'power balance' between the couple seemed to be even - despite it being Mrs May's 'territory'. She added: 'They used some very intense mirroring gestures and they both shook their shoulders when they laughed and they have an almost identical smile. 'Theresa did look a bit like a fish out of water when she was asked some non-political questions but that's when he would step in and laugh. 'She just wanted to get on to the politics and you could see that is where she really felt comfortable. 'I know it is a cliche, but he looks like her rock and he gives her a very genuine look of support when she is talking. 'It is clear that they discuss everything together.' Advertisement

An effigy of Theresa May formed part of the protest staged outside the BBC buildings

Protesters carried EU flags as they railed against Mrs May's plans for Brexit

Police stood guard as protesters gathered, meanwhile Mrs May and her husband Philip lifted the lid on life inside No 10 in a rare, revealing interview

Mr May, a businessman in the City, is the Prime Minister's rock and closest confidante.

And asked about the impact moving into Downing Street has had on their lives, he said: 'Being a spouse, the whole thing is very humbling, really.

'You think 'gosh, so many people are entrusting their futures to Theresa and the team she leads'. I think that's incredible, really.'

The City financier, 59, joked: 'If you're the kind of man who expects his tea to be on the table at six o'clock every evening, you could be a disappointed man.'

Mr May said he made the tea 'from time to time', but described his wife as 'a very good cook indeed' with a large collection of cookery books.

Theresa May has been secretly hoping to become PM for around 15 years, her husband reveals

Theresa May has been secretly hoping to become Prime Minister for around 15 years, her husband has revealed in an intimate broadcast interview. Philip May said his wife first spoke about getting to No 10 while still in the shadow cabinet. His comments give an insight into the patience and diligence which eventually took Mrs May all the way to Downing Street. In a revealing interview with the BBC's The One Show, Mr May said: 'I knew she was interested in politics but I never heard Theresa say she wanted to be Prime Minister until she was established in shadow cabinet.' Mrs May came to prominence when she was made chairwoman of the Conservative Party in July 2002. She had joined the shadow cabinet three years before as shadow education secretary, and later served as shadow transport secretary and shadow culture secretary before becoming Home Secretary under David Cameron. Advertisement

He said he saw his role as 'trying to give Theresa as much support as I can'.

'It's obviously a very tough job, there are a lot of tough decisions, a lot of things you really have to work hard at as PM.

'I think I'm there to give Theresa as much support as I can, just the way she's always given me support. It's a two-way street.'

Asked by presenter Alex Jones whether ministerial red boxes were banned from the bedroom, Mr May said: 'I don't think it's made an appearance. I've never had to try to shoo it out.'

Mrs May, who was wearing black flat shoes with a tassle, said she did not mind the media's interest in her footwear.

'I like my shoes, and it gives me a reason for buying more,' she said.

Asked what was his equivalent fashion interest, Mr May said: 'I quite like ties. I like jackets, stuff like that. Fairly normal.'

He joked that he had a 'little section' in the family wardrobes for his outfits.

Meanwhile, demonstrators gathered outside the BBC to protest against the PM as she gave the revealing interview inside.

They waved placards and EU flags in protest at her policies.

Mrs May decided to call the snap General Election after taking a walking holiday with her husband in Wales before Easter.

Theresa May and her husband Philip embrace and wave after she gave her first Conservative Party conference speech as leader in Birmingham in October last year

The PM pictured walking in the Swiss Alps with her husband Philip last August. She decided to call the snap election after spending the week walking with her husband in Wales at Easter.

Mr May, a businessman, usually prefers to stay out of the limelight, but he has long been a Conservative activist in his own right.

Last month he was pictured hitting the phones with local Tory activists campaigning to get Andy Street elected as the first West Midlands mayor.

Mr May, who has carved out a successful career in the City of London, is the first male consort in No 10 Downing Street since Sir Denis Thatcher.

The 59 year-old has been content to stand behind his wife as she takes on the burden of running the country.

He attends events and business dinners with Mrs May at No10, and has been credited with acting as her 'translator' on financial issues.

Tory party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin described Mr May as one of the PM's 'hidden powers'.

He told The Telegraph: 'You know, even now as Prime Minister she will still go out at weekends knocking on doors.

'She's really got her feet on the ground, listening to her constituents and that of the country.

'She's at home doing that and so is Philip as well, which I think is one of the hidden powers (of her political career).

'I think Philip is amazing. He will turn up at central office and do telephone canvassing just with anybody else.

'He's been a constituency chairman. He's done everything in the party and that is what I think a lot of people and party workers like.'

The couple met at Oxford University in the 1970s and have been inseparable since.

Mr Corbyn and his wife Laura Alvarez have also been invited to appear on the show, but it has been reported that the Labour leader has decided to appear on it alone.

The appearance came after the PM spent the day on the campaign trail in York, where she confirmed she will cap rip-off energy bills.

The policy has left the Tories open to claims of plagiarism after Labour's then leader Ed Miliband campaigned in 2015 for an energy price freeze.

Then Tory leader David Cameron claimed Mr Miliband lived in a 'Marxist universe' while Boris Johnson mocked the plan as 'catastrophic'.

Asked directly today if she now inhabited the Marxist universe, Mrs May said: 'No.'

At her latest campaign rally today the Premier said her plan was different because it would allow prices to move within the cap on standard rate tariffs.

Theresa May (pictured campaigning in York today) will include in her manifesto a vow to cut 100 off 17 million of household bills after the June 8 general election

The Prime Minister said yesterday she was 'fed up' with rip off bills as she set out her ambitions for change

Billions were wiped from some of Britain's biggest energy companies today as the Tories unveiled more details of their plans

Both Centrica, the owner of British Gas, and SSE saw the value of their shares plunge today after it was made clear the manifesto will vow to cut 100 off 17 million of household bills.

The plans would mean energy regulator Ofcom capping standard rate tariffs by reviewing wholesale prices.

Mrs May denied today her Cabinet had been split over whether to support the plans on capping energy bills.

At her event in York - a safe Labour seat the Tories hope to win - she said: 'What we have done is looked at the results of the competition authority findings.

'They found customers of the six largest suppliers were paying 1.4billion more than in a competitive market.'

Explaining why her policy was different to the Miliband version, Mrs May said: 'First of all, we are Conservatives. We believe in free markets and competition, but we want to see competition working...

'Ed Miliband didn't suggest a cap on energy prices.

'Ed Miliband suggested a freeze on energy prices which would have frozen them so that people paying above the odds would have continued paying above the odds, and crucially the prices would not have gone down.

'Under our cap prices will be able to come down.'

Theresa May took her campaign to York Central today to defend her energy price cap. Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning in Manchester

Polls continue to show Mrs May with a commanding lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour in the polls with four weeks to go until the election

Corbyn threatens hard-left regime and refuses to say SEVEN times he would deliver Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn has refused seven times to say he would definitely deliver Brexit at a campaign launch at which he promised a 'reckoning' for the rich.

The Labour leader was grilled on Brexit by reporters after a major speech setting out his hard-left vision for Britain.

Mr Corbyn's ailing campaign will be blown further off course by his refusal to spell out Britain would definitely leave Europe.

Asked by the BBC if he could 'categorically' say Brexit would happen 'come hell or high water' if he was in No 10, Mr Corbyn only said Labour was 'serious about the negotiations'.

Told he was not addressing the point specifically, Mr Corbyn again stopped short of answering 'yes' Britain would definitely leave the EU.

He said: 'We are negotiating a trade arrangement with Europe and protection of the things we we've gained from the European Union.'

Jeremy Corbyn (pictured with his shadow cabinet at his rally in Manchester today) has vowed to take back the nation's wealth in a 'reckoning' with the rich as he launched his push for power on June 8

Speaking in Manchester today, the Labour leader said he was angry about Tory Britain and promised to fix the 'rigged' economy.

Mr Corbyn addressed the major rally surrounded by banners promoting nationalised railways, a peaceful world and a funded NHS.

The speech was denounced by Tory Chairman Patrick McLoughlin as 'chaotic; and containing no reference to immigration or clearing the deficit and made only a passing remark on Brexit.

Labour politicians airbrush 'toxic' Corbyn out of their election leaflets as the leader's OWN battlebus doesn't mention his name

Labour politicians are airbrushing Jeremy Corbyn out of their election leaflets amid fears he is toxic with voters.

The veteran left-winger also does not feature on the party's battlebus unveiled with great fanfare today.

And even Mr Corbyn's leader's own election literature does not mention that he could become Prime Minister after the national ballot on June 8.

Labour's new battlebus, unveiled in Manchester today, mentions the party six times - but does not refer to Mr Corbyn

Mr Corbyn's personal ratings have been consistently appalling since he took Labour's top job two years ago.

The scale of the problem was underlined in a poll today that found Theresa May is more trusted to protect the NHS - an issue on which Labour usually has a big advantage.

Mrs May was backed by 42.1 per cent in the Survation research for ITV's Good Morning Britain, while 39 per cent plumped for Mr Corbyn.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon is among the senior figures who have omitted Mr Corbyn from their literature, according to images posted online and on sites such as electionleaflets.org.

His pamphlet in East Leeds describe him as a 'strong local voice' - although his Twitter feed does refer to Mr Corbyn.

In contrast, the Tory campaign has been relentlessly focused on the PM as an asset - with placards branding the party's candidates 'Theresa May's Team'.
COLUMBUS  An upcoming food drive is coming at the right time for the Platte County Food Pantry.

Summertime usually brings an increase in clients seeking help through the local food bank.

Weve actually noticed it is starting to pick up now with kids getting out of school. There will be a bigger need for food at home because kids will be there and wont be getting their two meals a day at school, said Jackson Moore, the new executive director of the food pantry.

Moore was hired for the position about two months ago.

I feel it is an honor, he said of the role.

In the short time Moore has been there, he said there have been a number of individuals seeking assistance at the food pantry located on the north side of Columbus Family Resource Center, 3020 18th St.

Ive had people come in and you know they have just come to town and they are at their wits end because they dont get paid for two weeks. We are there to help them, Moore said.

People can receive food every three months if they present proof of address, their Social Security number and the number of people in their family.

Hundreds of people use the food pantry throughout the year. In 2014, more than 950 families received assistance by picking up bags of groceries with enough nonperishable food to last two weeks.

Moore said donations have been consistent, with various organizations, businesses and individuals giving items. However, the shelves can still get a bit bare during busy times, such as the summer months.

The annual Can Care-A-Van provides a big boost. The event, scheduled for June 6, brought in nearly 77,000 pounds of food last year.

This is huge for what we do. The amount of food we get is in the thousands (of pounds). Every food item we dont have to buy is a tremendous thing. Its one of the reasons why we keep going through the summer months, Moore said.

Adding to the Can Care-A-Van total is an industrial food drive that will be held June 2-3, when employees of local businesses make donations. The Can Care-A-Van will be held 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 6 at 2112 23rd St. (the old Ernst building). The public can stop by to drop off canned food and other nonperishable items, as well as monetary donations.

In addition to the food drive and other donations, local businesses such as Super Saver and Hy-Vee give bread and pastries each week.

Moore said volunteers are also a big help at the food pantry. They help stock shelves and load groceries into bags for clients.

There is always a need for volunteers, he said.

The food pantry is open 10-11:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 2-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The New York Times has offered American tourists a six-day 'Brexit means Brexit' holiday which will cost almost 5,000 and never leave London.

On the trip tourists will be taken around significant sites in the capital, including a walking tour of Westminster, a visit to the Supreme Court and even a traditional English pub frequented by MPs.

However, the holiday, which examines the 'historic implications of a historic vote', will not be your average cheap and cheerful city break - setting travellers back 4,650 per person.

The New York Times has offered American tourists a six-day 'Brexit means Brexit' holiday which will cost almost 5,000 and never leave London

During their short visit tourists will stay at the four-star St Ermin's Hotel in Westminster.

After checking in on day one, the group will head off to the Houses of Parliament and learn about the 'traditions and way the seat of British government functions.'

Tourists will then be joined by a member of the House of Lords and House of Commons to hear their views on Brexit and its implications - before heading off for a drink at a nearby pub.

On day three, the group will go to London's financial hub in the City and visit the Guildhall and other sights including Mansion House, before enjoying a guided tour of City Hall.

Later they will enjoy a talk with a senior officer of the Greater London Authority to learn about housing and immigration in London.

The following day the tourists will attend a talk on British foreign affairs, and discuss the UK's trade, political and defense policies with Europe and the rest of the world.

As well as visiting significant Brexit sites on their trip, the group will also enjoy a visit to a traditional British pub and feast on afternoon tea and scones

After all that heavy discussion they will feast on a traditional afternoon tea complete with scones and clotted cream, before joining a political historian to put 'British politics in context within the E.U. and global economics and politics.'

On their final day of their Brexit trip, the group will take a guided tour of the Supreme Court.

They will walk around the courtrooms and Justices' Library, while a member of the staff will explain the Court's role in the U.K. justice system.

Later, they will head to the Magna Carta room at the British Library and explore the 800-year legacy of the document.

A legal expert will then join them for a question and answer session on the legal consequences of Brexit.

On their final day of their Brexit trip, the group will take a guided tour of the Supreme Court

Steven Erlanger, the London bureau chief of The New York Times, is one of the experts that will address groups when the trips run this autumn.

He said that Americans were 'surprised and even bewildered' by the result of the EU referendum.

'We covered Brexit very thoroughly as a newspaper. Our readers, American and international, are very interested in the UK, in all its glory to begin with, and also in its future, he explained.

'Their interest is political and economic, not just the royals, Harrods, tea and ale. So my hope is to try to explain to people why Britain voted for Brexit and what kind of confusion and complications have already followed, and make some ill-founded guesses about what will finally result.'
Pictured: This man allegedly stormed a kosher food shop in Hackney, North London

A man armed with a meat cleaver has been arrested after storming into two Jewish shops and threatening young girls.

The 61-year-old man, armed with two knives, is alleged to have targeted two Kosher food shops in Hackney, north London, and screamed, 'You Jews run away from here before I kill you' at the school girls.

He was apprehended by armed officers and remains in custody. No one was hurt during the incident.

After finding the first shop was locked, the man is said to have then entered a store brandishing his knives and shouting: 'Where is the boss, I will kill him!'

After he was informed that the owner was not there, the man then ran screaming towards the two girls, aged eight and 14 years old, it is reported.

Witnesses say he then fled to a block of flats where volunteers from Stamford Hill Shomrim, the Jewish neighbourhood watch patrol, cordoned off the area until Metropolitan Police officers arrived.

A police spokesman said: 'A 61-year-old man has been arrested by police in Hackney.

'Police were called at 16:06hrs on Tuesday, 9 May, to a man armed with two knives who had threatened a shopkeeper in Upper Clapton Road, E5.

'Officers attended the location, and detained a man nearby at an address in Rossington Street.

'He was arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon, and taken to a north London police station where he remains in custody.

Pictured: Police quiz a man arrested after he allegedly stormed two Jewish shops in Hackney, north London

'There are no reports of any injuries.'

Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said the Jewish community were intimidated by the attack.

He said : 'This is an extremely frightening incident and it is very fortunate that there are no injuries reported.

'We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for their bravery in rushing to the scene to protect the public.'
Two children who ended up in wheelchairs after their mother 'fabricated' their illnesses were neglected by social services bosses, a family court judge has said.

Judge Vera Mayer said a social worker who worked on the case for six years had demonstrated 'alarming ineptitude'.

The judge has raised concerns in rulings recently published after private hearings in a family court in Barnet, north London.

She did not identify the children, a nine-year-old boy and his seven-year-old sister, but said Barnet Council was the local authority involved.

Two children living in the Barnet area of London ended up in wheelchairs after their mother fabricated their illnesses (stock photo)

The judge said: 'The local authority neglected this case and this family, and the social worker, who was allocated for six years, demonstrated alarming ineptitude in the face of clear and obvious concerns expressed by many over a long period.

'A number of opportunities to intervene and spare the children unnecessary medical intervention have been missed.'

She added: 'The mother fabricated and exaggerated symptoms in respect of both children. She has done this throughout the children's lives.

'She gave untruthful information to persons in the medical profession, and to those involved with the children in the course of their education/care.

'Consequently, the children were subjected to a great number of unnecessary medical appointments, unnecessary attendances at A&E, unnecessary journeys in ambulances and, at times, to unnecessary admissions to hospital.

'Both children were unnecessarily medicated.

'They were both unnecessarily immobilised by spending time in wheelchairs.'

She did not identify the children, a nine-year-old boy and his seven-year-old sister, but said Barnet Council was the local authority involved (pictured)

A psychiatrist said evidence suggested the children's mother had mental health difficulties which led her to invent illness or become anxious about illnesses which did not exist, said the judge.

The specialist had said the woman might be suffering from factitious disorder or somatic symptom disorder.

Judge Mayer said the children's father had thought their mother had been telling the truth.

The judge concluded the children could no longer live with their parents and should go into council care and be looked after by foster carers.
The White House said Tuesday that it did not immediately act on Sally Yates' warnings that Michael Flynn could be blackmailed or otherwise compromised by the Russians because she was a 'political opponent' of the president's.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer also claimed- without evidence - that Yates, the acting attorney general until Trump fired her 10 days into his administration - was a 'strong supporter' of Hillary Clinton.

That was the crux of the White House official's explanation for the length of time it took to fire Trump's first national security advisor.

The White House said Tuesday that it did not immediately act on Sally Yates' warnings that Michael Flynn could be blackmailed or otherwise compromised by the Russians because she was a 'political opponent' of the president's

Flynn was not dismissed until 18 days after Yates alerted the White House that the senior aide had lied to the vice president about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in the course of the transition.

Yates testified on Monday to a Senate subcommittee that she spoke to the White House's Office of Legal Counsel on Jan. 26 about Flynn, and again on Jan. 27. She followed up on the conversation in a Jan. 30 phone call.

That was her last day at the Department of Justice.

It was not until Feb. 13 that Trump asked for Flynn's resignation. The request came after a leaker revealed Yates' conversations with the White House, and Flynn, to the Washington Post.

Spicer refuted a suggestion at his daily briefing that Flynn was fired only because the details of his compromising situation got out.

An internal investigation affirmed that Flynn had mislead Vice President Mike Pence, the White House official said, and the retired general was subsequently asked to leave his post.

'When you think about the scope of time that actually occurred...to make sure that we did the right thing is important, and we ultimately did,' Spicer said Tuesday. 'That's what's important when you think of this.'

Press Secretary Sean Spicer also claimed- without evidence - that Yates, the acting attorney general until Trump fired her 10 days into his administration - was a 'strong supporter' of Hillary Clinton

The investigation took that long to complete, because the White House did not initially have access to the incriminating evidence Yates said she had on Flynn.

Yates told the White House's Office of Legal Counsel that Flynn did discuss sanctions with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, even though he told Pence that he didn't but couldn't prove it.

She did not have the documents with her and said she'd follow up with the White House's lawyer.

She testified to that effect on Monday, and Spicer said Tuesday that the White House basically agrees with what she said.

The only discrepancy in their stories is the White House's claim that it took seven days for the materials to be made available, dragging out their internal investigation.

Yates testified that it was available when she called the White House's lawyer, Don McGahn, on Jan. 30 - three days before the White House said it had access to it.

Spicer further told reporters that McGhan asked that she come in a second time because the information she had provided Jan 26. was unclear.

'She had come here, given us a heads up, told us there were materials, and at the same time we did what we should do,' he said.

'Just because someone comes in and gives you a heads up about something and says, I want to share some information, doesn't mean you immediately jump the gun and go take an action,' he said.

Yates testified on Monday to a Senate subcommittee that she spoke to the White House on Jan. 26 about Flynn, and again on Jan. 27. She followed up on the conversation in a Jan. 30 phone call. That was her last day at the Department of Justice

Then, the White House official flipped it and asked, 'What if we had just dismissed somebody because a political opponent of the president had made a utterance. You would argue it was pretty irrational to act in that manner.'

Yates was first brought into the DOJ during the George W. Bush administration and has been promoted successively since.

It is not known whether she supported Hillary Clinton in the last election- although Spicer claimed he heard a rumor that she did.

'I think she's made some  was widely rumored to play a role in the Justice Department if Hillary Clinton won,' he claimed on Tuesday.

Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton, did not comment on that aspect of the claim.

He said on Twitter that Yates is a 'patriot' for 'defending the Constitution,' in an apparent reference to her firing after she rejected the Republican president's first travel ban.

Yates said it would not be legally enforceable - an assertion that has proven to be true thus far.

'I did my job,' she testified on Monday.

Spicer described her Tuesday as 'someone who is not exactly a supporter of the president's agenda.'
Amber alert teen Elizabeth Thomas is in rehab and refusing to return home to her family - claiming she's 'in love' with her schoolteacher abductor who kidnapped her for 39 days.

DailyMail.com can reveal that the brainwashed 15-year-old insists she is a 'fully grown woman' who should be entitled to date 50-year-old Tad Cummins.

And despite the married grandfather facing a federal child trafficking charge for grooming and kidnapping her, Elizabeth has told friends she had the 'time of her life' during their five weeks on the run.

The troubled youngster was the subject to a nationwide amber alert after she disappeared from her hometown of Columbia, Tennessee with father-of-two Cummins on March 13.

She was recovered safely on April 20 when police tracked the pair to a remote cabin 2,500 miles away in northern California and arrested the veteran educator without a struggle.

Troubled teen: Amber alert victim Elizabeth Thomas, 15, was admitted to a special treatment center following her abduction and insists she is a 'fully grown woman' who should be allowed to date her abductor Tad Cummins, 50,

The teen (seen at a Walmart while on the run) was the subject of a nationwide Amber Alert after Cummins abducted her from Columbia, Tennessee for 39 days

Elizabeth was flown back to Tennessee but DailyMail.com can reveal she went into a special treatment center for trauma victims rather than return to her family home.

There is no timetable for her release with friends saying the 'messed up' teen will receive expert care 'for as long as it takes' for her to realize she was the victim of a predatory older male.

'Elizabeth says she's in love with Tad and that the pair of them haven't done anything wrong,' said a source. 'She thinks she is a fully grown woman who can date who she likes.

'As far as she's concerned it was all one big, fun road trip. She says she had the time of her life which is obviously pretty tough for the family to hear.'

DailyMail.com can reveal Elizabeth's recovery is further complicated by her turbulent family life, with her parents divorcing and her mother facing trial for abusing Elizabeth and several of her nine siblings.

Kimberly Thomas, 48, is prevented from speaking to Elizabeth over allegations that she beat her, locked her in a basement and threw her down stairs - a pattern of mistreatment that her father Anthony Thomas says left her vulnerable to grooming.

However Elizabeth has also told friends she doesn't want to move back in with her 49-year-old pest controller father, whom she blames for splitting up her and Cummins.

She would instead prefer to live with Paige Griffith, the mother of one of her closest friends and someone she regards as a 'second mom'.

Elizabeth told her friends that her five weeks on the run with her Cummins was the 'time of her life' and a source told Dailymail.com: 'As far as she's concerned it was all one big, fun road trip.'

DailyMail.com revealed that the pair had previously spent ten days hiding at this hippy commune near the cabin where Cummins was arrested, the Black Bear Ranch, where they posed as a married couple and were seen 'making out' like lovers by a camp fire

The pair was revealed to have stayed in this attic - They were frequently heard having sex by those in the communal space below. Cummins and Thomas said they were 44 and 24, but the age gap concerned the group

'It's a very complex family situation right now,' our source added. 'All they can do is stand by her and give her as much help as she needs to come to terms with what really happened.

'At the end of the day we are dealing with a very messed-up kid here. Cummins really did a number on her. She was not harmed physically but the mental scars will take years to heal.'

Ms Griffith refused to discuss Elizabeth's whereabouts with DailyMail.com but said the teen was in a 'safe' place.

Anthony Thomas's lawyer Jason Whatley was unavailable for comment.

'There is no doubt that she has suffered severe emotional trauma and that her process of recovery is only just beginning,' he said in a previous statement.

Silver-haired Cummins is said to have spent months grooming his young student and was suspended from his teaching job when another girl witnessed him kissing Elizabeth in a classroom.

After leaving a note for his wife Jill, 49, claiming he was 'traveling to Virginia Beach or the D.C. area to clear his mind,' he picked up Elizabeth from a local restaurant where she was in such a hurry to climb into his car that she left behind her schoolbag.

Elizabeth is refusing to return home to her family and said she instead prefers to live with Paige Griffith, the mother of one of her closest friends and someone she regards as a 'second mom'

Kimberly Thomas, 48, is prohibited from speaking to her daughter over allegations she beat several of her ten children, including Elizabeth

DailyMail.com previously revealed how the 'couple' headed west before hiding out for ten days at a remote hippy commune in Cecilville, California, where they posed as a married couple and were seen 'making out' like lovers by a camp fire.

They were eventually kicked out of the ramshackle community, who regard clothing as 'optional' and have no internet or phone links to the outside world, because residents found the age gap 'creepy'.

Following his capture, Cummins is awaiting extradition to Lawrence County, Tennessee, where he faces up to 12 years in jail for aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor.

He also faces a federal charge of transportation of a minor across state lines with intent of having criminal sexual intercourse, which carries a minimum ten-year sentence, and further state charges in California.

Jill, his estranged wife of 31 years, has filed for divorce on grounds of 'cruel and inhuman treatment'. She told Inside Edition her estranged husband had admitted to sleeping with Elizabeth.

The pair disappeared from Columbia, Tennessee, on March 13. They traveled to Alabama the next day then on to Oklahoma where they were spotted on March 15 before dropping off the radar until April 20 when they were found in a cabin in northern California
Text messages exchanged between two Penn State students suggests that one of the pledging rituals the young men of Beta Theta Pi had to undergo was the elephant walk.

That involves a group of men lining up, holding the penis of the person in front of or behind them and then walking around, a practice that has long been rumored to be a part of pledging rituals but seldom confirmed.

In some instances, the individuals will hold the erect penis of the person behind them while sometimes inserting their thumb in the sphincter of the individual in front of them in line.

It appears to be confirmed in this case by Penn State's Beta Theta Pi president Brendan Young, who spoke about it in a text exchange with Maddie Miller two months before the death of 19-year-old pledge Timothy Piazza at the fraternity house.

Miller texted that Young should 'take it out on the pledges,' to which he replied: 'Whip the d*** out?'

That is when Miller wrote: 'If ever there was a time for an elephant walk it would be rn."

Young responded that it was his 'least favorite part of pledging and then wrote to Miller the next day: 'I'm burnt out from hazing.'

Scroll down for video

Ryan Foster (left), who is facing one count of tampering with evidence

Joseph Ems (left), who is facing one count of reckless endangerment

Lars Kenyon (left), who is facing 52 counts including reckless endangerment

A text message sent by Penn State's Beta Theta Pi president, Brendan Young, suggest that an elephant walk was part of the men's pledging ritual

Eight of the members of Beta Theta Pi who have been charged in relation to the death of Piazza appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Michael Schiavone, Lars Kenyon, Ed Gilmartin, Ryan McCann, Lucas Rockwell, Braxton Becker, Ryan Foster and Joseph Ems were all ordered to surrender their passports before being released on $50,000 bail.

When asked later if she thought those conditions were fair, District Attorney Stacy Park Miller said: 'Tim Piazza lies in a mausoleum so I want these restrictions.'

None of those individuals are charged with involuntary manslaughter like the eight who were arraigned last Friday, and all 18 who have been charged will next appear in court on May 17.

Other details of the pledging rituals at Beta Theta Pi were also revealed by authorities who questioned Greggory Rizzo, a brother at the fraternity.

'Rizzo detailed his paddling ceremony as beginning with the pledges walking into a room with a pillow case over their heads,' according to the grand jury indictment.

'Brothers were asked if the pledges were willing to walk over glass for their fraternity, the pledges then walked over potato chips; next brothers asked if they were willing to drink the blood of their fraternity, before being given tomato juice with Tabasco sauce; third, brothers inquired if the pledges were willing to drink their brother's urine before making them drink Gatorade.

'Finally, brothers asked the pledges if they were willing to take a hit for their brother, after which a brother struck Rizzo twice with a wooden object which hurt significantly but did not require medical attention.

'Rizzo described this pledging activity as a mind game between the brothers and the pledges.'

Braxton Becker (above), who is facing one count of tampering with evidence

Lucas Rockwell (center), who is facing one count of tampering with evidence

Michael Schiavone (above), who is facing 52 counts including reckless endangerment

Ed Gilmartin (left) who is facing one count of tampering with evidence

Ryan McCann (left), who is facing one count of tampering with evidence

Authorities say that Piazza repeatedly fell down a flight of stairs after he and others were made to run a gantlet of drinking stations guzzling vodka, beer and wine.

Beta Theta Pi members then resisted getting help for the teenager, causing him to suffer for hours and possibly making his injuries worse.

'This is a very sad day for Centre County - it's been sad ever since we lost a child for reasons that are totally preventable,' said District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller during a press conference on Friday.

The grand jury who indicted the 18 fraternity members, aided by security camera footage, said the fraternity was heavily stocked with booze for the February 2 ceremony at which Piazza, a sophomore engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey, and 13 others accepted pledge bids.

The pledges were pressured to chug vodka, shotgun beers and drink wine according to court documents.

Piazza tumbled down a flight of stairs that night and fell several other times, injuring his head Miller said on Friday.

Early the next morning he fell down the stairs again and was unconscious when help was finally summoned. He died the next day as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

Miller said doctors estimate Piazza had a blood-alcohol content of nearly 0.40 per cent, five time the legal limit for drivers.

The investigation found some frat members tried to conceal what happened, with one text message recovered by police urging pledges to get rid of evidence of alcohol.

There were also conversations discussing the need to delete conversations from a messaging app that were discovered by investigators.

Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller (above) talks with member of the media prior to the arraignment

Get help: Davis told Robin Roberts that when he learned Piazza (above with his parents Evelyn and James in 2014) had fallen down a flight of stairs he urged his Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers to call 911

Piazza's father Jim blamed a 'flagrant disregard' for the law and said the death 'didn't have to happen' on Friday.

'Sadly, we're never going to see his smile again except in pictures,' said the heartbroken father.

Penn State permanently banned Beta Theta Pi on March 30, accusing it of a 'persistent pattern' of excessive drinking, drug use and hazing.

University President Eric Barron called the report heart-wrenching, sickening and incomprehensible.

'It is numbing how an atmosphere that endangers the well-being and safety of another person could occur within an organization that prided itself on commitment to each other and to its community,' said Barron in a statement last week.

Miller said video footage turned over to investigators provided evidence of what occurred and contradicted stories some witnesses had told.

The cameras recorded Piazza drinking vodka and beer and an hour later needing help to walk from an area near the basement stairs to a couch.

Piazza could later be seen trying unsuccessfully to open the front door, then 'severely staggering drunkenly toward the basement steps' according to the grand jury report.

He was found at the bottom of the steps after apparently falling face-first. Four brothers carried his limp body upstairs, where some poured liquid on him and one slapped him in the face, the grand jury said.

Fraternity members put a backpack containing textbooks on him so he wouldn't suffocate on his own vomit, according to the grand jury.

Gilmartin and his father leaving court after the arraignment

Schiavone holds his mother hand as they arrive for the arraignment on Tuesday

Rockwell and his family arrive in court on Tuesday for the arraignment

Kenyon and his attorney enter the court on Tuesday afternoon

Three young men arrive at the courtroom on Tuesday afternoon

Two of the men, Brendan Young and Daniel Casey, were indicted on 200 counts by a grand jury, with Casey also racking up one additional charge for underage drinking on the night in question.

Meanwhile, grand jury testimony from Detective David Scicchitano which has been released in the case revealed that in the eight days before Piazza's death, Craig Heimer purchased $1,179.30 worth of alcohol for the fraternity.

Those purchases consisted of 'numerous cases of Crown Rouse vodka and Natural Light Beer, 15 cases of Four Loko and multiple boxes of wine' according receipts inspected by Detective Scicchitano.

Authorities claim that part of that massive liquor haul was later consumed by pledges in the hours before Piazza fell approximately 15 feet down a stairwell and sustained an injury that led to his death after the young men present refused to call 911 for 12 hours.

In text messages obtained by authorities which were sent in the days prior to the pledge event, one of the brother's can be seen asking Heimer to make large alcohol runs.

Heimer was one of the few members of the fraternity who was old enough to legally purchase liquor.

In one text exchange, Michael Schiavone, who was also 21, asks Heimer if he could purchase '175 [Four] Lokos, seven cases of Natty [Natural Light], on crate of [Crown] Rouse.'

Heimer then asked how much money he should get, how many bottles were in a crate of the vodka and where he could get that many Lokos.

Schiavone responded by texting that it would be $800 case, the crate contained 'six handles' and gave him the name of a local store that had close to 200 cans of Four Loko in stock.

A week later Schiavone again texted asking Heimer to purchase 'six Rouse.'

Shortly after, Heimer responded: 'Handles are in your room.'

It was just hours later that the pledge activities began and Piazza suffered his fatal fall.

A fraternity brother who was present following that fall revealed in an interview on Monday that he was thrown against a wall when he tried to help Piazza.
President Donald Trump came under pressure on Tuesday to review his FBI director's status following an allegation that the Obama-appointed official greatly exaggerated the number of emails that Hillary Clinton's top aide sent to her husband.

In his sworn testimony, the FBI chief told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Huma Abedin made 'a regular practice of forwarding hundreds and thousands of emails to her husband Anthony Weiner, some of which contain classified information.

But it has been reported that FBI officials privately acknowledged that Comey offered inaccurate testimony about the inspection brought about by a DailyMail.com exclusive on Weiner's emails.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer could not say Tuesday whether Trump retains confidence in the law enforcement official.

'I haven't asked him,' Spicer said after a false start that began with, 'I have no reason to believe' and was followed by an admission that he doesn't know where Comey stands with the president.

FBI Director James Comey (above) reportedly erred last week when he falsely claimed in testimony before Congress that top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin forwarded classified emails to the laptop of her husband, Anthony Weiner

President Donald Trump came under pressure on Tuesday to review his FBI director's status following an allegation that the Obama-appointed official greatly exaggerated the number of emails that Hillary Clinton's top aide sent to her husband

Comey is said to have exaggerated the number of Hillary Clinton emails involved in the scandal that has been cited as a cause of her losing the November presidential race. T

The FBI is aware and was racing to clean up his mess, Pro Publica said, but it changed course on Monday and did not send a letter to Congress admitting the mistake.

The bureau is also probing Comey's controversial decision to notify lawmakers just before the election that his team was re-examining its investigation into Clinton's emails by looking into messages found on Weiner's laptop.

The letter is viewed by many as costing Clinton the election, since she lost by less than a percentage point in key swing states after polling indicated she was well in front of her opponent before the FBI chief's move.

Trump's spokesman said last Wednesday that the president had confidence in the Justice Department official who was appointed to a 10-year term by Obama, in spite of an assault that suggested otherwise 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 had tweeted.

Spicer told reporters then: 'The president has confidence in the director.'

The FBI chief told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Abedin (left) had made a regular practice of forwarding hundreds and thousands of Clinton-related emails to Weiner (right), some of which contain classified information

Today, he seemed prepared to say the same, but stopped himself.

'I haven't asked him. I have not asked the president since the last time we spoke about this,' he told ABC News' Jon Karl.

Karl observed that Spicer was sure where Trump stood a week ago, but he's not now.

'I don't, in light of what you're telling me, I don't want to start speaking on behalf of the president without speaking to him first,' Spicer said.

Testifying on the Clinton email controversy last week, Comey said his agents uncovered 'hundreds of thousands' of emails on the laptop of disgraced ex-Rep. Weiner that Abedin has forwarded her now-estranged husband so he could print them out for her.

Now it appears that Comey misspoke in his testimony.

An investigation by ProPublica revealed that FBI officials now acknowledge that Abedin forwarded 'just a handful' of emails - not 'hundreds and thousands' as Comey stated - to her husband so he could print them out.

It has also become apparent that none of the emails forwarded by Abedin contained markings that would indicate they were classified.

FBI officials are now said to be trying to figure out how to correct the record in light of the revelations, according to ProPublica

FBI Director James Comey speaks to the Anti-Defamation League National Leadership Summit in Washington, Monday, May 8, 2017

Clinton email timeline March 2015: Becomes publicly known that Hillary Clinton, during her tenure as United States Secretary of State, had used her family's private email server for official communications and FBI opened investigation. May 2016: The State Department's Office of the Inspector General released an 83-page report about the State Department's email practices, including Clinton's. July 2016: FBI director James Comey announces the bureau's investigation had concluded that Clinton was "extremely careless" in handling her email system but recommended that no charges be filed against her. Two days later the State Department reopenes its probe into the email controversy. October 2016: Eleven days before the election, Comey notifies Congress the FBI is reopening the case due to emails found on laptop linked to Clinton aide Huma Abedin's husband, Anthony Weiner, November 2016: Comey notifies Congress the conclusion is unchanged. May 2017: Comey 'misspeaks' in Senate testimony, exaggerating email details. Advertisement

Weiner's laptop was seized by the FBI as part of an investigation into a matter unrelated to the Clinton emails - the former Congressman's sexually explicit online relationships with young women - as a result of a DailyMail.com story.

After Comey's letter which revealed the existence of the emails on October 28 - just days before the November 8 election which Clinton would eventually lose to Donald Trump - the investigation found that the emails contained no incriminating information.

Comey was asked by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz about the 'hundreds and thousands' comment during his testimony why Abedin and Weiner weren't charged with mishandling classified information.

'You said Ms Abedin forwarded hundreds or thousands of classified emails to her husband on a non-government, non-classified computer,' said Cruz.

'How does that conduct not directly violate the statute?'

Comey backtracked, saying: 'If I said that, I misspoke. She forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information.'

He acknowledged that both Abedin and Weiner 'potentially' may have violated the law, but no charges were brought because the FBI could not establish that they acted with criminal intent.

The FBI chief said the bureau was unable to interview Weiner about the issue 'because he has pending criminal problems of other sorts'.

Anthony Weiner announcing his resignation on June 16, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The resignation comes 10 days after the congressman admitted to sending lewd photos of himself on Twitter to multiple women

Anthony Weiner was spotted in New York (left) three days after FBI Director James Comey revealed the email controversy and arriving with his wife at the Costume Institute Benefit last year

Anthony Weiner (left) with his wife Huma Abedin (right) as they speak at a press conference

Returning to Capitol Hill to get grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey was immediately challenged by the top panel Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California  and ended up giving his most detailed explanation of the cross-currents he faced.

Addressing his decision to announce the investigation into the emails, Comey told Senators he had no choice but to reveal new developments in the bureau's investigation just days before the presidential election, as he faced only bad options.

Comey was asked about his controversial decision to send a letter to lawmakers just before the election announcing that the FBI was re-examining its investigation into Clinton's (above) emails by looking into new emails found on Weiner's laptop

'Why was it necessary to announce, 11 days before a presidential election, that you were opening an investigation on a new computer without any knowledge of what was in that computer? Why didnt you just do that investigation as you would normally, with no public announcement?' Feinstein asked him.

Comey laid out the details of the investigation, saying in detail why he felt he had no choice but to divulge information to Congress, which ultimately made it public.

'I could not see a door labelled "No action here",' Comey responded.

Laying out his mindset at the time, he said: 'There's an election in 11 days. Lordy that would be really bad.

'Concealing in my view would be catastrophic.'

The FBI director was asked to explain the moment he was faced with the decision of revealing the email scandal or keeping a lid on it, with less than a fortnight left to run of the race for The White House.

He said: 'Whether it's a dog catcher election or president of the United States, but I sat there that morning and I couldn't see a door labeled no action here.

'I could see two doors and they were both actions. One was labeled speak the other was labeled conceal.'
An arrest warrant has revealed how an 'abusive' Texas police officer shot dead a 15-year-old kid as he was leaving a house party.

Officer Roy Oliver has been fired from Balch Springs Police Department after he fired a rifle at Jordan Edwards, striking him fatally in the forehead, on April 29.

The warrant shows that Oliver, and fellow officer T. Gross, were called at 11pm to reports of underage drinking at a house party at a Balch Springs home.

Cops arrived and were speaking to the party hosts inside when the body cams recorded audio recordings of what sounded like rapid gunfire outside their home.

An arrest warrant has revealed how 'abusive' Texas police officer, Roy Oliver (left) shot dead 15-year-old Jodan Edwards (right) as he was leaving a house party

The warrant shows that both officers ran outside, Gross to the source of the shooting, and Oliver back to their squad car to grab his Modern Carbine MC5 rifle, New York Daily News reports.

Gross saw a black Chevrolet Impala reversing away from the house and ordered the driver to stop. The car was carrying Jordan and his two brothers, both 16, and two friends at the time.

When the car failed to stop, he pulled out his gun. The car stopped but started to drive forward until Gross smashed in the back window with his weapon.

The arrest warrant shows that Oliver returned from his squad car with the rifle, and opened fire on the car as it passed, hitting and killing passenger Jordan, a straight-A student.

'Jordan is dead. He's dead!' friend Maxwell Everette screamed.

Oliver was a six-year veteran of the Balch Springs Police force, but has been fired and charged with murder of the 15-year-old

His two brothers in the car with him watched him die, an Edwards family lawyer has said.

'As we started driving away, the cops started shooting,' Maximus told WFAA.

The day after the shooting, police issued a statement saying the vehicle was reversing toward officers 'in an aggressive manner'.

Police initially said that Oliver opened fire because the car was reversing towards officers, but body-cam footage shows that the car was moving away, and that Edwards' brother was driving.

Haber would correct that statement Monday after reviewing police video footage, saying the vehicle was actually driving away from the officers when Oliver fired his rifle.

Oliver, who is white and a six-year veteran of the Balch Springs Police force, was fired last Tuesday. He was was charged on Friday with murder for the death of Edward.

The family have since filed a wrongful death lawsuit which accuses the city of failing to properly train Oliver, a person plaintiffs described as having a short fuse and a history of abusive behavior toward citizens.

The suit says that police should have known Oliver had 'exhibited a pattern of escalating encounters with the public', including a prosecutor's complaint in December 2013 about his aggressive behavior detailed in personnel records.

The complaint said prosecutors had a hard time getting Oliver to attend a trial and used language vulgar enough that one prosecutor sent an intern out of the room.

Edward's father, Odell Edwards (right, with his wife, Charmaine Edwards), have filed a wrongful death suit against Oliver and his department, accusing the department of inadequately training the officer and ignoring warning signs that he was prone to erratic behavior.

Mourners hold the commemorative program as they emerge from the funeral service for Edwards at Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, on Saturday

About two weeks before Edwards' death, Oliver pulled a gun on a woman who rear-ended him while off-duty in southwest Dallas, according to the lawsuit.

Not realizing Oliver was a police officer, the driver, Monique Arredondo asked him to put his gun away.

'Defendant Oliver refused, began to yell, became very upset, and never identified himself as an officer,' documents state, according to New York Daily News.

Arredondo called police 'because as far as she knew a man was holding her at gunpoint.'

He was also reprimanded in January after being disrespectful to a civilian on a call', the documents state.

The lawsuit also blames Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber and the department for having 'failed to provide adequate training to Oliver on appropriate methods and techniques to control situations similar to the one' that occurred on the night of April 29, when police were called to investigate underage drinking at a chaotic house party with dozens of teenagers.

'There was no reason that any person in America - not just a black person - should ever have to bury their 15-year-old child who was doing everything right in life,' Jasmine Crockett, one of the family's attorneys, said on Sunday.

Crockett said attorneys filed the lawsuit to preserve the legal rights of the teenager's father, Odell Edwards.

The lawsuit broadly seeks damages for Edwards' wrongful death, but does not list a specific amount of money. No hearings have been scheduled.

Even with the quick action to fire and arrest Oliver, as Edwards' family and people protesting the shooting had demanded, 'people are still nervous and expecting to be disappointed', Crockett said.

'That's what we expect from our system time and time again,' she said.

Mourners make their way to their cars as they emerge from the funeral service for Edwards on Saturday after the boy's parents asked for a pause in protests

Edward's grieving family asked for a pause in protests against police brutality following his death, saying that they are not ready for their son to be a martyr

Hundreds attended a funeral for Edwards on Saturday, held about a week after he was fatally shot. His family has asked that any protests be put on hold to give them time to grieve.

The lawsuit alleges the two brothers were subject to racist comments, and the brother who sat beside Edwards when he died was handcuffed at the scene but not charged with any crime.

'(The brother) was not given any explanation and could not understand why he was being treated like a criminal,' the lawsuit said.

Balch Springs' use of force policy - in line with national recommendations - instructs officers to avoid shooting at moving vehicles unless their lives or others' are in imminent danger.

But the lawsuit says officials had the responsibility to determine whether Oliver knew how to respond.

'Oliver's inadequate training resulted in the death of Edwards,' the lawsuit said.

A spokesman for police and an attorney for Oliver, Cindy Stormer, did not return messages Sunday seeking comment on the lawsuit.
This is the incredible moment a nine-year-old limbo skater wowed a crowd after managing to pass beneath 146 bars, setting a new world record.

Little Tiluck Keisam from Manipur, northeast India, won the Guinness World Record title in limbo skating under 146 bars for a record of 145 metres in just a single run of 56.01 seconds on May 3.

This is his second record with the Guinness. He first created the record for covering the farthest distance in Limbo Skating in 2015.

This is the incredible moment a nine-year-old limbo skater wowed a crowd after managing to pass beneath 146 bars, setting a new world record

Little Tiluck Keisam from Manipur, northeast India, won the Guinness World Record title in limbo skating under 146 bars for a record of 145 metres in just a single run of 56.01 seconds on May 3

The class fourth student has broken many records and has won a tally of medals and certificates across India. But he keeps practising hard as he dreams of representing his country at international level

Jaw-dropping visuals show the little wonder displaying his super-flexible skills as he passes underneath obstacles wearing roller skaters.

One needs to see to believe the young boy when he passes through the bars without even slightly touching them with utmost ease.

Tiluck has beaten his own previous record of 116 metres by lowering his bars by 7 cm than the required 35 cm.

Born to Kiesam Ricky Singh, 42, and Pravabati Takhellambam, 42, Tiluck started practising the sport when he was just five years old.

His father said: 'When he started practising skating in 2013 I had no any idea that within few years he will make it to the Guinness Book of Records. It was out of my imagination that he will be able to do anything of this sort.

Tiluck has beaten his own previous record of 116 metres by lowering his bars by 7 cm than the required 35 cm

Born to Kiesam Ricky Singh, 42, and Pravabati Takhellambam (pictured together above), 42, Tiluck started practising the sport when he was just five years old

'We are very happy and proud of our son,' said Tiluck's father, Kiesam Ricky Singh.

'He is very unique. People get stunned when they see his flexibility,' said Singh.

The class fourth student has broken many records and has won a tally of medals and certificates across India. But he keeps practising hard as he dreams of representing his country at international level.

The little sportsman, who also excels in studies, has a hectic routine. His day begins at 5 am and after a quick breakfast, he practices limbo skating for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

His father says: 'His aim is to represent India at international level and be a world champion. He wants to be remembered as a champion.'

Limbo skating or roller limbo is a sport wherein a person drives on roller skates underneath an obstacle like a horizontal pole without touching it.

In order to pass an obstacle with a very low height, advanced athletes spread their legs apart, if possible into a full split, and lean their upper body forward, with the face almost touching the ground.
Chelsea Manning, the transgender army private jailed for one of the largest leaks of classified documents in US history, said Tuesday she can finally imagine a future for herself, as she prepares to walk free.

Manning had served seven years of a 35-year stretch when outgoing president Barack Obama commuted her sentence earlier this year.

She is due to be released next week from the all-male jail where she was incarcerated, although a precise date has yet to be given.

Chelsea Manning was often kept in solitary confinement after being sentenced in 2013 for passing more than 700,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks

Manning had served seven years of a 35-year stretch when outgoing President Barack Obama (seen above in Milan on Tuesday) commuted her sentence earlier this year

'For the first time, I can see a future for myself as Chelsea. I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world,' said the 29-year-old, who still identified as male when she was arrested.

Manning twice attempted suicide in jail, where she was often kept in solitary confinement after being sentenced in 2013 for passing more than 700,000 classified military and diplomatic documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which released them in collaboration with international news organizations.

'I am forever grateful to the people who kept me alive, President Obama, my legal team, and countless supporters,' she said in a statement.

'Freedom used to be something that I dreamed of but never allowed myself to fully imagine.

Originally named Bradley, Manning became a hero to anti-war activists and a villain to government officials outraged over her leaking of classified files. Bradley Manning is seen above during his trial in Fort Meade, Maryland, in 2013, before transitioning to a woman

Manning was an army intelligence analyst based in Baghdad in 2010 when she leaked the huge trove of files to WikiLeaks (whose founder, Julian Assange, is seen in the above file photo)

'Now, freedom is something that I will again experience with friends and loved ones after nearly seven years of bars and cement, of periods of solitary confinement, and of my health care and autonomy restricted, including through routinely forced haircuts.'

Originally named Bradley, Manning became a hero to anti-war activists and a villain to government officials outraged over her leaking of classified files.

Three days before leaving office in January, then-president Obama slashed Manning's sentence by 28 years after more than 115,000 people signed a petition calling for her release.

Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union which lobbied on Manning's behalf, said that 'like far too many people in prison, particularly transgender women, Chelsea Manning has had to survive unthinkable violence throughout the seven years of her incarceration.'

Manning was an army intelligence analyst based in Baghdad in 2010 when she leaked the huge trove of files, which included footage of an Apache helicopter strike that killed two Iraqi journalists working for the British news agency Reuters.

The massive leak caused an international furor, exposing the private opinions of senior US diplomats and other top officials about Washington's allies and foes.

Manning was arrested after confessing her part in the leak to an online acquaintance, who alerted military authorities.

She has been incarcerated in Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, and her case sparked fresh controversy last year when she was put into an isolation cell as punishment for a suicide attempt.

She said she attempted to kill herself a second time while in solitary confinement.

'The transition out of these horrific institutions will not be easy, and part of what we hope is that Chelsea will find the space, love, and support to heal and build a life of her choosing,' the ACLU's Strangio said in a statement.
Syrian refugees on a sinking fishing vessel in the Mediterranean between Italy and Malta pleaded with naval authorities for five hours to be rescued, by which time 268 of them had drowned.

The incident on October 11, 2013, saw a wooden fishing boat carrying at least 480 people start getting into trouble around 60 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.

A Syrian doctor, Mohanad Jammo rang the Italian coastguard at 11am to warn them the boat was in trouble.

Over the course of five hours, Jammo repeatedly contacted the coast guard pleading for help, until the vessel capsized.

Eventually, a military aircraft alerted the coast guard of the potential of the major loss of life and prompted a response.

268 migrants died when their boat sank while Italian and Maltese rescue teams argued about who was going to take responsibility for the incident on October 11, 2013, (file photograph)

The migrants, not pictured here, were heading north to the Italian island of Lampedusa

When the vessel refugee boat first reported it was in trouble, the Italian navy were nearby

The Italian navy had the Nave Libra stationed within 10 to 20 miles from the stricken vessel at the time of the call.

However, the Italians insisted the rescue operation should be co-ordinated from Malta, which was a further 120 miles away.

According to audio leaked to the Italian media, the Nave Libra was about an hour and a half from the scene, but the vessel was not tasked to assist in the rescue.

After five hours, the wooden refugee ship overturned, killing at least 268 people, including 60 children.

The footage has been leaked to the Italian newspaper L'Espresso, which has reconstructed the events from the day.

A Maltese rescue ship did not arrive on the scene until 5.51pm, with the Nave LIbra arriving shortly afterwards.
Will he be this bold in November?

Safely out of his own hunting season, a daring deer has been caught on video ambling up to a turkey hunter and licking the barrel of his shotgun.

Leon Champine, Joe Pople and Corey Cook were out hunting for turkey in Hendricks County, Indiana this weekend when the group had the remarkable run-in with the deer.

Indiana friends Corey Cook (left), John Pople (right) and Leon Champine (not pictured) spotted the friendly deer on a hunting trip this weekend

'It was truly a once in a lifetime encounter,' said Leon Champine, pictured with a previous trophy buck

The two deer walked right up to the men as they were calling a turkey and nibbled at bushes

One of the deer stuck his tongue out and slurped and the barrel of Cook's shotgun

'It was truly a once in a lifetime encounter,' Champine told WXIN.

Luckily, Cook got the moment on camera.

Two curious deer, which appears to be about a year old, wanders right up to the hunters, nibbling at the bushes around them.

'They were just simply inquisitive,' Champine said.

'I believe this is their first season without following mom around to teach them what is dangerous.'

Cook captured the video of of one of the deer nosing right up to him and licking the barrel of his shotgun.

The deer was in no danger though, as the hunters respected the legal hunting season limits.

'Hey, can you tell us how big your rack's gonna be in November?' Cook (left) jokingly asked the deer. Joe Pople (right) was also on the hunting trip this weekend

'Hey, can you tell us how big your rack's gonna be in November?' Cook says jokingly as he reaches out to pet the deer.

Firearms season for deer begins on November 12 in Indiana.

In the meantime, the trio of hunters say they bagged the big tom turkey they were calling when they were interrupted by the friendly deer.
The Mayor of Seattle announced he will drop his bid for reelection and end his political career amid allegations that he sexually abused four teenage boys.

Ed Murray, 62, announced on Tuesday morning that he would be stepping down at the end of his term, saying: 'It tears me to pieces to step away, but I believe it is in the best interest of this city that I love.'

The announcement came one month after Delvonn Heckard, 46, filed a lawsuit against Murray claiming the mayor paid him for sex when he was 15.

Maurice Levon Jones, 44, filed a statement making similar allegations as part of the lawsuit Heckard initially filed as 'D.H.' before he chose to reveal his full name.

Two other men, Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson, came forward with similar allegations against Murray in 2008, but Heckard is the first to seek legal recourse.

Murray has repeatedly denied each of these allegations.

Ed Murray, 62, announced on Tuesday morning he will drop his bid for reelection and end his political career amid allegations that he sexually abused four teenage boys. He has vehemently denied each of these allegations

The longtime state lawmaker (pictured surrounded by tearful supporters) insisted for weeks he would not drop out in the 2017 mayoral elections

But on Tuesday morning, Murray (shaking a supporter's hand) said that the mayor's race must focus on important issues for the city and should not be dominated by a scandal

The longtime state lawmaker, who led efforts to legalize gay marriage and pushed to increase Seattle's minimum wage to $15 as mayor, insisted for weeks he would not drop out.

But on Tuesday morning, he told a packed room of supporters at the Alki Beach Bouthhouse that the 2017 mayoral election must focus on important issues for the city instead of being dominated by a scandal.

Murray, a Democrat who became Seattle's first openly gay mayor when he was elected in 2013, vehemently denied the claims and said they 'paint me in the worst possible historic portraits of a gay man.'

According to the suit Heckard filed last month, Murray would pay him between $10 and $20 for sex over several years after they first met on a city bus in 1986, when the mayor would have been in his 30s.

The alleged abuse began while Heckard was addicted to crack cocaine at the age of 15.

Now 46 and sober, Heckard says he is coming forward as part of a 'healing process' after his father's recent death freed him of a desire to keep the alleged abuse secret.

Jones's declaration, filed as part of the same lawsuit, alleged that he met Murray through Heckard, as reported by seattle pi.

The mayor was supposedly 'known for patronizing child prostitutes at the time,' according to Jones's statement.

Murray has maintained he has never paid for sex.

Maurice Levon Jones, 44, filed a statement Tuesday alleging he was paid for sex as a teenager in a lawsuit brought by Delvonn Heckard against Mayor Ed Murray; the statement filing also included a photo of Heckard's attorney, Lincoln Beauregard (L), holding the declaration and smiling with a man assumed to be Jones (R) who appeared to be in jail

In Heckard's civil suit filings, the plaintiff described a growth that supposedly appeared on Murray's penis.

In response, Murray had his personal physician, Dr. Craig Pepin, conduct a medical exam that was redacted and released to the press.

'[There were] no scars or evidence of prior surgery' to indicate Murray had such a mole removed, according to the portion of the exam report that was released.

The lack of such a mole on Murray's genitalia was 'game-changing,' said his attorney, Robert Sulkin, at a press conference on April 11, according to the Seattle Times.

'[The accuser] has absolutely no credibility and the case should be dropped,' Sulkin said.

His spokesperson, Jeff Reading, released a statement Tuesday pertaining to Jones's accusations.

'Mayor Murray does not know this person,' Reading wrote. 'This is an ambush copycat false accusation that is being made without any details, evidence, timeline or anything at all to substantiate its veracity. Mayor Murray has never had inappropriate relations with any minor, and Mayor Murray has never paid for sex.'

Murray (L) is seen here with his husband, Michel Shiosaki (C), and attorney Robert Sulkin (R) before making a statement regarding Heckard's sex abuse allegations in Seattle on April 7

Murray made a similar statement regarding Heckard at the time of the filing of his lawsuit.

'I can state categorically that I have never had a sexual relationship with the individual whose name was revealed today, Delvonn Heckard, or any kind of relationship at any time with him,' Murray said on April 19.

'Is it possible that I have met this person before? Sure, it is possible. I have encountered thousands of people over my three decades as an activist and as a public service. I cannot say for certain that I never encountered him at some point in those thirty years, at a time when I was very publicly active and civically engaged,' Murray said.

The mayor added that he did not recognize Heckard from a photo that he saw, according to NBC's King 5.

Heckard filed an amended complaint in King County Superior Court on April 17 citing his reasoning for revealing his full name.

'As Mr. Simpson and Mr. Anderson have been courageous in stepping forward publicly, D.H. feels as though he should not proceed in anonymity,' the filing read.

While Murray contends the allegations against him are politically motivated, Heckard noted through filings that he is also openly gay and expressly stated that his lawsuit is 'not part of any right-wing conspiracy.'

The statement filing also included a photo of Heckard's attorney, Lincoln Beauregard, holding the declaration and smiling with a man assumed to be Jones who appeared to be in jail.

Jones was booked into King County's Regional Justice Center on January 10 on a failure to appear charge.

The Seattle Times also reported that two other men said they knew Murray when they lived in a Portland, Oregon, center for troubled children.

Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson accused Murray of abusing them in the 1980s and paying them for sex and said they'd be willing to testify about it, the Times said.
Cassie Sainsbury has broken her silence and asked for 'immediate freedom' from the notorious Colombian prison she is holed up in.

The 22-year-old accused cocaine smuggler from Adelaide flashed a grin and waved to cameras through prison bars as police carried out a drug raid on her wing.

Joined by another female inmate - believed to be another English speaking accused drug trafficker - Cassie soaked up the limelight as she pointed her finger at TV crews, at one point bursting into laughter as reporters asked her if she was okay.

Moments later friend held out a sign reading: 'Cassandra Pide Libertad Immediata', which translates in English to: 'Cassandra asks for freedom immediately'.

Scroll down for video

Accused drugs smuggler Cassie Sainsbury, 22, smiled and waves for cameras from her prison block in Colombia

The first photo of Miss Sainsbury (right) from inside her Colombia prison surfaces, showing her smiling at the camera alongside a fellow inmate. Her family have reportedly negotiated a huge TV deal to tell her story

Sainsbury is due to be visited in the coming days by her mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala Sainsbury, who reportedly negotiated a $1 million TV deal with 60 Minutes.

The former personal trainer is staying in El Buen Pastor's Patio Five wing - nicknamed 'narco patio' - and faces up to 25 years in jail if found guilty of smuggling drugs.

She was seen wearing a different outfit to the grey tracksuit pants and plain shirt she was in when authorities nabbed her trying to fly out of Bogota airport back home.

The young blonde woman was arrested on April 11 when 5.8kg of cocaine was found in her suitcase concealed in the packaging of 15 headphone boxes.

She has maintained her innocence and claims to have been set up by a man who duped her into buying the electronics at a discount price for her bridal party.

Her family has reportedly negotiated a $1 million TV deal with 60 Minutes, just days after Cassie pleaded for taxpayer funds to help pay her legal costs.

The family reportedly wanted $1 million to their story, but settled for an 'eye-watering' sum, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The first mug shot of Cassandra Sainsbury emerges after it was taken during her registration at El Buen Pastor women's prison

While it has not been revealed how much the show paid for the interview, 60 Minutes paid disgraced health blogger Belle Gibson $75,000 for an interview in 2016.

The show also paid a substantial sum to Gold Coast man Gable Tostee, who was cleared of murdering his Tinder date.

The family has pleaded with the public to help fund Miss Sainsbury's legal costs from the beginning, first appealing for money on a Go Fund Me page following her arrest.

News of the deal comes as the first photo of Miss Sainsbury from inside her Colombia prison surfaces.

Wearing a bright-coloured floral print dress, the Adelaide woman is seen smiling in the photo alongside another prison inmate.

Miss Sainsbury reportedly refused to leave her cell following her arrest, but is slowly adjusting to life inside the overcrowded Bogota prison, Nine News reports.

The first photo of Miss Sainsbury (right) from inside her Colombia prison surfaces, showing her smiling at the camera alongside a fellow inmate

Pictured are the 18 concealed packages of cocaine which Miss Sainsbury believed were headphones

Taxpayers could end up paying for the legal aid of accused cocaine smuggler Cassandra Sainsbury under a government scheme designed to help Australians facing serious criminal charges overseas.

The 22-year-old's Bogota lawyer confirmed he and Miss Sainsbury filled out a form to apply for financial assistance as her legal costs mounted, News Corp reports.

'They are looking for state funds in Australia for the legal costs, so she was signing a form for that, to put before the government there,' Colombian attorney Orlando Herron said.

The personal trainer from Adelaide (pictured) was denied bail and is being held at the overcrowded El Buen Pastor women's prison until her hearing in two months, her family said

Cassandra Sainsbury faces 25 years in jail after she was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine at an airport in Colombia

'I have no idea how much they are looking for. It is to cover the lawyer's fees in Australia.'

The Attorney-General's Department may help Australians facing serious criminal charges in an overseas country with the cost of their defence.

Applications can be made to the department for grants to cover legal fees and other expenses - which can often run into hundreds and thousands of dollars.

It is only granted to Australian citizens who are facing either imprisonment for 20 years or more or the death penalty in a foreign country.

According to the guidelines, the government can cover costs associated with legal defence of up to $290 per hour, psychological treatment of up to $2000 and counsel fees of up to $3600 per day.

It can also cover the costs of travelling and flying out legal counsel from Australia to aid Miss Sainsbury during her trial.

The financial scheme paid part of the long-running legal costs of high profile drug smuggling cases including the two executed Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran and Schapelle Corby.

The 22-year-old 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 Read

The 22-year-old appeared cheerful as she left the hotel in Bogota, Colombia, carrying a suitcase allegedly packed with cocaine and wearing the same clothes she was arrested in

Cassie Sainsbury left her Moana home for a working holiday in South America on April 3 and was arrested at an airport in Bogota eight days later

The accused drug smuggler is locked in El Buen Pastor prison - where she has been since her arrest on April 11 - and has been advised to plead guilty to avoid the maximum sentence of 25 years.

But Miss Sainsbury has maintained her innocence and claims she was tricked into carrying the 5.8kg of cocaine which she believed were separately wrapped headphones.

Vision from inside Bogota Airport obtained by Nine News shows Miss Sainsbury being led away just moments after handing her passport to an immigration officer on April 11.

The 22-year-old Australian woman had earlier checked-in for her flight to London and was being questioned by the officer who had already been given her travel details when she was intercepted.

Miss Sainsbury had initially appeared calm throughout her exchange with the guard, even smiling and chatting with the officer.

Her mood changed when she was asked why her ticket, which was purchased by a mystery person in Hong Kong, had been bought just hours earlier, before being handed over to a supervisor and marched into a secure area for further questioning.

Staff at the hotel where Miss Sainsbury spent her last night of freedom said she was accompanied by a well-dressed Colombian with a stylish haircut and dark skin everywhere she went.

US drug enforcement authorities tipped off Colombian police about Cassie Sainsbury after her last-minute plane ticket was bought by an 'unknown party' in Hong Kong

Miss Sainsbury's fiance Scott Broadbridge (left) has maintained a strict silence but vows his partner is innocent

CCTV footage of the moment the 22-year-old was detained by police were released

Hotel manager Ingrid Hernandez said Miss Sainsbury had just the one visitor during her stay.

'Supposedly she met him around the hotel where she was staying, in the first few days when she arrived here,' Ms Hernandez said, according to the The Daily Telegraph.

'She didn't speak Spanish so was supported by him. He helped her, accompanied her, they went everywhere together.

Miss Sainsbury told family she called the man who gave her the packages when she was arrested, but he hung up on her and reportedly destroyed the phone.

She said his name was Angelo, but she had no further information.

The hotel manager said they had no record of the mystery man either.

Miss Sainsbury can be seen walking up to an immigration officer with her passport

Photographs of her boarding pass and passport (pictured) have also come to light after they were seized by police

Cassandra Sainsbury could apply for parole and return to Australia if she pleads guilty - as her lawyer (pictured) says she bought the headphones to sell back home NOT as gifts for her bridal party

Accused drug smuggler Cassandra Sainsbury initially refused to leave her prison cell, but is now adjusting to life behind bars and making friends with fellow inmates

'He came a few times, the receptionists told me, but we don't have a record of him because he didn't stay the night. She said this guy was very friendly, he spoke English and Spanish,' she said.

The hotel's deputy manager also saw Miss Sainsbury with a black mystery man.

'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 they left the hotel,' they told Nine News.

Staff also said she spent most of her time inside the room of the hotel, which was situated in a notorious downtown Bogota neighbourhood.

She is reportedly 'permanently crying' inside notorious Colombian prison El Buen Pastor where she remains behind bars.

Sources from inside the prison said Miss Sainsbury was not in a good mental state inside the small, overcrowded cell where she was kept with other prisoners.
Ivanka Trump had some competition for attention at the White House Tuesday  and they matched in white with black spots.

The first daughter, wearing a polka dotted dress, spoke to a group of military families for an event marking National Military Appreciation Month, hosted by Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen.

Upstaging Ivanka in the audience of small children was the Pence family pet: the white bunny with black spots, Marlon Bundo.

Scroll down for video

Ivanka Trump (left) was upstaged at the White House Tuesday by another individual wearing white with black spots, the Pences pet rabbit Marlon Bundo (right)

The Pences brought their pet rabbit to the White House complex today, as a way to entertain the children of military families

Ivanka Trump also appeared at the event, but was upstaged by the BOTUS, the Bunny of the United States

The rabbit, named Marlon Bundo, has his own Instagram account and is named after the Hollywood star, Marlon Brando, Karen Pence explained

Karen Pence (right at podium) told the children to be gentle with Marlon Bundo and also instructed her husband Vice President Mike Pence (left at podium) not to clap

Karen Pence (left) allows for a few more children to pet Marlon Bundo before leaving it to her husband to do his job

Karen Pence tweeted a photo of herself about to enter an event with military families at the White House - and she brought a special guest, the BOTUS, Marlon Bundo

Ivanka Trump was first to the podium.

'Look at all these amazing kids,' she gushed, as tots surrounded her.

She thanked the Pences for hosting the reception and reminded the audience that they were military parents.

'This administration, my family, and all Americans keep you in our hearts and our prayers always,' the president's daughter told the crowd. 'We remember your sacrifices and we will never forget your incredible burden.'

As Friday marks National Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Ivanka remarked: 'Thank you for serving this nation, whether in uniform or in support to those who wear it.'

'I know I speak on behalf of my father when I say our nation will never fail to be inspired by your example,' the young Trump continued. 'We will never tire of saying thank you.'

She noted that her three little ones were also in the crowd.

'And for all the children there today, Arabella, Joseph, Theodore and I hope to get to know each and every one of you over an ice cream sundae or two,' she said.

White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster spoke at the event after Ivanka Trump saying, ''OK, that's the toughest act to follow.' But then the rabbit appeared

Vice President Mike Pence was surrounded by military families at a reception Tuesday marking Military Appreciation Month and Friday's Military Spouse Appreciation Day

When Vice President Mike Pence tried to give his remarks, his audience of young tots who had just hung out with the rabbit, did not seem to want to pay attention

Vice President Mike Pence had trouble keeping the youngsters attention after his wife left with Marlon Bundo

Vice President Mike Pence tweeted out a photo of himself from Tuesday's reception alongside his wife Karen and the BOTUS, Marlon Bundo

Marlon Bundo awaits his star turn as he entertained children of servicemembers today at a White House reception

Speaking after Ivanka Trump, came the president's National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster who quipped, 'OK, that's the toughest act to follow.'

But when children are the audience that's not necessarily true, as a group of youngsters wanted to pet the rabbit.

'So this is Marlon Bundo and Marlon has his own Instagram account, @MarlonBundo,' the second lady explained. 'And he is what we call BOTUS. He is the Bunny of the United States.'

'So Marlon is kind of famous because he is the first bunny to ever ride on Air Force Two,' she added.

That excited one attendee who loudly yelled, 'Oh my goodness!'

Karen Pence explained that the family rabbit was named after Marlon Brando.

'Because my daughter got him when she was making a movie in college and she needed a bunny to be the star,' Pence explained. 'So this notoreity is nothing new to him.'

Ivanka Trump spoke Tuesday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building surrounded by youngsters and promised to have ice cream sundeas with them afterward

Ivanka Trump (left in polka dots) and her husband Jared Kushner (right) brought their three kids to the White House Tuesday

Ivanka Trump oversees children of servicemembers coloring pictures at an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Ivanka Trump appeared at an event on the White House campus today marking National Military Appreciation Month

Ivanka Trump (center) brought along her three kids, including her youngest 14-month-old Theodore, as husband Jared Kushner (second from right) also attended

With the vice president posted over her shoulder, Karen Pence thanked all the 'amazing children' in the crowd.

'Don't clap,' she instructed her husband, when he started to loudly applaud. 'He'll jump out,' she said, motioning to the white and black rabbit.

To the kids she applauded them for being nice and gentle with the rabbit.

'But you know what I wasn't brought out to introduce Marlon Bundo, I was brought out to introduce the vice president of the United States,' she said.

President Trump didn't drop by the ceremony so Vice President Pence was the last official to speak.

'How about a quiet round of applause for Mrs. Pence and Marlon Bundo,' Pence said to the kids.

Pence then tried to deliver his remarks, though post-rabbit chaos ensued.

Kids in front of the podium were flopping around.

One little boy yelled, 'Please calm down, please calm down,' getting the whole room to laugh.

The vice president commended the 'energetic children.'

'Why do'nt we give a round of applause to all the service men and women who are here with us today who are wearing the uniform of the United States,' Pence said.
The elderly man who shoved a lemon meringue cake in Qantas CEO Alan Joyce's face has spoken out to explain his actions as a stand against 'corporate bullying.'

Tony Overheu left a room of 500 people aghast when he strolled up to Mr Joyce and shoved a $25.95 lemon meringue cake in his face during a speech at a business breakfast at Perth's exclusive Hyatt Regency hotel.

The 67-year-old later explained his actions as a stand against 'corporate bullying' and said he had carefully selected the cake as it was soft and unlikely to do any injury to his target, he told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Overheu revealed his modus operandi, saying he hid in a small gap between a screen and curtain on the podium from 6.15am and waited for two hours while the audience ate breakfast before emerging to ambush Mr Joyce.

He also claimed he was unaware that his actions could be considered assault and has since apologised to Mr Joyce and the event's organisers.

'I had naively believed I could walk out the same way I came, but I was apprehended and now it's a matter for the state police and assault,' he said.

'My family is outraged, my wife is in uproar. I sent a letter this morning to Mr Joyce, the hotel and Curtain University apologising unreservedly for any insult or injury due to my actions.'

Scroll down for video

The elderly man who shoved a lemon meringue cake in Qantas CEO Alan Joyce's face has spoken out to explain his actions as a stance against 'corporate bullying'

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (right) was attacked by an elderly man wielding a lemon meringue pie (left) on Tuesday morning as he addressed business leaders in Perth

The man was seen walking up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulder and shoving the pie in his face

Mr Overheu stood unsuccessfully as a Senate candidate for the Nationals in the 1980 federal election but reportedly cut ties with the party 20 years ago when his farming business had difficulties.

He says his wife was furious for actions that were not consistent with Christianity, while one of his daughters posted a message on social media supporting same-sex marriage but saying 'I love my idiot dad'.

He is a devout Christian and senior member of the Church of Christ and Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International.

But he denied that his religious ties were the motive behind his unusual attack on Mr Joyce, who has been vocal in his support for marriage equality.

'I'm not a bigoted redneck at all, that's not it. My very best friend from childhood came out as gay and he is a Qantas pilot,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Rather, he wanted to take a stand against 'corporate bullying aimed at social engineering.'

Mr Overheu said he calmly walked into the hotel lobby at around 6.15am and waited two hours behind the stage to strike

But he attacked influential companies that have been lobbying the government for same-sex marriage, including Qantas, Airbnb, Wesfarmers and Holden.

He said he was at a barbecue on the weekend in which other people were also 'pee'd off' about 'green left and corporates' subverting democracy by pushing for same-sex marriage without holding a plebiscite.

'It would appear Alan Joyce is part of a network trying to subvert the federal parliamentary process around the issue of marriage equality,' he said.

'Figures overstepping the line have got to anticipate there will be push back.

'I feel very deeply about this theme of corporate bullying. Middle Australia completely rejects corporate bullying aimed at social engineering.'

'CEOs need to respect Australia is a democracy where backdoor attempts to subvert the clear wishes of the overwhelming majority will cost companies bottom lines.

'Alan Joyce is paid $13 million to run airlines not bulldoze Australia socially against its will.'

Mr Joyce, who is gay, released a statement saying there was a role for companies and CEOs to speak up on social as well as economic issues.

Mr Overheu explained that his target could have been any national figure but Mr Joyce happened to be visiting the city at the time.

'It didn't have to be Alan Joyce, it just happened to be.

'Recently I have been feeling increasingly uneasy that various individuals or groups of individuals seem to willing to try to bulldoze the public process in directions that the majority of people don't agree with,' he said.

'Why did Trump get elected? Why did Brexit happen? The people will only take so much. People feel like they are not being heard.'

He added that he had started plotting after he saw the event advertised in the newspaper about a month ago.

'I went to a barbecue a week ago and I was starting to feel my feelings were shared by a lot of people,' he said.

'So I went to the local cheesecake shop the day before and the lemon meringue cake was specially selected because it was soft and least likely to cause injury.

'I wrapped it up and around 6.15am, I walked into the lobby of the Hyatt. I simply walked up the length of the auditorium and I stood in a gap behind the stage and waited for about two hours.

After shoving the pie in Alan Joyce's face, the man was detained by three hotel employees until police arrived

'I was pretty amazed that I managed to get even that far. When the time came, I simply stepped out and carefully placed the cake in his face.'

Mr Joyce had addressed the incident afterwards, claiming he was not altogether surprised by the sudden attack considering his job.

'When you've been the CEO of an airline for nine years, there's a lot of things that have happened over that period of time, this is different, but it's not unusual. It is an unusual event, but things like this have happened in the past,' he said.

Mr Joyce said he had 'absolutely no idea' what flavour the pie was because he's 'not a big pie eater.'

'I didn't have a chance to test it, it was mostly on my glasses,' he joked.

'I think my issue is I need a good dry cleaner before I leave Perth, so if you have one, please recommend it to me.'

In video footage of the incident, Mr Overheu is seen walking up behind Mr Joyce and resting a hand on his shoulder before pushing the cake into his face and rubbing it in.

The man then walked off the stage calmly as Mr Joyce processed what had just happened

The airline boss took it relatively well, exclaiming 'f***ing heck' before jovially telling the audience: 'I don't know what that was about'

He is then seen calmly walking off the stage before he was quickly grabbed by security.

Mr Joyce took the attack in his stride, saying 'f****** heck' before jovially telling the audience: 'I don't know what that was about.'

After wiping the remnants of the dessert off his face, Mr Joyce joked with the audience before continuing his speech.

'If there are any more pies, can you get them over with now?' he said, before speaking about Qantas' recently announced direct flights to London.

A spokesperson for WA police told Daily Mail Australia officers 'have been called to a hotel in Adelaide Terrace, East Perth in relation to an assault.'

The spokesperson said one person was in custody and helping police with their inquiries.

The 67-year-old, from Perth, was later released with a summons to appear in court for giving police false details.
Lilly Baxandall, 95, died after waiting almost four hours in a queue of ambulances outside a hospital. Pictured, in her younger days

A pensioner of 95 died after waiting almost four hours in a queue of ambulances outside a hospital.

Lilly Baxandall was taken to casualty after banging her head, but despite arriving before 5.30pm, she was not admitted until 9.05pm.

A coroner yesterday warned that unless changes were made to the Labour-run NHS in Wales, it could leave itself open to charges of corporate manslaughter.

Miss Baxandall had been found by her cleaner at her bungalow, in Abergele, North Wales, on September 1, 2014. A paramedic called for an ambulance and Miss Baxandall, who was still conscious, eventually arrived at Glan Clwyd Hospital, near Rhyl at 5.26pm.

But there was a shortage of 21 beds across the site and a queue of up to 13 ambulances as managers faced a pressure cooker situation, Ruthin Coroners Court heard. Miss Baxandalls condition deteriorated and she fell unconscious.

She was seen by a doctor in the ambulance, who ordered a brain scan at 8.10pm. But it wasnt until 9.05pm that she was finally admitted to the resuscitation unit  more than three-and-a-half hours after reaching the hospital.

Government guidelines state the handover time from ambulance to hospital should be no more than 15 minutes.

Tests subsequently revealed a serious bleed on the pensioners brain and she died of pneumonia four days later.

Described as fiercely independent by relatives, Miss Baxandall grew up in Rochdale and worked on the family farm, before driving ambulances in the Second World War.

She then went on to be a catering manager with British Airways.

Miss Baxandall was kept waiting after a shortage of 21 beds across the site and a queue of up to 13 ambulances as managers faced a pressure cooker situation at Glan Clwyd Hospital

Although the inquest was told she would not have survived even if treated sooner, coroner John Gittins warned there was a serious risk of future deaths unless urgent changes were made to the NHS in Wales.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, he said: If we allow these problems to continue, there is a very real and significant danger, not only that future deaths will occur, [but] theres also a degree of potential culpability  be they of a civil or criminal nature, touching in the realms of gross negligence manslaughter.

Adam Griffiths, head of nursing at Glan Clwyd, apologised to Miss Baxandalls family.
Theresa May looked nervous and feared her husband would say something which would 'cost her the election' when they appeared on national television together, according to a body language expert.

Judi James watched the 60-year-old closely as she discussed a number of topics with her husband Philip on The One Show on Tuesday night.

Ms James said the Prime Minister was 'leaning away' from her husband Philip, 59, so she could keep a close eye on him and watch what he was saying.

The pair appeared on the popular BBC chat show and talked about a number of non-political subjects including Eurovision and Mrs May's love of shoes.

Body language expert Judi James watched The One Show and noticed Theresa May spent a lot of time looking at her husband Philip

Ms James said Mrs May looked like she was worried he would say something which would 'scupper her chances' of winning the election

After studying their behaviour throughout the interview, Ms James said that Mr May - who met his wife when they studied at Oxford University together - looked like her 'rock'.

She said he is the 'perfect partner for a Prime Minister' after he constantly stepped in to help her out when she seemed anxious throughout the interview.

Speaking to MailOnline, Ms James: 'Theresa May wasn't relaxed during the interview and was clearly very tense because she was staring at her husband a lot.

'She looked like she was worried he would say something wrong which would scupper her chances of winning the election.

'She was leaning away from him to watch him as he spoke on the sofa.

'Mrs May looked a lot more comfortable when she was talking about politics than she did when they were discussing non-political subjects like Eurovision.'

Ms James added that the she found the pair 'fascinating' and said that they are the perfect 'double act'.

Ms James added that the pair both shook their shoulders when they laughed and have an 'identical smile'

Ms James noticed that Philip May acted 'like a rock' to his wife and provided support throughout the interview on Tuesday night

She added: 'He was very calm throughout the interview and he kept his eyes on her the whole time and looked like he was in total agreement with her every time she spoke.

'They showed signs of a great double act that we have not seen in the UK before. He was nodding even before she started talking and telling her story.'

Ms James also said that the 'power balance' between the couple seemed to be even - despite it being Mrs May's 'territory'.

She added: 'They used some very intense mirroring gestures and they both shook their shoulders when they laughed and they have an almost identical smile.

'Theresa did look a bit like a fish out of water when she was asked some non-political questions but that's when he would step in and laugh.

'She just wanted to get on to the politics and you could see that is where she really felt comfortable.

'I know it is a cliche, but he looks like her rock and he gives her a very genuine look of support when she is talking.

'It is clear that they discuss everything together.'
Victims of the tainted blood scandal could sue the Government after evidence emerged of a cover-up.

Documents suggest officials knew the blood products were harmful  yet continued to allow them to be given to patients.

Thousands of sufferers of the blood clotting disorder haemophilia were given infected products on the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jason Evans, 27, whose father Jonathan died in 1993 after being given HIV-infected products

The supply was contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C, having been donated by prisoners, drug addicts and prostitutes seeking cash.

More than 2,000 patients died and many others have been left with serious illnesses. Documents uncovered by the son of one of the victims suggest that officials were aware the products were high-risk as early as 1983. Jason Evans, 27, whose father Jonathan died in 1993 after being given HIV-infected products, has spent the past year trawling freedom of information responses and official archives.

One of the most damning pieces of evidence is a memo of a meeting of senior officials at the Department of Health in July 1983. They agree there is a particularly high risk from products bought from New York and Los Angeles.

Mr Evans, a marketing consultant from Coventry, uncovered a letter written by Joseph Smith, then director of the National Institute of Biological Standards Control to a senior doctor who was also at the meeting.

It reads: 'I ask that the recommendations remain confidential largely because of the commercial implications.'

Another document reveals that the Government was warned the products were harmful by the Council of Europe as early as June 1983. Yet officials continued allowing them to be used in the NHS until mid-1985.

Jason Evans as a yound boy with father Jonathan who died in 1993 after being given HIV-infected products

There is evidence of a cosy relationship between some of the doctors prescribing the blood products and the drug firms supplying them.

One, who was based at the Newcastle Royal Infirmary, was paid consultancy fees and sponsored for research by the manufacturer Baxter. Other records show that drugs giants donated to the Haemophilia Society.

Mr Evans is preparing a civil claim of negligence and breach of statutory duty against the Department of Health and other organisations who may have been involved in the cover-up. If he is successful, it would pave the way for thousands of victims and families to launch similar compensation cases.

His evidence will be featured in a BBC Panorama documentary to be screened tonight. Mr Evans said: 'The Government knew for sure these products would infect people and they didn't tell anybody.

'It could be an extremely important case. If successful we'll set a precedent. My first memory of my dad is the last time I ever saw him.

A stock image of donor blood

'It was my birthday, I was four years old and I remember walking into the room and he was on a bed. I remember looking at him but not really understanding what was happening.' The products bought from the US contained plasma that enables the blood to clot and act as a treatment for haemophiliacs.

But many samples had been taken from high-risk donors. Dr Brian Colvin, who was the director of the haemophilia centre at the Royal London Hospital from 1977 to 2007, said: 'We understood there were risks. But what we didn't understand was the magnitude of what was about to happen.'

He said haemophilia care would have collapsed had the products been withdrawn.

Dr Mark Winter, who directed the Kent Haemophilia Centre from 1983 to 2010, said very difficult decisions had to be made.

'You don't go into medicine and train to be a doctor to harm people,' he said.

'In my case the treatment I gave not only didn't help, it actually killed patients. It was absolutely desperate to see a group of people who were being harmed by their treatment.'

He said without the treatment, many haemophiliacs could have died. When Dr Winter's patients were tested for HIV, 30 out of 31 tested positive.

Des Collins, a solicitor who is representing victims and families, said the actions of the Government were shameful. 'Not only did they allow these patients to continue being treated, they are now refusing to own up to what has happened,' he said.

Last month former health secretary Andy Burnham called for a public inquiry. He said separate evidence had come to light suggesting doctors and public officials had been involved in a criminal cover-up.

Panorama  Contaminated Blood: The Search for the Truth will be screened tonight at 9pm on BBC One.

A stock image of sickle Red cells in Blood Stream

How the Mail has led fight for justice

A quarter of a century ago the Daily Mail started a campaign to highlight the plight of haemophiliacs infected with contaminated blood products.

We covered the story of Allen White, then 36, a haemophiliac who contracted Aids through a blood clotting agent.

The headline read: 'A blindness to moral justice has abandoned this dying man. Surely his family deserves better.'

The married father of two from Yorkshire had to give up his job as a computer systems designer because of his deteriorating health. The article asked: 'Why doesn't the Government do the honourable thing about what the Haemophilia Society describes as 'the biggest tragedy in NHS history'?'

The Government was forced to recognise the suffering of 1,200 haemophiliac Aids victims who were promised 42million compensation in 1990. They received lump sums ranging from 21,000 to 60,500.

Mr White said he would accept the offer to give him 'peace of mind' that his family would not be left penniless. But others said the compensation was not enough and accused the Government of 'buying off the embarrassment' of a court case.

The scandal centred on a product called Factor VIII which was made from plasma from imported blood.

Donors included drug addicts, the homeless and prostitutes infected with hepatitis C and HIV who had been paid cash.

The unscreened blood was imported because Britain did not have enough supplies of its own.
President Donald Trump has defended his sensational firing of FBI Director James Comey by mocking Senate minority leader 'cryin' Chuck Schumer.

Trump sent shockwaves through Washington when he dismissed Comey in a letter yesterday that read: 'You are hereby terminated and removed from office immediately.'

Comey, who was appointed in 2013, was dismissed after he provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about classified emails from Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin found on Anthony Weiner's computer.

It took little over an hour for Democrats, led by Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, to claim the firing was a cover-up attempt over Trump's alleged links to Russia.

Schumer said: 'Why did it happen today? We know the FBI had been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians  a very serious offense. Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?'

He then called on Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to appoint a special prosecutor to look into ties to Russia, saying: 'America depends on you to restore faith in our criminal justice system which is going to be badly shattered after the administration's actions today.'

In a tweet Trump wrote: 'Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, "I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer." Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp.'

Scroll down for video

President Donald Trump has defended his sensational firing of FBI Director James Comey by mocking Senate minority leader 'cryin' Chuck Schumer

Recommendation: Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the president it was time for Comey to go after his evidence that Huma Abedin forwarded hundreds or thousands of emails to her husband Anthony Weiner, some of them classified, was wrong

It's over: How the White House delivered the news just after 5.30pm on Tuesday

This defense came hours after Schumer claimed that he told the President that firing Comey was 'a very bad idea'.

However, as the President pointed out, Schumer has previously been outspoken in his criticism of Comey.

In November Schumer told Bloomberg: 'I do not have confidence in him any longer.'

He said then that he was incensed by Comey's decision to write to lawmakers with details about the investigation into Clinton's private email server, less than two weeks before the election.

That being said, in Schumer's press briefing, he didn't offer up any specific support for the former FBI director, he simply pointed out the convenient timing of the firing.

'Mistake': The White House put out a dossier which consisted of anti-Comey statements from Democrats including Senator Chuck Schumer - but Schumer said the president needed to now appoint a special prosecutor to look into the claims of collusion with the Russians

Comey, 56, was blindsided by being let go. He learned about it on live television screens he could see as he addressed agents in the Los Angeles field office, the New York Times reported.

Incredibly, he told the agents he thought it was a fairly funny prank until other members of his staff took him off stage and told him it was true, the paper said.

His motorcade was seen on a Los Angeles freeway after the firing as it made its way through slow-moving traffic to a chartered Gulfstream V, which Comey boarded at Hawthorne Municipal Airport just over three hours after his termination.

The president used the firing letter to boast that Comey had told him three times he was not under investigation - a reference to allegations being touted by his opponents that he somehow colluded with the Kremlin in its bid to bring down Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, who blamed Comey for costing her the election, said 'no comment' through an aide.

The White House's deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, claimed Clinton would have fired Comey as well.

She claimed Comey had 'lost the confidence of the rank and file within the FBI', as well as both sides of the political aisle.

But the Republican senator chairing the Intelligence Committee investigation into whether Russia hacked the election, Richard Burr, added to the questions over the sacking as he said: 'I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination.

Farewell: Comey was seen just over three hours after his firing as he shook hands with law enforcement officers in Los Angeles before boarding a private jet

Last gesture: Comey clapped the back of a uniformed officer as he prepared to board the jet which will fly him away from Los Angeles, where he was as the president fired him

Up in the air: Comey leaves public life effectively in disgrace after being fired by the president, boarding a chartered Gulfstream V at Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Los Angeles

On his way: In a bizarre spectacle, the ousted FBI director's motorcade was filmed on its way from the Los Angeles field office of the agency - caught in the city's notorious slow traffic

The FBI chief told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Abedin had made 'a regular practice' of forwarding 'hundreds and thousands' of Clinton-related emails to Weiner, 'some of which contain classified information'. But he was wrong - and is now being fired. Weiner is still being investigated by the FBI for sexting a 15-year-old girl

The firing happened in the late afternoon. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters shortly after 5.30pm that 'the president has accepted the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general regarding the dismissal of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.'

A written statement from Spicer, sent minutes later, confirmed that Trump 'acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.'

Trump said: 'The FBI is one of our nation's most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement.'

Full court press: Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway went on CNN three hours after the firing to defend the move and said: 'It's not a cover-up.'

How the news broke: Reporters at the White House were given copies of the press release and letter from the president just after 5.30pm, announcing Comey's sacking

Going into battle: Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders were all speaking outside the West Wing on Tuesday night to members of the media

WHAT NOW? THE CANDIDATES TIPPED TO SUCCEED COMEY With James Comey ousted as FBI director, President Donald Trump has to select a replacement for a new 10-year term, and he is likely to reach outside the bureau to find someone to run the law enforcement agency. Here are some possible candidates: Rudy Giuliani Rudi Giuliani has been linked with the vacant position, but his appointment is likely to be opposed by the Senate The former New York mayor would be an attractive choice for Trump, as Giuliani was among his most vocal supporters during the presidential race and has a background in law enforcement. However this loyalty would make his appointment unlikely, CNN reports, as he would be extremely unlikely to get the backing of the Senate. He has been outspoken in his opposition to Hillary Clinton. Ray Kelly Ray Kelly, the longest-serving police commissioner in New York City, could be a natural ally of Attorney General Jeff Sessions The longest-serving police commissioner in New York City, Kelly was in charge of the force in the years following 9/11, when terror threats were routine. His tough-on-crime stance, including support for provocative tactics like stop-and-search, could make him a natural ally of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr Kelly defended a police operation, exposed by The Associated Press, that conducted secret surveillance of Muslims. He could work with Trump and Sessions on anti-terrorism efforts. Chris Christie New Jersey governor Chris Christie has a mixed relationship with Trump, but could bring law enforcement experience to the job Though his relationship with Trump has been mixed, the governor of New Jersey has known the president for years and could bring law enforcement experience to the job. He is a former Republican-appointed United States attorney in New Jersey, and he cited that background time and again during his 2016 presidential campaign. David Clarke David Clarke has been a fierce Trump supporter and has described himself as 'one of those bare-knuckle fighters' A wild-card, but the outspoken and polarising Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, sheriff has been a fierce supporter of Mr Trump and even landed a speaking spot at last summer's Republican National Convention. A conservative firebrand known for his cowboy hat, Mr Clarke has called himself 'one of those bare-knuckles fighters' and has been critical of what he called the "hateful ideology" of the Black Lives Matters movement. But he would be a long shot given that a county jury recently recommended criminal charges against seven Milwaukee County jail staffers over the dehydration death of an inmate who went without water for seven days. Trey Gowdy Trey Gowdy criticized Comey for not prosecuting Hillary Clinton over the email server investigation The South Carolina Republican led the House committee investigation of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's actions surrounding the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Mr Gowdy is also a former federal prosecutor who boasts of his work on drug trafficking, bank robberies and child pornography cases. He was among politicians critical of Mr Comey's decision not to prosecute Mrs Clinton over the email server investigation, saying other government officials would have been prosecuted if they handled classified information like she did. Andrew McCabe Andrew McCabe was yesterday named Acting FBI Director by President Trump following Comey's dismissal Appointed yesterday as Acting FBI director, McCabe has worked at the bureau for 21 years, having joined as a special agent in 1996. He has expertise in counterterrorism and interrogation, but he is currently under review for his involvement in the Clinton scandal after his wife received funds from a close friend of Hillary for her political campaign in 2015. Before McCabe was appointed as the Deputy Director of the FBI, his wife Jill McCabe ran as a Democrat for the Virginia stat senate in 2015. Her campaign received funds from the state Democratic Party and a political action committee run by Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of the Clintons. He has, however, been part of the same investigation which Comey was fired for, and this is likely to work against him when Trump names his pick. Advertisement

Spicer added that 'a search for a new permanent FBI Director will begin immediately.'

The president informed Comey of his sacking in writing, taking the opportunity to underscore that the decision had nothing to do with any ongoing probes involving him personally.

'While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau,' the letter read in part.

The FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, will act as leader until there is a permanent appointment confirmed by the Senate.

COMEY: NEW VICTIM OF CLINTON'S TOXIC EMAIL SCANDAL March 2015: It becomes publicly known that Hillary Clinton, during her tenure as United States Secretary of State, had used her family's private email server for official communications and FBI opened investigation. May 2016: The State Department's Office of the Inspector General released an 83-page report about the State Department's email practices, including Clinton's. July 2016: FBI director James Comey announces the bureau's investigation had concluded that Clinton was 'extremely careless' in handling her email system but recommended that no charges be filed against her. Two days later the State Department reopens its probe into the email controversy. September 2016: DailyMail.com reveals Huma Abedin's husband Anthony Weiner has sexted a 15-year-old girl. The FBI investigates Weiner, already known as a sexting-addicted pervert, for sexual contact with a minor October 2016: Eleven days before the election, Comey notifies Congress the FBI is reopening the case due to emails found on a laptop used by Weiner including some from Abedin's Clintonemail.com address November 2016: Comey notifies Congress the conclusion that Clinton is in the clear is unchanged - but day slater she loses the election. Democrats blame Comey. April 2017: Clinton surfaces to explicitly blame Comey, Russia and misogyny for her loss. May 2017: Comey 'misspeaks' in Senate testimony, saying Abedin sent hundreds or thousands of emails to her husband. In fact she only sent the pervert a handful. 9 May: Comey is dramatically fired with immediate effect by the president. Advertisement

The sacking is the latest twist in the astonishing chain of events set off by Clinton deciding to use a private server while she was Secretary of State.

Last week Comey was questioned under oath about why he had written a letter to members of Congress at the end of October revealing a renewed investigation into Clinton's handling of classified emails.

In his sworn testimony, Comey told senators that Abedin, a former top Hillary Clinton aide and Weiner's estranged wife, made 'a regular practice' of forwarding 'hundreds and thousands' of emails to her husband, 'some of which contain classified information.'

But the Justice Department sent the Judiciary Committee a letter late on Tuesday acknowledging that Comey's statement was inaccurate.

Spicer had punted earlier in the day when he was asked whether Comey's job was secure.

'I haven't asked him,' he said then. 'I have not asked the president since the last time we spoke about this.'

The FBI is also probing Comey's controversial decision to notify lawmakers just before the election that his team was re-examining its investigation into Clinton's emails by looking into messages found on Weiner's laptop.

The letter is viewed by many as costing Clinton the election, since she lost to Trump by less than a single percentage point in key swing states after polling indicated she was well in front of her opponent before the the late move.

Rosenstein told the president in writing on Tuesday: 'I cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails.'

And Sessions wrote Trump in a letter: 'I have concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI.'

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway pushed back on questions about Trump's praise for Comey's actions with respect to the Clinton investigation during the campaign as she began a White House spin assault three hours after the sacking.

'I think you're looking at the wrong set of facts here,' she told Anderson Cooper on CNN. 'In other words, you're going back to the campaign. This man is the president of the United States. He acted decisively today. He took the recommendation of his deputy attorney general,' Conway said.

'He has lost confidence in the FBI director and he took the recommendation of Rod Rosenstein,' she said, reading from Rosenstein's letter.

Asked about Senate Intelligence chair Burr's statement that he was troubled by the firing, Conway pushed back.

'So the same senators that just voted to confirm this man whose integrity in doubt 94 to 6 two short weeks ago. We're supposed to believe the derogatory descriptions you just made of him?' she asked.

Countering Schumer's claim of a cover-up, she said: 'He's wrong. It's not a cover-up.'

'In fact the president makes very clear in his letter the fact that Mr Comey on at least three occasions assured the president that he is not under investigation,' Conway continued, upping the ante on Trump's claim of three separate assurances.

Asked when Trump got the assurances, Conway said: 'That's between the president of the United States and Director Comey.

Spicer said just last Wednesday that the president had confidence in Comey, whom former president Barack Obama appointed to a ten-year term.

Taunt: John Podesta, who could have been a senior government figure if Clinton had won after being campaign chair, rushed to twist the knife on deposed James Comey

The end: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein delivered the fatal blow to Comey. He was away from the Washington D.C. headquarters of the FBI, visiting its field office in Los Angeles and had been due to speak at a recruitment event at the Directors Guild of America building.

Fired: James Comey is being fired with immediate effect after he misled the Senate on how classified emails ended up on pervert Anthony Weiner's computer. This was the Wednesday May 3 testimony which cost him his career

But Trump had launched into a Twitter tirade against the FBI chief in the immediate wake of his testimony last week - and there were claims that the sacking had been under consideration for days, before the Abedin testimony.

'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 had tweeted.

Spicer told reporters then: 'The president has confidence in the director.'

Testifying about the Clinton email controversy, Comey told Senators his agents uncovered 'hundreds of thousands' of emails on the laptop of disgraced ex-Rep. Weiner that Abedin has forwarded her now-estranged husband so he could print them out for her.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING The sacking of the FBI Director sent shockwaves through politics. 'Today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement' - President Donald Trump No comment - Hillary Clinton's aide 'Why did it happen today? We know the FBI had been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians  a very serious offense. Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?' - Senator Chuck Schumer, Democratic Minority Leader 'I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination. I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the Committee.' - Senator Richard Burr, Republican chair of Intelligence Committee 'This didn't work out well for Nixon. And it won't for @realDonaldTrump--or the country' - David Axelrod, ex-Obama aide 'I have deep respect for James Comey. This is a loss to the FBI and the nation.' - James Clapper, former director of national intelligence 'While the President has the legal authority to remove the Director of the FBI, I am disappointed in the President's decision to remove James Comey from office' - John McCain, Republican senator Advertisement

But he - fatally - misspoke.

Gregory A. Brower, the FBI's assistant director in the Office of Congressional Affairs, wrote to the Judiciary Committee Tuesday afternoon to 'clarify' Comey's testimony about Abedin's role in allowing classified material to find its way to her husband's computer. Minutes after his letter emerged, his boss was fired.

Most of the 'hundreds and thousands' of emails, Brower wrote, were there as a result of backups of other devices  and not manually sent by Abedin.

Only 'two e-mail chains containing classified information were manually forwarded to Mr. Weiner's account,' he wrote.

Ten additional email chains contained classified material  all part of device backups  and 'all twelve' had already been reviewed by the FBI.

That was the fatal blow which ended Comey's service just three years into a ten-year term he was given by President Obama. He is only the second FBI director to be fired - the first was Williams Sessions, terminated by Bill Clinton over alleged improper use of an FBI plane and other questions over his spending.

Trump's historic move spread a firestorm through politics and immediately showed up fault lines in his own party.

The most worrying reaction for the White House to the firing will be that of Burr, the Republican North Carolina senator who chairs the Intelligence Committee.

In a strongly-worded statement he said: 'I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination.

'I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the Committee.

'In my interactions with the Director and with the Bureau under his leadership, he and the FBI have always been straightforward with our Committee.

'Director Comey has been more forthcoming with information than any FBI Director I can recall in my tenure on the congressional intelligence committees. His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the Bureau and the nation.'

The possibility of a Republican backlash does not appear to have been foreseen by the White House, which consciously reached out to Democrats before the firing.

The president personally called a series of Democratic senators to tell them Comey was gone - apparently before Comey himself knew.

The first to announce she had been told by Trump was Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

'President Trump called me at 5:30 p.m. and indicated he would be removing Director Comey, saying the FBI needed a change,' Feinstein said in a statement.

'The next FBI director must be strong and independent and will receive a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committee.'

The Trump administration distributed a one-page summary to reporters that it called 'additional background information and context' about the surprising personnel change.

It consisted of anti-Comey statements from Democrats including Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader and the party's most senior election figure, who said last Wednesday of the FBI Director: 'I do not have confidence in him any longer.'

The supplemental information also cited an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that '[t]he best service Mr. Comey can render his country now is to resign.'

But Schumer emerged less than two hours after the firing to issue a broadside over it - and to reveal he too had been phoned by the President to be told the news.

He said the firing would lead to the belief Trump was engaging in a cover-up of alleged collusion with Russia in the run-up to the election.

Schumer said Trump had called him in the afternoon.

'I said, 'Mr President with all due respect you are making a very big mistake'. And he didn't really answer,' he said.

He added that unless there was a special prosecutor appointed: 'Are people going to suspect cover-up? Absolutely.'

HERO TO ZERO: FIRED FBI BOSS ENDED UP HATED BY EVERYONE Attorney General James Comey sealed a reputation as a brave and principled actor after a 2004 standoff during the Bush administration, when he refused White House efforts to get him to reauthorize warrantless eavesdropping while Attorney General John Ashcroft was hospitalized. Comey had been appointed deputy attorney general by President George W. Bush, having served as a U.S. attorney in New York under Rudy Giuliani in New York. With Ashcroft incapacitated, Bush administration officials wanted Ashcroft, and then Comey, to sign off on an extension of the authority, with just hours to go before an N.S.A. program expired. Comey refused. His stand was a major reason why President Obama nominated him to be head of the FBI in 2013. Obama hailed Comey as a person of 'fierce independence and deep integrity' as he nominated him for the FBI post, which carries a 10-year term. A devout Catholic, a registered Republican and a former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, he seemed to radiate independence from the Democratic machine. And many congressional Democrats became far less supportive of Comey after the 2016 presidential election. Obama's man: Republican James Comey was chosen by the Democratic president for his principled stand but ended up in the words of one senator as 'as popular as cholera' Led by defeated candidate Hillary Clinton, many have griped about Comey's handling of the Clinton email scandal. On July 5th, 2016, Comey personally announced the FBI's decision not to charge Clinton in connection with its investigation of her private email server and handling of classified material. He nevertheless called her conduct 'extremely careless.' Then on October 28, he told lawmakers the bureau was reviewing newly discovered emails in connection to the investigation. The FBI had uncovered thousands of emails on disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner's laptop that had been sent to his wife, longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Comey drew the Democrats' ire once again when he announced two days before the election that the investigation hadn't turned up anything to alter the decision not to prosecute. Clinton said it only made matters worse and stole headlines. In the congressional hearing where he made inaccurate statements about about Abedin's emails, Democrats grilled Comey about why he had not revealed the existence of an ongoing investigation into alleged Russian election interference. Comey said the FBI 'didn't say a word about' the Russia investigation until months into, whereas he had testified under oath about the existence of the Clinton investigation. Advertisement

In a sign of the Democrats' belief that they can make the Comey firing a damaging issue for Trump and the Republicans, he said: 'The American people need to have faith that an investigation as serious as this one is being conducted impartially without a shred of bias.

'The only way the American people can have faith in this investigation is for it to be led by a fearless, independent special prosecutor.'

He also contradicted the White House over his backing for the move, which was implied in their dossier.

'I never called on the president to fire Director Comey,' he said.

'If the administration had objections to the way Director Comey handled the Clinton investigation, they had those objections the minute the president got into office.

'But they didn't fire him then. Why did it happen today? We know the House is investigating Russian interference in our elections that benefited the Trump campaign.

'We know the Senate is investigating. We know the FBI had been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians  a very serious offense. Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?'

He also opened another line of attack, this time over the role of sessions, saying: 'It is troubling that Attorney General Sessions, who had recused himself from the Russian investigation, played a role in firing the man leading it.'

Clinton, however, refused to get involved. A spokesman told CNN the 2016 loser 'has no comment at this time'.

However John Podesta, who served as Clinton's campaign chairman in 2016, snarked on Twitter that Trump was in fact under an FBI microscope.

Meet the new boss - Clinton-tainted like the old one: Andrew McCabe who will head the FBI until a permanent replacement is found had oversight of the Clinton email probe. His wife received cash for her Democratic political campaign from a close friend of the Clintons who directed it from a fundraising effort which Hillary Clinton had aided by turning up for an event

Critical questions: The White House will be troubled by the reaction of Senator Richard Burr, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, who said it complicated his investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Loser Hillary Clinton has still to react to Comey's sacking.

'Didn't you know you're supposed to wait til Saturday night to massacre people investigating you?' he asked in a tweet - a reference to President Nixon's notorious mass firings during Watergate.

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Judiciary Committee member, said in a statement that 'while the White House is under investigation by the FBI, firing the head of the FBI raises massive questions, and the Senate should get to the bottom of it.'

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen tweeted that '[f]iring Comey has the foul stench of an attempt to stop an ongoing investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.'

Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkeley insisted that the vacancy at the top of the FBI was a clear signal that Republicans should appoint an independent investigator to probe alleged ties between Trumpworld and Russia.

'In case the need for an independent special prosecutor to investigate #TrumpRussia ties wasn't clear enough already ... it sure is now,' Merkeley tweeted.

Former senior Barack Obama aide David Axelrod used his Twitter account to compare Trump's decision on Tuesday with former president Richard Nixon's 1973 'Saturday Night Massacre'  when Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor along with the attorney general and his deputy.

NEW CHIEF G-MAN WAS ALSO CAUGHT UP IN CLINTON SCANDAL James Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, will take over the law enforcement agency. McCabe's wife is a Democrat who ran for the state senate in 2015 in Virginia, before he was promoted to the FBI's No. 2 position. Terry McAullife, the Virginia governor and a close friend of both the Clintons, directed $675,000 Jill McCabe's way for her campaign. The Virginia governor's political action committee, Common Good VA, spent $467,000 on her losing campaign. The state Democratic Party gave her nearly $208,000. A month before McAullife's PAC made its first donation to McCabe, Hillary Clinton headlined a fundraiser for the group. As deputy director of the FBI, it was McCabe who oversaw the investigation into Clinton's secret server, as well as the bureau's investigations into alleged terrorists and spies. He is under review by an inspector general for his involvement in the Clinton case, in light of his wife's ties to the former presidential candidate. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate's Judiciary Committee, also asked the FBI in a March letter about McCabe's role in the Russian probe and whether it 'raises the appearance a conflict of interest in light of his wife's ties with Clinton's associates.' The Republican lawmaker asked Comey if McCabe would be recusing himself from that investigation, suggesting in the letter that McCabe faces a possible conflict of interest. Advertisement

'This didn't work out well for Nixon. And it won't for @realDonaldTrump--or the country,' Axelrod wrote.

And an ex-Clinton aide suggested it was part of a vast Russian conspiracy.

'This is not on the up and up,' said Brian Fallon, the 2016 loser's ex-press secretary.

'All these months later it still stands out that Director Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation was a travesty.

'But the timing and the nature of this firing that the Trump administration is announcing now belies any possible explanation that this has anything to do with the Clinton investigation. It is clearly and act by a president who is feeling the heat from the FBI's ongoing Russia investigation.'

Robbie Mook, who had been Clinton's campaign manager, did not applaud the move that ousted the man she now says was - at least in part - her nemesis.

'Twilight zone. I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me,' Mook said on Twitter.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, another Democrat, piled on the Tricky Dick comparisons.

'The President has removed the sitting FBI Director in the midst of one of the most critical national security investigations in the history of our country  one that implicates senior officials in the Trump campaign and administration,' Leahy said.

'This is nothing less than Nixonian.'

Critics of President Trump's firing were quick to invoke Richard Nixon's infamous 'Saturday Night Massacre,' where the embattled president fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox and accepted the resignations of the two top Justice Department officials.

The sensational Oct. 20th, 1973 incident occurred as Cox was probing the Watergate scandal and cover-up and clashing with the White House over previously secret tape recordings.

First, Nixon ordered his attorney general, Elliot Richardson, to fire Cox. Richardson refused and resigned his post. Then Nixon ordered deputy attorney general William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Ruckelshaus also refused. Solicitor General Robert Bork then became attorney general, and went along with Nixon's demand.

FBI agents immediately sealed off the offices of Cox, Richardson, and Ruckelshaus after the firings.

How the Republicans deal with the sensational move remains to be seen.

The Senate must approve anyone the president selects to replace Comey. To be confirmed, nominees need only a bare majority of lawmakers to vote for them following a rule change that took place when Democrats were in power.

Republicans hold 52 seats in the Senate and can use the vice president as a tie-breaker if they need to, meaning that Trump's nominee is all but assured to be approved.

Trump called Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is leading a Senate subcommittee probe of Russian interference, 'literally minutes' before he sacked Comey, his spokesman told the Post and Courier.

Been here before? Democrats rushed to compare firing Comey to Richard Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre - but the only previous firing of an FBI director was of William Sessions (right) in 1993 - by Bill Clinton. Sessions was let go for using an FBI plane for private visits

Graham released a statement backing up the decision.

'I know this was a difficult decision for all concerned. I appreciate Director Comey's service to our nation in a variety of roles,' said Graham, who clashed with Trump during the campaign and probed his alleged Russia ties this week.

PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON'S 'SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE' Following the President's firing of FBI Director James Comey, who was the head of the investigation into collusion between Trump's administration and Russia, some were quick to ask whether or not this would be his 'Saturday Night Massacre'. In 1973, President Richard Nixon also fired the official responsible for investigating potential wrongdoing in his administration. On October 20, 1973, President Nixon fired independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was head of the investigation into the Watergate Scandal. His firing lead to the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. That Saturday night, news broadcast networks turned their airtime over to the 'firestorm' and 'constitutional crisis.' The pushback against these firings was so significant that Nixon was forced to name a new special prosecutor, Texas lawyer Leon Jaworski. The story then played out over the next 10 months, ending when a unanimous Supreme Court forced Nixon to hand over the tapes. Their contents proved the cover-up that led to Nixon's eventual resignation. Advertisement

'Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well. I encourage the President to select the most qualified professional available who will serve our nation's interests,' Graham said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee's Republican chairman, said in his own statement that '[t]he handling of the Clinton email investigation is a clear example of how Comey's decisions have called into question the trust and political independence of the FBI.'

'In my efforts to get answers, the FBI, under Comey's leadership, has been slow or failed to provide information that Comey himself pledged to provide,' he added.

'The effectiveness of the FBI depends upon the public trust and confidence. Unfortunately, this has clearly been lost.'

There were also the first signs of a split among Republicans over the firing as John McCain, the senator who has long been a Trump critic, declined to back the move and said there needed to be a special committee to investigate the Russia questions.

'While the President has the legal authority to remove the Director of the FBI, I am disappointed in the President's decision to remove James Comey from office,' he said,

'James Comey is a man of honor and integrity, and he has led the FBI well in extraordinary circumstances.

'I have long called for a special congressional committee to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The president's decision to remove the FBI Director only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee.'

His tribute was one of the few made in Washington to Comey - who had been described last week as 'as about as popular as cholera' by one senator- although the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, did come to his aid.

Clapper, who has testified frequently alongside Comey and appeared on Capitol Hill Monday, backed up his counterpart, telling CNN: 'I have deep respect for James Comey. This is a loss to the FBI and the nation.'

THE LETTERS WHICH ENDED COMEY'S FBI CAREER
People are crowded into the streets around Caracas' Plaza Jose Marti. Smoke billows through the air and tear gas canisters hit the pavement. It has become a familiar scene in Caracas, where protesters have been demonstrating for weeks against a government they believe is slowly becoming a dictatorship.
A man who authorities have accused of being part of a scam that conned an Ohio school district out of millions of dollars was arraigned on Tuesday after being initially charged more than four years ago.

David Donadeo, 43, was found and arrested in Spain in September, and brought back to Cleveland on Friday to answer for his role in defrauding the Cuyahoga Heights School District, according to Cleveland.com.

Donadeo, of Broadview Heights, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges, but has agreed to remain in custody until his case is completed.

There has been a federal warrant for his arrest since April 2013.

David Donadeo, 43, pleaded not guilty to mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges on Tuesday for his role in defrauding the an Ohio school district out of millions four years ago

He and others formed shell companies and worked with former school district technology director Joseph Palazzo, 35, to defraud the school district out of more than $3.3 million, federal prosecutors said.

Donadeo, who has also gone by David Rupp, is accused of using a company he created called DDR Technology to bill the district for services that were never rendered.

Donadeo and others would submit falsified invoices to the district which would be paid by Palazzo, and then Palazzo would later split the proceeds with his cohorts, according to authorities.

Prior to his return to Cleveland on Friday, Donadeo had been living in the Canary Islands with his family, which is where he was arrested in September, his attorney John McCaffrey said.

His wife and two children, all US citizens, remain in Spain at this time. The family resided in Germany before Spain and had lived out of the US prior to Donadeo's indictment, McCaffrey said.

Donadeo was arraigned before US Magistrate Judge David Ruiz.

Palazzo is currently nearly four years into serving an 11-year sentence for mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges, stemming from his role in the conspiracy.

Josepha Palazzo is seen here in a photo provided by the Cuyahoga Heights School District

Dominick Palazzo, Joseph's 43-year-old brother, pleaded guilty in February and was sentenced in June to 2 1/2 years in prison for charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and conspiracy to launder funds as part of the con.

Dennis Boyles, another defendant, has already completed his 27-month prison sentence for the scheme.

The Ohio Auditor's Office discovered the scam in 2012. The stolen amount was 'one of the largest findings for recovery' that his office has ever issued, Auditor Dave Yost said at the time.

The school district affected serves 900 students throughout the Cuyahoga Heights, Valley View and Brooklyn Heights suburbs of Cleveland.


A Los Angeles-area woman who was brutally assaulted by a man she met through Instagram is sharing her story in hopes that it'll be a cautionary tale to others.

Model India Ali, 32, told KTLA that she first met James Baker, 27, virtually through the popular social media photo app and eventually felt comfortable enough with what she saw to set up a date with him in real life.

'He didn't really look like a creep from his pictures. He looked like he had it going on,' Ali said.

Scroll down for video

India Ali, 32, is sharing the story of how she was brutally beaten by a man she met on Instagram, in hopes that it will be a cautionary tale to others who meet via social media

Last July, Ali and Baker met up for their date. They went out drinking, as evidenced by several videos that Baker had posted of the two of them at a restaurant.

In the clips, Ali appears to be less than sober, compared to Baker.

Although Baker posted videos showing that it happened, Ali said she had no memory of leaving the restaurant or going back to his room at the Westin Hotel near Los Angeles International Airport.

The next morning, Ali woke up in the hotel room, alone.

'It was horrible,' Ali said. 'I woke up. I lifted my head up. I was lying in a puddle of throw up. So I look around and I see blood everywhere and my clothes everywhere.'

James Barker, 27, posted videos of himself and Ali on their date, before beating her and stealing her car last July. He was found guilty of felony assault and auto theft last month

Ali had no memory of leaving the restaurant after her date with Baker. She woke up alone, in a puddle of vomit, in his hotel room the next day and discovered that he had brutally beaten her

During her 911 call, Ali told the operator that 'there's blood all over the room'

When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw that her face had been brutally beaten.

'Oh my God. I can't believe that happened. What if they come back and kill me?' Ali recalled thinking.

Baker had apparently taken her cellphone and car keys with him when he left the room, so Ali called 911 on the hotel phone.

In the 911 recording, Ali can be heard telling the operator that, 'There's blood all over the room' and that she was 'hurt in my face.'

Ali was treated for significant head injuries at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

'She had been punched in the head so badly that it had caused a swelling in the brain,' Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Berger told KTLA.

'The brain, when it expands, has nowhere to go so it forces down  and that's what triggers the vomit action. It pressures the fourth vertebrae.'

Investigators tracked Baker down to the Courtyard Los Angeles LAX in nearby El Segundo, California by using the Find my iPhone app installed on Ali's cellphone.

Surveillance footage captured Baker leaving the hotel in Ali's car at 2am

Police also found Ali's car at the Courtyard hotel  surveillance video from the Westin showed that after Baker left Ali, he'd driven her car away from the Westin at about 2am.

Baker was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division on July 21.

After his arrest, Berger said investigators discovered that Baker had out of state convictions and was out on bail for charges related to alleged use of fake credit cards.

Last month, on April 14, Baker was found guilty of felony assault, auto theft and use of forged credit cards.

He is currently being held at the downtown LA Men's Central Jail, awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 5.

Ali is sharing her story because she wants people to avoid making the same mistake she did when it comes to meeting people online, offline.

'I wouldn't want anybody to go and meet up with anybody that they don't know. Please don't ever do that,' Ali said. 'You have to value your life.'
A woman protesting the treatment of the homeless in front of Parliament House has reportedly poured petrol on herself and tried to set herself alight.

It is believed other protesters and police quickly surrounded the woman on Wednesday - one day after the Budget 2017 was announced - and stopped her from igniting herself, according to 9News.

An illegible sign was seen propped up near the woman, who witnesses referred to as 'Lily'.

Witnesses told Sky News the woman had been camping out at Parliament House over the past couple of days and had been a frequent protester in Canberra stretching back two years.

Scroll down for video

A female protester at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday morning has reportedly poured petrol on herself before trying to set herself alight (pictured)

The woman (pictured) was reportedly protesting the treatment of the homeless

Witnesses claimed the woman (pictured) had been camping out at Parliament House over the past couple of days

Emergency services and police were called to the scene.

A large puddle of fuel can be seen in video footage of the incident.

An ACT police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia a woman was treated for minor injuries on the lawns of Parliament House and was then taken into custody.

'Police can confirm that there are no concerns in relation to public safety,' the spokesman said.

An illegible sign can be seen near propped up next to the woman (pictured)
Mystery surrounds the death of an Australian man found dead in his rented home in Bali home.

Stephen James Richardson, 63, was found lying on a mattress at the house in Sanur in a pool of blood with wounds to his right arm, right cheek, and forehead - suggesting he may have been attacked.

It has now been revealed the gate to his home was shut and locked from the inside when his body was found on Monday by friend Garry Croker.

His heartbroken family believed he had died of a heart attack - until police sent them grisly crime scene photographs (Stephen is pictured with his partner Karen)

Police outside the rented villa of Australian man Stephen Richardson in Bali on Tuesday

In a graphic image sent to the family by police and supplied to Daily Mail Australia, the beloved father can be seen lying stark naked on a blood-soaked blue mattress.

When police arrived they said the house was locked and there was broken glass from a cabinet inside the villa.

Police were at the rented villa on Tuesday, scouring the scene as they continued to investigate the case.

They said they have spoken with 12 people about the matter and are awaiting forensic and autopsy reports.

'(There is little) suspicion he was robbed because the victim's belongings are still there. There is an iPhone, Australian dollars and a watch,' Denpasar District Police Chief Colonel Hadi Purnomo said.

Around 10 beer bottles have been found at the scene, while Mr Richardson appears to have suffered several wounds, including to the back of the head.

'It could be the victim was fighting back. Maybe at the crime scene, we will find the blood of a perpetrator,' Col Purnomo added.

'The blood on the porch is being checked to see whether it's the victim's or if it is a perpetrator's.'

He was found lying on a mattress in his rented home in Sanur with wounds to his arm, cheek and forehead. Police believe a violent struggle occurred before his 'unnatural death'

'There are weird things (about the case). The main gate was locked from the outside while the garage door was locked from the inside.'

Other items from the villa have been collected, including a bed sheet, glass and a kitchen knife - but police believe at this stage that the knife may have nothing to do with what happened.

Mr Richardson had last been seen by a friend drinking at a Sanur bar on Saturday night.

Police believe there is a possibility he died due to being intoxicated, falling and injuring himself.

South Denpasar police chief Wisnu Wardana told the Sydney Morning Herald that he did not believe the broken window was an entrance point for a potential intruder.

'The scene was intact - no sign of forced entry has been found yet,' Mr Wisnu said.

'The gate was locked, so was the door to the room where the body was found.

'We are still investigating. Because of the unnatural death anything is possible at this point. We have our forensic officers investigating the scene.'

Forensic testing of the blood found within the property is being undertaken, as is an autopsy.

This is the rented house in Sanur, Bali, where Mr Richardson's bloodied body was found

Stephen's devastated son Ben Richardson, 29, said he would not rest until his father's killer was brought to justice.

'I will not stop until I know what really happened because it's very clear someone took him from us,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday night.

'I am fuming, he didn't even get to see us get married or have kids.'

Mr Richardson was in a defacto relationship with Karen East, who he was with for about 18 years, but lived alone the past month after she went to Darwin for work.

Denpasar police chief Hadi Purnomo said it was being treated as a murder case, especially as a knife was found, but detectives were still investigating the scene.

However, he did not discount the possibility that Mr Richardson's death was an accident.

'The first possibility is that the foreigner died due to an assault as there are wounds on his body,' he said.

'The victim also had a habit of drinking alcohol... so there is a possibility that the victim died due to be drunk and falling and hitting glass.'

His son Ben (pictured) has vowed not to rest until his beloved dad's killers were found

His body was discovered by friend Garry Croker on Monday about 4.20pm after he didn't show up to a wedding anniversary party and hadn't answered his phone for days.

The worried mate borrowed a ladder from the house's owner and jumped the fence on Jalan Danau Poso, only to be confronted with the horrific scene through the window.

'It (the door) was open for the cat and I seen him lying there. I jumped back and got the owner to ring the police,' he told News Corp.

'On Sunday night there was a party for a wedding anniversary and he was invited and he never turned up. He hadn't answered the phone for a couple of days actually and we got worried.'

Mr Croker gave police a statement while forensic officers and sniffer dogs searched the house and recovered his iPhone 5. His motorbike was also missing.

Another witness claimed to see him on Saturday at the Stand Up Bar in Sanur and friends said he hadn't been around for coffee in several days.

Ben paid tribute to his father, who was nicknamed 'the ape', saying he was a great father to both him and his brother

Ben Richardson, who works on an oil rig like his father once did, said the whole family was saddened and would be flying to Bali as soon as possible.

He recalled the last time he saw his father was six weeks ago when the whole family visited his brother Aaron, 31, in Sydney where he runs a holistic health centre.

They then enjoyed a family road trip to Wollongong to visit Mr Richardson's brother Peter, a trip he and Ben spoke about in their last ever phone call a few weeks ago.

'Everything was fine, he was being his normal self. Work was slow for me but he told me to keep positive and everything would be okay,' Ben recalled.

'One of my favourite things about dad was when he'd give me a hug and tell me its okay when something bad happened or I hurt myself or was upset.'

Ben paid tribute to his father, who was nicknamed 'the ape', saying he was a great dad to both him and his brother.

'He was a good guy, very strong minded but had a lot of time for his friends and the Bali people and their beliefs,' he said.

'He loved Sanur and living over there (and he) always tried to help where he could.

'I loved my dad so much. I feel very empty inside.'

Ben said his father lived in Bali on and off for the past 10 years after he retired following a bad fall at work, and couldn't think of why anyone would want to hurt him.

'From what I've seen and heard, every time I've come there, they loved him,' he said.

Mr Richardson's family released a statement through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on Tuesday saying that until the Indonesian Police have concluded their investigation, they did not wish to comment.

'We are greatly saddened by this event and ask the media to please respect our privacy and allow us to grieve in private.'

DFAT is providing the family with consular assistance.
Three Labour activists were expelled after joining forces with members of other parties to try and unseat Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, it emerged last night.

The senior Labour officials in South West Surrey are backing an independent, Louise Irvine of the National Health Action Party.

Local Lib Dems and Green Party activists have also joined a grassroots progressive alliance to support Dr Irvine, a GP, and beat Mr Hunt, a Cabinet minister.

Kate Townsend (centre), Steve Williams (left) and Robert Park (right) have all been expelled from the Labour party in South West Surrey after agreeing to help an independent candidate

The revelations will fuel Conservative accusations that opposition parties plan a coalition of chaos under Jeremy Corbyn if Labour is the largest party after June 8.

It is the latest example of cooperation between local activists to try and stop Tory candidates  in defiance of the party leaderships.

On Monday it emerged Vince Cable had urged Lib Dem activists to back Labour candidates where they had the best chance of unseating Tories.

The Green Party have stood down their candidate in Ealing, Hove, Ilford, Oxford West, Abindgon, Richmond Park and Twickenham to try and help the Lib Dems or Labour.

At the last election Dr Irvine won 4,851 votes  or nearly nine per cent. Mr Hunt won more than 34,000.

The trio had agreed to back Louise Irvine, of the National Health Action Party, in order to try and oust Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

Mr Hunt won more than 34,000 votes at the last election, while Ms Irvine won just 4,851

Dr Irvine said: I am honoured and delighted that people in South West Surrey have chosen me as a progressive alliance candidate and I am ready to challenge Jeremy Hunt on his governments disastrous NHS policies as well as the huge damage they are doing to our society in many areas such as education, housing and the environment.

Labour activists Kate Townsend, the secretary of the local Labour Party, Steve Williams, an executive member and Robert Park, a regional organiser, were expelled following a meeting this week at which they agreed to campaign for Dr Irvine.

The explusions have sparked outrage among some Labour activists who have nicknamed them the Godalming Three.

Musician Billy Bragg, a vocal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn said the expulsions were unbelievable.

I have also publicly called for a progressive alliance against Tories. Am I to be expelled too? he wrote on Twitter.

Neal Lawson, chair of the Compass group who is spokesman for the Progressive Alliance said: Labour expelling members trying to unseat Jeremy Hunt like Stasi guards defending the Berlin Wall.

A Labour spokesman said: These individuals are no longer members of the Labour party.
The number of bank accounts, credit cards and mobile phone contracts hijacked by criminals soared by almost half last year, figures published today reveal.

As firms bolster their IT defences against hackers, fraudsters are reverting to old fashioned tactics by directly targeting customers.

In its annual Fraudscape report, the fraud prevention service Cifas gathered data from 387 firms, including some of the UKs most well-known companies.

It found that facility takeovers  when a customers bank account, investment or pension is hijacked by a fraudster and funds taken out jumped by 45 per cent from 15,497 in 2015 to 22,525 last year.

The number of bank accounts hijacked by cyber criminals rose by almost 50 per cent in the past year, according to fraud prevention service Cifas (file picture)

More than half of these cases were perpetrated over the phone, typically with the criminal phoning the banks call centre and pretending to be the customer.

Overall 325,000 cases of fraud were reported last year, up 1 per cent from the previous year.

Identity crime  which includes identity fraud and facility takeovers - remains the biggest threat, representing sixty per cent of all fraud recorded.

The criminals often glean personal information from social media and hack into private systems to get details such as a persons name, date of birth, address and name of their bank, and then can apply for a loan or buy a product in their name, leaving the innocent party to foot the bill.

Almost nine in ten of these cases (88 per cent) were perpetrated online.

Simon Dukes, chief executive of Cifas said firms prevented 1billion of fraud last year. But he added fraudsters are simply changing their approach.

He said: We are now seeing that the advances made in securing online access to customer accounts have led to fraudsters targeting the human being at the end of the phone.

'Using old-fashioned but highly-effective con artistry, they are tricking individuals into giving away their personal details and deceiving call centre staff into making transactions on their victims accounts.

The proliferation of personal data that is available either online or through data breaches only makes this easier.

Despite banks investing millions in tackling fraud, separate figures published by Financial Fraud Action UK earlier this year revealed losses increased in 2016.

Criminals often glean personal information from social media and hack into private systems to get details such as a persons name, date of birth, address and name of their bank (file picture)

Losses from fraud on cards and credit cards jumped by nine per cent to 618million last year  while total fraud including online scams  increased two per cent to 768.8million.

Perhaps most alarmingly, the proportion of attempted fraud that banks managed to detect and stop fell from 7.01 in every 10 in 2015 to 6.40 in every 10 last year.

Financial Fraud Action UK also blamed criminals shifting their approach to targeting individuals directly, which is harder for banks to stop.

Alex Neill, managing director of home products & services at consumer group Which? said: Educating consumers is not the only solution.

'Theres only so much people can do to protect themselves as sophisticated fraudsters are constantly finding new tactics to persuade them to part with their money.

'Banks and businesses should be doing more to identify potential scams, and ensure that their security systems are being improved to prevent fraud taking place.
A pair of conjoined twins were successfully separated yesterday in China after a two-hour operation, according to media.

The two girls were born in February at 35 weeks and were joined at the liver.

Their mother found out about their deformity when she was five months pregnant, but she could not bear to give them up and carried on with the pregnancy.

Doctors from Shanghai successfully separated the two girls three months after they were born

Their mother was informed of their abnormality when she was five months pregnant, but she couldn't bear to abort them. The woman went to Shanghai to seek medical assitance

The mother, surnamed Liu, said she and her husband decided to keep the twins and did not agree to an induced labour, reported Huanqiu.com, a part of People's Daily.

CONJOINED TWINS: THE FACTS Births of conjoined twins, whose skin and internal organs are fused together, are rare. They are believed to occur just once in every 200,000 live births. Approximately 40 to 60 percent of conjoined twins arrive stillborn, and about 35 percent survive only one day. The overall survival rate of conjoined twins is somewhere between 5 percent and 25 percent. For some reason, female siblings seem to have a better shot at survival than their male counterparts. Source: University of Maryland Advertisement

According to the report, which cited Xinmin.cn, a pregnant Ms Liu then left her hometown in Jiangsu Province and went to nearby Shanghai, a bigger city, to seek medical assistance.

Doctors from the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai received Ms Liu when she was 22 weeks pregnant.

The hospital is experienced in treating conjoined twins as it has successfully separated two sets of siblings in the past two years.

After examination, doctors decided to help the woman give birth and to carry out the separation after the twins are born.

The hospital was confident that the operation would be a success.

A team was formed to monitor the growth of the twins around the clock.

Doctors used 3-D imaging technology to find the abnormal vessel that connected the twins

The team was led by the hospital's deputy director Dr Zheng Shan and paediatrician Dr Shen Chun.

The conjoined twins were born on February 9. The pair weighed 4,680 grams (10.3 pounds) combined at birth.

They were immediately sent to the neonatal intensive care unit to be looked after.

To prepare the separation operation, the hospital called in experts from various departments, including surgery, anesthesiology, radiology, neonatal intensive care unit and the operational theatre.

The Children's Hospital of Fudan University successfully separated two sets of conjoined twins in 2015 and 2016. One of them were joined by the hip and the other by the stomach

The team decided to carry out the operation on May 8 after the conjoined twins' combined weighed reached 11 kilograms (24.2 pounds).

For conjoined twin babies to be separated, each of them needs to weigh at least five kilograms (11 pounds), according to doctors from the hospital.

The operation begun in the morning and the siblings were separated at 11:16am.

With the help of 3-D imaging technology, doctors find and cut the abnormal blood vessel which connected the two babies by the liver.

Dr Zheng said to Jiefang Daily the doctors managed to prevent a haemorrhage and the dysfunction of the livers, which were the difficulties of the surgery.

Medical workers operated separation surgery on a pair of conjoined girl twins at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University on June 9, 2015
Student digs are not renowned for being particularly salubrious, with many undergraduates struggling to scrape enough money together for a simple room in a shared flat.

But not so for the occupants of these luxury student rentals, which cost almost 70,000 a year each - per person - currently advertised on property website Rightmove.

There'll be no arguing over who does the washing up, as the spotless student pads include a weekday daily housekeeping service in the price, with some apartments also offering a porter service.

This two-bedroom flat to rent in London's Mayfair costs 1,300 per person per week

The exclusive area of London's Mayfair offers access to luxury designer boutiques in the area's New Bond Street

Examples of luxury student properties currently available for rent on the property website Rightmove include a two-bedroom home in London's exclusive district of Mayfair.

It costs 1,300 per person per week, which is the equivalent of 67,600 a year - more than twice the average salary of around 26,000.

The Mayfair property boasts a modern kitchen area with integrated appliances and a large private terrace.

And don't expect to be fighting over the washing facilities before morning classes, as the two spacious bedrooms each come with an ensuite marble bathroom.

There is also a high-tech central control panel that means you can alter lighting, the underfloor heating and sound systems at the touch of a button.

The luxury Mayfair student accommodation is being advertised for rent on Rightmove via lettings agent Robert Manning

The spacious bedrooms at the Mayfair property each have an ensuite marble bathroom

Students can expect to pay more than 50,000 each a year to live in the heart of London's Mayfair

Other student properties advertised to rent on Rightmove, include a one-bedroom in London's Clerkenwell for 875 per person per week and a one-bedroom flat to rent in Mayfair for 880 per person per week.

A recent Savills report on student accommodation revealed the strong growth in this section of the property market, although most of those student homes are far cheaper than the ones featured here.

Savills claimed 44,000 beds were let out to students making around 2.4billion each year each year between 2012 and 2015. This increased to 74,500 beds traded at a total value of 5.9billion in 2015.

London's Mayfair is one of the most expensive areas to live in the country and includes an abundance of designer boutiques. It is also home to several university sites, including the University of Westminster and the American Intercontinental University London.

A one bedroom flat in London's Farringdon Road is being advertising for rent on Rightmove via lettings agent Hurford Salvi Carr at 875 per week

The Farringdon Road property is available to students who pay the full rent upfront

The Farringdon student flat is on the fourth floor of a warehouse conversion with views of the capital's rooftops and a sofabed in the living area

The recently fitted open plan kitchen at the Farringdon student flat comes with appliances and a solid wood flooring

A weekly daily housekeeping services, all utilities, council tax and TV licence is included in the rental price of the Farringdon student flat

Students can rent a home in London's district of Farringdon for almost 900 a week per person

Some of the flats in Bond Street cost the equivalent of 67,600 per year, more than double the average national salary

Danielle Cullen, managing director at StudentTenant.com, said: 'It's interesting to see these luxury properties listed on popular student-only property websites.

'Many look back on their time in student accommodation and their experiences of battling with untidy housemates and tossing and turning in a lumpy single bed. These properties are a far cry away from the student life many are used to experiencing.'

She added: 'Landlords are obviously seeing the potential and how much rental income they're generating, and they want a piece of it.

'It's a little sad that we may start to see a class divide developing within the student sector, as some are prepared to pay in excess of 60,000 and those at the other end of the spectrum are stuck in poky single rooms struggling to get by.'

This one bedroom flat in London's Mayfair is on the market for students to rent for 880 per person per week via lettings agent Robert Manning

The Mayfair apartment has an ensuite bathroom, and is in a period mansion block with lift access




The number of under 35-year-olds who still live with their parents has risen by more than a third in the last decade, as young adults are trapped by rising house prices.

The 36 per cent rise means 1.23 million people aged 25 to 34 still live at home with their mother and father, an extra 331,000 compared to a decade ago, according to data from insurer Aviva.

It corresponds with a 45 per cent increase in house prices for first-time buyers, with figures from the Office for National Statistics showing values rising from 146,000 to 211,000 during the same 10-year time frame.

The number of UK 'children' aged 21 to 34 living with parents has also grown considerably during this period, from 2.2 to 2.9 million, an increase of 29 per cent.

One million adults still live at home with Mum and Dad as house prices continue to climb

Meanwhile a separate study by Aviva of the attitudes of 500 16 to 34-year-olds who live with their parents found that one in 12 don't ever expect to leave their family home.

A third said they didn't expect to ever own a home and a fifth thought they only would if they inherited one.

Almost half said they were 'very happy' about their current living situation, although this fell to just under a third for those aged between 30 and 34.

Nearly two thirds of those living with parents said it was because they couldn't afford to move out, and a half said they did it to save money.

However a quarter said they liked being looked after and around a sixth said they are actually looking after their parents.

So, if you're keen to move out of the family home, but are struggling to get on to the property, take a look at our possible solutions

1. What should I do if I can't afford to buy or rent near my family?

House prices around the country vary enormously, even from street to street in some areas. It is easy to restrict your house search around the familiar area of your family home, but try stepping out of your comfortable zone to find a more affordable area - be it for rental or to buy.

Adrian Anderson, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, said: 'The home ownership dream is turning out to be impossible for a growing number of adults who are being forced to live with their parents for far longer than they had anticipated.

'With options limited, would-be buyers need to get creative and perhaps consider moving to a more affordable area with a longer commute for work rather than a swanky pad in the most fashionable part of town.'

2. I don't have enough for a deposit, is there a solution?

Many young buyers are turning to the Bank of Mum and Dad for a contribution towards a deposit as lenders require larger deposits to secure the most attractive mortgage rates.

However, if your parents - or grandparents - are unable to assist, you may want to look into using the Government's Help to Buy equity loan scheme. This helps buyers with a 5 per cent deposit and provides a 20 per cent interest-free loan for five years.

Mr Anderson said: 'The Bank of Mum and Dad is a popular option when it comes to drumming up a deposit and if your parents have funds available, it is worth asking them. However, this needs to be a gift rather than a loan or it will have an impact on affordability and the size of mortgage you can get.'

He added: 'Other options may be to purchase with parents on a joint mortgage, sole owner basis, where parents' income is taken into account in order to generate a bigger mortgage but they are not on the property deeds so you avoid paying higher stamp duty.

Alternatively, check out the Barclays Family Springboard or Family Building Society Family Mortgage where parents' savings can be offset against the mortgage as security but they get them back at a later date.'

3. House prices are rising so fast that they are moving out of reach, what can I do?

One way of keeping your costs down is to consider building your own home.

While such a project may seem overwhelming, new technology means award-winning designs (such as the Modulhus) are available from 50,000.

However, the price of such projects tends not to include the land that the houses are built on - something which substantially drives up the price of new homes. Foundations also need to be laid before building can begin.

One way of keeping your costs down is to consider building your own home, such as with a Modulhus design costing 50,000

Lending is also more complicated than buying a typical residential property as a first-time buyer.

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: 'Building your own home is another way of becoming a homeowner while keeping costs down.

'VAT refunds are available on building materials and services while self-builders tend to pay lower stamp duty because they pay on the plot rather than the finished property.'

However, he added a word of caution, saying: 'This is a specialist area and seeking professional advice is crucial.'

4. I don't earn enough, what can I do?

If you're struggling to be eligible for a large enough mortgage on your own, try sharing the financial responsibility with a partner, friend or family member. There are mortgage products that can accommodate such partnerships

If you buy with someone else you are joint and severally liable for the mortgage, so if they don't pay their share, you are on the hook for it

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, says: 'An increasing number of first-time buyers are purchasing with somebody else - whether it's a partner, sibling, friend or even parent. This can work out well - two lots of money towards the deposit and two incomes towards the mortgage, making it more affordable.

'However, you should take care to ensure you get a legal document drawn up at the start detailing who contributed what and how you will proceed if circumstances change  for example if one party wants to move out and sell up.'

And he added: 'It is also worth remembering that if you buy with someone else you are joint and severally liable for the mortgage, so if they don't pay their share, you are on the hook for it.'
Deep within the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa, archaeologists have discovered the remains of at least three Hominin naledi.

The age of the remains has been revealed to be startlingly young, suggesting the species was alive sometime between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago.

This places this population of primitive small-brained hominins at a time and place that it is likely they lived alongside modern humans.

This is the first time that it has been demonstrated that another species of hominin survived alongside the first humans in Africa.

Scroll down for video

Archaeologists in South Africa have discovered the remains of at least three Hominin naledi (skull of one is pictured). The age of the remains has been revealed to be startlingly young, suggesting the species was alive sometime between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago

Researchers from James Cook University in Queensland have been analysing fossils of the hominid Homo naledi, found deep in the Dinaledi Cave in South Africa's Rising Star cave system in 2013.

And in a separate study, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered new remains belonging to three Homo naledi, including one they have named 'Neo', in a separate cave chamber.

Using state-of-the-art dating techniques, the researchers have found that Homo naledi lived in Africa between 236,000 and 335,000 years old.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HOMO NALEDI Pictured is an artist's impression of the Homo naledi - Homo naledi lived in Africa between 236,000 and 335,000 years ago - The species' feet share many features with a modern human foot, indicating it is well-adapted for standing and walking on two feet - Wrist bones and thumb show anatomical features that are shared with Neanderthals and humans and suggest powerful grasping and the ability to use stone tools - Finger bones are more curved than most early fossil human species, suggesting that H. naledi still used their hands for climbing in the trees - The species had delicate bones of the inner eye region and nose - The average height of the Homo naledi was around 5 feet (1.5 metres) - They had a brain the size of an orange - this is around one third the size of a human brain - Homo naledi may have stored the dead, suggesting they were an intelligent species Advertisement

Professor Paul Dirks, who led the study, said: 'The oldest dated fossils of Homo sapiens in Africa are around 200,000 years old.

'And now we have a very primitive looking hominid that probably existed at the same time as them.

'This is the first time one of these primitive hominids has been found in association with more modern humans in Africa.'

The first bones of the Homo naledi species were located in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa's Gauteng province in a remote chamber that can only be accessed via several steep climbs and fissures (arrangement of fossils pictured)

Homo naledi was very different from archaic humans that lived around the same time. Pictured left is a Kabwe skull from Zambia, an archaic human, while pictured right is Neo's skull

Professor Dirks said the implications of the new dates are profound.

He added: 'When we first identified the fossils, most of the paleo-anthropologists on site were convinced that they would be a million or two million years old, but we have now shown they are much more recent.

'It means that a primitive hominid persisted on the landscape in Africa for a very substantial period of time. Well beyond what paleo-anthropologists predicted to be possible.'

THE TWO STUDIES IN BRIEF The age of Homo naledi Organisation: James Cook University in Queensland What they did: Analysed and dated the original fossils of the hominid Homo naledi, found in the Dinaledi Cave in 2013 Key findings: Homo naledi lived in Africa between 236,000 and 335,000 years old. This suggests the species lived there alongside humans The intelligence of Homo naledi Organisation: University of Wisconsin-Madison What they did: Discovered new remains belonging to three Homo naledi - two adults and a child, including one they have named 'Neo', in a separate cave chamber Key findings: The new fossils were found in a chamber some distance from the Dinaledi Chamber - the cave where Homo naledi was originally found This suggests that the Homo naledi was storing its dead  a surprising behaviour that indicates the species was intelligent Analysis of a foot showed Homo naledi's feet share many features with a modern human foot, indicating it is well-adapted for standing and walking on two feet. Pictured is a graphic summarising what is known about the species Advertisement

He said the structure of Homo naledi's hands meant it could have been a toolmaker.

He added: 'The new dating puts it on the landscape at a time from which we find lots of tools in Africa in the middle stone-age.

'One of the implications of the new dates is that it's no longer automatically possible for us to assume that early homosapiens were making these tools.'

The researchers believe that the findings could re-write the evolution of our ancient ancestors.

Analysis of the bones (pictured) indicates the extinct species may have been uniquely adapted for both tree climbing and walking, while also being capable of precise manual manipulation

The researchers believe that the structure of Homo naledi's hands meant it could have been a toolmaker. Pictured are hand and jaw bones found in the South African cave system

Professor Dirks added: 'We have many different branches on the family tree and it is only fairly recently that there is only one survivor on the landscape.

'The new dating of the fossils opens up all sorts of possibilities for an interchange of tool use, cultural activities and behaviours between and homo sapiens.'

In the second study, a team of researchers also discovered new Homo naledi remains in another cave chamber.

Using state-of-the-art dating techniques, the researchers have found that Homo naledi lived in Africa between 236,000 and 335,000 years old

The two collections of Homo naledi fossils (pictured) give science its most complete record of a hominin species other than modern humans and Neanderthals

DID HOMO NALEDI LIVE WITH HUMANS? Using state-of-the-art dating techniques, the researchers have found that Homo naledi lived in Africa between 236,000 and 335,000 years old. Professor Paul Dirks, who led the study, said: 'The oldest dated fossils of Homo sapiens in Africa are around 200,000 years old. 'And now we have a very primitive looking hominid that probably existed at the same time as them. 'This is the first time one of these primitive hominids has been found in association with more modern humans in Africa.' Professor Dirks said the implications of the new dates are profound. He added: 'When we first identified the fossils, most of the paleo-anthropologists on site were convinced that they would be a million or two million years old, but we have now shown they are much more recent. 'It means that a primitive hominid persisted on the landscape in Africa for a very substantial period of time. Well beyond what paleo-anthropologists predicted to be possible.' Advertisement

These new fossils were found in a chamber some distance from the Dinaledi Chamber - the cave where Homo naledi was originally found.

The researchers suggest that this shows that the Homo naledi was storing its dead  a surprising behaviour that suggests the species was intelligent.

Dr John Hawks, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who led the study that found the new remains, said: 'This likely adds weight to the hypothesis that Homo naledi was using dark, remote places to cache its dead.

'What are the odds of a second, almost identical occurrence happening by chance?'

The new chamber, which the researchers have named the Lesedi Chamber, is nearly 100 metres from the Dinaledi Chamber where the first Homo naledi fossils representing at least 15 individuals were found.

So far, the team has retrieved more than 130 new Homo naledi fossils from the Lesedi Chamber.

The new fossils come from at least three individuals - two adults and a child - and the researchers believe more will be recovered as their excavations continue.

The child, estimated to be under five years old, is represented by bones from the head and body.

Of the two adults, one is identified only by a jaw and leg bones.

Researchers who worked on the excavation say Homo naledi appeared to have unique shoulder features

But the skeleton of the third individual, dubbed 'Neo' is remarkably complete.

Researchers have reconstructed the skull, providing a much more complete portrait of Homo naledi.

Dr Peter Schmid, who reconstructed the skull, said: 'We finally get a look at the face of Homo naledi.'

A composite skeleton of the Homo naledi reveals its overall body plan. The findings suggest the species had humanlike feet, and long, cureved fingers for climbing trees

Dr Lee Berger, who also worked on the study, added: 'The skeleton of Neo is one of the most complete ever discovered, technically more complete than the famous Lucy fossil given the preservation of the skull and mandible.'

The reconstructed skull has delicate bones of the inner eye region and nose, according to Dr Hawks.

He said: 'Some of the new bones add detail to what we knew before.

'The Neo skeleton has a complete collarbone and a near-complete femur, which help to confirm what we knew about the size and stature of Homo naledi, and that it was both an effective walker and climber.

The remains were discovered by researchers who were exploring the South African cave system known as Rising Star

In 2013, the researchers first discovered the first remains of the Homo naledi species in chamber called the Dinaledi Chamber

'The vertebrae are just wonderfully preserved, and unique - they have a shape we've only seen in Neanderthals.'

Combined, the two collections of Homo naledi fossils give science its most complete record of a hominin species other than modern humans and Neanderthals.

Dr Hawks said: 'With the new fossils from the Lesedi Chamber, we now have approximately 2,000 specimens of Homo naledi, representing the skeletons of at least 18 individuals.

'There are more Homo naledi specimens than any other extinct species or population of hominins except for Neanderthals.'

The idea that Homo naledi collected their dead in underground chambers echos a similar system seen in Neanderthals.

In a deep Spanish cave known as Sima de los Huesos, there is evidence that Neanderthals also collected the bodies of the dead around 400,000 years ago.

H. naledi's overall body plan is illustrated right and how it compares to Homo species such as H. erectus (centre) and australopithecines such as Lucy (far left)

Dr Hawks added: 'What is so provacative about Homo naledi is that these are creatures with brains one third the size of ours.

'This is clearly not a human, yet it seems to share a very deep aspect of behaviour that we recognize, an enduring care for other individuals that continues after their deaths.

'It awes me that we may be seeing the deepest roots of human cultural practices.'

The Rising Star cave system is difficult to get to and requires some very tight squeezes. Pictured are two researchers in the cave

Researchers, including Dr John Hawkes (pictured), have reconstructed the skull of Neo, providing a much more complete portrait of Homo naledi
Page Content

Today, May 9, is Europe Day: the day when we pay tribute to the vision of the former French foreign minister, Robert Schuman, whose 1950 speech paved the way for the birth of the European Union. Once again, just months after the Maastricht and Rome anniversaries, we have an occasion to celebrate our pride in Europe's achievements and how it has enabled EU regions and cities to collaborate instead of pitching themselves against each other. At the same time, it would be reckless to limit ourselves to celebrations when people are voicing concerns and asking Europe to respond to an increasing number of challenges. As elected representatives, lets recommit to putting citizens, their hopes, expectations and concerns, at the heart of all political actions.

Today more than ever, I am convinced that the CoR's strength lies in our membership. As local and regional politicians, we have a strong relationship with voters who see our everyday work and who recognise our faces. This proximity and reliability means that people trust their local and regional politicians more than national politicians and the EU. That trust also means that we carry two special responsibilities  to hold the EU to account, and to articulate the importance of the EU to our voters.

Later this week, we will meet with Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, during our Plenary Session. As the two EU institutions with a direct link to the citizens, I will offer, on behalf of the CoR, to work together with the Members of the European Parliament in our common mission to reconnect citizens with the EU. Just two years ahead of the next European Parliament elections, the time to act is now.

All politics is local, and nowhere is this truer than in the European Union. Governments at all levels need to work together to restore trust in our communities and build a Europe that is far closer to every citizen. Today and every day to come.
If you are prone to migraines, you might want to stay away from stripey T-shirts and zebras.

A review has found that some people suffer a brain reaction from looking at black and white bar patterns.

In extreme cases they may trigger epilepsy, and scientists believe stripes like those found in barcodes and building designs could also cause crippling headaches in people who are light-sensitive.

A review has found that some people suffer a brain reaction from looking at black and white bar patterns - similar to those found on barcodes and zebras

A research team led by the University Medical Centre Utrecht, in the Netherlands, looked at gamma oscillations in the brain, measured using electrodes attached to the scalp.

These brainwaves were triggered by vertical black and white stripes, but not by images including fluffy clouds and nature scenes.

The good news is that migraine sufferers could just ask their partner to change their stripey top or dress.

Altering the stripes, by changing the contrast in their colour or their width, calmed down the activity in the brain, which scientists think may lead to seizures and headaches.

Dr Dora Hermes, from UMC Utrecht, said: Our findings imply that in designing buildings, it may be important to avoid the types of visual patterns that can activate this circuit and cause discomfort, migraines, or seizures.

Even perfectly healthy people may feel modest discomfort from the images that are most likely to trigger seizures in photosensitive epilepsy.

Scientists believe stripes like those found in barcodes could also cause crippling headaches in people who are light-sensitive (file photo)

Previous research has shown people with migraines are affected by stripes, with one study in 1989 finding 82 per cent of migraine sufferers were stripe-sensitive, compared to only 6.2 per cent of those who did not get migraines.

Flashing lights are well known for their potential to trigger seizures in people with light-sensitive epilepsy.

One particular episode of Pokemon sent 685 people in Japan to hospital, but seizures and migraines can also be triggered by still images.

The key, the review published in Cell Biology suggests, is the repetitive pattern of neural activity in the brain known as gamma oscillation.

Scientists have been studying this activity, using EEG tests to measure electrical brain activity, since the 1980s.

Dr Hermes said: Some scientists argue that these oscillations are hugely important and essential for awareness, attention, and neuronal communication, while others say that they are more likely a by-product of normal neuronal processing, like the exhaust coming out of a car - a potentially useful diagnostic signal, but not one that makes the neuronal machinery work.

Flashing lights are well known for their potential to trigger seizures in people with light-sensitive epilepsy (file photo)

The scientists also do not fully understand why gamma oscillations spike when someone views black and white grated patterns.

In the new report, Hermes and her colleagues conclude that it is these images which are most likely to trigger seizures and may affect migraines.

But the dangerous brain pattern can be dialled down by reducing the contrast of a stripy pattern or shifting it from a grate design to something more like plaid.

Co-author Jonathan Winawer, assistant professor of neural science at New York University, said: What we distinguish in this proposal is that the link between images that trigger photosensitive epilepsy and normal brain activity is particular to gamma oscillations, and not to other forms or neuronal responses like the overall rate of action potentials.

The team are now designing studies to explore the patterns of brain response in patients with and without photosensitive epilepsy.

They will next examine which natural scenes, such as cityscapes, train stations and interior designs, are most likely to provoke gamma oscillations and seizures.
Great white sharks are being killed in bizarre fashion off the coast of South Africa as carcasses have been found washed up with only their livers missing.

Killer whales are believed to be responsible for the strange predatory pattern, with one expert noting that the organs were removed with 'surgical precision'.

At least three liver-less white shark carcasses have washed up near the popular tourist town Gansbaai, South Africa, so far in an unprecedented set of killings.

Experts suggest that local killer whales have developed an appetite for squalene - an organic chemical compound found in abundance in shark liver oil.

Scroll down for video

Great white sharks are being killed in bizarre fashion off the coast of South Africa. Pictured is one of the mutilated carcasses. South Africa's Dyer Island Conservation Trust have posted a series of photos of the sharks on Facebook

'Obviously this is a very sad time for us all,' Alison Towner, a biologist with the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, wrote in a Facebook post after the third carcass was discovered near Gansbaai.

'Nature can be so cruel and the dexterity these enormous animals are capable of is mind blowing almost surgical precision as they remove the squalene-rich liver of the white sharks and dump their carcass.'

Gansbaai is widely considered one of the best regions in the world for shark diving.

White sharks generate millions in tourist revenue for the town, but the killer whales' spree appears to have driven many of the sharks away.

Local shark diving tour companies have complained that their trips are coming up empty.

Killer whales are believed to be responsible for the strange predatory pattern, in which three shark carcasses have washed ashore missing only their livers, with one expert noting that the organs were removed with 'surgical precision'

At least three liver-less white shark carcasses have washed up near popular tourist town Gansbaai, Sotuh Africa, so far in an unprecedented set of killings

KILLER WHALES HUNTING Killer whales, or orcas, are perhaps the greatest, most cunning and organised predators on the planet. Intensely agile, they hunt in groups and attack at speeds of up to 30 miles an hour (50kph), tearing at their quarry with teeth that are 3in long. Killer whales have previously been spotted flipping sharks onto their backs to put them into 'tonic inability'. Advertisement

'It's a very interesting time,' Ms Towner wrote in another Facebook post.

'The last white shark washed up here on the 8th of February and the cage-diving boats struggled to see any sharks for almost two weeks. Unfortunately the cage-diving boats all came home after seeing no sharks again today.'

Though mysterious great white deaths have appeared in the past, they have not been confirmed to have been the work of killer whales.

'We have never seen anything like this,' Ms Towner wrote.

'Today's carcass is another large white shark, he is a 4.2m (14ft) male and his injuries seem to match those of the previous two dead specimens.

Gansbaai is widely considered one of the best regions in the world for shark diving. White sharks generate millions in tourist revenue for the town, but the killer whales' spree appears to have driven many of the sharks away

Though mysterious great white deaths have appeared in the past, they have not been confirmed to have been the work of killer whales

'It seems likely that orcas are again the cause of death but we will confirm after the autopsy.'

Awe-inspiring footage captured in December last year showed a shark being eaten alive by a group of killer whales which then passes it to two calves.

The sevengill shark can be seen squirming in the orca's mouth before going still during the encounter in Monterey Bay, California.

The three killer whales were part of a larger group made up of 25 individuals who soon swarmed on the carcass.

The shark killings occurred near the popular shark diving town of Gansbaai, South Africa

The crystal clear footage was captured by wildlife photographer Slater Moore using a drone while he was giving a tour with Monterey Bay Whale Watch.

The footage was then posted on Facebook.

Marine expert Mary Jane Schramm said the orca deliberately turned the shark upside-down in its mouth to paralyse it .

'They flip them over on their backs and all of a sudden they slip into what's called tonic immobility,' she told KTVU.

'Some animals if they're attacked by a predator, instead of fleeing or fighting, they simply become still.'

The whales then try and drown the shark by dragging it deep beneath the waves to prevent it from swimming.

The sevengill shark can be seen squirming in the orca's (pictured) mouth before going still during the encounter in Monterey Bay, California

The gang wear the shark down and take opportunistic bites at its fins, flipping the shark on to its back in the process

The three killer whales were part of a larger group made up of 25 individuals who soon swarmed on the carcass
While Uber is one of the most popular ride-hailing services in the UK and US, in China, the sector is dominated by an app called Didi Chuxing.

In the hope of making its service as accessible to users as possible, Didi has introduce an English version of its app.

The new service, which is currently only available in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, could be Didi's first step towards launching an international rival for Uber.

Scroll down for video

In the hopes of making its service as accessible to users as possible, Didi has introduce an English version of its app

DIDI'S ENGLISH UPDATE Didi has introduced an English user interface for its three most popular services - 'Taxi,' 'Premier' private cars, and 'Express' pooling. In the English version, international customers who can't speak Mandarin will be able to send messages and communicate with their drivers through a real-time translation function. Didi users can also now pay with credit cards from nine countries, including the US, UK and Brazil. The English version is still in beta mode, and users will only have access to the English interface after they upgrade the app. Advertisement

Didi processes more than 20 million rides a day across its various services in China, but it has always been a tricky one for non-Mandarin speakers and visitors.

But Didi has now introduced an English user interface for its three most popular services - 'Taxi,' 'Premier' private cars, and 'Express' pooling.

Didi's English version is still in beta mode, and users will only have access to the English interface after they upgrade the app.

In the English version, international customers who can't speak Mandarin will be able to send messages and communicate with their drivers through a real-time translation function.

Didi users can also now pay with credit cards from nine countries, including the US, UK and Brazil.

In contrast, Uber's China app is only available in Madarin, and users can only pay with Chinese credit cards.

The update could help Didi to reach its three-year goal, which, according to its website, is 'to serve 30 million passengers and 10 million drivers daily, as well as to pick up anyone from anywhere within only three minutes.'

While Didi processes over 20 million rides a day across its various services in China, it has always been a tricky one for non-Mandarin speakers and visitors

The new English app follows the launch of Didi's artificial intelligence lab in Silicon Valley last year, after it secured a huge $1 billion (775 million) in funding from Apple.

'We decided to make the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including the chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market', Apple chief executive Tim Cook told the official news agency Xinhua.

As well as Apple, Didi also has backing from Chinese Internet firms Tencent and Alibaba.

In August, Didi acquired Ubers separate business in China, Uber China, in a bid to eliminate competition.
In 1993, a farmer discovered the skeleton of unknown dinosaur that died as it was hatching out of an egg.

But before it could be identified, the dinosaur, which has since been dubbed 'Baby Louie', disappeared onto the black market.

Now, almost 25 years since it was first discovered, the fossil has been returned to China, where researchers have identified it as a new species, named Beibeilong.

If it had grown to full size, the winged species would have been as heavy as an elephant and sat on a giant nest the size of a monster truck tyre.

The new species was identified by researchers as a beibeilong - a dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period, around 90 million years ago (artist's impression pictured)

THE BEIBEILONG The Beibeilong dinosaur is a new species of oviraptorosaur - a type of feathered, wing-bearing, beaked dinosaur - that lived during the Cretaceous period, around 90 million years ago. The eggs are 45 centimetres long, and weighed about five kilograms, making them some of the largest dinosaur eggs ever found. Only embryo bones have been found, but the researchers believe that an adult Beibeilong would have been around eight metres long, and have a body mass of around three tonnes. The findings suggest that the Beibeilong was the largest known dinosaur to have sat on its nest and cared for its young. Advertisement

The new species was identified by researchers from the Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, who believe it lived during the Cretaceous period, around 90 million years ago.

Baby Louie's mother was a huge oviraptorosaur - a creature that would have looked just like an overgrown cassowary.

The enormous nest would have contained a couple of dozen eggs - and Baby Louie would have been the first born.

The embryo is only 15 inches (38cm) long from its snout to the base of its tail. But it may have grown to 26ft long and three tonnes in weight - as heavy as a small elephant.

Fossils of smaller-bodied, close relatives have been fossilizsd while sitting on top of their eggs.

The scientists describe the new giant oviraptorosaur species as the 'largest known dinosaur to have sat on its nest and cared for its young.'

Because of its high worth, the fossil was exported out of China on the black market in 1993.

Professor Lu Junchang, lead author of the study, said: 'This particular fossil was outside the country for over 20 years and its return to China finally allowed us to properly study the specimen and name a new dinosaur species, Beibeilong sinensis or baby dragon from China.'

The farmer discovered them in a ring-shaped clutch, which was part of a nest that was about two metres in diameter, and probably contained around 25 eggs.

Dr Darla Zelenitsky, who was part of the research team, said: 'For many years it was a mystery as to what kind of dinosaur laid these enormous eggs and nests.

'Because fossils of large theropods, like tyrannosaurs, were also found in the rocks in Henan, some people initially thought the eggs may have belonged to a tyrannosaur.

'Thanks to this fossil, we now know that these eggs were laid by a gigantic oviraptorosaur, a dinosaur that would have looked a lot like an overgrown cassowary.

Baby Louie was first discovered by a farmer in 1993, where its remains were nnestled among a cluster of large fossilised eggs on his farm in Henan, China

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BABY LOUIE In 1993, a farmer discovered the skeleton of a baby dinosaur curled up among a cluster of large fossilised eggs. The dinosaur was nicknamed 'Baby Louie' after photographer Louie Psihoyos, who first photographed the creature. But before scientists could identify its species, Baby Louie disappeared onto the black market, moving across international borders. In 2015, Baby Louie finally returned home to China, allowing palaeontologists to identify it as a a new species of oviraptorosaur. Advertisement

'It would have been a sight to behold with a three ton animal like this sitting on its nest of eggs.'

The Beibeilong is a new species of oviraptorosaur  a type of feathered, wing-bearing, beaked dinosaur, very closely related to birds.

Only embryo bones were found, but the researchers believe that an adult Beibeilong would have been around eight metres long, and have a body mass of around three tonnes.

Professor Philip Currie, who also worked on the study, said: 'The fossils were originally collected by farmers in Henan Province of China in 1993, but were subsequently exported out of China to the US.

'The eggs and embryo gained worldwide fame when they were featured in a National Geographic article in 1996, but it was impossible to describe them in a scientific journal - and to name the new species - until the fossils were repatriated to China.'

The fossils are now held at the Henan Geological Museum.

Only embryo bones have been found, but the researchers believe that an adult Beibeilong would have been around eight metres long. Pictured is an illustration of Beibeilong embryo and egg fossil, with reconstruction of skeleton and fleshed-out models to the right
Nvidia is striving to create a creepy, all-knowing surveillance system unlike any other.

The company's 'Metropolis' intelligent video analytics system combines always-on CCTV with complex machine learning artificial intelligence.

The platform can constantly process and contextualise data from a network of over a billion cameras, the company claims.

In a new video, Nvidia outlines how its enormous camera system could be used in cities as early as 2020.

Scroll down for video

Nvidia's Metropolis is an intelligent video analytics platform that can process footage from over a billion security cameras looking for patterns and usable data. This artist's impression reveals how the Metropolis system tracks multiple people and objects at once

WHY WOULD CITIES WANT TO USE NVIDIA? Nvidia's 'Metropolis' technology can link up over a billion cameras across a single city. Instead of security footage needing to be stored it would be analysed by Nvidia's machine learning systems. This would include facial recognition, vehicle recognition, and road and pedestrian traffic patterning. For normal city camera systems, hiring personnel to watch countless video feeds is impractical. But Nvidia claims that its system, which takes advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning, will cut security labour costs. Advertisement

Using data from cameras dotted across a city, warehouse or supermarket, Metropolis could analyse and interpret 30 billion images a second, totalling 100 trillion images an hour.

The system could be used to create autonomous drones that stream video back from the sky, as well as security robots that seek out trouble, NewAtlas reports.

Metropolis could also help create the next generation of security cameras: Ultra-high definition systems that record panoramic views of a street.

This would allow the cameras to track an entire scene as it unfolds instead of having to focus on individuals.

In the new video, Nvidia outlines that its system could use deep learning to help redirect traffic at busy intersections and parking lots.

It could also track what customers are buying in crowded supermarkets.

'Nvidia's intelligent video analytics platform changes how video is analysed and turns it into insight,' the company said in the video.

'It can be used for real-time analysis in applications like multi-object classification, facial recognition, and behaviour analysis.

'This one-AI platform could improve travel, find a lost pet or child, drive business insights and success, and keep us safe from harm.'

Nvidia's Metropolis platform encompasses several of the company's products. The firm says the system could be used to streamline traffic and multi-story parking garages in busy cities

Security footage captured by Metropolis would not need to be stored for later analysis like traditional systems

It would instead be constantly analysed by Nvidia's machine learning systems.

This would include facial recognition, vehicle recognition, and road and pedestrian traffic patterning.

Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, once made graphics cards for gaming PCs.

But its artificial intelligence software is now taking the firm toward machine learning systems.

The company has already helped to create AI systems in self-driving cars that 'watch and learn' to understand how traffic works.

It has also developed software for industrial drones that tracks assets on large-scale work sites.

One of Nvidia's partners, BriefCam, released a video last year that shows its security software tracking individuals and vehicles through security footage.

It will flag up unusual behaviours, such as someone shoplifting or jumping a security fence, which can then be passed to a human operator for analysis.

The system then combines this footage to create a quick review video which shows all noteworthy events in a given time frame happening at once.

This condensed format could save supermarkets and banks time when reviewing CCTV footage.

But the system can narrow down security footage further than this - it can be told to only show the red cars that passed along a stretch of road over the course of a day, or to only show bicycles that turned left at a certain intersection.
Researchers have warned that radical new virtual reality technology is leading to a new wave of ailments.

Researchers have been studying arm and muscle fatigue connected to the use of hand gestures for mid-air computer interaction, such as with Facebook's Oculus Rift touch controllers.

They found fatigue from prolonged use of these motions can lead to 'gorilla arm' - when someone uses a mid-level screen or touchscreen for a long period of their time and their arm starts to hurt because of the awkward positioning that is required.

Scroll down for video

Arm fatigue accumulates during a prolonged use of mid-air interfaces such as Oculus Rift. But gorilla arm syndrome is already an issue with vertical touchscreens, making it a problem even beyond augmented virtual reality systems

The research could help user interface designers predict how fatiguing a particular interface would be, enabling them to make better design decisions.

'In previous years, all the computer interaction technologies we had included something to support our limbs,' said Dr Karthik Raman, a Professor at Purdue University's school of engineering and the lead author of the study.

'But with newer forms of interaction, there is no support.

'The question now is what the guidelines are to design new interfaces and interaction for such settings.'

New technologies have created mid-air interaction advancements in gaming, augmented and virtual reality and mobile technologies which require the use of hands.

Gorilla arm syndrome is already an issue with vertical touchscreens, making it a problem even beyond augmented virtual reality systems, said Dr Wolfgang Stuerzlinger, an expert on 3-D user interfaces at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, and a co-author of the study.

HOW THEY DID IT The researchers conducted two experiments: One to determine a person's arm strength, and another to estimate their cumulative fatigue levels. The researchers used inexpensive depth cameras, which are used in home video game systems, to sense body motion and hand motion. To measure arm strength, 20 men and four women were asked to grasp a dumbbell (five pounds for men, three pounds for women) and hold them out horizontally for as long as they could, while the camera sensors measured what their hands and arms did. In a second experiment to measure cumulative strength, participants were shown targets on a screen and asked to touch the targets as many times as possible with good accuracy four times for one-minute segments, with random rest duration's of five to 20 seconds between each segment. The screen was placed at shoulder and waist-level heights, with depth cameras again used to analyze the body's skeleton. Advertisement

'Physical ergonomics is an important design factor for mid-air interaction,' Dr Ramani said.

'In particular, arm fatigue  the so-called gorilla arm syndrome  is known to negatively impact user experience and hamper prolonged use of mid-air interfaces.'

To conduct the study, the researchers, based at Purdue's C Design lab, looked at the issue in two ways: Determining a person's arm strength and estimating their cumulative fatigue levels.

But according to Dr Ramani, current methods to measure strength are expensive and invasive and can leave out considerations for rest.

So to simplify the study and make it less costly, the researchers used inexpensive depth cameras, which are used in home video game systems, to sense body motion and hand motion.

In a first experiment to measure arm strength, 20 men and four women were asked to grasp a dumbbell ( five pounds for men, three pounds for women) and hold them out horizontally for as long as they could, while the camera sensors measured what their hands and arms did.

Using this method, the researchers said they were able to determine arm strength with an average error risk of 8.4 per cent - 2.2 per cent higher than the 6.2 per cent error risk recorded by current, more costly methods.

Then, in a second experiment to measure cumulative strength, participants were shown targets on a screen and asked to touch the targets as many times as possible with good accuracy four times for one-minute segments, with random rest duration's of five to 20 seconds between each segment.

In an experiment to measure cumulative strength, participants were shown targets on a screen and asked to touch the targets as many times as possible with good accuracy four times for one-minute segments, with random rest durations of five to 20 seconds between each segment. The screen was placed at shoulder and waist-level heights, with depth cameras again used to analyze the body's skeleton. This image shows these mid-air pointing tasks, where seven circular targets are arranged on a virtual plane

The screen was placed at shoulder and waist-level heights, with depth cameras again used to analyze the body's skeleton.

Dr Ramani says that the researchers were able to estimate cumulative fatigue at an improved error rate of 15 per cent, compared to 35 per cent with traditional methods.

'The results of our work enable user interface designers to predict how fatiguing a specific user interface is, even before a new design is built/realized, which enables the designers to make better decisions around new, proposed 3-D user interfaces,' said Dr Stuerzlinger.

The research's method could also be used to measure strength and fatigue for the aging population, as well as for continuous monitoring of fatigue levels in at-risk populations'

'This, in turn, will accelerate and lead to the development of better user interface solutions for virtual and augmented reality systems.'

The studys method of measuring strength and fatigue could also have far-reaching implications for the aging population, said Dr Satyajit Ambike, a researcher at Purdue University's Department of health and Kinesiology and a co-author of the study.

'Our inexpensive methods will potentially translate to establishing the relation between fatigue/strength and health, as well as into continuous monitoring of fatigue levels in at-risk populations,' he said.

'In this way, this technology promises to have a significant clinical impact.'
A new study has revealed that not all are doomed in a robot takeover.

Researchers have discovered that people who are more intelligent and who showed an interest in the arts and sciences while in high school are less likely to fall victim to automation.

The team concluded that these individuals are more likely to choose jobs that are more creative or have a higher degree of complexity that is not routine - two areas where robots fall short.

Scroll down for videos

Researchers have discovered that people who are more intelligent and who showed an interest in the arts and sciences while in high school are less likely to fall victim to automation

THE STUDY'S RESULTS Researchers at the University of Houston analyzed personality and background factors in order to determine whether a person will select jobs that are more likely to be automated in the future. The team used a dataset of 346,660 people from the American Institutes of Research. They found that regardless of social background, people with higher levels of intelligence, higher levels of maturity and extraversion, higher interests in arts and sciences tended to select (or be selected) into less computerizable. While analyzing the data, the team discovered that for every 15-point increase in IQ there was a 7 percent drop in probability that a person's job would be taken over by a robot. Advertisement

The threat of a robot takeover was once just a plot in science-fiction films, but now the concept is slowly creeping into the real world  experts have warned that millions of human workers in the US will be replaced by automation over the next few decades.

However, the University of Houston has discovered that not every job could be performed by an intelligent machine.

'Robots can't perform as well as humans when it comes to complex social interactions,' said Rodica Damian, assistant professor of social and personality psychology at the University of Houston and lead author of the study.

'Humans also outperform machines when it comes to tasks that require creativity and a high degree of complexity that is not routine.'

'As soon as you require flexibility, the human does better.'

During the investigation, Damian and her colleagues used a dataset of 346,660 people from the American Institutes of Research, which tracked a representative sample of Americans over 50 years, looking at personality traits and vocational interests in adolescence, along with intelligence and socioeconomic status.

She also noted that this study is the first of its kind, as it analyzes personality and background factors in order to determine whether a person will select jobs that are more likely to be automated in the future.

'We found that regardless of social background, people with higher levels of intelligence, higher levels of maturity and extraversion, higher interests in arts and sciences ... tended to select (or be selected) into less computerizable jobs 11 and 50 years later,' the team wrote in the study.

Damian said the findings suggest traditional education may not be fully equipped to address upcoming changes in the labor market, although she acknowledged the educational system has changed since the research subjects were in school in the 1960s.

The team concluded that these individuals are more likely to choose jobs that are more creative or have a higher degree of complexity that is not routine - two areas where robots fall short.

WILL A ROBOT TAKE YOUR JOB? While there are many who fear robots are on the verge of stealing our jobs, it seems they have a weak spot - flat packed furniture. Much like stairs posed a problem for the Daleks in Doctor Who, the Achilles Heel of modern intelligent robots appears to be the baffling world of Ikea furniture. A group of engineers set themselves the goal of developing a robot capable of undertaking this baffling task  by getting one to assemble a chair from the Swedish furniture store. Francisco Suarz-Ruiz and Quang-Cuong Pham, from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, are using two robotic arms equipped with grippers to assemble the Ikea chair. Yet despite being some of the most advanced robotic equipment around, assembling a full chair still seemed beyond the robot. The furthest the scientists managed to get is to insert a piece of doweling into the end of one of the legs  something that takes the technology a minute and a half to achieve. The same task would take the average homeowner seconds when they are assembling their own chairs. However, there are a growing number of robots now taking on roles performed by humans. An office in Milton Keynes is using a robot office manager to monitor staff and keep the office tidy. Other offices in California have begun using security robots to patrol their premises while droids capable to delivering room service are now being used in several hotels. A survey conducted last year found that 70 per cent of office managers would consider using a robot on their team and half would not feel bad about replacing human employees with a machine. Advertisement

'Perhaps we should consider training personality characteristics that will help prepare people for future jobs,' she said.

While analyzing the data, the team discovered that for every 15-point increase in IQ there was a 7 percent drop in probability that a person's job would be taken over by a robot.

This is the equivalent of saving 10.19 million people from being replaced by a computer, if it were projected across the entire US population.

While analyzing the data, the team discovered that for every 15-point increase in IQ there was a 7 percent drop in probability that a person's job would be taken over by a robot. This is the equivalent of saving 10.19 million people from being replaced by a computer, if it were projected across the entire US population

The team also found that if there was at least a one-point increase in a person's maturity or scientific activities was equivalent to 2.9 million people avoiding a job loss to computerization.

Although a person's IQ cannot be altered, the researchers have suggested that we find ways increase some personality traits such as have better social skills, being more industrious or interest in activities related to the arts and sciences, Damian said.

Machine learning and big data will allow the number of tasks that machines can perform better than humans to increase so rapidly that merely increasing educational levels won't be enough to keep up with job automation, she explained.

JOBS THAT PAY LESS THAN $20 ARE AT RISK OF ROBOT TAKEOVER There is an 83 percent chance that artificial intelligence will eventually takeover positions that pay low-wages, says White House's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). A recent report suggests that those who are paid less than $20 an hour will be unemployed and see their jobs filled by robots over the next few years. But for workers who earn more than $20 an hour there is only a 31 percent chance and those paid double have just a 4 percent risk. To reach these numbers the CEA's 2016 economic report referred to a 2013 study about the 'automation of jobs performed by Oxford researchers that assigned a risk of automation to 702 different occupations'. Those jobs were then matched to a wage that determines the worker's risk of having their jobs taken over by a robot. 'The median probability of automation was then calculated for three ranges of hourly wage: less than 20 dollars; 20 to 40 dollars; and more than 40 dollars,' reads the report. The risk of having your job taken over by a robot, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman told reporters Monday, 'varies enormously based on what your salary is.' Furman also noted that the threat of robots moving in on low-wage jobs is, 'another example of why those investments in education to make sure that people have skills that complements automation are so important,' referring to programs advocated by President Obama. Advertisement

Still, that can correlate with more education, and the researchers said an across-the-board increase in U.S. education levels could mean millions fewer jobs at risk.

And targeting at-risk groups would yield significant benefits, she said.

And while skeptics question whether the labor market will be able to absorb millions of higher skilled workers, Damian looks at it differently.

'By preparing more people, at least more people will have a fighting chance,' she said.
Its been nearly five years since NASAs Curiosity Rover touched down on Mars in search of any signs of life  but a self-proclaimed alien hunter believes the American space agency is not looking hard enough.

While analyzing images snapped by the navigational camera, the conspiracy theorist claims to have spotted a skull laying feet away from the rover.

Scott C Waring has described it has having large eyes and a small nose and mouth with visible teeth, and if NASA would have moved the rover to investigate they would have seen it peering out from beneath the dirt.

Scroll down for video

Scott C Waring has described it has having large eyes and a small nose and mouth with visible teeth, and if NASA would have moved the rover to investigate they would have seen it peering out from beneath the dirt

WHY WE SEE ODD THINGS ON MARS Pareidolia is the psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items in random stimulus. It is a form of apophenia, when people see patterns in random, unconnected data. There have been multiple occasions when people have claimed to see religious images and themes in unexpected places. On the red planet, one of the most famous is the 'face on Mars' spotted by one of the Viking orbiters in 1976. This was later proven to just be a chance alignment of shifting sand dunes. Advertisement

Waring, who is the founder of UFO Sightings Daily.com, has shared numerous alien sightings both on Earth and beyond.

The latest discovery was found on May 9, Sol 1690 in an image capture by Curiositys NavCam Right B.

This was in todays Rover NASA photos, Warning shared in the blog post.

I found this huge skull that was hidden below the dirt.

However, looking closely at the find, one may realize that Waring made some alterations to the original image released by the American space agency  but he does not deny making the modifications.

I cropped it and flipped it over so that you can see it does make a skull, he wrote.

The move could leave many questioning if there really is another half hidden under the dirt or if there is nothing more than what meets the eye.

But the Martian researcher is sure there is a skull laying on the Red Planet.

The eyes are very large, Waring explained.

The nose is small and the mouth is small with teeth visible.

The latest discovery was found on May 9, Sol 1690 in an image capture by Curiositys NavCam Right B (pictured is the original image shared by NASA)

However, looking closely at the find, one may realize that Waring made some alterations to the original image released by the American space agency. I cropped it and flipped it over so that you can see it does make a skull, Warning wrote

Now if you can see if you can see it, and you can see it, dont you think those PHDs at NASA would have seen it too and moved the rover to investigate?

Well they didnt take a long look at it so either they missed it, or they saw it and through it was insignificant to other things that they have found.

However, Warning shared a post just last month regarding another skull he had spotted on Mars, but this one he is sure had belonged to an alien.

This one was also laying completely out in the open, allowing him to see more of the details.

However, Warning shared a post just last month regarding another skull he had spotted on Mars, but this one he is sure had belonged to an alien. This one was also laying completely out in the open, allowing him to see more of the details

Here is an alien skull I found in a Mars photo, he wrote.

This skull has dark linens around the eye sockets, just as humans do.

It has two eye sockets, just as humans do.

Its nose and mouth area seem to be connected.

He continued to explain that there two long bones on each side of the mouth, which may have been part of the jaw.

Also, near the eye socket appears to be a curved bone on the side of its head, again, just like a human skull has.

Evidence of a great war, Waring asked.

Maybe, but it is 100% evidence that aliens lived and died on Mars long ago.
Researchers have finally answered the 400-year-old question of why tadpole-shaped pieces of glass called 'Prince Rupert's drops' are so strong.

The glass pieces, which are made by dropping blobs of molten glass into water, have been shown to withstand the head of a bullet.

The researchers found that the heads of the drops can withstand nearly 7,000 times atmospheric pressure, and it order to break it, a crack entering the drops interior tension zone must be created.

Scroll down for video

The drop's head is strong enough to withstand the impact of a hammer, but the tail end is so fragile that bending it with one's fingers not only breaks the tail - it shatters the entire drop, which disintegrates into a fine powder

HOW THEY DID IT To find out how stresses are distributed through a Prince Rupert's drop, researchers used a transmission polariscope. Transmission polariscope's measure the stress distribution in a material by measuring the angle at which a ray of light reflects at each point inside it. In the experiments, the researchers suspended a Prince Rupert's drop in a clear liquid, and then illuminated the drop with a red LED. The used the resulting data to construct the stress distribution pattern throughout the drop. Advertisement

Prince Rupert's drops are named after Prince Rupert from Germany, who during the 17th century brought some of the glass drops to England's King Charles II, who was interested in their unusual properties.

The drop's head is strong enough to withstand the impact of a hammer, but the tail end is so fragile that bending it with one's fingers not only breaks the tail - it shatters the entire drop, which disintegrates into a fine powder.

Researchers have for a long time tried to understand what causes these unusual properties, but it wasn't until recently that new technologies have allowed researchers to investigate them in detail.

In 1994, Dr Srinivasan Chandrasekar, an engineering professor Purdue University, and Dr Munawar Chaudhri, Head of the Materials Group at the University of Cambridge, used high-speed framing photography to observe the drop-shattering process.

They concluded that the surface of these drops experiences highly compressive stresses, while the inside experience high tension forces.

A compressive force is one that squeezes material together, while a tensions force is one that pulls materials apart.

So, the drop is in a state of unstable equilibrium, which can easily be disturbed by breaking the tail.

Despite this finding, a question remained: How are the stresses distributed throughout a Prince Rupert's drop?

Pictured is in image of light reflecting through a Prince Rupert's drop. Researchers measured the angles at which the light reflected at each point inside it to determine the stress distribution within the structure

Understanding this would help to more fully explain why the heads of these drops are so strong.

So in a new study, Dr Chandrasekar and Dr Chaudhri collaborated with Dr Hillar Aben, a professor at Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia who specializes in determining residual stresses in transparent three-dimensional objects.

The research team and their co-authors conducted their investigation using a transmission polariscope - a microscope that measures stress distribution in a material experimentally by measuring the angle at which a ray of light reflects at each point inside it.

In the experiments, the researchers suspended a Prince Rupert's drop in a clear liquid, and then illuminated the drop with a red LED.

Using the polariscope, the researchers measured the optical retardation of the light as it traveled through the glass drop, and then used the data to construct the stress distribution pattern throughout the drop.

They found that the heads of the drops have much higher surface compressive strength than thought.

They can withstand up to 700 megapascals - nearly 7,000 times atmospheric pressure - but this surface compressive layer is also thin, approximately 10 per cent of the diameter of the drop's head.

A slow motion close up of a bullet hitting a Prince Rupert's drop on its head shows that while the bullet fragments, the glass is hardly affected

The researchers said that this gives the droplet heads very high fracture strength, and to break the droplet, a crack that enters the interior tension zone of the drop must be created.

But since cracks tend to grow parallel to the surface, they can't enter this tension zone.

So the easiest way to break a drop is to break its tail, since disturbances in this area allow cracks to enter the tension zone.

'The work has fully explained why the head of a drop is so strong,' Dr Chaudhri told Phys.org.

'I believe we have now solved most of the main aspects of this area.

'However, new questions may emerge unexpectedly.'
There are so many island escapes off Britains coast, from the Channel Islands in the far south-west to the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. Every one is a perfect place for a peaceful, escapist camping or caravanning holiday.

Jersey is the biggest of the Channel Islands and is only a short crossing from Poole. It has a good choice of sites for whichever outdoor living option - camping, a motorhome or a caravan - suits you.

Ive tried all three, and I think stepping outside our mobile accommodation into the open air in the morning for that instant contact with the countryside is the simplest form of holiday bliss.

Ocean breeze: Jersey is the biggest of the Channel Islands and is only a short crossing from Poole. It boasts some great camping spots

Camping and caravanning is easier, and more comfortable than ever these days. Most places provide ample toilets and washrooms, free wi-fi, cafes, shops, swimming pools and childrens play facilities.

A highlight on Jersey is the Durrell Conservation Centre (set up by author Gerald Durrell). It breeds some of the worlds most threatened creatures.

Nearby, and slightly smaller, Guernsey is similarly blessed with good campsites, and a seashore fit for the worlds art galleries  French artist Renoir painted 15 canvasses on the island in 1883.

You are no more than a 30-minute drive from anywhere, although you wont want to hurry through the flower-filled country lanes.

All aboard: The Isle of Mans steam railway has wide family appeal, with intriguing links to the Thomas The Tank Engine stories

Animal magic: An orangutan at the Durrell Conservation Centre on Jersey

Further west are the Isles of Scilly. Think of them as a cosy extension of the tip of Cornwall, all heathland and sandy beaches.

The ferry from Penzance takes under three hours. You cant take a car but there are campsites, and the five inhabited islands are small enough for an easy stroll.

Wherever you live in the UK, there is an island not too far away.

Drive north and the most convenient for many is the Isle of Man, served from Heysham, Liverpool and Belfast by the worlds longest-running ferry service, The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

Ancient mystery: The Callanish Stones on the uninhabited island of Lewis

In the middle of the Irish Sea, the 35-mile-long island boasts concentrated visitor appeal, with a rugged, rocky coastline, fine sandy beaches, glens, castles, the imposing 2,000ft-high Snaefell, and splendid views over to the English Lake District and across to Ireland.

The steam Isle of Man Railway has wide family appeal, with intriguing links to the Thomas The Tank Engine stories. And you dont even have to take a tent, or a vehicle of any sort, to enjoy an outdoors holiday here.

One option is a stay in a wooden cabin, yurt or wigwam. Some offer wood-fired hot tubs and solar-powered phone-chargers.

The biggest choice of island castaway adventures is in the Hebrides.

Caledonian MacBrayne sailings from Oban, Mallaig and Ullapool, and elsewhere on the mainland, serve many of the 36 inhabited islands in the Inner Hebrides.

They include Islay for its whisky distilleries, Mull for its sea eagles and Staffa for the wonder of Fingals Cave.

Theres a good services, too, to the Outer Hebrides, a chain of 100 islands 43 miles west of mainland Scotland.

The 15 inhabited islands include Barra, Benbecula, Berneray, Harris, Lewis, and North and South Uist.

Visitors are drawn to the prehistoric Callanish Standing Stones, Iona Abbey, white sands... and solitude.
JavaScript is disabled on your browser.

CORDIS website requires JavaScript enabled in order to work properly. Please enable JavaScript.
We are whale-watching in a catamaran off the coast of Baltimore and have seen fin and minke whales - but schools of beautiful dolphins have rather stolen the limelight with their spectacular displays of synchronised swimming.

Irelands south-west coast is one of the best places in Western Europe to spot these expert swimmers and they put on an impressive show, swimming in close parallel with the catamaran.

Its the third day of our touring holiday of Ireland and we have reached Cork and Kerry. Before we head further up the west coast and further north, we drive around the rugged West Cork coastline, taking in the natural wonders of the Beara peninsula, and out to the signal station at Mizen Head.

Coast with the most: The colourful waterfront of Portstewart, a small seaside resort in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland

We pass pretty villages, coves and empty sandy beaches. We are never far from a perfect picnic spot or a place heaven-made for a bucket and spade.

In Kerry, we satisfy our sweet-tooth cravings at the Skelligs Chocolate Factory in Ballinskelligs.

We watch chocolates being made and sample a variety of the tasty treats. Later, at Murphys in Dingles main street, we sample quirky varieties of ice cream, such as fresh mint and Guinness flavours.

Once into Clare, we park up to watch dramatic Atlantic waves crash against the Cliffs of Moher, which rise 702ft at their highest point.

Balletic: Off the coast of Baltimore there are regular whale-watching tours, where schools of dolphins tend to steal the limelight with their spectacular displays of synchronised swimming

Out at sea we can see the Aran Islands nestling in Galway Bay. Theres lots to do and visit nearby, including a nostalgic journey aboard an original steam locomotive along an old narrow-gauge line.

We follow the sounds of train whistles to the West Clare Railway at Moyasta Junction on the coast road between Kilrush and Kilkee.

We stay at The Three Towers near Loughrea, in Galway, an eco-friendly family resort with a cafe, guest house and cabins. On its doorstep there is a horse-riding centre, guided walks and 2,000 acres of the resorts Enchanted Forest to explore in search of fairies, gnomes and trolls.

From Galway, we cut across to Northern Ireland. In Belfast, we are keen to see the much-lauded Titanic museum. Over six floors, interactive exhibits tell the ships story as well as Belfasts industrial history.

Food for thought: The famous Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge near Ballintoy (left) and a youngster enjoying a giant ice cream sundae (right). Portstewart has an ice cream parlour that has been open since 1911

From Belfast, we head north-east to the seaside town of Carrickfergus and its Norman castle.

Then its further north to the majestic Antrim coast where there is a stunning new view every few minutes. We stop near Ballintoy and feel like daredevils as we tackle the 60ft-long rope bridge that crosses a 100ft-deep chasm and links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede.

Our final ports of call are Portrush and Portstewart. There are more superb Blue Flag sandy beaches here. Naturally we head straight to Portstewarts promenade for giant ice cream sundaes at Morellis. The parlour has been open since 1911, the same year as RMS Titanic set sail.

The day ends the same as every other day on our Emerald Isle touring holiday - by eating delicious ice cream while looking out to sea.
They've been married for two years and share two young sons.

And Australian personality Lara Worthington - nee Bingle- has opened up about her marriage to actor husband Sam Worthington, 40.

The 29-year-old former swimsuit model told Kyle and Jackie O that she no longer gets 'butterflies' for her man and raising their children has become a priority over their love life.

Scroll down for video

'It's just different': Lara Bingle has revealed she doesn't get 'butterflies' for husband Sam Worthington and admits their children take precedence over their love life

'It's not butterflies, it's just a different,' Lara trailed off, when asked if she still gets that 'feeling' for Sam when he walks in a room.

Kyle then suggested instead of butterflies you have a feeling that they're your 'other half.'

Jackie admitted you only get butterflies in the first year, and Lara agreed that it 'passes.'

Married life: They've been married for two years and share two young sons

When Lara and Jackie had to explain what butterflies were to Kyle, Kyle said all men think the same... and think about sex.

'I'm probably thinking I'm going to get some sex here in about two minutes, women don't do that do they?,' he said.

'I'm just saying, this is how men think, I bet Sam stills gets all excited when you walk in the door, I bet he's like, "oh, here she is."

Lara said that her children with Sam are now the couple's priority.

'It's more about the children': When Lara and Jackie had to explain what butterflies were to Kyle, Kyle said all men think the same, and think about sex, but Lara said otherwise

'No, now it's like, Rocket goes straight to him and it's more about the children and it's like, "here, I've been having them all day, here."

Meanwhile Kyle cheekily asked the blonde beauty if Sam dresses up in his blue Avatar outfit.

Lara quickly shut down the suggestion, saying her husband has never had a costume like his famous character because it's all done through computer graphics.

'It's all dots you know, they have helmets!,' she exclaimed.

Lara and Sam married in secret in December 2014, and this year will celebrate their third marriage anniversary.

'It's all dots and helmets': Kyle asked if Sam dresses up in his blue Avatar outfit, and Lara shut it down, saying he's never had a costume like his famous character

The pair share son Rocket, two, and Racer, six months.

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.

'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.'
Ryan Serhant is pumped up for Million Dollar Listing's sixth season.

The New York City-based realtor took to Instagram on Monday to share a new preview clip for his show's upcoming season, which begins airing on Bravo later this month.

'The new promo for our upcoming 6th season of #MDLNY is HERE, and it features our amazing new condo development @manhattanviewatmima!!!' the 32-year-old wrote. 'Check it out. It's insane.'

Sizing up the competition: (L-R) Ryan Serhant, Steve Gold and Fredrik Eklund appear in a newly-released preview for Million Dollar Listing's sixth season

In the clip, Serhant - who moves high-end properties from Los Angeles to the Hamptons via his Nest Seekers firm - is seen boarding an elevator which also includes fellow real estate ace Fredrik Eklund. They're joined by Steve Gold, a newcomer to the show with an impressive resume.

The atmosphere in the elevator is a tense one illustrating the cutthroat turns the show takes.

As the trio of men arrive at their floor, they're seen in medieval and viking-like outfits, aggressively charging out of the elevator doors to fight a business battle.

A post shared by Ryan Serhant (@ryanserhant) on May 8, 2017 at 10:02am PDT

Wandering eyes: In the preview, the realtors are peeking at texts on the others' phones

Serhant, a one-time actor who appeared on 19 episodes of As The World Turns from 2007-2008, also has another date to look forward to, as he celebrates his first anniversary with wife Emilia Bechrakis July 7. Their Greek luxury wedding was broadcast last year in a special episode of the program.

Getting medieval: The men are then seen clad in traditional costumes - but still focused on their smartphones!

Dog eat dog: The men are then seen vying with one another to exit the elevator, illustrating the competitive nature of the show

The newcomer Gold, who replaces Luis D. Ortiz on the program, is a real estate agent with a focus on areas of New York City including Manhattan, Greenwich Village and SoHo.

A former model, he's also involved in philanthropic endeavors with groups such as AmFar for AIDS research and FreeArts NYC.

Million Dollar Listing's sixth season premieres May 25 at 9/8c on Bravo.

Marital milestone: Serhant celebrates his first anniversary with wife Emilia Bechrakis this summer. The two were seen Thursday at an event in NYC
She's been visiting underprivileged children in Zimbabwe and South Africa as part of her role as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for the last few days.

And on Monday, Priyanka Chopra jetted back into Los Angeles.

The 35-year-old was casually dressed for her flight in a white scoop-neck T-shirt, baggy white pants cropped just above her ankles and light blue slides.

Scroll down for video

Flight of fancy: Priyanka Chopra beamed after jetting back into Los Angeles in an all white outfit on Monday after a four-day trip to southern Africa for children's charity UNICEF

The beautiful brunette left her long hair to cascade over her shoulders and she smiled broadly behind her sunglasses as she wheeled her luggage to a waiting car.

But the Quantico actress's heart was clearly still in the southern tip of the African continent.

Priyanka has been sharing photos and video clips of her trip on social media since arriving in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Thursday and on Sunday she added to her collection posting eight images from just outside Johannesburg in South Africa.

Brunette beauty: The 35-year-old left her long hair to cascade over her shoulders and she smiled broadly behind her sunglasses as she wheeled her luggage to a waiting car

In the first she's surround by a gaggle of youngsters that she shared with a long caption, explaining: 'My start to a beautiful morning before ending an amazingly insightful trip.

'This is an Isibindi ("courage" in Zulu) Safe Park. The parks and program are all about prevention and early intervention to protect children from the HIV/AIDS crisis and many other vulnerabilities that can lead to violence in South Africa.

'The volunteer child and youth care workers help create a safe environment for children to play and be counseled in a controlled and protected environment.'

Warm welcome: The Qauntico actress started Sunday in an Isibindi (the Zulu word for courage) Park surrounded by children near Johannesburg in South Africa

Dancing for joy: She showed off her moves at the park, which provides a safe haven and help for children who often do not have a parent at home to look after them

She added the workers help the children 'in their homes, in the park, and involve themselves in their daily life events like homework, household chores, and family issues' as well as taking care of emotional needs in families that often have no adult head.

In a video clip she showed the youngsters how to dance 'the thumka' after 'they taught me their dance moves.'

Priyanka was escorted around by young Mbali who 'is the Vice Chairman of her Freedom Park. At all of 11! She takes her responsibilities very seriously.'

Forced to grow up young: Priyanka was escorted around by Mbali who 'is the Vice Chairman of her Freedom Park. At all of 11! She takes her responsibilities very seriously'

And she sat with three-year-old Sindi on her lap who was 'very curious about my tattoo. I told her we r all daddy's little girls... a lot of these girls are vulnerable to predators who are father figures.

'It's heartbreaking. But she was just precious. My tail all day. Following me around like lil bo peep.'

The Indian-American star also stuck bindis on to the girls' foreheads, saying: 'The kids loved them!'

Tattoo cute: She sat with three-year-old Sindi on her lap who was 'very curious about my tattoo. I told her we r all daddy's little girls. A lot of these girls are vulnerable to predators who are father figures'

Priyanka ended with a 'Big group hug!! Final goodbyes.. so hard letting them go. We had so much fun. #SafePark #UNICEF #EndViolence.'

The previous evening she hosted UNICEF South Africas first gala event in Johannesburg to raise funds for the charity's work for children in the country.

UNICEF has set up #EndViolence and Priyanka hopes that her presence will help shed light on the situation and allow the charity to do just that.
Late last year, they enjoyed a trip to Barbados as a trio.

And Lottie Moss' friendship with her boyfriend Alex Mytton's ex Jessica Anne Woodley is stronger than ever as they were seen hitting the town in their beloved Chelsea on Monday evening.

The blonde beauty, 19, headed out with her boyfriend's Made In Chelsea co-stars in the area which made them famous, with her crew complete with Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo and Jessica.

Scroll down for video

Three's not a crowd: Lottie Moss' friendship with her boyfriend Alex Mytton's ex Jessica Anne Woodley is stronger than ever as they were seen hitting the town in their beloved Chelsea on Monday evening

Lottie teased a flash of her model-honed stomach as she made an appearance at Bluebird on the Kings Road - but her boyfriend was no where in sight.

Lottie strutted into eatery in thigh-high boots worn over her black skinny jeans, which elongated her slender pins.

She threw on a kooky bomber jacket, decorated with an embroidered bright turquoise Chinese dragon and scarlet typography.

Lottie kept accessorises to a minimum, only wearing a golden chain tucked under her plain T-shirt.

Moss be in the genes: The blonde beauty, 19, headed out with her boyfriend's Made In Chelsea co-stars in the area which made them famous, with her crew complete with Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo and Jessica

She's tum-thing special: Lottie teased a flash of her model-honed stomach as she made an appearance at Bluebird on the Kings Road - but her boyfriend was no where in sight

Here she is! Lottie strutted into eatery in thigh-high boots worn over her black skinny jeans, which elongated her slender pins

She's got style: The model threw on a kooky bomber jacket, decorated with bright embrodiery

Classy: She was joined by Toff who was wrapped up snug in a turtle neck and Jess Woodley, who rocked a yellow retro jacket and ripped jeans

Girls night! They spent the hours in the good company of Emily who looked deadly in denim and Frankie Gaff, who dressed in a stripy T-shirt

Night on the town! The younger sibling of Kate Moss didn't appear to be missing her beau as she enjoyed the company of his co-stars

The beauty scooped her golden hair into a messy bun, showing off her pretty features which were accentuated by a fairy dust of light make-up.

She was joined by her good friend Jess Woodley, who just so happens to have also dated Alex and joined them on holiday in Barbados earlier this year.

The petite blonde proved to be on trend in a sunshine lemon furry wrap, mismatched with kooky socks.

Catwalk to sidewalk: Toff tottered in nude heels as she kept warm from the spring bite to the air with a white turtle neck jumper

Natural beauty: The MIC starlet wore her golden tresses in a straight poker fashion

Spotted: The reality stars were later seen leaving Kiru a Japanese eatery as they continued their evening festivities

Hot on her heels was Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo who wore tight lace up trousers to show off her slender leggy frame.

Toff tottered in nude heels as she kept warm from the spring bite to the air with a white turtle neck jumper.

They spent the night in the company Frankie Gaff, who dressed in a striped T-shirt.

The girls couldn't stop smiling and giggling as they spent the evening catching up at their favourite Kings Road eatery.

Buddies: Lottie was seen deep in conversation with Toff as they sashayed down the sidewalk on the look out for their next hangout
He's a proud father of five with his beloved wife Jools.

But Jamie Oliver has admitted he doesn't have plans for anymore children.

The 41-year-old told Nova's Fitzy and Wippa that he's considered having a vasectomy, but is too scared, while Jools is open to the idea to make the number of their children 'even'.

Scroll down for video

Is he done? British chef Jamie Oliver has admitted he doesn't have plans for anymore children, being a father of five

'She did say it was an unlucky, uneven number, which frightened me,' Jamie explained.

'But I think, you know what, I would go and have the operation if I wasn't frightened about face time live and how easily pushed over surgeons are in the UK, you know what happened to Michael Jackson,' he added.

Jamie said he couldn't believe he was the father to five children, aged 15 to nine months.

Family: He's considered having a vasectomy but is too scared, while Jools (centre with their children) is open to the idea to make the number of their children 'even'

'It's disgusting really isn't it, I don't know really what happened here, well I do know what happened,' he said with a laugh.

Jamie - who is in Australia after buying back his six Italian restaurants Down Under - added that Jools has 'stopped knocking them out'.

The happy couple have been married since 2000 and share five children together.

Family man: When talking about the ages of his children, including how his eldest is 15 and his youngest is nine months, he joked it was 'disgusting'

They have three daughters and two boys, including Poppy Honey Rosie, 15, Daisy Boo Pamela, 14, Petal Blossom Rainbow, eight and Buddy Bear Maurice, six.

Jamie and Jools also welcomed River Rocket, nine months, last August, after Jamie admitted his wife had refused to let him have a vasectomy.

Jools recently told Vogue she would consider having another child.

Another one coming soon? Jamie admitted his wife had refused to let him have a vasectomy

'I'll never really draw the line,' she said.

'(River)s six months now, so we're past the really difficult sleepless first few months.

'He's such a joy. Im getting older, but I'd definitely do it again if I could. I think Jamies finished, but you just never know!'
They celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary over the weekend.

And romance was still in the fast lane for Jordana Brewster and Andrew Form on Monday while on an outing in Los Angeles.

After shopping together, the lovebirds shared a passionate kiss in a parking lot and then took off in opposite directions.

Fill her up! Jordana Brewster and her husband Andrew Form share a romantic kiss in a parking lot on Monday in Los Angeles

It was a casual occasion for Fast & Furious franchise star Jordana, who went make-up free and kept her outfit choice similarly low maintenance.

The 37-year-old embraced bohemian style with a floral-print caftan top, flared skinny jeans and tan mule sandals.

She concealed her eyes behind dark sunglasses and pulled her dark hair back into a ponytail.

Boho beauty! The 37-year-old Fast & Furious actress embraced bohemian style with a caftan, flared jeans and mule sandals

'10 years and going!' Jordana shared an image of her wedding day on Instagram

The Yale alum toted their 11-month-old son Rowan in a stroller. Together, they also have 3-year-old son Julian.

Jordana and Andrew met in 2006 on the set of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, of which Andrew served as producer.

The pair announced their engagement that same year in November - one month after the film was released.

Life in the fast lane! The action star pushed her 11-month-old son Rowan in a stroller

A year later they tied the knot in a private ceremony in the Bahamas.

On Saturday, Jordana took to Instagram to celebrate the relationship with her social media fans. '10 years and going!' she captioned an image from their wedding day.

Things are thriving at home and at work for Jordana. It was announced earlier this year that her Fox series Lethal Weapon was renewed for a second season. In the action comedy-drama she portrays Dr. Maureen Cahill, a police department psychologist.
For some people divorce is a time of heartbreak.

But for radio and television personality Mel Greig, the party is just getting started.

In April 2016, Mel parted ways with her husband Steve Pollock after just 18 months of marriage and to mark the divorce being finalised last month, she celebrated with lots of naked men.

What happens in Vegas: Mel Greig threw a divorce party at a Magic Mike Live strip show in Vegas recently to celebrate split from husband of 18 months

The radio host headed to Vegas to check out the raunchy Magic Mike Live strip show for her very own 'divorce party'.

In a post for Yahoo7 Be, Mel opened up about how her divorce party helped heal the heartbreak of her marriage not working out.

'The final chapter closes and the judge rubber stamps your divorce, and this creates a raw and fresh wave of emotion,' she revealed.

'This is the final phase where you accept its all over and look at all the positives and you celebrate YOU.'

Raunch factor: Mel enjoyed some naked entertainment at the Magic Mike Live show in Vegas

Ripped and ready: A male stripper shows off his singing talents as well as his washboard abs during the show

A new chapter: Mel (pictured) celebrated no longer being married by checking out strippers

And Mel's preferred celebratory option is of the saucy kind as she made a beeline to the Magic Mike Live strip show in Vegas.

The performance is run by Channing Tatum, the star of two of the most famous male stripper movies of all time - Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL.

Though the Hollywood superstar doesn't star in the live show himself, there are plenty of sexy and shirtless hunks that were sure to help Mel and her girlfriends forget men from their past.

Too hot to handle: The Magic Mike Live strip shows are based on the Channing Tatum movies

What husband?: The Magic Mike Live guys know all the moves to help women forget their exes

The former Celebrity Apprentice and Amazing Race Australia contestant also explained how empowering a divorce party can be.

The 34-year-old said it was a positive way to start a new chapter of her life.

'If were honest the best way to get over a man is to get under a new one so getting under 15 at once should definitely help with the recovery,' she said.
Chuka Umunna (pictured) chose social media to announce his intentions

When Labour's Chuka Umunna launched his short-lived bid to seize the party leadership after the 2015 election, he chose social media to announce his intentions.

But his three-minute Facebook video was laden with dull statistics, delivered in a fumbling style and against a backdrop of wind interfering with the sound, so the handsome former Shadow Business Secretary failed to get his message across.

He pulled out of the leadership contest soon after, citing a desire to protect his private life from 'scrutiny'.

Is smooth-talking Umunna, dubbed the 'British Obama', planning for a more polished leadership push through his favourite medium, the internet?

For it can be revealed that Umunna has just taken 17,500 worth of social media and communications advice.

The intensive, month-long course earlier this year was provided by groovy East London public relations company Karmarama, which has just been bought at vast expense by management consulting giant Accenture.

Karmarama says: 'We're a progressive creative business committed to doing the right thing for our people, our clients and their customers.

'We combine creative excellence with technology-inspired solutions. This means we can help clients with their business challenges now, as well as plan for their business opportunities next.'

A protege of Peter Mandelson, Chuka reveals his social media crash course in the latest register of members' financial interests at the House of Commons.

He has 193,000 followers on Twitter, is 'liked' by 65,250 folk on Facebook and has 4,085 'fans' watching his every move on Instagram, where he lists watching Gogglebox as a pastime and a previous hobby as a DJ.

As well as the expensive media training, Umunna has seen his financial war chest go up 75,000 since January.

He accepted 50,000 from donor Michael Spalter and 25,000 from David and Rosalind Cleevely to fund staff salaries and expenses.

Since his abandoned leadership bid, he has got married to City lawyer Alice Sullivan.

Jude's girl mocks Dad's frowning glory

Film star and father of five Jude Law is refusing to help any of his children break into acting.

Not that his daughter Iris, 16, needs a leg up as she showed off her theatrical prowess with a passable imitation of Jude as she stood in front of a poster of him in his latest film King Arthur, directed by Guy Ritchie.

Iris, who models for Burberry, even tried to mimic Jude's frown lines.

The picture was posted by her mother Sadie Frost who captioned the image: 'These two!' Iris is from Law's former marriage to Frost, with whom he also has two sons.

Jude Law's daughter Iris, 16, stood in front of a poster of him in his latest film King Arthur, directed by Guy Ritchie

Andrew Marr's thriller Head Of State predicted the demise of David Cameron and a knife-edge Brexit referendum, back in 2014. But the BBC presenter is in no hurry to repeat the literary experience.

'It got hammered by the critics. And I actually agreed with a lot of what they said,' Marr admits at a party in Central London. 'I'm a painter now. My style is abstract and my first exhibition of drawings will be in Liverpool.

'I chose Liverpool to test whether the critics will travel to review it.'

Sir Ken Dodd is a fan of the Book of Common Prayer because the language is so beautiful, he says. The comedian and former chorister does, however, wishes someone would revise the Psalms. Maybe Psalm 58 in particular gives the recently knighted buck-toothed Doddy, 89, the spooks. One of the verses begins: 'O God, break the teeth in their mouths.'

Clooney the photobomber crashes pal Cindy's snap

Serial photobomber George Clooney is struggling to curb his childish ways, despite turning 56 at the weekend.

In this picture posted online by his friend Cindy Crawford, the Hollywood star playfully obstructed an otherwise romantic snap of the 51-year-old supermodel and her husband, Rande Gerber, 55. 'We can always count on him for a photobomb,' remarked Crawford.

The trio were enjoying a boat trip on the Thames near Clooney's home in Berkshire, where he lives with wife Amal, who is expecting twins.
Actor Anthony LaPaglia announced his engagement to fiancee Alexandra Henkel last month.

And the pair were looking loved up as ever as they jetted out of Melbourne on Tuesday, with Alexandra, who at 28 years of age is 30 years Anthony's junior, flashing her engagement ring before the pair boarded their plane.

The blonde was smiling widely as she lifted her hand in the air, revealing the ring to two attendants.

Loved up: Actor Anthony LaPaglia and Alexandra Henkel jetted out of Melbourne on Tuesday, with Alexandra, who at 28 years of age is 30 years Anthony's junior, flashing her engagement ring before the pair boarded their plane

Holding what appeared to be a passport and boarding pass in her hand, Alexandra was tailed by her beau Anthony, who was rugged up in a hoodie and puffer jacket.

Alexandra was likewise dressed for comfort in a warm, puffy jacket, teaming it with a pair of grey, gradient workout tights.

Along with her ring, she wore a second ring, a necklace that hung over the high neck of her jacket and carried a large shoulder bag.

The Without A Trace star meanwhile accessorised by unsually wearing his sunglasses atop his beige fedora hat.

Matching pair: Holding what appeared to be a passport and boarding pass in her hand, Alexandra was tailed by her beau Anthony, who was rugged up in a hoodie and puffer jacket

Comfy: Alexandra was dressed for comfort in a warm, puffy jacket, teaming it with a pair of grey, gradient workout tights

Alexandra has flashed her ring before, giving attendees at a YSL Beauty Club event in April an eye full of her giant sparkler.

The pair went public with their budding romance by attending the LA premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road together in May, 2015.

They first started romancing each other in 2015, when the beauty was 26 and a brunette.

Impressive: Alexandra has flashed her ring before, giving attendees at a YSL Beauty Club event in April an eye full of her giant sparkler

Before the blonde: They first started romancing each other in 2015, when the beauty was 26 and a brunette

Anthony called it quits with his wife-of-17-years Gia Carides in March 2015, and announced he was dating Alexandra three months later.

Last year, the television actor spoke to The Herald Sun about his split, saying: 'People say "It's failed"... My attitude is that it didn't.'

Changes: The pair went public with their budding romance by attending the LA premiere of Mad Max: Fury Road together in May, 2015

He added, 'Twenty years is a long time for any relationship and so many positive and great things came out of it  my daughter being one of them.

'It's an emotionally tough thing to go through but it happens and its about adjusting to the fact that people change, life changes.'
Former Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne has likened himself to an 'excited schoolboy' ahead of his third marriage at the age of 68. So it's good to see his Uzbekistani fiancee, 31 years his junior, sharing in the euphoria.

Former dental hygienist Nigora Whitehorn, who met the twice-divorced father-of-six in 2015 when he walked into the Harley Street clinic where she was working, had friends throw her a lavish, weekend-long hen party in Monaco.

The exotic brunette, who lived in a terrace house in Bedfordshire with her teenage daughter before she met the millionaire, flaunted her said to have cost 40,000 diamond engagement ring in photographs she posted on social media.

She also posed in a white swimsuit, emblazoned with the word BRIDE in gold, which she teamed with a pearl-style necklace, sunglasses and a white veil. At one point, she even sported a bridal style dress. Who says money can't buy class?

Nigora Whitehorn posed in a white swimsuit, emblazoned with the word BRIDE in gold, which she teamed with a pearl-style necklace, sunglasses and a white veil (pictured)

The exotic brunette flaunted her diamond engagement ring, which is said to have cost 40,000 in photographs

How the Queen led a children's choir astray...

The Queen's many skills and abilities do not, it seems, extend to conducting musical events.

Radio DJ and television presenter Mike Read has met Her Majesty four times, the first occasion being at a charity concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace in 1979 where she confessed she may have caused 'a bit of a problem' during the performance.

In a new book of anecdotes about people's encounters with their monarch, What The Queen Said To Me, Read recalls how she had been waving her hand to waft away smoke from flaming torches when a children's choir began drifting out of sync with the backing band. The Queen told Read: 'I think it was all my fault. I think they thought I was conducting them.'

The show WILL go on, Sewing Bee judge insists

The BBC's Great British Sewing Bee has been given a new lease of life, reveals on-screen judge Patrick Grant, following reports in February that it faced the axe.

Fans feared the show, presented by Claudia Winkleman, would not be re-commissioned after the Beeb lost The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4. 'It's not true that it's been axed. I don't know why that story was put out,' Savile Row designer Patrick tells me.

'As far as we all know, the discussions are still on-going and I think everybody involved is confident it's coming back. There was a lot of conversation about Sewing Bee moving, or being axed because of the huge changes with Bake Off, as they have the same production company, which is Love Productions.

Fans feared the show, presented by Claudia Winkleman (pictured), would not be re-commissioned after the Beeb lost The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4

'As of right now, they are actively discussing it.

'It was last on in June last year, and it wouldn't be coming out this June, but the plan is for it to be on TV again next year.

'Somebody even started a petition, which, again, was very confusing because we hadn't even been cancelled in the first place!'

Day Of The Jackal star Edward Fox, who grew up in Chelsea where he still lives with his actress wife Joanna David, says he has fallen out of love with the area.

'I used to love Chelsea when it had this bohemian thing, but it's now just quite rich,' says the 80-year-old father of actors Freddie and Emilia. 'I do worry that it has become obsessed with material acquisitiveness.

'Notting Hill is good, as it's still a London village instead of its high street linking to another. That's the London I remember and love.'
He's known for his clean shaven and chiseled good looks.

But on Monday night in New York, Michael Douglas rocked a hirsute new look with plenty of facial hair as he attended the 44th Chaplin Award Gala honoring Robert De Niro.

The Hollywood star, 72, gave off a hipster vibe with his gelled up gray hair and goatee.

Scroll down for video

He's looking good: Michael Douglas rocked a hirsute new look with plenty of facial hair as he attended the 44th Chaplin Award Gala in NYC on Monday night

It's likely Douglas has put his razor away as he prepares to reprise his role as scientist Hank Pym in Ant-Man sequel set to start lensing next month.

The veteran actor was the epitome of class in his bespoke dark suit paired with a white shirt and a white kerchief in his breast pocket.

He added a splash of color with a patterned red tie.

In fine form: The Hollywood star, 72, gave off a hipster vibe with his gelled up gray hair and goatee as he arrived at Lincoln Center

Stylish: The veteran actor was the epitome of class in his bespoke dark suit paired with a white shirt and white kerchief in his breast pocket along with a patterned red tie

Marvel role: It's likely Douglas has put his razor away as he prepares to star again as scientist Hank Pym, pictured right, in the Ant-Man sequel set to start lensing next month

Douglas was one of the stars on hand to help honor De Niro, 73, who was the night's award recipient.

The gala which serves as a major fundraiser for the Film Society of Lincoln Center paid tribute to the two-time Oscar winner's career.

The star of The Godfather Pt. 2 and Raging Bull star, in a navy suit with blue tie, was accompanied to the event by his wife Grace Hightower.

In the spotlight: Robert De Niro, 73, was the night's honoree and recipient of the Chaplin Award. He arrived wearing a navy suit and blue tie with his wife Grace Hightower

His lady love; Hightower, 62, who has been married to the actor since 1997, looked lovely in an embellished dress with matching pale blue top coat and dark blue pointed toe pumps

De Niro's Mean Streets co-star Harvey Keitel sported a dark blue suit and shirt with shiny blue tie as he arrived to pay homage to the star.

The 77-year-old brought along his wife of 16 years Daphna Kastner who looked lovely in a black patterned knee-length frock with half seelves and a v-neckline.

On hand, too, were Sean Penn, who starred with De Niro in the comedy We're No Angels, and Ben Stiller from the Meet The Parents franchise of hits.

Turned out for his friend: De Niro's Mean Streets co-star Harvey Keitel, 77, sported a dark blue suit and shirt with shiny blue tie as he arrived with his wife of 16 years Daphna Kastner

Dapper duo: Erstwhile De Niro co-stars Sean Penn, 56, left, and Ben Stiller, 51, right, also came out to support the fundraising gala that benefits the Film Society Of Lincoln Center

Former Spy Kids star Carla Gugino was also on the guest list, showing up in a sharp black tuxedo suit with narrow tie and white dress shirt.

The brunette beauty, 45, wore her hair up in a large bun and accentuated her eyes with dark kohl and mascara.

She completed her look with pink lip color and open toe chunky sandal heels.

Dressed for a gala night out: Former Spy Kids star Carla Gugino was also on the guest list, showing up in a sharp black tuxedo suit with narrow tie and white dress shirt.

Striking: The brunette beauty, 45, wore her hair up in a large bun and accentuated her eyes with dark kohl and mascara. She completed her look with a pair of chunky sandal heels

Flawless: Mery Streep, De Niro's The Deer Hunter co-star, opted for a trendy black jumpsuit with a statement buckle belt and heeled ankle boots

Meryl Streep, who has worked on the big screen three times with De Niro starting with The Deer Hunter in 1978, came out for his big night.

The legendary actress,67, rocked a trendy black jumpsuit with a statement buckle belt.

She added black ankle boots and sported funky spectacles.

In her element: Streep, who has worked on the big screen three times with De Niro, was clearly delighted to come out and support him at the gala fundraiser

Memories of movie making: Streep gushed about De Niro during the tribute to his movie career. The pair have worked together four times on the big screen

Plenty of praise: Keitel and Douglas also made remarks as they recalled working with the veteran actor who also founded the Tribeca Film Festival

Brought some laughs: Penn indulged in a little gentle ribbing of the Taxi Driver and Silver Linings Playbook star

In accepting the Chaplin Award, De Niro once again publicly took aim at President Donald Trump.

Describing Trump as 'mean-spirited,' he criticized him for seeking to cut funding for the arts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

'I call it what it is: bulls***,' he said to loud applause from the star-studded audience.

De Niro went on to speculate that iconic silent movie star Chaplin, who was born in England, was 'an immigrant who probably wouldn't pass today's 'extreme vetting.'

'I hope we're not keeping out the next Chaplin,' he added.

Had things to say: De Niro, who posed with Douglas after receiving his award, took aim at President Trump during his speech calling him 'mean-spirited' for cutting funding for the arts

In another dig at Trump, the veteran actor remarked that iconic silent movie star Chaplin, who was born in England, was 'an immigrant who probably wouldn't pass today's 'extreme vetting'

Keira Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie, lent her support to the evening.

The Belfast-born model and actress, 34, wore a powder blue gown that flaunted her cleavage and midriff.

The very revealing bodice featured a cutout section and the skirt fell to the floor from a high waist.

She wore her blonde hair in a single braid that she wore to one side.

Showstopper: Keira Chaplin, granddaughter of Charlie, lent her support to the evening wearing a powder blue gown that flaunted her cleavage and midriff

Dared to bare: The Belfast-born model and actress, 34, show some skin in the number that had a very revealing bodice that featured a cutout section around the middle

Goddess look: The gown's skirt fell to the floor from a high waist and she wore her blonde hair in a single braid that she wore to one side

Prettty as a petal: Actress Samantha Mathis opted for a floral spring look with a sleeveless frock with plunging neckline and black sandal heels

Pretty: Gabriela Dias went for a form-fitting low-cut silver gown with fishtail skirt while Lois Robbins paired a gray decorated sweater with a voluminous chiffon skirt studded with insects
There's no denying Kiera Chaplin's pedigree genes, but the granddaughter of Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin looked every inch the star herself at the Chaplin Awards in New York City on Monday.

Dressed in a goddess inspired gown, the 34-year-old model and actress looked stunning as she posed on the red carpet ahead of the awards show.

Kiera wore a pale blue dress with a plunging neckline and lattice waistline for the event.

Out of the blue: Kiera Chaplin looked every inch the star herself at the Chaplin Awards in New York City on Monday

She appeared to have been wearing tan-colored high heel sandals under her floor-length gown.

Her medium-length blonde hair was swept over to one side and worn in a simple braid.

The Chaplin Award Gala is held annually by The Film Society in New York City.

It first began in 1972, when it honored Charlie Chaplin, who had just returned to the US from exile.

Good genes: Dressed in a goddess inspired gown, the granddaughter of film legend Charlie Chaplin looked stunning as she posed on the red carpet ahead of the awards show

Dressed to impress: Kiera wore a pale blue dress with a plunging neckline and lattice waistline for the event

It runs in the family... The 34-year-old model and actress is the granddaughter of Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin

Ever since then, the gala has been named in his honor, and it recognizes a different actor or actress each year.

This year's honoree is Robert De Niro.

Kiera - who is also the great granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill - admits she never fully understood her family's legacy growing up.

Unaware: The blonde beauty said she never realized just how famous her family was while growing up

Influential: 'I remember being a young girl in school and looking in the dictionary and seeing the names "Charlie Chaplin" and "Eugene O'Neill" and starting to realize little by little that, my God, they were both immensely important to the whole world, not just our family.'

'I grew up in the same town in Switzerland where my grandfather lived from the time he fled the US in the 1950's until the end of his life, so there was a Charlie Chaplin statue and a Charlie Chaplin park, and a bar named after him,' she told the San Francisco Gate in 2006.

'I remember thinking, "OK, I know he was a famous actor, but is that our park because our names are on it? Is that our bar?"'

She says it was only after undertaking some research she discovered just how influential her relatives were.

'I remember being a young girl in school and looking in the dictionary and seeing the names "Charlie Chaplin" and "Eugene O'Neill" and starting to realize little by little that, my God, they were both immensely important to the whole world, not just our family.'
Donna DErrico is very happy with her cosmetic surgeon.

The Baywatch beauty, 49, has given a pair of glowing testimonials to the work of Dr. Michael K. Obeng, admitting that she had four major procedures - 'an arm lift, tummy tuck, lipo and a fat transfer to my buttocks' - in a single day earlier this year.

Donna, who was Playboy magazine's featured Playmate in September of 1995, praised the Beverly Hills-based surgeon's work both in a recent post on the site RealSelf, as well as in a piece with Inside Edition.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: Baywatch alum Donna DErrico, 49, says she's confident again to don a bikini after undergoing four cosmetic surgeries in a single day earlier this year

In both, she delved into detail about how the series of procedures have re-instilled her with the confidence to don a bikini.

The mother-of-two - to 24-year-old son Rhyan D'Errico and 16-year-old daughter Frankie-Jean Sixx - wrote Tuesday that her pregnancies left her with 'quite a bit of excess skin on [her] stomach,' while weight gain and loss over the years left her with 'excess skin on [her] upper arms.'

Addressing concerns: The actress praised the work of her surgeon, Dr. Michael K. Obeng (L)

Multi-tasking: The actress got an arm lift, tummy tuck, liposuction and a fat transfer to her rear end in a series of procedures that took four-and-a-half hours

Happy customer: The blonde beauty said the results of the procedure 'are beyond outstanding'

DErrico, who played Donna Marco on the 90s hit, initially told Inside Edition that her 'end goal' was to be back on the beach in her swimsuit, later writing in her review that the mission was accomplished.

'The results are beyond outstanding and I am now confident again in a bikini,' DErrico wrote, calling the doctor 'a sculptor and a class act.'

Busy day: The cosmetic surgeon completed four distinct procedures on the Baywatch beauty

Inspired: The Playboy alum said that the quartet of procedures has instilled her with the confidence to walk the beach

Timeless: D'Errico recreated one of her trademark Baywatch poses in celebrating the successful surgery

In the Inside Edition segment, which trailed D'Errico into her doctor's office, the blonde beauty was candid about her fears of going under the knife for the series of nips and tucks.

'I am panicking - what if my heart stops?' she said, before overcoming her fears and going under the knife.

The procedure took about four and a half hours, according to the program.
She's the founder of a successful cosmetics line, and her husband is the star of several blockbuster films.

And on Tuesday's Kyle and Jackie O Show, Lara Worthington, nee Bingle, insisted that she's 'not rich'.

But just hours later, the 29-year-old was spotted carrying huge bags out of luxury brand Dior's Sydney boutique.

Scroll down for video

Sure you're not rich? Lara Bingle, 29, stepped out with HUGE Dior carry bags, after declaring to Kyle and Jackie O on Tuesday, that she's not wealthy

Lara cut a chic figure while leaving Sydney's Dior boutique.

The mother-of-two wore a long beige coat with blue fitted jeans and black ankle boots.

She paired the look with a crisp blue shirt and a fashionable backpack slung over one shoulder.

Saying thanks: The friendly model thanked the store employee with a hug and kiss, as she left the luxury brand boutique

Successful trip: Making her way out of the store, Lara was handed a large Dior shopping bag, presumably containing the day's purchases

Lara sported little to no makeup on her shopping expedition, showing off a radiant glow.

The beauty styled her tresses in her signature blonde bob, which fell in a side part.

Making her way out of the store, Lara was handed a large Dior shopping bag, presumably containing the day's purchases.

The friendly model thanked the store employee with a hug and kiss, as she left the luxury brand boutique.

Hot mama! Lara sported little to no makeup on her shopping expedition, showing off a radiant glow

Retail therapy: Lara is currently in Australia on a business trip for her skincare line The Base

The sighting however comes shortly after Lara revealed on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, that she's 'not rich'.

The budding entrepreneur was immediately interrupted by co-host Kyle Sandilands, who deemed the suggestion to be untrue.

Lara's comment came during the station's 'secret sound' segment, where listeners can win $50,000 should they guess correctly.

Asked by Kyle to try her hand at the game, Jackie 'O' Henderson joked Lara could 'win 50 grand' if she managed the task.

Opening up: Earlier that morning Lara revealed that she and actor husband Sam Worthington, 40, are 'not rich'

But her co-host was quick to interrupt, claiming they couldn't give it to her because of her star status, saying 'celebrities are not allowed to win'.

Lara replied by claiming 'we're not rich', but was quickly shut down by Sandilands.

'B******t,' the radio star responded, before adding: 'I don't think that's true'.

'We're not rich,' we just got the biggest movie franchise in the world and our own make-up company,' he mocked.
They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

And the refrain was never more apparent when Danny DeVito and his look-alike daughter Lucy arrived at The Actors Fund Annual Gala in New York City on Monday.

Twins actor Danny, 72, and Melissa & Joey actress Lucy, 34, flashed identical smirks when they posed together on the red carpet.

Twins! Danny DeVito and his daughter Lucy arrive on the red carpet on Monday at The Actors Fund gala in New York City

Standing at 4-foot 10-inches, the Batman Returns star's daughter barely inched above him in height that was boosted by a pair of pink platform peep-toe heels.

She had on a sleeveless black dress and styled her brunette hair is loose waves that rested around her shoulders.

Lucy spent five years as Stephanie Krause in a recurring role in the ABC Family comedy Melissa & Joey. She has also starred as her father's daughter in The Comedian, which featured Robert De Niro.

In the genes! Actress Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito's daughter Lucy is also an entertainer

Accomplished: Danny DeVito was honored at the ceremony

Acclaimed: Sally Field was among the actors honored during the program

She is one of three children Danny has with actress Rhea Perlman, whom he wed in 1982 and separated in 2012 after 30 years of marriage.

The couple reconciled one year later and split for a second time in March.

Pretty in purple! Condola Rashad posed for photos in a sleeves purple dress and gold sandals

Support: Annette Bening added star power to the ceremony

Broadway babe! Actress-singer Bebe Neuwirth arrived in a suit and pearls

The event honored Danny, as well as Sally Field, Jo Ann Jenkins, and Harold Prince, for their outstanding service in the arts.

The Actors Fund benefits entertainers and provides assistance with the cost and arrangements of funerals and burials.
Kyle Sandilands has weighed-in on celebrity chef George Calombaris' alleged 'sucker-punch' of a 19-year-old Sydney FC fan at the A-League Grand Final on Sunday.

'Good on you George,' the 45-year-old said on the Kyle & Jackie O show on Tuesday, throwing support behind the embattled Masterchef judge.

Co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson also appeared to side with the shock jock, who agreed that the 38-year-old had been 'riled up' by the fan, who reportedly joined in on sledging the star over his recent wage scandal.

Scroll Down For Video

Support: Kyle Sandilands has thrown support behind embattled George Calombaris on Tuesday, after the chef allegedly 'sucker-punched' a 19-year-old at the A-League final on the weekend

'Good on you George': The 45-year-old felt the Celebrity chef's alleged 'sucker-punch' of a 19-year-old Sydney FC fan was justified

Kyle felt compelled to insist that the chef's actions were completely justified, highlighting what he perceived to be a clear disparity between the rights of celebrities and fans.

'Why is it that only people who are famous arent allowed to belt people in the mouth?' he asked Jackie on the show.

Adding: 'Good on you George!'

While Kyle and Jackie O are dear friends, the blonde bombshell has never been afraid to disagree with her controversial co-star, but this time agreed with his comments.

Fame game: 'Why is it that only people who are famous arent allowed to belt people in the mouth?' he asked co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson on the show

Apology: George has publicly apologised for the incident, but insists he was responding to insults about his family, while reports claim he was being taunted for recent news her underpaid staff $2.6 million

'The guy [George] has a right to go up to him and say, "thats not cool" because I think a lot of the time they get rowdy,' she said.

'I think he was clearly trying to push his buttons.'

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old who was on the receiving end of the alleged assault is not happy with the celebrity chef, but openly admits to joining in on the jeers.

Riled up! Jackie agreed with Kyle, adding: 'The guy [George] has a right to go up to him and say, "thats not cool" because I think a lot of the time they get rowdy'

'Dodgy': Footage of the incident showed Calombaris approach the stands as one rowdy fan yelled out, 'Pay your staff you dodgy b*****d'

'It was unnecessary and erratic': Speaking to A Current Affair on Monday, the man, who chose to stay anonymous, was shocked by the incident, but admits he did join in on the jeers

Footage of the incident showed Calombaris approach the stands as one rowdy fan yelled out, 'Pay your staff you dodgy b*****d' - a reference to the chef's latest wage scandal.

Speaking to A Current Affair on Monday, the man, who chose to stay anonymous, said: 'It was unnecessary and erratic. I remember he just looked at me and sucker punched me right in the guts.'

The comment appeared to cause tempers to flare as Calombaris walked over to the Sydney fan in the crowd and pushed him.

I remember he just looked at me and sucker punched me right in the guts': The 19-year-old claims he was punched, while footage appeared to show a shove

'I couldn't believe I got punched by the bloke off MasterChef, really,' the teenager said.

'He was yelling out "come on the field, come on the field", and he came over and hit me in the stomach. I couldn't believe it.'

The young Sydney FC fan also denied George's claims that he acted-out because the fan was spouting abuse about his family.

Brush with fame: 'I couldn't believe I got punched by the bloke off MasterChef, really,' the teenager said

'I personally didn't hear anyone around me abusing his family,' he said.

Instead, the verbal insults have been reported to be in response to news his restaurant business underpaid staff by a whopping $2.6million.

George later confirmed his business had 'unintentionally' short-changed 162 of his 430 current staff at Melbourne restaurants The Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic.

Surprise! While the longterm radio partners are dear friends, the blonde bombshell has never been afraid to disagree with her controversial co-star in the past, making her comments appear genuine
Kailyn Lowry has been in Los Angeles to celebrate the MTV Movie & TV Awards, as her show Teen Mom airs on the network.

But just hours before she hit the red carpet for the event, she was spotted at a dry cleaners in LA with a mystery man who was not Chris Lopez, the man who she revealed to be the father of her third child of which she is currently pregnant with.

The 25-year-old reality star also posted, then deleted a Snapchat video in bed with the same man.

You are NOT the father: Kailyn Lowry was spotted in Los Angeles with a mystery man just hours before attending the MTV Movie & TV Awards

The sighting and Snapchat sparked speculation among Teen Mom fans that she was showing off a new boyfriend.

A source tells Radar Online that the man is just a friend who's name is DJ and happened to be in Los Angeles at the same time as Kailyn.

The website reports that they were only in bed because Kailyn's 'feet were so swollen.'

Naughty shot: Kailyn posted, then deleted a picture of her in bed with the man, identified as DJ, to her Snapchat

A step ahead: The reality star held onto her heels and wore flip flops for her swollen pregnancy feet

After attending the event, she managed to fit in some girl time, as she enjoyed a catch-up with her fellow Teen Mom star Amber Portwood on Sunday.

Showing off her growing bump in a pair of dark grey leggings and a tank top, the 25-year-old posed for the camera as she relaxed at a hotel in Los Angeles.

Joining Kailyn on Sunday night was her 26-year-old Teen Mom co-star, Amber, who wasn't dressed quite as casually as her heavily pregnant friend.

Take a hike: She posted a photo of herself on the same day near the Hollywood sign in the hills

All smiles: Kailyn Lowry didn't seem to have a care in the world on Sunday night, following reports the pregnant Teen Mom star has a new boyfriend

Earlier the two had attended the MTV Movie & TV Awards, for which Kailyn wore a slinky red dress, which hugged her baby bump and featured a train.

Amber had worn a bridal-inspired long white lace gown, which featured a keyhole neckline.

Their show Teen Mom OG just returned for another season on MTV on April 17.

Friends: The reportedly seven months pregnant Teen Mom star was all smiles as she hung out with her co-star, Amber Portwood, following the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday

Baby on board: Kailyn was dressed in a pair of dark grey leggings with white text printed on them and a fitted grey tank top, which showed off her burgeoning baby bump

This will be the third child for MTV star Kailyn.

Last week, she revealed that a longtime friend Chris Lopez was the father of her unborn child, but the two had apparently cut contact.

Kailyn is also mom to sons Isaac Rivera, seven, with ex Jo Rivera, and Lincoln Marroquin, three, with ex Javi Marroquin.

Hanging out: Joining Kailyn was her 26-year-old Teen Mom co-star, Amber, who wasn't dressed quite as casually as her heavily pregnant friend

Meanwhile, the expectant mother recently finalized her divorce from ex-husband Javi, who she wed in Pennsylvania in 2012.

The estranged coupe agreed to a 50/50 custody split of Lincoln following their breakup.

In an episode of MTV's TM2 Live! aftershow in early March, Kailyn revealed she hadn't discussed her pregnancy with Javi as she said: 'As far as Javi goes, we didn't have a conversation because we clearly don't know how to have a healthy conversation.

Just chilling... The pair posed for the camera as they relaxed on the balcony of what appeared to be their hotel room in LA

New love: Despite attending the awards show with Amber, insiders say Kailyn had actually flown into LA with her mystery new boyfriend in tow

Pregnancy glow: This is the third child for the MTV star. Last week, she confirmed a man named Chris Lopez as the father of her unborn child, but the two had apparently cut contact
She's long been regarded as one of Australia's leading actresses.

And now Rachel Griffiths, 48, has lent her famous face to a charcoal portrait as part of the new 'No Robe' campaign.

On Tuesday, the Muriel's Wedding star unveiled the picture in a bid to support the Australian arts industry.

Mirror image: Rachel Griffiths, 48, lent her famous face to a charcoal portrait as part of the new 'No Robe' campaign, unveiling the piece on Tuesday

Rachel opted for a casual look at the reveal, donning navy blue pants and a black sweater with cut-out shoulder sections.

Wearing her long brunette locks in messy waves, the actress teamed her ensemble with a pair of gold hoop earrings as she moved a grey rug from on top of the piece.

Keeping things light with her make-up, the mother-of-three appeared radiant thanks to hints of bronze eye-shadow and a nude lip colour.

Keeping it casual: Rachel dressed down at the reveal, donning navy blue pants and a black sweater with cut-out shoulder sections

Simple style: Wearing her long brunette locks in messy waves, the actress teamed her ensemble with a pair of gold hoop earrings.

The campaign aims to give guests at the Art Series Hotel Group's accommodations the chance to not only sleepover but also strike a pose.

Among the participating venues The Olsen Hotel in Melbourne, with Rachel speaking there alongside artist Mark Schaller.

The series is set to run from May until mid June, with guests in Brisbane, Adelaide and Bendigo also able to take part, according to Campaign Brief.

It involves patrons modelling in a front of a private photo-booth in their suite, with their picture then sent to a team of artists who sketch it and send it back.

Paintings for patrons: The campaign aims to give guests at the Art Series Hotel Group's accommodations the chance to not only sleepover but also strike a pose

Daring: It involves patrons modelling in a front of a private photo-booth in their suite, with their picture then sent to a team of artists who sketch it and send it back

Rachel has long been a campaigner for the arts in Australia, with her husband Andrew Taylor a renowned painter.

The couple share three children, Adelaide Rose, Clementine Grace and Banjo Patrick, with the family strong supporters of his work.

While serving on the advisory board of the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair in 2015, Rachel pointed out the importance of helping local artists.

'As an actor I have always felt lucky that my work can be seen by international audiences so easily through festivals and foreign markets,' she told Vogue.

'And have always been aware of the challenges to our local artists accessing international careers'.
The beat goes on for Sienna Miller.

The British beauty, 35, was seen Monday on the Brockton, Massachusetts set of her upcoming indie dramatic thriller with Christina Hendricks, The Burning Woman, after she was linked to the latest celebrity hacking scandal.

Sienna was pictured wearing a roomy grey hooded jacket with grey sweats while clutching a Burberry bag in her hand, and checking out her phone, during a break on the set.

Break time: Sienna Miller, 35, relaxed on the set of The Burning Woman in Brockton, Massachusetts amid reports of a hacking scandal involving topless photos of a woman under a mask

She had her blonde locks teased up and cascading down her shoulders, rounding things out with black suede boots and hoop earrings.

The red-headed beauty Hendricks, 42, wore a sky blue dress with pink floral highlights while carrying a long and bulky grey jacket. Her red locks stood out as they were styled, complementing her pale shade and bold red lipstick.

Comfy: The actress was outfitted in a roomy, comfy ensemble as she rose from the steps

Gorgeous: Christina Hendricks cast her stunning glare off-camera as she traversed on set

The indie film, which is directed by Jake Scott, is set in Pennsylvania, telling the tale of a woman who raises her baby grandson after her daughter disappears.

The movie goes on to flesh out the subsequent 11 years after the daughter's disappearance, with the true facts eventually being revealed.

Elegant: The acclaimed actress was a vision of glamour at a promotional LA event Friday

Beauty in blue: The Mad Men starlet was well-styled at a gala in Los Angeles March 13

The film also features Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, Oscar-nominated actress Jacki Weaver and MADtv's Will Sasso.

The Golden Globe-nominated actress, according to The Sun, was purportedly pictured covering her face with a mask in the hacked images, which were acquired by hackers of cloud services and social media.

A source told the outlet that 'Sienna will be devastated these pictures - said to be of her fooling around - have been put online by some weirdo.'
As a famous blogger she is known for her fashion prowess.

And Nadia Fairfax once again put her fashionable foot forward as she attended the LIFEwithBIRD Launch in Sydney on Tuesday.

The blogger-turned-model certainly made a statement, rocking extreme thigh-high leather boots.

Scroll down for video

Above the knee: Nadia (pictured) makes a statement with her thigh-high black boots

Cute: Nadia, who make waves on the fashion scene with her blog Fairfax Journal, paired the shoes with a cute white mini-dress

The 28-year-old's pins were emphasised by the footwear, which she teamed with a demure look.

Nadia, who make waves on the fashion scene with her blog Fairfax Journal, paired the shoes with a cute white mini-dress.

Emblazoned on the dress was a subtle star pattern.

Fashion elite: Nadia is always one step ahead when it comes to the trends

Meanwhile, Nadia tied back her blonde locks for a simple yet stunning appearance.

Tying the whole ensemble together were matching black ribbons, which appeared on both her dress and in her hair.

At the event, Nadia was happy to pose for photos, choosing a hot pink backdrop which made her whole outfit pop.
She gave birth to their first child just four months previously.

So Geri Horner and her husband Christian were undoubtedly keen to enjoy a night off baby duty as they headed out to a star-studded evening at London's Craig's eatery on Monday night.

The 44-year-old former Spice Girl showed off her sensational post-baby body in a slinky black mini dress paired with thick black tights, as they joined the likes of Kate Moss and Elizabeth Hurley in partying the night away.

Scroll down for video

Loved-up: Geri Horner and her husband Christian were undoubtedly keen to enjoy a night off baby duty as they headed out to a star-studded evening at London's Craig's eatery on Monday night

Geri, who is also mother to daughter Bluebell Madonna, announced the birth of son Montague George Hector Horner in January shortly before she described the tot as a 'miracle' having given birth at the age of 44.

The couple married in 2015, after just a year of dating, and looked as loved up as ever of Monday night as they cosied up ahead of the glitzy evening.

Clearly dressed to impress, Geri kept things simple in a slinky black mini dress with a scoop neckline and a high-rise hem which made the most of her petite shape.

Shunning the forthcoming summer climes, the stunning star, who was known by her moniker Ginger Spice after shooting to fame in the early Nineties, slipped into a pair of cosy opaque tights which slimmed her already tiny pins.

Stunner: The 44-year-old former Spice Girl showed off her sensational post-baby body in a slinky black mini dress paired with thick black tights, as they joined the likes of Kate Moss and Elizabeth Hurley in partying the night away

Hold me close: Geri, who is also mother to daughter Bluebell Madonna, announced the birth of son Montague George Hector Horner in January shortly before she described the tot as a 'miracle' having given birth at the age of 44

She boosted her diminutive 5ft frame with the addition of staggering ankle boots with a lace-up front and a no doubt designer price tag.

The stunning star opted to sport no accessories, keeping the look simple and sensational - allowing her figure to do the talking.

Showing off her ageless complexion, Geri kept her make-up extremely minimal which allowed her glowing skin to shine through in a stunning touch.

Her famed locks, one flame red with bold blonde streaks, were worn in loose waves falling long over her shoulders while she was showing off her more mature strawberry blonde hues in a dazzling touch.

Sexy stuff: She boosted her diminutive 5ft frame with the addition of staggering ankle boots with a lace-up front and a no doubt designer price tag

Hold me close: The stunning star opted to sport no accessories, keeping the look simple and sensational - allowing her figure to do the talking

Christian meanwhile looked dashing in a classic sky blue shirt with a navy blazer while rounding out the look with a pair of chinos and suede slip-on loafers.

The pair announced the birth of their first child together on social media in January, writing beside a snap of the tot's feet: 'Montague George Hector Horner arrived this morning, a beautiful little brother for Bluebell and Olivia.'

Speaking to The Times recently, Geri revealed that she considered Monty to be a 'miracle'. She explained: 'I feel incredibly lucky to have conceived naturally at my age, 44. I see it as a miracle.

'Trust me, I can still moan like the rest of them but, equally, I remind myself every day that this is an absolute gift.

'This time I gained more weight physically, but this time the baby was bigger, I think. During pregnancy you never know if its cake or baby!'

Geri shares Bluebell Madonna, ten, with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, while Christian, the Principal of the Red Bull Formula One racing team, shares a daughter Olivia, with former partner Beverley Allen.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, he received a 'tough' settlement of just $500,000 from his divorce with wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn.

But from pictures taken on Tuesday, it appears Karl is ready to move on with the next stage of his life.

The 42-year-old's younger new girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, was seen heading straight from Sydney Airport to the Today show host's pad.

Scroll down for video

She's a new fixture! Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, headed straight to Karl Stefanovic's pad after jetting into Sydney on Tuesday

Cutting a chic figure, Jasmine sported a grey sweater, teamed with skinny-leg jeans that clung to her trim pins.

A black leather biker jacket, Camilla Shark Tooth loafers from her own label Mara & Mine, tied in with the classic look.

Carrying her belongings in a quilted shoulder bag, the shoe designer accessorised further with delicate gold jewellery and round-rimmed sunglasses.

Sweeping her blonde locks into an effortless top knot, the former model appeared to sport a minimal makeup palette, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

Effortless style: Cutting a chic figure, Jasmine sported a grey sweater, teamed with skinny-leg jeans that clung to her trim pins

Permanent resident? Jetting into Sydney from Los Angeles, the blonde beauty looked to be staying Down Under for a considerable amount of time

No wonder he's smitten! The model swept her locks into an effortless top knot and appeared to sport a minimal makeup palette, allowing her natural beauty to shine through

Jetting into Sydney from Los Angeles, Jasmine looked to be staying Down Under for a considerable amount of time.

A male companion was seen assisting the blonde beauty transport several sturdy suitcases to Karl's bachelor pad.

Carrying a Louis Vuitton weekender bag across his chest, the helper lugged two large silver suitcases into the Channel Nine star's abode.

Content: Jasmine appeared carefree and relaxed as she headed straight to Karl's bachelor pad

Helping hand: A male companion was seen assisting the blonde beauty transport several sturdy suitcases to Karl's bachelor pad

Taking a breather? Carrying a Louis Vuitton weekender bag across his chest, the helper lugged two large silver suitcases into the Channel Nine star's abode

Following suit, Jasmine walked down a series of steps at Karl's suburban residence.

It is unknown at this stage as to how long the slender starlet is planning to be in Sydney for.

Regardless, that same day Karl was spotted cutting a relaxed figure as he strolled down the streets of Sydney.

Regular fixture? It is unknown at this stage as to how long the slender starlet is planning to be in Sydney for

Making herself at home? Following suit, Jasmine walked down a series of steps at Karl's suburban residence

First thing's first: Jasmine headed straight from Sydney Airport to Karl's home

Donning a crisp white shirt, tailored suit jacket and coordinating trousers, the veteran media personality showed off a slimmed-down figure.

A narrow tie, black dress shoes and stylish sunglasses coordinated with the business attire.

Strolling down Sydney's streets, Karl checked his iPhone intermittently, at one stage looking to have taken a business call.

Looking good: Regardless, that same day Karl was spotted cutting a relaxed figure as he strolled down the streets of Sydney

Polished: Donning a crisp white shirt, tailored suit jacket and coordinating trousers, the veteran media personality showed off a slimmed-down figure

The sighting comes just days after The Sunday Telegraph reported that Karl received a 'tough' settlement of just $500,000 from his divorce with wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn.

According to the publication, Karl left his 44-year-old wife with $6 million in cash and assets, plus child support and 'ongoing payments'.

In contrast, it is alleged the television personality will walk away with just $500,000 in financial assets, an amount which includes his white Mercedes.

Errands: Strolling down Sydney's streets, Karl checked his iPhone intermittently, at one stage looking to have taken a business call

Paperwork: The sighting comes just days after The Sunday Telegraph reported that Karl received a 'tough' settlement of just $500,000 from his divorce with wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn

The divorce was reportedly finalised before Karl went to the United States and Mexico last month to spend time with his new girlfriend, Jasmine.

Sources described the settlement to News Corp as 'tough' for Karl, who makes $3 million a year as host of Channel Nine breakfast program, Today.

As part of their divorce agreement, Karl and Cassandra will share custody of their three children - Jackson, 17, Ava, 12, and River, 10.

Cassandra will reportedly reside in the former couple's $8 million waterfront Cremorne mansion she received in their settlement, which is believed to be 'significantly mortgaged'.

New chapter: The divorce was reportedly finalised before Karl went to the United States and Mexico last month to spend time with his new girlfriend, Jasmine

Comfortable: Karl was later pictured emerging from his abode in casual attire
Steve Jacobs and wife Rose thought they were leaving behind their troubles for paradise when they relocated from Sydney to Vanuatu.

Now, it's emerged the dream has been interrupted by less-than-idyllic circumstances.

Rose was forced to rush back to Australia earlier this week after her father suffered a serious health scare.

Farewell glitz and glamour: Steve and Rose's (both pictured) life pace has slowed down since swapping the hustle and bustle of Sydney for peaceful Vanuatu

Scroll down for video

Forced to rush home: Rose Jacobs posted news of her father's stroke on Instagram alongside this aerial coastline shot

The media personality, who made the move with Today's former weather presenter Steve and their kids in December, posted the harrowing news on her Instagram.

'It has been an emotional trip home to say the least,' she wrote.

'Best Dad in the world is recovering slowly from his stroke this week. Thank god for my amazing Mum. #FamilyIsEverything.'

Accompanying the news was an aerial view photo of a coastline that she had tagged as Sawtell, New South Wales.

Family fun: Steve, Rose and their daughters Isabella and Francesca spend more time together

It is not known whether Steve returned to his homeland with his wife or whether he stayed in Vanuatu to look after the kids.

The news comes just a week after the couple put their lavish Coogee mansion on the Sydney rental market.

For the lavish four-bedroom property, the couple were asking for $3,500 per week.

Life in paradise: Steve makes it hard not to be envious of the couple's sea change

All smiles: Prior to her dad's health scare, Rose wrote that she was feeling happier than ever in their new home overseas

Steve handed in his notice for his Today gig in December, in a bid to spend more quality time with his family.

'For the past 12 years, I haven't been able to wake up once with my wife, haven't been able to get the kids to daycare,' Steve said in his retirement speech.

The couple took their two young daughters Isabella and Francesca along with them to live on the beautiful island and haven't looked back.
They shared the news of the birth of their first baby boy on Tuesday.

Now Barry Hall and Lauren Brant have returned to their Gold Coast hotel with their newborn baby for the first time.

On Tuesday, the couple were seen looking radiant with their new bundle of joy as Lauren covered the baby with her cardigan.

Proud! Barry Hall and Lauren Brant have brought their newborn son home from the hospital

Keeping him safe: Lauren covered the baby boy with her cardigan when returning to their Gold Coast hotel

Lauren wore a grey cardigan that she used to shield the bub from the cold autumn chill as the happy parents returned home.

She also donned a pair of dark denim jeans and black boots.

She wore her brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and beamed from ear-to-ear with joy over bringing her son home.

Proud dad: Barry beamed with excitement over welcoming his new son home

Casual: Barry wore a navy blue T-shirt that was adorned with white stripes around the arms and across the shoulders

Barry wore a navy blue T-shirt that was adorned with white stripes around the arms and across the shoulders.

He teamed with a pair of light blue denim jeans and a grey cap on his head.

Barry threw a black bag over his shoulder, presumably filled with supplies for their new bub.

He smiled widely as the proud dad watched while Lauren carried their son inside.

Elated: He smiled widely as the proud dad watched while Lauren carried their son inside

Welcome to the world! Lauren reportedly gave birth to the child on Sunday at a Gold Coast hospital

Woman's Day reported that Lauren gave birth to the child on Sunday at a Gold Coast hospital.

The former Hi-5 star announced the exciting news on her Instagram page on Tuesday afternoon, posting a black and white picture of the couple holding the tiny bub's hand.

She also revealed that they had named their bundle of joy, Miller Hall.

'Our world is now perfect! Welcome to the world our little man Miller Hall,' Lauren wrote alongside her sweet post about Miller's arrival.

The black and white photo shows Barry and Lauren holding hands with their young child, Lauren accessorising with a $250 Tiffany & Co. bracelet.

Congratulations! The couple broke the news on Instagram on Tuesday revealing they had called the bub Miller
Since forming in 1962, The Rolling Stones have proved to be one of Britain's most influential and enduring bands of all time.

And Mick Jagger, 73; Keith Richards, 73; Charlie Watts, 75, and Ronnie Wood, 69, are proving that they have no plans of slowing down anytime soon, as they've announced plans to embark on a new European tour in September and October.

The Stones - No Filter roadshow - which follows last year's tour of South America, culminating in an historic concert in Cuba - will kick off in Hamburg on September 9 and wind its way through the continent until its final October 22 show in Paris.

Scroll down for video

Satisfaction! The Rolling Stones stars (L-R) Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts have announced plans to embark on The Stones - No Filter European tour

In announcing the plans, frontman Mick said in a statement: 'I'm so excited to be touring Europe this autumn and returning to some familiar places and some we've never done before.'

Guitarist Keith - whose tour will include such cities as Zurich, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Copenhagen - added: 'Hey Guys, here we come. See you there!'

The tireless rockers recorded their comeback album, Blue And Lonesome, in just three days back in 2015.

Autumn: The rockers, seen together last month, will tour throughout September and October

Honours: The announcement comes two weeks after they scooped two awards at the Jazz FM Awards, held at London's Shoreditch Town Hall

And their efforts were rewarded last month, when they scooped the Record of the Year award at the Jazz FM Awards, held at London's Shoreditch Town Hall.

Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts were in attendance and made sure to celebrate their win up on stage for their first album in over 10 years.

Addressing the audience at the awards ceremony, the trio appeared in high spirits as they expressed their gratitude for the positive reception to their record.

High spirits: The trio appeared to share a laugh on stage as they accepted their win for the Record of the Year with their comeback album Blue And Lonesome, released in 2015

The bandmates shared a laugh up on stage together, with Mick taking the lead as he held onto the microphone and clutched the group's award in the other.

He was clad in a black two-piece suit with a bold printed shirt underneath and was seen gesturing to his fellow Rolling Stones members as they listened on to his speech.

That wasn't the only win for The Rolling Stones on the night, as they also landed the prize for Blues Artist of the Year.

Still going strong: The Rolling Stones had celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2012

Drummer Charlie, meanwhile, found himself with a third accolade as he was honoured for his lifelong contribution to jazz and blues.

It was confirmed he would be the recipient of Jazz FM's Gold Award earlier that month and reacting to the news, the musician said: 'I am very grateful to be honoured by Jazz FM for my contribution to Jazz and Blues.

'Ive always loved and been influenced by the music and its players. It was one of the reasons I wanted to be a musician myself. Its still important that we continue to support this music to ensure it lives on for the next generations.'
She's The Last Resort's vengeful vixen who told her boyfriend that his daughter wasn't his, in order to 'hurt him'.

And while Sharday's paternity deceit went so far that Josh, 25, missed the birth of his own daughter Tyla, the blonde brushed off her scheme in an interview with TheFix.

'I didn't think it was an issue,' the 27-year-old told the publication.

Scroll down for video

'I didn't think it was an issue': Last Resort's Sharday, 27, revealed to TheFix that she LIED to her boyfriend Josh, 25, about the paternity of their daughter Tyla, to 'hurt him'

'I found out I was pregnant a week after we broke up,' Sharday told the publication.

'I wanted to hurt him, so I threw the one thing I knew would destroy him,' she continued.

'To be honest, I didn't think it was an issue. We had so many other issues to deal with,' Sharday added.

Deception: Sharday and Josh will have their fair share of explosive moments on the show

This is not the first time Sharday has talked about the deceit, having previously told The Daily Telegraph that she's grateful for a reality TV opportunity.

'I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason,' the aspiring model told the publication.

'So yes, as much as I wish I didn't say it because he missed out on so, so much, at the same time I wouldn't say I regret it because we wouldn't have had the chance to go on the show.'

Tough decisions: 'I will struggle to forgive Sharday for that one, tiny little sentence,' Josh told Woman's Day

Challenges: 'It carries so much hatred and pain - but we're going to fight to overcome it,' Josh continued to tell the publication

Josh, who will appear on The Last Resort alongside his fame-hungry girlfriend, opened up about the traumatic experience in an interview with Woman's Day this week.

'I will struggle to forgive Sharday for that one, tiny little sentence,' he said.

'It carries so much hatred and pain - but we're going to fight to overcome it.'

Sharday chose to lie to Josh about the paternity of their child during a heated breakup argument more than two years ago.

Proof: After the child was born, Josh requested a paternity test which later confirmed he was the biological father of Tyla

After the child was born, Josh requested a paternity test which later confirmed he was the biological father of Tyla.

Much like Married At First Sight, the controversial show will follow five couples who are trying to save their relationships amid a picturesque Fijian island retreat.

The couples - Sharday and Josh, Carl and Lucy, Lisa and Dan, Sarah and Keelan, and Stu and Jodie - will be advised by a team of psychologists, relationship experts and sex therapists to help get the pairs back on track.
She welcomed daughter Lea de Seine into the world with partner Bradley Cooper in March.

And Irina Shayk displayed her incredible post-baby figure while out in Santa Monica on Monday.

The 31-year-old showed the work she puts into keeping in shape as she slipped into her stylish workout gear for a Pilates class.

New mother: Irina Shayk displayed her incredible post-baby figure as she enjoyed a Pilates class in Santa Monica on Monday

The Russian beauty showed off her trim physique in a pair of gym leggings and a black scoop neck T-shirt.

Opting for comfort, the new mother wore grey furry slip-ons on her feet as she left the Pilates studio.

Tying her brunette tresses up into a top knot, she displayed her glowing complexion with minimal make-up, covering her eyes with a pair of dark shades.

Keeping fit: The Russian beauty showed off her trim physique in a pair of gym leggings and a black scoop neck T-shirt

Irina and Bradley, 42, kept the birth of their daughter under wraps for two weeks before the news of the arrival was made public last month.

A source close to the couple told People at the time: 'They are both extremely thrilled and feel so blessed.'

The pair started dating in 2015 and her pregnancy was revealed last year, when she showcased a small baby bump at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Proud parents: Irina and partner Bradley Cooper, 42, kept the birth of their daughter under wraps for two weeks before the news of the arrival was made public last month

The model has remained silent about her new arrival on her social media pages so far - but shared a sizzling bikini snap which she simply captioned 'Pre-sunset #currentsituation'.

She has previously spoken of her desire to start a family, describing it as the 'most important thing on this earth.'

Irina told Hello! Magazine in an interview last year: 'I think family is the reason why we are here. I love my job and it's very important to me.

'I really enjoy what I'm doing but it's not the most important thing in my life - family is, friends, people who I love.'
Iconic EastEnders couple Kat and Alfie Moon have been 'a couple' for 16 years.

And despite leaving the BBC soap last year, their journey is set to continue in spin off Redwater.

And the stars themselves, Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace, have pointed out that this 'marriage' has lasted longer than their own real life couplings with respective partners.

Scroll down for video

'This marriage has lasted longer than any of my real ones!' Shane Richie gushes about his on and off-screen relationship with Redwater co-star Jessie Wallace

'This marriage has lasted longer than any of my real ones,' 53-year-old Shane joked, speaking to The Sun.

'We argue, then we won't talk for a day, and then we're talking again, and he makes me laugh all the time,' Jessie, 45, chimed in.

'We just know each other really well as friends off-screen as well as actors,' added Shane. 'And we can tell each other what we're thinking, we can tell the truth to each other.

It would seem their friendship has been far more successful than their real-life trysts.

Drama: Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace have pointed out that this 'marriage' has lasted longer than their own real life couplings with respective partners

Jessie is single, having recently split with wannabe pop star Tim Arnold, whom she met via EastEnders co-star June Brown [who plays Dot Cotton].

Prior to this she was with Vincent Morse who betrayed her when he sent explicit images of her to his ex-lover, who, it is presumed, later sold them to the tabloids.

Jessie dumped him by not turning up on their wedding day.

Meanwhile, Shane was married to Coleen Nolan, of The Nolans.

She has talked publicly about their ill-fated union almost relentlessly as she has shared over-personal anecdotes on the likes of Loose Women and Celebrity Big Brother.

More to come...: Despite leaving the BBC soap last year, their journey is set to continue in spin off Redwater

Shane had an affair during the marriage with a woman from his pantomime at the time, with the marriage lasting from 1990 to 1999.

He is re-married to Christie Goddard, having wed in 2007.

However, six years of that were taken up with an affair with the woman who ran his fan club - a twist that came out in 2011.

He has five children, three of whom he shares with Coleen, including Shane Jr and Jake Roche, of boy band Rixton fame.

Having left EastEnders in the same year that long-time soap executive Dominic Treadwell-Collins handed over the reins, it seemed that the BBC hadn't finished with Kat and Alfie.

To be continued...: Having left EastEnders in the same year that long-time soap executive Dominic Treadwell-Collins handed over the reins, it seemed that the BBC hadn't finished with Kat and Alfie

Commissioning a six-part series with Treadwell-Collins at the helm, the new drama has a prime broadcast slot and is set in Ireland.

The premise sees Kat on the hunt for her long-lost son and continues to follow Alfie's brain cancer diagnosis from EastEnders in 2015.

Although it's a direct spin-off to EastEnders, there's no reference to it in the series.

Jessie has also said she was relieved that her EastEnders character Kat wasn't killed off after she left the soap.

'I love Kat, I've played her for a long time now and she's a huge part of me. I don't want to say goodbye to her really,' she said.

Kat And Alfie: Redwater is on Thursday, May 18 at 8pm on BBC One.
Her 51-year-old mother Cindy Crawford continues to wow with her beauty, decades after shooting to fame as one of the iconic supermodels of the '80s and '90s.

And Kaia Gerber, 15, is continuing to show that she's a chip off the old modelling block, after being unveiled as the new face of Filipino fashion brand Penshoppe.

In the campaign images for the label's new DenimLab campaign, the teen emulates her mother's poise as she commands the camera's attention while modelling a taupe knitted crop top with denim cut-offs and a white jacket.

Scroll down for video

Model behaviour: Kaia Gerber has been unveiled as the new face of fashion brand Penshoppe

Switching gears, she also teams a flowing white T-shirt with distressed faded jeans and strappy heels from Ash as she confidently poses while resting on a stool.

Next up, the brunette successfully pulls off the double denim look with a dark rinse sleeveless top and matching high-waisted retro-style jeans.

In modelling for the fashion brand, Kaia joins the likes of fellow models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, who have each struck a pose on behalf of Penshoppe.

Family business: The 15-year-old emulates her mother Cindy Crawford's poise in the campaign images. Cindy is seen walking the runway for Herve Leger in Paris in 1993

Statuesque: Switching gears, she also teams a flowing white T-shirt with distressed faded jeans and strappy Ash heels as she confidently poses while resting on a stool

Double denim: The brunette successfully pulls off the double denim look with a dark rinse sleeveless top and matching high-waisted retro-style jeans

Cindy shares Kaia and 17-year-old Presley Gerber with her businessman and entrepreneur husband of nearly 20 years, Rande Gerber.

Kaia signed with IMG Models in July 2015, joining the ranks of such coveted catwalk mainstays as Alessandra Ambrosio, Iman Abdulmajid, Lily Aldridge and Camila Alves.

She also modelled alongside her mother when she was just 10 years old, gracing the cover of Teen Vogue last year, and was also featured in a Young Versace campaign.

Daddy's girl: Kaia often shares snaps of herself with members of her family on social media. She is seen with her father Rande Gerber in a shapshot shared on Instagram in 2016

Contract: Kaia signed with IMG Models in July 2015, joining the ranks of such coveted catwalk mainstays as Alessandra Ambrosio, Iman Abdulmajid, Lily Aldridge and Camila Alves

And while Kaia has been making strides in the highly competitive world of modelling, she's not the only recent arrival to the profession.

Her big brother Presley has been recruited for a new number of high-profile shows, including Moschino and Dolce & Gabbana's Fashion Week presentations.

Presley was honoured last month as an emerging talent at the Daily Front Row Los Angeles Fashion Awards.

Photogenic: Her 17-year-old brother Presley is also rising through the ranks of modelling
It's a Netflix original series that has become known for its X-rated scenes.

And season two of Sense8 promises viewers more racy action - as several of the show's stars strip off in steamy new scenes.

Transgender actress Jamie Clayton is among those who go nude, while former Doctor Who star Freema Agyeman is also seen completely naked in the new season.

Scroll down for video

Stripping off: Transgender actress Jamie Clayton, who plays Nomi, is among those who go nude in season two of Netflix's original series Sense8

Jamie, 39, plays trans hacktivist and blogger Nomi in the series, while Freema, 38, plays her girlfriend Amanita.

The pair are seen putting on an intimate display in one scene, as they recline beside the waterfront - while completely nude.

Nomi also appears to put her body on full display while being interviewed on the red carpet at a glamorous event.

Lovers: Former Doctor Who star Freema Agyema, who plays Nomi's girlfriend Amanita, is also seen completely naked in the new season

Intimate: The pair are seen putting on an intimate display in one scene, as they recline beside the waterfront - while completely nude

Meanwhile newcomer Valeria Bilello, who plays Lila, also goes full-frontal naked in the new series.

The Italian actress is seen baring her stunning physique as she chats to Wolfgang, played by Max Riemelt, on a balcony.

In another raunchy scene, Capheus, played by Toby Onwumere, and his new love interest Zakia, played by Mumbi Mainam, are seen getting hot and heavy in the bedroom.

Racy: Meanwhile newcomer Valeria Bilello, who plays Lila, also goes full-frontal naked in the new series

Sizzling: The Italian actress is seen baring her stunning physique while out on the balcony

Baring all: She is seen chatting to Wolfgang, played by Max Riemelt, while completely naked

Sense8 is a sci-fi drama about eight 'sensates' around the world who are linked emotionally and mentally.

The first season aired on Netflix in 2015, and was widely praised for its representation of LGBT people.

Speaking about playing a trans woman in the series, Jamie told E! Online: 'I just really love being myself and being visible.

Raunchy: In another scene, Capheus, played by Toby Onwumere, and his new love interest Zakia, played by Mumbi Mainam, are seen getting hot and heavy

Hotting up! The pair are seen involved in a very passionate clinch while in the bedroom

Steamy: The first season of the original Netflix series became known for its X-rated scenes

'Nobody has to carry a flag and wave a sign or wave a flag and carry a sign- whatever it is.

'Just be out, and if you're proud of who you are then other people will be proud of you too.'

Freema, who played Martha in Doctor Who from 2006 to 2010, has also previously spoken about her pride in the series.

She told Big Issue in an interview in 2015: 'My inbox is flooded with people expressing gratitude, which blows my mind.

'I feel so honoured and proud to tell a story that people feel is truly representative of them in an area thats so lacking in television.'

Sci-fi drama: Sense8 is about eight 'sensates' around the world who are linked emotionally and mentally

Acclaim: The first season of the drama aired on Netflix in 2015 and was widely praised
She played a wealthy widow who was seduced by James Bond in Spectre.

And Monica Bellucci smouldered in a floor-length Dolce and Gabbana gown at the premiere of her new film On The Milky Road.

The Italian actress, 52, showed off her enviable figure on the red carpet in Rome on Monday in a tulip print dress.

Age-defying looks: Monica Bellucci, 52, stunned in a floor-length Dolce and Gabbana gown at the Rome premiere of her new film On The Milky Road on Monday

The star's dress, which is cut like a shirt, tied at the waist and featured practical pockets.

Monica framed her face with her heavy raven fringe and lined her eyes in dark kohl.

The Bond actress walked the red carped with a black clutch bag and accessorised with a gold torque necklace.

She stars in On The Milk Road, which was screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2016.

Spring couture: The star's dress, which is cut like a shirt, tied at the waist and featured practical pockets

The film, set during a civil war, follows Kosta who delivers milk across military lines.

He meets an Italian-Serbian woman, played by Monica, and the pair embark on a passionate love affair.

The film is directed by Emir Kusturica, who also plays the lead role of Kosta.

Smouldering looks: Monica framed her face with her heavy raven fringe and lined her eyes in dark kohl

The Italian actress is set to be Mistress of Ceremonies at the coveted Cannes Film Festival on May 17.

The star, who became the oldest Bond girl in the franchise's history, will open and close the festival.

Monica started her career as a model when she was 13 years old and worked for Dolce and Gabbana and Elle.

Co-stars: Monica stars alongside Emir Kusturica, who also directed On The Milk Road, which is set during a civil war

She started acting in the 1990s and reached international fame when she played Persephone in the Matrix Trilogy.

Before her appearance in Spectre, she played Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson epic The Passion of Christ and appeared in the Brothers Grimm.

Monica married French actor Vincent Cassel in 1999 after they met on the set of their film The Apartment, but the couple divorced in 2013.
His wife Katie Price was reportedly spotted 'cosying up' and 'kissing' to a mystery man as she enjoyed a wild night out on the town in Miami over the weekend.

Yet on Tuesday, Kieran Hayler, 30, opted to turn his back on his wife's scandal as they took to Instagram to share a clip in which the former stripper playfully branded his wife 'a d**k' while later kissing her on the head.

Earlier in the day, Kieran looked downcast as he stepped out in a black hoodie with navy shorts, as he kept his head down as he stepped out, moments before taking to Instagram to share the cryptic message: 'Sometimes you have to take a minute, sit down, and clear your head!!!!!' [sic]

Scroll down for video

Who, what, where? On Tuesday, Kieran Hayler, 30, opted to turn his back on his wife Katie Price's flirting scandal as they took to Instagram to share a clip in which the former stripper playfully branded his wife 'a d**k' while she giggles alongside him

While he didn't directly address the reason for his message, he shared a snapshot of his brown boots resting on the bank of a lake set in lush greenery.

And, perhaps in response to his message, mother-of-five Katie also took to the image-sharing site to share a word-free declaration of love for her husband.

The former glamour model, 38, uploaded an image of a pillow embossed with Kieran's moniker, as a fragrance bottle bearing her name rested against it.

Opting to forgo the task of writing out a caption for the image, she simply added a pair of love heart emoticons - although their hush hush attitude later changed.

Glum: Earlier in the day, Kieran looked downcast as he stepped out in a black hoodie with navy shorts, as he kept his head down as he stepped out solo

Getting on with it: The 30-year-old kept his head down as he emerged from his car solo

Message: Kieran later took to Instagram to share a shot of his boots on the bank of a lake, along with the caption, 'Sometimes you have to take a minute, sit down, and clear your head!!!!!'

These gestures came shortly after the duo shared the video in which they giggled alongside each other in the clip - seemingly clearing up any rumours of woes.

She then added a sweet selfie of the duo, as she penned: 'Love being back home'.

Last year, she appeared on Loose Women and vowed to stop drinking in 2017 after a drunken appearance at a charity gala.

But new reports have claimed that Katie was seen 'worse for wear' over the weekend in Miami.

The TV personality was reportedly seen cosying up to a mystery man on a wild night out with her make-up artist Gary Cockerill.

Open and honest: These gestures came shortly after the duo shared the video in which they giggled alongside each other in the clip - seemingly clearing up any rumours of woes

Declaration: Minutes later, Katie uploaded a wordless declaration of her love for Kieran

Off the wagon? Katie Price was reportedly seen 'drunkenly' cosying up to a mystery man during a wild night out in Miami, just months after vowing to quit booze

A witness told The Sun Online: 'Katie seemed wasted. She was there with friends, but at one point she was slumped over the bar. She was visibly very woozy but seemed to perk up a bit when she got chatting to this guy.

'They were very touchy feely, and at one point he leant up behind her and put his arms around her waist. It wasn't the behaviour of a married woman.'

In December, Katie appeared on Loose Women and vowed to go sober for a year after she was caught on video ranting and flashing her breasts at a company's Christmas party she had been hired to appear at.

'They were very touchy feely': Witnesses claim to have seen the model, 38, who is currently shooting her calendar abroad, perking up as she spoke with the unnamed male

Opening up, she said: 'Its taken me 38 years to do this Ive never done dry January and Im not going to drink for the whole year.

'When Im pregnant I can do it, its just one year out of my life,' she said, adding: 'When I drink Im a nightmare!'

She added: 'I dont drink at home. Two glasses of champagne gets me [drunk] but I stay all night chatting to people. I'm not a rowdy drunk, I'm not even naughty. I'm going to do it for a whole year and prove you all wrong.'

This comes after she was spotted posing alongside DJ Tom Zanetti on Thursday, sparking speculation that she had embarked on an affair with him - a rumour which the hunky musician's pals quickly struck down.

Denied: Pals of DJ Tom Zanetti have slammed rumours that has grown too close with Katie, after he was spotted shooting in Miami with the model last week

While it's been insisted that the pair's relationship is strictly business, what appears to be up in the air is whether the former glamour model is planning to relaunch her own music career, or if she's lending her talents as a guest on one of Tom's videos.

Last year, Tom recruited a host of reality TV stars - including current couple Chloe Khan and Ashley Cain - to appear in the video for his his dance track You Want Me.

In 2005, Katie famously attempted to represent Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest with the track Not Just Anybody, but ended up coming in second after winner Javine.

Revealing: The pair were seen on a shoot together on Thursday, when Katie put on a very busty display in a plunging bikini and semi-sheer cover up

Strictly business: Hunky Tom has insisted that his relationship with Katie is strictly business

A year later, she joined forces with then-husband Peter Andre for the album A Whole New World, which charted at number 20. She was back again in 2010, when she released the single Free To Love Again.

However, while questions may mount over a revived music career, tattooed Tom only appeared willing to reveal that he's appearing on Katie's reality show My Crazy Life, taking to Instagram over the weekend to share a shot of himself with the busty star.

He captioned the image: 'Can't say it isn't pretty cool being invited to Miami by Katie Price and the ITV crew for her new show! [I've] been getting to know her husband, adorable family and hilarious friends who all thought we are perfect for a few episodes helping with #onlinebullying and #standuptotrolls.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Katie Price for comment.

Joy: The handsome musician took to Instagram to share his joy at shooting with Katie

Other half: A source said that Kieran 'wasn't best pleased' about his wife spending time with the DJ while in Miami

Speculation over Katie's relationship with Tom comes are it was reported that the Loose Women panellist's husband Kieran Hayler is 'jealous' after seeing his wife put on a close display with the DJ.

The pair were seen on a shoot together on Thursday, when Katie put on a very busty display in a plunging bikini and semi-sheer cover up.

A source told The Mirror: 'Tom's a good looking guy and Kieran had concerns about him being in Miami with his wife.

'He wasn't best pleased when pictures appeared of Katie and Tom looking like they were having a great time out there, as Katie posed in a series of revealing outfits. He knows it's for work but it hasn't stopped the jealousy creeping in.'

She'll be back? There has been speculation that Katie, seen above competing to represent Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, is planning to revive her music career

Tom, 27, has hit back at any suggestions of him and Katie getting close, saying that they're just 'friends'.

Despite the furore, a spokesperson for Katie hasn't isn't that the reports are untrue, telling the MailOnline: 'She says this is untrue. Kieran knows it's work and is totally supporting it.'

Katie posted a snap of her with the DJ - who she met at a meet-and-greet in Bradford last year - on Instagram on Friday, thanking him and the rest of her team in Miami.

She wrote: '[S]o great to work with @tomzanettitz and team in Miami and last few months for my new project finally got there and massive thank you to my family and hubby @officialkieranhayler for your support woooooooooooo.'

Sizzling: The former glamour model has slipped into a series of skimpy ensembles while in the US, including this blue bikini

Katie has been in Miami filming for her new reality show My Crazy Life, which will give viewers an access-all-areas pass into her life at home, work and play.

The show, which will air on new channel Quest Red this summer, will show Katie and husband Kieran, 29, juggling family life with her demanding yet glamorous schedule, renovating their home and dealing with their huge collection of animals.

Katie and Kieran, who married in 2013, share two children, Jett, three, and Bunny, two, while Katie also has three children from previous relationships.

Last October, the former glamour model revealed she would be taking time out to see a therapist with Kieran.

Loved up: Katie married Kieran in 2013, but their relationship was rocked when her husband had affairs with two of her best friends

At the time, she said speaking candidly about her husband's affairs with two of her best friends took its toll.

She explained: 'We're gonna go back to a therapist, not because there's anything wrong with our relationship... He's realised now I've moved on, how much he's hurt me. It's a lot for him to deal with.'

Katie has spoken publicly about the moment she discovered Kieran kissing her married ex-best friend Jane Poutney, 49, while on holiday in Cape Verde in May 2014.
He is due to appear in court on Wednesday after being charged with assaulting girlfriend Stephanie Davis.

But Jeremy McConnell cut a casual figure as he headed to the gym in Liverpool on Tuesday, as it emerged that the pair have blocked each other on social media once again.

The 27-year-old reportedly 'isn't happy' about his imminent court appearance, which is said to have caused the latest row to have spilled over online.

Heading to the gym: Jeremy McConnell made his way to the gym in Liverpool on Tuesday, as it emerged that he and Stephanie Davis have blocked each other on social media once again

A source told The Sun: 'Jeremy isnt happy about having to go to court tomorrow.

'As usual theyve unfollowed one another which is standard procedure between them after a bust-up.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Stephanie and Jeremy for comment.

On/off relationship: It comes as it was revealed that Jeremy is due to appear in court on Wednesday after being charged with assaulting Stephanie

The report of another row came as Jeremy stepped out in his workout gear as he made his way to the gym.

He layered a cropped hooded top over a long white T-shirt, which he teamed with a pair of grey jogging bottoms.

He finished off the sporty ensemble with a pair of grey trainers and a black rucksack.

Jeremy showed off his extensive collection of tattoos, including on his forearms and his neck, as he made his way to the gym.

Sporty: The reality star layered a cropped hooded top over a long white T-shirt, which he teamed with a pair of grey jogging bottoms

Gym gear: He finished off the ensemble with a pair of grey trainers and a black rucksack

It was revealed on Tuesday that Jeremy is due to appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, after being charged with assault.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police told MailOnline: 'We can confirm Jeremy McConnell, 27, of Swords, Ireland has been charged with assault and criminal damage following an incident in Rainhill on 9 March 2017.'

Former Hollyoaks actress Stephanie was reportedly 'shaken' after calling the police on Jeremy at the home she shares with their four-month-old son Caben-Albi.

Jeremy has previously vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

Health kick: Jeremy has been focusing on his health since completing a stint in rehab for alcohol addiction

Court appearance: He is due to appear at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, after being charged with assault

The couple have been trying to rebuild their relationship following Jeremy's stint in rehab.

Stephanie vowed to quit drink for her beau last week, after posting an incoherent tweet about cheating last Wednesday.

It read: 'Someone who gives you and doesnt answer, dont I. There beat a cheat n always n in.'

The post was reportedly deleted 20 minutes later, but Jeremy blocked the star following the bust up on holiday.

After their fall-out, Stephanie posted a loved-up Instagram snap of her and Jeremy on Friday.

She captioned it with the words: 'Proud of this one. What a man he's become. Hope I can make you proud the way you have made me #growtogether #lovetogether#sticktogether#wifeyforlifey'.
It appears as if Jennifer Garner is buying fresh home goods after her ex moved out.

The 45-year-old Miracles From Heaven star was seen heading to Williams-Sonoma - a chain store that is known for high-end kitchen supplies as well as china and furniture - in Los Angeles on Monday for a shopping trip.

This comes after E! News claimed her estranged husband Ben Affleck had moved out of their shared $45m mansion in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of LA.

New stuff: Jennifer Garner was visiting home goods store Williams-Sonoma in LA on Monday

The actress wore a blue V-neck sweater with skinny jeans and no-nonsense black loafers.

The beauty added a silver necklace and matching bracelet with a large watch and held on to her cell phone.

The Alias vet also wore no makeup and large sunglasses with what appeared to be wet locks parted in the middle.

Casual customer: The Alias vet also wore no makeup and large sunglasses with what appeared to be wet locks parted in the middle

His OLD digs: Affleck reportedly moved out of his family home - worth $45m - earlier this month

Affleck reportedly moved out of his family home earlier this month.

The 44-year-old actor had been continuing to live with his estranged wife and their three children - Violet, 11, Seraphina, eight and Samuel, five - despite officially filing for divorce from the actress last month, but it has now been reported he has moved into a new home 'nearby'.

A source close to Jennifer told E! News: 'They didn't want to alarm the kids or have them feel like Ben was leaving, so he has slowly moved out over time. But, as of Monday, he will be living at his new home.'

Doting dad: Ben Affleck, 44, carried son Samuel, five, on his shoulders as he walked hand in hand with daughters Seraphina, eight, and Violet, 11, after church on Sunday in LA

'They really want the kids to continue with their same routine and have assured them that that's not going to change. However, in the next few weeks, they will start to spend regular time at Ben's house as well.'

The insider insists the change of address for the Live By Night actor won't make a difference to the family dynamic.

They added: 'They will continue to spend holidays together and take family vacations. Nothing is going to change from the past two years, other than that he will be living in a separate house nearby.'

Focused on their kids: Garner, 45, seemed equally relaxed as the family sticks to its regular routine despite the couple's divorce finally moving ahead after a two-year separation

They were seen together going to church on Sunday as usual.

The actor, who is working on his sobriety following a stint in rehab, was a doting dad as he carried his youngest, Samuel on his shoulders while holding hands with daughters Violet and Seraphina.

Garner seemed equally relaxed as the family sticks to its regular routine.

The celebrity couple finally decided last month to move ahead with divorce after almost two years of separation, seeking to formally end their marriage after more than a decade.

Style: The Dallas Buyer's Club star revealed her decolletage in a light pink v-neck sweater paired with distressed jeans and pale espadrilles

They have agreed to share physical and legal custody of their children, according to court documents.

Both stars were casually dressed for church.

Garner paired a pale pink v-neck sweater with distressed jeans and pink espadrilles.

She donned retro shades and a large dark tote over her shoulder.

Affleck wore dark denims with gray lace-up sneakers, a blue t-shirt and a blue bomber jacket.
She has already enjoyed trips to Morocco and the Maldives with her beau in 2017 so far.

And Tiffany Watson showed off her impeccable bikini body once again on Tuesday, as she jetted to the Seychelles with Sam Thompson, for her third holiday of the year.

The blonde beauty, 24, showed off her enviably toned physique and flat stomach in a tiny black bikini as she sipped from a coconut in a stunning beach snap, posted to Instagram.

Scroll down for video

Gorgeous: Tiffany Watson showed off her impeccable bikini body once again on Tuesday, as she jetted to the Seychelles with Sam Thompson, for her third holiday of the year

The stunner looked truly stunning in the social media snap, which saw her pose against the idyllic island backdrop in a classic black bikini.

Sporting a string triangle top and equally skimpy briefs, her swimwear left her impressively toned stomach and enviably tiny waist on show as she cooled off in the sunshine with a refreshing coconut drink.

While her abs stole the show in the shot, Tiffany's radiant complexion was also clear to see with her hair swept into a loose bun, and nothing but sunglasses on her face.

Beach bod: Tiffany appears to have headed to the islands with her boyfriend Sam, who was also quick to post a selfie of him on the beach on his own Instagram (above)

Clearly relaxed as she soaked up some Vitamin D on the beach, she captioned the image for fans: 'Fresh coconuts and Ray Bans. Holiday essentials'

Tiffany has headed to the islands with her boyfriend Sam, who was also quick to post a selfie of him on the beach on his own Instagram.

The Made In Chelsea star showed off his own ripped physique as he walked along the sand in vibrant green swim shorts, writing to followers: 'I'm coming for ya Monday!' before adding jokingly: 'Not looking white at all...'

Jet-setters: The loved-up pair have already enjoyed trips to Morocco and the Maldives (above) in 2017 so far

Loved-up: They proved their relationship was still going strong on a night out in London last month, when they were seen locking lips in the back of their taxi (above)

The pair appear to be enjoying a romantic holiday together, after proving their relationship was still going strong on a night out in London last month.

Heading home in a taxi from an event in Camden, Sam was seen getting very amorous with his girl as he cuddled up to Tiffany and planted a smacker on her lips.

The duo, who have been together for almost three years, appear to have recovered from their fallout in Mauritius over Made In Chelsea newcomer Ella Willis earlier this year.

Back on track: The duo, who have been together for almost three years appear to have recovered from their fallout in Mauritius over Made In Chelsea newcomer Ella Willis

However, Sam then become embroiled in a row with pal Jamie Laing, after he was seen meddling in Sam and Tiffany's relationship.

The couple had been bickering over settling down, so Jamie warned Tiffany that if she continues to put pressure on Sam to take their relationship to the next level, he is 'never going to want to get married'.

Sam took offence at Jamie's advice and confronted him for speaking to Tiffany, claiming that he could go to Jamie's girlfriend Frankie Gaff and tell her that the reality star is constantly telling him he 'doesn't want to be in a relationship'.

Their heated row resulted in Jamie telling Louise Thompson's younger brother to 'f**k off' - with things escalating in the following episode when Sam even threw a drink over Jamie.
Chrissy Teigen was spotted Monday looking quite comfortable crossing a parking lot at what appeared to have been a photo-shoot in Hollywood.

Mrs. John Legend had slid on a thin robe with pale pink floral patterns spattered all over a dull purple field, slinging a bulging denim sack from her right shoulder.

The 31-year-old showed off her mouth-guard on Snapchat that day, baring her teeth in a post that showed her in the same robe she'd been spotted in earlier on.

Scroll down for video

On the move: Chrissy Teigen was spotted Monday looking quite comfortable crossing a parking lot at what appeared to have been a photo-shoot in Hollywood

'Life of a grind,' captioned Chrissy, who's spoken previously of her teeth-grinding, and who attributed the habit to President Donald Trump on Twitter last Wednesday.

She wrote that she's 'so fucking tired of this manically insane, incompetent president and this dumpster fire administration I'm gonna have to go on another med'.

The mother of one insisted: '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.'

Strolling in slippers: Mrs. John Legend had slid on a thin robe with pale pink floral patterns spattered all over a dull purple field, slinging a bulging denim sack from her right shoulder

She went on to write: 'Today I had a tooth shaved down because crippling anxiety makes me grind and rock my teeth on one side. I blame trump.'

To hear her tell it, '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'.

Yet she did go on to say of the jaw muscle Botox injections she's apparently had: 'Politics aside, I feel relief for the first time in many months. It really works.'

Tricks of the trade: The 31-year-old showed off her mouth-guard on Snapchat that day, baring her teeth in a post that showed her in the same robe she'd been spotted in earlier on

Placing blame: 'Life of a grind,' captioned Chrissy, who's spoken previously of her tooth-grinding, and who attributed the habit to President Donald Trump on Twitter last Wednesday

Chrissy had dished teeth-grinding during a 2014 interview she gave Food Republic about an episode of Esquire Network's The Getaway that whisked her to Bangkok.

Saying: 'I had maybe, like, three different sets of teeth in this filming,' she confided: 'I had chipped my front tooth. Im a grinder. I grind like crazy at night time.'

As a result, 'I had temporary teeth in that I actually ground-off on the flight to Thailand,' she said, recalling that 'I had just woken up on the flight and pulled my lip open and it was full of my temporaries. I had ground them down.'

Holding forth: She wrote that she's 'so fucking tired of this manically insane, incompetent president and this dumpster fire administration I'm gonna have to go on another med'

Said she: 'The first stop upon landing was the dentist. Thank god my Mom was there. Thank God we were staying at some place as wonderful as the Mandarin Oriental; they set us up at a hospital nearby. I had fake teeth glued on and then we started filming, like immediately. I was so thrown and so embarrassed of my teeth.'

Bizarrely, 'Then what ended up happening is, I ate my own tooth in the oyster omelet, which was so good. And I was so mad! I would have loved for that scene to be really long but Id eaten my own tooth.'

She quipped: 'A lot of people dont like pictures of them eating. Ive never cared about things like that. I was just more thrown by like: "Oh my god, is my tooth going to fall out on camera? This is going to be horrible."'

Throwback: Chrissy had dished tooth-grinding during a 2014 interview she gave Food Republic about an episode of Esquire Network's The Getaway that whisked her to Bangkok
Kylie Jenner and her mother Kris helped brighten up the day of families at a hospital in Lima, Peru on Tuesday.

The reality stars posed for photographs with various fans at the medical facility.

Kylie, 19, and her mother, 61, had stopped by the hospital on behalf of Smile Train, a non-profit organization that provides free surgeries to repair the cleft lip or palete of children living in developing countries.

Warming hearts: Kylie Jenner and her mother Kris made the day of fans as they visited families at a hospital in Lima, Peru on Tuesday

A Smile Train ambassador, it's an organization that clearly holds a special place in Kylie's heart.

Kylie and her mother looked truly touched to be spending some time with families at the hospital.

The stars gushed over a young child who slumbered in a woman's arms.

Last year Kylie announced she had developed a limited edition shade for her Lip Kit specifically for the organization.

Aww: The stars gushed over a young child who slumbered in a woman's arms

Near and dear: A Smile Train ambassador, it's an organization that clearly holds a special place in Kylie's heart

A hundred percent of net profits from the shade, called Smile, were donated to the charity.

It raised nearly half a million dollars in it's two runs, according to People.

Smile Train CEO Susannah Schaefer raved about Kylie's generosity when speaking with the website.

'Kylie has a beautiful smile herself, yet we were most impressed with her selflessness, huge heart and extremely generous giving spirit.

'Everyone here at Smile Train, and all of the cleft children around the world that she has helped, couldnt be more grateful.'

Giving back: Proceeds from the shade, called Smile, were donated to the charity
She excitedly announced she was expecting her second child with husband Adi Ezra, in March.

And Bar Refaeli was sure to take some time off and relax ahead of her new arrival, as she enjoyed a quiet dinner in Ibiza with her family on Friday.

The Israeli model, 31, stunned in a casually-chic red jumpsuit, which skimmed over her blossoming bump, as she joined her mother Tzipi Levine for an alfresco meal on the island.

Scroll down for video

Chilling out: Bar Refaeli was sure to take some time off and relax ahead of her new arrival, as she enjoyed a quiet dinner in Ibiza with her mother Tzipi Levine (L) on Tuesday

The stunning model proved her winning sense of style had not faltered in pregnancy, as she ventured to her sunset dinner in a chic red one-piece.

The jumpsuit, patterned with flowers all over, maintained a bohemian vibe with its loose fitting sleeves and trousers - which skimmed her famously slender legs as well as her ever-growing bump.

Keeping warm during the evening however, the blonde then added a thin denim jacket, which she tied around her waist, and draped a blue linen scarf effortlessly around her neck.

Red hot! The stunning model proved her winning sense of style had not faltered in pregnancy, as she ventured to her sunset dinner in a chic red one-piece

The model, who once dated Leonardo DiCaprio, kept all eyes on her chic outfit with simple brown sandals, and accessorised with a white fedora, in a trendy finishing touch.

Adding only dark sunglasses to her face, Bar showed off her natural beauty and enviably glowing skin as she happily chatted to her mother outside the eatery.

First chatting on the phone prior to the meal, Bar then later joined her mother and a host of other family members for a hike across their stunning surroundings, to walk off their meal at the local cafe.

Fashionista: The model, who once dated Leonardo DiCaprio, kept all eyes on her chic outfit with simple brown sandals, and accessorised with a white fedora, in a trendy finishing touch

Bar has been heavily documenting her family holiday to Ibiza on Instagram so far.

The supermodel - who confirmed her pregnancy news on her social media in March - showcased her ever-growing bump in full as she posed in an emerald green bikini on Sunday.

Soaking up the sun, she showcased her slender pins while resting on a towel covered sun lounger in her tie-side bikini bottoms.

Sun soaked: Bar has been heavily documenting her family holiday to Ibiza on Instagram so far, sharing a snap of her blossoming bump in a green bikini on Sunday

The fashion star teased at her straw hat in the candid snap which highlighted her radiant pregnancy glow.

Sharing the darling snap with her 2.5 million followers, she wrote: 'Baby wanted some vitamin D'.

Bar is expecting her second child with businessman husband Adi Ezra, and confirmed the happy news by posting a sweet snap of her growing baby bump on her Instagram page on March 28.

Sweet: Bar is expecting her second child with businessman husband Adi Ezra and confirmed the happy news by posting a sweet snap of her growing baby bump on her Instagram page on March 28

It's just eight months since the couple - who tied the knot in their native Israel in September 2015 - welcomed their baby daughter Liv in August 2016.

Bar playfully wrote alongside the shot: 'Something's cooking'.

The catwalk queen showed off her blossoming bump by posing in a crop top and low-slung jeans as she snapped away on her mobile phone in front of the mirror.

Baby on board: The catwalk queen showed off her blossoming bump by posing in a crop top and low-slung jeans as she snapped away on her mobile phone in front of the mirror

Sealed with a kiss: The former girlfriend of Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio announced her first pregnancy via Instagram last January

The former girlfriend of Hollywood star Leonardo announced her first pregnancy via Instagram last January.

In an interview with Hello! Fashion Monthly in 2015, the model admitted family is everything to her and she's planning to have a large brood.

'I think this will be a decade of family...I come from a family of four children,' she told the publication. A lot of mums could read this and think, "Yeah, try having one first". Hopefully, Ill have a big family, but Ill take it one by one.

A regular on the 100 sexiest women lists, the free-spirited model has fronted campaigns for brands ranging from Chanel and Escada to Reebok and Gap.
She recently hit back at an Instagram troll who made cruel anorexic comments under a throwback snap of her in peak physical condition.

And Christine McGuinness, 29, looked absolutely incredible as she headed out for a spot of shopping in Alderley Edge, Cheshire on Tuesday.

The wife of TV host Paddy McGuinness, who welcomed her youngest daughter Felicity Rose in September, showed off her amazing figure in a tight white top and thigh high boots.

Scroll down for video

Casual day out: Christine McGuinness, 29, looked absolutely incredible as she headed out for a spot of shopping in Alderley Edge, Cheshire on Tuesday

Christina went casually chic for her outing in the monochrome ensemble which consisted of the La Joie de Vivre top, skinny jeans and super trendy black boots.

Her loose blonde locks framed her stunning features, which were clad in a pair of shades to combat the lingering sunny rays.

A chic black gold chained handbag was effortlessly draped over one shoulder and in the other hand she held on to a food shopper.

Her outing comes after she responded to the nasty furore of a troll under an ab-flaunting photo - who made horrible comments under a throwback snap of hers.

Stepping out: The wife of TV host Paddy McGuinness, who welcomed her youngest daughter Felicity Rose in September, looked sensational as she showed off her amazing figure in a tight white top and thigh high boots

Looking good: Christina went casually chic for her outing in the monochrome ensemble which consisted of the La Joie de Vivre top, skinny jeans and super trendy black boots

She hit back by revealing that she had suffered from an eating disorder in her youth that pushed her to contemplate suicide.

Making the brave admission, the former Miss Liverpool added that she 'wished' she had seen more images promoting fitness and health in her teenage years which would have taught her about the benefits of being strong.

She wrote under the snap, which was captioned 'Morning workout done': 'Do your research, I myself suffered with an eating disorder as a teenager and at my lowest point I often thought about ending my life.

Under fire: This comes after the beauty came under ire by one of her followers, who made cruel anorexic comments under a throwback snap of her in peak physical condition last week

'I wish someone had taught me about the benefits that healthy eating and exercise can give you on the inside and on the outside of your body a lot sooner. I wish I had seen more photos promoting health and fitness instead of all the 'skinny' photos that did and still do cover our magazines.

Adding: 'It is so important that young girls see they can look great and eat loads with the right food and exercise, including treats! Trust me, building muscle without food is not going to happen, you simply wouldn't achieve this look with anorexia.'

Now a mother to three beautiful children, she acknowledged she is not yet back to the same shape but thanked the woman for bringing her attention to the snap so she can use it as motivation throughout her post-baby journey.

Standing strong: The wife of TV host Paddy McGuinness responded to the nasty furore under the photo - which was posted in August 2015 - by explaining she had suffered from an eating disorder in her youth that pushed her to contemplate suicide (Pictured in 2016)

Brave: Making the brave admission, the former Miss Liverpool added that she 'wished' she had seen more images promoting fitness and health in her teenage years which would have taught her about the benefits of being strong

'Also, mothers to mother.. you know how our bodies dramatically change through pregnancy, I gained 6st during my first pregnancy and lost it all with exercise at home and healthy food,' she added. 'I'm now 7 months post partum after baby 3 and I have almost lost the 4.5stone I gained.

'I don't look like this photo anymore but nether the less I praise my body for what it has been through and what I have achieved.

Continuing: 'Finally, I thank you for bringing this photo back to my attention as I have doubted if I will ever get back in shape now I have very little free time with 3 young children, but you have reminded me that I will because I've done it before, I can do it again.'

Hitting back: The wife of actor and TV host Paddy McGuinness responded to the nasty furore under the ab-flaunting photo - which was posted in August 2015 - by explaining she too suffered from an eating disorder in her youth that pushed her to contemplate suicide

Can't stop: Despite her heartfelt response, it appeared her honest message fell on deaf ears as the woman commented that she 'missed her point'

Despite her heartfelt response, it appeared her honest message fell on deaf ears as the woman commented that she 'missed her point'.

The fitness fanatic has been open in documenting her journey to get back to her pre-baby body.

After sharing plenty of updates on her progress to social media in recent months, Christine revealed in January: 'I've lost 3 stone in 3 months just 1 stone to go to get back to me pre-pregnancy weight.

'I gained 4 stone during this pregnancy which is nothing compared to the 6 stone I gained carrying my twins 3 years ago! Honestly though... I'm really not in any rush to tackle that last stone, it's not about what I weight, it's about how I feel and I feel pretty good.

Hard at it: The fitness fanatic has been open in documenting her journey to get back to her pre-baby body

She added: 'I would love to tone up and see my abs again for summer, but I can only do this if and when it woks around my babies. I'm grateful my body has given me 3 miracles.'

The young mum previously claimed she 'hasn't got time to exercise' but is looking incredible just six months after expanding her brood.

Christine and comedian Paddy - who married in June 2011 - welcomed their youngest child Felicity Rose on September 9 last year and they are also parents to three-year-old twins Penelope and Leo.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details.
She sure looks flipping happy.

Christina El Moussa lit up Orange County with her smile on Monday as she met up with a male friend.

The Flip Or Flop star and her companion greeted each other with a warm hug before heading off to grab a coffee.

Flipping happy: Christina El Moussa lit up Orange County with her smile on Monday as she met up with a male friend

The 33-year-old looked fantastic in grey skinny jeans and black studded boots, her svelte black top showing off her shoulders and just a hint of midriff.

Shy stylishly accessorized in oversize shades, large gold hoops and a cute Louis Vuitton purse.

Her male friend, dressed all in dark, wore an ear-piece and a small walkie-talkie, hinting he was either security of involved in the show's production.

Last year the TV realtor separated from husband and co-host Tarek; last week she insisted she has not hooked up with him since.

Close: The Flip Or Flop star and her companion greeted each other with a warm hug before heading off the grab a coffee

'I have never gone back in the ex category,' she told E!'s Daily Pop Friday, adding that it's not something she's planning on doing again.

The Orange County, California native said that she and Tarek are 'actually really good' in their relationship, amid recent joint appearances at the at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles and February's Investor Summit in Las Vegas.

'We've been separated for almost a year now,' said Christina, about six months after their December 12 separation filing and Tarek's January 10 divorce filing following seven years of marriage.

Revelation: The 33-year-old, told E! News that she hasn't had sex with ex Tarek since their split late last year

On track: Christina said that she and Tarek have been getting along swimmingly as they co-parent their kids and work on their TV series

In the limelight: The HGTV personality sat down with E!'s Daily Pop Friday for a light chat

Christina said she and Tarek have 'made a lot of progress on our relationship' as they raise six-month-old daughter Taylor and one-year-old son Brayden.

'We're just really focused on the kids, and we're really excited to start on 15 new episodes of Flip Or Flop.'

She said their recent appearance at the Emmys 'was actually great' and 'really fun,' as it marked their 'first time on the red carpet.'

Bright smiles: Christina and Tarek smiled as they appeared at a Las Vegas convention in February

'We had a great time presenting,' she said. 'Hopefully we're able to do it again soon.'

The blonde beauty previously told the network, 'Dating is not my priority,' noting, 'It's a little bit of a scary world out there.

'If I met someone, then that happens,' the HGTV star said. 'But I'm not really out there looking for that.'

Their breakup was muddied by allegations of other relationships - Christina with contractor, Gary Anderson; and it was claimed Tarek with the family's one-time nanny, Alyssa Logan - but both subsequently denied any extramarital relations.
She has already jetted off to the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Paris and Dubai this year.

And Louise Thompson, 27, proved that she wasn't content with life back on home turf as she took to Instagram to upload the very first snap from her fifth getaway of the year.

The Made In Chelsea star - who is joined on the holiday with beau Ryan Libbey, 26 - looked absolutely jaw-dropping as she showcased her impeccably chiselled torso in a tiny coral bikini.





Scroll down for video

Good for some! Louise Thompson, 27, looked absolutely jaw-dropping as she showcased her impeccably chiselled torso in a tiny coral bikini in the first snap from her Greek getaway

Louise teased what was to come in the following days with the titillating snap, which saw her gym-honed abs on full display.

The minuscule halterneck style bikini top, with a bedazzled silver fastening in between, held her assets in place.

The matching bottoms rested low on her hips with the bow-tie detailing and flaunted her lean, honed legs.

Louise, who donned a pair of super cool shades, looked off into the distance while her dip-dyed brunette locks billowed in the slight breeze.

Loved-up getaway: The Made in Chelsea star will be joined on her fifth holiday of the year with her personal trainer beau Ryan Libbey, 26

Passionate traveller: Louise has already enjoyed four holidays this year - including two in January to the Maldives and Sri Lanka

Envy-inducing: Last month, she also headed to Dubai and Paris - where her social media display was nothing short of spectacular

The beauty, who already sported an immaculate tan, captioned the snap: 'We arrived in Kefallinia checked into our beautiful room @f_zeen_retreat now time to explore and book some yoga classes. bikini @bahimibeachwear.'

Louise soared to fame on the E4 show in 2011's second season, where she was introduced as Spencer Matthews' girlfriend before becoming a central character with her convoluted love life playing out on-screen.

After dating stars including Jamie Laing, Andy Jordan and Alik Alfus, she found love with personal trainer Ryan who she kept secret for five months after falling for him over gym sessions.

Famous: Louise soared to fame on the E4 show in 2011's second season, where she was introduced as Spencer Matthews' girlfriend before becoming a central character with her convoluted love life playing out on-screen

In love: After dating stars including Jamie Laing, Andy Jordan and Alik Alfus, she found love with personal trainer Ryan who she kept secret for five months after falling for him over gym sessions

And it seems like the pair are incredibly smitten as they have enjoyed a slew of envy-inducing holidays this year - including two in January to the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Last month, she also headed to Dubai and Paris - where her social media display was nothing short of spectacular.

Last week, Louise shared a cheeky snap of her personal trainer beau's bum as he strolled around the bedroom stark naked.

With his burly physique, it's no wonder that he's helped whip her into tip-top physical shape since they started working out together last year.

'Lol at this view!' Last week, Louise shared a cheeky snap of her personal trainer beau's bum as he strolled around the bedroom stark naked




The new trailer for Orange Is The New Black shows Litchfield in revolt.

The intense teaser for season five opens exactly where season four left off: with Daya pointing a gun at a kneeling guard during a prison riot caused by Poussey's death.

Scroll down for video

Trouble: The new trailer for Orange Is The New Black shows Litchfield in revolt

In the upcoming season, set over three days, the women take control of the penitentiary... much to the disbelief of warden Joe Caputo.

'We're all angry. You done a girl wrong Mr Caputo,' Taystee tells him. 'And we want justice.'

The inmates unite to draft a list of demands, which Alison Abdullah begins to read aloud: 'To whom it may concern: We the inmates of Lichfield are human beings. We are protesting the use of conditions under which we are being held...'

Previously: The intense teaser for season five opens exactly where season four left off: with Daya pointing a gun at a kneeling guard

Angry: The prison descended into a riot after Poussey's death

Face-off: 'We're all angry. You done a girl wrong Mr Caputo,' Taystee tells him. 'And we want justice.'

Taystee elaborates on their plight: You get whats going on here? We get beat for no reason. We stuffed four in a bunk like we're factory chickens. We're denied basic humanity.'

The dark and intense clip is interspersed with brief moments of comedy, like when Flaca and Maritza doll themselves up for the descending press photographers.

'We're going to be super famous!' the former squeals. 'Dont forget to smize!' the later reminds her.

Violent: The guards can be seen tangling with the inmates

Sad: A dejected Sophia (Laverne Cox) can be seen chained to a wall

To whom it may concern: The inmates unite to draft a list of demands, which Alison Abdullah begins to read aloud

The scant-seen Piper, after offering her assistance, is told 'They ain't gonna like you.' 'Story of my life,' she replies.

As Alison collects demand suggestions from the inmates blacked-out cafeteria, she encourages them that no idea is a bad idea.

'Ice cream Sunday bar! Latin class! An anti gravity chamber... we could float around and do flips and stuff!' come the replies.

Don't forget to smize: The dark and intense clip is interspersed with brief moments of comedy, like when Flaca and Maritza doll themselves up for the descending press photographers

Girls in charge: In the upcoming season, set over three days, the women take control of the penitentiary

There she is: The scant-seen Piper, after offering her assistance, is told 'They ain't gonna like you.' 'Story of my life,' she replies

However, the moment in the trailer that tickled most YouTube commenters was the caption at the end which read 'Only on Netflix.'

Last month a hacker named The Dark Overlord obtained the first ten episodes of season five and leaked them online after demanding a ransom from Netflix.

All 13 episodes of OITNB stream on Netflix from June 9.

Nope: However, the moment in the trailer that tickled most YouTube commenters was the caption at the end which read 'Only on Netflix.'

Leak: Last month a hacker named The Dark Overlord obtained the first ten episodes of season five and leaked them online after demanding a ransom from Netflix
The second season of The Grand Tour is due to hit Amazon Prime in autumn.

And Ex-Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson were spotted filming for the eagerly anticipated show on the island of Pag in Croatia on Tuesday.

Richard, 47, looked like a pro as he hopped into an Ariel Nomad as cameras rolled, while Jeremy, 57, got comfortable in a bright blue Audi.

Scroll down for video

Motor lover: Richard Hammond, 47, was spotted filming for second season of The Grand Tour on the island of Pag in Croatia on Tuesday

Having fun: He was joined by Jeremy Clarkson, 57, who looked in high spirits for the day of filming

The men looked in great spirits as filming for the show commenced at the ferry dock Zigljen for the day.

While Jeremy got comfortable in a standard vehicle, Richard kept his adrenaline up by getting strapped into the red four by four.

As cameras rolled, it looked like the two motor lovers were in the midst of competition to see who could go quicker.

Jeremy seemed to have taken the lead, with the Audi powering past the go-kart buggy.

Location: Filming for the show began commencing at the ferry dock Zigljen for the day

Trying something new: Richard kept his adrenaline up by getting strapped into the red Ariel Nomad

Chilling: Jeremy got comfortable in a blue Audi

James May, who is also a presenter on the show, was nowhere to be seen during the day of filming.

Speaking about the release of the second season, Clarkson gave some insight while promoting their new website DriveTribe on a Facbook livestream.

'It will go out this year at the same time the last one went out whenever that was,' he revealed - hinting at an autumn release after season one premiered in November.

Filming for the second season hasn't been without its setbacks though, as Hammond reportedly injured himself during a motorbike crash in Africa.

Rat race: As cameras rolled, it looked like the two motor lovers were in the midst of competition to see who could go quicker

'It will go out at the same time as last year': Speaking about the release of the second season, Clarkson gave some insight recently

Richard confirmed the accident on DriveTribe, stating: 'Thanks for enquiries re my slight shunt whilst filming for GT. I can confirm that yes, I fell off a bike, many times, in fact and yes, I banged my head and everything else. But life goes on.'

With footage of the crash expected to appear in the upcoming season, Hammond added: 'Can't tell you more yet about the how and why of it; that's all for later in the year on the show.'

The father of Richard also recently spoke of his relief after his son survived a second 'horror crash' while filming for the TV series in Mozambique.

Horror: Filming for the second season hasn't been without its setbacks though, as Hammond reportedly injured himself during a motorbike crash in Africa

The star, who sustained brain injuries after a 288mph rocket car accident in 2006, toppled off his motorcycle and banged his head while riding through a 'remote' part of Mozambique.

Alan Hammond said he spoke to his son on the phone this morning with the TV presenter reassuring him that he had fully recovered from the terrifying incident.

Alan, 73, said: 'Richard called this morning and he said everything is fine. He has fully recovered and is all okay.

'Yes, I fell off my bike': Richard confirmed the accident on DriveTribe

Accident: The star, who sustained brain injuries after a 288mph rocket car accident in 2006, toppled off his motorcycle and banged his head while riding through a 'remote' part of Mozambique

'He does have a habit of getting involved in things like this, but then that is his job.'

About the incident, a source told The Sun: 'Richard was travelling quite fast when he came off. It caused instant horror on set. There was a lot of concern.'

Jeremy, who is in a relationship with Lisa Hogan, 46, also added: 'He really did hurt himself quite badly.'

While last year the show visited the likes of Finland, South Africa and Dubai, this year they will also visit the US and Georgia.

Trio: James May (L) is also a presenter on the series but wasn't filming on Tuesday




He previously admitted that he was nervous ahead of his Eurovision debut.

And Isaiah Firebrace advanced to the grand final after performing at the first semi-final in Kiev, Ukraine on Tuesday, despite missing a high note.

The 17-year-old X Factor Australia winner was halfway through his ballad Don't Come Easy when he stumbled on a high note.

He made it! Isaiah Firebrace advanced to the grand final after performing at the first semi-final in Kiev, Ukraine on Tuesday, despite missing a high note

Despite the hiccup, the talented teen from Moama generated applause from the audience and fans flocked to Twitter to commend him.

'Sooooo proud of you! @IsaiahFirebrace,' one tweet read.

Another fan noted: '... Amazing performance!!'

Stumbling: The 17-year-old X Factor Australia winner was halfway through his ballad Don't Come Easy when he stumbled on a high note

What a show! Despite the hiccup, the talented teen from Moama generated applause from the audience and fans flocked to Twitter to commend him

Praise: Fans hailed his powerful performance on social media

High hopes: The deep-voiced star is expected to perform again on Friday, with the hopes of progressing to the grand final on Sunday

The deep-voiced star is expected to perform again on Friday, before the grand final on Sunday.

Isaiah follows the likes of Dami Im and Guy Sebastian, who represented Australia in previous Eurovision competitions.

During his dress rehearsal on Monday, Isaiah nailed his performance.

He stood on a large rotating podium as an enormous version of his own image was projected behind him.

A star is born: Isaiah follows the likes of Dami Im and Guy Sebastian, who represented Australia in previous Eurovision competitions

Talented: The singer won the eighth season of The X Factor Australia in 2016

High spirits: Isaiah appeared to be feeling confident after his perfomance

Time for a selfie: The singer made the most of his free time as he waited for results

Image of large water drops were also projected throughout the massive image which was changed between blue and pink hues.

The teen's hair appeared to be blowing up behind him during more dramatic moments of the song for added affect.

The former reality star has been taking the rehearsals very seriously as he's aware that he could be judged from day one.

'Apparently judges and fans watch (some) rehearsals,' Isaiah told the Daily Telegraph last week.

Impressive! During his dress rehearsal on Monday, Isaiah nailed his performance

'It will be weird to sing how I am going to sing in the semi-final because with me, with rehearsals, I do it probably about 70 per cent and then let go on the night,' he continued.

He added that he will wont give it his all until it comes to the final, saying, 'I'll let go on the night' .

Isaiah dad revealed in an earlier interview with The Daily Telegraph that, 'Eurovision is crucial for my career. You want to get on that and not stuff up the biggest performance of your career.'

Bells and whistles: The teen stood on a large rotating podium for the practice performance of his track Don't Come Easy, as an enormous version of his own image was projected behind him

He also insisted that there's no rivalry between himself and other contestants.

'Since when is Eurovision about hate? Everyone is here to win, we are here to win, it's not a cocky thing and this is more like a fun competition,' he said.

Isaiah will represent Australia at international singing contest, scheduled to kick off on May 9, at Kyiv in Ukraine.
She's an international star and busy mum-of-two.

But Penelope Cruz took time out of her busy schedule on Tuesday to attend the Carpisa Italy store launch at the Italian Embassy in Madrid.

Oozing star quality, the 43-year-old Spanish actress looked chic in a white summer dress.

Scroll down for video

Hot stuff! Penelope Cruz took time out of her busy schedule on Tuesday to attend the Carpisa Italy store launch at the Italian Embassy in Madrid

The ankle-skimming number featured a pretty cross-strap across the front, and hugged her slender figure perfectly.

Decorated with diagonal black stripes, she teamed the number with open-toe black pumps and a white flower-embellished handbag.

Leaving her trademark luscious brunette tresses loose around her shoulders, she smiled happily as she posed for pictures.

Turning heads: Oozing star quality, the 43-year-old Spanish actress looked chic in a white summer dress

Meanwhile her husband Javier Bardem recently opened up about their marriage, admitting he thought twice about dating Penelope Cruz because she's so fiery.

The couple have been married for seven years and share two children, but their love got off to such an explosive start it almost didn't happen.

The 48-year-old actor told GQ, his wife's on-set passion both drew him to her and also made him worried for their future.

Chic: The ankle-skimming number featured a pretty cross-strap across the front, and hugged her slender figure perfectly

The couple fell for each other while starring in the Woody Allen-directed 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in 2008.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star-told the magazine Penelope boasts the same fiery personality as her on-screen character Maria Elena and that led Javier to question whether the actress was right for him.

Javier shared: 'Oh, boy. She has that feistiness. There are those scenes where we are arguing, she's throwing plates and so on.

Monochrome madness! Decorated with diagonal black stripes, she teamed the number with open-toe black pumps and a white flower-embellished handbag

Natural: Leaving her trademark luscious brunette tresses loose around her shoulders, she smiled happily as she posed for pictures

No wallflower! Her husband Javier Bardem recently opened up about their marriage, admitting he thought twice about dating Penelope Cruz because she's so fiery

'I had to wonder, ''Do I really want this?'' She has what I call the loving blood. Passion for everything.'

But Javier in the end fell for her after deciding that Penelope's passionate personality is what makes her both beautiful and sexy.

He told GQ magazine: 'That's what I find attractive. There is beauty and there is being sexy. Penelope has both.'

Penelope won an Academy Award for playing Javier's emotionally unstable love interest in the movie, which also starred Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall.

Taken: The couple have been married for seven years and share two children, but their love got off to such an explosive start it almost didn't happen

Right in white! The 48-year-old actor told GQ, his wife's on-set passion both drew him to her and also made him worried for their future

Dazzled: Javier in the end fell for her after deciding that Penelope's passionate personality is what makes her both beautiful and sexy

The couple - who have a son and a daughter together - tied the knot two years later.

Javier also told the magazine that he cannot watch on-screen violence - even though he often plays the bad guy.

The Skyfall star - whose signature nose was created after being broken in a bar fight - said that after being involved in a horrible fight during his youth he struggles to watch violence play out on screen.

He explained: 'From that moment on, I couldn't stand violence. I still can't even watch it. I can't bear it.'

'So if I hate violence so much why did I do No Country For Old Men, right? I know, I know.

'There is beauty and there is being sexy. Penelope has both', Penelope's husband said of her

On-set love: Penelope won an Academy Award for playing Javier's emotionally unstable love interest in the movie

The film that started it all: The couple fell for each other while starring in the Woody Allen-directed 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in 2008

'But you should have seen me off camera, playing Anton on that movie ... when the camera stopped rolling I would beg the Coen brothers ''please take that gun out of my face guys, please...''.

'Man, they would be laughing their asses off. I love them, they're geniuses. But it was tough.'

The award-winning actor will next be seen in the latest installment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales, set for release on May 26.
Its season finale ended with a pet wedding, verbal fight and a glitter bomb.

And the Real Housewives Of Sydney reunion special on Sunday night promises to be just as drama filled, with rivals Athena Levendi, 40, and Victoria Rees, 53, coming to blows.

The Daily Telegraph reports that self-described 'spiritual gangster' Athena had to be physically restrained after threatening to 'f**king smash' Victoria during an off camera incident.

'Athena just really wound herself up': Levendi physically restrained during Real Housewives Of Sydney reunion after threatening to 'f**king smash' Victoria Rees in off camera incident

Athena had to be held back by one of the show's producers as she tried to physically attack Victoria.

The spat began after Victoria had told Athena that she had behaved like an 'a**hole' during the series.

The Greek-raised artist fired back at Victoria: 'You better wash your f**king mouth out. Ill f**king smash you.'

Didn't hold back: The spat began after Victoria had told Athena that she had behaved like an 'a**hole' during the series

Last minute move: The near physical altercation occurred after filming on the emotional reunion had wrapped for the day and the cast were preparing to leave

The near physical altercation occurred after filming on the emotional reunion had wrapped for the day and the cast were preparing to leave.

Real Housewives Of Sydney executive producer Kylie Washington said Athena's sparring was unlike anything she had seen during her time on the franchise in Melbourne and Auckland.

'Athena just really wound herself up ...[and] you need to break them apart and just go, "okay, enough now",' she said.

'Enough now': Real Housewives Of Sydney executive producer Kylie Washington said Athena's fighting was unlike anything she had seen during her time on the franchise

Might not return? Meanwhile Krissy Marsh told News Corp Australia she was 'unsure' as to whether she will return to the franchise for a second reason

Meanwhile Krissy Marsh told News Corp Australia she was 'unsure' as to whether she will return to the franchise for a second reason.

Athena was equally undecided and said she would have to think about things on a higher level before going back on television.

'Id have to go into a very deep meditation, go into another dimension and hopefully meet my guides and ask them,' she explained.

The Real Housewives of Sydney Reunion Special will air on Sunday, May 14, at 8.30pm
She welcomed her first child with husband Thomas Sadoski in March.

And Amanda Seyfried is now getting back to business, showing off her trim post-baby body while out in West Hollywood running errands Monday.

The new mother, 31, put her legs on display in Nike gym shorts - six weeks after welcoming her baby to the world.

Woah mama! Amanda Seyfried stepped out Monday to fetch an iced coffee in West Hollywood less than two months after giving birth to a baby girl with husband Thomas Sadowski

Busy Amanda was on the go, with her lithe legs stemming from practical black gym shorts.

She teamed the shorts with a flowy white top, keeping comfortable during her day out.

While fetching some iced coffee, the Big Love actress's blonde tresses looked effortless, flowing ever so slightly in the LA breeze.

Sporty spice: The Mean Girls actress wore her hair long and loose while running errands, first snagging a coffee before stopping by the local CVS pharmacy for some basics

She complimented the look with a pair of nice sneakers and round sunglasses.

After picking up her daily dose of caffeine, the Pennsylvania native swung by the local CVS pharmacy to pick up a few household basics.

The Les Miserables beauty was noticeably solo during her AM errands, not seen with her newly minted hubby and bouncing baby girl.

In April, Amanda's other half Thomas revealed that the pair were secretly hitched in a quiet ceremony on March 12.

Back to the grind: Seyfried made her first outing in the public eye April 19 at a Beverly Hills gala

During an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, the The Newsroom actor told the host:

'We eloped. We just took off into the country with an officiant and, just the two of us, and we did our thing,' he told the talk show host.

'Listen, shes the person that I love, admire, respect most in the world. It was beautiful It was everything that it should be. It was just the two of us talking to each other.'

The pair welcomed their baby girl less than two weeks later, on March 24.
She's landing a gig as the face of Adidas Originals new footwear design.

And Sofia Richie is obviously committed to her role, as she stepped out in head to toe Adidas on Tuesday.

Clearly keen to showcase the brand, she wore a matching maroon combo of sweatpants and T-shirt, baring the brand's logo and famous stripes.

Scroll down for video

The latest model! Sofia Richie rocks head to toe Adidas after signing on to promote their footwear as she heads out in Los Angeles on Tuesday

All day I dream about Sofia: Obviously keen to showcase the brand, she wore a matching maroon combo of sweatpants and T-shirt, baring the brand's logo and famous stripes

The 18-year-old model joined forces last month with the sportswear giant and Footlocker to launch their latest Iniki design - and has been rocking their clothes ever since.

And the fashion muse - daughter of music legend Lionel Richie and Diane Alexander - was 'so excited' for the latest Adidas design to be unveiled.

Sofia previously shared a picture of her from the campaign on her Instagram account, which she captioned: 'So excited of the release of my new campaign. Check it out #INIKI.'

Stylish: The 18-year-old model joined forces last month with the sportswear giant and Footlocker to launch their latest Iniki design

Meanwhile, the catwalk newcomer has described her style as 'punky' but 'put together', and she believes her style is a mixture between sophisticated glamour and gothic because of her inner 'rebel'.

Speaking previously, she said: 'I'd say I'm a little punky yet a bit put-together all at the same time. It's the rebel in me.'

Famous father: She is the daughter of Lionel Richie

However, Sofia doesn't receive any fashion advice from her half-sister Nicole Richie - who was legally adopted by Lionel when she was nine years old - because the pair have 'different styles'.

Former The Simple Life star Nicole said: 'I'm very particular about my clothes. We have different styles.

'I don't know if I've given her any [style advice].'
She debuted her new man at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday.

And on Tuesday, Rebel Wilson and her boyfriend, stuntman Aden Stay, were out and about in New York City.

The loved up pair were seen waiting curbside, perhaps for a ride, with Rebel, 37, dressed as though she was heading to a gym workout.

Loved up: Rebel Wilson and her boyfriend, stuntman Aden Stay, were out and about in New York City

The actress donned black Nike tights and a matching workout shirt, black cap and pink sneakers.

Her hair in a ponytail, the blonde wore sunglasses and carried in her hand a carton containing a healthy beverage.

Aden, a well known stunt man who has worked in blockbuster films such as Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys, looked spic and span in a blue suit.

He wore a checked blue shirt underneath and accessorised with a brown belt and matching leather shoes.

Date: The loved up pair were seen waiting curbside, perhaps for a ride, with Rebel, 37, dressed as though she had just returned from a gym workout

Spiffy: Aden, a well known stunt man who has worked in blockbuster films such as Jurassic World and Terminator Genisys, looked spic and span in a blue suit

Waiting for a ride? Rebel gazed out into the road as she held her phone, perhaps anticipating the arrival of her cab or ride share service

Curbside: The Aussie actress wore sunglasses and carried in her hand a carton, which appeared to be a healthy drink, and gazed at her phone

Back from the gym: The actress donned black Nike tights and a matching workout shirt

The pair went public at the MTV awards earlier this week, each posting the same loved up snap in which Aden is reaching his arms around the actress in a warm hug.

Rebel appeared elated to show off her new man, smiling at the camera and captioning the moment: 'Thanks to my sexy date tonight'.

Aden posted the same pic and captioned it: 'Have to thank @rebelwilson for inviting me to see this amazing show. You did so good it was out of control!! #spoiled'.

Cuddly: The pair went public at the MTV awards earlier this week, each posting the same loved up snap in which Aden is reaching his arms around the actress in a warm hug

The Pitch Perfect star confirmed her split to former flame, comedian Mickey Gooch Jr, in 2015.

'I obviously chose career over relationships and I dont regret that decision one bit,' the 35-year-old told the Daily Telegraph last year.
It's the war of words between Matt Preston and Marco Pierre White's family that has been bubbling all week.

But is appears that the fiery feud may finally be over.

MasterChef star Matt has broken his silence, saying he has 'accepted Marco Pierre White Jr apology' after the son of UK chef Marco Pierre White Sr went on an expletive ridden rant on Twitter and called him a fat f**k on Monday night.

Is the feud over? MasterChef star Matt has broken his silence, saying he has accepted Marco Pierre White Jr apology after the son of UK chef Marco Pierre White Sr went on an expletive ridden rant on Twitter and called him a fat f**k on Monday night

He also made his own apology to the controversial reality star, saying he was 'sorry for any hurt' he caused the 22-year-old and his family.

Matt told The Daily Telegraph: 'I wholeheartedly accept Marco Pierre White Jrs apology and Im sorry for any hurt I may have unintentionally caused him and his family.'

Marco Pierre White Jr went on a Twitter tirade on Monday against Preston after his father slammed his Channel 10 co-star and vowed to 'get him' following comments he made about his controversial son.

The 22-year-old, who has since deleted the crude Tweets, called the Channel 10 star an a** hole and dumb f**k for 'messing with the Pierre White family'.

Controversy: The outburst comes after Marco Pierre White Sr vowed 'on his mother's grave' to 'get' Preston following comments he made on Sydney radio last year about his wild son

The reality star reportedly posted for over three hours and used graphic language to describe the cravat-wearing chef, also vowing to 'slap him up in front of his family'.

'Matt Preston what an a** hole can't wait to watch your career go down the drain,' was just one of the Tweets, which were captured by Pedestrian.

'Matt preston your a dumb f**k messing with the Pierre white family,' another read.

The former Big Brother star also threatened Preston, writing: 'Matt Preston from master chef has never met me what a c**t if I ever cross paths with the fat f**k I'll slap him up in front of his family (sic).'

Threats: The website reports that Pierre White Jr posted for over three hours and used graphic language to describe the cravat-wearing chef, and also vowed to 'slap him up in front of his family'

The language became increasingly obscene as the tattooed reality star continued his rant.

'Matt preston You'll lose your job your wife and the place you used to call home ???? you dumb f**k of a c**t.'

While another read: 'Matt Preston is one f**king ugly c**t bless him and his parents.'

He signed off his rant by calling the chef a 'Knob head'.

Regretting his Twitter tirade, Marco Pierre White Jr apologised to Preston live on-air during an interview with the Kyle and Jackie O show on Tuesday morning, but not before telling the co-hosts he was offended by the comments his father's former co-star made about him last year.

'I mean the way he called me a trust-fund baby, the whole London thing, I thought it was bloody out of order as he never met me,' he explained.

'Also about tattoos on my face. For someone who has never met me to comment on my face, I thought was quite disgusting personally.'

But Pierre White Jr said he was regretful about the things he said on social media the night before.

'I shouldn't have said what I said. I was angry at the time. I shouldn't have said what I said, that is why I deleted the comments,' he explained.

'I mean I don't have any problems with him, you know... I am happy that I have this opportunity now to apologise on-air to his family and to him.

'I shouldn't have said what I said. I think it is disgraceful what I said.'

His outburst comes after Marco Pierre White Sr vowed 'on his mother's grave' to 'get' Preston following comments he made on Sydney radio last year about his wild son.

The fiery British chef revealed that Preston was the reason he left MasterChef Australia and joined the cast of Hell's Kitchen Australia on rival network Seven.

Preston did an interview on the Kyle and Jackie O Show after Marco's son Marco Pierre White Jr shocked the world by speaking about drug binges and prostitutes he bought with his father's money, before appearing to have sex on-air with a female housemate on Big Brother UK.

Wild: Marco Pierre White Jr is known for his wild antics and controversial comments

Feuding foodies: Marco Pierre White admitted that Preston was the reason he quit MasterChef

When the radio duo asked Preston about the incident on air, he fired off: 'Anyone who's got tattoos on their face normally behave badly, don't they?'

When pressed on whether he was shocked that Marco Jr had admitted to spending more that AU$500,000 on drugs, Preston's harsh assessment continued.

'That's that whole rich, London trust fund babe, trustifarian-type stuff - it's another world.'

'With my hand on my mother's grave, I will get that man,' Marco told News Corp in an response to the interview over the weekend.

Rift: Marco went as far as to vow 'on his mother's grave' to 'get that man' off the back of comments Preston made on the Kyle and Jackie O show about Marco's son

Bad Blood: Asked by Kyle and Jackie O about Marco Jr's behaviour on UK Big Brother last year, Preston responded with: 'Anyone who's got tattoos on their face normally behave badly.'

'The things he said about my son in the British press were disgraceful,' he said.

'No one should ever say that about someone else's children. I will never forgive that man.'

Responding to Marco's sensational outburst, Preston told News Corp that Marco had already arranged a meeting with the MasterChef host to 'clear the air.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the show's producers in relation to this story.

Marco Jr isn't a stranger to courting controversy, with the 22-year old finding himself in a UK court last year for fraudulently racking up 2,500 on his ex-girlfriend's bank card after buying Apple store goods and sunglasses.

Spared jail, he was told he had to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, while paying 2,500 in compensation to his victim.

Lucky: Spared jail, he was told he had to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work to be completed within 12 months, while paying 2,500 in compensation to his victim

Troubled Marco was in hot water again last year when his mother Matilde Conejero was accused of attacking Marco Jnr and his older brother Luciano.

The assault case collapsed after the party-loving pair failed to attend court.

Since departing the UK Big Brother house the celebrity offspring has frequently hit headlines.
They've been dating for two years, defying expectations due to their 47-year age gap.

And Jimmy Page, 73, and his much younger girlfriend Scarlett Sabet, 26, put on a united front at the Pink Floyd Exhibition launch party in London on Tuesday night, enjoying a sneak peek of the V&A's latest show, called Their Mortal Remains.

The Led Zeppelin rocker, 73, was dressed down in his usual all-black uniform and leather jacket as he cosied up to the striking redhead.

Scroll down for video

Date night: Jimmy Page, 73, and his much younger girlfriend Scarlett Sabet, 26, put on a united front at the Pink Floyd Exhibition launch party in London on Tuesday night

Scarlett stunned in a bohemian inspired ensemble, looking like she'd stepped straight out of the 70s in a floor-length, embroidered ensemble.

The gorgeous garment was paired with a simple brown leather bag and a ruby red bracelet.

She wore her long auburn locks in loose ringlets with a slick of pink lipstick highlighting her pout.

Boho beauty: Scarlett stunned in a bohemian inspired ensemble, looking like she'd stepped straight out of the 70s in her embroidered ensemble

Low-key love: It is understood that the Stairway To Heaven rocker - famed for keeping his private life shielded from public scrutiny - developed a close friendship with Scarlett as far back as 2013

The couple were joined by a host of rock legends at the event, including Queen's Brian May and Noel Gallagher, as they celebrated Pink Floyd's legacy.

It is understood that the Stairway To Heaven rocker - famed for keeping his private life shielded from public scrutiny - developed a close friendship with Scarlett as far back as 2013.

The musician - whose personal fortune is estimated at 80 million - was first seen with Scarlett at high street chicken restaurant Nando's.

Rock 'n' roll guest list: Party-goers - who also included Noel Gallagher - enjoyed a sneak peek of the V&A's latest show, called Their Mortal Remains

Hugging it out: Noel and Bob Geldof looked thrilled to bump into each other at the event

Music legends united: Bob Geldof, Roger Taylor and Brian May caught up at the launch

Despite being known for maintaining his privacy, sources told the Daily Mail they were stunned by his new romance.

Everyone was quite surprised by this, an insider said. The thing about Jimmy though is that he wont say a word about his private life - he never has.

However in 2015, a source had revealed that Jimmy was delighted with the ordinary life he leads with Scarlett, after years in the spotlight.

Fancy seeing you here: Rory Bremner chatted to the two veteran rock stars

They told The Sun: Jimmy is leading a very conventional life by the looks of things, not very rocknroll. His new girlfriend seems a very normal kind of girl.

Page, who split from his second wife Jimena Gomez-Paratcha in 2008, was well-known for his heroin abuse and raucous nights out while touring the world with Led Zeppelin.

Meanwhile Scarlett is the oldest child of Iranian Masoud Sabet, known as Mas, and his wife Marie-Claire, who is of French extraction.

Edgt: Jackie St Clair embraced a rock chic vibe in a band T-shirt and snakeskin print miniskirt

Music lover: Sophie Ellis-Bextor put in an appearance at the V&A preview

Dressed to impress: Former Corrie star Natalie Gumede rocked a blazer and ripped jeans

Pinstripe perfection: Jo Wood was dressed to impress in a white suit and tassel earrings

A former student at exclusive private school Hurtwood House in Dorking, her most notable acting achievement to date is appearing in 2008 film A Perfect Hideout alongside Hollywood star Billy Zane.

However she has since turned her main focus to poetry, and has even released a book of her own works.

The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains chronicles the iconic band's music, design and staging from their debut in the 1960s through to the present day.

New exhibition: The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains chronicles the iconic band's music, design and staging from their debut in the 1960s through to the present day

First look: Guests were treated to a VIP preview ahead of the opening day on May 13

Must see: The collection marks the first international retrospective of one of the worlds most iconic and influential bands
He's set to play Freddie Mercury in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.

And Rami Malek told Stephen Colbert he felt the late star tell him not to f*** it up.

The 35-year-old actor told the Late Show host on Monday that he's a 'huge' fan of the band Queen, and so felt under pressure to do a great job for the rock icon.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Don't f*** it up: Rami Malek talked to Stephen Colbert about the pressure of playing Freddie Mercury in a biopic, on Monday

Big shoes to fill: Freddie was the iconic front man of Queen, and Rami said he felt the pressure of taking on the role

The Mr Robot star is set to take on the role of the iconic musician in the movie about the We Will Rock You hit-makers, and came face to face with his image ahead of filming.

Rami revealed that he felt Freddie's presence when he made his way into the famous Abbey Road Studios in London and was faced with photos of 'every band' he's a fan of decorating the iconic walls.

'I'm running across the street where I look back and I see it's that iconic crosswalk that the Beatles have the album cover for Abbey Road on and instantly I'm like, "What the hell is happening to me right now?"

A challenge: Rami revealed that he felt Freddie's presence watching him

'I run across there, meeting's on the fourth floor and around the third floor I'm passing all these photos of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and every band that you love. Suddenly, Freddie Mercury's face just kind of staring at me, telling me, "Don't do this".'

'It was a challenge....It really felt inspiring. And definitely that look of "don't f*** this up!"'

The Night At The Museum star admitted that he first met Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May before they had watched the tape in which he performed their hit singles in the style of Freddie Mercury, and had an awkward moment as he had to watch them watch his performance.

He said: 'It was a challenge....It really felt inspiring. And definitely that look of "don't f*** this up!"'

Awkward: The Night at the Museum star admitted that he first met the remaining Queen members before they had watched the tape in which he performed their hit singles in the style of Freddie Mercury

Big moment: 'I could have my Beyonce moment,' Malek told Colbert

'You're going to play Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody?' asked Colbert.

'Yes. I could have my Beyonce moment,' replied Malek.

Recently, the band's guitarist Brian teased that the biopic - which tell the story of the legendary band and their late great frontman Freddie Mercury - is almost finished, after being in development for eight years, and will be released in 2018.

He spilled: 'The Freddie film is coming ... sooner than you might think, next year.'

In addition he hinted that Queen could be set to rock the UK again after completing their North America tour with Adam Lambert - who provides vocals in place of Freddie who tragically died in 1991 at the age of 45 due to complications caused by AIDS.

Brian added: 'We will be in America most of the summer and then probably be back around these parts at the end of the year.'

Sacha Baron Cohen was originally set to play Freddie but he left the project due to 'artistic differences' over the direction of the movie.
A graphic novelist who detailed his account of growing up in Kashmir through sombre black and white drawings has given a poignant interview as tensions continue to escalate again in the troubled valley.

Malik Sajad's debut novel Munnu - released in India last year - is set in Srinagar against a backdrop of clashes, curfews and arbitrary detentions as the Indian army suppressed a separatist insurgency that reached its peak in the 1990s.

The cartoonist, who recently returned to Srinagar after a decade abroad, said he wanted to tell a story on a human level, far from the great geopolitical game between India and Pakistan.

Through sombre black and white drawings, graphic novelist Malik Sajad tells the brutal story of his native Kashmir in the 1990s, when an armed insurgency against Indian rule reached its bloody peak

'You grow up grappling with paranoia. And also cynicism a little, but a cynicism informed by reality,' the 29-year-old told news agency AFP in an interview in his home city.

The shopping centre where he agrees to meet is deserted and despite the breathtaking scenery that surrounds it, Srinagar has an air of sadness.

'I prefer when it rains here, nature joins you in that sadness. When it is sunny, it becomes really unsettling,' said Sajad.

Malik Sajad's debut graphic novel 'Munnu' is his account of growing up in the Kashmir Valley, one of the most spectacular but also most heavily militarised places on earth.

'Unfortunately, in this part of the world human life is not important. It's not just in Kashmir, it's everywhere, people die like flies.'

He added: 'Human lives do not have any value in South Asia.'

Sajad believes the lives of all in Kashmir are shaped by the 'volatile atmosphere' of the region, where an anti-India insurgency has claimed thousands of lives since 1989.

A young Kashmiri protester throws stones at the government forces during a protest in Srinagar

The black and white drawings in the novel have the jarring, angular look of German expressionist art.

Rather than having human features, the Kashmiris in the story are represented as hanguls - a local species of deer endangered because the army has encroached on its habitat.

Despite its controversial subject matter, the book appears to have gone down well in India, where Sajad is often invited to lecture at universities.

An excerpt from Malik Sajad's debut novel Munnu about growing up in Kashmir

He revealed that his work had even inspired two young readers to make the journey to the city which forms the scene of the book and to try and meet him - though it was not until after that he learned of their journey.

Despite its controversial content, the book is said to be popular in India

The Kashmir Valley is one of the most spectacular but also most heavily militarised places on earth.

It has been tense since last month, when eight people were killed by police and paramilitaries during election day violence.

Dozens of Kashmiris were killed last summer in violent clashes between government forces and stone-throwing protesters angered by the death of a charismatic and popular rebel leader in a police shoot-out.

The mountainous region is held in part by Pakistan and India, but claimed in full by both, and has triggered two of the three wars fought by both since their independence from Britain nearly 70 years ago.

Thousands of soldiers from both sides still face off along the disputed frontier known as the Line of Control.

Sajad's book was published in 2015 in Britain, but it took another six months for it to come out in India.

He says he never found out why, but his publisher told him authorities were slow to provide the ISBN number that all published books must have.

Sajad started drawing cartoons for newspapers at the tender age of 13 and went on to study art.

But said he always felt a close affinity with literature, making the graphic novel format an obvious choice.
The blasphemy trial of Jakarta's Christian Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (C) is seen as a test of religious tolerance in Muslim-majority Indonesia

Islamic hardliners staged a noisy protest Tuesday against Jakarta's Christian governor as a court prepared to deliver its verdict in his blasphemy trial, seen as a test of religious tolerance in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known as Ahok, was hauled into court last year to face trial for allegedly insulting Islam while campaigning for re-election in a case critics said was politically motivated.

The trial came after a series of major protests against the leader, known by his nickname Ahok, in the capital of the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets.

His once unassailable opinion poll lead shrank amid the controversy and he lost the race to lead Jakarta last month to a Muslim challenger, a result that fuelled fears of Indonesia's moderate brand of Islam coming under threat from increasingly influential radicals.

As judges at the Jakarta court started recapping the evidence presented in the trial ahead of the verdict, hundreds of demonstrators wearing white Muslim skullcaps protested against Purnama outside the building Tuesday.

"I'm here because I want to defend my religion -- Ahok has insulted it, he must be jailed," Ari, a 35-year-old who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

A group of the governor's supporters staged a rival rally.

Housewife Wati, 42, who goes by one name, declared: "He's innocent. We're here to support him."

Blasphemy carries a maximum jail term of five years in Indonesia.

But there is a chance Purnama could escape jail after prosecutors last month recommended he be punished with only two years probation, with a possible one-year jail term if he commits a crime during that period.

The controversy began in September when Purnama, known for his outspoken style, outraged Muslims when he controversially quoted a passage from the Koran during his re-election campaign.

He insinuated that his opponents had used a Koranic verse to trick people into voting against him.

An edited version of his speech went viral online, sparking outrage.

Before the blasphemy controversy erupted, Purnama enjoyed a large lead in opinion polls due to his determination to clean up traffic-clogged, polluted Jakarta.
Taiwan's relations with China have become increasingly frosty since Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took power almost a year ago

Taiwan said Tuesday it had been excluded from a major World Health Organisation meeting for the first time in eight years, blaming rival China for the snub as relations worsen.

Delegates attending the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva later this month were supposed to receive their invites by Monday.

Taiwan, which is fighting international marginalisation as Beijing puts pressure on its allies, said it had not received one.

"Mainland China pressured the WHO and blocked it from issuing us an invitation... we express strong dissatisfaction and protest," the island's Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.

Relations with China have become increasingly frosty since Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took power almost a year ago.

China still sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification and is incensed that Tsai will not agree to the concept that there is only "one China", unlike her Beijing-friendly predecessor Ma Ying-jeou.

Taiwan diplomacy

Under Ma, Taiwan was granted "observer status" at the WHA in 2009 -- a rare acknowledgement on the global stage.

But since Tsai took the helm, Beijing has sought to block the island from a string of international events.

China reiterated its demand that Taiwan must accept the "one China" principle and blamed Tsai's traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the WHA snub.

"The DPP has damaged the joint political basis of cross-strait relations, so the precondition for Taiwan to attend no longer exists," China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Monday.

The island was expelled from the WHO in 1972, a year after losing the "China" seat at the United Nations to Beijing.

With China in the ascendant, Taiwan has shed global allies in recent decades, with only 21 countries now recognising the island's sovereignty.

Even its most powerful ally, the United States, has no official diplomatic relations.

US President Donald Trump recently rebuffed the idea of another phone call with Tsai after their protocol-busting chat following his election victory, saying he would not want to damage relations with China's President Xi Jinping.
Defense Secretary James Mattis will press coalition partners for more demining help

Key members of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria meet in Copenhagen on Tuesday to assess the campaign's next steps as the jihadists' "caliphate" collapses.

Though officials warn that military action will continue for some time, they are generally upbeat about the progress and quickening momentum of the fight.

After months of brutal, street-by-street combat, IS has now lost control of most of its stronghold of Mosul in Iraq, while the jihadists have become largely isolated in their Syrian bastion of Raqa.

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and his Danish counterpart Claus Hjort Frederiksen are among the senior leaders from 15 countries attending Tuesday's summit.

"We're going to look to the future, determine what more is needed, if anything," Mattis told reporters ahead of his arrival in Denmark.

Several coalition countries are keeping a nervous eye on the region as IS-held territory diminishes.

Thousands of foreign fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, and coalition nations -- particularly in Europe -- are bracing for a possible wave of battle-hardened jihadists returning home.

According to a senior US administration official, Interpol has identified 14,000 foreign fighters it knows has travelled to Syria and are still alive.

The largest numbers come from Tunisia, followed by Saudi Arabia.

Thousands more have travelled from Europe, including 100 or so from Denmark, said the official, who asked not to be named.

The international law enforcement agency Interpol is now part of the anti-IS coalition, becoming the alliance's 68th member.

- Bombs in cupboards -

The campaign against IS began in autumn 2014 and has seen the Iraqi security forces -- backed with coalition training and air power -- reverse humiliating losses and recapture several key cities including Ramadi and Fallujah.

Islamic State has lost much ground in Syria and Iraq

Iraq's second city Mosul is now mainly back under Iraqi control, though IS continues to hold the Old City on the west side, where its fighters are preparing for a bloody last stand.

In Syria, coalition-backed Kurdish and Arab forces have been gradually recapturing towns and villages, with the focus now on isolating Raqa ahead of a major offensive to seize back the city after more than two years of jihadi rule.

US President Donald Trump came to power on a pledge to destroy IS.

Though much of the groundwork had already been laid and the coalition had conducted thousands of strikes, US military leaders credit Trump with delegating them greater authority, enabling a quickening pace of operations.

Critics say the additional strikes have accelerated the rate of civilian deaths.

The administration official said one request for the coalition would be for more de-mining support to help clear areas abandoned by IS.

The jihadists have rigged explosives to homes, buildings and even the doors on people's cupboards, and clearing these bombs and mines is a massive undertaking.

Officials also want quicker access to funds and resources to help with stabilising and protecting areas after IS has left.
New Zealand's new Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett testified that a colleague accused of careless driving feared an attack from a dildo-wielding demonstrator

New Zealand's deputy prime minister testified Tuesday that a colleague accused of careless driving feared an attack from a dildo-wielding demonstrator when he navigated his car through a throng of protesters.

Two demonstrators, neither carrying sex toys, were slightly injured during the incident in March last year which resulted in lawmaker Chester Borrows facing charges.

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett was a passenger in Borrows' car as it left the function and told Whanganui District Court a protestor had threatened her in an "aggressive" social media post that morning.

The threat comprised a picture of a rubber device with "Paula B" written on it, captioned "see you shortly bitch".

Bennett said the threat was taken seriously as a few weeks earlier an anti-globalisation protester had hit another minister, Steven Joyce, in the face with a pink dildo during an event marking New Zealand's national day.

"I think I was probably most expecting that they would throw the sex toy at the car," she said.

"I didn't really want a photo, or to be in the news, with this thing either hitting me or the window right next to me."

Television news footage showed the demonstrator who made the threat had turned up with the sex toy at the protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.

However, he did not appear to be among the group who were impeding Borrows' car as it left the function.

Borrows, a former police officer, said he wanted to protect Bennett, who at the time was social development minister and became deputy prime minister in December last year.

He denied a charge of careless driving causing injury, saying he inched cautiously through the protestors and had not believed they were at risk.

Judge Stephanie Edwards found Borrows not guilty but said he "would be well advised in the future to leave currently serving police officers to manage these situations as they consider appropriate".
Briton Michael Sandford, seen here in an undated handout with his mother and sister, returned to his home near London after being released from jail in early May

A British man jailed after trying to assassinate Donald Trump said Tuesday that screaming voices in his head urged him to lunge for a policeman's gun.

Michael Sandford, 21, who has a history of mental health issues, told The Sun newspaper how he feared being shot dead himself after being flattened by officers, six metres (20 feet) away from Trump who was campaigning to become US president.

Sandford, who is back at his family home in Dorking, south of London, after being released last Tuesday, said he decided to take action after feeling angry about Trump.

"I was hearing voices telling me to kill Donald Trump," he said.

"They'd been coming on for a while and getting stronger and more frequent. At one point they were screaming at me.

"My friends had said Trump needed to be stopped. They said he was going to destroy the country -- but it was the voices in my head which were telling me to kill him.

"Then one day I saw he was speaking in Las Vegas and I decided to drive there and do something myself."

The incident happened on June 18 last year as the Republican candidate was campaigning in the Nevada gambling city.

The day before, Sandford -- who was in the United States to be reunited with his US girlfriend and overstayed his visa -- went to a shooting range and practised firing pistols.

"Deep down I knew there was something wrong but I tried to convince myself it was OK," he said.

At the rally, when he tried to pull an officer's gun from its holster, it got stuck and Sandford was bundled to the ground.

He admitted being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting government functions as part of a plea deal for a shorter sentence.

He was jailed in December for a year and a day. Much of his sentence was spent on remand and he was released early.

"I'm disgusted by what I did but I'm so glad no-one was hurt," he said.

His mother Lynne, who was powerless to stop him leaving Britain, is calling for new laws to help the parents of mentally ill youngsters protect them after they become adults.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the coal mine in Azadshahr where an explosion trapped and killed dozens of workers

Iranian rescue workers on Tuesday pulled out the 43rd and last body of victims killed in a mine explosion after six days of round-the-clock digging, the state broadcaster reported.

The explosion happened on Wednesday in Zemestan Yort mine in Golestan province when workers tried to jump-start an engine in a tunnel filled with methane gas.

The bodies of 26 miners were recovered on the second day while rescue teams had to work four more days to gradually access the rest who were trapped in the excavation shafts.

The final toll was higher than expected as it had been unclear how many unregistered day-labourers were trapped by the explosion.

Rescue work was hindered by the amount of rubble and toxic gases that filled the narrow mile-long tunnel.

President Hassan Rouhani's car came under attack from angry miners and the families of victims when he visited the site on Monday.

Rouhani, who is seeking re-election on May 19, promised to deal with those at fault in the accident and pay overdue wages.

The mine will shut for six months while an investigation is carried out.
Residents scavenge amid smoke and smouldering debris after a fire hit a shantytown near a container port in Manila on May 9, 2017

Looters mobbed a deadly slum fire in the Philippine capital on Tuesday, pulling roofing sheets and electric wire from singed homes as firemen scrambled to contain the blaze.

Riot police surrounded the White Rock Island shantytown at Manila's port area after being summoned by firemen who struggled to reach burning homes accessible only through narrow alleys that were swarmed by residents as well as scavengers.

An AFP photographer saw about 100 people, most of them men, engaged in tug of wars over electricity cables that had been pulled from still burning shanties.

They also fought over metal roofing sheets that were bent out of shape by the intense flame, which they hauled off using improvised wooden carts.

"These are informal settlers trying to make a buck out of salvaged materials," Aljeph Lorenzo, one of dozens of firemen who responded to the fire alarm told AFP.

"This happens all the time whenever a slum is struck by fire. They interfere with our work so we had to ask for police assistance."

The looting happened even as firefighters tried but failed to rescue a 16-year-old boy who had been trapped inside a house.

At one point the wall of a burnt shanty crumbled, narrowly missing some looters.

Some firemen were seen aiming their powerful water hoses at the looters, but the looting continued undeterred until the police arrived.

Huge fires are an ever-present threat in the slums of Manila, a sprawling metropolis of more than 13 million people.

This is because the homes of the poor are densely packed and are made of light, combustible materials such as plywood and cardboard boxes.

Manila arson investigator Armando Maldillo told AFP firemen later retrieved a burnt-out cadaver, believed to be the body of the trapped boy.

Thirty houses were destroyed in the hour-long blaze, Maldillo added.
The health of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, seen here at his 93rd birthday celebrations in February, has been the subject of increased speculation with two journalists arrested in March over a report alleging he was "in bad shape"

Zimbabwe's 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe has flown to Singapore for a "routine medical check-up", state media reported Tuesday.

"President Mugabe yesterday (Monday) left Zimbabwe for Singapore for his routine medical check-up," The Herald newspaper reported.

"He is expected back in Zimbabwe at the weekend."

The leader who has been in power since 1980 regularly travels to the city state for health check-ups and private holidays and his last medical trip was in March.

The leader who now walks with difficulty and sometimes dozes off during meetings made his last public appearance at the World Economic Forum on Africa last week.

At the meeting in South Africa's port city of Durban, he addressed delegates in a slurred tone while slumped in his seat.

His health has been the subject of increased speculation in recent years and authorities in March arrested two journalists over a report alleging that he was "in bad shape".

In 2016, the government had to deny that he had died abroad during his annual vacation.

Mugabe has declined to name a successor and his ruling ZANU-PR party has been riven by factionalism for years.

Despite Mugabe's advanced age, the party last year endorsed him as its candidate for the 2018 general elections.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas makes a statement with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 3, 2017

Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday Donald Trump was expected to visit the Palestinian territories "soon" and that he was ready to meet Israel's prime minister as part of the US president's peace efforts.

Trump is expected in Israel later this month as part of his first foreign trip and the Palestinian president said "we are looking forward to his visit soon to Bethlehem" in the occupied West Bank, with speculation it will occur on May 23.

"We told him that we were ready to collaborate with him and meet the Israeli PM under his auspices to build peace," Abbas told reporters while meeting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Abbas met Trump in Washington last week for their first face-to-face talks.

Trump also announced last week that his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican -- the spiritual centres of Islam, Judaism and Catholicism.

At the time of the announcement, a senior Trump aide did not rule out the possibility of a presidential stop in the West Bank, but said that it was likely to be contingent on security and Abbas taking concrete steps toward peace.

Trump has been seeking ways to restart moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

As he hosted Abbas in Washington, Trump confidently predicted that a peace agreement was within grasp, brushing aside the complexities of a decades-old conflict that has bedevilled successive US leaders.
The manner of Nigerian President Mohammadu Buhari's departure for medical treatment in London has given cause for concern

President Muhammadu Buhari had warned Nigerians when he returned from nearly two months of medical treatment in London that he was likely to have go back. On Sunday night, he did just that.

But if few were surprised at his departure -- the 74-year-old has barely been seen in public since March -- the manner of his leaving gave cause for concern.

The news came just minutes after a hastily organised reception for 82 schoolgirls, who were released in a negotiated deal after being held by Boko Haram Islamists for more than three years.

Presidency spokesman Femi Adesina announced that Buhari's doctors would determine how long he was away, making his absence open-ended.

"I have absolute confidence that government will continue to run smoothly while I'm away," Buhari wrote on his Twitter account after formally handing over power to his deputy.

Buhari's government has been trying to turn around the economy, which has been in recession since last year, and finally end Boko Haram's bloody eight-year insurgency in the northeast.

- Loss of momentum? -

But there are concerns that given Buhari's personal style of leadership, crucial policy decisions will not be made and his flagship war on corruption will lose momentum.

Buhari has been under pressure to disclose the nature of his illness. He has missed three of the last four cabinet meetings and other engagements.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has rarely been since in public since March

His appearance at Friday prayers last week and Sunday's carefully stage-managed photo-call with the Chibok girls were rare public outings -- and even then, still at the presidential villa.

The former military ruler -- already rapier thin -- appeared painfully gaunt.

Political allies and his wife, Aisha, have played down rumours he is too ill to rule.

"From what I can see, the president remains at the helm and his policies are being implemented," Bola Tinubu, head of Buhari's ruling All Progressives Congress party, said on Sunday.

But observers said that is up for debate, especially when it comes to Buhari's signature war against corruption, where he has been both the driving force and figurehead.

"Buhari has been instrumental to the success of the current war against corruption," said Debo Adeniran, of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders lobby group.

"A protracted stay in London will definitely reduce the momentum. Apart from individuals, state institutions involved in the fight may slow down because Buhari is not around."

Buhari's anti-graft campaign was already stuttering, with the government recently suffering a series of defeats in high-profile corruption cases in court.

With elections due in early 2019 and Buhari possibly unfit to stand, that has also brought forward the jostling for succession, likewise ensuring little in the way of government work gets done.

- VP once again in charge -

Buhari is not legally required to return to Nigeria within a certain timeframe, according to lawyer Femi Falana, who recently called for Buhari to go on medical leave.

"There is no constitutional limit to that," he added.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is once again acting president, after being seen as having acquitted himself well during Buhari's previous absence.

Buhari and his entourage have been keen to avoid a repeat of 2010 when there was a political vacuum when head of state Umaru Musa Yar'Adua fell ill and later died.

Osinbajo was a visible presence earlier this year, travelling widely, including to the Niger Delta region in the south, which has seen a resurgence in attacks on oil and gas infrastructure.

"What is important is that there is an able vice-president in charge. There is no doubt that Buhari has confidence and trust in his deputy," said Falana.

Still, others argue an acting president does not have the same clout.

Opposition politician and former health minister Alphonsus Nwosu said Osinbajo will be at a disadvantage until the APC "determines if he (Buhari) is strong enough to continue in office or not".

"The snag is that Osinbajo cannot exercise full presidential powers without deferring to his principal, which may slow down governance," he added.

How long Buhari is away could also be a factor: when Yar'Adua fell ill, a cabal capitalised on his absence in a grab for power that led to chaos.

Eventually, the Senate moved to invoke what it called the "doctrine of necessity", to make then vice-president Goodluck Jonathan acting president.
Thousands of wasps have been cleared from a Sri Lankan tea plantation to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi from being stung when he visits.

The PM is due to tour the picturesque tea plantations in Hatton, near Columbo, on Friday and can now arrive in helicopters with his entourage without fear of stirring up an angry reaction from the pests.

Nests were 'humanely' removed from two locations by the private Bee Protection Organisation on instruction from the police.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Sri Lanka for the second time in just over two years

Police ordered the Bee Protection Organisation to remove two nests in Hatton (photo for representation only)

'There were two big nests near two helipads. At the time of landing, helicopters can disturb the wasps and they could sting people in that area,' the head of wasp removal unit Tissa Bandara Thambavita told news agency AFP.

'We have cleared the nests and declared the area safe for the VVIPs to visit.'

The winged evictees were removed humanely and relocated to a nearby jungle, Thambavita added. A team will remain on site to ensure those kicked out do not return before Modi touches down.

It will be the second time in just over two years the Indian leader has visited neighbouring Sri Lanka.

They feared that Modi and his entourage would stir an angry reaction from the pests when they landed at the tea plantations in Hatton (pictured) near Columbo in helicopters

He will return Thursday as chief guest at the Buddhist celebration of Vesak, which marks the birth, enlightenment and the passing of the Buddha.

Modi will address a Buddhist conference in Colombo before travelling by helicopter to the central tea country to open an India-funded hospital and address Indian-origin plantation workers.

He will also visit Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist shrine, the Temple of the Tooth, before leaving Friday evening.

Sri Lanka police have said they will deploy more than 6,000 officers to provide additional security during Modi's overnight visit.
Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (2nd R), popularly known as Ahok, arrives at a courtroom for a verdict and sentence in his blasphemy trial

Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years Tuesday after being found guilty of blasphemy, in a shock decision that has stoked concerns over rising religious intolerance in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Islamic hardliners outside the Jakarta court shouted "God is greatest!" as news came through that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama would be sent to prison for insulting Islam, a surprisingly harsh punishment after prosecutors recommended only probation.

Purnama, Jakarta's first non-Muslim governor for half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader, looked calm when the verdict was announced and said he would appeal, as some of his supporters in court burst into tears.

He was immediately transferred to jail and authorities said his deputy would take over running Jakarta for the final few months of his term. Hundreds of his supporters descended on the prison shouting "Free Ahok" -- Purnama's nickname -- and shook the gate of the facility.

The 50-year-old was hauled into court last year to face trial on charges of insulting the Koran while campaigning for re-election, after the blasphemy accusations sparked a series of mass protests in Jakarta spearheaded by radical groups and encouraged by his rivals.

Tuesday's jail sentence and his loss last month to a Muslim challenger in the Jakarta vote, which he had once been favourite to win, has fuelled fears that hardliners are growing increasingly influential and that the country's much-vaunted tolerant brand of Islam is under threat.

"It's another big step in the slow decline of religious freedom in Indonesia," said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, after Purnama was jailed.

"If someone of that political stature can be charged and sent to prison, what will happen to others?"

Indonesia, 90 percent of whose 255 million people are Muslim, has a long tradition of pluralistic values and is home to substantial populations of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. But there has been a rise in attacks on minorities in recent years.

- 'He has insulted us' -

The five-judge panel at the Jakarta court found Purnama guilty of blasphemy after a months-long trial, in a case criticised as politically motivated.

Indonesian Islamic hardliners react jubilantly after judges jailed Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy on May 9, 2017

Announcing the verdict, presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto said Purnama was "convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy and is sentenced to two years in prison" and ordered him to be detained.

Blasphemy carries a maximum jail term of five years in Indonesia but the sentence was a surprise as judges typically follow the recommendation of prosecutors -- in this case, they had proposed two years probation.

Analysts said the shock verdict could be a result of Purnama's political rivals putting pressure on the country's notoriously corrupt judiciary to remove him from power as soon as possible.

President Joko Widodo, an ally of the governor, urged people to respect the decision of the court but added that "we must also respect the move by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to file an appeal".

Outside the court, hundreds of Islamic radicals wearing white Muslim skullcaps celebrated as they heard about the jail sentence.

"Thank God, he should be jailed -- this is right. He has insulted us," Bachtiar, 38, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

Despite the trial, Purnama retained a loyal following in Jakarta due to his determination to clean up the traffic-clogged and polluted city, and his supporters rallied outside the court and the prison.

"Ahok is innocent and he doesn't deserve this -- he has done good things for us and the city," said Sari Puji Astuti, 47, as she fought back tears.

The controversy began in September when Purnama, known for his outspoken style, offended Muslims after he quoted a passage from the Koran during his re-election campaign.

Jakarta's Christian governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama speaks to his lawyers after judges delivered their jail sentence in his blasphemy trial on May 9, 2017

He insinuated that his opponents had used a Koranic verse to trick people into voting against him. Some interpret the verse as meaning Muslims should not vote for non-Muslim leaders.

An edited version of his speech went viral online, sparking outrage.
African immigrants sit on a border fence separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla in 2014

About 100 African migrants stormed over a high double fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Tuesday in a violent assault that left three police officers injured, officials said.

Around 300 sub-Saharan African migrants attempted to force their way across the fence at about 7am (0500 GMT) in a coordinated operation, a Spanish police spokesman said.

"Around 100 managed to enter Melilla," he told AFP.

The barrier is composed of two six-metre-high (20-feet-high) fences, with criss-crossing steel cables in between. In order to get across, migrants often use hooks and shoes studded with nails.

Three policemen were injured in clashes with the migrants, who kicked and threw rocks at the officers, Spain's interior ministry said in a statement.

One of the officers was injured in the hand by one of the hooks used by migrants and several police vehicles were damaged, it added.

Three migrants suffered bruises and small cuts in the attempt to cross the border, said a Red cross spokesman in Melilla.

Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish enclave nearly 400 kilometres (250 miles) away on the north coast of Africa, are often used as entry points into Europe for African migrants.

They have the only two land borders between Africa and the European Union.

Thousands of migrants have attempted to cross the 12-kilometre (7.5 mile) frontier between Melilla and Morocco, or the eight-kilometre border at Ceuta, by climbing the border fences, swimming along the coast or hiding in vehicles.

In February around 850 migrants managed to storm across the border into Ceuta over four days.

Spain announced in March that it would nearly double the capacity of its migrant reception centres in the two territories to 8,500 places from 4,500.

Spain has drawn criticism from human rights groups for allowing some migrants to be immediately turned back to Morocco in such incidents. They argue that skipping the lengthier deportation procedures deprives people of the opportunity to claim asylum.
Thousands of protesters have gathered almost every week in Baghdad for anti-corruption rallies

Armed men have kidnapped seven young Iraqi anti-corruption activists in central Baghdad, security sources and a civil society leader said Tuesday.

"Unidentified gunmen in SUVs abducted seven university students early Monday morning," an interior ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the fate of the seven, who were snatched from the Battaween area, was unknown.

Jassem al-Helfi, a leading figure of the anti-graft demonstrations that have been taking place almost weekly for around two years, said the seven were abducted at 1:30 am (2230 GMT on Sunday).

"An armed gang kidnapped seven students who are active in peaceful protests from their apartment in Battaween," he said.

It was not clear who the kidnappers were nor whether any demands had already been made for the activists' release.

However the students' profile and the kidnappers' modus operandi suggest that the motivations are political.

"These young people stood up against corruption and the system of sectarian quotas in politics and in favour of a technocratic government," Helfi said.

He saw the kidnapping as "an attack on freedom of expression and a move aimed at instilling fear in the population and snuffing out the protest movement."

"But this is a national cause and it will not be silenced... Such acts will only increase the determination of the demonstrators," he said.

Almost every week, thousands of protesters have gathered in Baghdad, usually a few blocks from where the kidnapping took place, and across cities in southern Iraq for anti-corruption rallies.

Supporters of the mercurial Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr form the bulk of the protesters but the movement also includes prominent artists as well as activists affiliated to the communist party, among others.

Their main demands are for tougher measures against corruption, reform of the electoral law and a new government run by technocrats instead of political party leaders and their cronies, whom they blame for much of the country's woes.
Iraqi forces take cover after a car bomb exploded in the northwestern Al-Haramat neighbourhood of Mosul on May 8, 2017, during an ongoing offensive to retake the area from Islamic State (IS) group fighters

Iraqi forces announced on Tuesday they had retaken yet another neighbourhood of western Mosul, tightening the noose around jihadists holed up in the Old City.

Forces from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service "liberated the Northern Industrial Area on the western side," the Joint Operations Command (JOC) coordinating the war against the Islamic State group in Iraq said.

The JOC said in its statement that the forces "raised the Iraqi flag after inflicting losses to the enemy."

The fresh gain is part of a new push which Iraqi forces launched last week in northwestern Mosul and has already wrested back several neighbourhoods from the jihadists.

On Monday, Iraqi forces retook full control of Al-Haramat, a large neighbourhood on the edge of the city.

The latest operations make it harder than ever to flee for the few hundred IS fighters estimated to remain in Mosul.

The jihadists who have been defending their last major bastion in the country for more than six months have offered limited resistance in recent days, apparently regrouping in the Old City for a last stand.

IS only controls a handful of neighbourhoods around the Old City, where at least 250,000 civilians are still trapped and living in dire conditions, according to aid officials and rights groups.
Pro-democracy activist Moon Jae-In, the projected winner of South Korea's presidential election shown at a campaign rally, backs engagement with the nuclear-armed North

The projected winner of South Korea's presidential election is a former special forces soldier, pro-democracy activist and human rights lawyer.

An exit poll forecast a landslide victory for left-leaning Moon Jae-In of the Democratic Party, giving him 41.4 percent support, 18 percentage points ahead of his nearest challenger.

Victory will cap a political career that began with student activism in the days of military rule, when he was convicted of taking part in illegal protests.

The election came after millions of South Koreans took to the streets in candlelit demonstrations to demand the removal of Park Geun-Hye, who was sacked by the country's top court in March over a corruption scandal and is now in custody awaiting trial.

The irony is that he was once chief of staff to liberal president Roh Moo-Hyun, who committed suicide in 2009 after being questioned over graft allegations.

"Corruption is the biggest issue in South Korean politics," says Robert Kelly of Pusan National University. "That's absolutely true. Every South Korean president has gotten into trouble for corruption and bribery and graft and things like that, of varying degrees."

But Moon boasts a clean image himself, said Kim Neung-Gou, president of online newspaper Polinews, and has been "riding on waves of protests against Park and accumulated corruption".

- Arrested and expelled -

Moon was born on the southern island of Geoje in 1952 during the Korean War after his parents fled the North.

His father was a menial worker at a prisoner-of-war camp while his mother peddled eggs in the nearby port city of Busan, with the baby Moon strapped to her back, the politician wrote in his autobiography.

He entered law school in Seoul in 1972 but was arrested and expelled for leading a student protest against the authoritarian rule of dictator Park Chung-Hee -- the ousted president's father.

Moon returned to school in 1980 only to be arrested again.

His close friendship with future president Roh began in 1982 when they opened a law firm in Busan focusing on human and civil rights issues.

Both became leading figures in the pro-democracy protests that swept the country in 1987 and led to South Korea's first direct presidential elections the same year.

When Roh entered politics, Moon continued with his legal practice in Busan, defending students and workers arrested for leading protests and labour strikes.

But a year after Roh's unexpected election victory in 2002, Moon joined the administration as a presidential aide, tasked with weeding out official corruption and screening candidates for top government posts, before rising to become his chief of staff.

"I was always happy due to the fact that I was able to help others with what I had been trained to do," Moon said in his autobiography.

- Deeper rifts -

The 64-year-old has promised to curb the concentration of economic power in the hands of the chaebols, the family-oriented business groups whose ties to government have been exposed in the wide-ranging scandal that saw Park impeached.

But his opponents say he is narrow-minded and surrounded by jealous loyalists, whose strong factionalism has contributed to the main opposition party splitting.

"When he becomes president, the rift between liberals and conservatives will deepen all the more, and national reconciliation would be further off," former Yonsei University political science professor Kim Syng-Ho said.

Conservative critics also accuse him of being too soft towards nuclear-armed North Korea.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the latter's weapons and missile programmes have risen in recent weeks, but Moon advocates dialogue and reconciliation with the North to defuse the situation and eventually lure it to negotiations.

He has shown ambivalence over the US missile defence system THAAD, which has been deployed in the South to the fury of China.

That could all lay the ground for a difficult relationship with US President Donald Trump -- who has demanded that Seoul pay for the "billion dollar" system.
Disappearing sea ice comes as the planet marks three years in a row of record-breaking heat, raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of global warming

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to protect the Paris Agreement on curbing climate change during a phone call with French President-elect Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

China and France "should protect the achievements of global governance, including the Paris Agreement", Xi told Macron, according to the foreign ministry.

"China has always regarded France as a high-priority partner... and maintains its support for the process of European integration," Xi was quoted as saying.

The two leaders agreed to meet "as soon as possible".

US President Donald Trump has expressed scepticism about the pact. He had been slated later Tuesday to meet key climate and economic advisers to discuss a possible withdrawal, but a senior White House official told AFP the meeting has been postponed.

During his election campaign Trump promised to "cancel" the climate deal, clinched in 2015 after years of tough bartering and now signed by 196 countries.

The agreement seeks to brake global warming by curbing fossil fuel emissions.

Climate negotiators are currently meeting in Bonn to start drafting a guide for member countries to carry out the accord. But the gathering risks being hamstrung over fears that the US, the world's number two carbon polluter, will pull out and throw the agreement into disarray.

China has called on the US to honour its commitments to tackle climate change.

"The Paris Agreement was hard-earned. All parties of the international community, including China, had a common consensus on it," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in March.

"All parties should conform to the historical trend of the time, seize the opportunity, honour their commitment, take practical and positive actions and implement the agreement."

Such appeals have spurred speculation over whether China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, will emerge as a leader in the fight against climate change while the US takes a backseat.

Xi sent Macron a congratulatory note on Monday, following a presidential election victory hailed in the Chinese nationalist tabloid Global Times as a triumph against the "populism trend" bolstered by Trump.

Beijing and Paris maintained good relations during the five-year term of President Francois Hollande, after his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy angered China by meeting the Dalai Lama.
A policeman walks in front of a police truck in Congolese capital Kinshasa on October 19, 2016

About 100 riot police surrounded the main opposition party HQ in the DR Congo capital Kinshasa Tuesday, an AFP correspondent said, while a party spokesman claimed authorities wanted to stop them building a tomb for their late leader.

A troop transport vehicle was burning outside, while a large tent was also smoking under trees opposite the headquarters of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UPDS) in the central district of Limete.

Neither the authorities nor police would comment on the deployment.

But a UPDS spokesperson said security forces wanted to prevent the building of a tomb for party leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in Brussels on February 1 while undergoing medical treatment. He was 84.

"This is a show" staged by the regime of President Joseph Kabila "to stop construction work" on the tomb close to party headquarters, Augustin Kabuya told AFP by telephone.

A political veteran who challenged successive rulers in the former Zaire for about half a century, Tshisekedi became a rallying point for the opposition to contest Kabila's bid to cling to office after his constitutional mandate expired last December.

On April 22, the UDPS announced that Tshisekedi's remains would be flown back to the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 12 to be "buried at the headquarters of the party".

But it has no official permission to hold the burial on privately owned land, which is banned by law.

The return home of Tshisekedi's body has been announced several times then delayed because of a lack of agreement between his family, the party and authorities concerning his last resting place.

Tshisekedi's death complicated an already confused political situation, as the fragmented opposition and Kabila's backers haggled over a power-sharing deal to end the political deadlock and open the way for elections.

Kabila agreed to share power ahead of a vote to take place late in 2017 with a prime minister from the opposition, but his choice of a dissident with marginal minority support, Bruno Tshibala, has angered his foes.
Peacekeepers from the MINUSCA mission of the United Nations patrol on January 2, 2016 in Bangui

Three more UN peacekeepers have been found dead after an attack on a convoy in the Central African Republic, UN officials said Tuesday, bringing the death toll to four.

The UN's MINUSCA mission, which had earlier announced the death of one peacekeeper, said it was "deeply saddened to confirm that three of the four peacekeepers that were missing in action since yesterdays attack have been found dead."

The fourth peacekeeper remains missing after the attack Monday evening.

Eight attackers were killed in the crossfire, MINUSCA added, referring to anti-Balaka Christian militias whose confrontation with pro-Muslim rebels plunged the country into a three-year civil war in 2013.

The convoy was attacked near Yogofongo village, more than 470 kilometres (290 miles) east of the capital Bangui, close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo, a MINUSCA statement said.

"One Cambodian peacekeeper was killed and eight peacekeepers were injured, including one Cambodian and seven Moroccans," it said, before the bodies of the three others were discovered.

"The perpetrators of the attack fled into the bush."

Killing a UN peacekeeper is considered a war crime, MINUSCA spokesman Herve Verhoosel told AFP, saying the convoy comprised police and UN military staff.

The UN sent a helicopter and soldiers to secure the area and search for the missing, while the wounded were evacuated to Bangui, the statement added.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari (centre) sitting among the 82 rescued Chibok girls during a reception ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on May 7, 2017

A schoolgirl who was among more than 200 kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 refused to be part of a release deal because she is now married to a militant fighter, Nigeria's government said Tuesday.

The disclosure underlines the complex psychological effects of a lengthy captivity, and gives an indication of the work required to rehabilitate and reintegrate those released.

Boko Haram has used kidnapping as a weapon of war, seizing thousands of women and young girls as part of its eight-year quest to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

Men and boys have also been forcibly recruited to fight in its insurgency, which since 2009 has killed at least 20,000 in Nigeria alone.

Presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said the jihadists had initially agreed to release 83 of the teenagers who were abducted from their school in the town of Chibok in April 2014.

But he told the local Channels television station: "One said, 'No, I have a husband. I'm happy where I am'. And then 82 came back."

The 82 were released on Saturday following months of talks and the exchange of a number of suspected militants held in government custody.

Twenty-one of their classmates were freed in October last year; three had previously been found or escaped. Talks are understood to have started to free all or some of the remaining 113.

- Complex situation -

Testimony from former hostages in the brutal conflict has revealed that Boko Haram forced many women and young girls into marriage, and that rape and sexual violence were commonplace.

Some were forced to work as domestic slaves for extremist fighters and even deployed to the front line carrying ammunition during attacks.

An handout picture released by the PGDBA&HND Mass Communication shows some of the 82 released Chibok girls waiting before a meeting with Nigeria's President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on May 7, 2017

Elizabeth Pearson, a Boko Haram specialist who studies women and conflict, said the case of the Chibok girl who refused to leave was "likely to be quite prevalent".

"From what we know of other young women who've returned, the relationships with their captors is very complex and at times quite ambiguous," she told AFP in an email exchange.

"We assume because they are abducted they are therefore likely to resist their captors. In fact they have to develop relationships of some sort in order to survive."

Genuine relationships will emerge, as not all fighters behave brutally to the women in the camps, particularly if children are involved, she added.

"It's a much more complex situation than the abducted-rescued-victim narrative we've seen at times," she said.

There have been repeated calls for more to be done to support those released, particularly with many women treated as social outcasts because of their time with the rebels.

- Identities checked -

Shehu said the government was working to verify the identities of the 82 released so they can be reunited with their families as soon as possible.

A list of the girls' names was published on Sunday evening and photographs of them have been sent to Chibok and the surrounding area for cross-checking.

"When we had the first 21, because of similarities in names, more than two, three sets of parents came to Abuja. So, we don't want to create that confusion," he said.

"When they get the pictures, they see them and verify, then they come on board to Abuja to see their daughters."

Aisha Yesufu, coordinator of the #BringBackOurGirls pressure group, told AFP: "We have to reach out to the parents and ensure that we match the parents and the daughters.

"We are still working on it."

Nigeria's government has come under fire for the length of time it has taken to reunite the former hostages with their families.

This handout image provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on May 7, 2017 at a military base in Borno State shows some of the 82 rescued Chibok girls heading towards a Nigerian Army helicopter

In December, families who are seen as key to the girls' recovery complained they were blocked from celebrating Christmas together.

Human Rights Watch has accused the government of failing to respect the girls' privacy by publishing their names and for parading them at a photo-call.

Amnesty International said on Saturday that holding the released girls in lengthy detention and for security screening "can only add to their suffering and plight".

Shehu said he hoped the verification process would be concluded soon and pledged: "The government will not stop any parents from immediately establishing contacts with their daughters."
Illegal migrants, who were found by Libyan security forces while waiting in a depot in Tripoli's eastern suburb of Tajoura prior to being smuggled to Europe, gather at the new Tajoura detention centre in the Libyan capital on May 9, 2017

Between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants mostly from sub-Saharan Africa are being held in Libyan detention centres after entering the country illegally, an official said on Tuesday.

Abdulrazaq al-Shniti, from the authority to counter illegal immigration, spoke at the opening of a new detention centre in Tajoura, an eastern suburb of the capital Tripoli.

The new centre brings the total number of operational migrant detention centres in the country to 23, he said.

It already shelters 130 young African migrants, an official there said, after they were detained this week from a nearby warehouse where people smugglers had kept them before a planned sea crossing to Europe.

Shniti said the leaders of people-smuggling networks had been arrested recently and would soon be brought to justice.

He said illegal immigration into Libya took place because its southern borders were "completely open".

"If we can stop (migrants crossing) into the southern region, we will be able to limit illegal immigration," Shniti said.

Libya has long struggled to control its 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) of southern borders with Sudan, Chad and Niger, even before the 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Illegal migrants, who were found by Libyan security forces while waiting in a depot in Tripoli's eastern suburb of Tajoura prior to being smuggled to Europe, gather at the new Tajoura detention centre in the Libyan capital on May 9, 2017

The North African country has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean for a better life in Europe.

But smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business in the post-uprising chaos, with tens of thousands of people each year making the perilous crossing to Italy just some 300 kilometres away.

In 2016, a record 181,000 migrants reached Italy, 90 percent of them from Libya.
US forces, accompanied by Kurdish People's Protection Units fighters, drive their armoured vehicles near the northern Syrian village of Darbasiyah, on the border with Turkey in April 2017

US President Donald Trump has approved the supplying of weapons to Kurdish forces battling the Islamic State group in Syria, a US official said Tuesday.

The funding "to provide support to the YPG has been approved," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The approval is effective immediately but the timeline for weapons delivery is to be refined."

The issue of whether to arm the Kurds has been hugely contentious for the Trump administration, as such a move is sure to infuriate ally Turkey, which considers the YPG as terrorists.

The official did not specify what kind of weapons will be provided, but they will be used in the upcoming fight to recapture the IS bastion of Raqa.

The jihadists' capital of their supposed "caliphate" is being surrounded by a Kurdish and Syrian Arab alliance and officials are expecting a brutal fight to retake the city.

The decision to arm the Kurds was announced just hours after Pentagon chief Jim Mattis met with a Turkish official in Denmark at an anti-IS coalition summit.

He sounded upbeat on the relationship with Turkey, but it was not clear if the arming of the Kurds had come up in the discussion.
Shiite protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty have occured regularly in Bahrain since 2011

Bahrain has referred its first civilian case to a military court following a constitutional amendment approved by the king last month, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Inspired in part by Arab Spring uprisings, Bahrain has since 2011 witnessed regular protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled the Shiite-majority Gulf kingdom for more than two centuries.

Public prosecutors have transferred the case against Fadhel Radhi, who was arrested in September 2016 and has been held incommunicado since, to a military court, a statement by the London-based rights group said.

The lawyer for Radhi, a Bahraini national, has no information on the charges his client faces, Amnesty said.

Authorities in Bahrain have cracked down on political dissent, jailing hundreds of protesters and stripping a number of high-profile activists and Shiite clerics of citizenship.

Bahrain has accused Shiite-ruled Iran of attempting to spark unrest in the tiny archipelago and says the government in Manama is being targeted by terrorist cells. Tehran has denied involvement.

King Hamad declared a three-month state of emergency in 2011, during which special military courts were temporarily established to try civilians.

Radhi is the first civilian reported to be referred to military justice since the king on April 3 formally approved a constitutional amendment granting military courts the right to try civilians.

The amendment drops a clause that had limited military trials to army and security personnel.

It was approved by Bahrain's upper house of parliament, which is appointed by the king, as well as by the elected lower house.

"This is a shameful move by the authorities designed to strike fear in the heart of the population," said Samah Hadid of Amnesty's Beirut regional office.

"It is also a serious blow for justice in Bahrain... Trying civilians before military courts is contrary to international standards."

Bahraini authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amnesty said repeated requests for information about Radhi's location and condition had gone unanswered by Bahrain's Public Prosecution Office.

But the Public Prosecution Office contacted Radhi's family early Tuesday to inform them his case had been transferred to a military court, the rights group said.

Amnesty added it feared Al-Sayed Al-Alawi, held incommunicado since October, would be the next to face military justice, without elaborating.
This booking photo obtained May 9, 2017 courtesy of the Maricopa County Sheriff's office shows suspect Aaron Saucedo

Police in Arizona have arrested a 23-year-old man accused of spreading terror around the state capital Phoenix with a series of random shootings that left nine people dead.

Investigators say they do not know what led the suspect, Aaron Saucedo, 23, to launch his months-long shooting spree.

"This case plagued our community for more than a year and left behind a trail of victims that included mothers, sons, brothers, sisters and families still mourning the loss of their loved ones," police chief Jeri Williams told a news conference on Monday.

She said investigators worked round the clock to connect Saucedo, who was employed part-time as a bus driver, to the series of homicides.

They eventually made their breakthrough following a tip from the local community.

Saucedo's first alleged attack was in August 2015, when he is accused of having shot dead a friend of his own mother.

He is later believed to have fired at random on complete strangers in the street, killing eight people. He is also suspected of firing into a house in a separate incident, an attack in which no injuries occurred.
Pizza Hut has apologised after being accused of mocking a Palestinian hunger striker Marwan Barghouti (pictured) by suggesting he should have some pizza

Pizza Hut has apologised after being accused of mocking a Palestinian hunger striker with an advert that suggested he should have some pizza.

The company's Israeli franchise reportedly shared an image that appears to show prisoner Marwan Barghouti secretly breaking his fast by eating a candy bar in his jail cell.

The Facebook post - which was branded 'inhuman' by outraged Palestinians - shows a pizza box seemingly photoshopped onto the floor, as well as a slice of pizza in the sink.

'Barghouti, if you are going to break your strike, isn't pizza the better choice?' the caption read above the screenshot.

The image was a screengrab from a video released by Israeli police on Sunday reportedly showing Barghouti eating a candy bar and cookies in his prison cell.

The footage, two videos shot days apart from a camera mounted on the ceiling of the cell, do not conclusively show that the prisoner is Barghouti, 58, and it is not entirely clear what he is eating or whether he is doing so.

Barghouti's supporters say the video is a fabrication intended to break the prisoners' morale.

It was quickly removed from the Facebook page - though it was still found on the page of at least one local branch.

A spokeswoman for Pizza Hut International apologised for the post, saying: 'It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the values of our brand.

'The local franchisee in the country removed it,' she added. 'We truly regret any hurt this may have caused.'

More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have been on hunger strike since April 17 over their treatment in Israeli jails.

Barghouti - the most high-profile Palestinian in Israeli detention - urged prisoners to protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that has applied to thousands of prisoners since the 1980s.

The chain was branded 'inhuman' after reportedly sharing an image of hunger-strike leader Marwan Barghouti secretly breaking his fast in his jail cell by eating a candy bar

There was a pizza box seemingly photoshopped onto the floor, as well as a slice of pizza in the sink. 'Barghouti, if you are going to break your strike, isn't pizza the better choice?' the caption read above the screenshot, which was posted on Facebook

Pizza Hut's post sparked fury on Palestinian social media, including calls to boycott the chain.

'This isn't enough. A written apology on a FB page isn't enough. Hundreds of prisoners are literally dying or getting their organs hugely damaged in the hunger strike,' one user wrote.

'This is an inhuman and very offensive move from Pizza Hut in the occupied territories.'

'Pizza Hut is ridiculing the prisoners' strike,' activist Alaa Abu Diab wrote on Facebook, using the hashtag #boycott_pizzahut.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for boycotting Israel until it ends the occupation of Palestinian territories, said it supported calls to snub Pizza Hut.

'Pizza Hut's mockery of leaders of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike for freedom and dignity adds insult to deep injury,' said the BDS's Mahmoud Nawajaa.

'We support grassroots Palestinian calls for a worldwide boycott of Pizza Hut, especially in the Arab world,' he wrote in an email.

The image, released by Israeli police, was later removed from the Facebook page. Pizza Hut later said the post was 'completely inappropriate'

Palestinians hold portraits of Palestinian leader and prominent prisoner Barghouti, during a rally in the city of Ramallah in support of prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails on April 24

Many supporters - including Barghouti's wife - have denounced the video of him reportedly breaking his fast as fake.

His wife Fadwa said it is an effort to discredit Barghouti, and suggested the footage may well have been taken in 2004.

'It was not surprising what the occupation did and the fabrications they have tried to spread,' she said. 'Such an act has unveiled the ugly face of the Israeli occupation.'

On Monday, following questions about how the video came to light, Israel's public security minister, Gilad Erdan suggested Israeli prison guards had tempted Barghouti with the food.

Since he is held in solitary confinement, he would not have been able to smuggle it in.

'You've got to understand, without me going into detail, that in order to lead him to this situation, a great many actions were taken,' Erdan told Army Radio. 'They got results.'

'He lied to the Palestinian public when he claimed to be striking. Israel will not give in to extortion and pressure from terrorists.'

Barghouti, a senior member of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, is serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising

Pizza Hut has an outlet in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, as well as dozens across the Middle East.

It has many inside Israel, as well as one in the settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank.

Barghouti has seen his popularity grow among Palestinians since he was convicted of murder over the killing of Israelis during the second intifada and sentenced in 2004 to five life terms.

Surveys show many Palestinians want Barghouti, leader of the Fatah movement, to be their next president.

Near an Israeli military installation in the West Bank, Palestinian activists on Tuesday erected a 16.5 by 13 foot mosaic portrait of Barghouti made from glass shards, to show support for him and the strike.

'We, the Palestinian people, have high trust in Marwan, and we don't listen to the Israeli allegations,' said activist Abdullah Abu Rahmeh.

'Marwan will lead the strike until it accomplishes its goals.'

Abu Rahmeh said work on the mosaic began before the release of the video purportedly showing him snacking in jail.

The prisoners are demanding better conditions, including more family visits.

Israeli authorities say 894 Palestinian prisoners have kept up the strike, though Palestinian officials say it is more than 1,000.

Some 850,000 Palestinians have been incarcerated since the Israel's occupation of their territories 50 years ago, Palestinian leaders say.
US President Donald Trump has yet to announce whether he intends to keep a campaign promise to withdraw Washington from the Paris climate pact

President Donald Trump delayed a decision to honor or walk away from the Paris climate accord until he returns from Europe late this month, leaving global partners in limbo Tuesday.

Divisions within Trump's administration have left in doubt the participation of the world's number two carbon polluter -- after China -- in the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global warming.

After months of uncertainty, Trump had appeared to be edging toward a decision.

But the White House postponed a key meeting scheduled for Tuesday that could have determined the fate of the 196-nation accord, and hours later said there would be no decision before the end of the month.

Trump will "not be making an announcement regarding that agreement until after he returns from the G7," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer Tuesday, referring to a meeting in Sicily that ends May 27.

Despite hardline pre-election rhetoric against the deal, Trump's inner circle has been tasked with providing the president with a range of policy options.

The group includes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House strategist Steve Bannon, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, as well as Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Administration officials said the crunch sit-down may now take place next week, before Trump departs for a bumper first foreign trip that will take in Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican and Brussels before ending in Sicily.

"The president wants to make sure he has an opportunity to continue to meet with his team to create the best strategy for this country going forward," said Spicer.

One option said to be under consideration is full withdrawal from the Paris accord, fulfilling Trump's campaign promise to "cancel" the deal as president.

Bannon and Pruitt are said to be among those arguing for a tough line, rejecting global agreements they believe tie the hands of US industry.

Pruitt, the US government's leading environmental official, has rejected the scientific consensus that humans are the "primary contributor" to global warming.

Ivanka Trump has meanwhile become a talisman for those who believe she can be a moderating influence on her father.

But her stance on the Paris accord and her influence inside the cut-throat world of White House politics are unclear.

Full withdrawal would roil Washington's allies and seriously undermine global efforts to limit carbon emissions, which the vast majority of experts say are changing the climate in dangerous ways.

- Kyoto, take two? -

For US allies, Trump's wavering has uncomfortable echoes of president George W. Bush's decision to withdraw from the 1992 Kyoto Protocol.

The Paris agreement: key points

That move scuttled a carefully worked global compromise and effectively delayed climate action by two decades.

It would also wreck Trump's careful diplomacy with China, which the White House wants on-side to tackle North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The core of the Paris deal was an agreement between Chinese President Xi Jinping and then US president Barack Obama. Both men have pressed Trump to stay on board.

"It's important that big countries that are big emitters like the US and China... lead the way," Obama told a conference Tuesday in Milan, in one of his first public appearances since leaving office.

- Middle road -

Another possible option for Trump, according to officials, is to remain within the agreement, but rework US emissions targets.

Obama set targets to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Sue Biniaz, a former State Department legal adviser who supports the accord, said Trump does not need to make a binary choice between leaving or staying.

The Bonn meeting is meant to start designing a 'rulebook' for implementing the global deal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels

"It is clear from the agreement that if you do change your target, you are encouraged to change it in a more ambitious direction," she said.

"But it is equally clear that you are not legally prohibited from changing it in any direction that you choose."

The US wavering left UN climate negotiators -- who happened to be gathered in Bonn to thrash out the nuts-and-bolts of the deal -- in limbo.

They are gathered to start designing a "rulebook" for implementing the global deal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

This is the ceiling at which scientists say the planet can avoid worst-case-scenario climate change impacts -- rising seas, harsher droughts, more intense storms, disease-spread and conflict over dwindling natural resources.

Speaker after speaker in Bonn reiterated the deal must not be "renegotiated" -- a proposal of Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

"It is definitely the elephant in the room," a member of one national delegation told AFP on Tuesday.

Some fear a US U-turn would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories to increase their emissions-cutting targets.

This is key, as current pledges place the world on track for warming much higher than the two degrees Celsius ceiling.
South Sudan has been at war since 2013 when President Salva Kiir, pictured in February 2017, fell out with his former deputy turned rebel leader Riek Machar, prompting deadly clashes between the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups

South Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked his powerful, hardline army chief Paul Malong on Tuesday, a government spokesman said.

General Paul Malong, long regarded as an ethnic nationalist of Kiir's majority Dinka tribe, was replaced by General James Ajongo Mawut, a career soldier.

"The decrees are two: one for the relief of Chief of General Staff, General Paul Malong Awan, and another decree is for the appointment of former Deputy Chief of General Staff for Administration and Finance General James Ajongo Mawut as the Chief of General Staff," Kiir's spokesmen Ateny Wek Ateny told AFP.

Ateny said the move was a routine changing of personnel. "This is a position that can be held between two years and four years and Malong has spent three years so this is the prerogative of the president" he said.

In February several senior army officers resigned, accusing Malong of conducting an ethnic war against non-Dinkas and ruling with an "unqualified clique of friends and relatives".

Among those who quit was Lieutenant-General Thomas Cirillo who has since announced plans to launch his own rebellion.

Malong is widely regarded as being the mastermind of fighting that erupted in the capital, Juba, last July killing hundreds and dashing hopes of a power-sharing government between Kiir and his former deputy turned rebel leader Riek Machar, a member of the Nuer tribe.

The Dinka and the Nuer are the two largest ethnic groups in South Sudan and have a history of bloody rivalry.

UN investigators were among those who blamed Malong for the bloody attacks in July in which civilians were killed and foreign aid workers raped.

The US subsequently failed to get Malong sanctioned and put on a UN blacklist, subject to an assets freeze and travel ban, for his role in the ongoing conflict.

South Sudan has been at war since December 2013 when Kiir fell out with Machar, accusing him of plotting a coup.

The conflict -- characterised by brutality and human rights violations -- has triggered famine in parts of the country, forced millions from their homes and killed tens of thousands so far.
No caption

Classical music, framed watercolors and vases overflowing with fresh flowers -- welcome to New York's poshest public toilets refitted with a $254,000 upgrade, where tips are banned and the facilities are free.

Gutted and re-decorated before re-opening in late April, more than a million people a year are expected to frequent the spotless Beaux Arts premises in Bryant Park behind the Public Library on Fifth Avenue.

Porcelain tiles were imported from Europe. Plastic toilet seat covers rotate at the wave of a hand, air conditioning circulates the air and piped orchestral music almost drowns out the sound of the automatic flush.

The polar opposite of the filth of most public restrooms, they cost $271,000 a year to operate and pay attendants to keep pristine two-to-a shift -- bankrolled by the Bryant Park Corporation, a privately financed public park.

"Absolutely gorgeous!" breathes Pam Brown, a retired accountant from San Francisco on holiday in the city for five days.

"This should be all over the world," agrees Danish friend Lone Aggersbjerg, 52. "Drink water and have to go to the toilet, it's just that. A need everybody has."

A stone vase of flowers stands at the entrance before a giant mirror as if in a stately home -- blooms changed twice a week by a florist

In the ladies, there's a baby changing station, complimentary feminine products "upon request" and a full-length mirror to smooth out any ruffled hems.

The rules are simple -- no tipping, a mainstay elsewhere in New York -- no smoking, spitting, teeth brushing, doing the laundry or jumping the queue.

Original watercolors grace the wall -- courtesy of a "painter in residence" program that commissions artists to imagine the park "en plein air."

"People don't want to leave," confides attendant Antionette Smalls, who will clock seven years on the job this December. "Some people tell me this bathroom is cleaner than their bathroom at home."

But New York always has nitpickers: "It's very small," says Johana Cruz, 35, who lives in Brooklyn and works for a cake company.

Brett Horner, a park planning manager from Oregon, splits hairs over the color palate and art work. "I'd like something more modern," he quips.
Marshal Khalifa Haftar heads the self-styled Libyan National Army, which does not recognise the authority of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord

Libya's foreign minister said Tuesday a rival general must accept civilian rule in order to play a role in the country's future.

Field Marshal Khalifa "Haftar must first accept to work under a civilian authority and officially approve the political deal" that gave rise to the power-sharing authority, Mohamed al-Taher Siala told AFP by phone from Algiers.

Haftar, who heads the self-styled Libyan National Army, does not recognise the authority of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and instead backs a rival parliament based in the country's far east.

That parliament, Libya's sole elected house of representatives, has also refused to endorse the GNA.

Siala spoke a day after making controversial comments about Haftar in Algiers following a regional meeting towards ending conflict in Libya.

"Haftar was named by a parliament elected by the Libyan people. He is the head of the Libyan army. There is no doubt about that," he said Monday, just days after a rare face-to-face meeting between Haftar and GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj in Abu Dhabi.

On Tuesday, Siala said he did not understand why his comments were seen as controversial since he had made the same remarks previously.

Tensions soared in the Libyan capital after Siala's comments on Monday, with tanks and armoured vehicles deployed to protect the GNA's headquarters, witnesses said.

On Tuesday, a powerful GNA-allied militia in Tripoli denounced the minister's remarks in a statement.

It said the idea of the parliament giving Haftar legitimacy "went against the Libya political agreement" inked in December 2015 that gave rise to the unity government.

That UN-brokered deal gave no role to Haftar or his forces, but the strongman has since imposed himself as a key player, especially after seizing the country's key oil terminals in September.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi, with rival militias and authorities vying for control of the oil-rich country.
L-R: UPS Chairman and CEO David Abney, Manal Al Bayat, VP of engagement at Expo 2020 Dubai; and Jim Barber, President of UPS International, announce plans for UPS to provide logistics in Dubai

UPS announced a partnership Tuesday to provide logistics at the 2020 World's Fair in Dubai, a venture it sees as a springboard to a bigger presence in the Middle East.

UPS expects to hire 1,000 people to work at "Expo 2020" and will manage more than 27,000 square meters of warehouse space. The event, the first world's fair in the Middle East, will run from October 2020 through April 2021.

The shipping giant has been accelerating investment in emerging markets after determining in 2014 the company was "too much of an American brand," said UPS international president Jim Barber.

In 2016, revenues from US package deliveries were $38.3 billion, more than three times those of international package.

UPS does not break out its financial statements by country, but chief executive David Abney said the Middle East is "much smaller" than Europe, which accounts for about 50 percent of the international business.

"The population is young, it's rapidly growing" in the Middle East, Abney told AFP. "We look at emerging markets much more about the future potential than the present size."

Abney said talks with United Arab Emirates officials were not significantly affected by recent political controversies, such as President Donald Trump's proposed travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries that has drawn criticism for discriminating against Muslims.

"The travel ban never included Dubai and UAE, so that really wasn't a consideration," said Abney, who said the function of the World's Fair is akin to the Olympics. More than 180 countries are expected to participate.

"It's just not a political venue," he said. "It's much more of a goodwill event."

But UPS will avoid direct ownership of assets in riskier parts of the Middle East in favor of joint ventures, Barber said.

"All of those geopolitical forces come into play," Barber said.

"Our plan and strategy is to use great partnerships in the region," he added. "Keep the investment at a level that is reasonable, so if things in the years to come don't go in just the right way, that we're not standing there with a heavy, heavy investment that doesn't work for our shareholders."
A 90 million-year-old embryo of Beibelong - "baby dragon from China" - on top of eggshells (dark grey in colour)

Researchers have discovered a new species of giant, bird-like dinosaur that made nests larger than monster truck tires in what is now central China, a study said.

Measuring about eight metres (26 feet) long and weighing up to 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds), the Beibeilong sinensis -- "baby dragon from China" -- lived about 90 million years ago and is only the second known species of the giant oviraptorosaur in the world.

Darla Zelenitsky, a Canadian paleontologist who co-authored the study, told AFP that the Beibeilong would have looked like an "overgrown cassowary," a flightless bird resembling an emu.

Likely covered in feathers, oviraptorosaurs had robust, toothless beaks and often sported a crest on the top of their heads.

"It has been a big mystery for many years as to which species laid the largest-known dinosaur eggs," Zelenitsky said.

"The identification of the baby skeleton in this study revealed that these eggs were laid by giant oviraptorosaurs, a group of dinosaurs that are very poorly known from fossil bones."

The discovery, detailed in Nature Communications journal Tuesday, was made using a dinosaur skeleton and egg fossil known as "Baby Louie."

Baby Louie was among the thousands of dinosaur eggs excavated and collected from Cretaceous rocks by local farmers in central Henan province in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The specimen was then illegally sold and smuggled into the United States, where it was featured in National Geographic magazine and publicly exhibited at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.

Though the museum always intended to repatriate the Chinese fossil, the study noted, an agreement for its return was not reached until 2013, when Baby Louie found its final resting place at the Henan Geological Museum.

Because of legal concerns, only after Baby Louie had returned home was a team of Chinese and Canadian scientists able to start researching the specimen, which consisted of the bones of an embryo that died while hatching and 45 centimetre- (17.7 inch-)long eggs found in a ring-shaped clutch.
A US citizen was detained in North Korea for "hostile acts," the official KCNA news agency said

The State Department issued a sharp warning to Americans Tuesday against travel to North Korea after the arrest of a fourth US citizen, cautioning against the "serious risk" of lengthy detention and "unduly harsh sentences."

Kim Hak-Song was detained over the weekend for "hostile acts," the official KCNA news agency said, adding he had worked for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST).

The arrest put the number of Americans held in North Korea at four, as Washington and Pyongyang remain at loggerheads over the North's nuclear and missile ambitions.

While a travel warning already was in effect for US nationals, the State Department offered a more detailed statement about the pitfalls of heading to North Korea.

"The Department of State strongly warns US citizens not to travel to North Korea," the warning said.

"US citizens in the DPRK are at serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement," the department said.

"This system imposes unduly harsh sentences for actions that would not be considered crimes in the United States," it added, reminding Americans that the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.

Pyongyang has carried out two nuclear tests and dozens of missile launches since the beginning of last year in its quest to build a rocket capable of delivering an atomic warhead to the US mainland.

Washington has suggested military action could be on the table but President Donald Trump has softened his message more recently, saying he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
DETROIT (AP) - Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo saw the hulking and crumbling Packard car plant on Detroit's east side and vowed to turn the industrial ruin that's a symbol of the city's urban decay into bright apartments, busy shops and art galleries.

It's been more than three years since Palazuelo bought the complex for $405,000 at a tax foreclosure auction, and signs of his promised development have yet to rise from the rubble. His company just recently scheduled a May 16 groundbreaking for redevelopment at what was once the Packard's administration building, after telling city officials work would start last August.

Spiffing the Packard for redevelopment won't be easy. It's been about 20 years since any companies operated out of the 3.5 million-square-foot (0.33 million sq. meter) site. Before Palazuelo bought the property, city officials said razing the structures and cleaning out polluted soil from decades of industrial and heavy manufacturing operations could cost as much as $20 million.

This April 4, 2017 photo in Detroit shows the vacant Packard car plant on the city's east side. Fernando Palazuelo's optimism, and $405,000 at a tax foreclosure auction, appeared to resuscitate life in the rusted iron lung of the hulking and crumbling car plant. That was more than three years ago and promises by the Peruvian developer to replace the symbol of Detroit's urban decay with bright apartments, busy shops and art galleries have yet to rise from the building's rubble. (AP Photo/Corey Willams)

"There is probably arsenic and other nasty stuff. No telling what's on that site," said David Whitaker, head of the Detroit City Council's Research & Analysis Division.

Palazuelo plans to clean up and renovate buildings at the plant over the next seven years, Kari M. Smith, a spokeswoman for his Arte Express Detroit said in an email. Palazuelo's company in Lima, Peru will cover costs of the project, which he estimated at $350 million when he took ownership in late 2013. Palazuelo eventually plans to live at the plant, Smith said.

"We are proceeding step by step in a phased development. Mr. Palazuelo has no plans to walk away from this project," Smith said in response to questions about what would happen if Palazuelo can't come up with the costs.

For now, security guards can be seen patrolling the site. Parts of the complex have been cleared and some openings have been boarded up. The company has presented initial development plans to the city.

The groundbreaking announcement follows Palazuelo's interest in an eight-story former paper company building in Toledo, Ohio, that likely would require far less work and cash to remake into 80 apartments. Smith said work on the Toledo building and renovations at the Packard plant will be done simultaneously.

At the Packard plant, tests have found arsenic and selenium in the soil nearby. Mounds of car tires, clothing and other refuse illegally dumped in the structures appear to have been trucked away. Some, like the burned shell of a fishing boat, still sit inside the buildings.

In October 2014, crews ripped out some of the exterior wall and upper floor supports in the main building.

That's the last time Derek Webb - whose grandmother has lived a block away from the plant since the 1950s - remembers seeing any demolition work at the plant.

Fixing up the Packard may be too much for anyone, even a rich guy, said Webb, 54.

"I thought it should have been torn down," Webb said. "If I was a millionaire, I'm not putting my money in this. I'd tear it down and make it flat land."

The Packard Automotive Co. built the plant in 1903, but by 1954 the structure had become obsolete and Packard car production was being done elsewhere. The company would go out of business a few years later.

Detroit took over the complex in 1994 when an investor failed to pay taxes. Another company later took ownership but also would lose the property due to unpaid taxes.

Taxes are up to date under Palazuelo, according to Wayne County Treasury Eric Sabree.

"We wish the owner great success in fulfilling his development plans and returning the property to a higher use once again," Sabree said.

Unlike the nearly gutted Packard, renovating Toledo's 88,000-square-foot Commerce Paper building would be less daunting. Records show the building was sold March 22 for $800,000 by its previous owners to a trustee company.

There is not much Palazuelo would have to do to that building, said Tom Gibbons, director of Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commission.

"The bones of the building are good. The roof is good," Gibbons said.

Officials there already have rezoned the site to allow residential development and gave it a historic designation to allow Palazuelo to make use of tax credits.

"The city has done everything that he would require of us in supporting this project," Gibbons said. "We welcome it. I'm glad he's going to do it."
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could again find themselves in hunters' crosshairs - possibly as soon as this fall if federal protections are removed for the predators.

A ruling is expected soon from an appeals court that recently lifted protections for wolves in Wyoming. In Congress, wolf-hunting supporters aren't giving up even though a Minnesota representative was instrumental in killing an effort that would have allowed the three western Great Lakes states to resume wolf hunting.

Gray wolves were once hunted to the brink of extinction in most of the country, but they recovered under Endangered Species Act protections and reintroduction programs. They now number over 5,500 in the lower 48 states, including nearly 3,800 in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

FILE - This July 16, 2004, file photo, shows a gray wolf at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn. Gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could find themselves in the cross-hairs of hunters once again. A ruling is expected soon from the same federal appeals court that stripped the wolf of its protection in Wyoming in March 2017. (AP Photo/Dawn Villella, File)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly tried to remove wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan states from the endangered species list, but courts have stymied those efforts. Now, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is looking at the issue. The same appeals court in March took wolves off the list in Wyoming.

Wisconsin and Minnesota each held three wolf seasons before a federal judge put their wolves back on the list in December 2014. Michigan held one.

Backed by farm groups upset about depredation on livestock, and hunters who would like the chance to bag a wolf, lawmakers from the region have tried to attach riders to various bills in Congress that would "delist" wolves, return management responsibilities to the states and bar further court challenges. The latest effort failed when congressional negotiators dropped that language from a $1.1 trillion spending bill that President Donald Trump signed Friday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who represents an urban-suburban district in the Twin Cities, took credit, putting her at odds with rural lawmakers from the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson.

Peterson said he anticipates "several other opportunities" to pass the rider.

But if the appeals court rules as it did in the Wyoming case, there may be no need.

Lawyers on both sides said the Wyoming decision doesn't necessarily foreshadow how the court will rule next.

The two cases are similar "at the 50,000 foot level" because they both involve "delisting" wolves in specific regions, though there are differences in the details, said James Lister, who argued the Great Lakes case for pro-hunting groups, including the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation and the National Rifle Association.

Ralph Henry, litigation director for The Humane Society of the United States, who argued the opposite side, stressed the differences. The Wyoming case hinged on whether that state's management plan provided adequate protections, he said. The Great Lakes case focused on the process the U.S. government used for taking the three states' wolves off the list when the animals haven't spread enough to repopulate other states in their former range, he said.

Whether Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan could hold wolf seasons this fall would depend in part on how soon the court rules.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources can't make plans unless it's certain wolves will be coming off the list, said Dan Stark, the agency's large carnivore specialist. It would take time to publish the rules and set up a permit lottery, he said, but it might be possible to speed the process.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources spokesman Jim Dick declined to speculate.

"State law requires us to hold a harvest season if wolf management is returned to the states," he said. "We are prepared to respond to a change in listing status, if and when it happens, whether it comes through congressional action or through a court ruling."

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law in December authorizing wolf hunting if Congress or the courts permit, but the state's Natural Resources Commission has the final say.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Brian Roell said his agency would need to know by sometime in June to make it work.

"When you combine all the nuances it's not as simple as, 'OK, they're off the list, let's have a hunting season,'" he said.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - After volunteering at her children's Los Angeles middle school for nearly a decade, Carol Convey was told the number of teachers suddenly would be cut.

The problem? The school now had too many white students.

To Convey, the diverse, multiethnic community looked no different from before, so she began to wonder whether her neighbors had changed, or only how they identified on paper.

The question has sparked a lively debate in the country's second-largest school district, which under a decades-old court settlement aimed at desegregation provides additional staffing when more than 70 percent of students hailing from the surrounding neighborhood are not white.

Across the country, school districts have long grappled with desegregation and pursued a range of policies including changing boundaries, opening magnet schools and focusing resources on campuses with nonwhite students.

In Los Angeles, parents were shocked earlier this year when they learned Walter Reed Middle School - known for its honors program, specialized learning academies and diverse student body of 1,600 - would no longer qualify for the additional staffing due to an uptick in its white student enrollment.

District officials could not pinpoint a reason for the demographic shift, which dates back two years.

But some parents doubt there is much change, adding they have friends who didn't put down their children's heritage on school forms fearing they could be labeled English learners and subjected to additional testing.

Now, these parents are being encouraged to change how they answered questions about their children's race and ethnicity to more fully reflect their background - and Convey said more than a dozen people have voiced interest in doing so.

"They have a perception that maybe I need to skirt it, hide it, not share it, because it may work against me in some way," said Convey, founder of a parent group that supports the school. "We have had to educate and say, 'No, no, no people. Our funding depends on us being so different, so let's write it down. Let's tell everyone. Let's celebrate this.'"

The discussion underscores the critical role race plays in education decisions even though the questionnaires used to determine identity often feel inadequate or confusing to those filling them out.

It also suggests some parents may answer the forms based on what they think will most help their children, choosing to focus on or de-emphasize parts of their identity.

Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said he does not know parents who deliberately skew their answers on enrollment forms, but the incentive to do so exists in the Los Angeles Unified School District since white students have a better shot at getting into some magnet schools aimed at desegregation.

About three-quarters of Los Angeles Unified's students are Latino, and fewer than 10 percent identify as white, according to district data. That's a marked shift from 1978, the year the district proposed a court settlement to desegregate its schools, which at the time were 39 percent Latino and 30 percent white.

As a result, the majority of Los Angeles Unified schools today - 88 percent - receive the additional staffing to keep classes smaller, district statistics show.

Every year, a handful of schools lose or gain staffing when their demographics shift.

District officials, however, said they don't think parents lie about their children's race or ethnicity, but rather the data taken over two years reflects changes in the surrounding neighborhood or in how many children attend local schools.

"I think people are proud of their identity," said Greg McNair, the district's chief business and compliance counsel. "People like who they are, want to be who they are (and) don't want to pretend they're someone else."

In response to the parents' uproar, the district has rejigged funding to save all but one of the teachers the school would have lost because of the data shift, he said.

In the meantime, parents are planning to educate families at Reed about the enrollment forms and urge those who may have omitted information when they signed up their children for elementary school to make changes now.

They hope the school's demographic data will then shift back, renewing Reed's eligibility for the desegregation program.

So far, several parents have asked to review their enrollment paperwork at the school, said Barbara Jones, a district spokeswoman.

Reed parent Veronica Gonzalez said she can see why parents might find the forms confusing.

When asked if her child was Hispanic, she checked yes, but in a subsequent question about race, she didn't know what to answer so she crossed out one of the other checkboxes and wrote in "Hispanic."

Parents inherently seek to do what they believe is best for their children but often lack information about how this data is used, said Lisa Garcia Bedolla, professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Education.

"We treat this like bureaucratic record keeping, but the reality is, what you are choosing matters," she said.
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) - Even as the Republican health care overhaul remains a work in progress, states are planning for big changes that could swell the ranks of the uninsured and hit them with higher costs.

The changes contained in a bill that passed the U.S. House last week are welcome in some states that want more autonomy but are causing alarm in others that embraced former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

That is especially true for states that expanded Medicaid and face the potential loss of billions in federal dollars.

FILE - In this Thursday, May 4, 2017 file photo, demonstrators hold signs during a healthcare rally in Salt Lake City. Utah's all-Republican House delegation voted Thursday in favor of a health care overhaul that could impact people with pre-existing conditions, triggering serious worries from people who fit that category. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The current GOP plan would undo the mostly federally funded Medicaid expansion. It provided coverage to about 11 million newly eligible low-income Americans.

The plan also would allow insurance companies to charge far higher premiums on older Americans and some people with pre-existing conditions.

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2017 file photo, Gov. Bruce Rauner speaks in the Illinois House chamber in Springfield, Ill. In Illinois, a state that expanded coverage under former President Obama's Affordable Care Act, Rauner says he will push senators to change the Republican efforts to overhaul the ACA, so the impacts are not as dire for his state. (Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register via AP, File)

FILE - In this Friday, May 5, 2017 file photo, demonstrators hold signs to protest Rep. Jackie Walorski's, R-Ind., vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, outside her office in Mishawaka, Ind. The Republican bill would give state governments more authority to loosen coverage requirements for insurers on the individual market. It also provides far less money for Medicaid, which could lead many states to dismantle their coverage expansion for low-income Americans. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP)

FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 9, 2017 file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivers one of his State of the State addresses in New York's One World Trade Center building. New York officials estimate the House of Representatives' Thursday, May 4, 2017 bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act would lead to 2.7 million residents losing coverage and the state losing up to $6.9 billion in federal Medicaid money. Cuomo said such cuts would reduce support for hospitals, nursing homes and 7 million New Yorkers who rely on the program. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A New Jersey man convicted of breaking into a Connecticut warehouse and stealing more than 8,000 cartons of cigarettes worth about $500,000 is headed to federal prison.

Federal authorities say 52-year-old Andrew Oreckinto, of Matawan (MA'-tuh-wahn), New Jersey, was sentenced Monday to four years behind bars. He was convicted in February of theft from an interstate shipment.

Prosecutors say surveillance cameras recorded Oreckinto breaking into New Britain Candy in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in March 2011. A glue-like substance was used to disable door locks. Wires to an outside surveillance camera and a phone line were also cut.

Authorities linked Oreckinto to the theft by analyzing his call history.

Oreckinto's public defender didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Oreckinto is serving prison time in New Jersey for an unrelated theft.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - In some versions of a story May 8 about an Alaska lawmaker's comments about abortion, The Associated Press incorrectly used a male pronoun when referring to Rep. Geran Tarr. A corrected version of the story is below:

Alaska lawmaker mum amid apology demand for abortion remarks

An Alaska lawmaker who set off a firestorm by suggesting women try to get pregnant for a 'free trip to the city' for abortions is a military veteran and first-year representative with a reputation for being outspoken in his conservative beliefs

By BECKY BOHRER

Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska lawmaker who set off a firestorm by suggesting women try to get pregnant for a "free trip to the city" for abortions is a military veteran and first-year representative with a reputation for being outspoken in his conservative beliefs.

Rep. David Eastman, a Republican from Wasilla, is a firefighter and father of two young children.

Eastman found himself in the hot seat last week when he discussed his concerns about the use of state funds and Medicaid for abortions.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said there are not many places "where you have the kinds of incentives for abortion that we have in this state."

"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 said.

Eastman made similar comments later to a public radio reporter.

The backlash was swift, with lawmakers, including Eastman's own Republican caucus, calling on him to apologize.

Rep. Geran Tarr, an Anchorage Democrat who said the House should consider censuring Eastman, called his comments "deeply offensive, racist in nature and misogynistic."

Many Alaska Natives live in rural communities, where health services are limited and travel often is needed to access care in larger communities.

Alaska has restrictions in place that Planned Parenthood says effectively force women seeking a second-trimester abortion to travel out of state for procedures.

House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham Democrat, and Rep. Charisse Millett, the House Republican leader, said Monday that they had heard nothing from Eastman in response to separate requests that he apologize.

Edgmon said nothing had been determined as to what further steps, if any, might be taken.

During a brief legislative floor session, Eastman gave a speech about a mine. He avoided reporters in leaving the floor.

The Alaska Supreme Court has held that the state must fund medically necessary abortions if it funds medically necessary services for others with financial needs.

The state health department has said it uses the same out-of-state travel policy regardless of the medical service being provided but has not provided details.

In response to Eastman's comments, Liz Medicine Crow, president and CEO of the First Alaskans Institute, a nonprofit that works to help Alaska Natives, said she believes leadership of the House majority and minority caucuses "understand the incredible trauma that this type of commentary and hate speech can create. That's why they've taken the serious action that they've already taken and I'd just love to see what that follow-through will look like. I think many of us are watching."

In a letter shared by Eastman's office, Pamela Samash, president of Right to Life Interior Alaska, praised Eastman's anti-abortion stance. She wrote that she is offended by women "who use abortion as birth control."

"The big question is the whole picture: What happened to mother-child bond?" she said in an interview.

Tuckerman Babcock, chair of the state Republican Party, said a censure "smacks of thought police."

But he said Eastman's comments were inexcusable and hopes he apologizes.

"I would hate to see him fail to do that because he's smart and very energetic and taking on a lot of good fights," Babcock said. "It's his first term. Everybody makes mistakes but you need to own up to your mistakes."

___

This version corrects that Tarr said the House should consider censuring Eastman, not that she suggested Eastman should be censured
ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says the United States cannot "abandon" its emphasis on human rights as a "key element" of foreign policy.

Carter warns that such a move would tell abusive governments "it's OK for us to do it now."

Carter made his remarks Monday during a human rights conference at his presidential library in Atlanta. His comments came days after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson outlined President Donald Trump's "America First" policy.

Tillerson told diplomats the U.S. would emphasize its "values" but not necessarily require other governments to practice them as a condition of an alliance. Tillerson said mandates can make it harder for the U.S. to achieve its economic and security interests.

Carter told activists Monday that "the best way to have a secure country is to honor human rights."
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - A fire has destroyed a historic barn on the University of Connecticut's main campus.

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz says the blaze broke out late Monday night at the Landscaping Barn on the campus in Storrs.

Reitz says there are no reports of any injuries to people or to livestock. She says dairy cows and other animals are in barns elsewhere and not in any danger.

Reitz says nearby fire departments helped UConn contain the fire and keep it from spreading.

The Landscaping Barn, which dates to 1922, collapsed and is believed to be a total loss.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jimmy Kimmel zinged his critics as he returned to late-night TV and resumed arguing that Americans deserve the level of health care given his infant son.

Back on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Monday after a week's absence, he said baby Billy is recovering well from open-heart surgery for a birth defect and thanked well-wishers. Then he charged back into the fraught topic.

"I made an emotional speech that was seen by millions, and as a result of my powerful words on that night, Republicans in Congress had second thoughts about repeal and replace" of the Affordable Care Act, he joked. "I saved health insurance in the United States of America!"

FILE - In this April 11, 2017 file photo, host Jimmy Kimmel appears during a taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," in Los Angeles. Kimmel zinged his critics as he returned to late-night TV and resumed arguing that Americans deserve the level of health care given his infant son. Back on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Monday, May 8, after a week's absence, he said baby Billy is recovering well from open-heart surgery for a birth defect and thanked well-wishers. Then he charged back into the fraught topic. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP, File)

"What's that? I didn't save it? They voted against it anyway?" Kimmel said. The House approved the American Health Care Act last week.

He dismissed those who labeled him an elitist - as a youngster, his family bought powdered milk because they couldn't afford fresh, he said - and pretended to repent for his previous comments.

"I'd like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care. It was insensitive, it was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," Kimmel said.

He took on former Rep. Newt Gingrich, saying his claim that all children would receive the same surgery as Kimmel's son in an emergency fell short of addressing what follows.

"That's terrific if your baby's health problems are all solved during that one visit. The only problem is that never, ever happens. We've had a dozen doctor's appointments since our son had surgery," Kimmel said.

Kimmel brought on a current GOP lawmaker, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician, who had suggested that the Senate's upcoming health care legislation should have a "Jimmy Kimmel test" of covering pre-existing conditions but in a fiscally conservative way.

During a satellite interview with Cassidy, Kimmel asked about his position on issues including uninsured workers and protection of children under a revised health care bill.

The senator called on viewers to contact their representatives and urge support of final legislation that fulfills President Donald Trump's promise to lower premiums combined with coverage that passes the Kimmel standard.

Kimmel called for his namesake test to guarantee that no family be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they can't afford it.

"You're on the right track," Cassidy said, but the country has to be able to pay for it.

"Don't give a huge tax cut to millionaires like me," Kimmel replied.

On last Monday's show, the host detailed how Billy's routine birth April 21 suddenly turned frightening when he was diagnosed with a hole in the wall separating the right and left sides of the heart and a blocked pulmonary valve, a condition known as tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. He successfully underwent surgery, but will face more as he grows.

Using his son as an example, Kimmel called for health care for all and for pre-existing conditions to remain covered as provided by the Affordable Care Act passed under President Barack Obama.

"If your baby is going to die and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make. ... Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?" he said.

The video of Kimmel's tearful monologue went viral, drawing praised by some, including Obama, and harsh criticism from others.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan official says a bombing at a religious school in northern Parwan province has killed the chief cleric and wounded four students.

Deputy governor Shah Wali Shahid says the head of the Parwan clerical council, Mawlavi Abdul Rahim Hanafi, was assassinated in the explosion.

Shahid says Hanafi was the main target of the bombing, which took place on Tuesday morning at the madrassa in Charakar, the provincial capital.

It wasn't immediately clear why the cleric was targeted and no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shahid denounced the attack as a "terrorist act." He says an investigation is underway to determine how the bomb was brought into the classroom.

The Taliban announced the start of their spring offensive last month, threatening to step up attacks across the country.
BERLIN (AP) - Germany statistics agency says that the country exported more goods in March than in any previous month, though imports also rose to reach a record.

The Federal Statistical Office reported Tuesday that exports were up 0.4 percent over February, while imports increased 2.4 percent, according to figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar variations.

Exports totaled 118.2 billion euros ($129.3 billion), while imports reached 92.9 billion euros for a trade surplus of 25.4 billion euros. A year earlier, the monthly surplus amounted to 25.8 billion euros.

Germany's export imbalance is widely criticized by other countries, which accuse Europe's biggest economy of not doing enough to spur domestic demand for foreign goods. Berlin counters that products made in Germany are simply better than the competition.
NEW DELHI (AP) - India's top court on Tuesday found wanted tycoon Vijay Mallya guilty of disobeying its order barring him from transferring $40 million to his children.

Mallya, who fled to London last year, is wanted in India on charges of money laundering and bank demands that he pay back more than a billion dollars in loans extended to his now-defunct airline. India has been seeking his extradition over the charges, which Mallya denies.

The Supreme Court in its ruling Tuesday acted on a plea by Indian banks, who said Mallya received $40 million from the British firm Diageo and transferred it to his son and two daughters illegally. The court asked Mallya to appear before it in July to decide the punishment.

In this June 3, 2010 file photo, United Breweries Group Chairman Vijay Mallya attends the Global Investors Meet organized by Karnataka state government in Bangalore, India. India's top court on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, found wanted tycoon Mallya guilty of disobeying its order barring him from transferring $40 million to his children. Mallya, who fled to London last year, is wanted in India on charges of money laundering and bank demands that he pay back more than a billion dollars in loans extended to his now-defunct airline. India has been seeking his extradition over the charges, which Mallya denies.(AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

Mallya was famous for his flashy lifestyle and lavish parties attended by fashion models and Bollywood stars. He was once hailed as India's version of British tycoon Richard Branson for his investments in a brewing and liquor company, an airline, a Formula One team and an Indian Premier League cricket club.

He ran into trouble when he failed to return millions of dollars of loans and left India last year amid attempts by a group of banks to recover the money.

India's External Affairs Ministry says Britain is still considering its request to issue a warrant for Mallya and to extradite him.
HONG KONG (AP) - China's No. 3 official has lauded Macau's anti-subversion legislation during a visit to the city in a message that appeared aimed at nearby Hong Kong. Similar proposed legislation there has stalled because of opposition from pro-democracy supporters.

Zhang Dejiang made the comments Tuesday to local officials and business leaders in the former Portuguese colony, which has been a special Chinese administrative region since 1999.

Zhang said he was pleased with Macau's efforts in making national security a priority after Beijing took control under a system known as "one country, two systems."

Macau's government enacted its anti-subversion legislation in 2009.

Pro-democracy activists and lawmakers have objected to Hong Kong's version of the legislation because of fears Beijing would use it to suppress dissent in the semiautonomous Chinese region.
PARIS (AP) - Elected on a reform agenda for France, President-elect Emmanuel Macron will quickly discover that foreign policy - an area not yet in his comfort zone - will eat up buckets of his time.

On Europe, Macron has been crystal clear and vocal: keeping France at the center of the European Union was the dominant theme of his campaign. On global crises beyond Europe, such as North Korea, France's youngest ever president has kept his cards closer to his chest.

That is partly because, in previous jobs as an investment banker and from 2014-16 as France's economy minister, foreign policy wasn't among Macron's areas of expertise. His careful, measured forays into foreign affairs during the campaign signaled that Macron is aware of his own limitations and is allowing himself time to bone up on the issues before crafting his diplomacy.

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron smiles to veterans during a ceremony to mark the end of World War II at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Monday, May 8, 2017. Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen handily in Sunday's presidential vote, and now must pull together a majority for his year-old political movement by mid-June legislative elections. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

"You have politicians who know that they don't know and want to learn. And you have those who don't know that they don't know and who shoot off their mouths. He belongs, quite clearly, to the first category," says Francois Heisbourg, a leading French expert on foreign affairs, defense and terrorism who has been advising Macron and his campaign team.

Macron has given some broad outlines but, on more than one occasion, has been wishy washy.

On the Middle East, Macron has repeatedly said his top priority will be to continue the fight against the Islamic State group, which has claimed or inspired multiple attacks in France since 2015 that killed more 230 people. French warplanes have flown thousands of sorties and carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the extremists, working in an international coalition.

Macron has also said he wants an engineered exit from power of Syrian President Bashar Assad. He labeled Assad "a criminal" after a sarin gas attack killed dozens in the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4.

The president-elect said the use of the deadly nerve agent should be punished with U.N.-sanctioned military force if Assad's involvement is proven. But Macron has also expressed concerns that Syria could become an even more chaotic failed state if Assad is ousted suddenly, without a carefully planned transition.

"It's very complicated," Macron said last month. "We have to be serious."

With regard to Russia, Macron set himself apart from other candidates in the election by adopting a tougher stance toward President Vladimir Putin.

He said he wants to work with Russia, which backs Assad's regime, in the fight against IS. But he laced his appeals for cooperation with warnings that Moscow "doesn't share our values and preferences."

Vowing not to be "accommodating" with Russia, he said last month: "We need an extremely demanding dialogue."

Macron favors renewed peace talks to stabilize the situation in eastern Ukraine in order to gradually diminish sanctions against Russia.

Macron's tone hardened as the campaign wore on. There was widespread - but as yet unproven - speculation that Russia may have had a hand in the document leak that targeted Macron's campaign in the final hours of the race.

Foreign affairs expert Heisbourg said that Russia and France's allies will be watching how Macron now handles the aftermath of the hack, which is being investigated by the French government's cybersecurity agency, ANSSI.

"The cyberattack was timed exquisitely. Russia's fingerprints were all over the place. This was not simply a belated attempt to disrupt the campaign. It was a gauntlet, a challenge," said Heisbourg, an adviser at the Paris think-tank Foundation for Strategic Research.

"He will be expected to respond one way or another to the challenge," Heisbourg said.

With the U.S., Macron says he wants continued intelligence-sharing and cooperation at the United Nations, and he hopes to persuade President Donald Trump not to pull Washington out of a global climate change accord.

Macron, committed to free trade, and Trump, who campaigned on promises to protect American jobs from foreign competition, appear poles apart. They're also from different generations - Macron is 39, Trump 70.

They will likely meet for the first time at a NATO summit in Belgium on May 25 and they could surprise everyone by showing they have more in common than first meets the eye.

Macron's fluent English could help make personal chemistry easier. Both beat the odds and expectations by winning unlikely election victories. Both positioned themselves as outsiders in their respective political systems, which they promised to change. Trump was among the first world leaders to congratulate Macron on "his big win," in a tweet Sunday night.

"They flouted all the rules of the established game. They were unelectable and they both got elected," Heisbourg said. "They will probably find each other interesting."

Trump used foreign policy on the campaign trail to project himself as defender of U.S. interests, notably with China, which he called a "tremendous problem." In power, he continues to shoot from the hip, recently calling North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a "smart cookie."

Macron has been more circumspect. One exception was during a televised debate with other candidates in March, when he launched into a long-winded and muddled explanation of what he called his "diplomatic roadmap."

"It was miserable. It was exactly what you shouldn't do: shooting off your mouth when you actually have a weak basis of knowledge, have not formed any reasoned and structured doctrine, and you just jabber and jabber," Heisbourg said.

"That was seen as a mistake. He tended to avoid repeating it."

___

Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.
The Trump administration is taking the unusual step of hunting for evidence of crimes committed by Haitian immigrants as it decides whether to allow them to continue participating in a humanitarian program that has shielded tens of thousands from deportation since an earthquake destroyed much of their country.

The inquiries into the community's criminal history were made in internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (UCIS) emails obtained by The Associated Press.

They show the agency's newly appointed policy chief also wanted to know how many of the roughly 50,000 Haitians enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program were taking advantage of public benefits, which they are not eligible to receive.

The emails don't make clear if Haitian misdeeds will be used to determine whether they can remain in the United States.

Homeland Security has requested evidence of crimes committed by Haitian immigrants who are under the Temporary Protect Status as it decides whether to continue with the program - The unorthodox request fits in with President Donald Trump's broader, tough-on-immigration focus

The program is intended to help people from places beset by war or disasters and, normally, the decision to extend it depends on whether conditions in the immigrants' home country have improved enough for them to return.

But emails suggest Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who will make the decision, is looking at other criteria.

'I do want to alert you ... the secretary is going to be sending a request to us to be more responsive,' Kathy Nuebel Kovarik, the USCIS head of policy and strategy, wrote on April 27.

Addressing the inability of agency employees to gather the requested information about wrongdoing, she said: 'I know some of it is not captured, but we'll have to figure out a way to squeeze more data out of our systems.'

The request for criminal data for an entire community is unorthodox. The law doesn't specify it should be a consideration for Temporary Protected Status and the government has never said it would use criminal rates in deciding if a country's citizens should be allowed to stay under this program.

Introducing new criteria is likely to cause consternation among law-abiding Haitians who may feel they are being penalized for the wrongdoing of their compatriots.

The Temporary Protected Status program is intended to help people from places beset by war or disasters - Approximately 50,000 Haitians are living in the US under TPS

The Obama administration included Haiti in the program shortly after the January 2010 earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people and devastated the country

But the request fits in with President Donald Trump's broader, tough-on-immigration focus that is a core demand of his political supporters.

He has enhanced efforts to arrest people living illegally in the United States and sought, unsuccessfully so far, to suspend refugee arrivals and temporarily block visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries. He has accused those in the U.S. illegally of fueling criminality in the U.S.

It is unclear if the agency is asking such questions about other recipients of the temporary protection, including immigrants from Honduras and El Salvador.

The Homeland Security Department said Kelly has not made a final decision about Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and declined to comment on the process.

Temporary Protected Status is intended to be just that, temporary. The Obama administration included Haiti in the program shortly after the January 2010 earthquake that killed as many as 300,000 people and devastated schools, hospitals, homes and even entire neighborhoods.

Since then, Haitians have been eligible to stay regardless of how they entered the United States - legally or illegally - as long as they were residing in the U.S. before January 12, 2011.

Eligibility for Haitians has been extended several times and is set to expire July 22. The Trump administration must decide by May 23 so that it can provide 60 days' notice about its plans.

A 2010 file photo shows Haitian police use sticks to try and keep the crowd in order at a food distribution point in the aftermath of the disaster - USCIS has asked officials to look for 'stories' showing if conditions have improved

USCIS' acting director has recommended letting the program expire. In an April 10 memo first reported by USA Today, James McCament said Haiti is no longer in crisis despite its poverty and political instability.

However, he wants to allow the Haitians to stay until January so they have time to make arrangements to voluntarily leave. If they don't depart the U.S. by then, the government could move to deport them.

Still, Homeland Security's Kelly has the final word. The emails inquiring about misdeeds were sent from April 7 to May 1.

In her first week on the job, Kovarik, the policy chief, asked officials how often Haitians with temporary status have been convicted of 'crimes of any kind,' and how many have taken advantage of public benefits.

She asked for that information in four separate emails. She also asked how much money Haitians have sent home and how often they've traveled back to Haiti. Left unsaid is that frequent travel could suggest improved conditions.

'Please dig for any stories (successful or otherwise) that would show how things are in Haiti - i.e. rebuilding stories, work of nonprofits, how the U.S. is helping certain industries,' Kovarik wrote on April 28.

'We should also find any reports of criminal activity by any individual with TPS. Even though it's only a snapshot and not representative of the entire situation, we need more than "Haiti is really poor" stories.'

The emails were largely directed to non-political employees. They responded by saying much of the data were not available or were difficult to find in government records systems.

Criminal fingerprint records, for instance, don't generally indicate if a suspect has Temporary Protected Status.

And the employees said the public benefits request was almost impossible to answer because TPS participants aren't eligible for most.

About the only firm information Kovarik's queries turned up, according to the emails, is that Haiti benefited from about $1.3 billion in remittances from the United States in 2015.

Officials said they could only guess how much came from the temporarily protected group, which comprise only a fraction of the estimated 954,000-strong Haitian diaspora in the United States.

Maria Odom, a former Citizenship and Immigration Services ombudsman who served during the Obama administration, said she was puzzled by the inquiries about criminal activities.

She said the government already checks criminal histories of applicants and denies protections to those who've broken U.S. laws.

'You should not craft a humanitarian policy based on the few,' Odom said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Senate Republicans landed a top-tier candidate in West Virginia but have struggled to recruit well-known GOP challengers in several states where President Donald Trump romped and Democratic incumbents warily face re-election.

Two-term Rep. Evan Jenkins on Monday announced his bid against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia's popular former governor whose conservative record often puts him at odds with his party and made him a possible member of Trump's Cabinet. Jenkins, in a video, said Manchin changed when he got to Washington, spotlighting the senator's unsuccessful effort on gun control with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania after the 2012 murders at Sandy Hook school.

"West Virginia values, not anymore," Jenkins says in the ad.

FILE - in this April 25, 2017, file photo, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. listens to a reporter's question before a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Republicans landed a top-tier candidate in West Virginia but have struggled to recruit well-known GOP challengers in several states where President Donald Trump romped and Democratic incumbents warily face re-election. Two-term Rep. Evan Jenkins on May 8 announced his bid against Manchin, West Virginia's popular former governor whose conservative record often puts him at odds with his party and made him a possible member of Trump's Cabinet. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

In Wisconsin, Michigan and other states, Republicans have passed on challenging Democrats. Trump's abysmal approval ratings loom large as does the typically rough going for the president's party in midterm elections. Democratic senators in states Trump carried last year have capitalized on their party's resistance to the president to post robust early fundraising.

And now, Democrats in several of the competitive states are using last week's House vote to dismantle Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act against would-be GOP challengers who backed the bill that could push millions of Americans off insurance.

Within minutes of the House vote, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who might face a challenge from GOP Rep. Lou Barletta, said, "it is outrageous to think that anyone would support legislation that decimates Medicaid," the federally funded health insurance program for lower-income Americans. "Where is the heart in that?"

To be sure, only a stunning upset could put Senate Democrats in the majority. The GOP holds a 52-48 advantage, and of the 33 Senate seats up next year, 23 are held by Democrats and two by independents who caucus with the party. Ten seats are in states Trump carried. Democrats would have to win all 10, plus defeat an additional three Republican senators, who are defending seats in GOP-friendly territory, such as Arizona, Nebraska and Texas.

But Republicans in states where Trump overwhelmed Hillary Clinton say Democratic senators pose more of a formidable challenge than the political landscape suggested in November. Consider North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who won by a mere 2,881 votes in 2012.

"Sen. Heitkamp voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. She's right on gun issues. She's pro-coal, and pro-oil and gas," said North Dakota Republican Brian Kalk, a former candidate for Congress. "There has to be an overwhelming reason for voters to leave her."

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker and Rep. Sean Duffy have declined to challenge Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Instead, less-known Republicans, albeit some wealthy outsiders, are considering bids.

Likewise in Michigan, statewide elected Republicans - Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and Attorney Gen. Bill Schuette - seem headed for a 2018 governor's race primary. Departing Gov. Rick Snyder is not expected to run for the Senate, leaving Rep. Fred Upton and former state supreme court Judge Robert Young looking at the seat held by third-term Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

If Clinton had won, Republicans argued they had a shot at a super-majority in the Senate - 60 plus votes that would allow them to act almost unilaterally.

Now, with Trump in the White House, Republicans are dampening expectations. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told The Associated Press in an interview earlier this year that his message to GOP senators is "don't fall in love with the map."

With Jenkins' candidacy, seven of the 10 Trump-state Democrats could face the potential of a challenge from House members who voted for the GOP health care bill.

Potential candidates are Reps. Kevin Cramer in North Dakota and Ann Wagner in Missouri where Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is seeking a third term. Ohio Rep. Pat Tiberi is weighing a campaign in Ohio, where state Treasurer Josh Mandel is again challenging Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

In Indiana, there is the chance of a House member-versus-member GOP primary, with Luke Messer and Todd Rokita expected to vie for the nomination and a challenge to first-term Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.

Meanwhile, the 10 Democrats have stockpiled millions during the first quarter of 2017.

McCaskill had raised $2.8 million as of last month and had more than $3 million in her campaign account. Casey has raised nearly as much, $2.7 million, and had $3.8 million in his campaign account. Brown had raised more than $2.4 million and had $5 million on hand, while Stabenow has raised $1.4 million and had a healthy $4.3 million banked.

In Florida, Sen. Bill Nelson had raised roughly $2 million through March, had roughly $3.6 million on hand last month. He'll likely need it. Nelson is expected to face Gov. Rick Scott, who could finance much of his own campaign with personal wealth.

With his trademark flattop haircut and gnarled fingers from a meat-grinder accident, Montana Sen. Jon Tester projects a ruggedly Western profile, despite narrow victories in 2006 and 2012, says Jason Hielman, chief of staff to Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana.

Tester headlined a fundraiser for the Yellowstone National Park Foundation with 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney last week.

"I think certainly all of Tester's personality and how people perceive him have been very helpful," Hielman said.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans from energy-producing states are under pressure as the Senate weighs whether to overturn an Obama-era regulation to restrict harmful methane emissions escaping from oil and gas wells on public land.

A coalition of groups with ties to the fossil-fuel industry and the conservative Koch Brothers have waged a public campaign to overturn the Interior Department rule but have so far fallen short.

Senate Republican leaders say they are close to getting the 51 votes needed to overturn the rule under the Congressional Review Act, but as a Thursday deadline approaches, no vote has been scheduled. Key GOP senators, including Cory Gardner of Colorado and Dean Heller of Nevada, remain publicly undecided.

President Barack Obama imposed the rule last year as part of a strategy to address climate change.
BERLIN (AP) - German authorities arrested two Syrians suspected of fighting for extremist groups in their homeland, including one who allegedly administered a strategically important dam in eastern Syria for the Islamic State group, officials said Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said that 30-year-old Abdulmalk A. and 23-year-old Mousa H. A. were arrested last week in Berlin and the nearby state of Saxony-Anhalt. Their last names weren't provided in line with German privacy rules.

Both men allegedly joined the Nusra Front in 2012 to fight against the Syrian government, with Abdulmalk A. being given command of a unit in eastern Syria.

Prosecutors said that Abdulmalk A. is also suspected of committing a war crime, alleging the man "captured a sniper of the Syrian regime in spring 2013 near the city of Tabqa, forced him to dig his own grave and cut his throat."

Abdulmalk A., originally from Deir el-Zour, allegedly joined the Islamic State group in mid-2013 and was put in charge of the Euphrates dam near the city of Tabqa, prosecutors said.

It wasn't immediately clear when and how the men, who will appear before a judge Tuesday, came to Germany.

German authorities have arrested dozens of people suspected of taking part in fighting in Syria who entered Germany among a wave of refugees that arrived in the country over the past two years.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A lawmaker in Denmark has called for a ban on jet skis off the country's coasts after two American students were killed in a crash over the weekend.

Kenneth Kristensen Berth of the populist Danish People's Party that supports the center-right government told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Denmark's 98 municipalities should be able to forbid jet skis. But a 2010 Supreme Court ruling allows them, citing European Union rules.

Few in Denmark's Parliament back Berth's idea. Many lawmakers say rules forbidding use of recreational watercraft closer than 300 meters (330 yards) from the coast should be enforced.

The Americans were killed Saturday when a jet ski crashed into their boat in Copenhagen's harbor. A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter, and for fleeing the scene.
Trump fires FBI Director James Comey

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, saying it was necessary to restore "public trust and confidence" in the nation's top law enforcement agency following several tumultuous months.

"The FBI is one of our nation's most cherished and respected institutions, and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement," Trump said in a statement.

The White House said the search for a new FBI director was beginning immediately.

The White House made the stunning announcement shortly after the FBI corrected a sentence in Comey's sworn testimony on Capitol Hill last week. Comey told lawmakers that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent "hundreds and thousands" of emails to her husband's laptop, including some with classified information.

On Tuesday, the FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that only "a small number" of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

___

FBI corrects Comey testimony on Clinton aide Huma Abedin

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI on Tuesday corrected the sworn testimony of Director James Comey, who last week told Congress that a top aide to Hillary Clinton had sent "hundreds and thousands" of emails to her husband's laptop, including some with classified information.

In fact, the FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, only "a small number" of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

The apparent misstatements came during an hours-long hearing in which Comey was criticized for public comments during the election season, including his assertion during a July news conference at FBI headquarters that Clinton and her aides had been "extremely careless" in their handling of classified information.

He spoke at length at that hearing about Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide, as he defended his decision to alert Congress 11 days before the election about the discovery of thousands of emails on a laptop belonging to former Rep. Anthony Weiner. The congressman, whose laptop was searched by the FBI as part of a sexting investigation, and Abedin separated last year.

Comey said he felt compelled to tell Congress that agents would need to take the time to review those emails, especially since he had already testified that the FBI had closed its investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server.

___

Trump OKs arms for Syrian Kurds, despite Turkish objections

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will arm Syria's Kurdish fighters "as necessary" to recapture the key Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa, despite intense opposition from NATO ally Turkey, which sees the Kurds as terrorists.

The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation but undermines the Turkish government's view that the Syrian Kurdish group known as the YPG is an extension of a Kurdish terrorist organization that operates in Turkey. Washington is eager to retake Raqqa, arguing that it is a haven for IS operatives to plan attacks on the West.

Dana W. White, the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, said in a written statement that President Donald Trump authorized the arms Monday. His approval gives the Pentagon the go-ahead to "equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS" in Raqqa, said White, who was traveling with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Europe.

The U.S. sees the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria. White said they're "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

While White did not mention the kinds of arms to be provided to the Kurds, other officials had indicated in recent days that 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities. They said the U.S. would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

___

Amtrak engineer won't be charged in deadly crash

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The speeding Amtrak engineer involved in a derailment that killed eight people and injured about 200 others won't face criminal charges, the city district attorney's office said Tuesday.

Prosecutors said they can't prove engineer Brandon Bostian acted with "conscious disregard" when he accelerated the train to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve in Philadelphia.

Federal investigators concluded that Bostian lost track of his location, or "situational awareness," before the May 12, 2015, crash after learning that a nearby commuter train had been struck with a rock. They found no evidence he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or distracted by a cellphone.

Lawyers Thomas R. Kline and Robert Mongeluzzi, who represent more than 30 victims and their families, described their clients as bitterly disappointed and said many remain in constant pain two years later.

"There is a longing for accountability when you are disabled and in excruciating pain every day," Mongeluzzi said. "The person who was the primary and sole cause of this escaped punishment and you paid the price."

___

Syrian troops shift focus to IS-held east

BEIRUT (AP) - Syria's military launched a new assault Tuesday aimed at reasserting its authority in the east of the country, battling U.S.-backed opposition fighters in the remote desert near the borders with Iraq and Jordan. The government forces' ultimate goal is to insert itself in the fight against the Islamic State group in the oil-rich region.

The government offensive came as the Trump administration announced it would arm Syria's Kurdish fighters "as necessary" to recapture the key Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. The decision is meant to accelerate the Raqqa operation, but is strongly opposed by key NATO ally Turkey, which sees the Syrian Kurdish group, known as the YPG, as an extension of the Kurdish insurgency raging in its southeast.

The decision is likely to complicate the way going forward, as the U.S. has deployed additional troops to act as a buffer between Syria's Kurds and Turkey along the country's northern border.

Dana W. White, the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, said in a written statement that President Donald Trump's authorization of arms to the Syrian Kurds gives the Pentagon the go-ahead to "equip Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces as necessary to ensure a clear victory over ISIS" in Raqqa. The U.S. sees the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which also includes Arab fighters, as its most effective battlefield partner against IS in northern and eastern Syria.

The statement did not specify the kinds of arms to be provided, but other officials have indicated that 120mm mortars, machine guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the matter, said the U.S. would not provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

___

Harsher sentences could result from guidance weighed by US

WASHINGTON (AP) - Justice Department officials have been weighing new guidance that would encourage prosecutors to charge suspects with the most serious offenses they can prove, a reversal of Obama-era policies that aimed to reduce the federal prison population and show more leniency to lower-level drug offenders.

If embraced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, this could result in an increased use of rigid mandatory minimum sentences that critics have called unnecessarily harsh.

The guidance is taking shape in the form of a memo that ultimately will be shared with the nation's federal prosecutors, but the timeframe for release is unclear. Drafts of the memo have been circulating for weeks and have undergone revisions, so the final language is not yet certain.

A person involved in the discussions described one version to The Associated Press speaking only on condition of anonymity because the guidance has not been publicly announced. As outlined, that version would encourage prosecutors to charge people with the most serious, provable offenses - something more likely to trigger mandatory minimum sentences. Those rules limit a judge's discretion and are typically dictated, for example, by the quantity of drugs involved in a crime.

Such a policy shift has been expected since Sessions was appointed and is in keeping with his tough-on-crime public posture, resistance to proposals he sees as overly lenient and repeated statements about running a Justice Department that enforces laws as they're written. In 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft enacted a similar policy that directed prosecutors to "pursue the most serious, readily provable offense in all federal prosecutions."

___

Liberal claims victory in South Korea presidential election

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Hours after celebrating his election win with thousands of supporters in wet Seoul streets, newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday will be thrown into the job of navigating a nation deeply split over its future and faced with growing threats from North Korea and an uneasy alliance with the United States.

Moon, whose victory capped one of the most turbulent political stretches in the nation's recent history and set up its first liberal rule in a decade, will begin his presidential duties after the National Election Commission officially declares him as winner in a meeting scheduled on Wednesday morning. The election body had finished voting as of 6 a.m., with Moon gathering 41 percent of the votes, comfortably edging conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, who gathered 24 percent and 21 percent of the votes, respectively.

Moon's first schedule as president was expected to be a morning visit to the National Cemetery in the central city of Daejeon, where the country's independence fighters and war heroes are buried. He will then return to capital Seoul for an inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly.

South Korea might see a sharp departure from recent policy under Moon, who favors closer ties with North Korea, saying hard-line conservative governments did nothing to prevent the North's development of nuclear-armed missiles and only reduced South Korea's voice in international efforts to counter North Korea.

This softer approach might put him at odds with South Korea's biggest ally, the United States. The Trump administration has swung between threats and praise for North Korea's leader.

___

Deacon candidate accuses Minnesota bishop of blackmail

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minnesota man alleged Tuesday that his Catholic bishop blackmailed him, threatening to block his path to becoming a deacon and harm his son's priesthood career if he told anyone about being abused by a beloved priest decades earlier.

Ronald Vasek filed a lawsuit Monday against Bishop Michael Hoeppner and the Diocese of Crookston in northwestern Minnesota. His attorney, Jeff Anderson, said it's the first time a U.S. bishop has been sued individually for coercion.

Vasek said the 2010 threat kept him quiet for years until he was called to a meeting with Hoeppner this past March and told his pastor no longer supported his ordination. To Vasek, the reasons given made no sense, so he decided to end his silence.

His voice choked with emotion during a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Vasek said he finally told his wife, Patty, and a trusted priest, the Rev. Robert Schreiner. He said his deep faith required him to come forward.

"If I'm not ordained a deacon, at least I can be a servant to those who have been abused, in some way," Vasek said.

___

Phoenix serial killings suspect: 'I'm innocent'

PHOENIX (AP) - A former city bus driver suspected in a string of nine deadly shootings that spread fear in Phoenix declared "I'm innocent" as residents of the terrorized neighborhoods Tuesday expressed both relief over the arrest and frustration that it took so long.

Aaron Saucedo, 23, spoke up during a brief court appearance late Monday night after his arrest on suspicion of being the killer dubbed the Serial Street Shooter. A judge ordered him held without bail.

Police say Saucedo killed nine people and carried out 12 shootings from August 2015 to July 2016, gunning down victims after dark as they stood outside their homes or sat in their cars. Most of the killings were in a Latino neighborhood.

Police gave no details on a motive. Saucedo knew only the first victim, and the other killings were random, authorities said.

Because of the shootings last summer, some residents stayed inside after dark. Others were afraid to come forward because many are immigrants in the U.S. illegally or don't have their paperwork in order.

___

Sale of Trump Caribbean property revives ethics concerns

WASHINGTON (AP) - For sale: Luxury waterfront escape. Comes with two villas and five acres of paradise. And perhaps a bit of goodwill from the president of the United States?

President Donald Trump's corporate trust is selling a multimillion-dollar Caribbean resort, presenting an enticing new way for a wealthy interest to get the president's attention and creating a fresh ethical dilemma for a first family dogged by the repeated collision of its corporate ties and public service.

Just in the past few days, the Kushner Companies, the real estate company run by Trump's in-laws, apologized for advertising its connections to the White House during a pitch to Chinese investors. Ivanka Trump and other government employees are hawking her new book on social media - despite her assertion that she won't promote it.

Last weekend was the president's 14th at a Trump-branded property, riling ethics experts who say the visits amount to in-kind advertising.

It's all part of a push and pull that has only intensified as the Trump administration wades deeper into policymaking. Although the family appears to be following the letter of the law to avoid conflicts of interest, Trump, his daughter and son-in-law Jared Kushner - the latter two White House advisers - haven't always been able to keep their former business interests from creeping in.
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Indicted for killing thousands and kidnapping children to become soldiers and sex slaves, Joseph Kony has been Africa's most notorious warlord for three decades. Now that the United States and others are ending the international manhunt for him and his Lord's Resistance Army, it appears Kony may never be brought to justice.

His elusiveness in the often lawless bush of central Africa is legendary. In one incident Ugandan military forces in hot pursuit raided Kony's hideout deep in a Congo wildlife park in 2008 and seized little but a wig and guitar he left behind.

Despite the millions of dollars spent to catch him, Kony has outlasted his hunters. That's a blow to victims who hoped he would stand trial at the International Criminal Court where he has been charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The yearning for justice is there," said Judith Akello, a lawmaker who represents a community in northern Uganda once hit by Kony's rebel insurgency. "Justice is what the people demand."

Kony became internationally notorious in 2012 when the U.S.-based advocacy group Invisible Children made a viral video highlighting the LRA's alleged crimes. The group is accused of killing over 100,000 people, according to the U.N.

The U.S. has offered up to $5 million for information leading to Kony's capture.

Although scores of LRA fighters have recently surrendered or been killed, the whereabouts of Kony, now in his 50s, remain a mystery. Recent defectors from the rebel group suggest he is sick and hiding somewhere in the vast, ungoverned spaces of central Africa.

In pulling out of the military mission against the LRA, the U.S. in March said the rebel group's active membership is now less than 100. The U.S. first sent about 100 special forces as military advisers to the mission in 2011, and in 2014 sent 150 Air Force personnel.

Echoing the U.S., Uganda's military last month announced it was ending the manhunt and pulling out 1,500 troops because "the mission to neutralize the LRA has now been successfully achieved."

The military withdrawal means Kony may never be caught, said some observers. Of the five LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005, he is the only one still at large. One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial at the ICC following his arrest in Central African Republic in 2015.

"Kony is the ultimate master of survival in the jungle," said Kasper Agger, an independent researcher in Central African Republic who monitors LRA activities. "He has survived three decades of warfare and evaded capture from the most powerful and expensive military in the world."

Kony's rebels may continue as a "group of bandits" in sparsely populated areas of Congo and Central African Republic, where they may link up with other armed groups, said Agger. LRA rebels trade in wildlife products to support their activities, slaughtering elephants for ivory in Congo under Kony's direct orders, according to The Enough Project.

The LRA remains a regional threat, a new U.N. report on sexual violence in conflict says. "The Lord's Resistance Army continued its decade-old pattern of abduction, rape, forced marriage, forced impregnation and sexual slavery" in Central African Republic and has a presence in Congo and South Sudan, it says.

Kony has proved difficult to capture "mainly because he hides in Sudan-controlled territory" in which other African forces are not permitted to operate, said Sasha Lezhnev of the Enough Project. Sudan has denied allegations by Uganda's government that it actively supports the LRA.

A former Catholic altar boy whose rebel movement started as a tribal uprising with aspirations of ruling Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, Kony is an almost mythical figure. LRA fighters have said he has paranormal powers to read the minds of disloyal commanders.

Under military pressure, the LRA fled Uganda in 2005, moving first to Congo and then to parts of Central African Republic in a vast jungle area about the size of France. By then vastly degraded, the LRA splintered into small groups that were constantly on the move.

The rebels were up against a poorly organized Ugandan military, whose commanders in the anti-Kony campaign were accused of creating phantom soldiers on the payroll and abusing civilians.

"Kony and LRA's nine lives were the result of their discipline," said Angelo Izama, an analyst in Uganda who runs a think tank on regional security called Fanaka Kwawote.

Although Kony could appear bizarre, "he presided over a formidable, well-armed and loyal outfit that was quite capable of running rings around the supposedly superior soldiers sent to hunt him down," said Matthew Green, author of "Wizard of the Nile," a 2008 book about the LRA.

"While many people in (northern Uganda) reviled Kony for the atrocities he ordered, they were also subject to repression and abuses by (Ugandan) President Museveni's security forces," Green said. "Kony survived in part because there was often a deep-seated ambiguity in attitudes toward his movement among his own people, even though they were his principal victims."
PRAGUE (AP) - A Prague appeals court has increased a prison sentence to six years for a Czech man convicted of an attempt to join Islamic State group militants in Syria.

The regional court in the western city of Plzen sentenced Jan Silovsky to three years and three months in prison in February and ordered him to undergo psychiatric treatment.

The 22-year-old Silovsky pleaded guilty and expressed regret but appealed.

FILE- In this Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 file photo, 22-year-old Jan Silovsky, left, is escorted at the regional court in Plzen, Czech Republic. A Prague appeals court has increased a sentence to six years, Tuesday May 9, 2017, for a Czech who was convicted of an attempt to join the Islamic State militants in Syria. (Miroslav Chaloupka/CTK via AP, File)

Prague's High Court upheld the ruling and increased the sentence at the prosecution's request. Tuesday's verdict is final.

Silovsky became the first Czech indicted for such a crime. He was arrested last year in Turkey at Istanbul's international airport and sent back to the Czech Republic by Turkish authorities.

During the trial, he said he converted to Islam about four years ago.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Germany's president says that it's "truly urgent" to start moving toward a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke in the West Bank on Tuesday, after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Steinmeier says much time has already been spent on efforts to set up a state of Palestine alongside Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (Mohamad Torokman/Pool Photo via AP)

He says that "in our view there is no other solution," and that "it's high time to work on the requirements for it."

Abbas met last week with President Donald Trump who has promised to try to broker an elusive deal. Trump is visiting the Holy Land later this month.

Abbas said in an interview Monday that Trump gave him the impression that "he wanted to do something quickly, in a year more or less."

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following their meeting, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, left, speaks during a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following their meeting, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, shakes hands with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (Mohamad Torokman/Pool Photo via AP)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier waves to journalists on his arrival for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier lays a wreath at the grave of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's grave, before a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier lays a wreath at the grave of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's grave, before a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier review an honor guard, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's president says his country is not a second-class European Union nation and citizens should stop thinking that.

In an address to Parliament, Klaus Iohannis said that a decade after Romania joined the EU, "Romanians are deeply attached to European values," citing massive anti-corruption protests that broke out in February after the government moved to decriminalize official misconduct. The government eventually scrapped the ordinance.

Iohannis told lawmakers Tuesday: "We are not a second-rate state in the EU."

"Romanians should overcome an internal barrier that prevents us from manifesting our national capacity and limits us to unjustly considering ourselves a second-level state."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will address Romania's Parliament about the future of Europe later this week.
BUMPASS, Va. (AP) - Authorities say a woman who shot at Virginia law enforcement officers and was seriously wounded when they returned fire has been charged with attempted murder.

Police say a Louisa County sheriff's deputy was responding to a domestic violence call Monday when 42-year-old Misty Dawn Shutts Norwood exited the home, fired at the deputy and went back inside.

Police say after the trooper arrived, the woman exited the home again and ignored commands to drop the weapon as she walked toward the woods. Police say Norwood then turned and fired shots at the deputy and trooper, who returned fire.

Police say Norwood has been charged with two counts of attempted capital murder.

Norwood remains hospitalized for serious injuries and a police spokesman said he doesn't know if she has an attorney.
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) - Forces loyal to a powerful Libyan general say they have lost 17 fighters in their two-day push to clear central parts of Benghazi from Islamists and their allies.

Riyadh al-Shahiebi, of the special forces media office, said Tuesday that troops loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter have entered the Souq al-Hout and Sabri areas, but their advance has been slowed by roadside bombs.

It was not immediately clear how many Islamists or other militants had been killed.

Hifter is allied with the internationally recognized parliament in eastern Libya and at odds with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The oil-rich nation now is split between rival governments and militias.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A Kenya police official says South Sudanese security agents have arrested three Kenyans and a Somali refugee for allegedly attempting to go to Libya to join the Islamic State extremist group.

Kenya police spokesman George Kinoti said Tuesday the families of the four men assisted authorities with information that led to their apprehension in South Sudan on Thursday. They were returned to Kenya on Sunday.

Kenya is attempting to stem the recruitment of youths to extremist groups. Hundreds of young Kenyans are reportedly the largest contingent of foreign fighters in Somalia's deadly al-Shabab extremist group, which is allied to al-Qaida. Al- Shabab has carried out more than 100 attacks on Kenya and said the violence is retribution for Kenya sending troops to Somalia to fight the group.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate panel on Tuesday easily approved Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to China, a move that all but assures full Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump's pick for the key diplomatic post.

Members of the Foreign Relations Committee approved Branstad by voice vote. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the committee's top Democrat, described Branstad as "fully qualified" for the job at a time when the Trump administration is pushing the Chinese to act more aggressively to defuse North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

During his confirmation hearing last week, Branstad pledged to confront Beijing on a range of thorny subjects, including human rights and trade. Branstad told senators he plans to leverage his decades-long relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping to advance U.S. and international interests. The two met in 1985 when Xi, at the time a provincial official, led an agricultural trade delegation to Iowa.

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2016 file photo, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad speaks to members of the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. A Senate panel has approved Branstad as U.S. ambassador to China. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Branstad said North Korea's push for a weapon of mass destruction is a "threat to all of humankind." He said recent events, which include missile tests by Pyongyang, should prompt China to take the threat more seriously. He also said he expects China to become more engaged because of concerns that North Korean refugees may flood China if the crisis on the Korean Peninsula escalates further.

Branstad, 70, is in his sixth nonconsecutive term as governor. He served from 1983 to 1999 before entering the private sector. He was re-elected in 2010. With more than 22 years heading Iowa government, Branstad is the country's longest serving governor.

___

Reach Richard Lardner on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rplardner
NEW YORK (AP) - It's starting to look a lot like the Great Recession redux for retailers.

More than twice as many stores have closed this year than at the same point last year. Bankruptcies are far outpacing last year's rate. Retailers slashed jobs at the sharpest pace in seven years this spring. And retailers collectively could report the biggest drop in first-quarter profits since 2009.

This time, the culprit's not the economy but shoppers whose habits have changed profoundly and permanently, as they shop online more and look for deals.

In this Friday, March 17, 2017, photo, shoppers head to a J.C. Penney store in the Georgia Square Mall in Athens, Ga. Retailers' first-quarter earnings reports are expected to show challenges that stores face as they struggle with shoppers' accelerating shift online and increasing competition. It's happening at a time when stores are shedding jobs at the fastest pace since 2009 and closures are expected to surpass the number during the Great Recession. (John Roark/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)

The results this week from department stores like Macy's, Kohl's and J.C. Penney are expected to illustrate the latest damage by the spending shift and the dominance of Amazon.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on a man's guilty plea in the fatal shooting of a police officer at a South Carolina mall (all times local):

12:05 p.m.

A 36-year-old man has been sentenced to life without parole in the killing of a police officer at a South Carolina mall as part of a plea deal that spares him a possible death sentence.

This undated photo provided by the Richland County Sheriff's Department shows Jarvis Hall. A hearing is scheduled on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, in Richland County, S.C., for Hall charged with killing a police officer at a South Carolina shopping mall nearly two years ago. He is expected to plead guilty. (Richland County Sheriff's Department via AP)

Jarvis Hall pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder in a Richland County courtroom packed with three dozen law enforcement officers.

Prosecutors say Hall shot Forest Acres officer Greg Alia in the back of the head as the two wrestled on the ground at the Richland Mall in September 2015. Alia and two other officers were investigating a complaint about a suspicious person.

Alia's widow, Kassy, told Jarvis she forgives him but still mourns the loss of the most wonderful man she had ever met. The couple's son turned 6 months old the day Alia died.

___

9:20 a.m.

A man charged with killing a police officer at a South Carolina shopping mall nearly two years ago is expected to plead guilty.

A hearing has been scheduled for 36-year-old Jarvis Hall at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Richland County.

Hall is charged with murder in the September 2015 shooting of 32-year-old Forest Acres Officer Greg Alia. The charge carries 30 years to life in prison.

Authorities say two officers were checking on a complaint about a suspicious person at Richland Mall when Hall ran from them.

Investigators say Alia caught up with Hall and was shot as the two men struggled.

Authorities say Hall was armed with a .40-caliber handgun that had been stolen from neighboring Lexington County less than a month before and also had a knife.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has tapped an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a veteran Pennsylvania official to serve on the vacancy-plagued Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Only two commissioners currently serve on the five-member panel, leaving it without a quorum and unable to make decisions on interstate pipelines and other projects worth billions of dollars. One of the two remaining commissioners has said she will step down later this year, providing another opening for Trump.

The White House announced late Monday that Trump plans to nominate Neil Chatterjee, McConnell's longtime energy adviser, and Robert Powelson, a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, to the energy panel. Both are Republicans. The nominations require Senate approval.

In this photo provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Robert Powelson, a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. President Donald Trump has Powelson, a veteran Pennsylvania regulator to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC. (Donald Constance/Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via AP)

The energy agency has been without a quorum since early February, and lawmakers from both parties have expressed alarm at the prolonged vacancies.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., applauded the announcement and urged the Senate to move quickly to approve the nominations.

"These two highly qualified candidates will provide the needed quorum at the agency and ensure Republican leadership so that FERC can issue final orders dealing with natural gas pipeline projects, electricity rate plans and approve other energy infrastructure projects in a timely manner," Inhofe said in a statement.

Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the senior Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee, said she was concerned that Trump has not announced a replacement for Colette Honorable, a Democrat who has said she won't seek a new term when her current term expires in June.

By tradition, presidents often nominate commissioners from both parties at the same time so they can be voted on together.

"Someone needs to tell the White House we (Democrats) are part of the equation when it comes to these nominees," Cantwell said.

Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a power-industry group, said it was essential that FERC regain its quorum, citing Trump's expressed goals to build infrastructure and stimulate energy production.

Segal called Chatterjee smart and open-minded and said he "keeps a friendly attitude even when matters can be contentious."

Powelson, a seasoned regulator from a state that has seen a huge increase in natural gas production, also serves as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, giving him a "national regulatory vantage point that will be useful" in his new role, Segal said.

"All in all, two good picks - and just in time," Segal said.

Democrat Cheryl LaFleur is the commission's acting chairwoman, but Trump is widely expected to name a Republican to replace her. LaFleur would still serve on the commission.

Honorable has said she is willing to stay on the commission after her term expires June 30, but has not indicated when she will depart.
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) - A former New Hampshire lawmaker was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to charges of drug possession and trying to lure a 14-year-old girl over Facebook into a sexual encounter.

Kyle Tasker, 31, declined to speak in court. Authorities say he tried last year to lure an undercover police officer, posing as the girl. The Republican from Nottingham was in his third, two-year term when he resigned in March 2016.

Tasker was scheduled for trial this month. He can request that his prison time be shortened by six months if he completes a sex offender program.

FILE - This Nov. 2, 2016, file booking photo provided by the Rochester, N.H., police department shows former New Hampshire state Rep. Kyle Tasker, arrested the previous day and charged with Driving While Under the Influence. The former lawmaker is scheduled to plead guilty on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, in Rochester, to charges of drug possession and trying to lure a 14-year-old girl over Facebook into a sexual encounter. (Rochester Police Department via AP, File)

A prosecutor on Tuesday thanked the girl for having the courage to come forward.

Police said their investigation began with a complaint from the teen's mother in January 2016 saying the girl met Tasker at a breakfast, friended him on Facebook and began receiving inappropriate messages from him.

The mother told police he had asked the girl how old she was. When she replied 14, he responded, "girls like you can get me in trouble," she said. She said he also said he could get alcohol or marijuana for the girl and proposed a three-way sexual encounter.

By the end of January, the girl and her mother agreed to the undercover operation and police took control of the girl's Facebook account. Police say he tried to meet the girl, but instead was met by law enforcement officers.

In September, the state attorney general issued a report that Tasker smoked marijuana in the Statehouse and sold the drug to several other legislators, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge them with drug crimes.

In November, Tasker, who was out on bail, was charged with drunken driving following a three-car accident.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont brewers have a message for the rest of the industry: Don't go describing a brew as a Vermont beer if it's not from the Green Mountains.

The Vermont Brewers Association is taking issue with out-of-state brewers using "Vermont" in the names and descriptions of their beer. One target is Berkeley, California's Fieldwork Brewing, which produced a one-off beer described as a "Vermont Farmhouse Ale."

Vermont is home to numerous craft breweries, including The Alchemist, Magic Hat and Hill Farmstead, which draws beer enthusiasts from around the country.

Different varieties of Vermont craft beer sit in a store cooler at Mehuron's Market on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, in Waitsfield, Vt. Vermont brewers have a message for the rest of the industry: don't go describing a brew as a Vermont beer if it's not from the Green Mountains. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

The state also has a rule to ensure food makers don't misuse the state's name in their products. Vermont enforced the rule against a company the state said mislabeled its tins of mints as Vermont products. The company agreed to donate $35,000 to the Vermont Foodbank, pay the state $30,000 and add corrective labeling to its products as part of the 2014 settlement, the attorney general's office said.

The rule covers beer, the attorney general's office said, but it won't say if it's investigating.

"Vermonters can expect that this office will continue to monitor and vigorously enforce Vermont's consumer protection laws with respect to Vermont origins and the Vermont brand," said Christopher Curtis, chief of the public protection division.

Fieldwork Brewing did not return a phone call seeking comment. The Burlington Free Press first reported about Vermont brewers' concerns.

Vermont fiercely protects the integrity of products, particularly maple syrup, its signature crop.

A Rhode Island man was indicted in 2011, accused of selling pure cane sugar instead of maple syrup to a Vermont couple. And the year before, the maker of Log Cabin All Natural Syrup said it was getting rid of the product's caramel coloring in response to complaints by producers of maple syrup.

Calling an out-of-state beer a Vermont brew is like Vermont winemakers calling their products California wines, said state Rep. Sam Young.

The Legislature may look at the issue next year, he said.

"If people say 'Vermont style' I think that's a little bit of a homage but when they actually say it's a Vermont beer I think that's very misleading," he said.

____

This story has been corrected to reflect that the state attorney general's office says Vermont's food label rule does cover beer.
Dozens of universities and other organizations that help prepare low-income students for college are staring at a five-year funding gap after the U.S. Department of Education rejected their grant applications over clerical errors.

The groups range from major universities to community organizations. Some have said they may have to shut down without funding from the program called Upward Bound. The grants can be worth six figures a year but only come open every five years.

Here's a partial list of the applications that were rejected, as compiled by the office of Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio. The list includes the name of the organization, the reason for the rejection and, if available, the proposed budget and number of students served.

-University of Alaska-Fairbanks; exceeded budget; sought $741,600; 160 students served

-Talladega College; not double spaced; $351,374; 99

-Northwest Arkansas Community College; exceeded 65 pages; $257,500; 57

-Philander Smith College; late submission; $494,500

-Lutheran Social Services of Southern California; not double spaced; $257,500; 62

-Palomar College, exceeded budget in narrative but not forms; $527,875; 125

-Delaware Technical Community College; wrong font; $347,154; 77

-LULAC Miami; not double spaced; $257,500, 56

-Kankakee Community College; not double spaced and wrong font; $358,269; 78

-Olive-Harvey College; formatting

-Roseland Community Institute of Positive Development; formatting

-Community Services West in Chicago; not double spaced; $347,625; 78

-Ada S. McKinley Community Services; missing section

-University of Chicago; late submission; $510,579; 118

-Kennedy-King College; formatting

-Wilbur Wright College; formatting

-Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center; formatting

-Loyola University of Chicago; late submission

-Southern University and A&M College; late submission

-University of Louisiana at Lafayette; exceeded 65 pages; 129 students

-Baltimore City Community College; incorrect margins; $257,500; 62

-University of Maine-Presque Isle, not double spaced; $623,665; 129

-Michigan State University; missing section; $480,000

-University of Montana-Missoula; not double spaced; $347,625; 75

-James Sprunt Community College; submitted in Word instead of pdf; 72

-New Jersey Institute of Technology; not double spaced; $503,928; 113

-Columbia University; not double spaced; $878,547; 190

-Fordham University; exceeded budget in narrative but not in forms; $391,004; 94

-WSOS-Sandusky; wrong font

-Wittenberg University; not double spaced; $504,352; 109

-Florence-Darlington Technical College; exceeded budget; $376,181; 90

-Jarvis Christian College; not double spaced; $324,450; 74

-Metropolitan Development Council in Washington; exceeded budget; $367,041; 72

-West Virginia State University; exceeded budget in narratives but not forms; $509,622; 110

___

source: office of Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio
FARMINGTON, Conn. (AP) - Authorities say they have arrested a suspected burglar at rapper 50 Cent's mansion in Connecticut.

Farmington police say the suspect set off an entry alarm Tuesday at the 50,000-square-foot home that alerted private security. Police responded and found the man on the 18-acre estate about 10 miles west of Hartford.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, wasn't home at the time.

Police charged 34-year-old Elwin Joyce of Windsor, Connecticut, with burglary, trespassing and other crimes. It's not clear if Joyce has a lawyer who could respond to the allegations.

The rapper bought the mansion from boxer Mike Tyson for about $4 million in 2003. It's now on the market for just under $6 million.

A judge last year approved a bankruptcy reorganization plan for Jackson.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Putting money into U.N. agencies, where the Trump administration has just cut U.S. funding by $640 million, is as important to global peace and security as defense spending - "and sometimes even more," a top European Union official said Tuesday.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told the U.N. Security Council that she wanted to speak directly to the bloc's "American friends" with a clear message: Military capabilities are only one element in the EU's security strategy, which also stresses economic development, strong state institutions, good health care, education and democracy.

While the U.S. budget through September approved by Congress last week cut $640 million from U.N. agencies, it added $15 billion to the U.S. defense budget.

Mogherini said the EU's voluntary contributions to the U.N.'s funds and agencies "amount to half of their total budget" because organizations like the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and the U.N. children's agency UNICEF promote key ingredients for peace.

"It is essential for us that we all keep investing in these U.N. agencies," she said. "They are as important to global peace and security as defense spending - and sometimes even more. And we, Europeans, consider this support to the U.N. system as a crucial investment in our own security."

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley cited the Trump administration's "valuable partnership" with the EU on many issues but made no mention of budget cuts in her speech on U.N.-EU relations.

Instead, she urged stronger EU action on Syria, North Korea and Iran.

Haley called on the EU and the Security Council to adopt "more rigorous sanctions" against Syrian President Bashar Assad and the "known suppliers and facilitators of the Syrian chemical weapons program" in order to prevent further chemical attacks and "war crimes."

She called on the EU and all countries to exert "maximal pressure" on North Korea to "abandon its reckless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons." She also urged the 28 EU nations to "rigorously implement" the six U.N. sanctions resolutions and "impose tough, autonomous measures that go beyond the resolutions, and downgrade diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea."

On Iran, Haley said that "the European Union can and should do more to underscore to Iran that its destabilizing actions in the region, including support for extremist and terrorist groups, must cease."

President Donald Trump has said he wants to renegotiate or leave the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. The agreement gave Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for limits to its nuclear program but it did not address Tehran's destabilizing activities.

In sharp contrast, Mogherini called the nuclear deal "a milestone for nonproliferation, making everyone more secure - in the region, in Europe, and in the world." And in a clear message to the U.S., she stressed that all parties must implement it.

Mogherini also tried to drum up support in the Trump administration for the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to combat climate change.

Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to withdraw or renegotiate the accord, but he has wavered on the issue since winning the presidency. The White House said Tuesday the president is delaying a decision until after the G7 summit of major powers in Italy at the end of May.

Mogherini said the terrible famine in the Horn of Africa, which has "the potential to make a fragile situation even worse and turn into a security situation," also serves "as a powerful reminder that climate change is real, and is already impacting on our security environment."

"Everything is linked," she said. "So we continue to expect that the United States will find a way to remain committed to the Paris agreement."

As for the EU's overall philosophy, Mogherini told the Security Council that "confrontational approaches lead nowhere."

"Between win-win and lose-lose, the European Union has picked sides," she said. "We stand always on the side of dialogue and partnership."
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) - Eight more members of a Penn State University fraternity made their first court appearance Tuesday and were released on bail to await trial on charges stemming from the death of a pledge after an alcohol-fueled hazing ritual.

A Pennsylvania judge arraigned the defendants and set bail at $50,000, but they did not have to post any money.

The members of Beta Theta Pi face a range of charges. Ten other fraternity members who face more serious charges were arraigned Friday.

The former Penn State Beta Theta Pi currently sits empty on Burrowes Road after being shut down. A Penn State fraternity pledge died after stumbling and falling several times with toxic levels of alcohol in his body and suffered for hours with severe injuries while his friends failed to summon help, authorities said Friday, May 5, 2017, in announcing criminal charges against the fraternity and 18 of its members.(Abby Drey/Centre Daily Times via AP)

Five of the defendants in court Tuesday are accused of evidence tampering. Two are accused of hazing, alcohol law violations and reckless endangerment.

The lawyer for Joseph Ems Jr., 20, who faces only a reckless endangerment charge, called it a tragic and sad case and expressed condolences the family of victim Timothy Piazza, a 19-year-old engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey.

"It's important to remember as tragic as this case is, my client's a wonderful young man that's never been in trouble," said Ems' attorney, William Brennan. "I think as the facts shake out, my client hopefully will be in a position to be extricated from this troubling case."

Piazza died less than two days after falling and hitting his head several times after a pledge acceptance ceremony at the fraternity house in February.

A grand jury said security camera footage captured events inside the house that night, including pledges being ordered to guzzle alcohol quickly after the ceremony. Piazza appeared to become inebriated and fell face-first down a flight of basement steps before midnight.

The footage shows that Piazza fell repeatedly as the evening progressed, the jury wrote. Fraternity brothers made half-hearted and even counterproductive efforts to help him, and when one member strongly advocated for summoning help, he was shoved into a wall and told to leave, the report said.

Piazza apparently fell down the steps again early the next morning but was not discovered until about 10 a.m. Someone called 911 some 40 minutes later. Piazza later died as a result of severe head injuries and suffered other injuries that included internal bleeding from a shattered spleen.

The university on March 30 issued a permanent ban on Beta Theta Pi, which was once regarded as a model fraternity. The school found what it called a "persistent pattern" of excessive drinking, drug use and hazing. The fraternity also has been charged in Piazza's death.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin's top diplomat at the White House on Wednesday, just one day after firing former FBI Director James Comey, who was heading an investigation that was looking into the relationship between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Trump would be the highest level, face-to-face contact with Russia in Trump's presidency.

It would also signal that the two countries have improved ties that Trump recently described as being at an 'all-time low'.

The meeting between Lavrov and Trump is scheduled to take place in the Oval Office at 10.30am. That will be after Lavrov meets with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, which had already been scheduled to discuss Ukraine and Syria among other issues.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, right, will be meeting with President Donald Trump Wednesday after a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left

Trump, pictured Sunday, is scheduled to meet with Lavrov, Vladimir Putin's top diplomat, on Wednesday morning in the Oval Office, which will be the highest level, face-to-face contact with Russia in Trump's presidency

A Russian plan to stabilize Syria after more than six years of civil war is the most urgent foreign policy topic.

But the meeting will be impossible to separate from the Trump administration's unfolding political drama in Washington, where an FBI and congressional investigations are looking into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin related to last year's presidential election. US intelligence agencies accuse Moscow of meddling to help Trump's chances of victory.

The meeting between Trump and Lavrov comes one day after Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey, pictured. Comey was heading the FBI's investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and Trump's advisers during the 2016 presidential campaign

There has been speculation that Trump fired Comey Tuesday because of the FBI's investigation into a possible relationship between Trump's advisers and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.

However, several White House spokespeople have denied those claims, saying Comey was fired because Trump no longer had confidence in Comey's ability to 'faithfully execute his duties'.

The taint of Russia probes has been impossible for Trump to shake.

Less than a month into Trump's presidency, he fired his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying Flynn misled senior administration officials about his pre-inauguration talks with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador in Washington.

In a Senate hearing Monday, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates said she bluntly warned Trump's White House in January that Flynn 'essentially could be blackmailed' by the Russians because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with Kislyak.

The White House has denied that Trump fired Comey because of the Russia investigation. Several of Trump's spokespeople have said Comey was fired because Trump, pictured, no longer had confidence in Comey's ability to 'faithfully execute his duties'

Lavrov, left, was already scheduled to speak with Rex Tillerson, right, on Wednesday during his visit to the US. They are supposed to be discussing Ukraine and Syria, among other issues

Trump's meeting with Lavrov, far right, will also signal that the two countries have improved ties that Trump recently described as being at an 'all-time low'. Lavrov is pictured with Tillerson, far left, at a meeting at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany in February

Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and isn't aware of any involvement by his aides in any Russian election interference. He calls the various investigations a 'hoax' driven by Democrats still bitter that their candidate, Hillary Clinton, was defeated last year.

But in the meantime, his hopes for a possible rapprochement with Moscow, so regularly repeated on the campaign trail, have been derailed. Ties soured further in April after the U.S. blamed a Russian ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, for a deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians and Trump fired some 60 cruise missiles at a Syrian air base in response.

After Tillerson visited Putin and Lavrov in Moscow on April 12, Trump said flatly, 'Right now we're not getting along with Russia at all.'

Still, Tillerson's meeting provided a blueprint for how the former Cold War foes might go about improving ties.

Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and isn't aware of any involvement by his aides in any Russian election interference. Pictured from left to right are Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Tillerson and Lavrov ahead of the G20 foreign ministers meeting

Trump has called the various investigations into Russian collusion with his presidential campaign a 'hoax' driven by Democrats still bitter that their candidate, Hillary Clinton, was defeated last year. Lavrov and Tillerson are pictured in Moscow when Tillerson visited Russia in April

A main focus is Syria, where both governments want to end a civil war that has killed up to 400,000 people, contributed to a global refugee crisis and allowed the Islamic State group to emerge as a global terror threat. The continued fighting between rebels and Assad's military has complicated U.S. efforts to defeat IS.

Lavrov will be coming to the American capital with a Russian plan to end the violence, after hashing out an agreement with Iran and Turkey last week.

It focuses on the creation of four de-escalation zones. Critical details still need to be finalized and the U.S. response has been cautious, with top officials such as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis saying they're still studying the concept and its various unanswered questions. The would-be safe zones would not cover areas where the U.S.-led coalition is fighting IS.

Despite the lack of clarity, the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Lavrov would in itself be a sign of some progress.

The Russian diplomat hasn't visited Washington at all since 2013, a year before Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and two years before it intervened militarily in Syria to help Assad remain in power.
A woman who was attacked with acid in Zanzibar has described the anxiety and loneliness that she felt during her recovery.

Katie Gee, who along with friend Kirstie Trup, was targeted by two men on a moped in August 2013, said it was three years before she faced the world following the assault.

Miss Gee told The Sunday Times she had recurring nightmares of being chased by attackers and waking up without her scars, and only felt normal again at a friends 21st birthday party in July.

Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup were attacked with acid on Zanzibar (Family handout/PA)

That night I finally felt free to talk about my life outside the context of the acid attack. I was reliving some of the old times I had shared with my friends during our teen years, she told the paper.

It was a far cry from the feelings of anxiety and loneliness Id grown use to; a loneliness that became almost unbearable and began to kick in four months after I was attacked.

The pair, from North London, were 18 years old when they were attacked in Stone Town, the main city on Zanzibar, where they were volunteering. The men behind the attack on August 7 have never been found.

Miss Gee was moved to speak to the paper following a recent spate of attacks in the UK and told the paper something needs to be done about getting access to acid so easily.
Searches are under way for a man who was seen clinging to rocks at St Davids Head in Pembrokeshire.

A 999 call was made to the UK Coastguard at about 3pm on Saturday by a member of the public who reported seeing the man in the water.

An extensive search along the shore, beach, rocks and cliff area was carried out until fading light at around 9.30pm, and it was restarted on Sunday morning.

UK Coastguard coordinates multi-agency search for missing man resuming today in Pembrokeshire @DyfedPowys https://t.co/H1Nh8WqvhR   Maritime and Coastguard Agency (@MCA_media) May 7, 2017

It involves Coastguard rescue teams, RNLI lifeboats, the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter and Dyfed-Powys Police.

Ieuan Williams, from UK Coastguard, said: The search continues but were also appealing for help from the community to find out who this man might be.

If someone hasnt returned home or back to where they were staying, please can you contact either the police or ourselves by dialling 999 and asking for the Coastguard.

Search for man in difficulty in water at St Davids Head, nr Whitesands, Pembs, pls help us identify him, full info > https://t.co/5r0QDt6nMe  Heddlu Dyfed-Powys Police (@DyfedPowys) May 7, 2017

Police said the man was described as a white European, aged in his 60s, of lean build with a long face, short hair and distinctive white eyebrows.

He was wearing a dark rucksack, dark blue or black trousers and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt or jumper.

The man was last seen off St David's Head (Chris Radburn/PA)

A brown sheepskin bomber-type jacket was found near to where the man was last seen in the sea.

Inspector Aled Davies said: Dyfed-Powys Police are appealing to anyone with any information that may assist us in identifying this man or his recent movements, to make contact with us as a matter of urgency by calling 101.
Nicola Adams will face Mexicos Maryan Salazar when she fights in her home city of Leeds for the first time in 20 years on Saturday night.

The double Olympic champion is set to engage in her second professional fight after comfortably outpointing Virginie Carcamo on her debut in Manchester last month.

The 18-year-old Salazar has had six professional contests, winning her first five before losing on points to compatriot Mayela Perez in her last bout in February.

Nicola Adams

The choice of a Mexican opponent may be no coincidence as Adams works towards a shot at a world title, the majority of which are currently held by Mexican fighters.

Just 5 days to go until double-Olympic gold medallist @NicolaAdamsOBE returns to Leeds  #Lioness  pic.twitter.com/EIkhXY18tW  BoxNation (@boxnationtv) May 8, 2017

Adams bout with Salazar will also mark the first time she has fought over four three-minute rounds, rather than the two-minute period that is customary for womens bouts.

Adams said: You just need that extra minute, youre learning all these new things in the gym and you cant try them out in two minutes.

I have two minutes to find my rhythm, distance and take out my opponent. Its not enough time.

I found by the end of the rounds, I needed a couple more seconds and it would be over. Now we have three minutes, Im able to relax more, establish the jab, find the rhythm properly and really get in the swing of things.
Hull defender Brian Lenihan has signed a new one-year deal with the club.

The Tigers have the option of a further year on the 22-year-old right-back, who has been dogged by injury since joining from Cork City in 2014.

Irish right-back Brian Lenihan has signed a new one-year deal with the Tigers, the club confirmed on their official website.

Brian Lenihan

 | @brian_lenihan12 has today signed a new one-year contract. The deal includes a club option of a further year https://t.co/S60Cal0jtj pic.twitter.com/DAl54VCgPl  Hull City (@HullCity) May 9, 2017

Lenihan signed a three-year deal when he arrived at Hull, but has been restricted to one first-team appearance due to a series of recurring injuries and had knee surgery last summer.

He spent time on loan at Blackpool during the 2014/15 season, has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 and under-21 level and was called into the senior squad during their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
The Environment Agency has downplayed concerns of drought after one of the driest Aprils on record.

The agency said it was monitoring the situation following a period of dry weather, but stressed that the UK was not experiencing critically low supplies.

In total, 34.7mm of rainfall was recorded last month, which is just under half (48%) the expected amount for the month as a whole.

The low water level at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: Following a dry winter, some rivers, groundwaters and reservoirs are lower than normal for the time of year.

We always advise that everyone uses 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.

Met Office statistics show last month was the 10th driest April since records began in 1910. It follows the driest six-month period from October to March since 1995-1996.

It's been a very dry month in some parts of the UK. Although 60% of the month's expected rain for parts of Devon fell in just one day! pic.twitter.com/0odoQQOKdu  Met Office (@metoffice) May 2, 2017

The figures come amid concerns that low water supplies in parts of the UK could affect crops in the coming months.

The National Farmers Union has warned that exceptionally low rainfall during March and April has brought an early end to groundwater recharge, with below-normal levels recorded across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and the North Downs area in Kent.

Recharge refers to the six-month period between October and March when rainfall is expected to be at its highest for the year.

Just one water supplier, Affinity Water, based in the south-east of England, has issued advice to customers about conserving water ahead of the summer.

April update: ground water levels remain below average. Read our latest water resource update & water saving advice! https://t.co/mhMWHYPE6U pic.twitter.com/W3IAI4KcMB  Affinity Water  (@AffinityWater) April 13, 2017

England was particularly dry in April, with just 19mm falling in 30 days, or 32% of the annual average.

However, the dry spell is not expected to last, with some rain expected to fall later this week.

Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples said: We have had dry weather so far this week, but it does look as though a change in wind direction (will arrive) in the latter part of the week and that does two things.

(Gareth Fuller/PA)

It increases temperature both in day and night, but also it starts to bring some slightly moister air. It looks as if were going to see some showery outbreaks of rain spreading northwards across the country from late Thursday, but more likely on Friday and into the weekend.

Ms Sharples said the rainfall would not be the broad Atlantic system which is going to give the six hours of steady rain most people want and need, but that it might give some light relief for drier areas.

The driest six-month recharge period since records began was October to March 1962-1963, when just 420mm of rain fell, compared with the 2016-2017 recording of 510mm for the same period.
Scotland is attracting fewer migrants than other parts of the UK due to higher taxes and falling school standards, Ruth Davidson has said.

The Scottish Conservative leader faced questions about the impact of Theresa Mays target of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands amid a skills shortage north of the border.

Ms Davidson visited the Shortbread House of Edinburghs factory to highlight the importance of the UK market to Scottish businesses and jobs.

Excellent visit to the Shortbread House of Edinburgh with @IainMcGill. A great Scottish family business relying on the UK internal market. pic.twitter.com/Ikymad4fC6  Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonPC) May 9, 2017

Asked whether the cap is workable for Scottish businesses, she told BBC Scotland: I think the real question in Scotland is when weve got a third of the landmass and 8.4% of the UKs population, why do only 4% of people who choose to move and settle in the UK want to come to Scotland?

I think thats because weve got the highest taxation, were losing our reputation for being the best school area in the country, and I think there are real questions there for the Scottish Government.

The change thats going to happen with Brexit is that the UK will make decisions about immigration rather than having those decisions made by 27 other countries. But whats important is that we do attract people into Scotland.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson visits the Shortbread House of Edinburgh's factory (John Linton/PA Wire)

If you look at, for example, the Scottish occupational shortage list, its not different to that in the rest of the UK, so why is it that people are choosing to settle elsewhere but not here?

I think we need to make sure that weve got a more competitive tax regime, that were not a quarter away from recession as we are  weve got an economy growing slower that the rest of the UK  and we need to restore some of the chances that people look for in Scotland like good schools.

Ms Davidson also highlighted research by the Fraser of Allander Institute which last month found more than half a million Scottish jobs depend on trade with the rest of the UK.

She said: Scottish firms, large and small, are clear  breaking up the UK internal market would cause huge damage to their ability to provide job opportunities. Yet such is the SNPs obsession with independence, they are willing to put those jobs at risk.

We solve none of the challenges thrown up by Brexit by fracturing our own union of nations. The UK is Scotlands essential union  and the SNP must now drop its threat of a second referendum so we can all move forward, together.

Jim Eadie, the SNP candidate for Edinburgh South, said: Ruth Davidson used to describe our European single market membership as her overriding priority, before becoming a hard Brexit cheerleader on Downing Streets orders.

Brexit puts Scottish jobs and research funding at our universities at risk  but with their chaotic handling of the whole Brexit process, the Tories have put chasing Ukip votes ahead of fighting for Scottish jobs. Only the SNP will make sure that Scotlands voice is heard at Westminster.
Slovenian Jan Polanc claimed a fine claimed a fine solo on stage four of the Giro dItalia, but Britains Geraint Thomas finished third to move into second overall.

The Team Sky rider is now six seconds behind Luxembourgs Bob Jungels, who took the pink jersey after the 181-kilometres route from Cefalu on Sicily which finished on Mount Etna.

Jungels became the fourth leader from four days of racing, succeeding team-mate Fernando Gaviria in the maglia rose.

Geraint Thomas

 24 Pink Jerseys for Luxembourg in Giros history: one more than Germany. #Giro100 pic.twitter.com/s4diFAI2I1  Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 9, 2017

Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) was eighth to move 10 seconds behind Jungels in third overall in the three-week race, which finishes in Milan on May 28.

Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) was part of the days early breakaway, which escaped after two kilometres, and he dug deep to win.

Astanas Paolo Tiralongo - a Sicilian who trains on Etna regularly - had hoped to put on a show to dedicate a victory to Michele Scarponi, who died last month.

But his attack on the early slopes of Etna was short-lived and his Danish team-mate Jesper Hansen later had a go, too, but was also soon reeled in.

Russias Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) did escape, but ran out of road in his pursuit of Polanc and had to settle for second on the day, 19 seconds adrift.

Sicilian Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) finished among the general classification contenders, who sized each other up on the finishing ascent and were ultimately separated only in a sprint, 29 seconds behind Polanc.

Thomas won the sprint for the line and with it four bonus seconds.

But Jungels finished on the same time in seventh place, just enough to take the pink jersey from his Colombian team-mate Gaviria  a sprinter who was never likely to defend the jersey on Tuesday.

 For the 7th time in Giros history we have 4 different Maglia Rosa in the first 4 stages. The last time had been in 2011 #Giro100  Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 9, 2017

Welshman Thomas is sharing the Team Sky lead with Mikel Landa, who recovered to finish among the pack despite suffering a puncture inside the final 10km.

There was a moment of controversy for Team Sky as the pace increased towards the foot of the final climb. Team Skys Diego Rosa had his jersey tugged by Javier Moreno (Bahrain Merida).
Andy Murray secured his place in the third round of the Madrid Open with a 6-4 6-3 win over Marius Copil.

The world number one, who is continuing his return from an elbow injury after reaching the semi-finals in Barcelona, eventually forced a late break in a tense opening set before his superior power came through against the 26-year-old Romanian.

Copil, who will move into the top 100 next week, had initially put up some strong resistance, having saved two break point chances on his opening service game of what developed into a tight first set.

Andy Murray from Britain returns a ball to Marius Copil from Romania during a Madrid Open tennis tournament match in Madrid (Francisco Seco/AP)

Solid opener!! @andy_murray is through to the 3rd round after beating Copil in straight sets (6-4, 6-3). #MMOPEN  pic.twitter.com/3zqheMT5I4  #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 9, 2017

With both players holding, Murray went ahead at 5-4, which put more pressure on the Romanian as he served to stay in the set.

The world number one did not let his chance slip, forcing Copil into a long return from the corner before another fine passing shot from Murray brought up a set point.

Copil put a return into the net as the Scot claimed the first set in 47 minutes.

Despite the momentum now being with Murray, Copil continued to find his range, holding a testing fourth game having squandered a 40-love lead to level at 2-2 on serve.

Murray, though, slowly upped the tempo, forcing another deuce on Copils next service game that saw a double fault followed by a break chance, which this time the world number one claimed when the Romanians backhand was long.

The British number one, set to also play in Rome ahead of the French Open, soon moved 5-2 up with a straightforward hold which left Copil serving to save the match.

However, Murray, who will turn 30 next week, was forced to wait until the next game after another brave response from the world number 104.

Murray, though, made no mistake on his serve, forcing Copil into errors to complete his straight-sets win in one hour and 24 minutes after another long return by the Romanian.

Murray was happy enough with his work-out, but believes there is still room for improvement.

When I started to control the points more towards the end of the first set and second set, I was hitting the ball pretty clean, creating a few chances. I didnt give him any opportunities. It was good for the first match, Murray said on the ATP Tour website.

I still think theres a way to go. I dont think Im playing perfectly just now. I think theres just things I can definitely do better, but the most positive thing about tonight was that I feel like I can serve a little bit better than I did today.

Murray will next meet Borna Coric or French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who knocked out number 13 seed Lucas Pouille.
Here are five things we learned from the General Election campaign on Tuesday:

At the York Barbican today with some of our great candidates. Only voting Conservative locally will secure strong and stable leadership. pic.twitter.com/BKStuQGahS  Theresa May (@theresa_may) May 9, 2017

Theresa May has denied that she is running a presidential-style campaign amid claims she is ashamed of the nasty party. The Conservative brand has played second fiddle to Theresa Mays team at events so far. But the Prime Minister insisted: If you look at every piece of literature you will see the Conservative Party.

Labour is proud to have brought in the Hunting Act banning hunting with dogs. Only a Labour government will guarantee the ban stays in place  Labour DEFRA (@LabourDefra) May 9, 2017

A win for Mrs Mays team could be bad news for foxes. Having seen off Liam Fox in the battle for the Conservative leadership last year, Mrs May turned her sights on the vulpine kind by promising a free vote on scrapping the hunting ban. The Prime Minister said she had always been in favour of fox hunting. The Tories promised a free vote in the 2015 manifesto, but with a slim majority David Cameron never gave MPs the chance to decide. A big win for Mrs May could result in enough pro-hunting Tory MPs to repeal the 2004 Hunting Act.

Prime Minister Theresa May (Phil Noble/PA)

Corrie actress Julie Hesmondhalgh calls on voters to show they "give a toss about other people" and vote for Corbyn's Labour pic.twitter.com/5X5TD2ugCC  Arj Singh (@singharj) May 9, 2017

The stars are coming out for Labour. After Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh introduced Jeremy Corbyn at his campaign launch, Silk star Maxine Peake appeared in the partys first election broadcast. Peake said: This General Election is our chance for a fresh start with a Labour government. Labour will build a Britain for the many, not the few.

Wonderful protest by children in North Lambeth to call on politicians to sign the #CleanAirPledge. Fully support pic.twitter.com/uWCgxPli2Y  Kate Hoey (@CatharineHoey) May 8, 2017

The camera never lies. Except in Vauxhall, where Lib Dem candidate George Turner was airbrushed out of a photo tweeted by Labour rival Kate Hoey. Only his legs remained after the digital trickery, which Mr Turner labelled Stalinist. Ms Hoey said she had done nothing illegal and her team decided to remove Mr Turner as he was wearing a Lib Dem rosette, adding: We cropped it, apparently we left his legs in  maybe they were good-looking legs.

Jeremy Corbyn sings Stand By Me with busker Dan Hetfield in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester pic.twitter.com/hgZGpUCBKk  Arj Singh (@singharj) May 9, 2017

Mr Corbyn urged voters to Stand By Me as he joined a busker on a campaign walkabout in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester. The Labour leader sang along with the street entertainer for a rendition of the Ben E King hit.
Newcastle Falcons have announced the re-signing of former England fly-half Toby Flood from French side Toulouse.

The 31-year-old will return to Kingston Park in the summer after a nine-year absence during which he won two Aviva Premiership titles during a six-year spell with Leicester Tigers.

Flood, who graduated from Newcastles academy before spending the last three years in France, is the 10th new signing for the club and said: When the opportunity came onto the table it didnt take long for me to make the decision.

Toby Flood (Andrew Matthews/PA)

SIGNING: We're delighted to announce the return of fly-half @tobyflood to Newcastle Falcons. Welcome home! https://t.co/VERo9xhySF pic.twitter.com/jXNKBPXaVp  Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) May 9, 2017

It really feels like Im coming home, and Ive watched a fair amount of Newcastles games in recent months.

The reality is that they didnt have to do much of a sales pitch because the improvements at the club are obvious to see, and with the recruitment they have put in place it was too exciting a proposition to turn down.

Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards believes the capture of Flood displays the desire at Newcastle to challenge for honours.

Richards said: Toby is a proven performer at the very top level, he is a local lad and it is a huge boost for us to be able to add a player of his quality to our squad.

He has vast leadership experience, he will bring an extra dimension to our game and this really is a signing which outlines the ambition we have to rise even further up the Premiership table.

We have quality players coming through our academy and a number of major new signings joining us. All the signs are really positive for next season and it is a hugely exciting time to be involved with the club.
A Briton suspected of having been part of an Islamist terror group dubbed The Beatles has been jailed in Turkey.

London-born Aine Davis left the UK in 2013 to fight in Syria, and was arrested in Turkey two years later.

He is thought to have been one of the four-strong group featuring Mohammed Emwazi, the killer nicknamed Jihadi John.

Davis was convicted of being a member of a terrorist organisation and jailed for seven and a half years at a court in Silivri, Turkey, on Tuesday.

According to the BBC he told the court he was innocent of the charge and had travelled to Syria because there was oppression in my country.

A memorial stone in memory of murdered British aid worker Alan Henning at Eccles Parish Church in Manchester (Andy Kelvin/PA)

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: We are aware of the conviction of Aine Leslie Davis for a terrorist offence in Turkey.

In 2014 Daviss wife Amal El-Wahabi became the first person convicted of funding terrorism in Syria.

Jailing her after a trial at the Old Bailey, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC said it was clear that Davis had gone to Syria to fight under the black flag of Islamic State and that he was preoccupied with martyrdom.

The Beatles were said to have been given the collective nickname by hostages due to their distinctive British accents.

Emwazi, who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, appeared in a number of videos in which captives including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning were beheaded.

The other two suspected members of the group are former child refugee El Shafee Elsheikh, a mechanic from White City in west London, and Alexanda Kotey from Paddington. In January, US authorities named Kotey as a member of the cell and said it had imposed sanctions on him.
CAIRO, May 8 (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces killed eight militants they identified as members of the Muslim Brotherhood in a shootout in the country's south, the interior ministry said on Monday.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has launched the toughest crackdown on Islamists in Egypt's modern history after toppling President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

Egypt outlawed the Brotherhood later that year and has designated it a terrorist group. The organisation maintains that its activities are peaceful and had no immediate comment.

An interior ministry statement said those killed included Helmi Saad Masri, whom it described as a prominent Brotherhood leader.

The statement did not identify the exact location of the shootout but said police came under heavy gunfire while trying to approach the group and had to respond with force.

Egypt last month declared a three-month state of emergency after two church bombings claimed by Islamic State killed more than 45 people. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Kayon Raynor

KINGSTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The decision on whether West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell should serve a longer ban for breaches of the whereabouts rule now rested with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to Jamaica's anti-doping authority.

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) dropped an appeal against the one-year ban imposed on Russell on Monday. They had been seeking to extend it to two years.

"WADA has the right to take the matter elsewhere," JADCO Chairman Alexander Williams told a media conference in Kingston. "That is up to them."

Williams said JADCO had been in discussions with Jamaica's Attorney General Marlene Malahoo Forte about the issue before the decision was made on May 5 to drop the appeal.

He was more than happy to explain to the world governing body why they reached that decision.

"We would have to explain to WADA the reasons for the appeal being withdrawn and I believe we are comfortable in our explanation," he said while adding WADA could still take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The 29-year-old Russell was given a one-year ban on Jan. 31 after he failed to file the necessary paperwork on his availability for drug testing three times in 2015, which constituted a failed test according to WADA rules.

He had filed an appeal against the ban, which had now been withdrawn, the head of his legal team Patrick Foster told Reuters.

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
SYDNEY, May 9 (Reuters) - London copper inched up on Tuesday after sharp overnight losses on fresh signs of a slowdown in Chinese demand.

Copper slid to a four-month low on Monday after data showed a steep drop in imports into China, the world's biggest consumer, feeding pessimism over demand following hefty inflows into London Metal Exchange inventories last week.

"There's been some investor interest today that's keeping copper above $5,500 (a tonne), but not much more than that," a commodities trader in Perth said, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

* LONDON COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.4 percent at $5,506 a tonne by 0130 GMT, eroding a 1.8-percent loss from the previous session, when the contract at one point dipped to its lowest since Jan. 4 at $5,462.50.

* SHANGHAI COPPER: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 0.48-percent lower at 448,860 yuan ($65,014) a tonne.

* SHANGHAI NICKEL: ShFE nickel was 0.54-percent firmer, aided by higher steel prices in China, where ShFE rebar was trading up 0.9 percent.

* SHANGHAI ALUMINIUM: ShFE aluminium was down 0.62 percent, while LME aluminium was slightly firmer at $1,882 a tonne.

* ZINC BOOST: Plans to boost infrastructure spending in China and the United States are bolstering market sentiment towards zinc, used to churn out everything from pipes to auto parts, the head of Hong Kong-based metals supplier Lee Kee Group said on Monday.

PHILIPPINES MINISTER: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed a former military man as the new environment minister after Congress dismissed his first choice, who ordered the closure of more than half of the mines in the world's top nickel ore supplier.

* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian stock markets were subdued on Tuesday, taking their cue from a flat Wall Street, as investors searched for the next catalyst following France's presidential election, while oil inched higher on expectations OPEC supply cuts will be extended.

DATA/EVENTS 0600 Germany Industrial output Mar 0600 Germany Trade data Mar 1000 U.S. NFIB business optimism Apr 1400 U.S. Wholesale sales Mar

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminium

Most active ShFE aluminium

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin

Most active ShFE tin

ARBS ($1 = 6.9040 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Joseph Radford)
MANILA, May 9 (Reuters) - The Philippines' new Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said on Tuesday he can allow mining in the country as long as it is done responsibly, and he would do his job well in the interests of the Filipinos.

Cimatu, a former army general, also told radio station DZBB that he wants to meet his predecessor, Regina Lopez, to get her insight on policies.

Lopez had ordered the closure of more than half the country's mines and was dismissed last week by a panel of lawmakers who scrutinize appointments.

(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr; Editing by Martin Petty)
By Fergus Jensen and Fransiska Nangoy

JAKARTA, May 9 (Reuters) - Jakarta's Christian governor has been sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy, a harsher-than-expected ruling critics fear will embolden hardline Islamist forces to challenge secularism in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

Tuesday's guilty verdict for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama comes amid concern about the growing influence of Islamist groups, who organised mass rallies during a tumultuous election campaign that ended with Purnama losing his bid for another term as governor.

President Joko Widodo was an ally of Purnama, an ethnic-Chinese Christian who is popularly known as "Ahok", and the verdict will be a setback for a government that has sought to quell radical groups and soothe investors' concerns that the country's secular values were at risk.

As thousands of supporters and opponents waited outside, the head judge of the Jakarta court, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, said Purnama was "found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment".

Purnama told the court he would appeal.

Charles Santiago, chairman of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a grouping of regional lawmakers overseeing rights issues, said: "Indonesia was thought to be a regional leader in terms of democracy and openness. This decision places that position in jeopardy and raises concerns about Indonesias future as an open, tolerant, diverse society."

The United Nations' Bangkok Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a tweet said: "We are concerned by jail sentence for Jakarta governor for alleged blasphemy against Islam. We call on Indonesia to review blasphemy law."

WEEPING SUPPORTERS

Purnama was taken to an East Jakarta prison after the verdict and his lawyer Tommy Sihotang said he would remain there despite his appeal process unless a higher court suspended it.

Shocked and angry supporters, some weeping openly, gathered outside the prison, vowing not to leave the area until he was released, while others expressed their shock on social media.

Some lay down outside the jail blocking traffic, others shook the barbed-wire topped fence of the prison, while some chanted "destroy FPI", referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline group behind many of the protests against Purnama.

"They sentenced him because they were pressured by the masses. That is unfair," Purnama supporter Andreas Budi said.

But Novel Bamukmin, a leader of the Jakarta chapter of FPI, said the group objected to the sentence "because it was still far from what we had expected."

President Widodo urged all parties to respect the court verdict as well as Purnama's decision to appeal.

Home affairs minister Tjahjo Kumolo said Purnama's deputy would take over in the interim.

Thousands of police were deployed in case clashes broke out, but there was no sign of any violence after the verdict.

Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence on charges of hate speech. The maximum sentence is four years in prison for hate speech and five years for blasphemy.

Hardline Islamist groups had called for the maximum penalty possible over comments by Purnama that they said were insulting to the Islamic holy book, the Koran.

While on a work trip last year, Purnama said political rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Koran to say Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim.

An incorrectly subtitled video of his comments later went viral, helping spark huge demonstrations that ultimately resulted in him being brought to trial.

Purnama denied wrongdoing, though he apologised for the comments made to residents in an outlying Jakarta district.

RADICAL ISLAMIST GROUPS

Purnama lost his bid for re-election to a Muslim rival, Anies Baswedan, in an April run-off after the most divisive and religiously charged election in recent years. He is due to hand over to Baswedan in October.

If Purnama's appeal fails, he would be prevented from holding public office under Indonesian law because the offence carries a maximum penalty of five years, said Simon Butt of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney.

Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB Private Banking, said that the verdict was "not a huge shock" to investors because most blasphemy cases in Indonesia end in convictions.

"Going forward, race and religion will continue to be played out and be used by politicians for whatever agenda that they have," Song said, adding significant capital outflow was only likely if there was a deterioration of law and order.

Rights groups fear Islamist hardliners are in the ascendancy in a country where most Muslims practise a moderate form of Islam and which is home to sizeable communities of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and people who adhere to traditional beliefs.

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch described the verdict as "a huge setback" for Indonesia's record of tolerance and for minorities.

Widodo's government said this week it would take legal steps to disband Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a group that seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate, because its activities were creating social tensions and threatening security. (Additional reporting by Gayatri Suroyo, Darren Whiteside, Tom Allard, Eveline Danubrata and Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Ed Davies, Simon Cameron-Moore and Ken Ferris)
By Elisabeth O'Leary

GALASHIELS, Scotland, May 9 (Reuters) - - Calum Kerr, a parliamentarian from the Scottish National Party (SNP), is having to work hard to get his message across.

As he defends a wafer-thin majority in Britain's June 8 election, he wants to focus on issues directly affecting his farming constituency bordering England, with its struggling economy that may suffer further when Britain leaves the European Union.

But those issues are being drowned out by the often shrill debate about Scotland's right to another vote on independence from Britain. Scots rejected secession by 10 points in a 2014 referendum and polls show most still do not support it.

"This election is not about independence at all," said Kerr, who wants to get away from the topic as he campaigns for votes. "It's about getting the voice of the Borders heard and it is all about Brexit, which is amplified in the rural context."

Polls indicate British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party has gained traction in Scotland by saying this election is about secession. She opposes another independence referendum, arguing the time is not right after Britain voted to leave the European Union last year.

Scotland's devolved parliament has approved a second referendum, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, also leader of the SNP, has championed it in recent months. She says Scots should be offered a new choice because Scotland voted to stay in the EU.

The early British election has interrupted that campaign, however, after May, who had repeatedly ruled out such a vote, changed her mind last month.

Sturgeon has been at odds with some nationalists who worry that, having pushed for a new independence vote so early, the SNP may lose seats next month and play into May's hands.

While the SNP is expected to win the large majority of Scotland's British parliamentary seats, even modest Conservative gains could bolster the party and allow it to argue that ambitions to break from Britain are misplaced.

With the 300-year-old economic and political union of England and Scotland in the balance, marginal seats like Kerr's become all the more important.

Since his narrow election win in 2015, the 45-year-old former telecoms strategist has focused on getting new funding status for a region whose economy underperforms the UK average by 30 percent and the Scottish average by 25 percent.

"We have to get people past the constitutional noise and see that who they choose will be the one fighting for them at (Britain's national parliament) Westminster," Kerr told Reuters in an interview in Galashiels, a picturesque town in the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk constituency.

FARMERS FRET

Roxburgh beef and lamb farmer Rob Livesey, 56, whose farm set amid rolling, green hills depends on EU subsidies for about one quarter of annual revenues, said he was frustrated that key issues were being drowned out by talk of the constitution.

His main worry is to keep his farm competitive even as he loses support from the European Union post-Brexit, a divorce process that is expected to take two years.

"If you look at beef that comes into our supermarkets from Ireland, farmers there are part of the EU and are heavily supported," Livesey told Reuters.

"So we either need to restrict the amount of imports that come in (to Britain) or we need to be able to give the support to our own producers to allow them to compete. But none of that is being said. It's really concerning."

Farmers across Britain share his worries. While many voted for Brexit, and saw a short-term boost to profits when sterling fell, they fret about losing financial support longer term and want the government to step in.

The SNP has been in power in Scotland's devolved parliament for a decade, but it took until 2015 to win a landslide of almost all the Scottish seats in Britain's national election.

It achieved that by campaigning on a specific manifesto pledge that the vote was not about independence, but about giving Scotland a strong voice in London.

The win was all the more remarkable as Scots had only just rejected the SNP-led campaign for independence in a fiercely fought referendum.

Scotland, with a population of just over five million that contributes around eight percent to Britain's GDP, votes very differently from England, where the Conservatives have long been the party of government.

In Scotland, Conservatives spent years in the wilderness until Scottish leader Ruth Davidson focused on defending Britain against secession and the Labour Party collapsed.

The Conservatives now appear to be placing their Scottish bets on this one issue and have posted leaflets saying "Scotland doesn't need or want another independence referendum" across the country. The pamphlet mentions other themes, such as the economy, just twice in passing.

CLARITY AMID BREXIT

The Conservatives and SNP both say the other is obsessed with the constitution.

But polls show the Conservatives taking around seven of the SNP's 54 seats in Britain's 650-seat national parliament in London, in what would be its best performance in decades. It won just one last time around.

Support for independence has stayed at around 45 percent since 2014; although Scots are disgruntled by Brexit, it has not moved the dial on secession as far as Sturgeon and her party might have expected.

For some, the Conservatives' message provides clarity amid the complexities that Brexit entails, and hones in on the issue many Scots care about most.

"I will vote for the least likely thing to produce Scottish independence. For Scotland to come adrift would be a disaster," said one resident in Galashiels town centre.

She did not give her full name, like several other people interviewed by Reuters in the Borders region who expressed the same view.

Her reticence was reminiscent of the 2014 referendum buildup, during which many Scots refused to take sides publicly for fear of causing ructions with friends or family.

"But it's a difficult one, because we don't want absolute Tory (Conservative) power either."

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Tuesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

UNEMPLOYMENT DATA

Poland's Labour Ministry likely to publish unemployment data for April.

ALIOR BANK SA

Alior Bank's first-quarter net profit rose 3 percent, year-on-year, to 82 million zlotys ($21.17 million), the bank reported on Tuesday. WARSAW STOCK EXCHANGE

The names of several candidates for the chief executive officer of the Warsaw Stock Exchange have been floating around, proposed by various government and central bank factions, the business daily Puls Biznesu reports, citing sources.

The newspaper said that the strongest chances have a candidate proposed by a member of the central bank's monetary policy council and the interim CEO Jaroslaw Grzywinski, supported by the finance minister. GUARDIAN GLASS

The U.S. Guardian Glass, which currently operates a float glass plant in Poland's Czestochowa, will invest 99 million zlotys in another plant there, the business daily Puls Biznesu reported.

PGG Poland's state-controlled Polska Grupa Gornicza will present its long-term strategy until 2030 and a short-term business plan on Wednesday, the business daily Parkiet reported.

****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****

For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 3.8738 zlotys) (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)
By Maya Nikolaeva and Anjuli Davies

PARIS/LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - European banks are privately warning they will have to shift thousands of people out of Britain if Brexit negotiations push the Bank of England to demand that they reinforce London operations with fresh capital, executives have told Reuters.

These capital demands, which could amount to an estimated 40 billion euros ($43.73 billion), threaten to accelerate an exodus of bankers from the City of London that has been triggered by Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Three big European banks - Deustche Bank, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale - currently operate some of their sizeable activities in Britain through a branch structure, which requires lower capital requirements.

British regulators have been comfortable with this situation with Britain as part of the EU, but once Britain leaves they will want these banks have enough capital to support their business and ensure that British taxpayers are not left footing the bill in a crisis.

The regulators have said European banks should be ready to set up full-blown subsidiaries in Britain and submit to Bank of England regulation if Britain and the EU cannot reach a Brexit deal. A report from Boston Consulting has estimated the switch to a full subsidiary structure could cost European banks around 40 billion euros in extra capital.

Several European banks base the bulk of their investment banking activities, such as sales and trading, in London, which Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has dubbed the "investment banker of Europe."

Deutsche Bank has 9,000 staff based in Britain, BNP Paribas has around 6,500 staff in the country, where it bases the bulk of its investment banking business and Societe Generale has some 4,000 staff in Britain.

U.S. banks have until now been at the centre of speculation about the impact of Brexit. Many of them have already warned of the need to potentially move thousands of staff out of London to maintain EU access after Britain leaves the EU.

But attention has shifted to the European banks following comments in April by British regulators that European banks which operate in London using EU "passports", which give EU-wide market access, should set up separately capitalised subsidiaries in Britain if Britain and the EU cannot reach a deal on financial services.

EU passports enable banks to operate throughout the bloc but be regulated mainly by just one member country. But passporting between the rest of the EU and Britain may be lost once Britain leaves EU in two years' time.

"If Carney (BoE governor) decides to make EU banks create subsidiaries ... I will buy a one way train ticket out of London and take everyone with me," one senior executive at a European bank told Reuters, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

Germany's flagship bank Deutsche Bank has already said it is considering whether it needs to move thousands of staff from London to Frankfurt following Britain's decision to leave the European Union, if it can no longer access the single market from London.

BRANCH VERSUS SUBSIDIARY

A senior executive at another European bank said: "We would have to reassess our options here in London in that case," referring to the potential demand to set up a subsidiary.

"In the U.S., the Federal Reserve takes a lot more ownership over branch structures, it's a lot more intrusive. It's therefore natural for the PRA (Prudential Regulatory Authority) to become more intrusive. Maybe they would have to force more supervision."

Investment banking activities in particular carry a lot of risk and large balance sheets, meaning regulators will want to supervise the banks' trading models closely.

Deutsche Banks London operations, for example, would rank among the worlds top banks in their own right, but Britain's PRA has little say over them, a senior banking official said. This is because Deutsche Bank's main regulator is BaFin in Germany.

Carney has called for Britain and the EU to reach a deal to recognise each others' bank rules after Brexit, or risk a potentially damaging hit to financial services across Europe.

But such recognition of financial rules across borders has not been tried before on the scale envisaged by Carney, which could make negotiations tricky. The EU may also be reluctant to forgo the jurisdiction of the bloc's highest court in policing rule breaches.

Also in the mix are EU plans to force foreign banks in the bloc to convert themselves into holding companies. This would potentially require tougher capital and liquidity requirements which could bump up costs for British banks wanting to do business across Europe after Brexit. Britain is lobbying to stop this measure while it is still an EU member.

For now, EU banks are trying to keep their options as open as possible as they try to gauge the scale of their future activities in London.

"We hope it's a warning and that it will not translate into anything," a senior executive at an EU banking lobby said.

"The transformation to a subsidiary has a lot of consequences, on the liquidity side, capital. It will create more costs for banks. We are sure that London will remain an important financial market and it (requirements to set up subsidiary) will not probably lead banks to leave London. But it's not an incentive to expand business there." ($1 = 0.9147 euros)

(Additional reporting by Huw Jones and John O'Donnell, Editing by Jane Merriman)
MOSCOW, May 9 (Reuters) - Russia rolled out air defence systems built to operate in sub-zero Arctic conditions on Tuesday as it showcased its military might at a parade on Moscow's Red Square.

The parade, an annual event commemorating the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, took place under grey skies as President Vladimir Putin looked on from a platform alongside Soviet war veterans.

The Kremlin has been flexing its military muscle in the hydrocarbon-rich Arctic region, as it vies for dominance with rivals Canada, the United States and Norway.

"Lessons of the past war remind us to be vigilant, and the Armed Forces of Russia are capable of repelling any potential aggression," Putin told the parade.

"But for an effective battle with terrorism, extremism, neo-Nazism and other threats the whole international community needs to be consolidated. ... We are open for such cooperation."

An aerial show by Russia's air force, including warplanes that have flown missions to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's army, was cancelled because of low visibility.

Smaller parades were held in cities across Russia, in Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed three years ago, as well as at Russia's Hmeimim air base in Syria.

Moldovan President Igor Dodon was the only foreign dignitary to attend the Moscow parade. In prior years, leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping had attended.

Tuesday's parade was the first time Russia had showcased its Tor-M and Pantsir SA air defence systems, painted in the white and black colours of the country's Arctic forces.

Also on display were columns of troops, tanks and Russia's Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system.

Putin said: "The Russian soldier today, as in all times, showing courage and heroism, is ready for any feat, for any sacrifice for the sake of his motherland and people." (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov, Alexander Winning and Denis Dyomkin; editing by Ralph Boulton)
By Thomas Escritt and Sabine Siebold

BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - In January 2014, the commander of a French military academy rejected the master's thesis of an elite German army officer under his charge for its extremist argument that human rights could lead to the genocide of Western races.

"If this was a French participant on the course, we would remove him," he told the young officer's German superiors.

An academic hired to review the thesis told senior officers in the German army, the Bundeswehr, that it included racist and radical nationalist content, but they chose not to formally discipline the man as they did not want to jeopardise the career of a high-flying recruit.

That laxness was a violation of German rules, which require that any report of extremism among soldiers immediately be investigated by military intelligence.

Now, the young officer in question, Franco A., is in custody awaiting charges for posing under a false identity as an asylum seeker. Investigators are probing whether he planned an attack that he seemingly hoped would be blamed on asylum seekers.

"There would have been an attack," said Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen in a television interview, describing a "horror" scenario. "There would have been a weapon at the site, with fingerprints on it. We'd have put the prints in the system and have got the match of a Syrian refugee."

The episode has blown up into a full-scale scandal about right-wing extremism in the Bundeswehr that has prompted a search of all German army barracks for Nazi memorabilia.

The case has also put pressure on the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel five months before an election, with her close ally, von der Leyen, facing criticism for failing to put the German army's house in order.

After the French commander's warnings had been ignored, it took a tip-off from Austrian police to bring Franco's plans to light, when they caught him trying to recover a loaded gun he had stashed in a Vienna airport toilet after an officers' ball.

German authorities have since discovered he had fraudulently obtained 1,000 rounds of live ammunition from Bundeswehr stocks and stashed it at the home of a 24-year-old accomplice. A search of his barracks in France found swastikas and memorabilia from the wartime army, the Wehrmacht.

Prosecutors are poring over chat logs and files found on his seized smartphone and computer for evidence that he had further accomplices. Franco A., whose surname is known to Reuters but cannot be disclosed due to German privacy laws, has no visible social media presence that Reuters has been able to find.

WEEDING OUT EXTREMISTS

When the German armed forces were refounded after World War Two, they disavowed any link to the Wehrmacht, which was complicit in many Nazi atrocities. Set up in 1955, the new Bundeswehr was to be a democratic body of "citizen soldiers" with the autonomy and confidence to reject immoral orders.

But in the case of Franco A., prior investment in a seemingly model soldier, chosen along with a handful of other promising recruits to attend an elite military college in France, appears to have outweighed civic commitment.

"When his master's thesis says that immigration leads to the genetic genocide of western peoples, then it should be crystal clear to everyone that we are dealing with Nazi ideas," von der Leyen said in a speech to German top brass last week.

Far from being sacked, Franco was given a verbal warning and allowed to rewrite the thesis. After graduating he was assigned to the Franco-German brigade in Illkirch - a prestigious unit that symbolises the post-war rapprochement between the erstwhile foes.

Meanwhile, he had registered under a false identity as an asylum seeker named David Benjamin, posing to immigration authorities as a persecuted French-speaking refugee who spoke not a word of German. He commuted from the base in France to attend asylum hearings, where he spoke through an interpreter.

Many armies have had problems weeding out far-right extremists in their ranks. But for the German army, the past makes the issue especially sensitive.

Ever since World War Two, successive German governments have seen a commitment to human rights and opposition to extremism as key elements in atoning for the crimes of Nazi Germany and rebuilding allies' confidence.

This was more easily done when the German army was rarely deployed abroad, mostly contributing to peacekeeping missions. But with allies now asking that Europe's largest economy shoulder more of the continent's security burden, tough choices have to be made.

SWASTIKAS, NAZI MEMORABILIA

In rejecting Germany's tainted past, the army deprives itself of the sort of historical narrative that other fighting forces might use to create esprit de corps. For Franco's fellow officers in Illkirch, mess-room wall pictures of soldiers in gear that, to the expert eye, dated from the wartime army were a permissible nod to tradition.

But German regulations say otherwise, and von der Leyen won support, including from Merkel, for her pledge to get to the bottom of the multiple failings that led to Franco's extremism being overlooked.

At the weekend, prosecutors ordered searches of all German army barracks for similar relics. German media reported that Franco's own room was more luridly decorated, including with swastikas.

"Our image is hurt by these occurrences," said Volker Wieker, head of the German armed forces, in a television interview.

Von der Leyen, initially criticised for what seemed a blanket condemnation of the armed forces for tolerating extremism, has since apologised, praising the work done by the majority of their 250,000 members.

The military has found sympathy in unlikely quarters. Tobias Pflueger, vice-president of the pacifist Left party, said soldiers were being asked to do the impossible by playing a more active European role while rejecting Germany's military past.

"If you now send German tanks to the border with Russia in Lithuania, then you can't forget history," said the Left party's Pflueger, referring to calls for NATO to help protect their Baltic allies from an increasingly threatening Russia.

"German tanks were there before, and they did something there," he said. "There is a historical responsibility and Germany must be very cautious." (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Peter Graff)
BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) - Eleven young children - five South Korean and six Chinese - were killed along with their driver when their bus crashed and burst in to flames in a tunnel in China's eastern Shandong province on Tuesday, the local government said.

The bus had been transporting the children, all aged between three and six years old, to an international kindergarten in Weihai, a city across the Yellow Sea from South Korea, the local government said on its official Weibo account, a Chinese equivalent to Twitter. A teacher also suffered severe injuries. Grainy footage from the accident site that was posted Chinese social media showed flames leaping from the sides of a tall vehicle, while local media published photographs of black smoke billowing out of the tunnel's entrance.

Reuters could not independently verify the accuracy of the images or videos.

The South Korean Consulate in the Shandong provincial capital of Qinghao had earlier said that ten South Korean died in the accident. Consular officers had been sent to the site, it said.

China's state news agency, Xinhua, reported that one of the Chinese victims had a South Korean identity card.

Beijing does not release statistics on the total number of accidents each year, but the World Health Organization estimated in 2013 that around 250,000 people were killed on China's roads that year.

Beijing has vowed to clamp down on dangerous driving, but the rapid growth in car ownership and relatively lax checks on driving ability have made difficult to curb the number of accidents, especially on rural roads. (Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
By Jessica Jaganathan

SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - Pakistan State Oil has cancelled a tender to buy jet fuel for delivery in June amid a border dispute between the South Asian country and Afghanistan, a source at the company said on Tuesday.

PSO initially sought to buy a cargo of 10,000 tonnes of jet fuel for delivery in June but this has now been cancelled due to restrictions in shipping oil across the border, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with media.

About 70 to 80 percent of the company's imports of jet fuel are re-exported to neighbouring Afghanistan, the source added.

"We still have a cargo waiting to unload outside of Afghanistan and it's been waiting for the past four to five days," the source said.

U.S. and Afghan special forces, backed by drone strikes and other air support, have waged a series of operations against Islamic State in Afghanistan since March, killing dozens of their fighters, mainly in Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan.

Separately, PSO also cancelled a tender to buy gasoil cargoes for June as it has sufficient inventory, the source said. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Susan Fenton)
By Allison Lampert and Rod Nickel

MONTREAL/WINNIPEG, May 9 (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd CEO Keith Creel is an operations specialist like his predecessor, but the new leader is taking a vastly different approach to steering the company known for its red locomotives emblazoned with "CP."

After nearly five years of cost-cutting to boost efficiency under former CEO Hunter Harrison, Creel is switching Canada's second-largest railroad company into growth mode as volumes improve. Creel recently told analysts he is trying to heal "ruffled feathers" among his own employees, while meeting with existing and prospective customers in a bid to expand.

"As we go forward, my focus ... is top-line growth and that's exactly what my mandate is for my team," Creel said during a recent quarterly call.

Within weeks of taking the helm of CP, Creel appointed John Brooks as the railroad's first chief marketing officer since 2014, to help focus on customers and profitable growth.

Part of CP's strategy is to expand sales staff, even as overall headcount remains flat this year, Brooks said. And CP also hired a former trucking executive to steer business off the highway and onto its rail cars.

"A big part of our future is making sure that not only the marketing and sales people, but also that our senior leadership, our operating leadership, are out in front of the customers," Brooks told Reuters in an interview.

The timing of the changes is significant. The Canadian government is planning new legislation that is expected to include penalty provisions for poor railway service, although its introduction has been delayed. Such penalties would give shippers, who often complain they are at the mercy of Canada's two big railroads, more clout in demanding adequate service.

Railway movement of commodities is especially crucial in Canada, one of the world's biggest wheat exporters, because they must be transported over vast distances to ocean ports.

"When you're trying to cut costs you need to have someone like Hunter Harrison," said a fund manager from one of CP's major institutional investors, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

"But when you want to attract customers, you need a softer approach."

CP's new direction is seeing some results, with CP's once heavily criticized grain-handling performance beginning to show signs of improvement this spring, said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of Western Grain Elevator Association, whose members include Cargill Ltd and Viterra Inc.

CP has become more regular with delivering cars to grain delivery points on time, according to data compiled by Ag Transport Coalition, which is made up of farm groups that monitor railway performance.

But CP still faces the challenge of fierce competition from rival Canadian National Railway Co, the country's largest railroad, which recently announced three major customers, and concerns from existing shippers that cutbacks reduced the availability of locomotives and workers.

"It just seems like they've starved their system so much ... I really do get the sense that their employees are stretched right to the limit," said Kevin Price, senior trader in Canada for Singapore-based Agrocorp, which ships crops from the Pacific Coast.

"THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP"

As Harrison's protege at CP, workers often joked that Creel - a former U.S. Army officer who served in the Persian Gulf War - ran Canada's No. 2 railroad like the military, a union member said.

But Creel, who had contact with customers as CP's former chief operating officer, is seen as more outgoing and collaborative than the blunt Tennessee native, Harrison, who was recruited by activist investors in 2012 to overhaul CP's once lacklustre operations.

"(Creel) is saying that he wants to change the labor relations at CP," said Doug Finnson of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents locomotive engineers and conductors. "There's nowhere to go but up."

CP spokesman Marty Cej by email echoed recent comments from Harrison that service improved over the last four years, adding that the railroad always tries to improve "service, lower dwell times and increase velocity." He pointed to a major rail infrastructure project undertaken by the company to service the new mine of its client K+S AG's Potash Canada.

Harrison told Reuters that any customers lost during his tenure were by "design," because the price was not right.

"At some of those levels of margins and returns we couldn't be a player," he said in an interview. "I cannot remember a customer that I sat down with in Canada that had any specific complaint about CP's service."

Investors and analysts have praised Harrison, now chief executive of CSX Corp, for transforming CP and delivering some of its biggest annual profits, which drove its shares to an all-time high in 2014. It is a feat Harrison also accomplished at the helm of CN where he previously worked with Creel before leaving that railroad in 2009.

But his tenure at both railroads generated friction with workers and complaints over service, and Creel's early moves at CP mimic CN's transition after Harrison's departure, from cost-cutter to customer-pleaser.

"You can only squeeze so much juice out of a lemon," said Laurent Giguere, national transportation sector leader for KPMG in Canada, by phone from Montreal in reference to cost-cutting. "Once you've achieved operational excellence, then you focus on value creation."

Some large customers have already felt the personal touch. Since his appointment, Creel has spoken with U.S. farm cooperative CHS Inc, which has grappled with longer waits to move loaded cars from CP than other railways, said Brock Lautenschlager, director of ag business rail services at CHS.

Those delays, measured as "dwell times," have been a result of CP keeping loaded trains at origin longer to manage congestion at Pacific Northwest port terminals or poor weather, Lautenschlager said.

Three investors in CP said improving customer service will be key to growth.

"Clearly the upside will come from keeping customers and attracting new ones," said Joshua Duitz, a portfolio manager for Alpine Funds in New York State, who holds CP shares within four funds valued at about $1.5 billion. (Editing by Denny Thomas, Edward Tobin and Lisa Shumaker)
By Heba Kanso

BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon, May 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - S itting in a dimly lit room with his three-year-old son on his lap, Taha points to the boy's lips where a rat had bitten him twice while he was sleeping in the night.

With a look of hopelessness, Taha, a refugee from Syria, explains how he and his family of seven now live in a horse barn in the Bekaa Valley after last month they were served eviction notices to leave their camp by the Lebanese army.

Taha and his family are among an estimated 10,500 Syrian refugees ordered to leave the makeshift camp, with the Lebanese military citing security reasons as the refugees were camped near the Rayak air base.

The Bekaa sits in eastern Lebanon bordering Syria. Known for its lush rolling hills of olive groves, vineyards and grand Mediterranean houses, it is now peppered with clusters of tents built from wood, plastic and canvas. Lines of clothing hang out to dry as children play games with discarded tires.

"The (Rayak) eviction is the biggest we have seen so far in the Bekaa with a total of 86 informal tented settlements receiving eviction notices," the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a statement.

Taha, a father of six, who fled from Raqqa, Syria two years ago when Islamic State captured his city, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that he was given two days to leave his tent.

He left with dozens of family members who were in a cluster of tents and ended up finding a plot of land nearby but had difficulties getting approval to reconstruct their tents.

Taha and his family ended up homeless. "We were in the street for three days," Taha said. "No proper food or drink."

They survived off of tea and bread, Taha said, until they found a new home in the Bekaa in a horse barn divided into different rooms by wood and plastic and shared with 50 other people.

The barn floor is covered by pieces of carpet topped with cushions that double as beds. Nearby is the single toilet used by everyone in the barn.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a humanitarian aid group that has been helping the refugees in the Bekaa Valley, said many families had been forced to move several times.

"We have been witnesses already (to) a few of these cases where they have been actually forced to move twice or three times," Giovanni Rizzo, NRC area manager in the Bekaa Valley, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "This obviously puts the family in extreme, dire conditions."

The Lebanese army told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a statement the evictions were to "preserve the security of the (military) airport and protect the camps from terrorists attempting to infiltrate inside these camps."

Beyond spending what little money they have to move, Rizzo said moving can also take children out of the classroom, disrupting their already haphazard education.

Three of Taha's daughters all under the age of 10 missed several days of school.

But after fleeing the horrors of Syria's war, Taha is resigned. "We totally lost the ability to fear at all," he said. "We don't get scared."

"SLEEPING IN OUR CLOTHES"

Refugees who fled the six-year-old war in neighbouring Syria make up a quarter of Lebanon's population, and most live in severe poverty in makeshift camps across the country as the government opposes the creation of formal ones.

The fertile Bekaa Valley is home to more than 300,000 refugees making it the most densely populated area of refugees in all of Lebanon.

Since the eviction was ordered there has been no designated place where the refugees can relocate to.

"They need an approval from the municipality and many of the municipalities surrounding the evicted area ... are already hosting a big population of refugees," said the NRC's Rizzo.

"They are not willing to receive more refugees in their territory."

According to UNHCR, around 4,300 families have already moved within the Bekaa Valley, but some, like Abdallah's family of 11, have no place to go and have stayed put.

"We are waiting. We are sleeping in our clothes for fear the army will come to us in the morning," Abdallah, who did not want to give his full name, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Adballah and his family fled from Raqqa, Syria to Lebanon in 2012 and have lived in this tent in the Bekaa Valley for four months, having already been moved on twice.

Abdallah's tent is covered in a patchwork of plastic sheets - topped with tires, pieces of wood and metal to give it stability.

Inside their clothes are strung up on hooks and the family sits on a dirty carpet. A kitchen is fashioned in one part of the tent with baby formula, tea cups, a broken refrigerator and a pot of yesterday's rice and soup saved for the day's meal.

The 47-year-old said he had been searching for a new spot to rebuild his tent, but can't find anywhere for his family to go.

"Even if the army comes and breaks this (tent) down on our heads we would stay here," said Adballah, who is the only one in his family who has legal residency in Lebanon - meaning the rest of his family are at risk as they move through checkpoints.

While he dreams of taking his family back to Syria one day, Abdallah describes his refugee life as a "tragedy."

"Every day that goes by is worse than the one before," he said. (Reporting by Heba Kanso @hebakanso, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
DOHA, May 9 (Reuters) - Qatar's foreign minister on Tuesday welcomed a Russian-brokered agreement for "de-escalation" zones in Syria but said the plan was no substitute for a political transition that would see President Bashar al-Assad step down.

Qatar has been a supporter of rebels who have been fighting to overthrow the Syrian president during six years of civil war.

"It is good to have de-escalation zones but this must be a step to reach a solution to the Syrian crisis and not to use it as an excuse to delay this solution and to postpone the political transition," the Qatari foreign ministry quoted Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani as telling the Doha-based al-Jazeera network.

The remarks came after talks between the Qatari minister and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington.

Russia brokered the deal for de-escalation zones with backing from Iran and opposition supporter Turkey during ceasefire talks in the Kazakh capital Astana last week. The deal took effect at midnight on Friday.

Some fighting has continued in those areas, particularly north of Hama city, but the overall intensity has reduced, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. (Reporting by Tom Finn, writing by Sami Aboudi, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
By Luke Baker and Nidal al-Mughrabi

JERUSALEM/GAZA, May 9 (Reuters) - A hunger strike by more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners over their treatment in Israeli jails has turned into a heated dispute over whether the leader of the protest secretly broke the fast, and whether Israel tempted him to do so.

The strike, which began on April 17, followed a call by Marwan Barghouti, the most high-profile Palestinian in Israeli detention, for a protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that has applied to thousands of prisoners since the 1980s.

Barghouti, a leader of the Fatah movement, has seen his popularity grow among Palestinians since he was convicted of murder over the killing of Israelis during the second intifada and sentenced in 2004 to five life terms. Surveys show many Palestinians want him to be their next president.

While hunger strikes are not uncommon among the 6,500 Palestinians in Israeli jails, many of whom were convicted of attacks or planning attacks against Israel, this is one of the largest yet. If sustained it could present a challenge to Israel ahead of a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 22.

It is also likely to raise tensions between Israel and the Palestinians as the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem approaches in early June.

At the start of the strike, a group of Israeli settlers held a barbecue in the parking lot of one of the prisons, an apparent effort to taunt those inside who were not eating.

On Sunday, Israel's public security minister, who says the strike is politically motivated, accused Barghouti of secretly consuming cookies and chocolate bars, and the government released footage from the Israel Prison Service.

"He lied to the Palestinian public when he claimed to be striking," said Gilad Erdan. "Israel will not give in to extortion and pressure from terrorists."

FORCE FEEDING

The footage, two videos shot days apart from a camera mounted on the ceiling of the cell, do not conclusively show that the prisoner is Barghouti, 58, and it is not entirely clear what he is eating or whether he is doing so.

On Monday, following questions about how the video came to light, Erdan suggested Israeli prison guards had tempted Barghouti with the food. Since he is held in solitary confinement, he would not have been able to smuggle it in.

"You've got to understand, without me going into detail, that in order to lead him to this situation, a great many actions were taken," Erdan told Army Radio. "They got results."

Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, has denounced the video, saying it is an effort to discredit her husband, and suggested the footage may well have been taken in 2004.

"It was not surprising what the occupation did and the fabrications they have tried to spread," she told Reuters. "Such an act has unveiled the ugly face of the Israeli occupation."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the health of the strikers was deteriorating and Israel needed to act.

"I am afraid some unfortunate things could happen to those prisoners which may complicate things further, therefore, I urge the Israeli government to accept their humanitarian demands," he said during a news conference in Ramallah.

Fadwa and other wives and relatives have had no access to the hunger strikers, a situation the International Committee for the Red Cross, the United Nations and other organisations are trying to resolve with Israel.

She said ICRC officials told her the Israeli prison authority had prevented them from seeing her husband.

Suhair Zakout, a spokeswoman for the ICRC in Gaza, said the group had visited most of the prisoners taking part in the strike to check on their health and ensure Israel does not try to force them to eat.

Israel has resorted to force-feeding in the past, even though Israel's Medical Association opposes the policy as a form of torture. It has urged Israeli doctors not to carry it out. (Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
By Laurie Goering

LONDON, May 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When farmers in northern Burkina Faso speak about the direction of the wind, they refer to the direction it is blowing in. Burkina Faso's meteorological agency, however, classifies wind by the direction it comes from.

That means that when state forecasters warn of a strong west wind, farmers find an east wind comes gusting along, flattening their faith in forecasts.

But a new guide aims to solve that problem - and help farmers build better resilience to climate change - by translating the French and English words commonly used in weather forecasts not just into northern Burkina Faso's local languages but also its culture.

The guide, for instance, translates the French and English word "eclipse" - the total or partial disappearance of the sun or moon - into the much more colourful term Burkinabe farmers would use for the phenomenon, said Malick Victor, a journalist from Chad who led development of the translation guide.

"If on local radio I want to announce an eclipse, I need to say that 'Tomorrow, according to the meteorological forecast, the cat will catch the moon or the sun,'" Victor said.

"Right now, the language used (by forecasters) is so technical and not designed for the farmer," he said. "But if we give it to the farmer in a way they can understand, then they can use it."

TOO HOT TO GO OUT?

Victor's guide - a dictionary of more than 500 French and English meteorological terms with equivalent translations in Moore, Fulfulde and Gulimancema, northern Burkina Faso's three most-spoken languages - was created as part of the British government-funded Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme.

The three-year programme aims to give some of the world's most climate-vulnerable people, in countries from Myanmar to South Sudan, the tools they need to prepare for more extreme weather and fend off more frequent climate shocks without slipping into worsening poverty.

Victor, who works for media non-profit Internews as part of Zaman Lebidi, a BRACED project led by anti-poverty charity Christian Aid, started the guide last year after noticing that efforts to get better seasonal forecasts to farmers through radio broadcasts weren't working effectively, in large part because of translation issues.

To sort out the problems, he brought together farmers, journalists from local radio stations, community leaders and meteorological agency officials, who over two days decided on 517 key terms that needed better translation.

In Burkina Faso, for instance, farmers have little use for terms like winter and summer, instead dividing the year into periods of different rainfall and winds, such as the hot Saharan Harmattan wind season or the monsoon period.

Efforts to broadcast expected high temperatures also don't make much sense for remote rural farmers without temperature gauges, Victor said.

"But if you can say whether it's a day you can go outside with your animals or not, that can help," he said.

The guide notes that it hopes to "remove the risk of misunderstanding" between meteorologists, who accuse journalists of misinterpreting weather information; journalists, who accuse meteorologists of being inaccurate; and farmers who aren't sure they can trust any of the information they're getting.

SIMPLE LANGUAGE

Edmund Henley, who organised technical assistance to the project from the UK's Met Office, said the effort is not the first to try to put complicated meteorological terms into other languages.

A World Meteorological Organization website, for instance, offers translations of scientific terms into Arabic, Mandarin, Russian and Spanish, among other languages.

But the Burkina Faso effort is unusual both in taking on local languages and making a "huge effort to get things into terms that are understandable to people," Henley said. "They had to think, 'What are we trying to get across?'"

The guide's focus on creating simple French and English equivalents for more complicated meteorological terms also means the guide is likely to be widely useful beyond Burkina Faso's borders, he said.

The translation project, backed by more than a dozen partner organisations - including Burkina Faso's meteorological agency and other national institutes, the country's radio and television groups, King's College London and German charity Welthungerhilfe - is now moving on to establishing mobile phone abbreviations for key terms.

That will make the better-tuned weather information more widely available by text message as well as on radio and television, Victor said.

"With abbreviations we can get it short," he said. "We know all the farmers in rural areas don't listen to the radio or read newspapers or look at television. But SMS doesn't need radio coverage."

Burkina Faso's government, which has encouraged the project, has indicated it intends to reprint and more widely distribute the new guide, and hopes to expand the translation effort to more of the country's approximately 60 languages.

The already translated terms are being put into the national primary school curriculum as well this year, Victor said.

The effort has also drawn the interest of other BRACED-funded projects in Niger, Ethiopia and Senegal, with journalists hoping to replicate the effort there, he said.

"Everyone wants to get this," he said of the translation guide.

(Reporting by Laurie Goering @lauriegoering; editing by Zoe Tabary.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
By Hyunjoo Jin and Cynthia Kim

SEOUL, May 9 (Reuters) - South Korean human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in never felt comfortable being at the Blue House when he was a top aide to the president. He quit in 2004, a year into the job, and went on a long hike in the Himalayas.

Although he would return to the presidential office a month later, the liberal idealist, who once dreamed of opening a pro-bono law practice in a Korea reunified with the North, says he has always been uneasy in the limelight.

Now he has the eyes of 51 million South Koreans on him after exit polls projected that he won a Tuesday election to succeed the ousted Park Geun-hye as president.

Moon favours dialogue with North Korea to ease rising tension over its accelerating nuclear and missile programmes. He also wants to reform powerful family-run conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai, and boost fiscal spending to create jobs.

Recalling his life at the Blue House in 2003-2008, he said in his 2011 book "Destiny": "I always felt uncomfortable. I felt that the job was not suitable for me, as if I was wearing clothes that did not fit. I always thought 'I will go back to my place, a lawyer'."

A close confidant and a top aide to former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, Moon said it was his old friend's apparent suicide in 2009 amid a bribery investigation into his family after his term in office ended, that drew him into electoral politics, and eventually a run for the highest office.

Moon was born on Jan. 24, 1953, during the Korean War, on Geoje island off the southern tip of the peninsula. His parents had fled from the North during the war, sailing for three days on the deck of a U.S. ship packed with refugees.

"I was thinking I wanted to finish my life there in Hungnam doing pro-bono service," he said in his book published in January, referring to his parents' hometown on North Korea's east coast.

"When peaceful reunification comes, the first thing I want to do is to take my 90-year-old mother and go to her hometown."

'NERDY STYLE'

As a law student in the 1970s, he was jailed twice during pro-democracy protests against the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee - father of Park Geun-hye - and his successor, Chun Doo-hwan.

He was released from jail after passing a state bar exam.

As a conscript in South Korea's special forces, Moon was part of mission that responded after North Korean troops murdered an American soldier with an axe in the demilitarised zone in 1976.

Moon joined Roh's law practice in Busan city in 1982, defending democracy and labour activists during the rule of authoritarian military presidents.

"Moon had a distinctively nerdy style, reviewing papers after papers quietly as he prepared for court cases," Seol Dong-il, who worked with Moon and Roh at the law firm, told Reuters.

"When workers sought advice from him, Moon used to sit down for hours to listen to them."

Moon cut short his trek in the Himalayas in 2004 when he read news in Nepal that parliament had passed an impeachment motion against Roh for allegedly violating election campaign laws.

He returned to join a team of lawyers who successfully argued Roh's case at the Constitutional Court, which overturned the motion.

GLASS OF SOJU

Moon helped Roh open the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Park in 2004 and helped him prepare for a rare summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2007.

North Korea's official media have not mentioned Moon by name but said it was time to deal the conservatives a crushing election defeat so the two Koreas could put a period of confrontation behind them.

"We should end the history of North-South confrontation that has been continued by the puppet conservative group, and we as the same race should gather our strength to open a new era of independent reunification," the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said on Monday.

On the campaign trail during 2004 parliamentary elections, a "very shy" Moon cut a "ridiculously awkward" figure, recalled former politician Choi Nak-jeong.

Moon himself entered politics in 2012, winning a parliamentary seat in Busan, Roh's old political base. Later that year, he ran for president, losing to Park by a slim margin.

Moon faulted Park Geun-hye for being walled off from the public, and has pledged to turn the Blue House into a "resting space for the people". He says he will work instead out of a 19-storey government building in central Seoul.

"I will be a president that can share a glass of soju with the public after work," he told reporters in April, referring to South Korea's vodka-like liquor.

Moon, a Catholic, is married with a son and a daughter.

(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee and Jack Kim; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Bill Tarrant)
By Kieran Guilbert

DAKAR, May 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A United Nations peacekeeper in Central African Republic was killed and eight others wounded late on Monday when their convoy was attacked by unknown assailants in the southeast of the country, the U.N. mission (MINUSCA) said on Tuesday.

Four peacekeepers are missing following the attack on the convoy near the town of Bangassou, about 730 km (453 miles) east of the capital Bangui, the mission said in a statement.

The peacekeeper who was killed was from Cambodia, while the injured and missing are Cambodian and Moroccan, MINUSCA said.

A U.N. helicopter and peacekeepers have been sent to secure the area and search for the missing while the injured were evacuated by plane to Bangui, the mission said.

"They are possibly hiding somewhere," MINUSCA spokesman Herve Verhoosel told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

The attack came after five international aid agencies temporarily suspended their operations in northern Central African Republic last week because of attacks on humanitarian workers by armed groups.

Central African Republic is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for aid agencies, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said last week, with at least 33 attacks on aid workers in the first quarter of 2017.

Central African Republic has been plagued by inter-religious violence since 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters seized power, prompting reprisals from Christian militias, known as anti-balaka.

The Seleka and other groups have since splintered, prompting further violence despite the election in March 2016 of President Faustin-Archange Touadera, which raised hopes of reconciliation.

The U.N. mission has 13,000 peacekeepers on the ground, but some civilians complain it does not do enough to protect them against dozens of armed groups.

Around 425,000 people have been uprooted by the fighting within Central African Republic, some 465,000 have fled to neighbouring countries, and more than 2.2 million, nearly half the population, need humanitarian aid, according to OCHA. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Additional Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Andrew Bolton and Belinda Goldsmith; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
JOHANNESBURG, May 9 (Reuters) - Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at protesters in southern townships of Johannesburg on Tuesday to quell the latest violence over lack of housing and jobs, piling pressure on President Jacob Zuma's government.

Residents in the Eldorado Park and Ennerdale townships in South Africa's economic hub pelted police cars with stones and blocked a highway with burning tyres and rocks, prompting riot police in protective gear to fire back at them.

Police said at least 15 people were arrested during the unrest, which started as a protest against the lack of housing and jobs there, and several shops were also damaged and looted.

Poor South Africans in black townships and shanty-towns complain they have not seen any benefits since white minority rule ended more than two decades ago.

But the government is limited by South Africa's weak economy and is wary of polices that might further tarnish its image as an investor-friendly emerging market.

Protester Marlene Loggenberg told Talk Radio 702 she has been on a waiting list for a subsidised house for over 30 years.

"They told me that my salary is too little for a (mortgage) bond and too much for an RDP house," she said, referring to government-funded low-cost housing units.

"We are feed up with what's happening here," community leader Martha Pitt said, saying unemployment and poor local services were also fraying residents' nerves.

Another protester, who would not give her name, said she joined the demonstration to demand the government build her a subsidised house or give her a piece of land to build a shack.

Gauteng police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini said police would remain in the area until the situation is under control.

(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Ahmed Aboulenein

MOSUL, Iraq, May 9 (Reuters) - Fly-blown corpses of Islamic State militants (IS) littered the streets of a district in Mosul on Tuesday as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces chipped away at the last remaining handful of districts under the jihadists' control.

Seven months into the campaign to recapture Iraq's second largest city, government forces say it is now in its final phase after opening a new front in the northwest of Mosul last week and gaining ground in several districts there.

Trapped in a shrinking area with no way out, the ultra hardline Sunni militants are hitting back with a barrage of suicide car bombs and snipers hidden among hundreds of thousands of civilians they are effectively holding hostage.

A Reuters reporter in the Harmat district, which has been partially retaken by the Interior Ministry's elite Emergency Response Division, said there was heavy fighting there on Tuesday.

Jets flying overhead conducted air strikes and helicopters strafed IS positions while several car bombs exploded in the distance. Heavy sniper and mortar fire could be heard.

A spokesman for the Emergency Response Division said 250 Islamic State members had been killed in Harmat over the past 5 days.

Hundreds of families streamed out of Harmat, 17 Tammuz and other front-line districts, joining an exodus of 435,000 people who have been displaced from the western half of Mosul since Iraqi forces began attacking it in February, according to U.N. figures.

Travelling in the back of a van carrying civilians to safety, 44-year-old Abu Ahmed said the militants had forced 48 people into the basement of his home in the Musherfa district before opening fire from it. The aim was to goad Iraqi forces into striking the house and thereby turn civilians against them.

"They tried to scare us into helping them, they said the army would rape our women. But we didn't believe them."

CAMOUFLAGE

With no escape route, a growing number of militants are trying to leave the city by camouflaging themselves among fleeing civilians, Brigadier General Mahdi Abbas Abdallah of the Rapid Response Division said on Tuesday.

"We are conducting checks on all the fleeing families."

Conditions in the handful of districts still under militant control are increasingly desperate as food runs out and civilians are killed under bombardment.

A resident of the 17 Tammuz district said at least 10 people including his neighbour's son had died as a result of air strikes and mortar fire since Monday: "The rockets are falling like rain over our heads," he told Reuters by phone.

Militants were burning civilian vehicles to produce a smokescreen against aerial surveillance and had taken up position on the roofs of tall buildings wearing suicide belts, he said. "The fear and confusion is visible on their faces."

The elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) retook an industrial area on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, who commands the campaign, said in a statement.

A woman in the adjacent Islah al-Ziraai neighborhood, which remains under Islamic State control, said she could now see the Iraqi flag in the distance.

"We will die of hunger if they don't reach us within a week," said the woman, who has resorted to eating weeds. "Despite the violent bombardment, we are happy that the Iraqi forces are approaching us."

Islamic State seized Mosul in a shock offensive across northern and western Iraq in 2014 but have lost much of their gains to resurgent government forces over the past year. Still, even defeat in Mosul would still leave IS in control of swathes of Syria and Iraqi territory near the Syrian border. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Isabel Coles; editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Joseph Nasr

BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - German police on Tuesday detained a second soldier suspected of involvement in a plan by an army officer and a student to carry out an attack, possibly on politicians who do not oppose immigration, the federal public prosecutor said.

Prosecutors believe the three suspects wanted to implicate asylum seekers in their planned attack, in a case that has shocked Germans and stirred a debate about the depth of right-wing radicalism in the country's military.

The prosecutor's office named the third suspect in the case as Maximilian T., a 27-year-old German national.

"The accused is strongly suspected of planning a severe act of violence against the state out of a right-wing extremist conviction," it said in a statement.

Former president Joachim Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas were on a list of possible targets prepared by the suspects, who wanted to make their attack look like the work of Islamist militants, the prosecutor's office added.

The first soldier and the student, identified respectively as Franco A. and Mathias F., were detained on April 26.

Maximilian T. was initially a witness in the case, but became a suspect after police searched several residences in Germany and France on April 26, broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk reported.

Der Spiegel magazine, citing seized materials that belonged to Franco A., included specific details for possible attacks, including the address of the Justice Ministry and a sketch of a room at the non-profit Amadeu-Antonio Foundation in Berlin.

Investigators also found a list of different weapons and their prices, it said.

German military intelligence had investigated Maximilian T. in September 2015 after a fellow soldier reported that he had tried to recruit him to attack non-Germans, according to sources familiar with the matter. The investigation was later dropped due to a lack of evidence, Der Spiegel reported.

MERKEL INTERVENTION

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended fellow conservative Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen's handling of the case on Tuesday against critics who said the minister had wrongly implied that most soldiers were right-wing radicals.

"This is an unbelievable story with a right-wing extremist background and it was right that the defence minister did not try to minimize it but rather called it what it is," Merkel told broadcaster WDR. "We have to investigate whether such a thing occurs often."

Von der Leyen has apologised for her sweeping criticism of "weak leadership" in the military, saying she regretted not balancing her remarks with appreciation for the work done by the majority of the armed forces.

Rainer Arnold, a Social Democrat, told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper that the parliamentary defence committee would demand swift reforms during a committee meeting on Wednesday.

He also criticised von der Leyen for her suggestion that more cases of extremism would likely emerge.

"If she has knowledge that right-wing extremism is a mass phenomenon in the military, then she needs to present it publicly. Otherwise it's unacceptable conjecture," he said.

The scandal has also raised questions about the competence of staff at shelters where migrants first register before they can apply for asylum.

Franco A., who served with an army battalion stationed in France, had used a fake identity to register as a Syrian refugee and moved into a shelter for migrants in Bavaria even though he speaks no Arabic.

The soldier had previously been detained in late January by Austrian authorities on suspicion of having hidden an illegal gun in a bathroom at Vienna's main airport, Schwechat.

Von der Leyen said Franco A. had intended to have the finger prints of a Syrian asylum seeker on the gun, which he wanted to use in a possible attack and leave at the scene. (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal and Thorsten Severin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Aaron Ross

KINSHASA, May 9 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on Tuesday named a new transitional government, state television said, defying opponents who rejected the cabinet, saying it violated a previous agreement.

Kabila, in power since 2001, struck a deal in December with Congo's main opposition bloc to stay on after his mandate expired provided he held elections by the end of 2017. But talks to implement the deal broke down in March when Kabila refused to commit to the bloc's choice of prime minister.

Despite resistance to Kabila's remaining in power, he has successfully co-opted large portions of the opposition.

The new prime minister Bruno Tshibala, whom he named last month, is a former member of the country's largest opposition party and other opposition leaders received ministerial posts too.

The main opposition bloc, however, immediately criticised Tuesday's announcement and called on Kabila to name a government that respects the December agreement.

"This government is illegitimate and we don't recognise it," Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development(ECIDE) party, told Reuters.

"There is no other roadmap besides the accord," he said. "If the accord is dead, Kabila has to leave."

The roughly 60 ministers and vice-ministers read out on state TV are mainly holdovers from the previous government and key ministries - including foreign affairs, interior, justice and mines - remain in the hands of Kabila loyalists.

Political tensions are high after security forces killed dozens during protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has also raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.

Kabila's opponents suspect he intends to repeatedly delay elections until he can organise a referendum to let himself stand for a third term, as his counterparts in neighbouring Congo Republic and Rwanda have done.

Kabila denies those accusations, saying the election delays are due to challenges registering millions of voters and budgetary constraints.

The new government faces a number of stern tests. Congo's franc currency has lost half its value since last year and authorities are struggling to mobilise the resources needed to hold the election by the end of the year.

It will also enter office amid controversy over the burial of longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in Belgium in February.

His political party, the UDPS, planned to bury him on Friday at its headquarters in the capital Kinshasa. But the provincial government has rejected the planned site and the president of the UDPS's Brussels wing, Katumba Tchiowa Ngoy, told Reuters the party would delay repatriating the body in "12 to 15 days". (Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol in Brussels; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Francesca Landini and Maria Pia Quaglia

MILAN, May 9 (Reuters) - Campari's strategy shift to focus more on the U.S. market helped the drinks group to report stronger than expected first-quarter earnings, lifting its shares to a record high.

Campari, maker of the red aperitif of the same name, bought Grand Marnier last year to expand its drinks range in the United States, its biggest market, which now accounts for 30 percent of sales. It has also been working on improving its U.S. distribution and strengthening its U.S. sales team.

U.S. sales of drinks that include Campari rose 7.5 percent in the first quarter, excluding currency swings and M&A activities. Sales also benefited from a shipment catch-up after a reduction in stocks at the end of last year.

Chief Executive Bob Kunze-Concewitz said investments in marketing and distribution network in the United States would help to cement the good run in coming quarters.

"For the whole year, we see U.S. sales up mid-to-high single digit (rate), depending on how the summer period will do," Kunze-Concewitz told analysts on a conference call.

In Italy, the company's second largest market, sales fell mainly due to a late Easter.

Sales in North, Central and Eastern Europe also rose, allowing the Milan-based group to report a 5.7 percent rise in overall organic sales to 376.6 million euros ($409.93 million), above forecasts for sales growth of less than 3 percent.

Campari's shares rose as much as 11 percent to 6.14 euros, their highest level on record. The stock was up 4.8 percent by 1454 GMT, compared with a 0.6 percent rise in Milan's blue-chip index.

"Overall, this is a strong set of results from Campari that include above consensus organic growth on a tough comparison, in particular in the United States that is a key focus in the company's future growth strategy," said one analyst who did not want to be identified.

Among Campari's brands, the best selling product was Wild Turkey Bourbon, which increased sales by 24 percent overall, followed by the orange coloured aperitif Aperol, up nearly 18 percent. French liqueur Grand Marnier, Campari's biggest acquisition to date, added 32.5 million euros to the group's net sales in the first quarter.

The company also said it reached an agreement on the "Patent Box" scheme with Italian tax authorities for 2015-2019 fiscal years, with an overall tax benefit estimated at 88 million euros over five years.

Adjusted operating profit rose 19.5 percent to 64.4 million euros, with a margin of 17.1 percent on sales. ($1 = 0.9187 euros)

(Editing by Jane Merriman)
By Alexandra Ulmer

CARACAS, May 9 (Reuters) - Venezuela's infant mortality rose 30 percent last year, maternal mortality shot up 65 percent and cases of malaria jumped 76 percent, according to government data, sharp increases reflecting how the country's deep economic crisis has hammered at citizens' health.

The statistics, issued on the ministry's website after nearly two years of data silence from President Nicolas Maduro's leftist government, also showed a jump in illnesses such as diphtheria and Zika. It was not immediately clear when the ministry posted the data, although local media reported on the statistics on Tuesday.

Recession and currency controls in the oil-exporting South American nation have slashed both local production and imports of foreign goods, and Venezuelans are facing shortages of everything from rice to vaccines. The opposition has organized weeks of protests against Maduro, accusing him of dictatorial rule and calling for elections.

In the health sector, doctors have emigrated in droves, pharmacy shelves are empty, and patients have to settle for second-rate treatment or none at all. A leading pharmaceutical association has said roughly 85 percent of medicines are running short.

The Health Ministry had stopped releasing figures after July 2015, amid a wider data blackout.

Its statistics for 2016 showed infant mortality, or death of children aged 0-1, climbed 30.12 percent to 11,466 cases last year. The report cited neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome, and prematurity as the main causes.

Hospitals often lack basic equipment like incubators, and pregnant women are struggling to eat well, including taking folic acid, factors that can affect a baby's health.

Maternal mortality, or death while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of a pregnancy, was also up, rising 65.79 percent to 756 deaths, the report said.

The Health Ministry did not respond to a request for further information. Maduro's government says a coup-mongering elite is hoarding medicines to stoke unrest.

INFECTIONS, VIRUSES

Diphtheria, a bacterial infection that is fatal in 5 to 10 percent of cases and that Venezuela had controlled in the 1990s, affected 324 people, the data showed - up from no cases the previous year.

Diphtheria was once a major global cause of child death but is now increasingly rare thanks to immunizations, and its return showed how vulnerable the country is to health risks.

Reuters documented the case of a 9-year-old girl, Eliannys Vivas, who died of diphtheria earlier this year after being misdiagnosed with asthma, in part because there were no instruments to examine her throat, and shuttled around several run-down hospitals.

There were also 240,613 cases of malaria last year, up 76.4 percent compared with 2015, with most cases of the mosquito-borne disease reported in the rough-and-tumble Bolivar state.

Cases of Zika rose to 59,348 from 71 in 2015, reflecting the spread of the mosquito-borne virus around Latin America last year. There was no data for likely Zika-linked microcephaly, where babies are born with small heads, although doctors say there have been at least several dozen cases. (Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Girish Gupta and Frances Kerry)
VILNIUS, May 9 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has authorized arming Kurdish fighters in Syria "as necessary to ensure a clear victory" in a planned assault to retake the city of Raqqa from Islamic State, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in a likely blow to U.S. ties with Turkey.

Ankara had fiercely opposed supplying the Kurdish elements of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, viewing the YPG as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in Turkey's southeast since 1984.

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White, who is traveling with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Lithuania, said in a statement. "We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally." (Reporting by Phil Stewart in Vilnius; editing by Grant McCool)
JUBA, May 9 (Reuters) - The president of South Sudan has replaced army chief Paul Malong with a general who is a member of an ethnic minority, the defence minister said on Tuesday, after a slew of resignations by senior generals alleging tribal bias and war crimes.

President Salva Kiir has appointed General James Ajongo as the new army chief, said Minister of Defence Kuol Manyang Juuk. He played down the significance of Malong's removal, calling it "just a normal practice of changing somebody and bringing (in) another person."

Malong was told one month ago that he would be relieved, Juuk told Reuters. He did not know if Malong, a former elected civilian governor, had been given a new appointment.

Juuk said the change would not affect the military's fight against rebel groups. "The operation will go on," he said.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, has been mired in civil war since 2013 when Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a Nuer.

The move triggered a conflict that has plunged parts of the oil-producing country into famine, paralysed public services and forced 3 million people - a quarter of the population - to flee their homes. The United Nations has said the violence amounts to ethnic cleansing and risks setting the stage for genocide.

In February, the military's head of logistics, Thomas Cirillo Swaka, resigned, citing rampant human rights abuses by the military and the dominance of the president's Dinka ethnic group. His announcement brought a wave of other resignations by generals and civil servants who made similar accusations against the government.

Both Kiir and Malong are from the Dinka community, but Ajongo is a Luo from Aweil, in the northwest of the country, according to Kiir's spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny.

Ateny said Ajongo joined the Sudan People's Liberation Army, the formal name of the South Sudanese military, in 1983, when it was still a rebel group fighting for independence from neighbouring Sudan.

"He's a military career person," Ateny said. He denied there was any split between Malong and Kiir. "This has nothing to do with political or any rumour-mongering," he said. "There is no division in the government."

A spokesman for Machar's rebels said that Malong would remain a powerful force in the civil war because of his role recruiting Dinka tribal militias.

"There will still be the presence of Mathiang Anyor and other militias in the country," spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said.

Mathiang Anyor is a common term for irregular Dinka militia.

"His work will still be continued by his followers and recruits. Mathiang Anyor does not listen to anyone but General Paul Malong. He will still control them," Gabriel said. "We will still have a war to fight, maybe even more than now."

Kiir's government has denied any involvement in recruiting Dinka irregulars. (Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Brad Haynes

SAO PAULO, May 9 (Reuters) - When Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Judge Sergio Moro meet for the first time in a courtroom on Wednesday, the contrasts - and the stakes - could hardly be greater.

One is the country's most popular president ever and the front-runner in next year's election - a former union leader who still whips up crowds with his fiery and folksy oratory. The other, a soft-spoken law professor who represents Lula's main obstacle to power.

The legacy and political future of Brazil's first working-class president are on the line as Lula faces one of the five criminal cases against him, part of the biggest corruption probe in the country's history.

While denying any wrongdoing, Lula and his lawyers have turned his defense into an attack on Moro himself, arguing the judge's track record in overseeing the graft probe has undermined his impartiality. Lula's supporters are travelling from across Brazil to the southern city of Curitiba to protest outside the court.

Local media has fed expectations of a confrontation with a breathless buildup to Wednesday's hearing. One news magazine's cover painted the two as masked wrestlers going head to head. On another, they are boxers "Settling Scores."

Pollster Datafolha found Moro was one of the few public figures who could beat Lula in the 2018 presidential race - though Moro denies he will enter politics.

The 44-year-old judge has avoided addressing the electoral impact of his decisions and discouraged portrayals of him as David to Lula's political Goliath.

Lula's testimony is just one more step in a three-year-old operation, insists Moro, who has kept lecturing public university students on criminal law as he runs the probe.

"I'm a little concerned by this climate of confrontation, these heightened expectations about something that may be totally banal," the judge said at a public event on Monday, regarding this week's hearing.

Moro has already sentenced dozens of businessmen and money launderers for a bribery scheme paying billions of dollars to politicians in return for public contracts, political favors and deals with state firms such as oil giant Petrobras.

Office holders in Brasilia must be tried by the Supreme Court, so prosecution has moved more slowly against alleged beneficiaries in the ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and the Workers Party, which ran the country under Lula and his successor Dilma Rousseff from 2003 to 2016.

"CLIMATE OF CONFRONTATION"

Prosecutors say Lula masterminded the scheme during his eight years in office, but Wednesday's hearing focuses on whether he traded influence for the refurbishing of a beach condo.

On Monday, Moro began hearing testimony in a second trial against Lula, regarding 12 million reais ($4 million) of land bought by a construction firm to be used for his institute.

A conviction in either case, if upheld in an appeals court before elections in October next year, would bar him from seeking office.

While Lula's allies are calling for tens of thousands of partisans to convene in Curitiba, Moro posted a Facebook video discouraging a rival march by supporters of the investigation.

Yet even that call for restraint stirred controversy.

"Judge Moro, who ought to be impartial, is speaking directly to his supporters. That is not normal in a democratic system. In a democracy, politicians have supporters and adversaries - not judges," said Lula attorney Cristiano Zanin in a video response.

The exchange underscored that while both Lula and Moro face public scrutiny, the judge may have more to lose if the interrogation devolves into a contentious exchange.

A courtroom spat would stoke complaints from Lula supporters who call the investigation a political witch hunt and bolster his lawyers' demands that another judge try the case.

Attempts at such a legal maneuver are not uncommon, said Oscar Vilhena Vieira, dean of the law school at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. In Brazil, the same judge is usually responsible for overseeing an investigation and then ruling on a case.

Yet relations between Moro and Lula's team are especially tense amid their campaign to discredit him, which included the lawyers' complaint to the United Nations that the judge violated Lula's human rights during the corruption investigation.

Moro often cites the value of public support for the task force he oversees, pointing to the lessons of Italy's "Mani Pulite" graft probe in the 1990s to show the importance of popular opinion to sustain a major corruption investigation.

"From a political perspective, there is a greater risk for Judge Moro," said Vieira. "His rhetorical options are far more limited. He has to take great care not to fall into the traps set by Lula's lawyers." ($1 = 3.2 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Brad Brooks, Daniel Flynn and Andrew Hay)
By Phil Stewart

VILNIUS, May 9 (Reuters) - Despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey, U.S. President Donald Trump has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia, fighting within a larger U.S.-backed coalition, as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, whose president, Tayyip Erdogan, is expected to meet Trump in Washington next week.

The Pentagon immediately sought to stress that it saw arming the Kurdish forces "as necessary to ensure a clear victory" in Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria and a hub for planning the group's attacks against the West.

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement as she traveled in Lithuania with defense secretary Jim Mattis.

"We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally," White said.

The United States has long directly supplied arms to the Arab components of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, which include YPG fighters. White said Washington would still prioritize supplying those Arab fighters within the SDF.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the equipment for the Kurdish fighters could include small arms, ammunition, machine guns, armored vehicles and engineering equipment.

Equipment provided to the SDF would be limited, specific to a mission and provided "incrementally as objectives are reached" White said.

STRAIN ON ALLIANCE

The U.S. alliance with Turkey has proven decisive in the battle against Islamic State in Syria, providing the coalition with access to Turkey's Incirlik air base to wage strikes against the militants, officials say.

Mattis, speaking before the announcement to reporters in Denmark and after talks with coalition members, sounded upbeat about working through tensions with Ankara.

"Our intent is to work with the Turks, alongside one another, to take Raqqa down, and we're going to sort it out and we'll figure out how we're going to do it," Mattis said.

Mattis called Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik on Tuesday, the Pentagon said. It was unclear how Isik responded but the Pentagon said that both "affirmed their support for peace and stability in both Iraq and Syria."

The decision to arm the Syrian Kurds will likely cast a shadow over Erdogan's visit to Washington, policy experts said.

"There have been bad episodes in the relationship between the United States and Turkey, but this one is serious because it gets to the heart of Turkish security priorities," said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"You've now got a question mark over the U.S.-Turkish security relationship that is pretty serious," Aliriza said.

Ankara had long argued that Washington should switch support for the planned assault on Raqqa from the Kurdish YPG militia to Syrian rebels Turkey has trained and led against Islamic State for the past year.

But the U.S. administration was skeptical that the Turkish-backed force was large enough or sufficiently trained.

White appeared to allude to that conclusion when she said: "The SDF, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish PYD party, the YPG's political affiliate, said the U.S. decision was expected.

"The Raqqa campaign is running in parallel with the international coalition against terrorism. It's natural that they would provide weapons" to the SDF and the armed groups fighting as part of it, Muslim said.

In a sign of recent tensions, Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes against Kurdish YPG fighters in northeastern Syria and Iraq's Sinjar region late last month, killing less than 30 fighters, according to one estimate.

The United States has played down Turkish accusations of links between the YPG and PKK. Ankara believes the YPG's advances will fuel anti-Kurdish sentiment in predominantly Arab parts of Syria such as Raqqa, and threaten Syria's territorial integrity. (Reporting by Phil Stewart in Vilnius, Lithuania, Idrees Ali in Washington and Ellen Francis in Beirut; Editing by James Dalgleish and Grant McCool)
By Nina Chestney

LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Britain should seek to remain in the European Union's energy market and carbon trading scheme in a transition period if a Brexit deal is not reached in two years, a report by think tank Chatham House said on Wednesday.

Chatham House said the EU and Britain were unlikely to finalise a deal on their future relationship within two years, as is specified by the EU treaty's Article 50.

If a deal is not reached by April 2019, a transitional deal will be needed for up to three years, the European Parliament has said.

In that event, "the government should seek to maintain its current status within the internal energy market (IEM) and the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) during the transition process," the report said.

To do so, Britain would need to comply with relevant EU rules on energy, environment and competition and agree to a joint legislative framework for regulatory oversight and enforcement, it added.

Last month, British energy minister Greg Clark said it was in the country's interests to remain part of the IEM, which coordinates access to energy across the EU, and expand interconnectors with other EU and non-EU countries.

The government plans to treble its electricity interconnection capacity by 2025 as it seeks to use more renewable energy and replace ageing coal and nuclear plants.

Interconnectors help minimise the costs of operating low-carbon electricity systems and electricity prices for consumers.

Britain could save several hundred million euros a year from expanding its interconnector capacity with the EU up to the 2020s, according to various estimates.

When Britain leaves the EU it will still be connected to the European market but the extent of its integration is still unclear, Chatham House said.

The best way to ensure continued cooperation with the EU and non EU-members would be to form a new pan-European energy partnership or enlarged European Energy Union.

"In particular, such a partnership could offer a useful platform for aligning EU policies with those of third countries, including the UK, Norway and Switzerland, while allowing them to fully access the IEM and push forward common initiatives," the report said.

It is likely that Britain will have to leave the ETS, which charges power plants and factories for every tonne of carbon dioxide they emit, after Brexit due to the end of the European Court of Justice's jurisdiction over Britain.

However, Britain should try and remain part of the ETS at least until 2020, which marks the end of the current trading period, as setting up a separate scheme would be complicated and expensive, the report said. Britain should also consider the introduction of a carbon tax, it said. (Editing by Susan Fenton)
HARRISBURG  A House committee has voted out legislation to change a 2012 law that bars the state from participating in the federal Real ID Act.

Senate Bill 133 was approved by the State Government Committee on Monday after an amendment to allow PennDOT to issue both compliant and non-compliant IDs.

People who apply for a compliant, or voluntary travel ID, would have to pay the full cost of issuing the identification.

Drivers licenses and photo identification cards that do not comply with the Real ID Act would have to be prominently marked that the ID is not compliant.

The legislation now goes to the full House.

Federal authorities have given Pennsylvania a deadline of June 6 to comply with the law. After that, federal agencies and nuclear power plants may not accept a Pennsylvania drivers license for official purposes.

Beginning in January 2018, Real ID standards will be required to get into a federal building and to board a commercial aircraft.
MEXICO CITY, May 9 (Reuters) - Mexico and the European Union might leave some agricultural goods out of a new free trade deal that they want to wrap up this year, the EU's ambassador to Mexico said on Tuesday, citing beef and dairy as "sensitive" sectors.

Mexico and the 28-nation bloc have been working to upgrade an existing accord dating from 2000 that mainly slashed tariffs on industrial goods.

But exposing the EU's beef market and Mexico's dairy producers to more competition would be challenging, said Andrew Standley, the EU ambassador to Mexico.

"Maybe, once negotiations are over, some agricultural products are going to remain protected," Standley told reporters during a celebration of Europe Day.

Standley added that including services in the agreement is a key objective of the talks and that investment protections could take a while to negotiate because they were only addressed briefly in the 2000 agreement.

Mexico and the EU agreed in 2015 to modernize their trade relations, but the election of U.S. President Donald Trump has underscored the urgency of doing so for Mexico. Trump has threatened to tear up the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, under which Mexico, Canada and the United States form one of the world's biggest trading blocs.

Mexico and the EU want to complete an update of their trade deal this year and have agreed to hold regular talks toward that end, said Standley.

"We have already advanced with, I would say, a fairly intense pace," Standley said.

Annual trade between Mexico and the EU has more than tripled since the agreement was put in place to about $60 billion per year, Standley said. (Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Tom Brown)
The EU delegation led by EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tun Lai Margue, was assisted by the representatives of the other EU member states

The Development Strategy and International Trade Ministry and Board of Investment (BoI) of Sri Lanka conducted a dialogue with the European Union (EU) embassy and embassies of the EU representative countries for the second time.

The EU delegation was led by EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tun Lai Margue, who was assisted by the representatives of the other EU member states.

The countries represented were France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK but also included representatives from Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Denmark, who are posted in New Delhi but accredited to Sri Lanka. Also participating were senior officials of the EU based in New Delhi.

The Sri Lankan side was led by Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, who was assisted by Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry Secretary Chandanie Wijayawardhana, Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka Chairman Upul Jayasuriya, BOI Director General Duminda Ariyasinghe and Export Development Board Chairperson Indira Malwatte.

Furthermore, a number of important Sri Lankan institutions dealing with investors and other economic issues were also present at the meeting. These included among many others, a number of important ministries such as the Foreign and Health Ministries, and vital institutions such as the BOI, Customs and Inland Revenue Department.

Samarawickrama stated that it was very hard to get this concession and that Sri Lanka was very pleased to be able to regain the advantages of GSP+.

He expressed his appreciation to the diplomatic missions present.

The minister also stated that the Sri Lankan government was now implementing a development strategy that was private sector led. He added that the countrys economic development was characterized by a strong commitment to be inclusive with regards to all parts of the island and also to uphold the highest standards of good governance.

Sri Lanka was also seeking to strengthen her free trade agreements (FTAs) within the course of this year.

Samarawickrama spoke of the FTAs with Singapore scheduled to be finalized in June  July 2017 and another with China expected around by the end of the year. Furthermore, Sri Lanka was also strengthening her economic relation with India. This was done with the objective of developing Sri Lanka as an excellent hub for trade between the important economic centres in the region.

When GSP+ is regained, Sri Lankas goods would have access to some of the most important markets in the world.

The minister stated that Sri Lankas objective should be to double her exports, currently valued at US $ 11 billion by 2020. Margue thanked the minister for sharing an insight into the governments future plans. He added that the meeting was very significant because it also included the representatives of the EU accredited to Sri Lanka but based in India from Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary and Greece. He added that Sri Lanka was likely to regain GSP+ within a short time and he was keen to obtain an assurance that the EU enterprises are accorded fair access to the Sri Lankan market.

The focus of the meeting was to look at the issues faced by the EU companies based in Sri Lanka as well as to examine the ways in which the relations could be further enhanced.
The United National Party (UNP) has requested President Maitripala Sirisena not to reshuffle cabinet portfolios assigned to it.

According to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, it is discretionary for the President to consult the Prime Minister in the appointment of Cabinet Ministers and assignment of subjects.

In this scenario the President is unable to reshuffle the Cabinet without consulting the Prime Minister who is from the UNP. Earlier, the President said he would carry out major changes in the government before Vesak.

The Unity Government is made up of members of the UNP led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party UNP led by President Maithripala Sirisena. (Kelum Bandara)
KABUL REUTERS May 7 - The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, has been killed in an operation led by Afghan special forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday. Hasib, appointed last year after his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan died in a U.S. drone strike, is believed to have ordered a series of high profile attacks including one in March on the main military hospital in Kabul by a group of militants disguised as doctors, a statement said.
By Isaac Stanley-Becker, Ellen Nakashima (c) 2017, The Washington Post  May 09, 2017 -

PARIS - It was an 11th-hour surprise that seemed to offer final proof of how closely this weekends critical French election mirrored the high-stakes American contest last fall.



And yet the reaction couldnt have been more different.



A centrist candidate who embraced globalization was facing off against a populist, anti-immigrant firebrand who spoke warmly of Russia. Terrorism was at the forefront of the discussion. Voter distrust ran high.



And then, minutes before the close of campaigning Friday night, the campaign team of Emmanuel Macron -an independent running under the banner of his brand-new En Marche! (Onward!) party- announced that its internal communications had been compromised and scattered across social media.

Intervening in the last hour of the official campaign, this operation is obviously a democratic destabilization, as has already been seen in the United States during the last presidential campaign, Macrons staff said Friday night, minutes before the start of a strict curfew on campaigning, which made further public response off-limits.



The announcement was all too familiar for those who had watched as embarrassing internal communications from Hillary Clintons presidential campaign seeped onto the Internet last summer, much to the delight of her opponent, Donald Trump, who won an upset victory in November. The correspondence, which included discussion of the Democrats private email server and the assessment of her own aides that her instincts could be terrible, became one of the tools Republicans used to disparage Clinton.



In France, few people even knew what was in the Macron teams emails. The blanket ban on campaigning meant that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and her National Front couldnt mention them, though a deputy leader of her party did tweet early Saturday, Will #Macronleaks teach us something that investigative journalism has deliberately killed?



The answer was no. Most media chose to heed a request from the Frances electoral commission not to reproduce the emails contents. Le Monde, the major French daily, said in a statement that it had seen part of the documents but would not publish their details before the election, due to the volume of the dump and because the release had the clear goal of harming the validity of the ballot.



The papers editor, Jerome Fenoglio, said in an interview that the documents would have been leaked earlier if they had contained damaging information. As it was, he said, the best hope was to make noise.



He said the response of the media in France carried lessons for journalists elsewhere, including those in the United States who rushed to reproduce pre-election leaks without thoroughly investigating their origins. Hiding information is not the same thing as refusing to be manipulated by those who diffuse the information, Fenoglio said. Voters, meanwhile, mostly waved away the news, saying their decision came down to more consequential matters. And they backed Macron by a wide margin, 66 to 34 percent, handing him a decisive victory over Le Pen.



The release is not important to me, said Michele Monnery, 74, after casting her vote for Macron in Laon, a small city in the north. What matters to me is stopping Le Pen.



Analysts immediately presumed the intrusion was designed to prop up Le Pen in the final stretch of a bruising campaign that had the power to dictate the future of an integrated Europe. They refrained, initially, from assigning blame for the hack, although experts concluded that its propagation began in the United States with a cluster of Twitter accounts run by members of a far-right movement whose aim is a whites-only state. Now multiple research firms have linked the hacks to those that compromised the Democratic National Committee last year - links suggesting that Russian intelligence services accused of interfering in the American election may have sought to do the same in France. The finding was made last month, after the first round of voting, by Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm that fingered Russian hackers, known variously as Pawn Storm, APT28 and Fancy Bear. Recent analysis by Flashpoint Intel in New York came to the same conclusion, namely that the French hack appears to be linked to the Russian state-sponsored campaign by APT28.



Trend Micro, which has been tracking the Russian cyberthreat for years, briefed U.S., French, British and German government officials on a dramatic escalation of the Russians hacking campaign in the spring of 2015, said Tom Kellermann, who was the firms chief cybersecurity officer until last year.

The Russians had taken the gloves off, he said, including by calling on cybercriminals - or what he called the dons of the cybercriminal community - to act as their Rottweilers.



The campaign was being carried out by hackers working for the GRU, the military spy agency, under numerous monikers. PawnStorm, as Trend Micro calls the group, uses cybercriminals in part to distance its activities from the Russian government.
Former president Chandrika Kumaratunge said today that those at the joint opposition May Day rally were confined to a limited area of some 40% of the Galle Face Green.

She said the JO had published photographs in the media in the pretense of giving the impression that the JO was a powerful political force.

She said if all the people who participated in the SLFP May Day parade at Gatambe in Kandy were contained in one ground, the crowd at the SLFP May Day rally would have been much more than that at the Galle Face Green.

The JO May Day rally was not bigger than the May Day rallies of the SLFP and the UNP. I have the pictures. They did not have a parade. They filled the ground and did not allow the people to move and had tight security right throughout and confined them to the allotted area. They get everyone to take photos and put them in the media with the hope of scaring the people that they are strong, she told a news conference in Colombo.

Ms. Bandaranaike said the organizers of the SLFP May Day rally at the Gatambe did a foolish thing to allow the people who participated in the May Day parade leave without attending the rally.

I do not know who organised the rally. They did not allow some people to come inside the grounds. We had a huge May Day parade. It left at about 1.30 p.m. The tail end of the parade was still coming in at about 6.00 p.m, she said. (Ajith Siriwardana)
 More than 600,000 Range Rover Evoque models have been built at UK plant

 Evoque Landmark Special Edition celebrates six years of compact luxury SUV success

 80% of UK-built Evoque models exported to 130 markets around the world

 Evoque is the most decorated Range Rover, winning more than 200 awards

 Stunning design details, including vibrant Moraine Blue colour, mark the Special Edition model apart

Land Rovers Halewood production plant in the UK has built 600,000 units of the Evoque in just six years, bringing Range Rover luxury and refinement to new customers around the world.

Demand is still increasing for the pioneering luxury compact SUV that delivers critically-acclaimed design, desirability and all-terrain capability to the segment it created in 2011.

Six years after going on sale, sales reached an all-time high for a single month with almost 18,000 units sold in March 2017.

Evoque also has Range Rover's largest trophy cabinet: the model has won more than 200 awards, including Best Compact SUV in Germany, France, Spain and Brazil as recently as 2016.

To celebrate six years of success, Land Rover has announced a new Special Edition model. The Evoque Landmark is available in a vibrant Moraine Blue colour  inspired by the turquoise lakes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains  and will make its global debut at the Royal Windsor Horse Show on 10 May, when orders will open.

The Evoque Landmark Edition is also available in Yulong White and Corris Grey. It has a dynamic body kit and grey exterior design details including a Carpathian Grey contrast panoramic roof, 19-inch Gloss Dark Grey alloy wheels and Graphite Atlas grille, bonnet, fender vent and tailgate lettering. Dark grey accents continue on the interior in the form of brushed satin centre console trim finishers surrounded by grained Ebony leather seats with contrasting Light Lunar stitching and a perforated mid-section.

An Evoque rolls off the Halewood production line every 170 seconds, with Evoque Convertible also being produced in Halewood since 2016. Most are for export to one of 130 markets, with additional manufacturing in China and Brazil to meet local market demand. In fact, 80 per cent of UK-built Evoque models are exported, finding owners across the globe from Monaco to Manila. Jaguar Land Rover is one of the UK's largest exporters and generates around 80 per cent of its revenue from overseas sales.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover, Chief Design Officer, said: What makes Evoque so special is its relevance. The design remains modern and fresh. The Evoque is widely acknowledged to have brought a whole new youthful generation of buyers into the Range Rover brand, including more women. Its success was clear from the start and gave us the confidence to break new ground, which you can see with vehicles like the Evoque Convertible. This Landmark Special Edition is a celebration of six years of success so far.

The Landmark Special Edition comes with Land Rovers latest technology including the optional 10-inch InControl Touch Pro system featuring apps such as Spotify and a 4G Wi-Fi hotspot. The Remote Premium app for a smartphone or smart watch lets owners check the fuel level, lock status, location and even pre-heat or cool the cabin. Those wanting an even more enhanced Evoque infotainment experience can opt for Touch Pro Services, which offer real-time traffic mapping, satellite and street level views and a Live Apps sidebar with weather, news headlines, a flight tracker and more.

This year Land Rover also revealed the Range Rover Velar, the fourth member of the Range Rover family. Sitting between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport in the line-up, Velar combines glamour, modernity and elegance like no other.
National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) President Ramal Jasinghe, Secretary General Shiham and other relevant officials called on Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake to brief him on the activities of the chamber for the current year, and also to discuss other export related issues of relevance in the current context.

The minister was updated regarding the current activities related to the key role played by the NCE to support Sri Lankan exporters, and the overreaching activities of the chamber this year extended to provincial enterprises with export potential, particularly SMEs, with the objective of increasing the number of entrepreneurs and export enterprises to diversify the products and services exported from Sri Lanka.

The officials also brought the Finance Ministers attention to the importance of branding Sri Lanka in the international market place, as in the case of Taiwan and Japan related to Information Technology and hi-tech products.

The active role played by the chamber in the steering committee setup for this purpose by bringing on board the Universities of Sri Jayawardenapura and Kelaniya as well as the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing related to their expertise in the field of marketing was noted.

With regard to export financing, the officials briefed the minister of the active role played by the chamber in promoting the setting up of an EXIM (export and import) bank as proposed in the last budget was noted. The NCE officials requested the minister to fast track the implementation of the proposed bank.

The chamber also conveyed the request of its member companies to continue the (SVAT) Simplified Value Added Tax system until such time the necessary legislation is in place to implement the proposed Revenue Administration and Management Information System (RAMIS), which will enable the conduct of export transactions online.

The minister was also briefed regarding the difficulties faced by member exporters in finding skilled labour and the need to establish a skills development fund to support the activities undertaken by the private sector enterprises in the field of skill development.

With regard to insurance coverage for the floriculture and horticulture sector, the chamber brought to the notice of the minister the lack of insurance cover for structures including green houses and planting material which are affected during adverse weather conditions.

Since some entrepreneurs are moving out of the sector due to the high risk, the chamber requested that arrangements be made to provide suitable insurance cover to mitigate the risk.

Karunanayake was further briefed that the chamber will conduct several forums and discussions with member exporters to identify both macro issues and other operational issues faced by them to develop exports which will be sent to the Ministry of Finance as proposals for consideration to be included in the next national budget.

The NCEs plan to conduct forums during the month of June to discuss bottlenecks related to the implementation of the previous budget proposals specifically related to international trade and exports was briefly discussed and the minister was invited to address the members.
President Maithripala Sirisena ceremoniously inaugurated Tokyo Cements second biomass power plant in Trincomalee recently, as part of a series of events held in commemoration of late Deshamanya A.Y.S. Gnanam, Founder Chairman of the company.

The plant opening was among a series of events held in commemoration of the birth anniversary of renowned late industrialist, Deshamanya A.Y.S. Gnanam, which included the foundation laying ceremony for a housing project for 25 families displaced during the war, distribution of deeds to residents of the Tokyo Cement Tsunami Housing Scheme in Nilaveli, foundation laying for a technical building and the commissioning of the biomass power plant inside the Tokyo Cement factory premises in Cod Bay, China Bay.

Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan and Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya were among the other distinguished guests that were present at the inauguration ceremony. The events were held under the patronage of Tokyo Cement Group Chairman Dr. Harsha Cabral PC, Managing Director S.R. Gnanam and the management and staff of the cement giant.

Late Deshamanya A.Y.S. Gnanam was a pioneering entrepreneur who ventured into many of Sri Lankas firsts, which included the generation of renewable biomass energy. President Sirisenas visit to the Tokyo Cement Factory to inaugurate the companys second biomass power plant with a capacity of 8 MW to power the companys latest manufacturing facility was a salute to his legacy that will continue to live on for generations to come.

The Tokyo Eastern biomass plant commissioned by President Sirisena began construction in 2015 with an investment of over Rs.2.5 billion. The plant will contribute 70 Gwh per year to the national grid generated using industrial and agricultural waste sourced through community trade. In total, the plant will produce 160 thousand MW hours of clean renewable energy per year, which equals to the annual electricity consumption of 100,000 Sri Lankan rural households.

Tokyo Cement Managing Director S.R. Gnanam stated, This contributes towards achieving the national renewable energy target set by His Excellency - that is to generate 10 percent of our countrys energy requirement through all forms of non-conventional renewable energy resources by 2017. With this landmark opening, the company becomes the single largest contributor of renewable energy in the nation, generating 23 MW with the ability to proudly supply 2.5 MW surplus capacity to the national grid, thus making a significant impact in the countrys energy footprint as a single player.

Being the largest manufacturer of cement and concrete in Sri Lanka, Tokyo Cement set an example for other industrial corporates as well by commissioning the first-of-its-kind agricultural waste power plant in Trincomalee in 2008. With the objective of becoming energy independent without burdening the national grid, the company established Sri Lankas first successful large-scale Dendro power plant in 2014 in Mahiyangana, with a capacity of 5 MW and started basing its entire production process on green energy.

Dr. Cabral expressing his views on the commemoration ceremony said, Following in the footsteps of the legacy created by the late Deshamanya A.Y.S. Gnanam, who earned his reputation as a Sri Lankan who cared deeply for his people and the country, the company was among the first to lead the rebuilding efforts after the 2004 tsunami disaster, by donating company-owned land in Nilaveli to provide housing for affected families.

During the mornings proceedings, Dr. Cabral laid the foundation stone for a new housing scheme that will be dedicated to 25 internally displaced families who have returned from India. The new housing project, situated adjoining the tsunami houses, is valued at a cost of over Rs.50 million, includes 10 perches of land for each family in Adampodai, Nilaveli.

These beneficiaries, chosen among hundreds by an evaluation committee comprising of local government authorities and Tokyo Cement officials, were living in refugee camps under dire circumstances for decades and now returning to Sri Lanka as part of the reconciliation process and for the first time will receive a roof above their heads, built upon a plot of land they could call

their own.
Over 2000 years ago a little island in the midst of the Indian Ocean received the title Ratna Dweepa meaning Island of Jewels, in honor of the precious gemstones it produced. Early Arab traders called the island Serendib, while the Persians named it Serendip from which the modern word Serendipity is derived.

The very first records of Sri Lankas Gem & Jewelry trade date back to 543BC, the Mahavamsa mentions that a certain Naga king owned a gem-encrusted throne. The Roman natural philosopher, Pliny the Elder wrote that the ambassadors from Taprobana (as Sri Lanka was known at the time) told tales of the islands magnificent gemstones during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Greek astronomer /geographer, Ptolemy made references to the islands beryl, sapphire and gold in the second century AD. In 1293 Venetian merchant traveller, Marco Polo made note of the abundance of gems, including sapphire, ruby, topaz, amethyst and garnet, found on the island, while 14th century Moroccan scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta wrote of the variety of precious stones hed seen during his visit.

During the rule of the Sinhala kings the mining, possession and commerce of precious stones was under the complete control of the monarch. During the period of European colonization, gem and jewelry commerce expanded further as the Europeans were solely interested in trading and profit. European traders brought more of these goods to the West, further spreading the countrys reputation as a source of gemstones and trade expertise. However, during the 20th century, Sri Lankas standing as a premier gem trade center diminished due to a number of factors: the emergence of other sources, a failure to adapt and master technology such as heat treatment and modern cutting, and government regulations that hindered the rapid growth enjoyed by other countries. In the last two decades, Sri Lanka has overcome these and many other setbacks and now boasts a dynamic, rapidly growing Gem & Jewelry industry. Much of this growth may be credited to the inception and growing popularity of FACETS, Sri Lankas premier gem & jewelry exhibition.

Inspired by an Indian gem dealer and a desire to show the world the very best of Sri Lanka a collective of major entrepreneurs of the industry at the time began plans for the project which in time became known as FACETS. With the support of the then Sri Lanka Gem Traders Association and the Sri Lanka Customs, FACETS was held for the first time in 1991 and became the first International Gem & Jewelry Exhibition in Sri Lanka. The show was held at the Hilton Colombo in September with just 50 stalls. Over the years despite many trials and tribulations caused especially by the civil war, FACETS has continued to grow and increase in popularity, becoming one of the most sought after gem & jewelry exhibitions in the world.

FACETS is currently the flagship activity of the Sri Lanka Gem & Jewelry Association. In 2003, the government of Sri Lanka declared SLGJA as the apex industry body and entrusted the organization with a leadership role to formulate industry-level strategies in order to increase productivity and competitiveness. Since then the Association works closely with the government's National Gem & Jewelry Authority and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board to advocate national policy and provide input for the industry's regulatory framework. Today SLGJA boasts over 450 members who together account for over 75 percent of the country's Gem and Jewelry exports.

The title Ratna Dweepa earned by Sri Lanka all those centuries ago still stands unchallenged to this day.
HARRISBURG  Xerox copiers have been pushed out of offices and line several hallways at the Capitol.

The company has been kicked out of the Pennsylvania House.

Theyre not happy campers because were asking them to exit the building after 20 years, said House Chief Clerk Dave Reddecliff, who signed off on the deal.

The House broke its contract for printers and copiers with Xerox. The company sent a letter to all 203 members alerting them to the $5 million it will cost taxpayers to prematurely sever the deal and asking them to reconsider.

Were eating $5 million, Reddecliff says matter-of-factly.

Reddecliff says he began looking into the Xerox contract about a year ago, shortly after becoming chief clerk. He called the contract confusing and a morass. The House was paying Xerox more than $262,000 per month to lease 430 machines. The five-year deal was worth more than $15.7 million.

Reddecliff enlisted an outside consultant named Matthew Smith, a former Xerox employee, who now works for a New York company called Copy Watch Inc. Smith found the House a deal with Canon at $189,000 a month or $11.3 million over five years, a savings of just over $4 million.

Xerox countered with a lower offer, but Reddecliff says at that point the trust was gone. Hes convinced Xerox had been overcharging the House and giving it more than it needed equipment-wise.

They shouldve come back to us a long time ago and said, folks, based on the data, you dont need certain machines, you dont need these larger machines, heck, you dont need this machine at all over here. They never did that, Reddecliff said.

Canon will give the House $5 million to pay off the penalty for severing the Xerox contract. The House will pay that back to Canon over time.

Xerox, in its letter, protested that there was no Request for Proposal put out for the Canon deal, it wasnt openly bid. Xerox is right. The House, unlike the state itself, does not have to publicly bid its contracts.

What if somebody else is even $20,000 a month cheaper than Canon?

Yeah, we dont know, Reddecliff said.

Youre not required to do RFPs?

Thats right.

But you think it wouldnt be a bad idea, down the line, to require them?

Thats exactly right.

The deal with the consultant, Matthew Smith, allows him to collect 30 percent of the any savings he found. Thats $1.1 million.

So its $5 million to bust the contract and another $1.1 million for a consultant. That might raise eyebrows in Harrisburg.

If somebody wants to beat me up over saving $3.2 million versus saving $4.3 million over the next five years, OK. But Im still saving money, Reddecliff said.

Xerox sees it differently and thinks taxpayers will be forced to pay even more for a bad Canon deal. It questions the lack of transparency or open bidding in the Canon deal and also wonders why the House doesnt have a staffer who couldve unraveled the Xerox contract and saved taxpayer money without spending a million bucks on a consultant.

Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkamp sent an email Monday that read in part: If this was about saving money an open procurement would have shown that our final proposal was $21K a month less than the Canon proposal and would have saved an additional $1.2m over the contract period. It is our belief that the House has accepted a contract with fewer machines for more money than Xerox proposed, less labor and a lower level of service. So this is taking taxpayer money to pay off a $5 million buyout over time? Do the math on how long that means they will be using taxpayer dollars to pay something off that they can never recoup.

Reddecliff says over the next few years he intends to right-size the Houses copying needs both in terms of number of machines and level of machine. That should save money, he said.

His office is taking a closer look at all of the Houses contracts to ensure the problems that arose from the copiers is never duplicated.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post  Simon Denyer  WORLD, ASIA-PACIFIC  May 08, 2017 - 11:55 PM

BEIJING -- The Trump administration has been criticized for downplaying human rights abuses in other countries, but when it comes to U.S. citizens in China, it may have chalked up a couple of unlikely victories.



Late last month, China convicted and then swiftly deported an American businesswoman who had been imprisoned here for two years on spying charges. A U.S.-based human rights group said the release of Phan Phan-Gillis, known as Sandy, came partly thanks to pressure from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the White House.



Now, a dramatic account has emerged of a rescue staged by U.S. diplomats in Thailand in March, snatching the wife of a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer and their two daughters out of the clutches of Chinese security agents and escorting them to safety in the United States. Their youngest daughter, 4 years old, was born in the United States.

There are two reasons that the American government rescued us: The first is that my younger daughter is an American citizen, said Chen Giuqiu. The second is that the U.S. supports human rights and justice, and my husband is a human rights lawyer.



Chens husband, Xie Yang, was arrested during a crackdown on human rights lawyers in July 2015. He severely embarrassed the government by releasing a detailed account of how he was tortured in detention, an account that provoked an international outcry. His trial, on a charge of inciting subversion, began Monday.



Under constant pressure from the authorities, Chen fled with their daughters, 15 and 4, to Thailand in February, only to also land in jail. Chinese officials demanded that she be deported to China - but were thwarted when the American diplomats intervened. The two cases took place in the weeks surrounding President Donald Trumps meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Florida, and around the same time as the release of an Egyptian American aid worker, Aya Hijazi, from three years of captivity in Egypt.



Cleary the administration is putting priority on cases involving U.S. citizens, no question about it, said John Kamm, founder of the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco. The group, which works on freeing detainees, gave Tillerson credit earlier for raising the case of Phan-Gillis during a visit to Beijing in March. Putting Americans first doesnt mean putting other people last, and I hope this effort to help Americans who are in trouble overseas is complemented by concerns for the civil rights and human rights of others, Kamm added.



Questions about the new administrations commitment to human rights emerged after Tillerson failed to attend the launch of the State Departments annual human rights report in early March.

In China, eyebrows were raised when the U.S. Embassy failed to sign a letter from 11 Western countries later that month protesting the alleged torture of human rights lawyers. Ironically, that letter was prompted by what the embassies called credible claims of torture of Xie and four other prominent lawyers.



In an apparent bid to pressure Xie to retract his story, his wife Chen said, Chinese authorities constantly followed and watched her, subjected her to long interrogations and threatened her with dismissal from her job as a university lecturer, eviction from her home and expulsion of her children from school. According to detailed account of the escape reported by the Associated Press, Chen, a Christian, contacted Bob Fu, a Christian rights activist based in Texas, who helped her flee the country, traveling in secret by foot and car for five days until they reached Thailand.



But such is Chinas growing determination to reach beyond its borders in pursuit of dissidents and their families, and so strong is Beijings growing influence in military-ruled Thailand, that their safe house in Bangkok was not safe for long. On March 2, Thai police, accompanied by an interpreter Chen believes worked for the Chinese Embassy, barged into the house, seized her belongings and sent her to jail, the AP reported.



After a court ruled that she had entered the country illegally, Chen said Chinese agents turned up at the jail demanding that she be sent immediately to China with them.



But, the AP reported, American diplomats turned up in the nick of time, spiriting her out the back door of the jail and to the airport. There, a heated argument ensued over several hours, as China put more pressure on Thai officials to send her to their country. She finally arrived in the United States on March 17 and is rebuilding her life in Texas.



But relatives left behind in China have also faced interrogation and threats, and authorities have emptied her bank accounts, she said. On Monday, her husband appeared in court in the city of Changsha in central China. According to the court, he confessed to the charge, denied he had been tortured, and admitted to being brainwashed by Western constitutional thoughts while in Hong Kong and South Korea in order to overthrow Communist Party rule in China.



Chen said her father was detained by police Sunday as he tried to make his way to the trial, while other human rights lawyers were denied entry. Xies former defense lawyer was also detained for several days last week while on vacation with his family, and Chen said she did not know the two lawyers appointed by the government.



She said their former defense lawyer had heard Xie screaming as he was beaten in jail and seen his head swollen and bleeding. Her husband signed a statement on Jan. 3 saying that if he confessed, it was because he could not stand the torture any more, she noted. What kind of coercion he went through to say something that is against his will, nobody knows, she said.
The UNP working committee yesterday decided to appoint three committees to look into the partys future.

These committees will be headed by Mangala Samaraweera, Ajith P Perera and Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

Mr. Samaraweera will head the committee on communications while Ajith P Perera will be in charge of the committee on elections and Aikila Viraj Kariyawasam will be in charge of the committee on grass roots level organization of the party.

The committee headed by Mr. Samaraweera will include Harin Fernando, Harsha De Silva and a few other younger MPs. The committee in charge of decisions pertaining to elections will include Sajith Premadasa, Ravi Karunanayake, Lakshman Kiriella, Vajira Abeywardene and a few others

The working committee has discussed the possibility of starting up a modernized publicity campaign which will be based on social media. It has also been decided to expedite an earlier decision to get advice from foreign experts with regard to effecting reforms within the party.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had thanked party members responsible for bringing in large crowds at the partys May Day Rally and to the procession earlier during the meeting. The discussions on the partys future had followed next.

An intense discussion took place on reforming the party ideologically and structure wise while little was discussed on giving positions to various individuals, Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa told the media after the meeting. He said discussions were based on making the UNP a modernized party and to make use of new technology when it comes to campaigns.

General Secretary Kabir Hashim confirmed the setting up of committees including a committee to look into future elections. (Yohan Perera)
UPFA General Secretary and Minister, Mahinda Amaraweera said today he would nominate former minister Piyasena Gamage to fill the vacancy created by former MP Geetha Kumarasinghe being disqualified.

He said this while responding to a question asked by a journalist at the weekly Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) media briefing.

Minister Chandima Weerakkody said according to the law; a writ had been taken against Geetha Kumarasinghe.

No such appeal had been made to the Supreme Court. As far as I know, no case had been filed at the time of sending the letter of relinquishment to the Elections Commission. Therefore, there is no legal basis to prevent the appointment of Mr. Gamage, he said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)
The government had done all the preparations to make this country a colony of India and it should be stopped, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera said yesterday.

Addressing a media conference in Colombo, the Thera said MP Wimal Weerawansa may be trying to point out the reason, why we should hoist black flags during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiour and when our country becomes a colony of India.

Mr. Weerawansa, at the May Day rally held in Galle Face green, had requested the people to hoist black flags in protest over Modis visit and handing over of Trincomalee port to India.

He had stated that Modis visit to Sri Lanka during the Vesak festival would not be in favour of the country and therefore, requested to hoist black flags.

The Thera said the President should not deceive the people by issuing statements saying the government would not take any steps to sell the countrys assets to foreign companies.

Patriotic forces in the country and even the BBS have a doubt on the reasons to invite the Indian Prime Minister to celebrate Vesak and this should be analyzed in a different perspective, he said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)

VIdeo by Isuru
The successful launch of the South Asian Satellite from Sriharikota onboard the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) on Friday not only reiterated the technological prowess of Indias space agency, but was also a landmark in science diplomacy in the region.

This is the first time a communication satellite built and launched by India will be put to common use of South Asian countries. The Indian space programme is firmly rooted in the utilisation of space technology for peaceful purposes, and the South Asia Satellite symbolises this philosophy.

In fact, international cooperation and peaceful use of space technology (which define space diplomacy) are ingrained in the DNA of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Indian National Committee of Space Research, established by Vikram Sarabhai in 1962, actively promoted international cooperation even before ISRO was born. Between 1962 and 1969, when ISRO was founded, Sarabhai positioned the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) as an international facility for launching sounding rockets.

Scientists from America, the Soviet Union, France, the UK and West Germany used the facility in Kerala to launch experimental sounding rockets. In February 1968, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi formally dedicated TERLS to the United Nations as an international scientific facility open to all members of the UN. An international advisory panel of eminent scientists guided research activities at TERLS.

Photo: Mail Today

Such amalgamation of knowledge and expertise from scientists of leading space agencies of the world helped budding Indian space scientists acquire knowledge and experience. The interaction also resulted in several bilateral programmes in future, including the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), which pioneered satellite television technology globally.

Another high point in science diplomacy came in 1984 when Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian astronaut to travel to space onboard a Soviet space module. The Soviet Union first proposed to India in 1980 that it could launch an Indian astronaut to the Salyut-7 space station as part of its space diplomacy efforts with friendly countries.

The idea was to expand its sphere of influence using its space power. India accepted the offer in August 1981 and joint plans were drawn. Rakesh Sharma joined two other Soviet cosmonauts and was propelled into space on April 3, 1984. The Soviet space diplomacy, however, fizzled after the breakup of USSR, resulting in the Russians reneging on their promise on the cryogenic engine.

Science and space diplomacy have acquired a new colour in the 21st century. Like the Soviets in the 1980s, China is offering friendly countries a seat on its manned space missions. China opened the doors to foreign astronauts 10 years after the Chinese first went to space in 2003. On the other hand, India has offered communication transponders to friendly neighbours.

The contrast in science diplomacy of the two Asian rivals is clear. The goal of Chinese space programme is to establish China as a global space power which is reflected in its thrust on manned missions, while Indian space programme remains focused on using space technology for development. These goals of China and India are reflected in their respective science diplomacy initiatives.
CRPF Command Shifted from Kolkata to Chhattisgarh

Published: May 8, 2017

The strategic anti-Naxal operations command headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been shifted back from Kolkata to Raipur. In 2010, the central zone command headquarters was shifted from Raipur to Kolkata owing to logistics and connectivity issues. The recent decision comes at the backdrop of ambush in Sukma district that killed 37 jawans of the paramilitary force.

The central zone command headquarters was raised on August 7, 2009, to carry out the deployment of troops to the States affected by Left Wing Extremism such as West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

CRPF

CRPF is the largest central armed police force or paramilitary force in India. It functions under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It was established in 1939, under Crown Representatives Police but after independence, it was made statutory after enactment of the CRPF Act, 1949. Its primary role is to assist States/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain the insurgency. Apart from anti-Naxal operations, CRPF personnel also carries out several operations in situations of crisis like terrorist attacks, counter-terrorism operations, rescuing citizens during terrorist attacks among others.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017

Category: Defence Current Affairs

Topics: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)  Chattisgarh  Chhattisgarh  internal security  National  Odisha

Latest E-Books
India- Indonesia Co-Ordinated Patrol Commences

Published: May 9, 2017

The 29th IndiaIndonesia CORPAT has commenced at Port Blair under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command. The bilateral exercise is scheduled to be held from 9th to 25th May. The Indonesian Naval Ship KRI Sutedi Senoputra has arrived to take part in the 29th series of INDINDO CORPAT. An Indonesian Maritime Patrol Aircraft has also arrived with the Indonesian Naval delegation.

Defence relations between India and Indonesia are growing steadily with regular joint activities and interactions between the Armed Forces of the two countries.

The bilateral exercise aims to enhance mutual understanding and interoperability between the two navies. It also reflects the shared concerns between the two navies for a peaceful Indian Ocean for the benefit of international community.

CORPAT

CORPAT is a bilateral maritime exercise held between India and Indonesia under thebroad ambit of strategic partnership. Both countries have been carrying out maritime exercise twice a year since 2002. The CORPAT exercise between the two navies carries search and rescue operations, institutes measures for vessels indulged in unlawful activities as well as control pollution. The main aim of CORPAT is to keep the vital part of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) safe and secure for commercial shipping, International trade and legitimate marine activities. The CORPAT has helped to strengthened understanding and interoperability between the two navies and also has promoted net maritime security in the region.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017

Category: Defence Current Affairs

Topics: India Bilateral  India-Indonesia  India-International Relations  International

Latest E-Books
SC holds Vijay Mallya Guilty of Contempt of Court

Published: May 9, 2017

The Supreme Court has held UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring 40 million dollars to his children in violation of the courts order. The Supreme Court has ordered Vijay Mallya who is in the United Kingdom to appear before on the 10th of July to argue on the quantum of punishment. On July 10, the apex court will decide on the quantum of punishment to be awarded to Vijay Mallya.

Contempt petition against Mallya was moved by a consortium of banks in July 2016 accusing Mallya for transferring 40 million dollars which he had received from British firm Diageo to his children in violation to various judicial pronouncements.

Background

The State Bank of India led consortium of banks is seeking to recover more than Rs9,000 crore from Vijay Mallya. The banks accuse Mallya for wilfully disobeying the orders of the Supreme Court by making vague and unclear disclosure of his assets.

The Supreme Court had directed Vijay Mallya twice in 2016 to disclose his assets including those held by his family. However, Mallya fled to London in March 2016 even before banks moved the apex court. India has initiated extradition proceedings against him.



Contempt of court is an offence punishable with a simple imprisonment for a term of maximum six months or a fine of up to Rs 2000 or both.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017

Topics: National  Supreme court

Latest E-Books
Supreme Court Sentences Justice Karnan to 6 Months Imprisonment

Published: May 9, 2017

A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar has sentenced the Calcutta High Court judge, Justice C S Karnan to six months of imprisonment for repeated incidents of contempt of court. This is the first time that the Supreme Court has sent a high court judge to jail on charges of contempt. Further, the bench also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph has prohibited media, both print and electronic from publishing any further orders if any passed by Justice Karnan.

Background

The Supreme Court bench headed by chief justice of India J.S. Khehar in February issued a contempt notice to Justice C S Karnan who had accused several judges of corruption, nepotism and casteism. On 1 March, the Supreme Court had ordered the Calcutta government hospital to constitute a medical board to examine the medical condition of Justice Karnan and submit a report to the court. However, Justice Karnan refused to undergo medical tests in compliance with courts orders. Instead, he sentenced eight judges of the Supreme Court to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs1,00,000 each under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and the amended Act of 2015.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017

Topics: National  Supreme court

Latest E-Books
The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Better Financial Services GmbH, Better Payment Germany GmbH, Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., Chapel Funding, China Recovery Fund LLC, Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Cartera de lnmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Impact Investment Fund I. LP., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Limited, DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Jersey) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios lnteractivos Agrupacicm de lnteres Econemico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB Print GmbH, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services (Jersey) Limited, DB Services Americas. Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB US Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a. r.l., DB Value S.a.r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita SA., DB lmmobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG i.L., DB lo LP, DBAH Capital. LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management 18 Ltd., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a. r.l., DBX Advisers LLC, DEBEKO lmmobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK AS., DI Deutsche lmmobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Shanghai Private Equity Fund Management Limited, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anenima lnstitucien Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico. S.A., Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank Polska Spelka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Societe per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche Bank. Sociedad Anenima Espanola, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur lmmobilien-Leasing mit beschrenkter Haftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.El r.l., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche India Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a. r.|., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities SA. de C.V.. Casla de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Services (Cl) Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. SA., Deutsche lmmobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsches lnstitut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a. r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.l., Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, European Value Added I (Alternate GP.) LLP, Fiduciaria Sant Andrea S.r.l., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., German American Capital Corporation, Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer LandstraBe GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Miesbaden LuisenstraBe/Kirchgasse GbR, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF l Manager S.a.r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul lnkasso GmbH, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo lll Initial GP Limited, MEF I Manager. S. a r.|., MIT Holdings Inc., Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgagelT Inc., MortgagelT Securities Corp., OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentIe", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, PADUS Grundstcks-VermietungsgeseIlschaft mbH, PB Factoring GmbH, PB Spezial-lnvestmentaktiengesellschatt mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Plantation Bay. Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank lmmobilien GmbH, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, RREEF, RREEF America LLC., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisers Private Limited, RREEF Management LLC., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables. LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermielungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sharps SP l LLC, Stelvio lmmobiliare S.r.l., Suddeutsche Vermeigensvewvaitung Gesellschaft mit beschrenkter Haftung, TELO Beleiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Umited, VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., lmmobilienfonds BuroCenter Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, lmmobilienfonds Wohn- und Gescheftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, and norisbank GmbH.

Read More
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.
The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., PepsiCo Management Services SAS, PepsiCo Manufacturing A.I.E., PepsiCo Max B.V., PepsiCo Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo Nederland B.V., PepsiCo Nordic Denmark ApS, PepsiCo Nordic Finland Oy, PepsiCo Nordic Norway AS, PepsiCo Nutrition Trading DMCC, PepsiCo One B.V., PepsiCo Overseas Corporation, PepsiCo Overseas Financing Partnership, PepsiCo Panimex Inc, PepsiCo Products B.V., PepsiCo Products FLLC, PepsiCo Puerto Rico Inc., PepsiCo Sales Inc., PepsiCo Sales LLC, PepsiCo Services Asia Ltd., PepsiCo Services CZ s.r.o., PepsiCo Services LLC, PepsiCo Twist B.V., PepsiCo UK Pension Plan Trustee Limited, PepsiCo Ventures B.V., PepsiCo Wave Holdings LLC, PepsiCo World Trading Company Inc., PepsiCo Y LLC, PepsiCo de Argentina S.R.L., PepsiCo de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda., PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCola Interamericana de Guatemala S.A., Pet Iberia S.L., Pete & Johnny Limited, Pine International LLC, Pine International Limited, Pinstripe Leasing LLC, Pioneer Food Group Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Groceries Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Group Ltd., Pioneer Foods Holdings Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods UK Ltd, Pioneer Foods Wellingtons Pty Ltd, Pipers Crisps Limited, PlayCo Inc., Pop corners, PopCorners Holdings Inc., Portfolio Concentrate Solutions Unlimited Company, Premier Nutrition Trading L.L.C., Prestwick LLC, Prev PepsiCo Sociedade Previdenciaria, Productos Alimenticios Rene LLC, Productos S.A.S. C.V., Productos SAS Management B.V., Punch N.V., Punica Getranke GmbH, Q O Puerto Rico Inc., QFL OHQ Sdn. Bhd., QTG Development Inc., QTG Services Inc., Quadrant - Amroq Beverages S.R.L., Quaker Development B.V., Quaker European Beverages LLC, Quaker European Investments B.V., Quaker Foods, Quaker Global Investments B.V., Quaker Holdings UK Limited, Quaker Manufacturing LLC, Quaker Oats Asia Inc., Quaker Oats Australia Pty Ltd, Quaker Oats B.V., Quaker Oats Capital Corporation, Quaker Oats Europe Inc., Quaker Oats Europe LLC, Quaker Oats Limited, Quaker Sales & Distribution Inc, Raptas Finance S.a r.l., Rare Fare Foods LLC, Rare Fare Holdings Inc., Reading Industries Ltd, Real Estate Holdings LLC, Rockstar Energy Drink, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP, S & T of Mississippi Inc., SIH International LLC, SVC Logistics Inc., SVC Manufacturing Inc., SVE Russia Holdings GmbH, Sabritas LLC, Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Sabritas Snacks America Latina de Nicaragua y Cia Ltda, Sabritas de Costa Rica S. de R.L., Sabritas y Cia. S en C de C.V., Sakata Rice Snacks Australia Pty Ltd, Sandora Holdings B.V., Saudi Snack Foods Company Limited, Sea Eagle International SRL, Seepoint Holdings Ltd., Senselet Food Processing PLC, Senselet Holding B.V., Servicios GBF Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Servicios GFLG y Compania Limitada, Servicios Gamesa Puerto Rico L.L.C., Servicios SYC S. de R.L. de C.V., Seven-Up Asia Inc., Seven-Up Light B.V., Seven-Up Nederland B.V., Shanghai PepsiCo Snack Company Limited, Shanghai YuHo Agricultural Development Co. Ltd, Shoebill LLC, Simba (Proprietary) Limited, Simba Proprietary Limited, Sitka Spruce, Smartfoods Inc., Smiles and Bites Holdings S.de R.L. de C.V., Smiths Crisps Limited, Snack Food Investments GmbH, Snack Food Investments II GmbH, Snack Food Investments Limited, Snack Food-Beverage Asia Products Limited, Snacks America Latina S.R.L., Snacks Guatemala Ltd., So Spark Ltd., Soda-Club CO2 Atlantic GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 Ltd., Soda-Club Switzerland GmbH, Soda-Club Worldwide B.V., SodaStream, SodaStream Australia Pty Ltd, SodaStream CO2 SA, SodaStream Canada Ltd., SodaStream Enterprises N.V., SodaStream France SAS, SodaStream GmbH, SodaStream Iberia S.L., SodaStream Industries Ltd., SodaStream International B.V., SodaStream International Ltd., SodaStream Israel Ltd., SodaStream K.K., SodaStream New Zealand Ltd., SodaStream Nordics AB, SodaStream Poland Sp. z o.o., SodaStream SA Pty Ltd., SodaStream Switzerland GmbH, SodaStream USA Inc., SodaStream Osterreich GmbH, South Beach Beverage Company Inc., South Properties Inc., Spitz International Inc., Sportmex Internacional S.A. de C.V., Springboig Industries Ltd, Spruce Limited, Stacy's Pita Chip Company Incorporated, Star Foods E.M. S.R.L., Stokely-Van Camp Inc., Stratosphere Communications Pty Ltd, Stratosphere Holdings 2018 Limited, Streamfoods Ltd, TFL Holdings LLC, Tasman Finance S.a r.l, The Gatorade Company, The Good Carb Food Company Ltd., The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada ULC, The Quaker Oats Company, The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited, Thomond Group Holdings Limited, Tobago Snack Holdings LLC, Tropicana Alvalle S.L., Tropicana Beverages Limited, Tropicana Europe N.V., Tropicana United Kingdom Limited, Troya-Ultra LLC, United Foods Companies Restaurantes S.A., V-Water, VentureCo Israel Ltd, Veurne Snack Foods BV, Vitamin Brands Ltd., Walkers Crisps Limited, Walkers Group Limited, Walkers Snack Foods Limited, Walkers Snacks Distribution Limited, Walkers Snacks Limited, Whitman Corporation, Whitman Insurance Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Beverages JSC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Brands Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Central Asia-Almaty LLP, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods LLC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann JSC, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Ukraine PJSC.

Read More
125 Years of Progress takes you inside The Daily Progress' archives every day in celebration of our 125 years serving Charlottesville and the rest of Central Virginia. Sponsored by Hanckel-Citizens Insurance Charlottesville

Charlottesville awoke with a guarded sigh of relief on this day in 1970, following a tense night of protests between University of Virginia students and local and state law enforcement. The shooting of four Kent State University students by National Guardsmen a week earlier sparked a rash of protests on more than 200 college and university campuses nationwide. The University of Virginia was no exception.

The local protest of President Richard Nixons decision to use U.S. combat forces in Cambodia began quietly with a boycott of classes for two days, but over the next few days, tensions between student protesters and UVa officials grew over a list of nine demands upon the university that included the complete removal of the ROTC program and the termination of all research sponsored by or related to the Department of Defense.

An occupation of the Navy ROTC building and Maury Hall brought limited vandalism from broken windows to small fires. On the evening of May 7, Jerry Rubin, leader of the Yippie movement ad member of the infamous Chicago Seven, and his attorney and civil rights activist William Kunstler, spoke to a crowd of nearly 8,000 at UHall. Kunstler stirred the already agitated crowd, telling them Power to the people only means something if you seize power when you can.

Tensions continued to grow until they erupted on the evening of May 8 when 300 students were confronted by 189 law enforcement officers in full riot gear at the intersection of Emmet Street and Ivy Road.

Masses of police swarmed over the University of Virginia Grounds in the wee hours this morning in a riot control raid that swept up students who couldnt find sanctuary in hiding places or unlocked rooms. In all, police rounded up what authorities estimated at 67 persons. In their round-up police swept the length of the lawn several times entering student rooms under the colonnades and entering at least three fraternity houses to arrest students inside.

In the days that followed, tensions relaxed due to the efforts of UVa President Edgar F. Shannon Jr. and student leaders. During a rally on the lawn the following day, Shannon told the crowd of more than 4,000 This week has brought us to the brink of disaster..but we are still intact as a University.
Country

Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
LYNCHBURG  A Roanoke man was arrested Monday and charged with reckless driving after an Amherst County deputy clocked him at going 128 mph in a 70 mph zone.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., a deputy operating radar on the U.S. 29 Bypass near Virginia 210 in Madison Heights encountered a silver two-door car traveling at an extremely high rate of speed, according to a news release from the Amherst County Sheriffs Office.

Jonathan P. Hale, 19, was taken into custody and later released on his own recognizance after he was charged, the release said.

The sheriffs office said May marks the beginning of increased traffic enforcement efforts throughout Amherst County and the commonwealth for summer months.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Comrade Corbyn has told Soviet Labour activists they have four weeks to win the chance to take our wealth back as he made an unashamedly Marxist pitch to be supreme commander of the Peoples British Soviet Democratic Republic.

Launching the partys General Election Soviet manifesto in Manchester, Comrade Corbyn said Labour will ruin the country as he launched an all-out attack on the wealthiest in society.

Comrades, I was sitting in my dacha last week and thought to myself, this is it, this is the only chance we have to let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!

The thunderous words coming from the Comrade brought cheers from party officials as they shouted Hail! Comrade Corbyn! Supreme Soviet Marxist! and Three cheers for the Supreme Comrade Corbyn. Death to the bourgeoisie!.

Corbyn then continued his speech with great vitriol: From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. For the many, not the few. The rich will do anything for the poor but get off their backs. We will abolish all private property. We will nationalise all business. We will stop threatening our friends in Russia and China by disarming ourselves of all nuclear deterrents. Soviet Britain shall be a communist utopia where every one will have equal wealth, equal healthcare, and equal opportunities in living a live of extreme poverty. After I am in power, I will also abolish all elections, as I as the supreme Soviet am good enough for you for the next 50 years.

Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the labourer, unless under compulsion from society. You are horrified at our intending to do away with private property. But in your existing society private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population; its existence for the few is solely due to its non-existence in the hands of those nine-tenths. You reproach us, therefore, with intending to do away with a form of property, the necessary condition for whose existence is the non-existence of any property for the immense majority of society.

In one word, you reproach us with intending to do away with your property. Precisely so: that is just what we intend.

Rapturous applause and hoots of joy erupt from the assembled crowd.

It seems the revolution has only just begun
Senior Spotlight on Claire Koile of Elkhorn brought to you by United Republic Bank Free Access To read the Senior Spotlight Claire Koile of Elkhorn brought to you by United Republic Bank click the PDF link below. dc_split_014.pdf

Antlers rally past Wolves 10-9 ELKHORN  The seventh-ranked Elkhorn Antler softball team capped its regular season with a heart-stopping 10-9 home win over Elkhorn North on Sept. 29. The two teams combined for 19...

Antlers use big plays to pull away from Wolves ELKHORN  The fourth-ranked Elkhorn Antlers were able to outlast rival Elkhorn North in a wild shootout held at Elkhorn High School on Friday night. The two teams combined for...

Top-ranked Badgers roll to a 45-7 victory BLAIR  The top-ranked Bennington football team stretched its win streak to 19-straight games with a dominating 45-7 road win on Friday night over conference foe Blair. Junior punt returner...

South duo hand Wolves first loss ELKHORN  The Elkhorn South tennis team was defeated by the top-ranked team in Class B, the Elkhorn North Wolves on a breezy and mild Friday afternoon. The highlight of...
From October this year, all new models will have to meet offset and side crash test norms.

New Delhi: Indian auto sector is expected to invest around Rs 1 lakh crore for upgrading products to meet various upcoming regulations related to emissions, safety and fuel efficiency, according to industry body SIAM.

From October this year, all new models will have to meet offset and side crash test norms, which will become mandatory for all models by 2019. By 2018 new models will have to meet pedestrian safety norms while all models will have to meet the criteria by 2020.

The most important change will be the Bharat Stage VI emission norms that will kick in from April 2020. The first phase of fuel efficiency norms has started already from this year and the second phase will commence in 2022.

"The figures which we are getting from member companies is almost Rs 1 lakh crore," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Executive Director (Technical) K K Gandhi told reporters here.

The investment as a whole would go into developing new platforms, emission norms, safety upgrades and fuel efficiency norms, he added.

"Already investments have started as nobody wants to come up with a new BS IV platform, which cannot be upgraded to BS VI," he added.

The industry will have to develop a whole package meeting safety, emissions and fuel emission regulations, Gandhi said. Besides, various components like advanced after treatment systems which need to be installed in BS VI vehicles will have to be imported initially, he said, adding such devices would require to be developed for Indian driving conditions.

Currently, there are just 2-3 technology providers which have capabilities to install such devices, Gandhi said.

"It is not easy to develop such applications for the Indian driving conditions. The devices need modification which takes a lot of time and effort," SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen said. Moreover, for sub-1 tonne commercial vehicles development has to start from the scratch because such vehicles are not plied anywhere across the world, Gandhi said.

"No technology is available for such kind of vehicles everything will have to be developed from scratch. So the cost of development is going to be very high as compared to switch from BS III to BS IV where figure was only around Rs 30,000 crore," he added.
New Delhi: Power Minister Piyush Goyal will this week formally announce 100 million pounds investment to be made by state-run Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) in the UK.

"On May 13, 2017, Piyush Goyal will launch and extend the EESL's affordable lighting scheme UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All) to consumers in UK. The Minister will also formally announce the EESL s investment of 100 million pounds in the UK over the next 3 years," Power Ministry statement said.

He will be visiting Austria and the United Kingdom from May 10-13 for an Energy Dialogue with both the countries. The EESL investment is being made to create space in the 6.4 billion pounds energy efficiency services market and to implement low-carbon, energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions in both public and private sectors.

The company has already begun its operation in the UK by acquisition, worth 6.8 million pound, of two operating companies running energy savings performance agreements in education and leisure sectors.

The acquisition is effected by EPAL, a JV of EESL and EnergyPro Limited, an advisory company specialising in Energy Efficiency. Goyal will unveil EPALs branding during the event. The EESL will also formalise its collaboration with Cenergist to strengthen its LED pipeline.

EESL will sign three MoUs with High Commission of India at London, Cenergist and Calvin Capital respectively. Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding with British Electrotechnical & Allied Manufacturers Association (BEAMA).

Goyal will participate in Investors Meet organised by industry body Ficci and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) tomorrow. Further, the Minister will deliver key note address at Vienna Energy Forum 2017 on Thursday, after which he will be have dialogue with Director General of UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to explore prospects of better business opportunities in the energy sector.

Goyal will also participate in a Ministerial Panel Discussion on 2030 Development Agenda for Energy, focusing on the SDG7: Energy Access, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He will also talk about International Solar Alliance and RE Invest on the occasion.

Besides, he will participate in the UK-India Business Roundtable on Energy organised by Ficci and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in London on May 12. The Minister will also witness the listing of NTPC s bonds at London Stock Exchange on the same day.

NTPC is a fairly regular issuer of Offshore medium-term notes (MTN). The current issuance is the second Masala Bonds offering by NTPC within a 12 months period.

The first Masala Bonds issuance in August 2016 was for Rs 2,000 crore (USD 300 million) as is the current one (USD 310 million). Both the Masala Bonds are of 5 years tenor.

The latest Masala Bonds 2017, carry a coupon of 7.25 per cent payable annually with reoffer yield of 7.28 per cent (tightest yet by any Indian Issuer). The NTPC Masala Bonds would be the 1st MTN and 1st Masala Bonds to list on the new International Securities Market (ISM) The Minister will be accompanied by senior officers of the Ministry of Power on the 4-day tour.
Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Tuesday started contempt of court proceedings against embattled businessman Vijay Mallya who has been accused of turning into a defaulter of Rs 9,000 crore loans including interest payments.

This is the first time that some provisions of Contempt Of Court proceedings are being slapped on liquor baron who is facing an extradition from the UK where he is fighting a legal battle against it.

The apex court has asked him to appear before the bench on July 10 to pronounce in his present the quantum of punishment. The SC ruling comes in reply to a petition filed by a group of banks led by State Bank of India.

The group of banks had told the top court that Mallya in violation of different court rulings transferred $40 million to his children. Mallya had got $75 million from British company Diageo in form of a severance package for quitting chair of United Spirits. Part of which he transferred to accounts in his children's name.

Wilful Defaulter

Vijay Mallya had taken loans to start now defunct Kingfisher Airlines that ran into trouble after a few years of operations. A group of 17 banks led by SBI claim that Mallya failed to return the loan amount and the interest despite several attempts made by lenders.

Banks claim Mallya owes to them some Rs 9,000 crore money that includes interest payment as well. These lenders started talks through various means and channels and the banks failed to elicit wanted results through talks.

After these failed attempts Mallya was declared by banks as a wilful defaulter. banks declare a customer a wilful defaulter who has the capacity of repayment of loans but despite that withholds payments.

Proclaimed Offender

Apart from a court inquiry, Mallya has been probed by India's anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate that works under the stewardship of department of revenue of Finance Ministry.

As ED was probing Mallya under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, it issued several warrants against him. Mallya who has been living in a self-imposed exile in the UK did not turn up in PMLA court on several occasion, hence flouted court warrants. As a consequence Mallya was declared a proclaimed offender by a special PMLA court in Mumbai.
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Monday allowed 11 more transactions under National Electronic Funds Transfer scheme. NEFT allows a bank customer to make an online transfer of money either to home bank or non-bank branch.

Real Time Gross Settlement or RTGS is another mode of making an online money transfer that completes the procedure on real time basis.

At present, RBI has allowed banks to conduct NEFT funds transfers in batches from 8 am to 7 pm. Up till now, banks were allowed to make 12 NEFT transactions in a cut-off day. The limit has now been raised to 23 which will facilitate online transfer of money.

Here are a few things that you should know what additional NEFT batches mean for bank customers.

1) After addition of 11 more NEFT transfers, total number of such transfers in a cut-off day between 8 am to 7 pm has gone up to 23.

2) According to NDTV, there will be no change in timings for making an NEFT payment. The overall NEFT timings - between 8.00 am and 7.00 pm - will remain the same as earlier, the report said.

3) If the beneficiary bank does not receive money, the amount will be returned to the sender bank within two hours of completion of batch. And once the sender bank receives money it transfers it to the account of sender.

4) Now that the central bank has allowed more number of NEFT transfers, the time taken to complete these transactions will come down substantially. "This will improve the efficiency and add to customer convenience," the RBI said.

5) For making a transaction through internet banking facility, NEFT charges are lower as against transaction carried out at bank branches that cost more.
The plan should eat into the countrys jet fuel exports, which rose to a record of 7,41,000 tonnes in March, according to preliminary government data.

Singapore/New Delhi: Indias record jet fuel exports may fall this year as an expanding middle class and cheaper air travel boost local consumption, refinery executives and analysts told Reuters, potentially raising ailing profit margins for the fuel.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month launched the first flight under the Regional Connectivity Scheme that is designed to spur air travel between smaller Indian cities that are currently under-served and to make flying more affordable. The government will cap fares under the scheme and offer airlines incentives to fly less traversed routes.

The plan should eat into the countrys jet fuel exports, which rose to a record of 7,41,000 tonnes in March, according to preliminary government data. The expected decline in exports could help raise jet fuel margins, which plunged to a nine-month low earlier this month, said three middle distillate traders.

Indias efforts to connect regional routes and the expansion of aircraft fleets will continue to boost local demand for jet fuel, said Sri Paravaikkarasu, head of East of Suez Oil at energy consultants FGE.

Indias jet fuel demand is expected to rise by 11 per cent in 2017 after rising last year by 13 per cent, or about 15,700 barrels per day (bpd), she said.

In the domestic market, we are expecting double digit growth in jet fuel because of regional connectivity and enhanced air travel, said Indian Oil Corp chairman B. Ashok last week.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India is the worlds fastest growing aviation market, with passenger numbers rising by more than 20 per cent a year. IATA expects India to displace UK as the third-largest market in the world in 2025, with passenger numbers more than doubling to 278 million a year from more than 95 million today.

Enticed by the growing size of Indias aviation market, BP last year obtained a licence to sell jet fuel in the South Asian nation.

The firm local demand, coupled with weaker profit margins for refining jet fuel compared with gas oil, could slow jet fuel exports this year, said L.K. Gupta, MD, Essar Oil.

Refiners typically adjust the yield of middle distillates, which include jet fuel, kerosene, gas oil and diesel, according to the margins. Last year, India's jet fuel exports were high due to better margins compared to gas oil, Mr Gupta said.
Mumbai: Akshay Kumar recently met the nations Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his upcoming film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

The moment Narendra Modi heard the films title; he couldnt stop himself from smiling, which made Akshay beam with happiness.

In fact, we are keen to know what discussion did Akshay have with the PM.

Akshays film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, with Bhumi Pednekar, is based on the importance of sanitation and the need to have a toilet in every household to curb the increasing health issues among children and women who are prone to the harmful surroundings due to open defecation.

Talking about Narendra Modi as the PM of India, Akshay had told a daily, With my hand on my heart, I believe 100 percent that we are not only in safe hands, but being led by a man with a conscience as well as a necessary fighting spirit.

Looks like Akshay is an ardent follower of Narendra Modi.

Recently, the PM shared a message about giving water to street animals and birds during his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme, after which, followed a video by Akshay, teaching his daughter the importance of giving water to animals and birds in this scorching summer.

The actor, who was earlier stereotyped for being an action and comic hero, has finally been able to break that barrier and has created a new image for himself.

The 'Khiladi' is now a true patriotic hero.
Mumbai: Shooting a film can be challenging in a country like India, where red tapes from the government are unavoidable.

However, the railway board had stopped giving permission for film shoots on railway tracks. But, it seems, for the film Shadi Mein Zaroor Aana, the members of Lucknow railway station head gave them a special permission to shoot the films scene on the railway track.

The film, stars Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Kharbanda in the lead roles.

According to sources, "This definitely would have been a task. To ensure that you get a special permission for a film shoot on railway tracks would have not been easy. But the team of SMZA managed to get a green signal from the authority of railway board. Theres no doubt that the way makers shot Lucknow beautifully in their Tanu Weds Manu. The makers love going back to the state since they feel it lends a very real and honest vibe to the characters and prefers shooting on real locations, the railway station and bazaars of the place capturing the essence of real India."

Vinod Bachchan, producer of the film, added, "The scene for which we sought special permission from the railway authorities in Lucknow is a crucial part of the film. I'm grateful to the concerned authorities for granting us permission to shoot the scene and it went off well without any obstacles."
Mumbai: Heartthrob of Bollywood, Ranbir Kapoor, was recently spotted at Mumbai airport with his mother Neetu Singh when the two left for an alleged hush-hush meeting in London.

While no one knew as to why the mother-son duo headed to London together, Ranbirs flown back already. A source tells us, The London visit could very well be for a meet and greet with a well known family in London for the actors marriage. Though nothing is confirmed as of now, but time will tell

Well, honestly, to imagine a flamboyant personality like Ranbir to opt for arranged marriage is a little hard to digest. But again, even Shahid Kapoor has magically transformed to a hardcore family man after his parents chose Mira Rajput to be his companion for life.

Is the most eligible bachelor of Bollywood going the old school way? Only time will tell.
Mumbai: After significant amount of delay, the much anticipated Jagga Jasoos is finally gearing up for release on 14 July, with the leads and ex-lovers Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif shooting for their final portions in the last few days.

Despite several reports of Ranbir and Katrina finding it awkward to shoot with each other post break-up, it seems that the two actors are just going with the flow and shooting together so that the film sees the light of the day.

Several pictures of the two in the same frame were shared recently, one where they posed for a selfie with their co-star Sayani Gupta and another where they were seen holding hands, in a still from the film, both giving fans of the couple hopes of their reconciliation.

The couple were spotted together again, this time to celebrate the birthday of their director Anurag Basu.

In a video that made its way to social media, we see Ranbir and Katrina singing the Happy Birthday song for Anurag and applying some cake on his face during the celebrations.

While the two did come together, they did not interact with each other and seemed awkward in each others company.

Watch the video here:

Much of this awkwardness might also be visible when the couple comes together again, during the promotions of the film.
She recently recorded a song for Sallus protege, Himesh Reshammiya, and now will be seen in a full-fledged role opposite the actor in the third instalment of the Dabangg franchise.

Whether or not theyll marry isnt a question that begs an answer any longer. Salman Khans Romanian friend, Iulia Vantur is now an integral part of the superstars family, and according to a close friend of the khandaan, she visits them quite frequently.

More importantly, Iulias halting Bollywood career seems to have been taken over by Salman now. She recently recorded a song for Sallus protege, Himesh Reshammiya, and now will be seen in a full-fledged role opposite the actor in the third instalment of the Dabangg franchise.

Says a source close to the development, Salmans brother, Arbaaz, who will be directing Dabangg 3, has an interesting role for Iulia. But she wont be replacing Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi will continue to remain a part of the Dabangg brand.
Mumbai: Justin Biebers has to be the most anticipated gig by an international artist in India, in recent memory, trumping the hype that had been generated by Coldplays arrival.

The mayhem and hullabaloo thats expected to ensue in a starstruck Mumbai is unprecedented and the city is expected to come to a traffic standstill, before the popstar takes to the stage.

However, surprisingly enough, another form of traffic cluster-mess is equally anticipated.

While Bieber will be arriving at the Mahalaxmi race course in a chartered helicopter, a major chunk of Mumbais elite are vying for the aerial route themselves.

According to a report by NDTV, the Mahalaxmi Racecourse has seen an aggravated demand for chopper bookings, with the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) helipad in the club's second enclosure becoming a major take off point for the citys creme de la creme, to reach Navi Mumbais DY Patil stadium, where the youngster will be performing.

"We are getting so many inquiries. I have reason to believe that most are for the Justin Bieber concert. We will have more bookings, I am quite certain. As it is, we see 10 landings/take-offs in a day on an average; tomorrow, the number may rise," NDTV quoted Helicopter landing officer at Mahalaxmi Racecourse D Singh as saying.

Well, thats quite the number, we must say.

But, Mumbai is all set to be enslaved by Biebermania, and so are we!
Doctors analyse the risk of developing cardiac disease based on age, sex, BMI, cholesterol levels and chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, kidney diseases, etc. before placing patients on statins.

Visakhapatnam: In recent times, cholesterol-lowering statins have been the subject of intense scrutiny and controversy with several studies coming out with contrary findings regarding their efficacy and safety.

A recent study found that statins can stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure. But cardiologists and doctors from other specialities recommend taking claims of these resear-chers with a grain of salt. They say that countless large-scale trials in the past achieved a significant reduction of bad cholesterol in patients, decreasing their vulnerability to develop heart disease and stroke. They say side effects manifest in those patients on a very high dose of statins (but doses used in India are pretty low).

However, they agree that statins dont play a key role in primary prevention of cardiac conditions even though they work well in cardiac patients and people with other co-morbid conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

Although the body needs cholesterol, too much can lead to plaque buildup on the walls of the arteries.

Apart from stabilising plaque in arteries and preventing them from rupturing, statins inhibit a particular enzyme in the liver and control cholesterol production. Over time, this is expected to decrease cardiovascular disease risk.

Dr D.M.R. Jagan-nadha Raju, an interventional cardiologist from Varma Heart Care Centre, said only a fraction of patients taking higher doses of statins may experience some side effects.

The raging debate over the cholesterol hypothesis and statins starts from the Western countries, where patients are placed on a relatively higher dose of statins compared to India. In my opinion, statins hold no role in primary cardiac prevention in patients with borderline elevated cholesterol levels. However, they play a role in cardiac care management in cardiac patients as well as patients with family history of cardiac disease or highly elevated levels of cholesterol, said Dr Raju.

Dr K.P. Hema Malini, assistant professor at Department of Cardiology, King George Hospital/Andhra Medical College, said there was no firm evidence in the ongoing studies against the usage of statins.

Several studies came out with variable conclusions which cannot be believed. Statins are typically very well tolerated. The benefits of statins are manifold in reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes, said Dr Hema Malini.

Dr D.K. Baruah, an eminent interventional cardiologist at the Apollo Hospitals in Visakhapatnam, explain ed saying, The role of statins in lowering the cholesterol cannot be ignored.

Healthy lifestyle, not statins: Doctors

Instead of popping a statin drug, doctors recommend adopting a healthy lifestyle and going for frequent cholesterol checkups in borderline elevated cholesterol patients. Doctors say a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a healthy weight can help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Dr D.M.R. Jagannadha Raju, interventional cardiologist at Varma Heart Care Centre, said: Patients with mildly elevated cholesterol need not be started on statins. Instead, they can go for lifestyle modification to decrease their future disease risk. Certain guidelines need to be followed for dispensing the dosage of statins. Our targeted LDL level in patients with no risk factors is 130, patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, etc., is 100 and patients with stroke and cardiac conditions is 70.

Genetics and family history also play a role in development of cardiac disease. For some patients, it is tough to control cholesterol levels with a healthy lifestyle alone and they may need therapeutic management.

Dr P. Ramana Rao, an integrated practitioner at Varmas Multispe-cialty Hospital, said statins have become the new vitamin B-complex tablets.

There has been a rampant use of statins. All elevated cholesterol patients may not need statins. Those on statins need to undergo frequent cholesterol check to alter their dosages based on cholesterol levels, otherwise, it will eventually boomerang on the patient's health, Dr. Ramana Rao said.

How statins work
Mr Arkesh reveals that opposition by some vested interests to the CRPF camp coming up in the area, had stopped it from taking the necessary safety measures in the past.

With their habitats shrinking, its not unusual anymore to find leopards, elephants and other wild animals straying into villages and even wandering close to fringes of towns and cities, striking fear into villagers, motorists and pedestrians.

While not all straying wild animals turn violent, Sunday saw two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans meet a gruesome death as a wild elephant trampled them to death at the CRPF Training Camp in Tharalu village near Kaggalipura, off Kanakapura Road.

Surprisingly, the CRPF men, who are rigorously trained to handle difficult situations, including animal attacks, failed to act when attacked by the jumbo.

The camp authorities themselves seem at a loss to understand why the two sentries did not scare the elephant away. Says DIG, Group Centre, CRPF, Rajendran J, The incident was totally unexpected and it all happened in a fraction of a second. We have ordered a departmental inquiry to see what exactly took place. Forest officials say the elephant was not from the Bannerghatta National Park, but came from elsewhere. We are working on plans to avert such incidents in future.

Ask him if the sentries been told not to open fire at wild animals and Mr. Rajendran replies in the negative. Self defence is most important and so we have given no such instruction not to open fire at animals. Its not clear why they did not act and we are looking into it, he explains.

The CRPF officials, who claim the camp is secure as it has solar fencing and trenches dug around it to prevent wild animals from straying into it, say this is the first time an animal has wandered in. But others say animals have strayed close to the camp many times in the past as it is situated close to the Bannerghatta National Park.

A retired CRPF Inspector General of Police, K. Arkesh, argues the officials cannot call the incident unexpected as the camp is located close to a forest. The CRPF men are highly trained and cannot say the incident was unexpected as the camp is near the Bannerghatta forest. Also, to my knowledge, this is not the first such incident and animals have strayed into the area many times in the past. Considering this, the camp staff needs to be alert round- the- clock. Also, the men were on sentry duty, which means they were armed. They could have shot at the elephant or even opened fire in the air to scare the animal away. Unfortunately they did neither, he notes.

Mr Arkesh reveals that opposition by some vested interests to the CRPF camp coming up in the area, had stopped it from taking the necessary safety measures in the past. But now everything has been sorted out and there is no such hindrance, he adds.

June 2013

A herd of 15 wild elephants made their way through Kolar and Hoskote from the Hosur forest region in Tamil Nadu, killing four people.

June 2015

A wild elephant went on a rampage near Bannerghatta and killed a female worker.

September 2016

Three wild elephants have strayed into Karnataka from Krishnagiri forest in Tamil Nadu. The residents of villages in Anekal and Hoskote taluk panicked as their agricultural fields were damaged.

Following the death of its two men, the CRPF Training Camp in Tharalu village near Kaggalipura, off Kanakapura Road, plans to install an alarm system to alert the staff to any animal nearing it, according to DIG, Group Centre, CRPF, Rajendran J. Also, the CRPF and forest department officials have decided to hold a workshop for the staff to educate them on how to tackle animal attacks.

Infographic

Planners should consult wildlife experts

It's no secret that elephant corridors have over the years been increasingly fragmented by human settlements and developmental projects. While villages with their increasing spread of agricultural land have wreaked havoc in some parts, the insensitivity of urban planners has destroyed parts of the corridors in others, leaving the animals confused and with little option but to stray into human settlements.

Pointing out that a city's development is usually planned, a senior forest official says its time the planners consulted wildlife experts when preparing the blueprints to identify elephant corridors that should be left undisturbed no matter what.

When the elephants' corridors are blocked they are tempted to move into human habitations, placing both their lives and those of people at risk. So it's essential that they are left undisturbed," he stresses.

As for the Kaggalipura elephant attack, which claimed the lives of two CRPF jawans, the officer says such incidents should be analysed in depth as sometimes the reasons which trigger an elephant to stray outside a forest may not be fully understood.

"Also, it's important to raise awareness about the environment and wildlife among government officials and villagers living on the fringes of forests as only then will they be more sensitive to them," he underlines.

Govt officials need basic knowledge of the environment

Elephants are always on the move and cover about 50 miles a day in search of food and water. It may surprise many to know that many decades ago, an elephant corridor stretched from Bannerghatta in Bengaluru to Burma (the present Myanmar). But owing to the greed of humans forests were encroached on and exploited, shrinking the elephants habitat and reducing their tree cover.

But neither politicians nor bureaucrats care to understand how hugely elephant habitats have been disturbed or take measures to contain the damage done. While laying new roads or ducts, building bridges and so on, engineers and officials should have been sensitive to the needs of animals and the ecology as a whole, as areas, which should have been swamps or ponds for providing water for wild animals are being destroyed to make way for them.

Basic knowledge about the environment should be imparted to government officials and engineers to help prevent damage to animal habitats in future.

The incident of two CRPF jawans being trampled on by an elephant is very unfortunate. Going by media reports the elephant, which killed them, is a loner and is suspected to be from the Savandurga forests.

Possible reasons for its agitated state could be that it had lost its way and ended up straying into the CRPF training centre at Kaggalipura on Kanakapura Road. It may have strayed from its usual corridor in search of food and water and could have been in a hurry to rejoin its group.

Had the CRPF jawans had some knowledge about the environment, including the behaviour of animals, how they procure food, their way of living and so on, they may have escaped being trampled on. Environmental awareness is needed by all, from children to adults and some serious steps need to be taken by the government to create it.

-Suresh Heblikar

(The author is environmentalist, filmmaker and founder of Eco-Watch NGO )
The incident happened on Sunday but came to light when the victim lodged a complaint with the police on Monday.(Representational Image)

Hyderabad: A 45-year-old housewife was allegedly raped by a rice trader in Sanathnagar who called her to his house on the pretext of giving her rice.The incident happened on Sunday but came to light when the victim lodged a complaint with the police on Monday.

Police said the suspect, identified as Ashok, a resident of Sanathnagar, owns a rice shop. On Sunday morning when the victim went to his shop to purchase rice he lured her saying that he had rice at his house which is less in price compared to market price. Believing him, she went to his house on Sunday night and when she was busy checking the quality of the rice he and his aides sexually assaulted her.

The victim stated that while she was checking the rice, Ashok caught her from behind, gagged her mouth and raped her. The other unidentified suspects caught her hands and helped Ashok, police said.

A rape case was registered and the victim was sent for medical examination. Police found that Ashok's mobile phone location was last traced in Karnataka. Police teams have been deputed to Karnataka to trace the suspect.
The Opposition Samajwadi Party cited the incident to attack the Adityanath government while the BJP termed the incident as "painful" but emphasised that the law and order situation was better as compared to the previous regime. (Photo: File)

Lucknow: Two daughters of an Army Subedar, aged 24 and 17, were found murdered today at their house in Para locality in Lucknow, sending shockwaves in the state capital.

Top police officials including the Inspector General, Lucknow rushed to the spot while the Opposition cited the incident to attack the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state on the law and order front.

According to the police, LB Singh, the father of the victims - Arti and Antima - had gone to a doctor with his wife.

On their return, the parents found their daughters had been brutally murdered with a sharp-edged weapon.

"After the incident was reported, a dog squad was pressed into service. The clues gathered by the squad are being worked out. A team from forensic science laboratory has also collected evidence from the scene of crime.

"As far as the motive of the murder is concerned, it will be too immature to comment at this stage. However, investigation into every aspect is underway," Additional Superintendent of Police, Alambagh, Dr Meenakshi said.

Police officials said that it appeared that a sharp-edged weapon was used to kill the sisters. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, a police official said.

Meanwhile the Opposition Samajwadi Party cited the incident to attack the Adityanath government while the BJP termed the incident as "painful" but emphasised that the law and order situation was better as compared to the previous regime.

Blaming the Uttar Pradesh government for "failure" to tackle the prevailing law and order situation, SP leader Sunil Singh Sajan alleged that the incidents which have been taking place in the state for the past one-and-half months "prove that the BJP is giving patronage to criminal elements".

"Dacoity in Gomtinagar and today's incident are visible evidence of this," he claimed.

UP BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi termed the incident as "painful" but asserted that the law and order situation had improved compared to the previous regime.

Directions had been issued to police officials to arrest the culprits, he said..

"There will be no comprise on the issue of law and order situation of the state," the BJP spokesperson said.
Three men on Monday were convicted by a special court here for the kidnap, gang-rape and murder of a software engineer in 2009. (Photo: Representational/File)

Pune: A Pune court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to three convicts in the 2009 Nayana Pujari gangrape-cum-murder case.

Three men on Monday were convicted by a special court here for the kidnap, gang-rape and murder of a software engineer in 2009.

Special Judge L L Yenkar also held the trioYogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam--guilty of robbery, misappropriation of property (possessed by the deceased) and criminal conspiracy.

The prosecution said that the case was fit for the 'rarest of rare' category.

A software engineer from an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on the evening of October 7, 2009, from Kharadi bypass, when she was waiting for transport to go home.

Two days later, the 28-year-old techie's body was recovered from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

Investigations revealed that the victim was gang-raped in a car and robbed of cash by using her ATM card before she was strangulated and bludgeoned to death in the forest area.

Police probe later led to the arrest of four persons including one Rajesh Chaudhari, who later turned an approver in the case.

Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar said Chaudhari was acquitted by the court.

Also, when the trial was underway, main accused Raut escaped from the Sassoon Hospital here on September 17, 2011, while being escorted to the hospital for medical treatment. He was later re-arrested from Shirdi after 20 months. 37 witnesses were examined during the trial.
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party conducted a live demonstration of how Electronic Voting Machines could be hacked to favour a chosen party, in the Delhi Assembly's special session on Tuesday.

Alleging that there is a secret code that can make any party win, AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the said code is entered around 10 am to ensure the favoured candidate wins. He also said that the code varies with each constituency.

Conducting the demonstration, Bharadwaj clarified that the machine being used is a dummy. The AAP MLA first explained the machinery and then first gave two votes to each party to establish the functionality of the machine.

After the mock test, Bharadwaj entered a 'code' (Bharatiya Janata Party's in the drill) to show that the votes shown in the final tally were more the ones polled originally.

He also claimed that it only takes 90 seconds to rig the EVM by changing the motherboard.

Interspersing the demo with a speech, Bharadwaj said, " People sacrificed a lot for freedom of our nation. To let the people of India , not the British, not rich men, to rule India . If elections continue to be done through these EVMs there will be no measure of democracy left. Only one party will rule."

He also challenged any scientist to explain it saying, "I am a computer science graduate, have worked with several companies in past 10 years. I ask any scientist to explain this to me. Welcome both Harvard and hardwork".

Earlier, the special session had begun in chaos after BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta and Manjinder Singh Sirsa created a ruckus.

After a back and forth between Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, Gupta was evicted from the Assembly for the day.

Beginning the special session, AAP MLA Alka Lamba had launched into a tirade against Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) targeting the Modi government and the Election Commission.

She further claimed that in Tughlakabad, 4 EVMs were tampered and their seals broken overnight. She alleged that CCTV footage of the EVMs was not available after 12:30 am.

When generation three EVMs remain locked up, why generation one EVMs are being used? The Election Commission will have to reply now," Lamba said.

Lamba claimed that old EVMs were used for the MCD polls, in which the BJP won in a landslide. As a case in point, she said that in Chhattarpur in South Delhi, where AAP candidate Pinky Tyagi lost to her BJP rival Anita Tanwar by 2 votes, the EVMs used had counted several thousand additional votes.

After suspended MLA Kapil Mishra's allegations plunged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into further turmoil, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked the former saying that he would disclose a big conspiracy during the Delhi Assembly special session on Tuesday.

"A very big conspiracy will be disclosed before Saurabh Bhardwaj in the Delhi Assembly today. Please do listen to it. Truth will win," he tweeted.

Amid turmoil in his party, Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted last night, "Truth will triumph. Its beginning will be made during the special session of the Delhi Assembly tomorrow.

His tweet came as Mishra, who was sacked by Kejriwal from his Cabinet last Saturday, intensified his attack on the AAP supremo, alleging that a Rs 50 crore deal had been arranged for the Chief Minister's brother-in-law.

Mishra, who had yesterday accused Kejriwal of taking Rs 2 crore cash from his cabinet colleague Satyendra Jain, also submitted documents to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against the Chief Minister in connection with the alleged water tanker scam.

After lodging a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mishra said to the media, I will sit on hunger strike if details of foreign trips by five AAP leaders are not released.

Early Tuesday morning, BJPs youth workers had protested against Kejriwal and police had to resort to water cannons to subdue them.

Backing his party leader, Ankit Lal, who heads AAP's IT cell, tweeted, "No. @ArvindKejriwal is not resigning. But it's something bigger than this...Watch out...today, 2pm, Delhi assembly.

Meanwhile, Mishra also dared Kejriwal to fight elections against him from any seat of his choice. "I am going to take up the biggest fight of my life against Kejriwal from whom I have learnt all these things. Before that, I seek your blessings for victory," Mishra wrote, in an open letter on Facebook.

Ratcheting up his attack on Kejriwal and the party leadership, Mishra had yesterday submitted documents related to the water tanker scam to the ACB, alleging that Kejriwal delaying probe against former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
The EC has been claiming that EVMs are tamper-proof and had challenged that it be proven otherwise by parties making allegations about rigging. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demonstrated in Delhi Assembly on prototype Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and not on Election Commission of India EVMs, ANI said quoting sources said.

This comes after AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj earlier in the day at a special session of the Delhi Assembly demonstrated how EVMs can be manipulated.

He showed how simple it was for an engineering graduate such as himself to rig a voting machine, and challenged scientists to prove him wrong.

According to NDTV, the Election Commission dared AAP to participate in its upcoming Hackathon, which will be held at the end of May.

NDTV quoted EC sources as saying that when confronted with a genuine voting machine, Kejriwals party will fail at proving it can be tampered.

However, AAP in response said it was ready to take up the ECs challenge.

Responding to the Election Commission's dismissal of the EVMs being tampered, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the former should hereafter provide their own EVMs.

"I would ask the EC to give us their EVMs, if it is not tampered. We can change the motherboard in 90 seconds," he said.

Soon after a demonstration of the EVM tampering was conducted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj during the special day-long session of the Delhi Assembly here on Tuesday, Kejriwal alleged tampering of EVMs poses a real 'threat' to the country.

Read: Congress slams AAP, says it belittled EVM tampering case

Kejriwal had earlier blamed the party's loss in Punjab to the rigging of voting machines.

Bhardwaj, who told the Assembly that he had been a BTech degree in computer science and that he had worked on microprocessors and micro-controllers, said, "An ordinary engineering graduate like me can manipulate an EVM by working on it for just 10 to 15 days."

Conducting a mock poll on an EVM machine, Bhardwaj demonstrated how despite giving two votes each to various parties, the finally count showed that the votes of some parties had been transferred to one party.

He said this was possible with a secret code that is assigned to every constituency. Bhardwaj claimed that before voting begins the election officials show that everything is done fairly but after 10 am, they activate the code, which ensures that all votes cast thereafter would go to a particular candidate.

"All it takes to rig an EVM is to change the motherboard. All it takes is 90 seconds. It's outrageous," Bhardwaj said, explaining that a "manipulator" enters the polling booth early into voting and enters a unique secret code that ensures that all votes polled thereafter that would go to a selected candidate.

The Election Commission has been claiming that EVMs are tamper-proof and had challenged that it be proven otherwise by parties making allegations about rigging.

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati had also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh was gained by tampering with EVMs.

She had pointed to the BJP's vote share in Muslim majority areas to substantiate her argument that that it would not have been possible for the saffron party to get that many votes in those areas, if not for EVM fraud.
Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu exchanges an MoU with Iowa department of agriculture for research in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and others in USA on Monday.

Vijayawada: An email complaint sent to Irving mayor Beth Van Duyne and Dallas police has sent shockwaves through NRIs associated with the Telugu Desam.

The email alleged that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was behind the killings of innocent citizens by branding them red sanders smugglers and that he was visiting the United States to illegally mobilise funds.

The email also alleged that Mr Naidu was campaigning against the policies of US President Donald Trump. Following this, a US police party reportedly visited the place where Mr Naidu was meeting a few public representatives. The cops found huge crowds on the dais, and apprehending a threat to Mr Naidu from those who sent the email, provided security cover to him and other members of the visiting delegation.

It is being said that the emails were sent by supporters of the YSR Congress.

However, YSRC USA committee conveners Rathanakar Pandugayala and Guruva Reddy reacted sharply, alleging that these were baseless allegations being levelled by a section of the media instigated by TD propagandists.

Reacting to reports that YSRC supporters staged a protest against a fund raising visit by Mr Naidu in Irving, TX, the YSRC USA committee said that there was little value for it in protesting the visit of a sitting Chief Minister, however ignoble his rule in AP may have been.

The Dallas subcommittee and Dallas City in-charge members, Krishna Mohan, Ramana Putlur and Subbu Kondeddu maintained that no one from the committee and/or YSRC sympathisers in Texas were involved in any way.
The bid by GHMC to implode a building at Sunnam Cheruvu near Madhapur in the city failed on Monday.

Hyderabad: The GHMCs first-ever attempt to blow up an illegal building using implosion technology flopped on Monday. The explosion brought down the first floor but the remaining four levels were left leaning dangerously. The civic body has now decided to manually demolish the building.

Despite the failure, minister K.T. Rama Rao sent out a congratulatory tweet. The illegal building was being built on Plot No. 22m SIET Colony, in Guttala Begumpet, owned by one Raj Shekar Reddy from Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. The method included strategic placing of explosives on the stilts and timing their detonation so that the structure collapses on itself within seconds, minimising damage to the surroundings.

A thick cloud of dust envelopes the lower half of a building at Guttala Begumpet, where the GHMC attempted to implode an illegal structure.

On Monday, the work started at 9 am and packing of the explosives was completed at 1.40 pm. The implosion was set for 2.15 pm. After a big blast, the building was meant to collapse like a pack of cards, but just the stilt floor collapsed. The GHMC has asked JNTUs professor of civil engineering Dr Ramana Rao to look into the matter.

Speaking to this newspaper, Dr Rao said, An implosion is carried out with zero impact to the neighbouring buildings. The GHMC workers should have drilled and fitted explosives on all four sides. But keeping in mind the building next to it, they left out the part facing the neighbouring structure which led to a partial collapse.

The building as it first stood, before the attempt to demolish it on Monday.

He said there was no immediate danger from the leaning building, but officials entering it should be careful. It would take three or four days to manually remove the bricks and to implode the structure again. A company named Uttam Blastech has agreed to do the manual demolition and to attempt another implosion.

Workers without safety gear drill holes and place explosives to implode the illegal building.

Mr V. Srikanth of Uttam Blastech said, In the absence of drawing, design and the quality of construction, we assu-med a few things which were not correct. We were too cautious, our idea was to protect the adjacent structure. This was the first attempt to implode a building by the company.
Hyderabad: Work on the Outer Ring Road project that took off in 2008 is finally winding its way to completion. Work on the unfinished portion at Kandlakoya Junction that was slowed down due to legal issues is going on a brisk pace.

Officials expect to open the stretch for traffic from August. Except for the 1.1-km stretch at Kandlakoya of Medchal mandal, the HMDA was able to complete work on 156.9 km of the ORR.

Villagers at Kandlakoya went to court opposing the HMDAs attempt to acquire 110 acres, putting a speed breaker on the project. The matter went up to the Supreme Court, which recently gave the go-ahead to the metropolitan body, pending final judgement on compensation for the affected locals. The villagers are demanding compensation under Land Acquisition Act. 2013 and the HMDA will follow the apex court judgement on the issue.

It is learnt that the HMDA has to pay between Rs 125 crore and Rs 150 crore as compensation and another Rs 125 crore to complete the works. The unfinished Kandlakoya junction was posing a problem to commuters travelling on the Ghatkesar-Gachibowli stretch.

The first phase of ORR on Gachibowli-Shamshabad stretch (24.2 km) was completed in 2010. It was constructed in three phases. Although, officials aimed to complete the project in four years it stretched to almost a decade due to various reasons.
New Delhi: Axed Delhi minister Kapil Mishra's complaints of corruption against Delhi government functionaries will be "examined and verified", the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Tuesday.

In a statement, CBI Spokesperson R K Gaur said the agency had received three complaints from Mishra, former Water and Tourism minister, with allegations of bribery and other irregularities against National Capital Territory functionaries and others.

The CBI would examine the complaints, Gaur said.
Pali (Rajasthan): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asked Pakistan to read the message of the 2016 surgical strike.

He said the surgical strike was a message to Pakistan that if need arises, India can anytime cross the border.

The Home Minister's statement comes in the backdrop of spurt of ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

Addressing a gathering here after inaugurating statue of Maharana Pratap, Rajnath said the Border Security Force (BSF) has his standing order to give a befitting reply to Pakistan if it shows any type of aggression.

"There is my standing order to the Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) that first bullet shouldn't be fired from our side but if Pakistan fires bullet then bullets fired from our side shouldn't be counted," said Singh.

Mentioning achievements of Narendra Modi-led Union Government, the Home Minister said, "We have made India's head high in front of the world during our rule of three years."

He said once considered weak, now India is not weak under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
New Delhi: In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan be immediately sent to jail for six months for contempt of court.

A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said, "We are of unanimous view that Justice C S Karnan committed contempt of court, contempt of judiciary and the process."

The bench also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph said that it is satisfied that Justice Karnan be sentenced for six months in jail

"The sentence shall be executed and he be taken into custody forthwith," the bench said.

This is the first time that a high court judge is being sent to jail by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt.

The bench also banned the media, both print and electronic, from publishing the content of further orders, if passed by Justice Karnan.

The 61-year-old judge earned the top courts ire after he named 20 corrupt judges in the judiciary earlier this year and demanded an investigation alleging corruption.

He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging a probe.

The Supreme Court then transferred him from the Madras High Court to Kolkata  a decision he critiqued as victimisation since he was a Dalit.

Justice Karnan had on May 4 declined to undergo a mental health checkup as ordered by the Supreme Court, telling a team of doctors he was "absolutely normal" and had a "stable mind".

The apex court has taken suo motu 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.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday held businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order.

The apex court directed Mallya, who is presently in the United Kingdom, to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.

India had recently asked Britain to ensure early extradition of Mallya, who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

"We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said.

The order came on a plea by consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.

The apex court had on March 9 asked the liquor baron about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

The bench had reserved its order on two pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo respectively.

The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in "flagrant violation" of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.

The bench had also posed several queries to consortium of banks and asked it whether any criminal proceedings have been initiated against Mallya.

The court had asked Mallya as to why he did not disclose the receipt of USD 40 million from London-based company Diageo Plc and subsequent transfer of money to trusts to which his three children were the beneficiaries.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the banks, had contended that unless Mallya deposits USD 40 million before this court, he does not deserve to be heard and, moreover, he needed to appear personally as the contempt notice has already been issued.

The AG had also told the court that the government is seeking deportation of Mallya from the UK.

Divan had referred to various orders passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), the High Court and the Supreme Court and said that the DRT has passed a decree in favour of the banks and the amount to be recovered is approximately Rs 9,200 crores.

There was a specific order of the High Court that Mallya will not transfer or alienate any movable and immovable assets to any person, he had said.

The bench had asked as to how the decree of the DRT to recover Rs 9,200 crore would be executed, to which the AG had said "God knows, how will it get the money back," adding that Mallya has taken this court for "a ride".

The bench had also asked C S Vaidyanathan, Mallya's counsel, about the response on the contempt notice.

The lawyer had said that an application for recall of the order has been filed and according to him, no contempt is made out and hence, the plea itself can be considered as the reply.

Mallya's counsel had said the money which came from Diageo belonged to his children and not him.

The bench had shot back: "Somebody who is faced with a default of Rs 6,200 crore and suppose if he gets Rs 3,000 crore, he should have given it to repay the dues".

Vaidyanathan maintained that the USD 40 million was not covered under the injunction order.

In October last year, the court had rapped Mallya for not making full disclosure of his overseas properties and had asked him to do so within a month.

The bench had also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had allegedly received from Diageo in February last year, saying it was of the "prima facie view" that proper disclosure as per its earlier order was not made.

The banks had on August 29 last year told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets including the USD 40 million he received on February 25 from Diageo.
Chennai: Two Tamil Nadu ministers on Tuesday junked reports that the Income Tax department had conveyed to the state government about some ministers and officials allegedly being beneficiaries of sand mining baron J Sekhar Reddy's largesse.

"It is totally wrong. It is a planned rumour spread by some people," Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar told reporters.

A section of the media had reported that the IT department had forwarded to the state government a list of the names of some ministers and officials, who had allegedly been beneficiaries of Reddy's largesses.

When asked about the IT department letter and "inaction" over it, Jayakumar, who is both a senior minister and party leader, said, "If you get some Income Tax letter like that, let us know, then I will answer you."

The letter which was claimed to have been dispatched by the IT department was based on seizures including some diaries from the premises of Reddy and his two other associates.

Reddy, his associates Srinivasulu and Prem Kumar, were arrested on March 20 by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering by them. The three are now in judicial custody till May 11.

During the IT raids in December last year on their premises, demonetised currency notes too were seized.

Answering questions on the issue, Law Minister C V Shanmugam too dismissed the reports and sought to turn heat on rebel leader O Panneerselvam.

Shanmugam asked as to why an investigation was not demanded in respect of the former chief minister's alleged links with Reddy said when a probe was sought based on "some entries in a diary" made by some "Tom, Dick and Harry."

"Why the links between Sekhar Reddy and Panneerselvam should not be probed?" he asked.

Asked about Panneerselvam's comment recently that a snap assembly election may be held ahead of the civic polls, Shanmugam, a party strongman of Villupuram district, said let Panneerselvam first answer if he was ready to face an inquiry in the Reddy issue.

He asked if Panneerselvam had the guts to say that he was ready to face an inquiry commission over his alleged links to Reddy.
New Delhi: A TV news channel on Monday claimed that former Union minister Shashi Tharoors wife Sunanda Pushkar body was moved from one place to another at Leela Palace Hotel in New Delhi.

After airing 19 telephonic conversation between a correspondent and a close aide of Mr Tharoor, who was present at the hotel, Republic TV said that the Congress leader had re-visited the hotel after leaving it at 6.30 am, which he had concealed before investigating agencies.

The channel claimed that Sunandas body was moved from room No. 307 to 345 of Leela, alleging that the murder scene and body was tampered with before investigation.

Delhi police chief Amulya Patna said investigation is on the case. He declined to comment further. The channel claimed that Pushkars clothes were removed from the hotel and she was allegedly prevented from speaking with the media.

Quoting the aide, the channel claimed there was some argument between the couple, which went on till the wee hours of the day she died.

The aide was quoted as saying that Pushkar had gone to sleep at 6.30 am.

On January 17, 2014, Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Mr Tharoor, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Leela Palace in New Delhi, a day after she had a spat on Twitter with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.

On January 16, Pushkar had tweeted some material which hinted to a possible romantic liaison between Mr Tharoor and Ms Tarar.

The tweets in question were said to be Blackberry Messenger messages that Ms Tarar had sent to Mr Tharoor.

The autopsy report at that time had hinted that she had died of an overdose of sleeping pills. However, the report was inconclusive as to how she died and whether it was a suicide.

During investigation, Pushkars viscera samples were sent to AIIMS. It was only after they failed to detect any poisonous substance that the samples were handed over to the FBI in Washington.
New Delhi: Virtually declaring an all-out war against the Maoist menace, Union home minister Rajnath Singh stressed the need for greater use of technology, actionable intelligence, choking financial channels and adopting an aggressive strategy to target the top Maoist leadership.

Speaking at a conference of ten Naxal-infested states here on Monday in the wake of the recent killings of CRPF personnel, Mr Singh underlined the urgent need to set up a strategic unified command, saying unity of purpose was needed among all the affected states.

National security adviser Ajit Doval and top security and intelligence officials from the Centre and states also took part in the meeting, which decided to evolve a uniform strategy to take on the Maoists.

The home minister said he was confident that with a new strategy in place, the anti-Maoist operations will be more successful in future.

Choke Maoist funds: Rajnath

The states, Union home minister Rajnath Singh added, should play a bigger role in such operations and take ownership.

The meeting, sources said, discussed how the strategy could be recaliberated to make it more effective and to reduce casualties among security personnel.

Choking the Naxals financial resources was the most basic mantra, the home minister said, as resources play a major role in any war.

He also stressed the need for greater use of technology like trackers in weapons and biometrics in smart guns, which are some of the new tech to check the use of looted arms by the militants.

It would be advisable to have trackers in weapons, as well as biometrics in smart gun triggers  as a tracker can locate a looted weapon wherever it is taken or used, while biometrics can make a smart gun useless for anyone other than the authorised user, the minister added.

Referring to use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the home minister said this should be further augmented and more such surveillance gear should be procured and given to the security forces. We need to use high-resolution PTZ cameras, GPS tracking, hand-held thermal imaging, radar and satellite imaging, he said. On intelligence-gathering, the minister said surrendered Naxals should be used more effectively to obtain information. We have to bring aggression in our policy... We must focus on the concept of Samadhan  which means S-Smart Leadership, A-Aggressive Strategy, M-Motivation and Training, A-Actionable Intelligence, D-Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas), H-Harnessing Technology, A-Action Plan for Each Theatre, N-No Access to Financing, the home minister said.
Hyderabad: The BJP has stepped up its attack on the TRS government, the woes of the chilli farmers giving it the perfect weapon to do so. Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya demanded the state government sanction Rs 250 crore for purchase of chilli from the farmers in distress after the Centre fixed Rs 5,000 per quintal as a one-time market intervention price due to the glut in the market.

Farmers took up chilli sowing due to encouragement from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and ministers. But the government did not inform the Centre about this. TRS government should immediately release the money under the MIS and purchase the chilli, he said.

Stating that the Centre would stand by the farmers, Dattatreya asked the TS government to take immediate steps to solve their problems. He also asked government to withdraw cases against the farmers.

Meanwhile, TS BJP chief K. Laxman went hammer and tongs against the TRS government, accusing it of backing brokers in market yards. He said that the BJP will visit the Warangal and Khammam market yards and study the plight of farmers.
A delegation of leaders from the Muslim community under the umbrella of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: In yet another attempt to reach out to the minorities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Muslim community should not allow the triple talaq issue to be politicised, and urged Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind leaders to initiate the process of reforms.

Mr Modi, at a meeting with a 25-member delegation of Muslim leaders under the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind umbrella, reiterated his views voiced a few days back when he had expressed the hope that intellectuals from the community would come forward to fight the practice.

Mr Modis remarks came against the backdrop of CPM leader Sitaram Yechury saying that the Prime Ministers campaign against triple talaq is a communal campaign.

Mr Modi also said that the new generation in India must not be allowed to fall victim to the rising global tide of extremism.

Praising Mr Modis vision, members of the delegation expressed hope that the nationwide trust that he has among the people will ensure prosperity and well-being of all segments of society, the statement said.

Expressing concern at the situation in Kashmir valley, members of the delegation said that only Modi can resolve the issue.

The BJP has, meanwhile, decided to go all out to woo the minority community, particularly with the backward communities, including OBCs and dalits, moving towards the BJP. But the partys primary target remains backward Muslims. Both the BJP and the Centre are now trying to sell the new legislation, that gives constitutional status to the OBC commission, to backward Muslims.

Minister of state for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who is leading the charge to woo the backward Muslims, on Tuesday said the poor Muslims have been unable to take advantage of welfare measures.

Addressing Muslims from various states, Mr Naqvi said parties like the Congress, Trinamul and the JD(U) had come to power on the strength of Muslims support, but had blocked the Bill that would have benefited the backward members of the community.

Mr Modi told party leaders at the BJP national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar to reach out to the backward Muslims. He said then they will also stand to benefit from the Bill, which envisages the setting up of a National Commission for Socially and Educationally BCs with judicial powers and constitutional status.
Bhopal: Nearly five months after he robbed a house in a locality on the outskirt of Bhopal city, an unidentified burglar on Tuesday wrote a letter to his victim offering an apology to her, besides promising to return the stolen valuables very soon.

Shakira Khan, whose house was burgled by the robber on January 29 this year, produced the letter, purportedly written by the thief, before the investigating officer in TT Nagar police station in the city, leaving him baffled.

The burglar has apologised for committing the theft in the letter. He also said he had burgled the house at the behest of a person trusted most by the victim. He said he was forced to commit robbery in her house owing to serious financial crisis he was facing. He has also promised to return all stolen valuables which included jewellery. In fact, he returned two imitations of rings as evidence of his commitment to return the stolen gold ornaments, the TT Nagar police said.

The victim also suspected her neighbours hand in the theft. But, since the suspect is a minor, we cannot arrest him unless we get evidence, police said.

This was the first case, we are dealing with, where a robber writes such a letter to the victim, police said.
Hyderabad: The Centres crop insurance scheme has failed in Telangana state. The NDA government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana last year across the country and the state government notified the scheme and issued guidelines for implementation just prior to the commencement of the kharif season, in June 2016.

As per the Centres guidelines, the farmers who opt for crop loans from banks and cooperative credit societies should be brought under insurance coverage.

However, the insurance is optional for farmers, who dont take loans.

The banks were asked to deduct the insurance premium directly from the crop loan while disbursing it to farmers. However, the banks did not strictly implement the orders, citing opposition from farmers.

Farmers associations say the government and banks had failed to create awareness among farmers on the advantages of the new scheme and on the need to take out crop insurance.

Farmers are opposed to crop insurance because they have had bad experiences in the past and had to wait for years to get the compensation, or had their claims rejected for trivial technical reasons.

The Centres new scheme has added advantages such as assessing crop loss by taking crop, weather, and village as a unit, and not taking the mandal as a unit as earlier. Moreover, the settlement period is 60 days and insurance coverage will be given not only for crop destruction but also for disrupted sowing due to adverse conditions.

Despite all this, not even 40 per cent of the farmers in the state have opted for the PMFBY. While lakhs of acres of crops get damaged every year due to drought, floods, or other natural calamities, not even 20 per cent of those who have subscribed to insurance schemes get their claims settled. Insurance firms deny compensation on one pretext or the other.

Farmers are averse to being enrolled for crop insurance schemes due to the difficulties they have faced earlier in getting compensation. Though several villages in a particular mandal may witness drought and crop damage, if the meteorological department report says that the mandal has received normal rainfall, all their claims are rejected as the entire mandal was taken as a unit. Farmers feel payment of premium is a waste of money, said Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, the minister for agriculture.
Vijayawada: TD general-secretary Nara Lokeshs remarks on part-timers in politics have become fodder for social media platforms.

Netizens have started discussing the seriousness of Mr Lokeshs observations on the present political scenario. A few social platforms also suggested that Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan give up Twitter as he needed to become a full-timer.

Though Mr Lokeshs remarks were aimed at Jr. NTR, they prompted political parties in the state to reorganise their teams for the 2019 battle.

Vernacular social platforms have highlighted Mr Lokeshs remarks, made before his Visakhapatnam tour.

The IT minister, in reply to a query posed by this correspondent over Jr NTRs responsibilities in the coming elections, said that the TD welcomes anybody who could dedicate themselves fulltime to the party. He also stated that there was no part time platform in the TD.

Mr Lokeshs remarks raised eyebrows of many within TD, especially its first-generation leaders.

When Jr NTR is into films actively, how can he dedicate his fulltime to the party, a Krishna district TD senior asked, adding that Jr NTRs presence is value addition to the TD during election season.

While seniors in TD may share these views, the partys younger generation supports the IT Minister.

Lokesh has a clear vision. He knows that fulltimers presence makes TD a sensible political party in 2019 elections, a MLA opined. Jana Sena sympathisers are also complaining about Mr Kalyans part-time Twitter politics.

Pawan Kalyan claims he can deal with taller challenges and he appears only on Twitter. How would it be easy for any party to face a battle without any proper mechanism? a Krishna district Jana Sena leader asked.

He also lauded observations made by Mr Lokesh about fulltimers. Pawan Kalyan should learn from Lokesh, the Janasena leader observed.
New Delhi: Hours after he posted an open letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, challenging him to an electoral battle, sacked Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday filed three complaints with the Central Bureau of Investigation against Mr Kejriwal over allegations of corruption, as well as against his relatives and some AAP leaders.

He handed over three sealed envelopes to the CBI that he called evidence. The CBI said that Mr Mishras complaints against the Delhi government ministers and others will be examined and verified.

Later in the day, the anti-corruption branch registered an FIR against the company of Mr Kejriwals brother-in-law, who has been accused of getting `50 crore worth of land in violation of rules.

Mr Mishra, former Delhi water minister, said he has filed three complaints. First on the exchange of cash between Mr Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain. Second, on the firm owned by Mr Kejriwals relatives involved in the Public Works Department and a Chhattarpur farmhouse land deal. The third is regarding the foreign trips by five Aam Aadmi Party leaders.

Kapil Mishra moves CBI with 3 complaints

In a statement, CBI spokesman R.K. Gaur said the agency had received three complaints from Mr Mishra, with allegations of bribery and other irregularities against some functionaries of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and some others.

The CBI would examine the complaints, Mr Gaur said. Mr Mishra said he will go on a hunger strike if the AAP failed to provide this data.

Late on Tuesday evening, the I-T department issued a notice to the AAP asking why it should not be prosecuted for alleged tampering of account books. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier sought details on the party's funding.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, a stormy Delhi Assembly session ensued when the AAP chose to dodge the allegations of corruption by Mr Mishra and raked up the EVM tampering issue once again.
For generations of visitors, Bruce the Moose was the face of Oregon State Universitys Horner Museum. Now he's coming out of mothballs  literally  to play the same role for the new Benton County Historical Museum that will break ground next month in downtown Corvallis.

The $9.5 million project has been a long time in the making  its been 18 years since the society acquired the former Copeland Lumber property at Southwest Second Street and Adams Avenue  but now its entering the homestretch. The group still needs about $2 million to complete the project, but it expects grants and state appropriations to provide most of the money.

The remaining $250,000 or so will come from a public fundraising campaign, and Bruce will be its mascot. Starting next week, you can expect to see the big guys image plastered on yard signs, shopping bags, stickers, lapel pins, refrigerator magnets and coffee mugs as the society makes its final pitch for donations to the community.

Among the campaigns many slogans are You say museum, I say mooseum, A moose is a terrible thing to waste and, of course, If we build it, they will come.

And once the new museum is open  which should be late 2018 or early 2019  Bruce the Moose will resume the place of pride he occupied during his glory days with the Horner.

Hes going to be prominently displayed in the lobby, said Irene Zenev, the societys executive director.

To appreciate what that means, you need to know some of Bruces backstory  parts of which remain shrouded in mystery.

For instance, no one knows his exact age, although it appears to be somewhere around the century mark.

According to the historical societys records, Bruce was shot in Saskatchewan by an unknown hunter, then stuffed and mounted by a taxidermist. By 1925 he was the property of a Monmouth resident named O.P. Calef, who brought him to be displayed at the new museum that had been established by professor John Horner on the campus of what was then known as Oregon Agricultural College.

But it appears to have been a loan, because Bruce disappears, said Mary Gallagher, the societys collections manager. He shows up in the Moose Lodge in Corvallis, and then in 1939 the Moose Lodge donates him.

According to an article in the Feb. 1, 1939, edition of the campus newspaper, Bruce was believed to be the second-largest stuffed moose in the U.S. at the time. And, in fact, Bruce is a fine figure of a moose, measuring 7 feet, 9 inches from tail to snout. He stands an impressive 6 feet tall at the shoulders and a downright imposing 8 feet, 1 inch from the ground to the tip of his mighty antlers, which spread 4 feet from side to side.

For many years Bruce was one of the star attractions of the Horner Museum and was, in the literal sense, a campus landmark. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s, when the museum was housed in the basement of Oregon State Universitys Gill Coliseum, Bruce stood watch at the Horners entrance. In those days registration was held in the arena, and uncounted numbers of OSU students got to know Bruce from their first day on campus.

They would go through the Horner Museum on their way out, Zenev explained, and they would pet the moose for good luck.

After the museum closed in 1995, however, Bruce and the rest of the Horners 60,000 artifacts were all but forgotten. By the time the Benton County Historical Society took possession of the eclectic collection in 2008, time had taken a heavy toll on Bruce.

The biggest problem was the lack of humidity and temperature controls in the bowels of the old arena (in at least one instance, the basement actually flooded). The fluctuating temperature and humidity levels literally pulled Bruce in every direction, according to Tom Fuller, a museum conservator who contracts with the historical society.

Hes been humidified and dried, humidified and dried so many times that the skin has shrunk, Fuller said. He was bursting at the seams.

Bruces sutures  the places where the taxidermist had stitched his skin together after stretching it over a frame  had come apart, allowing some of the stuffing to spill out.

They were gapping pretty bad, Fuller said. They were so unsightly, I wasnt sure that rehumidifying the skin would work.

In May of 2015, Fuller began the painstaking process of restoring Bruce to his former glory.

Slowly, carefully, he applied small amounts of moisture to relax the skin, then gently stretched it back into shape. He replaced the lost stuffing by applying layers of Japanese tissue paper, adhering the parts back together with wheat starch paste.

He used adhesives to fix a crack in Bruces snout and, when necessary, undid the work of previous artisans.

In the neck suture, they had jammed a bunch of plaster up here and shoveled the hair back in, Fuller said. All I could do was chisel it out.

He gave Bruce a good cleaning (the antlers were filthy) and used special brown paint to touch up the spots where overly friendly museum visitors had rubbed all the hair away. Finally, he installed a new base underneath Bruces wooden pedestal to allow the big galoot to be wheeled around using a pallet jack.

The whole job took 11 months and cost the society about $15,000.

Hes not a moose anymore, Fuller said. Hes an artifact, a made-up thing.

Maybe so. But Bruce the Moose is an artifact with personality, and one that Zenev believes will grace the societys new Corvallis museum for generations to come.

Hes going to outlive a lot of us, she said.
New Delhi: In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday slapped six months of imprisonment on Calcutta high courts Justice C.S. Karnan for committing contempt of the judiciary as also the judicial process of the gravest nature. This is for the first time that a sitting high court judge has been hauled up for contempt.

A bailable warrant was issued earlier to secure his presence in the court to answer contempt charges for calling certain judges corrupt, but he refused to do so. The court said the media should not publish any further statements made by him.

A seven-judge bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices Dipak Misra, J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph passed the order as the court felt that Justice Karnan by his statements and orders had committed contempt of court, which warrants strict punishment under the Contempt of Courts Act.

The bench asked West Bengals DGP to constitute a team of officers to take him into custody forthwith.

On May 1, the court had ordered his medical examination in Kolkata on May 4 on the ground that he was medically unfit to defend himself to the contempt proceedings initiated on February 8 for his letters to the Prime Minister and other constitutional authorities seeking a probe against judges.

But Justice Karnan refused to subject himself to the medical examination.

Additional solicitor general Maninder Singh informed the court that Justice Karnan had even on May 8 passed an order against eight SC judges.

He said a message should go that this kind of conduct cannot be left unpunished and that he should be held guilty of contempt.

Taking note of this, the bench in its order said that since incidents of contempt which include public statements and press conferences made by Justice Karnan have been published by the electronic and the print media, we are of the view that no further statements made by him should be published by the media.

Karnan just an ordinary citizen: SC

Earlier senior counsel Rakesh Diwedi appearing for West Bengal informed the court that a team of doctors went to the residence of Justice Karnan on May 4 and he had refused to undergo the test. The doctors have sent a report to this court to this effect.

The CJI told the counsel, The medical board has not contradicted the statement of Justice Karnan that he is medical fit, if that was so it could have informed us.

Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal appearing for Madras high court said Justice Karnan had declared himself medically fit but the question is whether this court will get the blemish that a sitting HC judge will be punished.

The CJI told Counsel, We are looking at him not as a judge. He is a citizen. This case has no colour. We cant distinguish him from others as he is a sitting judge. The blemish is one against the other, whether this court can leave him. Justice Karnan did not appear before the apex court on February 13 as directed by a seven-judge bench on February 8.

He was given a second opportunity to appear on March 10. As he did not appear, a bailable warrant was issued.

On March 31 he appeared but did not file his reply. He again did not appear on May 1, when a medical test was ordered. Even on Tuesday, he did not appear.
Hyderabad: The state government is coming out with its own crop insurance scheme from the ensuing kharif season in June, after the Centres Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has failed to attract farmers.

In the proposed scheme, the state government will contribute a major portion of funds and collect a nominal premium from the farmers.

For payment of the claim, the farmer will be taken as a unit instead of the village or the mandal as in previous such schemes. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the agriculture department to draft the modalities for the scheme and submit it to the government for approval.

'The scheme will cover both kharif and rabi crops. The loss caused to crops on account of drought and other natural calamities will be assessed in a fast track mode and the compensation amount will be remitted in the bank accounts of farmers within seven days, said an official.

This new scheme is part of the CM's plan to assist farmers at every stage, right from providing investment subsidy for sowing to getting remunerative prices for their produce in market yards. The CM has already announced financial assistance of Rs 8,000 per acre towards crop investment from next year.

The new scheme will be officially announced by the agriculture department after it is approved by the Chief Minister.
Lucknow: No personal law is above Constitution and triple talaq is a violation of the fundamental rights given to citizens, the Allahabad high court ruled on Tuesday. The verdict comes amid the Centres push for a ban on the contentious practice on grounds of gender equality and justice.

The court said the rights of any person, including Muslim women, cannot be violated in the name of personal law or on the basis of gender, adding that triple talaq cannot infringe upon a womans fundamental rights given to her under the Constitution. Any fatwa that is against law cannot be accepted, the court also said.

A Muslim husband cannot give divorce in such a manner which would put a question mark on the womans equal rights, the court said. A single-judge bench of Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani said that the human rights of women and of girls were an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights.

The court was hearing the petition of a Varanasi woman who had accused her husband of torturing her for dowry and then divorcing her. The husband had approached the high court against the complaint. The court dismissed his petition.

The husband had contended that he has divorced his wife and also procured a fatwa in this regard by the Darul Ifta Jama Masjid in Agra.

Fatwa against rights not valid: HC

The court said personal law can only be applicable under the provisions of Constitution, adding that any fatwa, which is contrary to the justice system or someone's rights, was not valid. The SC is hearing a clutch of petitions for a ban on triple talaq. A five-judge Constitution bench will hear the matter on May 11.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has opposed a blanket ban on the practice, accusing Centre of trying to kill the country's plurality.

The NGO that oversees the application of Muslim personal law has said that it would end triple talaq within 18 months, but resisted any interference from the government.
Hyderabad: Opposition parties on Tuesday flayed the state government, accusing it of failing to work for the welfare of Gulf workers.

Addressing an all-party seminar on Gulf Workers Welfare  Role of Governments organised by the NRI wing of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee under the chairmanship of former -Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy, the participants said the TRS government did nothing for their welfare and criticised the party for not standing by promises made during the 2014 elections.

Dr B.M. Vinod Kumar, a former ambassador and retired IFS official, said the Central and state governments were neglecting the welfare of these workers.

Thousands of migrant workers from Telangana are in jails in the Gulf. The state government should provide legal aid and other assistance to them immediately, he said.

CITU leader M. Saibabu said NRI affairs minister K.T. Rama Rao was not concerned about the problems workers in the Gulf face.

The families of five Gulf workers are seeking government assistance in getting their kin released from jails but the minister did not initiate any action. The government provides pension to beedi workers but exploits them in minimum wages. As per rule, they should get a minimum wage of Rs 260 but the government gives them only Rs 160 per day. The Rs 100 per day saved on wage is leading to a cumulative gain of hundreds of crores per month, he said.

Mohd. Ali Shabbir Ali, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, wondered why the government had not come up with an NRI policy in the three years the TRS has been in power. It is not sanctioning funds to minority department too. I wrote many letters to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and KTR but there was no response, he said.

He said the Congress initiated welfare of Gulf workers during the period of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. We reduced their harassment by Customs Department at airports. We brought back 1,260 Gulf workers to Telangana bearing fare charges and penalties in Gulf countries. We also introduced a special wing for migrant workers with a corpus fund of Rs 4.5 crore. Where is the Rs 500 crore that was promised by KCR?, Mr Shabbir Ali said.

CPI leader Gunda Mallesh criticised the chief minister, stating that earlier he worked as an agent in supplying manpower to Gulf countries. He knew their problems and what the workers really want. The government is failing to control fake agents, he said.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Uttam Kumar Reddy has announced his partys strategy for 2019 elections on Gulf issues.

He promised Gulf workers and their families that the party would release Rs 100 crore per annum in the budgets for the welfare of Gulf workers if voted to power in 2019.

We shall provide `5 lakh ex-gratia to families of Gulf victims. Thousands of workers are falling sick due to adverse working conditions in Gulf countries and many of them return home due to ill health. There are several cases where migrant workers died within months after returning from Gulf countries. We promise that `5 lakh ex-gratia will be paid to the families of workers who die within a year of returning home. We will also introduce comprehensive social security for migrants, including life insurance, accident insurance, health insurance, pension besides return and resettlement package. The package will be drafted on the lines of Kerala and Punjab. We will fully activate the NRI Department, he said.

Raising concerns over the death of Telangana workers in the Gulf, Mr. Uttam said, Statistics reveal that on an average, five coffins arrive from the Gulf countries every day. This emphasises the seriousness of the problem. The TRS, in its manifesto for 2014 elections, made many promises for the welfare of Gulf migrants but, not a single promise has been fulfilled so far. The condition of workers in the Gulf has gone from bad to worse.
The recent charges of corruption levelled by Kapil Mishra against Arvind Kejriwal, questioning the personal integrity of the self-proclaimed messiah of the anti-corruption crusade, adds to a list of controversies that the Aam Aadmi Party faces since it took office in Delhi two years ago. As the AAP seems to be collapsing under the weight of alleged misdeeds and controversies, one wonders what went wrong with the party and its firebrand leader, Mr Kejriwal, who had caught the nations imagination ever since the AAP was launched in November 2012. There seems to be major structural deficiencies within the party, glaring contradictions in its polity and style of functioning.

Its an undisputed fact that the AAP begins and ends with Mr Kejriwal. Anyone daring to question him must go. If just after coming to power, some founding members like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan are humiliated and shown the door, it not only shows the AAPs inability to absorb dissent, but also raises questions on the sanctity of principles like internal democracy and transparency in decision-making  the fundamentals on which the AAP was formed.

Personality cults are nothing new in Indian politics. Such cults grew around late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, as well as current PM Narendra Modi. There are also regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee and the late J. Jayalalithaa. However, a cult grew around these leaders only after they had been in politics for years, with substantial political or administrative achievements to showcase. Indira Gandhi had her moment of triumph in the Bangladesh liberation war, and again her glorious re-emergence after the post-Emergency debacle. Mr Modi had his Gujarat model of development to showcase, whether real or perceived is another matter. Ms Banerjee had to fight on the streets of West Bengal for over 25 years to demolish the Left Front. Jayalalithaa was a AIADMK general secretary and Rajya Sabha member before she took control of the party and introduced her own brand of politics with populist pro-poor schemes like the Amma canteens. While Mr Kejriwal could identify and ride on the peoples anger against the perceived corruption of the incumbent government in particular and the functioning of traditional parties in general, his cult was developed on the basis of hope; not on past achievements, but on the promise of future delivery. But after taking office, he could not deliver on his promises and meet voters expectations. Mere rhetoric cant sustain a personality cult for long. The bubble was bound to burst sooner rather than later.

Mr Kejriwals ambitions seem to march ahead faster than his ability and experience as a political leader and administrator. He had his Veni, Vidi, Vici moment in Delhi. But to replicate that in other states, he needed far more than free wi-fi promises and a Rs 526-crore advertisement budget. Political parties need to have a solid grassroot organisation with strong local leadership, which is something that cant be built overnight. Effectively, there are only two national parties in India  the Congress and the BJP. The Congress is Indias oldest party, while the BJP had to struggle for years to reach where it has today. From 1984, where it had just two Lok Sabha seats and not a single state government, it has taken the party 33 years to reach its current position. The AAP lacks a solid organisational base and credible local leadership in the states where it wants to fight elections. It is working in reverse order; not giving enough time to build an organisation and local leadership and then fight elections, but first deciding on the states where it wants to contest, and then trying to gather followers, mostly a bunch of inexperienced opportunists. One cant win elections, as Mr Kejriwal hoped to do in Punjab and Goa, with imported leaders and volunteers from Delhi.

The AAP has not provided any vision or alternative ideology to replace the existing national parties. The sole agenda of anti-corruption cant substitute for a substantive political ideology. Anti-corruption should in fact be the one of the most basic and natural components for any political party. Which party would say its not against corruption? Its not the words, but deeds that count. In just two years, the allegations of corruption and nepotism now tumbling out of the AAPs cupboard put it at par with much older traditional parties.

Mr Kejriwals style of politics, that put him in power, is also now backfiring. The politics of confrontation might be suitable while in Opposition, it doesnt help in running a government. His personal attacks on political rivals, including the Prime Minister, indicate an intellectual inability to analyse, criticise or attack at policy levels. The constant blame game is an attempt to hide his inexperience and inability to govern. Lets not forget India has a federal system that allows different parties heading the Centre and various state governments to co-exist and govern. While parties may fight, there has to be cooperation and coordination between governments to ensure smooth governance. Delhi has a complex administrative structure, but earlier governments have functioned and delivered under these same complexities.

The chikungunya and dengue epidemics, the garbage strewn on the streets, the repeated strikes by government employees over non-payment of salaries, ceaseless controversies over forged degrees, nepotism, corruption charges against senior leaders, with the latest allegation being against Mr Kejriwal personally, the decline in revenue collection in past two years that puts Delhi in danger of becoming a revenue-deficit state from a revenue-surplus one, the constant bickering and blame games have punctured the myth of the AAPs good governance. The party seems to be collapsing like a house of cards under the weight of myriad controversies, internal rebellion and its own overambitious agenda. Only time will tell if its leader has the political acumen and ability to pull it out of the current mess, or whether the AAP will also follow many other erstwhile parties into oblivion and become a mere footnote in Indias contemporary political history.
As a dalit student from Maharashtra who became a Buddhist, my friend Chandan Kamble was curiously sceptical of Marxism. He was sinfully prankish and was never bereft of a wild observation about anyone. He was at his acerbic best when within earshot of a dyed-in-the-wool Communist. In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, its the other way around. The kindergarten lines were deliberately parcelled and farmed out depending on the moment, and Chandan was a practitioner of precision timing, like a jester in a serious play.

I have no idea where Chandan has disappeared. We were in the same hostel at JNU. A common JNU friend in Princeton said he last saw him years ago in a US university campus, possibly Harvard. Why am I suddenly thinking of the missing Mahar friend whose cryptic homilies on politics and Marxism, in particular, I indulged but disagreed with? A possible answer lies in the question itself.

Why did the Marxists shun dalits as dalits? They worked hard to get the dalit students priority in admission and so forth. Yet there was a pronounced aloofness at an intellectual level, a palpable snobbery. Or was it because B.R. Ambedkar had poured vitriol on Indian Marxists in his great work on the revival of the dalit cause? If that was so, why didnt any comrade woo the lowest in the caste heap to his or her side, ignoring or critiquing Ambedkar if they had a valid argument?

What puzzles me equally is the shocking ability of the BJP to woo dalits  in Gujarat, in Uttar Pradesh and so forth. It is perhaps this worry that has sent me cartwheeling into the past. Here is a perfectly casteist party, one that Ambedkar would have loathed. And his followers are today marching mindlessly into the Hindutva fold.

Of course, there is Chanakyas wily wisdom at play. Divide and rule, Emperor Chandraguptas brahmin counsellor had decreed, way before the advent of colonialism of any stripe. It worked in Uttar Pradesh last month. Jatav versus non-Jatav dalits; Yadav versus non-Yadavs among the OBCs; something similar with Muslims is afoot. Thats BJP. What about the Marxists?

Indian Marxists, like their comrades elsewhere, are a threatened species. The BJP is out to swallow their two remaining hubs  one in the tiny tribal state of Tripura and the other, of course, Kerala, the redoubtable Communist bastion. One should have thought that the BJP was a cause for serious worry. But the Marxists seem to have different priorities. They look keener to bring down the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, possibly in cahoots with the Congress. The BJP would be only too happy to let them do its dirty work.

The thought is horrifying for the sheer lack of sensitivity. The Marxists took a lead in fighting Indira Gandhis Emergency, and they were a source of strength to the movement that ended in the Janata Party experiment. The experiment included the BJP then called the Jan Sangh. And the first thing that the Janata Party government did was to ban school textbooks on history that were authored by Romila Thapar, R.S. Sharma and Bipan Chandra.

Any sane observer of the unfolding Indian scenario would feel it is time all Opposition parties came together as they once did against Indira Gandhi. What is happening instead is that one by one the non-Congress and non-BJP governments, including the Left Front, are coming in the cross hairs of the Modi establishment.

It is worrying that the main Marxist groups  and not to forget the Congress  seem to believe that the threat posed to Indias democracy by the BJP is comparable with Ms Banerjees rule in West Bengal and Arvind Kejriwals in Delhi.

By arrangement with Dawn
The Centres anxiety to contain Maoists by deploying more security personnel and sophisticated technology is understandable. Its been a long-drawn battle against the ideologically-charged rebels, who like many militant groups worldwide have the advantage of using guerrilla tactics to strike at the enemy at will. The forces ranged against them are constrained by territory and a reluctance by local forces to take them on as aggressively. To give Central forces all help, electronic and personnel, is the least New Delhi can do even as it calls on Maoism-hit states to claim ownership of anti-Naxal ops. Using drones for surveillance might just make a difference.

The strategy must be twofold. Its as important to ensure the welfare of tribals in every way possible so that they get the benefits of development and realise the foolishness of giving the rebels tacit support in taking on the state. The reformation of hardcore guerrillas comes only with time, as experience worldwide has shown, whether in Colombia where FARC and ELN fighters surrendered after a recent peace accord, or Shining Path rebels in Peru, who ran out of steam over decades. The aggressive operation of flooding Sukma with commandos will only escalate the conflict. But does the Centre have a choice than to hit back after so many shattering losses in Chhattisgarh? Finding a way to open a channel for talks with the rebels is just as important. The governments at the Centre and in the affected states appear to be in for the long haul now.
Those you force down

Tie you down below

Those you force backward

Pull you back so

Rabindranath Tagores 156th birth anniversary was earlier this week. And these lines from his poem Durbhaga Desh (Unfortunate country) have been echoing in my head. Oh my unfortunate country, Tagore warned, when you deny some citizens their basic human rights, you disgrace yourself as much as you wish to disgrace them... We have failed to heed his warning.

Instead, we  after so many years of freedom, education, progress, international success and globalisation, with so much brilliance and wisdom  still love blatantly brandishing inequalities. Who is this we, you ask? We the privileged, of course. The underprivileged are hardly part of any dialogue.

So we are incredibly proud of our accidents of birth. Look at me, we purr, I am better than you because I was smart enough to be born a shade lighter than you, you dark-skinned creature. I am better than you because I was clever enough to be born into a powerful religion. What, you too? What caste? Eww! That low, is it? I got into the highest caste  cracked the code at birth. You couldnt, could you? Loser!

Look at me, see how I flaunt money. Cant afford it, can you? You are way down below in the pecking order, you little lump of nothingness, just stay there quietly and salute us from afar. Well let you know if we need your services. No, no, stay! Dont even attempt to come up here.

We are so worried about losing power that we spend most of our waking life honing our hating skills. Thats the only way to keep them  those we have marked out as the ugly other  in check. We must deny them rights and privileges. We must hate everything they do and must believe that we have a right to trample them underfoot because thats what we have done all these years, and that is the only way to keep them down there, which is our tradition and we must not let our forefathers down.

When we have worked out the mechanism of hating people within our own community we must turn our attention to hating people of other religious communities. The statistically insignificant are worthy merely of our scorn, the hatred we reserve for those with a little more presence. What if they grow and grow and become as big as us? So we must spread stories about how they hate us, these dirty traitors, these perilous people trying to destroy us all. We must keep our children away from them, and our women. Specially our women. The hateful traitors must not be allowed to contaminate our property.

Because we are proud Hindus. The days of simply being a Hindu are over, now you must be a proud Hindu  or face consequences. Anyway, as I was saying, we must protect our land and property. It would be best of course if we could simply cleanse our country of these dreadful non-Hindus  pack them off somewhere perhaps? Because we are, after all, members of a peaceful and tolerant religion.

Take the posters that sprung up recently in Jianagla village near Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, ordering Muslims to leave the village immediately. They were threatened with dire consequences if they did not. We also have anti-Romeo squads in UP to keep Muslims and their love jihad away from our gullible girls.

We proud Hindus kill Muslims only when provoked  like when we see a Muslim with a cow, for the cow is our mother and we must protect her. So in Rajasthan we lynch farmer Pehlu Khan as he takes home a cow he has just bought. In Jharkhand we thrash and hang to death cattle trader Mazlum Ansari and his neighbour Imteyaz Khan, a child of 13.

But its not just Muslims that we protect our cows from  we keep them safe from dalits too. We even save dead cows from dalits, who have a nasty habit of skinning dead cows. If we catch them at it, we beat them black and blue.

Of late dalits have become too bold, too unruly. We need to work harder at keeping them in check. Just look at some examples from last week.

In UPs Saharanpur, dalits had the audacity to ask the upper caste youth, who were taking out a boisterous procession, to turn down the loud music as they passed the local Ravidas temple. Naturally there was a fight. And in the snowballing violence an upper caste person died and 25 dalit homes were set ablaze, and everything in them, particularly their food, meticulously destroyed.

In Chhatarpur of Madhya Pradesh, young Prakash Bansal was on his way to his wedding, riding in a decorated car. But Bansal was a dalit  how dare he try to behave like an upper caste groom? So upper caste goons forced him out of the car and thrashed him and his family. Meanwhile in Udaipur, Rajasthan, a dalit groom Champalal Meghwal and his family were attacked by upper caste men who objected to the bridegrooms celebratory procession. A few days earlier, Kailash Meghwa, another dalit groom from Udaipur, had been badly attacked by upper caste men for daring to ride a horse to his wedding.

Around the same time, dalits of MPs Maada village were paying dearly for Chander Meghwals celebration of his daughter Mamatas wedding. Meghwal had taken police protection to keep the upper caste villagers at bay. So the groom came riding a bike, accompanied by a musical band, and they used the main road of the village  none of which is allowed for dalits. After the wedding was over dalits found that their well had been poisoned with kerosene. About 500 dalits were dependent on that well, and for days on end the dalit women of the village had to fetch water from far away.

We have honed our hatred to perfection, havent we? We fear transgression. And any attempt by a dalit to seek a better life is a transgression. Dalits must have their markers  like the spittoon they once carried around their necks  to identify them as the wretched of our earth. They must not touch our cultural symbols of well-being, for then they take away our power to lord over them.

And we fear equality. We fear an even-playing field. In short, we fear democracy.
With this tech, Microsoft wont have to manually remove any pirated content from its servers.

When it comes to software piracy, Microsoft has been the one to lose millions of dollars on each and every pirated copy of its Windows OS for over two decades. However, the Redmond giant has a weapon in its arsenal to wipe out piracy from its visionary platform  cloud computing.

In a recent patent filed by Microsoft, there is a mention of a tool limiting cloud features for a user marked as a repeated offender after trying to share pirated content with another person several times. With this tech, Microsoft wont have to manually remove any pirated content from its servers.

The patent describes that objects in a shared storage system can be marked as including prohibited content. Incidents that result in objects being so marked can be stored in an incident history associated with a user responsible for those objects. The incident history can be processed to identify repeat offenders and modify access privileges of those users.

However, as pointed by Softpedia, the patent was filed back in 2013 and the publication date is registered as 2015. Therefore, it seems that Microsoft had some time to develop it further and may have implemented some part of the tech into its cloud systems already. So, pirates, beware!

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
The new processors claims to offer higher LTE and WiFi speeds, better image processing that can support up to 24MP cameras, greater GPU performance and support for companys own Quick Charge 4.

Qualcomm has announced two new chips at its Snapdragon Tech Day event in Singapore. The new Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 660 mobile platforms are the successors to the Snapdragon 625 and 652 processors, which are used in devices such as the Moto G5 Plus.

The new processors claims to offer higher LTE and WiFi speeds, better image processing that can support up to 24MP cameras, greater GPU performance and support for companys own Quick Charge 4.

The latest chips are manufactured using a 14nm process, which Qualcomm used for its previously launched Snapdragon 820 and 821 processors. These chips are also capable of capturing and displaying 4K videos. Snapdragon 660-powered phones will be able to support 2,560 x 1,440-pixel QHD displays.

The new chips includes Qualcomms Spectra 160 premium camera ISP for improved photographic image quality for more natural skin tones, superior low light photography, as well as better power efficiency and higher throughput for dual camera smartphones. Also supported are features like smooth optical zoom, bokeh effects, dual pixel autofocus, and improved camcorder video stabilization.

Both chips feature a Snapdragon X12 LTE Modem, paired with the new SDR660 RF transceiver, which support downlink data rates of 600Mbps to the 600-tier lineup of SOCs. The Snapdragon 660 supports 2x2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi for twice as much data throughput and up to 60 per cent lower download power consumption as the Snapdragon 652.

On the performance front, the SD 660 features a 20 percent improvement in the Qualcomm Kryo 260 CPU and 30 per cent improvement in the Qualcomm Adreno 512 GPU performance, ensuring a better gaming and multimedia experience for end users. Both platforms support Qualcomm Mobile Security, which provides security focused hardware-based protection, user authentication and device attestation on the mobile device.

Both chipset can also be useful foe OEMs and developers to power immersive and engaging user experience with machine learning using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK.

Both the 660 and 630 support up to 8GB of RAM. The 660 has an eight-core Kryo 260 CPU and an Adreno 512 GPU, while the 630 has eight Cortex A53 cores and an Adreno 508 GPU. Qualcomm says the 660 is now shipping, while the 630 will ship later this month  there's no word on what devices are going to pick these up first. However, Chinese smartphone makers including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are expected to soon incorporate these chipsets on their devices.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Jan. 27, 1959  April 22, 2017

Dennis Dale Fryman was born in Stuttgart, Germany on January 27, 1959 to Jackie and Joann Fryman.

He passed away on April 22, 2017 from a sudden brain aneurysm with his family by his side.

Denny grew up in the Albany/Jefferson area and attended South Albany High School.

He fished the Bering Sea, worked on an Idaho ranch, spent time on Molokai, hunted, fished, had a love for aviation, road the dunes, wake boarded, and even recently became a Professional Ski Instructor of America.

Denny loved living life to its fullest, especially with his family. Dennys pride and joy was his wife and children and he wanted the world to know.

He loved the Lord with all of his might and took it upon himself daily to put Him first in his life. Denny attended Jefferson Baptist Church and taught Sunday school with his wife.

Denny owned D&C Welding and Maintenance, which will continue to be run by his children.

Denny impacted every life he came in contact with, even with just a smile. He greeted/parted most with a hug and I love you.

Denny will be missed by so many but has left his legacy in each of our hearts.

He will live on through his wife Cheryl; son Oscar; daughter and son-in-law, Rachel and Logan Idsinga; and adopted daughter Emilie Delemarre from France.

Its not what you know, its WHO you know!  Dennis Dale Fryman

Condolences may be posted online at www.fisherfuneralhome.com.
Clinton is collaborating with bestselling US author James Patterson on "The President is Missing" to be published in June 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company. (Photo: AFP)

New York: Bill Clinton might have hoped to spend this year back in the White House as America's "first gentleman," should his wife Hillary have won the 2016 election.

Instead, the two-term Democratic president is moving into fiction, writing his first thriller about drama behind the scenes in the White House, his publishers announced Monday.

Clinton is collaborating with bestselling US author James Patterson on "The President is Missing" to be published in June 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company.

The book "will offer readers a unique amalgam of intrigue, suspense and behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power. It will be informed by insider details that only a president can know," the publishers announced.

It is certainly the world familiar to the 70-year-old, one of America's most popular former presidents but whose eight-year administration was clouded by his 1998 impeachment over an affair with a White House intern.

"Working on a book about a sitting president -- drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works -- has been a lot of fun," said Clinton.

"And working with Jim has been terrific." The best-selling author of "Kiss the Girls" and "Along Came a Spider" has sold more than 350 million books and holds the Guinness World Record for the most number one New York Times bestsellers, his website says.

He called his Clinton collaboration "the highlight" of his career. "Having access to his first-hand experience has uniquely informed the writing of this novel," said Patterson. "I'm a story-teller and ex-president Clinton's insight has allowed us to tell a really interesting one."

Forbes values Patterson at USD 95 million, calling him publishing's richest and busiest penman who produces more than a dozen books a year with co-authors.

Clinton has written a string of books, including his post-office 2004 best-selling memoir "My Life."
US test of an intercontinental ballistic missile last week, Japans warning to citizens to prepare for a possible nuclear attack are proof that all signs are pointing to a major conflict between the US and North Korea, the group said in the video.

Washington: Hacktivist group Anonymous, a global network of hackers, in a chilling new video has urged people across the world to prepare for World War 3 as the US and North Korea continue to move strategic pieces into place for battle, a media report said.

All the signs of a looming war on the Korean peninsula are surfacing, the group says in the six-minute clip, posted on Youtube over the weekend.

Using their signature Guy Fawkes character, the hackers make several claims about recent military movements in the region and alleged warnings made by Japan and South Korea about imminent nuclear attacks from the North as they deliver their frightening war prophecy, The New York Post reported.

Watching as each country moves strategic pieces into place, the group says in their notorious robotic voice. But unlike past world wars, although there will be ground troops, the battle is likely to be fierce, brutal and quick. It will be also be globally devastating, both on environmental and economical levels.

According to Anonymous, President Donald Trumps test of the Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile last week, coupled with a recent warning from Japanese officials to citizens, telling them to make preparations for a possible nuclear attack, are proof that all signs are pointing to a major conflict between the US and North Korea.

China has also reportedly urged its citizens living in North Korea to return home.

This is a real war with real global consequences, the group explains. With three superpowers drawn into the mix, other nations will be coerced into choosing sides, so what do the chess pieces look like so far?

The group concludes the video with an eerie message for those watching around the world.

Prepare for what comes next, they say. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget, the Post report said.
Washington: A grieving mother has sued American Airlines for $10 million, alleging that she was forced to check in her carry-on luggage containing her daughters ashes which the airline then misplaced.

Iddy Pierre-Canel has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines claiming that she was forced to check in her carry-on bag on a flight from Baltimore to Tucson, Arizona, with her dead daughters ashes inside, which was then lost, NBC-affiliate KPNX-TV reported.

Ms Pierre-Canel said her daughter, Carm-Idrelle Casseus, 28, died after a battle with unspecified medical problems. She said an American Airlines employee insisted twice that she check in her bag while waiting at the gate on March 5, 2016. She was quoted as saying that she made it clear she was carrying her daughters ashes and wanted to keep them close.

When the plane took off, thats when I realised I didnt have my bag. They said, Oh, they checked your bag in, she said.

Ms Pierre-Canel said she remembers an employee picking her bags up, but she said she was under the impression they were helping her take the bags to her seat since she was distraught. Her attorney Lorraine Morey said her client was promised her bags would be the first off the plane. However, when she arrived to Tucson, her bag was nowhere to be found. American Airlines released a statement regarding the incident, saying, We apologised for losing the items and certainly are very sorry for her terrible loss. However, no urn was mentioned on that list.
A Thai forensics worker shields himself with an umbrella whilst inspecting the aftermath of a bomb attack in the town centre of Pattani (Photo: AFP)

Pattani: Suspected insurgents in Thailand detonated a car bomb Tuesday outside a busy shopping center in the south of the country, wounding more than 50 people in a huge blast that ripped the building apart and sent people running for their lives.

The attackers initially set off a small bomb outside the mall before triggering explosives planted in a pick-up truck at the shopping center's entrance in the city of Pattani, said police Capt. Preecha Prachumchai, who was investigating the blast. The military had earlier said the initial blast was firecrackers.

The explosion occurred at one of Thailand's Big C shopping centers, a major grocery and retail chain. Footage of the scene aired on Thai television stations showed a huge black plume of smoke rising skyward from the blackened building as rescue workers doused the flames and soldiers stood by.

Preecha said more than 50 people had been wounded. Pattani Hospital posted on its board of emergency room patients that 52 people were injured from the incident. No deaths have been reported.

Muslim separatists have waged a bloody insurgency for years in Thailand's three southernmost provinces, the only ones with Muslim majorities in the predominantly Buddhist country. More than 6,500 people have been killed since 2004.
The Prime Minister said it was important to hit this target given the pressure immigration had put on public services and those on lower incomes. (Photo: File)

London: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday vowed to stick to her partys pledge to cut the migration figures down to tens of thousands, evoking a strong reaction from Liberal Democrats who warned that her tough stand will damage ties with countries like India.

The Prime Minister said it was important to hit this target given the pressure immigration had put on public services and those on lower incomes.

The pledge to bring immigration below 100,000 will form part of her Conservative Partys manifesto for the June 8 general election.

I think that it is important that we do say and continue to say that we do want to bring migration to sustainable levels. We believe that is the tens of thousands, May said.

Once we leave the EU, we will, of course, have the opportunity to ensure we have control of our borders. We will be able to establish our rules for people coming from the EU. That is a part of the picture we have not been able to control before, she said.

Net migration, which is the difference between the number of people arriving into and leaving the country, stands at around 273,000 in the UK and the Tories have repeatedly missed their target of cutting that down to tens of thousands since it was announced in the general election in 2010 and then repeated in 2015.

There was widespread speculation over whether May would renew the pledge for this election and she chose to use Brexit as the reason to hold on to what has been described by Opposition parties as an artificial target which is impossible to meet.

Liberal Democrat party attacked the ruling Conservative party for its stance. The partys shadow home secretary, Brian Paddick, said Mays stand on the issue will damage ties with countries like India.

The leave campaign, many members of which are now in the Cabinet, made a clear commitment during the referendum campaign to lift visa restrictions on people from India and other Commonwealth countries, it is now clear that this is another leave lie, Paddick said.

Britains Asian communities are realising that these complacent, divisive and Brexit-style parties do not represent them and our increase of the vote to 18 per cent in last weeks local election demonstrates the Liberal Democrats are making significant inroads with voters up and down the country, including many Asian voters, he said.

Immigration is expected to be among one of the central issues in the campaign for the June 8 general election, with a related focus on Brexit.

The ruling Conservatives have promised new migration controls after the UK leaves the EU, when freedom of movement rules will no longer apply, but they have yet to set out the precise model they would adopt.

However, until the Brexit deal is finalised, any Conservative-led government in the UK is likely to continue tightening immigration norms for non-EU nationals from countries like India.

India is a key strategic partner for the United Kingdom and the British-Indian community contribute so much to our country. Liberal Democrat immigration policies will therefore seek to maximise the economic, cultural and social benefit of these relationships and welcome immigration as a blessing, not a curse, said Lib Dem leader Tim Farron.

Under former Prime Minister David Cameron, the level of net migration rose to a record 330,000, but May, then as home secretary in charge of immigration, refused to abandon the tens of thousands target.

Labour party MP Chuka Umunna, who is standing for re- election in the London constituency of Streatham, said keeping the target would be foolish.

He tweeted: The Tories persist in a migration target theyve never met and are unlikely ever to achieve. Just drop it.

Meanwhile, the far-right and anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP) outlined its own one in, one out immigration policy for the polls, which it claims will see the number of people coming to the UK cut from 600,000 a year to 300,000 a year, over five years.

Opposition Labour said it will unveil its own immigration policy next week.

The increasingly tightening immigration policies of the Tory-led UK government have already seen a major decline in figures of foreign students from countries like India coming to study at UK universities.

International students are good for London and good for the UK. They are indispensable for our universities, said Jessica Cole, head of policy at the Russell Group of top universities, as a warning against any further drop in numbers.
Ramallah: Mahmud Abbas said Tuesday Donald Trump was expected to visit the Palestinian territories "soon" and that he was ready to meet Israel's prime minister as part of the US president's peace efforts.

Trump is expected in Israel later this month as part of his first foreign trip and the Palestinian president said "we are looking forward to his visit soon to Bethlehem" in the occupied West Bank, with speculation it will occur on May 23.

"We told him that we were ready to collaborate with him and meet the Israeli PM (Benjamin Netanyahu) under his auspices to build peace," Abbas told reporters during talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Abbas met Trump in Washington last week for their first face-to-face talks. Trump announced last week that his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican -- the spiritual centres of Islam, Judaism and Catholicism.

The stop in Israel is expected on May 22, though it has not been officially confirmed. A senior Trump aide last week did not rule out the possibility of a presidential visit to the West Bank, but said that it was likely to be contingent on security and Abbas taking concrete steps toward peace.

Trump has been seeking ways to restart moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. As he hosted Abbas in Washington, Trump confidently predicted that a peace agreement was within grasp, brushing aside the complexities of a decades-old conflict that has bedevilled successive US leaders.

Embassy move

Abbas said Tuesday that "we told him again of our commitment to a peace based on justice, with international resolutions and the two-state solution as references."

Trump has however sent mixed signals over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He backed away from the US commitment to the two-state solution -- Israel and an independent Palestinian state side-by-side -- when he met Netanyahu in February.

He said he would support a single state if it led to peace, delighting Israeli right-wingers who want to see their country annex most of the occupied West Bank.

Trump also vowed during his campaign to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed city of Jerusalem, a prospect that alarmed Palestinians but which has been put on the back burner for now.

At the same time, he has urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

One of Trump's top advisers, Jason Greenblatt, held wide-ranging talks with both Israelis and Palestinians during a visit in March.
The nationality of the two other fatalities and the injured person was not immediately known. (File Photo)

Beijing: Ten South Korean kindergarten pupils and two others were killed when a school bus crashed and burst into flames in a tunnel in eastern China on Tuesday, officials and reports said.

The children were aged between four and seven and lived in the city of Weihai in Shandong province where the accident happened, a South Korean consular official in the city of Qingdao said.

The Weihai propaganda department said on a microblogging website that 12 people had died and another person was seriously injured.

Officials did not immediately give the nationality of the two others killed and the injured person.

South Koreas Yonhap news agency, citing its embassy in Beijing, said the two other fatalities were a Chinese child and the driver, while the injured person was a teacher.

The bus burst into flames in the tunnel at around 9:00 am, according to Xinhua news agency. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

An amateur video posted by the Peoples Daily on its Twitter account shows cars driving away from the bus, which was stopped near a wall as flames reached the tunnels ceiling. The videos authenticity could not be immediately verified.

The students attended a kindergarten affiliated with an international school that largely caters to South Koreans, according to Yonhap.

South Koreas Acting President Hwang Kyo-Ahn voiced grave sadness over the tragedy, which occurred as the country went to the polls to elect a news president.

Hwang told the foreign ministry to mobilise all diplomatic resources to handle the accident and keep the parents of the young victims informed of any developments.

58,000 road deaths

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced by police.

There were more than 180,000 traffic accidents and 58,000 deaths in 2015, authorities said in December.

The countrys frequently overcrowded long-distance buses are particularly prone to high fatalities.

Ten people were killed and 38 injured in March when a bus collided with a cement truck in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

At least 18 people were killed when a minibus plunged into a lake in the central city of Wuhan in December.

Last November, a pile-up on an expressway in the northern province of Shanxi killed 17 people and damaged 56 vehicles.
Colombo: Sri Lanka has started removing wasp nests in the central hill area of Dickoya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit later this week to avoid any possible attack by the insects.

The security units assigned with the provision of security to Prime Minister Modi is coordinating with the Hatton Superintendents of Police office and have obtained the assistance of the organisation for the protection of such insects.

The nests are being currently removed by the Hatton Police Directors Office following orders from police chief Pujith Jayasundera.

Police fear that helicopters carrying the VIPs could disturb multiple wasp nests in large trees in the vicinity.

Lankan authorities have taken measures to prevent any attack by these wasps that are now present in large numbers in the estate sector, official sources said.

Modi will travel to Sri Lanka on May 11 to attend the biggest Buddhist festival, Vesak Day, the next day.

The International Day of Vesak celebrations, to be held in Colombo from May 12 to 14, will include an International Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate.

He will inaugurate a well-equipped hospital in Dickoya built with the Indian assistance. He will later address a public rally at the Norwood grounds.

Both the Lankan leaders -- President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe -- are to accompany the Indian leader to the hill region.
Luo said that China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. (Photo: PTI)

Beijing: Soon, the day after Beijing proposed to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, to allay Indias concerns, it made a U-turn.

The portion of the speech made by Chinese envoy to India, Luo Zhaohui, which offered to rename the project, has been removed from the governments website on Tuesday.

Luo, in his address at the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi on Friday, had said that China is ready to change the name of CPEC passing through PoK. Luo while denying China's involvement in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan, said the CPEC is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity.

"It (CPEC) has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. Even we can think about renaming the CPEC. China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. China is sincere in its intention to cooperate with India on the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, as it is good for both of us," he said.

Citing China's earlier measures to help tackle issues related to Kashmir, Luo said contrary to media reports of aiding Pakistan, China's initiatives focus more on reaping its own benefits rather than supporting the stance of any other nation. "We always put China first and we deal with problems based on their own merits," he said.

It is not clear why the statement has been removed. According to a Hindustan Times report, the move came a week ahead of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs visit to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum (BRF).

The report said that there could be a possibility of Pakistan having raised an objection to the suggestion since the CPEC connects Kashgar to Pakistans Gwadar city.

It is also not clear whether Luo made the suggestion independently. The idea of renaming the corridor was to address Indias concern that the name violates its sovereignty since it passes through PoK.

The deletion of the line, however, clearly indicates that the CPEC will continue to impact bilateral ties between India and China. On Sunday, Pakistan and China agreed to jointly oversee the CPEC and ensure transparency in the project as an agreement in this regard was signed between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Beijing.

A combined initiative focusing on enhancing economic cooperation between China and Pakistan, the CPEC is being hailed to create 85,000 jobs for Pakistani youth. It is being facilitated to modernise infrastructure and transport networks in Pakistan through the creation of special economic zones and energy projects.

The initial proposal was made in April 2015 during Chinese President Xi Jinping's official state visit to Pakistan.

On April 20, 2015, Pakistan and China signed an agreement to commence work on the USD 46 billion agreement, with approximately USD 28 billion worth of fast-tracked projects to be developed by the end of 2018.
In this photo provided by the Pakistan Press Information Department, visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, meets with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prior to their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday asked Iran to avoid statements that could vitiate the environment of fraternal relations.

A foreign ministry statement said Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost was called to the Foreign Office to convey Pakistans concerns over the reported remarks of the Iranian Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces regarding cross-border actions.

It was conveyed to the Iranian Ambassador that such remarks were against the spirit of brotherly relations, the statement said.

Recently the exchanges had strengthened the bilateral cooperation and during the visit of Iranian foreign minister to Islamabad, the two sides had agreed to enhance cooperation.
LINN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

Monday afternoon arraignments:

Child abuse  Devin Andrew Shrum, 28, of Lebanon was charged with strangulation, third-degree assault and menacing. The crimes allegedly took place on April 23 and the victim was a child under the age of 10, according to court paperwork.

Domestic assault  Tony Bryan Bowman, 52, of Sweet Home was charged with felony fourth-degree assault (domestic violence). The crime allegedly occurred on Sunday. According to court paperwork, the victim was female and the assault was witnessed by a child.

Theft  Justin Michael OKeefe, 18, of Albany was charged with two counts of first-degree theft. Both crimes allegedly took place on Friday, and firearms were stolen, according to court paperwork.

Identity theft  Brennen Tyler Seplocha, 25, of Lebanon was charged with second-degree theft and two counts of identity theft. The crimes allegedly occurred in late April, and there was one victim. Seplocha also was charged with possession of methamphetamine, failure to appear on a criminal citation and two counts of first-degree failure to appear in a second case. The methamphetamine charge was from October 2015 and the failure to appears occurred between 2015 and 2017, according to court paperwork.

SWEET HOME POLICE

Theft charge  3:30 a.m. Saturday, 1500 block Tamarack Street. Savannah Kaylynn Nunn, 24, was booked, cited and released on a charge of first-degree theft. A caller reported that his house was broken into and his safe was entered.

JEFFERSON FIRE

Water assist  7:23 p.m. Saturday, 38400 block Densmore Road. A caller reported that he fell out of his kayak which was now gone. He and his friend were trapped on an island in the middle of the river. Jefferson fire personnel responded with a boat to assist the two subjects.


The campaign has focused largely on the economy, with North Korea less prominent, but after a decade of conservative rule a Moon victory could mean a sea change in Seoul's approach towards both Pyongyang and key ally Washington.



The 64-year-old -- who is accused of being soft on the North by his critics -- has advocated dialogue to defuse tensions and to bring it to negotiations, and is seen to favour more independence in relations with the US, Seoul's security guarantor with 28,500 troops in the country.



Seoul needs to "take the lead on matters in the Korean peninsula" and South Koreans should not "take the back seat", he said in a recent media interview. The North has carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.



Washington has said military action was an option, sending fears of conflict spiralling. More recently US President Donald Trump has softened his message, saying he would be "honoured" to meet the North's leader, Kim Jong-Un.



Moon has also said he would be willing to visit Pyongyang to meet Kim and advocated resumption of some of the inter- Korea projects shuttered by his predecessors, including the Kaesong joint industrial zone. But for many South Korean voters, corruption, slowing growth, unemployment, and even air pollution from China top the list of concerns.



South Korea's rapid growth from the 1970s to 1990s pulled a war-ravaged nation out of poverty but slowed as the economy matured, and unemployment among under-30s is now at a record 10 per cent.

South Koreans went to the polls today to choose a new president after Park Geun-Hye was ousted and indicted for corruption, and against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North. Voters have been galvanised by anger over the sprawling bribery and abuse-of-power scandal that brought down Park, which catalysed frustrations over jobs and slowing growth.Left-leaning Moon Jae-In, a former human rights lawyer, has held a commanding lead in opinion polls for months, with the final Gallup Korea survey before a week-long pre-election blackout giving him 38 percent support, followed by former tech mogul Ahn Cheol-Soo on 20 per cent."I feel the people's strong will to change the government... We can make it a reality only when we vote", Moon said after casting his ballot with his wife at a polling station in western Seoul. Hong Joon-Pyo, of Park's Liberty Korea party, who languished in third place in the 13-strong field on 16 percent, urged voters to support him, branding Moon as a "pro-Pyongyang leftist".Chung Tae-Wan, a 72-year-old doctor, cast his ballot at a polling station in the prosperous Seocho district of the capital. "I voted for Hong, as security (against North Korea) is the most important thing", he told AFP. Kim Kyung-Min, 24, said she cast her ballot in advance last week. "I was so disappointed in Park and the establishment", she told AFP, but refused to say whom she voted for.More than 139,000 voting stations opened at 6 am local time (2100 GMT) across the country under overcast skies, with turnout expected to hit a record high. Exit poll results will be available immediately after voting closes at 8 pm (11:00 GMT).
In a first of its kind order in Indian legal history, the Supreme Court on Monday held sitting Calcutta HC judge guilty of contempt of court and ordered him to undergo six month jail term. A seven-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar ordered West Bengal DGP to forthwith arrest Karnan. The court also restrained media from publishing statement or orders passed by Justice Karnan.



"Contempt is contempt...it has got no colour...we can't distinguish between individuals," the bench said, as senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the Madras HC, submitted that let Justice Karnan get retired before taking any action. Justice Karnan was transferred from Madras to Calcutta HC. He had then stayed the SC Collegium's order to transfer him.



The apex court' order was passed on Tuesday under Article 142 (extra ordinary jurisdiction) read with Article 129 (power of the SC to punish for contempt of itself) the Constitution. The proceedings against Justice Karnan saw many firsts. As it was the first time that a sitting judge faced contempt proceedings. It was again first time, the top court issued bailable warrants against him.



In its order, the bench noted that Justice Karnan had defied the apex court's orders repeatedly. He was given the maximum punishment in the Contempt of Courts Act. He had on Monday went on to pass orders awarding the seven judges of the apex court to five year jail term for violation of the SC/ST Act.



The apex court had earlier directed for medical examination of Justice Karnan to ascertain if he was fit to defend himself in the contempt proceedings initiated against him. The judge has been expressing disrespect to the apex court even since contempt notice issued to him on February 8. Justice Karnan had failed to appear before the top court to respond to the suo motu contempt proceedings initiated against him.



The court then had given him one more opportunity to respond to the notice issued on February 8. In case he does not choose to file a response on or before 8.5.2017, it shall be presumed, that he has nothing to say in the matter, the bench had said. Justice Karnan has consistently remained billigerant and defiant. He had called the seven judges as corrupt." He has been issuing directions and hold press conferences against the apex court judges after writing scurrilous letter to the Prime Minister.




Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port, being developed by China under a USD 46 billion economic corridor initiative, will have implications not only for India but also for the US, Iran and Gulf region, a former Pakistani envoy to the US has said.



"If China is going to take care of this or have its military and naval presence in Gwadar, its implications won't be just about India. It will also put them at the mouth of the Gulf. It will have implications for Iran, it will have implications for the Gulf, other countries. It will have implications for the US and its supply of oil and other trade with the Gulf countries," former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani has said. Haqqani said that Gwadar was always being conceived by Islamabad as a strategic military base.



The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking southern Pakistan, and the Gwadar Port, to China's restive Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. As it passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), India has raised objection to the project. "Pakistan doesn't have the resources to have a large Navy base. But then Pakistan's entire strategic outlook is related to India," Haqqani said, adding that that is the reason why Pakistan opposes UN Security Council reform.



"It's not because it really objects to adding new members to the permanent members to the Security Council. It doesn't want India to become the permanent Security Council member," he said. Samir Saran, Vice President of New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF) at a round table organised by The Hudson Institute, a top American think-tank said CPEC is a project where politics determines economic considerations.



Reiterating India's stand, Saran told the audience that part of the CPEC passes through PoK, which is a violation of India's sovereignty. At the same time, he warned that the economic aspects of the project would virtually make Pakistan subservient to China. As a result of this, he noted, China's rise will no longer be in the Asia Pacific region.



"It could also be in the Indian Ocean, in the Arctic, in the Atlantic Ocean, and in the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore any partnerships anyone in the world wants to stitch together to now balance and measure this rise will necessarily have to move to the mouth of the Gulf and have to move through the Indian ocean and the rest of the Indian ocean," Saran said.



Saran also said that given its economic strength, Pakistan is unlikely to pay back the financial assistance it is receiving from China. In fact it would have a tough time in paying USD 3 billion in annual repayment to China. And every time Pakistan would be unable to repay it, there would be fresh set of negotiation and the Chinese equity would keep on increasing in Pakistan, he said.



"CPEC is more political than it is economic in its very structure, in its very conception," he said. The CPEC which crosses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and ends up in the Gwadar port in Balochistan and for which Beijing has promised to pump in more than USD 46 billion is basically "colonising" Pakistan and "rebranding" it as an economic package, argued Prof C Christine Fair from Georgetown University, before a Washington audience last week.



Fair, alleged that Pakistan is headed towards becoming a colony of China through CPEC. "CPEC is colonising Pakistan and rebranding it as an economic package," she said during the round table discussion on 'The China Pakistan Economic Corridor: Regional Ramifications', organised by The Hudson Institute.



The discussion on CPEC ahead of the China-sponsored upcoming summit in Beijing issued a warning bell to the major global players and the three experts asserted that this is one project which if completed would tend to pose a major threat to American strategic interest in this part of the world as China does in the disputed South China Sea.


The Supreme Court today asked Mumbai's Haji Ali Dargah Trust to remove encroachments in a 500 square metre area in the historic shrine within four weeks, while lauding its efforts in this regard so far.



The apex court said if the encroachers failed to comply with the order to remove the encroachments by June 6, then the Joint Task Force (JTF) set up by the Bombay High Court will come into picture and begin the work of removing them from June 10 and complete the task by June 30.



A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar directed that the beautification plan around the shrine, built in 1431 AD, has to be placed on record before the apex court on or before June 30. It said the beautification plan prepared by the trust can be accepted and if required, the municipal council of Mumbai can make modification.



The council would also be at liberty to substitute it with another plan and in carrying out the above exercise the civic body can take assistance of a well-known urban heritage architect.



The bench said the sentiments of the people of the community should be kept in mind while carrying out the plans and posted the matter for further hearing on July 3.



The Haji Ali Dargah was constructed in 1431 in memory of a wealthy Muslim merchant, Sayyed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, who gave up all his possessions before making a pilgrimage to Mecca. The bench in its order noted that the instant order was in continuation of the order passed by it on April 13. It took on record the affidavit of compliance filed by the trust till May 8.



"We place on record our appreciation the endeavour of the Trust in complying with our order and the undertaking given by it on April 13," the bench said. It also appreciated the team of counsel and members of the Trust who participated in the entire exercise by providing input from time to time.



The bench noted that the perusal of the factual position depicted in the affidavit indicates that the encroachment has not been removed so far in small portion of 500 square metre.



Taking note of the fact, the bench said that it would be just and appropriate to direct the JTF constituted by the Bombay High Court to associate itself with others including representative of the Trust to verify factual position which has to be done within one week from today.



It said, "In so far as 500 sq mt area over which the encroachments still remain, we consider it just and appropriate to grant encroachers four weeks from today to remove the said encroachments on their own by June 6."



"We hope and expect that the trust will do good work in pursuading encroachers to remove the encroachments. Any remaining encroachments thereafter, will be removed by the JTF," the bench said. The Haji Ali Dargah Trust had on April 13 relented to the tough stand taken by the apex court against large scale encroachments around the historic Mumbai mosque and volunteered to remove them by May 8.



The offer to remove and demolish encroachments came after the apex court made it clear that only the mosque, located on an area of around 171 sq meter since 1931, would remain protected while rest of the area, measuring 908 sq meter, has to be cleared of squatters. The top court, which took a strict view of the issue, had observed, "Believers of religion would never support encroachment".



The trust had made the offer after the apex court said it has to come out with a stand on whether it supported the demolition of encroachments in the entire area, barring the 171 sq meter area where the mosque is "subsisting".



Appreciating the stand, the bench had allowed the trust asking it to complete the task on or before May 8 subject to the satisfaction of two authorities indicated in February 10 order of the Bombay High Court. The High Court had ordered the formation of a joint task force comprising the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and the Collector to remove illegal encroachments on the approach road leading to the Haji Ali Dargah.



The bench had also given liberty to the Trust to place for consideration before the apex court the beautification and architecture plan for maintaining the access and surroundings of the area. The bench had also made it clear that no other court other than the apex court will entertain the petition relating to the removal of encroachment around the shrine.



It had also said it will be open for any party desiring modification of its order to approach the apex court with an application in the pending petition. The bench had issued notice to Maharashtra government and its civic body on the appeal filed by the Dargah Trust against the Bombay High Court order.



The High Court had ordered formation of a joint task force comprising Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and Collector to remove illegal encroachments at the approach road leading to Haji Ali Dargah within three months.



The High Court was hearing a petition filed by Sahayak, a socio-legal and educational forum which sought immediate removal of the encroachments on the approach road to Haji Ali which is in the sea. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai was of the view that the land on the approach road to Haji Ali falls in the Collector's jurisdiction and therefore the Collector should remove the encroachments.
Four teachers in Kerala were on Tuesday suspended for getting a National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test candidate to remove her inner wear before letting her enter the test hall on Sunday.In Delhi, the Central Board of Secondary Education described the teachers as overzealous and promised not to put candidates through such humiliation again.TISK English Medium School suspended teachers Shafeena, Sheeja, Bindu and Shahina for a month. NEET is held across India to determine admissions to medical and dental colleges. Insensitive enforcement of dress regulations had triggered a furore on Sunday.The CBSE directed the principal of the Kannur school to tender an unconditional apology to the girl who had to discard her bra after a metal hook set off an alarm.Speaking in the Assembly, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the police would act against the excesses. Legislators from all parties condemned the incident in Kannur. Members of the CPM-affiliated Democratic Youth Federation of India took out a protest march to the school. On Monday, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission registered a suo motu case.Case near KochiPolice in Kuruppumpady near Kochi on Tuesday registered a case based on a complaint by Rajath, a candidate from Payyannur in Kannur. Invigilators had forced him to cut off his shirts long sleeve. NEET guidelines say candidates in full-sleeved shirts and T-shirts cant take the test.Schools defenceJalaluddin, the principal of the school where the girl had to take off her bra before she could write the test, told DH she was only informed she wouldnt be allowed in, and not told to remove her inner wear.This medical seat aspirant wasnt the only one facing insensitive invigilators.Students wearing jeans were made to snip off pockets with metal buttons, and those in long-sleeved tops had to cut off their sleeves.The CBSE acted swiftly to control the damage caused by dress regulation excesses, especially in Kerala.The incident reported at TISK English Medium School, Kovvapuram, Kannur, is very unfortunate and apparently due to... (a) few overzealous female frisking staff, the CBSE said.
The US plans to ramp up its troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,000 as part of President Donald Trump's new strategy to defeat the Taliban and Islamic State militant group.



Ahead of the expected release of the Af-Pak plan, the White House yesterday said Trump wants to have a winning strategy in the war-torn country.



The new strategy, which has the backing of top Cabinet officials, would authorise the Pentagon, not the White House, to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and give the military far broader authority to use airstrikes to target Taliban militants, The Washington Post reported.



Trump is expected to make a final call on the strategy before a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels that he plans to attend. "The new strategy would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of US military advisers on the battlefield," it added.



"The new strategy is a product of the US military's mounting worries that the fragile stalemate with the Taliban has been steadily eroding for years, jeopardising the survival of an allied government and endangering a key US base for combating militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State throughout South Asia," the report said.



Stating that Trump's most military and foreign policy advisors have proposed a major shift in its strategy towards Afghanistan, the report said the plan envisions an increase of at least 3,000 US troops to an existing force of about 8,400.



The US force would also be bolstered by requests for matching troops from NATO nations. According to the report, the increase in US troop level and aid to Afghanistan would be conditioned upon the efforts of the Ghani Government in Kabul to fight against corruption and improve governance.



Trump, who is having a series of meetings with his top national security advisors including his national security advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster is yet to give his approval to the strategy, the daily said. In a similar report, CNN said both McMaster and the Defence Secretary James Mattis favour troop increase in this war ravaged country.



"The same source said Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his small contingent of nationalists are expected to push back when those recommendations hit Trump's desk," the news channel reported.



At the same time, the strategy would retain the previous administration's reconciliation policy with the Taliban.



Meanwhile, the White House asserted that Trump wants to have a winning strategy in Afghanistan. "I think he (Trump) wants to make sure that we do what we can to win. That's why he charged the generals and other military advisors and national security team to come up with a plan that can get us there," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference.



Trump wants to defeat both the ISIS militant group and Taliban in Afghanistan, he said. "It's to make sure that we put our national security interests first, and defeat all of those folks that seek to do us harm," he said in response to a question.



The US President is receiving a plan and guidance from his national security team as he had asked form, he said adding that that guidance is coming forward. "He's continued to meet with them," he said.



According to Spicer, Trump not only wants to defeat the ISIS and Taliban, he also wants make sure that the US protects its people in a responsible and smart way.



"He has talked about not projecting where he's going and what hes going to do to let the enemy know ahead of time...How do we achieve those key outcomes? How do we do what's in the country's best interest and utilise our military and our treasure to the best of our ability? That is something that we're continuing to work on and do, and thats part of what he is getting briefed on and is implementing," Spicer said.



US troops are stepping up attacks on an extremist group considered an Islamic State affiliate in the country. The three most recent US deaths in Afghanistan were in combat last month against the IS affiliate, which also was the target of a US airstrike on April 13 using the "mother of all bombs".
Social activist Anna Hazare today said he would sit on an agitation to demand the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal if the allegations of corruption against the Delhi chief minister were proved.



Hazare, however, also pointed out that former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra made the allegations of graft against Kejriwal only after he was sacked from the AAP dispensation.



"Whatever the former minister has said against Kejriwal, he said it only after his removal. If he was the minister when the alleged money exchange took place, why did not he alert the authorities?" the anti-corruption crusader asked.



"I think there should be a thorough investigation in this case. If Kejriwal is found guilty then I will personally sit on an agitation at Jantar Mantar and demand his resignation," Hazare said at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.



The activist had earlier said he was pained to see Kejriwal, his "former colleague in the anti-corruption crusade", facing allegations of accepting money.



Mishra had on Sunday accused Kejriwal of taking Rs two crore from a Cabinet colleague, a charge refuted by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.



The allegation by Mishra, who was sacked from the AAP dispensation on Saturday night, came amid growing rumblings in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).



Mishra today filed three complaints with the CBI against Kejriwal, minister Satyendar Jain and AAP leaders who allegedly misused party funds on foreign trips.



The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was yesterday suspended from primary membership of the AAP, also threatened to launch a hunger strike tomorrow if details of foreign visits by five AAP leaders are not made public by the party.



Mishra said he filed complaints with the CBI over the exchange of Rs 2 crore between Jain and Kejriwal, a Rs 50 crore land deal arranged for the CM's brother-in-law and five AAP leaders allegedly misusing party funds on foreign trips.
Stating that Maharana Pratap did not get his due place in history, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today urged historians to re-evaulate the contribution of the Rajput warrior.



"I am surprised that historians called Akbar as great but not Pratap. What shortcoming did they notice in Pratap that he was not referred to as 'the Great'," Singh said.



Addressing a public gathering after unveiling Pratap's statue on his 477th birth anniversary in Pali district of Rajasthan, Singh said the Mewar ruler was a true statesman. He scarified his throne and leisure and fought for self respect, presenting an exemplary example of valour, he said.



"I have no objection to Akbar being referred so but I would appeal to historians that a correct assessment of Pratap should be there in the history of the country, Singh said.



The minister also paid tributes to leaders who took part in the first war of independence in 1857 and said Maharana Pratap and Shivaji had inspired them. "Our historians made a huge mistake in not giving Maharana Pratap his due in Indian history and this error should be rectified, he said.



The statue of Maharana Pratap was unveiled at village Kharokada in Pali district, 280 kms from here.
An all-party meeting convened by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to discuss the Centre's proposal of forming a 'group of experts' on distress sharing of Cauvery river water, today decided to consult noted jurist Fali S Nariman on the issue.



Nariman heads the legal team for Karnataka on the Cauvery issue.



"Today, we have discussed the various pros and cons of the proposal of forming a group of experts and the special leave petition (SLP) pending before the Supreme Court which is coming up for hearing. Based on all these factors we have discussed (the issue)," Water Resource Minister M B Patil told reporters here.



"It was a unanimous decision that all opinions expressed in the meeting should be placed before Nariman and take a decision," he said.



The all-party meeting was attended by state home minister G Parameshwara, law minister T B Jayachandra, opposition BJP Leader Jagadish Shettar and JD(S) leaders Basavaraj Horatti and H D Revanna, among others.



On February 2, the secretary to the Union Water Resources Ministry had communicated to the state government on the Centre's proposal to constitute an expert's group on Cauvery basin management and had sought its concurrence for the same.



The constitution of group of experts was also discussed at the Cauvery Supervisory Committee meeting on February 17, and again on March 30. The Central Water Commission, through a letter, had sought the views of the states concerned in this regard, to deal with the issue of distress sharing of Cauvery river water.



Shettar told mediapersons that the advantages and disadvantages of constituting the group of experts should be looked into, in consultation with Nariman. He said, "We have given the Chief Minister the authority to consult Nariman and a legal team and to take a decision based on their opinion."



Asked about the present water situation in the Cauvery river basin, Patil said, "As we had said, we have water till June 30. We will be able to give water to Bengaluru, Mysuru and nearby villages and towns till June 30."
MILLERSBURG  The Oregon Department of State Lands has issued a cease-and-desist order regarding a third subdivision that may be under construction in a wetland area in this small town.

The stop-work notice was issued Thursday to Millersburg Land and Development LLC, which is building the 34-house Sweetwater Estates neighborhood north of 54th Avenue and west of Umpqua Lane.

The agency received a complaint call regarding the construction of homes in a wetland area on May 2, wrote Kirk Jarvie, southern field operations manager for DSL.

We have determined that unauthorized wetland impacts are continuing to occur on the property in the area where a wetland delineation map was approved by DSL in 2015, Jarvie wrote, in an email to local officials.

The subdivision already has utilities in place including water, sewer and electric. They were going to install the roads on Monday, said Steve Hasson, Millersburg city manager.

Sweetwater Estates wasnt as far along in development as the two previous subdivisions the state issued stop-work orders on in April. Eagle Nest and Woods Estate already had roadways and sidewalks in place.

Hasson said that with Sweetwater Estates, the previous owner had worked with the Department of State Lands to identify wetlands on site and where construction could occur. The new owner was following those guidelines, he added.

Jarvie, in an interview on Monday, said he didnt know for sure if the developer was in violation of that agreement. There was enough concern there that they may have been over or into the wetland line, he said.

With the Eagle Nest and Woods Estate subdivisions, the latter of which is also owned by Millersburg Land and Development LLC, the city approvals were based on federal wetland maps. Many Oregon cities and counties rely on those federal maps to issue building permits, but the Department of State Lands says they are incomplete as they dont assess agricultural areas.

But this situation was different.

Because there is that approved map, it makes resolution much easier. There is that line, Jarvie said.

Hasson also pointed out that Sweetwater Estates didnt rely on the city like in the other two instances.

This whole thing was orchestrated in concert with DSL, and they followed what DSL wanted them to do and then they started developing it, Hasson said.

All of the developers now, contractors, electricians are calling me up and saying, Were afraid to do anything. Its absolutely not right.  If the whole area has a pox on it, why dont you just come out and tell us, he said.

Hasson worried about the impacts of home prices, and wondered whether State Lands would swoop down on other communities.

Jarvie said his agency hasnt heard that sort of feedback from developers.

Despite the cease-and-desist orders, construction has continued in some areas of the three subdivisions, away from the edge of the wetlands.

We have allowed certain work to continue, Jarvie said.

The state has sent proposed agreements to the developers of Woods Estate and Eagle Nest, which establish a timeline to complete forensic wetland delineation work, ask for wetland mitigation plans and set out reduced penalties.

For Woods Estate, the reduced penalty would be $2,000, while the reduced penalty in the proposed agreement for Eagle Nest is $1,000.
Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram and former union minister Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday dismissed a television channels expose on the 2014 death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar as a series of lies and distortions and an attempt to exploit a personal tragedy.



Speaking to reporters here, Tharoor said he has been cooperating with the police on investigation in the case and had nothing to hide. Let the police conclude their work, go to the courts and let the courts come to a conclusion, he said. Tharoor, while endorsing the medias role as a witness, maintained that it did not have a role of being prosecutor, judge and executioner.



Later, he tweeted: Pathetic2see the depths2which some will sink2attract TRPs. I have nothing to hide from the police&the courts but nothing to say2such people.



The private channel on Monday released a series of recorded mobile phone conversations with Tharoors aides that it claimed pointed to discrepancies in evidence collected ahead of the investigation. Soon, the MP hit back at the channel challenging it to prove the false claims in a court of law. He also termed the reportage an exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies.
The Karnataka Government today said it has granted Rs 10.70 crore to 26 startups in the BioTech sector to bolster innovation.



The 26 winners of the Idea2PoC (proof of concept), an initiative organised by the Karnataka Startup Cell, received cheques ranging upto Rs 50 lakh (each) in the first tranche from IT, BT & Tourism Minister, Priyank Kharge here.



The Department of IT and BT will support these startups to develop ideas, technologies and products which can have significant impact on the lives of people, a release said.



"Idea2POC offers entrepreneurs a holistic support system to explore, develop and launch their best ideas.



The scheme is designed to identify, mentor and fund enterprising Biotech startups in Karnataka who can create a deep social impact on the lives of people of Karnataka," Kharge said.



Idea2PoC was implemented by the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC), set up by Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) to nurture and promote startups in the field of biotechnology.



The Department of IT, BT said it intends to not only support with funding, but also become partner in their journey.
Abducted Indian Catholic priest Fr Tom Uzhunnalil has appealed for help in his release in a new video posted on a Yemeni website. Fr Uzhunnalil was abducted by unidentified gunmen in Aden in the Republic of Yemen, in March 2016.



In the video, the priest appears with a strip of cardboard with the date 15-4-2017 written on it. He said in the video that his captors were treating him well to the extent they are able. The priest, a native of Ramapuram in Kottayam district, appears weak and said measures initiated for his release by the Government of India and the Bishop of Abu Dhabi had fallen short.



My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible, he said in the video. The priest said though his captors had contacted the authorities several times, the response was not encouraging. Neither the Bishop nor the Indian government asked them what they really want to get me released, he said. Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj had earlier stated that rescue efforts were on and the priest was safe.



Fr Uzhunnalil requested the members of his family to do whatever they could do for his release. In December 2016, he had made a call for help and alleged apathy from the Government of India and the Church, in a video. Im from India and therefore, I perhaps am not considered of much value, he said.



The 57-year-old Salesian priest from the Province of Bengaluru was abducted on March 4, 2016 after gunmen attacked a Missionaries of Charity convent and nursing home for the elderly, killing 15 people including four nuns. He was deputed at the church of St Francis of Assissi in Aden.




Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan's party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir.



Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan has been demanding resignation from Sharif for alleged corruption.



PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", The Express Tribune reported.



The PTI does not possess substantial evidence to fortify its case except for some interviews and excerpts from a book 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, wife of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was brutally murdered in 2010 by Pakistani Taliban.



"Relying on the revelations made in certain interviews and a book, PTI intends to open up a shady chapter in the country's political history from late 1980s in an apparent bid to further malign Sharif," the report said.



The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took money, amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from former al-Qaeda chief Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, the report said. They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said.



However in 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak  who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)  had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989.



In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said. Chaudhry, meanwhile said, "In the past, Sharif remained an active part of several conspiracies against the elected governments".



Last week, the PTI announced to open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case which determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party. He said the two cases would be filed this week.
A grieving mother has sued American Airlines for USD 10 million, alleging that she was forced to check in her carry-on luggage containing her daughter's ashes which the airline then misplaced.



Iddy Pierre-Canel has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines claiming that she was forced to check in her carry-on bag on a flight from Baltimore to Tucson, Arizona, with her dead daughter's ashes inside, which was then lost, NBC- affiliate KPNX-TV reported.



Pierre-Canel said her daughter, Carm-Idrelle Casseus, died 28-years-old after a battle with unspecified medical problems.



Pierre-Canel said an American Airlines employee insisted twice that she check in her bag while waiting at the gate on March 5, 2016.



She was quoted as saying that she made it clear she was carrying her daughter's ashes and wanted to keep them close.



"When the plane took off, that's when I realised I didn't have my bag. They said, 'Oh, they checked your bag in,'" she said.



Pierre-Canel said she remembers an employee picking her bags up, but she said she was under the impression they were helping her take the bags to her seat since she was distraught.



Her attorney Lorraine Morey said her client was promised her bags would be the first off the plane. However, when she arrived to Tucson, her bag was nowhere to be found.



American Airlines released a statement regarding the incident, saying, "When we need customers to gate check a bag, we always ask for customers to remove all valuables and important documents. Had we known there were cremated ashes in the bag, we would have had her remove them or found a place for the bag."



"We apologised for losing the items and certainly are very sorry for her terrible loss. A spokesperson for the airline also said Pierre-Canel created an itemised list of what was in that bag," the statement said.



There was an estimated USD 24,000 worth of belongings in the suitcase, but no urn was mentioned on that list.



Morey said that was simple because there was no way to assign a dollar value to her daughter's remains.

The airline returned Pierre-Canel's suitcase 19 days after losing it, but the ashes were not inside.



"I went through it. I was screaming. I was hurt. I wanted to die, because I felt that I failed my child," she said.



The lawsuit, filed on March 17 of this year is for USD 10 million, the report said.

Just last week, American Airlines was hit with another passenger lawsuit.



Australian Michael Anthony Taylor filed a lawsuit seeking 100,000 dollars in damages, claiming he was crushed by two overweight passengers on either side of him on the flight.


Axed Delhi minister Kapil Mishra's complaints of corruption against Delhi government functionaries will be "examined and verified", the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said today.



In a statement, CBI Spokesperson R K Gaur said the agency had received three complaints from Mishra, former Water and Tourism minister, with allegations of bribery and other irregularities against National Capital Territory functionaries and others.



The CBI would examine the complaints, Gaur said.
Close on the heels of the Supreme Court confirming the death sentence for four convicts in Delhis Nirbhaya case, a special court in Pune on Tuesday awarded capital punishment to three men who had kidnapped, looted, gangraped and murdered Nayana Pujari, a software professional.



Additional sessions judge L L Yenkar, who presides over a fast-track court Shivajinagar in Pune, sentenced to death Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam, who on Monday were found guilty under sections 376 (rape) , 302 (murder), 120B(criminal conspiracy) 361 (kidnapping) along with several other counts of Indian Penal Code.



The fourth accused, Rajesh Chaudhary, had turned an approver and pardoned.



It was the most brutal crime. The victim was abducted, gangraped and murdered. It falls in the category of the rarest of the rare case and hence capital punishment be given, special public prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar said.



The defence lawyers  B A Alur, Ranjit Dhomse-Patil and Ankush Jadhav  seeking a lower sentence, argued that the accused-turned-approver was also guilty in the matter and should be given the same punishment. We would move the higher court, they said.



The case dates back to 7 October, 2009, when Nayana (28) - a software engineer with IT firm in Kharadi was reported missing and two days later on 9 October, 2009, her body was found in the Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.



The accused was kidnapped and raped inside the car. They even robbed her of Rs 61000 using her ATM card. She was in the car for six hours and she was murdered and her body dumped. The suspects even smashed her face using a huge boulder to destroy the evidence.



The case was delayed for multiple reasons. One of the accused, Raut escaped while being escorted to the Sassoon Hospital here on 17, September, 2011, for treatment. He was later re-arrested from Shirdi after 20 months. As many as 37 witnesses were examined during the trial.
A grieving husband in the UK has revealed how he slept in the same room as his wife's body for six days after her death to challenge the people's attitudes towards dying.



Wendy Davison, 50, died at home in Derby last month after a 10-year battle with cervical cancer.

Russell Davison, who has been left "heartbroken", said he did not want her body to go to a mortuary and he wanted to challenge attitudes towards dying.



It is legal to keep a body at home and Derbyshire Coroner's Court confirmed that Wendy's doctor had reported her death, the BBC reported.



Russell said: "Death seems to be such a taboo subject in our society, no-one seems to want to talk about it. "I did not want her in the mortuary or handed over to a funeral director, I wanted us to take care of her ourselves at our family home, have her in our bedroom so I could sleep in the same room."



When Wendy was diagnosed shortly after the couple's joint 40th birthday party in 2006, they decided to take a "natural" approach to her healthcare. "We were not prepared to hand her life over to doctors. We wanted to do our own research and do the very best job we could to keep Wendy alive," he said.



He believes their approach, which included refusing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, extended Wendy's life "by a very long time". In 2014, Wendy was given six months to live, so the pair went travelling across Europe, where they had "the absolute time of our lives".



But last September, they were forced to return home when her pain became too bad. She received hospice care at the Royal Derby Hospital but they were determined she would not die there.



The pair decided she would be cared for at home by family and her body would remain there until her cremation. She died on April 21. "Wendy died very peacefully, fully sedated, in no pain, in mine and Dylan's arms with our ever faithful dog Elvis snuggled up right next to her too," Russell said.



He said it was a "beautiful and comforting experience" to have family and friends over to see her during that time.



Contentious trusts and probate lawyer, Jak Ward, from Derby-based Smith Partnership, said it is not an offence to keep a body at home until the funeral as long as a death is reported and registered. "Historically people would die at home and the body would be kept until the funeral," he said.
Stating that the personal laws could not over and above the constitution, the Allahabad high court on Tuesday ruled that any fatwa against the legal system has no meaning and practice of triple talaq is a violation of the constitution.



A single judge bench of justice S.P.Kesarvani gave the ruling while hearing a petition filed by the husband of a Muslim woman seeking quashing dowry harassment case against him on the ground that he had already given her divorce through triple talaq and had also obtained a 'fatwa' (religious decree) declaring that the divorce was in accordance with the 'shariat' (Islamic Law).



''Any fatwa, which is against the legal system, has no meaning,'' the court said.The bench said that there could not be a violation of the fundamental rights of the Muslim women in the name of personal laws.



''A man cannot give divorce to his wife in a way that violates the right to equality and life,'' it said. A man Aqueel Jamil had filed a petition in the high court seeking directive to quash the dowry harassment case registered against him by his wife.



Jamil had contended that he had already divorced his wife and had also obtained a 'fatwa' from an Islamic seminary in Agra.



All India Muslim Board (AIMPLB), the apex body of the Muslims in the country said here that courts should refrain from interferring in the religious matters. ''The constitution has guaranteed every citizen religious freedom,'' remarked a Board member here.



The Board had in its recent executive committee meeting said that the practice of triple talaq was proper and in accordance with the 'shariat' though it had appealed to the Muslims not to resort to the same.



BJP leaders, including prime minister Narendra Modi, have expressed their opposition to the practice of triple talaq. The issue of triple talaq was currently pending in the supreme court.


The BJP, a partner in the Jammu and Kashmir government, today disfavoured any dialogue with the separatists, saying that talks on addressing the Kashmir issue should take place only with those who "accept the Constitution of India".



The party's state unit president Sat Sharma also said that the Agenda of Alliance (AOA) with PDP, which envisages talks between the Centre and all stakeholders of the state, will be implemented over a period of time.



Sharma, who was here to preside over a convention of party workers, noted that the AOA is a roadmap for the coalition government's tenure of six years, of which only two-and-a-half-years have passed.



"As far as talks are concerned, whether the Prime Minister or anyone else has talked about this issue, I think the talks about Kashmir should happen only with those who accept the Constitution of India and you will see with the passage of time that such an atmosphere will be built," Sharma told reporters here.

The PDP has been batting for talks with the separatists.



Sharma was asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would follow the footsteps of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose government had held talks with even the separatists.



"Obviously, Atal ji tried to make India a good country, now Modi is improving it... If this (talks offer) comes from the Centre, then it must be after thorough deliberations.



"As far as the state unit of the BJP is concerned, I feel that talks should happen only with those who accept the Indian Constitution and talk within the constitutional limits," he replied.



He said the Agenda of Alliance was framed keeping in view the needs of the two regions -- Kashmir and Jammu.



"It has been framed for six years. Only about two-and-a- half years have passed since the formation of the government. So it will be implemented and other things, which will take J&K towards development and good governance, will also be implemented," the BJP leader said.



Referring to the recurring incidents of stone-pelting and protests in the Kashmir Valley, Sharma said the civil society should come forward so that the youth focus on their education.



The state government as well as the Central government are keeping an eye over it.

"I think our media, intelligentsia and civil society should come forward if we want such an atmosphere in Kashmir where the students can compete with those in Bengaluru, Mumbai or Delhi.



"They should come forward so that our youth move towards proper development," he said. When pointed out that the educated youth of Kashmir were joining the militant groups, he said the government is serious on the issue and there are no two ways about it.


An SSB sub-inspector and a suspected NDFB (S) militant were today killed in an encounter in the Chirang district of Assam.



Officials said Sub-Inspector Amal Sarkar was killed after a joint team of the 156th battalion of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Army and local police engaged in a gunbattle in the forests around Manas wildlife sanctuary in the district around 2:30 PM.



They said an unidentified militant of the banned militant group NDFB (S) has also been killed in the encounter. The troops had embarked on operations early in the morning and the incident spot is near the Dhaula border post of the SSB, the paramilitary that guards the Indian frontier with Bhutan.



The security forces have recovered an INSAS rifle from the encounter site and efforts are being made to recover the body of the militant, the officials said.



"A cordon and search operation has been launched in the area by the joint forces," a senior officer said.

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) is responsible for many killings in the border areas of Assam and the security forces were out for a counter-insurgency operation when the encounter took place, they said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked the Muslims not to allow the triple talaq issue to be politicised and urged a leading organisation of the community to take the lead in initiating reform in this regard.



He made the comments while interacting with leaders of the leading Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind who called on him here. Welcoming the members of the delegation, the Prime Minister said that democracys greatest strength is harmony and amity, the PMO said in a statement.



Emphasizing that the government does not have any right to discriminate among citizens, Modi said India's speciality has been its unity in diversity, it added.



On Triple Talaq, the Prime Minister reiterated that the Muslim community should not allow this issue to be politicised, the statement said. He urged the delegation members to take the responsibility for initiating reform in this regard, the PMO said.



The delegation members appreciated the Prime Ministers stand on the issue of Triple Talaq, the statement said. Modi's remarks came against the backdrop of CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury saying that the Prime Minister's "campaign against triple talaq is a communal campaign".



Modi also said that the new generation in India must not be allowed to fall victim to the rising global tide of extremism. Praising Modis vision, members of the delegation expressed hope that the "nationwide trust" that he has among the people will ensure prosperity and well-being of all segments of society, the statement said.



They said that the Muslim community is keen to be an equal partner in the making of the 'New India', it said, referring to the ambition of the Prime Minister. Noting that terrorism is a major challenge, they expressed a common resolve to combat it with all their might, the PMO said.



According to the statement, they added that it is the Muslim communitys responsibility that under no circumstances should anyone compromise the nations security or well-being. They said the Muslim community would never allow any conspiracy against India to succeed.



Expressing concern at the situation in Kashmir valley, members of the delegation said that only Modi can resolve the issue. The delegation also appreciated the implementation of minority welfare schemes under the Union Government.



Welcoming the delegation, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said the whole world is looking at India and it is the responsibility of all segments of the Indian society to take the nation forward.



Leaders from the delegation agreed with him and said the objective should be to take the country forward, together, following the Prime Ministers slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (cooperation of all, development for all), the PMO statement said.



The delegation included Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman Mansurpuri, president of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind; Maulana Mahmood A Madani, general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i- Hind; Zahir I Kazi, president of Anjuman-i-Islam, Mumbai; Akhtarul Wasey; and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal.
With India yet to confirm its participation in the Silk Road summit to be held here, an article in a state-run Chinese daily has said that by skipping the high-profile meeting the country could miss out on a slew of benefits for its domestic economic development.



"India, the South Asian giant, is noticeably missing from the list of guests. That's not because India was not invited, but because it has been reluctant to join the initiative," the article in the Global Times said.



Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media here today that "as far as India's participation is concerned, some Indian scholars have registered to attend the high-level meeting during the belt and road forum. As the host country, China will warmly welcome all the participants including the scholars from India."



Twenty-eight heads of state and government including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are scheduled to take part in the summit to be held here from May 14-15.



India, which has already protested over the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it goes passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, so far has not confirmed its participation.



"By skipping the summit and maintaining its wary stance on the initiative -- which has drawn interest from more than 60 countries and is expected to reshape economic and trade relations in the Eurasian region -- India could miss a slew of benefits for its domestic economic development as well as an opportunity to take part in the reshaping process," Chinese officials and experts were quoted as saying.

They, however, said the door was "still open for India".



"India still appears to be reluctant to join the initiative, mostly because of political reasons. Some people in India think that the CPEC, a key element of the Belt and Road that passes through the Kashmir region claimed by both India and Pakistan, is a threat for its sovereignty issues, while others are worried that China wants to dominate trade in the region," the article said.



The Belt and Road initiative could help India address several pressing economic issues, including imbalanced trade with China and the need to find new markets for its growing manufacturing sector throughout South Asia and beyond, Wang Jun, an expert at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, was quoted as saying.



India's trade deficit with China, which has climbed to USD 52 billion "could definitely be solved through cooperation under the Belt and Road initiative," he said. "Through the Belt and Road, China can help India produce goods that are needed in the Chinese market and both sides can work on further expanding market openness," Wang said. More broadly, the Belt and Road initiative could open a larger market for Indian businesses, he said.
Snapdeals largest investor SoftBank is learnt to have moved a step closer to securing the consent of co-investor Nexus Venture Partners (NVP) for selling Snapdeal to Indias largest ecommerce firm Flipkart.



Japans SoftBank, which invested $1 billion since 2014 in Jasper Technology held ecommerce company Snapdeal, organised a meeting on Tuesday to end the impasse, said people familiar with the development.



Sources highlighted that valuation has been one of the hurdles in the deal, as Kalaari Capital and Nexus were not in agreement with the valuation given by SoftBank.



According to ecommerce analyst, the merger also will change the landscape of the ecommerce sector, where Amazon going ahead with its strategy to systematically bring on board more users.
A section of Karnataka Congress leaders has conveyed to the party top brass that it should not go in for a non-Dalit to head the state unit of the party ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls.



With talk that the party high command is scouting for a Lingayat leader to replace incumbent Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief G Parameshwara, a section of leaders has told Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi that it would not be politically prudent to remove the Dalit leader from the key post at this juncture.



Congress leader in the Lok Sabha M Mallikarjun Kharge, who met both Sonia and Rahul here, also discussed the issue with them. Kharge's meeting comes in the backdrop of speculation in the party circles that he may be replaced by senior leader from Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, as the leader of the party in the Lower House.



Kharge, who is also chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, a powerful parliamentary panel, is understood to have told the party top brass that he is not averse to taking up the assignment in the state to prepare the party for polls, which is due next year.

Besides, some Congress leaders who have been complaining that they have been alienated in the government headed by chief minister Siddaramaiah, also suggested that Kharge could be the right person to head the KPCC, to bring different factions together. Even Parameshwara, who is lobbying for his continuation, is learnt to have suggested Kharge's name, if he was removed from the post.



Water Resources Minister M B Patil, former minister S R Patil, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar and former Union minister K H Muniyappa are other contenders for the post. M B Patil, who had met both Sonia and Rahul some time ago, is learnt to have told them that he is willing to take up the responsibility if the party allowed him to continue as minister.



Before taking any decision, the party high command is likely to take the feedback from newly appointed AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, who is meeting leaders in Bengaluru, sources said.
On Day Two of his visit to Bengaluru, All India Congress Committee General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal had to face a barrage of complaints from state leaders on the lack of internal democracy in the party and the style of functioning of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.



Venugopal and his team of four secretaries  Manickam Tagore, Madhu Yashki Goud, P C Vishnunadh and Sake Sailajanath  held one-to-one interactions with ministers, MPs, legislators and other functionaries through the day on Tuesday.



The leaders are said to have told Venugopal that the Congress can retain power in the 2018 Assembly elections only if the party is strengthened at the grass roots and prominence is given to party loyalists.



Former minister H Vishwanath launched a no-holds-barred attack on Siddaramaiah after meeting the AICC team. The conduct of Siddaramaiah is not good. Many senior leaders are unhappy with his style of functioning. There is no coordination between the party and the government. Leaders are not allowed to express their views to the government. If the situation continues, many leaders are bound to quit the party, Vishwanath told reporters. He also submitted a three-page letter to Venugopal.



Vishwanath stated that he may be forced to quit the party because of the insults thrown at him by Siddaramaiah. Vishwanath is said to be instrumental in bringing Siddaramaiah into the party. He said that the thrill of being the kingmaker of making Siddaramaiah the chief minister is no longer there.



MLA Malikayya Guttedar said he had explained the internal problems in the party to Venugopal and his team. Justice should be rendered to those who have been loyal to the party. If I do not get justice then I will have to speak to the people of my constituency and decide on my next course of action, Guttedar said. Guttedar is unhappy because he has not been made a minister despite being a five-term MLA.



Former minister Sathish Jarkiholi urged Venugopal not to provide tickets to those who lobby. Give tickets to those who are capable of winning elections and not to those who hang out in New Delhi for weeks lobbying. Besides, announce the list of party candidates six months ahead of polls, suggested Jarkiholi stating that the tradition of issuing party tickets to candidates at the last minute should go.



A senior minister is said to have complained to Venugopal and his team against Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara for not ushering in unity in the party. He is said to have stated that Energy Minister D K Shivakumar is not suitable for the post and sought that Parameshwara be replaced by senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa came out in support of Siddaramaiah. He is a good leader and an able administrator. The party high command is in his favour, Mahadevappa said. Venugopal, however, refused to answer queries from reporters on complaints against senior leaders.




The department of health and family welfare has asked government doctors to prescribe only generic drugs to patients failing which disciplinary action will be taken.



In a circular issued on Tuesday, the department mandated that doctors working in all government hospitals run by the department of health and family welfare and the medical education depa rtment should prescribe generic medicines to patie nts.



Action would be taken against doctors who do not adhere to norms under the Karnataka Civil Services Rules and under the Medical Council of India Act.



This is being done under the Janaushadhi-Janasanjeevini programmes that the Union and state governments have started to promote generic medicines.


The state government in collaboration with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will set up a 200-acre logistics park near Dobbspet, off Tumakuru Road in Bengaluru Rural district, to meet the longstanding demands of truckers.



Speaking at the South Zone Truck Owners Conference, Transport Secretary Basavaraju said the over 200-acre park will have a truck terminal, helping maintenance of vehicles. It will also provide facilities to help drivers rest. A similar park will come up on Hosur Road in the next phase, he said.



The state government officials had held meetings in New Delhi with NHAI authorities to finalise the logistics park, which is a Central government project. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has agreed to provide the land needed for the project, he said.



The state government has plans to construct a similar logistics park near Hosur Road in the next phase of the project to cater to the trucks coming to the city from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.



Hosapete, Hubballi and Gadag, which handle a significant amount of goods in the state, will get truck terminals soon. In Hubballi, the truck terminal will come up under private partnership. Vijayapura, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and other districts will also get truck terminals in future. We are collecting information from the deputy commissioners regarding the availability of land, Basavaraju said.



Karnataka Lorry Owners Association president Channa Reddy said the state government has been delaying the truck terminal project by citing difficulties in acquiring land. for the project. A new society has been registered. This society will help establish truck terminals in every taluk and district and all lorry owners should join hands for the success of this plan, he said.




The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday stayed the dismissal order against an official issued by the Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms.



A division bench comprising Justice A S Bopanna and Justice H B Prabhakar Sastry granted stay after hearing a petition filed by E Ramakrishnappa, under secretary and public information officer, Department of IT, BT, Science and Technology.



Ramakrishnappa had challenged the Karnataka Administrative Tribunals (KAT) charge memo which accused him of misconduct while exercising quasi judicial powers under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, as tahsildar of Srinivaspur taluk. He was accused of exercising powers in contravention of the Act, by granting 134 acres, 18 guntas of government and forest land illegally to unauthorised occupants. He was accused of dereliction of duty and misuse of powers in contravention of the Karnataka Civil Service (Conduct) Rules. The alleged misconduct pertains to changing of khata and regularisation of land of unauthorised occupants.



Replying to the charge memo, Ramakrishappa had contended that his actions exercising quasi judicial power cannot be the subject matter of the enquiry. However, KAT dismissed his application. The petitioner challenged the KAT order contending that the tribunal had erred in not considering a high court order in a similar case. The high court held that a quasi judicial authority cannot be held for misconduct and the orders passed by it is subject to judicial supervision and cannot be subjected to departmental enquiry.
The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday sought to know to what extent the court can consider religious sentiments and asked the counsel representing Riyazathullah (Riyaz), former public relations officer of Karnataka Lokayukta, why the court must relax his bail conditions and on what grounds. Justice H B Prabhakar Sastry said the counsel will have to convince the court why it is necessary for Riyaz to fly abroad.



Riyaz had approached the high court seeking his passport to fly to Medina in Saudi Arabia to perform certain rituals following his mothers death. Riyaz was granted conditional bail which included surrendering his passport. Riyaz was one of the accused in the Lokayukta extortion scam.



Riyazs counsel Hasmath Pasha argued that everybody has the fundamental right to travel abroad according to the Constitution of India and the court must relax his bail conditions as he has to visit Medina to perform certain rituals pertaining to the petitioners mother who died at Medina. Quoting Maneka Gandhis case in the Supreme Court, the counsel said the court had allowed her to fly abroad.



Counsel representing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) K G Aiyappa said relaxing Riyazs bail conditions may hamper the speedy progress of the inquiry and trail.



The SIT, in its statement of objection, said the petitioners mother died in 2014 and no such yearly obsequies were performed in the subsequent years. Though he was free to travel in 2015, Riyaz had not produced any material to show that he had visited Medina to perform such yearly obsequies.



The ground of yearly obsequies is invented only for the purpose of this petition contending that family members of the petitioner are capable and available to conduct the yearly obsequies. The judge directed both the counsel to bring enough material to convince the court and adjourned the hearing to Thursday.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday dismissed the complaint of benami assets against his son Dr Yathindra as baseless.



Reacting to media queries over a complaint lodged by a Right To Information (RTI) activist with the Income Tax department in Bengaluru accusing Dr Yathindra of indulging in benami investments abroad, the chief minister said: It looks like a deliberate attempt by vested interests as he is planning to contest the next elections. Moreover, my son has withdrawn from the partnership of a firm he was associated with earlier.



On the reported disappointment expressed by a section of the party leaders against the chief minister and KPCC president G Parameshwara, during a meeting with the new AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs K C Venugopal on Monday, Siddaramaiah shot back at reporters questioning the source of the report. He said it was a report cooked up by the media.



He said that the AICC will take a call on appointing the new KPCC president as Venugopal is only tasked with preparing the party for the Assembly elections in 2018.



Siddaramaiah said a programme has been organised on May 13 to distribute various benefits to the needy on the occasion of his government completing four years in office.

To a query on his meeting with Governor Vajubhai Vala, the chief minister said that he explained to the governor about the prevailing drought situation in the state and action taken by the government in this regard.



Earlier, Siddaramaiah who arrived at Mangaluru International Airport by a special flight from Bengaluru, drove straight to the wedding reception of former minister Vinay Kumar Sorakes daughter at Dr T M A Pai Hall on MG Road. Ministers B Ramanath Rai, H C Mahadevappa, M B Patil and Pramod Madhwaraj were present.



BSYs charge

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said on Tuesday that Chief Minister Siddaramaiahs son Dr Yathindra had planned to illegally start a diagnostic centre near Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bengaluru and that he had documents regarding the same which would be made public at an appropriate time. Yeddyurappa told reporters that Dr Yathindra had been claiming that no documents were in his name, but had signed cheques. This apart, he had invested in several ventures, documents of which were available with the BJP state unit, Yeddyurappa said, reports DHNS from Belagavi. He said starting a diagnostic centre near the hospital in the heart of the city was not easy, which clearly highlighted abuse of power.


The state government has decided to seek more time from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to set up a sewage treatment plant at Bellandur lake.



At the next hearing of the NGT on May 18, we will not only present the facts but will also ask for more time, since the task of cleaning the 910-acre water body is huge and the time given is short, said Mahendra Jain, additional chief secretary, urban development department.



He told reporters after inspecting Bellandur lake on Tuesday that the government will explain to the NGT that they have started weeding the lake and that work on fencing it has also started. So far, 850 metres have been fenced. The model of siphon technology, which was done as an experiment at Varthur lake, has been successful and it will be implemented in Bellandur also. This will control frothing at the spillover, he said.



Jain said the Karnataka Lake Conservation and Development Authority (KLCDA) has prepared a wetland model which the government will soon approve and place before the NGT for final approval. We will explain to the NGT that it is difficult to establish an STP in such a short time. We will ask for time till 2020. The BWSSB has assured us that one STP of 90 mld capacity will be ready by July and work on a 250-mld STP is under way. Work on the 100-mld STP will be completed only by 2020. BWSSB has already called for tenders for this, he said.



Jain explained that around 40% of the citys water flows through the Kommaghatta-Chellaghatta valley to Bellandur lake. It will take time to clean the water body. Plans are also being chalked out to desilt the lake. He added that once the weeds and silt are cleared, the lake will not require much maintenance.



However, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), the custodian of the lake, will have to maintain it regularly.



The BWSSB has also agreed to undertake bio-remediation of storm water drains. They are also keen on partnering with KLCDA to implement the wetland model in the lake and near the inlet channels. Work on this will start from May 15, Jain added.


Progressive natural farming expert from Indonesia Ibu Helianti Hilman, who was in the city on Tuesday, advised farmers to start businesses apart from farming to keep themselves financially more stable.



Hilman, who is also the founder and chief executive officer of Javara Indigenous, a social enterprise, was addressing the gathering at a two-day Natural Farming Summit organised by the Art of Living (AoL) Foundation.



Natural farming will be successful if one adopts and practises traditional farming methods. Starting a business helps farmers know the state of the market, how to sell the produce among other techniques, she added.



Delegates from institutes like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, agricultural boards, advocacy groups, field experts, bureaucrats, farmers, educators and ministries across the country and also from South Africa, Ukraine and Sri Lanka are part of the two-day natural farming summit.



Ravishankar takes on NGT



Founder of Art of Living Foundation Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who was present at the summit took a dig at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that had earlier slammed AoL for damaging the Yamuna floodplains and added, We have given a new life to the country's 27 rivers at a low cost. Its ridiculous that the Tribunal has accused us of polluting the lake during the world cultural festival organised in New Delhi last year.




Having fallen to the 210th position in the Swachh Sarvekshan-2017 (cleanliness survey-2017), the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to strive to ensure the city figures in the top 10 slot in the survey next year.



The Quality Council of India this year assessed 434 cities and towns across India and declared Indore as the cleanest city while Bengaluru was 210th in the ranking. In this regard, BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad held a review meeting last week, said sources in the BBMP. The Palike has decided to put an end to the scourge of open defecation across the city in one year.



There were 600 points alloted for open defecation prevention and Bengaluru lost all the points. Only 68 out of 198 wards had submitted proposals to end open defecation that met QCI standards. The other wards did not present any proposal. The proposal attested by the corporator should have the signature of students of at least five to six schools in the ward.



Prasad had given directions to his subordinates to ensure that each ward has its proposal in order by next year. Officials attending the meeting told the commissioner that construction workers who migrate to the city from other places are a major challenge in overcoming the problem of open defecation. These workers were held responsible for open defecation, they said.



BBMP joint commissioner (health) Safaraz Khan said, We will make sure that there are toilets for construction labourers at construction sites. He added that the Palike has decided to construct around 36,000 toilets across the city. Further, the BBMP has decided to improve its solid waste management. He said at the time of the survey, scientific waste processing units were not functional and there was huge pile-up of refuse derived fuel.



The bills put up illegally on public walls and other places too contributed to the poor ranking in the Swachh Sarvekshan.




Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan, known for his controversial statements about the judiciary, was born in 1955 at Karnatham Village, Virudhachalam Taluk, Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu.



Karnan came to limelight after he was appointed Madras High Court judge in 2009. His first controversial act came in November 2011, when he lodged a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) against fellow judges alleging that he was being harassed as he was from a backward community.



In an unprecedented act in January 2014, Karnan barged into a court hall where a bench was hearing a case with regard to the list of names recommended for the post of judges and claimed that it was unfair selection and he would file an affidavit on the issue.



Not satisfied with Justice Karnans behaviour, the Supreme Court in March 2014 observed the incident as ...uncharitable, ungenerous and... indecorous.



Irked by Justice Karnans series of controversial acts, the then Madras High Court Justice R K Agarwal

wrote to the then Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam seeking Karnans transfer.



Agarwal, in his complaint, charged that Karnan suddenly entered into his chambers and shouted for seeking a change in portfolio. In 2015, he accused a sitting HC judge of sexually assaulting an intern in his chambers.



Similarly, he stayed an administrative order of then Madras HC judge Justice S K Kaul with regard to the selection of civil judges and said he would ask the NCSC to initiate proceedings against him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Finally, the apex court intervened and stayed his interim order for undermining the authority of the chief justice.



In February 2016, Karnan said he was ashamed that he was born in a country where caste system still exists. He was transferred to Calcutta High Court on March 11, 2016. Alleging that the Supreme Court had transferred him without hearing his arguments, Karnan said the order is against the Constitution.



Karnan said he will order an FIR against the SC judges.
The International Court of Justice today stayed the execution of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "spying".



The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month, official sources said.



India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.



Reacting to the development, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, "I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court."



Swaraj said senior advocate Harish Salve was representing India before the ICJ in the Jadhav case.

ICJ President Ronny Abraham has reportedly written a letter to Pakistan government, asking it to act in such a way which would enable the implementation of any order the ICJ may issue in the case.

India, in its appeal, contended that it was not informed of Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights.



It further asserted that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the Pakistani authorities were denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite repeated requests.



"Referring to 'the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes to India', India urges the Court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately, 'without waiting for an oral hearing'," India's appeal said.



Jadhav, 46, was given death sentence last month by the Field General Court Martial in Pakistan, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.



In its application, India had also informed the ICJ that it learned about the death sentence against Jadhav from a press release.



"India claims that 'linking assistance to the investigation process to the grant(ing) of consular access was by itself a serious violation of the Vienna Convention'," the ICJ release said.



The ICJ said India urged it to restrain Pakistan from carrying out the death sentence, and direct Islamabad to take steps to annul the decision of the military court.



Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."



Jadhav was sentenced to death for "espionage and subversive activities". India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government.



India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.



The appeal on behalf of Jadhav was given last month to Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who also handed over a petition by Jadhav's mother seeking the Pakistan government's intervention for his release and expressing the desire to meet him
When a 15-year-old summoned police to Torrey Pines High School early Saturday, May 6, he had a BB gun tucked in his waist band and a suicide note in his pocket, authorities said Monday, May 8.

Police said the note was discovered the day after the boy was fatally shot by two officers as he approached them with the gun drawn outside the Carmel Valley campus.

We are confident he did plan for the incident to happen, said San Diego police Lt. Mike Holden.

Investigators havent release the name of the teen, but friends said he was Jacob Peterson, a freshman at Torrey Pines.

He was fatally shot near the front of the school after someone called 911 shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, and asked police to check on a boy at the school. Officers later determined the boy made the call himself.

Investigators didnt release what the note said. Classmates said Jacob didnt appear depressed, and administrators said there were no reports that he had been bullied.

That subject didnt come up as we discussed the student and his background and other issues that we should be aware of, said Eric Dill, superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District. Im not saying its not possible, but that wasnt something that was at the front of administrators minds as we were going through discussions today.

He just seemed like a good kid who showed up and did his work, said Robbie Levinson, 17, who was in a law class with Jacob. I guess he was having issues and keeping it more internal.

On Monday, police identified the officers involved in the shooting as Officer Gilbert Flores, a 28-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, and Officer Kai Johnson, who has been with the department for four years.

The officers spotted the teen soon after arriving at the campus and as they got out of their patrol cars, he pulled what appeared to be a black handgun from his waistband, police said. It was later determined to be a black, semi-automatic BB air pistol.

Police said he ignored repeated commands to drop the gun and continued aiming at one officer while walking toward him. Fearing for their safety, both officers fired. The shooting occurred within a minute of police arriving.

Holden said dispatchers did not realize the person who called police was the same teen officers found at the school, and that the caller never disclosed thoughts of suicide.

Both officers had body cameras that they turned on during the incident, and the footage will be submitted to the District Attorneys Office, Holden said. Investigators are expected to brief the office in the next coming days, but the full investigation wont be submitted for months.

Police said officers involved in shootings are visited by fellow officers specially trained in peer support, department chaplains and psychologists. Officers are debriefed 24 to 48 hours after an incident occurs and spend at least three days out of the field.

Officers have been in daily contact with the boys family, the lieutenant said. On Sunday, Jacobs mother said the family is mourning the loss of a loving and wonderful young man and asked for privacy.

Students at the Carmel Valley campus were in mourning as well, and the mood was somber Monday, students said.

There was an air of melancholy, said senior, J.C. Birkfeld, 18. People (are) very upset and frightened at this tragedy.

During classes, teachers started discussions about the incident and encouraged students to talk with grief counselors who were available if needed.

Students who knew Jacob said during interviews off campus that he was quiet, exceptionally smart and liked to talk about politics.

He also had a lighter side, and would make jokes and laugh, said Lindsey Hart, 15, who shared four classes with the teen.

Jacqueline Fisher, 18, was in a law class with Jacob and said he was intrigued by the mafia, loved the Godfather movies, and did a class presentation on the mob.

He was a very special student, Fisher said. He was always sweet in class.

At a memorial outside the campus, flowers, candles, rosaries and other items piled up, and students left notes and poems expressing their sorrow over the boys death.

Im sorry I never reached out to you or asked how your day was going when I saw how sad you looked, wrote one student, who signed the name Annabelle.

My friend was shot in the parking lot, but they forgot what his name was, one poem read. He was lost so he called the cops to read his thoughts and make it stop.

One parent said the school had made several efforts over the years to raise awareness about mental health problems and to emphasize suicide prevention.

Sharon Rosen Lieb, whose daughter attends the high school, said the school offers a program called PALS that trains students to reach out to classmates who may be feeling depressed or isolated.

She said the campus also hosts an annual event where students can speak about family or social issues.

Torrey Pines is a very aware place in terms of mental health issues, she said. Thats what makes this all the more tragic.

Why we named the teen

The Union-Tribune does not typically publish the names of suicide victims, although exceptions are made in certain circumstances.

This is one of those cases.

The public nature of the act and the involvement of police officers make this a more complex story and one that is centered on the search for reasons behind the tragedy.

While some mental health experts advise media organizations not to publish the method used in a suicide  out of a concern that vulnerable individuals might be spurred to repeat the act  that information is unavoidable in this case.

Experts encourage media to act responsibly and to include information about suicide as a public health issue, which the Union-Tribune seeks to do with a separate story by reporters Paul Sisson and Gary Warth. See story at https://www.delmartimes.net/news/sd-cm-nc-suicide-cop-20170509-story.html

--Lyndsay Winkley and Deborah Sullivan Brennan are reporters for The San Diego Union-Tribune

--Staff writer Gary Warth contributed to this report.
By Joe Ryan and Jennifer A Dlouhy 8 May 2017 (Bloomberg)  A group of retired senior military officers is urging U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis to remain firm in their support for combating global warming as White House officials consider exiting the Paris climate accord. The 17 veterans argue that climate change poses a critical national security risk and say the U.S. must remain engaged in the international effort to fight it, according to letters sent Monday to Tillerson and Mattis . Among the signatories are three four-star veterans, including former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Sam J. Locklear. The ex-officers are the latest to call for the U.S. to uphold its environmental commitments as President Donald Trumps senior advisers were preparing to meet Tuesday to debate whether to exit the Paris accord. Tillerson and Mattis are among those pushing the president to stick with the agreement, brokered in 2015 by almost 200 nations. The letters were sent by the Center for Climate and Security, a Washington-based research institute. The meeting of top administration officials has now been postponed from Tuesday because of a conflict with Tillersons schedule, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump pledged a big decision on the deal within two weeks during an April 29 rally in Pennsylvania. Climate change poses strategically significant risks to U.S. national security, directly impacting our critical infrastructure and increasing the likelihood of humanitarian disasters, state failure and conflict, the former officers and security officials wrote in the letter to Tillerson. [ more ]

Ex-Military Brass Back Tillerson, Mattis in Climate Fight

The Honorable Rex W. Tillerson

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20520 Dear Secretary Tillerson: As you affirmed during your confirmation hearings, climate change poses risks which must be addressed multilaterally, and it is important that the US remain engaged in conversations on how to minimize those risks. As retired military and national security leaders, we know that climate change poses strategically

significant risks to US national security, directly impacting our critical infrastructure and increasing the likelihood of humanitarian disasters, state failure, and conflict. The Department of Defense and the intelligence community have been aware of this threat multiplier, and taking actions to address it, since the early years of the George W. Bush Administration. However, addressing these security issues is going to primarily be a civilian-led exercise. As Secretary Mattis himself recently stated, climate change is a challenge that requires a broader, whole-of government response. The State Departments role in that whole of government response will be crucial in the days, months and years ahead. That role involves acting as a leader on the issue among the international community  not least as that leadership can aid us in advancing our other vital security interests. This includes leadership in all important international forums where climate risks are being discussed and addressed. Among these, the G7 is an important entity for driving practical climate risk management. The G7s Climate Fragility Working Groups analysis of instability risks and description of commensurate policy responses, as well as its coordination work to implement these policies within G7 governments, are particularly important given that they directly relate to our national security interests. A strong signal in the communique that G7 governments are committed to maintaining agreements to address climate security risks would lay the foundation for a structured and deliberate response to the phenomenon, and its attendant impacts on the global security environment. We are also supporting Secretary of Defense James Mattis leadership on addressing climate change risks, and encouraging him to work closely with you, and our partners and allies, to proactively get ahead of this challenge before it becomes unmanageable. We hope that you consider such a partnership as an important step in preparing the United States for this new geostrategic reality. Respectfully, Admiral Frank L. Skip Bowman, US Navy

(Ret)

Former Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program

General Ron Keys, US Air Force (Ret)

Former Commander, Air Combat Command

Admiral Sam J. Locklear III, US Navy (Ret)

Former Commander, US Pacific Command

Sherri Goodman

Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense

Lieutenant General John G. Castellaw, US

Marine Corps (Ret)

Former Chief of Staff, US Central Command

Vice Admiral Lee Gunn, US Navy (Ret)

Former Inspector General, US Department of the

Navy

Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson, US Air

Force (Ret)

Former Deputy Commander-in-Chief, US Strategic

Command

Vice Admiral Dennis V. McGinn, US Navy (Ret)

Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy,

Installations and Environment

Brigadier General Joseph R. Barnes, US Army

(Ret)

Former Assistant Judge Advocate General, US Army

Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, US Marine

Corps (Ret)

Former Inspector General, US Marine Corps Brigadier General Gerald E Galloway, US Army

(Ret)

Former Dean of Academic Board, US Military

Academy at West Point

Rear Admiral Leendert Len Hering Sr., US

Navy (Ret)

Former Commander, Navy Region Southwest

Rear Admiral Ann C. Phillips, US Navy (Ret)

Former Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group

TWO

Rear Admiral David W Titley, PhD, US Navy

(Ret)

Former Oceanographer of the Navy

Rear Admiral Jonathan White, US Navy (Ret)

Former Oceanographer of the Navy

Joan VanDervort

Former Deputy Director, Ranges, Sea, and Airspace

(Readiness)

Colonel Thomas F. Watson, US Air Force (Ret)

Former Director, Infrastructure Coordination and

Analysis Office, Department of Homeland Security

Colonel Thomas Watson, US Air Force (Ret)

Former Director, Infrastructure Coordination and

Analysis Office, Department of Homeland Security

Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, US Army (Ret)

Former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin

Powell
By Lauren Frisch

5 May 2017 (UAF)  In one year, sea stars have almost disappeared from Kachemak Bay, Alaska. This is likely the aftermath of a sea star wasting disease episode. The disease causes lesions, and may result in the loss of arms, making a sea star look as if it is melting or decomposing. Similar episodes have been spreading across the southern coast of Alaska and as far south as Baja California. In spring 2016 we counted 180 sea stars during our intertidal surveys, which was high in the books, said Brenda Konar, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Just one year later, we counted only five sea stars. Konar and CFOS professor Katrin Iken are part of Gulf Watch Alaska, a monitoring program established by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council to better understand how intertidal and other marine ecosystems were affected by the 1989 oil spill. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tide. Konar and Iken monitor Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsula near Homer. [] The spread of the disease to Alaskan waters and its impact on sea star diversity may be related to the unprecedented warm waters that we experienced in the Gulf of Alaska in the past two years, Iken said. [cf. Scientists link massive starfish die-off to warming ocean] [more]
Microsoft is expected to announce refreshed Surface Pro 4 with Intel's Kaby Lake processors at its Shanghai event on May 23

Microsoft's Corporate VP of Devices, Panos Panay, has said that there is no such thing as Surface Pro 5. Speaking with CNET, Panay says Microsoft will launch the Surface Pro 5 only when it feels that it has achieved a meaningful change with the product. Panay's comments come just days ahead of its scheduled Surface hardware event in Shanghai on May 23.

"Meaningful change isn't necessarily a hardware change, which is what a lot of people look for. They're like, 'Where's the latest processor?' That's not what I mean. I'm looking for an experiential change that makes a huge difference in the product line," Panay explains.

The software giant was rumoured to introduce Surface Pro 5 at its Shanghai event and recent rumours hinted at the device getting Intel's seventh generation Kaby Lake processor and retaining the proprietary Surface connector. However, it now seems that the company might instead announce a refreshed version of its Surface Pro 4 and Panay says that it is 'making big strides in battery life or dropping the weight significantly' can be considered as a meaningful change.

Microsoft announced Surface Pro 4 alongside Surface Book at company's event in New York in October 2015. The company recently introduced Surface Laptop with a regular laptop-like clamshell design. The company has not updated the Surface Pro 4 for more than 18 months now and it seems the device will receive a minor refresh at Shanghai announcement.
A few days after Mobile World Congress (or possibly before it), a select few units of the Nokia 6, 5 and Nokia 3 made their way to India. They were running on unfinished software when I saw them, in a meeting with HMD Global. But, I refrained from writing anything at the time, waiting for another day when the phones would be on finished software. Now, with its second and more publicised event in the country, Nokia gave us another (and closer) look at the upcoming phones. Unfortunately, Im not yet impressed with the new Nokia phones.

Before handing out devices at its event yesterday, HMD Global said the software is still unfinished. So, there may still be improvements, and Ill be the first to admit that a full review can change the verdict on a device. But, having tried the Nokia 3, 5 and 6 twice now, Im sure of one thing, these arent phones that were meant specifically for India.

Youve questioned the choice of specifications yourself, so Im not going to do that. And frankly, a Snapdragon 430 isnt a deal breaker anyway, as long as one can make up for the 50%(theoretical) performance loss between that and a Snapdragon 650/652. So, what disappoints me is that the camera app itself takes a few seconds longer to open on the Nokia phones, than it ideally should. Again, this may change with finished software later. Nokia maintains that the Snapdragon 430 is the newest generation of Qualcomm's SoCs, but it was always behind the 650/652 and will be far removed from the Snapdragon 660, launched today. So, when it comes to market, the Nokia 5 and 6 will essentially be a year old already.

However, Nokia is touting the purest of pure Android experiences, so I dont see what changes can happen later. But then, Im not a product engineer either.

Im not sure if others will write it, but murmurs of sub-par cameras were heard pretty loudly at Nokias event last night. Thankfully, product launch venues never really have good lighting, which means I (and others too Im sure) can not really pass a verdict before we review the phones. And thats a good thing, let me tell you why.

Why do the Nokia phones not impress

Simply put, the Nokia phones of yore were very relevant to India, from the Nokia 1100 to the 7610, they all made sense to some kind of buyer. However, in an evolved smartphone market, these phones may be lost amongst seemingly endless options. As far as design is concerned, these phones are distinctly Nokia. But honestly speaking, I dont see that being enough, at least not in todays market. To be clear, Im not saying Nokia phones wont sell here. Im simply saying that they dont match up to competition, at least as far as reviews are concerned. The iconic brand will definitely put up a fight.

There are two great elements about Nokias phones. First and foremost is how they are designed. The Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 immediately remind you of the Lumia 720 and Lumia 925, two of the best designed smartphones ever. Estimating their prices to be below 10k and 15k, respectively, theyre definitely going to be the best designed smartphones in that segment. Ill admit, if it does well enough, Nokia may actually push Xiaomi, Lenovo and others to raise their design game.

The second element that sets the Nokia phones aside is the promise of monthly security and speedy Android updates. The company had said earlier that it works very closely with Google, so one can expect timely updates. In my book, thats a big positive in a market where customers are essentially being duped into buying Marshmallow powered devices still.

But thats it, thats what sets Nokia branded phones aside from all others in the market today. Will it be enough? Only time will tell. I cant predict consumer behaviour, but I do think these phones will be tough to argue for, against the competition.

Heres why

The question were asking is whether excellent design and fast updates are enough to overlook shortcomings in camera or processor departments. As mentioned above, our tests suggest the Snapdragon 430 is nearly 50% slower than a Snapdragon 650/652 and considerably slower than the 625 too.

Similarly, a 13MP camera is good enough to fill spec sheets, but it leaves no lasting impressions at least on first look. Thats true for all three of Nokias smartphones. The cameras are neither fast, nor do they seem to click photos that are really impressive. Personally speaking, the camera sensor may need adjustment or overhaul here, since right now, images did look dull and soft.

The fact is, we all expected Nokia to pull a rabbit out of its hat, but that's not happening. We wanted something new, and Nokia is giving us same old, same old. And that's why there are mixed feelings about Nokia's smartphones. Truth be told, there are few phones that can boast the smooth and premium metallic finish as on the Nokia 5 and 6, and there's literally no sub-10k phone that feels as good in the hand as the Nokia 3. But, that still doesn't make this new. We've said these things about other phones before. And frankly speaking, none of the Nokia designs compare to what Samsung and LG achieved this year. That would perhaps qualify as new, if Nokia could do it in current price brackets.

Similarly, stock Android is well and good, but Motorola's done that before and is thriving on it. What does Nokia add to it? To make matters worse, Motorola just produced what could be the best camera ever seen in the budget segment, all with a vanilla Android experience. If you consider differences between the Nokia 5 and Moto G5, it'll essentially come down to the fact that Motorola doesn't give monthly security patches, bundling them in bigger updates instead. When you weigh that against its superior cameras, performance, and almost similar design, the choice is easy to make.

I truly can't find anything that sets Nokia's phone aside from others, and that's what is disappointing. In the same breath, one must admit that that's true for almost every smartphone maker today. I'm not even considering the fact that Nokia's phones can't take advantage of Qualcomm's Hexagon DSP, Spectra ISP or support more than Category 4 LTE, because those are actually features that go over and above the call of duty for low-end markets.

It's not the end...

The good thing is that this is only the beginning for HMD Global. The key takeaway from yesterdays event or from my earlier meeting is that the company is bound by the same boundaries that the rest of the industry faces. Nokias designs are great, but theyre nothing we havent seen before. Like you, I would love to see an N-Gage running on Android, at an affordable price tag. But thats not happening anytime soon.

On the flipside, Juho Sarvikas, HMDs Chief Product Officer, did say there will be more phones this year. When asked about upcoming devices, he said, Weve launched three phones this year, the Nokia 6, 5 and 3. That leaves some numbers unused, with a big grin on his face. So, theres still something to look forward to.
Nokia 6 is the first Android smartphone from HMD Global and it is expected to launch alongside Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 in India sometime next month

HMD Global has started rolling out Android 7.1.1 Nougat update for Nokia 6 users in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The software update is reportedly clubbed with the May security update and is about 1.8GB in size. The update comes just a month after the latest version of the OS was released with April security patch for Nokia 6 users in China.

At Mobile World Congress in February, HMD Global had said that Nokia-branded smartphones will differentiate from other in terms of their design and software experience. With the rollout of Android 7.1.1 Nougat update, the company is hinting at the latest software may be available out of the box when the device becomes available globally next month.

"Nokia 6 in Hong Kong and Taiwan received Android 7.1.1 update and also the May security update today. We are delivering our promise to provide monthly security updates and also regular systems updates. China version was updated to 7.1.1 already in April and also received the May security update early this week," the company said in a statement obtained by Nokiapoweruser.

Google recently confirmed that Android 7.0 Nougat's market share has reached 7.1 percent for the period ending May 2, 2017. The operating system has gained over 2 percent in market share in the last month alone and with older models getting upgraded, the OS is expected to hit double-digit market share this month.

Nokia 6 was announced exclusively for Chinese smartphone market in January and the company announced a global variant of the device at MWC. The handset is expected to launch alongside Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 in India sometime next month.
Save my User ID and Password

Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site.

Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.
India, in its battle against the harbouring of terrorists by Pakistan, seems to have found an unexpectedly strong ally in Iran. The country's army chief Major General Mohammad Baqeri on Monday warned Pakistan that Tehran would not hesitate to strike terrorist safe havens in Pakistan if the latter fails to control them on their border or shut down their bases. "Unfortunately, Iran's eastern border regions with Pakistan have become a safe haven for training and equipping terrorists recruited by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States. We will not tolerate this situation in the joint borders and expect the Pakistani officials to show responsibility, control their borders, arrest terrorists and shut down outlaws' bases,'' IRNA news agency quoted Maj Gen Baqeri as saying. "If continued, we will hit the terrorists' safe havens anywhere they are," he added. Asserting that enemies are trying to damage the country's security using all available tools, Baqeri urged the Iranian armed forces to promote their scientific skills and equip themselves with sophisticated technologies to prepare for countering various types of threats. He also praised the sacrifices made by the Iranian armed forces to preserve the country's security. Lashing out at Islamabad for failing to prevent terror attacks against Iran from its soil, chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi had said last month that the neighbouring country has become a "safe haven" for terrorist cells. Boroujerdi, who was on a visit to the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, expressed his condolences over the death of 10 Iranian border guards in a recent terrorist attack that was launched from inside Pakistan. "Given that terror cells and safe havens are located inside Pakistan and they (terrorists) cross the Islamic Republic of Iran's borders from there, undoubtedly, the Pakistani government is responsible for the bitter incident and other similar cases," Tasnim News Agency quoted Boroujerdi as saying. Asserting that Pakistan practically lacked the ability to control its borders, the parliamentarian said that it was the right of Iranian forces to take the necessary actions and respond to such attacks. Pakistan's relations with Iran have nosedived after the recent killing of ten Iranian border guards at Mirjaveh on the Sistan-Baluchistan border by the Pakistan-based Sunni terror outfit Jaish al-Adl or "'he Army of Justice'. Tehran's move to summon Pakistan Ambassador to Iran, Asif Durrani and ask Islamabad to act "seriously and decisively" to detain and punish the terrorists is a pointer to the deterioration in relations following the killing of the Iranian border guards. In a letter to Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that given the warm and friendly ties with Pakistan, he was extremely disheartened to see militants using Pakistani soil to launch their attacks on people in Iran. He said Iran "is very disheartened that it is repeatedly transgressed upon from Pakistani soil by armed bandits and terrorist hirelings." He added, "Iran's soil has never been abused against any of its neighbours, including Pakistan." Iranian police said the guards were killed by long-range guns and called on Islamabad to assume ultimate responsibility for the crime. The Sistan-Baluchistan province in south-east Iran has long been plagued by drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants. The population of the province is predominantly Sunni Muslim, while the majority of Iranians are Shias. The Jaish al-Adl is a Sunni militant group that has carried out several attacks on Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they say is discrimination against Sunni Muslims and the Baluch ethnic group in the province. In the last four years, this was the third instance of the militant group claiming responsibility for an attack. In October 2013, 14 Iranian border guards were killed. A further eight were killed in April 2015.








The probable aim of the Art/Afrique, le nouvelle atelier exhibition is to construct an exhibition route with an impeccable curatorial choice and standard of works.

It seemingly abstains from all use of ideology, sounding out the motivations behind contemporary African creativity  magmatic and in constant ferment. The documentary effort on the sub-Saharan region of the continent, especially via the specific focus on the South African scene Being There, does not, however, eliminate a fundamental misunderstanding. Over the skyline of an exhibition which successfully eliminates many stereotypes on African art hangs unperturbed the terrible destiny of post-colonial art.

All the curators seem aware of this, as an in-situ work by Cameroons Pascale Marthine Tayou is present to remind us. Although in keeping with the strict constraints of the Jean Pigozzi collection (only artists living in Africa) and the artistic direction of its curator Andre Magnin, La Colonisation and Les Independances Cha tests their limits. The artist currently resides in Belgium and his work linking the Les inities section, the most philological one, and the rest of the route speaks precisely of this difficulty in defining the African heritage and being included in a pre-established scenario. It is a self portrait-work composed with coloured cobblestones and underscores the end of the concept of frontier and colour. Completed by a map on the floor of the African Union and the flags of the continents 53 countries, spilling over onto the gallerys escalators, it is a model of the cultural crossover.

View gallery Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Author Ivo Bonacorsi

Photography

Published 09 May 2017





SHARE





PIN IT

Top: David Goldblatt, The dethroning of Cecil John Rhode. Above: Bodys Isek Kingelez, Etoile rouge congolaise, 85x92x50 cm, 1990, Courtesy CAAC, The Pigozzi Collection



SHARE





PIN IT

Cheri Samba, L'espoir, The Pigozzi Collection



SHARE





PIN IT

Lawrence Lemaoana, Freedom is a stone throw away, 155x105 cm, 2017. Courtesy Afronova gallery



SHARE





PIN IT

Nicholas Hlobo, Ndize Tail, 460x840x307 cm, 2010. Courtesy Stevenson Cape Town and Johannesburg



SHARE





PIN IT

Buhlebezwe Siwani, Qunusa Buhle, 1118 x 554 cm, 2015. Courtesy de l'artiste et Whatiftheworld Gallery Cape Town; right: Calixte Dakpogan, Oba, 64x63x1 cm, 2007. Courtesy CAAC The Pigozzi Collection



SHARE





PIN IT

Left: Zanele Muholi, Nolwaz II, 60x445 cm, 2015, Collection de la Fondation Louis Vuitton; right: Zanele Muholi, Xana Nyilenda, Newtown Johannesburg



SHARE





PIN IT

William Kentridge, Triumphs and Laments, 107x158 cm



SHARE





PIN IT



Authenticity, pathos and previously unseen artistic practices continue to be broken and often founder, more or less knowingly, as the last resort of the contemporary art market. Fortunately, the space welcomes virtually historicised works in the collection, a nucleus born out of a brainwave that came to Jean Pigozzi. Enlightened multimillionaire, collector, philanthropist and himself a photographer, despite never having set foot in Africa, he had a true epiphany on this spiritual and research area with the 1989 Magiciens de la Terre exhibition. Subsequently, Andre Magnin, at the time one of the most risk-taking commissioners, followed him in the in-the-field research and the subsequent developments. Many more exhibitions followed, including African Remix and Beaute Kongo, and it is obvious that this material should now find itself at the heart of this more centripetal than ever and extremely trendy interest in Africa  whether a magnificent city model by the Congos Bodys Isek Kingelez or photos of daily life by Malis Malick Sibide, who passed away recently. Clearly, in terms of consistency and media, we are immersed in a real project, a splendid collection that has not aged 30 years after it first originated. For those who follow the art of this continent, it is what might have been the nucleus of a contemporary African art section, not yet seen at the Tate or MoMA, and it is what we would actually love to imagine, a splendid dream rewriting the history of recent art.

Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Translator, 50x50 cm, 2016

Collecting is now trying to restore priorities and value, a cultural as too an economic stance, which will probably be followed by the formation of its public. We must urgently address the true history of these artists and their works. To be convinced of this, simply look at the Senegalese Seni Awa Camaras clay works or be enraptured by the ever more rarefied beauty and perfection of Cheri Sambas paintings. All the artists in the exhibition are important. The collection has been lent and exhibited on several occasions so is not new but has become fundamental. Now, in the lovely setting created by Marco Palmieri, intelligently not based on the concept of ethnicity, it reveals how precious it is and not just for that continent. The Art/Afrique exhibition strategy is that of a collection of magnificent contemporary exhibits transformed into works that are modelled on real geopolitical problems. It is, generally speaking, a concentrate of what dogs and regards all art today. Seen through the lens of globalisation, even the bitter aftertaste of its troubled economy assumes political substance.

Abu Bakarr Mansaray, Allien Resurrection, 150x205 cm, 2004. Courtesy CAAC The Pigozzi Collection

The agenda of a continents dramas is not read in filigree and, at last, artists such as David Koloane and Kemang Wa Lehulere, with two beautiful installations, elevate people and animals to the standing of great protagonists, whether they be armies of hyenas, such as that by Jane Alexander, or the inevitable township strays. The rhythm of the exhibition must then carve out a more customary beauty such as that of recent works by William Kentridge, Triumph and Laments (Procession of Migrants), which stands out with its black silhouettes on the walls of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, echoing Sigmar Polke and Gericault. It is no coincidence that all such elements should converge in the creation of a blockbuster exhibition. A selection of works in the Foundations permanent collection confirms this as we see works by artists of the African diaspora, New Yorks Rashid Johnson and Ghanaian-Londoner Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The former brings a monumental and unmissable work and the latter a diptych of rare intensity. The most interesting discoveries come, however, from the generation born in the 1980s and that born after the end of Apartheid, which calls itself born free. They are the best at freeing us and themselves from the many pitfalls that have shaped a stereotypical vision of Africa in general. Be it the hieratic painting of Thenjike Niki Nkosi mixing images of criminals and victims, Lawrence Lemaonnas kanga fabrics or Jody Brands transgender photographs. The dark side of the continent has not disappeared nor has its tenebrous heart but now other aspects are taken into consideration. Sue Williamsons splendid video installation Its a pleasure to meet you revisits the South African policy of reconciliation and offers a taste of todays true Africa. It does so simply via interviews with people reflecting on the effects of a violent recent past, almost as if it were the ineradicable genetic presence of our today.
The Evangelists/Missionaries Ministry of Daleville Christian Fellowship Worship Center will sponsor a Senior Citizen Luncheon on Thursday, May 18, beginning at 11:30 a.m. All senior members of the community are invited to attend. RSVP by calling 334-598-6279, no later than May 11. The worship center is at 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Circle in Daleville.

Klondyke Gospel Music Center, located between Newton and Ozark at 3885 Highway 123 S., will host: Zeke Turner of Athens, Georgia, May 12; David Evans & Frank Farris of New Brockton, May 13; Carroll and Beverly Senn of Pinckard, May 20; Sheila Smith Trio of Cottondale, Florida, May 27. Music starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, contact Ron Jeffers, president and concert coordinator, at 334-797-9862.

First Community Fellowship Church, 400 E. Crawford St., Dothan, will host a Mother Day Fun Day on Saturday, May 13, starting at 9 a.m. The day will include cook-outs, yard sale, games, water slides, gospel singing, cake walks, and drawing for prizes for mothers. For booth information, call 334-405-0531, 334-796-0313, 334-648-4790, 334-258-6187 or 334-350-8060.

The Mothers Ministry of Daleville Christian Fellowship Worship Center will host their annual Mother Daughter Tea on Saturday, May 13, at 3 p.m. The guest speaker will be Minister Octavia Neal of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Smiths Station. For additional information, call 334-598-6279. The worship center is at 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Circle in Daleville.

Cherry Street AME Church, 308 N. Cherry St., Dothan, will host a pre-Mothers Day gospel singing on Saturday, May 13, at 6 p.m. Special guest will be Charles Beasley and the Vessels of Clayton. Everyone is invited to attend.

Grimes Gospel Lighthouse, 1512 County Road 25, Grimes, will host: Zeke Turner of Athens, Georgia, May 13; local talent, May 20; and Ken Robertson of Panama City, Florida, May 27. Music starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free; love offering will be taken. Call 334-983-4654 or 334-714-4658 for more information.

The Wiregrass Youth Choral Society will present their annual Mothers Day Musical Tribute on Sunday, May 14, at 5 p.m. at Park Chapel AME Church, 1053 E. Selma St., Dothan, featuring the Wiregrass Youth Choral Society Chorister with a program entitled Youth Rejoicing in the Lord with Mothers. The program is free and open to the public.

Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Dothan will hold the womens event Flourish on May 16 at the church located on Fortner Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m. Flourish is a free, casual, community women's event. The event will have Dothan Ice Cream, live worship, and a Bible message for women.

The Dothan Evening Community Lighthouse of Aglow International will meet at Shoney's Restaurant at 3054 Ross Clark Circle in Dothan on Thursday, May 18, at 5:30 p.m. The guest speaker will be Tammy Hendrix of Hartford. Hendrix has served in various levels of leadership in Aglow International for over 24 years and is the author of the devotional I Choose to Rejoice.

The Usher Board of Johns Chapel AME Church, 605 Geneva Highway, Enterprise, will hold a barbecue Boston butt plate sale at the church on Friday, May 19, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Plates will cost $8 each, and they will be available for dine-in, carryout or delivery. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact Vivian Johnson at 334-347-9288.

Aglow Enterprise Community Lighthouse Meeting will be held Saturday, May 20, at 10 a.m. at Po Folks Restaurant. Guest speaker will be Dr. Ginger Mayer of Headland. For more information, call 334-406-9683.

St. Peter African Methodist Episcopal Church, 401 Hollon St., Headland, will host the annual Womens Missionary Society Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, May 20, starting at 9 a.m. Theme is The Power of Prayer. A donation of $5 is requested. For more information, call 334-618-6911.

New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, 1110 Allen Road, Dothan, will host the 37th annual Alabama Baptist State Nurses Guild Health and Wellness Workshop on Saturday, May 20. Registration and a continental breakfast will begin at 7:30 p.m. The workshop will end at 1:30 p.m. and will include topics on mental health, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS and the faith community, and congregational health ministry. Continuing education credits will be awarded by Medical Advocacy Outreach/Alabama AETC. Call 334-655-1246 for more information.

St. Paul Church of God in Christ Womens Department will present Women of the Bible (Part 3) on Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m. The church is at 711 Oak St. in Ashford. For more information, call Beverly Jackson at 334-899-4996 or 334-618-8658.

Stringer Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1900 Stringer St., Dothan, will celebrate its annual Family's Day on Sunday, May 21, at 11 a.m. The public is invited. For more information, please contact the Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Sherrod III at 334-479-8231.

Pleasant Shade Missionary Baptist Church in Enterprise will celebrate All Ministries Day on May 21 at 2:30 p.m. The Rev. Donald K. Mitchell and the Poplar Springs Baptist Church congregation will be the special guests. For more information, call 334-347-5195.

The Geneva Baptist Association is hosting The Peace of God and Peace with God conference on May 22 at the association office on Highway 52 East in Hartford. The conference will begin at 6:45 p.m. with Ann Varnum leading the conference. Varnum was raised in Geneva and is known for her years as a local television host. All are invited. Call 334-588-3276 for more information.

Rocky Mount Baptist Church, 457 County Road 42, Abbeville, will hold a Womens Day Celebration on Sunday, June 4, at 2:30 p.m. Speaker will be Sister Lori McKay of Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Headland.

Bible classes on How to Receive Your Healing from God will begin Tuesday, June 6, at 6:30 p.m. To register and for more information, call 334-405-7465.

A Shriners Gospel Music Gala featuring Linda Senn and Darrell Luster will be held June 23 at 7 p.m. at the Troy Fairgrounds in Troy. The event will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. Admission is $5 for adults, with children ages 12 and under admitted free.
The new $5 million Emergency Operations Center in downtown Dothan is getting closer to being fully staffed and will be opened up in late June for any members of the public who want to come see the new facility.

City of Dothan dispatchers have been working in the building for about a month. Dothan/Houston County E911 Director Holly Britain said the Houston County Emergency Management Agency is moving into the center later this week. Houston County dispatchers will move over on May 23 and begin receiving calls at 4 a.m., much like the city dispatchers did last month.

I dont think we are going to have any kind of issues , Britain said of the county dispatchers transition.

A few problems have popped up with the new building, but those are covered under a one-year warranty. Britain said a condensation leak from the air conditioning system and problems with a door lock and a security gate are all being addressed by the contractor.

We gotta work the bugs out like you do if you build your own house, Britain said. Anytime we have an issue we call the contractor  to repair it.

The Emergency Operations Center was built to withstand catastrophic weather events so it can continue to operate in emergencies. That design has had an impact on the use of portable radios inside the building, limiting the signal strength.

Britain said portable radios arent going to be used as much inside the new facility compared to the old dispatch center, but the signal issue is being addressed by an amplifier being purchased by the Dothan Police Department.

Along with the public tour on June 27, some other cities leaders have also gotten a look at the new facility.

Weve had a lot (of interest) , Britain said. Theres been several that have looked at our facility that really like it . 
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency recently awarded a grant to the Nigerian company, Community Social Enterprises Limited, or CESEL, for a feasibility study supporting the roll-out of 25 solar photovoltaic microgrids across Nigeria. Together, the microgrids will produce more than 5 megawatts.

This project will help Nigeria to capitalize on its tremendous solar energy potential by scaling up the deployment of off-grid generation and minigrid systems, ultimately increasing access to electricity. The study will focus on providing solar energy for rural and peri-urban communities that generally lack reliable access to electricity. The microgrid systems will operate on a pay-as-you-go structure using mobile payments, with production and consumption monitored on a real-time basis. This structure will ensure payment and sustainability, as well as provide consistent, reliable power at a lower price than diesel generators.

CESEL selected the U.S. firm, Renewvia Energy Corporation (Atlanta, GA), to conduct the feasibility study. The project presents opportunities for U.S. businesses to make sales in solar PV modules, batteries, electrical equipment, control systems and meters across Nigeria.

We are proud to connect CESEL with a leading U.S. company on this important project to expand energy access in Nigeria, said Lida Fitts, USTDAs Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Were delighted to be selected as technical services partner for this project with CESEL, said Trey Jarrard, CEO of Renewvia. We look forward to continuing development of solar microgrids in Sub Saharan Africa, and were excited to play such an important role in helping to advance Nigerias support for off-grid power.

The grant was signed by the U.S. Consul General of in Lagos John Bray and Dr. Patrick Tolani of CESEL. This project advances the goals of Power Africa to increase electricity connections and power generation.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project planning activities, pilot projects, and reverse trade missions while creating sustainable infrastructure and economic growth in partner countries. The United States is proud to work with its partner Nigeria and the private sector to help meet the energy needs of the people of Nigeria.
Yemens two-year conflict between the Houthi rebels and the countrys elected government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, has left the people of Yemen, in the words of Norwegian Humanitarian leader Jen Egeland, facing a famine of Biblical proportion.

According to the United Nations, since the conflict broke out in March 2015, nearly 4,800 civilians have been killed, and more than 8,200 others have been injured. At the same time, more than 3 million Yemenis have been displaced since the start of the crisis and some 70 percent of the countryor nearly 19 million peopleis in need of humanitarian assistance. Today, over 17 million Yemenis are at risk of starvation.

The fighting has caused an economic collapse and severely restricted the importation of food, medicine, and fuel.Even before the crisis, Yemen relied on imports for 90 percent of its food and most of its fuel and medicines. This means that until the fighting stops, there is little chance Yemen will be able to stave off the looming humanitarian catastrophe on its own.

The United States is one of Yemens largest donors of aid. In late April, the U.S. government announced nearly 94 million dollars in additional humanitarian assistance to help the people of Yemen. This brings the total U.S. humanitarian contribution to Yemen to nearly 526 million dollars since the 2016 fiscal year.

The funds will go toward food and clean drinking water to vulnerable families, as well as nutrition treatment for malnourished children. It will also provide hygiene kits to fight the spread of disease, as well as lifesaving medical supplies and training for health care workers. There will also be emergency shelter for those who had been displaced by the fighting.

Conflict is the primary driver of this humanitarian crisis. The United States remains committed to providing humanitarian support to the people of Yemen, while we work to end the conflict through a comprehensive peace agreement.

The United States calls upon all parties to ensure unimpeded access for commercial and humanitarian goods throughout the country. We also urge other humanitarian donors to increase their level of support during this critical time of need.
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.
Comedian John Oliver, incensed over proposed changes to unravel Net neutrality protections for consumers, on Sunday unleashed a torrent of criticism against the Federal Communications Commission and urged viewers to register their protest online. The response led to a digital meltdown on the agencys site that night.

Oliver, host of HBOs Last Week Tonight and a former writer for The Daily Show, targeted a proposal by Ajit Pai, the agencys new chairman, that would loosen Net neutrality regulations. It would allow Internet service providers to abide by market forces and largely self-police their conduct.

Pai last month proposed reversing the Obama administrations decision to regulate ISPs under Title II, saying the move stifled innovation and made it more difficult for companies to invest and modernize.

Domestic broadband investment fell by US$3.6 billion, or 5.6 percent, from 2014 to 2016, he noted.

Oliver, who famously unleashed his viewers on the FCC in 2014, in the run-up to its implementation of Net neutrality rules, launched a blistering new attack on Pai, a former Verizon attorney.

Verizon represents itself as being in favor of an open Internet, Oliver noted, in a video featuringCraig Silliman, EVP for public policy and general counsel.

The FCC just wants to put the regulation of ISPs on a different legal footing, Silliman argues.

Verizons reasoning was analogous to O.J. Simpson asking why you wont let him hold onto one of your Samurai swords, Oliver said.

Come on, Juice, you know why, he quipped.

Access Denied

The FCCs website fell victim to distributed denial of service attacks starting Sunday night, according to David Bray, the agencys chief information officer.

The attacks were deliberate attempts by external actors to bombard the FCC comment system with a high amount of traffic to its external cloud host, he said.

These actors were not attempting to file comments themselves, Bray maintained. Rather they made it difficult for legitimate commenters to access and file with the FCC.

The FCC is working with its commercial partners to address the situation and will monitor events going forward, he said.

The proposed changes have divided the FCC. As a commissioner, Pai sided with the more market-oriented conservatives during the Obama administration.

Pais proposal would undo years of work at the agency, said Commissioner Mignon Clyburn last month, when Pai proposed the changes.

Broadband providers should not be in the drivers seat, determining how you use the Internet, controlling what content you view, or dictating what devices you can use, Clyburn argued.

Open Access

Oliver raised some legitimate concerns, Tim Mulligan, senior analyst at Midia Research, including open competition between incumbent ISPs and new entrants in the digital space, and fair access for smaller Internet search engines, content providers and other companies.

The principal of Net neutrality is a crucial aspect of the digital economy which underpins the ability for new market entrants to compete for digital engagement, he told the E-Commerce Times.

John Oliver is merely helping to bring the issue to the attention of the wider public, Mulligan said. He is helping to demystify the issue, which in a world of increasing consolidation  through operator/media mega mergers such as AT&T-Time Warner  is an important act of awareness raising.

The FCCs latest proposal is an orchestrated march to destroy consumer protections, charged broadband analyst Craig Settles.

Eliminating Net neutrality would give incumbents the ability to neuter free speech, he added.

As far as the relevancy and credibility we give John Oliver, there were millions of people who responded to the call to support Net neutrality three years ago, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The only thing John Oliver does is make a complex issue understandable by the average citizen and issue a reasonable call to action, Settles maintained. Whats important here is the message, not the messenger.

A Verizon spokesperson declined our request to comment for this story.
Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)
The Department of Energy declared an emergency Tuesday at a plutonium-handling facility at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state after a tunnel partly collapsed. Federal officials said, there was no indication of a release of contamination at this point.

Hundreds of Workers were told to evacuate or take cover as officials responded to reports of a cave-in of a 20 foot section of a tunnel that is hundreds of feet long that is used to store contaminated materials, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The tunnel itself was breached. There was a 20-foot wide hole, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy said by telephone from the Hanford Joint Information Center.

The tunnel, located next to the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, also known as PUREX, is in the center of Hanford in an area known as the 200 East Area.

The PUREX facility is one of Hanfords most contaminated areas, Dan Serres, conservation director at Columbia Riverkeeper, told EcoWatch. It was the source for the majority of Hanfords weapons plutonium, and Hanford itself produced more than two-thirds of the plutonium in the U.S.

The tunnel collapse is a disturbing event, and we hope for the safety of all the workers in the area, Serres continued. Their work is critical to protecting our region and the Columbia River. Looking forward, we will be watching closely to see how the U.S. Department of Energy continues the cleanup effort in this area and throughout the Hanford site.

The Energy Department said via Twitter that Sec. Perry has been briefed on the incident. The most recent update from the DOE, said crews were continuing to monitor the air as employees were being released early as a precaution.

This is a potentially serious event, Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said. I can see why the site ordered emergency measures. Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release.

The Hanford site, in southeastern Washington about 170 miles east of Seattle, is known for being the most contaminated nuclear site in the country. The facility made more than 20 million pieces of uranium metal fuel for nine nuclear reactors along the Columbia River. The reactors produced plutonium for Americas defense program. Production ended at the facility in the late 1980s, and cleanup began in 1989, after a landmark agreement between the DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington state.

According to a report late last year from the Oregon Public Broadcasting:

Hanford is the nations largest nuclear cleanup site, with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste sitting in old, leaky underground tanks just a few hours upriver from Portland. After more than 20 years and $19 billion[,] not a drop of waste has been treated.

Hanford sits next to the Columbia River. It was one of the original Manhattan Project sites. Its nine nuclear reactors irradiated uranium fuel rods. That created plutonium, which was extracted with chemicals, processed and shipped to weapons factories. Each step produced radioactive waste. 

The stored waste has to be treated in special rooms called black cells, which are too radioactive for humans to enter. The machinery in these black cells is supposed to operate for 40 years with no direct human intervention. If something goes wrong, the cells could be damaged.

Watch here to learn more about the Hanford site:
By Dawn Bickett

A group of farmers viciously attacked a nearby Indigenous community in Brazil on Sunday. Thirteen Indigenous People were wounded. Two men had limbs hacked off with a machete.

This kind of violence may seem unthinkable, but it is becoming the rule in the Brazilian Amazon. Each year, dozens of Indigenous People are injured or killed in conflicts with farmers and ranchers over land.

Last week, about 3,000 Indigenous Peoples carried hundreds of black coffins to the National Congress in the capital of Brazil, Brasilia, to protest the rising violence and to demand rights to their ancestral lands.

Sonia Guajajara, an Indigenous leader and one of the coordinators of the march, explained: We carried 200 coffins symbolizing the genocide and deaths of Indigenous Peoples at the hands of the authorities allied to agribusiness.

Rogerio Assis / Mobilizacao Nacional Indigena

The protest was peaceful, but police met the crowd with rubber bullets and gas bombs.

Rogerio Assis / Mobilizacao Nacional Indigena

The Brazilian government is enabling and perpetuating violence against Indigenous Peoples, and it doesnt stop with police brutality.

Midia Ninja / Mobilizacao Nacional Indigena

In rural areas, local authorities take little actionsometimes noneto apprehend land-grabbers who often start conflicts. Meanwhile, the aggressive agribusiness lobby in Brazils Congress is working to weaken or end the process giving Indigenous communities control of their lands.

Midia Ninja / Mobilizacao Nacional Indigena

The states attacks against peaceful protestors are unconscionable and unacceptable, and the wave of violence in rural areas of Brazil is a suppression of fundamental human rights.

Indigenous Peoples are fighting for their rights and their land in Brazil and all around the worldand they continue to be met with violence. It is up to all of us to demand justice and stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples.

Start now. Take action and add your name to stand with the Munduruku People of the Brazilian Amazon in their fight to protect their traditional lands.
Construction of Energy Transfer Partners new Rover Pipeline only began mid-February but the project has already resulted in 18 incidents involving mud spills from drilling, stormwater pollution and open burning that violated the Clean Air Act.

The Dallas-based companywhich is also the operator of the controversial Dakota Access Pipelinehas been fined $431,000 by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for water and air pollution violations across various sites in Ohio.

As The Columbus Dispatch reported, the incidents occurred from late March up to Mondays 200-gallon release of mud in Harrison County. The largest discharge leaked millions of gallons of bentonite mud, a drilling lubricant, into a protected wetland in April.

A widely-opposed pipeline 'confirms worst fears' after two spills into Ohio wetlands: https://t.co/0CaYLLQHKG via @EcoWatch  NRDC  (@NRDC) April 21, 2017

Notably, Craig Butler, the Ohio EPA director, told The Washington Post that the largest spill could reach 5 million gallons, much higher than the original 2 million gallon estimate.

An Energy Transfer Partners spokesman responded, We have no idea where they came up with those figures.

Butler told The Post that two of the spills affected drinking water supplies and that two municipalities needed to adjust their filtration systems to protect drinking water.

As far as Energy Transfers response, Butler said the company has been dismissive, exceptionally disappointing and unlike any other response he has seen. According to Butler, the company claimed that the state EPA lacks the authority to interfere with the Rover project.

Butler said he arranged a meeting with Energy Transfer Partners executives to say how upset Ohio was and to arrange new response plans. However, the company said it would continue to operate and has not yet paid any of its fines.

An Energy Transfer spokeswoman told The Columbus Dispatch that the small number of inadvertent releases of drilling mud during horizontal drilling in Ohio  is not an unusual occurrence when executing directional drilling operations and is all permitted activity by (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission).

We do not believe that there will be any impact to the environment, she said, adding that the company is managing the Rover Pipeline situation in accordance with its federal- and state-approved contingency plan.

Ohio EPA officials contacted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an analysis of the project. Butler said the state EPA is also examining other legal options.

The finished 713-mile pipeline will carry fracked gas across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and Canada, and crosses three major rivers, the Maumee, Sandusky and Portage, all of which feed into Lake Erie. The pipeline is designed to transport 3.25 billion cubic feet of domestically produced natural gas per day.

The Sierra Club condemned Energy Transfer for failing to inform the public of its numerous spills and violations. Rather, the news was discovered after the Sierra Club attorney Richard Sahli filed a records request with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the documents, the company anticipates even more spills throughout the duration of the project, which is estimated to last six months.



Energy Transfer has caused more widespread environmental damage throughout Ohio than any other company in history, Sahli said.This pattern of reckless destruction calls for the strongest penalties provided in Ohio law, including a criminal investigation of the responsible individuals within the corporation and its subcontractors.

Jen Miller, director of Sierra Club Ohio, is calling on the Ohio EPA to halt the pipelines construction.

Energy Transfer is either incompetent, or simply doesnt care about Ohioans safety, Miller said. The recklessness constructing Rover Pipeline has put our clean water, air, and land in immediate danger with its spills and violations, and it must be stopped. Ohio EPA needs to keep our communities safe by forcing a halt to the pipelines construction until the company completely reorganizes its construction program and fully remedies the harm it has already caused to communities and landowners thus far.

If Energy Transfer is already destroying our air, water and land, how can we trust them to build a pipeline that actually functions properly? Miller asked. Energy Transfer has proven to not be trustworthy.

The Sierra Club has tallied a number of Rovers environmental violations across Ohio:

April 5, 2017: unauthorized pollution release impacting tributaries of Woodfield Reservoir in Monroe County, failure to control stormwater

April 8, 2017: 1,000 gallons of drilling fluid pollution released into wetland near Indian Fork River, in Tuscarawas County; covered 2500 square foot area of wetland

April 10, 2017: 600 gallons of drilling fluid pollution released into stream, wetland and pond in Richland Township, Belmont County

April 10, 2017: unauthorized pollution release impacting tributaries of Woodfield Reservoir in Monroe County, failure to control stormwater

April 11, 2017: unauthorized pollution release from failure to manage stormwater in Bloomdale, Wood County

April 11, 2017: Clean Air Act violation, open burning of site preparation material near a home in Toronto, Ohio

April 11, 2017: Stormwater violations in Wood, Richland, and Crawford Counties because of failure to manage vehicle tracking of drilling materials onto public roadways

April 12, 2017: unauthorized pollution release into Bull Creek in Wood County, failure to control stormwater

April 13,2017: 2 million gallons of drilling fluid pollution accumulating in high quality wetland adjacent to Tuscarawas River in Navarre Township, Stark County; covered 500,000 sq foot area of the category 3 wetland

April 14, 2017: 50,000 gallons of drilling fluid pollution released into wetland in Mifflin Township, Richland County

April 17, 2017: 200 gallons of drilling fluid pollution released into a pond in Monroe Township, Harrison County

April 22, 2017: 200 gallons of drilling fluid pollution released into stream in Wooster Township, Wayne County

May 2, 2017: unauthorized pollution release from failure to manage stormwater in Bloomdale, Wood County

May 3, 2017: unauthorized pollution release into Brushy Fork Creek, Cadiz, Harrison County, failure to control stormwater
By Andy Rowell

Since Donald Trump was elected, there has been an assault on the pillars of what many would be considered a free and fair democratic society: the right to protest and the right to free speech.

As millions stand up for science, for womens and LGBT rights and for the climate, the authorities are trying to crack down on peaceful dissent, leading one commentator to argue that there is a now a free speech crisis in America.

Many veterans of protests will argue that we have been here before. Indeed, I wrote a book more than 25 years ago, titled Green Backlash, that looked at how the authorities were trying to silence environmental activists. But these are dark days again, with a country-wide attack on civil rights.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), more than 30 separate anti-protest bills have been introduced in the country since Nov. 8 last year, in an unprecedented level of hostility towards protesters in the 21st century.

Many of these have been introduced in states such as North Dakota, where indigenous activists spent months fighting the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.

The Guardian reported that more than 20 states have proposed bills that would crack down on protests and demonstrations since Trump was elected.

One bill under consideration in Tennessee could effectively allow a driver to legitimately run over a protester who is blocking traffic in a public right-of-way if the driver was exercising due care.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, a new bill deliberately aimed at stopping protests against the oil and gas industry and other critical infrastructure was sent to the governor to sign at the end of last month.

According to a report in the Intercept, the Oklahoma law is unique  in its broad targeting of groups conspiring with protesters accused of trespassing. It takes aim at environmental organizations Republicans have blamed for anti-pipeline protests that have become costly for local governments.

Under the newly signed law, any person who even enters property containing critical infrastructure without permission could face a fine of not less than $1,000 or six months in jail. Intent to willfully destroy or impede or inhibit operations of the facility means the person faces a fine of $10,000 or one year in jail. Should someone be convicted of causing damage, they face a fine of $100,000.00 or 10 years in jail.

As the Intercept noted, Significantly, the statute also implicates any organization found to be a conspirator with the trespasser, threatening collaborator groups with a fine ten times that imposed on the intruderas much as $1 million in cases involving damage.

It is not surprising that the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association supports the legislation.

Another bill which recently passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives would not only seek damages from someone caught trespassing, but also, A person or entity that compensates or remunerates a person for trespassing  may also be held vicariously liable for any damages to personal or real property committed by the person compensated or remunerated for trespassing.

It is currently unclear what compensated actually means and whether it is a way of trying to undermine more mainstream environmental organizations who have offered some kind of background support to protesters.

This has been widely condemned: Johnson Bridgwater, head of the Oklahoma chapter of the Sierra Club, told the Intercept, There is a strong and real fear that this could be used as an attempt to crush a group or a chapter of Sierra Club unfairly  We see all of these bills as nothing more than corporate America being fearful of how successful the Standing Rock protests were.

UN experts have branded the bills being introduced across the country as incompatible with U.S. obligations under international human rights law. David Kaye and Maina Kiai, from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, argue that some specific pieces of legislation are criminalizing peaceful protests.

The ACLU and National Lawyers Guild also believe that many of the bills violate the U.S. Constitution.

Vera Eidelman from the ACLU told the Guardian, This flood of bills represents an unprecedented level of hostility towards protesters in the 21st century. And many of these bills attack the right to speak out precisely where the Supreme Court has historically held it to be the most robust: in public parks, streets and sidewalks.

The two UN experts David Kaye and Maina Kiai have now written to the U.S. government arguing that the legislation severely infringes upon the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

Meanwhile, dozens of people who were innocently watching Trumps inauguration have now been charged with multiple felonies, including journalists and people just holding banners. Art Spitzer, legal director of the ACLU in Washington, DC, argued, To the extent the government is prosecuting people who were not breaking any law, of course it will have a chilling effect on participation in protest.

And that is what Trump and others want: to chill people into silence.
U.S. Rep. Butterfield 2017 ECSU Spring Commencement Keynote Speaker

North Carolinas first district representative to the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman G.K. Butterfield Jr., will give the keynote address during the 2017 Elizabeth City State University commencement on May 13, 2017, 9 a.m., at the R.L Vaughan Center on the campus of ECSU.

Congressman Butterfield, a native of Wilson, North Carolina, is the son of a prominent Wilson dentist, Dr. G.K. Butterfield Sr., who founded the Wilson branch of the NAACP in the late 1940s. The congressman earned his bachelors degree in political science from North Carolina Central University, and went on to earn his law degree in 1974, also from NCCU.

In 1988, Congressman Butterfield was elected as Resident Superior Court judge in the first judicial division. For the next 12 years, he presided over civil and criminal court in 46 North Carolina counties. In February 2001, he was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court by Gov. Mike Easley.

Congressman Butterfield was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 during a special election after the retirement of former congressman, Frank Ballance. Since 2004 the congressman has served on the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Armed Services Committee, the House Agriculture Committee, and as the chairman of the Black Congressional Caucus. In 2007 he was appointed the Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus.


The Federal Government has launched an online calculator to enable parents and schools to assess the impact of planned funding changes

The Online Estimator will allow parents, families and schools to see how they will benefit from the additional $18.6bn investment in Australian schools.

The Federal Government also released data showing that all but 251 schools across Australia will experience growth of 2.5% or more and that more than 4,500 schools will experience growth of above 5%.

Federal Education Minister, Simon Birmingham, said the estimator would help parents and schools understand what the Turnbull Governments funding plan means for them.

From today the Turnbull Government is delivering the information parents, teachers and principals need from our needs-based funding plan to make long-term plans for the future of each child and each school, Minister Birmingham said in a statement.

Birmingham added that the funding plan will see an additional $18.6b of needs-based funding provided to Australian schools over the next decade.

My department has been in contact with the schools set for a funding reduction under our plan to ensure those communities have the information and support to work through those changes, he said.

Unlike the special deals the Labor Party stitched up, the Turnbull Government recognises true needs-based funding cannot be distorted by secret handshakes that favour states and sectors over one another.

Responding to concerns that Catholic schools will lose out under the new funding model, Birmingham said the needs-based formula ensures that per-student funding will remain higher in this sector.

Per-student funding in the Catholic sector is estimated to be $12,493 per-student in 2027 compared to $10,853 per-student in the independent sector.

Under the new funding model, dozens of wealthy private schools will see reduced funding per-student when the funding plan is implemented, with a further 353 schools worse off as they transition to their appropriate resourcing standard over the next decade.

Below are the 24 independent schools with a predicted reduction in Federal Government funding per-student

Loreto Kirribilli, NSW

Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College, NSW

St Aloysius' College, NSW

St Pius X College, NSW

Mount St Benedict College (Pennant Hills), NSW

Daramalan College, ACT

Hillbrook Anglican School, QLD

Radford College, ACT

Burgmann Anglican School, ACT

Marist College Canberra, ACT

Brigidine College, St Ives, NSW

Brindabella Christian College, ACT

Stella Maris College Manly, NSW

Oakhill College Castle Hill, NSW

Covenant Christian School, NSW

Waverley College, NSW

St Scholastica's College, NSW

Northern Beaches Christian School, NSW

Masada College High School, NSW

Cannon Hill Anglican College, QLD

Inner Sydney Montessori School, NSW

Orana Steiner School, ACT

St Augustine's College, NSW

St Edmund's College, ACT
Spurred on by new flexibility under the Every Student Succeeds Act and revenue shortfalls, and amid one-party control in most states, legislators this year tackled longstanding questions over who should be in charge of education policy, how to better spend K-12 dollars, and what school success should look like.

In state after state, lawmakers sought to overhaul school funding formulas, rearrange accountability systems, and expand school choice options like vouchers, education savings accounts, and the charter school sector.

All 50 states held legislative sessions this year, and 15 of those states already had wrapped up business as of late last week, with more expected to adjourn by mid-May.

Republicans sought to turn their political dominancethey control both legislative chambers in 32 states, as well as 31 governors seatsinto policy action, with varied results.

After a historic sweep last year that gave them control of Kentuckys legislature and governorship, that states Republicans upended its entire school governance model and accountability system, and then made Kentucky the 44th state to allow for charter schools. And, in a dramatic expansion, Arizona opened its education savings accounts, or ESA, program to all students in the state.

But in West Virginia, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, legislators facing severe revenue shortfalls are being forced to weigh tough decisions over their school spending habits.

And spats this year broke out in the GOP-controlled legislatures in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Indiana over the powers of state superintendents and state school board members and who would have the upper hand on education policy.

Many lawmakers entered the 2017 legislative session bent on making wholesale changes to their states education landscape. That momentum was buoyed in states like Michigan and Wisconsin that last fall held town hall-style meetings under ESSAs stakeholder engagement process, where officials heard complaints from parents and teachers about the quality of their local schools.

Legislators are asking, How do we completely rethink our education system? said Michelle Exstrom, the education program director for the National Conference of State Legislators. The budget situation in a number of states has really forced conversations around how education is funded and what impacts that has on the structure of education.

Feeling Squeezed

States are at least eight years out of the Great Recession, and unemployment is at historic lows nationally. So, last year, when passing their budgets, legislators had rosy outlooks on fiscal conditions, estimating that theyd be able to boost spending back to prerecession levels, said John Hicks, the executive director of the National Association of School Business Officers.

But income- and sales-tax revenuetwo areas on which states and their public school systems are heavily dependentflattened and, in some instances, dipped, causing 29 states to miss their revenue forecasts. That prompted midyear K-12 cuts in some states and forced many others to re-examine their education spending.

Weve got revenue growth on the order of 2 percent at best, said Hicks, pointing out that many states for their 2018 fiscal year are either spending much more conservatively or looking for new revenue sources.

Based on governors budget proposals, however, Hicks expects that education spending in most states will escape cuts, with the vast majority of states, such as New York and Georgia, contributing toward their K-12 budgets at least the minimum amount required by their state law.

In some instances, revenue dips were more dramatic and school spending, inevitably, was hit. Connecticut faces a $1.4 billion deficit this year, and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy proposed several cuts to the states wealthiest school districts. Delaware faced a $395 million budget deficit, which dampened hopes for an update to that states funding formula, which many have described as insufficient to help the states neediest students.

States heavily dependent on energy and commodity prices had to make particularly dramatic cuts to their budgets. Alaskas Senate, for example, has proposed reducing that states education spending by 5.7 percent, which would lead to increased class sizes and teacher layoffs. West Virginia, North Dakota, and Oklahomaall of them dealing with the oil and coal revenue squeezeare also eyeing cuts climbing to hundreds of millions of dollars unless they institute new taxes.

Tackling the Formulas

Responding to the revenue shortfalls and other factors, an unusually high number of state legislatures this year attempted dramatic changes to their school funding formulas.

The Texas House of Representatives passed a major overhaul of its funding formula that would give more money to schools serving poor students and dismantle its so-called Robin Hood formula by allowing wealthy districts to keep a larger portion of their locally generated revenue. The Senate is considering a similar bill.

Other states legislatures were under court order to revise their funding formulas.

Years of threats from state supreme courts in Kansas and Washington have brought those states perennial school funding battles to a head this year.

Washingtons high court in 2012 ruled the states funding formula unconstitutional for relying too heavily on local tax dollars to pay for public schools. The legislature responded by increasing funding for all-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes, and transportation. But it has yet to come up with a way to boost teacher salaries, estimated to cost the state $3.5 billion every two years.

Kansas problems are a little more complicated. Because the state has operated on a block grant funding formula thats set to expire this year, legislators must come up with an entirely new funding formula.

That states supreme court said earlier this year that the funding formula is inadequate, but acknowledged that how the legislature distributes any new funding matters as much as the amount they distribute. That set off a debate over how the state wants to bring more than a quarter of Kansas students up to basic learning standards.

President Donald Trumps rhetorical embrace of school choice options, along with the appointment of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, a long-time school choice advocate, have brought plenty of national attention to the debate over vouchers, ESAs, and charter schools. Theres been an uptick this year in ESA legislation, in particular, said Josh Cunningham, an education manager for NCSL. (ESAs set aside money for parents to spend on private schools, special education services, and other approved services). There has been a decline, however, in efforts to dramatically expand or start brand new voucher or charter school programs.

I think a lot of the states that have the right political conditions to pass these bills have already passed them, Cunningham said of the voucher and charter school bills. States that are still lingering are the states you saw really grappling this year with what their choice legislation should look like.

Texas House members, for example, have so far blocked an attempt from that states Senate to allow for the use of vouchers this year.

Virginias Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have provided public school students with a voucher to be spent on private school tuition.

The New Hampshire and Missouri Senates have both passed bills that would expand ESAs to the entire state. Neither of the House chambers in those states had approved the bills as of deadline.

Gearing for ESSA

Legislators in numerous states reasserted their authority over key education policy decisions. In the wake of the battles in recent years over the Common Core State Standards, legislatures made attempts to dictate what goes into their state ESSA plans, which state education departments must submit to the federal government.

Indiana passed a law that makes its state superintendent appointed by the governor rather than elected. The North Carolina House, after attempting to strip its state board of many of its powers (the board sued in response), passed a bill that bans its education department from turning in an ESSA plan until September. It awaits Senate action.

And Wisconsins Republican legislature threatened to sue its states left-leaning superintendent for not including their input in a draft of the states ESSA plan.

In Maryland, lawmakers passed a bill that limited testing and dictated elements of the states accountability system. Marylands Republican Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed it, but the Democratically-controlled legislature overrode the veto.

Accountability and assessments is a huge issue this year, and thats more than likely being driven by new approaches allowed under ESSA, said Exstrom of NCSL.

Only 15 states and the District of Columbia had turned in their ESSA plans as of last week; the rest will turn in their plans this September.

States are figuring out that this is hard work, and theyre getting a lot of input and feedback from stakeholders, and they want to synthesize all that feedback into their plan, said Exstrom.
President Donald Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, have made local control a major focus of their statements on K-12. And Trump underscored that priority in his recent executive order calling on DeVos to take a hard look at where the federal government has overreached on K-12 education.

The order directs DeVos to review, tweak, and even repeal regulations and guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education recently, as well as identify places where the federal government has overstepped its legal authority.

Recently, too many in Washington have advanced top-down mandates that take away autonomy and limit the options available to educators, administrators, and parents, said Rob Goad, a senior Education Department aide, on a call with reporters last month. The executive order puts an end to this overreach, ensuring that states and localities are free to make educational decisions, he added.

In response to the executive order, a task force at the department, led by Robert Eitel, a senior adviser to the secretary, will look at all the K-12 regulations put out by prior administrations and decide which step on local control, Goad said. After 300 days, the department is supposed to release a report on its findings.

Reinforcing the Message

DeVos doesnt need an executive orderor a task forceto strike down regulations or rescind guidance put out by previous administrations. She can already delay or decline to enforce regulations, or change guidance.

It doesnt create any new authority, said Reg Leichty, a founder and partner at Foresight Law + Policy. It doesnt change what we knew to be the position of the president. It might add some formality to the work that the secretary and her team already plan to do. Its a formal way to express their policy that the federal role should be smaller.

Goad acknowledged as much in his call with reporters to discuss the April 26 order, confirming that DeVos was indeed already empowered to examine, revise, and rescind rules and regulations before the order. And already, Congress has scrapped the Obama administrations regulations on accountability and teacher preparation.

The executive order seems to be a not-so-veiled shot at President Barack Obamas administration, which used $4 billion in Race to the Top funding to entice states to adopt the Common Core State Standards, teacher evaluations using student test scores, and more. The Education Department under Obama also offered states waivers from many mandates of the much-maligned No Child Left Behind Act, in exchange for adopting other policies, such as using dramatic strategies to turn around low-performing schools.

But such activities are already prohibited by the Every Student Succeeds Act. ESSA, which Obama signed in 2015 to replace the NCLB law, is designed to reduce the federal role in K-12 in part by prohibiting the education secretary from using money or flexibility to influence states standards, teacher evaluations, and school turnaround strategies. In fact, because of ESSA and other federal laws that predate it, Trump cant fulfill his campaign promise to get rid of the common core, which remains in place in more than 35 states and the District of Columbia.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of Teachers, was quick to seize on the idea that the executive order wont make much of a difference.

Rather than another executive order, perhaps the president and DeVos need to read the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, as well as laws covering the civil rights and privacy of students, and then listen to stakeholders, including educators and parents, Weingarten said.

Changes Absolutely Nothing

The Democratic National Committee was even more blunt, saying Trump was essentially signing an empty order to chalk up another accomplishment for his first 100 days in office, a milestone he passed late last month.

This executive order changes absolutely nothing, said Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the DNC. Trump isnt signing it to actually improve education for American students, he is doing it to put a fake point on the board within his first 100 days because he doesnt have any accomplishments of significance.

But Jeanne Allen, the founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform, a school choice advocacy organization, praised the executive order. The process, she said in a statement, will also allow the public to learn just how much oversight occurs as a result of bureaucracy, not law, and pave the way for all schools to focus on outcomes, not compliance.
Search All categories Advertising General Aerospace General Agriculture General Airlines General America - Post 9/11 General Apparel General Apple Products General Architectural General Architecture Architecture Art & Entertainments Books Celebrities Country Music Dance Magazines Movies Museums Music Music Downloads News & Talk Shows Performing Arts Photography Television Web Sites Arts/Culture General Auction General Automotive Aftermarket Classic Autos Consumer Publications General Motorcycle & Bike Racing Recreational Vehicle Repair & Service Trade Publications Blogging & Social Media Blogging & Social Media Business Advertising / Marketing Books Consumer Research Direct Marketing e-Commerce Entrepreneurs Finance Franchise Human Resources Insurance Investment Management Markets Network Marketing Online Marketing / SEO Payday Loans Public Relations Publications Real Estate Retail Stocks Supermarkets Women in Business Careers/HR General Chemical General Coaching / Mentoring Coaching / Mentoring Computers Apple Products Databases Games & Entertainment General Hosting Instruction Linux / GNU "Open Source" Macintosh Microsoft Windows PC Operating Systems Programming Security Software Tablet PCs Utilities Construction General Consumer Gifts and Collectibles Hobbies Web sites / Internet Design Graphic Design Industrial Web E-Cigarette General eCommerce General Economy General Education College / University General Home Schooling K-12 Post Graduate Technical Electronics General Email Marketing General EmailWire Press Releases Press Release Tips Employment/Careers General Engineering General Entertainment General Environment General Events / Trade Shows General Finance General Food General Franchise General Fraud / Identity Theft General Gaming General Government General Judicial Law Enforcement Legislative Local National Public Services Security State Transportation Healthcare General Home and Family Banking / Personal Finance Bereavement / Loss Home Furnishings / Interiors Landscaping & Gardening Marriage / Relationships Money Parenting Payday Loans Pets Taxes Wedding / Bridal Home Schooling General Hotels/Resorts General Household General Industry Aerospace / Defense Agriculture Apparel / Textiles Broadcast Construction / Building Electrical Food Funeral Healthcare Leisure / Hospitality Logistics / Shipping Manufacturing / Production Mining / Metals Oil / Energy Paper / Forest Products Plumbing, Heating & AC Print Media Printing Publishing Radio Restaurants Tobacco Toy Insurance General Internet/Online General Legal General Leisure General Lifestyle Beauty Dating / Singles Diet / Weight Loss Fashion Food / Beverage Health & Fitness Hotel / Resorts Pastimes Restaurants Retirement Travel & Tourism Machinery General Maritime General Medical Addiction Allergies Alternative Medicine Asthma Cancer Cardiology Chiropractic Dental Dermatology Diabetes Emergency Family Medicine General General Geriatrics Hospitals Infectious Diseases Internal Medicine Managed Care / HMO Medical Products Mental Health Neurology Nursing Nutrition OB / GYN Pediatrics Pharmaceuticals Physical Therapy Plastic Surgery Psychology Radiology / Imaging Research Sports Medicine Surgery Vision Military General Mining/Metals General Miscellaneous General Nanotechnology Nanotechnology Non-profit General Occupational Safety Occupational Safety Oil/Energy General Opinion / Editorial Opinion / Editorial Paper Products General Paper/Forest General Pharmaceuticals General Podcasting Announce Tools and Services Politics Politics Print Media General Public Utilities Public Utilities Publishing General Radio General Real Estate General Religion Christian General Islam Jewish Other Restaurants General Retail General RSS & Content Syndication RSS & Content Syndication Science and Research Science and Research Self-Help / Personal Growth Self-Help / Personal Growth Shipbuilding General Society African American Interests Asian Interests Childrens Issues Disabled Issues / Disabilities Gay / Lesbian Hispanic Mens Interests Native American Senior Citizens Social Services Teen Issues/Interests Womens Interest Software General Sports Baseball Basketball Bicycling Boating / Maritime Bowling Boxing Fishing Football Golf Hockey Hunting Martial Arts Outdoors Rugby Soccer Tennis Water Winter/Snow Sports/Fitness General Stocks General Supermarkets General Technology Biotechnology Computer Electronics Enterprise Software Games Graphics/Printing/CAD Hardware / Peripherals Industrial Information Internet Multimedia Networking Public Sector/Government Robotics Semiconductor Software Telecommunications Webmasters Telecom General Wireless Television General Tobacco General Trade General Transportation General Travel General Utilities General Volunteer Volunteer Weather Weather
Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected president of France, is facing two gigantic economic tasks  to revive the sluggish growth of the French economy and of the Eurozone. He wants to save the common currency by deepening the relations among the 19 Eurozone countries and has therefore proposed a common Eurozone budget, funded from both tax revenues and common borrowing, which would finance investment programs, and support countries hit by economic crises. Mr. Macron suggested in a diplomatic manner earlier this year that Germanys huge trade surpluses and fixation on fiscal austerity have hampered growth elsewhere in the EU.

In order to succeed, Mr. Macron will have to get support of Germany, which is firmly against the idea that Eurozone countries should follow common rules but keep their taxpayers money separate. The French and German leaders now have a chance to revamp the Eurozone and the wider EU and the stakes are high. If they fail to revive the European project, which has been troubled by crises for a decade, populists will likely return boosted in the next election cycle.

While economic growth has returned to the EU, it is not spread evenly. Moreover, it carries the stigma of the economic crisis  high unemployment in France and in the South of the EU. The Eurozone is not a perfect monetary union because despite the common currency, it lacks common taxes, spending and borrowing and its banking union is only half-built. Therefore, Mr. Macron needs to persuade Berlin that he is able to shape change in Europe, which would also help him domestically. However, the prevalent opinion in Mrs. Merkels government is that more integration towards a federal Europe would currently only boost populism rather than counter it.
According to the 2017 Arab Youth Survey, young adults throughout the Middle East and North Africa consider Russia to be the Arab worlds closest non-Arab ally at the moment, rather than the United States. 21 percent of respondents held this opinion this year compared to 9 percent in 2016, while support for the United States went down from 25 percent last year to 17 percent this year.

49 percent of the polling young men and women aged 18 and 24 believed that the US was somewhat of an enemy or a strong enemy of their country. A majority in 8 countries said that the US is an enemy  double the number of countries where a majority of respondents said so in 2016. A lot of the swing can be attributed to President Donald Trump. Interestingly, he is even less liked that former President George W. Bush who was viewed favorably by 19 percent of the young Arabs compared to Mr. Trumps 11-percent approval rate. 70 percent of all respondents think that Donald Trump is anti-Muslim and 49 percent believe that his travel ban makes it easier for terrorist groups to recruit and radicalize young Muslims.

This year, the top 5 allies cited in the survey are the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and the United States, whereby the European Union, or Europe more generally, is conspicuously missing from the list. Among other findings, young Arabs feel that the biggest challenges holding the Middle East back are high unemployment and extremism. They also fear that their education system falls short of preparing students for jobs of the future. The survey collected opinions of 3,500 young adults from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Yemen; Syria was excluded due to the war.
BAVENCIO is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy.

These indications are approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response and duration of response. Continued approval for these indications may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

Avelumab has not yet been approved for any indication in any market outside of the US. As announced on October 31, 2016, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has validated for review Merck's Marketing Authorization Application for avelumab, for the proposed indication of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

About BAVENCIO(R) (avelumab)

BAVENCIO is a human programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) blocking antibody indicated in the US for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy, as well as for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.[1] These indications are approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response and duration of response. Continued approval for these indications is contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

BAVENCIO is not approved for any indication in any market outside the US.

About Merck-Pfizer Alliance

Immuno-oncology is a top priority for Merck and Pfizer Inc. The global strategic alliance between Merck and Pfizer enables the companies to benefit from each other's strengths and capabilities and further explore the therapeutic potential of avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody initially discovered and developed by Merck. The immuno-oncology alliance will jointly develop and commercialize avelumab and advance Pfizer's PD-1 antibody. The alliance is focused on developing high-priority international clinical programs to investigate avelumab as a monotherapy, as well as in combination regimens, and is striving to find new ways to treat cancer.

About EMD Serono, Inc.

EMD Serono is the biopharmaceutical business of Merck - a leading science and technology company - in the US and Canada focused exclusively on specialty care. For more than 40 years, the business has integrated cutting-edge science, innovative products and industry-leading patient support and access programs. EMD Serono has deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, as well as a robust pipeline of potential therapies in oncology, immuno-oncology and immunology as R&D focus areas. Today, the business has 1,200 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts.

http://www.emdserono.com

All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to http://www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

For further details and press materials about Merck in oncology please visit

enlace [enlace ]

About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2016, Merck generated sales of EUR 15.0 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the "Merck" name and brand except in the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

About Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world(R)

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at http://www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on http://www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer [https://twitter.com/pfizer ] and @PfizerNews [https://twitter.com/pfizer_news ], LinkedIn [enlace ], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/pfizer ] and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer [https://www.facebook.com/Pfizer ].

Pfizer Disclosure Notice

The information contained in this release is as of May 9, 2017. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.

(CONTINUA)
Profit at San Antonio-based refiner Tesoro Corp. fell 28 percent in the first quarter, citing increased expenses from severe weather and a pipeline outage, the company said Monday.

The company earned $50 million during the first three months of this year, down from $69 million during the same period last year, Tesoro said in releasing its first-quarter results. The company made 43 cents a share, down from 2016s 57 cents a share. The company beat Wall Street expectations of 30 cents a share.

Profit from the companys gas stations slid 41 percent to $133 million for the first quarter, down from $227 million during the same three months last year. The company blamed Californias wet winter for lowering fuel sales.

Tesoro announced in November that it was buying Western Refining and its three refineries for $4.1 billion in a deal that would make Tesoro the fifth largest refiner in the U.S. Tesoro will also take on Westerns $1.7 billion in debt and a $605 million noncontrolling interest in Western Refining Logistics, which manages pipeline and storage infrastructure for Westerns refining assets, giving the deal an overall value of $6.4 billion.

The company booked $16 million in costs from the acquisition during the first quarter.

The acquisition is still awaiting regulatory approval from the Federal Trade Commission, which asked for further information in February. Tesoro said it still expects the deal to close by the end of June.

Tesoros Chairman and CEO Greg Goff said hes excited about what he described as the transformation of Tesoro due to the Western acquisition, which he reiterated would create between $350 million and $425 million in cost savings.

Tesoro Logistics, the master limited partnership formed by Tesoro Corp. in 2010 to handle the companys pipeline and storage infrastructure, earned $92 million, or 51 cents per unit, compared with $85 million, or 64 cents a unit during the first quarter of last year. Analysts expected Tesoro Logistics to match the 2016 earnings.

The company earned profits of $92 million, the same amount it earned in 2016.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

rdruzin@express-news.net

@druz_journo
San Antonio-based convenience store operator CST Brands Inc.s profit plummeted by more than 84 percent in the first quarter as motor fuel sales dropped and the company took on costs stemming from its merger with the Canadian parent company of Circle K, CST said Monday.

CST missed analyst projections with $3 million in net income, or 4 cents a share, during the three-month period ending March 1, down from $19 million, or 24 cents a share, during the same period last year. Analysts projected CST would earn about $20 million, or 27 cents a share.

The company, which operates the Corner Store brand of convenience stores, attributed that drop in part to $9 million in fees related to the $4.4 billion merger with Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., which owns Circle K. Couche-Tard agreed in August to buy CST after a months-long courting period for $48.53 a share in an all-cash transaction and assume the companys debt. Shareholders approved the sale in November with 99.7 percent of the vote.

The merger with Couche-Tard is expected to close in the second quarter, Kim Lubel, CST Brands chairman and CEO, said in a news release Monday.

CST also attributed the decline in profit to a 6 percent decrease in motor fuel gross profit at its U.S. and Canada stores and nonrecurring costs incurred during the same period in 2016. The company said Monday it also saw stronger fuel profit margins during the first quarter of 2016. If not for those costs, CSTs first-quarter net income would have been $12 million, or 15 cents a share, the company said.

CST made $112 million from fuel sales during the first quarter compared with $120 million during the same period last year.

But the convenience store operator saw growing sales of merchandise and services, the apparent results of CSTs push to offset losses from falling cigarette sales and volatile oil prices with in-store offerings of fresh food and grocery items. CST made $164 million from merchandise and services during the first quarter, up 2.5 percent from $160 million earned during the same period last year.

CSTs first-quarter revenue grew 16.4 percent to almost $2.4 billion from $2 billion last year.

The San Antonio company didnt hold an earnings call, but Lubel said in a statement that she is proud of what our team has accomplished since becoming a public company four years ago when CST spun off from Valero Energy Corp. in 2013.

Lubel said the company opened 165 stores in North America, grew its stock price by 60 percent, made several key acquisitions to further support our organic growth strategy, and expanded in-store offerings with fresh food and the companys private label products.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

jfechter@express-news.net

Twitter: @JFreports
A much-criticized visa program that allows foreigners to win fast-track immigration in return for investing $500,000 in U.S. properties was extended in a bill signed by President Trump just one day before a sister of senior White House adviser Jared Kushner pitched the program to Chinese investors.

Trump, who advocates restrictive immigration policies, extended the EB-5 investor program without long-promised reforms as part of a massive federal spending bill. The program has offered wealthy foreigners a way around complicated U.S. immigration rules, allowing them to live in the United States and seek permanent residency in return for substantial investments.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that Nicole Kushner Meyer delivered a sales presentation in Beijing at which she urged Chinese citizens to invest in a New Jersey project being managed by the Kushner familys real estate company. Meyers relationship to her brother was mentioned as part of the presentation.

On Sunday, the Kushner Companies, of which Nicole Meyer is a principal, said in an email to the Post that it apologizes if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors. That was not Ms. Meyers intention.

The firm stressed that Jared Kushner stepped away from the company in January and has nothing to do with this project, which it said would provide $180 million in tax revenue over 30 years.

Trumps son-in-law Kushner, who headed his familys real estate company until he agreed to serve in the White House, helped oversee the New Jersey luxury apartment project while managing the familys vast real estate holdings.

Meyers sales presentation about the EB-5 investor visa program brought pointed criticism from Democrats who said she sought to benefit from her ties to her brother, who, as the husband of Ivanka Trump, has become one of Trumps closest advisers.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee, said in an interview Sunday that it was pretty sketchy for Meyer to make her sales pitch given that the programs continued existence is in doubt, and the backlog of applications from Chinese investors may add five years to the process. In 2014, 85 percent of investor visas were issued to Chinese applicants.

The fact that she is the sister to the top adviser to the president makes it even worse, Lofgren said.

The sales pitch put a spotlight on what has long been a controversial program. A raft of reports from federal agencies have said it is a bureaucratic nightmare, prone to abuse, and difficult to justify in terms of economic return. Members of both parties have said it should be killed or reformed. The Obama administration had proposed that the price of the least expensive investor visas go from $500,000 to $1.3 million, and left it to the Trump administration whether to implement.

A White House spokesman said the administration would work with Congress to evaluate wholesale reform of the program, which might include raising the price of the visa.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of legislators proposed reforms that included making it more costly to participate and more difficult to defraud the government. The reforms included efforts to revive that the programs original intent of providing investment in rural and distressed urban areas. In recent years, developers have found ways to funnel investments to high-priced urban areas such as Manhattan by expanding the application area to include lower-income neighborhoods.

However, the two leaders of the reform effort, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Patrick Leahy , D-Vt., said in a March 14 letter that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a real estate group were undercutting the reforms.

The senators wrote that the businessorganizations may have recently agreed to a secretive backroom deal that undercuts the many good faith efforts we have made during the past two years. They said the business groups were trying to preempt their proposed reforms with window dressing.

A spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The failure to reform the program did not lead Congress to suspend it. Instead, with the program set to expire, Congress tucked a program extension into a spending bill that passed Congress on Thursday. The overall measure was signed by Trump on Friday.

Trump has made immigration overhaul the centerpiece of his campaign and administration. He has called for the construction of a wall on the Mexican border, proposed that the nations 11 million undocumented immigrants be expelled, and called for a ban on many immigrants from some Muslim-majority countries.

Asked why Trump signed a bill allowing the continuation of the investor visa program, a White House spokesman said Trump had little leeway to adjust a spending bill that was largely assembled by the Obama administration, although Trump did seek to shape the measure in other ways, such as money for the border wall.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

It was a day after Trump signed the bill that Meyer made her presentation in Beijing in which she and her associates urged the Chinese to invest in the luxury apartment building, One Journal Square, which is slated to be built next year. Invest early, and you will invest under the old rules, one speaker said. A brochure put it even more plainly: Invest $500,000 and immigrate to the United States.

There is no suggestion that Trump signed the bill to help the Kushner firm get investments from the Chinese, but the timing underscored the tenuous nature of the program.

The investor visa program was designed to entice overseas investors to put $500,000 into projects, mainly in higher-unemployment areas, creating at least 10 jobs, or $1 million in wealthier areas. In return, an investor would receive the right to live in the United States and seek permanent residency after two years.

A federal watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, said in two recent reports that the program is subject to fraud and abuse, and that the economic benefits are questionable. One report said that many applications are thousands of pages long, requiring a review of more than 14 million pages a year in a system that still relies largely on paper documents.

Federal auditors said that the government should improve scrutiny of the source of investment funds, noting a case in which a petitioner was found to have potential financial ties to a number of brothels in China, according to an August 2015 report by the GAO. That investor was not approved for the program.

Kushner has previously raised $50 million from the program to help finance construction of Trump Bay Street, a 50-story apartment building in Jersey City, according to a Bloomberg report.

Kushner has promised to recuse himself from any administration decisions about the future of the program, a spokesman said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Mayor Ivy Taylor lost her dominance in some North Side voting precincts against City Councilman Ron Nirenberg, whose strong performance in last weeks election forced the mayor into a rare runoff involving an elected incumbent.

Data released Monday by the Bexar County Elections Department shows that more voters supported Nirenberg in 31 precincts that had previously gone to Taylor when she first ran for mayor in 2015, according to an analysis by the San Antonio Express-News.

Nirenberg won precincts in his home turf of District 8 on the North Side, where he has served as a councilman for four years, along with other parts of the North Side where voters had gravitated toward Taylor in the past election. Nirenberg also won support in downtown neighborhoods.

Honestly, this campaigns in a position to win every vote, Nirenberg said before the election results came in Saturday evening. I think were speaking to San Antonians in general, regardless of their political leanings, because theyre ready for stronger leadership.

Taylor primarily won voting precincts in other parts of the North Side, such as Stone Oak; the far West Side near SeaWorld; and the East Side, where she had served as a council member before becoming mayor.

After viewing the precinct results in a map generated by the Express-News, Taylor said: I think the map reveals Im on a very strong path because it shows I have very strong support in every part of the city, in contrast to my opponent, who really has strong support in a slice of the community.

In a crowded field of 14 candidates, Taylor came in first place Saturday with 42 percent of the nearly 100,000 votes cast for mayor, while Nirenberg placed second with 37 percent.

Because neither candidate won more than half the votes, the mayors race will be decided in a June 10 runoff  something that hasnt happened in at least two decades for an elected incumbent mayor of San Antonio. Since 1997, nearly every mayoral incumbent handily won the May general election, often because they didnt face a strong opponent.

The lone exception was then-Mayor Bill Thorntons defeat in 1997. In that race, Howard Peak and Kay Turner received more votes than Thornton, a well-funded incumbent, and the race was decided in a runoff. Peak won.

Taylor had been appointed mayor by her City Council colleagues in July 2014, and she ran for mayor in May 2015, coming in second place. Taylor then defeated former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte in a June 2015 runoff.

Taylor said she wasnt surprised by Saturdays election results, given the number of candidates who decided to run and the people who decided to run.

It was a competitive race with three strong campaigns, Taylor said. My challenge is to do what Ive been doing during my time as mayor, building consensus and coalitions.

Manuel Medina, the chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party who came in third place in the race, primarily won precincts on the South and West sides.

In those 78 voting precincts, Medina won 43 percent of more than 9,400 votes, and Nirenberg and Taylor split the difference, winning 29 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Asked how he thinks his supporters will vote in the runoff and whether he plans on making any endorsements, Medina chuckled.

I havent got that far yet, he said as he looked at the precinct results. He later called a reporter back with a statement.

Our message of SA Today resonated with voters in heavily Hispanic, Democratic precincts on the South Side and West Side, he said. In the runoff, they are likely to gravitate toward the candidate with a plan for today on the issue of generational poverty.

Who will that be?

Well see, Medina said.

jtedesco@express-news.net
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON  The hearing was about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The star witness was former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by President Donald Trump in a dispute over the lawfulness of his abortive Muslim travel ban.

The blockbuster revelation: Yates had directly warned the White House that Michael Flynn, the Trump campaigns top national security adviser, had lied about his contacts with the Russians and could be blackmailed as a result, compromising national security.

But there was another agenda in the packed hearing room apart from the allegations about Trump campaign ties to the Russians, an issue that has dogged the White House since its earliest hours.

Some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary panel, including both U.S. senators from Texas, turned to another line of questioning: Why had Yates overruled the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel and directed the departments lawyers not to defend the presidents executive order restricting travel from a set of predominantly Muslim countries?

I thought the Department of Justice had a long-standing tradition of defending a presidential action in court if there are reasonable arguments in its favor, regardless of whether those arguments will prove to be ultimately persuasive, which of course is up to the courts to decide, not you, Texas Republican John Cornyn said.

True, Yates replied, but in this instance, all arguments have to be based on truth, because were the Department of Justice.

Yates said she detected an unlawful discriminatory intent in the initial travel ban, which was struck down in court and eventually rewritten.

We are talking about a fundamental issue of religious freedom, she said.

Texas Republican Ted Cruz took up the same attack, suggesting that Yates decision was based on partisanship, not principle.

There is no doubt the arguments you laid out are arguments we can expect litigants to bring, he said, partisan litigants who disagree with the policy decisions of the president.

Yates, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, recalled that she had been pressed by Republicans at her 2015 confirmation hearings about whether she would go along with presidential directives that she thought were illegal or unconstitutional. I said no, and thats what I promised you I would do, and thats what I did.

Yates appearance was part of an ongoing inquiry by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, one of several congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling.

Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while the public has a right to know, this is not anything new  although perhaps the level and intensity and sophistication of both Russian overt and covert operations is really unprecedented.

Yates testimony came as reports swirled around the Capitol that Obama had personally warned Trump about hiring Flynn, information that amplified Yates testimony that she had told the White House days after the inauguration about false statements Flynn made to Vice President Mike Pence and others about his discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

According to Yates, the false statements could have exposed Flynn to potential manipulation by the Russians. The national security adviser could be blackmailed by the Russians, she said.

Flynn was forced to resign after just 24 days as Trumps national security adviser.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the idea that senior members of his campaign worked closely with Russian officials is fake news, a theme he kept up on Twitter earlier Monday.

Trump accused the Obama administration of not properly vetting Flynn when he led the Defense Intelligence Agency. Under Obamas tenure, Flynn was both promoted to lieutenant general and, three years later, reportedly forced to retire amid criticism of his management style.

General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration, Trump tweeted, but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.

Trump also attacked Yates on Twitter: Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. (counsel).

Trump offered no evidence for his suspicion that Yates leaked the information. In her testimony hours later, Yates repeatedly denied leaking any classified information about Trump associates and their alleged Russian ties.

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper also testified at Mondays hearing. Lawmakers had invited another Obama administration official, former national security adviser Susan Rice. She declined.

It seems to me there are a lot of questions that she needs to answer, Cornyn said.

Rice has come under criticism from Republicans who believe that she helped unmask Trump associates mentioned in intelligence reports. She has denied wrongdoing.

Yates had been scheduled to testify last March before the House Intelligence Committee. That hearing was canceled by the chairman, California Republican Devin Nunes, who has since stepped aside from the investigation because of questions over his own contacts with the Trump White House.

Yates testimony Monday was preceded by months of legal wrangling about whether her conversations with White House lawyers were covered by presidential communications privilege.

But Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the White House welcomed her testimony.

kevin.diaz@chron.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

AUSTIN  As the number of teachers accused of engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with their students continues to rise in Texas, state lawmakers tentatively agreed to force guilty teachers to forfeit their pensions and hit administrators with jail time and hefty fines if they are convicted of covering up their employees misdeeds.

The bill, which the House passed on a voice vote Monday, comes as allegations of educators having inappropriate relationships with students reached what lawmakers have characterized are epidemic levels of more than one complaint filed per day this school year.

Currently in Texas, educators convicted of felonies involving students received publicly funded pensions while in prison, said Rep. Matt Rinaldi, an Irving Republican and lawyer.

He recalled the case of Reyes Deleon, 61, a former San Antonio high school teacher serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child. Deleon was two weeks shy of retirement in 2012 when he was accused of inappropriately touching a girl. Court documents indicate he started the inappropriate conduct when she was 10 years old. He continued until she was 13 when she came forward after he asked her for a pair of her underwear and let her know he wanted to have sex with her when she was older.

Deleon receives more than $35,000 a year in pension benefits, according to Rinaldi, meaning that by the time he gets out of prison, he could have as much as a quarter million dollars in the bank.

SB 7, assigned a low bill number as a reflection of its importance to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, focuses on school and district leaders who could cover up their teachers misdeeds by allowing teachers who engage in inappropriate relationships to quietly leave their school districts unreported to take jobs at another.

The legislation, sponsored by Houston Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt and Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, comes amid a steady uptick in the number of teachers and educators accused of engaging in sexual and romantic relationships with students, including a former Aldine Independent School District middle school teacher who she said she became pregnant by a 13-year-old student. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year.

The Texas Education Agency has received 191 complaints of inappropriate teacher relations with students since September, a 65 percent increase from the same time in 2015. The number of complaints so far this school year have exceeded the entire 2014 fiscal year, which totaled 188 allegations.

Its already illegal for teachers and school employees to have sexual contact with a student at their school, but the bill would extend that offense to educators who have relations with someone they know to be a student at any public or private school.

The bill would also, for the first time, require principals report to their superintendents if theyve fired someone for or discovered instances of inappropriate relations with a minor, or incidents of illegal drug possession or sale, illegally taking money or property from a school, altering their professional certificates for a raise or a promotion, or committing any criminal offense on state property.

Superintendents already are required to report revelations of criminal records involving those offenses to the State Board for Educator Certification. Under the proposed law, principals and superintendents that fail to report their teacher to upper management within seven business days would face a $500 to $10,000 fine and lose their certification when it is up for renewal.

Administrators found to have tried to cover up an employees misconduct also would face a state jail felony, punishable by up to two years in jail.

The House opted to give a judge discretion to revoke all pension benefits or allow the innocent spouse of the former teacher to collect part of the pension.

The bill now faces a third reading in the House before it can head back to the Senate, which already passed the bill unanimously in March. Bettencourt said he plans to accept tweaks made by the House and to send the bill to the governor for his signature.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Bob Owen, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Bob Owen, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News Show More Show Less





A murder trial came to an abrupt halt Monday after a juror told the judge hearing the case that he had been under the influence of alcohol while listening to testimony.

The trial of Joshua Gonzales, 30, began May 1 in the 437th District Court. Gonzales is accused of fatally shooting Matthew Bailey-Vo on Feb. 25, 2014. The men had been involved with the same woman and came into conflict, according to court records. Gonzales has said he fired in self-defense. Bailey-Vo was shot once in the head.
The League of United Latin American Citizens and elected officials from two South Texas border communities have filed a lawsuit over a new state law the penalizes local officials who prevent law enforcement officers from asking about immigration status.

The lawsuit, which includes the mayor of the city of El Cenizo near Laredo and the Maverick County sheriff, claims the sanctuary cities law, which comes with civil penalties and allows the state to remove officials from office if they violate it, infringes on the rights of city and county officials.

The state law, Senate Bill 4, also provides for criminal prosecution of law enforcement officials who dont honor requests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they detain people suspected of immigration violations. The lawsuit argues that violates a federal law that makes such requests voluntary.

SB 4 is a severe invasion of Plaintiffs sovereign rights as local governments to form their own laws and policies, without being commandeered by federal agencies and officials, even when the State of Texas deputize themselves as subservient to the federal officials willing to enforce federal officials dictates regardless of legality, reads the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in federal court in San Antonio.

The lawsuit asks a judge to declare SB 4 unconstitutional and declare that the plaintiffs are complying with federal law. Gov. Greg Abbott approved the legislation on Sunday. It goes into effect in September.

To separate the facts from the fiction that LULAC presents, this law does not require mandatory immigration checks, it simply prohibits local sheriffs from banning law enforcement officials from inquiry into the immigration status of persons already lawfully detained, said John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott.

Provisions of an Arizona law that created criminal penalties for immigrants in the country illegally were struck down in 2012 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled the state law was preempted by federal law. The court did not decide the constitutionality of the Arizona law that required local officials to inquire about immigration status, although those parts were diluted in a settlement last year.

Federal law makes immigration detainers, which are part of a civil proceeding and arent ordered by a judge, voluntary, so the part of the Texas law requiring local jails to honor them would likely face the same challenges as the Arizona law, said Al Kauffman, a professor at St. Marys University School of Law.

Basically the argument here would be federal government has created a broad enforcement scheme and if the federal government wants to make it an offense for local officials not to enforce an immigration hold, then they can do that, and its not the states authority, he said.

Because the penalties for violating the Texas law are so harsh, cities and counties might require immigration checks, Kauffman said. That could violate the supremacy clause of the Constitution, which is the basis of the preemption doctrine that struck down parts of the Arizona law, he said.

El Cenizo passed an ordinance in 1999 preventing city employees from asking residents about their immigration status and from working with the federal government in immigration investigations. At the time, critics nationwide focused on the citys decision to hold council meetings in Spanish, said Mayor Raul Reyes. Now that sanctuary cities, a loosely defined term sometimes applied to local jurisdictions that dont ask about immigration status, have become a national issue, the city is once again in the spotlight.

Reyes said the city of a little more than 3,000 has only five reserve officers on its police force and cant take on enforcement of immigration laws.

As elected officials I think its our responsibility to safeguard the well-being of our communities and the families that reside within them, no matter who they are, where they come from or what language they speak, he said.

Tom Schmerber, the Maverick County sheriff whos a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said his office works regularly with the Border Patrol and ICE and that the county jail complies with immigrant detainers. However, the former Border Patrol supervisor said his deputies dont have the training or resources to investigate immigration status.

The community here, the people voted for me to be in office for security, not to be an immigration officer, he said. If I put my officers working as immigration officers right now with no training, were facing a lot of lawsuits, because were not trained to look at documents, if theyre fraudulent or not.

If residents of a city or county that doesnt ask about immigration status have a problem with that, they can elect new leaders, said Luis Vera, the lawyer representing LULAC, Reyes and Schmerber.

Greg Abbott, the state of Texas, has no right to tell you, San Antonio, or you, city of El Cenizo, that they have to do anything whatsoever, Vera said.

jbuch@express-news.net

Twitter: @jlbuch

This story has been updated to correct the characterization of the Supreme Courts decision about Arizonas immigration law.
Since Saturdays election, an alliance of former District 10 council members  John Clamp and Carlton Soules, along with outgoing Councilman Mike Gallagher  has pushed to form a united front in support of retired Air Force engineer Clayton Perry in that conservative-leaning districts runoff.

Theyre not going to get it.

A dueling alliance of former District 10 council members  the bipartisan duo of Jimmy Hasslocher and Chip Haass  is pushing back, throwing its support behind Perrys opponent: Ezra Johnson, a lawyer and deputy chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party.

The split, according to Hasslocher and Haass, has less to do with Perry or Johnson than with their mutual discomfort with the cantankerous, erratic Soules.

Carlton  to me, hes a bit unusual in how he handles stuff, said Hasslocher, president and CEO of Jims Restaurant. I guess thats a nice way to say that. Look, you know his history at City Hall. I try to be a peacemaker and get along with everybody. And I thought John (Clamp) was busy enough working with AACOG (Alamo Area Council of Governments).

In particular, Hasslocher is displeased with Soules quixotic campaign against Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff in 2014 and his decision to work for the bizarre mayoral campaign of Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina this year.

My question is, whats next? Hasslocher said. What kind of influence does he have over Perry? What are he and Clamp getting ready to do with Perry that we dont know about?

A conservative Republican, Hasslocher said his support for Johnson transcends party.

Ive supported people that were good for the government, good for the county, good for the city and still do to this day, Hasslocher said, noting his past support for Wolff and Bexar County Commissioners Chico Rodriguez and Paul Elizondo, all Democrats.

Haass, a Democrat, gave similar reasons for shying away from Perry.

In a lot of ways, this is a vote against Carlton, Haass said. Him jumping all over with Medina, it showed a lack of steadiness. It made us all nervous.  Hes just done really crazy stuff that wasnt in the best interest of the community.

And Perry, who hired Soules to manage his campaign, is suspicious by association.

(Perrys) decision-making is being called into question, Haass said.

Perry on Monday defended Soules, who did not return a call for comment.

Hes had successful campaigns here in District 10, Perry told me. And hey, look what happened. Im in the runoff. He knows District 10 very well, and Ive been very happy with what hes done for me.

Clamp also downplayed the political impact of Soules abrasive reputation.

Carlton still has a base of support, Clamp said. I think hes made some interesting choices in the past. But thats Carltons deal.

Perry has been active in the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance, a group of more than 80 neighborhood associations that Gallagher started about two decades ago. Clamp is president of the alliance; Soules has served as its vice president.

Perry, hes just been a really good part of our neighborhood structure working with the neighborhood alliance, Clamp said. He holds the same values and conservative approaches to resolving issues.

In the District 10 runoff, though, an even more powerful ally than any former council member might be Jonathan Delmer, a federal firearms dealer who came in third behind Perry and Johnson with about 15 percent of the vote. (Perry and Johnson each earned more than 21 percent.)

Late Monday, Delmer endorsed Johnson.

We need an effective City Council member for District 10, Delmer told me. Ive gotten to know Ezra Johnson closely during this campaign, and he has the right leadership skills to lead District 10 into the future.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
Everybody wants Manuel Medinas supporters, but no one wants Manuel Medina.

That's the paradox of this citys June 10 mayoral runoff. The campaign teams of both Mayor Ivy Taylor and Councilman Ron Nirenberg are keen to attract the 15,000 voters who backed Medina, the rabble-rousing Bexar County Democratic Party chairman. But theyd like to get those votes without enduring the toxicity of an endorsement from Medina.

Its not something that either candidate would say publicly, because saying so would only antagonize the loyal foot soldiers who march through brick walls for Medina every time he snaps his fingers. At the same time, its easy to understand why Taylor and Nirenberg want to keep their distance from Medina.

Even within (especially within?) the local Democratic Party, Medina is detested by many people. Longtime party activists resent him for co-opting their organization for his own personal benefit, as when his consulting business took nearly $400,000 during the 2014 Democratic primary race from U.S. Senate candidate David Alameel.

They hate the fact that Medina shut down the party organization for the past five months so he could use the party headquarters as his mayoral campaign base.

One of those party activists, Ralph Galvan, filed a complaint against Medina last month with the Texas Ethics Commission, citing discrepancies in the partys finance reports and a string of large cash donations to the partys coffers that seem to violate Texas Election Code restrictions on acceptance of cash contributions in excess of $100. (The TEC threw out the complaint, stating that the party treasurer, not its chairman, is responsible for record keeping.)

Most of all, they are embarrassed by his outlandish antics: making wild promises that he would oust City Manager Sheryl Sculley the day after his election and slash drive times along the citys busiest 50 corridors by 10 percent in six months; partnering with tea-party Republicans only two years after describing them as radical terrorists in a Spanish-language ad; and leading a protest in front of the Express-News building in which he cried racism because he received unflattering  but accurate  coverage.

Over the past five months Medina showed himself to be a colorful and quotable candidate, but not a serious candidate. When you factor in his repeated allegations that Taylor and Nirenberg are part of a pay to play culture at City Hall, a smiling photo-op endorsement from him would only serve to contaminate all the participants with the stench of phoniness.

Medina had this to say, in a Monday text message, about an endorsement: Ivy and Ron are good people and they both love our city. I'll make a public statement later this week.

The trick for Taylor and Nirenberg is to make their case to Medina loyalists without pandering to Medina himself. Nirenberg would seem better positioned to do this, given that he and Medina shared an argument that the city is stagnating under Taylor.

Neither Taylor nor Nirenberg spoke to Medina on election night. Nirenberg made a courtesy call to the party boss and left a message, but didnt hear back from Medina. Something tells me Nirenberg didnt get his feelings hurt too bad.

Positive election night for Sculley

Even as we await the results of seven City Council runoffs, its obvious that this is shaping up as a sea-change election for San Antonio. A month from now, we will have somewhere between five and eight new council members. One of them, Ana Sandoval, handed District 7 Councilman Cris Medina the first loss for an elected S.A. council member since another Medina, David, lost to Shirley Gonzales in 2013.

Several people who have been out block-walking relay stories of voter disgust with City Hall. One candidate told me that only a third of the doors they knocked on resulted in people opening their doors.

In the face of this backlash, its worth pointing out that Saturday was a very good night for the citys most powerful  and longest-tenured  leader, City Manager Sheryl Sculley.

All six city bond programs championed by Sculley passed easily; her strongest advocate in the mayors race, Nirenberg, finished a surprisingly close second; and one of her biggest council irritants, Cris Medina (who clashed with Sculley in 2014 by taking the police unions side during collective-bargaining talks) was sent packing.

Sculley will be sharing the dais with plenty of new faces next month, but theres at least a chance that some of them will be friendly.

ggarcia@express-news.net

Twitter: @gilgamesh470
Peripheral Vascular Associates, a local medical company that specializes in arteries and veins, is spending $3 million renovating an aging office building downtown for use as its new headquarters.

The company plans to move into the 35,000 square-foot building, at 610 N. Main, in July, said its senior partner, Dr. Demetrios Macris. Its offices are currently located in the Baptist Medical Center Hospital in north downtown.

PVA, which bought the three-story building last fall, is trying to create a one-stop shop so that the companys patients dont have be sent to other facilities for tests or visits with specialists, Macris said. The new location will also help accommodate the companys growing number of patients, he said.

RELATED: $142M Frost Tower breaks ground, raising expectations downtown

The company wants to be downtown because the central location is convenient for its clientele, which largely comes from the South and West Sides and from towns south of San Antonio, Macris said. Many of the patients are Hispanic, who he said have unusually high rates of diabetes and related vascular problems.

Theres nowhere else in America, maybe in the world, being designed for the needs of vascular patients, he said. He added, We dont want to do this in Stone Oak, we dont want to do this in the (Alamo Quarry Market), we want to do this where the patients are, right here.

PVA paid more than $3 million to buy the building and is spending another $3 million to renovate it, Macris said. The building was constructed in the 1950s and once served as a bank. PVA will occupy the basement and the first floor, while the top two floors will be open to other medical companies.

RELATED: Fulcrum plans high-end offices in Medical Center area

The 0.8-acre property was assessed at $2.8 million this year, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.

The new offices, across the street from Central Library, are in a part of downtown thats undergoing a renaissance. The new Frost Tower is being built a few blocks to the south, and a nearby 10-story building is set to be rehabilitated after being vacant since the 90s.

rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner
ELKO  The event of the year is almost here. Each year since 1998, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elko has hosted the Winemakers Dinner, which supports the Clubs operations. The donations received and funds raised through the silent and live auction help the Club fulfill their mission and serve the youth in the community.

The Club does so much for the local youth and their families, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances. The donors and businesses represented at this event help raise the funds to continue to allow these youth to realize their full potential as caring and responsible citizens, said Al Bernarda, founder of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elko.

This years winemaker is Rutherford Wine Company, which will pair wine selections with a five-course dinner donated by the Red Lion Hotel and Casino.

Rutherford Wine Company will be represented at the event by Michael Chupp, associate winemaker who has years of experience including a B.S. in fermentation science from U.C. Davis. Chupp brings a unique breadth of experience, having crafted wines sourced from many of Californias premier growing regions including Lodi, Monterey and Mendocino counties, Santa Barbara and Alexander Valley.

Our Club counts on events, such as this, and donations from the community and local businesses to help sustain the operations since over 80 percent of our income is from these. The success of these types of events is key in making sure no child is ever turned away from our Club, said Rusty Bahr, CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Elko.

The Winemakers Dinner will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Red Lion Casino. It will include a live auction, silent auction, raffle items, great food and more. For more information contact the Club at 738-2759.
ELKO  A woman was struck by a pickup Monday night in Ryndon, and authorities are still searching for the driver  who reportedly offered her food and water before leaving the scene of the accident.

Elko County Sheriffs deputies were dispatched to Indian Hills Drive on a report of a hit and run accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian at around 8:15 p.m. A witness provided a vehicle description of a white, four-door Dodge diesel pickup. The witness was also able to provide some distinguishing features of the vehicle.

When deputies arrived they found the victim, a 39 year-old female, along the side of the roadway with the witness. Due to the extent of her injuries the victim was not able to speak.

The witness stated that the suspected vehicle was traveling at what he believed was higher than the speed limit and believed the driver to have been talking on a cellular telephone. The witness stated the driver stopped and offered the victim food and water, then left the scene.

At approximately 9:45 p.m. deputies located the unoccupied vehicle in Albertsons parking lot. It was impounded and the investigation is continuing.

The victim was flown to Salt Lake City for treatment due to the extent of her injuries.

The Sheriffs Office is requesting anyone with any information concerning this accident to contact the Elko County Sheriffs Office at 738-3421.
The recent cancellation of an appearance by conservative commentator Ann Coulter at the University of California at Berkeley resulted in confrontations between protesters. Its the latest in a series of heated disputes that have taken place involving controversial speakers on campus.

One of us is a researcher of higher education legal issues (Neal) and one is a senior administrator in higher education (Brandi). Together, were interested in how institutions facilitate free speech while also supporting students.

From our different perspectives, we see two closely connected questions arise: What legal rules must colleges and universities follow when it comes to speech on campus? And what principles and educational values should guide university actions concerning free speech?

Key legal standards

When it comes to the legal requirements for free speech on campus, a key initial consideration is whether an institution is public or private.

Public colleges and universities, as governmental institutions, are obligated to uphold First Amendment protections for free speech. In contrast, private institutions may choose to adopt speech policies similar to their public counterparts, but they arent subject to constitutional speech requirements. California proves a notable exception: State law requires private secular colleges and universities to follow First Amendment standards in relation to students.

For those colleges that are subject to constitutional speech rules, what does this mean?

For starters, an institution does not have to make all places on campus, such as offices or libraries, available to speakers or protesters. Universities may also provide less campus access to individuals unaffiliated with the institution, thus potentially limiting the presence on campus of activists or protesters who are not official members of the university community.

Regardless of these limitations on free speech, once an institution categorizes a campus space as accessible for students or permits its use for a specific purpose  such as musical or theatrical performances  campus officials must not favor particular views or messages in granting access.

Some campus areas, such as plazas or courtyards, either by tradition or designation, constitute open places for speech and expression, including for the general public. Colleges and universities may impose reasonable rules to regulate the use of these kinds of open campus forums (e.g., restrictions on the length of the event, blocking roadways or the use of amplification devices). However, a guiding First Amendment principle is that institutions cannot impose restrictions based on the content of a speakers message.

Free speech zones

A central point of conflict over student speech and activism involves rules at some institutions that restrict student speech and related activities (such as protests, distributing fliers or petition gathering) to specified areas or zones on campus.

Students have argued that such free speech zones are overly restrictive and violate the First Amendment. For instance, a community college student in Los Angeles alleges in a current lawsuit that his First Amendment rights were violated when he was allowed to distribute copies of the U.S Constitution only in a designated free speech zone. Virginia, Missouri, Arizona and Colorado (as of this April) have legislation that prohibits public institutions from enforcing such zones. At least six other states are considering similar laws.

In our view, legislative and litigation efforts may curtail the use of designated free speech zones for students in much of public higher education. In the meantime, increasing resistance could be enough to prompt many institutions to voluntarily end their use.

Beyond legal requirements

While legal compliance is certainly an important factor in shaping policy and practice around free speech, campus leaders should perhaps have a different consideration foremost on their minds: namely, the institutional mission of education.

Most students arrive on our nations campuses to acquire a degree, discover who they are and determine what they want to be. Students grow in myriad ways  cognitively, morally and psychosocially  while in college.

This personal development cannot fully take place without exposure to opposing views. To that end, students should be encouraged to express themselves civilly, listen to critiques of their ideas and think deeply about their convictions. Then, in response, students can express themselves again in light of new and opposing ideas.

This process of engagement, productive discourse and critical reflection can create tension and conflict for many. The reality is that protected free speech is not always viewed as good or productive speech by all members of the campus community.

However, rather than labeling students as fragile snowflakes or pressuring institutions to punish students who wish to challenge campus speakers, in our view, theres a better approach: Why not take seriously students objections to controversial speakers  support them and engage with them on how to reconcile their concerns and institutional commitments to free speech?

Free speech issues on campus are often messy and can make both students and campus officials uneasy. But discomfort also presents an opportunity for growth. We believe that educational institutions have a responsibility to foster debate and to help students gain experience in processing and responding to messages they find objectionable.

And so, when controversies arise, campus officials  at times stretching their own comfort zones around issues of student speech and activism  can embrace the educational opportunities they present.

Once an institution categorizes a campus space as accessible for students or permits its use for a specific purpose ... campus officials must not favor particular views or messages in granting access.
Ron Huldai, the mayor of Tel Aviv, in Madrid last week. JAIME VILLANUEVA

Almost everything that Tel Aviv has today has been achieved during the two decades that the Labor politician Ron Huldai has been in power. He is more than just a politician, also being an intellectual and an unrivalled manager in Israel. Theres something of an agitator in this mayor, who was born 72 years ago in a socialist kibbutz and who was toughened up in the ranks of the military. If he wasnt, he wouldnt have dared to swim against the tide in an area that is increasingly punished by religious fundamentalisms of all kind. In 1998, he received the keys of a city that was on the brink of bankruptcy, and he cleaned up the accounts, tidied up the streets and attracted technological companies. Today, Tel Aviv, with 450,000 inhabitants, represents the modern and European face of Israel. It is, however, a city that has for decades suffered the terrorism methods that have only recently started to threaten large urban centers such as Paris or Berlin.

Question. Why was it so important for convenience stores to remain open during Sabbath? Why is it so important to Tel Aviv?

Answer. Spain is a Catholic country. I believe on Sunday you have some stores open. Our day of rest is Sabbath, not Sunday. We have to rest one day a week, but still we need to enjoy ourselves. We have cinemas and we have restaurants that dont close. And I didnt invent that. It was part of life in Israel that some small supermarkets were open. When you become an Orthodox and take everything to extremes, you want me to live the way you live. And that is not right.

Q. Is there increasing pressure from religious groups in Tel Aviv?

A. For the Orthodox, if Im doing something and its not encoded in the law of Israel, they dont care. Once it becomes part of the law, then it bothers them. And thats the case. In Israel, changes always start in Tel Aviv. This city is a model of the Zionist vision: it is a model of democracy, tourism, art, culture, science and research.

When you become an Orthodox and take everything to extremes, you want me to live the way you live

Q. In Israel, Tel Aviv is a model of freedom. You can see Gay Pride celebrations, you can see all types of minorities. But is this really the beginning of a change in all of Israel, or are we seeing a division between the coast and the interior, Jerusalem?

A. In Israel, today, its a real fight between the Orthodox approach and democratic values. When something happens in Tel Aviv, everybody knows about it in Israel. I believe that Tel Aviv educates Israeli society.

Q. In the whole of the Middle East there is not a city like it. And there is a lot of attention that is focused on Tel Aviv. That has attracted a lot of threats from the Islamic world. Has this made the city more vulnerable?

A. The main issue is Israel in the Middle East. Its not an issue of Tel Aviv. But in Israel, Palestinian terrorist attacks are more much effective when they succeed in hitting the heart of Tel Aviv.

Q. I once heard a US analyst say that a rocket falling in Tel Aviv was like a rocket falling over Paris

A. Exactly. Or in Madrid. If something happens somewhere in the periphery its not the same as when you have a terrorist attack in the Madrid Metro.

Q. These are not the tough years of the Second Intifada, but once in a while we still see attacks. Last week there was a stabbing in the city. How will it all end?

A. Nobody in the world can give you an answer. I can ask you the same question: what do you have to do to prevent terrorist activity in Paris, London, Madrid or somewhere else in the world? Do you have a solution?

Q. No.

A. Neither do I. You Europeans tell us: Look, if you solve the problem with the Palestinians, you are going to solve the problem of the terrorist attacks. You dont have the same problem with the Palestinians, but you still have terrorist activity. You absorb Muslims into your society yet you see that in spite of being nice to them, you still have terrorist activity.

Q. Are you saying that even if in the future there was a peaceful agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, it wouldnt help?

A. My job is to find solutions for my people. And by analyzing the situation, I arrive at the conclusion that the most important thing is for Israel to be the state of the Jews and not a two-nation state. One state for the Jews, and one state for the Palestinians. If you ask the people of Israel if they are ready to reach a peaceful agreement with the Palestinians, I believe that 75% of them will answer yes. But if you ask the people of Israel if they believe that this is actually possible, maybe less than 10% will say yes.

Fanaticism is everywhere. If somebody is advocating pluralism and tolerance, they cant do boycotts

Q. How did you manage to turn Tel Aviv into one of the main destinations for gay people in the world?

A. My mother used to tell me that every human being is a human being. One of the first things I did when I became the mayor of Tel Aviv was to open an official office to help illegal immigrants, because the government of Israel was ignoring the fact that they are there. The same with the gay community. I said, They are human beings. I have to take care of them.

Q. Yes but gays are persecuted and even killed in Iran and Saudi Arabia. This was a bold decision.

A. We had the first public center for the gay community. It was not simple. When they came to me and said that they needed it, I said: Why do you need it? Why do you need a special community center? We have community centers. Why cant you go to the one in your neighborhood like everybody else? They said they needed protection. And we did research to find out if it really deserved the investment. And when I realized they were right, we built it.

Q. How did you feel in 2010 when the organizers of the Gay Pride March in Madrid withdrew the invitation for the city of Tel Aviv due to the incident with the Palestinian flotilla?

A. Fanaticism is everywhere. If somebody is advocating pluralism and tolerance, they cant do boycotts like this.

Q. How many start-ups are there in Tel Aviv right now?

A. Right now we have at least 1,500 start-ups in the city of Tel Aviv, and 80 accelerators. This a lot more than in London, Paris or Madrid. And most of the big international tech companies like Coca-Cola or Facebook or Google or Apple, all of them have R&D centers in Israel.

Q. What about qualified workers? Is it easy for people from the outside who want to go to Israel?

A. Im fighting with my government to create a special start-up visa, mainly to enable foreigners to come and work with our people in Israel, because I believe that the next step depends on a combination of cultures and ideas. Unfortunately, so far our government hasnt found a real solution to this problem.

Q. Theres a certain tension between your position, and what you stand for, and what youve turned Tel Aviv into, and a wider movement toward another type of Israel.

A. That is the image that you have of us, because youre not very interested in seeing what the average day for average Israelis is like. It is just like life here. And over 99% of the people of Israel are hoping to one day achieve a situation that would let them live as you live here in Madrid. Unfortunately, we are still in a position that is different from the situation here in Spain. And solving the problem is a lot more difficult than just talking about it.

Q. Will you ever run for Prime Minister?

A. I just made up my mind. Last week was the deadline to present [the candidacy] to head the Labor Party and I decided not to, so Im going to finish my fourth term as mayor and then possibly Im going to run for a fifth.
Image courtesy of IACAIf you gather anti-corruption professionals from six continents in a classroom for intensive discussion, extraordinary things are bound to happen.

Here are five lessons Ive learned in my years of teaching in the Master in Anti-Corruption Studies program at the International Anti-Corruption Academy.

1. Corruption is not cultural, not anywhere. The tired trope that corruption is cultural is just plain false. There are indeed countries in the world where corruption is pervasive or routine, and where citizens seem tolerant or even resigned to it.

But there is simply no culture in the world which teaches that a suitcase full of cash exchanged under the table for an illegal benefit is good. We can argue about marginal forms of bribery, like gift-giving, or nepotism. And briberys beneficiaries may do their best to rationalize it. But no culture endorses straight-up bribery. None.

2. Fighting corruption is a universal value. The second principle follows from the first. It could be that we all thought corruption was bad, but nobody (or few) thought we could do anything about it. That was probably the case twenty years ago. But year after year, professionals from Liberia and Azerbaijan and Afghanistan and many other countries demonstrate to me that it is no longer true. The world has changed.

3. The main task is to generate global political will. Still, large swaths of the global population still need to believe that corruption is a problem they can effectively address. They need to study the examples of Brazil and South Korea and Uruguay and Georgia and see the reforms now being adopted. We need as much education as we can get.

4. Experience breeds innovation. Place thoughtful, bright people in challenging circumstances and they will innovate. Im struck by the array of novel ideas these classes produce for educating the public, generating political will, and building the foundation for effective anti-corruption reforms. So you need some new ideas on how to address corruption? Come hang with these students for a bit.

5. We are witnessing, and participating in, history. The very existence of IACA is itself evidence of the remarkable moment in which we now live. Think about it: when in history would professionals from such diverse countries regularly gather in a single location to discuss the pursuit of a shared anti-corruption goal?

So many extraordinary events were necessary to make this possible: the end of the Cold Wars ideological rivalry; the mid-90s Corruption Eruption and globalization; the technological development that makes the gathering possible; the economic development that makes it affordable.

Our parents and grandparents were not having these meetings. There were no global meeting spots, no solicitations of applications, no curriculum, no faculty, and no blogs. Witnessing, and indeed shaping, this moment is the unique privilege of our day.

____

Andy Spalding is a Senior Editor of the FCPA Blog and a Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.
Amal Clooney had a birthday cake made into the shape of a tequila bar for husband George Clooney's 56th birthday.

Rande Gerber (c) Instagram

The 'Money Monster' actor was "totally surprised" after his pals Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber jetted over from Los Angeles to London over the weekend to party with the silver fox and his 39-year-old wife.

The brunette beauty made the sweet treat, which featured palm trees, sand and small bottles of booze, to resemble the Mexican-themed bar the couple have in their home in Mexico.

George's business associate Rande, who was also celebrating his birthday, shared a picture of the pair standing in front of the impressive cake on Instagram.

He captioned it: "Celebrating our Birthdays @casamigos style. Thanks for the cook cake Amal. #houseoffriends (sic)"

A source told Us Weekly magazine: "Amal had this great cake made replicating the Casamigos tequila bar from their houses in Mexico.

"Amal set it all up and Rande and Cindy surprise him when he got home. George was totally surprised."

George - who set up his tequila brand Casamigos with Rande in 2013 - had an intimate dinner party with just "close friends" invited, according to E! News.

A source said: "Amal had everyone come for dinner and drink Casamigos."

Meanwhile, the 'Monuments Men' star and the human rights lawyer are reportedly hoping Amal will give birth to the couple's twins in London, with the family spending the next few years of their life at their home in Sonning, Berkshire, it was previously reported.

George previously revealed he and Amal have yet to choose names for their new arrivals.

He said: "No we haven't picked out any names and I'll tell you why ... Because I've had friends pick out names around their parents and then it becomes ...

"Whatever name you pick they're like, 'Oh, I don't like that. That guy's a prime minister' 'Can't name her Susan. You remember your Aunt Susan?'

"[But] can you believe it?! Yeah, [I'm] even happier [than before]. I didn't know that we'd have kids. I was very happy that we were going to get married and then [a pregnancy] seemed like the next step."
Every time a terrorist attack is committed, there is ample media coverage of the attackers personality, background and motives. But the victims often dont get quite as much attention. In order to redress this situation, Maite Pagazaurtundua  a member of the European Parliament whose own family was a victim of the Basque terrorist group ETA for many years  has endorsed an unprecedented study that identifies the 658 victims of terrorism in the European Union in the 21st century, as well as the 1,029 Europeans who were murdered outside the EU.

The Atocha bombings of March 11, 2004 in Madrid. CLAUDIO ALVAREZ

Pagazaurtundua, who is a Member of the European Parliament for the small progressive party Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) and former president of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, on Friday presented a study that finds that Spain heads the list of EU nations with the biggest death toll from terrorism: 253.

This is mostly due to the sheer magnitude of the Atocha train bombings of March 11, 2004, although the last fatality dates to 2009, when ETA killed a policeman in a bomb attack.

The mentality is, think like us, stay quiet or die

Maite Pagazaurtundua, MEP

The year-long research work lists the date, place, name and gender of every victim, along with the type of weapon used in the attack. The team that worked on the project will now offer it to the European Commission.

After Spain, France has the second-highest death toll at 250; most of these killings have occurred over the last two years, in the wake of the Islamist attacks against the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan nightclub.

They are followed by Britain with 53 deaths, Belgium with 36 and Germany with 24. Only four EU member states have never experienced terrorist attacks on their soil in the last 17 years: Luxembourg, Austria, Malta and Slovenia.

In an increasingly globalized world, 107 of the 658 victims of terrorist attacks on EU territory in the 21st century were not European citizens (in seven cases, the nationality is not known). Another 1,029 Europeans were murdered in 12 non-EU countries. This category includes 632 individuals, mostly from the military, who died in Afghanistan.

A victim herself Maite Pagazaurtunduas brother Joseba was assassinated by ETA in 2003 after years of threats by the Basque terrorist group and its supporters. She herself suffered constant harassment and had bodyguards for years. Ultimately, security forces urged her to leave her native Basque Country because of the high risk of assassination, and she settled down elsewhere in Spain along with her family. Pagazaurtunduas continuous activism in favor of terrorism victims earned her a spot on a collective candidacy to the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

Pagazaurtundua admitted that this last point is debatable, but said that the line between terrorism and asymmetric warfare has become blurred, and that todays conflicts cannot be analyzed with another centurys parameters.

Another fact to emerge from the study is that jihadism has become the number-one cause of deaths from terrorism: 82.6% of victims died in Islamist attacks.

The early years of the 21st century have also been witness to the dying blows of homegrown forms of terrorism in Europe, chiefly in the Basque Country and Ireland. Meanwhile, far-right militants killed 12 people while those from the far left assassinated another nine.

There is so much left to do on this subject in the EU

Sonia Ramos, head of Spains terrorism victim support agency

Although these forms of terrorism have opposing ideologies, they all share a common totalitarian mentality, said Pagazaurtundua, who summed it up in one sentence: Think like us, stay quiet or die. The Basque MEP speaks from personal experience, having been subjected to this form of pressure herself (see sidebar).

Besides the quantitative work contained in The Black Book of Terrorism in Europe, there is also an analytical section with contributions by experts such as the Basque philosopher Fernando Savater, the researcher Fernando Reinares, the mayor of Mechelen (Belgium), Bart Sommers, and Dounia Bouzar, founder of the French radicalization prevention center CPDSI, among others.

Besides its academic value, the sponsors of this project hope to raise awareness at the European level about the need to protect the victims of terrorism. Right now, only three countries have specific legislation on this issue (Spain, France and Italy), and there is no EU directive to ensure that all Europeans are guaranteed the same rights.

There is so much left to do on this subject in the EU, said Sonia Ramos, head of Spains terrorism victim support agency. But this new study is a great step forward.

English version by Susana Urra.
Claudia Schiffer is set to release her new book 'Claudia Schiffer' this year.

Claudia Schiffer book (c) Instagram

The 46-year-old supermodel will release the self-titled text on October 10 to mark her 30 year anniversary at the helm of the fashion industry, and it has been reported the text will include a collection of the catwalk icon's all-time favourite career moments over the past three decades.

According to WWD the book will also feature images from photoshoots, which have been captured by recognised photographers including Patrick Demarchelier, Arthur Elgort, Steven Klein, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel and Francesco Scavullo.

The copy will also include campaigns the blonde-haired beauty has posed for, including her commercial for Guess Jeans, in which the star was styled by Ellen von Unwerth to resemble the 82-year-old French actress Brigitte Bardot.

Whilst the cover image of the hardcover book is of Claudia posing in the nude whilst clutching at her chest, which was an image captured by 62-year-old Peruvian photographer Mario Testino, who also penned the foreword in the copy.

And Claudia - who has daughters Cosima, six, Clementine, 12, and 14-year-old son Casper with her husband Matthew Vaughn - is "very excited" for the launch of her book later this year, which has been published by Rizzoli International Publications.

The style muse shared a picture of the text on her Instagram account, which she captioned: "Very excited to announce the launch this Fall of my book with @rizzolibooks celebrating 30 years of iconic fashion moments. (sic)."

And the German star is grateful for all the assistance she has received to create the final version.

Her post continued: "Thank you all for making this possible! X

Cover by @mariotestino. #CLAUDIA30YEARS (sic)."
Sarah Jessica Parker is set to open a second SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker store.

Sarah Jessica Parker

The 52-year-old actress launched her first stand-alone store for her eponymous fashion house in MGM National Harbour in Maryland, and the fashion icon will set up another stand-alone boutique in Las Vegas' Bellagio resort and casino in August this year, according to WWD.

And the 'Sex and The City' actress - who is known for playing Carrie Bradshaw in the franchise - is "thrilled" she is expanding her label with another shop, which will retail clothing, handbags and shoes .

Speaking about her latest venture, the golden-haired beauty said: "On the heels of our first SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker boutique opening in December, we are thrilled to be opening the doors to a second stand-alone store with MGM Resorts at Bellagio in Las Vegas this summer."

And the style icon has revealed having her own store has always been her long-term "goal", and having opened two branches within 12 months feels like a "dream" come true.

She explained: "Having our own store has long been a goal we've worked toward and it feels like a dream to be able to do it twice in less than 12 months with such brilliant partners. The expertise, guidance and support that MGM Resorts has brought to the table are unparalleled and we're honoured to be taking this massive next step with them."

The president of Bellagio, Randy Morton, is "honoured" the businesswoman has decided to partner with the hotel as he believes her brand "complements" their "commitment to creating wow moments" for their guests.

He said: "We are honoured Ms. Parker and her team chose Bellagio to debut SJP on the West Coast. The boutique at MGM National Harbor was an immediate phenomenon, creating an energy and excitement rarely found in the retail world. The opportunity to bring Ms. Parker's brand and passion to Bellagio complements our commitment to creating wow moments for each guest that walks through our doors."
Meghan Markle reportedly turned down Serena Williams' offer to attend her baby shower to support Prince Harry at the Audi Polo Challenge at Ascot.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

The 35-year-old actress missed out on the chance to share her close pal's special day celebrating the news she is expecting a baby with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian at a party in Miami, in favour of making her first public appearance with the flame-haired hunk.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Meghan had been planning to go to Miami this weekend for Serena's shower.

The girls are really close and Serena was looking forward to seeing her.

"But at the last minute Meg bailed and went to see Harry in the UK instead."

Meghan and Harry shared their first public kiss at the event held over the weekend.

The 32-year-old royal and the 'Suits' actress were spotted smooching and cuddling in the car park at the racecourse in Berkshire, England on Sunday (07.05.17), and Meghan is believed to have spoken with Harry's former Army officer mentor Mark Dyer.

An insider shared that Harry and the brunette beauty's relationship is getting serious and that Mark is very pleased with his pal's choice in girlfriend.

According to the Daily Mail, a source said: "Dyer's opinion is important to Harry.

"Mark really likes Meghan. They have been getting on like a house on fire."

Meghan has only been dating Harry - the grandson of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip - for just over a year, but she has been welcomed into the family with open arms.

A source recently said: "She's very much been accepted into the family. They are so happy to see Harry happy."

The pair are to attend Harry's sister-in-law Pippa Middleton and her fiance James Matthews wedding ceremony on May 20 at St Mark's church in Engelfield, England.
Ive just landed back in the UK after an amazing week spent in Caribbean Paradise! My friend Emma and I travelled to the sensational Palm Island to experience a little Springtime wanderlust in the Grenadines.

Sabrina Chakici on Palm Island

To get to Palm Island we flew out via Barbados on a direct flight with Virgin Atlantic before taking a connecting flight onwards to Union Island. The flight to Barbados was just over 8 hours and the Virgin team on board were absolutely fantastic. I flew out in the premium economy cabin and back in Upper Class, both flights were an absolute dream.

It was first time flying in Upper and I have to say the service was fantastic, it was like booking a luxury hotel room for the night. I enjoyed a four course meal, excellent wine and after being offered a set of fresh Pyjamas my seat was turned into a bed, complete with a plush duvet and pillow. It took comfy flying to a whole new level!

After flying to Barbados we took an internal flight with Grenadine Air Alliance directly to Union Island over the picturesque patterns of the Caribbean islands below. We were then greeted by the Palm Island team on arrival and driven over to the secluded resort via boat.

Travelling to the island on the mesmerising waters was all part of the breath-taking experience of our arrival, the crystal clear ocean and soda white beaches greeted us from a distance as we excitedly sailed into shore.

After a friendly and informative cocktail greeting from Katie, the resorts manager, we were lead to our rooms. Emma and I were both staying in one of the spacious beach front rooms which were incredibly located just 10 paces from the ocean!

The island itself is 135 acres in size with 5 stunning beaches, 4 hiking trails with amazing views and turquoise waters that gleefully glisten from dusk till dawn. The beaches are completely untouched and even with the island being at full capacity we never had to wander for more than 3 minutes to find our own private slice of heaven. The views and ambience of the resort reminded me so much of the Maldives with every room having a view of the sea and the air of romance and luxury spilling into every corner of the island.

Theres a push bike available to each guest which is a great way to explore but asides from finding wanders on land theres so many opportunities to discover more further afield. With so much to see and do in the Grenadines jumping on a boat as often as you can would be my biggest recommendation whilst staying on this luxury isolated resort.

We visited the famous idyllic shores of Tobago cays where Pirates of The Caribbean was filmed, here we took in the gorgeous scenery of the beautiful coves and snorkelled with a number of wild sea turtles and sting rays. If you have read any of my previous blogposts youll know by now my love for seeing animals and marine life in their natural habitat so this was a real treat!

We also took the resort boat out to the famous Morpion Island, an idyllic, fully isolated sand bank just a 20 minutes boat ride from the hotel. A true once in a lifetime experience as we were the only two people on the island!

If you are looking for a romantic and adventurous escape to paradise I couldnt recommend Palm Island more!

Written by Sabrina Chakici, TV Host & Travel Expert  Follow her on instagram @sabrina_chakici
There are two new heartthrobs hitting the Hollyoaks village in the form of Damon Kinsella and Brody Hudson, played by Jacob Roberts and Adam Woodward respectively. Best mates on screen, theyre returning to the UK from Ibiza with a dangerous secret that could affect the lives of a set of already-established characters in the village.

Adam Woodward as Brody Jacob Roberts as Damon

Damon meanwhile also has his own history and connection with a village resident that becomes clear as soon as he arrives, but whether or not hell be welcomed with open arms or immediately told to leave remains to be seen.

While Damon is looking for Mrs. Right, hell always choose his best mate over a girl. On the other hand, Brody is devoted to his friend and his job, enjoying life as a ladies man and showing no signs of wanting to settle down, enjoying nights out rather than in.

Friends since the age of 10, the two have been inseparable and went on the ultimate lads holiday as soon as they turned 18. Living it up abroad, theyre now bringing some drama back to UK shores

Chatting about his role as Damon, Jacob Roberts said: I am really excited to be part of the cast of Hollyoaks. I really enjoy playing the role of Damon and I am looking forward to the fans discovering who he really is and who he is connected to in the village.

Actor Adam Woodward adds: Im so chuffed to be joining the cast of Hollyoaks and filming my first scenes in Ibiza! Brody is a brilliant character to play and I cant wait to see what the fans think of him.

Hollyoaks continues weekdays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with First Look episodes Monday-Friday at 7pm on E4.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

find me on and follow me on
Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) has announced that through its indirect subsidiary Indorama Netherlands BV, it has signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Sinterama S.p.A. its joint venture partner to acquire its 25 per cent stake in Trevira Holdings GmbH in Germany. With this acquisition, IVL will hold 100 per cent of Trevira.

IVL had acquired 75 per cent of Trevira in July 2011. The 100 per cent ownership will provide incremental synergies within the IVL Group's high value added portfolio.

The value of the acquisition, calculated in accordance with the regulations of the Capital Market Supervisory Board and the Stock Exchange of Thailand, as prescribed by the regulations of the Stock Exchange of Thailand is less than 15 per cent and the total size of transactions in the past 6 months is also less than 15 per cent.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) has announced that through its indirect subsidiary Indorama Netherlands BV, it has signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Sinterama S.p.A. its joint venture partner to acquire its 25 per cent stake in Trevira Holdings GmbH in Germany. With this acquisition, IVL will hold 100 per cent of Trevira.#

"Trevira with its renowned brand is an integral part within our specialty portfolio strategy. We see further growth potential especially in the hygiene and automotive segments, as well as in the high-end home textiles business," said Uday Gill, CEO of IVL's fibres business.

"For Trevira and its customers and suppliers, this consolidation reflects Indorama Ventures' commitment to investing in the company and ensuring a continued strong and reliable partnership. IVL has supported us from the very beginning in all our activities and has integrated us in its global network. We cooperate in joint projects and benefit significantly from the synergies within the IVL group. We would like to thank the Sinterama team for their ongoing support in ensuring a seamless transition," said Klaus Holz, CEO, Trevira.

Trevira GmbH is an innovative European manufacturer of high-value branded fibres and filament yarns for technical applications and hygiene products as well as for home textiles, automotive interiors and functional apparel. In 2016, sales of the company amounted to around 230 million. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Indias ethnic wear brand BIBA is aiming for sales of Rs 900-1000 crore by 2017-2018. The brand plans to open 10-12 stores in next 6-12 months under BIBA Girls brand and intends to increase its market share to five per cent in three-four years from the current one to one-and-half per cent. The countrys ethnic wear industry is worth around Rs 70,000 crore.As a company we are growing at a rate of 30-35 per cent CAGR in the last 7-8 years and we are targeting sales of 900-1000 crore for financial year 2017-2018, said Siddharth Bindra, managing director, BIBA, according to a leading daily report.

India's ethnic wear brand BIBA is aiming for sales of Rs 900-1000 crore by 2017-2018. The brand plans to open 10-12 stores in next 6-12 months under BIBA Girls' brand and intends to increase its market share to five per cent in three-four years from the current one to one-and-half per cent. The country's ethnic wear industry is worth around Rs 70,000 crore.#

The ethnic wear industry is worth around Rs 70,000 crore with 70 per cent of the market being dominated by the unorganised sector. The industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of nine per cent and reach Rs 1,26,210 crore by 2019. BIBA currently holds one to one-and-half per cent of the ethnic wear market and intends to increase it market share to five per cent in the next three-four years.We are expecting a lot of developments in the branded apparel section in next four-five years and hope the implementation of GST will accelerate it further. But we have no plans to venture into western wear segment, he said.We will keep adding new products category within the brand. In Diwali, we are planning to launch Biba by Manish Arora, thus giving our customers a wide variety of choices in the affordable designer wear section, he added. The brand plans to open 10-12 stores in the coming 6-12 months under BIBA Girls brand which exclusively caters to young girls in the age group of 2-15 years, Bindra said.BIBAs 15-17 per cent of sales comes from online channel including marketplaces and their own site. The sales from its own site are only between four and five per cent. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
More than 1,477 exhibitors from 55 countries are presenting their complete spectrum of potential areas of application for textile materials and technologies at the biggest ever edition of Techtextil, which is currently underway in Germany. Over 1,054 international exhibitors are participating in the fair and 14 countries have set up their pavilions.

The companies registered as exhibitors include all international market leaders, as well as numerous companies taking part for the first time or returning after a period of absence. Moreover, several German start-ups and young companies will be presenting their new textile developments at the event, which Messe Frankfurt has organised in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy.

At the 19th Techtextil Symposium, international experts will present their latest research results, products and technologies from the fields of technical textiles, nonwovens and functional apparel fabrics in seven lecture blocks on all days of the fair. For the first time, Techtextil Symposium is cooperating with the Dornbirn Manmade Fibre Conference, which will present a special lecture block on sustainability and resource management.

More than 1,477 exhibitors from 55 countries are presenting their complete spectrum of potential areas of application for textile materials and technologies at the biggest ever edition of Techtextil, which is currently underway in Germany. Over 1,054 international exhibitors are participating in the fair and 14 countries have set up their pavilions.#

The guest of honour at this years Techtextil is Dr Reinhold Ewald, ESA astronaut and professor for astronautics and space stations at the University of Stuttgart.

"High-tech materials based on fibres are essential in space travel when it comes to reducing the weight of space capsules. Every additional gram increases costs. Furthermore, textiles also save lives. Just think about astronaut suits. At the same time, materials that have been developed for space travel often find their way into daily life," Ewald had said during a press conference before the event.

Launched successfully at Techtextil and Texprocess 2015, the Innovative Apparel Show is witnessing the participation of universities for fashion and design from Germany, France, Italy and Portugal. The young designers show creations revolving around the subjects of textile effects, creative engineering and smart fashion. Twice a day, a fashion show in the foyer of Halls 5.1/6.1 will bring the pieces to life in a professional setting.

Techtextil will also honour new developments and innovations in the fields of technical textiles, nonwovens and functional apparel textiles with the Techtextil Innovation Award. The international TensiNet network along with Techtextil will honour the work of students and young professionals within the framework of the Textile Structures for New Building competition, which promotes innovative and practical concepts for building with textiles or textile-reinforce materials.

Texprocess, which is being held concurrently with Techtextil, is the leading international trade fair for the garment and textile-processing industry and presents the latest machines, plant, processes and services for making up textile and flexible materials. With 312 exhibitors from 36 countries, this will also be the biggest ever edition of the fair. The focus of Texprocess is on digital textile printing and, for the first time, will include a digital textile micro-factory. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Asked about the current political environment, Ambassador Khan stressed that Fiji believes in multilateralism. We believe it is a process that works because it is inclusive and universal. So irrespective of the position of particular countries, we believe it is very important to move the global climate change agenda forward, she said.

The Chief Negotiator for the Fijian COP23 Presidency, Ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan, has reiterated Prime Minister Bainimaramas recent call for preserving the multilateral consensus for decisive climate action contained in the Paris Climate Change Agreement.The Ambassador was speaking to a gathering of global media at the latest round of UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, where for the next two weeks nearly 200 nations are gathered to develop the guidelines needed to fully implement the landmark 2015 Agreement.The incoming Presidency's COP23 Negotiator also explained that Fiji brings a special awareness and consciousness of the effects of climate change to the negotiating process, and that this in turn adds a sense of urgency that will help drive the negotiations forward.I think the imperative for a Small Island Developing State like Fiji is very clear when you consider our special vulnerability to climate change. We are here obviously to work very hard to ensure there is a solution for the entire world. But at the same time we believe that our special vulnerability and our experiences will give the negotiations a sensitivity to the urgency of the situation and an understanding of how climate change effects people.The Ambassador explained the Presidencys job at the May meetings is to advance the implementation guidelines  known by some as the Rulebook  and lay the foundation for a more ambitious climate action in the years to come through the Facilitative Dialogue. To accomplish this, she said that Fiji would be introducing the concept of Talanoa to its consultations with parties and other stakeholders.Talanoa means that you sit together, you share experiences, you respect each other in the expression of different opinions, you build relationships, you settle difficulties and disputes, and during all of this you gather information. So we want to use this concept of Talanoa to listen and learn over the next two weeks and indeed beyond that, she said.Ambassador Khan also told the media that the Prime Minister will arrive in Bonn next week and in a speech on 18 May will outline Fijis expectations for the negotiations in November.The Ambassador concluded her remarks by thanking the German Government and the Moroccan COP22 Presidency for their generous support for the incoming Fijian presidency and said that Fiji looked forward to working with them, as well as the UNFCCC and other partners, to deliver a successful COP.UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, also speaking at the media conference, set the scene for the coming two weeks and reinforced the urgent need for progress in the negotiations. Here in Bonn, we need to go from general discussions to specific elements that can lead to common understandings, she said.The May meetings will run from 8-18 May at the World Conference Centre in Bonn.
Newly released video footage taken by a security camera shows the huge explosion last Thursday at an industrial estate in Arganda del Rey, some 30 kilometers southeast of Madrid.

Up to 18 firetrucks were sent to the blaze. Seconds after the first explosion there was a second that could be heard up to 20 kilometers away, creating a conflagration within the warehouse, catching several employees and emergency workers unaware: 35 people were injured, three of them seriously.

The waste management plant specialized in treating solvents.

Three people sustained burns to more than 30% of their bodies and were rushed to nearby hospitals, where they remain in a serious condition. Other people were treated for cuts and for smoke inhalation injuries.

The fire sent a huge plume of black smoke hundreds of meters into the air and schools in the area were evacuated. It took firefighters 24 hours to finally put out the blaze.

English version by Susana Urra.
Recently there were reports floating in about Salman Khan's brother-in-law Aayush Sharma gearing up for his big splash in Bollywood.

At the same time, we have been hearing a lot of speculations about Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara Ali Khan's Bollywood debut. Her name did the rounds for Aamir Khan's Thugs Of Hindostan but eventually it was the 'Dangal' girl Fatima Sana Shaikh who bagged the role.

Previously speculations were rife that she might star opposite Tiger Shroff in Karan Johar's Student Of The Year 2 and Saif was said to be quite pleased about her daughter being launched under KJo's banner.

But the next thing we heard was that Sara wasn't keen to take up a two heroine project at the start of her career.

Now as per the latest development, she is in talks to play Aayush Sharma's love interest in a film which will be produced by Salman Khan.

A Mumbai Mirror report quoted a source saying, "Sara has heard the script, a love story, and is expected to come on-board soon. There've been speculations that Karan Johar is co-producing the film but that's not true."

Now that's quite interesting! Word is that the untitled film will hit the shooting floors in November.

Do you folks think Aayush and Sara would make a great pair on screen? Do share your thoughts with us.
Childrens Hospital

SRK visited the Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital in Dubai and made the kids smile.

Personal Touch

A leading Dubai daily had reported that SRK individually spoke to all the kids about their well being.

Hospital Staff

Shahrukh Khan is seen posing with the hospital staff and they're all so delighted to be in his presence.

Be My Guest

Shahrukh Khan was in Dubai for the shoot of the sequel of the award-winning #BeMyGuest film.

Second Phase

#BeMyGuest is the second phase of the tourism campaign in Dubai shot by director Kabir Khan.

Grand Welcome

When SRK landed in Dubai, he was welcomed by Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM)

SRK Quoted

"I think it is really nice, I really enjoyed making it and happy we are making another one."

SRK On Dubai Tourism Films

"I am not an advocate for Dubai because I have done Dubai Tourism films."

SRK Praises Dubai

"I genuinely like being in Dubai, I think it's a really wonderful place, it's a fantastic city...It has everything for everyone."

Star

Shahrukh Khan is a larger than life star not only in India, but in Dubai as well.

Pics Please

A lot of people are seen crowing SRK and are busy clicking his pictures.
Having completed the shooting of 2.O, the protagonist of the movie, Superstar Rajinikanth is free at the moment. 2.O, which has entered into the post production work will be hitting screens on January 25, 2018. The latest buzz is that the shooting of Rajinikanth-Ranjith combo which is being referred to as Thalaivar 161 is said to go on floors on 28th of May.

The muhurat and initial canning of certain sequences will happen in Chennai where a giant set is said to have been erected replicating the Dharavi Slum of Mumbai city.

Rajinikanth would be seen in a don role playing his age and might as well be playing dual characters in the movie. Though it was rumoured that the legendary actor might reprise the role of Haji Mastan, the underworld don, the director of the movie rubbished the rumours.

The latest official confirmation is that the music director of the movie is none other than the same magician who composed Neruppu Da song for Kabali movie which became an anthem for Thalaivar fans.

Santhosh Narayanan who came out with a great album for Kabali and an outstanding background music is confirmed as the music director for Thalaivar 161 and would be joining hands with Pa. Ranjith for the fourth time after Attakathi, Madras and Kabali.

SaNa, expressed his happiness and contentment on bagging the said offer through his twitter account.

"Humbled to be part of #Thalaivar161. Thank you @superstarrajini @dhanushkraja and @beemji for making me part of this prestigious film-Sic"

Recently, the producer of the movie, Dhanush hinted that the national award-winning actor might sneak in for an on-screen cameo with his real life father-in-law and if that happens, it would be a definite eye feast for all Thalaivar and Dhanush fans, who would witness Mama-Mapillai in a single frame on screen.

Dhanush who is basking in the success of his directorial debut, Pa.Paandi, would be keen on the prestigious project and could also be involving himself for the scripting work alongside Pa. Ranjith as this could possibly be the biggest movie under his production banner.

With recent clicks of Rajinikanth captured during various public outings showing him in a beard look, one could expect another stylish don look as was witnessed in Kabali. If the movie's shoot commences on 28th May as expected, then Thalaivar fans could be in for a real sumptuous feast as they could expect two movies of the Superstar in 2018.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/08/17 -- Garda World Security Corporation (the "Company" or "GardaWorld"), one of the largest privately owned business solutions and security services companies in the world, announced that it has extended the Expiration Time (as defined in the Company's Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement dated March 31, 2017 (the "Statement")) of the Company's pending cash tender offer (the "Offer") for the Company's 7.25% Senior Notes due 2021 (the "Notes") from 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on May 8, 2017 to 8:00 a.m., New York City time, on May 19, 2017 (as it may be further extended or earlier terminated, the "Expiration Time"). The Company currently expects to satisfy all conditions to the Offer prior to the extended Expiration Time and as a result does not currently expect that it will need to extend the Expiration Time again.

The Offer is being made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Statement, as amended by this press release dated May 8, 2017 and the press releases dated April 14, 2017 and April 17, 2017. The deadline to validly withdraw tenders of Notes was 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 13, 2017; therefore, Notes that have been tendered and not validly withdrawn, and Notes tendered after that date, may not be withdrawn unless otherwise required by applicable law. As of the date of this press release, $83,137,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes, representing 18.89% of the Notes outstanding, have been tendered pursuant to the Offer.

Holders who validly tendered Notes at or before 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on April 21, 2017 (the "Early Tender Deadline") will be eligible to receive the total consideration equal to U.S. $1,015 per U.S. $1,000 principal amount of Notes purchased pursuant to the Offer, plus accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date up to but not including the final payment date. Holders who tender their Notes and whose Notes are accepted for purchase at or prior to the Expiration Time (as defined in the Statement) but after the Early Tender Deadline will be eligible to receive the tender offer consideration equal to U.S.$960 per U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes purchased pursuant to the Offer, plus accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date up to but not including the final payment date.

The Offer is a separate offer from the Company's offer to purchase the Notes (the "Change of Control Offer") made pursuant to the Company's Offer to Purchase, dated April 17, 2017, as amended by a press release issued on May 8, 2017. The Change of Control Offer is being made pursuant to the indenture dated as of November 8, 2013, under which the Notes were issued in order to satisfy the requirement to make an offer to repurchase the Notes upon the occurrence of a Change of Control (as defined in the indenture). The Stock Purchase (as defined below) will constitute a Change of Control for purposes of the indenture. Holders who tender their Notes in the Change of Control Offer will receive for each US$1,000 principal amount of Notes purchased pursuant to the Change of Control Offer US$1,010 plus accrued and unpaid interest to but not including the payment date. The payment date for the Offer and the payment date for the Change of Control Offer are expected to be the same date. The Change of Control Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the condition requiring the completion of the Stock Purchase.

The Company's obligation to consummate the Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions, which are more fully described in the Statement as amended by the press releases dated April 14, 2017 and April 17, 2017 and this press release dated May 8, 2017, including, among others, (i) the completion of the purchase by an affiliate of the Company of the 29.4% equity interest in the Garda business owned by affiliates of the Apax Funds (the "Stock Purchase") pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement, dated March 23, 2017 among the Rhone Funds, Stephan Cretier, the affiliates of Apax Funds and the HCA Parent Corp. and (ii) the consummation of the Financing Transactions (as defined in the Statement) on terms satisfactory to the Company.

The information agent for the Offer and consent solicitation is D.F. King & Co., Inc. Holders with questions or who would like additional copies of the offer documents may call the information agent, D.F. King & Co., Inc., toll-free at (800) 864-1460 or (212) 269-5550 (collect). Questions regarding the terms of the Offer and consent solicitation can be directed to the dealer manager for the Offer and solicitation agent for the consent solicitation, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ((800) 558-3745 (toll-free) and (212) 723-6106 (collect)).

This news release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes. The Offer and the consent solicitation are being made only pursuant to the Statement, as amended by the press releases dated April 14, 2017 and April 17, 2017 and this press release dated May 8, 2017, and the related letter of transmittal (the "Offer Documents"). Holders and investors should read carefully the Offer Documents because they contain important information, including the various terms of and conditions to the Offer and the consent solicitation. None of the Company, the dealer manager and the solicitation agent, the tender agent, the information agent or their respective affiliates is making any recommendation as to whether or not holders should tender all or any portion of their Notes in the Offer or deliver their consents in the consent solicitation.

About The Company

GardaWorld is one of the world's largest privately owned security services providers, offering a range of highly focused business solutions including cash services, protective services and aviation services. GardaWorld's more than 62,000 highly trained, dedicated professionals serve clients throughout North America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. GardaWorld works across a broad range of sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, natural resources and retail, and services Fortune 500 companies, governments and humanitarian relief organizations. For more information, visit www.garda.com.

Cautionary Statement on Forward Looking Statements

Information provided and statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws. Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to GardaWorld's future outlook and anticipated events, business, operations, financial performance, financial condition or results and, in some cases, can be identified by terminology such as "may"; "will"; "should"; "expect"; "plan"; "anticipate"; "believe"; "intend"; "estimate"; "predict"; "potential"; "continue"; "foresee", "ensure" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In particular, statements regarding the Company's future operating results and economic performance and its objectives and strategies are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain factors and assumptions including expected growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities, which GardaWorld believes are reasonable as of the current date. While management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to the Company, they may prove to be incorrect. The Company cautions the reader that the current economic conditions make forward-looking information and the underlying assumptions subject to greater uncertainty and that, consequently, they may not materialize, or the results may significantly differ from the company's expectations. It is impossible for GardaWorld to predict with certainty the impact that the current economic may have on future results. Forward-looking information is also subject to certain factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what GardaWorld currently expects. These factors include growth management, market competition, cost of financing, key personnel, government regulations, standard customer service contracts, insurance, strikes and other labor protests, information technology systems, operations outside Canada and the United States, currency fluctuations, credit risk, reputational risk, and financial covenants risk. Therefore, future events and results may vary significantly from what management currently foresees. The reader should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company will not update these statements unless applicable securities laws require the Company to do so. The reader should also take knowledge of GardaWorld's Annual MD&A and audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2017.

Contacts:

GardaWorld

Media Relations

media@garda.com




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/08/17 -- Raging River Exploration Inc. (the "Company" or "Raging River") (TSX: RRX) announces its operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Selected financial and operational information is outlined below and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim financial statements and the related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A"). These filings will be available at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.rrexploration.com.

Financial and Operating Highlights

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three months ended Percent March 31, Change ---------------------- 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial (thousands of dollars except share data) Petroleum and natural gas revenue 112,017 50,382 122 Funds from operations (1) 72,752 29,904 143 Per share - basic 0.31 0.14 121 - diluted 0.31 0.14 121 Net earnings (loss) 15,343 (7,852) 295 Per share - basic 0.07 (0.04) 275 - diluted 0.07 (0.04) 275 Development capital expenditures 112,685 37,380 201 Net debt(1)(3) 249,475 44,564 460 Shareholders' equity 917,366 817,839 12 Weighted average shares (thousands) Basic 231,152 216,493 7 Diluted 231,501 216,493 7 Shares outstanding, end of period (thousands) Basic 231,156 226,014 2 Diluted 236,603 232,741 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating (6:1 boe conversion) Average daily production Crude oil and NGLs (bbls/d) 19,476 15,034 30 Heavy crude oil (bbls/d) 1,419 154 821 Natural gas (mcf/d) 11,161 7,900 41 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrels of oil equivalent (2)(boe/d) 22,755 16,505 38 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Netbacks ($/boe) Operating Oil and gas sales(3) 54.70 33.54 63 Royalties (5.22) (3.27) 60 Operating expenses (10.50) (8.95) 17 Transportation expenses (1.45) (1.37) 6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Field netback(1) 37.53 19.95 88 Realized gain on commodity contracts 0.13 0.14 (7) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating netback 37.66 20.09 87 General and administrative expense (1.02) (1.26) (19) Financial charges (0.99) (0.82) 21 Asset retirement expenditures (0.12) (0.03) 300 Current taxes recovery - 1.93 (100) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Funds flow netback(1) 35.53 19.91 78 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net earnings (loss) per boe 7.48 (5.23) 243 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wells drilled(4) Gross 99 57 74 Net 94.5 56.5 67 Success 99% 100% (1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) See "Non-IFRS Measures." (2) See '"Barrels of Oil Equivalent." (3) Excludes unrealized risk management contracts. (4) Excludes injection and service wells.

FIRST QUARTER 2017 HIGHLIGHTS

-- Achieved another quarterly production record with average production of 22,755 boe/d (92% oil), an increase of 38% over the comparable period in 2016. This represents a 29% production per share increase from the comparable period of 2016. -- The Company's capital expenditures were $112.7 million inclusive of $25 million on waterflood initiatives, $6 million on land and $81.7 million of development capital resulting in the drilling of 94.5 net Viking horizontal wells at a 99% success rate. -- Achieved record funds flow from operations ("FFO") of $72.8 million ($0.31/share basic), an increase of 143% from the first quarter of 2016. -- Generated first quarter net earnings of $15.3 million, an increase of 295% from the first quarter 2016. -- The Company generated field operating netbacks of $37.53/boe and funds flow netbacks of $35.53/boe. -- Continued diligent cost control with top decile general and administrative costs of $1.02/boe, a reduction of 19% from the comparable period in 2016. -- Maintained balance sheet strength with first quarter exit net debt of $249.5 million representing 0.9 times debt to the first quarter annualized FFO.

REAFFIRMS CREDIT FACILITIES

Raging River's borrowing base was reviewed and we are pleased to announce that the syndicate of lenders underwriting the Company's credit facilities have unanimously reaffirmed the borrowing base at $400 million, on similar terms. The next borrowing base redetermination is scheduled for October 2017.

UPDATED 2017 GUIDANCE

The board of directors have approved an updated capital budget of $340 million, an increase of 10% from the previously approved $310 million budget. The continued strength of the balance sheet has given the Company the flexibility to increase the budget to fund several key initiatives including:

-- $10 million of incremental capital to fund water handling facilities in our Gleneath and Eureka areas. The result of these expenditures are expected to reduce corporate operating costs in 2018 and beyond by an estimated $0.40/boe. -- $10 million of incremental capital for new play development. These funds will be primarily allocated towards incremental undeveloped land acquisitions. -- $10 million of incremental developmental capital resulting in increased 2017 average production guidance to 22,750 boe/d from 22,500 boe/d.

OPERATIONS UPDATE

Break-up conditions to date have been normal. Three of 31 drilled but uncompleted wells were completed in mid-April and are currently on-stream. We anticipate that completion activities on the remaining drilled but uncompleted wells will begin around May 15th. Raging River's four operated drilling rigs are expected to commence operations prior to June 1st.

With limited new production additions not expected until late in the second quarter of 2017, we estimate that the second quarter production levels will be approximately 3% lower than first quarter production levels with significant growth in the second half of 2017.

Extended reach horizontal ("ERH") well results continue to be strong. To date, the Company has placed 73.3 net ERH wells on production with 50% of the wells on stream for six months. Average per well results show a 1.8 to 2.0 times improvement over the comparable offsetting short lateral wells. As a result of the ERH success, we continue to optimize our drilling program and expect that 50% of the remaining wells drilled in 2017 will now be ERH wells.

OUTLOOK

Raging River has successfully adjusted for the new paradigm in long term WTI crude oil prices of approximately US$50/bbl. From January 2015 through to March 2017, WTI crude oil prices have averaged US$46.70/bbl. During this period of time Raging River has:

-- Increased production per share by 45%. -- Increased FFO per share by 85%. -- Increased the economic drilling inventory to greater than 3,000 horizontal locations. -- Maintained net debt/FFO at approximately 0.9 times.

Although the equity markets have not been kind to most western Canadian energy companies in the first quarter of 2017, including Raging River, we are committed to our continued track record of sustainable per share production, earnings and reserves growth while maintaining a pristine balance sheet.

Additional corporate information can be found in our corporate presentation on our website at www.rrexploration.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements. More particularly, this press release contains statements concerning the anticipated timing associated with certain drilling and completion activities, anticipated number of wells to be drilled throughout the balance of the year, anticipated second quarter 2017 production levels, anticipated growth in production in the second half of 2017, the expected initiatives to be funded with the increased 2017 capital budget, the expected impact on operating costs in 2018 from certain facilities and projects, expectation of full year 2017 production guidance based on the Company's revised capital budget, expectation of percentage of ERH wells to be drilled in 2017, anticipated future drilling locations and Raging River's intent to continue its track record of sustainable per share production, earnings and reserves growth while maintaining a pristine balance sheet. In addition, the use of any of the words "guidance", "initial, "scheduled", "can", "will", "prior to", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "potential", "should", "unaudited", "forecast", "future", "continue", "may", "expect", "project", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company, including but not limited to expectations and assumptions concerning the success of optimization and efficiency improvement projects, the availability of capital, current legislation, receipt of required regulatory approval, the success of future drilling and development activities, the performance of existing wells, the performance of new wells, Raging River's growth strategy, general economic conditions, availability of required equipment and services and prevailing commodity prices.

Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g., operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; as the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health, safety and environmental risks), commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, changes in legislation affecting the oil and gas industry and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures. Refer to Raging River's most recent Annual Information Form dated March 6, 2017, on Sedar at www.sedar.com, and the risk factors contained therein.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

NON-IFRS MEASURES: This document contains the terms "funds flow from operations" (or "cash flow"), "net debt", "field netback", "operating netback" and "funds flow netback", which do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and therefore may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures by other companies. Management uses funds flow from operations to analyze operating performance and leverage. Management believes "net debt" is a useful supplemental measure of the total amount of current and long-term debt of the Company. Mark-to-market risk management contracts are excluded from the net debt calculation. Management believes "field netback", "operating netback" and "funds flow netback" are useful supplemental measures of firstly, the amount of revenues received after royalties and operating and transportation costs, secondly, the amount of revenues received after royalties, operating, transportation costs and realized gain (loss) on derivatives, and thirdly, the amount of revenues received after royalties, operating, transportation costs, realized gain (loss) on derivatives, general and administrative costs, financial charges and asset retirement obligations. Additional information relating to certain of these non-IFRS measures, including the reconciliation between funds from operations and cash flow from operating activities, can be found in the MD&A.

BARRELS OF OIL EQUIVALENT: The term "boe" or barrels of oil equivalent may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet of natural gas to one barrel of oil equivalent (6 Mcf: 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. Additionally, given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil, as compared to natural gas, is significantly different from the energy equivalency of 6:1; utilizing a conversion ratio of 6:1 may be misleading as an indication of value.

CAUTION RESPECTING DRILLING LOCATIONS: This press release discloses drilling locations in three categories: (i) proved locations; (ii) probable locations; and (iii) unbooked locations. Proved locations and probable locations are derived from the Company's most recent independent reserves evaluation as prepared by Sproule as of December 31, 2016 and account for drilling locations that have associated proved and/or probable reserves, as applicable. Unbooked locations are internal estimates based on the Company's prospective acreage and an assumption as to the number of wells that can be drilled per section based on industry practice and internal review. Unbooked locations do not have attributed reserves or resources. Of the 3,153 drilling locations of the Company identified herein, 1,104 are proved locations, 75 are probable locations and 1,974 are unbooked locations. Unbooked locations have been identified by management as an estimation of our multi-year drilling activities based on evaluation of applicable geologic, seismic, engineering, production and reserves information. In Raging River's most recent Annual Information Form dated March 6, 2017 the Company had disclosed that it had 3,600 future drilling locations as at December 31, 2016; this number has been reduced as a result of drilling on Raging River's properties since December 31, 2016 and due to the Company expecting to drill more ERH wells in its future development plans (the Company expects that fewer ERH wells are required than short lateral wells to recover the same resources). There is no certainty that the Company will drill all unbooked drilling locations and if drilled there is no certainty that such locations will result in additional oil and gas reserves, resources or production. The drilling locations on which we actually drill wells will ultimately depend upon the availability of capital, regulatory approvals, seasonal restrictions, oil and natural gas prices, costs, actual drilling results, additional reservoir information that is obtained and other factors. While certain of the unbooked drilling locations have been derisked by drilling existing wells in relative close proximity to such unbooked drilling locations, the majority of other unbooked drilling locations are farther away from existing wells where management has less information about the characteristics of the reservoir and therefore there is more uncertainty whether wells will be drilled in such locations and if drilled there is more uncertainty that such wells will result in additional oil and gas reserves, resources or production.

INITIAL RATES OF PRODUCTION: References in this press release to performance and production rates associated with ERH wells are useful in confirming the presence of hydrocarbons, however such rates are not determinative of: the future production and decline rates of such ERH wells, the rates other ERH wells to be drilled by the Company will commence production and decline thereafter, and are not indicative of long term performance or of ultimate recovery. While encouraging, readers are cautioned not to place reliance on such rates in calculating the aggregate production for the Company. The Company cautions that such production rates should be considered to be preliminary.

Contacts:

Raging River Exploration Inc.

Mr. Neil Roszell

President and Chief Executive Officer

403-767-1250

403-387-2951 (FAX)



Raging River Exploration Inc.

Mr. Jerry Sapieha, CA

Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

403-767-1265

403-387-2951 (FAX)

www.rrexploration.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/08/17 -- Garda World Security Corporation (the "Company" or "GardaWorld") announced today that it has extended the Expiration Time (as defined in the Company's Offer to Purchase, dated April 17, 2017 (the "Statement")) of the Company's pending cash tender offer (the "Offer") for any and all of its outstanding U.S. dollar denominated 7.25% Senior Notes due 2021 (the "Notes") from 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on May 12, 2017 to 8:00 a.m., New York City time, on May 19, 2017 (such time and date, as it may be extended or earlier terminated, the "Expiration Time"). The Company currently expects to satisfy the condition to the Offer prior to the extended Expiration Time and as a result does not currently expect that it will need to extend the Expiration Time again.

The Offer is being made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Statement, as amended by this press release dated May 8, 2017. Notes tendered may be withdrawn at any time at or before the Expiration Time, but not thereafter, except as required by law. As of the date of this press release, $58,430,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes, representing 13.28% of the Notes outstanding, have been tendered pursuant to the Offer.

The Offer is being made pursuant to the indenture dated as of November 8, 2013 (as amended and supplemented to the date hereof, the "Indenture") among the Company, the guarantors party thereto, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as U.S. trustee and Computershare Trust Company of Canada, as Canadian trustee, under which the Notes were issued. The Indenture and the Notes provide that the Company must make an offer to repurchase Notes from holders in connection with the occurrence of a "Change of Control" (as defined in the Indenture), which offer, pursuant to the terms of the Indenture, may be made in advance of, and conditioned upon the occurrence of, such Change of Control. Upon consummation of the Stock Purchase (as defined below), a Change of Control will occur with respect to the Company. Accordingly, the Company is offering to purchase, in advance of and conditioned upon the occurrence of the Change of Control, any and all of the Notes at a purchase price of 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest up to, but not including, the Payment Date (as defined below) (the "Tender Offer Consideration"). Pursuant to the Indenture, if the Stock Purchase and this Offer are completed, the Company will not be required to make any further offer to repurchase the Notes as a result of or in connection with the completion of the Stock Purchase.

Holders validly tendering Notes at or before the Expiration Time will be eligible to receive the Tender Offer Consideration equal to US$1,010 per $US1,000 principal amount of Notes purchased pursuant to the Offer, plus accrued and unpaid interest in respect of their purchased Notes from the last interest payment date to, but not including, the payment date for the Notes.

The Offer is a separate offer from the Company's offer to purchase and consent solicitation with respect to the Notes (the "Concurrent Offer") made pursuant to the Company's Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation, dated March 31, 2017, as amended by press releases issued on April 14, 2017, April 17, 2017 and May 8, 2017. Holders who validly tendered Notes in the Concurrent Offer at or before 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 21, 2017 will be eligible to receive the total consideration equal to $1,015 per U.S. $1,000 principal amount of Notes purchased pursuant to the Concurrent Offer, plus accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date up to but not including the payment date for the Notes purchased in the Concurrent Offer. Holders who tender their Notes in the Concurrent Offer at or before 8:00 a.m. (New York City time) on May 19, 2017 but after 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on April 21, 2017, will receive for each US$1,000 principal amount of Notes purchased pursuant to the Concurrent Offer US$960 plus accrued and unpaid interest to but not including the payment date. The payment date for the Offer and the payment date for the Concurrent Offer are expected to be the same date.

Subject to the terms and condition of the Offer being satisfied or waived, the Company will, promptly after the Expiration Time (the "Acceptance Date"), accept for purchase all Notes validly tendered at or before the Expiration Time (and not validly withdrawn at or before the Expiration Time). The Company will pay the Tender Offer Consideration for Notes accepted for purchase promptly following the acceptance of such Notes for purchase (the date of such payment being referred to as the "Payment Date").

The Company's obligation to consummate the Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the completion of the purchase by an affiliate of the Company of all of the stock of the Company held by funds advised by Apax Partners (the "Stock Purchase"). The Stock Purchase is not conditioned upon completion of the Offer.

The information agent for the tender offer is D.F. King & Co., Inc. Holders with questions regarding the terms of the Offer or who would like additional copies of the offer documents may call the information agent, D.F. King & Co., Inc., toll-free at (800) 864-1460 or (212) 269-5550 (collect) or email at garda@dfking.com.

This news release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes. The Offer is being made only pursuant to the Statement, as amended by this press release dated May 8, 2017, and the related Letter of Transmittal (collectively with the Statement, the "Offer Documents"). Holders and investors should read carefully the Offer Documents because they contain important information, including the various terms of and condition to the Offer. None of the Company, the tender agent, the information agent or their respective affiliates is making any recommendation as to whether or not holders should tender all or any portion of their Notes in the Offer.

About GardaWorld

GardaWorld is one of the world's largest privately owned security services providers, offering a range of highly focused business solutions including cash services, protective services and aviation services. GardaWorld's more than 62,000 highly trained, dedicated professionals serve clients throughout North America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. GardaWorld works across a broad range of sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, natural resources and retail, and services Fortune 500 companies, governments and humanitarian relief organizations. For more information, visit www.garda.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements

Information provided and statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws. Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to GardaWorld's future outlook and anticipated events, business, operations, financial performance, financial condition or results and, in some cases, can be identified by terminology such as "may"; "will"; "should"; "expect"; "plan"; "anticipate"; "believe"; "intend"; "estimate"; "predict"; "potential"; "continue"; "foresee", "ensure" or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In particular, statements regarding the Company's future operating results and economic performance and its objectives and strategies are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain factors and assumptions including expected growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities, which GardaWorld believes are reasonable as of the current date. While management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to the Company, they may prove to be incorrect. The Company cautions the reader that the current economic conditions make forward-looking information and the underlying assumptions subject to greater uncertainty and that, consequently, they may not materialize, or the results may significantly differ from the company's expectations. It is impossible for GardaWorld to predict with certainty the impact that the current economic may have on future results. Forward-looking information is also subject to certain factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what GardaWorld currently expects. These factors include growth management, market competition, cost of financing, key personnel, government regulations, standard customer service contracts, insurance, strikes and other labor protests, information technology systems, operations outside Canada and the United States, currency fluctuations, credit risk, reputational risk, and financial covenants risk. Therefore, future events and results may vary significantly from what management currently foresees. The reader should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company will not update these statements unless applicable securities laws require the Company to do so. The reader should also take knowledge of GardaWorld's Annual MD&A and audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2017.

Contacts:

GardaWorld

Media Relations

media@garda.com




VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 8, 2017 / RT Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: RTM) (the "Company") announces that the Company has filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report on SEDAR for the 100% optioned Norwalk Gold Property (the "Property") located near Wawa, Ontario.

Several historical mineralized gold occurrences are present on the Norwalk Property including the Norwalk Gold Mine (Au), the Fred C Shaft (Au), the Gananoque Vein (Au), and the Barton Occurrence (Au, Fe).

Historical production occurred at the Norwalk Gold Mine in 1904 and 1910, where 60 ounces of gold was recovered from 820 tons milled (Fergusen, Groens, and Haynes 1971). There are no mineral resources or mineral reserves within the Norwalk Property boundaries.

RT Minerals Corp.'s Norwalk property is adjacent and contiguous to the southern border of Red Pine Exploration Inc.'s ("Red Pine") Surluga Property which hosts the "Surluga Deposit" with a 43-101 inferred resource of 1,088,000 ounces of gold at 1.71 g/t grams per tonne using a 0.50 g/t gold cut-off grade, contained in 19.82 million tonnes open along strike and at depth.

Recent drilling conducted by Red Pine 3,000 metres south of the Surluga Deposit and 1,500 metres north of RT Minerals Corp.'s Norwalk Property, includes significant gold mineralization in at least 5 drill holes, which have yielded up to 57 g/t Au over 3.1 metres. Gold mineralization on Red Pine's Surluga Property does not indicate similar mineralization is present on RTM's Norwalk Property.

A 5 kilometre corridor of past producing gold mines, gold bearing structures and gold occurrences align south from Wawa Lake, through Red Pine's Surluga Property and includes some 1,800 metres of RT Minerals Corp.'s Norwalk Property where several historical gold occurrences are known.

Gold mineralization is spatially associated with the major shear zones on the Norwalk Property. Gold is present in quartz veins, lenses and pods within shear and breccia zones of various rock types. Recrystallized quartz and minor amounts of sulfide minerals (pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite) are present in gold zones, along with strong silicification of adjacent host rocks.

The Norwalk property is only 3.2 kilometres by road from Trans-Canada Highway 17, and is located about 7 kilometres south of the Town of Wawa, which has skilled labour to support mineral exploration and mining. Wawa also has a Municipal Airport.

Exploration will target auriferous Greenstone-Hosted Quartz-Carbonate Vein Deposits. Line cutting and ground geophysics has commenced which will determine if historical gold mineralization is related to geophysical trends which may expand exploration potential to other parts of the Norwalk Property.

This surface exploration program will be followed by a diamond drilling program of about 1,000 metres to test current gold showings, high interest geophysical anomalies, and prospecting targets. A total budget of CDN $240,000 is recommended to carry out the entire Phase One program.

Mr. Kevin Kivi, P.Geo. is a qualified person and approves the technical content of this press release.

ABOUT RT MINERALS CORP.

RT Minerals Corp. is a junior resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of primarily gold and diamond properties in Canada. The Company's common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "RTM" (OTC Pink Sheets "RTMFF"). The Company's principal mineral properties in Canada include the 100% owned Ballard Lake gold and diamond property; the 100% optioned Norwalk gold property; and the 100% optioned Dill River gold property, all located near Wawa, Ontario.

For more information on the Company and its properties, please visit the Company's website at www.rtmcorp.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul Antoniazzi

President and Chief Executive Officer

RT Minerals Corp.

Telephone: 604-681-3170

Fax: 604-681-3552

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this news release.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release relating to the Company's exploration activities, project expenditures and business plans are approximate and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities legislation. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements represent management's best judgment based on current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable, including that operating and capital plans will not be disrupted by issues such as adverse market conditions, mechanical failure, unavailability of parts, labor disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, or adverse weather conditions, that there are no material unanticipated variations in budgeted costs, that contractors will complete projects according to schedule, and that actual mineralization on properties may not achieve any category of resource(s). The Company makes no representation that reasonable business people in possession of the same information would reach the same conclusions. 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. In particular, fluctuations in the price of gold, equity markets or in currency markets could prevent the Company from achieving its targets. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There is no guarantee that drill results reported in this news release or future releases will lead to the identification of a deposit that can be mined economically, and further work is required to identify resources and reserves. We seek safe harbour.

SOURCE: RT Minerals Corp.
Leading 3PL has grown to seven offices and more than 400 employees in country

This September, C.H. Robinson is celebrating twenty years of delivering supply chain and transportation solutions in Poland.

"We're excited to have reached this milestone," said Arkadiusz Glinka, director of transportation, Eastern Europe at C.H. Robinson. "The relationships we have built with both customers and carriers have enabled us to expand our supply chain network across all of Europe. It's been our great privilege to grow alongside valued carriers and customers like Tesco Poland."

C.H. Robinson opened its first truckload office in Grodzisk Mazowiecki in 1997. The company's local operations grew to include seven locations in Poland today, and those offices serve an increasing number of companies and industries. The acquisition of Apreo Logistics in 2012 increased the number of customers dramatically and enabled C.H. Robinson to strengthen its capabilities in dry van, temperature controlled and liquid and bulk truckload services. The company also offers air and ocean services.

"We have a strong history in Poland and are looking forward to the future," said Jeroen Eijsink, president of C.H. Robinson Europe. "We know supply chains are growing increasingly complex, but we continue to collaborate with our customers to meet the challenges they face. I'm confident in our talented people, expert processes and leading technology that are working together to help our customers deliver their products to the world."

About C.H. Robinson

At C.H. Robinson, we believe in accelerating global trade to drive the world's economy. Using the strengths of our people, processes and technology, we help our customers work smarter, not harder. As one of the world's largest third-party logistics providers (3PL), we provide a broad portfolio of logistics services, fresh produce sourcing and Managed Services through our global network. In Europe, C.H. Robinson is one of the leading road transportation and freight forwarders with a dynamic network of offices across the region. Our team members in Europe are multi-lingual, skilled at building relationships and focused on serving their customers. The company, our Foundation and our employees contribute annually to a variety of organizations around the world. Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA, C.H. Robinson (CHRW) is publicly traded on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit http://www.chrobinson.com or view our company video.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170924005002/en/

Contacts:

C.H. Robinson

Marianne Myburgh, +31.205.170.206

Marketing Manager

Marianne.myburgh@chrobinson.com
NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until June 27, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Catalyst Hedged Futures Strategy Fund (NASDAQ: HFXAX, NASDAQ: HFXCX, NASDAQ: HFXIX), if they purchased the Fund's Class A, C and I shares between November 1, 2014 and April 28, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

What You May Do

If you purchased shares of Catalyst Fund and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com). If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by June 27, 2017.

About the Lawsuit

Certain of the Fund's executive officers and/or trustees and others are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but not limited to, that: (i) the Fund's prospectuses declared "[T]he Fund employs strict risk management procedures to adjust portfolio exposure as necessitated by changing market conditions"; (ii) despite converting from hedge fund to a more risk-limiting mutual fund, it continued to invest using a heightened risk strategy; and (iii) as a result, the Fund's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California, and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

206 Covington St.

Madisonville, LA 70447

SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / May 16, 2017 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until July 3, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against PCM, Inc. (NasdaqGM: PCMI), if they purchased the Company's securities between June 17, 2015 and May 2, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of PCM and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com ). If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by July 3, 2017.

About the Lawsuit

PCM and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On June 17, 2015, PCM publicly filed the financial statements of En Pointe, a company it had recently acquired. Then, on May 2, 2017, Seeking Alpha reported that in the course of litigation with En Pointe's prior owner, the Company had stated that "[a]udited financials provided by En Pointe, and filed with the SEC, materially overstated the profitability of the business"; thus, PCM's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On this news, the price of PCM's shares plummeted.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include the Former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

206 Covington St.

Madisonville, LA 70447

SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
Less than a week after the body of a young woman who had been strangled to death was found on the campus of Mexico Citys UNAM university campus , a second cadaver was found in a nearby ornamental lake on Monday.

The UNAM campus in Mexico City. Saul Ruiz

More information Encontrado otro cadaver cerca del campus de la UNAM

Police have not yet identified the victim, whose corpse was badly decomposed and had probably been in the lake for around one month. Local media speculated that the body was that of a man.

Nevertheless, the appearance of the second body has raised questions about security on the campus of Latin Americas largest university.

The second body has raised questions about security on the campus of Latin Americas largest university

On May 3, the body of 22-year-old Lesvy Osorio was found by a phone booth near the School of Engineering. She had been strangled with the telephone cable, and her hand was still holding her dogs leash.

Two days later, the authorities had no leads, and began to question whether the victim was to blame, with the Mexico City prosecutors office describing her as an alcoholic and a bad student, adding: She was shooting up with some friends, and: She had left home and was living out of wedlock with her boyfriend.

The comments sparked controversy on social networks in a country that is struggling with sexist violence.

If I get killed, what will they say about me? The hashtag #SiMeMatan (#IfTheyKillMe) has been used to accompany personal testimony from women wondering how they would be judged, and the university community has called a protest march for Friday to demand justice for the victims of gender violence.

The hashtag #IfTheyKillMe has been used by women wondering how they would be judged

Unlike the hundreds of women murdered each year in Mexico that largely go unreported, Lesvy Osorios case has prompted national outrage.

In response, Mexico City prosecutor Rodolfo Rios tweeted over the weekend that he had ordered the online comments made by his agencys communications department removed.

Miguel Angel Mancera, the mayor of Mexico City, warned on Saturday that there would be consequences over what he called the mistaken and reprehensible way the communications department had handled the case. Maria Elena Cardenas, the head of communication at Mexico Citys prosecutors office, resigned on Monday.

English version by Nick Lyne.
UK-based Equiniti Group agrees to acquire Wells Fargo Shareowner Services

Wells Fargo Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today it has entered into an agreement to sell its Shareowner Services business to Equiniti Group plc for $227 million. Equiniti Group is the leading provider of share registration and associated investor services in the United Kingdom. Pending regulatory and Equiniti shareholder approvals, and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close by the end of Q1 2018.

"In joining Equiniti, our extremely talented team of US-based shareowner services professionals will be ideally positioned to continue to provide their current customers with products and services that best meet their needs, and support Equiniti's growth plans for the future," said Ed Blakey, head of Wells Fargo Commercial Capital. "We believe this sale will also allow us to continue to sharpen our focus on areas of our business that are essential for growth."

Wells Fargo Shareowner Services (WFSS), a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., provides shareowner services in the U.S., including stock transfer agent, corporate action, and investment plan services to more than 1200 public and private companies across the U.S. Founded in 1929, and headquartered in Mendota Heights, MN, the business includes a seasoned team of professionals. As part of the transaction, more than 400 WFSS team members are expected to transition to Equiniti.

Equiniti is a London-based, publicly listed company [EQN.L] and a leading provider of sophisticated technology, administration, processing and payment services solutions. Equiniti is the U.K.'s leading provider of share registration and associated investor services, and also has market leading positions in administration of employee share plans, pension administration and software, and employee benefit plans.

"Joining the Equiniti team will be a great benefit to our clients and team members," said Todd May, head of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services. "Our strong culture of keeping clients and team members at the heart of everything we do is synergistic with Equiniti's culture. Equiniti's sophisticated technology will ultimately empower our team members to offer enhanced services to clients and our client's shareowners, while continuing to improve on our industry-leading servicing capabilities. Wells Fargo and Equiniti will work together to ensure a seamless transition."

Wells Fargo Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to Wells Fargo, with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, Katz serving as legal counsel. Annual operating results for WFSS are not material to Wells Fargo.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $2.0 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,500 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 273,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune's 2017 rankings of America's largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

About Equiniti

Equiniti is a specialist outsourcer delivering technology-enabled solutions to a wide range of organizations, including 70 percent of the companies in the FTSE 100. It is the UK's leading provider of share registration and associated investor services, and also has market leading positions in the administration of employee share plans, pension administration and software, and employee benefit schemes. Equiniti's services, which are delivered by over 4,300 employees, benefit 28 million people in the UK and 120 countries around the world.

Cautionary Statement about Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including with respect to the proposed transaction with Equiniti. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, without limitation, the risk that the sale of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services 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 or shareholder approvals); the risk that the anticipated benefits of the sale to us may not be realized as presently contemplated; and the risk that transaction-related costs may be greater than anticipated. For information about other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website at www.sec.gov.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170711006699/en/

Contacts:

Media

Jen Hibbard, 415-396-4609

Jen.hibbard@wellsfargo.com

or

Investor Relations

Jim Rowe, 415-396-8216

Jim.rowe@wellsfargo.com
NCR to service the TSB Bank's 900+ ATMs and IDMs and provide service desk support for its employees across its branch network

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a global leader in omni-channel solutions, will provide managed services for the ATM network of UK challenger bank, TSB, comprising ATMs from NCR and other vendors. The contract covers remote ATM Monitoring, Incident Management and Help Desk support for TSB's branch partners, and Second Line Maintenance 24 x 7 to ensure high availability of the bank's self-service channel. NCR manages the service performance and provides reporting and deep dive analytics on all incidents and service calls for a continuous improvement of the service delivery.

TSB was built to bring more competition to UK banking and ultimately make banking better for all UK consumers. As part of TSB's move from its current platform, which it rents from Lloyds Banking Group, the bank was looking to renew its services contract. During a visit to NCR's Services Operation Center in Belgrade, Serbia, TSB was impressed with the skills of the team, their energy, the language capabilities and dedication as well as high service-level results. Combined with NCR's services team in the UK, NCR convinced TSB Bank that NCR was the right partner to help them in their transformation process.

"TSB's high-tech transformation is gathering pace. Our move to the new system will make us more responsive, agile and innovative, which will accelerate our mission to make banking better for all UK customers," explained Mike Corran, TSB Procurement and Property Director. "As we prepare for the transition to this new banking platform, it's important to us that we continue to deliver excellent service to our customers. With NCR as our partner, we are confident that we will be providing the best possible service to TSB partners and customers."

As the world leader in delivering services to financial, retail and hospitality customers, NCR has over 20,000 service professionals, including 13,000 Customer Engineers, with a presence in 180 countries. NCR resolves 3 million service requests remotely each year, avoiding the need for on-site service dispatch.

"Banks have to consistently manage every aspect of the self-service channel to drive customer satisfaction," explained Mark Vigoroso, Vice President, Product Management Technology, NCR Services. "NCR's managed services help financial institutions make the best use of their available resources to provide high availability of their ATM network and deliver a consistent customer experience. NCR has invested significantly in its services team and capabilities that are now paying off with improved processes, real-time status information, as well as intelligence and learnings from servicing more than 2.5 million devices from over 300 vendors. This is the knowledge that our services customers can tap into to provide value to their customers."

About TSB Bank

TSB was built to bring more competition to UK banking and ultimately make banking better for all UK consumers. TSB only serves local customers and local businesses, to help fuel local economies, because communities thriving across Britain is a good thing for all of us.

We have a simple, straightforward and transparent banking model and make clear on our website how we operate and make money. We offer the products and services people tell us they want, with none of the funny stuff people normally associate with traditional banks.

Our five million customers appear to notice: TSB is Britain's most recommended high street bank and was recently identified as one of the top 10 big companies to work for.

For further information about TSB Bank plc, please visit our website www.tsb.co.uk.

About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables nearly 700 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier.

NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Ga., with over 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. NCR encourages investors to visit its web site which is updated regularly with financial and other important information about NCR.

Web sites: www.ncr.com

Twitter: @NCRCorporation

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ncrcorp

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ncr-corporation

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ncrcorporation

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171011005368/en/

Contacts:

NCR Corporation

Ortrud Wenzel, +49 821 405 8191

ortrud.wenzel@ncr.com
AMSTERDAM, LONDON and NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Elliott, a private investment firm founded in 1977, and its affiliates ("Elliott"), a top 5 shareholder of Akzo Nobel N.V. ("Akzo Nobel" or the "Company"), hereby provides the following response to Akzo Nobel's announcement yesterday rejecting a third proposal from PPG Industries Inc. ("PPG") of 24 April, 2017.

Elliott views Akzo Nobel's rejection of PPG's third proposal without entering into any constructive form of engagement with PPG as a flagrant breach of Akzo Nobel's Boards' fiduciary duties and of Dutch corporate law, and as an arrogant dismissal of recognised principles of proper corporate governance.In addition, Elliott considers the reasons outlined by Akzo Nobel's Boards for declining PPG's third proposal to be unconvincing and unsupported by any available evidence.

Akzo Nobel claims that, by rejecting this third proposal from PPG, it is acting in the "best interests of shareholders and all other stakeholders", stating that after an extensive review and a meeting with PPG "its own strategy is better and does not contain the risks and uncertainties inherent in PPG's proposal. "Elliott notes, however, that PPG has stated that the meeting "lasted less than 90 minutes," and was predicated at the start by a statement from Mr. Burgmans and Mr. Buchner that they "did not have the intent nor the authority to negotiate," and that Akzo Nobel "did not share any concerns regarding PPG's proposal, or analysis or comparison of their new standalone strategy versus PPG's proposal" during the meeting. Following the meeting, Akzo Nobel needed little more than a day to conclude its "extensive review and careful consideration." It appears therefore, that this meeting, like Akzo Nobel's meetings with its shareholders, was conducted for the sole purpose of being able to claim to have "met" and "engaged" with the relevant party, without the true intention to engage in a constructive manner.Elliott does not regard the meeting, as described by PPG, as clearing the threshold for constructive engagement with a bona fide bidder that stakeholders expect from boards properly fulfilling their duties, and that many Akzo Nobel stakeholders have been explicitly seeking.

Elliott believes that PPG's third proposal sufficiently addresses the concerns expressed by the Boards to warrant Akzo Nobel's sincere and constructive engagement with PPG.Moreover, Elliott notes that such engagement would be in the best interests of all stakeholders, including shareholders, pensioners, employees and customers.Akzo Nobel's Supervisory Board, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Burgmans, has failed to fulfil its corporate governance duties by refusing to obtain, through constructive engagement with a credible bidder, the necessary information required to fully evaluate a bona fide proposal. Elliott is furthermore disappointed that Akzo Nobel continues to wilfully ignore the wishes of its shareholders, who strongly support sincere and constructive engagement with PPG. Not a single shareholder has publicly backed the Akzo Nobel Boards' stand-alone strategy and stance of non-engagement, while 8 out of the 20 largest shareholders have publicly urged Akzo Nobel to constructively engage with PPG.

In Elliott's view, the combination of Akzo Nobel and PPG has the potential to create a stronger company with superior growth and employment prospects than a stand-alone Akzo Nobel with a separate Specialty Chemicals business.However, irrespective of Elliott's views in this respect, in order to fulfil their duties to stakeholders, the Akzo Nobel Boards must engage with PPG in a sincere and constructive manner and then undertake a full, detailed and fair analysis and comparison of both strategic alternatives.The muted market reaction to Akzo Nobel's Investor Day on 19 April, 2017 demonstrates that few investors share the Company's belief that its current management is best placed to unlock the value in the Company. Yesterday's share price reaction is also telling in that regard.

Akzo Nobel's Boards continue to demonstrate a disturbing and inexplicable tendency to act in their own, self-entrenching interests and against the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders. Elliott filed a petition with the Enterprise Chamber to enforce the rights of Akzo Nobel's shareholders to hold the requested EGM to vote on the dismissal of Mr. Burgmans for failing to discharge his fiduciary and corporate governance duties.Elliott believes there is nothing "irresponsible, disproportionate or damaging", as alleged by Akzo Nobel, about allowing shareholders to hold a democratic vote on Mr. Burgmans' suitability to continue as Chairman and member of the Supervisory Board.

About Elliott

Elliott Management Corporation was founded in 1977 and has one of the longest track records of any private investment fund manager operating today.Employing a multi-strategy trading approach, the firm manages approximately USD 33 billion in two funds for a range of investors, including pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, funds-of-funds, high net worth individuals and families, and employees of the firm.Elliott Management, which is headquartered in New York, has approximately 400 employees worldwide, with offices in the U.S., London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.The firm's principal objective is to generate a return which is as high as is consistent with a goal of minimizing losses during adverse financial market periods.
Figure 1: Structural diagram for the manufacturing digital solution COLMINA

Figure 2: COLMINA service at a glance

Pricing and Availability



Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-3215-5259 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/

TOKYO, May 9, 2017 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu today announced that it has systematized its support services for increasing the competitiveness of manufacturers in Japan, and this is to be available on a platform known as Fujitsu Manufacturing Industry Solution COLMINA, a place for connecting all kinds of digital manufacturing information, from design to production and maintenance.COLMINA links data on the location of people and products, on factory equipment, and all systems and know-how throughout the manufacturing process, as well as data among companies in the supply chain.As the services underlying this solution, there is the Fujitsu Manufacturing Industry Solution COLMINA Service, a suite of a variety of operational services for manufacturing, the Fujitsu Manufacturing Industry Solution COLMINA Edge, which collects and processes sensor data, such as on equipment operations, the vital signs of people, and the location of products, and the Fujitsu Manufacturing Industry Solution COLMINA Platform, which brings together the COLMINA Service and the COLMINA Edge. Sales will begin in Japan in phases starting in July 2017.Going forward, Fujitsu will offer standard interfaces between the COLMINA Platform and other companies' solutions and platforms. Because this enables data on everything from design to production to be linked throughout the entire supply chain, it will facilitate the digital transformation of all manufacturing work.It also helps manufacturing companies share their skilled workers' knowledge relating to design, production, and maintenance, as well as identify talented workers and match them to appropriate positions, and promote collaboration and co-creation with other companies.COLMINA will be exhibited at Fujitsu Forum 2017, to be held May 18-19 at Tokyo International Forum.BackgroundAmid a rapidly changing market environment, with a diversification of customer needs, many companies are using digital technologies, such as IoT and AI, to work on digital transformation initiatives in order to generate innovation and strengthen their competitiveness.In manufacturing, with the advance of the fourth industrial revolution, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Germany's Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in March 2017 signed a joint statement, the "Hannover Declaration," on cooperation in IoT / Industrie 4.0 initiatives. METI also announced its "Connected Industries(2)" policy concept to create its vision of a "Society 5.0(1)" super-smart society.Over many years, Fujitsu has been raising the efficiency of its operations through "virtual manufacturing," which makes use of its manufacturing experience and simulations. Incorporating this manufacturing expertise, COLMINA seeks to be a manufacturing platform that will also bring about a Society 5.0 super-smart society.About COLMINAIn addition to the solutions and services for the manufacturing industry that Fujitsu has been offering for over 30 years, COLMINA is a place where Fujitsu delivers a manufacturing solution that links together all kinds of information relating to manufacturing, from design to production and maintenance.http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_FujitsuCOLMINAFig1.jpgFigure 1: Structural diagram for the manufacturing digital solution COLMINA1. COLMINA ServiceCOLMINA Service encompasses a variety of operational services for everything from design to production and maintenance.Under the COLMINA Service umbrella, Fujitsu plans to provide 150 different services over time, including the existing services it is providing to the manufacturing industry. In the first batch, the 25 services below will be rolled out in phases in Japan from July 2017.http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_FujitsuCOLMINAFig2.jpgFigure 2: COLMINA service at a glance2. COLMINA PlatformCOLMINA Platform is a platform that connects all kinds of companies' manufacturing front lines, people, and things through data, and generates new services for the manufacturing industry.Big data technologies that collect and analyze a variety of equipment data and standardized data formats defined through the activities of such organizations as the Robot Revolution Initiative and the Industrial Value Chain Initiative will be incorporated for use through APIs(5). In the future, Fujitsu also plans to provide APIs for Fujitsu Zinrai AI technologies through this platform.3. COLMINA EdgeCOLMINA Edge is a feature that collects a variety of equipment data, converts it into an optimal data format, and links it with data from each type of service on COLMINA. To link with machinery, a system is provided to link with edge platforms provided by other companies.Future PlansWith COLMINA, Fujitsu is also planning to offer services such as consulting services aimed at factory automation, and personnel services including matching people and companies. In addition, Fujitsu will also provide a development environment so that start-ups and other companies can develop services on COLMINA. Through these measures, Fujitsu aims to not stop at providing solutions and services, but also to provide a place for innovation in COLMINA, where a variety of expertise is available.EndorsementComment from Tomoaki Kubo, Robot Revolution InitiativeIndustry in Japan aims to provide new added value through a variety of connections with Connected Industries. At the Robot Revolution Initiative, we support activities by partner companies to make Connected Industries a reality.Pricing and Availabilityhttp://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_FujitsuCOLMINAPricing.jpgSales TargetRevenue of 200.0 billion yen in COLMINA-related business by fiscal 2020.(1) Society 5.0A series of initiatives promoted by the Japanese government aimed at sharing the vision of and bringing about a future "super smart society," in which cyberspace and physical space (the real world) are fused to a high degree.(2) Connected IndustriesA policy concept aimed at building a new industrial society using Japan's technological and manufacturing capabilities together with connections from digital technology, with a fundamental conception of an industrial society that can create new value through a variety of connections.(3) Virtual Big RoomOffers a system that manages experience related to product development, including design information, analysis results, and the content of discussions with manufacturing departments, and in which necessary information can be called up at any time when using a computer. Fujitsu also plans to add voice coordination going forward.(4) TriageRescheduling production plans based on a real-time understanding of current status on the ground when temporary stoppages occur. Fujitsu offers a system that displays response priorities in order to resume production without delay.(5) APIApplication Programming Interface. Code establishing methods and file formats to enable outside programs to call on the functions and data handled by a computer program (software).About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 159,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702; ADR:FJTSY) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.* Please see this press release, with images, at:http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/Source: Fujitsu LtdContact:Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS



-- Group revenue in Q1 2017 increased by 9% (8% in local currency) to DKK 5,159 million compared with Q1 2016, in line with PANDORA's earlier communicated expectations of single digit growth in Q1 2017 -- Revenue from PANDORA owned retail increased 39% (39% in local currency) and represented 38% of Group revenue. Like-for-like sales growth for PANDORA owned concept stores was 8% -- Revenue from EMEA increased 5% (9% in local currency) driven by good performance in France and Italy, however impacted by the depreciation of the British pound -- Revenue from Americas decreased 5% (-9% in local currency), including a negative impact from network restructuring in the US -- Strong performance in important growth markets in Asia Pacific with revenue up 44% (40% in local currency). Asia Pacific is now 25% of Group revenue -- Full jewellery brand ambition on track as revenue from Rings, Earrings and Necklaces and Pendants all grew more than 40% with the three categories now representing 25% of Group revenue -- Gross margin was 73.3% (Q1 2016: 74.6%) impacted by headwinds from currency and product mix -- EBITDA increased 7% to DKK 1,879 million, EBITDA margin was 36.4% (Q1 2016: 37.1%) -- Free cash flow was DKK 1,182 million (Q1 2016: DKK 1,356 million) -- During the quarter, PANDORA returned DKK 1,332 million to shareholders through an ordinary dividend of DKK 9 per share (corresponding to DKK 1,007 million) and share buyback of DKK 325 million -- Related to the Q1 2017 results, PANDORA will pay out a quarterly dividend of DKK 9 per share to shareholders (corresponding to DKK 1,006 million) -- Full year guidance remains unchanged including Group revenue of DKK 23-24 billion and EBITDA margin of approximately 38%



Commenting on the results, Anders Colding Friis, CEO of PANDORA, said: "We are satisfied by this quarter's results, having delivered good sales growth, including 8% like-for-like growth in our PANDORA owned concept stores, and continued strong profitability.



We are very pleased with the performance in our important growth markets, with Italy, France and China continuing to show strong sales growth. Additionally, some of our most developed markets continue to perform, with revenue from Australia up 27%. However, the retail climate in the US remains difficult, which was reflected in our performance in the US for the quarter.



We continue to make progress towards our ambition to become a full jewellery brand, with revenue from Rings, Earrings and Necklaces and Pendants growing combined 48% for the quarter."



CONFERENCE CALL A conference call for investors and financial analysts will be held today at 11.00 CET and can be joined online at www.pandoragroup.com. The presentation for the call will be available on the website one hour before the call.



The following numbers can be used by investors and analysts: DK: +45 38 48 75 13 UK (International): +44(0) 203 427 1906 US: +1 646 254 3366



To participate, please quote confirmation code "PANDORA" when dialling into the conference.



FINANCIAL CALENDAR 2017



16 May 2017 PANDORA shares are traded ex-dividend 18 May 2017 Payment of quarterly dividend 25 May 2017 Payment of quarterly dividend for ADR holders



8 August 2017 Interim Report for the first six months of 2017 15 August 2017 PANDORA shares are traded ex-dividend 17 August 2017 Payment of quarterly dividend 24 August 2017 Payment of quarterly dividend for ADR holders



7 November 2017 Interim Report for the first nine months of 2017 14 November 2017 PANDORA shares are traded ex-dividend 16 November 2017 Payment of quarterly dividend 23 November 2017 Payment of quarterly dividend for ADR holders



CONTACT For more information, please contact:



INVESTOR RELATIONS MEDIA RELATIONS Magnus Thorstholm Jensen Kristian Lysgaard Vice President, Head of Investor Relations Director, Corporate Communications +45 7219 5739 +45 7219 5774 mtje@pandora.net krly@pandora.net Brian Granberg Investor Relations Officer +45 7219 5344 brgr@pandora.net



Attachment:

https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=630313

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany's industrial production and foreign trade figures for March in the pre-European session on Tuesday at 2:00 am ET. Economists forecast industrial output to fall 0.7 percent on month in March, reversing a 2.2 percent rise in February. Germany's exports are forecast to grow 0.2 percent on month in March, following a 0.8 percent rise in February. Ahead of these data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the yen and the Swiss franc, it fell against the U.S. dollar and the pound. As of 1:55 am ET, euro was trading at 0.8436 against the pound, 1.0916 against the Swiss franc, 1.0926 against the U.S. dollar and 123.81 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.
As decided by the Board of AB Amber Grid (legal entity code 303090867, office address Savanoriu pr. 28, LT-03116 Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania) on 9 May 2017, the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of AB Amber Grid will be convened at 10.00 a.m., 31 May 2017, at the Company's head office (address: Savanoriu pr. 28, Vilnius).



Agenda of the Meeting:



Election of the Audit Company and determining the terms of compensation for audit services for the year 2017.



Shareholder registration will commence at 9.15 a.m., 31 May 2017.



Shareholder registration will be closed at 9.45 a.m., 31 May 2017.



The Record Date of the General Meeting of Shareholders: 24 May 2017. To be entitled to attend and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders, persons must be registered shareholders of the Company at the end of the Record Date of the General Meeting of Shareholders.



To be entitled to participate and vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders, persons must provide their identification documents. Persons who are not shareholders of AB Amber Grid, shall in addition to the aforesaid documents present documents certifying their right to vote at the General Meeting of Shareholders.



A possibility of participating and voting in the General Meeting of Shareholders by electronic means of communication shall not be provided.



On 9 May 2017, the Board of the Company approved the Draft Resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders:



1. The election of the Audit Company and determining the terms of compensation for audit services for the year 2017.



Draft Resolution:



To elect UAB PricewaterhouseCoopers as the Audit Company to perform the audit of AB Amber Grid financial statements as of 31 December 2017 (drawn up in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards and of the Annual Report and regulated activity financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements established by the Law on Natural Gas and secondary legislation) and to set remuneration for the services of the audit of the financial statements and related statements at EUR 15,910 (excluding VAT).



The shareholders may familiarise themselves with the Draft Resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders and supplementary material thereof, also with the implementation of the shareholders' rights on working days from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. (on Fridays until 3.15 p.m.) from 9 May 2017 at the office of AB Amber Grid at Savanoriu pr. 28, LT-03116 Vilnius, tel. +370 5 2360855 These documents are also presented on the Central Database of Regulated Information www.crib.lt and at Company's website www.ambergrid.lt.



The shareholders of AB Amber Grid, whose shares are entitled to at least 1/20 of the total number of votes, shall have the right to supplement the agenda for the General Meeting of Shareholders. The proposal to supplement the agenda shall be submitted in writing and sent by registered mail or delivered to the head office of the Company to the address: Savanoriu pr. 28, LT-03116 Vilnius (hereinafter "the Head Office"). Draft Resolutions on the proposed issues or, when it is not mandatory to adopt resolutions, explanatory notes on each proposed issue of the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders must be presented alongside with the proposal. The agenda will be supplemented if the proposal is received not later than on 16 May 2017.



The shareholders entitled to at least 1/20 of the total number of votes shall have the right, at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders or during the Meeting, to propose in writing new draft resolutions on the items put on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders. Such a proposals must be executed in writing and sent to the Company by registered mail or delivered to the Head Office of the Company. The proposal submitted during the course of the Meeting must be executed in writing and handed over to the Secretary of the General Meeting of Shareholders.



The shareholders shall have the right to submit questions to the Company in advance, but not later than till 25 May 2017, in relation to the issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on 31 May 2017. Questions must be executed in writing and delivered to the Company by registered mail or to the Head Office of the Company. The Company will not present any answer to the question submitted by a shareholder personally to him in the case relevant information is available on the Company's website.



Any shareholder shall be entitled to authorise a natural or legal person to participate and vote in his name at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The proxy of the shareholder must present the document confirming the person's identity and the certified power of attorney as provided for by law, which must be delivered to the Head Office not later than before the end of the registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. During the General Meeting of Shareholders, the proxy exercises the same rights as the shareholder he is representing should. The form of the Power of Attorney to represent at the General Meeting of Shareholders is available on the website of the Company: www.ambergrid.lt.



On the issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Shareholders may vote in writing by filling in a General Ballot Paper. On the shareholder's request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the day of the General Meeting of Shareholders, will send a General Ballot Paper by registered mail free of charge or submit it in person against signature to the shareholder. The shareholder or his proxy must undersign the filled in General Ballot Paper. If the General Ballot Paper is signed by a person who is not a shareholder, a document certifying his right to vote must be appended to the filled in Ballot Paper. The duly filled in General Ballot Paper must be delivered to the Company by registered mail or submitted against signature at the Head Office not later than before the end of registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. The form of the General Ballot Paper is available on the website of the Company: www.ambergrid.lt.



On the day of convocation of the General Meeting of the Shareholders the total number of shares was 178 382 514. All these shares grant voting right.



Annexes:



1. Extract from the minutes No. AK-17-8 of the 12 April 2017 meeting of the Audit Committee at the Supervisory Body of UAB EPSO-G. 2. AB Amber Grid Power of Attorney Form. 3. AB Amber Grid Shareholder Ballot.



The individual authorised by AB Amber Grid (the issuer) to provide additional information on the material event:



Giedre Osinaite



Head of Legal Division



tel. +370 5 2327733



fax +370 5 236 0850



e-mail: g.osinaite@ambergrid.lt



Attachment:

https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=630326

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
LINKOPING, Sweden, May 09, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has signed an enterprise imaging contract with the expanding Belgian healthcare provider AZ Delta. The solution will be used across all of its locations and enables access to medical images and patient information regardless of at which of AZ Delta's locations the clinician work. The shared IT solution enhances collaboration, both between medical disciplines and between the hospitals-a key factor for efficient care.

One of the hospitals within AZ Delta used Sectra as its imaging vendor before the merger.Through this contract, Sectra's solution will be used across all AZ Delta's hospital locations and include multiple medical disciplines-radiology, orthopeadics, nuclear medicine and cardiology. In addition to Sectra PACS and VNA, the contract includes advanced visualization tools, integrated speech reporting and Sectra's pre-operative planning solution for orthopaedic surgery. The solution will handle approximately 300,000 examinations a year.

"With Sectra as our vendor, we will be able to smoothly expand the solution as we grow, to include additional hospitals and medical disciplines. That advantage, as well as the possibility to geographically work from anywhere, were especially important to us in our choice of vendor. From our earlier experience with Sectra, we know that the solution has very high system availability and that Sectra's support team will be there for us when we need assistance," says Dr. J. Marrannes, Head of the Radiology Department at AZ Delta.

Sectra's Enterprise Image Management solution

Sectra's complete enterprise imaging offering is modular and supports the most image-intense departments-radiology, pathology, cardiology and orthopaedics. Being built on the same technical platform, customers can easily extend a departmental solution to create a comprehensive VNA and enterprise image management solution without major investments or the replacement of existing components

Further reading: Customer story from University Hospitals Cleveland, USA

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Torbjorn Kronander,

CEO and President Sectra AB,

46 (0) 705-23-52-27

Marie Ekstrom Tragardh,

Executive Vice President Sectra AB and President Sectra Imaging IT Solutions,

46 (0)708-23-56-10

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/sectra/r/growing-belgian-healthcare-provider-orders-enterprise-image-management-solution-from-sectra,c2260139

The following files are available for download:
NEW YORK, May 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

RAS Polska is the first Polish media company in history to receive the INMA Global Media Award from the International News Media Association for its Onet news app in the Best Use of Mobile category. The winners were announced on May 23, 2017 at the 87th INMA World Congress in New York City

In October 2016, Onet launched its mobile app Onet 4.0 with text-to-speech technology, that allows the user to listen to news activated by the 'Onet, read!' command. This innovative idea was implemented by the engineers of DreamLab, the technology hub of Grupa Onet-RAS Polska. The app runs on any smartphone and mobile device using iOS or Android.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/515713/MarkDekan_Mark_Challinor_INMA.jpg )



Onet 4.0 is Poland's first app to provide this unique 'text to speech' feature, enabling each and every article to be read aloud. It is activated with the 'Onet read!' (Onet czytaj!) command. Another innovation is the app's access to the audio version of the Onet24 news service. The news service is updated automatically several times a day, and each issue brings breaking news headlines from Poland and overseas as events unfold. In this way, the app satisfies the needs of consumers who want to be up to date with current affairs.

The INMA Global Media Awards have been presented since 1937 by the International News Media Association to honour the best solutions in the field of innovation and brand development. In 2017, the International Media Association received 655 entries submitted by 196 media companies in 36 countries. Participants include newspaper media, magazine media, digital media, television media, and radio media.

A total of 115 finalists from all over the world were competing for awards in 20 categories. Forty award winners were selected from among two groups: global and local brands.

Mark Dekan, CEO Ringier Axel Springer Media AG and CEO of Grupa Onet-RAS Polska: "First and foremost, I feel a deep sense of pride at the achievements of our Polish team. Grupa Onet-RAS Polska is the first Polish publisher in history toreceive such a prestigious international award for a mobile application. The Onet App is an achievement which demonstrates our strength to becreative and innovate, and confirms our position as one of the leading digital publishers in this part of the world."

Jovan Protic, Digital Publishing Director, Ringier Axel Springer Media AG and COO, Grupa Onet-RAS Polska: "We were dreaming about world-class innovation and changing the way how people will consume content on news services. Seems we succeeded! The topmost priority was to make the best possible news app, while also providing our users with what we call the 'wow' moment"

Aleksander Kutela, CEO of Onet.pl: "The Onet app strengthens our brand promise, which is to be highly innovative and offer our users access to news and entertainment in the most user-friendly way. Onet is already the most popular Polish web service available on mobile devices and I believe that the success of our app will only reinforce this position."

BartAomiej Pucek,Head of mobile and digital projects at Grupa Onet-RAS Polska: "The app had to meet user needs and expectations: breaking news, quality content, fast loading and videos. In the course of doing research on user behaviour we realised that one of the key issues was to deliver news to people on the go, whether they are commuting by public transport or in their own cars. Since news consumption has to be automatic in such circumstances, we decided that our 'wow' moment would be voice commands and audio delivery of news stories."

The INMA Global Award 2017 is not the first prestigious award presented to the Onet app. In March 2017, it was named the best mobile app in the Mobile Trends Awards competition, held during the largest conference on mobile and new technologies in Poland. In April 2017, Grupa Onet-RAS Polska received an award in the Innovative Media category by the Association of Advertising Agencies.

About Ringier Axel Springer Media AG

Ringier Axel Springer Media AG was founded in 2010 by the Swiss Ringier AG and the German Axel Springer SE. The company operates in the growth markets of Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with a broad range of media services, comprising more than 165 digital and print offerings. The company's registered offices are in Zurich and it employs a total of about 3100 employees.

Press contact

Alexandra Delvenakiotis

Group Director Communications and Public Affairs

Director Digital Media Campus

Ringier Axel Springer Media AG

Phone:+41-44-267-29-14

a.delvenakiotis@ringieraxelspringer.com



http://www.ringieraxelspringer.com
Andalas Energy and Power Plc

('Andalas' or the 'Company')

Response to Media Speculation

Andalas Energy and Power Plc, the AIM listed Indonesian focused energy Company (AIM: ADL), notes the recent media speculation regarding the Company undertaking a significantly discounted equity fundraising in the short term.

Andalas confirms that it is currently in discussions with investors concerning a potential fundraising to fund its ongoing activities in Indonesia. The discussions are of a preliminary nature and the Company cannot guarantee that any such fundraising will take place in the short term. Pending the outcome of these discussions, the Company has requested a suspension in trading of its shares on the AIM Market. A further announcement will be made in due course as and when appropriate.

**ENDS**

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

For further information, please contact:
Artsakh President: Today we are twice proud as we have a worthy shift

On 9 May, Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan sent a congratulatory address in connection with the Victory Holiday, the 25th anniversary of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Defense Army and the Liberation of Shoushi. The address runs as follows: "Dear compatriots, Dear veterans of the Great Patriotic and Artsakh Liberation wars, Respected generals, officers and soldiers of the Defense Army, On behalf of the republic's authorities and personally myself I cordially congratulate you on the Victory Holiday, the 25th anniversary of the NKR Defense Army and the Liberation of Shoushi, glorious victories that our people carved in various crossroads of history due to the bravery and courage of their brave sons, their selfless love towards the Motherland. The feat of our legendary fathers and grandfathers in the Great Patriotic War, their lives have always granted us pride and become a landmark for us leading to new victories. We have liberated Shoushi having in sight their heroic example that instilled unshakable faith towards our own strength and victory of justice, taught to be steadfast and resolute, ready to struggle and determined. The Artsakh Liberation War has become one of the greatest victories of the Armenian people in the range of our heroic battles. Today we are twice proud as we have a worthy shift, generation of aweless young people who place above all the defense of homeland's borders and the security of the native people. They continue the work of their ancestors with great dignity leaving new examples of selflessness in the history. Honor and glory to all our heroes! Honor and glory to our martyrs, who have sacrificed their lives for the sacred mission of defending the Motherland! Dear compatriots, On this festive day I congratulate all our people in Mother Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora. Together we have carved this cherished triple holiday, together we have overcome all the difficulties and trials, paving our heroic path. It was so in the past, and so it will be forever! I once again congratulate all of us, wishing peace, welfare and all the best!"


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, after data showed that the retail sales in Australia fell more than expected in August.



Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the the total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in August, coming in at A$25.883 billion.



That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent following the downwardly revised 0.2 percent decline in July.



Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$989 million in August, up 22 percent on month. That beat forecasts for a surplus of A$870 million following the upwardly revised A$808 million surplus in July.



Exports were up A$166 million or 1.0 percent on month to A$32.229 billion.



In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar fell to 2-day lows of 88.22 against the yen and 1.5022 against the euro, from an early 8-day highs of 88.74 and 1.4940, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 86.00 against the yen, and 1.51 against the euro.



Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie dropped to 2-day lows of 0.7824 and 0.9769 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7861 and 0.9807, respectively. The aussie may test support near 0.76 against the greenback and 0.96 against the loonie.



The aussie edged down to 1.0933 against the NZ dollar, from an early near 3-week high of 1.0993. On the downside, 1.08 is seen as the next support level for the aussie.



Looking ahead, Swiss CPI data for September, German construction PMI for September and Swiss KOF institute Autumn economic forecast are due to be released later in the day.



In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended September 30, U.S. trade balance, factory orders and durable goods orders for August, are slated for release.



At 9:10 am ET, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell is expected to speak about the Treasury Markets Practices Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.



At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is scheduled to speak at the Investing in America's Workforce Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve System, in Austin.



At 12:00 pm ET, Bank of England MPC Member Ian McCafferty is expected to speak at The Founders' Company Annual Lecture, in London.



At 1:30 pm ET, Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane is to deliver a presentation titled 'Central Bank Engagement with Society' at the Economic Research Council, in London.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017-05-09 10:10 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Extraordinary general meeting of Litgrid AB shareholders is summoned on 31 May 2017, 10:00 at the initiative and by the resolution of the Board of Litgrid AB (company code 302564383, registered at A. Juozapaviciaus g. 13, Vilnius). The meeting will be held at room 226, at A. Juozapaviciaus g. 13, Vilnius. Beginning of shareholders' registration: 31 May 2017, 9:30. End of shareholders' registration: 31 May 2017, 9:55.



The record date of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders has been set for May 24, 2017. The right of participation and voting in the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders can be exercised only by the persons who remain shareholders of Litgrid AB by the end of the record date of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.



Agenda and proposed draft resolutions of the general meeting of shareholders:



1. Regarding the election of the audit company for Litgrid AB, and the conditions of the payment for the audit services in 2017.



Proposed decision:



1.1. To elect an audit company UAB PriceWaterhouseCoopers for carrying out an audit of the financial statements of Litgrid AB for 2017;



1.2. Set a fee for the audit services no larger than EUR 19,210.00 (excl. VAT); the fee to be paid upon the provision of the services and within 30 days of the submission of the VAT invoice.



Documents related with the agenda of the meeting, draft resolutions, general voting ballot are available for the shareholders for familiarisation at the premises of Litgrid AB, at A. Juozapaviciaus g. 13, Vilnius, Room 141, during the working hours of the company (7:30-11:30 and 12:15-16:30, Fridays: 7:30-11:30 and 12:15-15:15). These documents and other public information by the laws, related with the shareholders' right to propose supplements to the agenda of the meeting, to propose draft resolutions on the matters of the meeting agenda and the shareholders' right to submit questions to the company in advance regarding the matters on the meeting agenda, are also published on the company's website http://www.litgrid.eu.



Upon a written request of a shareholder with the voting right or his/her duly authorised proxy, the company will draw and send the general voting ballot by registered letter or deliver it in person upon signing at least 10 days before the general meeting of shareholders. General voting ballot is also available on the company's website http://www.litgrid.eu. Completed and signed general voting ballot and the document certifying the voting right can be sent to the company by registered letter or delivered to the company at the address: A. Juozapaviciaus g. 13, Vilnius by the end of the working day of 30 May 2017 (16:30) for the latest.



The Company reserves the right to disregard the advance voting of the shareholders or his/her authorised proxy, if the submitted general voting ballot does not meet the requirements established in Paragraphs 3 and 4, Article 30 of the Law on Joint Stock Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, was received after the deadline, or completed in the manner that prevents determining the real will of the shareholder on an individual manner.



A person attending the general meeting of shareholders and holding the voting right must produce a personal identity document before the end of registration of the shareholders of the general meeting of shareholders. A person, other than a shareholder, in addition to a personal identity document, must also produce a document certifying his/her right to vote at the meeting.



Persons have the right to vote at the general meeting of shareholders by proxy. At the general meeting of shareholders, a proxy has the same rights as his/her represented shareholder would have, unless otherwise stated in the proxy. Proxy issued in a foreign country must be translated into Lithuanian and legalised following the procedure established by the laws. The company does not establish any special form of proxy.



Shareholders having the right to attend the general meeting of shareholders are entitled to authorise a natural or legal person via electronic means of communication to attend the general meeting of shareholders and vote on their behalf. Such authorisation is not subject to notarisation. The company recognises an authorisation issued by electronic means of communication only if electronic signature of the shareholder is affixed developed by using safe signature creation software and certified by the qualified certificate valid in the Republic of Lithuania, i.e. if security of the transmitted information is ensured and shareholder's identity can be established. Shareholders must inform the company in writing about the authorisations issued via electronic means of communication by sending such authorisation to electronic mail info@litgrid.eu by the end of the working day of 30 May 2017 (16:30) for the latest.



No participation and voting by electronic means of communication at the general meeting of shareholders.



Enclosed:



1. Voting ballot;



2. Extract from the minutes No. AK-17-8 of the 12 April 2017 meeting of the Audit Committee at the Supervisory Body of UAB EPSO-G.



Vilija Railaite Litgrid Head of Communications Tel. +370 613 19977 E-mail: vilija.railaite@litgrid.eu



Attachment:

https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=630418

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
One Terabit 100 meters, 100 Gigabits 300 meters, 10 Gigabits 500 meters



REDWOOD CITY, Calif., 2017-05-09 11:31 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc. (ASSIA)



Extreme high frequency sub-millimeter waves can increase single-line data rates to terabits/second at 100 meter lengths on ordinary twisted pair phone wire. Speeds of 100 Gigabits/second can be achieved at distances over 300 meters, and speeds of 10 Gigabits/second can be achieved at distances over 500 meters.



Dr. John Cioffi, Chairman and CEO of ASSIA and Emeritus Professor at Stanford explains, "Fiber-like speeds of 10 - 1000's of gigabits/second (Gbps) are possible by using the previously unexploited waveguide modes of current copper infrastructure. Waveguide-mode use is similar to use of millimeter-wave transmissions in advanced wireless and 5G. Waveguides can enable use of frequencies above 100 GHz for extraordinary speeds." ASSIA develops management and optimization software for broadband and Wi-Fi networks.



Cioffi's keynote at the Paris G.fast Summit conference on May 10, 2017 titled "Terabit DSL," will introduce the new method. During the keynote, Dr. Cioffi will explain how 5G wireless often runs at 28 GHz and 39 GHz, while commercial microwave gear can run at 70 GHz and 90 GHz. Wireless above 300 GHz (sub-millimeter wave) is being actively researched. Early designs suggest link latency of 50-100 s is readily achievable, which would easily allow even the most stringent 5G latency specifications of 1ms or less to be achieved with these Terabit DSLs.



Today's fastest DSL (G.fast) uses only 200 MHz, while wireless uses 25 times as much spectrum. "The challenge was to develop practical ways to use higher frequencies over wires. Working with my ASSIA colleagues Dr. Chan Soo Hwang, Dr. Ken Kerpez, and Dr. Ioannis Kanellakopoulos, we found a solution."



Cioffi adds, "I don't expect anyone to need terabits/s (Tbps) to their home anytime soon. Terabits/s will be most valuable to the data centers controlled by phone companies as well as to internet companies such as Google and Microsoft. While Tbps demand may be a few years into the future, 10-100 Gbps speeds are important to networks today and will be a big market. Rapid advances in the Internet of Things (IoT), including autonomous vehicles, means the number of connected devices requiring high-speed ubiquitous connectivity will increase dramatically in the next decade. We believe that Terabit DSL will play a critical role in serving the needs of that ecosystem with ultra-high-throughput and ultra-low-latency connectivity."



Further driving the demand for bandwidth, "Hundreds of thousands of 5G small cells and DOCSIS 3.1 cable nodes will require 5-20 gigabit backhaul. Most 5G cells will connect to a Cloud RAN controller that can use 100 gigabits/s to support dozens of cells."



"AT&T and other telcos around the world are also deploying G.fast to apartments. G.fast speeds of 300 megabits to a gigabit can be supplied to every apartment. This differs from cable, which has shared connections that require multi-gigabit backhaul."



"Fiber is and always will be expensive to deploy. There are a billion phone lines around the world which will now be able to deliver fiber-like speeds over existing copper infrastructure. Using the existing wires in place can dramatically reduce the cost of 5G networks."



"There are a few years of work ahead in the industry to refine the system. LTE and now 5G wireless have proven major advances can evolve from concept to deployment in five to seven years. Data centers at Google and Facebook can leverage such new technologies in only a few years."



Dr. Cioffi's G.fast Summit presentation may be found here: http://www.assia-inc.com/terabit-dsl/.



About the Contributors



Dr. John Cioffi John Cioffi is Chairman and CEO of ASSIA and Emeritus Professor at Stanford. ASSIA provides management software for broadband and Wi-Fi networks. He won the Marconi Prize ("The Nobel Prize for Communications") for his work on DSL. Cioffi is an inventor on basic patents for ADSL, VDSL, Dynamic Spectrum Management, and vectored DSLs. His 2002 paper with George Ginis, Vectored transmission for digital subscriber line systems, introduced the concept of vectoring for high speed DSL.



Dr. Chan-Soo Hwang Dr. Chan-Soo Hwang is a senior director of R&D at ASSIA since 2010. Prior to joining ASSIA, he was with Samsung Research labs from 1999, where he led research projects in wireless networks, connected health, and DSL. He won two IEEE ICC best paper awards. He received his Ph.D in EE from Stanford University.



Dr. Kenneth J. Kerpez Dr. Kerpez received his Ph.D in EE communications from Cornell University in 1989. He worked at Bellcore and Telcordia for 20 years, and has been working at ASSIA for six years. Dr. Kerpez became an IEEE Fellow in 2004 for his contributions to DSL technology and standards. Dr. Kerpez has many years of experience working on communications systems and networks of all sorts, including DSL, fiber access, home networks, wireless systems, broadband service assurance, IPTV, IP QoS, triple-play services, SDN and virtualization.



Dr. Ioannis Kanellakopoulos Ioannis Kanellakopoulos provides consulting services on technology and intellectual property strategy to ASSIA. Ioannis was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCLA for 8 years, where he created a research program focused on adaptive control of nonlinear systems and its applications in automated vehicles; he then came to Silicon Valley where he worked at several startups (some of which he founded) in telecommunications, ADAS sensors, and audio electronics. He has a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, and is a Fellow of the IEEE.



About ASSIA ASSIA is a trusted partner with the leading market share of management and optimization software solutions for global broadband and residential access networks. ASSIA's Expresse broadband system enables Internet Service Provider companies to save significant money on subscriber care, increase customer satisfaction, and launch more revenue-generating service tiers in their access networks. ASSIA's CloudCheck Wi-Fi system enables enterprise companies to provide, and consumers to enjoy, premium digital experiences over the residential Wi-Fi network. ASSIA has more than 80 million broadband households under contract worldwide. For more information, visit www.assia-inc.com.



Expresse and CloudCheck are registered trademarks of ASSIA. "ASSIA" is an acronym for "Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment.



Media Contact: Kevin Mukai ASSIA (650) 654-3400 pr@assia-inc.com

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
Need to engage customers, agents and employees heralds new era of general insurance technology

Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), a provider of software products to general insurers, recently held its annual customer Insurance Forum, this year in Paris. The event was attended by insurers from across Europe, representing business and IT functions. It provided an opportunity for thought-leadership discussion, with a focus on current trends in Europe, and case studies on how Guidewire customers are leveraging technology to adapt their business.

Marcus Ryu, chief executive officer, Guidewire Software, began by talking about the accelerating pace of change in the insurance industry, and Guidewire's focus on providing systems that enable insurers to meet users on his or her terms, by providing the experiences and journeys they require. Ryu said that in today's Era of Engagement connecting with the customer on their own terms is fundamental to insurer differentiation. To this end, Guidewire's focus is on designing for engagement through persona- and journey-based solutions, with cohesive support for core operations, data and analytics, and digital engagement.

Keynote speakers presented on stage:

AXA: Miriam Bouchebouba, P&C Chief Information Officer, described the first steps of a journey towards AXA's vision of moving from Payer to Partner . This vision is driven by a conviction that AXA should offer their customers support before, during and after claims occur;

first steps of a journey towards AXA's vision of moving from . This vision is driven by a conviction that AXA should offer their customers support before, during and after claims occur; Inspirational Speaker: Magnus Lindkvist, Futurist, posed questions about a range of current trends and ideas, and what they mean for life, society and business. He argued that ultimately, creativity is better than competition, and summed up by defining technology as taking something practical and making it magical;

Admiral Group plc: Christophe Sanchez, CTO Business Development Director Europe, and Costantino Moretti, CEO ConTe, talked about the parallel greenfield and legacy system experiences of the French and Italian subsidiaries (L'olivier Assurances and ConTe.it) in deploying the Guidewire platform; implementation took 9 months in France and sixteen months in Italy;

Aviva: James Russell, Programme Director, talked about Aviva's Commercial lines transformation journey, their approach to managing complexity, and what they learned: Keep things simple, understand where one size does not necessarily fit all, and the importance of staying on the Guidewire upgrade path;

Basler Versicherungen: Andreas Jud, Product Owner Migration, presented his company's experience in deploying Guidewire DataHub, the first insurer in Europe to do so, and their approach to migrating motor policies, with more than 340,000 migrated to date; and

P&V Assurances: Marc Beaujean, Administrator and Board Member, described the impact of their business transformation and the significance of organisational buy-in, digitalisation first, training and coaching, and technical rollout. Since Guidewire ClaimCenter deployment alone, productivity has increased by 30%+, with 50% now seen as a real possibility.

"Increasingly, the insurers who engage most effectively with their users will be the winners," said Marcus Ryu. "Guidewire InsurancePlatform combines three elements core operations, data and analytics, and digital engagement working together to enhance insurers' ability to respond to industry changes and better engage and empower their customers, agents, and employees."

About Guidewire Software

Guidewire delivers the software that general insurers need to adapt and succeed in a time of rapid industry change. We combine three elements core operations, data and analytics, and digital engagement into a technology platform that enhances insurers' ability to engage and empower their customers and employees. More than 300 general insurers around the world have selected Guidewire. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com. Follow us on twitter: @Guidewire_PandC.

NOTE: Guidewire, Guidewire Software, Guidewire ClaimCenter, Guidewire PolicyCenter, and Guidewire BillingCenter are registered trademarks of Guidewire Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005779/en/

Contacts:

onechocolate Communications

Daniel Couzens, +44(0)20 7437 0227

guidewire@onechocolatecomms.co.uk

or

Guidewire Software (UK) Ltd

Louise Bradley, +44 (0)7474 837 860

lbradley@guidewire.com
LONDON, August 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. announces today that long-term tenant Deloitte Holding B.V. (Deloitte) has agreed to renew its lease at the landmark Maastoren Building, signaling its long-term commitment to the building.

With 38,000 sqm over 44 floors, Maastoren is the tallest office tower in the Netherlands. Deloitte, who has been a tenant at the building since 2010 occupies approximately 60% of the building.

As part of the lease agreement, NorthStar Realty Europe will enhance the building with a number of design and improvement initiatives. These include a new entranceway and reception facility on the ground floor.

Mahbod Nia, NorthStar Realty Europe's Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are very pleased to announce Deloitte's lease renewal at the Maastoren building in Rotterdam. Deloitte's commitment is affirmation of the building's excellent facilities and location on Rotterdam's Kop van Zuid."

Property highlights

At 44 floors 165 metres high, Maastoren is the highest building in the Netherlands

Maastoren is fully let with a strong base of blue-chip tenants, including Deloitte and AKD

The building was developed by OVG and completed in 2010

It is located at Rotterdam's Kop van Zuid, Wilhelminakade 1-103

About NorthStar Realty Europe

NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. (NYSE: NRE) is a European-focused commercial real estate company with predominantly high quality office properties in Germany, the United Kingdom and France, organized as a REIT and managed by an affiliate of Colony NorthStar, Inc. (NYSE: CLNS), a leading global real estate and investment management firm. For more information about NorthStar Realty Europe Corp., please visit www.nrecorp.com.
Forecast 100 million Drone Operations Based on Research Conducted by Skylark Drone Research

STEVENSVILLE, MD / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Releases Commercial UAV Delivery Forecast. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University released a forecast of Commercial UAV Drone deliveries based on research conducted by Skylark Drone Research.



Research Predicts Shipping and Delivery to Drive Commercial UAS Industry



ERAU News

The research was conducted by four authors - Darryl Jenkins, Bijan Vasigh, Clint Oster, and Tulinda Larsen - and states that the commercial UAS:



Summary -



Even if only 1% to 2% of the packages sold online are delivered by UAS, the operations will dwarf the volume of flights handled by the existing Air Traffic Management system (ATM). We forecast 100 million packages per day will eventually be delivered via UAS, 10 times today's aircraft operations.

The economics of last-mile delivery are so compelling that existing companies will have no choice but to adopt this technology to survive and that new markets will be opened. Pizzas, milk, clothing, and just about any item that consumers want quickly will be delivered via UAS.

Where we are today - almost 1 million small UAS were registered in the United States in the first 18 months of the FAA registration requirement; roughly 100,000 are registered for commercial use, according the FAA - four times the current fleet of manned aircraft, including commercial and general aviation. The FAA forecasts that the commercial UAS fleet will grow to more than 500,000 by 2021.

About Skylark Drone Research

Skylark Drone Research (SDR), a DBA of Skylark Services, was founded in 2016 by Dr. Larsen and is dedicated to conducting and compiling economic research related to Commercial Drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). SDR is currently analyzing options for integration of drones into air traffic management and commercial air space, assisting with a major conference on Autonomous Vehicles known as INTRASECT , and investigating the use of drones to improve operations for precision agriculture and snowsport/mountain bike resorts.

For more information about Dr. Tulinda Larsen and Skylark Services, LLC, please visit our website at www.TulindaLarsen.com and for information on research related to drones, please visit www.SkylarkDroneResearch.com .

Media Contact:

Dr. Tulinda Larsen

443-510-3566

tulinda.larsen@skylarkdroneresearch.com

SOURCE: Skylark Drone Research
DOHA, Qatar, May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading global business aviation company Deer Jet, presented the world's first 787 'Dream Jet', with its Middle East debut, making a stopover today at Doha International Airport. The Doha showcase is part of the series of exhibitions across the globe "Dreams Encounter the World" following visits to Shanghai, Hong Kong, London and Dublin.

The company is expanding in the Middle East having served royal families in the region since 2013 and is now set to target the GCC and the wider Middle East, with buyers from Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including key executives from major corporations and high level government delegations, expected to be key customers.

Deer Jet was the first business jet operator in China, established 22 years ago, dedicated to serving the global premium business travel market. In May 2016, the company took over the operation of the world's first BBJ 787 VVIP, and made its maiden flight to Hong Kong in September. Deer Jet has branded the aircraft as "787 Dream Jet", and launched a renewed brand philosophy of "Making Travel an Art", as it builds on its reputation as a world leading service provider for premium business travel.

Deer Jet's "Dream Team" stewards use 7-star hospitality standards, as true inflight butlers, evoking different feelings for the variety of customers they serve. Deer Jet curated spaces are decorated with hand-picked amenities and bespoke collections of precious crystals, cushions, silverware, and porcelain.

The B787-8 Dream Jet is capable of flying continuously for 18.5hrs, or 16,000km;given the geographical location of Doha, the Dream Jet can reach any major city in the world, non-stop. This is in part due to the aircraft's fuselage, which is made from carbon fibre material, making it lighter and more fuel efficient. The 787 Dream Jet charter prices start from $70,000/hour.

Deer Jet is also launching exclusive, bespoke travel packages aboard the 787 Dream Jet, starting with the "Hong Kong to Tahiti Dream Journey".It features a seven-night charter package including complimentary accommodation at the Presidential Suite of St. Regis Bora Bora Resort.

The aircraft is operated on the Guernsey aircraft registry (2-DEER), under the AOC of BAS Guernsey. The aircraft resides at Hong Kong International Airport and is operated by Deer Jet's subsidiary Hong Kong Jet. Dubai and Riyadh are slated as the next stops for the Dream Jet.
BANGALORE, India and MARSEILLE, France, September 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Seven-year partnership with Infosys to enhance CMA CGM ' s customer service experience

Infosys to establish a Delivery Center in Marseille to attract and enhance local expertise

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in container shipping, and Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in consulting, technology and next-generation services, today announced a strategic seven-year partnership which will simplify and transform CMA CGM's IT applications and improve customer service experience.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/589162 )



As part of the agreement, and at the request of CMA CGM, Infosys will open a Delivery Center (DC) in Marseille, which will become a key hub attracting and enhancing local expertise.

Infosys will also acquire CMA CGM's Innovation and Delivery Center in Dubai, UAE, expanding its footprint in the Middle East.

Through this partnership:

Infosys will provide CMA CGM with the skills required to maintain its applications and develop its SAP projects. Infosys will also provide CMA CGM with new high value-added technologies that will improve its agility and responsiveness.

As part of its ongoing digital transformation, CMA CGM will use Infosys Nia's artificial intelligence platform and its scalable automation platform, AssistEdge, to revamp its customer service, improve process execution and enhance internal performance.

These new systems will allow CMA CGM to be more flexible and innovative in a dynamic industry.

Rajesh Krishnamurthy, President and Head of Europe, Infosys, said, "Simplifying the technology footprint and leveraging next-generation technologies is the need of the hour for the hyper-competitive shipping and logistics industry. We look forward to helping CMA CGM leapfrog to the next-generation of software-led business innovation which is customer friendly, cost effective and flexible. Infosys is keen to leverage its logistics industry experience and assist CMA CGM with its business transformation journey."

Rodolphe Saade, CEO, CMA CGM, said, "Innovation and digitalization are at the heart of our strategy. Our ambition is to create a competitive advantage by offering our customers state-of-the-art technologies. The partnership with Infosys is key to attaining this objective. By setting up their Center for Innovation in Marseille, CMA CGM, as well as the region, will benefit from both their expertise and their proximity."

About CMA CGM

CMA CGM, founded by Jacques R. Saade, is a leading worldwide shipping group. Its 445 vessels call more than 370 ports in the world on all 5 continents. In 2016, they carried 15.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). Now headed by Rodolphe Saade, CMA CGM enjoys a continuous growth and keeps innovating to offer its customers new maritime, terrestrial, and logistical solutions. With a presence in 160 countries and through its 600 agencies network, the Group employs 29,000 people worldwide, including 2,400 in its headquarters in Marseille.

Follow the CMA CGM Group on

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cmacgm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cmacgm

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAMAVVaqikbzeE3znzw6lVQ

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cma-cgm

Instagram: http://instagram.com/cmacgm/

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in technology services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to create and execute strategies for their digital transformation. From engineering to application development, knowledge management and business process management, we help our clients find the right problems to solve, and to solve these effectively.Our team of 198,000+ innovators, across the globe, is differentiated by the imagination, knowledge and experience, across industries and technologies that we bring to every project we undertake.

Visit http://www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise thrive in the digital age.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. These filings are available at http://www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. In addition, please note that any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law.

Disclosure under SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015: -

Name of the target entity CMA Systems FZ-LLC Whether the acquisition would fall No within related party transaction(s) and whether the promoter/ promoter group/ group companies have any interest in the entity being acquired? Industry to which the entity being Information Technology acquired belongs Objects and effects of acquisition As part of a strategic program spanning seven years that will help simplify and transform the CMA CGM's (a leading worldwide shipping group) IT applications, Infosys is purchasing 100% of the shareholding of CMA Systems FZ-LCC which is CMA CGM's remote IT support and development center in Dubai Any governmental or regulatory Yes, approval of Dubai Creative Clusters Authority approvals required for the will be required for the consummation of the acquisition transaction Indicative time period for The transaction is expected to close during the completion of the acquisition third quarter of fiscal 2018, subject to customary closing conditions Nature of consideration Cash Cost of acquisition or the price US Dollar 1 at which the shares are acquired; Percentage of holding 100% of the share capital Brief Background Incorporated on 27 September 2007 as a Free Zone Company with limited liability under the provisions of the Dubai Technology & Media Free Zone Private Companies Regulations 2003 (currently known as Dubai Creative Clusters Authority). 100% subsidiary of CMA CGM SA (a company registered in France). Business operations in Dubai. Offerings: Remote IT Application support and development for CMA CGM
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Gold Standard Ventures Corp. (TSX VENTURE: GSV) (NYSE MKT: GSV) ("Gold Standard" or the "Company") reported today that reverse-circulation (RC) and core drilling will begin next week on the Dark Star and North Bullion deposits. These deposits are on the Company's 100%-owned/controlled Railroad-Pinion Project in the Railroad District of Nevada's Carlin Trend. As springtime access conditions improve over the coming weeks, additional drill rigs will be added to the program.

The US $15.5 million program includes up to 48,800 m of RC and core drilling in 117 holes (see February 2, 2017 news release). The 2017 program objectives are:

1. Test for extensions of the higher grade North Dark Star oxide gold discovery to the north and west 2. Increase resources at Dark Star and Pinion 3. Test new high-value targets within the prospective Dark Star Corridor 4. Continue to expand the high-grade North Bullion deposit 5. Develop and drill test new targets on the 20,941 gross acres (85 square kilometers) recently acquired to the south of Dark Star and Pinion.

Jonathan Awde, CEO and Director of Gold Standard commented: "We are very excited by this year's program which builds on the outstanding exploration successes of the past five years. Each of our known deposits has well-defined opportunities for substantial growth. At the same time, we are applying what we have learned from our past discoveries to a series of new prospects, especially on the ground to the south that we acquired earlier this year. We have never been more confident of our potential for finding additional gold deposits for our shareholders."

Key Highlights of the 2017 Program

Dark Star

-- At North and West Dark Star, complete up to 24 RC and core holes (approximately 12,600 m) to expand areas of known shallow oxide gold mineralization, including testing new targets stepping out from intercepts of 52.1m of 1.02 g Au/t in DS16-26 and 24.4m of 2.11 g Au/t in DS16-38, to the west of Main Dark Star (see January 19, 2017 and April 18 news releases). These intercepts support the view that the Pinion and Dark Star deposits could merge. Mineralization in DS16-26 and DS16-38 is associated with a thrust fault and feldspar porphyry dikes. To refine the geometry of this target, and identify new targets between Pinion and Dark Star, multiple seismic lines are planned for 2017. -- Within the 6.7 km-long Dark Star Corridor (DSC), complete approximately 11,400 m of RC scout drilling in 25 holes to test new targets south of the Dark Star maiden resource, particularly targeting higher-grade (greater than 1 g Au/t oxide) North Dark Star-type discoveries which can be indicated by nearby low-grade intercepts such as 35.1m of 0.34 g Au/t in CDC-040 at the Dixie prospect. Note that the gold intercept in CDC- 040 is historic in nature, completed before standards set forth in NI 43-101, and its true thickness is unknown. Initial drilling will focus on verifying this intercept by Gold Standard's geologists. The DSC is a north-trending structural high of altered Pennsylvanian-Permian carbonate host rocks defined by gravity, CSAMT, geologic mapping, and soil sampling. The corridor is largely untested by drilling.

Pinion

-- At the Sentinel Breccia target 350 meters to the north of Pinion, 13 RC and core holes (approximately 3,900 m) will test for extensions to oxide gold mineralization identified by surface rock samples. This target is a hematitic, silicified breccia within the footwall of the north-striking Bullion Fault Zone.

North Bullion

-- Drill 10 holes (approximately 6,700 m) to extend areas of west-northwest and north-trending, high-grade gold mineralization in the Lower Breccia Zone. Drilling will follow-up on the 2016 results in RR16-01 which intersected 65.6m of 3.17 g Au/t, including a higher-grade interval of 8.5m of 11.16 g Au/t located 120m west-northwest of previous drilling (announced on August 30, 2016); and, RR16-05 which returned 19.8m of 4.40 g Au/t, including a higher-grade interval of 5.3m of 7.02 g Au/t located 180m north of previous drilling (announced on January 23, 2017).

Early Stage District Exploration

Geologic mapping, historical data compilation, soil and rock geochemical sampling and geophysics will continue to define new targets throughout the 208-square km. Railroad-Pinion Project. In the past month, contractors have completed data collection on a 1,024-station gravity survey and initiated a +8,000-station soil grid on newly consolidated lands south of Dark Star and Pinion (see March 27, 2017 news release). Thirty RC holes are planned to provide the first tests of these newly identified targets. Phase 1 drill targets are highlighted below.

-- At the Jasperoid Wash target, historic RC drilling by Westmont intersected multiple zones of gold mineralization in rocks that reconnaissance mapping identified as similar to the Pennsylvanian- Permian carbonate host rocks at Main and North Dark Star. Most notably, RC drill hole JW-9007 intersected 117.4m of 0.51 g Au/t from 33.5-150.9m as described in a 1990 Westmont report. The reader is cautioned that the gold intercept in JW-9007 is historic in nature, completed before standards set forth in NI 43-101, is of unknown true thickness, and the results have not been verified by Gold Standard's geologists. To the northwest of Pinion, early stage geologic mapping along the north-northwest-striking Ski Track corridor has identified altered carbonate rocks that are similar to the Pennsylvanian-Permian rocks that host the Dark Star gold deposit. Detailed mapping is planned to confirm this promising correlation with follow-up sampling and gravity used to define new targets. Up to 20 RC holes (about 5,400 m) are allocated to testing new oxide gold targets at Jasperoid Wash and Ski Track. -- At the Sylvania, Steve's Camp, Bald Mountain, Big Skarn and Dragon Back targets, drilling will test targets within dike-filled corridors peripheral to the Eocene Bullion intrusive center. At Dragon Back, reconnaissance sampling by Gold Standard returned up to 4.8 g Au/t in select rock samples. Up to 10 RC scout holes (about 4,600 m) will test these new oxide gold targets.

Mac Jackson, Gold Standard's Vice President of Exploration, stated: "Our 2017 program will explore a variety of high quality, early-to-advanced-stage targets at Railroad-Pinion. Early stage, target definition work on our new southern land acquisition will consist of the collection of gravity, CSAMT, and geochemical data, as well as detailed mapping...the tools that have worked so well for us to date. We'll also be running seismic lines and drilling scout holes peripheral to Dark Star and Pinion to find new deposits in those more advanced stage areas. At North Bullion, drilling will follow up on last year's high-grade intercepts by continuing to test productive trends in that large system with wide-spaced step out holes. Our program has expanded to take on new targets this year, and with this increased opportunity, we look forward to continuing to add resources in the Railroad-Pinion district."

Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance:

All sampling was conducted under the supervision of the Company's project geologists and the chain of custody from the project to the sample preparation facility was continuously monitored. Core was cut at the company's facility in Elko and one quarter was sent to the lab for analysis and the remaining material retained in the original core box. A pulp-blank or certified reference material was inserted approximately every tenth sample.

Original Dark Star samples were delivered to Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories preparation facility in Elko, NV where they were crushed and pulverized. Resulting sample pulps were shipped to Bureau Veritas certified laboratory in Sparks, NV or Vancouver, BC. Pulps were digested and analyzed for gold using fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish on a 30 gram split. Over limit gold assays were determined using a fire assay fusion with a gravimetric finish on a 30 gram split. Original pulps for the check assay program were delivered to the ALS certified lab in Sparks, NV, where the pulps were digested and analyzed for gold using fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish on a 30 gram split (Au-AA23 method and the Au-GRA21 method for those samples that were over 10 g Au/t requiring a gravimetric finish). Pinion and North Bullion samples were delivered to ALS Minerals preparation facility in Elko, NV where they were crushed and pulverized. Resulting sample pulps were shipped to ALS Minerals certified laboratory in Sparks, NV or Vancouver, BC. Pulps are digested and analyzed for gold using fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish on a 30 gram split. Over limit gold assays were determined using a fire assay fusion with a gravimetric finish on a 30 gram split. All other elements are determined by ICP analysis. Data verification of the analytical results includes a statistical analysis of the standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to insure accurate and verifiable results.

All rock sampling was conducted under the supervision of the Company's project geologists and the chain of custody from the field to the sample preparation facility was continuously monitored. A blank or certified reference material was inserted approximately every twenty samples. Samples were delivered to ALS Minerals preparation facility in Elko, NV. The samples are crushed, pulverized and sample pulps are shipped to ALS Minerals certified laboratory in Sparks, NV or Vancouver. Pulps are digested and analyzed for gold using fire assay fusion and an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish on a 30 gram split. All other elements are determined by ICP analysis. Data verification of the analytical results includes a statistical analysis of the standards and blanks that must pass certain parameters for acceptance to insure accurate and verifiable results.

The scientific and technical content and interpretations contained in this news release have been reviewed, verified and approved by Steven R. Koehler, Gold Standard's Manager of Projects, BSc. Geology and CPG-10216, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT GOLD STANDARD VENTURES - Gold Standard is an advanced stage gold exploration company focused on district scale discoveries on its 208 square km. Railroad-Pinion Gold Project, located within the prolific Carlin Trend. The Company has successfully consolidated the southern end of the Carlin Trend by patiently assembling a 208 sq. km. (80 sq. mi.) land position containing four gold deposits, two of them discovered by Gold Standard. The 2014 Pinion and Dark Star gold deposit acquisitions offer Gold Standard a potential near-term development option and further consolidates the Company's premier land package on the Carlin Trend. The Pinion deposit now has an NI43-101 compliant resource estimate consisting of an Indicated Mineral Resource of 31.61 million tonnes grading 0.62 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), totaling 630,300 ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 61.08 million tonnes grading 0.55 g/t Au, totaling 1,081,300 ounces of gold, using a cut-off grade of 0.14 g/t Au (announced March 15, 2016). The Dark Star deposit, 2.1 km to the east of Pinion, has a NI43-101 compliant resource estimate consisting of an Inferred Resource of 23.11 million tonnes grading 0.51 g/t Au, totaling 375,000 ounces of gold, using a cut-off grade of 0.14 g/t Au (announced March 3, 2015). The 2014 and 2015 definition and expansion of these two shallow, oxide deposits demonstrates their growth potential.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the NYSE MKT accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements about our proposed exploration programs are forward looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risk factors affecting the Company include, among others: the results from our exploration programs, global financial conditions and volatility of capital markets, uncertainty regarding the availability of additional capital, fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; and the additional risks identified in our filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com) and with the SEC on EDGAR (available at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

CAUTIONARY NOTE FOR U.S. INVESTORS REGARDING RESERVE AND RESOURCE ESTIMATES

All resource estimates reported by the Company were calculated in accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Classification system. These standards differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for descriptions of mineral properties in SEC Industry Guide 7 under Regulation S-K of the U. S. Securities Act of 1933. In particular, under U. S. standards, mineral resources may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. Accordingly, information in this press release containing descriptions of the Company's mineral properties may not be comparable to similar information made public by US public reporting companies.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Gold Standard,

Jonathan Awde, President and Director

Contacts:

Gold Standard Ventures Corp.

Jonathan Awde

President

604-669-5702

info@goldstandardv.com

www.goldstandardv.com




BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose on Tuesday to snap a three-day losing streak as tensions on the Korean peninsula eased somewhat and the euro slipped against the dollar ahead of the upcoming Jackson Hole central banking conference beginning on Thursday, with markets awaiting speeches by Fed chair Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi. On the economic front, Germany's ZEW indicator of economic sentiment declined to a ten-month low in August while the U.K. recorded its first July surplus in 15 years, separate reports showed. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up half a percent at 374.64 in late opening deals, on course to snap a three-session losing streak. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up around 0.7 percent each, while France's CAC 40 index was gaining half a percent. Affecto shares jumped 28 percent in Helsinki after the data analytic and business intelligence services firm received an all cash takeover offer from CGI. BHP Billiton rallied 3 percent after the mining giant reported a turnaround to a full-year profit of $5.9 billion and raised its final dividend. Antofagasta climbed 3.7 percent after its half-year profit surged by nearly 90 percent, thanks to higher copper prices. On the flip side, subprime lender Provident Financial plunged almost 64 percent after issuing another profit warning in months. 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.
Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

Google Ad

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- WSP Global Inc. (TSX: WSP) will hold its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at 10 a.m., at the Crystal Hotel, 1100 rue de la Montagne, Montreal, Quebec H3G 0A1. Media representatives are welcome to attend.

Following the meeting, WSP's management team will be available for a brief period to meet media representatives.

The annual meeting will be broadcast live on the Internet at the following address: www.wsp.com ("Investors" section)

WHAT: Annual shareholders meeting Media session at 11:30 am. WHO: WSP Global Inc. WHEN: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 10 a.m. WHERE: Crystal Hotel 1100 rue de la Montagne Montreal, Quebec H3G 0A1 HIGHLIGHTS: 2016 performance and 2017 strategy Official unveiling of new brand identity

ABOUT WSP

As one of the world's leading professional services firms, WSP provides technical expertise and strategic advice to clients in the Property & Buildings, Transportation & Infrastructure, Environment, Industry, Resources (including Mining and Oil & Gas) and Power & Energy sectors. We also offer highly specialized services in project delivery and strategic consulting. Our experts include engineers, advisors, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors and environmental specialists, as well as other design, program and construction management professionals. With approximately 36,000 talented people in 500 offices across 40 countries, we are uniquely positioned to deliver successful and sustainable projects, wherever our clients need us. www.wsp.com.

Contacts:

Isabelle Adjahi

Vice President, Investor Relations

and Corporate Communications

WSP Global Inc.

514-340-0046, ext. 5648

isabelle.adjahi@wsp.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Vinergy Resources Ltd. ("Vinergy" or the "Company") (CSE: VIN)(OTCQB: VNNYF) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement (the "Agreement") with 1099955 B.C. LTD. dba MJ BioPharma ("MJ BioPharma") whereby Vinergy will purchase 100% of MJ BioPharma, a cannabis technology company. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the Company will acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of MJ BioPharma (the "Transaction").

About MJ BioPharma

MJ Biopharma is a cannabis technology company with a team of experienced business and medical professionals, biochemists and researchers. The company is currently focused on the following areas of interest:

-- manufacturing breath strips; -- time release capsules; -- extract oils; -- food products and infused juices, teas, coffee and extract drinks; -- pharmaceutical grade delivery systems.

MJ Biopharma's expertise lies in its extracts and custom formulations. The company will also aim to inlicense and joint venture on best in class technologies and products for both the medicinal and recreational markets - domestically and internationally.

Definitive Agreement

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, the Company will, upon closing of the Transaction, issue to MJ BioPharma shareholders an aggregate of 9,750,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Payment Shares") at a deemed price of CDN$0.20 per Payment Share. The Payment Shares will be subject to escrow conditions and/or resale restrictions as required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"). A finder's fee of 400,000 common shares in the capital of the Company, subject to CSE approval, will be payable on this Transaction.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. By its very nature, such forward-looking information requires the Company to make assumptions that may not materialize or that may not be accurate. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such information.

Contacts:

Vinergy Resources Ltd.

Glen Macdonald

Director

778-819-1085




HONG KONG, CHINA and CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Sunshine Oilsands Ltd. (the "Corporation") (HKSE: 2012) hereby announces that its board of directors (the "Board") has approved to convene an annual general meeting (the "AGM") and a special general meeting (the "SGM") of the shareholders of the Corporation on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 (Hong Kong time). The Board has also decided to fix the record date for the determination of the shareholders who are entitled to receive the notice of, and to attend and vote at, the AGM and SGM or any adjournment thereof, on Monday, May 22, 2017 (Hong Kong time) (the "Record Date").

Only shareholders as at the Record Date are entitled to receive notice of the AGM and the SGM. Shareholders on record will be entitled to vote their shares held by them as at the Record Date, unless any such shareholder properly transfers the shares after the Record Date and the transferee of those shares, having produced properly endorsed certificates evidencing such shares or having otherwise established ownership of such shares, demands, at least ten (10) days before the AGM/ SGM, that the transferee's name be included in the list of shareholders entitled to vote at the AGM/ SGM, in which case such transferee shall be entitled to vote such shares at the AGM/ SGM.

The Corporation's annual report containing, amongst other things, its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016 and management's discussions on the Corporation's results and performance for the same period, is sent to shareholders and made available on the Corporation's website at http://www.sunshineoilsands.com and the website of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Stock Exchange") at http://www.hkexnews.hk, on April 27, 2017 (Hong Kong time).

A notice of the AGM and SGM which contains, amongst other things, the time, venue and the detailed agenda of the AGM/ SGM, along with a management information circular concerning the matters to be considered at the AGM/ SGM, is expected to be sent to shareholders as soon as practicable and will be available on the Corporation's website, the Stock Exchange's website as well as http://www.sedar.com.

ABOUT SUNSHINE OILSANDS LTD.

The Corporation is a Calgary based public corporation listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since March 1, 2012. The Corporation is focused on the development of its significant holdings of oil sands leases in the Athabasca oil sands region. The Corporation owns interests in approximately one million acres of oil sands and petroleum and natural gas leases in the Athabasca region. The Corporation is currently focused on executing milestone undertakings in the West Ells project area. West Ells has an initial production rate of 5,000 barrels per day.

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION

This announcement contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the plans and expectations of the Corporation. Such forward-looking information is subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors. All statements other than statements and information of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of words such as "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "project", "plan", "target", "vision", "goal", "outlook", "April", "will", "should", "believe", "intend", "anticipate", "potential", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Corporation's experience, current beliefs, assumptions, information and perception of historical trends available to the Corporation, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to those associated with resource definition and expected reserves and contingent and prospective resources estimates, unanticipated costs and expenses, regulatory approval, fluctuating oil and gas prices, expected future production, the ability to access sufficient capital to finance future development and credit risks, changes in Alberta's regulatory framework, including changes to regulatory approval process and land-use designations, royalty, tax, environmental, greenhouse gas, carbon and other laws or regulations and the impact thereof and the costs associated with compliance. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions and factors discussed in this announcement are not exhaustive and readers are not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as the Corporation's actual results April differ materially from those expressed or implied. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, subsequent to the date of this announcement, except as required under applicable securities legislation. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement and are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists are not exhaustive and are made as at the date hereof. For a full discussion of the Corporation's material risk factors, see the Corporation's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016 and risk factors described in other documents we file from time to time with securities regulatory authorities, all of which are available on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at www.hkexnews.hk, on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com or on the Corporation's website at www.sunshineoilsands.com.

By Order of the Board of Sunshine Oilsands Ltd.

Sun Kwok Ping, Executive Chairman

Hong Kong, May 9, 2017

Calgary, May 9, 2017

As at the date of this announcement, the Board consists of Mr. Kwok Ping Sun, Mr. Hong Luo, Dr. Qi Jiang and Mr. Qiping Men as executive directors; Mr. Michael John Hibberd, Ms. Linna Liu and Ms. Xijuan Jiang as non-executive directors; and Mr. Raymond Shengti Fong, Mr. Gerald Franklin Stevenson, Ms. Joanne Yan and Mr. Yi He as independent non-executive directors.

(i)For identification purposes only

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

(a corporation incorporated under the Business Corporations Act of the Province of Alberta, Canada with limited liability)

Contacts:

Sunshine Oilsands Ltd.

Mr. Hong Luo

Chief Executive Officer

(1) 403-984-1450

investorrelations@sunshineoilsands.com

www.sunshineoilsands.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures were slightly higher for a second session Tuesday morning, amid signs that OPEC will extend its supply quota plan well into 2018. OPEC could deepen output cuts past the current 1.8 million barrels daily, four delegates told Bloomberg. Still, surging U.S. production may offset any action from the cartel. Baker Hughes has reported domestic drillers added rigs for sixteen weeks in a row. Demand hopes were raised as centrist Emmanuel Macron beat far-right candidate Marie Le Pen in the crucial French election. WTI light sweet crude oil was up 5 cents at $46.46 a barrel, staying away from last week's yearly low near $45. Traders are looking ahead to the weekly oil inventories data from both the American Petroleum Institute and Energy Information Administration. The EIA reported oil stockpile slipped less than forecast last week, holding near record highs. 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.
Upon the recent sale of Uniekaas to DOC Dairy Partners, Uniekaas Inc. announced that it has rebranded itself as Best Cheese Global. This rebranding extends itself with the launch of a new logo for its regional divisions, Best Cheese USA, Best Cheese Canada, and Best Cheese Holland.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171004006377/en/

The company will continue to focus on its core value of providing high quality specialty cheeses out of Holland. They will bring a heightened focus on delivering innovation out of Holland to their global customers in an expedient manner. The team at Best Cheese feels the logo rebranding better reflects their essence; an entrepreneurial, fast moving organization grounded in the historical cheese making roots of Dutch cheese makers.

"Servicing our customers with an innovative and relevant portfolio is crucial in order to maintain the creation of added value to the marketplace," stated Paul Wilde, Owner of Best Cheese Global Inc. "The new logo symbolizes our global effort to this commitment."

Best Cheese operates its US business under Best Cheese USA with its primary brands Parrano, Melkbus and Coach Farm. "The refresh of our logo unifies our regional businesses and demonstrates the evolution of the company," said Steve Millard, CEO Best Cheese USA "Furthermore it conveys our global commitment on delivering innovative quality products that fulfills customer and consumer needs."

About Best Cheese Global

Best Cheese Global continues to operate the Parrano, Tjiezi, Melkbus and Coach Farm brands in the Netherlands, North America and Asia. Management intends to continue the positive growth trend shown by these brands in recent years. Best Cheese Global complements a variety of premium cheeses with innovative dairy products, where quality and natural ingredients have the highest priority.

About Best Cheese USA

Best Cheese Corporation is the exclusive importer of Parrano, Uniekaas line of Dutch cheese products, and the owners and operators of Coach Farm, a farmstead goat dairy farm in New York's Hudson Valley. Best Cheese brands are available nationally in supermarkets and specialty markets such as Whole Foods, Earthfare and Murrays.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171004006377/en/

Contacts:

Best Cheese USA

Tara Kirch

Tkirch@bestcheeseusa.com

bestcheeseusa.com
Certification demonstrates company's global commitment to data security

Datapipe, a leader in managed cloud services for the enterprise, announced today that it has received Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield certification, a framework designed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Swiss Administration to enhance privacy protections when transferring data between Switzerland and the United States. Datapipe is one of the first managed cloud service providers to receive the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield certification.

This certification assures Datapipe customers that any personally identifiable information (PII) from Switzerland that is processed in the United States will be safeguarded by the Privacy Shield and in accordance with Swiss data protection obligations. The new framework, which is an update from the Swiss-U.S. Harbor Framework that was declared invalid in October 2015, includes stricter data protection principles. The principles stipulate strengthened requirements around notice, regulations for onward transfers and data retention, updated management of the framework by U.S. authorities, and new mechanisms for individuals to obtain recourse for violations.

"Datapipe recognizes that today's cloud computing landscape is increasingly global as such, we strive to provide customers with resources needed to securely transfer data across borders," said Joel Friedman, Chief Technology Security Officer, Datapipe. "This latest certification exemplifies our adherence to the highest standard of data protection and privacy for our customers across the globe."

The Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework was created in conjunction with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which was designed to protect personal data transfers between the United States and members of the European Economic Area (EEA).

As Datapipe has expanded its global footprint, the company has simultaneously grown its security practices to ensure its legal frameworks are in alignment with European data protection authorities, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Federal Trade Commission. Datapipe's registration for Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield certification follows its reception of EU-U.S. Privacy Shield certification in December 2016.

To learn more about Datapipe's security and compliance solutions, visit www.datapipe.com.

About Datapipe

A next generation MSP, Datapipe is recognized as the pioneer of managed services for public cloud platforms. Datapipe has unique expertise in architecting, migrating, managing and securing public cloud, private cloud, hybrid IT and traditional IT. The world's most trusted brands partner with Datapipe to optimize mission-critical and day-to-day enterprise IT operations, enabling them to transform, innovate, and scale. Backed by a global team of experienced professionals and world-class interconnected data centers, Datapipe provides comprehensive cloud, compliance, security, governance, automation and DevOps solutions. Gartner named Datapipe a leader in the Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure MSPs.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005432/en/

Contacts:

INK for Datapipe

Hilary Livingston, 203-858-7259

datapipe@ink-pr.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / Mezzi Holdings Inc. ("MEZZI", "MEZZI BRAND GROUP" or the "Company") (TSX-V: MZI, FRA: 0MZ) is pleased to announce that it has received Exchange approval and has completed the acquisition (see news release dated April 11th, 2017) of a majority stake in e-commerce firm MEKENIX COMMERCE INC. ("MEKENIX").

MEKENIX is a Santa Monica, CA-based e-commerce sales firm that partners with compelling brands to manage and execute their e-commerce sales channel. This allows accessory brands to focus on their product and IP in exchange for a percentage of e-commerce revenues generated through proprietary e-commerce platforms managed by MEKENIX.

MEKENIX is pleased to announce that it has added to its client roster and has been selected and retained to design, implement and manage the launch of the North & South American e-commerce sales channel for a popular UK-based watch brand. The sales channel, planned for launch in June, will be funded by the watch brand and MEKENIX will earn a percentage of revenues generated from its strategies.

"This new frontier in multi-brand e-commerce achieves our strategy of becoming the brand group we have sought to become while diversifying our revenue streams," commented Keir Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer. "We do not need to tie-up financial resources in inventory or make long-term brand or product commitments unless dictated by success. This leaves us to be a nimble, technology based company rather than just a brand retailer. As we complete our pivot, the vast opportunity we are addressing will become even clearer."

About MEZZI BRAND GROUP

MEZZI Brand Group is a Vancouver-based consumer accessory brand management company. We believe that great brands are built one great product and one valued customer at a time. We have gathered a group of young talented experts ranging from accessory design, product development, marketing, branding, e-commerce, digital media and PR to build and scale our millennial-customer focused brands. A well-defined, strategic philosophy and clear mission statement promotes and protects MEZZI Brand Group's most valuable assets - our brands - MEZZI Smart Luxury and Capital Eyewear.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Keir Reynolds

CEO

Tel: (778) 998-9242

Email: keir@mezzi.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Keir Reynolds

Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws.

SOURCE: Mezzi Holdings Inc.
FREEHOLD, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Avalon GloboCare Corp. (OTCQB: AVCO) (www.avalon-globocare.com), an intelligent cell-based biotechnology developer and healthcare service provider, announced today the completion of its purchase of the Freehold Executive Center, a three-story property located at 4400 Highway 9 in Freehold, New Jersey. The property, a modern 64,000 square foot class A office building, will serve as Avalon GloboCare's new worldwide headquarters and will continue to house the existing tenants. Archivista Realty, LLC and LaRocca, Hornik, Rosen, Greenberg and Blaha Esquires represented Avalon GloboCare in the transaction.

David Jin, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Avalon GloboCare, stated, "We are very pleased to have acquired this property as we feel it will be a valuable asset to Avalon, as a home for our management team, an attractive location for future talents to join our work force, and as an investment for our shareholders. We chose this particular site following a lengthy search as we felt that this location was geographically centered making the Company accessible to New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania based healthcare providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms and major university research centers. This headquarters will serve as a key fundamental piece of our overall plan and act as a facilitator of our vision of continuing to build a global network of healthcare facilities and services for the medical communities we serve."

The company is planning a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house in the Third Quarter of 2017.

ABOUT AVALON GLOBOCARE CORP.

Avalon GloboCare Corp. (OTCQB: AVCO) is a global intelligent biotech developer and healthcare service provider dedicated to promote and empower high impact, disruptive cell-based technologies and their clinical applications, as well as healthcare facility management through its core platforms, namely "Avalon Cell" and "Avalon Rehab." In addition, AVCO provides strategic advisory and outsourcing services to facilitate and enhance their clients' growth, development, as well as competitiveness in both domestic and global healthcare markets. AVCO also engages in the management of stem cell banks and specialty clinical laboratories.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

Contact Information

Avalon GloboCare Corp.

83 South Street, Suite 101

Freehold, New Jersey 07728

PR@Avalon-GloboCare.com




WESTON, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Monaker Group (OTCQB: MKGI), a leader in online travel reservations technology, will participate at the Oppenheimer & Co. Emerging Growth Conference to be held at the InterContinental New York Barclay hotel in New York City, on Tuesday, May 16, 2017.

Bill Kerby, Monaker Group CEO, and Richard Marshall, the company's director of corporate development, will be available for one-on-one meetings with investors throughout the day. Management will discuss the company's launch of Monaker Booking Engine (MBE), the first customizable, alternative lodging reservation system with instant booking of vacation homes, villas, chalets, apartments, condos and castles.

Conference participation is by invitation only and registration is mandatory. For more information on the conference or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please contact your Oppenheimer representative.

About Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (Oppenheimer) is a leading investment bank and full-service investment firm that provides financial services and advice to high net worth investors, individuals, businesses and institutions. For over 130 years, the company has provided investors with the necessary expertise and insight to meet the challenge of achieving their financial goals. The company's commitment to its clients' investment needs, its experienced and dedicated professionals, and its proud tradition empower it to deliver effective and innovative solutions to its clients. For more information, visit www.opco.com.

About Monaker Group

Monaker Group is a technology-driven travel company focused on delivering innovation to alternative lodging rentals (ALR) market. The Monaker Booking Engine (MBE) delivers instant booking of more than 1.2 million vacation rental homes, villas, chalets, apartments, condos and castles. MBE offers travel distributors and agencies an industry-first: a customizable instant booking platform for ALR. Monaker's NextTrip.com B2C website, also powered by MBE, is the first to offer significant instantly bookable ALR products along with mainstream travel products and services all on a single site. NextTrip also features rich content, imagery and high-quality video to enhance a traveler's booking experience and assist in the search, decision and buying process for both individuals and groups. For more information, visit www.monakergroup.com or www.nexttrip.com.

Important Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the plans and expectations of Monaker Group. These statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are out of our control. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, or the expectations of future growth may not be realized. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and Monaker Group undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All forward looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements included in Monaker Group's annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including, but not limited to, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended February 29, 2016 which has been filed with the SEC and is available at www.sec.gov.

Company Contact

Monaker Group

Richard Marshall

Director of Corporate Development

Tel: (954) 888-9779

rmarshall@monakergroup.com



Investor Relations Contact

Ronald Both or Grant Stude

CMA

Tel: (949) 432-7557

rb@cma.bz




ARLINGTON, VA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Cora Systems, a leading global provider of enterprise portfolio, program and project management (EPPM) solutions, is presenting John McGrath as a keynote speaker at the marcus evans 2nd Annual Medical Device Project & Portfolio Management conference May 17 and 18 at the Embassy Suites in St. Paul, MN.

As a PMO Consultant and Project Management Lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Dr. McGrath will deliver a presentation on May 18 at 11:45 a.m. that includes how to move portfolio management to an operations setting vs. project management to achieve greater results and how to assess operations of portfolio management to improve efficiency. He'll also discuss the importance of developing centers of excellence to improve clarity and how to determine what are the right number of projects for a specific company.

"We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to share John's expertise with conference attendees," said Philip Martin, CEO of Cora Systems. "With the medical device industry constantly evolving and with companies expanding their portfolios, John pinpoints how a clearly focused PPM approach leads to better alignment of strategic initiatives, consistency and communication among teams. Well-recognized among his peers, John will show how projects can best benefit from tools and technology to assure the best possible outcomes," he added.

McGrath's presentation supports the theme of the conference which is "Driving Business Objectives, Strategic Growth Initiatives and ROI through Aligned Project and Portfolio Management."

Other keynote speakers at the event include Amir Khamseh, head of PMO, Surgical Heart Valve Therapy, Edwards Life Sciences; Jeffrey Pezas, Global Director of Product Development and Portfolio Management, GE Healthcare; and Dr. Norbert Leinfellner, VP, Product Development Engineering Global R&D, Fresenius Medical Care.

About Cora Systems

Cora Systems provides EPPM solutions and services to government agencies and large-scale global organizations, including life sciences, healthcare, and engineering & construction. Every day, thousands of project managers across the world use the Cora platform to manage their portfolio of projects, totaling over $ 10 billion in value, across multiple locations, dozens of countries and thousands of users. Headquartered in Ireland and with regional offices in Washington, DC and London (UK), Cora's client roster includes Allergan, Boston Scientific and Eli Lilly. For more information, visit: www.corasystems.com.

Media Contacts:

Richard Fitzpatrick, Marketing Manager

Cora Systems

+353 71 962 2078

Email Contact



Dawn Fontaine

Ripple Effect Communications

508-353-3777

Email Contact




FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- VPR Brands, LP (OTC PINK: VPRB) premier line of HONEYSTICK vaporizers is now available through DirectVapor.com, which offers one of the most comprehensive websites that features all the best brands at the most competitive prices. Catering to Vape Shops, Smoke Shops, and Dispensaries, their assortment of product allows for rapid fulfillment for all things vaping. Direct Vapor not only has a consumer friendly web presence, it also services wholesale/distribution accounts as well, making it a convenient one-stop shop. This diversity paired with top notch customer service has rapidly made them one of the leading Vapor distributors in the industry. Their management team has been in the Vape Industry for several years and has successfully set up retail locations as well as wholesale businesses within the sector.

"We have been doing business with the team over at Direct Vapor for many years and have formed a great relationship that goes beyond business; we are proud to call them our friends too. We are glad to be able to work with them, particularly selling our award winning HONEYSTICK brand," said Kevin Frija, CEO of VPR Brands. "Our strategy of aligning ourselves with the best resellers in the market is beginning to come to fruition and we will be able to add incremental business through these channels."

"I would consider Direct Vapor's management team industry heavyweights as they have seen the industry change over the last 10 Years and have made successful ventures in vaping throughout its evolution. This is all demonstrated by the rapid expansion of their company www.directvapor.com. I am very happy that they connect with our Honey Stick brand and chose to make it one of their premier offering for concentrates / essential oils vaping," says Daniel Hoff, COO.

ITEMS AVAILABLE:

Honey Stick Highbrid Tank: The Highbrid tank is one of the most innovative and powerful concentrates atomizers on the market. With toothpick sized dual quartz coils and a deep dish ceramic bowl, this unit heats up powerfully, quickly and without sacrifice to taste.

Honey Stick Stinger Kit: Sleek, Stealthy, Smooth, and flavorful, the Stinger Kit is the setup to allow the flavor chasing concentrates connoisseur to enjoy their Vaping experience on the go. Fully ceramic with 3 different temperature settings, this unit is one of our most popular vape kits sold.

Honey Stick Bee Keeper Kit: There is no better place to keep a prefilled tank than in the Honey Stick Bee-Keeper. This unit allows a standard prefilled tank to come alive with its smart battery and magnetic adapter. With 20 Watts of power, full tank concealment and magnetic adapter, this unit is not only powerful but easy to use.

Honey Stick Rip & Ditch Dab Disposable: Dab it, Rip it, Ditch it is the motto of this unit, making it the only disposable push button dab with a ceramic bowl and quartz rod. It is perfect for dispensaries in tourist areas, as it is a throwaway unit and non-rechargeable. But this little honey bee has major stinging power and provides hits like units 5 times its size.

Honey Stick Oz Ohm Dry Herb Vape Tank: OZ Ohm Tank -- This ceramic deep dish bowl is perfect for Dry Herb as well as Crystals; this unit heats up quickly and attaches to any 510 thread mod battery and can run up to 27 Watts. Maximize taste and efficiency with this beast.

Honey Stick Rippo Kit: Honey Stick Rippo Vaporizer -- As the name describes, it's the hardest hitting vaporizer for essential oils conveniently flying stealth, looking like an ordinary lighter; life may give you 99 problems but your rip ain't one with this powerful unit.

Honey Stick Sub Ohm Oil Kit: The original kit that brought sub ohm power to oils and concentrates. Created as the unit that brought more to a standardized industry, it started the trend for higher demand in vaping of oils. Fully functioning 36W kit allows one to enjoy the finer things through this trendsetting kit.

Honey Stick Sub Ohm (Ceramic) Oil Tank Set: The tank that powers the sub-ohm kit is compatible with most mod batteries that are 510 threads, allowing you to adapt the ultimate vaping experience to your oils.

About Honey Stick:

Honey Stick is a lifestyle brand that combines the features of high tech, high performance, dependability, and affordability when it comes to upper tier vaporizers. From being the first to market in creating a Sub Ohm Vaporizer to the latest Rippo, the Honey Stick team works with a vast network of growers, extractors, and industry figures to bring the needs of patients and recreational users to life. Honey Stick sells online and through a diverse network of distributors, e-tailers, dispensaries and smoke shops. For more information about VPR Brands, please visit the company on the web at http://www.vapehoneystick.com.

About DIRECTVAPOR

The latest vapor technology, the best products, the biggest selection. DIRECTVAPOR: Directly to You. DIRECTVAPOR is a game-changer in the world of Vape Retail. We offer Free Shipping with No Minimums, Lowest Price Guarantee, 60 Day Warranty and 15 Day Returns. We have a deep-seated passion for and a sincere commitment to what vaping offers the smoking community, and we have stood by this conviction all along. What vapor products do for people has changed lives, offered more control, and given smokers options where they never had them. It's about empowerment and living the life you want. DIRECTVAPOR is all about this concept of putting the power into people's hands. It's about offering everything; because with so many vapers out there, and so many people looking for so many different products, we want to offer it all. We're one of the fastest growing names in the industry, and we're all about giving you what you want. This is a tech industry, and vapers are seriously hands-on people. They know what they're looking for. They know what's out there. They know what's coming out. They know the specs, the details, the intricacies, the ohms, volts, and watts; we know because we're vapers. It is our aim to offer the most inclusive, highest selection, and greatest prices out there. We back everything up, offer unbeatable warranties, and make our products available to those who seek the best. We take customer satisfaction and customer service super seriously; what's a good business without stoked customers? If you're looking for the best vapor products and the best prices, you've come to the right place!

About VPR Brands, LP:

VPR Brands is a technology company, whose assets include issued U.S. and Chinese patents for atomization related products including technology for medical marijuana vaporizers and electronic cigarette products and components. The company is also engaged in product development for the vapor or vaping market, including e-liquids. Vaporizers and electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes) are devices which deliver nicotine and / or cannabis through atomization or vaping, and without smoke and other chemical constituents typically found in traditional products. For more information about VPR Brands, please visit the company on the web at www.vprbrands.com

Forward-looking statements:

This news release contains statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions and other factors discussed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

Contact Information:

VPR Brands, LP

Kevin Frija

CEO and CFO

(954) 715-7001

info@vprbrands.com




BELFIELD, ND -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading developer of innovative solutions for environmentally-compliant oil refining technology, announced today that it has expanded and further defined the role of Vepica USA in the engineering of the Davis Refinery in Belfield, North Dakota. This decision was made by the two firms as Meridian prepares to initiate detailed engineering and equipment fabrication for the initial 27,500 bpd hydro-skimming facility called "Davis Light" -- the first phase of the Davis Refinery project.

In a memorandum of understanding dated March 31st, and in subsequent refinements, the role of Vepica USA in the Davis Light refinery project has been further refined to include, among other things, the continued engineering support to the Meridian permitting effort. To-date, Vepica has acted as the principal engineering consultant to Meridian in the preparation and filing of Meridian's amendment to its Permit to Construct (PTC) application to the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) for Davis Light, filed on April 5th, 2017. The amendment included engineering and configuration adjustments to further improve emissions and product output from the second stage, Davis Full, of the project, as indicated in the PTC application filed with the NDDH in October of 2016.

In addition, Vepica USA will continue to work with Meridian as its principal engineering firm for the initiation of the design of Davis Light, and will now include procurement and fabrication packages for long lead-time equipment items, such as the atmospheric crude tower for the project. Vepica is the key partner in the site layout and planning that will allow the site preparation work to proceed while the project's air quality permit is being processed.

On the expanded role with Meridian Derek Blackwood, CEO of Vepica USA said, "Making sure that site preparation starts in 2017, and completing the design of key long lead equipment are critical milestones to meet the aggressive schedule set by Meridian. We enter this new stage under an expanded role as committed as ever in our partnership with Meridian, and their strategy towards completion of Davis Light in 2018".

In this area, Meridian will continue to enjoy the support of Trailhead Engineering, with offices in Salt Lake City, Utah and Houston, Texas, who serves as the Owner's Engineer for the project. Meridian will also benefit from the ongoing support and participation of Basic Equipment, Inc., of Houston, Texas, who is expected to undertake the fabrication of the atmospheric crude tower when designs are completed.

In connection with the permitting of Davis Light, Meridian will also have the ongoing support of Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., based in St. Paul, Minnesota, as Meridian's principal site planning and engineering firm. SEH recently began an additional round of geotechnical investigations, site grading plans, and a water use and management program for the project site. Dan Hedrington, SEH Principal, on the advancements of Davis site work, "We at SEH are honored to be working with the extremely talented Meridian team, building a project with so many positive impacts on the local and state economy, as well as the energy independence of America."

Zia Engineering & Environmental Consultants, LLC., based on Los Cruces, New Mexico, is also continuing in its role as the air quality emissions control engineer and emissions dispersion modeling firm for the project, and made a major contribution to the recent PTC amendment filed with NDDH.

About Meridian

The Mission of Meridian Energy Group, Inc. is to provide long-term shareholder value through the development and operation of the cleanest, most efficient and environmentally compliant crude oil refineries in the world, benefiting the community and its investors. Established in 2013, Meridian is led by energy industry experts with a combined 500 years of world-class expertise in energy & hydrocarbon processing, project development, finance, and large capital project management. Meridian Energy Group, Inc. current headquarters is located in Belfield, ND.

For more information, visit: http://www.meridianenergygroupinc.com/
Shopping app to sponsor event and participate in panel session at e-commerce event in Manchester on 16 May 2017

ChannelAdvisor Corporation (NYSE: ECOM), a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable retailers and branded manufacturers to increase global sales, today announced that Tophatter will be a Diamond Sponsor of Catalyst Europe 2017.

Launched in 2013, Tophatter is a unique discovery shopping app, which enables consumers to compete in 90-second auctions to win deals at over 80% off across jewellery, electronics, beauty and fashion categories. Tophatter has offices in the US, Europe, and China, and connects sellers to over 10 million shoppers across North America, the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. [1]

Malcolm Scovil, Head of Business Development at Tophatter, will join the 'Marketplaces Madness' keynote panel. Malcolm will discuss how Tophatter's gamified discovery shopping experience drives volume for marketplace sellers and also present strategies and tactics to sell on marketplaces.

As a Diamond Sponsor, Tophatter will also host a drinks reception from 5:15pm to 8:30pm the evening of Catalyst for all attendees.

"Smart Brands. Strong Retailers. Connected E-Commerce." is the theme of Catalyst Europe 2017, which will offer networking opportunities with industry peers, as well as presentations from industry experts and visionaries informing retailers and branded manufacturers about the future of e-commerce and how they can improve their online businesses.

"We're thrilled to announce Tophatter as a Diamond Sponsor at Catalyst Europe. Tophatter had a strong debut at Catalyst Americas earlier this year as an exciting new high-growth global marketplace," said Melissa Sargeant, ChannelAdvisor Chief Marketing Officer. "Catalyst provides a unique opportunity to learn about the latest trends and future predictions, but also gives attendees the ability to connect with some of the industry's innovative providers and marketplaces."

Catalyst Europe will take place on 16 May 2017 at The Principal Hotel in Manchester. For more information and to register for Catalyst Europe 2017 please visit catalystconnect2017.channeladvisor.co.uk.

About ChannelAdvisor

ChannelAdvisor (NYSE: ECOM) is a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable retailers and branded manufacturers to integrate, manage and optimise their merchandise sales across hundreds of online channels including Amazon, Google, eBay, Walmart, Facebook and more. Through automation, analytics and optimisation, ChannelAdvisor customers can leverage a single inventory feed to more efficiently list and advertise products online, and connect with shoppers to increase sales. Billions of dollars in merchandise value are driven through ChannelAdvisor's platform every year, and thousands of customers use ChannelAdvisor's solutions to help grow their businesses. For more information, visit www.channeladvisor.co.uk

[1] https://medium.com/tophatter-sellers/jewelry-sellers-on-tophatter-58296105700d

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509005764/en/

Contacts:

ChannelAdvisor

Jennifer Hakim, 0203 300 4221

Jennifer.hakim@channeladvisor.com
TARRYTOWN, NY and SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Infoblox, Inc. a network management and control vendor, has made its award-winning network infrastructure protection solutions available to Westcon-Comstor in order to strengthen its reach with channel partners across North America.

The addition of Infoblox's core network services (including DNS, DHCP and IP address management offerings) and secure DNS solutions to Westcon-Comstor's Security Solutions Practice enables solution providers to offer more complete network management and control solutions while increasing their reputation as trusted business and IT partners for their customers' network infrastructure.

As more customers embrace digital transformation, the value of integrated DNS and DHCP management with IPAM functionality, becomes critical for solution providers to offer. Infoblox delivers actionable network intelligence to enterprise, government and service provider customers, empowering those organizations to control and secure networks from the core, further increase efficiency and visibility, improve customer service, and meet compliance requirements.

Recognized for its deep security expertise and world-class solutions portfolio, Westcon-Comstor's Security Solutions Practice helps vendor partners and solution providers create and identify opportunities, providing the right tools and programs to effectively capture additional, profitable business.

"Westcon-Comstor recognizes that protecting clients' information and reputations is critically important for our customers. Our Security Solutions Practice enhances solution providers' core capabilities by identifying and bringing in best-in-class technology partners like Infoblox. Adding automated core network services across the data center, virtualized environments and the cloud opens up new opportunities for solution providers to be successful," said Carol Giles Neslund, vice president and general manager of the Westcon-Comstor Security Practice.

Delivering More Secure Network Control, Management

The Westcon-Comstor Security Solutions Practice supports the Infoblox Channel IP Program, dedicated to providing the tools and resources solution providers need to drive mobility, virtualization and cloud, IPv6, security/compliance and IPAM for Microsoft. Through an expansive global network, decades of channel experience, and an innovative physical and digital distribution model, the Westcon-Comstor Security Solutions Practice team tailors solutions to help channel partners capture more revenue.

"As a leader in the security solutions distribution space, Westcon-Comstor has the channel-centric focus and flexible, collaborative approach to help attract and enable Infoblox partners and accelerate our partner sales," said Chris Jones, vice president, worldwide partner organization at Infoblox. "Infoblox delivers unique security capabilities to protect DNS which in partnership with Westcon-Comstor provides a complimentary portfolio enabling partners to improve their customers' security posture."

About Infoblox

Infoblox delivers Actionable Network Intelligence to enterprise, government, and service provider customers around the world. As the industry leader in DNS, DHCP, and IP address management, the category known as DDI, Infoblox (www.infoblox.com) provides control and security from the core -- empowering thousands of organizations to increase efficiency and visibility, reduce risk, and improve customer experience.

About Westcon-Comstor

Westcon-Comstor (WestconGroup Inc.) is a value-added technology distributor of category-leading solutions in Security, Collaboration, Networking and Data Center. The company is transforming the technology supply chain through its capabilities in Cloud, Global Deployment and Services. Westcon-Comstor combines expert technical and market knowledge with industry-leading partner enablement programs. Westcon-Comstor delivers results together through its deep partner relationships. The company goes to market under the Westcon and Comstor brands.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Rubicon Minerals Corporation (TSX: RMX)(OTC PINK: RBYCF) ("Rubicon" or the "Company") announces details of its upcoming Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at 10:00 am (Toronto Time) at the 121 King Street West, Suite 1760, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 3T9 (the "Meeting").

The Company will be utilizing the Notice-and-Access model provided for under National Instrument 54-101 for the delivery of its proxy materials. Under the Notice-and-Access model, instead of receiving printed copies of the Company's Information Circular, Audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2016 and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016 (collectively, the "Meeting Materials"), shareholders will receive a notice with information on how they may access the Meeting Materials electronically (the "Notice"). Together with the Notice, shareholders will receive a form of proxy (in the case of registered shareholders) or a voting instruction form (in the case of non-registered shareholders), enabling them to vote at the Meeting. If you are a beneficial holder of shares and wish to attend the Meeting in person, you must ensure that you appoint yourself as proxyholder when completing your voting instruction form.

The Meeting Materials are available on Rubicon's website and will remain on the website for one full year thereafter. Meeting Materials will also be available upon request, without charge, by e-mail to ir@rubiconminerals.com or by calling +1-416-766-2804 or toll-free in North America at +1-844-818-1776, and can be found online at www.sedar.com.

The Board of Directors would like to thank the shareholders for their continued support.

About Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Rubicon Minerals Corporation is an advanced exploration company that owns the Phoenix Gold Project, located in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Rubicon controls over 280 square kilometres of prime exploration ground in Red Lake and more than 900 square kilometres of mineral property interests in the emerging Long Canyon gold district that straddles the Nevada-Utah border in the United States. Rubicon's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (RMX) and the OTC markets (RBYCF). For more information, please visit our new website at www.rubiconminerals.com.

RUBICON MINERALS CORPORATION

George Ogilvie, P.Eng., President and CEO

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Contacts:

Rubicon Minerals Corporation

Allan Candelario

Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Development

Phone: +1 (416) 766-2804

E-mail: ir@rubiconminerals.com

www.rubiconminerals.com




SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) has signed a new agreement enabling the company to start onboarding 'high risk' merchant accounts. SinglePoint has committed much time and resources to finding solutions for businesses that are considered 'high risk'. Under this new agreement the company can now start onboarding these businesses. Once a business is approved they will be able to sell their products and services just as any other business does. This is another big step in solidifying SinglePoint's position in the payments space. The next milestone will be working to integrate this solution into the company's Pay by Text solution.

Being able to process high risk accounts is a lucrative industry and company executives believe this is not only a viable solution but a profitable one as well. There are over 100 business types that are considered high risk including, auctions, vape pen sales, gambling, online gaming and more. The cannabis industry is projected to reach $24.5 billion by 2025. The company believes when the banks do open and start accepting cannabis businesses they will start out as a high-risk merchant.

Margins on the high-risk accounts are much larger than traditional accounts and SinglePoint team believes it can utilize its existing relationships to quickly onboard clients. The move helps position SinglePoint as a legitimate contender in the industry.

The company is working on other payment solutions that will be available for all businesses and is hopeful that development of the technology should be done in the coming months. SinglePoint CEO, Greg Lambrecht, states, "We are providing multiple solutions to the cannabis space and we are trying to do the same in the payments space as well. Being able to offer a payment solution to multiple different verticals gives the company a larger target market to tap into. We believe high risk is a huge opportunity and an underserved market at this point."

The solution offers approved merchants the ability to process payments instore, online, through Point of Sale systems and soon through text message by way of SinglePoint's Pay by Text technology.

About SinglePoint, Inc.

SinglePoint, Inc. (SING) has grown from a full-service mobile technology provider to a publicly traded holding company. Through diversification into horizontal markets, SinglePoint is building its portfolio by acquiring an interest in undervalued subsidiaries, thereby providing a rich, diversified holding base. Through its subsidiary company SingleSeed the company is providing products and services to the cannabis industry.

Connect on social media at: www.facebook.com/SinglePointMobile, www.twitter.com/_SinglePoint_, www.linkedin.com/company/SinglePoint and www.youtube.com/user/SinglePointMobile

For more information visit www.SinglePoint.com or www.SingleSeed.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

Contact:

SinglePoint, Inc.

Greg Lambrecht

602.481.1544




NORTH VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / Lion One Metals Limited (TSXV: LIO) (ASX: LLO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (FSE: LY1) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the following drilling and development update for its 100% owned and fully permitted high grade underground Tuvatu Gold Project located near Nadi on the island of Viti Levu in the Republic of Fiji.

About Tuvatu

The Tuvatu Gold Project is located 17 km from the Nadi International Airport on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Discovered in 1987, Tuvatu is a high grade, low sulphidation, epithermal gold deposit hosted inside a South Pacific style volcanic caldera. The deposit occurs along the Viti Levu lineament, Fiji's own corridor of high grade gold deposits. Tuvatu is situated upon a 5 hectare footprint inside a larger 384 hectare mining lease. The project contains numerous high grade prospects proximal to Tuvatu, at depth, and up to 1.50 km along strike from the resource area, giving near-term production potential and further discovery upside inside of one of Fiji's underexplored volcanic goldfields.

Tuvatu was advanced by previous owners through underground exploration and development from 1997 through to the completion of a feasibility study in 2000. Acquired by Lion One in 2011, the project has over 100,000 meters of drilling completed to date in addition to 1,600 meters of underground development.

In January 2016 the Hon. Prime Minister of Fiji, Mr. V. Bainimarama, formally presented the previously granted Tuvatu Mining Lease to Lion One. This concluded the permitting process for the development of an underground gold mine and processing plant at Tuvatu, demonstrating strong government support for Fiji's 85 year-old gold mining industry.

As per its independent June 1, 2015 NI 43-101 PEA Technical Report on the Tuvatu Gold Project, the Company envisages a low cost underground gold mining operation producing 352,931 ounces of gold at head grades of 11.30 g/t Au over an initial 7 year mine life. This includes production of 262,000 ounces at 15.30 g/t through to the end of year three. Estimated cash cost is US$567 per ounce with all-in sustaining cost of US$779 per ounce. Total capex of US$48.6 million includes a contingency of US$6.1 million with an 18 month preproduction schedule and 18 month payback on capital. At a US$1,200 gold price, the project generates net cash flow of US$112.66 million and an IRR of 52% (after tax). The Company is not basing its production decision on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability; as a result there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks associated with its production decision.

Drilling and Development

Mine engineering and underground development is progressing alongside final detailed engineering for the Tuvatu processing plant and site infrastructure. The 2016-2017 drilling program continues with one diamond drill rig operating at surface, and one underground. Drilling has successfully intersected high grade zones of mineralization proximal to, and outside the current resource. Consequently the Company has appointed an independent third party engineering firm to model the incoming results. The Company believes the drilling currently underway has the potential to materially increase the tonnage and grade of the mineralized zones targeted for extraction in the initial years of the Tuvatu mine plan.

Drilling Results

The Company commenced drilling at Tuvatu in October 2016 with one surface rig, followed by the addition of an underground rig in March 2017. A total of 6,493 meters of diamond drilling has been completed to date consisting of 5,744m from 28 surface drill holes, and 739m from 7 underground drill holes. An additional 520m of drilling has been completed for geotechnical purposes in the area of the proposed processing plant, and to confirm stability of the monzonite host rock underground. High grade highlights include the following drilling results (see Table 1 below for a summary of 2016-2017 results):

TUDDH 406 ( 8.41m @ 71.41 g/t Au from 96.10m, inc. 4.56m @ 126.67 g/t Au );

from 96.10m, inc. ); TUDDH 407 ( 4.05m @ 12.32 g/t Au from 53.57m);

from 53.57m); TUDDH 409 ( 3.92m @ 12.54 g/t Au from 80.78m),

from 80.78m), TUDDH 410 ( 2.42m @ 24.07 g/t Au from 86.94m),

from 86.94m), TUDDH 419 (9.07m @ 14.89 g/t Au from 32.83m, inc. 5.57m @ 21.04 g/t Au from 36.33m).

Current drilling is following up on several very high grade intercepts and potential extensions of zones identified in previous campaigns:

TUDDH 160 (4.22m @ 252.64 g/t Au from 332m; 4.12m @ 19.61g/t Au from 403.20m) TUDDH 207 (8.85m @ 14.09g/t Au from 418.90m; 1.45m @ 19.78g/t Au from 418.90m) Drilling targeting the northern, shallow extensions on the Tuvatu, SKL 3-8, and UR2 lodes. Minimal diamond drilling has been undertaken on these lodes in the northern part of the deposit and as such, there remains a high probability of extending mineralized lodes into these areas. This area includes three reverse circulation drill holes which had previously not been followed up including TURC 142 (5m @ 22.5g/t Au), TURC 156,(2m @ 11g/t Au) and TURC 171, (6m @ 6.3 g/t Au) Follow up of extensions of the east-west oriented Snake and Murau lodes to the west of the exploration decline.

Plan and section views of the reported drilling areas are located on the Company website https://liononemetals.com/news-media/image-gallery/ .

The underground diamond drill rig has targeted the area north of the Core Shed Fault, where very little previous drilling has been undertaken. Surface mapping and sampling has highlighted continuation of those mineralized lodes to the north, in addition to a number of other zones of mineralization previously untested. The main known lodes being tested include the UR2, Tuvatu and H lodes.

The current drilling program has identified a number of very high grade intercepts from outside the proposed ore stopes planned in the 2015 Preliminary Economic Assessment. In particular, the intercepts in TUDDH 408, 419 and 425 fall well outside existing stopes, whilst TUDDH407, 409, 410 and others, returned intersection on the margins of existing planned stopes. Other diamond drill holes have confirmed the existing mineralization in many of the other proposed stopes.

The most significant results received from all drilling to date have previously been reported (see news releases dated November 28, 2016, December 21, 2016, February 14 2017, and in the Management Discussion and Analysis for Period Ending March 31st 2017. Below is a summary of select results from the drilling undertaken in the 2016-2017 drill programs (Table 1):

Table 1: Select Tuvatu Drilling Results, May 2017

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Zone TUDDH 406 48.42 51.30 2.88 5.30 GRF/ SKL 2 70.93 71.23 0.30 23.30 SKL 4 72.30 73.55 1.25 10.16 SKL 4 96.10 104.51 8.41 71.41 UR 2 including 96.10 100.66 4.56 126.67 UR 2 and 102.71 104.51 1.80 12.58 UR 2 116.55 117.27 0.72 36.20 SKL 8? TUDDH 407 53.57 61.60 8.03 4.68 SKL 3/4 including 55.76 61.60 5.84 6.26 SKL 3/4 71.43 75.48 4.05 12.32 SKL 6 TUDDH 408 41.60 41.90 0.30 76.60 SKL 4/ Snake 63.49 63.80 0.31 6.69 Nasivi 88.04 91.07 3.03 3.35 Murau 2 TUDDH 409 78.93 85.70 6.77 7.83 Murau 1 including 80.78 84.70 3.92 12.54 Murau 1 91.40 94.80 3.40 4.59 Murau 1 split TUDDH410 86.94 89.36 2.42 24.07 Murau 1 HW 124.20 125.70 1.50 9.16 Murau 1 FW2 TUDDH 412 48.46 49.85 1.39 8.46 Tuvatu 2 TUDDH 418 201.30 202.60 1.30 13.02 Murau 3 171.20 171.49 0.29 16.60 URW 3 TUDDH 419 32.83 41.90 9.07 14.89 UR 2 including 36.33 41.90 5.57 21.04 UR 2 71.36 72.80 1.44 19.65 SKL 3 83.66 85.78 2.12 14.28 SKL 5 103.18 103.64 0.46 14.00 SKL 7 TUDDH 420 75.19 76.50 1.31 11.57 SKL 3 TUDDH 421 115.23 117.15 1.92 16.89 UR 4 TUDDH 425 46.35 49.20 2.85 19.78 UR 2 TUDDH 427 64.67 65.11 0.44 48.00 SKL 4 TUDDH 428 191.96 195.64 3.68 5.86 UR 2

* True widths of the drill hole intersection have not been determined from the information available.

Quality Control (QAQC)

All samples for this drilling program is marked, logged, and cut with a diamond saw onsite, placed in sealed bags and sent to the Company's Nadi office. Following inspection by the regulators in Fiji and receipt of an export license, samples are then shipped to Brisbane, Queensland for customs clearance, and then couriered to the facilities of ALS Chemex in Townsville, also in Queensland, for sample preparation and gold analysis by fire assay and multi-element ICP analysis. A Quality Control/Quality Assurance program, including the insertion of standards, blanks and duplicates is ongoing.

Development Update

The Company continues to work alongside its EPC partner Ansteel to complete the design and financing of the Tuvatu Gold Project (see "Ansteel MOU" news release dated August 24, 2016). Under mutual agreement with Ansteel, The Company has contracted Yantai Jinpeng Mining Machinery Co Ltd, based in Shandong Province, PRC, to complete the final detailed engineering design plans for the Tuvatu processing plant, tailings dam, and surface infrastructure. The detailed design plans include the laboratory, office complex, dry area, workshop for light vehicles and heavy underground machinery, warehouse, conference facilities and mine site offices. The detailed engineering design is nearing completion with site plans scheduled for delivery to Lion One in June 2017.

The Company has also contracted Canenco Consulting Corp., a Vancouver based process engineering company, to manage Front End Engineering Design (FEED), including equipment specifications, engineering plans, and design documentation for the processing plant to be constructed in the PRC to North American standards. The procurement process of mining equipment and processing plant components is progressing with all equipment and long term lead items having been identified and priced.

The Company has now dewatered the existing Tuvatu exploration decline past the 375m mark from the portal down the decline. The decline was completed in the year 2000 by Emperor Gold Mines, comprising 1,430 meters of underground development including drives, cross cuts and raises. In conjunction with the dewatering, ventilation fans and lighting have been installed and are running 24 hours per day. Minor slippage inside the Core Shed Fault area 140m inside the decline has now been cleared and reinforced to ensure permanent and safe access past that area to areas further down the decline for future drilling programs. The rehabilitation of this area has been approved by Mine Inspectors from Fiji's Mineral Resource Department.

Ian Chang, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., Chief Development Officer, is the Qualified Person ("QP") responsible for Tuvatu Mine development. Stephen Mann, Managing Director, member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is the Qualified Person ("QP") responsible for the Tuvatu Mine exploration program.

For more information on Lion One including technical reports please visit the Company's website at www.liononemetals.com or the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

On behalf of Lion One Metals Limited

"Walter H. Berukoff"

Chief Executive Officer

For further information please contact

Stephen Mann, Managing Director (Perth, Australia) Tel: 604-973-3007

Hamish Greig, Vice President (North Vancouver, BC) Tel: 604-973-3008

Joe Gray, Investor Relations (North Vancouver, BC) Tel: 604-973-3004

Toll Free IR Line (North America) Tel: 1-855-805-1250

Email: info@liononemetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Lion One Metals Limited's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Lion One Metals Limited and on assumptions Lion One Metals Limited believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the actual results of exploration projects being equivalent to or better than estimated results in technical reports, assessment reports, and other geological reports or prior exploration results. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Lion One Metals Limited or its subsidiaries to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of Lion One Metals Limited, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current research and development or operational activities; competition; uncertainty as to patent applications and intellectual property rights; product liability and lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting mining, timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of technology; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labor or loss of key individuals. Although Lion One Metals Limited has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lion One Metals Limited does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Lion One Metals Limited
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 31, 2017) - Blackrock Gold Corp. (TSXV: BRC) ("Blackrock") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a lease agreement (the "Lease") with Pescio Exploration LLC (the "Lessor") with respect to 552 unpatented lode mining claims situated in Elko, Nevada, and known as the Silver Cloud Project (the "Property"). The Lease affords Blackrock all rights and privileges incidental to ownership, including rights to explore, develop, and mine the Property. The term of the Lease is 10 years from October 27, 2017 and so long thereafter as a) exploration and/or development is taking place on the Property and/or b) the Property is held by Blackrock or it successors and assigns, unless earlier terminated in accordance with the terms of the Lease. The arrangements with respect to the Lease are subject to prior approval by the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").

To acquire and maintain the Lease in good standing, Blackrock will be required to: (a) within 5 days of Exchange approval, pay US$50,000 and issue 500,000 common shares of Blackrock to the Lessor at a deemed price of $0.06 per share; (b) on December 20, 2017, pay an additional US$50,000 and issue to the Lessor an additional 500,000 common shares of Blackrock; (c) perform a minimum total of 15,000 feet of drilling on the Property during the first 3 years of the term of the Lease; and (d) make additional payment amounts totaling US$3.65M over the following 8 years, and (e) drilling an additional 90,000 feet from years four to nine.

Blackrock will also pay a royalty of 3.5% of the gross value of production on the sale of minerals from the Property All annual payments made by Blackrock and described above will be credited cumulatively against Blackrock's commitments pursuant to the Gross Royalty. Furthermore, Blackrock has an option to buy down the Gross Royalty by 1.5% to 2.0% by payment to the Lessor of US$3M at its sole discretion and at any time on or before October 28, 2022.

The Silver Cloud property is a large, 4,537-hectare (11,210acres) claim block, located near the confluence of the Carlin Trend and the Northern Nevada Rift within north-central Nevada, the richest gold mining area in North America. The property is located 8 km (5 miles) west of the Hollister mine of Klondex Mines which has a Measured and Indicated Resource of 0.43Mt @ 16.6g/t gold (for 208,000oz) and an Inferred resource of 0.18Mt @ 14.4g/t gold (for 74,000oz) and is expected to produce 30,000 - 35,000oz of gold in 20171.

Silver Cloud, like both Midas and Hollister are low-sulphidation epithermal Au-Ag banded vein deposits. The property has received only limited previous drilling and has no historic resource.

Commenting on proposed transaction, Interim CEO, Amit Kumar stated, "The Silver Cloud Project provides Blackrock with an expanded portfolio of properties that we can explore and develop. The terms of the Lease agreement afford us some time to review and update the available geological information in order to identify drill targets. Acquiring the Silver Cloud project, located only 8km west of the Hollister mine of Klondex Mines in Nevada, could provide us with a viable alternative to our existing BC properties."

A finders' fee involving the issuance of up to 600,000 shares of Blackrock is payable in connection with the transaction. Payment of the finders' fee is also subject to approval by the Exchange.

____________________

1. Klondex Mines Ltd websites and corporate presentations

About Blackrock

Blackrock is a junior resource exploration company focused on acquiring mineral properties and exploring for economically viable mineral resources. Blackrock has mineral property interests in the Kamloops and Cariboo Mining Districts of British Columbia including the D.D. Property acquired in 2003.

For further information, please contact:

Amit Kumar, Interim Chief Executive Officer

Blackrock Gold Corp.

Phone: 604 317-3848

Email: blackrockgoldcorp@gmail.com

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" and include any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including the Company's strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance.

Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. These statements, however, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed, implied by or projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the ability of the Company to attract financing and the general market conditions of the industry in which the Company operates, and the other factors discussed in the sections relating to risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure filings on SEDAR.

There can be no assurance that any forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader should not place any undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Advantage Lithium Corp. (the "Company" or "Advantage Lithium") (TSX VENTURE: AAL)(OTCQX: AVLIF) is pleased to provide further details regarding the Phase One drilling program that has commenced at the company's flagship lithium property located in the Cauchari Salar of Jujuy province in NW Argentina.

Hole CAU07, the first of the five-hole Phase One program at Cauchari (Figure 1) has been collared in the NW block of the JV property exploration target area(1), which has been defined with a range of 125 to 1,855 million cubic meters of brine at between 260 and 600mg/l lithium and 2,500 to 5,350mg/l potassium for the lower and upper ranges(1) respectively; this represents an in situ range of contained product of between 0.25 to 5.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 0.9 to 19 million tonnes of potash (KCl).

The hole is expected to drill through a sequence of gravels (Figure 2) before reaching the target salt lake sediments. The pre-collar through the gravels is expected to take three to four weeks, including cementing. This will be completed before moving the rig to drill CAU10 in the south-eastern target area where the existing inferred resource is located. This will allow the cement to cure adequately, while advancing with drilling at CAU10. Further drilling will be completed in the south-eastern area before returning to complete CAU07.

David Sidoo, CEO of Advantage Lithium, commented, "Drilling has now commenced, with the first hole collared in the North-West area of our exploration target approximately 7 km north-west of our existing resource at Cauchari. We are excited by the potential to expand our resource both laterally and at depth, and we look forward to sharing the results as they are received over the coming months."

Cauchari Phase One Drilling and Testing Program

The Phase One program consists of drilling five rotary holes (refer to Figure 2) to a depth of approximately 400 m targeting sand and halite units identified at Cauchari and Olaroz. It is estimated that 3-4 weeks will be required to drill each hole and install a well to the required depth. In-hole geophysical profiling and geological logging will provide the basis for installing screen intervals in the wells.

Other activities will sequentially follow completion and cleaning of the wells. Once clean, brine sampling will be undertaken in the wells at different depth intervals (using packer equipment) to establish the distribution of lithium throughout each well. As detailed sampling will follow well installation, brine analytical results are likely to become available approximately 8 weeks after the initiation of each hole.

Pump testing will then be undertaken following completion of depth sampling, with variable and fixed rate flow tests planned to assess the production capacity and lithium grade of each well. The wells will be installed so they can be used for future brine production.

Additional rotary and/or diamond drill holes will be added as justified by initial results as we proceed towards engineering studies.

The holes to be drilled are located immediately east and west of properties where Lithium Americas Corp (LAC) previously defined a large lithium brine resource in an NI43-101 report dated 11th July 2012. Figure 3 shows the location of the Advantage Lithium exploration target areas relative to the neighboring resource.

To view Figure 1: Location of the phase 1 drill holes relative to previous drilling; Figure 2: Rig drilling hole CAU07 in the Cauchari Northwestern properties and Figure 3: The location of the Cauchari drilling areas relative to the Lithium Americas Corp. lithium resource, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1094088_F1-3.pdf

(1) An exploration target is not a mineral resource. The potential quantity and grade of the exploration target is conceptual in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource in the volume where the Exploration Target is outlined. It is uncertain if further exploration drilling will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource in this volume.

The technical information in this news release has reviewed and approved on behalf of the company by Murray Brooker, MAIG, RPGEO, a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101.

About Advantage Lithium Corp.

Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The common shares of the company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: AAL), and the company is also traded on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. (OTCQX: AVLIF). The company has acquired a 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and up to a 75% interest in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is located just 20 km south of Orocobre's flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility. The Company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, including 70% in Clayton NE.

Further information about the Company can be found at www.advantagelithium.com.

ADVANTAGE LITHIUM CORP.

David Sidoo, President

Cautionary Statement:

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "is expected", "intends", or "has the potential to". Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of Advantage that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Advantage Lithium Corp.

David Sidoo

President

604.343.3760

604.683.1585 (FAX)

info@advantagelithium.com

www.advantagelithium.com




ROUYN-NORANDA, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Note to editors: there are two photos associated with this press release.

Radisson Mining Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RDS) ("Radisson") is pleased to announce additional results from the ongoing 20,000 m drill program at the Company's O'Brien gold project located along the Larder-Lake-Cadillac fault halfway between Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or, Quebec. Results continue to demonstrate vertical and lateral continuity of current mineral resources with high-grade gold intercepts within wider mineralized envelopes (see table 2). The results announced today are from 1,153 metres of drilling completed in 2017 and assays are currently pending from an additional 3,500 metres (8 drill holes).

Since the last update, (see April 4th, 2017 Press Release) results have been received for two drill holes (OB-17-24 to OB-17-25).

Highlights:

- Drill hole OB-17-24 intersected 4.3 g/t Au over 5.3 m at a depth of 556.7 metres in extension of current mineral resources of 36E area (see figure 1).

- Drill hole OB-17-25 intersected high-grade gold intervals of 8.6 g/t Au over 2.0 m and 3.7 g/t Au over 7.0 m within a wider, highly anomalous in gold interval of 1.0 g/t Au over 93 metres (see figure 2).

- 2 drill rigs are currently active at the O'Brien gold project, with one focused on resource expansion of 36E and Kewagama areas of the O'Brien deposit and one testing exploration targets defined through historical data compilation and geophysics survey completed in 2016.

Radisson's drilling program at O'Brien will continue to focus on expanding the high-grade mineral resource defined within the Piche Group volcanics. However, in light of the wide zone of gold mineralization recently intersected in drill hole OB 17-25, with more than 70% of assays returning greater than 0.1 g/t Au (see full results in table 2), the Company is evaluating a work program which would test for the possible extension of this wide zone at shallower depths. This program would include re-assaying of historic drill core and additional drilling.

Mario Bouchard, President and CEO commented: "We are very excited by today's results as we continue to encounter high-grade gold mineralization down dip of current resources of the 36E area. The wide and highly anomalous intercept obtained throughout the Piche Group sequence underlines the importance of the exploration program underway at O'Brien. This work will allow Radisson to increase its geological knowledge of the O'Brien property and significant discovery".

Table 1 Drilling results summary at the O'Brien gold project

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Length Grade Hole (m) (m) (m) Au Interpreted zone ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- OB-17-24 229.5 230.0 0.5 6.1 VG PONTIAC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 521.5 522.0 0.5 3.3 VG PICHE CONGLOMERATE ------------------------------------------------------ 556.0 565.0 9.0 3.2 QFP #2 -------------------------------------------------- Including 556.7 562.0 5.3 4.3 -------------------------------------------------- which includes 556.7 558.0 1.3 13.3 -------------------------------------------------- which includes 561.0 562.0 1.0 4.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- See individual assays in OB-17-25 417.0 510.0 93.0 1.0 table 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including 417.0 417.7 0.7 9.3 PICHE VOLCANICS ------------------------------------------------------ 447.0 448.0 1.0 5.0 QFP #1 ------------------------------------------------------ 464.0 466.0 2.0 8.6 PICHE VOLCANICS ------------------------------------------------------ 478.0 480.0 2.0 4.8 VG PICHE CONGLOMERATE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- And including 495.0 502.0 7.0 3.7 QFP #2 -------------------------------------------------- which includes 501.0 502.0 1.0 19.7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i)VG; Denotes presence of visible gold Note; Results are presented as down hole width; true width are estimated between 55 to 70% of down hole thickness.

All drill cores in this campaign are NQ in size. Analyses were completed on sawn half-cores, with the second half kept for future reference. The samples were analyzed using standard fire assay procedures with Atomic Absorption (AA) finish at Techni-Lab Actlabs in Ste-Germaine-Boule in Abitibi, Quebec. Samples yielding a grade higher than 5 g/t were analyzed a second time by fire assay with gravimetric finish at the same laboratory. Samples containing visible gold were analyzed with metallic sieve procedure. Standard reference materials and blank samples were inserted prior to shipment for quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program.

Qualified Person

Tony Brisson, P. Geo, independent consultant, acts as a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

About Radisson Mining Resources Inc.

Radisson is a Quebec-based mineral exploration company. The O'Brien project, cut by the regional Larder-Lake-Cadillac Fault, is Radisson's flagship asset. The project hosts the former O'Brien Mine, considered to have been the Abitibi Greenstone Belt's highest-grade gold producer during its production (1,197,147 metric tons at 15.25 g/t Au for 587,121 ounces of gold from 1926 to 1957; InnovExplo, April 2015).

For more information on Radisson, visit our website at www.radissonmining.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain certain forward-looking information. All statements included herein, including the scheduled Closing date, but other than statements of historical fact, is forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. A description of assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward looking information can be found in Radisson's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Radisson_Fig_1.jpg

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Radisson_Fig_2.jpg

Contacts:

Radisson Mining Resources Inc.

Mario Bouchard

President and CEO

819-277-6578

mbouchard@radissonmining.com




Levon Zurabyan: That was the meaning and pupose of their life (video)

Representatives of the Congress-HZhK alliance today visited Victory Park on the occasion of the May Triple holiday. Members of the alliance laid flowers and a wreath at the Eternal Flame. Armenias first President and leader of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), Levon Ter-Petrosyan, was not with the group. Vice-Chairman of the HAK Levon Zurabyan said this is a great and serious holiday for all Armenians. "Congratulating one another, we should not forget that perseverance, principality, determination and devotion to our people, our principles and faith are essential for achieving victory in any matter, especially in national issues." The authorities have recently expressed their regret that the HAK did not take seats in the new National Assembly. Levon Zurabyan considers the authorities statements to be crocodile tears. They are very pleased and happy. That was the meaning and pupose of their life. They did not want the HAK to be represented in the parliament and they have achieved their goal and they did it through electoral fraud. I do not think that we have lost; this is not really a defeat. Let us compete in fair elections and see the outcome. And this day will come when we shall compete in fair elections and crash them all, he said. Speaking about their future plans, Mr Zurabyan said their agenda remains the same and they will achieve their aim. We will not allow our people to be buried in corruption, when all the principles of justice are violated, when people have lost faith in state institutions and leave the country in utter despair.
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Five Star Diamonds Limited (TSXV: STAR) (the "Company" or "Five Star Diamonds") is very pleased to provide the following update on its 100% owned Jaibaras Diamond Project (the "Jaibaras Project" or "the Project") in Para State, Brazil.

Highlights

-- The Jaibaras project was discovered by De Beers in 1990. -- Five Star Diamonds has now identified eight targets (J1 to J8) on the Jaibaras Project. -- The J1 kimberlite pipe has been drilled and sampled by De Beers and proven to be diamondiferous. -- The J1 and J2 kimberlite pipes have been mini bulk sampled by Five Star Diamonds with macro diamonds recovered from both pipes. -- Kimberlite indicator sampling at the J3 and J4 kimberlite pipes have recently been completed with the J4 pipe returning the most promising results ever seen by Five Star Diamonds in Brazil. -- Auger drilling and kimberlite indicator sampling programmes are now underway at the J5, J6, J7 and J8 targets. -- A diamond core drilling programme focused on bulk sampling the oxide zone is expected to commence at the J1 and and J2 pipes in the coming three weeks. -- The 5tph Pilot Plant from Catalao (wash and rotary pan concentrate plant) is now being demobilized and packed for relocation to the Jaibaras Project. -- A trial mining application for the Jaibaras Project will be submitted in the coming months.

The Jaibaras Diamond Project is located in Para State in Brazil and comprises one mineral property with 522.26 hectares. De Beers discovered the Jaibaras kimberlite cluster in 1990 during intensive Brazilian exploration. Their work included sampling for Kimberlite Indicator Minerals ("KIMs") and chemistry, aeromagnetic and ground magnetic surveys, drilling, trenching, microdiamond sampling and geochronology. The kimberlites were demonstrated to be diamond positive.

To date eight kimberlite targets at the Jaibaras Project have been identified.

Exploration work executed to date includes;

-- Surface surveying using drone technology to create an imagery base of 8.38 square kilometres area; -- Ground magnetic survey using 100m line spacing has defined the locations of J1 to J8. A total of 53.70 linear kilometres have been surveyed during this phase; -- Pit excavation into the J1 target further confirmed the presence of KIMs including pyrope garnets, ilmenite, phlogopite, olivine and Cr-spinel; -- Mini bulk sampling of J1 and J2 resulted in the recovery of macro diamonds from oxidised kimberlite. The mini bulk samples were processed through the Company's pilot plant located at Catalao Project; -- Detail ground magnetic survey using 10m line spacing has further delineated the potential kimberlite pipes and their respective boundaries. A total of 186.60 linear kilometres were surveyed during this phase; -- An extensive auger drilling programme is currently underway testing the sources of previously defined magnetic targets. To date, 39 auger holes have been completed, totalling 224.30 linear metres.

To view figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1093989a.pdf

ONGOING AUGER DRILLING PROGRAMME

An auger drilling evaluation programme has recently been completed at J4. The programme comprised seven auger holes for a total of 27.60 linear metres with six of the holes intersecting a kimberlitic pipe.

A 12kg sample from one hole was treated and submitted to a KIM's study. The kimberlite saprolite intersected on auger hole JAI-035 contains;

-- abundant presence of very coarse grained ilmenite; -- abundant presence of very coarse grained weathered olivine; -- relatively moderate presence of medium grained orange garnet; -- relatively low presence of medium grained dark purple and light pink garnets; -- coarse-grained dark-purple G10 garnets discovered at from J4 kimberlite; -- relatively low presence of coarse grained phlogopite; -- relatively low presence of fine grained chromite.

Kimberlite indicator sampling at the J4 kimberlite pipe has returned the most promising results ever seen by Five Star Diamonds in Brazil.

The auger drilling evaluation programme will now continue with testing J5-J8 targets.

To view figure 2, 3 and 4, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1093989b.pdf

ONGOING PROGRAMMES

The Company is planning to conduct the following exploration activities over the next two months;

-- Commence a 2,500m diamond core drilling programme during May 2017, to bulk sample and delineate the upper oxide zone of J1 and J2 kimberlite pipes; -- Continue the ongoing auger drilling program to test J5 to J8 targets; -- Open exploration trenches to investigate the sources of J7 and J8 targets.

PILOT PLANT

The 5tph Pilot Plant from Catalao (wash and rotary pan concentrate plant) is now being demobilized and packed for relocation to the Jaibaras Project where trial mining is scheduled to commence towards the end of 2017. In line with this a trial mining licence application for the Jaibaras Project will be submitted in the coming months.

ABOUT FIVE STAR DIAMONDS

Five Star Diamond's is focused on acquiring and developing advanced staged diamond projects in Brazil. Since it was established, it has pursued an accelerated growth strategy and aims to be one of the first producers of diamonds from kimberlite deposits in Brazil. The Company is targeting development of sustainable kimberlite pipes and is not involved in alluvial diamond mining with its associated environmental issues. The Company works closely with local, state and federal authorities in Brazil to foster an open, transparent and legal diamond industry in Brazil.

The flagship project of Five Star Diamonds is the 100% owned advanced stage Catalao diamond project located in the famous Coromandel diamond district of Brazil. In addition, the Company owns 22 other diamond kimberlite projects, including the Jaibaras Diamond Project, comprising an aggregate of 72 exploration licences and applications covering a total area of 123,667 hectares. The Company now controls a dominant and highly enviable position in the Brazilian kimberlite diamond sector.

Five Star Diamonds has now successfully listed on the TSX-V, under the ticker symbol STAR, and looks forward to an aggressive work programme at its diamond projects across Brazil. This release is part of many announcements expected over the coming months and we look forward to keeping shareholders updated on our progress as we move towards building a truly unique Brazilian Diamond Company.

On behalf of the Board

Five Star Diamonds Limited

Matthew Wood

Chairman of the Board, President and CEO

Qualified Person

Mr Paulo Ilidio de Brito

BSc Geology

Paulo de Brito is a geologist based in Brazil, has over 30 years of experience in the mining industry, dealing primarily with gold, copper, nickel and industrial minerals. Paulo is a Principal of consulting group Brasgeo and was until recently Exploration Manager of Paringa Resources Limited. Previously, he worked as a senior geologist with WMC Resources Ltd for 18 years until the closure of their activities in Brazil in 2002.

Mr. de Brito, a member of AIG (Australian Institute of Geoscientists) and a member of AusIMM (The Minerals Institute) and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this press release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, significant downward variations in the market price of any minerals produced, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies. 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.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Contacts:

Five Star Diamonds Limited

Joe Burke

GM Marketing

jburke@fivestardiamonds.net



Five Star Diamonds Limited

Rajan "Raj" Rai

rrai@fivestardiamonds.net

+1 778 835 9200




CHATHAM, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- AGRIS Co-operative, Wanstead Farmers Co-operative and Haggerty Creek Ltd. are announcing today an aggressive expansion of its web based weather service, the "AGGrower Daily Dashboard" across southwestern Ontario.

This collaborative effort will see the current compliment of 80 automated weather stations across southwestern Ontario expand to a goal of more than 400 reporting locations when completed. Producers who sign up for the AGGrower Daily Dashboard will have the ability to have field specific climate information delivered directly to their laptop, cellular phone or tablet.

"Our web based weather service will assist producers in managing their crops by providing real time precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, growth models on individual fields and notifications of critical stages during the growth cycle," says Dale Cowan, senior agronomist and sales manager for AGRIS Co-operative and Wanstead Farmers Co-operative. "The AGGrower Daily Dashboard will also assist in timely do it yourself crop scouting using integrated pest management principles," added Cowan.

To supplement the web based weather reporting network, Cowan is now recruiting dedicated "citizen scientists" to join the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow network, (CoCoRahs) cocorahs.org/Canada. "These volunteers would be part of a larger community of like-minded people that would help support our automated weather stations with additional rainfall data to support our new initiative of the AGGrower Daily Dashboard program," says Cowan.

Volunteer "citizen scientists" must live in Essex, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, West Middlesex or Elgin Counties, have a keen interest and dedication to collecting rainfall and a smart phone. Installation and training on the use of the special rain gauge is provided at no charge to those participating. For more information on how you can become a "citizen scientist" contact Paul deNijs at 226-626-1048.

AGRIS Co-operative Ltd. is a 100 per-cent farmer-owned grain marketing and farm-input supply company that serves more than 1,000 farmer owners in 14 locations in Essex, Kent, Elgin, Middlesex and Lambton Counties. It is a leader in precision farming technology, seed, agronomy and petroleum services. The co-operative is a partner of Great Lakes Grain, a grain merchandising company. AGRIS Co-operative is a member-owner of GROWMARK, Inc. and markets products and services under the FS banner. Visit us at agriscoop.com

Wanstead Farmers Co-operative Ltd. is a 100 per cent farmer-owned grain marketing and farm-input supply company that serves more than 700 farmer owners from its three locations in Lambton County. These locations service both Lambton and Middlesex counties. It is a leader in precision farming technology, seed and agronomy services. Wanstead Farmers Co-operative is a member-owner of GROWMARK, Inc. and markets products and services under the FS banner. Visit us at wansteadfarmerscoop.com

Haggerty Creek Ltd. was founded as a joint venture by Chuck and Justin Baresich with AGRIS Co- operative, serving the four counties areas of Dawn-Euphemia Township, (Lambton County), Zone Township (Kent County), Mosa Township (Middlesex County), and Aldborough Township (Elgin County), extending into parts of Brooke, Enniskillen, and Orford Townships. Visit us at haggertycreek.com

A collaboration of AGRIS Co-operative, Wanstead Farmer's Co-operative and Haggerty Creek Ltd.

This project is funded in part through Growing Forward 2 (GF2), a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

The Agricultural Adaptation Council assists in the delivery of GF2 in Ontario.

Contacts:

Dale Cowan

Senior Agronomist/Sales Manager

AGRIS and Wanstead Farmers Co-operative

519-380-5198

dalec@scscoop.com




Established leader in serving automotive dealerships and OEMs

BIRMINGHAM, England, May 9,2017 /PRNewswire/ --The Reynolds and Reynolds Company announced today that the continued focus at Reynolds on helping dealers become better retailers is delivering measurable results for U.K. dealerships and their customers.

"The customer-dealer relationship continues to change," said Adele Feeney, Managing Director for Reynolds - UK Automotive. "Over the past several years, we have expanded our suite of retailing tools for dealers. These tools are helping dealers improve operating performance and provide a more engaging and efficient customer experience."

Prominent among the additions to the retailing solutions that Reynolds U.K. offers is Contact Advantage (CA). CA provides dealerships and OEMs with a comprehensive tool for managing the complete sales cycle, from the initial customer contact and prospect management through vehicle purchase.

"We believe Contact Advantage is the premier showroom CRM solution for keeping track of dealership leads and maximising sales potential," Adele Feeney said. She also noted that Contact Advantage is available to all dealers, whether or not they are on the Reynolds dealership management system (DMS).

In addition, Contact Advantage offers a suite of mobile applications, enabling dealerships to take their customers through the entire sales process - from model selection, colour and specification configuration, pricing and order forms - all in one, simple-to-use, interactive process.

Adele Feeney also cited a number of other new retailing tools for dealerships that can help dealers operate more efficiently and deliver a more rewarding experience for their customers.

Aptus Websites , a DMS-neutral website platform that enables dealers to effectively connect with consumers at any time, on any device.

, a DMS-neutral website platform that enables dealers to effectively connect with consumers at any time, on any device. Reynolds Integrated Telephone System (RITS) , a dealership-wide, customer experience management system combining phone features with a dealer's biggest assets - instant customer data from the DMS - to drive efficiency and deliver better customer service by creating more effective phone conversations with consumers.

, a dealership-wide, customer experience management system combining phone features with a dealer's biggest assets - instant customer data from the DMS - to drive efficiency and deliver better customer service by creating more effective phone conversations with consumers. iMakeNews (IMN), digital newsletters for dealers, designed to build customer loyalty and retail action through engaging content. The newsletters offer unique ROI metrics that can help dealers better understand current buying decisions among consumers and how best to influence future buying decisions.

Adele Feeney added that the Reynolds POWER DMS provides the foundation for a complete set of retailing software from Reynolds. The functionality is comprehensive and built in an easy-to-use, highly integrated point-and-click environment.

"With POWER DMS, dealers are able to better manage every part of their business, from the dealership back to the manufacturer and out to the consumer," Adele Feeney said.

Adele Feeney concluded by noting the increasing importance for dealers of effective and insightful customer service.

"For dealers, customer service has never been as important as it is now," Adele Feeney said. "The customer now initially goes to a dealer's website before walking into the showroom armed with information and knowing what the competition is offering. Therefore, managing the entire sales process to create a rewarding customer experience at every touch point inside and outside the four walls of the dealership is becoming a necessity, not a luxury."

For more information about retailing tools from Reynolds, visit www.reyrey.co.uk/DMS.

Reynolds at CDX17

The Car Dealer Conference & Automotive Industry Expo (CDX17) will be held Tuesday, 23 May 2017 at The Wing Conference Centre in Towcester, United Kingdom. Attendees are invited to stop by stand 111 to speak with a Reynolds representative about the latest in retailing tools for dealers.

About Reynolds

Reynolds and Reynolds in the U.K. provides automotive retailing solutions for car dealers and manufacturers. The company has been at the forefront of the computer industry since the 1960s and has provided innovative solutions to the automotive market place, along with comprehensive hardware maintenance and surround services for more than 50 years. Reynolds and Reynolds is headquartered in the U.S. and serves automotive dealerships with software, business forms, and services in North America, Canada, the U.K., and Europe.

For more information: www.reyrey.co.uk and www.contact-advantage.com.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Northern Graphite Corporation ("Northern" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: NGC)(OTCQX: NGPHF) is pleased to announce that it has hired Mr. Antonio de Assis as Senior Marketing Consultant. Mr. Assis is a graduate in Business Administration and has over 30 years of international sales and marketing experience. From 2000 until 2006 he was General Manager of Worldwide Sales and Marketing with Nacional de Grafite, the largest graphite producer outside of China. He was also General Manager, Sales and Marketing with Syrah Resources.

Mr. Assis will develop a comprehensive marketing plan for Northern Graphite with respect to products, markets, prices, customers and value added manufacturing based on his years of experience with the refractory, battery, automotive, electronics and steel markets. The marketing plan will form the basis for strategic partnership and offtake discussions and will be completed after the end of his existing contractual obligations.

Gregory Bowes, Chief Executive Officer, commented that; "The graphite market tends to be secretive and opaque and Mr. Assis will provide the benefit of deep, hands on experience in the industry. We believe Northern already has the lowest marketing risk of any new project because our Bissett Creek deposit has the best flake size distribution in the industry, its production level will be realistic given the size of the market, and it will not have the fines problem which characterizes almost every graphite mine. Mr. Assis will assist us in maximizing the value of the high quality resource at Bissett Creek."

About Northern Graphite

Northern is a Canadian company that has a 100% interest in the Bissett Creek graphite deposit located in southern Canada, relatively close to all required infrastructure. Bissett Creek is an advanced stage project that has a Full Feasibility Study and its major environmental permit. Subject to the completion of operational and species at risk permitting, which are well advanced, Northern could commence construction in 2017 pending financing. The Company believes that in addition to having the best flake size distribution and lowest marketing risk of any new graphite project, Bissett Creek has the highest margin and the added advantage of low capital costs.

Gregory Bowes, B.Sc. MBA, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, has reviewed and is responsible for the technical information in this press release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of statements that include words such as "could", "potential", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "likely", "will" or other similar words or phrases. These statements are only current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Gregory Bowes

CEO

(613) 241-9959




SAN ANTONIO, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) ("Digerati" or the "Company") announced today that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T3 Communications, Inc. ("T3"), a leading provider of cloud communication and broadband solutions in Southwest Florida.

Based in Fort Myers, T3 is Southwest Florida's local provider of quality communication services and solutions that maintains a 99% customer satisfaction rating. As an established provider, T3 has been exceeding the needs of a growing business community, enabling its customers to communicate and compete in the global market. T3's robust offering of communication solutions is backed by cutting-edge technology, superior reliability and unrivaled support. For more information on T3, please visit www.t3com.com.

The business combination of Digerati's wholly-owned subsidiary, Shift8 Networks, Inc. ("Shift8") and T3 brings together two emerging cloud communication providers serving a broad range of customers in various industries including banking, healthcare, financial services, legal, real estate, staffing and government. The transaction will result in a profitable cloud telephony operator serving over 10,000 business users in Texas and Florida generating nearly $6 million in annual revenue. Digerati will consolidate 100% of the revenues and profits derived from this transaction due to its ownership structure of the combined entities. Synergies will be derived from the sharing of best practices, including Shift8's adoption of T3's direct sales model in Texas and T3's adoption of Shift8's channel sales model in Florida. Anticipated cost synergies include consolidation of telecommunications infrastructure, and integration of cloud PBX platforms and back-office systems.

Arthur L. Smith, CEO of Digerati, commented, "T3 Communications aligned perfectly with our strategic plan and acquisition criteria for revenue, profitability, and superior customer service with what we call 'local touch.' During the due diligence phase, we were most impressed with the T3 Team and its culture of genuine care for customers. You can't build a profitable company with T3's reputation, respected brand, and high customer retention without committed employees who make customer support a priority. We are excited about the tremendous value these attributes will bring to our combined offerings in the lucrative corridors we serve in Texas and Florida."

Josh Reel, CEO of T3, stated, "We are excited to be the cultural and operational foundation of Digerati's acquisition strategy during this opportunistic period of growth in our industry. Acquiring other profitable, regional cloud communication providers who manage to the same low attrition rates as we have done is a winning strategy we embrace with enthusiasm. Our obsession with customer service will undoubtedly continue to set us apart from the national and incumbent providers in our industry that are known to inadequately support the small-to-medium sized business."

Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to close in approximately 90 days.

Digerati is a publicly-traded holding company, with a track record of launching and managing successful subsidiary operations, and is a multi-year recipient of Deloitte's Fast500 and Fast50 Awards, for recognition as one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America. Through its subsidiary, Shift8 Networks, the Company is meeting the global needs of businesses seeking simple, flexible, efficient, and cost effective communication solutions, including fully-hosted IP/PBX, VoIP transport, SIP trunking, and customized VoIP services, all delivered Only in the Cloud on its carrier grade network. Former subsidiaries include ATSI Communications, Inc., an international telecommunications operator serving emerging markets throughout Mexico and Latin America, as well as GlobalSCAPE, Inc., an Internet software company trading on the NYSE that specializes in secure file transfer through its popular utility, CuteFTP. Other subsidiaries included a global VoIP carrier and oilfield service businesses operating in the Bakken Shale. For more information, please visit www.digerati-inc.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The information in this news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements related to the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, successful execution of growth strategies, product development and acceptance, the impact of competitive services and pricing, general economic conditions, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:

Jack Eversull

The Eversull Group

(972) 571-1624

(214) 469-2361 fax

Email Contact




LOS ANGELES, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- John Trudell Archives and Inside Recordings announce a re-issue of the critically acclaimed John Trudell release AKA Grafitti Man on 180-gram vinyl and CD, following the successful Record Store Day limited edition release last month.

AKA Grafitti Man was originally released in 1986 on Trudell's own Peace Company label, and then again in 1992 by Rykodisc, with executive producer Jackson Browne, as a compilation of the earlier collection of recordings. Upon release the album was hailed by Bob Dylan as "the best album of the year . . ."

The new John Trudell Archives and Inside Recordings LP release is on black, 180-gram vinyl and was manufactured by the Pallas Group in Germany, and includes printed lyric sleeves and a full digital download of the album along with a bonus video for Rockin' The Res. The CD package is expanded from the original 1992 release, and also includes Trudell's lyrics.

The CD and LP can be pre-ordered through Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Aka-Grafitti-Man-John-Trudell/dp/B00WVE1MQ4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3's=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1493072444&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=aka+grafitti+man+2017

For more information please visit johntrudell.com and johntrudellarchives.org

JOHN TRUDELL AKA GRAFITTI MAN

TRACK LISTING

1. Rockin' The Res

2. Grafitti Man

3. Restless Situations

4. Wildfires

5. Baby Boom Che

6. Bombs Over Baghdad

7. Richman's War

8. Somebody's Kid

9. Never Never Blues

10. What He'd Done

11. Beauty In A Fade

12. Tina Smiled



ABOUT JOHN TRUDELL

John Trudell (1946-2015) was a leader for the Indian of All Tribes Occupation of Alcatraz in 1969, and went on to serve as Chairman of the American Indian Movement (AIM) from 1973-1979. On February 11, 1979, he burned an American flag on the steps of the F.B.I J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington D.C., as he'd been taught in the military to burn the flag once it had been desecrated; and the US government's treatment of Native Americans and its classism and racism had desecrated the flag. Some12 hours after the flag incident, a fire "of suspicious origin" burned down Trudell's home on the Shoshone-Paiute reservation in Nevada, killing Trudell's pregnant wife, Tina, their three children and Tina's mother. The F.B.I. declined to investigate, and the blaze was officially ruled an "accident." After the fire,Trudell turned his tears into writing poetry and later, spoken word music and acting. A lifelong activist and human rights advocate, he was quoted as saying "I'm just a human being trying to make it in a world that is rapidly losing its understanding of being human."

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/509444/John_Trudell_AKA_Grafitti_Man_Inside_Recordings.jpg


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.
PUNE, India, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Mr. Nitin Gadkari, India's Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, inaugurated Praj's cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant near Pune, India on 7thMay 2017. It is India's first integrated bio-refinery, built to showcase Praj's cutting-edge proprietary process technology to produce ethanol from agricultural waste.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/509624/Praj_Inauguration_Ceremony_Nitin_Gadkari.jpg )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160810/397076LOGO )



The demonstration plant has the capacity to produce 1 million liters of ethanol annually from a variety of biomass such as rice and wheat straw, cotton stalks, sugarcane trash, bagasse, corn cobs and stover. Backed by its expertise and experience of well integrated 1st generation technologies, Praj is confident that their 2nd generation ethanol technology will produce ethanol at the lowest cost and GHG emissions.

Praj's advance technology platform enables them to expand its technology portfolio to other renewable fuels and chemicals.

Praj, a company known for technologies which have continued to drive down GHG emissions as well as improve business sustainability significantly in 1st generation ethanol space, expects its 2nd generation ethanol technology to be a trailblazer in the industry.

Praj has invested close to US$ 30 m for the development of cellulosic ethanol technology over the period of last seven years from its internal accruals.

Praj has already signed MoUs with Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to be their technology partners for certain projects in India.

In the first phase, about 10 to 12 projects, based on 2nd Generation ethanol technology are being planned across the country, each with a capital outlay of approximately US$ 100 m and average capacity of 100,000 liters of ethanol per day.

Mr. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, Praj said, "This technology has great potential to boost to rural economy, create employment and help improve sustainability significantly."

About Praj Industries Limited:

Praj is a global process solutions company driven by innovation and integration capabilities, offers solutions to add significant value to bio-ethanol facilities, critical process equipment & systems, Hipurity solutions and bio-products. Over the past three decades, Praj has focused on environment, energy and agri-process led applications. Praj has been a trusted partner for process engineering, plant & critical equipment and systems with over 750 references across five continents. Solutions offered by Praj are backed by its state-of-the-art R&D Center called Praj Matrix. Praj is listed on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges of India.

Media enquiries:

Sandeep Jadhav

Praj Industries Ltd.

Tel: +91-20-71802000 / 22941000

Email: sandeepjadhav@praj.net


The Adaptive Strategic Execution Programme will focus on upskilling project leaders to thrive in complex environments

DURHAM, North Carolina and LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, a leading global training company, announced its partnership today with Duke Corporate Education, a world-class provider of global leadership solutions, ranked in the top 3 by the Financial Times in Custom Executive Education for 16 consecutive years. Together, Strategy Execution and Duke Corporate Education are launching their Adaptive Strategic Execution Programme, which focuses on developing leaders of project-based work as they navigate unanticipated market shifts and unpredictable industry disruptions. The partnership, which blends decades of academic and professional expertise, will reach a broad audience beyond traditional project and programme managers.

Webinar

In conjunction with the partnership announcement and Adaptive Strategic Execution Programme launch, Strategy Execution is hosting a webinar, Adaptive Strategic Execution for a Complex World, led by Vice President of Product Management for TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, Jonathan Gilbert and Duke Corporate Education's Global Head of Strategic Leadership Solutions, Tony O'Driscoll. The live event will expand upon the new partnership and explain how leaders of project-based work need to evolve their skill sets in order to adapt to changing situations where what "has always worked" no longer does.

To register for the webinar, being held on Wednesday, May 24, at12.00 p.m.-1.00 p.m. BST (UK), click here. During the live presentation, participants can contribute to the conversation using StratExLive on Twitter.

The background

Today's business environment is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). In this world, projects have become the means by which all workgets done, and the leaders driving this project-based work have become the organisation's most valuable asset. The techniques and skills that have traditionally worked for getting project-based work done are evolving as leaders at every level are forced to become more responsive, resilient and adaptive. Organisations must consistently balance the need to meet strategic goals while also equipping their talent to adapt and grow with changing needs.

The programme

Strategy Execution and Duke Corporate Education's Adaptive Strategic Execution Programme will be completed in collaboration with Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, ranked #3 this year by Bloomberg Businessweek. The programmewill empower leaders to navigate the three domains that influence and define how work gets done: Strategy, Work and People.Learning to harness these domains allows organisations to maximise agility in strategic execution, which not only improves their results, but also enables them to thrive in the face of competition.

Each of the eight courses in the Adaptive Strategic Execution Programme curriculum is purposefully designed to extend the mindset, tool set, and skill set of the project-based work leader to navigate these three domains in increasingly complex contexts. Upon successful completion of the programme, participants will receive a certificate.





The partnership

Strategy Execution's proven business techniques combined with Duke Corporate Education's cutting-edge university research and learning methodologies infuse the programme with a one-of-a-kind project-focused perspective designed to increase alignment and engagement across organisations. This collaboration makes them uniquely qualified to help teams, business units and entire enterprises execute complex strategy in a relevant and practical way.

"We found the perfect partner in Duke Corporate Education because, while their model of approaching executive education is fundamentally unique, their emphasis on influencing the future of leadership aligns with our values and vision," said Strategy Execution CEO Bob Seiler. "We have an exciting opportunity to produce innovative solutions to not only help our clients get work done, but to elevate and influence the people who propel their strategies."

Duke Corporate Education CEO Michael Chavez added, "Strategy execution through education is at the heart of what we do because sustainable execution cannot happen without great leadership. In order for organisations to thrive, they have to move faster and be more adaptive. In our view, people are the real levers to make this happen. And in the face of ever-increasing global ambiguity, leadership has never been as important as it is now. We're eager to work with Strategy Execution to create solutions for tomorrow's new challenges."

About TwentyEighty Strategy Execution

TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, a TwentyEighty Inc. company that combined industry leaders ESI International and IPS Learning, delivers performance education that closes the strategy execution gap by strengthening people's strategic and project execution capabilities to drive higher performance. Through our robust and deep curriculum taught by instructors with real world experience, TwentyEighty Strategy Execution helps organisations reach their strategic goals through improving the execution of project-based work. Learn more today atstrategyex.co.uk.

About Duke Corporate Education

Duke Corporate Education is the premier global provider of leadership solutions that enable leaders at all levels to adapt and move the organisation forward. With delivery in over 75 countries, we work together with clients to understand their context and craft the right educational solution for any level of leadership -managers, directors, high potentials or executives. Headquartered in Durham, NC, Duke Corporate Education is a not-for-profit wholly-owned support organisation of Duke University, with global offices located in Carlsbad, CA; London, UK; Johannesburg, South Africa; Singapore and Ahmedabad, India. To learn more, visit dukece.com.

Contact:



Nadine Rochester

Marketing Director

Nadine.Rochester@strategyex.com

M: +44(0)77 398 93710

Christine Robers

Director, Global Marketing, Duke Corporate Education

christine.robers@dukece.com

+1 919.680.5053

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/509353/ASEP_graphic.jpg

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/509354/TwentyEighty_Logo.jpg

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/509355/DukeCorp_Logo.jpg


GREENSBORO, NC--(Marketwired - May 09, 2017) - Gilbarco, the worldwide technology leader for retail and commercial fueling operations, today opens its annual Retail Technology Conference in Myrtle Beach to help retailers and fuel operators learn how to leverage technologies like the Cloud to protect and grow their businesses.

The theme of the conference is "Secure, Connected & Profitable: The Future of Convenience and Fuel Retailing." Held over a four-day period, the conference includes a mix of thought-provoking general information sessions and educational break outs. It also includes an exhibition of the latest hardware, software and other tools designed to help attendees promote and operate their businesses more effectively, both by Gilbarco and its broad ecosystem of partners. A variety of industry, non-industry and company presenters will help cover and lead discussion in the three focal areas: security, connectivity and profitability.

The security sessions cover both social and technical subjects, including a discussion on today's security-conscious consumer, but also the current state and future of EMV in the store and on the forecourt. Presenters will help explain the status and importance of the changing EMV deadlines and related nuances. One of key speakers in this area is Steve Scarince, from the U.S. Secret Service. He will speak about industry statistics and provide an update on criminal tactics affecting convenience store security.

The connectivity sessions will provide information about the "Cloud" and how it can be leveraged to engage customers, but also to monitor and manage operations, from fuel supply logistics to the fuel dispenser to the point of sale. Gilbarco participants will cover some of the unique aspects of Gilbarco's Passport  POS software that allows information exchange and connectivity across a network of c-stores or fuel outlets. Industry expert, Blain Boelter, VP of Operations at Holiday Oil, will discuss how to optimize business analytics using Passport's 3 rd party data interface. Another guest speaker for the connectivity sessions is Prasad Satyavolu, Global Head of Consulting and Innovation with Cognizant Technologies. His firm is known for helping clients transform their business operations and models to leverage the digital age.

The profitability sessions will cover consumer information and technologies at the pump that are designed to drive customers into the store. According to Gilbarco's VP of Marketing for North America, Mark Williams, "At the end of the day, retailers need their stores to be profitable. In an environment of tough fuel margins and increasing competition from other channels, Gilbarco knows that every incremental dollar counts. Our conference is designed to help attendees explore ways to get more customers to their sites and sell them more when they're there," said Williams.

Doug Stephens, Founder of the Retail Prophet and one of the world's foremost retail industry futurists, will speak to the future of fuel retailing, offering unique perspectives on retailing, business and consumer behavior. Another session will feature Shama Hyder, CEO of the Marketing Zen Group. Hyder will discuss marketing to millennials and will share insights on how this growing segment can be engaged in the convenience store environs.

To learn more about the Gilbarco Retail Technology Conference, the guest speakers, the educational sessions and the latest in EMV solutions and offerings, click Retail Technology Conference.

About Gilbarco Veeder-Root

Gilbarco Veeder-Root is the worldwide technology leader for retail and commercial fueling operations. It offers the broadest range of integrated solutions from the forecourt to the convenience store and head office. For over 150 years, Gilbarco has earned the trust of its customers by providing long-term partnership, uncompromising support and proven reliability. Major product lines include: fuel dispensers, pump media, point-of-sale systems, payment systems, tank gauges, software development and integration, fleet management systems and nozzles.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/5/9/11G138247/Images/Gilbarco_RTC-f6b8acd0e89485e9b2f0ccf5960af688.JPG

For further information, contact:



Patricia Stancati

Marketing Communications Program Manager

Gilbarco Veeder-Root

Tel: (336) 547-5121

e-mail: Email contact


Armenians celebrate Shushi liberation anniversary without liberators (video)

Armenians are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Shushi liberation on Monday without the liberators. Zhirayr Sefilyan, Pavlik Manukyan, Arayik Khandoyan and Samvel Babayan are in prison on various charges. Not only are they ignored by the people who are in power [in Armenia] but they are also persecuted by them. Yes, they liberated our territories but our country is not liberated fully. And today, Zhirayr and his friends fell victims to this regime, said Alek Yenigomshyan, a member of the Founding Parliament opposition group. The special battalion led by Lebanese-born Armenian military commander [Zhirayr Seflyan] participated in the liberation of Shushi in 1992. The battalion comprising mostly Diaspora Armenians did not put down arms even after the liberation of the city. Seflyan, a co-founder of the New Armenia Public Salvation Front, was arrested and sent to jail after the 2016 April war in Karabakh. Alek Yenigomshyan says his arrest was not accidental and the political persecution related to his harsh denunciations of the authorities. Moreover, the opposition leader was arrested after he blames the authorities for the loss of some 800 hectares of land to Azerbaijan amid the 4-day hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan last April. He [Sefilyan] was a person who would never be controlled by others. Zhirayr and his friends were chased and imprisoned because of telling the truth not only about the four-day war but for their disobedience to the authorities, Mr Yenigomshyan continued. Zhirayr Sefilyan was put under arrest in June 2016 based on the testimony of two persons. He was charged under several articles at a time, including illegal arms trafficking and possession, attempt top seize several government buildings and telecommunication facilities in Yerevan. From moral and political perspectives, this regime was to stand trial instead of Sefilyan and his friends, Alek Yenigomshyan said. The case has been sent to court. If found guilty, Sefilyan faces up to 18 years in prison.
DUBLIN, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global POC Lipid Testing Market 2017-2021" report to their offering.

The global POC lipid testing market to grow at a CAGR of 6.28% during the period 2017-2021.

The report, Global POC Lipid Testing 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.

One trend in the market is increasing adoption of POC lipid testing in home-based healthcare settings. Home healthcare is gaining popularity as it provides patients the type of care and attention that they need in their own homes. It is a completely uncomplicated process that is convenient for the geriatric population who cannot visit hospitals due to their health-related issues.



According to the report, one driver in the market is increasing healthcare expenditure and reimbursements. An organized reimbursement structure in low and middle-income countries is an effective measure to reduce the healthcare out-of-pocket expenditure of individuals. There has been a continuous effort taken by governments to reduce the length of hospital stay and curb the healthcare expenditure. The average length of stay (ALOS) in hospitals is often seen as an indicator of efficiency. Therefore, improvements in technology with the provision of cheap and high-quality medical solutions are some of the factors that contribute to the growth of the global POC lipid testing market.



Key vendors



Alere

F. Hoffmann-La Roche

Abaxis



Other prominent vendors



Accutech

Menarini Group

Bio-Rad

Biochemical Systems International

Eurotrol

General Life Biotechnology

Helena

Nova Biomedical

Randox

Samsung

Jant Pharmacal

SD Biosensor



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 product



PART 07: Market segmentation by end-user



PART 08: Geographical segmentation



PART 09: Decision framework



PART 10: Drivers and challenges



PART 11: Market trends



PART 12: Vendor landscape



PART 13: Key vendor analysis



PART 14: Appendix



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fg3td3/global_poc_lipid

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Patriot National, Inc. (NYSE: PN) who purchased shares between August 15, 2016 and March 3, 2017 . The action, which was filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the Company violated federal securities laws.

In particular, the complaint alleges that on August 15, 2016, Patriot National confirmed that the special committee of its board of directors was working with Ebix, Inc. to possibly combine the two businesses. Then, on November 8, 2016, Patriot National announced that it was rejecting a $475 million proposal from Ebix. In a conference call with analysts, Steven M. Mariano, Chief Executive Officer of Patriot National, stated that the Ebix transaction was rejected because the Company had a better offer from someone else. However, the complaint alleges that Patriot National officials failed to disclose that the special committee was beholden to Mariano, was operating for the benefit of Mariano, did not independently assess the merits of the Ebix transaction, and was not exploring strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value.

Shareholders have until May 15, 2017 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery does not require that you serve as lead plaintiff. You may choose to be an absent class member.

If you suffered a loss during the class period and wish to obtain additional information, please contact Joseph Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or visit http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-sa/patriot-national-inc-pn?wire=1.

Joseph Klein, Esq. is an experienced attorney and has also practiced as a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Klein represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

Joseph Klein, Esq.

2926 Avenue L

Brooklyn, NY 11210

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

Fax: (347) 558-9665

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE: The Klein Law Firm
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Cardiff International, Inc. (OTCQB: CDIF) and MedicaMetrix, Inc. (Private; "MedicaMetrix") announced today they have signed a Letter of Intent agreement under which MedicaMetrix will merge into Cardiff International as its subsidiary, MedicaMetrix, Inc., in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $6 million.

MedicaMetrix is the creator of ProstaMetric, a medical device for more effective prostate cancer diagnosis and monitoring with regulatory approval (CE Mark), with no direct competitor.

Cardiff's total assets will now exceed $20 million including the $9 million in acquired MedicaMetrix assets. This market-expanding merger provides Cardiff entry into the medical device field. MedicaMetrix received a CE mark for the product in October 2016, the EU equivalent of FDA clearance. MedicaMetrix also received ISO 13485 certification (a comprehensive quality management system for medical device manufacturers) further validating the superior manufacturing and quality control systems the Company has perfected and is now using routinely. These developments have a profound impact on ProstaMetric's value proposition. As a direct result, we can now address a $1+ Billion market outside the US. This aligns with MedicaMetrix's long-term strategy to enter the EU market first and then the US market after establishing a profitable and growing business in Europe. President, CEO, and Founder, Christopher G. LaFarge stated, "Toward that end, we have already established a sales organization in the Netherlands and are engaged with 16 UK and Dutch institutions who are eager to use ProstaMetric. The Company will use the Series B funding to launch the product in the EU, build revenues, and apply to the US FDA 510(k) clearance. We strongly believe that this is a potential blockbuster product."

"We are pleased to welcome MedicaMetrix to the Cardiff family," said Alex Cunningham, President/Chief Executive Officer of Cardiff. "Another partnership that adds to our solid foundation for our investors, while diversifying our revenues streams, improving profitability, and increasing shareholder value. MedicaMetrix founders and senior management believe it's in their best interest to become part of Cardiff which provides them the financial platform to double their business over the next 12 months projecting revenues close to $7 million." MedicaMetrix, a Delaware corporation, was founded in 2007 and has its manufacturing facility in Lowell, Massachusetts. LaFarge commented, "We are pleased to be part of the Cardiff family and believe together MedicaMetrix will benefit greatly from this transaction."

Leadership:

After the transaction is completed, the founder and management have executed retention agreements and will remain with MedicaMetrix as a subsidiary of Cardiff in continuing their leadership roles.

Christopher G. LaFarge, President & CEO, Founder: A serial entrepreneur who founded IIC which developed Micro-Rig, an autonomous robot for oil & gas wells, which was purchased by Halliburton. Christopher is a graduate of Harvard College (Biology) and Yale School of Management (MBA).





Richard C. Carlson, VP, International Marketing: Rick has been CEO of several companies and brings a wealth of international sales and marketing experience with companies such as Boston Scientific, C.R. Bard, AMS, and ProUroCare. He has been involved with in urology/prostate disease products for more than 25 years.





Joseph J. George, Director of Product Design, Manufacturing, and Quality: Joe is an electrical & process design engineer with 34 yrs. experience in electronics design and manufacturing in USA and Asia. Joe also brings a solid business management, engineering, lean manufacturing, and ISO quality background.





Ongoing Boards of Directors and Advisors include a number of preeminent urologists including, John Libertino, MD (Chief, Lahey Clinic; ex-CEO), Peter Madras, MD (Professor at Harvard Medical School; Lahey Clinic), Peter Schulam, MD (Chief, Yale-New Haven), Martin Sanda, MD (Chief, Emory U.), and David Barrett, MD, (Chief, Mayo Clinic, and ex CEO of Lahey Clinic).

Approvals:

This transaction is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for federal income tax purposes, and as a result, the shares of MedicaMetrix stock exchanged for shares of Cardiff stock are expected to be transferred on a tax-free basis. The definitive agreement has been approved by the unanimous votes of the Board of Directors of both companies. Consummation is subject to the approval of audited financials.

About Cardiff: Cardiff International, Inc. is a public holding company, much like a cooperative, leveraging proven management in private companies that become subsidiaries under the Cardiff umbrella. Our focus is not industry or geographic-specific, but rather on proven management, market, and margin. Cardiff targets acquisitions of mature, high growth, niche companies. Cardiff's strategy identifies and empowers select income-producing middle market private businesses, technology companies and commercial real estate properties. Cardiff provides these companies both 1) the enhanced ability to raise money for operations or expansion, and 2) an equity exit and liquidity strategy for the owner, heirs, and/or Investors. For investors, Cardiff provides a diversified lower risk to protect and safely enhance their investment by continually adding assets and holdings. Cardiff is led by strong and talented roster of executives and advisors providing expert acquisition, market guidance and added value for subsidiaries and investors.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This news release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks include the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the Company's contracts, the Company's liquidity position, the Company's ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources, and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur.

Cardiff International, Inc.

Investor Relations

844-628-2100 ext. 705

investorrelations@cardiffusa.com




MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- UpGuard (www.upguard.com), the world's first cyber resilience platform, today announced that it has finalized a partnership with Insentra (www.insentragroup.com) as its exclusive service delivery partner in Australia and New Zealand.

UpGuard, an Australian-born company based in Silicon Valley, gives organizations visibility into the complete, ongoing state of their complex IT infrastructures and provides insight into their cybersecurity postures. Since opening an office in Sydney earlier this year as part of an effort to reinvest in the APAC region, UpGuard has doubled down on its two-tier channel model, signing distribution deals with both ACA Pacific and NextGen. The appointment of Insentra as a service delivery partner will enable UpGuard and its partners to provide end-users with the customer service and support needed to continue to scale business in these key markets.

"Insentra's great reputation, technical expertise and channel only business model made them an ideal choice to support our channel efforts in Australia and New Zealand," said Gerry Sillars, VP, APAC, UpGuard. "Their dedicated team of highly trained consultants will work closely with our existing channel partners as a locally based, external support capability to ensure that our customers are getting the best experience possible, from deployment onwards."

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Australian-founded UpGuard, and we are excited about the innovative solutions they bring to the market," said Ronnie Altit, CEO, Insentra. "We believe in their mission to introduce robust cyber resilience to companies needing to tackle increasingly complex cyber risk and look forward to a long and successful partnership."

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

About Insentra

Insentra is a collaborative IT Services partner delivering specialised Professional and Managed Services. Insentra's partner-centric model provides the channel direct access to industry expertise and accountable outcomes. Insentra believes great business relationships start with trust and are 100% channel focused, meaning they only transact and deliver services exclusively with partners.

Insentra dares to be different. Their dedication is based on the vision to be the number one channel services company on the planet. They do this by being the best versions of themselves, creating an outstanding environment for their team, loving the work they do and amazing each other, their partners and clients. Insentra is and always will remain a partner obsessed company.

Press Contact:

Kelly Rethmeyer

kelly[dot]rethmeyer[at]upguard[dot]com

650-250-4542




Regulatory News:

PRESS RELEASE

Regulated information

Publication of a transparency notification

1. Summary of the notification

X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE, listed on Euronext Paris, has received on 8 May 2017 a transparency notification dated 3 May 2017. This transparency notification indicates that, by virtue of a disposal of shares by Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd. through the exercise of the over-allotment option (see press release as of 28 April 2017) on 2 May 2017, Roland Duchatelet, Francoise Chombar, Rudi De Winter and Xtrion NV on the one hand and the State Financial Secretary of Sarawak, Malaysia and Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd. on the other hand have fallen below the threshold of 60% of the total number of voting rights in X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE. Therefore, they now hold together 59.22% of the voting rights of X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE.

This publication is made by X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE pursuant to the Belgian law of 2 May 2007 on disclosure of major holdings.

2. Content of the notification

The notification dated 3 May 2017 contains the following information:

Reason for the notification

Acquisition or disposal of voting securities or voting rights

Notification by

A parent undertaking or a controlling person;

Persons acting in concert.

Persons subject to the notification requirement

State Financial Secretary, Sarawak;

Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd.;

Roland Duchatelet;

Francoise Chombar;

Rudi De Winter;

Xtrion NV.

Persons that dispose of voting rights

Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd

Transaction date

02/05/2017

Threshold that is crossed (in %)

60

Denominator

130,781,669

Notified details

A) Voting rights Previous notification After the transaction # of voting rights # of voting rights % of voting rights Holders of voting rights Linked to securities Not linked to the securities Linked to securities Not linked to the securities State Financial Secretary, Sarawak 0 0 0.00% Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd. 18,248,694 14,948,655 11.43% Subtotal 18,248,694 14,948,655 11.43% Roland Duchatelet 125,724 125,724 0.10% Elex NV 1,005,996 1,005,996 0.77% Francoise Chombar 37,716 37,716 0.03% Rudi De Winter 37,716 37,716 0.03% Sensinnovat BVBA 0 0 0.00% Stichting Administratiekantoor XPEQT 0 0 0.00% Xtrion NV 61,141,179 61,141,179 46.75% X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE 0 0 0.00% X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG 149,748 149,748 0.11% TOTAL 77,446,734 0 59.22% 0.00%

Chain of controlled undertakings through which the holding is effectively held

State Financial Secretary, Sarawak holds all shares in Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd., which in turn holds 11.43% in X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE. Xtrion NV holds 46.75% of the shares in X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE and can currently be considered to control de facto the latter. Xtrion NV's shares are owned by Stichting Administratiekantoor Xpeqt (99.99%), Roland Duchatelet and Rudi De Winter. Stichting Administratiekantoor Xpeqt is owned by Sensinnovat BVBA (which is jointly controlled by Rudi De Winter and Francoise Chombar) and by Elex NV (which is fully controlled by Roland Duchatelet). Elex NV, Roland Duchatelet, Rudi De Winter and Francoise Chombar also directly own shares in X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE. X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE and holds 0.1% shares in its mother company.

Additional information

On 5 April 2017, Xtrion NV and Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd. entered into a shareholders' agreement relating to X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE. This shareholders agreement provides for the allocation of directors seats and voting commitments in the shareholders' meeting relating to the long-term policy of X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE. Xtrion NV and Sarawak Technology Holdings Sdn. Bhd. could therefore be considered to be acting in concert.

3. Miscellaneous

The notification can be consulted on the website of X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE via this link:

www.xfab.com/fileadmin/X-FAB/Investor_Relations/Joint_Transparency_Notification_09May2017.pdf

About X-FAB

X-FAB is the leading analog/mixed-signal and MEMS foundry group manufacturing silicon wafers for automotive, industrial, consumer, medical and other applications. Its customers worldwide benefit from the highest quality standards, manufacturing excellence and innovative solutions by using X-FAB's modular CMOS processes in geometries ranging from 1.0 to 0.13 m, and its special BCD, SOI and MEMS long-lifetime processes. X-FAB's analog-digital integrated circuits (mixed-signal ICs), sensors and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are manufactured at six production facilities in Germany, France, Malaysia and the U.S. X-FAB employs approximately 3,800 people worldwide. For more information, please visit www.xfab.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509006154/en/

Contacts:

X-FAB

Uta Steinbrecher

Tel: +49 361 427 6489

E-Mail: uta.steinbrecher@xfab.com
NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) - 50 Jahre nach seiner Grundung steht das US-Musikmagazin "Rolling Stone" zum Verkauf. Der Herausgeber Jann Wenner will seinen Mehrheitsanteil an der Zeitschrift aufgeben, wie der 71-Jahrige der "New York Times" sagte. "Ich liebe meinen Job, ich geniee ihn, ich habe ihn sehr lange genossen", erklarte er. Aber es sei klug, nun loszulassen.

Wenner hatte das Magazin vor 50 Jahren gemeinsam mit seinem Freund und Mentor Ralph Gleason gegrundet. Die erste Ausgabe erschien am 9. November 1967. In den folgenden Jahren entwickelte sich das Blatt zu einem Hort der Gegenkultur, auch dank des exzentrischen Autoren Hunter S. Thompson, der den Ruf des Magazins mit seinem "Gonzo"-Journalismus entschieden mitpragte.

Der "Rolling Stone" hat noch immer Kultstatus. Die Zeitschrift geriet in der Vergangenheit aber auch immer wieder in die Kritik. 2015 musste die Redaktion einen Artikel uber die mutmaliche Vergewaltigung einer Studentin zuruckziehen. Ein Gutachten war zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass das Magazin die journalistische Sorgfaltspflicht verletzt hatte. Fur die Tat gab es keine Beweise. 2013 loste ein schmeichelndes Cover-Bild des Boston-Attentaters Dschochar Zarnajew eine Welle der Emporung aus.

In den USA erscheint das Magazin alle zwei Wochen. Die verkaufte Gesamtauflage lag 2016 bei rund 1,5 Millionen Exemplaren./hma/DP/she

AXC0150 2017-09-19/14:28
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- The Canadian Labour Congress is partnering with the Ontario Federation of Labour to host a Street Party for a FairFuture in the heart of the Financial District of downtown Toronto.

For Canada's unions, a fair future includes decent work, a $15 minimum wage and the right to join a union, but it also means challenging racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia, while championing equity, social justice, and a green economy.

The rally will start at noon on Thursday, May 11 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and head east on Front Street. At Simcoe Street, one group will turn north to King and then east to the corner of King West and Bay Streets. The second group will proceed east on Front to Bay, then north on Bay. The two groups will meet at the intersection of King West and Bay Streets for the street party, where the speakers will welcome the crowd to a celebration of the role that Canada's unions play in making Canada a fairer country for all.

This is a child-friendly event with a DJ dance party, popcorn, ice cream, and other festivities.

What: Rally and street party When: 12:00 p.m., Thursday, May 11 Where: Corner of King Street West and Bay Street, Toronto Who: Hassan Yussuff, President, Canadian Labour Congress Rawan Habib, Vice-President, Campaigns and Advocacy - York Federation of Students Chris Buckley, President, Ontario Federation of Labour Bilan Arte, National Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students

Contacts:

Chantal St-Denis

CLC Communications

613-355-1962

cstdenis@clc-ctc.ca



Shannon Devine

Assistant to the Officers, OFL

416-302-1699

sdevine@ofl.ca




OSLO, NORWAY -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- NEXT Biometrics Group ASA (Oslo Bors: NEXT) today announced it shipped sensor number 2 million in April, and that NEXT has now proven its ability to consistently mass produce fingerprint sensors with industry normal yield figures.

NEXT also announced that it is adding quality hires to its staff as Dan Cronin has joined the company as Executive Vice President of Engineering. Cronin has more than thirty years of experience in the semiconductor industry, in a career spanning IBM, Motorola, Freescale and NXP, holding senior executive level positions in those companies. His initial focus will be ASIC and module design and delivery.

In addition, NEXT announced that Zehira Dadon-Sitbon has accepted the position as Vice President of Product and Program Management. She has worked in the semiconductor industry for more than thirty years, running complex multi-discipline programs at large companies including Motorola, Philips, Freescale and Synaptics.

NEXT CEO Ritu Favre said, "The recent executive hires prove our ability to attract top semiconductor industry talent. We are now taking a number of steps toward becoming a leading supplier of high-quality large fingerprint sensors. Production is running at high yields, and coupled with our new ASIC we are able to ramp up volumes to meet the increasing demand for our cost efficient large-size fingerprint sensors."

ABOUT NEXT Biometrics: Enabled by its patented NEXT Active Thermal principle, NEXT Biometrics (www.NextBiometrics.com) offers high quality area fingerprint sensors at a fraction of the prices of comparable competitors. A wide range of product formats, including smartcards, notebooks, time & attendance, usb-sensors, smartcard readers, secure tokens and access control systems and many more are targeted.

NEXT BIOMETRICS GROUP ASA is a publicly listed company headquartered in Oslo, Norway and with sales, support and development subsidiaries in Seattle, Silicon Valley, Taipei, Prague and Shanghai. Media and Investor contacts for NEXT Biometrics are Ritu Favre (CEO), Ritu.Favre@NEXTbiometrics.com, Tore Etholm Idsoe (former CEO), Tore.Idsoe@NEXTbiometrics.com and Knut Stalen (CFO), Knut.Stalen@NEXTbiometrics.com.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3137555



Contact:

Brian Dobson

DobsonPR.com

Email Contact

203-613-2222




NERETO, Italy, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Sandhills East has acquired Agroserv SRL, the Italy-based media company behind www.CercoCamion.com. The website, which connects buyers and sellers in the country's commercial trucking industry, will become part of Sandhills' expansive international portfolio of publications and websites serving local and global equipment markets for the construction, agriculture, and commercial trucking industries. In all, the purchase of Agroserv furthers Sandhills' mission to provide buyers and sellers the resources they need to transact equipment, parts, and related services efficiently and cost-effectively.

In addition to its range of media and web marketing services, including hosted websites and SEO/SEM services, Agroserv also provides CercoCamion.com, a leading resource for buyers and sellers in Italy's commercial trucking market. The site features detailed for-sale listings from dealers across the country and beyond. Buyers frequent it when they're in the market for these assets, using detailed information in listings to contact sellers directly. With the acquisition, Sandhills pairs the broad circulation and brand recognition of Truck Paper with CercoCamion to bring buyers the equipment they need and better serve the interests of sellers leveraging these powerful resources.

Sandhills will launch a complementary CercoCamion.com print publication, providing comprehensive, multi-channel exposure that enables sellers to more effectively target buyers. "CercoCamion.com is a powerful and well-known resource for Italy's commercial trucking industry," explains Sandhills' Chief Operations Officer Shawn Peed. "Our intention is to build on the established brand by reinforcing its online presence with complementary exposure in a medium that has proven effective in markets all over the world-print."

The soon-to-launch publication will join the ranks of the industry leading titles distributed by Sandhills Publishing and Sandhills East, the circulation of which exceeds five million publications each month. The company will also establish an additional office location in the small town of Nereto, located in the eastern commune of Teramo, Italy.

About Sandhills East

As a subsidiary of Sandhills Publishing, Sandhills East builds on the company's decades-long presence in its core industries. Sandhills Publishing has nearly 900 employees and is based in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Its first publication, Machinery Trader, has served the heavy machinery industry since 1978. The company has since added publications and websites reaching the trucking (Truck Paper), aviation (Controller, Executive Controller, and Charter Hub), technology (Computer Power User and CyberTrend), farm equipment (TractorHouse), auction (AuctionTime), and equipment rental (RentalYard) industries, as well as buyers and sellers in international markets (MarketBook).

Sandhills East was established in 2011 in Manchester, United Kingdom, quickly expanding to include office locations in Peterborough and Essex, United Kingdom; Beaucamps-le-Vieux, France; Madrid, Spain; and Senningerberg, Luxembourg. The company also has offices in Sidney, Nebraska; Scottsdale, Arizona;and Brisbane, Australia.

About Sandhills Publishing

Sandhills Publishing is an information processing company headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our broad range of products and services gather, process, and distribute information in the form of trade publications and corresponding websites that connect buyers and sellers across the trucking, agriculture, construction, heavy equipment, aviation, and technology industries. Our integrated, industry-specific approach to hosted technologies and services offers solutions that help businesses large and small operate efficiently and grow securely, cost-effectively, and successfully. Sandhills Publishing-we are the cloud.

CONTACT: Sandhills East, +44 (0) 1618718760

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/509632/PressReleaseSites.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473503/SandhillsEast_Logo.jpg
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- A British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel has fined and issued certain temporary market bans against Christine Maria Cerisse for making false or misleading statements to BCSC investigators.

In January 2017, the panel found that Cerisse made false or misleading statements in her answers to three questions during an interview with BCSC staff under oath in October 2013. In the same decision, the panel dismissed allegations of misrepresentation, market manipulation, and illegal distribution against Cerisse and two other B.C. residents, Laurence (a.k.a. Lawrence) Frederick Austin and Thomas John Sadler.

When describing Cerisse's misconduct, the panel noted "She was attempting to conceal the identity of the ownership or control over several entities that had participated in, or were connected to, a public market transaction that the Commission was investigating."

The panel also stated "The repeated nature of (her) lies and the consistent theme to those lies leads us to conclude that her misconduct was intentional."

For her misconduct, Cerisse has been ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $20,000. She is prohibited from becoming or acting as a director or officer of any issuer (with limited exceptions), becoming or acting as a registrant, and acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with activities in the securities market. Cerisse's bans are to remain in effect until the later of the date that she pays her administrative penalty and six months from the date of the panel's decision.

You may view the sanctions decision on our website, www.bcsc.bc.ca, by typing Christine Maria Cerisse or 2017 BCSECCOM 142 in the search box. Information about disciplinary proceedings can be found in the Enforcement section of the BCSC website.

Please visit the Canadian Securities Administrators' (CSA) Disciplined List for information relating to persons and companies disciplined by provincial securities regulators, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA).

About the British Columbia Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca)

The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering:

-- A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence -- A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital

Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org.

Contacts:

Media Contact:

Alison Walker

604-899-6713



Public inquiries:

604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free)

inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca




Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights

Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh

Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom

Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Google Ad

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS

Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

Google Ad

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan
DUBLIN, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Research Report on Electrolytic Copper Industry in China, 2017-2021" report to their offering.

According to the researcher, China's manufacturing industries develop fast after entering WTO. Demand for electrolytic copper is daily increasing, which promote the production capacity and output volume of electrolytic copper. By the end of 2106, the production capacity of refined copper was 10.80 million tons, twice that in 2006. The big growth in the smelting production capacity drives the production volume of electrolytic copper in the country. The output volume of electrolytic copper grew from 2.925 million tons in 2006 to 8.436 million tons in 2016, with the CAGR reaching 11.2% during 2006-2016.

According to the researcher, China largely relies on raw material import as the largest consumer of copper. The copper import volume increases fast in recent years. However, the degree of self-support of electrolytic copper keeps growing as well. Different from other metal smelting industries, the production capacity of copper smelting is not in surplus. Actually, the supply does not meet the demand. Electrolytic copper is largely imported to meet the domestic demand. According to data from General Administration of Customs of China, in 2016, China imported about 3.629 million tons of refined copper, double the data in 2008, which is slightly lower than that in 2015.

With the profit margin of electrolytic copper smelting industry increasing and fixed asset investment encouraged by local governments, the production capacity of copper smelting expands quickly, which raise the degree of self-support of electrolytic copper.

In future years, the output volume of electrolytic copper will keep growing while the import volume will decline, forecast by the researcher.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Concepts in Electrolytic Copper Industry

1.1 Definition and Classification of Electrolytic Copper

1.2 Parameters and Assumptions of the Report



2 Analysis of Electrolytic Copper Industry in China, 2016-2017

2.1 Development Environment of Electrolytic Copper Industry in China

2.1.1 Economic Environment

2.1.2 Policy Environment

2.1.3 Social Environment

2.2 Analysis of Supply of Electrolytic Copper in China

2.2.1 Analysis of Production Capacity of Electrolytic Copper in China

2.2.2 Analysis of Production Volume of Electrolytic Copper in China

2.3 Analysis of Demand of Electrolytic Copper Industry in China

2.3.1 Major Consumer Groups of Electrolytic Copper

2.3.2 Market Size of Electrolytic Copper in China

2.4 Analysis on Import and Export of Electrolytic Copper in China

2.4.1 Import of Electrolytic Copper in China

2.4.2 Export of Electrolytic Copper in China



3 Market Competition of Electrolytic Copper in China, 2012-2016

3.1 Barriers to Entry in China Electrolytic Copper Industry

3.1.1 Brand Barriers

3.1.2 Policy Barriers

3.1.3 Technical Barriers

3.1.4 Barrier of Economies of Scale

3.2 Competition Structure of China Electrolytic Copper Industry

3.2.1 Bargaining Ability of Raw Material Suppliers of Electrolytic Copper

3.2.2 Bargaining Ability of Consumers of Electrolytic Copper

3.2.3 Internal Competition of Electrolytic Copper Industry

3.2.4 Potential Entrants in Electrolytic Copper Industry

3.2.5 Substitutes for Electrolytic Copper



4 Analysis on Major Electrolytic Copper Manufacturers in China, 2016-2017

4.1 Jiangxi Copper Company Limited

4.2 Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holding Co., Ltd.

4.3 Yunnan Copper Industry Limited by Share Ltd.

4.4 Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd.

4.5 Jinduicheng Molybdenum Co., Ltd.

4.6 China Daye Non-ferrous Metals Mining Limited

4.7 Pengxin International Mining Co., Ltd.

4.8 Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd.

4.9 Shandong Humon Smelting Co., Ltd.



5 Analysis of Costs and Price of China Electrolytic Copper Industry, 2014-2016

5.1 Analysis of Cost of Electrolytic Copper Industry in China

5.2 Analysis of Price of Electrolytic Copper Industry in China



6 Prospect of China Electrolytic Copper Industry, 2017-2021

6.1 Factors Influencing Development of China Electrolytic Copper Industry

6.2 Forecast on Supply in Electrolytic Copper Industry in China, 2017-2021

6.3 Forecast on Demand of Electrolytic Copper Industry in China, 2017-2021



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gjm998/research_report





Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - May 9, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former employee with securities fraud in connection with his trading of options and other securities.

The SEC's complaint alleges that David R. Humphrey, who worked at the SEC from 1998 to 2014, concealed his personal trading from the SEC's ethics office and later misrepresented his trading activities to the SEC's Office of Inspector General when questioned during an investigation.

"As alleged in our complaint, Humphrey never sought pre-clearance for his prohibited options trades and he filed forms that falsely represented his securities holdings," said Gerald W. Hodgkins, Associate Director in the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

SEC employees are subject to rigorous rules regarding securities transactions to guard against even the appearance of using public office for private gain. The ethics rules specifically prohibit trading in options or derivatives. The rules also require staff to disclose their securities holdings and transactions to the agency's ethics office in annual filings.

According to the SEC's complaint, Humphrey violated the rules by engaging in transactions involving derivatives, failing to obtain pre-clearance before trading non-prohibited securities, and failing to hold securities for the required period.

The SEC's complaint charges Humphrey with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act. Humphrey has agreed to settle the charges and pay $51,917 in disgorgement of profits made in the improper trades plus $4,774 in interest and a $51,917 penalty. Humphrey also agreed to be permanently suspended from appearing and practicing before the SEC as an accountant, which includes not participating in the financial reporting or audits of public companies. The settlement is subject to court approval.

In a parallel action, the Department of Justice today announced that Humphrey has pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from his false federal filings.

The SEC's investigation was conducted by Gary M. Zinkgraf and Tom Bednar, and the case was supervised by Jeffrey Weiss. The SEC Inspector General's investigation was conducted by Samuel Morris and Bruce Quintero. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice's Fraud Section.
Technavio analysts forecast the global turning tools marketto grow at a CAGR of almost 8% 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/20170509006075/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global turning tools market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global turning toolsmarketfor 2017-2021. Technavio's database and industry-specific repositories are used for defining the hypothesis for the study, which is further fine-tuned through primary research involving industry experts.

Turning is a metal cutting process primarily used for generating cylindrical surfaces. In this process, mostly the workpiece is rotated on a spindle. Turning tools find their applications in almost every manufacturing industry. The key users of turning tools are automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, agricultural machinery, and other similar industries. The dynamics in these industries will impact the demand for turning tools globally.

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 heavy industry analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global turning tools market:

Rise in construction activities in emerging nations of APAC

The global construction market is witnessing a mixed trend across various regions. Although the slowdown in the Chinese economy has impacted the global construction market, infrastructure planning in developing economies such as India and Indonesia will boost the growth of the global cutting tools market.

Gaurav Mohindru, a lead tools and componentsresearch analyst at Technavio, says, "Indonesia is another emerging nation in APAC, and it is contributing a double-digit share of its GDP in the construction sector. The government has announced infrastructure spending of billions of dollars between 2016 and 2020, with about 20% of its spending sanctioned in 2016

Growth of metal cutting tools in India

The cutting tool and machining industry are witnessing developments, especially in terms of integration of new tools and technology as well as tool materials, to keep pace with the changing dynamics of the market.

"With the continuous and rapid technological advances in computer numeric control machines and workpiece materials to be machined and changing requirements of customers, suppliers of machines tools must offer cutting-edge solutions. This must be coupled with the best service support to satisfy the main objectives of customers such as increased productivity, lower cost per component, and the latest innovative technologies," adds Gaurav.

Increasing need to develop superior-quality products

Manufacturers worldwide are focusing on adopting state-of-the-art tools to minimize the production time without compromising on the quality of the product. Moreover, on-time delivery is rapidly becoming the key buying criterion across industries.

Furthermore, customers are now insisting on Coordinating Measuring Machine reports to verify the quality of products as well as their adherence to specifications. Despite the deployment of several high-quality machining centers and other such machines, the use of the right cutting tools for machining components is a prime factor that determines the quality of the products manufactured.

Top vendors:

Ingersoll Cutting Tool Company

ISCAR

Kennametal Foundation

Sandvik

Mikron Tool

NTK Cutting Tools

WNT tools

Browse Related Reports:

Global Metal Stamping Market 2017-2021

Global Roller Bearings Market 2017-2021

Global Anti-Friction Bearing Market 2017-2021

Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like engineering toolsconstruction, and unit operations. 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/20170509006075/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. ("Sabina") or (the "Company") (TSX: SBB) reports the financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

"Much was accomplished during the first quarter as we continued to de-risk the Back River Project. On the permitting front, we continued to work with all stakeholders on the Project prior to the NIRB final hearing at the end of this month," said Bruce McLeod, President & CEO. "We have worked particularly hard on our wildlife mitigation proposals which we believe are now the best in class in the north. We continue to build support for the Project through further community engagement efforts, and have also continued to progress project development with basic engineering underway and have completed a high impact drilling program for which assay results are pending. We look forward to the next steps for the Company and the Project as we work towards becoming a gold producer."

Q1, 2017 Highlights:

-- The Company had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $43.1 million at March 31, 2017. -- On January 12, 2017, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada ("INAC"), with the agreement of other responsible ministers, decided that the Back River Project be returned to the Nunavut Impact Review Board for further consideration. On February 15, 2017, the Company submitted an addendum to its Final Environmental Impact Statement to the NIRB. All parties are currently reviewing the addendum and will submit responses to culminate in a second final hearing in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut on May 31 through June 3, 2017. -- Subsequent to the quarter, the Company completed further consultation with the communities in the Kitikmeot region and with aboriginal groups in the Northwest Territories. The Company continues to receive strong support from Kitikmeot communities in favour of advancing the Project. -- On February 28, 2017, the Company completed a bought deal private placement flow-through financing to raise total gross process of approximately $6.1 million through the issuance of 3,470,000 flow- through commons shares. The total gross proceeds from the financing must be used to incur Canadian exploration expenditures as defined by the Income Tax Act (Canada) by December 31, 2018. -- Subsequent to the quarter, the Company initiated a spring drilling campaign focused on potential high impact targets at the Goose site around the existing reserves with a view to demonstrating additional mine life at the Project. This program has since been completed and assay results are pending. -- During the quarter the Company announced its budget for 2017 which included a base budget of $8.5 million and further discretionary expenditures, based on achieving certain permitting milestones, of up to a total of approx. $31 million. -- For the quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company reported a net loss of $1.4 million or $0.01 per share.

Financial Results

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2017, the Company reported a net loss of $1.4 million, unfavourable by $0.8 million compared to the same period of 2016. The difference was largely the result of higher stock-based payments and lower finance income partially offset by deferred income tax recovery.

The Company had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $43.1 million at March 31, 2017 compared to cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $39.9 million at December 31, 2016.

For the full March 31, 2017 interim financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, please see the Company website at www.sabinagoldsilver.com or on SEDAR.

SABINA GOLD & SILVER CORP

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is a well-financed, emerging precious metals company with district scale, world class undeveloped assets in one of the world's newest, politically stable mining jurisdictions: Nunavut, Canada.

In September, 2015, Sabina released a Feasibility Study on its 100% owned Back River Gold Project which presents a project that has been designed on a fit-for purpose basis, with the potential to produce approx. 200,000 ounces a year for approx. 11 years with a rapid payback of 2.9 years. At a US$1,150 gold price and a 0.80 exchange rate, the Study delivers a potential after tax internal rate of return of approximately 24.2% with an initial CAPEX of $415 million.

In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencore's Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett River's silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter.

All news releases and further information can be found on the Company's website at www.sabinagoldsilver.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All technical reports have been filed on www.sedar.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (the "forward-looking statements"), including our belief as to the extent, results and timing of exploration programs and various studies including the FS, and exploration results, reserves estimates, potential production from and viability of the Company's properties, production and operating costs and permitting submission, timing and receipt of necessary permits and project approvals for future operations and access to project funding. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. While we have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee that such future events will occur and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and assumptions include, among others, the effects of general economic conditions, commodity prices, changing foreign exchange rates and actions by government and regulatory authorities and misjudgments in the course of preparing forward-looking statements.

In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Known risk factors include risks associated with exploration and project development; the need for additional financing; the calculation of mineral resources and reserves; operational risks associated with mining and mineral processing; fluctuations in metal prices; title matters; government regulation; obtaining and renewing necessary licences and permits; environmental liability and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain of our officers or directors; the absence of dividends; currency fluctuations; labour disputes; competition; dilution; the volatility of the our common share price and volume; future sales of shares by existing shareholders; and other risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Back River Project and general risks associated with the mineral exploration and development industry described in our Annual Information Form, financial statements and MD&A for the fiscal period ended December 31, 2016 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. Although we have 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. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. This news release has been authorized by the undersigned on behalf of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp.

Bruce McLeod, President & CEO 375-555 Burrard Street, Two Bentall Centre Vancouver, BC V7X 1M7 Tel 604 998-4175 Fax 604 998-1051 http://www.sabinagoldsilver.com

Contacts:

Nicole Hoeller

Vice-President, Communications

1 888 648-4218

nhoeller@sabinagoldsilver.com




Natuzzi S.p.A. (NYSE:NTZ) ("Natuzzi" or "the Company") will disclose first quarter 2017 financial results on Friday May 26, 2017 before the market opens.

The Company will host a conference call on the same day, Friday May 26, 2017at 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (4.00 p.m. Italian time, or 3.00 p.m. UK time) to discuss financial results.

The dial-in phone numbers for the live conference call are 1-877-548-7914 (toll-free) for persons calling from the U.S. or Canada, or 1-719-325-4826 for those calling from other countries.

A live web cast of the conference call will be available on line at http://www.natuzzi.com/ under the "Investor Relations" section.

A replay of the call will be available shortly after the end of the conference call starting from May 26, 2017 (from 1:00 pm US Eastern time), to June 26, 2017. To access the replay of the conference call, interested persons need to dial 1-844-512-2921 (toll-free) for calls from U.S. and Canada, and 1-412-317-6671 for calls from other countries. The access code for the replay is: 8413454.

About Natuzzi S.p.A.

Founded in 1959 by Pasquale Natuzzi, Natuzzi S.p.A. is Italy's largest furniture house and one of the most important global player in the furniture industry with eight manufacturing plants, eleven commercial offices and extensive global retail network. Natuzzi is the Italian lifestyle and best-known brand in the furnishings sector worldwide (Brand Awareness Monitoring Report Ipsos 2015). Continuous stylistic research, creativity, innovation, solid craftsmanship and industrial know-how and integrated management throughout the entire value chain are the mainstays that have made Natuzzi one of the few players with global reach in the furniture market. Natuzzi S.p.A. has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 13 May 1993. Always committed to social responsibility and environmental sustainability, Natuzzi is ISO 9001 and 14001 certified (Quality and Environment), OHSAS 18001 certified (Safety on the Workplace) and FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council).

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509006415/en/

Contacts:

NATUZZI INVESTOR RELATIONS

Piero Direnzo (IR Manager); tel. +39.080.8820.812

pdirenzo@natuzzi.com

or

NATUZZI US MEDIA CONTACT

Meg Carlozzi (PR); tel. +1 917 330 8769

meg.carlozzi@gmail.com

or

NATUZZI CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Vito Basile (Press Office); tel. +39.080.8820.676

vbasile@natuzzi.com
LOS ALTOS, CA and HACKENSACK, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Tricentis, leader in software test automation, and Panaya, the leader in SaaS-based test management, today announced a first-in-industry platform for autonomous software testing in SAP environments. Autonomous SAP testing generates SAP business process tests automatically, diving deep into applications and using Machine Learning to observe and understand patterns in end user transactions. Comprehensive test algorithms observe real interactions between the user and the system, leverage Machine Learning to determine the top usage patterns eliminating redundant regression testing, and report when changes in the SAP environment could impact critical business processes. The platform integrates best-of-breed testing technologies Tricentis Tosca, which provides test automation for continuous testing, and Panaya Test Center, which provides cloud-based end-to-end test management.

Autonomous SAP testing solves the dilemmas faced in both automated and manual test methodologies. Automated testing has had limited enterprise-wide adoption, while manual testing is slow and difficult to manage. Autonomous SAP testing spans test conception through validation, addressing all aspects of the functional testing lifecycle, including discovery, execution, acceleration and test management. The outcome of the analysis is a comprehensive set of use cases that reflect actual business usage, which is critical in verifying how SAP updates impact critical business processes. As a result, new or changed SAP business processes can be introduced to the market faster and with reduced business risk.

The Tricentis and Panaya SAP testing platform is the culmination of joint research and development focused on the autonomous generation of a comprehensive and efficient suite of tests. Organizations using the platform can automatically protect critical business processes and the end-users' experience even as usage patterns change. The platform creates a blueprint of what to test, leveraging AI to observe user-system interactions and automatically converting usage patterns into automated and repeatable business process tests that cover multiple layers of the application architecture. Furthermore, it creates regression tests that detect defects that could impact critical business processes when the application or the application's dependencies change. The result is autonomous, continuous testing that remains in lock-step with changes in business processes.

According to the Gartner Magic Quadrant, for Software Test Automation, "IT organizations struggle to move from the tactical task of testing software as part of a distinct phase or activity -- and often done manually -- to a more automated form of QA that essentially requires no human intervention... Ultimately, tests must demonstrate that applications not only work, but satisfy real business requirements."*

*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Software Test Automation, 15 November 2016

Powered by innovative machine learning, autonomous SAP testing eliminates manually engineered scripts and enables zero-touch test case creation and maintenance. The solution ensures that Quality teams can protect critical business processes by observing actual usage behavior from production. These observations from production are then converted into automated scriptless test cases. This automation accurately reflects actual usage patterns, eliminating the challenge of business knowledge transfer.

Key Capabilities of Autonomous SAP Testing

Change impact analysis

Lights out discovery for optimized regression test suites

Lights out test automation

Process automation and acceleration of manual testing with test evidence and collaborative tools

Requirements traceability and defect management

Process-centric Test Management with dashboards and advanced analytics





"Delivering innovation frequently without compromising quality requires a Next generation end-to-end testing platform," said Jake Klein, CEO of Panaya. "While traditional solutions such as HPQC don't engage business users and lack business process visibility, Autonomous Testing by Panaya and Tricentis addresses all aspects of a modern testing suite including automated process discovery, automatic test execution, manual test acceleration and test management. Today customers achieve up to a 50% reduction in test cycle time utilizing Panaya Test Center, and with Autonomous Testing we expect even greater efficiency and coverage."

"Tricentis and Panaya co-developed this breakthrough in testing to relieve SAP key users from the burden of manually creating, executing, and maintaining business process tests," said Wolfgang Platz, Founder and CPO of Tricentis. "A recent survey of the SAP installed base found that approximately 72 percent of SAP installations are verified with manual tests. This slows the pace of innovation and injects a tremendous amount of risk into the release process. Our autonomous SAP testing delivers fully automated business process tests for regression testing. This is critical for reducing risk while accelerating the release of critical business functionality. But more so, this joint offering is the missing link to helping organizations accelerate transformative business processes without increasing risk."

For More Information

Panaya and Tricentis will showcase Autonomous SAP Testing at SAPPHIRE 2017 to be held May 16-18, 2017, in Orlando. As a Diamond Sponsor Panaya (An Infosys company) will address multiple topics including SAP Testing for S/4HANA. Panaya will exhibit at booth 700. Tricentis will exhibit at booth 1337. For more information, visit either Panaya (http://go.panaya.com/sap-sapphire-now-2017.html) or Tricentis (https://www.tricentis.com/autonomous-sap-testing-sapphire/)

About Panaya

With Panaya, an Infosys company, organizations can accelerate application change and continuous delivery of innovation. Panaya provides cloud based test management, test automation and application lifecycle solutions that ensure collaboration between the business and IT. Enabling faster release velocity while ensuring quality, Panaya delivers an optimized user experience with end to end visibility of the application lifecycle. Since 2008, 1,600 companies in 62 countries, including a third of the Fortune 500, have been using Panaya to deliver quick quality change to enterprise applications.

www.panaya.com

Free Trial (http://go.panaya.com/end-to-end-testing-demo.html)

Twitter @Panaya

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mypanaya/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/35280/





About Tricentis

Tricentis, the Continuous Testing Company, specializes in agile market leading software testing tools for enterprises. We help Global 2000 companies adopt DevOps and gain success by achieving 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. 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. For regular news and information about Tricentis and the automated testing market, like and follow the company on:

www.tricentis.com

Free Trial (https://www.tricentis.com/automated-software-testing-tool-trial/)

Twitter @tricentis

Facebook

LinkedIn





Tricentis and Tosca are registered trademarks of Tricentis. Panaya and Panaya Test Center are trademarks or registered trademarks of Panaya. Other trade names used in this document are properties of their respective owners.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3137591



CONTACT INFORMATION

Anne Stanley

10Fold

(415) 800-5383

astanley@10fold.com



Jessica Chao

Tricentis

+43 664 883 76 899

j.chao@tricentis.com



Wes Rogers

Spicetree Communications

Mobile: +1-912-506-0869

wes.rogers@spicetreecom.com



Rafi Kretchmer

Panaya

+972 52 619 4112

Rafi@panaya.com




REDONDO BEACH, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- SECFilings.com, a leading financial news and information portal offering free real time public filing alerts, announces publication of an article covering Golden Arrow Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE: GRG) (OTCQB: GARWF). The junior mining sector is riddled with companies that over-promise and under-deliver, but some companies have proven their ability to execute and create significant value. Golden Arrow Resources Corp. is a prime example of the latter after successfully developing its Chinchillas project into a joint venture with Silver Standard Resources Inc. -- a $1.18 billion major.

The article takes a look at the company's recent exploration program at the Antofalla silver-gold-base metal project and why it could hold as much potential as Chinchillas.

Antofalla's Promise

Golden Arrow's 8,760-hectare Antofalla project is a silver-gold-base metal project located in the Catamarca Province of Argentina. The project's volcanic dome complex and alteration zone showed known mineralization, but was unexplored by previous operators.

On May 2, the company announced the identification of several new high-potential targets and promising test results. The highlights of these test results included:

281 g/t silver and 0.5% lead over 3.35 meters and 168 g/t silver over eight meters in channel samples from several new mineralized breccia "vents" located 380 meters southwest of the Colorada Breccia target where previous operators discovered 18 meters averaging 128 g/t silver, 0.23 g/t gold, and 0.88% lead.

3.87 g/t gold, 146 g/t silver, and 1% lead along with 0.14 g/t gold, 4,404 g/t silver, and >30% lead in rock chip samples from similar breccia "vents" in the area.

134 g/t silver over 0.8 meters in chip channel samples from the newly discovered Domos Norte target located 900 meters northwest of the Colorada Breccia target.

Preliminary high resistivity and high chargeability targets from the 6.3-kilometer line of IP/Resistivity conducted to date.

VP of Exploration & Development Brian McEwen summarized the findings saying, "Not since our first months at the Chinchillas project has the team been so excited about the potential for a significant discovery. The last three months have proven extremely successful in advancing our knowledge of the extensive system at Antofalla and the priority target areas. Our preliminary findings confirm that not only there are good opportunities to expand the known mineralization but also to define new mineralization outside the known zones."

The company's $2 million exploration program will focus on continuing to the sampling and mapping of targets, detailing stream sediment, completing geophysical studies, and conducting further reconnaissance to identify new targets. The budget also includes 3,000 meters of drilling that is planned for the second half of the year.

A History of Execution

Golden Arrow's management team -- the Grosso Group -- has decades of experience in the mining industry and strong relationships with key officials in Argentina. President Joseph Grosso is a respected entrepreneur that's joined by VP of Business Development Mr. Nikolaos Cacos, MIM, BSc and VP of Exploration and Development Brian McEwen, a professional geologist with more than 30 years of exploration and production experience around the world.

In 1993, Mr. Grosso met the ex-chief geologist for the Argentine government who explained the country's many early-stage opportunities. The two formed Minas Argentina SA and eventually discovered the Gualcamayo gold project, which Yamana Gold Inc. -- a $2.5 billion major -- now has in production and the Navidad project, the world's largest silver deposit that Pan American Silver Corp. -- a $2.5 billion major -- has going into production.

The recent joint venture with Standard Silver for its Chinchillas mine is only the latest in a series of high profile wins for the Grosso Group. With Antofalla's promising early results, the project could become another key victory for the company.

Please follow the link to read the full article: http://analysis.secfilings.com/articles/167-golden-arrow-s-new-mine-shows-tremendous-potential

About SECFilings.com

Founded in 2004, SECFilings.com provides free real time filing alerts to over 600,000 registered members and offers services to help public companies grow their audience of interested investors.

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 SECFilings.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://secfilings.com/Disclaimer.aspx.

SECFilings.com

Paul Archie

406-862-2242

parchie@secfilings.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Maple, the start-up that focused on delivery of restaurant-quality food, has ceased its operations in the New York City after being in business for just about two years. 'The Maple of today still has many challenges to overcome,' said founders Caleb Merkle and Akshay Navle in a letter to customers and supporters. 'While an incredibly difficult decision for us given the effect on our core operations, it became clear that we needed to close the Maple operation here in New York and look for a partner with scale-one that would allow us to leverage all that we had built across a broader platform.' The company also announced its decision to team up with London-based food deliver service Deliveroo. 'Given the overlap in our goals and the significant scale of Deliveroo's operations, working together makes sense. As a result, some members of the Maple team will join Deliveroo operations in London, and our technology will be used to help accelerate growth and efficiency across the platform.' Deliveroo delivers food made in restaurants, while Maple had control over the whole process-- from ingredient sourcing to preparation to delivery. Deliveroo has developed from a local London affair started four years ago to a business operating across 12 countries and 140 cities globally. 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.
27 new oral presentations and poster sessions being presented as part of the scientific program, with specific emphasis on the use of confocal laser endomicroscopy in Pancreatic Cysts and Barrett's Esophagus

Cellvizio being featured at Mauna Kea Booth #2644 during DDW

Regulatory News:

Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext: MKEA, OTCQX: MKEAY) inventor of Cellvizio, the multidisciplinary confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) platform, today announced that confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is being highlighted in 27 physician oral presentations and poster sessions during the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2017 conference, held May 6-9, 2017 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. DDW is the world's largest gathering of physicians, researchers and industry in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

Sacha Loiseau, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mauna Kea Technologies, declared, "For many years, Cellvizio Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy has been featured prominently at DDW and this edition is no exception, with 27 physician presentations on current and emerging Cellvizio applications, including a specific emphasis on its use in diagnosing Barrett's Esophagus and pancreatic cysts. This ever growing body of evidence of Cellvizio's clinical and economical value is a key element to driving increased awareness and adoption of the technology. This is increasingly important as we introduce U.S. surgeons and GI physicians to our new pay-per-use business model that allows them to acquire Cellvizio without capital investment. We expect this new model will be catalyst for growth in the Cellvizio installed base and utilization in core GI procedures that are recommended by medical societies and have positive reimbursement, such as GERD, Barrett's Esophagus and pancreatic lesions."

Mauna Kea is proud to have supported the following clinical studies:

On Monday, May 8, Dr. Bertrand Napoleon of the Hospital Jean Mermoz in Lyon, France, made an oral presentation on needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (nCLE) for the diagnosis of pancreatic lesions.

On Tuesday, May 9 at 2:20 pm CT in S502, Dr. Napoleon will deliver a CME-accredited lecture on the use of nCLE for pancreatic cystic lesions. This is the first CME-accredited lecture on this topic at DDW, reflecting the growing importance of this application.

On Tuesday, May 9 Dr. Raj Shah of the University of Colorado in Denver, Colorado will make poster presentation in the South Hall on the results of a U.S. multi-center, prospective registry study utilizing probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) to distinguish benign from malignant biliary strictures.

In addition, a number of independent studies highlighting the benefits of Cellvizio in current (Barrett's Esophagus and pancreatic cysts) and emerging (gastric cancer and inflammatory bowel disease) indications are being presented in oral presentations at DDW.

To learn more about Cellvizio, please visit Mauna Kea Technologies at Booth #2644 during the DDW conference.

About Mauna Kea Technologies

Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company focused on eliminating uncertainties related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases thanks to real time in vivo microscopic visualization. The Company's flagship product, Cellvizio, has received clearance to sell a wide range of applications in more than 40 countries, including the United States, Europe, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. For more information on Mauna Kea Technologies, visit www.maunakeatech.com

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Mauna Kea Technologies and its activities. Such forward looking statements are based on assumptions that Mauna Kea Technologies considers to be reasonable. However, there can be no assurance that the anticipated events contained in such forward-looking statements will occur. Forward- looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties including the risks set forth in the registration document of Mauna Kea Technologies registered by the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des marches financiers (AMF)) on June 13, 2016 under number R.16-054 and available on the Company's website (www.maunakeatech.com), and to the development of economic situation, financial markets, and the markets in which Mauna Kea Technologies operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to risks unknown to Mauna Kea Technologies or that Mauna Kea Technologies does not consider material at this time. The realization of all or part of these risks could lead to actual results, financial conditions, performances or achievements by Mauna Kea Technologies that differ significantly from the results, financial conditions, performances or achievements expressed in such forward-looking statements. This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or to subscribe for, or a solicitation of an order to purchase or subscribe for, Mauna Kea Technologies shares in any country.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509006532/en/

Contacts:

United States

Zack Kubow Lee Roth

The Ruth Group

646-536-7020 7012

zkubow@theruthgroup.com lroth@theruthgroup.com

or

U.S. Media

Kirsten Thomas

The Ruth Group

508-280-6592

kthomas@theruthgroup.com

or

France and Europe

NewCap Investor Relations

Florent Alba

+33 (0)1 44 71 94 94

maunakea@newcap.fr
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE: FSM)(TSX: FVI) today announces that it will release its financial statements and MD&A for 2016 year end and for the first quarter of 2017 after the market closes on Monday, May 15, 2017 and Wednesday, May 24, 2017, respectively. The Company also confirms that its 2017 annual general meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 5, 2017.

As previously announced, Fortuna is delayed in filing its annual audited financial statements and related MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2016, the related Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer certificates, and its annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016 (collectively, the "Annual Financial Documents") due to a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") of the Company's use of inferred resources for the calculation of depletion expense in its audited financial statements contained in the Annual Report on Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2015. In connection with the delayed filing of the Annual Financial Documents, the Company applied for and received a management cease trade order ("MCTO") from the British Columbia Securities Commission and other Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities (collectively, the "Securities Regulators"). The MCTO prohibits certain executive officers of the Company from trading in securities of the Company until the Company completes the required filing of the Annual Financial Documents as well as its interim financial documents for the first quarter of 2017, and the regulator revokes the MCTO.

The Company reports today that it has agreed verbally with the staff of the SEC on the extent and content of the Company's required additional disclosure regarding the calculation of depletion expense using inferred resources (see Fortuna news release dated May 1, 2017). A formal closure of the inquiry process by the SEC is expected to follow after the filing of the Annual Financial Documents.

Conference call to review 2016 yearend financial and operational results

A conference call to discuss 2016 yearend financial and operational results will be held on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Eastern. Hosting the call will be Jorge A. Ganoza, President and CEO, and Luis D. Ganoza, Chief Financial Officer.

Shareholders, analysts, media and interested investors are invited to listen to the live conference call by logging onto the webcast at: http://www.investorcalendar.com/IC/CEPage.asp?ID=175945 or over the phone by dialing just prior to the starting time.

Conference call details:

Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2017Time: 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Dial in number (Toll Free): +1.866.682.6100Dial in number (International): +1.862.255.5401

Replay number (Toll Free): +1.877.481.4010Replay number (International): +1.919.882.2331Replay Passcode: 10388

Playback of the conference call will be available until May 30, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Playback of the webcast will be available until August 16, 2017. In addition, a transcript of the call will be archived in the company's website: https://www.fortunasilver.com/investors/financials/2016/.

Conference call to review first quarter 2017 financial and operational results

A conference call to discuss first quarter 2017 financial and operational results will be held on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Eastern. Hosting the call will be Jorge A. Ganoza, President and CEO, and Luis D. Ganoza, Chief Financial Officer.

Shareholders, analysts, media and interested investors are invited to listen to the live conference call by logging onto the webcast at: http://www.investorcalendar.com/IC/CEPage.asp?ID=175946 or over the phone by dialing just prior to the starting time.

Conference call details:

Date: Thursday, May 25, 2017Time: 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Dial in number (Toll Free): +1.866.682.6100Dial in number (International): +1.862.255.5401

Replay number (Toll Free): +1.877.481.4010Replay number (International): +1.919.882.2331Replay Passcode: 10389

Playback of the conference call will be available until June 8, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Playback of the webcast will be available until August 25, 2017. In addition, a transcript of the call will be archived in the company's website: https://www.fortunasilver.com/investors/financials/2017/.

About Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Fortuna is a growth oriented, precious metal producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. The Company's primary assets are the Caylloma silver mine in southern Peru, the San Jose silver-gold mine in Mexico and the Lindero gold project in Argentina. The Company is selectively pursuing acquisition opportunities throughout the Americas and in select other areas.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jorge A. Ganoza, President, CEO and Director, Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Forward looking Statements

This news release contains forward looking statements which constitute "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "Forward looking Statements"). All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are Forward looking Statements and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the Forward looking Statements. The Forward looking Statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements about the finalization and filing of the Company's Annual Financial Documents and interim financial documents, the MCTO issued by the Securities Regulators, the anticipated completion of the SEC review process, and the date of the Company's AGM. Often, but not always, these Forward looking Statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "planned", "reflecting", "will", "containing", "remaining", "to be", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

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 results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward looking Statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in the Company's plans for its mines and mineral properties; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; changes in prices for silver and other metals; technological and operational hazards in Fortuna's mining and mine development activities; risks inherent in mineral exploration; uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves, mineral resources, and metal recoveries; governmental and other approvals; political unrest or instability in countries where Fortuna is active; labor relations issues; as well as those factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form. Although 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 to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

Fortuna believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the Forward looking Statements in this news release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Forward looking Statements should not be unduly relied upon. These Forward looking Statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and Fortuna will not necessarily update these statements unless required to do so by securities laws.

Contacts:

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Carlos Baca

Investor Relations

T (Peru): +51.1.616.6060, ext. 0




Summit Partners leads financing round, with participation from Noro-Moseley Partners, to strengthen the company's position as the leading provider of Mac infrastructure for individuals and enterprises

MacStadium, the Mac hosting authority and only provider of Mac Pro private cloud infrastructure-as-a-service ("IaaS") around the world, announced today that it received a growth equity investment led by Summit Partners, with participation from Noro-Moseley Partners. MacStadium will use the funding to continue product and service innovation, expand its leading market position and build brand awareness.

Founded in 2012, MacStadium leverages its proprietary, patented platform and dedicated servers to provide hosted cloud solutions to software developers in over 50 countries around the world. With operations in Atlanta, Georgia, Las Vegas, Nevada and Dublin, Ireland, the company has deployed more than 10,000 Mac Minis and Mac Pros and serves more than 2,500 customers. In 2016, MacStadium was #44 on the Inc. 5000 List and was recognized at #20 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 List for North America.

"Summit Partners' deep experience in the infrastructure and DevOps sectors will help MacStadium capitalize on new market opportunities and accelerate the execution of our long-term business plans," said Gregory McGraw, CEO of MacStadium. "Together with Summit Partners and Noro-Moseley Partners, we are well equipped to continue MacStadium's global expansion to more fully address the needs of over 10 million and growing iOS software developers worldwide."

"MacStadium is a clear leader in the developer-focused cloud infrastructure services market," said Michael Medici, Managing Director at Summit Partners who has joined the MacStadium Board of Directors. "We believe the company is well positioned for future growth as the adoption of agile, continuous integration/deployment and other DevOps strategies continue to gain traction within enterprises. We are thrilled to partner with Greg McGraw, Jason Michaud and the rest of the management team to support the company's continued growth."

Mike Elliott, General Partner with Noro-Moseley Partners who has joined MacStadium's Board of Directors, added, "Customers rely on MacStadium's infrastructure to improve the performance of development teams and deliver applications to market more quickly. As release cycles continue to shrink, we believe the solutions that MacStadium provides will only become more critical to its customers."

"With this additional capital and with the support of our new equity partners, we are focused on further establishing our position as an innovative leader in the IaaS market," said Jason Michaud, President and Founder of MacStadium. "We are excited about this next phase of growth."

MacStadium was advised by DH Capital, LLC and Morris, Manning Martin, LLP. Summit Partners was advised by Choate Hall Stewart LLP. Noro-Moseley Partners was advised by DLA Piper LLP.

About MacStadium

MacStadium is a leading provider of on-demand cloud IaaS, offering managed Mac hosting and private cloud solutions for individuals and organizations of all sizes. MacStadium is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with growing operations in Las Vegas, Nevada and Dublin, Ireland. Learn more at MacStadium.com.

About Summit Partners

Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently investing more than $9.5 billion into growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the global economy and has invested in more than 440 companies in technology, healthcare, life sciences and other growth industries. These companies have completed more than 140 public equity offerings, and more than 170 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Notable technology companies financed by Summit include Acacia Communications, Avast, AvePoint, E-TEK Dynamics, Gainsight, Hyperion Solutions, Infor, McAfee, Perforce, RiskIQ, Telerik, Uber, Ubiquiti Networks and WebEx. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe, and invests in companies around the world. For more information, visit www.summitpartners.com or follow on Twitter at @SummitPartners.

About Noro-Moseley Partners

Noro-Moseley Partners, based in Atlanta, is a venture capital firm focused on early growth stage companies in the healthcare IT and services sectors and information technology sectors. Since 1983, NMP has been a leader in its market, investing more than $750 million in over 190 companies. The managers of NMP's current fund, Noro-Moseley Partners VII, have more than 60 years collectively of direct venture investing experience and bring a diverse set of skills to assist entrepreneurs in growing their companies. For more information, visit www.noromoseley.com.

In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners LLP, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Summit Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC388179 and its registered office is at 20-22 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JS, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170509006451/en/

Contacts:

Media Contacts

MacStadium

Brian Stucki, +1 702-666-8700

Vice President

bstucki@macstadium.com

or

Summit Partners

Meg Devine, +1 617-824-1047

Chief Marketing Officer

mdevine@summitpartners.com
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Canada's unions are celebrating an announcement by Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, that Canada will finally ratify the International Labour Organization's Convention 98.

The minister confirmed the news ahead of participating in an international solidarity event at the Canadian Labour Congress Convention in Toronto.

"Our government understands that organized labour is key to healthy labour relations that benefit people in workplaces all across our country," said Minister Hajdu. "We are committed to ratifying Convention 98 and sending a clear message to the world about the right of workers to organize in Canada."

"This is a long overdue and important step forward for Canadian labour relations," said CLC President Hassan Yussuff.

The convention is the only one Canada has yet to ratify out of eight considered by ILO to be the minimum "enabling rights" people need to defend and improve their rights and conditions at work, and to work in freedom and dignity.

The Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949, protects all workers from anti-union discrimination, including being forced to give up union membership in order to get a job, or job termination for participating in union activities.

Canada's unions have been working for ratification for decades, but since 1949 and until now, successive Canadian governments have refused. The decision will make Canada the 165th country to ratify. The United States, Mexico, and 20 other countries have yet to ratify.

"Internationally, this ratification means Canada can more effectively insist that trade partners like the United States and Mexico must respect and enforce labour rights," said Yussuff. "This is key as we face the prospect of the renegotiation of NAFTA."

At home, Yussuff said, ratification will help reinforce recent decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada that protect union rights.

"Those Supreme Court decisions are binding in all of Canada's courts and tribunals, and now provincial and territorial governments will be expected to conform under Convention 98 as well, and Canada's unions will work hard to ensure they do," said Yussuff.

Contacts:

Media contact:

Kerry Pither

National Director, CLC Communications

613-294-2203

kpither@clc-ctc.ca




Technavio analysts forecast the global commercial aviation and military headset marketto grow at a CAGR of more than 6% 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/20170509006590/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global commercial aviation and military headset market from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global commercial aviation and military headset marketfor 2017-2021. The report further segments the market based on application (military headset and commercial aviation), and geography (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).

The future of headsets will see a momentous change with the increase of its usage in various industries such as military and commercial aviation. Headsets mainly comprise of headphone and a microphone, which allows to perform hands-free operations just like telephone handsets does. With major countries like the US, Australia, Russia, China, France, Saudi Arabia, India, and the UK making huge investments for developing and procuring headset systems, analysts at Technavio forecast that the revenue for the global commercial aviation and military headset market will touch almost USD 1196.5 million by 2021.

This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing

Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free

Technavio aerospace and defenseresearchanalysts highlight the three key factors that are contributing to the growth of the global commercial aviation and military headset market:

Changing nature of warfare

Emphasis on better battlefield communication

Focus on pilot comfort

Changing nature of warfare

The essence of warfare has changed significantly over the past decade. Defense authorities today are focusing on developing digital battlefields so that soldiers can stay connected to each other along with their commanders. Present day soldiers are trained highly on the usage of various gadgets such as communication devices, navigation gadgets, upgraded weapon sights systems, and exoskeleton systems. This transforms common soldiers into high-tech warriors.

According to Moutushi Saha, a lead defense research analyst from Technavio "Vendors are trying to make new military headsets that are lighter, ear-protective, and usable in extreme environments. This kind of upgradation will help the soldiers to enhance their performance and help in delivering effective military operations. Countries like the UK, the US, and France are on the top list to significantly invest in the development and procurement of such devices."

Emphasis on better battlefield communications

Poor networking on the battlefield can lead to dire consequences, therefore, a proper communication in the warzone or the battlefield is required to accomplish the mission successfully. During high-risk operations, the presence of strong communication is mandatory as a continuous flow of information is needed to be maintained from both the sides. Therefore, military forces in various countries are provided with advanced communication headsets with integrated microphone and speaker systems, which offer high-quality communication and help conduct smoother military operations.

"The demand for the GPS-based machine to machine and wireless headsets is growing as they help in coordinating various military operations and exercises. This has led many countries to adopt such technology for performing various critical operations. The armed troops of the US Army are fitted with Blue Force Trackers (BFT), which helps the commander to track the movement of individual soldiers by providing a real-time feed of the soldier's location," adds Moutushi.

Focus on pilot control

Noise fatigue is a very problematic issue that is faced by the aircraft pilots. Pilots are exposed to high-intensity noises from the engines, fuselage, exhaust, and propellers for extended periods of time. This causes serious chronic noise-related problems called tinnitus. Noise related issues may result in misinterpretation of information provided from the ground station, leading to inconveniences in flights or even accidents. Such adversities have prompted airline companies to provide comfortable and protective headsets for their pilots.

Top vendors:

Bose

Flightcom

INVISIO

Safariland

Selex ES

Browse Related Reports:

Global Naval ISR Market 2017-2021

Global Military Camouflage Uniform Market 2017-2021

Global Military Gas Mask Market 2017-2021

Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like defense technologyaerospace components and aerospace. 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/20170509006590/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- PHX Energy Services Corp. ("PHX Energy") (TSX: PHX) is pleased to announce the voting results for the election of directors at its annual meeting of shareholders held on May 9, 2017 (the "Meeting"). The following six nominees were re-elected as directors of PHX Energy to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed, with shares represented at the Meeting voting in favour of individual nominees as follows:

FOR WITHHELD --------------- --------------- Judith J. Athaide 99.98% 0.02% Randolph M. Charron 96.77% 3.23% Lawrence M. Hibbard 99.98% 0.02% John M. Hooks 96.65% 3.35% Myron A. Tetreault 96.79% 3.21% Roger D. Thomas 99.99% 0.01%

About PHX Energy Services Corp.

PHX Energy, through its directional drilling subsidiary entities, provides horizontal and directional drilling technology and services to oil and natural gas producing companies in Canada, the US, Albania and Russia. In addition the PHX Energy provides EDR technology and services through its Stream Services division.

The common shares of PHX Energy are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "PHX".

Contacts:

PHX Energy Services Corp.

John Hooks

Chief Executive Officer

(403) 543-4466



PHX Energy Services Corp.

Cameron Ritchie

Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer

(403) 543-4466

www.phxtech.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp. (the "Company") (TSX: PZA), which owns the Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 Rights and Marks, released financial results today for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

First Quarter highlights:

-- Royalty Pool sales increased 0.6% -- Same store sales decreased 0.7% -- Restaurant network grew by 4, net locations -- Royalty Pool of restaurants increased by a net, 15 effective January 1, 2017

SALES

For the three months ended March 31, 2017 ("Quarter"), System Sales from the 751 restaurants in the Royalty Pool increased 0.6% to $133.9 million from $133.1 million in the prior year comparable quarter when there were 736 restaurants. System Sales in the prior year quarter included an extra day of sales in February 2016 due to the leap year, which management estimated to be $1.0 million.

Royalty Pool System Sales for the Quarter increased over the prior year comparative period as a result of the impact of net, new restaurants added to the Royalty Pool on January 1, 2017, offset by the reported same store sales decrease. Additionally, the extra day of sales in the prior year quarter should be considered when comparing 2017 to 2016.

Same store sales growth ("SSSG"), the key driver of yield growth for shareholders of the Company, decreased by 0.7% for the Quarter compared to a 2.5% increase in the same quarter last year. SSSG is not affected by the additional day during the leap year in 2016, as SSSG is calculated using a 13-week comparative basis.

First Quarter SSSG (%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pizza Pizza (0.7) 4.9 Pizza 73 (0.7) (7.9) Combined (0.7) 2.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul Goddard, CEO, Pizza Pizza Limited, said: "Our sales were softer than anticipated this quarter. The average customer check increased, but customer traffic decreased compared to the prior year quarter. In the past year, we've selectively increased prices on a few of our most popular offerings which has negatively impacted traffic, but positively impacted restaurant profitability. In what seems to be an industry-wide trend, we encountered continued weakness in consumer spending, not only in western markets, but, in parts of Ontario as well. Having said that, we are excited to begin celebrating Pizza Pizza's 50th anniversary with sales-building campaigns designed to increase traffic."

MONTHLY DIVIDENDS AND WORKING CAPITAL RESERVE

The Company declared shareholder dividends of $5.3 million, or $0.2139 per share, for the Quarter compared to $5.1 million, or $0.2091 per share, for the prior year comparable quarter. The payout ratio was 103% for the Quarter and was 100% for the prior year comparable quarter.

For Canadian federal tax purposes, the dividend is considered a taxable eligible dividend.

The Company's working capital reserve is $5.0 million at March 31, 2017, which is a decrease of $150,000 as compared to December 31, 2016. The decrease in the reserve was the result of flat adjusted earnings in the Quarter, coupled with an increase in the dividend effective June 2016.

The reserve is available to stabilize dividends and fund other expenditures in the event of short- to medium-term variability in System Sales and, thus, the Company's royalty income. With this reserve in place, the Company has set a 2017 targeted payout ratio at or near 100% on an annualized basis. The Company does not have capital expenditure requirements or employees.

EARNINGS PER SHARE ("EPS")

Fully-diluted basic EPS for the Quarter increased 1.4% to $0.217 per share compared to $0.214 per share for the same quarter in 2016. The increase in EPS for the Quarter is attributable to increased royalty income and a decrease in administrative expenses.

As compared to basic EPS, the Company considers "adjusted" EPS(1) to be a more meaningful indicator of the Company's operating performance and, therefore, presents fully-diluted adjusted EPS. Adjusted EPS for the Quarter was flat at $0.219 when compared to the same quarter in 2016.

(1) Adjusted earnings and adjusted EPS are not recognized measures under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and may be calculated in a manner that differs from that used by other issuers. For additional information about the calculation and use of these measures, please see "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures" in the Company's Management's Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A").

CURRENT INCOME TAX EXPENSE

Current income tax expense for the Quarter was consistent with the 2016 comparable period at $1.4 million, as the operating results were comparable.

Of particular note is that the Company's earnings from operations before income taxes, calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), differs significantly from its taxable income, largely due to the tax amortization of the Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 Rights and Marks. The amount of the tax amortization deducted is based on a declining basis and will decrease annually.

RESTAURANT DEVELOPMENT

The number of restaurants in the Company's Royalty Pool increased by a net, 15 to 751 on the January 1, 2017 Adjustment Date. The number of restaurants in the Royalty Pool will remain unchanged through December 31, 2017.

During the Quarter, Pizza Pizza Limited ("PPL") opened six restaurants and closed two. By brand, for the Quarter, Pizza Pizza opened three traditional and one non-traditional restaurants; two non-traditional locations were closed. Pizza 73 opened two traditional restaurants; no Pizza 73 restaurants were closed.

Readers should note that the number of restaurants added to the Royalty Pool each year may differ from the number of restaurant openings and closings reported by PPL on an annual basis as the periods for which they are reported differ slightly.

SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The following table sets out selected financial information and other data of the Company and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company. Readers should note that the 2017 results are not directly comparable to the 2016 results because of an extra day of royalty revenue in 2016 due to the leap year, in addition to the fact that there are 751 restaurants in the 2017 Royalty Pool compared to 736 restaurants in the 2016 Royalty Pool.

3 months ended (in thousands of dollars, except number of restaurants, days in the period, per Share March 31, March 31, amounts, and noted otherwise) 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Restaurants in Royalty Pool(1) 751 736 Same store sales growth(2) -0.7% 2.5% Days in the period 90 91 System Sales reported by Pizza Pizza restaurants in the Royalty Pool(6) $ 112,508 $ 111,210 System Sales reported by Pizza 73 restaurants in the Royalty Pool(6) 21,355 21,881 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total System Sales $ 133,863 $ 133,091 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Royalty - 6% on Pizza Pizza System Sales $ 6,751 $ 6,673 Royalty - 9% on Pizza 73 System Sales 1,922 1,969 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Royalty income $ 8,673 $ 8,642 Interest paid on borrowings(3) (314) (332) Administrative expenses (135) (163) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted earnings available for distribution to the Company and Pizza Pizza Limited(5) $ 8,224 $ 8,147 Distribution on Class B and Class D Exchangeable Shares(4) (1,735) (1,644) Current income tax expense (1,375) (1,375) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted earnings available for shareholder dividends(5) $ 5,114 $ 5,128 Add back: Distribution on Class B and Class D Exchangeable Shares(4) 1,735 1,644 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted earnings from operations(5) $ 6,849 $ 6,772 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted earnings per share(5) $ 0.219 $ 0.219 Basic earnings per share $ 0.217 $ 0.214 Dividends declared by the Company $ 5,266 $ 5,148 Dividend per share $ 0.2139 $ 0.2091 Payout ratio(5) 103% 100% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) The number restaurants for which the Partnership earns a royalty ("Royalty Pool"), as defined in the amended and restated Pizza Pizza license and royalty agreement (the "Pizza Pizza License and Royalty Agreement") and the amended and restated Pizza 73 license and royalty agreement (the "Pizza 73 License and Royalty Agreement") (together, the "License and Royalty Agreements"). For the 2017 fiscal period, the Royalty Pool includes 651 Pizza Pizza restaurants and 100 Pizza 73 restaurants. The number of restaurants added to the Royalty Pool each year may differ from the number of restaurant openings and closings reported by Pizza Pizza Limited ("PPL") on an annual basis as the periods for which they are reported differ slightly. (2) SSSG means the change in period gross sales of Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 restaurants as compared to sales in the previous period, where the restaurants have been open at least 13 months. Additionally, for a Pizza 73 restaurant whose restaurant territory was adjusted due to an additional restaurant, the sales used to derive the Step-Out Payment may be added to sales to arrive at SSSG. SSSG does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, these figures may not be comparable to similar figures presented by other companies. See "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures" in Management's Discussion & Analysis ("MD&A"). (3) The Company, indirectly through the Partnership, incurs interest expense on the $47 million outstanding bank loan. Interest expense also includes amortization of loan fees. See "Interest Expense" in the Company's MD&A. (4) Represents the distribution to PPL from the Partnership on Class B and Class D Units of the Partnership. The Class B and D Units are exchangeable into common shares of the Company ("Shares") based on the value of the Class B Exchange Multiplier and the Class D Exchange Multiplier at the time of exchange as defined in the Licence and Royalty Agreements, respectively, and represent 21.1% of the fully diluted Shares at March 31, 2017 (December 31, 2016 - 20.4%). During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, as a result of the final calculation of the equivalent Class B and Class D Share entitlements related to the January 1, 2016 Adjustment to the Royalty Pool, PPL was paid a distribution on additional equivalent Shares as if such Shares were outstanding as of January 1, 2016. Included in the three months ended March 31, 2017, is the payment of $8 in distributions to PPL pursuant to the true-up calculation (March 31, 2016 - PPL was paid $22). (5) "Adjusted earnings from operations", "Adjusted earnings available for shareholder dividends", "Adjusted earnings per Share", and "Payout Ratio" do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, these figures may not be comparable to similar figures presented by other companies. See "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures" in the Company's MD&A. (6) System Sales (as defined in the Licence and Royalty Agreements) reported by Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 restaurants include the gross sales of Pizza Pizza company-owned, jointly-controlled and franchised restaurants, excluding sales and goods and service tax or similar amounts levied by any governmental or administrative authority. System Sales do not represent the consolidated operating results of the Company but are used to calculate the royalties payable to the Partnership as presented above.

A copy of the Company's unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements and related MD&A will be available at www.sedar.com and www.pizzapizza.ca after the market closes on May 9, 2017.

As previously announced, the Company will host a conference call to discuss the results. The details of the conference call are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Time: 9:00 a.m. ET Call-in number: 416-340-2216 / 800-377-0758 Recording call in number: 905-694-9451 / 800-408-3053 Available until midnight, May 24, 2017 Passcode: 5616015#

A recording of the call will also be available on the Company's website www.pizzapizza.ca.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this report may constitute "forward-looking" statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors 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. When used in this report, such statements include such words as "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "plan", and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and speak only as of the date of this report. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's annual information form. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Pizza Pizza Limited

Curt Feltner

Chief Financial Officer

(416) 967-1010 x307

cfeltner@pizzapizza.ca

www.pizzapizza.ca / www.pizza73.com / www.sedar.com



Pizza Pizza Limited

Christine D'Sylva

Vice President, Finance & Investor Relations

(416) 967-1010 x393

cdsylva@pizzapizza.ca

www.pizzapizza.ca / www.pizza73.com / www.sedar.com




MARKHAM, ON--(Marketwired - May 09, 2017) - Extendicare Inc. ("Extendicare" or the "Company") (TSX: EXE) today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Results are presented in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

Financial and Operational Highlights

Q1 2017 financial results comparison over Q1 2016 (from continuing operations unless otherwise noted): Net operating income of $31.6 million up $5.0 million or 18.8%, representing 11.8% of revenue. Earnings (loss) from continuing operations of $4.9 million ($0.06 per basic share) up $6.4 million. AFFO from continuing operations up $0.4 million to $12.7 million ($0.143 per basic share), from $12.3 million ($0.140 per basic share). Adjusted EBITDA of $21.4 million, up $4.9 million or 29.7%. Home health care daily hours of service grew by 8.5% to 31,285 this quarter from 28,847 in Q1 2016.

Dividends declared of $10.6 million in the first three months of 2017, representing approximately 84% of AFFO of $12.7 million for the same period.

"We are pleased with our operating results this quarter, which reflected continued growth in home health care volumes and steady progress from our Esprit Lifestyle Communities," stated Tim Lukenda, President and CEO of Extendicare. "We continue to drive margin improvement and resulting net operating income across all business lines. As we work towards the opening of Douglas Crossing retirement community in Uxbridge, Ontario later this year, we are pleased to see very robust pre-lease activity in this underserviced market."

Conference Call and Webcast

On May 10, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. (ET), we will hold a conference call to discuss our 2017 first quarter results. The call will be webcast live and archived on our website at www.extendicare.com under the "Investors/Events & Presentations" section. Alternatively, the call-in number is 1-866-696-5910 or 416-340-2217, followed by the passcode 1020659#. A replay of the call will be available until midnight on May 26, 2017. To access the rebroadcast, dial 1-800-408-3053 or 905-694-9451, followed by the passcode 9696498#. Slides accompanying remarks during the call will be posted to our website as part of the live webcast.

Selected Financial Information

The following is a summary of selected financial information for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three months ended March 31 --------------------- (thousands of dollars, unless otherwise noted ) 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTINUING OPERATIONS Revenue Long-term care 150,610 148,760 Retirement living 4,630 3,351 Home health care 107,794 97,616 Management, consulting and other 5,824 4,656 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total revenue 268,858 254,383 Operating expenses 237,254 227,788 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net operating income (NOI) (1) 31,604 26,595 NOI margin (1) 11.8% 10.5% Administrative costs 8,513 8,407 Lease costs 1,662 1,671 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA (1) 21,429 16,517 Adjusted EBITDA margin (1) 8.0% 6.5% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings (loss) from continuing operations 4,947 (1,483) per basic share($) 0.06 (0.02) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFFO (continuing operations) (1) 12,688 12,344 per basic share ($) 0.143 0.140 per diluted share ($) 0.141 0.138 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFFO (1) 12,688 12,235 per basic share ($) 0.143 0.139 per diluted share ($) 0.141 0.137 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maintenance capex (continuing operations) 907 1,040 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash dividends declared per share 0.120 0.120 Payout ratio (1) (2) 84% 86% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average number of shares (thousands) Basic 88,807 88,057 Diluted 100,086 99,302 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) NOI, NOI margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, AFFO, AFFO per share and "payout ratio" are measures used by management in evaluating operating performance. Please refer to the cautionary statements under the heading "Non-GAAP Measures" in this press release. Detailed descriptions of these terms can be found in the Company's disclosure documents, including its Management's Discussion and Analysis, filed with the securities regulatory authorities; these documents are available at www.sedar.com and on Extendicare's website at www.extendicare.com. (2) Payout ratio is calculated using dividends declared per share divided by AFFO per basic share for the respective periods. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2017 First Quarter Summary

Consolidated net operating income from continuing operations improved by $5.0 million or 18.8% to $31.6 million in the 2017 first quarter compared to $26.6 million in the same 2016 period, representing 11.8% and 10.5% of revenue, respectively. This quarter's NOI reflected growth from home health care business volumes, LTC funding enhancements, a $1.2 million increase in investment income from our captive insurance subsidiary (the "Captive"), and a favourable prior period revenue adjustment of $0.8 million, partially offset by one less day this quarter.

Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations improved by $4.9 million or 29.7% to $21.4 million this quarter from $16.5 million in the same 2016 period, representing 8.0% and 6.5% of revenue, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA from the U.S. operations improved by $1.6 million due to the increase in investment income and reduction in administrative costs. Adjusted EBITDA from the Canadian operations improved by $3.3 million to $20.4 million, representing 7.7% of revenue this quarter compared to 6.7% in the same 2016 period, reflecting growth in net operating income of $3.8 million, partially offset by an increase in administrative costs that included an increase in share-based compensation, wages and consulting fees in respect of the home health care operations improvement initiative.

Earnings (loss) from continuing operations improved by $6.4 million in the 2017 first quarter, reflecting the improvement in Adjusted EBITDA, a decline in other expenses in respect of proxy contest, integration and acquisition costs incurred in the 2016 first quarter, and a positive change in foreign exchange losses, partially offset by lower interest revenue.

AFFO increased by $0.5 million to $12.7 million in the 2017 first quarter, reflecting an improvement from continuing operations and a reduction in losses from discontinued operations. The improvement in AFFO from continuing operations included a net increase in Adjusted EBITDA of $2.8 million after adjusting AFFO for income support, non-cash share-based compensation and the elimination of earnings of the Captive, and included lower current income taxes and maintenance capex of $0.2 million, partially offset by higher net finance costs of $1.8 million and a decrease in government capital funding of $0.9 million due to retroactive funding of $1.0 million received in the 2016 first quarter. The increase in net financing costs was due to lower interest revenue of $1.9 million as a result of deferral of consideration in connection with the U.S. Sale Transaction.

Financial Position

As at March 31, 2017, Extendicare's consolidated cash on hand was $98.6 million, which excludes investments held by our Captive of $131.8 million to support the accrual for U.S. self-insured liabilities of $90.0 million. Subsequent to March 31, 2017, the Captive transferred US$10.0 million of its funds held for investment to the Company for general corporate use.

Our long-term debt totalled $501.2 million as at March 31, 2017 (December 31, 2016 - $503.6 million), representing approximately 43% of our gross book value, including convertible debentures.

Our consolidated net interest coverage ratio for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2017, was 5.1 times. Net interest coverage is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net interest, which represents interest expense, with capitalized interest added back, net of interest revenue. Excluding interest revenue, our interest coverage ratio was 3.5 times.

Extendicare's financial reports, including its Management's Discussion and Analysis are available on our website at www.extendicare.com under the "Investors/Financial Reports" section. Also, a supplemental information package containing historical quarterly financial results and operating statistics and a list of our senior care centres can be found on the website under the same section.

May 2017 Dividend Declared

The Board of Directors of Extendicare today declared a cash dividend of $0.04 per share for the month of May 2017, which is payable on June 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 31, 2017. This dividend is designated as an "eligible dividend" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

About Extendicare

Extendicare is a leading provider of care and services for seniors throughout Canada. Through our network of 111 operated senior care and living centres (65 owned/46 managed), as well as our home health care operations, we are committed to delivering care throughout the health care continuum to meet the needs of a growing seniors' population in Canada. Our qualified and highly trained workforce of 23,700 individuals is dedicated to helping people live better through a commitment to quality service and a passion for what we do.

Non-GAAP Measures

Extendicare assesses and measures operating results and financial position based on performance measures referred to as "net operating income", "NOI", "NOI margin", "Adjusted EBITDA", "Adjusted EBITDA margin", "AFFO", "AFFO per share", and "payout ratio". These are not measures recognized under GAAP and do not have standardized meanings prescribed by GAAP. These non-GAAP measures are presented in this document because either: (i) management believes that they are a relevant measure of the ability of Extendicare to make cash distributions; or (ii) certain ongoing rights and obligations of Extendicare may be calculated using these measures. Such non-GAAP measures may differ from similar computations as reported by other issuers and, accordingly, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures as reported by such issuers. They are not intended to replace earnings (loss) from continuing operations, net earnings (loss), cash flow, or other measures of financial performance and liquidity reported in accordance with GAAP. Detailed descriptions of these terms can be found in Extendicare's disclosure documents, including its Management's Discussion and Analysis, filed with the securities regulatory authorities; these documents are available at www.sedar.com and on Extendicare's website at www.extendicare.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Information provided by Extendicare from time to time, including this release, contains or may contain forward-looking statements concerning anticipated financial events, results, circumstances, economic performance or expectations with respect to Extendicare and its subsidiaries, including, without limitation, statements regarding its business operations, business strategy, and financial condition. Forward-looking statements can be identified because they generally contain the words "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "project", "plan" or "objective" or other similar expressions or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements reflect management's beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available, and Extendicare assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable securities laws. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Extendicare to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on Extendicare's forward-looking statements. Further information can be found in the disclosure documents filed by Extendicare with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com and on Extendicare's website at www.extendicare.com.

For further information, contact:



Elaine E. Everson

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (905) 470-4000; Fax: (905) 470-4003

Email: eeverson@extendicare.com

Visit Extendicare's Website at www.extendicare.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/09/17 -- Zoompass Holdings Inc. ("Zoompass" or the "Company") (OTCQB: ZPAS) announces that it has been made aware of and requested by the OTC Markets Group, Inc. to comment on recent trading and potential promotional activity concerning ZPAS common stock.

On May 8, 2017, OTC Markets informed the Company that it became aware of a promotional newsletter touting the Company and encouraging investors to purchase the Company's common stock. The Company is unaware of the effect on the trading activity, if any, as the Company had previously issued over the preceding several weeks press releases and SEC reports outlining, among other things, more complete and robust descriptions of the Company's business and opportunities, the entry into certain agreements in furtherance of the Company's disclosed business plans, and consummation of private placements with respect to the sale of non-registered shares in the common stock of the Company necessary to effect the business plan. During which time the Company's common stock, and volume of trading, rose at a steady and robust rate. Following the Company's forward stock split approved in mid-February of this year, the public announcements thereof shortly thereafter, and DWAC approval from the DTC in the middle of March, the Company's stock began trading actively in late-March. The Company is unaware of the full nature and content of the promotional newsletter and any related promotional activity, the responsible parties and the extent of the email newsletters' dissemination.

The Company is not aware of the promotional materials' author or its affiliated entities or persons, other than the identifying information disclosed in the newsletter. The Company's recent press releases have reported on and provided disclosure of legitimate and ongoing corporate activity only, and are not part of any promotional activities or campaign. "While we support the rights of investors and market participants to publicly comment on our stock and the market generally, the Company encourages those interested in the Company to rely solely on information included in its press releases combined with its filings and disclosures made with OTCMarkets Group and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC's website. We thank OTCMarkets for their openness and consideration to the investors of Zoompass Holdings, Inc. and will continue to support the open and complete disclosure of information regarding the Company" commented Mr. Brian Morales, Chief Financial Officer of the Company.

After inquiry, the Company states definitively that its officers, directors and, to the Company's knowledge, its controlling shareholders (i.e., shareholders owning 10% or more of the Company's securities), of which there are only two, have not, directly or indirectly, authorized or been involved in any way (including payment to a third-party) with the creation or distribution of promotional materials including the subject newsletter; and that the Company, its officers, directors and, to the knowledge of the Company, any controlling shareholders, have not sold or purchased the Company's securities within the past 90 days on the open market. Additionally, the shares currently held by the Company's officers, directors and controlling shareholders are not registered.

Despite a statement in the promotional material that the author has spoken to management of the Company, the Officers, Directors and the controlling shareholders definitively state that there has been no contact with the author of the material. Further, the promotional material asserts that a $30 million dollar investment was given to the Company. This is not the case rather the Company has stated in the past that prior owners of the platform had invested over CDN$40 million in the technology.

In June of 2016, the Company engaged and continues to engage Smashbox Consulting Inc., a digital consulting firm to assist the Company in product and application marketing and brand awareness to new and existing customers. Other than this marketing consultant, the Company has engaged no third parties to provide marketing services and has engaged no third parties to provide investor relations services, public relations services, or other related services.

As noted in the Company's SEC filings it has warrants, options and DSU's outstanding.

About Zoompass Zoompass Inc. is a leading financial services technology company with a unique place in the Fintech space as both a financial platform provider with divisions in physical prepaid cards, financing enablement, and mobility products. Zoompass provides businesses and government tailored solutions to help digitize their financial transactions. In the card sector, Zoompass offers complete program management services for a wide range of open loop Visa and MasterCard prepaid and virtual card accounts. Zoompass enables businesses to provide their customers with a number of open loop card choices including, gift card, incentive cards, check replacement cards and online virtual card accounts. The company also provides advanced mobile technology, enabling businesses to provide their customers with a white label mobile wallet solution, like Zoompass, with the ability to manage their card balances, bill pay, transfer funds and perform card to card money transfers in real time using their mobile devices. Zoompass's mobile device division helps carriers and mobile device manufacturers integrate the financial platform technology into their offerings. For more information about Zoompass, visit www.zoompass.com.

Safe Harbor:

From time to time, the Company may issue news releases that contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual financial or operating results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements not to occur or be realized. Forward-looking statements made in this press release generally are based on our best estimates of future results, performances or achievements, predicated upon current conditions and the most recent results of the companies involved and their respective industries. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "could", "should", "project", "expect", "believe", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "continue", "potential", "opportunity" or similar terms, variations of those terms or the negative of those terms or other variations of those terms or comparable words or expressions. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among other things, such factors a general economic conditions, the fulfillment of sales orders, delivery of product, the impact of legislation and the competition within our industry.

Contacts:

Zoompass Inc.

Rob Lee, Steve Roberts, Brian Morales

1-888-966-6246

Source: Zoompass Holdings Inc.




NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / Renowned real estate icon Jacob Frydman continues his support of the Chabad of Dutchess County and its efforts to preserve Judaic traditions among youth in New York. The real estate developer spent most of his 30 year-career focusing on value-added investments, capitalizing on his superior proficiency in structuring, financing, and executing highly complex property transactions.

Located in Rhinebeck, NY, Chabad Dutchess and The Rhinebeck Jewish Center hosts many Jewish festive traditions, such as Shabbat, applying Tefillin, keeping mitzvahs, and performing Kaddish. It is also a resource for the Jewish community with availability of counseling and guidance in parenting, health and wellness, relationships and a host of other services, all within the framework of religious life. "I first met Jacob seven years ago," explains Rabbi Hanoch Hecht, of Chabad of Dutchess County. "When you meet him, he gives off a very strong feel of a New York City professional. Each time he has ever his word, he has kept it 100 percent. He remains a dedicated member of the Rhinebeck Jewish community, and I truly appreciate his friendship, availability, and advice."

In his active support for the NCFJE and Chabad of Dutchess County, Jacob Frydman has contributed time and capital to efforts that help feed the less-fortunate families during the Passover holiday. He has worked with the Toys for Hospitalized Children program, and has supported the Released Time program, which reaches out to Jewish youngsters in public schools and exposes them to the Jewish heritage and religion once a week for the last hour of school. His commitment and support of these initiatives are a reflection on Frydman's deep and caring involvement within his community and for his fellows.

Having acquired over five million square feet of real estate throughout the east coast of the United States, Frydman has participated in billions of dollars in notable property transactions, including Two Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, an important property for foreign governments for their missions to the United Nations; the redevelopment of lower Manhattan's Aetna Building; the acquisition of the unfinished Global Crossing New York headquarters from Goldman Sachs; the purchase of NBC's New York television studios from General Electric; and the redevelopment of 500 Tenth Avenue in Manhattan into the DHL Center.

A renowned expert on value added investments, Jacob Frydman has served as a long-standing member of the Board of Directors of the Bardavon Opera House, home of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Since his retirement as the CEO of a public Real Estate Investment Trust in September 2015, he continued on as the Chief Investment Officer of the First Capital Real Estate Trust and devotes much of his time to various philanthropic endeavors. Frydman is a respected contributor at numerous industry seminars and events, serving as a panelist and speaker to address matters related to property investment. He has appeared as guest lecturer at Columbia University, addressing real estate finance, and has participated in New York Law School's Master's Lecturer series. As a thought leader in his field, Frydman has often appeared on news television networks, such as Bloomberg TV, FOX News, and CNBC, discussing trends in the commercial real estate.

Jacob Frydman - Blog - JacobFrydmanNews.com: http://JacobFrydmanNews.com

Jacob Frydman (@jacobfrydman) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/jacobfrydman

Jacob Frydman -- Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/jacob-frydman

Contact Information:

JacobFrydmanNews.com

contact@jacobfrydmannews.com

www.JacobFrydmanNews.com

SOURCE: Jacob Frydman
BALA CYNWYD, PA / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / The law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC announces that it is investigating potential claims against the Board of Directors of Tribune Media Company ("Tribune" or "the Company") (NYSE: TRCO - News) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law in connection with the sale of the Company to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. ("Sinclair").

Click here to learn more: http://www.brodskysmith.com/cases/tribune-media-company-nyse-trco/, or call: 877-534-2590. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Under the terms of the transaction, Tribune shareholders will receive only $43.50 in cash for each share of Tribune stock they own. The investigation concerns whether the Board of Tribune breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders and whether Sinclair is underpaying for the Company. The transaction may undervalue the Company and would result in a loss for many Tribune shareholders. For example, shares of Tribune stock have traded at $55.65 per share and the price being paid by Sinclair is below an analyst price target of $48.00 per share.

If you own shares of Tribune stock and wish to discuss the legal ramifications of the investigation, or have any questions, you may e-mail or call the law office of Brodsky & Smith, LLC who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Jason L. Brodsky, Esquire or Evan J. Smith, Esquire at Brodsky & Smith, LLC, Two Bala Plaza, Suite 510, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, by visiting http://www.brodskysmith.com/cases/tribune-media-company-nyse-trco/, or calling toll free 877-LEGAL-90.

Brodsky & Smith, LLC is a litigation law firm with extensive expertise representing shareholders throughout the nation in securities and class action lawsuits. The attorneys at Brodsky & Smith have been appointed by numerous courts throughout the country to serve as lead counsel in class actions and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for our clients and shareholders. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE: Brodsky & Smith, LLC
Mumbai: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued form 483 to Aurobindo Pharma Ltds unit-IV in Hyderabad with seven observations relating to violation of good manufacturing practices, according to information on the drug regulator's website.

The US FDA had inspected unit-IV, where the company manufactures injectables and ophthalmic products, during 20-28 April.

The US FDA issues a form 483 if its investigators spot any condition that in their judgement may constitute violations of the US Food Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act and related Acts.

At 11:45am, shares of Aurobindo Pharma were down 1.2 per cent to Rs596.15 on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex index was up 0.1 per cent at 29,949.69 points.

Two key lapses that the drug regulator observed at the unit were: Appropriate controls over computers were not exercised to ensure that changes in master production and control records are instituted only by authorized personnel, and procedures designed to prevent microbiological contamination of products purporting to be sterile were not established.

The US FDA also observed that buildings were not maintained in good state, manufacturing equipment not maintained and appropriately designed to achieve the intended purpose, laboratory controls did not include appropriate test procedures, changes to written procedures were not drafted, reviewed and approved by the appropriate unit and batch distribution not reviewed thoroughly.

The issues highlighted by the US FDA at the unit do not appear to be very severe and the company will be able to address them soon, a research analyst at a domestic brokerage house, who did not wish to be named, said.

According to Aurobindo Pharma, product filings with the US FDA from unit-IV were 75 as on 31 December 2016, of which the company has got marketing approval for 38 products.

On 19 April 2017, the US FDA had issued form 483 to the companys unit-III in Hyderabad, used for manufacturing oral formulations, with six observations relating to violation of norms.
New Delhi - The Indian government's demonetisation measures did not impede future black money flows in new denominations, a UN report said on Monday.

According to UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017, complementary measures to demonetisation would be required to target all forms of undeclared wealth and assets.

"Broader structural reforms which could also contribute to enhanced transparency include: the implementation of a goods and services tax; voluntary disclosure of income scheme; and tracking of high-value transactions through taxpayer identification numbers," it said.

"Other measures, such as reforming the real estate registration process to ensure transparency, are being discussed."

As per the report, the disruption caused by demonetisation had "greater and longer-lasting" impacts for lower-income individuals, households and businesses that had difficulty insulating themselves against the shock.

"Rural incomes and consumption were affected due to a decline in prices for agricultural products (although again, this was not reflected in the national accounts data which measure agriculture in terms of quantity)," the report said.

"In the medium-term, the currency initiative is expected to bring more economic activities into the formal sector and spur digitisation of financial transactions, helping to broaden the tax base and secure the fiscal space needed for public social and infrastructure expenditures."

The report pointed out that "one-off" currency measure in effect transferred lost black money to the central government through unclaimed or unexchanged notes.

"Preliminary estimates suggested a 97 percent recovery of notes, which would imply a 3.16 percent increase in fiscal revenues for the government," the report read.

On 8 November 2016, exactly six months ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would withdraw India's two largest currency denominations -- Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 -- from circulation.

The two bank note denominations which were withdrawn represented more than 86 per cent of the cash in circulation.
The invoice matching mechanism in the goods and services tax (GST) to be rolled out from 1 July will help curb fake bill frauds, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said, in a letter to a Congress leader.

Jaitley said the model of invoice matching for eligibility of input tax credit of the recipient has been adopted in the GST design after much deliberations in the GST Council. One of the most important advantages of adopting this model is for curbing the possible tax evasion on account of fake invoice frauds, the finance minister said in response to the concerns raised by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh.

Singh, in his letter to Jaitley, had said multiple tax returns would have to be filed by businesses leading to compliance burden.

Jaitley further said that in the proposed GST design, the registered person is required to file only his initial return on 10th of the next month (return for outward supplies) while other returns on invoice matching and availing of ITC credit are auto-populated.

These auto-populated returns, he said, will be communicated between the supplier and the recipient through the common portal GSTN. Therefore, there is only one GST return with internally auto-populated returns for invoice matching and availing of input tax credit, Jaitley added.

The Integrated GST model was adopted to ensure input tax credit is transferred from the originating state to the destination state. It is through the invoice matching and automated return mechanism that the government can ensure eligible input tax credit is accurately transferred between the states, read the Jaitleys letter to the Congress leader.

The much-delayed GST is scheduled to be implemented from 1 July , which will subsume most indirect taxes.
Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's elder brother Prahlad Modi on Monday threatened that all fair price shop keepers would go on an indefinite strike from 28 May if the Gujarat Government did not concede to their demand for higher commissions.

A copy of the letter has been sent to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Chief Seretary J.N. Singh.

Asked for how long would they continue the agitation, Prahlad Modi told IANS: "If they (Gujarat government) do not listen, then for life."

Gujarat has an estimated 1.2 crore ration card holders registered with the state government. These include beneficiaries under BPL and Antyodaya schemes. Of the total, 65 lakh card holders come under the purview of National Food Securities Act, while 55 lakh have been declared void. These beneficiaries are served by around 900 fair shops across the state.

"The state has been seeking suggestions to help increase operating commission for fair price shop owners but it is their duty to see how the commission can be improved," Prahlad Modi said in the letter.

"Through this letter we seek to inform the government that after 20 days, the fair price shop owners and kerosene dealers would stay away from distributing goods under PDS system and the responsibility of the situation arising out of this will rest with the state government."
On 14 March 2017, C R Chaudhary, minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, told the Lok Sabha (in reply to unstarred question No 2059) that a shortage of pulses would continue to be experienced.

He said that the government had been advised through Niti Aayogs Working Group Report on Foodgrains-Balancing Demand & Supply during 12th Five Year Plan that the projected demand for pulses during 2016-17 is estimated to be around 24.61 million tonnes (higher than 23.6 million tonnes of last year). In contrast, the estimated domestic production of pulses (2nd Advance Estimates of Production of Foodgrains, 2016-17) is 22.14 million tonnes (compared to 16.3 million tonnes last year). This could mean a shortfall of around 2.47 million tonnes.

He also stated that the government has approved engaging a professional Buffer Stock Management Agency (BSMA) for efficient management of the buffer stock including procurement, storage, maintenance and liquidation of the stock as per government directives from time to time. The agency for designing and managing the bid process has been selected. Contract for appointment is being finalized.

He said that the government had approved the creation of a buffer stock of 2 million tonnes and that as on 8 March 2017, around 1.5 million tonnes of pulses had been procured for contracted for import towards building this buffer. He also said that the government has contracted imports of 4.06 lakh tonnes of pulses towards building the buffer stock. He explained that the prices of pulses fluctuates daily as well as over season. While approving the bid for imports, the Price Stabilization Fund Management Committee (PSFMC) compares the offer rate with prevailing domestic rates and bids are generally approved for import when the rate offered are lower than prevailing domestic prices of that pulses.

The answers sound immensely plausible. Then one gets the figures that Nirmala Sitaraman, minister of state, ministry of commerce gives out. The data showed that India had imported not just 2 million tonnes, but 5.4 million tonnes during 2016-17 (see table).

It is then that one begins to realise that the farmers' anger has been fuelled by the governments decision to continue allowing import of pulses.

Sitaraman did explain that the decision of the government to import pulses towards building buffer stock is guided by domestic price and availability position. In view of the bumper production of kharif pulses, no import is being undertaken by the government other than those already contracted when prices and availability position were difficult.

She said that for building a buffer stock of pulses, the government had through MMTC contracted import of 70,000 MT of Desi Chick Peas during 201617 of which only 52,315 MT had arrived. The government had approved creation of buffer stock of pulses up to 2 million tonnes under Price Stabilization Fund (PSF). In addition, the government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mozambique for import of pulses on Government-toGovernment (G2G) basis during 201617.

But, even after all such explanations are received, there are niggling worries about how prices for pulses get determined.

For one, there is no international price for pulses. It is a thinly traded commodity, consumed largely by India. It is India which decides the prices. When demand is high in India, and production is short of demand, India resorts to imports. At that time, international prices also go up. When Indias production is good, there is no big market for pulses grown overseas. International prices crash at such times.

This is amply evident from watching international prices and domestic prices over the past few years. Second, while it is true that prices change from time to time, from country to country, and vary with the quantities imported, the numbers suggest that the price difference for any variety of pulses can be huge during the span of just one year.

One more interesting fact (see chart). While the government has contracted to import from Mozambique, at no time last year did Mozambique offer India the most favourable of prices. In fact, at times India paid Mozambique prices that were higher than the average international price for pulses during the year. The spread in prices of pulses can be anywhere between $200 to $900 per tonne during the year.

Third, unlike other commodities, India imports pulses from a variety of countries. No country produces pulses in huge quantities  though countries like Canada, Myanmar and Australia have an edge. Canada exported around $1.5 billion worth pulses to India last year, though this year will see this number fall because of Indias own increased production. In most cases, the growers of pulses in other countries are people of Indian origin. Or they are traders with excellent linkages with farmers in those countries. Hence they know both the markets overseas and those in India. Just take a sampling of the countries from which India imported. The basket is huge. However, Australia, Canada and Myanmar remain the biggest sources for pulses import.

It is when one takes all these factors into account, that one realises that the government should have moved in earlier to impose customs duties on the import of pulses, if not ban them altogether. At the same time, the building of a buffer stock should be taken up through more purchases from domestic producers  preferably through an open reverse-auction system to promote transparency, and the taking of corrective measures to ensure that imports do not hurt domestic farmers. After all, even if one goes by the Niti Aayog figure that there will be a shortfall of around 2.4 million tonnes, it is difficult to justify import of 5.4 million tonnes.

Heeding to the clamour from farmers, the government finally imposed an import duty of 10 percent by the end of March but only on Urad dal. But there is already a demand for increasing this to.

Finally, there is an urgent need to introduce measures which allow farmers to discover prices for pulses three months and six months ahead of the harvesting season. But more of that in the next part.

Read Part I, Part II and Part III of this series here, here and here. Part V will be published on Wednesday (10 May)
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce new batches for settlement of payments through the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) from 10 July to ensure better service for customers.

In its first bi-monthly monetary policy of 2017-18 in April, the RBI had announced more batches under the NEFT to enhance efficiency and add to customer convenience.

The RBI said additional 11 settlement batches at half- hourly intervals will be introduced from 10 July, beginning from 8.30 am till 6.30 pm.

With this, the total number of half hourly settlement batches during the day will increase to 23. The starting batch at 8 am and closing batch at 7 pm will remain the same as hitherto, it clarified further. The return discipline shall also remain the same i.e., B+2 hours (settlement batch time plus two hours) as per extant practice, an RBI release said.

The NEFT system settles fund transfer requests of participating banks on net basis at hourly intervals from 8 am to 7 pm on all working days. The RBI has asked all the banks to make the required changes in their core banking solution (CBS) to carry out the new additional batches.
The Supreme Courts move holding Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt is yet another major blow to the businessman fighting a Rs 9,000 crore loan default case with a clutch of Indian banks and investigative agencies. The SC action will strengthen the case against the billionaire as the Indian government is pushing hard for his extradition from UK.

Legal experts (read an ET Now interview) have pointed out that it is unprecedented that an industry captain is held for contempt of court. It only shows the extent to which Vijay Mallya or even a successful industrialist can go, behave in irresponsible manner, said KTS Tulsi, a senior SC advocate, said in the interview. Also, the Court has asked Mallya to appear before 10 July.

This SC move has come after a UK Police last month had arrested him following an extradition request by India. Though Mallya managed to get bail, the development signaled that Mallya can no longer play the victim card in the case and there are tangible charges against him. Till then, Mallya had maintained that he is being wrongly targeted by the Indian government for no fault of his. The Rs 9,000 crore loan default happened following the business failure of erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines and it is wrong to target him for this, Mallya argued.

Though he is right in saying that the money was indeed borrowed by Kingfisher Airlines for the running of his aviation business, the fact is loans were given to the airline based on a personal guarantee furnished by the billionaire. Also, as legal experts pointed out, his conduct following the default---transferring money to kids in violation of court order and his refusal to return to the country to face the law of landwill bring him more trouble before the court. The SCs contempt order came after the SBI-led bank consortium moved SC against Mallya citing that the beleaguered liquor king allegedly transferred $40 million he received from Diageo Plc in February 2016 to his children, when he owed large amount to banks.

If Mallya fails to appear before the SC before the said date, Indian government will raise his lack of cooperation with local courts as another tool to push for his extradition. This will logically make things more difficult for the absconding businessman. For Mallya, things would not have worsened to this extent had he stayed back in the country to fight the Kingfisher case, instead of leaving the country.

For sure, Vijay Mallya isnt the only industrialist who is a defaulter to banks in India. There are many others, some with even bigger liabilities. But, Mallyas conduct throughout the case and his defiant attitude to banks and investigators have dragged him to the current mess. Given the attention Mallya-Kingfisher case has received, banks are unlikely to give up easily as they will have to face public scrutiny. For the Narendra Modi-government too, this case is now way beyond a corporate loan default, and has become a much bigger issue with political importance. Bringing back Mallya would be a major victory for the Modi-government to show that it is determined to fight the battle against wily promoters who have defaulted bank money. This will also be used as a message to other large bank loan defaulters.

All of this means, Mallya will not have an easy escape from the current legal mess. The bank consortium has told the SC that Mallya has not made full disclosure of his asset details both in India and abroad. The SC too have taken note of this saying the billionaire misled the court on his asset details. If Mallya fails to give an explanation on this, he will face even bigger trouble in SC. Mallya should take a cue from the Subrata Roy-Sahara episode where the SC has punished the businessman for not honoring his commitments. Mallyas ordeal will be less if he returns to India and fight his case in the local courts instead of being in a state of denial. As of now, the former Kingfisher boss is in a deeper mess, a mess that is largely self-created.
On 8 November 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his governments decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, to an unsuspecting nation. The decision came into effect from the midnight between 8 November and 9 November 2016, and suddenly rendered 86.4 percent of the nations currency in circulation useless.

Its been six months since then and more than four months since 30 December 2016, the last date for depositing the demonetised Rs 500 an Rs 1,000 notes into bank accounts. But even after this period as far as the government is concerned, a few basic points remain.

a) How much demonetised money finally made it into bank accounts? When demonetisation was first announced, this number was shared regularly. Nevertheless, the last announcement on this front from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came on 13 December 2016. As of 10 December 2016, Rs 12.44 lakh crore of demonetised currency had made it back into the banks.

Given that Rs 15.44 lakh crore worth of currency notes had been demonetised, nearly 80.6 percent of the currency had found its way back into banks, nearly three weeks before the last date to deposit demonetised notes into bank accounts.

Neither the Reserve Bank nor the government has told the nation how much money eventually made it back into the banks. This is an important question and needs to be answered.

b) The initial idea behind demonetisation was to curb fake currency notes and eliminate black money.

As far as fake currency goes the minister of state for finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Lok Sabha in early February 2017 that the total number of fake notes deducted in the currency deposited into banks after demonetisation stood at 2.46 lakhs. This amounted to a total value of Rs 19.5 crore.

As mentioned earlier, the total value of demonetised notes had stood at Rs 15.44 lakh crore. Given this, the proportion of fake notes deducted is almost zero and can be ignored. Hence, as far as detecting and eliminating fake notes was concerned, demonetisation was a total flop.

How did it do as far as eliminating black money is concerned? The hope was that the black money held in the form of cash will not make it back into the banks, as people wouldnt want to get caught by declaring it. But by 10 December 2016, more than four-fifth of the demonetised notes had already made it back into the banks. Since then the government and the RBI have not given out any fresh numbers. Its surprising that it has been more than four months since 30 December 2016, and this number is still not out in the public domain.

Also, it is important to point out here: High denomination notes are known to facilitate generation of black money. In this connection, it may be noted that while the total number of bank notes in circulation rose by 40% between 2011 and 2016, the increase in number of notes of Rs.500/- denomination was 76% and for Rs.1,000/- denomination was 109% during this period.

If high denomination notes facilitate generation of black money, then why replace Rs 1,000 notes with Rs 2,000 notes? Given that a Rs 2,000 note is twice the value of a Rs 1,000 note, it makes black market transactions even more easier. It also makes storage of black money in the form of cash easier, given that it takes less space to hide the same amount of money.

Again, this is a basic disconnect in what the government planned to achieve through demonetisation and what it eventually did. No effort has been made to correct this disconnect.

c) The government has still not offered a good explanation of what prompted it to demonetise. There has been no similar decision taken by any other country in a stable financial situation like India currently is, in the modern era. The best that the government has done is blamed it on the RBI. As Meghwal told the Lok Sabha in early February 2017: RBI held a meeting of its Central Board on November 8, 2016. The agenda of the meeting, inter-alia, included the item: Memorandum on existing banknotes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 - Legal Tender Status.

Anybody who has studied the history of the RBI would know that the RBI would never take such an extreme step without extreme pressure from the government.

d) Other than eliminating black money and fake currency notes through demonetisation, in the aftermath of demonetisation, the government wanted to promote cashless transactions. As Modi said in the November 2016 edition of the mann ki baat radio programme: The great task that the country wants to accomplish today is the realisation of our dream of a Cashless Society. It is true that a hundred percent cashless society is not possible. But why should India not make a beginning in creating a less-cash society? Once we embark on our journey to create a less-cash society, the goal of cashless society will not remain very far.

How are things looking on that front? Look at the following table.

While digital transactions picked up in December, they have fallen since then. The total number of digital transactions in April 2017 is higher than it was in November 2016. Nevertheless, it is worth asking, whether this jump of 25 percent was really worth the trouble of demonetisation.

d) Falling digital transactions since December 2016 tell us that cash as a mode of payment is back in the system. There is another way this can be shown. Between November 2016 and February 2017, banks barely gave out any home loans. During the period, the banks gave out home loans worth Rs 8,851 crore. In March 2017, they gave out total home loans of Rs 39,952 crore, which was 4.5 times the home loans given out in the previous four months. It also amounted to 35 percent of the home loans given out during the course of 2016-2017.

A major reason why people werent taking on home loans between November 2016 and February 2017 was demonetisation. There simply wasnt enough currency going around. With this, the real estate transactions came to a standstill because without currency it wasnt possible to fulfil the black part of the real estate transaction. Those who owned homes (builders and investors) were not ready to sell homes, without being paid for a certain part of the price, in black.

By March 2017, nearly three-fourths of the demonetised currency was replaced. This basically means that by March 2017, there was enough currency in the financial system for the black part of the real estate transactions to start happening all over again. Also, the Rs 2,000 note makes this even more convenient.

To conclude, six months after the declaration of demonetisation it is safe to say that demonetisation has failed to achieve what it set out to achieve i.e. if it set out to achieve anything on the economic front.

(Vivek Kaul is the author of Indias Big GovernmentThe Intrusive State and How It is Hurting Us. He tweets @kaul_vivek)
Around 8 pm on the evening of 8 November 2016 a surprise televised announcement (watch here) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, caught the nation by surprise.

In a well-worded speech, lasted about an hour, PM Modi positioned himself as the crusader against the black money, corruption and terror finance in Asias third largest economy and offered a magic solution to end all the three overnight by banning Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes. Demonetisation  as the process of recalling currency is called  the step instantly invalidated 86 percent currency in the circulation or about Rs 15.44 lakh crore.

By the time the speech was nearing an end on the television, the surprise element had given way to sheer panic among the public across the country. The common man rushed to nearby ATMs to withdraw lower denomination notes (since Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were of no use past midnight for daily transactions) while the crooks and cash hoarders rushed to jewelries, luxury shops, petrol pumps and benamis to save their unaccounted cash.

Chaos followed as people thronged bank branches to exchange, deposit their old notes and withdraw permissible denominations. Four mints run by the government and RBI were asked to work overnight to supply new currency. The frenzy continued for next two months. Most ATMs remained shut and bank branches restricted cash withdrawals. Frequent changes in the rules on depositing and withdrawing cash added to the confusion. At one stage, the government even asked banks to mark those who withdraw cash with indelible ink to prevent repeat withdrawals. The execution of the plan was inept, to say the least. But, the Modi government defended itself for the cash crunch saying that it couldnt have disclosed the plan earlier for reasons of secrecy of the operation. It later changed the primary narrative on demonetisation from black money to creating a cashless economy. No one, neither the economists nor the layman, had any firm clues on what was going on around. After all, such massive withdrawal of high value currencies in one go was a move unheard anywhere in the world.

Top economists divided into two factions on note ban. Among those who supported demonetisation were Jagdish Bagwati and Bibek Debroy while those who spoke against the move included Amartya Sen, Manmohan Singh and Kaushik Basu. Several questions were raised by both the supporters and critics of the demonetisation move.

a) Will the move turn out to be the magic cure to achieve the three stated objectives?

b) Is the pain that an artificial cash crunch will inflict on the economy and the common man worth it?

c) How long will the cash crunch last?

d) Does the demonetisation make good economic sense in an aspiring economy of 1.25 crore Indians?

Remember, an overwhelming number of transactions (about 70 percent according to general estimates) in India happen in cash and the informal sector, which predominantly use cash, constituted about 40-45 percent of Indias GDP and 80 percent of employment. This is where the demonetisation-induced cash crunch had its maximum impact. The answers to above questions are still being debated by both the supporters and critics. Only limited data is available with respect to how much cash has been deposited back to the banks until December end when the window for general public to deposit old notes came to a close.

Six months after the note ban, lets look at what demonetisation has done in the economy and what happened to the governments three stated objectives.

Black money

If one goes by the evidence available so far, demonetisation and the subsequent income declaration scheme have been largely a non-event for the black money hoarders and, in some cases, a boon to legitimise their ill-gotten wealth. As such, only a fraction of the total black money in the system as in the form of cash  something economists like Arun Kumar have been pointing out. There is a strong possibility that even those cash hoarders would have found a way to salvage their ill-gotten wealth using multiple benami accounts and using the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), with minimum loss and punitive action.

Under PMGKY, tax cheats were asked to pay a 30 percent tax plus 33 percent surcharge on the tax and a 10 percent penalty was proposed to be levied on the undisclosed income in the form of cash and deposits. Also, he had to deposit 25 percent of the black money in an interest-free deposit scheme for a period of four years. Arguably, this made some sense for crooks since if they fail to do this and get caught later the tax plus penalty could go up close to 140 percent and prosecution.

But, even under PMGKY, the government did not have much luck. It managed to garner just about Rs 2,300 crore (read an Indian Express report here) through this exercise while the estimates on black money in the economy were ranging above a lakh crore. The tax department is said to have identified 18 lakh people where cash deposits do not match their income profiles. But, there is a long wait before we see any result here considering the staff constraints of the I-T department and magnitude of the exercise.

In his book, Understanding the Black economy and Black money in India, noted economist and former JNU professor Arun Kumar wrote that Only a small amount of the black money would be affected by demonetisation... it is unlikely that black marketeers and other generators of black money will suffer because the biggest fish were able to quickly convert whatever black cash they had into white.

The initial hope of the Modi government was that that not all money will returned to the system post demonetisation as black money hoarders will run for cover. This amount of cash which will get extinguished outside will reduce the liability of the RBI and the government will, thus, benefit from a bonanza. But, this expectation fell flat when almost all money returned to the bank counters. Even after 4 months of the closure of the deposit window for public, the RBI has not come with the final count of money deposited post demonetisation. The last time it did so was in December when the central bank said Rs 12.4 Lakh crore deposits have come to banks as on 10 December. After this, the RBI has maintained that it is still counting the cash and has not disclosed any number.

Corruption

Even in the beginning, there were not too many takers for the Modi governments claim that tackling corruption through demonetisation was a feasible idea. There were two main reasons for the skepticism. One, not all corruption takes place by way of exchange of cash. Two, if cash is the enabling tool for corruption, it can still happen using the new currencies. In fact, there have been reports after demonetisation of officials getting caught for taking bribe in new currency (read one here).

The assumption that shift to digital transactions post demonetisation will curb corruption is also a weak argument. As this column in The Economic Times points out if that is the case Kenya, with 75 percent of adult population using mobile phones for transactions, would have been a corruption-free country. But, it is one of the most corrupt countries ranking 139 out of 168 countries.

Terror finance

Post the demonetisation, PM Modi and his cabinet colleagues have claimed that the move has broken the back of Maoists and stone-pelters in Kashmir(read a report here). In fact, PM Modi said in Parliament in February this year that 700 maoists have surrendered after the note ban. But, the subsequent incidents of maoist attacks on jawans (read here) and continuing incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir raise doubts on this claim too. It is a fact that sudden withdrawal of cash would have impacted the domestic terror groups for a while. But, as the cash supply improved, it is likely that these groups will also get access to cash.

Some of the activities like terror funding, etc would have come down because there is no cash available in the system. But, with this, the overall economic activities also have come down. Money, which was utilised earlier, is not available now. Once the cash comes back, all of this will start again. The point is for one or two targets, you dont burn the entire forest, former RBI deputy governor, K C Chakrabarty, told Firstpost in January this year.

Cashless economy

Demonetisation has indeed helped to formalise the economy with more number of depositors now traceable. Also, the Modi-governments push for cashless economy post demonetisation has helped to improve the use of non-cash methods for regular transactions. Launch of BHIM app and incentives for use of cashless transactions have encouraged more number of people to take the digital shift. But, as the remonetisation has progressed, cash has made a strong come back to the system with digital transactions showing a decline from the peak post note ban and cash withdrawals from ATMs on the rise.

To sum up, so far there is no evidence to suggest that demonetisation has succeeded in achieving any of its three originally stated objectives -- black money, corruption and terror funding, while it has made some progress in its later objective -- moving the society to a cashless economy. But, as a UN report observed (read here) the move has hit the lower income groups most while it would not stop future generation of black money. The pain is more visible than gains.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday found Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court and directed him to appear in the court on 10 July for arguing on quantum of punishment in the matter.

The liquor baron, who owes Indian banks Rs 9,000 crore, has been living in London since March last year, and the Indian government is pressing with the UK government for his extradition. Mallya fled to UK on 2 March 2016 pre-empting his likely arrest in India in the case of money laundering allegations.

Tuesday's order pertains to Mallya's disclosure of assets in the court. Earlier on 9 March, the court had asked the beleaguered but flamboyant businessman whether he had truthfully disclosed his assets before the court or not.

The Supreme Court bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit had asked Mallya if he had been truthful after a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India alleged that $40 million was transferred by Mallya to his three children in complete violation of the Karnataka High Court order

Moreover, the fact that $40 million was received by Mallya from a United Kingdom-based company Diageo PLC was not disclosed before the court here, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the banks, had alleged then.

The bench had taken note of the allegation, and wanted to know as to whether by transferring $40 million to his children, he violated the Karnataka High Court order in this regard or not.

The Karnataka High Court had earlier restrained Mallya from transferring or alienating any movable and immovable assets to any third party.

Mallya had received $40 million from Diageo as part of a $75 million sweet heart deal after he resigned as chairman of United Spirits in February 2016. He had quickly apportioned $40 million to his children, who are US citizens. He had disclosed this in an affidavit before the court in November 2016.

However, as per Rohatgi's submission before the court, Mallya had not disclosed the fund he received from Diageo and transferred to his three children in the assets he disclosed before the court.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: National Award winning actor Akshay Kumar on Tuesday put a smile on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face with the title of his next film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

He tweeted, "Met PM Narendra Modi and got the opportunity to tell him about my upcoming Toilet-Ek Prem Katha. His smile at just the title made my day," the actor wrote along with a photograph featuring him engrossed in conversation with Modi.

It was earlier said that the film was based on Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. But the film's dialogue writers Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal told IANS that the movie was conceptualised much before Modi became the PM.

The movie delves on the need for toilets for sanitation in the country, and this message is conveyed via a love story.

Modi has been campaigning for the need for toilets in every home for better health and sanitation.
At its very outset, the Bank Chor trailer makes clear just what kind of film it is not.

We see clips of John Abraham and Aamir Khan in their Dhoom avatars, before we shift to the 'villain' of this particular film  Riteish Desmukh, a God-fearing, Vaastu-loving thief with ambitions of doing away with all the booty from a bank.

In his enterprise, he is aided by two sidekicks (apart from all the divine intervention he regularly seeks of course).

The trio manages to hold up a bank, but with a bunch of hostages (including Baba Sehgal, playing himself) and a rather stubborn tijori holding them back, they find their hold-up lasting longer than they'd imagined.

And trouble comes calling in the form of a cop (played by Vivek Oberoi) who has no intention of letting the thiefs get by him with their loot.

The Vivek Oberoi-Riteish Deshmukh team has hitherto given us the crass humour (and we're putting that politely) of the Masti series. In Bank Chor, however, Deshmukh and his sidekicks are going a cleaner, goofier route, and the irreverent brand of comedy might be one audiences could actually enjoy.

Bank Chor is produced by Y-Films, a division of Yash Raj Films, and is directed by Bumpy (aka Nature Baba, of Roadies fame). It is slated to release on 16 June, after several delays. At one time, Kapil Sharma was expected to star in the film.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has parted ways with his fellow National Award winner and editor-writer Apurva Asrani. The two have previously collaborated on five films including the 2012 biopic Shahid, the 2014 film Citylights and most recently, Aligarh from last year.

In fact, Mumbai Mirror reports that it was the lead actor of Aligarh, Manoj Bajpayee, who introduced the two to each other. Back in 1998, Bajpayee had collaborated with Asrani on Ram Gopal Varma's crime drama Satya. He had then roped in Asrani to cut the promos for Mehta's Dil Pe Mat Le Yar starring the actor. After that, there was no turning back.

However, Mehta's next, Simran, will be their last collaboration for a long time ahead. They have mutually and amicably parted ways. The report by Mumbai Mirror quotes Asrani as saying, "I think all partnerships reach a saturation point and its best to break away before the love turns sour. Hansal and I have stood together during very challenging times. But today, the challenges are fewer, the ambitions are greater and he is a name to reckon with. I have also found my voice as a storyteller, and its time to explore new collaborations."

There were speculations that Asrani was miffed with Mehta's decision to give additional credits for dialogues to the leading lady of Simran, Kangana Ranaut. But as per the report, Asrani clarifies that Ranaut clearly deserves it but he was offended by her last minute inclusion by Mehta. "There is some hurt over the way things were announced without consulting me. I didnt know that Hansal had promised Kangana part of the writing credit till I had finished the edit. By the time I got to know, the announcement had been made."

Now, Bollywood Hungama reports that Asrani has been sacked as the editor of Simran and that his assistant was not even allowed to enter the edit room.
United Nations: Drawing attention to the harrowing traumas of child victims of sexual violence, Unicef's Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra has called for an increased support for such children and raising awareness that underage sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV.

Bollywood actress Chopra, who has been the ambassador since December last year and a United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) India Ambassador for 10 years, visited Zimbabwe this week where she met child survivors of sexual violence and heard their harrowing stories.

Through her trip, she advocated for increased support for child victims of sexual violence.

"No woman, and most definitely no child, should ever have to experience sexual violence  especially from someone they trust for protection, such as a family member," she said.

Chopra's first stop was in Chitungwiza, south of Harare, Zimbabwe, where she met a 13-year-old girl who was repeatedly raped by her uncle and threatened her if she revealed the abuse.

The girl had become pregnant but with the help of her mother and neighbours, the incident was reported to the police and the uncle who abused her was arrested, tried, and jailed for 10 years.

"As a society, it is on us to provide and take care of our children as citizens of the world, to educate children at a young age that it's not OK to be inappropriately touched and that under-age sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV," Chopra said.

Chopra, 34, also visited 'Childline Zimbabwe', the country's 24-hour service for children who have been abused, violated or exploited. Besides providing free, confidential, multilingual counselling to children aged 18 years and under, 'Childline' also offers 25 community-based drop in centres throughout the country.

"I was astonished by the number of calls that were coming in during the brief time I was there," she said.

"The counsellors, all volunteers, told me that many calls come from children in hysterics because they had been raped or abused. They were so scared," she added.

Chopra said the model of 'Childline' should be replicated by countries that have high rates of violence against children "because it is a safe place for children to turn to and know that their call will be answered by a compassionate person who will take their complaints seriously and respond."

According to UNICEF, sexual violence against children is widespread in Zimbabwe and latest available data has showed that close to one in 10 girls aged 15-17 years old have been a victims of forced sexual intercourse or a forced sexual act.

Approximately two-thirds of victims were first abused by an intimate partner and about a tenth of the victims by a stranger.

Most concerning is that in the case of children, most abuse occurred in situations when the child knew and trusted the adult who abused him or her. Sexual violence against children is also "mostly invisible" and goes largely undocumented, noted UNICEF, stating that fear of "getting into trouble" as well as shame and stigma all contributed to children not reporting the abuse.
Priyanka Chopra's decision to venture into Marathi cinema production proved to be fruitful when her film, Rajesh Mapuskar's comedy Ventilator, won three honours at the 64th National Film Awards 2017. She will continue her foray in the Marathi film industry with yet another National Award winning filmmaker Ujjwal Chatterjee's Bengali-Marathi film Nalini.

Mumbai Mirror reports that Nalini will explore the love life of celebrated poet and playwright Rabindranath Tagore who celebrates his 156th birth anniversary today on 7 May. Back in 1878, Tagore had put up at Dr Atmaram Pandurang Turkhud's place in Mumbai and fallen in love with his daughter who had just returned from England. However, their romance could not flourish for long as Tagore's father was not in favour of this relation.

Tagore went on to name her Nalini and immortalised her through a popular poem and also set it to music. While she eventually married a Scot, Harold Littledale, and the couple left for England, Tagore made sure that she would be remembered for ages.

The Indian Express reports that Chatterjee's wife Sagarika has written the script. The report quotes him as saying, "When we met Madhu Chopra (Priyankas producer mother) around two years ago, they wanted to know how much of the story was factually accurate and true. I showed them my research and they agreed to produce the film. It has since materialised into a saga of unrequited love."

Madhu also confirmed the news by saying, "Priyanka wants good stories to reach audiences. Nalini has great potential and is an entertaining subject. Were happy to be associated with it," as stated in the report.

Their production banner Purple Pebble Pictures has already ventured in Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, Goan and Sikkamese cinema. Their future projects include Pahuna (in Sikkamese), Little Joe (Goan) and a yet untitled Hindi film.
By David Ljunggren

| OTTAWA

OTTAWA Canada escalated a trade dispute with United States by making threats Washington called inappropriate in part because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under pressure to secure support in a key region ahead of the country's 2019 elections.Washington last month slapped tariffs on timber imports, prompting Trudeau to say he was considering a ban on exports of U.S. coal through Pacific ports.As well as lumber, the administration of President Donald Trump has targeted Canadian dairy farmers, while Boeing Corp (BA.N) launched a trade challenge against Montreal-based planemaker Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO).All three are vital to the economy of Quebec, Canada's second most-populous province. And Quebec is seen as vital to Trudeau's hopes of maintaining a strong grip on power in a national election set for October 2019.As contentious talks on renegotiating NAFTA draw closer, Trudeau has little choice but to defend dairy farmers and offer help to the lumber industry, even though that is likely to prompt fresh U.S. challenges."Quebec is the key," said one senior Liberal organizer.The predominantly French-speaking province holds 78 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons and Liberals acknowledge they need to win extra seats there to offset expected losses elsewhere in 2019.The challenge is that they captured 40 seats in Quebec in 2015, which was far more than expected.The Liberals say they can take another 10 to 15 seats, but only if everything goes their way. This means showing support for the dairy industry - and its influential lobby - amid fresh attacks from Washington.NO CHOICE?

The United States has long complained about Canada's system of domestic protections for its dairy industry, which bars most imports and keeps prices high. Trump last month branded the industry "a disgrace."

The system is unpopular in large parts of Canada, where people complain about high prices for milk and cheese.Trudeau, however, has little choice but to defend it. Leger Marketing pollster Christian Bourque noted there are dairy farms in every part of Quebec."If you're seen as attacking farming and the land, it's probably easy for the farmers' union to get Quebeckers onside. You don't necessarily want to forget farmers," he said.While observers see little risk of Trudeau being defeated outright in 2019, the danger for the Liberals is losing their majority, forcing them to rely on opposition parties to govern. This would inevitably mean political compromises and a diluted policy agenda.The Liberals have so far tried to maintain calm as tensions ratchet up, relying on visits from cabinet ministers and to key states to press the message that trade benefits both sides.

BARK VS BITE

The outreach efforts will continue, according to a source familiar with official strategy, adding that Ottawa will show its teeth where necessary."Do people honestly expect the Canadian government just to say 'We accept these lumber duties, we will move on and pay the price?'" asked the source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.In Washington, White House spokesman Sean Spicer dismissed talk of a trade war."That's why we have dispute settlement mechanisms to do this in a responsible way," he told reporters on Monday.

In a sign of the mounting pressures on Trudeau over lumber, former Quebec Liberal premier Jean Charest said Ottawa should consider loan guarantees to affected firms."It is very black and white now: either the government supports them or they will just close down," he said in an interview.Although giving such aid could prompt fresh U.S. challenges, insiders make clear Canada has no option.Trudeau last week met with Quebec's timber unions and tweeted "supporting softwood lumber producers in Quebec and across the country is a priority."In the short term, he faces few immediate threats. Polls show the Liberals well ahead of the opposition Conservatives and New Democrats, both of which have stand-in leaders and will not choose permanent replacements until later this year. "He's had an exceptionally long honeymoon, he's still having a honeymoon, but that has a lot to do with the absence of opposition," said pollster Nik Nanos. Although being seen to openly favor one province or region over another can be politically fatal in Canada, Liberal sensitivity toward Quebec is clear.When it came time to deciding on aid to Bombardier - which has received billions in subsidies from Ottawa - the Liberals made clear the only question was not if, but how much.Party operatives also admitted relief once became clear Ottawa would not have to decide before the election on whether to allow TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) to build an oil pipeline across Quebec.Environmentalists and aboriginal activists had promised protests that Quebec Liberals said they feared could hurt the party's chances. (Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins, editing by G Crosse)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By David Lawder and Jennifer Ablan

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON The U.S. economy won't achieve the Trump administration's 3 percent growth goal this year and not until all of its tax, regulatory, trade and energy policies are fully in place, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday.The GDP target "is certainly not achievable this year," Ross told Reuters in an interview. "The Congress has been slow-walking everything. We don't even have half the people in place."But Ross said it ultimately could be achieved in the year after all of Republican President Donald Trump's business-friendly policies are implemented. He noted that delays were possible if the push for tax cuts was slowed down in Congress.Ross also signaled the Trump administration would try to use existing tools to aggressively enforce trade rules and insist on fairer treatment for U.S. goods, rather than adopt the slash-and-burn approach Trump discussed on the campaign trail in 2016.The comments appear to represent another move to the center by the administration, with Ross acknowledging that trade deficits for things like imported oil are "blameless" and not inherently bad. Ross, a billionaire investor, said the Commerce Department is working on some "self-initiated" anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases on behalf of private industries that could help shield them from unfairly traded imports.

"I believe that enforcement will be one of the major tools for fixing things," he said.FEARS OF PROTECTIONISM

U.S. trading partners have been spooked by Trump's vow to renegotiate or pull out of trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which the Republican president considers unfair to U.S. industry and workers.

A possible rise in the use of U.S. tariffs to punish foreign companies deemed to be competing unfairly also has raised concerns of a wave of protectionism. Ross, however, insisted that the Trump administration was not aiming to restrict trade with its actions."What we are restricting is trade that violates trade agreements or violates WTO rules. Not much point of having trade agreements if you are not going to enforce them," he said.

He said World Trade Organization rules were slow to punish trade violators and singled out its most-favored nation clause as a problem for Washington because it allows widely divergent tariffs.The United States, for example, has a 2.5 percent tariff on vehicle imports for countries without U.S. free trade deals, while the European Union has a 10 percent tariff and China collects a 25 percent tariff. "The reality is from the point of view of the U.S., the most favored nation clause is actually an impediment to freeing up trade," Ross said, adding that tariffs would come down if reciprocality was respected.But how such a change could be made to equalize tariffs within the organization "remains to be seen," he added.Ross also said that not all U.S. trade deficits are necessarily bad or the result of trade agreement violations, as there are some "blameless" deficits such as those caused by the U.S. need to import oil. (Reporting by David Lawder, Kevin Krolicki, David Chance, Jennifer Ablan and Howard Schneider; Editing by Paul Simao)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: A Delhi Police team that had probed the horrific December 2012 gangrape case will be training other police personnel about the fundamentals of framing chargesheets in complex rape cases.

The Supreme Court had recently upheld the death penalty to four convicts in the 16 December, 2012 gangrape case of a 23-year-old paramedic student inside a moving bus in South Delhi.

She had succumbed to her injuries on 29 December, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

The apex court had appreciated the role of the Delhi Police for collecting unimpeachable scientific evidence to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt in the court.

The team, comprising 41 officers, was on Monday felicitated by Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

"Not only did the officers crack it in a record time, they followed it up with collection of scientific evidence, systematic and painstaking work that led to a conviction in the case," Patnaik said.

The officers, who were part of the probe, said that they are "professionally satisfied".

The then additional deputy commissioner of police (south) PS Kushwah said they were "racing against time".

He said some women officers were designated to counsel the victims' family and assure them that justice would be done.

At every stage of the court proceedings, there were special investigation teams who briefed the counsels appearing on behalf of the victim.

Rajender Singh, who was then an inspector and a key investigator in the case, said they will be imparting training to their fellow officers in drafting chargesheets.

Another officer said they have held training sessions with some police personnel but this is likely to be made into a regular exercise.

The officers recalled the trying times during those days of investigation.

"We delivered against all odds," said Singh.

"From facing media and public outrage to handling law and order situation and the various commissions, we were facing so many things but we didn't let our focus shift," he said.

"The front gate of the Vasant Vihar police station was blocked by media and public. We used the back gate, which meant climbing a wall, to enter our office," recalled Singh.

He said they they sat for 72 hours at a stretch inside the police station with the then DCP (South) Chhaya Sharma and Kushwah. They even had all their meals there.

The officers were also shocked by the brutality that had been meted out to the victim.

"We were shocked and angered at what had happened. But we maintained our objectivity and channelised our anger into the probe," said Singh.

Brutality was used as an evidence in the case with doctors deposing as prosecution witnesses and listing out the reasons for her death, said the officer.

Singh also said the bus was traced from a total of 381 white buses on the basis of a CCTV footage procured from the spot in Mahipalpur where the accused had dumped the victims.

The wheel cap of the front tyre of the bus was missing and the vehicle had 'Yadav' written on it, he said.

These clues led them to the bus owner in Noida and subsequently to the bus that was seized from RK Puram area.

The case saw many firsts, said another officer.

From matching the DNA found on the victim's body to those of the accused and using odontology, a branch of forensic science on bite mark analysis, the police relied on scientific evidence to prove the charges, said another officer.

The team probing the case and the victim's family forged a lifelong bond, said the then SHO of Vasant Vihar police station, Anil Kumar Sharma.

"Her family was there when I lost my loved ones. Yesterday, her mother visited us and spent a couple of hours with my family. We forged a strong bond," he added.
Chandigarh: The doctor accused of calling a patient from Kashmir and her son "stone-pelters" was on leave the day the alleged incident took place, the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) said on Tuesday after a probe into the matter.

Dr Jagat Ram, the Director of Chandigarh's PGIMER, said an internal inquiry into the incident found no doctor misbehaved with the patient and his family member in the hospital last Thursday.

"Dr SK Gupta, the head of the neurosurgery department, questioned all consultants and resident doctors of the department but everyone denied making any such remark," Dr Ram said.

"The head of the department has offered help to the patient and has assured that he will look after the diagnostics if needed," he added.

Javaid Ahmad Malik had alleged that he brought his mother Nasreena Malik, 55, for treatment to PGIMERs neurosurgery department on Thursday but they left the hospital after the doctor misbehaved with them.

"You throw stones at our security forces and then come here for treatment" was a doctor's response when he was approached by a Kashmiri patient, his family members had alleged.
Dismissed Border Security Force constable Tej Bahadur Yadav, who had posted a video online about the poor quality of food served to the troops, has said that he will stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on the issue of corruption in defence forces.

According to a report in The Economic Times, Yadav said that he launch a bigger movement at Jantar Mantar on 14 May. "There will be ex-servicemen from the army, CRPF, ITBP, navy and air force who will narrate the injustices they faced," the report quoted him as saying.

Yadav attended a Mumbai Congress programme in Mumbai to commemorate 25 CRPF jawans who were recently killed in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh.

"I am not going to take help from any political party, nor from any leader. We are here to change the system and we will do it with our strength," The Hindu quoted Yadav as saying.

Yadav also alleged that 80 percent of the officers in the security forces are are corrupt. "The government sent us 18 different food items but several times, the authorities gave us only khichdi... The system is corrupt but not all officers are corrupt. But yes, around 80 percent officers in the forces are corrupt," India Today quoted Yadav as saying.

Yadav, a native of Rewari in Haryana, had posted a video online about five months back, complaining about poor quality food being served to the troops on the icy heights along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

He was dismissed in April by a Summary Security Force Court (SSFC) where he was tried on two counts  of making "false allegations" on social media regarding the quality of food and carrying two mobile phones while on operational duty.

Yadav had said that he was not given a fair trial. "I was not given a fair trial. Though I was given an opportunity to present witness but my mobile phone was seized."

"I wanted to call colleagues as witnesses, but wasn't allowed to do so," he had said. He had also said he was shocked to know about his dismissal after being earlier asked to prepare pension and retirement documents.

He had claimed that the food quality served to jawans improved by 70 percent after his video went viral.

With inputs from PTI
Jammu: A complaint has been filed seeking action against National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah for his alleged seditious remarks.

The complaint was filed by activist Sukesh C Khajuria to District Magistrate, Jammu seeking action for alleged sedition under Ranbir Panel Code (RPC) against Abdullah for "supporting separatists" during his speeches in Kashmir.

"Consequent upon perusal of complaint, I am directed to request you to take action as per relevant provision of law," Additional District Magistrate Arun Manhas said in a letter writtent to district magistrate, Srinagar, forwarding Khajuria's complaint.

Khajuria, who claims to be a member of the prominent Citizens' Advisory Committee constituted by the Jammu and Kashmir government, sought information through an RTI application regarding action taken report on his complaint.

In its reply, the office of the deputy commissioner- district magistrate, Jammu said that the complaint has been sent to the DC-DM Srinagar along with the compact disc (CD) for necessary action as per relevant provisions of the law, he said.
Former RAW chief AS Dulat has worked in Kashmir for several years having served as the Intelligence Bureau's (IB) special director in Srinagar during former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees tenure. Not only did he supervise the intelligence network during this period, but he was also advisor on Kashmir in the PMO during Vajpayees tenure. He went on to write an insightful book titled Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years providing details about how Vajpayee handled this challenging state.

Dulat spoke to Firstpost about the equation with Pakistan, the government in Jammu and Kashmir and militancy. Edited excerpts follow:

The situation in the Valley is changing rapidly. Would you say Pakistan presently has gained an edge in the Valley?

No, I dont think Pakistan has an edge, nor do I think Pakistan will ever have an edge. Whatever edge Pakistan had ended in 2001 with the 11 September attacks when then president George W Bush read the riot act to Pervez Musharraf and told him firmly there no scope for any further dilly-dallying over the issue of terrorism. The Kashmiris realised they could no longer depend on Pakistan. If they (Pakistanis) were incapable of taking care of themselves, how were they going to be in a position to take care of Kashmiris?

Another watershed occurred in 2008 with the 26 November attacks in Mumbai. The Pakistani thinking class realised this was a grave mistake and Islamabad could not afford to indulge in such acts  they felt genuinely apologetic about it. If you remember, then president Asif Zardari announced he would send the director-general of the ISI to Delhi to help India investigate the attack, but the Pakistan Army made him backtrack on his statement.

During the past few months, Pakistani leaders had actually stopped talking about Kashmir. Imran Khan had asked that Kashmir be put on the backburner. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not uttered a word on Kashmir for a long time. The developments that took place in the Valley since last summer has given them (Pakistan) an invitation, an opening to start fishing in troubled waters once again.

Are you saying that the present PDP-BJP coalition has mishandled the situation?

If you see the results of the 2014 Assembly election, there was no other way but for the BJP and PDP to join hands. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed described it as an alliance between the North Pole and the South Pole. Both sides have looked at the coalition differently. Mufti Saheb wanted to bring Jammu closer to the Valley and in doing so, he hoped he would get a lot of support from the Centre. That never came about.

The BJP looked at the alliance differently. It provided them with an opportunity to enter the Valley. This is where Kashmir resentment began with Mufti Saheb having emerged as the villain for bringing the RSS into the Valley.

Do you think the RSS has entered the Valley in a substantive manner?

I dont know. It seems the RSS has made some headway. This is what I have heard, but whatever you hear is hearsay. The Kashmiris are resentful. They feel there is an effort in Delhi to change the character of the Valley. Their ultimate nightmare is that they will be reduced to a minority in the Valley and that is the core of what the present disturbance is about. One thing has led to another.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made no effort to reassure the Kashmiris that this will not happen?

Modi doesnt seem to have made any overtures to reassure them.

In that sense, there seems to be a world of difference between the approach of Modi and Vajpayee towards Kashmir?

There is a world of difference between the Modi and Vajpayee approach. The difference is obvious. Vajpayee was asked at the airport when he was leaving for the capital whether his dialogue with the Kashmiris would be held within the ambit of the Constitution. To which Vajpayee replied, "Phasuul batein kyon karte ho? Insaniyaat ki daire mein hongi."

The present government says, "We will not talk to separatists." My point is, where is the question of holding talks outside the Constitution? Everybody knows that when the Government of India talks, it is not going to talk outside the Constitution. Why say this so loudly and put this as a precondition (for holding talks)?. In 2003 and 2004, the Hurriyat held two rounds of meetings with then deputy prime minister LK Advani  there was no mention of talking outside or within the Constitution. Neither did Advani say this, nor did the Hurriyat.

In fact, the Hurriyat leaders said privately, "For goodness sake, dont bring in the issue of the Constitution or we will have problems in Srinagar." Why is the present government determined to run the Kashmiri nose into the ground?

The impression this present government is giving is that it does not feel the need to talk to Kashmiris and there's possibly a good reason for it.

Does the present government not realise how strategically important the Valley is for India ?

Strategically, it is a vital state. Maybe it has only half a percent of the countrys population, but it is the only Muslim majority state in the country. If this goes, what happens to Muslims in the rest of the country? They comprise 14 percent of the nations population.

Is such an attitude developing because of an undercurrent of an anti-Muslim sentiment?

How can I say anything? Ask (BJP national general secretary) Ram Madhav. There is also a school of thought that says that we have been engaging with the Kashmiris for 70 years and it has produced nothing. Maybe its time to try the other approach. We have been giving them far too much importance.

But is Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti not delievering ?

The BJP is in alliance with Mehbooba, but no one talks to her. She is not taken seriously. She has been reduced to a convenience. She should get more support. In Kashmir, she and her party have lost out. That is why there is a lot internal debate and bickering within her party. There is now a lot of talk and demand for Governors Rule.

Do you think the Centre should impose Governors Rule ?

It would be going backwards. It would be a retrograde step. It was PV Narasimha Rao who, in 1996, decided the time had come to end Governors Rule and to allow the democratic process to be put in place. In case of Governors Rule, there is no buffer between the Centre and the public. The blame will come directly to Delhi. Let it continue as it is at present.

In the 1990s when things were hotting up, I was in Srinagar. Jagmohan came in as governor in January 1990 and Farooq Abdullah put in his resignation. There was a debate on whether to dissolve the Assembly or not. Jagmohan, in his wisdom, decided to dissolve it. It was a mistake; he should have kept it in suspended animation.

Look at the scenario today. The bye-election on 25 May in Anantnag has been cancelled. The situation is so bad that the holding of elections is unthinkable. The next elections in Jammu and Kashmir are due in 2020. Let the Assembly continue in the hope that the situation will improve.

The situation is going from bad to worse. We cannot forget that China today has a substantial presence in the north. President Donald Trump has also recently spoken about his willingness to negotiate on Kashmir?

There are signals coming from the West and the East that we need to talk, we need to engage with the people. As people across the world are saying: Why dont Pakistan and India settle this dispute?

How close were we to arriving at an agreement in Agra?

Agra was a big misfortune. If something positive had emerged in 2004, before Vajpyaees term ended, he would have achieved something and possibly been re-elected too.

Does this show a certain insensitivity?

Obvious insensitivity and a 'couldnt care less' school of thought. We have been engaging with Kashmiris for the past 70 years and it has produced nothing. Maybe it's time to try the other approach.

The government believes that maybe we have been giving them far too much importance.

The first signal for this changing stance came a couple of years ago when foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan were called off. Then Pakistan high commissioner Abdul Basit met (Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party founder and president) Shabir Shah. The Centres attitude was "If you talk to Hurriyat, we will not talk to you". This goes back to Raos time, when he had declared, "What is this rubbish? If they want to meet Hurriyat, let them do so. If the Hurriyat wants to go to Pakistan, let them go."

From 1995 to 2015, Pakistani high commission officials were interacting very freely with Hurriyat. Musharraf met the Hurriyat before he reached Agra for talks. What was the big deal? That was also BJP-NDA rule. Interestingly, it was Advani who was the architect of Agra; it was his idea to hold the summit in order to arrive at an agreement.

Which Indian leader played the villain there?

Advani played the villain. Pakistan made a tactical mistake. They did not give Advani the sort of importance he deserved.

The talks there are reported to have fallen apart at the last minute.

I dont know. A few words here and there  we wanted more emphasis on terrorism, Pakistan more stress on Kashmir.

We seem to have travelled a long way from there.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh missed the bus in 2006-2007 even though there was a clear window of opportunity. Singh was expected to go to Pakistan, he did not go. Musharraf got into a scrap with lawyers and that was the end of him. Time is of the essence in matters of State.

There is some apprehension that we are gearing up for another conflict.

So be it then.

Former prime minister IK Gujral received flak for removing RAW operatives who were operating in Pakistan.

There are stories and these get exaggerated. Prime ministers do not say 'pull out operatives'. Gujral was a man of peace. There was possibly less skulduggery during his time than earlier. I was not there then  we should try and be fair to the man.

The question being asked is what is the way forward?

The government has declared that terror and talks do not go together. When dealing with a State like Pakistan which has been the factory for producing terrorists and is now on the receiving end of terror, then an exception has to be made. If we go by this premise, we can never talk to Pakistan.

What then is the way out ?

We have come a long way from 1947 to 2017 and we need to recognise that. The Kashmiris are saying, "Allow us to live with honour." Today, Kashmiri itna pita hai, he has put up his hands. When you talk to them face-to-face, they say they have gained nothing from guns.

The older generation of Kashmir emphatically states that they have been destroyed. The boys who are throwing stones comprise such a small percentage of the population. They reflect the hopelessness around them. Today, even the girls are out. They are openly saying, "We are willing to die." Such is their state of mind.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel's son was early on Monday prevented by authorities from boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Greece after he arrived in a "heavily drunken" state at the airport and argued with the airline's staff.

Official sources told IANS that Jaimin Patel, who is in his mid-30s, his wife Jhalak and their daughter Vaishvi were stopped from boarding the Qatar Airways flight, which was to take off at 4 am.

When Patel, who is a land dealer, reached Ahmedabad International Airport, he was not even able to walk because of his drunken state.

He cleared the immigration and other checks in a wheelchair due to his inebriated condition, said airport officials.

"Jaimin Patel was prevented from boarding the flight. He also had an argument with the staff of the airways," an official said, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Nitin Patel told reporters in the evening in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him. "My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well."

"His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed," Patel added.

"Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information," he said.
New Delhi: India has been unanimously elected as the president of the UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations promoting sustainable human settlements across the globe.

UN-Habitat reports to the United Nations General Assembly.

On behalf of India, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will preside over the deliberations of the 58-member Governing Council (GC) of the UN-Habitat for the next two years.

Currently, the GC is underway in Nairobi in Kenya which is being chaired by Naidu.

"Delighted to be elected as President of Governing Council of @UNHABITAT & chair #GC26. An opportunity to work towards a new urban future," Naidu said in a tweet.

Delighted to be elected as President of Governing Council of @UNHABITAT & chair #GC26. An opportunity to work towards a new urban future. pic.twitter.com/fzE5al6NSu  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 8, 2017

Commenting on the development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was sure that Naidu would give his best and contribute towards creating futuristic cities.

"Congratulations Venkaiah Ji. I am sure you will give your best & contribute towards creating futuristic cities," Modi tweeted.

Congratulations Venkaiah Ji. I am sure you will give your best & contribute towards creating futuristic cities. https://t.co/BiyDHTjkhw  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 8, 2017

Since the UN-Habitat came into being in 1978, it is the third time that India has been elected to lead this organisation after 2007 and 1988.

As an inter-governmental policy and decision-making body, the GC seeks to promote comprehensive approach to human settlements, assist the countries in addressing related problems and strengthen cooperation among them on the issue.

The theme of the 26th meeting of the GC underway in Nairobi is 'Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda'.

The New Urban Agenda, which sets a global standard for sustainable urban development, was adopted at Quito, Ecuador last year.

Naidu will also chair the 'Bureau Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Ministers' Conference on Housing and Urban Development' beginning in Nairobi today.

Naidu thanked the member countries for reposing faith in India and electing it as the president for the next two years, an official release said here.

Addressing the GC of UN-Habitat, Naidu stressed on the need to reorient urban planning and execution strategies to ensure dignity of living and sufficient means of living for people in the context of rapid urbanisation, particularly, in developing countries.

He elaborated on the integrated, inclusive and sustainable urban development model of India through various missions like Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart City Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

He said these missions are addressing deficits in different kinds of infrastructure, including affordable housing in a convergence mode.
In a classic case of tit-for-tat, after Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan, who is facing contempt charges, 'sentenced' Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment, the apex court on Tuesday held the rebel judge guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. Karnan is the first sitting judge in India's judicial history to be sentenced to a prison term, reported CNN-News 18.

On Monday, in an escalation of his confrontation with the Supreme Court, Justice Karnan while awarding the 'sentence' said the eight judges have "jointly committed the offences punishable under the SC/ST Atrocities Act of 1989 and amended Act of 2015."

He named members of the apex court's seven-judge bench, comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph.

The bench had initiated suo motu(on its own) contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work.

Justice Karnan also added another supreme court judge Justice R Banumathi in the list against whom the order was passed for having restrained his judicial and administrative work along with CJI Khehar.

Justice Karnan had on 4 May 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".

Stating that the eight judges of the apex court have committed caste discrimination, Justice Karnan said they "shall be punished under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act, 1989."

He alleged that the eight judges "have operated judicial and adminstrative power and harassed a Dalit judge besides insulting me at a public institution. The same has been proved beyond all the reasonable doubt from their orders."

"Hence, an adjudication is not required in the instant case," Justice Karnan said in his order from his makeshift court at his home in Rosedale towers, New Town.

In his order, Justice Karnan imposed 'sentences' of five years each and a fine of Rs one lakh on three counts, under sub-sections (1)(m), (1)(r) and (1)(u) of Section 3 of the

SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Justice Karnan directed that all the three 'sentences' would run concurrently and said that if the fines were not paid, they would "undergo further six months of imprisonment."

He directed that the fine amount be "paid within a period of one week to the National Commission, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Constitutional body, Khan Market, New Delhi from date of receipt of the order."

Justice Karnan also said that an order passed by him on 13 April directing the member judges of the seven-judge bench to pay a fine of Rs 14 crore was in force and ordered

"the Registrar General attached to the Supreme Court to recover the said amount from the salary of each."

He also directed Justice Banumathi to pay a compensation of Rs 2 crore.

The apex court has taken suo motu 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 8 February.

Justice Karnan appeared before the Supreme Court on 31 March in connection with the contempt proceeding, becoming the first high court judge to do so in the history of Indian judiciary.

With inputs from PTI
If it werent a matter involving the judiciary, a solemn institution, the controversy involving Justice Karnan would be seriously funny. How many times do we have a judge of a lower court sentencing the Chief Justice of India and several judges of Supreme Court after holding them guilty of an offence? Precedent would be rare.

For those who are not in the know, the controversial Justice CS Karnan, a judge in Calcutta High Court, on Monday found Chief Justice JS Khehar and seven judges guilty of offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act and sentenced them to five years imprisonment besides slapping a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each of the judges. He also barred the judges from carrying out any responsibility in the highest court and asked them to surrender their passports. The Supreme Court on Tuesday responded by holding him guilty of contempt and sentencing him to six months in jail, a first in the countrys history.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered Justice Karnan to appear before a medical board and undergo mental health evaluation. Karnan had refused to appear before the board and sought a psychiatric test on the seven judges and the chief justice instead. He also issued non-bailable warrants against the latter for failing to be represented before him besides forbidding them from flying out of the country. In February, the top court had divested him of judicial and administrative functions. He has been issuing orders from his residence in Kolkata.

If you find it funny, hold that smile please. Its the judiciary. Nothing about it can be non-serious. And it is faced with a problem the makers of the Constitution did not prepare it for. In their earnestness to keep judges free from pressure and influence, they ensured enough protection for their jobs but they didnt anticipate that there could be a case like Justice Karnans where the same security could be an embarrassment for the institution itself.

For a judge in the habit of levelling grave charges against fellow judges and ordering suo motu action against them  he did it during his stints in Madras High Court and Calcutta High Court  Karnans actions are less than proper indeed. What aggravates the matter in his case is his propensity to flaunt the Dalit card to justify his charges against others. A few years ago he had called a press conference accusing fellow judges in Madras High Court of humiliating Dalit judges. He accused one judge of touching him with his shoes deliberately then saying sorry while two other judges kept smiling. He has been making such charges at regular intervals.

His conduct has been less than befitting of his status with some degree of consistency. But the options with the apex court to deal with such cases are limited. It can only withdraw judicial and other responsibilities from the person concerned but can hardly throw him out of a job. The latter  impeachment  requires the Parliament to intervene and as the case of V Ramaswami revealed, it is an incredibly difficult process. Secure in the knowledge that he could not be thrown out Justice Karnan has been issuing unusual orders with abandon.

Justice Karnan retires in June this year. So he wont be much of a trouble. But what if some other maverick judge surfaces and begins taking on other judges? Obviously, such episodes do not do the reputation of the judiciary, as a serious institution, any good. It cannot afford to be a matter of joke among people. The government and the higher judiciary must come together to find a way out.
Srinagar: Invoking Islam to lend moral legitimacy to the armed insurgency against New Delhi used to be the forte of Kashmir's separatist leaders over the last three decades. But two recent developments are indicating that the outdated narratives of religiosity to defend the political upheaval in the Valley may be changing for good.

A day after Zakir Musa, who took over the reins of Hizbul Mujahideen from Burhan Wani, called for establishing Islamic caliphate in Kashmir, stating that militants were not fighting for "freedom", the unified Hurriyat Conference, in a strong, indirect rebuttal, said those fighting for the imposition of Islamic rule have nothing to do with the "freedom movement".

A statement by the top Hurriyat trio led by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik said "terror organisations" like Islamic State and Al Qaeda have nothing to do with the "movement" in Kashmir, and they are practically nonexistent in the Valley. The leaders said the ongoing freedom struggle is indigenous and "terrorism" and "freedom movement" are poles apart.

The Hurriyats statement is significant as the militant organisations fighting in Kashmir have been off late calling for imposing Islamic rule in the Valley. "Our movement has nothing to do with these world level groups and practically they are nonexistent in the state. There is no role for these groups in our movement," a statement issued by the group on Monday said.

The leaders said Indian agencies are "desperate to malign our movement" and under a well thought out plan are drawing their policies to bring a bad name to the ongoing freedom struggle in Kashmir.

"Delhi and its authorities are frustrated and have launched well planned psychological war against freedom movement. Last years people's uprising unnerved them and as such, they are very desperate to overcome their frustration and desperate to sabotage movement through its agencies," they said.

Without mincing words, the Hurriyat leaders said it will be premature to determine the political destiny of the state of Jammu and Kahsmir since it is the majority that will decide the political discourse in the state.

On Saturday Zakir Musa, who operates mainly out of south Kashmir, also urged the female student protesters to abandon stone-pelting and stay in classrooms, shocking netizens.

"I want to tell the sisters that whatever you are doing is against Sharia (Islamic ruling) as pelting stones without veil is unIslamic. In Islam, there are no such protests and that is why Allah is punishing us in the form of occupation," Zakir said in an audio message.

"It is hurting our movement for establishing Islam because due to this (protests by girls) we can be punished by Allah. So, we request all our sisters to stay away from these acts and be inside their houses," he said.

The Hizb commander also apologised for one of his associates recently praising Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Shareef and Organisations of Islamic States, saying the General was not their commander-in-chief, as remarked by one of his associates in a video message recently. "I regret this. He had said this by mistake and he too has apologised for this."

There has been an age-old debate in Kashmir, since the inception of militancy, on whether religion should play a dominating role in asking for political rights from the Indian State. People from different ideological underpinnings have often argued that although religion cant be separated from the political struggles but it should not take the leading role.

In Kashmir, a section of the populace have always been wary of mixing religion with the Kashmirs "freedom struggle". They have been arguing that although religion can used for the inspirational role but it should become the focal point.

Recently, everyone was surprised when a group of militants appeared near the grave of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Naseer Pandit on his first death anniversary in Pulwama district, warning the people against supporting un-Islamic Pakistan while seeking support for the Taliban.

The suspected militants told people not to hoist "un-Islamic Pakistan flag" calling for a "jihad" against Pakistan as well as India to establish Ummah, or Muslim brotherhood, transcending geographies.

India is a tyrant state today and will remain one tomorrow. It has to go from Kashmir. We will be successful only when we unite for Islam. We love Pakistan only because it was created in the name of Islam. But there is no Islam in todays Pakistan. We have to do Jihad in Pakistan, just like in India, said one of the militants.

He called for Sharia law to be implemented in Kashmir. "We have not stood up for any organisation or Pakistan, but Islam, said the speaker. This is in contrast with the traditional stand of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the two major militant outfits in Kashmir. The speaker said: We have taken up guns for Islam, not any nation. We want Islamic system, the system of Quran And for that, give your blood, life and property.

Monday's statement by Hurriyat will ruffle many feathers, but it seems they have now understood that it is better to distance from political movements led by religious ideologies and to keep political movement in Kashmir independent of any religious underpinnings.
Thiruvananthapuram: Communist Party of India (Marxist) led LDF government in Kerala is planning to provide free internet connections to 20 lakh poor families in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the state assembly in a written reply that the initiative is being implemented under the new optic fibre pathway, 'Kerala Fibre Optic Network' (K-FON).

"Kerala government is planning to launch K-FON system.It is envisaged to provide free internet connection to 20 lakh families as part of the new fibre network," he said.

Besides free internet connection, the government has also plans to distribute free mobile phones to poor families under the initiative, he said.

The proposals had already been mentioned in the ruling LDF's election manifesto and the state's draft IT policy.

However, the fund for the project is yet to be earmarked, the chief minister added.

Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac in the budget for the year 2017-18, had proposed to provide 20 lakh free internet connections to as many poor families and internet services at a lower rate for the others.
Kannur: Four teachers were on Tuesday suspended pending inquiry for allegedly forcing students to take off their clothes, including inner wear,as part of strict measures to stop cheating in a national medical entrance examination on Sunday.

Jamaluddin K, the principal of TISK English Medium school, one of the centres where the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test was held in Kannur district, told PTI that four women teachers have been suspended pending inquiry though he is yet to receive any complaint.

In a shocking incident, a student was forced to remove her bra before being permitted to appear for the test, while another girl had to change her jeans as it had pockets with metal buttons.

The issue echoed in the Kerala Assembly, with treasury and opposition benches condemning it.

Responding to concerns expressed by members of the House on the issue, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he would bring the matter to the Centre's notice and that the police have been asked to examine the incidents.

Vijayan said the incident of the girl student removing her inner wear would be examined legally after registering a case. "A woman police official has been directed to meet the student and her parents," he said.

The chief minister had in a Facebook post said "forcibly implementing such regulations in the name of dress code cannot be accepted by any civilised society".

The Kerala Child Rights Commission has sought a detailed report from the CBSE within 10 days, while the Kerala Human Rights Commission suo motu registered a case against the education board and demanded a high-level probe.

Parents of the affected children are also planning to write to the CBSE chairman and the National Human Rights Commission.

The strict adherence to the CBSE's anti-cheating dress code for those appearing for the NEET-UG held on 7 May has come in for criticism after several students were asked to remove their scarves, nose-pins and cut sleeves of their tops.
The International Court of Justice has stayed the hanging of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "spying", reports said.

According to PTI, the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed his execution following India's submission that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business after retiring from the Navy.

Jadhav was given death sentence last month by the Field General Court Martial in Pakistan, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.

India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government.

Jadhav, a 1991 commissioned naval officer, was arrested in March 2016 by Pakistan authorities on the charges that he was dealing with Balochistan freedom fighters. The allegation was that Jadhav, who retired in 2013, was an active Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent, a charge denied by India. RAW is the primary foreign intelligence agency of India.

The Pakistani intelligence agency ISI's public relations department issued a statement confirming the news.

A military court sentenced him to death on 10 April.

India has sought consular access 15 times but Pakistan has denied it every time. Indian authorities say they have not been informed about the whereabouts of Jadhav or the condition he is in.

India had said that if the death sentence is carried out, it would be considered a case of pre-meditated murder.

 With inputs from PTI
Mumbai: Vegetable khichdi, Rajma-rice and idli-vada will be among the dishes that will replace pizza, noodles and pastries in school canteens across Maharashtra as the state government has banned sale of junk food in school cafeterias.

The Maharashtra government on Monday imposed a ban on sale of 'High in Fat, Salt and Sugar' (HFSS) food at school canteens across the state.

A Government Resolution (GR) listed 12 categories of foods which cover potato chips, noodles, carbonated soft drinks, pizza, burger, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, etc, which can not be sold.

It also gives a list of 20 items that can be sold, which include wheat roti, vegetable pulav, idli-vada, coconut water and jaljira.

The GR said the Union Government had set up a Task Force under the chairmanship of Director, National Nutrition Institute, Hyderabad to promote consumption of healthy food by children in schools and to ban sale of junk food.

The task force in its report said that junk food containing high levels of fat, salt and sugar and very little nutritional content leads to obesity, dental diseases, diabetes and heart ailments in later life.

Taking note of recommendations of the Task Force, the state government decided to impose a ban on junk food in school canteens, the GR said.

The GR also calls for creating awareness among children about consuming nutritional food. Schools should counsel students on this, it said.

The broad list of 12 banned food categories covers fried food items like potato chips, sherbets, ice gola, carbonated soft drinks, non-carbonated soft drinks, rasgullas, gulab-jamuns, pedha, kalakand, noodles, pizza, burger, tikka, pani-puri, all kinds of toffees, chocolates and candies, jalebis, imartis, all kinds of sweets, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, jams and jellies.

The food items that are allowed to be sold are rotis made of wheat, parathas, multi-grain rotis, rice, vegetable pulavs, rice with cereals and pulses, rice and black gram, halva made out of wheat with channa, sweet daliya, rice with rajma, idli-vada sambar, kheer, firni, milk and milk products like curd, lassi and buttermilk, vegetable sandwich, vegetable khichdi, coconut water, shikanji and jaljira.
Braj Bihari Kumar, the newly-appointed chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICCSR), is of the view that Narendra Modi is the best prime minister India has ever had and is the worst victim of intolerance.

76-year-old Kumar has been serving as the editor of the two quarterly journals, published by a society called Astha Bharati, of which he is a founding member. His views were published in Dialogue, one of those journals, over the last two years, reported The Indian Express.

Narendra Modi has proved himself to be the best prime minister. The economy of the country was in bad shape, when he came to power; in the brief period, we have overtaken China in GDP growth," the report quoted Kumar as saying in an editorial titled 'Learn to tolerate Modi' in the October-December 2015 edition of Dialogue.

"A fact, which many of us feel, and feel deeply, is that there is none in India, who has suffered more due to intolerance than Narendra Modi," he had further said in the editorial.

In another editorial, Kumar had written that caste in its present form and untouchability exist because of Arab, Turk and Mughal invasions. Kumar also wrote that the Opposition's support to JNU students during the 2016 protests at the university hurt nationalistic sentiments.

A former principal of Sao Change Government College in Tuensang (Nagaland) and Science College in Kohima, Kumar has written, edited and co-authored 136 books, according to PTI.

Kumar succeeded noted economist SK Thorat as ICCSR chairman.

With inputs from PTI
One of the biggest misconceptions around rape is the "other-ing" of both the criminal and the victim  that a "certain" type of man rapes and a "certain" type of woman gets raped (often under "certain" circumstances). The overwhelming complicity of perpetrators in familial positions of power, or those who are known to victims, is grossly understated.

Therefore, sexual assault, most often than not, becomes an under-reported crime not only because of the stigma attached to it and a broken justice system but also because of the additional barriers that a collusion of familial, social power structures, shame and dependency create.

The victims know the rapists

The 2015 National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data on the proximity of offenders to victims (the most recent data available) shows that in 95 percent of all rape cases, the offender knew the victim. For example, 27 percent of rapes are committed by neighbours, 22 percent involves the promise of marriage and 9 percent are committed by immediate family members and relatives. The data further stated that at least two percent of all rape cases involves live-in partners or husbands (former partners or separated husbands  rape within marriage is not recorded), 1.6 percent are committed by employers or co-workers and 33 percent are committed by other known associates.

According to the data collated by the NCRB, Madhya Pradesh with 4,391 cases, Maharashtra with 4,144, Rajasthan with 3,644, Uttar Pradesh with 3,025, Odisha with 2,251 and Delhi with 2,199 recorded the highest number of reported rape cases. However, it must be noted that a lower rape count could mean a lower 'reported' rape count. States that do better on other gender parity metrics (literacy rate, sex ratio, workforce participation etc) are likely to see a higher count of reported rapes because more victims try to access the justice system. For example, Kerala reported 1,256 rapes while Bihar reported 1,041 rapes, despite the fact that the population of Bihar is three times the population of Kerala.

The interactive data dashboard breaks down the numbers by national average, state/Union territory and proximity of offenders to victims.
The National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), conducted for admission to undergraduate medical courses in government and private medical colleges in the country took place on Sunday. However, the experience of giving a national level exam wasn't pleasant for many students.

The Central Board of Secondary Education organised NEET 2017 on Sunday in as many as 104 cities across the country, for which more than 11 lakh aspirants had registered.

Strict dress code, candidate asked to remove bra, pockets

A female candidate who appeared at a NEET centre in Kannur on Sunday claimed she had to remove her innerwear before sitting for the entrance test. Other women candidates too faced a harrowing experience due to a strict dress code in force. "My daughter went inside the centre, only to return later and hand me her top inner-wear," said her mother.

Another candidate, who was wearing a pair of jeans, was asked to remove a pocket as well as metal buttons from the clothing. Her father said, "She was wearing jeans. Since it had pockets and metal buttons, they needed to be removed. I went to a shop about three kilometres away from the exam centre and bought a new dress for her after getting the shop opened." Those living in the vicinity of the school where the NEET centre was set up came forward to help candidates by giving them suitable clothes to wear.

"I know of a Muslim family which gave six tops to candidates to wear. Even more shocking was the fact that authorities did not permit anyone to wear full-sleeved top. Those wearing such sleeves had to cut it to make it short-sleeved," said another harried parent.

"The ordeal is over but it's debatable how many female candidates would have been able to write the exam properly after they were subjected to so much humiliation. I will write to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to seek action against those responsible," said state Mahila Congress president Bindhu Krishna.

In Tamil Nadu, several boys attended the exam wearing full sleeves, however they were told that only half-sleeve shirts were allowed in the examination hall. The candidates then had to 'customise' their shirts by cutting the sleeves. Closed shoes were also not allowed, some students had to wear their parents' sandals. Girls were asked to remove hair pins, bands and any ornaments. According to a Mint report, the don't of the dresscode included big buttons, brooches, high-heeled shoes, kurta-pyjamas, mobile phones.

Language mix-up

There was some mix-up in the NEET exam  which is conducted in 10 languages, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada and Odiya  where some students who had opted for Telugu question papers were given English and Hindi question papers. This mix up took place at the exam centre at St Peter's Central Public School in Hanamkonda area, said assistant commissioner of police P Murali. 120 students who appeared for the exam at that centre in Warangal were from Telugu medium schools.

The students alleged that when they pointed out that they should be given Telugu question papers, the exam coordinator allegedly refused and asked them to carry on with the English or Hindi question papers which had been distributed. Parents of some of the students and some student organisations protested the mix-up, demanding registration of police cases against the concerned officials. Another A parents group head said the Marathi and Bengali question papers had different questions from the English question paper, making them comparatively easy.

Students arrested

In Goa, four youths from two examination halls were arrested for impersonating. The four youths were identified as Randhir Singh (21), Diwakar Kumar (22), Mohammad Chanchal (28) and Abhishekh Singh (23)  all residents of Bihar.

In Patna, the police arrested five persons including two medical students for attempting to leak the question papers. Those arrested are Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) student Shiv Kumar, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) student Shivam Mandal, law student Avinash Roshan, a private school coordinator Avinash Chandra Dubey and a van driver Sanjay Yadav, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj said in a release.

During the interrogation, the accused revealed that they had talked to a centre superintendent of an examination centre who would help them in getting the question paper.

The van was to be used for transporting the question paper which they would get photocopied somewhere en route and then would distribute among candidates, the SSP said adding that the gang had demanded a hefty sum from some of the candidates in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. Police are interrogating the accused besides conducting raids to nab their accomplices, he added.

With inputs from agencies
Kaithal: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said any terror attack on the country will not be tolerated and the militants will be given a befitting reply.

"We have always tried to maintain good relations with our neighbours, but Pakistan just does not want to mend its ways.

Indian soldiers successfully executed operations against terrorists on Pakistani soil after their cowardly attack on our forces, and gave a strong message to the world that if needed, Indian Army can hit terrorists on their soil," he said referring to Army's surgical strikes in last September.

Rajnath was speaking at the state-level function organised on the occasion of the 477th Jayanti of Maharana Pratap in Kalayat, district Kaithal in Haryana.

Paying glowing tributes to Maharana Pratap, he said the warrior king embodied valour and the spirit of self-sacrifice.

The stories of Maharana's sacrifice for his motherland continue to serve as a source of inspiration for all persons irrespective of caste, religion and faith, even in the contemporary times.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had implemented several schemes for taking the country forward through skill development and capacity-building of the youth.

Other countries have also acknowledged the effective steps taken by him to promote India on a global scale. Housing would be provided to all by 2022 and the income of farmers would be doubled, he added.

Greeting people on the occasion, the Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma announced that a government college named after Maharana Pratap, would be set up at Kalayat, and will become functional from the current academic session.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained the print and electronic media from carrying statements by Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan after he was found guilty of contempt for levelling corruption charges against apex court judges, including the Chief Justice.

The apex court order by a seven-member bench, which also sentenced Justice Karnan to six months in jail, followed a series of judicial orders he had passed even after being stripped of judicial work.

On Monday, Justice Karnan awarded five-year "rigorous imprisonment" to eight Supreme Court judges and imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 on each of them under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and the amended Act of 2015.

The apex court had earlier asked all courts and tribunals not to take cognizance of any orders issued by Justice Karnan, set to retire in June.

Justice Karnan has taken on the top judiciary after he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing various judges and officers of the Madras High Court of corruption.

The Supreme Court initiated contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan on 8 February and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work.

In his January letter, he said corruption charges against the judges could be proven if investigated by competent officers of the central agencies.

After this, the Supreme Court issued a warrant on March 10 against Justice Karnan.

He appeared before the Supreme Court on 31 March  becoming the first High Court Judge to do so in Indian judicial history.

The judge remained unrestrained and continued with his tirade against the Supreme Court judges, accusing them of caste bias.

The Supreme Court then called for a medical examination of Justice Karnan. He refused to undergo the test, saying he was of sound mind.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that an HIV positive destitute woman, who was raped on the streets of Patna and is 26 weeks pregnant, cannot abort the foetus as

a medical report has suggested it would be risky for both.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar said the 35-year-old woman, being a rape victim, was eligible for compensation under the provision of CrPC and directed Bihar

government to pay her Rs three lakh within four weeks.

The apex court also asked the state government to provide her all medical facilities at Patna's Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (IGIMS) as per the treatment chart which

would be given to her by the doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The bench referred to a report of AIIMS's medical board, which had examined the woman, and said the doctors have opined that at this stage, the procedure involved in termination of

pregnancy would be a risk, both to the woman and the foetus.

The report, which was placed before the court, also said that the woman has been advised antiretroviral therapy (ART) to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to the foetus.

"In view of the aforesaid opinion, it is an accepted position at the bar that there cannot be termination of pregnancy," the bench said.

"The IGIMS shall work in coordination with AIIMS so that the health condition of the petitioner does not deteriorate further," the court said. During the hearing, advocate Vrinda Grover, representing the woman, said the victim was entitled to compensation from Bihar government and she should be awarded separate compensation for the negligence by the authorities there,

which has led to this situation.

The counsel referred to the victim compensation scheme under section 357(A) of the CrPC and said the woman shall be entitled to compensation under the scheme as well.

"Needless to say, the petitioner (woman) is eligible to get compensation under the said scheme (section 357-A of CrPC) and therefore the petitioner shall be paid sum of Rs 3 lakh (by Bihar) as she has been a victim of rape," the bench said.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, told the bench that the government would make appropriate arrangements, so that the woman, who is presently

in Delhi, be sent to back to Patna.

When Grover said that doctors at AIIMS should give an appropriate treatment graph to the woman, Mehta said it would be given to her by tomorrow. The bench also granted liberty to the petitioner to file an additional affidavit with regard to other aspects of the compensation within four weeks and asked Bihar to respond to it as well as on the plea filed by her.

The apex court, which as an interim measure stayed the operation of the Patna High Court's order which has been under challenge before it, has fixed the matter for further hearing

on 9 August.

During the brief hearing, the bench asked the advocate appearing for Bihar whether the state had contested the woman's plea before the high court. When the counsel said "yes", the bench shot back, "What right did you have?"

"The question is when the matter was listed before the high court, somebody should have opened the 1971 Act (Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act) and say this is the law," the

bench observed.

The apex court had earlier said it would not go into the orders of the high court which had held that the medical board's report has stated that it would be unsafe for the life of the petitioner and there was a compelling responsibility of the state to keep the child alive.

The high court had said the woman's pregnancy had crossed the legal embargo of 20 weeks under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The petitioner had told the apex court that high court had failed to appreciate that the woman was 35 years of age and completely fit to make her own reproductive choices without any interference.

In her plea, the woman said she was a destitute and had come to know about her pregnancy for the first time around the 13th week, and that too after she was rescued by Shanti Kutir, a Women's Rehabilitation Centre, and taken a pregnancy test on 26 January.

She was deserted by the husband, while her parents had refused to accept her for reasons including alleging that she was of an unstable mind.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred hearing on a plea, seeking a ban on the use of pellet guns to quell agitating and stone-pelting mobs in the Valley, till after the summer break.

The apex court told the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association of Srinagar, which has filed the petition, that it would be proper to hear the matter after the vacation as the time could be utilised by the lawyers' body to come out with a workable solution.

"We were thinking unless you have a solution, we will wait for some time. May be, you will help us in a better way after the summer vacations, which can be utilised for coming out with suggestions," a bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices PC Ghose and DY Chandrachud said.

During the last hearing on 28 April, the government had ruled out talks with separatist elements or those raising the issues of "accession or Azadi" in the Valley, telling the top court that a dialogue to restore normalcy was possible only with the recognised stakeholders.

The apex court had asked the lawyers' body to come up with suggestions to resolve the crisis, including the stone-pelting and violent street protests in the Valley.

It had told the bar, which had sought a ban on the use of pellet guns to quell the agitating mobs, to take the "first step" to bring all stakeholders on the table for workable suggestions to overcome the crisis.

The court had also said that there was a need for joint effort to resolve the crisis. The apex court was hearing the appeal of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association against the High Court order seeking a stay on the use of pellet guns as a large number of people had been killed or injured due to their use.

Earlier, the Centre had told the court it was exploring a crowd control option akin to rubber bullets but not as lethal as pellet guns which were being used as a last resort to quell the violence.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had on 22 September rejected the plea seeking a ban on use of pellet guns on the ground that the Centre had already constituted a Committee of Experts through its memorandum of 26, July 2016 for exploring alternatives to pellet guns.
Politics is political parties' purpose and we expect good governance from them. But when a political party decides to honour a dismissed constable from a paramilitary organisation, it is clearly playing politics of a different kind. For instance, the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress decided to felicitate Tej Bahadur Yadav.

That was because of Yadav, whose video about the conditions of life in the force, "offered evidence of corruption in BSF", as the state Congress president Arun Yadav had tweeted last month. We do not know if the party did that, but if political parties have the gumption to deal with the issue of corruption in the forces, they ought to use Parliament as a platform.

Yadav, in fact, was in Mumbai for a programme by the citys Congress to "commemorate", as the Economic Times puts it, the slain 25 personnel of the CRPF. They had died in Chattisgarh's Sukma in a Maoist attack. Though he clarified that he had "nothing to do with the Congress" but came only to pay his respects to the 25 dead.

The homage to the dead is certainly a well-deserved act even if by a political party, but why the sacked jawan got invited to it is the question. It smacks of playing games with the security forces. What gets interesting, and even disturbing, is his announcement that he would "launch a bigger movement" to "narrate injustices" the personnel face in the forces.

He has spoken of retired personnel from the three wings  army, navy and air force  and former personnel of Indo-Tibetan Border Force, and CRPF who would gather at Jantar Mantar on 14 May. Obviously, some organising is afoot and it is a mammoth task. Who is helping? The associations of the retired personnel? Is any political party involved?

If it is the former, it is understandable but not a welcome thing to have to happen. If it is the latter, it would indeed be a sad thing. The alleged unfair treatment meted to them does not seem to be a new development and may have been around when Congress too was in power  it has been in power longer than any other party.

The scent of politics is already in the air with the Mumbai Congress having him in the city though Yadav has said, in all fairness, that he would have come had it been any other political party. This does not mean that post his airing of views and his sacking, the allegations should be brushed under a carpet. The armed forces have a duty to address the issues raised than merely sacking a man.

It is sad enough that in a country where every death on duty is a martyrdom, the retired personnel had to virtually take to the streets in protest for not sanctioning the One Rank, One Pension demand. If the retirees had to do that, and the armed forces men in service would not be unaware of it, a sense of injustice would take hold. Not good for their morale.

True, Anna Hazare is a war veteran and he had settled down in Rallegansidhi when the mischief in public life  read politicians and the governments they run  became so glaring that his conscience pricked. Maverick as he his, he too has been a man who raises the voice of conscience. He too went to Jantar Mantar several times, but more as a civilian with civilian issues needing to be addressed.

Yadavs is an entirely different kettle of fish because he is speaking of raising precisely issues that people of his rank he says face. That is going to be a disquieting moment. But the contact with political parties is not so nice, even if the intent is apolitical. You cant trust political parties  anything is a fair game for them. They can make a sucker of many even the well-intentioned.
Maropeng, South Africa: Primitive hominids may have lived in Africa at the same time as humans, researchers said Tuesday, in new findings that could change the understanding of human evolution.

Fossils found deep in South Africa's Rising Star cave complex in 2013 have been dated by several expert teams with their findings suggesting the hominids, called Homo naledi, may have lived alongside Homo sapiens.

It had previously been thought that the hominids were millions of years old.

A team of 20 scientists from laboratories and institutions around the world, including in South Africa and Australia, established the age of the fossils which suggests that Homo naledi may well have lived at the same time as humans. Their findings were published Tuesday in three papers in the journal eLife.

The focus of the team's research has been South Africa's barely accessible Rising Star Cave system, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Johannesburg. The area has been an incredibly rich source of artefacts for palaeontologists since it was first discovered.

"There has been a great deal of speculation on how old Homo naledi was...Everyone who has examined the anatomy of Homo naledi has suggested that it would be in the millions of years," said project leader and researcher at Wits University, Lee Berger.

He said it was possible that "this small-brain hominid species actually encountered Homo sapiens."

But now, having established the age of the fossils using six independent methods, the team estimates that they are between 236,000 and 335,000-years-old -- the beginning of the rise of modern human behaviour, said Berger.

Researcher John Hawks said that the separate discovery of new Homo naledi fossils  including a pristine skull  in two other caves "confirmed that we're looking at an anatomical pattern that is very different from any other common species".

"Humans, relatives of humans and distant relatives of humans such as Homo naledi were living here in southern parts of Africa throughout most of all our evolutionary history over the past 1.5 to 2 million years," Hawks told journalists.

"Our evolution took place within a diversity of hominid lineages that existed with each other throughout that time."

Some experts disputed the findings of the team that discovered the initial fossils and named the new species Homo naledi, arguing that they were merely early Homo erectus.

'All sorts of possibilities'

"We're looking at a diversity of species in Africa in the latest stages of our evolutionary history that no one had suspected would be there," said Hawks, an academic at the University of Wisconsin in the United States.

"That implies that as our species arose, it arose with others, that there were a diversity of hominid species in Africa occupying these environments during what we had considered to be the critical time period of modern human origins."

Work has begun to also date the latest fossils to be found.

Paul Dirks, a professor at Australia's James Cook University which is involved in the project, said that Homo naledi's hand structure and the more recent era in which it is thought to have lived means it could have been a toolmaker.

The new findings have shown that the history of evolution is far more complicated than a straight-forward sequential history, he said.

"We have many different branches on the family tree and it is only fairly recently that there is only one survivor on the landscape. The new dating of the fossils opens up all sorts of possibilities for an interchange of... behaviours between Homo naledi and Homo sapiens," Dirks added.

"This will have profound effect on archeology...(it is a) critical missing part of what happened in human evolution," said Berger, who described the findings as "a Rosetta Stone for us" .

Homo naledi had a tiny brain, about the size of an orange and stood about 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall, weighing around 45 kilogrammes (100 pounds), experts say.

Homo naledi's teeth and skull are similar to those of early humans while their shoulders are more similar to those of apes.

They had a brain about a third of the size of a modern human brain and curved fingers that are seemingly well suited for climbing.
By SunderarajanPadmanabhan

New Delhi: In a twist to climate change debate, Indian scientists have shown that there is a need to take into account cooling effects of Nitrogen used in agriculture while assessing its overall "temperature change potential" and not just its warming effect.

In a recent study published in journal Scientific Reports, scientists have reported that net global temperature change potential (GTP) of Nitrogen is substantially lower when both warming and cooling effects of its use in agriculture is considered.

The study has quantified global warming and cooling potentials of Nitrogen use in global agriculture during the last 50 years (1961-2010). The GTP of Nitrogen is 6.9 percent, lower in a 20-year period and 2.4 percent lower in a 100-year timescale.

The results are significant in that it would mean that use of Nitrogen in agriculture would not be looked at with so much concern as it is now. The consumption of Nitrogen fertiliser has been steadily going up in tandem with global population. It was about 12 million tonne in 1961. In 2010, it had gone up to 113 million tonne.

"The previous reports have evaluated the emission of N2O only due to Nitrogen use in agriculture for a short period. However, besides global warming due to N2O emission, Nitrogen use in agriculture has other direct and indirect effects causing warming and cooling. To assess the impacts of Nitrogen use on climate change, therefore, the warming as well as cooling effects, should be considered," researchers have said in their study.

Nitrous Oxide has been one of the major concerns of climate change experts as it has a long atmospheric lifetime (116 years), has high global warming potential (about 310 times that of the reference gas of Carbon Dioxide) and high GTP. However, Nitrous Oxide is not the only gas emitted by Nitrogen use in agriculture. Ammonia is also released and so are several other oxides of nitrogen. These have different impacts.

The other oxides of Nitrogen, for instance, remove methane from the atmosphere and this leads to cooling. These oxides enhance formation of light scattering sulphate and organic aerosols, which too, have a cooling impact. The use of Nitrogen in agriculture usually increases net primary production with more CO2 fixation in terrestrial systems. This enhances Carbon sequestration (a natural process by which Carbon Dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form) in soil due to more litter production. These have a positive impact on the global climate.

The study was conducted by RK Fagodiya, H Pathak, A Kumar, A Bhatia and N Jain at the Centre for Environmental Science and Climate Resilient Agriculture at the New Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute.
Srinagar: Through sombre black and white drawings, graphic novelist Malik Sajad tells the brutal story of his native Kashmir in the 1990s, as an armed insurgency against Indian rule reached its bloody peak.

Sajad's debut graphic novel "Munnu" is his account of growing up in the Kashmir Valley, one of the most spectacular, but also most heavily militarised places on earth.

The story is set in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir, against a backdrop of clashes, curfews and arbitrary detentions as the Indian army suppressed a separatist insurgency that reached its peak in the 1990s.

"You grow up grappling with paranoia. And also cynicism a little, but a cynicism informed by reality," the 29-year-old told AFP in an interview in Srinagar, where he recently returned after a decade abroad.

The shopping centre where he agrees to meet is deserted and despite the breathtaking scenery that surrounds it, Srinagar has an air of sadness.

"I prefer when it rains here, nature joins you in that sadness. When it is sunny, it becomes really unsettling," said Sajad.

The black and white drawings in the novel have the jarring, angular look of German expressionist art.

Rather than having human features, the Kashmiris in the story are represented as hanguls  a local species of deer endangered because the army has encroached on its habitat.

Sajad started drawing cartoons for newspapers at the tender age of 13 and went on to study art.

But said he always felt a close affinity with literature, making the graphic novel format an obvious choice.

'People die like flies'

He believes the lives of all in Kashmir are shaped by the "volatile atmosphere" of the region, where an anti-India insurgency has claimed thousands of lives since 1989.

The Kashmir Valley has been tense since last month, when eight people were killed by police and paramilitaries during election day violence.

Dozens of Kashmiris were killed last summer in violent clashes between government forces and stone-throwing protesters angered by the death of a charismatic and popular rebel leader in a police shoot-out.

The mountainous region is held in part by Pakistan and India, but claimed in full by both, and has triggered two of the three wars fought by both since their independence from Britain nearly 70 years ago.

Thousands of soldiers from both sides still face off along the disputed frontier known as the Line of Control.

Sajad's book was published in 2015 in Britain, but it took another six months for it to come out in India.

He says he never found out why, but his publisher told him authorities were slow to provide the ISBN number that all published books must have.

Despite its controversial subject matter, the book appears to have gone down well in India, where Sajad is often invited to lecture at universities.

Two young readers even made the journey to Srinagar to see for themselves the scene of the book and try to meet him -- though it was not until later that he learned of their journey.

He said he wanted to tell a story on a human level, far from the great geopolitical game between India and Pakistan.

Sajad said, "Unfortunately, in this part of the world human life is not important. It's not just in Kashmir, it's everywhere, people die like flies." He added, "Human lives do not have any value in South Asia."
Dr M Srikkanth, an MBBS doctor in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh who aspires to do his PG, is at his wits end on how to fund his education for the next three years. That's because the Chandrababu Naidu government has hiked the fee in private medical colleges under the merit quota from Rs 3.2 lakh to Rs 6.9 lakh per year, an increase of more than 100 percent. Under the management quota, the hike is nearly five times  from Rs 5.25 lakh to Rs 24.2 lakh. The Telangana government will follow suit as common counselling will be held for applicants from both states.

Students are understandably upset. "You can increase the fee by say 10 percent, and increase it from Rs 3.2 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh,'' says Dr M Srikkanth. Another doctor Latha Rao says, "It is tough for my parents to get such a huge educational loan. I do not know how we are going to manage."

For the past three weeks, hundreds of MBBS doctors under the banner of AP Junior Doctors Association and Padmarao Nagar PG Aspirants have been protesting in Hyderabad and in different towns in Andhra Pradesh. They are upset that despite representations to the governments, the fee has been hiked.

They call this hike the side effect of demonetisation. To understand how, one needs to understand the fee structure.

Till last year, PG medical seats were allotted in two categories  merit or convenor quota and the management quota. Both categories were allotted 50 percent of the seats. The former was allotted by the university on merit and the latter by the power of money. While the fee per year in merit quota was Rs 3.20 lakh, the management quota seat fee per year, officially, was Rs 5.25 lakh. However, depending on the demand for the seat and reputation of the college, the real fee could go up to Rs 50 to 60 lakh per year. Needless to say, the remaining amount was paid in cash (read black money) and this is what practically funded the college besides lining up the pockets of the politically influential.

This year, the Medical Council of India (MCI) decided that even the management seats will be filled up according to merit. Which means that those students who do not bag the top ranks, will get the first preference to get a seat under the more expensive management quota, should they desire to opt for it. This means the management seat will not go to anyone walking in with loads of unaccounted for cash.

Besides under more stringent rules, all fees can now be taken only by cheque or DD. This is part of the MCI's attempt to streamline the admission process so that the PG medical courses do not become a market.

That is when the private colleges lobbied with the governments in the two Telugu states. The colleges lobby obviously want to be compensated for the black money they will no longer get to tap. And the governments have been more accommodating even if it puts the doctors and their parents in more than a spot of bother.

"This means that an MBBS doctor to complete his PG in three years, will have to spend close to Rs 21 lakh for the course. It will only mean that his or her first focus will be to earn back that amount at the earliest. Are these the kind of specialised doctors you want to create?'' asks Dr B Kaushik.

To rake in more money, the private colleges have also started an NRI quota (out of the management quota) at Rs 70 lakh per year. However, there is no guarantee that only genuine NRIs will get admission under this quota and whether this is a way to circumvent the MCI rules.

The Andhra government justifies the steep increase. "The private colleges also need to have good facilities in the colleges, don't they? For that they will need the funds," says K Srinivas, health minister of Andhra Pradesh. His counterpart in Telangana, Laxma Reddy says, "Since Andhra has hiked the fees, we will be forced to do the same.''

Experts point to a nexus between the governments and the private managements for the hike. They point out that it is unethical to take a decision that affects the students, without consulting them.

In fact, the dual fee structure  the merit and the management quotas  itself is discriminatory. "Why should X student pay more to subsidise the education of Y student?" asks N Ramesh, chairman of Consortium of Engineering College Management Association. "This is why we went to court demanding a uniform fee structure for engineering colleges and since 2009, we have had only one fee structure for every student."

The decision to go in for the steep hike will mean that PG medical education in Andhra and Telangana will become unaffordable for the middle and lower middle income groups, with the possibility that students who qualify may even have to drop out. While 'Operation Fee Hike' for the colleges has been a success, the 'patient' as in the aspirations of poor students, is dead.
Trust Arvind Kejriwal to invent new theories to protect his moral halo, charisma and integrity.

His latest idea: If you can't find a substantive counter against charges of bribery, nepotism, favoritism, and loss of popular support, try and shift the popular narrative, change the subject of television channel debates, focus of digital media and morning headlines of newspapers.

On Tuesday, Kejriwal convened a special session of Delhi Assembly to conduct an "expose" on EVM tampering. The Speaker announced that this special session was convened to discuss issues concerning functioning of Indian democracy, something that ought to concern every voter in the country.

It turned out to be a lecture cum demonstration by AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj. Meanwhile Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and rest of AAP MLAs cheered as if they had just won a hard-fought battle.

Kejriwal got the media's undivided attention. The session received live coverage by almost all mainstream news channels who hoped that Kejriwal might finally say something on the charges of personal corruption leveled against him: That he took Rs 2 crore from minister Satyendar Jain, who fixed a seven-acre Rs 50 crore farmhouse deal for Kejriwal's brother-in-law and passed suspect bills of Rs 10 crore for the chief minister's relative.

But Kejriwal remained mum on this contentious subject. Instead, he used the floor of Delhi legislative Assembly to hard sell his electronic voting machine manipulation excuse. He didn't speak a word and gave the floor to Alka Lamba to spout rhetoric and Saubarh Bharadwaj, an engineer, to demonstrate and supposedly explain how electronic voting machines (EVMs) can be manipulated.

In an unprecedented move, Bharadwaj entered the House with number of placards, a prototype EVM and a camera person who followed his every instruction during the demonstration: Where to focus the camera and at what precise angle.

Kejriwal could get away with this because he still has a supermajority in Delhi Assembly 66 out of 70 MLAs  the other four are from the opposition, some of whom can be thrown out of the House by marshals on the orders of the Speaker or be barred from attending the proceedings on some pretext or the other.

The House thus virtually turned into a classroom where the scope for any dissenting democratic voice or questions was completely ruled out.

His move, however, raised some questions: Why did Kejriwal chose to have this demonstration in a specially convened one-day session when the heat is on him? Why did he convene one-day special session now when Election Commission (EC) has thrown an open challenge like it did in 2009, for anyone to show that EVMs could be manipulated to suit a particular party? Why did Kejriwal avoid their challenge?

EC officials have rejected AAP's claim as demonstrated in Delhi Assembly. The EC is expected to announce exact date for the hackathon during an all party meet convened on 12 May to discuss the subject.

If AAP wanted to convince people at large, then, Saurabha Bharadwaj and Alka Lamba should have gone to EC and demonstrated to officials, experts and representatives of other parties as to how machines could be manipulated. But then they would have had to demonstrate on an actual voting machine, not a prototype. Plus, their argument could be challenged by experts.

As ever, the AAP's purpose seems to be not to find a solution or make a substantive argument but to get in a war with an enemy, real or imagined and claim the halo of fighters, and the sympathy of victimhood.

The most interesting response to Kejriwal's EVM tampering demonstration came from his latest friend-turned-foe, Kapil Mishra. He said EVMs were working properly, that it was the people who were not voting for AAP, and that this show was enacted only to suggest that Kejriwal could still win elections.

The reality is that people were no longer voting on Kejriwal's name alone and the AAP was raising questions on the country's democratic process, Mishra said.

If Kejriwal does not trust EVMs, then it meant that the 2015 polls were also a farcein which case, all 66 AAP MLAs should resign and fresh elections should be held if not, Kejriwal should resign and contest against me in any seat of his choice in an election held with paper ballots, Mishra added.

The sacked Delhi minister said that Kejriwal was in denial mode, that he did not want to face reality and had thus developed an ostrich-like approach.

More than people, Kejriwal's special exercise, it seems, was more to convince his own party leaders in Assembly and the outside world that he had the capacity to garner votes.

More than anyone else, the AAP convenor and chief minister knows that in politics, the leader is only useful as long as his charisma and capability translates into votes.
Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he would sit on an agitation to demand the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal if the allegations of corruption against the Delhi chief minister were proved.

Hazare, however, also pointed out that former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra made the allegations of graft against Kejriwal only after he was sacked from the AAP.

"Whatever the former minister has said against Kejriwal, he said it only after his removal. If he was the minister when the alleged money exchange took place, why did not he alert the authorities?" the anti-corruption crusader asked.

"I think there should be a thorough investigation in this case. If Kejriwal is found guilty then I will personally sit on an agitation at Jantar Mantar and demand his resignation," Hazare said at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district.

The activist had earlier said he was pained to see Kejriwal, his "former colleague in the anti-corruption crusade", facing allegations of accepting money. Mishra had on Sunday accused Kejriwal of taking Rs two crore from a Cabinet colleague, a charge refuted by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The allegation by Mishra, who was sacked from the AAP dispensation on Saturday night, came amid growing rumblings in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Mishra on Tuesday filed three complaints with the CBI against Kejriwal, minister Satyendar Jain and AAP leaders who allegedly misused party funds on foreign trips.

The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was Monday suspended from primary membership of the AAP, also threatened to launch a hunger strike tomorrow if details of foreign visits by five AAP leaders are not made public by the party.

Mishra said he filed complaints with the CBI over the exchange of Rs 2 crore between Jain and Kejriwal, a Rs 50 crore land deal arranged for the CM's brother-in-law and five AAP leaders allegedly misusing party funds on foreign trips.
The high drama in Delhi Assembly on Tuesday was just a case of old wine in new bottle. There was nothing new in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) issue that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj raked in the Assembly, barring a live demonstration of the machine.

Even otherwise, the EVM issue was not meant to be an answer to the allegations levelled against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by his sacked minister, Kapil Mishra. The latter had alleged that he had been a witness to Kejriwals accepting Rs 2 crore cash from health and PWD minister Satyendar Jain.

Moreover, the display of EVM in the Assembly, can land AAP in another avoidable controversy  from where did the party get the EVM?

According to EC sources, the EVM displayed in the Assembly has not been sourced from the commission. The EC doesnt take responsibility of the EVM procured from any other source, the source said.

Old wine in new bottle

After facing volleys of allegations from Mishra, the Delhi chief minister on Monday, broke his stoic silence by posting on his official Twitter account, Jeet satya ki hogi. Kal Delhi Vidhan Sabha ke vishesh satra se iski shuruat (The truth will triumph. The beginning will be from the special Assembly session tomorrow).

               Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 8, 2017

Instead of responding to the allegations, Kejriwal chose to remain silent and the AAP MLA from Greater Kailash in South Delhi, Saurabh Bharadwaj chose to speak.

The engineer-turned-politician Bharadwaj gave a live demonstration of an EVM to prove the partys point that the BJP won elections including the Municipal Corporations of Delhi by using (read manipulating) EVMs as brahmastra against its opponents.

But, whats new in Bharadwajs expose that required a special session of the Vidhan Sabha?

Bharadwaj, on 26 April, had told Firstpost at length in an exclusive chat about the conspiracy of EVMs and how the BJP had used it to win elections  one after another.

He reiterated the same in the House on Tuesday, while adding how secret codes related to contesting parties in an EVM by a particular party (read BJP) to garner votes. He justified his role as an engineer by going into the technicalities of an EVM functioning.

But, the AAP leader has yet to tell how the secret codes are breached or hacked.

Expert's take

It is almost impossible to breach the security mechanism in an EVM. The way the AAP MLA demonstrated and claimed in the Assembly regarding manipulation of a machine, it doesnt happen like that. Once a button is pressed in an EVM, it gets blocked and one cant do the same process again on his own. Stringent security protocols are maintained at multiple levels. An EVM manufacturer is in no position to know which candidate will be contesting from a particular constituency and what will be the sequence of the candidates on Ballot Unit (BU). So, manipulating secret codes as claimed by the MLA is virtually impossible, a technical expert familiar with the manufacturing and functioning of EVMs in India told Firstpost on condition of anonymity.

What the Election Commission has to say?

After a series of allegations levelled first by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, followed by others, including AAP supremo Kejriwal, after the announcement of results of five state Assembly elections, the EC issued FAQs to avoid any misconception.

The ECI released the set of FAQs in April 2017 along with this statement: In the recent past, there have been some queries in the minds of people about the security features of EVMs of Election Commission of India (ECI). The Election Commission has, time and again, stated that ECI-EVMs and its systems are robust, secure and tamper-proof.

The EC issued a set of FAQs to clear the air of misconception, rumours and false allegations against EVM functioning. The FAQs answers the questions raised by the AAP by explaining the fool-proof security measures in the EVMs that EC has in its custody, the EC source said.

The following FAQs give a detailed view of security features, including latest technological features of EVMs and stringent administrative measures taken at every step of its usage from manufacturing to storage.

All you need to know about ECI-EVM security features: The ECI explains

What is meant by tampering of EVM?

Tampering means alteration in the software programme written either on existing microchips of Control Unit (CU) or introducing malicious software programme by inserting new microchips in CU and also making keys  pressed in Ballot Unit (BU) not record faithfully in the Control Unit.

Are the ECI- EVMs hackable?

No. M1 (model one) of EVM machines were manufactured till 2006 and had all the necessary technical features making M1 non-hackable contrary to claims made by some activists.

On the recommendations of the Technical Evaluation Committee in 2006, M2 model of EVMs produced after 2006 and up to 2012 incorporated dynamic coding of key codes thereby enabling transfer of the key  press message from Ballot Unit (BUs) to Control Unit (CUs), in an encrypted form as an additional security feature. It also contains real-time setting of each key press so that sequencing of key presses including so called malicious sequenced key presses can be detected and wrapped.

Further, the ECI-EVMs are not computer-controlled, are standalone machines and not connected to the internet and /or any other network at any point of time. Hence, there is no chance of hacking by remote devices.

The ECI-EVMs do not have any frequency receiver or decoder for data for wireless or any external hardware port for connection to any other non-EVM accessory or device. Hence, no tampering is possible either through hardware port or through wireless, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device because CU accepts only encrypted and dynamically coded data from BU. No other kind of data can be accepted by CU.

Can ECI-EVMs be manipulated by manufacturers?

Not possible. There is very stringent security protocol at manufacturer-level regarding security of software. The machines have been manufactured in different years starting from 2006. After manufacturing, EVMs are sent to a state and district within a state. The manufacturers are in no position to know several years ahead which candidate will be contesting from a particular constituency and what will be the sequence of the candidates on the BU. Also, each ECI-EVM has a serial number and the Election Commission by use of EVM  tracking software can find out from its database which machine is located where. So, any manipulation at manufacturing stage is ruled out

Are old model EVMs still in use?

M1 model of EVM machines were produced up to 2006 and were last used in 2014 General Elections. In 2014, EVM machines which completed 15 years of economic life and also because M1 were not compatible with VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail), the ECI decided to discontinue use of all M1 EVMs manufactured up to 2006. There is a Standard Operating Procedure laid down by ECI to discard EVMs. The process of destruction of EVM and its chip is carried out in the presence of Chief Electoral Officer of the state or his representatives inside the factory of manufacturers.

Can ECI-EVMs be physically tampered with or components be changed without anyone noticing?

In addition to the existing security features in earlier models M1 and M2 of ECI-EVMs, the new M3 EVM produced after 2013 have additional features like tamper detection and self-diagnostics. The tamper detection feature makes an EVM inoperative the moment anyone tries to open the machine. The self-diagnostic feature checks the EVM fully every time it is switched on. Any change in its hardware or software will be detected. A prototype of a new model M3 with above features is going to be ready shortly. A Technical Experts Committee will examine it and then production will commence. About Rs 2,000 crores have been released by the government to procure M3 EVMs with above additional features and new technological advancements.

What are the latest technological features to make ECI-EVMs tamper proof?

The ECI-EVMs use some of the most sophisticated technological features like one time programmable (OTP) micro-controllers, dynamic coding of key codes, date and time stamping of each and every key press, advanced encryption technology and EVM-tracking software to handle EVM logistics, among others to make the machine 100 percent tamper proof. In addition to these, new model M3 EVMs also have tamper detection and self-diagnostics as added features. Since, software is based on OTP the programme cannot be altered, re-written or re-read. Thus, making EVM tamper proof. If anyone make, attempt, the machine will become in operative.

To what extent are allegations of EVM tampering in local body polls true?

There is a misunderstanding in this regard due to lack of knowledge about jurisdiction. In case of elections to municipal bodies or rural bodies like panchayat elections, the EVMs used do not belong to the Election Commission of India. Above local bodies elections come under the jurisdiction of State Election Commission/s (SECs), which procure their own machines and have their own handling system. The ECI is not responsible for functioning of EVMs used by SECs in above elections.

What are the different levels of checks and balances ensuring tamper proofing of ECI-EVMs?

First-Level Checking: Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)/Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) engineers certify originality of components after technical and physical examination of each EVM, undertaken in front of representatives of political parties. Defective EVMs are sent back to factory. The FLC Hall is sanitised, entry is restricted and no camera, mobile phone or spy pen is allowed inside. Mock poll of at least 1,000 votes is conducted on 5 percent EVMs selected randomly by reps of political parties and the result shown to them. The entire process is video graphed.

Randomisation: The EVMs are randomised twice while being allocated to an Assembly and then to a polling booth ruling out any fixed allocation. Mock poll at polling station is conducted in front of polling agents of candidates on the poll day, before polls begin. After poll, EVMs are sealed and polling agents put their signature on the seal. Polling agents can travel upto strong room during transportation.

Strong Rooms: Candidates or their representatives can put their own seals on the strong rooms where polled EVMs are stored after the voting nd also camp in front of strong room. These strong rooms are guarded 24x7 in multi-layers.

Counting Centres: The polled EVMs are brought to the counting centres and Unique IDs of the seals and CU are shown to reps of candidates before start of counting.
New Delhi: BJP Yuva Morcha workers on Tuesday demonstrated outside the Delhi Assembly demanding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation over the corruption charges levelled by sacked minister Kapil Mishra.

The protest was led by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Sunil Yadav.

Kejriwal should resign immediately as chief minister, he has cheated the people of Delhi, said protesters.

The protest comes ahead of the special assembly session convened by the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the charges of corruption levelled by Kapil Mishra, who was suspended on Monday night.
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi was admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram hospital following food poisoning and is due to be discharged soon, hospital authorities said on Tuesday.

Sonia Gandhi was admitted to Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital last evening after food poisoning say sources, likely to be discharged tomorrow pic.twitter.com/rzogX2Dm8I  ANI (@ANI_news) May 9, 2017

According to the hospital, Gandhi was admitted on Sunday evening, IANS said.

"Sonia Gandhi was admitted to the hospital on Sunday due to food poisoning. She is well now and will be discharged soon," said DS Rana, chairman of the hospital's managing board.

The Congress president has been in and out of action for over some time now. And her health has been a topic of much speculation in political circles. In February, she was reportedly admitted to the same hospital after she complained of breathlessness. Gandhi, according to reports said was affected by the weather changes and was relieved after days of care.

The Congress leader had also not campaigned for the party during the Assembly elections in five states earlier this year.

She had also fallen ill in November 2016 when she had developed a high fever. In August 2016, she had reportedly fallen ill during a roadshow in Varanasi.



 With inputs from IANS
As Congress, going through its lowest phase in electoral politics, prepares for a "bounce back," various media reports suggest a major reshuffle in the party. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has already set the wheels in motion in Odisha after meeting with party leaders to finalise an organisational revamp in the state unit. It recently also removed Digvijaya Singh as Goa in-charge after the senior leader failed to stitch an alliance and lost the state to BJP, despite being the majority party.

Now, a report in The Indian Express suggests that a major reshuffle in the central organisational committee and the parliamentary wing is likely to follow that will see Mallikarjun Kharge being removed as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), so that he can play a more active role in Karnataka politics.

Kharge is one of the stalwarts from the state, who the party hopes to rope in ahead of the 2018 state elections, to fortify it's chances despite a cleaving state unit. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been accused of authoritarianism in the party and the leader has faced resentment from within quite often.

In December last year, 20 MLAs had revolted against the state's chief minister, accusing him of corruption, however, the central leadership was able to save the party from a mass defection. In March 2016, several party MLAs had written to the Congress high command to appoint someone from the Vokkaliga (second largest community) as the KPCC president to take on BJP's Yeddyurappa. Nearly 50 percent of the party legislators skipped Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and a dinner hosted by the Karnataka chief minister. Another bout of discontent was triggered when Siddaramaiah rejigged the state cabinet in June last year. Many legislators were upset after losing their ministerial berths, but were later pacified by handing out plum posts in various boards and corporations.

Karnataka is one of the last few Congress strongholds and the party would like to retain in the state elections to be held in 2018. Moreover, keeping in mind the 2019 elections, the party is also looking at a course correction.

Congress has recently changed its state incharge in Karnataka as KC Venugopal was appointed in place of Digvijaya Singh. Reports have that G Parameshwar, who has served as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief since 2010, is also set to be replaced shortly, according to Deccan Chronicle. If Kharge is appointed the national secretary in-charge of state ahead of the election, it will help the Congress regain control over various factions within the party.

Meanwhile, in the central leadership, speculations around Kharge's replacement in the PAC have warmed up. The Indian Express report says that no decision has been taken yet. However, it is expected that after the reshuffle, Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia and AICC General Secretary Kamal Nath will have larger roles to play. The organisational revamp is also likely to bring to the fore young leadership as Rahul wants a new crop of leaders ready to fill in the shoes of Congress stalwarts, when the time comes. Moreover, according to a report in the Livemint, the party is restructuring organisational structure at state level. Rahul is keen on choosing new AICC general secretaries and national secretaries so that one man is accountable for one state.

Earlier, the general secretaries would be in-charge of two, three or even four states and will have several national secretaries in each state reporting to them. However, the new structure will give national secretaries greater independence, who will be solely responsible for their respective states. The new structure is also likely to create greater accountability as one person will be focusing on one state each.
Lucknow: Blame it on the soaring mercury or power going to their heads, the saffron brigade in Uttar Pradesh is cutting loose, much to the chagrin of the bureaucracy that is facing the heat of their misconduct. And so, while it was initially dismissed as the handiwork of fringe elements and overzealous party workers by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the situation now is precarious with many of its lawmakers and ministers involved in such public incidents of high-handedness.

On Sunday, veteran Gorakhpur legislator Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, who is also a confidant of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, not only took on a woman police officer but publicly humiliated her, so much so that the woman in uniform broke down and was seen in TV footage wiping her tears.

Charu Nigam, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer at the receiving end, tried to explain her position in an altercation over a protest against a liquor shop, but Agarwal asked her to shut up and not make him lose his cool.

Not long ago, Raghav Lakhanpal, the young Lok Sabha MP from Saharanpur, led a mob involved in a violent attack on the official residence of the then district SSP Luv Kumar.

Angered by the police not giving permission for a procession planned on the anniversary of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, angry BJP workers had stormed Kumar's high-security house and vandalised it. While an FIR related to the violence during the procession does name the BJP MP, the honest and upright police officer was shifted to Noida. When a hue and cry followed the transfer, an official spokesman of the state government said this was a "promotion and not a punishment since he was given a better district."

Better in what terms, only the BJP would know.

This apart, a mob of young party workers had not long ago manhandled policemen at Kannauj, the parliamentary constituency of Dimple Yadav, wife of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

There have been other incidents as well where leaders of the ruling party have been caught on tape openly threatening police inspectors of dire consequences if they did not pay heed to matters raised by them. The police officers had secretly recorded the conversations and gave them to their superiors. In its defence, the BJP said its state leaders were only seeking justice for people, insisting that the tone and tenor of the conversation hardly mattered.

Last month, the brother of a senior cabinet minister openly humiliated a constable in Unnao, telling him that he should mend his ways or else he would be disrobed in public. "Dalal kahin ka, purani sarkaar chali gayi hai, hosh mein rehna warna kapde utarwa doonga (The old government has gone. Come to your senses or I'll have you disrobed in public)," he told a constable over the drowning of some youth in the Ganga river.

Cow vigilantes are also active in villages and are allegedly hounding the Muslim community and threatening them with consequences if they stepped out of line.

Some time back, senior minister Satyadev Pachauri was caught on camera during an inspection making derogatory references to a disabled employee. When disabled people can't work why are they recruited, he asked officials.

To put this in perspective, two years ago, in one his monthly radio chats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested that the word "divyaang" be used instead of 'viklaang' for the differently-abled and yet Pachauri called the man a "loola langda" (a dumb cripple), which is definitely a pejorative. He later apologised, saying he had been misinterpreted.

BJP workers seemingly are not paying heed to the repeated advisories from party leaders asking them to be "in control and humble". Party president Amit Shah, during his address at the state executive earlier this month, warned workers and leaders against any adventurism and said they should learn to be humble and more responsible.

Adityanath, too, has on at least two occasions, asked workers to be good in their conduct. On one occasion he, however, blamed some "unscrupulous elements" wearing saffron scarves of indulging in hooliganism and bringing disrepute to the BJP.

Whatever be the case, the "elixir of power", and that too after a long exile of 14 years, seems to be too much for the BJP workers and leaders not to be tempted with. What is even more ironical is the fact that the BJP romped home to power by highlighting the lawlessness by Samajwadi Party (SP) workers and promising change.
Editor's Note: This article has been republished in the light of a special CBI court convicting Lalu Prasad Yadav and 15 others in a case related to the 1996 fodder scam. This article was originally published on 9 May, 2017. The Supreme Court had ruled in May that the former chief minister has to face separate trials in each of the cases and if found guilty may be punished separately. The fodder scam, which has been stirred up from time to time and has been in news for over 21 years now. Here's all you need to know about the case.

The petty forgeries and small scale fraudulent transactions, that would go on to become a Rs 100-crore scam and unseat an incumbent chief minister, predates the Lalu-era in Bihar. It was first sniffed out in 1985 by the then CAG TN Chaturvedi, who noticed that monthly accounts submission from Bihar treasury were always delayed.

However, those small-scale falsified transactions flourished over the course of years, got systemised, and snowballed into a Rs 945-crore scam. Here is all you need to know about the multi-crore scam, one of the early on cases of large-scale corruptions.

What is the case all about?

The case is regarding large-scale embezzlement of government funds, made by producing fake bills to substantiate payments that were never made. The scam took its notorious name from the fact that it was rooted in the Animal and Husbandry department of Bihar government and the fraudulent transactions were made in the name of procuring cattle feed over a period of 20 years, under successive regimes.

After the 1985 incident, the case resurfaced in a big way for the first time in 1996 when the state finance secretary VS Dubey started looking into the matter and ordered inspections across all districts. A massive raid on the Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) at Chaibasa uncovered a stash of documents showing illegal withdrawals from the state treasury, according to a report in Outlook.

But before this, subsequent raids on various AHD officials were already being conducted, quietly and away from media glare, adding straw by straw to mound that went on to be known as the fodder scam.

An India Today report from the time states that a slew of I-T raids in 1993 revealed that nearly 80 AHD officers and suppliers had accumulated property worth Rs 25 crore but before any action could be taken, the I-T officer leading the systematic raids to uncover the scam was transferred and the case was put on the backburner. Before this, in February 1992, an AHD official was found in possession of over Rs One crore in cash at Ranchi airport.

Then in 1994, another discovery of a fraudulent transaction was made. The Vigilance Department found that the regional AHD director at Dumka, withdrew some 50 lakh rupees with false bills. However, the assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Jagdish Sharma, a supporter of former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra, also an accused in the case, intervened claiming that the PAC was already investigating such matters and the Vigilance Department should not proceed further. The matter was dropped.

Now the case spans across 64 cases and over 56 accused, including top bureaucrats at the time, politicians and government employees.

Where does Lalu Prasad Yadav come into the picture?

As the issue started gathering heat as the scam unravelled, BJP state unit chief Sushil Modi filed a PIL in the Patna High Court in 1997 demanding a CBI enquiry in the case. The same year, the investigation was handed over to the CBI and hence started Lalu's worst nightmare and a longstanding episode with the CBI.

"A large amount of money was withdrawn from the governments treasury. In short, it was a loot of governments money by the governments officials backed by the political leadership. About Rs 950 crore was looted by government officials in ten years. It was a huge thing for all of us at that point of time," Rakesh Asthana, the famed CBIs superintendent of police who uncovered the scam and formally started prosecution against a sitting chief minister, according to Rediff.com.

In 1997, the CBI formally requested the Governor to publicly start prosecution proceedings against the then Bihar chief minister. Amid growing public pressure, Lalu had no choice but to step down, but not before outsmarting his opponents by installing his wife Rabri Devi as the chief minister.

Rabri's surprise installation as the Bihar chief minister is, till date, quoted as one of the most clever political manoeuvres.

As things stand today, of the 64 cases arising from the scam, Yadav has been named as accused in six cases and he has already been convicted in one of the case involving fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from Chaibasa treasury, which now falls in Jharkhand between period 1 April, 1994 to 31 January, 1995.

The other cases which are to be completed against him are related to the treasuries of Chaibasa, Doranda in Ranchi involving Rs 139.39 crore, Dumka (Rs 3.31 crore) and Patna.
The Supreme Court has quashed Jharkhand High Court order dropping criminal conspiracy charges against former chief minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in four fodder scam cases. This has been lapped up by section of media as a big blow to Lalu's political career, some suggesting even an end to his political journey.

After a newly-launched channel released tapes of conversation between Lalu and convicted criminal Shahabuddin, this has been presented as a second successive blow to Lalu. There is a section of people telling Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to break alliance with Lalu in Bihar. Some TV analysts even suggested imposition of Article 356.

This is a classic case of 'much ado about nothing'. Lalu has already been convicted in a fodder scam case in October 2013 and has been sentenced to 5 years in prison by Supreme Court. He had to resign as an MP and the apex court had ruled that the RJD supremo cannot contest elections till 2024 (5 years jail plus six years of ban after release, so barred for 11 years from contesting any form of elections).

His electoral career was already over before this judgment. He was 65 when convicted, and will be 76 by the time he is eligible again. The recent judgment doesn't bar him from being the president of any political party or convener of any alliance. He can hold rallies, meetings and remain a public figure. The court has not quashed his bail.

Nitish formed an alliance with Lalu in 2014 after his conviction in 2013 due to political compulsions. The clean image of Nitish came under cloud when the JD(U) chief had to forge an alliance with not so 'clean' Lalu due to arithmetic benefits (during Bihar elections) with the objective of taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nitish knows Modi is no Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Modi-Shah regularly arm twist allies. Forming an alliance with the BJP carried the risk that OBC votes could have tilted towards to BJP. Nitish is trying to become a joint candidate for the prime ministerial post of a united opposition. His prime ministerial ambitions will be thwarted if he takes any such action now. Additionally, Lalu fully supports Nitish's ambitions. He knows that the more Nitish concentrates on India-level politics, more control he gets back home in Bihar.

Until 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish on his part will not do anything that rocks the JD(U)-RJD alliance boat in Bihar. He knows fully well that sons of Lalu are not as charismatic as their father. Instead of joining BJP, he feels, he can poach RJD MLAs if required and when the situation demands.

The Bihar government, in its part, is doing well by implementing a few agendas  Liquor prohibition has already won hearts of women folk in the state. This has brought down the rate of crime in Bihar. The state continues to do well in GDP growth figures.

Shahabuddin-type 'expose' looks good on TV, but these things happen on a daily basis in UP-Bihar politics. This is an accepted norm. At least 35 percent of newly-elected MLAs in Uttar Pradesh Assembly have serious criminal cases against them.

So what's in store for Lalu now?

In a worse scenario, he gets convicted again in the four cases and receives another jail term. This only lengthens his exile from electoral politics to beyond 2024. Lalu, the wily fox, who appears as a comedian politician, is very smart. He has already ensured his two sons join politics. His political heir Tejaswini Yadav is the deputy chief minister. He is learning the art of politics from two socialists Nitish and Lalu. In the next decade or so, by the time Lalu retires, Tejas will be an established politician.

There is no morality left in politics. Worse is people of India don't consider corruption a big issue. If they considered it a big issue, how come leaders like Lalu, Jayalalithaa, Virbhadra, Hooda, Kumaraswamy, Madhu Koda, occupy important chairs like that of chief minister. It almost seems like convictions raise their stature. They play it up as punishment for fighting for the poor and the oppressed. Leaders like Lalu continue to thrive.

Nitish and Lalu are smart politicians. They know they need each other. Politics of give and take dominates Bihar and will continue to do so. Meanwhile, Lalu will play this judgement up as ploy by communal forces to silence him. He is not worried about his national image in media, especially English print and TV. His rustic ways and close connect with his vote base will ensure it remains with him in Bihar, no matter what happens.
Auto refresh feeds

How did Satyendra Jain get those cash? I asked Kejriwal to offer a apology. But Kejriwal is silent.

When I asked him, he said that in politics certain things happen which will be revealed later.

I trusted Kejriwal, whom I thought to be clean. There were several funding related issues in Punjab. I though Kejriwal would act on it. I had this trust in him since two years. But two days back, I saw Satyendra Jain giving a bribe of 2 crore rupees to Arvind Kejriwal at his residence.

Kapil Mishra says that he is ready to go to CBI and the anti-corruption Bureau against Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues. He said that he will expose Satyendra Jain's corrupt practise.

I could have been sacked before too. I was being praised initially by every AAP leader. There were no talks of me being sacked. Now the timing of the axe raises questions.

Speaking to News18, BJP said that Arvind Kejriwal to resign as chief minister and dissolve the Assembly to seek fresh mandate from the people. BJP also added that it will go to the public to put pressure on Kejriwal. The party said that a cabinet colleague exposing Kejriwal is a serious issue.

No moral right for Kejriwal to continue as CM

Accompanying Kapil Mishra to the Rajghat, his wife backed him and said that AAP took precedence over family. She also said that Arvind Kejriwal did wrong by sacking him: Kapil Mishra 's wife.

Congress leader Ajay Maken said that the expose is in line with the findings in the Shinglu Panel report on nepotism by the Kejriwal government. Maken also added why there was no action on the Shunglu Panel report. On Kapil Mishra's allegations, he said that a former cabinet colleague making such charge is serious and cannot be dismissed.

Reacting to the expose, Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, " MLAs were being heckled by the public for the lack of water. This made Kejriwal to trigger a cabinet reshuffle. With respect to the allegations made by Kapil Mishra, they are baseless. I have no answers for them."

Speaking to India Today, former AAP leader and Mumbai-based social activist Mayank Gnadhi said that the party is becoming just like other parties and is going down the slippery slope and the party's decline will not stop for now.

Talking to News18, the Sacked AAP minister said that Arvind Kejriwal is running away from media. He also said that the Jain will go to jail in the next 8 to 10 days.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Ajay Maken said that the party will collect 10 lakh signatures against the Kejriwal government in the next four to five days in order to remind him of the 'right ot recall'.

Electricity and water are the two main promises that AAP government fulfilled after coming to.power in 2015. Every household has been given 20,000 litres of free water but free water failed to reach the most deprived area in Delhi  Sangam Vihar.

Sacked Minister for Water Resources, Kapil Mishra, might have taken to theatrics by visiting Rajghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi before speaking to media. However, his allegations against his party top leadership cannot be ignored.

Even Mishra as the water resources minister failed to bring Sangam Vihar under the ambit of Delhi Jal Board.

Yet two years later, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has failed to provide relief to Sangam Vihar  Asia's largest unorganised colony. People in this colony still buy water every week from tanker mafias. Earlier, the Congress party had been at the epicentre of this water tanker scam.

AAP candidate Prakash Jarwal became MLA for the first time from this area promising that he would make the Sangam Vihar residents free from the clutches of water tanker mafia and provide regular free supply of water.

Has AAP fail to fulfil its promise to provide clean water?

In what looked like an almost supportive statement, Swarajya India leader and former AAP member, Yogendra Yadav has said that while he can believe allegations of authoritarianism and greed for power against the Delhi chief minister, he will need solid proof to believe that Kejriwal can be corrupt.

Whether or not Kampil Mishra's allegations hold any merit, right from Kejriwal to Mishra and local MLA of Sangam Vihar, the party leaders have to answer why they failed to end the water tanker mafias and why Sangam Vihar residents still do not have access to drinking water.

Meanwhile... as AAP leaders trade barbs, party must answer some pertinent questions

"I had always believed that one person who is incorruptible is Arvind Kejriwal. I always thought that he will fix everything within the party as soon as he gets proof of irregularities. But my faith was betrayed. I couldn't sleep at night when I saw Kejriwal accept cash with my own eyes," Mishra said.

My faith in Kejriwal has been betrayed: Kapil Mishra

Kapil Mishra's ouster became inevitable the very day he towed a different line from that of AAP on the issue of EVMs. He didn't agree with party leadership that BJP won MCD election by manipulating EVMs.

"Since these allegations have been levelled from within the party, I think these are not just allegations but a witness' statement," Tiwari said. He added that the people have already punished the party.

This is a witness statement not just allegations: Manoj Tiwari

"Arvind Kejriwal neither has the moral right, neither the legal standing to remain Delhi chief minister as it is unprecedented that a cabinet colleague of a sitting chief minister has levelled such serious charges. Kejriwal must seek apology from his party men and quit as Delhi CM as soon as possible," BJP's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari said.

According to former AAP members and volunteers right from Yogendra Yadav to ex Speaker of Delhi Assembly MS Dhir to AAVAM convener Karan Singh  "Only a Yes Man to Kejriwal will remain in AAP and in the government. Anyone raising voice will be thrown out irrespective how honest and competent the other person may be".

Kapil Mishra sealed his ouster from party by raising voice against Kejriwal

Earlier Vishwas had merely tweeted that party workers must be patient and that party's best interests will be upheld in the end. It is also instructive to note here that Mishra is considered close to Vishwas and he has sided with the leader in the recent rift between him and the party's core leadership.

After a cryptic twitter message, Kumar Vishwas finally came out in support of Delhi CM stating that a corrupt Kejriwal would be an unimaginable thing for him. He said that he was saddened by the way Mishra took things up. Seeking to reassure the party workers, he said if ever anyone thinks that anyone is wrong within the party, they must come with the proof and keep it in front of everyone. "Levelling baseless allegations like this in front of media is not right," Vishwas said.

Corrupt Kejriwal is unimaginable; saddened the way things were done today: Kumar Vishwas

We had always raised questions over transparency in the AAP. But when I saw him with Satyendra Jain, I could not sleep that night. I had always felt that Kejriwal would look into the issue, Mishra told Times Now.

Kapil Mishra says he could not sleep after the incident

"I was the first to raise this water tanker scam. Now Kapil Mishra, the water resources minister in AAP government, has raised it and questioned his own party leadership. By ousting him from the department, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has again proved that only 'Yes man' will thrive in the party, whereas the rest will be sidelined or thrown out by branding them as 'tainted'. This is because the AAP wants to hide its incompetence and failures," BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijendra Gupta told Firstpost.

Kapil Mishra ousted by AAP to hide its incompetence and failures

AAP MLAs Alka Lamba and Somnath Bharti, who are reportedly close to Mishra, have also come out in support of Kejriwal. With the PAC meeting likely to seal his fate, the road ahead is not easy for Mishra.

According to media reports, Kapil Mishra is close to Kumar Vishwas. However, with the poet-politician backing Kejriwal, saying that it is unimaginable to think that the Delhi chief minister will accept bribes, it seems Mishra is fighting a lone battle. Even Yogendra Yadav, who left the party after being disillusioned with Kejriwal, seems to be backing the chief minister.

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare reacts for the first time on the issue. Talking to Times Now, he said, "It is unfortunate if he has accepted the cash. If the allegations are true, then he has shattered the movement. Probe will definitely reveal the truth."

"Six of the seven AAP ministers including Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia are facing corruption charges," Maken said.

He said the AAP, which governs Delhi, was "riddled with corruption".

"Mishra's claim that Kejriwal took Rs 2 crore is not mere allegation rather an affidavit before the public of what he saw. He is saying what he saw as an eyewitness. The Centre, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the CBI should immediately take action and register an FIR against Kejriwal. He has no moral right to continue as the Chief Minister. He should immediately resign," said Maken.

Sources within AAP say there is no operational MLA office in water minister Kapil Mishra's constituency Karawal Nagar. They also share that he doesn't live in his constituency and his residence is in Yamuna Vihar. "We had to plead with him for six months so he sets up a base here, where both volunteers and people and go to him with their grievances. But he doesn't like to engage with people, except on social media" say volunteers from Karawal Nagar.

"His mother Annapurna Mishra was the first mayor of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. Kapil Mishra was given a ticket too soon and he hasn't toiled in the field and has been in a hurry to get to the top," a volunteer said.

AAP's volunteers say that Kapil Mishra has shown streaks of arrogance in the past. His lack of connect with the people in his constituency is a known fact within the party. Six months ago, nearly 60 women of Sonia Vihar ward angrily charged at him regarding a water related problem but he refused to address the issue.

AAP came to power promising that this issue will be resolved. But they did nothing. Today, Kapil Mishra had accused the party leadership on this issue. Sangam Vihar is a case in point. Sangam Vihar is the largest unorganised colony in Asia in the heart of posh south Delhi.

The crisis seems to raise a major question over the perfomance of the sacked Delhi minister.

People also claimed that the MLA from this area, which is also Asia's largest unorganised housing complex, Prakash Jarwal, has done nothing for the area.

During the MCD polls, Firstpsot had spoken to citizens of Sangam Vihar on the water crisis they have been facing since several years. Every person who spoke to Firstpost said that they have been let down by every political party in Delhi, including the AAP. Citizens said that the AAP government's promise of delivering 20,000 litres of free water has been a sham and that they still face water scarcity.

Another line that they have heard from him recently: I am not like Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. When I leave, I will ensure that the party also drowns.

AAP volunteers rubbish Mishra's claim that he has been associated with the AAP movement since the Anna Andolan. They say that he joined the party once it was formed. They also ask where Mishra was when India Against Corruption was being formed on 5 April 2011. "He came into the picture before becoming a minister and has been greedy for power all along," a volunteer said.

With his blunt allegation against Kejriwal, Kapil Mishra, who became a former minister a day ago, has delivered the biggest blow not only to the person but also to the fledgling party. The BJP might just have found the handle it needed to take the Delhi chief minister on. Whether or not minister Satyendra Jain paid Rs 2 crore to Kejriwal may take time to establish, but the latest development makes one thing certain: the latter wont have an easy time in power from now on. The countdown to his exit may have begun.

BJP should realise that AAP thrives on politics of confrontation and if notices have been issued without any base, it will only help AAP mobilise/get back its support base and gain sympathy. This witch hunt wont help.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh took potshots at the anti-corruption crusader, adding that Kejriwal should have resigned a long time back.

After allegations against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal came to light following ex-minister Kapil Mishra claim that the leader took bribes from Satyendra Jain, the youth wing of the Congress party is protesting outside the residence of the chief minister.

BJP delegation led by Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari meets L-G Anil Baijal. Tiwari says that the delegation has sought the dismissal of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain for their alleged involvement in graft. The delegation also sought an enquiry into the case and Tiwari said that he has got an assurance from the L-G on this issue.

"Arvind Kejriwal, the self proclaimed messiah of anti-corruption has been charged with accepting a huge some of money by none other than his own party colleague and ex-minister of his cabinet. This is very serious allegation questioning Mr. Kejriwal's personal integrity. Seems AAP is collapsing under the weight of its own misdeeds. We demand that CBI should immediately lodge FIR against him and do thorough investigation. Kejriwal should step down immediately on moral grounds. We also want to know why L-G is not taking any action on the Shunglu Committee reports. Delhi Congress will launch a 5-day campaign to collect 10 lakh signature demanding Kejriwal's resignation, " Delhi Pradesh Congress chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee told Firstpost.

Kejriwal should step down, CBI must file FIR against Delhi CM, says Sharmistha Mukherjee

In more I-T trouble for Satyendra Jain, a report on CNN News18 says that Jain used two of his employees  one of them is his distant relative  as a front to route hawala money to buy land between 2011 and 2013. The report added that the two employees later joined Jain's office after the deal were completed.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday sought the resignation of his Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, claiming that the AAP supremo had no moral right to continue in office as his "corrupt face" had been "totally exposed". The Congress leader said his party had for long been maintaining that Kejriwal was a "dacoit", who was "only interested in filling his pockets".

"People expect you to do the honourable thing and resign immediately rather than trying to discredit Kapil Mishra," the SAD leader said.

"Kejriwal has always maintained that he will take action against anyone accused of wrongdoing... What will you do now when you yourself are in the dock?" Majithia asked.

"Now, we have a person who was a cabinet minister in the Delhi government till a few hours back claiming that he has witnessed the Delhi CM accepting Rs two crore from a tainted colleague with his own eyes," he said.

Terming the "bribery scandal" as an "epoch event" which has "finally uncovered Kejriwal's real face", SAD general secretary Bikram Singh Majithia said the AAP was being accused of being involved in corruption since long.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday demanded the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and also his immediate arrest after he was accused by AAP MLA and sacked minister Kapil Mishra of taking Rs two crore cash illegally.

After Amarinder, Akali Dal trains its guns on Arvind Kejriwal, seeks his resignation

"It is a serious allegation leveled by Kejriwal's former minister...he should step down immediately on moral grounds," Gandhi, an MP from Patiala, told PTI.

Suspended AAP MP Dharamvira Gandhi on Sunday demanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to step down on moral ground after his former cabinet colleague Kapil Mishra accused him of receiving Rs two crore from another minister.

The controversy around Aam Aadmi Party is refusing to die down. Ousted AAP leader Kapil Mishra on Monday informed media persons that he has already submitted some proof to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and will be going back again on Tuesday to submit more details.

Kapil Mishra challenges Kejriwal and team to sack him from party

Singh also labelled the fresh accusations made by Mishra as false and accused him of insulting the party workers. "Today, he is saying that everyone in AAP is corrupt. He didn't see it when he was a minister. When he was sacked, he is making false accusations. He doesn't want to join BJP. But he wants to stay with AAP and create more troubles. I think he is going to make false accusations in the future," Singh added.

Replying to the fresh salvo of accusations made by Kapil Mishra on Monday, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, "I think Kapil Mishra is afraid. The decision of the PAC meeting is not done yet. Whatever is to be done will be told to everyone."

Kapil Mishra is afraid of being sacked from Aam Aadmi Party: Sanjay Singh | CNN-News18

Referring Mishra's latest press conference on Monday as another attempt to defame the Aam Aadmi party, Jain said, "If he wanted to give it to CBI, then why would he come to the media. He would have gone ahead and given it to the CBI. He has not been able to give the time of when I went to Kejriwal's residence."

"There is a no deal, and I am not involved in anything. When there's no deal, why will I speak with him. If there's a deal then please submit proof," Jain said.

Delhi Health Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Satyendra Jain once again rubbished the fresh allegations of corruption raised by sacked minister Kapil Mishra. Jain, who has been labelled as one of the conspirators in the ongoing graft charges said that Mishra has lost his mental balance.

Delhi ACB chief MK Meena, said that the bureay will regiter Mishra's detailed statement soon.

Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra had been having quite a busy Monday. Before the former water minister of Delhi gave details about his meetings with ACB and challenging AAP's PAC committee to oust him, Mishra had submitted a bunch of documents alleging that Delhi chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal knowingly delayed the investigation into Rs 400 crore tanker scam.

After Kapil Mishra's morning press conference, where the sacked Aam Aadmi Party leader sought Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's "blessings" as he was going to file an FIR against him, Kejriwal in turn tweeted saying that AAP minister Saurabh Bhardwaj will reveal a massive conspiracy in the Delhi Assembly.

"I am releasing an open letter to Kejriwal. I am going to file FIRs against the person from whom I have learnt to fight against corruption and to take a stand for the truth. He used to be my 'guru' and today I am fighting against him. This is very painful for me but I can't keep quiet. From whom I have learnt these things, today I want his blessings for the victory in this war against corruption. I will file an FIR against you and I am apologizing for the same," Mishra said.

Sacked from Aam Aadmi Party, MLA Kapil Mishra on Tuesday issued an open letter to Arvind Kejriwal while challenging him to contest open elections. Asserting that Kejriwal once used to be his 'guru', Mishra said that he was going to lodge a string of FIRs against the one who taught him to how to fight against corruption.

News 18 reported that BJP youth wing members started protesting outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence in New Delhi. According to the channel, water cannons were used at BJP protesters in order to scatter the crowd.

Mishra later told reporters that he was going to file three FIRs: One against Kejriwal, one against his family members, and one against five AAP leaders. Mishra also tweeted that he will be going to the CBI office at 11.30 am.

According to Hindustan Times , sacked AAP MLA Kapil Mishra reached CBI office to file complaint against Kejriwal. "I will register an FIR against you (Kejriwal). I apologise for that and seek your blessing," Mishra had said at a press conference on Tuesday morning. Mishra was suspended from AAP and sacked by Kejriwal from his Cabinet.

Mishra stepped up his demand to reveal details of foreign tours of AAP leaders. In a series of tweet, he said some that party leaders have made dozens of foreign trips out of state expense and illegal money. "Party should make public where these leaders went, who they met and how much time they spent in which country," (sic) tweeted Mishra.

Sacked party MLA Kapil Mishra tweeted that Aam Aadmi Party must make public the details of foreign trips by Raghav Chadha, Ashish Khetan, Sanjay Singh, Satyendar Jain and Durgesh Pathak. Mishra said he will sit on hunger strike from Wednesday if these details were not made public.

The session is scheduled to begin at 2 pm and high-octane war of words is expected on the floor of the 70-member House as Mishra and Kejriwal may come face-to-face for the first time since the allegation was made on Sunday.

The Delhi Assembly will hold a special session on Tuesday afternoon where Arvind Kejriwal is expected to speak for the first time after being accused by sacked MLA Kapil Mishra of taking Rs 2 crore cash from a cabinet colleague, a charge denied by the AAP.

Mishra has questioned Kejriwal's integrity and accused him of taking Rs 2 crore in cash from Health Minister Satyendra Jain, of shielding people linked to a 2012 water tanker scam and being party to a land deal that benefited his relative. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has denied the charges.

"The truth will emerge victorious. It will begin from the special Delhi Assembly session on Tuesday," the Chief Minister wrote.

The BJP is expected to corner the ruling AAP during the one-day session over Mishra's charges. The AAP is also likely to raise the issue of alleged EVM manipulations in Delhi civic body polls. Kejriwal has not spoken about the charges made by Mishra. But on Monday night he tweeted that truth will prevail.

Intensifying his agitation against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders, Kapil Mishra threatened to go on a hunger strike. "Five AAP leaders misused funds for foreign trips. I will sit on a hunger strike if they do not reveal details of their foreign trips," Mishra said.

As Kapil Mishra makes his way to the CBI office, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Ashutosh and Atishi Marlena have made their way to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence. India Today has reported that the party has issued a whip to all its MLAs, asking them to attend the special Assembly session on Tuesday.

Activists of the BJP's youth wing protested near Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence, demanding his resignation and the sacking of minister Satyendra Jain over corruption charges levelled against them by suspended leader Kapil Mishra. The protesters, who took out a march to Kejriwal's Civil Lines residence, were stopped by the police at a barricade. Policemen used water canons when the agitators tried to breach the barricade.

Delhi Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Sunil Yadav warned the protests would intensify if Kejriwal didn't step down. "We had been saying Kejriwal is a liar but he turned out to be something else. He should resign, sack Jain, and face corruption charges. Mishra was removed because he exposed corruption in AAP," he said.

Based on a CNN News18 expose, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari targeted Delhi Chief Minsiter Arvind Kejriwal on the irregularities in the donations to the Aam Aadmi Party. The party also claimed that the AAP lied to the Election Commission on its source of donations.

According to India Today, a complaint has been filed against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over the death of his brother-in-law. The complaint seeks a probe over the death of Kejriwal's relative. According to the report, he wanted to expose a scam in the PWD department.

Delhi Assembly begins as all eyes are on Arvind Kejriwal's defence over corruption allegations against him. The Speaker calls it a historic meeting for the sake of Indian democracy.

BJP leader Vijendra Gupta claims that the Arvind Kejriwal government has been indulging in a Rs 1,000 crore land scam in Delhi.

Even as AAP MLA Alka Lamba is speaking in the Assembly, the four-member BJP is creating ruckus and stopping the House from working. The first 15 minutes have thus been wasted in the ruckus.

Amid the ruckus, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Nivas Goel has dismissed BJP MLA Vijendra Gupta from the House for a day.

Lamba also does some self praise that it is the Delhi government which has been instrumental in forcing the Centre to sanction over Rs 3,000 crores for procuring VVPAT machines.

AAP leader Alka Lamba talks on the EVM tampering row. She claims that when the party went to the EC, the EC said that the EVMs used in the MCD polls were not their responsibility. Lamba raises the question as to why VVPAT machines are not being used to conduct elections.

While Alka Lamba is speaking on EVM tampering, it is interesting to note that rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra is present in the Assembly.

At a time when the Election Commission has dared hackers to tamper EVM machines, the Aam Aadmi Party has promised to show tampering of(Electronic Voting Machines) EVMs to expose the truth.

Speaking in Assembly, AAP MLA Naresh Yadav claims that the country's trust on the Election Commission is declining due to the constant EVM tampering. He also claims that the Centre is least interested in looking into the allegations.

After being marshalled out of the House, Vijendra Gupta trained his guns on the Aam Aadmi Party and its involvement in the 1,000 crore land scam. He added that the BJP is not being allowed to raise the issue by the ruling party.

While EVM tampering row is being discussed in the Delhi Assembly, the Delhi Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal is yet to speak on the bribery allegations made by Kapil Mishra against him.

The BJP leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly is sitting outside in dharna. He has asked for the arrest of Satyendra Jain in the bribery scandal. Talking to media persons, he claimed that democracy has been murdered in the state and that the AAP is encouraging corruption in Delhi.

Perhaps what can be termed as unprecedented in Indian political history, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj is currently conducting a live demonstration of show how easy it for anyone to tamper an EVM machine.

Saurabh Bhardwaj brings the cheat sheet of all secret codes that need to be fed into the EVM machine in order to manipulate the machines. He says that the secret codes are fed into the system after a certain period of time. He adds that the secret codes depend on the position of a candidate in the race. He says that if a candidate is third in the race, then a secret code corresponding to the third position is fed into the system. This helps the candidate to win, Bhardwaj claims.

After proving that an EVM machine can be manipulated, Saurabh Bhardwaj taunts BJP legislators and claims that they won their elections in that manner. This leads to a flare up between BJP and AAP MLAs in the Assembly.

So was the EVM demo drama a diversionary tactic of the party? Time will tell.

Kejriwal is yet to speak on the bribery allegations levelled against him by sacked AAP leader Kapil Mishra.

Before the session began, the Delhi chief minister had tweeted that there would be a major revelation made in the Assembly. However, the major revelation turned out to be on EVMs.

Amid a sensational live demonstration of EVM-tampering, the most striking image of the day was that of a silent Arvind Kejriwal.

Immediately after Saurabh Bhardwaj's sensational EVM expose , the Election Commission has hit back at the Aam Aadmi Party, and claimed that the machine used during the live demonstration in the Delhi Assembly is not an EVM machine at the first place.

Mishra slammed Kejriwal for diverting the issue from bribery charges to EVM manipulation. He said, " Today, he will blame EVM, tomorrow your fingers." He also added that AAP won't get any vote in the name of Arvind Kejriwal and that it is best for him to leave the party.

Former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra's allegations will be examined. Mishra has given three complaints relating to bribery and irregularities against functionaries of Delhi government: CBI.

In a major revelation, sacked AAP leader Kapil Mishra on Sunday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is running a hawala racke tin the Aam Aadmi Party by converting black money into white through shell compnaies and hiding donations from the Election Commission of India.

Alleging that there is a scam in the running of the Mohalla clinics in Delhi, sacked AAP muinister Kapil Mishra has also promised to expose the scam later.

Nevertheless, the discrepancy in the details led to a Income Tax notice to the party, after which it revised its amount to Rs 30 crores, Mishra, however, questioned Kejriwal over the remaining Rs 15 crores.

The major crux of Mishra's allegation was that the Delhi chief minister hid the full details of the funds that the party recieved between 2013 and 2016. According to the Karawal Nagar MLA, the party had over Rs 45 crores in its bank account in 2013-14. However, the party only declared rs 9 crores worth of funds to the Election Commission. On the other hand, on the party website, details of funds amounting Rs 19 crores were listed.

The sacked AAP minister also added that the details provided by the party in 2014-15 was also forged. He said that the party had disclosed funds worth Rs 32 crores to the Election Commission. However, Mishra alleged that the party in fact had Rs 65 crores in its account, while the website listed the source of funds amounting to rs 32 crores.

According to Mishra, Kejriwal's party did not answer I-T notice seeking to know the source of funds for three continuous years: 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

He also alleged that there were 16 such shell companies which donated money to the Aam Admi Party on 20 January 2014 at 12 am at midnight.

Kapil Mishra alleged that four shell companies allegedly linked to the party donated Rs tow crores on 5 April 2014. Interestingly, the Chartered Accountant of all the four companies is same.

Kapil Mishra added that the party's donations were being converted from black to white through the Krishna Nagar branch of the Axis Bank, This particular branch as well as the bank cam under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate during the crackdown on illegal funds during demonetisation drive.

Mishra alleged Goyal of lying to the Election Commission, in contravention of the RPA Act, 1951.

Kapil Mishra trained his guns at Moti Nagar MLA Shiv Charan Goyal and alleged that the four shell companies that donated money to the AAP belonged to him. He also dragged the name of a Congress leader Sushil Kumar Gupta into the alleged scam and argued that it was Gupta who routed the money through Goyal.

After Goyal, the sacked leader went after Naresh Yadav. According to Mishra, Yadav's wife Preeti is a shareholder in a company called Legacy Mercentile Pvt Ltd, which donated to the AAP. This company was alleged by Mishra to be yet another shell company.

Coincidentally, the company's accounts was found to be in the controversial Krishna Nagar Axis Bank branch.

This company, the sacked MLA alleged, is a shell company which routed money to the AAP. He in fact added that there is no record of anybody called Bablu and Yogesh Chand.

According to Mishra, a certain duo of Bbalu and Chand are directors in a company called Vishal Diigital Studio, which is also listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange.

A certain Ramesh Bellamkunda from Bangalore was alleged by Mishra to have donated over Rs one crores between 2013 and 2016. However, in its disclosure to the Election Commission, the party only revealed Rs 5,000 as Bellamkunda's total donation.

Here are some of the tweets from top leaders of the party.

As Mishra was hogging the spotlight, it was Neil Haslam who was explaining the details of the 'scam'. After the presser, AAP leaders slammed him and alleged that he has had links with the BJP.

Countering allegations against the AAP, Sanjay Singh took potshot at the BJP, asking it to stop defaming AAP. Singh added that the Centre's only policy is to defame AAP while side stepping corruption within its own ranks. Also dragging the Congress party, the party leader said that BJP and the largest Opposition party have not been declaring 80 percent of their funding details since the last 10 years.

On being asked why the party is targetting the BJP, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the issue of funding raise by Mishra is similar to the demand made by the BJP. He added that Manoj Tiwari too had raised the issue recently. He said that if the state machinery which is controlled by the BJP cannot prove any allegation against the party. then it must give up and consider itself useless.

After Kapil Mishra, Congress party targets Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged "hawala scam". Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken said that the foreign tours of the AAP leaders need to be probed as the allegations made by the sacked leader are serious. He added that there are strong proofs of AAP leaders visiting London to get donations from Khalistani separatists. He continued and said that the Indian intelligence agencies also knew about the meeting. The party asked the government to take action against the names taken during the presser.

Late last night, a team of doctors from RML hospital had examined Mishra and said his blood sugar level, pulse rate and blood pressure were normal. The doctors had also advised that he be hospitalised, but Mishra carried on with his hunger strike.

The former water resources and tourism minister in the Delhi government is suffering from "a little weakness and mild dehydration", an RML doctor said. "But he is conscious and his vitals are all normal," the doctor said.

The condition of Kapil Mishra, who was admitted to the RML hospital after he fainted while addressing the media earlier in the day, is stable, doctors said.

Countering allegations against the AAP, Sanjay Singh took potshot at the BJP, asking it to stop defaming AAP. Singh added that the Centre's only policy is to defame AAP while side stepping corruption within its own ranks. Also dragging the Congress party, the party leader said that BJP and the largest Opposition party have not been declaring 80 percent of their funding details since the last 10 years.

Former CEC has also said in an interview that the only party who takes funds with all the transparency is only AAP: Sanjay Singh, AAP pic.twitter.com/gcegD7SLt2

Neel is an agent of BJP. he also worked with BJP: Sanjay Singh, AAP

BJP is totally involved in this. Kapil Mishra is only saying what BJP is saying for past 2 years: Sanjay Singh, AAP pic.twitter.com/AQ6TWDaxEu

On being asked why the party is targetting the BJP, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the issue of funding raise by Mishra is similar to the demand made by the BJP. He added that Manoj Tiwari too had raised the issue recently. He said that if the state machinery which is controlled by the BJP cannot prove any allegation against the party. then it must give up and consider itself useless.

When party was not formed, I used to go for foreign trips. There is nothing new in that. I travel with my own money: Raghav Chadha, AAP pic.twitter.com/1XnZcGYaNl

After Kapil Mishra, Congress party targets Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged "hawala scam". Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken said that the foreign tours of the AAP leaders need to be probed as the allegations made by the sacked leader are serious. He added that there are strong proofs of AAP leaders visiting London to get donations from Khalistani separatists. He continued and said that the Indian intelligence agencies also knew about the meeting. The party asked the government to take action against the names taken during the presser.

Kapil Mishra faints after the Press Conference; taken to hospital pic.twitter.com/ZPm4zAldDs

Watch the drama that enfolded at the end of the press conference

Late last night, a team of doctors from RML hospital had examined Mishra and said his blood sugar level, pulse rate and blood pressure were normal. The doctors had also advised that he be hospitalised, but Mishra carried on with his hunger strike.

The former water resources and tourism minister in the Delhi government is suffering from "a little weakness and mild dehydration", an RML doctor said. "But he is conscious and his vitals are all normal," the doctor said.

The condition of Kapil Mishra, who was admitted to the RML hospital after he fainted while addressing the media earlier in the day, is stable, doctors said.

Former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra on Saturday alleged that the police were trying to "forcibly" take him to hospital based on "fake reports" given by doctors, just a day before he was planning to make another "expose".

He claimed that the report of his health is "faked" by the doctors, who were directly reporting to health minister Satyendra Jain, even as a team of doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital late tonight examined Mishra and said his vitals, including blood pressure and sugar level, were normal.

"Before tomorrow's expose, they are spreading fake news and trying to divert attention. It is a ploy to end my hunger strike," Mishra said in a tweet.

"Doctors gave fake report. They report directly to health minister Satyendar Jain," he stated in another tweet.

Mishra, who was recently sacked from Delhi cabinet, had started an indefinite hunger strike on Wednesday demanding Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) divulge details of foreign tours undertaken by five of its leaders.

Doctors had yesterday advised hospitalisation to Mishra due to drop in blood sugar level and dehydration.

Mishra also asked the Delhi police commissioner to not take actions based on "fake reports".

"Sir @CPDelhi, Please don't do this just based on a fake report. I am fighting for a big cause. It's a conspiracy," the MLA said in a tweet.

In a late night development, a team of doctors from RML hospital examined Mishra and said his vitals, including blood sugar level, pulse, blood pressure, is normal.

However, he had mild dehydration which is due to no salt intake since last four days, the doctors said, adding it was a case of "starvation ketosis".

Meanwhile, police officials reached Mishra's house to take him to hospital but he remained adamant on not going with them.

"Mishra is adamant to not leave his house before he holds a press conference at 11 am on Sunday. He has gone inside his house saying he wants to meditate," a source said.

Earlier, a team of doctors from Aruna Asaf Ali hospital had examined him in the afternoon and evening and advised his hospitalisation.

Mishra mounted a fresh attack on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, accusing him of using AAP MLAs as "shield" after party legislator Sanjeev Jha announced a hunger strike to counter the rebel leader's ongoing fast.

Jha was detained by the police twice while he was proceeding to stage the planned hunger strike outside Mishra's residence. He later began his "indefinite strike" at Jantar Mantar.

Jha has demanded that Mishra come clean on the claim that he saw health minister Jain pay Rs two crore to Kejriwal.

In an "open letter" to Kejriwal, Mishra again pressed for divulging the details of foreign tours undertaken by five leaders of the party.

"How much drama will you create to hide one truth. You are trying all tactics to divert attention. Don't try any new tactic tomorrow.

"You (Kejriwal) made a strategy to use MLAs as a shield. However, only one MLA came forward to be that shield?" Mishra said, adding he would make his next "expose" tomorrow.

He further said "thief" is demanding to hand over all the evidences to him.

"Then he would prove himself innocent by becoming a judge, a lawyer and a witness," he added.

In the morning, Jha, who is an MLA from Burari, went to Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial, to "seek blessings".

"On 7 May, Mishra had said that Kejriwal had met Jain where he paid him Rs two crore. My question to him is at what time did he meet the chief minister. Which car did he use? I have the entire day's video footage (of people entering Kejriwal).

"The whole world knows about Kejriwal's credentials and he (Mishra) should give evidence to back his claim. If it turns out to be true, even I will join him in his hunger strike against Kejriwal," Jha said.

Mishra hit back at Jha with another "open letter" and "advised" him to drink lots of water during the hunger strike.

With inputs from PTI
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. If the person concerned is Arvind Kejriwal he must be much more than Caesar's wife. Wasn't he the white knight who once promised to tear down the ugly edifice of corruption in the country? Didnt he take the plunge in politics with the iron will to demolish the corrupt? Its rather normal for politicians to have charges of corruption levelled against them, but if the person is Kejriwal the impact gets amplified by extraordinary degrees.

Thats why Kapil Mishras allegation against the Delhi chief minister assumes rare gravitas. Its still not known whether the proof of wrong-doing he has against Kejriwal will stand scrutiny.

It might be difficult to prove that health minister Satyendra Jain actually helped the latters brother-in-law in a Rs 50-crore land deal; or the Aam Aadmi Party government deliberately sat on the alleged Rs 400-crore tanker scam probe to protect the accused, which includes former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

Moreover his allegation that Jain handed over Rs 2 crore to Kejriwal at his official residence may be a case of my-word-versus-your-word. In fact, Jain has already told the media that he was not present at the place on the given day  May 5 - and challenged Mishra to substantiate his charge with evidence. There have been so many episodes of wild accusations involving AAP leaders that it is difficult to take their words at face value.

Yet Mishras case is different. His attack carries the sting that might leave Kejriwal's image hurt forever. Never earlier was the insider attack on the leader so direct, so vicious. The very fact that such attack is there is proof that he has lost respectability in the party and some dont see him as indispensable for their survival. Worse, he is being increasingly seen as a factional leader guided by a close coterie  Mishra referred to two persons influencing him today.

"It's not the same Kejriwal we worshipped once. The chief minister's job has changed him..., he said. It cannot be said with certainty whether he is playing the BJPs game or of someone else in the party or his grievance is genuine, but what he said could well be the voice of thousands of idealism-charged volunteers who stood by Kejriwal when decided to join politics. He is obviously not the same person and nobody can tell for sure who is now.

His is a classic case of failure of leadership. Not only has he lost the spark as a leader who could inspire those around him but also one who could wrest back control after noticing damage. A sure-shot recipe for disaster is when the leader is seen to be part of a clique and part of the machinations it indulges in to cut others to size. In such a case, his capacity to tower over others and be the uniting force disappears. The AAP suffered from flight of talent and intellectual heavyweights such as Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and others long back, now it is left with mediocre leaders who can survive only through undercutting others. Kejriwal should take the blame for the state of affairs. He ushered it in.

It is difficult to tell now whether he has any genuine followers, particularly in the top of rung of its leadership, left at this point. Mishra has been suspended from the party in a quick move. It has been a familiar response of the leadership against anyone it finds uncomfortable. But how many of them can it afford to throw out? Someone else will be out there tomorrow crying corruption or levelling worse charges. Kejriwal appears clueless about handling the situation. He has promoted too much distrust within, now he himself is trapped.

The real issue troubling AAP is not corruption  its a convenient prop for disgruntled leaders  but too many people trying to make their best out of their presumed proximity to Kejriwal.

Can he reassert his moral authority and emerge the leader he used to be? No, unless he frees himself from the coterie culture and becomes independent once again. But given the way he has been approaching the problem that keeps cropping up every few weeks it appears difficult. Kapil Mishra has exposed his weakness.
What took Arvind Kejriwal from IIT to IAS to RTI activism to the office of the Delhi chief minister? The popular narrative is anger  the beating heart of any peoples movement. Sacked from the Cabinet and stripped off the water and tourism portfolios, it is anger that prompted Kapil Mishra to accuse Kejriwal of accepting Rs 2 crore from AAP minister Satyendar Jain.

The 36-year-old politician is the son of Annapurna Mishra, the first Mayor of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. She was the first to occupy the office of mayor after the creation of three new local bodies in New Delhi and represents the Sonia Vihar neighbourhood in East Delhi as a member of the BJP.

Voices within AAP say that Mishra was upset with Kejriwal when the law portfolio was snatched away from him and handed over to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in 2015. AAP volunteers, who wish to remain anonymous, alleged that it was Mishra who was incompetent and was filing cases arbitrarily. And, instead of accepting the chief minister's decision responsibly, had a bitter argument with him. The volunteers claimed that this streak of arrogance stems from the fact that Mishra was given a ticket in the first go and that his lack of connect with people in his constituency is a known fact but the top leadership has tolerated him because there is a dearth of good orators in the party. They rubbished Mishra's claim that he has been associated with the AAP movement since the Anna Andolan and call him a fair-weather friend.

To verify the claims made by AAP volunteers about Mishras competence, Firstpost went to his constituency Karawal Nagar in north-east Delhi on 7 May. Here, we ran into members from a peoples movement called Karawal Nagar Parivahan Sangharsh Samiti (KNPSS) that had held black flags during Mishra's campaign rallies for the recently-held MCD election.

Formed in July 2016, a few members of the 200-strong group told Firstpost that they were angry and frustrated with Mishra. Among them was the founder, Tejpal Rawat, who said that social-media savvy Mishra has blocked him on Twitter. He was given a ticket too soon. He has not worked with his people. He is more of a media face, he said while pointing to the deep cut on his nose alleging that Mishras goons beat him up when he was protesting during the recent civic polls. He asked why there isnt any office of a district in-charge in this constituency, the closest one is situated in the neighbouring constituency of Bhajanpura.

The KNPSS is not registered. It calls itself a small citizens movement that will dissolve once the issues are resolved. We dont want to politicise the civic issues, we just want somebody to address them, said Tejpal. The KNPSS helpline number (75511 98887) has received over 1,000 calls till now. This just shows the lack of forums in our area where people can express their grievances, he said. In response to an RTI filed by Rawat on the total funds allocated to the Karawal Nagar MLA Constituency during 1 April, 2015 to 31 March, 2016, the Delhi Urban Development Agency replied on 5 May, 2016: The total amount of MLA LAD allotted was Rs 223.35 lakhs and to Mohalla Sabha was Rs 20 crore; the total amount sanctioned was Rs 17,88,98,792.

The locals also spoke of incidents of helpless people angrily charging into Mishras office because he has remained unavailable to address their demands for months on end. Six months ago, about 60 women from Sonia Vihar ward took out their slippers to beat up the minister who has worked with international organisations like Greenpeace and Amnesty International.

A bunch of irritated people who stood in a huddle next to a long grey drain, flowing right in front of a school (Titiksha Modern Public School) also pointed to garbage piles and to the swarms of mosquitoes flying over them. Some men pointed to an iron gate and said that was the only thing Mishra had built in their area. The gate was pointless because there was no space for passage on either side.

Nikhil Tomar, a resident of Mukund Vihar, which too falls in Mishras constituency, informed that there have been instances where blackish-brown water has flown from the taps of his home. He added that the residents of Karawal Nagar have shared pictures of supposedly potable, insect-infested water on social media and nothing has been done to repair the problem.

The KNPSS is a peoples movement that has been vying for Mishras attention since one year, primarily to improve the connectivity situation in the region. They have a 10-point plan that includes a demand for a foot-over bridge and bus stands on the much-congested Khajuri flyover; 15 more buses dedicated to the Karawal Nagar Vidhan Sabha; the restarting of the metro feeder bus service and its extension up to the busy Kashmiri Gate metro station. The metro is a popular mode of transport but the last mile connectivity is still poor. The KNPSS demands buses from Karawal Nagar to Anand Vihar, which is an interstate bus terminal and a railway station. They have also been asking for a ladies special bus for women who travel great distances for work and education.

There are only nine buses that cater to more than 10 lakh residents in Karawal Nagar. When the topic of transport was started, Dharminder, 22, came forward and revealed that he lost his father to a heart attack because of traffic congestion on poorly engineered roads. This peoples movement in Karawal Nagar, thanks Kejriwal for sacking Mishra.
Ballari (Karnataka): Asserting that he had no rift with BJP's Karnataka unit President BS Yeddyurappa, senior party leader KS Eshwarappa on Monday said they would jointly fight the next assembly polls.

"Yeddyurappa and me are not like India and Pakistan. We are together. I have no rift or differences with him. He is our leader and the Chief Ministerial candidate in the 2018 state assembly elections," Eshwarappa told reporters in Ballari about 330km from Bengaluru.

Denying confusion in the party's state unit on its strategy for the ensuing elections, the BJP's leader in the state Legislative Council said as the party's central leadership had declared that Yeddyurappa would be the Chief Minister again if the party wins in 2018 poll, he would work under the latter and campaign for him.

"We will contest the assembly elections under Yeddyurappa's leadership as decided by our party's central leadership. As a party worker, I abide by its advice. We are friends and not adversaries like India and Pakistan," reiterated Eshwarappa.

Refuting media reports that he was ignored by Yeddyurappa at the party's state unit's two-day executive meeting at Mysuru on 6-7 May, the former BJP Deputy Chief Minister said they both had discussed how to strengthen the organisation and tour every assembly constituency.

Yeddyurappa, who is the party's lawmaker in the Lok Sabha from Shivamogga in the state's central region was the BJP's first Chief Minister in the state.

Eshwarappa also hails from Shivamogga.

Clarifying that his Sangoli Rayanna Brigade was apolitical organisation and not a parallel outfit, Eshwarappa said its members were working for the betterment of Dalits and Backward Classes people across the state.

"I have explained its role to the party leadership, which has not objected to me associating with it," he added.
The recent political storm that is rocking Kerala, Munnar has put the ruling CPM in the dock with the latest list of encroachers released by the District Collector featuring some of the ruling partys prominent leaders.

From minister MM Manis nephew Lijesh Lamboodaran, to two district committee members of the party, their families and a host of other local leaders and party cadre are now the faces taking down one of Keralas most prestigious tourist spots.

With the revenue minister, while answering a query raised in the state Assembly last week, clarifying that the land patta held by CPMs Devikulam MLA S Rajendran had been bogus, the cat has certainly been set amidst the pigeons. The CPM is also getting a very unlikely partner in this crime.

A section of The Church in Gods Own Country has also been an active partner in the encroachments as per the list submitted. Even vicars and fathers have been directly implicated for illegal occupation of government land.

A day after the list was out, the chief minister called an all party meeting at the government guest house in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss the issue. Here, separate meetings were conducted with environmentalists, media persons and members representing various religious communities.

But prominent environmentalists and activists say that the government had come unprepared, failing to show any road map on how to tackle the issue other than the usual tall talk.

Harish Vasuden, one of the most respected faces among the environment activists in the state, said the meeting was a one-sided affair. The meeting was a complete eye wash. It was done just to send out a message that the government is trying to do something. On the ground, the state seems to have no idea how to deal with this problem. The government had literally nothing to tell us and no discussion took place on the list of evictors prepared, Vasudevan told Firstpost.

The government on Sunday also reiterated that the focus will be to evict the big fish. Those holding 10 cents of land and below for residential purposes will not be affected at the moment, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told mediapersons.

It is here that the activists point out that there is a lack of clarification. The list prepared by the revenue department has a number of persons who hold land below 10 cents, a lot of whom are members of the CPM. If all those small tracts of land are added up it would run into acres.

There is a list of 157 persons prepared by the revenue department which the CM had in his hand when he met us yesterday. Why did he not say anything about evicting them? It is here that we need to suspect that the government is taking us for a ride and nothing is going to change, CR Neelakandan, another civil rights activist who was present at the meeting and who had been protesting in Munnar against encroachments for quite some time, told Firstpost.

Politicians, priests and businessmen find common ground

It was the timely intervention of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that got the district and revenue officials working overtime to prepare a list of offenders that now makes an engaging read.

Firstly, it should be said without doubt that the encroachment in Munnar is not restricted to any one area but is widespread. The beautiful Kannan Devan Hills (KDH), Chinnakanal, Pallivasal, Anaviratty, Kunchithanny, Byson Village, Santhanpara and Mannamkandam have all had their lands usurped in the name of business, religion and livelihood.

Firstpost analysed a few prominent names on the list, although it could not verify the antecedents of all the encroachers, which means what we might be seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.

The classic case is the Kannan Devan Hills, where there are a number of violators from the CPM. MV Sasikumar is a member of the CPMs Idukki district committee and a prominent leader of its trade union the CITU. He has illegally constructed a building for commercial purpose over 10 cents of land.

Not far away is Chacko again in same village and survey number KDH 20/1. Here too, the construction is over 10 cents by a man who was a former secretary of the NGO Union, the CPMs trade union body of the state government staff.

Shereena, a former CPM woman ward member, has 10 cents of land. Many more feature at the KDH who owe their allegiance to the party.

Manjo Nair, a local activist, says that KDH had been a CPM stronghold and it is only natural for the partys best to have illegal occupation there. There is no one to question the CPM. They will just usurp land as per their wishes and build homes, start construction and do whatever they want. Such families have the blessings of the people in power for sure. So who is going to evict them? asks Nair.

Move to Chinnakanal and its a different story altogether. Here acres of both the revenue land as well as the Shola forest have been encroached. It is here the dubious sect Spirit in Jesus and the notorious Scaria family come into the picture.

The father, sons and almost everyone in the family has a piece of illegal land here. Most have criminal cases pending against them. Shunned by the mainstream church in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan baffled one and all when he spoke against removing the sects infamous cross last month.

The government perhaps forgot that the cross in Munnnar had been a tool to grab land in the name of religion for years. Hundreds of acres have been grabbed in such a manner. But the mainstream church too has much to answer for. Two vicars and two priests find their names on the list. From the Jacobite Suriyani Church to the Catholic denominations, everyone at Munnar seems to have sinned.

The Jacobite Suriyani Church and St Sebastien Church at Thokkupara, the St George Catholic Church at Kunchinthanny and the St Josephs Church at Suryanelli are under a cloud. Perhaps their presence also forced the chief minister to convene a separate meeting with the religious heads to discuss the issue on Sunday.

An elected government meeting religious heads before kicking off an eviction drive is not the best option. If you are serious about eviction, you should act rather than such mollification attempts, added Neelakandan.

Even at Chinnakannal, the CPMs presence is evident. VS Albin is Shanthapara area committee secretary of the party. He too has 10 cents of land.

But the icing on the cake for the party is Lijesh Lambodaran, son of controversial minister MM Manis brother MM Lambodaran, who holds a sizeable 7.1 acres of land at Chinnakannal. Both CPM offices in Munnar town are also on the eviction list.

Will the government act?

While the list is ready and the government says it will act, others with bitter experiences feel otherwise. Suresh Kumar, a former civil servant who led the Munnar Mission 1 in 2007, says the idea of a list of encroachers in itself is self-defeating.

Why do you need to make a list when each Tehsildar has the papers with him? Its up to him to decide if an encroachment in his jurisdiction is illegal or not. Making a list is a way of adding some names and omitting those you want to save. It's just a farce, Kumar told Firstpost.

Kumar, questioning the governments political will to act in Munnar in the absence of a Cabinet consensus unlike in 2007, says that there is a fundamental mistake with which the government is approaching the issue. Firstly, two separate lists of big time and small-time encroachers is not the way to go about it. Second, you commit that small-time encroachers wont be evicted, at least initially.

In Munnar alone you have more than 500 illegal buildings which are less than 10 cents, including the CPM office, whose patta is the name of MM Mani. Will all these continue because they are small-time encroachers and because they are inside the town? Why do you have to take such a self-defeating stand which brings such confusion and spoil the drive? asks Kumar.

The BJP is also echoing the same sentiment and is labeling the CPM's tactics as trying to save those in the party who are encroachers. What sort of logic differentiates between big and small-time encroachers? Encroachment is an illegal act, be it an inch or an acre. All this drama about going after big encroachers is the governments way of saving their own people. We doubt if this list work, BJP state spokesperson MS Kumar told Firstpost.

Meanwhile, the activists who attended the meeting on Sunday have asked the government to hand over all ecologically fragile zones in Munnar and the Idukki district to the forest department.

Currently, the revenue department handles the majority of the land at Munnar, which activists say over the years helped corrupt officials who are hand-in-glove with politicians and resort mafia to make bogus land deeds and help encroachers.

If in the long run, the government listens to these activists, perhaps Munnar will slowly get back to its past glory.
It has been three years. Three years since Narendra Modi ushered in the age of BJP. Three years since 26 May is celebrated as enthusiastically by the BJP cadres as the country celebrates any other festival for that matter.

This year won't be an exception.

On 26 May, 2017 when the prime minister completes three years in office, BJP cadres, including, chief ministers, Union ministers, MPs and MLAs are going to reach out to the aam aadmi and tell them how the BJP government has "helped" them in the past three years.

According to a report in Economic Times, BJP office-bearers and partys senior-most leaders met on Saturday to discuss details of the programmes. According to the report, programmes will be held in the national capital and across various state capitals and districts.

"Each BJP chief minister is likely to address four programmes, of which some will be held in a different state. Each Union minister is likely to participate in one programme in his or her constituency and another in some other district. The focus of celebrations will be on how the government schemes have benefited the people," a senior BJP leader told Economic Times.

Just like the first year and the second year, the third year is expected to be no less glamorous than its predecessors. Planned for over a fortnight, the celebrations planned by BJP leaders might also have a slogan.

After completion of two years in office, BJP had called the celebrations as 'Vikas Parv' or development festival.

In May 2016, the party had planned celebrations and the main aim last year too was "to inform people about the various pro-people work done by Modi". Last year too, the celebration went on for 14 days.

Last year, actor Amitabh Bachchan had hosted a part of the mega show, which was held at New Delhi's India Gate. Apart from Bachchan, actors Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Anupam Kher, Anil Kapur and Prasun Joshi attended the event.

Information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu is handling the government programme preparations, while Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will be spearheading the party programmes. The event will get a final shape by 12 May, reports said.

For the BJP, it has been a good year with the party's massive victory in Uttar Pradesh.

After the March verdict, BJP is in power in 13 states and these state units will participate in the programmes. While last year's celebrations focused on the then forthcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, this year the prime minister is expected to sound the bugle for next year's crucial Karnataka Assembly election.

After a good run in the last two Assembly bypolls, the BJP will now try and wrest control of southern India, a region where the party has been traditionally weak.

The NDA governments third anniversary celebrations will also be held in constituencies where BJP has not fared well in elections. The aim is to make this years celebrations unique and different from last two years," reports quoted a senior BJP leader as saying.
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on Monday attacked AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying that those who hurled "false accusations" at him were facing a "similar plight".

In a Facebook post, Vadra also hoped Kejriwal would come clean on bribery allegations for the sake of his family.

"What goes around comes around!! From inception in 2010, the people who threw baseless, false accusations at me are now having to face a similar plight," Vadra wrote on Facebook targeting Kejriwal, who had made serious allegations against him for dubious land deals.

"That too from an insider who claims to have substantial proof," he said, reacting to allegations of bribery on Kejriwal by sacked Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra.

Vadra said his name was used by many politicians to gain publicity.

"Well, I've borne so many false accusations from various politicians, mostly to gain publicity for themselves or divert the public mind from important national issues that I'd like to see how this one plays out."

"Had been on the receiving end, of a political and media campaign to malign me," Vadra said.

He also wished luck to Kejriwal to come clean on the allegation of Rs 2 crore bribery.

"I sincerely wish Kejriwal all the best. I hope he comes out clean for the sake of the people who believed in him." he said.

"Also for the respect of his immediately family, especially the children, for whom such trials by media, of those they love and look up to are painful and sad," Vadra added.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday termed reports appearing in a television channel in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar as "misrepresentations and outright lies".

"Exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations and outright lies being broadcast by an unprincipled showman masquerading as a journalist," Tharoor said in a Facebook post.

"I am angered that someone would exploit a human tragedy for personal gain and TRPs. I challenge him to prove his false claims in a court of law," the former UN diplomat said.

The Arnab Goswami-led Republic TV had on Monday released a series of 11 audio tapes alleging that Tharoor and his assistant Narayan were deliberately stopping Sunanda from talking to the media. Sunanda was known to have wanting to reveal details of some major wrongdoing before she died under mysterious circumstances.

Here are some of the revelations by the newly-launched TV channel.

The first of the #SunandaMurderTapes: Tharoor, can you deny this? pic.twitter.com/nICYWCniUI  Republic (@republic) May 8, 2017

The second of the #SunandaMurderTapes reveal that Sunanda was desperate to speak out pic.twitter.com/7Ao1bUZwx3  Republic (@republic) May 8, 2017

Sunanda Pushkar was found dead at a suite in a five star hotel in South Delhi on the night of 17 January 2014. The death had come in the backdrop of a Twitter controversy that broke out on a few days back where she had blamed a Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar of stalking her husband.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday sought the Lt Governor's sanction for initiating prosecution against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly favouring a private company during his short-lived government in 2014.

Rajya Sabha member Swamy, in a letter to Lt Governor Anil Baijal, said he had also sought the sanction to prosecute Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act, from the previous L-G.

"However, despite several oral reminders, the sanction was neither given nor denied," the letter says.

"Hence I write this letter to urge you to consider the application and grant me a sanction to prosecute Kejriwal and Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act," Swamy said in the letter.
Abdul Hasib, the head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, was killed in an operation on 27 April conducted jointly by Afghan and US Special Forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, US and Afghan officials have said.

Hasib, appointed last year after his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan died in a US drone strike, is believed to have ordered a series of high profile attacks including one in on the main military hospital in Kabul in March.

Last month, a Pentagon spokesman had said that Hasib was "probably" killed in a raid by US and Afghan special forces in Nangarhar, in which two US Army Rangers were killed, but prior to Sunday's announcement, there had been no confirmation.

Analysts described him as "obscure", but authorities ascribed responsibility to him for assaults in Kabul, including the savage attack on a military hospital, when assailants stabbed bedridden patients and threw grenades into crowded wards.

"He had ordered the attack on the hospital," a presidential statement said, adding that Kabul will fight IS and other extremist groups "until they are annihilated".

"This successful joint operation is another important step in our relentless campaign to defeat IS in 2017," the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson said in a statement from US military headquarters in Kabul.

"I applaud the tremendous skill and courage shown by our Afghan partners. This fight strengthens our resolve to rid Afghanistan of these terrorists and bring peace and stability to this great country. Any Islamic State member that comes to Afghanistan will meet the same fate," he further added.

Elaborating on the operation, Nato spokesman Captain Bill Salvin was quoted as saying, "There were women and children in the compound" where Hasib was killed. "The assault force was able to safely separate the women and children from the combatants and there were no civilian casualties.

The statement, following an earlier announcement by Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, said Hasib directed the 8 March attack on the main Kabul military hospital.

As this report in BBC mentioned, the hospital attack marked a change in approach by the IS in Afghanistan  it's the first time they have engaged directly with security forces in the capital. Previously, they used to target civilian gatherings, mainly of Shia Muslims, as well as causing carnage at the Supreme Court last month.

But at the hospital, they used an approach more commonly associated with the Taliban  blowing the gates open to allow gunmen to enter. This suggests they now have the resources and the military training to expand their attacks.

It said he also ordered fighters to behead local elders in front of their families and kidnap women and girls to force them to marry IS fighters.

The 'Mother Of All Bombs', that the US dropped on Afghanistan in April, hit very close to the hideout location Hasib was at. The bomb, which was the biggest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal, had targeted the IS' top leadership. It killed 94 IS officials, destroyed three underground tunnels used by the terror group, and also weapons and ammunition in control of the terror group. Nangahar province spokesman Attaullah Khogiani said four commanders of IS were part of the death toll.

With inputs from agencies
While India's perennial complaints about cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan are known to the world community, similar complaints from Islamabad's western neighbours  Afghanistan and Iran in the recent past may add more credibility to India's longstanding stance of Pakistan being a major sponsor of terrorism.

Iran

Iran, which shares a 909-kilometre-long border with Pakistan, has been vocal about the cross-border terrorism from the Balochistan province. It is to be noted that the Iran's security issue with Pakistan is closely linked to the Balochistan separatist movement, which is active in both countries.

Another aspect which complicates the problem is the general belief in Pakistan-based Sunni groups that the Shiite Iran does not conform to the tenets of Islam, noted The Economic Times.

It is in this context that Tehran on Monday warned Pakistan that it would hit terrorist safe havens inside that country if the government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants last month. Iran said Jaish ul-Adl, a Sunni militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Major-General Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of Iranian Armed Forces, said the enemies were trying to make up for their failures through hiring terrorists to target Iran's borders or interests. He said the method was that of "cowardly thieves and bandits" and would only bring the enemies "humiliation and ignominy," Press TV reported.

The Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The assailants escaped into Pakistani territory immediately after the attack.

The group had also claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight border guards in April 2015 and 14 border guards in October 2013.

Jaish ul-Adl is is a militant group that has carried out several attacks against Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they say is discrimination against minority groups in Iran.

Afghanistan

According to The Economic Times, successive Afghan regimes since the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan have also raised the issue of Pakistan supporting Taliban.

It is known fact that it was the Pakistani military establishment, under the leadership of former ISI chief Hamid Gul, who nurtured the Taliban. In fact, Pakistan was one of the three countries which maintained full diplomatic relations with Taliban-ruled Kabul. The other two countries were Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

The report also noted that Pakistan's sponsorship of Taliban was part of its "strategic depth" doctrine of keeping a hold over the country which is considered a gateway to Central Asia.

India

India's position on Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism is the most well-known of all.

New Delhi has been pointing out Pakistan-based terror group's hand in several terror strikes across the country, including the 26/11 attacks.

India's bone of contention with Pakistan has been the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir, where border infiltration by Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK)-based groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad has wrecked the security situation in the Valley.

With inputs from agencies
By David Ljunggren

| OTTAWA

OTTAWA Canada, fearful of possible casualties, is taking months longer than expected to decide whether to send troops to a United Nations mission in Mali, worrying allies and potentially undermining Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's commitment to peacekeeping.Trudeau replaced a Conservative government in November 2015 that had little time for the United Nations. Trudeau's Liberals declared "Canada is back" in August 2016 and said they would commit up to 600 soldiers for possible U.N. deployment.Officials said one option was Mali, where the United Nations has a 10,000-strong force to help deal with Islamist militants."This would be a combat mission. Casualties are inevitable," said one person familiar with the matter.Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan visited the African nation last November and diplomats said they expected a decision by the end of 2016.

"The United Nations needs a response, even if it's a No, because that has an impact on the ground," said a diplomatic source.Sajjan said in a phone interview that a decision would not be coming soon, citing the need for proper risk assessments."It does factor a role in terms of the risk, how do we mitigate (it) ... but more importantly, are we going to be able to have the impact on the ground as well?" he asked.

Canadian troops would be a good fit in Mali for two reasons: the army gained plentiful counter-insurgency experience during a 10-year mission to Afghanistan and many soldiers speak French, the official language in Mali."Yes, there is a risk. But if you are serious about playing a major role in peacekeeping, then you have to take it," said another diplomatic source.Afghanistan proved painful for Canada, which lost 158 troops in the fight against the Taliban, more per capita than any other nation.

"Are Canadians really ready to see coffins coming back once again?" said a second person with knowledge of the situation.Canadian officials had initially said they were also waiting for possible requests from the United States. But a person familiar with the matter indicated no such request would be made, saying Washington had told Ottawa the decision on where to send troops was up to them.Sajjan is hosting a conference on peacekeeping towards the end of the year."It's going to be pretty awkward if they haven't made an announcement by then," a third diplomatic source said. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Grant McCool)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Brad Haynes

| SAO PAULO

SAO PAULO When Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Judge Sergio Moro meet for the first time in a courtroom on Wednesday, the contrasts - and the stakes - could hardly be greater.One is the country's most popular president ever and the front-runner in next year's election - a former union leader who still whips up crowds with his fiery and folksy oratory. The other, a soft-spoken law professor who represents Lula's main obstacle to power.The legacy and political future of Brazil's first working-class president are on the line as Lula faces one of the five criminal cases against him, part of the biggest corruption probe in the country's history.While denying any wrongdoing, Lula and his lawyers have turned his defence into an attack on Moro himself, arguing the judge's track record in overseeing the graft probe has undermined his impartiality. Lula's supporters are travelling from across Brazil to the southern city of Curitiba to protest outside the court.Local media has fed expectations of a confrontation with a breathless buildup to Wednesday's hearing. One news magazine's cover painted the two as masked wrestlers going head to head. On another, they are boxers "Settling Scores." Pollster Datafolha found Moro was one of the few public figures who could beat Lula in the 2018 presidential race - though Moro denies he will enter politics.The 44-year-old judge has avoided addressing the electoral impact of his decisions and discouraged portrayals of him as David to Lula's political Goliath. Lula's testimony is just one more step in a three-year-old operation, insists Moro, who has kept lecturing public university students on criminal law as he runs the probe. "I'm a little concerned by this climate of confrontation, these heightened expectations about something that may be totally banal," the judge said at a public event on Monday, regarding this week's hearing.

Moro has already sentenced dozens of businessmen and money launderers for a bribery scheme paying billions of dollars to politicians in return for public contracts, political favours and deals with state firms such as oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA).Office holders in Brasilia must be tried by the Supreme Court, so prosecution has moved more slowly against alleged beneficiaries in the ruling Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and the Workers Party, which ran the country under Lula and his successor Dilma Rousseff from 2003 to 2016."CLIMATE OF CONFRONTATION"

Prosecutors say Lula masterminded the scheme during his eight years in office, but Wednesday's hearing focuses on whether he traded influence for the refurbishing of a beach condo.

On Monday, Moro began hearing testimony in a second trial against Lula, regarding 12 million reais ($4 million) of land bought by a construction firm to be used for his institute.A conviction in either case, if upheld in an appeals court before elections in October next year, would bar him from seeking office.While Lula's allies are calling for tens of thousands of partisans to convene in Curitiba, Moro posted a Facebook video discouraging a rival march by supporters of the investigation.Yet even that call for restraint stirred controversy."Judge Moro, who ought to be impartial, is speaking directly to his supporters. That is not normal in a democratic system. In a democracy, politicians have supporters and adversaries - not judges," said Lula attorney Cristiano Zanin in a video response.

The exchange underscored that while both Lula and Moro face public scrutiny, the judge may have more to lose if the interrogation devolves into a contentious exchange.A courtroom spat would stoke complaints from Lula supporters who call the investigation a political witch hunt and bolster his lawyers' demands that another judge try the case.Attempts at such a legal manoeuvre are not uncommon, said Oscar Vilhena Vieira, dean of the law school at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. In Brazil, the same judge is usually responsible for overseeing an investigation and then ruling on a case.Yet relations between Moro and Lula's team are especially tense amid their campaign to discredit him, which included the lawyers' complaint to the United Nations that the judge violated Lula's human rights during the corruption investigation.Moro often cites the value of public support for the task force he oversees, pointing to the lessons of Italy's "Mani Pulite" graft probe in the 1990s to show the importance of popular opinion to sustain a major corruption investigation."From a political perspective, there is a greater risk for Judge Moro," said Vieira. "His rhetorical options are far more limited. He has to take great care not to fall into the traps set by Lula's lawyers." ($1 = 3.2 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Brad Brooks, Daniel Flynn and Andrew Hay)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Chinas Belt and Road Forum, the meeting to flag off its 'One Belt, One Road' proposal, titled 'Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation' on 14 May in Beijing is billed as the biggest diplomatic event of the year. Enormous efforts have gone into making the two-day event a grand success.

The ambitious initiative to connect China through transport corridors to Asia, Central Asia, Europe and maritime routes to Africa and the Pacific has some economic objectives, but to many it signals a massive expansion of Chinas political, economic and strategic influence. The Belt-Road Initiative has become the centerpiece of Chinas foreign engagements. China has been keen to include India in its Belt-Road Initiative.

But Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley expressed Indian reservations at the proposals in the first official Indian comment on Chinas ambitious infrastructure initiative. Speaking at an Asian Development Bank organised round-table discussion in Yokohama, Japan, Jaitley said that although India supported the concept of regional connectivity, it has "serious reservations" about the Chinese OBOR project because of sovereignty issues.

India has opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), one of the projects of the Belt-Road Initiative as it passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The CPEC is one of the important components of the OBOR, linking Chinas Xinjiang province to the Chinese-built Gwadar port on Pakistans Arabian Sea coast.

China is making efforts to ensure a high attendance of world leaders that would be a grand endorsement of Chinese president Xi Jinpings economic vision. A senior Chinese official has warned that India risks being isolated if it decides not to attend the Belt-Road Forum. India has not responded to the Chinese invitation as yet and staying away from the event would reinforce Indias objections to the Chinese corridor through disputed territory. China has not held any serious discussion with India on the issue. Unless Beijing makes an overture to New Delhi before the meeting, India has no reason to send a minister to attend the event.

Beijings plans will have implications for New Delhi as they would bring large infrastructural change in South Asia, even as China deepens its economic ties with Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and especially Pakistan. All of Indias neighbours with the exception of Bhutan, have shown interest or signed up on infrastructure projects with Chinese companies.

In South Asia, China has offered to build ports, airports and special economic zones in Sri Lanka, the Airport Link Bridge, road links in the atolls and upgradation of the international airport in the Maldives. Bangladesh signed agreements with China for 25 projects worth more than $20 billion during Xis visit to Dhaka in October 2016. China is funding infrastructure and energy projects in Nepal; these include the airport at Pokhara, a hydropower project, and a proposal to build a rail link from the border to Pokhara through Kathmandu.

China is heavily engaged in Southeast Asia in the construction of ports and pipeline projects in Myanmar, a high-speed rail project in Thailand, Malaysias East Coast Rail link, and a high-speed rail from Jakarta to Bandung in Indonesia.

When the ambitious Belt and Road initiative was first announced by Xi in late 2013, there was some scepticism about the Chinese proposal. The proposal has been added to and tweaked, and four years later, the 'Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation' is taking shape with leaders from across regions attending the meeting. Around 110 countries are to be represented at the two-day event, with 28 of them to have top-level representation.

The leaders will include Russian president Vladimir Putin, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Indonesian president Joko Widodo, Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as national leaders from Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and the Philippines along with others from Africa and Europe. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde and about 100 ministerial level delegates will be in attendance.

According to Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China expects to sign agreements with around 20 countries and 20 organisations at the meeting and give an added thrust to projects for which MoUs have already be signed. In the past two years, Chinese construction companies have signed agreements for large-scale infrastructure projects in several countries. Countries as far away as New Zealand have signed up for cooperation on OBOR projects.

Chinas Belt-Road projects are expected to utilise its overcapacity in construction and manufacturing sectors, provide the means to give Chinese enterprises a global footprint and increase development activity in its own relatively backward border provinces. It also positions China in a central role in creating a transnational network connecting and integrating the economies of Asia, Europe and Africa. In contrast, the US, especially under President Donald Trump, does not have a global economic vision that can match Chinas Belt-Road Initiative vision and offer any substantial benefits to developing countries.
BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping told French President-elect Emmanuel Macron in a phone call on Tuesday that he would uphold the Paris Agreement on curbing climate change.China, the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, and France should "protect the global governance achievements contained within the Paris Agreement on climate change", Xi told Macron, the Chinese foreign ministry said. U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed scepticism about the deal and threatened to pull out. A meeting of his advisers that had been scheduled for Tuesday was postponed due to scheduling conflicts, a White House Official said.

Many nations want Trump to remain in the agreement, meant to rein in rising world temperatures by shifting toward cleaner energies such as wind and solar power, even though he plans to bolster the U.S. coal industry.Macron told Trump in a phone call on Monday that he would also seek to defend the climate change deal agreed in Paris in 2015.

China has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris agreement. Climate change was widely seen as one of the few bright spots of cooperation between Beijing and the previous Obama administration in Washington.

Representatives of nearly 200 countries that are party to the agreement are meeting in Bonn from May 8-18 to discuss technical aspects of implementing the accord. In their phone call on Tuesday, Xi congratulated Macron on his election win and emphasized China's continued support for an integrated Europe and hopes that relations with France would "stride onto a new platform". The two leaders agreed to meet as soon as possible, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. (Reporting and writing by Philip Wen; Editing by Alister Doyle and Janet Lawrence)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Washington: The White House has postponed a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, meant to discuss whether the United States should withdraw from the landmark international climate deal struck in Paris under the Obama administration.

The White House said late Monday that the meeting would be rescheduled. This is the second time a meeting of top aides on the issue has been delayed.

Trump had pledged during the presidential campaign to renegotiate the accord, but he has wavered on the issue since winning the presidency. His top officials have appeared divided about what to do about the deal, under which the United States pledged to significantly reduce planet-warming carbon emissions in the coming decade.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of the oil company Exxon, said at his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he supports staying in the deal. But Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has said the Paris pact "is a bad deal for America" that will cost jobs.

Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to her father, was supposed to meet separately with Pruitt and Sen on Tueday. The White House did not immediately respond to questions late Monday on whether that meeting would continue.

The Paris accord, signed by nearly 200 nations in 2015, was never ratified by the Senate due to the staunch oppositions of Republicans. It therefore does not have the force of a binding treaty, and the United States could potentially withdraw from the deal without legal penalty.

A senior administration official said the president's inclination has been to leave the pact, but Ivanka Trump set up a review process to make sure he received information from experts in the public and private sector before a making a decision. The official requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

As speculation continues about how Trump will handle the agreement, Tillerson is set to travel to Alaska for an Arctic Summit council this week amid concerns from other nations that the Trump administration will undermine global efforts to address climate change in the Arctic, where rising temperatures are having a disproportionate effect.

David Balton, a top US diplomat who works on environmental issues, said there would be "no change" in US participation even if Trump ultimately decides to pull out of the Paris pact.

"The US will remain engaged in the work that the Arctic Council does on climate change throughout," Balton said on Tuesday. In his prior post as the elected attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt closely aligned himself with the needs of the state's oil and gas industry. He repeatedly sued the EPA over restrictions on extracting and burning fossil fuels.

Among the regulations he opposed in court was the EPA's Clean Power Plan, which sought to place new restrictions on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants with the goal of helping the United States meet its commitments under the Paris accord.
By Aaron Ross

| KINSHASA

KINSHASA Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on Tuesday named a new transitional government, state television said, defying opponents who rejected the cabinet, saying it violated a previous agreement.Kabila, in power since 2001, struck a deal in December with Congo's main opposition bloc to stay on after his mandate expired provided he held elections by the end of 2017. But talks to implement the deal broke down in March when Kabila refused to commit to the bloc's choice of prime minister.Despite resistance to Kabila's remaining in power, he has successfully co-opted large portions of the opposition.The new prime minister Bruno Tshibala, whom he named last month, is a former member of the country's largest opposition party and other opposition leaders received ministerial posts too.The main opposition bloc, however, immediately criticised Tuesday's announcement and called on Kabila to name a government that respects the December agreement.

"This government is illegitimate and we don't recognise it," Martin Fayulu, president of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development(ECIDE) party, told Reuters. "There is no other roadmap besides the accord," he said. "If the accord is dead, Kabila has to leave."The roughly 60 ministers and vice-ministers read out on state TV are mainly holdovers from the previous government and key ministries - including foreign affairs, interior, justice and mines - remain in the hands of Kabila loyalists.

Political tensions are high after security forces killed dozens during protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has also raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.Kabila's opponents suspect he intends to repeatedly delay elections until he can organise a referendum to let himself stand for a third term, as his counterparts in neighbouring Congo Republic and Rwanda have done.

Kabila denies those accusations, saying the election delays are due to challenges registering millions of voters and budgetary constraints.The new government faces a number of stern tests. Congo's franc currency has lost half its value since last year and authorities are struggling to mobilise the resources needed to hold the election by the end of the year.It will also enter office amid controversy over the burial of longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in Belgium in February.His political party, the UDPS, planned to bury him on Friday at its headquarters in the capital Kinshasa. But the provincial government has rejected the planned site and the president of the UDPS's Brussels wing, Katumba Tchiowa Ngoy, told Reuters the party would delay repatriating the body in "12 to 15 days". (Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol in Brussels; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
PRAGUE Czech President Milos Zeman on Monday demanded his prime minister terminate the agreement that formed the coalition government if he is to agree to firing the finance minister, deepening a rift between the country's two leaders.The European Union member is in political crisis over the future of Finance Minister Andrej Babis, a billionaire businessman who faces questions over past business practices and is the main political rival of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.With an election due in October, Sobotka is demanding the president dismiss Babis, but the finance minister, who heads the anti-establishment ANO party, has found an ally in Zeman who has long had poor relations with the prime minister.Sobotka, who heads the centre-left Social Democrats, asked Zeman on Friday to dismiss Babis by May 9, but the president has refused to do so. "The president stated that the prime minister cannot task the president with setting a date for dismissal," the presidency said in a statement issued after Zeman met Babis on Monday.

Under the constitution, the president dismisses a minister if requested by the prime minister. Lawyers say the head of state should act promptly and has little wiggle room.However, on Monday Zeman said Sobotka's and Babis's parties were bound by coalition agreement -- reached in 2014 to form the cabinet -- and that the prime minister must pull out of the deal before requesting Babis' dismissal against the minister's will."A termination of the coalition agreement would be needed for a valid dismissal," the statement said.

Such a move could trigger the coalition government's collapse. Last Friday the prime minister took back a pledge to resign along with his whole government in order to dislodge Babis.Zeman also wanted to see a nomination for a replacement, the statement added.

Sobotka later urged the Zeman to respect the constitution."I would like to call on Mr President to respect the fundamental law of our country. The coalition agreement has nothing to do with that," the prime minister said in a statement.Sobotka has said Babis failed to clear suspicions he dodged taxes by buying tax-free bonds from his conglomerate Agrofert. Babis says he has not violated any laws.The EU's fraud office and Czech police have also been investigating whether Babis manipulated ownership of a conference centre to unfairly qualify for EU subsidies meant for small businesses. Babis has said the prime minister's actions are politically motivated ahead of parliamentary elections in October. Babis' ANO party enjoys a more-than 10 point lead over the Social Democrats, according to opinion polls. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; editing by Richard Lough)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Richmond (Virginia): A challenge to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that the Republican's past anti-Muslim statements can be used against him.

The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled Monday with whether the court should look beyond the text of the executive order to comments made by Trump and his aides on the campaign trail and after his election in order to determine whether the policy illegally targets Muslims.

"That's the most important issue in the whole case," said Judge Robert King, who was appointed to the court by former president Bill Clinton. The panel of 13 judges peppered both sides with tough questions but gave few clues as to how they might rule. The judges did not immediately issue a decision on Monday.

A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the travel ban in March cited Trump's comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of his repeated promise to bar Muslims from entering the country.

The administration argues that the court shouldn't question the president's national security decisions based on campaign promises.

"This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion," Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told the appeals court.

The countries were chosen because they present terrorism risks and the ban applies to everyone in those countries regardless of religion, Wall said. Further, the banned countries represent a small fraction of the world's Muslim-majority nations, lawyers for the administration say.

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that Trump's call for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S. remained on his campaign website even after he took office. That call, which was still online earlier Monday, appeared to have been taken down by the afternoon hearing.

Jadwat claims the administration has failed to provide a legitimate national security reason for the policy.

"The order is completely unprecedented in our nation's history," Jadwat said. Several judges expressed skepticism about the idea that the court would blind itself to Trump's comments about Muslims.

"Don't we get to consider what was actually said here and said very explicitly?" asked Judge James Wynn Jr., who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Another judge said he was worried about the idea of a court opening the door to using a president's past to evaluate the constitutionality of a policy. "Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to businessmen 20 years ago?" asked Judge Paul Niemeyer, who was tapped by President George HW Bush.

The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours.

After a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals refused in February to let the travel ban take effect, the administration tweaked the order and issued a new one.

The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas. It removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries.

But critics said while the new executive order impacts fewer people, it remains a realization of Trump's promised Muslim ban and cannot stand.

The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center brought the case on behalf of several organizations, as well as people who live in the U.S. and fear the executive order will prevent them from being reunited with family members from the banned countries.

Elite universities, democratic attorneys general and former foreign policy and national security officials like ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called on the court to block the travel ban.

Meanwhile, a group of 12 state attorneys general and the governor of Mississippi argued that the action is not a "pretext for religious discrimination" and should be allowed to take effect.

Attorneys for the president likely see the moderate 4th Circuit as friendlier territory than the 9th Circuit, which conservatives have long accused of being too liberal. Three 9th Circuit judges appointed by Clinton are scheduled to hear a more-sweeping challenge to Trump's revised travel ban next week.

While the 4th Circuit was long considered one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country, it moved to the center under Obama, who appointed six of the 15 active judges.

Two Republican-appointed judges  Judge Allyson Duncan and Judge J Harvie Wilkinson III  didn't hear the travel ban case. Wilkinson's daughter is married to the acting solicitor general. It was not immediately clear why Duncan was recused.
Liberals worldwide are raising a toast for Emmanuel Macron, president-elect of France. The Eurozone is heaving a sigh of relief. It is being said that xenophobic forces have been stopped at the gates before they could take down Europe's liberal edifice. The release of tension is palpable. It's as though gun-toting Marine Le Pen, who took entire Europe hostage, has been subdued. The bullet has been dodged. Let's celebrate.

Yet in Macron's victory, the Eurocrats may have done little more than delay the inevitable. Paradoxical as it may sound, the pro-Euro candidate's win in Europe's nerve centre may end up hastening the European Union's death. That is because in his upbringing, politics and policies, Macron, a bona fide member of the Euro elite, represents the same set of reasons that has triggered the rise of the anti-globalisation wave sweeping across Europe and has proto-fascist parties raising their heads.

It's not just an idiosyncratic aversion towards the European 'big state' controlled by technocrats in Brussels and politicians in Germany, but a deep animosity towards a force that has diluted national boundaries and upended dreams of ordinary Europeans who want a decent life for themselves and a promising future for their kids. In this, there is no difference between residents of the French towns of Tarbes, Agen, Albi, Beziers  globalisation's forgotten zones  and the rust belt states in America.

Unless the markers are horribly wrong and champions of globalisation reverse their policies and take their heads out of the sands of delusion, Macron's ascension to France presidency may give a fillip to the process that saw Brexit, Donald Trump's election, and a stunning rise in Le Pen's vote share.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage is already predicting Le Pen Presidency in 2022.

Marine Le Pen will be French president by 2022. pic.twitter.com/Q1OgTIm34t  Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) May 7, 2017

To the sceptics who're likely to dismiss Farage's statement, consider that the Nationalist Front (FN) leader made it to the second and final round of French presidential polls (while mainstream centre right and leftist parties fell by the wayside) and garnered 11 million votes, translating to a 35 percent voteshare. This is a dramatic rise from the 4.5 million that her father Jean-Marie had collected in 2002 during a presidential run-off against Jacques Chirac.

Le Pen threw her father, a convicted racist, out of the party and sought to soften its hard-edged racist and anti-Semitic past but she has nowhere turned close to moving towards the centre. Her 'France First' campaign was shaped around sharp rhetoric against unemployment, EU, immigration and Islamist terrorism. She promised a referendum on EU if elected and sought to "reclaim" France from immigrants. For such a leader to claim 35 percent votes indicates the extent to which Far Right politics have become normalised in France.

And it doesn't stop here. Early data suggests that Le Pen received overwhelming support from the youth. More than 44 percent of young French voters in the 18-24 age bracket voted for her. In comparison, 80 percent of Macron's 65 percent voteshare came from those aged 65 and over.

She received more votes from women than men and two-thirds (63 percent) of manual workers backed her.

Bear in mind that France is not a broken economy like Greece. It has its own set of problems, but along with Germany, it is the engine that drives EU.

As Paul Krugman writes in The New York Times, "France offers a social safety net beyond the wildest dreams of US progressives: Guaranteed high-quality health care for all, generous paid leave for new parents, universal pre-K, and much more."

What must have taken for a majority of French youth to veer towards protectionist Far Right? Chronically high unemployment is the symptom. The malaise lies deeper. The disgruntlement of French youth is aimed at the Euro project. Their disdain for the elites and technocrats who control EU's destiny has found popular expression in Le Pen's voteshare.

For instance, Macron must create jobs for the youth and launch urgent reforms to pull French economy out of a morass but it is unclear how much of control will he enjoy over a tightly centralised Euro economy. No sooner did Euro leaders gulp down their bubbly that German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed the notion of supporting Macron in his domestic reform agenda. "German support cannot replace French policymaking," Financial Times quoted Merkel as saying. "Emmanuel Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people and also of very many people in Germany and in the whole of Europe (but) I don't see why  as a priority  we should change our policy."

Macron has a five-year term. But in reality his deadline is tighter. He must find a way to shield France from German fiscal austerity, create jobs, alleviate the anxiety disorder around Islamist terrorism, address the disenfranchised in France's forgotten towns, jumpstart the economy, and mend Franco-German relationship. And he must tackle the issue of immigrants.

French thinker Christophe Guilluy, a real estate consultant by profession who has seen the societal upheavals in France from the personalised space of its cities, has published a body of work chronicling the French society from a very personalized quarter. His works have been reviewed by City Journal and the article describes in detail how Guilluy captures through his work.

"France's various social problems  immigration tensions, inequality, deindustrialisation, economic decline, ethnic conflict, and the rise of populist parties. Such an analysis had previously eluded the Parisian caste of philosophers, political scientists, literary journalists, government-funded researchers, and party ideologues," Guilluy noted.

He spoke of how French society is sitting on a powder keg of conflict between ethnicity and multiculturalism and how the French manage on a daily basis the "ethno-cultural questions", while trying to avoid hatred and violence. This France, he notes, is different from the chic lanes and bylanes of Paris or other metropolis. These are on the periphery of French society but that doesn't make their travails any less real.

It is evident that France's youngest president will have a very short honeymoon period. Any misstep, and he will direct the political wind towards Le Pen.

The Far Right leader has huge amount of time, machinations of history and political space to grow and take another, stronger shot at the presidential post in 2022.
Washington: The United States watched Russians hack France's computer networks during the election and tipped off French officials before it became public, a US cyber official told the Senate on Tuesday.

France's election campaign commission said Saturday that "a significant amount of data"  and some fake information  was leaked on social networks following a hacking attack on centrist Emmanuel Macron's successful presidential campaign.

France's government cybersecurity agency is investigating what a government official described as a "very serious" breach.

The leak came 36 hours before the nation voted Sunday in a crucial presidential runoff between Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The election commission said the leaked data apparently came from Macron's "information systems and mail accounts from some of his campaign managers"  an attack that mimicked Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee in last year's US presidential election.

The election commission said the leaked data apparently came from Macron's "information systems and mail accounts from some of his campaign managers"  an attack that mimicked Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee in last year's US presidential election.

"We had become aware of Russian activity. We had talked to our French counterparts and gave them a heads-up  'Look, we're watching the Russians. We're seeing them penetrate some of your infrastructures. Here's what we've seen. What can we do to try to assist?'" Adm. Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He said the US also is working closely with German and British counterparts. Rogers also said the US is still working on a comprehensive cyber policy to counter what he called a "brave new world" in the cyber domain.

He said the United States is improving its ability to defend against cyberattacks, but "I would also tell myself, Rogers you are not moving fast enough."
Berlin: German police Tuesday arrested two suspected Syrian jihadists, one of them an alleged member of the Islamic State group accused of slitting the throat of a regime soldier, prosecutors said.

The alleged former IS member, identified only as 30-year-old Abdulmalk A, was arrested in Berlin, and his 23-year-old compatriot Mousa HA in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Both men allegedly first joined the Islamist rebel group then called Al-Nusra in 2012 to battle the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with Abdulmalk A commanding fighters.

He allegedly captured a Syrian army sniper in early 2013 near the city of Tabqa, forced him to dig his own grave and slit his throat, the prosecutors said in a statement.

Al-Nusra, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, has since renamed itself the Fateh al-Sham Front.

In mid-2013 Abdulmalk A. switched allegiance to the IS, in his eastern home city of Deir ez-Zor, joined its combat operations and then was tasked with administering the IS-captured Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest.

Tabqa sits on the Euphrates River and on a strategic supply route about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa, the Syrian heart of IS's so-called caliphate.

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces hoping to capture Raqa entered Tabqa in April and have since captured most of the city, but the IS is still putting up fierce resistance.

The Syrian war has claimed more than 320,000 lives since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

Germany has taken in more than one million asylum seekers since 2015, many of them Syrian refugees.

German courts are now dealing with dozens of cases of foreign and German nationals who have fought with jihadist groups that Berlin considers foreign terrorist organisations.
Islamabad: Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan's party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan has been demanding resignation from Sharif for alleged corruption. PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", The Express Tribune reported.

The PTI does not possess substantial evidence to fortify its case except for some interviews and excerpts from a book 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, wife of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was brutally murdered in 2010 by Pakistani Taliban.

"Relying on the revelations made in certain interviews and a book, PTI intends to open up a shady chapter in the country's political history from late 1980s in an apparent bid to further malign Sharif," the report said.

The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took money, amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from former Al-Qaeda chief Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, the report said. They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said.

However in 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak  who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)  had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989.

In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said. Chaudhry, meanwhile said, "In the past, Sharif remained an active part of several conspiracies against the elected governments."

Last week, the PTI announced to open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case which determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He said the two cases would be filed this week.
Iran on Monday warned Pakistan that it would hit terrorist safe havens inside that country if the government does not confront militants who carry out cross-border attacks.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants last month. Iran said Jaish ul-Adl, a militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Major General Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of Iranian Armed Forces, said the enemies were trying to make up for their failures through hiring terrorists to target Iran's borders or interests. He said the method was that of "cowardly thieves and bandits" and would only bring the enemies "humiliation and ignominy," Press TV reported.

Baqeri said the border area on the Pakistani side has "unfortunately" turned into a haven and training ground for "Saudi-hired terrorists, who enjoy the US endorsement."

Jaish ul-Adl claims responsibility

The Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The assailants escaped into Pakistani territory immediately after the attack.

Jaish ul-Adl is a militant group that has carried out several attacks against Iranian security forces with the aim of highlighting what they say is discrimination against minority groups in Iran.

The group claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight border guards in April 2015 and 14 border guards in October 2013.

'We will hit with crushing blows'

Baqeri said Iran "cannot accept the continuation of this situation," adding, "We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases."

"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit with crushing blows their safe havens and cells, wherever they are," he said.

The border area has long been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs and separatist militants.

Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Pakistan last week and asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security. Pakistan assured Iran it would deploy additional troops along its border.
By Ahmed Aboulenein

| MOSUL, Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq Fly-blown corpses of Islamic State militants (IS) littered the streets of a district in Mosul on Tuesday as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces chipped away at the last remaining handful of districts under the jihadists' control.Seven months into the campaign to recapture Iraq's second largest city, government forces say it is now in its final phase after opening a new front in the northwest of Mosul last week and gaining ground in several districts there.Trapped in a shrinking area with no way out, the ultra hardline Sunni militants are hitting back with a barrage of suicide car bombs and snipers hidden among hundreds of thousands of civilians they are effectively holding hostage. A Reuters reporter in the Harmat district, which has been partially retaken by the Interior Ministry's elite Emergency Response Division, said there was heavy fighting there on Tuesday.Jets flying overhead conducted air strikes and helicopters strafed IS positions while several car bombs exploded in the distance. Heavy sniper and mortar fire could be heard.A spokesman for the Emergency Response Division said 250 Islamic State members had been killed in Harmat over the past 5 days.Hundreds of families streamed out of Harmat, 17 Tammuz and other front-line districts, joining an exodus of 435,000 people who have been displaced from the western half of Mosul since Iraqi forces began attacking it in February, according to U.N. figures.

Travelling in the back of a van carrying civilians to safety, 44-year-old Abu Ahmed said the militants had forced 48 people into the basement of his home in the Musherfa district before opening fire from it. The aim was to goad Iraqi forces into striking the house and thereby turn civilians against them."They tried to scare us into helping them, they said the army would rape our women. But we didn't believe them."CAMOUFLAGE

With no escape route, a growing number of militants are trying to leave the city by camouflaging themselves among fleeing civilians, Brigadier General Mahdi Abbas Abdallah of the Rapid Response Division said on Tuesday."We are conducting checks on all the fleeing families." Conditions in the handful of districts still under militant control are increasingly desperate as food runs out and civilians are killed under bombardment.A resident of the 17 Tammuz district said at least 10 people including his neighbour's son had died as a result of air strikes and mortar fire since Monday: "The rockets are falling like rain over our heads," he told Reuters by phone.

Militants were burning civilian vehicles to produce a smokescreen against aerial surveillance and had taken up position on the roofs of tall buildings wearing suicide belts, he said. "The fear and confusion is visible on their faces." The elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) retook an industrial area on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, who commands the campaign, said in a statement. A woman in the adjacent Islah al-Ziraai neighborhood, which remains under Islamic State control, said she could now see the Iraqi flag in the distance. "We will die of hunger if they don't reach us within a week," said the woman, who has resorted to eating weeds. "Despite the violent bombardment, we are happy that the Iraqi forces are approaching us."Islamic State seized Mosul in a shock offensive across northern and western Iraq in 2014 but have lost much of their gains to resurgent government forces over the past year. Still, even defeat in Mosul would still leave IS in control of swathes of Syria and Iraqi territory near the Syrian border. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Isabel Coles; editing by Mark Heinrich)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Jerusalem: Israel lashed out at "serial human rights violator" Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the Turkish president on Tuesday accused the Jewish state of apartheid practices in seeking to infringe Muslim practices. "Whoever systematically violates human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region," said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon. "Israel consistently protects total freedom of worship for Jews, Muslims and Christians  and will continue to do so despite the baseless smears launched against it," he said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Erdogan had vowed to prevent a draft bill being advanced in Israel that would prevent the use of speakers mounted on minarets to summon Muslims for prayer overnight.

The bill, which was approved by ministers in February but has yet to be adopted by parliament, would apply to mosques in Israel as well as annexed Arab east Jerusalem, but not to the highly sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site.

"God willing, we will never allow the silencing of azan (call to prayers) in the skies of Jerusalem," Erdogan said at the International Jerusalem Foundations Forum in Istanbul.

Erdogan accused Israel of keeping Jerusalem "without the Muslims".

"What's the difference of Israel's current practices from the racist and discriminatory policies implemented towards the blacks in America in the past, and in South Africa more recently?" he asked.

The Turkish president also spoke out against the possibility of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, warning that even "relocating a stone" in the Holy City could have serious implications.

"The debates over the possibility of US moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem are extremely wrong and should certainly drop from the agenda," he said. US President Donald Trump had promised during his campaign to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, whose status is one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-

Palestinian conflict.

Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

Israel supports the US moving its embassy. Erdogan, a fervent supporter of Palestinians, normalised relations with Israel in June last year after bilateral ties deteriorated over the 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship that killed 10 Turkish activists.
By Fergus Jensen and Fransiska Nangoy

| JAKARTA

JAKARTA Jakarta's Christian governor has been sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy, a harsher-than-expected ruling critics fear will embolden hardline Islamist forces to challenge secularism in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.Tuesday's guilty verdict for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama comes amid concern about the growing influence of Islamist groups, who organised mass rallies during a tumultuous election campaign that ended with Purnama losing his bid for another term as governor.President Joko Widodo was an ally of Purnama, an ethnic-Chinese Christian who is popularly known as "Ahok", and the verdict will be a setback for a government that has sought to quell radical groups and soothe investors' concerns that the country's secular values were at risk.As thousands of supporters and opponents waited outside, the head judge of the Jakarta court, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, said Purnama was "found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment".Purnama told the court he would appeal.Charles Santiago, chairman of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a grouping of regional lawmakers overseeing rights issues, said: "Indonesia was thought to be a regional leader in terms of democracy and openness. This decision places that position in jeopardy and raises concerns about Indonesias future as an open, tolerant, diverse society." The United Nations' Bangkok Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a tweet said: "We are concerned by jail sentence for Jakarta governor for alleged blasphemy against Islam. We call on Indonesia to review blasphemy law."WEEPING SUPPORTERSPurnama was taken to an East Jakarta prison after the verdict and his lawyer Tommy Sihotang said he would remain there despite his appeal process unless a higher court suspended it.Shocked and angry supporters, some weeping openly, gathered outside the prison, vowing not to leave the area until he was released, while others expressed their shock on social media.Some lay down outside the jail blocking traffic, others shook the barbed-wire topped fence of the prison, while some chanted "destroy FPI", referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline group behind many of the protests against Purnama.

"They sentenced him because they were pressured by the masses. That is unfair," Purnama supporter Andreas Budi said. But Novel Bamukmin, a leader of the Jakarta chapter of FPI, said the group objected to the sentence "because it was still far from what we had expected." President Widodo urged all parties to respect the court verdict as well as Purnama's decision to appeal.Home affairs minister Tjahjo Kumolo said Purnama's deputy would take over in the interim.Thousands of police were deployed in case clashes broke out, but there was no sign of any violence after the verdict.

Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence on charges of hate speech. The maximum sentence is four years in prison for hate speech and five years for blasphemy. Hardline Islamist groups had called for the maximum penalty possible over comments by Purnama that they said were insulting to the Islamic holy book, the Koran.While on a work trip last year, Purnama said political rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Koran to say Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim. An incorrectly subtitled video of his comments later went viral, helping spark huge demonstrations that ultimately resulted in him being brought to trial.Purnama denied wrongdoing, though he apologised for the comments made to residents in an outlying Jakarta district.

RADICAL ISLAMIST GROUPS

Purnama lost his bid for re-election to a Muslim rival, Anies Baswedan, in an April run-off after the most divisive and religiously charged election in recent years. He is due to hand over to Baswedan in October.If Purnama's appeal fails, he would be prevented from holding public office under Indonesian law because the offence carries a maximum penalty of five years, said Simon Butt of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney. Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB Private Banking, said that the verdict was "not a huge shock" to investors because most blasphemy cases in Indonesia end in convictions. "Going forward, race and religion will continue to be played out and be used by politicians for whatever agenda that they have," Song said, adding significant capital outflow was only likely if there was a deterioration of law and order. Rights groups fear Islamist hardliners are in the ascendancy in a country where most Muslims practise a moderate form of Islam and which is home to sizeable communities of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and people who adhere to traditional beliefs.Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch described the verdict as "a huge setback" for Indonesia's record of tolerance and for minorities.Widodo's government said this week it would take legal steps to disband Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a group that seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate, because its activities were creating social tensions and threatening security. (Additional reporting by Gayatri Suroyo, Darren Whiteside, Tom Allard, Eveline Danubrata and Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Ed Davies, Simon Cameron-Moore and Ken Ferris)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Jakarta: Jakarta's Christian governor was jailed for two years Tuesday after being found guilty of blasphemy, in a shock decision that has stoked concerns over rising religious intolerance in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Islamic hardliners outside the Jakarta court shouted "God is greatest!" as news came through that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama would be sent to prison for insulting Islam, a surprisingly harsh punishment after prosecutors recommended only probation.

Purnama, Jakarta's first non-Muslim governor for half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader, looked calm when the verdict was announced and said he would appeal, as some of his supporters in court burst into tears.

He was immediately transferred to jail and authorities said his deputy would take over running Jakarta for the final few months of his term. Hundreds of his supporters descended on the prison shouting "Free Ahok"  Purnama's nickname  and shook the gate of the facility.

The 50-year-old was hauled into court last year to face trial on charges of insulting the Koran while campaigning for re-election, after the blasphemy accusations sparked a series of mass protests in Jakarta spearheaded by radical groups and encouraged by his rivals.

Tuesday's jail sentence and his loss last month to a Muslim challenger in the Jakarta vote, which he had once been favourite to win, has fuelled fears that hardliners are growing increasingly influential and that the country's much-vaunted tolerant brand of Islam is under threat.

"It's another big step in the slow decline of religious freedom in Indonesia," said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, after Purnama was jailed.

"If someone of that political stature can be charged and sent to prison, what will happen to others?"

Indonesia, 90 percent of whose 255 million people are Muslim, has a long tradition of pluralistic values and is home to substantial populations of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists. But there has been a rise in attacks on minorities in recent years.

'He has insulted us'

The five-judge panel at the Jakarta court found Purnama guilty of blasphemy after a months-long trial, in a case criticised as politically motivated.

Announcing the verdict, presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto said Purnama was "convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy and is sentenced to two years in prison" and ordered him to be detained.

Blasphemy carries a maximum jail term of five years in Indonesia but the sentence was a surprise as judges typically follow the recommendation of prosecutors -- in this case, they had proposed two years probation.

Analysts said the shock verdict could be a result of Purnama's political rivals putting pressure on the country's notoriously corrupt judiciary to remove him from power as soon as possible.

President Joko Widodo, an ally of the governor, urged people to respect the decision of the court but added that "we must also respect the move by Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to file an appeal".

Outside the court, hundreds of Islamic radicals wearing white Muslim skullcaps celebrated as they heard about the jail sentence.

"Thank God, he should be jailed  this is right. He has insulted us," Bachtiar, 38, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

Despite the trial, Purnama retained a loyal following in Jakarta due to his determination to clean up the traffic-clogged and polluted city, and his supporters rallied outside the court and the prison.

"Ahok is innocent and he doesn't deserve this  he has done good things for us and the city," said Sari Puji Astuti, 47, as she fought back tears.

The controversy began in September when Purnama, known for his outspoken style, offended Muslims after he quoted a passage from the Koran during his re-election campaign.

He insinuated that his opponents had used a Koranic verse to trick people into voting against him. Some interpret the verse as meaning Muslims should not vote for non-Muslim leaders.

An edited version of his speech went viral online, sparking outrage.
By Ju-min Park and Se Young Lee

| SEOUL

SEOUL Liberal politician Moon Jae-in won South Korea's presidential election on Tuesday, an exit poll showed, an expected victory that would end nearly a decade of conservative rule and bring a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea.A decisive win for Moon would end months of political turmoil that led to parliament's impeachment of conservative former President Park Geun-hye over an extensive corruption scandal. The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment in March, making Park the first democratically elected leader in South Korea to be removed from office and triggering a snap election to choose her successor.Wearing a dark blue suit and blue tie, Moon was seen shaking hands with supporters and party officials and smiling on his way to a meeting of his Democratic Party after the exit poll results were announced."We will need to calmly wait and see as this was just exit polls," he told party members. "But if things go on this way and we win, todays victory is thanks to sheer desperation of the people who wanted a regime change." "We will accomplish the two tasks given to us, reform and national unity that the people of this country desire."The exit poll by South Korea's three biggest broadcasters showed Moon, 64, capturing 41.4 percent of the votes in a field of 13 candidates. Official results were expected in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo was second with 23.3 percent of the votes and centrist candidate Ahn Cheol-soo had 21.1 percent. Definitive official results were expected early on Wednesday. A plurality is enough for victory."If exit polls are true, I will accept the results and just be satisfied with the fact that the Liberty Korea Party will be restored, a downbeat-looking Hong told members of his conservative party.Ahn said he would "humbly accept" the result.FRACTURED PARLIAMENT

Moon is expected to be sworn in for a five-year term later on Wednesday. He has said he would skip a lavish inauguration ceremony and start work straight away.He is likely to quickly name a prime minister, who will need parliamentary approval, and the main cabinet positions, including national security and finance ministers, which do not need parliamentary confirmation.Moon, who narrowly lost to Park in the last presidential election, in 2012, favours dialogue with North Korea to ease rising tension over its accelerating nuclear and missile programme. He also wants to reform powerful family-run conglomerates, such as Samsung and Hyundai, and boost fiscal spending to create jobs.Moon has criticised the two former conservative governments for failing to stop North Korea's weapons development. He advocates a two-track policy of dialogue while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.Moon faces working with a fractured parliament where his Democratic Party holds 40 percent of the single-chamber, 299-seat assembly, which will likely mean difficulties and deals to pass bills.His victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, according to the exit polls. Many of his supporters participated in big, peaceful weekend rallies over the last few months of 2016 and early this year, demanding Park step down.

Only between 22 percent and 25 percent of people in their 60s and 70s voted for Moon, exit polls showed, underscoring a long-standing generation gap. Many older people are wary of Moon's less confrontational stance on North Korea.QUESTION OVER U.S. ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

Moon, whose campaign promises include a "National Interest First" policy, has struck a chord with people who want the country to stand up to powerful allies and neighbours. He wrote in a book published in January South Korea should learn to say "no to America".The former human rights lawyer was a close friend and confidant of late president Roh Moo-hyun, who served from 2003 to 2008 and advocated a "Sunshine Policy" of engaging North Korea through aid and exchanges.

Moon believes better inter-Korean relations is the best way to provide security. But Washington is worried his moderate stance could undercut efforts to increase pressure and sanctions, senior South Korean officials said."Things are not right to resume the so-called Sunshine Policy, as the U.S. and China turned more hostile towards North Korea," said Koh Yu-hwan, Dongguk University professor of North Korean studies, who is serving as a foreign policy adviser to Moon."Still, Moon is expected to engage in discussions, which could improve North-South relations."Moon's election could also complicate the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, which the former government in Seoul and the U.S. military agreed to last year.Moon has said the decision was made too quickly and the next administration should have the final say on whether to deploy the system.The election was closely watched by allies and neighbours at a time of high tension over North Korea's accelerating development of weapons since it conducted its fourth nuclear test in January last year. It conducted a fifth test in September and is believed to be preparing for another.Moon said in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday South Korea should take on a more active diplomatic role to curb North Korea's nuclear threat and not watch idly as the United States and China talk to each other.Graphic: S.Korea's presidential election tmsnrt.rs/2p0AyLfApp for Eikon users on S.Korea's presidential election (paste in search window) cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?navid=36988Election demographics tmsnrt.rs/2pGD25v (Reporting by Ju-min Park, Se Young Lee, Cynthia Kim in SEOUL, Writing by Soyoung Kim and Jack Kim,; Editing by Robert Birsel and Bill Tarrant)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The spectre of former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn continues to haunt President Donald Trump, even three months after his ouster.

Flynn was forced to step down in February for failing to disclose talks with Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, about US sanctions on Moscow and misleading vice-president Mike Pence about the conversations, which occurred before Trump took office. But the Congressional hearing into allegations of Russia's meddling in last year's US presidential elections, which began on Monday, have focused on Flynn, and if the charges against the former army lieutenant are proven, it would seriously cripple Trump's case in Congress.

It has even emerged that Donald Trump was specifically warned against hiring Flynn, with top officials of the previous Barack Obama administration saying Flynn was "susceptible" to Russian blackmail, since he had lied about his contacts with Moscow's ambassador in Washington.

Former President Obama, who had hired and fired Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, warned Trump about Flynn's conduct during a meeting in the Oval Office, a warning "based on Flynn's role as head of DIA," a former administration official said.

But despite that message, Trump hired Flynn to the high profile job of national security adviser  the president's top foreign and security policy aide  before firing him weeks later.

Later on Monday, former acting attorney general Sally Yates, an Obama appointee sacked by Trump early in his presidency, took the stand alongside former director of national intelligence James Clapper during a hotly-anticipated three-hour hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Yates confirmed reports that she had told the White House, six days into Trump's administration, that Flynn, a former military intelligence chief, had not been honest with Mike Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador to Washington, leaving him vulnerable to leverage from Moscow.

"We believed that Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians. This was a problem because not only did we believe that the Russians knew this but that they likely had proof of this information. And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed," Yates told the hearing in her first public comments about the scandal.

Despite these claims, however, Trump has stood his ground, saying the information is not new news, and his administration has effectively purged the wrongdoers.

After the media reported on Yates' claims, Trump called investigations into his campaign's possible ties to Russia's election meddling a "taxpayer funded charade" and a "total hoax".

Trump weighed in on Twitter following a congressional hearing on Russian interference. The president said former Sally Yates, one of the officials who testified Monday, "said nothing but old news".

Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today --- she said nothing but old news!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is "no evidence" of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

While Trump can afford to be belligerent at the moment, it remains to be seen for how long he can maintain his cool, if allegations against Flynn keep piling up.

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: The Netherlands today came out in support of India's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying the country is a "prime candidate" if the premier global body were to expand.

Observing that to remain relevant, bodies such as the UNSC need to be fundamentally reformed, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said: "If the Security Council were to include additional permanent seats, then my country sees India of course as a prime candidate".

In an attempt to get the United Nations reform process moving, India and other G4 nations including Brazil, Germany and Japan recently said they were open to innovative ideas and willing to not exercise veto as permanent members of a reformed Security Council until a decision on it has been taken.

Addressing an interactive session organised by industry body CII here, he said the Netherlands too expects to be a non-permanent member of the UNSC next year.

Sharing his views on the situation in war-torn Syria, the Dutch Foreign Minister remarked: "I find especially the position of the Russian Federation as to its use of veto power even when there are chemical attacks unacceptable."

He said one can only have a functioning security council if there is legitimacy and effectiveness.

Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria last month and called on the government there to cooperate with an investigation into the incident.

Russia, a permanent member of 15-nation Council, exercised the veto when a draft resolution drafted by France, the United Kingdom and the US was tabled in the UN.

While 10 of the UNSC's 15 members voted in favour, Russia rejected the text, as permanent member China, as well as non-permanent members Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained.
By Giulia Segreti

| MILAN

MILAN Former U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was confident that the United States would keep moving "in the right direction" on climate change, although the process might slow down under the current administration. Before taking office, President Donald Trump pledged to cancel a deal signed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, which aims to limit rising temperatures by phasing out use of fossil fuels.Trump, who wants to boost the U.S. coal industry, is expected to announce in the coming days whether he will scrap an accord for which his predecessor campaigned. [nL8N1I56C4]Just over three months after leaving office, Obama told a food industry conference in Milan that climate change was a challenge "that will define the contours of this century more dramatically, perhaps, than any other".

He urged big industrialised countries such as the United States and China to lead the way. "Because of current debate in Washington, it could be that policies move more slowly but I am confident that the United States will continue to move in the right direction," he said.

Policy-making in the last decade has prompted the private sector to invest in both renewable energy and technology to improve fuel efficiency, Obama said. The United States committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by between 26 percent and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 - a level that Trump is unlikely to support.

The European Union has been scrambling to persuade Trump to stick to the deal. Many U.S. companies and several Republican lawmakers, who see it as a way to protect American industrial interests overseas, have also urged him to stay in.The Paris treaty did not set high enough standards to solve the issue entirely, Obama said but "it put together the architecture and mechanism so that each country can reduce its problem of emissions". (Additional reporting by Umberto Bacchi, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Islamabad: An international New York Times opinion piece criticising the powerful Pakistani army was censored by its local publisher on Friday, replaced by a blank space in a country where it can be dangerous to speak out against the military establishment.

The online version of the piece by Mohammed Hanif, a high-profile satirist and novelist whose critiques of Pakistani society regularly appear in the New York Times, was trending on Pakistani social media by Friday afternoon.

In the article, entitled "Pakistan's Triangle of Hate", he savaged the military for parading a former Pakistani Taliban spokesman before television cameras to claim that the militants are bankrolled by Islamabad's arch-nemesis India.

"With his appearance, the Pakistani Army seemed to be sending this message: You can kill thousands of Pakistanis, but if you later testify that you hate India as much as we do, everything will be forgiven," Hanif wrote.

"Do we really need to enlist our children's killers in our campaign against India?"

A note on the blank page clarified the decision to censor the article was taken in Pakistan, and the newspaper "had no role in its removal".

"While we understand that our publishing partners are sometimes faced with local pressures, we regret and condemn any censorship of our journalism," a spokeswoman for the New York Times told AFP on Friday.

The former Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, is the man who claimed responsibility on behalf of the Taliban for shooting schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai in the head in Swat Valley in 2012.

He also spoke for the group in claiming responsibility for Pakistan's deadliest ever extremist attack, in which gunmen stormed a school in northwestern Peshawar and killed more than 150 people, most of them children.

Last month the army announced that Ehsan had given himself up to the military, but gave no details on the circumstances or timing of his surrender.

It later released a video of Ehsan stating the militants were given financial and logistical assistance by the intelligence agencies of India and Afghanistan  a claim often made by the army.

Hanif's words echoed the feelings of many in Pakistan repulsed by the publicity surrounding Ehsan  though others have rejoiced at the accusations against India.

Friday's censorship was the second day in a row that the Express Tribune had blanked out a piece in the Times.

On Thursday, it removed a piece on an anti-gay crackdown in Chechnya entitled "Chechnya's anti-gay pogrom".

In 2016, it censored a Times image of a man in China giving his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. Later that year, it blocked an article in the paper entitled "Sex Talk for Muslim Women".
Quetta: A Pakistani government official says authorities have made an exception for ailing Afghans, allowing them to leave and return home through a key border crossing that was closed following a deadly exchange last

week.

Pakistan and Afghanistan traded gunfire at the Chaman border last Friday, leaving casualties on both sides, a rare escalation in tensions between the two neighbours.

Local official, Qaiser Khan, said today the border will remain closed for everyone except sick Afghan nationals. Pakistan said Afghan forces opened fire on Pakistani census workers at Chaman, killing 11 people. Afghanistan says the Pakistanis started shooting first and that two soldiers and nine civilians died on the Afghan side.

Pakistani and Afghan experts are now jointly surveying villages in the area to determine which side they belong to.
Pakistan's new high commissioner designate to India, Sohail Mahmood, may well view his posting as one that caps a successful career. Equally, however, it could end on a high decibel note; not only due to tensions between the two neighbours, but also because of political infighting in Pakistan.

An ambassador has to always look over his shoulder before he takes a step. But when Mahmood does so, all he is likely to see is a welter of accusations and counter-accusations, as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his team trade barbs  not only with the Pakistan Army but with those of the same skin, including the ever ebullient former president, Asif Ali Zardari.

The new ambassador designate will therefore have to be ambidextrous, keeping the India-Pakistan relations on an even keel, while balancing divergent interests back home.

Apart from being one of the seniormost diplomats  he is only one year junior to Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua  Mahmood comes from a fairly successful posting in Ankara. During this tenure, he managed a Turkish presidential visit to Pakistan, and a return visit by the Pakistan prime minister to Turkey in February 2017. In fact, Turkish President Recep Erdogan's call for a "multilateral dialogue" on Kashmir on his recent visit to India may well have been the result of Mahmood's hard work.

Notably, Mahmood has also been instrumental in strengthening the China-Turkey-Pakistan relationship. Ankara has backed Pakistan's moves in Afghanistan, often at the behest of China, while Turkish investors have recently shown an interest in investing in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The weight in this relationship comes from China, however, not from the dismal bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkey.

But an Ankara posting hardly prepares any diplomat for the hurly burly of a posting in India. The Pakistan High Commission has had to face public charges of funding separatists in Kashmir, with money routed through Rawalpindi. These charges are hardly new. In 2003, and again in 2011, the role of Pakistani officials have come under the scanner. The Charge daffairs  who later went on to become Pakistan Foreign Secretary  was believed to have been asked to leave the country on the charge of passing on cash to the separatists.

In another case, an aide to a Kashmiri separatist leader was virtually caught red-handed with about Rs 70 lakhs. The present high commissioner, Abdul Basit, recently did a diplomatic overstretch by not only declaring support for Kashmir, but also ending with the pious hope that the struggle would succeed.

The high commission's public support for Kashmiris  with regular invites to the Hurriyat leaders  will probably take a temporary backseat in a bid to de-escalate tensions. Covert funding will continue. Looking over his shoulder, the new high commissioner will find rock solid support on support to the separatists. On this, there is little difference apparent between the civilians and the military. New Delhi knows this, and unless it decides to issue a blanket ban on the activities of the Hurriyat, nothing much is likely to change.

The tragic beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan Special Forces is another matter altogether. There is little likelihood of "business as usual" here. Available evidence seems to indicate that a trap was set by Pakistani Border Action Teams (BAT) well within Indian territory, backed by artillery firing from the rear. That this beheading occurred immediately after reports of Sajjan Jindal's visit to meet the Pakistan prime minister came out, has been spoken about, the assumption being that the Pakistan Army was once again muddying the waters to prevent its elected Head of State from taking a hand in reducing tensions.

But whatever the reality, statements from Indian officials, including the chief of army staff, have promised suitable retribution for the dastardly act. Mahmood may as well sharpen his drafting skills in the eventuality that such retribution does take place. Certainly, it won't be pretty. The alternative is to use his diplomatic skills to persuade Rawalpindi to allow India access to the unfortunate Kulbushan Jadhav.

The continued detention of Jadhav comes after a Field General Court Martial  essentially a group of Pakistan Army officers who were unlikely to go against the wishes of the top brass  declared a death sentence to the alleged spy. Acting entirely against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (which Pakistan reluctantly ratified three decades after it was enacted), the Indian High Commission has been given no opportunity to contest the charge, nor been provided access to the former naval officer.

The Urdu press  sections of which usually reflect the wishes of the deep state  have been vociferous in quickly carrying out the death penalty and not "giving in to pressure" from India. Pakistan's intelligence now ascribes every other two penny terrorist with being an Indian undercover agent, the latest being the rotund Ehsanullah Ehsan, former Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson, and now a media sensation after his allegations of support for terrorism by India.

Sections of the Pakistani Army are in a combative mode, and are unlikely to agree to suggestions of clemency by the usually pliant Foreign Office.

But here's the thing. The Foreign Office may be one of the few areas where Nawaz Sharif still holds control. The appointment of Tehmina Janjua (who is regarded by many as a diplomatic lightweight) as foreign secretary was reportedly at his insistence, and overruling seniority of the service. At present, the high commissioner in India may be Sharif's only card to play in seeking New Delhi's support in a tight situation. A tentative probe to restart dialogue cannot be entertained at this juncture when violence is at an all time high in Kashmir. All that can be sought is a decrease in support.

In this very complex game, India has to assess whether the prime minister is in a position to deliver on any of the major issues. The Joint Investigation Team on the Panama Leaks  which includes both Military Intelligence and the ISI  has started its probe. Though this is unlikely to come to a definite conclusion, it certainly reduces the space available to Sharif for the next six months.

There is also another aspect to consider. Pakistan Army's aggressiveness has also been apparent on the Afghan border, when it claimed to have destroyed five Afghan posts and killed 50. It is an unusually brave country that seeks war from both sides, unless it has strong "insurance cover". Media reports point to China playing a placating role in reducing border tensions between Kabul and Islamabad.

The new ambassador designate could well try to build upon his previous diplomatic experience to seek an action replay in New Delhi. Expect calls for "reducing tension" and "restarting dialogue" to rise steadily from various foreign capitals via Beijing. Apparently, the Belt precedes the Road.

The author is an independent analyst. She tweets @kartha_tara
Washington: A meeting that was to decide whether the US would stay or exit from the landmark Paris climate agreement has now been postponed by the White House,

in an apparent bid to flesh out arguments between warring factions in the Trump administration, according to a media report.

The meeting, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed because of scheduling conflict, The Hill reported quoting an unnamed White House official.

No new date has been scheduled yet.

"Participants were expected to focus on potential legal implications of staying in the pact. People familiar with the discussions said it could have been the last chance for theadministration's warring factions to flesh out arguments," the report said.

Last month while addressing a public rally on the occasion of 100 days in office, US President Donald Trump had said that a "big decision" on Paris Agreement is on the anvil. "I will be making a big decision on the Paris accord over the next two weeks and we will see what happens," Trump said on 29 April, adding that the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is one-sided.

"Like the one-sided Paris climate accord where the United States pays... billions of dollars while China, Russia, and India have contributed (to pollution) and will contribute nothing," he had alleged.

Trump claimed it is estimated that for compliance with the agreement could ultimately shrink America's GDP by USD 2.5 trillion over a 10-year period.

"That means factories and plants closing all over our country," he said and alleged that the Washington's "dishonest media" would not report because it is part of the problem. "Their priorities are not my priorities, and they are not your priorities, believe me, Trump said.

A few days later, a dozen odd American governors urged Trump to keep the country in the Paris Agreement. "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 governors said in a letter to Trump.

"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 had added.

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 12 December, 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.
Whos rooting for the H1B visa's new normal?

Muted cheering has begun on the western side of the Atlantic; the H1B community already working in the US is beginning to breathe easy now that the dust is settling down on the contours of the backlash - the idea that what they'll get is more than what will be taken away is beginning to sink in.

The United States is the largest market for Indian software service companies. US President Donald Trump has ordered a review of the H1B visa program for bringing high-skilled foreign workers into the country, putting technology firms and the outsourcing companies that serve them on notice.

The H1B pack is now split into two camps, the ones whove already crossed over and those on the other side of the drawbridge.

Whatever is going on will sort out the supply and demand equation. This is going to make the entry barriers stiffer so there wont be a flood of workers whore younger than us and who can put in crazy hours at work and pressure us into doing the same, says Sai Kumar, an Atlanta based H1B worker.

Whenever the souped up H1B takes shape, it is likely going to get tougher to get a foot in the door while those already in the US on an H1B may end up with higher base salaries.

If he goes on like this, Donald Trump will do a second term, says another H1B worker about the mood within his team at Accenture.

Asked why, he says the effects of the H1B reform moves are already being seen at work everyday.

When I need workers, I now have to go through not one but several layers of US worker possibilities. First I look for a full time hire, then a contractor and then the H1B option is considered at the very end of the line. Even a few months ago, it wasnt this way. People in office are being extra careful, he says.

Meanwhile, the wheels within wheels of the anti-H1B effort continue to hum unceasingly. All of this gives the happy H1B campers reason to welcome every incremental twist.

Latest is that the US Labor Department  the overall monitoring authority for H1B visas  is seeking a legislative change to take stronger action against firms using H1B to replace American employees with foreign workers.

In a detailed letter, the highest ranking official in DoL has explained how complicated the H1B salary scale is and why it becomes so difficult to investigate fraud and abuse.

This is in reponse to a strong letter sent to the Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly signed by three members of congress and four Senators including Chuck Grassley, Senator from Iowa.

In the letter, operative portions of which are reproduced below, Grassley asks important questions of the DoL and tells why unconscionable abuses of the program must be urgently investigated:

As you know, we have introduced bipartisan legislation that would fix many of the loopholes in current law that allow for these unconscionable abuses of the program. Until this legislation becomes law, you have a duty to use your authority to investigate H-1B abuses and fix them. The need for action is urgent because in early April, the government will conduct its annual lottery to decide which employers will receive Fiscal Year 2018 H-1B visas. If nothing is done, outsourcing companies will secure the right to import tens of thousands of additional low- wage foreign guest workers to replace American workers. Given the extent of the fraud and abuse of the H-1B visa program and the harm it poses to American workers, we request that you respond to the following questions and provide answers no later than April 14.

1. Has an investigation into the companies highlighted in 60 Minutes Youre Fired, and their abuse of the H-1B visa program been initiated? If not, why not?

2. Has a review of your policies and procedures under the H-1B program that allows for this kind of abuse been initiated? If so, have you determined loopholes and ambiguities that can be fixed by regulation or other executive action? If not, why not?

3. What steps are you taking, in conjunction with the President and the White House, to initiate necessary administrative action to fix the worst abuses in the H-1B visa program?

4. What tools do you need from Congress to better ensure that the H-1B program is used as it was meant to be used, to ensure that American companies have access to foreign workers, when, and only when, there are insufficient American workers to fill those jobs?"

Grassley is the same person who introduced a bill titled H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2017, in Congress earlier this year.

In one stroke, this Bill seeks to shut many doors on the H1B system at once.

Below is a summary:

This bill amends the the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise employer and government requirements regarding visas for nonimmigrant aliens rated H-1B (specialty occupation) and L-1 (intracompany transfer to the United States from abroad).

H-1B employer application requirements are revised.

The bill establishes an H-1B visa allocation system, with first priority reserved for aliens who have earned an advanced degree in a field of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) from a U.S. institution of higher education.

The bill requires completion of a U.S. degree (or an equivalent foreign degree) as a qualification for "specialty occupation" eligibility, eliminating experience in a specialty as an equivalent to the completion of such a degree.

The bill prescribes an H-1B labor condition application fee.

The Department of Labor may issue subpoenas and seek appropriate injunctive relief and specific performance of contractual obligations to ensure H-1B employer compliance.

The period of authorized admission for an H-1B nonimmigrant is reduced from six to three years, with a three-year extension available for aliens with extraordinary ability or with advanced degrees or professors.

The bill denies an H-1B visa to any alien normally classifiable as an H-1 nonimmigrant who seeks U.S. admission to provide services in a specialty occupation.

Labor may investigate applications for fraud and conduct H-1B compliance audits.

Labor shall conduct annual audits of companies with more than 100 employees who work in the United States if more than 15% of those employees are H-1B nonimmigrants.

The bill increases certain employer penalties, including the penalty for displacing a U.S. worker.

An employer that violates any H-1B requirement shall be liable to the harmed employee for lost wages and benefits.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall give Labor any information in materials submitted by H-1B employers as part of the petition adjudication process that indicates employer noncompliance with H-1B visa program requirements.

Labor may hire 200 additional employees to administer H-1B programs.

The bill prohibits an employer, unless it receives a waiver from Labor, from hiring for more than one year an L-1 nonimmigrant who will: (1) serve in a capacity involving specialized knowledge, and (2) be stationed primarily at the worksite of an employer other than the petitioning employer.

No employer may replace a U.S. worker with an L-1 worker.

The bill prescribes L-1 requirements regarding: (1) employer petitions for employment at a new office, (2) wage rates and working conditions, and (3) employer penalties.

Labor may initiate an L-1 employer investigation.

Authority to administer L-1 visa blanket petitions is transferred from the Department of Justice to the Department of Homeland Security."

Meanwhile, the H1B minders at the Department of Labor continue to leaf through thousands of H1B applications and related documents just the way they used to, not much has changed at the workplace except for lots of vacancies and more politics chatter around the water cooler. "The political masters have not yet actively stepped in. All the due process is still bureaucratic but yes, the denials have spiked," says a DoL staffer on the H1B case.
Check out the latest FoneArena Daily video that gives you a quick roundup of the latest technology news.

More details and images of the upcoming Oneplus flagship smartphone have surfaced online. According to the report, the Oneplus 5 is expected to come with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 8GB RAM, 64GB internal storage while the expandable memory is up to 128 GB.

Nubia has launched M2 Lite smartphone in India following the launch in China. The Nubia M2 Lite comes in Black Gold color, is priced at Rs. 13999 and will be available exclusively on Amazon.in starting tomorrow, May 9th.

Qualcomm just announced Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 630 high-end Mobile Platforms. The Snapdragon 660 is the first processor in the lineup to come with Kryo CPU that promises 20% better performance compared to Snapdragon 653. It also has new Adreno 512 GPU that offers 30% better performance compared to Adreno 510 and the new Adreno 508 GPU on the Snapdragon 630 offers 30% better performance compared to 506.

WhatsApp has revealed some important insights about its video calling feature specific to Indian users. The Facebook-owned instant messaging site says India is the top country for the video calling feature in terms of total minutes per day. Over 200 million monthly active Indian WhatsApp users are making a total of over 50 million video calling minutes per day.

Deal of the day  Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB portable External Hard Drive
Sidewalk Labs, the urban innovation unit of Googles parent company Alphabet, has applied to develop a 12-acre plot of land in downtown Toronto into a digital city, according to a report.

While specific details on Sidewalk Labs bid are not publicly available, the proposal implements chief executive Dan Doctoroffs vision for an Internet-connected community complete with digital sensors, automated transport systems and unlimited broadband data, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. According to the report, before deciding on Toronto, Sidewalk Labs discussed creating a district in Denver and Detroit with Alphabet executives.

Doctoroff, the former CEO of Bloomberg LP and NYC deputy mayor of economic development and rebuilding during the Bloomberg administration, argues a digital-first community would be equipped to address common issues in urban planning, such as high housing costs and overcrowding.

A Sidewalk Labs representative declined to comment on whether the company has submitted a bid. Waterfront Toronto, the public organization tasked with identifying a private partner to help redevelop the district, also declined to comment.

Im sure many of you are thinking this is a crazy idea. We dont think its crazy at all. People thought it was crazy when Google decided to connect all the worlds information. People thought it was crazy to think about the concept of a self-driving car, Doctoroff said at the SmartCities NYC conference last week, according to StateScoop.

Last March, Waterfront Toronto issued a request for proposals in a bid to identify a private innovation and funding partner to redevelop the 12-acre district, known as Quayside. Among the projects stated policy objectives are an emphasis on affordable public housing and reduced urban sprawl.

As cities around the world face pressing challenges in developing more sustainable, accessible, inclusive and prosperous communities, Waterfront Toronto has launched a process to create a new precedent-setting waterfront community called Quayside. The aim is to establish Quayside as a testbed for emerging technologies, materials and processes that will address these challenges and advance solutions that can be replicated in cities worldwide, the public organization said in a press release.

Its unclear if any other private firms have submitted bids to redevelop Quayside. The submission period for Quayside bids ended in late April.

If approved, the project would mark Sidewalk Labs first attempt at a full-fledged, digital-first urban development  one of Alphabets so-called moonshot initiatives. At present, Sidewalk is best known for its involvement in developing New York Citys LinkNYC public Wi-Fi kiosks.
The hits just keep on coming for famed novelist James Patterson, who recently announced his latest co-author is former President (and bestselling author) Bill Clinton, which is icing on the cake for the writer who is already head and shoulders above his peers when it comes to earnings in the industry.

Working with President Clinton has been the highlight of my career, and having access to his firsthand experience has uniquely informed the writing of this novel, Patterson said in a statement.

The Worlds Highest Paid Author

Patterson, the worlds highest paid author in 2016 according to Forbes, enlists the help of co-authors to churn out dozens of books each yearearning him the honor of having more #1 New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, according to Guinness World Records. His books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide, according to his website. Some of his more famous novels, including Zoo, Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls have been adapted into television series and movies.

Pattersons impressive net worth registers at $95 million pretax, compared to the worlds second highest-paid authorJeff Kinneywhose worth is about $20 million, according to Forbes. Pattersons new partnership with the 42nd president of the United States, who is a bestselling author in his own right, could lead to another monster hit for the sought-after author.

Clintons Writing Chops

The former presidents 2004 memoir My Life sold more than two million copies domestically, earning him a spot on the bestsellers list. The $15 million advance he was given for that book was the largest ever awarded at the time. The few books Mr. Clinton has penned earned him $38 million from 2001-2015, according to Forbes.

While no details about the financial agreement for Clinton and Pattersons upcoming thriller have been disclosed, Barack and Michelle Obama recently signed a book deal which is rumored to have topped $60 million.

The Book

Clinton and Pattersons book, called The President is Missing, will be out June 2018 and the hardcover copy is listed for pre-order at $30.00 on Pattersons official website. The book is fiction, described in a release from publishers Knopf and Little, Brown and Co. as a unique amalgam of intrigue, suspense and behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power.

The pair is expected to embark on a book tour together. During an interview with CBS This Morning Tuesday, Patterson indicated a second collaboration with Mr. Clinton was possible.
On the day the White House threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, emerged as a key conduit between the United States and Canada.

But his role has sparked a cross-border game of telephone and conflicting accounts about who called who first.

According to a White House official, aides to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Kushner urgently on April 26 after seeing news reports that Trump was considering signing an executive order withdrawing from NAFTA. Kushner, who has an expansive profile that includes foreign policy, speaks regularly to Canadian officials on a range of issues.

Kushner told his Canadian counterpart that this was a matter the leaders needed to discuss themselves, according to the White House official, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss private conversations. The Canadians asked when Trudeau should call. After checking at the White House, Kushner called back to say Trump was ready to talk now.

Trump has cited the call from Trudeau that quickly followed as the impetus for his decision to abandon the executive order and instead move to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico. The president also wielded the call from Trudeau, as well as a separate call from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, as proof that he has leverage over the other North American leaders as negotiations begin.

But accounts of Kushner's involvement differed Monday in Canadian media reports. According to The Canadian Press news agency, it was Kushner who first reached out to Trudeau's chief of staff to suggest a call between the two leaders.

Kushner, who worked as a real estate executive in New York before taking a job in the White House, is seen as a more moderate influence on the president. He's also seen as more favorable to international trade agreements like NAFTA than some White House advisers, and a phone call from him to the Canadian prime minister could be viewed as an attempt to push Trump in his direction.

A spokeswoman for Trudeau declined comment.

___

Associated Press writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Catherine Lucey at http://twitter.com/catherine_lucey
What happened

When it comes to steel, April proved why all stocks in one industry aren't alike, regardless of the end market conditions. On one hand, you had steel manufacturers such asNucor (NYSE: NUE) that made the most of higher steel prices and crushed Street estimates for its first quarter, sending the stock higher. On the other, there wereAK Steel Holding Corporation(NYSE: AKS)andTimkensteel Corp.(NYSE: TMST), which suffered the market's ire when they failed to live up to earnings expectations, so much so that AK Steel ended April with 11.8% losses, while Timkensteel was down 20.3% by the end of the month.

I can see a common link that sent AK Steel and Timkensteel tumbling: sky-high expectations and profit booking.

Automotive is a key market for steel manufacturers. Image source: Getty Images

So what

Steel stocks have been on fire ever since Donald Trump won the presidential election. Trump's campaign rhetoric about making a priority of rebuilding America's infrastructure fueled investors' hopes that the commodity rut may finally end, reversing the fortunes of any company even remotely tied to the infrastructure industry. Given steel's indispensable use in building structures such as bridges, highways, and dams, it wasn't surprising to see investors try to catch the bottom and load up on steel stocks. Between November and March, AK Steel had gained 40%, and Timkensteel was up as much as 95%. Comparatively, Nucor was still up just about 25% during the period.

Six months down the line, with no infrastructure plan from Trump's administration in sight yet, investors needed crackling numbers and a bullish outlook from AK Steel and Timkensteel to stay put. Any miss, and investors would take some profits off the table which is just what happened. Moreover, Nucor raised the bar of expectations really high by reporting its best-ever quarter in nearly eight years, and Macquarie Capital only added fuel to investors' enthusiasm by upgrading a bunch of steel stocks soon after, including bumping up AK Steel to "outperform."

AKS data by YCharts

But AK Steel didn't disappoint. In fact, it earned$62.5 million in net profit versus a loss of $13.6 million in the year-ago quarter, turning its "best first quarter net income since 2008." Investors, though, were perhaps disappointed that management didn't give full-year guidance or sounded too optimistic. On a sequential basis, AK Steel projects flat shipments, a nearly threefold jump in outage costs, and lower EBITDA margin for Q2 something that didn't go down too well with investors.

Timkensteel, which works primarily with alloy steel products, also benefited from higher steel prices and shipments. It reported 42% higher year-over-year sales in Q1 and halved its losses to $5.3 million. But with a guidance of $2 million in profit to $8 million in loss for Q2, Timkensteel didn't offer investors any assurance of whether it'll end the year in the black. That was enough to spook investors, especially after the stock's rally in recent months.

Now what

Both AK Steel and Timkensteel stocks are still on a losing streak, and there's more to it than just management's muted outlook.

Major automakers just reported substantial declines in sales for April, triggering fears of a slowdown. Automotive is the largest market for both AK Steel and Timkensteel, so there's a fair reason for investors to be worried. Though management of both companies highlighted how strong demand for larger vehicles such as pickup trucks should keep their sales rolling, there's no denying that the companies will take a hit if auto sales slow down, especially at a time when oversupply and cheap import concerns continue to plague steel markets.

That said, I believe investors may still want to keep AK Steel on their radar, given its strong Q1 performance and a pretty reasonable valuation of 7.8 times price to cash flow. This company shouldn't disappoint if demand for steel picks up.

I'm wary about Timkensteel, though, as its growth boils down to how efficiently it can ramp up operations to play the upturn. As management pointed out during its earnings call, the company's lead time still lags, and scaling production has proved challenging so far. Add two consecutive years of losses and lack of clarity about whether it'll be profitable this year, and I'd rather avoid Timkensteel for now.

10 stocks we like better than AK Steel HoldingWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and AK Steel Holding wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017

Neha Chamaria has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Nucor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
One of the most important aspects of the investment thesis in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) stock is that the bank will continue to aggressively grow its dividend and buy back more stock.

Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan has been talking about doing so since he took over at the beginning of 2010. Here's Fortune's Shawn Tully writing about this the following year:

The one thing Moynihan didn't factor into the equation was that bank regulators would throttle his efforts in the annual stress tests, in which the Federal Reserve has veto power over big bank capital plans. The net result is that Bank of America has increased its quarterly payout only twice since the financial crisis, compared to nearly every year at JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

BAC Dividend data by YCharts.

But those days appear to be over. With Bank of America generating near-record earningsand doing so consistently, it's now in a position to scale up the amount of capital it returns to shareholders.

Lest there be any doubt about the trend in this regard, Bank of America shared two charts at its annual investors meeting this year.The first shows the trend in Bank of America's buybacks since 2012:

Data source: Bank of America.

Over the past three years, the North Carolina-based bank has consistently bought back more stock than the year before. It repurchased a net $1.8 billion worth of stock in 2014, $2.4 billion in 2015, and $4.0 billion last year.We won't know until later this year how much Bank of America will add to its share repurchase authority, but it certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see the number continue to climb.

The same trend can be seen in Bank of America's dividends:

Data source: Bank of America.

While the nation's second-biggest bank by assets has increased its dividend only twice since the crisis nine years ago, the trajectory of Bank of America's total dividend payout shows the same upward tendency as its yearly buybacks.

And lest there by any doubt about Bank of America's commitment to returning an ever-increasing amount of capital to shareholders, it was one of the central themes of Moynihan's latest shareholder letter, which included a section titled: "Committed to Capital Returns." On multiple occasions throughout the letter, Moynihan vowed that the bank is focused on increasing both the dividend and stock buybacks.

For dividend investors, in turn, while Bank of America's stock may not have a lot to offer right now, that's bound to change in the years ahead.

10 stocks we like better than Bank of AmericaWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Bank of America wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017

John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Vermont brewers have a message for the rest of the industry: Don't go describing a brew as a Vermont beer if it's not from the Green Mountains.

The Vermont Brewers Association is taking issue with out-of-state brewers using "Vermont" in the names and descriptions of their beer. One target is Berkeley, California's Fieldwork Brewing, which produced a one-off beer described as a "Vermont Farmhouse Ale."

Vermont is home to numerous craft breweries, including The Alchemist, Magic Hat and Hill Farmstead, which draws beer enthusiasts from around the country.

The state also has a rule to ensure food makers don't misuse the state's name in their products. Vermont enforced the rule against a company the state said mislabeled its tins of mints as Vermont products. The company agreed to donate $35,000 to the Vermont Foodbank, pay the state $30,000 and add corrective labeling to its products as part of the 2014 settlement, the attorney general's office said.

The rule covers beer, the attorney general's office said, but it won't say if it's investigating.

"Vermonters can expect that this office will continue to monitor and vigorously enforce Vermont's consumer protection laws with respect to Vermont origins and the Vermont brand," said Christopher Curtis, chief of the public protection division.

Fieldwork Brewing did not return a phone call seeking comment. The Burlington Free Press first reported about Vermont brewers' concerns.

Vermont fiercely protects the integrity of products, particularly maple syrup, its signature crop.

A Rhode Island man was indicted in 2011, accused of selling pure cane sugar instead of maple syrup to a Vermont couple. And the year before, the maker of Log Cabin All Natural Syrup said it was getting rid of the product's caramel coloring in response to complaints by producers of maple syrup.

Calling an out-of-state beer a Vermont brew is like Vermont winemakers calling their products California wines, said state Rep. Sam Young.

The Legislature may look at the issue next year, he said.

"If people say 'Vermont style' I think that's a little bit of a homage but when they actually say it's a Vermont beer I think that's very misleading," he said.

____

This story has been corrected to reflect that the state attorney general's office says Vermont's food label rule does cover beer.
Investor Warren Buffett is going to auction off a private lunch again next month to raise money for an organization that helps the homeless in San Francisco.

Buffett has raised nearly $24 million for the Glide Foundation that helps the homeless in San Francisco over the past 17 years.

Buffett is chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. His successful investing record and his decision to give the bulk of his fortune to charity make him sought after.

Last year's winner paid $3,456,789 and tied the record set in 2012.

The auction will begin June 4 and continue through June 9 on eBay.com/glide.

The winner can invite up to seven friends to join the lunch at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York City.
A storm over a crude remark Stephen Colbert made about President Donald Trump didn't hurt the late-night host in the ratings  to the contrary.

Colbert's CBS "Late Show" had its widest margin of victory over NBC's "Tonight" show since Colbert's debut week in September 2015, the Nielsen company said. The CBS show averaged 3.06 million viewers last week, which was up 12 percent from the previous week, Nielsen said.

During last Monday's show, a risque reference to Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prompted calls for a boycott and an FCC investigation. Colbert said two nights later that he might have changed some of his language, but didn't apologize for the attack; the late-night host said he was angry with how Trump treated CBS "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson in an interview.

Colbert has been riding high in the ratings, eclipsing Jimmy Fallon as the most popular late-night host since Trump's inauguration with a steady stream of ridicule for the new president. Last week, Fallon's show averaged 2.65 million viewers, although NBC points out that "Tonight" retains its lead among younger viewers.

Meanwhile, television's biggest broadcasters are preparing for one of the most important weeks of their business year, when they introduce next season's schedules to advertisers in a series of meetings in New York. Their challenge is to come up with some new ideas to stem an audience decline that is partly due to greater competition and viewers making their own TV schedules through time-shifting, and partly due to a paucity of new hits.

The most popular prime-time shows last week were CBS' "NCIS" and "The Big Bang Theory," which have been on the air since 2003 and 2007, respectively.

Viewership at each of the four biggest networks last week was down compared with the same week last year, ranging from 5 percent at NBC to 11 percent at Fox, Nielsen said.

CBS won the week with a prime-time average of 7.1 million viewers. NBC had 5.2 million, ABC had 5 million, Fox had 2.4 million, Univision had 1.7 million, the CW had 1.24 million, ION Television had 1.2 million and Telemundo had 890,000.

TNT was the week's most popular cable network, averaging 3.24 million viewers in prime time. Fox News Channel had 2.07 million, ESPN had 1.78 million, HGTV had 1.39 million and MSNBC had 1.38 million.

NBC's "Nightly News" narrowly won the evening new race with an average of 7.69 million viewers. ABC's "World News Tonight" had 7.63 million viewers and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.2 million.

For the week of May 1-7, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "NCIS," CBS, 12.88 million; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 12.39 million; "Bull," CBS, 10.83 million; "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 10.31 million; "60 Minutes," CBS, 9.55 million; "Blue Bloods," CBS, 9.24 million; "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 9.08 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 9.06 million; "The Big Bang Theory" (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.), CBS, 9 million; "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 8.82 million.

___

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox. NBC and Telemundo are owned by Comcast Corp. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks.

___

Online:

http://www.nielsen.com
Republicans from energy-producing states are under pressure as the Senate weighs whether to overturn an Obama-era regulation to restrict harmful methane emissions escaping from oil and gas wells on public land.

A coalition of groups with ties to the fossil-fuel industry and the conservative Koch Brothers have waged a public campaign to overturn the Interior Department rule but have so far fallen short.

Senate Republican leaders say they are close to getting the 51 votes needed to overturn the rule under the Congressional Review Act. A vote is scheduled Wednesday even as key GOP senators remain publicly undecided.

Two Republican senators  South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins of Maine  have said they will oppose the repeal effort, while Republican Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Dean Heller of Nevada have not declared how they will vote.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said late Monday he will support the repeal effort after weeks of public silence, saying he got assurances from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that he will take steps to reduce methane waste.

Despite Portman's announcement, some environmental groups are optimistic they can score an unlikely victory by preserving the Obama-era rule under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

"This was a longshot," said Mark Brownstein, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund. "Is there any bigger or badder opponent than the oil and gas industry?"

The methane issue "has captured the attention of local communities, and the reason is they are seeing the impact on their houses, their water and in some cases they are literally smelling it," Brownstein said. "When you have local groups getting engaged and speaking out ... it's incredibly hard for any elected representative to ignore that."

President Barack Obama finalized a rule in November that seeks to reduce waste and harmful methane emissions as part of a strategy to address climate change.

Energy companies frequently "flare" or burn off vast supplies of methane  the primary component of natural gas  at drilling sites because it earns less money than oil. An estimated $330 million a year in natural gas is wasted through leaks or intentional releases  enough to power about 5 million homes a year.

Gas flaring is so prevalent in oil-rich North Dakota that night-time flaring activity on drilling sites is visible in NASA photos from space.

Robert Dillon, a spokesman for the American Council for Capital Formation, a business-aligned group that promotes lower regulations and taxes, said he is confident the methane rule will be overturned. The Republican-controlled House voted in February to reject the rule, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign the measure if it lands on his desk.

While acknowledging that the Senate vote has taken longer than expected, "nearly all Republicans are now expected to support repeal of the methane rule," Dillon said.

Democrats and environmental groups hailed the Obama rule as a way to protect the public health and generate tens of millions of dollars in revenues for state, local and tribal governments.

Republicans and industry groups call the rule another example of federal overreach under Obama and say it duplicates state rules in place throughout the West. Methane emissions fell by 13 percent from 2011 to 2014 even as production boomed, according to government data.

"The oil and gas sector has been so successful in reducing methane emissions from venting and flaring, in part, because methane itself is a valuable resource that producers capture and sell," a coalition of industry groups said in a letter to senators.

The groups include the American Energy Alliance and Americans for Prosperity, part of a conservative network backed by billionaires Charles and David Koch.

The Obama rule will decrease energy production on federal lands, leading to lower revenues from royalties and higher energy costs and lost jobs, the coalition said.

Both sides of the debate have targeted Gardner, a first-term senator who heads the Republican Senate campaign committee. The federal rule is based on a Colorado regulation widely popular in the state. A recent poll showed 83 percent of Colorado residents support requiring energy companies to prevent leaks of methane gas.

Don Schreiber, a New Mexico rancher whose family owns a farm in southern Colorado, said it would be "morally outrageous" for Gardner and other senators to overturn the methane rule, citing a huge methane plume that hovers over the Four Corners region of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

The plume threatens tourism and the health of local residents, Schreiber and Gwen Lachelt, a commissioner in La Plata County, Colo., said at a Capitol news conference Tuesday.

"My constituents deserve protection," Lachelt said, calling the methane plume "a very grave" threat.

Gardner declined to comment.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said it would "be a huge step backwards to roll back" the methane rule. "We can keep our commitment to people or we can let polluters off the hook," she said.

___

Reach Matthew Daly: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC
India's top court has found wanted tycoon Vijay Mallya guilty of disobeying its order barring him from transferring $40 million to his children.

Mallya fled to London last year and has stayed there. He is free on bail during India's proceedings to extradite him.

The Supreme Court in Tuesday's ruling acted on a plea by Indian banks, who said Mallya received $40 million from British firm Diageo and transferred it to his children illegally. The court asked Mallya to appear before it in July to decide the punishment.

Mallya is wanted in India on charges of money laundering and bank demands that he pay back more than a billion dollars in loans extended to his now-defunct airline.
Updated

Spirit Airlines (NASDAQ:SAVE) shares descended 5% on Tuesday after nine flights out of a Florida airport were canceled the night before, leading to fist fights between travelers and multiple arrests.

Following the cancellations, a fight erupted near the Spirit counter in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Video posted on social media showed passengers being taken out of the airport by police. Reports said the Broward Sheriff's Office arrested three people on charges of inciting a riot.

Flights were cancelled Monday due to an ongoing labor dispute with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), according to Spirit. Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit has sued the ALPA over the prolonged negotiations. In the lawsuit, Spirit said it has cancelled around 300 flights impacting over 20,000 customers in the last seven days. The company argues that it lost $8.5 million in revenue as a result.

aWe are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport this evening. This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers, by canceling multiple flights across our network,a Spirit Airlines spokesman Paul Berry said in a statement.

The ALPA responded by saying itas anot engaged in a job action.a

aRather, ALPA and the Spirit pilots are continuing to do everything possible to help restore the companyas operations, which have experienced significant problems over the past several days. While we will continue these efforts, we will actively defend the association, its officers and its member pilots against the unwarranted and counterproductive legal action brought by Spirit Airlines,a the APLA said in a statement.
What happened

Shares of gunsmith Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE: RGR) rocketed as much as 16% higher in early Tuesday trading, before settling down to book a 9.9% gain as of 12:30 p.m. EDT.

So what

With no Democrat in the White House to drive sales, investors have been worrying this year that gun sales might drop as fears of gun regulation wane. Turns out, they were both right about that, and wrong.

On Monday after close of trading, Sturm, Ruger announced its fiscal first-quarter 2017 earnings, and the news was pretty good, considering the political environment. Sales declined modestly to $167.4 million, while profits held steady at $1.21 per diluted share. These results were a good sight better than analysts'fears that Ruger would report only $1.07 in earnings per share on a more significant sales slide to $159 million.

Put simply, Ruger beat earnings with a stick.

Sturm, Ruger hit its targets -- and then proceeded to show off a little. Image source: Getty Images.

Now what

That doesn't mean that Sturm, Ruger (or rivals American Outdoor Brands or Vista Outdoor) is entirely out of the woods, though. Explaining the sales downturn, Ruger management noted that it's seeing "decreased overall consumer demand" and also "decreased overall retailer demand," both resulting from "the political campaigns for the November 2016 elections."

These trends, first noticed in the first quarter of 2017, could bleed over into subsequent quarters as well, perhaps endangering Ruger's chances of hitting analysts' targeted $3.96 in EPS this year. Ruger investors deserve their victory laps today, but once those are done, it might be a good idea to continue watching gun-sale trends closely. There's still a long way to go till year-end, and this new trend of slowing sales could be only just getting started.

10 stocks we like better than American Outdoor Brands CorporationWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and American Outdoor Brands Corporation wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017

Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said Monday national security, China and fencing off pandemics are policies the Trump administration should continue to focus on.

aI would certainly say to him [Trump] the same thing I would say to any other presidentathat their most important job is to protect us from weapons of mass destruction and that they are the most important person in the world, to put the emphasis on that,a Buffett told FOX Businessa Liz Claman.

Munger agrees with Trumpas effort of partnering with China.

aI am a great admirer of the Trump change of mind about China and making an ally out of China instead of screaming about their trade,a he said.

Bill Gates said he would advise Trump on investing in the future.

aWhether itas research, making sure that pandemics donat come to get us and helping other countries a Iad make sure he knew all about it,a Gates said.
Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state under George W. Bush, said despite a pending investigation into Russiaas alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, itas important for the two countries to put aside their differences.

aWe have problems with Russia and Ukraine. We have problems with Russia threatening our allies. We have problems with apparent reports that Russians are now supporting or arming the Taliban in Afghanistan, and so with that backdrop itas really important to get together with the Russian foreign minister to send strong messages about whatas acceptable and what isnat,a Rice said during an interview on the FOX Business Networkas Mornings with Maria.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Russia on Wednesday and meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the ongoing crisis with Syria. Rice, who established the aTransformational Diplomacya initiative to revive American foreign policy a especially in the Middle East during her term a said the aroad to peace is unfortunately going to have to include Moscow and their interest.a

aThe fact is that when the Russians decided to use military force there, they gave themselves leverage that we donat have, having decided not to do that,a she said.

Rice, who was also the first female African-American secretary of state, urged the U.S. and Russia to find common ground on North Korea.

aNobody wants a reckless North Korean leader with long-range nuclear [armed] missiles,a she said, adding, that if these missiles could reach Alaska, they could reach Vladivostock, Russia.
It turns out Jared Kushners role as senior adviser to President Donald Trump hit a snag.

White House sources confirmed to FOX Business that Kushner recused himself from working on the controversial EB-5 immigration program at the start of the administration amid potential concern that his involvement would have been perceived as a conflict of interest due to his White House role.

However, despite that recusal, his name was mentioned when his sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, used the immigration law during a sales pitch in Beijing where she urged Chinese billionaires to invest in the luxury apartment building One Journal Square in Jersey City, NJ. In return, investors would be granted a chance to live in the United States and a fast track to permanent residency. She mentioned her brother, the former chief executive officer of Kushner Companies, within her presentation, as a way, some have said, to lure investors.

EB-5, the much-criticized visa program, allows foreigners to win fast-track immigration in return for investing $500,000 in U.S. properties.

President Trump extended the program only a day before Meyers investor pitch as part of a massive federal spending bill, but theres no sign that the president did so in order to help the Kushners.

Kushner Companies insisted the mention of Trumps son-in law during the presentation was not an attempt to reel in investors and issued this mea culpa: Kushner Companies apologizes if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors. That was not Ms. Meyer's intention, a Kushner Companies spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business.

Kushners personal attorney Blake Roberts of WilmerHale LLP, said in a statement to FOX Business that his client divested himself from Kushner Companies and the One Journal Square project while also acknowledging he will recuse from particular matters concerning the EB-5 visa program.

While Trumps senior adviser recused himself from being involved with the EB-5 program in January, well before his sisters China visit, it may also have something to do with another project he was working on throughout the campaign, which involved the same program hes hurrying to distance himself from.

In 2014, Kushner Companies, under the leadership of Jared Kushner, teamed up with The Trump Organization, then led by Donald Trump, and KABR Group of New Jersey to work on their first big project known as Trump Bay Street, a 50-story luxury rental apartment building in Jersey City.

The project itself was worth about $200 million but sources close to the development say Kushner Properties and KABR Group raised $50 million in funds through the EB-5 program. At the time, The Trump Organization was only involved with licensing the building, sources tell FOX Business.

The timing of Trump Bay Streets completion may also suggest why the White House was so eager to have Kushner recuse himself from working on the EB-5 program. The project was officially completed in November 2016, the same month Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States and only two months before Jared Kushner resigned from being the CEO of his familys real estate company to become Trumps most trusted adviser.

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, agreed that Kushner should have recused himself from working on the EB-5 program. It makes total sense that he had to recuse himself because he legally could not discuss it and it just wouldnt look good for the administration if Trumps senior adviser, not to mention his son-in-law, was in on conversations about a program that his company used to invest in properties.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Monday signed legislation inspired by former "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi that limits how much state universities can pay speakers.

The new law puts a $10,000 cap on the amount of state money that can be spent on speakers, but the Republican governor said it is essentially symbolic since institutions largely use student activity fees to pay speakers. He said the law will bring attention to rising tuition costs and heavy student loan debt.

"Our public institutions of higher education need to be better stewards of both State resources and non-State sources of revenue to ensure the costs of a college education do not become unmanageable," Christie said in a statement.

Republican Assemblyman John DiMaio said he was inspired to write the legislation after Snooki was paid $32,000 collected from student fees to speak at a student-organized event at Rutgers University in 2011.

Snooki's pay was $2,000 more than Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison received to speak at commencement.

Rutgers University is paying actor and musician Steven Van Zandt $35,000 to address its graduates at Sunday's commencement address. Rutgers says money for commencement speakers comes from its contract with Coca-Cola. Coke sends the university more than $2.5 million a year in sponsorship, commission and campus support funds, according to the contract.

Many colleges struggle with tight budgets and some have drawn sharp criticism for paying hefty speaking fees. Colleges that pay for celebrity speakers say they can impress donors and attract the interest of potential students. A notable speaker also is meant as a reward for the graduating class.

Former President Barack Obama delivered last year's commencement address at Rutgers, but turned down the $35,000 honorarium. The university still was on the hook for $1.43 million for the commencement, including $523,000 in additional funding that went toward more police, a traffic safety consultant to coordinate road closures and other expenses.

About 52,000 people attended last year's commencement, an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2015, when Bill Nye "The Science Guy" spoke.

"Jersey Shore," which ran from 2009 to 2012, focused on the escapades of a group of young people at a shore house. Snooki's housemates included The Situation, Pauly D and JWoww.

Snooki wrote in her book "Strong is the New Sexy" that Christie's expression was "full of hate" after she introduced herself in 2013 when they were on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. She has called the portly governor a bully and ridiculed his weight.

Christie did not mention Snooki in the statement accompanying his signing of the new law.
Loretta Swit starred as Major Margaret Hot Lips Houlihan on M*A*S*H, and she still receives fan mail about the hit series that made her famous nearly 45 years ago.

But theres one letter that shell never forget.

This one elderly gentleman wrote to me and said, Miss Swit, youre in big trouble, the 79-year-old told Fox News. Im in the hospital with stitches that split open because I was laughing at you so hard. I was watching you on "M*A*S*H" and you made me laugh so hard, my stitches ripped open. So youre in big trouble! I love you.

M*A*S*H ran from 1972-1983, and it still lives on in syndication.

LORETTA SWIT: 'HOT LIPS' WAS 'A RAGING FEMINIST' AND AN 'INSPIRATION'

Swit doesnt mind talking about the show after all of these years. She believes the lasting success and adoration for M*A*S*H is all thanks to the connection that viewers felt to the cast members.

We went into your home every week and we have become your family, she said. "We got passed down from generation to generation. I think the writing was superb, the humor was intelligent"

She said it helped that the series was family-friendly.

"Parents were not afraid of us to babysit. We didnt give bad vibes to the kids. We were good babysitters.

But the adoration doesnt just end with the fans. Swit also said that decades later, she and her M*A*S*H co-stars are closer than ever.

We might as well be joined at the hip! said Swit. We see each other quite frequently Every time we lose a comrade, its a body blow. We feel it harshly, badly. People always ask me, Do you ever see them? When do I not see them?! These arent casual acquaintances from years ago. This is my family So much of my life can be credited to my family.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

And despite playing Major Margaret for 11 years, Swit never grew tired of the role. Rather, she said producers kept her on her toes with plot twists that were meant to reflect real life.

[As actors], we kept growing and changing but the producers never tried to replace a character, she explained. They brought in a new one instead, so it was like a shot of adrenaline. Whenever someone left, I thought, Thats it, were done. But that wasnt the case. Its part of life! People come and go. Some stay. Some die I thought the term sitcom terribly described what we did. It was so much more than that.

Swit recalled one episode when Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) was suddenly killed off viewers were outraged by the shocking move.

We received so much mail from fans saying, How can you do that? she said. The producers responded, Use that energy against the war. The war is what killed him. We didnt. I think M*A*S*H never stopped giving that lesson, that war is not a fun thing We always showed where the humor came from. The boys drank a lot, I had an affair with a married man, Radar [Gary Burgoff] always slept with a teddy bear  we always showed the madness. We were never a commercial for the war. It was a commercial to end it.

As for Swits character, some have described Margaret as a modern-day feminist. Swit said there was more to it than that.

The thing about Margaret was that she was living in the 50s. I dont think 'feminist' was even coined yet, said Swit. I think she existed before any kind of major movement took over I think thats what made her so spectacular The character was ambitious. Shes very strong, very passionate She had a passion for life and saving life. [But] she had a lot to prove. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a general. And he always wanted a boy.

These days, Swit keeps busy with more than just corresponding with fans. The watercolorist has been painting since she was six and recently released a collection of her art, titled SwitHeart. Proceeds from the book are donated to her other passion: her restless work to end animal cruelty.

Im hoping it will help all those needy shelters out there or the needy bigger ones, she said.

FLASHBACK: GEORGE LUCAS TALKS ORIGINS OF 'STAR WARS'

However, it looks like Swit may not be the only star in Hollywood pursuing art.

Its interesting how many great actors are wonderful artists as well, said Swit. Gene Hackmans stuff is museum quality. Henry Fonda, who does watercolor pieces like I do, I was stunned when I saw his work. Reynolds, Bennett  I can keep naming them. I think were just eager to express ourselves.
Barbara Kline, a mother-of-two, reportedly suffered sickness and diarrhea for days after finding a slimy, mystery mass in a bottle of coconut water.

The nurse from Goshen, N.Y., posted a picture of the stomach-churning discovery on Facebook and said she had accidentally swallowed some.

I still cant believe this Im so disgusted its the only water I ever drink I will never in my life drink it again  It looks like a freaking octopus just looking at it makes me sick, she wrote in the furious caption.

Its certainly enough to put you off your breakfast, but it seems no-one actually knows what the lumpy grey thing is.

WHAT COLOR IS COCONUT WATER ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE?

Ive got told it looks like a mouse, I got told it looks like a squid, I got told it looks like a bunch of things  thats why I would like for somebody to get it tested for me that has more authority than me, The Sun reported her as saying.

Kline told the media that Vita Cocos Pure Coconut water was her favorite drink before the incident on April 25.

She kept the drink in the fridge until she opened it, and said once she tasted something vile, she dumped the rest of the drink and opened the packet with a knife.

There were four of them all together, maybe five, and I swallowed one of them.

I understand that products get moldy and products get mispackaged and sometimes spoil, but this is just too much for me," she added.

It was only when I unknowingly swallowed one of those clumps I realized it tasted awful I started vomiting. The diarrhea honestly just stopped on Friday.

She now sent a clump of the object, along with a note from her doctor explaining her illness, to the company in a bid to demand answers.

She also kept part of it for herself, to have it independently examined.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

A spokesman for Vita Coco said they are investigating, The Sun reported.

We take all consumer inquiries and product quality issues very seriously, and as a global brand have protocols to properly investigate quality inquiries.

Vita Coco employs the highest standards of food safety at all its production facilities and our beverages are quality- and food safety-tested internally, and also by an external quality control specialist, before being distributed.

However, because Vita Coco beverages do not contain preservatives, on rare occasion, random spoilage may occur.

This is what we are investigating now.

This article originally appeared on News.com.au.
Pets could play an active role in the treatment of their owners' long-term mental health problems, according to authors of a small study in the United Kingdom.

Researchers found that many pets were seen as the most valuable and central social support in owners' lives, often providing secure relationships not available through human ties.

"Although the value of therapy animals for mental health problems is well documented, the nature of the role pets play in the everyday management of serious mental illness is underexplored," said lead study author Helen Brooks of the University of Manchester.

"Pets are of significant value to those managing serious mental illness and should be considered a mainstay rather than a marginal source of support," she told Reuters Health.

For instance, pets helped build stable and close relationships that weren't available elsewhere, especially for those who stay mostly at home and have limited human contact, she said. Pets also provide a consistent physical presence and often distract owners from symptoms or upsetting experiences such as suicidal thoughts.

Brooks and colleagues conducted interviews with 54 people diagnosed with long-term mental health problems, focusing on the day-to-day experience of living with a mental illness. They asked questions about the relationship, value and meaning of pets in the owners' lives.

"I can trust him (my dog) more than people," one participant said. "When you're like this, you lose a lot of trust in people, family as well, because you tend not to tell them things because the less you tell them, the less they can say."

Another participant said, "(The cat) knows when to come on my lap and when to leave me alone. I don't have to tell him, he just senses me, you know, he just senses my feelings."

The study participants received a diagram with three concentric circles around a square representing the pet owner. They were asked to write in the names of people, places and things that gave them support. Of the 54 participants, 25 considered their pets to be part of their social network. About 60 percent placed pets in the closest circle to them, and 20 percent placed them in the second circle.

"This is probably only the second time I've seen a study so thoroughly look at where pets sit in the human-social system and how important pets may be," said Jenny Stephany of Positive Connections, a Harrow, UK, nonprofit that connects people with companion animals. Stephany, who wasn't involved with the study, coordinates with several community-based pet programs for those with mental illness.

"The U.S. and Australia are way ahead of the UK in this area with companion animals," she told Reuters Health. "We're seeing this movement away from a reliance on pharmaceuticals and more toward non-medical interventions."

Several U.S. programs connect pets in need with humans in need. Senior Pets for Senior People and Senior Dogs 4 Seniors, for example, pair older animals with retirees who are housebound and want companionship at home. The UK will be mirroring these programs in 2017.

"I walk a dog for a woman who is 92, deaf and isolated, and the importance of her Jack Russell is prevalent," Stephany said. "The simple ability of an animal to connect or provide a routine is very powerful."

Other programs in the U.S., such as Paws on Parole and Puppies for Parole, pair rescue dogs with prisoners as a way to help the humans rejoin the community and build responsibility. Many times, establishing a reliable non-human relationship and boosting self-esteem cuts down on repeat offenses, Stephany said.

"Sometimes we overlook the emotional needs that people have," she noted. "For some social and health problems, the solution may be staring you in the face - or sitting on your lap."
Pregnancy is a beautiful thing, an unborn baby growing inside the shelter of his mothers body. Many mothers would never think that anything could be wrong with their little ones but would make great sacrifices if they knew of any problems. Thankfully, technology, such as fetal echocardiograms, has come a long way to help people spot developmental problems. To perceive problems with the babys heart early on, every mother should consider getting a fetal echocardiogram sometime during her pregnancy.

A fetal echocardiogram, or fetal echo, is an ultrasound that analyzes the babys heart in depth. Although similar to a normal ultrasound, the fetal echo picks up more details of the hearts structure. It also shows the blood flow within the heart, allowing the doctor to see abnormalities in the hearts function even if the structure appears normal.

TEEN ACNE TREATMENT: SOLVING THE PIMPLE PROBLEM

Most patients who need a fetal echo will receive this in-depth ultrasound during 1824 weeks of pregnancy. At this stage, the babys heart has had ample time to develop. Most doctors will only recommend this test if a baby has an increased risk for heart defects. They will also order a fetal echo if they have seen abnormalities on a recent ultrasound.However should fetal echocardiogram be routine to all pregnant patients?.

The Jimmy Kimmel Story

According to the Childrens Heart Foundation, an estimated 40,000 babies are born with congenital heart defects every year. Unfortunately, many of these cases go undiagnosed.

Parents may find out about the heart problem at their babys birth, or the baby may continue to suffer the effects of these heart problems until a serious symptom arises. Although fetal echocardiograms take away some of this surprise, many women do not go through this helpful test.

Just last week, one celebrity couple found out the surprising fact that their newborn son had a severe heart defect. Several hours after Jimmy Kimmels son, Billy, was born, a nurse discovered a heart murmur along with troubling skin discoloration.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH YOUR SALT INTAKE

Although heart murmurs are common in infants, the nurse wanted to check into the babys health. With closer examination, doctors determined that Billy Kimmel needed open heart surgery, having discovered several dangerous defects in the babys heart. Fortunately, a doctor was able to perform surgery quickly, and the precious newborn is now doing well.

Consider a Fetal Echo

Just like many other parents of babies with heart defects, the Kimmels simply had no idea that anything was wrong with their son. To deal with congenital heart defects more quickly, doctors should urge their patients to get a fetal echo even if the babies do not have an increased risk.

At the same time, women should approach their doctors on the subject and insist on a fetal echo during pregnancy. Finally, insurance companies should cover any reason for receiving the high-level ultrasound, even if it is patient-initiated.

This life-saving test can help both doctors and parents prepare for surgery, if needed. With the advanced notice that fetal echoes provide, doctors can have in-depth knowledge of any present heart conditions and make necessary arrangements to act quickly once the babies are born.

Risks

Currently, researchers have not found any known risks because of fetal echocardiograms. The technology uses high level sound waves without any radiation, making the testing entirely safe for both the mother and baby.

DANGERS OF 'HYDRATING' WITH ENERGY DRINKS

On the day of the exam, the mother will simply meet with a specially trained sonographer. Then, the mother will need to undress at the waist for a transvaginal echocardiogram or uncover her stomach for the abdominal version. Most women will receive the abdominal echocardiogram.

Just like a normal ultrasound, the sonographer will apply a lubricating jelly and rub a device across the mothers stomach that will form the picture. Depending on the hearts condition, the process could take anywhere from half an hour to an hour, sometimes longer. A pediatric cardiologist will then analyze the pictures and relate the results to the mother.

Because expectant mothers do not risk anything, they should seriously consider getting a fetal echocardiogram during pregnancy. While most babies hearts do develop normally, a small percentage are born with congenital heart defects. In these cases, a fetal echo will prepare the doctors and the parents for the next steps. Then, doctors can act quickly and efficiently once the baby is born, working hard to give this little one a long and meaningful life.

This article first appeared on AskDrManny.com.
An Alabama mother captured the emotional moment that her son, who has Down syndrome, learned that he was accepted to college. Keith Griffith, a 2016 graduate of Satsuma High School, will attend the University of Southern Alabama in the fall after being admitted into its Passage USAs certificate program.

What about that buddy? Griffiths mom, Heather, is heard asking in a viral video showing the moment.

I made it! he responds.

ARMY VETERAN ENLISTS HELP OF LOCAL POLICE IN SURPRISE PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Griffith, who was crowned prom king and was captain of his high schools bowling team, will take classes focused on building independence and developing work and social skills. The program is available for students with special needs who meet the requirements. One of Griffiths former classmates, Kaylee Walker, will also attend in the fall, Fox 10 TV reported.

Are you excited? Heather asks him in the video.

I love you, he says back.

MOMENT 7-YEAR-OLD SHOWS OFF NEW PROSTHETIC TO CLASSMATES GOES VIRAL

The video, which was posted on May 4, had been viewed more than 85,000 times as of Tuesday morning, and has been shared by various news outlets across the country. Commenters have been quick to congratulate Griffith, with Heather commenting that she is very happy that we have been able to touch so many people!
One week before New Jersey implements one of the nation's toughest regulations of prescription opioids, doctors are raising concerns it could go too far.

The law limits initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain to a five-day supply, though it allows doctors to renew it for another 25 days if a patient remains in pain. But as a measure of the stricter checks and balances, the new rules call for doctors to have a consultation with a patient about a request for a prescription renewal to ensure it is really needed.

New Jerseys law is tougher than national guidelines for prescribers, which limit initial prescriptions to a seven-day supply.

Doctors agree that the opioid addiction epidemic that has led to hundreds of overdose deaths in New Jersey, and thousands nationwide, must be addressed. But some say the new law could make it difficult for patients who truly are in serious pain to obtain relief.

The rules are very set in stone, it was rushed through, it was done too fast, Dr. Louis Brusco Jr., chief medical officer of the Morristown Medical Center, told Fox News after a recent forum where state officials explained the new regulations.

State officials say theyre waging no less than a war against a deadly epidemic.

When I learned that eight of 10 drug overdose deaths began with prescription painkillers, I knew we had to act right away, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino told Fox News. We promulgated these rules in response to an emergency. Theres no time to waste.

Joseph Fennelly, an internal medicine doctor who has a practice in the town of Madison, agreed that enforcement must go hand in hand with providing the needed treatment to relieve people who are in great pain.

We promulgated these rules in response to an emergency. There's no time to waste.  New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino

Medicine is always caught between following the science and law, and recognizing the human side, Fennelly said.

Brusco stressed that he fully supports the idea that doctors are a crucial part of addressing the opioid addiction epidemic.

There is no question that prescribers need to do better job of vetting [patient requests for painkillers], and worrying about alternatives and addiction, Brusco said. We have to take a burden of responsibility upon ourselves. But we have to remember that we are treating patients. Enforcement has to be fair patients.

Gov. Chris Christie, who was named to President Donald Trumps task force on opioid addiction, has made fighting the opioid epidemic a key cause of his administration. Last year, the state disciplined 31 doctors for related offenses, and is criminally prosecuting some of them.

Bad doctors are a small minority, Porrino said. But a bad doctor is worse than a street corner drug dealer  a doctor is someone who is shrouded in the public trust. A doctor has to be treated more harshly than a street drug dealer.

Bad doctors are a small minority. But a bad doctor is worse than a street corner dealer -- a doctor is someone who is shrouded in the public trust.  New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino

State officials say they will closely monitor compliance with a requirement that prescribers register for the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program, or NJPMP, which tracks drug prescriptions, a patients opioid history, pharmacies involved, among other things.

If they find that a healthcare provider has indiscriminately prescribed opioids, they can expect criminal charges, Porrino said.

There is no question that prescribers need to a better job of vetting, and worrying about alternatives and addiction. We have to take a burden of responsibilty upon ourselves. But we have to remember that we are treating patients. Enforcement has to be fair to patients.  Dr. Louis Brusco Jr.

We understand that some feel the law is too strong, Perrino said. I can argue that it should be even stronger.
When you go to the hospital, you inevitably increase your risk of contracting certain infections. Exposure to harmful bacteria can lead to illnesses as minor as the common cold to as serious as sepsis, a condition that kills more than 250,000 Americans each year, according to the Sepsis Alliance. Sepsis occurs when an infection sends the immune system into overdrive, potentially leading to organ failure, tissue damage, and yes, death.

Over 1.6 million Americans are diagnosed with sepsis each year, and the fact that the number of antibiotic-resistant strains is growing isnt helping. But that doesnt mean you cant reduce your risk of developing sepsis. Indeed, preventing infection is one of the top ways to do so.

EXERCISE LINKED WITH BETTER BRAIN HEALTH IN MIDLIFE  HOW TO REAP THE BENEFITS

Fox News spoke to Dr. Jim OBrien, an ICU doctor and system vice president of quality at OhioHealth in Columbus, Ohio, and Dr. Thomas Fraser, vice chair of the department of infectious disease and medical director for infection prevention at the Cleveland Clinic, for their tips on preventing hospital infections.

1. Minimize phyiscal contact with people.

If youre in the hospital, dont let anyone touch you, OBrien said. That includes doctors, visitors, and other patients (barring any needed treatment, of course). Thats because bacteria are most commonly transmitted via hands, OBrien explained. He noted that doctors and visitors should always wash their hands when entering and exiting a room (patients can always request this as well). Gloves alone are not protective  instead, they are mostly useful in protecting a persons hands from the secretions of others, he said.

2. Follow your doctors directions.

Its essential for patients to follow the directions surgeons or physicians provide to reduce the risk of infection, OBrien said. That might be as simple as bathing as directed or as difficult as trying to quit smoking before a surgery, as smoking can increase the risk of infection.

5 SIGNS YOUR BACK PAIN IS SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS

3. Get up and walk around when you can.

The more mobile you are, the less likely you are to get things like pneumonia in the hospital, Fraser said. Thats because you take bigger breaths: When youre lying in bed, you may not take the deep breaths needed to open up your lungs, which causes secretions to pool there and increases your risk of pneumonia, he said.

4. The sooner you can get any tubes out, the better.

Tubes that penetrate the skin  including IVs, tubes into the nose, or catheters in the bladder to drain urine  allow entry points for bacteria to get into the body, increasing the risk of infection, OBrien said. The sooner you can get those tubes out of you  even if you have to use a bed pan or urinal instead  the better, he told Fox News. He noted that patients and families can be proactive and ask the staff about removing any tubes that may no longer be necessary.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

5. Ask questions and be an advocate.

Both doctors stressed the importance of being your own health advocate. We want patients to feel that they can speak up about anything, Fraser said. OBrien agreed, noting that patients and their loved ones are in the position to be the best advocates. Ultimately, he said, its important to remember that patients, families, and their caregivers are all trying to accomplish the same thing: getting you (the patient) better.

And although hospitals dont have one single assessment of safety or quality that patients can research in advance, OBrien said, he noted that he personally looks for hospitals that report their own safety data online and highlight any issues they may have had in the past. That level of honesty and transparency can indicate a sign of good care.
Editor's note: The following column originally appeared in The Hill newspaper and TheHill.com.

Rush Limbaugh is not pleased.

Having failed to pass any major legislation in President Trumps first 100 days, the GOP kicked off the presidents second 100 days by passing a massive $1 trillion spending bill chock-full of Democratic priorities, including funding for Planned Parenthood.

So, when Vice President Pence called into Limbaughs radio show last week, the king of conservative talk radio let him have it.

If this is what happens, Mr. Vice President, why vote Republican? What is the point of voting Republican if the Democrats are going to continue to win practically 95 percent of their objectives, such as in this last budget deal? Limbaugh asked.

Top of mind for Limbaugh and other leading conservatives is the GOPs failure, so far, to live up to its promise to produce a better health care plan than the Affordable Care Act  or, as they always put it, to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

House Republicans held 60 symbolic votes to kill the health care plan. Candidate Trump promised to replace President Obamas program with a plan that gives everybody better coverage at less cost and to do it very quickly.

So in a desperate effort to tell Limbaugh and his listeners they are keeping this promise, the GOP passed a health care bill last week that leaves more people without insurance.

About 24 million people will lose coverage over a decade by official estimates. The GOP plan will also drive up costs for seniors and give hospitals financial incentives to turn away Medicare patients.

Despite rushing through a bill that hurts so many people, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the former head of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, admits the bill does not repeal ObamaCare.

This is the best bill we can get out of the House, he said in a CNN interview last week. But frankly, we should be clear this is not repeal of ObamaCare. If it was repeal, you wouldnt need the option for a waiver option for states to seek. So, we have to be clear with the voters about that, and continue to work on it.

Work on it?

The Republicans have been working on it for the last seven years. They have engaged in all-out sabotage. Yet they have not come up with a better plan. The AARP, the March of Dimes and the American Medical Association all oppose their proposal.

The bill has no future. The Republican majority in the Senate is trying to come up with its own plan. And whatever comes out of the Republican majority in the Senate has no chance of surviving conference committee with the hardline members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Now, consider the politics of 2018.

Keep in mind the wave of House Democrats who lost seats after Obama passed his healthcare plan. Now, hear from Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who says that House Republicans have this flawed plan tattooed to their forehead.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll from April found 61 percent of Americans  including 21 percent of self-described Republicans  want Congress to keep the law in place and try to improve it. Just 37 percent of Americans still say repeal and replace.

A March Quinnipiac poll on the GOP bill found just 17 percent of Americans in support of it; 56 percent were opposed and 26 percent were undecided.

True, these polls were conducted before some amendments. But the basics of the bill did not change. Thats why it was rushed through.

On that score, it is striking that older, white, and working-class voters who gave Trump his victory are being betrayed by Trump. Under the House bill, older people can be charged higher rates; states can allow plans with no coverage for prescription drugs; and they can waive protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

The political lesson for Republican voters is that Republican politicians have lost touch with them while competing to see who can cater to the most extreme voices on talk radio.

A Gallup poll taken in January 2017 found that 30 percent of Republicans self-identify as moderates and seven percent say they are liberal Republicans. That is a sizable minority of moderate voices in a Republican party in which 63 percent describe themselves as conservatives.

But those moderate voices are being marginalized, demonized and derided as RINOs  Republicans in Name Only  as they call for Republicans to stop playing politics and focus on fixing the flaws in the Affordable Care Act.

Moderate Republicans have been sacrificed for a bad bill.

For example, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) helped scuttle the flawed House GOP health care bill in March and voted against the new version last week.

Now she has announced her retirement at the end of this Congress, after 28 years in the House.

Ros-Lehtinen is the most senior Republican woman in the House, and she won reelection in a South Florida district that backed Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump by 20 points in 2016. Her purple district is one of 23 Congressional districts represented by Republicans that supported Clinton over Trump.

Remember that as the House is currently composed, Democrats need to flip only 24 seats to retake the majority.

Democrats see the health care debacle as a boon to their candidates  a thesis that may be confirmed if Democrat Jon Ossoff pulls off a surprise win in Junes Georgia special election to fill Republican Tom Prices old House seat.

Playing games with health care makes it less likely each day that the GOP will keep their House majority in 2018.

The GOP has just handed the Democrats a huge political gift.
Its been said that silence in the face of evil is evil itself. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

That's why I am calling on people of faith across the nation to take action today. We need to put pressure on the Trump administration to reinstate the nomination of Dr. Mark Green.

Dr. Green, a Tennessee state senator, withdrew his nomination to be President Trumps Army Secretary. He had been the focus of a vicious smear campaign by gay and Muslim activists.

Click here for a free subscription to Todd's newsletter - a must-read for patriots!

Dr. Green blamed the controversy on what he called false and misleading attacks.

Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain, he wrote in a statement.

While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world, he wrote.

A senior White House official tells me the administration did not push Dr. Green to withdraw.

The Army secretary needs strong bipartisan support and when Dr. Green recognized he would no longer have this, he made the decision based on what he thought was best for the Army, the White House official said.

Click here to join the fastest-growing Conservative community on Facebook!

Dr. Green is a good and decent man. He is a West Point graduate  a decorated Iraq war veteran  and a devout Christian.

But despite his impeccable military credentials  Dr. Green was deemed unsuitable because he believes among other things that people should use bathrooms that correspond with their God-given plumbing. He also believes in traditional marriage and that man was created in Gods image.

Do those beliefs disqualify someone from serving in a Republican administration?

The senior White House official disputed that notion.

This is not about not standing up for someone or someones religious beliefs, this is about doing whats best for the future of the Army and the soldiers who fight for our country, the official told me.

If thats the case  then Dr. Green is the perfect man for the job. But instead of standing up for this good man  hes been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.

Apparently, its not good enough to pledge allegiance to the American flag  these days you also have to pledge allegiance to the Rainbow flag.

The president told us that Americans should not be forced to choose between the dictates of the federal government and the tenets of their faith. He promised us that he would not allow people of faith to be targeted or bullied or silenced.

Dr. Green was not only targeted, but he was also bullied and silenced. And the Trump administration did nothing. They stood down.

So I call on President Trump to stand up for Dr. Green and reinstate his nomination. Its the honorable thing to do. Its the right thing to do.

Make this right, Mr. President. Be a man of your word.
President Trump continued to deliver on his campaign promise of putting brilliant conservative judges on the federal courts Monday, announcing his first large batch of nominees.

As was true of Trump's selection of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, this group of ten nominees confirms the president's stated commitment to appoint judges who will enforce the Constitutions limits on federal power and its protection of individual liberty.

The large number of openings on the federal courts (150 current vacancies and announced retirements) gives President Trump a historic opportunity to move the federal courts in the right direction  towards constitutionalism and away from judicial activism  in just four years. Fulfilling this opportunity will require a steady stream of judicial nominations from the White House and a brisk pace of hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

By naming ten nominees just four weeks after the White House finished its selection and confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice, President Trump has demonstrated his commitment to speedy judicial nominations. It took President Obama until July of 2009 to name as many nominees.

Conservatives should be especially pleased that President Trump has made the U.S. Courts of Appeal, the most influential courts after the Supreme Court, a priority. Six of the president's first 11 lower court nominations  Amul Thapar was named to the Sixth Circuit in March  are to the Courts of Appeal. By already naming nominees for one quarter of the 24 appeals court openings, Trump is off to a great start.

Of the six appeals court nominees, five are in their forties. Given the lifetime tenure of federal judges, this is important in its own right. It also means that President Trump is quickly expanding the number of young conservative appeals court judges, a pool from which his future Supreme Court appointees will likely be drawn.

Despite the exceptional qualifications of President Trump's first group of judicial nominees, we cannot assume they will be swiftly confirmed. Senate Democrats, who have promised their base that they will resist Trump at every turn, will be as determined to defeat or slow the confirmation of his lower court nominees as they were to stop Justice Gorsuch.

While Senate Democrats do not have the judicial filibuster at their disposal  Majority Leader Harry Reid saw to that by invoking the nuclear option in 2013  they are likely to slow the confirmation process by exploiting post-cloture debate time at a record level.

They may even attempt to defeat nominees by abusing the "blue slip" privilege granted to the two senators from each nominee's home state. Senators love the privilege because it encourages the White House to involve them in the nominee selection process.

Nonetheless, if Democrats turn this consultation into obstruction, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley may be forced to curtail the 100 year old blue slip tradition.
The Senate has confirmed Heather Wilson as Air Force secretary, making her President Donald Trump's first service secretary nominee to be approved by the GOP-led chamber after fits and starts for several others.

Senators voted 76-22 Monday to approve Wilson, who represented New Mexico in the House before becoming a defense industry consultant. Her post-congressional work drew scrutiny for several Democrats, who had questioned an arrangement with government laboratories that paid her $20,000 a month. Wilson denied any impropriety.

Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said he voted against Wilson's nomination because of his lingering concerns with the payments. Reed also cited as troubling a call Wilson made a decade ago while still a member of Congress to a federal prosecutor handling a politically charged corruption probe.

Trump's attempts to fill the other two service secretary jobs have failed so far. His picks for secretaries of the Army and Navy were forced to withdraw from consideration.

Mark Green, Trump's second choice for Army secretary, stepped aside late last week amid growing criticism over his remarks about Muslims, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.

The president's first pick to be the Army's top civilian, Vincent Viola, dropped out in early February because of financial entanglements, and about three weeks later Philip B. Bilden, the Navy secretary nominee, withdrew for similar reasons.

The Trump administration has been slow to fill many other senior civilian posts at the Pentagon, leaving Defense Secretary Jim Mattis short of the support he needs to manage the nation's vast military enterprise. The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding confirmation hearings Tuesday for three important financial positions at the Defense Department: comptroller, deputy comptroller and director of cost assessment and program evaluation.

After serving five terms in Congress from New Mexico, Wilson collected nearly half a million dollars in questionable payments from federally funded nuclear labs, the Energy Department's inspector general said in a 2013 report. Wilson failed to provide documentation for the consulting work she did to earn $20,000 a month from the Los Alamos and Sandia national labs in New Mexico from January 2009 to March 2011, the report said.

Wilson deflected questions about the payments, saying during her Senate confirmation hearing that she'd performed the work and that the inspector general had found no fault with her.

The telephone call referenced by Reed, the senator from Rhode Island, was made by Wilson in October 2006 to David Iglesias, a U.S. attorney in New Mexico. Iglesias was one of seven federal prosecutors fired a few months later by the Bush administration. At the time, Iglesias was handling a number of public corruption cases. Reed said the call raised the possibility Iglesias may have felt pressured by Congress in an ongoing investigation. Wilson said she did nothing improper.

Wilson served as an Air Force officer in Europe during the 1980s and was on the National Security Council staff under President George H.W. Bush during the fall of the Berlin Wall. She graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1982 and later earned master's and doctoral degrees as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England. Wilson is the first graduate of the academy to hold to hold the service's top civilian post.

Wilson said that once confirmed she would resign as president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. She'd also assured the Defense Department's general counsel that she would divest of stocks she holds in companies that do work for the U.S. military, including Intel, IBM, Honeywell and Raytheon.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called Wilson a "proven leader" and said she would lead the service to a stronger future.
President Trump began his bid Monday to reshape the makeup of the lower federal courts, with the White House announcing 10 judicial nominees it described as Trump's "third wave of Federal judicial appointments."

Coming out of its first 100 days, the administration aims to build on the successful confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the nominees were all chosen for their deep knowledge of the law and their commitment to upholding constitutional principles.

Two of the nominees originally were on the list of 21 candidates that the Trump transition team considered for the Supreme Court vacancy left by Antonin Scalias death, and ultimately filled by Gorsuch. They are Justice Joan Larsen of the Michigan Supreme Court, nominated to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati; and Justice David Stras of the Minnesota Supreme Court, nominated to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

The other nominees are Amy Coney Barrett, a Notre Dame law professor nominated to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago; John Bush, a Louisville lawyer nominated to the 6th Circuit; Kevin C. Newsom, a former Alabama Solicitor General nominated to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta; Judge David C. Nye, nominated to the U.S. District Court for Idaho; Scott L. Palk, a former federal prosecutor nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma; Damien Schiff, nominated to federal claims court; Dabney L. Friedrich, nominated to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and Judge Terry Moorer, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Democrats already were speaking out against the nominations.

With this first slate of lower court nominees, it seems that the President is intent on continuing to outsource the judicial selection process to hard right, special interest groups rather than consulting with Senators on a bipartisan basis, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

Compared against his modern-day predecessors, Trump is behind the curve in announcing nominees to lower-profile positions below the Cabinet level.

But one area where these nominations can have a huge impact is the federal courts. While Supreme Court vacancies capture national attention, a president can leave a lasting legacy by getting like-minded justices confirmed to U.S. district, circuit and other courts across the country.

Former President Barack Obama made over 300 such appointments, as did George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. At the start of his term, Trump already is looking at nearly 130 judicial vacancies on the lower federal courts.

Following Mondays announcement, the White House reportedly plans to roll out additional nominees at regular intervals.

White House Counsel Don McGahn previewed the forthcoming nominations in a speech last Friday, saying Trump was putting his finishing touches on his list and predicting people would be amazed by the caliber of his nominees.

Such nominees give Trump a chance to alter the balance on the courts, as several of his policies already are facing legal challenges. He had previously clashed with the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit, after it blocked his initial travel ban.

He later accused his opponents of judge shopping, and told The Washington Examiner last month they immediately run to the 9th Circuit.

Fox News Serafin Gomez contributed to this report.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates took heat from Senate Republicans Monday as she stood by her decision not to defend President Trumps executive order restricting travel from certain countries  with one Republican asking: Who appointed you to the United States Supreme Court?

Yates spoke at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing, and defended her stance on Trumps controversial order restricting immigrants and refugees from several terror hot spots, including Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Yates was fired in January after telling her staff at the Department of Justice not to implement the order.

I did my job the best way I knew how, Yates told senators during the hearing.

Yates noted that a federal appeals court blocked the order, forcing the Trump administration to revisit and re-work the order. But Republican senators attacked Yates for refusing to defend the order.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, cited a statute in the U.S. Code granting presidents the right to impose restrictions on those seeking to enter the country if he believes there to be a security risk, but Yates countered by arguing that it is also prohibited to restrict immigrants based on race or religion.

While the Trump administration has said the order is not a Muslim ban, Yates and judges ruling against the order have pointed to rhetoric during the presidential campaign in which Trump promised an outright ban on Muslims into the country.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also pushed back against Yates decision, saying he was extremely disappointed in her refusal to defend the order. He noted that the Office of Legal Counsel had concluded the law was lawful and properly drafted.

"I find it enormously disappointing that you somehow vetoed the decision of the Office of Legal Counsel...and decided instead that you would countermand the executive order of [President Trump] because you happened to disagree with it as a policy matter," Cornyn said.

I made a determination that I believed that it was unlawful. I also thought that it was inconsistent with the principles of the Department of Justice, Yates responded. And I said no.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was more aggressive in his approach, questioning whether Yates had the authority to declare the order unconstitutional.

Who appointed you to the Supreme Court of the United States? he asked her.
U.S. officials have told airlines to "be prepared" for an expanded ban on carry-on electronic devices allowed on airplanes.

Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan confirmed to reporters Tuesday that the administration is considering expanding the ban on laptops, which currently applies to U.S.-bound flights from eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

An expanded ban on devices larger than cellphones could potentially include "more than a couple" other regions, including flights from Western Europe.

Lapan reminded reporters that DHS Secretary John Kelly has alluded to the ban "likely" being expanded. DHS officials, however, are still deciding where and how the new restrictions will be implemented.

The chief concern is passengers bringing laptops into the cabin -- something high on the law enforcement radar screen, ever since an attack on a Somali airliner where an explosive device built into a laptop detonated in flight and injured two people.

In March, officials implemented the initial ban of certain electronic devices on flights to the U.S. from 13 international airports due to reports of increased terror threats that suggested Al Qaeda and other groups were still looking to smuggle explosive materials onboard planes. The ban also renewed post-9/11 regulations on liquids on planes.

In a statement sent to Fox News on Monday, the Transportation Security Administration said the agency had not made a decision on the matter.

However, we are continuously assessing security directives based on intelligence and will make changes when necessary to keep travelers safe, the statement said.

When DHS implemented the initial ban, it said that there was reason to be concerned about attempts by terrorist groups to circumvent aviation security, and said that terrorist groups continue to target aviation interests.

Implementing additional security measures enhances our ability to mitigate further attempts against the overseas aviation industry, DHS said on its website.

The initial ban focused on airports based on the current threat picture. According to DHS, the affected airports were: Jordans Queen Alia International Airport, Cairo International Airport, Ataturk International Airport, Saudi Arabias Kin Abdul-Aziz International Airport, Saudi Arabias King Khalid International Airport, Kuwait International Airport, Moroccos Mohammad V Airport, Qatars Hamad International Airport, Dubai International Airport, and Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Last week, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News that recent changes to aviation security were based on specific and credible intelligence.

The war on terror did not end with the death of Usama bin Laden, in fact, there have been more terror plots against the West since his killing than any time since 9/11, McCaul told Fox News. There was an imminent threat to our aviation sector and I think the administration took very responsible actions to safeguard the safety of Americans here in the homeland.

The House Homeland Security Committee released its monthly Terror Snapshot report on Monday, which showed 199 ISIS-linked plots against the West since 2013, with 21 of those plots occurring between this January and May.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra suggested he would not independently investigate the University of California after a state audit claimed its President Janet Napolitano kept a secret fund of $175 million while raising student tuition.

Becerra said Sunday that the audit was an issue for the California State Legislature to handle, even amid concerns over Napolitanos interference with the audit.

I think it is appropriate for the State Legislature to closely examine the audit  I believe the president of the UC system will continue to come forward with information; I think we have to get to the bottom of this, Becerra said on NBC4s News Conference program.

The report discovered a hidden reserve that had been growing thanks to Napolitano's office overestimating the 10-campus university system's needs.

Any formal probe into Napolitanos office would involve questioning of the UC Regents, the governing body of the UC-system responsible for fiscal oversight. According to the California Constitution, it is entirely independent of all political and sectarian influence and kept free therefrom in the appointment of its Regents and in the administration of its affairs.

Napolitano, who served as secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama administration, is herself a former Regent, and some members and former members of the board are prominent Democrats. They include: Richard Blum, husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; California Gov. Jerry Brown, who appointed Becerra to his post as attorney general; and California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

Becerra was asked if he would be more inclined to probe the UC system if the Board of Regents were stacked with Republican members with whom he did not have political relationships.

I will go after any entity that is taking advantage of the California public, especially our tax resources, Becerra said, acknowledging the familiar names and expressing confidence that the individuals would come before the legislature and give the information we need.

If not, Becerra said, then people should be careful.

The Board of Regents voted in January to increase in-state tuition and fees by $336  or 2.5 percent  next academic year. But due to the findings of the audit, some lawmakers are calling for a reversal. The board is scheduled to meet on May 18 in a Closed Session and plans to discuss the audit of the administrative functions of Napolitanos office, according to the minutes posted on their website.

A source within the Republican caucus of the California Legislature told Fox News that while theyd like to say Becerras decision was a cop out, the proper channel for further investigation is through Speaker Rendon.

On Monday, Republican members of the Assembly sent a letter to Rendon calling for a subpoena of documents relating to the audit.

We believe this is not a partisan or political issue, but an issue of trust in our institutions, the letter reads.

We should not fear the truth, in fact I believe it is one of our key roles on behalf of our constituents to seek it out zealously," Republican Assemblyman Dante Acosta told Fox News. "The legislature has the power to issue a subpoena, and my Republican colleagues and I are urging the Speaker to take this necessary step to bring transparency to the UC Office of the President. Californias students, parents, and taxpayers deserve answers.

Rendon's office pushed back, however, making clear they will not grant the request at this stage.

"The legislature does have the power to subpoena various agencies but thats only done in cases where there is criminal malfeasance. But in this case, the speaker hasnt seen that. At this point, he will not be asking for a subpoena, a Rendon spokesperson told Fox News.
Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed Monday by the state Assembly.

Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill to repeal part of a law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and overthrow the U.S. government was rampant. The bill now goes to the Senate.

It would eliminate part of the law that allows public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist Party.

Employees could still be fired for being members of organizations they know advocate for overthrowing the government by force or violence.

The bill updates an outdated provision in state law, said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the San Francisco Bay Area Democrat who authored the measure.

Some Assembly Republicans said the Cold War-era law should not be changed.

Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Southern California Republican who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China are "still a threat."

"This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians," said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican who represents a coastal district in Southern California. "Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against."
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the Trump administration on Fox News' "Hannity" Monday for its work with the Chinese government on confronting North Korea's regime over its burgeoning nuclear weapons program.

While discussing last month's Mar-a-Lago summit between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Rice said the administration "impressed upon the Chinese that they really do have to do something about the North Koreans, and they did it through the old fashioned way which was negotiation and discussion."

Rice, now a professor at Stanford University, also told host Sean Hannity that Trump's decision to strike a Syrian military airfield during the summit helped reestablish American credibility on global issues.

"Credibility is not divisible," Rice said. "When you are not credible about Syria, youre not credible about North Korea. When you are credible about Syria, by having made that strike ... it got the Chinese's attention.

"When you say the United States means what it says and it will do what it says its going to do, it matters."

Rice described the situation on the Korean Peninsula as "very bad" and "dangerous" and said Trump had to keep working to "get the Chinese to change their calculation."

"You have to now say to the Chinese, 'All right, time to really get tough,'" Rice told Hannity. "Because its not a choice between a nuclear North Korea and the collapse of the regime. It is a choice between 'You do something about the regime or we will.'"
Barack Obama seems to be enjoying his ex-presidency. Hillary Clinton seems to be anguishing over her ex-candidacy.

In accepting the JFK Profile in Courage award, Obama weighed in on the debate over the law nicknamed for him. But he threaded the needle in not mentioning President Trump by name.

The media would love to cover a Trump-Obama slugfest. And Obama is clearly not going to retire to a quiet existence and paint portraits, as George W. Bush did. But he is said to have appreciated Bushs policy of not criticizing his successor and plans to follow a modified version, at least for now.

Clinton is following a very different path, speaking out against Trump.

The 44th president noted in his speech that some members of Congress risked losing their seats, and ending their political careers, by voting for ObamaCare.

It is my fervent hope and the hope of millions ... such courage is still possible, that today's members of Congress regardless of party are willing to look at the facts and speak the truth, even when it contradicts party positions, Obama said.

What hes really saying is that wavering Republican lawmakers should stand up to Trump and their leaders and refuse to gut his health care law, protect people with preexisting conditions and not slash Medicaid. But Obama didnt even refer to last weeks House vote, framing his argument in a loftier way so hes not accused of attacking the man who beat his secretary of State.

Obama is taking heat, however, for making money. The New York Times editorial page has whacked him for accepting a big-money speech financed by investment banks:

Is it a betrayal of that sentiment for the former president to have accepted a reported $400,000 to speak to a Wall Street firm? Perhaps not, but it is disheartening that a man whose historic candidacy was premised on a moral examination of politics now joins almost every modern president in cashing in. And it shows surprising tone deafness, more likely to be expected from the billionaires the Obamas have vacationed with these past months than from a president keenly attuned to the worries and resentments of the 99 percent.



So the Times is asking Obama not to do what every former president this side of Jimmy Carter has donecash in on the speaking circuitin service of some higher ideal?

The big Wall Street paydays were a big problem for Hillary because everyone knew she was running again, so corporations could curry favor by throwing six-figure sums at her or her husband. But Obamas political career is over.

Clinton let a flash of anger show when she tweeted about Emmanuel Macron defeating Marine LePen in France:

Victory for Macron, for France, the EU, & the world. Defeat to those interfering w/democracy. (But the media says I cant talk about that.)

Translation: Shes smarting from the harsh coverage of an interview last week in which she took absolute responsibility for losing the election but then blamed others: James Comey, Wikileaks, Russian hackers.

Since a Russian-affiliated group hacked Macrons emailthough French media followed a blackout order on the contentsClinton was taking a whack at Russian hackers, who she believes hurt her badly in 2016.

But she was also saying the media dont want her to talk about the role of outside players in her loss. What the commentators were actually saying is that Clinton never owned up to her lack of an economic message or her fatal neglect of key Rust Belt states.

If Hillary wants to take on the media, be my guest. At least it will make her Twitter feed more interesting than it was during the campaign.
Concerns from U.S. soldiers about going into combat with bulky, 150-pound body armor inspired Marine Corps engineer Flora Jordan to create a design that was 45 percent lighter and equally protective -- boosting soldiers safety and agility in tasks like exiting Humvees and tank hatches.

They also had trouble shouldering a rifle, getting a good rifle stock to shoot. And anyone in a vehicle had trouble getting out, said Jordan, who was honored Tuesday in Washington along with 25 other federal employees and teams for a range of achievements and innovations.

At the end of the day, the great work that you do is for the great people of this country, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said at the Capitol Hill event.

Jordan and the others were finalists of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Services 2017 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America medals.

Sometimes, employees' accomplishments arent even recognized, said Max Stier, the groups chief executive officer. Thats why we are here today.

The winners will be selected by a 17-member committee that includes Stier and leaders from government, business, academia and journalism.

When they leave here today, theyll just go back to their buildings and offices and do what they do best, said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. So today we are going to be their paparazzi, their Vanity Fair.

Other finalists included Rory Cooper, a Department of Veterans Affair engineer designing next-generation wheelchairs and other assistive-technology equipment to help disabled veterans and others.

Cooper, in a wheelchair since a bicycle accident in his 20s, said he was surprised about the reaction to a recently designed pnenumantic, submersible wheelchair.

I had a veteran say he could finally wade into the water when he goes fishing. And I was bombarded by parents saying, This is wonderful. My child can finally go to a water park,  said Cooper, whose Pittsburgh lab includes a staff full of veterans and people with disabilities.

The finalists annoucement coincided with President Trump recently proclaiming May 7-13 Public Service Recognition Week.

Throughout the first 100 days, I have seen the tremendous work civil servants do to fulfill our duty to the American people, Trump said in the proclamation.
White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner played a key role in the U.S.-Canadian talks that ultimately resulted in President Trumps decision last month to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement instead of scrapping the pact altogether, according to multiple reports  but exactly who blinked first is unknown.

Canadas The National Post reported Monday that a White House official, later identified by the Toronto Metro and Associated Press as Trump's aide and son-in-law Kushner, called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus office to urge him to persuade Trump against pulling out of NAFTA, which Trump has previously called the worst trade deal ever.

You never know how much of it is theatre, but it didnt feel that way, a senior Canadian diplomatic source told The National Post. Maybe theyre just learning how to be a government. At least they were open to the conversation, and that stopped them doing something rash and destructive.

But a White House official told the AP it was Trudeaus office that called Kushner on April 26 after seeing reports that Trump wanted to withdraw from NAFTA. Kushner reportedly told his Canadian counterparts that Trudeau and Trump needed to discuss the matter themselves. Canadian aides asked when Trudeau should call and Kushner phoned them back later that evening to say Trump was ready to talk.

Trump has cited the call from Trudeau, and a similar conversation with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, as influencing him to attempt to make a better trade deal, rather than tearing up the agreement.

I like both these gentlemen very much, Trump said later. I respect their countries very much. The relationship is very special. And I said, I will hold on the termination  lets see if we can make it a fair deal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In another life, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Uns propaganda chief could have had a heck of a career as an insult comic.

The latest screed from Pyongyangs unnamed prince of prose (or princes -- it's unclear how many write these gems) was delivered Monday in response to Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., asserting Kim Jong Un was a whack job.

Like previous statements, it bucked all norms for engaging in international repartee:

It is a serious provocation that Gardner, like a psychopath, dare to bear the evil that dares our highest dignity, the statement said, according to a translation. It is Americas misfortune that a man mixed in with human dirt like Gardner, who has lost basic judgment and body hair, could only spell misfortune for the United States.

The real-world reference point behind some of the putdowns, most of which are disseminated by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, is unclear. Gardner, for instance, has a full head of hair.

But KCNA has been dealing out hits against U.S. and international politicians for years, perfecting a style thats veered from jaw-dropping to shockingly racist.

Among the worst insults directed at former President Barack Obama, North Korea in 2014 branded him a juvenile delinquent, clown and a dirty fellow. Obama, the KCNA statement said, was somebody who does not even have the basic appearances of a human being.

Earlier that year, an unidentified North Korean spokesperson called ex-Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf donning the mask of sheep who had a hideous lantern jaw.

Kerrys predecessor, Hillary Clinton, was described in 2009 as by no means intelligent and a funny lady.

Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping, an unnamed North Korean source said.

The reclusive regime has also made former South Korean President Park Geun-hye a popular target, alternately naming her as a senile granny, a tailless, old, insane b----, and a traitor for all times.

On the last description, North Korea may have scored a late victory. Geun-hye was forced out of office amid an influence-peddling scandal.

Kim Jong Uns staff was no easier on former President George W. Bushs administration: Bush was called a hooligan who looked like a chicken soaked in the rain, Vice President Dick Cheney was mentally deranged and a most cruel monster and bloody-thirsty beast and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was termed a political dwarf, human scum or hysteric.
NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers cast a dash of doubt Tuesday on the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia-tied hackers sought to help Donald Trump in the 2016 election, explaining for the first time in public testimony why his agency had only "moderate confidence" in that judgment.

Testifying before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Rogers affirmed he and the NSA were highly confident the Russians sought to hurt Hillary Clinton in the election. But Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked Rogers  who also heads U.S. Cyber Command -- why the NSA differed on the related conclusion about Trump in the Jan. 6 intelligence report on alleged Russian interference in the election.

That conclusion stated that the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trumps election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him.

The FBI and CIA backed that with high confidence, but the NSA only held that judgment with moderate confidence.

Cotton noted that fellow Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., during the hearing called Trump Russias preferred candidate and asked Rogers to explain the discrepancy.

I wouldnt call it a discrepancy, Id call it an honest difference of opinion between three different organizations and in the end I made that call, Rogers said.

He added that when he looked at the data, for each of the other judgments there were multiple sources and he could exclude every other alternative rationale. But for this particular conclusion, it didnt have the same level of sourcing and the same level of multiple sources, he said.

He noted that he still agreed with the judgment, but he wasnt at the same confidence level as CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey.

Probed further by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. -- who was Clintons running mate  Rogers clarified that while he was highly confident the Russians wanted to prevent Clinton from winning, and to undercut her effectiveness if she did win, he was only moderately confident the Russians actively wanted Trump to win.

The FBI, CIA and NSA were all in complete agreement about the Clinton-related conclusion in the report, which stated: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russias goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.

Earlier at Monday's hearing, Rogers also testified that there has been no reduction in Russian efforts to affect the outcome of other countries' elections, and warned about the dangers of state and non-state actors moving from data "extraction" to data "manipulation."

Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., asked Rogers if he had seen a reduction in Russian efforts to meddle in elections  and pointed toward alleged interference in Sundays French presidential race.

No I have not, Rogers said, adding that U.S. needs to publicly out Russian behavior.

They need to know we will publicly identify this behavior, he said.

Emmanuel Macron, the eventual winner of the French election, was hit by a hack Friday which revealed a number of his campaign team's emails. It was not clear who was behind the hack, but it was reminiscent of hacks that hit the 2016 U.S. election that exposed Democratic National Committee staff emails, and the private emails of Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta. Both the Clinton campaign and the Obama administration have blamed Russia for those hacks.

Rogers was also asked by lawmakers to lay out his worst-case scenario for future cyber attacks. Rogers said he was concerned about outright destructive activity on critical infrastructure as well as cyberattacks moving from the obtaining and revealing data to data manipulation on a massive scale.

Such as changing voter rolls? asked McCain.

Yes, said Rogers. Thats a very different kind of challenge for us.

He also warned about a possible situation in which, as the effectiveness of cyberattacks becomes clearer, non-state actors decide cyber is an attractive weapon with which to destroy the status quo.

During further questioning, Rogers said the National Security Agency became aware of Russian attempts to interfere with political institutions in the summer of 2015.

He said that when he came aware of Russian actions, he informed the FBI, and also in his role as head of the U.S. Cyber Command, informed the Pentagon to make sure its systems were optimized in order to be able to withstand such an attack.
Close allies of former President Barack Obama quietly launched a new technology startup on Monday to further their ambitions of helping liberal candidates win political races across the country after waves of losses during the Obama years.

The latest move is called Higher Ground Labs and is being launched by a handful of Obama acolytes including the ex-presidents 2012 online organizing director Betsy Hoover and Organizing for Action Executive Director Jon Carson, as well as former executives from Tumblr and Google.

Higher Ground hopes to double down on Democratic reliance on technology to organize activists and track voting trends, by focusing on lower-profile races, from governors to town mayors. The group reportedly already has taken in $1 million in new donations.

OBAMA, DEMOCRATIC 'SUPER GROUP' UNITE TO END GERRYMANDERING, WIN STATE RACES, RECLAIM MAJORITIES

Higher Ground is seeking tech entrepreneurs on its website, Are you building a new tool or product to meet a challenge confronting progressive campaigns? Apply for our accelerator program!

Max Wood, developer of Deck Apps, is one such entrepreneur. According to his website, Deck is a predictive modeling tool used by progressive campaigns and causes to better understand how many votes it will take to win an election and where those votes are most likely to come from. Wood said Higher Ground is helping him change the way we organize so we can find new ways of winning, claiming theres a real risk we could end up losing the thread on this movement.

Theyve got their work cut out for them. Since 2009, Democrats have lost control of the House, the Senate, and the White House, along with 900 state legislative seats. The GOP now holds 32 state houses and 33 governorships  more than 60 percent of state-level political power.

"As a lifelong campaigner, it is clear that we could be scaling faster and innovating in smarter ways, said Hoover, a Higher Ground Labs co-founder. As Democrats, our organizing needs to evolve.

THE EXES: OBAMA AVOIDS HITTING TRUMP, HILLARY SKEWERS THE MEDIA

Higher Ground Labs is yet another component in an emerging strategy by ex-President Obama to continue his advocacy, with funding from wealthy scions of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. When laying out his vision for his post-presidential activism, Obama said last October that he wanted to create a platform where young activists can get trained and learn from each other. He also gave an overview last week for his presidential center in Chicago, which he envisions in part as a campus for training future political leaders.

Much of the reported work so far has involved raising large sums of money with long-time Obama bundlers like Marty Nesbitt, founder of Chicago-based Parking Spot who is now raising millions of dollars of donations for the new Obama presidential library in Chicago.

A leftist online publication called Jacobin Mag reported the following reply when it pressed the Barack Obama Foundation for answers on whether the president is getting paid by corporate America to ease off progressive policies: The Obama Foundation will focus on developing the next generation of citizens  and what it means to be a good citizen in the 21st century. More than a library, or a museum, the Obama Presidential Center will be a place that brings people together and inspires individuals and communities to take on big challenges.

Meanwhile, Obamas nonprofit community organizing project, Organizing for Action, is bringing in thousands of new people who have never been engaged before, connecting them to a nationwide grassroots network, providing them with cost-free training, and empowering them to apply those skills to make change in their communities," according to OFA communications director Jesse Lehrich.
In a major policy shift, the Pentagon announced Tuesday it would directly arm Syrian Kurdish fighters for the first time to help expedite the capture of the so-called ISIS capital of Raqqa  against the wishes of NATO ally Turkey, which considers the group terrorists.

President Trump made the decision Monday to ensure a clear victory over ISIS in Raqqa, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana W. White said in a statement announcing the move.

White said the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which include the Kurds, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future, a position long shared by senior American military commanders.

While there is no mention in the statement of arming the Kurds  it only calls to equip them  U.S. defense officials told Fox News the plan includes supplying machine guns, small arms, ammunition, bulldozers and armored vehicles such as the M1117 Guardian.

This will not be micromanaged like it was during the Obama administration, said one official, referring to the prior administrations close review of arms to other Syrian rebels.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called his Turkish counterpart, Fikri Isk, to discuss the issue while visiting Denmark for an anti-ISIS coalition meeting with allies.

Last month, Mattis hosted Isik at the Pentagon, but the two remained deadlocked on the issue.

Just days after the Turkish defense ministers visit to Washington, nearly two-dozen Turkish jets bombed three areas in northeast Syria and Iraq, killing roughly 20 members of the Syrian Kurdish fighters of the YPG.

Turkey has long considered the YPG an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish insurgent group which has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey killing tens of thousands of civilians. Both Washington and Ankara consider the PKK a terrorist group, but the U.S. military has long said the YPG represent the best fighters on the ground in Syria against ISIS.

Acknowledging the long-held concerns of Turkey, the Pentagon statement said, we are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey. We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally.

The U.S. military has based dozens of jets and other aircraft at a Turkish airbase near the border with Syria to conduct airstrikes against ISIS.

The Pentagon has long desired to have Arab elements of the Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) compose the ideal assault force for the upcoming Raqqa operation over the Kurds. But after many months of attempts to recruit and train an Arab force, American officials acknowledged there werent enough of them, and they needed the Kurds to help capture Raqqa.

Trump is scheduled to meet his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Erdogan, at the White House next week.

In Denmark, Mattis was asked about the way forward with Turkey over the Raqqa issue.

Were going to sort it out, he replied.
FBI Director James Comey last week reportedly misstated the number of Hillary Clinton's emails that Huma Abedin forwarded to her husband, Anthony Weiner, to print out, ProPublica reported.

Comey told a Senate Judiciary Committee last week that Clinton aide Abedin forwarded "hundreds of thousands" of Clinton's emails to her husband. But two unnamed sources familiar with the matter told ProPublica that Abedin only forwarded a handful of those emails.

The sources told ProPublica that it was more likely that most of the emails appeared on Weiners laptop as a result of backups of Abedin's Blackberry device. The FBI said it would correct the record by sending a letter to Congress this week, but that plan appeared to be on hold for now, the website reported.

Comey said that it appeared Abedin made a regular practice of forwarding emails to [Weiner]" so he could print them out and deliver them to Clinton.

However, when the emails were obtained, they turned out to be mostly duplicates of emails that federal authorities had already received earlier in their investigation, ProPublica reported.

Comeys testimony before the committee members was his most extensive public explanation of the events that unfolded 11 days before the November 2016 presidential election.

Comey said he had to speak up on Oct. 28 because he believed the FBI had found emails that could provide insight into Clintons use of a private server and possibly shift the focus of the investigation.

The FBI said it discovered thousands of emails on a laptop belonging to Weiner, leading federal authorities to revisit the Clinton email investigation.

It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election, he said.

Clinton said Tuesday she was confident she was on track to winning the 2016 presidential race but that two things derailed her: Comeys Oct. 28 letter notifying Congress he had reopened the investigation into her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state, as well as the release of campaign chairman John Podestas emails that were allegedly stolen by Russian hackers and released online.

Two days before the election, Comey again wrote to Congress saying the FBI found no new evidence against Clinton  but by then, many political analysts said the damage was already done.

Fox News Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray dropped his re-election bid Tuesday after four men claimed he sexually abused them when they were teenagers  claims Murray, a high-profile critic of President Trump, has denied.

Murray, a Democrat, had been campaigning for a second term but said he had decided that it was best for the city for him to end his campaign.

"It tears me to pieces to step away but I believe it's in the best interest of this city that I love," Murray said at a press conference Tuesday.

A fourth accuser came forward last week to accuse the 62-year-old of paying him for sex when he was a teenager decades ago. The unnamed accuser said 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. Two other men have made similar accusations.

Murray has denied the claims, declaring them to be part of an anti-gay political conspiracy against him. Jeff Reading, Murray's spokesman, labeled the latest claim an "ambush copycat false accusation" in a statement to the Associated Press last week.

Murray was elected in 2013 after serving for 18 years as a state lawmaker. He helped raise Seattles minimum wage to $15 an hour and was the prime sponsor of Washington states gay marriage law. He has also been a frequent opponent of Trump, recently announcing Seattle was challenging Trumps order to withhold federal money from so-called sanctuary cities  states which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law.

Murray had been the favorite to win a second term, but after the claims were announced a number of Democrats declared their intention to join the race to run against him.

Murray grew up in working class neighborhoods in and around Seattle and became one of the state's most prominent political figures. He would later serve as campaign manager for Cal Anderson, a Seattle state senator who was the Legislature's first openly gay member.

Murray failed in his bid to win Anderson's seat when Anderson died in 1995, but he was appointed to fill the legislative seat of the state representative who won the state senate campaign.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The former business partner of President Trumps chief strategist, Steve Bannon, said he could no longer remain quiet as the media created its own narrative about his former colleague.

Jeff Kwatinetz, the founder of The Firma talent management company in Santa Monica, Calif.told The Hollywood Reporter that he is absolutely positive that Bannon is not racist. He said 20 people who worked at the company while Bannon was there asked him why the media is lying about Steve.

I will always love and care about Steve because he was a friend to me when I needed a friend, and he worked hard for me, more than was required, he said. He was a stand-up, great guy. Im a die-hard liberal with very liberal values and I have no reason to stand up for the guy. He doesnt ask people to defend him, and he doesnt seem to be bothered by the lies, he just does his thing. Thats how he always was  very self-assured.

Kwatinetz, who is Jewish and has given millions to liberal candidates, remembered Bannons intelligence and work ethic. Bannon worked at The Firm in 2002 and 2003.

He has beliefs and stands by them, he told the magazine. Those beliefs arent based on racism, theyre based on what he honestly believes is best for the world. Do I agree with all of them? No. He was a Bush and a [Donald] Rumsfeld supporter, I was a Bill Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporter. But not being a liberal doesnt mean youre a racist.
The personal appeal that President Trump said he received from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month  leading him to renegotiate NAFTA  was only made after Trumps son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner called Trudeaus office in Ottawa and begged him to talk some sense into the commander-in-chief, a report says.

The unconventional move was revealed Monday by the National Post, who spoke to several government sources familiar with the desperate pleas from Washington.

Torontos Metro newspaper later revealed that Kushner was the government official who made the phone call.

White House advisers had been worried that Trump would scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement  after he famously dubbed it the worst trade deal ever  and decided to phone the Prime Ministers Office to get Trudeau to change his mind, the sources said.

You never know how much of it is theatre, but it didnt feel that way, a senior Canadian diplomatic source told the Post of the call between Trumps people and Trudeaus.

Maybe theyre just learning how to be a government, the source said. At least they were open to the conversation, and that stopped them doing something rash and destructive.

According to reports, Trudeau called Trump on the night of April 26 and spoke to him about renegotiating NAFTA. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto made a similar appeal, as well.

The president later claimed that he was adamant about pulling out of NAFTA, but the phone calls with Trudeau and Pena Nieto helped convince him otherwise.

Click for more from the New York Post.
President Donald Trump is looking for a millionaire to buy his luxurious French St. Martin beachfront estate, which he has used primarily as a rental property since purchasing it in 2013.

Le Chateau des Palmiers, a walled compound on the northwestern tip of the Caribbean island on the Rue de la Falaise, recently hit the market with Sothebys Realty International. Sothebys lists the price as upon request, but another listings aggregator in St. Martin, 7th Heaven Properties, says the asking price is $28 million.

Mr. Trump has marketed the tropical refuge and claimed the asset in financial disclosures filed in July 2015 before his presidential bid.

Greetings from Donald J. Trump. Escape to a place no other, reads a brochure for the property.

The sprawling 4.8-acre estate on St. Martins Plum Bay encompasses two villas, one five-bedroom and another four-bedroom and a number of other red-tile-roofed structures, from pool cabanas to a house for the estate manager, according to the listing with Lesley Reed, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

In total, the compound contains 11 bedrooms and 12 full bathrooms. The larger villa has a two-story master bedroom with a Jacuzzi bath tub and two private balconies. The smaller villa has a number of themed bedrooms, including the Jungle Room with a king-size bed.

The whole property is enclosed by an eight-foot boundary wall, according to the listing.

Rental packages for the presidents tropical refuge start at $6,000 per night in the low season for the smaller of two villas and top off at $28,000 during the winter holidays, according to Sothebys St. Martin office.

Disclosures sent to the federal Office of Government Ethics indicate that Mr. Trump owns the St. Martin property under two limited liability companies, Excel Venture I LLC and Excel Venture Corp II, for which he owns a 100 percent share.

Hes collected between $100,000 and $1 million annually through rental income, according to the 2015 disclosure, which values the asset between $5 million and $25 million.

Mr. Trump has owned the rental since 2013, when he bought Le Chateau des Palmiers for an undisclosed amount. It was reportedly listed at the time for $19.7 million, meaning the U.S. president is looking to turn a 40 percent profit on the sale after only four years of ownership.

The White House press office and a publicist for the Trump Organization did not immediately return requests for comment.
A Washington state contractor said his workers remodeling Ted Bundys childhood home experienced a handful of strange occurrences during their time at the house.

Casey Clopton, the contractor, told The News Tribune that a plea for help appeared on a window as his crew worked in the basement and heavy furniture mysteriously toppled over.

Im not one to believe a lot of this stuff, but this house made me a believer, Clopton told the paper in an interview that ran Monday.

Bundy was born in Vermont. In 1955, when he was 9 years old, his family moved into the Tacoma home.

He grew up to be one of the most notorious serial killers in history. He had been linked to disappearance of an 8-year-old girl when he was 14, but denied killing her. The paper reported there was no evidence he committed any crimes in the home.

David Truong bought the house in September with the intention of redoing it and flipping it for a higher price. The News Tribune reported that neither Truong nor the real estate broker knew the houses history.

Clopton said he first visited the home in October and brought his 11-year-old daughter along with him. He said that his daughter got an eerie feeling about the home and started to cry.

She said she felt weird. She didnt like it there, he said.

When Clopton returned with a few workers the next week, one crew member got the same uncomfortable feeling.

Periodically, throughout the course of the job, we had weird things keep happening, Clopton said.

He said there was one time they re-entered the house, which had been locked, to find that every cabinet was open. He said one worker spotted the words Help me scrawled across a basement window and while the crew was working downstairs they heard a dresser in the upstairs hallway fall. Cellphone and other electronics would also occasionally get unplugged and immediately die.

Clopton said he started to ask neighbors about the house and learned that the Bundy family had once lived there. Clopton said he called two pastors to bless the house and even wrote a Bible verse on the wall.

Everything in that house fought us, and I was kind of weird about it, he said. But I go to church and I have God with me.

Click for more from The News Tribune.
Humanity's first up-close look at Pluto was so intriguing that some researchers want to go back and spend a lot more time studying the icy world.

Late last month, 35 scientists met for 7 hours in Houston to discuss the basic blueprint and science goals of a potential Pluto orbiter mission. Such an effort would build upon the knowledge gained during the epic Pluto flyby performed in July 2015 by NASA's New Horizons probe.

Participants came away from the April 24 workshop fired up and committed to doing their best to make such a project happen, said New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, who was there. [Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures]

The meeting was reminiscent, Stern said, of New Horizons' earliest days: the late 1980s, when he and a few other people first raised the possibility of launching a flyby mission to Pluto.

"It felt a lot like that, but [with] a new generation of people," Stern, who's based at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, told Space.com.

New Horizons' flyby revealed Pluto to be a stunningly diverse world with vast plains of nitrogen ice, 2-mile-high mountains of water ice and a wealth of other surface features. But the probe got just a fleeting look at the dwarf planet system while zooming by; an orbiter would linger and lift Pluto's veil even more, Stern said.

"You could map every square inch of the planet and its moons," he said. "It would be a scientific spectacular."

As the possible mission is currently envisioned, the orbiter would cruise around the Pluto system, using gravity assists from the dwarf planet's largest moon, Charon, to slingshot it here and there, Stern said. The strategy would be similar to that employed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which has shaped its path through the Saturn system over the years via flybys of the ringed planet's largest moon, Titan.

The current concept is therefore different from one Stern proposed shortly after New Horizons' flyby, which would have put a lander down on Charon.

With a Charon lander, "you're stuck looking at one side of Pluto," Stern said. (Charon and Pluto are tidally locked, meaning each world always shows the same face to the other.)

"And you can't get in superclose. You can't get down in the atmosphere," he added. "This, I think, is a better mission concept."

Though the mission would be Cassini-like, the Pluto orbiter itself would resemble NASA's Dawn probe, which is currently circling the dwarf planet Ceres, Stern said. Like Dawn, the Pluto probe would likely use electric propulsion and have a half-dozen science instruments, he said.

However, because the Pluto orbiter would be operating so far from the sun, it would rely on nuclear power to generate its electricity, rather than sunlight, as Dawn does, Stern added. And the price tag would be higher than Dawn's $467 million; the Pluto effort would probably qualify as a New Frontiers mission or a small flagship. (New Frontiers missions cost about $1 billion, whereas flagships run about $2 billion.)

Stern said a Pluto orbiter could get off the ground in the late 2020s or so. A 2030 launch would have ceremonial significance, coming on the 100th anniversary of Pluto's discovery, he added. The probe would spend seven or eight years journeying to the dwarf planet, then perhaps four or five years studying Pluto and its moons.

When the probe's work there was done, Stern said, the spacecraft could conceivably use one last Charon flyby to escape the Pluto system and head toward another object in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of frigid bodies beyond Neptune's orbit. (New Horizons is doing something similar; it's now headed for a Jan. 1, 2019, flyby of a small Kuiper Belt object called 2014 MU69.)

But a Pluto orbiter mission is a long way from becoming reality, Stern stressed. He said he and his fellow researchers aim to mature the concept in time for it to be considered during the next Planetary Science Decadal Survey, a U.S. National Research Council effort that sets exploration priorities for NASA every 10 years.

The next decadal survey will start in 2020, finish in 2022 and be published in 2023, Stern said.

"The curtain is opening," he said of the Pluto orbiter idea. "This thing is going to be a topic of discussion now for the next few years."

Originally published on Space.com.
Drones seem to be finding a purpose in a growing number of areas, including military surveillance, autonomous deliveries, and a diverse range of consumer drones. But now there's another area where drones could become popular: public video displays.

NTT Docomo is best known as a Japanese mobile network operator, but it also dabbles in a number of other business areas include hardware R&D. The latest device to come out of its research labs is a drone that doubles as a spherical video display.

It's called the Floating Sphere Drone Display and it consists of a fairly typical drone surrounded by an LED-covered frame. When in flight, the frame spins at high speed allowing the LEDs attached to it to act as a display outputting video. As far as the viewer is concerned, all they see is a sphere displaying video while flying or floating above them.

NTT Docomo believes the Sphere Drone will be of interest to advertisers who want to grab the attention of people passing by below. But they also see a use for the drone at live shows and in concert halls where typically it's hard to see what's going on unless you're right at the front near the stage.

For now, the Sphere Drone is just a working prototype. However, according to Nikkei Technology, NTT Docomo wants to offer it as a commercial drone in 2018. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them scale it up to offer larger spherical displays, or have multiple Sphere Drones working together to output scrolling text etc.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
Traveling is a terrific way to ensure the mom in your life is showered with love for Mothers Day.

Even if the kids are tagging along, there are still places to explore where the whole family can enjoy while mom also finds relaxation and comfort.

And the charm of the South offers up several fantastic destinations for a weekend escape.

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Moms will love the clean and quiet beaches of Hilton Head. Rent a bike to ride around the island, explore the shops at Coligny Plaza, take the kids to a movie theater that doesnt crush your wallet with its prices ($6 for matinee show) or just soak up the sun on the beach and relax the day away.

You wont find huge partygoers on the beach here, which is great for families looking to safely enjoy the sand and the ocean with their little ones.

The seemingly endless options of tremendous restaurants throughout Hilton Head is a great bonus as well. If youre having trouble picking, I highly recommend Its Greek to Me, located just near the Coligny Plaza. You wont find a better authentic taste of Greece anywhere else in the South.

Asheville, North Carolina

Perhaps your mom is a bit more outdoorsy and would prefer to hit some hiking trails and explore nature? Or maybe you want your mom to receive a luxury spa treatment? Or even a place to sample craft beer?

Well, Asheville has all that and more. The North Carolina mountains are beautiful year-round, and there are a number of romantic trails to hike. Asheville is also home to The Spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn, a luxury resort with a sensational spa facility that will leave you speechless. It has 20 water features and several ways to customize a spa day or weekend for mom.

Additionally, Asheville has the most breweries per capita, making it the brewery capital of America. Several of the breweries have outdoor areas where kids can roam while the adults can taste some of the best craft beer in the country.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Adult families need to have fun together too, and The Big Easy is an ideal spot for those old enough to enjoy the night life scene. The reputation of Bourbon Street is well known and should be on every adults bucket-list.

That said, there are still several ways for the entire family to have fun even if you bring the children along. Take a horse and carriage ride around the French Quarter and let your tour guide amaze the kids with the history of New Orleans. Make a stop at Cafe Du Monde and watch their eyes light up at the sight of those amazing beignets.

The Royal Sonesta New Orleans is a beautiful hotel to stay and visit as well, especially if you love jazz. The Jazz Playhouse is a place with soothing sounds to relax the night away. What mom wouldnt love that, right?

And if mom needs to step out for a drink while dad watches the kids, shes got plenty of options, including one of the oldest bars in America: Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop.

Jekyll Island, Georgia

A perfect spot for a relaxing retreat, Jekyll Island is a small island with wide open beaches located off the coast Georgia. If mom is looking for a true escape from the world, you cant do much better than this. What was once a secluded island for the elites of America (the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Pulitzers, etc.), it is now one of the largest preservation projects in the Southeast and was named a state park in 1947.

Discover the beauty of the island and take a historic tour; jump on a bike and explore it all on your own; take the whole family fishing or just chill out on the beach.

Jekyll is also home to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, which educates visitors about the creatures and has several interactive exhibits to experience. On Mothers Day weekend, Jekyll will be hosting the Turtle Crawl, a 5K run and 10K race to help benefit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.

Charleston, South Carolina

If mom is looking for the beach but also a bigger city, Charleston mixes both. Hit Folly Beach with the family for a day of fun in the sun and then do dinner downtown. A gorgeous city everywhere you turn, Charleston is home to cobblestone streets, historic architecture and beautiful pastel antebellum houses.

The colorful houses on Rainbow Road are a stunning view for the entire family to walk through. Additionally, the city has several tours to take for those interested in exploring the history of Chucktown. Check out the harbor boat tours, the Boone Hall Plantation or the pirate tours!

The city is full of so much southern charm, theres a reason why Southern Living named it the best city in the South.
Authorities say former Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Chief Jim Sideras has been arrested for suspected possession of child pornography.

The Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office said Monday that the charges are the result of a search warrant carried out last week.

A court filing says that an email address linked to Sideras received at least two emails with child pornography attached from an email account under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police.

Sideras was to leave his post at the end of June after serving almost 34 years with Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, but city officials fired him last week.

It wasn't clear if Sideras has an attorney. He hasn't answered telephone calls for comment from The Associated Press since the search warrant was carried out.
next Image 1 of 3

prev next Image 2 of 3

prev Image 3 of 3

The Latest on the arrest of a suspect in a series of shootings in Phoenix (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

Police have identified new victims in a series of shootings in Phoenix that resulted in the arrest of a 23-year-old man.

Authorities on Monday said Aaron Saucedo faces homicide charges in connection with a case police have said was the work of a serial killer.

Police previously said at least seven people were killed and two others wounded over a four-month period last year. On Monday, they raised the number of people killed to nine and said there were 12 total shootings  with the first one happening in 2015.

Police say one of the nine people was a 61-year-old man killed in August 2015 whom Saucedo knew through his mother. Authorities say Saucedo did not know the other victims.

Saucedo initially was arrested last month in connection with the August 2015 killing. Police say tips from the community resulted in his arrest.

____

3:25 p.m.

Authorities say a suspect has been arrested in series of shooting attacks in Phoenix last year that left at least seven people dead and two others wounded over a four-month period.

Phoenix police announced Monday afternoon that 23-year-old Aaron Juan Saucedo was taken into custody in connection with the case that authorities said was the work of a serial killer.

All but one of the killings took place in a predominantly Latino neighborhood between March and July of 2016.

Police arrested Saucedo last in connection with a separate 2015 killing.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams says tips from the public led to Saucedo being linked to last year's killings.
Authorities in Arizona announced Monday that they had identified and charged a suspect in a series of shootings that killed nine people over an 11-month period.

Aaron Juan Saucedo, 23, had been arrested last month in connection with the August 2015 murder of his mother's boyfriend, 61-year-old Raul Romero. He faces 26 felony counts of homicide, aggravated assault and drive-by-shooting related to 12 attacks, which took place between August 2015 and July 2016.

All but one of the killings took place in Maryvale, a predominantly Latino neighborhood of Phoenix. Police say the shooter stalked the streets with a handgun after dark, picking victims who were either outside of their homes or sitting in cars.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams and city Mayor Greg Stanton appeared alongside other top officials including the county's top prosecutor to announce the break in a case that had appeared largely stalled in recent months as leads and tips dried up.



"This case plagued our community for more than a year ... and left behind a trail of victims that included mothers, sons, brothers, sisters and families still mourning the loss of their loved ones," Williams said.

Authorities said there was no immediate connection between the suspect and his alleged victims and no sign that anyone else was involved.

Police said the killings were unrelated to the 2015 freeway shootings that terrified Phoenix drivers.



But in a strange quirk, the Department of Public Safety said Saucedo's gun from the killing of his mother's friend had been test-fired as part of the freeway shooting probe.



The weapon was the same type used in the freeway shootings -- a High-Point 9mm pistol -- but authorities say Saucedo had nothing to do with that case.



The department said it did not conduct ballistics evidence on the gun and returned it to the pawn shop a few days later because investigators identified who they believed was the suspect in the freeway shootings case.



His case was ultimately thrown out however, but investigators still believe he's the culprit.



Williams credited tips and tireless work by Phoenix police detectives and partner federal agencies for Saucedo's arrest.



"Our hearts go out to the surviving families. Today we are closer to providing them the justice they deserve," Williams said.



Police initially linked nine shooting incidents and seven murders to the so-called "Serial Street Shooter." However, investigators said that they have linked Saucedo to two other killings  the murder of Romero and the New Year's Day 2016 death of 22-year-old Jesse Olivas.

The first incident of the initial nine linked to a serial shooter happened on March 17, 2016, when a Nissan drove past two teenagers, pulled a U-turn and a man inside the vehicle opened fire, hitting a 16-year-old boy in the arm, abdomen and hip. The teen survived the attack. The suspect struck again the next day but didn't kill anyone.

The next shooting didn't happen until April 1, 2016, when 21-year-old Diego Verdugo-Sanchez was fatally shot in front of a house.

Marina Smith, Verdugo-Sanchez's partner, was seven months pregnant with the couple's child when he was killed.



Smith said she had grown frustrated over the past year as detectives kept her in the dark about the investigation.



"The fact of them finding somebody, at least it was some type of news," Smith said.

Police also have linked Saucedo to the April 19, 2016 death of 60-year-old Krystal White; the June 3, 2016, death of Horacio de Jesus Pena; and to the killings of two women, Angela Linner and Stefanie Ellis, and 12-year-old girl Maleah Ellis on June 12, 2016. He is also accused of killing Manny Castro Garcia on June 10, 2016.

In the most recent attack on July 11, 2016, a 21-year-old man and his 4-year-old nephew escaped injury after the gunman shot at a vehicle they were sitting in.

Rosa Pastrana, the head of a block watch group in the Maryvale neighborhood hardest hit by the killings, was relieved after hearing news of the arrest.



"I'm happy my kids are going to be able to walk outside and I won't have to fear that they're going to get shot," Pastrana said.



Pastrana said she spearheaded a neighborhood effort to encourage residents to talk to police.



Some residents were apathetic at first but many got involved as the shootings continued, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Fox10Phoenix.com.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and a district attorney have taken the unusual step of asking a court to release a TBI report on the death of an armed African-American man shot by a white officer in Nashville.

Under Tennessee law, all TBI investigative files are confidential and can't be released to the public unless ordered by a court or subpoenaed.

"It is in the best interest of the public that this file be made immediately available," the petition filed Friday by TBI Director Mark Gwyn and Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk says. However, it does not say why.

Funk would not comment further, said Dorinda Carter, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. However, she said he would announce this week a decision on whether to bring charges against the officer who killed 31-year-old Jocques Clemmons. Authorities say Officer Joshua Lippert shot him in the back after a traffic stop in February.

Police initially said Clemmons was shot after he "abruptly charged at Officer Lippert, making full contact with his body." But police said video footage later made available to them showed no initial physical confrontation between Clemmons and the officer. Instead, they said the video from a different angle shows Clemmons ran toward Lippert to get around him, stopped short of the officer and then turned and ran in the opposite direction.

The Associated Press left a phone message for Lippert's attorney.

A spokeswoman for members of the Clemmons family said they have no idea what's inside the TBI report.

"Our hope is that the investigating agency was honest, that they were thorough and objective," said Joy Kimbrough, an attorney who is related to Clemmons.

The public outcry after his death was followed by major changes in how Nashville police operate.

Metro police had previously investigated their own officer-involved shooting cases. Funk announced the TBI would be investigating all officer-involved shooting deaths going forward.

"We are in favor of the investigative material being released," Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said of the TBI report.

The death also led Nashville's Metro Council to call for the "immediate purchase" of police body cameras.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has put forth a budget proposing that $23 million be spent to equip police officers with body cameras and install dash cams in their vehicles, The Tennessean reported. It's nearly half of the $50 million Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said would be required to equip all 1,400 officers with body cameras and install the cameras in nearly 900 vehicles.
If the Trump administration sends thousands more American troops to Afghanistan to counter the growing insurgency, the soldiers will find the devils in baggy pants waiting for them.

The Army has already announced that 1,500 men and women from a key brigade in the vaunted 82nd Airborne Division, whose Luciferian moniker owes to their battle dress and demeanor, will be sent to the war torn nation this summer. Its an advise and assist mission, but if things go south, the 82nd is rough and ready.

The 'Devils in Baggy Pants' are well-trained, well-equipped, and ready to assist our Afghan partners as part of the Resolute Support mission," said Col. Toby Magsig, commander of the divisions 1st Brigade Combat Team. Since spearheading allied assaults in Sicily and Anzio in 1943 the Devil Brigade has accomplished its missions through disciplined initiative."

The 'Devils in Baggy Pants' are well-trained, well-equipped, and ready to assist our Afghan partners as part of the Resolute Support mission."  Col. Toby Magsig

The Trump Administration is currently reviewing a proposal which calls for thousands more U.S. troops to counter a gathering Taliban threat. U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan peaked in 2011 at 100,000 and decreased each year since, down to 8,400 American men and women in 2017. Trump has not yet signed off on a new strategy, but if more aggressive measures are taken in Afghanistan, the 82nd Airborne Division could play a key part in achieving success.

Lt. Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne told Fox News the Combat Brigades deployment was not a ramping up of U.S. military in Afghanistan.

This is not a change to the mission there and this is not an increase in forces, said Buccino, saying it was there on an advise-and-assist mission in support of Afghan forces. This deployment represents the normal flow-of-forces into Afghanistan."

The mission of the 82nd Airborne Division is to, within 18 hours of notification, strategically deploy, conduct forcible entry parachute assault and secure key objectives for follow-on military operations in support of U.S. national interests.

The Division was constituted in the National Army on Aug. 5, 1917, to support the United States' entry into World War I and was organized three weeks later at Camp Gordon, near Atlanta, Georgia. Initially an infantry division, as there was no airborne capability in the U.S. Army at the time, it became an airborne division in 1942.

The 82nd went on to conduct occupation duty in Berlin in 1945, where Gen. George Patton bestowed upon it the title Americas Guard of Honor.

The 82nd Airborne Division has more than 17,500 paratroopers in six brigade sized units, around 15,000 enlisted soldiers, 500 warrant officers and 2,000 officers.

The 1st Brigade Combat Team is the largest of all, composed of 4,300 paratroopers. More than 300 are currently deployed to Afghanistan, while 1,500 will be heading there this summer.

"In Afghanistan, we're up against a determined enemy," Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis told reporters on Tuesday. "When the government wins the affection, the respect and the support of their people, then no enemy can stand against them.

According to the Divisions War Memorial Museum, the 82nd is the nations Global Response Force, which trains for airborne assault operations into enemy-denied areas, with a specialization in airfield seizure.

More than 2,000 of the 4,200 soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team are currently deployed to Iraq. 1st Lieutenant Weston Lee, a paratrooper assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, was killed by an improvised explosive device last week outside of Mosul.

Additional reporting provided by the Fox News Brainroom
A military cadet just weeks away from graduating from the Air Force Academy died on Sunday during a skydiving accident near Colorado Springs.

Cadet Kaleb Estes, an English major at the prestigious military academy, was an avid skydiver who had logged more than 500 jumps, according to the Colorado Gazette.

The circumstances of his death are unclear. The El Paso County Sheriffs Office reported that he had a hard landing during a jump, the Gazette reported. An emergency parachute was found at the scene.

SENATE CONFIRMS TRUMP'S CHOICE FOR AIR FORCE SECRETARY HEATHER WILSON

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Kaleb Estes and our thoughts are with his friends, classmates and loved ones," academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson said in a statement sent to Fox News. "We are ready to support Cadet Estes' family as well as his (academy) family through this difficult time."

Estes had been on a commercial skydiving trip when he died. The company, Out of the Blue Skydiving, said it was cooperating with investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We are working with the FAA and other authorities to investigate the cause of this tragic accident, a company spokesperson, Kendra Boysen, told the Gazette. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time."

PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR CELEBRATES HIS 96TH BIRTHDAY BY GOING SKYDIVING



The sheriffs office said Estes was using his own equipment.

Estes was from Alabama and spent two years studying medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before entering the military academy in 2013 to fulfill his dream of flying, according to AL.com.

He was supposed to graduate from the academy May 24.
President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Madagascan Minister

at the Presidency in charge of Agriculture and Livestock Rivo Rakotovao (Source: VNA)



During a reception for the Madagascan official in Hanoi on May 8th, the State leader underlined that high-ranking leaders of the two counties have paid special attention to promoting agriculture links, which is a pillar in the bilateral relations.

He suggested the two sides encourage their enterprises to seek investment opportunities in respective nations, and asked the Madagascan side to facilitate Vietnamese enterprises agricultural investment and business in the African country.

Vietnam will consider sending its experts and technicians to work in cooperation projects in Madagascar, he said, urging Madagascar to send experts to share experience in agricultural production and ensuring food security with Vietnam, he noted.

He added that Vietnam and Madagascar need to cooperate in seeking financial sources and assistance from international organisations and developed countries such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN and the International Francophone Organisation in order to support their cooperation projects in agriculture and food security.

For his part, Rivo Rakotovao affirmed President Quangs visit to his country in November last year opened a new cooperation prospect between the two countries in agriculture, breeding and rural development.

He also pointed out difficulties facing Madagascar in ensuring food security as the country is hard hit by climate change.

Up to 80 percent of Madagascars population live in rural areas, so agriculture is the main contributor to the countrys economy. The African nation is focusing on developing agricultural trade and ensuring food safety.

Madagascar hopes for stronger partnership with Vietnam in the coming time, Rivo Rakotovao said, stressing that the fine cooperation between the two countries ministries and sectors is the foundation to depend the Vietnam-Madagascar relationship./.
The man accused of murdering two engaged doctors in a Boston penthouse condominium on Friday worked as a concierge in the building complex, the district attorney confirmed Monday.

Bampumim Teixeira, who was arraigned Monday afternoon for the murders of Dr. Lina Bolanos, 38, and Dr. Richard Field, 49, was employed by Palladion Services, a security and concierge company. The condo complex where the couple died, used the company's services until February, according to People Magazine who first obtained an email the building's managment sent to residents.

In the email sent Monday night, the managment addressed Teixeira's stint there.

"The suspect  did serve our community as a concierge before leaving the building on his own terms after a few short weeks," the email read.

Please understand that because of the ongoing investigation, [management is] severely restricted on what we can proactively disclose to the community without police authorization."

KILLER OF TWO BOSTON DOCTORS WROTE REVENGE MESSAGE IN BLOOD

The management said a meeting will be held Wednesday to allow residents to ask investigators questions.

"This is an incredibly difficult time for our entire community. We are all doing the best we can to help our fellow residents and staff through this, while giving the authorities the space they need to do their jobs," the email said.

It's unclear exactly when or how long Teixeira, 30, worked as a concierge in the condo complex, which consists of two separate structures.

Teixeira was recently released from prison after serving a nine-month sentence for robbing two banks -- one in 2014 and the other in 2016, according to police.

Field and Bolanos were found dead in their 11th floor condominium last Friday with her hands bound and throats slit. Field sent a text message to a friend before he died which said there was "a gunman in the house," but when officers arrived, it was too late, prosecutors said.

Cut-up photos of the couple and a message of retribution was written on the wall with blood, The Boston Globe reported. A bag of Bolanos' jewelry was later found at the scene.

VIRGINIA MAN WHO BEHEADED HIS SON SET TO BE RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

Officers arrested Teixeira after firing a few rounds in a dark hallway. Teixeira did not fire at police. The 30-year-old was taken to Tufts Medical Center with gunshot wounds to his hand, abdomen and leg.

An attorney pleaded not guilty on Teixeira's behalf to two counts of murder on Monday. Teixeira kept his eyes closed through his arraignment, where a judge also ordered he be held without bail.

Officials are still looking for a possible motive in the murder. There was no evidence that Teixeira knew the doctors, "nor is there any evidence to explain why he would attack them so viciously in their own home," Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said in Monday's news conference.

Field was a doctor at North Shore Pain Management and served as an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at several other places, while Bolanos was a pediatric anesthesiologist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. The pair was engaged to be married, Fox 25 Boston reported.

PHOENIX SERIAL SHOOTINGS: SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING NINE PEOPLE IDENTIFIED

Teixeira was born in Guinea-Bissau and raised in Cape Verde, the Boston Globe reported. He moved to the Boston area when he was in his 20s, but started to live in shelters after having a falling-out with his aunt.

Teixeiras ex-girlfriend told the Boston Globe that Teixeira sent her a mysterious text message and called her on April 22. She said her former boyfriend told her that she would never see him again and that he did not plan to live long. Teixeira also told her he would never hurt anyone.

Fox News' Andrew Fone contributed to this report.
The Chicago Police Department warned its officers Monday about gangs armed with high-powered weapons, after three people were shot to death over the weekend and two cops were targeted in an ambush last week.

Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman, said three people who were killed in shootings Sunday were all members of the same street gang. Two of them died while attending a memorial for the earlier victim.

A shooting in the early morning hours on Sunday left one man dead, and the two others were killed and eight people were injured in a spray of more than two dozen shots from two guns while attending a makeshift memorial for him. Police said they believe the victims were all shot by members of a rival street gang in the same neighborhood on Chicago's southwest side  Brighton Park.

Police increased patrols after the morning shooting of 26-year-old Daniel Cordova, who was found dead between parked cars in the Brighton Park neighborhood. The other shooting happened about a block away. The names of the other victims were not immediately released.

Given the very real possibility that the gang war has not played itself out, the department has saturated the same area with officers and tactical teams, Guglielmi said. It also has issued a warning about gunmen with weapons powerful enough to pierce bullet-proof vests.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said Monday that a reputed gang member sprayed a police van with more than two dozen rounds from an assault rifle after mistaking the vehicle and plainclothes officers inside for rival gang members. Authorities arrested the alleged driver in the ambush, Angel Gomez, but not the shooter. The shooting occurred in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

Guglielmi said the incident in which two officers were shot while sitting in a car does not appear to be connected to the bloody gang feud that erupted Sunday. Combined, however, they are the latest examples of what they have seen as a greater willingness of arm themselves with weapons most associated with soldiers in battle.

At the scene of the second shooting alone, Guglielmi said that more than two dozen shell casings were recovered, with police believing that there were two people firing the weapons.

"We believe it was related to the memorial, a number of the people there knew the victim, and the rival gang observed that and took advantage," he said.

No arrests have been made in the suspected weekend-gang shootings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Thousands of workers were warned to take cover after a tunnel collapsed Tuesday in a shuttered Washington plutonium uranium extraction plant that was previously used in nuclear weapons production.

The tunnel at the Hanford plant building known as PUREX was full of contaminated particles, including radioactive train cars that transported fuel rods, KING5 reported. The entire site is about half the size of Rhode Island, Q13 Fox added. Hanford is located about 200 miles southeast of Seattle.

The 20 feet-by-20 feet area that suffered the collapse was built during the Cold War, and sits over a tunnel which is hundreds of feet long. Eight feet of soil covers the tunnel and the soil appeared to have collapsed into the tunnel, authorities said.

#HanfordEmergency update: There is confirmation of a tunnel breach at PUREX, visit https://t.co/7iil7T2ypD for more info  Hanford Site (@HanfordSite) May 9, 2017

"There's no indication of contamination spread during this event," spokesman Destry Henderson said.

All non-essential employees near the collapse site in an area known as 200 East Area have been sent home early, according to the official Hanford site. Workers on a swing shift who are not needed for essential site operations Tuesday are being told not to come to work as officials continue to determine how to address the cave-in.

This is a serious situation, and ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority."  Gov. Jay Inslee

Officials continue to monitor the air quality and are working on how they will fix the hole in the tunnel roof, including options that would provide a barrier between the contaminated equipment in the tunnel and the outside air that would not cause the hole in the tunnels roof to widen.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been briefed on the collapse, the Department of Energy said in a statement.

"Everyone has been accounted for and there is no initial indication of any worker exposure or an airborne radiological release," the statement continued. "Personnel are being provided a safe access route to depart the 200 West Area." The agency said it is too early to say what caused the cave-in.

The dark area underneath the tall orange flag is the collapse site  a hole left by the tunnel collapse. pic.twitter.com/7fvqsRimhC  Susannah Frame (@SFrameK5) May 9, 2017

It was believed that no radiation had been released and none of the plant's 9,000 workers were hurt, Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology, told Fox News.

"In the 60s spent fuel rods were put in railroad cars and, once filled, the railroad cars were wheeled into a tunnel dug into the side of a hill," Bradbury said. "Twenty-eight rail cars in all fill this particular tunnel.

Workers considered essential for site operations are being told to report to work while avoiding the area of the emergency, officials said.

"A worker today noticed a collapse of dirt above the tunnel today triggering the evacuation," Bradbury said. "This is not an active work site and DOE told Ecology there is no threat to the public."

Firefighters were on the scene and first responders were reportedly getting closer to the area of the collapse for a visual inspection. KING5 reported a robot was being used to sample the air for any possible contamination.

The Department of Energy informed us this morning that a tunnel was breached that was used to bury radioactive waste from the production of plutonium at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement, adding that the White House had been in communication with him.

This is a serious situation, and ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority. Our understanding is that the site went into immediate lockdown, in which workers were told to seek shelter, and all access to the area has been closed."



PHILADELPHIA AMTRAK CRASH: ENGINEER WON'T BE CHARGED

There were no workers were in the tunnel at the time of the collapse, The Associated Press reported.

Those at the site of the incident had already been evacuated while workers elsewhere at the plant were told to remain indoors.

Production at the Hanford plant dates back to the "Manhattan Project" to develop the first nuclear bomb during World War II, and the plutonium produced at Hanford was used in a test bomb as well as the "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" bombs dropped on Japan.

FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE BLAST TURNS DEADLY

More than 20 million pieces of uranium metal fuel for nine nuclear reactors were made at Hanford, according to The Department of Energy.

Plutonium production ended at the site in the 1980s and cleanup began in 1989.

Nobody has entered the main portion of the plant since 1997, the AP reported.

Crews doing road work near the plant on Tuesday may have caused vibrations that triggered the collapse, a source told KING5.

The U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office activated the Hanford Emergency Operations Center at 8:26 a.m. local time, after an alert was declared, according to the official Hanford site.

There are concerns about subsidence in the soil covering railroad tunnels near a former chemical processing facility, a statement on the Hanford site said. The tunnels contain contaminated materials.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in a statement to Fox News she was monitoring the situation and is in contact with Department of Energy and contractors at the site.

"Worker safety must be our number one priority, and we need to understand whether there has been any environmental contamination resulting from the subsidence at these tunnels," she said.

A text message sent to all personnel and obtained by KING5 told workers to secure ventilation in your building and refrain from eating or drinking.

Fox News' Dan Springer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Q13 Fox.
The Latest on the killings of two engaged Boston doctors (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

Colleagues of one of two doctors who were killed in their Boston luxury penthouse condominium have described the victim as compassionate, caring and an integral part of the team.

The Boston Globe reports (http://bit.ly/2pZxnr2 ) that employees at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary said Tuesday that Dr. Lina Bolanos, a pediatric anesthesiologist, was particularly talented at putting children and their parents at ease.

Bolanos and Dr. Richard Field were found bound and dead in their apartment in South Boston on Friday. The couple was engaged to be married.

An attorney for the suspect in their deaths, Bampumim Teixeira, pleaded not guilty to murder charges on his behalf.

___

10 a.m.

The man suspected of killing two engaged doctors in their luxury penthouse condominium once held a security job there, police said.

A Boston Police Department report indicates that Bampumim Teixeira worked at the complex sometime before 2016, the Boston Globe reported. There was no evidence that he was employed there recently.

The 30-year-old Teixeira is charged with two counts of murder in the Friday deaths of Dr. Lina Bolanos and Dr. Richard Field.

His attorney entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf during his arraignment Monday at the hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wounds suffered during a standoff with police.

Responding officers found the victims bound and dead. A black bag of jewelry was also found inside their unit.

In a statement, Field's family called the deaths of both doctors "a tragedy beyond measure."

"However, we want to remember Richard and Lina for who they were, not how they died," it said. "We will remember and celebrate their passion, gentility, and extraordinary kindness forever."
next Image 1 of 3

prev next Image 2 of 3

prev Image 3 of 3

The Latest on a lawsuit accusing a Minnesota bishop of suppressing a report of sexual abuse (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

A Minnesota man who hopes to become a deacon in the Catholic Church is accusing his bishop of blackmailing him into keeping quiet about being abused by a beloved priest decades earlier.

Ronald Vasek says Bishop Michael Hoeppner (HEP'-ner) of Crookston threatened to block his dream and to hurt his son's career as a priest.

Vasek is now suing the bishop and the northwestern Minnesota diocese.

His voice choked with emotion, Vasek told reporters Tuesday that his deep faith required him to come forward.

The lawsuit says Vasek was exploring becoming a deacon in 2010 when he reported the abuse to Hoeppner, who told him not to tell anyone. And he alleges the bishop coerced him into signing a retraction in 2015.

___

9:05 a.m.

A man who says he was abused by a priest 46 years ago is suing Bishop Michael Hoeppner (HEP'-ner) and the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota, alleging the bishop coerced him into signing a document saying the abuse never happened.

The lawsuit says Ronald Vasek was exploring whether to become a deacon in 2010 when he reported the abuse to Hoeppner. He says the bishop advised him not to tell anyone. It also alleges Hoeppner suppressed his report by threatening to make it hard for him to become a deacon, and threatening Vasek's son's career as a priest.

Attorney Jeff Anderson says it's the first time a U.S. bishop has been sued individually for coercion.

The diocese's vicar general, Monsignor Michael Foltz, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The Latest on a vast wildfire threatening communities near the Georgia-Florida state line (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

Firefighters are calling in a giant air tanker to attack a wildfire threatening communities near the Georgia-Florida state line.

Susan Heisey is a spokeswoman for the fire command team. She said the modified DC-10 jetliner was scheduled to dump retardant Tuesday on the blaze in southeast Georgia after taking off from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The company that contracts with the U.S. Forest Service to provide the giant planes is 10 Tanker Air Carrier. The company says on its website that the aircraft can carry 11,600 gallons (44,000 liters) of water or fire retardant. The company says that's four times more than any other firefighting planes.

Officials in Charlton County, Georgia, have issued a mandatory evacuation for residents near the southeastern edge of the swamp. The fire has burned roughly 220 square miles (570 sq. kilometers) since April 6.

___

3 a.m.

Officials say a huge wildfire threatening homes near the Georgia-Florida state line is expected to keep growing after recently escaping the boundaries of the vast Okefenokee Swamp.

The fire has blackened more than 210 square miles (540 square kilometers) of swampland. It's near two small communities in southeast Georgia but many residents stayed put as of Monday, despite an evacuation order.

Tom Stokesberry, a spokesman for the command team fighting the wildfire, says hot and dry weather conditions expected Tuesday will be ideal for its continued growth.

Hundreds of firefighters are trying to contain the blaze, which burned for a month mostly inside the Okefenokee National Wildlife refuge. Last weekend, the fire escaped the refuge boundary.
A lawyer for a Pennsylvania man accused of raping an 8-year-old boy at parties for people dressed in animal costumes says the accusations are simply a money grab.

A district court ruled Monday that the case against 57-year-old Kenneth Fenske, of Quakertown, will proceed to trial.

Fenske is accused of repeatedly abusing the boy at "furry" parties in Bucks County beginning in 2009. The boy says he was forced to dress as "Tony the Tiger" and Fenske sometimes wore a full-body fox costume.

Fenske's attorney says his client is innocent and the charges are an attempt to profit off his wealth.

Four other men in Pennsylvania and Virginia have been charged with abusing the boy. They have not entered pleas.
next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

A man charged with killing a police officer at a South Carolina shopping mall nearly two years ago is expected to plead guilty.

A hearing has been scheduled for 36-year-old Jarvis Hall at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Richland County.

Hall is charged with murder in the September 2015 shooting of 32-year-old Forest Acres Officer Greg Alia. The charge carries 30 years to life in prison.

Authorities say two officers were checking on a complaint about a suspicious person at Richland Mall when Hall ran from them.

Investigators say Alia caught up with Hall and was shot as the two men struggled.

Authorities say Hall was armed with a .40-caliber handgun that had been stolen from neighboring Lexington County less than a month before and also had a knife.
One person was injured in a crash in northern Michigan and the driver claims he was distracted by a spider.

The crash happened Sunday morning in Leelanau County. The driver, a 26-year-old man from Grawn, Michigan, told deputies that he had been distracted by a spider on the visor above his head. His 2005 GMC Envoy veered off the road, through a ditch and some bushes before coming to rest against some trees, according to deputies.

The man was not hurt, but his passenger, a 29-year-old woman also from Grawn suffered a wrist injury.

Click for more from Fox 17.
The former Santa Fe sheriff's deputy accused of murdering a fellow deputy while on the job is on trial for the second time.

The trial in the New Mexico State District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico began Tuesday with opening statements. Jurors are scheduled next to go to the hotel where the alleged murder happened, KFOX reported.

It took attorneys about eight hours Monday to pick 15 jurors, including three alternates, from a pool of 99.

Jurors will be asked to decide what the last jury could not, did Tai Chan act in self defense, or did he carry out a calculated murder of Jeremy Martin? The first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision. The judge declared a mistrial on day 11 after one juror voted for first degree murder, six for second-degree murder and seven for voluntary manslaughter, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

ASIAN COMMUNITY RALLIES AROUND LAPD OFFICER IN NEED OF BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT

Chan and Jerry Martin were on their way home from transporting prisoners to Arizona when the incident happened. They stayed at a hotel on October 28, 2014 when authorities say Chan shot Martin during an alcohol fueled argument.

Chan testified in the original trial that he and Martin got into a fight, Martin hit him in the face, and then they both struggled for the gun. Chans experience in law enforcement may help his testimony.

People in law enforcement, Sheriffs Deputies included, are skilled beyond average witnesses. And they provide very strong testimony, said Mark Tate, a criminal defense attorney with the Tate Law Group.

The state is arguing Chan shot Martin in the back as he tried to run away. Chans attorneys argue he was acting in self-defense. Neither party denies Chan shot Martin.

GEORGIA POLICE OFFICER SAYS GOODBYE TO DAUGHTER BEFORE GOING TO WORK: SEE PHOTO

Multiple witnesses who saw the crime scene testified in the first trial, including the first officer who arrived on scene and tried to save Martins life. She emotionally told the jury how she found Martin lying face down with holes in his back.

According to a report from the Albuquerque Journal, jurors found holes in the story of both the defense and prosecution. At least one juror blamed Chan for shooting Martin while he was leaving the scene and said he should have locked the door and called police instead.

Tate said Chan shooting Martin as he ran away makes it more difficult to argue self defense, because as Martin ran away, so did the risk to Chan. But the burden of proof is on the prosecutor, not on Chan.

(The prosecution) have to prove that it was not self defense, they have to prove that it was intentional with a desire to kill Martin, said Tate. So theyve put a big burden on themselves.

There are other facts that hurt a murder case, according to Tate. Those facts include the discovery of a cellphone that showed Martin may have been living a double life and the use of alcohol. But Martins family said he was a loving father and the account Chan gave of him isnt the man they knew.

Jurors sometimes side with the guy who they think is the good guy, said Tate.

There were also major questions into the integrity of the investigation. The cases lead detective filed a lawsuit saying she was not given the proper resources for the investigation. A blood stained sheet was not tested, which put doubt in the jurors minds, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Chan was released in November 2014 after his parents handed over the deeds to two of their properties to post a $600,000 bond.


Logo of APEC Vietnam 2017



APEC 2017 - Strategic vision of Vietnams diplomacy

In a recent article published by muliple local media outlets, Minh, also Chairman of the APEC 2017 National Committee, wrote that APEC Year 2017 is a critical opportunity for Vietnam to affirm its diplomatic wisdom, especially in multilateral external activities amidst strong efforts to integrate internationally.

APEC Vietnam 2017s theme Creating New Dynamism, Fostering A Shared Future has been praised by APEC members and partners.

Based on APEC cooperation outcomes in past years, Vietnam put forth four priorities: promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening micro, small and medium enterprises competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.

The theme, priorities and cooperation directions in APEC Year 2017 illustrate the vision of the countrys diplomacy, he noted, saying that firstly, Vietnam wants a peaceful and stable Asia-Pacific with dynamic development which continues driving growth and economic connectivity in the region and the world.

Secondly, APEC activities this year must create driving forces for growth and raise regional economic connectivity. They must prove that APEC is a forum for people and businesses. It is also urgent to attain the Bogor Goals, maintain connectivity within frameworks like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and work to form a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.

Thirdly, APEC this year is expected to continue in its role as the initiator, guide and coordinator of economic connectivity, helping build a sustainable, transparent and adaptable regional structure that ensures the harmony of multi-level mechanisms.

Lastly, after 28 years of development, its time to shape APECs post-2020 vision, which needs to clarify targets, long-term orientations and cooperation pillars in the next 10-15 years. It is necessary to bring into play the spirit of equal, win-win, voluntary and non-binding cooperation so as to ensure the forums dynamism and attractiveness in a region with diverse history, culture and development levels, the Deputy PM added.

He expressed his belief that APEC Vietnam 2017 will create new driving forces for the forum. It is also a chance for the country to help shape the future of APEC and the regions economic structure.

Growing stature, practical benefits

Minh wrote that to Vietnam, APEC is one of the important multilateral forums that brings about substantive benefits. It gathers 13 of the countrys 25 strategic and comprehensive partners, along with many leading economic and trade partners of the country.

Therefore, APEC Year 2017 is a focus of Vietnam and also the countrys most significant contribution to the forum.

Activities this year will allow Vietnam to boost the stable and sustainable development of the partnerships it has set up, particularly with key APEC members, he noted.

Additionally, accelerating the realisation of the Bogor Goals and APECs strategies and action plans, along with Vietnams efforts to fulfill commitments in free trade agreements, will help promote reforms, economic restructuring and the shifting of the growth model in the country while improving the local business and investment climate.

Meanwhile, about 200 activities of APEC in 2017 will generate cooperation, business and tourism opportunities, Minh wrote, saying that the APEC Economic Leaders Week in Da Nang city alone is set to be attended by 10,000 delegates and entrepreneurs as well as big media groups from around the world.

Deputy PM Minh voiced his belief that with Vietnams efforts and other member economies and partners support, APEC Vietnam 2017 will be successful, contributing to the countrys development and affirming its vision and new stature./.
On Tuesday, May 9th, Students, alumni, and friends of Bethune-Cookman University (BCU) will hand deliver over 50,000 signed petitions to the Bethune-Cookman administration, urging them to remove Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as the school's commencement speaker.

The students do not believe that DeVos understands that the importance, contribution, and significance of a historically black college. They believe that it would be an insult to the graduating class, students, alumni, family, friends, and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune's legacy if she speaks there. They urge the school to rescind their invitation.

Read a section of the petition below:

"Betsy DeVos doesn't understand that HBCUs were created in response to the exclusion of African Americans from mainstream institutions. Secretary DeVos has no understanding of the importance, contributions, and significance of HBCUs

Having DeVos speak at the commencement ceremony is an insult to the BCU graduating class, students, alumni, family, friends, and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune's legacy. We, the proud alumni of Bethune-Cookman University, do not want Betsy DeVos to have a seat at our table. Please rescind her invitation to speak at the graduation ceremony"

Over 50,000 petitions were collected through Change.org, Color of Change, and the Florida Education Association.

Click here for more from Fox 35.
Want to go to the bathroom at Northern Arizona University? Check yourself first  you might have pee privilege.

Signs reportedly are popping up outside restrooms at the Flagstaff school telling students that if they never have to think about gender identity, ability, or access when peeing, then [they] do, Campus Reform reports.

Another sign lists dos and donts when running into transgendered people in bathrooms.

Dont stare, the sign says, adding that people are probably aware that they dont fit into either restroom.

VIDEO: RIGHT-WING GROUP FIGHTING BACK AGAINST CAMPUS LIBERALISM

They dont need your eyes reminding them, the sign adds.

It was not immediately clear who posted the signs and the school did not respond to a request for comment from Campus Reform.

Click for more from Campus Reform.
A Pennsylvania woman woke up to an unfamiliar sight Saturday morning after a night out drinking -- in a bed at the wrong home.

Allison Marie Plusquellic, 36, was drinking at the Lamp Post in Lower Burrell Friday night when she decided to walk to a relative's house, according to The Tribune-Review.

She tried entering a home near the bar by climbing through an open window. She eventually failed and left the home, but dropped her purse on her way out.

PYTHON REAPPEARS IN ALASKA HOME 2 WEEKS AFTER DISAPPEARANCE

Plusquellic allegedly walked more than a mile to another home and tried, again, climbing through a window. She succeeded this time and spent the rest of the night in a stranger's bed.

The homeowner told Tribune-Review that she was unaware that Plusquellic was in her home until she spotted an open window. Police found Plusquellic still asleep in the bed when they arrived.

"She wasn't driving, and that was good," Lower Burrell Police Chief Tim Weitzel told the Tribune-Review. "But she tried to get inside two houses by using windows."

Plusquellic was charged with burglary for breaking into a house when someone was home and trespassing.
It's starting to look a lot like the Great Recession redux for retailers.

More than twice as many stores have closed this year than at the same point last year. Bankruptcies are far outpacing last year's rate. Retailers slashed jobs at the sharpest pace in seven years this spring. And retailers collectively could report the biggest drop in first-quarter profits since 2009.

This time, the culprit's not the economy but shoppers whose habits have changed profoundly and permanently, as they shop online more and look for deals.

The results this week from department stores like Macy's, Kohl's and J.C. Penney are expected to illustrate the latest damage by the spending shift and the dominance of Amazon.
A man in Northern California was convicted Tuesday of kidnapping and murdering 15-year-old Sierra LaMar, who vanished in 2012, in a decision that brought relief to the girl's parents.

It gives us peace as a family, said Marlene LaMar, the girls mother, at a news conference in Santa Clara County. The teen's body was never found.

Following the verdict Tuesday, the jury in San Jose will now consider whether to recommend the death penalty for Antolin Garcia-Torres.

Sierra LaMar disappeared March 16, 2012, on her way to a school bus stop near her home in Morgan Hill, which is about 25 miles south of San Jose.

Justice for Sierra is served today. So, that gives us some form of relief and itll never take away our grief, but today is what we wanted and were happy, Steve LaMar said. Were extremely grateful for the district attorney, the Santa Clara County crime lab, SC County sheriffs department, the search and rescue.

Her school books, purse and clothing turned up near a shed in a field about 2 miles from her home two days after she vanished.

Police arrested Garcia-Torres, 26, two months later after investigators found his DNA  taken during a previous assault arrest  in her handbag. They also found Sierra's DNA in his red Volkswagen Jetta and one of her hairs on a rope found in the trunk of his car.

SPIRIT AIRLINES PASSENGERS ARRESTED DURING CHAOTIC SCENE AT FLORIDA AIRPORT

Prosecutors said they believe Garcia-Torres is a predator and that his kidnapping attempts of other women helped him prepare for Sierra's abduction and murder. Garcia-Torres pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to kidnap and carjack three women in 2009 as they returned to their cars late at night in Morgan Hill parking lots.

Sheriff's officials have said Sierra and Garcia-Torres did not know each other and that they believe her abduction was a random act of violence. Garcia-Torres lived about 7 miles from LaMar in a trailer he shared with his mother, girlfriend and young daughter.

Investigators said surveillance cameras and witnesses put Garcia-Torres' car near the area where authorities believe Sierra disappeared.

BOSTON DOCTORS KILLED: SUSPECT WORKED AS CONCIERGE IN COUPLE'S BUILDING

Investigators said surveillance cameras and witnesses put Garcia-Torres' car near the area where authorities believe Sierra disappeared.

Garcia-Torres' attorney, Alfonso Lopez, argued in a closing statement last week that the prosecution's case was built on "shame evidence," and that without a body, prosecutors could not prove Sierra is even dead.

Lopez also tried to cast doubt on the physical evidence, arguing that the DNA and hair may have been corrupted by investigators and crime laboratory technicians.

[The jurors] made the right decision, they based it on the facts, did a great job, said LaMars father.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An elementary school Bible club that was suspended due to church-state concerns raised by an atheist group may return next academic year.

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation was able to convince Bartlett City Schools in Tennessee to put a stop to a Bible club at Altruria Elementary School.

However, Bartlett City Schools spokesman Jason Sykes provided The Christian Post with a statement on Tuesday, noting that they are working on a plan to bring it back while addressing any possible church and state issues.

"Per our understanding, religious clubs at elementary schools must be sponsored by an outside group. To our knowledge, the K-2 Bible Club at Altruria Elementary was not," read the statement.

VIDEO: ATHEISTS FORCE CITY TO REMOVE BENCH WITH 'GOD' QUOTE

"While this club has been postponed, we are working with the school to ensure the proper steps are taken to allow this club in the 2017-2018 school year. We are working to reopen the club next school year."

The FFRF sent a complaint to Bartlett City Schools regarding the Altruria Bible Club, which met before classes started at the elementary school and was focused on first and second graders.

OPINION: WHY PRAYER IS THE ULTIMATE PROTEST

Regarding the school district's decision to halt the club's activities for the time being, FFRF gave a statement to a local media expressing support for the decision.

"FFRF is pleased to learn that Bartlett City Schools has taken appropriate action to disband an unconstitutional religious club, which was really just religious instruction by public school officials," stated the FFRF.

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
A police raid of a cockfighting event in Texas sent attendees fleeing as authorities made several arrests and confiscated 141 birds  including 16 dead roosters  officers announced Tuesday.

A tip led police to a Fort Worth home Sunday where they saw a large group of people, several chicken coops and a fighting ring in the backyard, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

All 90 fighting roosters were humanely euthanized upon arrival to spare them anymore suffering, city spokeswoman Diane Covey told the newspaper. Most were still wearing gaffs (spurs used in cockfighting), they were bleeding from wounds, and/or near death.

PETA SHELTER WAS A 'SLAUGHTERHOUSE,' GROUP CLAIMS

Police arrested three men: Andres Hernandez, 65; Melecio Diaz, 33, and Jorge Orozco-Carmona, 25, and issued citations to five others for being spectators to a cockfight  a misdemeanor.

Some of the birds that were kept alive were placed with area rescue groups, Covey said.

Authorities found cockfighting weapons in a backpack and lunchbox that Diaz and Hernandez were carrying, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

NEGLECTED DOGS BECOME BEST FRIENDS AFTER RESCUE

Jorge Orozco-Carmona reportedly told authorities that he let people stage cockfights on his property because they had nowhere else to do so, and received money from organizers after charging a $20 admission fee.

All three men face cockfighting charges. Diaz was in the Mansfield Jail Tuesday while bail information for Hernandez and Orozco-Carmona was not available, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Two American college students have died in a tragic boating accident while studying abroad in Denmark. Linsey Malia, 21, of Easton, Mass., and Leah Bell of Covington, La., were killed Saturday when a jet ski crashed into a boat carrying them in Copenhagen Harbor, reports Mass Live.

Six others, including at least five boaters, were treated for injuries at a hospital and released, reports the Copenhagen Post, which adds it's illegal to ride jet skis in the harbor.

Several people were seen trying to flee the scene on jet skis after the crash, but police say nine people are now in custody, including a 24-year-old man arrested on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter, per the AP.

The students were celebrating the end of the spring semester and were to return home over the next week. A relative describes Malia, an honors student at Stonehill College, as a "shining star" who "made everyone who knew her smile," per the Boston Globe.

A professor adds she'd co-authored a research paper that she was to present at an August meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Christ Episcopal Church identified Bell, a student at California's Pomona College, as a crash victim on Facebook. The post noted her parents have traveled to Denmark, where a lawmaker is calling for a total ban on jet skis off the coast.

Bell was studying to be a neonatal nurse, and her psychology professor describes how Bell "loved the experience of holding babies, premature babies, of helping families learn to bond with them ... It's such a beautiful aspiration that it just makes it more painful to lose her." (An American died while studying in Rome over the summer.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: 2 US College Students Killed While Studying in Denmark
next Image 1 of 3

prev next Image 2 of 3

prev Image 3 of 3

Police in Ukraine say about 50 people have been arrested after clashes involving nationalists angry with demonstrators observing Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Several thousand people took part in a march Tuesday in the capital, Kiev, to honor Red Army soldiers who fought the Nazis and seized Berlin in a grueling offensive.

Ukrainian partisans fought the Soviet Union during the war and many nationalists now see the honoring of the Red Army as tantamount to supporting Russia.

As the march passed the headquarters of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, smoke bombs, eggs and potatoes were thrown at the marchers from inside the building.

Police said they arrested 24 people in the nationalists' building. Other clashes were reported in Odessa, Kharkov and Zaporizhia.
Following days of heavy fighting in the northern Afghanistan province of Kunduz last week, the Taliban eventually defeated Afghan security forces, taking the largest of the provinces six districts.

Shortly after the Taliban took the Qala-e-Zal district, which is just west of the city of Kunduz, the Taliban launched a fierce offensive to take Khan Abad, the district on the east side the city, the fifth largest in Afghanistan with an estimated population of just more than 300,000.

Local commander Jawid Kundozi told Fox News Tuesday morning that six days ago -- fearing the government troops' possible inability to hold the district against the encroaching Islamic fundamentalist insurgents -- he called in several hundred civilian fighters and they established their own front line weaving through villages.

The intense clashing, Kundozi said, hasn't stopped since.

"At any time, we are up against 300 to 600 Taliban," he explained. "The government gives us some ammo, but we are using our own weapons and defending ourselves, our people, our village, our life. We can't rely on anyone else."

Unlike much of the Taliban war ravaging across Afghanistan, the Kunduz fight is taking place in residential areas -- from farmland to the roofs of houses, with snipers from both sides shooting at each other from as little as 350 feet apart. Kundozi said that in the last few days alone they have lost nine of their men, and have killed around 30 Taliban fighters.

An official in Kunduz city, who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Fox News that government troops in this district, located in the center of the province, have so far managed to keep the Taliban out. But their biggest threat is the terrorist group's routine ability to position its fighters on the newly reconstructed Archin Bridge, located around 6 miles from the city, and shoot at cars and people passing by.

US AIDS ISIS, AFGHANISTANS FORMER PRESIDENT SAYS

If Afghan forces and their citizen allies lose Kunduz to the Taliban, it wont be the first time. The Taliban took the city district for brief periods in September 2015 and again a year later in 2016.

With top-notch U.S.-led training and an almost 16-year presence in the country, what is continuing to go wrong in Kunduz?

According to Paiman Pirzadeh, a military analyst and seven-year Kunduz member of Parliament, the "bloody war" began years before the Taliban actually gained ground during the last years of the Karzai administration, which ended in 2014.

Pirzadeh insisted that the Obama administration got an incorrect picture of Kunduz from Karzai and associated Afghan leaders, a picture that falsely suggested that the region was dealing with ethnic rivalries rather than a slowly burgeoning Taliban terrorist threat, and thus it was better for the coalition to focus resources elsewhere as it was something of a minor "internal problem."

But with NATO and Afghan national government attention centered on terrorists teeming in the south and east of Afghanistan, the insurgency in the north had years to become established and dig in.

Afghanistan is united in that it is almost completely Sunni Muslim, but its divisions lie along ethnic rather than religious lines. The country is made up mostly of Pashtun and Tajik ethnic groups, as well as minority Uzbeks and Hazaras and various other smaller groups. Since the U.S.-led invasion, Pashtuns -- which also make up most of the Taliban -- have dominated senior government and leadership positions, leading to increased ethnic tensions and difficult internal military and government coordination.

The government gives us some ammo, but we are using our own weapons and defending ourselves, our people, our village, our life. We can't rely on anyone else.  Jawid Kundozi

Pirzadeh said that around 2012 there was a seemingly calculated push for more and more Pashtuns to migrate north to Kunduz from the south of the country, causing even deeper ethnic issues. In Pirzadeh's view, the push to bring more Pashtuns to the region was supported by Karzai to reduce the power of other ethnicities in the area.

Not only was Kunduz neglected, but the Afghan government inadvertently armed Taliban in Kunduz. In 2012 then-President Hamid Karzai and other officials were made aware that weapons, around 1,000 Kalashnikov rifles, were distributed from the government to local police, but many fell into the hands of Taliban-affiliated tribal militias and then into Taliban hands themselves.

"We had a situation where a lot of new people were claiming to be poor farmers who needed to protect themselves, but once they got their weapons they became Taliban," Pirzadeh explained. "This started further out in the villages, and eventually you had nomads moving closer and closer to the city."

Over time, with the influence of migration from the south, more and more locals started supporting Taliban elements, seeing it as a means to protect themselves, several Afghan sources told Fox News. There were various occasions in which Taliban fighters were killed by coalition forces, but local farmers often collected the bodies quickly and paraded them through the streets, proclaiming that innocent civilians had been killed and demanding retribution payments -- which they sometimes received.

Kundozi, the local leader, also acknowledged that for many years the road was being paved for Taliban fighters and supporters to move in unabated. He said that this prompted increased uncertainty among the local populace over who could and could not be trusted, an uncertainty that still permeates the province.

"We now have many locals who are supporting the Taliban. They have been helping them move closer to the city," he said. "Often they have family or tribal connections to the fighters, and they are providing them housing and information on the routes."

Other locals are firmly against the Taliban. Those locals have sometimes heard neighbors who support the Taliban openly discussing the terror group's plans to take over areas weeks before attacks took place. The anti-Taliban locals would then file complaints with local leaders, which often were ignored, sources said.

Mohammad Omar Safi, the former governor of Kunduz, also said that disappointment in the central government -- from ethnic problems to corruption concerns -- over recent years led to growing support for the Taliban.

"Even the butcher shop right in front of the municipality takes its prices from what the Taliban tells it, not the government," he said.

"The situation right now is very dangerous. People are highly concerned about what to do."

Another problem: The ongoing fighting in Kunduz province has ignited a refugee crisis -- with thousands of families over the past few days continuing to flee. There are said to be no stringent vetting mechanisms in place to ensure they are not Taliban families or supporters.

Kunduz city is situated at a key logistical juncture with highways linking Kabul to the south, Sher Khan Bandar to the north and Mazar-e Sharif to the west. For the first decade of U.S. occupation, it remained relatively peaceful compared to most of the country.

Several officials cautioned Fox News that Kunduz, even if Taliban areas are soon retaken by Afghan forces, will inevitably fall to the Taliban again unless local support for terrorists is rooted out and ethnic rivalries are addressed. Furthermore, the government forces themselves are not as strong as they should be, with leaders said to be put in place not based on performance or experience, but on tribal and family connections.

The third fall of Kunduz comes as Pentagon officials are also mulling how to solve the increasing instability in the country, almost 16 years after the U.S. launched Operation Enduring Freedom in the wake of 9/11. It is expected that in the next week, U.S. officials will request President Trump's approval for the deployment of several thousand more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Kundozi noted that Afghans themselves need to be the foot soldiers -- ones who are familiar with the area itself. While more U.S.-led air support would be of benefit, ensuring fair representation among ethnic groups and stamping out corruption in military leadership -- putting the most capable in the top jobs rather than those with the right connections -- are fundamental.

"The coalition can deploy more troops," Pirzadeh added. "But we have the numbers and the capability to clean this mess up. The best people aren't on the job today. We must change that."
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and Trade Minister of New Zealand Todd McClay (Source: VNA)



He expressed his hope that the visit will contribute to promoting the bilateral trade relations between Vietnam and New Zealand in the coming time.

The PM suggested the two nations continue their close and effective coordination to promote common benefits within APEC and other multilateral economic links, thus making the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting slated for May 20th-21st in Hanoi and related Ministerial Meetings successful.

He said he wishes that two-way trade will increase in the coming time, with more and more investors from New Zealand will land in Vietnam.

PM Phuc welcomed and spoke highly of the viewpoint of New Zealand on respecting the international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), in addressing the East Sea-related issues, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.

He also extended thanks to the Government of New Zealand for supporting Vietnam in training human resources and expected that the country will continue its assistance in the field.

For his part, Minister Todd McClay underlined the growing bilateral trade between Vietnam and New Zealand, hoping that it will further thrive in the time to come.

The two sides will reach the goal of doubling the bilateral trade value, the guest said, adding that his ministry and Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade need to discuss concrete and effective measures to realise the target.

New Zealand also wishes to contribute to the success of APEC Vietnam 2017, he affirmed./.
An 11-year-old girl died Tuesday after she fell off a water ride at a British theme park, police said.

It happened at the Drayton Manor theme park in Tamworth, Staffordshire. On arrival crews discovered a girl with serious injuries who had been rescued from the water by park staff, West Midlands Ambulance Service told the BBC. Unfortunately, shortly after arrival at the hospital the girl passed away.

It wasn't clear exactly how far she fell. The ride, Splash Canyon, was closed after she fell, the park said in a Facebook post.

FAMILY OF BOY KILLED ON WATERSLIDE TO RECEIVE $20 MILLION SETTLEMENT

The girl was airlifted to the Birmingham Childrens Hospital, Staffordshire Police said.

Specially-trained officers are supporting the girls family at this difficult time, said Superintendent Carl Ratcliffe of the Staffordshire Police.

TEENAGE GIRL DIES AFTER BEING THROWN OFF RIDE AT AMUSEMENT PARK IN CHINA

The Splash Canyon rapids ride opened in 1993 and is described as a fast excursion with twists and turns, according to the parks website. Each boat on the attraction holds six seats. To ride, a guest must be taller than 2.9 feet and anyone shorter than 3.6 feet must be accompanied by an adult.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the incident, according to the Guardian.
Veteran Israeli journalist and commentator Ehud Yaari said Tuesday the video of Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti secretly eating during a prison hunger strike will damage his standing with Palestinians.

The video, released by the Israeli Prison Services, shows Barghouti, who is leading the much publicized strike, eating on at least two occasions: April 27, when he ate two cookies, and May 5, when he downed an Israeli-made chocolate bar and a packet of salt.

Yaari noted that this is not the first time Barghouti has been caught cheating on a hunger strike. The first time went largely unnoticed. This time, however, it will likely further erode his claim to lead, he said.

Barghouti has long been considered a frontrunner to succeed Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the Palestinian Authority. But Yaari pointed out that Barghoutis leadership bid was already in trouble before the video surfaced.

ISRAEL SAYS PALESTINIAN HUNGER STRIKE LEADER ATE IN SECRET

Barghoutis camp was defeated in the last Fatah primaries although he himself came first, he noted. The video, he added, will only add to his troubles.

In addition, the terrorist leaders hunger strike, seen as a move to strengthen his claim to be Abbas successor, is not going well.

The hunger strikenot the first, of coursedid not take off as planned and will slowly scale down, Yaari said. Quite a few of the prisoners who joined the strike simply refuse to have the prison meals but buy food in the canteens.

An indication of Barghoutis precarious position may be his attempt to claim the video was a fake. His wife, Fadwa, told the press: The prisoners are familiar with Israel's lies and games and the video they released signals the beginning of its fall, according to YNet.

Barghouti is the former head of Tanzim, the terrorist wing of the Fatah party, which rules the West Bank. He was one of the architects of the second intifada, helping to organize the initial outbreak of violence in 2000 and guiding Fatahs terrorism until his capture. Early in the fighting, he stated, Gone are the days when we alone must make sacrifices. We must take revenge. Israelis must be killed. Israelis must be killed.

HUNGER STRIKE PUTS JAILED PALESTINIAN IN SPOTLIGHT

In Palestine, hes viewed as a national hero.

He is serving several life sentences for murders committed on his orders during the intifada. Among his victims were a Greek Orthodox monk, an Israeli motorist whose car was riddled with machine gun bullets, and patrons of a Tel Aviv restaurant killed in a shooting and grenade attack. He ordered at least 20 other murders, but was not prosecuted for them.

Barghouti made no defense and claimed he is a political prisoner, asserting that Israel had no right to prosecute him for murders committed on its own soil.

Although the court ruled that this was not the case, Barghouti has gathered around him a large group of international admirers who believe his release could be the key to peace, claiming he is the only Palestinian leader with the legitimacy to achieve a two-state solution with Israel.

However, Barghouti himself has rejected the two-state solution, once telling the New Yorker that even a complete Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank would only be a step toward bigger things, namely one state for all the peoples. That is, the replacement of Israel with an Arab majority state.
The wife of Zafar Bhatti, the Christian pastor in Pakistan who last week was sentenced to life in prison under the country's controversial blasphemy laws, says her husband is being tortured every day.

"There have been numerous attempts to kill my husband  he is bullied everyday and he is not safe from inmates and prison staff alike. Every day I worry that I will receive word that he is dead, this worry is making me age very quickly," Nawab Bibi, 65, told British Pakistani Christian Association reporter Shamim Masih in an article published on Monday.

"I pray for him every day and when we meet we cry together and pray, seeking God's intervention. I know God will free him one day but ask for Christians across the world to pray for him and to challenge their governments to help him," Bibi added.

She insisted that her husband is a good man and a committed Christian, and saw his church grow despite "many Muslim people" who hated his success.

INDONESIA SEES PROTESTS AFTER CHRISTIAN GOVERNOR JAILED FOR BLASPHEMING THE KORAN

BPCA, which is raising money for Bibi as she battles to free her husband, explained that the couple's children have been forced to live with the wife's grandparents, as she can no longer afford to keep them.

Bhatti, who has been in Adiala Central Jail since 2012, was sentenced to life in prison on trumped up charges of sending "blasphemous" text messages from his mobile phone.

Legal advocacy group CLAAS, which is based in the United Kingdom and run by Christians from Pakistan, claimed last week that the court overlooked lack of evidence in the case, however.

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
Congo's president has named a new government that doesn't include any main opposition figures among more than 50 officials.

President Joseph Kabila announced the members of Cabinet on Tuesday, about a month after a new prime minister was put in place.

The new Cabinet will serve under Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala, a key player in the opposition coalition known as the Rassemblement that signed a political agreement reached in December.

However, Congo's top opposition group disagreed with Tshibala being chosen to run the government.

Other key provisions of the December peace deal call for elections to be held before the end of the year, without Kabila as a candidate.

Dozens were killed in violent demonstrations around the country last year after Kabila remained in power beyond his mandate and elections were postponed.
The Korean Peninsula continues to simmer as the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, launched another ballistic missile test over the weekend. In response, the US has sent forces to the region, including Ohio class missile submarines and the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. In turn, North Korea has promised to sink the carrier. But is North Korea actually capable of sinking the USS Carl Vinson?

The Chinese have developed new and faster cruise missiles that can strike and kill American carriers. But even if we assume the North Koreans have the same weapon systems, we know they dont have the same skill in tracking and locating enemy forces.

SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: LIBERAL MOON JAE-IN DECLARES VICTORY

The carrier killing cruise missile is an overrated system; its a new version of technology that has been around since World War II. As a result, the US has developed sophisticated missile defense systems that surround their carriers.

Its true that missiles pose a threat to US carriers, and the North Koreans are actively testing and enhancing their ability to launch them. But new offensive technologies are often met by advances in defensive technologies. Moreover, those weapon systems are used by soldiers who may have little experience using complex systems in combat environments. It is possible for North Korea to sink a carrier, but the training, technology, and multi-layered defenses of the American forces make it extremely unlikely. The USS Carl Vinson will continue to play an important role in trying to change North Korean behavior, and will remain a possible platform for strikes against the rogue nation.

Click for more from OpsLens.com
Germany statistics agency says that the country exported more goods in March than in any previous month, though imports also rose to reach a record.

The Federal Statistical Office reported Tuesday that exports were up 0.4 percent over February, while imports increased 2.4 percent, according to figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar variations.

Exports totaled 118.2 billion euros ($129.3 billion), while imports reached 92.9 billion euros for a trade surplus of 25.4 billion euros. A year earlier, the monthly surplus amounted to 25.8 billion euros.

Germany's export imbalance is widely criticized by other countries, which accuse Europe's biggest economy of not doing enough to spur domestic demand for foreign goods. Berlin counters that products made in Germany are simply better than the competition.
next Image 1 of 3

prev next Image 2 of 3

prev Image 3 of 3

Germany's president says that it's "truly urgent" to start moving toward a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke in the West Bank on Tuesday, after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Steinmeier says much time has already been spent on efforts to set up a state of Palestine alongside Israel.

He says that "in our view there is no other solution," and that "it's high time to work on the requirements for it."

Abbas met last week with President Donald Trump who has promised to try to broker an elusive deal. Trump is visiting the Holy Land later this month.

Abbas said in an interview Monday that Trump gave him the impression that "he wanted to do something quickly, in a year more or less."
German authorities say they have arrested two suspected Islamic extremists, one of whom administered the strategically important dam in eastern Syria for IS.

Federal prosecutors say the two Syrian nationals were arrested last week in Berlin and the nearby state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The men were identified only as 30-year-old Abdulmalk A. and 23-year-old Mousa H. A., in line with German privacy rules.

Prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday that both men joined the Nusra Front in 2012 to fight against the Syrian government.

Abdulmalk A. allegedly commanded a unit in eastern Syria and committed a war crime by killing a captured government soldier in 2013.

Prosecutors say Abdulmalk A. joined the Islamic State group in mid-2013 and was put in charge of the Euphrates dam near the city of Tabqa.
Prosecutors in Germany say they have indicted a 63-year-old Swedish man over the killing of a Jewish woman in Frankfurt 25 years ago.

The suspect, John Ausonius, is known as "Laserman" in Sweden for the gunsight he used in a series of shootings of immigrants in the Nordic country during the 1990s. He was convicted of one murder and nine attempted murders, and sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors in Frankfurt said Tuesday that Ausonius is also suspected of killing 68-year-old Blanka Zmigrod, an employee at a Moevenpick restaurant, on Feb, 23, 1992, and taking her handbag.

German prosecutors reopened the case in 2014 as part of a nationwide effort to review suspected far-right killings.

Ausonius agreed to be extradited to Germany in December.
The German government is planning on clamping down on North Korea, which has been using parts of its Berlin embassy as a youth hostel and conference center, amid growing concerns about its nuclear program.

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a report from Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung paper and NDR and WRD broadcasters that the operations were to be soon shut down in line with increased U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

The outlets reported the embassy receives a "high five-figure" monthly sum from the operator of the facilities, located in the middle of Berlin not far from landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate.

Deputy foreign minister Markus Ederer said in a statement that Germany "needs to increase pressure to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table."
THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM The Voice of the party, State and Vietnamese people on the internet

Notify:

The requested content was not found or the content is invalid!


The Islamic State group says it has beheaded a Russian agent who had infiltrated IS ranks as a fighter to spy on the militant group.

A gruesome video released late on Monday purports to show the man, described as a captain in a Russian intelligence department that spies on "terrorists." His name was only given in Arabic.

The video shows the alleged spy being interrogated by a masked man, at which point he says he was sent to Syria to spy on IS top military commander Omar al-Shishani who was killed last year in a U.S. airstrike, and later, on his knees somewhere in the desert where he is killed by a Russian-speaking man.

Thousands of fighters from the former Soviet Union have joined IS in Syria and Iraq.
A 27-year-old man who was arrested while carrying knives near the U.K. Parliament nearly two weeks ago has been charged with three offenses.

Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali was charged Tuesday with preparation of terrorist acts and unlawful possession of explosive substances.

Counterterrorism officers took Ali into custody on April 27 when he was spotted near Parliament and the prime minister's Downing Street office. Authorities said he had been under surveillance and had large knives in a backpack when he was detained.

London police say he faces two charges of illegal explosive possession related to activity in Afghanistan in 2012 and one charge of preparing terrorist acts "on or before" April 27.

He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Wednesday.
next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is citing useful discussions with Turkey as the countries try to work out differences over a U.S. alliance with Syrian Kurds in fighting Islamic State militants.

The discussions occurred as U.S.-backed forces moves closer to IS' Syrian headquarters in Raqqa.

Speaking Tuesday in Denmark, Mattis says the U.S. and Turkey don't necessarily agree on the "path forward" but are "going to sort it out."

He spoke after meeting with officials from more than a dozen nations also fighting IS. Basat Ozturk, a senior Turkish defense official, participated.

Mattis presented an optimistic tone, despite long-simmering U.S.-Turkish tension. He said the U.S. wants to work alongside the Turks to battle IS.

The dispute focuses on U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, who've most effectively fought IS in northern and eastern Syria.
Mexico is the second-most deadly conflict zone on the globe, according to a new study.

The country has surpassed both Iraq and Afghanistan to become the worlds most violent country after Syria, the study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) says.

Nearly 23,000 people were killed in Mexico in 2016 as the turf wars among drug cartels continued. Around 17,000 were killed in Afghanistan and 16,000 in Iraq during the same time period.

DRUG CARTELS REUSING MEXICAN TUNNELS ALREADY DISCOVERED BUT LEFT UNFILLED

Researchers pointed out that Mexico's level of violence is especially shocking because the conflict in the country is marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation, IISS director general John Chipman said while discussing the survey in London on Tuesday. Instead, Chipman said, almost all of the Mexican deaths were the result of small arms.

The highest numbers of deaths were reported in the states of Sinaloa and Guerrero, known for fighting among competing, increasingly fragmented cartels, he said. Violence frequently occurs as gangs attempt to clear locations of rivals so that they can gain control of select drug trafficking routes or markets.

JOURNALISTS IN MEXICO KILLED IN RECORD NUMBERS  ALONG WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Overall, Syria remained the most violent place on earth with around 50,000 deaths in 2016, according to the study cited by Bloomberg. The conflict in Syria has left around 290,000 people dead since it started in 2011.

Violence dropped significantly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study, with the amount of people killed falling more than a third from the year before.

Worldwide, the number of people who died in armed battles dropped to 157,000 in 2016 from 167,000 in 2015. But those numbers are still high compared to the previous decade. According to the survey the number of civilians displaced by wars continue to increase, too.
After five years of no major attacks on merchant vessels, piracy around the Horn of Africa seemed to be on hiatus. Acts of piracy in those treacherous waters have fallen sharply since 2012, according to statistics released by the United States Navy. The Navy credits aggressive patrolling by international forces and increased vigilance by the commercial shipping industry for the decrease.

However, in the past month, Somali pirates have intercepted five ships, raising concerns that piracy has returned to the Indian Ocean, beginning with the kidnapping of a Sri Lankan crew from the Aris 13 oil tanker on March 13th (they were later released without a ransom). Nobody thinks the problem will end until a stable government is restored in Somalia.

Piracy is also on the rise on the other side of Africa. Armed groups based along Nigerias coast have made that region the most dangerous for seafarers. That coast is also a major oil shipping route. Now that oil prices have dropped, pirates there have taken to kidnapping crew members for ransom rather than siphoning off oil  the abductions have proved more lucrative.

The nature of piracy is quite different on the two sides of the continent. Factors driving the resurgence in piracy include drought, famine, corruption, and a surge of smuggled weapons as well as the influence of the Islamic State.

PIRACY ATTACKS OFF WEST AFRICA NEARLY DOUBLED IN 2016

Around the Horn of Africa in the East, Somali pirates seek to seize ships and crews for ransom, and have ventured deep into the Indian Ocean. In the Gulf of Guinea in the West, attackers are more intent on stealing cash and cargoes of fuel, such as diesel, from ships coming in to port.

Incidents have stretched all the way from the Ivory Coast to Angola, but the root of the problem lies in Nigeria. Most acts of piracy are committed in Nigerian seas, by Nigerian criminals. The trouble at sea is ultimately tied to the countrys dysfunctional oil industry and the violent politics of the Niger Delta, where most of the oil is produced.

Nigeria is the worlds eighth-largest oil producer; nevertheless, it suffers from shortages of refined fuels. After all, about 12 percent of Europes imported oil comes from West Africa. Despite the oil, sea traffic around West Africa is small compared with the arteries connecting Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal.

Click for more from OpsLens.com
Puerto Rico is preparing to close 179 public schools this month, and the island's governor said Tuesday that he hopes to turn those buildings into shelters for animals and homeless people or for other uses.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello signed an executive order creating a committee charged with overseeing the transfer of the buildings to municipalities and non-governmental organizations. He said the buildings also could be used as drug treatment centers, business incubators or tutoring centers.

"We're seeking new uses for these buildings so they don't turn into eyesores like in previous years," he said.

Skeptics of Rossello's plan note that the majority of the 150 schools that were closed from 2010 to 2015 remain abandoned because there is no money to rehabilitate them.

Puerto Rico is mired in a decade-long recession and has seen its school enrollment drop 42 percent in the past three decades amid an exodus to the U.S. mainland. The closures are part of the U.S. territory's measures to confront that crisis.

The government also said Tuesday that it is revising a proposed austerity budget for the upcoming fiscal year after a federal control board demanded it be improved.

Elias Sanchez, the governor's representative to the board, said the board is seeking more information on previous government spending to help it check estimated revenue projections for upcoming years.

The board created by Congress oversees Puerto Rico's spending while giving it some protection from creditors as it tries to restructure a portion of its $73 billion public debt load. It said Monday that it's giving the government two weeks more to submit an amended budget.

The budget isn't yet public and many Puerto Ricans fear it will bring even greater austerity measures.
Nearly a decade of conservative governance in South Korea is ending as voters there selected Moon Jae-in as their next president.

I will become everyone's president, said Moon in his victory speech. I will become a president who unifies people and serves even those people who did not support me."

Moons opponents criticized him as too soft toward North Korea. As the Trump administration tries to isolate North Korea diplomatically, Moon, a human rights lawyer and liberal, is pushing to open a dialogue with North Korea.

A President Moon wants to have dialogue with North Korea, said Scott Snyder, the director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. He may want to add dialogue as a component along with the U.S. pressure strategy on North Korea, but there could be some tensions that need to be worked out.

The Trump administration cited Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, in congratulating Moon and that: We look forward to working with President-elect Moon to continue to strengthen the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and to deepen the enduring friendship and partnership between our two countries, according to the statement.

LIBERAL MOON JAE-IN DECLARES VICTORY IN SOUTH KOREA

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has described a pressure campaign against North Korea involving stronger international enforcement of economic sanctions. He has also threatened to push additional sanctions.

Pressure and engagement are not mutually exclusive, said James Person, the director of the Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Wilson Center. You can have some form of pressure to get the North Koreans to acquiesce while maintaining dialogue. And I think the critical thing is for South Korea and the U.S. to sit down and try to find a happy medium and jointly develop a policy that is going to be effective perhaps for the first time with North Korea.

Moon has also opposed a missile defense system the United States installed in South Korea. Known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, the U.S. said the system is already operational. Analysts said, as a result, it would be more difficult to remove Thaad from South Korea. China also opposes Thaad. The U.S. said it is a defensive system.

In March, South Korea impeached, removed and arrested its previously elected president, Park Geun-hye. With a new elected leader, and as the U.S. and region develop their policy to confront North Korea, South Korea can become more influential.

In many cases, South Korea has really taken a backseat in the formulation of Korea policy, said Person. It's important for South Korea to get back into that driver's seat, or at least be a co-pilot in the formulation of an effective North Korea policy.

Because Moon replaces an ousted president, he will be sworn in Wednesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sparked anger from Israel on Monday with a string of critical remarks -- including his claim that Jerusalem remains under Israeli occupation.

"Both in terms of our religion and historical responsibility, Al-Quds and the fight of our Palestinian brothers for rights and justice is of great importance to us. We will keep making efforts for Al-Quds to turn into a city of peace," Erdogan said in Istanbul, Newsweek reported. Erdogan referred to Jerusalem as Al-Quds, which means the holy one in Arabic.

He also urged Muslims to support the Palestinian cause and compared Israeli moves against Palestinians to those of South Africa under Apartheid.

ERDOGAN: 'FRESH PAGE' FOR U.S. RELATIONS WITH TRUMP

Israeli officials replied to Erdogans comments by labeling him a serial human rights violator.

Whoever systematically violates human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nashon.

TURKEY LOOKS TO STRENGTHEN SYRIA CEASE-FIRE

Erdogan historically has been a sharp critic of Israel. He has previously accused the Israelis of supporting the ouster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and has complained about Israels military actions in the Mediterranean.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained following a 2010 Israeli commando raid on a Turkish boat containing pro-Palestinian activists. Nine Turkish citizens were killed.

The two countries reconciled in part last year and restored diplomatic ties to an ambassadorial level.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A U.S. Navy warship from the Carl Vinson Strike Group collided with a South Korean fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan Tuesday, a U.S. defense official told Fox News.

There were no injures aboard USS Lake Champlain, a guided-missile cruiser, the official said.

The collision happened port side amidships, or in the middle of the U.S. warship's left side.

A damage assessment is currently being conducted and the incident is under investigation.

American warships in the Vinson Strike Group have been training with South Korean and Japanese counterparts since late last month.

South Korean media Yonhap was the first to report the incident, and Yonhap added that both vessels were able to continue on their journey with no reported injuries on either vessel.
Culpeper County Supervisor Sue Hansohn used a last-ditch bit of strategy Tuesday to keep the implementation of a pretrial services program alive for the 2018 budget cycle.

Seeing that her motion to have the Rules Committee endorse the program was doomed, Hansohn changed her motion to have the issue moved forward without a committee recommendation.

Lets just take it to the full board and see what happens, she said.

Her two fellow committee members, Jack Frazier and Steve Walker, agreed.

The full board is going to have to make the decision anyway, Frazier said.

For almost two years, the Board of Supervisors has wrestled with pretrial services, which allows judges to let non-violent inmates out of jail without bond if a pretrial investigation determines they are neither a threat to society nor a flight risk. That would help alleviate jail overcrowding and cut back on the rent Culpeper County is paying other jails to house inmates that the local facility cant handle.

That rental space cost Culpeper more than $1 million last year and will come close to that figure again in the fiscal year that ends June 30. In addition, the pretrial service would cut down on expenses the Sheriffs Office must pay deputies to transport prisoners to court appearances in Culpeper.

According to probation director Andrew Lawson, it would take only 19 eligible inmates for the pretrial services program to break even. Lawson told the Rules Committee Tuesday that with two additional staff members, his office could handle 100 inmates at any given time. That, he said, would put the pretrial program in the black.

Lawson, who has the backing of law-enforcement officials, the commonwealths attorney and local judges, has cut his pretrial budget proposal from $359,000 to $233,000.

I plan to cross-train my probation officers and the two new pretrial employees to handle both jobs, he said.

Frazier said he would not support establishing a pretrial services program without state funding.

I support the idea, but I think the state should help, he said.

Last year, Culpeper, one of the few jurisdictions in Virginia that does not offer pretrial services, applied for state funding, but that pot of money disappeared just when the county was ready to start the program. Frazier said he hopes that funding will return next year.

Walker said he, too, supported the idea, but wants a six-month trial basis to see if it really works.

We cant hire two workers and tell them the job might go away in six months, Lawson said.

For more than 30 minutes, Frazier and Walker came up with reasons not to start the program now. Hansohn had two reasons why it should be implemented without waiting for the state to kick in funds.

It will save us jail money and it is the right thing to do, she said, adding that there are nonviolent and possibly innocent inmates sitting in jail because they cant come up with the 10 percent of a $1,000 bond.

When Frazier said that was a low amount, Hansohn replied, A hundred dollars is a lot of money to some people.

At first, it seemed that Walker might back Hansohns original motion, but when he began to hedge his support, Hansohn changed her motion.

The full board will tackle the issuewhich is already funded in next years budgetagain in June.

In other business, the Rules Committee also approved the addition of seven rural roads to the Virginia Department of Transportations six-year road plan and heard representatives of two companies give an overview of solar farms, several of which may soon be proposed in the Stevensburg area.

Of particular concern was how farmland now in land-use status would be taxed once solar panels replace crops.

Both Matthew Meares, representing Virginia Solar, and Mike Volpe, with Open Road Renewables, said their companies usually pay rollback taxes when the property is taken out of land use. Meares also estimated that, under regular farmland taxation, the county would stand to gain an additional $5,000 annually.

Solar farm land usually remains agricultural with a conditional-use permit granted. Rezoning these parcels as industrial or commercial might bring in more tax money, but the land could remain in its new status forever, county planner Sam McLaren said.

This has long-term implications, he said. A conditional-use permit seems to be the way to go.

Such a permit could be revoked and the land returned to agricultural use should the solar farm fail, he said.
A Louisa County woman has been charged with starting a shootout that led to her being seriously wounded by law-enforcement officers.

Virginia State Police said Tuesday that Misty Dawn Shutts Norwood, 42, has been charged with two counts of attempted capital murder. She remained hospitalized at VCU Medical Center in Richmond Tuesday in fair condition, a hospital spokesman said.

The shooting happened about 2:35 p.m. Monday after officers responded to a domestic call at a home in the 1700 block of Fredericks Hall Road. When a Louisa deputy arrived, a woman came outside and fired a shot at the deputy before retreating back inside, according to a state police news release.

A Virginia state trooper arrived on scene to assist the deputy and the woman exited the home a second time, still armed with a weapon, the release said. She began walking in the direction of some nearby woods and ignored commands to drop the weapon.

At the wood line, she turned toward the deputy and trooper and raised her weapon, firing at them, according to the release. The deputy and trooper returned fire and struck the woman, state police said.

Neither the deputy nor trooper was injured.

In accordance with Virginia State Police policy, the trooper was placed on administrative leave.

The State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Richmond Field Office continues to investigate the incident. Its findings will be turned over to the commonwealths attorney, the release said.
The former General Motors plant in Spotsylvania County sold recently for $800,000far less than the 77-acre propertys taxable value.

IdX Corp., a Missouri-based manufacturer, confirmed last week that it closed on the property but did not disclose the purchase price. Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced in February that the company would be moving into the long-vacant plant on Tidewater Trail.

Spotsylvania Circuit Court Clerk Christy Jett said her office recorded a deed Monday showing the property sold for $800,000. The taxable value of the site across from Fredericksburg Country Club is about $2.2 million.

The manufacturer purchased the property from RACER Trust, which a federal judge created to sell off GMs former assets after the company declared bankruptcy in 2009. The company hopes to have a soft opening in early August and be fully operational by Sept. 1, an idX spokeswoman said.

IdX Corp. expects to have 150 employees within three years, though an undetermined number of the jobs will be filled by existing workers at a Maryland facility about 90 miles north of Fredericksburg. The companywhich produces decor, fixtures, graphics and millwork for retailersis relocating its Columbia, Md., operations to Spotsylvania.

The state is providing $400,000 to idX to improve the 289,000-square-foot facility, which has been vacant since the GM plant closed in 2010. IdX will also receive up to $1.525 million worth of incentives from Spotsylvania over 10 years.
It wasnt very long ago that Stafford County looked like a very different place. Farms dominated the rural landscape and shopping and restaurant choices were limited.

But a boom in development in the late 1990s and early 2000s led the population to skyrocket. As new businesses, stores and residences began to crop up, the agricultural nature of the county faded and the area began taking on a more suburban character.

About a decade ago, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors realized it needed to do something to promote growth while preserving the countys agricultural, historical, and natural resources.

The supervisors began to explore various mechanisms to facilitate open space preservation including transfer of development rights, the creation of parks and the purchase of developments rightsor PDR program.

Their strategies for saving open space and directing development were recently recognized with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties. The award honors county government programs that enhance services for residents.

FIGHTING SPRAWL

Paul Milde, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said these programs have enabled the county to preserve more than 10,000 acres in open space while directing development toward targeted growth areas and away from rural areas.

This includes 4,110 in easements, 3,978 in state lands, 1,729 in park land and 448 acres protected through the countys PDR program.

Our open space preservation efforts have allowed the county to direct growth towards urban areas where infrastructuresuch as water and sewage, roads and schoolsis already in place to support it, and away from the rural open spaces containing the countys most cherished natural resources and historical treasures, Milde explained.

Kathy Baker, the countys assistant director of planning and zoning, said county officials found that investing in programs to protect open space provides a number of economic benefits and attracts businesses and people to the area.

Businesses gravitate towards areas that offer a good quality of life and amenities, and that includes parks and open space, Baker said.

As part of its ongoing effort to save open space, the county recently announced the expansion of its PDR program. Milde, a longtime proponent of PDR, said the program has become an important tool for reducing sprawl.

The board implemented PDR in 2007 as a voluntary program that gives property owners an alternative to selling their land by compensating them for putting it under a conservation easement. The owner retains ownership of the land and may continue to reside on the property, and use it for agricultural purposessuch as farmingbut the development rights are extinguished.

Milde said getting the funding in place to support PDR was one of the biggest initial challenges. In 2011, the program reached a significant milestone when the board established a dedicated funding source for PDR through rollback tax excess.

Rollback taxes are incurred when land is changed from one type of use to another.

It wasnt until fiscal year 2013 that the allocation of funds for PDR was made automatically by policy rather than on a specific, one-time basis. This year, that policy was enhanced with the fiscal year 2018 budget, which added additional funds to the program.

Matching state funds have been provided by a several state and federal programs including the Virginia Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services, Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and the Department of Defenses Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program.

As a result of shifting priorities of the board, we securing the funding needed to support PDR, Milde said. That is why the program only really started to take off in the last several years.

FOR CENTURIES

Baker said that before the PDR program was implemented, many farmers felt pressured to sell their land to developers as more growth and development came to the county. As a result, farm land began to dwindle.

Many of these farms had been around for centuries, Baker explained. Some of these properties have historical resources and once it is gone it is gone.

The county has invested a total of approximately $1.4 million in the program, resulting in 448 acres saved and 115 development rights retired.

New application cycles are based on available funds for property owners interested in participating in the PDR program. So far, two application rounds have been held, and a third round in the near future is a possibility, she explained.

Ties to the land are typically the main motivator for property owners who choose to put their land in conservation, Baker said.

This was certainly the case for John and Cathy Dodd Harris, the owners of Spotted Tavern Farm located at Dodds Corner in Hartwood. Cathy said their historic family farm is one of the few remaining agricultural areas of the county, and one that has become increasingly pressured by residential development.

The propertywhich contains active farmland and forestis an historical and cultural gem. It contains the Spotted Tavern historical site, Spotted Tavern Farm, and the Latham/Beckhin cemetery. The property was also the site of a Civil War encampment and skirmishes for three local battles.

Through the Harris participation in the PDR program, Spotted Tavern Farm is placed into a perpetual conservation easement, which protects it from development. It also provides environmental benefits such as preserving forests, wildlife habitats and other natural resources, she explained.

We hope that the preservation of Spotted Tavern will spur other landowners in this part of the county to consider placing easements on their properties to preserve the rural character of the area and to maintain Hartwoods special sense of place, Harris said.

Two other farms were also recently recognized by the county for participating in the PDR programWalnut Hill Farm at Elm Springs, owned by Jeff and Virginia Adams, and Jones Farm, owned by Kenneth and Juanita Jones.

Milde said the addition of these three farms to the PDR program as well as the dedication of $700,000 to PDR in the fiscal year 2018 budgetreflect the boards commitment to continue the efforts they began over a decade ago to preserve the rural character of the county.

It is not going to stay that way by itself, Milde said. Twelve years ago, Stafford had almost no land in conservationPDR helped change that.

Stafford is just one of 21 localities in the commonwealth to adopt a PDR program, according to VDACS. Nearby Fauquier County, for example, has built a robust PDR program. As of April 2017, approximately 12,123 acres in Fauquier have been approved for the program.

However, Stafford is one of only two localities in the state to adopt its own TDR program. This program redirects development by facilitating a transfer of development rights from a sending property to a receiving property that can accommodate growth.

Although the countys TDR program is still in its infancy, there has been interest and county officials expect it to become another useful tool for preserving farmland and encouraging development in targeted growth areas.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the German team just can't let up if it wants to achieve its defined targets and successfully face the challenge thrown its way by Ferrari.

While Mercedes ultimately defeated the red squad in Russia thanks to a scintillating performance from first-time Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas, the team departed Sochi with loads of work on its plate.



"The prevailing feeling is that there is lots of homework to do to come back stronger with a car that can perform on a consistent level every weekend," Wolff said.

"I have the feeling that we are moving in the right direction but we need 24/7 shifts to achieve our ultimate targets."

Indeed, Mercedes has made progress in how it understands tyre usage and degradation, something that appeared as the W08's weak point in Bahrain.



"Ferrari is still ahead," said a Mercedes engineer in Russia.

"But we are good at understanding problems and drawing conclusions. However it could take some races before we get fully on top of it, because some of the problems are probably due to the car."



On the driver front, Bottas heads to Spain full of confidence but Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda is tipping Lewis Hamilton to bounce back after a fairly low-profile performance at Sochi.



"Bottas was quicker because he won the race but Lewis is an outstanding talent, a world champion," said the F1 legend.

"Bottas beat him but perhaps the next three times maybe Lewis will do that."

Win the ULTIMATE TRACKDAY with F1i.com!

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Virginia State Police are on the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 64 west near the New Kent Highway exit.

VSP spokesman Sgt. Stephen Vick said a Medflight helicopter transported one person to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Vick said the crash happened at approximately 12:58 p.m. when one vehicle crossed the median and struck another.

VDOT is reporting that all lanes have been reopened. There is a 6.5-mile backup on the westbound side and a 3.5-mile backup eastbound.

(This is a breaking news alert. Check back for updates on Richmond.com.)
CHRISTIANSBURG  An execution date has been set  again  for William Charles Morva.

This time, however, the death sentence that Morva received in 2008 seems likely to be enacted. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Morvas final appeal.

After a Tuesday conference call with state officials, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk scheduled Morvas execution for July 6.

Morva, a former Blacksburg resident now being held at Sussex I State Prison, was convicted of three counts of capital murder for an August 2006 spree that began with his escape from custody and included the murders of Derrick McFarland, a security officer at Montgomery Regional Hospital, and Eric Sutphin, a corporal with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. Morvas third murder conviction came from killing two people in less than three years, a capital crime in Virginia.

Then 24, Morva was in jail for a series of robbery attempts when he reported that he had injured himself in a fall in his cell. He was taken to the hospital, where he was able to knock out the deputy guarding him and take the deputys gun. He then shot McFarland and ran from the hospital. A 37-hour manhunt ensued with law enforcement officers stopping motorists and searching their vehicles and Virginia Tech shutting down on its first day of classes.

Morva was near the Huckleberry Trail in Blacksburg when he encountered and shot Sutphin, who was searching for the fugitive.

Hours later, Morva was located hiding in a ditch near where hed killed Sutphin and was arrested.

A long legal struggle began, with Morvas trial being moved to Abingdon after a judge decided that too many people in Montgomery County had strong ties to the case. Morva was found guilty and a jury recommended the death penalty.

Morvas immediate response to his sentence was to snap his fingers and mouth Dont worry to friends who were crying in the courts spectator area.

His execution was scheduled and delayed as an appeals process lasted nine years.

The bid for a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court was the final step of that process. Now Morvas only hope to avoid execution may be last-minute intervention by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who in April commuted a prisoners sentence from death to life in prison in a murder-for-hire case. McAuliffe said he spared Ivan Teleguz not because he thought he was not guilty but because the sentencing phase of his trial had been unfair, with jurors given false information.

Virginia has executed 112 people since the death penalty was re-introduced in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Virginia and Oklahoma are tied for second place in the centers ranking of the number of executions by states, surpassed only by Texas, which has killed 542 people in the same time period.

The most recent execution in Virginia was in January, when Ricky Javon Gray died by lethal injection for the 2006 murders of two sisters in Richmond during a rampage that included killing their parents.

Virginia's executions are conducted at the Greenville Correctional Facility in Jarratt.
Free Freightnet Membership

List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours.
Participants in the Immortal Regiment march have begun to form a procession near the Arsenalna Square in downtown Kyiv.

There are up to 100 people in the procession, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. They are carrying photographs of participants in the Second World War and red carnations. A very large number of law enforcement officials have gathered in the area where the event is held.

Metal detector arches have been set up along Mazepy Street.

Meanwhile, members of nationalist organizations have hung out national flags from the upper windows of building 6A on Mazepy Street and turned on patriotic music. The law enforcement officials blocked the entrance to the building. They will prevent nationalists from exiting during the Immortal Regiment procession on the street, the policemen said.

A small altercation occurred near the Arsenalna underground station several hours ago. A heated argument between a man and a woman, who was carrying photographs of her relatives, participants in the Second World War, caused a scuffle. The policemen promptly stopped the scuffle.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on May 9 took part in the ceremony of oath taking by servicemen of the separate regiments of the president of Ukraine and the 101st separate brigade of protection of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"The Motherland trusts you to protect its freedom, sovereignty, and independence. I congratulate you on the important event in your life  taking oath of fealty to the Ukrainian people," the head of state said.

Poroshenko noted the soldiers of these military units take part in protecting the country from the aggressor.

"Except for the conscripts who, as I promised, do not participate in hostilities but pass military training," he said.

The Commander-in-Chief thanked Ukrainian servicemen for their courage in defending the country against Russian aggression.
Story Highlights 63% say they will continue to work, but work part time

25% say they will stop working altogether

More Americans say they will retire after, rather than before, age 65

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly two in three employed U.S. adults, 63%, say they plan to work past retirement age, but on a part-time basis. An additional 11% say they will work full time once they hit retirement age. A quarter of employed Americans say they will stop working altogether.

Most Employed U.S. Adults Say They Will Continue Working Past Retirement Age Asked of employed adults 2011 2013 2017 % % % Continue working, and work full time 18 15 11 Continue working, and work part time 63 61 63 Stop working altogether 18 22 25 Gallup

These results come from Gallup's Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted April 5-9. As in 2011 and 2013, the two previous times Gallup asked this question, working adults are most likely to say they intend to "continue working, and work part time." Over the same time period, the percentage who say they plan to "stop working altogether" has ticked up.

Of those who say they will continue working, but only full time, the majority plan to do so because they want to, not because they have to. The proportion of "want to" versus "will have to" explanations has edged up slightly since 2013. The percentage who say they "want to" keep working part time has also risen, from 34% to 44%.

There has been a decline in nonretirees' intentions to continue working full time, from 9% "will have to" in 2013 to 5% today, while the percentage who "will have to" work part time has dropped from 26% to 18%.

Regardless of their retirement-age plans -- whether they work full time, work part time or stop working -- employed adults mostly say their choice is out of preference rather than necessity. The vast majority of those who plan to stop working say it is because they want to rather than will need to. Also, by a better-than 2-to-1 ratio, those who plan to continue working part time say it is something they want to do, rather than will have to do.

More Americans Expect to Retire After Age 65

Nonretired U.S. adults are split on when their "retirement age" actually will be, but the greatest percentage (39%) say they expect to retire after age 65, about the same as last year. Roughly one in four expect to retire at exactly age 65, while 29% believe they will retire before then.

These trends have remained relatively consistent this decade, yet there has been a seismic shift since 1995 in the age at which nonretirees believe they will retire. In two polls conducted that year, an average of 14% said they expected to retire after 65 and 49% before 65. These percentages have flipped in the last two decades, as the age to start collecting Social Security has risen to 67 and more Americans feel a financial need to stay in the workforce.

For current retirees, the picture is quite different. Sixty-eight percent say they retired before age 65, while 30% left the workforce when they were 65 or older. The difference in the retirement age of current retirees and the plans of those still working may be related to the changes in Social Security and movement away from guaranteed benefit plans, such as pensions.

Bottom Line

More Americans say they want to continue working when they reach retirement age rather than retire altogether, with part-time work being the most popular option. However, the shift since 2013 by nonretirees who say they "want to" -- rather than "will have to" -- work part time suggests the need to work isn't as dire in today's post-Great Recession economy. Another possibility is that some employed Americans may be overly optimistic about their retirement finances, perhaps thinking they have enough money for retirement when in actuality they might not.

At the same time, nearly 40% of Americans now believe they will retire after 65 -- a stark departure from their beliefs in the 1990s. Whether it is working to make ends meet or for pleasure/life enhancement, more Americans plan to stay in the workforce longer.

Historical data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Poroshenko, Merkel note need for 'Normandy-format' talks to continue with new French president

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have stressed the need for "Normandy Quartet" talks to continue with the participation of the newly elected president of France, Emmanuel Macron.

"The leaders of Ukraine and Germany noted the need for the work in the Normandy format to continue, in particular with the participation of the French president-elect. They also agreed on a further schedule of bilateral top-level meetings," the Ukrainian president's press office said.

In addition, Merkel informed Poroshenko of the results of the talks she held in Russia on May 2.
Councilwoman Suzie Price and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson are in the running for the city's top political post.
Three purple beeches, two massive lindens  and a northern catalpa in a front yard.

That was the way it went Monday on the annual urban forestry heritage trees tour as the Gazette-Times criss-crossed an area near Northwest Ninth Street getting acquainted with some of the trees being added to the citys heritage tree roster.

This is the fifth year a committee of Parks and Recreation Department officials and community members has received nominations for the program and then scoured Benton County to check them out and install the cream of the crop.

The first stop Monday was to see an enormous northern catalpa on Northwest Dixon Street. The tree has a massive crown spread, a diameter of more than 4 feet and seven major branches growing out of its trunk.

Its a beast, said urban forester Jonathan Pywell. Its so cool its gotten so big and open. Its unusual to find one that hasnt been pruned up. Its like an Oregon white oak. If you put it in a forest, it grows straight up. And if you put it out in the open, its going to do this.

Pywell guessed that tree was about 65 years old and likely was planted when the home was built. It can be a bit messy, dropping huge leaves in the fall, but he added that the white flowers it will start sprouting in the next few weeks are just spectacular.

The next stop was a few blocks away on Northwest Polk Ave. There, outside a turn-of-the-century American Farmhouse owned by Keith Muckleston, are two gigantic linden trees, probably the largest in town, Pywell said. The house was built circa 1900 and Pywell thinks the trees might have been planted around that time. Both are about 90 feet tall.

The city still plants lindens as street trees.

Muckleston, who came out of the house to brief the tour, noted that he lost some limbs on one of them to an ice storm earlier this year. Pywell noted that cables link some of the upper branches, providing extra support.

The basswood from linden trees is easy to carve and is commonly used by kids building Soapbox Derby cars.

The fragrance from the blossoms is amazing, Pywell said and added that the trees are a major food source for bees.

The final stop was Washington Park, where three 85-foot-tall purple leaved European beech trees mark the southern boundary of the park.

They are in a wonderful space, Pywell said, and they define the park. Its a great place to sit and think  stop, slow down and look around a little bit.

Pywell said the trees likely were planted in the 1920s when the adjacent property was known as Washington School (it now hosts the Corvallis campus of Linn-Benton Community College).

Pywell said the variety does well in clay soils, doesnt cause a lot of problems and its nuts are a great food source food for squirrels and birds.

Also inducted in this years batch is a set of madrones in the Bald Hill Natural Area.

The trees will be honored May 25 during the annual awards handed out during Historic Preservation Month.

Pywell said that the committee is looking at changing the timing of its process so that committee members  and reporters and photographers  can tour when the blossoms are out and the fragrance is amazing.
Oregon State University is being touted as a possible savior for the Elliott State Forest, but OSU officials are taking a cautious approach to the possibility of acquiring the hotly contested property.

This is a rare opportunity that should be considered, said OSUs chief spokesman, Vice President for Marketing and University Relations Steve Clark.

That doesnt mean were going to do it; it just means that its worth considering.

OSU President Ed Ray and Thomas Maness, dean of the universitys College of Forestry, are scheduled to testify on the issue today at a meeting of the State Land Board in Salem. The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Department of State Lands, 775 Summer St. N.E.

The Elliott State Forest covers 82,000 acres of low-elevation woodlands in the Coast Range north of Coos Bay, including significant stands of old growth trees. Like other state forests in Oregon, it is supposed to generate revenue for the Common School Fund through timber harvest. But logging revenues have fallen short of expectations in recent decades, in part because the Oregon Department of Forestry also was managing the property for other values such as wildlife habitat, clean water and outdoor recreation.

The State Land Board sparked a furor last year when it proposed selling the Elliott for its appraised value of $220.8 million to a group headed by Lone Rock Timber and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians. Environmental groups protested that accelerated logging by the new owners would harm threatened and endangered species such as the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and coho salmon, while hunters and anglers balked at losing public access to the forest.

Reacting to the backlash, State Treasurer Tobias Read  one of two Democrats on the three-member State Land Board  withdrew his support for the sale while Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, who had opposed the idea, called for options to keep the Elliott in public hands. In February, she floated the idea of selling $100 million in state bonds to protect part of the forest while selling off the rest.

Meanwhile, Read approached OSU about stepping into the breach. In response, university officials produced a memorandum of understanding in April outlining the framework for a possible deal.

Under terms of the plan, the state would make a $100 million payment to the Common School Fund and would retain ownership of the Elliott Forest for now. OSU would have an option to purchase the forest for not more than $121 million by Dec. 31, 2023, providing certain conditions were met.

First among them would be federal approval of a habitat conservation plan for managing murrelet and salmon stocks on the forest under the Endangered Species Act. To that end, OSU proposes to conduct research  to be funded by the state  on the best way to balance logging and other forest management activities on the Elliott with conservation of threatened species.

The university also wants the State Land Board to issue a mandate for managing the forest for multiple uses to include research, education, conservation, logging and public access.

Acquiring the Elliott would greatly expand the amount of acreage available to OSU for forestry research. The university currently has eight research forests scattered around the state for a total of 15,000 acres, including the 11,500-acre McDonald-Dunn Forest just north of Corvallis. Managed by the College of Forestry, these holdings are used as living laboratories for research and education. Most of the properties also generate revenue through logging operations.

OSU, which recently announced a tuition increase to offset rising costs and anemic state appropriations, does not have $121 million set aside for land purchases. If the university does decide to buy the Elliott, Clark said, private donations would probably be one of the funding sources  along with legislative appropriations.

We still think the state has a role in the long-term preservation of this unique asset, he said.

Environmental groups also seem to be reserving judgment on the possibility of Oregon State University taking over the Elliott.

Steve Pedery, a spokesman for Oregon Wild, said the organization likes the idea of keeping the forest in public ownership while reducing logging pressure on the Elliott. At the same time, the group wants more details on exactly how OSU would manage the forest, which he said provides important recreational opportunities for Southwest Oregon as well as vital old growth habitat for sensitive species.

I think its better for both the Common School Fund and the environmental pressures on the Elliott if we can separate the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund, Pedery said. We havent discounted the idea out of hand  but its a little too soon to tell if this is a good idea or not.
This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Corvallis Police Department

SUNDAY, MAY 7

ASSAULT: 12:32 a.m., 3312 NE Lancaster St. An officer arrested Seth Matthew Tolleson, 22, of Corvallis, after he reportedly punched another man in the face and sped off out of the neighborhood, hitting a curb. He was charged with fourth degree assault and reckless driving.

SATURDAY, MAY 6

METH: 1:04 a.m., 1430 SW 53rd St. An officer arrested Sadie Rose Kibble, 35, of Corvallis, at her residence on an outstanding warrant and found methamphetamine on her person. She was charged with unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

FRIDAY, MAY 5

FALSE REPORT: 3:57 p.m., 944 NW Sequoia Ave. A man called police to report that a woman, Sara Michelle Meloling, told him her former boyfriend had beaten her. An investigating officer confirmed the ex was working in Beaverton at the time of the supposed assault, but found blood in the garage where Meloling said attack had occurred. The officer eventually concluded Meloling, 35, of Corvallis, had fallen down stairs into the garage and arrested her for filing a false report. She was transported to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center with a blood alcohol content of 0.327 percent.

Benton County Sheriffs Office

FRIDAY, MAY 5

DUII: 11:54 p.m., Northwest Springhill Drive at milepost 3, Albany. A deputy responded to a report of a single vehicle crash in which a car had rolled over and arrested the driver of the vehicle, Ryan Steven Blanton, for charges of DUII and reckless driving. Blanton, 25, of Monmouth, reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.25 percent.

THURSDAY, MAY 4

DUII: 10:16 p.m., Northwest Second Street and Northwest Harrison Boulevard. A deputy arrested Brian Marc Harkins, 45, of Albany for a charge of DUII. He reportedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has laid flowers to the monument of Eternal Glory in Kyiv on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazism in the Second World War.

Veterans of the Second World War, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and members of his government, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko also laid flowers on the Square of Glory.

Those present honored the memory of victims holding a moment of silence.
Bonn Climate Change Conference : Delegates cast nervous glances towards the US

Bonn 2800 delegates are due in Bonn this week but uncertainty over US policies on climate change is overshadowing the conference.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

This week Donald Trump could decide whether the US will back out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The uncertainty over the future climate policy of the US government is also affecting the 10-day interim conference on the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, which started on Monday in Bonn. In the agreement, 195 states agreed in December 2015 on a goal to limit global warming to significantly less than two degrees in comparison with pre-industrial times.

At the start of the Bonn conference, both environmentalists and the Federal Government directed appeals to the US president. Jochen Flasbarth, state secretary in the Federal Environment Ministry warned that the success in Paris should not be put at risk. It is expected the US government will announce its decision on the climate agreement in the coming days. No-one can currently predict the decision as the Presidents advisors are apparently divided.

UN climate head Patricia Espinosa stressed that the Paris agreement had an unbelievable degree of support worldwide. It would definitely be implemented, regardless of the USs decision. Flasbarth said a re-negotiation of the agreement was impossible: The agreement has in the meantime been ratified by many states and is already binding international law.

Environmentalists warned Trump against backing out. If the USA withdraws from an international agreement that it only ratified half a year ago, who would then still be able to trust this government in the future? asked Greenpeace climate expert Karsten Smid.

The WWF advisor for climate policy, Kristin Reiig said in Bonn that the facts showed one thing clearly: In the USA efforts to protect the climate continue to progress. The market for renewable energy is growing rapidly and with it the number of jobs. Fossil fuels are by contrast under economic pressure.

Almost 150 countries have currently ratified the Paris Agreement and are obligated to protect the climate. The focus of the Bonn conference is work on a so-called rulebook which will specify how the agreement will be implemented in practice. It is to be agreed by the end of 2018. This will include all countries regularly reporting in a similar format on their progress on climate policy. It has not been agreed how poor countries should be supported to allow them to adapt to climate change. The spokesperson for the group of least developed nations, Gebru Jember Endalew from Ethiopia, complained the poorest population groups are currently suffering the most from climate change. However, the fund to finance projects for adapting to change is empty.
Poroshenko: We reject Moscow's attempts to use victory over Nazism to meet imperial needs

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is convinced Russia is trying to use victory in the Second World War to meet its imperial ambitions.

"We categorically reject Moscow's attempts to use the victory over Nazism in World War II to meet its revanchist, imperial and expansionist needs," he said during participation in the ceremony of oath taking by servicemen in Kyiv.

According to him, the Second World War ended 72 years ago, but Russia is still trying to lead Ukraine.
Former APC Governorship Aspirant, Blessing Agbomhere Beaten Up At The Benin Airport (Photo & Video)

clarajancita at 9-05-2017 01:10 PM (5 years ago) (f)

A former All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant, Blessing Agbomhere, who was expelled from the party for an alleged 'anti-party' activities, was beaten at the airport yesterday while on his way to Benin.

A former All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant, Blessing Agbomhere, who was expelled from the party for an alleged 'anti-party' activities, was beaten at the airport yesterday while on his way to Benin.

Blessing, who spoke to newsmen, accused the former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomole, of being the face behind the assault, as he had tried stopping him from coming to the state before now.

Here's the video;.........

[img]



CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

Blessing, who spoke to newsmen, accused the former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomole, of being the face behind the assault, as he had tried stopping him from coming to the state before now.Here's the video;.........[img]

Post Reply I am a metro reporter on Gistmania, I have been publishing news materials for over 5 years Posted: at 9-05-2017 01:10 PM (5 years ago) | Hero

christianity at 9-05-2017 01:54 PM (5 years ago)

(m) This ppl won't stop amusing me.a Nigerian wanting a fellow Nigerian not to visit his own state or any where of his choice in same con3.so ridiculous, if u ppl can travel to foreign countries to live even illegally, who d hell has d right to stop a fellow citizen to do so in his own country. Wasted generation. Posted: at 9-05-2017 01:54 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac This ppl won't stop amusing me.a Nigerian wanting a fellow Nigerian not to visit his own state or any where of his choice in same con3.so ridiculous, if u ppl can travel to foreign countries to live even illegally, who d hell has d right to stop a fellow citizen to do so in his own country. Wasted generation. Reply

christianity at 9-05-2017 01:56 PM (5 years ago)

(m) This ppl won't stop amusing me.a Nigerian wanting a fellow Nigerian not to visit his own state or any where of his choice in same con3.so ridiculous, if u ppl can travel to foreign countries to live even illegally, who d hell has d right to stop a fellow citizen to do so in his own country. Wasted generation. Posted: at 9-05-2017 01:56 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac This ppl won't stop amusing me.a Nigerian wanting a fellow Nigerian not to visit his own state or any where of his choice in same con3.so ridiculous, if u ppl can travel to foreign countries to live even illegally, who d hell has d right to stop a fellow citizen to do so in his own country. Wasted generation. Reply

Bebold at 9-05-2017 02:23 PM (5 years ago)

(m) This is crazy everybody in Nigerian politics is power, power hungry they are never there to serve that people Posted: at 9-05-2017 02:23 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac This is crazy everybody in Nigerian politics is power, power hungry they are never there to serve that people Reply

morgan1 at 9-05-2017 03:17 PM (5 years ago)

(m) That's bad,,,,,,, Posted: at 9-05-2017 03:17 PM (5 years ago) | Hero That's bad,,,,,,, Reply

pricklong at 9-05-2017 04:48 PM (5 years ago)

(m) osho you a barstad if you are the person behind this Posted: at 9-05-2017 04:48 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac osho you a barstad if you are the person behind this Reply

pricklong at 9-05-2017 04:49 PM (5 years ago)

(m) osho you a barstad if you are the person behind this Posted: at 9-05-2017 04:49 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac osho you a barstad if you are the person behind this Reply

schmit at 9-05-2017 05:41 PM (5 years ago)

(f) 2 bad Posted: at 9-05-2017 05:41 PM (5 years ago) | Hero 2 bad Reply

kenosas at 9-05-2017 07:40 PM (5 years ago)

(m) Tell me one reason why i will not leave that country for those evil people,i ve been in another man land for years i ve never been attack,traumatize or having d fear of been attack,no one will do that to me boc the law is behind me,but in niaja dey will delibrately mess u up boc knowning u cannot do anything,africans i raise yantch 4 una. Posted: at 9-05-2017 07:40 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Tell me one reason why i will not leave that country for those evil people,i ve been in another man land for years i ve never been attack,traumatize or having d fear of been attack,no one will do that to me boc the law is behind me,but in niaja dey will delibrately mess u up boc knowning u cannot do anything,africans i raise yantch 4 una. Reply

BournIdentity at 10-05-2017 07:35 AM (5 years ago)

(m) Huhuhuhuhu Posted: at 10-05-2017 07:35 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Huhuhuhuhu Reply

AmazingMarie at 10-05-2017 06:01 PM (5 years ago)

(f) this is not too good if the story is true Posted: at 10-05-2017 06:01 PM (5 years ago) | Hero this is not too good if the story is true Reply
Ukraine's president expects final approval of visa-free travel for Ukraine by EU on May 11

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expects that the European Union will finally approve a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens on May 11 this year.

"On May 11 the Council of the EU should finally approve visa-free travel to Europe, to the countries of the Schengen zone for Ukrainian citizens," he said during the First Minute of Peace event at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

According to him, this is a historic event.

"This means our final return to the single European civilizational space," the president said.
Google Chrome 59 will offer full support for animated PNGs News oi -Chandrika We can't wait for Google Chrome 59

GIFs are a fun way to express your emotions over the internet. While they have been in existence for a long time now, they have become really popular in the recent times. However, there is one catch, the GIF format has some problems such as huge images, restrictions on color, bitrate and frames per second.

Although writing an actual format for replacing the GIF is not so difficult, making it able to function universally is a quite a task. Anyway, animated PNGs or aPNGs just took a significant step towards universal acceptance, and the courtesy goes to the latest release of Chrome. The upcoming 59 version of Chrome will offer full support for animated PNGs, as per developer comments, which was spotted by 9to5Google.

How to use Google Map to find your parked car

While APNGs have had hacked-together support for quite some time now through Chrome extensions, full support is indeed a big news, especially for web developers. They can now include aPNGs in a webpage knowing that most of the viewers will be able to see them.

However, Chrome is not the first browser to provide full support aPNGs. Firefox supports them as well. Apple added aPNGs for iOS 10's animated iMessage features while Safari supports them on MacOS and iOS.

So now the default android browser and Microsoft's Edge are the only browsers that do not offer near-universal support for aPNGs.

Google Chrome 58 version started rolling out to android devices and PCs running Mac, Windows, and Linux from the previous week. It fixed a lot of security issues and added some much-awaited features.

Source

Best Mobiles in India
Nokia 6

The Nokia 6 is expected to be priced below Rs. 20,000. The smartphone is the high-end model among the three Nokia devices and comes with a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p IPS LCD display. There is an octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor paired with 3GB/4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB storage capacity that can be expanded up to 128GB. The other goodies on board include a 16MP main snapper with PDAF and an 8MP selfie camera, a fingerprint sensor, 4G LTE, and a 3000mAh battery.

The Nokia 6 runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS and has features such as dual speakers and NFC. The smartphone has been launched in Matte Black, Silver, Copper, Tempered Blue, and a limited edition Arte Black color variant.

Nokia 5

The Nokia that is likely to be priced below Rs. 15,000 bestows a 5.2-inch HD 720p IPS LCD display. Running on Android 7.1.1 Nougat, this smartphone is equipped with an octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC as the Nokia 6, but has 2GB RAM and 16GB storage capacity that can be expanded up to 128GB. While the imaging department is almost identical expect for the 13MP rear snapper. There is 4G LTE, a 3000mAh battery, NFC, and OTG support. This phone is available in Matte Black, Copper, Silver, and Tempered Blue color options.

Also read: Nokia 6, 5, 3 and Nokia 3310 release slated for June

Nokia 3

Expected to be priced below Rs. 10,000, the Nokia 3 smartphone is fitted with a 5-inch HD 720p IPS LCD display. Under its hood, there operates a quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor. The RAM and storage aspects are similar to the Nokia 5. The entry-level Nokia 3 smartphone comes with an 8MP main snapper and an 8MP front-facer as well. The 4G LTE phone boots on Android 7.0 Nougat OS and has OTG support and a 2650mAh battery. The color options are similar to those of the Nokia 5.

Nokia 3310

While the Nokia 3310 pricing was not divulged at the event, it looks like the feature phone might be priced below Rs. 4,000. It has a battery that can give it up to 22 hours of talk time and up to one month of standby time. There is a 2MP rear snapper as well on the feature phone.
Oppo to integrate third-party services to compete with Samsung News oi -Shilpa Now Oppo is into some other plans!

We have seen how Oppo is striving hard to make some space in the hugely crowded mobile platform by offering selfie phones to grab the attention of youngsters. Now, they are into some other plans to compete with the rivals in the smartphone segment.

According to Economic Times, the Oppo is looking forward to make some investment in mobile internet startups in India to integrate some third-party services on their platform and also app store to especially compete with a South Korean smartphone manufacturer, Samsung. Not just this, Oppo is also planning to continue its focus on selfie-centric phones, which made the company deepen its root in an Indian market.

OPPO R11 revealed in three color variants: Leaks

Will Yang - brand director, Oppo India, told Economic Times, "We have an investor department in China, and they look for mobile internet start-ups and companies to invest in. It is managed at the group level. We are looking for similar companies or start-ups in India."

It looks like, the company is following the steps taken by Micromax and Xiaomi who invested in the Indian mobile internet companies to offer services and gain some presence in the country. Though it managed to secure 4th position by shipments having 10% market share in the first quarter, they are still trying to offer some more localized products and services in our market.

Purported Oppo Find 9 design sketches spotted online

To recall, the market share was lead by Samsung with 26%, according to Counter Research. Yang adds, "We aim to achieve either no 1 or No 2 position in India. Our aim is to compete with Samsung and no other brands."

He says that Oppo will have at least one smartphone in each price category, except for the sub-Rs 10,000 price list. "As a strategy, we would probably stop entry level. As for positioning of the brand even in China, we focus on mid and premium segments. Entry-level is not our focus area as it provides less user experience," he adds.

Source

Best Mobiles in India
Facebook deletes thousands of accounts in the UK to stop spread of scam News oi -Chandrika Facebook's battle against fake news continues in Europe

Lately, Google, Facebook and many other companies have been taking up preventive measures to control the spread of fake news. Last month, Facebook had suspended 30,000 fake accounts in France to stop the spread of fake news, spam and misleading information.

Now, the social media giant has deleted thousands of accounts in the UK to battle fake news. The move has been made one month prior to the General Election. In addition to this, the company has put out advertisements in various media platforms in order to educate readers about how they need to spot fake news. The ads advise people to be "sceptical of headlines" and to check the URL.

Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and Nokia 3310 price details revealed ahead of June launch

Facebook has claimed that it can now easily detect fake accounts who disseminate misleading information. Simon Milner, the tech firm's UK director of policy, assures that they are "doing everything we can to tackle the problem of false news."

Previously, instead of taking any serious action, Facebook merely responded to complaints. Apparently, the reason behind Facebook taking such drastic moves is the intense political pressure it is facing in Europe.

Four year old iPhone 5s may cost just Rs. 15,000 in India

The governments across the continent are coming up with new laws and fines. These are to meant to make the company take quick action to weed out the extremist propaganda and other content that actually violate the local laws.

A court in Austria has just passed a law, which forces Facebook to remove hate speech postings from its platform.

It is not only Facebook that is facing the pressure. Even other social media sites such as Twitter and YouTube have to fight the spreading of fake news ahead of elections in the UK.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
MQ-9 Reapers add to arsenal with first GBU-38 drop

, 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs / Published May 08, 2017

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) -- Airmen from the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing, here, and the 26th Weapons Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, made history earlier this week, by employing the first GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition from an MQ-9 Reaper.

While the JDAM has been around since the late '90s, the munition has just recently been validated and now proven for real world engagements marking a significant step in the Reapers' joint warfighter role.

"We had a great opportunity to drop the first live GBU-38s in training," said Capt. Scott, a 26th WPS weapons instructor pilot. "The GBU-38 is a weapon we've been trying to get on the MQ-9 for several years now and we had the opportunity to be the first to drop during training."

While waiting for the aircraft to approach the target area, members of the weapons squadron waited anxiously. After the bombs successfully struck their practice targets in a controlled environment, the entire room cheered.

For the past 10 years skilled MQ-9 aircrew have been employing AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and GBU-12 laser-guided bombs, but the JDAM brings new global positioning system capabilities to the warfighters.

"The GBU-38, just like the Hellfire and GBU-12, is a very accurate weapon and the fact that it's GPS-guided gives us another versatile way to guide the weapon, specifically, through inclement weather onto targets," Scott said.

The JDAM being added to the arsenal is another step in furthering the attack capabilities of the MQ-9 Reaper force.

"There's definitely times when I could've used the GBU-38 in combat prior to this," Scott said.

Not only does the GBU-38 perform through poor weather conditions, it also helps the munitions Airmen and the weapons load crew members who load them.

"The GBU-38 has a 20 minute load time compared to the GBU-12, which has a 30 minute load time," said Senior Airman Curtis, a 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron load crew member. "The GBU-38 is a quicker load compared to the GBU-12 and gets the plane in the air quicker."

Incorporating this new munition into the total strike package will give MQ-9 aircrews additional capabilities.

"Our job at the weapons school is to train to the highest standard possible," Scott said. "We're going to take the GBU-38 and incorporate it into our advanced scenarios, prove the weapon and integrate with all Air Force assets. What that gives us is the ability to take it downrange and employ in the most demanding circumstances possible."

The JDAM will add flexibility and efficiency to the targeting process. Aircrews will continue to employ the AGM-114 Hellfires and GBU-12s downrange in addition to the GBU-38 that is now ready for combat.

"The overall impact of the GBU-38 is aircrew will have more versatility for the commanders to provide different effects and make a difference for the guys on the ground," Scott said. "It has a different guidance system and it opens the bridge to more GPS-guided weapons in the future."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Counter-ISIS Strikes Target Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 8, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 33 strikes consisting of 84 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 25 strikes consisting of 31 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS wellhead and an ISIS oil storage tank.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed four ISIS wellheads, a unmanned aerial system storage building and a vehicle.

-- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed a tunnel entrance.

-- Near Raqqa, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed 13 ISIS barges and two excavators.

-- Near Tabqah, 15 strikes engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed eight fighting positions and a vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 53 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed an ISIS staging area.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units and a sniper team; destroyed six fighting positions, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, four vehicle bombs, three medium machine guns, two tactical vehicles, two supply caches, two heavy machine guns, two anti-air artillery systems, two vehicles, a mortar system, a recoilless rifle, a ISIS staging area; damaged 10 ISIS supply routes, seven fighting positions; and suppressed two mortar teams.

-- Near Rutbah, a strike destroyed inoperable equipment.

Additionally, three strikes were conducted in Syria on May 6 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed two fighting positions and a supply cache.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S., Romanian Engineers Build Firing Range

By Army Capt. Colin Cutler U.S. European Command

CINCU, Romania, May 8, 2017  Rainy weather in early May is just another obstacle to overcome for the soldiers of Resolute Castle 2017, an engineering exercise underway here and in Poland.

Resolute Castle 17 is a NATO initiative designed to increase shared operational understanding between soldiers at all levels of the armed forces and reaffirm member-nations' commitment to their mutual safety and sovereign borders.

For three weeks in Romania, soldiers with the South Carolina Army National Guard's 124th Engineer Company and the Army Reserve's 381st Engineer Company are working with soldiers from Romania's 10th Engineer Brigade to build a nonstandard live-fire range at the Joint National Training Center here.

The range will have multiple lanes and fighting positions for NATO armored gunnery exercises.

Muddy Conditions

When rain turned local roads into muck that endangered the trucks hauling rock for the tank trails, the engineers built a new road, which enabled them to continue work and will prevent future delays.

To support the tanks that will eventually rumble over its roads, constructing the range requires a constant supply of rock.

"It takes 150 truckloads per working day," said Army Capt. Darin Larson of the 926th Engineer Brigade, the officer in charge of engineering projects here.

That long line of civilian trucks ground to a halt as the rain began and their tires became stuck in the mud. The engineers laid rip-rap as a road for the trucks, but the drivers, Romanian contractors from the area, were wary of the large rocks with their sharp edges.

"They could easily pop a tire," said Army 1st Lt. Hillman Dorn, a member of the 124th Engineer Company.

With their front-end loaders, rollers and graders, the engineers compacted dirt, laid down a finer rock to cover the rip-rap and graded the road. Eventually, the dump trucks began moving again.

Adapting to Terrain

Engineers have to adapt to the terrain as they shape it. Earlier rotations brought in a significant number of articulated concrete mats -- concrete blocks joined by a flexible material -- to support a low-water crossing. The engineers had to place the mats before they could begin laying rock for the road. Once that access was established, they began clearing and grubbing out the dirt.

"The first 8 to12 inches is bio matter and old roots that will make the road sink over time," Dorn said. "You have to cut it out, compact the dirt, and build the road up from there."

Army Sgt. 1st Class Antonie Lott, with the 124th Engineer Company, said he has enjoyed the opportunity to participate in Resolute Castle 17.

"I like meeting new people and learning new things, and you do that here," he said.

Lott said he sees the challenges of weather and terrain as inconvenient, but also an opportunity to adapt and train his soldiers on other skills.

"You do whatever you can as the weather permits," he said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Mattis in Denmark to Confer With Allies on Defeating ISIS

By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2017  Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived today in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the start of a three-country trip that includes a multinational discussion on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Mattis and Danish Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen will co-host the meeting with senior leaders from 15 countries that are key contributors to the counter-ISIS military campaign, according to a Pentagon statement.

"We're going to look to the future, determine what more is needed, if anything," Mattis said to reporters on his plane en route to Denmark, adding, "and how we are going to determine that is based upon an update with the enemy situation."

ISIS has lost a lot of ground and is on its "back foot" in both Syria and Iraq, he said. In Afghanistan, the terrorists still have strength in Nangarhar province, he said, while pointing out the emir of ISIS Khorasan was recently killed.

Mattis and Frederiksen will meet to discuss European security and the importance of the NATO alliance, according to the Pentagon statement. The secretary and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen will meet to reaffirm the close ties between Denmark and the U.S., the statement said.

Ensuring Visible Presence in Eastern Europe

On the next stop of his trip, Lithuania, Mattis said he will "see how the German battle group is doing, call on some of the countries' leaders and pay my respects for what they're doing."

Mattis said he wants to "ensure that we maintain a very visible NATO presence as we basically try to reduce the opportunity for miscalculation by anyone and buy time for the diplomats to restore tranquility and stability up in the Baltics."

NATO is enhancing its forward presence on its eastern flank with multinational battalion-size battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on a rotational basis, according to the alliance.

Germany is leading the battle group in Lithuania, while the other battle groups are being led by Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as explained by NATO on its website.

Discussions on Somalia

Mattis said he will travel from Lithuania to the United Kingdom, where he will take part in a conference on Somalia, led by Prime Minister Theresa May.

"It is a country that's been through very tough times," Mattis said of Somalia, noting the United Kingdom is coordinating leading the effort to try to find a way forward with the new president of Somalia.

"It's a tough proposition to take Somalia forward, but that is the purpose of the conference, to determine how best we can do so," the secretary said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis May 08, 2017

Media Availability with Secretary Mattis en route to Copenhagen, Denmark

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JIM MATTIS: Okay, thank you, colonel.

And good to see you, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for taking the time to go on another trip; in some cases, one of many trips that you've taken. Happy to have you onboard.

We're on our way to Copenhagen, where we're going to have about a dozen countries, a little more than that, that are leading the fight against our ISIS enemy.

We're going to sit down, take stock of where we're at. We're going to look to the future, determine what more is needed, if anything. And how we are going to determine that is based upon an update with the enemy situation.

They're on their back foot in Syria. They're on their back foot in Iraq. They've lost a lot of ground; they still have strengths in Nangarhar.

In Nangarhar, in Afghanistan, ISIS Khorasan, I think you may have heard, President Ghani announced that we have eliminated the emir. And so, the fight goes on.

And from Copenhagen, after I'm done there, we'll move onto Vilnius in Lithuania.

I want to see how the German battlegroup is doing, call on some of the countries' leaders, and pay my respects for what they're doing, and ensure that we maintain a very visible NATO presence as we basically try to reduce the opportunity for miscalculation by anyone and buy time for the diplomats to -- to restore tranquility and stability up in the Baltics.

From there, we'll go to London, where we'll join a conference led by Prime Minister May. The topic is Somalia. It has a new president. It is a country that's been through very tough times. And the United Kingdom is coordinating leading the effort to try to find a way forward with the new president in position.

It's a -- it's a tough proposition to take Somalia forward, but that is the purpose of the conference, to determine how best we can do so.

So, three stops in about -- in several days, and that's the -- the crux of why we're heading out there.

So, can I take a question? Yes, go ahead.

Q: Mr. Secretary, just on Syria and the new safe zones that they have created there, can you give us your perspective on the safe zones? Have you gotten a really good understanding of where the borders are? And will the U.S. agree to this, will it affect the fight against ISIS do you think?

SEC. MATTIS: The -- coming out of the Astana Conference, where we had an assistant secretary of state monitoring, there was a proposal made to have what you call the safe zones. The specific location of the borders are still being worked out but they're -- the general locations are well understood.

We'll look at them. It's all in process right now. It's not been decided, in the sense that these are the specific safe zones, here's who's going to be ensuring they're safe, who is signing up for it, who is specifically to be kept out of them. All these details are to be worked out and we're in engaged.

I would add that General Dunford, our chairman of the joint chiefs, had a talk with General Gerasimov, his -- his opposite member in Moscow. It was a general talk that also this subject was brought up.

But there's a lot of details to be worked out is what I'd say. So, I can't answer all your questions because it's not firm yet. But we'll take a look at them.

All wars eventually come to an end, and we've been looking for a long time how to bring this one to an end. So, we'll look at the proposal, see what -- see if it can work.

Q: Will it affect the -- the U.S. fight against ISIS?

SEC. MATTIS: Will it affect the fight against ISIS?

I think the international community is united in a sense of wanting to see ISIS put on its back foot. Whether or not those efforts have been fully coordinated is a constant effort. For example, we have deconfliction lines with the Russians, which we use for some of that. But the fight against ISIS will go on.

STAFF: Phil, do you have a question?

Q: Well, I just want to be quick on -- (inaudible). You said that all wars need to end. That presumes that this proposal has a hope of ending the war in Syria. Is that -- is that -- is that --

SEC. MATTIS: Yes.

Q: -- a legitimate (inaudible)?

SEC. MATTIS: Does this proposal have a hope for ending this war? We'll have to look at it. You know, we're going to have to look at it.

The devil's always in the details, right? So we've got to look at the details, see if we can work them out, see if we think they're effect -- going to be effective. Can we -- can we actually execute them? In other words, there's a lot of decisions to be made, both in planning -- I would say in planning, coordination among a number of nations and obviously in execution.

Lots -- lots to be worked out. Can't give you a lot of specifics, but we owe it to the situation there, the people there, to at least examine it very, very carefully.

STAFF: Sir, (We'll let TM ask you the last question.

Q: Mr. Secretary, the meeting tomorrow with the -- Wednesday or Tuesday -- with the --

SEC. MATTIS: Defeat ISIS minister, yes.

Q: Right, those are the 12 main contributors. Are you going to be making any asks of them for the Raqqa fight, putting the Raqqa CONOP on the table?

SEC. MATTIS: All right. It's an integrated effort. The specific -- we'll have to work out the enemy situation, what they're doing now. As you know, this fight goes on in a number of locations. And Raqqa, their capital, must be taken down.

But this is perhaps about one step above that level of operational detail, about the commitments in various parts of the theaters where we're engaging against ISIS. So, it may come up, but right now I wouldn't -- I wouldn't get into that level of detail unless I see something that then can be provided based on the discussion.

Q: One follow up, sir, just switching to Afghanistan: Have you made the decision on if we're going to plus-up troops? I know that you --

SEC. MATTIS: No, we'll take that decision forward very, very shortly.

Q: Thank you, sir.

STAFF: All right, sir, I think we'll cut off now. And if you've got a couple extra minutes --

SEC. MATTIS: They're making food for you up front.

(Laughter.)

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1176063/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Navy to challenge China in South China Sea: Commander

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 5:7PM

The US Navy will restart so-called Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs) in the South China Sea to challenge claims by China to exclusive access in the sea, a top American commander says.

US Pacific Fleet Commander Scott Swift insisted at a briefing in Singapore on Monday that there is "no change in policy" toward the region under the administration of President Donald Trump.

He said the US Navy stopped its "freedom of navigation" patrols temporarily in the South China Sea because the United States "just went through a change in administration," but added that it did not mean the sea is a lower priority for the Trump administration.

"I am not surprised that process has continued in a dialogue as the new administration gets its feet on the ground and determines where would be appropriate to take advantage of these opportunities and where we may want to wait," he said.

"We just present the opportunities when we have a ship in the area and there is an area of interest," he said, adding the US Navy continues to recommend such operations.

The US Navy has not conducted any FONOPs near features claimed by China in the South China Sea since Trump took office on January 20, a Pentagon official said previously.

In such operations, American ships or planes go near "disputed" Chinese features to test the claims to exclusive access.

Swift said the military still proposes freedom of navigation operations, but added that there are concerns among US allies about the American commitment to the region.

"I think if the entire United States Navy was forward deployed to the western Pacific there'd still be this sense of uncertainty of commitment," Swift said. "And it wasn't so much a reflection of the US and the US commitment, it's the sense of uncertainty and angst in the region."

The US has long sought to limit China's growing maritime influence in the sea, over most of which Beijing claims sovereignty.

Additionally, the US has reached out to the sea's neighboring nations, who have overlapping claims with regards to the South China Sea, a major gateway for trillions of dollars in maritime trade.

China does not look favorably upon the US military's presence in the region, saying Washington is only there to stir regional tensions.

In response, the Trump administration has accused China of building a "massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea."

China has repeatedly warned the United States against naval patrols in the South China Sea.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Some 45 people detained during May 9 events in Ukraine

Events on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazism in the Second World War in general in Ukraine are being conducted without gross violations, there were small skirmishes in a number of cities, 45 people were detained all over the country, First Deputy Interior Minister Serhiy Yarovy has stated.

"In general, the events of May 9 are passing as normal. Of course, there were local skirmishes in Odesa, Zaporizhia, Dnipro and Kyiv, but the police and the National Guard are working. The situation is under control," he told journalists in Kyiv.

According to him, 45 people were detained all over Ukraine.

Some 30,000 police officers are involved in law enforcement in Ukraine.

Some 50,000 citizens took part in mass events.
Egypt sentence Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to life

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 6:14PM

An Egyptian court has sentenced the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and two other members of the outlawed movement to life in prison over their alleged role in protests following the 2013 ouster of the country's first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Judicial officials and and defense lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud said on Monday that the court condemned Badie to a life term along with Mahmoud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood spokesman, and Hossam Abubakr,a member of its guidance bureau.

They were given life sentences in retrial for "planning violent attacks" which followed the July 2013 military-led ouster of Morsi. They had been part of a group of people accused of conspiring to stir unrest during protests.

In April 2015, Badie, along with 13 other defendants, was sentenced to death while 37 others were sentenced to life in prison for setting up an "operation room" at a protest camp supporting Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa Al-Adawiya area in the summer of 2013.

US-Egyptian citizen Mohamed Soltan, his father Salah Soltan and Ahmed Aref, another spokesman for the group, were among defendants on Monday sentenced to serve five years behind bars.

In May 2015, Egyptian authorities deported Mohamed Soltan to the US, while his father remains in custody.

The court also acquitted 21 others. The acquitted persons include Gehad Haddad, an international spokesman for the Brotherhood.

The retrial came after Egypt's court of cassation scrapped the 2015 ruling.

Badie, who is being prosecuted in more than 35 trials, received three death sentences in other cases but those rulings have also been scrapped.

In recent months, the court of cassation has cancelled scores of death sentences against Morsi supporters including against the deposed president himself.

The Muslim Brotherhood has faced crackdown since Morsi was ousted in a coup led by the then military chief and current president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in July 2013.

Since the ouster of Morsi, thousands of anti-government protesters, mostly Brotherhood supporters, have been sentenced to jail by civilian and military courts.

The Brotherhood was later blacklisted as a terrorist organization by officials in a bid to prevent its affiliates from running in elections.

International rights groups have repeatedly blasted the government of Sisi for launching a heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters and stifling freedom of speech.

The clampdown has led to the deaths of more than 1,400 people and arrests of 22,000 others, while hundreds have been sentenced to death in mass trials, according to human rights bodies.

Egyptian forces kill eight Brotherhood members in shootout

The Egyptian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Monday that security forces has killed eight militants in a shootout in the North African country's south.

it did not identify the exact location of the shootout but said police came under heavy gunfire while trying to approach the group and had to respond with force.

The Egyptian authorities identified the militants as members of the Brotherhood .

The statement noted those killed included Helmi Saad Masri, whom it described as a prominent Brotherhood leader.

The organization, which maintains that its activities are peaceful, has yet to comment on the deadly incident.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Car bomb explosion kills 6 people in Mogadishu, wounding nearly dozen

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 4:29PM

A car bomb explosion has claimed the lives of at least six civilians in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, police say.

The deadly incident occurred in central part of the capital on Monday, when an explosive-laden car exploded next to an Italian cafe, across from the Immigration Directorate, on a major thoroughfare.

The huge blast also left 10 people wounded, police added.

"The blast was very powerful and there were a lot of people there at the time, I saw several people dead and injured," said a witness, Abdukadir Ise.

Other reports said that gunfire erupted after the explosion, which sent thick clouds of smoke to the sky.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack, but such assaults bear the hallmarks of al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab Takfiri terrorists.

The blast came a few hours after a roadside bomb blast killed at least three Somali soldiers outside a military base on the outskirts of Shalan Bood town, located in the Lower Shabelle region, south of Mogadishu, while the government troops were on an ordinance-clearing mission.

Al-Shabab Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, but said the attack had killed four government forces, including two officials.

"We went out of town in search of bombs but one had been planted right on the spot where we were based," said Mohamed Nur, regional military official, adding that the blast wounded four other troopers.

The deadly incidents came a day after Somalia's information minister announced that a Friday raid by the army on Bariire village, also located in the Lower Shabelle region, had killed the terror group's leader Moalin Osman Abdi Badil and three of his associates.

Somalia has been the scene of deadly clashes between government forces and al-Shabab militants since 2006.

The Takfiri militant group was forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011 but still controls parts of the countryside and carries out attacks against government, military and civilian targets.

Al-Shabab has stepped up its deadly bombings in the capital since new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed took office in February.

Somalia's armed forces are under growing pressure to take full responsibility for the security situation in the country as a multinational African Union force prepares to start withdrawing in 2018.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Philippines, US start joint annual drills in Manila

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 7:44AM

The Philippines and the United States have begun joint annual military exercises on a much smaller scale than usual.

The drills, dubbed Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder), began on Monday. They are the first under President Rodrigo Duterte.

This year's exercises will be based on a scenario of troops responding to a major storm hitting the eastern Philippines, then cutting across the heavily-populated areas of the country, including the capital, Manila.

Officials say 5,400 personnel, including 2,600 Americans and 2,800 Filipinos, are participating in the exercises this year. That is down from 12,000 in 2015.

The US co-director of this year's drills, General Lawrence Nicholson, said the US military hoped that the exercises would grow again in future editions.

"If you look back on 33 years of Balikatan, they are all different. There are any number of ways it can change. It can be bigger, it can be smaller. We hope it gets bigger," Nicholson told reporters.

The two countries have long been conducting the yearly drills. The Philippines, one of the oldest US allies in Asia, also hosted permanent US military bases until 1992.

Ties between the two, however, started weakening since last year, when Duterte said he wanted US troops out of his country in the next two years. He repeatedly clashed with Washington over his anti-drug campaign, which was criticized by the US and rights groups.

The anti-drug campaign has so far killed thousands of people in the South Asian country.

Despite the downgrade of military ties initiated by Manila, Washington has pledged to remain "committed to our pursuit of shared objectives" in keeping with the "seven-decade alliance between our two countries."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Chief Of Islamic State In Afghanistan Confirmed Dead After Raid

May 08, 2017

The leader of Islamic State in Afghanistan was killed in a joint Afghan-U.S. operation last month in the eastern province of Nangarhar, officials from the two countries said on May 7.

Abdul Hasib, who was appointed last year following the death of his predecessor Hafiz Saeed in a U.S drone strike, was killed in a raid by 50 U.S. Special Forces and 40 Afghan commandos, according to a joint statement by U.S. and Afghan armed forces.

"Within a few minutes of landing, our combined force came under intense fire from multiple directions and well-prepared fighting positions," the statement said, confirming an unofficial report on April 28 that Hasib was suspected to have died in the battle.

"Nevertheless, our forces successfully closed on the enemy, killed several high-level [IS] leaders and upwards of 35 fighters."

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, also confirmed Hasib's death. In a statement late on May 7, the office of the president said that Hasib was killed some 10 days ago but the "government wanted to confirm the news and be sure about his death" before publicly announcing it.

The statement said Hasib was the main mastermind behind the March 8 attack on a Kabul military hospital that killed dozens of people.

U.S. forces have been battling IS-linked militants in Nangarhar Province, where the extremist group has established a presence in its fight against Afghan government forces.

Nangarhar is the province where, on April 13, the U.S. military said 94 militants were killed after it dropped its most powerful nonnuclear weapon ever used in combat on what it said was a major militant command center.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Sky News, Tolonews.com, Khaama.com, and The Daily Mail

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanista-islamic- state-chief-killed/28473134.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Afghan Air Force Pounds IS Targets In Eastern Province

May 08, 2017

Afghanistan's air force has pounded Islamic State (IS) targets in the eastern province of Nangarhar, where the extremist group's top commander was killed in a raid last month, Afghan authorities said.

The Interior Ministry said on May 8 that the air strikes killed at least 34 IS fighters over the past 24 hours and destroyed an IS radio station that had been illegally broadcasting the militant group's messages across the province.

The ministry said the air strikes targeted IS hideouts in the Nazyan and Achin districts.

The statement came after U.S. and Afghan officials announced on May 7 that a joint military operation last month killed Abdul Hasib, the IS chief in Nangarhar.

Hasib, who was appointed last year following the death of his predecessor Hafiz Saeed in a U.S drone strike, was killed in a raid by 50 U.S. Special Forces and 40 Afghan commandos, according to a joint statement by U.S. and Afghan armed forces.

A statement released by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office also confirmed Hasib's death, adding that he was "responsible for ordering the attack on the military hospital in Kabul that took place in March in which around 50 people were killed and many more wounded."

Meanwhile, in a separate development, at least six militants were killed by a U.S. drone strike in central Wardak Province on May 8, Afghan media reported, citing local officials.

Abdul Rahman Mangal, a spokesman for the provincial governor said "local Taliban commanders" were among those killed in the attack that targeted the militants in the provincial capital, Maidan Shahr.Mangal did not provide further details.

Based on reporting by AP and tolonews.com

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-pound-islamic -state-targets-nangarhar/28474325.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. Urges Kosovo To Ratify Montenegro Border Deal

RFE/RL May 08, 2017

The United States is calling on Kosovo to ratify a border-demarcation deal with Montenegro, saying the domestic political gridlock over the agreement is damaging the Balkan nation's international credibility.

The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, said in a May 8 statement that, among other things, the delay is preventing Kosovo's citizens from traveling freely in Europe.

"We remain fully convinced -- after considerable review by United States Government experts -- that the border demarcation line established by the agreement is correctly drawn," the statement said.

The country's opposition has prevented parliament from voting on the border agreement, which Montenegro signed two years ago, and another deal with Serbia that gives more powers to ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized by 114 countries, but not by Belgrade.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in March urged the opposition to ratify the agreement, the last remaining hurdle before Kosovo can benefit from visa-free travel to Europe's Schengen zone.

The U.S. Embassy said in its statement that "the time has come to put an end to the arguments and disagreements that are only hurting Kosovo."

"It is time to end political obstruction of the Republic of Kosovo so the Assembly and Government can begin to make progress on other vital issues on behalf of Kosovo's citizens," it said.

With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-urges-kosovo- montenegro-border-deal/28474936.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






White House Says Obama Made Clear To Trump He Wasn't 'A Fan' Of Flynn

RFE/RL May 08, 2017

Former U.S. President Barack Obama made it clear to then President-elect Donald Trump that he did not support Michael Flynn, whom Trump later fired as national security adviser in connection with his contacts with Russian officials, the White House said on May 8.

The comments by White House spokesman Sean Spicer came hours after a wave of media reports citing former Obama administration officials as saying that Obama personally delivered a warning about Flynn to his successor shortly after Trump's stunning victory in the November presidential election.

Flynn has emerged as a central figure in the continuing furor over alleged contacts between Trump's associates and Russian officials last year.

Federal authorities and several Congressional committees are investigating both that matter and alleged Russian meddling in last year's presidential election.

"It's true that the president, President Obama, made it known that he wasn't exactly a fan of General Flynn's," during his meeting with Trump in the White House on November 10, two days after Trump's victory, Spicer told reporters in Washington.

He added that this "frankly shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, given that General Flynn had worked for President Obama, was an outspoken critic of President Obama's shortcomings."

Obama had hired and fired Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The specific basis for his warning, which was first reported by NBC News, was not immediately clear.

Flynn lasted less than a month in Trump's administration. He was fired by the president for failing to tell the truth about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, after Trump's election but before the president-elect took office.

The reports of Obama's warning to Trump emerged hours before two top former Obama administration officials were scheduled to testify before a Senate committee as part of an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The May 8 Senate hearing was slated to hear testimony from Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who stayed on with the Trump administration before being fired after 10 days.

Yates is expected to testify about what the Trump White House knew about Flynn's communications with Russian officials before and after the election.

Ahead of the hearing, Trump wrote on Twitter that it was Obama's administration that granted the "highest security clearance" to Flynn.

He also took a swipe at Yates, saying Senators should ask her "if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel."

With reporting by NBC News, AP, Reuters, AFP, CNN, and The Washington Post

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/obama-warned-trump- flynn-senate-hearing/28474913.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






White House Confirms Obama Warned Trump About General Flynn

Sputnik News

20:22 08.05.2017(updated 23:15 08.05.2017)

On Monday, White House officials said that former US President Barack Obama made it very clear to now-President Donald Trump that he was not a big fan of General Michael Flynn, ex-National Security Adviser for the Trump administration.

The Trump administration was told not to hire Flynn for the national defense post by the outgoing commander-in-chief immediately following Trump's victory on November 8, 2016.

Obama said he was not "a fan of Michael Flynn," in a November 10 meeting in the Oval Office.

After being one of the first appointees to join the administration, Flynn reportedly lied to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak.

When asked whether the Trump administration believed Flynn should have retained his clearance, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the issue was "adjudicated by the Obama administration," hence, "that's not really a question for us."

The Obama administration "took no steps to suspend" Flynn's security clearance, Spicer said.

Spicer added that Trump acted appropriately in ousting Flynn since Trump "felt as though Gen. Flynn misled the vice president."

"The President stands by that today," Spicer said.

On Monday morning, the President commanded White House staff and other aides to stop "feeding negative lines about Flynn to the media," Axios reported.

During the transition period, New Jersey Governor and Trump campaign surrogate Chris Christie also advocated against bringing Flynn onto the new administration, but was rebuffed by Trump.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Trump Reminds Flynn Was Given Highest Security Clearance by Obama Administration

Sputnik News

15:54 08.05.2017(updated 17:30 08.05.2017)

US President Donald Trump reminded that his former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn had been given the higheast security clearance by the Obama administration and accused "fake media" of lack of coverage of the information.

"General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration  but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Late April, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Flynn had received his security clearance from the Obama administration.

"When General Flynn came into the White House, he had an active security clearance that was issued during the [former President Barack] Obama administration with all the information that's being discussed that occurred in 2015," Spicer said.

Spicer noted that Flynn's clearance was last re-issued by the former cabinet in 2016, while he received payments for a RT speech in 2015. The press secretary specified that his goal was not to criticize the decisions taken in the past, but to explain how the process works and who adjudicates a security clearance.

Former White House Communications Director Jen Psaki commented on the claim by saying that attempts by members of Trump's administration to sidestep the controversy over former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn by blaming the previous administration "an absurd blame game."

She noted that the responsibility in vetting Flynn belongs on the incoming administration, adding that "clearly that wasn't done."

"These decisions are not made by political appointees like myself. They're made by career officials who serve through decades of different administrations with different presidents at the helm," Psaki said.

Flynn resigned in February after it was revealed that he misled White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about the extent of his talks with Russian officials. His communications with the Russian Ambassador to the United States ahead of Trump's inauguration is the subject of several Congressional investigations.

Russia has repeatedly denied attempting to influence the outcome of the US presidential election, calling the allegations absurd.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pentagon Backs McCain's $7.5Bln Military Funding Plan

Sputnik News

09:50 08.05.2017(updated 13:37 08.05.2017)

The US Department of Defense believes the Asia-Pacific to be a top priority and "in principle" supports the $7.5 billion military funding aiming to increase US military presence and build up infrastructure in the area, Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In January, John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, proposed to spend $1.5 billion on "Asia-Pacific Stability Initiative" each year in 2018-2022.

"The Asia-Pacific is a top priority for the United States, and the Department is committed to ensuring that U.S. forces are as capable and ready as possible to face the evolving challenges in the region," Ross said in a statement as quoted by the Wall Street Journal newspaper, adding that the Pentagon "supports [the plan] in principle."

According to the newspaper, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis also recently endorsed the plan, saying in April that it might "enhance U.S. military power through targeted funding to realign our force posture in the region, improve operationally relevant infrastructure, fund additional exercises, pre-position equipment and build capacity with our allies and partners."

The situation in the region has been tense due to North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, seen as a threat by its neighbors Japan and South Korea and their allies. In recent months, Pyongyang has carried out a number of missile launches, with the United States sending a naval group led by the US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to the Korean Peninsula in response.

Besides, Washington has repeatedly criticized China's artificial island construction in the South China Sea while US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in January, before assuming office, that the United States should send China a clear signal of the inadmissibility of such actions. China claims around 80 percent of the South China Sea and several islands, which is contested by other states in the region. It has been believed to be placing military facilities on the artificial islands in the area.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Law enforcement officers have detained 24 persons at 6A Mazepy Street in Kyiv, Kyiv National Police department chief Andriy Kryschenko has said.

"Twenty-four persons were detained. We haven't identified all of them. Twenty-four persons [were detained] directly in an office in the building at 6A Mazepy Street," he told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Another man was detained on the Arsenalna Square prior to the beginning of the Immortal Regiment procession, he attempted to unfurl a banner with symbols similar to a ribbon of St. George, Kryschenko said.

"No, weapons weren't seized," he said asked whether the detained activists had weapons.

The detentions in the office at 6A Mazepy Street began after acts of hooliganism (the use of smoke grenades) and resistance to law enforcement officers during which a policeman was injured, he said.

A criminal case was opened on these charges. The detained persons were brought to the Pechersky district police department, urgent investigative activities are under way, he said.

Information about injured persons is being currently verified, but no one was seriously wounded, he said.

"At present, there are no reports to the police or medical establishments," he said.
Unimpeded access, humanitarian funds urgently needed in Yemen - senior UN relief official

8 May 2017  Voicing concern over lack of humanitarian access  particularly for medicine and medical supplies  in war-torn Yemen, a senior United Nations relief official has called on all parties to the conflict to ensure urgent and unrestricted access to people in need across the country.

"Giving the UN and humanitarian partners safe and unimpeded access to those in need would be a strong demonstration by the warring parties of their concern for the Yemeni people," said Jamie McGoldrick, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, in a statement yesterday.

"It is imperative that humanitarians reach people in need without obstacle, wherever they may be," he underscored.

According to the statement, administrative delays at ports, checkpoints, and interference with aid delivery have hampered efforts to transport medicine and medical supplies to people in need in a timely manner.

The access is all the more important now given the current threat of famine and outbreaks of cholera in locations throughout the country. Some 17 million Yemenis are battling food insecurity, making it the largest "hunger crisis" in the world.

"Recent information suggests that medicine supplies are being delayed from reaching Taizz City, where the need of the people is urgent. I call on the authorities in Sana'a [,the capital of Yemen,] to allow trucks carrying medicines into Taizz City without delay," said the Humanitarian Coordinator.

Also in the statement, Mr. McGoldrick underscored the urgent need for additional resources and called on the international community to fund the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan.

In February this year, UN together with humanitarian partners launched an international appeal for $2.1 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions in Yemen in 2017, the largest-ever humanitarian response plan for the country.

Last month, commitments amounting to little under $1.1 billion were made at a UN-led humanitarian pledging conference in Geneva.

"All commitments made during the pledging conference need to materialize at once," stressed Mr. McGoldrick in the statement, adding: "While Yemen awaits for peace, humanitarian action is saving lives every day across the entire country."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Afghan-US Forces Deal Critical Blows To Islamic State Terror Operations

By Ayaz Gul May 08, 2017

Authorities in Afghanistan say that fresh airstrikes in an eastern volatile region have killed at least 34 Islamic State militants and destroyed a radio station the terrorist group was using for extremist propaganda.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said Monday the strikes targeted IS hideouts in Naziyan and Achin districts of Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.

"The station was broadcasting illegally across Nangarhar, spreading the group's extremist messages and issuing threats to the people and governmental staffs," according to a ministry statement.

Afghan and U.S. drones have previously knocked down several IS radio stations in the region but the group always manages to resume its broadcasts in several languages from another location.

IS Afghan chief killed

On Sunday, both Afghan and U.S. military officials confirmed the head of IS in Afghanistan, Sheikh Abdul Hasib, was killed in the April 27 combined attack against a cave-and-tunnel complex in Achin.

"The raid conducted by Afghan Special Security Forces [Ktah Khas], in partnership with U.S. Forces - Afghanistan, also resulted in the deaths of several other high ranking ISIS-K leaders and 35 ISIS-K fighters," according to the U.S. military headquarters in Kabul.

The Syrian-based terrorist group refers to its extremist operations in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan as Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISK-P, while the U.S. military often refers to it as ISIS-K.

Hasib was appointed last year following the death of his predecessor, Hafiz Saeed Khan, in a U.S. drone strike in the same Afghan province.

Joint campaign

Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson praised the successful joint operation as another important step in the relentless campaign to defeat IS in the country in 2017.

"This is the second ISIS-K emir [leader] we have killed in nine months, along with dozens of their leaders and hundreds of their fighters, Nicholson noted.

Islamic State has not yet commented on whether its chief for Afghanistan-Pakistan operations has been eliminated.

Afghan and U.S. officials said Hasib masterminded the March 8 attack against Kabul National Military Hospital, which killed around 50 people, including doctors.

The slain IS chief, they said, also directed fighters to behead local elders in front of their families and ordered the kidnapping of women and girls to force them to marry his loyalists.

"For more than two years, ISIS-K has waged a barbaric campaign of death, torture and violence against the Afghan people, especially those in southern Nangarhar, noted General Nicholson. "Any ISIS member that comes to Afghanistan will meet the same fate," he vowed.

U.S. and Afghan troops had been involved in an "intense" three-hour firefight that also killed two American forces, Pentagon officials said a day after the brutal April 27 raid.

"Within a few minutes of landing, our combined force came under intense fire from multiple directions and well-prepared fighting positions," they added.

A counter-IS operation has been under way in Nangarhar since early March, and Afghan forces, with the help of U.S. counterparts, have killed or captured hundreds of fighters and liberated over half of the districts the terrorist group controlled in the province, according to the U.S. military.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






South Sudan Suspends National Dialogue Steering Committee

By Waakhe Simon Wudu, John Tanza May 08, 2017

Efforts to start a "national dialogue" in war-ravaged South Sudan are on hold again after a key steering committee could not muster enough members for a quorum.

The government says more than half the committee members appointed by President Salva Kiir have yet to report for duty.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said Sunday that officials were forced to delay the swearing-in of the committee that was to oversee the dialogue.

"It has been postponed until further notice because the percentage of the steering committee was only 20 percent. So we are waiting [for] committee members at least to be 50-plus [percent] before they are sworn in," Ateny said.

Kiir said in December that the national dialogue would begin sometime in early March, but some observers now doubt whether the long-awaited discussions will start at all.

Ateny said last month that financial and technical challenges prevented the swearing-in of the committee charged with steering the dialogue.

Activist says trust needed

Civil society activist Rajab Muhandis said the government has been inconsistent in its effort to get the dialogue off the ground ever since Kiir announced the initiative. He said the delays weaken the initiative and lead citizens to lose hope in the government's ability to end South Sudan's three-and-half-year conflict.

Muhandis, who heads the South Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections, said the indefinite suspension occurred because the steering committee is too large.

He said the government must have a clear channel of communication to build trust among the people that the dialogue will take place and make a difference.

"Putting together a robust committee that is sizable enough to run the process effectively will give people a sign of hope. And the committee should talk to people that the nation is moving toward a national dialogue. Now we only talk about forming a committee," Muhandis told VOA's South Sudan in Focus.

He said the government needs to engage other parties, including all warring parties, adding "it is the only way to make the dialogue genuine."

The government has been fighting rebels led by former Vice President Riek Machar since December 2013. Other rebel groups have recently emerged as the country struggles with food shortages and a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than two million people.

Call for Kiir to step down

Meanwhile, a prominent retired South Sudanese Anglican clergyman has called on President Kiir to step down.

Reverend Canon Clement Janda was recently asked by Kiir to sit on the dialogue's steering committee, but he declined the offer, saying the process is not inclusive.

"If I knew it was a genuine process, that the people could dialogue in order to bring peace to South Sudan, I would not hesitate," Janda said.

Janda calls the national dialogue a "monologue," adding it has "not changed in substance."

"Only when they are ready to sit together with those that they disagree [with], then we begin to see light at the end of the tunnel," Janda said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Mogadishu Blast Kills 6 Including General

By Harun Maruf May 08, 2017

At least six people have been killed in a car bombing outside a Mogadishu restaurant, including a senior Somali military general.

Government officials have told VOA's Somali Service that General Abdi Bashir Aden was among those killed in the Monday bombing.

Ten others were injured when the bomb went off shortly before 6 p.m. local time, next to a popular eatery and coffee shop known as the Italian Cafe. Witnesses said they believe the explosion was timed for an hour when many customers sit outside the shop to enjoy afternoon tea and coffee.

The coffee shop is across the street from the headquarters of Somalia's immigration directorate, and is adjacent to the Sunrise Hotel.

Militant group al-Shabab claimed responsbility for the attack, saying they were targeting officials for national security and immigration. The coffee shop is across the street from the headquarters of Somalia's immigration directorate, and is adjacent to the Sunrise Hotel..

Meanwhile, four government soldiers were killed Monday in a roadside explosion in Kabtanlas village near the town of Qoryoley, in the Lower Shabelle region.

The soldiers were traveling on a military vehicle when the explosion occurred, officials said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Obama Warned Trump Against Naming Flynn to Key Security Post

By Ken Bredemeier May 08, 2017

Former U.S. President Barack Obama personally warned then President-elect Donald Trump against naming retired Army General Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, but Trump picked Flynn anyway, only to fire him after 24 days on the job.

Obama issued his warning against Flynn's hiring in a 90-minute meeting with Trump at the White House on November 10, two days after the real estate mogul pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in U.S. presidential election history by defeating former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Obama had fired Flynn as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 because of his disruptive management style.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer, confirming media reports of Obama's warning to Trump, said it was no secret that Obama "wasn't exactly a fan" of Flynn, who as a Trump political surrogate had assailed Obama's performance as president.

Spicer, however, questioned why the former president's administration didn't strip Flynn of his 2016 security clearance.

"Why did the Obama administration let Flynn go to Russia for a paid speaking engagement and receive a fee?" Spicer said. "There were steps that they could have taken that - if that was truly a concern."

Flynn was paid more than $30,000 for a Moscow trip in 2015, where he sat next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a dinner celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Kremlin-sponsored Russia Today television network.

The former president's warning against hiring Flynn came to light hours before a Senate panel Monday started a new hearing into Flynn's hiring at the White House, Russian meddling in the presidential contest aimed at helping Trump win and connections between aides to Trump and Moscow interests.

Trump has disparaged the several investigations linking his campaign to Russia, saying they are mere excuses for Democrats losing the election.

Sally Yates, who was briefly acting attorney general, the country's top law enforcement official, in the early days of the Trump administration before the new president fired her, told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Monday that she warned White House officials just after they assumed power January 20 that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence when he said he had not had contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington Sergey Kislyak.

Routine intercepts had shown that he had, indeed, talked with the diplomat, Yates said.

Pence, relying on conversations with Flynn, told television interviewers that the new national security adviser had not talked with Kislyak in the weeks before the new administration assumed power.

Yates said, "We knew it not to be the truth."

She added, "The underlying conduct of Mr. Flynn was problematic. We were concerned that the American public had been misled" and left him vulnerable to being blackmailed by the Russians.

"You don't want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians," she said.

Eighteen days after first learning of Yates's concerns, Trump fired Flynn, saying he no longer had confidence in having him as a key White House adviser.

Trump, not wanting to give credence to any Russian link that undermines the legitimacy of his election victory, blamed the Obama administration in a comment on his Twitter account for approving "the highest security clearance" for Flynn, and he said "the Fake News [mainstream U.S. media] seldom likes talking about" Flynn's security clearance granted by the Obama administration.

While Flynn had the clearance, investigators say he failed to disclose the Russian payment and another one for more than $500,000 to represent Turkey. He accepted the payments, the investigators say, after specifically being warned when he retired from the military to not take money from foreign governments.

Trump, in another Twitter comment, said the Senate panel ought to ask Yates "under oath, if she knows how classified information [the intercepted Kislyak calls] got into newspapers soon after she explained" it to White House lawyers. She was asked the question and said she did not know how the leak occurred.

James Clapper, Obama's director of national intelligence, told the committee that the Russian interference in the U.S. election exceeded Moscow's "wildest expectations." He said it was aimed to "demean Secretary Clinton and advantage Mr. Trump."

Clapper was instrumental in the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia sought to boost Trump's chances of winning the election by hacking into the computer of the campaign chief for Clinton.

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks subsequently released thousands of emails in the weeks before the election that showed embarrassing behind-the-scenes Democratic operations aimed at helping Clinton win her party's presidential nomination.

Clinton last week partly blamed her upset loss to Trump on the release of the emails before the November election.

Trump continues to downplay the congressional investigations of Russian meddling and a probe by the FBI, the country's top law enforcement agency, into whether Trump campaign aides criminally colluded with Russian interests to help him win.

Last week, he again rejected the official view that Russia hacked into the computer of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta, saying that it "could have been China, could have been a lot of different groups."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






McCain Blasts Trump on Lack of Human Rights Focus

By VOA News May 08, 2017

U.S. Senator John McCain is criticizing the foreign policy of the Trump administration, saying it is not focused enough on human rights abuses around the world.

In an op-ed article for the New York Times Friday, the Republican senator said the United States has an obligation to speak out for human rights as a country that was created from "an ideal that liberty is the inalienable right of mankind."

He criticized recent comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who said conditioning U.S. foreign policy too heavily on values creates obstacles to advance U.S. national interests.

"With those words, Secretary Tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere: Don't look to the United States for hope ... We make policy to serve our interests, which are not related to our values," McCain wrote.

McCain said some will credit Tillerson's point of view with realism, but he said "if by realism they mean policy that is rooted in the world as it is, not as we wish it to be, they couldn't be more wrong." He said it is foolish to view realism and idealism as incompatible. McCain said the demand by people for human rights is reality, and said that by denying them these rights, we "invite their enduring resentment."

"To view foreign policy as simply transactional is more dangerous than its proponents realize," he wrote. "Our values are our greatest strength and treasure."

McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, has criticized the Trump administration on a range of issues, including the president's immigration orders and wish to have better relations with Russia. McCain has also sparred with the president about comments he made on the possible legality of torture and gave only a lukewarm endorsement of Tillerson during his confirmation process.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Indonesian government set to disband extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 1:27PM

Indonesia is set to disband the Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist group, citing concerns that it undermines the state ideology and threatens the security of the Southeast Asian nation.

Chief security minister Wiranto said on Monday that a government panel had scrutinized Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) and decided to take legal steps to disband it.

The minister also warned that the group does not abide by the Pancasila, Indonesia's state ideology which includes belief in God, the unity of the country, social justice and democracy, and which enshrines religious diversity in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country.

"The activities of HTI strongly indicate that they are in conflict with the Pancasila and the constitution," Wiranto stated, adding, "Their activities create tensions in society, threaten security and order, and unity."

The developments come as the group has already been banned in some Arab and Central Asian countries on suspicion of militant activities.

Reacting to developments, Iffa Nur, a spokeswoman for HTI, urged the government not to disband the group, saying the HTI was just delivering religious teaching. She also said there should have been dialogue before a legal process was started.

Some groups, banned under the authoritarian regime of former President Suharto, which ended in 1998, have expanded in recent years. Though usually small and on the fringes of society, such groups are seen as a threat to Indonesia's security and stability

The ban also comes as militants have launched several terrorist attacks across Indonesia over the past few years.

Last year, a gun and bomb attack, claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, left four attackers and four civilians dead in the capital, Jakarta.

Indonesian law enforcement agencies have arrested hundreds of militants during a sustained crackdown in recent years.

At least 400 Indonesians have reportedly joined the Daesh terrorist group in the two conflict-plagued Middle Eastern countries of Iraq and Syria. Dozens of the extremists have returned to Indonesia.

A total of over 30,000 foreign nationals have flocked to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Daesh extremists or other foreign-sponsored terrorist groups.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Secret US military shuttle ends 2-year mission

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 6:41AM

The US military's mysterious spacecraft has returned to its base, completing a two-year secret mission in Earth's orbit.

The unmanned Boeing X-37B landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, after making a sonic boom that could be heard from miles away.

The space plane was launched from the nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in May 2015, aboard an Atlas 5 rocket built by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership between Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing.

This was the spacecraft's first landing in Florida. All the previous missions had landed in California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The orbiter spent 718 days in the space, setting a new on-orbit endurance record. Overall, the two X-37Bs built so far have spent 2,085 days in space.

Also known as Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), the 29-feet-long drone was first launched into space in April 2010 and returned after eight months. It was sent on a second mission in March 2011 and remained in space for 15 months. The spacecraft set on its third mission in December 2012 and returned after 22 months.

Brigadier General Wayne Monteith, commander of the 45th Space Wing, thanked his forces for conducting the last mission.

"Our team has been preparing for this event for several years, and I am extremely proud to see our hard work and dedication culminate in today's safe and successful landing of the X-37B," he said in a statement.

According to the USAF, the reusable plane "performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies."

This is while, military analysts say the spacecraft will be ultimately used for spying activities.

The Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit promoting the peaceful exploration of space, says the US military is using the platform to test intelligence-related hardware.

The USAF is planning to launch the fifth X-37B mission from Cape Canaveral air force station later this year.

"The ability to land, refurbish, and launch from the same location further enhances the OTV's ability to rapidly integrate and qualify new space technologies," said Monteith.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






North Korea Detention of Fourth US Citizen 'Concerning' - White House

Sputnik News

21:44 08.05.2017

The detention of a fourth US citizen by North Korea over the weekend has drawn concern from the United States, which will work through the Swedish embassy to seek release of the detainees, White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said during a press briefing on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  On Sunday, media reported that a fourth US citizen was detained a day earlier by Pyongyang on suspicion of hostile acts.

"Obviously this is concerning, we're well aware of it and we're going to work through the embassy of Sweden, that has an embassy in North Korea, through our State Department to seek release of the individuals there," Spicer stated.

On Sunday, media reported that a fourth US citizen was detained a day earlier by Pyongyang on suspicion of hostile acts.

The detainee, the report added, was identified as Kim Hak-song, who was a US professor working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Hak-song is the second US professor at the university to have been detained.

On April 21, former US-Korean professor Kim Sang-duk was arrested by at the Pyongyang International Airport after spending nearly a month in North Korea working on humanitarian activities.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Macron Prepares To Lead France As Challenges Loom

RFE/RL May 08, 2017

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron on May 8 made his first public appearance after easily defeating nationalist Marine Le Pen a day earlier, joining outgoing President Francois Hollande at a wreath-laying ceremony in Paris as he began preparing his transition to power.

Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, won 66 percent of the vote in the May 7 election, beating Le Pen following a divisive runoff vote between two candidates with diametrically opposed visions for the country's future.

Macron appeared side-by-side with Hollande at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris to commemorate the end of World War II, where Hollande confirmed that his successor would be inaugurated on May 14.

Hollande told reporters following the event that he would offer "any information, any advice, any experience" to Macron, who is set to become the youngest president in the country's history,

"I will always be at his side," Hollande added.

Legislative Elections

Macron's most immediate battle is likely securing a parliamentary majority in upcoming legislative elections in June.

In her concession speech on May 7, Le Pen portrayed her loss as a victory of "globalists" over "patriots" and announced plans to establish a new political association that will take part in the elections.

She vowed "to bring together all those who wish to choose France, to defend its independence, its freedom, its prosperity, its security, its identity and its social model."

"I call on all patriots to join us to take part in the decisive political fight that is starting tonight. More than ever in the forthcoming months France will need you," Le Pen said.

Macron, a former economy minister and banker who has never held an elected post, received good news as two opinion polls published after his victory indicated that his year-old political movement, En Marche! (Forward!), would finish first in the legislative elections set for June 11 and June 18.

The polls show En Marche! taking 24-26 percent in the first round, with the right-wing Les Republicains at 22 percent and Le Pen's far-right National Front at 21-22 percent.

Bruising Contest

Macron's presidential victory came after a bruising race marked by negative campaigning and a last-minute hacking attack targeting his campaign.

The victory -- by the second-largest margin in recent French history -- comes as a relief to much of Europe, which had feared another shock result at the ballot box on the heels of Britain's decision to leave the European Union and U.S. President Donald Trump's surprising election win in November.

Amid a sea of red, white, and blue tricolor flags at a victory party outside the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris on May 7, Macron said the country was turning a page in its history and pledged to the thousands in attendance to defend France and Europe and "rebuild links between Europe and its citizens."

"We will not give into fear, divisions," he said after arriving while the EU anthem "Ode To Joy" blared through the museum's courtyard.

"I will fight the divisions that undermine France," he added in a nod to the 11 million votes Le Pen received, a record for the far-right leader.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on May 8 that she was "delighted" about Macron's victory and that she had congratulated him the previous night.

"Emmanuel Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people, and of many people in Germany, and the whole of Europe. He conducted a brave, pro-European campaign. He stands for openness to the world," Merkel said in Berlin.

Macron, who topped the first round of the election on April 23, campaigned on a pro-EU, pro-business platform, while Le Pen, a staunch anti-immigration candidate, wanted France to leave the 28-nation bloc and abandon the euro currency.

"Happy that the French chose a European future," European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said on Twitter.

Putin 'Ready For Constructive Work'

Trump was among world leaders sending congratulations to Macron, noting his "big win today as the next President of France."

"I look very much forward to working with him," Trump wrote on Twitter on May 7.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in Washington on May 8 that Trump called Macron earlier in the day to congratulate the French president-elect.

Trump did not endorse any candidate in the election, though many believed he supported Le Pen after comments he made in April in apparent praise of the far-right candidate's tough stance on immigration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Macron that Russia was ready for constructive work on bilateral and global issues, the Kremlin said on May 8.

"The citizens of France have trusted you with leading the country at a difficult time for Europe and the whole world community. The growth in threats of terrorism and militant extremism is accompanied by an escalation of local conflicts and the destabilization of whole regions," Putin said in a congratulatory telegram released by the Kremlin.

"In these conditions it is especially important to overcome mutual mistrust and unite efforts to ensure international stability and security," Putin told Macron.

Since the first round of the election, Macron has accused Russia of meddling in his campaign with cyberattacks and has refused to accredit Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik, accusing them of issuing fake news stories.

Moscow has rejected accusations of interfering in the election campaign, as it has rejected similar charges out of Berlin and Washington.

On May 5, Macron's campaign said it had been the victim of a "massive" computer hack that dumped its campaign emails.It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the hack.

Le Pen, who met with Putin in Moscow in March, has called for the lifting of EU sanctions against Russia, imposed over its illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Macron's foreign policy is expected to largely follow the course set by Hollande, a Socialist under whom Macron served as economy minister from 2014-16.

Macron was endorsed by the overwhelming majority of French politicians, many European leaders, and by former U.S. President Barack Obama.

The French president is elected to a five-year term.

With reporting by Current Time TV's Yevhenia Rudenko, Reuters, AFP, AP, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/france-macron-election- challenges-ahead-reaction/28474718.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






(Xinhua) 20:54, May 08, 2017

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China Monday called for an appropriate settlement to conflicts along a disputed border between Afghanistanand Pakistan.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a routine press briefing. Clashes between border troops last Friday caused casualties on both sides.

"As a close neighbor, we expect the two countries to handle the incident appropriately and jointly maintain regional peace and stability," Geng added.
EU Leaders Dodge the Bullet with Macron's Election Win

By Jamie Dettmer May 08, 2017

European Union leaders were breathing a huge sigh of relief Monday as they savor the victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential race.

And the continent's pro-EU newspapers greeted the 39-year-old's landslide win over France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who'd promised if elected to take France out of the eurozone and to hold a vote on EU membership, as a turning point for the troubled economic bloc.

After months of grappling with a nationalist populist surge across the continent and the divisive political fallout of the migration crisis, Macron's landslide victory holds out the possibility of a new start for a European Union that's preparing to enter tricky negotiations on Britain's exit.

"This election was not about the future of democracy," according to Financial Times columnist Wolfgang Munchau. "It was about the future of France in Europe, and about the future of Europe itself. The French were asked a clear question. They gave a clear answer."

Italy's daily newspaper La Repubblica agreed, headlining its front page Monday, "Macron. Europe's turning point."

That's how EU leaders and pro-EU politicians are interpreting the result of the win by Macron, a centrist outsider and former investment banker who ran on an unashamedly pro-EU platform.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker tweeted his congratulations, saying, "Happy that the French have chosen a European future. Together for a stronger and fairer Europe."

A spokesman for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, hailed the result as a "victory for a strong and united Europe". "Congratulations, @EmmanuelMacron. Your victory is a victory for a strong and united Europe and for French-German friendship," tweeted Steffen Seibert in both French and German.

While Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, wrote, "Vive la France, Vive L'Europe!" German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel celebrated Macron's win for keeping France "at the heart of Europe."

EU a winner

In the run-up to the election, EU bureaucrats and centrist politicians across the continent viewed the French election as even more important for the survival of the European project than the Brexit vote last June. As a founding member of the European Union, France has always been a key member of the bloc. Britain had been seen as a semi-detached participant.

Eurocrats threw caution to the winds after the first round of the French presidential race and backed Macron openly, risking a backlash by French voters, who could have reacted badly to Germans, Belgians and others advising them on how to cast their ballots. That contrasted with their much more cautious approach in the campaigning in the Brexit referendum.

"For all those who think that France can only be strong in a strong Europe and that Europe needs France to be self-confident and sure of its assets, this result is an immense relief," said Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People's party, a center-right group of lawmakers in the European parliament.

Macron's decisive victory in the French elections will have short and long term economic and financial markets implications, according to Vincent Deluard, an analyst with a global macro strategist.

"His victory offered significant relief to the European Union, which Ms. Le Pen had threatened to leave. His platform to loosen labor rules, make France more competitive globally and deepen ties with the European Union is also likely to reassure a global financial market that was jittery at the prospect of a Le Pen victory," he adds.

Challenges remain

But Macron said last week if he won, he didn't expect he would get much of a honeymoon. Neither will the European Union, which faces three immediate challenges, Brexit negotiations that have already seen flashes of anger on both sides of the English Channel, the Greek debt crisis that holds out the risk of wrecking the single euro currency, and the danger of Italy's anti-Euro Five Star Movement emerging as the largest party in Italian elections later in the year.

There is also the continuing challenge of Europe's still powerful right wing populist movements. But in France, and the Netherlands earlier this year, their hopes have been dashed.

They aren't going away. Nigel Farage, one of the Brexit campaign leaders, says Macron's victory will guarantee Le Pen wins the French presidency next time around in 2022. He says the French weren't ready for Frexit, but he insists one day they will.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Indian Elite Commandos Seek Armored Vehicles for Cross-Border Ops

Sputnik News

15:58 08.05.2017

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to purchase 50-60 armored vehicles along with associated equipment in the next one month to provide protected mobility to its personnel during operations. The IAF has said it needs a 5-meter-long vehicle with crew capacity of six for its special forces.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Primarily, the IAF is looking for vehicles that can be transported with its C-17 and C-130 transports.

"An armored vehicle that can be transported by air, capable of all terrain operations  both cross country and urban terrain  by Special Forces and easy to handle with minimum maintenance," a request for information released by the IAF read.

Among other specifications, the IAF has demanded a minimum 350-kilometer operating range with a speed of 100 kmph on level highway. The vehicle will have six bullet-proof firing ports to enable preventive fire from inside the vehicle. The vehicles will be designed in such a way that Garud forces can be able to mount and fire a 5.56mm Light Machine Gun.

The IAF will provide 120 lightweight Night Vision Devices to its special forces. According to the document, modern binocular night vision goggle with capability of mounting on a bullet-proof helmet should be able to withstand shock and vibration during movement by vehicle or aircraft in combat situation. IAF will also equip its special commandos with 600 7.62mm rifles with sights and accessories and 200 40mm Under Barrel Grenade Launcher compatible with it.

The IAF's Special Forces, the Garuds, are equipped with Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle, Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine guns for close quarter battle, a variant of the AK-47 and the potent M4 carbine. The Israeli Tavor will be made in India from this year as Israeli Weapon Industries has transferred small arms technologies to Indian defense firm Punj Lloyd.

The IAF had formed the Garuds, a dedicated elite commando wing, after two air bases were targeted by terrorists in 2001.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






4 new weapons unveiled by Defense Ministry

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, May 8, IRNA -- Iranian Defense Ministry unveiled four new defense products in a ceremony attended by high-ranking government and military officials on Monday.

The unveiled weapons included individual weapons Kalashnikov 133, sniper rifle 12.7mm, a multiband software radio Wassi' I, and the 2nd generation of tactical secure radios.

The products are manufactured by experts of Iran's Electronic Industries (SA. Iran) and Defense Industries Organization.

The multiband software radio Wassi' I, and the second generation of secure tactical radios are small and portable radios capable of vocal and data communications, both in fixed and hopping frequencies, with the ability to make communications with all types of analogue radios.

The Kalashnikov 133 and Nasr 12.7 mm with high quality, high-precision and security in battlefield, were designed and manufactured upon requests by Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and the army, respectively.

The ceremony attended by Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan was held on the occasion of Young Soldier and the four new weapons were unveiled by exemplary soldiers.

9156**2050

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran Armed Forces vow decisive response to aggressions

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, May 8, IRNA -- Enemies should know that they will be given an immediate, decisive and annihilating response for any aggression against Iran, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Monday.

Speaking in a local ceremony, General Baqeri praised sacrifices made by the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran to preserve the country's security.

Enemies are trying to damage the country's security using all available tools, he said.

General Baqeri urged the Armed Forces to promote their scientific skills and equip themselves with sophisticated technologies in order to get prepared for countering various types of threats.

Referring to the upcoming May 19 elections in Iran General Baqeri said that establishment of security, stability and peace in the country is necessary for holding successful elections.

He also noted that the police forces backed by other branches of the Armed Forces are able to guarantee security of the forthcoming elections in the country.

The Iranian Army General urged people to participate in the landmark event.

A big turnout is going to consolidate security in the country, Baqeri said.

General Baqeri went on to say that Iran's missile capabilities are not included in the nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Nuclear negotiators have always underlined the key role of Iran's deterrence power in promotion of negotiations, he said.

Enemies have always confessed that military attack against Iran is very difficult and impossible, the commander said.

"Unfortunately, Iran's eastern border regions with Pakistan has become a safe haven for training and equipping terrorists recruited by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States," he said.

"We will not tolerate this situation in the joint borders and expect the Pakistani officials to show responsibility, control their borders, arrest terrorists and shut down outlaws' bases,' Baqeri said, referring to Pakistani people and officials' interest in Iran and its leadership.

"If continued, we will hit the terrorists' safe havens anywhere they are," the General said.

9191**2044

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran to determine where to hit aggressors: Top cmdr.

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 9:45AM

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri says it is up to the Islamic Republic to decide the targets of its counterstrikes against potential aggressors.

Baqeri on Monday warned Iran's enemies against "any mistakes in calculation or [perpetration of] the smallest act of aggression against the establishment and the Muslim territory."

He said in the event such transgression takes place by the enemies, "[our] immediate, decisive, and crushing response in the points that we determine, will bring about their regret and defeat."

The comments came in the wake of aggressive remarks against Tehran by Saudi Deputy Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Riyadh, which has been waging a war on Yemen for more than two years now and stands accused of supporting Takfiri terrorists, accuses Tehran of regional intervention.

Mohammed (seen below), who is also the Saudi defense minister, accused Tehran last week of seeking to "control the Muslim world," and said, "We will work to have the battle in Iran rather than in Saudi Arabia."

Baqeri said the Islamic Republic has displayed only a fraction of its defensive capability and power, adding the enemies have acknowledged that committing any acts of military invasion and aggression against Iran was difficult and impossible.

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan also responded to Mohammed's remarks by saying on Sunday that if the Saudis did anything stupid, the Iranian Army would hit back and destroy all of the kingdom -- apart from Mecca and Medina.

He referred to the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen -- in which over 12,000 people have died -- and said the Saudis think they can do anything because they have an air force.

Attack on Iranian border guards

Baqeri also said the enemies were trying to make up for their failures through hiring terrorists to target Iran's borders or interests. He said the method was that of "cowardly thieves and bandits" and would only bring the enemies "humiliation and ignominy."

He cited an attack on Iran's border with Pakistan that claimed the lives of 10 Iranian border guards last Wednesday, saying the border area on the Pakistani soil has "unfortunately" turned into a haven and training ground for "Saudi-hired terrorists, who enjoy the US endorsement."

The so-called Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The assailants escaped into Pakistani territory immediately after the attack.

Baqeri said Iran "cannot accept the continuation of this situation," adding, "We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases."

"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will deal crushing blows to their safe havens and cells, wherever they are," he said.

Meanwhile in related remarks, Chief of Iran's Law Enforcement Forces Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari said, "The enemy hirelings, who come from the other side of the border, are reinforced with Saudi money, and martyr our border guards, will get what they deserve."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran Warns It Will Attack 'Terrorist Safe Havens' Inside Pakistan

May 08, 2017

Iran has warned Pakistan that Tehran would hit militant bases inside the neighboring country if Islamabad does not confront Sunni insurgents who carry out cross-border attacks.

Iranian state media quoted the army's chief of staff, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, as saying on May 8 that Tehran expects "the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists, and shut down their bases."

"If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are," he said.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed in April in an attack claimed by the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Islamabad early in May to discuss border security with Pakistani authorities. Pakistan assured Iran it would deploy additional troops along its border.

The porous frontier between the two countries has long been used by drug smugglers and militants, both of whom occasionally clash with Iranian security forces.

Jaish al-Adl that has carried out several assaults on Iranian security forces, claimed responsibility for attacks that killed eight border guards in April 2015 and 14 border guards in October 2013.

The militant group says its attacks are aimed at what it calls discriminations against Sunni minorities in predominantly Shi'ite Iran.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-pakistan- border-terrorist-havens/28474256.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran Test-Fires High Speed Torpedo Near Strait of Hormuz - Reports

Sputnik News

19:49 08.05.2017(updated 19:50 08.05.2017)

Iran test-fired a high speed torpedo near the Strait of Hormuz, US media reported on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The test took place near the strategic shipping route on Sunday, NBC News reported citing US defense officials.

Last week, Fox News reported citing Pentagon officials that an Iranian Yono-class submarine had attempted a missile launch on March 2 but the test failed.

Iran said in February that it had successfully test-fired a missile from a submarine.

During a presidential election debate on Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for writing "provocative" anti-Israel messages on ballistic missiles before testing them.

Rouhani said the ballistic missile program threatened to disrupt the nuclear deal reached in 2015 with the United States, Russia and other nations.

In April, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Trump administration is conducting a review of the Iran deal to determine if suspending nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran remains vital to US national security interests.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iraqi volunteer fighters liberate 44 villages, kill 725 Daeshis in one month: Cmdr.

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 4:11PM

The spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units says the pro-government volunteer forces have managed to win back nearly four dozen villages southwest of Mosul within the past month as they are helping government forces in battles against Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Baghdad on Monday, Ahmad al-Assadi stated that the fighters, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha'abi, had repelled militant attacks in the northern province of Salahuddin, the Makhoul Mountains, which lie 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) north of Salahuddin's provincial capital city of Tikrit and the western areas of Nineveh Province, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

He added that Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters had reclaimed control over 44 villages in the al-Hadar district of Mosul over the past 30 days, and killed 725 Daesh extremists during the operations.

Assadi further noted that there were 136 bombers and 8 high-profile commanders among the slain extremists.

The Iraqi military figure went on to say that Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters also defused 235 explosive devices and 30 explosive belts, cleared 12 booby-trapped houses and downed five unmanned aerial vehicles.

Assadi said pro-government forces also destroyed 51 vehicles, 61 car bombs, two arms depots, a watch tower, 11 artillery rounds and five mortar shells.

Hashd al-Sha'abi forces also uncovered eleven tunnels, which Daesh militants used to travel between their command and control centers in front lines.

The report came on the same day that Iraqi military aircraft conducted an aerial attack against a Daesh position in the Mushirfa district of western Mosul, killing a senior Daesh commander.

The Iraqi military intelligence identified the slain militant as Jassem al-Basari, better known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad. He was reportedly in charge of Daesh's military affairs in Mushirfa and Haramat districts.

Moreover, Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation General Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah said Federal Police forces, members of the rapid response forces and soldiers from the Army's 9th Armored Division had established control over al-Oula al-Haramat neighborhood west of Mosul, and raised the Iraqi national flag over a number of buildings in the area.

Yarallah added that Iraqi forces are now advancing towards 17 Tamuz and Eqtisadiyan neighborhoods.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Front Line: Inside Iraqi Soldiers' Anti-IS War

By Heather Murdock May 08, 2017

The walkie-talkie in the commander's hand buzzes and crackles as soldiers line up their humvees and tanks, readying themselves to enter Islamic State territory.

"Tell all the men to put on helmets," are the orders over the walkie-talkie. "I don't want to see anyone without a helmet!"

A few minutes later, many of the soldiers still don't have helmets, including the commander with the walkie-talkie, who wears a camouflage cap.

Five full Iraqi divisions are fighting in the latest offensive to re-take IS-controlled northwestern Mosul, including the Army, Federal Police and Special Forces known as the Golden Division and the Emergency Response Division.

A few kilometers from the battle the Iraqi Army's 16th division' appears gleeful as they get out of their vehicles to wait on the dusty once-residential street for the next order to move forward. Some men tease each other and take selfies.

"Look at my face," says 21-year-old Ghaith, laughing. "I'm made from the same dust and water as this guy. Why is he more handsome than me?"

Tattooed on Ghaith's arm are the names of two of his brothers, killed by suicide bombers in Baghdad five years ago and the words "never forget" in Arabic.

'Scared at first'

Only the gunners perched inside humvees with their heads and weapons exposed on the top appear to remain on high alert as we wait. If the battle goes wrong, they are in the most danger. Most of them wear helmets.

"I was scared at first," says gunner Ali el-Babli, in a rare admission in this world of bravura. "But after two years I'm used to it."

The clamor from the nearby IS-controlled neighborhoods is constant. Airstrikes crash into buildings and militants fire machine guns at helicopters overhead. Plumes of smoke shoot hundreds of feet into the air as car bombs explode. An IS mortar lobbed clear over Iraqi front lines falls in the field across the street.

The 16th Division has not seen action in weeks, and soldiers tell us the long days and nights spent in crowded make-shift bases while airstrikes and mortars pound the militants nearby has taken its toll. The waiting, soldiers say, is harder than the fighting.

"Just five or 10 minutes," Lt. Col. Amar Younis tells us as he whips out of his commander's office, a card-table set up inside an abandoned home. "And you will see us beating IS with your own eyes."

The wait

Around 5 a.m. that morning, more than an hour before the units began lining up for battle, Salim, a cook at one of the 16th's bases, had rattled a spoon in a metal can, shouting at the men to get up.

Most bounded out of bed, bypassing breakfast to grab their gear. But as the cool morning fades into glaring noon sun, so does the excitement. The militants' defense has proven fierce, and a long night of air attacks has not broken their lines.

IS heat-seeking missiles are threatening Iraqi tanks, the first line of Iraqi ground forces, and drone cameras show cars patrolling IS-controlled areas. In IS neighborhoods these days civilians don't drive cars. They are either car bombs, or gunmen, or both.

Still waiting on the street to deploy, many soldiers crouch along a wall to stay out of the sun. Body armor leans against the concrete and higher-ranking officers have returned to the base.

Orders come to move out, and the men race into their vehicles, engines rattle and the line pulls out. After traveling a block closer to the battle, they pull over again. Men get out of their humvees, some looking deflated. Someone brings lunch, plastic bags full of the usual meal of rice-and-beans and small chunks of meat in white styrofoam containers.

Chatter turns away from battle and some men show pictures of their children on their mobile phones. Others show videos of themselves fishing by throwing grenades into small ponds.

El-Babli, the gunner, shares his biscuits and tells stories of recent victories. "We took the last area in record time," he says. "I killed two IS militants when we liberated the shopping mall. My commander gave me two days off for that."

Battle begins

Some men are still eating when the orders finally come in the early afternoon. Styrofoam trays are cast aside and the row of vehicles dissipates in a matter of minutes. They head for the fields surrounding an isolated suburban neighborhood on a hill. Parked at the base of the hill are cars and trucks that may or may not be laden with explosives.

A technical team of about five men enter the field on foot, searching for IEDs among the weeds. Tanks rumble to the front, parking in a row a couple of hundred meters from the IS-held neighborhood. The cacophony of battle sounds continues, as black smoke from another division's battle streams into the sky.

About 20 civilians attempt to escape the hill, fleeing with a white flag in front of them.

"See those buildings over there?" says Lt. Col. Younis after firing a machine gun. "We are going to take those buildings and we are going to sleep there tonight."

The hours that follow are painstaking, with tanks and other vehicles re-positioning themselves closer to the militants meter by meter. Soldiers say the pace of the fight varies as much as the terrain they fight in. Victory for them will mean reaching the next line on the map where they again wait for orders.

For politicians, a victory in Mosul will be a defining moment in the battle with IS. But for the army, it will just mean re-deploying resources to Tal Afar, an Iraqi city still entirely controlled by IS or other areas, like Ramadi, where sporadic fighting continues.

"After this fight there will be more wars to win," says Major Abass Aziz.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pyongyang Calls for Easing of Hostility With Seoul Before Presidential Election

Sputnik News

22:02 08.05.2017(updated 23:15 08.05.2017)

One day before South Koreans will head to the polls to elect their next president, following the fallout of former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment, a prominent North Korean newspaper called for tensions to be "put to an end."

In March, Park was taken into custody on allegations of corruption and criminal activity.

According to the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, "conservative groups" have sought to heighten anxieties on the Korean Peninsula for at least a decade. The war between the South and the North never ended in a treaty, and these "tragic" relations, driven by conservative groups, according to the news outlet run by North Korea's ruling party, "revived the foregone period of confrontation and maximized the political and military rivalry between the same race."

The calls for detente may by little more than a political stunt. Pyongyang "has been wary of having another conservative administration in the South," the Korea Times reported Monday.

South Korean polls show Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in to be a clear frontrunner in the lead-up to the vote. Moon opposed the THAAD deployment, supports renewed efforts at diplomacy with the North and the easing of sanctions. This would mark a drastic shift from former President Park's policies, which were aimed at reprimanding the North with sanctions.

According to the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, "conservative groups" have sought to heighten anxieties on the Korean Peninsula for at least a decade. The war between the South and the North never ended in a treaty, and these "tragic" relations, driven by conservative groups, according to the news outlet run by North Korea's ruling party, "revived the foregone period of confrontation and maximized the political and military rivalry between the same race."

The calls for detente may by little more than a political stunt. Pyongyang "has been wary of having another conservative administration in the South," the Korea Times reported Monday.

South Korean polls show Democratic Party candidate Moon Jae-in to be a clear frontrunner in the lead-up to the vote. Moon opposed the THAAD deployment, supports renewed efforts at diplomacy with the North and the easing of sanctions. This would mark a drastic shift from former President Park's policies, which were aimed at reprimanding the North with sanctions.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A CRH train production site of CRRC's Qingdao Sifang Co Ltd in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's central State-owned enterprises will be the country's major force driving the Belt and Road Initiative, with their respective projects, plans and business layouts all in place by 2020, the top State-owned assets regulator said on Monday.

Before putting business plans into practice to further tap Belt and Road markets, the SOEs under central government administration are following stringent rules assessing projects, making feasibility studies and analyzing markets during the period of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

"SOEs are the market backbones. They have their own plans and strategies for the Belt and Road drive, in addition to the country's overall blueprint for the initiative," Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, told reporters on Monday.

As central SOEs have lengthy experience in setting up and managing transportation, energy, telecommunication and power projects, based on their financing ability, technology advantages and management expertise, Xiao said, adding that the regulatory agency is encouraging them to seize more market opportunities related to the Belt and Road push.

To help enterprises fend off potential risks, the State-asset watchdog will tighten supervision and punishment measures by providing more policy guidelines. Blind investment and bad administrative decisions leading to heavy financial losses will be headed off in a timely manner and strictly punished, according to the SASAC.

In addition, the SASAC will work with global partners such as the World Bank and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to assess risks and avoid losses.

To date, central SOEs have invested in 9,112 subsidiaries in 185 countries and regions. Forty-two central SOEs have participated in 1,676 Belt and Road projects via business models such as establishing joint ventures, making direct investments or becoming shareholders.

"The SASAC will encourage central SOEs to deepen cooperation with economies along the initiative in sectors such as equipment manufacturing, technology exports, standard-setting and management to advocate mutual benefits," Xiao said.

Liu Hualong, chairman of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp Ltd, said the country's top railway vehicle maker will deliver the first group of metro cars to Istanbul from its manufacturing facility in Turkey later this year.

"The facts prove that the Belt and Road Initiative has become part of international efforts to pursue joint development and common prosperity for economies to gain new growth momentum," Liu said.

Shu Yinbiao, chairman of the State Grid, said his company will further promote the standardization of China's leading patent technologies that are exported globally, such as ultra high voltage and smart grids.

The company has constructed 10 cross-border power transmission lines, including the China-Russia and the China-Kyrgyzstan lines. It is working on the Shivee-Ovoo, Mongolia to Hebei province project and others to strengthen power interconnection between China and neighboring countries.

In the rail sector, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway is now in operation, with the Mombasa-Nairobi railway scheduled to open soon. The China-Laos railway is under construction and the China-Thailand railway is being accelerated.

In addition to business reruns, Xiao said Chinese companies' participation in the Belt and Road Initiative can help narrow the gap between landlocked areas and costal countries and regions, thus bringing more benefits to participating economies.
South Korea Poised for Change Election

By Brian Padden May 08, 2017

South Korea will elect a new president Tuesday (May 9) following a year of political upheaval in which scandal, protests and impeachment have the public demanding transparency and change.

Liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate Moon Jae-in, who was leading in the last public opinion polls with an approval rating over 40 percent, made a final pitch to voters Monday.

"Without the united power of our people, [the new administration] will struggle from its first step. We must overcome this crisis with united power," said Moon.

His closest rivals; conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo and the People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, who is also a liberal, were both close to 20 percent in the polls while the other candidates running registered only in the single digits.

Hong made a final plea to voters Monday to unite around him to protect conservative free market and strong on defense policies that have been in place for the last eight years.

"I stood up to prevent the left-wing from seizing power, and acted to protect a free Republic of Korea. We will win. Truth will beat lies. Our people will win. Justice will beat hypocrisy. The Republic of Korea will win," said the Liberty Korea Party candidate.

Scandal driven

The early presidential election was brought on by the impeachment of conservative then-President Park Guen-hye last December for allegedly colluding with her influential friend, Choi Soon-sil, to force Korean conglomerates to donate nearly $65 million to two dubious foundations as well as funneling funds and side contracts to companies owned by Choi and her friends.

For weeks prior to the impeachment vote in the National Assembly, massive peaceful protests, dubbed the Candlelight Revolution, were held across the country to demand Park's ouster and for reforms to the political system in which powerful conglomerates have undue influence over elected leaders.

After being forced from office, Park was arrested and is being prosecuted for bribery and other charges connected to the scandal. Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Jae-yong and Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong Bin have also been indicted on related graft and collusion charges.

Economic reform

Moon, who is a human rights lawyer, has promised to end the common practice by South Korean leaders to pardon convicted corporate criminals. The Democratic Party candidate has also said he will break up the often opaque ties between big business and the government in the world's 11th largest economy, and wants to increase public sector jobs and raise taxes on the wealthy.

His leading liberal rival, Ahn, who is a computer software entrepreneur, has said he would empower the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to crack down on corporate abuse. But he has also said the government should not be heavy-handed in intervening in the private sector and instead focus on making the markets fair and friendlier for innovation.

Hong has said "an anti-business mindset does not help boost the economy." While he would punish corporate wrongdoings like tax evasion, Hong does not support hampering businesses with unnecessary regulations that would restrict job creation.

North Korea

This election could also be a referendum on North Korea policy.

The conservatives want to maintain Park's strong support for the U.S. alliance and for hardline polices that rely only on strong sanctions and military deterrence to pressure the Kim Jong Un government to dismantle its nuclear arsenal in return for economic relief and security guarantees.

The two leading liberal candidates want to temper sanctions with dialogue. Moon has also he said would pursue engagement policies such as reopening the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, which was closed following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test last year.

The North Korean ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, endorsed the more liberal approach, saying in a column Monday, "inter-Korean confrontation, led by the [South Korean] conservatives, should be put to an end, and a new era of unification should open up in collaboration between our race."

Conservatives maintain that attempts to assist and engage North Korea by past liberal administrations failed to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program.

U.S. President Donald Trump's recent criticisms about South Korea, demanding $1 billion for the THAAD missile defense system being deployed on the Korean Peninsula, and calling the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement a "horrible" deal that needs to be renegotiated, could also depress the conservative vote while energizing liberals who want the next South Korean president to stand up to American pressure.

Moon has said, however, the U.S.-South Korea alliance is essential for the country's national security, and he believes Trump also ultimately wants a negotiated settlement.

Youmi Kim contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US closely examining Syria 'de-escalation zones': Mattis

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 1:27PM

The United States is closely examining the four "de-escalation zones" aimed at reducing violence in Syria, US Defense Secretary James Mattis has said.

In his first remarks on the agreement signed last week by Iran, Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan, Mattis on Monday warned that the "devil is in the details" and that much was required to be worked out by the countries involved.

The deal to create the de-escalation zones in mainly militant-held areas of the country calls for the cessation of hostilities between militant groups and Syrian forces.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are to act as guarantors for the agreement which took effect on Saturday. The deal said the de-escalation zones would initially be established for a period of six months, which could be extended if the three signatory countries agreed.

The Syrian government said on Monday that it would abide by the terms of the initiative, which was proposed by Russia, but militant groups have rejected it, saying Moscow has been unable to get the government in Damascus to respect previous ceasefire agreements.

The US State Department has criticized the deal, saying Washington was skeptical of Iran's role as a guarantor of the agreement which was signed during the fourth round of the Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana on Thursday.

Mattis, however, adopted a more cautious tone on Monday when reporters asked his opinion on the accord as he traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for talks with US allies.

"All wars eventually come to an end and we've been looking for a long time how to bring this one to an end. So we'll look at the proposal and see if it can work," he told reporters.

He said that basic details were not clear yet including who specifically would establish the safe zones and exactly which militant groups would be kept out of them.

When asked if the de-escalation zones could help reduce violence in Syria, Mattis said, "The devil's always in the details, right? So we've got to look at the details."

US Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the zones with his Russian counterpart on Saturday, Mattis told reporters.

"This subject was brought up, but there's a lot of details to be worked out," he noted.

The four de-escalation zones are situated across eight of Syria's 14 provinces. The first zone includes the northwestern province of Idlib, the western province of Latakia, the west-central province of Hama, and the northern province of Aleppo.

The second zone covers the northern parts of the central Homs province. The third zone encompasses the Eastern Ghouta district near the capital Damascus, while the fourth zone includes southern Syria, particularly Dara'a and Quneitra provinces.

The four zones are only safe for the so-called armed opposition factions and exclude the Takfiri terrorist groups of Daesh and the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Syria militants begin evacuating Damascus suburb

Iran Press TV

Mon May 8, 2017 9:52AM

Hundreds of foreign-backed militants have started evacuating the besieged Damascus suburb of Barzeh under an agreement reached with the Syrian government.

State-run Ekhbariya television reported that the evacuation of the militants from Barzeh to militant-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib had begun on Monday.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said buses had arrived to transport the militants and their family members out of Barzeh at dawn, adding hundreds of them had started to board the vehicles.

The Britain-based monitoring group said more people would leave the suburb over the coming days as part of the same agreement.

The flashpoint district of Barzeh, which lies in northeast Damascus near the militant-held Eastern Ghouta, has seen fierce fighting between Takfiri militants and Syrian forces in recent months.

Militants usually use a maze of underground tunnels or artillery fire to attack targets inside the Syrian capital.

The monitoring group also said the Syrian army troops have advanced in the Qaboun district, which is adjacent to Barzeh in the same besieged enclave.

Separately, a military media unit run by Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Monday that several Red Crescent ambulances had arrived in the Syrian towns of Foua and Kefraya, which are under the siege of militants, to evacuate residents.

The two towns in Idlib were part of a mutual evacuation deal reached between the Damascus government and militant groups in March which involved the evacuation of Zabadani and Madaya in Rif Dimashq.

The towns of Zabadani and Madaya are surrounded by pro-government forces.

The evacuations are part of the Syrian government's reconciliation efforts in order to secure civilian lives following a series of mysterious chemical and other attacks.

In recent months, hundreds of militants have laid down weapons and surrendered to the Syrian army under such agreements.

Syria has been grappling with militancy since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated last August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the conflict until then.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Mattis: U.S. Closely Examining Syria Safe Zones But Has Many Questions

RFE/RL May 08, 2017

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that the United States would closely examine the Russian proposal to create several so-called safe zones in Syria aimed at reducing violence in the conflict-torn country.

However, speaking to correspondents on May 8, Mattis warned that the plan poses many unanswered questions.

Mattis said the borders of the proposed cease-fire areas are still being resolved, although the general locations are "well understood."

"Who is going to be ensuring they're safe? Who is signing up for it? Who is specifically to be kept out of them? All these details are to be worked out," he said.

The plan was proposed by Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's key ally, with the support of Turkey, which backs the opposition. Iran, Assad's other major ally, also backed it.

The plan says four de-escalation zones would be established in Syria for a period of six months, which could be extended if the three signatory countries agreed.It also includes creating conditions for humanitarian access, medical assistance, and the return of refugees to their homes.

The plan, however, does not cover areas controlled by Islamic State (IS) militants, leaving the United States and its allies free to continue the campaign to retake IS-held territory.

The United States is not part of the deal, and the Syrian government and opposition haven't signed up to the agreement. But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on May 8 that Damascus would abide by the terms of the plan so long as rebels also observed it.

Mattis said that Washington owes it to the people of Syria "to at least examine [the plan] very, very carefully."

Mattis noted that chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, spoke about the zones with his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimov on May 7.

"This subject was brought up, but there's a lot of details to be worked out," Mattis said.

The deal is the most serious initiative to reduce violence and shore up a cease-fire first declared in December, since western states accused Damascus of a chemical attack in early April on rebel-held Idlib province.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/mattis-syria-safe- zones-u-s-examining-questions/28474483.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Damascus to Consider Uncoordinated Jordan's Military Activity as 'Enemy Force'

Sputnik News

17:38 08.05.2017

Jordan's military activity on Syrian territory without coordination with Damascus will be regarded as "enemy force," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Monday.

BEIRUT (Sputnik)  Muallem stressed that Damascus was aware of Jordan's role in Syrian conflict from the beginning.

"We are not in confrontation with Jordan, but if the Jordanian forces invade our territories without coordination with us, we will consider them the enemy forces," Muallem said at a press conference in Damascus.

In April, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Sputnik in an interview that the Syrian government was aware of Jordan's plans to deploy troops on its territory in coordination with the United States. Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs, Mohammad Momani, later refuted Assad's claims saying that it was "far from reality."

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting Syrian opposition groups striving to overthrow the president. Damascus is also fighting numerous extremist and terrorist groups such as the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Daesh, both outlawed in Russia.

Jabhat Fatah al Sham, formerly known as Nusra Front militants hold control of the city of Daraa, located to the south of Damascus near the border with Jordan, as well as of several settlements to the north and west of the city, including a check point on the border. According to Syrian military, terrorists repeatedly crossed the border deploying troops or ammunition from Jordan to Syria.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






No 1992 consensus, no basis for Taiwan to attend WHA: China

ROC Central News Agency

2017/05/08 13:59:40

Suqian, China, May 8 (CNA) As long as Taiwan refuses to accept the "1992 consensus," there will be no basis for its participation in this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), a senior China official said Monday, even as Taiwan continued its worldwide plea to be allowed to participate as an observer.

If Taiwan wishes to join international organizations, it must return to the fundamental condition, which is recognition of the "one China" principle and the "1992 consensus," Zhang Zhijun (), head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters during a visit to Suqian City in Jiangsu Province.

Furthermore, Taiwan's participation in international activities must be arranged through negotiations with China, he said.

The "1992 consensus" refers to a tacit understanding reached in 1992 between China and Taiwan, which was then under a Kuomintang-led government, that there is only one China, with both sides free to interpret what that means.

However, since President Tsai Ing-wen () of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took office in May 2016, she has refused to heed the call of China and her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou () for Taiwan to recognize the "1992 consensus" as the sole foundation for cross-strait exchanges.

As a result, China has suspended official dialogue with Taiwan and has redoubled its efforts to prevent Taiwan's participation in international organizations.

In the most recent setback, Taiwan has not been invited to the 2017 session of the WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. The deadline for online registration of participants was Monday.

In response to reporters' questions on the issue, Zhang noted that Taiwan had attended the annual assembly as an observer for eight consecutive years, from 2009.

During that time, Taiwan's participation was "a special arrangement made through cross-strait negotiations" against the backdrop of mutual recognition of "one China" and desire for peaceful development of cross-strait relations, Zhang said.

However, since Taiwan's new government took office in May 2016, it has refused to acknowledge the "1992 consensus" or to recognize the fact that the two sides of the strait are part of one China, he said.

As a result, the mechanism for cross-strait dialogue has stalled.

"The precondition and basis for Taiwan's presence at the WHA no longer exist," Zhang said. "And everyone is quite clear as to which side should be responsible."

Asked about Tsai's recent calls for a new model in the development of cross-strait ties, Zhang declined to comment, saying only that since May 20 last year, cross-strait relations have been going "in a worrisome direction."

Since 2009, Taiwan has attended the WHA as an observer under the name Chinese Taipei in accordance with an agreement between the governments on both sides of the strait and the WHO.

Last year, after Tsai took office, Taiwan received a last minute invitation to the WHA that for the first time included a reminder that the "one China" principle was the basis of United Nations Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, under which Taiwan was allowed to attend.

Seeing that it will be unlikely for Taiwan to take part in the event this year, officials of the Tsai government have planned a press conference later Monday to make their case.

(By Chang Shu-lin and Elizabeth Hsu)

ENDITEM/pc

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Turkish Prosecution Demands Some 3,600 Aggravated Life Terms for Gulen

Sputnik News

21:12 08.05.2017

Turkish prosecutors have demanded a total of 3,623 aggravated life sentences for US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of being the mastermind behind the July 2016 coup attempt, local media reported on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Apart from that, the prosecution demands 2,923 years in jail for Gulen, as well as a judicial fine equivalent to 2.2 million days in prison, the Hurriyet Daily News wrote.

A total of 22 cases are filed against Gulen in Turkey in connection with the failed coup, the media added.

Ankara accused Gulen and his followers of organizing the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, which claimed the lives of over 240 people and left some 2,000 more injured. Following the attempted coup, Turkish security forces have arrested thousands of people on suspicion of having ties to Gulen, who has denied all allegations of preparing the coup.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Turkey Plans to Build Wall on Iranian Border to Block Access for PKK

Sputnik News

15:55 08.05.2017

Ankara is planning to build a wall along the border with Iran within the framework of the efforts to prevent the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror group in Turkey, from entering the country's territory, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Monday, citing an official.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in May, media reported that Turkey was reinforcing the border with Syria in the southeastern part of the country with country's forces reportedly launching construction of a concrete wall.

The PKK has the Maku, Dambat, Navur, Kotr, Keneresh and Sehidan camps inside Iran near the Turkish border. There are some 800-1,000 PKK terrorists in those camps. They enter Turkey, carry out attacks and leave As a precaution against this, we are going to build a wall along 70 kilometers of the border near Agr and [the eastern province of] Igdr," the official said, as quoted by the newspaper.

The rest of the border, which will be equipped with lights, will be closed with towers and iron fences, the official added. The highway in the eastern province of Tunceli will be placed under round-the-clock surveillance, according to the newspaper.

After the ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK broke down in 2015, Ankara started a military operation against Kurdish militants. Turkey's Defense Minister Fikri Isik said in April that the government forces had killed over 10,000 Kurdish militants since July 2016.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Secucloud signs agency agreement with Impulse Intl, an NTEC subsidiary, a fully owned company by Kuwait sovereign investment fund

May 2017 by Marc Jacob

The combination of broader digital technology adoption, networked telecom services and a high standard of living makes Gulf states like Kuwait a very attractive target for cyber-criminals. This is amplified by the fact that the implementation of an appropriate level of security has taken something of a back seat there, both on the state and private enterprise levels. To give internet users powerful and future-proof protection against these threats, NTEC, a fully owned company by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), signed an agency agreement through its fully owned subsidiary Impulse Intl, with the German IT security provider Secucloud at the end of February. The support from NTEC will enable the cloud security specialist to expand the adoption of its protection solution in the Gulf growth markets.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Never miss the latest local news again by signing up to our Daily Newsletter

A 26 year old Quedgeley man who fled to Ireland after burgling two Gloucestershire homes has been jailed for three and a half years.

Anthony Mullane of Headley Court, Quedgeley, had to be extradited from the Irish Republic after skipping bail in a bid to avoid justice, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

Mullane had admitted burgling a flat in Southgate Street, Gloucester, on March 5 last year and breaking into a farm house in Pillows Green Road, Staunton, on July 5.

Prosecutor Janine Wood said the Bulgarian family living in the Southgate Street flat got home on March 5 to find three intruders inside. The men all ran out, barging into Mrs Kremi Todarova, and causing bruises to them both.

The burglars took property including a collection of watches in a box - and left behind a machete in one of the bedrooms,

A cardboard box in the flat was found to have Mullane's fingerprints on it, said Mrs Wood.

She said the biggest impact of the burglary had been on Mrs Todarova's son, who is now 'very scared and will not stay at home alone.'

Before the burglary he had not been scared of anything but now he does not even want to sleep on his own, said a victim impact statement from Mrs Todarova.

The family had even taken him to see a psychiatrist at their own expense during a recent trip back to Bulgaria, she added.

Mrs Wood said the second burglary in Staunton was committed when owner Mrs Hazel Padfield and her husband were out.

During the raid six guns were stolen from two cabinets in the house and valuable jewellery was also taken, said Mrs Wood.

The total value of all the goods taken and the cost of repairs was 9,000.

Mrs Wood said there were two shotguns and four air rifles in the haul. All but one of the shotguns had since been recovered.

But by the time the other shotgun was found - in the back of Mullane's car in Matson - it had been sawn off.

Mullane, however, denied that he had put it there and it was his own girlfriend who had told police to check the car some time after his arrest.

In a victim impact statement Mrs Padfield said the burglary had caused 'great sadness' to her and her husband.

The couple had been worried by the thought that his guns, which had only ever been used for pest control on the farm, might be used for crime, she stated.

The gun that had been shortened was left to her husband by his father and was the only physical thing they had left to remember him by, she added.

"We have lived in our house for 44 years and this is the first time that anything like this has happened," she stated.

Mrs Wood said Mullane had made eight previous court appearances for a total of 30 offences.

For Mullane, solicitor Jon Lynch said his client had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the raids. He wished to express his 'genuine regret and remorse.'

While away in Ireland - where he spent eight months facing extradition proceedings - he had sorted out his drug and drink issues, he added.

Mullane was under no illusion that jail awaited him, he said,

Judge Cullum said both burglaries were of the most serious category because people had been injured in one and guns had been stolen in the other.

He passed a total jail term of three and a half years and set a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act for June 19.
French president-elect Emmanuel Macron (file photo)

A new page of history of the French Fifth Republic has been turned over on May 7, 2017. French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, who is mere 39-year-old, won by a landslide over Marine Le Pen, the leader of Frances far-right National Front, to become Frances youngest president.

The news has also attracted netizens attention in China, with some casting doubts on the plausibility of Macrons policy to be really central, i.e. not leaning to the left nor the right. The new French presidents marriage to his high school teacher who is 24 years his senior has also become a heated discussion on Chinese social media.

Macron inherits the traditional values of the European integration. He supports globalization and free trade, and champions the European Union and the euro. His far-right rival Le Pen once put it forward that The divide is no longer between the left and right but between patriots and globalists!". The whole Europe has been very concerned after Brexit. Macrons victory on Sunday gives hopes to the French people. Some even said, EU wins. Globalization is stabilized.

Mr. Macron's supporters (file photo)

Though its not easy to draw a conclusion at this stage, Macron who styles himself as a liberal progressive and claims himself to be neither of the left nor right is undoubtedly a new strength in pushing forward the globalization. The young politician has established a public image of a policy maker who is determined to reform.

Macron once referred to his intense presidential campaign and endless opinion polls as a Long March. Indeed, under the leadership of this new president, France may begin a new Long March.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Never miss a breaking story in Cheltenham by signing up to our daily newsletter

The funeral details have been revealed for a 13-year-old girl who died after suffering an asthma attack at school.

Lauren Thornton, a pupil at All Saints Academy in Cheltenham died on April 27, leaving her family and many friends devastated.

Her funeral will be held at Cheltenham Crematorium, South Chapel, on Wednesday, May 17 at 2.30pm.

A funeral notice due to be published in the Gloucestershire Echo tomorrow described her as a loving daughter, sister, grand-daughter, niece, cousin and friends to many.

Flowers or donations for Asthma UK may be sent c/o Mason & Stokes, 54, Hewlett Road, Cheltenham GL52 6AH.

In a statement, the school described Lauren as a "kind and generous" student.

Principal Dermot McNiffe said: "We are devastated by this tragic loss, and we send our thoughts and our love to Lauren's family and friends at this difficult time.

"Lauren was a much loved girl in our Academy family.

"She was loyal, kind and generous to all her friends. She was a vibrant girl and a lovely student. We are all going to miss her greatly.

A memorial gofundme page set up by friends to help her family was widely shared on social media and has raised more than 3,000.

It says: "A tragic accident happened, which claimed the life of a young, beautiful, popular, much loved girl, Lauren Thornton.

"Lauren was a 13-year-old student at All Saints' Academy, who was getting ready to celebrate her 14th birthday on May 6, when tragedy struck and she suffered a fatal asthma attack during her PE lesson at school.

"As you can probably imagine, we are all completely in shock, and heartbroken that such a vibrant, clever, beautiful, much loved girl has been taken away from us all so suddenly.

"She leaves behind a loving mother and younger brother, and step-father, as well as doting grandparents, aunties and cousins.

"This page has been set up in Lauren's memory, to take away some pressure from family members at this very sad time, to raise money towards Lauren's memorial, headstone, any other unexpected costs that may occur and maybe even a trip away for Lauren's mum, step-dad and brother, to try and come to terms with their loss.

"Lauren is loved by so many, and has touched the hearts of so many more. We, as friends and neighbours, as a community, are all in complete shock and are truly heartbroken.

"We want to take as much pressure off Lauren's family as possible. To make this painful time a little less difficult, we want to make this as easy for them as possible. Please help us to help them.

"Whatever anyone can donate, will be gratefully appreciated, no matter how small, every little bit will help to make this terrible time slightly less stressful."
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Never miss the latest local news again by signing up to our Daily Newsletter

Even after it taking months to replace the bridge in Berkeley, the news has come that it is set to take even longer than previously planned.

The old bridge was lifted out using a specialist crane that had enough reach and strength to move it and it was also used to install the beams for the new bridge at the same time.

Highways contracts manager at Gloucestershire County Council Mark Darlow-Joy said: We put a huge amount of time and effort into moving the old bridge which was an extremely technical operation requiring time and skill.

The new structure is now in place and work will be focussing on making improvements to the road layout in the area once the safety barriers have been installed.

I would again like to thank everyone for their continued patience whilst the work has taken place.

The barriers have to have foundations installed in order to make sure that they can offer the most protection to motorists and pedestrians alike.

So instead of the work being completed by May, the works will continue into June instead. This is due to the poor quality of ground in the area. As a result there have had to be changes made to where these foundation barriers can go.

This has meant working alongside BT to make re-designs to their system that runs underneath the road.

One this work has been done crews will be able to be install the new barriers to maximise safety and avoid any potential impact on the phone network.

The road will remain under traffic light control until the 30th June when the new bridge will open.

See here for more information.
Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Never miss the latest local news again by signing up to our Daily Newsletter

Senior Lloyds bank official Sarah Perkins has told a jury that there was nothing dishonest about her attempt to buy her parents' council house in Cheltenham at a big discount.

She denied in evidence at Gloucester Crown Court that she had any intention to profit from purchasing the house in Tanners Road under the Right to Buy Scheme.

Her aim was simply to gain ownership of the house so she could have it adapted and extended for her father - who suffered dementia and Parkinson's - and he could then return to it from a nursing home, she said.

The jury has heard that the tenancy of the house was in her father Arthur's name. He and his wife Mary had lived there for most of their married lives and Ms Perkins was born there.

The prosecution allege that Ms Perkins no longer lived there but pretended it was her main residence so she would qualify to purchase it at a discount of up to 60 percent under the Right to Buy Scheme.

She was in fact living and working in Dubai, Edinburgh and Bristol during the time she claimed the house to be her principal residence, the prosecution say.

But in evidence Ms Perkins told her entire life story to show that she had led a 'nomadic' lifestyle, not settling in any place for very long and in later years always regarding Tanners Road as her residence.

She had started her banking career in Cheltenham Lloyds in 1983 and had then moved to the Brockworth branch, followed by Stroud and Bristol, she said.

She had been in an on-off relationship with current partner Patrick Flux, an agricultural contractor, since 1993 but they had not always lived together and she had also had relationships with other men, she said,

She gave the jury a four page timeline of places she had lived and worked - including Clifton, Bristol; Woking, then going travelling to 15 countries in 2004/05 when she took redundancy.

In 2005 she returned to the UK and worked in Newport and Cardiff then went world travelling again in 2006, she stated.

Throughout that time she always kept clothes, cosmetics and personal belongings in Tanners road.

On her return she had jobs in Woking, Knutsford, Stockton Heath and then went back to work for Lloyds in 2007 in Bristol.

From there she went to Dubai for 3 years with Lloyds International but Tanners road remained her registered address.

"My post was going there, and I was going to see them (her parents) as often as I could. I had clothes, toiletries and quite a few pairs of shoes there. "

In 2011 she moved to a Lloyds job in Edinburgh and rented three different addresses there but still regarded Tanners road as her principal residence, she said,

"I was flying up and down quite a lot to see mum and dad. The flights were so convenient from Edinburgh to Bristol.

"Then my dad's health started to deteriorate and I was spending more time in Cheltenham."

Although she had a flat in Edinburgh it was being used latterly by her boyfriend because he was working in Scotland and she had transferred job to Bristol so she could spend more time in Tanners rd, she said.

The prosecution has pointed to the rent, council tax, shopping and other expenditure incurred daily in Edinburgh by Ms Perkins as evidence that the Scottish city was her main address.

Ms Perkins told the jury she initially made a right to buy application in her own name so she could acquire the house and add an extension so that her father could return and live downstairs. Full time carers would then be able to live upstairs, she said.

When she was told she was not entitled to buy on her own she made a new application jointly with her father, who has since died, she added

Her plan was not to cash in on the right to buy scheme for herself but for the benefit of her parents and she had been entitled to do so because the house was her main residence, she insisted.

Ms Perkins denies two charges alleging that on 25th June 2014 she made untrue claims to the council that the house was her 'only, or principal, home.'

The trial will resume on Wednesday.
We have more newsletters

Something went wrong, please try again later.

Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later.

Never miss a breaking story in Cheltenham by signing up to our daily newsletter

A terrified staff member locked himself in a back room when a Gloucestershire bookmakers was raided by an armed robber.

A masked man carrying a knife entered Paddy Power in High Street in Cheltenham and jumped over the counter before breaking in to two tills.

A member of staff managed to lock himself in a back room as the man robbed the place.

The robber is described as wearing a balaclava, gloves and a three-quarter length blue coat with a hood.

He left the shop walking in the direction of New Look.

The incident took place at 9.45pm on Wednesday, April 26.

A Gloucestershire police spokesman said: We are hoping someone may recognise him by the clothes he is wearing.

If anyone has any information that can help us with our enquiries or if you can identify the man in the pictures please call 101 quoting incident number 476 of 26 April.
A Phoenix bike with its logo on it (file photo)

SHANGHAI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China's 120-year-old bike manufacturer Phoenix is to supply bike-sharing startup Ofo and help it explore overseas markets.

In the following year, Ofo will buy at least 5 million bikes from Shanghai-based Phoenix and put them on the streets of Beijing, Shanghai and neighboring areas, the manufacturer announced Monday at a ceremony celebrating its 120th anniversary.

In addition, Phoenix plans to produce various versions of bikes for Ofo based on overseas demand.

All the Phoenix-made bikes for Ofo will bear the Phoenix trademark.

Phoenix bikes have been sold in more than 90 countries and regions, with overseas sales accounting for 40 percent of the brand's total.

The two companies will also set up a research and development center and a quality management center to serve the eastern China market.

The bike-sharing business, which took off in big Chinese cities less than two years ago, allows riders to hire bikes for as little as one yuan (about 15 U.S. cents) per hour via a mobile app and drop them off anywhere for the next user.

There were 18.9 million users of shared bicycles nationwide in 2016. The number is expected to hit 50 million by the end of 2017.
(File photo/Xinhua, Chinanews.com)

The U.S. Air Force's mysterious X-37B space plane returned to Earth on Sunday after completing a secret space mission that lasted nearly two years.

The reusable, unmanned X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an airport used by the U.S. space agency's Space Shuttle for landing until the program's end in 2011.

The just-ended mission, known as Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4), was launched in May 2015 and conducted secret experiments for a total of 718 days while in orbit.

It's the fourth and longest-running mission for the X-37B program, run by the U.S. Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office. The program began as a NASA project in 1999 but was later transferred to the Pentagon.

The first three missions all ended with landings at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The X-37B, built by Boeing, looks much like NASA's retired space shuttles, only much smaller. It is boosted into orbit by a rocket and lands like an aircraft on a conventional runway.

The exact purpose of the X-37B was never revealed and the secrecy surrounding the project has led to speculation that the solar-powered X-37B can be used as a spy satellite or to deliver weapons from space.
Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Margaret Lake Diamonds (DIA or the Company) (TSX-V: DIA) is pleased to announce that its joint venture with Arctic Star Exploration Corp. (ADD) (TSX-V: ADD) has initiated a ground exploration program on its Diagras property. DIA is the operator of this program with a 60% interest and ADD contributing 40 %. Diagras is located in the north-eastern part of the prolific Lac de Gras kimberlite field, 22km NNE of the Diavik diamond mine and 36km east of the Ekati diamond mine in NT Canada. Research and data compilation shows that the property hosts over a dozen kimberlites, with most of them diamondiferous.

The claims selected by the company comprise 23 and total 18,699hectares, forming the Diagras property. The property was obtained by posting a bond of approximately $200,000 with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The Diagras property is located in the prolific north-northeastern part of the Lac de Gras kimberlite field where the Diavik (operated by Rio Tinto Plc) and Ekati diamond mines (operated by Dominion Diamonds Corp.) are located. The following diamondiferous deposits A21, A418, A154S, A154N, Piranha Lynx, Misery, A841, and Jay kimberlite pipes, line up in a >25 km. structural corridor trending NNE into the Diagras property. The nearest of these pipes, Jay is just 8.9 kilometers from the Diagras boundary.

Diagras has diamondiferous kimberlites

Historical work on the Diagras property was originally conducted by De Beers in the 1990s and some subsequent work by Majescor Resources in 2004. Whilst being explored by De Beers it was known as the Hardy Lake property, it was their work that identified the 13 known kimberlites on the Diagras property controlled by the joint venture.

Originally the kimberlites were discovered primarily as the result of follow-up of airborne magnetic surveys some 2 decades ago. In some instances short holes were drilled that did not explain the magnetic anomalies.

Exploration Strategy

The Joint Venture has mobilised crews to undertake ground geophysical surveys in the area of known kimberlites and also to evaluate other previously unresolved targets. The geophysical surveys will comprise of ground gravity, magnetics and the OhmMapper ground EM method. The objective of this work is to attempt to detect previously undiscovered non-magnetic phases near the original magnetic kimberlite discoveries. The Jack Pine kimberlite, one of the 13 kimberlites in our portfolio, is one such large complex kimberlite, with multiple phases with different geophysical responses. It is hoped that our planned surveys will reveal similar geology around the other pipes. There is also a good chance to find new kimberlites using these new ground geophysical techniques. This ground geophysical work has now commenced and is designed to establish drill targets which will be slated for testing in the next phase of the exploration program.

Field work on this program calls for completion in mid-May which will then require interpretation. Current weather and ground conditions are considered good for this program.

The technical data in this news release has been reviewed by Mark Fields P. Geo., a Qualified Person under the provisions of National Instrument 43-101.

About Margaret Lake Diamonds

Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. is a diamond exploration company focussed on the Northwest Territories with two exploration properties. The Diagras project is as detailed elsewhere in this release. The other project is Margaret Lake (adjacent to Kennady north and in close proximity to Gacho Kue, the newest Canadian diamond mine owned by De Beers and Mountain Province diamonds).

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Paul Brockington

Paul Brockington, President and Chief Executive Officer

Website: www.margaretlake.ca

For further information, please contact:

Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc.

Paul Brockington

President and CEO

Phone: 604-630-2810

This news release contains forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. Actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressed qualified in their entirety by this notice.

The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or managements estimates or opinions change. 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.

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/margaretlake05082017.pdfSource: Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. (TSX Venture:DIA)

To follow Margaret Lake Diamonds Inc. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below.

Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com

Copyright  2017 Filing Services Canada Inc.
NORTH VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2017 / Lion One Metals Ltd. (TSXV: LIO) (ASX: LLO) (OTCQX: LOMLF) (FSE: LY1) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the following drilling and development update for its 100% owned and fully permitted high grade underground Tuvatu Gold Project located near Nadi on the island of Viti Levu in the Republic of Fiji.

About Tuvatu

The Tuvatu Gold Project is located 17 km from the Nadi International Airport on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Discovered in 1987, Tuvatu is a high grade, low sulphidation, epithermal gold deposit hosted inside a South Pacific style volcanic caldera. The deposit occurs along the Viti Levu lineament, Fiji's own corridor of high grade gold deposits. Tuvatu is situated upon a 5 hectare footprint inside a larger 384 hectare mining lease. The project contains numerous high grade prospects proximal to Tuvatu, at depth, and up to 1.50 km along strike from the resource area, giving near-term production potential and further discovery upside inside of one of Fiji's underexplored volcanic goldfields.

Tuvatu was advanced by previous owners through underground exploration and development from 1997 through to the completion of a feasibility study in 2000. Acquired by Lion One in 2011, the project has over 100,000 meters of drilling completed to date in addition to 1,600 meters of underground development.

In January 2016 the Hon. Prime Minister of Fiji, Mr. V. Bainimarama, formally presented the previously granted Tuvatu Mining Lease to Lion One. This concluded the permitting process for the development of an underground gold mine and processing plant at Tuvatu, demonstrating strong government support for Fiji's 85 year-old gold mining industry.

As per its independent June 1, 2015 NI 43-101 PEA Technical Report on the Tuvatu Gold Project, the Company envisages a low cost underground gold mining operation producing 352,931 ounces of gold at head grades of 11.30 g/t Au over an initial 7 year mine life. This includes production of 262,000 ounces at 15.30 g/t through to the end of year three. Estimated cash cost is US$567 per ounce with all-in sustaining cost of US$779 per ounce. Total capex of US$48.6 million includes a contingency of US$6.1 million with an 18 month preproduction schedule and 18 month payback on capital. At a US$1,200 gold price, the project generates net cash flow of US$112.66 million and an IRR of 52% (after tax). The Company is not basing its production decision on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability; as a result there is increased uncertainty and economic and technical risks associated with its production decision.

Drilling and Development

Mine engineering and underground development is progressing alongside final detailed engineering for the Tuvatu processing plant and site infrastructure. The 2016-2017 drilling program continues with one diamond drill rig operating at surface, and one underground. Drilling has successfully intersected high grade zones of mineralization proximal to, and outside the current resource. Consequently the Company has appointed an independent third party engineering firm to model the incoming results. The Company believes the drilling currently underway has the potential to materially increase the tonnage and grade of the mineralized zones targeted for extraction in the initial years of the Tuvatu mine plan.

Drilling Results

The Company commenced drilling at Tuvatu in October 2016 with one surface rig, followed by the addition of an underground rig in March 2017. A total of 6,493 meters of diamond drilling has been completed to date consisting of 5,744m from 28 surface drill holes, and 739m from 7 underground drill holes. An additional 520m of drilling has been completed for geotechnical purposes in the area of the proposed processing plant, and to confirm stability of the monzonite host rock underground. High grade highlights include the following drilling results (see Table 1 below for a summary of 2016-2017 results):

TUDDH 406 (8.41m @ 71.41 g/t Au from 96.10m, inc. 4.56m @ 126.67 g/t Au);

TUDDH 407 (4.05m @ 12.32 g/t Au from 53.57m);

TUDDH 409 (3.92m @ 12.54 g/t Au from 80.78m),

TUDDH 410 (2.42m @ 24.07 g/t Au from 86.94m),

TUDDH 419 (9.07m @ 14.89 g/t Au from 32.83m, inc. 5.57m @ 21.04 g/t Au from 36.33m).

Current drilling is following up on several very high grade intercepts and potential extensions of zones identified in previous campaigns:

TUDDH 160 (4.22m @ 252.64 g/t Au from 332m; 4.12m @ 19.61g/t Au from 403.20m) TUDDH 207 (8.85m @ 14.09g/t Au from 418.90m; 1.45m @ 19.78g/t Au from 418.90m) Drilling targeting the northern, shallow extensions on the Tuvatu, SKL 3-8, and UR2 lodes. Minimal diamond drilling has been undertaken on these lodes in the northern part of the deposit and as such, there remains a high probability of extending mineralized lodes into these areas. This area includes three reverse circulation drill holes which had previously not been followed up including TURC 142 (5m @ 22.5g/t Au), TURC 156,(2m @ 11g/t Au) and TURC 171, (6m @ 6.3 g/t Au) Follow up of extensions of the east-west oriented Snake and Murau lodes to the west of the exploration decline.

Plan and section views of the reported drilling areas are located on the Company website https://liononemetals.com/news-media/image-gallery/.

The underground diamond drill rig has targeted the area north of the Core Shed Fault, where very little previous drilling has been undertaken. Surface mapping and sampling has highlighted continuation of those mineralized lodes to the north, in addition to a number of other zones of mineralization previously untested. The main known lodes being tested include the UR2, Tuvatu and H lodes.

The current drilling program has identified a number of very high grade intercepts from outside the proposed ore stopes planned in the 2015 Preliminary Economic Assessment. In particular, the intercepts in TUDDH 408, 419 and 425 fall well outside existing stopes, whilst TUDDH407, 409, 410 and others, returned intersection on the margins of existing planned stopes. Other diamond drill holes have confirmed the existing mineralization in many of the other proposed stopes.

The most significant results received from all drilling to date have previously been reported (see news releases dated November 28, 2016, December 21, 2016, February 14 2017, and in the Management Discussion and Analysis for Period Ending March 31st 2017. Below is a summary of select results from the drilling undertaken in the 2016-2017 drill programs (Table 1):

Table 1: Select Tuvatu Drilling Results, May 2017

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Zone TUDDH 406 48.42 51.30 2.88 5.30 GRF/ SKL 2 70.93 71.23 0.30 23.30 SKL 4 72.30 73.55 1.25 10.16 SKL 4 96.10 104.51 8.41 71.41 UR 2 including 96.10 100.66 4.56 126.67 UR 2 and 102.71 104.51 1.80 12.58 UR 2 116.55 117.27 0.72 36.20 SKL 8? TUDDH 407 53.57 61.60 8.03 4.68 SKL 3/4 including 55.76 61.60 5.84 6.26 SKL 3/4 71.43 75.48 4.05 12.32 SKL 6 TUDDH 408 41.60 41.90 0.30 76.60 SKL 4/ Snake 63.49 63.80 0.31 6.69 Nasivi 88.04 91.07 3.03 3.35 Murau 2 TUDDH 409 78.93 85.70 6.77 7.83 Murau 1 including 80.78 84.70 3.92 12.54 Murau 1 91.40 94.80 3.40 4.59 Murau 1 split TUDDH410 86.94 89.36 2.42 24.07 Murau 1 HW 124.20 125.70 1.50 9.16 Murau 1 FW2 TUDDH 412 48.46 49.85 1.39 8.46 Tuvatu 2 TUDDH 418 201.30 202.60 1.30 13.02 Murau 3 171.20 171.49 0.29 16.60 URW 3 TUDDH 419 32.83 41.90 9.07 14.89 UR 2 including 36.33 41.90 5.57 21.04 UR 2 71.36 72.80 1.44 19.65 SKL 3 83.66 85.78 2.12 14.28 SKL 5 103.18 103.64 0.46 14.00 SKL 7 TUDDH 420 75.19 76.50 1.31 11.57 SKL 3 TUDDH 421 115.23 117.15 1.92 16.89 UR 4 TUDDH 425 46.35 49.20 2.85 19.78 UR 2 TUDDH 427 64.67 65.11 0.44 48.00 SKL 4 TUDDH 428 191.96 195.64 3.68 5.86 UR 2

* True widths of the drill hole intersection have not been determined from the information available.

Quality Control (QAQC)

All samples for this drilling program is marked, logged, and cut with a diamond saw onsite, placed in sealed bags and sent to the Company's Nadi office. Following inspection by the regulators in Fiji and receipt of an export license, samples are then shipped to Brisbane, Queensland for customs clearance, and then couriered to the facilities of ALS Chemex in Townsville, also in Queensland, for sample preparation and gold analysis by fire assay and multi-element ICP analysis. A Quality Control/Quality Assurance program, including the insertion of standards, blanks and duplicates is ongoing.

Development Update

The Company continues to work alongside its EPC partner Ansteel to complete the design and financing of the Tuvatu Gold Project (see "Ansteel MOU" news release dated August 24, 2016). Under mutual agreement with Ansteel, The Company has contracted Yantai Jinpeng Mining Machinery Co Ltd, based in Shandong Province, PRC, to complete the final detailed engineering design plans for the Tuvatu processing plant, tailings dam, and surface infrastructure. The detailed design plans include the laboratory, office complex, dry area, workshop for light vehicles and heavy underground machinery, warehouse, conference facilities and mine site offices. The detailed engineering design is nearing completion with site plans scheduled for delivery to Lion One in June 2017.

The Company has also contracted Canenco Consulting Corp., a Vancouver based process engineering company, to manage Front End Engineering Design (FEED), including equipment specifications, engineering plans, and design documentation for the processing plant to be constructed in the PRC to North American standards. The procurement process of mining equipment and processing plant components is progressing with all equipment and long term lead items having been identified and priced.

The Company has now dewatered the existing Tuvatu exploration decline past the 375m mark from the portal down the decline. The decline was completed in the year 2000 by Emperor Gold Mines, comprising 1,430 meters of underground development including drives, cross cuts and raises. In conjunction with the dewatering, ventilation fans and lighting have been installed and are running 24 hours per day. Minor slippage inside the Core Shed Fault area 140m inside the decline has now been cleared and reinforced to ensure permanent and safe access past that area to areas further down the decline for future drilling programs. The rehabilitation of this area has been approved by Mine Inspectors from Fiji's Mineral Resource Department.

Ian Chang, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., Chief Development Officer, is the Qualified Person ("QP") responsible for Tuvatu Mine development. Stephen Mann, Managing Director, member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, is the Qualified Person ("QP") responsible for the Tuvatu Mine exploration program.

For more information on Lion One including technical reports please visit the Company's website at www.liononemetals.com or the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

On behalf of Lion One Metals Ltd.

"Walter H. Berukoff"

Chief Executive Officer

For further information please contact

Stephen Mann, Managing Director (Perth, Australia) Tel: 604-973-3007

Hamish Greig, Vice President (North Vancouver, BC) Tel: 604-973-3008

Joe Gray, Investor Relations (North Vancouver, BC) Tel: 604-973-3004

Toll Free IR Line (North America) Tel: 1-855-805-1250

Email: info@liononemetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Generally, forward-looking information may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "proposed", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or by the use of words or phrases which state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, or might occur or be achieved. This forward-looking information reflects Lion One Metals Ltd.'s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Lion One Metals Ltd. and on assumptions Lion One Metals Ltd. believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the actual results of exploration projects being equivalent to or better than estimated results in technical reports, assessment reports, and other geological reports or prior exploration results. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Lion One Metals Ltd. or its subsidiaries to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the early stage development of Lion One Metals Ltd., general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current research and development or operational activities; competition; uncertainty as to patent applications and intellectual property rights; product liability and lack of insurance; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; changes in legislation, including environmental legislation, affecting mining, timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of technology; conclusions of economic evaluations; and lack of qualified, skilled labor or loss of key individuals. Although Lion One Metals Ltd. has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Lion One Metals Ltd. does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Lion One Metals Ltd.
Vancouver, BC (FSCwire) - Far Resources Ltd. (CSE:FAT) (FSE:F0R) (www.farresources.com) (Far Resources or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with the vendors (the Vendors) of the Zoro 1 mineral claim comprising the Companys Zoro lithium property near Snow Lake, Manitoba to accelerate the exercise of the Companys existing option to acquire a 100% interest in such claim (the Option) by issuing the Vendors a total of 6,000,000 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.10 per share (the Payment Shares) and a non-interest bearing promissory note for C$100,000 payable in 12 months. By accelerating the exercise of the option, the Company has reduced its overall option payments to the Vendors under the original option agreement dated April 28, 2016 by C$200,000. The Company has previously paid C$50,000 cash and issued 1,000,000 shares to the Vendors under the Option.

The 6,000,000 Payment Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day; 1,666,667 Payment Shares will be subject to an additional voluntary hold period expiring eight months after closing and an additional 1,666,667 Payment shares will be subject to a further voluntary hold period expiring 12 months after closing. In order to facilitate the acceleration of the Option, Keith Anderson, the President of the Company, has agreed to transfer 1,000,000 free-trading common shares of the Company to the Vendors in exchange for 1,000,000 restricted Payment Shares.

Keith Anderson commented, We are really pleased to have reached this agreement with the Zoro 1 Vendors. We are excited about the Lithium market in general and about our property in particular and by accelerating the option, we will all benefit as we keep this project moving forward.

Closing of the exercise of the Option is scheduled for May 9, 2017.

About the Company

Far Resources Ltd. is an exploration company, publicly traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol FAT, focused on the identification and development of high potential mineral opportunities in stable jurisdictions. Far Resources may acquire or option properties of merit to meet its ongoing goal to locate, advance and unlock the potential of these mineral opportunities. Far Resources has two option agreements in place. The Zoro Lithium Property covers a number of known lithium pegmatite occurrences and is located near Snow Lake, MB. Manitoba has been ranked as the worlds second best jurisdiction for mining investment by the Fraser Institute. The second option is on the Winston Property in New Mexico, USA, another historic mining property with potential for silver and gold; New Mexico is also listed by the Fraser Institute, ranking in the top 25 mining jurisdictions in the world. Please visit our updated website at www.farresources.com for full details on our current projects. Far Resources has optioned its wholly owned Tchentlo Lake Property in British Columbia, Canada to Alchemist Mining Inc.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

Far Resources Ltd.

Keith C. Anderson, President

604-805-5035

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect managements current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect managements current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell securities and the Company is not soliciting an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/farresources05082017.pdfSource: Far Resources Ltd. (CSE:FAT, FWB:F0R)

To follow Far Resources Ltd. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below.

Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com

Copyright  2017 Filing Services Canada Inc.
(in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted)

Dividend Increased for 10th Consecutive Year

TORONTO, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - "Franco-Nevada's diversified portfolio and business model continues to deliver with record Gold Equivalent Ounces and revenue being realized in the first quarter" commented David Harquail, CEO. "Recent acquisitions are performing well and we continue to benefit from increased activity on many of our properties. It is a testament to both the portfolio and our business model that Franco-Nevada has again declared a dividend increase. This marks Franco-Nevada's 10th consecutive year of dividend increases since it went public in late 2007. Franco-Nevada remains debt free with increasing cash balances and we continue to see investment opportunities across various commodities."

Q1/2017 Financial Highlights

131,578 Gold Equivalent Ounces 1 (GEOs) sold  a new record and a 23.4% increase year-over-year

(GEOs) sold  a new record and a 23.4% increase year-over-year $172.7 million in revenue  a new record and a 30.8% increase year-over-year

$128.5 million of Adjusted EBITDA 2 or $0.72 per share

or $0.72 per share $45.6 million of net income or $0.26 per share

$44.8 million of Adjusted Net Income 3 or $0.25 per share

or $0.25 per share $283.0 million in cash and cash equivalents at quarter-end and no debt

Revenue and GEOs by Asset Categories





Q1/2017

Q1/2016



GEOs

Revenue

GEOs

Revenue



#

(in millions)

#

(in millions) Precious Metals:





















Gold

100,540

$ 122.9

76,753

$ 91.5

Silver

19,746



24.4

22,627



26.8

PGMs

8,224



10.7

5,196



7.6 Precious Metals - Total

128,510

$ 158.0

104,576

$ 125.9 Other Minerals

3,068



3.8

2,045



2.5 Oil & Gas





10.9





3.6



131,578

$ 172.7

106,621

$ 132.0

For Q1/2017, revenue was sourced 91.5% from precious metals (71.2% gold, 14.1% silver and 6.2% PGM) and 81.0% from the Americas (13.9% U.S., 16.9% Canada and 50.2% Latin America). Operating costs and expenses increased year-over-year in-line with the increase in the number of GEOs sold during the quarter. Oil & gas revenue increased three-fold year-over-year, reflecting higher prices and lower capital expenses year-over-year on the Company's Canadian assets, as well as the addition of the STACK portfolio of royalties in Q4/2016. Cash provided by operating activities was $119.8 million, a decrease of 3.5% compared to Q1/2016, as increased gross profits were offset by changes in non-cash working capital.

Corporate Updates

Dividend Increase: Franco-Nevada is pleased to declare a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share. The dividend is a 4.5% increase from the previous $0.22 per share quarterly dividend and marks the tenth consecutive annual dividend increase for Franco-Nevada shareholders.

2017 Warrants: At the beginning of the year, Franco-Nevada had 6,510,280 common share purchase warrants outstanding. The warrants have an exercise price of C$75.00 per warrant and expire on June 16, 2017. Subsequent to March 31, 2017, Franco-Nevada received proceeds of C$157.6 million from the exercise of 2,100,718 common share purchase warrants. At May 9, 2017, there remains 4,407,675 warrants outstanding.

Credit Facilities: On March 22, 2017, Franco-Nevada extended the term of its existing $1 billion credit facility from November 12, 2020 to March 22, 2022. In addition, on March 20, 2017, Franco-Nevada's subsidiary, Franco-Nevada (Barbados) Corporation, entered into an unsecured revolving credit facility which provides for the availability of up to $100.0 million in borrowings.

Midland Oil & Gas Royalties: On March 13, 2017, Franco-Nevada agreed to purchase a portfolio of oil & gas royalties in the Midland shale play of the Permian Basin of Texas for $110.0 million. On March 14, 2017, Franco-Nevada advanced $11.0 million in an escrow account to be applied towards the purchase price upon closing. Closing is expected in Q2/2017 with revenue retroactive to Jan 1, 2017.

Q1/2017 Portfolio Updates

Precious Metals  U.S.: GEOs from U.S. precious metals assets increased by 37.9% year-over-year with increases at South Arturo and Stillwater more than offsetting the decrease from Goldstrike. 19,529 GEOs were received from the U.S. precious metal assets.

South Arturo (4-9% royalty)  This project, operated by Barrick and Premier Gold, represented an increase of 4,309 GEOs year-over-year. The partners are looking at a second open pit (Dee) on the property and are advancing permitting for the El Nino underground opportunity below the current pit. Goldstrike (2-4% royalty & 2.4-6% NPI)  Barrick is integrating the Cortez and Goldstrike mines in an effort to reduce all-in sustaining costs which would benefit the profit royalties. Stillwater (5% royalty)  Sibanye Gold successfully closed its acquisition of Stillwater Mining. The Stillwater project contributed an additional 2,004 GEOs compared to Q1/2016. Stillwater is planning low risk organic growth with the Blitz project, which it expects to add between 270,000 and 330,000 PGM ounces of incremental production per annum by 2021. Rosemont (1.5% royalty)  Hudbay released results of a feasibility study for the Rosemont project which outlined a 19 year mine life with annual copper production over the first 10 years of 127,000 tonnes. Hudbay expects the Record of Decision to be signed in June 2017. Franco-Nevada's 1.5% royalty covers all commodities.

Precious Metals  Canada: GEOs from Canadian precious metals assets increased by approximately 3.3% to 12,652 GEOs compared with Q1/2016.

Hemlo (3% royalty & 50% NPI)  Barrick filed a Technical Report for Hemlo outlining the life of mine plan and providing additional detail of the increased reserves previously announced. Macassa (various royalties)  Reserves of gold ounces at the Macassa mine increased by 37% from the last estimate at December 31, 2014 which includes two years of depletion. The reserve grade also increased by 7%. Detour (2% royalty)  Detour Gold provided an updated mine plan in response to near-term permitting constraints. The updated plan assumes a longer mine life and increased life of mine gold production compared to the previous mine plan. Brucejack (1.2% royalty)  Pretium Resources reports that it has stockpiled 187,000 tonnes of ore and has started introducing ore to the crusher. Timmins West (2.25% royalty)  Tahoe Resources expects to provide a maiden reserve estimate for the Gap 144 zone in Q3/2017.

Precious Metals  Latin America: GEOs from Latin American precious metals assets represented the largest year-over-year increase. 70,429 precious metal GEOs were earned from Latin America, an increase of 20.4% year-over-year due to higher deliveries from Antapaccay, Guadalupe and Candelaria.

Antapaccay (gold and silver stream)  Antapaccay delivered 15,019 GEOs in Q1/2017, an increase of 68% year-over-year due to only two months of deliveries in Q1/2016, when the stream transaction was closed. Antamina (22.5% silver stream)  13,130 GEOs from Antamina were sold during the quarter, a decrease compared to 17,781 GEOs in Q1/2016. The year-over-year decrease was expected, as 2016 was an exceptionally strong year of silver production for Antamina. Candelaria (gold and silver stream)  Candelaria earned 22,483 GEOs, compared to 18,626 GEOs in Q1/2016, as expected according to its mine plan. The Los Diques tailings facility construction is progressing on schedule and conceptual studies to increase production from five underground deposits to optimize life-of-mine plan are advancing. Guadalupe (50% gold stream)  The Guadalupe agreement, which became effective in Q3/2016, delivered 19,300 GEOs in Q1/2017, compared to 12,501 under the Palmarejo agreement in Q1/2016, due to higher production year-over-year and a reduction of inventory that had built up from the prior quarter. Under the Guadalupe agreement, Franco-Nevada pays an ongoing cost of $800 per gold ounce received versus the inflation adjusted cost of $400 per gold ounce under the prior Palmarejo agreement. Cerro Moro (2% royalty)  Yamana Gold reports that the project is on track for mechanical completion by year-end with startup of production expected early next year. Cobre Panama (gold and silver stream)  During the quarter, Franco-Nevada contributed $50.2 million of its share of construction capital for the Cobre Panama project with a total of $512.4 million of its $1 billion commitment contributed as of the end of Q1/2017. First Quantum reported that the project is over 50% complete as of the end of Q1/2017 and that the project remains scheduled for phased commissioning during 2018, with continued ramp-up over 2019. Franco-Nevada expects to contribute between $200-$220 million to the project in 2017.

Precious Metals  Rest of World: 25,900 GEOs from Rest of World precious metals assets were sold during the quarter, an increase of 31.8% year-over-year. This reflected the first full quarter of deliveries from Karma, as well as the sale of ounces which had been received in Q4/2016.

Subika (2% royalty)  Newmont formally announced plans to develop a new underground mine and expand plant capacity at its Ahafo operation in Ghana. Together, the two projects are forecast to add incremental gold production between 200,000 to 300,000 ounces per year during the first five years of production. The proposed underground mine is estimated to be mostly covered by Franco-Nevada's 2% royalty. Tasiast (2% royalty)  Kinross reports the Tasiast Phase 1 expansion remains on schedule for full production in Q2/2018. Kinross expects to provide a feasibility for a possible Phase 2 expansion in Q3/2017. This is expected to add an additional 18,000 tonnes per day for a total combined throughput capacity of 30,000 tonnes per day. Karma (fixed gold deliveries and stream)  5,000 GEOs were sold in the quarter of which 1,250 were received in Q4/2016. Sabodala (fixed gold deliveries and stream) 7,500 GEOs were sold in the quarter, of which 1,875 were received in Q4/2016. Teranga Gold won the PDAC award for Environmental & Social Responsibility for its work around the Sabodala mine. Edikan (1.5% royalty)  Perseus Mining released an updated mine plan in February envisioning a 6.5 year mine life. Agi Dagi (2% royalty)  Alamos Gold has tabled a positive feasibility report for the project projecting annual production of 177,600 ounces of gold over 5 years. A positive PEA was also completed for the neighbouring Camyurt project on which Franco-Nevada also holds a royalty.

Oil & Gas: Revenue from oil & gas assets increased to $10.9 million in Q1/2017 compared to $3.6 million in Q1/2016, reflecting higher prices and lower capital expenses year-over-year on the Company's Canadian assets, as well as the addition of the STACK portfolio of royalties in Q4/2016. The contribution from the new U.S. royalty assets is expected to become more significant after 2017.

Dividend Increase

Franco-Nevada is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share. The dividend is a 4.5% increase from the previous $0.22 per share quarterly dividend and marks the 10th consecutive annual dividend increase for Franco-Nevada shareholders. Canadian investors in Franco-Nevada's IPO in December 2007 are now receiving an effective 8.3% yield on their cost base. The dividend will be paid on June 29, 2017 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2017 (the "Record Date"). The Canadian dollar equivalent is to be determined based on the daily average rate posted by the Bank of Canada on the Record Date. Under Canadian tax legislation, Canadian resident individuals who receive "eligible dividends" are entitled to an enhanced gross-up and dividend tax credit on such dividends.

The Company has a Dividend Reinvestment Plan ("DRIP"). Participation in the DRIP is optional. The Company will issue additional common shares through treasury at a 3% discount to the Average Market Price, as defined in the DRIP. However, the Company may, from time to time, in its discretion, change or eliminate the discount applicable to treasury acquisitions or direct that such common shares be purchased in market acquisitions at the prevailing market price, any of which would be publicly announced. The DRIP and enrollment forms are available on the Company's website at www.franco-nevada.com. Registered shareholders may also enroll in the DRIP online through the plan agent's self-service web portal at www.investorcentre.com/franco-nevada. Beneficial shareholders should contact their financial intermediary to arrange enrollment.

This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer of securities. A registration statement relating to the DRIP has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and may be obtained under the Company's profile on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

Shareholder Information

The complete Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis can be found today on Franco?Nevada's website at www.franco-nevada.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Management will host a conference call tomorrow, Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to review Franco?Nevada's Q1/2017 results.

Interested investors are invited to participate as follows:

Via Conference Call: Toll-Free: (888) 231-8191; International: (647) 427-7450

Conference Call Replay until May 17 th : Toll-Free (855) 859-2056; Toronto (416) 849-0833; Pass code 8958319

: Toll-Free (855) 859-2056; Toronto (416) 849-0833; Pass code 8958319 Webcast: A live audio webcast will be accessible at www.franco-nevada.com

Corporate Summary

Franco-Nevada Corp. is the leading gold-focused royalty and stream company with the largest and most diversified portfolio of cash-flow producing assets. Its business model provides investors with gold price and exploration optionality while limiting exposure to many of the risks of operating companies. Franco-Nevada is debt free and uses its free cash flow to expand its portfolio and pay dividends. It trades under the symbol FNV on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Franco-Nevada is the gold investment that works.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward looking information" and "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, respectively, which may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future events or future performance, management's expectations regarding Franco-Nevada's growth, results of operations, estimated future revenues, carrying value of assets, future dividends and requirements for additional capital, mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, production estimates, production costs and revenue, future demand for and prices of commodities, expected mining sequences, business prospects and opportunities. In addition, statements (including data in tables) relating to reserves and resources and gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") are forward looking statements, as they involve implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, and no assurance can be given that the estimates and assumptions are accurate and that such reserves and resources and GEOs will be realized. Such forward looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "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 Franco-Nevada to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. A number of factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any forward looking statement, including, without limitation: fluctuations in the prices of the primary commodities that drive royalty and stream revenue (gold, platinum group metals, copper, nickel, uranium, silver, iron-ore and oil and gas); fluctuations in the value of the Canadian and Australian dollar, Mexican peso, and any other currency in which revenue is generated, relative to the U.S. dollar; changes in national and local government legislation, including permitting and licensing regimes and taxation policies and the enforcement thereof; regulatory, political or economic developments in any of the countries where properties in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest are located or through which they are held; risks related to the operators of the properties in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest, including changes in the ownership and control of such operators; influence of macroeconomic developments; business opportunities that become available to, or are pursued by Franco-Nevada; reduced access to debt and equity capital; litigation; title, permit or license disputes related to interests on any of the properties in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest; whether or not the Corporation is determined to have "passive foreign investment company" ("PFIC") status as defined in Section 1297 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; potential changes in Canadian tax treatment of offshore streams; excessive cost escalation as well as development, permitting, infrastructure, operating or technical difficulties on any of the properties in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest; actual mineral content may differ from the reserves and resources contained in technical reports; rate and timing of production differences from resource estimates, other technical reports and mine plans; risks and hazards associated with the business of development and mining on any of the properties in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest, including, but not limited to unusual or unexpected geological and metallurgical conditions, slope failures or cave-ins, flooding and other natural disasters, terrorism, civil unrest or an outbreak of contagious disease; and the integration of acquired assets. The forward looking statements contained in this press release are based upon assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including, without limitation: the ongoing operation of the properties in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest by the owners or operators of such properties in a manner consistent with past practice; the accuracy of public statements and disclosures made by the owners or operators of such underlying properties; no material adverse change in the market price of the commodities that underlie the asset portfolio; the Corporation's ongoing income and assets relating to determination of its PFIC status; no material changes to existing tax treatment; no adverse development in respect of any significant property in which Franco-Nevada holds a royalty, stream or other interest; the accuracy of publicly disclosed expectations for the development of underlying properties that are not yet in production; integration of acquired assets; and the absence of any other factors that could cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. However, 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. Investors are cautioned that forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Franco-Nevada cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward looking statements and investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. For additional information with respect to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, please refer to the "Risk Factors" section of Franco-Nevada's most recent Annual Information Form filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on www.sedar.com and Franco-Nevada's most recent Annual Report filed on Form 40-F filed with the SEC on www.sec.gov. The forward looking statements herein are made as of the date of this press release only and Franco-Nevada does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

NON-IFRS MEASURES: Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA are intended to provide additional information only and do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flow from operations as determined under IFRS. Other companies may calculate these measures differently. For a reconciliation of these measures to various IFRS measures, please see below or the Company's current MD&A disclosure found on the Company's website, on SEDAR and on EDGAR. Comparative information has been recalculated to conform to current presentation.

GEOs include our gold, silver, platinum, palladium and other mineral assets. GEOs are estimated on a gross basis for NSR royalties and, in the case of stream ounces, before the payment of the per ounce contractual price paid by the Company. For NPI royalties, GEOs are calculated taking into account the NPI economics. Platinum, palladium, silver and other minerals are converted to GEOs by dividing associated revenue, which includes settlement adjustments, by the relevant gold price. The gold price used in the computation of GEOs earned from a particular asset varies depending on the royalty or stream agreement, which may make reference to the market price realized by the operator, or the average for the month, quarter, or year in which the mineral was produced or sold. For Q1/2017, the average commodity prices were as follows: $1,219 gold (Q1/2016 - $1,181), $17.42 silver (Q1/2016 - $14.83), $981 platinum (Q1/2016 - $914) and $767 palladium (Q1/2016 - $524).



Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA per share are non-IFRS financial measures, which exclude the following from net income and EPS: income tax expense/recovery; finance expenses; finance income; depletion and depreciation; non-cash costs of sales; impairment charges related to royalty, stream and working interests and investments; gains/losses on sale of royalty interests; gains/losses on investments; and foreign exchange gains/losses and other income/expenses.



Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income per share are non-IFRS financial measures, which exclude the following from net income and earnings per share ("EPS"): foreign exchange gains/losses and other income/expenses; impairment charges related to royalty, stream and working interests and investments; gains/losses on sale of royalty interests; gains/losses on investments; unusual non-recurring items; and the impact of income taxes on these items.

Reconciliations to IFRS measures



















For the three months ended March 31, (expressed in millions, except per share amounts)

2017

2016 Net Income

$ 45.6

$ 30.0

Income tax expense



10.4



8.1

Finance expenses



0.8



1.3

Finance income



(0.9)



(1.1)

Depletion and depreciation



71.5



65.5

Non-cash costs of sales



1.8



1.8

Gain on investments







(1.5)

Foreign exchange (gains)/losses and other (income)/expenses



(0.7)



0.3 Adjusted EBITDA

$ 128.5

$ 104.4 Basic weighted average shares outstanding



178.5



166.7 Adjusted EBITDA per share

$ 0.72

$ 0.63



















For the three months ended

March 31, (expressed in millions, except per share amounts)

2017

2016 Net Income

$ 45.6

$ 30.0

Foreign exchange (gains)/losses and other (income)/expenses



(0.7)



0.2

Gain on investments







(1.5)

Tax effect of adjustments



(0.1)



(0.7) Adjusted Net Income

$ 44.8

$ 28.0 Basic weighted average shares outstanding



178.5



166.7 Adjusted Net Income per share

$ 0.25

$ 0.17

FRANCO-NEVADA CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

(unaudited, in millions of U.S. dollars)



















At March 31,

At December 31,



2017

2016 ASSETS











Cash and cash equivalents (Note 4)

$ 283.0

$ 253.0 Receivables



69.1



71.1 Prepaid expenses and other (Note 6)



36.0



37.1

Current assets



388.1



361.2













Royalty, stream and working interests, net (Note 3)



3,665.4



3,668.3 Investments (Note 5)



150.6



147.4 Deferred income tax assets



21.9



21.3 Other assets (Note 7)



21.8



23.4

Total assets

$ 4,247.8

$ 4,221.6













LIABILITIES











Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

$ 16.8

$ 21.0 Current income tax liabilities



15.1



16.6

Current liabilities



31.9



37.6













Deferred income tax liabilities



41.0



37.5

Total liabilities



72.9



75.1













SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (Note 14)











Common shares



4,675.6



4,666.2 Contributed surplus



43.2



41.6 Deficit



(330.6)



(336.8) Accumulated other comprehensive loss



(213.3)



(224.5)

Total shareholders' equity



4,174.9



4,146.5

Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

$ 4,247.8

$ 4,221.6



























Subsequent events (Note 17)













The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated interim financial statements and can be found in our Q1/2017 Report available on our website

FRANCO-NEVADA CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(unaudited, in millions of U.S. dollars, except per share amounts)















For the three months ended

March 31,



2017

2016 Revenue (Note 10)

$ 172.7

$ 132.0













Cost of sales













Costs of sales (Note 11)



39.9



24.4

Depletion and depreciation



71.5



65.5 Total cost of sales



111.4



89.9 Gross profit



61.3



42.1













Other operating expenses (income)













Corporate administration



5.3



5.4

Business development



0.8



0.3

(Gain) on sale of gold bullion (Note 16)







(0.6) Total other operating expenses



6.1



5.1 Operating income (Note 16)



55.2



37.0

Foreign exchange gain (loss) and other income (expenses) (Note 16)



0.7



(0.2)

Realized gain on investments







1.5 Income before finance items and income taxes



55.9



38.3













Finance items













Finance income



0.9



1.1

Finance expenses (Note 9)



(0.8)



(1.3) Net income before income taxes



56.0



38.1













Income tax expense (Note 13)



10.4



8.1 Net income

$ 45.6

$ 30.0













Other comprehensive income (loss):











Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit and loss:



























Unrealized gain (loss) in the market value of available-for-sale investments, net of income tax expense of $0.2 (2016 - income tax expense of $0.2) (Note 5)



1.5



15.8

Realized change in market value of available-for-sale investments (Note 5)







(1.5)

Currency translation adjustment



9.7



49.5

Other comprehensive income



11.2



63.8













Total comprehensive income

$ 56.8

$ 93.8 Basic earnings per share (Note 15)

$ 0.26

$ 0.18 Diluted earnings per share (Note 15)

$ 0.25

$ 0.18

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated interim financial statements and can be found in our Q1/2017 Report available on our website

FRANCO-NEVADA CORPORATION

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(unaudited, in millions of U.S. dollars)



















For the three months ended

March 31,



2017

2016 Cash flows from operating activities











Net income

$ 45.6

$ 30.0 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:













Depletion and depreciation



71.5



65.5

Non-cash costs of sales



1.8



1.8

Share-based payments



1.5



1.3

Unrealized foreign exchange (gain) loss



(0.4)



0.2

Gain on investments







(1.5)

Deferred income tax expense



2.6



2.6

Other non-cash items



(0.4)



(0.5)

Acquisition of gold bullion (Note 16)



(5.9)



(15.8) Proceeds from sale of gold bullion (Note 16)



3.1



24.9 Operating cash flows before changes in non-cash working capital



119.4



108.5

Changes in non-cash working capital:















Decrease in receivables



2.0



15.2



Decrease in prepaid expenses and other



4.1



1.2



Decrease in current liabilities



(5.7)



(0.9) Net cash provided by operating activities (Note 16)



119.8



124.0













Cash flows from investing activities













Acquisition of royalty, stream and working interests



(61.5)



(516.1)

Acquisition of oil & gas well equipment



(0.4)



(0.7)

Proceeds from sale of investments







10.6

Acquisition of investments







(0.7) Net cash used in investing activities (Note 16)



(61.9)



(506.9)













Cash flows from financing activities













Net proceeds from issuance of common shares







883.5

Repayment of Credit Facility







(460.0)

Credit facility amendment costs



(1.0)





Payment of dividends



(30.1)



(28.3)

Proceeds from exercise of stock options and warrants



0.1



10.2 Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities



(31.0)



405.4 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents



3.1



4.6 Net change in cash and cash equivalents



30.0



27.1 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period



253.0



149.2 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

$ 283.0

$ 176.3













Supplemental cash flow information:











Cash paid for interest expense and loan standby fees

$ 0.6

$ 1.2 Income taxes paid

$ 10.1

$ 5.5

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated interim financial statements and can be found in our Q1/2017 Report available on our website

SOURCE Franco-Nevada Corp.
The discontinued Buick Verano lost three-quarters of its April volume in the fourth month of 2017, a year-over-year drop of 848 sales for the car that was Buicks best-selling model.

Canada Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model  April 2017 YTD

That 75% drop was enough for the Verano to be Canadas worst-selling volume vehicle in April 2017.

Also discontinued were the second-ranked Toyota Venza and the fifth-ranked Jeep Patriot.

GCBC has also compiled lists of the 20 most rapidly declining vehicles regardless of volume and the 20 lowest-volume vehicles full stop. Canadians for example, purchased and leased only 11 Kia Cadenzas in April 2017.

You can always select a make and model at GCBCs Sales Stats page to find historical monthly and yearly sales figures from both Canada and the United States. Pertinent links are clickable at the bottom of this post, but you can also find related links at the Best Sellers page. Mobile users can now thumb across the tables for full-width access.

March 2017  April 2016
KATHMANDU, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Nepal will intensify its cooperation with China within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, officials said on Monday.

Proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to 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 along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.

The Nepalese government decided at a Cabinet meeting on Monday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China to ensure the country's participation in the initiative, Commerce Minister Romi Gauchan Thakali told Xinhua.

Nepal's decision to join the Belt and Road Initiative came following rounds of negotiations for months between the two countries on jointly promoting the initiative, officials said.

"We believe that Nepal's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative will create a win-win situation for both countries in the fields of cross-border road, air and railway connectivity, investment, trade, business, commerce as well as establishing cross-border economic zones," a senior official at the Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Xinhua on Monday.
Admiral Harry Harris (file photo)

China on Monday denied urging the US to fire its Pacific Command chief, Admiral Harry Harris, in return for pressure on North Korea, calling it "pure rumor and no need to refute."

Japan's Kyodo News reported on Saturday that China urged the US to sack the head of its Pacific Command in return for exerting more pressure on North Korea amid concerns over its growing nuclear and missile threats, citing a source close to China-US ties.

The report quoted the source as saying China requested through its ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, to dismiss Harris, known as a hardliner on China. It was reported that US President Donald Trump rejected the offer.

Japan's Kyodo News reported on Saturday that China urged the US to sack the head of its Pacific Command (file photo)

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told the Global Times at Monday's regular press conference that "Kyodo News is a large media organization which usually values its reputation. However, as far as that report is concerned, I have no idea whether they were too naive to believe that it is possible for China and the US to discuss US military personnel issues on diplomatic occasions, or the agency rushed to attract public attention by spreading rumors to win readership," Geng said.

Admiral Harris is the first ranking Japanese-American to be promoted to the rank of admiral by the previous Obama administration.
Washington, D.C., will be the next major city to implement a $15 minimum wage rate following a unanimous vote Tuesday by its city council.In a victory for local and national labor unions, Washington joins the ranks of cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle in raising wages for primarily lower-income workers in restaurants, retail and other service industries.The District's current hourly minimum wage is $10.50, and it was scheduled to go up to $11.50 next month under a law enacted in 2014.
Among all the state public assistance programs, subsidized child care is widely seen as one of the most work-oriented. Parents can work, look for work or take work-related training while their children get safe supervision in a licensed facility. Because of this, the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant tends to garner more bipartisan support than many other safety-net programs.Yet in the past few years, a handful of states have cut back on child care spending, forgoing millions in federal matching grants. The economic downturn affected demand as well as states' ability to find the money to take advantage of the program. But now some of these states are looking to beef up their child care budgets so that they can trigger the federal match again.Its not a widespread issue, but for these states, its been an ongoing issue, says Hannah Matthews, an analyst with the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), a research and advocacy group in Washington, D.C. Last year, Matthews co-wrote a paper for CLASP that found state and federal spending on child care assistance was at a 12-year low and the number of children receiving government-subsidized child care services was its lowest point since 1998.In the 2015 fiscal year -- the most recent year for which data are available -- three states missed out on federal matching grants for a total of $33.9 million. Most of that total came from Michigan, which let $22.8 million go back to the federal government. At some point in the past three years, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Rhode Island and Utah have also fallen short of spending thresholds to make use of federal grants.In the states that have cut back on child care spending, officials contend that fewer people were applying for the benefits, suggesting that demand wasn't as great. But Annie McKay, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children, a nonprofit child advocacy group, says what's really happening is the diminished resources have discouraged families from applying. "We know theres roughly 200,000 kids [in Kansas] eligible and were serving less than 5 percent," McKay says. "Its not as though the need has been taken care of. Were just not meeting it."Child care advocacy groups say that states hurt both providers and families when they fail to trigger the federal match. With less government spending by both the state and the feds, the amount of the subsidy per family often decreases. When parents can't afford to cover the difference in cost, providers can turn away children in the program. Lower subsidies also mean fewer child care providers. Between 2006 and 2015, the number of providers dropped 52 percent. They argue that they can't stay in businessaccept subsidies that are so far below market-rate prices.During and after the last economic recession, Idaho spent less on child care because demand for services had declined, says Lori Wolff, the welfare division administrator in Idaho. As more people lost their jobs, they didnt need someone else to watch their children. But now that the employment rate is rising, demand for child care is also on an upswing. Last year, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter committed to a three-year plan to invest more money in the state child care program. The increase still won't fully tap the available federal dollars, Wolff says, but it'll be more than it has been since the recession.Some other states may follow Idahos example in the coming year. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is calling for an increase of $34 million in state child care spending for the rest of 2017 and 2018, which should bring in additional federal matching dollars. His proposal is still being considered in the legislature, but versions of it have already passed both the House and Senate appropriations committees, suggesting that some kind of increase in spending is on the horizon.Maine also considered legislation this year that would hike reimbursement rates for providers, resulting in $6.5 million more in annual state spending and an increase in federal matching dollars. Despite bipartisan backing for the bill, Maine Gov. Paul LePage opposed it, and the measure failed to get out of committee. In a hearing last month, a LePage official criticized the cost of raising reimbursement rates and called the proposed regulation "draconian."
More than half the low-income people who qualified for Indianas alternative Medicaid program failed to make a monthly payment required for the top tier of service  a key feature of the program Vice President Mike Pence insisted on as a condition to expanding the health care program when he was Indianas governor.That's according to a new evaluation of the Healthy Indiana Plan, a program designed by Indiana health care consultant Seema Verma, who  as the new administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services  can now grant other states permission to impose similar monthly fees.Opponents say the department of Health and Human Services should not allow other states to do this, because this study and other research has shown requiring poor people to pay is a barrier to care.House Republicans passed a bill to repeal and replace the Obama-era Affordable Care Act this past week, but its future remains uncertain. If progress on a health care plan stagnates, the Trump administration will focus even more on trying to make changes through state waivers  and Verma, along with HHS Secretary Tom Price, already have told states they want to be as permissive as possible.Yet critics of Indianas program said the new evaluation shows Indianas complicated program doesnt work well and shouldnt be used as a model for other states. Its time to really step back and think about this as an experiment and whether its successful, said Judy Solomon, vice president for health policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Balking at what he called a "blank check," Gov. Chris Christie on Monday conditionally vetoed a bill that would have given police and firefighters control over the future of their $26 billion pension fund.He said he would only allow it if lawmakers enact a series of revisions -- including one to cap sick time payouts that can send workers into retirement with six-figure "golden parachutes."Those provisions prompted police and firefighter unions to accuse Christie of trying to kill the legislation.The bill passed with strong bipartisan support over the objections of some who warned spinning off management of the pension fund but not the liabilities put taxpayers at risk.According to the message accompanying the conditional veto, Christie shared those concerns, saying his proposed changes would shield taxpayers from picking up the tab if the fund goes south.
Beijing Automotive Works (file photo)

SPRINGS, South Africa, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Beijing Automotive Works (BAW), in partnership with the South African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), on Monday launched a joint venture to expand the production of minibus taxis.

The two sides will invest 250 million rand (19 million U.S. dollars) in the expansion and upgrade of the New Era Assembly Facility in Springs, Gauteng Province.

The facility currently assembles semi knock-down kits of the popular BAW Sasuka taxi for the South and Southern African market. The investment and subsequent expansion of the facility will see it change to a full assembly facility of complete knock-down kits (CKD) of the Sasuka and widen its export reach to more countries in Africa.

Preparations for the new facility have already started and it is expected to be completed by March 2018, when the first South African produced Sasuka taxis will roll off the production line, said Zhang Wei, CEO of BAW South Africa.

He said the investment creates fertile soil for the further localization of parts and components, which can be sourced from South Africa's well established component manufacturers.

BAW South Africa is also investigating the option of exporting certain parts and completed components to other BAW manufacturing facilities, including BAW China, according to Zhang.

Apart from a general upgrade of the plant and facilities, the investment will enable the construction of a new body assembly plant, paint plant, trim plant, a larger component warehouse to support full production, and a brand-new parts and accessory warehouse, said Zhang.

He said the expansion is expected to add an additional 100 permanent jobs, in positions ranging from production to quality assurance, logistics, after sales, marketing, management, and supervision.

The design and construction of the facilities will be done by South African companies, all of whom are in the final tender phase. These include AG Consulting SA and MCB Consulting Engineers. Equipment will be sourced from Chinese plant manufacturers and from BAW in China, according to Zhang.

IDC CEO Geoffrey Qhena lauded the project as proof of successful cooperation between the IDC and BAW.

Qhena said Sasuka taxis made by BAW will make it more convenient for South African commuters and contribute to the development of the local economy.

The BAW New Era assembly facility was established in 2012 with an initial investment of 196 million rand (15 million dollars). The facility produces the BAW Sasuka, a government-approved 16-seater taxi that is renowned for its high specification level.
Amid widespread speculation that Seattle Mayor Ed Murray may end his campaign for re-election Tuesday, state Sen. Bob Hasegawa on Monday announced a bid.And the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission revealed that Murray supporters want to set up a legal-defense fund as the mayor battles a child sexual-abuse lawsuit.The flurry of news in the city's once-sleepy race came a month after Murray was sued and a week before the period during which candidates must officially file.No one in the mayor's inner circle was willing to go on the record Monday to say Murray intends to leave the race.But there were rumors he would do just that, despite strenuously denying the allegations by the Kent man suing him and by other men.Hasegawa, a Seattle Democrat, said he's been planning to run regardless of Murray's presence in the race. But announcing Monday gives him a head-start on others who may jump in if the mayor drops out.The 64-year-old said he would kick off his bid Tuesday with a news conference on the steps of the downtown Wells Fargo Center "to highlight the need for a municipal bank as the linchpin for his economic justice agenda."A former Teamsters Local 174 leader, who lives today in the Beacon Hill neighborhood where he grew up, Hasegawa has served in the the Legislature since 2005, first in the House of Representatives and more recently in the Senate.He was a Bernie Sanders delegate to last year's Democratic National Conventionand in Olympia has advocated for a state income tax and a state-run bank.In 2013, he voted against billions of dollars in Boeing tax breaks, when the company was threatening to build its new 777X plant elsewhere.Hasegawa is barred from raising money for his mayoral campaign as long as the Legislature is in session, and that could remain the case through August's primary election, he said."I see it as more an opportunity than a challenge because this campaign is about rebuilding political power for the people," he said.The ethics commission has scheduled a special meeting for May 16 to discuss the Murray defense fund. The mayor's supporters have asked for an advisory opinion.Paul Lawrence, an attorney with the Pacifica Law Group, made the request in a letter on May 1, saying an "effective defense" for Murray could cost $1 million or more."We represent the Ed Murray Legal Defense Fund, an independent trust being created to help defray the legal expenses that the mayor of Seattle, Edward B. Murray, must incur to defend himself in an ongoing civil lawsuit," the letter says."The allegations in the suit are controversial and, especially given its timing, the suit is politically charged. The mayor, a lifelong public servant, does not have the personal resources needed to fund his own legal defense."The letter adds, "In these circumstances, concerned citizens should be allowed to raise or contribute funds to help defray legal expenses for a public official under attack, provided that adequate steps are taken to avoid any ethical conflicts."It asks the commission for a written opinion that its proposed activities would comply with city law. The letter says Washington state and Seattle have not enacted laws specific to legal-defense funds in support of public officials.It says the trustee overseeing the fund will be Martha Choe Murray was an aide to Choe when she was a member of the City Council in the 1990s."If the fund is run independently from the city official, there is no opportunity for a misuse of public office for personal gain," the letter said."And if contributions to the fund are anonymous, there can be no improper attempt to obtain special consideration or influence."Ending his campaign could make the handling of Murray's legal-defense less complicated and improve the chances of the ethics commission clearing the fund.Contributors to the fund would be required to sign confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, according to the letter.The mayor, who owns a house on Capitol Hill, recently estimated his own net worth at $1.8 million in a personal financial affairs statement filed with the ethics commission, the Seattle City Council Insight blog reported.A 46-year-old Kent man, Delvonn Heckard, sued the mayor last month, alleging that Murray sexually abused him when he was a teenager in the 1980s.Two other men have made similar claims separate from the lawsuit, and a fourth man last week signed a declaration in Heckard's suit saying that Murray had paid him for sex.Other prominent candidates for mayor include artist and educator Nikkita Oliver, who entered the race before Murray was sued, as well as former Mayor Mike McGinn and urban planner Cary Moon, who announced after Heckard filed.Libertarian Casey Carlisle and Safe Seattle activist Harley Lever also are running.___(c)2017 The Seattle Times
Mayor Ed Murray ended his campaign for re-election Tuesday  bowing out of a race that weeks ago he had been expected to win easily, shutting the door on a second term in Seattles highest office and aborting a political career thats spanned decades.Murrays decision comes a month after he was sued for alleged child sexual abuse dating to the 1980s and less than a week before the official candidate-filing period begins.It tears me to pieces to step away, Murray said in an emotion-filled statement at the Alki Beach Bathhouse in the West Seattle neighborhood where he spent part of his youth.With supporters standing behind him and frequently interrupted by their applause, Murray recalled his childhood, how he grew to love politics, and his role  as a gay man and politician  in the evolution of gay culture and civil rights.
On Monday, in the morning, at Brisbane School of Distance Education, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey met staff and students and toured facilities.

In the afternoon, at Government House, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey hosted an afternoon tea in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, attended by survivor of the USS Lexington CV2, Mr Cecil Wiswell, where His Excellency addressed guests.
1. Solve the right problems

2. Start small

3. Talk to the right people

SANTA CLARA, Calif.  There arent a lot of people in the world who are accustomed to building and implementing technology for the government.But on May 5, a group of people who do have experience in that area gathered in Santa Clara, Calif., at TiECon 2017 to talk about what it takes to sell technology to the public sector. The people involved ranged from investors to public IT officials, but they agreed on several pieces of advice for companies trying to break into gov tech.Ron Bouganim, founder and managing partner of the Govtech Fund, is not just looking for any company to include in his portfolio. The fund is early-stage and emphasizes high-growth startups that have already signed multiple clients.Still, one of Bouganims main criteria for evaluating potential investments hits at advice others echoed at the conference for companies that want to work with government: Look for smoke.They have to have built a product that solves an absolute hair-on-fire, burning pain point, Bouganim said.In some ways, government is a natural fit for that mentality. The public sectors long-standing norms for buying technology have left many agencies operating on old systems that hamper employees ability to work quickly and thoroughly. Under the right circumstances, that can lead to some crispy scalps.Many successful gov tech companies have found ways to help government work better under those conditions  SeamlessDocs takes paper forms and creates digital versions citizens can fill out and sign without coming into an office. NIC offers government ways to accept payments from citizens and businesses online. ClearGov digs up open data and builds portals for small government entities that might not otherwise have the time or resources to do so.But solving the right problem isnt just about searching for urgent needs, according to Illinois CIO Hardik Bhatt. Gov tech companies also need to search for problems that affect citizens, as opposed to agencies.Agencies and departments have their fair share of problems to solve. But ultimately, Bhatt said, their mission is to serve constituents. And to a constituent, it doesnt matter which particular acronym is solving their problem.You have a tendency of thinking that Im doing something  extremely different for my agency compared with another agency, but at the end of the day we forget that we are all providing solutions to that one citizen thats going to multiple agencies, Bhatt said. So if your solution is geared toward solving the citizens problem, I think that would appeal to us very quickly compared with solving an agency problem.While searching for critical problems, speakers at the conference also recommended beginning with narrower solutions. A lot of startups begin with big ambitions, but when it comes to government, Viscount Systems Chief Executive Officer Scott Sieracki said, its often better to start small.Sometimes when youre not that big a company, youre not that overly resourced and capitalized a company, you need to step back a little bit and find another way to get started, Sieracki said. It doesnt mean you cant ultimately participate in that grandiose rocket ship opportunity. But if you take a practical approach and you find a piece of that business, that gives you initial momentum. Its a starting point, and typically that momentum will carry you into a much larger opportunity and a much larger ecosystem.Thats at odds with the traditional way government has approached technology  putting out multi-year requests for proposals encompassing huge systems and all but eliminating smaller companies from the competition  but many at the conference said government is beginning to change its approach. At the federal, state and local levels, government officials are beginning to work in more agile ways that allow for smaller, more iterative projects and short development sprints.Many are also beginning to use pilot projects  some paid, some not  as ways to get a foot in the door. John Bergin, the business technology officer for the U.S. Department of Defenses CIO, said he often prefers the pilot approach because it gives him a concrete demonstration that a product or service can make an impact.If you come to the door and say, John, I can change your firewall rule settings and reduce the amount of labor youre doing to manage your firewall rule setting this many per firewall, why go back and do the math and say, Wow theres a return on investment in lets call it two months? Thats worth a pilot, Bergin said. I can get that done, we can get that done, but you have to come with numbers.Those numbers are especially important in the public sector because it shows government officials concrete evidence that what theyre buying will work, according to Andrew McMahon, director of strategic partnerships for the tech accelerator Dcode42.Jot down that successful moment when the agency showed dollar savings or outcomes and show that time and again because that really resonates with buyers in the government space, he said.Its also vital, Bhatt said, to find the right people to talk to when building something for government to use.When youre talking with the government, make sure that youre talking to the right person in the government that has decision-making authority and the money associated with that, Bhatt said.Thats somewhat vague advice, but theres a reason for that. At the state and local levels, there can be quite a bit of variance in which people have authority over what. In some places, for example, the chief information officer has procurement power. In others, only dedicated procurement officials can handle the buying.In particular, Bhatt recommended looking for people who can say whether there would be funding available for the government to buy a solution. Its entirely possible, he said, for a startup to work for a year building a product, only to find out that the government has no money to purchase it.Ann Dunkin, Santa Clara Countys chief information officer, had some more specific advice. She said vendors should work with people on technical teams. Those people, she said, tend to influence what kinds of vendors a government searches for.Everybody wants to talk to the CIO. But let me explain to you that in the federal government, the state government, the local government, CIOs are not decision-makers in the same way as they are in the private sector, Dunkin said. Im not saying I dont make decisions, but I very rarely get to decide which vendor we go with.
(TNS) -- That buzzing you hear from the ditch may soon not only be the beating wings of flitting mosquitoes but the propellers of a large, flying mosquito killer.In Ascension Parish, officials are close to buying a new aerial drone able to fly, hover and spray up to 20 pounds of chemicals at a time in hard-to-reach areas where mosquitoes breed.And in Lafayette Parish, a private mosquito control company is using drones to scout for breeding sites.David Matassa, Ascension's director of mosquito control and brother of Parish President Kenny Matassa, said the drone can spray with a precision that would allow parish workers to save on cost and limit environmental impact compared with more broadly applied aerial methods. The drone, for instance, could be used to spray a ditch along a heavily traveled road with no shoulder that's traditionally been unsafe and hard to spray."This is the state of the art. This is the turning corner of mosquito control as far as programs in the country going toward this type of technology," David Matassa said.While a parish worker is still in training and working on licensing requirements with the Federal Aviation Administration, Matassa said, the drone, which will cost $5,000 to $8,000, could be flying parish skies in time for the peak mosquito season.The remotely operated drone won't replace the trucks and planes that already spray periodically through the parish and which kill the adult mosquitoes.The drone, which can spray 80 acres in a days work, will be used to kill larvae growing in standing water, taking out the next generation of mosquitoes before they take flight.Thats actually one of the most important things you can do to control the population of mosquitoes, is larvicide, he said.Technology pioneered by the U.S. military to observe the battlefield and, later, to kill militants, remotely controlled aerial drones are being envisioned in a growing number of civilian applications, from Amazons promises to revolutionize delivery with its Octocopter to experiments to use drones to monitor Gulf Coast hurricanes.In the Gulf South, mosquito control remains a public health concern as the flying blood-suckers pose a disease risk to the population, including West Nile and Zika virus The drone that Ascension Parish is looking at buying  a circular, tail-less craft with eight mini-props and a tank on the bottom  had its origins in remote-control helicopters developed to spray terraced rice paddies in the hillsides of Japan, China and southeast Asia where it is difficult to bring in land-based spray equipment.Logan Noess, one of the owners of Maverick Drone Systems of Savage in Minnesota, said those early craft, developed about 15 years ago, cost around $100,000. The latest version costs 10 percent of those early craft. The cheaper variety has drawn the interest of local governments, including Ascension Parish, he said.Noess, whose company is a U.S. dealer for the Chinese-built craft, a DJI Agras MG-1, said his company recently conducted a series of demonstrations in eight to 10 Louisiana parishes following a national conference of mosquito control officials.We were just spraying water out in fields, and from everything we have seen, it should work great, he said.Matassa, who went to that conference and witnessed a demonstration, speculated that Ascension may be the first in the state to use a drone for aerial spraying but likely wont be the only one for long. He said he has spoken with other program directors, and many are eyeing drones for similar uses.I guarantee you within a few years, most all (mosquito control) programs will have them, Matassa said.Matassa said the drone can fly a few hundred feet high and 8,000 feet over land in a few minutes. While the drone could be outfitted with cameras, parish officials plan to focus on the spray technology, he said.The contractor who handles mosquito control for Lafayettes City-Parish government already uses smaller, cheaper drones but for a different application.Glenn Stokes, owner of Mosquito Control Contractors Inc., said he uses a few $1,500 drones outfitted with surveillance cameras to look for hard-to-access breeding sites, including the parishs more than 1,000 residential and commercial detention and retention ponds, but he does not yet use drones for spraying.Because of the expense, that would require a change in the City-Parish contract, he said.The drones have a great potential, and I think you know they will be more and more in use, and at some point in time, thats going to be in the future, they could actually replace inspectors, Stokes said.The use of camera-outfitted drones by businesses, law enforcement and even Stokes operation has generated privacy concerns, however. Stokes said his company only looks into the yards of homes that are abandoned or for which the company has received permission, though he said a major public health scare could result in broad surveys of breeding locations.Its a delicate line, Stokes said of the use drones and privacy rights.
(TNS) -- Singularity University, a Silicon Valley think tank and business incubator, announced Monday it is sponsoring a Smart City Accelerator in Columbus.The accelerator would be the first program of its kind and is in response to Columbus winning the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City Challenge.The accelerator will help the businesses involved in the program by providing access to Singularity University faculty, and by identifying mentors from large companies and startups who will provide expertise on industry and technology.Other sponsors will facilitate web services, legal support, financial services and tax planning for the chosen businesses.After Columbus won the Smart City Challenge, Singularity University wanted to be part of the local entrepreneurial environment, said Nick Davis, Singularity University vice president of corporate innovation, in a statement. The Smart City Accelerator "will drive the next wave of innovation," with the ultimate goal of creating better functioning cities that transform how residents and communities work and live.Last June, Columbus bested six other finalists in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City competition to receive $50 million in grants from the federal government and Vulcan Inc. to develop the city into the nation's proving ground for intelligent transportation systems. The city also lined up about $90 million in local matching commitments, including $19 million in public money, giving Columbus a total of $140 million to upgrade its transportation network.Singularity's Smart Cities Accelerator will choose 10 businesses focused on such things as mobility; connectivity; data and analytics; infrastructure and energy; and manufacturing and production.Each selected business will be eligible to receive up to $100,000 in funding from Columbus-based venture capital firm NCT Ventures."The (Singularity) Smart City Accelerator will attract innovators from around the world and amplify the successes Columbus already has achieved in becoming recognized as a global center of technology and innovation," said Mayor Andrew J. Ginther in a statement. "I view the ... Smart Cities Accelerator as a mutually supportive partner and participant of Smart Columbus, and I look forward to working with Singularity University on this transformative initiative."The program will be a "world-class accelerator," said Alex Fischer, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership, which represents the region's business leadership and is leading the Smart Columbus effort alongside the city of Columbus. By giving the entrepreneurs who participate in the program "full access to our community as a living laboratory ... we can learn together what business models and technologies are going to make our cities better in the future for all people," Fischer said.Singularity University was co-founded in 2008 by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil and Peter H. Diamandis, the entrepreneur best known for being the founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, the non-profit that encourage technological development to benefit mankind.The benefits of the Smart City Accelerator program are expected to be so strong that American Electric Power is already planning to send a team through it, said AEP CEO Nick Akins."Bringing the Singularity University Smart City Accelerator to Columbus is a catalyst for innovation and technology in Columbus," Akins said in a statement. "The vision of Smart Columbus is for this community to be a center of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the Smart City Accelerator represents a significant step toward the realization of that vision."
(TNS)  Debbie Love purchased flood insurance for 15 years. It wasnt until two years ago, when she was told her home was out of the flood zone, that she dropped it.They redrew the flood line plain," she said. "Only one corner of my lot that was in the flood plain. That just had a tree on it."Love, who lives about 200 feet from Hickory Creek, was at work when she heard about the flooding. One of her co-workers showed her a video of Riverside Drive, the road her house is on, flooding.When we got to the house, everything was just saturated, Love said.She and her family spent the next few days dragging everything that rested in the bottom foot and a half of her house to the curb.We were able to salvage anything that was stored from about the knee up, she said.After the water level receded, there was still standing water in her house. It was muddy, and it smelled like fish, Love said.Loves home was one of about 150 in Neosho that were affected by what Mayor Ben Baker calls the Neosho tsunami." In all of Newton County, about 260 homes were affected by the flooding at the end of April, according to Rebecca Williams, creator of the Neosho Recovery Info website.Now, there are couches, pieces of drywall, mattresses, desks and more piled high along the curb outside her home.Emergency personnel made it around to all the affected areas after the water receded and advised residents about what they could and could not save.Love said the plan is to spray the house with fungicide, and mold and mildew retardant. After that, well pretty much rebuild everything, she said.Love said she was grateful for all the offers of assistance she has received and for the support the city and county have provided.Its comforting in a disaster to know that people care, she said.One avenue of support for people who were affected by the flood was the Multi-Agency Resource Center, which opened Monday in the Lampo Building to aid people in finding resources and answers to questions they had.The whole point of MARC is to make a one-stop shop for the client, said John Matthews, a Red Cross personal information officer.Matthews expected over 300 people to use MARC.People affected by the flood first register and determine what their needs are, then they make their way through appropriate stations, where they are given information and tips regarding how to move forward.Another organization working to ease the stress for the people whose homes were flooded is Team Rubicon.The veteran and first responder volunteer organization will station 100 men and women in Neosho for the next 30 days to help with the cleanup. Monetarily, the organization will be providing upward of $2.5 million worth of labor.During their time in Neosho, the volunteers will provide damage assessments, help cut out ruined drywall, cut down trees and haul away anything that needs to be hauled away.We try to bridge that gap between the initial response and long-term recovery, said Bob Pries, the commanding officer of the Team Rubicon Operation Ozark Edge, which is what the recovery effort in Neosho has been named.To allow members some comfort while staying in Neosho, the organization is looking for donations of, among other things, refrigerators, a freezer and an ice machine. The nonprofit was in Joplin within 14 hours of the Joplin tornado in May 2011; 25 volunteers worked for eight days.Some are calling the flood a tsunami because of how quickly the water rose. Dana Daniel, Neosho city manager, said the speed of the flood could simply be attributed to how heavily the rain fell.We just havent experienced that in most of our residents' lifetime, he said.With Hickory Creek so close to residencies on the eastern side of town, Daniel said, only so much can be done.Rainfall just fell in an area extremely heavily in a short period of time, he said. The ground was already very saturated, so there was nowhere for the water to go.Daniel said he wasnt yet sure how much damage was done monetarily.Its disappointing to see the damage to homes and the way it affects families, Daniel said. Thats what we are dealing with now. We have to roll up our sleeves and kind of help people get back on their feet.A few blocks down the road from Loves home, Jerry Hoover sat on the back of a trailer full of the appliances from his home. None of them could be salvaged.The water made it up to the bottom of the windows in his house  about a foot and a half high.Hell yes, it was scary, Hoover said.When the water level went down, Hoover and his wife, Wilma, walked a few blocks to the Benton Elementary School, which opened as a shelter, then found a place to stay.Except for some clothing, all of the Hoovers' things were ruined. After living in the house for 42 years, they are now looking for a new house.We dont want to fix it up, he said. It costs too much to get this fixed, we already bought it once.Erica Bullard, Hoovers granddaughter, said its sad to see the the house where she spent much of her childhood in such a depressing state.This was home, she said.Across the street, several handymen were working on four rental houses owned by Robert Peters. The bottom 3 feet of drywall and insulation were removed from all the walls within the houses. Basically everything that was touched by the water was thrown out.Its a horrible thing, said Justin Carnes, one of the workers. When we first started, I was carrying out peoples dressers and emptying them out and throwing Sheetrock and stuff in them while theyre watching.But he said there are sometimes good moments in the middle of disasters such as this.I kicked what was left of the toilet and a gold ring popped up, Carnes said. It was the ring of the renters great-grandmother, and she had been looking for it for a year.He said Peters deserves some of the credit because he is going above and beyond as far as getting his rental homes repaired and livable for his renters.Numbers regarding the monetary damage and the number people affected by the flood in both McDonald County and Newton County were not immediately available.To donate items to Team Rubicon Operation Ozark Edge, contact Rebecca Williams at 417-434-0379 or to donate funds, visit teamrubiconusa.org/operation/operation-ozark-edge.2017 The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.)Visit The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.) at www.joplinglobe.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) - Higher education and public safety officials across the state say a bill aimed at making campuses safer by allowing people to carry concealed handguns on school grounds would have the opposite effect.Based on my 40 years in law enforcement, I know that when there are more guns allowed, there is more risk and less safety, said Roland LaCroix, chief of campus police at the University of Maine in Orono.The bill, LD 1370, would require Maines universities, community colleges and Maine Maritime Academy to allow people to carry concealed handguns on campus. The Legislatures Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs held a public hearing on the bill this week, where it met widespread resistance from higher education and public safety officials.Policies making areas gun free provide a sense of safety to those who engage in magical thinking, but in practice, of course, killers arent stopped by gun-free zones, said Rep. Richard Cebra, R-Naples, the bills sponsor, in his testimony to the committee. As always, its the honest people, the very ones you want to be armed who tend to obey the law.The National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of Maine and the governors office were among the few groups who support the bill.Having more people with guns drawn when police arrive will not make our colleges safer, said Derek Langhauser, president of the Maine Community College System, which has seven campuses scattered across the state.As this debate rages, some are pointing to Texas, where two on-campus attacks are raising questions of whether having armed students or faculty might have stemmed the violence.A man stabbed multiple students at random Monday at the University of Texas, killing one and injuring three. Two days later at North Lake College in suburban Dallas, a man killed a woman on campus before going to another building and committing suicide.In the wake of the University of Texas attack, widespread rumors circulated on social media claiming that a gun-wielding student intervened to stop the attack, but police and campus officials have since said that never happened, according to the American-Statesman.Even if those rumors had been true, LaCroix said Thursday that his views wouldnt change. The facts just dont support it, he said. Instances of armed intervention by an average citizen stopping an attack are extremely rare, and law enforcement are best equipped and prepared to respond.A study published by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that of the 85 instances of shootings or undesirable discharges of firearms on U.S. college campuses from 2013 to 2015, only two involved a shooter on a rampage. Most of the shootings involved disputes between people that escalated, premeditated attacks on individuals or suicides.Campus police much more commonly respond to a variety of violent and non-violent incidents than to rampage shootings, the study states. If those campus officers must assume that any given student is armed, this may compromise their ability to effectively respond to, and de-escalate, these incidents.In the event of a report of shots fired or another type of an attack on campus, LaCroix said campus and other area police departments would be ready to respond quickly, but that having multiple people on campus armed with guns could cause more confusion and put the safety of people who are trying to intervene at risk.Several higher ed officials and professors who submitted testimony opposing the bill said that high stress, failing grades and conflicts with teachers or classmates could lead to dangerous situations if students had a gun at their hip.Our campuses consist mostly of younger people who are often learning for the first time how to manage their own independence, said Langhauser. They have widely varying degrees of personal maturity, individual stress, social responsibility and emotional stability.Maine Maritime Academy officials also expressed concerns that the bill would create more of a danger on campus.Current state law gives public campus trustees the authority to decide whether to allow concealed firearms on campus. To this point, they universally have decided not to.Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.2017 the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine)Visit the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) at www.bangordailynews.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.'
Wind power from inland?

Efficiency now a factor

Watch trends, plan ahead

(TNS) -- The state is becoming a national leader in renewable energy, and Long Island is the centerpiece of that effort. Yet it was quite a torturous, if not ironic, path that got us to this point.Diesel generators that date to 1925 were shut down on Block Island last week as the nations first offshore wind plant, a few miles off its coast, began providing full power to the islands electrical grid.Earlier this year, final agreement was reached between the Long Island Power Authority and that same wind plants developer, Deepwater Wind, to provide power to Long Islands South Fork. The electricity from 15 turbines at the wind farm, about 30 miles off Montauk, could begin flowing in six years.Statoil, a Norwegian firm that won an astonishingly high-priced federal auction in December to lease 79,000 acres in the Atlantic Ocean 14 miles off Long Beach, is gearing up to face regulatory battles and to build community support it needs to start its own wind project. Statoil says it could be producing power for this region as soon as 2024. In addition, LIPA might have other choices for wind generation; a German company is getting ready to propose an offshore project south of Bayport.And its not just sea breezes that could be a power source. LIPA is expected next month to choose among bidders offering renewable generation to replace small aging gas plants known as peakers. One of the bidders, Invenergy, offers an ambitious proposal to build wind and solar farms in rural Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and to send us that power via the existing grid and a new underwater cable. Land is so expensive and solar arrays need so much space that its unlikely there will be any new large-scale solar projects built on the Island.Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo greatly expanded this market for renewable energy by setting a goal that the state will draw 50 percent of its power from green sources by 2030, and Long Island will be the centerpiece of that effort. New York stands with California, Oregon, Vermont and Hawaii as states with the highest standards for renewable energy.Yet it was quite a torturous, if not ironic, path that got us to this point.The failed Shoreham nuclear plant resulted in the state taking control from a private utility, the Long Island Lighting Co., 29 years ago. Instead of profits, however, it was politics that ruled local decision-making until superstorm Sandy exposed inadequacies and new state legislation overhauled LIPAs governing structure in 2013. Often those politics were designed to appease local officials, resulting in bad decisions, such as not challenging assessments on overtaxed plants or awarding too-generous community payments in lieu of property taxes. Now that state control can be turned into a benefit if the political decisions support enlightened policy that embraces new technology and moves away from outsized dependence on fossil fuels.Long Islanders will still have the same basic concerns about reliability and affordability, which must always be at the center of the conversation. But the moldy focus on how to salvage the oil- and gas-fueled baseload power plants of the last century must evolve. The latest study from LIPA, its long-awaited Integrated Resource Plan, and an independent review of a PSEG Long Island analysis of existing generation, must start a new dialogue.The resource plan, as well as the PSEG review by the Brattle Group, a consultancy, confirm that Long Island and the nation are consuming less electricity, due in part to more efficient appliances, light bulbs and sustainable design. At the same time, the New York Independent Service Operator, which manages the flow of high-voltage power on the states grid, has reduced requirements for how much backup power LIPA needs to have at the ready and how much of that must be produced on the Island.As a result, there is widespread agreement that no additional generation is needed until 2030. The current open bids are to replace aging peakers with renewables and more efficient plants. And when the decision is made in five to seven years about what should be built to meet new needs, it certainly wont be enormous plants using fossil fuels. Even now, 54 percent of LIPAs generation is idle at any given time; the national average is 44 percent.Another reason for reduced power need is rapidly changing energy markets  from competitively priced renewables to plentiful and low-cost natural gas. The studies conclude that there is no need to rebuild  euphemistically called repowering  the older plants at Port Jefferson and Island Park. The plants are still used, but sparingly, and their value has depreciated. Contracts with owner National Grid on those plants, as well as the workhorse of the system in Northport, expire in 2028 and shouldnt be renewed. The studies also confirmed that there is no compelling reason to build a second Caithness plant in Yaphank. LIPA says going forward with repowering and a second Caithness plant would increase customer bills by $5 billion through 2030.These findings are going to make some communities on Long Island and their elected officials very displeased because the $189 million LIPA customers pay for the taxes on these old plants only benefit the jurisdictions in which they are located. But the time for stalling and maneuvering is over. Incredibly, one of the reports that buries the dream of repowering was requested by the State Legislature, hoping it would prove the opposite.LIPAs tax grievance litigation against Nassau County, and Brookhaven and Huntington towns, should be settled so plans for other uses of the sites of those aging plants can move forward. Port Jefferson, for example, is ideally situated for one of the new and more efficient peaker plants LIPA will need in the near future.Will the findings of today change? Of course. The key assumption in these studies, that the trend toward reduced consumption will continue, must be closely monitored. If it changes, LIPA will need to have new power sources in place before 2030. The premise that the massive wind project off Long Beach will soon supply bountiful renewable energy could dissolve if state and federal regulatory hurdles mount and if there are construction delays.Keeping the old standards, the old thinking and the old politics will lead to costly mistakes. Almost half of a LIPA bill, the charges called power supply, rest on these decisions. Managing them smartly can not only keep our already high cost of electricity in check, but power Long Island into the future.
(TNS) -- WESTBORO, Mass. -- Seven companies have submitted bids to run MassBroadband123, the state-owned fiber-optic network whose internet service to area police and government buildings has been imperiled in recent months by a legal battle involving the current operator."We are extremely pleased by the number of proposals (we) received and the overall qualifications of the organizations that responded," Tim Connelly, executive director and CEO of the Westboro-based Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, said in a statement Monday.The collaborative, known as MassTech, oversees the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, which contracted the construction of a fiber-optic network in Western and Central Massachusetts in 2011 to provide high-speed internet to underserved areas. The project, financed with $90 million in federal and state grants, serves many local police and government buildings, but has been beset by legal difficulties for years.The private company that runs the network declared bankruptcy in March , and its parent company, Axia NetMedia Corp. of Canada, is suing the state in U.S. District Court in Worcester in an attempt to have its contractual obligations voided.During an initial hearing on that case, an attorney representing the state cast doubt on the long-term prospects of finding a replacement . However, a subsequent request for proposals drew 12 companies to an informational conference, seven of which have now placed bids.A spokesman for MassTech said Monday the names of the companies are being kept private pending additional review by state officials."While our full review is in-progress, these initial responses show that there's solid interest in managing the network and continuing the delivery of these critical broadband connections to Western and North-Central Massachusetts," Mr. Connelly said.There is no guarantee the state will need a new vendor, and it has stated publicly that it is trying to work on an "equitable long-term solution" with Axia. But should that effort fail, it would need a separate vendor to step in quickly.The state scored a victory against Axia late last month , when a federal judge in Worcester ordered Axia to continue fulfilling its network obligations until at least May 8. That ruling  a temporary restraining order  has since been extended to May 18 while the judge decides whether to grant the state a similar order that would last until the litigation is resolved.
(Photo/www.cnr.cn)

The 2017 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the flagship report of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), was launched in Beijing on May 8. This year's ESCAP report highlights the essential roles of governance and proactive fiscal management in sustaining robust economic growth in the Asia Pacific.

According to the report, the developing economies of the Asia-Pacific region are expected to grow at 5 and 5.1 percent in 2017 and 2018 respectively, producing a modest economic expansion compared to past years. Although the outlook is broadly positive, these economies are still vulnerable to global uncertainties and trade protectionism. The report also expressed concern over social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability, as it noted that well-being depends on much more than just economic growth.

At the report's launch, Nicholas Rosellini, UN resident coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative in China, stressed that governance must do its part to tackle issues like poverty alleviation, rural-urban disparities and environmental degradation. This is because governance affects both the allocation and efficiency of public expenditure, both major constituents of fiscal policy. Poverty and inequality require social protections, while the environmental costs of production can be mitigated through policy.

In the mean time, better governance and more effective use of fiscal resources are also critical to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said Shamshad Akhtar, the United Nations under-secretary general and ESCAP executive secretary. Akhtar emphasized that the keys to better governance and fiscal management are transparency and accountability.

The launch panel also touched on the economic and social status quo in China. Chinas economic growth has entered a downward trend in the past year, ever since the implementation of supply-side reform. In spite of this, the reforms are projected to support sustainable industrial development by reducing industrial capacity, housing inventory and assisting with corporate leverage and production costs.

Further reforms are still needed to address rising social inequality, issues associated with rapid urbanization and energy inefficiency, the report noted.
(TNS) -- ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  Albuquerque startup OptiPulse Inc. says its new optics technology could soon provide citywide wireless internet access for all at 100 times the speed and less than half the cost of todays networks.It wants to install the system here in the next few years as a demonstration project that could pave the way for more such networks in cities and rural communities throughout New Mexico, and then beyond.OptiPulse has already built the technology. Now, its a matter of deploying it into a ubiquitous array of telecommunications nodes that can beam affordable high-speed internet into any home or business that wants it, said company CEO Mathis Shinnick.Albuquerque is the footprint where we want it to happen first, Shinnick said. We want this to become a global technology, but with New Mexico as the showcase. As we move forward, well work to keep most of our manufacturing and production here to ship it elsewhere.Those are lofty goals for a homegrown startup that only launched in April 2015. But the architect behind the new technology  OptiPulse founder, President and Chief Operating Officer John Joseph  is a longtime optics engineering wiz and previous Sandia National Laboratories scientist who gained broad recognition for building the technology that fueled Trilumina Inc.Trilumina is another homegrown startup that has generated $10 million in venture capital. Its now working with global partners to incorporate its optics technology into future automobiles for autonomous sensing capabilities.At OptiPulse, Joseph has created laser chips that can beam data at 10 gigabytes per second (GBPS). The technology is built on a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, or Vixel, platform that allows engineers to virtually grow crystals directly on a semiconductor wafer. The crystals are arranged in ways that produce minuscule cavities with mirrors on the sides.As electricity flows through the cavities, its converted into photons and phonons, meaning the electric current creates light each time it pulses through the cavities.That resonates within the cavity and builds in power to push an amazing circuit of energy coming out of just a small spot, Joseph said.Those laser pulses can be harnessed to create a high-speed, high-power light source at very low cost that can be manipulated for use in different applications. In Josephs OptiPulse architecture, light from multiple chips with hundreds of lasers on each one is used to simultaneously beam wireless data from one transceiver to another.OptiPulse plans to mount arrays of transceivers, or nodes, throughout cities or communities to beam high-speed Internet service to any end user who wants to hook in.It will be nodes talking to nodes that are only a few kilometers apart, Joseph said. Each node could hook up 50 houses, for example, and wed put up a broad grid of nodes.Thats very different from the radio frequency technology used today for wireless communications, whereby signals are shot out randomly from towers in all directions over a wide area. Buildings and infrastructure interfere with the signals, lowering the transmitting power and greatly limiting speeds even for todays state-of-the-art radio frequency for wireless devices like cellphones. And its expensive to install and power the towers.In contrast, the OptiPulse system is based on a meshed, or multiple-transceiver, network with low-cost, high-power lasers that beam signals directly from node to node. The array eliminates interference because the system routes signals through the most-efficient path to reach end users, Joseph said.Each node will be linked to multiple other nodes, so if one signal goes out, it will still travel through the meshed network, he said.In rural areas, the system could potentially provide even faster speeds because fewer transceivers would be needed, allowing the laser chips to shoot beams at optimum speed over long distances.Ten GBPS is an old figure for us today, Shinnick said. Were now testing chips we believe will manage 20 GBPS, and well reach 40 before long.The company is working at the Team Technologies engineering firm at Sandia Science and Technology Park as a member of the new, city-backed Team Accelerator thats helping local startups build innovative hardware into viable products.Team is helping us with initial circuit board production to get off the ground, Shinnick said. Its giving us the immediate infrastructure we need for prototyping capability.The company already has a contract with a corporate investor to build a first 13-kilometer demonstration network in another state. But its working with local technology companies and organizations to build a new Broadband Coalition here that would seek National Science Foundation funding for a demonstration project in Albuquerque under a new NSF-sponsored program to support emerging wireless Internet technology in select cities around the country.The project could provide leapfrog innovation to propel Albuquerque into a GigaCity at less than half of what it would cost to lay fiber optics across the urban landscape, Joseph said. The network would operate at 10 GBPS speeds, but it would offload signals at 1 GBPS speeds for homes and businesses to start. Thats about 100 times faster than todays typical speeds.
1. DATA: Fuel better interventions faster

2. ECOSYSTEMS: Multiply impact together

3. SERVICE DESIGN: Place people at the center

4. ORGANIZATION: Re-imagine the culture

5. INNOVATION: Shift ingrained mindsets

At last fall's Health and Human Services Summit hosted by Harvard Universitys Technology and Entrepreneurship Center, five key areas were illuminated for health and human service agency leaders  leaders who are striving for integrated, outcome-focused revitalization of programs to address increasingly complex social service challenges.If HHS leaders focus on these five key areas  data, ecosystems, service design, organization and innovation  they will fuel better interventions faster, place people at the center, shift ingrained mindsets and more, all of which will lead to enhanced HHS services for constituents.There is a push to move beyond using data insight solely for reporting or operational purposes and use it to proactively shape programs. Contrary to common belief, agencies do not need data warehouses, a full-time staff of data scientists, or years and years to get results.Predictive analytics allow agencies to pinpoint high-need service areas or populations and quickly use data to develop insight-driven practice models to solve problems. This is how the Allegheny County, Pa., Department of Human Services is improving child welfare decision-making. It is driven by the reality that caseworkers have limited information when they receive a call about child abuse or neglect, and child welfare agencies cannot respond to every case. A risk-based scoring system developed through predictive risk modeling helps caseworkers decide whether to screen calls in or out at the vital first decision point.Rapid-cycle evaluation is another technique that agencies are exploring to act on data insight. With rapid-cycle techniques, agencies can assess the effectiveness of specific interventions faster. They can do pulse checks on what's working, make the business case to funders and drive continuous improvements.Working with Virginia Tech, the Commonwealth of Virginia is in the early stages of an initiative to determine the effectiveness of programs for disadvantaged children in Roanoke. Rather than use a randomized controlled trial, the program will use rapid-cycle analytics techniques.What were trying to do is build an analytics model that helps bridge that research and practice area to allow our research to be much more relevant on a much more timely basis, explained Accentures Gary Glickman.Ecosystems are the future of health and human services. Leadership for a Networked Worlds Executive Director Antonio Oftelie explains an ecosystem as a set of interconnected organizations, machines and services that can collaborate across boundaries, across silos and design new solutions that address and solve root causes of individual, family and community health and human services challenges.Data insight binds ecosystems, making for even deeper connections that exist in cross-agency or cross-sector partnerships. Ecosystems create a multiplier effect of scale and impact. Each member has something unique and complementary to contribute to the others, and to the people they serve.This multiplier effect is alive in Los Angeles, thanks to the Los Angeles Police Departments (LAPD) Project HOPE. As homelessness grew beyond Skid Row, the LAPD realized that it could not solve the problem alone. Police officers had their role. Social services providers had their role. They had to come together.LAPDs ecosystem partners include the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority and other homeless service providers, the Department of Sanitation, the Office of the City Attorney, the Office of the Mayor, and the Department of Mental Health. Members participate in a quarterly Compstat where they are held accountable for their commitments.More homeless individuals are getting appropriate services now.It happened because we were able to break through a lot of barriers to get a lot of other people that usually arent at the table with us to have the trust and the faith that were going to try to do our best to solve the problem that is really and truly impacting individuals, neighborhoods and the entire city, said Todd Chamberlain, commander and assistant commanding officer of the LAPD's Operations-Central Bureau.As organizations share data insights and develop ecosystems to provide more evidence-based services, they are making it a priority to place people at the center of it all, the hub on the hub-and-spoke model.This is happening in at the JeffCo Prosperity Project (JPP) in Jefferson County, Colo. The program is focused on innovative service delivery models to break the cycle of generational poverty. JPP is the convener of school, county government and business partners.According to Director Joyce Johnson, this work is not done in a vacuum. JPP asks families what they need, and how.It really was coming to them and saying, 'What is it that you want and how can we serve you? Not, 'Heres the box that weve decided you need to fit into,'" Johnson said. "And that seems like a small shift maybe in some ways, but its massive if youre really going to make that change.Organizations like JPP are threading empathy into program development more intentionally than in the past. Service design principles provide a concrete way to do this from the idea generation stage. This iterative, collaborative approach to program design is gaining momentum in the social services sector. For example, when the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reinvented its child support calculator, parents and caseworkers were involved in the process.Learning from the outside in to align with peoples unique experiences is essential. However, moving to a more generative state requires organizations to look inward as well to change the hearts, minds and habits of the people doing the work. Organizational norms and cultures must change.The federal government is challenging existing organizational practice in the health and human services space. Rafael Lopez, former commissioner for the Administration on Children, Youth and Families with in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, explained that his vision is to drive innovation in a very different way at the federal level using the federal levers to both, one, fund interesting and innovative ideas on the ground in collaboration with partners. And, second, try to take those lessons learned and scale them.The first-ever White House Foster Care and Technology Hackathon is an example of an organizational and cultural shift to different ways of working. The 48-hour event invited a diverse group including technologists, hackers, app developers and child welfare leaders to develop apps to address foster care issues. This agile way of working developed seven prototypes in two days with few resources.Two-generation services represent another counter-culture way of working in this sector. They are an answer to stovepiped service delivery that is a significant barrier to more personalized care. Lessons from the two-generation initiative in the state of Colorado, and Jefferson County in particular, show what can happen when agencies stop looking at people through a one-dimensional program focus.While technology innovation will continue to shape the future of health and human services, innovation is not solely about technology. It is a mindset shift. Led by adaptive leaders, innovative organizations pursue fresh thinking that disrupts how things have always been done. This can involve breaking new ground with systemic change or making changes to the big little things that can have a surprisingly positive impact on an organizations effectiveness.Innovation is a strong theme in the state of Ohios transformation story. Five years ago, Ohio created the Office of Health Transformation (OHT) to reinvent health and human services operations statewide. OHTs push for practical innovation has delivered impressive outcomes. The creation of this office in itself is a great example of structural innovation. The implementation of an integrated eligibility system for Medicaid, SNAP and TANF, which now includes a self-service portal for citizens, exemplifies technology innovation. OHT is pursuing payments innovation too, using enterprise data to shift from a fee-for-service to a pay-for-value model.Although it is miles away from Ohio in distance, Finlands Apotti program shares a focus on integrating health and human services to improve quality, coordinate approaches and enable more preventive services. Modernizing IT systems will allow for innovations in the customer and services provider experiences, supporting a significant shift toward data-driven and evidence-based care models.Evidence-based client services are the future of health and human services. The approach is putting data insight at the heart of program delivery to achieve meaningful and sustained outcomes for people and communities. It runs through these five big keys. The goal is to define a generative future where leadership, operations, technologies and processes are adaptive and innovation is continuous. Bold leaders are already seizing the possibilities, and getting results.Policy & Practice
(TNS) -- With the federal governing rolling back internet privacy regulations, Illinois is moving forward with legislation to protect personal information collected online.The state Senate on Thursday approved the groundbreaking Right to Know Act, a measure that would require online companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon to disclose to consumers what data about them has been collected and shared with third parties.The bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park, now heads to the Illinois House after passing on a 31-21 vote."I think this is a step forward for Illinois in terms of data privacy," Hastings said Friday. "It gives people the right to know what information (internet companies are) selling to a third party."Illinois is taking center stage in the national debate over internet privacy legislation, which is shifting from the federal to state level. Congress voted in March to undo the Federal Communications Commission's broadband privacy rules, which were adopted last fall under the Obama administration and set to go into effect this year.President Donald Trump on April 3 signed the measure that repealed the broadband privacy rules.The FCC protections would have required internet service providers, such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T, to disclose what personal information they collect and share and would have required consent from consumers before sharing more sensitive information.Privacy advocates believe Illinois and other states must step up to fill the void left by the shift in federal policy.The Right to Know Act would require the operator of a commercial website or online service to make available "certain specified information" that has been disclosed to a third party and to provide an email address or toll-free telephone number for customers to request that information.Major internet companies have been pushing back against the Illinois initiative, ramping up lobbying efforts as the privacy legislation advanced through the Senate, Hastings said. Online trade associations, including CompTIA, the Internet Association and NetChoice, also met with Hastings to voice opposition to the measure.Opponents to the privacy bill gave voice to industry concerns Thursday during a debate on the Senate floor.Sen. Chris Nybo, R-Elmhurst, questioned the value to consumers, and the potential burden it might place on e-commerce businesses in Illinois, if it passes into law."Every technology company that I've spoken to, from Microsoft down to Uber, Lyft ... is opposed to this bill," Nybo said. "People are watching across the country what happens on this bill. I think it sends the wrong message."Meanwhile, Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, suggested internet privacy regulations were better left in the hands of federal regulators."The federal government has a system of rules and regulations to handle internet traffic," Barickman said. "I think we, as one of 50 states, (need) to let them handle those issues and not create additional burdens for our many people and businesses here in Illinois."The Senate bill will head to committee in the House before it can be brought to a vote. A House committee approved a similar measure last month.
(TNS) -- As technology expands, issues arise about who should pay for the infrastructure improvements to support the advancements. Thats the case with the coming arrival of 5G.Sen. Tim Shelton, D-Potlatch, introduced a bill on Thursday creating the Office of Broadband Access and a task force to study issues including pole-attachment charges levied by public and municipal utilities.The bill would help public utilities to develop policies to better cover their costs of hookups and limit the amount public utilities could charge to for-profit companies when adding equipment to utility poles.We need to proceed with caution, Shelton said in a press release. We should not require public utilities to charge a rate that does not cover their costs and would force them to raise rates to consumers.This bill is countering another bill introduced earlier in the year that limited the amount public utility providers can charge. That bill was supported by broadband companies.This year lawmakers are looking for ways to encourage private broadband companies to develop 5G networks. In most cases, these networks are installed and maintained by private companies, but providers generally have to use existing utility poles.Private utilities are strictly limited in the amount they may charge for pole attachments, under a cost-recovery scheme devised by the Utilities and Transportation Commission. But public and municipal utilities are not regulated by the UTC, and are allowed to determine for themselves how to calculate their costs.Broadband companies testified to the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee that they pay around $9 per hookup on a private pole. On a public pole they pay around $30.The Office of Broadband Access would work with public utility providers to create policies to suit their individual needs. It also will address underserved areas.
(TNS) -- The Hennepin County Sheriffs Office has launched a private-sector partnership to improve information sharing and the reporting of suspicious activity.The initiative will be modeled after the New York Police Departments successful Shield program, a clearinghouse for crime alerts, threat updates, training and latest offerings from counterterrorism experts. The sheriffs office is the 10th law enforcement agency to start its own Shield program and will become of an affiliate member of the NYPD Shield.The Sheriffs Office Shield network is a front-line strategy for protecting residents against public safety threats both large and small, Sheriff Rich Stanek said Thursday. The ability to quickly and effectively share crime trend information with our private-sector security partners gives us another prevention tool to ensure the highest level of safety and security for the residents of Hennepin County.His office has been working on the program for a year, and there is no cost to participate, Stanek said. Several other law enforcement agencies around the country, including Seattle, have adopted their own Shield network, creating a national network for communicating national crime trends. The NYPD Shield consists of nearly 17,000 members at 6,800 organizations, and the sheriffs office will be able to take advantage of its crime analysts.The Shield will enhance the sheriff offices already solid working relationship with the private sector and will include monthly meetings and issuing public reports, Stanek said. A website has been set up for new businesses or groups to apply for the Shield. The banner reads: Countering Terrorism Through Information Sharing. Stanek emphasized that the program wont violate the publics civil rights or privacy.After more recent events, the need to continue to be vigilant is imperative to the safety and security of our society. Private security professionals truly are the eyes and ears of the community, the website reads.The Mall of America, which has 40 million visitors per year and 15,000 employees, will be part of the Shield program. Others include Thrivent Financial, Best Buy, Ameriprise Financial and Xcel Energy.We are excited and thrilled to take part in the Shield program, said Spencer Fenton from the Mall of America security department. Since opening in 1992, safety and security of our guests, tenants and employees has always been a top priority for us.Anthony Sussman of the Jewish Community Relations Council noted the recent threats to community centers in St. Paul, St. Louis Park and across the United States make the Shield program indispensable. He said reports of anti-Semitism continue to rise in the Twin Cities.The Jewish community deeply appreciates the resources, expertise and concern that local, state, federal law enforcement have committed to addressing anti-Semitic incidents, he said.Michael Rozin, a former security employee with the Israeli government who now operates a security consulting business in the Twin Cities, said he will also be working with Shield. The sheriffs office made him a volunteer special deputy, which allows him to work more closely with licensed peace officers.This is an important initiative, he said. We should all be proactive when we see suspicious activity.
Bella comes out on top at 1,195. Max is a close second at 1,153. Chloe makes a reasonable showing with 465. There is only one Melville.Cities are mining data to improve all kinds of citizen services, like housing, transit and education. But the Big Apple dug into some friendly, four-legged facts to create its new interactive map: Dog Names in New York City , which is where the previously mentioned stats were pulled from.The Health Department requires dog owners to register their pups with the city, creating not only less chance that a dog will get lost, but also a fun look at what New Yorkers like to name their pets. If a new dog owner is scanning the map to find whether their perfect pet name is less unique than originally thought, they can also follow links to the dog licensing website to make sure little Tiberius is legal (just kidding, the dogs name is probably Max).The Health Departments release about the data also includes the locations of animal care centers, as well as pet health and safety tips. And WNYC has the names broken down even further by ZIP code, breed, food names, place names and more.
(TNS) -- WASHINGTON  Dr. Herbert Lin, one of the nations pre-eminent thinkers on cybersecurity policy, shuns the internet-connected devices that fill some American homes.Hell have nothing to do with smart refrigerators, hands-free home speakers he can call by name, intelligent thermostats and the like.People say to me, How can you have a doctorate in physics from MIT and not trust in technology? And I look at them and say, How can I have a doctorate in physics from MIT and trust technology? Lin said.Part of what he distrusts is the internet of things, and the ease with which hackers can penetrate smart devices with digital worms and shanghai them into massive robotic networks to launch crippling digital attacks or generate ever greater quantities of spam.It is a mistrust based on mathematics. Internet-enabled devices are exploding in number. Gartner, a research giant in technology, says the devices will climb from 6.4 billion at the end of last year to 25 billion by 2020. Such growth sharply augments the power of hidden robotic networks, or botnets.Now, an unseen battle unfolds. Weaponized digital worms are entering the scene and infecting masses of devices that obediently await instructions from a remote master to spring to action, possibly a new botnet attack.The threat from botnets is so serious that FBI Director James Comey brought them up at a Senate hearing last week, saying the zombie armies created from internet devices can do tremendous harm.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, Comey said. Hes now in jail in Spain, and the good peoples computers who had been lashed to that zombie army have now been freed from it.Further botnet attacks are inevitable.The next one could be just seconds or minutes from happening again, said J. Kevin Reid, a former FBI agent who leads the national security portfolio at KeyLogic, a Morgantown, W.Va., firm that offers consulting services to the federal intelligence community.Many consumers dont realize that internet-enabled devices are unregulated and insecure  simpleton digital recruits in potential malicious armies.A botnet already made headlines once. Last Oct. 21, a botnet slowed internet activity to a crawl along the Atlantic seaboard. A hacker using a malicious worm dubbed Mirai  Japanese for the future  took over thousands of internet-connected security cameras and other seemingly innocuous devices and ordered them to fire relentless digital pings at a New Hampshire company, Dyn, that oversees part of the backbone of the internet. Dyn was overwhelmed, and popular sites such as Twitter and The New York Times were temporarily inaccessible.Now a new worm, dubbed Hajime  Japanese for beginning  is spreading.The Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab estimated in late April that the Hajime worm had already penetrated 300,000 devices worldwide and could rally them into a botnet army at a moments notice.Initial forensics reports suggested that the Hajime worm might be the creation of a white hat hacker working to thwart future attacks by Mirai botnets. Hajime leaves behind a message that says in part: Just a white hat, securing some systems. But even if Hajime is presently a force for good, protecting devices from Mirai infection, how long will that last? Some analysts have doubts.While infected with Hajime, the vulnerable devices are protected from known Mirai attacks, a principal security researcher for Kaspersky Lab, Igor Soumenkov, said in an email. He added, however, that Hajimes spreading methods are malicious in nature and the worm may go rogue at any time.That aspect of the internet of things, or IoT, gives jitters to Lin, the MIT-educated cybersecurity scholar at Stanford Universitys Center for International Security and Cooperation who largely shuns internet-enabled devices.I dont want something working on my system when I dont know what it is, Lin said, adding that installing even protective worms is not cool.There is an informal consensus that this is not an ethical thing to do, Lin added. You only have their word for it that they are going to do good stuff. Who knows what their definition of white hat stuff is? And if you did, how do you know they are doing it?Reid, the KeyLogic expert, said the Hajime worm was a little more robust than Mirai.Its written in some higher order language. Its very powerful, he said.The Hajime worm is programmed to avoid networks of certain U.S. companies and government entities, Soumenkov said, noting that they include those of General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, the U.S. Postal Service and the Department of Defense.Such worms are designed to infect any device or machine with a connection to the internet, harnessing them as zombie soldiers in a botnet army. Infected devices can include not only appliances in the home, like coffeemakers and baby monitors, but also vending machines, soap dispensers, jet engines, light bulbs and industrial micro-controllers.Even dolls for children can be forced into rogue botnets, Reid said.People would be like, What? My childs toy? Well, toys are pretty fancy nowadays, Reid said. They are going after camcorders and DVD players and other things with this particular intrusion technique.In practical terms, that means hackers who control botnets can extort businesses, threatening to overwhelm targets with traffic unless they pay. They can also amplify the power of those sending spam.Already, up to 90 percent of the email traffic on the internet is spam, although internet service providers do a pretty good job of clearing it out with spam filters, Lin said, letting only a fraction through.Lets say you increase that fraction by a factor of 10, or 100, which is what these IoT botnets threaten to do, Lin said. I assure you at that point you will get a lot more spam in your email inbox. Lets say you get 100 times as much spam as you get now. It might make your email account unusable.
Jenson Button may not be taking his one-off return to F1 this month "seriously enough".

That is the view of the Briton's contemporary Mark Webber, referring to the fact that Button - although newly retired - will fill in at McLaren-Honda in Monaco while Fernando Alonso is doing the Indy 500.

"When I heard that he (Button) wouldn't do the Bahrain test, I wondered if he was taking it seriously enough," Australian Webber is quoted by Speed Week.

"For me, if he's doing a triathlon in America rather than a test in Bahrain, I think first practice in Monaco will be a wake-up call for him. I just get the impression that he doesn't really care about it," the former Red Bull driver added.

But Webber said Button's return is little more than a sideshow anyway, amid McLaren-Honda's crisis and the title fight between Ferrari and Mercedes.

"It's a non-story," he said.

"He'll drive, have problems with the fuel system, qualify 16th, retire after 12 laps or whatever. What's the point? Jenson is a world champion. He has won at Monaco.

"It would be a story if he could fight for the win, but to get a point if he's lucky, that really doesn't interest anyone," Webber added.

(GMM)
Taiwan's leader Tsai Ing-wen (file photo)

Taiwan's leader Tsai Ing-wen tweeted nine times for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and claimed that "health issues don't stop at the border," but experts said she was playing politics to gain sympathy.

E-registration to the WHA ends on Monday, but Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation. Tsai has posted repeatedly on her Facebook and Twitter accounts, explaining that "Taiwan should not be excluded from WHA this year for any reason. Health issues don't stop at border and Taiwan's role is impt (important) to global health."

The Xinhua News Agency reported that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration should bear full responsibility for the island's absence from this year's WHA, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Monday.

"The DPP administration refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle. This places an obstacle to Taiwan's participation in the WHA," An Fengshan, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said.

An urged the DPP administration to reflect on why Taiwan is unable to attend this year's WHA, saying that any attempt to pass the buck or shift public focus would fail.

"Tsai and her DPP administration's political stance is sacrificing the interests of the Taiwan people. The one-China principle will never change, and if she really cares about the Taiwan people, she needs to change her attitude rather than blame the mainland. The one-China principle is the key to solving almost every problem in Taiwan, but Tsai refuses to recognize it," Wang Jianmin, a Taiwan-affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

"Tsai is also trying to generate false sympathy from the island's people and international community by saying that Taiwan's health affairs would be damaged if the WHA refuses to invite Taiwan. But Taiwan's health issues won't be affected at all," Yuan Peng, vice president of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said.

The island can only participate when it respects the one-China principle and the Chinese mainland allows its participation as part of China, Yuan said.

"Taiwan still can join other non-political health organizations. Therefore, it is a political issue rather than a health issue," he said.
"Things are different" now that Bernie Ecclestone is no longer in charge of formula one.

That is the claim of Vicenc Aguilera, the president of the long-time Spanish grand prix host Circuit de Catalunya.

Chase Carey, who has replaced former long-time F1 supremo Ecclestone, said last week that he wants Barcelona to be on the calendar in the "long term".

"Things are different with Liberty (Media)," Aguilera told the Spanish daily Marca.

"It was important that Carey gave support to our race and I got to know him," he said. "Now things are managed differently in F1 with Ross Brawn, Sean Bratches and Chase and it seems to work very well.

"I'm trying to lay the groundwork for the race to continue at the circuit for at least ten more years," said Aguilera.

He said he will also push Carey and Liberty to try to make F1 more exciting, insisting that the sport's two-wheel counterpart, MotoGP, is "more extreme".

"The races are more boring and more predictable," said Aguilera. "I asked Bernie several times to change it, but they didn't. It was a big mistake by the FIA and FOM to have a product that is so much more expensive but less attractive."

(GMM)
Niki Lauda says Mercedes has work to do to catch up with Ferrari.

Although Valtteri Bottas won in Russia, Lewis Hamilton struggled and the Brackley based team thinks it is because the Ferrari is better managing the new Pirelli tyres.

"Sometimes we have a car of two parts," team chairman Lauda told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "with a tyre window at the front and another at the rear."

A team engineer said that although Hamilton struggled at Sochi, there has been progress in how Mercedes understands the tyres.

"Ferrari is still ahead," the engineer said, "but we are good at understanding problems and drawing conclusions. However it could take some races before we get fully on top of it, because some of the problems are probably due to the car."

But Lauda tipped Hamilton to bounce back strongly this weekend in Barcelona, after a particularly bad show of form in Russia.

"Bottas was quicker because he won the race but Lewis is an outstanding talent, a world champion," said the F1 legend.

"Bottas beat him but perhaps the next three times maybe Lewis will do that."

(GMM)
More than 1,000 workers from Vietnam have come to Guangxi Dongxing Pilot Area since the pilot project to accept foreign migrant workers began in July 2015. The average monthly salary of these workers has doubled since they came to the special zone, reaching around 2,700 RMB. Now, 13 local enterprises are approved to recruit Vietnamese labors.

"The salary here is very attractive for Vietnamese workers, so they cherish the opportunity," said Xiong Yong, HR manager of a company in the pilot zone, adding that the workers are very hard-working and serious about their jobs. In order to provide good work conditions, Xiong said his company prepares light foods, which is favored by many Vietnamese. In addition, foreign employees receive days off on their traditional holidays.

A 35-year-old Vietnamese woman named Le Thi Hong has been working in the company for three years. She said she barely had any income in her own country, where she worked as a farmer, but now she earns as much as 2,000 RMB per month. Most importantly, the distance between her workplace and hometown is not so great, meaning she can return home any time she needs to.

"I have a great life here, and I have a good relationship with my colleagues," Le said, emphasizing that her quality of life has clearly improved.

Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, border trade between China and Vietnam has seen great development. The border city Dongxing saw 102.9 percent growth in bilateral trade with Vietnam in 2016, with the total trade volume reaching 12 billion RMB. Now, more and more foreign employees like Le will be able to work in China, enjoying the benefits brought by the initiative.
Moon Jae-in (R) ofSouth Korea's biggest Minjoo Party and his wife cast their votes at a polling station in Seoul, capital of South Korea, May 9, 2017. South Korean on Tuesday held the 19th presidential election. (Xinhua/SeongJoon Cho/Pool)

SEOUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Polls began early Tuesday nationwide to pick new South Korean president in an earlier-than-usual by-election, which was caused by the removal of former President Park Geun-hye from office in March over corruption allegations.

The election to select the country's next president will last from 6 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Monday) to 8 p.m. (1100 GMT Tuesday) at 13,964 polling stations across the country.

The voting was extended by two hours compared with the 2012 presidential election to allow more people to join the momentous election for the country.

Hopes for the transfer of presidential power exploded with the influence-peddling scandal embroiling Park, which led to her impeachment and arrest, and the subsequent downfall of the conservative bloc.

The early voting, which was introduced in 2013 and first applied to this year's presidential race, attracted a record turnout of over 11 million, or 26 percent of the electorate.

The high rate reflected a great public interest in the election to pick Park's replacement.

Related:

Profile: Major candidates of S.Korean presidential election

SEOUL, May 8 (Xinhua) -- South Koreais set to hold a presidential by-election Tuesday as former President Park Geun-hye was impeached and arrested in March over corruption allegations.

Public demand for the transfer of presidential power exploded with the influence-peddling scandal, involving Park and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil who is also now in custody and on trial for bribery charges. Full story
(Xinhua) 15:16, May 09, 2017

UNITED NATIONS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A photo exhibition on China's Belt and Road Initiative opened at the UN headquarters on Monday, showing the outcomes the initiative has achieved so far and its future prospects.

The photos depict such historic moments as when the UN Security Council adopted a resolution incorporating the initiative for the first time, and when the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway built by a Chinese company officially opened to traffic.

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.

At the opening ceremony, China's Ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi said the Belt and Road Initiative is "an international public good" that benefits all parties.

"With its focus on various aspects of connectivity regarding policy, infrastructure, trade, finance, people-to-people...the initiative widens and deepens partnerships in multi-dimensional and multi-layered networking," said Liu.

Amina Mohammed, UN deputy secretary-general, said that the initiative is a demonstration of a global partnership that really fits the ambition of the UN agenda for sustainable development.

She said by empowering women and young people, creating job opportunities and bringing people together, the initiative offers a chance to unlock trillions for investment.

Entitled "Strengthening International Cooperation for Win-Win Development," the exhibition is scheduled to run from May 8 to May 12. It is organized by the Chinese Mission to the UN and Xinhua News Agency North America.

Zhou Xiaozheng, director of Xinhua News Agency North America, said putting on such an exhibition at the UN headquarters is of significance since more UN member states and UN agencies are seeking cooperation with China in this regard.

It is also a good timing as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, he noted.

Anatolio Ndong Mba, ambassador of the Equatorial Guinea to the UN, told Xinhua that the photos reflect the dynamism of China's development in economy, infrastructure and communication.

Hailing the initiative as "formidable," Ndong Mba said that it is going to be a complete success.
May 9, 1974

The House Judiciary Committee opened public hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. This was the culmination of the investigation into the break-in of Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., and based on Nixons having participated in trying to cover up the White Houses role in the break-in. The Judiciary Committee ended up adopting three articles of impeachment against the president, who resigned before the full House took up any of them.
Winston-Salem police officers executing a search warrant said they got a surprise delivery  four pounds of "very high grade marijuana."

A parcel delivery service delivered the package to the home at 3463 Old Greensboro Road while officers were inside on Monday morning, according to a news release from police.

The search also yielded eight marijuana plants from the back porch of the home and approximately half a pound of marijuana from inside the kitchen and washing machine, according to the search warrant.

The package sent to the address originated in Portland, Oregon, and was found to contain four pounds of "very high grade marijuana" with a street value in excess of $20,000, the release states.

Officers charged Narel Remondadeon Rutherford, 50, with manufacturing marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of violating the Controlled Substance Act.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to call police at 336-773-7700 or CrimeStoppers at 336-727-2800.
Tai chi master Chen Zhenglei (file photo)

Tai chi master Chen Zhenglei not only stands firm on moral ground in his response to the webpage challenge of a Japanese martial arts practitioner, but also leads the way of propriety for kung fu contestants.

Chen, the 11th generation carrier of Chen-style tai chi and also one of China's Top 10 contemporary Chinese martial artists, tops the list of four Chinese challenged by a karate club owner on his Japanese Twitter account on May 3.

The Japanese message accused Chinese martial arts as "quite fake" and practitioners in China as often "cheating". The account holder, MoonJangGyu, challenged Chen, tai chi masters Chen Xiaowang and Yan Fang, and Shaolin boxer Shi Yanjue and set a deadline for them to respond, before Wednesday. MoonJangGyu even claimed he was traveling to Shanghai for fights on Wednesday.

In his statement on Chinese social media Monday, Chen displayed the full courtesy characterized by Chinese martial arts tradition. He first stated his devotion to carrying on the tradition of both the Chen family and Chinese wushu and his belief in being kind to other people and maintaining self-dignity in handling daily affairs, teachings each Chinese martial arts practitioner must accept.

As for the Japanese challenge for a fight, as long as his identity is affirmed and behavior ratified by related authorities, "I will rise to the challenge to fight on the immediate occasion in accordance with the principles of meeting the law's requirements, fitting into rules, and promoting exchange and friendship," Chen said at the end of his statement.

Such a challenge is not a first for Chen, and certainly not a first for a Chinese wushu practitioner in modern history. Japanese martial arts masters have been active in challenging Chinese over the past century and in helping Chinese kung fu to grow.

However, time has evolved and today's world is no longer a jungle of the fittest. The rule of law has to be followed throughout the nations for humanity to prosper properly. The martial arts circles of both Asia and other parts of the world have been mature enough to hold series of contests, often broadcast live on TV, radio and social media, each of them following distinct rules that are hammered out through debates, discussions and eventual consensus.

Under these circumstances, any high-toned wording for a private duel gives rise to suspicion of not observing today's rule of law, or holding onto movie stereotypes of old thinking, or simply self-promotion.

However, Chen did not hesitate to admit that in recent years, there indeed appeared in China cases of faking martial arts to cheat, or obtaining undue grandeur with boasting, or making a fanfare from nothing for illicit profits. He was sharp in calling it necessary for martial arts circles to crack down on the fakes and correct inappropriate behavior to sustain the healthy development of Chinese wushu or kung fu of any other nation.

However, "both cracking down upon the faking and holding real contests should be under the guidance of the Chinese Wushu Association and related government departments to achieve legal and orderly proceedings," he pointed out. And his standing here is welcome as legal authorities and supervisors are safeguarding the rule of law in our societies.

In his respect for legal and martial arts authorities, Chen, 68, displayed his sense of being law-abiding; in rising to a martial arts challenge, Chen shows respect for the potential opponent and is carrying on the tradition of tai chi and Chinese kung fu.
The branding is equal parts Folgers and Jackass. Photo: Melissa Hom

We are in the midst of an all-out caffeine arms race. Coffee companies around the country are vying to produce the worlds strongest coffees, full of caffeine and, ostensibly, a richer flavor. Brands like Death Wish, Black Insomnia, and Shock seem interchangeable  they all have jet-black bags, hypermasculine branding thats equal parts Folgers and Jackass, and claim borderline-dangerous levels of caffeine in their products  but how do they actually compare? To find out, Grub Street recruited Joe Coffee owner Jonathan Rubinstein, director of roasting Ed Kaufmann, and barista trainer Christopher Malarick for a taste test.

The Coffee: Shock Coffee ($14 for a one-pound bag)

The Claim: The strongest caffeinated all-natural coffee.

Shock is vague about the actual caffeine content in its coffee, but the company says a cup is generally 50 percent more caffeinated than regular coffee. This is a blend of arabica beans, which are typically used in high-quality coffee, and robusta beans, which are more bitter, but pack a higher caffeine content. The actual beans are black, oily, and smell a bit like burnt popcorn  the darkest roast that Rubinstein says hes seen in years. As for the flavor, that burnt-popcorn aroma was telling. After brewing the coffee via Chemex, the tasters were uniformly unimpressed. I just taste burnt tires, Rubinstein says. The sides of my tongue right now? Char. Its like the aftertaste of rubber.

The Coffee: Bones Coffee High Voltage ($20 for a one-pound bag)

The Claim: The strongest, greatest tasting coffee youll ever drink.

The people of Bones, which according to the companys Twitter account is based in Florida, USA, claim their High Voltage brand contains twice the caffeine content of your average joe. Yet unlike the other companies we tasted, Bones doesnt specialize only in high-octane coffees  they also make variations like Jacked O Lantern pumpkin spice, peanut butter and jelly, and a salted-caramel flavor that features a skeleton Salt Bae on the bag.

Its somewhat surprising that the beans are some of the least offensive we encounter. The taste follows through on that. There isnt anything about it that is singing to me, Rubinstein notes, but my mouth is not repulsed. Malarick, meanwhile, compares it to airplane coffee. Add milk, Rubinstein says, and I could drink half a cup and feel like Im having coffee in 1983.

The Coffee: Death Wish ($20 for a one-pound bag)

The Claim: If this isnt the strongest coffee youve ever tried, well gladly give you a refund.

Death Wish is a five-year-old company that got its start in Saratoga Springs, New York. After winning a small-business competition, the company earned a 30-second commercial spot during the Super Bowl. With 105,000 followers on Instagram, it now appears to be the market leader.

Technically, the coffee isnt the most caffeinated on the market. I asked a company rep about their continued claim that theyre the strongest coffee on the market, and received this reply: Note, when we say strong, were not only referring to the caffeine, but also to the flavor and body of the coffee. As for the actual flavor and body, here is a snippet of the conversation that followed our initial tasting:

Rubinstein: Oh my god! Oh my god! What does your mouth feel like right now?

Malarick: Its like Im hooked up to a car battery. Its sort of rubbery.

Rubinstein: It makes my tongue literally tingle. It reacts. My tongue is reacting.

Malarick: Its really inky.

In the end, none of the coffees impress  or even make the tasters feel all that jittery  but its probably true that for people buying these products, expressly because theyre marketed as the worlds strongest, the flavor might be completely beside the point. I think theres almost like a pseudo-masochistic element to certain peoples coffee habits, Malarick notes. The fact that it tastes bad is part of the pride.
Plenty of room for giant paella. Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for PRE Brands

Apparently absolutely bored now that the sitting U.S. president is out of his hair, Jose Andres has decided to fill that free time by giving New York City an enormous Spanish food hall. Per the New York Post, hes signed a deal for the 35,000-square-foot space at Hudson Yards that initially was Danny Meyers baby.

The rumors were always that Andres was joining Thomas Keller, Costas Spiliadis, and the rest of the sites all-star lineup in some capacity. It looks like that will be to create a Spanish-style Eataly that the Posts insiders ambitiously sell as more than a food hall. The story says Andres will fill the expanse with plenty of Spanish tapas, wine bars (plural), and at least one slightly formal concept. Expect him to also bring Spanish chef and artisan friends over to collaborate. It will occupy 10 Hudson Yards, the tallest building finished so far in the development project, and the space could open as early as next year, which might cause minor panic for the team behind Anthony Bourdains market up the road at Pier 57.


Start bracing now.

Sodas future is so dark that Pepsi has now embraced full-on self-parody, in an attempt to sell carbonated beverages: A representative for the company admits today to the Street that theyve released a new Pepsi flavor into the wild, and its called, Fire. Think of it as Fireball, just without the pesky alcohol part, but still probably vile. Luckily, for the foreseeable future, its being quarantined at a select number of 7-Eleven stores in Michigan, where you will only find it as a flavor of Slurpee.

Considering the bar for Slurpees isnt terribly high, it should be pointed out that many people who try the new concoction think Pepsi got, to quote one of them, too lit:



Unfortunately, theres more to this story: Cans of Pepsi Fire have been spotted in foreign markets like Mexico, Singapore, and the Philippines for a while, and the rumor is that the U.S. is up next. A number of social-media posts suggest Pepsi has a prototype at the very least, and that it might even be planning to drop cans (or even bottles) as soon as the third quarter of 2017:


Unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ go on pre-order in the US, out on May 31

Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ have both been available from US carriers since last month, as you may know. However, if you've been waiting to get your hands on an unlocked unit, you've had no luck so far. That is about to change, though.

Today the unlocked versions of the two flagship devices have finally gone up for pre-order in the US, both at Samsung's own online store as well as Best Buy. The unlocked models will become available on May 31, online and in Best Buy stores.

If you're interested in the smaller S8, know that you'll have to part with $724.99 in order to get the unlocked version. On the other hand, the larger S8+ has been priced at $824.99. You can also choose Samsung's two-year financing, in which case you'll pay $30.21 per month for the S8, or $34.38 per month for the S8+.

Hopefully Samsung's software support for these will not be as appalling as for their predecessors, the S7 and S7 edge, which only this month got updated to Android 7.0 Nougat - a lot later than the carrier-specific versions.

Source
Job Archive July 2021 (524) June 2021 (681) May 2021 (698) April 2021 (659) March 2021 (688) February 2021 (615) January 2021 (698) December 2020 (714) November 2020 (671) October 2020 (631) September 2020 (690) August 2020 (713) July 2020 (713) June 2020 (690) May 2020 (713) April 2020 (690) March 2020 (713) February 2020 (667) January 2020 (713) December 2019 (713) November 2019 (687) October 2019 (711) September 2019 (689) August 2019 (711) July 2019 (707) June 2019 (688) May 2019 (2002) April 2019 (1978) March 2019 (2039) February 2019 (1688) January 2019 (2251) December 2018 (2095) November 2018 (1932) October 2018 (1984) September 2018 (1914) August 2018 (39) July 2018 (72) June 2018 (44) May 2018 (76) April 2018 (65) March 2018 (16) February 2018 (32) January 2018 (201) December 2017 (352) November 2017 (381) October 2017 (600) September 2017 (1211) August 2017 (1655) July 2017 (1590) June 2017 (1506) May 2017 (1902) April 2017 (1965) March 2017 (1417) February 2017 (1808) January 2017 (1807) December 2016 (1593) November 2016 (1376) October 2016 (1408) September 2016 (1317) August 2016 (1499) July 2016 (1504) June 2016 (1421) May 2016 (1391) April 2016 (1340) March 2016 (1476) February 2016 (1396) January 2016 (1474) December 2015 (1409) November 2015 (1367) October 2015 (1478) September 2015 (1441) August 2015 (1467) July 2015 (1465) June 2015 (1410) May 2015 (1057) April 2015 (1269) March 2015 (1132) February 2015 (1151) January 2015 (1152) December 2014 (1156) November 2014 (1267) October 2014 (81)
11 children, 10 from S. Korea and 1 from China, killed in E. China tunnel fire

Twelve people including eleven children were killed on Tuesday morning, after their vehicle carrying thirteen was hit and caught on fire inside a tunnel in Weihai city, east China's Shandong Province, according to a Yonhap report citing the South Korean Embassy in Beijing.

Among the eleven children killed in the accident, ten were from South Korea and one from China. The driver was also killed. A teacher on board the same vehicle was left with serious injuries, said the embassy.

The students attended a kindergarten affiliated with an international school largely catering to Koreans.

The Weihai local government immediately initiated an emergency response plan. An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.




Haiti - Economy : Increase in fuel prices, trade unions call for mobilization





After having met the Executive on the need to reduce the subsidy on fuels, a dozen transport unions visibly not convinced by the Government's arguments on the appropriateness of this measure, say NO to rising prices at the pump, which according to them will have a serious negative impact on small pockets.



They already call for mobilization and announce protest movements, in a clash announced against the Government, without specifying the date of the beginning of hostilities...



In addition, Dominique St-Eloi, the Coordinator of the National Central of Haitian Workers (CNOHA), following the announcement by the Prime Minister of a phasing out of subsidies on fuels https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20883-haiti-economy-towards-an-increase-in-the-price-of-fuels-at-the-pump.html also announces protest movements by workers in the SONAPI Industrial Parks and the Ounaminthe Free Zone, saying that this reduction in the subsidy will lead to an increase in prices at the pump, which will result in high prices of essential products on the markets.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20883-haiti-economy-towards-an-increase-in-the-price-of-fuels-at-the-pump.html



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : Review of the first legislative session





onday, deputies and senators gathered in the National Assembly, have closed the first ordinary session of the legislative year 2017. With 26 senators out of 29 and 91 deputies out of 117, what is a record for a General Assembly in this first legislative session.



Youri Latortue, the President of the Assembly, recalled that during this first session, the Senate had held 32 plenary sessions, 4 General Assembly, voted 12 laws and ratified 3 international conventions.



For his part, Jean Willer Jean, the first Secretary of the Bureau of the Lower House, said that the deputies held 24 plenary sessions, voted 5 bills out of 2 submitted by the Executive, passed a proposed legislation out of 6 submitted by parliamentarians and submitted 7 Commission reports.



A substantial balance of the two rooms one had lost the habit for many years...



Resumption of legislative work, 2nd Monday of June.



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Elections : Important European recommendations





Following the two Electoral Observation Missions (EOMs) and the European Union (EU) Election Experts Mission in Haiti Elena Valenciano, the EOM's Chief Observer, submitted past week to the Haitian authorities, a series of consolidated recommendations that could contribute to reflections on possible improvements to the electoral framework. Among them, the most important are :



It is recommended to establish a Permanent Electoral Council, as provided for in the Haitian Constitution, in order to strengthen its democratic and institutional legitimacy and to overcome the provisional nature of most electoral councils in recent decades;



It is recommended that electoral legislation be reformed to eliminate, among other things, the role of parties in the choice of polling station members and to strengthen the control exercised by the CEP on this aspect;



It is recommended to reform the procedures for issuing of discharges for the management of public money to avoid making it a political lever in the hands of Parliament. It is recommended in this reform to strengthen the financial control of the management of accountants and authorizing officers of public funds;



It is recommended that the constitutional quota of 30% of women be strictly applied at all levels of elective posts;



It is recommended to limit the excessive proliferation of political parties, making it more strict, within reasonable limits, the conditions for registration of political parties to ensure that they truly represent a movement enjoying a real support from the population at regional or national level.



HL/ HaitiLibre
























Haiti - Politics : Good news for the identification of Haitians





For decades, the Haitian State has faced a serious problem related to its inability to identify all citizens on the national territory and to provide them with a secure identification document respecting the protection of privacy with regard to the processing of personal data. Consequence of citizens do not have identity papers to assert their civil and political rights.



In order to find a solution to this serious problem, President Jovenel Moise and the Government Lafontant adopted a bill in the Council of Ministers instituting the Unique National Identification Card (CINU - Carte dIdentification Nationale Unique) on the protection of personal data ( Smart card with biometric data).



This law states that now the identification of national will be at birth and sanctions are provided for those who have not made the statement relating thereto (10.000 to 250.000 gourdes fines and up to 6 months in jail) depending on the responsibility of the person concerned in the chain of responsibility.



With this law, each child will receive a birth certificate from birth, giving him an Unique National Identification Number (NINU - Numero dIdentification Nationale Unique) that it will keep for life and which will have the same coding structure as the Tax Identification Number (NIF), NINU will replace the NIF.



Download the law text :

https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/projet-de-loi-instituant-la-carte-d-identification-nationale-unique-et-portant-sur-la-protection-des-donnees-personnelles.pdf



HL/ HaitiLibre


















A lotus grown from a seed dating back to the Song Dynasty is growing robustly after being moved from inside a laboratory into the open air near Hangzhou's West Lake. Since being discovered at an archaeological site, the ancient seed and subsequent lotus has received a great deal of attention from curious citizens. (Photo/Xinhua)




Haiti - News : Zapping...





15 years of tax exemption

The Investment Facilitation Center (IFC) recalls "Haiti offers some of the most exciting incentives in the world with up to 15 years of tax exemption and import duty exemptions for inputs. The CFI is there to support investors from their early stages of interest to post-establishment services (AfterCare Services), aimed at make business as high as possible in Haiti."



PM in meetings with donors

Monday Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant met with donors from Haiti around of projects aiming at the State reform in the presence of its Director of Cabinet.



Protection and management of crime scenes

Friday in Port-au-Prince, a workshop was held on the protection and management of crime scenes. A joint initiative of the Ministry of Justice, the Haitian National Police (PNH) and the Minustah..



A team of the BSEIPH at the Center of Special Education

Friday, a team from the Office of the Secretary of State (Gerald Oriol jr.) for the integration of People with Disabilities (BSEIPH) visited the Special Education Center (CES), a school specializing in teaching children and young people with intellectual disabilities. Its recently rebuilt premises offer students spacious classrooms, a specialized library, a sheltered workshop and a clinic.



World Road Safety Week

Monday at the Hotel El Rancho took place the launch of the World Road Safety Week. Many activities, including conferences and debates, are scheduled until Sunday, May 14th.



55th of the Directorate General of the Budget

May 8, 2017 marked the 55th anniversary of the Directorate General of Budget (DGB), a technically decentralized department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which participates actively in the development process and implementation of the budget of the State although little known to the public.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















After working for six months at a construction site on Saipan Island, and then being trapped on the island for an additional one month, 92 Chinese workers finally headed back to China on May 9, bolstered by the promise that they would receive their delayed wages.

The workers, most of who come from Chinas northeastern provinces, said they had been offered a job on the island, which is a commonwealth of the United States, for 300 RMB per day. However, their wages were then delayed and unreasonable deductions made from their paychecks.

We were recruited to work at the construction site by a local employment agency. After paying a 10,000-RMB brokerage fee, we were sent to Saipan Island last November, where we found out that the salary had been reduced to 200 RMB per day. The agency even withheld a months worth of wages, one of the workers told Thepaper.cn. The man added that instead of arranging work visas for them, the agency only offered them tourist visas, which are cheaper and easier to obtain.

In response to the workers claims, Gold Mantis Construction Decoration Co. Ltd., the Chinese company responsible for the construction project, told Thepaper.cn that they were also a victim of the employment agency, as they were unaware of the workers situation.

The employment agency we hired is run by a Chinese American named Kong Xianghu, who accepted our money without distributing it to the workers. We have no idea why the agency did not arrange work visas for the laborers, a spokesperson of the company told Thepaper.cn.

This is not the first time Chinese workers have been trapped in such a situation. As more and more Chinese companies join the cause of the Belt and Road Initiative and do business abroad, Chinese workers are increasingly sent overseas. Cheap migrant workers are lured with lucrative wages, but often find themselves the victims of exploitation once they arrive.

As of press time, Gold Mantis Construction Decoration has paid the workers $1,500 dollars in compensation, promising that the rest of their wages will be paid once they arrive home.

This is a valuable experience for Chinese companies that wish to do business abroad. Compared to the relatively lax employment procedures in China, many foreign countries have strict rules on such issues. If problems occur, the company will sustain great losses. We have to respect and obey local laws and regulations, said the spokesperson.

Workers should be aware of potential fraudulence when working overseas. They should check employment agencies' qualifications, in addition to demanding work visas, said a Shanghai-based lawyer.
(Xinhua) 17:32, May 09, 2017

LHASA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have identified three distinct periods over the past four decades that feature notably different variations of lake area and volume on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Zhang Guoqing, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, was part of a team of domestic and foreign scientists that examined annual changes in lake area, level and volume from 1970s to 2015.

The team found that the three indexes changed at similar rates. They saw a slight decline from 1970s to 1995, followed by a rapid increase from 1996 to 2010, and then a recent deceleration during the period from 2011 to 2015.

They also found that increased precipitation contributed the most to lake volume increases, followed by glacier mass loss and the melting of ground ice due to permafrost degradation.

These results suggest that the hydrological cycle on the plateau has intensified remarkably during recent decades.

The study was published in the U.S. journal Geophysical Research Letters on May 2.
Mexico oil theft reaches crisis proportions

In Mexico, thieves are now stealing gasoline and diesel fuel from pipelines at record rates, usually by drilling taps into pipelines. Such activities have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people in recent years, both from gang involvement and explosions at the tap sites, and are diverting more than a billion dollars a year in revenues from the federal government.

Stock image

On May 4, at least four soldiers and six suspected oil thieves died in a battle in the central Mexican state of Puebla after the army launched a major operation against organised criminals siphoning fuel from pipelines. Some 600 soldiers were involved in the initial operation, the state government said, with another 400 backed by helicopters and truck-mounted weapons joining them.

Television images showed locals blocking a nearby highway with burning tires in the wake of the attacks. Reuters said local media reported that the protesters blamed the army for starting the incidents.

The clash is the latest chapter in a growing problem for the Mexican government. State-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) says it is losing a record 27,000 barrels (3.68 million litres) per day of gasoline and diesel, with the states of Puebla, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato and Veracruz the worst affected.

The following day, Telesur reported that the death toll in the Puebla incident had risen to 15, with another alleged oil smuggler killed by police the same day in the eastern state of Veracruz.

Some have attributed the increase in thefts to the recent 20% gas price hike in Mexico, with low-income families struggling to buy fuel through official fuel distribution networks, and there have been widespread protests across Mexico against the price increase.

Against this background, some see the oil thieves, known locally as huachicoleros, as Robin Hood figures, helping the poor to fight back against government-imposed austerity.

Pemex has seen its finances turned around after the price hike, reporting profits of US$17.4 billion during the first three months of 2017. The company suffered significant losses during the same quarter last year.

In an April report, the New York Times highlighted the increasing involvement of Mexican gangs in large-scale oil theft, which is seen by some as an easier alternative to the drugs market. The best organised and most ruthless criminal organisations are using bribery and violence to co-opt officials at all levels of government, it said, including workers at Pemex, the state-owned energy company.

Other than drilling into pipelines, the gangs also hijack tanker trucks, taking between 1% and 2% of the total volume transported every day, according to the NYT.



But the main target is the 5,600 miles of pipeline carrying gasoline from refineries to distribution points. The pipelines are mostly buried at a shallow depth and can be perforated with high-powered drills, after which taps are installed and the fuel diverted through hoses to stolen tanker trucks.

These taps can be deadly. In 2010, at least 27 people were killed, scores injured and numerous homes destroyed when a pipeline blew up in San Martin Texmelucan de Labastida, a city in Puebla State. Smaller scale incidents since then have led to many other deaths and injuries across the country.

In 2009, the authorities discovered 462 illegal taps on the nations pipelines and estimated that fewer than 580,000 litres a day were being lost. Last year they discovered 6,873 taps  a nearly 15-fold increase.

In Mexico, the stolen oil products are sold in village markets, on roadsides, door-to-door or to smaller gas station owners. Some stolen gas has also found its way into the United States and south into Central America, the NYT says.

The epicentre of oil theft in Mexico is in the so-called Red Triangle of Puebla state, through which a major pipeline carries gasoline and diesel fuel to Mexico City from a refinery in the adjoining state of Veracruz.

In Puebla, the authorities discovered more than 1,500 illegal taps on pipelines last year, nearly double the number found in 2015 and nearly a quarter of the national total, Pemex officials said.

The surge in criminal employment and its proceeds has brought a sharp rise in income for many households in this impoverished region. The NYT quotes an anonymous top municipal police official in the Red Triangle saying that local loyalty to the thieves was so deep that his officers were often impeded from entering certain neighbourhoods even when responding to problems that had nothing to do with fuel theft.

Profits from oil theft and smuggling are such that many local officials and police have been corrupted by the gangs, and the federal government has deployed about 500 security personnel to the Red Triangle in recent weeks to combat the problem. Scores of arrests have followed, but the theft has not abated.

The mayor of the town of Atzitzintla has been detained along with 86 other people in connection with the kidnapping and murder of three government investigators by a criminal group. Earlier this year, the regional press reported that several other Puebla mayors were under investigation for possible links to gas theft.



This comes at a time when the Mexican government is seeking to attract private investors into the countrys oil sector. Industry observers say the governments failure to control oil theft will make investment in the sector considerably less attractive to those foreign companies with the expertise the country needs.



More information...

Contact Details and Archive...
MMHR is Australias oldest and most senior HR/OD consultancy and operates in all states of Australia, New Zealand South East Asia and the Pacific. www.mmhr.biz

kplace attendance and its antithesis workplace absenteeism are both complex and multifaceted phenomena that have both negative and positive consequences for all organisations that employee people.Yet, with a concerted effort the problems presented can be corrected and strategies can be developed that will improve an organisations overall productivity while driving down costs, improving customer relationships and enhancing corporate creditability. All of which have a positive impact on profitability and subsequently, survival.Our experience and research over the past 25 years has highlighted a number of startling facts which will interest all organisations.Arguably the cause of all the contentious issues and practices surrounding absenteeism, is that there is no one standard definition of absenteeism and is referred to differently by the parties involved leaving a variety terms and outcomes that refer to the same circumstance.To illustrate this point; Fair Work Ombudsman National Employment Standards documents refer to The minimum entitlement to paid personal/carers leave for an employee is 10 days per year. This contrasts with the language of HR Parishioners (Managers, Consultants and Lawyers) who refer to sick pay as a benefit or a condition of employment rather than an entitlement.Evidence based HR/OD principles require preciseness in the language used as a prerequisite for a high performance workplace culture. This is a clear indication why preciseness in the language used is a necessity.Thus, in the interests of preciseness, we use the terms;Planned Absenteeism. Being; annual leave, long service leave and regular, routine and on going medical treatment.Unplanned Absenteeism. Being; absenteeism with short or no noticeCreditable research by various Industry and Employer Associations and The Australasian College of Physicians points to the mean rate of absenteeism per worker is about seven days per annum, about which half is medically related, with a spread of one day to 10 days.The consequence of unplanned absenteeism includes; Loss of production Increased production costs Increased workloads Low moral Increase in overtime costs Frustrated managers Poor product quality Increased management and supervision costs and stress Adverse opinions held by customersUnplanned absenteeism has a causal inverse relationship with an organisations productivity. That is; the higher the unplanned absenteeism the lower the productivity and vice-versa.In the 1990s we were engaged to provide an end-to-end HR and OD strategy for a greenfield coal mine site in the Hunter Valley.Our research, involving other industries and mines in the area, revealed that the biggest single impediment to productivity was unplanned absenteeism.That is; the unscheduled non attendance by haul truck drivers and plant operators where notification was either absent or far too late in the day.Typically, lost opportunity costs for a haul truck were 450 tonnes a load with 35 haul runs per shift at $US55 a tonne. A considerable amount of lost revenue that was very hard to make up.Further investigation revealed that and consistent with other research, that about 50% of the unplanned absenteeism was not medically related.Further investigation revealed that unplanned absenteeism was, in the main, about family obligations such as transporting a sick relative to the base hospital in Newcastle for continuing health treatment or to watch a grand child in a sporting event in Sydney.To combat the unplanned nature of the absenteeism, we introduced through the enterprise agreement the concept of Pressing Domestic Leave being three days annually of fully paid but not accumulative leave to meet home and family obligations provide a week's notice was given.The strategy, which includes the development of absenteeism notification policies, was an instant success and became self funding in a short time.This innovative concept was soon to be adopted Employers Associations and the Union movement who re-branded it as personal /carers leave and it is now enshrined in Fair Work Australia Regulations.However, managing absenteeism was only one side of the attendance coin. So as an act of recognition, at the end of each financial year, the General Manager would host a dinner at a local restaurant for all those workers, and their partners, that had not had a single day absent in the preceding 12 monthsOur research and experience has taught us that monetary rewards should never be considered as a solution in the management of unplanned absenteeism nor should the practice of paying out untaken sick leave.These practices have never worked and never will. Monetary rewards have negative effects including fostering presentism which is the practice of presenting at work when ill.We have found that there is in some workplaces there is an Absentee Culture where there is a belief that taking sickies is all about claiming what is rightfully a workers entitlement which is contrary to the employment benefit of a safety net for sick people.Another finding is that while the best predictor of future behaviour is to be found in previous behaviour in similar circumstance. It is this concept that underpins behavioural event interviewing techniques when exploring a candidates suitability for a position in the mine.On a broader scale we have not found any evidence; apart from the Coal Mine client mentioned above, of this aspect of persons make up being tested in any part of the recruitment processes that we reviewed. It was, in the main, regarded by many as some thing sacred and not spoken about.One of our techniques in reviewing absenteeism is to search for patterns of absenteeism and how that corresponds to personal hobbies and calendar significant events. We have also found that the front line supervisor plays an important role in absentee management as does the line manager.Another finding is the strong lack of knowledge of the consequences of making a false Statutory Declaration which is the usual method of claiming sick pay without a doctors certificate.The penalty for making a false declaration is a maximum of four years imprisonment.To correct this poor approach to unplanned absenteeism, to improve production and hence profitability all organisations must develop implement, adopt and subsequently practice a series of attendance policies and procedures which define the context and objectives, assign responsibilities and accountabilities to managers and supervisors.The rewards and returns are; increased productivity, higher morale and engagement and above all develop a clear and certain future. The return on investment in such an exercise is very strong with a short break-even time frame.One of our most disturbing experiences occurred during an intervention at a large 24/7production plant operating in Victoria where manufactured overtime was a suspected and to a certain point an accepted practice.A shift maintenance person was overheard saying to his fellow work mate.I would like you to have a couple of sickies in the next month. My daughter is getting married and I need the overtime. I will pay you back the month after its all over.Another interesting comment came from a first line supervisor in a road services organisation where the supervisors, being the true custodians of a workplace culture, were asked about their roles and responsibilities in the management of unscheduled absenteeism.What is wrong with him being sick every Tuesday after along weekend? He is entitled to it.INTERESTING CASE STUDIES1. A weigh bridge operator in a quarry in country Victoria was found to have had the first Tuesday and the next day (Wednesday) of November absent on sick leave every year for the past 17 years. Ask yourself: When is the Melbourne Cup run?2. Two outdoor workers in a Local Government Council have had every second Tuesday off on sick leave for the months of February, March and April for the past 4 years. They were part owners of a kennel of Grey Hounds3. We were asked to conduct a training program for a large engineering workshop in southern suburbs of Brisbane. The topic being Wearing Safety Glasses.Our research and investigation found that some interesting facts and patterns. Only four of the 30 maintenance technicians were involved, all with visits to the local hospital out patients department, all incidents being foreign bodies in their eyes, all had occurred on a Thursday at some time after 11.30am. Literature research revealed that the industrial award provided: that should a person take ill after attending work for 4 hours then they are entitled to sick pay without it being deducted from their accumulated sick leave. All four were keen harness racing fans.4. One of our most successful interventions was with a Shire Council in country NSW, where the average rate of sick pay across the council was 9 days per employee per annum, far above the national average. We analysed the data, searched for patterns, scrutinised the policies and procedures and liaised with the various representatives including councillors.We then designed an absentee awareness training program for all levels of the council covering legal implications, revised policies and procedures and the absenteeism rate fell and the net result was that in the first 12 months of operation we returned to the councils customers and rate payers 1800 extra service days (council speak). This figure increased in the next 12 months to 2200 it then stabilised and remained at that figure into the future.This figure transcribes into 10 employees being needed to cover preventable and /or unnecessary absenteeismWe have used theses case studies to illustrate the depth and variety of the problem of workplace absenteeism which can be usually addressed by a well planned and implemented culture change intervention. The first step is to establish a set of standard definitions which at this point seems to be beyond industry players as a whole.For those that wish to improve productivity, drive down costs, improve profitability and improve customer relationships, analysing the current workplace absenteeism is a good place to start.
(Reuters) Verde Asset Management SA, Brazils largest hedge fund, sees lingering risks that Brazilian lawmakers will further water down government efforts to streamline the social security system, a move that could hamper austerity efforts in Latin Americas largest economy. Investors have been complacent with the negotiations as the Temer administration seeks to gather lawmaker support for the so-called pension reform, Verde money managers led by Luiz Stuhlberger said in a monthly investor letter for April.

To read this article:
If a clearly provocative character such as myself entered the government, itd make it difficult for us to promote our own objectives in the government, he explained in an interview on YLE TV1 on Saturday.

Jussi Halla-aho (PS), a Member of the European Parliament, says he is not interested in taking on a ministerial portfolio in the event that he is elected as the next chairperson of the Finns Party.

He revealed that his reluctance also stems from the fact that he is not currently a member of the parliament.

Theres also the practical risk of ministers being vulnerable to extortion. People can tell them that unless you do exactly as I say, youll be kicked out of the government. That situation is completely different if you can fall back to a seat in the parliament, stated Halla-aho.

He also indicated that he would not grant the wish of the outgoing chairperson, Timo Soini (PS), to continue in the capacity of the Minister for Foreign Affairs until 2019.

I think itd be quite an unusual situation if the ex-chairperson of a party held on to the partys largest portfolio in the government. It could lead to certain problems, especially when news outlets and other parties are thinking about who they should call to find out the position of Finns Party ministers [on a particular issue].

Soini has said he would be honoured to continue performing his ministerial duties until the end of the electoral term.

I would like to continue in the position until the end of the current electoral term. This will depend on a number of things, first and foremost on the party remaining in the government, he wrote in his blog in announcing his decision not to seek re-election as the chairperson of the populist party in March.

The Finns Party will elect a successor to its long-term leader in June.

Halla-aho on Saturday promised that if emerges victorious from the leadership elections, the party will place greater emphasis on immigration issues in its policy making. He also revealed to the national broadcasting company that he is intent on campaigning for Finlands withdrawal from the euro and the European Union.

The leadership election is widely expected to be a two-horse race between Halla-aho and Sampo Terho, the newly-appointed Minister of European Affairs, Culture and Sports. Terho has similarly estimated that Finland is possibly, even likely, returning to its own currency in the long term.

Leena Meri, a first-term member of the parliament from Hyvinkaa, and Veera Ruoho, a first-term member of the parliament from Espoo, have also thrown their hats into the leadership ring.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Kalle Parkkinen  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The European Commission has published a set of official guidelines concerning forthcoming Brexit negotiations with the UK. Unanimously agreed upon by all 27 European Union countries other than the United Kingdom, the guidelines outline the EUs intentions to protect the 3.2 million EU citizens living in the UK and the 1.2 million UK citizens living in the EU.

The document, which is the most detailed to have been published since June 24, argues that the UK's exit deal from the EU must ensure that the rights of UK and EU nationals are protected for life and legally enforceable. These include rights to healthcare, social security, pensions, residence and mutual recognition of qualifications.

The stance of the European Commission can be contrasted with that of the UK government, which has consistently said it will not act unilaterally to guarantee the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK until the EU has agreed to do the same for UK nationals living in the EU.

Laura Shields, Chair of the European branch of the British Liberal Democrat party, had this to say in response to the publication of the EUs guidelines on Wednesday, May 3: Today's guidelines pour cold water on the UK Government's argument that a deal on citizens' rights can be done quickly and easily. The European Commission recognises how complicated the issue is, which is why it has rightly called for an agreement that is comprehensive, permanent and legally enforceable.

She went on to add: The ball is now in the UK Government's court. If it is serious about getting a fair deal for EU and UK citizens then it must respond appropriately and sensitively when it returns serve.

In a fact sheet released upon the publication of the guidelines, the European Commission addressed the great uncertainty in the lives of many European citizens following the announcement of Brexit. The EUs reasoning behind the guidelines was summarised by Michel Barnier, Union negotiator for the Article 50 negotiations with the UK, in a European Commission press release:

"With our recommendation today, we are on track to make sure that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union happens in an orderly fashion. This is in the best interests of everyone. As soon as the UK is ready, we shall start negotiating in a constructive manner."

Dan Anderson  HT

Photo: Lehtikuva / AFP / John Thys
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on May 8 signed a contract with a Chinese company to procure a S26T diesel-electric submarine, a move experts believe will promote Chinas export of conventional submarines.

The contract was signed in Beijing by RTN chief of staff, Vice Admiral Luechai Ruddit and Xu Ziqiu, chairman of the stated-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). According to CSICs official website, this is the companys second submarine export contract, after an eight-ship deal with Pakistan's navy in 2015.

The submarines from China are the cheapest, with quality that is relatively acceptable. [China] also offers services after purchase, something extra that we have received, Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was quoted as saying by Nationmultimedia.com in March.

The S26T will be the RTNs first submarine since the end of World War II. Due to domestic politics and a budget shortage, the country delayed its plan to buy a submarine until China offered an unbeatable deal.

According to Nationmultimedia.com, the ship will be nearly 78 meters long and 9 meters wide. It will be equipped with the latest technology, including a AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) system, which will allow the ship to stay underwater for up to 21 days without resurfacing. Normal nuclear-based submarines can dive for around seven to 10 days at at time.
SEOUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Moon Jae-in of the liberal Minjoo Party led media exit polls in South Korea's presidential election by a large margin, an official survey from three local broadcasters showed Tuesday.

Moon came closer to becoming the country's 19th president with 41.4 percent support, beating conservative and centrist rivals by a wide margin.

Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party, with which ousted President Park Geun-hye was affiliated, won 23.3 percent support, trailed by Ahn Cheol-soo of the centrist People's Party garnering 21.8 percent.

Yoo Seong-min of the conservative Righteous Party gained 7.1 percent support, and Sim Sang-jung of the liberal Justice Party had 5.9 percent.

The exit polls were conducted for 13 hours to 7 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) at 330 polling stations with around 89,000 voters. It has 0.8 percentage points in margin of error.

The final turnout was 77.2 percent, or 32,808,377 voters among the electorate of 42,479,710 people. It was higher than the previous election's 75.8 percent in 2012.

An early voting, which was introduced in 2013 and first applied to this year's presidential election, was conducted from May 4 to May 5. The early voting rate was 26.06 percent.

The elected president will have no 70-day transition period as it is the first by-election caused by the removal of former President Park Geun-hye from office over corruption allegations.

The election commission is forecast to declare the winner early Wednesday after completing the vote count.
An artists impression of the proposed College Green plaza which, if built, will accommodate 15,000 people

Business groups fear a proposed 10m civic plaza could bring traffic chaos to Dublin.

The planned College Green development would accommodate 15,000 people but traders are worried it will create further congestion in the city centre.

Dublin City Council will seek planning permission later this month to create the new plaza.

If given the green light, it would result in a complete ban on buses, cars and taxis crossing to and from Dame Street.

The plans would also mean only buses, taxis and the Luas would be allowed travel from Westmoreland Street to Nassau Street when Luas Cross City begins operations later this year. All private cars will be banned and instead forced to detour around the city to travel from the northside to the southside and vice versa.

The body representing Dublin businesses has raised concerns that the plaza will cause knock-on traffic problems.

Graeme McQueen, head of public affairs at Dublin Chamber, said that if traffic issues are not adequately addressed it could stop people coming into the city centre.

"Re-imagining College Green represents an exciting opportunity for Dublin but only if we get it right," he said.

pollution

"But, get it wrong and the consequence will be that people won't want to come into the city centre - neither by bus nor by car.

"The council says it has done modelling work to show what impact the displacement of cars will have. This data should be made publicly available."

Dublin City architect Ali Grehan said creating a public space was a "flagship project" for the council and that the area was currently marked by disorder, clutter, buses, traffic and pollution.

"We're completely under-appreciating this key asset," she said, adding the council planned to create a "living room" for the city.

Permission will be sought from An Bord Pleanala in the coming weeks and it will be October at the earliest before a decision is made. The plaza will take up to 18 months to build.

The council said that, if permission was delayed or refused, it would use traffic management powers to ban cars from the area to allow Luas Cross City to move freely through the city.

The public and interested groups including businesses will have six weeks to make submissions to the board, which could also decide to hold a public hearing into the plans.

The plaza could be used for large events including concerts, civic receptions and the St Patrick's Day parade.

A two-way cycle path will be installed on the southside of the plaza opposite the Bank of Ireland and a turning circle for buses put in place beside Foster Place, to allow them to return west on Dame Street.

Taxi ranks currently in the College Green area will be moved to nearby streets and the council also said that additional bike parking would be provided.

Some other traffic changes will also be required, including the introduction of a bus-only left-hand turn from the quays onto Parliament Street, and a right-hand bus-only turn from Dame Street on to South Great George's Street.

A space of 7,300 sq m will be created and eight existing trees replaced with 22 others, along with seating and other street furniture.

banned

Cars will largely be banned, although cash-in-transit vans will be allowed access to Foster Place and Bank of Ireland.

In addition, disabled bank customers and those depositing large sums of cash will be allowed to use the car park at the front of the Bank of Ireland building on College Green.

The council said it was in negotiations with the bank to limit access to the car park to between 10am and 2pm in order to ensure that the plaza would not be impacted by cars during busy periods.

It added that some 625 taxis, 380 buses, 1,000 cyclists, 6,000 pedestrians and 40 trams per hour would use the area.
A labourer threw a rock at his sister's home after an argument over money.

David Elliot (42) had been drinking and was angry with his sister at the time.

Judge Fiona Lydon ordered Elliot to pay 150 compensation for the damage he caused.

She also ordered him to donate 150 to the Capuchin Friary and said she would apply the Probation Act.

The defendant, from Killester Park, Killester, admitted a charge of criminal damage on October 2, 2016.

Dublin District Court heard Elliot threw a rock at his sister's house shortly after 1am, damaging a window.

A garda sergeant told the court that the cost to repair the window was 150.

Trouble

The court heard the defendant has five previous convictions, mostly for road traffic matters.

He has not been in trouble since 2010.

Defence solicitor Paul Byrne said the defendant is working part-time as a labourer.

Elliot is from a family of four, one of whom is deceased.

Mr Byrne said there was a falling out between the siblings, and on the day this incident happened there had been a heated dispute about money.

Mr Byrne told the court that Elliot wanted it made clear he did not owe his sister any money.

The solicitor said Elliot was angry on the night and had consumed alcohol.

He has not spoken to his sister since the incident, the court was told.

Mr Byrne also said that the defendant was willing to pay compensation for the damage he caused.
Single mother-of-one Sonia Blount thought she was meeting a man called Shane Cully at The Plaza Hotel

A former male model allegedly assumed a false identity on social media and lured his ex-girlfriend to a hotel bedroom where he strangled her to death.

Eric Locke (35) has admitted he caused the death of mother-of-one Sonia Blount in a hotel room in Tallaght in February 2014.

He had been in a brief relationship with Ms Blount but it had fizzled out and a court heard he did not take the break-up well.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court has been told by prosecutors that it was going to be asked to concentrate on the mental state of Mr Locke at the time of Ms Blount's death.

Mr Locke, of St John's Park East, in Clondalkin, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Blount at The Plaza Hotel on February 16, 2014.

In his opening address to the jury Remy Farrell, prosecuting, said this case was "not a whodunit" but rather the jury would be asked to concentrate on the mental state of the accused.

Mr Farrell told the court that Ms Blount was a 31-year-old single mother who had a three-year-old boy from a previous relationship.

Suicide

He said she had a brief relationship with Mr Locke in late 2013 lasting a matter of weeks but by early January 2014 that relationship had fizzled out.

Mr Farrell said it appears Mr Locke did not take the break-up very well.

He said it seemed Mr Locke had threatened to commit suicide and had asked for Ms Blount to be contacted.

The court heard Mr Locke continued to send Ms Blount text messages for some period of time after the break-up.

By early February 2014, Mr Farrell said it appeared the situation had calmed down and Mr Locke had accepted the relationship was over.

After the first week of February, Mr Farrell said Ms Blount stopped communicating with Mr Locke.

Specifically, she had blocked him on Facebook.

Mr Farrell said it seems Mr Locke was very unhappy that Ms Blount had done this but from her point of view, there matters lay.

By mid-February 2014, Mr Farrell said Ms Blount had been in contact with a man on Facebook who went by the name of "Shane Cully". The messaging began as banter but developed into more risque and intimate private messaging and the pair later arranged to meet up for a sexual encounter.

Mr Farrell warned the jury it was important for them not to judge and emphasised that Ms Blount was not on trial.

"The chat resulted in an arrangement being made that on the evening of February 15, Sonia Blount would meet Shane Cully in The Plaza Hotel, in Tallaght," he said.

Mr Farrell said February 15, 2014 was an important day for Ms Blount as she held her son's birthday party in Rathfarnham.

She also indicated to family she was going out with a female friend that night.

"She was probably never going out with a friend," he said.

"That may have been cover as she had arranged a secret date with a stranger."

The jury heard that Ms Blount checked into The Plaza Hotel shortly after 9pm.

Shane Cully was going to come along later and Ms Blount arranged that a keycard be left for him at reception.

"Later that evening, somebody did arrive at The Plaza Hotel but it wasn't Shane Cully," said Mr Farrell.

There was no Shane Cully but rather Mr Locke had assumed a false identity and arranged to meet Ms Blount, he told the court.

Mr Farrell said this seemed to have been done for one purpose only - to ensure she was on her own in a hotel room.

He said Mr Locke brought cable ties, masking tape and an airgun to the hotel, which he said, was "brought with the view of dominating, overpowering" the victim.

The jury was told that Ms Blount's body was found later on February 16 lying on the floor of the bedroom.

Dominating

There was a garment in her mouth and she died by asphyxiation and strangulation.

He told the jury that it would hear from a State pathologist who would give evidence that it "takes some time to affect death to someone by that".

Mr Farrell said the accused was later interviewed by gardai and admitted he strangled Ms Blount.

He claimed he did not mean to kill her.

He said Mr Locke told gardai that Ms Blount became upset when she saw the items, that he panicked in some way and strangled her.

Mr Farrell also said the communications between the two were important as they would provide to the jury a digital fingerprint of the arc of the pair's relationship.

He told the court hearing that there would also be evidence of what the accused did in the aftermath of Ms Blount's death as well as details of his movements the next day.

There was also CCTV footage of Mr Locke coming and going from the hotel, as well as images of him dumping something into a drain outside - a mobile phone, which Mr Farrell said had helped gardai to assemble details of the relationship between the two people.

He also told jury members that only they could decide what happened in that hotel bedroom.

The trial opened with evidence from gardai from the Mapping Section.

Staff at The Plaza Hotel have also given evidence of finding Ms Blount's body lying on the floor of room 346.

The court heard that they contacted the owner of the hotel as well as the emergency services.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Michael Moriarty and a jury of eight men and four women.
A woman who pleaded guilty to killing her toddler son at their Dublin home has been receiving ongoing treatment at the Central Mental Hospital.

Hazel Waters (46), of Ridge Hall, Ballybrack admitted to the manslaughter of Muhammad Hassan Khan (2) when she appeared before the Central Criminal Court yesterday.

The child was found dead with stab wounds caused by scissors in the bedroom of their home on October 16, 2014.

Ms Waters was charged with murdering her son between October 15 and 16, that year. When asked to plead at the hearing she said: "Not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter." It was accepted by the court.

Brendan Grehan, defending, said psychiatric reports will be provided by the defence and prosecution before sentencing.

He said there would be issues of "diminished responsibility".

Lifeless

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy adjourned sentencing until May 23.

Little Hassan's lifeless body was found in a bedroom at the south Dublin apartment. He had suffered a fatal stab wound to his throat.

On August 10, 2014, the boy was briefly the subject of a Child Rescue Ireland (CRI) alert when gardai became seriously concerned for his wellbeing.

The alert was stood down after a number of hours when he was found safe and well with his father, Mohammed Saleem Khan (63), in Ballybrack.

It previously emerged that the family of the tragic toddler had asked health authorities to take him into short-term care 72 hours before he was stabbed to death.

Healthcare staff were also warned by close relatives of the boy's mother Ms Waters that she needed psychiatric assessment.

The mother-of-one worked as a beautician for several years at the most exclusive salons in Manhattan, New York, and even worked with the likes of actor Richard Gere and Hillary Clinton.

Ms Waters converted to Islam a number of years ago, shortly after she met the boy's father Mr Khan.

Former doctor Mr Khan was no longer in a relationship with the mother of his child, at the time of the unlawful killing.

Heartbroken Mr Khan was joined by members of the Muslim and Christian communities for his son's funeral at the Clonskeagh Mosque just days after the child's death.

A single bunch of white flowers was placed on top of the coffin during the ceremony which lasted just a few minutes.

No one spoke during the funeral but afterwards mourners sympathised with Mr Khan.

The boy's body was then taken to the Muslim cemetery in Newcastle, Co Dublin.

A friend of Mr Khan's told the Herald at the time that the father was "confused and angry" about the tragic loss of his son and wanted to know why it happened.
A man from Zhuhai, Guangdong province will kick off his journey around the coastline of China on May 15, traveling without any escort in a man-powered kayak.

The adventurer, Li Huacan, currently lives in Shanghai. He was chosen as one of the world's top 10 explorers by National Geographic in November 2016 after finishing the first source-to-sea solo expedition down the Yellow River. Li has logged 7,000 kilometers of solo ocean travel in the last decade, along with 15,000 kilometers of solo river travel. Now Li is poised to hit the water once again.

China has the world's fourth longest coastline, totaling 18,000 kilometers along eight coastal provinces. Li will start his journey from Fangchenggang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the southwest, and he will finish in Dandong, Liaoning province in the northeast. The estimated range of the journey is between 6,000 and 7,000 kilometers.

Li owns a customized kayak made of Kevlar fiber, measuring 56 centimeters in width and 540 centimeters in length. Besides the vessel's reinforced body, a solar charging panel is also installed on the kayak. The balance of the boat will be totally controlled by Li himself. A cross-bar is present in case of capsizing.

Climate and ocean currents are the main reasons the explorer set his date of departure for May 15, but that date also happens to be International Day of Families. This is especially appropriate given that Li's wife will join him for land travel during his journey.

Compared with his solo expedition down the Yellow River, which brought social awareness to the cause of environmental protection, Li's next trip will simply be a family expedition. He hopes to show the world that love means sticking together, no matter what one's journey brings.
An IS supporter in Raqqa brandishes the flag of the terror group

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of using Irish bank accounts to transfer money connected to Islamic State (IS).

Detectives from the Garda Counter Terrorism International (CTI) unit swooped on the two men in Co Dublin yesterday morning, following a lengthy operation involving other international police agencies.

The arrested suspects - an Algerian national in his 30s and a Moroccan man in his 40s - are being held at Blackrock Garda Station in south Dublin.

Terror

They were detained under the Terrorist Offences Act 2015.

A senior source said last night that the men, who have lived here for a number of years, are suspected of using Irish bank accounts for the transfer of money connected to the notorious terror group.

They were arrested as part of a major international police operation that led to four searches yesterday, including in Trim, Co Meath, and the South Circular Road - as well as the addresses where the men were arrested.

The arrest and search operation is a separate investigation to the anti-terror arrest in Waterford city, which saw a young man being arrested there last month.

Laptops, documentation and financial material were seized in yesterday's top-secret searches.

Gardai had been provided with information by foreign police forces, which led to a major surveillance operation taking place.

"This operation is focusing on money-laundering taking place in Ireland for [IS]," a senior source said.

The operations were part of an ongoing investigation carried out by the CTI unit, a branch of the Special Detective Unit based in Harcourt Square.

The CTI has also been assisted by security agencies from other countries.

Threat

Senior gardai have previously said the organisation was skilled enough to deal with the threat of foreign terror groups.

Superintendent Noel Cunningham, president of the Association of Garda Superintendents, said that combating dissident republicans over the last number of decades has also helped train gardai in the gathering and dissemination of intelligence.

"This is a whole new departure for us," he said.

"I believe we are adequately resourced and I think we have a huge expertise built up over the years dealing with the threat of the IRA."
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 10

Trend:

Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923 in Nakhchivan city of Azerbaijan. In 1939, after graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical School, he entered the Architecture Department of the Industrial Institute of Azerbaijan (now the State Oil Academy of Azerbaijan), but the incipient war impeded the completion of his education.

Since 1941, Heydar Aliyev has headed a department at the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Nakhchivan, and in 1944, was sent to work at state security bodies. He received special education in the cities of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and Moscow. In 1957 he graduated from the History Department of the Azerbaijan State University. Having worked for twenty five years at state security bodies, Heydar Aliyev worked as a deputy chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR since 1964, and from 1967, held the office of chairman of the committee, and rose to the rank of a major general.

Elected, at the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan in July 1969, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev became the head of the republic.

Elected a candidate to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union's Communist Party in 1976, and a member of the Political Bureau in 1982, Heydar Aliyev was appointed the first deputy chairman of the USSR's Council of Ministers. While on this position, Heydar Aliyev headed the most significant areas of the USSR's economic, social and cultural lives.

For twenty years, Heydar Aliyev has been a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, and for five years, worked as a first deputy chairman of the USSR's Council of Ministers.

In October 1987, as a sign of protest against the policy pursued by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union's Communist Party and, personally, by Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, Heydar Aliyev resigned from his post.

In bound with the tragedy committed on 20 January 1990 in Baku by the Soviet troops, Heydar Aliyev, appearing the next day at the Representative Office of Azerbaijan in Moscow with a statement, demanded that the organizers and executors of the crime committed against the people of Azerbaijan be punished. As a sign of protest against the hypocritical policy of the USSR leadership towards the critical conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, in July 1991, he left the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

After returning to Azerbaijan in July 1990, Heydar Aliyev first lived in Baku, then moved to Nakhchivan, and the same year was elected a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan. In 1991-1993, he held the post of chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1992, at the constituent congress of the New Azerbaijan Party in Nakhchivan, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the Party.

In May-June 1993, when, as a result of a crisis in the government, the country was on the verge of a civil war and faced the peril of losing independence, the people of Azerbaijan demanded to bring Heydar Aliyev to power, and the then leaders of Azerbaijan were obliged to officially invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku.

On 15 June 1993, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan, and on 24 June, by a resolution of the National Assembly, he proceeded to fulfilling the authorities of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On October 3, 1993, as a result of the nationwide vote, Heydar Aliyev was elected president of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

At the election held on October 11, 1998, he was re-elected president of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev, giving his consent to be nominated as a candidate at the 15 October 2003 presidential elections, relinquished to run at the elections due to health problems.

On December 12, 2003, national leader of the Azerbaijani people, President Heydar Aliyev passed away in a Cleveland hospital in the US, where he had been undergoing medical treatment, and on December 15, was buried at the Alley of Honor in Baku.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 9

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

Relations between Azerbaijan and Italy have a long history, Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Giampaolo Cutillo told Trend.

He made the remarks on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Diplomatic, trade and cultural ties between Italy and Azerbaijan, which existed for centuries, were restored in 1992 after Azerbaijan gained independence," Cutillo noted, adding relations between the two countries rose to the level of strategic partnership.

Azerbaijan is a place that brings together different cultures, according to the envoy.

He added that since gaining independence, Azerbaijan has come a long way and the country has a clear vision of its future.
Headline changed, details added (first version posted at 10:20)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 9

Trend:

A solemn ceremony has been held in Baku to mark the 72nd anniversary of victory over fascism in World War Two.

Azerbaijani President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the ceremony.

Chairman of the Republican Council of Veterans, Major General in reserve Dadash Rzayev greeted the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva met with war veterans and congratulated them on Victory Day.

The Azerbaijani president and the first lady met with family members of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Hazi Aslanov, and congratulated them on Victory Day.

Then President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath at the statue of Major General of Tank Troops, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Hazi Aslanov.

A guard of honor passed in front of the Commander-in-Chief under the accompaniment of a military march.

The head of state and the first lady posed for photographs together with veterans of World War Two.

The ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov, Head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev and other officials.
Marylanders vote to legalize recreational marijuana

Question four on the 2022 midterm election ballot asked for the voters to decide if marijuana should be legalized in Maryland.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 9

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijan invested $284.4 million in the economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev.

Mustafayev made the remarks during his meeting with the UAE Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammed Ahmed Hamel Al Qubaisi in Baku on May 9.

During the meeting, the issues of economic relations between Azerbaijan and the UAE, as well as the process of implementing the points of the protocol signed following the sixth meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation were discussed, according to Azerbaijans Economy Ministry.

Mustafayev noted that to date, about 40 documents have been signed between Azerbaijan and the UAE, six meetings of the intergovernmental commission have been held, and the first foreign representation of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been opened in Baku.

Investments in the Azerbaijani economy by the UAE total $778.1 million, while Azerbaijan invested $284.4 million in the UAE, noted the minister adding that 225 companies from the UAE have been registered in Azerbaijan.

An export mission was sent to the UAE to promote Azerbaijani goods, and there was also presented a stand dedicated to Azerbaijani products, and goods export have already begun under a number of contracts, added Mustafayev.

Currently, there are successful relations in the fields of agriculture, ICT, energy, trade, investment and education, said the minister.

During the meeting, the two sides also discussed such issues as the activity of the Azerbaijan-UAE Business Council, exchange of trade information, expansion of trade relations, as well as the export of Azerbaijani goods to the UAE, opportunities of Arab businessmen to invest in the industrial parks and zones being created in Azerbaijan.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 9

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has sent a congratulatory letter to Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of his election as the President of France, the Turkmen government said in a message May 9.

The Turkmen leader expressed to Emmanuel Macron his best wishes of good health, happiness, as well as success in the highest state position for the sake of further progress and prosperity of the friendly country, according to the message.

French companies in Turkmenistan are represented in such areas as construction, transportation, tourism and energy.

The two countries are also interested in implementing the project of transporting Turkmen gas to Europe. The option of laying a gas pipeline through the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan and its connection to transnational projects in the European direction is also being viewed.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 8



By Fatih Karimov  Trend:



Irans foreign ministry has banned the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) from any activity at the disputed Arash gas field, Hamid Bovard, managing director of the IOOC, said.



He made the remarks while explaining the reason behind halting the IOOC activities in the joint field with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Mehr news agency reported May 8.



Arash gas field is positioned on Iran-Kuwaits water border and it is known as Dorra on the Kuwaiti side.



There is also a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over Dorra. In 2013, the two countries shelved a project to jointly develop the field amid disagreement on how to share the produced gas.



In 2012, Iran pledged to begin unilateral work on the field after Kuwait did not respond to its joint development offer.



The fields gas reserve is estimated at one trillion cubic feet along with some 310 million barrels of oil.



The problem regarding the field is disputes over the geographical borders which should be settled, Bovard said, adding that currently the Iranian foreign ministry has prohibited any activity by Iranian side in this field.



The Iranian Offshore Oil Company is a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, operating in southern Iran. Its activities cover important areas of the Persian Gulf and its main operations are in Bushehr Province and on Kharg Island, Sirri Island and Lavan Island.
Tehran, Iran, May 8



By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:



It has been thought that once freed from sanctions, Iran would become a serious rival for Russia in the European gas market. Russia is currently Europes top gas supplier.



Gazprom PJSC, the state-run gas exporter shipped a record amount of gas to the European Union last year that accounted for about 34 percent of the trading blocs use of the fuel.



However, Tehran shows to be an unlikely rival for Russia in the gas market, much the same way it has been an ally on the political front.



"Iran likes to engage in constructive cooperation with its neighbors," said Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Kazemi May 7 when asked by Trend if he thought Russia would back Irans projects to export gas to Europe as it supported Iran in its nuclear talks with the West.



But things do not stop there. Iran and Russia are actually looking for gas cooperation in the field.



In late March Deputy Oil Minister Hamid Reza Araqi said Iran and Gazprom were negotiating to carry out joint projects.



One of the projects is joint export of natural gas, Araqi, who heads National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said, adding that "Iran and Russia are not rivals in the gas sector. Rather, joint activities in this sector will be beneficial for the both sides."



Araqi further said that a joint working group has been formed to determine possible projects and joint activities.



Nevertheless, Gazprom has just begun construction work on the Turkish Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea to Turkey to get a better grip on its European market.



"By late 2019, our Turkish and European consumers will have a new, reliable source of Russian gas imports," Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, said May 7.



As for Iran, according to the International Monetary, its gas output increased by 10 percent in 2016 to 3.26 million barrels oil equivalent per day (mbOE/d) and the figure is expected to reach 3.39 mbOE/d in 2017 and 3.53 mbOE/d in 2018. The gas has already saturated the domestic market and Iran is eyeing foreign markets.



Tehran was freed from economic sanctions in 2016 and has started refurbishing its gas industry to boost output. As such, the country needs huge amounts of investment to carry out the development projects, most of which it has to seek abroad.



Therefore, it would be a good win-win game if Iran sought investment in its gas sector from Russia and the product would be exported to Europe with shared benefits.
Iran started exporting electricity to Iraq after Baghdad government agreed to pay its arrears in different installments, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian announced, IRNA reported.

Speaking to reporters, he said the volume of exports of electricity to Iraq varies based on the countrys temperature in different seasons and peak of energy consumption in the country.

Export of Iran's electricity to Iraq is about 1500 megawatts and the figure will fluctuate due to different reasons, Chitchian said.

Export of electricity to Iraq halted on the last day of December 2016 immediately after upon termination of their contract with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the energy minister added.
This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/
Never ever has a sitting judge of the high court been arrested and sent to jail. But on May 9, the Supreme Court of India made judicial history. It ordered the arrest and imprisonment for six months of the controversial Calcutta High Court Judge, Justice CS Karnan. This incident, where judges traded arguments in full public view and questioned each others sanity, has damaged the judiciarys reputation. A reputation which is already at an all-time low, courtesy recent controversies such as those involving Justice Markandaya Katju, Justice Soumitro Sen and Justice P D Dinakaran.

This extraordinary development has once again brought into focus the need to have a mechanism  a half way house  to deal with problems of delinquency among judges, outside the impeachment process. It becomes even more important because of rising instances of misconduct among judges and the inadequacy of mechanisms to discipline them.

Under the current regime, there is an informal practice of appointment of committee judges to look into charges of indiscipline and impropriety by judges. But this mechanism is found to be wanting as a judge found guilty of misconduct cannot be removed from office or suspended.

Even the tried and tested method of transferring erring judges to different high courts has proved to be ineffective.

An attempt to deal with the problem was made by the government in 2006, when it enacted the Judges Inquiry Bill, proposing a committee of judges to deal with instances of misbehaviour by judges.

However, it was shot down by the parliament on the premise that judges will be judges in their own causes and the process will not be fair. In the absence of a constitutional amendment and out-of-the-box thinking by judges, this problem of delinquency threatens to blow up in the face of the judiciary.

It will be a better idea to have a bill that gives more power to judiciary to deal with its in-house problems.

The only way forward from here will be an amendment in the constitution and carving out of a half-way house between the impeachment process and the informal mechanism to persuading erring judges to retire voluntarily and contempt proceedings like the one in Justice Karnans case.

No doubt Justice Karnans actions have been unparalleled and extremely contemptuous but the Supreme Court may have just set a wrong precedent. The constitution guarantees independence to high courts by clearly defining the appointment and removal process of judges. But after the order in this case, apprehensions are bound to cloud the minds of high court judges and could have the effect of compromising their independence.

Can we from here on think of high court judges being independent of the Supreme Court?

Besides, what makes Justice Karnans case interesting and unprecedented is the fact that not many countries in the world have faced this kind of a problem. And the ones that faced it have dealt with the problem by persuading the judges to resign. The example of noted British judge Lord Dennings comes to mind. He resigned as a judge after charges of racism were made against him.

However, these informal methods to deal with delinquency in India have failed.

.
Actor Akshay Kumar is on cloud nine these days and he has all the right reasons. On May 3, President Pranab Mukherjee presented the actor with the National Award for his performance in Rustom and Airlift. And, today, the actor met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Capital to tell him about his upcoming film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha . Akshay shared a photo with NaMo on his Twitter page and it didnt take long for it to become a hot topic on social media.

Met PM @narendramodi and got the opportunity to tell him about my upcoming Toilet-Ek Prem Katha. His smile at just the title made my day!, the actor tweeted.

Met PM @narendramodi and got the opportunity to tell him about my upcoming 'Toilet-Ek Prem Katha.' His smile at just the title made my day! pic.twitter.com/qbvYrlbM2Y  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 9, 2017

The film, which also stars actor Bhumi Pednekar, is a satirical comedy based on Modis Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a governmental initiative to improve the sanitation conditions in India. Helmed by Shree Narayan Singh, it will highlight the importance of the pay-and-use toilet scheme and bring to light the issue of open defecation, mostly in rural areas of India. The film releases on August 11, and will clash with Imtiaz Alis Shah Rukh Khan-Anushka Sharma starrer.

On March 30, Akshay Kumar had shared the first poster of his film.

Pleased to share, @ToiletTheFilm an unusual love story will be with you on 11th Aug, 2017. Tayyar ho jayye Swachch Azaadi ke liye! pic.twitter.com/EEb5bOySu0  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) March 30, 2017

On March 24, the actor had shared a video message on his Twitter page, in which he urged people to change their thought process, build more toilets and have more hygienic surroundings.

Time hai apni #SochAurShauch dono badalne ka. Dekhiye, sochiye aur apne vichar bataiye  pic.twitter.com/qpYdZwUpQ9  Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) March 24, 2017

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Norwegian companies are ready to contribute to drilling and exploration of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, IRNA reported.

Managing Director of Caspian Oil Company Mohsen Delaviz told a press conference on Tuesday that his company is in talks with a number of international companies for exploration and development of Caspian Sea oil fields.

'We are in the anniversary of oil exploration in Caspian Sea. In May 2012, we reached oil 2,500 meters under ground in Sardar Jangal field,' he said on the sidelines of the 22nd Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition (Iran Oil Show 2017), that is underway at Tehran International Fair Ground.

'We are busy in talks with the E&P companies for drilling in deep waters. The NIOC has ceded the project for feasibility study on Mansouri and Ab Teymour oil fields to MAPNA Group,' Delaviz added.
Actor Konkona Sen Sharma made her directorial debut last year with the film, A Death in the Gunj, and the film was recently invited to be showcased at the New York Indian film festival. Not only was the film appreciated at the festival, but Konkona also won the title of the Best Director at the festival. Besides, Konkona was honoured with the Best Actress award for her film Lipstick Under My Burkha, directed by Alankrita Srivastava, at the festival. The film was refused certification by the Censor Board in India.

Goodbye New York! #bestdirector #bestactress A post shared by Konkona Sensharma (@konkona) on May 8, 2017 at 6:18am PDT

Congratulating Konkona, producer Ashish Bhatnagar says the actor is sure to win many more awards in the future. We are all extremely happy for Konkonas big win. She is one of the most talented people we have in this industry and we are sure that many such prestigious laurels are coming her way. We hope that she gets many more of these honours through her fantastic work! says Ashish.

In an earlier interview to us, Konkonas mother filmmaker-actor Aparna Sen had spoke about how she was impressed with the way Konkona directed her debut film. She would often consult me while she was making the film, but I never told her what to do. She would take all the decisions. It was so great to see that she had the entire film chalked out. She was so clear about what she wanted in her film and how she wanted it. I was so impressed with her, she told us.

The movie is yet to release in India. Last month, there as news that the movie will release in May, after a delay of a month. The film stars actors Tillotama Shome, Gulshan Devaiah, Om Puri, Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah, Tisca Chopra, Neeraj Kabi, Suraj Sharma and Sayani Gupta.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Actor Pallavi Sharda, who is currently shooting for the Australian TV drama Pulse, recently visited some exotic beach destinations in Sydney, and her pictures are nothing but spectacular. Its amazing how despite her hectic shooting schedule, the actor still manages to take time out for small travel breaks, and unleash the traveller inside her.

The sprawling Blue Mountains to the beautiful view of the Harbour, Australia never fails to amaze me, says the Australia-born actor, who shot to fame with the 2013 film Besharam, starring Ranbir Kapoor. Though originally from Melbourne, Pallavi enjoys her mini escapades to Sydney, and this time, she went to the serene beaches in the northern shore.

Pallavi chilling at the Manly and Shelly beaches in Sydney.

The 29-year-old adds how she was mermerised by the beauty of the blue waters of the Pacific, and she enjoyed watching the majestic Opera House on her ferry ride. Pallavi also had a time of her life at the Shelly beach where she explored her adventurous side by climbing the rocky cliffs on the ocean edge.

Pallavi is seen here chilling at the Coogee beach.

On Anzac Day (April 25), the national day of remembrance in Australia for WW1 veterans, who lost their lives in the battle of Gallipoli, Pallavi visited Coogee Beach, one of Sydneys city beaches, and spent a moment of silence remembering those who lost their lives for the country. Any day of remembrance is a somber one for me. Its incredible that many Indians also fought with the allies at Gallipoli, says Pallavi, who was last see in the film Begum Jaan alongside Vidya Balan. While in Sydney, she also enjoyed what has become the nations signature breakfast at a cafe in Surry Hills - Avocado Smash on toast.

Pallavi doing Yoga at the Coogee beach.

A traveller at heart, Pallavi also loves to share her travel pictures on her Instagram and you cant miss checking out her recent posts from her Australian vacation.

Because sometimes things are just not meant to be that serious. #HereinAustralia A post shared by Pallavi Sharda  (@pallavisharda) on May 6, 2017 at 7:10am PDT

The ocean makes my head translucent. #HereinAustralia A post shared by Pallavi Sharda  (@pallavisharda) on May 5, 2017 at 12:00am PDT

Follow @htshowbiz for more

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Bill Clinton might have hoped to spend this year back in the White House as Americas first gentleman, should his wife Hillary have won the 2016 election.

Instead, the two-term Democratic president is moving into fiction, writing his first thriller about drama behind the scenes in the White House, his publishers announced on Monday.

Clinton is collaborating with bestselling US author James Patterson on The President is Missing to be published in June 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company.

The book will offer readers a unique amalgam of intrigue, suspense and behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power. It will be informed by insider details that only a president can know, the publishers announced.

It is certainly a world familiar to the 70-year-old, one of Americas most popular former presidents whose eight-year administration was clouded by his 1998 impeachment over an affair with a White House intern.

Working on a book about a sitting president  drawing on what I know about the job, life in the White House, and the way Washington works  has been a lot of fun, said Clinton. And working with Jim has been terrific.

The bestselling author of Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider has sold more than 350 million books and holds the Guinness World Record for the most number one New York Times bestsellers, according to James Pattersons website.

Patterson called his Clinton collaboration the highlight of his career. Having access to his first-hand experience has uniquely informed the writing of this novel, he said. Im a storyteller, and president Clintons insight has allowed us to tell a really interesting one.

Forbes values Patterson at $95 million, calling him publishings richest and busiest penman who produces more than a dozen books a year with co-authors.

Clinton has written a string of books, including his post-office 2004 best-selling memoir My Life.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
Veteran industrialist Adi Godrej today handed over the baton of Godrej Group flagship firm Godrej Consumer Products to his daughter Nisaba, who at 39 years is among the youngest women to head a large-sized Indian firm.

Adi Godrej, 75, will become Chairman Emeritus after leading the company for 17 years as Nisaba, currently Executive Director of the company, assumes the new role of Executive Chairperson on May 10, 2017.

Nisaba is the second among three children of Adi Godrej. Eldest daughter Tanya Dubash is Executive Director and Chief Brand Officer of the Godrej Group, while youngest son Pirojsha Godrej is the Executive Chairman of Godrej Properties.

Adi Godrej said he would continue to serve the GCPL Board.

Vivek Gambhir will continue as Managing Director and CEO, GCPL said in a statement.

The foundations of GCPL are extremely strong. This is an opportune time to transition to a new Chairperson, who will lead the company in its next phase of growth, Adi Godrej said.

GCPL is the flagship firm of the diversified Godrej Group which has presence in consumer goods, real estate, appliances, and agriculture sectors, among others.

In the last decade, Nisaba has played key role in GCPLs strategy and transformation and has served on the GCPL Board of Directors since 2011.

She was the brain behind the companys Project Leapfrog initiated in 2007 under which GCPL accelerated domestic organic growth through innovation and consolidation and at the same time went global by investing in emerging markets outside of India.

During the period, GCPLs market capitalisation increased 20-fold from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore.

Currently, almost half of the companys revenue comes from overseas markets.

In the fiscal ended March 31, 2017, GCPL posted total income from operations of Rs 9,608.08 crore as compared to Rs 8,753.06 crore in 2015-16.

Nisaba has also been credited with institutionalising design-driven thinking in the company and she directly leads product development.

She has also been hands on in identifying and developing in-house talent for the group with an oversight of the Group HR function for Godrej Industries and associate companies.

Nisabas previous assignments within the Godrej Group include successful turnaround of Godrej Agrovet and the creation of a group strategy function to oversee the groups portfolio.

A graduate from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Nisaba is married to Kalpesh Mehta, a real estate entrepreneur and has a son.

Commenting on her elevation, she said her fathers disciplined, results driven and humble approach will always be the core of the groups DNA.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday invited Japanese businessmen including Suzuki Motor Corp chief Osamu Suzuki to participate in the Make in India initiative and step up investments in the country.

Indian leaders have been actively engaged with their Japanese counterparts in the past few years as the country looks to the Asian partner for a raft of mega projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.

Jaitley met the Suzuki boss and discussed new initiative by the car maker, whose Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki holds more than 51% share in the passenger vehicles segment.

Suzuki Motor Corporation along with Toshiba and Denso have already announced a Rs 1,200-crore investment in India to make lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. While Suzuki will own a 50% stake in the proposed joint venture, Toshiba will have 40% and Denso 10%.

Finance Minister @arunjaitley 's pitch at Investors' Roundtable in Tokyo sends strong signal to Japan to enhance investments & @makeinindia pic.twitter.com/SVH5vQqJNr  Sujan Chinoy (@SujanChinoy) May 8, 2017

During his five-day tour to the east Asian nation, Jaitley also invited Japanese conglomerates and financial institutions to boost investments and participate in Prime Minister Narendra Modis flagship Make in India initiative.

Japan has already set up a Make in India fund of 1.5 trillion yen (about Rs 83,000 crore), while India promised to devise a special package of incentives for attracting investments in Japanese industrial townships. Almost all the Japanese auto companies are ramping up capacities in India, to cash in on the world second most populous country and one of the fastest growing markets.

In March, Toyota president Akio Toyoda and Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss future technological development and plans for investments in India. The partnership is expected to bring together Toyotas global leadership in technology and manufacturing with Suzukis strength in manufacture of small cars, especially in India.

The auto firms expect the partnership will promote Modis Make in India, create jobs, and enhance scope of export of new technology cars from India.

In April, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman discussed ways of enhancing trade and investment flows between the two Asian giants with the heads of Toyota, Suzuki, Hitachi, Aichi Prefecture and Soft Bank.

Foreign direct investment flows from Japan amounted to $25.2 billion since April 2000, ranking the country third after Mauritius and Singapore.
Indian mobile wallet major MobiKwik on Monday announced its association with Bhopal Plus, part of Bhopal Smart City initiative as a step towards the national Smart Cities Mission.

The tie-up will enable residents of Bhopal in paying taxes and bills for utility services such as electricity and water, digitally. Bhopal Plus also provides a platform to apply for birth and death certificates, marriage registration and register complaints on civic amenities.

This association is another in line with our vision to support Digital India and the governments Smart Cities initiative, said business head MobiKwik, Bikram Bir Singh.

We are glad to partner with Bhopal Plus and contribute to the efforts of Municipal Corporation to make Bhopal a less-cash city. The partnership will allow people to pay for various services available at Bhopal Plus app and portal within seconds. MobiKwik understands that getting the bill paying user to pay online requires a behavioral shift, hence MobiKwik and Bhopal Plus together would be incentivising users to do online transactions, which would further give impetus to digital India campaign, added Singh.

We hope people adapt to paying bills through MobiKwik and work towards making India a digital country. MobiKwik and Bhopal Municipal Corporation would be incentivising digitally paying users with five percent cash back on bill payments, said CEO, Bhopal Smart City development, Chandramauli Shukla.

MobiKwik has over 55 million plus users on its platform and currently powers payments for IRCTC, NHAI, GSRTC, Meru Cabs, Big Bazaar, MakeMyTrip, OYO Rooms, Zomato, PVR, Archies, WHSmith India and others.
A grieving mother has sued American Airlines for $10 million, alleging that she was forced to check in her carry-on luggage containing her daughters ashes which the airline then misplaced.

Iddy Pierre-Canel has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines claiming that she was forced to check in her carry-on bag on a flight from Baltimore to Tucson, Arizona, with her dead daughters ashes inside, which was then lost, NBC- affiliate KPNX-TV reported.

Pierre-Canel said her daughter, Carm-Idrelle Casseus, died 28-years-old after a battle with unspecified medical problems.

Pierre-Canel said an American Airlines employee insisted twice that she check in her bag while waiting at the gate on March 5, 2016.

She was quoted as saying that she made it clear she was carrying her daughters ashes and wanted to keep them close.

When the plane took off, thats when I realised I didnt have my bag. They said, Oh, they checked your bag in, she said.

Pierre-Canel said she remembers an employee picking her bags up, but she said she was under the impression they were helping her take the bags to her seat since she was distraught.

Her attorney Lorraine Morey said her client was promised her bags would be the first off the plane. However, when she arrived to Tucson, her bag was nowhere to be found.

American Airlines released a statement regarding the incident, saying, When we need customers to gate check a bag, we always ask for customers to remove all valuables and important documents. Had we known there were cremated ashes in the bag, we would have had her remove them or found a place for the bag.

We apologised for losing the items and certainly are very sorry for her terrible loss. A spokesperson for the airline also said Pierre-Canel created an itemised list of what was in that bag, the statement said.

There was an estimated $ 24,000 worth of belongings in the suitcase, but no urn was mentioned on that list.

Morey said that was simple because there was no way to assign a dollar value to her daughters remains.

The airline returned Pierre-Canels suitcase 19 days after losing it, but the ashes were not inside.

I went through it. I was screaming. I was hurt. I wanted to die, because I felt that I failed my child, she said.

The lawsuit, filed on March 17 of this year is for $10 million, the report said.

Just last week, American Airlines was hit with another passenger lawsuit.

Australian Michael Anthony Taylor filed a lawsuit seeking 100,000 dollars in damages, claiming he was crushed by two overweight passengers on either side of him on the flight.
Government think tank NITI Aayog is likely to unveil tomorrow a roadmap to turn around Uttar Pradesh into a modern state that meets all development benchmarks.

The Aayogs Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant will make a presentation about the steps required for development of the state to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a source said.

This is probably the first time, said the source, that the Aayog will make a state specific presentation to a chief minister on the development programmes and strategies to be adopted to improve upon social as well as economic indicators.

NITI Aayog was mandated by the Prime Ministers Office to prepare a blueprint for development of Uttar Pradesh, where BJP won the assembly elections with a thumping majority in March.

The think tank has taken inputs from the state as well as central ministries about the proposals and works on which decision could not be taken well in time.

The main objective of preparing a roadmap for the state is to put Uttar Pradesh back on track of development so that investors could be attracted.
In the two decades since I first went to Kashmir as a reporter, everything has changed  on the surface, anyway. In Srinagar last week, I struggled to find my old bearings: many of the buildings are new, most of them hotels and homestays. Some iconic old structures have been repurposed in more unexpected ways. I was astonished to find that the infamous Papa-2, where an unknowable number of Kashmiris were brutally tortured and disappeared during the 1990s, is now the official residence of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

I remember feeling a bilious upheaval when I drove past the place on Gupkar Road in 1999, when I was working on a cover story on Kashmir for TIME Magazine. Since then I have been in, or in the close vicinity of, some of the worlds worst torture chambers, from Abu Ghraib, outside Baghdad, and Evin, in Tehran, to Scorpion, near Cairo. But theres something especially egregious about torture practised by a democratic state: in addition to being bestial, it is also a betrayal, of values and expectations.

Driving past the green-and-white building last week, I felt baffled. Who had come up with the idea of turning this symbol of state repression into the home of the states current elected head? It must have been a person, more likely a committee, with little understanding of politics, and even less of optics. It would have been much better to have destroyed the building, and replaced it with a park, or some other public space.

As it stands now, the repurposed Papa-2 is a symbol of something else: the superficiality of change in Kashmir. The conversion of its function has not altered the fact that Kashmiris feel deeply disillusioned about their place and future in the Indian state.

You could, of course, make a glass-half-full argument: at least theres no Papa-3. In the late 1990s, much of the talk among Kashmiris I met was about the atrocities by the security forces, ranging from unexamined encounter killings and unexplained custodial deaths of accused militants, to gruesome punishments meted out in Kafkaesque prisons. In comparison, the security forces today exercise considerable restraint. The cruelty visited upon the previous occupants of Muftis residence is now unheard of.

But Kashmiris arent comparing their current condition with the worst years of the 1990s, and nor should they be required to. To their mind, pellet guns have taken the place of Papa-2 as proof that the Indian state cares nothing for their concerns, and is willing to inflict pain  and in some cases, blindness  upon them. The state may well argue that the pellets of today are better than the bullets of the past, but such gainsaying ignores the larger reality that parleys are better than projectiles of any kind.

Everybody I met in Kashmir agreed that dialogue, rather than pellets, is the only way forward in the valley. In the quest for complete candour, all of my discussions were off-the-record, so youll have to take my word that I met credible representatives of every category that counts: mainstream politicians, separatists, security forces, students, civil servants, civilians. They were unanimous that a political process is the only way out of the problem.

No change there: this was the consensus view in the late 1990s, and through most of the years since. Every Indian government that has tried to punish Kashmiris into submission has eventually accepted the futility of such an approach. I have no doubt that the current dispensation in New Delhi will do so, as well. But when? Everyone I met in Srinagar is of the view that time is running short. The differing perceptions of the latest symbol of the conflict in Kashmir suggest a hardening of hatreds that, if allowed to continue, will be difficult to soften.

Farooq Ahmed Dar became a symbol when, on April 9, he was tied to the front of an army jeep, and used as a human shield against a stone-throwing mob. He had, by his own account, gone to vote in the Lok Sabha by-election. But Dars plight brought him little consideration from any quarter. A parade of prominent Indians, including no less a legal luminary than the countrys attorney general, defended the army unit that mistreated him. On social-media platforms, hyper-nationalists pigeon-holed him as a Pakistani sympathiser who deserved what he got. And most telling of all, many of his fellow Kashmiris say it served Dar right, for being an Indian sympathiser who went out to vote.

Even when the two sides agree on something  that Dar got what was coming to him  its for the completely opposite reasons.

Whats the way out from here? Kashmir desperately needs new symbols. A good start would be a symbolic gesture: a visit to Srinagar by Prime Minister Modi, perhaps. A speech in Lal Chowk, offering balm instead of bellicosity. Maybe even a Mann ki Baat, in which he chats with young Kashmiris speaking their minds. The opening of dialogue, first with the mainstream political parties, followed by a widening circle of the willing.

Gestures in other directions would help, too: a stern warning to BJP members and their allies who spout hate speech about Kashmiris; an appeal that Kashmiris living in other parts of India be treated with courtesy; an encouragement of other Indians to visit the valley.

Oh, and its not too late to tear down Papa-2.

Bobby Ghosh is editor-in-chief of Hindustan Times

@ghoshworld

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) authorities have constituted a seven member Tiger Cell that will exclusively monitor, plan and ensure safety of translocated big cats. A Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) is also in the making.

The step comes three years after the plan to translocate tigers to the western part of the reserve, home to only two tigresses, was mooted. The western part, spread over 570 sqkm, hasnt reported breeding since 2003. A 1.2 km long and 3 km wide corridor splits the reserve into two halves preventing the movement of tigers between the eastern and the western sides.

We have constituted the cell and soon we will constitute the force as well. We are all geared up to translocate the tigers by Otcober-November, Sanatan Sonkar director, Rajaji, told Hindustan Times.

Sonkar has just returned from a two-day tour of Sariska Tiger Reserve, the first such area where tiger translocation was carried out successfully. The purpose of the visit was to analyse the details and precautions needed for the process.

One of the keys to the successful translocation is monitoring of the big cats that would be introduced in the reserve. The Rajaji officials had trained 30 forest staff in 2016 and another 30 would be trained soon.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has given in principle approval to the reserve for translocation. But, the management is yet to submit a detailed plan to secure final approval.

The visit gave us an insight into the details that were missing from our initial draft. We need to engage a full-time researcher, use radio collars that could be tracked through GPS as well as satellite and ensure proper medical attenetion (to the big cats) post translocation, Sonkar added.

While Sonkar claims that the vulnerability of translocated tigers in Sariska was highest due to the lack of prey base, the condition in Rajaji is better.

He, however, added that there are patches in the western part that are porous and highly risky and thats why they want to constitute the STPF at the earliest to man the area.

Rajajis 150-sqkm eastern part has a flourishing population of 13 tigers that are still growing. The western part has a potential to hold a bigger tiger population considering that it has only two tigresses.

As per the plan, two male and two female big cats would be translocated from Corbett landscape to the western part to ensure breeding.

The All India Tiger Estimation has recorded 340 tigers in Uttarakhand, second highest after Karnataka.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Tehran, Iran, May 9

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Seyyed Hadi Khamenei, brother of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has voiced support for Hassan Rouhani as candidate in the May 19 presidential election.

I would like to ask all to vote for Mr. Rouhani for the country to thrive and have peace and for Iranians to be proud, Hadi Khamenei said in an announcement, ISNA news agency reported May 9.
Dehradun: Installation of Doppler radars  highly specialized weather forecasting systems  continues to elude Uttarakhand, even four years after a rain-induced disaster left over 5,000 dead and thousands displaced in the hill state.

Now, a team of senior officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) would visit the state next week for inspecting the locations that have been shortlisted for setting up the Doppler radars and discuss the matter with the state government.

Bikram Singh, director of the Dehradun Meteorological Centre, confirmed that a team of officials from the IMD headquarters was scheduled to visit Uttarakhand on May 14 to inspect the sites.

On May 14, the team will inspect two sites, one near Surkanda and another near Mussoorie, in Dehradun and Tehri districts, respectively, for the (installation of) Doppler radars. The next day, the team is likely to hold a meeting with state government officials, Singh told Hindustan Times Tuesday.

Doppler radars help make precision forecasts related to extreme weather events by gathering real-time data.

It is worth recalling that in May 2014  nearly a year after the June 2013 disaster -- the then chief secretary Subhash Kumar had held talks with the IMD officials where it was decided that the latter would install three radars in the state on land provided by the Uttarakhand government. However, no progress took place on the ground.

Sources said that the disaster management department sent repeated reminders to the IMD, but to no avail. Now that the IMD team is visiting, our priority will be to ensure that the radars are installed in Uttarakhand soon, state disaster management secretary Amit Negi said, adding that the IMD had been sanctioned funds by the Union ministry of earth sciences for the project this year.

Asked about the delay, Dehradun MeT Centre director said that at least one of the three proposed Doppler radars would get installed in Uttarakhand within this year after completion of all the technical details and formalities.

He added that the installation of Doppler radars was a part of the ministrys Integrated Himalayan Meteorology programme to improve weather forecast services in the Himalayan states of the country. The project is roughly pegged at around 1100 crore.

Last year, a top IMD official during his visit to Dehradun had said that installation of Doppler radars in Uttarakhand and other states had been held up owing to lack of funds.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Aam Aadmi Party accepted on Tuesday the Election Commissions challenge to hack an electronic voting machine. Earlier in the day, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had conducted an experiment on a dummy EVM to show the machines could be tampered with.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, while demonstrating the experiment, said a dummy EVM could be rigged with a secret code. EC, however, dismissed the AAP demonstration in the house.

On Tuesday, sacked minister Kapil Mishra filed three complaints with the CBI. He had submitted complaint to the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against the CM in connection with an alleged water tanker scam on Monday.

AAP, which has been battling a string of electoral losses, has come under fire from the opposition over the charges. Both the BJP and the Congress had sought the CMs resignation over Mishras allegations.

Here are the highlights:

6.42pm: Kapil Mishra mocks Kejriwals claims on EVMS. Tweets with AK in wonderland over the tampering drama in House.

6.32pm: Assembly session concludes. Resolution urging the President and Election Commission of India to endorse VVPAT in all EVM machines passed.

6.22pm: Kejriwal: We have said that EC should give us an EVM. We only need to change the motherboard. It just takes 90 seconds. Read: Kejriwals AAP shows how to rig EVM in Delhi assembly, says all it takes is 90 seconds

6.12pm: AAP making mockery of democracy: BJP

In the assembly, AAP MLAs are mocking at democracy  another stunt to divert public attention from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals corruption, the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said in a statement here.

6.06pm: Sisodia in House: We can hack EVM machines across Delhi in three days.

5.56pm: CBI to examine Kapil Mishras complaints

CBI received three complaints from Kapil Mishra on bribery and irregularities by Arvind Kejriwal and others in Delhi government. The complaints will be examined and verified, CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said. Read: CBI to examine and verify bribery allegations against Arvind Kejriwal by Kapil Mishra

5.51pm: Sisodia in House: The base of our democracy is electoral process. I wish we were wrong on EVM tampering... This is not your machine vs my machine. Democracy is in danger. Machine can be hacked in 90 second.

5.47pm: Sisodia in House: A party in power will never have the courage to question EVM.

5.45pm: Income-tax department begins proceedings against AAP. Read: Cancel AAPs party status for filing false audits, I-T dept tells poll panel

5.40pm: Sisodia in House: Says we must thank Saurabh Bhardwaj for his expose. Standing ovation for him.

5.37pm: Sisodia in House: Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has begun his speech at Delhi Assembly. Sisodia begins speech at Delhi Assembly.

5.32pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj tables resolution urging the President and Election Commission of India to endorse VVPAT in all EVM machines. Read: Why Kejriwals AAP chose to demonstrate the hacking of dummy EVM inside Delhi assembly

5.22pm: Jain involved in multi-crore scam, says Vijender: Around 200 bigha of land has been bought by Jain in Delhi through five fake companies. The land has been bought at Rs 53 lakh per acre whereas the market value is Rs 2-3 crore per acre, Gupta said. The state Urban Development Ministry was used to facilitate the deal which was aimed at earning over Rs 1,000 crore. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not just knowledge of the entire deal but it has been done with his involvement, he added.

5.12pm: Will seek Kejriwals ouster if charges are proved, say Hazare: I think there should be a thorough investigation in this case. If Kejriwal is found guilty then I will personally sit on an agitation at Jantar Mantar and demand his resignation, Anna Hazare said at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtras Ahmednagar district.

5.02pm: EC should consider going back to paper ballot: Congress leader Sandeep Dixit reportedly said that the Election Commission should seriously consider going back to paper ballots after AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj proved in the Delhi Assembly that EVMs can be tampered with.

4.50pm: BJP gives complaint to EC: The Aam Aadmi Party has given wrong figures to Election Commission of India. We have given a complaint to ECI. We have demanded that their membership should be suspended, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. The AAP is trying to divert attention from their inefficiency and crimes through the EVMs demonstration in Delhi Assembly, he added.

4.40pm: Mishra to record statement with ACB on May 11: Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra will record a detailed statement with regard to the Rs 400- crore tanker scam in the Delhi Jal Board with the Anti- Corruption Branch on Thursday. ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena confirmed the development.

4.30pm: EVM drama used to divert attention, says Mishra: Sacked Delhi minister, Kapil Mishra, who was present in the assembly during the EVM demo by AAP leaders, said the drama had been staged by the party to divert attention from the partys failures. Its a tactic to divert attention from real issues. People did not want to vote for Arvind Kejriwal and they want to hide this fact. Read: EC dares AAP to do it in hackathon

4.25pm: Sheila Dikshit denies connection with Water Tanker scam: This is the Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) internal matter. They need to look after their internal disputes. We have no say in that. I cannot understand why they are using my name in this matter, Sheila Dikshit says. Delhi: What is the water tanker scam?

4.15pm: The AAP has lost its mental balance, MCD elections loss was not because of EVM, says Kapil Mishra. Adds that they will nest tell people the problem lies in your fingers they press the wrong button.

4.05pm: Delhi BJP to lodge complaint with EC : BJP says it will lodge a complaint with the EC for AAPs alleged involvement in corruption cases and seek its derecognition. Based on the past and this new corruption case, a delegation of the party will go and meet the chief election commissioner at 4pm to lodge a complaint. We will also urge the EC to probe the entire accounts of the AAP, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.

3.50pm: AAP could face action: Officials also said that if the EVM used during the demonstration in the Delhi Assembly has been illegally procured from its godown then a case will be filed against the AAP. If it is proven that the machine is stolen, the FIR will be filed against the party, the source told HT. Read: EC dismisses AAPs EVM tampering demo

3.45pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj speaks: For hacking and rigging in any machine, all you have to do is change the mother board which can be done in a few seconds.

3.42pm:Saurabh Bhardwaj speaks: BJP has learnt the trick to hack EVMs in five years, we have learnt it in three months... If elections continue to be done through these EVMs there will be no measure of democracy left. Only 1 party will rule.

3.37pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj speaks:I challenge those from Harvard or those who have hard work to come and prove how this cant be done, says Bhardwaj. Read: Why AAP chose to hack the EVM inside Delhi assembly

3.35pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj speaks: Says he has years of experience in corporates and MNCs and can challenge anyone to falsify his test on the EVM. He also throws open challenge to explain what happened in Bhind.

3.31pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj speaks:Cites example of Bhind, Punjab, where all votes were allegedly going to the BJP candidate. The error, he says, could be detected because the machine had a paper trail.

3.26pm: BJP MLA Sirsa objects to the demonstration. Speaker asks him to sit down. Sirsa objects to Bhardwajs last comment that when the result came Sirsaji started dancing.

3.23pm: Tampering demo: Saurabh Bhardwaj claims exit polls are used to create the mood for the candidate for which the election was rigged.

3.18pm: Tampering demo: Saurabh Bhardwaj claims there is a secret code hidden under the cardboard covering the EVMs which a partys person presses to direct all following votes to a predetermined candidate.

3.16pm: Election Commission reaction: EC sources say any machine that goes outside its secured premises ceases to be an EVM used for polls. This is a prototype, they should come to the hackathon and prove our EVMs can be manipulated, sources to HT. Read: Election Commission to throw open challenge to check EVMs

3.12pm: Tampering demo: Claims the party which has secret code can make their selected candidates win.

3.09pm: Tampering demo: Bhardwaj repeats the test again to show the malfunction.

3.06pm: Tampering demo: Saurabh Bhardwaj resets EVM and demonstrates how the very same EVM, which passes mock test, is manipulated during actual polls. Bhardwaj conducts another test on the EVM. Gives two votes to each party but the results show a disparity.

3.02pm: Tampering demo: Generally the returning officer calls the candidates and displays the functioning of the EVMs. But this is how he can befool the observers, says Bhardwaj.

2.59pm: Saurabh Bhardwaj speaks: Says he has done engineering and had 10 years of experience in the field. Says he knows how embedded systems and softwares function. Says anyone can tamper with it easily within 10-15 minutes.

2.55pm: Tampering demo: MLAs bring in the machine to demonstrate EVM tampering. Saurabh Bhardwaj addresses the House.

2.50pm: In the gallery: TMCs Sukhendu Sekhar, Congresss Tehseen Poonawalla, RJDs Manoj Jha and CPMs Nilotpal Basu.

2.45pm: Naresh Yadav in House: There will be day when everyone will believe that the EVM issue for which the CM raised his voice was for real. People will come to know why the BJP that used to object to EVMs fell silent on the matter.

2.43pm: Vijender Gupta says Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain are together involved in corruption. Demands Jains arrest.

2.40pm: Naresh Yadav in House: Governments across the globe have banned EVMs. Big countries have never even tried EVMs.

2.37pm:Alka Lamba in House: In Chattarpur ward 70S total vote polled were 26,445 but EVM counted 26,884 votes. Our candidate lost in that ward by just two votes. My colleagues will present more proof.

2.35pm: Kapil Mishra now sitting in the last row, listening to Alka Lamba speak with a forlorn look.

2.33pm: Alka Lamba in House: Thanks VV Rao, who had petitioned the Supreme Court in the EVMs case. Says it has led to the decision to introduce EVMs with paper trail.

2.31pm: Alka Lamba in House: In Tughlakabad four EVMs were tampered with and their seals were broken. CCTV footage from the polling station after 12.30am is not available.

2.29pm: Alka Lamba in House:When generation three EVMs remain locked up, why generation one EVMs are being used? The Election Commission will have to reply now.

2.26pm: Alka Lamba starts speaking on the issue of allegedly faulty EVMs. Kapil Mishra enters the assembly hall.

2.24pm: Vijender Gupta marshaled out of the House on order of the Speaker. BJP left with two MLAs.

2.18pm: Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba asks why the opposition is so scared. Do you think the big revelation will finish you, she says.

2.15pm: BJP tries to move adjournment motion. Sacked AAP minister has not arrived in the House so far.

2.13pm: Speaker doesnt allow Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta to discuss corruption charges in the House.

2.11pm: Speaker warns member against creating chaos in the Assembly. So far around 43 MLAs are present in the House. Three MLAs from opposition are present, including MS Sirsa.

2.10pm: Speaker Ram Niwas welcomes new MLA MS Sirsa who won from Rajouri Garden in assembly bypoll last month. House holds two minutes silence for Sukma martyrs.

2.08pm: AAP invites TMC, JDU to be present in the gallery for the demo. Assembly session begins.

2.06pm: AAP MLA Saurab Bhardwaj to give demo on EVM tampering in Assembly.

2.02pm: Suspended AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan reaches Vidhan Sabha.

2.00pm: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal reaches Vidhan Sabha for the special Assembly session.

1.45pm: Kapil Mishra comes out of CBI office, reiterates demand that AAP leaders should make their foreign trips public; says he has files three complaints with the CBI.



1.35pm: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari lashes out at AAP

* Says AAP came up to fight against black money, but there are discrepancies in financial declarations made by the party.

1.25pm: The AAP leaders, who are holding a meeting at chief minister Arvind Kejriwals house, are reportedly discussing partys strategy for the special assembly session in the afternoon. While the primary agenda for the session is EVMs, the leaders are discussing the possibility of raising other issues at the assembly today.

1.15pm: Kapil Mishra alleges illegal funding of AAP during the Punjab elections and claims that tickets were being sold by the party during the MCD elections.

1.05pm: Top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Arvind Kejriwal meet at the Delhi CMs residence.

12.50pm: Kapil Mishra says he was sacked as cabinet minister because he wrote a letter to the Anti Corruption Branch. If I had not written a letter to the ACB, then he would have not sacked me as the state cabinet minister. I have many evidences against Kejriwal. I know Kejriwal will try to give clarification on all the allegations made by me in the Delhi Assembly today and also brand me as a liar and a corrupt. I know his every tactics, Mishra said. Read: Mishra targets Kejriwal with proof of land deal

12.40pm: Congress leader Tom Vadakkan urges immediate action against the corrupt elements in AAP. In view of the new inputs, the anti-corruption chief must investigate this matter urgently. Because on the basis of this an FIR must be launched against the accused and action must be taken against these corrupt elements, said Vadakkan.

12.30pm: Kapil Mishra at CBI office

Mishra claims that he will file three complaints with CBI. One against Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly taking bribe of Rs 2 crore from Satyendar Jain. Second, against the health minister Satyendar Jain for allegedly fixing a land deal for a relative of Kejriwal. Third complaint will be related to alleged foreign tour of five leaders of AAP: Raghav Chadha, Satyendar Jain, Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khaitan and Durgesh Pandey. Read: Kejriwal says truth will prevail

12.20pm: Kapil Mishra reaches CBI office to lodge official complaint against Arvind Kejriwal.

12.15pm: Mishra widens attack on AAP: Tweets that party must make public the details of foreign trips by Raghav Chadha, Ashish Khetan, Sanjay Singh, Satyendar Jain and Durgesh Pathak. Says he will sit on hunger strike from tomorrow if these details are not made public.

12.05pm: Mishra takes on AAP over foreign trips by leaders: Kapil Mishra steps up demand to reveal details of foreign tours of AAP leaders. Says some party leaders have made dozens of foreign trips out of state expense and illegal money. Says party should make public where these leaders went, who they met and how much time they spent in which country.

11.55am: BJP Delhi Youth Wing members hold protest outside chief minister Arvind Kejriwals house. Delhi police use water canons as protesters attempt to cross barricades.

11. 35am: A big conspiracy against the country, says Kejriwal: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal says Saurabh Bhardwaj will unmask a big conspiracy in the assembly today. Read: Kejriwal promises big expose in Delhi assembly today, focus likely to be EVMs

                         Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2017

11.30am: AAP under total `dictatorial` rule of Kejriwal: Congress

This is a continuation of what has been happening in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Anyone who tries to raise their voice against Kejriwal, or tries to raise dissent in the party, action is taken against them. I would like to ask, where is the internal democracy in Aam Aadmi Party for which it was created, says Ajay Maken.



11.20am: Delhi ACB chief MK Meena, whom Kejriwal had often accused of being corrupt, will probe the bribery case against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Kapil Mishra had filed a complaint against the CM and minister Satyendar Jain with the anti-corruption branch. Read: Delhi ACB chief Meena, criticised by AAP, to probe CM bribery case

11.05pm: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal meets IAS probationers at Delhi Secretariat. He is expected to reach the Vidhan Sabha later in the day for the special Assembly session.

10.55am: Twitter war: Kapil Mishra takes on Sanjay Singh on twitter. Following Mishras press meet where he called Kejriwal his Guru, Sanjay Singh took a fling at the sacked minister asking What student fires arrows at his own teacher? Mishra replied to him comparing himself to the legendary warrior Abhimanyu who fought his own teachers in the battle of Mahabharat.

10.45am: AAP issues a whip asking all MLAs to be present for the Special Assembly session today at 2pm.

10.35am: Another day of big expose: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwals aides reportedly promised another big-revelation at 2pm today. The focus of the expose could be EVMs. AAP says Kejriwal wont resign. Partys social media head Ankit Lal tweets that there will be big expose at 2pm.

10.25am: AAP unfazed in the face of scandal: The Aam Aadmi Party claims the donations for the party have increased by 150% after it began an intense social media campaign following graft allegations by former Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra. Read: #iBribedKejriwal campaign leads to 150% spike in donations for party, claims AAP

10.15am: Kejriwal-Kapil Mishra to face off at Special Assembly session: The one-day special session is expected to be stormy as the AAP and the Opposition BJP will try to corner each other on a range of issues. It will also bring Arvind Kejriwal and Kapil Mishra face to face for the first time since the latter came out with his accusations against the CM. Read: Have to fight the Guru who taught me everything

10.05am: Why is AAP defending Jain, asks Vijender Gupta: Leader of Opposition in Delhi, Vijender Gupta, questions why AAP is defending Satyendar Jain against corruption charges. Gupta also questions why Kejriwal has not taken any action against him so far? Gupta said he will be raising these issues in the special assembly session today.

9.54am: More protests at Kejriwals house: BJP Delhi youth wing to protest outside AAP convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals house. Kejriwals house has been the site of protests over the last week since the current crisis broke out. Congress youth leaders and Mahila Morcha had staged a sit in at his residence on Sunday and Monday.

9.45am: Mishra challenges Kejriwal to electoral battle: I challenge you to contest the elections against me, from any seat. Lets fight the election from Karawal Nagar seat or even your New Delhi seat. If you believe that the people side with you, then I am ready to resign. Mishra was responding to reports that the party could move to disqualify him from his MLA seat. Read: Suspended Kapil Mishra still remains an AAP member

9.35am: Mishra reads open letter to Kejriwal, seeks his blessings: I am writing this open letter to Arvind Kejriwal. I want to start by saying that I will be going to the CBI today. Please do bless me Kejriwal ji, I am going to file an FIR against you and your party members. You know the deals that I am not talking about.

9.20am: Mishra says evidence can be tampered with: Every detail that I have provided has evidences attached to it. Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi, he can tamper with the evidence. The ACB has called me at 11AM on May 11. The day Satyendar Jain is arrested, everyone will join me

9.10am: I have received 211 complaints about the AAP since yesterday: Kapil Mishra.

9am: Arvind Kejriwal has been my teacher, I am doing this with a heavy heart, Kapil Mishra says in a media briefing.

8.30am:Suspended AAP minister tweets that he will be making an important announcement at 9am.

Heres all you need to know about the controversy.

Mishras allegations

The 36-year-old Mishra continued his tirade against the party leadership and demanded the removal of health and PWD minister Satyendar Jain, whom he had accused of giving Kejriwal Rs 2 crore. Mishra also questioned his integrity on Sunday and accused him of taking a bribe, shielding people linked to the 2012 water tanker scam, and for being party to a land deal that benefitted a relative.

Besides, he alleged people close to Kejriwal were threatening him. But I am not afraid.

The former minister alleged that a Rs 50-crore deal was arranged for the AAP chiefs brother-in-law. Satyendar Jain told me that he has arranged a seven-acre land deal in Chattarpur for Kejriwals brother-in-law, the Bansal family. Being the PWD minister, he fudged bills up to Rs 10 crore in the department to benefit Kejriwals relative, he alleged.

The ousted minister accused the party seniors of indulging in corrupt activities during the Punjab assembly elections and last months Delhi civic polls. He said the AAPs poll candidates in Punjab had to pay massive sums of money to the party.

He accused Kejriwal and two of his associates of trying to shield former chief minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress, who is an accused in the scam.

AAPs response

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia called the ousted colleagues allegations untrue and insensitive. Mishra is levelling false allegations against a man who died today. He doesnt even have humanity.

Kejriwals wife Sunita tweeted: My brother in law is no more n this stupid man is speaking all written script without any mind.

For his part, Jain dismissed the allegations, and sources close to him said he will file a defamation case against Mishra, who has accused him of visiting the chief ministers home on Friday and giving the money.

The senior AAP leader will file a defamation suit against Mishra for levelling baseless allegations of corruption, an official close to the Delhi minister told PTI.

Conspiracy theory

The AAP alleged that a big conspiracy was being hatched against it by the BJP through Mishra, asserting CM Kejriwal will not resign over the baseless allegations.

A game of exploitation is being played against the AAP. The BJP is hatching a conspiracy against the AAP through Mishra, AAP leader Sanjay Singh told reporters at a press conference.

He said the BJP and the Congress do not have moral right to raise questions over the AAPs honesty as people know how many alleged scams--2G scam, coal scam, DDCA corruption case--occurred during both parties rules.

Opposition on offensive

BJP MLAs met lieutenant governor Anil Baijal and demanded the immediate removal of Jain from the Arvind Kejriwal government.

Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta, who led the delegation of four MLAs, said the L-G should advise the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to expedite probes into allegations of corruption against the two.

In the wake of the allegations made by Mishra, Congress Ajay Maken had on Sunday demanded the resignation of Kejriwal, claiming the AAP had lost its anti-corruption plank.

(With agency inputs)
The Delhi anti corruption branch has registered three FIRs against chief minister Arvind Kejriwals late brother-in-law Surender Bansal and senior PWD officers. Bansal has been accused of getting bills cleared from the PWD, in the name of different companies by using fake and forged documents.

Bansal reportedly died of a brain stroke in Delhi on Monday.

Rahul Sharma, who filed the complaint, said, We will file a complaint about Bansals mysterious death on Monday. He (Bansal) died hours before Kejriwals former cabinet minister Kapil Mishra named him in a press conference and before the FIRs were registered.

The FIR does not mention Kejriwal although the complainant had accused the Delhi CM of helping Bansal get bills of around Rs 10 crore cleared. .

ACB chief Mukesh Meena confirmed the registration of the 3 FIRs. Names of fake companies were used to clear the bills when there was no work done. We have registered the case against Bansal and senior PWD officials. Separate cases have been filed because the bills were cleared by different companies for different works.

The complaint was filed in January by Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO) -- an NGO that claims to monitor public works.

On Sunday, Kejriwal was accused by Mishra of taking Rs 2 crore from another cabinet minister. Mishra also filed a complaint against the Delhi CM on Monday to the ACB, accusing him of corruption in the 2012 water tanker scam.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Tuesday visited the chemical spill site in southeast Delhis Tughlaqabad to find out if there are any contamination traces. The area was found to be safe.

According to an NDRF official, the team reached the spill site at 8am. The team went and checked if there was any chemical residue left, which can be harmful. However, nothing of that sort has been found. The spill, which was contained with salt and sand, has been disposed off on Saturday itself, the official told HT.

Around 475 schoolchildren were hospitalised on Saturday after inhaling poisonous fumes that spread due to a chemical leak at a container depot near two schools in the area. The students complained of irritation in eyes, breathlessness, nausea and severe headache.

The NDRFs Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN) team is equipped with special gear to tackle such situations.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has already started a probe while the National Green Tribunal on Monday sent a showcause notice to the Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) on why it should not be shifted to some other place.

Delhi Police have also issued notices to the companies involved in the transportation of the container, the customs department and CONCOR.

We have asked them to submit a list of the agreements and documents regarding the transportation of the container and what it contained. The investigation will focus on finding out where the lapse took place and the agency responsible for it, an official said. The leakage might have occurred because of the containers not being properly sealed after being checked, he added.

The liquid chemical, which has been identified as chloromethylpyridine, is believed to have leaked from a couple of broken barrels inside an iron container, which was kept in the depot overnight before being transported to Sonepat in Haryana early on Saturday. This chemical is used in fertilizers, insecticides and certain drugs, and is a known eye and respiratory irritant.

In December 1984, a similar gas leak at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal  which also produced pesticides  had left thousands of people dead and many more maimed for life.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Election Commission of India dismissed the EVM hacking claims made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during a demonstration in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday.

Officials said any machine that is carried out without permission from the secured premises of the commission ceases to be an EVM that is used for polling.

If it is a prototype, then it is not the same as the EVM used by the commission. To say EVM can be hacked by manipulating a prototype is not the same thing, a source told HT.

The commission will announce a date for organising a hackathon after an all party meeting on May 12.

All recognised national and regional parties have been asked to nominate their representatives to the hackathon.

AAP should also send their representatives to the hacking challenge to prove their allegations, an EC official said.

Former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla told HT that the authenticity of the machine used by AAP in the Assembly is under question.

I have heard about the demonstration. But whose machine is it? Is it an EVM belonging to the Election Commission? In EC machines, these kind of tampering cant happen. They are manufactured by two important public sector companies and it is not possible to tamper with these, Chawla said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal promised to expose in Delhi assembly on Tuesday a major conspiracy hatched against his Aam Aadmi Party. Less than three hours before a special session begins in the assembly, Kejriwal posted on Twitter that partys Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj will make big revelation in the House where sacked minister Kapil Mishra is also likely to be present.

AAP government had last week called a one-day special session to discuss the allegations of tampering and rigging of electronic voting machines (EVM) that were blamed by the party for its loss in the municipal polls in Delhi in April and the assembly elections in Punjab and Goa earlier in March.

                         Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2017

The session comes at a time when the AAP is rocked with a series of allegations of corruption and sacking of former minister Kapil Mishra. Mishra had said he had seen health minister Satyendar Jain allegedly handing Rs 2 crore to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last week.

Kejriwal has said that he will speak on the corruption charge in the session. Truth will triumph; its beginning will be made during tomorrows special session of the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal tweeted on Monday evening.

AAP MLAs are likely to target the central government over the EVM issue in the session. There could also be heated exchange related to allegations made by Mishra.

After the BJPs landslide assembly poll victory in Uttar Pradesh, Kejriwal had asked the Election Commission to release electronic voting machines (EVM) for investigation into allegations of tampering and rigging.

Also, AAP chief demanded that the April 23 civic elections in Delhi be postponed or elections be done through paper ballot. The commission had dismissed the allegations and said its systems were tamperproof.

Kejriwal had said his experts can show in 72 hours how the machines could be tampered to suit a political party.
A nursery student was allegedly molested by the van driver of a north Delhi school while she was being dropped back home on Saturday.

The driver was arrested on Sunday after the three-and-a-half-year-old girls parents approached the police.

A senior police officer said the school van and its driver were hired by the private school located in Model Town.

The driver was tasked with picking and dropping six to eight girls to and from school. On Saturday, the driver had dropped all other girls and was headed to the victims home, when he allegedly fondled the girl.

The girl, who was sitting on the front seat of the van, was allegedly warned by the driver not to reveal the incident to anyone.

When the girl reached home, she was unusually silent. When her mother tried to talk to her, she began crying and said the van driver had threatened her.

When her mother probed further, she learnt of the alleged molestation. The family decided to take up the matter with the police the next day.

We found out from the school about the identity of the driver and arrested him the same day. He has been booked for molestation and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, a senior police officer told HT.

No previous cases against the driver has emerged so far and other children being ferried have not revealed any abuse by him.

But, the parents of the victim and other girls being ferried by the driver have demanded to know whether the school had followed the right procedure and checked the drivers background before hiring him. We are probing that, said the officer.

We are also probing whether the Supreme Court guidelines such as the presence of CCTV cameras and other security arrangements inside the schools buses and vans are being complied with or not, the officer added.
A 21-month-old child was kidnapped and raped allegedly by her neighbour in Gandhi Nagar in east Delhi on Sunday. The toddler was found bleeding and admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital with severe injuries. She underwent a surgery on Monday and is expected to remain hospitalised for another 10 days.

The girl lives with her parents and an eight-month-old sister in Gandhi Nagar. Her father runs a tea stall, while her mother works as a tailor. When the mother is away at work, the girl is usually left under the protection of her father, whose stall is located close to their home.

My daughter was slow to learn walking. She had begun walking just about three months ago. To encourage her, I allowed her to run around my stall without much restriction. But now I am not sure if I will ever let my daughters away from sight, her father told HT on Tuesday.

On Sunday evening, the girls father had left the stall for a few minutes when their neighbour, Hari Ram Yadav, allegedly picked up the child on the pretext of playing with her. Yadav, a tailor, was a regular customer at the tea stall.

Yadav allegedly dropped the crying child outside her home around 20 minutes later. I had heard a child crying in my building. But I never thought a child was being raped here, said a woman living in the building where the crime happened.

When the mother saw the child crying, she checked on her to find her bleeding. The woman immediately called her husband, who understood the situation. Our land owner had seen Yadav pick and drop my daughter. So, I immediately searched for Yadav and restrained him in his room, said the girls father.

While neighbours called the police, the girl was rushed to the Chacha Nehru childrens hospital nearby, which referred her to Lok Nayak Hospital because of the seriousness of the injury. The girl needed to be operated upon before her condition stabilised.

She will recover from the injury, but she is no more the playful and happy child she was. She keeps crying and doesnt talk to me, said her mother. The accused, meanwhile, has been arrested and booked for rape and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), said a senior police officer, adding that his role in the crime has been established.

The childs parents said they first thought of concealing the crime from people in the neighbourhood. We have already suffered. We decided to let people in our neighbourhood know about it so that they can protect their children and know that the offenders could be anyone, said her father.

Read: Lets Talk About Rape
LUCKNOW Lucknow Universitys Earth Science Research Centre , which opened this month, will contribute to PM Modis Ganges river clean-up programme, Namami Gange, and be a part of UPs Vikas Sankalp Patra 2017, which will cover river science.

Established under the Institute of Geo-resources, ONGC Centre of Advanced Studies, LU had announced three new programmes, including the Earth Science Research Centre, to enable its students and faculty to get involved in the clean-up of the river Ganges, Prof Dhruv Sen Singh, director of the institute, said.

The courses are designed to cater to several branches of geoscience, giving opportunities to students to be absorbed in organisations in India and abroad, he said .

Namami Gange is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a Flagship Programme by the Union government in June 2014 with a budget of R 20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganges.

The other two courses launched under the Institute of Geo-resources, ONGC Centre of Advanced Studies, LU, are: M Sc in applied geology (with specialisation in petroleum geoscience) and PG diploma in exploration, resources and mining technology to cater to the present scenario and future prospects, and to develop human resources to strengthen the nation, for the present and future requirement, at par with international standards, said LU vice chancellor SP Singh.

A number of national and international, private and public sector organisations (ONGC, ONGC Videsh, ACL Norway and BMRC Dubai had already provided their consent to support the programmes, LU officials claimed. An MoU had been signed with ACL Norway for international exposure to the students, Prof Singh said.

The eligibility criterion for admission to M Sc programme in applied geology is that candidates should have passed the three year B Sc examination of LU or any other equivalent examination of other universities (considered as equivalent by LU ) with at least an aggregate of 55% marks or equivalent CGPA.

These are self financing courses with an intake of 25 seats per annum. The fee structure will be Rs 30,000 per semester.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked the school principal to tender an apology to the female student who was forced to strip by the staff who frisked candidates ahead of the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) conducted on May 7 in Kannur, Kerala.

But the board maintained that the protocol of frisking was a necessity following the cheating scandal of all India pre-medical and dental test (AIPMT) of 2015.

The board blamed the incident on a few overzealous female staff of the exam center and expressed regret for the inconvenience faced by the candidate.

The board would further sensitize the frisking staff to obviate such incidences in future, the CBSE said in a press release. The board also emphasized that the 6.42 lakh female candidates registered for NEET 2017 across the country had a smooth examination.

CBSE would take all necessary measures to ensure that students appear for examination in relaxed mood without compromising the sanctity of the examination at the same time.

Read more: NEET shocker: Four teachers suspended for allegedly telling Kerala student to remove bra

It also said that dress regulations came into force after police reported attempts to use micro bluetooth-enabled devices hidden in the ears and inner wear of the candidates during the conduct of AIPMT in 2015.

The Supreme Court of India directed CBSE to develop mechanism for fair and transparent conduct of examination. In compliance, CBSE issued the guidelines for frisking and dress code of the candidates appearing in the re-conduct of AIPMT 2015, which was appreciated by stakeholders and also by the Supreme Court of India. The same guidelines are followed by CBSE in NEET 2016 and 2017 as well, the board said.

The strict adherence to the boards anti-cheating dress code for candidates appearing for the NEET-UG for BDS and MBBS has come in for criticism after several students were asked to remove their head scarves, nose-pins and cut sleeves of their tops.

A student in Kannur was asked to remove her bra as it had a metal hook, while another was forced to pluck out a metal button from her jeans.

More than 1, 50,000 invigilators, 3500 external observers, 490 CBSE officials and 10,000 police personnel were deployed at the exam centres across the country. The overall attendance in NEET 2017 exam was approximately 95% with highest appearance of 97.10% in Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir).

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Tehran, Iran, May 9

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

Tehran has been generally informed of Turkeys decision to build a wall across its border with Iran, an official with the Iranian Foreign Ministry said, the IRIB news agency reported May 9.

Apparently, Turkish officials intend to apply new measures to tighten border security, the unnamed source was quoted as saying.

On May 9, Turkeys Hurriyet Daily News, quoting a senior official, reported that Ankara is considering plans to build a wall along the Turkish-Iranian border as part of measures against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The PKK, which first took up arms more than three decades ago, is considered as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
Four female teachers, who reportedly forced a 17-year-old student in north Keralas Kannur to remove her bra as part of stringent measures during the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), were suspended by school authorities on Tuesday amid widespread protests.

The state human rights commission sought a report from the district police chief on the Sunday incident at TISK Higher Secondary School in Payyanur. Many youth organisations staged a protest march outside the school and the issue also figured in the state assembly as members cutting across political parties condemned it.

Four teachers have been suspended and the school management has constituted a two-member panel to enquire the whole incident, a school spokesperson said.

The girl, who didnt want to be identified, said she was wearing a bra with a steel buckle that caused a metal detector installed outside the examination centre to beep when she reached at 9.20am on Sunday. With 10 minutes to go for the test, she said she was asked to remove her inner wear.

Since there was no toilet nearby I removed it there itself and gave it to my mother waiting outside, she said adding it was a humiliating experience. She said the bitter experience made her more nervous and she couldnt perform well in the national medical entrance examination.

Authorities deployed huge police teams, physically frisked candidates and ordered a strict dress code to check any attempts of cheating and irregularities during the all-India exam conducted in more than 100 cities. Dark-coloured clothed, full-sleeve shirts, closed shoes and big buttons were also banned.

Many students criticised the measures that they say has turned examination centres into a war zone and caused unnecessary hassles. Females students complained that adamant officials cut their long sleeves with scissors.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has set the ball rolling to set up a separate board for hiring primary teachers for the first time to ensure transparent recruitment in government jobs in the state.

The proposed Basic Education Service Selection Board would undertake all recruitments for around 1 lakh primary and around 60,000 upper primary schools being run by the state government across 75 districts.

Till now these recruitments were being conducted by UP Basic Education Board as the key body and basic shiksha adhikaris (BSAs) of districts as the appointing authority.

The new body would be in line with UP Secondary Education Service Selection Board, Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment And Promotion Board, Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Service Commission and UP Public Service Commission already functioning in the state.

A senior education department official said the task of framing the ordinance for the board has begun and the government plans to bring it into existence by urging the state assembly to pass it at the earliest so that a fast-paced and fair recruitment of teachers can be initiated on priority.

Recruitment of teachers has been mired in allegations of corruption and irregularities leading to a number of litigations that has prevented teachers-starved primary schools from getting fresh hands to teach.

As many as 1.60 lakh teaching positions are lying vacant in government-run schools in Uttar Pradesh. The state has 759,958 teaching positions in primary and upper primary government schools while there are only 585,232 teachers serving at present, sources said.

For setting up the proposed board, the state government has formed a 4-member committee to prepare the draft of the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Service Selection Board Ordinance-2017. The panel has been asked to complete its task by May 12.

This panel is being headed by UP director of literacy and alternative education Awadh Naresh Sharma and additional director (basic) camp office Neena Srivastava is its member secretary and convenor.

Other 2 members of the committee include deputy secretary of Basic Education Board Skand Shukla and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyans senior expert, Om Prakash Tripathi.

The panel has already begun its work and held its first meeting in Lucknow.

The state government has started compiling details of primary and upper primary schools being run by Basic Shiksha Parishad that have a severe shortage of teachers. It has sought details of all such schools that either is without teachers or are running with single teachers across the state.

Joint director (basic) Lalita Pradeep has instructed all basic shiksha adhikaris of the districts to provide details of all such schools immediately.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set to walk the Cannes red carpet on the 19th and 20th of this month. Ahead of it, the actor has posed for a series of pictures for photographer Prasad Naik.

The 43-year-old looks mesmerizing as she poses for the camera wearing a baby pink dress. In another picture, she is wearing a grey sequined gown spiced up with fuchsia lips.

@aishwaryaraibachchan_fc #aishwaryaraibachchan @lorealmakeup #shoot #campaign A post shared by Prasad Naik (@prasadnaikstudio) on May 4, 2017 at 9:08pm PDT

A post shared by Anil C (@anilc68) on May 4, 2017 at 10:15pm PDT

As the official face of LOreal, this will be Aishwaryas 15 years on the Cannes red carpet. Sonam Kapoor and Deepika Padukone will also be walking on the Cannes red carpet. While Deepika made her Cannes debut 10 years ago, this will be for the first time that she will be walking as the official brand ambassador for LOreal.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Palestinian fashion designer Natalie Tahhan is hard at work in her Jerusalem studio, replacing the painstaking processes of cross-stitching and embroidery with a laptop computer and printed fabric.

Taking inspiration from traditional Palestinian patterns, Tahhan designs patterns digitally and then has them printed on satins and silks before piecing together her garments.

Her modern take on generations-old designs has attracted a keen following both locally and abroad, particularly in the Gulf, where she sells her clothes via the web.

I wanted to do something new, modern, never seen on the market, the 27-year-old said, as she measured out fabric at her studio in her family home in Ras al-Amud, east Jerusalem.

Palestinians have for centuries painstakingly sewn long black dresses and adorned them with red embroidery, in designs still worn today in rural areas and at marriages and other celebrations.

The designs vary from region to region and tend to say something about the wearer.

We can tell where the woman who wears it is from and if she is married or single, Tahhan said.

Several young Arab designers have sought to modernise traditional wear and bring the dresses of their ancestors  an increasingly rare sight today  to a new generation.

Tahhan, who studied in Doha and at the London College of Fashion, is among the few to do so in Jerusalem. She believes she is the only one to have abandoned traditional embroidery for her new method.

As the Palestinian territories lack the equipment she needs, she has her fabrics printed in Dubai. They are then delivered to Jerusalem via Qatar and Jordan to circumvent the lack of direct shipments from the Gulf countries to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Proof of existence

Maha Saca, director of the Palestine Heritage Centre in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, says she supports efforts to breathe new life into traditional designs.

Adding Palestinian motifs to modern wear is very important. It means we can wear a modern dress with Palestinian embroidery on it, she said.

The centre, established in 1991, boasts the largest collection of traditional Palestinian dresses.

The Jerusalem cape from Tahhans latest collection Prints of Palestine. (Photo courtesy Natalie Tahhan Facebook page)

Embroidery is part of our identity and proof of our existence in every Palestinian city and village, Saca said. It shows the beauty and richness of our Palestinian heritage.

She is lobbying for traditional embroidery to be incorporated into Palestinian school uniforms. Saca said top-end handmade dresses can cost between $1,500 and $2,000 (1,400 and 1,800 euros) because of the long hours of labour involved and the cost of materials.

She stresses the need to preserve hand-embroidering techniques, but accepts that clothes are being produced in new and more modern ways. We support it 100 percent, she said.

Tahhans first collection, consisting of five white and violet satin capes with shimmering geometric patterns, sold out completely in less than three months at a price of $550 (500 euros) a piece.

Most of the sales were to Gulf clients who bought the items online.

Really worth it

One of Tahhans signature works is a cape inspired by designs from the West Bank city of Hebron, occupied by Israel for 50 years. The garment bears a succession of blue and pink squares over black fabric, and is open at the shoulders.

Tahhans light fabrics work well in the Gulf market, where heavy black felt or thick cotton can become unbearable under the burning sun. Her latest collection is called Prints of Palestine.

Tahhans location in Jerusalem, a city holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews, is also a plus for sales despite the obstacles and difficulties imposed by Israels occupation, she said.

Israel seized the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state, while Israelis consider the entire city of Jerusalem their unified capital.

I wanted to do something as a girl from Jerusalem, said Tahhan, her long black hair falling over her shoulders. Why not create fashion here?

People love the idea of owning something made in Jerusalem, especially Palestinians abroad, she said.

When they buy something they feel they are taking with them a small piece of the city.



Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.
The much-awaited Gurgaon city bus service is set to become a reality as the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and the proposed Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) on Tuesday.

The tie-up is to collaborate on various interventions that support the implementation of mobility solutions for the city, including the city bus transport network.

The GMDA has a plan to purchase 500 CNG buses to ply in the National capital region (NCR) with a view to boost public transport and mitigate pollution.

V Umashankar, commissioner, MCG, said, DIMTS possesses knowledge and expertise on urban mobility, planning and solution. Through this MoU, we aim to leverage DIMTS resources in creating an integrated multimodal public transportation system for the city.

We are following the concessionaire model adopted by Delhi, Nagpur, and Bengaluru. DIMTS is a knowledge partner, he said.

The scope of the MoU covers all areas pertaining to the associated transport infrastructure that include multimodal transport hubs, bus terminals and bus shelters.

Amit Khatri, additional commissioner, MCG, said, The MoU aims at the introduction of global and local best practices in public transportation to create a seamless transportation network in the city.

The MoU was signed by Umashankar, who is also the Officer on special duty of GMDA, and M Ramsekhar, MD and CEO of DIMTS, in the presence of Khatri and Gaurav Antil, joint commissioner, MCG.

DS Dhesi, chief secretary Haryana, had on December 20 announced that the GMDA would purchase 500 CNG buses. He had announced this during a presentation on various issues related to pollution control and meeting of NCR Planning Board in New Delhi.

The Haryana cabinet on April 18 approved the GMDA Bill, 2017, but the authority is yet to come into existence as the bill has not been passed in the state assembly.
All 16 ambulances of the Gurgaon district, including six belonging to the civil hospital, have been equipped with GPS-enabled devices.

Of the 16 ambulances, 10 ply in varied locations that include Badshahpur, Bhondsi, Sohna, Daula village, Sector 10 hospital, Farrukhnagar, Daulatabad, Pataudi, Hailey Mandi and Kasan.

The move is aimed at tracking the real time movement of ambulances and is being seen as a direct fallout of an incident last month where a three-year-old boy died allegedly because of the delay in filling the fuel tank of an ambulance at the civil hospital.

This move is aimed at tracking the exact location of the ambulances as also the fuel consumption, Neelam Thapar, deputy civil surgeon, Gurgaon civil hospital, said.

The details of the driver, location and the number of trips the ambulance does in a day are also being recorded and monitored by the staff at the civil hospital ambulance unit. The devices were installed last week and has already gone some way in providing transparency to the services, said doctors at the government hospital.

Read I Gurgaon civil hospital has one ambulance per 500 patients

The devices enable tracking of the ambulances from the control room and also boost the response time with regard to patients waiting for a ride to hospitals.

All our ambulances are now equipped with GPS-enabled devices and their movements are being tracked real time. The devices get us vital information on where the patient is being taken and how long a trip takes, MP Singh, nodal officer, ambulance in-charge, civil hospital, Gurgaon, said.

There is one ambulance for every 500 patients at the civil hospital. An estimated 3,000 patients visit the civil hospital every day, while around 250 are admitted.

The authorities are also considering augmenting the number of ambulances. Earlier, a total of 19 ambulances used to play on 10 locations. However, three of them had to be discarded because of poor condition. We will have more ambulances soon. We are trying to fix the loopholes in the system. Our operators are being able to track the ambulances with the help of the GPS system through the day and assign duties, Thapar said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
King Arthurs knights rode out of the pages of legend and onto Hollywood Boulevard on Monday, as director Guy Ritchies new film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword charting the exploits of the legendary British ruler held its world premiere.

Pacific Rim star Charlie Hunnam plays Arthur in Ritchies gritty, action-packed take on the tale. Hunnams Arthur is an orphaned street urchin, who must fight to claim his throne from his uncle Vortigen - played by Jude Law - who murdered his parents. The film hits US cinemas on May 12.

If you are going to tell a story that has been told before you have to come in with a vision that makes it original and fresh, Hunnam told reporters at the premiere.

We thought it was more interesting to make him an everyman just like you or I.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Wonder Woman actor Gal Gadot may play an otherworldly warrior, but in real life, she is not a fighter. However, she says she wont back out from fighting for good. I dont enjoy conflict in my life, the actor told Marie Claire magazine for its June cover story, reports usmagazine.com.

Unlike Wonder Woman, Im not a fighter (but) I will fight for good.

She said her mother raised her and sister to be confident women with aspirations. And I always felt capable. Im not saying that Im stronger than most men... but we all have the same brains and we can achieve the same things.
Taking a serious note of the deaths of three children during a vaccination drive in Bihars Muzaffarpur district, 71 km north of Patna, the regional deputy director of health (RDDH) on Tuesday recommended punitive action against six health officials, including the district immunisation officer (DIO).

Confirming the action, civil surgeon-cum-chief medical officer Dr Lalita Singh said RDDH Vijay Kumar Sinha had directed her to transfer DIO Dr Shiv Shankar to Sariaya primary health centre (PHC), his original place of posting. The RDDH had also ordered deduction of a days salary of the five other officials for dereliction of the duty, the civil surgeon said.

Three children had died and nine others taken ill after they were administered vaccination on Friday for prevention of Japanese encephalitis and measles at Patori village in Aurai block of the district.

READ: Two children die in Bihar after being administered vaccine against Japanese encephalitis, measles

After reviewing the immunisation programme, the RDDH concluded that the DIO had failed to perform his duty properly as he had also been deputed at Saraiya PHC as in-charge, the civil surgeon said, adding that Dr RP Swetanki had been made the new DIO and asked to join the new assignment immediately.

She said the RDDH had ordered deduction of one days salary of five officials for not appearing before a team of experts, which had arrived here from New Delhi to investigate the reasons for the death of three children during the immunisation drive.

Dr Lalita Singh said, Kamla Kumari (assistant drug controller) and four drug inspectors --- Vikas Shiromani, Abhay Shankar Samar, Dhananjay Kumar and Udai Vallabh have also been served show cause notice to explain their absence. If they fail to reply to the show cause notice in time, disciplinary action could be initiated against them, the civil surgeon added.
President of All-India Imam Organisation Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi on Saturday said Muslim clerics from all over the country would meet in New Delhi after Ramzan to find an amicable solution to the Ram Temple issue.

I welcome the stand of the Supreme Court on the issue and believe that the dispute should be amicably settled by the Imams and Hindu saints through dialogue held in a cordial environment, Ilyasi said while talking to a section of media.

The cleric was on a day-long visit to Allahabad as part of the Bharat Ekta Yatra aimed at strengthening communal harmony recently.

We will try to arrive at a consensus for peaceful settlement to the issue which is acceptable to both Hindus and Muslims, Ilyasi said.

In March, the Supreme Court had observed that the Ayodhya dispute should be settled amicably and Chief Justice JS Khehar had offered to mediate to help resolve the matter.

The courts remarks had come after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy sought an early hearing of his plea seeking permission to build a Ram temple at the site of the demolished mosque.

All parties can sit together and solve the dispute. In the proposed meet, the clerics will discuss the Ayodhya dispute. Based on the outcome of the meet, we will later hold talks with temple priests and saints, he said.

Coming down heavily on Pakistan for mutilation of the bodies of army men, Ilyasi urged the Prime Minister and the home minister to give a befitting reply to Pakistan.

Enough is enough. So many times dialogue has taken place between the two countries. Indians will no longer tolerance such incidents, he added.

Ilyasi said Kashmiri children and youth, who should be having pens in their hands, were getting influenced by separatist leaders and pelting security forces with stones. I believe these separatist leaders should go to Pakistan if they so desire. But staying in India and speaking the language that they are using is unacceptable, he added.

Ilyasi urged the central government to declare cow the national animal of India but recommended that legal slaughterhouses should be allowed to function without any harassment.

He said triple talaq was being used as a tool of injustice against Muslim women. Expressing happiness that Muslims, especially women, were practicing yoga, he said it should not be associated with any religion.

Ramzan is expected to start on May 27 and last till June 24.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 9

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

The rescuers have found the bodies of seven more miners at the site of Zemestanyurt mine in Golestan Province in northern Iran.

The number of victims of the huge blast which occurred on May 3 has now reached 42, IRNA news agency reported.

Rescue operations are still going on to find the bodies of other miners.

According to media reports 35 miners went missing following the incident.

President Hassan Rouhani traveled to the Golestan Province May 7 to visit the site but angry miners and families of the victims of the incident harshly criticized the president and his administration over poor safety situation at the site.
The Islamic practice of triple talaq is unsustainable and bad in law because Muslim marriages are contracts that cannot be unilaterally rescinded by the husband, the Allahabad high court has said.

The courts observation came while hearing a petition filed by a man whose wife is pursuing criminal charges against him for allegedly torturing her for dowry and then divorcing her when she refused to pay.

Hearing in the case ended on April 19 and details of the judgment were made public on Tuesday. The court dismissed the mans plea to scrap criminal proceedings against him.

The Islamic practice under which a man can divorce his wife by saying talaq (divorce) thrice has grabbed national headlines after a bunch of women approached the Supreme Court against the custom. The government has opposed triple talaq in SC and said it was unconstitutional because it was gender discriminatory.

A five-judge bench of the top court will start hearing the petitions demanding scrapping of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy from May 11, the first time the SC is giving up its two-month summer break.
Australia said on Tuesday the changes made in its work visa regime were not directed at India or any other country and asserted that Indians are not likely to be significantly affected by the policy modification.

Australias high commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu also said the change in visa regime was carried out to ensure that Australians get first preference in skilled jobs. She said Indians are mostly employed in the high-skilled IT sector where Australia does not have sufficient manpower.

Referring to incidents of attacks on Indian students in Australia, some of which were allegedly racial in nature, she asserted that Australia has zero tolerance for any racial behaviour.

During an interaction with journalists in New Delhi, Sidhu emphasised that the bilateral ties have seen a steady upward trajectory and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls recent visit to the national Capital has injected a fresh momentum in the relationship.

We have diaspora from 120 countries living in Australia. These restrictions are only to maintain our integrity. There is no intension to target any country, including India, Sidhu said while replying to a volley of questions on the issue.

Australia last month announced scrapping of the popular 457 work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment and replace it with a new programme requiring higher English-language proficiency and job skills.

I cannot categorically tell you what will happen in the future. We constantly reviewed our visa regime, there is a constant change.... And, as far as the 457 visa (skilled temporary overseas workers) is concerned, we just want to see, if that job can be done by an Australian, before one employs someone from outside.

But, in IT skills area, we are in short supply. And, we expect that Indians, who have qualified before, will continue to qualify, she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week had conveyed to Turnbull Indias concerns about the impact of Australias decision to abolish the popular work visa.

Senior Australian officials had conveyed to India that the impact of the changes will be negligible on Indian workers, most of whom fall in high skill category.

The high commissioner said the 457 visa regime only concerns temporary work visas, and the number of Indian students and permanent migrants is continuously growing.

In 2016, about 2,80,000 visas were issued to Indians. For education, the number of visa has gone up dramatically. In 2014, it was 46,000 students, 2015 it was 53,000 and in 2016, it went up to over 60,000.

Also, about the attacks on students in Australia, we have said that all the attacks werent racial in nature. Many were criminal attacks. Australia does not have tolerance for racial behaviour, she added.
Members of the Samajwadi Party in Rampur have launched a letter in blood campaign to protest against efforts to malign the image of senior party leader Azam Khan and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

We will write letters in blood to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath every day to inform them about the harassment we are facing, said Fasahat Ali Shanu, media manager of Khan.

Shanu, who posted a letter in blood to the CM on Monday, said over a thousand supporters of Khan were ready to join the campaign.

Another supporter of Khan, Irshad Mahmood, joined the campaign on Tuesday and posted a blood letter to Yogi.

Mohammad Ali Jauhar University is the property of the generations to come but some leaders of your party (BJP) are targeting it to satisfy their ego, the letter read. Irshad signed the letter as kamzor bharatiya (a weak Indian).

The enemies of Rampur are conspiring against the university. Their only aim is to grab the property and deprive the poor children of the only avenue of education in the district, Shanu said.

Khans political opponents from the BJP and the Congress have been levelling allegations of corruption and encroachment ever since the Yogi government took over the reins of the state.

Terming the campaign ludicrous, Khans opponents questioned the credibility of the campaign.

The blood which they (Azams supporters) are using to write letters is of animal. The CM must order an investigation to confirm its source before reading the letters, said Mustafa Hussain, a rival of Azam Khan.

Minister of state for minority affairs Baldev Singh Aulakh had recently said he would hold a janta darbar (public grievance meeting) at the guest house of the university.

Reacting sharply, Khan said the guest house of the Jauhar University would be blown up using dynamite if anybody attempted to lay hand on it.
An embarrassed China has expunged its India envoys suggestion that Beijing could think renaming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to allay New Delhis concerns.

India has reservation about the ambitious project as it passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, which New Delhi says challenges its sovereignty by lending legitimacy to Pakistans claim over the territory.

The suggestion made by Luo Zhaohui has been removed from the version of his speech published on the Chinese embassys website.

With Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expected in Beijing next week for the high-profile belt and road forum (BRF), it would have be awkward for Beijing to be seen tweaking the name of the expensive and prestigious project to be showcased at the BRF.

And, that too on behalf of India, which has firmly refused to be part of President Xi Jinpings multi-billion dollar One Road, One Belt (OBOR) initiative that aims to build a new Silk route.

Speaking at the United Service Institution (USI) in New Delhi on Friday, Luo said China could think about renaming CPEC, referring to Indias concerns over the corridor passing through PoK.

It (the CPEC) has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. Even we can think about renaming the CPEC. China and India have had successful experience of de-linking sovereignty disputes from bilateral relations before, Luo said in a closed-door address to a think tank.

A part of the One Road, One Belt plan, CPEC is a cluster of road, rail and energy projects that will connect Pakistans southern Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea and Kashgar in Chinas western Xinjiang region.

The address was made public over the weekend with references to the renaming of the CPEC and the four-point agenda to improve bilateral ties that have taken a beating over various issues, including the economic corridor.

The line about renaming has been removed but the rest of Luos long speech, published over the weekend, has been left untouched.

It wasnt immediately clear why the CPEC bit was dropped.

The foreign ministry declined comment when asked about the deletion at a regular briefing on Tuesday. According to my information, the Chinese embassy has released relevant information on the embassy website. I have nothing more to add, spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

The reason could be that Pakistan expressed displeasure at the Chineses envoy suggesting renaming of the showpiece project, which is seen as a statement of strong ties between the two countries.

Islamabad would certainly not like all-weather ally responding to the sensitivities of India, its archrival whose influence it wants to restrict.

Luo made the remarks barely a week before the two-day BRF expected to be attended by leaders of 28 countries, including Sharif.

That Luo, who has also served in Pakistan, would have independently made the suggestion is highly unlikely. His speech at the USI in all probability would have been vetted.

The deletion of the line, however, clearly shows the CPEC will continue to impact ties between India and China.

Luo said as much.

China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan. China supports the solution of the disputes through bilateral negotiations between the two countries.

The CPEC was for promoting economic cooperation and wouldnt have impact on sovereignty issues.

In history, we have had close cooperation along the ancient Silk Road. Why shouldnt we support this kind of cooperation today? In a word, China is sincere in its intention to cooperate with India on the OBOR, as it is good for both of us, the ambassador said.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a few other political parties have been asked by the Centre to furnish details about the source of their overseas funding.

The ministry of home affairs, in separate communications, asked the political parties to give details of their sources of funding, including those from abroad or foreign business enterprises, official sources said.

The sources, however, said this was part of the routine communication sent to political parties every year to ascertain whether the outfits have violated the provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

The officials made it clear that these were not show cause notices and a decision in this regard would be taken only after the replies were received from the political parties.

The AAP, which was served the notice last week, had alleged that the Central governments move was a clear case of political witch hunt and that it was very dangerous for democracy.

All the agencies at the Centres disposal have been unleashed against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), its government in Delhi and its ministers, which is very dangerous for democracy, the party had said in a statement.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has said the alliance with the Congress would continue in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, indicating his stance about the future of the political relationship for the first time after losing the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Akhileshs comments come two days after SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav blamed the alliance with the Congress for the poor state of the party and said efforts should be made to strengthen it in Karhal, Mainpuria Yadav stronghold.

Blaming the alliance for the partys defeat in the assembly elections, the senior Yadav recounted on Sunday how the grand old party left no stone unturned to ruin his life  a point Prime Minister Narendra Modi prominently brought up during his election rallies, particularly in the Yadav belt.

We will contest the 2019 general elections together and strongly, Akhilesh said in Orai after attending a function in Kalpi with his wife and Lok Sabha legislator Dimple Yadav.

Party founder Mulayam lost his cool in late January when Akhilesh announced an electoral alliance with the Congress. A furious Mulayam - who was against such a partnership - said that he wouldnt campaign for the Congress.

Akhileshs uncle Shivpal Yadav, with whom he was involved in a power tussle, also refused to campaign for the candidates contesting on a Congress ticket. Instead, he wished to canvass for SP candidates pitted against Congress nominees, signalling he was treading the similar path as Mulayam over the SP-Congress alliance.

The former chief minister on his part had been non-committal about the future of the alliance, which was cobbled days before the assembly elections. Speculations that the alliance could break were rife after Congress decided to fight upcoming civic body elections on its own.

But Akhilesh cleared the air saying it could be part of a strategy.

The SPs defeat in the state elections was blamed on the months-long power tussle between Akhilesh and Shivpal over the control of the party ahead of the assembly polls.

The rout of Akhilesh-led SP was met with sharp criticism from Mulayam and relations between the Akhilesh camp and that led by his father and Shivpal continue to be strained.

Akhileshs decision to continue ties with the Congress also come at a time when Shivpal has announced the formation of the Samajwadi Secular Morcha with Mulayam as the president.
The Indian governments demonetisation measures did not impede future black money flows in new denominations, a UN report said on Monday.

According to UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017, complementary measures to demonetisation would be required to target all forms of undeclared wealth and assets.

Broader structural reforms which could also contribute to enhanced transparency include: the implementation of a goods and services tax; voluntary disclosure of income scheme; and tracking of high-value transactions through taxpayer identification numbers, it said.

Other measures, such as reforming the real estate registration process to ensure transparency, are being discussed.

As per the report, the disruption caused by demonetisation had greater and longer-lasting impacts for lower-income individuals, households and businesses that had difficulty insulating themselves against the shock.

Rural incomes and consumption were affected due to a decline in prices for agricultural products (although again, this was not reflected in the national accounts data which measure agriculture in terms of quantity), the report said.

In the medium-term, the currency initiative is expected to bring more economic activities into the formal sector and spur digitisation of financial transactions, helping to broaden the tax base and secure the fiscal space needed for public social and infrastructure expenditures.

The report pointed out that one-off currency measure in effect transferred lost black money to the central government through unclaimed or unexchanged notes.

Preliminary estimates suggested a 97% recovery of notes, which would imply a 3.16% increase in fiscal revenues for the government, the report read.

On November 8, 2016, exactly six-months ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would withdraw Indias two largest currency denominations -- Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 -- from circulation.

The two bank note denominations which were withdrawn represented more than 86% of the cash in circulation.
The hitman who killed Dhanbads former deputy mayor and Congress leader Neeraj Singh was allegedly promised by his paymaster Rs 1 lakh for each bullet fired at the target.

Hired shooter Aman Singh of Uttar Pradesh and three more assailants riddled Neeraj and three more people with 67 bullets from AK-47 assault rifles and pistols on the evening of March 21.

It was one of the grisliest murders in the coal town that has seen horrific mine mafia shootings in the past. The assailants on motorcycles intercepted Neerajs SUV and fired for several minutes before riding away. He, his driver and another man died in the shooting.

The former mayors younger brother, Aditya Raj, survived and he has accused a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader of orchestrating the killing.

Shooter Aman was picked up by Uttar Pradesh police in Mirzapur after a multi-state hunt as the murder triggered a political war against the BJP-led government in Jharkhand.

He revealed on Sunday that his team was told to fire at will and given the incentive of Rs 1 lakh for each bullet that hits Neeraj, an investigator said after the shooter was brought to Dhanbad.

Another shooter, Satish, was told to cut down driver Gholtu to stop the car and then all four would pump as many bullets as possible at their main target, the Congress leader, he said.

Witness Aditya identified Aman at an identification parade of suspects on Tuesday inside Dhanbad jail.

According to prison officials present at the parade, Aditya said he clearly saw Aman firing towards the car whose headlights were on.

Police have arrested five people, including Jharia legislator Sanjeev Singh of the BJP, who is Neerajs cousin. The MLA was shifted from Dhanbad prison to Ranchis Birsa Munda Central Jail.

It was alleged in the FIR lodged by Neerajs younger brother Eklavya Singh that the BJP legislator, his brother Siddharth Gautam and associates Manish, Mahant Pandey, Jaynendra Singh and Dhanji Pandey conspired to kill the towns former top official.

Also, the complainant alleged that the legislator too shot at Neeraj along with the hired shooters during the incident near Steel Gate under Saraidhela police station.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A gravely wounded Jammu and Kashmir special police officer (SPO), Mohammed Younis, died in hospital on Tuesday morning, a day after suspected militants attacked his post in Doda district.

The gunmen fired around a dozen bullets from AK-47 assault rifles at Tanta police post and wounded Younis and another SPO, Kikar Singh, who were sleeping.

The duo was airlifted from Tanta, about 65km from Doda town, and brought to the government hospital in Jammu. Younis was kept under ventilator support in an intensive care unit after surgery, but couldnt be saved as his wounds were far too grave.

Colleague Singh too is battling for his life with gunshot wounds in his neck. A breathing pipe has been inserted in his neck. He appears to be critical, medical superintendent Romesh Gupta said.

The attack has shaken officials and residents of Doda district, which was declared militancy-free in 2010 and has not recorded any insurgency-related violence since then.

Army, paramilitary and police teams were combing the mountainous district to track down the attackers.

According to Doda deputy commissioner Bhupinder Kumar it was not clear how many gunmen attacked the post.

Jammu zone inspector general of police SDS Jamwal said: Police are investigating clues  spent shells of AK-series ammunition were found at the spot.

The Doda attack is viewed as a reflection of the violence spreading from the restive Kashmir Valley to the Jammu region. The district was a hotbed of militancy in the 1990s.

The district has several village defence committees, which are groups guarding hamlets with the governments support. But none of these groups are issued AK-series rifles to counter militants laced with heavy firepower.

Special police officers, or SPOs, are not regular policemen but are recruited to assist security forces. Their local knowledge and intelligence network have proved effective in dealing with militancy.

The state has a sanctioned strength of 30,000 SPOs and they are paid an honorarium of up to Rs 6,000 a month.
Close on the heels of the Maoist encounter at Sukma district in Chattisgarh, killing 25 CRPF personnel on April 24, the superintendent of police, Kaimur, has written to the Bihar police headquarters, requesting that the 55 km road, falling under the Kaimur wildlife sanctuary, be made concrete.

The National Board of Wildlife had in 2015 rejected a similar proposal of the state government, but cleared construction of unmetalled road on the 55 km Adhaura-Akbarpur road between Maoist-infested Kaimur and Rohtas districts of Bihar. The security forces, however, contend that a kutcha (unmetalled) road would not help their cause, as it allowed the Maoists to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs), making them sitting ducks.

In the last 16 years, at least 30 policemen, forest and government officials have lost their lives in Maoist landmine blasts on this stretch.

READ: Maoist raid halts work on critical Bihar road; officials in fear

Expressing safety concerns, Kaimur SP Harpreet Kaur wrote to inspector general of police (operations), Bihar, Kundan Krishnan, on April 28, requesting him to take up the issue of construction of a pucca (metalled) road - bitumen black top or plain cement concrete (PCC) - on the Adhaura-Akbarpur stretch, for safety of security personnel.

Six companies (one company comprises around 90 personnel) of CRPF are engaged in anti-Naxal operation in the area.

READ: Maintain high alert in Maoist-hit areas of Bihar, CRPF officers told

Dittoing the SPs concern, inspector general, CRPF, Bihar sector, MS Bhatia, told HT: Construction of metalled road is a matter of life and death for paramilitary security forces. It is easy to plant landmines on kutcha roads even if they are of compressed stone chips (Wet Mix Macadum in technical parlance). Such basic infrastructure and logistics must be addressed on a priority basis, otherwise it adversely affects the morale of security forces, working in difficult areas and adverse situation.

Wildlife custodians, however, beg to differ.

As per wildlife guidelines metalled (bituminous black top or PCC) road cannot be constructed in a sanctuary, divisional forest officer (DFO), Kaimur, Satyajeet Kumar said.

Defending the wildlife guidelines, Bihar additional principal chief conservator of forest, US Jha, said, Man and animal should not come in conflict. A wildlife sanctuary is for the fauna. Man should not try to encroach upon animal territory.

He said construction of metalled road in sanctuary had several demerits to wildlife. First, movement of machinery will disturb the fauna in the region. Secondly, construction of metalled road will lead to pollution.Besides, increased human activity and fast movement of vehicles will put animals at risk.

Construction of the 55 km long Adhaura-Akbarpur road, using Wet Mix Macadum, began in October 2016, with a completion deadline of March 31, 2018. So far, 17 km has been made in Kaimur while construction of another 38 km remains in Rohtas.

The forest department had in 1972 constructed a kutcha road between Adhaura and Akbarpur for wildlife patrolling, but the road became non-existent due to lack of maintenance over the years. Even as the forest department has taken up road construction work last year, it is not to the liking of security personnel who are pitching for a metalled road, to minimise the possibility of Maoist landmine blasts.

Of the 38 districts in Bihar, Kaimur and Rohtas are among 22 affected by Left wing extremism.

The Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary is the biggest sanctuary in Bihar, covering 980 square kilometre area, and is home to several wildlife species, including deer, bear, blue bull, sambhar, ape and tiger.
At least six people were killed and about 10 injured Monday in a car bomb attack in Somalia's capital Mogadishu claimed by militant Islamist group Shabaab, police told AFP.

The car exploded next to an Italian cafe on a key thoroughfare in the centre of the city which leads to the presidential palace, in the latest such attack in the violence-scarred country.

"For the moment we have six dead in the explosion, civilians. The car full of explosives blew up next to an Italian cafe," said police officer Mohamed Abdulahi who was at the scene.

"The blast was very powerful and there were a lot of people there at the time, I saw several people dead and injured," added a witness, Abdukadir Ise.

It was unclear whether the car was parked or if a suicide bomber was at the wheel when it exploded, according to police sources questioned by AFP.

Shabaab claimed responsibility in a statement on a website it habitually uses. The group added that an officer was among the fatalities -- which could not be immediately confirmed.

"Shabaab fighters were behind a car bomb attack on members of the security forces, the army and immigration services", who regularly frequent the cafe, the group said.

In February Shabaab threatened to escalate attacks in a "vicious war" against the new government of President Mohamed Abdullahi.

For the last decade the Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the internationally backed government of Somalia.

The group attacks government, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere, often deploying suicide bombers, and has overrun several military outposts, massacring soldiers from the 22,000-member African Union Mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM.

It has also carried out terrorist attacks abroad including in the Ugandan capital Kampala in 2010 and the 2013 Westgate mall and 2015 Garissa University attacks, both in Kenya.
It took Upasana Taku three-and-a-half months to get back to work after giving birth to her first child, but the co-founder of Indias second-largest mobile wallet firm, MobiKwik, said that her situation was different.

I wanted to come back within three months, but couldnt, because my son fell sick and was in the intensive care unit, Taku said.

She believes all new mothers do not need six months of break, mandated recently by amendments to the law on maternity benefits.

All these laws are made on averages to make lives easy. But, to make a law that allows six months paid leave will make it difficult for women to come back to a corporate life, Taku said.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, notified by the Presidents consent last month, has been hailed for making it easier for women to continue with their jobs after becoming a mother. But entrepreneurs such as Taku differ. She said studies suggest that a maternity break puts a womans career back by a year.

In addition to the 6 months leave, women can take two more months off at half-pay should they need it, the new law mandates.

Corporate leaders and economists fear the new law will make matters worse for working women as companies could shy away from recruiting female employees.

In India, womens participation in the workforce is far from ideal. A 2016 World Bank showed Indias gender gap in workforce at 53 percentage points, higher than its neighbour Nepal (at seven percentage points).

Between 2004 and 2011, women in the Indian workforce dropped from 35% to 25%, according to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report published in 2016.

The law applies to all companies, whether a 10-member startup or an industrial behemoth. It is just not fair in terms of cost applicability, said Taku.

The biggest disincentive for implementing the new rule in India is for employers to bear the costs alone. In many countries, the cost is either shared or entirely foot by the government.

The issue facing the implementation of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act is in-built resistance from companies... India is struggling with the definition of employee and employers, said Akhila Shivdas, executive director at Centre for Advocacy and Research.

Several start-ups HT spoke to seemed hesitant in immediately granting the full benefits of the new law.

Most start-up headcounts range between 40-60 people  in some cases one person managing a vertical.

For instance, the human resources department of one start-up in the financial services and cash back business is handled solely by a woman. If she takes a maternity leave of six months, I will have to hire another person, the co-founder of the company said, wary of implementing the 6-month maternity leave.

The legal provisions do not lay down penalties for those not giving the 6-month maternity leave, but expect self-regulation.

We have a problem of labour force participation by women in India. Estimates vary between 20-25%... one of the lowest in the world. And this Act will further skew this. Employers will be hesitant to implement this as the onus lies on them to pay for it. Employers will also be reluctant to hire more women, said Rupa Subramanya, economist and independent researcher.

Indian bureaucrats echo Rupas apprehensions. They fear that there will be a spurt in sub-contracting to circumvent the provisions of the Act.

But once awareness about ones rights grow, the compliance will also grow, a central government official who has worked on the new Act said hopefully.

Large multinational firms such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), LOreal and PepsiCo have already notified the benefits of the new law.

PepsiCo was one of the first to extend the leave period from three to six months. We recognised that the extended maternity leave and flexible work hours are important support factors during motherhood for women, said a PepsiCo spokesperson.

Cosmetic major LOreal too has extended its leave period to 26 weeks. It has also found ways to enable work-life balance. Mothers on maternity can also nominate team members to share some part of responsibilities as an additional project, this in turn helps develop the next level talents on the job, said Roshni Wadhwa, director-HR at LOreal India.

GSK, as part of its global practices, had a 6-month maternity leave policy before India mandated it.

TVS Motors and Dabur are among the Indian companies that have adopted the new policy. But voices from medium and small enterprises in India said that the same law cannot apply to all companies.

This is not the first time the Indian government has taken steps to bring down the gender gap at workplace. A regulation was passed in 2015 that every listed company in India should have a woman director on the board.

But studies show poor implementation of the rule. Data provider Prime Database in a report in 2016 said that 56 NSE-listed companies did not meet the criteria. Several government-run listed companies were part of this list of 56.

Taku and many like her, feel that in India the parameters should be different, for companies at different stages of evolution, size and scale. For maternity benefits, she believes that the decision should be left to the company. In some countries even three months of paid leave is not mandatory... The employer could give a paid leave or unpaid leave depending on the situation, Taku said.
The government wants to withdraw the security provided to social activist Teesta Setalvad, three Allahabad high court judges who pronounced the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict, and former teacher SAR Geelani, who was accused and acquitted in the Parliament attack case.

A Union home ministry official said on Tuesday security agencies have assessed and found that these people no longer face any threat to their lives now.

They were provided guards in accordance with court orders for security to them. Since they dont face any threat now, we may have to approach the courts to withdraw their security cover, said the official who didnt wish to be named.

Their security cover and scale of threat will be discussed at a meeting of the protection review group, which looks into the security cover of central protectees. It will decide if these people should be guarded.

Setalvad, who fought for the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots, is a vocal critic of the NDA government and her charitable organisations have been under the lens since BJP-led front came to power in 2014.

I face continuous threats in the form of phone calls and trolls on social media. If the government wants to withdraw my security, I believe it wants the threat to become physical, Teesta said over the phone.

The home ministry has barred her NGOs  Sabrang Trust and Citizen for Justice and Peace  from receiving foreign donations because of alleged breach in funding norms.

Setalvad was provided Y category security on the directions of the Supreme Court in 2004. This category entitles a protectee around half-a-dozen guards.

Besides her, another lawyer of the Gujarat riot victims, Rais Khan Pathan, was given similar central security that the government now wants to withdraw.

Former Delhi University college teacher Geelani, who was charged with conspiracy and sedition after the 2001 Parliament attack, was given Y category security too, after he survived an attempt on his life in 2005.

Another central protectee whose security cover may be withdrawn is Vishwanath Chaturvedi, known for requesting the Supreme Court to order a CBI inquiry against former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to their income.

I still face threats from opponents. I get security only when I go to Uttar Pradesh. Despite a court order, I am not being provided security in Delhi. If my security is withdrawn, I will bring it immediately to the courts notice, Chaturvedi said.

Geelani could not be reached for comments.

Similar security was given to Allahabad high court judges  Sudhir Agarwal, SU Khan and DV Sharma  who heard the Ram Janmabhoomi trial and pronounced the verdict.

There were fears then that the radical Students Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, could target and harm the judges. Khan and Sharma have since retired, but the government guards havent been withdrawn.

The SIMI operatives who posed a threat to the judges were killed last October after a jailbreak in Bhopal. Some of their associates were killed in Andhra Pradesh, an official said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Unknown gunmen on Tuesday snatched a car from a civilian in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, triggering an alarm.

Security forces were put on an alert after the gunmen took away the white-coloured car of a man at Samboora in Pulwama district, about 32 km from Srinagar, a police official said.

The owner of the car told the police that he had purchased the vehicle recently and it did not have a permanent registration number yet, the official said.

He said the security forces had been asked to keep a vigil for any suspicious car matching the description of the stolen vehicle as it can be used by the gunmen for subversive activities.
Shimla Municipal election has been deferred as State election Commission calls for special review of electoral rolls.

There were many complaints from political parties, mayor and councilors of municipal corporation, Shimla and the public regarding discrepancies in the electoral rolls. Election were due in May end and new municipal corporation is scheduled to take over in first week of June.

A spokesperson of the commission said here today that as per the directions of the state election commission, the election registration officer-cum-deputy commissioner, Shimla prepared and notified the electoral rolls of MC Shimla on May 5, 2017, showing the number of total electors as 88,167 whereas the CEO of the State had on May 5, 2017 informed the total number of electors enrolled by them as 85,546 for the MC area.

He said the special revision of the electoral rolls would be done from 15 to 23 June, 2017. The verification of electors already enrolled in the final electoral rolls and receipt of claims and objections by the revising authority would be done from 15 to 24 May, whereas the work of preparations of list of voters whose names are proposed for additional/deletion/correction would be undertaken from 25 to 29 May, 2017.

The process services of notices to such electors would be completed from 30 May to 3 June and the disposal of the cases would be done from 5 to 12 June, 2017 by the revising authority.

He said the appeal by the aggrieved voters to the election registration officer-cum-deputy commissioner Shimla could be done within three days from the passing of orders by the revising authority. The disposal of appeals would be sorted out within three days from the filing of appeals and the preparation of the supplementary lists-II and insertion of corrections in the finally published electoral rolls would be done on 23rd June, 2017.
India is pursuing plans to build its own multi-role helicopters that could be made available to the three services in the next 6 years.

If all goes as per the plans of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the first prototype of the helicopter could be out by 2020. A senior HAL official said the programme was on track and a priority for the state-owned firm.

Heres all you need to know about the Indian multi-role helicopter (IMRH) project:

Competition for Mi-17 choppers

The IMRH is expected to compete with Russian Mi-17 choppers in both Indian and foreign markets. HAL says the platform could have a huge market as nearly 40 air forces across the world operate Mi-17 type helicopters. The Mi-17 is the mainstay of the Indian Air Forces transport fleet.

Types of missions

HAL officials say the IMRH will be capable of carrying out a wider variety of missions than the Mi-17. The indigenous helicopter, which is currently in design stage, could be used for transporting troops, conducting assault operations, air maintenance and anti-submarine warfare among other roles.

Specifications of proposed India-made multi-role choppers Weight class: 12.5 tonne Engines: 2 Payload: 3,500kg Passengers: 24 Service ceiling: Over 20,000 feet

Indigenous platform

The HAL is seeking to build the helicopter without any foreign help. However, HAL sources said the engines for the IMRH could be sourced from a foreign military contractor. HAL has estimated a requirement for 350 to 400 choppers but the number could be revised depending on market projections.

Indian helicopter fleet

The IMRH will join a wide variety of helicopters in the Indian fleet ranging from Mi-17V5, Dhruv advanced light helicopter, Ka-226T (yet to be built) to Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavy-lift choppers whose induction will begin in about 2 years.
India has opposed introducing new categories for consideration in inter-governmental negotiations on expansion of the UNSC, saying it is unacceptable that discarded options on increasing the UN bodys membership are being repackaged as new offerings.

The unrepresented and underrepresented want parity. Offering them comfort in terms of length of serving on the Council is inadequate. These options neither reflect the new political realities nor address the crisis of legitimacy that confronts the United Nations Security Council, Indias Permanent Representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin said on Monday.

Participating in the informal meeting on Inter- governmental Negotiations on the question of equitable representation and increase in membership of the Security Council, Akbaruddin said India is not in favour of the introduction of any categories which have been examined and discarded in the past.

Options whose sell by date has long been over and are now being repackaged as new offerings are unacceptable, he said.

He questioned new options outlined by Italys representative on behalf of the United or Consensus Group, of which Pakistan is also a member.

One option offered by the group focused on expansion of two-year non-permanent seats and the other for introduction of a new category of longer term members who can be re-elected.

In the interests of interactivity can it be clarified, for example, how does Africas quest for being represented in the permanent category be satisfied by giving longer term representation through a new category, Akbaruddin said.

With African states already being represented in the non- permanent category on a continuing basis, Akbaruddin asked are they to be perpetually satisfied with serving longer terms and not breaking through the barrier of being unrepresented in the permanent category.

Is a new category a new glass ceiling that will now stand in their way, he said, adding that the desires of African states need to be respected just as those of others opposing certain arrangements. Are we planning to have conditions listed on the basis of which Africa will be represented in the permanent category, he added.

Akbaruddin cautioned against member states creating an impression that conditions are being put on any aspect of the expansion process and on any form of representation, ahead of even negotiations on a text.

He also questioned why some member states were raising issues midway in the negotiations process on the already agreed elements regarding the size of the Council.

The various queries made regarding size of the Council and working methods in the Food for Thought paper are disconcerting. In the process that is underway, we need to build on what is already in place, without taking away from what has been built already, he said, referring to the document tabled for consideration on UNSC expansion.

This should not happen unless we are in a new situation i.e. negotiations with a text, where of course as many things as wished by member states can be opened up as we are all aware that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, Akbaruddin added.

He stressed that all positions by member states can find a place in the current negotiating paper or any other document/text without feeling the urge to undermine each other.
An Indian woman, who says she was forcibly married to a Pakistani man at gun point and is currently staying at the Indian mission in Islamabad, will be repatriated only after legal requirements are completed, Pakistans Foreign Office said on Tuesday.

Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria told Dawn News channel that case of the Indian woman, identified only as Uzma, is being heard in court and she would only be able to return once the legal requirements are complete.

Zakaria said Indias external affairs ministry had requested the Foreign Office for details pertaining to Uzmas marriage to Tahir Khan, a resident of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

On Monday, Uzma approached a judicial magistrates court in Islamabad with an application that stated she wants to go back to my homeland of her own will. I would like to go back to my home with full security, the application said.

I do not want to go outside the High Commission until I return to my home in Delhi, she said in her application.

The court has set the next hearing of Uzmas case for July 11.

Uzma, 20, sought refuge at the Indian high commission last week after she learnt that Khan was already married and had four children.

During the court hearing on Monday, Uzma said Khan forced her to sign a nikaah nama (marriage contract) at gun point. She also said Khan sexually assaulted and tortured her and threatened to kill her.

Uzma hails from Delhi and met Khan in Malaysia last year. After she returned to India, Khan forced her to get a Pakistani visa to visit him, she alleged.

When she crossed the Wagah land border, Khan picked up Uzma in a car and, after travelling a short distance, gave her a sleeping pill, she told the media. She awoke in Khans home and was subsequently forced to marry him, she said.
A little-known Muslim organisation has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 crore for those who behead Pakistani soldiers and hand over the heads to India.

Mohammad Shakeel Saifi, the Chairman of Muslim Yuva Atankwad Virodhi Samiti, said he would collect the amount from his volunteers and public and give it to the one who brings heads of Pakistani soldiers who mutilated bodies of two Indian soldiers at the Line of Control (LoC) recently.

Saifi came from Delhi to visit Ajmer dargah yesterday and told reporters that he would give the cash reward for beheading Pakistani soldiers.

I announce to give Rs. 5 crore to the one who beheads Pakistani soldiers and hands it over to India. I will collect the amount from my volunteers and people, he said.
Pakistan has made five recommendations aimed at addressing alleged human rights issues in India before the United Nations, reflecting the chill in ties between the two countries.

In comments certain to irk New Delhi, Pakistan said India should take visible policy (decisions) and other measures to ensure freedom of religion and beliefs, and address the alarming trend of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, including mob violence committed, incited and advocated by right-wing parties and affiliated extremist organisations against minorities  particularly Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Dalits.

The recommendations were made to the draft report as part of the ongoing working group meeting on the Universal Periodic Review of India in Geneva. The session will conclude on May 12.

Referring to issues pertaining to Kashmir, Pakistan said India should immediately stop its atrocities and violations of human rights against residents of the Valley, and allow them to exercise their right to self-determination through a free-and-fair plebiscite in accordance with the United Nations Security Councils resolution.

It also urged India to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act as well as the Public Safety Act, and take credible actions to end the prevailing culture of impunity in India-occupied Kashmir.

Another recommendation stated that India should immediately ban the use of pellet guns and hold those who have used lethal force against unarmed civilians in Kashmir accountable for their actions. It also called for allowing the United Nations and other international organisations unhindered access to report on the prevailing human rights situation in the Valley.

The United States made three recommendations, one of which included ensuring of consistent, transparent application of Foreign Contributions Regulations Act regulations to permit full exercise of the right to freedom of association.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Separatists in Kashmir have said the ongoing freedom struggle in the state is indigenous and has nothing to do with global terrorist groups such as the Islamic State or al Qaeda.

The hardline and moderate separatists, including Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik, said in a joint statement on Monday evening that terrorism and freedom movement are poles apart.

Our movement has nothing to do with these world-level groups and practically they are nonexistent in the state. There is no role for these groups in our movement, they said.

The separatists alleged that government agencies were desperate to malign their movement and were drawing policies to bring a bad name to ongoing freedom struggle in Kashmir.

They said the authorities in Delhi were frustrated and have launched a well-planned psychological war against the freedom movement in a ploy to create a wedge between people and brave hearts.

Indian agencies under the garb of some world level organisations are planning their roguish activities to influence international community, they said.

After miserably and humiliatingly failing to curb and contain the peoples movement by all the military might, the Indian government is frustrated to the extent that they have framed new tactics to change the discourse of ongoing freedom struggle, they added.

They alleged that agencies are hiring some sick minded and Ikhwan type goons and they have been assigned the task of creating chaos in state. The separatists accused that renegades like Ikhwan and agencies are now applying an approach.

They have decided to go for mysterious killings, burglary, loot, plunder and vandalism, under the garb of these groups to defame ongoing freedom movement & to influence international viewpoint, they said.

The separatists appealed pro-freedom quarters and armed faction to isolate all those elements, deliberately or unknowingly creating confusions among freedom ranks.

Geelani, Mirwaiz and Malik said it was premature to talk about the future discourse of political destiny of the state but said: it is the majority, that will decide the political discourse of state.

Let the people decide their political destiny through right to self-determination, they said.

The joint statement has come after suspected militants asked people not to carry Pakistani flags but hoist black flags, similar to that of the IS and al Qaeda. And in March, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Rashid Bhat said in a video that the militancy should not aim to create a new nation of Kashmir but for the supremacy of Islam.

In the 11-minute grainy video message, which went viral on social media, the 23-year-old Bhat urged the youth who throw stones at security forces to check their intent.

The law and order situation in Kashmir has gone downhill after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in July 2016 and the valley has witnessed a cycle of violence with unrelenting street protests that have seen the participation of students, including girls.
After arresting two American university instructors and laying out what it says was an elaborate, CIA-backed plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un, North Korea is claiming to be the victim of state-sponsored terrorism  from the White House, AP reported.

The assertion comes as the U.S. is considering putting the North back on its list of terror sponsors. But the vitriolic outrage over the alleged plan to assassinate Kim last month is also being doled out with an unusually big dollop of retaliation threats, raising a familiar question: What on earth is going on in Pyongyang?

North Koreas state-run media announced Sunday that an ethnic Korean man with U.S. citizenship was intercepted two days ago by authorities for unspecified hostile acts against the country. He was identified as Kim Hak Song, an employee of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

That came just days after the North announced the detention of an accounting instructor at the same university, Kim Sang Dok, also a U.S. citizen, for acts of hostility aimed to overturn the country. Their workplace is North Koreas only privately funded university and has a large number of foreign teachers, including Americans.

What connection, if any, the arrests have to the alleged plot is unknown. But they bring to four the number of U.S. citizens now known to be in custody in the North.

Obviously this is concerning, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Monday. We are well-aware of it, and we are going to work through the embassy of Sweden ... through our State Department to seek the release of the individuals there.

Sweden handles U.S. consular affairs in North Korea, including those of American detainees.

The others are Otto Warmbier, serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts  he allegedly tried to steal a propaganda banner at his tourist hotel  and Kim Dong Chul, serving a 10-year term with hard labor for alleged espionage.

The reported arrest of another Mr. Kim  the North Korean man allegedly at the center of the assassination plot  is more ominous.

According to state media reports that began Friday, he is a Pyongyang resident who was ideologically corrupted and bribed by the CIA and South Koreas National Intelligence Service while working in the timber industry in Siberia in 2014. The Russian far east is one of the main places where North Korean laborers are allowed to work abroad.

The reports say Kim  his full name has not been provided  was converted into a terrorist full of repugnance and revenge against the supreme leadership of North Korea and collaborated in an elaborate plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un at a series of events, including a major military parade, that were held last month.

They allege Kim was in frequent contact through satellite communications with the murderous demons of the NIS and CIA, who instructed him to use a biochemical substance that is the know-how of the CIA and that the hardware, supplies and funds would be borne by the South Korean side.
1) Dramatic day ahead in the Delhi Assembly

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has called for a special session of the Delhi Assembly today. It comes against the backdrop of sacked minister Kapil Mishras allegation that Kejriwal took Rs 2 crore from Cabinet colleague Satyender Jain. Truth will triumph. Its beginning will be made during the special session of the Delhi Assembly tomorrow, Kejriwal tweeted last night, indicating he would present his side of the story in the House. AAP media representatives have asked the public to tune in from 2pm onward.

Follow HTs live updates here.

2) South Koreans vote today in historic election after Park Geun-Hyes ouster

South Koreans are voting today to choose a new president after Park Geun-Hye was ousted and indicted for corruption, and against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North. Left-leaning Moon Jae-In, a former human rights lawyer, has held a commanding lead in opinion polls for months, with the final Gallup Korea survey giving him 38 percent support, followed by former tech mogul Ahn Cheol-Soo on 20 percent.

Read the story here.

3) Maoists take the aerial route, fight CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh with desi rockets

Security specialists say the Maoists are adapting themselves to the changing ground situation. With the region teeming with 118 paramilitary battalions comprising 120,000 troops, they are taking to the aerial route to attack.

Read the story here.

4) Demonetisation did not impede future black money flows: UN report

The Indian governments demonetisation measures did not impede future black money flows in new denominations, a UN report has said. According to UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017, complementary measures to demonetisation would be required to target all forms of undeclared wealth and assets. Broader structural reforms which could also contribute to enhanced transparency include: the implementation of a goods and services tax; voluntary disclosure of income scheme; and tracking of high-value transactions through taxpayer identification numbers, it said.

Read the story here.

5) Gujarat after Modi: Multiple power centres, weak CMs but an open Chief Ministers Office

There is a marked difference between the administrations in Gujarat before and after 2014. The former was marked by the complete dominance by Narendra Modi, with the Chief Ministers Office controlling every element of governance, and a tight structure. The latter has been marked by the emergence of multiple power centres, weak CMs, and a much more indisciplined but also open, informal and some suggest democratic, structure.

Read the story here.

6) Beijing deletes envoys suggestion to rename China-Pakistan corridor

An embarrassed China has expunged its Indias envoys suggestion that Beijing could think about renaming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to allay New Delhis sovereignty concerns as the corridor passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The suggestion made by envoy Luo Zhaohui has been removed from the official version of his speech published on Chinese embassys website.

Read the story here.

7) Bill Clinton is co-writing a White House thriller with novelist James Patterson

Bill Clinton might have hoped to spend this year back in the White House as Americas first gentleman, should his wife Hillary have won the 2016 election. Instead, the two-term Democratic president is moving into fiction, writing his first thriller about drama behind the scenes in the White House. Clinton is collaborating with bestselling US author James Patterson on The President is Missing to be published in June 2018 by Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Company.

Read the story here.
An otherwise media-savvy political spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was embarrassed when a scribe asked him if he was trying to defend the indefensible while batting for under-fire party chief Lalu Prasad.

The spokesperson had this to say: Where do I go? The Congress is in a shambles, as is the AAP. The BJP, we have fought bitterly. I must bide my time.

His exasperation also summed up RJD supremo Lalus dilemma. The unquestioned leader of the party for close to two decades with a penchant for shooting off his mouth, Lalu is finding it difficult to respond as the odds stack up against him.

On Monday, even before the Supreme Court verdict came in, ordering the revival of a fodder scam against him, Lalu had gone incommunicado. The apex court had overturned a Jharkhand high court decision of 2014 to club his cases.

The lawns of 10, Circular Road, the home of his politician-wife Rabri Devi, in Patna, were closed to the media and party men. Lalus old confidante Shivanand Tiwary had sole entry right. Lalu, Tiwary said, will not speak.

Not since 1997, when Lalu was arrested for the first time in the estimated Rs 1,050 crore fodder scam case for fraudulent withdrawals from treasuries in undivided Bihar, has he been known to retreat into a shell. He had been irrepressible ever-after his bail in 2014, more so, baiting the BJP and rivals no end.

The accusations against the RJDs first family have come in torrents recently, courtesy BJPs Sushil Kumar Modi, a comrade of Lalu from the JP movement days of 1974. The allegations ranged from owning a swanky Patna mall to the sale of soil excavated from the mall site to the Patna zoo. There was more and two union ministers were alleged to have benefited the Lalu family against ministerial berths.

Lalu has generally maintained a stoic silence. The accusations over garnering property, his phone talks with jailed mafia don Mohammad Shahabuddin, ex-MP of Siwan, and now the SC verdict, which could end his honeymoon outside jail on bail, have come together at a time, when his sons are far from settled in politics. Lalu is also cagey of his ally chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is known to be restive with a history of sudden political U-turns.

What would Kumar do is a subject of speculation. If Kumar breaks the alliance, as he did with the BJP, on principle, the RJD would flounder.

The equations within the Grand Alliance may not change immediately though. On Monday, an offer from the BJP to Kumar to ditch Lalu and re-join the NDA was rebuffed by JD(U) top leader KC Tyagi. He said Kumars mandate was against communal forces till 2020. Yet RCP Sinha, an MP and a confidante of Kumar, would not defend the RJD against the BJP offensive.

It is upon those concerned to answer to such queries. How does it concern the JD(U), he had said.

Kumar has time to ponder over his political moves and forge an anti-BJP alliance of like-minded parties. But for Lalu, the options are shrinking. His relatives in Samajwadi Party have been voted out in Uttar Pradesh. RJDs hopes of reclaiming its national importance by stitching an anti-BJP forum would recede if Kumar decides to part ways.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Alfred High School in Rajkot, famously known as Mahatma Gandhis alma mater, has closed its doors after 164 long years. It will be reopened as a museum soon.

According to sources, enrolment of students to the institution  now known as the Mohandas Gandhi Vidhyalaya  had been falling for many years now. The official nod for the museum project was accorded on Monday, when the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) took over the reins of the school from the education department.

Gandhi had passed out of the school in 1887, at the age of 18, after studying there for seven years.

Though the institution was launched as the Alfred High School by the British in 1853, it was rechristened as Mohandas Gandhi Vidhyalaya after Independence. It offered education up to Class 12 in the science stream.

A view of the school, spread over 600 square metres of land in the heart of the city. (HT Photo)

Spread over nearly 600 square metres of land in the heart of the city, the government-run school had 40 classrooms, a library, laboratories and a sprawling playground. However, RMC authorities say its student count in the last academic session stood at a mere 109, and even among them, only 35 attended classes regularly.

Thats a dreary number, considering that the school employs as many as 40 staff members.

The student count at the Mohandas Gandhi Vidhyalaya came down from 345 in 2011-12 to 141 in 2015-16. When the number plunged further in 2016-17, the district administration decided to go ahead with its museum plans.

Students were shifted to another government school, the Karansinhji high school, which is located just 400 metres away, Rajkot mayor Jaiman Upadhyay told HT. The civic body wants to turn the Mahatmas school into a state-of-the-art museum that will attract tourists from India and abroad.

The RMC is set to pump in funds amounting to Rs 15 crore for the museum, which will feature sound and light shows as well as 3D projection mapping films on the life and times of Gandhi, among other attractions. The interactive sessions will have commentaries in seven global languages for the convenience of foreign tourists.

A locked gate of the school. (HT Photo)

The mayor said the school was suffering because it only offered science and technical courses to students, when there are many more options like ITI and polytechnic education available to them.

The Alfred High School, founded in 1853, was the first English medium educational institution of the kind to be established in the Saurashtra region. The building was built by the Nawab of the erstwhile princely state of Junagadh in 1875 and named after Prince Alfred, the duke of Edinburgh.

The structure was severely damaged in the 2001 earthquake. It was later renovated with monetary aid drawn from the Prime Ministers Relief Fund.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
One night this February, six rockets whooshed out of the forest and burst into flames, raining shrapnel into trees surrounding a police camp in Chhattisgarh. No lives were lost but the explosions sounded a loud alarm for the security forces fighting a decades-old, violent Maoist insurgency.

Until recently, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) cleared all the trees and shrubs before pitching their camps in the forests where the rebels hold sway. But these days the trees are left to stand as a shield against projectiles that the insurgents seem to fire with worrying frequency.

Security specialists say the Maoists are adapting themselves to the changing ground situation. With the region teeming with 118 paramilitary battalions comprising 120,000 troops, they are taking to the aerial route to attack.

The more we learn their tactics, the more they learn our tactics, said a senior CRPF officer involved in anti-Maoist operations. As we improve, so do they.

The Maoists crude artillery of rockets and mortars was on display even during the deadly ambush in Sukma two weeks ago that killed 25 CRPF soldiers. The guerrillas used five different kinds of airborne projectiles in the ambush, officials said.

One of the projectiles seized from the spot of the attack was what security forces describe as the Rambo arrow. Fired from a traditional bow, the arrowhead carried low-grade gunpowder that explodes on impact after hitting a target.

Rambo arrows dont cause much damage, but they disorient you in the fog of war, said a CoBRA trooper who survived the ambush. The CoBRA is a special commando unit that specialises in guerrilla warfare.

Intelligence officials who studied the ambush said the projectiles were used to force troopers to abandon cover positions and come into the open, where they were picked off with gunfire.

The rockets, including the crude versions, bear testimony to the Maoists changing tactics under heightened pressure exerted by the swelling number of security forces. Their area of influence has shrunk over the years and mounting ambushes are becoming difficult, though not entirely rare. Triggering improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is also becoming a challenge.

We have been recovering IEDs of increasing sophistication, Jamal Khan, the principal of CRPFs Institute of IED Management at Pune told HT. As we have grown better at identifying and defusing IEDs, the Maoists have been forced to adapt.

The new emphasis on airborne projectiles, field officers say, is a logical next step in a decades-long game of cat-and-mouse between soldiers and guerrillas.

The CRPF has been in Chhattisgarh since 2003, but troopers began venturing into the forests in 2009-10 during Operation Green Hunt. As forces increased and training improved, the Maoists started to rely more on IEDs and less on ambushes, said a senior CRPF officer, who served at the time in Dantewada, a small town in the conflict zone.

In 2012, the CRPF set up the IED institute to combat this threat. That year, the force identified and defused 587 IEDs  which rose to 1072 IEDs in 2016. As the forces grew more adept at finding IEDs, the guerrillas changed tack again.

The Maoist rocket was first seen in 2012 when a rudimentary version was lobbed into a Border Security Force camp in Narayanpur.

That version was very crude and didnt fly very well, said Khan, the explosives expert. But since 2015, the Maoists have fired rockets on CRPF camps on four occasions.

The newer versions are more sophisticated: A conical nose filled with explosives is welded into a tail-section filled with low-explosive propellant fuel. A funnel-shaped nozzle on the tail produces thrust and fins loosely screwed to the tail provide stability to the rockets in flight and increase their chances of landing on the nose. Once they strike, a spring-loaded nail strikes a detonator and triggers an explosion.

The rockets have rattled the security forces, though they have not resulted in any deaths yet. But the potential consequences of such a projectile landing on a CRPF tent are a cause for worry across Chhattisgarhs troubled zone.

Another worry is that the Maoists seem to have retained their technically skilled cadre despite the surrender and capture of many high-profile leaders over the past few years.

What is left is the real hardcore, the real experienced fighters, said an officer who recently confronted a Maoist military company.

Right now they are going from village to village, showing the weapons they looted, saying  We have bounced back.
Prejudice on the basis of religion or caste is out of question for his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a group of eminent Muslims on Tuesday.

His assurance that all communities are treated equally assumes significance after a recent spurt in attacks on Muslims by self-styled gau-rakshaks in several states.

One of the main issues in our meeting was the perceived fear among Muslims across the country. I told him that you are the Prime Minister of the entire country and no citizen, irrespective of the religion, should feel unsafe. He (PM) said, We treat all communities equally. We dont believe in any prejudice on the basis of religion or caste, Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman, president ofJamiat Ulama-i-Hind told HT.

PM Modi also agreed to set up a special committee to listen to the Muslims and their issues, Maulana Usman added.

In the meeting that lasted more than an hour, the Muslim leaders underlined the need for a platform where the community members could register their grudges and highlight their issues because it is not possible to call on the PM every time.

The PM promptly agreed to such a mechanism and said the panel will be formed with representatives from the government and community leaders.

Even after assuming power Modi had stated that his government will treat all communities equally, however, his government has often received flak from Opposition and social activists over attacks on Muslims due to issues like beef consumption.

Welcoming the members of the delegation, the PM said that democracys greatest strength is harmony and amity. Emphasising that the government does not have any right to discriminate among citizens, the PM said that Indias speciality has been its unity in diversity, said a government press release.

Muslim leaders, however, maintained that the issue of triple talaq should be handled by the community alone. Its the matter related to Muslim community. No outside laws can solve it. We are already spreading awareness against the misuse of triple talaq, said Maulana Usman.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A Sangh-backed think tank, the Deen Dayal Upadhaya Research Institute (DRI) wants the government to consider nutritional needs over food security; it has proposed a Nanaji Thali, a concept that uses locally grown produce to meet nutritional requirements.

Named after Nanaji Deshmukh, whose birth centenary celebrations are underway, the thali (plate) suggests incorporating indigenous crops and produce that are part of food habits of the people.

Nanaji Deshmukh was a Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader who worked extensively in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance.

Nanaji used to say government policies and programmes should not be limited to food security. This should now be reoriented as nutrition security of which food security can be a part, said Atul Jain, general secretary of the DRI.

To explore the suggestion the DRI is organising a national workshop in Shillong in June in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, under the ministry of agriculture and the women and child development ministry of Madhya Pradesh.

It will be attended by agriculture scientists and practitioners, social activists and policy makers to discuss how using local foods can be incorporated in for instance midday meal schemes, Jain said.

So far, three workshops have been held in Bhopal, Chitrakoot and Jabalpur to discuss the subject. Jain said the general consensus was there is a need for localisation of food and its availability, as also incorporating indigenous food habits of the people.

The seminar will not be discussing only nutritional values of various ingredients in different parts of the country, but also on ways to ensuring how do they reach the thaali. The first step, of course, would be identifying nutritional ingredients region-wise, and then finding the ways out to ensure their availability locally. That is why the topic: Agriculture for Nutrition, he said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Muslim arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevask Sangh (RSS) has passed a resolution for merger of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Kailash Mansarovar with India.

Kailash Mansarovar, a pilgrimage site for Hindus, is in Tibet.

The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) at its two-day national executive meeting that concluded over the weekend in Uttarakhands Roorkee resolved to push the Centre for the unification of the two Kashmirs to bring peace in the Valley and in the region.

Both resolutions expected to stoke a controversy are in line with the Sanghs position on Kashmir and China. The RSS has been advocating a more muscular Pakistan and China policy.

It urged the government to revisit ties with China after Beijing provoked New Delhi by giving Chinese names to six places in Arunachal Pradesh and objected to the Dalai Lama visiting Tawang. Chinas investment in PoK through the CPEC, which passes through sovereign Indian territory, has also nettled the Sangh.

The BJP mentor threw its weight behind the government, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech in 2016 made a reference to Balochistan and has been advocating the unification of PoK with India.

MRMs national convenor Mohd Afzal told HT that the organisation will push for the merger of PoK with India using diplomatic means or through the use of force.

This is the only way to end the Kashmir problem; to ensure peace along the border and an end to stone-pelting and violence in the Valley, Afzal said.

He said the government must also ensure that India should get Kailash Mansarovar, a holy place for Hindus.

The MRM passed four more resolutions to support education and skill development of the Muslim community, ending the practice of triple talaq, making beef consumption illegal and construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The MRM has been lending its support to the BJP-RSS campaign for a uniform civil code and discontinuing the practice of triple talaq (divorce uttered thrice in writing or verbally).

There is no support from the All India Muslim Personal Law Board for women given triple talaq. These women and their children are left to fend for themselves. The MRM has decided to create a fund for such families to ensure their education and empowerment, Afzal said.

The MRM has been rallying support for the campaign to end beef consumption even as the BJP-led NDA government has been accused of imposing food choices on people.

We will organise milk parties during the month of Ramzan, beginning on May 26, and send the message of no beef to our community members, Afzal said.

Another contentious issue that the MRM has agreed to back is the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The issue has been a flashpoint between communities after the Babri Masjid was razed to pave the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the site, which Hindus believe is the birthplace of Lord Ram.

Starting May 12 in Meerut, over 3,000 meetings will be held across the country to create awareness about the five resolutions that were passed and to gather support, Afzal told HT.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
An analysis by a Delhi-based advocacy group of over 80,000 applications filed under the Right To Information Act with 24 major public sector undertaking (PSU) banks shows that their rate of rejection increased in 2015-16 as compared to the previous 3 years.

These 24 banks, which blamed the transparency law enacted in 2005 for governance constraints, accounted for about 40% of the RTI applications filed with the finance ministry. A Reserve Bank of India appointed PJ Nayak committee had cited RTI as one of the constraints on the governance in the banks.

Ventakesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative Nayak studied the Central Information Commissions annual report on RTI and found that as compared to 2014-15, the rejection rates have gone up in 50% of the public sector banks indicating that the banks were reluctant in providing the information sought.

In banks such as Andhra Bank and State Bank of Hyderabad, the rejection rate was higher than 50% of the applications received. For most banks, the average rejection rate was 20-30% much higher than average of 10% by the central government ministries.

Most of the applications received by the banks are related to non-performing assets, discrepancies in bank accounts of applicants and reasons for not opening an account.

As regards the RTI load on public sector banks, the average applications received in a branch was not more than 2 thereby debunking the constraint theory projected by PJ Nayak committee, Nayak said.

His theory is based on the argument that most banks have adequate staff to deal with rising RTI applications but were reluctant to provide information citing constraint on resources.

Nayak also found no co-relation between non-performing assets of the banks and the volume of the RTI applications filed, saying to establish the link a more detailed analysis was required.

The banks had opposed RTI applications seeking information about loan defaults citing privacy provisions but the Supreme Court in 2016 directed them to provide information citing larger public interest.

A content analysis of the RTI applications received and the manner of their disposal by these banks will be necessary to establish any positive or negative correlation in this regard. Such a study is the urgent need of the hour, Nayak said.

Among the banks, the State Bank of India received one-third of the total information requests followed by the Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda.

RTI rejection rate in 2015-16 Andhra Bank 56% State Bank of Hyderabad 51.9% Corporation Bank 49.6% Canara Bank 48.1% Indian Overseas Bank 43.9% Bank of Maharashtra 38.5% State Bank of Mysore 36.3% Allahabad Bank 36%

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bihar government to pay an HIV+ rape victim Rs 3 lakh compensation, as it rejected the 26-week pregnant womans plea for abortion.

A court-appointed panel of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) advised against terminating the pregnancy, saying the procedure at such an advanced stage posed a risk to lives of the mother and her unborn child.

India has a 20-week legal ceiling on abortion except when there is a risk to mothers life. The draft of the new medical termination of pregnancy bill allows abortion up to 24 weeks but it is yet to be introduced in Parliament.

The 35-year-old destitute woman sought an abortion saying the foetus was at risk of contracting the deadly infection.

A bench headed by justice Dipak Misra also asked doctors at AIIMS to draw up a treatment plan to ensure that the baby didnt contract the infection.

The plan would be followed by the doctors at the Indira Gandhi Institute for Medical Sciences in Patna, her hometown.

The court will on August 9 -- the next day of hearing -- determine the compensation authorities in Bihar will pay to the woman for negligence.

She had sought an abortion when she was 17 weeks pregnant but authorities in Bihar were lax in their response, the court was told.

Divorced and left to fend for herself on the streets of Patna, the woman challenged in the top court the Patna high courts refusal to permit her to terminate the pregnancy.

The Supreme Court on May 3 directed AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine the woman. The woman, who lives in a shelter home in Patna, was flown to Delhi the next day.

The woman was not even aware of her pregnancy and the disease till she was rescued from the streets and brought to a shelter home on January 27.

As per procedure, she underwent a medical test and learnt that she was 17 weeks pregnant. She told the doctors to abort the foetus. However, the hospital insisted on calling her father who too gave his consent, her lawyer Vrinda Grover said.

Since the hospital did not respond, the woman sought the intervention of the high court. By then the pregnancy was between 20 and 21 weeks. The court set up a medical board that said the woman was suffering from minor mental retardation. The board didnt clearly say if abortion could be carried out and yet the high court presumed that termination would be hazardous to the petitioners life, Grover said.
An Indian man who fled persecution in his country and has been in the US for nearly two decades was detained in California after losing his latest appeal over a deportation order.

Gurmukh Singh, who is married to an American citizen and has two US-born daughters, was taken into custody on Monday by federal agents after failing to get a stay in his case, his attorney and family said.

The 46-year-old Sikh taxi driver from Indias Punjab state sneaked into the United States without a visa through the border with Mexico in 1998.

He later applied for asylum, citing religious persecution. But his family and lawyer say he failed to properly pursue the case and was ordered deported.

Singh married a US citizen in 2010 but his deportation case resurfaced when he applied for a residency visa in 2012 given his new status.

He was subsequently jailed for about five months but after rights activists posted his bail, he was released and his case has since been going through the appeals process.

His family said in the past several years, he had been checking in with the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a regular basis pending the outcome of his appeals against the deportation order.

Alexis Perez Nava, with Resilience Orange County, a group helping with his case, said Singh was detained yesterday after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request to quash the deportation order.

We are completely devastated. This has completely broken us apart, emotionally and physically, Singhs 18-year-old daughter Manpreet told AFP.

She said her father has no criminal record, had always paid his taxes and just sought to live a normal life and feed his family.

Watching him emotionally break down is probably the last thing any daughter wants to see, Manpreet said, her voice breaking.

He just looked at us this morning and said I dont know what is going to happen to us any more. Please forgive me and take care, she added.

Gurmukh Singh's family comforts each other during a news conference before he is taken into custody. (AP Photo)

Lori Haley, an ICE spokeswoman, said Singh was ordered detained after his case had undergone exhaustive review at all levels of our nations legal system.

She added that while the priority for federal authorities was to focus on criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety, those like Singh who violate immigration laws were not exempt from action.

All those in violation of our nations immigration laws may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States, she said in an email.

Singhs detention comes amid a clampdown by the administration of President Donald Trump against undocumented immigrants.
Attackers in Central African Republic ambushed a convoy of UN peacekeepers from Cambodia and Morocco, killing one Cambodian soldier and wounding six other peacekeepers, Cambodian officials said Tuesday, PressTV reported.

Three Cambodian soldiers and one Moroccan peacekeeper were also reported missing after Monday's surprise assault and may have been kidnapped, the officials said.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible.

Central African Republic has been embroiled in chaos since 2013, when rebels overthrew the nation's president.

The United Nations launched a peacekeeping mission in the country in 2014 and now has more than 12,000 troops deployed to protect civilians from unprecedented deadly violence between Christian and Muslim factions.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced news of the attack in video remarks published on his official Facebook page that came as he inaugurated a new building in Cambodia's eastern Tboung Khmom province.

He said the Cambodians were part of an engineering unit that was helping to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

The ambush took place Monday morning as the Cambodians were on the way back to their base with an escort of Moroccan soldiers. One Cambodian was wounded in the ambush and three more were missing, Hun Sen said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is undergoing treatment at the capitals Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for food poisoning.

Dr D S Rana, Chairman, Board of Management, Ganga Ram, confirmed the news.

Mrs Gandhi was admitted to the hospital on Sunday due to food poisoning. She is recovering well and will be discharged soon, Dr Rana told HT.

This is the second time this year that the 70-year-old Gandhi has been admitted to the hospital. She was hospitalized in January with fever and chest congestion.

Read more: Sonia's health improving steadily, say doctors

Sonia Gandhi has a history of asthma and is usually under the care of chest specialist Dr Arup Basu at Ganga Ram.

In August last year, she underwent a shoulder reconstruction surgery after collapsing during a rally in Varanasi.

She was flown to Delhi and rushed to Army Hospital Research and Referral from the airport, and later shifted to Ganga Ram where the surgery was performed.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
At the peak of the Patidar agitation in 2015, as reports emerged of police aggression against Patel protestors, a close aide of then CM Anandiben Patel called her and briefed her on the development.

She replied, But why did this happen? I never asked the police to do this. Patel, who also held the home portfolio, was neither aware of the intensity of the agitation nor the police excesses.

That response perhaps best reflects the difference between the administrations in Gujarat before and after 2014.

The former was marked by the complete dominance by Narendra Modi, with the Chief Ministers Office controlling every element of governance, and a tight structure. The latter has been marked by the emergence of multiple power centres, weak CMs, and a much more indisciplined but also open, informal and some suggest democratic, structure.

In the shadow of Modi

Narendra Modi remains such an overwhelmingly dominant figure in Gujarat politics that even after his exit, there is continuity. All leaders and bureaucrats look up to him. His schemes have been carried forward, and even his time table for the week  cabinet meetings on a particular day, public outreach on another day, field visits on a third day, nourishing constituency over the weekend  continues.

But the rupture is obvious.

Modi knew every bureaucrat, he knew who to place where, and he knew how to get work done. He had an independent information network that was unparalleled. Along with Keshubhai Patel and Shankersinh Vaghela, Modi is the only other person who knows people by name in 10,000 villages of Gujarat, said a bureaucrat who worked closely with Modi through his tenure in Gujarat.

All of this, he argues, gave Modi a firm grip over the administration. He also, needless to say, had a razor sharp political sense.

This combination of unquestioned leadership, administrative control and political skill has been missing over the past three years.

The official who has worked with Anandiben Patel admits, She was a good administrator, had technical knowledge. But she did not have sound political management. There was no coordination with the party. She did not know how to manage the media. The Patel agitation symbolised that failure. It would not have happened under Modi.

It was due to these factors  and Amit Shahs firm stance against her  that Anandiben was replaced last year. The new CM, Vijay Rupani, has been an old organisation man, is an Amit Shah loyalist and thus his coordination with the party is seamless.

But where he falters is lack of administrative experience. He lacks dynamism. The bureaucrats have become more powerful and are able to influence direction far more than they did under Modi, says an official in the CMO.

There is another difference. Modi believed in wider public contact through mass meetings, but was selective in his private meetings. Access was controlled. But under the new CM, it is a far more open office, reflecting a different style of functioning.

Political analyst Japan Pathak sums up the difference: Having Modi in Delhi has also helped administration. With Centre and state aligned, many projects have got a boost. What has changed is that the new CMs have not had the kind of initiative he had. They have also been politically complacent, dependent on Modi, while he was always politically on his feet.

Multiple power centres

Unlike the Modi years, there is fragmentation of authority. A bureaucrat jokes there are two and a half chief ministers in Gujarat now  Amit Shah, Vijay Rupani, and Deputy CM Nitin Patel who is also the finance minister.

Shaktisinh Gohil, national spokesperson of the Congress, is the chair of the Public Affairs Committee of the assembly and tracks the administration closely. He says, Bureaucrats tell us that when they plan campaign material for government schemes, CM tells them to remove the Deputy CMs face, and Deputy CM then tells them to put it back. After Modis exit, all these contradictions are now out in the open. Earlier, BJP MLAs were too scared to come and talk to us. That fear has gone.

The BJP, however, insists that these comparisons are not apt. You cant compare anyone with Modiji, says state spokesperson Bharat Pandya.

But the difference is palpable to people on the ground. As Jayant, an Ahmedabad taxi driver, told HT, There was both fear and enthusiasm under Modiji. He kept doing something new. That is missing. Would it have any electoral impact? No, BJP will win. He may be gone, but it is still Modijis Gujarat.

(This is the first of HTs three-part series Gujarat after Modi)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday found troubled liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt and asked him to appear before it on July 10, an order expected to help Indias case to seek his extradition from the UK.

A bench of justice AK Goel and justice UU Lalit said the 61-year-old businessman had failed to submit details of all his assets, upholding a plea by a consortium of banks to which he owes more than Rs 9,000 crore.

The money is owed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012.

The quantum of punishment will be decided after hearing him. The flamboyant business man, who called himself king of good times, faces at least six months in jail.

The banks moved the court after Mallya transferred $40 million he received from London-based liquor major Diageo Plc in February 2016 to his three children instead of repaying the loan.

The money was received towards the $75-million debt settlement with Diageo following his resignation as chairman of United Spirits Ltd.

Mallya hid details of his transaction with Diageo when he filed an affidavit in the court sharing details of all his movable and immovable assets, the court said.

He also failed to obey courts order to appear before it.

Tuesdays order is expected to give a boost to Indias effort to bring Mallya, who is wanted in India for alleged loan default and money laundering, back to India.

The Indian side can cite the top courts order when the extradition case comes up for next hearing in a London court on May 17.

After three failed auctions, the banks in April managed to sell Mallyas iconic Kingfisher villa in Goa to actor and beer baron Sachiin Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore. The villa was among the assets Mallya pledged to his lenders.

India has impressed upon the UK to expedite the request for extradition of Mallya and other Indian fugitives. During last weeks visit by second permanent secretary in the home office Patsy Wilkinson, Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi put forward New Delhis request, which sources said was accepted by the UK.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Scores of students from prominent institutes at Lal Chowk in Srinagar continued their violent agitation on Tuesday, pelting stones at police personnel and vandalising government property. Police responded in kind, and occasionally used tear gas shells to make the agitators disperse.

The clashes wreaked havoc in the citys commercial hub, disrupting traffic and business activities.

According to witnesses, a number of school and college students assembled near Exchange Road and began throwing stones at a security post. Some students of Shri Pratap School even scaled the walls of the neighbourhood Womens College and targeted police vehicles plying on MA Road. Later, girl students of the college were joined by their male counterparts in shouting pro-Azadi slogans.

A number of students who tried taking out a protest march were intercepted by police outside the college gates. Tear gas shells were also fired into the Womens College campus, eliciting loud shrieks from students.

Similar protests were witnessed at Pulwama in south Kashmir, which the police countered with tear gas shells. The Valley has been witnessing sporadic clashes since April 17, when thousands of college and school students took out protests against alleged police high-handedness in dealing with students at the Degree College in Pulwama. Many respected people from the Valley, including senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, have expressed their disapproval over students indulging in violence. Appeal to students. Please go back to classrooms. Protest is registered. We need you educated, the scribe posted on Facebook.

The protests followed largescale violence sparked by the killing of eight civilians at the hands of security forces during agitations on April 9, when the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat went to the polls. Public anger was further fanned by several video clips that purportedly showed security forces indulging in human rights violations, including the use of a Kashmiri resident as a human shield.

Student protests have come as a new challenge to the BJP-PDP government in Kashmir, which witnessed escalating violence in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wanis encounter killing in July 2016.

Inspector general of police SJM Gilani had claimed on Monday that student demonstrations have been quelled, and normalcy restored in most schools and colleges. He said some students who protested in north Kashmirs Handwara area on Saturday were paid to disrupt life in the Valley.

There were 28 incidents of students indulging in lawlessness. We are trying to counsel them and their parents, so their future is not affected, he added.
Environmentalists in Agra have welcomed the assurance by the chief ministers office that is a plan to revitalise Yamuna by stopping sewage flow into the river.

During a visit to the city on Sunday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had walked along the riverbed of Yamuna and enquired about the lack of water in the river. Referring to the report published by Hindustan Times in this regard, the office of chief minister mentioned on twitter that the state government is working on a plan to revitalise Yamuna.

Brij Khandelwal, convenor of River Connect, an organisation working for Yamuna in Agra, welcomed the chief ministers gesture.

Availability of water and its flow round the year needs to be ensured. For this, the office of chief minister can take up the issue with Haryana government, which should ensure release of at least 350 cusecs water into Yamuna. With BJP in power in both of states (Haryana and UP), the task seems to be a practical one now, suggested Khandelwal.

Sewage treatment plants are already installed, but they are not delivering the required results. This results in inflow of sewage into Yamuna. The chief minister should bring to book those guilty for failure of previous plans, demanded Khandelwal.

In the last couple of decades, its for the first time that a chief minister walked down the riverbed to get first-hand information about Yamuna. This sounds optimistic because the man heading the state machinery has himself seen the reality and cannot be misled by officials on the condition of Yamuna, stated Rajan Kishore, veteran environmentalist.

We need to support the steps taken by the chief minister towards Yamuna in Agra. A letter will be written to him to apprise him of the past projects undertaken for the river, stated Kishore who had been member of environmental groups which fought for revival of Yamuna in 1980s and 90s.

The chief minister skipped the formal stage programme organised at the riverbank and surprised organisers by crossing the dusty terrain under the scorching sun. This reflects his intention, stated KC Jain, secretary, Agra Development Foundation.

District officials are asking us the details now and it seems government machinery is in no mood to take the instructions by chief minister lightly, added Jain.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on Sunday said that projects be taken up for Yamuna. During a meeting with officials, he maintained his stand for better availability of water for Agra and asked district magistrate of Mathura to get hurdles in way of Gangajal project removed and even talked about having water from Chambal for Agra.

Read more: Yogi Adityanath directs officials to stop release of untreated water into Yamuna

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Social activist Anna Hazare on Tuesday said he will sit on an agitation to demand the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal if the allegations of corruption against the Delhi chief minister were proved.

Hazare, however, also pointed out that former Delhi minister Kapil Mishra made the allegations of graft against Kejriwal only after he was sacked from the AAP dispensation.

Whatever the former minister has said against Kejriwal, he said it only after his removal. If he was the minister when the alleged money exchange took place, why did he not alert the authorities? the anti-corruption crusader asked.

I think there should be a thorough investigation in this case. If Kejriwal is found guilty then I will personally sit on an agitation at Jantar Mantar and demand his resignation, Hazare said at his residence in Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtras Ahmednagar district.

The activist had earlier said he was pained to see Kejriwal, his former colleague in the anti-corruption crusade, facing allegations of accepting money.

Mishra on Sunday accused Kejriwal of taking Rs two crore from a cabinet colleague, a charge refuted by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

The allegation by Mishra, who was sacked from the AAP dispensation on Saturday night, came amid growing rumblings in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Mishra on Tuesday filed three complaints with the CBI against Kejriwal, minister Satyendar Jain and AAP leaders who allegedly misused party funds on foreign trips.

The Karawal Nagar MLA, who was on Monday suspended from primary membership of the AAP, also threatened to launch a hunger strike on Wednesday if details of foreign visits by five AAP leaders are not made public by the party.

Mishra said he filed complaints with the CBI over the exchange of Rs 2 crore between Jain and Kejriwal, a Rs 50 crore land deal arranged for the CMs brother-in-law and five AAP leaders allegedly misusing party funds on foreign trips.
The Supreme Court is on Tuesday expected to decide on a plea by a consortium of banks to start contempt proceedings against troubled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who allegedly owes them more than Rs 9,000 crore.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who lives in the United Kingdom and is facing extradition proceedings, is wanted in India for alleged loan default and money laundering.

The banks moved the top court seeking contempt proceedings after the flamboyant businessman, who famously called himself king of good times, got $40 million from the British firm Diageo Plc in February 2016 and transferred the money to his children instead of repaying the loan.

The transfer violated orders passed by the debt recovery tribunal and the Karnataka high court, attorney general Mukul Rohtagi told the court.

Mallya has denied the charges, accusing the government, banks and media of a witch-hunt.

The money is owed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012.

After three failed auctions, the banks in April managed to sell his iconic Kingfisher villa in Goa to actor and beer baron Sachiin Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore.

The villa was among the assets Mallya pledged to his lenders, who took possession of the property in May 2016. Beachfront property was owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent of the airline.

India has impressed upon the UK to expedite the request for extradition of Mallya and other Indian fugitives. During last weeks visit by second permanent secretary in the home office Patsy Wilkinson, Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi put forward New Delhis request, which sources said was accepted by the UK.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Royal Challengers Bangalores (RCB) foreign recruit AB de Villiers has returned home to South Africa to be with his family ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, even as there is one more game remaining for this Indian Premier League (IPL) team in the tournament.

Taking to Twitter, ABD wrote: A disappointing #IPL2017. Some tough lessons learnt that we take in to next year! Happy to be home with the family before the #CT17 in June.

A disappointing #IPL2017. Some tough lessons learnt that we take in to next year! Happy to be home with the family before the #CT17 in June.  AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) May 8, 2017

Last IPLs finalists had nothing going for them in the tenth edition of the cash-rich tournament. Royal Challengers Bangalore is languishing at the bottom of the table with 10 losses from 13 games and one washout.

On Monday, skipper Virat Kohli took to Twitter to apologise to the RCB fans for a disappointing season. Thanks to the @RCBTweets fans for all the unconditional love and support this season as well. Sorry we couldnt play up to our standards, Kohli had tweeted.

Thanks to the @RCBTweets fans for all the unconditional love and support this season as well. Sorry we couldn't play up to our standards.  Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) May 7, 2017

Kedar Jadhav led RCBs run chart with 255 runs in 12 innings followed closely by Kohli with 250 runs in nine innings. De Villiers is third with 216 runs in nine innings.

Royal Challengers Bangalore play their final match on May 14 against Delhi Daredevils at Ferozshah Kotla where skipper Kohli would aim to end the campaign on a positive note at his home ground.
Alwar police seized a truck that was used to allegedly smuggle cattle to Haryana on Tuesday, but the smugglers managed to escape.

The truck, which bore the name of a logistics firm and had a Harayana registration, was carrying 21 cattle -- 15 cows and six bullocks. The animals have been sent to a cow shelter in Tatarpur village in Alwar district, police said.

On April 1, cow vigilantes attacked five people who were transporting milch cows from Alwar to Haryana; dairy farmer Pehlu Khan succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on April 3.

Alwar superintendent of police (SP) Rahul Prakash said the police got a tip-off on Monday night that some people were going to smuggle cows from the district to Haryana. We barricaded all the exit points of the district, said Prakash.

The Khairthal police station was told about the truck going from Tatarpur towards Haryana. The police used two cars to stop the truck near Mator village.

When the police went to enquire the occupants of the truck, they started throwing stones and rammed the truck into the cars. The police fired in the air, but the occupants escaped towards the hills of Shahpur. The police chased the smugglers but failed to catch them, the SP said.

He said a case has been registered against the smugglers under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act and the search for them was on.
Jaipur

The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) is yet to follow a court order that asked the civic body to open hotel Hayat Rabbani that was sealed after a siege by gaurakshaks over rumours of beef being served by it.

Forensic tests of the meat samples taken from the hotel have revealed that they were not beef.

The district and sessions court directed the JMC on April 29 to unseal the hotel within seven days and submit a compliance report.

It has been more than seven days since the court order but the seal hasnt been opened till now. For the past several days, I am making rounds of government offices but to no avail, said Naeem Rabbani, the hotel owner.

JMC officials said they havent received a copy of the court order.

I was on holiday and havent received the copy of the court order. If there is any order, we will abide by whatever the honourable court has said, Sohanlal, deputy commissioner of JMCs Vidhyadhar Nagar zone, told HT on Tuesday.

Rabbani claimed he had handed over a copy of the court order to Sohanlal.

I personally gave the copy of the order to the deputy commissioner and also have his signed acknowledgement for the same. It is incorrect that the JMC doesnt have the copy of the order, said Rabbani.

In its order, the court directed the civic body to open the seals within seven days, saying that the JMC will have to issue a prior notice if it takes any action against the hotel in future.

High drama was seen during the siege of the hotel on March 19 as more than a 100 people had assembled, chanting slogans Bharat mata ki jai and Narendra Modi zindabad.

Many people had also provided their reasons as to how they were sure that the hotel served beef.

What kind of question are you asking? Dont you understand what meat a hotel named Rabbani could serve? Isnt name of the hotel proof enough that it serves beef? Karamveer, one of the protesters, had told HT.

Even after forensic test confirmed that the meat was not beef, Naeem Rabbani is not sure what more he should do before the seal is opened by the administration.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The European Union will continue its support for the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and the UN-led political process on Syria, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini told the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Sputnik reported.

Mogherini noted that within the framework of the Brussels conference, the EU invited the international community to start looking into Syrias post-war reconstruction.

"I talked yesterday with Staffan de Mistura, as we often do, to coordinate the UN and EU work on Syria and we are extremely supportive of this decision to resume intra-Syria political talks in Geneva as of next week," Mogherini said. "The EU is and will continue to be actively strongly engaged and committed and accompanying the UN-led political process with all our means and determination."

However, reconstruction can only take place once the political transition is under way and a political agreement between the parties to the conflict has been achieved, Mogherini added.

According to the office of UN Special Envoy for Syria, the next round of intra-Syrian talks in Geneva will be held on May 16.

The last round of the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations took place on March 23-31.
The Kota Central Jail turned into a wedding venue when 27-year-old Mahesh Kumar from Baran married 25-year-old Devika Mehra in the presence of some close relatives from both sides on Tuesday.

On April 27, Mehra and her mother, Kamla, were arrested in connection with the death of her sister-in-law, Usha Bai, in October 2016. Police had named seven members of her family for killing Usha for dowry but had arrested only two people.

Devika got engaged to Kumar on April 26, a day before she was arrested. The couple had planned to tie the knot at a mass wedding in Anta, Baran, on May 9.

Mehra moved Rajasthan high court for bail for the wedding but her application was rejected on Monday. The court, however, granted them permission to perform the rituals in jail.

On Tuesday, Kumar came to Kota with seven family members and went to the central jail without the usual fanfare associated with weddings. From the brides side, her brother, Gajanand, and father, Babulal, were present. The guests were allowed to enter the jail one at a time after frisking.

The family decided to solemnise the wedding on the decided date without waiting for her bail as other rituals had already been performed, said Kumar after the wedding.

He said that it did not matter to him that his wife is facing trial for a dowry death and the maximum punishment can be life imprisonment.

Sudhir Prakash, the jail superintendent, said a jail ward was decorated and the administration arranged for a priest and a registrar. The wedding was a simple affair. This is for the first time in my career that I have witnessed a wedding inside a jail, he added.

The staff at the jail, too, witnessed the unique wedding as the couple carried out all the rituals.

Kumar, who was happy he could marry Mehra, was upset about the fact that he couldnt take his wife home. We will go to a higher court to seek bail, he said.
Three schools in Bengals districts, two of them in rural areas, have controlled the menace of truancy by employing Radio Frequency Identification tags that register presence of the students the moment they pass in front of a reader device at the gates that sends alerts to their guardians about their movement. Two schools are in the rural belts of Nadia and Bankura districts while the third one is in Burdwan town.

The cards hang from the necks of the students. All movements in and out of the gate are registered and the parents get to know it instantly. The company that has installed the technology has embellished the offering with a phone-based app that gives the details of homework for the students to the parents.

Read: New vehicles should have digital tag to enable e-payment at tolls: Govt

The use of RFID cards in schools, both government-funded and private, was unheard of in Bengal. The state government, however, has set up biometric attendance systems for doctors in hospitals and employees in some departments to improve attendance.

Inventory management is an area where RFID tags are useful. (HT Photo)

Though the school authorities dont have statistics of truancy before the system was installed, authorities told HT it is a common malaise in the state and they have been able to eliminate it with the help of technology. The system has a collateral benefit -- the time lost in roll call of students is utilised in studies as the system produces the attendance data.

The menace of truancy has vanished. Its a fool proof system, Ratan Sarkar, secretary of St Peters English School in Nadias Krishnaganj told HT. It is located within 5 km of the Bangladesh border.

Concurred acharya Satyanisthananda of Durlabhpur Anandamarg School in Bankura district. The technology has effectively dealt with this age old problem. The parents get to know real time whether they students are attending school and when they are entering and exiting it, he told HT.

The Nadia school enrols students up to class VIII and is seeking affiliation to CBSE. It was established in 2013 and has 445 students. The attendance system was installed in June 2016. The add-ons for homework and notification were done last month.

Read: Delhis south corporation to make toll collection electronic

The guardians are happy with the system. While it takes care of the truancy factor, guardians also dont ned to network for homework details if any student remains absent. They get it on phone automatically. They also get all notifications sent by me, added Sarkar.

Some modern libraries also employ RFID technology for efficient management. (HT Photo)

We adopted the system in January, 2017 and the guardians are satisfied. We take 450 per student annually to part finance the system. Every year the system costs 800 per student, said Acharya Kritatma Nanda Avadhut, principal of Burdwan Anandamarg School that has installed the system. This school has 650 students.

The device can read 75 students at a time. Its a first in the state, said Anumoy Biswas , creative designer of Progoti, the Krishnagar-based company that installed the technology.

Read: In Mumbai: Now, a robot that can deliver medicines to patients

We are happy as it has reduced tension. The system keeps up constantly updated on the attendance, homework and even notices issued by the authorities, said Sujit Kumar Dey and Suvamita Dutta, two guardians of the Nadia school.
The central government has repatriated five IAS officials who Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath wanted back to their parent cadre.

The orders repatriating these officials came from the Union ministry of personnel and training (DoPT) late on Monday, an official said.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the immediate repatriation of Alok Kumar, Sanjay R Bhoosreddy, Prashant Trivedi, Shashi Prakash Goyal and Anurag Srivastava to their parent cadre, the official communique said.

While all the four officials, barring Srivastava, will go to their parent cadre with immediate effect, the 1992 batch IAS Srivastava will be relieved after June 2017 as he is with the Ayush department and is required at the Centre for the International Yoga Day in June.

To run the show in Uttar Pradesh, while the state BJP government has rejigged bureaucracy twice, many senior positions are lying vacant and the chief minister was waiting for these officials to return to roll out the full road map of his government, a close aide of the chief minister told IANS.

Avanish Awasthi, a 1987 batch officer, has already joined as the principal secretary of information, tourism, religious affairs and is perceived to be close to the chief minister.

In case of Shashi Prakash Goyal, a 1989 batch IAS, the DoPT has clarified that his repatriation would not adversely effect his additional secretary empanelment eligibility on the ground of his not having served for a minimum of three years with the central government under the Central Staffing Scheme.
The past one week has been full of action for petrol pumps of the state. It is not because they have been doing brisk business but due to raids which exposed their expertise in duping consumers by fitting in cheat chips to dispense less fuel.

Worried over the STF raids, oil companies also raided 151 petrol pumps in the state, out of which 89 were of Indian Oil Corporation, 36 of Bharat Petroleum and 26 of Hindustan Petroleum. According to the officials of oil companies, only two petrol pumps were found using extra fittings like chips in Indian Oil owned petrol pumps . Similarly, one Bharat Petroleum owned pump and two of Hindustan Petroleum were found using rigged dispensers. The rest of the (146) petrol pumps were honestly dispensing petrol to consumers, they said. This means the strike rate of oil companies was around 3.5 %.

Contrary to this, UP STF raided around 40 petrol pumps in the same duration and found cheat chips in around 34 of them in the state. This means the STF strike rate is 85%.

There is a huge difference in the strike rates of oil companies and UP STF. The difference between the style of functioning is evident. The approach of the oil companies shows that they want to come out clean but there is a question mark on their raids because they did not have STF officials or police with them. But where ever the STF has raided pumps, it has taken oil companies officials along, said a senior official of the state government.

He said, The role of the officials of oil companies must be probed for alleged connivance in large scale cheat chips fitting racket. Without their connivance, the fitting of cheat chips was not possible. The functioning of oil companies is not at all transparent. Tthey just dont reveal action taken against their staff despite such a huge cheating racket. And just because the oil companies come under the central government, one is not able to take action against them.

SP STF Amit Pathak said,  STF have already caught the mastermind of the racket and soon everyone involved will also be picked.

Read more: UP petrol pump scam: Man who supplied cheat chips arrested in Lucknow

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kapil Mishra levelled corruption charges against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said AAP stood exposed after the development.

Talking to media persons here, Javadekar said people of Delhi had taught a lesson to AAP in the recent MCD elections.

The party does not practice what it preaches, he said.

Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra has claimed that Kejriwal received Rs 2 crore from Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain for political reasons. The charges were refuted by Kejriwals deputy Manish Sisodia.

A day after he was removed as water and tourism minister, Mishra said everyone in the party felt there were 4-5 corrupt people around Kejriwal but they believed the AAP chief would set everything in order.

Speaking at teachers conference on the topic New Model of Education for 21st century at the Gomti Nagar (campus II) branch of the City Montessori School (CMS), Javadekar said there was a need to improve public schools in the country.

He said surveys indicated that learning outcomes in government schools were bad. A class 5 student cant read textbooks of class 3 and a class 6 student cant do mathematics of class 4 level. This has to be fixed quickly, he said.

Javadekar said the accountability of government as well as private school teachers should be fixed and learning outcome should be visible.

UPs deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, minister for basic education (independent charge) Anupama Jaiswal, state minister for basic, secondary, higher, professional and medical education Sandeep Singh and national spokesman of the BJP Sudhanshu Trivedi were special guests of honour on the occasion.

President and chief operating officer of CMS Geeta Gandhi Kingdon expressed gratitude to the teachers for their academic achievements. Today is a great day when we are honouring our teachers, she said.

Founder of CMS Jagdish Gandhi and co-founder and director Bharti Gandhi were also present on the occasion.
The students of government-run schools in Uttar Pradesh will soon get a smarter red and brown uniform which will replace the old khaki attire that was in use for the last five years.

The boys will wear brown trousers and red coloured check shirt with a brown collar while the younger girls will sport brown skirt and a red top with a brown collar. At the senior level, girl students will wear brown salwar, red kurta with a brown dupatta.

Minister of state for basic education Anupama Jaiswal unveiled the new school uniform in Lucknow on Tuesday.

The decision to introduce bright colours in uniform was taken to ensure the students of government schools do not feel inferior to their counterparts in private institutions who wear more vibrant colours, an official said.

Minister of state for basic education Anupama Jaiswal unveiled the new school uniform in Lucknow on Tuesday. (Handout image)

Earlier, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had expressed unhappiness over the khaki uniform, saying it resembled that of a home guard jawan than that of a school student.

It was felt that a bright choice of colour for the uniform will help boost confidence of students and make them take pride in the school dress that they wear, an official said.

The idea was put before the CM during a presentation in Lucknow on April 3 after which the government decided to replace the old khaki uniform.

The decision annuls the 2012 move by the Akhilesh Yadav government that introduced khaki replacing the decades-old navy blue shorts/trousers for boys and skirts/salwar paired with sky blue shirts/tunics for girls.

The move is part of the new BJP governments reforms that aim to clean up the states education sector.

It will impact an estimated 1.85 crore students in over 1 lakh government-run primary and more than 45,000 upper primary schools in 75 districts of the state.

We floated the idea for change in the uniforms colour in UP government schools as there were many adverse views on the khaki colour, an official at basic education department said. Several teachers had said the choice of khaki colour for school uniform was a poor one and the government went ahead with it despite opposition from parents, teachers and even students at the time.

We had opposed the khaki colour uniform in 2012 when it was implemented. We had pointed out that children may also lack confidence owing to it. However, all our reservations were completely ignored, said Devendra Srivastava, district president of the Uttar Pradesh Prathmik Shikshak Sangh.

The CM is said to be keen to roll out the BJPs promise to provide free books, uniform, shoes and school bags to all poor students from July 1 to 10.
Around half a dozen armed miscreants clandestinely entered the house of a real estate businessman on wee hours of Monday and looted cash and gold over Rs 23 lakh in posh Vivek Khand locality, Gomti Nagar police station.

After carrying out the dacoity, miscreants fled from the house of businessman Chaman Lal Diwakar. After getting information, senior superintendent of police Deepak Kumar, SP (north) Anurag Vats, members of the forensic team reached Chaman Lals house along with the dog squad.

Chaman Lal stays along with his wife Sunita, three daughters Priya, Kajal, Komal and son Piyush.

According to reports, at around 2am on Monday, around six armed miscreants entered Chaman Lals house from the terrace. Using stairs, they came down on the first floor of the house and took Priya and Kajal as hostage.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor of the house, miscreants took Chaman Lal and his wife as hostage at gun point and in the adjoining room they took Piyush and Komal as hostage . With the help of curtains and bedsheets, the miscreants tied hands and legs of all hostages.

Thereafter they targeted three rooms on ground floor of the house where almirahs were kept. Without wasting any time, the miscreants broke open the almirahs and looted Rs 3 lakh cash and gold jewellery worth Rs 20 lakhs. Before fleeing from the house, the thieves also took away four mobile phones of the family members. The entire incident lasted for about an hour.

Cops are suspecting the role of an insider in the dacoity as miscreants only targeted the room on the ground floor of the house where cash and jewellery was kept and did not search any other rooms on the first floor of the house.

Chaman Lal informed cops that he was collecting jewellery for marriage of his daughters.

During investigation, Chaman Lal also informed cops that the terrace door was left open on Sunday night by mistake. This made the job all the more easy for dacoits who entered the house from the terrace.

Family members also informed cops that the miscreants had covered their faces. They also compelled the family members to cover their faces with bed sheets.

Cops are scanning CCTV footages of cameras installed in the area to identify miscreants. Apart from this, cops are also scanning call details of mobile phones and locations of some numbers.

When cops tried to interrogate servant Sadho Ram, a native of Malhaur, Lucknow, Chaman Lal told the police that he was working with the family for the past five years and was a reliable person.

Some people close to the family are also on the cops radar.
Woman IPS officer Charu Nigam on Tuesday posted a fresh message on her Facebook wall, questioning the allegations levelled against her by BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal with regard to the harsh treatment meted out to a group of women agitating against liquor shops in Gorakhpur earlier this week.

A day after the incident, which occurred on Sunday, Agarwal had accused Nigam of kicking an expectant mother, assaulting a 70-year-old woman and pushing a minor into a pit. Denying the allegations, Nigams new post stated: Logic is failing its ground! Has any lathi charge, that too hitting a pregnant woman & old lady so claimed, ever gone uncovered?

Nigam, circle officer at the Gorakhnath police station, claimed that no incident of such brutality would have gone unnoticed by the media. The MLAs allegedly abrasive behaviour had left the police officer teary eyed on Sunday, although she later said it should not be seen as a sign of weakness.

Her latest post came soon after the alleged victims backed Agarwals charges against Nigam at a press conference on Monday. Repeated efforts to contact the IPS officer went in vain.

Woman IPS officer Charu Nigam had been active in the newly formed anti-Romeo squad.(HT Photo)

Agarwal, an MLA from Gorakhpur Sadar, termed Nigams act of expressing outrage through the social media as a serious violation of rules. As a police officer, she must be aware of the service guidelines laid down for every government employee. Taking to the social media to put forth her stand is a serious violation of the same. If she had differences with an elected MLA, she should have used appropriate platform to put forth her stand, the lawmaker told HT.

At Mondays press conference, all the three victims  30-year-old Seema, 70-year-old Phoola Devi and eight-year-old Prince  had backed the four-term MLAs allegations of police brutality against anti-liquor protesters. Agarwal also announced a sit-in protest at the neighbourhood Gandhi statue on May 10 to demand the closure of all unlicensed liquor shops in the city.

The Congress came out in support of Nigam, with activists staging a march on Tuesday. District Congress general secretary Anwar Hussain, who led the march, said: The way the MLA publicly rebuked the woman IPS officer was not right. She was only trying to restore law and order, as her responsibilities as a police officer entailed. Agarwal asked the protesters to block the road, which resulted in traffic snarls and affected ambulances services. The Congress workers have taken to the streets in Charu Nigams support.

Meanwhile, Chiluatal police booked 50 unidentified people, including six women, for attacking Nigam during the clash between law-enforcers and anti-liquor protesters on Sunday. She sustained minor injuries in the incident.
We have seen their swag on the ramp, and their acting on the small and big screen. Now, we see them in cookery shows as chefs preparing mouth-watering dishes in their spick and span kitchens.. Cooking has always been a passion for these models-turned-chefs. And, many of them realised their passion for the art of cooking much later in life. Whats common between these people is that they all say that cooking has a therapeutic effect on them. Here are four former models talking about their love for cooking.

Maria Goretti

Maria Goretti: Goretti started off as a model  we saw her in a few advertisements. Soon she was selected as a VJ through a talent hunt competition. Today, she is a chef and running a show on her YouTube channel. She has penned a cookery book and she also curates menus for restaurants. Maria discovered her love for cooking while preparing food for her kids. I take recipes from my aunts, mother or anyone who I feel has made something delicious. At night, when Im alone in my kitchen  me and my little world - I just love to cook, she adds. I keep making the dish till the time I have made it so many times that its drilled in my mind and I can cook it blindly, says the mother of two. Her current obsession is to get sourdough bread right.

Joey Matthew

Joey Matthew: Before embarking on her journey in the fashion industry as a model, Matthew studied law. She had also collaborated with composers and artists to launch an audio solutions company. She then hosted a cookery show and started an eatery that serves Mallu cuisine. Im not a very social person but I love feeding people, thats my way of showing love, says Matthew, who has now moved to Goa. She started cooking when she was in the Capital. She was bored of eating North Indian food. I was missing my Mallu food. So I started cooking at home for myself, she says. What she loves the most is the fusion of Continental and Mallu food.

Amrita Raichand

Amrita Raichand: She made her TV debut in 1997. We later spotted her on the big screen starring opposite Bollywood stars. But soon, her love for cooking took over and she turned into a full-time chef. Her cookery show, Mummy Ka Magic, comes up with some amazing delicacies for kids. I had taken a sabbatical after I had my son. While he turned two, chef Sanjeev Kapoor came over and asked me to do the show, says Raichand. She went to culinary school in Singapore, came back and started her career as a chef. I wanted to curate healthy yet attractive meals for the little ones, she says. Focus of her recently launched Youtube channel and her upcoming book is the same.

Mini Mathur

Mini Mathur: A VJ, television host, actor Mini tried everything before taking up cooking. However, cooking is not new to her. I have been cooking since I was 13. I have always been fascinated with old family recipes, adds the 41-year-old actor. She likes to experiment with Indian, Oriental and Japanese recipes. For me, recreating family recipes is a way to keep the tradition alive, adds Mathur. She has a fixed menu for all festivities. On Holi, I make keema kaleji, mutton koftas, dahi wadas, kanji, and a special dry khichdi along with the crowning glory, kulle ki chaat, says the mother of two. Her recent fixation is baking gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free desserts. Soon, we will see her in a cookery show with Bollywood stars as her guests.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
American teen Carter Wilkersons tweet in which he asked fast food chain Wendys for a years supply of chicken nuggets has become the most retweeted tweet ever. He dethroned TV host Ellen DegGeneres famous Oscars selfie from 2014.

On April 5, Wilkerson tweeted at Wendys and asked them how many retweets were needed for a year of free chicken nuggets.

HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3  Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017

Wendys asked for 18 million retweets. Wilkerson replied Consider it done and posted the screenshot of this conversation with Help me please, a man needs his nuggs to ask for retweets.

Wilkersons campaign to get the free nuggets was backed by major brands like Apple Music, Google, and Microsoft. Twitter even granted the Nevada teen a verified account.

Ellens previous record-holding tweet had 3.4 million RTs. Carters tweet on Tuesday broke that record, which was confirmed by none other than Wendys official handle. They also had some good news for him.

.@carterjwm is now the most retweeted tweet of all-time. Thats good for the nuggets, and $100k to @DTFA. Consider it done. #nuggsforcarter pic.twitter.com/k6uhsJiP4E  Wendy's (@Wendys) May 9, 2017

The nuggets, if he still wants them, are his.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
Turkeys Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Monday met with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in D.C and reiterated Ankara's request for the extradition of accused Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) ringleader, Fetullah Gulen, Anadolu reported.

During the 45-minute meeting, Bozdag asked Sessions to submit in court the evidence Turkey has handed over to U.S. authorities in support of the extradition, and place Gulen under provisional arrest, according to Turkish Justice Ministry sources.

The sources described Mondays meeting as being conducted in a positive environment ahead of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans visit to the U.S. next week.

Erdogan will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 16.
There is a reason that tough talking, no-nonsense celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has over 5 million followers on Twitter. Its because he says it like he sees it. The British culinary veterans fans love his no-holds-barred approach, and most of them revel in all the bashing they receive when they ask Ramsay to rate their foodie attempts on Twitter. How does it work? Well, every now and then, fans from all over the world showcase their culinary creations on Twitter and ask for the Brits feedback. And while Ramsays reaction usually constitutes criticism (he doesnt mince his words), for once, he broke the pattern and complimented a fan, sending Twitter into a tizzy.

One fan, Bridgett, from Boca Raton, Florida, asked the chef his thoughts on the skillet pork loin that her fiance had prepared for dinner. Ramsay replied, Marry him, leaving his followers astounded. This led to fans tweeting their disbelief.

@GordonRamsay What do you think of my fiance's skillet pork loin? pic.twitter.com/0HydOJiLMw  Bridgett (@B_Rabbit_Jax) May 3, 2017

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Four men allegedly barged into a Thakurli flat on Tuesday and shot 17 rounds at a building contractor  Kishore Choudhary, 48  killing him on the spot.

According to the police, eight bullets struck Choudharys head and nine went into his chest.

The shooting took place at Shiv Amrut building in Thakurli, where he was overseeing renovation, the police said.

His friend and business partner, Nitin Joshi,45, who was with him at the time, was hit once.

He is being treated at a city hospital.

The police said the four shooters had six accomplices, who stood guard outside the ground-floor flat.

The neighbours heard the sound of firing around noon, after which they rushed there and also alerted the police.

The 10 men fled in a four-wheeler, police said.

Four of the accused were identified as Shankar Gowardhan Bhoir, Dilip Gowardhan Bhoir, Sagar Dilip Bhoir and Suraj Dilip Bhoir, the police said.

According to local residents, the four were contractors and also owned houses in the area.

The police said a few days ago, Choudhary and the suspects had a spat over a contract for renovating a house in the area.

Choudhary had filed a complaint with the Dombivli police over the dispute and alleged threat.

It was found that the two parties had clashed right after the flat was taken for renovation. The victims were threatened, after which a non-cognisable complaint had been registered, said Abhishek Trimukhe, deputy commissioner of police, Thane crime branch.

We have registered a case of rioting , attempt to murder , and murder under the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Fire Arms Act. We suspect the accused have fled to their hometowns, said S Nagarkar, senior police inspector, Thane crime branch.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
After the recent Sarin gas attack in Syria and Delhi gas leak, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is reworking its standard operating procedure (SOP) to tackle chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks.

According to officials, the current plans need to be strengthened in terms of assigning responsibilities and fixing liability in case of an emergency.

The plans included a details of how to respond to such attacks  from evacuation to providing quick treatment and organising shelters.

Read more: BMC corporators to be trained in disaster management

The BMC has already held meetings with representatives from government, private hospitals and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). It also held a workshop recently to test how its plans would work on the field.

IA Kundan, additional municipal commissioner in charge of the disaster management department, said, Our plans for CBRN disasters need to be worked. We are constantly engaging with stakeholders to fix responsibilities.

Senior civic officials from the disaster management cell said once draft plans are finalised, they will be sent to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for approval. The draft will be finalised after including the NDMAs suggestions.

The BMC will also hold workshops for all departments on CBRN preparedness, civic officials said.

Read more: Mumbais eastern suburbs most vulnerable to earthquakes, finds IIT-Bombay study

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Amid rumours that he may join the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), senior Congress leader Narayan Rane said the Sangharsh Yatra, a protest march initiated by the Congress and the NCP-led Opposition to demand loan waiver for distressed farmers, is a flop show. The Yatra was started in March to interact with farmers and families affected by suicides.

If the Sangharsh Yatra was launched after the budget session of the state legislature, it would have got a good response. But as of now, the march is a flop show, Rane told a Marathi news channel.

His statement comes at a time when the Opposition is ready to kick off the fourth leg of Yatra in Konkan from May 11. Rane is an influential leader from Sindhudurg district in Konkan.

Rane also dared the Shiv Sena to pull out support from the BJP-led Maharashtra government. They [Shiv Sena] have threatened to move out if I join the BJP. I dare them to do so. Many of their MLAs are in touch with us, he said.

Speculations are rife that Rane is currently in talks with the BJP leadership and also met its national president, Amit Shah, in Ahmedabad last month. Rane, however, has rubbished these speculations.

According to BJP sources, the party is not in a hurry to admit him till the Presidential elections are over, as it wants the Shiv Sena to vote in favour of an NDA candidate. Moreover, the Sena leadership considers Rane  once a Shiv Sainik  its enemy.

The former chief minister is currently unhappy with state Congress president Ashok Chavan and wants to replace him. He had met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Ahmed Patel, political advisor to party chief Sonia Gandhi, with his demand.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Parents involved in school fee and corporal punishment disputes said that the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights was delaying hearings. They said that the commission had last heard cases on January 20.

The commission is an appellate body set up to address complaints on violations of child rights and the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009. But some of the complainants said that the commission had told them that the hearings have not been held as the chairperson only holds additional charge and the proceedings cannot be held without the officials presence.

We had approached the commission because our children are facing discrimination in school after we protested against fee hike. The last hearing took place on December 2. We havent heard back since, said Prasad Tulaskar, a parent, adding, We call the commission regularly but we are told that the chairperson is unavailable for hearings and the orders are pending with the commissions secretary.

Refuting the parents claims, commission member secretary, AN Tripathi said, Despite shortage of a staff-typist and an administrative officer, operations are unaffected. We havent held hearings because in most cases, we are waiting for reports or cases are resolved. And we do not have the power to intervene in fee hike issues.

Tripathi added that the commission issued 57 orders in the past few days. In fact, the number of pending cases are lowest among all commissions in the country, he said. The commission has also recently launched a mobile application which, Tripathi said, had been helping resolve the complaints faster.

Last year in May, the Bombay high court asked the commission to fill up vacant posts after a public interest litigation filed by the Forum For Fairness in Education, claiming that the posts of chairperson and members were vacant since 2011 and that the secretary has been signing undated orders in violation of rules.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Gamdevi polices hard work paid off when they arrested two men on Monday for allegedly snatching a 62-year-old womans gold chain at Babulnath Road last week. The police team slept, ate and worked at the police station for eight days to solve the case.

The robbery took place on May 1 and senior police officers ordered their juniors not to go home till they solved it.

The suspects  Nagesh Pawar alias Nagya, 28, and Omisingh Yadav, 21  are residents of Nalasopara and P DMello Road.

Varsha Khambati, the complainant, was on her evening walk on May 1 when the incident occurred.

An officer from Gamdevi police said, Khambati usually goes for an evening walk with her husband Deepak, 65, but that day he was caught up with work so she went alone.

The CCTV footage from the area helped cops crack the case. Pawar first asked Yadav to hire a cab to escape. He was seen snatching her chain before fleeing in a cab, added an officer.

Both of them had left the city and once they came back, we nabbed them at Wadi Bundar, added the officer. Pawar was wanted in three similar cases.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
All four regional transport offices in Mumbai  Tardeo, Wadala, Andheri and Borivli  have removed amber beacons from their official vehicles.

To end the VIP culture, the ministry of road transport and highways recently amended the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, making use of such beacons illegal. The Centre allowed only emergency vehicles on duty for maintaining law and order, including the police, defence, paramilitary forces and fire department, to use multi-coloured beacons.

Read more: Red beacon ban: Removing flashing lights wont cure those blinded by power, VIP culture

Praveen Gedam, transport commissioner of Maharashtra, said, We have issued directives to all departments of RTOs as the new rule does not allow enforcement agencies to use beacons.

Thane RTO is, however, still to remove the beacons, said sources.

Earlier, being an enforcement agency, RTO vehicles were allowed to used blue beacons atop of their vehicles. After an amendment to the rule, the state government allowed all law enforcement agencies to install amber beacons.

There is mixed response to the removal of beacons.

While some have welcomed the decision, some feel it might inconvenience them.

Read more: Red, blue, amber beacons: The many shades of Indias VIP culture

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The logjam over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) between warring allies BJP and Shiv Sena may have been resolved on Tuesday with the state cabinet  including Sena ministers  clearing the proposed tax bill. But not before some hard bargaining by the Sena, which was concerned about the negative impact the bill may have on the Sena-ruled BMCs revenue. The bill will do away with Octroi, which is the highest revenue earner for the BMC. The Senas decision to play hardball did not amuse the BJP, which has now decided to go ahead with its preparations for possible early Assembly polls.

The past few days have seen tough negotiations between the ruling BJP and its ally Shiv Sena because the former needed the latters support to get the crucial GST bill passed in the Legislature. The Sena leadership made the BJP accept its conditions to compensate the BMC for its loss of octroi duty revenue every month with an annual rise of 8%. The government has also decided to give bank guarantee to the BMC in case the compensation gets delayed. BJP sources said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray gave his nod on Tuesday, but with a condition that he would wait to see the fine print when the draft is put before the Legislature.

The way the ruling party was forced to accept the Senas conditions to ensure its support to the GST bill in the Legislature has irked the BJP top brass in the state. The BJP is short of 22 members for a simple majority and hence needs Sena support.

A section within the ruling party is of the opinion that if the Sena continues to challenge the BJP, it would be better to contest polls and come back with a full majority. Senior sources in the party told HT that a preliminary assessment had been carried out by the party this month and it shows the BJP can win a clear majority, even if the polls were held at the end of this year.

If the Sena continues to war with us on small and big issues then it may be better to not to have any allies. Today, it was GST, tomorrow we know they will give us trouble over Presidential polls, then it may be something else. The party continues to target our top leadership so we need to be prepared for any eventuality. We are confident of getting 140 seats even if elections are held as early as this December  said a senior party functionary.

He said the party organisation is readying itself for any possibility  state Assembly polls along with Lok Sabha polls in 2019, polls in early 2018 or snap polls in December 2017.

The Fadnavis governments term will end only in October 2019, but with the Opposition parties aligning with each other and the Sena consistently playing the role of an opponent more than an ally, the BJP is not taking any chances.

While the BJP no longer worries about the May 20 special session of the state legislature wherein the GST bill will get ratified, the party had to go all out to get the Sena chiefs backing. This included a personal visit by the finance minister to Thackerays residence and getting the proposed draft bill scrutinised by him and accepting a demand of giving year on year, perpetual compensation to the BMC.

For every session of the state legislature and any big decision of the government, getting the Sena to toe the line is proving to be difficult. We are not looking at forcing an early election. But in the given scenario it is a possibility, said a BJP minister.

The partys expansion exercise will start soon with the Vistarak Yojana (from May 25 to June 10) getting an additional push. The party programme will assign every office bearer to 10 polling booths. The party functionary has been mandated to spend 15 days in the polling booths assigned to him or her to establish a strong party network.

Read more:

Dont test Maharashtra farmers patience, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray tells BJP govt
The Bombay high court recently expressed concern over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations distribution of insecticide-mixed water through tankers to almost all street food vendors across south Mumbai, even though they have categorised it as non-potable.

This is very dangerous, said a division bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice Girish Kulkarni, while commenting on the affidavit filed by the insecticide department of BMC in response to a public interest litigation.
Expressing displeasure over the fact that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) changed the reservation of a plot meant for a court building at Kannamvar Nagar in Vikhroli for a multi-purpose community centre, the Bombay high court has directed Maharashtra government to resolve the mess within a month.

As directed by the division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice AK Menon, the government will have to provide an alternate plot of the same size in Vikhroli, if it failed to come out with a solution to the problem.

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by local lawyer Shivshankar Joshi, complaining about the pathetic and dangerous condition of the magistrate court building at Vikhroli. The petitioner pointed out that the building in which court is housed at present was constructed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and is old and completely unfit to house courts. The building is essentially a commercial complex having a number of shops, including flour mills, on the ground floor.

The plot was earlier marked reserved for a working womens hostel, and was later de-reserved for the construction of a 12-storied court building at Vikhroli. In October 2012, the state government granted administrative approval for construction of the court building on the plot at the estimated cost of Rs8 crore. In September 2015, the revised estimate of Rs25.19 crore was approved, and the work order for the construction of the building was issued to M/s. Nircon Constructions. However,the construction work did not begin as development permission had not been granted by the BMC.

What irked the judges was the fact that while ignoring all these developments, the BMC has in its revised draft development plan republished on March 27, 2017 shown that the plot reserved was for a Multi-purpose community centre, and now the proposed reservation cannot be deleted unless the entire process for sanctioning development plan for the city is completed.

The judges were further irked by the fact that the estimated cost of construction of the court building has gone up from Rs8 crore to Rs25.19 crore in six years after 2009, and further delay in construction will escalate the cost of the construction.

Thus, the scenario which emerges now is that the construction work of the court building cannot commence immediately, although work order had been issued two years back, said the bench. The state government and the BMC have created this situation, making the commencement of the court building work impossible, they added.

The court has now postponed the PIL for further hearing on June 16.
Turkey wants to continue EU bid in a win-win strategy for both sides, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, Anadolu reported.

"Our country, which has been a historical, geographical and cultural part of Europe for centuries, demands to continue the membership process to the EU -- a strategic target for us -- within the scope of mutual respect and equality and the understanding of a win-win [outcome]," Erdogan said in a written statement.

"The cooperation developed with the EU in a period when the refugee crisis hit its peak is the most clear and latest example of this understanding," he added.

The Turkish president released the message on Europe Day which marks the presentation of the Schuman Declaration in 1950 -- a proposal for the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, the precursor to the European Union.

Erdogan said the "greatest risk" against the unity of the EU was the discriminatory discourse by "populist politicians".

"Unfortunately, such social illnesses as discrimination, cultural racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, have been spreading across the continent. The extreme-right parties, which have reached a determinant position in politics and are receiving a growing number of votes, have captured the socio-political life in Europe," he said.

Pointing out that such tendencies also badly affect Turkey-EU relations, Erdogan added his country aimed to improve relations with the EU.

In his message released on Europe Day, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said: Turkey, which considers itself European culturally, historically and geographically, wants to continue the EU accession process in accordance with the principle of reciprocity.

"However, the separatist ideas that are greatly supported by other EU countries pose serious concerns about the future of the Union," he said referring to the U.K. Brexit.

The last Turkey-EU Summit was held in Brussels on March 18, 2016. The Turkey-EU Statement was adopted as a result of the summit. The main elements of the Statement are:

- All new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into five Greek islands as from 20 March 2016 will be returned to Turkey.

- For every Syrian being returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU taking into account the UN Vulnerability Criteria.

- Once irregular crossings between Turkey and the EU are ending or at least have been substantially and sustainably reduced, a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme will be activated.

- The fulfillment of the visa liberalization roadmap will be accelerated with a view to lifting the visa requirements for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016.

However, the last item was not finalized and Turkish leaders have taken an increasingly hard line against what they see as EU's double standards in excluding Turkey.
Morning walkers or late-night shift workers? Outside marriage halls or around schools? Young women or senior citizens? The Mumbai police are studying how chain snatchers work, who they target, when they strike and how they get away, to keep the number of chain-snatching incidents  once rampant low.

A few years after the police began their crackdown, chain-snatching cases started dropping significantly  from 2,078 cases in 2013 to 443 in 2016 (see box). Until April 23 this year, 49 cases were reported; 20 have been solved.

So, what worked?

The Mumbai police said they studied patterns and adapted accordingly. Earlier, morning walkers or women coming home early in the morning after a night shift were targeted. The chain-snatchers realised that we increased police presence at dawn. so they changed the time at which they struck, said a senior police officer.

The department then studied where, when and how the criminals struck. Based on the patterns they found, they focussed their personnel more officers were put on patrol duty and every police station had to increase their presence on the streets.

For the past month, criminals have been striking at night, the police found, and so they depolyed anti-chain squads at night to catch them.

The squads were posted at vulnerable locations  areas with little traffic, which are close to highways. More police presence automatically stops the chain-snatchers, the officer told HT.

Read more: 2 years of hard work from Mumbai police pays off, chain snatching cases dip to lowest in 5 years

For instance, in mid-April, chain-snatching incidents were reported in the Navghar, Sion and NM Joshi police stations jurisdictions, all of them around 9.30pm. The incidents were taking place in a sequence, so we suspected the same bikers were involved. We have night squads in these areas now the officer said.

At least four police personnel are deployed at vulnerable points to stop the bikers. The polices study also revealed the bikers used nearby highways to escape. Major checkpoints were then set up at the citys exit points to stop them. The Mumbai polices move in 2012 to charge chain-snatchers for robbery, and not theft, under the Indian Penal Code, has also acted as a deterrent as the punishment is harsher, sources said.

Cops list risky spots: Parks, marriage halls and schools

From 2,078 cases in 2013 to 443 cases last year  steps the Mumbai police are taking to curb instances of chain-snatching seem to have worked.

All police stations were given targets to curb the crime, said Deven Bharti, joint commissioner (law and order), who is in charge of all police stations in Mumbai.

Bharti said a rigorous method to plug gaps and improve the polices street presence helped.

Every police station identified vulnerable spots in their areas.

Read more: Crime and Mumbai: Borivli police station flooded with complaints of theft

The police also deployed more personnel at marriage halls after they found out chain-snatchers were targetting the decked-up guests at such functions.

They also increased their street presence across the city to curb the crime.

A source said, For example, early in the morning, till about 7.30am, police personnel are posted at parks people go to for their morning walks.

 From 7.30 am to 8.30am, they are posted at schools as there is huge rush of parents dropping off children. As the day progresses, they are sent to railway stations, markets, temples and recreation halls.

The polices special anti-chain snatching squads are cracking down on gangs.

We decided to target gangs. Nakabandis are implemented at regular intervals, Bharti told HT.

The squads have also been working on tracing offenders in their hideouts across the city.

Our focus is on curbing street crime across the city and acting against chain-snatchers is an important part of this crack down, said Bharti.

Read more: This Mumbai man was rickshaw driver by night and chain snatcher in the day

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The police on Tuesday started checking all vehicles, especially those registered outside Mumbai, entering Navi Mumbai, ahead of Canadian pop star Justin Biebers May 10 concert.

The singer will perform at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The police are under tremendous pressure as many people are coming to the city to attend the concert. They have checked almost all hotels and lodges in the city.

A senior officer from the special branch said, We are keeping an eye on people with criminal records. We have asked officials to check the new vehicles entering the city. Control room officials are monitoring the vehicles through CCTV cameras.

The police are conducting combing operations from Monday morning.

.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Even as its plans for a domicile quota for post-graduate medical seats was struck down by the courts, Maharashtra is planning a similar reservation for undergraduate medical seats.

To make their case for undergraduate quota strong, the Maharashtra government is currently studying previous Supreme Court orders on the same. A final decision is awaited, and officials told HT that a government resolution (GR) to this effect should be released soon.

We are currently studying the SC decision on our petition to demand for domicile quota in PG medical admissions, as well as a previous order by SC on the same. We need to ensure that no time is wasted in fighting matters in court during admissions this year, said Dr Pravin Shingare, director, Directorate of Medical Education & Research (DMER).

According to a previous order by SC in the first week of May, implementation of domicile quota in deemed institutes has been stayed. Our law experts are finding out if that decision could be superseded, only then can we introduce a uniform, added Shingare, and said that a final decision will be taken by the end of this week by the state.

As per a government resolution (GR) released by the medical education department on April 27, the state has decided to keep aside more than 67% of seats in private and deemed institutes for candidates with the state domicile. Also, for the first time, 25% of the seats in deemed medical and dental universities will now be reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Vimukta Jati, Nomedic Tribes (VJNT) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities.

Within three days, the Bombay high court called for a stay on this GR and a week later, the apex court upheld the stay. The petition was not dismissed because it was wrong, but because it was introduced after the PG admissions had begun. So with UG admissions, we want to make sure everything is in place before introducing any new rules for the upcoming admission season, said an official from the state medical education department.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Mumbai police recently arrested two men for allegedly possessing charas worth Rs 7.20 lakh.

Acting on a tip off received by the anti-narcotics cell (ANC), a team from the Ghatkopar unit of ANC arrested the duo near the mother dairy bus stop at Nehru Nagar, Kurla East.

About 1.8kg of Charas worth Rs7.2 lakh was found on them. A FIR has been registered against them under section 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

One of the accused was identified as Nissar Ahmad Bhat,33, a fruit-seller hailing from Sangrama Village in Baramulla district, Kashmir. About 900 grams of Charas was found on him.

The other accused, Illias Ismail Shaikh, 38, is also a fruit vendor, and is a resident of Kousa, Mumbra. He also possessed 900 grams of the drug. The ANC is probing the source of the drugs and whether the accused have a criminal background.
The Metro-3 line from Colaba to the SEEPZ at Andheri via Bandra will have exits that will deposit commuters directly inside the Mumbai International Airport and the Mumbai Central train terminus once work is completed by 2021.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) to ensure this was done while on visit to inspect construction of the 33.5-km corridor last week. The CM wants to let Metro passengers enter the terminal directly, said Subodh Kumar Gupta, director (projects), MMRC.

According to the current plan, Metro-3 commuters can enter the terminals only after coming out of the underground station on to the ground level.

The MMRC will now have to redesign the exits. We will get in touch with Mumbai International Airport Ltd officials. In the earlier design, people could come out of the stations, which are near the airport area, cross the road and then enter T2, Gupta said.

Gupta said the western railway (WR) has a plan for station area development, which would include the integration of Mumbai Central with Metro-3.

They have a plan to develop the area outside the terminus. We could either let passengers take the underground way to the airport and let vehicles exit from ground level or vice-versa. We will take a call once designs are finalised, Gupta said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A 33-year-old Nigerian national from Panvel has recently been arrested for allegedly cheating a Kerala businessman of Rs59 lakh.

According to the police, the accused Harison Ilbo created a fake profile in Facebook under the name of John Kroklin and pretended to be an officer of the USA Army. He befriended the businessman in January and told him that he owns a chemical laboratory in India and runs a private business which he wants to shift to USA.

Ilbo also met the businessman in Kerala and invited him to be the manager of the company. Later, after gaining his trust, Ilbo requested him for some money to clean his chemical lab. The businessman sent Ilbo Rs59 lakh in instalments till May.

On April 29, Ilbo told the businessman that he was going to Kerala and asked him to pick him up from Thiruvananthapuram. He then switched his phone off for three days, said the police. On the fourth day, Ilbo allegedly called the businessman and claimed that he has been kidnapped and that he would be killed unless he paid them a ransom of Rs25lakh.

This scared the businessman because if Ilbo died, the police may suspect his hand in it. He told Ilbo that he can pay only Rs8 lakh and then approached the Amboli police.

Based on technical evidence, senior inspector Bharat Gaikwad and his team traced Ilbo to his house in Taloja and arrested him. They realised that the Nigerian had faked the story to cheat the businessman. The police is now investigating if Ilbo has any criminal records and if he has cheated others.
The Mumbai police team are yet to find any evidence against Sunil Kulkarni  the leader of an alleged sex and drugs cult Shifu Sunkriti  to prove that he exploited young girls.

The leader was arrested after parents of two sisters from Malad, in their early 20s, filed a petition in the Bombay high court claiming Kulkarni had entrapped their daughters. The couple claimed their daughters behaviour changed drastically after attending the activities of the cult.

The police have not found much evidence in the porn clip recovered from his phone either. We have proof that Kulkarni influenced around 10 youngsters by giving speeches on free lifestyle. He used them in many of his alleged con schemes he plotted. Youngsters believed him as he dropped names of corporates to impress them, said a source.

Sources in the Mumbai crime branch said they were investigating the charge based on the case registered against Kulkarni in Delhi. We are probing further. We are looking for a few more youngsters [girls and boys] to record their statements to verify the allegations, said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

Kulkarni has been booked under protection of children from sexual offences act (POCSO) in Delhi, police said.

The police found Kulkarni used one of the sisters cheque book to sign an MOU with a firm in Bhopal . He finalised the deal at Rs23 crore. Kulkarni even took Rs5.50 lakh from the company, which was deposited in the womans account. The woman has told the Mumbai crime branch that she was not aware that her cheque book was used by Kulkarni, after which he was booked for forgery.

The police have also found that his claims of being a doctor are not true. He, however, gave lectures at various institutes making tall claims about his educational qualification. The crime branch said the elder sister from Malad met Kulkarni when he visited her college as a faculty member. She then introduced her younger sister to him.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A woman was set on fire by her husband after she refused to give him her cell phone at Ulhasnagar on Monday.

The man, identified as Santoshkumar Shaikh,38, is a resident of Azadnagar in Ulhasnagar. Shaikh works as a mechanic in Ulhasnagar, while his wife worked as a house help.

The woman, Shami Santoshkumar Shaikh,36 , has suffered 60% burns, and is recuperating at a civil hospital.

On Monday evening, the couple had a heated argument over household issue, following which Santoshkumar demanded to see Shamis mobile phone . Shami refused to hand over her phone to her husband, and told him that she is going for work. Santoshkumar got angry, and purchased a bottle of kerosene from a local shop  said a police officer from Central police station.

When Shami was on her way to work, Santoshkumar stopped her, and the couple had another argument over the mobile phone. Santoshkumar then poured the kerosene all over her and set her on fire.

Shami cried for help but the accused fled the spot. Later, the locals alerted us and rushed her to a hospital. We have recorded her statement and found that the couple was married three months ago, and was going through personal problems. The search for the accused is on. We suspect he may be hiding at his native place. Once it is confirmed, will send a team, said V Dolas, senior police inspector from Central police station.

Santoshkumar has been booked under section 307( attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The general body of the BMC on Monday again demanded an extension of two months to approve the draft development plan (DP) 2034. This is the fourth time in the past one year that it has asked for an extension.

This means more delay in implementing the document which plans the citys growth in the next two decades.

This delay is causing confusion in the real estate market. With projects getting delayed and some not even starting, this is causing a loss in development revenue for the civic body.

The DP department put up a proposal to the general body on Monday asking it to consider approving the draft DP 2034 before May 19 as the corporators would be on leave for almost a month.

Shiv Sena corporator and leader of the house Yashwant Jadhav demanded an amendment to the proposal stating that two months more were needed to approve the proposal as it was complex.

Jadhav, said, The civic administrations steps in educating the newly elected corporators were inadequate. We need more time to understand the DP to come up with more suggestions to make it more citizen-friendly.

The BJP corporators said the general body should at least initiate a discussion on DP document. However, none of them clearly opposed the Senas demand and the two-month extension amendment was passed.

The civic body will write to the state government, asking for an extension to submit the draft DP.

A senior civic official from the DP department said, If it doesnt agree, then the proposal can be deemed approved without the general bodys consent after May 19.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj has promised to pay university tuition for dozens of fans after a promotional contest metamorphosed over Twitter.

Minajs transformation into educational benefactor took place over the weekend as she unveiled a contest of the sort popular among celebrities seeking an online buzz.

Show me straight A's that I can verify w/ur school and I'll pay it. Who wants to join THAT contest?!?! Dead serious. Shld I set it up? https://t.co/czH715u64a  NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) May 7, 2017

Minaj invited her 20 million Twitter followers to make their own videos for one of her new songs for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas to see her perform at the Billboard Music Awards later this month.

But when one respondent said she would rather have help paying tuition, Minaj agreed.

Show me straight As that I can verify with your school and Ill pay it. Who wants to join THAT contest?!?! Dead serious, she tweeted.

Minaj soon had made promises in response to more than 30 tweets seeking help paying university tuition, which can be notoriously expensive in the United States, or to cover student loans or textbooks.

One Twitter user -- whose handle is Dash Minaj in apparent tribute to the rapper -- was overjoyed after she pledged to pay the $1,800 he said he needed to resume his studies at Ohio University.

My idol is paying for me to go back to school. Im literally in... tears, he tweeted.

Minaj ended the spree by tweeting, Its been fun. Let me make those payments tomorrow then see if I have any money left. Ill do some more in a month or two.

Minaj, who was born in Trinidad and raised in New York, won a spot at the citys prestigious public LaGuardia High School for aspiring artists and did not go on to university.

In March, the 34-year-old Minaj surpassed Aretha Franklin as the female artist who has had the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart of top US singles.

Minaj has landed 76 songs on the chart after releasing three singles in March, including her latest collaboration with superstar Drake.

Forbes magazine estimated that Minaj earned $20.5 million in the 12 months to June 2016, making her the only woman among the years richest hip-hop artists.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
A deputy of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) was dismissed from the parliament over terrorism conviction, the parliament announced Tuesday, Anadolu reported.

Nursel Aydogan was sentenced in January to four years and eight months in prison by Diyarbakir's 2nd High Criminal Court in southeast Turkey for crimes linked to the PKK terrorist organization.

Aydogan had stood trial on charges of conducting activities on behalf of a terror group without being a member.

After Aydogan's dismissal, the number of HDP seats in parliament dropped to 57.
Fire broke out in a thermocol factory near Udyog Vihar extension in Greater Noida on Tuesday evening when 300 employees were present on the premises. No one was reported to be injured in the incident till the time of filing the report.

The incident was reported on the premises of E Pack company located near LG intersection. The fire broke out on the

first floor of the three-storey building.

We received information of a fire at a factory near LG Chowk at 5.30pm. We immediately dispatched our fire tenders to the spot and started the evacuation process, said Matloob Hussain, fire station officer, Sector 58. He added that the fire was brought under control by 9 pm.

According to police and fire department officials, the exact cause of fire is not known yet.

At the time of fire, a total of 300 people were present in the building. The company owners had stored thermocol on all the floors, which is why the fire spread quickly as the product is highly flammable, added Hussain.

Additional district magistrate Kumar Vinit and sub-divisional magistrate Rajesh Singh also reached the spot and supervised the rescue operation.

Eyewitnesses said a minor stampede was reported outside the factory as police tried to control the crowd that had assembled. The employees had also rushed out in panic.

The fire department used 10 fire tenders to put out the flames and also sought more fire tenders from Ghaziabad.

Hussain said it was difficult to douse the fire as the firefighters had trouble entering the building due to the large amount of thermocol present.



Following the fire, police also evacuated workers from nearby buildings as a safety measure.

This is the third major fire incident to be reported in the district in the past month. Earlier, a factory -cum-office at Sector 11 in Noida was completely charred due to fire. Six people were killed in the incident as they were trapped on the third floor of the building.

After that incident, the fire department had asked companies to install fire safety equipment in their premises and follow all precautions properly. The Noida police and the fire department had also decided to conduct a fire audit of companies to check whether they were following the laid down fire safety norms or not.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Industries minister Satish Mahana is scheduled to meet homebuyers, builders and officials in Noida during his visit to the city on May 11. This will be his third visit to Noida since becoming the states industries minister.

The industries minister will meet builders, homebuyers and officials so that the issues that have delayed realty projects can be identified and addressed, said Shishir Singh, additional chief executive officer (ACEO), Noida authority.

He is also to check why files related to institutional plots, residential and group housing buildings are not being cleared, and inspect the progress of all infrastructure projects above Rs5 crore.

Mahana is scheduled to review projects such as the metro, underpasses, elevated road, horticulture, and those related to water and electricity from 10am to 11am.

The minister will check the bond that the authority signs with the contractor before starting work on a project. He will see whether the progress is as per the signed document. He may take action against officials who are not doing their job properly, thereby delaying a project, said a Noida authority official.

In the forenoon, Mahana is supposed to review maps and completion certificates of all pending group housing, industrial and institutional projects. Later, he will review all plot allotment schemes to be launched in 2017-18.

When homebuyers met chief minister Yogi Adityanath on in Lucknow April 26, Mahana had promised them to visit Noida to look into their issues. He is scheduled to meet homebuyers at 12:30pm for redressal of grievances and later meet builders whose realty projects are stuck.

The minister will review the action taken by officials to address homebuyers issues. At 4pm, he will discuss issues faced by industrialists. In the end, he will review law and order issues, said an official.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Three people, including a firefighter, received minor injuries in a massive fire that broke out in a wooden toys and accessories manufacturing unit at Sector 63 on Tuesday morning.

The firefighter, Rajesh Sharma, fell during the firefighting operation. He received injuries on his right arm and was rushed to the district hospital in Sector 30.

According to the fire department team, at 9:30am smoke started coming out the building that houses Neo Crafts Impex Private Limited, which manufactures and exports wooden toys and accessories.

The building has five storeys and a basement and over 400 people were present at the time of the incident. The building was not damaged, but most of the furniture and toys stocked inside were charred.

Eyewitnesses said they saw smoke coming from the building, after which all the workers rushed out. Three people received minor injuries and were provided first aid by the firefighters at the spot.

Over 40 firefighters, 25 fire tenders, one hydraulic platform and a police team from the Phase 3 police station were pressed into service. Firefighters also used water from a tank near the spot. It took almost six hours to put out the fire.

As the fire broke out, workers of the unit used five fire extinguishers, but the flames raged out of control and fire tenders were called in. Before starting the operation to douse the flames, firefighters went inside the building to ensure no one was trapped.

According to officials, a short circuit could have caused the fire.

Wood and other flammable materials were stored inside the building, due to which the fire got out of control. It took us around six hours to douse the flames, said Akshay Ranjan Sharma, chief fire officer, Ghaziabad, who rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operation.

The circle officer (city 2) Ajay Kumar and superintendent of police (city), Dinesh Yadav also rushed to the spot along with administration officials.

Gajraj Singh (48), a worker at the unit, said, We use chemicals for the toys finishing before packing them to send to various parts of the country and abroad. It was because of a short circuit and the presence of flammable material such as thinner that the fire spread rapidly.

Nanak Singh (55), who looks after the labour work of the unit, said employees work from 9am to 5pm.

Two workers received minor injuries while running out of the building. No one was trapped inside and all floors were checked, he said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Noida authority on Tuesday warned that it will take strict action against builders who do not submit tower-wise completion schedule of their projects as ordered.

The authoritys additional chief executive officer (ACEO) Shishir Singh has been conducting meetings with builders and homebuyers since April 10 to address homebuyers issues. In every meeting, the authority directs the builders to submit a written delivery schedule of flats to homebuyers. The authority has held meetings for 16 realty projects so far.

According to officials, failure to stick to the schedule will warrant stern action against the builder.

So far, we have received group housing project details from only two builders  Shubhkamna Group and Unnati Fortune Group. The other builders are yet to submit tower-wise completion details. We hope the rest of them will provide the details asked for before May 10 so that we can put up these cases before the industries minister, said Santosh Kumar, officer on special duty (OSD), Noida authority.

The two builders have submitted the details of how much they spent on construction of towers, development of common facilities, roads, lifts, landscaping and others. They have also submitted affidavits along with the project details. Officials said they have taken an affidavit so that the builders later cannot deny the details submitted.

Many builders are reluctant to share flat-wise details of owners and the money received from them against flats booked. However, I have categorically asked them to submit all details or face action. We will meet CEO Amit Mohan Prasad to finalise the action to be taken against those not submitting the desired project details, said the ACEO.

Of 16 builders, two have submitted their tower-wise schedule. Even Jaypee Group and Amrapali Group have not submitted the schedule of completion to be shared with the homebuyers, said ACEO.

The Jaypee Group has to submit completion schedule of around 28,000 flats and Amrapali Group of around 10,000 flats. The housing projects of the remaining builders are much smaller.

Authority officials said that whether more meetings of homebuyers and builders will take place further will be decided after the industries ministers May 11 meeting, said officials.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Police have registered two burglary cases that took place in blocks A and B of Sector 26 within 24 hours of each other. Both houses were allegedly broken into when the residents were away and valuables, including a a laptop and a 200-gram silver bar, taken.

In one incident, morning walkers found the doors and locks of a house near the Sector 26 club broken and household items lying scattered.

Suspecting that the house, owned by Ajit Singh, had been broken into and ransacked, they called the police control room and a team reached the spot.

During investigation, police found that the occupants of the house had left for a month-long trip to America a week ago. The residents welfare association (RWA) filed a complaint on their behalf.

According to the police, they could not ascertain the items missing from the house and that will be possible only after the residents return. The information will then be added to the first information report (FIR).Police suspect the incident occurred at midnight as the residents spotted it early morning.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, alleged burglars decamped with a laptop and a 200-gram silver bar from a house in block A of the same sector. Police said the incident took place at 12.15pm when the complainant Peeyush Handa (32) and his wife had gone to work.

The couple live in the rented house on the ground floor of a three-storey building and work in a private firm in Sector 132. The matter came to light when the landlord, Rajender Bhati, who lives on the first floor, was stepping out. He found that the lock was broken and many items were scattered at the door.

The couple and the police were informed about the incident. The victims told the police that the laptop was kept on the table, and the silver bar inside a cupboard.

Police said the house had been ransacked in search of other items that could be taken. Bhati told police that the the main entry gate was not locked from inside and they did not notice any movement.

Footage from a CCTV camera installed next to the house showed two people who seemed to be in their early twenties entering the house with a bag. They were also seen breaking the locks and coming out 10 minutes later, said the police.

Anil Kumar Shai, station house officer (SHO), Sector 20 police station , said, We have seen the CCTV footage in the area. These thieves are teenagers and we are working on busting this gang. Cognizance of the complaints has been taken and cases have been registered.

Sector 26 residents said the area has important establishments such as schools and hospital and the entry to the sector is not restricted. According to residents, regular night patrolling is required there.

Since April 23, six thefts have taken place in the area. Night patrolling is important to avoid such incidents. Everyone is living in fear and cannot leave their houses because of such incidents, said Manoj Kesari, a resident of the sector.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Within a week of taking charge as the officiating vice-chancellor of Inder Kumar Gujral Punjab Technical University (PTU), technical education secretary Kahan Singh Pannu has ordered probe into complaints of irregularities received against the varsity in recent years.

Retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer SS Dhillon has been tasked with probing the cases. He is a member of the panel of retired Punjab government officials who can be handed over independent inquiries.

Earlier, too, the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau had investigated a few of these complaints, but the findings were never made public, due to alleged political pressure. As per orders, dated May 8, Dhillon has to submit the detailed report within one month. This will be the first time that a timebound probe has been ordered into these complaints. Dhillon will be provided facilities like car and temporary accommodation at the varsity.

In some cases, the complainants had even submitted affidavits along with the proof. But nobody bothered to bring out the truth. Is this the type of system we want in our revered institutes of education? said Pannu, while confirming the development.

Under the scanner Irregularities in appointing firms as consultants, coordinators Ignoring merit, favouring RSS-backed candidates in faculty appointment Forcing students to apply for re-evaluation, cough up money

Major complaints

Most complaints pertain to irregularities in appointing firms as consultants, coordinators or facilitators. Allegedly owned by family members or aides of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, most of the firms, which were chosen without following norms, were newly incorporated just before the allotment of the PTU contract. Despite lacking experience in running distance education courses, these firms were allegedly being paid lakhs every month. Jalandhar-based Anti-Corruption Society repeatedly brought the issue to the notice of the authorities, including the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, and a vigilance probe was initiated, but to no avail

Dr Rajnish Arora, who remained the PTU vice-chancellor from December 2008 to January 2015, has also been accused of ignoring merit while appointing faculty members. According to the complaints, those close to the RSS and BJP leaders were selected, while ignoring meritorious candidates. Dr Arora has been closely associated with the RSS.

The latest allegation pertained to an alleged re-evalution scam being run by the varsity. Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer HC Arora alleged a high percentage of students were declared fail in the regular examinations, and were later given passing marks when they applied for re-evaluation and approached the officials concerned.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The government on Tuesday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that it will withdraw essentiality certificates given to Banur-based Gian Sagar medical college.

This was stated by Punjab advocate general Atul Nanda during a resumed hearing on a petition moved by students seeking shifting to other medical colleges.

Essentiality certificate means permission by the state government to set up a medical college and run various courses. The state government has granted many essentiality certificates to the Gian Sagar management since 2006. The withdrawal means the college has lost mandate to run the institution and the government will now take the responsibility of students. Since the government has refused to take over the college, it effectively means that students will have to be shifted to other medical colleges of Punjab.

REVIVAL PLAN

Earlier, the management submitted a revival plan to the court stating that Mata Leelawati Shiksha Sansthan, New Delhi, would give Rs 10 crore, Muskan Samajik Shiksha and Prachar Samiti, Guna in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 15 core and Mohan Singh Shikhsa Sansthan, Mathura, Rs 15 crore to the Gian Sagar Trust in the next three months.

Employees who will join immediately will be given a months salary and another months salary within 15 days, the trust told the HC, adding that a separate account will be maintained where fee collected from students will be deposited and disbursed as salary to the teaching and other staff.
Passengers on Jet Airways 9W 2262 Jaipur to Chandigarh flight were stranded at the Chandigarh international airport for hours on Tuesday evening after the airline left their baggage behind. Twenty-three baggages were offloaded in Jaipur. Passengers were told that the planes temperature had increased, due to which part of the luggage was offloaded in Jaipur.

Huge drama was witnessed at the airport as the passengers made a beeline outside the Jet Airways counter, screaming, arguing and even pleading with the officials, asking for their baggage.

One of the elderly women, walking with a support of a stick was even cursing a Jet Airways official that same should happen to his wife.

Passengers with connecting flights from Chandigarh were the most inconvenienced.

A passenger Neeti Bhambri said, When we reached the airport, we were told that our bags were not loaded onto the aircraft. We were not informed of this at any stage. After arriving at the airport, we waited for approximately two and half hours thinking that our luggage will come in another aircraft but nothing happened.

An official told us that he has no authority and he could not do anything. Official even asked us to bash him since he was helpless himself, another passenger Rashmi claimed.

Another passenger Neeraj Lathi, who was on his business trip, said, I had to head to Bathinda and Amritsar and that was the only bag I was carrying, which they offloaded in Jaipur. Now for three days, I will be wearing the same clothes. I am left with my phone, charger and a wallet. The authorities should have informed us and we would not have boarded the flight. This is a major goof-up on the part of the airline.

After all the ruckus and drama at the airport, all passengers, whose luggage was offloaded at the Jaipur airport, were compensated with Rs 1,000 each.

Statement by a Jet Airways spokesperson: Owing to a (weather-related) payload restriction, some baggage on Jet Airways flight 9W 2262 (Jaipur-Chandigarh) of May 9, 2017, was offloaded and accommodated on subsequent flights to (Chandigarh). The airline regrets the inconvenience caused to its guests and is making efforts to have the baggage delivered to respective guests.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Two days after a Kashmiri woman and her son accused a doctor at Chandigarhs Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) of calling them stone-pelters, the head of PGIMERs neurosurgery department has offered help to the patient.

PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram said he conducted an internal inquiry and found that the accused doctor was on leave on Monday, the day the incident took place.

Dr SK Gupta, the head of the neurosurgery department, has informed that Dr MK Tiwari was on leave on that day. Dr Gupta questioned other consultants and resident doctors of the department but everyone denied making any such remark, Dr Jagat said.

The head of the department has offered help to the patient and has assured that he will look after the diagnostics, if needed, he added.

Complaint and controversy

Javaid Malik, a resident of Srinagar, said on Thursday he took his mother Nasreena Malik (55) for treatment to PGIMER neurosurgery department but they left the hospital after the doctors misbehaviour and misinformation about the cost of treatment.

Initially, the doctor talked to us in a civilised way but when he got to know that we are Kashmiris, his attitude changed. He got angry and threw away our documents saying, Wahan Kashmir me humare jawano ko patthar maarte ho aur phir yahan ilaaj ke liye aate ho (You people throw stones at our security personnel in Kashmir and then come here for treatment), Malik said.

He said that he was not sure of the name of the doctor who made the remark but the nameplate outside the cabin read Dr Manoj Tiwari.

Nasreena suffers from intracranial aneurysm (a blood vessel related condition in the brain) and had gone to PGIMER for consultation about a neurosurgical surgery, according to her family.

Javaid, who is a shopkeeper in Srinagar, said the doctor said the surgery would cost Rs 15 lakh, while other patients with similar ailment told him the procedure should cost a maximum of Rs 80,000, including medicines and other expenses. The doctor suggested they should go to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, he said.

Due to such behaviour, I left PGIMER with my mother last Thursday evening itself. Now we plan to go to Delhi for treatment, Javaid said.

Neither Nasreena nor Javaid lodged a complaint with the hospital.

The PGI has denied Kashmiri patients are discriminated against.

The story, reported by a Srinagar-based English daily, evoked strong reactions on social media. Twitter user @Adeel_speaks described the incident as nationalism in hospitals.
Amid the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Punjab Police struggling to crack high-profile political murders in Punjab, a song glorifying these killings has surfaced, sending the agencies in a tizzy.

The eight-minute Punjabi song, that is suspected to have been recorded by Sikh radicals in Londons Southhall, takes responsibility for the recent murders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Shiv Sena leaders in Punjab. The motive it says is to take revenge for the increasing influence of the Hindu right-wing outfits in the states rural areas.

The song, which has been shared on private WhatsApp groups, has poor sound quality and seems to be recorded in an ordinary studio.

Starting and ending with sounds of gunshots, the song categorically takes responsibility for the killings of RSS state vice-president Jagdish Gagneja and Shiv Sena leaders Durga Parshad Gupta and Amit Sharma. It repeatedly talks about a hit list and warns that no one on it will be spared.

The song also claims the groups eagles eye is closely monitoring former Punjab director generals of police (DGPs) KPS Gill, JS Ribeiro, Sumedh Singh Saini and Mohammad Izhar Alam, who were at the helm during militancy, besides Lieutenant General Kuldeep Singh Brar (retd), who commanded the Operation Bluestar. Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda and Jalandhar-based Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan also find mention in the song.

Open challenge or diversionary tactic

The timing of this song is very significant, said a top Punjab Police official in the intelligence wing.

At a time when both Punjab Police and the CBI have gathered some vital clues, the perpetrators have come out with an open challenge. Either its their strategy to divert the attention of the probing agencies or its an open challenge to us, he said.

Sources said it could also be an attempt to gain sympathy and support of the Sikh community by terming the killings a revenge.

Its a well-planned strategy and a serious matter. During militancy, too, songs were released to attract the youth, said an additional director generals of police (ADGP)-rank official.

Its not the first time that efforts have been made to divert the attention of the investigating agencies. Earlier too, mails were sent to media houses by a little known group, Dashmesh Regiment, claiming responsibility for Gagnejas and Guptas murders. They turned out to be fake, said an inspector general of police-rank official.

Even as the investigating agencies are closely monitoring social media networks, such as Facebook, sources said Punjab Police is planning to write to these networks to prevent the songs dissemination and track those who may share it.

The cases involving the murder of Gagneja, Gupta, Namdhari sect heads mother Chand Kaur and two Dera Sacha Sauda followers in Khanna were handed over to the CBI in September last year after Punjab Police cited foreign hand behind these killings.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
ADS ADS

Born in 1972 in Geneva (Switzerland), Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith, is one of the youngest CEOs of the luxury watch industry. With a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Geneva (1996), completed with a Masters course in International Business at the London Metropolitan University, he began his professional career in the watch industry with Raymond Weil as Sales Manager responsible for European markets, for a period of two years. Subsequently, Julien Tornare spent 17 years at Vacheron Constantin, first as Director of the Swiss market, then as Director of the U.S market and finally as Managing Director for Asia-Pacific. During this same period, he also attended the Foundation for Business Leadership (Finance, Strategy, Marketing, Supply Chain) course at the IMD Business School in Lausanne (Switzerland).



Since 2017, Julien Tornare has been CEO of Zenith, a brand that he has brought back into the forefront of the watchmaking scene by rejuvenating its products, its communication as well as its image. Zenith has thus regained its role as a forerunner of groundbreaking innovation. The DEFY Inventor watch, whose ultra-flat monolithic oscillator replaces the dozens of components of a standard regulator, is a perfect example of this. Despite the brands history dates back to the 19th century and it belongs to the LVMH group, Julien Tornare has injected his entrepreneurial spirit into Zenith, allowing the brand to revisit its unique patrimony of innovation while shaping the future of Swiss watchmaking. The sky has no limits for the brand with the starry symbol.
The UT administrations decision to reserve special numbers, usually auctioned by the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) every year fetching lakhs of rupees, for senior officials has not gone down well with city residents and activists.

A city-based activist and a lawyer has shot off letters to UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, demanding review of the notification issued in March. A 0001 series number was recently given for a paltry Rs 5,000 to UT transport secretary KK Jindal who got the number for his wifes Toyota Innova.

The activists say it was just another way to introduce VIP culture in the city. The new policy has been adopted following the pattern in Delhi, sources claim.

Advocate Ajay Jagga, in the letter, demanded review of the notification by the transport department, as per which a provision has been made for reservation of special numbers for the UT administrator, bureaucrats, judges and senior officials.

On March 22, amendments were made in the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1990, where provision for availing the facility was made for dignitaries/officials and their spouses in Chandigarh.

As per the notification, the facility can be availed of twice by an official during their tenure. Jagga has demanded that the policy should be examined as the reservation of numbers (which he termed as assets) will cause loss to the administration.

RTI activist RK Garg has also shot off a communique to the UT administrator demanding the policy be scrapped. There should be level-playing field for all with no reservation system, Garg said.

He added that in Delhi and Haryana, the reserve price for such vanity numbers had been fixed at Rs 5 lakh. If the administration wants to implement such policies, then the reserve price here should also be increased to Rs 5 lakh,  he added.
Former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra may soon land in fresh trouble after the Supreme Courts verdict reinstating trial of four pending fodder scam cases against them. Trial in one of these four cases has reached at final argument stage and the CBI is expecting judgment in three months.

The apex court on Monday reinstated criminal conspiracy charge against Prasad in a fodder scam case RC 64 (A)/96 related to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 90 lakh from Jharkhands Deoghar treasury and asked the CBI to complete the trial within a period of nine months.

A senior CBI official, monitoring the fodder scam cases in Ranchi, said that the trial of the aforesaid case involving 27 accused including five politicians and four former IAS officers was running at final argument stage and the judgment is expected within three month.

Prasad and Mishra, who were accused in the said case, had faced the trial proceedings till November 2014 when the high court dropped the proceedings against them. The trial with respect to other 25 accused, however, continued and it now reached at a final stage, CBI official said.

We will now resume the trial proceedings with regard to Prasad and Mishra from where we had left. We will soon expedite the process so that judgment may come at the expected time frame, he said.

However, lawyers engaged in defense side feel that it would not be a cakewalk for the CBI. Prasad and Mishra will naturally urge the court to recall the prosecution witnesses again so that their lawyers can cross examine them. This would consume much time and therefore chances of judgment in couple of months is bleak, they said.

The CBI in 1996 had booked Prasad in six fodder scam cases related to fraudulent withdrawal of animal husbandry department (AHD) funds from different government treasuries during 1990-1995.

Prasad, who was convicted on September 30, 2013 and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in one of the six fodder scam cases, had challenged the remaining five pending cases on the ground that the CBI levelled same allegations in all six cases lodged against him and was banking on the same set of evidences to prove the allegations. He contended that no one should be put on peril twice for the same offence citing a constitutional provision.

The Jharkhand high court on November 14, 2014, had decided the issue with regard to the above fodder scam case RC 64 (A)/96. It had quashed all major Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act under which he had already been convicted. It, however, ruled that trail against Prasad would only proceed under two Sections, which came as major relieve to Prasad. But, the Supreme Court on Monday quashed the HC order.

Cases in which Prasad and Mishra will be put to trial

 RC 64 (A)/96 (related to fake withdrawal of Rs 90 lakh from Deoghar treasury)

 RC 68 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 33.61 crore from Chaibasa treasury)

 RC 47 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 139.39 crore from Doranda treasury, Ranchi)

 RC 38 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 3.31 crore from Dumka Treasury)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Supreme Courts verdict has come as a big setback for retired IAS officer and former Jharkhand chief secretary Sajal Chakroborty as well as for former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra who would now have to face the trial in multi-crore fodder scam cases.

The apex court on Monday set aside the Jharkhand high court order quashing the criminal proceedings initiated against Chakroborty in two separate fodder scam cases. It also reinstated four different fodder scam cases against Mishra by declaring the HC order null and void.

Chakroborty had earlier been facing trial in three separate scam cases--RC 51(A)/96, RC 20(A)/96 and RC 68(A)/96- the latter two related to fraudulent withdrawal of animal husbandry departments fund from the Chaibasa treasury. He was convicted in the first case (RC 51(A)/96) and awarded four and half years of rigorous imprisonment in July 2008.

Chakroborty then filed an appeal petition in the Jharkhand high court challenging his conviction. Later, he also moved separate petitions challenging the validity of two other pending cases on the ground that all three scam cases against him were of similar nature and once convicted in one of them, he could not be tried in other two, citing constitutional provisions.

Responding to his petitions, the high court on April 12, 2012 had quashed the two pending fodder scam cases against him and after four months on August 3, 2012, acquitting him completely. He was thus discharged from all cases.

But, the apex courts verdict on Monday , in effect, opened up the two scam cases--RC 20(A)/96 and RC 68(A)/96--against Chakroborty, observing that these cases were not of similar nature and he would have to face the trial.

Since the case RC 20(A)/96 ended in conviction of all accused persons, including former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, we will request the court to reopen the trial with respect to Chakroborty only. The other case RC 68(A)/96 is still running under trial stage, said a senior CBI official monitoring the fodder scam cases in Ranchi.

He added, We will also reinstate trial against Jagannath Mishra in the four pending fodder scam cases after the Supreme Courts verdict. The proceedings in these cases against Mishra were dropped after the high courts order.

Mishra, who was convicted along with Lalu Prasad in RC 20 (A)/96 case, is now out on bail. His appeal petition challenging the conviction is pending in the Jharkhand HC.

Cases reinstated against Sajal Chakroborty

RC 68 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 33.61 crore from Chaibasa treasury)

RC 20(A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from Chaibasa treasury)

Cases reinstated against Jagannath Mishra

 RC 64 (A)/96 (related to fake withdrawal of Rs 90 lakh from Deoghar treasury)

 RC 68 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 33.61 crore from Chaibasa treasury)

 RC 47 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 139.39 crore from Doranda treasury, Ranchi)

 RC 38 (A)/96 (fake withdrawal of Rs 3.31 crore from Dumka Treasury)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Jharkhand on Monday asked the Centre to waive the amount due on Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for carrying out anti-Maoist operation besides more sharing of intelligence information among Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states.

Chief minister Raghubar Das made the request at the meeting between Centre and states affected by LWE in New Delhi. Chief secretary Rajbala Verma, home secretary SKG Rahate, director general of police (DGP) DN Pandey and SPs of 16 LWE affected districts were present at the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Das said the amount demanded by the CRPF for carrying out anti-Maoist operation should be waived off keeping in view Jharkhands financial condition. He stressed on additional central assistance under integrated action plan (IAP), assistance in terms of security-related expenditure to press helicopter service in anti-Maoist operation and starting air surveillance in Ranchi.

Das said his government had identified 13 focus areas for Saranda, Saryu and Jhumra and requested more central assistance and concerted efforts to weed out LWE. Expressing concern over cultivation of Opium, he stressed on the need of a full-fledged wing of narcotics control bureau in the state.

He also suggested modernisation of madarsas in PLFI infested Pakur and Sahebganj districts besides an office of enforcement directorate to simplify the seizure of properties owned by LWE groups.

Detailing the challenges before Jharkhand, Das said the government had mounted pressure on splinter groups of CPI (Maoist) like TPC, JPC, PLFI and JJMP.

He said the states surrender policy and rewarding schemes had encouraged the extremists to surrender with arms and ammunitions. In the past two years, 81 extremists had laid down arms in the state, he said.

He claimed now Hazaribag, Bokaro, Ranchi rural, Jamshedpur and northern parts of Latehar and Garhwa districts were free from LWE, adding the state has set up 49 new police stations and upgraded 56 outposts.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Land acquisition and law and order problem bedevil the start of work on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) linking over a 1,390 km stretch from Haldia to Varanasi under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP).

This came to fore at the Project Oversight Committee (POC) meeting on JMVP held here on Monday, which saw participation of senior officials from four states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Land acquisition, rehabilitation, law and order and security of river transport in future were the major issues discussed at the meeting.

The project that is expected to enable commercial navigation of 1,500-2,000 tonne vessels from Haldia to Varansai would see three multi-modal terminals (MMT) come up at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia at an estimated cost of Rs 1,154 crore.

However, officials are facing land acquisition and law and order problems in construction, POC officials said.

Jharkhand government is actively helping in land acquisition. Of the required 180 acres of land in Sahibganj for MMT, 70 acres of land has already been handed over against which state government was paid Rs 130 crore. But, the contractor working there is facing problems from locals such as levy demand, said Pravir Pandey, vice chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).

The IWAI has awarded the contract to construct a MMT in Sahibganj with a cargo handling capacity of 2.28 million tonnes per annum to Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T).

Local people and some hooligans are reportedly demanding jobs and levy from the agency.

Similar problem is being faced by the contractor working in West Bengal. However, the West Bengal government took immediate action and sensitised local police for protection of the ongoing work. We expect similar promptness from the Jharkhand government, Pandey said.

Land acquisition for the proposed MMT at Kalughat in Bihar, where four hectares of land is required, is yet to be started. The Bihar government had some apprehensions over construction of barrage on Ganga. We met chief minister Nitish Kumar in April this year and made it clear that no dam or barrage would be constructed on the river. The government has now expedited the land acquisition process, Pandey said, adding a ship repairing centre is likely to be set up in Bihars Doriganj area.

The land acquisition process is also tardy in Uttar Pradesh. Of the required 33 hectares of land, we got 15 hectares where the construction of MMT has begun. However, the new government in Uttar Pradesh has sped up the process and we are expecting to get required land soon.

IWAI officials also proposed states plan for constituting river police. Once the project gets started, security of river transport would be required and the state governments would have to take the responsibility, Verma said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Come May 17, the Cannes Film Festival will roll out its landmark 70th edition on the fantastic French Riviera. This year, the 12-day event will be in a far more celebratory mood that usual with the dashing, debonair and unbelievably young Emmanuel Macron having been elected President of France.

The festival also happens in a year that coincides with seven decades of Indias Independence from centuries of British slavery. However, despite the general-delegate of the festival, Thierry Fremaux, evincing a keen interest in this unusual coincidence during this writers meeting with him at the Dubai International Film Festival last December, Indian cinema is conspicuously absent from the Cannes selections, except for a minor student movie. Also disappointing has been Indias no show in the two important events - Directors Fortnight and Critics Week - which run along with the festival, thought they are outside of and independent of it. What is more, there is no Indian on the festivals juries, though the A Certain Regard list of jurors is not yet complete.

But in what seems like a never-say-die attitude, India is planning big all right. For a starter, the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) will be in charge of the India Pavilion on the beach -- a control the organisation lost some time ago with unhappy consequences for the nation producing the largest number of movies. The pavilion was shabbily run in the years when the NFDC was out.

And the corporation is planning to return with a bang. It has roped in the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Venkaiah Naidu, who will be at Cannes for at least three days meeting the Indian and international press as well as others.

Outside the purview of the government, several Indian film producers, directors and actors would be flying into the Cannes Market - arguably the largest in the world. So what if the festival has not chosen any Indian movie, we would take our works and screen them in the Market - and invite buyers and the media. This appears to be the spirit.

In fact, one of the prime motives of any filmmaker attending Cannes is get his or her work sold, and one of the ways to achieve this is to screen it in the Market - which is almost as effective as having it shown in the festival, in one of its sections like Competition, Outside Competition, Special/Midnight Screenings, A Certain Regard, etc.

Happily, an essentially Tamil movie (also to be made in Hindi and Telugu), Sangamithra, with Jayam Ravi, Arya and Shruti Haasan will be promoted at the Market with the director, C Sundar, also present. One says happily because South Indian cinema has been unusually shy of Cannes, and the few helmers or actors who have been there have largely remained in the shadows of their Bollywood brethren. One is told that the Sangamithra team, including its producer, Murali, and art director, Sabu Cyril, will walk the red carpet in what may be seen as an enormous publicity push. As Jayam Ravi quipped, their Cannes journey would be a challenging one.

Undoubtedly so, for Cannes is a huge, huge circus where making a point or getting oneself noticed is no mean task, and Sangamithra and its players need to be prepared for this daunting experiment.

Another South Indianstar, Amy Jackson - strictly a British model who has made Chennai her home and Tamil cinema her passion (with she even boldly proclaiming that I am a Tamil girl) -- will also be at Cannes. However, she will not be publicising an India film. Rather, it will be an Indo-British project, helmed by Andy Morahan. The two will be screening the trailer of the movie, Boogie Man.

And as already mentioned in these columns, Nandita Das will also be at the festival to give a fillip to her upcoming, Manto. Not quite a biopic, but more a perspective on his radical ideas -- as Das had once told this writer during an interview in Chennai -- the film on Pakistani playwright and essayist Saadat Hasan Manto could not be coming at more appropriate time, when the freedom of every kind is under threat in India. Manto may become a big talking point at Cannes - now that the French feel that by choosing Macron they have been able to regain liberty.

Finally, three award-clinching Marathi movie will also be at the Markets viewing rooms. They will be Dashakriya (Tenth Day) by Sandeep Bhalachandra Patil, Cycle (Prakash Kunte) and Take Care, Good Night (Girish Joshi). These works have been picked by the Maharashtra Government in an attempt to showcase the state and its cinema to a global audience.

So, we are all set to witness what may be termed as a march by Indian cinema into Cannes. Yes, the Market, which -- as some would say -- is where the rokda rules.

(Gautaman Bhaskaran will cover the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival from May 17 to 28.)

Follow @htshowbiz for more

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop
Sri Lanka has started removing wasp nests in the central hill area of Dickoya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit later this week to avoid any possible attack by the insects.

The security units assigned with the provision of security to Prime Minister Modi is coordinating with the Hatton Superintendents of Police office and have obtained the assistance of the organisation for the protection of such insects.

The nests are being currently removed by the Hatton Police Directors Office following orders from police chief Pujith Jayasundera.

Police fear that helicopters carrying the VIPs could disturb multiple wasp nests in large trees in the vicinity.

Lankan authorities have taken measures to prevent any attack by these wasps that are now present in large numbers in the estate sector, official sources said.

Modi will travel to Sri Lanka on May 11 to attend the biggest Buddhist festival, Vesak Day, the next day.

The International Day of Vesak celebrations, to be held in Colombo from May 12 to 14, will include an International Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate.

He will inaugurate a well-equipped hospital in Dickoya built with the Indian assistance. He will later address a public rally at the Norwood grounds.

Both the Lankan leaders -- President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe -- are to accompany the Indian leader to the hill region.
A British man, who was jailed for trying to assassinate Donald Trump, said on Tuesday that screaming voices in his head urged him to lunge for a policemans gun.

Michael Sandford, 21, who has a history of mental health issues, told The Sun newspaper how he feared being shot dead himself after being flattened by officers, six metres (20 feet) away from Trump who was campaigning to become US president.

Sandford, who is back at his family home in Dorking, south of London, after being released last Tuesday, said he decided to take action after feeling angry about Trump.

I was hearing voices telling me to kill Donald Trump, he said.

Theyd been coming on for a while and getting stronger and more frequent. At one point they were screaming at me.

My friends had said Trump needed to be stopped. They said he was going to destroy the country -- but it was the voices in my head which were telling me to kill him.

Then one day I saw he was speaking in Las Vegas and I decided to drive there and do something myself.

The incident happened on June 18 last year as the Republican candidate was campaigning in the Nevada gambling city.

The day before, Sandford -- who was in the United States to be reunited with his US girlfriend and overstayed his visa -- went to a shooting range and practised firing pistols.

Deep down I knew there was something wrong but I tried to convince myself it was OK, he said.

At the rally, when he tried to pull an officers gun from its holster, it got stuck and Sandford was bundled to the ground.

He admitted being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting government functions as part of a plea deal for a shorter sentence.

He was jailed in December for a year and a day. Much of his sentence was spent on remand and he was released early.

Im disgusted by what I did but Im so glad no-one was hurt, he said.

His mother Lynne, who was powerless to stop him leaving Britain, is calling for new laws to help the parents of mentally ill youngsters protect them after they become adults.
Did Donald Trumps contested travel ban deliberately single out Muslims? The US administration fiercely denied it during an appeals court hearing Monday -- despite the presidents campaign call for a blanket Muslim ban.

The hearing came as Trump seeks to bounce back from a series of stinging judicial defeats over his controversial effort to bar travelers from half a dozen mainly Muslim countries.

The question of intention is key since the US Constitution forbids religious discrimination. Trumps detractors say it is beyond doubt that Muslims were the bans intended target, but the administration says it is motivated strictly by national security concerns, an area where US presidents have wide powers.

Trump never intended for that to discriminate on the basis of any particular religion, Jeffrey Wall, the US acting solicitor general, told judges of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond during an intensely argued afternoon hearing.

He made clear he was not talking about Muslims all over the world, said Wall. Thats why its not a Muslim ban.

But a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Omar Jadwat, whose side is supported by several Democratic-led states, argued that Trump the candidate made clear he wanted to ban all Muslims for a time while studying enhanced immigration vetting.

A lower judges ruling dealt Trump a blow by freezing his second attempt to close US borders to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

Given the public importance of the case, the full appeals court in Richmond heard the arguments -- bypassing the usual initial three-judge panel -- for the first time in a quarter-century.

Thirteen of the courts 15 active judges took part. Two recused themselves over potential conflicts of interest, including the conservative J. Harvie Wilkinson, Walls father-in-law.

The court, once considered the most conservative appeals court in the country, now has nine judges named by Democratic presidents including Barack Obama, according to Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.

Outcome unclear

The judges aggressively questioned both Wall and Jadwat, making it unclear which way they might be leaning.

They pressed Wall over whether Trump had acted in bad faith, disguising an order targeting Muslims as one intended to prevent terrorism.

They said Trumps comment, while signing his second order, that you know what I mean by the order was a wink and a nod to let supporters know he was really aiming at Muslims.

Judge Barbara Keenan suggested that Trumps country-based order was bound to be sweeping and indiscriminate. Youre talking about 82 million people arent you? It seems to me there has to be some linkage to show that there is a detrimental interest to the United States posed by 82 million people.

The judges also pressed Jadwat over whether an identical order issued by a president who had not made remarks against Muslims might be acceptable -- and whether a president should not be granted some deference on security matters.

First attempt blocked

The federal court judge in Maryland issued a nationwide block on the bans core provision concerning travel from the short list of countries, saying the order raised the prospect of religious bias against Muslims.

That decision came just after a broader one issued in Hawaii that halted both the travel ban and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee admissions program.

The White House is fighting that ruling in the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco.

The scope of Trumps revamped ban, signed in early March, was reduced from his original January effort, which blocked travelers from seven-majority Muslim countries, including Iraq, as well as all refugees.

The first decree -- which prompted mass protests and sowed chaos at US airports -- was blocked on grounds it violated the ban on religious discrimination, a ruling upheld on appeal.

The modified version removed Iraq from the ban, but ran into the same objections.

Although the travel rule does not explicitly mention Muslims, the Maryland judge, Theodore Chuang, accepted arguments that Trumps history of anti-Muslim rhetoric presented a convincing case that it amounted to the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban.

Trump has vowed to fight the latest flawed ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. The Justice Department has the backing in Richmond of around a dozen Republican-led states

A ruling is expected to take anywhere from one to six months.
Part of the efforts is to move some people from one-story hutong houses in the districts of Xicheng and Dongcheng as a means to avoid further damage to architecture. (Photo : Getty Images)

In its bid to clean its streets of unsafe and unstable buildings, Beijing is demolishing ancient hutong houses. The migrant workers that live in them feel more targeted by the local government, Channel News Asia reported.



Advertisement

Hundreds of hutongs have been demolished since Beijing started its campaign in April last year. Shopfronts in original facades have been torn down. In addition, Beijing has stopped issuing and renewing new commercial licenses.



This has resulted in the massive closing down of tiny local businesses. Other establishments were forced to relocate. Residents, owners and those who frequent these narrow alleyways feel an important part of Beijings identity is being erased.



The most appealing part of Beijing is about to disappear, Titi, who runs a clothing store in Fangjia hutong, told Channel News Asia.



Beijing has given residents and shop owners five to 15 days to sort out unapproved constructions before mandatory demolition.



However, others bemoan that the allotted time given by the local government is not enough to relocate their businesses or fully stop operations.



I am not against government policy, but you (the authorities) have to give us some time to take care of our business, one business owner said.



Its not the first time Beijings hutongs have been targeted by the local government as part of a clean-up drive. These historic buildings, which have flourished since the late 1980s, have already suffered a beating when the capital destroyed over a thousand properties in hutongs prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.



Other hutongs, instead of being demolished, were gentrified, much to the dismay of locals and admirers alike.



The new clean-up drive is aimed at illegal constructions. Sadly, these buildings form a majority in all of Beijings existing hutongs. More importantly, these hutong properties are leased out to migrant workers.



There is no single high-rise building that was not built by migrant workers, An, a construction worker and migrant, told Channel News Asia. Now the city doesnt need us to do more buildings, so we are being kicked out.


Former acting attorney general Sally Yates told Congress on Monday she bluntly warned the Trump White House in January that new National Security Adviser Michael Flynn essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with Moscows ambassador in Washington.

The testimony from Yates, an Obama administration holdover fired soon after for other reasons, marked her first public comments about the concerns she raised and filled in basic details about the chain of events that led to Flynns ouster in February.

Her testimony, coupled with the revelation hours earlier that President Barack Obama himself had warned Donald Trump against hiring Flynn shortly after the November election, made clear that alarms about Flynn had reached the highest levels of the US government months before. Flynn had been an adviser to Trump and an outspoken supporter of his presidential candidacy in the 2016 campaign.

Yates, appearing before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the election, described discussions with Don McGahn, the Trump White House counsel, in which she warned that Flynn apparently had misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador.

White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, had insisted that Flynn had not discussed US-imposed sanctions with Kislyak during the presidential transition period. But they asked Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had lied about the nature of the calls.

We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was unknowingly making false statements to the public and because we believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians, Yates said.

To state the obvious, she added later, you dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.

She said she was briefing the Trump White House so that they could take the action that they deemed appropriate and that she believed the Russians already had the same information.

Yates questioning by a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election was just one portion of a politically charged day that began with combative tweets from Trump and continued with disclosures from Obama administration officials about a private Oval Office conversation between Obama and his successor.

Republican senators in the hearing repeatedly pressed Yates on an unrelated matter  her refusal to defend the Trump administrations travel ban  and whether she was responsible for leaking classified information. She said she was not.

Trump shouldered into the conversation in the morning, tweeting that it was the Obama administration, not he, that had given Lt. Gen. Flynn the highest security clearance when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn had been fired from his high position by the Obama administration in 2014.

Yates filled in new details of the events of Jan. 26, describing contacting McGahn in the morning and telling him she had something sensitive to discuss in person. Later that day, at the White House, she told him there was an alarming discrepancy between how Trump officials, including Pence, were characterizing Flynns contacts with Kislyak and what intelligence officials knew to be true based on recordings theyd reviewed.

The pair spoke several times over the next two days, with McGahn asking Yates how Flynn had fared during an interview with the FBI earlier that week  she did not answer  and why it was the concern of the Justice Department if White House officials had misled each other.

Flynns forced resignation followed media reports that he had discussed US-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak, which was contrary to the public representations of the Trump White House.

Yates herself, a longtime federal prosecutor, was fired by Trump on Jan. 30 after refusing to defend his travel ban. James Clapper, director of national intelligence under Obama, also testified Monday. He retired when Trump took office.

Separately Monday, former Obama officials said he had raised general concerns about Flynn with Trump and had told the incoming president there were better people for the national security post.

Trumps press secretary Sean Spicer said in response that if Obama was seriously concerned about Flynns connections to Russia or other foreign countries, he should have withheld Flynns security clearance. Flynn served under Obama as defense intelligence chief before Obama dismissed him.

Trump repeatedly has said he has no ties to Russia and isnt aware of any involvement by his aides in any Russian interference in the election. Hes dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaigns possible ties to the election meddling as a hoax driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House.

After the hearing Monday, Trump tweeted: The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?

The Associated Press reported last week that one sign taken as a warning by Obama officials about Flynns contacts with Kislyak was a request by a member of Trumps own transition team made to national security officials in the Obama White House for the classified CIA profile of Kislyak.

The AP interviewed multiple former US officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive national security information.

Yates warning about Flynn capped weeks of concern among top Obama officials, former officials told the AP. Obama himself told one of his closest advisers that the FBI, which by then had been investigating Trump associates possible ties to Russia for about six months, seemed particularly focused on Flynn.

Yates, a longtime federal prosecutor and Obama administration holdover, had been scheduled to appear weeks ago before the House intelligence committee, but that hearing was canceled.

The subcommittee meeting Monday is one of multiple congressional probes into the Russia interference, along with House and Senate intelligence panels. All the committees are led by Republicans.
The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party plans to highlight the role of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden, the party's spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said the PTI will file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking implementation of the verdict in Air Marshal (retired) Asghar Khan cases regarding the rigging of the 1990 election and that it would also approach the court against Sharif for allegedly taking money from the al-Qaeda chief in the name of jihad.

PTI claims the money allegedly taken from bin Laden was used in 1989 to conspire against then premier Benazir Bhuttos government.

Chaudhry said he would file a petition in the Supreme Court this week seeking admission of the case against Sharif for taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan.

The PTI possesses no evidence to substantiate its case in court, except for some interviews and excerpts from a book titled Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman, he said. The book was written by Shamama Khalid, wife of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operative Khalid Khawaja, who was murdered by the Taliban in North Waziristan in 2010.

The book claims Sharif took Rs 1.5 billion from bin Laden to promote jihad in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan. The book further claims Rs 270 million was used to support a no-confidence motion against Benazir Bhutto in 1989.

In 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak  a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau  submitted a written statement in the Supreme Court in a case related to the misappropriation of secret funds during 1989.

In his nine-page statement, Khattak said the main forces behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto were president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and army chief Mirza Aslam Baig.

Last week, the PTI announced it would open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding the implementation of the 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case. The court had determined that Sharif and other politicians received money from an intelligence agency before the 1990 general election to form an alliance against Bhuttos Pakistan Peoples Party.
Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, a Catholic priest abducted from an old peoples home in Yemen by the Islamic State last year, has made an emotional appeal to the Indian government to step up efforts for his release in a video posted by a Yemeni news website.

The video, lasting less than two minutes, shows a frail-looking Uzhunnalil with a long white beard. A small piece of cardboard on his lap shows the numerals 15-4-2017, suggesting the video was shot on April 15.

Uzhunnalil, 58, complains that the response to his abductors demands from the Indian government and the Bishop of Abu Dhabi has been very, very poor and not encouraging. He does not name his abductors though officials have acknowledged in the past that he was kidnapped by the Islamic State.

They (the kidnappers) are treating me well to the extent that they are able. My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible, he says, speaking slowly in English.

Watch | Latest video featuring Father Thomas Uzhunnalil

Uzhunnalil suggests the abductors have contacted the Indian government several times and that he has seen the response from the authorities. It is a poor response and Im sad about that, he says in the video carried by Aden Time website.

He also says he has received a message from his family, whom he asks to do what you can to get him freed. Please, please do what you can to get me released, he adds.

Uzhunnalil was abducted in March 2016 when four gunmen posing as relatives of one of the residents at the old peoples home in the port city of Aden burst inside and gunned down 16 people, including an Indian nun, eight elderly residents and a guard.

In the past too, Uzhunnalil has expressed his unhappiness at efforts to free him from captivity.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had called the attack an act of terrorism.

Uzhunnalil belongs to Ramapuram village in Keralas Kottayam district. The Indian government has said in the past that it was in regular touch with Yemeni authorities and Saudi Arabia regarding the safe release of Uzhunnalil.

Adens minority Christian community have largely fled what used to be a cosmopolitan seaport before it became a conflict zone.

During an all-out civil war in March 2015, Iran-aligned Houthis advanced on Aden, forcing government forces to flee. A Saudi-led Arab coalition has since helped local fighters expel the Houthis, but security in Aden has not been fully restored.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Malaviya Seven, a platform supply vessel owned by the Mumbai-based GOL Offshore and detained off the port city of Aberdeen, Scotland, faces the prospect of being sold to recover dues of its 36-member Indian crew amounting to over $650,000.

The vessel operating under the India flag has been arrested by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and detained by the United Kingdoms Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Many of its crew members have been on board the vessel for over a year, facing financial difficulties.

Earlier this year, the Theresa May government enforced the provisions of the Modern Slavery Act to allow law enforcement officers to board and search vessels, seize evidence and arrest offenders where it is suspected that modern slavery is taking place.

Detained since October 5, 2016, Malaviya Seven failed MCA's port state control inspection on five counts: calculation and payment of wages (no records), seafarers employment agreement (invalid), wages (missing), fire pumps and pipes (not as required), and fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions (not as required).

An ITF spokesman told HT: The arrest warrant was served on the company in India last month. The legal process allows the company 42 days to respond to the court with their intentions regarding the arrest of the vessel, and we then request a hearing and apply for the sale.

Twelve Indian nationals are left on board the vessel; some have been on board over 12 months and all crew on board are part of the arrest, plus 24 off-signed crew listed in the arrest writ. In total 36 seafarers are owed wages going back to Jan 16 in excess of $650,000.

ITF inspector Liam Wilson, assisting the crew, said: Weve been helping these men since the beginning, particularly with their basic needs such as food and water, while working to recover the money that is due to them.

Some crew members attended Easter Vigil Mass last month in St Peters Church in Aberdeen.

Wilson added: We have reached a point where the only way that these men are going to get home with the money they are due is to help them arrest the ship, and we have now taken that move. We anticipate thatthe ship will be sold and what is owed to them recovered from the sale price.

ITF UK and Ireland coordinator Ken Fleming said: To say that workers are owed USD 666,938.03 is in itself a scandal. The owners and the Indian flag state should hang their head in shame. Equally all those that could have brought the situation to an end months ago should reflect on their inactivity.

Established in 1983, the Mumbai-based GOL Offshore describes itself as Indias prominent integrated offshore oilfield services provider offering a broad spectrum of services to upstream oil and gas producers to carry out offshore exploration and production (E&P) activities.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
At least 9,900 of Iraqs Yazidis were killed or kidnapped in just days in an Islamic State attack in 2014, according to the first study to document the number of Yazidis affected which could be used as evidence in any trial for genocide.

About 3,100 Yazidis were killed - with more than half shot, beheaded or burned alive - and about 6,800 kidnapped to become sex slaves or fighters, according to the report published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine on Tuesday.

In August 2014, Islamic State militants launched an assault on the Yazidi religious communitys heartland in Sinjar, northern Iraq, home to around 400,000 Yazidis.

Until now, there has not been clarity on the numbers of Yazidis killed and captured by ISIS during the attack on Mount Sinjar, said lead researcher Valeria Cetorelli, a demographer from John Hopkins University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

What we wanted to do, in anticipation of a possible trial, is provide the best estimates that we can get of the people affected, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Thousands of captured men were killed in what a United Nations commission called a genocide against the Yazidis, a religious sect whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. Islamic State considers them devil-worshippers.

Legal experts have said gathering evidence of the attacks is crucial since members of the Islamist militant group, also known as ISIL or ISIS, could go on trial for genocide in the future.

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney last June said she aimed to prosecute the Islamist group through the International Criminal Court for their crimes against the Yazidi community.

U.N. investigators estimate more than 5,000 Yazidis have been rounded up and slaughtered and some 7,000 women and girls forced into sex slavery.

Cetorelli said she spent three months in 2015 interviewing a random sample of 1,300 surviving Yazidi families in Iraqi camps, and found at least 2.5 percent of the minority group were killed or enslaved.

Our findings are really consistent with other evidence, for example, what is being found in mass graves or accounts from survivors, people who managed to escape captivity, Cetorelli said.

So all this together can really help support a formal genocide investigation by either the International Criminal Court or another appointed judicial authority.

Iraqi forces are now fighting to retake the city of Mosul, the militants last major stronghold in Iraq, where many Yazidis were held.
Jakartas Christian governor was jailed for two years on Tuesday after being found guilty of committing blasphemy, capping a saga seen as a test of religious tolerance in the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Islamic hardliners outside the Jakarta court cheered and shouted God is greatest! as news came through that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was to be sent to prison, a shock decision after prosecutors recommended only two years probation.

Purnama was hauled into court last year to face trial for allegedly insulting Islam while campaigning for re-election, in a case critics said was politically motivated.

The trial came after a series of major protests against the leader, known by his nickname Ahok, in the capital that drew hundreds of thousands onto the streets.

His once unassailable opinion poll lead shrank amid the controversy and he lost the race to lead Jakarta last month to a Muslim challenger, a result that fuelled fears of Indonesias moderate brand of Islam coming under threat from increasingly influential radicals.

The five-judge panel at the Jakarta court found Purnama guilty of blasphemy and jailed him for two years.

Announcing the verdict, presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarto said Purnama was convincingly guilty of committing blasphemy and is sentenced to two years in prison and ordered him to be detained.

Another judge, Abdul Rosyad, said reasons for the stiff sentence included that the defendant didnt feel guilt, the defendants act has caused anxiety and hurt Muslims.

Purnama said he would appeal. Blasphemy carries a maximum jail term of five years in Indonesia.

The controversy began in September when Purnama, known for his outspoken style, offended Muslims after he quoted a passage from the Quran during his re-election campaign.

He insinuated that his opponents had used a Quranic verse to trick people into voting against him.

An edited version of his speech went viral online, sparking outrage.

Before the blasphemy controversy erupted, Purnama enjoyed a large lead in opinion polls due to his determination to clean up traffic-clogged, polluted Jakarta.

The trial started in December and dragged on for months, with both the prosecution and defence calling more than 40 witnesses. Purnamas team have accused the prosecution of calling biased witnesses, saying that many were not even present when the alleged blasphemy took place.

Critics want the countrys blasphemy laws overhauled. The legislation was rarely used during the 32-year rule of strongman Suharto, but in recent years it has been exploited to persecute minorities, rights groups say.
More than two-fifths of American voters oppose the new Republican legislation aimed at repealing and replacing Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a new poll has revealed.

A total of 44% oppose the new legislation called the American Health Care Act (AHCA), while 31% favour the Republican plan, The Hill magazine quoted the HuffPost/YouGov poll released on Monday.

A quarter of those polled were unsure.

The survey results come after the House last week narrowly passed the AHCA, which aims to repeal and replace key provisions of Obamacare.

Support for the new bill is split along party lines, with 69% of Republicans supporting the plan while 70% Democrats opposed it.

Around 11% of Republicans oppose the legislation, with 20% who said they were not sure if they favoured or opposed it. Among Democrats, 13% favour the bill and 17% were unsure.

The survey was conducted on May 6, polling 1,000 adults online.

While Republicans have touted the bills passage through the House as a win, Democrats have vowed to ramp up their efforts against vulnerable lawmakers in the 2018 midterms, reports The Hill magazine.

The Senate is currently conducting a working review of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell over the weekend said he does not expect help from Democrats as the upper chamber tries to pass its own version of the legislation.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by Pakistans Supreme Court to probe graft allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family in the Panama Papers case began its work on Tuesday with an informal meeting in Islamabad.

The apex court last week approved the six-member team comprising one representative each from the State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Accountability Bureau, Federal Investigation Agency, Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence.

The teams head, FIA additional director general Wajid Zia, was briefed about security protocols of the Federal Judicial Academy, which has been declared the JITs official secretariat. The first formal meeting of the JIT is expected over the next few days.

According to an FIA official, the JITs head also wrote a letter to the FIA director general, asking him to nominate five officers with expertise in probing white collar crime.

The ISI representative, Brig Nauman Saeed, was part of the team which probed the Dawn Leaks and the Pathankot attack. The JIT will submit progress reports every fortnight to the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court formed to oversee the implementation of the Panama Papers verdict.

Meanwhile, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said on Monday that the inquiry into the assets of the Sharif family should not be held behind closed doors. "We will not accept in-camera proceedings of the JIT," party spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry told the media.
South Koreans went to the polls Tuesday to choose a new president after Park Geun-Hye was ousted and indicted for corruption, and against a backdrop of high tensions with the nuclear-armed North.

Voters have been galvanised by anger over the sprawling bribery and abuse-of-power scandal that brought down Park, which catalysed frustrations over jobs and slowing growth.

Left-leaning Moon Jae-In, a former human rights lawyer, has held a commanding lead in opinion polls for months, with the final Gallup Korea survey before a week-long pre-election blackout giving him 38 percent support, followed by former tech mogul Ahn Cheol-Soo on 20 percent.

I feel the peoples strong will to change the government... We can make it a reality only when we vote, Moon said after casting his ballot with his wife at a polling station in western Seoul.

Factfile on the main candidates for the South Korean presidential election. (AFP)

Hong Joon-Pyo, of Parks Liberty Korea party, who languished in third place in the 13-strong field on 16 percent, urged voters to support him, branding Moon as a pro-Pyongyang leftist.

Chung Tae-Wan, a 72-year-old doctor, cast his ballot at a polling station in the prosperous Seocho district of the capital. I voted for Hong, as security (against North Korea) is the most important thing, he told AFP.

Kim Kyung-Min, 24, said she cast her ballot in advance last week. I was so disappointed in Park and the establishment, she told AFP, but refused to say whom she voted for.

More than 139,000 voting stations opened at 6 am local time (2100 GMT) across the country under overcast skies, with turnout expected to hit a record high.

Exit poll results will be available immediately after voting closes at 8 p.m. (11:00 GMT).

The campaign has focused largely on the economy, with North Korea less prominent, but after a decade of conservative rule a Moon victory could mean a sea change in Seouls approach towards both Pyongyang and key ally Washington.

The 64-year-old -- who is accused of being soft on the North by his critics -- has advocated dialogue to defuse tensions and to bring it to negotiations, and is seen to favour more independence in relations with the US, Seouls security guarantor with 28,500 troops in the country.

Seoul needs to take the lead on matters in the Korean peninsula and South Koreans should not take the back seat, he said in a recent media interview.

South Korean presidential candidate Moon Jae-In (C) of the Democratic Party greets his supporters during his election campaign in Seoul on May 8, 2017. (AFP Photo)

The North has carried out two nuclear tests and a series of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.

Washington has said military action was an option, sending fears of conflict spiralling.

More recently US President Donald Trump has softened his message, saying he would be honoured to meet the Norths leader, Kim Jong-Un.

Moon has also said he would be willing to visit Pyongyang to meet Kim and advocated resumption of some of the inter-Korea projects shuttered by his predecessors, including the Kaesong joint industrial zone.

- Myriad challenges -

But for many South Korean voters, corruption, slowing growth, unemployment, and even air pollution from China top the list of concerns.

South Koreas rapid growth from the 1970s to 1990s pulled a war-ravaged nation out of poverty but slowed as the economy matured, and unemployment among under-30s is now at a record 10 percent.

Frustration over widening inequality in wealth and opportunities fuelled anger over Parks scandal, which exposed the cosy and corrupt ties between regulators and powerful family-oriented conglomerates, known as chaebols, that have endured for decades.

Park is awaiting trial over corruption for offering governmental favours to top businessmen -- including Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong -- who bribed her secret confidante, Choi Soon-Sil.

Moon, Ahn and other candidates have both promised to reform the chaebols, which dominate the economy and have long been criticised for operating with little scrutiny from investors or regulators.

Another issue is relations with Beijing, which imposed a series of measures seen as economic retaliation over the deployment of a US anti-missile system, THAAD, in the South.

China is South Koreas top trading partner -- and also a major source of pollution.

In an editorial a day ahead of the vote, the JoongAng daily said the Souths next leader would have to steer the country against a myriad of immediate and long-term challenges.

If we make the wrong judgment, we again will have to pay the price, as we have learned from our previous bad choices.
The first federal appeals court to hear a challenge to President Donald Trumps revised travel ban appeared unconvinced that it should ignore the Republicans repeated promises on the campaign trail to bar Muslims from entering the country.

An attorney for the president urged the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to focus on the text of the religiously neutral executive order rather than use campaign statements to infer that the policy was driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.

But that idea was challenged by several members of the 13-judge panel, which is examining a ruling that blocks the administration from temporarily barring new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Is there anything other than willful blindness that would prevent us from getting behind those statements? asked Judge Henry Floyd, who was appointed to the court by President Barack Obama.

The 4th Circuit ruling is crucial for Trump, whose travel ban is expected to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The 4th Circuit is the first appeals court to examine the revised travel ban, which Trumps administration rewrote in an attempt to thwart legal challenges. Its unclear when the judges will issue their written decision.

Trumps attorneys likely see the moderate court as friendlier territory than the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which conservatives have long attacked for being too liberal. The 9th Circuit is scheduled to hear another challenge to the revised travel ban next week.

The 4th Circuit is historically quite conservative and quite pro-government, so for the Trump administration to lose before the full 4th Circuit I think would be quite a body blow for the second version of the executive order, said Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas law school.

A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the revised travel ban in March cited Trumps comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of Trumps promised Muslim ban.

The administration argues that the court shouldnt question the presidents national security decisions based on campaign statements. The countries were chosen because they present terrorism risks and the ban applies to everyone in those countries regardless of religion, it says.

This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesnt have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesnt have anything to do with religion, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told the court.

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that Trumps call for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S. remained on his campaign website even after he took office. That call, which was still online earlier Monday, appeared to have been taken down by the afternoon hearing.

Jadwat said the administration has failed to provide a legitimate national security reason for the policy.

The order is completely unprecedented in our nations history, Jadwat said.

Judge Paul Niemeyer repeatedly challenged Jadwats arguments, questioning the wisdom in opening the door to using a presidents past to evaluate the constitutionality of a policy.

Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to business men 20 years ago? asked Niemeyer, who was tapped by President George H. W. Bush.

The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours.

After a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit refused in February to let the travel ban take effect, the administration tweaked the order and issued a new one.

The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesnt apply to those who already have valid visas. It removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries.

But critics said that although the new executive order affects fewer people, it remains a realization of Trumps promised Muslim ban and cannot stand.

Even if the Trump administration wins in the 4th Circuit, the travel ban will remain on hold unless it also overturns a federal judges decision in Hawaii.

Vladeck said the Supreme Court may be more willing to hear the case if theres a split among the appeals courts.

But Richard Primus, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Michigan law school, said he thinks the Supreme Court will ultimately hear the case no matter what the appeals courts decide.

A case this big, a case this salient, is one that some of the justices are not going to want to pass up, he said.
Face-to-face: Tourists gather near the bust of a young Mao Zedong and his wind-blown hair in Orange Isle in Changsha, Hunan Province. The isle loses its 5A tourist attraction rating this month. (Photo : YouTube)

In a city where traces of Mao Zedong are everywhere, a new landmark symbolizing Christianity in China is being built, dominating the citys skyline, an article by the New York Times reported.



Advertisement

Changsha in Hunan Province is where Mao, the hero of the Peoples Republic, spent his youth and started to fuel his radical notions. A massive monument to Mao was built on Tangerine Island.



This granite head was once the most prominent landmark in Changsha, but the new Xingsha Church on a suburban park in the city has wrestled the title away from the monument. Maos granite sculpture only stands at 105 feet. The Xingsha Church rises 260 feet tall.



The construction of the church has drawn the ire of Maos most fervent supporters across China, especially since Mao made Christianity a sign of foreign imperialism.



Going for Christianity in a big way damages our nations ideological security, Zhao Danyang, from the website Red Morality Think Thank, wrote back in February.



In response to the criticism, the local government of Changsha has posted guards at the Xingsha Ecological Park, where the massive church is located. Critical articles and news reports were mysteriously deleted. Calls directed to the headquarters of the Protestant association were ignored.



Changsha locals, however, have little to say about the construction of the 260 feet tall church.



Much has changed with the city.



Five major faiths exist in the city and are managed by patriotic associations. Furthermore, an anonymous Protestant cleric at Xingsha told the New York Times that there are approximately 100,000 Protestant members in Changsha.



For resident and author Han Shaogong, who wrote A Dictionary of Maqiao, its characteristic of Changsha to contradict itself. In this case, its Mao heritage and its openness toward other religions.



In Hunan, contradictions are not contradictions. Theyre normal, Han told the New York Times. Life here is a bit like Chinese food. Throw lots of different things into a wok and stir them around.



Its unclear what will happen to the Xingsha Church. According to some, a compromise has been reached to appease critics and Changsha Christians at the same time.


A US Congressional delegation on Tuesday met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama here on Tuesday and reaffirmed their commitment to the cause of Tibetan people and to address the issue of Tibet through the mutually beneficial policy.

The eight-member delegation, led by House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, reached here on Tuesday on a two-day visit.

Our delegation visits @DalaiLama in his spirit of faith & peace coming to be inspired & demonstrate our commitment to the Tibetan people, tweeted the Democrat lawmaker.

Besides Pelosi, the delegation includes Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal.

Pelosi, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and last visited Dharamsala in 2008 to express solidarity for the Tibetan people in the aftermath of unrest in Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Congresswoman Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

The delegation met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in a private audience at his residence here.

They also met Central Tibetan Administration (CAT) President and Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay. The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country.

The CTA is honoured to welcome the second visit by a high-level bipartisan delegation of the US Congress led by leader Nancy Pelosi to Dharamsala after nine years, Sangay said.

Other day engagements of the delegation include meeting with Tibetan women leaders and visit to Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.

The CTA is organising a public felicitation in honour of the Congressional delegations visit. The Dalai Lama will grace the public felicitation on Wednesday at the Tsuglakhang temple, located close to the spiritual leaders palace.

A day earlier the delegation visited a Tibetan settlement in Kathmandu.

It was an honor to observe the 70th anniversary of US-Nepal relations as we met with President (Bidya Devi) Bhandari in Kathmandu this week, Pelosi said in another tweet.

The Dalai Lama lives in exile along with some 140,000 Tibetans, over 100,000 of them in India.
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or more than a year, Major Geoffrey Keyes had craved action. He wanted to prove himselfas a soldier and as a son worthy of his illustrious father, Roger Keyes, a First World War hero and one of the greatest sailors of his generation.

Young Geoffrey was slight of build, sensitive, and unsuited to war in many respects. Still, in June 1940, he had volunteered for combat and now, 12 months on, he was about to get a taste of it. But as he and his 140-strong landing party waded through the surf onto the sand along the western coast of Syria, there was a problem: they were at the wrong beach. They should have come ashore north of the Litani Riverfrom where they would assault barracks held by Vichy French forcesbut they had landed to the south.

Keyes took the error in stride. He informed his men and ordered them to drop their heavy haversacks. He would lead them north, ford the Litani, and attack as planned.

The commandos struck out toward the river, passing through a company of Australian infantrymen who had come ashore nearby. The Australians had seven collapsible canvas boats, but warned Keyes that enemy forces on the other side of the river had repeatedly prevented them from crossing. Keyes took the boats and pushed on toward the 40-yard ribbon of water. Suddenly, a flare burst in the dark sky. Then all hell broke loose.

THE JOURNEY THAT LED the commandos to a Syrian beach began one year earlier, when British prime minister Winston Churchill instructed his chiefs of staff to raise a special service unit of irregular troops to strike at the Germans. By fall 1940, more than 2,000 men had volunteered and were organized into a dozen commando units. Keyes was posted to No. 11 (Scottish) Commando.

Commanding officer Colonel Dick Pedder quickly molded the volunteers in Keyess unit into a well-drilled troop that considered itself a match for any enemy force. At the end of January 1941, the unit sailed for the Middle East, where Vichy French forcesallied with their German conquerershad allowed the Luftwaffe the use of Vichy airfields in Syria to launch attacks on the British. But for several months, the men of No.11 Commando endured a frustrating series of aborted raids and cancelled operations.

When they received a rush order on June 3 to embark from their Cyprus base, the commandos were skeptical they would see action. In fact, their first real test lay aheadan opportunity to demonstrate that a battalion-size force of elite troops could fulfill Churchills demand for a vigorous, enterprising and ceaseless offensive against the enemy.

The commandos first sailed to Egypts Port Said, where Colonel Pedder set off for Jerusalem to confer with General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, commanding officer of British forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan (then a British Protectorate, now Jordan). To square off against a Vichy army of 35,000 men, General Wilson had at his disposal the 7th Australian Infantry Division, part of the 1st Cavalry Division, a brigade of Indian soldiers, a small number of Free French soldiers, and No. 11 Commando.

Pedders men were to land on Syrias western coast near the Litani Rivera green fast stream bearing rich banana groves on its banks, in the words of Australian war correspondent Alan Moorehead. The commandos would eliminate enemy resistance and seize a bridge to enable the 21st Australian Infantry Brigade to advance toward Beirut. The river, however, was much more than a streamup to 40 yards wide near its mouthand Wilson cautioned that the bridge had probably been demolished. Scarce intelligence suggested that two Vichy battalions were holding fortified positions facing south.

Pedder split his force into three small troops for the operation. Geoffrey Keyes would lead X Troop, which would land just north of Litani River and conduct the main push to Qasmiye Bridge. Pedder would command Y Troop and provide support, while the smaller Z Troop would land two miles north of the river, near the Kafr Badda Bridge, to block enemy reinforcements.

For the eager commandos, it was new territoryand disarmingly picturesque. As BBC correspondent Richard Dimbleby wrote, the coastal front in Syria was attractive to look at. There was the warm Mediterranean, incredibly blue, breaking gently on the rocks and inviting you to leap in and swim. There were little beaches and fresh green ground lying behind them, and in the background there were the hills flanking the coastal plain. It was good to look at. It was hell to fight in.

ON THE WARM AND STILL MORNING of June 9, the commandos troopship arrived off the Syrian coast. At 3 a.m., their 11 assault craft approached the beachesand the plan quickly went haywire. Pedders Y Troop was the first to come ashore, and it immediately came under heavy machine-gun, rifle, and mortar fire from 300 yards to the south. We crawled off the beach and advanced along a dried river bed, recalled Regimental Sergeant Major Lewis Tevendale. Nearby, Lieutenant Gerald Bryan, a laconic 20-year-old Ulsterman who had volunteered for the commandos from the Royal Engineers, tried to untie the lifebelt attached to his rifle as he advanced along a ditch. The ditch soon narrowed and he had to climb out into the open. The ground was flat with no cover, Bryan remembered. The machine guns were now firing fairly continuously.

As Y Troop continued to move inland, Bryan paused to survey a map with one of his corporals. Suddenly, there was a crack. The corporal fell forward, shot through the eye by a sniper. Vichy French soldiers opened fire from only 20 yards away. After scrambling for cover, the commandos shouted to one another that an enemy 75mm gun emplacement was up ahead; its crew was firing at them from slit trenches. Bryan barked orders and led his commandos in a low crawl toward the enemy position. When they were within range, they hurled grenades and charged, killing the French soldiers. It was rather bloody, Bryan remembered dryly.

One of his men, Sergeant Tommy Worrall, was an artilleryman by training and quickly familiarized himself with the French artillery gun. We seized one of their 75s in the battery, he recalled, and with it blew two of the three remaining cannon from the face of creation at a distance of 20 yards. Worrall then disabled the firing pin of the gun with a rifle butt and dashed across open ground to join the others at Colonel Pedders position.

Pedder explained that Keyess X Troop had come ashore several miles south of their intended location and was behind schedule. So he ordered Bryan to provide fire support while he led Y Troops headquarters section toward the enemy barracks and high ground east of a banana plantation known as Aiteniye Farm that comprised several rudimentary buildings encircled by barbed wire entanglements.

We took up what positions we could but there wasnt much cover, Bryan said. French forces quickly spotted his men and engaged them with heavy small-arms fire. The whole time bullets spat past my head and sounded very close, he recalled. Bryans luck held, but a sniper shot a fellow officer, Lieutenant Alistair Coode, in the chest. Coode went down, coughing blood.

Further inland, Pedder led his men forward, Sergeant Major Tevendale at his side. They moved along a deep gully north of the barracks. There, Tevendale recalled, they captured several prisoners, who were guarding large quantities of explosives and ammunition stored in two separate quarries.

Pedder left a detachment of men to guard the prisoners and headed northeast, only to come under fire from machine guns and snipers concealed in the trees to their front. It was hell, a commando recalled. French machine guns and snipers were there by the score. Deliberately, they permitted us to advance, and then when we went down on our knees or otherwise sought cover from their machine guns, the snipers perched in trees behind us had a go. Pedder decided to withdraw south to try and link up with X Troop, but enemy fire intensified.

It was then, Tevendale recalled, that a bullet grazed Pedders helmet; he turned around to joke with us, regarding his good luck, when more bullets struck Pedder in the head and back. He died instantly.

Relentless enemy fire forced Bryans men to fall back. He ordered them to sprint to scrub about a hundred yards distant. All the time bullets were fizzing past much too close for comfort and we kept very low, Bryan recalled. Sergeant Worrall, who had already been wounded, decided to run for it, to catch us up, but a machine gun got him and he fell with his face covered with blood.

Then Bryan felt a jackhammer pain in his legs. He dragged himself into a hollow and surveyed the damage. There was a gaping wound in my right leg just above the foot, he remembered. He fumbled in his pocket for a morphine pill, swallowed it, and tried to stop the bleeding. The section stayed pinned down for the next two hours, after which enemy fire suddenly increased and 25 Vichy soldiers advanced out of the scrub, bristling with bayonets. They captured Bryan and his men.

With all the headquarters sections officers struck down, Tevendale led the men to high ground. They took positions along the road connecting the Vichy barracks to the river, firing on enemy forces who were pulling back from heavy Australian shelling. But, Y troop could not keep the enemy at bay; by late afternoon, Vichy forces had captured Tevendale and his men.

FURTHER NORTH, Captain George More led Z Troop ashore like a malevolent breeze off the sea, moving inland over the main coastal road toward the high ground east of the Kafr Badda Bridge. They encountered four trucks of Vichy French soldiers, some trying to unload two Hotchkiss heavy machine guns. The commandos killed the enemy soldiers and destroyed the trucks.

Then Lieutenant Tommy Macpherson, a 20-year-old Scot and an accomplished sportsman, led his section toward the bridge, about three-quarters of a mile away. Given the flat, open terrain, the commandos had no choice but to make a frontal assault.

The Lebanese-French troops they faced were well dug-in and had at least two machine guns and mortars, but were, Macpherson recalled, of somewhat unenthusiastic quality. When the enemy saw the commandos charge and heard their Gaelic yells, they abandoned their positions on an otherwise fiercely fought morning, leaving behind their wounded and heavy weapons.

After losing Kafr Badda Bridge, Vichy forces counterattacked at noon with eight light armored vehicles. After neither side gained an advantage, six more Vichy armored cars arrived by 4 p.m. At the prospect of facing 10 armored vehicles, the commandos on the bridge fell back toward the beach. There, they linked up with the rest of Z Troop and Captain More, who ordered them to withdraw south and cross the Litani. He split Z Troop into two parties: one set off for high ground to the east and successfully crossed the river; the other descended toward the beach, where enemy forces quickly pinned them down with heavy machine-gun fire. Unable to move, the commando party was forced to surrender.

To the south, Geoffrey Keyes and X Troop were still sheltered in hastily dug slit trenches, as enemy fire75mm guns, 81mm mortars, and heavy machine gunsswept the 200 yards of open ground that lay between them and the southern bank of the Litani River. Keyes surveyed the ground and radioed for artillery support to suppress the Vichy forces. As the Australians dropped a heavy barrage on the Litanis opposite bank, Keyes sent seven commandos across the river in a collapsible boat. They slithered into thick scrub and began throwing grenades toward the enemy positions. By midday, Keyes sent seven more men across, and the 14 commandos on the north bank convinced 35 Vichy soldiers to surrender. They secured a 25mm antitank gun and several heavy machine guns. They also had the presence of mind to grab some rations of French bread.

After Keyes forded the river, the commandos ate their first meal of the day and discussed what to do about the last Vichy artillery piece in the areaa 75mm gun that, although 1,000 yards away, continued to shell the Litanis south bank. The gun was well hidden and Australian artillery had been unable to knock it out. With information from their new prisoners, the commandos turned the newly captured 25mm antitank gun around so it was pointed north. They fired three shells to range the enemys 75mm gun and, with a fourth shot, destroyed it.

By evening, X Troop took up defensive positions in a well-fortified machine gun emplacement while the Australian brigade pushed on toward Aiteniye Farm. Unknown to Keyes and the Australians, Aiteniye contained 24 recently captured commandos from George Mores Z troop. The Australians attacked at around 9 p.m. and, after an hour-long engagement, drove off the Vichy forces and freed the commandos.

Unaware of the Australians success, Keyes rose early the next morning, determined to lead a crushing assault on Aiteniye. But as he surveyed the objective, he was stunned to see Captain More walking toward himwith a senior French officer holding a white flag. The Vichy French had decided to surrender rather than risk annihilation.

As the Australians accepted the French surrender, the three troops of No. 11 Commando linked up and could finally rest. Keyes received an awful shock to learn that Colonel Pedder was one of five commando officers killed, with 123 casualties. But Keyes also learned of his commandos courage and acts of bravery during their baptism of fire: a medic had crawled through enemy fire to aid a wounded comrade before being killed himself, two sergeants repeatedly went into enemy-held woods to hunt for snipers, and a Y Troop officer captured 80 Frenchmen.

By midday, the 21st Australian Brigade crossed the Litani River to begin advancing toward Damascus, where the Vichy French, with Luftwaffe support, continued to put up stiff resistance. The Syrian capital fell on June 21, and the Allies continued north to Lebanon. On July 10, Vichy commander General Henri Dentz asked for an armistice; it went into effect four days later.

ALTHOUGH NO. 11 COMMANDO achieved its objectives during the battle, the operation had been rife with setbacks. British leaders reassessing how best to utilize their units of special troops soon decided to disband the commando units in the Middle East; they found too few well-trained troops willing to fill their depleted ranks. The aggressive, thrill-seeking personalities sought action elsewhere. Some returned to their parent units, others volunteered for the Long Range Desert Group, and several dozen volunteered for a new unit that came to be known as the Special Air Service (SAS).

In November 1941, former commando David Stirling parachuted into Libya with 55 SAS menmany originally from No. 11 Commando. Stirling sought to prove that small teams of elite soldiers, using the advantage of surprise, could exact greater damage on the enemy than an entire battalion. Over the next 18 months, they raided Axis airfields in the desert, destroying at least 325 enemy aircraft and killing hundreds of enemy soldiers.

On the same day that Stirling launched his operation, Geoffrey Keyes led an audacious mission to assassinate German general Erwin Rommel at his headquarters in Libya. But their intelligence was faulty, and Keyes perished during the failed raid.

This story was originally published in the May/June 2017 issue of World War II magazine. Subscribe here.
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n the morning of September 3, 1940, Pilot Officer Richard Hillary climbed into his Supermarine Spitfire and took off with his squadron, ascending to 12,000 feet. The Luftwaffe had brought the war to British soil two months earlier, and the Australian-born Hillary was a proud, 21-year-old Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilotone of Churchills Few, defending Britain from German bombers. Squinting through the bright sunlight, he briefly admired the morning clouds that spread out below the formation like layers of whipped cream. Moments later, dozens of German Messerschmitt 109s engaged the squadron. Hillary shot one down but another simulta-neously attacked him; his cockpit burst into flames. Struggling, he managed to force open his canopy to bail out, but the heat and pain was too muchhe blacked out.

At around 10,000 feet, Hillarys limp body slipped out of the inverted aircraft. He regained consciousness to find himself spiraling in midair, falling toward the North Sea. With his body shaking and air roaring in his ears, Hillary managed to pull the ripcord and open his parachute. After he landed in the water, his navy-issue life jacket kept him afloat. Instinctively, he lifted his wrist to check the time; his watch was gone. Then Hillary noticed his hands. The skin was dead white and hung in shreds, he later recalled. The smell of his own burnt fleshgrotesquely reminiscent of charred pork, some airmen have saidcurdled his stomach. Helplessly, he bobbed up and down on the ocean, his teeth chattering from hypothermia. He shouted for help but none came. When he looked at his hands again, he realized he could no longer see themhe had gone blind. Considering the end was imminent, Hillary fumbled to unfasten his life jacket and hasten his demise; he had heard that drowning was a peaceful death. But the parachute straps wrapped around his limbs kept him afloat. Three hours later, a lifeboat plucked him from the sea.

In the previous world war, such injuries were rare. Early pilots flew without parachutes and rarely survived crashes. For the few who did emerge alive from wrecks, a lack of antibiotics meant their wounds would likely turn fatal. Up until World War II, aviation technology rapidly advanced, but flying remained a dangerous task. The RAFs early frontline fightersthe Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricanesuffered from a critical weakness: a fuel tank placed directly in front of the pilot. In the event of a crash, or if bullets or shrapnel pierced the tank, the pilot would take the full brunt of the explosion. Of the 4,500 RAF airmen rescued from their crashed planes, 3,600 of them sustained serious burns to their hands or face. Of these, 200 were so badly burned that they lost most or all of their facial features and became known as the faceless ones. These pilots now faced a new and even greater challengeliving with faces so disfigured that they were barely able to convey love, laughter, sadness, or even pain.

When Britains boys in blue, on average just 20 years old, signed up in the wake of Hitlers rapid advance across Europe, they envisioned tailored jackets, white silk scarves, and plenty of female attention. They did not expect to one day look in the mirror and see

a raw, melted, scabbed, and badly swollen facesometimes three times its normal sizepeering back at them.

In 1939, Britain was home to just four full-time plastic surgeons, who spent most of their time reconstructing cleft palates and treating car-crash injuries. One of them, a New Zealander named Archibald McIndoe, had been appointed plastic surgery consultant to the Royal Air Force in 1938. Within two years, his skill at treating burns and reconstructing faces was so renowned that the RAF gave him his own facilityWard III at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex. There, he received the most drastically burned and maimed airmen, many wounded during the Battle of Britain.

Set about 50 yards away from the main hospital building, Ward III was a long hut with 20 beds on each side. In each bed lay a young man with severely disfiguring injuries: one missing a jaw and mouth lay next to another whose raw, red eyelids were in the process of being reconstructed. Bones protruded from what was left of arms and faces. Some men had charred stumps in place of hands. Others lacked noses; many had bandaged arms attached to their chests.

Although McIndoe was immensely busytypically performing at least four surgeries per dayhe spent time with each of his new patients, inquiring about how they were injured, what protective gear they had been wearing, and how long they floated in the water before being rescued. From behind his horn-rimmed glasses, McIndoe projected a calm air of confidence and practicality. Tom Gleave, who destroyed five German planes in one day before being shot down in August 1940, recalled how McIndoes clear, candid gazegave one immediate strength. You had an instinctive feeling that this man was not going to fool you.

For each of the 720 burned airmen treated at East Grinstead during the war200 of them severely disfiguredMcIndoe designed a personalized reconstruction plan. On average, each patient underwent 10-50 operations over the course of three years. During these prolonged periods of treatment, McIndoe insisted that special care also be given to the airmens state of mind. He would inform each patient about which surgeries were required, what they would accomplish, and the phases of recovery. This created, he said, a degree of trust and confidencebetween surgeon and patient that was absolutely essential for a successful outcome.

In addition to caring for his young patients psychological health, McIndoe also had to tackle physical complications that arose from previous treatment the airmen may have received in the field or at emergency hospitals. Throughout much of the war, burned servicemen had been treated with outdated coagulation therapy. This involved covering burned areas with a formula made from tannic acid that hardened, creating a thick black crust that theoretically allowed the burned skin to heal. McIndoe realized that coagulation therapy was not only painful, but destroyed potential skin graft sites and led to gangrene. Worse, when tannic acid was applied to the eye area, it could permanently damage eyelids, leaving them unable to close or, in severe cases, cause blindness.

At McIndoes suggestion, the RAF adopted a new protocol for treating burns. The injury was to be kept clean, dry, and loosely covered in Vaseline-soaked gauze so it would not stick to wounds. McIndoe also realized that saline baths helped the healing process after he noticed that patients who had floated in the ocean prior to rescue recovered from burns better than those who had crashed on land. He installed a saline bath in his burn ward and patients used it regularly to keep their skin clean and supple. Finally, McIndoe and his team worked with the latest techniques of plastic surgery. Through careful handiwork, he created new eyelids, lips, cheeks, noses, necks, foreheads, eyebrows, and ears.

During the reconstruction period, some of these new features were nourished by pediclestrunk-like flaps of grafted skin that were then anchored to blood supply flowing from elsewhere in the body. Although McIndoe was recognized for pioneering the use of pedicle tubes, he never forgot how patients might feel waking up to find what looked like an elephant trunk sprouting from their nose or cheeks. McIndoe realized a bandaged and swollen patient might understandably feel that the immediate results are often more horrifying than the original condition.

WHILE MCINDOES INNOVATIONS in burn treatment and surgical techniques earned him international recognition in the medical community, the community he created for the burned airmen proved equally important to his legacy. Ward III showed signs of the mens indomitable spirit. Distributed about the room were a radio, a piano, and an ever-full keg of beer, from which the wards members were encouraged to help themselves; McIndoe reasoned that any liquids would aid in the recovery of their dehydrated bodies. The patients talked and argued amongst each other, swearing prodigiously and even telling jokes. When McIndoe told Paul Hart, one of the faceless men, that it would be understandable if he occasionally groaned from pain, Hart quipped, that would never do! Youve got to keep a stiff upper lip in this ward even if you havent got one. On another occasion, while joking around with a squadron leader, Hart told him: Id punch you in the noseif I didnt think it was going to fall off anyway. His superior retorted: Id clout you back, if you had a face to hit and I had a hand to hit you with!

McIndoe also encouraged Ward IIIs occupants to socialize with members of the East Grinstead community. He led excursions to local pubs, parties, and dances. Ladies visiting from East Grinstead brought flowers and decorations to brighten the mens spirits. Townspeople welcomed the patients into their homes for tea or beer, but many of the airmen refused these invitations until they were outfitted with zipperedrather than buttonedtrousers: much easier to manage with their wounded hands when the inevitable restroom visit called.

On occasion, even their return to the ward could be chaotic. Nurse Mary Rea recounted her first night at Ward III, when one patient arrived home after a night of drinking and tripped while making his way back to his bed. He landed bottom-first in a bucket of Lysol. Rea promptly introduced herself to the airman, stripped him of his trousers, turned him over, and began to treat his new burnswhich, fortunately, were only first degree.

ON SUNDAY, JULY 9, 1941, after a particularly hard night of drinking, the men of Ward III decided to honor their exploits by incorporating themselves into an official grogging society. With the table in front of them crowded with glasses of beer and sherry, they named themselves the Guinea Pig Club. After all, their faces and bodies were the sites of McIndoes experimental plastic surgeries. One of the members wives drew up a club logoa guinea pig with wings. They printed membership cards, created a dues schedule (two shillings annually), and decided membership would be limited to three groups: the patients of the ward, the East Grinstead medical staff, and the auxiliaries who made up the Royal Society for the Prevention for Cruelty to Guinea Pigs, meaning those friends and benefactors whomake the life of the Guinea Pig a happy one.

Tom Gleave, the senior-most ward patient, would serve as Chief Guinea Pig. Peter Weeks was named treasurer, since his badly burned legs were in casts and he was therefore incapable of running away with the club funds. The members then invited McIndoe to serve as honorary leader of the club. Dear Boss, read the note they sent him. Will you be our President?

The membership dues helped other Guinea Pigs by covering medical costs or assisting with unemployment. In later years, the Guinea Pigs made substantial contributions to the RAF Benevolent Fund that had long helped individual members in need. They helped each other find employment when they could. They even published a magazine, The Guinea Pig, which included cartoons and line drawings by Henry Standen, who completed them despite burns to his hands. The Club also hosted holiday dinners, enjoying plum pudding, roasted potatoes, and turkeywhich McIndoe himself carved while wearing surgical scrubson Christmas 1944.

Each year, they mounted a Lost Weekenda reunion for former Guinea Pigs who had finished their course of surgery. And, of course, they drank. At a 1949 reunion dinner, 225 former Guinea Pigs put away no fewer than 3,000 bottles of beer, 125 bottles of whiskey, and 72 bottles of sherry. During their revelry, they sang their own theme song:

We are McIndoes Army

We are his Guinea Pigs

With dermatomes and pedicles

Glass eyes, false teeth, and wigs

And when we get our discharge

Well shout with all our might

Per ardua ad astra,

Wed rather drink than fight!

The Clubs rowdy antics exemplified how McIndoe wanted his ward to function. He knew that fighter pilots were, by nature, aggressive, alpha-male types who did not respond well to the rules and restrictions that governed most hospital wards. McIndoe explained that though their bodies may be brokentheir youthful spirits are still with them. The surgeon therefore tolerated the boys will be boys behavior common among 20-year-olds, much of it in the form of pranks and romantic overtures directed at the nursing staff. To the nurses who complained, McIndoe said: these men have put up with a hell of a lot, and so you can put up with just a little nonsense.

As a civilian doctor, McIndoe was unafraid to challenge service rules he felt were unsuited to the Guinea Pigs. He did away with hierarchical military rank in his ward; officers and enlisted pilots equally shared facilities. Though patients at military hospitals were normally required to wear hospital blues, McIndoe successfully lobbied for the Guinea Pigs right to wear their RAF uniforms whenever they chose. The RAF Uniform, he wrote to air staff chief Sir Charles Portal in 1944, is the accepted reason for [the Guinea Pigs] disfigurement, and to continue wearing it for as long as possible saves the injured man from considerable embarrassment and awkward explanations.

McIndoes most meaningful challenge to the RAF was his questioning of the infamous 90-day rule, which stipulated that if an injured serviceman was unable to return to duty within three months, he would be declared an invalid and given a modest pension based on the severity of his injuries. Such an arrangement not only discouraged the young pilots who dreamed of returning to active duty, but also meant that once discharged, many would be unable to cover the costs of their continued treatment and surgery. McIndoe declared that even though the Guinea Pigs needed repair, they were not permanently disabled. Along with East Grinstead anesthesiologist Russell Davies, he campaigned to have the rule overlooked for his patients. He and Davies also saw to it that the Guinea Pigs who were unable to return to service were pensioned out at an average of 100 percent of their former pay.

MCINDOES GREATEST SUCCESSES often came after the Guinea Pigs left his care; by wars end, 80 percent were sufficiently rehabilitated to return to military service in some capacity. Godfrey Edmonds, his first wartime patient, successfully underwent 20 operations to reconstruct his burned face. He later returned to flying and even trained paratroopers. Geoffrey Page and Richard Hillary were especially keen to get back in the air, with Page secretly strengthening his injured fingers by squeezing a rubber bouncy ball that he hid under his bedcovers. The two begged McIndoe to clear them for duty, but he was reluctantthey had done enough to serve their country. After several weeks of nagging, McIndoe finally gave in. If youre determined to kill yourselves, go ahead, he told them, signing their medical certificates. Only dont blame me.

Page was assigned to noncombat flying duties, with the possibility of returning to active combat in the future. Hillary, whose vision had not yet been fully restored, was initially excluded from flying. In 1942, he again sought certification and was awarded night flying duty. Knowing Hillarys vision was still recovering, McIndoe wrote privately to RAF medical officials, suggesting if you could with discretion restrain [Hillary] from further flying, it might save him from a very serious accident. He received no response. On January 8, 1943, Hillary crashed inexplicably just after takeoff and was killed. He left behind one of the most widely read firsthand accounts of British airmen in the war, The Last Enemy.

Despite the sad end to Richard Hillarys story, many of McIndoes boys found success after their injuries. Several married the young women who had been their nurses at Sussex. Some became commercial airline pilots, others worked in factories. Permanently blinded despite 46 operations on his face and 18 on his corneas, Jimmy Wright was unable to continue his prewar work as a cameraman and opened a production studio; in 1981, he received an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Inspired by McIndoes service to the airmen, Bertram Owen-Smith became a successful plastic surgeon. Colin Hodgkinson, who lost both his legs in a training accident, was fitted with two metal prostheses and went on to have a successful career as a fighter pilot, even surviving a second crash in 1943. Tom Gleave returned to the RAF in nonflying duties, serving until 1953. Geoffrey Pages exercises with the rubber ball eventually paid off, and by 1942 he returned to full-time flying duty, vowing to shoot down at least one German plane for each of the 15 operations he had undergone during his recovery. While landing at Antwerp, German shells struck Pages aircraft and he crash-landed. He was pulled from the wreckage and soon found himself back in East Grinsteads Ward III. I felt I was almost indeed returning home, he would later say. Page eventually married, had three children, and lived a full life until his death in 2000.

Archibald McIndoe maintained lifelong friendships with some of the Guinea Pigs. He managed a successful private practice in plastic surgery and continued to operate on club members who needed assistance after the war. The governments of France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Netherlands decorated McIndoe for his wartime service, and he was knighted in 1947. In 1958, McIndoe was invited to address Englands Royal College of Surgeons regarding his work with burn victims. He celebrated the advances in the field of reconstructive surgery, praising modern medicines ability to create order out of chaos and make a face which does not excite pity or horror. By doing so we can restore a lost soul to normal living. Two years later, at age 59, McIndoe died in his sleep.

His beloved Ward III has since transformed into a medical research center specializing in plastic surgery and wound healing. Thanks to the painstaking efforts of McIndoe and his staff, the support and appreciation of the British public both during and after the war, and the gregariousness of the men themselves, the story of the Guinea Pig Club is one of heroes turned victims who became heroes yet again.

This story was originally published in the May/June 2017 issue of World War II magazine. Subscribe here.
General Roswell Ripley couldnt get along with anyone.

Not even Robert E. Lee.

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or nearly four years Roswell Sabine Ripley wore the wreath and three stars of a Confederate general officer, despite being an unmistakable Yankee by any definition. He hardly fit the image of the gallant Southern officer nobly defending the Lost Cause, even expressing distaste for Robert E. Lee, which put him in limited company among Confederate general officers. After the war, he earned an even more unusual credential: the only former Rebel general tapped by the Chinese to serve in the Far East.

Depending on how one counts temporary promotions, and including those from the ranks of the irregular Trans-Mississippi Theater, nearly 450 men became Confederate generals. Most were native to the South, and steeped in its culture. The story behind the name of Brig. Gen. States Rights Gist, for instance, thoroughly resonates with Confederate origins.

Four hundred of these generals were born and lived most of their lives south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Nine had been born abroad. Only 34 were natives of Northern states, all of whom had emigrated to the South by 1861. The majority of these transplanted Yankees married Southern women, including the Confederate Armys highest-ranking general, Samuel Cooper (b. New York); Vicksburgs luckless defender, John C. Pemberton (b. Pennsylvania); and the Confederacys last commissary general of prisoners, Daniel Ruggles (b. Massachusetts).

Because R.S. Ripley was born in Ohio on March 14, 1823, some references call him an Ohioan. His family, however, moved to Massachusetts when he was only four, then quickly on to Ogdensburg, N.Y. His Yankee ancestry included a grandmother with an engagingly antique name: Submit Murdock Huntington.

[quote style=boxed float=left]Ripley never finished lower than 7th in any of his four years at West Point.[/quote]

Ripley performed well at the U.S. Military Academy, with strong grades and good standing in deportment. He graduated in 1843, having never finished lower than 7th in any of his four years at West Point, and never having accumulated more than 55 demerits (the demerit limit was 200). Nevertheless, in apropos foreshadowing, Ripley was reportedly very unpopular with his fellow cadets.

Every West Point student before the war rubbed shoulders with youngsters later destined for Civil War prominence. Ripleys class included William B. Franklin, William S. Rosecrans and Ulysses Grant. Among contemporaries of other classes were future Confederate standouts Thomas J. Jackson, Richard Ewell, James Longstreet, A.P. Hill, George Pickett, Lafayette McLaws, and Dabney Maury.

In a letter to his mother while a cadet in 1842, Ripley wrote about a temperance drive in progress: There is such a thing as running that, as well as drinking, into the ground. Given the alcohol excesses he experienced later in life, his youthful reaction at the time is fascinating.

As was typical in that eras U.S. Army, promotion came slowly. Ripley attained his first lieutenancy only in March 1847, under the exigencies of the Mexican War, which expanded the Army exponentially. Before the war, he had served at Fort McHenry, Md.; Fort Johnston, N.C.; Augusta Arsenal, Ga.; and as a professor of mathematics at West Point. Students subjected to his rule at the U.S. Military Academy found little to like about him.

Lieutenant Ripley performed well in Mexico, first with Zachary Taylors column in the north, and later on Gideon Pillows staff. He earned brevets for the 1847 battles of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec. Then in 1849, he made a major splash by writing an excellent, though entirely unofficial, history of the conflict. The War With Mexico filled two thick volumes, taking up nearly 1,200 pages. Ripley took leave to produce the history, and daringlyamazinglyincluded criticisms of the Armys commanding general, Winfield Scott, who appears to have simply ignored them.

Ripleys history of the war remains important, since many of the principals would become famous. An artillery lieutenant named Jackson, fighting on the causeway approaches to Mexico City, would become legendary as Stonewall, for example, but in Ripleys narrative appears without even any identifying initials.

From Mexico, Ripley went to fight Seminoles in Florida, to Fort McHenry again, and to Fort Monroe, Va. His last prewar posting took him to Charleston, S.C., and led directly to his Confederate service. He met a wealthy society widow, Alicia Middleton, who had inherited her deceased husbands wealth. Now a major, Ripley married Alicia and her money in December 1852. Three months later he resigned his commission. For most of the interval that followed until the onset of the Civil War, he operated an armaments business in England. It was a venture for which he unquestionably had an inside track, as his uncle, James W. Ripley, was the U.S. Armys chief of ordnance.

Ripley became a major of ordnance in state service as soon as South Carolina seceded in December 1860. He commanded Fort Moultrie; then Fort Sumter as a lieutenant colonel after its surrender to the Confederacy in April 1861. His diligence in fortifying Charleston Harbor set the foundation for that citys long and sturdy resistance to invasion.

Most Civil War generals, on both sides, grumbled ceaselessly about rank. Consider, for example, Joseph E. Johnstons incessant howling about every imaginable aspect of rank and privilege. Ripleys grumpiness on that topic led him to the point of resignation, loyalty and patriotism aside. In a July 1861 letter to a local official, Ripley listed the opportunities he had rejected. Yet, as Confederate Treasurer C.C. Memminger wrote sagely, Ripley himself has been the only obstacle in his own way. This selfish posturing continued for the entire war, and Ripley threatened to resign at least five times. Some of his weary superiors surely must have come to view the threats as tantalizing promises.

Ripleys command encompassed much of South Carolina during the summer of 1861. He behaved so fractiously, however, that by October Adjutant & Inspector General Samuel Cooper wanted to get rid of him; Jefferson Davis granted a temporary reprieve. John C. Pembertonhimself widely dislikedcashiered Ripley in 1862. By then Ripley also was starkly at odds with P.G.T. Beauregard. Given their dubious credentials, hostility from those two might reflect credibly on Ripley; but in fact the anti-Ripley sentiment was about universal. A South Carolina captain wrote bluntly that Ripley was not competent to hold an important command.

Lee, then still relatively unknown, arrived in the winter of 1861-62 to superintend the defense of South Carolinas coast. He found much to admire in Ripleys endeavors regarding engineering and ordnance.

Predictably, Ripley loathed the emerging Confederate leader. Typically, Lee accepted him cheerfully despite the scorn. Governor Francis Pickens warned Jefferson Davis about Ripleys unbalanced rants: I fear [his] feelingtowards General Lee may do injury to the public service. His habit is to say extreme things even before junior officers, and this is well calculated to do great injury to General Lee. Pickens considered Lees endeavors in his state perfect.

When Ripley assumed command of a brigade in the Old Dominion, the Army of Northern Virginia had not yet moved beyond early shakedown status. Ripleys stint in the evolving army did not last long.

Ripleys Brigade included the 4th and 44th Georgia Infantry and the 1st and 3rd North Carolina. The Georgians soon would join the renowned Doles-Cook Brigade, and the Carolinians wound up commanded by Raleigh Colston, then George H. Maryland Steuart.

The men called their general Old Rip, but they quickly learned to loathe their commander. In June 1862, Captain Jordan of the 44th wrote to his wife about General Ripleywho is a big fat whiskey drinking loving man.

Ripleys short career in Lees armybarely three monthsincluded two high-profile battlefield episodes. Both developed into dreadful failures. He fought at Mechanicsville, Va., in June. The whole division missed Second Manassas in August 1862. His second memorable day, again bad, came at the Battle of Antietam that September.

The Mechanicsville horror spread far wider than Ripleys aegis, but his obvious confusion contributed to the disaster. Richmond historian Clifford Dowdey turned a deft phrase in describing the generals behavior: If Ripley had ever understood that his movement was [intended] to turn the enemys flank, either he forgot it, or the effect of leading troops in combat constricted the play of his faculties.

Captain Reese of Georgia defended Ripley after Mechanicsville. Reese blamed D.H. Hill, and called Ripley a man of discretionalthough blustering and rough in his manner. The degree of discretion would become much mooted, then and later.

Dissatisfaction in the brigade generated widespread and public criticism. A colonel declared: it was a common subject of conversation, among officers and men, that Ripley was not under infantry fire during the week. Some of his staff expressed similar disgust.

Near the East Woods at Antietam, in the pasture southeast of the soon-to-be-famous Miller Cornfield, Ripleys men fought hard, suffered much, and decided their brigadier let them down.

Colonel William Lord DeRosset of the 3rd North Carolina, a reliable witness, called Ripley an unworthy commander, and went beyond the usual bounds of vituperation to wish that the general had been killed: Pity he had not then received a death wound; to Ripley be all the blame and shame; Ripley had been wounded, unfortunately for his reputation, not fatally.

Ripleys immediate superior, D.H. Hill, wrote with unrestrained disgust: Ripley was a born cowarda coward or a traitorin bad odor. Hills notoriously pungent style might cause modern students to hesitate about accepting his judgments, but in fact the contemporary chorus echoed far and wide.

[quote style=boxed float=left]James Ripleys stubborness in not supplying Hiram Berdans elite Sharphooters with Sharps rifles almost caused a mutiny.[/quote]

A staffer from Charleston, whose parents liked Ripley, wrote home unequivocally just after Antietam: Many blame Ripley entirelyand not only his generalship but his personal bravery is doubted. I am wrong in sayingis doubted, for there seems here to be but one opinion on this.

A captain described the general at Antietam unsympathetically: Low of stature, broad of girth, excitable by natureGalloped down and in an excited manner gave an order to the regiment in person, ignoring the regimental colonel.

Twelve days after the battle, from a refuge in Richmonds Spotswood Hotel, Ripley wrote, begging to get away from the army, where it was obvious to him that Lee would never accomplish anything.The misanthropic general apparently recognized that he had irretrievably fouled his nest in Virginia.

Beauregard and Governor Pickens accepted Ripley back in South Carolina, but he immediately became immersed in yet more virulent quarrels with superiors and subordinates. In June 1863, Beauregard tried to peddle Ripley to Joe Johnston, admitting that he is not satisfied with my system and rule[but] could be of much use to you. Beauregards attempt at what today might be called addition by subtraction failed.

One of Ripleys soldiers, Alfred Mulligan, wrote with relief in August 1863, Genl. Ripley has been supersededhere. This is a good thing. It ought to have been done long ago.

In 1864, Ripley went to trial on formal charges of drunkenness while on duty at Fort Sumter. Witnesses testified to the fact (from my own personal knowledge), citing multiple instances. Fragments of the trial record survive, and contemporary accounts give some details, but the official transcript apparently burned at wars end. Among traits witnesses ascribed to Ripley were a looseness of morals and rollicking habits.

Late in the war, Ripley also came under criticism for war profiteering in speculation and blockade running, making lots of money.

Surprisingly, despite the steadily querulous official record, people outside Ripleys control often liked him, in part because he was a great raconteur. The strong-drink question, seen by those out of authority, did not matter. British observer Lt. Col. Arthur J.L. Fremantle said of Ripley: Jovialvery fond of the good things of life.

A Virginian who met Ripley in Charleston loved his antibureaucracy posture. The general, he admitted, was a queer characterportly in personpompous presenceyet [on getting to know him] easy and unassuming in manner.

A characteristic letter from Ripley to authorities in Richmond early in 1865 demanded that he not be assigned anywhere under Beauregard. The final note in his service record, dated February 14, nevertheless ordered precisely thatreport to Beauregard. In late March, during the three-day Battle of Bentonville, the disgruntled Ripley reached the armyby then under Johnstons command. On April 26, Johnston surrendered at Durham Station, N.C., 17 days after Lee capitulated at Appomattox, Va.

In the wake of defeat, Ripley again spent much time in Europe, in variousbusiness affairs. The French army, imagining an impending war with Prussia, gave Ripley a fat contract to produce rifles. The project failed utterly, by one account because the U.S. government somehow managed to confiscate the machinery on the basis of Ripleys Confederate service.

[quote style=boxed float=left]Ripley was a born coward. A traitorin bad odor.[/quote]

Writing under a nom de plume, Ripley contributed an extensive review in 1874 to Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine of the Comte de Paris multi-volume History of the Civil War in America. Ripleys thesis, cogent and fluid, dismissed the Frenchmanwho had served for a year in the Union Army on McClellans staffas an intruder in a strangers quarrel, with which hehad no concern. Why did he write it? Ripley concluded that he should not have.

Three years later Ripley wrote for Blackwoods again: the Situation in Americaonce more in smart, literate prose.

An unusual episode involved Ripley with a Chinese military commission. In January 1875, Confederate naval veteran Hunter Davidson wrote from London: Gen. Ripley spent much of the day & dined with me yesterday. He says that he has just been appointed to the command of the northern defense of China & leaves shortly with his staff for his destination.

Ripley had not left for the Orient by June. A Colt Arms representative in London reported that General Ripley has been nominated chief of the Chinese defense. The generals appointment was not yet certain, Ripley had told him, but he expects a decision [soon][and] would proceed to China via America. While in the United States, Ripley planned to buy weapons from Colt and also procure a Gatling gun.

The China arrangement evidently never came about. Ripley left Europe beset with debt and returned to Charleston, but lived mostly in New York, by now entirely estranged from wife and family (daughter, step-daughter, sister, mother). Charleston street directories show the Ripleys living apart. His habitual behavior in every walk of life makes that result less than surprising.

As a historian has written in apt summary: Wayward and mercurial to the last, he could never bring himself to any permanent attachment to an activity or a location.

Ripley died in New York on March 19, 1887, just past his 64th birthday. His widow did not attend his funeral.

In contemplating Ripleys historical stature, consider this: Is there any other four-year Confederate general and department commander on whom not even a biographical pamphlet exists? A slim funerary tribute by a staff officer constitutes the entire historical shelf on R.S. Ripley. On T.W. Brevard, a brigadier for the wars last few weeks, or Zebulon York, brigadier late in the war and in a subordinate role, the historiographical gap is explicable. Ripley may deserve his low profile, but the neglect is strange.

Searching for compartments into which to wedge Ripley brings to mind the Chinese flirtation, and his unflinching surliness. Here is another: Ripley surely must be the only Confederate general buried near a sign that says something like Beware of Alligators on the Paths. The sign stands in Charlestons Magnolia Cemetery, near a large and lovely (and saurian-infested) lake.

Roswell S. Ripleys life was beset by other, more serious, hazards than scaly boots-in-the-rough. He ran afoul of troubles with women, booze, and scornful colleagues in daunting numbers, and left behind a record that might be characterized as Mixed at Best, but Colorful Always.

Robert K. Krick, chief historian at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park for more than 30 years, has written extensively on the Civil War. He is the author of The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the Confederacy.
The idea that a cruise ship is just a hotel on water is a seriously misguided thought. Anyone who has been on a cruise before knows it's not just a place to sleep  it's an experience. That's why 88 percent of young cruisers said they would go on another after their first time at sea, according to one UK poll.

So, what is it exactly that the cruise industry has to offer the hotel industry, in terms of ways that the latter can improve? These massive vessels offer guests so much more than room and board  and it's the little extras that can teach the rest of the hospitality industry a thing or two. Want to know how to draw the best facets of a cruise and use them to improve your hotel? Here are four ways to do it.

Connecting with Clients

You certainly connect with clients who pass through the front doors of the hotel, check them in and help them with any queries along the way. Depending on the level of the hotel, concierge might provide them with help booking activities, making food reservations, etc.

On a cruise ship, though, the staff is a big part of the experience. Customers bond and connect with the people who clean their rooms, serve them meals and lead activities on the pool deck. It might be difficult to forge as strong of a bond in a traditional hotel, but there are easy ways to warm up: things as simple as making eye contact and smiling can make a serious impression on check-in that makes guests feel they can come back to you for help and, voila, impression made.

Making Experiences Happen

Another thing cruises pull off extremely well is the ease with which guests can book excursions and activities. Some larger resorts make this possible, too, but perhaps smaller accommodations can take away some planning tips from cruises.

Cruises make it easy for guests to find things to do. Most bookings come with a full slate of activities that guests can book along with a spot on the ship. But, once on board, cruises continue to connect guests with fun excursions and activities through, for example, their televisions. Yes, some TVs allow cruise ship guests to book things to do each day  it's as easy as that.

Not every hotel destination will have the need for such services or suggestions. But, if your hotel is in a place where people come for sightseeing, or relaxation, or other forms of tourism, it's up to you to give them things to do while in town.

Outfitting Spaces with Luxe Amenities

A budget hotel is, well, a budget hotel. Those who book a basic lodging know exactly what they're going to get. But even a budget cruise ship has its charms. Whether it's a handful of pools, or nightly social events, or all-you-can-eat food options, there is always some big draw to a low-cost oceanic getaway.

Then, of course, you have luxury cruise lines and those amenities are incredible. Smaller cruise ship lines like Windstar do it well  and are handsomely rewarded with awards and accolades for their bespoke services. Luxury hotel chains, especially those from recognizable brands, have to have that same standard or else they will lose their credibility.

Improving Overall Value

In a similar vein, those who book cruises often do so because it's an all-in-one deal. They don't have to worry about extra costs once they're on board, and they know they won't want for anything.

On the other hand, hotels are just one piece of the vacation puzzle. People know that, once they arrive at the hotel, they have to pay for everything else: food, transportation, activities, etc. It's unlikely that every accommodation can become an all-inclusive overnight. But throwing in a free continental breakfast for guests or providing a free airport shuttle, for example, can make the experience a lot less expensive and stressful for those who book.

Now, Put It into Practice

Perhaps not all of these tips apply to your hotel. But there's certainly something to be said about the cruise ship experience in comparison to a hotel stay. And that very thought of an experience is what everyone in the hospitality industry should be aiming for, whether they work on a cruise ship or in a hotel. Guests should remember the experience and want to repeat it in the future  that's what cruises teach us.
It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore).

Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net.

Go back to home
Taiwan Tech Companies' Revenues Decreased (Photo : Getty Images)

Even though Taiwan is slowly pivoting toward Southeast Asia and the United States, it is still keen to maintain friendly relations with China, its neighbor, Bloomberg reported.



Advertisement

Industries in China and Taiwan complement each other, according to Taiwanese premier Lin Chuan, who has sworn into office about a year ago.



In his first interview with foreign media, Lin said that Taiwan should not push China away.



As it is a huge market over there in mainland China, it behooves Taiwan to maintain friendly, smooth economic relations, Lin said on May 5 at his Taipei office. In doing that, theres no downside for Taiwan.



So far as trade and the division of labor are concerned, the cross-strait economic relationship isnt something that should be avoided.



Just recently, Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen proposed a new model for cross-straits relations with structural cooperation as a main ingredient. The proposal was a product of the criticisms directed toward Ma Ying-jeou, Tsais predecessor, and his apparent inclination to lean on China for trade.



Another part of the proposal is to boost trade links with other countries, which may draw the ire of China. As a consequence, relations between Taiwan and China might suffer yet again.



Tensions between the neighbors have been high since Tsai Ing-wen was elected as president of Taiwan. Her political party, the Democratic Progressive Party, also unseated the Kuomintang last year. In addition, Tsai rejected the One-China framework and now moves to strengthen the islands military capabilities to assist its pivot to trade with Southeast Asia and the United States.



In order to truly establish a trade industry independent from China, Lin said that free-trade deals must be secured.



We will adopt low-key and pragmatic measures to establish better economic relations with other countries, said Lin, who has a background in finance and statistics.


Giving back to those close to you is an amazing feeling.

Its even more amazing when youre Russ and his dad. Earlier this month, the New Jersey emcee released his much-anticipated album Theres Really a Wolf, a collection of tracks that has been met with considerable praise. With all his recent success, Russ decided not to make it rain in the club, but rather to give back to his dear old dad.

A video on Russs Twitter account shows the 24-year-old gifting his father a brand-new BMW, which understandably got the elder of the two emotional. The first words out of his dads mouth once he was seated in the drivers seat: Hows the sound system? A pretty perfect response to a pretty perfect present from your son the rapper.

Check out the video below.

Russ
It's happening in October...

It's a marriage made in FM rock heaven. There will be no static at all on October 28 when Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers join forces on the North Wall.

Tickets priced from 78.50 - 128.50 go on sale on May 12, but wont be hanging around for long.

Its a rare trans-Atlantic foray for Donald Fagen and Walter Becker who are promising a from Cant Buy A Thrill tp Everything Must Go greatest hits set.

There will no shortage of massive tunes from the Doobies either with Long Train Runnin, China Grove, Listen To The Music and Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) all present and close harmony correct on their current Japanese tour.

A little bit of trivia; Donald Fagan is a big fan of Limerick author Kevin Barry.

Hes been passing my book around and bought tickets for the reading Im doing in a few weeks time in New York," Kev told us in 2015 whilst on the Beetlebone promo trail. "It makes all the fucking hard work worth it!
Large-scale solar power has grown rapidly over the past six years as falling solar panel prices, tax incentives and government policies aimed at boosting renewable energy encourage the development of major solar projects.

The installed capacity of so-called utility-scale projects - greater than one megawatt, or enough to power 200 homes on a hot Texas day - has increased an average of more than 70 percent a year between 2010 and 2016 to about 21,500 megawatts, with about half of that capacity coming online in the last two years.
Charlie Neibergall/STF

DES MOINES, Iowa - United Airlines hasn't explained why a giant rabbit died after being flown from London to Chicago or why it had the animal cremated within hours of his death, a lawyer for the rabbit's buyers said Monday, announcing possible legal action.

Des Moines lawyer Guy Cook, representing an Iowa group that bought the continental giant rabbit named Simon, said his clients want details about Simon's death and an explanation of why he was cremated before a post-mortem examination could be conducted.
Gasoline prices have tumbled for nearly three straight weeks in Houston at a time when they usually rise, as stockpiles remain high, crude prices stay low and fuel demand weakens.

Average pump prices in both Greater Houston and across the country fell about 4 cents a gallon over the past week, an unusually large dive for the spring, when prices usually begin their climb in advance of the peak summer driving season that traditionally begins Memorial Day weekend. Local prices averaged $2.21 cents a gallon Sunday, down from about $2.25 a week earlier; nationally, the average price fell to $2.34 a gallon, down from $2.38, according to GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks gas prices and refining activity.

"This is not a trend that we usually see in the spring," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. "It's usually a drop here, a drop there, and most of the other time it's gas prices going up."

Lowers gas prices are hanging around in part because of the glut of oil that became gasoline as refiners churned through large volumes of cheap crude and produced more gasoline than the market could absorb. In addition, the price of crude, the main component of gasoline, has sunk in recent weeks, falling below $45 a barrel, before recovering modestly. Oil settled in New York Monday at $46.43, up 21 cents.

But perhaps the most worrisome trend for refiners is sliding demand. U.S. consumption, compared to 2016, has fallen 16 consecutive weeks, dropping almost 3 percent the week ending April 28, the most recent available, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Consumption jumped 6 percent during the same week of 2016 and 3 percent the previous year.

The energy industry has long worried about the declining U.S. demand as more Americans drive more fuel-efficient vehicles and electric cars. The trend has been profound enough that refining leaders, like Houston's Phillips 66, are backing away from gasoline. Company executives said last week that they see their future in petrochemicals, not crude refining.

"In 10 years, if we're driving the same, we're going to see less need for transportation fuel," chief executive Greg Garland told reporters. "Given that as a backdrop, you don't want to invest in adding capacity in a declining market."

U.S. gasoline stockpiles, a measure of how much refiners are producing compared to how much U.S. drivers are using, have risen for three consecutive weeks. Since the middle of April, gasoline inventories have climbed by 3.6 million barrels, at a time when they usually begin to fall.

"There are some larger problems right now in the oil patch," DeHaan said. "Perhaps markets are not coming back into balance between supply and demand."

DeHaan said the consistent, surprisingly weak demand defies explanation. It might be that a wet winter in California and the rest of the West, which account for a large part of U.S. consumption, discouraged driving, he said. It might be that higher prices, after gasoline hit 12-year lows in the Midwest last summer, are keeping Midwesterners from road trips.

But it might also be a marker of changing habits that could mean future declines in demand, DeHaan said. "Americans," he said, "have been moving slowly back to more fuel-efficient cars."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Aspen, Colo.

The gist: Popular ski-resort town that stays plenty cool in summer, too.

Familiar faces: Lindley Arnoldy and Claire Cormier Thielke and Rick Thielke, left

Haute spots: Lindley recommends the new Steakhouse No. 316 for cozy date nights, Matsuhisa Aspen to satisfy sushi cravings, Hotel Jerome Aspen for cocktails, brunch at Aspen Mountain Club, and fondue and dancing at Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro. "Oh, and a lobster roll at The Ritz," she adds.

Best-kept secret: "The #AspenSwingProject," Claire says. The self-described "laid-back and outdoorsy chick" and her husband will help host M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's annual "Making Cancer History" symposium July 24. "A mystery resident hangs/hides wooden swings from trees on trails around town. They make you feel like a little kid and are such a joy to find."

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

The gist: Colonial-era city brimming with baroque architecture and cobblestone streets, just a two-hour flight away.

Familiar faces: Kathryn Hamilton Swain and Ceron, left

Haute spots: Ceron swears by El Tio Lucas Restaurante Bar for classic Mexican fare and a fun jazz band on the weekends, Pueblo Viejo for amazing molcajetes, Los Milagros for a "biker bar" experience, Ten Ten Pie for the best chilaquiles and Casa Dragones for tequila tasting.

Best-kept secret: "L'Otel is a four-bedroom boutique hotel on the tiniest street in the heart of the city," Kathryn says. She and husband Colby Swain tied the knot in San Miguel last year. "It's not easy to find, but once you do, it's like being transported to another world. The art, complimentary bikes, rooftop pool and pink fresco walls make it one of my favorite places to show people when they visit."

Nantucket, Mass.

The gist: Tiny island just south of Cape Cod where summer residents sip #roseallday surrounded by hydrangeas and shingle-style homes.

Familiar faces: Carolyn Wolff Dorros, left, and Phoebe Tudor

Haute spots: Carolyn favors Galley Beach for sunsets and people-watching, the Nautilus for fun drinks and dinner, the Chanticleer for romance, Black Eyed Susan's for brunch, Something Natural for sandwiches and the Chicken Box for late-night music and dancing.

Repeat visitor: "I've been going to Nantucket since I was 6 and got married there in 2005," she says. "It has changed a lot over the years, but the natural beauty is still the same. I love that I am now re-creating the same memories I had as a kid with my own kids!"

Park City, Utah

The gist: Snow-boarder and movie buff's paradise (Sundance Film Festival, anyone?) just east of Salt Lake City.

Familiar faces: Joni Baird and Joe Cleary, left

Haute spots: Joe frequents the No Name Saloon & Grill for buffalo burgers and Wasatch Ale, Cafe Terigo for grilled artichokes, Grappa for authentic Italian fare, Prime Steak House & Piano Bar for a bone-in rib-eye and Stein Ericksen Lodge Deer Valley for Sunday brunch.

Best-kept secret: "Robert Redford's Sundance artist colony," Joni says of the Sundance Mountain Resort, which the actor founded in 1969. "And the Oakley Rodeo on the Fourth of July  cowboys and fireworks!"

Santa Fe, N.M.

The gist: Art lovers' mountainous retreat where Spanish and Native American cultures are celebrated at every turn.

Familiar faces: Barbara Rubenstein, left, and Anna Dean

Haute spots: Barbara suggests Geronimo Restaurant for anything and everything on the menu, the Shed for margaritas, Cafe Pasqual's for brunch, Canyon Road on Friday nights and Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs.

Best-kept secret: "The 'manana mentality,' " she shares. "A welcomed change from the hectic pace in Houston."
The message that greeted travelers last week at the bus stop near Montrose and Westheimer was blunt and brutal: "FOLLOW YOUR FELLOW FAGGOTS."

The homemade poster plastered on the wall of the shelter also featured an image of a lynched man hanging by his neck from a noose, a rainbow butterfly emblazoned on his chest, with his feet dangling below him.

Underneath the incendiary headline, the poster listed several statistics on LGBT suicide rates, which trend significantly higher than those for heterosexuals. The poster contained a logo at the bottom, branding it as the work of "Fascist Solutions."

OutSmart Magazine

It could only be interpreted as an exhortation for LGBT people to take their own lives.

And as shocking as the image and language might be, they are entirely consistent with the wave of homophobic legislation surging through the current session of the Texas legislature.

TWO DOZEN anti-gay bills have been filed thus far, seeking to discriminate against LGBT Texans in every sphere, from health care to public accommodation to employment.

The most infamous, Senate Bill 6, seeks to police the restrooms that transgender Texans use, effectively barring them from public spaces. Senate Republicans have been relentless in their pursuit of this legislation, despite the fact that it is vigorously opposed by the Texas Association of Business, the state's leading business lobby, and that it could cost the state $3 billion in tourism revenues.

When questioned by a fellow legislator about the number of public safety incidents involving transgender individuals, the bill's champion, State Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), was forced to admit that there were none.

The Lone Star State's child welfare system is in crisis, and it desperately needs more foster parents to care for the 22,000 children in the system. Yet HB 3859 would allow faith-based service providers to discriminate against loving LGBT families, preventing them from serving as foster parents. (The bill would also permit providers to refuse to provide services to LGBT foster children.)

And Senate Bill 522 would empower county clerks to refuse to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a clear violation of the equal protection clause.

The lege is lurching toward the home stretch. Because they have been unable to pass standalone bills, lawmakers have been begun to hijack unrelated legislation by loading it down with "religious refusal" amendments. These legislative last gasps provide a dubious fig leaf to cover discrimination, premised on the misguided concept that "religious liberty" allows individuals to pick and choose which laws that they will obey.

AND IN this pitched cultural war being played out on streets of Montrose and in the Texas legislature, transgender Texans have emerged as special targets for vilification.

At a public hearing on Senate Bill 6, the first dozen speakers invited by legislators to testify in support included two organizations classified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center: Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council. The testimony of those speaking in favor of the bill attacked and demeaned the humanity of transgender Texans.

"Listening to elected officials and others tell trans folks that we are less than and that we don't deserve the same equality as our peers, as our community members, takes a devastating toll on trans Texans," observes transgender activist Lou Weaver of Houston.

Eric Edward Schell

"When our trans students hear that they are not the same as their peers, that their peers should be afraid of them, that they should not be allowed in the same spaces, that takes a psychological toll on them. That affects how they do in school, and that affects their future."

"When they call us men in dresses, when they accuse us of being predators, molesters or rapists, and they are not stopped, it hurts," observes Meghan Stabler, a transgender leader in Austin who serves on the national board of The Human Rights Campaign.

"We know who we are, and why. Unless you are trans, you cannot know the journey or struggle. We just ask that others use civility to see us, and not chide us, or bully us, or kill us."

Such rhetoric can also lead directly to violence and death. In February, Chyna Doll Dupree Gibson, a popular Houston performer in Montrose clubs, was shot 10 times and left to die in the parking lot of a strip mall in New Orleans. Eight transgender Americans have been murdered this year. Last year was the deadliest on record, with 27 transgender American being murdered, the majority of whom were people of color.

An ominous wind is blowing through the Lone Star State, and it doesn't disquiet only the LGBT community.

AT THE end of April, the Anti-Defamation League released a report showing that hate incidents have jumped 50 percent this year in the southern part of Texas. They cited a "disturbing trend" that included swastikas, Nazi salutes and bomb threats. Nationwide, the ADL has tracked an 86 percent increase in hate incidents in 2017.

In the 34 days following the presidential election, the SPLC tracked 1,094 hate incidents. The largest number of incidents occurred the day after the election, and 37 percent of them directly referenced Trump, his campaign slogans or his infamous remarks about sexual assault.

"The campaign language of the man who would become president sparks hate violence, both before and after the election," observed SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok.

With his vilification of Mexican immigrants as drug dealers and rapists, his denigration of women and their appearances, his retweets of white supremacist messages (including one that falsely claimed that black people were responsible for 80 percent of the murders of whites), his promises to block Muslims from entering the country and his encouragement of his supporters in beating up black protesters at his rallies, Trump provided an extraordinary platform for this type of hate speech.

As the standard bearer of a major political party who received wall-to-wall media coverage, he normalized this vicious rhetoric, emboldening extremists to come forward with the kind of hate speech seen on the poster at the Montrose bus stop.

In the Age of Trump, there are still some elected officials who provide inspiration with their examples of courage, integrity and leadership. Prior to the beginning of this legislative session, State Senator Sylvia Garcia vowed to "fight like hell" to keep anti-transgender legislation from passing. She's lived up to her word, displaying a gutsiness and tenacity that would have made Ann Richard proud.

WHEN FACING the current tsunami of discriminatory legislation and hate speech, LGBT Texans and people of conscience everywhere must take heart from the example of leaders like Senator Garcia.

We must step boldly forward and make the time to do the following:

1) Call your member of the Texas House of Representatives and encourage him or her to vote against HB 2899, the house's version of the anti-transgender bill, which would also remove protections for the elderly and veterans; and HB3859, which would allow discrimination in child welfare services.

2) Educate yourself at the website of the advocacy group Equality Texas. Sign their pledge to work for a Texas in which all people are treated with dignity and respect and receive legislative alerts when anti-LGBT legislation is coming up for a vote.

3) Join the Texas Freedom Network, a stalwart grassroots organization that has been indefatigable in shining a powerful spotlight on the pernicious effects of legislation discriminating against the LGBT community. They have also assembled a coalition of faith leaders from across the state who have powerfully testified that the concept of religious liberty cannot be perverted to serve as a cover for discrimination against queer Texans.

Sign up for their daily email alerts on recent developments and the latest news articles about hot civil liberties topics.

Andrew Edmonson has served as chair of the Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and on the board of the American Marketing Association's Houston chapter.





Bookmark Gray Matters. It would have made Ann Richards proud.


Ebony Stewart transformed my understanding of environmental justice  the idea that people of color and poor people are disproportionately impacted by industrial pollution and other environmental problems. She is a celebrated, award-winning poet and touring artist, and when I asked her to work with me on a film about environmental justice on the Gulf Coast, I was amazed to witness the process.

Ebony hadn't written about environmental issues before, but she quickly transformed her experiences growing up in Baytown into powerful words and images that cast a piercing light on environmental justice, unlike anything I had seen before.

Praise.

The ones who lived; the ones who survived.

Praise, these young bodies who can see the Exxon skyline on the horizon as we play 4-square in the street.

We call ourselves X-Men, some mutated somethings, chemically filled lungs, make us so fast we out run and run and run the next kid.

Gas ourselves up.

No one can beat us!

I'm an Austin-based filmmaker, and most of my films focus on social justice and the environment  my last film, "Above All Else," was about the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline. My new film, "In the Air," is a documentary, but not in the traditional sense  there are no interviews or voice-over. The story is told completely through the performances of artists from the Gulf Coast  through spoken word poetry, dance, music and visual art.

This video is an excerpt from our initial Baytown work sample, and we just released it as part of a Kickstarter campaign we're running through today to raise funds for the film's production.

My conversations with Ebony in preparation for production of this sample started with her childhood. Every day after school, she went to her grandmother's house, which was a stone's throw from Exxon's refinery. With her siblings and cousins, she played in a vacant lot next to her grandmother's house that had no house on it  they were told  because there were so many pipelines under the ground that the land couldn't be developed.

Ebony had many fond memories of growing up in a loving family with a strong sense of community, but now she had many questions. Why were several neighborhoods next to her grandmother's house bought out by Exxon and demolished while her grandmother's neighborhood was left standing? Was the cancer that killed some of the people in her family related to the pollution from the refineries? Did all those pipelines underground next her grandmother's house pose any danger?

She began writing about these memories, reflections and questions  and the work was beautiful.

I realized that this is the story of environmental justice on the Gulf Coast: The foul-smelling air, the polluted water, the cancer, the asthma and the visual blight of the refineries are all normal if you grow up there. This normalization is integral to the immense power of the petrochemical companies. Not until you get older or leave town do you realize that this kind of pollution is not normal  or healthy.

THE DISAPPEARING PORT: Pollution and possibility on the Ship Channel

As I recruited other artists for the project, I heard similar stories over and over again. The choreographer, Walter Hull, grew in Lake Charles, Louisiana, right next to the refineries. He cofounded Houston's Urban Souls Dance Company with Harrison Guy, who grew up in La Marque and didn't realize that there was anything wrong with the air and water until a cousin visited from out of town and asked why they were so nasty.

Reginald Adams, a Houston-based public artist, moved into Houston's predominantly African-American Fifth Ward as the father of a small child and soon learned that he lived right next to a hazardous waste site. He organized a public art project that brought public attention to the issue and helped initiate remediation of the site by the EPA.

Art can transform the legacy of tragedy and injustice into a more hopeful future of beauty, empowerment and change  and that is the idea behind our film.

Ebony, Walter, Harrison, Reginald and all the other artists in the film have revealed to me how environmental injustice is woven into the fabric of their stories. With "In the Air," I want to show those stories to the world.

John Fiege is an Austin-based filmmaker whose latest film, "Above All Else," is a feature-length documentary about the Keystone XL pipeline that premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, with an international premiere at Hot Docs. You can donate to help fund the production of "In the Air" through Kickstarter.



Bookmark Gray Matters. No one can beat us!


Bryce Dallas Howard (L) and Chris Pratt attend the Universal Pictures' 'Jurassic World' premiere at the Dolby Theatre on June 9, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

A new "Jurassic World 2" was recently revealed to have ties to Jurassic Park creator John Hammond, which was portrayed by Richard Attenborough, as the movie franchise moves towards connecting the new films to the original trilogy. Actor James Cromwell recently revealed that his character in "Jurassic World 2" was Hammond's partner in creating the technology that led to the creation of dinosaurs.



Advertisement

"Jurassic World 2" is expected to be another blockbuster hit, succeeding its predecessor which earned a domestic gross of $652 million and $1.018 billion in foreign territories. The film successfully rekindled fans' love for the sci-fi franchise, with director Colin Trevorrow giving the newer film an entirely new identity.



The "Jurassic World" sequel will connect the newer films to the original "Jurassic Park" trilogy and will bring back original characters such as Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm. Another character is going to shed some light on the earlier days of the dinosaur-filled theme park, and that's Benjamin Lockwood to be portrayed by Cromwell.



Although Cromwell wasn't seen in the original "Jurassic Park" movies, he is said to be the co-creator of the theme park and the technology that brought the dinosaurs back to life.



"The character Richard Attenborough played, I'm his partner, Benjamin Lockwood. We developed the technology of being able to clone the genes. And so I'm trying to deal with the blowback from what we have done," Cromwell said on "Larry King Now" (via ScreenRant).



Actor Sam Neill, however, previously said he won't reprise his role in future "Jurassic World" films. Actress Laura Dern, on the other hand, said he would be open to reprising his character Ellie Sattler.



Meanwhile, a new "Jurassic World 2" plot leak suggested that the sophomore film will center on Blue, the Velociraptor trained by Chris Pratt's Owen and bravely fought the Indominus Rex with the T-Rex.



"So Isla Nublar [the setting for Jurassic Park and Jurassic World] does appear in the film, briefly. They have to go back there to get Blue," a source told The Daily Mail. "The idea is that they want to use him as a basis for creating dinosaurs that can be used in war. They also want to incorporate traits from the Indominus Rex, even though it died."



Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard's characters then step in to stop this from happening, since they know the dangers it will result into.






This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Show More Show Less



Voters in the city of Friendswood on May 6 filled two positions on City Council, choosing an incumbent and a financial advisor, and approved seven of eight proposed charter amendments.

Sally Branson, a financial advisor who has been on the planning and zoning committee and emphasized revitalizing downtown, defeated Omar Peck.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Longtime Katy meals-on-wheels volunteer Sibyl (Clapham) Westenhaver is known as a person with a "serving heart."

This month she'll also become known as the 2017 City of Katy Senior of the Year.

"The city of Katy wants to recognize an older American for their input, the things they've done while they lived here in the community and their impact on the community in some way," explained Peggy Dimmick, the city's director of social services.

The city's seven-member Senior Citizens Center Advisory Board nominated two former board members for the honor and forwarded its recommendation to Mayor Fabol Hughes, who retires from office this month. City Hall then announced that Westenhaver, who retired in December after 11 years on the advisory board, is the Senior of the Year. Hughes could not be reached for comment.

Through First United Methodist Church of Katy, Westenhaver began volunteering in the home delivered meals program offered by the Society of St. Stephen in 2006. About a year ago, she helped with the transition of that operation to Interfaith Ministries' meals on wheels program.

Dimmick describes Westenhaver as personable, organized, dependable and loyal.

"If you needed something, she would be the person to go to to find out what you needed. She'd find out if she didn't already know."

A reception to honor Westenhaver as Senior of the Year will be 5:30-6:15 p.m. May 22 at the Fussell Senior Citizen Activity Center, 5370 E. Fifth St., Katy. Then it's over to Katy City Hall, 901 Ave. C, for the Katy City Council meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. The mayor will give her a plaque and read a proclamation as part of national Older Americans Month.

Westenhaver's name also will be added to the plaque at the activity center and her photo included in a collage with other Seniors of the Year.

The process is a familiar one to Westenhaver who nominated Majorie Gordon as the Katy Senior Citizen of the Year in 2013.

Learning of her recognition in early April, Westenhaver said she was "very pleased and happy."

Born and raised in Western Oklahoma, Westenhaver has lived in Katy for 15 years. After the death of her husband, Nevin, whom she met in high school, she made the decision to move to the Katy area to be close to their two children and their families.

And she also started volunteering.

"I needed something to do. I did not want to be sit-at-home elderly person. I like helping people and being involved in the community."

Her four grandchildren all have helped her deliver meals. Program volunteers deliver around 70 meals each weekday within the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District.

Because of her long involvement in the hot meals program in Katy, she has an extended family of volunteers and meal recipients.

"We have a lot of seniors who by the time they pay for medicine and pay rent, they just don't have enough money for food," said Westenhaver. "Some have finances but are not able to cook - women who have back problems, men who are alone and don't cook.

"One lady we deliver to she's almost blind. One day I was talking with her, she recognized my voice and she wanted my telephone number. She just loves to visit. She's a lovely person. There are a lot of very nice people who need help with meals and this is a way to help them. How would they get meals if we didn't help them?"

While volunteers are on a schedule to deliver meals and can't stay long at one particular stop, they do get involved. "Many drivers go back and take elderly women to lunch. In the summer children go along and help. It kind of becomes a family in a way."

Her extended family includes seniors from the center where they play cards and meet to socialize. "We're all seniors. We're all busy and have family here. That's why moved here. We still need to be out and socialize with people our age. Another extended family and friends to get together with to go out to eat. That's how we learn to survive when we're all alone."

Sue Watson, a team leader who worked under Westenhaver when she was coordinator for meals on wheels, credited Westenhaver with working to transition the meals program from the church to Interfaith Ministries as funding became more difficult to obtain. "Sibyl worked hard on that. She didn't want to leave seniors without meals in this area."

Through Westenhaver is cutting back on her duties, she will assist all team leaders according to Watson, who has known her about 10 years. "She's a spunky little lady - very intelligent. She can be outspoken; I love that. She doesn't want to give it up. I learned a lot from Sibyl. She's a smart lady."

Stepping up as a team coordinator is Angela Finney, who trained under Westenhaver in April.

"She's always held a leadership position in whatever she was doing," said Finney. "She's definitely one with a serving heart. You don't do that if you don't have the desire and passion for it. "She's very caring and she enjoys helping other people."

On the meal delivery route, Finney said everyone knew her. "She gets to know clients really well. She's very friendly."

Todd Rosen, who delivers meals to the Katy church from Interfaith Ministries, has known Westenhaver about three years.

He called her "super organized" and "very friendly." "She's on top of everything."

He also remembered one rainy Thursday when he had forgotten his jacket. "She gave me her jacket because it was raining. She's awesome. I just love her."
President Donald Trump faces many hurdles in delivering his promised tax cut, but none may be more formidable than the congressional calendar.

Republican leaders of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee have said the overhaul must be completed in 2017; election-year politics would only complicate the task next year. But the months ahead are full of time-consuming tasks that threaten to divert lawmakers' attention, including hammering out health-care legislation in the Senate, funding the government again this fall and raising the debt limit.

Tax legislation is "very, very unlikely" to pass in 2017, said Steve Bell, a former staff director for Senate Republicans on the Budget Committee, who is now a senior adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "I don't think they have enough time."

The most immediate roadblock is a health-care bill. After the House narrowly passed legislation to replace Obamacare last week, Senate Republicans said they'll craft their own proposal now, and they signaled they'll take their time with it. For practical and procedural reasons, congressional Republicans have indicated that they must finish the health-care bill before tax legislation can begin making its way through Congress.

Writing health-care legislation that can pass both chambers of Congress will be a monumental task and won't happen in a hurry, said Bell, who added: "I'm not sure if they can produce one."

There are 39 legislative days on the House calendar before the five-week August recess. Once Congress returns after that, lawmakers will have to agree by Sept. 30 on how to fund the government for the next fiscal year and raise the debt limit this fall -- two jobs that could eat up political capital for Republican leaders who have to make difficult choices.

Congressional Republicans have to figure out spending levels for a fiscal 2018 budget resolution, the vehicle they intend to use for a tax bill so it can pass without Democratic support in the Senate. That will be very hard given internal party disagreements on how much the federal government should spend, according to Bell.

Add it up, and the prognosis looks grim for what President Donald Trump and other White House officials have labeled a top priority this year, Capitol Hill veterans agreed.

"It's hard to see how tax reform gets done in that environment," said Stan Collender, a former Senate Democratic budget aide.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate GOP are drifting farther apart on the nuts and bolts of a tax overhaul, despite House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady's plea on Thursday for fellow Republicans in the Senate and White House to "get on the same page" on taxes. Brady has eased off his commitment to passing a tax bill out of his committee this spring, saying his main concern is getting a bill on Trump's desk in 2017, regardless of the month.

"There are no consensus-developing activities yet," Collender said, adding that the prospects only diminish in 2018. "It's difficult to begin with and it's going to be more difficult heading into the election."

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Brady, the chamber's chief tax writer, remain insistent on a deficit-neutral package that would include revenue-raising provisions like a controversial border-adjusted tax on imports. But Senate GOP leaders are increasingly open to unfunded tax cuts and many oppose the import tax. "I don't think there is support for it in the Senate," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said Thursday.

Senator Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, is pushing to change Senate budget rules to allow a much longer time horizon for tax cuts that would add to the deficit. Current rules require that cuts would have to expire if they add to the deficit beyond 10 years; Toomey has suggested expanding that to 20 or 30 years. "I think we should explore it," he said in an interview.

The idea, which would be a sea change and diminish hopes of a revenue-neutral rewrite of the tax code, is far from becoming a reality. But it could be considered by some Republicans who have become frustrated by the overall budget process. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he's open to extending the 10-year window, but Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said he'd be skeptical of any idea that makes it easier to raise the deficit.

Brady declined to comment when asked on Thursday about Toomey's proposal. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch kept his powder dry: "I'm open to anything that makes sense," he said. For now, the plan is still to proceed with a tax overhaul under existing rules, which require a 10-year sunset if cuts adds to the long-term deficit, according to a person familiar with the Senate discussions who asked not be named because the conversations are private.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said extending the 10-year window would be "a complete about-face" on years of Republican rhetoric about the need to reduce the deficit. "This is so far-fetched," he said. "I'd be very opposed to it."

The White House has offered little guidance other than a one-page blueprint released on April 26, which includes cuts for individual and business tax rates. It also calls for eliminating individual deductions other than those for home-mortgage interest and charitable giving. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Friday that the White House wasn't ready to comment on whether the cuts in a tax package should be offset so they don't add to the deficit.

William Gale, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, said the odds of permanent tax reform are diminishing, but he still sees hope for a temporary tax cut this year or next -- as long as it doesn't directly harm any taxpayers.

"I imagine they will do something on taxes. I don't think it'll be reform; I think it'll be tax cuts," Gale said. "Tax reform requires increasing taxes on some people, and I don't see them having the fortitude to impose tax increases on anybody."

---

Bloomberg's Ari Natter ,Toluse Olorunnipa and Erik Wasson contributed to this report.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

On the eve of local elections, Pearland ISD trustee Rusty DeBorde posted an item to his campaign Facebook page that stood out for its contrite, introspective tone.

"I just had one of the most incredibly impactful meetings with Abul Azad, the associate director of Pearland's Islamic Center, that I have ever had," DeBorde wrote Friday. "I shared with him my regret and apology for the hurt I caused in my failed attempt to stand up for what I believe."

The next day, DeBorde lost his school board seat to a guy too young to go out for a beer to celebrate.

Dawson High School senior Mike Floyd received 3,075 votes (54 percent) to DeBorde's 2,597 (46 percent.) DeBorde enjoyed not only the advantages of incumbency and experience, but the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, a Republican who represents the area. He lost despite his apology for an earlier Facebook post that seemed to raise concerns about a Muslim candidate for the Pearland City Council. The other Pearland ISD trustee facing a challenge, Pam Boegler, easily won re-election with 60 percent of the vote.

"I had thought all along that Rusty would walk away with it," said Sue Wojtyn Matthews, a longtime Pearland resident who started an anti-DeBorde Facebook group that became part of the online backlash to DeBorde's earlier post.

That post included a photo of two women wearing head coverings above a magazine article headline, "How American Muslims are Trying to Take Back their Government." DeBorde wrote: "Please spread the word - this is happening this election cycle right here in Pearland!"

Although it didn't identify her, the post was an obvious reference to Dalia Kasseb, a 30-year-old pharmacist who went on to lead a field of six candidates Saturday in the campaign for a newly created city council seat.

Kasseb, whose campaign material features photos of her wearing a hijab, is the first openly Muslim candidate for public office in Brazoria County history. She won 47 percent of the vote Saturday and will face Woody Owens, who got 18 percent, in a runoff next month.

DeBorde had gone on Facebook to share a post by former Pearland Councilman Kevin Cole, who warned: "If you think this can't happen in Pearland, well guess again. It is!! The way to stop it is to vote..."

Reaction to Trump

The Atlantic magazine article that the post linked to discusses the growing number of Muslims running for local offices around the country, partly in response to the perceived anti-Muslim policies of President Donald Trump.

"It really wasn't a Muslim issue," DeBorde told me a few days before the election. "The idea was: This is happening. Go out and vote."

DeBorde said then he was concerned that many candidates for nonpartisan local offices were running based on "agendas" focused on specific interests such as LGBT rights or protecting Muslims from discrimination.

"What I meant more was, the Democrats were pulling together with those type of groups," DeBorde said. "Other people said stuff (in the comments to his post) that I don't condone."

Transgender support

One Pearland resident cheering Floyd's victory is Kimberly Shappley, the mother of a transgender daughter who has publicly appealed for the school district to change its bathroom access policy. The issue gained attention last year when Superintendent John Kelly suggested that more inclusive policies for transgender students, and legal approval of same-sex marriage, were akin to support for pedophilia and polygamy.

Shappley said she was grateful to Floyd for his support of allowing transgender students to use bathrooms that conform to their gender identity. His victory, she said, shows that attitudes in the fast-growing suburb are changing as it becomes more ethnically and culturally diverse.

"Across the board," Shappley said, "people are fed up. They're not going to allow this narrow mindset."

If she's right, it's fair to say that Rusty DeBorde miscalculated the effect of his misbegotten Facebook post, whatever he intended by it. And it should be interesting to see whether an 18-year-old living with his parents and preparing to enter the University of Houston can affect the culture of a suburban school district, or of the community it serves.
In a city known for its philanthropy, the mayor on Monday kicked off a campaign to discourage what might be the most common form of charity: giving to panhandlers.

"Houstonians are compassionate and love helping people in need, but sometimes we can end up doing more harm than good," Mayor Sylvester Turner said, surrounded by dozens of the region's faith leaders at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. "By contributing our 'spare change' directly to organizations that are working to get our homeless neighbors off the streets and into housing, we can make 'meaningful change' in the lives of our homeless."

Turner unveiled a billboard design that will appear on 55 signs as the city launches the "Meaningful Change - Not Spare Change" campaign, which will also include social media promotions and 1,500 radio ads. The mayor's office said the effort is funded by iHeart Radio, Clear Channel Outdoor, management districts and other businesses.

Instead of giving money to panhandlers, residents are encouraged to visit www.MeaningfulChange.org to donate to the Coalition for the Homeless' Welcome Home Fund, which helps furnish apartments and cover one-time fees.

"The money goes directly to help a homeless person settle in permanent housing," said coalition CEO Marilyn Brown.

Giving to panhandlers is not outlawed or punishable, just discouraged. However, the city previously announced plans to step up enforcement of existing and new ordinances against aggressive panhandling or impeding traffic. Proponents of the crackdown say panhandling keeps truly needy people from seeking long-term solutions like employment or treatment for mental health and substance abuse issues.

Increase in complaints

Tyler Hamilton, a 25-year-old who served in the Army from 2013 until 2015, turned to panhandling last year after he became addicted to heroin and lost his job. He said he spent about three weeks asking for money on street corners in the city's southeast, sometimes missing VA appointments in hopes of making more money.

Hamilton struggled to bring in $25 a day. He eventually left the sidewalk when a woman offered him a landscaping job that paid $75 a day, far more than he would make passively asking for money.

"I wasn't good at it at all," Hamilton remembered recently. "I just walked up and down (to see) if somebody wanted to give something."

The successful panhandlers are more assertive, he said. He knew one man who pulled in $100 "on a bad day" by walking up to car windows, holding up a quarter and begging.

Complaints about panhandling helped spur City Council to expand the prohibition on impeding a roadway to include raised areas like medians, said Mike Knox, an at-large council member and former Houston police officer. HPD received 1,548 complaints about panhandlers in 2016, his office said - nearly twice as many as the 783 received in 2016. Some panhandlers are homeless while others are not, city officials say, and some may be part of organized panhandling rings.

"The panhandling thing is actually a separate issue (from homelessness)," Knox said Monday. "It's creating an environment of fear, and it's also not safe for the people doing it."

Knox and District H Council Member Karla Cisneros joined Turner on Monday as the mayor launched the "Meaningful Change" campaign, one prong of his plan to further reduce homelessness in the Houston area, which has dropped nearly 60 percent in the past five years.

"This is not a campaign that we're waging against the homeless," Turner said emphatically. "This is a campaign to assist people to leave homelessness."

Faith leaders seemed to rally behind the effort.

Amy Kelley, director of family ministries with St. Luke's United Methodist Church's campus in the Sharpstown area, said the campaign seemed appropriate.

"We've always wanted to do more," she said. "This addresses the deepest need."

Kelley added that her church would continue passing out Manna Kits with toiletries and snacks.

'Give the right way'

Leaders with the local Hare Krishna temple said they are excited about the effort but concerned whether they would still be able to distribute food to needy people on the streets. Sarvabhauma Das Medley and Saranga Thakur Das said they hoped for a balanced approach to enforcement.

"It is important to give, and equally important to give the right way," the Rev. Anil Thomas of Holy Name Catholic Church said in a statement. "There is not a better way to give dignity to the homeless, than helping them to not be homeless in the first place."

Faith leaders shepherded into a photo op joined Turner's chant: "Meaningful change, not spare change."

The mayor's pitch might sound familiar to longtime Houstonians. In 2006, then-Mayor Bill White appeared in radio ads to discourage giving to panhandlers. "Help them with real change, not spare change," White said on the ads, part of a campaign that brought in around $800,000, the Chronicle reported at the time.

The push is not limited to the Bayou City. In February, the City Council of Madison, Wisc., effectively banned all roadside panhandling, the Capital Times reported. The same month, the city of Cranston, R.I., passed a narrowed panhandling ban that focused on specific streets, the Associated Press reported. The city had previously settled an ACLU lawsuit that challenged a similar law's constitutionality.

A University of Houston psychologist said that panhandling may be effective because it provides donors with an immediate emotional reward, especially when the panhandler expresses gratitude.

"There could be many motivations, some more altruistic and some more selfish, said John Vincent, director of UH's Center for Forensic Psychology. "It certainly could be a way for absolving guilt."

People who make the snap decision to give once may find they feel good about it, leading them to do it more in the future, Vincent said. "The positive reinforcement here is the good feeling you get out of doing it."
A man was arrested Friday, accused of killing an 18-year-old Subway employee during a Feb. 22 robbery. On April 24, two armed men took over a chain restaurant in northwest Houston, robbing customers as well as the business before moving on to do it again at two other eateries within a few hours. That spree began less than an hour after an armed robbery at a Jack in the Box not far away was interrupted by police, leaving one teenaged suspect dead and two wounded.

Despite the alarming headlines recently, Houston police data show that restaurant robberies are less frequent than last year and have steadily decreased in the past two years.

In the first three months of 2017, HPD tallied 52 robberies of fast-food restaurants, down by a third compared to the same period last year, which itself represented a drop from the 121 reported in the first three months of 2015. However, each of the past three years tops the 41 counted in the first three months of 2014.

Police and other experts say many vulnerable restaurants have adopted best practices that deter robbers, reduce their haul and help police catch the culprits.

Two veteran Houston police officers in the robbery division, Lt. Cathy Richards and Senior Police Officer Jeff Brieden, said the decrease may also owe to investigators getting time to track down past perpetrators.

Tactical units on the west and north sides of town have worked with robbery investigators, surveillance images and police data to find robbery rings and their leaders.

"They've taken their units to another level in identifying these crews," Richards said. "I think our guys are doing a really good job over time, taking it slow and gathering all the facts."

Single enterprise?

The tactical units operate out of patrol stations but don't have to answer most calls for service, giving them the luxury of time to review suspects' interviews, do research and gather intelligence. They also can watch over susceptible locations at high-risk hours like 7 to 10 p.m., when Brieden said nearly half of restaurant robberies happen.

Richards said many robberies can be traced back to a single enterprise whose mastermind rarely or never participates in the actual holdups.

For example, police in recent years figured out that a surge in robberies of mobile-phone stores mainly owed to just two criminal organizations whose leaders recruited teens to do the work, she said. Arresting the organizers helped stem the tide of such robberies.

However, the decrease in Houston could mean that more robbers are striking in Harris and Montgomery counties outside of city limits. To combat that balloon effect in which crime is squeezed into other nearby areas just outside the city, Richards said HPD formed a task force last year to cooperate with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

Robbers may also be deterred by measures that more restaurant owners have adopted in recent years. Most fast-food restaurants now use surveillance cameras; many keep a minimum amount of cash on hand or decline to accept bills larger than $20; some will immediately drop any large bills into a time-delayed safe visible to anyone casing the restaurant as a possible target.

"I think the secret is if, in some way, you can communicate to these robbers before they pull their guns that there's very little money here, there's less risk of a robbery," said Chris McGoey, a California-based security consultant who has worked with chain stores.

Surveillance cameras should be prominent, even if it may undermine the image that restaurants want to convey, said McGoey, who runs the "Crime School" website and podcast.

He also suggested posting signs that explain the cash-handling rules, such as not accepting large bills. Still, it's hard to deter every robber from every restaurant.

"It's largely a cash-based business, it's open late hours if not 24 hours, and they're often located along major freeways for convenience' sake," he said. "What makes it convenient for the customer also makes it good for armed robbers."

In a review of news reports and Houston police data, one restaurant chain stands out as suffering far more robberies than any other: Subway. Of 37 robberies at fast-food restaurants in the Houston area in the last six months, 10 were Subway.

"I hate to pick on Subway, but they've been one of the most-robbed franchises for four decades," McGoey said. "It's a small store, (and) they're usually in small shopping centers. You can park your car and see through the front."

The small shops usually just have one or two employees on duty, and robbers can exit quickly, McGoey said. It's easy to find a comfortable routine.

The sandwich shop's popularity owes at least in part to its market dominance. Last year the chain had 27,000 franchises in the United States, according to industry magazine QSR - more than McDonald's and Starbucks combined. Still, the chain was overrepresented even given its numbers.

Subway restaurants are owned by franchisees, but the franchisees' association directed questions to the corporate headquarters, where a spokesman declined to make any official available for an interview.

"The safety and security of our guests and the restaurant employees is very important to us," the spokesman said in an email. "Subway makes extensive safety and security training available for franchisees to use."

'They all get caught'

In addition to training from parent companies, restaurant owners turn to local business groups and nearby police, said Melissa Stewart, president of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association.

Stewart said the most proactive owners get to know the officers who patrol their area and ask them to check that security cameras are deployed effectively.

Because of security measures like time-delayed safes, Stewart added, "Anybody who thinks this is going to be an easy path to cash needs to know that that is not correct."

The officers in HPD's robbery division said such tactics have made restaurant robberies less profitable, which might deter first-time perpetrators from making a habit.

"They're not making out with what they think they're going to make out with," said Brieden, who's spent nearly a decade in HPD's robbery division. "And eventually, they all get caught."

Surveillance video and images often draw tips from the community - sometimes even from the perpetrators' friends and families. Sometimes people call Crime Stoppers for the reward money. But other times it's worried relatives.

"You'd be amazed at how many moms call," Brieden said.

Overall, the officers and experts said that restaurant robberies remain uncommon, especially the takeover-style holdups that also target customers.

"It's still a very rare and infrequent event," Stewart said. "When we have one that's as dramatic as we had this week, it makes us think we have them all the time, but we really don't."
AUSTIN - As the number of teachers accused of engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with their students continues to rise in Texas, state lawmakers tentatively agreed to force guilty teachers to forfeit their pensions and hit administrators with jail time and hefty fines if they are convicted of covering up their employees' misdeeds.

The bill, which the House passed on a voice vote Monday, comes as allegations of educators having inappropriate relationships with students reached what lawmakers have characterized are "epidemic levels" of more than one complaint filed per day this school year.

"Currently in Texas, educators convicted of felonies involving students received publicly funded pensions while in prison," said Rep. Matt Rinaldi, an Irving Republican and lawyer who amended the bill to stop former teachers serving time for such crimes from receiving their pensions.

He recalled the case of Reyes Deleon, 61, a former San Antonio high school teacher serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child. Deleon was two weeks shy of retirement in 2012 when he was accused of inappropriately touching a girl when she was 10 years old. He continued until she was 13. She then came forward after he asked her for a pair of her underwear and let her know he wanted to have sex with her when she was older.

Deleon receives more than $35,000 a year in pension benefits, according to Rinaldi, "meaning that by the time he gets out of prison, he could have as much as a quarter million dollars in the bank."

Senate Bill 7, assigned a low bill number as a reflection of its importance to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, focuses on school and district leaders who could cover up their teachers' misdeeds by allowing teachers who engage in inappropriate relationships to quietly leave their school districts unreported to take jobs at another.

The legislation, sponsored by Houston Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt and Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, comes amid a steady uptick in the number of teachers and educators accused of engaging in sexual and romantic relationships with students, including a former Aldine Independent School District middle school teacher who she said she became pregnant by a 13-year-old student. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this year.

Increase in complaints

The Texas Education Agency has received 191 complaints of inappropriate teacher relations with students since September, a 65 percent increase from the same time in 2015. The number of complaints so far this school year have exceeded the entire 2014 fiscal year, which totaled 188 allegations.

It's already illegal for teachers and school employees to have sexual contact with a student at their school, but the bill would extend that offense to educators who have relations with someone they know to be a student at any public or private school.

The bill would also, for the first time, require principals to report to their superintendent if they've fired someone for or discovered instances of inappropriate relations with a minor, or incidents of illegal drug possession, sale of drugs, illegally taking money or property from a school, altering their professional certificates for a raise or a promotion, or committing any criminal offense on state property.

Punishing administrators

Superintendents already are required to report revelations of criminal records involving those offenses to the State Board for Educator Certification. Under the proposed law, principals and superintendents that fail to report their teacher to upper management within seven business days would face a $500 to $10,000 fine and lose their certification when it is up for renewal.

Administrators found to have tried to cover up their employee's misconduct would face a state jail felony, punishable by up to two years in jail.

The House opted to give a judge discretion to revoke all pension benefits or allow the spouse of the former teacher to collect part of the pension.

The bill now faces a third reading in the House before it can head back to the Senate, which already passed the bill unanimously in March. Bettencourt said he plans to accept tweaks made by the House and send the bill to the governor for his signature.
A Harris County jury on Monday convicted a Houston man of murder in a 2006 slaying.

Happy Tran Pham, 30, spent nearly a decade as a fugitive in the region after he was named a suspect in the Dec. 13, 2006, slaying of Pierre Mai, 29, at the Cajun Kitchen in the 11900 block of Bellaire.

Pham was featured three times on "America's Most Wanted" but eluded arrest until Feburary 2016. According to the show, Pham and Mai had dated the same woman at one point.

Pham's attorney, Sean Buckley, had argued the shooting was in self-defense, citing a handgun found at the scene that may been Mai's.

Jurors sided with the prosecution and voted to convict Pham of first-degree murder after deliberating for about four hours in Judge Jan Krocker's 184th District Court.
Malaysia's most-wanted member of the Islamic State militant group has been killed in Syria, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said on Monday, citing intelligence information.

Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, 26, who was on a U.S. list of global militants, was the alleged mastermind behind a grenade attack on a Kuala Lumpur bar last June which injured eight people. It was the first and so far only Islamic State attack that caused casualties in Malaysia.

"After reviewing intelligence, the Royal Malaysian Police can confirm that Muhamad Wandy (sic) has been killed in an attack in Raqqa, Syria on April 29," Khalid said on his Twitter account, confirming previous reports of Muhammad Wanndy's death in a drone strike on the Islamic State-held city.

Police had earlier cast doubt on the reports, saying that it was possible Muhammad Wanndy had faked his own death.

Born and raised in the west Malaysian state of Malacca, Muhammad Wanndy left for Raqqa with his wife in 2014. He first drew public attention the following year when he appeared in a video showing the beheading of a Syrian man.

Using the name Abu Hamzah Al Fateh, he quickly made a name for himself as an Islamic State online recruiter and fundraiser.

Statistics from the police counter-terrorism unit show that at least a third of the more than 250 people arrested for Islamic State-linked activities in Malaysia between 2013 and 2016 were recruited by or linked to Muhammad Wanndy.

In March, he was named a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury, making him a high-profile target for law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The Texas House easily passed Houston's pension reform bill Monday, but not without making several changes friendly to firefighters, setting the stage for a reconciliation showdown between the upper and lower chambers.

The House accepted four amendments to the bill the Senate passed last week, before voting 112 - 28 to preliminarily approve Houston's reform measures. The bill now awaits another vote in the House before heading to conference committee, where legislators would seek to achieve consensus.

Mayor Sylvester Turner heralded the bill's passage, calling the vote "epic" despite his opposition to three of the four amendments.

"It marks a tremendous evolution," Turner said. "This ship has sailed, and it's picking up a whole lot of wind behind its sails."

The reforms hardly would erase Houston's financial woes, but they would put the city on track to stem a fiscal crisis that would have continued to erode core services and forced hundreds of employee layoffs.

Specifically, the Senate's version of the bill would position the city to pay down its $8.2 billion pension debt over 30 years instead of allowing it to accumulate, cut retiree benefits by $2.8 billion and cap future costs if the market dips.

Those fixes immediately would improve Houston's budget outlook, reducing next year's deficit to about $123 million from $234 million. The changes also could help boost the city's recently downgraded credit rating, making it cheaper for Houston to finance improvements.

"I believe this current version is Houston's best chance to significantly have pension reform and to assure that the fire, the police and municipal employees will have an ongoing pension," Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Canton and the bill's House sponsor, told lawmakers before their vote."

Retired firefighters

The House's amendments mean the bill's fate is far from sealed, however.

An amendment by Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, exempting more than 3,100 retired firefighters from benefit cuts would have the largest financial impact, adding an estimated $400 million to Houston's unfunded liability, according to the city.

"This amendment is about keeping a promise," Bohac said.

The House also approved an amendment by Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, to give firefighters additional time to provide actuarial data to the city in an effort to negotiate smaller benefit cuts.

The Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund had joined police and municipal worker groups in backing preliminary reform terms last fall, but did not join their counterparts in agreeing to final legislative language, saying the final cuts were too deep.

"I'm not against Houston," Huberty told lawmakers. "I'm giving the firefighters an opportunity to be able to provide the data that the city has asked for."

Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, meanwhile, modified the bill to make firefighters' benefit cuts contingent on voters' November approval of $1 billion in pension obligation bonds, which Turner wants to inject into the underfunded police and municipal pensions.

Turner initially opposed the Senate bill's requirement for a public vote on the pension bonds, calling it a "poison pill," but has since accepted the provision.

Flynn, who also offered his own technical amendment, intended to try to persuade the House to reject the others.

"This could derail the bill," he told House members, asking them to defeat Huberty's amendment.

The House, which had come under intense lobbying pressure from firefighters across Texas in recent days, refused to kill Huberty's amendment, voting 90-42 to attach it to the bill, as nearly 100 retired firefighters in the gallery erupted in cheers and whistles.

Having lost that vote, Flynn later accepted Schofield's and Bohac's changes.

"Once it was going to conference, you just get the overall bill approved and then you can decide which amendments to strip out in conference committee," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, and a co-sponsor of the measure. "That's how the process works."

Some of the reform plan's key supporters worried the House's changes could derail final approval before the Legislature adjourns on May 29.

Turner, who opposes all but Flynn's amendment, said he feels confident heading into conference committee.

He singled out Bohac's changes for their estimated $27 million annual cost.

"For a fiscal conservative, I take issue with that amendment," he said. "The whole notion of the pension solutions was to reduce cost and to put our financial house in order."

Police union on board

Ray Hunt, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, cheered the bill's passage and said he anticipates Senate and House negotiators would strip Bohac's provision from the final version of the bill.

David Keller, chairman of the fire pension board, said he views the House version as an improvement. "The amendments lessen the impact to some degree," he said.

Even if the reform package makes it across Gov. Greg Abbott's desk and the pension bonds pass, Houston still faces fiscal challenges that include closing this year's budget gap, paying down at least $4 billion in pension debt over 30 years and reversing the erosion of city services.

Seeking to reinvest, Turner has promised that if pension reform passes, he will ask voters in November to repeal the city's cap on property tax collections.

That means this fall's municipal ballot could include referendums lifting the revenue cap, allowing the city to issue $1 billion in pension obligation bonds and - if Houston's city secretary certifies the petition signatures -requiring city workers hired after the start of 2018 to shift to 401(k)-style defined contribution plans.

Mike Morris contributed to this report.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a comment by another reporter regarding the speed of the legislative process to the chairman of the Houston fire pension board. That quote has been deleted.
RICHMOND, Va. - President Donald Trump's political statements trailed him on Monday in court, where judges seemed skeptical his revised travel ban was based on national security concerns rather than his campaign promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Thirteen judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit were considering the case, and, during an extraordinary two-hour hearing, judge after judge asked acting solicitor general Jeffrey Wall about statements during the campaign and afterward in which Trump talked about a Muslim ban.

Intense questioning

Wall said the order temporarily suspending foreign travelers from six majority Muslim countries was to protect the United States by reviewing the vetting of those who are potentially dangerous. That is not only within the president's authority, Wall said, it is his responsibility.

But Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said that could mean a candidate for president could call for a Muslim ban every day for a year, enact a cleverly worded plan that accomplished that on his first day in office, and have courts ignore whether targeting Muslims was his real purpose.

The Trump administration's new policy temporarily suspends the U.S. refugee program and blocks new visas to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

In March, a judge in Maryland and another in Hawaii halted enforcement of critical sections, pointing to comments by Trump and top advisers indicating that they wanted to bar Muslims from entry.

Under intense questioning, Wall acknowledged it could violate the Constitution to single out a religion for adverse treatment. But he said Trump's revised executive order was neutral.

Judge Pamela Harris pressed Wall. "Clearly the law has a disparate impact on Muslims," she said. "In what sense is it neutral?"

Wall pointed out that the ban did not affect Muslims from countries other than the six mentioned in the order, and said the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that in matters of immigration and national security, the president's judgment is not open to judicial second-guessing.

"It is not a Muslim ban," he said.

The 4th Circuit is considering whether to leave in place the Maryland decision siding with challengers who say the order violates First Amendment prohibitions on government condemnation of a particular religion.

To restore the administration's policy in full, the Justice Department would have to win in Richmond and in its appeal of the Hawaii ruling, which is scheduled for argument on May 15 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The losing party in either case is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Many of the judges Monday suggested they could not ignore the president's previous statements. Three judges, Robert King, Henry Floyd and James Wynn, all nominated by Democrats, directly quoted Trump.

"He's never repudiated what he said about Muslims," King said.

Several judges also asked whether a Trump campaign statement calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" was still on his website.

The statement appeared to have been removed as the court hearing in Richmond got underway.

'Entitled to deference?'

The challenge in Maryland was brought by organizations and individuals, including a Muslim in the United States whose relative would be affected by the ban. They are being represented by the National Immigration Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, struggled at times as he faced tough questioning, mostly by the Republican-nominated members of the court.

"Is the executive not entitled to some deference?" asked Judge Dennis W. Shedd.

Jadwat said the president is "not allowed to set a policy that violates the Establishment Clause," referring to the Constitution's command that government not favor one religion over another.

How quickly the 4th Circuit will rule is not known. But the court took the unusual step of bypassing the traditional three-judge panel and heard the case as a full group of 13. Two judges recused themselves: Allyson Kay Duncan, a George W. Bush nominee, and J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Ronald Reagan nominee.
AUSTIN -- House lawmakers swiftly granted preliminary approval on a voice vote Monday to a heavily amended bill to repeal the definition of "illegal knives" just one week after a fatal attack at the University of Texas put the spotlight on those types of weapons.

An amendment to the bill introduced by Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., D-Houston, sought to address concerns over campus security by retaining restrictions on certain types of knives at educational institutions and other places. "They will not be allowed on school property," Dutton said.

The revised House Bill 1935 would change current law by replacing the list of weapons classified under "illegal knife" in the Texas Penal Code with the term "location-restricted knife," defined as a knife with a blade over 5 1/2 inches in length.

In addition to schools, the amendment to the bill would also ban the knives from the premises of bars, sporting events, churches, amusement parks, correctional institutions, and hospitals and nursing homes.

The proposed legislation also removes a ban on the sale of such knives to minors, but the amended version imposes additional restrictions on where and how they can carry the knives.

The bill's primary author, Rep. John Frullo, R-Lubbock, had garnered bipartisan support from five other representatives who signed on as joint authors and co-authors. He described existing law as "fundamentally unfair and discriminatory" for criminalizing the possession of knives in places where it would be legal to carry a firearm.

Debate on the bill was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed in light of the timing so soon after the UT stabbings.

On May 1, UT-Austin student Kendrix White was arrested in connection with a knife attack on campus that left one dead and three others injured. The weapon used in the stabbings was described by police as a Bowie Knife, a type of large hunting knife that would fall under the definition of "location-restricted knife." On Friday, the House approved a memorial resolution to honor the student who was killed in the attack.

Existing state law defines "illegal knives" as including those with blades longer than 5  inches, daggers, Bowie Knives, spears, swords, and instruments designed to cut or stab by being thrown.

Supporters of the legislation contend that these definitions caused confusion among citizens, law enforcement, and the courts, and they also argue that the state's treatment of knives is out of sync with the state's expansion of gun rights in recent years. A bill similar to HB 1935 passed the House in 2015 but failed to make it to the governor's desk.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

WASHINGTON  The hearing was about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The star witness was former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by President Donald Trump in a dispute over the lawfulness of his abortive Muslim travel ban.

The blockbuster revelation: Yates had directly warned the White House that Michael Flynn, the Trump campaign's top national security advisor, had lied about his contacts with the Russians and could be "blackmailed" as a result, compromising national security.

WARNED: Yates says she warned the White House that Flynn could be blackmailed

But there was another agenda in the packed hearing room apart from the allegations about Trump campaign ties to the Russians, an issue that has dogged the White House since its earliest hours.

Some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary panel, including both U.S. senators from Texas, turned to another line of questioning: Why had Yates overruled the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and directed the department's lawyers not to defend the president's executive order restricting travel from a set of predominantly Muslim countries?

"I thought the Department of Justice had a long-standing tradition of defending a presidential action in court if there are reasonable arguments in its favor, regardless of whether those arguments will prove to be ultimately persuasive, which of course is up to the courts to decide, not you," said Texas Republican John Cornyn.

True, Yates replied, "but in this instance all arguments have to be based on truth, because we're the Department of Justice."

EUROPEAN VIEW: Putin, Merkel spar in Russia over election meddling

Yates said she detected an unlawful discriminatory intent in the initial travel ban, which was struck down in court and eventually rewritten. "We are talking about a fundamental issue of religious freedom," she said.

Texas Republican Ted Cruz took up the same attack, suggesting that Yates' decision was based on partisanship, not principle. "There is no doubt the arguments you laid out are arguments we can expect litigants to bring," he said, "partisan litigants who disagree with the policy decisions of the president."

Yates, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, recalled that she had been pressed by Republicans at her 2015 confirmation hearings about whether she would go along with presidential directives that she thought were illegal or unconstitutional. "I said no, and that's what I promised you I would do, and that's what I did."

Yates' appearance was part of an ongoing probe by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, one of several congressional investigations into alleged Russian meddling.

Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that while the public has a right to know, "this is not anything new  although perhaps the level and intensity and sophistication of both Russian overt and covert operations is really unprecedented."

Yates' testimony came as reports swirled around the Capitol that Obama had personally warned Trump about hiring Flynn, information that amplified Yates' testimony that she had told the White House days after the inauguration about false statements Flynn made to Vice President Pence and others about his discussions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

DIFFERENT OUTCOME: Clinton blames Russia, FBI chief for 2016 election loss

According to Yates, the false statements could have exposed Flynn to potential manipulation by the Russians. "The national security advisor could be blackmailed by the Russians," she said.

Flynn was forced to resign after just 24 days as Trump's national security advisor.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the idea that senior members of his campaign worked closely with Russian officials are "fake news," a theme he kept up on Twitter earlier Monday.

Trump accused the Obama administration of not properly vetting Flynn when he led the Defense Intelligence Agency. Under Obama's tenure, Flynn was both promoted to lieutenant general and, three years later, reportedly forced to retire amid criticism of his management style.

"General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration," Trump tweeted, "but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that."

Trump also attacked Yates on Twitter: "Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. (counsel)."

Trump offered no evidence for his suspicion that Yates leaked the information. In her testimony hours later, Yates repeatedly denied leaking any classified information about Trump associates and their alleged Russian ties.

Former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. also testified at Monday's hearing. Lawmakers had invited another Obama administration official, former national security adviser Susan Rice. She declined.

"It seems to me there are a lot of questions that she needs to answer," Cornyn said.

Rice has come under withering criticism from Republicans who believe she helped "unmask" Trump associates mentioned in intelligence reports. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Yates had originally been scheduled to testify last March before the House Intelligence Committee. That hearing was canceled by the chairman, California Republican Devin Nunes, who has since stepped aside from the probe because of questions over his own contacts with the Trump White House.

Yates' testimony Monday was preceded by months of legal wrangling about whether her conversations with White House lawyers were covered by presidential "communications privilege."

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer, however, said the White House welcomed her testimony.
The center held.

Political neophyte Emmanuel Macron crushed far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in Sunday's race to become president of France.

The French tricolor didn't wave alone at the 39-year-old former economy minister's victory party. The European Union's stars of unity fluttered throughout the crowd as Macron took the stage to the sounds of "Ode to Joy," the EU's anthem. His election delivers not only a clear rejection of Le Pen's loathsome attitude toward immigrants and Muslims, and her political party's longtime embrace of anti-Semitism, but also her promise to follow Britain in leaving the EU.

The post-war dream of a united Europe currently faces a rogues gallery of opponents ranging from Le Pen to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and even our own President Donald Trump. And make no mistake, the battle to save Europe is not over.

Macron ran on his own political movement - "En Marche!" - while voters rejected his nation's traditional political parties. The passions of populism and nationalism will again be on the ballot in France's legislative elections in June. Now the new president must confront the cultural and economic crises that continue to vex not only France, but also the rest of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Macron has promised to boost France's economy by cutting the nation's notoriously restrictive regulations, investing in green energy and strengthening the EU. That's all well and good, but cautious moderation is no answer to the illiberalism that's set across both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. People need to know that their government is working for them. A growing stock market doesn't mean much to a 50-year-old worker who hasn't seen a raise in years. And a single charismatic politician is not a policy prescription for fixing the global economic trends that continue to disrupt the developed world.

Political victories can be fleeting. Barack Obama ran on the English version of "En Marche!" - Forward! - in 2012. He was followed by Trump.

The change that people need is the kind that jingles in their pockets. The hope that truly helps is the well-informed optimism of parents thinking about their kids' futures.

Since the Great Recession, the Western world has seen the rich grow richer while the criminal bankers who precipitated the global financial collapse went unpunished. If centrist candidates cannot finger the bad guys in our economic order, then people will find their own scapegoats - immigrants, Muslims, international trade, conspiracy theories. Clever politicians have no problem leaping on that wave of anger and riding it to victory, even if it means abandoning Western ideals of egalite, liberte and fraternite.

Yes, the center held in France. Now it needs to think about the next move.
Texas has gained national acclaim for closing prisons while achieving declines in crime that exceed the national drop. Since 2005, crime has fallen 33.4 percent in Texas while the incarceration rate has declined 16.6 percent.

How did it happen? In 2005, the state launched a grant program whereby probation departments could receive additional funds to reduce caseloads if they adopted graduated sanctions to respond to technical violations like missing appointments and using alcohol or other drugs. Graduated sanctions, such as increased reporting, curfews, electronic monitoring, and weekend jail, are designed to promote compliance and thereby reduce the number of people revoked from probation to prison for technical violations. Then in 2007 Texas lawmakers opted against building new prisons and instead adopted a justice reinvestment package, which included expanding drug courts and substance abuse and mental health treatment programs to which judges could divert people to instead of prison.

Since then, Texas has closed four lockups and, with more than 6,000 empty beds, pending House and Senate budgets call for closing at least two additional prisons, saving tens of millions of dollars. However, these budgets also include cuts to adult probation that threaten to stop this trend from continuing. The cuts are based in part on a faulty assumption that fewer people will be on probation in 2018 and 2019. The budget conference committee members must rectify this.

Texas has been down this road before. In 2003 facing a revenue drop due to a recession, Texas lawmakers cut probation by 20 percent, which was immediately followed by a spike in people being sentenced and revoked to prison. Why is this? First, if probation caseloads are unmanageable and there are waiting lists for treatment beds, prosecutors and judges will opt for prison instead of probation. Second, probation officers supervising 250 people instead of 125 people don't have the bandwidth to impose graduated sanctions to bring the probationer into compliance.

There are two primary sources of a probation funding shortfall. First, correctional population projections from the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) on which the budget is based assume that there will be 4,000 fewer people on felony probation in fiscal year 2018 than in 2017. This is used as the basis of a $6.7 million annual cut to basic adult probation funding in both budgets.

Yet, the LBB report notes that placements and term lengths are trending slightly higher and acknowledges that because data was unavailable at the time, they did not count people being supervised by probation as part of a pretrial diversion program that Harris County started in 2016. Under this program which has 1,600 participants and is growing by 200 a month, people charged with a first-time state jail felony offense for possession of less than a gram of drugs are not convicted or sentenced if they successfully complete a year-long supervision and treatment regimen which is operated by the probation department.

This program has reduced the number of offenders choosing a short time in state jail over many years of probation, because they have the incentive of no criminal record if they complete it. Second, recidivism rates are two-thirds less than those for similar offenders discharged from state jail. Indeed, Harris County is effectively being penalized despite accounting for 55 percent of the 2,482 statewide decline in state jail admissions between 2014 and 2016.

The other pending hit to adult probation is that both budgets fail to fund a projected $22 million biennial increase in health insurance costs for current and retired probation officers. Unfortunately, probation is legally obligated to cover these costs and these increases simply track national trends.

The impact of the basic probation and health insurance funding shortfalls is dramatic. Harris County's probation caseload size will spike from 160 per officer today to some 260 per officer in August 2018. In contrast, state parole caseloads are less than 80 per officer. County probation director Teresa May rightly warns that prosecutors and judges will simply opt for state jails and prisons if probation caseloads preclude adequate supervision.

Texas has saved billions and become safer by thinking outside the cell. Now, state leaders must act to write the next chapter in this criminal justice success story.

Levin is director of the Center for Effective Justice & Right on Crime at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called French President-Elect Emmanuel Macron by phone on Monday to congratulate him on his victory in Sunday's presidential elections, Turkish presidential sources said.

In a statement, the sources said Erdogan had told Macron the results of the election increased hope for the future of the European Union. The two leaders agreed to meet at a NATO summit in Brussels later this month, the sources said.

Erdogan and Macron also emphasised their determination to improve Turkish-French relations and discussed the importance of overcoming recent issues between Turkey and the EU, the sources said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Give Ozarks Day 2017 will feature more than 240 nonprofit agencies that will encourage donors to support their causes during this 24-hour online fundraising event.

Donors can visit giveozarks.org today to make secure online gifts starting at $5 to support nonprofits that serve a broad range of needs and interests across the region. This years event  Give Where You Live  is presented by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and BKD Wealth Advisors.

Locally, two organizations are participated.

Participating nonprofits will be eligible for a record $206,500 in cash prizes and matching funds, including three new $5,000 jackpots, thanks to generous sponsors. In addition, 20 nonprofits were selected for endowment challenge matching grants where they will receive $5,000 if they raise at least $5,000 on May 9. The total prize pool is $106,500 and the CFO is supporting an additional $100,000 in endowment challenge matching funds to promote long-term sustainability for nonprofits.

This is the third year for Give Ozarks Day. More than $2.2 million was raised during the 2015 and 2016 Give Ozarks days. Its the regions single largest online giving day for nonprofits. The participating nonprofits are partner agencies with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

They include Houston Education Foundation, which is raising funds for technology at the district; and TCMH Healthcare Foundation, which is seeking donations for scholarships for its TCMH Youth Ambassador Program.

To make a secure and tax-deductible gift, donors can log onto giveozarks.org on May 9 and search for a specific nonprofit, community or area of interest and complete a basic credit-card transaction. A new feature this year is give as a guest to remove the step of creating an account or remembering last years password.

Donors also are encouraged to use social media to share information about projects and agencies they support. Agencies are planning a number of activities and campaigns to highlight their Give Ozarks Day efforts. Social-media users can use #giveozarks to track activity.

We are excited to celebrate and highlight the important work of the nonprofit sector through this community-wide giving day, CFO President Brian Fogle said. Everyone can find a cause or interest that mirrors their own passions, whether its children, animals, the environment, education, history, recreation and many more projects.

Online giving days hosted by community foundations across the country have raised millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations in recent years. The CFO is partnering with Mostly Serious, a Springfield-based web development firm, to produce Give Ozarks Day.
Egypts Armed Forces foiled on Monday an attempt to smuggle arms into the country through its western border with Libya, a statement by the Ministry of Defense said on Monday.

The Egyptian army received intelligence that a large number of vehicles was in the process of crossing into Egypt, according to the ministry.

Based on the intelligence, Egypts air forces launched a reconnaissance operation on the border and immediately targeted the convoy as it attempted to cross into Egypt.

The army destroyed 15 vehicles carrying arms and ammunitions.

Egyptian air forces and border guards continue a search for the smugglers.

Egypt's over 1,000 kilometre-long border with Libya has seen the regular smuggling of arms since the fall of Libya's Gaddafi regime in 2011.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
Realtors often recommend removing personal items before starting home showings. This owner might have wanted to take that advice more seriously.

The listing for a "charming" Brantford, Ont. bungalow describes it as "cozy and gently lived in" and "meticulously maintained."

Advertisement

It's also full of hundreds of clowns.

Hundreds.

Of.

Clowns.

The home belongs to Michael McMannis' mother and her common-law spouse, who are in their 80s, reported The Toronto Star. McMannis estimates the couple has collected maybe 1,500 clowns over the past 25 years.

"We are not clowning around at the price of $239,900," jokes RE/MAX Realtor Kyle Jansink in a promotional video.

Advertisement

Mm hm. If you can look past all the clowns, the home is located on a quiet street near schools and parks.

Take a look inside the home:

Brantford, Ont. Clown House For Sale, May 2017 See Gallery

Follow HuffPost Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Feeling attractive can empower you in romantic relationships because it has a direct impact on your confidence level. And, according to relationship expert and Viviscal Spokesperson Dr. Laura Berman, confidence is the key to a successful relationship.

If you dont feel worthy of love or you decide your partner doesnt really love you or your partner isnt really attracted to you, that diffuses through to all aspects of your interactions and the same is true in reverse, Dr. Berman tells HuffPost Canada.

Advertisement

In fact, a lack of self-confidence or self-esteem while in a relationship can lead to jealousies, accusations, insecurities, miscommunications, misunderstandings, shutting down sexually [and] a tit-for-tat mentality, she says.

So what can you do to make your partner (and yourself) feel more attractive? Here, Dr. Berman reveals six ways:

1. Show appreciation.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but the simple act of showing appreciation for your partner goes a long way in making them feel attractive. After all, everyone wants to be noticed, whether theyre in a relationship or not.

Advertisement

[Start] pointing out things about your partner openly and verbally that you may notice, Berman says. Youre always cooking dinner, somebody else always does the dishes. Start pointing those things out and expressing appreciation, both for the things theyre doing, for the person they are and for the way they look.

This tactic is especially important for building a womans confidence in a long-term relationship since, for them, feeling attractive is less about feeling seductive and sexy  although thats important  [and] more about feeling fascinating and delightful, says Berman.

2. Make time for cuddles.

Commit to 15 minutes [a day], three times a week where youre kissing and cuddling, Berman advises. No technology other than music, and it cannot be a preamble to sex.

Spending just 15 to 20 minutes of quality time with your partner each day can instantly improve your feelings of self-worth because it reconnects you with your partner, emotionally and physically.

Advertisement

When you have the opportunity to kiss and cuddle and talk about things other than the logistics of your lives, you have each others undivided attention and can get into the sensual connection as well as the emotional connection, that really fuels worth and desire, Berman explains.

3. Find evidence for how your partner loves you.

If you adopt the story that your partner is selfish or doesnt love you or doesnt appreciate you, you are going to find evidence for that everywhere, Berman says. So do little games with yourself where youre going to find evidence today for how my partner does love me, or how my partner does value me. Big and small.

Not only will this positive thinking help build your confidence in your relationship (and your self-esteem), but if you start pointing these things out to your partner, the show of appreciation will help build theirs as well.

4. Schedule time for sex.

Advertisement

Its something people often want to resist at first because, you know, its supposed to happen spontaneously, but once youre in a long-term relationship, especially if you have busy lives and/or kids, if you wait for it to happen spontaneously, youre waiting a long time, Dr. Berman explains.

Scheduling time for sex actually has its benefits. The anticipation alone not only makes you and your partner feel more attractive and desired, but also allows couples to be extra fun with their flirtations leading up to the scheduled day.

Additionally, scheduling sex frees up other days and can help maintain a happy balance for couples who might not be on the same page with their sex drives.

According to Berman, those with a low desire might avoid kissing and cuddling their partner for fear of leading them on or having to reject them. This can then lead to a disconnect. Thus, planning specific days for sex can really empower those with low sex drives and make them feel more confident in themselves and their relationship.

5. Exercise in the great outdoors.

Advertisement

Just exercising one time can boost your body image, Berman says, but there are more recent studies that show that exercising outside in a beautiful setting will actually boost self-esteem.

According to a 2010 study by University of Essex, as little as five minutes of exercise in the great outdoors can improve a persons sense of self-worth.

When you can experience yourself in relation to the universe and feel that connection which we often do in nature, you cant help but feel good about yourself, Berman explains. When you know how tapped into that you really are and how powerful each of us really is and how connected to the Earth and the universe that we really are, when youre in that majesty of sorts, its really hard to be down on yourself.

6. Take 30 seconds a day to have a heart-to-heart hug.

My husband and I do that every morning and I imagine sending love into his heart, back and forth. Im imagining recommitting to him and being in choice every day to be in a relationship with him, Berman says. When your partner feels like you are actively choosing to be with them and you want to be with them, they feel more confident.

Advertisement

While these simple methods can help make your partner feel more attractive, Dr. Berman warns that theres only so much we can do to build [our partners] confidence. We also have a duty to ourselves to find our own core sense of being worthy of love, she says.

For tips on how to move towards self-acceptance, click here.

Also on HuffPost
Syrian rebels and their families began evacuating from a district of Damascus for the first time on Monday, bringing the government closer to recapturing all of the capital.

The evacuation began days after regime backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey signed a deal to implement "de-escalation zones" where the government and opposition will halt hostilities.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Monday rejected any role for the United Nations or international forces in monitoring the zones.

The deal to evacuate Barzeh district mirrors similar agreements for opposition-held territory elsewhere, allowing fighters safe passage in exchange for surrender.

State television cited the Damascus provincial governor as saying a first wave of 1,022 people, including 568 fighters, had left Barzeh on Monday.

The channel said the evacuation would take five days, but that rebels who chose to stay could do so if they registered with the government.

Those leaving will head to the rebel-held province of Idlib, in Syria's northwest.

The evacuation deal was struck late Sunday night, and dozens of people gathered in Barzeh from Monday morning.

An AFP photographer saw rebel fighters carrying light weapons looking on as children and women in brightly-coloured headscarves pulled shabby suitcases and duffel bags.

A source from the pro-government National Defence Forces said rebel fighters would be allowed to take their "personal weapons" with them.

Negotiations were ongoing for a similar deal in the district of Qabun, in Damascus's northeast, which forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been shelling heavily for weeks.

"We are working on Qabun and there is the Yarmuk camp, where talks are underway for the evacuation of armed groups," said Muallem.

Assad's government controls all but six districts of Damascus: Barzeh, Qabun, Jobar, Tishreen, Tadamun, and Yarmuk camp.

The evacuation is a first in the capital, but the Barzeh agreement follows a model of "reconciliation deals" implemented across the country.

The government touts such deals as the best way to end the six-year conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with anti-regime protests and has killed more than 320,000 people.

But the opposition says it is forced into them by heavy government bombardment and siege tactics.

Monday's evacuation began as battlefronts quietened in Syrian territory included in four "de-escalation zones" agreed by Russia, Iran and Turkey.

The agreement, inked in the Kazakh capital Astana, excludes Damascus city.

It mandates an end to hostilities, including air strikes, in specified zones for six months.

The deal came into effect on midnight Friday, with fighting subsiding, but the co-sponsors have until June 4 to submit maps finalising the borders of the zones.

It calls for continued fighting against the Islamic State group, which is largely absent from the areas where the zones will be implemented, as well as former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front.

Fateh al-Sham has a powerful presence particularly in Idlib province, which is included in the zones, where it is allied with other opposition groups.

The deal says the "de-escalation zones" would be bordered by security areas with checkpoints and observation centres "ensured by the forces of the guarantors by consensus", but that "third-party" monitors could also be deployed.

But on Monday, Muallem rejected UN or international monitors.

"We do not accept a role for the United Nations or international forces to monitor the agreement," he said.

He added there could be a role "as the Russian guarantor has said, for military police", but it was unclear if he was referring to Syrian or foreign units.

Russia meanwhile said it had tabled a draft UN Security Council resolution backing the safe zone deal.

A source at the UN told Russia's Interfax news agency that "a vote on the draft will take place possibly this week".

Western diplomats expressed reservations, saying it was premature to endorse the Astana deal until final arrangements for the proposed "de-escalation zones" were agreed.

The agreement has been received with caution by Washington, with US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis saying it was being studied.

"Does this proposal have a hope for ending this war? We'll have to look at it. The devil is always in the details, so we are going to have to look at the details," he said.

Russia has said warplanes belonging to the US-led coalition fighting IS will be barred from operating in the four "de-escalation zones".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov are set to discuss the agreement when they meet on Wednesday in Washington.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Last year, my perception of economic empowerment changed completely. I had the amazing opportunity of being a museum docent at Queretaro's Museum of Art (MaQro), the only one in my city that provides tours and art lessons for children who have disabilities and live in marginalized communities.

While narrating the stories of female Mexican painters, such as Maria Izquierdo, Remedios Varo, and Frida Kahlo to girls and women, their questions showed that they were not only learning about the construction of Mexican identity through art - but also about the endless possibilities they could aim for and the increasingly powerful role of women in Mexico's society since the 1950s.

Advertisement

However, reality strikes hard when you look closely at Female Labor Force Participation in Mexico. In 2000, the percentage of women with a formal employment was 33.6%; last year it was recorded at 36.6%. It has taken 16 years to move 3%. According to the OECD, this lack of engagement in the labor force is due to factors such as the prevalent traditional gender roles, incredibly high levels of unpaid work at home and the lack of policies to make women's employment easier.

As a member of the G20, Mexico has set the goal of reducing the gender gap in labor activities by 25% by 2025. To reach this goal, the Mexican government must double their efforts to expect a significant change. I believe that success will come when they adopt more creative approaches towards workforce equality.

The world is moving fast and we need to act faster by engaging women with long-term solutions. Merging my academic focus on education and economics with my passion for arts, I will use the G(irls)20 opportunity to contribute to my community by inspiring girls through three "I's" to achieve economic empowerment:

Imagination. We need to remember what empowerment is: "the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights", and we have to make empowerment fun again!

Advertisement

A great way of doing so is through art, since it helps to increase creativity and critical thinking, also to be confident, inventive, perseverant, focused, and communicative. By engaging in arts, women would be more proactive, competitive and aware of their rights and potential - thus gaining control of their lives.

Inclusion. The economy should not discriminate. Everyone can contribute economically regardless of disabilities, physical features, race, social and civil status. In Mexico, 10% of the population has a disability, and within this, 70% are unable to find employment. By embracing diversity in the labor market, we can eradicate stigmas that prevent our economic development.

Innovation. Mexico needs more public investment and innovation in educational processes in order to boost female entrepreneurship (only 2% of working women in Mexico are entrepreneurs). This will lead to a reduction of the existing gender gap, higher wages, more opportunities and overall growth.

As the Mexican delegate at the 2017 G(irls)20 Summit, I'm honored to echo the voice of millions of Mexican women in this experience and strive to accomplish the G(irls)20's mission. If women work, they become more empowered and our economy grows.

Advertisement

By Mariana Vieyra Caballero, G(irls)20 Delegate, Mexico

Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook
Dan Dalton via Getty Images

This past weekend, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), held its bi-annual council meeting. The council is the governing body of the OMA and sets policy for the organization. It was clear from the enthusiasm and the passion exhibited that the OMA has turned a new leaf.

Firstly, there was the election of Dr. Shawn Whatley to the position of president. The position had been unfilled since the resignation of previous president Dr. Virginia Walley. I know Shawn, and he gave a stupendous speech on the steps necessary to improve the organization. I think he will be, by far the most representative president the OMA has seen in years.

Advertisement

Secondly, there was the election of fellow HuffPost Canada blogger, Dr. Nadia Alam, to the post of president-elect. I consider her to be a friend and colleague, and it's truly remarkable how much she's achieved in the past two years. As OMA Board member Dr. Del Dhanoa put it in his blog, her political career trajectory has been pretty much vertical.

Additionally, there were was an extremely high level of engagement, and at one point 38 motions were discussed in 90 minutes. As my colleague Mario Elia pointed out, the chairs themselves remarked at how many people stayed until the end of the meeting, and were astounded by the level of engagement. The enthusiasm for positive change in the room was palpable. The fact that routinely motions passed with margins of 75, 80 or even 90 per cent showed that profession was unifying strongly after a difficult two years. The biggest problem now is how to handle too much engagement, a far cry from previous years.

So what does this mean for the patients of Ontario? First, and foremost, it means that the OMA will now much more clearly tell the truth about the health care crisis that's gripping the province. Previously, the OMA's version of telling the truth was limited to telling people they were not "Activists" and that they should become Activists.

Out of 1700 patients of mine, only four remembered the ads and none of those four knew what the ads were trying to accomplish. It was left to a multitude of independent physician bloggers to tell the public what was really going on in health care, and frankly, that's not good enough.

Advertisement

Now, as Dr. Whatley put it in his acceptance speech:

"We must find a way to tell the truth about healthcare, but with gentleness. We do not need to be rude or cruel."

We can expect the OMA to start releasing, in a escalating manner, more and more information on how Health Minister "Unilateral Eric" Hoskins has damaged the health care system. Real stories of real patients suffering are sure to follow. I think that the public will be surprised at just how bad things have gotten. My sense is that the public feels the stories in the press are isolated incidents. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and a properly done OMA PR campaign will expose this.

In a show of just how much more aggressive the OMA has become, a resolution indicating that the OMA would litigate against the disastrous Bill 87 was also passed by a wide margin. The message was clear, the OMA simply would no longer tolerate the violation of constitutionally protected Charter rights of its members.

What does this mean for Unilateral Eric Hoskins? Well, to put it bluntly, it means he's finished as Health Minister. His political career may be over as well. My suspicion is that he thought that because he was a physician himself, he could enforce unilateral actions on the Health Care System. He strongly felt that by portraying doctors as greedy in the press, as opposed to working with them, he could survive the health ministry, and one day become premier. He simply didn't have the common sense to realize that you will get further when you work co-operatively with people, than if you vilify them.

The sad thing is that all Unilateral Eric had to do was study the past. As I'd pointed out in my first blog for HuffPost Canada, and in blogs since, when governments attempt unilateral actions in health care, the outcome is tragic. I claim no great prescience in this matter (if I was prescient, I'd know what numbers to pick for Lotto 6/49 this week). I'm simply old. I've seen this act before, and it always ends the same way, with patients suffering, and politicians being turfed.

Advertisement

The other person whose career is most likely finished is Deputy Health Minister Bob Bell. He doesn't get a lot of press since Unilateral Eric is usually the face of the Health Ministry. However, as has been pointed out before, his approval ratings by health care leaders (not doctors, the actual government bureaucrats that run the Health Ministry) are dismal and getting worse with time. I suspect he too thought that as a physician, he could somehow dictate unilateral actions to those he considered his colleagues. He too learned a harsh lesson.

The good news in all this is that if the past is repeating itself, then we know what the future will bring. Sometime this summer, there will be an announcement that the OMA and government have reached an agreement on a Binding Arbitration mechanism for solving disputes. That Unilateral Eric dismissed it just last summer will attempt to be hidden by the government. After that, work will begin in earnest on a Physicians Services Agreement. The deal will likely be in the fall. Then, we can finally expect the disastrous Unilateral Eric to be shuffled out of the Health Ministry, and perhaps Bob Bell to retire.

The people of Ontario pay a lot of money for health care. They deserve a system where doctors and government work co-operatively to address the health care needs of the population. It took doctors becoming more aggressive and forceful, but it looks like we may finally achieve that this year.
RTP

Yesterday, we were sentenced to pay 10,000 compensation charges to Miller Argent Ltd, after pleading guilty to aggravated trespass by shutting down Ffos-y-fran coal mine for one day.

In the early hours of 21 April 2017, under the banner of Earth First! and Reclaim the Power, we disrupted the ecologically and socially disastrous mining operations of Miller Argent in the UK's largest opencast mine. At 5am, two of us blocked vehicle access to the mine by using D-locks and an armtube to lock onto the cattle grid at the entrance, while three of us climbed down towards the bottom of the vast hole to lock onto the 300 tonne excavators used to extract coal.

Advertisement

One of us was dressed as a bright yellow canary. Historically, canaries were brought down into underground mines to act as warning signals: the death of the little bird indicated toxic levels of gas. Similarly, we wanted to highlight that coal mining is causing irreversible damage, particularly to those least responsible, especially in the global South.

Coal mining is not only a global issue. It's also an issue of local air pollution, democracy and environmental justice. For over a decade, Residents Against Ffos-y-fran and United Valleys Action Group have been fighting the mine. With the mine only 37 metres from the closest homes in Merthyr, they are suffering from pollution, dust, noise and vibration every day. In March, the UN Special Rapporteur On Human Rights & Toxics called for a health inquiry into cancer and asthma rates in the neighbouring communities, criticising the lack of government response. 500 residents have attempted to take court action against the mine, but their application was refused by the High Court as they were deemed unable to afford it.

Ffos-y-fran illustrates the failures of environmental regulation in the UK, the systematic injustices and the dominance of corporate over human interests and exemplifies how fossil fuel interests have become institutionalised as state interests, to be defended at all costs. The court's willingness to deter protesters on behalf of Miller Argent has exemplified this.

Advertisement

Coal kills!

Until recently, Ffos-y-fran supplied coal to one of Europe's dirtiest power stations, Aberthaw, third largest emitter of nitrogen oxides in the EU and responsible for 17% of Wales' greenhouse gas emissions. In 2014, the European Court of Justice confirmed that the power station is in breach of EU air pollution regulation. Rather than shutting down the plant, the government pays its operator, RWE nPower, 27 million pounds to keep it operational. Recently, the power station stopped burning Welsh coal, instead relying on imported coal, but Ffos-y-fran continues to operate.

Whilst Cameron's government committed to phasing out coal by 2025, this is not soon enough for the communities around Ffos-y-fran or for the many people who are already suffering from climate change. With Brexit, the reality of this commitment is cast into doubt, especially given May's legacy of u-turns in many important policy areas.

Governments have shown that they cannot be trusted to deal with the crises we are facing: they are part of the problem. Their responses are driven by corporate interests, further entrenching and institutionalising inequalities and injustices through racist border policies, false solutions and 'green capitalist' fantasies. Twenty-five years of climate negotiations have laid bare the corporate capture of the international policy processes and exposed the need to take matters into our own hands - to go to where climate change is caused and 'shut shit down.' The global coal industry is at the forefront of climate change, biodiversity loss, exploitation and degradation of social and ecological communities.

Advertisement

We need a diversity of tactics to end coal. In resistance to Ffos-y-fran, local people have fought court battles and a public inquiry, organised petitions and protests, succeeding in having a second mine rejected (though Miller Argent are currently appealing against this). By disrupting operations and shutting down the mine, we hit the operator where it hurts - in the first three hours of the blockade alone, the company allegedly lost up to 60,000. Only through continued direct action, by opposing all types of destruction and oppression, can we build the world we want to see. Centralising power structures and authority are inherently environmentally exploitative and socially oppressive. We want a socio-economic system run for the needs of people, not for profit; according to principles of solidarity, co-operation and mutual aid. This system is based on sharing, voluntary collaboration, and communal organising and runs on local, decentralised, communally controlled electricity. That's the world we are fighting for.

If you support our action and can help us pay for these ludicrous charges in any way, please donate here. For those who came before, and those who will come after!
Agf

Having been a grime fan for the best part of seven years, seeing the genre grow from airplay on small pirate radio stations, to garnering worldwide media attention, has been nothing short of astonishing. Nowadays, rappers prominent in pop culture such as Drake and Chris Brown are regular features on songs with grime artists.

Joseph Junior Adenuga and Michael Omari, better known respectively as Skepta and Stormzy are at the forefront of the grime scene, both forging hugely successful careers. With the latter recently releasing his debut album "Gang Signs and Prayer" (GSAP) which peaked at Number 1 on the U.K. Albums chart, while Skepta's most recent album "Konnichiwa" released in the spring of 2016, peaked at number 2. Already impressive as it is, it becomes even more so when you consider that both are independent artists, and released those bodies of work without any major label backing.

Advertisement

Aside from being very accomplished individuals, another facet held in common by these two is location - both hailing from the inner-cities of London. Skepta, hailing from Tottenham, North London, while Stormzy's hometown is Croydon, South London. Both areas have borne the brunt of austerity policies employed in recent times. Cuts to local council funding and benefit schemes such as tax credits have made living conditions increasingly difficult.

Local MP David Lammy is highly vocal about Tottenham possessing the highest unemployment rate in London. Similarly, Croydon, after an analysis of last year's crime statistics (available on www.police.uk), was named the worst place to live. A whopping 37,463 crimes were reported last year.

Both areas have a strong Black-African/Caribbean diaspora. Statistics show that this ethnic group is the 2nd most likely to be in "persistent poverty" (income of less than 60% of the median household income). A statistic not helped by the withdrawal and cuts to many income supplementing benefits.

Tensions between figures of authority and BAME groups are rife. The fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan in 2011 caused outrage in Tottenham causing protests which ultimately sparked the beginning of the 2011 riots. Although 6 years ago, the wounds from this have not healed, there is still a huge distrust for law enforcement within the black community in the U.K.

Advertisement

Statistics show that Black people are over-represented in the criminal justice system. While making up just 2.7% of the U.K. population, Black-African/Caribbean account for 13.7% of the prison population. Statistics also show that black people are targeted more by the police, as we are 6 times more like to be stopped and searched by the police than a white person.

There is a clear link between crime and poverty. This is evident when you consider the unemployment rate for black people age 16-24 lie at a staggering 30% the highest of any ethnic group.

The bleak outlook can make it very easy for a young black person, like myself to lose faith in the system. If you were once like me and starting to question if there was any point of you having any ambition, look towards the massive success of Joseph Junior Adenuga and Michael Omari. Not only invaluable to the music scene but invaluable to the areas they come from. They have shown that it is possible to achieve, despite the statistics suggesting it is extremely hard to do so.
Sherif Ismail will represent Egypt at the UK-hosted conference, which aims to help Somalia achieve 'political stability' and 'economic development'

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail is set to fly to the UK on Wednesday to participate in the London Somalia Conference 2017, at which senior government officials from various nations will discuss ways of supporting the African country.

According to an Egyptian cabinet statement, Ismail is to represent Egypt at the international conference, which runs from 10 and 11 May, in collaboration with the British and Somali governments and the United Nations.

The Egyptian PM's participation comes as part of Egypt's aspiration to support Somalia, which witnessed presidential elections early 2017, and help it achieve political stability and proceed with economic development, the cabinet statement read.

In February 2017, Somali MPs elected 55-year-old former prime minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as the country's new president.

The conference, which is to be inaugurated by British Prime Minister Theresa May, will involve heads of state from across Africa, as well as representatives from several international organizations.

The first London Somalia Conference took place in 2012, in response to rising instability in the African county. Security had been undermined by the actions of terrorist group Al-Shabab, while large sections of the population were facing famine.

This years conference aims to "agree on a new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on course for increased peace and prosperity by 2020," according to a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) statement.



Search Keywords:

Short link:


michaelquirk via Getty Images

I do not like Jeremy Corbyn.

This is perhaps, in itself, an innocuous statement as opinion polls (so far as they are trusted anymore) show a great number of people also don't like him. It is, however, not because of his appearance, no because he rides a bike or may or may not have sung the national anthem with enough vigour. No, I strongly disagree with the leader of the Labour party on some key aspects of his policy and recent performance.

I do not believe in unilateral nuclear disarmament and, while Labour continues to tie itself in knots, its party leader remains a fervent believer and contributor to the CND.

Advertisement

I think his lukewarm performance during the Brexit referendum contributed to a sense of voter apathy that helped usher in the result. Even today his promises to ensure a Brexit 'with the full benefits held in membership' seems like a dream and only reinforces that we may not have lost those benefits if he'd mustered a little enthusiasm at the time.

I think his inability to control his own party makes it highly doubtful that, as Prime Minister, he could deliver on his agenda particularly when it is likely that to achieve his admirable goals (saving the NHS, improving working class lives etc) he will need to pursue tax increases or other means of increasing government revenue. These measures are often unpopular and difficult to push through, without a party united behind him he is unlikely to succeed

.

Now, herein lies the problem.

I also do not like Theresa May, nor the Conservative government as it stands.

The reasons for this should be somewhat self-evident as a general decline in infrastructure and services over the last Government and her own are keenly felt throughout the country. Despite years of Austerity the deficit continues to climb and we are now set, it appears, on a 'Hard Brexit' that I believe will do a great deal of damage to the UK economy.

Now, I do happen to like the Liberal Democrats and their policy positions. I like that, even before the election, they strove to hold the government to account over Brexit negotiations on behalf of the nearly 50% of voters who wished to Remain. I like that they have long made mental health services a priority and that they have consistently remained in the political centre while it seems Labour and the Conservatives move inexorably closer to their respective extremes.

Advertisement

I don't agree wholly with their Nuclear position, but it is at least a great deal more logical then simply removing Trident wholesale.

However, in the cold hard light of RealPolitik, the Liberal Democrats have almost no hope of winning a majority, or even of winning the seat in which I live. Due to the hard line our First Past the Post system draws between winners and losers it is very likely that a LibDem vote will be a wasted vote.

So, should I therefore relent and cast a vote for Labour in the hope of driving the Conservatives out but therefore supporting a party I don't believe in?

That certainly seems to be the advice of any number of Social Media politicians, with endless memes decrying a vote for anyone but Corbyn as somehow a betrayal of democracy. Yet there is something stunningly un-democratic about this position, as though others somehow know what is best for you and your only choice is to acquiesce to their demands.

In fact in rings very strongly with memories from the Democratic Primary in the US, where it was this party line taken against Bernie Saunders. A clear statement repeated ad nauseum that only Hillary Clinton could win against the populist menace that was Donald Trump.

Advertisement

We all remember how that ended, I imagine.

Perhaps in an age where Donald Trump is the President of the United States and where a complete unknown can win the French Presidential election the age of 'wasted' votes is passing. After all, both of those men, opposite though they may be, were at one time considered hopeless causes.

There is one other final consideration I must make, the simple fact that I want the Lib-Dems to continue as a party; to carry on the causes that I support using the MPs that they are able to get elected. The fact is that a strong showing of support, by popular vote if not by MPs, has long been a lifeline for the party so while one vote may not tip my local race it could yet be part of a bigger whole.
smartboy10 via Getty Images

Two years ago today (May 7th) I turned up at a polling station in Croydon and put a cross next to my name. This time round I'm not even on the electoral register. I've had an odd relationship with the ballot box and at a time where I see anarchists discussing voting (some for the first time) because of the horrors of a Theresa May government being returned stronger and more stable than ever, I've been reflecting on my experiences.

The 2015 general election is always on my mind. As well as standing for Class War at the time in an effort to troll the constitution it's also the focus of my doctoral studies. I'm going to argue that standing in that election allowed us into spaces where anarchists don't normally get the chance to roam -- often out of choice of course. It opened up new and unusual avenues for direct action and it brought us face-to-face with the class enemy. But that's a much longer story than I have space for today. I don't intend to tell people what to do but I want to explain the feelings I have now I've chosen not to vote.

Advertisement

I'm a politics geek. From being a teenager I've always followed the Westminster spectacle. It's exciting at times and compelling. Often it's run of the mill but the exciting moments make up for the months of tedium. In 1992 I didn't have a political home. I didn't know what I thought about anything really. I was 16 and a mate came round to watch the general election coverage. He told me his dad, a builder, was worried about a Labour victory because of the winter of discontent. I had no idea what that was but we stayed up until the early hours rooting for a John Major victory. Very embarrassing but that's rural Lincolnshire for you.

Two years later I had been introduced to Marxism when studying sociology. I was a Marxist, I decided, and I had my first chance to vote in a European election. I'd also had a strange encounter with Tory MP, Edward Leigh, who had been invited to speak at my school. I'd ended up asking him a question that implied calling him a donkey which he took very badly and I got into a bit of grief with the teachers. Suddenly I was a rebel and a Marxist. In those EU elections I was so rebellious I voted for Labour and it was the one and only time that the person I voted for actually got the seat.

By 1997 I was flirting with anarchism. I was intending not to vote as I hated all the parties and someone at university suggested spoiling the ballot paper. This appealed at the time as I thought at least my voice would be heard. I had a stand up hour long debate with bloody Edward (eee-orrr) Leigh in my village the day before that election. I managed not to offend him this time and he told me that I was wasting my vote. I went ahead anyway and wrote "MYSELF" on the ballot paper. This, it seemed, was the truth. I represent myself and nobody else can do that. In Croydon two years ago these memories came back to me and struck a chord. I'd gone full circle in my voting behaviour.

Between 1997 and 2015 I often spoiled my paper, or occasionally voted Green. I might have voted Labour in a local election or some such along the way. I can't remember. But the key thing about this story is that in both 1997 and 2015 I'd settled on the best person to do the job. I'm not being arrogant here. I don't think I'm the best person to represent you or anyone else. I'm the worst person to represent anyone else; just the best to represent me.

Advertisement

Following the 2015 election I decided not to register to vote. I found standing in the election hugely stressful and the experience put me off. I'm still occasionally dragged into the newspapers because one of Jeremy Corbyn's inner circle, Andrew Fisher, once tweeted for people to support me rather than Labour's Emily Benn. He is now apparently writing the party's manifesto. But really, no election is going to get better than the one where I led a Tory audience at a hustings in a one minute silence to commemorate International Workers memorial Day, complete with the Tory candidate sitting uncomfortably beside me twitching at how long a minute can seem to last.

So for now voting is for other people. I don't blame people for trying. The Tories are sick and getting worse. However, even with all the anarchists in Britain holding their noses and voting Labour, that party is not going to get very far this time around. Our votes wouldn't amount to a hill o' shite.

I've found election days very strange after taking this decision. I didn't vote in the EU referendum that everyone was so excited about. I saw it as the ruling class asking the people which direction they wanted their class to take us in. I didn't vote a few days back in the local elections. On both occasions I had some guilt -- very similar to the time I decided God was a fantasy, despite all those years at Sunday School. The guilt of denouncing faith in a system is strong especially when people died to get us something, whether it's the vote or our sins washed away.

The other feeling I get by not voting is superiority. I feel aloof and above the crowd. I feel like I'm not responsible for any of this shit. It's their fault, the voters. Of course the left-wing voters blame people like me for the Tories doing well. Inaction can be an action of course but my inaction is the act not of apathy but of understanding. It's an understanding of politics and the democratic system that's largely ignored by the mainstream. It's the understanding that the vote of an individual barely makes any difference and it's the understanding that voting should not be confused with political activity. I'm politically active and I consider politics to be on the streets, in our workplaces and in our communities. Voters can blame me all they like but elections are their responsibility, not mine. Their lack of understanding is far more dangerous than anyone's supposed apathy.

I'm not even apathetic in the normal sense of the word. I'm paying more attention to official politics than ever. I'm even doing a live blog of the election where I'm collating the most interesting stuff I find with up to the minute sarcasm and a smattering of analysis. I'm not exactly the kind of pundit you'll find on the BBC's election night coverage but anarchists should be everywhere and so I'm adding my spin to this sordid spectacle. I'm not exactly a normal academic either. I'm just me and I'm representing myself against the inevitable criticism that I'm not taking things seriously enough or that I should keep my frivolous side and my scholarly side separate. Staying true to yourself can be very difficult; representing yourself is heroic.

Whether you vote or not, whether you've ever voted or not, one thing is for sure, like me, you're on a political journey. None of us arrives fully formed. We have to find our way through these moments. We don't exist separate to the state and capitalism. There is no pure anarchist approach to this crap. We represent ourselves in whatever way we feel fit and that is enough.
PhotoAlto/Sandro Di Carlo Darsa via Getty Images

The idea for this article came to me on a Megabus on the way to Leeds from London; a five hour journey solo and without wifi (Lord have mercy), so it is only apt that I eventually get round to writing the article on another journey, although this time to Edinburgh, and thankfully not a Megabus.

Whenever I decide to write something it is usually because it has become so blindingly obvious in everyday life that I can't stop thinking about it. Like when you've lost your watch and you can't get it off your mind so you start noticing every other watch in existence.

Advertisement

My watch at the moment is crying. And men.

Why do these two things still not go together in our society? Why is it something that is still not seen as acceptable even though, as human beings, we all go through life emotionally? Imagination and emotion are key parts of what make us human.

On a societal scale, to continually teach men and boys - all genders, in fact - that men are not 'men' when they cry, or that they are weak for showing emotion, is not only detrimental to them, but everyone in that society.

Grayson Perry writes in 'The Descent of Man' that in a society where men are expected to be un-emotional, 'the conflation of the description of emotional and 'tearful' needs to be knocked on the head.' This is because 'every moment of every day is emotional; we can't turn our feelings off.'

Addressing emotions, then, does not necessarily mean crying. In fact, acknowledging their influence could be instrumental in changing the way we act when affected by them. On a personal scale, we see time and again the negative impact of encouraging men to stifle challenging emotions and 'mutate emotional suffering into anger.' Let alone the effect upon those surrounding that individual.

Advertisement

However it is important to take note of the common association of tearfulness and being emotional, too. Not least because being tearful is often associated with women, and so when men cry they are regarded by many as more effeminate. This is damaging.

Prince Harry recently discussed how he shut down his feelings for 20 years since his mother's death in 1997. This is just one example of not knowing how to deal with internal feelings, bottling them up, and at worst, not even recognising their existence and impact. If in any way the result of a notion it was necessary to 'man up,' it is vital to recognise a man should be able to privately or publicly react viscerally to a huge part of his own life experience.

Whilst it is wholly acceptable to keep your feelings to yourself if you are a more private person, so it should be for a man to go on a rampant crying rampage or shed a tear. It certainly shouldn't be a news story 20 years later - or at the time - that a man had an emotional response to a big life event.

Nor is it so complex as to be surprised that suppressing feelings to the point they explode into anger or violence is a common symptom of the domestic abuser, or even the mass murderer, such as the gunmen in Oregon and Colorado. In both cases, they felt isolated and misunderstood by society.

Perry acknowledges that if 'the man is made to feel unworthy, he may hate himself, he may take it out on others.' We know that the bullied often become the bullies. It is the same for emotions. If you are at the mercy of yours, or ignore them, you are more likely to exact them upon others.

Advertisement

Alongside this, gender stereotypes and societal expectations of men to be masculine and more dominant than women can be destructive for those at risk of becoming violent. Psychology Today identifies that 'the idea they are appearing weak or unmanly can trigger some men to act on violent impulses'.

Abusive and violent behaviour occurs as a by-product of an un-empathetic society. Not addressing emotions can lead to mental health issues, anti-social behaviour, drug abuse; the list goes on. The point is, if we can remove some part of the potential for people to resort to these behaviours, let's. In everyone's life there will be an event that triggers raw emotion, and for those allowed - tears. Let's not deny any group the right to wet their face. Or give any more 'reason' to inflict their feelings upon others.

We can start teaching boys from a young age that crying is okay, and stop saying 'big boys don't cry.' Increased emotional intelligence amongst all genders would benefit politics, the media, relationships, and every aspect of our lives. We also need to teach that getting therapy is alright.

The de-stigmatisation of therapy would, in turn, help to face the most critical consequences of mental health issues head-on, including suicide; the biggest killer of men under 45. Samaritans define it as 'both a gender and inequality issue,' and countless studies identify a link between gender-role identity and gender differences in depression. If we ignore these matters any longer, it is not only a dis-service to men and women alike, but actually affects mortality rates, too.

Stormzy did an interview a few months ago publicly discussing his depression. It was inspirational for a lot of people to see someone in the limelight - particularly a male - opening up about it. We need more role-models like him to assist in the normalization of discussing mental health issues.

Advertisement

Men in general can do something about it too - cry, if you want to. And don't apologise for getting emotional in your First Dates interview; I feel ya.

What is positive about an issue like this is that we can all make a difference ourselves; listen harder, listen longer, to other people and how they feel. A more empathetic society would be a greater one. Politicians might try harder to address the needs of the homeless, architects might start including gender-neutral toilets as standard, and so on.
Andrew Bret Wallis via Getty Images

There has barely been a door knocked since Theresa May surprised the nation with her snap General Election announcement, yet we've already witnessed our first gaffes, stumbles, awkward moments and grave predictions of the election campaign.

As if the past few months haven't been turbulent enough, the curtain falls on the shortest Parliament since 1974 with voices from all sides of the political divide speaking of testing times ahead. In the right ear, we hear that Mrs May and co. are walking the line towards stability and a stronger negotiating position when it comes to Brexit. From the left, there are warnings of years ahead of Conservative strong-arming and marginalisation of the masses.

Advertisement

On the political front, we're certainly set for a few more twists and turns before the UK finally makes its exit from the EU, but what does the changing face of British politics mean for the country's economy or, more broadly, the markets at large?

The answer: not a lot.

The City has long been battered, bruised, consoled and comforted by successive Parliaments, so the choppy waters which business leaders, investors and fiscal policymakers have been traversing is nothing new.

Does Brexit become clearer if Mrs May secures a stronger majority? No. Will banks rip up their plans to either relocate or stay in the City following the UK's departure from the EU? Probably not. In fintech, disruptors revel in the unknown, finding any edge they can as the world changes around them - this will simply continue.

Concerns around the strength of the pound continue to circulate, but financiers know that currencies can be fickle. On that day in late April when Mrs May first announced an mysterious press conference, before dropping her election bombshell, sterling first dropped to lows of 1 GBP = 1.17 EUR, before rallying to highs of 1 = 1.20. After yet another topsy turvy day, the currency closed just a penny higher than it had opened, and today has settled back to pretty much the same rate it was before the General Election furore began.

Advertisement

On the investment front, finance is still smarting from the 2008 global crisis. An air of trepidation reigns and many of the big players are cautious, making them less susceptible to risk. This means that the City is in robust shape when it comes to the fallout of Brexit, and the effect that this General Election will have (or not) on its future.

The repercussions from international businesses based in the UK are also unlikely to change. For every Goldman Sachs or HSBC that announces a move to Paris, Frankfurt or Dublin, there is a Deutsche Bank or Bank of America that has reaffirmed their commitment - and growth - in the UK. Even those who are looking at their options of moving their European bases have, beneath the headlines, have opted to keep the vast majority of their workforces in London.
As Westminster prepares to go into a long campaign because of Theresa May's U-turn on a snap election, many issues MPs have been working on are in danger of disappearing into the political long grass.

One of the issues that has been a major concern for me as the member for East Renfrewshire is the case of the so-called 'Chennai 6'. This is something the UK government has consistently fallen short on and will now - unfortunately - fall to the next parliament to sort out. We must not lose sight of this issue.

The Chennai 6 are British anti-piracy seamen imprisoned in pretty dreadful conditions in the Indian city of Chennai - formerly known as Madras. The six ex-paratroopers were working for Advanfort, a US maritime security company, to protect ships in international waters. They were arrested in October 2013, when piracy was at its peak, when their vessel, the Seaman Guard Ohio, entered Indian waters. My constituent, Billy Irving was jailed for five years, along with five other UK nationals and thirty other members of the ship's crew.

Advertisement

All of the vessel's crew were jailed for five years 'rigorous imprisonment' because the vessel was carrying firearms in Indian territorial waters. The Chennai 6 continue to protest their innocence and their families, colleagues, and politicians in Britain have branded their punishment unjust. The men have presented documentary evidence that the vessel was licenced to conduct anti-piracy activities in international waters. It is also clear that the men were unable to influence the course sailed by the vessel or the decision to enter Indian territorial waters.

I have raised this case on a number of occasions - and last week had a final chance to press the Conservative Government on this unacceptable situation. We need to get these men home. But, now, because of this election campaign - the issue is being kicked into the long grass.

I initiated an All Party group for the Chennai 6, and was one of a number of MPs, along with the imprisoned seamen's families, who presented a petition signed by 35,000 people to 10 Downing Street. I have raised their plight numerous times with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and made the case with Indian High Commissioner.

Families like Billy Irving's, where his son William faces growing up and going to school without his Dad, are in limbo, their family life in tatters.

Advertisement

The UK government strategy of leaving well alone has not paid off. The same government has secured the release from other countries of people who have admitted their guilt. So, there is a terrible irony here, if these military veterans, who have consistently protested their innocence and backed it up with documentary evidence, can't be helped.

When I had the opportunity to ask the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson directly about getting the men home he looked completely pre-occupied; no doubt focussed on the Brexit shambles his government is creating. It is so unfair that these men are left languishing in an Indian jail, and now we have been plunged into an election campaign in which, frankly, everything has stopped in its tracks. The men's families had plans for a rally in London - once again to raise awareness of the situation - but that is now in doubt.

The families have worked tirelessly since the men were first taken in to custody. No one could have done more than they have, and I applaud all of them for the dedication they have shown.
"I have finally found a normal and desirable life. I am now able to save a bit of money so that I can provide a better life for my children."

Yet it was not long ago that Hawa Moussa was close to having her children taken from her.

Having dropped out of school when her parents could no longer afford her education, Hawa soon met her husband and left her parents' home to settle in Mokolo District, Cameroon. But shortly after, her husband's attitude towards her changed completely.

Advertisement

He was no longer the man that I knew, and life became hard for me," Hawa explains. "When I was giving birth to our second child the delivery almost killed me, but after the birth my husband rejected me and tried to leave me and take my children."

Unfortunately, Hawa's story is not uncommon in Cameroon. The Far North Region of the country remains heavily affected by deteriorating insecurity, which has led to a mass displacement of people within the region as well as a large influx of Nigerian refugees from across the border. This has resulted in a loss of access to vital health services and an escalation of sexual violence. Girls and women forced into early marriage or affected by domestic violence rarely have a safe place to go to receive support.

Thanks to the intervention of social service agents, Hawa was able to win custody of her children and she returned to her father's house in Bourha. Hawa's father had passed away a few months earlier.

"It was a hard time for me because I was begging to feed my children and myself. It was difficult to meet our other basic needs - I could not even afford clothing or soap for washing. I had to send one of my children to live with my mother to ease some of my pain.

Advertisement

"Sometimes I worked for hardly any money at all just to afford a simple meal for my child."

One day, she was introduced to an International Medical Corps' social worker who told her about the Women's Centre that International Medical Corps, with support from the European Union, runs in Cameroon.

"I went to the centre where we talked for a long time and she listened to me. I started to go there regularly since that day.

"She encouraged me. I regained self-confidence and got down to work," Hawa says. "I joined the centre's learning group where I learnt to make soap, petroleum jelly and dye for cloth. I also learnt to prepare fortified porridge for children and certain dishes through the centre's nutrition programme.

"Thanks to International Medical Corps, I found a normal and desirable life. I earn a little bit of money from selling donuts three times a week. I also receive help from some people at the centre. I save a little money, gradually, to strengthen the small business I have started, to improve my income and provide for my children.
We're in a period of rapid technological innovation, which promises to not only change the way we live, but completely transform the way we work and do business. The most headline grabbing of these new technologies has undoubtedly been AI. With the home being taken over by AI devices like Amazon's Alexa or Google's Home, it's only a matter of time before AI enters the workplace, and people are questioning when software will make human workers redundant.

But in reality are we really headed for a dystopian sci-fi future where the threat to humanity is on a global scale? Probably not, but AI will certainly impact our working lives as it has our home lives.

We carry AI in our pockets, through our use of Siri, Google Assistant and Cortana, so why are people so scared of this advancement? Could it be because we're already seeing AI performing not only mathematical tasks, like accounting, but also jobs we'd consider more "human", such as writing news articles. We, as humans, have always thought there are some things AI simply can't do, but more and more the scope of AI abilities is changing.

Advertisement

We need to start viewing the human/AI relationship as a friendship rather than a threat, and learn about the technology instead of fearing it.

AI and IT

One of the key sectors where AI looks to be having the greatest impact is, predictably, IT, and consequently those working in the industry are watching the latest developments closely. Some areas of an IT manager's domain are already changing through the use of AI, particularly tasks like desktop support and software testing.

So surely those in the technology industry should be the most concerned, but this isn't the case. While around half of the respondents to our Global Digital Transformation Skills study agreed that AI will have the greatest impact on IT workers over the next decade, they also saw AI as a way to secure their future career.

The majority of respondents (68%) agree that IT teams will require more specialist skills over the next 10 years, with AI deemed the most crucial discipline to master by over half of IT heads.

Advertisement

Technology forms the backbone of practically every business nowadays, so surely if IT professionals aren't concerned then those working in other industries shouldn't be either.

Peace between man and machine

Other sectors should take a leaf out of IT's book when it comes to AI, and see it as a friend rather than a foe. AI will slowly but surely have an impact on many jobs, but rather than completely replacing humans as is often portrayed in the movies, it's far more likely that our job roles will shift dramatically to suitably complement the tasks that can, and will, become automated.

When considering our future job prospects we need to remember there can be no substitute for human intuition when important, life-changing, decisions need to be made. If we look back to 1983, when the Soviet nuclear warning system sent a false alarm that the US had launched an attack and that they should launch a nuclear warhead immediately, it was a human that stepped in. Stanislav Petrov was on duty and rightly, and thankfully, questioned whether the US would have really fired a nuclear weapon.
Theresa May wants you to remember her by her pledge to get net migration down to the "tens of thousands".

A fairly large number of people want this to happen, it looks hard-headed and pragmatic, and an obsession with immigrants is part of May's personal political brand.

Advertisement

And she's right; it does sum up her political approach, but just not for the reasons she thinks.

It is not going to happen

As Home Secretary, May sent a fleet of vans to tour minority communities with "Go Home" blazoned on the sides (a stunt that even Nigel Farage thought was a bit out-there.) It was fundamentally ineffective. Just 11 people left the country as a result. Her "right-to-rent" scheme, which demands landlords carry out immigration checks on tenants, has delivered a grand total of 31 deportations. The sound and fury of these operations was striking - they've caused misery for legitimate tenants, heightened mistrust between migrant communities and authorities, and caused working people to be dragged off their shop floors and humiliated by border officers in random checks - but crucially, they have been utterly operationally ineffective.

Daily Mail rhetoric doesn't make policy. Donald Trump learned a few months ago that reducing migration is not as simple as building a wall. He was mired in legal challenges and forced into embarrassing retreats over his refugee ban. His Mexico border wall might never see the light of the Nevada sun. And the British net migration rate is not going to hit the tens of thousands, even if free movement within Europe ends after Brexit (because European migration does not count for the majority of the total.)

Britain wouldn't like it if it did happen

It is theoretically possible that May could partially deliver. With the end of free movement, an even more hostile asylum policy than the present one (we already lock people in cells or squalid accommodation and wash our hands of refugee children), restrictions on foreign students and new measures to prevent even skilled professionals coming in, and if she could win the inevitable legal challenges, she might be able to sharply cut numbers.

There would be far less popular support for this than she thinks. When the Home Office deported a Durham grandmother with a British husband and children for the crime of caring for her ill family in Singapore, two thirds of Brits were opposed including half of Ukip voters. These kind of cases would soar.

Advertisement

But it's not just bleeding hearts that would tank her approval ratings. The loss of revenue from international student fees would damage a higher education sector already stripped down by cuts - a sector that entire towns depend on, that contributes around 2.6% of GDP. Even if we were to invest in training British citizens to do every skilled job currently done by a migrant worker (and under May's government skills and training investment has dropped) there would be a long gap with, for example, too few NHS doctors to meet basic need. Unskilled migrants would still find a way in - all the evidence suggests this - and vanish into an illegal black market that would increase exploitation, harm, and pressure on wages.

In short, she could come close to her target if she was willing to sacrifice billions from our economy and risk both British and migrant lives.

May knows it is not going to happen

May had control of the Home Office for all six of the years where it failed to meet her government's migration pledges. She was skilled at making herself scarce when it hit the fan - insiders nicknamed her "Submarine May" for her ability to submerge during controversial moments - but she was still there. She knows that she cannot, and will not, hit her target.

So she is lying through her teeth to get elected.

Strong and stable leadership would demand something quite different. She could address concerns about the pace of change by restoring the migration impact fund her government scrapped, and using it to ease pressure on any area affected by rapid demographic change (births and deaths as well as immigration or emigration.) She could respond to MPs' recommendations for a national integration strategy to support community cohesion, (rather than presiding over scrapping English classes.)

She could tackle low pay and workplace exploitation in order to deal with worries about migrant labour undercutting domestic labour - rather than smashing trade unions and presiding over a record drop in wages. She could accept that there will always be people overseas whose help our economy needs, as well as those in desperate need of our help - and set targets based on national interest, not more made-up numbers.

Advertisement

But instead, she prefers to make promises she knows she cannot keep, and sweep up votes on the basis of cheap, divisive rhetoric. Because she cannot be bothered to come up with real solutions to an immigration system she spent six years failing to mend. And most of all, because if she can't blame immigration for everything her cuts have caused, people might spend more time looking at what has actually led to school places, hospital beds, and decent jobs dying out.
This week Mark Zuckerberg announced, in a post on his Facebook page, that he would be hiring 3,000 content moderators.

The news doesn't come as any surprise. In the last year tech companies, and particularly social media sites like Facebook, have come under fire for the content that is shared on their platforms.

In the weeks following the US election the the social media platform was accused of allowing turbo-charged 'fake news' to spread across the internet. President Barack Obama complained about the "dust cloud of nonsense" on the social network.

Advertisement

In response, Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder and chief executive, said the company would tweak its technology to ensure the veracity of links and offered to hire fact checkers - which it has done.

But now Facebook and the other tech giants are faced with a new headache.

Last week a man killed his baby daughter and broadcast a video of the murder on Facebook Live. It was visible for anyone to see for more than 24 hours. In April a man from Ohio shot another man, seemingly at random, and posted the video on Facebook. It too stayed online for several hours, even after it had been flagged by viewers.

In these instances - which are just two grisly, media-attracting tips of an iceberg - the problem was not fake news, but news that was horrifyingly real.

Both the spread of fake news stories and the use of the social media to share extreme content call into question the responsibility that social media companies, Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and even second order companies such as Twitter, Snapchat and emerging messaging app companies have to edit and police their platforms.

Advertisement

There is certainly a growing consensus among policy-makers that the tech companies should take a more active role. Facebook has always maintained that it is a neutral platform, with limited responsibility for the content it hosts. All it is responsible for, it says, is connecting people across the globe. But it's becoming more and more difficult to stand that argument up.

Following an inquiry into dangerous and illegal material that is available online, a cross-party group of British politicians said the failure of tech companies to deal with such content was a disgrace.

"These are among the biggest, richest and cleverest companies in the world, and their services have become a crucial part of people's lives. This isn't beyond them to solve, yet they are failing to do so. They continue to operate as platforms for hatred and extremism," said one MP.

The German government has gone as far as announcing that fines of up to 50m will be imposed on social networks that fail to delete hate speech or fake news, expressing concerns that illegal content was not being taken down quickly enough.

Until now, Facebook has resisted calls for hiring editors or taking steps that would make it more like a traditional news organisation. It has never called itself a media company, because that would risk alienating users or potential advertisers and would have an impact on how they are treated by media law.

Advertisement

But when, according to a recent poll, 40 per cent of people view Facebook as a news source, the company surely has no choice but to reassess the role it plays in the distribution of information.
After just short of three years in Yarl's Wood Immigration Detention Centre, Mabel Gawanas has been released.

"The Home Office think we are statues, or ornaments, to be kept here, but we are human," she told me when I visited her earlier this year. Mabel, who was nicknamed 'Queen of Yarl's Wood', was one of the longest-held detainees, despite the fact that she has a 7 year old daughter, living in London.

Having met Mabel many times in passing when I was visiting other women in Yarl's Wood, I decided to book a visit with her and speak to her properly. Mabel likes to speak to the press and to campaign groups and told me, "when I get out of here, I'm going to be on the BBC!" Mabel became well-known during her lengthy detention, conducting media interviews via telephone from inside Yarl's Wood. At every demo outside the notorious centre, which has been dogged by scandal since it opened in 2001, and which was declared 'a place of national concern' by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in 2015, a huge banner read FREE MABEL GAWANAS.

Advertisement

Growing up in Namibia, Mabel was sexually abused as a child, and recounted how she was passed "from uncle to uncle". She would run away from the house where she was staying, but having nowhere to go, would have to go back. When Mabel was a baby her mother killed herself by pouring petrol on herself and setting herself on fire. As for the man she refers to as "my so-called father", he was a freedom fighter, and as far as Mabel knows, died in Angola.

Having had a child in Namibia, she eventually managed to escape to the UK in 2006, but had to leave her daughter, Maya, behind. However, once in the UK she was treated as a slave, escaping only to enter into an abusive relationship with a man. She had another daughter, but was separated from her when she was sent to prison in 2011.

Mabel had been sleeping rough and had been prevented from seeing her daughter. Desperate to see her, and, not surprisingly, suffering with mental health problems, Mabel took four pieces of paper from a sheaf of poems she had written, set them alight and put them through the letterbox at the house where her ex-partner and her daughter were living. For this Mabel served 15 months in Holloway Prison.

Unlike many foreign nationals who have been convicted of crimes and spent time in prison, Mabel wasn't transferred directly from prison to immigration detention. She was released from Holloway in November 2012, but on 12th May 2014 she was sent to Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, in Bedfordshire.

Advertisement

Mabel's ex-partner told her daughter's school that her mother had died; he told her daughter that Mabel was in a 'care home'.

"My daughter wrote to me, 'how is the care home?' I wrote back to her, I'm not in a care home, this is a detention centre!" Mabel smiled.

When Mabel first arrived at Yarl's Wood she saw a piece of paper that detainees had stuck on the wall, commemorating the life of Christine Case, who had died at Yarl's Wood in early 2014. Case, who had complained of chest pains, had been given paracetamol by G4S healthcare inside Yarl's Wood, only to collapse and die of a heart attack hours later.

"When I saw that," said Mabel, "I thought, I have to be strong in this place."

And strong Mabel has been. Despite the fact that her life story illustrates she has not been shown much care herself - quite the opposite - she became a mother figure to many women in Yarl's Wood, who came to her for comfort and advice. Some of the women had been in and out of Yarl's Wood three times whilst Mabel was continually detained. "They come back and they say, hey, Mabel, you're still here!"

There were several attempts to deport Mabel; on one occasion she stripped naked and hid in a room which was disused due to being overrun with bedbugs. On another occasion, she was handcuffed and on board a plane, about to take off, when a fellow passenger asked her name. "Mabel Gawanas?" the passenger repeated. "People are protesting about you out there", they told her, in reference to the demonstrators who had gathered at the airport. With that, Mabel began her own protest and was removed from the plane and returned to Yarl's Wood.

Advertisement

When I met her, she was carrying a hand-written petition, asking for the release of a woman who had been transferred to Bedford Hospital having had a stroke in Yarl's Wood. She had already amassed over 80 signatures from amongst the other detainees.

Having been in detention for so long, Mabel had many astute observations to make about some of the Serco guards whose job it was to keep her detained.

She recounted how "one officer called me into the room he was in. 'Don't think because we are working here,' he told me, 'that we don't care. I have respect for you.'"

How did you feel about him saying that, I asked?

"I don't want their pity," she said simply. "I avoid the officers as much as I can."

"Old officers take advantage of new ones," she told me. "Old officers push new officers onto the front line, before they're ready. Some people, they're here a month and then they don't come back."

At the time of my visit, Mabel had been refusing to eat any of the food from the Yarl's Wood canteen, as part of her protest about her lengthy incarceration.

Advertisement

"On Monday, I was in the library when a manager came and said 'I need to speak to you, Mabel.' I shouted back, "What for?" He came and put a chair next to mine and wanted to talk about why I had stopped eating. I told him "I eat chocolate, drink tea, and sometimes I smoke."

She talked of her future with hope. "I want to be a mother to both of my children. I want to have a normal life like everybody else. I don't ask for much. I want to help people, become a human rights lawyer, and help people who can't help themselves."

"When I am released," she told me, "I will be so happy. But I will have mixed feelings, because I will be sad about the girls I leave behind."
The Egyptian president concluded his two-nation mini-tour on Tuesday, having with Bahrain's King Al-Khalifa and the speaker of the parliament

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi concluded his visit to Bahrain on Tuesday, having reaffirmed Cairo's commitment to the security of allied Gulf states and wishes for continued close cooperation, state-run news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

The Bahrain trip was the second stop in a two-nation mini-tour of the Gulf, taking in Kuwait earlier this week. In late April, he visited Saudi Arabia and the UAE, delivering similar messages of cooperation.

While in Bahrain, the Egyptian president met with King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa and top Bahraini officials to discuss the strengthening of bilateral ties and ongoing security issues, stating that the security of Egypt depends on that of the Gulf.

Before wrapping up the visit on Tuesday, El-Sisi also met with Ahmed bin Ibrahim Al-Mulla, the speaker of Bahrain's parliament. El-Sisi told Al-Mulla that Cairo places a high priority on supporting Manama and preserving the security and stability of all Gulf nations, according to a statement from Egyptian presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef.

The Egyptian president expressed his appreciation for Bahrain's stances in support of Egypt, affirming Cairo's keenness to boost coordination between the two countries, especially on the level of the national parliaments. Al-Mulla said that El-Sisi's visit represents the strengthening of relations between the two nations at all levels.

He added that his country "takes pride in its historical ties with Egypt, commending the Republics' role in protecting the security and stability of Bahrain and Arab region and its contributions to bolstering the unity of Arab States," describing it as a model for coexistence and national unity," according to the official statement.

He also underlined the importance of continued coordination between the two countries, especially in the field of combating terrorism, a message he has delivered to heads of state during all his recent Gulf visits.

On Sunday, El-Sisi told Kuwait's emir Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah that Egypt will not allow foreign nations to undermine the security of its "brother countries" in the Gulf.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Is the future workplace being taken over by robots? In today's world where processes are being increasingly automated, this seems like a scenario not too obscure to imagine. As technology advances, there is a heightening concern as to what place that leaves for a human workforce in the rapidly approaching future. In a recent joint study conducted by researchers at Oxford University and consultants Deloitte, it was found that due to the nature of their work and the expected advance of machine intelligence, there is a 95% chance that chartered accountants would be replaced by some form of automation in the course of 20 years. Furthermore, the trend appears to be leaving no industry untouched, with expectations that driverless cars and trucks will threaten or at least alter 2.2 million to 3.1 million jobs in the US. President Obama recognized this potential threat in his farewell speech in Chicago, where he said "the next wave of economic dislocations won't come from overseas. It will come from the relentless pace of automation that makes a lot of middle class jobs obsolete".

Besides accounting and finance other fields such as marketing have also been heavily influenced by automation. Big Data and Machine Learning has transformed this field. Using realms of knowledge on consumer behaviour and the oceans of data to be found on each company's CRM, automation has resulted in the field of predictive analytics in marketing which is being effectively employed by companies worldwide. Other pertinent examples of automation can be seen in the method of communication. Non-obtrusive messages can be displayed to clients in the form of email, sms or push notifications in the moments after a customer has engaged with a company to either make an enquiry, request a newsletter or register for a webinar. In those critical moments after the client has left their contact details, they are automatically contacted with an offer of further assistance, to the proven effect of considerably enhancing the probability of a purchase being made.

Advertisement

Although there is no denying the importance of data science and automation in marketing, creating the right balance of automation and human input is the strategy firms need to apply to achieve success. Human input in the marketing process such as visual design, catchy content, branding and being able to form a crucial bond with the consumer are all critical elements of successfully marketing any product. Customers expect personal relationships with brands. The goal is to effectively employ data acquired from the automation process and use it to deliver personalized experiences to customers.

Taking the example of the finance industry, the strategy to amalgamate technology and human interaction together has also been reiterated by Mr. Kobi Gur, CEO of Leverate, a premier broker solutions provider. Narrating the experience of his company he says that "the marketing automation system that we have developed synthesizes both the technical element, where clients are consistently contacted at the exact time in why they are prime for conversion, and yet also incorporates a human element, where personal contact is made by a customer service person who provides that important human aspect of listening and seeking to address the needs of the client. This combination of technology and personalization, is what makes a marketing automation funnel work and how it achieves its proven results throughout the course of the client's life time."

Advertisement

Yet even at that level before any marketing strategy is implemented, the combination of machine and human intelligence can help companies to make the right decisions. While many companies aspire to be more data-driven, simultaneously executives still value their human intuition and intelligence, even if that data tells that their intuition is off. In a Forbes' executive brief titled "Data-Driven: Big Decisions in the Intelligence Age" sponsored by PwC, the survey found that almost 59% of decision makers say that they primarily rely on human judgement rather than on machine algorithms. The executives said that they use their own intuition and understanding to frame the problem and help them ask the right questions.
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

Hawk Zone
Mohamed Badie was among those handed jail terms in August 2015, but the Court of Cassation ordered a retrial on Tuesday, having heard an appeal from the defence team

Egypt's Court of Cassation has granted a retrial to Mohamed Badie, supreme guide of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization, and other 49 defendants in the "Port Said police station" case.

The defendants, including MB leaders Safwat Hegazi and Mohamed El-Beltagi, had been been handed jail terms ranging from 10 years to life for their involvement in the storming of El-Arab police station in Port-Said in August 2013.

However, after the sentences were passed by Port Said Criminal Court in August 2015, defence lawyers lodged an appeal. On Tuesday, having heard the appeal, the Court of Casssation ordered a retrial.

A total of 92 defendants were given jail terms in August 2015, including 76 in absentia, for involvement in the storming of the police station in the wake of the 2013 ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.

The attack resulted in the murder of five people and the injury of several others, including police officers and station staff. Those storming the police station also attempted to release prisoners kept in the jail.

Another 28 defendants were aquitted of charges during the original trial.

'Rabaa operations room' retrial

On Monday, Giza Criminal Court handed down sentences in another case involving Badie  the retrial of the "Rabaa operations room" case.

The supreme guide and two other defendants were sentenced to life in prison and two were given five-years jail terms, with another 21 acquitted.

In April 2015, Badie and 13 other defendants were sentenced to death, while 37 others were sentenced to life in prison, for setting up an "operations room" at a protest camp supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo's Rabaa Al-Adawiya in 2013.

After Morsis ouster in July 2013, the now-banned Brotherhood  from which the ex-president hails  and other Islamist groups held a sit-in at Rabaa Al-Adawiya to protest his deposal.

In Monday's verdicts, Badie, Mahmoud Ghozlan and Hossam Abu Bakr received life sentences. Salah Sultan and his son received five years in prison.

Those acquitted include two journalists, Hani Salah El-Deen and Ahmed Sobai. Others included Omar Malek (son of Brotherhood leader Hassan Malek), who faced a death sentence in the 2015 trial, former MPs Saad El-Hoseiny and Ahmed Abu Baraka and Brotherhood media spokesman Gehad El-Haddad.

The retrial verdicts can still be appealed.

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's former president and prominent member of the Brotherhood's guidance office, was ousted by a popular uprising in July 2013. The organization was designated as a terrorist group in December of the same year.



Search Keywords:

Short link:


Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls, Nine Inch Nails, Violent Femmes) On Being A Versatile Musician

Here Rick Goetz speaks with Biran Viglione, currently a member of the band Scarlet Sails and also known for his work with the Dresdon Dolls, the Violent Femmes and Nine Inch Nails. Here he discusses his career as a versatile musician and how he found success in the music industry.

_________________________________

Guest post Rick Goetz of Music Consultant

Brian Viglione is the drummer for the band Scarlet Sails, known also for his work with the Dresden Dolls, the Violent Femmes and Nine Inch Nails. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, Brian has often aligned himself with groups who incorporate eclectic musical styles and theatrical elements. In addition to his various recording and touring work, he also gives drumming workshops to help participants develop personal creativity on the instrument and has lectured at Harvard University, RISD, The Boston Day and Evening Academy and other schools around the northeastern U.S.

In Part 1 of this interview, Brian talked to me about the difference between being attached to a label and being an independent artist. He also shared some tips for artists who want to make well-informed decisions about their careers.

Music Consultant:

Thanks for taking some time out to talk, Brian. So, the Dresden Dolls was what first got you exposed to an audience of millions. What initially brought you to the project?

BV:

The Dresden Dolls was sort of a first-time professional situation for both Amanda Palmer and me. I had played in bands leading up to that. I played music all through middle school and high school and started gigging semi-professionally when I was 16 in rock clubs around northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. I was also in a cover band and then I joined a cross-punk band when I first came to Boston, and I met Amanda in October of 2000.

She had really just only kind of jammed with a cello player or maybe a drummer here and there, but had never had an actual band. So, that was her first serious collaboration that really took off. I think it was a mix of a real gelling of personalities and commitment to really doing this as a profession that made it work. A lot of times people have a more casual approach towards doing music, and its a fortunate thing when you meet somebody who matches you in your ambition and in your work ethic.

With the Dresden Dolls, we went from being kind of a quirky, sort of fringe Boston art rock scene band to the first band of that type that broke out nationally since the band Til Tuesday in 1982. That tells you something.

We got a little launch from winning this local battle of the bands, which projected us out to the rest of the country, and we got picked up by Roadrunner Records soon after in 2004 after having self-released our debut album. We proceeded to tour the world. We parted ways on a long-term hiatus in 2008. And during that time, I played with Nine Inch Nails and Violent Femmes and numerous other bands around New York and around the country. I just started Scarlet Sails with my wife, Olya in 2016.

Music Consultant:

You must have had quite the learning experience. I know with the Dresden Dolls there was sometimes a challenging relationship between you and Amanda and the label, and then between Amanda and the label when she went solo, but it likely helped you figure out working in that label ecosystem. Do you have any advice that might be of value to somebody who is just starting out in this industry and looking to find a label to work with?

BV:

I think like anything in life, make sure that you have yourself protected, and that you are willing to go to bat for the things that are truly important to you. You also have to understand the nature of the business relationship youre about to engage in.

I feel like Amanda and I differed when it came to our understanding of what the function or the relationship might have been with Roadrunner. Amanda always seemed so surprised and shocked at Roadrunners actions or responses sometimes, whereas I was anticipating certain resistance in areas where they lacked a deep artistic understanding into the nuances of every single thing we were doing. These people were working their office jobs trying to market and promote our band, so they werent necessarily going to understand every single motivating thrust and brush stroke that we put into it. That requires some explaining once in awhile. And that definitely seemed to get more contentious after the Dresden Dolls split and she went solo.

That being said, I didnt feel like Roadrunner was any sort of hindrance by any stretch. I felt that the staff at Roadrunner really genuinely did their best and broke a lot of ground for the Dresden Dolls. We would not have been able to do that on our own.

That happened through a combination of a great team around us, a great booking agent, manager, record label staff, and a band who was willing to get out and work hard and promote. It was also about the right timing. As a band, we had done as much as we could on our own, and we had a lot to bring to the table to Roadrunner once they showed up.

We had a great national and international fan base, which they expanded on. And we had our image and our presentation fully realized and together in what we wanted to do. To me, that was very valuable partnership. Obviously a record label  any sort of company corporation  is going to take advantage monetarily where they can, so my main advice to anyone starting out would be make sure you have a good, savvy lawyer that you have a good working relationship with, who understands the nuances and intricacies of working out contracts.

You also need to really think hard about what you want to retain as an artist and what youre willing to give up, if anything, to a label to achieve a certain kind of status or exposure in return for that. Theres no blanket statement I can make about that. Its up to each individual band to decide for themselves what works.

Music Consultant:

As ridiculous as it sounds, it seems like you are in some ways in the minority as someone who actually read the fine print on the contract. Thats refreshing.

BV:

We had done a lot on our own by the time we got to the label. We self-released our first album, which we licensed to Roadrunner.

Our second album, Yes, Virginia  was the album that we actually released for them. And we ended up giving our third and final release to Roadrunner for free. It didnt count against our contract. Amandas first solo album actually counted against the Dresden Dolls contract.

We just wanted to clean up the rest of the songs and release them to our fans as that parting gift. And they were surprised by that. We recorded it for very little money and shook hands and said, Until we see you again.

With any contract, you have to have an understanding, going into it. We probably, in retrospect, would not have signed a seven-album contract if we could look back, but hindsight is always 20/20. We got locked in. As it stands now, the Dresden Dolls actually still owe Roadrunner another four albums.

That actually relates to some misinformation that goes around about the band. People thought the Dresden Dolls were dropped. Technically, thats not true. Amanda stayed with Roadrunner as a solo artist, but as a band, we are still committed to them for another four albums, so technically, we owe them more releases unless the label folds or they officially drop us.

Music Consultant:

I think a lot of people definitely dont understand how that works.

Youve drummed some other impressive bands like the Violent Femmes and Nine Inch Nails. Often, when a band just breaks up, particularly a major label band, the person who is not necessarily the face of the band  the front man or woman  struggles to gain a foothold. What did you do right that helped you perpetuate a career beyond the Dresden Dolls, as an in-demand session player/band member?

BV:

It was exciting to be in the Dresden Dolls, because the label definitely kept a very firm grip on both Amanda and I in terms of the schedule. It was an absolutely hellish touring schedule that exhausted us both. When I decided to step away from it all in January of 2007, I was financially stable enough to ride that out and do collaborations that I was the most artistically motivated to do, which was great. Finding opportunities and being successful was just a matter of staying the course that I really have always stayed, which is to engage with artists and musicians who I find interesting.

Im always rooting for the underdog, and I like being a part of bands that are doing something new, whether its a well-known band like Nine Inch Nails or someone less big. Trent was doing something outside of his comfort zone by doing the Ghost album, which had all improvised instrumental music.

When the Violent Femmes got back together, they really hadnt been a band for eight years, and I joined because their drummer had recently left. There were a lot of pieces of the puzzle to put back together in terms of touring and just the general cohesion of the group because they had been away for a while. Ive never done the typical studio musician or hired-gun thing. Ive always just put the word out through all the various channels.

Like most of the experiences Ive had in the industry, a lot of things come from word of mouth or who you know. I dont meant hat in the schmoozy sense  where youre sucking up to people. What I mean is, its just about being out in the world, doing what you love and staying connected with people. When you do that, the awareness about you is high, and people will say, We need somebody, and Ive just talked to so-and-so last week, and we should give him a call. Thats how it happened when I joined the Violent Femmes.

I was asked to join Nine Inch Nails for the Ghost recording because we toured with the band, and I put everything I had on the table every night, and they noticed. One of their roadies came to me one night and said, I dont know if you know this, but Trent is watching you, man. Hes coming and watching the show and hes really liking what hes seeing with your drumming. And they were joking around at the time about how their drummer, Jerome was getting nervous. But it turned out to be true.

I got that gig because I went out there, worked my ass off and gained the attention of the headlining act. And it led to being asked personally to play on his new record.

Music Consultant:

Its good to hear you say that. Our business is really making sure that our clients get as much exposure as possible, and what always comes up is, How do I tour with bigger artists? or How do I play on somebody elses record? or How do I involve myself with the celebrity of other people in my orbit? We always tell people we will leverage every favor we can with management, agents, whoever else is around these people. But, it really all comes down to how good a hang you are, how well you play and how likeable you are. Its nice to hear someone who has lived it validate it.

BV:

Yes. I think you have to start with the basics. Amanda, for example, is a different personality type than me. She will ask, hound, pursue every single celebrity opportunity she can and that affords her other opportunities too.

Thats not so much my style, nor something that Im interested in. But I feel completely satisfied and happy with the career that Ive led thus far. And I feel like Ive stayed true to what is meaningful to me as a person and as an artist, which has led me to the successful endeavors, as well.

Finding solid opportunities is really about identifying whats important to you as person, and then getting out there. Start with the basics: hone your craft; do as great a job as you can every night you can; treat people with respect; follow up in your communication with people and maintain those relationships.

That being said, theres not just one way to do it. But its important to follow those general principles of how you conduct yourself and how you maintain relationships with people, how well you do at your craft and how much work you dedicate to your craft. Then, the x-factor of luck and timing come in. Thats the way it feels like it rolled for me.

Music Consultant:

Thats pretty all-encompassing. How does that apply to your current project with your wife? How did that come together and what are you up to?

BV:

Well, weve had a very exciting year. I met Olya in 2013, and right off the bat, I asked her what she did. When she told me she was a songwriter, pianist and composer, I thought, Great! I told her that if she ever needed a drummer, she should give me a call. So, there is in action: Putting yourself out there. She sent me her demos, and I really loved them. Obviously, our relationship developed, and we got married the following spring. I put a simple home studio together in 2014 just to record and have a way to get music going, but I was also touring a great deal then with the Violent Femmes, so we didnt really have the opportunity to work on music full time.

So, fast forward to when I decided to leave Violent Femmes in December of 2015. I felt like it was basically the start of the new year, and I said to Olya, Lets do this full time. The past few years have led us closer to doing what really makes us happy. And our artistic collaboration only seems to bolster our romantic relationship.

Music Consultant:

Thats really rare. Wow.

BV:

And the rarity of that did not go unnoticed by either one of us. Olya and I were just completely over the moon having met each other. And it was amazing to find out after two years of living together while I was touring with a different band that we actually got along better and had a more fulfilling relationship when we were doing our music together. It just made perfect sense.

So, obviously, to answer your earlier question further about our project, it was a leap of faith in several ways. It was our first band, and it was my first time saying, Im going to enter into a serious business relationship with my partner.

I was also stepping away from a fairly high-profile band where there was a steady paycheck and gigs. I have to say that all that risk has completely paid off emotionally, financially, and in all other ways, making life a much better experience. I dont mean to gloss over everything else; obviously there has been a lot of work that has gone into doing that. It just didnt fall into our laps.

Still, it was a matter of saying, This is ultimately what we want to aim for and how we want to live our lives. And then it was about having the courage to just really go for that as opposed to saying, Well, I know, but I should really just take the steady paycheck.

Its an unknown  entering into a business agreement with your partner. You worry about what will happen if it goes wrong. We just decided to just throw caution to the wind and say, We know this is what were committed to, so lets do it. Olya left her bartending job, which was getting her down and distracting from the time and energy she could be putting into a professional band. Since she left, she has done more than I could have possibly expected. Shes become a complete wizard at connecting and communicating and has written more music than ever. She is a fantastic bandleader.

I think what has happened to her is a testament to what can happen when people are given the chance to do what they really want to do and are given the resources: Wonderful things can happen.

I would encourage artists to keep that idea in the forefront of their minds. If something isnt working out for you as an artist, think it through and then dont be afraid to move on to something thats really truly in line with your vision.

Music Consultant:

Thats great advice and very motivating for people who are starting out and trying to make it.

BV:

And as I said before, Im with the underdog. Part of what keeps playing music electric for me is that energy of people who are hungry to make music and hungry to get out and reach people, meet their fans and develop a community. Theres no greater feeling than those little everyday successes or failures  or the efforts of a band thats really trying.

Thats part of why I love being in Scarlet Sails right now is helping out other bands, like my friends who are in bands that are getting their first records going or leaving bands that theyve had and taking that step forward and trying their first crowdfunding campaign. I think what really brings people together in the modern music business is rallying around friends and the community. Weve definitely been doing that ourselves too. Its really enlightening.

To learn more about Brian Viglione and his current project, Scarlet Sails, visit the bands website. You can also check them out on Facebook and Instagram.

Share on:
Pittsfield Man Arrested For Armed Robbery Early Monday Morning

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  A city man was arrested for armed robbery early Monday morning.

Police say officers responded to the Stop & Shop parking lot on Merrill Road shortly after midnight for the report. An employee of a local business arrived to make a night drop at Citizens Bank when Benjamin Robertson, 21, allegedly brandished a gun and demanded the money bag.

Robertson then allegedly took off running through Coltsville and Police K9 Rango began tracking the suspect. Robertson was allegedly found with a "realistic looking BB gun" and the moneybag hiding on the property of a Crane Avenue business.

Robertson was arrested and charged with armed and masked robbery and arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Monday. Massachusetts State Police also responded and assisted Pittsfield officers.
Two Juveniles Arrested in Relation to Sullivan School Arson

Firefighters spent nearly two hours on Friday night tracking down fire in Sullivan School. Two arrests have been made in the case.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Police have arrested two juveniles related to the fires set inside Sullivan School on Friday night.

Police Director Michael Cozzaglio said the two juveniles were arrested on Monday afternoon but have not yet been arraigned. Their names are being withheld because of their ages.

"These fires were intentionally set," Cozzaglio said. "It was pretty serious stuff and we wanted to resolve this as quickly as possible."

He said no further information could be released at this time.

Firefighters were called to the vacant Sullivan School at about 8:12 p.m. on Friday and spent nearly two hours searching the multi-level school in heavy smoke and dousing a number of fires.

All off-duty firefighters were called in because of the amount of manpower needed to contain the building. Fire Director Stephen Meranti on Friday night had initially said three fires had been discovered but later updated that to multiple fires on more than one level.

There were four fire extinguishers lined up at the front of the building when firefighters arrived.

The 51,000 square foot building has been empty for more than a year since the opening of Colegrove Park Elementary School but was being used for storage. It also still contains a lot of school materials and furnishings that were left behind. It was recently listed for sale by the city.

Cozzaglio said the investigation was lead by Officer Brad Vivori with assistance from the state police Arson Unit and other North Adams officers and investigative agencies.

"It really was a team effort. Everyone's pitched in with this," he said, adding that officers pushed to find the suspects behind the fires both because of the seriousness of the crime and to "give our citizens peace of mind."
The Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee is grappling with the implications of a citizens' petition designed to keep Cheshire School open.

Cheshire Elementary School Petition Creates More Concerns

CHESHIRE, Mass.  A citizens' petition aimed to keep Cheshire Elementary School open could push out budgeting for the regional school district into the summer.

Jeffrey Grandchamp, the district's attorney, on Monday night explained the consequences of the proposed amendment to the district agreement that the Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee is now required to relay to the towns.

He said the amendment would push out the budget process even further.

"From a timing perspective, the petition is coming rather late," Grandchamp said.

The School Committee was handed Monday the Cheshire Citizens for Education petition with certified signatures that will ask both towns to amend the agreement and allow Cheshire to increase its assessment to fund the operation of Cheshire School without creating a proportional increase in Adams.

Grandchamp walked the committee through the amendment process and its ramifications.

He said if the amendment makes it past both town meetings, it would then head to the state Department of Education, where it would have to be approved by the commissioner. If the commissioner does not approve it, it fails.

Grandchamp said he does not know if the Cheshire Citizens for Education worked with the DOE, but noted that when amendments are made to regional agreements, the process should be done in "lockstep" the state.

"My concern with any amendment is that if it hasn't got at least some blessing from the DOE before it goes to the towns, it will be very difficult to persuade the commissioner to accept it," he said. "And you can't thereafter change it you have to go back through the whole process."

If it passes this stage, the School Committee would have to rescind its vote to close Cheshire School and the vote to reorganize the district. It would then have to form an amended budget that would have to go before both town meetings again. The committee already approved a $19.2 million fiscal 2018 budget.

Should the amendment be given final approval, Cheshire would still have to allocate a new budget amount that would consider the operation of the building, critical maintenance capital purchases and positions that were taken out during the consolidation.

Grandchamp said he anticipated the earliest the district could get together a budget with committed funds from Cheshire is early August. This depends on Cheshire being able to allocate or raise the needed amount and a quick turnaround time from the DOE.

This brings the district closer to state deadlines to pass a budget.

Superintendent Robert Putnam said his current charge to consolidate the district to Hoosac Valley High School and C.T. Plunkett Elementary in Adams is a lengthy involved process and delaying it would cause issues in the transitionary period.

He said to reverse course in August, weeks or days before school starts, would be nearly impossible.

"This is very big enterprise and I think the most recent comparable activities were when all the schools were reorganized in the Hoosac Valley project," Putnam said. "This is actually bigger ... and I think the request of the petition and the transition to a pre-K-through-[Grade] 3, a 4-through-7 and an 8-through-12 are mutually exclusive. I bring that up because I am not positive I can pull it off."

Grandchamp said even at this point, the School Committee does not have to vote to reopen the school. The amendment just allows Cheshire to pay more under two circumstances: the school must be open and it must house pre-K through Grade 5.

He said if the school does not house the grades mentioned in the petition, Cheshire cannot expend more money.

"I think it would be a fair reading for the town of Cheshire to say legally the only way is if those grades are there," he said. "It may not be the town it could be a taxpayer ... it's just those grades and it is one of my concerns from a legal perspective."

The district had voted to move Grades 4 and 5 to Hoosac Valley; if Cheshire had been kept open, the grades would have been split between the schools rather than having two separate schools with the same grades.

Also, the amendment would stay in the agreement until it is revised again. This means in coming years, the School Committee would have to create a budget internally and a second one that has additional funds needed to operate Cheshire Elementary school.

"You would almost have to do two budgets every single year," Grandchamp said. "One with what the cost of the district would be without Cheshire and then what cost over and above that number, which would solely be connected to Cheshire Elementary School."

He added that this may mean in the future negotiations assurances to Cheshire that only that school is being funded and to Adams that it is not funding anything over its agreed upon amount.

Grandchamp said the amendment does not lock Cheshire into paying any unexpected costs and if something breaks at Cheshire Elementary School, the town is not "required" to fund the repair. They are "allowed" to.

School Committee member Darlene Rodowicz asked if it was possible for the petitioners to tighten up the language and resubmit the article.

Grandchamp said the group would have to get a lot of signatures to make any changes.

"At this point the petition is irrevocable and the district has to pass this on to the towns," he said. "I think they need two new petitions: one to redact that one that was just submitted and another one with a new amendment."

The School Committee had the option to attach a recommendation to the article but decided to make no comment.

Per the district agreement, an amendment can only be made if two-thirds of the School Committee votes to send the articles to the towns or if it is presented with a petition with signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters in one of the member towns.

Cheshire was able to gather these signatures.
Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry is set to fly to Ghana on Wednesday for talks with top Ghanaian officials on enhancing bilateral relations and consultations over a number of regional and international issues.

In a statement by Egypt's foreign ministry, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said that Shoukry will deliver during his visit a letter from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on means of bolstering bilateral ties.

Shoukry will also meet his Ghanaian counterpart Shirley Ayorkor Botchway and parliament speaker Aaron Mike Oquaye.

According to Abu Zeid, the visit is part of Egypt's ongoing efforts to bolster ties with African counterparts.

The statement said that Egyptian investments in Ghana amount to some $1 billion through several major Egyptian companies in the fields of infrastructure, construction and energy.

Abu Zeid said that both countries are looking to activate a joint committee to increase trade, adding that there is cooperation between the two African countries in security, counterterrorism, health, telecommunications, agriculture, irrigation, fisheries, education and culture.

Over the past year, Egypt has increased talks with its African counterparts. In December 2016, Cairo received multiple African leaders, including those of Kenya and Eritrea, both of whom expressed readiness to boost bilateral cooperation with Egypt.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Egyptian MP Kamal Amer, the head of parliament's national security and defence committee, proposed on Tuesday amending the penal code to toughen penalties on those convicted of insulting the president of the republic and other senior state officials.

Amer, a former head of Egypt's military intelligence, said his draft law aims to stem the tide of insults directed at the president and other state officials and authorities by some television channels and newspapers.

Amer said that Article 179 would be amended to state that those convicted of insulting the president would face a prison sentence ranging from 24 hours to three years and a fine between EGP 50,000 and EGP 100,000.

Article 184 would be amended to state that those convicted of insulting parliament or any of the country's sovereign state authorities like the army, judicial courts, public authorities or any state symbol would face prison and a fine between EGP 50,000 and EGP 100,000.

"My law does not stand against objective criticism of state officials and policies, but stands against those who exploit press and media freedoms to publically insult the president and other state officials," said Amer.

Salah Hassaballah, an MP and head of the Freedom Party, told Ahram Online that he supports Amer's amendments.

"I completely agree with Amer that insults and slandering have become commonplace in some independent newspapers and television channels," said Hassaballah, adding that "some like to take these insults as an integral part of press freedoms and democracy."

However, Kamal Ahmed, an independent MP, told Al-Ahram Online that he is against Amer's legislative amendments.

"I agree that some journalists have been recently involved in insulting the president and other senior state officials, but the reaction to this should not be to toughen penalties," said Ahmed.

"Egypt's 2014 constitution is clear in that it stands against imposing jail sentences on journalists convicted of publication offences."

Ahmed also argued that the press syndicate should be the one responsible for disciplining journalists accused of breaching its code of ethics or insulting public figures.

Amer's legislative amendments come after parliament's media committee began discussing a new press and media law this week.

Osama Heikal, the head of parliaments media committee, told journalists on Monday that the law bans imposing prison sentences on journalists convicted of publication offences.

"This goes in line with Article 71 of the constitution, which states that journalists convicted of publication offences cannot face prison sentences," said Heikal.

Four months ago, Egypts parliament filed a lawsuit against high-profile journalist Ibrahim Eissa after Speaker of the House Ali Abdel-Aal accused him of insulting parliament.

In February, parliament stripped politician Anwar El-Sadat of his parliamentary membership after he was accused of insulting parliament.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Related Egypt retains international lawyer for investigation into killing of GUC student in Germany

Egypts Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek is sending a request to German authorities for the details of the investigation into the death of an Egyptian student in Germany last month, after reports by German media suggested she may have been the victim of a hate crime, state-news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

Shaden Mohamed, a 22-year-old architecture student at the German University in Cairo, was killed on 18 April in a hit-and-run incident in Cottbus, Brandenburg, with the driver of the car arrested shortly after, according to German media reports.

Shaden was hospitalised but died of her injuries three days later.

Egypt's Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Minister Nabila Makram announced on Monday that Egyptian international lawyer Khaled Abu Bakr has been retained to follow up on the investigations.

German newspaper Lausitzer Rundschau has cited witnesses as saying that the people in the car that hit Mohamed had laughed after striking her, and were heard saying that she should go back to her country.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter 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

IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Following comments made by Milo Yiannopoulos on paedophilia, publisher Simon & Schuster finally aborted plans to release the former alt-right heros book, Dangerous.

The controversial figure has since announced the book will be self-published, and he will sue the publisher for $10 million for backing out of the deal.

Speaking at a party in Miami that was live streamed on Youtube, Yiannopoulos revealed the name of his publishing company, Dangerous Books, which will be part of new venture Milo Inc.

The 32-year-old  who departed from right-wing website BreitBart earlier this year  also announced the lawsuit, saying he wants to send them a message that they can never again do this to a libertarian or a conservative.

A spokesman at Simon & Schuster responded in a message to The Guardian: Although we have not seen any complaint filed by Mr Yiannopoulos and have not yet been served, we will defend ourselves vigorously against any action he may bring against Threshold Editions and Simon & Schuster. We stand behind our cancellation of Mr Yiannopouloss book and believe any suit by him to be entirely without merit.

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

Footage of Yiannopoulos discussing the age of consent and his own sexual abuse circulated earlier this year. He posted soon after that he regretted the imprecise language he used, but stood by what he said.

Following the cancellation, Roxane Gay - author of Bad Feminist, a collection of her New York Times essays, and who pulled her own book from Simon & Schuster - criticised the publisher in an extended Tumblr post.

She wrote at the time: When his comments about pedophilia/pederasty came to light, Simon & Schuster realised it would cost them more money to do business with Milo than he could earn for them. They did not finally do the right thing and now we know where their threshold, pun intended, lies.
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

The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Joanna Lumley has claimed Idris Elba could not play the role of James Bond because he doesn't fit the character described in Ian Fleming's books.

Lumley, who appeared briefly as an Angel of Death in Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, gave her view on the debate about who should succeed Daniel Craig as 007.

"Idris Elba is stunning but I don't think he is right for Bond, who is quite clearly described in the book," she told Radio Times.

"I'm colour-blind when it comes to acting, but Idris Elba is just a zonking great star anyway.

Elba, who appeared with Lumley in Absolutely Fabulous, was put forward as a possible replacement for Craig after the current Bond star joked that he would rather "slash his wrists" than take on the role again.

However he is reportedly back on board for the franchise after working with Bond producer Baraba Broccoli on an off-Broadway production of Othello.

Responding to the rumours last year, Elba said that there had not been any talks with him about taking on the role.

Recommended James Bond 25 is currently being fought over by five different studios

"Everywhere I go people want that to happen," he told Good Morning America. "If I'm really honest, I think I'm too old for that," he added jokingly. "Running around and cars and ladies and martinis... who wants to do that? Sounds terrible."

James Bond author Anthony Horowitz landed himself in controversy in 2015 after commenting that Elba was "too street" to play 007.

"For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part," he said. "It's not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too 'street' for Bond."

The author later apologised after a backlash, saying: "Clumsily, I chose the word 'street' as Elba's gritty portrayal of DCI John Luther was in my mind but I admit it was a poor choice of word. I am mortified to have caused offence."
Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This 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

Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Fyre Festival was, by most accounts, a disaster. Music lovers were left stranded in the Bahamas, struggling to leave the island after being promised a weekend of luxury.

According to a lawsuit against the festivals creators, picked up by Mashable, they knew for weeks beforehand the event would be a "post-apocalyptic nightmare.

Filed in a Californian federal court earlier this week, the plaintiff calls the event a Ponzi scheme and alleges damages ranging from $1,200 to $100,000 per attendee.

Law firm Geragos and Geragos  known for representing various celebrities, including Michael Jackson  originally filed a lawsuit last week, hoping to claim damages for one attendee who reportedly paid $2,000 for a ticket plus travel.

Now, the amended lawsuit claims the festival itself was merely a front for a massive financial fraud akin to a Ponzi scheme in which the founders and (potentially Seed Series Investors) in Fyre Media Inc misappropriated funds from attendees.

According to the lawsuit, over 300 individuals have personally reached out to Garagos, many of whom are experienced personal physical injuries in the form of bacterial infection, heat exhaustion, and other illnesses that are still being treated.

The plaintiff calls out Billy McFarland, Jeffrey Atkins (AKA Ja Rule), and Fyre Media, along with numerous other investors who have yet to be named.

The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Beyonce The Demands: 1 Large table for catering dressed with white tablecloths. Dressing room should be 78 degrees 4 Brand New White Towels in bathroom (2 face & 2 body) Hot Food: Juicy Baked Chicken: Legs, Wings & Breast only (Please season with fresh garlic, season salt, black pepper, and Cayenne pepper HEAVILY SEASONED!!) Steamed Garlic Broccoli Lightly Seasoned Green Beans Lightly Seasoned Steamed Spinach Beyonce can only have Pepsi products. 1 Case of Aquafina water (half cold, half room temperature) 1 Hot Tea Set up (Please have NEW Coffee Pot) Sliced Lemons Wedges Rose scented candles Lighter for candles CD player Getty The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Adele The Demands: 12 Small bottles still (non-carbonated) spring water (at room temperature) 1 Electric kettle for BOILING water 6 Large mugs for tea. All mugs should be new, washed and dried. 6 metal teaspoons 2 Squeezy bottles clear honey (not organic) 1 Bottle very best quality red wine (Italian, French or Spanish) 1 Assortment of chewing gum 1 Pack Marlboro Light plus 1 disposable cigarette lighter 1 Small selection fresh fruit, to include bananas, apples, grapes, fresh berries NO CITRUS FRUIT! 1 Small plate of assorted freshly made, individually wrapped sandwiches, to include chicken salad. Sandwiches must NOT contain tomatoes, vinegar, chili or citrus fruit PA The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Kanye West The Demands: 1 Tub Plain Yogurt for dipping 4 small Yoplait Yogurt 1 Bowl of assorted nuts 1 Bowl of Sunkist Salted Pistachio Nuts (No Red Coloring) 2 Packs of Extra Chewing Gum 1 Bottle of Hot Sauce (Tabasco, Caribbean Type) 1 Box of Toothpicks 1 750 ml bottle of Hennessey Liquor 1 750 ml bottle of SKY or Absolut Vodka 1 Bottle of Patron Silver Tequila 4 Six Packs of Heineken Beer Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty, David Parsons/iStock The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Rihanna The Demands: 5 AC power outlets Adequate lighting for a relaxed atmosphere White drapes to cover lockers and/or brick 1 Humidifier 1 Large throw rug  plush and animal print (Cheetah, Leopard)  must be CLEAN, as she will walk on it barefoot. Pipe and Drape the room in Dark Blue or Black drapes with Icy Blue Chiffon draped nicely on top 6 Candles  Archipelago Black Forest (if you can't get these, please let me know ASAP as we have a 2nd choice of candle for Ri). 4 Small, clear, square vases with White Tulips, no foliage (2nd choice: White Casablanca Lilies no foliage, 3rd choice: White Freesia, no foliage) The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Katy Perry The Demands: Arrangement of pink fresh flowers. White and purple hydrangeas, pink & white roses and peonies. If not available, seasonal white flowers to include white orchidsABSOLUTELY NO CARNATIONS. A box of Huggies baby nature care wipes 6 Vitamin waters zero, assorted flavors Bowl of whole fresh organic grown fruit (apples, bananas, oranges and grapes) Plate of fresh-cut Crudites (to include cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas, celery) w/ ranch dip Snyder's of Hanover Honey Mustard & Onion Pretzel Jar of Salsa Baked (blue corn if possible) Tortilla Chips Freeze dried strawberries 2 bottles of Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio Throat coat, Twinnings Chamomile PG tips and Mint medley tea. Fuze slenderize assorted flavors A jar of quality honey Plastic drinking straws AFP/Getty Images The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Paul McCartney The Demands: All lamps must be halogen floor lamps with dimmer switch. Only animal free materials (cottons, denims, velour, etc.) Do not provide furniture made of any animal skin or print. Do not provide artificial versions of animal skin or print either. No leather seating is allowed in the black stretch limousine either. Arrange for a dry cleaner before arrival. 6 Full and leafy floor plants, but no trees. We want plants that are just as full on the bottom as the top such as palm, bamboo, peace lilies, etc. No tree trunks! $50.00 - One large arrangement of white Casablanca lilies with lots of foliage. $40.00 - One long stemmed arrangement of pale pink and white roses with lots of foliage. $35 One arrangement of freesia. It comes in various colors so please mix them up. Freesia is a favorite. 20 dozen clean towels outside of the production office AP The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Mariah Carey The Demands: Each room must be draped. Black drapes are fine. The entry door should open into the living room space, not the dressing room. Temperature should be about 75 degrees. 1 Three Seat Couch  Plain Color, no busy patterns; black, dark grey, cream, dark pink are fine 12 1 Liters of Fiji Water 3 Bottles Chardonnay  Chilled 12 Coke 12 Diet Coke 12 Vanilla Protein Drinks 6 Sparkling Water (Pellegrino) 12 Melon Flavor Gatorade 6 Red Wine Glasses 6 White Wine Glasses 4 Joe Malone Vanilla Candles 2 Vases White Roses Fried Chicken (warm) 12 Small Bottles water (room temperature) 3 Whole lemons and honey Sugarless gum Getty The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Eminem The Demands: 25 pound dumbbells 24-Diet Coke 16oz plastic bottles 12 Diet Coke 12oz cans 6 Verner ginger ale soda (or Schweppes) 48 Daisani, Poland Spring 12oz bottles NO Evian 1 Loaf white bread 1 Loaf wheat bread 6 Lunchables snacks (3 turkeys & 3 ham with cheese) 6 Cans Red Bull 16 Cans Sugar-Free Red Bull Large fresh jumbo shrimps with cocktail sauce and plenty of lemons 1 Jar of banana pepper rings Getty Images The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Grace Jones The Demands: 6 Bottles of Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne 3 Bottles of French Vintage red wine (e.g. St Emilion, Medoc, Bordeaux) 3 Bottles of French Vintage white wine (e.g. Sancerre, Pouilly Fuisse) 2 Dozen Findeclare or Colchester Oysters on ice (unopened)(Grace does her own shucking.) 2 Sashimi and Sushi platters for 8 people 6 Fresh lemons 1 Bottle of Tabasco sauce 1 Fresh fruit platter for 8 people 6 Bottles of Coca Cola 12 Bottles of still and sparkling water 12 Bottles of fresh fruit juices Wine glasses, champagne flutes, tumblers (all glass, no plastic) Cutlery and sharp knife 1 Oyster knife 1 Make up mirror (no neon strip lighting, only opaque white bulbs) Fresh towels, clothes hangers, clothes rail 3-4 Bunches of flowersprefer lilys and orchids Sofa and arm chairs Andy Sturmey The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Drake The Demands: Four dozen natural-scented incense sticks Dr. Bronners peppermint soap Pork-free food E-Z Wider rolling papers and a pack of Dutch Master President cigars Pinot Grigio Heineken Bottles of Jack Daniels Patron Silver tequila Nivea chapstick A bottle of Hennesey or Courvoisier Grey Goose Andis T-Outliner trimmers Extra sets of speakers champagnepapi/Instagram The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Jack White The Demands: 1 dozen chicken wings (buffalo, teryaki, suprise us) 1 bowl of FRESH HOME-MADE GUACAMOLE 8 champagne flutes (real glass) 8 wine glasses (real glass) 8 highball glasses (real glass) 1 hummus & pita chips iPod player with sufficient volume control NO fluorescent lighting PLEASE NOTE: This is a NO BANANA TOUR. (Seriously) Getty The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Madonna The Demands: 200-person entourage 2o international phone lines Her backstage room must look exactly like her own home (that means she ships around her furniture) Special flower-scented fabric Actual flowers Personal chef who prepares only vegan foods Her own dry-cleaning service AP The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Alicia Keys Alicia Keys performs at the UEFA Champions League Final Getty The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Jay Z The Demands: 7 sets of metal silverware 1 Lighter 3 Glade Candles (French Vanilla, Rain shower, Wild Berry, Tangerine Ginger) 3 Cans of Chunk White Tuna 10 Nutri-Grain Bars (Blueberry, Cherry, Apple, Strawberry) 6 Individual Packets of Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal (Brown Sugar and Apple Cinnamon) 1 Assorted Fruit Platter with strawberries, seedless red grapes, bananas, mango, blueberries, cantaloupe and raspberries 2 Cases of beer (one imported and one domestic; brands preferred: Amstel Light, Corona, Bud, Bud Light or local beer) 3 menus for local seafood and Italian restaurants to order meals for Alicia Getty The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Mary J. Blige The Demands: 2 Humidifiers 10 medium prewashed bath sized towels NO DAIRY OR PORK OF ANY KIND!! 10 1.5 liter bottles of FIJI water (absolutely, positively must be FIJI) 6 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper 6 cans of Schweeps Ginger Ale 2 packs of Mentos  cinnamon fresh only 6 cans of Red Bull energy drink 6 bottles of Black Cherry Propells in sports bottle 8 sets of silverware 24 napkins 1 tub of clean ice Getty Images The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Lady Gaga The Demands: 2 Bottles of white wine with wine opener  Kendall Jackson or Robert Mondavi preferred 1 Pack of Straws 1 Cushioned office style chair TV with cable and a DVD player 1 Rolling clothing rack 4 Unscented candles Cool-mist humidifier 3 fans Tea kettle, organic ginger and lemongrass tea and honey are very important. 1 4 pack of Red Bull Light (on ice) 2 Bottles of Green Tea 1 Container of Guacamole Hot dogs (Yves veggie dogs eaten with toothpicks) A smoothie station (with frozen berries, fuze and whey protein or non-fat Greek yogurt) Blender needed 1 Plate of cheese (non-smelly, non-sweaty on ice) with whole wheat/healthy crackers A mix of assorted fresh fruit (cut and must have edible skin OR edible seeds OR citrus) Getty The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Cher The Demands: 1 Wig Room 1 Room for Dr. Stacey 1 bottle of fine red wine (No Kendall Jackson) 1 bottle of fine white wine (No Kendall Jackson) 4 Cokes 4 Diet Cokes 1 coffee table 1 end table for the phone to be placed on TV with VCR with a cable Hook up. Please make sure we can get the following channels: Turner Classic Movies or AMC The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Taylor Swift The Demands: If arriving before 11 a.m., the following from Starbucks: 1 Grande ICED Caramel Latte w/ 2 sweet-n-lows 1 Grande ICED Americano w/ 2 sweet-n-lows with soy milk 1 slice pumpkin loaf 1 Stick Butter 3 Boxes Kraft Macaroni/Cheese 2 Four Packs of Red Bull 1 12 Pack Corona Beer 1 12 Pack New Castle Beer 1 Bottle Welch's Grape Juice 1 Avocado 1 Bag of Twizzlers red licorice 1 Case of Smart Water 1 Pint Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream 1 Pint Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Brownie Frozen Yogurt The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Iggy Pop The Demands: A copy of USA Today that's got a story about morbidly obese people in it 6 bottles of Grolsch or decent local beer F loads of good red wines 6 large bottles of good quality sparkling water 3 cases x 12 oz bottles of still mineral water 6 bottles of alcohol free beer 1 case of big bottles of good, premium beer A bottle of vodka Cauliflower/broccoli, cut into individual florets and thrown immediately into the garbage. I f hate that Getty Images The 20 most ridiculous things superstar musicians have demanded at their concerts Van Halen The Demands: Nuts Pretzels M&MS (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES) 1 large tube of KY jelly 3 packs of Marlboro cigarettes (box) Herring in sour cream 2 gallons non-carbonated, bottled spring water 3 fifths Jack Daniels Black Label bourbon 2 fifths Stolichnaya vodka 1 pint Southern Comfort 2 bottles Blue Nun white wine Getty Images

In a recently released email from a group of disgruntled Fyre Media staff to festival organiser McFarland they detail at length their concerns about the future of the business and are incredulous about the immediate commitment to a 2018 Fyre Festival.
Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This 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

Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The National have posted a 30-second video on Twitter that appears to contain new music.

Their whole page has been redesigned in fact, their avatar switching to a new logo shaped like a house.

'Sleep Well Beast' the video is titled, which peers voyeuristically into apartments as a fuzzy, discordant guitar riff plays over the top. There are no vocals from Matt Berninger, but the audio-visual has a dark vibe, reminiscent of tracks like 'Brainy', at least in tone if not in sound.

The red and blue colour scheme, coupled with the breaking news ticker and the words 'THE SYSTEM ONLY DREAMS IN TOTAL DARKNESS', suggests a possible political tinge to the new music.

The band has explored politics before with tracks like 'Mr. November', the music video for 'Conversation 16' and a performance in support of Obama, but have been more politically active than ever in the months since Donald Trump's election.

The capitalisation of 'Sleep Well Beast' suggests it is a title of a song or the name of their new album, expected to be released this autumn.

They've been playing material from it at shows recently, including a track called 'Prom Song (13th Century)' that St. Vincent jumped on vocals for.
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter 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

IndyArts email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The entire run has sold out in advance  apart from day seats and ballot tickets  for the National Theatre's most anticipated show of the year. And that feels like no more than justice as Marianne Elliotts mighty, cast-to-the-hilt production sweeps you through the well-nigh seven-and-a-half hour experience of watching this revival of Tony Kushner's two-part epic about gay rights and gay responsibilities set in New York amidst the Aids crisis in the Reaganite America of the mid-1980s.

The conventional wisdom about this piece is that the first part, Millennium Approaches  unveiled in 1991 and ending with the Angel's spectacular cliffhanger as she crashes through the ceiling  is the more satisfying half. But here I felt that it wasn't just the angelic visitor who found her wings in Perestroika, the second play (first seen in 1993). Elliott's direction seems to develop a more robust confidence in the daring of the theatrical techniques that allow the characters to infiltrate each other's fantasy worlds, say, and to range from Antarctica and the damaged ozone layer to a Heaven that has been abandoned by God.

Desertion is the leitmotif of the drama. When 30-year-old Prior Walter (Andrew Garfield) gets sick with Aids, his lover, Louis Ironson (James McArdle), who can't cope with illness, walks out on him. Meanwhile. closeted Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt (Russell Tovey) and his deeply miserable, pill-popping wife Harper (Denise Gough) are in a terminally pretend-happy marriage (buddy-kiss). Garfield looks great in his Morticia Adams outfit of high-camp wronged-woman vengeance but in his mutual dream with Harper, you don't get an authentic sense of gay culture and its long history of using drag as a survival strategy, especially needed at this moment. We seem to be watching an actor falling back on stereotypes rather than a terrified character deploying them with pained courage and wit.

His passionate wrestling with Angel, though, is the best I've seen  which is greatly to the credit of Amanda Lawrence, who is brilliantly disconcerting (like a predatory cross between Phyllis Diller and Edith Sitwell) as this creature. In the version here, she keeps being reassembled by the six scuttling shadow-helpers that it takes to stretch out the full, daunting grey-rattle of her plumage.

It's a production that boasts some fine performances. Several of these are played by Susan Brown who, in addition to appearing as the world's oldest living Bolshevik and as a rabbi, offers a wonderful portrait of Hannah, Joe's conservative Mormon mom who shows the kind pluck and initiative, for which she has never been given credit, in seizing the moment and befriending Prior through a desperate patch. She also surfaces as the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg who comes to gloat over the terminal agonies of her nemesis Roy Cohn and is inveigled into saying the Kaddish prayer over his dead body.

Last seen in London as Max Bialystock in The Producers, Nathan Lane turns in a superbly searching account of the presiding demon of these plays. He presents what is monstrous and incorrigible about this man who refuses to accept that he's gay or that he has Aids  because gay men, by definition, have no clout and he can get Nancy Reagan to the phone in under five minutes  and, without sentimentalising these propensities in the slightest, he arouses an uncomfortable but real compassion for Cohn's agonising decline and for his frustrated attempts to gain a father's intimacy with Joe Pitt.

The routine self-rebuke and spiritual limitations are nicely caught by Russell Tovey. The excellent Denise Gough is angrier and harsher than your average Harper and you almost cheer when she finally sends this spouse on his way with a slap, a handful of valium and an injunction to explore.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett achieves a perfect poise of sardonic, undercutting wit and the gentle practicality as the nurse and ex-drag queen, Belize. But his kind of solidarity is in short supply amongst the characters of Angels in America. The hectic infuriating gabble of people who would rather sit and theorise than do anything that requires sacrifice has been perfected by McArdle's splendidly awful Louis. Kushner's Gay Fantasia on National Themes raised and raises consciousness and emerges here as both a sharp, moving account of how the Aids crisis emphasised the limits of toleration and timely reminder  given the new administration  that civil rights can never be taken for granted.

'Angels in America' will also be broadcast to cinemas by NT Live from 20 July
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email 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

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Earth could be 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the late 1800s in just nine years, according to new research which suggests the aspirational Paris Agreement target is unlikely to be achieved.

A paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters said natural climate variations in the Pacific which change over a period of decades may have provided a temporary buffer to the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing extreme events such as heatwaves.

But this cycle, called the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), could be about to flip or may have already done so, sending temperatures higher for the next 10 to 20 years.

Under the Paris Agreement, the world decided to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

However, the researchers said the combination of a natural warming phase and human carbon emissions could see temperatures reach this point by 2026.

Last year, the hottest on record for the third time in a row, was 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer than the average between 1850 and 1900, according to separate research by the Met Office and Nasa. That prompted Professor Gabi Hegerl, a world-leading climatologist at Edinburgh University, to warn that it was "getting tight for avoiding dangerous climate change".

However the natural El Nino effect was estimated to have contributed about 0.2C to this figure. The IPO, described as El Ninos uncle, affects the weather over a much longer period.

In the paper, the researchers wrote the 21st centurys first decade had been under the influence of a negative IPO phase.

This may have provided a temporary buffer for the radiative forcing effect of continually rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations on global temperatures, they said.

It is therefore possible that a negative phase of the IPO since the turn of the century has cushioned the impacts of global warming on extreme events, such as heatwaves.

A turnaround of the IPO to its positive phase could initiate a period of accelerated warming over the next one or two decades.

This would likely lead to the Paris target of 1.5C being surpassed within the next decade.

Even without the effect of the IPO, the scientists said that global mean temperatures were expected to pass the 1.5C warming mark within the next 10 to 15 years under a business-as-usual scenario for greenhouse gas emissions as a result of human activity.

They suggested that, while world might go beyond the 1.5C target, it could still get back to that figure.

Equilibrating the Earths climate at 1.5C above the pre-industrial level will involve overshooting the target and then reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and global temperatures on a net negative carbon emissions pathway, the paper said.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke  filled with the carbon that is driving climate change  drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

One of the researchers, Dr Benjamin Henley, of Melbourne University, told the Carbon Brief website that it was too soon to say if the IPO had actually shifted, although there was some evidence from computer models that this would happen soon or had already begun.

And he stressed trying to understand the natural cycle was a difficult business.

It remains a significant challenge to reliably predict long-term variations in ocean circulation, due to data limitations and the inherently chaotic nature of the ocean-atmosphere system," Dr Henley said.

Scientists had long thought restricting global warming to 2C would avoid dangerous effects of climate change  heatwaves, droughts, floods, increased storms and rising sea levels.

But the Paris Agreement introduced the 1.5C target amid suggestions that going beyond this level could lock in irreversible sea level rise caused by melting land ice in Antarctica and Greenland for centuries.

Commenting on the research, Professor Richard Betts, a Met Office fellow and chair of climate impacts at Exeter University, said it was important to keep the papers conclusions in perspective.

We should not expect major impacts in 10 years time, but we should not be complacent either, he wrote in an email to The Independent.

In the first year at 1.5C, events like flooding, drought and other extreme weather may not be very much different from now.

But as the world warms further, longer-term effects will become apparent, especially ongoing sea level rise as glaciers continue to melt.

The full impacts will take decades to play out, but once set in motion they could be hard to reverse.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has commissioned an expert report into the effects of 1.5C of global warming, which is due to be published in 2018.
Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email 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

IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Just over a decade ago Korean beauty took the world by storm. But while 10-step skincare regimes might not have stuck here on our shores, the sheet mask has been firmly cemented as a staple in many a Brits weekly regime.

According to Bog Skincare founder Milana Mason, sheet masks drip feed high dosages of actives into the skin, revitalising complexions in as little as 10 minutes. And unlike traditional masks they tend not to be time consuming messy affairs either as they are designed to fully penetrate the skin, so there is no need to wash, peel or scrub them off.

But with the sheer amount of masks on the market, how do you know which is the right one for you? Its best to look for ingredients that combat your specific skin concerns, in the same way as you would when investing in other skincare products, Mason shares.

Whatever your concerns, be they acne, pigmentation, dehydration, sensitivity, or lines and wrinkles, were sure youll find what youre looking for in our round-up.

How we tested

We tested a vast amount of sheet masks formulated for as many skin concerns as possible, across a range of brands with varying price points. We judged each one on their ability to fulfil their designated purpose, alongside how easy they were to apply and how well they stayed in place.

Read more:

The best sheet masks for 2022 are:

Best overall  ZitSticka press refresh mask: 30, Zitsticka.co.uk

 ZitSticka press refresh mask: 30, Zitsticka.co.uk Best for depuffing  111skin sub-zero de-puffing energy facial mask: 22, 111skin.co.uk

 111skin sub-zero de-puffing energy facial mask: 22, 111skin.co.uk Best for detoxing  Sanctuary Spa charcoal bubble sheet mask: 4, LOOKFANTASTIC.com

 Sanctuary Spa charcoal bubble sheet mask: 4, LOOKFANTASTIC.com Best for acne prone skin  Meder EU-SEB normalising anti-acne mask: 12, Mederbeauty.com

 Meder EU-SEB normalising anti-acne mask: 12, Mederbeauty.com Best for sensitive skin  Bog hydrate an revitalise organic face mask: 12, Bogskincare.com

 Bog hydrate an revitalise organic face mask: 12, Bogskincare.com Best for repairing  Medik8 ultimate recovery bio cellulose mask: 63, Medik8.com

 Medik8 ultimate recovery bio cellulose mask: 63, Medik8.com Best for firming  MZ Skin hydra-lift facial treatment mask: 20, Mzskin.com

 MZ Skin hydra-lift facial treatment mask: 20, Mzskin.com Best for brightening  Dr Dennis Gross C+ collagen mask: 17, Cultbeauty.co.uk

 Dr Dennis Gross C+ collagen mask: 17, Cultbeauty.co.uk Best for hydration  Vichy mineral 89 sheet mask: 8, Feelunique.com

 Vichy mineral 89 sheet mask: 8, Feelunique.com Best for smoothing  Charlotte Tilbury instant magic facial dry sheet mask: 18, Charlottetilbury.com

ZitSticka press refresh mask Best: Overall Rating: 9/10 The jelly-eque hydrogel two-part mask is a little fiddly but once on, it sticks to the face and doesnt budge. Designed to boost hydration, unclog pores and exfoliate skin, the formula contains a trio of gold standard exfoliating acids, salicylic, lactic and glycolic. Plus, niacinamide to quell redness and balance oil production, as well as hydrating and strengthening hyaluronic acid. Whats really unique about this mask is that it leverages penetrative graphene tech. Not sure what that means? Essentially, graphene powder has the same far infrared waves as the human body, so when applied it increases the skins conductivity (aka heat) to boost absorption and plunge the actives into the skin. After 20 minutes we noticed that our skin felt less bumpy and congested, but rather plump and smooth, while our spots werent so apparent. Buy now 30 Zitsticka.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

111skin sub-zero de-puffing energy facial mask Best: For depuffing Rating: 8/10 To truly put its depuffing skills to the test we tried this mask in the morning, post a boozy Saturday night. The hydrogel mask which feels a bit like rubber, is a clever material that absorbs and holds the formula so there is no dripping whatsoever. Made of two parts, one for the upper face and one for the lower face, this mask, as the name suggests, imparts a major cooling sensation on application which woke us up as much as it did our skin. While the main ingredients like nonapeptide and tetrapeptide, plus caffeine, and citrus peel enzymes, all work to boost blood circulation, prevent water retention, hydrate and tighten the skin in 20 minutes. We found it easy to apply and it stuck to our face like a second skin, which meant we didnt have to lie down when wearing it  although we opted to. It helped wave bye-bye to dark circles and helped recontour our face, depuffing around the eyes and cheeks, while deeply hydrating the skin, so it not only glowed but looked plump and smooth in all the right places. Buy now 22 111skin.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Sanctuary Spa charcoal bubble sheet mask Best: For detoxing Rating: 7/10 Charcoal and oxygen tag team in this mask in a bid to deeply cleanse, balance oil, and make pores appear less visible, but did it work? We found the super moist two-part face mask pretty enjoyable to use  it had a spa like scent to it, and you can hear and feel it bubble away instantly  which made it feel like an ASMR session. Our skin was drenched in liquid, which actually felt rather comforting and cocooning, but we had to adjust the mask back into place every few minutes as it did slip and slide around a bit due to the wetness. Constant moving it back into place meant that we couldnt get on with anything else while wearing it, but that did force us to relax, which is never a bad thing. Once we removed the mask material, we massaged the excess product into the skin a little more, before rinsing our faces which is meant to wash away any dirt and pollution that had been clogging the pores. Post this 15-minute mask, our skin felt refreshed, hydrated, less oily (but you do have to cleanse before applying the mask so skin should already be balanced) and super clean. However, for areas of our skin that were very congested it was clear that it would take more than this mask to unclog our pores. Buy now 5 Lookfantastic.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Meder EU-SEB normalising anti-acne mask Best: For acne prone skin Rating: 8/10 Harnessing the microbiome is one of the cornerstones of Meders beauty philosophy and since bacteria plays a big part in the formation of acne, we were excited to give this mask a go. Its made from ecological and biodegradable golden bamboo, a material that not only has major stretch but also has the capacity to absorb a hefty dose of liquid  in this case, the active packed gel formula, which youll find very little of left inside the packaging (unlike with other sheet masks we tested). Its easy to apply, and feels really cold and refreshing on the skin. But, because it stretches to hook around the ears  to keep it as flush with the skin as possible  it could make some of the hairline wet. So, if like us you have curly hair, we dont recommend using this after youve had a blow dry and want to keep your roots from getting wet. Unlike other acne formulas that dont consider the microbiome and are packed with exfoliating acids, this prebiotic rich mask contains of ingredients to treat all skin concerns. Theres chamomile extract for its healing and calming anti-inflammatory benefits, and hyaluronic acid for deep hydration. Then theres reparative antioxidant rich green tea, anti-inflammatory and calming peptide Skinasensyl which helps to restore a healthy immunity, and aloe that creates an invisible protective layer on the skin, shielding it from harmful microorganisms. After use, our skin looked well hydrated, felt soft to the touch and our spots looked far less red and angry. However, the idea behind this mask is that restoring and balancing the microbiome will help avoid conditions like acne. So, its all about the long game here, and youll see the best results if the rest of your skincare regime is microbiome friendly too. Buy now 12 Mederbeauty.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Bog hydrate and revitalise organic face mask Best: For sensitive skin Rating: 8/10 Made out of lyocell and modal, a fabric duo known for its softness  and thats often used in sustainable fashion  this mask was feather light and felt like silk on our sensitive skin. On paper the formula is equally as gentle, infused with a lightweight serum packed with the brands hero actives humic and fulvic acids, which are known to boost cell turnover, improve skin elasticity and tighten pores. It also contains a hefty concentration of natural antioxidants and minerals that help support and protect the skin. Add anti-inflammatory horse chestnut, protective resveratrol, hydrating hyaluronic acid and youve got a dream line-up for sensitive skin types. The mask itself was easy to unfold and apply, fitted well and had a cooling sensation that we can only imagine helped to further calm our skin. After 15 minutes our complexion was visibly less red, and our dull lacklustre skin was now all aglow  which meant it definitely hydrated and revitalised as promised. Buy now 12 Bogskincare.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Medik8 ultimate recovery bio cellulose mask Best: For repairing Rating: 8/10 Made from bio-cellulose  a material thats formed from millions of tiny natural fibres tightly woven together  this mask is a micro-thin sheet resistant to breakages and tears. And with the ability to hold multiple times its own weight in liquid, we found that it was suitably drenched in liquid without being messy and slippery to the touch. It hugged our skin and when it came to our face, there was quite a bit of excess material on the sides, making us think that this mask would fit a range of face shapes and sizes well. Medik8 doesnt scrimp on the serum, as there was lots left in the packaging, so we squeezed it out and applied it onto the mask, and then waited the obligatory 15 minutes. The serum formula is fragrance and alcohol free and enriched with deeply hydrating hyaluronic acid, so there was absolutely no irritation during testing. It also contains detoxifying minerals like zinc that help to regulate oil production, promote the skins natural healing process, and reduce inflammation. While more minerals came by way of rockweed algae, which also helps repair and boost hydration in the skin. After removing the soothing mask, we massaged the excess serum into our skin, and found we looked more refreshed than before application. Skin repair is hard to quantify, so we tested it again post a microneedling session and found that the redness we usually experienced for a day or two after was much improved. Buy now 63 Medik8.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

MZ Skin hydra-lift facial treatment mask Best: For firming Rating: 7/10 Visually speaking, whats not to love about this Instagramable gold face mask? Its uber chic and has a faint rose scent that, with our eyes closed, made us feel like we were at a spa (and not lounging on the sofa). It was a little fiddly to take out of the packaging and we had to be careful to take one part out at a time, as we needed both hands to peel the mask away from the plastic backing. We also found that while the mask felt delicate, it had to be stretched to cover our face (but once we did that it stayed put) but before we discovered this trick we did find that the mask slid downwards. Formula wise, its a skin firming dream. Pure gold delivered through nano-technology penetrates deep down into the skin to boost repair, and protect the skin from free radical damage (one of the skins biggest agers). Vitamin C helps to support collagen production and even out the skin tone, plus collagen helps to plump and add firmness to the skin. Hyaluronic acid hydrates, boosts elastin and protects collagen, while vitamin and mineral rich crispus extract from Irish moss seaweed repairs and moisturises. Unlike other sheet masks, you have to rinse your face post removal, which does add an extra step, but nonetheless we felt like this was worth it. Our skin was radiant, plump and our skin felt firmer too. Buy now 20 Mzskin.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Dr Dennis Gross C+ collagen mask Best: For brightening Rating: 8/10 Our skin majorly bore the brunt post catching Covid, which makes sense, as while the skin is the bodys first line of defence, our body prioritises our most important organs before feeding the skin, nails and hair with the vitamins and minerals needed for them to thrive. So, when we finally tested negative, our complexion was lacklustre and in need of some TLC. While this mask supports the skins barrier thanks to niacinamide, firms thanks to collagen amino acids, and deeply hydrates due to humectant glycerin, its the potent brightening agents  namely vitamin C  that caught our attention. Also known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C inhibits melanin production to even out skin tone and acts as an exfoliant too. And while a one-off dose of the stuff isnt likely to make any major changes to pigmentation, we absolutely noticed our dull lacklustre complexion was far more radiant post using this 15-minute biodegradable biocellulose treatment mask. With three layers to contend with  the mask itself and two mesh layers on the top and bottom that both need to be removed  we found it was easiest to remove one layer of mesh, apply the mask and then remove the second. Once on it feels like a second skin, and even though it was drenched in serum, there was absolutely no slipping and sliding. Buy now 17 Cultbeauty.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Vichy mineral 89 sheet mask Best: For hydration Rating: 8/10 Dehydrated skin should look no further, as we found this tissue mask to be saturated in some seriously skin-saving ingredients. From the volcanic mineral rich water from Vichy (yes its an actual city in central France), to moisturising glycerin, sodium hyaluronate extracted from hyaluronic acid, and propanediol, an ingredient that increases the absorption rate of actives. All these combined totally rehydrated our skin to leave it plump and glowing. While it stayed in place nicely for the 10 minutes it should be worn for, the packaging is a bit fiddly. You have to fold the sachet down the middle along the dotted lines, then press the sachet until the seal breaks, allowing the formula to make its way over to the side that holds the sheet mask. Once the mask is fully saturated you can then take it out and apply it to clean skin. This is a step wed rather not have to bother with; however, the results outweigh the extra time it takes. Buy now 8 Feelunique.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Charlotte Tilbury instant magic facial dry sheet mask Best: For smoothing Rating: 8/10 This mask has won a plethora of awards and were not surprised. For starters its a totally dry mask that can be used up to three times and is pretty high-tech if you ask us. The textile fabric is infused with tiny vectors of ingredients, from niacinamide and sea fern extract for radiance, a shea butter, mango butter and avocado oil blend for an injection of moisture, crocus bulb extract for luminosity, and host of peptides to smooth, plump and firm the skin. To transfer these actives into the skin, we unfolded the mask, placed the pink side on freshly cleansed skin, looped the top and bottom hooks over our ears and then gently massaged over the top of the mask to activate it. It was impossible to know if we had massaged enough, or if the mask was actually working during the 15 minutes we had it on  but on removal it was instantly clear it had. Lines and wrinkles were less visible, our skin felt soft, smooth, and it glowed too. Over the course of the day the results improved thanks to the prolonged release of the ingredients into the skin  genius! Buy now 18 Charlottetilbury.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}
Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This 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

IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Checking a restaurants rating and skim-reading the best and worst reviews before weighing up whether to head inside has become as much a part of dining out as unfolding the napkin over your lap or tipping the waiting staff. And its a shift in habits that some chefs cant stand.

Sites such as Yelp, Trip Advisor and the ratings function on Google transformed how restaurants are ranked since they first surged in popularity around a decade ago. Once upon a time, a restaurant critic could make or break a joint and smaller establishments relied on word of mouth. Now, an account of a rogue hair in a bowl of soup or a waiters off day is documented online for anyone in the world to see. And chefs have no way of opting out. At the same time, these sites have democratised how restaurants are viewed in a way that can be relatable and refreshing for the average diner. Sometimes you just want to know that you're not going to be ripped off and that the grub is half decent.

But Gemma*, who wants to remain unidentified, is among restaurateurs who have been stung by ratings sites. A former restaurant critic, she opened a her establishment in a small European city.

When I opened my own place, five years after I stopped writing restaurant crits, all of those that felt in some way slighted by my writing in the pre social media age had a chance to 'hit back' using TripAdvisor, she tells The Independent.

Two weeks before I had even opened my doors to the public I already had twenty one-star reviews on TripAdvisor. As I went along, this did not stop, but increased. Much of the trolling actually made reference to my history as restaurant critic, she added.

Gemma claims that when she started to get positive reviews from customers, TripAdvisor then expressed concern that she might be asking staff to write positive reviews and froze her rating at three stars.

Recommended The experimental veggie chef who has banned quiche from his kitchen

It was absolutely and utterly bizarre. My restaurant has six tables, yet the hundreds of reviews do not reflect this. You would think you'd be visiting a 200 seater, she says.

I considered suing, but TripAdvisor has a very tight legislative framework based in Canada. Who on Earth can afford that kind of fight? she adds.

Chef Paul Wedgwood hasnt suffered like Gemma claims she has. But he opened his Edinburgh restaurant Wedgwood in 2007 when review sites were rising in significance, and says diners have on occasion threatened him with poor ratings.

Weve had guests who use a negative review as a threat, demanding a free meal lest we feel the wrath of their keyboard, so I think we all have to take these reviews with a pinch of salt, chefs and diners, he tells The Independent.

David Darmanin, the chef-owner of Pretty F*cking Good Toast (PFGT) pop-up, hasnt got any horror stories of his own but also sees review sites as flawed because they work best for mainstream restaurants and cafes geared towards pleasing the largest range of customers. Sometimes, more niche dining experiences dont perform so well online.

David Darmanin, the chef-owner of Pretty F*cking Good Toast wants review sites to value professional and public opions

Professional reviewers tend to do a better job in assessing the quality of such restaurants," he says. "A classic example is Restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City, which has been voted best restaurant in the world by what is probably the most skilled panel of reviewers that's ever existed. Its placing on Tripadvisor stands at 54th best restaurant in New York. He adds that "although the democratisation of reviews is a beautiful development per se" professional reviewers are sometimes left cringing at the comments customers who know little about food make.

"Most professional reviewers work very hard to build their food and industry knowledge, and become authorities in their field with blood, sweat and tears. TripAdvisor and Yelp offer this opportunity to any Tom, Dick and Harry. Sadly, among these Toms, Dicks and Harrys (but mostly Dicks) you get reviewers who publish negative reviews against blackmail for freebies, or worse, on behalf of competing restaurants. Although both Yelp and TripAdvisor are equipped to investigate abuse, the system is still known to be very fallible."

But the tide seems to be turning, argues Wedgwood, as customers recognise that the people leaving scathing one star reviews over minor issues can sometimes be showing themselves up more than the restaurant, and are often drowned out by reliable feedback.

The world's biggest food fights Show all 11 1 /11 The world's biggest food fights The world's biggest food fights La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain Biel Alino/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain Biel Alino/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain Biel Alino/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights World Custard Pie Championship, Kent Funk Dooby/Flickr The world's biggest food fights World Custard Pie Championship, Kent Funk Dooby/Flickr The world's biggest food fights La Merengada, Vilanova i la Geltru, Spain Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltru The world's biggest food fights La Merengada, Vilanova i la Geltru, Spain Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltru The world's biggest food fights Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights Clean Monday, Galaxidi, Greece Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images The world's biggest food fights Clean Monday, Galaxidi, Greece Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

The positive feedback we received really helped bolster us in the early days, and it was a great platform to get the name out, he says. Now though were lucky enough that we have a loyal customer base and weve found that word of mouth is far more important. I think diners have started to realise that you cant take reviews online at face value and review sites have started to lose their clout."

Wedgewood argues that some simple changes could improve review sites for customers and cooks alike. If reviewers werent anonymous it may help with credibility. Just now there is no way to check if Traveller123 even visited the restaurant so its difficult respond to genuine grievances. Especially when people review an independent restaurant, youre writing about someones business, their livelihood so I think there should be some amount of accountability."

Darmanin suggests that review sites would work better if customer ratings were presented alongside professionals, like Rotten Tomatoes does for films.

But as long as chefs are at the mercy of review sites, it's up to us not to be the wrong kind of Tom, Dick or Harry online.

The Independent has contacted Yelp and Google for comment. A spokesperson from TripAdvisor said: "We are confident in the system and processes we already have in place. No organisation, business or person in the world has more incentive than TripAdvisor to ensure the reliability of the content on TripAdvisor. The bottom line is, if people didnt find the reviews helpful, they wouldnt keep coming back to our site. The fact that millions of UK consumers do so is testament to the reliability of our review model."

*name has been changed
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight 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

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

UK insurer Hiscox has announced it will set up a new European subsidiary in Luxembourg as it prepares for life after Brexit.

Hiscox, which employs 1,200 people in the UK, considered setting up its subsidiary in Malta, but in a statement on Tuesday said that Luxembourg was selected for its "pro-business position, strong financial services experience and well-respected regulator. It also said that it was close to many of its existing major markets.

The company said that all of its European business will be written though its new subsidiary on the continent. A new team, covering compliance, risk and internal audit, will be recruited.

Brexit is likely to lead to the loss of so-called passporting rights which allow financial services firms to operate all over the continent whilst being regulated by authorities in one member state.

Insurer Lloyds of London, last month, chose Brussels as its new continental base.

Beyond insurers, JP Morgan last week confirmed it will move hundreds of banking jobs from the London to the continent. Daniel Pinto, the firms head of investment baking said JPMorgan cannot afford to wait for confirmation on how the industry will be regulated once the UK officially leaves the EU.

Goldman Sachs Europe chief executive, Richard Gnodde, also confirmed in March that the bank will relocate hundreds of staff out of London before any Brexit deal is struck and said it had already begun implementing those plans.

Back in January, Stuart Gulliver, the chief executive of HSBC, said that staff generating about 20 per cent of its London investment-banking revenue may move to Paris. Activities specifically covered by EU legislation will move, Mr Gulliver said.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

Prior to the June referendum last year Robert Hiscox, who chaired the insurer for more than 40 years until 2013, accused former Prime Minister David Cameron's Government of disseminating pro-EU "illegal propaganda".

"All the experts coming out for Remain are all part of the elite, from Goldman Sachs downwards, they've all bought into it, it's for their own self-interest, he said last year.
Islamic State has issued a video showing the beheading of what it described as a Russian intelligence officer captured in Syria, the U.S.-based SITE monitoring website reported on Tuesday.

The Russian Defence Ministry and the FSB security service were not immediately available for comment.

The 12-minute Russian-language video, released on the day Russia celebrates the anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany with military parades, showed the man dressed in a black jump suit kneeling in a desert scene and urging other Russian agents to surrender.

"This idiot believed the promises of his state not to abandon him if he was captured," he said before a bearded man beheaded him with a knife.

The authenticity of the recording and the identity of the man could not immediately be verified, nor was it clear when the killing occurred.

Russian forces are backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his war with rebels and militants seeking to oust him. The video showed scenes of what it described as the aftermath of Russian bombing raids in Syria.

The Russian defence ministry says about 30 Russian servicemen have been killed since the start of the Kremlin's operation there in September 2015.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The John Lewis Partnership has set aside 36m to cover potential back payments to staff after admitting it may have breached national minimum wage rules.

The employee-owned group, which include John Lewis and Waitrose stores, said the issue related to its practice of pay averaging, which ensures employees receive the same monthly salary year-round regardless of how many hours they work.

The retailer admitted that the error means all employees paid by the hour over the past six years could be due compensation, although it is not yet clear how many were affected

Recommended John Lewis cuts bonuses to lowest in 63 years despite soaring profits

The pay error will come as an embarrassment for the company which has often been praised as an exemplary employer in the UK.

The group said in its latest annual report: "This arrangement was implemented to support partners with a steady and reliable monthly income, but we now believe this arrangement may not meet the strict timing requirements for calculating compliance with the national minimum wage regulations.

"Once we have completed our detailed review, we will make any retrospective payments required to current and former partners affected."

Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield said the company was now working with HM Revenue and Customs to ensure its pay practices meet minimum wage and living wage rules.

He added: Clearly this is very disappointing, not least because the vast majority of payments to affected Partners and former Partners relate to technical underpayments rather than actual underpayments of their contractual pay.

As a result of the error John Lewis has revised its annual profit for the year 2016 to 2017 to 452.2m down from the 488.2m reported at its full-year results in January.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled  leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

The group's annual report also showed that Sir Charlie has waived his bonus for the year, which would have seen him land a 66,000 payout.

John Lewis said aside from the under-payment error, it pays staff more than 20 per cent above the National Living Wage on average.

Anna Fletcher, director at the law firm, Gowling WLG, said: "Ethically-focused employers like John Lewis are exposed to this area of technical non-compliance because of 'pay averaging' where staff are paid the same amount each month even if the hours they've worked vary. Given that this practice aims to provide more certainty and financial stability for workers, it is ironic that it may inadvertently result in the retailer paying less than the minimum wage for the actual hours worked in a given month.

"It is possible that this could be the case even in circumstances where, strictly speaking, the worker will eventually have received all the money they are entitled to albeit not in each pay reference period."

Additional reporting from agencies
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight 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

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Customers of mobile operator O2 will be able to use their phones abroad without fear of racking up huge bills this summer after the company announced it will scrap roaming charges.

Starting from 15 June, O2s pay monthly and business customers will be able to make and receive calls and texts as well as use their data allowances in 47 countries - including popular holiday destinations France, Greece and Spain - at no extra cost, the company announced on Tuesday.

The company said it will inform customers about the changes from 15 May adding that users would not need to take any action to take advantage of the benefits.

The move follows similar initiatives from rivals Vodaphone, EE and Three.

It comes as the European Union is expected to abolish roaming charges for its 28 members states in June.

However, it remains unclear if UK operators will be able to reintroduce roaming fees from 2019, when the country is expected to exit the EU.

According to a leaked document created by the European Parliaments committee on industry, research and energy, regulations on roaming will no longer apply with respect to the UK impacting business and other travellers to and from the UK.

After that, it will be up to the UK Government to strike a deal to prevent British customers from facing steep mobile bills when travelling in what will then be the 27-member-state bloc.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

More than 9 million UK mobile phone users suffer from so-called bill shock from using their phones while holidaying abroad each year, according to research published last year by comparison website uSwitch.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter 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

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Thousands of teachers and support staff will vanish from schools by September because of a funding crisis, according to a new poll.

Of 700 headteachers surveyed, 40 per cent said they would have cut between one and three teaching positions by the start of the new term.

A further 20 per cent said they would axe four or more teaching roles and most schools were set to lose at least two teaching assistants or support staff.

In three years' time, when your child is being taught maths by a PE teacher in a class of 36 and there are requests being made, by me, for you to fund certain parts of your childs option choices at Key Stage 4, thats when itll matter. But it will be too late then," Michael Ferry, head of St Wilfred's Catholic School in West Sussex, told Channel 4 News.

Claims by the government that cutting costs would not be to the detriment of education were "just plain wrong", Mr Ferry said, adding that it was impossible to reduce costs substantially without cutting staff.

Just under half, or 49 per cent, of headteachers surveyed warned that education funding was at crisis point, with some saying they had no money to buy basic resources like dictionaries.

Some said they were already having to cope with class sizes of 35 or more.

The poll comes after it emerged Conservative plans to rebalance schools funding would result in 3bn of cuts to school budgets across the country, which teachers say will see many schools lose thousands of pounds.

In March, the powerful House of Commons Public Accounts Committee warned that the Department for Education had buried its head in the sand over the problems the funding cut will cause.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA 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 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA

Headteachers from 14 local council areas in April wrote to MPs to say the new funding formula ignores key pressures faced by all schools.

The Department for Education has previously said schools funding is at record levels and is set to rise further, but Labour said the party could not hide the cuts.

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems have called the new school funding formula "deeply flawed" and vowed to protect the education budget.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter 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

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A primitive form of hominid thought to have died out as modern humans evolved appears to have lived among us for years, new research into an extraordinary set of fossils suggests.

Homo naledi had a brain just a third the size of ours and it had been thought they must have become extinct as they were out-competed by their much smarter cousins.

But, while they may have first evolved up to 2.5 million years ago, the new fossils have been dated to between 226,000 and 335,000 years old, making them incredibly successful in evolutionary terms and putting them close to the earliest known Homo sapiens.

And there is evidence that naledi was more intelligent than scientists believed.

For the fossils were found deep in a cave in South Africa. The palaeontologists had to squeeze through narrow passages for 80 metres in the pitch black to reach a place where they found the remains of multiple individuals.

This suggests these Homo naledi were deliberately ensuring the safety of the bodies of their dead because they cared for them.

One of the researchers, Professor John Hawks, said: What is so provocative about Homo naledi is that these are creatures with brains one third the size of ours.

This is clearly not a human, yet it seems to share a very deep aspect of behaviour that we recognize, an enduring care for other individuals that continues after their deaths.

It awes me that we may be seeing the deepest roots of human cultural practices.

The sub-species is not the first primitive form of human to have been found living alongside modern humans. Homo floresiensis, dubbed hobbits because of their short stature, survived until about 50,000 years ago.

This suggests that other primitive types of human, alongside more advanced ones like the Neanderthals, were much more successful in evolutionary terms  or the impact of the big-brained Homo sapiens was less dramatic.

It was once commonly believed that no primitive species could have survived the intensifying competition from larger-brained humans, with their advanced social and technological behaviours, the researchers said in a statement.

Recent discoveries show that this view is false. A diversity of hominin species and populations existed through much of the last two million years.

Very different hominin forms, some like Homo naledi and Homo floresiensis with small brain sizes, some with closer connections to humans such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, continued to exist.

Fossil discoveries Show all 7 1 /7 Fossil discoveries Fossil discoveries Archaeopteryx 1861: A hugely important fossil, this 147-million-year-old rock slab contains the remains of the earliest known bird. With its combination of bird and dinosaur characteristics, it is a famous snapshot of evolution in action. It's early discovery has since been queried as more complete examples were found (as above). Fossil discoveries Ida - The Link 1983: Ida - a tiny 47-million-year-old fossil - was discovered at the Messel Pit southeast of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. But it was only in May 2009 that she was introduced to the world, at the head of a whirlwind publicity campaign as the supposed "missing link" in human evolution. Getty Images Fossil discoveries Homo heidelbergensis 1994: A skull of a Homo heidelbergensis, dated at 400,000 years ago and considered to be amongst the most complete fossil skulls ever found. REUTERS/Paul Hanna Fossil discoveries Australopithecus sediba 2010: A partial cranium which belonged to human ancestor Australopithecus sediba, which was unearthed from a pit in South Africa AFP/ GETTY IMAGES Fossil discoveries Darwinopterus 2010: The discovery of the fossil of the Darwinopterus filled a 155 million-year evolutionary gap PA Fossil discoveries Fossil fight 2013: 'Astounding' fossil find from Montana revealing two dinosaurs locked in mortal combat Fossil discoveries Ichthyosaur graveyard 2014: One of the 46 fossils found at the site in southern Chile Wolfgang Stinnesbeck

The most complete skeleton has been named Neo after the Sesotho word for gift  the researchers said it was a coincidence that this was the same name as Keanu Reeves character in the film, The Matrix.

The remains were complete enough to allow the reconstruction of what Neo would have looked like.

We finally get a look at the face of Homo naledi, said Professor Peter Schmid, of Zurich and Witwatersrand universities, who spent hundreds of hours painstakingly putting the skull back together.

Professor Hawks said the fossilised Neo skeleton confirmed that Homo naledi was both an effective walker and climber.

The vertebrae are just wonderfully preserved and unique -- they have a shape we've only seen in Neanderthals, he said.

The research was described in a paper in the journal eLife.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter 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

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Life on Earth could have begun on land, not in the sea, according to scientists who discovered a 3.48 billion-year-old fossil.

The fossilised bubbles and layered rock are evidence of microbes that would be the oldest known life-forms on land  beating the previous record holder by 580 million years.

Their existence supports the idea that what could have been the ultimate ancestor of all life first emerged from something akin to what Charles Darwin famously described as a warm little pond on land.

The fossils were found in the Dresser Formation, a series of mostly volcanic rocks in the Pilbara in Western Australia, in what would have been a hot spring when the microbes were alive.

What is believed to be the oldest known evidence of life anywhere on Earth consisted of tiny tubes that were created by bacteria some 3.77 billion years ago. The area was then a deep sea hydrothermal vent, but is now a layer of rock in Quebec, Canada.

At this time, the Earth, which is about 4.5 billion years old, was a decidedly hostile environment, having just emerged from the Late Heavy Bombardment by asteroids.

Tara Djokic, currently studying for a PhD at the University of New South Wales and the first author of a paper about the new fossil in the journal Nature Communications, said finding life on land nearly as old as life in the ocean was significant.

The discovery of potential biological signatures in these ancient hot springs in Western Australia provides a geological perspective that may lend weight to a land-based origin of life, she said.

Fossil discoveries Show all 7 1 /7 Fossil discoveries Fossil discoveries Archaeopteryx 1861: A hugely important fossil, this 147-million-year-old rock slab contains the remains of the earliest known bird. With its combination of bird and dinosaur characteristics, it is a famous snapshot of evolution in action. It's early discovery has since been queried as more complete examples were found (as above). Fossil discoveries Ida - The Link 1983: Ida - a tiny 47-million-year-old fossil - was discovered at the Messel Pit southeast of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. But it was only in May 2009 that she was introduced to the world, at the head of a whirlwind publicity campaign as the supposed "missing link" in human evolution. Getty Images Fossil discoveries Homo heidelbergensis 1994: A skull of a Homo heidelbergensis, dated at 400,000 years ago and considered to be amongst the most complete fossil skulls ever found. REUTERS/Paul Hanna Fossil discoveries Australopithecus sediba 2010: A partial cranium which belonged to human ancestor Australopithecus sediba, which was unearthed from a pit in South Africa AFP/ GETTY IMAGES Fossil discoveries Darwinopterus 2010: The discovery of the fossil of the Darwinopterus filled a 155 million-year evolutionary gap PA Fossil discoveries Fossil fight 2013: 'Astounding' fossil find from Montana revealing two dinosaurs locked in mortal combat Fossil discoveries Ichthyosaur graveyard 2014: One of the 46 fossils found at the site in southern Chile Wolfgang Stinnesbeck

In an 1871 letter to his friend, the botanist Joseph Hooker, Darwin wrote of how life could have started in some warm little pond with all sorts of ammonia & phosphoric salts  light, heat, electricity etc present.

But Ms Djokic said the discovery could also help pinpoint the right kind of places to look for evidence of ancient life on Mars.

The red planet has ancient hot spring deposits of a similar age to the Dresser Formation in the Pilbara, she said.

"Of the top three potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover, Columbia Hills is indicated as a hot spring environment.

If life can be preserved in hot springs so far back in Earth's history, then there is a good chance it could be preserved in Martian hot springs too.

The findings also moved back the known presence of life in hot springs on land by three billion years and even the existence of land itself by about 130 million years.

The fossils included layered rock structures called stromatolites, which are created by microbes, and well-preserved bubbles that appear to have been trapped in a sticky, microbial substance.

The researchers were able to tell the microbes had lived on land by the presence of geyserite, a mineral which is formed in near-boiling fluids which are rich in silica. These conditions are only known to be found in hot springs on land.

Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, also of the University of New South Wales, said: This shows a diverse variety of life existed in fresh water, on land, very early in Earths history.

He was also part of an international team that found another contender for the oldest ever life on Earth, fossil stromatolites in Greenland that were dated to 3.7 billion years ago.
Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter 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

Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Vatican has invited the world's leading scientists and cosmologists to try and understand the Big Bang.

Astrophysicists and other experts will attend the Vatican Observatory to discuss black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities as it honors the late Jesuit cosmologist considered one of the fathers of the idea that the universe began with a gigantic explosion.

The conference  which runs through the week  is part of an increasing admission by the church that scientific theories were real and not necessarily in contradiction with theological doctrine.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

Pope Francis declared in 2014 for instance that God is not "a magician with a magic wand" and that evolution and Big Bang theory are real.

The conference honours Jesuit priest, Monsignor George Lemaitre, and is being held at the Vatican Observatory. The observatory was founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 to help correct the notion that the Roman Catholic Church was hostile to science.

In 1927, Lemaitre was the first to explain that the receding of distant galaxies was the result of the expansion of the universe, a result he obtained by solving equations of Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Lemaitre's theory was known as the "primeval atom," but it is more commonly known today as the big-bang theory.

"He understood that looking backward in time, the universe should have been originally in a state of high energy density, compressed to a point like an original atom from which everything started," according to a press release from the Observatory.

The head of the Vatican Observatory, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, says Lemaitre's research proves that you can believe in God and the big-bang theory.

"Lemaitre himself was very careful to remind people  including Pope Pius XII  that the creative act of God is not something that happened 13.8 billion years ago. It's something that happens continually," Consolmagno said Monday.

Believing merely that God created the big bang means "you've reduced God to a nature god, like Jupiter throwing lightning bolts. That's not the God that we as Christians believe in," he said.

Christians, he said, believe in a supernatural God who is responsible for the existence of the universe, while "our science tells us how he did it."

Additional reporting by Associated Press
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A Briton suspected of having been part of an Islamist terror group dubbed The Beatles has been jailed in Turkey.

London-born Aine Davis left the UK in 2013 to fight in Syria, and was arrested in Turkey two years later.

He is thought to have been one of the four-strong group featuring Mohammed Emwazi, the killer nicknamed Jihadi John.

Davis was convicted of being a member of a terrorist organisation and jailed for seven-and-a-half years at a court in Silivri, Turkey, on Tuesday.

Recommended Jihadi John associate detained by Turkish authorities

According to the BBC he told the court he was innocent of the charge and had travelled to Syria because there was oppression in my country.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: We are aware of the conviction of Aine Leslie Davis for a terrorist offence in Turkey.

In 2014 Daviss wife Amal El-Wahabi became the first person convicted of funding terrorism in Syria.

Jailing her after a trial at the Old Bailey, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC said it was clear that Davis had gone to Syria to fight under the black flag of Isis and that he was preoccupied with martyrdom.

Daviss WhatsApp profile picture showing him brandishing an automatic weapon was a particularly shocking image, the judge said.

El-Wahabi, of north-west London, tricked an old school friend into agreeing to take 20,000 (15,830) in cash to Turkey for her drug-dealer husband.

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Show all 30 1 /30 In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops AFP/Getty Images In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppois eastern neighborhoods EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria Reuters

During that trial, jurors were told how Davis, then 30, who was born in London with roots in Gambia, met El-Wahabi at a London mosque and had become increasingly interested in Islam.

He left the UK to pursue a jihadist cause in July 2013, leaving El-Wahabi and her two young children to live off benefits in London.

The Beatles were said to have been given the collective nickname by hostages due to their distinctive British accents.

Emwazi, who was killed in a US airstrike in 2015, appeared in a number of videos in which captives including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning were beheaded.

The other two suspected members of the group are former child refugee El Shafee Elsheikh, a mechanic from White City in west London, and Alexanda Kotey from Paddington.

In January, US authorities named Kotey as a member of the cell and said it had imposed sanctions on him.

Press Association
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A 27-year-old man who was arrested while carrying knives near Parliament has been charged with preparing terrorist acts.

Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali was charged with preparation of terrorist acts and unlawful possession of explosive substances.

Mr Ali was taken into custody by counter-terrorism officers on 27 April after he was spotted near Whitehall and Downing Street.

The Metropolitan Police said he faces two charges of illegal explosive possession related to activity in Afghanistan in 2012 and one charge of preparing terrorist acts "on or before" 27 April.

He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on 10 May.

A Met Police statement said: "A man arrested in Whitehall on April 27 has been charged with three offences.

"He has been charged with, count one preparation of terrorists acts contrary to section 5 Terrorism Act 2006.

"On or before 27 April 2017 with the intention of committing acts of terrorism engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to that intention."

"Count 2 and 3 under section 3 Explosive Substance Act 1883: On or before 28 January 2012 unlawfully and maliciously made or had in his possession or under his control a quantity of explosive substances with intent by means thereof to endanger life or cause serious injury to property or to enable any other person to do so.

"On or before 6 July 2012 unlawfully and maliciously made or had in his possession or under his control a quantity of explosive substances with intent by means thereof to endanger life or cause serious injury to property or to enable any other person to do so.

"Counts 2 and 3 relate to activity in Afghanistan in 2012."

Agencies contributed to this report
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email 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

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Children in the UK are at risk of sexual exploitation because underage sex is considered a normal part of growing up, a report has warned.

The normalisation of underage sex is exposing children and young people to the risk of sexual abuse, as agencies prioritise sexually transmitted diseases and the prevention of under-age pregnancies, according to the research by the Family Education Trust.

It suggests that failure by professionals to detect the abuse of young people in cases such as those in Rochdale, Oxfordshire and Rotherham was the result of a culture in which underage sexual activity has come to be viewed as a normal part of growing up and seen as relatively harmless as long as it is consensual.

The report's author, Family Education Trust director Norman Wells, said fundamental flaws in professional attitudes had directly contributed towards the exploitation and abuse of children in the UK.

The evidence from recent serious case reviews clearly demonstrates that fundamental flaws in professional attitudes towards underage sexual activity have directly contributed to exploitation and abuse, he said.

Brook, a service in the UK that offers contraceptive advice to young single people under the age of 25, disputed the report's findings, accusing it of linking two "very separate issues" of underage sex and child sexual exploitation.

It argued that young people's healthcare services operate "robust" policies to safeguard every young person with whom it comes into contact.

The report, which is based on an analysis of high profile cases of child sexual exploitation, identifies a failure on the part of professionals to raise questions about underage sex or even about the identity of the father when presented with a pregnant teenager under the age of 16.

It accuses agencies responsible for protecting young people from sexual exploitation of creating a culture in which the response of professionals to underage sex is frequently limited to the confidential provision of contraception in order to reduce the risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection.

There is an expectation that under-16s will be sexually active, the report adds, meaning that access to sexual health services under the age of consent is regarded as normal and positive, and therefore fails to trigger any consideration of the possibility that the girls might be suffering abuse.

Mr Wells said relaxed attitudes towards underage sex had led to a paralysis in child protection agencies, which he claimed they have shown no indication of willingness to address.

Relaxed attitudes towards underage sex has led to what can only be described as a paralysis in child protection agencies as far apart as Rochdale in the north, Torbay in the south, Thurrock in the east and Liverpool in the west, said Mr Wells.

Even though the normalisation of underage sex has been identified repeatedly in the serious case reviews as a reason for the complacency of child protection agencies, there is no indication of a willingness to address these underlying issues either at the local or the national level.

The report argues that the approach to relationships and sex education in schools, which it says encouraged children to decide for themselves "when they are ready" to embark on a sexual relationship would prove counter-productive, "exposing them to the risk of sexual exploitation".

It goes onto cite the Oxfordshire serious case review, which noted that "the reluctance in many places, both political and professional, to have any firm statements about something being wrong had contributed to "an environment where it is easier for vulnerable young people/children to be exploited".

Recommended Parents urged to discuss online safety after surge in sex abuse calls

Mr Wells added: "The evidence from the serious case reviews suggests that the relativistic approach advocated by the leading campaigners for statutory sex education is not the solution, but is rather part of the problem.

We should be wary of any approach to sex and relationships education that is reluctant to declare anything wrong. Children, young people and professionals alike all need a clear moral compass in order to safely negotiate the confused and confusing landscape that lies before them.

Commenting on the findings, Professor David Paton of Nottingham University Business School described the report's findings as "utterly damning", writing in the foreword: With the publication of this report, policymakers and professionals working in sexual health no longer have any excuse to ignore the evidence.

"It is of the utmost importance that the government takes the findings of this report seriously and undertakes an urgent review of its approach to confidential sexual health services.

Helen Marshall, chief executive of Brook, meanwhile disputed the report's findings, saying: We are extremely concerned about the negative arguments made throughout this report linking the two very separate issues of underage sex and child sexual exploitation.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA 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 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA

Despite societal assumptions and the complex challenges that young people face today, the average age of first sexual activity in the UK is 16. Brook, like all young peoples healthcare services, operates robust policies and procedures in order to safeguard every young person with whom we come into contact and our education work in partnership with schools empowers them to make healthy lifestyle choices.

By denying under 16s access to services like Brook, as suggested in the report, we remove the opportunity to safeguard them and for young people to gain the skills and confidence to explore healthy relationships.

The priority for Brook is not to criminalise healthy behaviour but to continue to identify vulnerable young people through our confidential and accessible services.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email 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

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A doctor who is standing against Jeremy Hunt in the general election with the cross-party backing of left-wing activists has said she is more than ready to challenge the Health Secretary.

Louise Irvine, a GP working in Lewisham and leader of the National Health Action (NHA) party, is standing for the seat currently held by Mr Hunt in South West Surrey, after members of the local Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties agreed to unite behind her.

The Green Party has withdrawn their candidate from the race completely, while Liberal Democrat and Labour members agreed not to campaign in order to boost Dr Irvines chances, despite their national parties standing candidates in the constituency.

The decision by left-wing activists to unite behind the GP  which marked a major step in the drive for progressive alliances across the country  was met with a stark response from the national Labour party, which on Monday expelled three executive members in South West Surrey who had been leading the movement.

But despite the opposition at a national level, local cross-party support for the NHA party candidate remains strong, with many Labour and Lib Dem activists in the constituency still said to be planning to vote for Dr Irvine and refusing to campaign for their own party candidates in the lead-up to the election.

Dr Irvine, who led a successful campaign against government plans to downgrade hospital services in Lewisham where she works, also ran against Mr Hunt in the 2015 election, where she came fourth without the backing of a progressive alliance.

Speaking to The Independent four weeks ahead of the election, Dr Irvine said that as a healthcare provider working day-to-day on the ground, she has the benefit of experience over Mr Hunt, who she accused of being "superficial and insincere".

Jeremy Hunt is getting off lightly at the moment with what hes done to the NHS. This is an opportunity to make that a national focus, said Dr Irvine.

Recommended Labour stands down to help NHS doctor win against Jeremy Hunt

Im confident with the facts and Im passionate about the health service. I care about it. With Jeremy Hunt its superficial and insincere. He tends to repeat sounds bites. Hes gotten away lightly so far, and deserves for someone to challenge him.

I see how things are on the ground. I teach junior doctors who are training to be GPs and Ive had lots of conversations about how they felt about the contract being imposed on them.

"Theyre very angry with Jeremy Hunt, and feel he abused statistics and misrepresents them. A lot of these junior doctors have said theyll help me in my campaign.

I can see from the point of view of my patients; I want them to be able to get good care. I see the widening inequality: people suffering from the benefit cuts and the sanctions, people who disabled and no longer getting the benefits they need.

As an advanced, modern, wealthy economy, we should be able to provide a decent level of basic public services for everybody  I dont think thats too much to ask at all.

Dr Irvine and the doctor-led NHA party oppose the privatisation of the health service, believe under-funding must be reversed and call for the integration of health and social care, as opposed to the current move towards accountable care systems.

The market has wasted billions and we want to make it a public service again. The staff need to be properly valued and properly paid. We have to increase funding by at least 5 billion a year," Dr Irvine said.

"It is a fundamental duty of government to provide a decent health service for their population, and they have to find the money. We are the sixth richest country in the world. The money is there, you can find it in all kinds of ways.

"Most of the private companies that are providing healthcare are not paying any tax at all. Lets start with the companies were outsourcing our NHS services to and get them to pay some tax. We must also integrate health and social care  people should get care on the NHS.

Steve Williams, one of the South West Surrey Labour Party executive members who was expelled for supporting the progressive alliance, described Dr Irvine as "incredibly able and articulate" and "totally passionate" about the NHS, which he said made her capable of holding the Health Secretary to account.

Louise Irvine is incredibly able and articulate, and as a GP and someone who is totally passionate about the health service she would be a very good unity candidate to oppose him," said Mr Williams after he was suspended.

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

"Thats all we were trying to do  trying to get the Labour Party to see the sense in having a single candidate to hold Mr Hunt to account for what hes done to the health service  which is a key issue in this election.

Dr Irvine added: Im more than ready to take on Jeremy Hunt. Ive done it before. He deserves to be held to account.

"And Im overwhelmed by the offers of support Ive had from right across South West Surrey, across many political parties, as well as NHS workers and other people saying they want to help.
German police have detained a second soldier suspected of involvement in a plan by an army officer and a student to carry out an attack, possibly on left-wing politicians who don't oppose immigration, the federal public prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The prosecutor's office named the third suspect in the case, which has shocked the country and prompted a debate about the depth of right-wing radicalism in the military, as Maximilian T., a 27-year-old German national.

"The accused is strongly suspected of planning a severe act of violence against the state out of a right-wing extremist conviction," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The three had planned to carry out an attack and make it look like it had been the work of Islamist militants, it said. Former president Joachim Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas were on a list of possible targets prepared by the suspects.

The first soldier and the student, named Franco A. and Mathias F. respectively, were detained on April 26.

The prosecutor's office said in its statement that Maximilian T. had at times covered up Franco A.'s absences from military barracks, suggesting he was also a soldier.

"Maximilian T. had covered up arising absences, making excuses on behalf of Franco A. to bosses," the statement said.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office declined to say explicitly that Maximilian T. was a soldier.

Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has come under fire for her s handling of the case, with some saying her harsh tone towards the armed forces implied most soldiers were right-wing radicals. Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the minister on Tuesday.

"This is an unbelievable story with a right-wing extremist background and it was right that the defence minister did not try to minimize it but rather called it what it is, and we say we have to investigate whether such thing occurs often," Merkel told the broadcaster WDR.

Von der Leyen has apologized for her blanket criticism of the military, saying she regretted remarks that military leaders were weak and unable to deal with problems like sexual harassment claims and right-wing extremism.

The scandal has also raised questions about the competence of staff at shelters where migrants first register before they can apply for asylum.

Franco A., who served with an army battalion stationed in France, had used a fake identity to register as a Syrian refugee and moved into a shelter for migrants in Bavaria even though he speaks no Arabic.

Prosecutors believe the three wanted to implicate asylum seekers in the attack and make the public believe that Islamists were behind it.

The soldier had previously been detained in late January by Austrian authorities on suspicion of having hidden an illegal gun in a bathroom at Vienna's main Schwechat airport.

Von der Leyen said Franco A. had intended to have the finger prints of a Syrian asylum seeker on the gun, which he wanted to use in a possible attack and leave at the scene.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email 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

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

At 4.40am on Friday April 21, Russell Davisons absolutely wonderful, truly remarkable, much loved, respected, fearless, brave wife, best friend and soulmate Wendy passed away from cervical cancer, aged 50, at home, in the arms of her husband and her son Dylan.

So far, so bittersweetly normal.

It is what happened next that caused the social media sensation.

Mr Davison did not call the undertakers to his five-bedroom Victorian house in Derby.

Instead he ceremonially washed his wifes body, put her in a lovely flowery summer dress, lifted her from the bed into the organic, cotton-lined wicker cocoon  Wendy never liked the word coffin  and stayed with her for the next six days.

The first night, after sobbing for what seemed like ten hours, the grieving husband got into the bed next to the coffin, got my kindle out, had a read and went to sleep. And the next morning, There was nothing that upset me about being in a room with a dead body. It was the opposite: Wendys body was still there and that was really comforting.

An altar in honour of Wendy was also created in the bedroom where the vigil took place (Facebook.com/russelljdavison)

More and more people were invited to the vigil for Wendy: not just their spiritualist, Buddhist and pagan friends, but all sorts - an ex-boxer, a four-year-old girl.

And then, when it was time, at 8.30am on Thursday April 27  after informing a bemused police force of what they were going to do  Mr Davison and his sons put Mrs Davisons body in the back of their Land Rover Discovery and drove it to the crematorium.

She looked absolutely beautiful, there was no real decomposition...

Now, in his first interview since his Facebook posts detailing how he stayed with his wifes body became public, Mr Davison has told The Independent: I know this might seem weird to a lot of people, but I would recommend it to absolutely everybody.

She looked absolutely beautiful, says Mr Davison, a 50-year-old landlord and letting agent.

I did put incontinence pants on her, just in case there were leaks, but there werent any.

There was no bad smell, no fluids. Even though all we did was close the curtains so her body wasnt exposed to direct sunlight, there was no real decomposition, nothing highly unsightly or disturbing.

Her face sank a bit, and her mouth started to drop open near the end, but not right open. They say the fingernails and the toenails dont stop growing, and it looked like Wendys had grown a lot, but we looked it up and in reality its more a case of the skin shrinks off.

Besides, explains Mr Davison: As I told one friend, We are so into nature and everything it brings, there is nothing that could happen to Wendys body that could frighten us. We were in tune with it, we were watching what nature does when it is left to its own devices.

We found so much comfort from it...We were saying 'How could we let some stranger just take Wendy off and put her in a fridge'?

And in fact: At one point, in the initial stages, we thought she looked like she was smirking. It looked just like she had a little cheeky grin. That brought quite a lot of amusement.

We just found so much comfort from it, he says. Wendy had died, but we had still got her. We knew she was no longer alive, but it felt like an emotional decompression chamber, to start the [grieving] process.

Otherwise it would have been such a sudden thing. Your loved one dies, and normally within a few hours, the funeral director takes her away in a black plastic bag in a black van.

A short time into the vigil, we were all saying how could you let that happen? How, as a family, could we let some stranger just take Wendy off and put her in a fridge?

A friend created the name plate for Wendy's coffin, which she preferred to call her cocoon (Facebook.com/russelljdavison)

She would have done the same for him. They were, he explains, childhood sweethearts, who met and fell in love for the first time at school, aged 12.

Though fate initially took them apart, to marry and have children with others before getting together again 13 years ago, they came to realise, as Mr Davison puts it, We believe in reincarnation, that we live before, and live after: our spirits were incarnated to find each other.

His past may have included running nightclubs and having a 1999 top ten hit, with the club anthem Everyboy, as a member of Progress Presents The Boy Wunda. But they became hippies at heart, with significant spiritual beliefs.

They borrowed widely, from Buddhism, paganism, North American Indian traditions and ancestral spirituality practices.

If it resonated with us, says Mr Davison, We took it.

So when Wendy was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2006, she caused what her husband proudly calls a mini-revolution, insisting on self-researched natural healing to the point that one (genuinely) lovely consultant wrote on her medical notes: Patient is refusing Western medicine.

When was given six months to live, they embarked on their gypsy travels round Europe  for what turned out to be three years.

They planned the special ceremonial celebration of her life that will be held this Sunday May 14  now with the added request that donations go to a new natural health centre in Derby, the Wendy Centre, named in her honour.

If the spirit is confused and hanging around, at least they are in familiar surroundings, instead of a black plastic bag in a mortuary

They were never going to accept anything conventional when it came to death.

About five years ago, says Mr Davison, We were part of a Steiner community biodynamics study group. One of the members said they would sit with their dead at home, because sometimes when a body dies, the spirit doesnt always leave straight away. If there is confusion at the point of death, the spirit might hang around.

So you have the body in a familiar place, your home, with familiar people, friends and family. So if the spirit is confused and hanging around, at least they are in familiar surroundings with familiar people and would be reassured  instead of being in a black plastic bag in a mortuary.

We heard that and thought: That makes complete sense.

It evolved, adds Mr Davison. We made up stuff that felt right as we went along.

They listened to the wisdom of death doulas at the Buddhafield festival in Somerset, and took tips from one of Wendys best friends who had sat in vigil over the body of her Buddhist teacher.

Initially we were going to do it in the lounge, says Mr Davison, But we realised Wendys body would be alone when I went to sleep, so we decided on the bedroom.

They watched the Japanese film Departures together, and loved the ritualised washing of the body that it depicted.

Nothing was left to chance, certainly not the legal side.

To ensure that everything was done legally, Mr Davison arranged for a doctor to visit Wendy every two weeks.

So not only did the police know about the movement of a dead body, but the death certificate was also signed by a doctor who had seen the patient within the last two weeks.

Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple Show all 8 1 /8 Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI Autumn at Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple YICAI YICAI

When the time came, Mr Davison was able to call upon the help of Amy, the girlfriend of Luke Nichols, Wendys 25-year-old son by her first marriage, and Erica, the girlfriend of Mr Davisons 26-year-old son Benjamin.

Amy, Erica and I washed her body ceremonially, with water says Mr Davison, We put the lovely flowery dress on her, then the two girls helped me lift her into the cocoon. We put her hands in a nice position with her Buddhist prayer beads on them. One of the girls put a slight bit of eyeliner on, and a little bit of lipstick, because her lips did look a bit dead.

And she looked absolutely beautiful, just like she did in life.

We put a Buddhist mantra on the iPod, which was on repeat the whole time, adds Mr Davison, We put flowers round her in the cocoon. We had an altar for her next to the coffin, and we sat vigil on the bed.

It was so much better than handing her over to a funeral director, where goodness knows what they do, and in some cases the body might just be processed as if it was on some sort of conveyor belt.

Mr Davison, his sons Dominic, 22, and Benjamin, and Wendys son Dylan Nichols, 22, and Luke, had expected only their spiritually-inclined friends to participate.

Instead, a total of about 70 people joined a vigil that involved talking about Wendys life, having a laugh, lighting candles and incense.

Why should a dead body be more scary for a child than an adult?

Some, says Mr Davison, came frightened, and left enlightened.

One of my friends is a former boxer, says Mr Davison. Hes one of, if not the toughest guys I know  and thanks to doing clubs in London, Derby and all over the world, I know a lot of very, very tough people.

He didnt want to go into the bedroom because he was afraid, but he said to me If it is going to mean something to you, I will. He ended up staying in the bedroom for an hour and a half.

He left so grateful. He said: Russel, thats just totally changed the way I see death.

One friend brought her four-year-old daughter.

She strolled in, says Mr Davison, And sat with her [Wendy] no problem at all. In a natural culture, there is no segregation of ages. Why should a dead body be more scary for a child than an adult?

Why should it be scary at all?

I think the weirdness in this for some people comes from this preconception that there is something to be afraid of in a dead body. But thats TV, Hollywood.

That dead body is just the body of a loved one who bears you no malice at all. What could possibly be scary about that?

I know, he adds, That the experience will really help that child with her future conception of death and dead bodies.

Most powerful of all, says Mr Davison, was the testimony of his 28-year-old nephew, who wrote to tell him: I have really suffered mentally in the past with the thought of death. I have actually had to have some counselling about this issue.

Seeing Wendy has really helped me and completely changed the way I feel about death. I have realised it is not this gory morbid thing I thought it was, it is actually just part of this beautiful journey of life.

I didn't know how long I would want to stay in a room with a dead body, admitted the nephew, But I could have stayed in that room all day and night. There was such a nice, warm, loving and caring energy in there and weirdly, I felt like it was a really special place to be. I found it amazing that everyone in there was connecting with Wendy in their own way whilst looking at her in her beautiful cocoon.

It felt like that is how it is supposed to be when someone passes. The thought of my body being in a cold drawer in a morgue is a horrible thought and absolutely last thing I want for my body when I die.

The way you did it, it was so personal, loving and intimate, it was full of grace and dignity and I am just kind of blown away with how special it made death feel - which is a bizarre thing to say I know?!

And so Mr Davison has no regrets:

I would recommend it to absolutely everybody, not just for people with spiritual beliefs. Even if you are an aetheist, you would benefit just in terms of emotional decompression.

In fact, he wonders, was it really his and Wendys way that was weird, or was it the 21st Century Western insistence on calling the undertaker and putting the body in a mortuary freezer?

We live in such a fear-orientated society, he says. We have become incredibly frightened of death, petrified of it.

Its not like that in natural cultures. Go to the Amazon basin and see how they treat their dead, with children around the body. They would say that what we did with Wendy was totally normal.

Really early on, he concludes, It was the other way that started to feel not right.
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight 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

Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Jeremy Corbyn has refused six times to say Britain will definitely leave the EU if he is prime minister  despite declaring the issue settled.

Quizzed by the BBC, the Labour leader declined to say Brexit would be completed come hell or high water, whatever the deal on the table.

Look there's a clear vote in the referendum a year ago. But there is now the negotiations which have already begun, Mr Corbyn replied.

After the question was asked a second time, after setting out his determination to protect tariff-free trade, he said: We will go into the negotiations with the determination to achieve what I've just outlined.

Asked, a third time, if he would take the UK out of the EU whatever is on the table, Mr Corbyn said only: We win the election, we'll get the good deal with Europe.

When asked if there was a chink of a possibility that Brexit could be aborted if Labour was in power, he instead attacked Theresa Mays tactic of being abusive to people across the Channel.

We are negotiating a trade arrangement with Europe and protection of the things that we've gained from the European Union, Mr Corbyn then replied, when asked to address that point specifically.

The confusion follows Labour, last month, dangling the possibility of delaying Brexit if the exit deal negotiated with EU leaders is rejected by MPs.

However, embarrassingly for Corbyn, his evasion came just hours after he declared the question of EU withdrawal to be settled at his election campaign launch.

This election isn't about Brexit itself. That issue has been settled. The question now is what sort of Brexit do we want  and what sort of country do we want Britain to be after Brexit? he told a Manchester rally.

Brexit Secretary David Davis seized on the interview, saying: The chaotic incoherence of Jeremy Corbyns approach to Brexit means that the 27 other EU countries would make mincemeat of him in the negotiations.

This morning he said he was settled on leaving the EU  this afternoon he cant say whether he will do it.

Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman, said: Jeremy Corbyn's Labour is refusing to give people the final say no matter how bad the Brexit deal on offer.

In the interview with the BBC, Mr Corbyn said he had set out his priorities in a letter sent to President-elect Macron last night congratulating him on his election.

They would be to have good relations with Europe of course, secondly to make sure there is a trade access, a tariff free trade access, to European markets.

Mr Corbyn added: Thirdly, that we will of course protect the rights of EU nationals living in Britain which we will do straight away.

And that we will also ensure that the regulations that we got from the European Union such as Working Time Directive and employment conditions will be defended and maintained. It has to be put very clearly.

Last month, Keir Starmer, Labours Brexit spokesman, said the party  unlike Theresa May  was willing to go back to the negotiating table if the first exit deal was rejected by Parliament. That could mean the UK staying in the UK past the March 2019 exit date, while the negotiations continue, Sir Keir suggested.

However, it may not be possible to delay Brexit beyond the two-year timetable set out in the Article 50 withdrawal process without the agreement of other EU leaders and the European Parliament.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email 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

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Conservative lead over Labour has been cut by eight points in a new poll.

According to Kantar Public, 44 per cent of people intended to vote for the Conservatives, down four points, while Labour's tally had risen four points, to 28 per cent, since the last poll over the bank holiday weekend. The Liberal Democrats followed on 11 per cent.

It comes after a series of public appearances by Jeremy Corbyn in recent days. Kantar found he was more likely to be seen as in touch with ordinary people.

Kantar's poll of 1,201 adults was carried out between 4 and 8 May.

 General Election poll of polls: May 9

It found twice as many people thought the Conservatives were the best party to manage the UK economy as Labour. But it added that "the British public are far from convinced by either party", with 39 per cent of people saying they could not decide.

Kicking off Labour's election campaign on Tuesday Mr Corbyn said the issue of Brexit was "settled".

On his battlebus tour of the UK, Mr Corbyn promised a Labour government would deliver a jobs-first Brexit. The leader has so far attempted to steer the campaign narrative away from the Brexit debate  which has left the Labour party fiercely divided  instead focusing on Tory cuts to public services.

He said: "This election isn't about Brexit itself. That issue has been settled. The question now is what sort of Brexit do we want  and what sort of country do we want Britain to be after Brexit?"

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

Kantar's head of political attitudes, Luke Taylor, said: "While one in 10 likely voters have yet to decide how they will vote, it seems unlikely that these individuals will swing the electoral balance towards the Labour party.

"Those that have not expressed a voting intention are currently more likely to associate Theresa May than Jeremy Corbyn with being a good negotiator, being decisive and having good attention to detail.

"These skills are likely to be important to voters because they know they are not just voting for a party but, indirectly, for a Prime Minister to negotiate the UKs exit from the EU. The recent campaign appearances from Theresa May suggest that she has cottoned on to this fact."
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email 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

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Energy prices could go up under Theresa Mays plans, the Business Secretary has admitted  despite the partys pledge to save families 100 a year.

Greg Clark acknowledged that the flagship policy to cap bills would leave the energy regulator free to let them rise, if international prices went up.

The concession came as the trade association Energy UK tore into the Prime Ministers plans, warning it would prevent people saving money by switching provider.

Recommended Theresa May lays out plan for state to control energy prices

There is a lot of talk around it will save consumers 100, said Lawrence Slade, the organisations chief executive.

Well, I can take a consumer onto a price competition website today and I could save them much, much more than that.

It emerged that the Conservative policy was rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last summer, which warned it would backfire.

A cap on standard variable bills carried excessive risks of undermining the competitive process, likely resulting in worse outcomes for customers in the long run, the CMA concluded.

Greenpeace condemned long-running Tory cuts to efforts to make homes energy efficient, a much better way to cut bills than populist policies.

In the first major policy announcement of the Conservative campaign, the Prime Minister said her Government would limit the standard tariffs paid by seven in ten families.

The regulator Ofgem would review the market twice a year and set maximum prices, handing 17m families on standard tariffs up to 100 a year, according to Tory sources.

Writing for The Sun, Ms May wrote: It is clear to me that the energy market is not working for ordinary working families. Too many people simply arent getting a fair deal.

So I am making this promise: if I am re-elected on 8 June, I will take action to end this injustice by introducing a cap on unfair energy price rises.

But, asked if prices would rise or fall, Mr Clark told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: It will be a matter for the energy regulator Ofgem to determine.

Rather than copy the madness of Labour policy by trying to buck international markets, the level of the cap should be determined by inspecting the wholesale prices, he said.

Thats why we have an energy regulator. That I think is important, that it should not be done by a politician, it should be done by an energy regulator, Mr Clark added.

The CMA had concluded that collective over-charging ran to 1.4bn. Clearly, the purpose of the exercise is to remove that abuse and to bring down bills, the Business Secretary said.

When you know that some of the most vulnerable people in society are being charged collectively 1.4bn more than the authorities say is justified you have a duty to act on that  and we will.

Doug Parr, policy Director at Greenpeace UK, said: It has long been accepted that better energy efficiency is the cheapest way to cut bills, yet programmes to make homes warmer and healthier have fallen to their lowest levels in many years under Conservative Prime Ministers.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email 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

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Jeremy Corbyn has signalled he would oppose a Nato request for additional British troops in Afghanistan, insisting a political solution is needed to resolve the conflict as he launched his partys general election campaign.

It came as the Labour leader, unveiling the partys campaign battlebus in Manchester, emblazoned with the partys slogan for the many, not the few, used a speech to declare the issue of Brexit is settled and promised a reckoning for tax cheats, rip-off bosses and greedy bankers if Labour wins the election.

But speaking to journalists after a defiant speech, in which he was flanked by the Shadow Cabinet and Andy Burnham, the new mayor of Manchester, Mr Corbyn responded to questions regarding a request from the United States to its Nato allies about future contributions to military presence in Afghanistan.

Mr Corbyn said: I want to see a peace settlement in Afghanistan, I was opposed to the deployment of troops in the first place in Afghanistan. I think we have to look at promoting political stability in Afghanistan, and we will look at that request when it comes.

He added that British troops in the region had suffered a great deal and that he had spoken to soldiers who have been through awful, awful situations there and they want to see a secure political solution in Afghanistan.

At the end of the day, wars are not solved by the presence of foreign troops, theyre solved by political solutions, thats what I believe.

He also dismissed the concept of tactical voting in Liberal Democrat-Conservative marginals in order to prevent the Theresa Mays party getting a bigger majority. Were a party that covers the whole country, and I want people all over the country to have a chance to vote Labour, he said.

There are Labour candidates all over the country, and I want people to vote Labour, for policies well bring forward, which will change this country, which will produce more opportunity, ore equality wherever you are. So vote Labour wherever you are.

Recommended Corbyn refuses to say UK will definitely leave EU under Labour

Introducing Mr Corbyn to the stage in Manchester, to the soundtrack All Together Now by The Farm, the former Coronation Street Star Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper in the soap, told activists that they had a month to ensure that a Labour victory turned the UK into a society that truly gives a toff about stuff.

The Labour leader also sought to neutralise the Brexit issue which Theresa May and Tim Farron have put at the heart of their campaigns, insisting that there is no going back from last year's decision for the UK to leave the EU. Despite calls from party grandees, including Tony Blair, to focus on Britains exit from the European Union prominently in the campaign, Mr Corbyn added: This election isnt about Brexit itself. That issue has been settled. The question now is what sort of Brexit do we want  and what sort of country do we want Britain to be after Brexit?

Labour wants a jobs-first Brexit. A Brexit that safeguards the future of Britain's vital industries, a Brexit that paves the way to a genuinely fairer society, protecting human rights, and an upgraded economy.

 General Election polls and projections: May 9

After the speech in Trafford, the Labour leader travelled to Salford precinct to address party activists huddled in car park alongside Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labours candidate in the general election for Salford and Eccles.

His first appearance on the streets in Labours red battle bus comes after Mr Corbyn said he would not step down from his position even if he loses the general election on 8 June. It has been standard practice at every election for a quarter of a century for the leader of the losing party to stand down, but they never promise to do so ahead of the contest, because by convention they never openly admit they might lose.

It is also contrary to what his close ally and Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, told the BBC last year when asked whether Mr Corbyn would resign after defeat. That would be inevitable, he said.
Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email 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

Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Theresa May has admitted that electricity and gas bills could still go up under a flagship energy-price cap proposed by the Conservatives.

The Prime Minister said no government could guarantee bills would not go up, but her party still argued its policy could save 17 million families 100 a year.

It came after Business Secretary Greg Clark acknowledged earlier in the day that the flagship plan to cap bills would leave the energy regulator free to let them rise, if international prices went up.

Ms May was challenged on the scheme by a worker at a factory in Leeds she was visiting, who demanded to know whether it would stop prices from rising.

She responded: I don't think any government can ever promise that no bill is going to go up year on year ... It will be making sure that there are not these sudden and unexpected and significant hikes in prices.

Ms May dismissed suggestions she was resurrecting an old Labour policy derided as Marxist by David Cameron when it was put forward by Ed Miliband in 2015.

Unlike Mr Miliband's freeze, which would stop prices falling, her plan would involve an independent regulator setting maximum prices reflecting market conditions, she said.

Energy bosses warned the Tory price cap could undermine competition, while price comparison site uSwitch.com said it was a red herring which would kill competition, push up energy prices and leave consumers worse off.

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

Trade association Energy UK tore into the Prime Ministers plans, warning it would prevent people saving money by switching provider.

Chief Executive Lawrence Slade said: There is a lot of talk around it will save consumers 100.

Well, I can take a consumer onto a price competition website today and I could save them much, much more than that.

It emerged that the Conservative policy was rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last summer, which warned it would backfire.

 Theresa May in soundbites

A cap on standard variable bills carried excessive risks of undermining the competitive process, likely resulting in worse outcomes for customers in the long run, the CMA concluded.

Greenpeace condemned long-running Tory cuts to efforts to make homes energy efficient, a much better way to cut bills than populist policies it said.

In the first major policy announcement of the Conservative campaign, the Prime Minister said her government would limit the standard tariffs paid by seven in ten families.

The regulator Ofgem would review the market twice a year and set maximum prices, handing 17 million families on standard tariffs up to 100 a year, according to Tory sources.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The woman who is facing up to a year in jail for laughing at Attorney General Jeff Sessions has spoken out, stating: I do not regret what I did.

Desiree Fairooz, from Texas, was arrested after she let out a laugh during the confirmation hearing of the Alabama Senator in Washington DC.

A member of womens rights activist organisation Code Pink, Fairooz had attended the hearing to protest the Senators confirmation. Police heard Fairooz laughing after Alabama Senator Richard Shelby said in the hearing that Mr Sessions record of treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well documented.

She was convicted for disorderly and disruptive conduct and for parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds last week. She faces up to six months in jail for each offence, a fine or community service.

Ahead of her sentencing next month, Fairooz has spoken out about why she believes she should not have been arrested or facing jail time for her laughter and the state of free speech in America.

Writing on Vox.com, she said: Americans should be outraged that for two seconds of laughter during a public hearing, one could get jail time!

What does this say about the state of free speech in this country? We should all be concerned that our freedoms are in jeopardy.

Fairooz, who describes herself as an ordinary person and a retired childrens librarian who loves to hike, bike, travel, has been an activist since George Bushs administration. She has been on numerous marches and rallies and has been arrested more than once.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions (AP)

But Fairooz did not want to be arrested at the confirmation hearing, she said, instead wanting to be a part of the visible statement against Mr Sessions position.

I felt it was my responsibility as a citizen to oppose his ascent to the most powerful law enforcement position in the country, she wrote.

This is a man who supports anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ policies, who has voted against several civil rights measures, and voted against the Violence Against Women Act of 2013, and whose nomination for Attorney General made the Ku Klux Klan ecstatic, she claimed.

Former KKK Imperial Wizard David Duke expressed his delight at Mr Sessions nomination alongside that of Steve Bannon and Mike Flynn in a tweet last November, and called on the Alabama Senator to stop the massive institutional race discrimination against whites.

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

Mr Sessions has faced accusations of racism and of supporting the Ku Klux Klan in the past. He called the allegations damnably false at the hearing.

Fairooz and other Code Pink protesters dressed as Lady Liberty for the hearing, while others dressed as members of the KKK, and chanted: No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA.

An African American demonstrator at one point shouted: Stop this racist pig from getting into power, before being escorted from the premises by police, the BBC reports.

Fairooz is attempting to have her conviction overturned. But despite facing a year in jail, she said she does not regret her actions.

I do not regret dissenting at the confirmation of Sessions, and being part of a visible statement to draw attention to a dangerous man who does not deserve to be Attorney General. This was and is my responsibility as a citizen.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

President Trumps most senior military and foreign policy advisers have proposed a major shift in strategy in Afghanistan that would effectively put the United States back on a war footing with the Taliban.

The new plan, which still needs the approval of the president, calls for expanding the US military role as part of a broader effort to push an increasingly confident and resurgent Taliban back to the negotiating table, US officials said.

The plan comes at the end of a sweeping policy review built around the Presidents desire to reverse worsening security in Afghanistan and start winning again, said one US official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The new strategy, which has the backing of top Cabinet officials, would authorise the Pentagon, not the White House, to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and give the military far broader authority to use air strikes to target Taliban militants. It would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of US military advisers on the battlefield.

The net result of the changes would be to reverse moves by President Barack Obama to steadily limit the US military role in Afghanistan, along with the risk to American troops and the cost of the war effort, more than 15 years after US forces first arrived there.

Trump is expected to make a final call on the strategy before a 25 May Nato summit in Brussels that he plans to attend.

Officials said it is unclear whether Trump, who has spoken little about the United States longest war, will look favourably upon expanding the US role in Afghanistan. While he has voiced scepticism about allowing US troops to become bogged down in foreign conflicts, the President has also expressed a desire to be tough on terrorism and has seemed to delight in the use of military force.

The review is an opportunity to send a message that, yes, the US is going to send more troops, but its not to achieve a forever military victory, said Andrew Wilder, an Afghanistan expert at the US Institute of Peace. Rather, its to try to bring about a negotiated end to this conflict.

The new strategy is a product of the US militarys mounting worries that the fragile stalemate with the Taliban has been steadily eroding for years, jeopardising the survival of an allied government and endangering a key US base for combating militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State throughout South Asia.

Even as it moves to the presidents desk, the proposal faces resistance from some senior administration officials who fear a repeat of earlier decisions to intensify military efforts that produced only temporary improvements.

Inside the White House, those opposed to the plan have begun to refer derisively to the strategy as McMasters War, a reference to HR McMaster, the presidents national security adviser. The general, who once led anti-corruption efforts in Afghanistan and was one of the architects of President George W Bushs troop surge in Iraq, is the driving force behind the new strategy at the White House.

The White House declined to comment.

The plan envisions an increase of at least 3,000 US troops to an existing force of about 8,400. The US force would also be bolstered by requests for matching troops from Nato nations.

But, in keeping with the Trump administrations desire to empower military decision-making, the Pentagon would have final say on troop levels and how those forces are employed on the battlefield. The plan would also increase spending on Afghanistans troubled government in an effort to improve its capacity.

The additional troops and aid spending would add to the fiscal toll of a war that already costs $23 billion annually, a factor Trump advisers expect will weigh heavily in the Presidents consideration of additional military actions.

In a break with the past, US officials said that increases in US troop levels and support to the Afghan government and military would be heavily conditioned on the ability of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who heads a fragile unity government, to weed out ineffective military commanders and reduce corruption, both of which have led some aggrieved Afghans to turn to the Taliban as a better alternative.

The question at the heart of the new strategy is whether US and Afghan forces, even if bolstered by new troops and authorities to target the Taliban, can create enough pressure to push the war toward a negotiated settlement. Those opposing the escalation have argued that even the Obama-era surge, which peaked at 100,000, did not result in Taliban concessions in on-again, off-again US-Taliban talks begun in 2011.

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

That effort eventually crumbled amid US government divisions and resistance from the Afghan government, which feared being cut out of the process. While Pakistan and other governments have sought to foster separate talks in recent years, progress has been scant since the 2016 death of Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a US air strike.

Those failures, and his deep-seated desire to end the war before leaving office, led Obama to craft a plan to cut US troop levels to 1,000 before leaving office. In late 2014, he also took away the militarys authority to directly target Taliban leadership, stating that the United States was no longer at war with the insurgent group.

But the Talibans advance across Afghanistan, where it has chipped away at government control of rural areas and occasionally seized a major city, eventually compelled Obama to abandon that low troop target.

Obama also loosened rules so US forces could target the Taliban with airstrikes in limited situations, for example when Afghan troops faced danger of being overrun or needed support from American warplanes for major operations.

Under the steps proposed in the new strategy, US aircraft would again be permitted to strike the Taliban in a broader array of situations, allowing for greater air support of Afghan offensives. The new rules would also enable US military advisers to accompany conventional Afghan forces closer to the front lines, similar to the freedom they have with elite Afghan forces in a separate counterterrorism mission.

Similar measures proposed last year by the outgoing US military commander for Afghanistan provoked a backlash among top Pentagon leaders, but this time military leaders including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis are supportive.

The new strategy comes at a critical time for Afghan forces, which have taken massive casualties and continue to suffer from corruption and poor leadership. Their vulnerability was exposed last month when a handful of Taliban militants killed 140 soldiers in an assault on a military base in northern Afghanistan.

Even proponents of the plan have modest expectations for what an enhanced military effort, given the Talibans strength, can achieve. Rather than stopping the militants from taking over additional territory, officials expect that Afghan forces will at best be able to hold the line this year and begin to recapture some key terrain from the Taliban next year.

The goal is to make incremental progress in coming years in the hope that those gains will be enough to persuade the Taliban to make concessions that will lead to peace, said a US official familiar with the plan.

Daniel Feldman, who served as Obamas special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that to achieve a sustainable resolution, security investments must be matched by actions to support political and economic stability. All of this leads back to prioritising the launch of a viable peace process in Afghanistan and using any military decision to support that process, he said.

Wilder said that the emphasis on using military pressure to reach a political agreement made sense but that there is no guarantee it would work given the diverse objectives of key players in the war, such as the Taliban, the Afghan government, Pakistan, Iran and increasingly Russia.

Even backers of a more robust approach concede that the chances of a major peace deal to end the war are low.

If we dont achieve that, Plan B should be to prevent state collapse, which would also require additional military resources, Wilder said.

(C) Washington Post
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hundreds of workers at the Hanford nuclear site have been forced to take cover after a tunnel collapsed at the giant nuclear finishing plant. But this is hardly the first headline to stem from the site, which is located just 200 miles from Seattle, Washington.

Developed in 1943 as a nuclear reactor and processing plant, Hanford was once home to the first large-scale plutonium production reactor in the world. Today, it is the most contaminated nuclear weapons plant in the US.

From 1944 to 1987, the site produced more than 67 metric tons of plutonium for the US defence programme. Reactors at Hanford produced plutonium used in the first nuclear bomb, as well as the bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan.

The site, which is about the size of Rhode Island, actually contains five processing plants. These plants processed 110,000 tons of fuel from nine nuclear reactors along the Columbia River. The plant was also used to produce more than 20 million pieces of uranium metal fuel for for those reactors.

All that production also created massive amounts of pollution around the site, located along the Columbia River. Liquid byproducts of plutonium production were also poured into trenches or underground storage tanks.

By the time plutonium production shut down in 1987, the site had produced an estimated 53 million gallons of radioactive waste. Today, the site has leaked more than 1 million gallons of radioactive material into the surrounding earth.

In 1989, the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and Washington State agreed to start what would become one of the biggest nuclear site cleanups in the United States. The project is reported to cost at least $110 billion, and will take more than 50 years.

More than 8,000 people work daily on cleaning up the site. More than 20 studies in the last 25 years have documented safety risks to workers, including toxin levels in the air "far exceeding occupational limits. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit last year, alleging hundreds of workers have been exposed to toxins escaping from nuclear waste storage tanks. Lawyers for the Energy Department say there has been no evidence provided showing workers have been harmed by emissions.

A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched Show all 5 1 /5 A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched 538201.bin Getty Images A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched 538205.bin Getty Images A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched 538204.bin Getty Images A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched 538203.bin Getty Images A Day That Shook The World: First nuclear submarine launched 538202.bin Getty Images

Experts are also concerned with the state of the sites double shell tanks  1-million-gallon tanks that hold most of the sites radioactive waste. Some of the tanks are beginning to leak from their inner tanks  and some experts believe the waste has already breached the outer tank.

Even Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who once proposed eliminating the Department of Energy altogether, has acknowledged the severity of the situation at Hanford.

I am committed to working with you in prioritising what is one of the most dangerous, polluted sites we have in the country, Mr Perry told a Washington State senator during his confirmation hearing. The countrys commitment to do this has been a failure, from my perspective.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Former President Jimmy Carter has revealed he voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Partys primaries last year.

The 39th US President, who served between 1977 and 1981, made the apparent declaration during an event with Mr Sanders at the Carter Centre in Georgia on Monday night.

The talk was billed as a conversation about human rights between the two fellow Democrats and it focused on the current state of US politics, human rights and achieving peace worldwide.

Addressing the audience, the Vermont senator discussed strategies to create a grassroots, bottom-up Democrat party and revitalise American democracy by increasing voter turnout. He noted that the US has one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on earth.

Mr Sanders added: So we have got to get people involved and you do that by being honest about the real problems they face and coming up with real solutions getting people involved".

President Carter then interjected: Can y'all see why I voted for him?

Carters endorsement of the much-loved, dove-haired Democratic Socialist, which prompted gentle laughter from the audience, appears to have been the first time he has revealed his voting choice in the 2016 Democratic primaries.

After Mr Sanders dropped out of the race and Hillary Clinton became the Democrat presidential candidate, Carter announced he would be voting for Ms Clinton in the election. Although he did note the unpopularity of Ms Clinton and her contender Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Show all 15 1 /15 Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Darren McCollester/Getty Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Mary Schwalm/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Brian Snyder/Reuters Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Darren McCollester/Getty Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP Bernie Sanders campaigns with Hillary Clinton Andrew Harnik/AP

It's been an exciting and unprecedented kind of campaign this year, and unfortunately, the way it's turned out, both choices in the major parties are quite unpopular, Carter said at the time. But I don't have any doubt that one of the candidates is better qualified than the other.

Early on in the Democratic nomination race, Carter said he saw Hillary Clinton as inevitably becoming the chosen candidate because money dominates politics.

There won't be any problem with Hillary getting the nomination because money dominates and she has an inside track to the massive amounts that are going to pour into the Democratic party side, he said.

Carter has remained politically active since leaving office and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Carter Center which seeks to advance human rights and improve human suffering. His peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts since leaving the White House mean he is widely viewed as one of the most successful ex-Presidents in American history.

Mr Sanders also used the event to air his grievances about President Trump, saying dealing with him was very difficult because he lies all the time".

People often ask me, What do you think about what the president said yesterday. Its hard to answer because his view will be different tomorrow, and very often, factually what he says is just not correct.

The Independent contacted Carter to see if he would clarify his apparent revelation.
Tunisia's election chief Chafik Sarsar resigned Tuesday for being unable to work "independently and impartially" just months before the country is due to hold its first post-revolution municipal elections.

"According to the oath we took" in which "we committed to work towards free and transparent elections and to carry out our duty independently and impartially... we have decided to resign," Sarsar said, announcing he, his deputy and another member of the electoral commission were quitting.

"We were compelled to resign" over disagreements on "the founding values and principles of democracy", he said at a news conference.

Sarsar did not elaborate and AFP was unable to reach him afterwards.

Sarsar's deputy Mourad Ben Mouelli and another member of the electoral body, Lamia Zargouni, also resigned.

Zargouni told AFP said there had been "great clashes within" the commission.

A commission employee, who asked to remain anonymous and had attended a meeting with Sarsar after the news conference, told AFP the outgoing electoral chief had said he refused to "witness fraud".

Sarsar and the commission were praised for their organisation of legislative and presidential elections in 2014, following the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

He had in recent months been pushing hard for the holding of long-awaited municipal polls, which after a series delays were finally set for December 17.

"Whatever the reason for this resignation, it's serious and will have considerable repercussions," said political analyst Selim Kharrat.

The commission "showed it was capable of successfully overseeing an electoral process in an emerging democracy. It's also one of the rare independent institutional bodies in the new Tunisia," he said.

Tunisia, which set off the Arab Spring uprisings with its overthrow of Ben Ali, has been hailed for a relatively smooth democratic transition since the revolution.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

More than a dozen people have died following an explosion in a fireworks warehouse in Mexico, according to reports.

The death toll stands at 14 and 22 people were injured, officials say.

At least five children were killed.

Recommended Mexico fireworks explosion kills at least 31

The blast happened on Monday evening in a rural area of central Puebla state, according to Diodoro Carrasco, a state government senior official in Puebla state, told Cinco Radio.

The area is located around 200 km south-east of Mexico City.

Dozens of people were preparing for the annual feast of their patron saint on 15 May when a rocket launched outside, fell on top of a warehouse containing pyrotechnics for the festivities and triggered an explosion.

The house was destroyed and nine people were killed.

Three more people died later at hospital.

"I regret the death of children and adults in San Isidro Chilchotla, in the run-up to their Patron Saint," Mr Carrasco tweeted on Tuesday.

The news comes just five months after more than 30 people were killed and 70 injured by a similar explosion in a fireworks market at the northern edge of Mexico City.

More than a dozen children suffered 90 per cent burns to their bodies.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The last living Nuremberg Trials prosecutor has issued a chilling reminder about the horrors of war.

Ben Ferencz, now aged 97, helped bring to justice 22 Nazi SS officers who were behind the murder of more than one million people.

The officers Mr Ferencz prosecuted were part of Nazi units called Einsatzgruppen (action groups) that were tasked with following the German army as it invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 and killing any Jews, gypsies and Communists they encountered.

Recommended German army searches all barracks after Nazi memorabilia found

In total, they are believed to have killed more than one million people in cities, towns and villages across Eastern Europe.

Mr Ferencz, who moved to the United States from Romania with his family when he was a baby, was educated at Harvard Law School.

During the Second World War he enlisted as a private in the US army and was soon transferred to a new unit that was tasked with investigating Nazi war crimes.

He was one of the first people on the scene at the newly-liberated concentration camps.

Speaking to CBS News, he told the story of meeting a son at a concentration camp whose father had died shortly before the camp was liberated.

The son told him how his father had saved a small piece of bread for his child every day and kept it under his arm at night so other inmates would not steal it.

[I heard] these human stories which are not real, Mr Ferencz said. But they were real.

After the war, Mr Ferencz initially returned home but was soon asked to lead a team of researchers looking into Nazi war crimes with the aim of identifying people to prosecute.

Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death Show all 2 1 /2 Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death AP Photo/LKA Baden-Wuerttemberg Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death Independent Graphics

One of his team discovered a batch of secret documents that laid bare the brutality the Nazis had inflicted, not just inside concentration camps. There were reports from the Einsatzgruppen operating in Eastern Europe, documenting how they had gunned down thousands upon thousands of Jews, gypsies and others.

These were daily reports from the Eastern Front: which unit entered which town, how many people they killed, Mr Ferencz said. It was classified; so many Jews, so many gypsies, so many others.

They were 3,000 SS officers trained for the purpose, and directed to kill without pity or remorse, every single Jewish man, woman, and child they could lay their hands on.

Their reports were predictably chilling. Included in them were phrases such as In the last ten weeks, we have liquidated around 55,000 Jews and, in one memo from Kiev in 1941: "The city's Jews were ordered to present themselves about 34,000 reported, including women and children. After they had been made to give up their clothing and valuables, all of them were killed, which took several days."

Mr Ferencz began adding up the number of people killed and soon realised the scale of the massacres.

When I reached over a million people murdered that way, over a million people, that's more people than you've ever seen in your life, I took a sample, he said.

I got on the next plane, flew from Berlin down to Nuremberg, and I said to [General Taylor, who was leading the trials] "General, we've gotta put on a new trial."

 Nazi Time Capsule Unearthed in Polish City

Mr Ferencz was just 27 at the time and said he had not even set foot in a court room before. Yet the Nuremberg prosecutors were so stretched that General Taylor told him that, if he wanted to bring members of the Einsatzgruppen to justice, he would have to do it himself.

His work resulted in 22 Nazi officers being convicted and four of them hanged.

Reflecting on his experiences, Mr Ferencz issued an important message about war. He said the Nazi soldiers who committed atrocities were not savages but intelligent, patriotic human being[s], and that war can make any normal person do horrifying things.

Do you think the man who dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was a savage?, he asked.

Now I will tell you something very profound, which I have learned after many years. War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Trump administration is to directly provide arms to Syrian Kurds to help in the fight against Isis - a move that is certain to anger regional ally Turkey.

Reports said the president had approached the plan to provide heavy weapons to the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, as part of a plan to retake Raqqa, the Syrian city that is Isiss defacto capital.

The US sees the Kurds as its most effective battlefield proxy in the fight against Isis in northern and eastern Syria. But Turkey says the group is an extension of an organisation operating inside its border which it considers a terror group.

The Associated Press said the administration was likely to provide 120mm mortars, machines guns, ammunition and light armoured vehicles. It is not expected to provide artillery or surface-to-air missiles.

The news agency said US officials including Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have met repeatedly with Turkish officials to try to work out an arrangement for the Raqqa assault that would be acceptable to Ankara. The Turks have insisted that the Syrian Kurds be excluded from that operation, but US officials said there was no real alternative.

 Kurds capture Isis fighter

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to visit Mr Trump in Washington next week. An Erdogan adviser, Ibrahim Kalin, has met with Thomas Shannon, a senior official at the State Department.

In Denmark, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he had useful discussions with Turkey and described the two countries as working out differences over a US alliance with Syrian Kurds in fighting Isis militants.

That's not to say we all walk into the room with exactly the same appreciation of the problem or the path forward, said Mr Mattis, after attending a meeting of more than a dozen countries fighting Isis.

We're going to sort it out. Well figure out how we're going to do it.

Tensions escalated last month when Turkey conducted airstrikes on Kurdish bases in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish military said it killed at least 90 militants and wounded scores.

The Kurdish group in Syria said 20 of its fighters and media activists were killed in the strike, which was followed by cross-border clashes. s

The instability has concerned Washington, which fears it will slow the effort to retake Raqqa.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

President Donald Trump's administration says his tax cut will pay for itself. It turns out it's really hard to find an economist who agrees.

The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business regularly polls economists on controversial questions. In a survey the school published last week on Trump's tax plans, only two out of the 37 economists that responded said that the cuts would stimulate the economy enough to cancel out the effect on total tax revenue.

Those two economists now both say they made a mistake, and that they misunderstood the question.

"I screwed up on that one," said one of those two economists, Kenneth Judd, when asked about his response to Trump's tax claim. "I meant to say that this is a horrible idea, a bad idea - no chance in hell."

The other respondent who said that Trump's tax cuts would pay for themselves was Bengt Holmstrom of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who confirmed in an email to The Washington Post that he had also misread the question.

Besides Judd and Holmstrom, another 35 economists said that the tax cuts would not finance themselves, and five more did not answer the question.

In total, there is not one economist in the Chicago poll who believes that Trump's cuts would pay for themselves, suggesting his administration might not be able to deliver on a crucial promise.

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

Republicans have long argued that reducing taxes will encourage Americans to work and invest, and that the increased taxes the government collects on those wages and gains from new investments will cancel out the forgone revenue. Now, the Trump administration is relying on that reasoning as they move ahead with plans to slash taxes without bringing down government spending.

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin told investors at a conference in Beverly Hills last week that Trump planned to make up for reducing taxes by stimulating the economy and by eliminating breaks and loopholes, although the administration has not offered details about their plan.

"We expect to pay for this through economic growth and through eliminating a lot of deductions," Mnuchin said.

Mnuchin said that Trump's economic policies could accelerate the pace of economic growth from about 2 percent to as much as 3 percent a year, but Judd is not buying the administration's numbers.

"The numbers do not add up," he said.

"We say that about all the presidents and their plans, and this - this is orders of magnitude worse," added Judd, who is affiliated with the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University. "The numbers are just in a different universe."

Judd said that not even President Ronald Reagan believed that cutting taxes would be so great for the economy that the cuts would pay for themselves. If hiring and investing did not pick up under Trump's plan, the government would be forced to borrow more to cover the difference, and experts warn that the additions to the national debt could become a burden on the economy.

Washington Post
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

When the Masjid Al-Kareem mosque in Providence, Rhode Island, received a threatening letter in November calling Muslims a "vile and filthy people," its members were frightened enough they asked for and got extra police protection.

The 42-year-old mosque was far from alone. The letter it received was one of 2,213 anti-Muslim bias incidents in the US last year, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The report found a 57 percent increase in the number of incidents in 2016, up from 1,409 in 2015. Incidents increased 5 percent from 2014 to 2015.

While the group had been seeing a rise in anti-Muslim incidents prior to Donald Trump's stunning rise in last year's presidential primaries and November election victory, it said the acceleration in bias incidents was due in part to Trump's focus on militant Islamist groups and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Rhode Island's oldest mosque was only threatened, while others in Florida and Texas were set ablaze in cases ruled arson. But the knowledge of how common threats had become was far from comforting for Faissal Elansari, a member of the mosque's board.

"Hearing about it is not the same thing as when you receive it, it was definitely a weird feeling," Elansari said.

CAIR officials decided in September to start what they intend to be quarterly reports after noticing a pickup in complaints beginning in 2014, following the rise of Isis killings in the Middle East and attacks inspired by the group in Europe and the United States.

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

"There was this widespread sense that we were going right back to how it was after 9/11," when al-Qaeda hijackers launched coordinated attacks on New York and Washington, sparking a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment, said Corey Saylor, director of the CAIR department on monitoring and combating Islamophobia. "We wanted to be able to put something factual out there."

The accounting includes a wide variety of bias incidents, from assaults and street harassment, to employment discrimination, to what the group considers unwarranted contact by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It also shows a rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes to 260 in 2016, up 44 percent from 180 a year earlier. That includes all crimes recorded where CAIR saw evidence of anti-Muslim bias, not just those where hate crime charges were brought, Saylor said.

CAIR attorneys reviewed each incident reported and eliminated cases that were later disproved, including a New York City woman who alleged she had been attacked by Trump supporters shortly after his election. She was later arrested and charged with making up the encounter.

Trump promised during his campaign to impose a temporary ban on Muslims coming to the United States, presenting this as a way to prevent militant Islamist attacks. His early executive orders intended at putting a temporary stop on citizens from a half-dozen Muslim majority countries have been blocked by challenges in court.

His administration has denied any intention of religious discrimination in the travel ban, saying it is intended purely as a national security measure.

Muslims are not alone in experiencing an uptick in bias. A report released last month by the Anti-Defamation League recorded a 34 percent rise in anti-Semitic acts in 2016. "The 2016 presidential election and the heightened political atmosphere played a role in the increase," the ADL concluded in its report.

Trump made his first public condemnation of anti-Semitic incidents in February after a spate of bomb threats to Jewish community centres and vandalism in a Jewish cemetery. He was criticised by Jewish groups for responding too slowly.

At the Providence mosque, one of about 30 to receive similar threatening letters following Trump's election, Elansari said there has been an upside to the threat: "A lot of brothers and sisters from the Jewish and Christian communities gave us a lot of support, they called and sent support letters."

Reuters
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email 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

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A meeting of Donald Trumps advisors to discuss whether to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change has been postponed for a second time.

The Presidents influential daughter, Ivanka Trump, who is the Assistant to the President, Defence Secretary James Mattis and former Exxon boss Rex Tillerson, now Secretary of State, are all believed to be in favour of the US remaining a signatory.

Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon are thought to be arguing for withdrawal.

The administration has said it expects to make an announcement by the end of May.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has been continuing to hold international meetings about climate change with the latest currently underway in Bonn, Germany.

The US has sent just seven officials  three fewer than the small Central American state of Belize.

A previous scheduled administration meeting about the Paris Agreement was cancelled at short notice last month and the White House confirmed one planned to take place on Tuesday had also been postponed. It did not say when the meeting would be held.

A new survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found nearly 70 per cent of people in the US support remaining a signatory of the Paris Agreement.

Commenting on the survey, John Coequyt, global climate policy director of environmental group the Sierra Club, said: It should never have been a question of if the US should stay in the Paris Agreement, as it is clear that the American people and the world will accept nothing less than the US delivering on its international climate commitments in full.

It's high time Trump stops putting the misguided demands of the extremists in his inner circle above those of the vast majority of the American people, and if he is serious about protecting our national security and strengthening the USs global leadership role, supporting the Paris Agreement is the first step."
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

FBI Director James Comey - who was leading an investigation into alleged links between Donald Trump's team and Russia - has been fired by the US President.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement that Mr Comey has been "terminated and removed from office." Mr Trump was said to have acted on "clear recommendations" from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in a move that has shocked Washington.

However, Democratic Senators were quick to point out the constitutional crisis that has been created by Mr Trump removing a man in charge of investigating him. Senator Dick Durbin said on the Senate floor that the firing of Mr Comey raises questions "as to whether the Russian interference in the last presidential election... will also be investigated by the FBI."

 Trump tweets that he is vindicated during Russia hearing, Comey asked about truth of what he says

Mr Durbin called on the White House to clarify whether the investigation will continue, adding that any "attempt to stop or undermine the FBI probe would raise grave constitutional issues".

Mr Trump's statement indicated that a search for a new director of the FBI "will begin immediately."

In Mr Trump's letter formally informing Mr Comey of his termination, he was appreciative of Mr Comey "informing [him] on three separate occasions" that the president was not under investigation by the agency.

However, Mr Trump "concur[s] with the judgement of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."

"It is essential we find new leadership...that restores public trust and confidence," Mr Trump said.

In addition to the Senate and FBI investigations, the House Intelligence Committee is also conducting one. Democratic Representative Eric Swallwell, the ranking member on the committee, said that Mr Comey's firing "should send a chill down the spine of every American, no matter who they voted for."

The administration of justice must remain free of political influence, and President Trump has just leaped over that line," Mr Swalwell said.

Calls from several members of Congress, including Republican Senator John McCain, about having an independent, bipartisan commission to conduct the Russia investigation have been amplified in the wake of Mr Comey's dismissal.

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

Mr McCain expressed his "disappointment" in Mr Trump's decision, calling Mr Comey a "man of honor and integrity" in a statement.

Several Democrats have also called the firing Nixonian," referring to the Saturday Night Massacre  when former President Richard Nixon dismissed Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal. That night, the attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned in protest to the firing of Mr Cox.

"Today's action by President Trump completely obliterates any semblance of an independent investigation into Russian efforts to influence our election, and places our nation on the verge of a constitutional crisis," said Representative John Conyers, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr Conyers and other Democrats have echoed Mr McCain's calls for an independent commission or a special prosecutor to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 election - with Chuck Shumer, the top-ranking Democrat in the Senate calling for a "fearless" special prosecutor to take on the Trump-Russia probe, wondering whether the firing of Mr Comey meant the various Russia probes were "getting too close to home for the President".

News that Mr Comey made inaccurate statements to the Senate, while under oath, surfaced recently and could also point to another possible reason for his dismissal.

Mr Comey made headlines in July 2016 with a letter to Congress detailing the end of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private server to send classified emails while she was serving as Secretary of State. A further letter in October of that year - mere days before the presidential election -said further emails would be investigated, while accusing her top aide, Huma Abedin, of sending classified information in a similar manner.

Mr Comey said in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that Ms Abedin forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails that contained classified information to the laptop of husband and erstwhile Congressman Anthony Weiner.

On Tuesday, the FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that only a small number of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices. Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

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

Robert Cattanach, a partner specialising in cybersecurity at the law firm Dorsey & Whitney and a former trial lawyer at the DOJ, told The Independent that perjury is tough to prove."

It requires a knowing misstatement of fact, he said.

Mr Cattanach said any letter sent by the FBI to correct the record would have needed to explain why [Mr Comey] said what he said, because if it was just an honest mistake Mr Comey did not actual commit perjury in the legal sense.

There is no apparent language in the FBI letter indicating why Mr Comey made the error in his testimony on Ms Abedin's email.

In his memo to the Attorney General about the dismissal, Mr Rosenstein called the way Mr Comey handled the entire Clinton email investigation "wrong."

He wrote that Mr Comey undermined the agency and entire DOJ when he said he had to make a decision whether to "speak" about the Clinton email investigation or "conceal" it.

"When federal agents and prosecutors quietly open a criminal investigation, we are not concealing anything," Mr Rosenstein wrote. It has been a longstanding policy of the DOJ not to publicly comment on investigations with "non-public" information.

Mr Cattanach said that "if Comey had not promised Congress that he would get back to them if anything changed he would almost certainly have been safe in relying on standard FBI policy." Instead Mr Comey put himself in a "lose-lose" situation, following the letter sent in July and that led to the second letter in October that said a number of further emails from Ms Clinton would be investigated.

In his testimony on 3 May, Mr Comey said knowing he had an impact on the US election because he spoke about the Clinton investigation and not the one regarding Russian ties to the Trump team, made him "nauseous."
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Kushner family has apologised for name-dropping White House adviser Jared Kushner at an investment conference in China, which had raised the issue of whether the family was using its connections to the White House to attract business, potentially crossing ethical lines.

Nicole Kushner Meyer mentioned her relationship to her brother, President Donald Trumps son-in-law, during a presentation in which she was urging Chinese citizens to invest in a New Jersey project being managed by the familys real estate company.

In 2008, my brother Jared Kushner joined the family company as CEO, and recently moved to Washington to join the administration, she said at the conference.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Kushner Companies said it apologises if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors. That was not Ms Meyers intention.

The company added that Mr Kushner had stepped away from the company in January and has nothing to do with this project.

Mr Trump last week extended the the EB-5 visa programme, which allows foreigners to win fast-track immigration in exchange for investing large sums of money in US projects.

The programme was set to expire in April, but the massive federal spending bill Mr Trump signed on Friday extends it until 30 September.

According to CNN, Kushner Companies said about 15 per cent of its New Jersey building  a $976.4 million residential and commercial project titled One Journal Square  will be funded through the EB-5 program.

Lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have criticised the programme, saying that it is basically a way of selling US citizenship to the uber-wealthy.

Mr Trump so far has been a supporter of stricter immigration policies, calling for the construction of a wall on the Mexican border and a ban on many immigrants and refugees from certain Muslim-majority countries.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Google is honouring teachers with a colourful doodle for Teachers Day.

The animated image depicts the letter "g" teaching the other letters of Google about a range of subjects from chemistry to space and arithmetic.

In a changing political climate with competing ideas on how to fix America's struggling education system, heres why the country needs to value its teachers and inspire even more to take up the job.

1. The US is declining in global education rankings

When it comes to math and science education, American students rank behind many advanced industrial nations, according to data from Pew international math and science assessments.

The most recent Programme for International Student Assessment  one of the largest comparisons compiled between countries  found that US students ranked 38th out of 71 in math and 24th in science in that field (other rankings are more generous with the US, but not by much).

2. Trump's White House is looking to cut education funding

President Donald Trump requested a budget earlier this year that would slash domestic funding while boosting military expenditures. That included a requested cut of 13.5 per cent, or $9.2 billion, to the US Department of Education.

Included in that original budget plan was the removal of $2.4 billion in grants for teacher training and $1.2 billion in funding for summer and after school programmes. America has always needed great teachers, but with the education system facing such a rocky path, it needs to value and recruit them more than ever.

Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Show all 13 1 /13 Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Ida Wells An African-American journalist and activist born in Mississippi in 1862, she wrote prolifically on the fight for womens suffrage as well as the struggle for civil rights. She documented the practice of lynching black people in the southern states showing how it was often used as means of controlling or punishing black people who competed with whites rather than as a means of justice for crimes. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Lotifa El Nadi Egypts first female pilot born in 1907 in Cairo. Although her father saw no need for her to pursue secondary education, expecting her to marry and have a family, she rebelled and worked as a secretary and telephone operator at a flying school in exchange for lessons as she had no other means to pay for the training. Her achievements made headlines around the world when she flew over the pyramids and competed in international flying races. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Frida Kahlo A Mexican painter and activist born in Mexico City in 1907, her work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions and by feminists for its honest depiction of female experience. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Lina Bo Bardi A Brazilian architect, born in Italy in 1914, she devoted her life to the promotion of the social and cultural potential of architecture and design. She is also celebrated for her furniture and jewellery designs. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Olga Skorokhodova A Soviet scientist born into a poor Ukranian peasant family in 1911, she lost her vision and hearing at the age of five. Overcoming these difficulties in a remarkable way, she became a researcher in the field of communication and created a number of scientific works concerning the development of education of deaf-blind children. She was also a teacher, therapist and writer. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Miriam Makeba A South African singer and civil rights activist born in Johannesburg in 1932, she was forced to work as a child following her fathers death. She became a teenage mother after a brief and allegedly abusive marriage at 17, before she was discovered as a singer of jazz and African melodies. After becoming hugely successful in the US and winning a Grammy, she became involved in the civil rights struggle stateside as well as in the campaign against apartheid in her home country, writing political songs. Upon her death, South African President Nelson Mandela said that her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Sally Ride An American astronaut and physicist, she was born in Los Angeles in 1951 and joined NASA in 1978 after gaining her PhD. She became the first American woman and the third woman ever to go into space in 1983 at the age of 32. Prior to her first space flight, she attracted attention because of her gender and at press conferences, was asked questions such as, Will the flight affect your reproductive organs? She later worked as an academic at the University of California, San Diego. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Halet Cambel A Turkish archaeologist born in 1916, she became the first Muslim women to compete in the Olympics in the 1936 Berlin games as a fencer. She declined an invitation to meet Adolf Hitler on political grounds, and after the conclusion of the Second World War, she trained as an architect and later worked as an academic in Turkey and Germany. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Ada Lovelace An English mathematician and writer born in 1815, she became the worlds first computer programmer. The daughter of poet George Byron, she is chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine, and was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, creating the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Rukmini Devi An Indian dancer and choreographer credited with reviving Indian classical dance, she was born in 1904 and presented her form of dance on stage even though it was considered low and vulgar in the 1920s. She features in India Todays list of 100 people who shaped India having also worked to re-establish traditional Indian arts and crafts and as an animal rights activist. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Cecilia Grierson An Argentine physician, reformer born in Buenes Aires in 1859, she became the first woman in Argentina to receive a medical degree having previously worked as a teacher. Women were barred from entering medical school at the time, so she first volunteered as an unpaid lab assistant before she was allowed to train as a doctor. She was acclaimed for her work during a cholera epidemic before going on to found the first nursing school in Argentina. The harassment she experienced at medical school helped make her a militant advocate for womens rights in Argentina. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Lee Tai-young Koreas first female lawyer and judge born in 1914 in what is now North Korea, she was also an activist who founded the countrys first legal aid centre and fought for womens rights throughout her career. Her often mentioned refrain was, No society can or will prosper without the cooperation of women. She worked as a teacher, married and had four children before she was able to begin her legal career after the Second World War, becoming the first woman to enter Seoul National University. She also fought for civil rights in the country and was arrested in 1977 for her beliefs, receiving a three-year suspended sentence and a ten year disbarment. Google marks International Women's Day with 13 amazing women Suzanne Lenglen A French tennis champion born in 1899, she popularised the sport winning 31 championships and dominating the womens sport for over a decade. She was the first female tennis celebrity and one of the first international women sports stars, overcoming a childhood plagued with ill health including chronic asthma  which continued to plague her in her adult life. At 15, she became the youngest ever winner of a major championship and lost only seven matches during her entire career. She received widespread criticism for her decision to turn professional, but defended her right to make a decent living in the days when the grand slam tournaments paid a relative pittance to the winners.

3. Many jobs of the future are in science, maths and tech

Jobs that rely on STEM expertise (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are expected to increase considerably. Those jobs, which generally require a bachelors degree, are also pretty lucrative, and there will be hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the next years that pay six-figure salaries.

4. Creationism is still being taught in a number of public schools

At least 14 states allow taxpayer dollars to go fund schools that teach creationism. The issue is contentious to say the least, with opponents saying that teaching creationism with taxpayer dollars violates the separation of church and state clause in the US constitution. What's more, it isnt based on any empirical evidence.

Supporters of that curriculum argue for their religious freedoms and say that evolution hasnt been adequately proven. Having good teachers to wade that debate and help students to make informed decisions has always been important.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The US could send an additional 3,000 troops to Afghanistan  or perhaps more  as part of a major shift away from the policy of President Donald Trumps predecessor Barack Obama.

Senior Trump administration and military officials are reportedly recommending the expansion of the USs military strength in the country to aid Afghan security forces and push back against a resurgent Taliban.

The White House would have to approve the proposals, likely before the next Nato meeting on 25 May in Brussels.

There are 13,000 Nato troops currently in the country, 8,400 of which are from the US. More than 2,000 of them are involved in missions against terrorist groups Isis and al-Qaeda, but the majority are part of a mission that trains, advises and assists Afghan security forces in their fight against the Taliban insurgency.

The recommendations come after General John Nicholson, commander of the American-led international military force in Afghanistan, told Congress in February that he needed a few thousand more troops to effectively train and advise Afghan soldiers, warning that the US and its Nato allies were facing a military deadlock, 15 years after first sending troops to the country.

Afghan forces have had heavy casualties over the past year as they have tried to prevent the Taliban from capturing provincial capitals.

President Donald Trump has yet to announce his decision on his Afghan strategy. During the campaign, he repeatedly said that he would put America first, expressing scepticism about allowing the US to get caught up in foreign conflicts, while also vowing to defeat Islamist extremists.

The US military presence in Afghanistan began in 2001, in response to the 11 September terror attacks.

The amount of US troops remained low in the country compared to other large operations in Iraq that started in 2003. After a 30,000-troop reinforcement in 2009 under Mr Obama, the number reached a peak of 100,000 in 2010.

The Obama administration set in place timelines for reducing the number of US troops as Afghan forces became more in charge of their own security.

The question is whether US and Afghan forces, even if bolstered by a new strategy involving more troops and authorities to target the Taliban, can bring enough pressure to push the war toward a settlement. Critics against an escalation have argued that even the Obama-era surge did not bring any Taliban concessions.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday that the President will need to better explain his strategy after more than a decade of conflict.

What is the strategy now? Ms Rice told NBC. It doesnt make sense to increase troop strength to keep doing the same thing.

During the White House press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he thinks that Mr Trump has asked his national security team to rethink the US's strategy for how it approaches the conflict in Afghanistan, as well as how to attack ISIS.

How do we win? How do we eliminate the threat? Mr Spicer said. And I think doing that isnt just a question of throwing money or people, but looking at the mission and the strategy. And that is what the team has been doing holistically.

The news came as Afghan security forces battle Taliban fighters blocking a main route into the northern city of Kunduz with improvised explosives, as fears grew local residents could be forced to flee the city.

Heavy fighting has been under way for days around Kunduz, a city that the Taliban have twice come close to capturing in recent years, and government reinforcements included special forces units rushed to the province to bolster defences.

A fight is going on between Afghan forces and the enemy around Kunduz city, said defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish, adding that three operations were under way. We have the capacity and enough reinforcements to tackle them, he said.

The heavy fighting, which follows the start of the Talibans offensive last month, has underlined warnings of another difficult year for Afghan forces. They suffered 6,785 deaths last year and control only around 60 percent of the country.

Officials have sought to reassure residents that they had the situation under control, mindful of the chaos that ensued last year when thousands of people fled Kunduz after insurgents seized the town centre.
Despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey, U.S. President Donald Trump has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State (IS) militants, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia fighting within a larger U.S.-backed coalition as the Syrian extension of the Kurdish PKK militant group, which has fought an insurgency in Turkey's southeast since 1984.

There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, whose president, Tayyip Erdogan, is expected to meet Trump later this month.

The Pentagon immediately sought to stress that it saw arming the Kurdish forces "as necessary to ensure a clear victory" in Raqqa, IS de facto capital in Syria and a hub for planning the group's attacks against the West.

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement as she traveled in Lithuania with Trump's defense secretary, Jim Mattis.

"We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

The United States has long supplied arms to the Arab components of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, which include YPG fighters. White said Washington would still prioritize supplying those Arab fighters within the SDF.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the equipment could include small arms, ammunition, machine guns, armored vehicles and engineering equipment.

The U.S. alliance with Turkey has proven decisive in the battle against IS in Syria, providing the coalition with access to Turkey's Incirlik air base to wage strikes against the militants, officials say.

Mattis, speaking before the announcement, sounded upbeat about working through tensions with Ankara when he spoke to reporters in Denmark after talks with coalition officials, including from Turkey.

"Our intent is to work with the Turks, alongside one another, to take Raqqa down, and we're going to sort it out and we'll figure out how we're going to do it," Mattis told a news conference in Copenhagen.

Ankara had long argued that Washington should switch support for the planned assault on Raqqa from the Kurdish YPG militia to Syrian rebels Turkey has trained and led against IS for the past year.

But the U.S. administration was skeptical that the Turkish-backed force was large enough or sufficiently trained.

White appeared to allude to that conclusion when she said: "The SDF, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish PYD party, the YPG's political affiliate, said the U.S. decision was expected.

"The Raqqa campaign is running in parallel with the international coalition against terrorism. It's natural that they would provide weapons" to the SDF and the armed groups fighting as part of it, Muslim said.

In a sign of recent tensions, Turkish warplanes carried out air strikes against Kurdish YPG fighters in northeastern Syria and Iraq's Sinjar region late last month, killing less than 30 fighters, according to one estimate.

The United States has played down Turkish accusations of links between the YPG and PKK. Ankara believes the YPG's advances will fuel anti-Kurdish sentiment in predominantly Arab parts of Syria such as Raqqa, and threaten Syria's territorial integrity.

Mattis acknowledged the war in Syria had not left the United States with easy choices but he voiced confidence that Washington and Ankara would get past the impasse.

"But we will work it out ... War sometimes doesn't give you all good options. That's the nature of war. It's not a good situation," he said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin isnt mad, just disappointed.

The Stanford-educated lawyer who successfully brought about a block on Donald Trumps so-called Muslim ban says the Trump administration's attacks on the judiciary are cause for concern.

I think what makes it more discouraging [is] when you have people at the highest levels of government making those statements, Mr Chin told The Independent. Its almost like they dont understand that power that comes with the office that they have, or that theyre exploiting it unnecessarily.

The 50-year-old attorney faced his own share of criticism this March, when he filed suit against Mr Trumps executive order on international travel.

The Trump team has tried to argue that the order  which blocks new visas from six Muslim-majority countries  does not amount to a ban on Muslims. Most recently, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, tried to convince the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virgina that the travel ban is not the same as the total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States that Mr Trump promised during his campaign.

"This is not a Muslim ban," Mr Wall said. "Its text doesn't have anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion."

But Mr Chin told Hawaii federal judge Derrick Watson otherwise, arguing that the order is like a neon sign flashing Muslim ban, Muslim ban.

[Under the order,] If you come from one of these countries it doesnt matter if youre a baby or a spouse of a citizen, youre presumptively a terrorist, he said. That is, by itself, a disenfranchising statement that was being made by the highest levels of government toward an entire class of people.

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

Mr Watson agreed. The federal judge issued a nationwide temporary restraining order blocking the bans implementation on 16 March.

In a speech that night, the president called the ruling a terrible decision and vowed to take it to the Supreme Court.

I think we ought to go back to the first [executive order] and go all the way  Were gonna win it, were gonna win it. Mr Trump promised supporters.

The US attorney general has made it clear he supports the presidents order. In the weeks following the decision, Mr Sessions made the rounds on cable new shows, referring to Mr Watson as an unelected judge and Hawaii as an island in the Pacific.

It is a point worth making that a single sitting district judge  out of 600, 700 district judges  can issue an order stopping a presidential executive order that I believe is fully constitutional; designed to protect America from a terrorist attack, he told CNNs Kate Bolduan.

Asked about Mr Sessions comments, Mr Chin seemed flabbergasted.

To me, these kinds of statements just dont jibe with what we grew up learning, he told The Independent. The whole point of what America stands for is the idea that you can have an executive that a gets checked by the two other branches  and that includes the judiciary.

And as for the unelected barb, Mr Chin explained the importance of having appointed members of the judiciary: Judges who are divorced from the election cycle are also separated from interest groups, lobbyists, and the latest polls. This, Mr Chin said, allows them to rule based on wisdom, rather than whim.

Even more so than Mr Sessions' comments, Mr Chin says he was surprised by the public's response to the ban.

The first version of the executive order sparked record protests at airports around the US, where supporters gathered to assist travellers who had found themselves suddenly blocked from entering the country. The first judge to block the executive was the subject of fawning profiles in the Washington Post, New York Times, and CNN.

Mr Chin received his fair share of adulation after the decision too. The deep-voiced attorney general booked several television interviews and earned the requisite "Who is Douglas Chin?" explainer on Heavy.com. Commenters on Twitter applauded his assertive response to Mr Sessions attacks.

But there was another cohort  a group Mr Chin described as very vocal  who didnt agree with his decision. They flooded his email inbox with letters, and his office with angry phone calls.

Surprisingly, however, Mr Chin says he understands where theyre coming from.

The people who responded were very emotional, very concerned about Muslims being terrorists, and just very fearful of what could happen in their personal lives if the president's orders werent followed, Mr Chin said.

We all live in a time where there's a lot of fear out there as to what terrorists can do, and how that can affect our lives, he continued, adding, Im scared too.

In fact, in case anyone was curious, the lawyer who helped block the executive order meant to end terrorism in the United States is actually a big supporter of national security.

I actually do believe that it is the responsibility of the national government to protect our security and protect our borders, he said. But do it in a way that doesnt violate people's constitutional rights.

The US 9th Circuit Court will hear a Trump administration's appeal to the Hawaii restraining order on 15 May. In a court brief filed in advance of the hearing, the Hawaii Department of Justice issued a warning to the president: The Constitution is not so easily cast aside.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

References to Donald Trump's promised Muslim ban have been scrubbed from his campaign website minutes after a White House reporter brought them up in a press briefing.

During the briefing ABCs Cecilia Vega asked Press Secretary Sean Spicer why the Trump campaign website still calls for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States when the White House has denied that Mr Trump's executive order to block travel from six Muslim-majority countries is a "Muslim ban".

I'm not aware of what's on the campaign website. You'd have to ask them, Mr Spicer replied.

Recommended Yates warned White House Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia

Minutes later, the statement in question  which states Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on  was gone. Screenshots archived on the WayBack Machine show the page was live as of that morning.

Mr Trump repeatedly promised to institute a ban on Muslim immigration during his campaign, even saying he would consider shutting down mosques and establishing a Muslim registry.

But Mr Spicer said on Monday that Mr Trump has always been very clear that the intent of the order was not to ban Muslims, but to make sure that the people who are coming in here are coming in here with the right motives.

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

Several judges, however, saw it differently. A federal judge in Maryland blocked the order from taking effect in March, pointing to Mr Trumps campaign-trail statements as evidence of religious animus. The attorney general of Hawaii, where a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on the ban in March, said the order was like a neon sign flashing Muslim Ban, Muslim Ban.

We cannot fault the president for being politically incorrect, but we do fault him for being constitutionally incorrect, the attorney general said.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral arguments in an appeal for the travel ban on Monday, around the time it was being discussed at the press conference. Judges on the appeals court struggled with whether to take Mr Trumps past statements into account when considering the constitutionality of the travel ban.

Acting Solicitor General Jeffery Wall defended Mr Trump by saying the Muslim ban proposal was written "before [the President] took the oath".

"It is an archived press statement from 16 months ago," Mr Wall said. "We took an oath and formed a government."
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A leading Republican has said he would like to probe possible links between Donald Trumps businesses and Russia and believed it would be helpful to obtain his tax returns.

Senator Lindsey Graham said he wanted to use a congressional committee he sits on to investigate the issue, after a former senior intelligence official had testified he could not fully comment on the matter.

The South Carolina senator also reportedly said that getting hold of the presidents tax returns would be helpful to the effort, though he said it was too soon to talk about issuing a subpoena to the White House.

CNN said Mr Graham had made the comment following testimony before the a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee from James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence under Barack Obama.

Asked under oath about whether, during his investigation of all things Russia, he had uncovered something where Mr Trumps business interests in the country had given him cause for concern, Mr Clapper said: Not in the course of the preparation of the intelligence communities assessment.

Mr Graham then asked if he had uncovered any such information at any time during his investigations. Mr Clapper alluded to the ongoing FBI investigation into possible links between Mr Trump and Moscow by saying: Senator Graham I cant comment on that because that impacts an investigation.

 Obama takes dig at Trump during award acceptance speech: 'We need courage to stand up to hate'

Mr Trump sought to seize on Mr Clappers comments by saying that the former intelligence official had not revealed anything new.

Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is no evidence of collusion w/ Russia and Trump, the president said on Twitter.

Later, he added: The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

CNN said that as a result, Mr Graham now wanted the judiciary committee to pursue this matter. It said the senator had said he would liaise with the FBI about its ongoing matter into the matter.

The network said Mr Graham believed it would be helpful to the investigation to get its hand on Mr Trumps tax returns - something the president has said he will not release.

Asked if the committee was ready to use a subpoena to force the White House to release such information, he reportedly replied: We are not there yet.

Mr Clapper testified along with former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired from her position after refusing to support Mr Trumps travel ban.

She said that the White House knew former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was susceptible to blackmail by the Russian government at least three weeks before he was forced out

Russian officials were aware of Mr Flynns conversations with the Russian ambassador  and that he had misled the US vice president as to the nature of those conversations, Ms Yates testified to the Senate subcommittee.

The Russians also knew about what General Flynn had done, and the Russians also knew that General Flynn had misled the Vice President and others, Ms Yates said at the public hearing.

That created ... a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email 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

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump has yet to make a decision on whether to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change as global talks continue in Bonn, Germany.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during a news conference that the decision would not be announced until after the Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Italy later this month.

Mr Trump had said many times that he wanted to cancel the Paris Agreement.

Andrew Light, Senior Fellow at World Resources Institute and former US State Department climate official, said White House senior officials and Cabinet members were slated to meet on Tuesday regarding the decision but the meeting has been postponed.

Mr Light said the official reason given was that there were scheduling conflicts with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and no rescheduled date has been made public.

Nearly 200 countries signed onto the Paris Agreement in December 2015 and it became a cornerstone for President Barack Obamas environmental legacy.

The agreement entered into force for the US on 4 November 2016 - just days before Mr Trump was elected.

The process for the US to decide whether they can or should withdraw from the agreement is complex, though the Paris Agreement was not ratified through Congress.

Mr Obama felt at the time that he would have faced too much opposition from climate deniers in Congress despite the country being one of the worlds largest emitters of carbon dioxide.

Mr Trump has sent a smaller team than usual to the current round of negotiations taking place in Bonn, Germany this month. No countrys officials are saying they are changing their own policies based on Mr Trumps indecisiveness but they are keeping an eye on him.

Lisa Murray's climate change photography Show all 12 1 /12 Lisa Murray's climate change photography Lisa Murray's climate change photography Dinka cattle herders starting their migration in South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography A Dinka woman fetches water in South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Veronica in South Sudan preparing tea outside her home, recently ravaged by heavy flooding Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Children playing in Vietnam. When it floods, transport to and from school is a major challenge Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Sugeng, a fish and crab farmer from Indonesia who suffers financially every time the area floods Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Tan, a vegetable farmer, learning new methods through Oxfam in Vietnam Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Maluk, a 19-year-old from Tonj South, South Sudan Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Normally this farmer in South Sudan would be harvesting sorghum, but rains are late so the hunger season continues Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Herders bringing home their cattle in Afar, Ethiopia Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Farmers harvesting chilli in Ethiopia Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography A woman in Tigray, Ethiopia, scares birds away from her crops with a slingshot Lisa Murray Lisa Murray's climate change photography Irula tribe woman in Tamil Nadu Lisa Murray

Climate diplomats see that Mr Trump has proposed cutting the budget by nearly a third to agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which also funds several state and local climate change programmes.

He also appointed climate deniers like EPA head Scott Pruitt and advisor Steve Bannon to key roles.

Mr Tillerson is a former Exxon executive and has yet to appoint deputies in the State Department on a range of issues including climate change, though has said he thinks climate change is real.

The delayed announcement by the White House is a situation members of the G7 were hoping to avoid. During the last summit in April, which focused on energy, no joint statement was issued on climate change as had been done in the past.

The G7 issued a joint statement from their 2015 meeting saying that climate change was a major global security threat, noting that its impact crosses borders, adds to violent conflicts, and has a negative impact on economies in the developing world.

Alden Meyer, Director of Strategy and Policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists told The Independent said the more interaction and exposure Mr Trump gets to the G7 leaders while they meet in Italy later in May, the better.

Mr Trump does seem to prefer face-to-face interactions with world leaders to clarify his positions rather than other diplomatic avenues.

He called climate change a hoax perpetrated by China but his tune has changed since his personal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has led his country to be a global leader on investing in renewable energy.

It could also be due to the US needing China to cooperate on getting North Korea to denuclearise, a priority for Mr Trump.

Business leaders are also likely playing a part in Mr Trumps delayed announcement according to Mr Meyer.

He said they may have made the president realise that withdrawing from such a massive global agreement is a serious decision that should not be made quickly or flippantly.

In 2015, investments in renewable energy - about $350 billion ( 271 billion) - outpaced new investments in the oil and gas sector for the first time ever.

Several multi-billion dollar pension funds have also divested from companies that have ignored climate change concerns, primarily in the oil, gas, and manufacturing sectors.

In Bonn, the US delegation will participate in a review that each country goes through as part of being in the Paris Agreement. Mr Meyer said he expects that the delegation will allow Australia to take the lead in some of the larger, formal meetings.

Attendees said the US has been keeping a relatively low profile at the informal meetings in light of a pending decision.
Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email 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

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hundreds of workers have been forced to "take cover" after a tunnel in a nuclear finishing plant collapsed in Washington state.

Following the incident Tuesday morning, which a spokesperson told the Independent is still being investigated, a manager sent a message to workers telling them to secure ventilation in your building and to refrain from eating or drinking. The US Department of Energy activated its Emergency Operations Center Tuesday following the collapse. Some workers were reportedly told to evacuate while others were told to shelter-in-place as officials investigated the severity of the situation.

"The Department of Energy informed us this morning that a tunnel was breached that was used to bury radioactive waste from the production of plutonium at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation," Governor Jay Inslee said in a statement. He said that the White House had reached out to his office as well.

"This is a serious situation, and ensuring the safety of the workers and the community is the top priority," Mr Inslee said. "Our understanding is that the site went into immediate lock down, in which workers were told to seek shelter, and all access to the area has been closed."

A spokesperson for the Hanford site said during a live broadcast that the tunnel collapse was discovered by workers on patrol in the area.

"Crews noticed that a portion of that tunnel had fallen," Destry Henderson, the spokesperson, said, emphasizing that researchers had not found spilled or leaked radioactive materials. "The roof had caved in about a 20 foot section of that tunnel."

The tunnel reportedly contained highly contaminated materials including nuclear waste trains that are used to transport radioactive fuel rods. A spokesperson said that there was no evidence to suggest that radioactive materials had been released and that all of the workers in the area were accounted for. An official tally of those with orders to shelter-in-place was not immediately available, a spokesperson said but there were no reported injuries.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Richland Operations Office activated the Hanford Emergency Operations Center at 8:26 a.m, the Department of Energy said in an earlier statement. There are concerns about subsidence in the soil covering railroad tunnels near a former chemical processing facility. The tunnels contain contaminated materials.

The nuclear site, located in the city of Hanford, is a former plutonium production site that was used to help develop the American nuclear arsenal 70 years ago. More recently, however, a private contractor hired by the Department of Energy is working on a $110 billion project to clean up 56 million gallons of chemical and nuclear waste stored in as many as 177 underground tanks there.

Before the Tuesday collapse, those tanks were reportedly leaking toxic and radioactive vapours and chemicals that have been linked to cancer, brain damage, and lung damage. There were at least 61 workers exposed to those deadly vapours last year. Experts have called the location "the most toxic place in America" and "an underground Chernobyl waiting to happen."

Cleaning up the Hanford nuclear site has been a priority for the Energy Department for years. The site hasn't produced plutonium since 1980 and a cleanup program was started there in 1989. The area has since been the subject of controversy and has been the target of a lawsuit filed by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson last year who contended that the Energy Department and contractor Washington River Protection Solutions had allowed the release of vapours from underground nuclear waste tanks that pose a serious health risk to workers.

Hanford is a small agricultural community in south-central Washington about 200 miles from Seattle.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The Christian governor of Jakarta has been sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy in a case that has undermined Indonesia's reputation for practising a moderate form of Islam.

Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said he would appeal against the guilty verdict and sentence.

The five-judge panel said he was "convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy" and ordered his arrest.

Recommended Indonesian President cancels Australia visit after violent protest

The lead judge, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, said his comment during an election campaign that people were being deceived if they believed the Quran forbids Muslims from voting for non-Muslims had degraded and insulted Islam.

"As part of a religious society, the defendant should be careful to not use words with negative connotations regarding the symbols of religions including the religion of the defendant himself," he said.

The trial was a purely criminal one and the court disagreed that there were political aspects to the case, the lead judge said.

The two-year prison sentence was a surprise as prosecutors had recommended a two-year suspended sentence.

The maximum sentence for blasphemy in Muslim-majority Indonesia is five years in prison.

Hardline Islamist groups, whose supporters were also gathered outside the courtroom, had called for the maximum penalty possible on the basis that Purnama's comments had insulted the Quran.

Thousands of police were deployed in the capital early on Tuesday in case clashes broke out between Purnama's supporters and opponents. There was no immediate sign of any violence after the court's verdict.

Purnama denied wrongdoing, though he apologised for the comments he made. He lost his bid for re-election in an April run-off - after the most divisive and religiously charged election in recent years - to a Muslim rival, Anies Baswedan. He will hand over to Baswedan in October.

Analysts say radical Islamic groups, which organised mass protests against Purnama as he sought re-election, had a decisive impact on the outcome of the election.

The government has been criticised for not doing enough to protect religious minorities but President Joko Widodo, a key ally of Purnama's, had urged restraint over the trial and called for all sides to respect the legal process.

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said the guilty verdict against Purnama was "a huge setback" for Indonesia's record of tolerance and for minorities.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

"This is bad news for Indonesian minorities," he said. "If someone like Ahok, the governor of the capital, backed by the country's largest political party, ally of the president, can be jailed on groundless accusations, what will others do?"

The tensions whipped up during the Jakarta election have raised concerns about the rising influence of Islamist groups in Indonesia, which is home to sizeable communities of Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and people who adhere to traditional beliefs.

The government said on Monday it would take legal steps to disband Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a group that seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate, because its activities were creating social tensions and threatening security.

AP, Reuters
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Nearly a quarter of Japanese men at the age of 50 are yet to marry, a nationwide census has revealed.

The report, from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, also found one in seven Japanese women aged 50 were yet to be married.

Both figures were the highest since the census began in 1920, and represent a raise of 3.2 per cent among men and 3.4 per cent among women from the previous survey in 2010.

 Show off to your date at Japanese theme park by beating up bad guys

The growing trend was attributed to less social pressure to marry as well as financial worries.

The institute said the number of single Japanese people will likely rise, as another survey shows more young people have no intention of getting married in the future.

The research also found more than four million middle-aged singles in Japan still live with their elderly parents and depend on them financially, which researchers dubbed "parasite singles".

Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Show all 15 1 /15 Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The festival is LGBT-friendly Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Everything is penis-related on the day of the festival Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' There are plenty of souvenirs for sale Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' There's a serious side to the festival too Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' But it has solid historical and religious roots Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Today, the festival includes a cross-dressing group carrying this giant pink penis Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The festival's now become part of Japan's 'wacky' identity Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Phallic imagery abounds in Shinto Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The Elizabeth Kaikan group carry the pink penis Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Thousands of people attend the festival Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The Elizabeth Kaikan group carry the pink penis Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The Shinto religion focuses on fertility Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' There's every kind of food in phallic shape Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' The serious part of the procession Selena Hoy Inside Japan's annual 'penis festival' Participants can wear anything from loincloths to full uniforms Selena Hoy

Japan's population is predicted to plummet from 127 million to 88 million by 2016, and is projected to drop to just 51 million by 2115 if current trends continue, according to the research.

By 2065, nearly 40 per cent of the country will be senior citizens in what economists describe as a "demographic time bomb".

Last year, Japanese birth rates dropped below one million for the first time since records began.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A heavily pregnant British woman has been killed in a scooter accident in Thailand, her boyfriend has said.

Breastfeeding advocate Sophie Emma Rose, 41, originally from Blackpool in Lancashire, died in the crash in Thalang, Phuket, on Monday.

Her boyfriend, Danny Glass, 29, from Margate in Kent, was also injured.

Recommended Huge double explosion hits Thai resort

He paid tribute to his partner on Facebook, saying: "I am in total shock as I've lost the most precious person I had ever connected with."

He added: "She was also pregnant so I lost my child too."

Ms Rose, who lived in Phuket, featured in national newspaper reports last year after saying women should breastfeed until their children are aged eight.

She uploaded videos of her breastfeeding her five-year-old son and her life abroad to her YouTube channel, Sophie's Joy.

Last Thursday, she gave viewers an update on her pregnancy.

The Phuket News reported she was crushed to death under an 18-wheeled truck when the moped she was riding pillion on swerved to avoid a parked car.

Mr Glass, who was driving the moped, suffered minor injuries and the 30-year-old truck driver later surrendered himself to police, it added.

The Foreign Office said: "We are providing support to a British man who was injured in a road traffic accident in Thalang, Thailand, and are in contact with the local police."

Bumpy shot on the rocks at Banana beach today. Having a bit of child free time  A post shared by Sophie (@sophiesjoy) on May 6, 2017 at 3:34am PDT

In a YouTube video Mr Glass said that rather than swerving around a parked car, he had braked sharply because another vehicle had done the same ahead of him.

"The bike has wobbled, Id tried to stabilise it  I havent been able to. Its two people on a scooter, its very difficult thing to do, and the bike has slid to the right side and Ive obviously gone into fight or flight mode," he said.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Mr Glass also claimed that thanks to his "very good intuitive abilities" he had communicated with Ms Rose's "spirit".

He said "she was very, very angry at first at me" and now "she has started to calm down" and is telling him not to "blame himself" for what happened.

He wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that he had been told either he or the truck driver would be charged over the death.

Additional reporting by agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Moon Jae-in is set to become the next president of South Korea, amid escalating tensions over North Koreas nuclear programme across the world  with the incoming leader aiming for a shift in relations both with its neighbour and the US.

Mr Moon received more than 40 per cent of the vote according to exit polls from broadcasters in the country and Mr Moon was quick to claim victory.

Nearly 80 per cent of South Koreans voted in the election, the highest number in 20 years, and while full results are yet to be released, the other top candidates Hong Jun-pyo and Ahn Cheol-soo appear to have conceded.

Speaking after the exit poll results were announced, Mr Moon said his expected landslide victory comes at a time when the Korean people are desperate for a change in government.

Previous president Park Geun-hye, a conservative, was impeached over a corruption scandal, which left a sour taste for many voters on her conservative party.

Ms Parks party has a more historical view of the US alliance, many older supporters of the party lived through the Korean War and remember the US military support and economic aid provided by Americans during their time of need. There are still 28,000 US military personnel stationed in South Korea as well.

Her administration recently allowed the US military to instal the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system to become operational, a point Mr Moon argued should have been the decision of the incoming president not the outgoing administration.

Jonathan Pollack of the Centre for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution think-tank said that China would be cheering from the sidelines should Mr Moon successfully restrict missile development in Korea.

China has opposed the THAAD missile system for fear it would be used by the US to spy on them.

Mr Moon has advocated for a less hardline sunshine policy of engagement with Pyonyang, pledging to ease tension and work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula by reviving six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, the US, Russia and Japan.

The issue is a personal one for many South Koreans, but especially so for Mr Moon whose parents actually fled their homes in the north during the Korean War.

Moon has criticised the two previous conservative governments for failing to stop North Koreas weapons development. He advocates a two-track policy of seeking dialogue with the North while maintaining pressure and sanctions to encourage change.

He also aims to expand economic and social exchange between the two Koreas by reopening industrial parks on the shared border.

His victory was bolstered by strong support from younger people, according to the exit polls. Many of his supporters participated in big, peaceful weekend rallies over the last few months of 2016 and early this year, demanding Ms Park step down.

Only 22 to 25 per cent of people in their 60s and 70s voted for Mr Moon, exit polls showed, underscoring a longstanding generation gap. Many older people are wary of Mr Moon's less confrontational stance on North Korea.

Mr Moon has said he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if a summit could help ease tension.

US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach Show all 10 1 /10 US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US Marine soldiers patrol during the US-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea. North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the US move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korean soldiers take part in the Operation Pacific Reach joint logistic exercise in Pohang, South Korea Reuters US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the US move to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korean marine soldiers stand guard during the US-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea AP US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine takes part in Operation Pacific Reach joint logistic exercise in Pohang, South Korea Reuters US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine takes a position during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise at a beach in Pohang Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korea and the United States kicked off a combined distribution exercise focused on integrating the two sides alliance logistics capabilities, in Pohang, 260 kms southeast of Seoul Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach South Korea and the United States kicked off a combined distribution exercise focused on integrating the two sides alliance logistics capabilities Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach A US Marine walks past a military vehicle during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise in Pohang Getty Images US/South Korea joint exercise Operation Pacific Reach US Marines gather at a beach during a Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (CJLOTS) exercise as part of a joint defence exercise in Pohang, 260 kms southeast of Seoul, South Korea Getty Images

Lisa Collins, a fellow with the Korea Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told The Independent that what will be key for Mr Moon going forward is his relationship with Donald Trump given that there is no current US ambassador in Seoul.

Mr Pollack said that Mr Trump and Mr Moon will have to have a very frank personal relationship for anything to change with North Korea because at this time both sides seem to have opposite views on the situation.

Mr Moon, whose campaign promises include a National Interest First policy, has struck a chord with people who want the country to stand up to powerful allies and neighbours.

He wrote in a book published in January that South Korea should learn to say no to America.

Mr Moon said in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday that South Korea should take on a more active diplomatic role to curb North Koreas nuclear threat and not watch idly as the US and China talk to each other.

Echoing Ms Collins statement, Mr Pollack explained that that an early face-to-face meeting between Mr Moon and Mr Trump will be crucial, adding that Mr Trump does like dealing with leaders on a more personal basis.

Though Mr Trumps tweets about the Korean-US trade agreement and the escalating tensions with Pyongyang are troubling to many conservative Koreans, there is reason for some hope for an effective working relationship between the two presidents, said Mr Pollack.

Koreans understandably dont want to be instructed on how theyre supposed to think and what theyre supposed to do, Mr Pollack said, adding that the US needs to be very attentive to the views that emanate from South Korea.

Ms Collins does not feel that Mr Trump would oppose inter-Korean meetings but any moves by Mr Moon would have to be timed well, meaning done in coordination with Mr Trump's military policy in the region which has involved sending an aircraft carrier fleet to the Sea of Japan.

The White House was quick to congratulate Mr Moon, with a statement from Press Secretary Sean Spicer saying: We look forward to working with President-elect Moon to continue to strengthen the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea and to deepen the enduring friendship and partnership between our two countries.

Another challenge Mr Moon faces in changing the North Korean relationship is the set of domestic problems he will inherit as well as his partys seats in the National Assembly.

Mr Moon ran on a platform of reducing the income gap and expanding public sector employment, among other issues.

Reform may be tough though given that Mr Moons party does not have the majority in the National Assembly, which requires a 60 per cent majority vote to pass big legislation, Mr Pollack explained. His Democratic Party holds 40 per cent of the single-chamber, 299-seat assembly, which will means he will have to build coalitions to pass legislation.

The next National Assembly election will not be held until 2020.

Mr Moon is set to be sworn in on Wednesday, and has pledged to start work straightaway.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The moment a bomb exploded outside a busy shopping centre in Thailand has been caught on video.

Shoppers had already been evacuated from the Big C mall in Pattani after attackers set off firecrackers inside.

Pramote Prom-in, a spokesperson for the Thai military, said they were believed to be a distraction ahead of a car bomb detonated outside the entrance.

Thai soldiers stand guard as a forensics unit inspects the aftermath of a car bomb in front of Big C in the town centre of Pattani on 9 May (AFP/Getty Images)

Footage showed a huge fireball explode as shoppers held back by police turned and ran for their lives, with the sound of children crying heard in the panic.

No deaths were immediately reported but Pattani Hospital said at least 52 injured people were being treated, with two in a critical condition.

The attack was blamed on separatist groups who have been waging a bloody insurgency in southern Thailand for more than a decade.

Islamist militias linked to al-Qaeda are among those fighting and launching terror attacks in three Muslim-majority provinces, where more than 6,500 people have been killed since 2004.

Rewat Srichantub, Pattani's deputy police chief, blamed Islamist insurgents for the latest attack and said the bomber was believed to have fled the scene before the blast.

Attacks in mainly Buddhist Thailand's southernmost provinces, near the border with Malaysia, have intensified this year, with six army rangers killed in an attack last month.

Pattani has repeatedly been hit by waves of violence, including twin bombings in August.

In pictures: Thailand bombings Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: Thailand bombings In pictures: Thailand bombings An injured person is helped after a bomb blast in the southern resort city of Hua Hin on 11 August AP In pictures: Thailand bombings An injured person lying on the ground after a bomb blast in Hua Hin, Thailand, 11 August 2016. EPA In pictures: Thailand bombings An injured man being helped after twin bombs exploded in the resort of Hua Hin, Thailand, on 11 August AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Thailand bombings Thai rescue workers rush an injured bomb victim to a hospital following a bomb attack at the city clock tower in the center of Hua Hin, Thailand, 12 August 2016. A EPA In pictures: Thailand bombings Injured people receive first aid after a bomb exploded on August 11, 2016 in Trang, Thailand. Reuters In pictures: Thailand bombings A damaged street food vendor stall is seen where a small bomb exploded in Hua Hin on August 12, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Thailand bombings An injured man receives first aid after two bombs exploded in the Thai seaside resort of Hua Hin on 12 August Reuters

Prawit Wongsuwan, the defence ministry in Thailands military junta, claimed that attack was not related to a string of attacks on tourist hotspots including Hua Hin and Phuket.

The government, which came into power in a 2014 coup, recently rejected a conditional offer for peace talks from one of the main insurgent groups, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, which had demanded international mediation or observation.

Martial law has been imposed in the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and parts of Songkhla since 2006, allowing security forces to detain suspects without charge, censor the media, conduct searches and seize documents.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all but essential travel to the region, while warning that further terror attacks are very likely in Thailand.

Bomb and grenade attacks have been indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners, its advice states.

Since 2004, there have been almost daily attacks in the far south of the country, including arson, bombings and shootings.

Targets have included civilians and members of the security forces, government offices, tourist hotels, discos, bars, shops, marketplaces, supermarkets, schools, transport infrastructure and trains.



Additional reporting by agencies
The president of South Sudan has replaced army chief Paul Malong, the defence minister said on Tuesday, after a slew of resignations by senior generals alleging ethnic bias and war crimes.

President Salva Kiir has appointed General James Ajong as the new army chief, said Minister of Defence Kuol Manyang Juuk. He downplayed the significance of Malong's removal, calling it "just a normal practice of changing somebody and bringing another person."

Malong was told one month ago that he would be relieved, Juuk told Reuters. He did not know if Malong, a former elected civilian governor, had been given a new appointment.

Juuk said the change would not affect the military's fight against rebel groups. "The operation will go on," he said.

South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, has been mired in civil war since 2013 when Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a Nuer.

The move triggered a conflict that has plunged parts of the oil producing country into famine, paralysed public services and forced 3 million people - a quarter of the population - to flee their homes. The United Nations has said the violence amounts to ethnic cleansing and risks setting the stage for genocide.

In February, the head of logistics, Thomas Cirillo Swaka, resigned, citing rampant human rights abuses by the military and the dominance of the president's Dinka ethnic group. His announcement brought a wave of other resignations by generals and civil servants who made similar accusations against the government.



Search Keywords:

Short link:


For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A blasphemy investigation into Stephen Fry has prompted New Zealand's major political parties to commit to repealing the country's blasphemy laws.

The Irish police investigation into the comedian and actor was dropped after detectives failed to find enough people who had been outraged by his remarks.

Asked what he would say if he was confronted by God at the pearly gates of heaven, Fry replied: Id say, bone cancer in children? Whats that about?"

He went on to call ask why he should "respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain."

News of the investigation brought to light the existence of blasphemy laws in New Zealand, which neither the prime minister nor the Anglican archbishop were aware of.

It led the country's major parties to commit to repealing the blasphemy laws, with an amendment to a bill to repeal laws expected in the next few weeks.

Prime Minister Bill English said he was not aware the laws existed, but said "we could get rid of them."

"Laws that overreach on addressing robust speech are not a good idea," he added.

Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes Show all 19 1 /19 Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being Bipolar "Theres a moment in the film where I recognised that this was the last moment we filmed before this wave of depression came over me, and I was idiotic or victim enough, or whatever one wants to call it, of this mad compulsion." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Taking Cocaine At Buckingham Palace "I take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly, to the owners, managers or representatives of the noble and ignoble premises and to the hundreds of private homes, offices, car dashboards, tables, mantelpieces and available polished surfaces that could so easily have been added to this list of shame." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On His Age "I don't need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Swearing "It would be impossible to imagine going through life without swearing and without enjoying swearing." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On TV "I don't watch television. It destroys the art of talking about oneself." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Happiness "Having a great intellect is no path to being happy." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Technology "One technology doesn't replace another, it complements. Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being On Stage "You are who you are when nobody's watching." Geraint Lewis Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Education "Education is the sum of what students teach each other between lectures and seminars." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Creativity "An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them." Getty Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Journalism "Many people would no more think of entering journalism than the sewage business - which at least does us all some good." PA WIRE Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Love "Love in all eight tones and all five semitones of the word's full octave." PA Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On The English Accent "A cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there." REX Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Being An Author "I get an urge, like a pregnant elephant, to go away and give birth to a book." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Homosexuality "Ive never wanted one extra gay person in the world, there are plenty of us around." Susannah Ireland / The Independent Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Christmas "Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better to arrive." Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Cliches "It is a cliche that most cliches are true, but then like most cliches, that cliche is untrue. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will always hurt me." BBC Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Smoking "I think I have always linked smoking and sex. Maybe this is where I have been going wrong all my life." Getty Images Stephen Fry's Finest Quotes On Homophobia "Homosexuals are not interested in making other people homosexuals. Homophobes are interested in making other people homophobic."

In New Zealand, blasphemy remains punishable by up to a year in prison.

However, the law has not been used since 1922, when it formed the basis of one unsuccessful prosecution.

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: "We are delighted that the investigation against Stephen Fry has been dropped, and what is more that the furore has prompted New Zealand to pledge to scrap its own blasphemy laws.

"It is urgent that Ireland soon follows, as well as Northern Ireland, Scotland, and other countries that have apparently 'dead' blasphemy laws.

"This is important not only to ensure they are never resurrected, as almost happened in Ireland, but also to send a clear message to the rest of the world that blasphemy laws are unacceptable and that the fact that people are still dying over them in many countries must come to an end."
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Emmanuel Macrons wife will break with tradition and take on an official role as First Lady in Frances government.

Although Brigitte Macron will not be paid for her job in the incoming administration, the 64-year-old will have a formal position and head up an office with its own budget, in contrast with her predecessors.

When youre elected president of the Republic, you live with someone, you give your days and nights, you give your public life and your private life, Mr Macron told French broadcaster TF1.

So the person who lives with you must have a role and be recognised in that role.

 Macron: If I was 20 years older than my wife, no one would have questioned my relationship

The President-elect said the rules would be finalised in the coming weeks.

There is an age gap of 24 years between the pair, the same as that between Donald and Melania Trump.

The couple have publicly described how their romance started when he was a student at the high school where she was teaching in Amiens in northern France.

Mr Macron has claimed that misogyny and homophobia were to blame for assumptions that he could not be in love with his wife.

Speaking to Le Parisien on newspaper Tuesday Emmanuel Macron addressed speculations about his sexuality and what he described as parallel lives people had attached to him.

If I had been 20 years older than my wife, nobody would have thought for a single second that I couldnt be [an intimate partner], he said.

Its because she is 20 years older than me that lots of people say, This [relationship] cant be tenable, it cant be possible.

Ms Macron has been credited with influencing her husbands views on women in politics. A self-proclaimed convert to feminism, Mr Macron has vowed to defend equal pay and maternity leave. He has also vowed that half of the candidates running for his En Marche! party in the National Assembly elections in June will be women.

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

As a former teacher, Ms Macrons main interests are expected to lie in education and working for disadvantaged children.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozys wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy had a team of eight advisers, costing taxpayers a total of 437,376 (367,781) a year.

Valerie Trierweiler, the former partner of President Hollande, had a staff of five, at an annual cost of 236,904 (199,400).
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Hundreds of refugees have been bussed out of Paris and taken to emergency accommodation across France during a large-scale evacuation of a settlement close to the Eurostar train station.

Around 350 officers were involved in moving on about 1,000 mostly Afghan and Sudanese people who had been sleeping under the bridges at Porte de la Chapelle and the surrounding areas.

The destruction of the camp area comes two days after the election of Emmanuel Macron as President of France, who has already indicated that he does not want refugees living rough in his country as they wait to get to test their asylum applications in the UK.

Instead, the French President-elect would far rather they were allowed to travel straight across the Channel so as to be processed as soon as possible.

A police spokesman in Paris said: "These illegal camps present a major risk for the security and health of their occupants as well as for local residents. Clearance of the camp started soon after dawn, and was completed later in the morning.'

The makeshift camp was a few hundred yards away from an official refugee centre, where men can live for two weeks before moving on.

Queues to get into the facility have been forming every morning and people are frequently rejected, which has led to them congregating nearby.

One local aid worker, who asked to be referred to by his first name of Ralph, said: "It's true it has become a magnet for lots of migrants. They get here hoping to enjoy food and lodging, and are then told they are not welcome. So they sleep rough nearby, and then the police move them on. It is an impossible situation. All they want is to be allowed to go straight to Britain."

Last October, some 8,000 men, women and children were shifted out of Calais when the so-called 'Jungle' refugee camp was destroyed.

It had built up because of an Anglo-French agreement signed in Le Touquet, the northern seaside town where Mr Macron owns a holiday home, which enables British border officials to check asylum seekers' status in France.

Responding to the evacuation, charity Help Refugees said: "Many of those living in the streets in Paris are there because they want to claim asylum in France. We hope that with roofs over their heads their asylum claims can be heard and processed.

"Our partner organisations estimate that 80 per cent of minors in Paris are deemed to be over 18 when they are in fact significantly younger. The process for contesting this age assessment is long and requires support and an understanding of a complex system. It is incredibly challenging to contest with no fixed accommodation and no support from the authorities.

Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The Solidarity With Refugees group said Saturdays protest aimed to show our Government and the world that Britain is ready to welcome more refugees. Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis People march through central London as they take part in a protest rally organised by Solidarity with Refugees in a bid to urge the Government to take more action on the migrant crisis Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The protest comes days before world leaders meet to discuss crisis at UN General Assembly Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Demonstrators made their way from Park Lane to Parliament Square in London on Saturday afternoon Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Marchers chanted refugees are welcome here and waved banners reading no-one is illegal and lets help people Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The march was supported by charities and groups including the Red Cross, Asylum Aid, Save the Children, Hope Not Hate, Oxfam and the UN Refugee Agency Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis In the wake of Alans death, David Cameron pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the coming five years but there have been additional calls to re-home those who have already reached Europe, as well as asylum seekers coming from other conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan Rex Features

"There are serious concerns for the safety and security of these young people, many of whom may now be in centres with no provisions for children."

During the EU referendum campaign, Mr Macron vowed to tear up Le Touquet if the UK voted for Brexit, saying at the time: "The day this relationship [between Britain andthe UK] unravels, migrants will no longer be in Calais."

On a separate occasion, during a visit to London, Mr Macron said: "I want to put the Le Touquet border deal back on the table. It must be renegotiated, especially the parts that deal with the fate of isolated child migrants."
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Three hiking skiers have died in an avalanche in the French Alps.

It reportedly happened near Bonneval-sur-Arc in the Vanoise national park.

According to Le Dauphine, only three people were caught up in the snow-slide. Gabriel Blanc, mayor of Bonneval-sur-Arc, told the site the search for survivors was over.

He said: "We know from a reliable source that they were only three."

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

Other French media reports suggested a mix of recent rain and snow, alongside milder temperatures, had weakened the packed snow on the ground in the area.

The Savoie prefecture said the avalanche struck at about noon on Tuesday. Local media said the victims included two men and a woman.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A teenager was pushed to his death from a ninth-floor balcony in Chechnya after his uncle discovered he was gay, it has been claimed.

The 17-year-old was allegedly thrown from the building by his uncle after his family was reportedly told to wash the shame of the teenager away, according to Russian media reports, who did not name the boy.

The account follows claims Chechen authorities were urging parents to kill their gay children, sparking an international outcry from human rights groups.

Police reportedly told parents of gay men to sort it out or the state will intervene, a man held in a gay torture camp in the region claimed.

The latest account of systematic LGBT persecution comes just a month after Chechen authorities allegedly rounded up more than 100 men they suspected of being gay.

Many were tortured and at least four are alleged to have been killed, according to a Russian newspaper and human rights campaigners.

A spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, said reports that more than 100 men were detained in April was absolute lies and disinformation and claimed gay people did not exist in the region.

You cannot detain and persecute people who simply do not exist in the republic, he told the Interfax news agency.

Recommended Chechen leader claims no gay people exist in region just fake Chechens

If there were such people in Chechnya, the law-enforcement organs wouldnt need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning.

Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesman has backed the Chechen governments denials that men suspected of being gay are being detained, tortured and killed.

However, he has since ordered an investigation into what has been described as a homosexual purge after Angela Merkel asked him to address the issue at a joint press conference in Sochi.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

A second soldier has been arrested for allegedly planning a false flag terror attack to be blamed on refugees in Germany amid fears of a wider neo-Nazi network within the army.

The plot was exposed with the arrest of a German lieutenant, Franco A, who was found to be posing as a Syrian refugee in order to carry out a shooting attack targeting left-wing politicians.

One of his friends at Illkirch-Graffenstaden barracks in France has now been detained for allegedly covering for the soldiers absences as he periodically returned to Bavaria to continue the ruse.

Maximilian T, a 27-year-old German national, was also a member of Jagerbataillon 291 and was arrested on Tuesday after being questioned by military intelligence officers.

He had joined his friend on a trip to Vienna in January  supposedly for an officers ball  where Franco A stashed an unregistered gun to be used in the attack at the citys main airport.

Maximilian T was also part of an online messaging group where he, Franco A and other members exchanged far-right posts, photos and audio files, Der Spiegel reported.

German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen is to visit Illkirch barracks in France during investigation to an alleged far-right terror cell in the German army (EPA)

He is assumed to be number three in the plot, following Franco A and Mathias F, a friend from his hometown who was also arrested in April.

They were willing, or at least claimed to be, to kill for their cause, an investigator said.

As well as the loaded 7.65mm pistol stashed in a toilet at Vienna International Airport, around 1,000 rounds of ammunition were found at Mathias Fs home in Offenbach  mostly stolen from the German army.

The federal prosecutor's office said the three suspects were suspected of planning to attack senior politicians and public figures who are committed to an immigration and refugee policy which has failed in the view of the defendants.

The names of the former German President, Joachim Gauck, and left-wing justice minister Heiko Maas (SPD) were on a list of potential targets, said spokesperson Frauke Kohler.

She told a press conference Franco A planned to frame Islamist militants for the attack, which would have been linked to his fake identity as a Syrian refugee.

The three suspects wanted to direct suspicion at asylum seekers living in Germany after the attack, she added.

German soldiers of the 291st Jagerbataillon take part in a military ceremony on 5 July 2012 in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, eastern France. (AFP)

The planned attack was intended to be interpreted by the population as a radical Islamist terrorist attack by a recognised refugee.

Especially with regard to the ongoing public discussion over immigration and refugee policy, an alleged terrorist attack by a registered asylum seeker would have attracted particular attention and contributed to the sense of threat.

Numerous asylum seekers have been arrested on terror charges in Germany, including former members of Isis, al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Franco A had created a fake persona under the name David Benjamin, telling immigration officials he was a Damascus fruit seller from a Christian family with French roots.

No doubts appear to have been raised over the credibility of the 28-year-olds background, despite him speaking mainly French with a smattering of Arabic from a language course.

The lieutenant registered in Giessen, Hesse, on 30 December 2015  as Germany was overwhelmed by the arrival of almost a million asylum seekers - then submitted an asylum application at Zirndorf in Bavaria in January last year.

Despite having to return to Germany to collect monthly welfare payments, Franco A continued his army post in France until the day of his arrest because his friend covered for him, prosecutors said.

Maximilian T is strongly suspected of planning a serious act of violence against the state out of a right-wing extremist conviction, a spokesperson added.

The resulting absences were at least partly covered up by Maximilian T, who had excused Franco A to his superiors.

Officials said he obtained a Second World War era Unique Model 17 pistol for the attack, which he hid in a disabled toilet in Vienna International Airport while passing through in January.

Refugees settle in Germany Show all 12 1 /12 Refugees settle in Germany Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, plays with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, in the one room they and Mohamed's wife Laloosh call home at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany A refugee child Amnat Musayeva points to a star with her photo and name that decorates the door to her classroom as teacher Martina Fischer looks on at the local kindergarten Amnat and her siblings attend on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The children live with their family at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany. Mohamed and Autur live at an asylum-applicants' shelter in nearby Vossberg village. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Ali Hussein ((L), 19, and his cousin Sinjar Hussein, 34, sweep leaves at a cemetery in Gieshof village, for which they receive a small allowance, near Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat, a refugee from Syria, looks among donated clothing in the basement of the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to Mohamed, his wife Laloosh and their daughter Ranim as residents' laundry dries behind in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. The Zayats arrived approximately two months ago after trekking through Turkey, Greece and the Balkans and are now waiting for local authorities to process their asylum application, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asya Sugaipova (L), Mohza Mukayeva and Khadra Zhukova prepare food in the communal kitchen at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Efrah Abdullahi Ahmed looks down from the communal kitchen window at her daughter Sumaya, 10, who had just returned from school, at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is their home in Vossberg Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Asylum-applicants, including Syrians Mohamed Ali Hussein (C-R, in black jacket) and Fadi Almasalmeh (C), return from grocery shopping with other refugees to the asylum-applicants' shelter that is their home in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Mohamed Zayat (2nd from L), a refugee from Syria, smokes a cigarette after shopping for groceries with his daughter Ranim, who is nearly 3, and fellow-Syrian refugees Mohamed Ali Hussein (C) and Fadi Almasalmeh (L) at a local supermarket on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. All of them live at an asylum-seekers' shelter in nearby Vossberg village and are waiting for local authorities to process their asylum applications, after which they will be allowed to live independently and settle elsewhere in Germany 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Kurdish Syrian refugees Leila, 9, carries her sister Avin, 1, in the backyard at the asylum-seekers' shelter that is home to them and their family in Vossberg village in Letschin Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany Somali refugees and husband and wife Said Ahmed Gure (R) and Ayaan Gure pose with their infant son Muzammili, who was born in Germany, in the room they share at an asylum-seekers' shelter in Vossberg village on October 9, 2015 in Letschin, Germany. Approximately 60 asylum-seekers, mostly from Syria, Chechnya and Somalia, live at the Vossberg shelter, which is run by the Arbeiter-Samariter Bund (ASB) charity, and are waiting for authorities to process their application for asylum 2015 Getty Images Refugees settle in Germany Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel pauses for a selfie with a refugee after she visited the AWO Refugium Askanierring shelter for refugees in Berlin Getty Images

Franco As double life was only discovered when he was arrested after returning to retrieve the gun in February.

A fingerprint check revealed his fake identity as a Syrian refugee, but when David Benjamin failed to answer a court summons in Austria, a wider investigation was triggered and the plot unravelled.

The soldier had not raised alarm over extremism in the army, despite writing a masters thesis on political change and subversion strategy at a French university in 2014 that was found to contain far-right thinking.

An assault rifle case carved with a swastika was found in his barracks room, where the letters HH [Heil Hitler] were inscribed on the wall and a Nazi-era pamphlet depicting a Wehrmacht soldier was discovered.

The unprecedented plot has shocked Germany, prompting investigations within the army and interior ministry over how Franco A was able to lead a double life for more than a year.

The defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has come under fire for her handling of the case after attacking weak leadership following the discovery of 275 suspected right-wing extremists within Germanys military.

She has since apologised for her blanket criticism, following scandals including sexual abuse and hazing at another military base.

Angela Merkel defended the minister, who has been widely tipped as her successor as Germany heads of federal elections in September.

It is right that the defence minister did not trivialise what has happened, the Chancellor said.

She calls it by its name [right-wing extremism] and is saying that we have to look at whether something like this is happening more often."
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Up to 250 migrants are feared drowned after two refugee boats sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, the United Nations has said.

A baby was among the bodies washed up on beaches in Libya following the latest disasters, which push the record death toll above 1,300 so far in 2017.

The countrys coastguard picked up seven migrants who said they had been on an overloaded dinghy packed with 170 people, which sank on Sunday.

Omar Koko, a coastguard commander in the western city of Zawiya, said more than 30 women and nine children were among those feared drowned.

At least 11 bodies washed up on nearby beaches and were recovered by the Red Crescent, while at least 7,500 migrants have been rescued since Thursday.

Spokesperson Mohanad Krima said: All the bodies are of female victims and there is a girl of less than one year old.

Survivors of a second shipwreck were rescued by the Italian coastguard, telling authorities their boat started deflating under the weight of 130 people.

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

Based on its interviews with survivors in Sicily, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated the number of dead at more than 80, with around 50 people rescued.

Migrant arrivals to Italy by sea are up about 30 per cent this year on 2016, when a record 181,000 people were rescued and taken ashore.

"The increasing numbers of passengers on board vessels used by traffickers, with an average of 100 to 150 people, are alarming and the main cause of shipwrecks, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

"Risks are increased by the worsening quality of vessels and the increasing use of rubber boats instead of wooden ones.

As well as drowning, refugees have been killed by suffocation and hypothermia in sea crossings, as well as on land by being run over, electrocuted, shot and hit by trains.

Despite a dramatic increase in deaths at sea, humanitarian organisations operating rescue ships have come under attack for allegedly aiding smugglers.

NGOs have denied all accusations of collusion as Italy's parliament carries out a fact-finding mission, while a prosecutor in Sicily has admitted he has no proof of coordination.

Boat crossings between Libya and Italy  now the deadliest sea passage in the world  have increased since the controversial EU-Turkey deal shut the comparatively shorter and safer crossing over the Aegean Sea.

 Italian coastguard rescues thousands of refugees off coast of Libya

The EU is increasing cooperation with the fragile Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in attempts to combat people smuggling, but efforts have been hampered by the countrys ongoing civil war and grave human rights abuses.

Migrants are routinely detained, tortured, extorted or forced into labour and prostitution by gangs, who operate with impunity in the chaos following the British-backed ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The International Criminal Court is collecting information on the imprisonment of an estimated 20,000 migrants and their treatment, amid reports of "slave markets".

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council her office was investigating "serious and widespread crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya".

My office is carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya should the court's jurisdictional requirements be met, she said.

Rumours of the horrors awaiting refugees in the country have caused some migrants to divert to neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, as well as attempts to enter Europe via Spanish enclaves bordering Morocco.

Officials said around 300 migrants attempted to cross the 6m border fence separating the enclave of Melilla from Morocco on Tuesday, with many throwing stones and missiles at police.

Melilla's interior ministry said most of the migrants have been pushed back by police but around 100 managed to enter the city amid clashes that let three migrants and a police officer in need of treatment.

Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan countries have attempted to enter Ceuta and Melilla this year, with those making it across held in temporary centres before being repatriated or freed.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Russia has sought to show off its military might during a Victory Day parade in Moscow as Vladimir Putin declared "the armed forces of Russia are capable of repelling any potential aggression".

The parade featuring tanks, intercontinental ballistic missiles and troops in tight formation was part of celebrations marking the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Russia's most important secular holiday.

But thick cloud cover forced the cancellation of the traditional dramatic conclusion to festivities  a flyover by military aircraft and display teams. The parade is a highly ritualised display and marked changes in its order are unusual.

Recommended Yates warned White House Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia

The Defence Ministry had said cloud-seeding planes would be deployed to disperse the overcast skies Tuesday above Moscow, as has been done previously when poor weather threatened.

President Vladimir Putin said in his parade address that "we feel a piercing blood relationship with a generation of heroes and winners".

He also called for "consolidation of the entire international community" to combat terrorism and extremism.

Russian marines, Arctic vehicles and artillery were all on show, as well as historic T-34 tanks that were influential on Second World War battlefields. A number of missile launchers also trundled across Red Square.

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

Rehearsals for the parade were held last week.

Additional reporting by agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

The true scale of the genocide inflicted on Yazidis by Isis during its brutal sweep through Iraq may never be known as thousands remain in captivity, researchers have warned.

A new study published in weekly journal PLOS Medicine concluded that an estimated 9,900 members of the ethnic and religious minority were killed or captured in a matter of days in August 2014.

Of that figure 3,100 were murdered, with almost half executed by gunshot, beheading or being burned alive, while the rest died from starvation, dehydration or injuries during the Isis siege on Mount Sinjar.

Researchers estimated that 6,800 other Yazidis were kidnapped in the brutal campaign, with over a third still missing at the time of the survey.

Lead author Dr Valeria Cetorelli warned that the toll may even be higher because of the reliance of survivors to report deaths and disappearances.

Because the attack was so indiscriminate, in many cases entire families were captured together if they didnt escape in time, she told The Independent.

It is possible that no one managed to escape, so there are no survivors and zero possibility of being included in our survey.

 Remains of more than 20 Yazidis found in Iraq mass grave

At least one household member needed to survive to report the killing and kidnappings of others.

While adult men were most likely to have been executed by militants, almost all of the victims who died after fleeing up Mount Sinjar were children under the age of 15, the research found.

Isiss punishing siege, seeing tens of thousands trapped without food, water or shelter in 50C heat, sparked the first US airstrikes against the jihadi group in Iraq, alongside British aid drops.

The operation, and an effort by Kurdish forces on the ground, let Yazidis flee through a safe corridor through Syria to the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, where more than 300,000 remain while others stayed in Sinjar or moved onwards to Syria and Turkey.

The study, conducted by researchers in the US, UK, Israel and Iraqi Kurdistan, found that children have been disproportionately affected by the genocide.

As well as making up the vast majority of deaths on Mount Sinjar  constituting 93 per cent of deaths  they are also the least likely to have escaped Isis captivity.

Dr Cetorelli, who is also a research officer at LSE and a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said escapees documented torture, sex slavery, forced religious conversion and recruitment as child soldiers.

Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Show all 15 1 /15 Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp at Derike, Syria. In the camps here, Iraqi refugees have new heroes: Syrian Kurdish fighters who battled militants to carve an escape route to tens of thousands trapped on a mountaintop Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A pilot based at RAF Marham entering a Tornado GR4 prior to taking off for the reconnaissance mission over Iraq. Several RAF Tornado jets set off from RAF Marham in Norfolk this afternoon to travel to a "pre-position", from where they will fly to northern Iraq to provide improved surveillance of the situation on the ground. The jets, fitted with Litening III targeting and surveillance pods, will be able to fly over the crisis area to provide intelligence and help with the delivery of humanitarian aid Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft equipped with the Litening III pod from RAF Marham, eastern England, on their arrival at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus for their reconnaissance mission over Iraq Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Aid inside a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J aircraft before being airdropped to civilians in Iraq Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A Royal Air Force (RAF) Hercules C130 J military transport plane at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Britain made a third round of airdrops of supplies to aid refugees stranded on a mountain in northern Iraq, officials said, as Tornado fighters arrived at an RAF base in Cyprus preparing to provide surveillance support for the humanitarian effort Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 aircraft, flown in from Britain, stand on the tarmac at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis A displaced man helps a woman, both from the minority Yazidi sect fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Isis in Sinjar town, as they make their way towards the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Iraqis including Turkmen, Shabaks, Kurds, Yezidis and Christians, fleeing from assaults of army groups led by Isis, take shelter at Bahirka Camp in Arbil Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community look for clothes to wear among items provided by a charity organization at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather for food at the Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Syrian Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take a sick Iraqi Yazidi woman to the clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria Iraq crisis: Yazidi nightmare on Mount Sinjar Iraq crisis Sick displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community wait for treatment at a clinic at Nowruz camp in Derike, Syria

We heard several accounts of girls being gifted or sold to Isis fighters as sex slaves and the boys being forced into training camps, she added.

More than one third of the kidnapped are still missing and it wasnt possible to determine whether they are still alive or not.

This is really an ongoing genocide because thousands of people are still in captivity.

Several Isis propaganda videos have featured Yazidi child soldiers, while the terrorist group has also used magazines in attempts to justify the taking of thousands of women and girls as sex slaves.

Researchers said families who failed to escape were rounded up en masse and divided up as part of the systematic genocide that saw men and boys above the age of 12 separated and massacred if they refused to convert to Islam.

A woman who was 17 when Isis overran her village told how her 16-year-old brother was killed and nine-year-old brother enlisted as a child soldier, before she was kidnapped as a sex slave and raped by nine militants.

Dalal is among those who eventually escaped but thousands of women and children remain in Isis captivity almost three years after they were abducted, with some killing themselves.

Researchers, who questioned 1,300 households of displaced Yazidis living in Iraqi Kurdistan, said suffering continues despite Iraqi government forces driving Isis back out of the region.

Its almost three years since the attack and the people are still displaced, Dr Cetorelli said.

 The Yazidi children of Isis' training camps

The Sinjar region has been taken back from Isis but it has been almost completely destroyed so it will be not possible for them to go back for a long time.

The situation gets worse and worse every day for those living in camps.

The UN formally recognised Isiss campaign as genocide in June 2016, saying the situation was ongoing, but a lack of formal research on the death toll has hampered international action.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria found that after classifying Yazidis as devil worshippers because of their links to other religions and mysticism, Isis sought to erase the population.

It said the group used killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture, inhuman treatment and forcible transfer to further its aim, as well as the imposition of measures to prevent Yazidi children from being born, the forced conversion of adults and kidnapping children to be brought up by Isis militants.

The UN said there can be no impunity for the crimes, urging the Security Council to refer the case to the International Criminal Court or a tribunal, as well as protecting the long-persecuted Yazidi minority.

Dr Cetorelli urged the international community not merely to focus on the events of 2014, but to help the survivors and attempt to rescue remaining captives.

Three years ago there was a lot of attention but its still ongoing and the international community must retain its attention, she added.

We hope that these estimates will support a formal genocide investigation to hold the perpetrators to account.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

As the former Soviet Union rallies today to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, there is an unlikely newcomer to recent Victory Day celebrations: Syria.

Seventy-two years after the end of Second World War, the top brass of Russias leadership descends on Red Square for the iconic military showcasing of Russias latest weaponry and military might, including nuclear weapons and airforce displays.

Last year, a similar Victory Day showcase of Russian and Syrian military was on display in the Syrian city Latakia on the Mediterranean, where a Russian military base has coordinated Moscows intervention in the Syrian civil war. This year, the unlikely commemoration of Victory Day in Syria has been bolstered by a Russian media campaign targeting cities throughout the embattled country.

9 May is no ordinary holiday, says Theodore Karasik, senior advisor for Gulf State Analytics, a Washington-based think tank. The Soviet victory over the Nazis sealed the fate of the world at immense human cost, especially for Russia. Russia today uses Victory Day to inspire patriotism and showcase its ties with allies.

For Russia, Islamic terrorism is yesterday's fascism and Moscow's support for Syrian President Assad is seen as necessary through Kremlin lenses. By promoting Victory Day in Syria, says Karasik, Russia is also showing its prowess in today's Middle East.

The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 as a series of non-violent demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad, has cost nearly half a million lives and displaced half the nations population. The entrenched conflict has become a proxy battleground for Middle East rivals and Western nations.

A man walks near the Central Bank of Syria in Damascus (Getty)

Russias intervention in the Syrian conflict, rescued the Syrian regime and helped it crush the opposition, says Michael Kofman, a security analyst at the Centre for Naval Analyses and a fellow at the Wilson Centre.

After reversing the Turkey and US policy for President Assads ousting, eliminating would-be alternatives to the current regime, and capturing most of the population centres, Russia is well placed to dictate terms for post-conflict settlement.

With military hardware lining the streets of St. Petersburg and Moscow and jets thundering overhead in preparation for Victory Day, Russia launched the St. George ribbon campaign in Syria to raise awareness of Russias victory over Nazi Germany 72 years ago.

A Syrian girl holds a Russian flag during a rally in support of President Bashar al-Assad on the first anniversary of the anti-regime revolt in Damascus (Getty)

Pictures from Damascus University showing students distributing the St. George ribbon, a symbol of the Russian military, circulated on social media in the days leading up to 9 May. The black-and-orange striped ribbons were accompanied with explanations of the celebration in Arabic.

From here the action will start all over Syria," said Major General Gennady Ryzhov, head of the Damascus Centre of the Reconciliation Centre in Syria which coordinated the distribution with the students.

You have a symbol of victory over fascism  we want to have a symbol of victory over terrorism, the head of the Russian language department at Damascus University, Mamduh Abu-al-Luway, recently told Russian-state media.

But Alexey Kovalev, a Russian media analyst and curator of the fake-news debunking site the Noodle Remover, says Syria was, completely irrelevant to the Russian war effort during the Second World War. Moreover, Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, famously harboured Nazi criminals such as Alois Brunner  a fact that modern Russian propaganda conveniently forgot.

The fact of Syrians wearing the St. George ribbons today is politically symbolic, but historically irrelevant. Kovalev says. It is Syrias rite of initiation into Russias sphere of influence and evidence that Assad will do anything for continued Russian political and military support.

Ekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist, says Victory Day symbolism and anti-fascist rhetoric were over-exploited in Russia following 2014's events in Ukraine. It reached its peak in 2015 and has been on the decline since. Its impossible not to notice fewer ribbons this year and a more subdued tone to the celebrations.

Schulmann says the appearance of the ribbons in Syria is not to reinvigorate deflated celebrations at home, but rather to demonstrate that is it the Ministry of Defense who is in charge in Syria, and potentially an effort to connect Russias activities in Syria with the war against fascism.

Volunteers handed out so-called St George's ribbons in Moscow (Getty)

In Aleppo, where notorious battalions of Russian special forces were deployed last year to keep peace and public order, banners of Russian President Vladimir Putin hang alongside posters Bashar al-Assad and his most loyal allies: Irans Supreme Leader and the head of the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah.



Russian state media aired a report from Aleppo this month showing a choir of Syrian children enthusiastically singing the famous Victory Day song ahead of the 9 May commemorations. Of course, these children know this song as well. Russias Channel One presenter says. The meaning of this song is known to everyone in Aleppo now.

Russian state media obligingly portrays Assad as a maligned leader besieged on all sides by the scheming West and bloodthirsty jihadis, with only Russia by his side, Kovalev told The Independent. The purpose of showing Syrian children singing the Victory Day song is to show Russians at home their country is winning hearts and minds around the globe.

Moscows efforts to enforce a ceasefire and bring about a political resolution to the conflict in Syria have been mired in accusations it purposefully targeted aid convoys and civilian infrastructure, including mosques and hospitals, during its campaign. Russia has recently come under fire for blocking an investigation at the UN into a chemical weapons attack on civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in North-western Syria on 4 April.

Syrian regime officials recently announced Russian had become the nation's second language, and would be taught in schools. The decision of Assad that Russian should be the second language in the country  it is a sign of the gratitude towards the Russian people for supporting Syrians, the ambassador of Syria to Russia, Riyad Haddad said.

The ambassador added, "It is no secret if I say that the children of the president [Assad] are now learning Russian. Also, as a sign of this gratitude, many families are also calling their sons Putin, he said.
Police in northern Paris Tuesday evacuated a tent camp where some 1,000 migrants, mostly from Afghanistan and Sudan, were living in squalid conditions.

Hundreds of police moved in at dawn to remove the migrants, camped between major access roads into the capital, an AFP journalist said.

The settlement at the Porte de la Chapelle area of the city was located just metres from a new refugee transit centre set up by Paris city authorities late last year to take asylum-seekers off the streets but which has limited space available.

These "illegal camps" present "major risks for the security and health of their occupants as well as for local residents," Paris police said in a statement.

Police halted road traffic on a major crossroads in the north of the city in order to gain access to the camp, where a fight between migrants last month left several injured.

About 350 police were involved in the operation along with some 100 municipal employees and staff from humanitarian groups.

"The government will take us into houses. I don't know where but it's fine," said Said, who said he had been sleeping outside for a month. "For some, it's been three months or more."

Last month, a huge fire gutted one of France's biggest migrant camps, housing 1,500 people near the northern French port of Dunkirk, which started after a brawl involving hundreds of Afghans and Kurds.

Europe has faced its biggest migrant crisis since World War II over the last few years as millions of people have fled war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

France has welcomed only a fraction of the newcomers.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email 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

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

While many teenagers make their pocket money working in shops or delivering newspapers, for Alex Macheras, things were a bit more glamorous.

Now 20, Macheras travels the world  often in first class  testing out new planes before they're delivered to their clients.

This involves testing the seats in every cabin, enjoying the food, and usually sipping on a glass or two of celebratory Champagne, then sharing photos of his experiences to his followers on Instagram and Twitter.

He told Business Insider that he's been interested in aviation as long as he can remember  and was approached to start providing aviation analysis to the likes of BBC, Sky News, and LBC from the age of 14, which eventually led him into the world of aircraft deliveries.

Here's how Macheras makes a living.

This is 20-year-old Alex Macheras, the aviation expert who travels the world in first class on empty planes, testing out every seat before they're delivered to their clients.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

He shares updates and photos of his fabulous, Champagne-filled life to his 13,000 followers across Instagram and Twitter.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

He told Business Insider that he's been interested in aviation as long as he can remember.

"I was born with the travel bug," he said. "There are videos of me as a toddler pointing up at the sky. It was never in my family  my parents worked in cuisine and motorsport, so I wasn't born into anything."

He studied aviation wherever he could, and even took flying lessons. "My family used to joke that at eight years old I could do the safety demo in five different languages," he added.

He was 'constantly reading about trends' in aviation and was inspired by Richard Branson, a hero he has since had the chance to meet. He read his book at a very young age.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

"I wasn't allowed to take it to school because it had swear words in it, but I was completely hooked to the connection he described with aviation, and about how he set up Virgin Atlantic," he said.

At only 14, he was approached by a UK radio station who had noticed his analysis on the aviation industry on Twitter.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

"I was [tweeting about] whatever was in the news at the time, and explaining everything on Twitter," he said. "They approved me to go on air. My age was an unspoken thing  I was doing LBC for years before anyone knew I was young."

When he was 16  before even finishing his A levels  he appeared on Sky News, then signed contracts with other networks to continue aviation analysis on screen. He decided to finish school part time so he could take on more work.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

"At the earliest point I could leave education, I went full time," he said.

Now, he works closely with manufacturers to complete deliveries of new aircrafts, meaning he sees airplanes when they leave the factory...

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

...participates in test flights...

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

...and is there when they are delivered to the customer.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

He tests out all of the seats in every cabin  including first class.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

The planes are usually completely empty, so he rules the roost.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

When he isn't travelling, an average morning might involve talking about the latest aviation news on air, writing articles about a test flight, or participating in a Twitter Q&A.

"I always talk about the manufacturers on screen, during deliveries and test flights," he said.

When he travels, he gets the full experience, including business or first class lounges...

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

...luxurious pre-flight meals...

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

...drinks...

...and even a pre-flight nap.

He's also experienced the best in on-board dining.

He gets to know the staff on a number of airlines.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

"It's about getting to know them as an airline and why they do things in a cabin in a certain way," he said.

Some crews are more animated than others.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

He even gets acquainted with the pilots...

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

...and, of course, the people serving the drinks.

(Alex Macheras)

He spends most of his time travelling from place to place. 'Sometimes it takes me four days just to get back,' he said.

But he's at home in the air. The location setting on his Twitter profile reads: "Usually at 38,000ft."

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

But he usually finds some pretty sweet digs whenever he's on the ground.

'It's flexible  not like the cabin crew,' he said, adding that there's usually enough time to get a vacation out of his travels.

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

His favourite destination so far has been Rwanda. "I was really keen to see as much as possible," he said.

Whether it's from the air or on the ground, he certainly gets to enjoy some great views.

At only 20 years old, who knows what's next?

(Alex Macheras (Alex Macheras)

Read more:

 The 33 richest people on Earth

 Flight attendants share 25 things they'd love to tell passengers but can't

 The CEO of a company explains what he did in his 20s to set himself up for success in his 30s

Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email 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

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Mondays flying at Iqaluit airport did not begin well. Of the first seven departures from the landing strip 200 miles from the Arctic Circle, three were disrupted: delayed, diverted and cancelled.

Even though what passes for summer at these latitudes is soon to arrive, First Air, Canadian North and Calm Air are not enjoying the best of times.

Recommended Inside the town taken over by a giant iceberg

Iqaluit, formerly known as Frobisher Bay, is the capital of Nunavut  the vast northern region of Canada that incorporates Baffin Island.

The main hub for Arctic Canada, Iqaluit has always endured extremes of weather, with temperatures sometimes falling to 40C below zero.

Snowstorms and fog are additional problems for the airport, which has a spectacular setting at the head of a long, deep inlet.

The airlines that connect Iqaluit with southern Canada and the small Inuit communities of Baffin Island and beyond are accustomed to the capricious climate, as well as the problems of landing on gravel runways. Indeed, some of the oldest Boeing 737s still flying are deployed to and from Iqaluit, modified with special protection to minimise damage on take-off and landing at remote airstrips.

If northern Canada is a harsh environment for an airline, its equally tough being a passenger. Last summer, I was one of around 200 people delayed for 13 hours because of poor weather. The airport resembles an awkward array of yellow Portakabins rather than a conventional collection of passenger check-in areas and departure lounges. So we were corralled first in the towns museum and later in a fleet of school buses, which eventually delivered us direct to the aircraft steps.

The school buses were pressed into service again in February, when the temperature was 30C below freezing. Because of its location, astride the air routes between Europe and the Pacific coast of North America, Iqaluit is occasionally the diversion airport for large passenger jets.

In February, a Swissair Boeing 777 from Zurich to Los Angeles made an emergency landing at Iqaluit due to an engine failure. The passengers had to remain on board while a rescue aircraft was flown from New York.

The airport had only one set of steps capable of reaching the door of a wide-bodied jet. So when the second plane arrived, all the passengers and crew first had to be decanted into the buses before the steps were moved across to the replacement and they could re-board.

Starting this coming winter, though, future travellers will be able to enjoy the best high-latitude airport experience outside Iceland  where Keflavik is both the well-appointed main airport for Reykjavik, and an increasingly busy mid-Atlantic hub.

Work is stepping up at Iqaluit so that an entirely new international terminal can be completed during the brief sub-Arctic summer. The new terminal is eight times bigger than the current terminal, and will allow international arrivals in significant numbers for the first time.

Some workers have been brought in from elsewhere in North America, but the contractor, Bouygues Batiment International, is also training up people from the Inuit community. And the project may bring lasting benefits to the Canadian north by luring tourists. The flying time from the UK is under six hours, and well within the capabilities of the new Boeing 737 MAX.

Currently the only scheduled approach to Iqaluit is on a domestic flight from southern Canada. Fares are absurdly high. Ottawa to Iqaluit is a three-hour domestic flight, but a return trip currently costs around 1,300.

The shortest route from Heathrow to San Francisco goes directly overhead Iqaluit, which is the midway point on the trip. Many other links from the key Continental hubs of Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt pass close by. Until now, the town has usually been viewed only from the window of a westbound jet. But with a flying time of just three hours from Reykjavik, Iqaluit could find itself part of an expanding northern network  and the gateway to a part of Canada that few Canadians ever experience.

Indeed, were the local people discover that it is cheaper to travel to their national capital via Europe, it might bring about more realistic fares to and from a location that, for much of the year, is a good definition of the term forlorn.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email 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

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Every morning, hot air balloon pilot Cary Crawley gets out of bed three hours before dawn, when the sky is still dark. But it's worth forgoing a lie-in for the spectacular views across the Atacama desert in Chile or the ancient city of Bagan in Burma as the sun rises - depending on where hes flying that day.

Now 59 years old, Crawley, from Mid Essex, first flew in a hot air balloon shortly after his 27th birthday. It was love at first flight. It changed my life," Crawley tells The Independent. He'd never been one for a conventional job - prior to ballooning he worked in Australia as a safari guide in the Northern Territory, then as a commercial tuna fisherman in the Southern Ocean. But when his ex-girlfriend spotted a vacancy ad in a newspaper for crew members to join the famed hot air balloon pilot Buddy Bombard in the French region of Burgundy, she knew that Crawley would be interested.

I arrived at Beaune railway station on my 27th birthday and fell in love with ballooning. So I asked [a pilot] I had met in Burgundy who was starting his own company in England to teach me," he says. Since then, Crawley has helped to start the Balloons Over Atacama company and flown commercially in 26 different countries.

Cary Crawley flying over San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile (Ken Spence Photography)

After three decades of flying hot air balloons, it's difficult for Crawley to choose his most memorable moment. I have been blessed with so many wonderful experiences and fantastic memories, he says.

In 1990 my friend, the late Malcolm Forbes, sponsored me to train the first balloon pilots in Pakistan. It was seven months since the Russian troops had left Afghanistan and over one million refugees were in Northern Pakistan where I was flying. No one in the villages had seen a balloon before, and sometimes we had over 400 people at our landings.

Cary Crawley has been flying hot air balloons for three decades (Ken Spence Photography ) (Ken Spence Photography)

Two years later I returned to Pakistan to train some more students. During one flight we made a practice landing near three children who were nomadic sheep and goat herders, who spent their winters in lower lands away from the mountain pastures ,near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. I suggested to my student that she invite the children for a flight and they got into our basket for a 10-minute ride. I've often wondered what these children said to their parents when they returned at the end of the day.

National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Show all 12 1 /12 National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Winter Horseman Photo by Anthony Lau National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Wherever you go, I will follow you!! Photo by Hiroki Inoue National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Ben Youssef Photo by Takashi Nakagawa National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Double trapping Photo by Massimiliano Bencivenni National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Rooftop Dreams, Varanasi Photo by Yasmin Mund National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Silenced Photo by Wing Ka H. National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Lagunas Baltinache (Atacama Desert) Photo by Victor Lima National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Remote life at -21 degree Photo by mattia passarini National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Celestial Reverie Photo by Jeremy Tan National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Muscle Beach Gym Photo by Dotan Saguy National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Divide Photo by Kathleen Dolmatch National Geographic 2016 Traveler Photographer of the Year contest - winners and runners up Bears on a Berg Photo by John Rollins

He is, however, more certain of his most terrifying memory.

I was training some young pilots in the western desert of upper Egypt in dangerous, thermic, unstable weather conditions at a time of day when the high temperatures made the air boil," he says. "I was explaining why you should not fly passengers in such conditions.

I wasn't wearing a restraint harness - which I had insisted was supplied but was yet to be delivered - so while holding on to the control line of the balloon deflation system I was pulled out of the basket. It ran over me and then I was dragged across the rocky ground by the control line. The shirt and the skin on my back were torn off.

Scary as that might sound, Crawley insists that - with the right equipment - hot air ballooning is safe. There's just one caveat - he insists on at least 10 years' experience for pilots working for him, as, he says, it takes a decade to hone an understanding of how to control the aircraft.

Since hot air balloons dont have steering wheels, Crawleys journeys are dictated by the direction of the wind. To check conditions are safe before he takes tourists into the air, he releases a small balloon filled with helium attached to a basket with a candle suspended beneath to assess the wind speed and directional flow. He then sends his flight plan to the nearby airport.

In Chile, the company currently operates three balloons - two with a maximum capacity of 16 passengers and one with eight - which fly 10,000ft above sea level in the surrounding mountains. In Bagan, where the air is warmer, they can ascend 2000ft above sea level with up to 16 passengers in 12 balloons.

In the Atacama desert - where the visibility is usually for more than 50 miles - the views are spectacular and of distant, snow-capped volcanos, salt flats, lagoons, the pristine protected area of the Valley of the Moon and the small communities joined by irrigation channels around the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, he says.

Recommended How to take great Instagram photos as told by an expert

When we land we have a toast to Mother Earth with our right hands and then to the Ancestors with our left hands, spilling a little wine as an offering."

By noon, Crawley is back on the ground and takes care of the land-locked, admin side of the business.

But thats not the downside of his job. The worst thing is that one day it will stop, he says. But then, I know I have been blessed. It has given me a life of travel and adventure.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email 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

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Stansted Airport has issued an apology after an equipment failure this morning led to long queues and hundreds of travellers missing their flights.

Passengers described the scenes in departures as hell, a shambles and a zombie apocalypse. Some people are reported to have passed out and wheelchair passengers were unable to make their way through the crowds.

A spokesperson for the airport said that a problem with X-ray machines at security started at 4.30am, and was resolved by 8.15am. Although some machines were still working, a backlog swiftly built up. Hundreds of travellers have missed their flights as a result.

Stansted is Britains fourth busiest airport. 67,000 passengers pass through every day.

One passenger compared it to a "zombie apocalypse". Another, Kate Platts, who was travelling to Ibiza, tweeted: "Welcome to hell  2 hours waiting in a queue for @Ryanair missed flight."

Platts, an Executive Assistant from London who was booked on a 7am flight and was travelling with hand luggage only, had arrived at Stansted before 5.30am. She told The Independent:

Recommended Former Ryanair cabin crew reveals most annoying things passengers do

"The queues were already massive at that point, literally at a standstill and after an hour of not knowing what was going on we were told that the scanners used to scan boarding passes had crashed.

"There was no information at all [before that] - someone fainted which brought ground staff into the crowd, so we questioned what on earth was happening - it was from that point that the ground staff finally started communicating with us.

"Their attitudes were awful and it wasn't until they realised the seriousness of the situation that they started being more helpful.

"Eventually I got through and went through baggage check - I made it to the gate along with half a dozen or so other passengers for my flight around one or two minutes after they had closed it, before 7am. Ryanair still wouldn't let us on - in fact they even delayed the plane a few minutes because they needed to get the luggage of the other passengers off the plane instead of just letting us on. It was madness."

Platts was booked on an early evening flight free of charge by Ryanair. She told The Independent: "I was lucky that they fly to Ibiza more than once a day - there were passengers flying to other places who can now not fly to their destination until tomorrow or Thursday. We were categorically told that if we weren't placed on a flight today then we would have to make our own way back - no hotels would be provided."

She says that passengers were not given any refreshments or meal tokens, either: "Being in a queue for that amount of time, particularly for the older passengers, without being offered anything is quite shocking"

A Ryanair spokesperson told The Independent: While we regret any inconvenience caused by this power failure at London Stansted Airport, Ryanair is not responsible for airport security delays.

Meanwhile, the official Stansted Airport Twitter account put the chaos down to an "IT issue in the main security area" and apologised "for any incovenience".

The airport added in a statement that situation has now been resolved.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email 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

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }}

Pointing across the despatch box in 2013 at his political rival, David Cameron derided Ed Miliband for wanting to live in a Marxist universe with his gimmick to freeze energy bills for Britains consumers, fed up with rip-off gas and electric bills. Nearly four years later, Downing Streets new occupant, Theresa May, appears to be on the cusp of bringing Camerons vision of a communist revolution to fruition. Using a campaign rally she announced this morning, if elected in four weeks time, the Conservatives  or Theresa Mays team as she has rebranded the party  will cap energy prices.

Milibands policy was popular so it is no surprise it has been imitated by May. At the time, it had the support of 63 per cent of the public. It would be fair to say the policy did not contribute to his punishing electoral defeat almost two years later.

 General Election 2017: What you need to know

Its an important point as, in 31 days time, opponents of Jeremy Corbyn will attempt to spin his policy agenda as a failure if he loses the election. In the hours, days and weeks following a bruising general election defeat a forensic post-mortem will begin  politicians naval-gazing in an attempt understand why the Corbyn project failed. Allies of the leader, should he decide to throw in the towel on 9 June, which is not inevitable, will place blame on the media for vilifying the leader. They will criticise politicians from the so-called moderate wing of Labours fragile coalition of MPs for constantly sniping and briefing against Corbyn, creating the image of a divided party in the publics mind.

Adversaries will pin blame on the incompetence of Corbyn and his many imperfections. Others will look to the Brexit vote, the torturous position it has placed the party in for the past 11 months, and the extent to which the public have disregarded their historic political allegiances in favour of their opinion on Brussels.

But a trouncing at the ballot box  as per predictions and forecasts from psephologists  will not be rooted in the left-wing policies put forward by the partys leadership. When polled, many have extraordinary support among the general public, including free school meals for primary school children, forcing big businesses to publish their tax returns, a 10-an-hour minimum wage, increasing the top rate of tax for the highest earners in Britain, and introducing a pay ratio. One poll for The Independent found that raising the minimum wage, and the rate of tax to 50p from 45p, had the support of 71 per cent and 62 per cent of respondents respectively.

The partys pledge to extend free school meals to all primary school children  funded by charging VAT on private schools  also had the support of 53 per cent of the public.

Margaret Becketts post-mortem review of Milibands crushing defeat at the last general election found that some of his left-wing policies, notably the mansion tax, were the most popular, with individual policies polling well. The issue, she added, was rather the lack of a consistent, cohesive narrative.

Six months later a second piece of research by academics at the University of Oxford found that while immigration, welfare and Milibands leadership all contributed to the partys unexpected defeat two years ago, it was more about perceived competence and rhetoric than policy. The anti-austerity message, the authors added, even led to some gains in England. They found no evidence that a shift to the left resulted in voters turning their backs on the party at the ballot box. In fact, on a left-right spectrum, the public consistently see Labour as closer to their own views than the Conservative Party, the report, published last year, added.

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

Take the Shadow Chancellors announcement on Sunday. If elected, Labour, John McDonnell announced, will increase income tax for those earning more than 80,000. Those earning below this  or 95 per cent of the population  will be safeguarded, he added. It is likely to chime with voters in Labours traditional heartlands.

But if the party is defeated at the general election in 31 days time, blame will undoubtedly be pinned to the left. Corbyns allies will likely be cast aside to the wilderness of Parliaments backbenches for a generation should he decide to call time on his leadership. The MPs that survive the election are unlikely to provide a left-wing candidate with the 15 per cent support needed from the Parliamentary Labour Party to be a contender in the leadership race. The party will inevitably shift to the right, with the left devoid of any political capital.

What will follow will likely resemble the vacuous, uninspiring, alternative offerings of the partys leadership contest in 2015 alongside dull soundbites. But defeat should not be used as a rejection of the left-wing policies and their considerable support among the British public. It would not be surprising if some of the policies find themselves distributed to the British public through their letterboxes in Mays manifesto for a second term in June 2022.
The row erupted after a member of the public contacted police about Stephen Fry's interview on RTE show The Meaning Of Life in 2015

Gerry Adams has demanded a referendum "to allow Stephen Fry or anyone else" to air their views on God without fear of criminal charges.

A complaint to police about the British comedian's remarks on Irish television that God was stupid, selfish and "quite clearly a maniac" sparked controversy about blasphemy laws.

Under the Defamation Act, blasphemy is punishable by a fine of 25,000 euro in an offence rooted in the Irish constitution.

Sinn Fein leader Mr Adams said a single complaint had led to the "spectacle of Mr Fry being investigated by the gardai on a criminal charge of blasphemy".

"This story was widely reported in the international media with appropriate mocking commentary and some disbelief," he said.

"Blasphemy should have no place in the constitution."

Mr Adams urged Taoiseach Enda Kenny to arrange a referendum - which is needed to change the constitution - as soon as possible to remove the blasphemy clause.

Referencing a famous remark from surreal sitcom Father Ted, he asked: "Will you give citizens the opportunity to say clearly, 'down with that sort of thing', and allow Stephen Fry or anyone else to express an opinion without threat of criminal proceedings?"

Across the chamber, Mr Kenny said the last known prosecution for blasphemy in Ireland was thought to have been in 1855.

There have been no such prosecutions under the Defamation Act, introduced in 2009, he added.

Mr Kenny said it had already been agreed by Government to hold a referendum on the issue, and it was simply a case of "finding an opportunity to deal with this".

Gardai reportedly dropped their investigation because there were no injured parties.

The row erupted after a member of the public contacted police about Fry's interview on RTE's show The Meaning Of Life in February 2015.

The footage went viral after it was aired and has now been seen more than seven million times on YouTube.

Asked what he would say if he was confronted by God, Fry replied: "How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil.

"Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?"

Questioned on how he would react if he was locked outside the pearly gates, he responded: "I would say, 'Bone cancer in children? What's that about?'

"Because the God who created this universe, if it was created by God, is quite clearly a maniac, utter maniac.

"Totally selfish. We have to spend our life on our knees thanking him? What kind of God would do that?"
The Taoiseach was urged to relieve Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan, pictured, of her duties

Enda Kenny has restated his backing for the Garda Commissioner in a row over financial irregularities at the force's training college.

A parliamentary committee investigating the use and transfer of public money at the Garda College has been handed evidence by the force's human resources boss John Barrett.

The record of a disputed meeting between Mr Barrett and Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan about the affair "completely contradicts" her version of events, Gerry Adams told the Dail.

Again urging the Taoiseach to "relieve Noirin O'Sullivan of her duties", the Sinn Fein leader said her position was untenable.

"The majority of parties here in Leinster House now want her to go and you need to act in best interests of An Garda Siochana, for the sake of the people of the State, the Commissioner needs to go," he said.

"Will you finally accept this reality and relieve Noirin O'Sullivan of her duties as Commissioner if she refuses to resign?"

But Mr Kenny said: "I have confidence in the Garda Commissioner to do her job."

The Taoiseach also said the Cabinet has approved Kathleen O'Toole as head of a new Patten-style commission to overhaul the scandal-ridden police force.

Former Boston police chief Ms O'Toole sat on the Patten Commission, which heralded the end of the RUC in Northern Ireland.

She was also the first head of the Garda Inspectorate when it was set up after the Morris Tribunal into force corruption more than a decade ago.

In the meantime, Mr Kenny said he expects Ms O'Sullivan to do her job as Garda Commissioner and added that she would appear again before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions about the disputed meeting.

It is investigating revelations of a five million euro surplus in bank accounts and investment policies related to the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary.

Concerns were flagged over the leasing out of land and some of the money being spent on entertaining and retirement gifts.

An internal investigation by an assistant commissioner as well as an audit by in-house officials into the findings is ongoing.

Mr Barrett has told the parliamentary committee it is "too early to say" if crimes were committed amid financial irregularities.

Both he and Ms O'Sullivan have disagreed over the extent to which they discussed the issues during a meeting at the college in July 2015.
TV chef has said he intends to meet as many Northern Ireland food producers as possible this week at the Balmoral Show.

The star will take centre stage in the food pavilion at this year's agricultural showcase hosted by the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society. Mr Novelli, who is soon to open his first restaurant in Belfast, will demonstrate his culinary skills and showcase local ingredients in a Food NI event on Saturday.

It comes as the chef - who launches his first Irish restaurant next year at the 25m Marriott AC Hotel under construction at City Quays in the Belfast Harbour area - pledges to create his classic Mediterranean dishes using the best locally-sourced ingredients.

"Northern Ireland has a tremendous reputation for grass-fed beef, high-quality lamb and pork and superb dairy products. Some of the greatest fish and seafood comes from this part of the world. It's no surprise then that chefs here are producing very innovative, authentic and outstandingly tasty dishes," he said.

"Many Northern Ireland products have also won international acclaim in major awards. There really is an impressive food culture developing here, which we will seek to encourage and promote.

"It makes business and environmental sense to work with local suppliers. I intend to meet as many as I can and to get a better understanding of what they produce and how they create it.

"I look forward to working with local suppliers in creating deliciously different dishes that will attract the attentions of local diners as well as international visitors. I believe we can develop mutually beneficial relationships and that I can help them in creating new product ideas that will help them grow business."

Michele Shirlow, chief executive of Food NI, said: "It's great to have such an internationally recognised and respected chef join us in the Food NI Food Pavilion. He will have opportunities to meet over 100 local producers and to sample the very best of our food and drink."

Mr Novelli is no stranger to Belfast and intends to visit frequently.

"I've also seen dramatic changes in the restaurant scene in the city and the innovation being demonstrated by chefs here," he said. "There's a tremendous passion for quality ingredients and really creative dishes. I must say, I am privileged to be teaming up with such a passionate team at the new Marriott Hotel.

"It's a hugely important and immensely exciting investment, a tremendous opportunity to be part of such a dynamic food scene."
A tractor driver in Kildare has been hit with fixed charge notice and penalty points when stopped by Gardai with an incredibly insecure load.

Gardai in Kildare say the tractor had an insecure load, no indicators, stop lights, tax, and no registration plates front or rear.

Gardai said the driver will be hit with penalty points and a fixed charge notice.

It's not the first agricultural related road safety incident Gardai have highlighted recently.

Garda Traffic Corps from the Cork North Division stopped this vehicle in Mallow, Co. Cork yesterday and kicked off a massive debate online about the legality of the drivers actions.

Expand Close Image: An Garda Siochana / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Image: An Garda Siochana

Gardai said there was no tachograph in use and the driver had no Certificate of Competency.

However, Gardai also hit out at the driver over the weight of the load.

"The maximum allowable weight for this vehicle and trailer was 9.5 tonnes but as you can see, the combined weights were far in excess of this" it said.

The move by the Gardai sparked a massive online debate on whether the drivers actions were legal.

One man questioned Gardai asking "What was the weight of trailer, truck and straw bales when ye weighed it?" while a whole host of people saying that there was no way the load of straw was over 9.5t.

"Bales must be full of water to weight over 9.5 ton".

"I would say the lorry no more than 3.5 tone for it's a aloy body the trailer 1 tone Witch is bout 4.5 /5 tone there's not 5 tone of bales".

"No way that's over 9.5tons ! 9 round bales and 10 large square !?," were just some of the comments online.

Other recent agri related road offences

Driver stopped in Wexford. No licence to tow trailer- so no insurance. He won't be able to dig his way out ot that. pic.twitter.com/6k4YFLjZFv  An Garda Siochana (@GardaTraffic) March 14, 2017

Gardai conducting Operation Thor checkpoint in Wicklow seized Tractor as it hasn't been taxed/insured for 15+ years. pic.twitter.com/OibMXBI3e5  An Garda Siochana (@GardaTraffic) March 8, 2017

'Time to retyre' - Tipp Traffic Corp seized this tractor driving on 3 wheels & 4th wheel tied to rear. Driver was 'wheely wheely sorry' pic.twitter.com/WlMibLG6QD  An Garda Siochana (@GardaTraffic) February 21, 2017

Meath traffic unit on patrol, driver of tractor holding a mobile phone. FCPN issued 80 and 3 points. pic.twitter.com/QINBJ34NcM  Garda Info (@gardainfo) November 29, 2016

Meanwhile, the issue of tachographs has also been highlighted by those in the agriculture community recently.

Recent legislation put a limit of 100km radius for tractors to travel from their base of operations.

However, Farm Contractors Ireland (FCI) said recently that many modern tractors are required to transport machines and farm produce greater distances, where the use of a truck would not be practical or economical due to the relatively low value of the goods in transit, such as straw.

FCI is calling for this limit to be raised to 180km.
The first federal appeals court to hear a challenge to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban appeared unconvinced that it should ignore the Republican's repeated promises on the campaign trail to bar Muslims from entering the country.

An attorney for the president urged the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to focus on the text of the religiously neutral executive order rather than use campaign statements to infer that the policy was driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.

But that idea was challenged by several members of the 13-judge panel, which is examining a ruling that blocks the administration from temporarily barring new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

"Is there anything other than willful blindness that would prevent us from getting behind those statements?" asked Judge Henry Floyd, who was appointed to the court by President Barack Obama.

The 4th Circuit ruling is crucial for Trump, whose travel ban is expected to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The 4th Circuit is the first appeals court to examine the revised travel ban, which Trump's administration rewrote in an attempt to thwart legal challenges. It's unclear when the judges will issue their written decision.

Trump's attorneys likely see the moderate court as friendlier territory than the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which conservatives have long attacked for being too liberal. The 9th Circuit is scheduled to hear another challenge to the revised travel ban next week.

The 4th Circuit "is historically quite conservative and quite pro-government, so for the Trump administration to lose before the full 4th Circuit I think would be quite a body blow for the second version of the executive order," said Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas law school.

A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the revised travel ban in March cited Trump's comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of Trump's promised Muslim ban.

The administration argues that the court shouldn't question the president's national security decisions based on campaign statements. The countries were chosen because they present terrorism risks and the ban applies to everyone in those countries regardless of religion, it says.

"This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion," Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told the court.

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that Trump's call for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S. remained on his campaign website even after he took office. That call, which was still online earlier Monday, appeared to have been taken down by the afternoon hearing.

Jadwat said the administration has failed to provide a legitimate national security reason for the policy.

"The order is completely unprecedented in our nation's history," Jadwat said.

Judge Paul Niemeyer repeatedly challenged Jadwat's arguments, questioning the wisdom in opening the door to using a president's past to evaluate the constitutionality of a policy.

"Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to business men 20 years ago?" asked Niemeyer, who was tapped by President George H. W. Bush.

The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours.

After a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit refused in February to let the travel ban take effect, the administration tweaked the order and issued a new one.

The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas. It removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries.

But critics said that although the new executive order affects fewer people, it remains a realization of Trump's promised Muslim ban and cannot stand.

Even if the Trump administration wins in the 4th Circuit, the travel ban will remain on hold unless it also overturns a federal judge's decision in Hawaii.

Vladeck said the Supreme Court may be more willing to hear the case if there's a split among the appeals courts.

But Richard Primus, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Michigan law school, said he thinks the Supreme Court will ultimately hear the case no matter what the appeals courts decide.

"A case this big, a case this salient, is one that some of the justices are not going to want to pass up," he said.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Newly elected Macra na Feirme President James Healy has apologised for any offence caused by his recent controversial remarks comparing the rural youth organisation to the dating app Tinder.

Last month, the Corkman and member of Donoughmore Macra, sparked hot debate among current and former members when he described Macra na Feirme as "the unofficial dating agency of rural Ireland" during an interview with a Cork radio station.

"It was a five-second line in a 10-minute interview and I didn't think I was saying anything outrageous, but if there are some members who didn't like the organisation being portrayed that way, I can only apologise to them.

"At the same time, you have to be able to laugh at yourself and you can't take yourself too seriously," he said.

Mr Healy (pictured) was speaking after Macra na Feirme's jam-packed agm in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim, where he officially took the reins from outgoing president Sean Finan.

In his inauguration speech, Mr Healy called on Agriculture Minister Michael Creed to introduce "low cost credit" supports for young farmers in order to mitigate the threat of Brexit.

"We need to make sure our young farmers are enticed into a vibrant industry where they are supported and won't be washed out with the first crisis," he said.

Mr Healy also stated his intention to tackle the rise in cyber bullying and focus on the mental health of rural youth during his term in office.

"I believe there is huge scope for Macra to pilot a programme in this area and I would call on Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone to work with us on this," he said.
The Government should do even more to promote Ireland internationally as a business-friendly destination, the global head of technology giant SAP has said.

Bill McDermott said it should develop a 'who's more friendly to business than Ireland' movement to help hammer home internationally the State's 12.5pc corporation tax rate beyond the board rooms.

"I think that you probably don't even market it [12.5pc rate] enough. I know that people know at the top [of companies], but I just think as global brand opportunity, it's even bigger. I would say keep marketing it," he said.

"In the world economy it might not be a bad idea to have a 'who's more friendly to business than Ireland' movement. Because, general awareness leads to consideration. When people consider more, they're in buying windows, and the more you can get them in buying windows, the more you create commerce and opportunity for all your people."

Mr McDermott was speaking on the margins of SAP Ireland's 20th anniversary celebrations at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin yesterday. The company also announced a further 150 new jobs over the next 18 months, which would bring the total workforce here to more than 2,000. The company has operations in both Dublin and Galway.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny welcomed SAP's ongoing commitment to Ireland.

"This announcement further highlights Ireland's suitability as a destination for the tech sector," he said.

"This thriving company is exactly the type of business we seek to attract."
Former Irish Army officer Ray Gammell has been appointed interim CEO of Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways - one of the most senior jobs in the sector worldwide.

He'll take over immediately from Australian James Hogan, current president and group CEO who will leave the company on July 1 following a handover period.

Mr Gammell was previously Etihad's chief people and performance officer, a job he took up in 2009 having served as RBS's head of HR for Europe and the Middle East.

At Etihad he has been responsible for a workforce drawn from 154 nationalities, including driving a so-called Emiratisation strategy to boost the total Emirati workforce of more than 3,000 at Etihad Aviation Group.

The former Army officer held executive positions at Intel in the US and Ireland, as well as at RBS before joining the airline. He is a chartered fellow at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and holds a Masters Degree from University College Dublin.

He joins a growing roster of Irish executives in senior airline posts around the world, including Willie Walsh at IAG and Michael O'Leary at Ryanair, as well as Alan Joyce, who heads up Qantas, and Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew.

Etihad also announced that Ricky Thirion will become interim group financial officer, replacing chief financial officer James Rigney who also leaves in July.

The company had previously announced in January that the two Australians were leaving some time in the second half of the year.

The temporary replacements come less than a week after Italy's Alitalia, 49pc owned by Etihad, filed for special administration for the second time in less than a decade after workers rejected its latest rescue plan.

Alitalia was one of Etihad's key investments as it raced to catch up with fast-growing rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways by buying into several foreign carriers, including the Italian carrier and Air Berlin.

However, the Abu Dhabi-owned airline said last week it was not willing to invest further in Alitalia.

As interim CEO, Mr Gammell is to continue with a strategic review begun last year though a permanent group CEO is expected to be announced in the "next few weeks", chairman Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel al-Mazrouei said in a statement.

Gulf airlines have seen growth slow over the past two years against a more challenging economic backdrop - including lower oil prices squeezing spending in the region - while East to West traffic diminished after a wave of militant attacks in Europe and Turkey. (Additional reporting Reuters)
The outgoing chief financial officer of Dutch banking giant ING is being considered as a candidate to replace Richie Boucher as the head of Bank of Ireland, the Irish Independent understands.

The bank, and Patrick (PG) Flynn, who is based in the Netherlands, declined to comment.

While Liam McLaughlin, who leads the bank's retail operations, remains the favourite internal contender, alongside cfo Andrew Keating, speculation is rife that the board may have set its sights on hiring an outsider as the rescued lender pursues a lower-cost, digitally-focused business model.

The banking salary cap here is still seen as an obstacle to high-profile external candidates, however.

Mr Boucher's total pay hit 958,000 last year, far above the government-imposed 500,000 pay cap for executives at bailed-out banks.

It would still represent a sharp fall in salary for Mr Flynn, who earned 1.2m in base pay last year, according to ING's annual report - a figure that was buttressed by a further 217,000 worth of shares.

Dublin-born Mr Flynn officially retired from ING yesterday following the group's annual general meeting in the Netherlands. While the Dutch heavyweight announced the move earlier this year, it is understood Mr Flynn has yet to accept a position elsewhere - which could leave him free to take the Bank of Ireland job.

Despite the pay discrepancy, the Government has cleared the path for an external candidate to claim a similar salary to Mr Boucher.

"If they appoint somebody significant from outside, I think the parameters for negotiating pay will be somewhere in line with Mr Boucher's case," Finance Minister Michael Noonan said last month:

According to industry sources, Mr Flynn's expertise and knowledge of internet banking is likely to represent a key attribute to the board.

ING, like all European banks, underwent a painful restructuring after the financial crisis and has since outpaced its peers in the shift to digital banking.

The lender posted better-than-expected profits in its latest results, partly driven by strong growth in ING Direct, its online banking business.

The gains from Bank of Ireland's massive 800-900m investment in a new digital platform however remain unclear and analysts have argued uncertainty about the impact of the online strategy and its higher-than-anticipated cost continues to weigh on the share price.

Meanwhile, the results of the French election have given an extra push to AIB's planned return to the stock market - which could now happen within weeks.

The State-owned lender's management team, led by Bernard Byrne, travelled to the US again last week to meet another group of potential investors, as part of a so-called non-deal roadshow.

While Mr Noonan has previously denied the UK election represents a roadblock to AIB's partial privatisation, it is understood the Government intends to pull the trigger on a float at the end of May.

Sources said that would result in a stock market debut at the end of June or start of July.

It would also free investors from any distractions over the UK elections, which are widely predicted to result in a landslide victory for the governing Tory party.
TV3 and VirginMedia owner Liberty Global lowered its growth target for Europe this year as billionaire John Malones cable carrier reported a weaker-than-expected start in the UK.

Liberty now forecasts operating cash flow growth of 5pc for 2017, down from Februarys outlook of 6pc to 7pc, the London-based company said on Sunday. The operator lost more customers than expected in the UK in the first quarter, following two price increases last year and challenges with the launch of a new video product. Mobile revenue also declined.

The UK is our biggest market, so it has a big impact, chief executive officer Mike Fries said. He cast the new target as conservative. The reduction is more of a bump in the road.

The business is facing stiff competition in Britain from BT Group and Vodafone as the countrys carriers expand on each others turfs. A Dutch joint venture that moved ahead with Vodafone in the quarter is doing well in the fixed-line consumer business, but facing challenges in mobile amid competition from its rivals Tele2 AB and Deutsche Telekom AGs T-Mobile, Mr Fries said.

The real magic will happen when we can start marketing a true quad-play product, Fries said of the joint venture, which reported a 2pc revenue decline in the first quarter and 6pc drop in operating cash flow. Mr Fries said he didnt have anything new to say on whether the partnership could be a prelude to a larger deal between the two firms.

Investors have been fixated on the idea of a merger or asset swap between Liberty and Vodafone, after years of talks between the companies. Even after the agreement to partner in the Netherlands, Mr Fries and Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao have stoked speculation by publicly commenting on the potential to bring their fixed and mobile assets together.

Liberty is also seen as a potential buyer of UK broadcaster ITV, where it is has a 9.9pc stake  particularly after last weeks announcement that ITV CEO Adam Crozier will step down in June. Buying ITV would add to a growing free-to-air television business that includes TV stations in Belgium and TV3, including the former UTV Ireland, in this country.

Mr Fries said he doesnt see any more immediate deals in the area on the horizon, however. In the UK and Ireland Liberty said 158,000 net customers joined. Mobile revenue fell 9pc and average revenue per unit increased 1pc. (Bloomberg)
Traditional PCs will remain core to Dells future, the companys founder and chief executive has said.

While the future lies in the internet of things and distributed computing, PCs are core, he told journalists at Dell EMC World, the companys annual technology conference attended by over 13,000 people.

"They're core for areas such as virtual reality, augmented reality and others. Weve had 17 quarters of gaining share in the PC market and I can tell you that this will extend to 18 quarters, he said. Yes, the market is consolidating, but its still a $170bn market. Were number one in revenue and number one in profits. Were not number one in units sold but the ones we sell are more valuable than the ones the other guys sell. Our average selling price per PC is going up.

Mr Dell was speaking as the company launched a raft of new products and services across both Dell and EMC, the storage company it merged with two years ago.

He told journalists that because Dell is a private company and not a publicly-traded one, the firm was in a financially advantageous position and could think about longer term outcomes for its product lines rather than focus on crowd-pleasing statements aimed at quarterly public earnings announcements.

Asked what he would advise startups and young companies, Dell said that people need to take more risks.

My observation is that there are too many people who are afraid to fail and as a result they dont reach their potential, he said. Ive taken risks in my life and I needed to. So take risks.

Mr Dell said that his role as an entrepreneur was against the wishes of his family.

I was supposed to be a doctor, he said. My mother and father were doctors. So Im kind of the black sheep of the family.

Cumulatively, Dell and EMC employ more than 5,000 people in Ireland across Dublin, Cork and Limerick.

The company is launching new pay-as-you-go services aimed at businesses that find technology services too expensive.

Mr Dell announced today that the company is to launch new cloud services that allow firms to simplify their cloud storage plans.

He said that IT infrastructure was proving to be too expensive for many companies and that customers had been asking for a pay-as-you-use system.

The move will pit Dell more aggressively in its cloud services against Amazon, Microsoft and Google, all of which are active in the sector.

Cloud services are among the IT industrys most profitable segments, with Amazons most recent set of accounts showing its AWS division to be the standout performer.

Microsoft has also repositioned itself in the last year as a cloud services provider.

Michael Dell also announced that Dell aims to introduce a PC-as-a-service system that would cover hardware, software and other facets of owning and running corporate PCs.

The tech giant also made a number of product announcements at the event, including the launch of a new PowerEdge server, its 14th generation.

The new 14th generation servers are designed to be embedded in storage and data center appliances, hyper-converged appliances and racks, ready nodes, bundles and other Dell EMC systems.

They have 19 times more non-volatile memory express low latency storage than previous generations, according to Dell.

The next transition in enterprise architecture will increasingly be built on flexible hyper-converged infrastructures, said Michelle Bailey, chief research officer with analyst firm 451 Research.

Theyll be built on those that simplify procurement and ongoing operations with a single supplier, lowering risks of implementation while helping speed time to delivery. Dell EMCs new generation servers is geared toward addressing many of these issues with intelligent management and automation capabilities.
Iranian search crews have found seven more bodies at the site of last week's coal mine explosion in northern Golestan province, raising the number of confirmed fatalities in the incident to 42, state TV reported on Tuesday.

The explosion last Wednesday at Zemestanyurt mine has been blamed on methane gas that had accumulated in the mine. The incident is believed to be the worst industrial accident to strike Iran in the last few decades.

Earlier, the death toll stood at 35.

Tuesday's report quoted Reza Morovati, an official in the Golestan government, as saying that the seven more bodies that were found were taken to "forensics experts for identification." He also said it was possible that up to two miners remain trapped inside the coal mine.

Iranian media have reported that at least 75 were injured in the explosion, and that the methane gas also sickening dozens who later rushed into the mine to try to rescue those trapped. Most of the injured have been discharged from hospitals.

On Sunday, angry coal miners and relatives of those killed or injured in the explosion kicked and beat a car carrying Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as he tried to leave after visiting the Zemestanyourt mine. Rouhani was unharmed and eventually left the site.

The president earlier spoke to a gathering of the miners and acknowledged that the government was "responsible for their lives." His stop in Golestan came during his campaign tour  Rouhani is running for another four-year term as Iran's elected president in the May 19 presidential election.

"Be sure that we will pursue this issue and also your demands," Rouhani told the miners. "Those who are guilty in this incident should be prosecuted by a court."

Rouhani remains the favorite in the election though there is much discontent in the country as benefits of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers struck by Rouhani's administration have yet to trickle down to the average Iranian.

More than 500 workers are employed at the Zemestanyurt mine in Golestan, which lies along Iran's northern border with Turkmenistan and also on the shore of the Caspian Sea.

Iran annually consumes some 2.5 tons of coal but only extracts about 1 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills.

This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.

Since Iran's nuclear deal, the country has begun an effort to renovate some of its coal mines. Delegations have visited Tehran from foreign countries including the Czech Republic, hopeful for contracts.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The winner of the Hennessy Literary Awards for Emerging Fiction and New Irish Writer of the Year has secured a literary agent on the back of her win.

Rachel Donohue (40) from Dublin won the prestigious awards last month for her short story, The Taking of Mrs Kennedy and has since been signed up by London-based Irish agent Ivan Mulcahy.

Its a massive boost, says Rachel. My aim now is to be working on a longer piece. Ill have advice and tips and support  getting an agent is really, really helpful.

Rachel had previously been shortlisted for First Fiction in 2013 and Emerging Fiction in 2014 so to win both in 2017 was a big surprise.

Just to be nominated was a big win for me because the standard is so high and this competition has such a heritage. I literally went along on the night because I thought it would be a nice evening and I could talk about books! she reveals.

Winning has been a kind of fantasy. It just validates your work and you have the feeling that maybe you have a story people are interested to read and there might be people who would like to read more of what you do.

However, says she wrote the story for herself rather than specifically for competition.

Its kind of something I do as much as I can so I didnt have the competition in mind at all, she reveals.

Its a story I had been working on as well as a number of different things and I thought it was ready so I put it away for six months and didnt do anything. I always have to get that moment of courage up before I send it out.

The mum of two has been writing creatively since she took maternity leave with her second daughter Charlotte (now 7) although her day job in PR and communications also involves writing, albeit in a different vein.

I really like my job and I actually do a lot of writing so Im always kind of in that space, she says.

I feel that working sometimes can really help to keep the well filled creatively. I would be a bit nervous if I took a complete break or time away that maybe I would have difficulty just keeping that well filled.

Video of the Day

Through my work I meet people I wouldnt ordinarily meet, I go to places I wouldnt ordinarily go, so it keeps me stimulated and able to observe and just get out of my comfort zone at times.

However, she admits that sometimes its difficult to traverse both worlds.

At times I do feel a bit like creatively have you drained that well? For me I suppose I feel a bit uneasy or incomplete if I dont do creative writing. I feel like I havent processed the day properly. Even to sit down for half an hour from the point of view of my own sense of self. You do find the time when its important to you.

Given she has a full time job and two children (shes also mum to 10-year-old Ava), she relies on a great childminder and a husband who is fantastic in terms of giving me space on the weekends and doing the swimming or whatever to give me a bit of a breather. Hes been so supportive.

Husband Gerard, who works in accounting and finance, has been reading her work and giving an "honest appraisal" over the years.

Unlike many emerging writers these days who find encouragement, support and feedback within writing groups, it has been a relatively solitary journey for Rachel who feels a competition is a somewhat safer way of sharing her work with her peers.

I know a lot of people join writing groups and they get feedback on their work but its not something I have ever done, she says.

With a competition its almost anonymous. Youre not reading your work in front of people. For me its kind of a safer way of getting your work out there but for other people there is huge value in feedback from their peer group at writing groups.

I wouldnt really have a huge amount of connections to the writing community here. Ive kind of done it on my own. But there was a lovely reaction, a very positive reaction when I won which was fantastic.

I am quite solitary so it was lovely to get out and about more and understand a bit more about how people have made it work for them.

Id like to step more into that community. The standard and quality of Irish writing is great. There are some great voices coming through. Its an exciting time for Irish literature. Its definitely in a good place.
Former 2FM presenter Ruth Scott has revealed she has not listened to her replacement on the RTE station since her sudden departure last year.

Irish vlogger Stephen Byrne (27) last year took over from Ruth, who had helmed the slot, often with Paddy McKenna, for the previous decade.

Speaking to RSVP magazine, Ruth revealed she has not listened to his show.

Since she left 2FM, Ruth has bagged a slot on TV as a movie, TV, and play reviewer on Today with Maura and Daithi.

She is set to marry Rob Morgan, son of the late Father Ted star Dermot Morgan, later this year, and in a joint interview with the magazine, they expressed their relief that Ruth now has her weekends free for 'long leisurely lunches' and 'hillwalking'.

"I have missed out on my weekends for the last ten years and now I can agree to make plans with people," said Ruth.

"It is a great freedom and although it was the best of both worlds while working short hours at the weekend, I was still limited."

Rob added, "Ruth was expected to be at their [2FM's] beck and call the whole time, whether it was travelling in the roadcaster or doing interviews.

"She could have been working in Athlone one Saturday before being sent to the wilds of Kerry the very next day. it was horrible for us and we could never make plans."
EastEnders favourites Kat and Alfie Moon are back on screen in new drama Redwater. But it's a far cry from soapland, actors Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie tell Jeananne Craig

When EastEnders last visited Ireland, in 1997, it caused a stir for all the wrong reasons.

Locals were depicted as rowdy, drunk or surly, farm animals were shown roaming streets around Dublin, and the BBC had to issue an apology for offence caused.

Two decades on, spin-off drama Redwater aims to depict a more realistic, contemporary Ireland - hopefully without a donkey in sight.

Expand Close Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Kat (JESSIE WALLACE) and Alfie (SHANE RICHIE) . PA Photo/BBC/Patrick Redmond. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Kat (JESSIE WALLACE) and Alfie (SHANE RICHIE) . PA Photo/BBC/Patrick Redmond.

At its core are Albert Square favourites Kat and Alfie Moon, who quit Walford for Spain last year. The pair, played by Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie, have now come to Ireland to track down the son Kat gave up for adoption when she was just 14.

If you're expecting EastEnders-esque high drama and 'doof doofs', however, think again. According to Richie, this is more "Broadchurch meets The Wicker Man".

"You're hoping to bring the EastEnders audience with you, but also the audience that doesn't watch it - people who watch, for want of a better word, 'high-brow' drama, which I like to think this is," says the London-born star, 53.

"In all the episodes, there is no reference to Walford, and that's quite brave and I think it pays off."

Expand Close Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Kathleen Moon (JESSIE WALLACE)and Alfie Moon (SHANE RICHIE). Picture Credit should read: PA Photo/BBC/Jonathan Hession. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Kathleen Moon (JESSIE WALLACE)and Alfie Moon (SHANE RICHIE). Picture Credit should read: PA Photo/BBC/Jonathan Hession.

Even Kat's beloved leopard print has been replaced with a more bohemian style.

"You do start to play the character differently because you start to pull it back, whereas if you're dressed brassy, then you're going to be brassy," says Wallace, 45.

While the acting and costumes might be pared back, the show isn't short of gripping moments.

Kat's hunt for her long-lost son is only the start of the drama in the fictional village, as producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins notes: "Kat and Alfie become the catalyst for all these secrets kind of exploding in the town."

Expand Close Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Alfie (SHANE RICHIE). See PA Feature TV Redwater. PA Photo/BBC/Patrick Redmond. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Alfie (SHANE RICHIE). See PA Feature TV Redwater. PA Photo/BBC/Patrick Redmond.

Video of the Day

Alfie, meanwhile, is "in a very dark place" and battling a brain tumour.

Wallace and Richie are joined by an impressive ensemble cast, including veteran Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan and The Commitments star Maria Doyle Kennedy.

"Every character has got their own story to tell. Some of them are solo stories and some of them intertwine with other characters," says Richie. "This whole community has a dark history."

The location for filming was Dunmore East in Co. Waterford - an incredibly picturesque fishing village, but not quite what Wallace and Richie were expecting when they heard they had landed their own show.

Expand Close Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Kat (JESSIE WALLACE). See PA Feature TV Redwater. PA Photo/BBC/Patrick Redmond. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kat and Alfie: Redwater. Pictured: Kat (JESSIE WALLACE). See PA Feature TV Redwater. PA Photo/BBC/Patrick Redmond.

"We thought we were going to Spain," said Richie. "We had this great idea that we were going to rent villas."

"I had already packed my bikinis!" Wallace chips in.

Swimwear disappointment aside, the stars (who both have family in Ireland; Richie, in fact, claims he was "conceived in a car park in Dublin"), soon felt at home.

"The first couple of days, I remember us being there and signing autographs and having pictures, which of course we were happy to do, and then it stopped," says the actor. "We'd go into the pub and we'd become locals. And if tourists would come up, the locals would say, 'No leave them alone'. We were like their property. We had the best time."

Kat and Alfie's romance captured EastEnders fans' imaginations as soon as the pair first locked eyes in the Queen Vic in 2002.

"He's throwing these glasses up in the air and he's doing these cocktails, and Kat walks in and he stops and he smiles at her - and I just go, 'Pffff'," recalls Wallace, who joined the cast of the hit soap in 2000.

"The [crew] were all around the monitor when they saw it, and they saw us chatting off screen and they said, 'These two should be together'."

"Back then, 14 or 15 years ago, millions tuned in and waited for, I think, 14 months for them to kiss," Richie adds. "Over the years, we have played every emotion, split up, had infidelity, death, rape, cot-death, baby swapping, the house burning down, but the audience has stuck by us."

In real life, the pair are firm friends - "like brother and sister", according to Wallace.

"We argue, then we won't talk for a day, and then we're talking again and he makes me laugh all the time. We can tell each other what we're thinking. We can tell the truth to each other."

Once this six-part run is over, they'd both like to do more Redwater - but will they be returning to Albert Square?

"I don't know, it's just nice that they're still alive," Wallace says, smiling.

"When I left, I had this fear that Stacey [Slater] would be in her house and her phone would ring and she'd pick it up and go, 'Oh, Kat's dead'.

"It's nice that the door's open and I love Kat, I've played her for a long time now and she's a huge part of me. I don't want to say goodbye to her really."

Redwater begins on RTE One, Sunday May 14 at 9.30pm, four days ahead of BBC One, which airs on Thursday, May 18
Miriam O'Callaghan arriving on the red carpet for the IFTA Awards 2017 at the Mansion House, Dublin. Photo: Michael Chester

Miriam O'Callaghan has admitted she never aspired to be on television and only found herself in front of the camera because she "didn't look like the back of a bus".

The Prime Time host (56) worked behind the scenes as a producer in the UK before she was asked to become a presenter.

"I became a researcher on British television, I became a producer and then, because I didn't look like the back of a bus, someone said I should go on telly," she told the Herald.

"I never wanted to go on telly but I was put on it. It worked for me.

"I was a law student, who would have said I would be the presenter of a current affairs programme? It didn't work like that."

The mum-of-eight believes it was a combination of hard work and luck that got her to where she is now.

"I think I've been very lucky but then a part of me would also say you make your own luck," she said.

"My mother would say I'm unbelievably hard-working. If you work hard and you do a lot, you make our own luck.

"You can just be in the right place at the right time."
Colin Farrell made the Ellen Show audience blush with a story about his botched attempt at trimming his pubic hair.

The Hollywood star told the hilarious anecdote for De Generes' new Celebrity Confession segment in which a celebrity admits something they have never revealed before in exchange for up to $10,000 for a charity of their choice.

"I was doing my first American film, I think in the year 2000, and there was a sex scene in it and I was very nervous because I'd never done a sex scene," he began.

"Anyway, I went up to the director, Joel Schumacher, and I had a dressing gown on and nothing underneath and obviously I was so nervous I lost my mind for a second because I opened my dressing gown for a second and I said, 'It's a bit, is it a bit...' because like most men I had what you could refer to as 'retro bush'."

He continued, "Joel the director kind of went, 'oh...' and I went, 'Okay, I'll trim it.' So I went into the hair and make-up department - it was their lucky day - and I said, 'Do you have a beard trimmer?' and they said, 'Yeah' so - I don't know if they used the beard trimmer afterwards...

"So I went into my trailer and I got a bin and I put it there and I sat over the bin and I got the beard trimmer and I trimmed the right side and I kind of overshot the mark a little bit so I had to get back and approach the right again and I overshot that.

"And at this stage I was sweating and then I went back in and approached the landing on the left and I looked down and I had a little landing strip, a lovely little landing strip."

"I didn't get my full frontal after all."

We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference

The story earned Colin a cheque for $10,000 for his son James' school which he attends alongside other children with special needs as well as typical children.

"He's educated alongside and socialises with his typical peers and typical children get to experience the kind of compassion that can sometimes arise in a person encountering somebody with special needs," revealed Colin.
The Army bomb squad was called to a location in North Dublin on Monday night after a "viable device" was discovered.

To ensure public safety, a section of the N32 in Darndale was closed while the device was inspected at around 9.35pm last night.

The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was made safe and removed to a secure military installation for further examination.

Gardai are now carrying out an investigation into the incident.
A State inquiry into the biggest property deal in Northern Ireland's history will investigate if dealings between Stormont and Dublin leaders were appropriate.

The Government has given the go-ahead for a commission of investigation into the Republic's toxic assets agency Nama and its controversial Project Eagle sale.

The massive collection of Northern Ireland property loans, taken over by Nama after the economic crash, was sold to US investment fund Cerberus in April 2014.

The deal was "seriously deficient", the Irish parliament's Public Accounts Committee concluded earlier this year after a long-running probe into aspects of the sale.

Expand Close Minister for Finance Michael Noonan / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Minister for Finance Michael Noonan

Another big investment company said last year it pulled out of buying the portfolio because it was asked for a fixer payment of 16 million for three parties behind the scenes.

Former Stormont finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir has said Northern Ireland's entire political system was corrupted by the 1.2bn sale - while the region's business, legal and accounting sectors were left tainted.

Agreeing terms of reference for an inquiry, the Dublin Cabinet said it would investigate whether the sale was appropriate, if the price paid was appropriate and whether there were any conflicts of interest among Nama's Northern Ireland advisers.

It will also probe fees allegedly payable to a former adviser.

Furthermore, it will investigate if the decisions and actions of Dublin's Finance Minister Michael Noonan, "including communications with members and officials of the Northern Ireland Executive" and meetings with potential bidders were appropriate.

The commission will also inquire into "anything arising outside the State that it considers relevant", the government has announced.

An interim report to the Taoiseach is expected within three months of the inquiry being set up.

A final report on the first module of its work must be finished by the end of June 2018.
A childcare worker whose legs and thighs were burned in a botched laser bikini treatment has expressed horror the clinic behind the incident is still taking bookings.

Denise Byrne told the Circuit Civil Court her life had been seriously impacted following a 600 course of laser treatments at Havana Therapy in Dundrum, Dublin. Evidence was heard that her solicitor Elizabeth Howard had been led to believe the company had gone into liquidation.

However, when the Irish Independent contacted the company, workers said they are still carrying out laser treatment in its three Dublin clinics. A female staff member confirmed the Dundrum branch is still providing the service.

Ms Byrne, a mother-of-four, said she was upset to learn the company was still taking bookings. She said: "I just think that they think they can get away with it. They didn't bother to show up for court. It's very upsetting that they are allowed to keep bookings."

Ms Byrne (38) said she paid Havana 600 for six sessions of laser treatment to remove hairs from her legs and bikini line. Following the fourth session her legs and thighs began to burn. Throughout her ordeal Ms Byrne revealed that nobody ever said "sorry".

Last Friday, she was awarded damages of 15,000 and costs against Havana Therapy. The judge also made an order for special damages of 848 which includes 600 she paid for the treatments and also for creams and medication.

Expand Close Denise Byrne suffered burns to her legs following laser treatment that went wrong. Photo: Collins Courts / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Denise Byrne suffered burns to her legs following laser treatment that went wrong. Photo: Collins Courts

According to company records Havana Therapy Ltd is run by Keith Hogan (32) and Gary Hogan (57). The directors did not respond to calls or emails requesting comment.
A customer touched a sales assistant's breast and bottom, telling her "don't act like you don't want it".

John Costello (38) claimed his behaviour towards the young woman was "banter".

The defendant, of Blackthorn Green, Sandyford, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman at a shop in Leopardstown in February 2015.

Judge Anne Watkin ordered a probation report and adjourned sentencing to October.

The 20-year-old victim told Dun Laoghaire District Court Costello was a regular customer in the store, coming in most Saturdays with his mother.

On this occasion, he was on his own. She said she was dusting shelves in the drapery department when he came up to her and said: "I was looking for you."

Costello said to her: "Can you bend over for me?"

Then, when he saw she was kneeling down to clean a shelf, he said: "You're on your knees for me already."

The woman said she laughed off Costello's comments, as she did not want to be rude to a customer, and he walked away to the ATM, before coming back.

Grabbed

There was a stack of cushions on the floor beside the woman, and she said she thought Costello was leaning over to pick one of them up, but instead he grabbed her breast.

She pushed his hand away, and shouted "what are you doing?" at him.

Costello responded: "Don't act like you don't want it."

The victim said she was in shock, and continued to clean the shelves, while Costello walked off.

He came back a short time later, saying "come here close I want to tell you something", before touching her bottom.

She said she reported the assault to her manager.

In cross-examination, she accepted Costello had made comments previously and she had laughed them off, but "she didn't like it". He had never touched her before.

Defence solicitor Michael Staines said Costello, a married man with one child, had an accident a number of years ago and suffered brain damage, as well as physical injury.

Mr Staines said the accident changed the defendant completely and has affected his judgment since.

Mr Staines said Costello, who has no previous convictions, "rightly or wrongly believes he didn't do anything wrong".

Ordering a probation report, the judge told Costello that what he did was "not a joke".
Around 300 sub-Saharan African migrants stormed the six-metre razor-wire fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla early on Tuesday, with around 100 successfully crossing the border, police said.

Three police officers were injured and required medical attention after the 0500 GMT rush, after migrants threw stones at border security, Spanish police added.

Spain's two enclaves in Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, are often used as entry points into Europe by African migrants, who either climb over border fences or try to swim along the coast.

Over 1,000 migrants attempted to cross into Ceuta in January, but most were returned to Morocco.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A High Court judge has ruled solicitor Gerald Kean was not entitled to give Permanent TSB the title deeds to two properties of a woman in Co Waterford over which the EBS has a first legal charge.

Mr Kean should not have given the deeds to PTSB in the "teeth" of advice from a solicitor in his office, Mr Justice Michael Twomey found. Mr Kean also should not have made a "false" statement in a 2014 letter to PTSB that his law firm had issued proceedings against EBS.

While EBS had asked the court to declare the failure to return the deeds to it amounted to professional misconduct, the judge said he has no jurisdiction to do so because such matters are, at first instance, for the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

EBS is entitled to orders directing Mr Kean to inform PTSB he was not entitled to give it the title deeds and directing him to retrieve those deeds and return them to EBS, he ruled.

Richard Kean SC, for Mr Kean, said his instructions were to "vigorously appeal".

The judge told Mr Kean and Andrew Fitzpatrick SC, for EBS, he would address costs of the ten day case and other issues on May 26.

Mr Kean was sued on foot of his accountable trust receipt (ATR) undertaking given to EBS in 2008 concerning deeds over properties owned by his client, Dolores Corcoran, and mortgaged to EBS as security for loans made to her.

Mr Kean gave the undertaking to get the deeds for Ms Corcoran's planned refinancing of her EBS loans with PTSB. An ATR means a solicitor undertakes to return title deeds to the bank on demand or clear all loans secured by the deeds.

In its action against Mr Kean, EBS alleged he has failed to return to the Society the deeds for two properties of Ms Corcoran at Hunter's Way, Williamstown, and Portnahully, Carrigeen.

Mr Kean alleged "systems failures" within EBS lead to the problem. It was claimed a letter from EBS' indicating that its security for another loan of Ms Corcoran's included a charge on the two properties was received by the Kean firm after the loans concerning those properties were redeemed.

Ms Corcoran owned three properties, the two at Hunter's Way and Portnahully, and another at Henrietta Street, Waterford, and had four EBS loans secured on them. Because one of her loans was not re-financed with PTSB, and was secured on all three properties, EBS since late 2008 sought return of the title deeds for Hunter's Way and Portnahully from Mr Kean.

Mr Justice Twomey said the initial problem in this case arose from a "simple human error" by a solicitor in Mr Kean's office.

That error lead to Mr Kean being bound by "double" undertakings - to give PTSB a first charge over Hunter's Way and Portnaully and at the same time return to EBS the deeds of those two properties because one of the loans secured on them was not redeemed and EBS had a first legal charge over them.

The cause of the undertakings was the firm's failure to appreciate the significance of searches concerning the properties and warnings in three letters sent by EBS concerning discharge of its loans in light of Kean's knowledge Ms Corcoran had a fourth EBS loan that was not discharged under her refinancing arrangement with PTSB, he found.

That mistake lead to the fourth loan not being discharged which was necessary for Keans to be able to give PTSB the title deeds and a first charge over the properties.

A fourth letter from EBS of June 2008 which related to the fourth loan had not arrived late in Kean's and, even if it had, was not the cause of the double undertakings, he held.

The firm's internal error was "exacerbated" by Mr Kean's reaction to it and that reaction was why the case became one about Mr Kean's alleged misconduct and not just about a conveyancing error within his office, he said.

Keans were asked from December 2008 to return the title deeds and that request was repeated, with "increasing urgency" over the next five years. Mr Kean "ignored" those requests and instead handed over what was effectively EBS property to PTSB without informing EBS he had done so.

A letter from him to PTSB of November 2013, which stated the firm was pursuing EBS for the vacated mortgage deed, exacerbated the mistake and meant EBS needed a court order to ensure PTSB would hand back the deeds. A title certificate attached to that letter gave PTSB an undertaking it would get a first charge over the two properties when Mr Kean knew EBS had a first charge over them and had sought return of the deeds.

After five years of a "stand-off" with EBS, it was difficult to know why Mr Kean handed the deeds to PTSB in the teeth of advice given to him in 2009 from another solicitor in his office.

Mr Kean had not given evidence but wrote to Ms Corcoran in December 2008 stating he did not wish to be personally exposed in the dispute with EBS, the judge noted. Giving the deeds to PTSB might reduce that personal exposure by giving PTSB some security for its loans as EBS had some security concerning her third property.

While EBS will suffer no loss if Ms Corcoran pays off the relevant loan, EBS has suffered the loss of being deprived of the tite deeds which, if the need arose, were necessary to enforce its security.

In a statement Mr Keane said he was "very disappointed" by the outcome and will now take time to consider the judgement. He thanked his legal team and said he plans to "fully and vigorously" appeal the case.
Lisa Finnegan, sister of Anna Finnegan who was murdered by former partner Vesel Jahiri, issues an appeal to victims of domestic violence outside the Central Criminal Court after he was sentenced to life. Photo: Collins Courts

Murderer Vesel Jahiri "took an angel" from her family when he stabbed Anna Finnegan to death, her heartbroken sister has said.

Lisa Finnegan told the Central Criminal Court Anna was a "loving, kind, selfless soul" and the family would never get over her loss.

She was delivering a victim impact statement as Jahiri (36) was jailed for life for murdering Anna (25), who was his ex-partner and the mother of his two children.

He had the mandatory life sentence handed down by Mr Justice Paul Coffey, along with a concurrent four-year jail term for stabbing Anna's brother Karl Finnegan in the head and chest in the same attack.

Mr Finnegan told the court Anna was a "devoted mother" and had been robbed of a chance to see her children grow up.

Jahiri was not present to hear their victim impact statements, after asking to be taken out of court earlier because he did not want to listen to the prosecution's summary of the evidence.

Expand Close Anna Finnegan / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Anna Finnegan

When he returned, flanked by four prison guards, three of whom were dressed in full riot gear, Jahiri stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as sentence was passed.

Jahiri kicked in Anna's front door and stabbed her to death in her own home a month after she had sought refuge at a women's shelter because of his abuse.

The attacks happened at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, on September 21, 2012.

Jahiri, originally from Kosovo, had pleaded not guilty to both charges and had legally represented himself after repeatedly dismissing his lawyers. He had to be removed from the court several times in the course of the trial.

On one occasion he had to be wrestled to the ground by prison officers after he punched prosecuting counsel Patrick Marrinan in the face.

The court had been told Jahiri made Anna's life "hell". She had written that he had beaten her before and "almost killed her". They had been together since she was 16.

A jury found him guilty by unanimous verdict. This was Jahiri's second trial for the murder after a jury failed to reach a verdict in his first trial in 2014.

"Since my sister Anna was murdered in such a savage and terrifying manner, my mind has never recovered," Lisa Finnegan said in her statement yesterday.

Expand Close Vesel Jahiri. Photo: Collins / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Vesel Jahiri. Photo: Collins

"I can and will never be the same person again.

"The events of that night, the terror, the panic, the mayhem, the devastation, the shock, will stay with me until the day I die.

"On that night when my brother Karl was also attacked and assaulted by this monster, I, moments after the attack, was told he would be down for myself and my children," she said.

"As we had now seen this monster for what he was, instant terror entered our lives until he was eventually found.

"The pure terror again while he was on bail, and after he absconded I barely left my home or left my children's side and sleep was a thing of the past," she continued.

Expand Close Karl Finnegan, who was also attacked by Vesel Jahiri. Photo: Collins Courts / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Karl Finnegan, who was also attacked by Vesel Jahiri. Photo: Collins Courts

"I couldn't see Anna's babies for fear that we were being watched, which we knew he did on Anna so many times," she went on.

"Our lives have mostly been a living hell for the last four-and-a-half years.

"He took an angel that night," Lisa said.

"We will never get over the loss of Anna. I will never get over my sister's life being taken so brutally."

Mr Finnegan said his sister had been his "rock" and it was difficult to imagine that he would never speak to her again.

She had been the peacemaker in the family, and always had a kind word, he said.

"It was heartbreaking to think that her children had been robbed of "their mammy," he said.

Outside the court, Lisa said the family was "very relieved" the "gruelling" trials were over.
A man who told a 16-year-old girl to drink alcohol or he would kill her, before sexually assaulting her, leaving her unconscious and in a state of undress on a footpath, has had his jail term cut on appeal.

The 22-year-old man, a member of the Roma community and who cannot be identified to protect the victim's identity, had pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to one count of sexual assault committed in the county on April 29, 2014.

He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment with the final year suspended by Judge Gerard O'Brien on July 7, 2016.

The man had his jail term cut by one year today with the Court of Appeal expressing disquiet that the payment of 10,000 compensation, a token of the man's remorse, was not mentioned by the Circuit Court judge at sentencing.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the victim had arranged to meet the man, her former boyfriend, on the date in question. He picked her up close to her home and he was accompanied by another man not known to the victim.

Eventually they went to a particular location. The man got into the back seat and told the victim to drink a bottle of alcohol or else he would kill her or dump her out of the car and leave her there.

He then attempted to have sex with her on numerous occasions but didn't succeed. The other male also attempted sex.

Later, the man pulled her out of the car and left her unconscious on the footpath in a state of undress. The car then drove off at speed. She was found by members of the public in a hysterical state.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the 22-year-old man was a member of the Roma community. He was married, it was an arranged marriage and he had a child.

He had 29 previous convictions including six for theft, one for burglary and three for public order. None were directly relevant.

Counsel for the man, Ronan Munro SC, submitted that the judge erred in failing to resolve a factual conflict but the Court of Appeal dismissed this ground.

Secondly Mr Munro said the judge erred by referring to touching of the vagina and attempts at digital penetration in the absence of any evidence.

But Mr Justice Birmingham said it was not a point of substance. There were repeated attempts at intercourse and it was an inescapable conclusion that the incident involved contact with her vagina area.

Finally, it was submitted that the sentencing judge did not refer specifically to the question of compensation.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the payment of 10,000 by way of compensation was a significant matter. The money paid was a substantial sum and the information before the court would indicate that the man and his family were not persons of means. Raising the sum offered, which was accepted, could not have been easy for them, the judge said.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said the court was left with some disquiet that the there was no mention of it by the sentencing judge.

It was not clear what impact the payment of compensation, as a token of remorse, actually had on the sentence.

He said the court was prepared to address the balance of the sentence in a limited way.

The Court of Appeal left the sentence of seven years in place but suspended the final two years rather than one. This meant that when he is released, the man will have a significant suspended sentence hanging over him, Mr Justice Birmingham said.

In addition the court made specific provision for 12 months post release supervision.
Muhammad Hassan Khan died after being stabbed in the neck

A Dublin woman has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her two-year-old son.

Hazel Waters (46), of Ridge Hall, Ballybrack, was charged with murdering Muhammad Hassan Khan between October 15 and 16, 2014. The toddler was found dead with stab wounds in the bedroom of their home on October 16.

When asked to plead at a hearing yesterday, Waters responded: "Not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter." The plea was accepted by the State.

Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC said psychiatric reports will be provided by the defence and prosecution before sentencing.

He said there would be issues of "diminished responsibility".

Justice Patrick McCarthy adjourned sentencing until May 23.

Wounds

In early 2015, an inquest into the death of Muhammad Hassan Khan heard that he died as a result of multiple penetrating wounds to his neck.

The toddler was found dead in the bedroom of his home at the Ridge Hall apartments in Ballybrack, south county Dublin, on October 16 last year.

Dublin Coroner's Court adjourned the inquest indefinitely pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Hassan's father, acupuncturist Mohammed Saleem Khan (61), identified the body of his son for gardai at Tallaght Hospital on the evening of October 17.

Speaking from the body of the court, Mr Khan said his son was two years and nine months old when he died.

The post-mortem was carried out at Tallaght Hospital by deputy state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell told the family that he had a full report, but would only be giving the cause of death.

He warned them that it would be "quite upsetting".

However, Mr Khan, who was supported in the coroner's court by his niece, declined his offer to leave while the cause of death was given.

The boy was laid to rest following a burial ceremony in the Muslim tradition in Newcastle, Co Dublin, on October 20.

A friend of Dr Khan told the Irish Independent at the time that Mr Khan was "confused and angry".

"He is deeply distraught and is full of questions. He wants to know how and why this could happen," the friend said.

The child's funeral was also attended by members of Hazel Waters' family.
A homeless family of nine have taken legal action to have their accommodation needs urgently addressed.

The parents sometimes sleeping in their car after splitting up their seven children to stay from night to night with different relatives, it is claimed in High Court proceedings.

The mother said she, her husband and children aged from one to 16 years, are "totally exhausted, upset and worn out from all the struggle".

"We cry every day and are losing all hope," she said.

The entire family are suffering due to becoming homeless since last July but South Dublin County Council has failed to take meaningful steps to address their situation after telling them they must "self-accommodate", meaning they must find accommodation which the council will then pay for, she said in court documents.

While they have identified a four bed house for rent at 2,600 monthly near the children's schools, plus another house in the same area for 1,900 monthly, the council had said it will not fund those.

Expand Close Stock Image: GETTY / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Stock Image: GETTY

Research by housing academic Lorcan Sirr indicates three months hotel accommodation in two family rooms costs about 20,000 while a short-term three months house letting at 2,600 monthly, plus management and letting agency costs, is almost half that at some 10,300, the family's solicitor Rebecca Keating, of Mercy Law, said.

Read More

The mother said, while they are entitled to 1,600 monthly under the Housing Accommodation Programme to get private rented accommodation, the rent for a property in the Dublin area that could accommodate them is generally between 2,900 and 4,000.

She previously viewed about 40 properties and was offered none of those.

It is claimed the family "quite reasonably" previously declined as unsuitable two offers of short-term accommodation, including in a premises housing adults with addiction difficulties.

The longest period of hotel accommodation they have got was three months and that too was unsuitable.

Since March, the parents have frequently slept in their car while the children stayed with different relatives. The family also got accommodation in a short-term holiday let.

The mother said, due to being a family of nine and being Travellers, they experience difficulties getting hotel accommodation and even when they can, the "haphazard and chaotic" nature of the bookings and distances they have to travel are "extremely disruptive", upsetting the children, affecting their schooling and meaning limited ability to provide nutritious meals.

The youngest children have missed about 80 per cent of school since September and one of her sons is a promising sportsman whose training has been seriously adversely affected, she said.

She and her husband are very stressed and she has been diagnosed with depression.

Read More

In judicial review proceedings against the council, the family, who by court order cannot be identified, want declarations the council has breached its statutory obligations under the Housing Acts and failed to vindicate their fundamental rights under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003.

A provisional hearing date has been fixed for June 21.

The family say they were resident in a halting site for several years until last July when they came under an attack which made it unsafe to remain there.

The council has repeatedly asked them to surrender their tenancy at the halting site but that required them to confirm they now have alternative accommodation when they do not and so it would be untruthful to sign that, the mother said.

Expand Close The family claim they have difficulties getting hotel accommodation because they are Travellers. Stock image / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The family claim they have difficulties getting hotel accommodation because they are Travellers. Stock image

They had to give up the tenancy through no fault of their own and due to being "the victims of crime".
Aishling, Caroline, Catherine and Jeremiah, children of Tim Fleming, London, who died while visiting Ireland on a short trip, pictured at the Coroners Court (Arthur Carron)

A family declared they hope lives will be saved from lessons learned from their fathers death.

The death of their dad from a rupture in a major artery was a result of medical misadventure, a jury declared at his inquest today.

Timothy Fleming (69), an Irishman living in England, died after a tear in the lining of his aorta led to a rupture of the artery on February 6, 2015.

Kevin Power, a solicitor for Tallaght Hospital offered his family the sincere regret of the hospital for aspects of the care provided to him after he was admitted suffering from severe pain in his abdomen on the day before his death.

His four adult children, who were present at the inquest represented by solicitor Roger Murray, accepted an invitation from the hospital yesterday to meet with staff to explore ways of improving ways of caring for patients with similar conditions.

The two day inquest at Dublin Coroners Court heard that the father-of-four, a native of Fossa, Killarney, was living in Middlesex and had travelled to Dublin for a meeting in Tallaght. He became unwell with a severe pain in his abdomen and was taken by ambulance to Tallaght hospital.

The court heard he was seen by a number of doctors during the course of the afternoon and evening and received morphine for the pain.

A number of doctors gave evidence that a number of possible causes of the pain were explored but there was no definite diagnosis on that date. An aortic dissection which is a tear within the lining of the aorta and a very rare condition, was just one of many possible causes considered.

But he was discharged from the hospital at 2.30am after doctors held telephone conversations with on-call surgical registrar Dr Donal OConnor. Senior house doctor Alaa Mustafa said the surgeon told him by telephone that, as it appeared to be a case of gastritis, Mr Fleming should be discharged to leave the hospital and return home to the UK where he could receive follow up treatment.

Mr Fleming suffered severe pain shortly after leaving the hospital and was re-admitted at 4am. An ultra-sound showed signs of a tear within the aorta.

Conflicting recollections were given to the inquest by doctors who attended him and the surgeon Donal OConnor.

Dr OConnor arrived at the hospital shortly before 6am. An X-ray showed evidence of a tear within the aorta. Mr Flemings vital signs dramatically dis-improved when he was undergoing a CT scan and he had to be resusitated.

Specialists at Tallaght did not have the skills to carry out a very specialised surgical procedure and he was transferred to St James for the surgery with a garda escort.

When he was administered an anesthetic at St James's Hospital for the surgery, he suffered a sudden rupture of the aorta and he suffered a systolic cardiac arrest. His aorta was quickly repaired while surgeons tried to resuscitate him but he died on the operating table.

The jury confirmed death was the result of the tear and subsequent rupture of the aorta. They returned a verdict of medical misadventure, which does not apportion blame but states that death was the unintended outcome of actions taken. They recommended improvements in written communications between doctors regarding what they believe is wrong with patients, that surgical staff must be retained within hospitals on a 24 hours basis to approve scans and treatments, and that all staff be made more aware of the rare aortic dissection condition.

Caroline Fleming said afterwards the family hoped other lives will be saved by the lessons learned from their fathers death.

Mr Fleming's daughter Catherine addressed a conference of cardio-thoracic surgeons from Britain and Ireland in Belfast in March about her father's treatment and the experience of her family.

She has become active in the Heart Research UK charity which is funding masterclasses for surgeons to undertake specialised surgery for the condition which claimed her father's life.
A young mother who was allegedly murdered by her former boyfriend was strangled to death with cable ties and an arm lock, a pathologist has told a jury.

Professor Marie Cassidy told a jury at the Central Criminal Court that Sonia Blount died as a result of a lack of oxygen to the brain which was caused by compression of the neck. This was exaggerated by suffocation due to a gag in her mouth.

It is likely the 31-year-old was still alive when a gag was put in her mouth, Prof Cassidy said.

A scenes of crime examiner has also given evidence that cable ties and other items were strewn around the hotel bedroom and it appeared a "violent struggle" had taken place.

Eric Locke (35) has admitted he caused the death of mum-of-one Sonia Blount at The Plaza Hotel in Tallaght in February 2014 but he has denied her murder.

He had been in a brief relationship with Ms Blount but it had fizzled out and a court heard he did not take the break-up well.

It is the State's case that Mr Locke, of St John's Park East in Clondalkin, assumed a false identity on social media and lured his former girlfriend to a hotel bedroom where he strangled her to death.

Professor Marie Cassidy told the jury at the Central Criminal Court that she completed the post-mortem on Ms Blount on February 17, 2014.

The victim was 5'2", of very slim build and had long brown hair.

Prof Cassidy said her nails were long and manicured and her toes were painted. Two of her fingernails had been chipped.

Ms Blount was fully dressed in a black vest top, black jeans and black boots.

Prosecutor Remy Farrell SC said there may be evidence in the trial that Mr Locke dressed the body after death and the pathologist agreed this was "an extremely difficult process".

Prof Cassidy said Ms Blount died as a result of asphyxia, or a lack of oxygen to the brain.

This was caused by compression of the neck which was exaggerated by suffocation due to a gag in her mouth.

Prof Cassidy said the bruising around Ms Blount's mouth suggested that Ms Blount was still alive when the gag was put in her mouth.

There was bruising to Ms Blount's neck and a number of the bones in her neck were fractured.

Prof Cassidy said the neck bruises indicated that two types of strangulation were used. One of the marks was very narrow and was consistent with cable ties, which had been found strewn around the hotel bedroom.

Prof Cassidy said the second mark was consistent with an arm lock.

The jury was told that significant force would have been needed to the front of the neck to cause Ms Blount's death, and that force would have needed to be maintained for a sufficient period of time.

Prof Cassidy said Ms Blount's front teeth had also been dislodged, and again she said that "great force would be required" for that to happen.

There was also bruising on Ms Blount's wrist and her left upper arm, which indicated she was grabbed with "some degree of force".

Prof Cassidy said the toxicology report showed Ms Blount had taken cocaine within hours of her death. She had not been drinking.

There was also evidence of recent sexual activity.

Cross examined by Patrick Gageby SC, Prof Cassidy agreed there was no evidence Ms Blount was tied up or that any weapon had been used.

Earlier today, scenes of crime examiner, Detective Garda Janette O'Neill said she attended The Plaza Hotel in Tallaght on February 16, 2014.

Gda O'Neill said Ms Blount was lying on the floor in bedroom 346 and she appeared to be in the recovery position, with an arm over her body.

She said it appeared her body had been moved.

The detective said Ms Blount had blood around her face and had a gag in her mouth. The gag appeared to be a white and black stripped top.

Gda O'Neill said there were a number items strewn around the floor, including cable ties and a mobile phone charger, and it was her view that a "violent struggle" had taken place.

Detective Garda Barry O'Mahony led the jury through the CCTV footage showing the movements of Eric Locke and the last movements of Ms Blount.

She is shown on CCTV cameras arriving at The Plaza Hotel, checking in at reception and then heading to Room 346 at 9.19pm. Ms Blount appears to be carrying an overnight bag.

Mr Locke is shown on CCTV ordering a drink in the Steering Wheel pub in Clondalkin shortly after 11pm, and leaving the pub just before 11.45pm.

The accused arrives in the Plaza Hotel at 11.55pm, where he collects a keycard at reception and heads up in the lift towards Room 346. He is wearing a white jacket and puts on a hat as he makes his way to the bedroom.

The CCTV footage has Mr Locke leaving the hotel at 5.38am. He is still wearing the hat but not the white jacket.

As we walks away, CCTV footage show him crouching down, and it appears he deposits something.

Mr Locke then runs away in the direction of Belgard Square.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Michael Moriarty and a jury of eight men and four women.
The house on the Old Dublin Road, Roscrea where an elderly couple were assaulted overnight. Picture: Mark Condren

The house on the Old Dublin Road, Roscrea where an elderly couple were assaulted overnight. Picture: Mark Condren

The scene of the burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary

John Gleeson outside the house of the aggravated burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Photo: Mark Condren

Gardai at the house of Jimmy Campion who was injured in an aggravated burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Photo: Mark Condren

The scene of the attack in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Photo: Mark Condren

Jimmy Campion (inset) was attacked when two men broke into his home on Sunday night

Burglars smashed a walking stick over the head of a 94-year-old man during a violent robbery at his home in Roscrea, Co Tipperary.

The man, named locally as Jimmy Campion, was in the kitchen of his small terraced bungalow on the Old Dublin Road in the town when two men broke in through a side window at around 11.45pm on Sunday.

His wife Maura (87) was in the bedroom when the burglary happened.

The two men attacked the grandfather, grabbed his walking stick off him and hit him twice in the head, his family believe.

Expand Close Victim Jimmy Campion / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Victim Jimmy Campion

The burglars then ransacked the house and escaped with a sum of money.

The elderly couple are particularly shaken after the attack.

"His walking stick was broken in two on the kitchen floor, we think they may have hit him with it," the victim's son-in-law, Harry Wall, told the Irish Independent.

Destroyed

Expand Close The house on the Old Dublin Road, Roscrea where an elderly couple were assaulted overnight. Picture: Mark Condren / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The house on the Old Dublin Road, Roscrea where an elderly couple were assaulted overnight. Picture: Mark Condren

"I had to go in on Sunday night afterwards with gardai to get their tablets, and the house was destroyed.

"They turned it upside down."

The couple's daughter also told how the two thugs had no regard for their victims.

"My mother told me she went into the kitchen, she must have heard the commotion," said Evelyn Wall.

Expand Close The scene of the burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The scene of the burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary

"'They brushed past me and into the bedroom like they lived here', she told me. Isn't that just shocking?"

Mrs Campion raised the alarm with gardai and ambulance services.

Mr Campion remained conscious but was bleeding heavily from his head wound and he was taken by ambulance to the Midlands Regional Hospital where his wound was closed with surgical staples.

Read more: 'They should be enjoying retirement': Community's shock as man (94) attacked and wife threatened during break-in

Expand Close The house on the Old Dublin Road, Roscrea where an elderly couple were assaulted overnight. Picture: Mark Condren / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The house on the Old Dublin Road, Roscrea where an elderly couple were assaulted overnight. Picture: Mark Condren

This is the second time in three years that the couple had suffered a break-in at their home.

"It's just shocking," Mrs Wall said. "They are private people just minding their own business. They were both born and bred in Roscrea. Dad was a boner in the meat plant and my mother was a dressmaker. Dad had a stroke three or four years ago.

"They were robbed three years ago while they were at Mass. These people are either desperate for money or they just didn't care. I think they just didn't care," she said.

Expand Close John Gleeson outside the house of the aggravated burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp John Gleeson outside the house of the aggravated burglary in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. Photo: Mark Condren

Neighbours described the couple as quiet but sociable.

"They are a lovely couple and keep to themselves. They are well respected in the town," said one neighbour. It's an awful thing to happen."

Break-ins

"There have been break-ins in this part of town before, and they were robbed before as well.

"They play bingo a few nights a week. That's their social life."

The pebble-dash house is situated at the end of a terrace of bungalows on the outskirts of the town.

A laneway at the side of the house leads to a gate which it is believed the raiders opened to gain access to the side window of the house before breaking in.

Gardai have appealed for anyone with information to contact them at Roscrea garda station on 0505 24230.

A family member told the Irish Independent that Mr Campion is recovering well from the attack, describing his condition as "grand" with his spirits "not bad" given the circumstances.

Despite his condition improving, he was kept in the hospital overnight.
Egyptian tourism minister Yehia Rashed headed to Rome on Tuesday for talks with the Vatican's tourism officials to discuss promoting tourism to Egypt as the site of the journey of Jesus and the holy family, according to a statement by the ministry.

The visit is part of the ministry's efforts to "include the journey of the holy family as part of the country's religious tourism map, which has the potential of drawing a large number of tourists from around the world, according to the statement.

The journey from Bethlehem through Egypt by the holy family Joseph, the Virgin Mary and Jesus  took over three years.

Egyptian tourism, a main pillar of the country's economy and a key source of hard currency, has been hit hard by years of political turmoil since the 2011 revolution.

The Egyptian minister's visit comes soon after Pope Francis trip to Cairo last month, which has been described as "historic."

The Egyptian minister will then head to Spain for the 105th session of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organisation, scheduled for 10-12 May, where he will attend a vote for the organisation's secretary general.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


A Dublin businessman has defended his decision to only advertise for "extremely good looking staff" at his premises despite receiving a number of complaints.

The store has come under fire since the sign was displayed late last month, with many people expressing anger that a person's looks are important for gaining employment.

The sign, advertised at the Booza ice-cream store on Drumcondra Road Upper, goes on to say: "Seriously if you're not good looking don't bother applying".

Since the backlash the shop's owner has defended the advertisement saying there is nothing personal about the sign.

Ahmad Alhourani told Independent.ie: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It can't be defined from one person to the next. I need confident staff- good looking or not- but the ones applying are going to be sure of themselves and more than likely happy with their own skin. There's nothing personal about it," he said.

A number of people have contacted the shop owner to express their anger at the sign as well as expressing their frustration on social media.

However, Mr Alhourani says that he wants a "bond" created between him and his staff.

"That's the bond that I want to be created between the staff, so customers feel at home and that it reflects my product. I think I'm good looking but I haven't been approached to be on the cover men's health magazine."

"I like who I am and think I'm a good looking guy, a lot of girls have disagreed but honestly that doesn't phase me or change my opinion about myself and that's the core of who I am and it's helped me, to enjoy life and innovate." he added.
Gardai have arrested a man in connection to an alleged assault outside a popular Dublin nightclub in the early hours of Sunday.

The arrested man, aged in his early thirties, is currently detained at Swords Garda Station. He was arrested this morning.

The victim, named locally as Christy Fitzgerald, was set upon outside a popular nightclub in Swords in the early hours of yesterday morning. He is originally from Finglas, Dublin, but has spent the past number of years in Drogheda, Co Louth.

Fitzgerald, who is a father in his 30s, was believed to be at a birthday celebration before the attack took place.

Emergency services were called to the scene at the Wright Venue in Airside Retail Park, Swords, at 3.40am. Fitzgerald was then taken by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital where he was last night said to be gravely ill.

The scene of the attack was sealed off pending a forensic examination.

Expand Close Christy Fitzgerald was attacked outside the Wright Venue / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Christy Fitzgerald was attacked outside the Wright Venue

Fitzgerald is known to gardai and was sentenced for five years in the past for his part in a robbery in 2002.

However, the motive for the attack in the early hours of yesterday is not yet clear.

Neighbours of Fitzgerald in the Termon Abbey area of Drogheda said they were shocked at the news.

"He's a good neighbour with a lot of friends. It is terrible news," said one man. "We have only just heard the news and are trying to take it in."

"I don't know him personally, just to say hello to, but he seems like a popular man and would be well known in the area," said another neighbour.

"He's a big guy, he must be 6ft tall, I'm surprised somebody would attack him," said one local man.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Swords garda station on 01-6664700.
Broadcaster Gay Byrne has described the blasphemy investigation against Stephen Fry as "ridiculous nonsense" after gardai decided to drop the probe.

Officers will not proceed with the inquiry after failing to find a substantial number of people who were outraged by the English actor's comments about God.

In a conversation with Byrne on RTE's 'The Meaning of Life' in 2015, Fry described God as "capricious", "mean-minded" and "stupid" for allowing so much suffering in the world.

Following the broadcast, a man, who asked not to be identified, made a report to Ennis garda station alleging the comments were blasphemous and illegal under laws introduced in 2009.

Byrne had declined to comment on the controversy while the Garda investigation was ongoing, but speaking to the Irish Independent last night he described it as "a piece of silliness".

"Obviously everybody who has reacted to me about it, they all thought it was ridiculous nonsense.

Expand Close Stephen Fry. Photo: GETTY / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Stephen Fry. Photo: GETTY

"I attach very little relevance to it. I've had 60 years of it now," he said.

Gardai have now contacted the man who made the complaint to say they would not be pursuing the case.

Read more: Stephen Fry blasphemy probe dropped after gardai fail to find 'substantial number of outraged people'

He told gardai he was happy he had done his civic duty by reporting what he believed could be a crime under the current law. It is understood that detectives were unable to proceed with the investigation as there was no injured party.

Under the controversial legislation, introduced by then justice minister Dermot Ahern in 2009, it is illegal to publish or utter a matter that is "grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion".

A well-placed source said: "This man was simply a witness and not an injured party. Gardai were unable to find a substantial number of outraged people.

"For this reason the investigation has been concluded."

A Garda spokesman said it was not commenting on the status of the investigation.
The sister of fire victim Grace McDermott paid a moving tribute to her following her funeral in Dublin.

"She was my older sister and my other half," said Kristen McDermott (24).

Bride-to-be Grace (26) died in a blaze at a house in Annacotty in Limerick in the early hours of Monday, May 1.

"Grace was full of life and love. She was always searching for the next adventure," said Kristen, who travelled with her family from the US for the funeral.

Grace had a deep love for her fiance Colin O'Neill from Portmarnock, Dublin, and a great love for Ireland, she said. Grace, from Long Island, New York, was working as a lecturer at Dublin City University where she was also study for a PhD.

"She was so excited to be with Colin, the love of her life. The second love of her life was Ireland," she said.

Her parents Robert and Leslie also travelled from New York for the funeral at Dardistown Crematorium last Friday. She is also survived by her brothers Matthew and Peter.

Read more: 'The same songs, hymns and flowers' - Devastated mum of US lecturer swapping wedding plans for funeral

Grace attended university in the US and travelled to Ireland to complete a college semester at the University of Limerick.

"Limerick was what made her fall in love with Ireland and her fiance Colin was what made her stay in love with Ireland," Kristen told the Irish Independent.

She spoke of Grace's dedication to the blog she co-founded with her friend Catherine Connolly, entitled Women Are Boring which highlighted academic research by women.

"She was so dedicated to promoting other women's research.

"We're so grateful to everyone who came to the funeral. There were tons and tons of people and we're so thankful to everyone who showed up to show their support. It provided some comfort for my parents and for myself and my family," she said.

Grace's father Robert, a New York-based lawyer, was praised by Irish friends of Grace for showing so much concern for her friends following her death.

Her mother Leslie said Grace was "planning her wedding to the greatest guy in the world".
The 15m fund to outsource the patients waiting on public waiting lists will be spent on day surgeries and diagnostic scopes. Stock Image

None of the record 473,516 public patients on hospital waiting lists to see a specialist is likely to benefit from the fund to pay for appointments in private hospitals this year, according to internal documents.

The 15m fund to outsource the patients waiting on public waiting lists will be spent on day surgeries and diagnostic scopes.

Correspondence from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which has been given the task of purchasing the treatments from private hospitals, recommends not arranging any outpatient appointments from the fund.

The report to the Department of Health said the "nature of the outpatient waiting list will not, in immediate terms, lead to any measurable performance improvements in relation to overall numbers waiting."

It pointed out that once assessed by a specialist, some of the public patients would be deemed to need follow-up inpatient or day-case treatment and this would incur "substantial costs far in excess of the proposed allocation".

It said that concentrating on treatment for public patients in need of surgery would "break the log-jam" and will lead to additional slots becoming available in public hospitals.

Day-case

It also added the focus should be on day-case procedures, which also rules out patients in need of more complex surgery such as a hip operation.

The reasoning is that 70pc of patients on the inpatient waiting lists are suitable for day-case procedure such as cataract removal and general surgery.

Read more: More patients now on waiting lists than a year ago as Harris fails to keep promises

The report was drafted last October but the Irish Independent reported in recent days that not one public patient has yet been treated in a private hospital this year despite waiting lists soaring again in April to 665,618.

Asked about the crisis yesterday Health Minister Simon Harris said: "It is important now that the NTPF is very much up and working. Patients are getting their appointments. This is obviously the first time in a long number of years that, with the exception of scopes, there has been funding for waiting list initiatives through the NTPF."

Simon Nugent of the Private Hospitals Association said private hospitals would be "happy to discuss" an approach to outpatient treatment for public patients.

He said: "From experience, the most effective way to do it would be to identify priority cohorts, such as longest waiters, in a specific speciality.

"Seeing people on outpatient lists does imply a proportion of them will need treatment but that's not an argument for making them a lower priority.
Parents who are taking their children abroad for summer holidays are being advised to get them vaccinated against measles.

A number of countries are reporting large measles outbreaks, including the UK and Italy. Although no confirmed cases have been notified in Ireland this year, it is possible to get measles if someone brings back the viral illness from overseas.

In 2016, three different cases of measles in holidaymakers from Ireland abroad occurred when people who were exposed in other European countries brought the virus into the country unknowingly.

None of them had been vaccinated and as a result of these three people, some 43 others were infected in a plane, hospital or at home.

Public health experts said the best way to prevent measles is to be vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. Parents are urged not to delay getting the MMR for their child when it is due - at 12 months, with a second dose at preschool age when they are 4-5 years old.

Children aged 6-11 months of age, travelling to other countries and regions where measles outbreaks are reported, should also get the MMR vaccine, said the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Gaps in vaccination coverage against measles have been blamed for the outbreaks of the disease.

Expand Close The EUs health commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The EUs health commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis. Photo: Tom Burke

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported that in the first two months of the year, more than 1,500 measles cases were recorded in 14 European countries.

This was due to "an accumulation of unvaccinated individuals."

It said that in 10 countries - Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden - the number of cases reported in January-February 2017 was more than double that of the first two months of 2016.

The EU's health commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis, warned: "It is unacceptable to hear that children and adults are dying from disease where safe and cost-effective vaccines are available."

The ECDC expressed particular concern about the outbreaks in older age groups along with children. It revealed that one in three cases of measles in Europe in 2015 and 2016 was in adults over 20 years of age.

It added: "Closing immunisation gaps in adolescents and adults who have not received vaccination in the past, as well as strengthening routine childhood immunisation programmes, will be vital to prevent future outbreaks."

Cases of measles in Ireland have become increasingly rare over the years as vaccination levels rose.

The European disease watchdog said that measles continues to spread across Europe because the vaccination coverage in many countries is suboptimal.

The latest available figures show that the vaccination coverage for the second dose of measles was below 95pc in 15 of 23 European countries .

The vaccination coverage of the second MMR must be at least 95pc if the circulation of the virus is to be stopped, the watchdog warned.
The Catholic Church's most senior bishop has expressed concern that the good service of nuns and priests in healthcare and education is being "obliterated" by a "narrow narrative" that "religious ethos cannot be good for democracy".

Archbishop Eamon Martin's comments follow the weekend's protest against ownership of the National Maternity Hospital being given to the Order of the Sisters of Charity.

In his address at the University of East Anglia last night, Archbishop Martin paid tribute to the "decades of service" religious sisters and priests have given and regretted this was now being erased by a view which saw the Church's contribution as blocking progress and the rights of citizens.

His talk, titled 'The Church in the Public Sphere - a perspective from Ireland', acknowledged that the sins and crimes of child sexual abuse in the Church and "other shameful episodes" of the past had damaged the Church's credibility.

"When we attempt as a Church to speak in the public sphere about the right to life of the unborn, some are quick to point to the scandals and to shameful stories of the past," Dr Martin admitted.

What the Church in Ireland is experiencing today may be a reaction to its perceived paternalism or authoritarianism in the past, he said.

Read more: Comment - Catholic ethos is not compatible with National Maternity Hospital

According to the Catholic Primate there is a tendency in some public discussion to caricature faith schools or faith hospitals or people of faith as "unmodern", "authoritarian", "hypocritical", "bigoted", "closed" to progress and personal rights and autonomy.

"It is simply not true that the Catholic Church has a desire to create a theocracy in Ireland, North or south," he said.

But the Archbishop of Armagh added that the Church does expect that in a true pluralist democracy or republic, religion and faith will continue to have an important part to play in the national conversation.

He also rebuked those in the Church who were defensive in the face of criticisms. He said they should be thankful the lid had been lifted on "a terrible and shameful chapter".
Thomas Farnan who was shot dead at his home

Gardai have renewed their appeal to the public for information in relation to the murder of Thomas Farnan.

Mr Farnan was shot on April 25, 2016 at his home at 11 Kilcronan Court , Clondalkin, Dublin 22.

He was fatally injured when he answered the front door to a lone caller at approximately 11.40pm and was shot a number of times.

The offender fled the scene on foot through Kilcronan estate towards the Grand Canal.

Detective Inspector Colm OMalley said that Mr Farnan's family are looking for answers.

"This is not a gangland murder. It was a local issue that led to the death.

"For his wife, son, mother, father and siblings it's still very raw. They have no answers a year on."

Det O'Malley said that gardai would like to speak to anyone who has information in relation to the murder.

"We're seeking info from people who have critical information. Anyone who heard or saw the gunman prior to the murder is asked to get in touch."

Anybody with information is urged to contact Clondalkin Garda Station 0n 01 666 7600 or Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25.
Health Minister Simon Harris has proposed a new bill to establish an "opt-out" organ donation system in Ireland.

The Human Tissue Bill will put in place a system of presumed consent for organ donation to replace the current system that requires people to opt in if they wish to make their organs available for transplantation following their death.

Speaking at the opening of a new headquarters of the HSE Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland (ODTI) office on Temple Street, Mr Harris said the bill will be brought before the Government soon.

In 2016, 280 transplants were carried out, is the second highest annual performance achieved to date.

Mr Harris said that Beaumont Hospital saw a remarkable increase in living donor transplants from 33 in 2015 to a record 50 last year.

'I want to emphasise that I have prioritised the development of legislation to provide for an opt-out system of consent for organ donation, and my Department is currently working on this in the context of work required to develop an over-arching human tissue policy and legislative framework. I intend to bring a memo to Government shortly setting out this policy direction and it is my intention to launch a public consultation on the development of the proposals before the end of the summer," Mr Harris said.

According to the World Health Organisation, opt-out laws have long been among the major interventions used to increase the pool of potential donors in countries such as Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
A Moroccan national who was arrested by the Garda anti-terror unit on suspicion of laundering money for the terrorist organisation Isis has been released without charge.

A file has been sent to the DPP, gardai confirmed to Independent.ie.

An Algerian national, who was arrested following the same raids, has not yet been released.

Detectives from Counter Terrorism International (CTI) swooped on the two men in Dublin yesterday morning following a lengthy operation involving international police agencies. The duo were arrested at addresses in Swords and Stepaside.

A senior source said last night that the men, aged in their 30s and 40s, have lived here for a number of years and were suspected of using Irish bank accounts for the transfer of money connected to the notorious terror group.

"This operation is focusing on money laundering taking place in Ireland for Isil," the senior source said.

The men were detained at Blackrock Garda Station after their arrest under the 2015 Terrorist Act.

Several follow-up searches were also carried out in two counties, with locations in Stepaside, Swords, Dublin's South Circular Road and Trim, Co Meath, raided.

A number of documents and items - including electronic devices - containing financial details were seized by gardai. It is understood the men have been living in this jurisdiction for some time.

The operations were part of an ongoing investigation carried out by the CTI unit, a branch of the Special Detective Unit based in Harcourt Square.

They have also been assisted by security agencies from other countries.

A Garda spokesman said: "On the 8th of May 2017, a male Algerian national and a male Moroccan national in their 30s and 40s were arrested in the Dublin area for offences pursuant to The Terrorist Offences Act 2015 as amended by members of the Counter Terrorism International Unit."

The Criminal Justice Terrorist Offences Act, which was amended two years ago, carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years upon conviction.

Senior gardai previously stated the organisation was skilled enough to deal with the threat of foreign terror groups.

Combat

Supt Noel Cunningham, president of the Association of Garda Superintendents, said that combating dissident republicans over the last number of decades has also helped train gardai in the gathering and dissemination of intelligence.

However, he added this strand of gathering information, which helps combat international terror groups that pose a potential threat to the State, would need continued resourcing on the ground and through community policing initiatives.

"New situations are being thrown up every day. Who would have thought several years ago that members of Isil would be identified in the south of Ireland. This is a whole new departure for us.

"I think we are very, very well equipped and skilled in relation to intelligence gathering and intelligence dissemination, but what I do believe is that this requires resourcing on the ground," Supt Cunningham said last week at the association's annual conference.
The National Museum of Ireland may be forced to close down an exhibition room and its restaurant to provide adequate anti-terrorist security measures.

An Taisce announced that there are a number of issues regarding the museum being used as part of the temporary relocation of the Seanad chamber from Leinster House.

The museum is preparing for "a temporary change of use of two first-floor rooms of the National Museum of Ireland to accommodate the Seanad Eireann chamber within the 'Ceramics Room' and access corridor and ante-room within the 'Japanese Room'."

An Taisce said that extra security measures would be needed as a result of the recent terror attacks in Europe and Westminster.

It said that, to make room for these measures, the museum may need to close the ground-floor exhibition rooms and restaurant.

Dr Mark Clinton, of An Taisce's Monuments and Antiquities, said: "We have great concern at the definition of 'Temporary Use' and the need for the attachment of time limits. One only has to remember the 'Temporary Car Park' imposed on the lawn of Leinster House. It was there for approximately 10 years."

A Memorandum of Understanding was last year signed by the Houses of the Oireachtas and the museum board confirming the temporary relocation of the Seanad.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand has hinted that it will get rid of their own blasphemy laws after he was questioned about a garda probe into comments made by Stephen Fry.

On Saturday Independent.ie revealed that gardai received a report that remarks made by the British actor on RTE show 'The Meaning of Life' may be in breach of the 2009 Defamation Act.

During the programme, presented by broadcaster Gay Byrne, Mr Fry described God as "capricious", "mean-minded" and "stupid" for allowing so much suffering in the world.

On Monday it was revealed that the investigation was dropped after detectives failed to find a substantial number of people offended by the remarks.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference

Read More

The story was carried across various news outlets and in New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English was questioned about their own blasphemy laws on Monday.

Stuff.co.nz reports that Mr English did not previously know they had a similar law and he claimed it was just an accident of history.

Someone told me it has been used once but I can't imagine a use for it. I think laws that over reach on addressing free speech are not a good idea.

I think a lot of people would be quite taken aback if they saw here what was happening in Ireland, police taking up an investigation under blasphemy laws.

Frankly, I didn't think we had it, I thought it had gone.

Asked what they would do about it, Mr English responded: We could get rid of it.

Former Irish Justice Minster Dermot Ahern told the Irish Independent on Monday that blasphemy was included in the 2009 law "because we had to" as it is written into the Constitution and was included in the previous defamation act.

"We diluted it in a way that made it pretty ineffectual," Mr Ahern said.

"We implemented the crime but made it in a way that it would be virtually impossible to prosecute."

Mr Ahern said that ideally he would have held a referendum on abolishing the law, but the economic climate at the time would have made it impossible.

Asked about the matter on Monday, Health Minister Simon Harris agreed that a referendum should be held the constitution's stance on blasphemy.

Read More

"Its silly. Its a bit embarrassing. It needs to be changed. Im very pleased that the Government wishes to see a referendum in relation to this issue. It obviously does require constitutional change," he said.

Mr Harris said the Government has committed to holding a number of referendum during its lifetime and he hopes blasphemy is one of them.

"Id hope to see it sooner rather than later. This is a democracy. People have the right to express whatever view they do.

The law prohibits the "publishing or uttering [of] matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion".

The person must also intend to cause outrage.

Anyone prosecuted under the Defamation Act for this offence can be fined up to 25,000.
A pay commission has advised the government that public servants should make a higher pension contribution after revealing their benefits are worth up to 18 per cent more than private sector workers'.

The Public Service Pay Commission says those who benefit from "legacy" schemes and fast-track pensions, such as those available to gardai, politicians and judges, should make bigger contributions.

It recommends the increase in contributions replaces a pension levy imposed under emergency legislation, worth 720m a year, as it is phased out.

The commission found that the majority of public service pensions have a value between 12pc and 18pc above private sector norms.

However, it notes that fast accrual pensions where benefits accrue more quickly than for other public servants, are far more expensive.

The report says that the rates of contribution would be a matter for negotiation at talks due to begin shortly on a new public sector pay deal.

It also says that if there are to be pay rises agreed at the new talks, they must be contingent on reform and improvements in productivity.

The commission also says that a "critical factor" in any future pay agreement and unwinding the emergency legislation that cut pay will be the state's ability to pay.

However, it says there is a basis for public service employers and unions to enter talks on a deal to extend the Lansdowne Road Agreement based on pay movements in the wider economy.

It says control of the public service pay bill is central to budgetary policy but it will be a matter for the parties to negotiate a timeframe that will provide for the orderly unwinding of FEMPI legislation.

It said the Government and unions should have regard to maintaining sustainable national finances and competitiveness, other Government spending priorities, public service reform, and equality considerations.

The commission's findings will guide the Government at talks due to begin shortly.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, welcomed the publication of the report and said its analysis will be a "key input" to talks.

He said the commissions acknowledgement of the risks to the fiscal and economic environment in considering how best to unwind FEMPI legislation is welcome.

Mr Donohoe said the focus on the state's ability to pay when considering future pay awards was also welcome.

He welcomed the commission's detailed examination of public service pensions.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions' Public Services Committee called for early talks on "pay recovery". A spokesperson said it anticipated the commission's finding that public service pensions are on average more valuable than the average available in the private sector and that this should be addressed in the context of unwinding the pension levy.

The spokesperson said public servants currently pay over 20pc of their earnings above 28,750 towards their pensions, once you take account of pension contributions, PRSI and the pension levy.

He highlighted the commission's conclusions that there is now nearly parity between average public service pay and private sector earnings. He said the commission found that average public service earnings are currently 8pc lower than in 2008.

"We welcome todays publication of the report of the Public Service Pay Commission which, among other things, provides a good summary of the sacrifices public servants made in the years following the economic crash," said a spokesperson.

"Its now time to move swiftly into negotiations with a view to accelerating pay recovery for workers whose incomes are significantly lower than they were nine years ago.

"Our priorities in the talks will be to restore incomes as quickly as is sustainably possible, and to protect the value of retirement incomes."
Topaz in Athlone are giving away fuel for 61 cent to celebrate selling the winning 6.1m Lotto ticket last weekend.

The special deal will last for 61 minutes at 1.06pm on Tuesday May 9.

Commenting on the offer, Joanne DArcy, Director of Retail Operations, Topaz, said: We are delighted to have sold a winning ticket to a lucky customer at our Athlone service station, and are even more delighted to celebrate this win by dropping our fuel prices to just 61c per litre for a limited time on Tuesday, May 9 2017.

A jackpot win like this is great for not only the staff at Topaz in Athlone, but for the wider community, and we wanted to join in this celebration by offering a discount to our customers in the Westmeath area."

A local man told the Herald that the winner of the ticket was a man in his 50s.

"The rumour has been going round like wildfire that the winner is a guy in his late 50s," he said.

"He's in the bar having a pint now and the lads are all poking him but he's having none of it and denying it.

"He lives near the shop and he's always getting lottery tickets. He's also got a big smile on his face today but he just isn't giving anything away.

"He's a lovely fella, so I do hope it is him but we won't know until he buys everyone a round, so hopefully he'll do that soon. He isn't married and doesn't have kids but he's a well-known and well-liked character round here so it would be good news if it is him."

Athlone Mayor John Dolan said the lottery win was "fantastic" for the town and he congratulated the winner but said he did not know who had won.

"I know it wasn't me - but I'm genuinely delighted for whoever won it."

Other locals believe that it is possible the winner could have been passing through the town.

A second winning Lotto ticket was bought in Co Donegal over the weekend.

The ticket holder also won 6.1m and was sold in Mickey Joe's Country Store in Umlagh, Carrigart, Co Donegal - a small Irish-speaking village - and a popular holiday spot.
The South Longford by-election, held 100 years ago today, had a profound impact on Irish history. It demonstrated not only the brilliant initiative of young Michael Collins, but also showed that Irish public opinion had undergone a massive transformation in the year since the Easter Rising.

In the aftermath of the Rising, some of the rebels had expressed the hope they would not be promptly released, as they feared the public repercussions. They might be lynched, if people could get their hands on them.

Of course, the British proceeded to overreact by summarily executing the leaders, as well as rounding up and interning hundreds of people from throughout the country, even though the rebellion had been largely confined to Dublin. Attitudes in Ireland began to change.

All of those interned at Frongoch in Wales were released before the end of 1916.

One of those, Michael Collins, became a driving force in the reorganisation of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).

Collins set about setting up a formidable intelligence network. He began by establishing direct communications with various prisoners, especially those in Lewes jail.

Expand Close Arthur Griffith. Photo: GETTY / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Arthur Griffith. Photo: GETTY

When a by-election was called for North Roscommon in February 1917, Count George N Plunkett contested the seat on behalf of Sinn Fein. As one of signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic, his son Joseph Mary Plunkett had been executed by the British. Two other sons were jailed for their involvement in the rebellion. As a result, their father, who was a papal count, had a particularly high profile going into the by-election.

Collins had served as an aide to the sickly Joseph Mary Plunkett during the rebellion, so he took an active part in the father's successful election campaign.

Shortly afterwards, Collins saw a chance to deliver an even more effective blow against the British when a by-election was called for the nearby South Longford constituency.

Collins moved to have Joe McGuinness nominated as a candidate. The 42-year-old McGuinness had been one of the older Volunteers in the rebellion and was, therefore, probably Longford's most prominent Republican prisoner.

Expand Close Kitty Kiernan, who Collins met at her family hotel in Longford / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Kitty Kiernan, who Collins met at her family hotel in Longford

McGuinness had been second in command at the Four Courts during the Rising. As a result, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail, and he was transferred to Lewes prison in England, with the other surviving leaders.

It was with some difficulty that Collins persuaded Arthur Griffith to run McGuinness as a Sinn Fein candidate. Griffith had taken no part in the Easter Rising, but his Sinn Fein party was widely identified with the rebellion in the public mind, because the party had been at the vanguard of the separatist movement for more than a decade.

While Griffith wanted full independence for Ireland, he believed this could be best achieved by non-violent means, through the establishment of a dual monarchy on Austro-Hungarian lines.

Collins, on the other hand, was rapidly becoming "the very incarnation of out-and-out physical force Republicanism".

"This Sinn Fein stunt is a bloody balderdash!" Collins told Griffith. "We want a Republic!"

As Griffith stared at him, Collins became uneasy. "Of course," he added, "I don't know much about Sinn Fein."

"Evidently not, Mr Collins, or you wouldn't talk like you do."

As a teenager, Collins had been an enthusiastic Sinn Fein supporter, and was an active party member during his early immigrant years in London. Griffith was a fanatic in his own right, but he was unselfish in his dedication to the separatist ideal. He therefore agreed to support McGuinness, in order that the release of all the rebel prisoners could be made an election issue.

The Irish Parliamentary Party looked likely to win in Longford, so Collins ran into strong opposition from the prisoners in Lewes. Con Collins and Sean McGarry of the IRB were particularly critical.

Tomas Ashe liked the idea, but Eamon de Valera, the recognised leader of the Irish prisoners, objected. He feared the movement's morale would be irreparably damaged by an election defeat.

McGuinness, therefore, declined to stand in the election.

But the headstrong Collins was not about to tolerate such timidity.

"You can tell Con Collins, Sean McGarry and any other highbrows that I have been getting all their scathing messages, and am not a little annoyed, or at least was," Collins wrote Ashe on April 24, 1917. "One gets so used to being called bad names and being misunderstood."

"If you only knew of the long fights I've had with A. G[riffith] and some of his pals before I could gain the present point," Collins added.

He not only had the confidence in his own judgment but also the courage to ignore his instructions from Lewes. He had McGuinness nominated anyway.

Collins, and as many as 300 young men from Dublin, descended on Longford to take an active part in the campaign. He was advised to stay at Greville Arms, a small family-run hotel, in Granard.

Young Larry Kiernan had been running it since the death of both his parents eight years earlier while he was still a teenager.

While staying there, Collins first met the woman who would become the love of his life, Kitty Kiernan. She was one of Larry's younger sisters and was helping out in running the hotel.

Posters for McGuinness were put up throughout the constituency, with the slogan: "Put him in to get him out."

It was a simple message, suggesting that voters elect McGuinness to Westminster in order to get him out of jail.

The Irish Parliamentary Party waged an active campaign on behalf of its candidate Paddy McKenna. John Dillon, Joe Devlin and JD Nugent ran the campaign, assisted by many members of Parliament.

On the eve of voting, Nugent telegraphed London that he was certain McKenna would win by hundreds of votes. But the vote on the very restrictive franchise turned out to be particularly close.

When the vote was first announced, McKenna was deemed the winner by 13 votes, but Joe McGrath of Sinn Fein noticed that the combined total of votes for the two candidates and the 22 spoiled-votes was 50 votes short of the total votes cast, so there was a recount.

The votes had initially been stacked in bundles of 50, and then doubled, but instead of 100 votes, one of the McGuinness bundles contained 150 votes, so, rather than losing by 13 votes, he actually won by 37 votes - 1,498 to 1,461.

The result was seen as an electoral endorsement of the campaign to free the prisoners. This increased the pressure on the Lloyd George government.

All of the remaining prisoners held since the rebellion were duly freed on June 17, 1917. It was little over a year since they had been deported in disgrace, despised and dispirited, but they returned to a hero's welcome in Dublin on the day after their release.

Things had, indeed, changed utterly, to paraphrase WB Yeats.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is set to back Leo Varadkar in the Fine Gael leadership race, insiders believe.

Sources close to Simon Coveney have admitted they no longer think they can secure the backing of Mr Donohoe, whose vote will be seen as very influential.

"Let's just say he's not in our column," a well-placed source told the Irish Independent.

Several senior figures within the party were keen for Mr Donohoe to put his name forward as a potential successor to Enda Kenny, but he has consistently ruled himself out.

As a result, he is being talked about as a 'kingmaker' in the process and his support would be a major boost for Mr Varadkar.

"Paschal is a Dublin TD and he knows Leo going back years. They were on Dublin councils at similar times. We aren't counting on getting his endorsement," a Coveney source conceded.

Both sides are in the process of lining up "big hitters" that can be unveiled in the days after the Taoiseach finally announces his plans for stepping down.

Both ministers are understood to be operating on the assumption that Mr Kenny will clarify his intentions at a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party within the next fortnight.

Read more - There will be blood: Fine Gael is preparing for a vicious campaign

TDs and senators will hold their regular meeting in Leinster House tomorrow evening but it is unlikely Mr Kenny will address the issue.

On Thursday morning, he will open a European People's Party conference in Druid's Glen which will be attended by the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and former British prime minister Tony Blair. The following day, he will welcome Britain's Prince Charles to Government Buildings.

Behind the scenes, campaigning by both Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar has stepped up dramatically in the past week. Both sides are understood to be courting senior TDs who could be seen as 'influencers'.

Mr Varadkar is also hopeful of gaining the support of Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald, but she has yet to rule out entering the race herself. Education Minister Richard Bruton is also keeping his cards close to his chest.

It is widely expected that Health Minister Simon Harris will play a key role in Mr Coveney's campaign. He is understood to have attended a number of strategy meetings with the Housing Minister.

When asked about the meeting yesterday, Mr Harris responded: "As Minister Coveney says, we talk to colleagues often about important issues to do with the future of the party and the future of the country. I'm very busy with the health portfolio at the moment."

He refused to say which candidate he will back but promised to make his intentions clear once the Taoiseach outlines his plans - and told the Irish Independent his colleagues should do likewise.

"I think it's important at that stage that people put their cards on the table. I think your voters have a right to know, your supporters in your constituency have a right to know," he said.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall attend a Music & Words for a Spring Evening at Hillsborough Castle during their visit to Northern Ireland (PA)

The Prince of Wales jokingly showed off his Irish dancing skills during an evening of music at Hillsborough Castle.

Meeting with children from the Tir Na n-Og School of Irish Dancing, Charles laughed as he gave a brief demonstration of his Irish dancing footwork.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Prince Charles and Minister Heather Humphreys in Glasnevin Cemetery. Pic Credit: Steve Humphries Prince Charles shakes hands with Sein Fein leader Gerry Adams Prince Charles in Glasnevin Cemetery Prince Charles in Glasnevin Cemetery Prince Charles during a visit in Glasnevin Cemetery. Pic Credit: Steve Humphries Prince Charles and Minister Heather Humphreys in Glasnevin Cemetery Prince Charles in Glasnevin Cemetery. Pic Credit: Steve Humphries Prince Charles in Glasnevin Cemetery. Pic Credit: Steve Humphries Prince Charles, HRH the Prince of Wales, and Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Pic Credit: Steve Humphries Prince Charles, HRH the Prince of Wales, and Taoiseach Enda Kenny / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Prince Charles and Minister Heather Humphreys in Glasnevin Cemetery. Pic Credit: Steve Humphries

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall rounded off the first day of their trip with a Spring Evening musical event at the castle.

The event saw the world premiere of a new piece by Belfast composer Neil Martin.

Expand Close The Duchess of Cornwall (centre) meets the Tir na N-Og Irish Dancers, (left-right) Sarah White, Rose McAuley, Zoe McGarry, and Naomi Brown during a Music & Words for a Spring Evening at Hillsborough Castle during their visit to Northern Ireland (Liam McBurney/PA Wire) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The Duchess of Cornwall (centre) meets the Tir na N-Og Irish Dancers, (left-right) Sarah White, Rose McAuley, Zoe McGarry, and Naomi Brown during a Music & Words for a Spring Evening at Hillsborough Castle during their visit to Northern Ireland (Liam McBurney/PA Wire)

Songs after the Rain was commissioned by Charles to celebrate the three major cultural traditions on the island of Ireland.

As part of a packed programme, the royal couple were also entertained by the children of Tir Na n-Og School of Irish Dancing which was founded in Belfast in 1998.

Charles and Camilla were in jovial spirits as they joined 100 guests in the castle's majestic Throne Room for the event.

There were also performances by West Ocean String Quartet, Malachy Frame (Baritone), Brid Ni Ghruagain (Mezzo), Deirdre Moynihan (Soprano) and the Percy French Party.

Following the concert the royal couple met with the performers in the opulent Red Room.

Camilla posed for a photograph with the Irish dancers, while Charles jokingly tried to copy their footwork.

Dance school teacher Jackie White said it was a "real honour" to share the culture of Irish festival dancing with the royal couple.

She said Charles was fascinated by the dance technique.

"He wanted to try a bit with his feet so he showed us his footwork.

"He was really encouraging and particularly interested in the young people," added Ms White.

The royal couple then retired to the State Drawing Room for a drinks reception with guests, including the PSNI's Chief Constable George Hamilton.
A man is detained by security after throwing a pie at Qantas CEO Alan Joyce during a speech at a business breakfast at a hotel in Perth, Western Australia, May 9, 2017. AAP/Gregory Roberts/via REUTERS

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce gives a news conference at the Qantas headquarters in Sydney. Photo: Reuters

An Irish airline chief was left shocked after he was hit in the face with a pie during an interview.

Alan Joyce, chief executive of Australian airline Qantas, was addressing a business breakfast in Perth when the man appeared on stage and hit him with the pie.

The attack on Alan Joyce today was a disgrace. The person should be ashamed. The threats any of us receive is unacceptable #wordsnotviolence  Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) May 9, 2017

The man was detained until police arrived and was taken for questioning, according to the BBC.

Mr Joyce left the stage briefly to clean his face and then returned to an applause from the audience.

Expand Close A man is detained by security after throwing a pie at Qantas CEO Alan Joyce during a speech at a business breakfast at a hotel in Perth, Western Australia, May 9, 2017. AAP/Gregory Roberts/via REUTERS / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A man is detained by security after throwing a pie at Qantas CEO Alan Joyce during a speech at a business breakfast at a hotel in Perth, Western Australia, May 9, 2017. AAP/Gregory Roberts/via REUTERS

At the event, the Irish-born boss was discussing the airline's recent decision to operate non-stop flights from London to Perth.

Australian immigration Minister Peter Dutton tweeted that the incident was "a disgrace" and the perpetrator "should be ashamed".

Western Australian Police said they are investigating the incident.
A man who was the victim of a vicious assault outside of a Dublin nightclub over the weekend has died in hospital.

Christy Fitzgerald, was set upon outside a popular nightclub in Swords in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Fitzgerald who was originally from Finglas Dublin, but spent the past number of years in Drogheda, Co Louth, died on Tuesday evening despite efforts by his medical team.

Fitzgerald, who is a father, was believed to be at a birthday celebration before the attack took place.

Emergency services were called to the scene at the Wright Venue in Airside Retail Park, Swords, at 3.40am on Sunday morning. Fitzgerald was then taken by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital.

The scene of the attack was sealed off for a forensic examination to take place.

Mr Fitzgerald is known to gardai and was sentenced for five years in the past for his part in a robbery in 2002.

However, the motive for the attack is not yet clear.

His body will be removed to the City Mortuary for a post-mortem examination. The office of the State Pathologist and Coroner have been notified.

In a statement a garda spokesman said:

"Gardai arrested one man in relation to the attack this morning and the man, aged in his early 30s, is currently detained at Swords Garda Station under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

"Investigating Gardai are renewing their appeal for witnesses and in particular would like to speak anybody who may have witnessed an altercation between two men outside the night club between 3.00am and 3.30am.

"Anyone with information is asked to contact Swords Garda Station on 01-6664700 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111."
Daniel Cronin was just 11-years-old when he was raped by Denis O'Shea

A man who was repeatedly raped by his teacher in a State-run school is to meet with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin next week in a bid to finally get a government enquiry into the abuse.

Daniel Cronin was just 11-years-old when he was sexually abused by his teacher at a Christian Brothers school in Co Cork.

The perpetrator, Denis O'Shea was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2000 and died in 2012 - having served just over six years in prison.

Daniel (30), who is from Midleton in Cork, suffered from depression and made a number of suicide attempts after his horrific ordeal.

The part he admits struggling with the most is how a number of allegations had been made against O'Shea prior to him starting school- and yet he was still allowed to return to his job as a teacher.

Daniel has been living in London for almost four years now and is travelling home to Ireland this week in pursuit of an apology and government enquiry.

Expand Close Daniel pictured at The Shard in London. He says life has become much better since he moved to the UK / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Daniel pictured at The Shard in London. He says life has become much better since he moved to the UK

"I suppose moving to London was me starting a new life, but I've accepted that what happened was just a part of my life and now Im looking for recognition - how and why did this happen in a State-run school?" he told Independent.ie.

"Before I ever started school, allegations were made against that man. I want an apology as to why it was allowed to happen to me, why wasn't I safe guarded.

"You go to school to be safe and have fun, you don't go to be raped."

During the court case, Daniel said that the judge requested a copy of the original school registrar as the one presented had been altered to say he had been absent on the days the abuse took place.

Expand Close Daniel Cronin as a young boy / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Daniel Cronin as a young boy

He decided to waive his anonymity back in 2014 and expected a full enquiry to be launched, and an apology to be made.

"Considering its 2017 now and nothing has been done, it's an absolute disgrace. A kid falls over and cuts their leg, they get compensation. I was raped and I didnt even get an apology.

"I was suffering from depression back in 2014. I had lost my job and I spiralled into a world of depression as I had a lot of spare time to think. I remember getting to a point where I thought 'I had to get help, I cant live like this any more.'

"I went to counselling and decided I was going to go public."

Describing the moment he found out his abuser had died, Daniel said he didn't have the reaction you would expect.

"A lot of people said it should be a happy time in your life but I got very down and out again, I kind of built up this mindset that he haunted me alive, he is now going to haunt me when he's dead.

"I can still remember that awful stale, musty smell and putrid breath he had when he would bend over my shoulder to correct my work. When he bent over me I felt something hard, digging into my back. I didnt realise it then, but he had an erection."

He will meet with Micheal Martin, who was Minister for Education at the time of the abuse, and said he intends to put "huge pressure" on the government to provide answers.

"I want answers from the State. I will have kids one day and I want to know they will be safe at school."

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this post, please feel free to contact Samaritans at 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org.
We need to give our children smaller portions, or they'll end up super-sized. Pic: posed. Stock image.

Parents are increasing their childrens chances of being overweight or obese by serving them up adult-sized portions of popular meals. Stock Image: GETTY

As a child, way back in the 1970s, we would all be called for tea. There would be a dash down the stairs to the kitchen, shoving each other out of the way, to get a nice chair (and not be left with one of the stools).

Mam would have all the plates laid out on the table, with decreasing portion sizes on each plate.

Mary, Jane, Rachel, Anna, Kevin, Isobel and Eleanor. Or whoever was there for the meal. The size of the portions would get smaller from the eldest to the youngest. Like a flat version of Russian dolls.

Mary with the biggest, the smallest with the smallest. (Except for Kevin. Between my plate and Isobel's plate there would be a blip to the sequence. A larger potion for the "growing boy!" Hmmmmm.)

We could tell immediately which plate was ours by counting down the sizes. No fighting, no discussion. My dinner was the fourth biggest. A small portion, which filled me up and never left me hungry. Perfect.

Today, I see children being given plates of food that would make a grown adult sweat.

Expand Close We need to give our children smaller portions, or they'll end up super-sized. Pic: posed. Stock image. / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp We need to give our children smaller portions, or they'll end up super-sized. Pic: posed. Stock image.

In restaurants and cafes, young boys and girls are ordering off the main menu and are treated to the same dishes as their folks.

As they toss around giant portions of pasta, or struggle with their knives and forks hacking at huge pieces of fish (in relation to their size) children today have never had it tougher saying no.

No to food. It is there in front of them, too tempting to leave behind, too tasty to push away.

I was in Madrid recently, and noted that their approach to food was so very different to ours.

The whole tapas thing is fascinating. Small dishes, ordered one after the other. You eat a couple, and see how you feel. If you are still hungry, you order more. If not, you stop ordering.

As Irish eaters, the tapas thing terrifies us. So many thoughts go through our heads. "What if I am still hungry after the meal?"; "Dear God, what if I don't have them all on the table at the same time? I'LL DIE."

As for sharing? That brings on a whole other level of fear.

In this country our brains and stomachs have become used to wanting to be full as soon as possible. That's why we eat the bread rolls before the meal.

That's why some of us get tetchy if the waiter doesn't take the order as soon as possible. That's why we will have no problem pushing through that full feeling to finish off everything on the plate.

Since becoming an adult, in charge of my own consumption of food, I see how we eat culturally, and the fear we have of not having enough.

Portions are key. I saw it in Spain. People ate a small amount and decided thereafter if they were still hungry.

Children will find it very, very hard if, from a young age, they see a large plate covered in food and they are allowed to eat it all.

Surely it would be better for a small child to learn to eat portions that are perfectly suited to their size. Then they will know when to stop.
Three years since its launch, Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way is getting its first ever TV ad - a 30-second commercial airing today.

Since its debut in 2014, the 2,500km touring route has rebooted the west coast as a visitor attraction, and been hailed as one of Ireland's most successful tourism initiatives.

Despite numerous cinema, online, print and radio ads, however - today's release is the first time Failte Ireland has ever advertised the route on TV.

The 30-second ad (watch above) invites viewers to embrace "the Wild Atlantic Way of life", a place "where catching up means slowing down".

It was created for Failte Ireland by the Dublin-based Rothco agency, with a sountrack featuring 'Don't mind me' by Irish band Walking on Cars.

Donegal's Fanad Lighthouse, Valentia Island, Derrigimlagh in Connemara, Keem Bay, Mullaghmore, Ballinskelligs and the Cliffs of Moher all feature.

The closing frames show sunset on Achill Island - where the recent 'return' of a sandy beach at Dooagh Bay, thanks to a storm, has delighted locals.

Read more:
The hour is almost upon us. Sands have shifted within Fine Gael over the past week as idle speculation about the leadership switched to detailed planning.

While Taoiseach Enda Kenny was certainly not in the mood for talking about his future plans during his visit to Canada, at home his two potential heirs were dramatically cranking up the music. Numbers were being crunched, strategy meetings held and policy plans committed to paper.

All the moveable deadlines set by Mr Kenny have now passed, except for the resolution of talks on a new Assembly in Northern Ireland, which is likely to take months.

Over the past few days, Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney have continued to publicly insist they are in no rush - but they are certainly ready to go.

After months of a standing start, they are now jogging and waiting for the official three-week sprint to begin.

Last Friday, Mr Coveney denied media reports that his constituency AGM in Cork would be a soft launch to his campaign. However, despite the denials, a central figure in Coveney's team, Senator Tim Lombard, posted a link to the story on his Facebook page where it was still live last night.

Behind the scenes too, Fine Gael organisers have much of the practical work done. They've stopped just short of booking hotels for the hustings but have made inquiries about logistics.

Sources on both sides claim they have the upper hand. "We gave Leo a bit of a head start but we've made up the ground," said one Coveney source.

"People will be surprised at some of the names we've lined up," said a Varadkar man.

Very soon the shadow boxing will end and both sides will have to show their cards.
The New York Times is offering a Brexit tour of London, inviting guests to see the sights that will play a pivotal role in the UKs process of leaving the European Union.

The six-day Brexit Means Brexit! tour will shine a light on the impact of the UKs impending independence from the EU  both politically and economically  and will be led by NYT experts. Other professionals, politicians, journalists and historians will also share their knowledge with guests along the way.

Westminster, home to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Parliament and Prime Minister Theresa May, is the first stop on the journey. A London School of Economics graduate will guide the group through the iconic site, and guests will be able to hear the views of a member of the House of Lords and House of Commons to hear what they think about Brexit.

The afternoon will be polished off with a typical pub lunch and a pint at a local pub which, apparently, is often frequented by MPs.

The next day will take the group to the City of London where theyll visit the Guildhall, Mansion House, the Gherkin, Cheesegrater and Walkie Talkie buildings, and City Hall. Guests will learn about the financial ramifications of Brexit and other issues such as housing and immigration in London from a senior officer of the Greater London Authority.

Foreign affairs, global economics and trade agreements are the next issues addressed on the Brexit Means Brexit! tour, with guests attending a talk on the UKs trade, political and defence policies with Europe and the rest of the world. The afternoon will be completed with afternoon tea  scones included.

The last stop will be the Supreme Court  the location at which Article 50 was agreed upon  and the British Library. A legal expert will host a Q and A session answering any questions guests have on the legal aspect of Brexit, considering many rules and regulations will have to be revised and rewritten upon the UKs departure from the European jurisdiction.

The six-day, five-night tour to the capital costs $5,995, with the first of three scheduled to set off on October 22.

Guests will be staying at the four-star St Ermins Hotel in the heart of Westminster, and while they have a pretty jam-packed itinerary for the daytime, they can spend some evenings exploring the capital at their leisure.

The New York Times website reads: The 2016 referendum on the European Union divided the United Kingdom and split traditional political allegiances, as the British population decided, after more than 40 years, to leave.

It is still unclear what Brexit will ultimately mean for the UK, politically and economically. On this six-day journey to London with New York Times experts, examine the historic implications of a historic vote.
When Theresa May revealed her plans to put a cap on energy bills, many were quick to point out its similarity to former Labour leader Ed Milibands pledge in 2013.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference

May promised to take action to end this injustice by introducing a cap on unfair energy price rises in a recent article for the Sun newspaper.

Miliband, meanwhile, promised your bills will not rise, it will benefit millions of families and millions of businesses when he said a Labour government would freeze gas and electricity prices until the start of 2017.

While the parties may disagree about just how similar the two plans are, one aspect that has undeniably been different is the reaction from the Conservatives.

Heres what key Tory figures have previously said about Milibands plan to freeze energy prices.

David Cameron

In a session of Prime Ministers Questions in October 2013, then-PM David Cameron told Miliband: You want to live in some sort of Marxist universe where you control these things but you need a basic lesson in economics.

Boris Johnson

Writing in the Telegraph in 2013, Johnson said: I find it rather incredible that he can seriously pretend to want to do something for the hard-pressed energy consumers in this country, and I find it astounding that so many people are falling for his Wonga-like offer.

George Osborne

Speaking at the Conservative partys annual conference in September 2013, Osborne said: Companies would just jack up prices before the freeze, so in the short term prices go up. And companies would not invest in this country and build the power stations we need, so in the long term prices go up.

Greg Barker

The former energy and climate change minister slammed plans at a fringe event at the party conference, saying: The principle that Ed Miliband is articulating is much more damaging and goes beyond the question of how we deal with the Big Six specifically and their impact on consumer bills.

We are all concerned about the impact of energy bills on the cost of living, but the way Miliband has responded to that in the long term, and also in fact in the quite near term, will have a profound impact in driving up the cost of energy.

Eric Pickles

Former communities secretary and soon-to-be former MP Eric Pickles said that fears of a power shortage if Milibands plans for a freeze were to go ahead were a genuine threat in 2013.

Grant Shapps

The partys former chairman warned that short-term price controls and green energy commitments could have a negative effect on Britains energy security.
Thousands of Australian servicemen were sent to Hiroshima after the nuclear blast

Australian ex-servicemen who were exposed to radiation during British atomic bomb tests in Australia and during the clean-up of Japan after the Second World War have won a decades-old campaign for free medical treatment.

The Australian government announced on Tuesday it has allocated 133 million Australian dollars (75 million) in the budget for the next fiscal year to provide these former troops with veterans' gold cards.

The cards entitle certain veterans to an extensive range of free healthcare at the government's expense.

Thousands of Australian servicemen were sent to Hiroshima after the nuclear blast as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force and to British nuclear test sites in the Maralinga region of the Australian Outback and the Montebello islands off the north-west coast from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Outback Aborigines and farmers affected by fallout in the arid and sparsely populated Maralinga region will also be eligible for free medical help, officials said.

Frank Walker, author of a history of the British tests called Maralinga, said the gold cards for a dwindling number of survivors were too little, too late.

"It's long overdue and it's totally inadequate," Mr Walker told Australian Broadcasting Corp, adding that the servicemen's children were also affected.

The US, British and French governments offered compensation to victims of their own nuclear testing, but the Australian government had long denied liability, he said.

"Statistically, so many higher rates of cancers and health problems have come from families of nuclear veterans than any other group in society and we've done nothing for them and it's an absolute disgrace," Mr Walker added.

Many servicemen reported wearing only shorts and short-sleeved shirts for protection when bombs were detonated.

AP
Theresa May on the campaign trail in Norwich yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Theresa May has vowed to keep trying to reduce net migration to the UK by two-thirds to below 100,000, despite failing to hit that target during her six years as home secretary.

As the UK election rhetoric hotted up among all the parties yesterday, Ukip sought to step up the pressure on the Tories over the issue by setting out its own "one-in, one-out" pledge to reduce net migration to zero.

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall said young Britons should be encouraged to take seasonal jobs picking fruit and vegetables in student holidays to reduce the demand for foreign labour.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set out plans to scrap hospital car parking charges in England, with the 190m cost covered by an 8pc hike in tax on private health insurance products.

Mrs May's immigration pledge ends speculation that the Conservative Party might ditch a promise introduced by former leader David Cameron in 2010 but never met.

"Once we leave the European Union, we will have the opportunity to ensure that we have control of our borders here in the UK, because we'll be able to establish our rules for people coming from the European Union into the UK," she said on the campaign trail yesterday.

Mr Corbyn refused to say whether Labour would set out a numerical target for migration, but said the aim would be a fair and managed system that recognised the "massive contribution" migrants have made to the NHS, education, industry and public transport services.

"Theresa May made that promise in 2010 and made the same promise in 2015, and didn't get anywhere near it on any occasion at all," he said.

"But the issue is that there has to be fair migration into this country."

Stephen Martin, director general of the Institute of Directors, warned that a target was "a poor substitute for a proper immigration policy".

"All parties should see Brexit as an opportunity to come up with a system that is good for the economy, but also addresses voters' concerns," he said.

The latest figures showed net migration to the UK dropped to 273,000 in the year to September, driven in part by a fall in the number of foreign students.

Major employers need to monitor ethnic diversity in the workforce better, the Liberal Democrats have said.

On the campaign in Scotland, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said his party would require employers to monitor ethnic pay inequality in their companies, in the same way they do with the gender pay gap.
Franco A was arrested at the end of April while absent from his barracks as he posed as an asylum-seeker in Germany

A second German soldier has been arrested on allegations he was part of a far-right plot to assassinate prominent political figures and blame the attack on refugees.

The federal prosecutor's spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said 27-year-old Maximilian T was arrested in the south-western city of Kehl on Tuesday on charges of preparing an act of violence.

Der Spiegel magazine said T, whose last name was not given in line with privacy laws, was a Bundeswehr soldier stationed at the same Franco-German brigade in Illkirch, just across the border from Kehl, with Lieutenant Franco A.

Ms Koehler could not be reached for further comment, but said in her statement that T covered for A, who was arrested at the end of April while absent from his barracks as he posed as an asylum-seeker in Germany.

AP
A pilot from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan's national carrier, is being investigated for potentially putting the lives of more than 305 passengers at risk by allegedly allowing a trainee pilot to fly the aircraft soon after take-off while he reportedly took a nap in a passenger seat last month, according to a passenger on board the flight.

Captain Amir Akhtar Hashmi was reported to be operating London-bound flight PK-785 from Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, on April 26 along with first officer pilot Ali Hassan Yazdani, and another first officer - Mohammad Asad Ali - who was being trained by Mr Hashmi, according to Dawn, the Pakistani daily newspaper.

During the flight, Mr Hashmi allegedly left Mr Ali in control of the plane while Mr Yazdani was in the observers seat of the cockpit. The captain reportedly then went over to a business class seat where he put a blanket over himself and went to sleep.

Mr Hashmi has denied that he slept during the flight: "It is a wrong allegation that I took a two-and-a-half hour sleep during the flight. I did not sleep during the said flight," he told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

The captain also claimed that it is normal practice for a pilot to take naps during long flights in the presence of co-pilots, according to PTI.

The incident allegedly would have gone unnoticed had it not caught the attention of a flier who saw Mr Hashmi sleeping in a passengers seat in full uniform. After realising who Mr Hashmi was, the concerned passenger was said to have made a complaint and a senior air hostess was reportedly forced to make note of the incident in her flight log.

Passenger (Seat 1 D) complained that while the captain was sleeping in business class cabin, I (the passenger) do not feel safe. It had been explained that two other crew members were in the cockpit but he said that he would follow the matter and write down a complaint card as well, senior air hostess Nazneen Haider stated in her report.

Mr Hashmi was taken off flight duty with an investigation under way, PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani told Dawn, who did not disclose any further details regarding the incident.

Both first officers allegedly did not report the incident to management in a bid to protect Mr Hashmi, who is paid Rs100,000 (around 735) a month to train pilots and is the former president of the Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA).

The airline allegedly delayed launching an investigation but eventually gave in to pressure from above among ministry officials in the capital.

It is unclear whether both first officers as well as Ms Haider would also be investigated for the alleged incident and whether the first officers have also been or will be taken off flying duty.

The latest incident isnt the first time Mr Hashmi has allegedly compromised passengers safety during a flight. During his time as president of the PALPA, the pilot allegedly operated many long-haul transatlantic flights without resting for the prescribed duration of time before the journey, Dawn reports.

Both PIA and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) have yet to respond to Telegraph Travels request for a comment on the latest allegations, including whether there will be any actions taken against Mr Hashmi, his co-pilots and the senior air hostess for the alleged safety breaches made and whether any measures will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Telegraph Travel has also asked both PIA and PCAA about what pilots and cabin crew are required to do during such incidents, and what amount of time pilots are required to rest before operating a flight, but have yet to receive a response from either company.

Earlier this year, PIA was also investigated for breaching safety regulations by allegedly allowing seven people to travel while standing on a flight from Karachi to Medina, Saudi Arabia in January.

The situation would have posed a serious risk to passengers as those standing would not have had access to oxygen masks in the case of an in-flight emergency and would have contributed to overcrowding on the plane in the case of an emergency evacuation.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
President Donald Trump on Tuesday abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey in the fallout over Comey's probe of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's emails last year, saying Comey was no longer able to effectively lead the agency.

"It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," Trump said in a letter to Comey released by the White House.

Expand Close FBI Director James Comey. Photo: Reuters / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp FBI Director James Comey. Photo: Reuters

Trump told Comey in the letter he accepted the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions that "you are not able to effectively lead the bureau."

Comey has been embroiled in controversy surrounding his probe into whether Clinton's use of a private email server while US secretary of state during President Barack Obama's first term compromised national security.

He said in July that the case should be closed without prosecution, but then declared - 11 days before the November 8 election - that he had reopened the investigation because of a discovery of a new trove of Clinton-related emails.

It was a decision Democrats believe cost Clinton victory.

The White House released a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about Comey's actions.

"I cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken," Rosenstein wrote.

Read More

Rosenstein identified several areas in which he said Comey had erred, saying it was wrong of him to "usurp" then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch's authority by announcing the initial conclusion of the email case on July 5.

Comey "announced his own conclusions about the nation's most sensitive criminal investigation, without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders," Rosenstein wrote.

Comey also "ignored another longstanding principle" by holding a news conference to "release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation."

Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee last Wednesday it made him "mildly nauseous" to think his announcement of the reopening of an investigation into Clinton's emails affected the 2016 presidential election, but he had no regrets and would make the same decision again.

Mr Comey's firing comes days after he testified on Capitol Hill about the FBI's investigation into Russia's election meddling and possible connections between Russia and Mr Trump's campaign.

Mr Comey told politicians that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent "hundreds and thousands" of emails to her husband's laptop, including some with classified information.

On Tuesday, the FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that only "a small number" of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices.

Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

Read More

Mr Comey (56) was nominated by President Barack Obama for the FBI post in 2013 to a 10-year term.

Praised for his independence and integrity, Mr Comey has spent three decades in law enforcement and has been no stranger to controversy.

Democratic Senators have described the events as "outrageous" and "deeply troubling".

Additional reporting by Press Association
Suspect Bampumim Teixeira is charged with two counts of murder before a judge in his hospital room in Boston. Photo: Reuters

One of two doctors found dead and bound inside their penthouse in a luxury condominium building had texted a friend that there was "a gunman in the house" before they were slain.

The friend called police who found the bodies of Dr Lina Bolanos and Dr Richard Field, along with a black backpack filled with jewellery.

Suspect Bampumim Teixeira (30) was last night charged with two counts of murder as he lay in a Boston hospital bed. He had been shot in the hand, abdomen and leg during a shootout with police.

An attorney for Mr Teixeira entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf. A judge agreed to seal some documents in the case for 90 days.

Officers responding to a report of a man with a gun found keys to the engaged doctors' condo on the floor outside and discovered the unit in the Macallen Building dark when they entered. The victims were found bound and dead. A bag of jewellery was also found inside.

Police Commissioner William Evans said Mr Teixeira opened fire when officers confronted him at the door. Officers fired back, hitting the suspect several times. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening. No officers were injured.

The district attorney's office said Mr Teixeira had two larceny convictions on his record. In June of last year, he passed a note demanding money at a Boston bank. He committed the same crime two years earlier.

Dr Bolanos (38) was a paediatric anaesthetist at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr Field (49), also an anaesthetist, worked at North Shore Pain Management.

Blossom

Police have not said how they were killed.

Dr Sunil Eappen, chief of anaesthesia at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, said he first met Dr Bolanos when she was a young researcher.

"We have worked together since 2011, except for a short break when she moved to Texas for a few months," Dr Eappen said. "I watched her mature and blossom from a young medical school graduate to a fabulous experienced paediatric anaesthetist."

De Eappen said she performed her job with both great skill and compassion.

"Everyone at Mass. Eye and Ear really loved her," he said. "It is desperately hard for all of us to fathom that our friend who never failed to brighten our days is no longer with us."

On its website, North Shore Pain Management said Dr Field was "instrumental in the creation of this practice."

"He was a valued member of the medical community and a tremendous advocate for his patients," the statement said. "His tragic and sudden passing leaves an inescapable void in all of us."
Former US president Barack Obama has said he is "confident that the United States will continue to move in the right direction" on climate change despite his successor's pledges to undo many of his policies.

On his first foreign foray since leaving office, Mr Obama told a Milan conference on food innovation that businesses in the US are already committed to clean energy, in part due to cost savings, which would help counteract moves by Donald Trump's administration.

While campaigning for president, Mr Trump pledged to "cancel" the Paris Agreement, the first international deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions from both rich and poor countries.

Mr Obama enthusiastically supported the agreement, which was adopted by the US and more than 190 other countries in 2015.

"The good news is, in part because of what we did over the last eight years, the private sector has already made a determination that the future is in clean energy. Investments are moving into clean energy," Mr Obama said.

"It may be that some of the steps we put in place may move more slowly than they otherwise would have. But I'm confident that the United States will continue to move in the right direction," he said.

Mr Obama referred to Mr Trump by name only once, discussing efforts to roll back on Mr Obama's own "aggressive standards" on fuel efficiency for passenger cars.

"The Trump administration made a change," Mr Obama said, but he added that those moves would be up against even stricter standards in California, the country's largest car market.

"So even if the rules change in Washington, there is not a US automaker that can afford to produce a car that is not fuel efficient enough to be sold in California," Mr Obama said.

More than 3,000 people, including government and business leaders, attended Mr Obama's keynote address focusing on the intersection between climate change and food security, two issues that have long been an Obama focus.

Mr Obama noted that food production was the second-largest driver of climate change after energy production.

At the same time, he said, climate change is creating shrinking agricultural yields and spiking food prices that "in some places are leading to political instability".

"In fact, some of the refugee flows into Europe originate not only from conflict, but also places where there are food shortages. That will get far worse as climate change continues," Mr Obama told the conference.

"So if we don't take the necessary action to slow and ultimately stop these trends, the migration that has put such a burden on Europe already will just continue to grow."

Following the speech, he engaged in an hour-long conversation with former White House chef Sam Kass, who asked what he did not miss about the presidency.

Mr Obama replied that he was happy to be out of the security bubble and regain some freedom of movement.

But he said there was still a price.

"Now I am only captive to selfies. Which is almost as bad," the former president said.

"I can walk anywhere, as long as I am willing to take a selfie every two steps."

Mr Obama arrived in Milan on Monday, where he met former premier Matteo Renzi, a political ally who is mounting a comeback after resigning when his referendum on constitutional reforms failed.

Mr Renzi welcomed Mr Obama in a Facebook post, calling him "a friend and great leader ... who still has much to say and give to world politics".

Mr Obama made a few tourist stops in Italy's fashion and finance capital, including at the Duomo cathedral, before attending a dinner hosted by an Italian think tank attended by friends and business leaders.

Before heading to the food innovation summit, he went to see Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, accompanied by Italy's culture minister.

"So even in our religion and in our art, food is important," he said.

AP
Russians carry portraits of their ancestors who participated in the Second World War as they celebrate Victory Day in St Petersburg (AP)

Russian president Vladimir Putin has told the annual Victory Day parade on Red Square that the horrors of the Second World War demonstrate the necessity of countries working together to prevent war.

Russia celebrates the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany every May 9 to honour the eight million Red Army soldiers who fought and died for their country.

"This monstrous tragedy was not able to be prevented primarily because of the connivance of the criminal ideology of racial superiority and due to the lack of unity among the world's leading nations," Mr Putin said.

"To effectively combat terrorism, extremism, neo-Nazism and other threats, consolidation of the entire international community is necessary."

The Soviet Union is estimated to have lost 26 million people in the war, including the eight million soldiers.

The nation's immense suffering contributes to Victory Day's status as Russia's most important secular holiday.

Thick clouds over Moscow forced the cancellation of the traditional dramatic conclusion to the parade - the roaring flyover by scores of military aircraft.

The Red Square parade is a highly ritualised display, and marked changes in its order are unusual.

The Defence Ministry had said cloud-seeding planes would be deployed to disperse the overcast skies.

That has been done previously when poor weather threatened.

It was not immediately clear whether the planes had been deployed.

Parades were also held across Russia's sprawling expanse as well as in the Russia-annexed Crimea Peninsula, but the Red Square procession is the centrepiece of Russia's observances.

About 10,000 soldiers participated, standing rigidly as Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reviewed them while standing in an open-top limousine.

The soldiers then marched out to make way for a display of military vehicles ranging from armoured cars to lumbering Topol ICBM launchers.

The parade gave the first public showing of Tor and Pantsir mobile surface-to-air missile that have been adapted for use in Russia's Arctic forces, their white-and-black winter camouflage standing out amid the olive drab of other war machines.

"The armed forces of Russia are capable of repelling any potential aggression," Mr Putin said.

In the afternoon, hundreds of thousands of people braved temperatures near freezing to march in the "Immortal Regiment" demonstration that honours those who fought in the war.

The throng, many of them bearing photos of relatives who endured the war, covered a six-kilometre route down Tverskaya Street, Moscow's most famous avenue, and through Red Square.

Police said the crowd numbered about 600,000, a show of determination to keep the war's renown alive as living memory of it dwindles.

AP
Joseph Kony has been Africa's most notorious warlord for three decades (AP)

Africa's most notorious warlord Joseph Kony may never be brought to justice, observers said after the US and other states ended the international manhunt for him and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Indicted for killing thousands and kidnapping children to become soldiers and sex slaves, Kony is known for his elusiveness in the often lawless bush of central Africa.

In one incident Ugandan military forces in hot pursuit raided his hideout deep in a Congo wildlife park in 2008 and seized little but a wig and guitar he left behind.

Despite the millions of dollars spent to catch him, Kony has outlasted his hunters.

That is a blow to victims who hoped he would stand trial at the International Criminal Court where he has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The yearning for justice is there," said Judith Akello, a lawmaker who represents a community in northern Uganda once hit by Kony's rebel insurgency.

"Justice is what the people demand."

Kony became internationally notorious in 2012 when the US-based advocacy group Invisible Children made a viral video highlighting the LRA's alleged crimes.

The group is accused of killing over 100,000 people, according to the UN.

The US has offered up to five million US dollars (3.9 million) for information leading to Kony's capture.

Although scores of LRA fighters have recently surrendered or been killed, the whereabouts of Kony, now in his 50s, remain a mystery.

Recent defectors from the rebel group suggest he is sick and hiding somewhere in the vast, ungoverned spaces of central Africa.

In pulling out of the military mission against the LRA, the US in March said the rebel group's active membership is now less than 100.

The US first sent about 100 special forces as military advisers to the mission in 2011, and in 2014 sent 150 Air Force personnel.

Echoing the US, Uganda's military last month announced it was ending the manhunt and pulling out 1,500 troops because "the mission to neutralise the LRA has now been successfully achieved".

The military withdrawal means Kony may never be caught, said some observers.

Of the five LRA commanders indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2005, he is the only one still at large.

One commander, Dominic Ongwen, is currently on trial at the ICC following his arrest in Central African Republic in 2015.

"Kony is the ultimate master of survival in the jungle," said Kasper Agger, an independent researcher in Central African Republic who monitors LRA activities.

"He has survived three decades of warfare and evaded capture from the most powerful and expensive military in the world."

Kony's rebels may continue as a "group of bandits" in sparsely populated areas of Congo and Central African Republic, where they may link up with other armed groups, said Mr Agger.

LRA rebels trade in wildlife products to support their activities, slaughtering elephants for ivory in Congo under Kony's direct orders, according to The Enough Project.

The LRA remains a regional threat, according to a new UN report on sexual violence in conflict.

"The Lord's Resistance Army continued its decade-old pattern of abduction, rape, forced marriage, forced impregnation and sexual slavery" in Central African Republic and has a presence in Congo and South Sudan, it says.

Kony has proved difficult to capture "mainly because he hides in Sudan-controlled territory" in which other African forces are not permitted to operate, said Sasha Lezhnev of the Enough Project.

Sudan has denied allegations by Uganda's government that it actively supports the LRA.

A former Catholic altar boy whose rebel movement started as a tribal uprising with aspirations of ruling Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, Kony is an almost mythical figure.

LRA fighters have said he has paranormal powers to read the minds of disloyal commanders.

Under military pressure, the LRA fled Uganda in 2005, moving first to Congo and then to parts of Central African Republic in a vast jungle area about the size of France.

By then vastly degraded, the LRA splintered into small groups that were constantly on the move.

The rebels were up against a poorly organised Ugandan military, whose commanders in the anti-Kony campaign were accused of creating phantom soldiers on the payroll and abusing civilians.

"Kony and LRA's nine lives were the result of their discipline," said Angelo Izama, an analyst in Uganda who runs a think tank on regional security called Fanaka Kwawote.

Although Kony could appear bizarre "he presided over a formidable, well-armed and loyal outfit that was quite capable of running rings around the supposedly superior soldiers sent to hunt him down", said Matthew Green, author of Wizard Of The Nile, a 2008 book about the LRA.

"While many people in (northern Uganda) reviled Kony for the atrocities he ordered, they were also subject to repression and abuses by (Ugandan) President Museveni's security forces," Mr Green said.

"Kony survived in part because there was often a deep-seated ambiguity in attitudes towards his movement among his own people, even though they were his principal victims."

AP
An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2017 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in Indi...
Vinod Khanna's demise came as a shocking news for everyone. The legendary actor left for heavenly abode after fighting cancer for a long time. Post his death veteran actor Rishi Kapoor raised an issue about the young actors not having respect for the veterans!

Recently, Amitabh Bachchan got emotional during a promotional event of Sarkar 3, he said that he is upset with the media for commercializing Vinodji's death.

He narrated an incident wherein the senior journalists kept messaging him for his quote the moment news about Vinod Khanna's death broke in the media.

He further explained that by asking such questions the media only troubled him more at that sensitive moment.

Lastly, Big B urged the media to not commercialize such incidents as it's unkind.

He as well recalled an incident when actor Mehmood's son passed away and while he was carrying his son's body someone asked him to recite a funny dialogue!

People's perception about comedian is that they should make everyone laugh all the time, it's sad says Bachchan.

But, on the other hand, Big B also praised media's contribution during Uttarakhand flood and earthquake in Nepal. However, he has asked them to share the profits they receive which they get by the advertisements they play during the coverage.

On a concluding statement he also told media that he has nothing against them!

(Credits: Bollywood Hungama)
New York, May 5(Just Earth News): Charting data from 54 African countries, a new UN atlas reveals the continent's energy potential; revealing that investment in renewable energy would strengthen its economic advancement.

The Atlas makes a strong case that investments in green energy infrastructure can bolster Africa's economic development and bring it closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, Director and Regional Representative of the Africa Office for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

As such, she continued, it is an important policy guide for African governments as they strive to catalyze national development by making use of their energy resources.

The Atlas of Africa Energy Resources , released by UNEP and the African Development Bank at the World Economic Forum being held in Durban, South Africa, shows both the potential and the fragility of the continent's energy resources, which are at the heart of Africa's socio-economic development.

While Africa is richly endowed with both renewable and non-renewable energy resources, its current energy production is insufficient to meet demand. About a third Africa's population still lacks access to electricity and 53 per cent of the population depends on biomass for cooking, space heating and drying.

According to UNEP, energy consumption on the continent is the lowest in the world, and per capita consumption has barely changed since 2000. The poorest African households spend 20 times more per unit of energy than wealthy households when connected to the grid. A kettle boiled twice by a family in the United Kingdom uses five times as much electricity as a Malian uses in a year, according to UNEP.

This Atlas will be instrumental to ease access to information and data in the energy sector for all stakeholders, including the donor community, African governments and the private sector, said Amadou Hott, Vice-President in charge of power, energy, climate and green growth, African Development Bank.

Providing information in the form of detailed 'before and after' images, charts, maps and other satellite data from 54 countries through visuals, the Atlas details the challenges and opportunities in providing Africa's population with access to reliable, affordable and modern energy services.

Prepared in cooperation with the Environment Pulse Institute, United States Geological Survey and George Mason University, the Atlas consolidates the information on the energy landscape in Africa, highlighting some success stories of sustainable energy development around the continent, but also shining a light on major environmental challenges associated with energy infrastructure development.

Photo: PresseBox.de flickr

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Shah Rukh Khan has collaborated with director Kabir Khan to shoot the sequel of #BeMyGuest, a promotional film produced by Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

This is the second film that Shah Rukh is shooting for to promote tourism in Dubai.

The first movie had won the Grand Prix award at the 10th anniversary of the International Tourism Film Festival "Tourfilm Riga", held in Riga, Latvia.

Shah Rukh arrived in Dubai on May 6 to shoot the new film. "I think it is really nice. I really enjoyed making it and happy we are making another one. I am not an advocate for Dubai because I have done Dubai Tourism films... I genuinely like being in Dubai, I think it's a really wonderful place, it's a fantastic city" It has everything for everyone," Shah Rukh said in a statement.

The first part features Shah Rukh showcasing many attractions of Dubai, which he considers a home away from home.
Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors.

KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary.

No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account."

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.
Talent never goes unnoticed and there might be a mild delay but validation definitely comes! The same has happened with Bollywood actress and director Konkona Sen Sharma.

BCCL

A PTI report claims that Konkona Sen Sharma has been named the best director for her directorial debut A Death In The Gunj and the best actress for Lipstick Under My Burkha at 2017's New York Indian Film Festival.

Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, the film festival took place from April 30 to May 7. Konkona's directorial debut is a drama thriller that consists of a stellar cast including actors like Kalki Koechlin, Vikrant Massey, Jim Sarbh and Tanuja. Late actor Om Puri too had a part to play in Konkona's film.

The second award that landed in Konkona's kitty is for her Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha, a film which explores women's sexuality.

(Also read: Thank You, Censor Board! Lipstick Under My Burkha Is Now Eligible For Golden Globes)

Yes, the same film that had to go through a rough patch and courted a lot of controversies to get the Censor certificate in India.

Alankrita took to Twitter to congratulate Konkona and wrote,

Just to jog your memory a little, Konkona had also won two national awards - In 2003, she won the National Award for Best Actress for her role in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and in 2008, she won an award for Omkara.

Screenshot

Apart from Konkona, K Kaladharan won the best actor for Malayalam film Ottayaal n Paatha (A Narrow Path) and Shubhashish Bhutiani's Mukti Bhawan was declared the best film at the 17th annual film extravaganza.

YouTube Screenshot

An Insignificant Man won the best documentary and Malayalam film Kammatipaddam was honored for the screenplay.

For all cinema lovers, time to note down all these films in your must-watch films already!
1. Double Celebration For Konkona Sen Sharma, Bags Best Director & Best Actress At NYIFF 2017

BCCL

Konkona Sen Sharma has been named the best director for her directorial debut A Death In The Gunj and the best actress for Lipstick Under My Burkha at 2017's New York Indian Film Festival.

2. Twinning In Black, Lovebirds Virat-Anushka Head Out For A Lunch Date In Bengaluru

Twitter

The couple was spotted while they were heading out for their lunch date. The couple was spotted leaving a high-end Bengaluru restaurant and the smile on their faces said it all. Dressed in casuals, the couple was seen twinning in black.

3. Adil Hussain's Mukti Bhawan Wins The Best Film Award At The New York Indian Film Festival

Screenshot

After winning a special mention at the National Film Awards, Mukti Bhawan has now gone on winning the Best Film at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). The film that revolves around the man who accompanies his father on a journey to Varanasi is a film that is winning praises all over.

4. As If His Demands Weren't Enough, Justin Bieber Will Be Flooded With These Expensive Gifts

Twitter

From an exclusive autographed sarod to designer outfits, American pop sensation Justin Bieber will be given several souvenirs upon his maiden visit to India.

5. CBFC Wants Hindi Medium To Carry Work Of Fiction Disclaimer & We Cant Understand Why

STUDIOFLICKS.COM

We realise this is a true-life situation. Thousands of parents have to go through the financial and emotional ordeal and suffering shown in the film, a source told DNA, and added, But if we dont add a disclaimer stating its all fictional, we may incur the wrath of educational institutions across the country claiming the film maligns them. Better safe than sorry.
Stepping up its crackdown against the maoists, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), will soon deploy a fresh squad of about 2,000 commandos from its special guerrilla Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) battalions in and around the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

BCCL

At least 20 to 25 companies of the CoBRA personnel from their present locations in West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh will be deployed to the Bastar, considered the stronghold of the Maoist insurgents.

A CoBRA company has about 100 personnel each. At present, 44 CoBRA teams are deployed in the Bastar comprising the districts of Sukma, Dantewada and others.

BCCL/ File

"The CoBRA does operations based only on intelligence inputs and has been raised as a team of highly-trained commandos who neutralise the enemy and destroy their hideouts with minimal collateral damage. The CoBRA teams will specifically be used to increase the kill ratio of the forces and deliver heavy blow to the Maoists tactical counter offensive campaign," an officer told The Times of India.

BCCL/ File

The move comes after two major strikes by the Maoists in the region in March and April.

12 CRPF men were killed on an ambush by Maoists on March 11 in Sukma. In the latest attack, 25 CRPF men were killed in the Burkapal area of the district on April 24.

BCCL/ File

On Monday Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, while addressing the chief ministers of Naxal-affected states made the government's position clear.

The meeting was attended by chief ministers of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were represented by ministers and West Bengal and Telangana by their chief secretary and DGP.

Singh spelled out the mantra of 'SAMADHAN'  where 'S' stands for smart leadership, 'A' for aggressive strategy, 'M' for motivation and training, 'A' for actionable intelligence, 'D' for dashboard-based key performance indicators and key result areas, 'H' for harnessing technology, 'A' for action plan for each theatre and 'N' for no access to financing.

BCCL/ File

In the meeting Singh stressed on the use of drones, GPS and other technology to track the movement of the insurgents, especially in inaccessible remote areas.
The Indian woman who was allegedly married to an already married Pakistani man has urged the Indian High Commission to make arrangements to send her back to India. The woman says that she was forced wed and eventually got sexually abused and tortured.

Daily Pakistan

The 20-year-old from Delhi apparently crossed over to Pakistan via the Wagah Border on May 1. After crossing the border, she was picked by a man whom she met in Malaysia last year and struck a friendship.

However, things did not go well and according to the woman, her husband began to abuse her sexually.

Shes filed a case against her husband in an Islamabad court. She said, He was very soft-spoken and a nice person and used to talk to me in English. When I came back to India and got again in touch with him, he told me to come to Pakistan. He sent me the sponsor letter and I crossed into Pakistan via Wagah border.

TOI

According to her account, she was fed medicines at his house, after which he sexually assaulted her.

That night Tahir sexually assaulted and tortured me and threatened to kill me if I do not sign the Nikah Nama (marriage papers). They took my signature on gun point. They made me marry forcibly for which I was not mentally ready," she said in court.

marriage weebly

After meeting him in Pakistan, she found out that he was married and has four children. She doesnt want to return to her husbands village for fear of her life. And says she will stay in the Indian High Commission till her immigration needs are met.

Her husbands account, however, differs. He says she married her out of her free will and knew that he was already married.
A youth from Kerala who is said to have joined the Islamic State in Afghanistan has allegedly created a WhatsApp group to recruit more youths from the state to join the movement of what they call Jihad.

The existence of the group called 'Message to Kerala' was revealed by a youth from Kasargod district in north Kerala - bordering Karnataka - after he was added to the chat, allegedly by those already in Afghanistan.

Reuters

It is said to have more than 200 members and the Admin is said to be a man identified as Abu Musa and who uses an Afghan number. Haris Mastan, who got the message, says he received audio messages after he inquired about those who went missing from Kerala.

One of the audio clips, where the respondent is identified as Rashid Abdulla, one of the missing youths.

In the audio clip, he said that contrary to media reports they are doing well and are happily living under the Islamic law, unlike in Kerala were they had to live along with "kafirs" (unbelievers).

He also said their aim for travelling to Afghanistan was Jihad, and to die for Allah. "Two among us were lucky to become "shaheed" for Allah. Others too are waiting for martyrdom," he said.

He also clarified that the two people who have lost their lives were not killed by the US's 'Mother of all bombs' and that it did not result in any deaths of local or foreign jihadists.

The speaker goes on to claim that the National Investigation Agency has no clear information on them and that they are spreading false news.

The NIA and other agencies would release many news without any source. Those who hear such news should realise that the NIA have no source. People are releasing news without any reliability and the NIA has no source to get news. I don't know how they got the news about the death of Rashid Abdullah. Because I myself am Rashid Abdulla.

Abdulla, answering another 'question' said the conspiracy theory that ISIS is a Jewish-American conspiracy to make Muslims fight against each other was absurd.

YouTube/ Representational Image

He also referred to Peace School in Kochi which was last year in the news for its controversial syllabus.

He said Peace School founder MM Akbar wanted to make more Muslim IAS and IPS officers so that one day they can become a majority in administration and implement Sharia law in the country.

The audio was leaked after Haris Mastan informed about the group to the police. The NIA has launched a probe into the development.
Around 1000 saints from a Kanpur-based religious organisation are set to leave for Jammu and Kashmir on May 7 to help the Army and paramilitary manage stone-pelters. Jan Sena founder Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanay Maharaj said that additional squad of saints will be sent to later as per the requirement. Puri is the head priest of the Siddhanth temple in Jajmau.

BCCL

Jan Senas proposed plan under the Yudha Vijay Yagya is to reach Kashmir and boost the morale of the Army personnel. The Sena sought the permission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but did not get it.

The district administration, too, denied them permission.

However, the saints are all set to go and are ready to face any consequences.

PTI

Puri said that the Sena will ask the Army to keep them in the front as human-shields so that Jawans lives are spared.

A truck loaded with stones will accompany the saints to Kashmir.

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, Puri was quoted as saying, reports Kashmir Life.
Kids these days are really smart and way ahead than what we used to be. It was only yesterday when we learned that a 12-year-old beat Einstein with her IQ score and left us stunned with her achievements.

But now we know that kids, who endure larger than life dreams start early. Unlike most 4-years-old, Shaan Dulay did just that. Not settling for a casual birthday party with a huge cake and confetti, Shaan ended up inviting the Queen of UK to his birthday party.

NTI

Shaan's letter:

Dear HRH Queen Elizabeth,

I think you are the best Queen in the world.

I really like your crown and the red cloak you wear; its like a superhero. I love horses just like you. I wish I could come and see your horses. That would be so amazing.





When I grow up I am going to be a pilot. I would like to fly your planes. Mummy said to be kind and help others. When I am big I am going to help the poor children like mummy does. Can you make everyone help the children as you are the Queen and everyone must listen to you?

Can you please come to my house for my birthday? It is on June 25.

I need to talk to you about horses, planes and the poor children. I can even make horse shaped biscuits for us to share. Pretty please. Love

Shaan Dulay.

Age 4.

And the Queen not even just acknowledged but even wrote a cute reply to his letter.

Shaan was planning for his party on June 25 and asked his mother Baljinder to arrange a meeting with 91-year-old Queen so that she can arrange a trip to his home in Sandwell, West Midlands in England.

NTI

He wrote the letter on March 13 and began to lose a little hope, until the reply came May 03.

The letter on behalf of the Queen read:

NTI

The kid was over the moon when he read the letter. Initially, he got a little sad about not having her over the party, but he quickly gained his fervour.

"I was a bit disappointed. But I was very happy she read my letter. I really like the Queen. I like her horses and her dogs. I'm going to her house in the summer. I hope I meet her then." reports The Times Of India.
Pakistan's support to terrorist organisations operating in Kashmir is not a secret. The country, for decades, has funded trained and sheltered terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad as well as Hizbul Mujahideen only for the fact that is anti-India.

But India is not just the only country in the region that Pakistan has been 'exporting' terrorism. The Afghan Taliban which terrorised that country since the 90s was trained and supported by Islamabad, and still, it remains so.

Another country which as levelled allegations against Pakistan is Iran.

Top military official in Tehran have warned Islamabad of reprisals for sheltering Sunni militias attacking targets in Iran

reuters/representational image

Iran's warning that it might be considering its version of "surgical strikes" comes after 10 of its border guards were killed by a group identified as Jaish-al-Adl which Tehran believes is sheltered in Pakistan.

Also Read: New Video Of Armed Terrorists Surfaces In Kashmir, Proves Terror Activity Picking Up In The Valley

Sunni groups operating from Pakistan believe Shia-majority Iran does not conform to Islam and is a fair target for violence.

reuters/representational image

Iran has echoed the charge frequently levelled by Afghanistan and India. Successive Afghan regimes have held Pakistan responsible for the resurgence of Taliban which has attacked development projects, kidnapped foreign nationals and sought to impose hardline Islam in its territory.

Also Read: Lashkar-E-Taiba Terrorists Attend Funeral Of Hizbul Mujahideen Member, Give Him A Gun Salute

Pakistan's sponsorship of Taliban is intended to ensure its control on territory in Afghanistan and is also a measure to pressure the incumbent government. It is also part of its 'strategic depth' doctrine, based on a calculation that Afghanistan must remain a subservient backyard.

reuters/representational image

The doctrine is linked to Pakistan's India strategy where its army and ISI arm and despatch terrorists for terrorist strikes in J&K and the rest of India. A dense network of "friendly" jihadi organisations operate in Pakistan and Afghanistan and train fighters for assignments in India.

Also Read: 'I Was Ordered To Snatch Rifle From Security Personnel' Terrorist Arrested After Foiled Bank Robbery Attempt In Anantnag
Warren Buffett is known as the Oracle of Omaha for good reason - hes gained his position as second-richest person in the world thanks to his prowess in investing in the right stock at the right time. When the man with the golden touch speaks, his words carry weight. So its heartening to hear that he also has good things to say about India.

Buffett , a close friend of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, has already revealed that the tech icon preferred to hire engineers from IIT whenever he could, having been impressed by their collective talents and capabilities. Now, Buffett says hes even open to investing in India, if the right proposal comes along.

If you tell me (about) a wonderful company in India that might be available for sale, I will be there tomorrow, he said in an interview with ET NOW. You don't have to worry about that. I will be there tomorrow if you can tell me about a big business, a good business that might be for sale to us.

When asked which countries he believes are the foremost emerging markets to tap, he replied that India tops that list. Logically, India should be on top of the list as it is such a big market, he said. Market is one thing, but beyond that you can't have a billion people and not be important in this world. The better the things develop in India, the better it is for United States.

There is so much opportunity in the world and there's so much brainpower in India. You're dealing with very, very, smart people, but you take somebody like Ajit Jain (President of the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, and pegged as potential CEO after Buffett himself), I wonder what he would have done if he stayed in India. Guaranteed he would have a large corp. So India's got a terrific future.

So if Buffett were to make good on his ponderings and eventually invest in India, what exactly might that involve?

One space might be in online payments. According to a recent report, Indians are gradually adopting, and using, more credit and debit cards than ever. However, the recent demonetisation move by the government of India, combined with the exponential growth in 4G internet users has resulted in a much greater number of people moving towards net banking solutions and e-wallets. This would indicate one prime example for Buffett to invest being in portals that facilitate these transactions, like Citrus Pay and CCAvenue, both of which are currently partnered with major banks, aside from other avenues. Renewable energy is another sector where Buffett can park his money. Transportation of the future, too, since the government has indicated it wants only electric cars plying on roads by 2030.

Where else do you think Warren Buffett would be safe to put his money in India? Let us know on Twitter with #BuffettBuffsBharat.
The Nigerian Navy said on Tuesday that it had arrested 28 suspected oil thieves in a major mop up operation aimed to end attacks on the nations oil and gas installations in Rivers.

Commodore Sam Bura, the Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship, Pathfinder, however, presented 23 suspects to newsmen in Eagle Island, near Port Harcourt.

According to him, five other suspects were arrested while attempting to revive an already destroyed illegal refinery in Ogu/Bulo Local Government Area of Rivers.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the current efforts to clamp down on illegal refineries was not unconnected with the Federal Government move to establish modular refineries in the Niger Delta.

Bura said that 23 crew members on board a vessel, MT Preye I, were caught in the act of loading petroleum products suspected to be illegally refined diesel from five large wooden boats.

He said that the suspects carried out the illegal activity in the late hours of Saturday night.

On May 6 at about 10 p.m., we got credible intelligence on the activities of a suspicious vessel lifting products suspected to be illegally refined diesel.

Troops on board our gunboats were deployed and on arrival, found a very large vessel, MT Preye I, taking petroleum products from five large wooden boats.

No fewer than 23 suspects, all male of Nigerian nationality, were arrested on board the vessel; they are providing useful information on the matter.

It is a known fact that wooden boats are not among the approved vessels for trans-shipment, which was partly what raised our suspicion.

Bura said that the petroleum products would be vetted before the disclosure of the quantity and other relevant information to the public

NAN, however, learnt the product was worth millions in the black market.

The Captain of MT Preye 1, Jude Egwu, said that the Lagos-registered vessel belong to Akoto Ventures Limited, headquartered in Lagos.

He said that the company was deceived by its client, whom he claimed had hired the vessel to transport legitimate goods from Rivers to Lagos.

On arrival here (Eagle Island), our client directed us to load petroleum products off some wooden boats which was not part of our agreement.

We, however, decided that since we had already arrived at our destination, we could not go back to Lagos empty handed due to the cost we had already incurred coming here.

Egwu admitted the crime before newsmen and pleaded for leniency.

Meanwhile, Bura said five other suspects alleged to be operators of the illegal refinery located in Ogu/Bulo local government area, which naval forces had earlier destroyed, were caught attempting to rebuild the facility.

Thereafter, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Commanded directed the total destruction of the illegal refinery, using Swam Buggy machine to deter oil thieves from returning back to the site.

On arrival at the site, troops arrested five persons on the scene trying to rehabilitate the illegal refinery.

Eight large metallic storage tanks and other storage facilities used to store both crude oil and diesel were crushed by our Swam Buggy machine, he said.

NAN reports that Swam Buggy is a machine that completely compresses metallic storage tanks, making it near impossible to be rehabilitated.

Bura said the suspects and vessels would be handed over to relevant government agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution.

The commander gave an assurance that the Navy would continue to maintain 24-hour patrol of the maritime environment, to encourage legitimate businesses, warning criminals to steer clear of the waterways.
According to one of the negotiators between Boko Haram and the Federal Government, some of the schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram militants from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014, refused to be part of a group of 82 girls freed at the weekend.

After over three years in captivity, 82 of the schoolgirls were released out of the more than 200 students, who were still in the terrorists captivity in exchange for some detained Boko Harams suspects.

In October last year, 21 of the kidnapped girls were released in a deal brokered by Switzerland and the International Committee of the Red Cross while 113 of the girls are believed to be still held in captivity by the terrorists.

A legal practitioner and mediator, Zannah Mustapha, said some of the abducted girls refused to join the train to freedom, fuelling fears that they had been radicalised by the jihadists, and might be afraid, ashamed or even too powerful to return to their old lives.

Some girls refused to return. I have never talked to one of the girls about their reasons, said 57-year-old Mustapha, who acted as an intermediary in the latest negotiations between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram, while speaking with Reuters.

As a mediator, it is not part of my mandate to force them (to return home).

A Nigerian psychologist, Fatima Akilu, believed that the girls might preferred to identify with their captors instead of embracing freedom.

They develop Stockholm syndrome, identify with captors and want to remain, said Akilu, who has run deradicalisation programmes for Boko Haram militants and women abducted by them.

Some are afraid of what to expect, the unknown. We dont know how much influence their husbands have in coercing them not to go back, added Akilu, head of the Neem Foundation, a non-profit group aimed at countering extremism in Nigeria.

Mustapha explained that future talks between the government and the sect would extend beyond the release of the remaining Chibok girls in captivity and focus on negotiating peace in the conflict-hit North-East.

His role as a mediator dates back to 2007, when he founded the Future Prowess Primary School in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State.

When conflict broke out in 2009, the school remained open and was said to have even enrolled those children born to Boko Haram fighters.

He added, We are not just talking; we are still actively working towards peace.

Even though we have got (some of) the girls back, I dont feel we have made much progress. After the (release of) the 21 girls, how many hundreds have been killed by suicide bombings?

While Boko Haram may indeed hold out in releasing all of the hostages to maintain some form of leverage, the reality is that the girls have limited value to the sect outside of public relations capital and are likely placing a strain on resources.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has predicted that President Muhammadu Buhari may not return from his follow-up medical checkup trip abroad hale and hearty.

Fani-Kayode stated this on his Facebook page, lamenting how Journalists were stopped from entering the Presidential Villa when the 82 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram regained freedom.

Journalists were NOT allowed into the Villa today. The Chibok girls saw the President behind closed doors.

He is now being flown to London for further medical treatment for a period of time to be determined by his doctors.

The whole thing is like a bad film script. It stinks. Let us hope the President will come back home from London hale and hearty though somehow I doubt he will.

Poor Buhari. I think that VP Osinbajo may be Acting President for quite some time and within the year he may well be sworn in as substantive President, Fani-Kayode wrote.

It will be recalled that the Presidency had yesterday announced that Buhari will be returning to the United Kingdom, UK, for a follow-up medical check-up.

Source: Yabaleftonline
Highly praised By NAFDAC, SON, MAN

The La Casera Company Plc, makers of Nigerias leading Apple Carbonated Soft Drink has launched a fresh new look for its flagship brand, La Casera Apple Drink and adding more natural apple juice extract to the premium apple drink, which makes it the only Apple CSD with real apple juice extract in the Nigerian market.

The unveiling event held at the prestigious Oriental Hotel in Lagos to celebrate its dealers, consumers and other stakeholders for their loyalty, received several commendations from NAFDAC, SON, MAN, dealers and other relevant stakeholders that were present at the event reinforcing La Casera leadership in the CSD market.

According to the Managing Director, The La Casera Company (TLCC), Mr. Roland Ebelt, the launch of the repackaged La Casera Apple drink is a display of the companys innovative, forward-thinking prowess and commitment to consumers satisfaction.

La Casera Apple Drink in 50cl bottle which still remains the standard and quality which La Casera is known for, now wears a new colourful and attractive look with real apple fruit indicating an increase in real apple juice content in each bottle giving consumers more taste of real apple at an affordable price just to meet the thirst need of the average Nigerian who is always on the go. he explained.

While delivering the welcome address, The Marketing Manager, The La Casera Company Plc. (TLCC), Mr. Bello Yusuf explained that the Nigerian CSD market commands a unique hold in the beverage sector of the economy with an estimated 49% of soft drinks volume sales and with the fresh new look of La Casera Apple drink, the company is set to make greater inroad into the market, as it now comes with more apple juice, combined with a refreshing and real apple taste.

Sixteen years down the line, the dynamics of the CSD market are not the same. Today, we have come to witness the rebirth of our flagship brand La Casera Apple Drink. So with the unveiling of the fresh new look of our flagship brand La Casera Apple drink, we are appreciating our teeming Consumers who have been supporting the brand for over 16 years. We thank these loyal consumers because without them we would not have achieved anything. The brand will continue doing its best to offer Nigerians the best apple drink in Sub Saharan African. Bello said.

While commending the management of TLCC for a job well done after tasting the new La Casera, Kenneth Azikiwe, representative of the Director General of NAFDAC, said the product has gone through the rigorous processes and has been found to be of high quality and good for consumers.

On behalf of my DG, I thank the management of La Casera for coming up with an improved product with more apple juice, which shows commitment to consumers; NAFDAC number is attached to the label and I want every Nigerian to drink this product comfortably because NAFDAC has a stamp on it, it is NAFDAC approved, he explained.

Mrs. Emordi Helen, representative of the Director General, SON, also said the product is safe and of quality standard. SON has ensured that the product conforms to the highest standard required, she stated.

In the same vein, a Director at MAN, Joseph Emoleke, commended the company for the innovative product. He called for more innovative products to make the industry thrive.

La Casera is one of those companies that are so dear to us and we know you will continue to excel. On behalf of the President, DG, and the National Council of MAN, we felicitate with you. We know you will continue to improve your quality. We are solidly behind you, Emoleke said.

In her vote of thanks, The Senior Brand Manager, La Casera Apple Drink, Mrs. Ruth Ode expressed appreciation to the management of The Company, the National and State regulatory agencies, dealers and the Press for their support for gracing the event.

This would not have been possible without the dedication of the people involved in every aspect of creating, producing, selling, and consuming of La Casera Apple drink and even the media for being there for us. She said.

The La Casera Company Plc. gained entrance into the Nigerian CSD market in 2001 with the introduction of a flagship brand, La Casera Apple drink in PET bottle and has since been setting the pace for excellence and quality.

MORE PHOTOS
The first Lady of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari, had deployed medical experts to Durumi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp, Abuja, to provide assistance to pregnant women, children and youths.

The gesture was organised by her pet project, Future Assured initiative, in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, Cry for Help, in Abuja.

Aisha also provided free drugs to no fewer than 2,000 IDPs for illness ranging from high blood pressure to blood sugar, hypertension and diabetics after test in the camp.

Besides, the wife of the president donated bags of rice, mats, wrappers and souvenaires for the IDPs.

The National Coordinator, Future Assured, Dr Mohammed Kamal, said that the aim of the medical outreach was to improve the living condition of women and children in the IDPs camp.

While presenting the relief materials to the IDPs, Kamal said the gesture was part of Aishas passion to assist the less privileged in the society, especially women and children.

We are here to provide essential medical services to IDPs, especially offer screening in hypertension and diabetics, he said.

The health facilitator at the event, Mrs Maryam Hadi, said the wife of the president is committed to safeguarding the health of women and children, especially the less privileged.

The medical team comprised pharmacists, doctors and nurses.

The beneficiaries thanked the wife of the president for the gesture.

The IDPs spokesman, Mr Idriss Ibrahim-Halilu, expressed gratitude to Aisha for the kind gesture and urged other philanthropists to emulate her.

Ibrahim-Halilu also, called on wealthy individuals to assist them with farming tools to enable them continue with their farming activities.

Another IDP, Mr Mamman Ali, also appealed to relevant agencies to provide them with teachers as the number of pupils in the camp was more than the teachers.

Source: ( PM News )
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, and Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has told all those who cares to listen that he would never to give up his agitation for Biafra.

He said this in Enugu, where he paid a thank you visit to the leaders of pan-Igbo groups, the Eastern Consultative Assembly and the Igbo Youth Movement.

The pro-Biafran activist was received by leaders of the two groups, including ECA leader, Chief Maria Okwor, and IYM founder, Evangelist Eliot Uko.

The secessionist expressed gratitude for the role played by the two groups, as well as other individuals and organisations, in his release from detention.

But he insisted that he would not drop the agitation for the actualisation of a Biafran nation.

According to him, he was born to champion the pro-Biafran struggle.

I desire Biafra. I want Biafra. I want nothing else other than Biafra. I will not settle for anything else other than Biafra.

That was what I was born to do and that is what I will do till the day Biafra will come, that we may live as free men on this very earth as the Most High God, Chukwu Okike Abiama, ordained it, Kanu said at a parley with the leaders of the two groups.

I have chosen the option that we must be free as a people, that we must be liberated as a race and that we must have every God-given freedom due to us.

I would not want to go to heaven to experience it (freedom). I want to experience it here, he added.

Thanking all those who spoke out against his incarceration, Kanu noted that the struggle was not over yet.

He said, I thank all of you that worked very hard, especially the Igbo Youth Movement, I must be specific, and the Eastern Consultative Assembly, and all the market men, market women, those that closed their shops to see us and all those who made efforts to ensure that I was not consumed.

I thank all of you, those who contributed to my being here today, because without your pressure, I dont think I will be here.

However, the work is not done yet, we need to finish it.

He vowed to challenge the bail conditions given to him by the court.

Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Federal High Court had, while granting the IPOB leader bail, had ordered that he should not grant interviews.

The court also forbade him from being in a gathering of more than 10 people.

Kanu described the bail conditions as obnoxious and unconstitutional.

In the same vein, the pro-Biafran activist said efforts were being made to free his co-accused persons, who are still in detention.

He argued that they were only seeking freedom, and never committed any crime.

On those we left behind, we are making effort to see that they come out because they committed no crime. All we are seeking for is freedom  a return to the values we had before the advent of white men. A situation where people move their cows into our farms and slaughter our people will no longer be acceptable, Kanu said.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has once again warned the members of the public to disregard any announcement of recruitment or invitation to recruitment interview as it is not carrying out any recruitment exercise at the moment.

The disclaimer, the third in recent times, is coming on the heels of recurrent fraudulent vacancy announcements on various social media platforms purporting to have emanated from the Corporation.

We are constrained to announce, once again, that NNPC is not recruiting at the moment. Members of the public are, therefore, advised to disregard any vacancy announcement on any online or social media platform as they are the handiwork of fraudsters intent on fleecing innocent Nigerians, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu stated.

Shedding more light on the method of operation of the fake job syndicate, the NNPC explained that the group deploys various means ranging from text messages, vacancy announcement on social media platforms and forged letters inviting gullible job seekers for non-existing job interviews with a view to extorting money from them.

To this end, we wish to once again appeal to members of the public, particularly unsuspecting applicants, to be wary of fraudulent vacancy announcements or invitations for job interviews at the NNPC Towers. Anyone who entertains such invitations or deals with peddlers of such invitation does so at his or her own risk, the NNPC stated.

The Corporation advised that anyone contacted for the purpose of the purported recruitment other than through advertisement duly placed by the Corporation in national newspapers, should not hesitate to report such invitations to relevant law enforcement agencies. It also pledged to continue to report and engage security agencies on such matters.

The statement further emphasized the determination of the NNPC Management under the leadership of Dr. Maikanti Baru to sustain the prevailing gale of transparency and accountability which has witnessed the conduct of open public bidding in sourcing for contractors and suppliers of goods and services for its day-to-day operations, including recruitment exercises.

Source : ( PM News )
Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, owned by businessman, Ifeanyi Ubah has alleged that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owes it N16 billion. Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited, owned by businessman, Ifeanyi Ubah has alleged that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owes it N16 billion.

The company stated this in reaction to the arrest and detention of its chairman, Ubah by the Department of State Security (DSS) for what the agency said was based on his involvement in alleged stealing, diversion and illegal sale of petroleum products stored in his tank farm.

But in a statement released on Monday , the management of the company denied the accusation, adding, that it is an attempt to criminalise a commercial dispute between the company and the NNPC.

While it was widely reported that Capital Oil and Gas was unable to return 82 million litres of petrol, valued at N11 billion, out of over 100 million litres which the NNPC kept with it, the company said rather, it was the NNPC that owes it N16 billion.

According to the company, it is owed $5,540,000 (N2.2billion)  unpaid berthing fees for NNPC vessels that called at our Jetty, $2,952,555 (N1billion)  invoice for chartered vessels to carryout STS operations Lagos offshore to ferry product (PMS) to storage at the request of NNPC since 2015, N1.170billion  amount owed to Capital Oil & Gas Industries Limited for throughput services from March to October 2016, N3.146billion  payment made to NNPC for 26,820million litres of PMS vide Pro-forma Invoice No. 53598 which is yet to be delivered to us.

It listed other debts to include, N2.0billion  Payment to NNPC in April to facilitate the release of the Managing Director and engender reconciliation which NNPC reneged on. N6.266billion  N0.80k and N0.40 Jetty Throughput charge on over 7 billion liters dispensed for NNPC by us.

In the statement, the company also narrated the events that led to the arrest of Ubah, a one-time governorship candidate in Anambra state. The incarceration of our Chairman by DSS is unlawful, a disregard for the rule of law and a breach of Dr. Ubahs fundamental right to liberty, freedom of movement and association.

A similar invitation was extended to Dr. Ubah on the 24th of March 2017, which he honoured as a law-abiding citizen only to be detained in DSS offices in Abuja for almost a month.

During that period a Fundamental Rights Enforcement Application was brought on behalf of Dr. Ubah at the Federal High Court Lagos as Suit No. FHC/L/C/487/2017.

Although an order was made for his production in court in that action, rather than obey the order, officers DSS, using a combination of coercion and cajoling, constrained him to discontinue that action upon an understanding that he would be immediately released. He was not released until over two weeks after he had complied and completely discontinued that action.

Upon his release on the 13th of April 2017, it was now discovered that during his incarceration he had been coerced into executing various documents committing the company to make certain payments and pledge some assets to NNPC Retail Limited. He was also made to execute a document in favour of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

As soon as his doctors permitted access to him an action was brought at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court seeking, inter alia, an order to restrain DSS and others from further inviting, arresting or threatening to arrest or detain him in regard to the NNPC/NNPC Retail Ltd matters.

The processes originating the new action filed as Suit No. FHC/L/CS/644/2017, were served on the DSS on the 28th of April 2017.

Dr. Ubahs lawyers wrote to the DSS pointing out that any preemption of the judicial intervention during the pendency of the new action is totally irregular, a disregard of the rule of law, the constitutional guarantees of separation of powers and breach of the doctrine of Lis Pendens.

Rather than respect its constitutional and statutory limits the DSS has brazenly abducted Dr. Ubah and commenced a media blitz to justify their illegality, the company stated.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has advised on dialogue to settle the lingering crisis brewing between the government, the DSS and the Management of Capital Oil over the alleged illegal sale of petroleum products stored in their tank farm by the NNPC.

The union stressed its displeasure over the illegal diversion and sale of the petroleum products by Capital Oil, but that it was of the opinion that the Federal Government cannot sit down and watch workers lose their jobs, as in the case of Capital Oil, where over 2,000 workers are presently idle.

It added that the global practice is for government to secure and create jobs.

NUPENG made this known in a statement signed by the President, Comrade Igwe Achese. The Union also stated that workers have the right to protest the non-payment of their salaries and allowances and that the Federal Government should secure the jobs of those working in the sector.

NUPENG also mentioned the case of Seawolf Oil Services that was taken over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) where the workers have still not been paid their backlog of salaries and entitlements for over five years now.

NUPENG believed that the job creation mantra of the government should be allowed to play, rather than paving way for job losses as it is the case of Capital Oil closure now.

It called on the government to allow the workers to resume work at the depot and load products so that their salaries can be paid instead of throwing them into unemployment market for no fault of theirs.
An 18-year old by the name Sophie Stonehewer, has been spared jail term after setting her 43-year-old boyfriends house ablaze.

Sophie, was said to have set fire to a curtain in Steven Beddows house while he was in bed around 3.40am on February 1.

She then ran to a neighbours house to raise the alarm when she couldnt put out the fire herself and told them he made me do it.

According to Metro UK, Mr Beddows managed to put the fire out before any major damage was caused at his home in Offerton, Stockport, then refused to give statements about what had happened.

During the court the couple, it was learnt that the couple who are still together, had been arguing about their sex life before the fire was started.

Stonehewers defence barrister Robert Lancaster said:

There was an argument between them it involved alcohol and sexual activity. The argument was of some severity which left this defendant upset and angry, and in an emotive state.

It is right to say that that she was pushed in a very emotive way and she reacted to her partner in a way she had never done before and in a way that she is deeply sorry for.

She tried to put the fire out with her hands but didnt have much success. She ran to a neighbouring address to raise the alarm and that friend rang the fire service and the police. When they got there the fire had been put out by Mr Beddows.

The defendant was in hysterics and she was deeply upset and deeply fearful of Mr Beddows reaction of what she had done. She accepts what she had done and then she became more hysterical when she was arrested and taken to the police station.
An Abuja-based fashion model and stylist has called out nollywood actress, mercy Aigbe accusing her of cheating with him, he vows to release their pictures if she doesnt behave herself. See as shared below
A 44-year-old operative of the Nigerian Customs Service has committed suicide after locking himself in a room and hanging himself with a rope.

An Assistant Superintendent of Customs has allegedly committed suicide in Lungu Village, Gwarinpa, Abuja

The cause of the suicide was yet to be ascertained.

Sources said the man, identified as Christian, 44, locked himself in a room and hung himself with a rope on Saturday.

A source said the deceased, who was unmarried, was staying with his brother and was said to have been recently transferred to Lagos before the incident happened.

The Gwarinpa Divisional Police Officer, CSP Nuruddeen Sabo, said the brother whom the deceased stayed with was at a barbers shop when the incident happened.

He said the man was confirmed dead at the Kubwa General Hospital.

Exhibits recovered include some drugs and knife. Preliminary investigation, he said, had revealed that the deceased was sufferering from depression.
The United Nation has seeked for help from the international community to support the Nigerian government in its efforts to ensure the release of the over 100 Chibok schoolgirls who are still in captive of Boko Haram.

It also welcomed the recent release of 82 Chibok girls in North-Eastern Nigeria and appealed to all citizens in the country to support the Federal Governments reintegration programme for the girls.

The UNs Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter Lundberg, disclosed this in a statement issued by the global organisation and made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday by Oxfam Nigeria.

Lundberg said, The United Nations welcomes the release of the 82 Chibok girls in North-Eastern Nigeria and appeals to all Nigerians, including the families and communities of the liberated girls, to fully embrace them and provide all necessary support to ensure their reintegration into society.

Over 100 of these school girls are still unaccounted for, and the United Nations urges the international community to continue supporting the government of Nigeria in its efforts to ensure the release, rehabilitation and reintegration of all the children, women and men who are victims of Boko Haram.

The UN, in its statement, further noted that despite the encouraging news of the recent release of the 82 schoolgirls, insecurity had continue to affect millions of people living in six states in North-Eastern Nigeria amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.

It said three states in the region were highly affected by the deepening humanitarian crisis, but pledged to continue supporting the Federal Government through the provision of the needed relief items.

The global organisation said, Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, where 8.5 million people are in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection, are the most directly affected by conflict and mass forced displacement.

The United Nations and partners are committed to supporting the government of Nigeria to providing much needed relief to these vulnerable people.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Mixed Midday in Hog Market Barchart - 16 minutes ago Lean hog futures are trading within 60 cents of UNCH so far for the midweek session. Dec, June 23 and July 23 are down by as much as 22 cents. The spring delivery months are gaining 20 to 55 cents.... HEZ22 : 85.175 (-0.47%) HEJ23 : 94.725 (+0.56%) KMZ22 : 95.825 (-0.16%)

Cotton Down Double Digits at Midday Barchart - 16 minutes ago Front month cotton futures are trading with midday losses of 189 to 214 points. USDA reduced their average farm price for cotton by a nickel to 85 cents/lb. Monthly USDA projections had a 13 lb/acre cotton... CTZ22 : 85.99 (-1.93%) CTH23 : 84.20 (-1.80%) CTK23 : 83.32 (-1.79%)

Cattle Prices Red at Midday Barchart - 16 minutes ago The midweek cattle market is down $1.15 in the Dec contract with a 30 to 50 cent loss in the other front months through midday. The midweek FCE auction sold none of the 1,081 head listed, with $151-$152... LEZ22 : 151.850 (-0.78%) LEG23 : 154.275 (-0.32%) LEJ23 : 157.825 (-0.27%) GFX22 : 177.750 (-0.29%) GFF23 : 179.975 (+0.04%)

Corn Futures Markets are Red at Midday Barchart - 16 minutes ago Corn prices are off their initial reaction lows, but still trading down by 1 to 3 cents in the front months following the USDA report. The monthly USDA updates showed corn yields were raised 0.4 bpa to... ZCZ22 : 669-4 (+0.30%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.6729 (+0.28%) ZCH23 : 675-2 (+0.22%) ZCK23 : 674-6 (+0.15%)

Beans Near UNCH after Report Barchart - 16 minutes ago Soybean prices are off their initial reaction lows into midday. Prices were working in the black going into the report. Front month soybeans are trading 3 1/2 to 5 cents in the red. Meal futures are down... ZSX22 : 1460-0 (+1.11%) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.2172 (+0.55%) ZSF23 : 1453-4 (+0.48%) ZSH23 : 1459-0 (+0.40%)

Coffee Prices Fall as Rabobank Boosts its Brazil 2023/24 Coffee Crop Estimate Barchart - 29 minutes ago December arabica coffee (KCZ22 ) this morning is down -0.55 (-0.33%), and Jan ICE Robusta coffee (RMF23 ) is down -18 (-0.98%). Coffee prices this morning extended this week's losses, with arabica and... KCH23 : 162.80 (-0.82%) RMF23 : 1,819s (-0.66%)

WASDE Day! The Corn & Ethanol Report 11/09/2022 The PRICE Futures Group - 32 minutes ago We kickoff the da 12:00 P.M. and Dairy Products Sales at 2:00 P.M. with MBA Purchase Index (04/Nov), MBA Mortgage Applications (04/Nov) and MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate (04/Nov) at 6:00 A.M., Wholesale Trade...
Real estate developer MSP Holdings LLC recently acquired a commercial property in Scarborough, Maine, for $900,000 that includes Scarborough Mini Storage, even though neither the land nor the self-storage business was for sale. The 1.9-acre parcel at 226 Gorham Road includes the 14,100-square-foot storage facility and a 2,400-square-foot building leased to Fiddlehead Center For the Arts, which provides artistic and educational programs for children and adults, according to the source.

Thomas Gadbois, an associate broker with F.O. Bailey Real Estate, approached property owners Vonnie Purington and Roger Sandberg because he believed the setup met the parameters of the buyer, an unidentified retired merchant marine who was looking for supplemental income. "He's owned and improved a number of commercial properties over the years," Gadbois told the source. "I'd been working with him over the past year, trying to find him something. But everything that's listed sells in a heartbeat."

The conditions were right for Purington and Sandberg to sell because they inherited the property from their parents and were too busy to pay close attention to it, Gadbois said, adding that the storage facility was at 50 percent occupancy at the time of purchase, with rent below market average.

The buyer intends to bring rental rates in line with the market while making some improvements to landscaping, paint and signage, according to the source. In addition to 60 units, the storage facility includes four 1,250-square-foot garage bays leased to contractors.

The property is near retail and new commercial and multi-family development projects. The original owners built a house in the 1970s that was later converted into a commercial building that has been a craft store and motorcycle shop. The self-storage facility was added in the 1990s at the back of the land, the source reported.
Paul and Jeanne McCleery are seeking approval from the county to redevelop a vacant self-storage facility in Lebanon, Ill., into McCleery Safe Storage. The St. Clair County Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday recommended approving a special-use permit for the 4-acre property. The county board is scheduled to vote on the project later this month, according to the source.

The couple plans to buy the bank-owned facility at 10027 W. U.S. 50, which includes two existing buildings, one of which is 129,000 square feet. Their plan is to build up to five more structures. The facility will also offer propane sales, U-Haul equipment rental and self-service ice.

Paul McCleery plans to invest $150,000 in the redevelopment in addition to the purchase price, according to the source.

During the meeting, the McCleerys presented the board with artist renderings. We dont want [it] to be an eyesore; thats just not how we do things, Jeanne McCleery said, adding the property will have fencing as well as landscaping.

Although the McCleerys requested to add outside vehicle storage, the board denied it based on previous experiences with the service. Usually where the problems start is the outside storage  because theyre not outside storage. They become almost salvage yards, where people bring things; they never go away and the weeds grow up, and it becomes a real eyesore to the neighborhood, said board member Alexa Edwards.

Zoning director Anne Markezich also noted an area designated for future storage buildings is in a flood zone. [Paul] will have to do a lot of work to build the buildings there, but hes aware of that, she said.
At his annual shareholder meeting, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman reiterated that investors are better off avoiding actively managed funds.

At Berkshire Hathaways annual shareholder meeting, Chairman Warren Buffett said investors should stick to index funds, offering a harsh view of actively managed strategies.

In all the professions, there is value added by the professionals as compared to doing it yourself and randomly picking laymen, Buffett said during the meeting, held in Omaha, Nebraska over the past weekend. In investing that just isnt true.

The legendary investor cited high fees and disappointing results as reasons for his position in the long-lasting debate over the merits of investing in passive funds versus those that are actively managed. Buffetts Vice Chairman, Charlie Munger, agreed that the typical hedge funds fee structure is detrimental to investors.

The investing world is a morass of wrong incentives, crazy reporting and a fair amount of delusion, Munger said during the annual meeting.

This isnt the first time that Buffett has criticized hedge funds for their fee structure.

A number of smart people are involved in running hedge funds, Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders. But to a great extent their efforts are self-neutralizing, and their IQ will not overcome the costs they impose on investors.

His remarks reflect a large move on the part of institutional investors to passively managed fund that allow them to save money still seeing strong returns. Buffett noted in his annual letter to shareholders that between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2017, the Standard & Poors 500 Index will outperform a portfolio of hedge funds outperform, after factoring in fees, costs and expenses.

Last year, the New Jersey State Investment Council, the New York City Employee Retirement System and Metlife Insurance Company were among institutional investors that withdrew capital from hedge funds, according to the 2017 Preqin Global Hedge Fund Report.

Many of these large institutions cited performance concerns and the high fees as the leading reasons driving their decisions to reduce their exposure to hedge funds, Preqin said in the report.

Buffett predicted as far back as 2005 that actively managed funds would underperform index funds, according to his annual letter to shareholders. The rivalry between the two strategies isn't going away anytime soon, though.

The debate has been very long lasting because it tends to be about competition, Don Bennyhoff, a senior investment strategist at Vanguard Group, said by phone Monday. A lot of active management proponents are active managers.

Vanguard, well-known for pioneering the index fund, has about one-third of its business in actively managed funds, according to Bennyhoff. The goal, he said, is keeping fees down in both active and passive strategies as the firm seeks to deliver returns to investors.

The common denominator is our focus on lower costs, Bennyhoff said.
Before British insurer Avivas annual meeting, the CEO of the firms asset management business is seeking to placate disgruntled shareholders.

Euan Munro, chief executive officer of Avivas 345 billion ($446 billion) asset management arm, dismissed criticisms of his teams performance ahead of the firms annual meeting Wednesday.

Munro, who became CEO of Aviva Investors in January 2014, said in an interview that hes done the job he was hired to do and that his executive team has delivered.

Munro is fending off Aviva shareholder Philip Meadowcrofts calls to offload the British insurers asset management business because the unit isnt contributing enough profits. While Meadowcrofts assessment may create some discussion at the annual meeting, Munro said he believes shareholders will recognize the units 2.9 billion of net inflows last year, as well as the 30 percent increase in operating profit from 2015 to 138 million.

When I first started, we had funds leaving and a dark regulatory background, said Munro. I am confident that this is a pace of growth that we can sustain, because in the first couple of years I was coping with the tide going the other way.

Aviva was being scrutinized by the Financial Conduct Authority when Munro joined the firm. The regulators investigation of Aviva Investors culminated in a 17.6 million fine for incentivizing its traders to favor one fund over another, according to an FCA statement in 2015.

Meadowcroft, who is a member of an action group of shareholders pressuring Aviva, didnt immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.

While Avivas 5.6 billion acquisition of Friends Life Group in 2015 bolstered Aviva Investors performance by increasing assets under management, Munro said that shareholders should recognize the divisions organic growth.

The financial numbers do make me look better than I really am, but I would not want you to think there is not a good organic story too, he said. It is one I think we can carry on.

Munro said he has tasked his executive team with diversifying the firms offerings by starting new funds in illiquid areas such as private credit and structured finance.

Before joining Aviva, Munro was global head of multi-asset investing and fixed-income at Standard Life Investments, where he helped start the 24.5 billion Global Absolute Return Strategies fund.





Correction Note: This story was updated to provide the correct details about the regulatory investigation relating to Aviva Investors when Munro joined the firm.
An icare and EML-sponsored seminar has equipped first responder agencies with best practice, resources and management tools to help managers better assist and support employees who may be struggling to deal with mental health issues.The Managing Mental Health Seminar, held in Sydney, provided managers with first-hand accounts from people living with mental health challenges and its impact to their work life, explained EML CEO Mark Coyne.He said the seminar was about arming peers with the best techniques to support their colleagues, to ensure mental health issues are identified earlier, and that appropriate care and support can be provided to workers who need it the most.Eugene McGarell, icare GM health & community engagement, said the collaboration with icare was to ensure that first-responder workers suffering from mental illness receive early intervention and the best possible care available to help them recover and return to life safely.We are delighted to deliver this engaging seminar to the unsung heroes of our community who experience enormous mental and physical challenges in protecting us all, McGarrell said.The seminar also featured expert speakers Professor Michael Sullivan, a Canadian academic, psychologist, and neurology expert from McGill University in Montreal Quebec; and Todd Sampson, an award-winning documentary-maker, advertising guru, adventurer, and businessman.The event was also backed by NSW mental health commissioner John Feneley, in support of NSW government First Responder employees.NSWs First Responder emergency services workers form the frontline of the communitys safety 24/7 and it is our responsibility to look after their mental health and wellbeing, Commissioner Feneley said.There is much to be gained from the joint-commitment of First Responder agencies to change their culture and reduce stigma around mental illness. Knowledge exchange opportunities such as today demonstrate this ongoing commitment, he said.
Italian insurance juggernaut Generali is rebranding its American travel assistance operations as it seeks to better position itself in the US market.CSA Travel Protection, Generalis US travel presence for the past nine years, is today officially rebranding as Generali Global Assistance.Chris Carnicelli, CEO of Generali Global Assistance North America, said the rebranding is part of a move to bring together its travel insurance, travel assistance, and identity theft services into one united offering.Insurance and assistance is now under one umbrella, he said. Whats exciting for us is it brings the scale and scope of the Generali Group, a lot of the resources, to our clients. Having the backing of Generali and its global footprint is also helpful because a lot of our US clients are going global, so they want global solutions. So, even though its a US business, these US companies have global needs.Generalis US operation runs everything from underwriting and product design to commercial delivery and claims administration. And under the new title, several new and enhanced travel insurance plans will soon be launched in the US market, the company announced.Weve been holding clients hands through stressful situations for many, many years. So the combination of the financial strength of the insurance plus the DNA of the customer focus, we think that combination is quite frankly unique. This [services unification] really brings a different mindset, a different structure, and a different branding to our company.Carnicelli said the new travel insurance products will offer greater flexibility to differing clients needs.Historically the industry has been very commoditized in terms of the offerings to consumers. The differentiation in the industry has generally been on service. What were trying to do now is make the products more client-focussed, he said.We are trying to be more granular in our pricing and in our product, which we think will make the product more accessible to other folks  so they wont be paying for services they dont need. So thats the direction we are going in, and we hope to have some exciting releases to describe that development pretty shortly.This travel insurance rebranding is part of an organizational program to rebrand several of Generalis Europ Assistance business lines in the US to Generali Global Assistance.
Connecticut health insurers are already covering their bases by proposing significant rate increases as the current system faces great uncertainty with the passing of the Republican version of a new health insurance law in the lower house.Rates could skyrocket by as much as 52% for some policyholders, according to reports.Many of the changes proposed on the federal level could affect the (rates), local media outlet ctpost quoted Patricia Baker as saying. Baker is the president and chief executive of the Connecticut Health Foundation, which aims to provide improved healthcare access to low income individuals.ctpost also reported that the states insurance department has said that 10 health insurance companies have already filed for rate increases in the individual and small group markets ranging from 3.6% to 33.8%. The filings will apply in 2018 and will cover almost 300,000 people.Quoting a statement from insurance commissioner Katharine Wade, the report said the filings reflect increased medical and prescription drug costs along with higher utilization, as well as uncertainty in the marketplace.Among the insurance firms that have filed for increases is Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. The firm is proposing a 33.8 % rate increase in individual health plans marketed on and off the states health insurance exchange. It also filed for an average 32% increase for small group plans, specifically employers with 50 workers or less.The firm said in a statement that these increases are based on the assumption that the government will continue to fund cost sharing reduction subsidies.We are notifying state officials that if we do not have certainty that (cost sharing reduction subsidies) will be funded for 2018 by early June, we will need to evaluate appropriate adjustments to our filings such as requesting additional rate increases, eliminating certain product offerings or exiting certain Individual ACA compliant markets altogether, the Anthem statement was quoted as saying.US Congress recently passed a law proposing radical changes to the current American health insurance system. Among its provisions is the slashing of financial support for cost sharing reductions which help keep premiums down in the Obamacare exchanges. The senate has yet to approve the proposed law.
Eighteen Penn State fraternity brothers have been charged with crimes ranging up to involuntary manslaughter in the death of a pledge who authorities say repeatedly fell down a flight of stairs after he and others were made to run a gantlet of drinking stations guzzling vodka, beer and wine.

Beta Theta Pi members resisted getting help for 19-year-old Timothy Piazza, causing him to suffer for hours and possibly making his injuries worse, a prosecutor said Friday in announcing the results of a grand jury investigation.

This is a very sad day for Centre County  its been sad ever since we lost a child for reasons that are totally preventable, District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said.

Eight of the fraternity brothers and the chapter were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Other charges include aggravated and simple assault, evidence tampering, alcohol-related violations and hazing.

An attorney for the chapter didnt immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The grand jury, aided by security camera footage, said the fraternity was heavily stocked with booze for the Feb. 2 ceremony at which Piazza, a sophomore engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey, and 13 others accepted pledge bids. The pledges were pressured to chug vodka, shotgun beers and drink wine.

Piazza tumbled down a flight of stairs that night and fell several other times, injuring his head, Miller said. The next morning, he fell down the stairs again and was unconscious when help was finally summoned. He died Feb. 4 as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

Miller said doctors estimate Piazza had a blood-alcohol content of nearly 0.40 percent; the legal limit for drivers, for comparison, is 0.08 percent.

The investigation found some frat members tried to conceal what happened. It found that a text message recovered by police urged pledges to get rid of evidence of alcohol and that conversations discussing deleting conversations from a messaging app were discovered.

Piazzas father, Jim Piazza, blamed a flagrant disregard for the law and said the death didnt have to happen.

Sadly, the dad said, were never going to see his smile again except in pictures.

Penn State permanently banned Beta Theta Pi on March 30, accusing it of a persistent pattern of excessive drinking, drug use and hazing.

University President Eric Barron called the report heart-wrenching, sickening and incomprehensible.

It is numbing how an atmosphere that endangers the well-being and safety of another person could occur within an organization that prided itself on commitment to each other and to its community, Barron said.

Miller said video footage turned over to investigators provided evidence of what occurred and contradicted stories some witnesses had told.

The cameras recorded Piazza drinking vodka and beer and an hour later needing help to walk from an area near the basement stairs to a couch. Piazza later is shown trying unsuccessfully to open the front door, then severely staggering drunkenly toward the basement steps, the grand jury report said.

He was found at the bottom of the steps after apparently falling face-first. Four brothers carried his limp body upstairs, where some poured liquid on him and one slapped him in the face, the grand jury said. Fraternity members put a backpack containing textbooks on him so he wouldnt suffocate on his own vomit, the grand jury wrote.

When a brother insisted Piazza needed medical help, he was confronted and shoved into a wall, the report said. When that brother insisted again that Piazza required help, he was told others were biology and kinesiology majors so his opinion wasnt as valuable as theirs, it said.

Piazza tried to get up later but fell backward and hit his head on the wooden floor, the report said. He also fell onto a stone floor before being found in the basement hours later, it said.

Timothy was lying on his back with his arms clenched tight at his sides and his hands in the air, grand jurors wrote.

During the next 40 minutes, fraternity brothers shook him, tried to prop him up, covered him with a blanket, wiped his face and attempted to dress him before one finally called 911, the grand jury said.

Ten of the defendants were arraigned Friday and were released on bail. The remaining defendants will be arraigned next week.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Gibraltar is preparing for a post-Brexit setup in which its firms will have no longer access to the European Union market but will maintain a preferential relationship with Britain, a top Gibraltar financial official said on Tuesday.

The tiny British enclave on Spains southern tip, with a population of 30,000, is home to around 15,000 companies and is a major provider of insurance and gambling services.

We are currently planning for a hard Brexit, James Tipping, director at Gibraltars government body for financial promotion, told EU lawmakers in a hearing in Brussels.

He said Gibraltar did not expect to obtain a special status and was resigned to lose its access to the EU market after Britain leaves the EU at the end of a process triggered in March by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

This would mark a shift in Gibraltars stated policy of seeking extraordinary arrangements with the EU after Brexit.

Many companies have so far been attracted to Gibraltar by the prospect of being able to operate in all 28 EU countries from a territory with low tax rates and business-friendly regulations.

The loss of the access to the EU market, granted to EU member states by so-called passporting rules, may reduce firms appetite to establish their headquarters in the British enclave.

But this may not discourage Gibraltar-based firms that operate in the United Kingdom.

Our financial model will not have to change, Tipping told lawmakers, noting Britain has committed to guarantee full access to its market for Gibraltar companies.

He said about 20 percent of motor vehicles in Britain are underwritten by Gibraltar-based insurance companies, making insurers the largest financial sector in Gibraltar, which is also home to more than a dozen banks, several investment funds and top online gambling firms.

Gibraltar, often dubbed the Rock because of its famous cliff-faced mountain, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU at last years Brexit referendum.

It remains, however, committed to remain part of Britain after Brexit. The enclave rejected the idea of Britain sharing sovereignty with Spain by 99 percent to 1 percent in a 2002 referendum.

The future of Gibraltar is one of the many thorny issues that will have to be sorted in the two-year divorce talks between Britain and the EU which will end in March 2019.

The EU offered Spain a veto right over the future relationship between Gibraltar and the EU after Britain leaves the bloc.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; editing by Alison Williams)

Topics Legislation Europe
Alex Petrovich has joined privately held, independent insurance broker, Lockton Companies, as vice president in its Omaha, Neb., office.

Petrovich has a decade of experience in commercial insurance, risk management, and employee benefits across a number of industries. In his new role, Petrovich will focus on advising clients on business strategy, and deploying and guiding expert service teams and resources to ensure Locktons clients attain their business goals and objectives.

He joins Lockton from Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. where he spent two years as a sales executive. Prior to his role at Gallagher, Petrovich established his insurance expertise at Mutual of Omaha and at Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary for eight years.

Source: Lockton

Topics Nebraska
Will technology make insurance obsolete?

That was the stark question posed by William Hartnett, a former Microsoft and ACORD executive, in his opening address to the 2017 Global Insurance Symposium, April 26-27 in Des Moines. The annual event is sponsored by a coalition of Iowa insurers, reinsurers, system vendors, university insurance departments, and the states insurance department.

Citing the exponential growth and declining cost of computing power, Hartnett said a lot of technology today is getting to the point where its essentially free.

Harnett, who led Microsofts financial services operation for more than two decades, projects that, by 2023, a sum of $1,000 will be able to purchase all the cognitive capability of a human brain. Just two years later, in 2025, that $1,000 will be able to purchase the equivalent of the cognitive capabilities of all the human brains on earth.

The implications of this for insurers, Hartnett said, is that risk control will be embedded in smart devices that will monitor and regulate where we live and work, and how we travel. Eventually, the level of an individual risk will be identified with such precision that the law of large numbers, long the foundation of insurance pricing, may become irrelevant.

We can get down to a risk pool of one, Hartnett said. That doesnt sound like insurance to me. If were not doing insurance anymore, lets just admit it.

An example of how insurance becomes one component in a package of personalized risk management services was provided by speaker Matteo Carbone, founder of the Connected Insurance Observatory, an insurance innovation organization based in Milan, Italy but with participants throughout Europe and North America.

According to Carbone, an Italian auto insurer is utilizing advanced networked technology to achieve what he calls the four Ps of success: productivity, profitability, proximity (to customers), and persistence (account retention).

Carbone said the carrier offered a discounted rate plus a package of optional services to customers who would voluntarily accept telematic monitoring devices in their vehicles, which was still a novelty at the time.

There was an immediate boost in risk selection productivity, he said, as drivers with relatively good risk profiles willingly self-selected for telematics-based coverage, providing an account base with nearly 20 percent fewer claims than the market average.

Information provided by the telematics then contributed to a 7 percent reduction in average claims costs, Carbone continued. With real-time, in-depth information on accidents, the carrier has had more time to compare and manage repair costs, and to challenge estimates by body shops and inflated claims.

For example, he said, monitors in insured vehicles can measure and record the impact of a crash, allowing the company to challenge inflated claim s of bodily injury and property damage arising from a low-impact accident.

The program contributes directly to company profitability and customer proximity, he added, as most of the customers opt to pay for the comprehensive package of services available through the program. The services, accessible through a smart phone, cover every phase of a driving experience. They provide, among other things, alerts regarding traffic and weather, as well as the drivers own speed and braking. There is even information on hazards at parking locations, including a feature for summoning a bodyguard to walk you from the car.

The result, he concluded, has been less churn and more persistence (higher retention) for the programs accounts than for counterparts among other Italian auto insurers.

Following Carbones address, attendees at the GIS heard from several insurtech vendors who have developed products for incorporating smart products into risk management and insurance applications. These innovators were assisted, in part, by the Des Moines-based Global Insurance Accelerator, a consortium enterprise developed to support innovation in insurance.

Among the innovations described were capabilities for do it yourself property inspections using smartphone video, instant placement of coverage for bicycle ride-shares, streamlined access to personal data in compliance with privacy laws in different countries, and even an app for identifying potential successors as an agency owner prepares to retire.

If, as in these cases, insurance itself becomes a small part of a larger risk management operation, that is not a bad thing, said Rob McIsaac, an analyst with Novarica, during a panel discussion on corporate strategy.

Insurance can stop being the thing you call on when bad things happen, and become the thing that stops bad things from happening, he said. These interests are perfectly aligned.

Editors Note:

The members of the 2017 Global Insurance Accelerator cohort gave their demo-day pitches during the symposium. They were:

Find Bob, Toronto, Ontario (www.findbob.io) Growth, transition and succession planning tool for financial advisors and insurance agents, utilizing machine learning and elements of gamification for asset protection.

(www.findbob.io) Growth, transition and succession planning tool for financial advisors and insurance agents, utilizing machine learning and elements of gamification for asset protection. InsuranceMenu, Boston, Mass. (www.insurancemenu.com) Data-driven platform geared targeting local insurance agents, creating process efficiencies while bringing insurers closer to the customer.

(www.insurancemenu.com) Data-driven platform geared targeting local insurance agents, creating process efficiencies while bringing insurers closer to the customer. MotionsCloud, Munich, Germany (www.motionscloud.com) Mobile and artificial intelligence solutions for insurers to streamline and automate claims processes, providing better customer experience and faster claims settlement.

(www.motionscloud.com) Mobile and artificial intelligence solutions for insurers to streamline and automate claims processes, providing better customer experience and faster claims settlement. RE-Sure, Detroit, Mich. (www.re-sure.com) Blockchain-enabled, app-driven, smart insurance product designed for the on-demand economy.

(www.re-sure.com) Blockchain-enabled, app-driven, smart insurance product designed for the on-demand economy. Sentrys, Belgrade, Serbia (www.sentrys.co) Data-protection platform providing data security for consumers, vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies.

(www.sentrys.co) Data-protection platform providing data security for consumers, vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies. ViewSpection, Tucson, Ariz.(www.viewspection.com) Platform providing a transparent, collaborative method for agents and policyholders, as well as underwriting, claims and loss control departments, to share information and maximize service while preventing fraud.

Topics Carriers Claims InsurTech Tech Risk Management
Sterling Jewelers Inc. has settled claims by a U.S. agency that it discriminated against female employees in pay and promotions, but the deal will not affect a similar case brought on behalf of nearly 70,000 women who worked for the company.

The settlement was revealed in a joint filing in federal court in Buffalo, New York on Thursday by Sterling, a unit of Signet Jewelers Ltd, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Akron, Ohio-based Sterling will adopt new anti-discrimination policies and train managers on how to avoid bias, but will not pay any money to settle claims in a 2008 lawsuit by the EEOC that it engaged in a nationwide practice of paying men more than women and favoring them for promotions.

Lynn Dennison, Signets chief legal officer, said in a statement that the company, which denied any wrongdoing, was pleased to resolve the case.

Signet has a sound framework of policies and practices designed to ensure equal opportunity for women and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind, she said.

Sterling, which owns Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, is also facing class action sex discrimination claims in a case brought by female employees in private arbitration.

Signets stock plunged in February after 1,300 pages of documents in the case were made public in which women claimed they were groped, demean and pressured to have sex with male managers in exchange for raises and promotions.

In March, Signet shareholders sued the company, claiming it broke the law by failing to disclose the severity of the sex bias claims.

The class action is scheduled to go to trial early next year. A U.S. appeals court next week will hear Sterlings challenge to a decision certifying the women as a class.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Topics Lawsuits USA Claims
Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC (MMA), the middle market agency subsidiary of Marsh, has acquired Insurance Partners of Texas, an Abilene, Texas-based employee benefits consulting firm.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2004, Insurance Partners of Texas offers a wide range of employee health and benefits-related services to midsize employers in Texas. All Insurance Partners of Texas employees will join MMA, expanding the firms presence into Abilene.

Source: Marsh & McLennan Agency

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Texas
An Little Rock woman has negotiated a plea in an insurance fraud case involving a 2015 reported car accident involving a U-Haul rental vehicle and fraudulent insurance claims, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr announced.

According to the Arkansas Insurance Department, Hilary Johnson, 30, of Little Rock entered a negotiated plea of guilty to one count of insurance fraud on May 2 in Pulaski County Circuit Court. She was sentenced to three years of probation, a $500 fine, court costs, and 30 hours of community service for her participation in a 2015 scheme to collect insurance payouts from Repwest Insurance Co. from a purported vehicle crash.

The insurance department described the series of events that led to Johnsons plea agreement:

On September 30, 2015, Schanise Allen, 37, of Little Rock rented a U-Haul vehicle, purchasing the Safe Move insurance plan offered through Repwest.

Later that evening, Allen reported that she rear-ended a Dodge Challenger driven by Johnathan Summons, 33, of Little Rock on Scott Hamilton Drive in Little Rock.

Johnson was a passenger in the vehicle driven by Summons. She was joined in the vehicle by Marquis Jones, 20, of Little Rock and Chemer Beene, 36, of Little Rock. All five individuals made medical claims against Repwest from the reported accident with Summons also submitting a claim for damage to the rear left bumper of his vehicle.

In September, Beene was sentenced to 36 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. In December, Jones pled no contest to one count of insurance fraud and was sentenced to three years of probation. Summons is scheduled for trial on June 8 and Allen remains at large.

Source: Arkansas Insurance Department

Topics Auto Fraud Arkansas
Florida lawmakers have once again let slip an opportunity to address insurance claims abuse, as legislation failed to make it through the Senate before the 2017 legislative session ended Friday.

This is the fifth consecutive year that a bill on curbing assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse associated with water loss claims has failed.

Disappointed proponents of reform blasted the failure as a defeat for consumers but vowed to try again next legislative session.

This years bill House Bill 1421 was advanced at the end of April by the Florida House of Representatives. It was sponsored by Rep. James Grant (R-Tampa) and supported by consumer and insurance advocates.

Im disappointed that we were not successful in convincing the Legislature that we need its assistance to address this challenge, said Barry Gilway, Citizens president, CEO and executive director. Unfortunately, Im afraid our customers will ultimately pay the price through higher premiums.

AOB abuse in Florida has skyrocketed over the last several years, driving up litigation costs and property insurance rates across the state. The industry says the abuse is being led by attorneys working with unregulated water damage remediation firms.

Industry and consumer advocates, as well as Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier, were counting on lawmakers to close a loophole they say encourages the abuse  Floridas one-way attorney fee statute. They say this statute is designed to be a policyholder protection but is being exploited by trial lawyers and vendors that obtain an AOB from a policyholder and then sue the insurer. The statute mandates that attorney fees be paid by the insurer if a claim is found to have been underpaid by any amount.

We believe that the major incentive to the abuse that we have seen over the past few years is the one-way attorney fee statute, Altmaier told a Senate committee in early April.

The House bill would have chipped away at incentives for third parties to sue insurance companies by awarding fees under a formula based on the judgement obtained by the assignee and the pre-suit settlement offer. Under the formula, attorney fees could also be awarded to the insurer, or possibly no one, depending on the amount of the judgment. The bill also included other consumer and insurance company protections for AOBs in regards to litigation and assignment agreements.

Altmaier and the industry actively lobbied the Florida Legislature for the AOB reform this year after watching similar efforts fail over the last four years, but these stakeholders confronted pushback from the trial bar.

Business lobbyists said property insurance customers will end up paying for the lawmakers inaction.

Floridas hardworking families should remember this  the Florida Senate chose to side with anti-consumer special interests, instead of stepping up and protecting consumers from an AOB loophole that has attracted plaintiffs attorneys like gold rush miners, said Edie Ousley, vice president of Public Affairs for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which spearheads the Consumer Protection Coalition, a group against AOB abuse. Their failure to act means homeowners will be forced to spend more on property insurance in the coming year and home ownership will become less affordable for many Floridians.

Floridas insurer of last resort, Citizens, has seen a dramatic increase in AOB litigation on water damage claims over the last five years, particularly in south Florida. This year it raised rates by 6.4 percent because of AOB abuse and saw a $27 million net loss, its first loss since 2005.

The rest of the Florida insurance industry is also reporting an increase in AOBs and litigation and has stopped writing in certain zip codes in addition to raising rates. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approved 73 percent of the rate increases filed by insurers writing property insurance in the state this year, increases largely attributed to AOB claims.

Insurance representatives are now expecting the Florida market will face a property insurance affordability and availability crisis.

Without reform, consumers will continue to be taken advantage of by scam artist vendors and lawyers, and insurance rates will continue their upward march in response to exponentially rising claims costs, said Liz Reynolds, State Affairs director, Southeast Region, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). Hurricane AOB will rage on.

This is the fifth year of our effort to address AOB abuse and related litigation, and we are again disappointed by the Legislatures failure to pass meaningful reform to benefit consumers, said Michael Carlson, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida. What will result is another year of potential insurance rate increases driven by increases in the cost of non-catastrophe AOB claims.

Reform advocates say they will not drop the AOB topic just because Florida legislators did, and now have their sights set on the 2018 session to get something done.

We intend to let homeowners know that the pain they are experiencing in their pocketbooks is the direct result of legislative inaction, and we will fight hard again for reforms when the Legislature reconvenes in January, Ousley said.

We hope that the passage by the House of HB 1421 will give us a renewed opportunity for discussion of the issue as we approach the 2018 Session which begins in January, said Carlson.

Related:

Topics Lawsuits Carriers Florida Legislation Claims Property
State records show Colorado has only three people assigned to check on the safety of pipelines running from about 54,000 active oil and gas wells, a task that came under scrutiny after a leaking pipeline was blamed for a fatal house explosion.

The Denver Post reported that since 2016, an inspector has checked about 400 of those pipelines and an engineer has audited company records for inspections of lines at about 2,800 wells.

The April 17 explosion in the town of Firestone killed two people. Investigators have said unrefined, odorless gas was leaking into the home from a pipeline that was thought to be out of service but was still connected to a nearby well.

The pipeline, called a flow line, is one of thousands in the state installed to carry oil and gas from wells to storage tanks or other collection points.

After investigators announced their findings in the Firestone explosion, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates the industry, ordered energy companies to inspect and test all flow lines within 1,000 feet of occupied buildings.

A 2014 report by the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission requested by the Legislature said pipelines were the source of half of the equipment failures that cause industry spills in Colorado.

The report said the state did not have a formal program to monitor whether energy companies were conducting required tests on pipelines.

In 2016, the commissioner assigned an inspector, and engineer and a supervisor to monitor compliance.

The engineer has audited 24 oil and gas companies to see if they are keeping records on required annual pipeline tests. No operators were cited for a violation in 2016.

Lawmakers and regulators are weighing more extensive measures including a comprehensive map of all flow lines. Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat and a former petroleum geologist, and legislators from both parties agree a map is needed.

Two Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Friday to require such a map, but the Legislature adjourns this week and the measure faces long odds.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Energy Oil Gas Colorado
E arrivata lufficialita, dopo una giornata di voci rincorrenti: per il triennio 2018-2021 sara lemittente Sky a godere dei diritti televisivi per trasmettere, in esclusiva assoluta, le partite non solo delle prossime edizioni dellEuropa League ma anche quelle della massima competizione continentale, la Champions. Un pacchetto da favola per il quale la tv satellitare di Rupert Murdoch avrebbe messo sul piatto unofferta giudicata piu congrua di quella presentata dalla concorrente Mediaset. A dare lannuncio dellaffare concluso e stata la stessa Sky che, in un comunicato, ha spiegato che il nuovo format sviluppato dalla UEFA ci consentira di portare ai nostri abbonati un prodotto rivoluzionario per il calcio europeo in Italia. Per la prima volta la UEFA Champions League e la UEFA Europa League saranno insieme in unesclusiva offerta integrata, che permettera agli appassionati di seguire fino a 7 squadre italiane, mai cosi tante prima dora, impegnate nelle sfide con i migliori club europei.

Sky: Rafforzata leadership

Anche il livello tecnico dellofferta sara altissimo ed e ancora lemittente a rivelare i dettagli: Continueremo a fare innovazione, trasmettendo le partite piu importanti anche in 4K HDR. Questofferta senza precedenti rafforza la posizione di Sky come leader della programmazione sportiva in Italia ed e anche un altro passo importante di sostegno al calcio italiano. Insomma, per i prossimi tre anni, sara unegemonia totale quella della satellitare sul calcio europeo, avendo mantenuto il pacchetto Europa League (gia sua esclusiva) e affiancandola a quello ancor piu appetibile della Champions League ad appannaggio Mediaset dal 2015 al 2018.

Sfida Serie A

Ora la sfida fra i due colossi delle trasmissioni sportive si spostera sui diritti televisivi della prossima Serie A, per la quale si e ancora in attesa di un nuovo bando che, come annunciato dal commissario della Lega, Carlo Tavecchio, avra le stesse caratteristiche del precedente, andato pero a vuoto: solo una delle offerte presentate per i cinque pacchetti, infatti, superava la soglia minima richiesta dalla base dasta. Niente di fatto, quindi, anche in virtu della stessa Mediaset che, in sostanza, ha disertato il bando (giudicato inaccettabile) non presentando alcuna offerta. La battaglia, anche in questo caso, sara sulle esclusive: del resto, dopo essersi vista scivolare via una componente importante come la Champions, sulla Serie A Mediaset dara sicuramente battaglia.
Stock Warrants vs. Stock Options: An Overview

A stock warrant gives the holder the right to purchase a company's stock at a specific price and at a specific date. A stock warrant is issued directly by the company concerned; when an investor exercises a stock warrant, the shares that fulfill the obligation are not received from another investor but directly from the company.

An equity stock option, on the other hand, is a contract between two people that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock at a specific price, prior to a specific date, referred to as the contract expiration date.

Key Takeaways A stock warrant represents the right to purchase a company's stock at a specific price and at a specific date.

A stock warrant is issued directly by a company to an investor.

Stock options are purchased when it is believed the price of a stock will go up or down.

Stock options are typically traded between investors.

A stock warrant represents future capital for a company.

Stock Options

Options are purchased by investors when they expect the price of a stock to go up or down (depending on the option type). For example, if a stock currently trades at $40 and an investor believes the price will rise to $50 next month, he or she could purchase a $40 call option today, which would give them the right to purchase the stock at that price prior to contract expiration. Then, the investor could turn around and sell it for $50, making a profit of $10, less the cost of the option, referred to as the "premium."

Stock Warrants

When an investor exercises a warrant, they purchase stock, and the proceeds are a source of capital for the company. A warrant certificate is issued to the investor when they exercise a warrant. The certificate includes the terms of the warrant, such as the expiry date and the final day it can be exercised.

However, the warrant does not represent immediate ownership of the stocks, only the right to purchase the company shares at a particular price in the future. Warrants are not extensively used in the United States, but they are more common in China.

There are two types of warrants: a call warrant and a put warrant. A call warrant is the right to buy shares at a certain price in the future, and a put warrant is the right to sell back shares at a specific price in the future.

Key Differences

A stock warrant differs from an option in two key ways: a company issues its own warrants, and the company issues new shares for the transaction. Additionally, a company may issue a stock warrant if they want to raise additional capital from a stock offering. If a company sells shares at $100 but a warrant is just $10, more investors will exercise the right of a warrant. These warrants are a source of future capital.

Stock options are listed on exchanges. When stock options are exchanged, the company itself does not make any money from those transactions. Stock warrants can last for up to 15 years, whereas stock options typically exist for a month to two to three years.

Therefore, for long-term investments, stock warrants may be a better investment than stock options because of their longer terms. However, stock options may be a better short-term investment.
While claiming to be a moderate, Rouhani enjoyed very close relations with Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini in Paris even prior to Irans 1979 revolution.

Rouhani (first row, second from left) praying with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his followers in Neauphle-le-Chateau, France, 1978.

Rouhani has also been described as relic of the early days of the Iranian regime. He held numerous positions, including Secretary and Representative of the Supreme National Security Council, member of both the Assembly of Experts and Expediency Council, and different posts in the Majlis (parliament).

Rouhani has expressed support for blatant violations of international law over the past thirty years, including the 1979 U.S. embassy takeover, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeinis 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and the general use of extrajudicial, transnational violence (e.g., in 1987, he declared that Iranian forces had the capacity to destroy American economic interests around the world), according to The Washington Institute.

Early after the 1979 revolution Rouhani was appointed as the Military Coordinator during which he began purging the existing military, replacing them with those utterly loyal to Khomeini. Through the span of the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s that left millions of people killed and injured, and saw the regime even sending small children to battle and literally clear minefields, Rouhani is known to have served as the right hand of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, then appointed by Khomeini himself as commander of the armed forces.

In the mid-1980s, as a military commander and nascent diplomat, Rouhani implicitly endorsed the development and use of chemical weapons, reports show.

During the 1999 student uprising that shook the Iranian regimes very foundations Rouhani headed the Supreme National Security Council and made his position known through his remarks.

These students are too pathetic and worthless for us to have to begin changing our directives. The continuance of this mess is not acceptable for our regime and the people. I issued strict orders against these elements [the students] to confront and severely deal with these opportunists. Wherever they are, we will handle them and suppress them. People will witness what todays security and disciplinary forces, the heroic members of the Basij (auxiliary militia) will do to these rabble-rousers and thugs, if they dare to imagine that they can continue their so-called peaceful campaign. The agent that has united our people today, is simply indestructible; that agent is Islam and Islamic rule which is the absolute symbol of the Supreme Leadership, he said.

Later on, Rouhani served as a nuclear negotiator and placed his effort to depict an image of a cooperative Iranian regime to the international community. However, Rouhani has been quoted of boasting about deceiving the West.

Gatestone Institute reported:

In April of 2006 during a speech at the Assembly of Clerics, Rouhani was caught on tape, boasting that while talks were taking place in Teheran, Iran was able to complete the installation of equipment for conversion of yellowcake  a key stage in the nuclear fuel process  at its Isfahan plant, but at the same time convince European diplomats that nothing was afoot. From the outset, he said, the Americans kept telling the Europeans, The Iranians are lying and deceiving you and they have not told you everything. The Europeans used to respond, We trust them!'

After reaching the regimes presidency in 2013, Rouhani pledged to loosen social restrictions, provide economic relief for the people and release political prisoners. Four years down the road, however, Iran continues to be known for its flagrant human rights violations. Rouhanis report card shows over 3,000 executions. The windfall provided through the deal that claimed to curb Irans nuclear program has only been used to further fuel Irans involvement in Syria and warmongering across the region, purchase weapons systems and further drive the regimes ballistic missile initiatives. And last but not least, the Iranian people have yet to feel any social or economic relief under Rouhanis tenure.
ARE YOU A TOP COMPANY?

What it Really Means to be a Top Company!

To be a Top Company in Irish Construction Industry Magazines Top Companies listing means far more than just a rank and position in an ordered catalogue of names. To us, it means that your efforts to be the best you can be and to excel in your industry and sector have been effective and have paid dividends. To us, it means that your determination and commitment to develop and instil a positive work culture and environment have brought your business due success plus satisfaction. We see it as you being a supportive and inclusive place in which to work that strives to bring the best out of everyone across every level of the organisation.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
Latest: Current weather conditions have created a perfect storm for forest fires, according to Coillte.

Firefighters are using helicopters to dump water on a large fire in the countrys biggest forest in Connemara.

The blaze in Cloosh Valley has already destroyed one in four trees in the forest.

Meanwhile, firefighters in Sligo fought this massive fire in the Ox Mountains. Sligo Fire Brigade, Coillte and the Air Corps have been involved in the operation over the last number of days.

Update 10am: Air Corps helicopters have been called in, in an attempt to quell the fire blazing through Cloosh Valley in Galway.

Coillte has said it is battling fires on its land at as many as 30 separate locations.

This is the largest fire yet in the whole of Ireland and threatens the Galway Wind Park as well as devastating the landscape and threatening homes.

Galway Green Party representative Pauline OReilly said: "We have got to get serious about blazes which have been ravaging our beautiful countryside throughout March, April and May.

"Burning is illegal from March 1 through to September. Coillte are clear that they believe, as do local residents, that these fires have been lit illegally putting tremendous pressure on fire services and having a detrimental effect on wildlife".

Earlier Firefighters are continuing efforts to save the countrys biggest forest from destruction.

The state-owned forestry company Coillte says a blaze in the Cloosh Valley forest near Oughterard Co Galway is out of control.

About a quarter of the plantation has already been lost.

It is one of almost 40 active forests fires across the country.

Mark Carlin of Coillte says the public need to be aware of the risk posed by lighting fires: "Its appeared the most the extreme fire danger I can ever remember.

"With the dry vegetation, the dry weather and high winds, it is critical that people take far far greater care and unfortunately we do suspect that some of these fires are started maliciously."
Irishman Ibrahim Halawa is set to stand trial in Egypt today.

He has been imprisoned for almost four years after his arrest during demonstrations against the ousting of president Mohammed Morsi in August 2013.

The 21 year old from Dublin is facing trial alongside hundreds of other defendants.

The trial has been adjourned 22 times already.
A man arrested under the Terrorism Offences Act has been released without charge.

The Moroccan man in his 40s had been arrested along with an Algerian man in his 30s who remains in custody.

The arrests followed a number of searches in Swords, Stepaside and the South Circular Road in Dublin - as well as Trim in Co Meath.

The Moroccan man has since been released from custody and a file is being prepared for the DPP.

Earlier:

Two men were arrested yesterday on suspicion of funding Islamic State (IS) as part of a sophisticated operation by specialist Garda terrorism units, writes Cormac O'Keeffe.

Separate Garda sources last night described as significant the arrest of the duo  one an Algerian aged in his 30s, and the other a Moroccan aged in his 40s.

They were arrested on suspicion of money laundering to fund international terrorism  the second such operation in under a fortnight.

Sources said the two operations are not connected, although both involve Irish and foreign police and security agencies.

The operation was carried out by the Counter Terrorism International unit, attached to the Special Detective Unit, which combats subversive activity. They were assisted by the Security & Intelligence Section at Garda HQ  the forces intelligence-gathering agency.

Four searches were conducted as part of the operation. Three were across Dublin: In Stepaside, south county Dublin; Swords, north county Dublin; and South Circular Rd in the south inner city. A fourth search was conducted in Trim, Co Meath.

The men were arrested in Swords and Stepaside.

Gardai removed digital devices as well as documentation.

They will now be examined to identify sources of money, how it was being laundered, and where it was being sent.

Sources said these operations do not necessarily indicate a rise in IS-related activity, and Garda units act when the time is right.

Sources said yesterdays operation is likely to lead to further inquiries.

The two men were detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and were being held at Blackrock Garda Station.
Gardai investigating international terrorism have arrested an Algerian man and another of Moroccan origin.

The pair, aged in their 30s and 40s, were arrested in Dublin today.

They are being questioned about suspected crimes under the Terrorist Offences Act 2015.

A number of searches were also carried out in Swords, Stepaside and South Circular Road - all in the Irish capital - as well as Trim in Co Meath.

The operation was spearheaded by the Counter Terrorism International Unit of the Garda's Special Detective Unit.

The two detained men are being held at Blackrock Garda station.

It is understood they are being questioned about suspected financial transactions linked to international terrorism.

The arrests and raids were carried out as part of a co-ordinated operation involving law enforcement agencies in a number of European countries.

Documentation and laptops are among items that have been seized in the Irish searches.
A woman has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her toddler son at their home in Dublin.

Hazel Waters of Ridge Hall in Ballybrack was due to stand trial for the murder of two-year-old Hassan Khan in October 2014.

However, her plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter was accepted by the DPP this morning.

Her sentence hearing is due to take place later this month.

Ms Waters had been charged after toddler Muhammad Hassan Khan was found dead with stab wounds in the bedroom at their apartment at about 2pm on October 16, 2014.

Ms Waters was originally remanded to the Dochas Centre, the women's unit in Mountjoy Prison, but was later transferred to the Central Mental Hospital.

At her first hearing on October 18, 2014, the court had heard her only income was a lone parent allowance.

Hassan's father, acupuncturist Mohammed Saleem Khan, 61, identified the body of his son for gardai at Tallaght hospital on the evening of October 17, 2014.

He laid their son, who was aged two years and nine months, to rest following a burial ceremony on October 20 2014.
A six-year-old girl has died and six other children have been injured after an inflatable bouncy castle came free and flew into the air, hurling the children to the ground, Spanish police said.

The incident happened at a restaurant in the north-eastern town of Caldes de Malavella, according to a Catalan regional government statement.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates has spoken publicly for the first time about concerns she brought to the Trump White House on Russia.

She told Congress she warned that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "essentially could be blackmailed" because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

The statements from Ms Yates, an Obama administration holdover, offered by far the most detailed account of the chain of events that led to Mr Flynn leaving the government in the first weeks of the Trump administration.

Ms Yates, appearing before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, described discussions with Trump White House Counsel Don McGahn in late January in which she warned that Mr Flynn apparently had misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador.

White House officials had insisted that Mr Flynn had not discussed US-imposed sanctions with Mr Kislyak during the presidential transition period, but asked Mr Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had misled them about the nature of the calls.

"We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was making false statements to the public and because we believed that Gen Flynn was possibly compromised," Ms Yates said.

"We knew that was not a good situation, which is why we wanted to let the White House know about it."

The January 26 conversation took place two days after the FBI interviewed Mr Flynn about those contacts. Mr McGahn asked Ms Yates how Mr Flynn did in the interview, but Ms Yates said she could not answer.

She was fired four days later by the Trump administration. James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, testified as well.

He retired when Mr Trump took office.

The hearing came hours after former Obama administration officials revealed that President Obama had warned Mr Trump against hiring Mr Flynn as national security adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election.

The highly anticipated hearing - it was Ms Yates's first appearance on Capitol Hill since her firing - before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election was expected to fill in basic details in the chain of events that led to Mr Flynn's ouster.

Word that President Obama directly warned Mr Trump suggests that concern over Mr Flynn's possible appointment spread to the highest level of government months before his departure.

The Obama-Trump discussion was first reported on Monday by NBC-TV.

Mr Flynn's forced February resignation followed media reports that he had discussed US-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak, which was contrary to the public representations of the Trump White House.

Earlier on Monday, former officials said Mr Obama had raised general concerns about Mr Flynn with Mr Trump and told the incoming president there were better people for the national security post.

President Trump's White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in response that if Mr Obama "was seriously concerned" about Mr Flynn's connections to Russia or other foreign countries, he should have withheld Mr Flynn's security clearance.

Mr Flynn served under President Obama as defence intelligence chief before Mr Obama dismissed him from that post.

President Trump moved to distance himself from his former adviser's troubles, tweeting that it was the Obama administration that gave Mr Flynn "the highest security clearance" when he worked at the Pentagon.

President Trump made no mention of the fact that Mr Flynn had been fired by the Obama administration in 2014.

In a second tweet, President Trump said Ms Yates should be asked under oath "if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers" soon after she raised concerns about Mr Flynn with Mr McGahn.

She said on Monday she did not - and that she had revealed no classified information herself.

President Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and is not aware of any involvement by his aides in Moscow's interference in the election.

He has dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaign's possible ties to the election meddling as a "hoax" driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House.

AP
A pregnant British woman has been killed in a scooter accident in Thailand, her boyfriend has said.

Sophie Emma Rose, 41, originally from Blackpool in Lancashire, died in the crash in Thalang, Phuket, on Monday.

Her boyfriend, Danny Glass, 29, from Margate in Kent, was also injured.

He paid tribute to his partner on Facebook, saying: "I am in total shock as I've lost the most precious person I had ever connected with."

He added: "She was also pregnant so I lost my child too."

Ms Rose, who lived in Phuket, featured in national newspaper reports last year after saying women should breastfeed until their children are aged eight.

She uploaded videos of her breastfeeding her five-year-old son and her life abroad in her YouTube channel, Sophie's Joy.

Last Thursday, she gave viewers an update on her pregnancy.

The Phuket News reported that she was crushed to death under an 18-wheeled truck when the motorbike she was riding pillion on swerved to avoid a parked car.

Mr Glass, who was driving the motorbike, suffered minor injuries and the 30-year-old truck driver later surrendered himself to police, it added.

The Foreign Office said: "We are providing support to a British man who was injured in a road traffic accident in Thalang, Thailand, and are in contact with the local police."
Wicklow native Ray Gammell, the Abu Dhabi-based groups chief people and performance officer, will assume full management responsibilities from today, Etihad said.

That means Mr Hogan effectively has no official role. His departure is now set for July 1, the earliest possible date after the company previously said hed leave sometime in the second half.

Etihad said the move was consistent with its management transition plan.

With Etihad still searching for a permanent CEO, the sudden management handover suggests urgency on the part of its state owners to proceed with a re-evaluation of the groups direction, especially its so-called Equity Alliance strategy.

Under Mr Hogan, who ran the airline for more than a decade, Etihad took minority stakes in mostly underperforming airlines in an effort to turn them around while feeding more traffic through its Abu Dhabi hub.

Mr Gammel will continue Etihads strategic review aimed at repositioning the business for a prolonged period of challenges for global aviation, chairman Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei said in the statement, adding that a new CEO is expected to be named in a few weeks.

Mr Hogan devised the acquisition push as the company sought to catch up with larger Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.

While some of its investments have shown a profit, Alitalia filed for bankruptcy last week amid mounting losses and a lack of funds. Hours after the Italian carriers insolvency, Air Berlin revealed that Etihad granted the German company financial support for at least another 18 months, including 350m of new funds.

Mr Gammell joined Etihad in 2009 after working at Intel and Royal Bank of Scotland. His main responsibility was recruiting more Emiratis into Etihads workforce.

In addition to his appointment, the company named Ricky Thirion, currently senior vice president of group treasury, as its interim chief financial officer. He replaces James Rigney, who is also leaving.

Bloomberg
Danny Whelan, aged 25, of no fixed abode but formerly of Thomas St, Waterford, and originally from Thurles, Co Tipperary, is accused of murdering Samantha Walsh at an unknown time between April 27 and April 28.

He was making his second appearance at Waterford District Court in relation to the allegation, having been charged on Monday last week at the Garda station.

Several members of the public shouted obscenities at the accused when he was brought into the courtroom by prison officers and gardai just after 11.30am yesterday.

One person threw a plastic bottle in his direction and about 15 people left their seats and attempted to get at the accused.

More than a dozen gardai immediately intervened to prevent anyone getting at the accused, who was quickly taken out of the courtroom, and it was a couple of minutes before calm was restored.

Judge Kevin Staunton left the courtroom while the trouble was ongoing. Gardai removed those involved from the building and they waited outside during the court adjournment.

The judge returned at about 11.50am and the first case taken was Mr Whelans remand appearance. He was brought in by prison staff and stood against a side wall during the brief hearing, not called upon to speak.

A woman who had stayed in the room became upset and shouted at the accused before leaving of her own accord, followed by a woman who also shouted at the accused and then left.

Emotions are high, said Judge Staunton.

Mr Whelans solicitor, Colin Morrissey, said there was consent to a further remand in custody, for a month, to allow the State prepare a book of evidence.

Inspector Stephen OSullivan applied for this remand and Judge Staunton granted it, adjourning until June 6.

Ms Walsh was discovered dead in an apartment on Thomas St, Waterford City, on April 28, by emergency personnel after a man raised the alarm.

She was buried on Tuesday of last week in Kilbarry cemetery on the edge of Waterford City.

She was originally from Lisduggan in Waterford.
City have cruised to 12 wins in 12 games but some of their fans, who pleaded guilty to engaging in a violent disorder, are missing out.

Solicitor Frank Buttimer, representing several of the excluded fans, said: I dont wish to make light of it but they are missing the best season of their lives.

Inspector Ronan Kennelly said the DPP had complimented Sgt Alan Cronin for the quality and professionalism of his identification which saw extensive labelling through CCTV of the individual actions of those involved.

Judge Olann Kelleher, at Cork District Court yesterday, said: This is a tragic situation where people go to matches and behave like this. The court takes a very serious view of it.

He said he also had to show regard for the residents of the Turners Cross area and the havoc caused to them by such violence.

Sgt Cronin said the incident occurred prior to a match between Cork City and Bohs at Turners Cross on July 31, 2015. Before the melee, a group of Bohs fans were in Murphys Garden and a group of Cork fans were making their way from the Evergreen Bar.

Two spotters from the Bohs group ran to alert their group some Cork fans were on the way. An altercation started and bottles and stones were thrown. Gardai later established 38 people were involved in the violent incident.

Some were dealt with by gardai through adult cautions and others via the juvenile liaison scheme.

Seven defendants pleaded guilty yesterday to engaging in an affray such that a person of reasonable firmness might be in fear due to the use of or threat of violence.

Sgt Cronin said: Bottles and stones were thrown. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. Some of the Cork fans walked away. Some stayed around but did not get involved. Amazingly, some of the groups went back into the bar and drank.

He said the clash followed a similar incident in Dublin before a match between the teams in May 2015.

Sharon Brooks represented Andrew Byrne, aged 18, of 3 Rollins Court, Sallynoggin, Dublin, who is to get the benefit of a dismissal under the Probation of Offenders Act on paying 400 to Simon.

Cameron Ashworth, aged 22, of 19 Sillogue Park, Ballymun, Dublin, failed to appear. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Only one man was jailed for his part in the incident.

Judge Olann Kelleher said John Hayes, 24, of 11 Lower Derrynane Rd, Turners Cross, had previously suspended jail terms for other offences.

Fines of 400 were imposed on the remaining five defendants, all represented by Mr Buttimer. None had previous convictions.

They were Morgan Carey, aged 27, who lives an apartment at Hanover Mews, Cork; Jason Kelly, aged 24, of 6 Brandon Crescent, Dillons Cross, Cork; Colin McConnell, aged 20, of 38 The Demesne , Killester, Dublin; Tony McKeown, aged 18, of 15 The Gates, Matthew Hill, Lehenaghmore, Cork, and Christopher OConnor, aged 24, 40 Fairfield Green, Farranree, Cork.
European Affairs Minister Dara Murphy revealed his support at the annual general meeting of the Cork North Central branch, attended by Mr Coveney last night.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Murphy said Mr Coveney should become Fine Gaels next leader because his experience as an MEP from 2004 to 2007 will help in Brexit negotiations, his knowledge of the agriculture sector means he understands Irelands economic base, and his decision to take on the housing and water controversies shows he has leadership qualities.

Mr Murphy  who has previously suggested Mr Kenny will remain in power until summer 2018  said he remains a loyal supporter of the Taoiseach.

However, he said should the Taoiseach resign in the near future, he will throw his weight behind Mr Coveneys bid to outgun fellow leadership competitor Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar.

I remain completely a supporter of the Taoiseach, he said.

However, if in the future a vacancy arises, I believe Simons performance in Europe and knowledge of the agriculture sector means he has the deepest skills of all the candidates.

Mr Murphys public backing of Mr Coveney follows news late last month that Health Minister Simon Harris has attended meetings of the housing ministers leadership campaign team, despite Mr Harris declining to say if he is backing him.

Independent polls suggest at this early stage Mr Varadkar remains ahead in all three electoral categories  grassroots, councillors, and TDs/senators.

Meanwhile, Mr Coveney has insisted he has no plans to launch a leadership bid before Mr Kenny steps down amid suggestions his attendance at the Cork North Central and East Cork agms last night was designed to shore up local support.

Supporters of Mr Coveney and Mr Varadkar have claimed in recent days to be head in the unofficial leadership race, and have accused each other of negative spinning.

While numerous Fine Gael figures across all camps say it is widely accepted Mr Kenny will announce plans to step down in the coming weeks, no definitive timeline has been set.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan yesterday said he believes there will be a decision over the next few weeks, after Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the issue has been dragging out for far too long.
The planned pedestrianised zone running from Dame St past the Bank of Ireland and across the front of Trinity College will be paved with granite, lined with trees and will include a defined cycle path and a separate route for buses, taxis, and Luas trams.

Dublin City Council released new impressions of the final design and said the development was a unique opportunity to reclaim an important urban space.

Lead architect Paul Keogh said: With Dublin City Council, we are aiming to create Dublins living room  a place that is safe, adaptable and friendly for people of all ages, both for everyday social interaction and for major public events, comparable with world-class spaces of similar scale internationally.

If planners give it the go-ahead in the coming months, work lifting the roads and removing existing trees is scheduled to begin next January, with the entire project taking about a year to complete.

An artists impression of the projected view looking east along Dame St towards Trinity College. According to Dublin City Council, the dramatic new 7,300 sq m pedestrian-priority space will significantly improve the quality of the citys public realm.

The council said the plaza, or civic space as it described it, will reclaim College Greens historic footprint running from the front gates of Trinity College to Anglesea St and also take in Foster Place.

The two-way Luas lines at the front of the university will provide a strip for the limited amount of public transport traffic to pass through on a north-south route.

Taxi ranks will be shifted on to neighbouring streets and a new turning circle for buses is being built at the Dame St end of College Green.

Twenty-two new trees will be planted, the council said, and the existing Henry Grattan and Thomas Davis monuments will be restored as key focal points, with the Davis statue reset on a spot slightly further west of where it now sits.

Fountains are also being set into the ground, with one section of the plaza holding 32 individual seasonally controlled water jets, which will be switched off for public events.

The project is being designed by Dixon Jones/Paul Keogh Architects.

Architect Ali Grehan said: The clear preference was for a pedestrian and cycle-friendly open space. This College Green project is a unique opportunity for Dublin to reclaim an urban space of prime civic importance and of national and international significance.
Figures released in a bulletin noted that in Cork and Kerry last year there were 18 confirmed cases compared to 12 in 2015.

It said that there were two deaths, both in elderly patients, one with confirmed Group C strain. The group was unavailable in the second case.

The Department of Public Health HSE South bulletin also highlights six confirmed cases in the first two months of this year, compared to three in the same period in 2016.

Of the six cases, there were three Group B strains and three Group C cases.

It said: Tragically, there have been two deaths. This compares to three cases in the same time period in 2016.

The increase in cases of meningococcal disease in Cork and Kerry is a concern, particularly the increase in cases of MenC.

"The current MenC vaccine schedule is  MenC vaccine at 6 months and booster at 13 months, MenC adolescent booster in 1st year second level schools, delivered by HSE school immunisation teams.

"This booster has been offered to 1st year students since the 2014/2015 school year, so this is the third year of the programme.

The recent cases in adults are not directly linked to past non-vaccination in childhood, but the bulletin does point out a more recent issue.

Uptake statistics show a drop off in uptake of the MenC booster at 13 months compared to the two-, four-, and six-months vaccines, it said.

The most recent figures show that only 88% of 2-years-olds have had their 13-month booster dose of MenC.

In a statement, the Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare Organisation said: While any increase at all is a cause for concern, we would like stress that numbers are lower than they were historically.

Since accurate records became available in 1992 the highest incidence of meningococcal disease occurred in 1999, at 11 cases per 100,000, and the lowest in 2012, at 0.75 cases per 100,000.

However, the bulletin notes that the incidence has been increasing slowly since 2012.

Head of Health and Wellbeing Priscilla Lynch said: We would like to take this opportunity to remind parents of the importance of the free childhood vaccination schedule and especially the MenC vaccine at six months, 13 months, and first year in secondary school and MenB, which is given to babies born after October 1, 2016, at two months, four months, and 12 months.

www.lenus.ie/hse/handle/10147/621346
Tanaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald announced the wide-ranging probe into the Garda in the wake of a series of scandals in recent months.

She is due to update her Cabinet colleagues on the review this morning and will propose a person to fill the role of chairperson for approval.

It is then expected that Ms Fitzgerald will consult the chairperson on the final terms of reference before bringing them to the Cabinet next week.

The possibility of a historic split of Irelands security and policing systems is one potential move that the review could recommend.

Other areas the root-and- branch review will examine include the culture and ethos of the force, structures and management arrangements, oversight and accountability as well as best practices in other countries.

Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan said the Patten-type review will hopefully provide an opportunity to consider the future of the Garda Siochana outside the context of any specific controversy.

Its objective must be to set forward a path for the improvement and operation of policing in Ireland in the 21st century, he said.

It is also essential, irrespective of this review, that full implementation of the reports of the Garda Inspectorate takes place. Government must ensure that these valuable reports are not ignored and that they are fully implemented.

It comes as Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan has sought to allay concerns of her top statistician regarding a crime analysis in a bid to address the latest controversy to engulf her.

It emerged at the weekend that Gurchand Singh, head of the Garda Analysis Service, wrote to her, and other senior officers, expressing concerns he had not seen a report on homicide figures before it was given to the Policing Authority on April 27.

Mr Singh is understood to have expressed his unhappiness that the view was given to the authority that the report was a united and joint review of homicide data compiled by both Garda and civilian analysts.

The Irish Examiner understands that, following receipt of his letter, Ms OSullivan gave Mr Singh the report. He is now reviewing the report and it is thought he will inform the commissioner whether or not he concurs with its findings or if any alterations are necessary.

It is thought that the commissioners office, in turn, will notify the authority of any amendments to the report and Mr Singhs response. It comes as the Policing Authority yesterday wrote to the commissioner on the issue.

It comes as the Policing Authority yesterday wrote to the commissioner on the issue.

In response to a list of questions from the Irish Examiner, the authority said: The chairperson confirmed yesterday that she had noted the story in yesterdays Sunday Times regarding the classification of homicide figures and that the authority would be following up on the matter with the Garda Commissioner today.

"This follow-up is in progress and the authority has no further comment to make at this time.

Mr Singh sent a letter to a number of senior managers at Garda HQ in the days after a public meeting with the authority, which he attended.

Policing Authority chairperson Josephine Feehily asked questions about a review on homicide figures between 2013-2015 that had been conducted and was told that the document was the result of a united and joint review carried out by civilian analysts and senior gardai.

Mr Singh told Ms Feehily he did not see the final report.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Tom ODonnell jailed Brazilian-born Aulicete Walsh, 54, for four months for brothel keeping in Ennis and Limerick in May 2015, telling the court that he did not regard her as a victim.

Ms Walsh was appealing an eight-month jail term imposed on her at the district court in March. Judge ODonnell said he did not find anything wrong with the district court sentence.

However, he ordered that the two four-month jail terms imposed consecutively in the district court be made concurrent.

Ms Walsh of Breskabeg, Clarina, Co Limerick, was previously convicted of brothel keeping and fined 750 in 2012 at Newcastle West District Court.

The reason put forward that this lady went back into prostitution was because her husbands spending habits got out of kilter is in the realms of Walter Mitty. I find it incredible to say the least, Judge ODonnell said.

Ms Walsh was accompanied to court by her husband, Patrick Walsh, 53.

On instructions from his client, solicitor Daragh Hassett said that Ms Walsh came from abject poverty in Brazil and was put into working as a prostitute in her early teens. Mr Hassett said Ms Walsh made a clean break from being a prostitute and came to Ireland and worked as a cleaner.

He said that, unfortunately for Ms Walsh, her husband is a man who likes to spend money he hasnt got and his spending got on top of them and this drove Ms Walsh back into the trade.

Acting for the State, solicitor Aisling Casey said that, when Ms Walsh was arrested on suspicion of brothel keeping in Ennis, she was driving a 2016 Renault Kadjar. Mr Hassett replied that the new car was an example of Ms Walshs husbands overspending.

Mr Hassett said: This monster needed to be fed. The credit card debts mounted and she went back into the trade of prostitution that she had given up.

However, Mr Hassett said the husbands view is that he knew about her background before marrying her and he feels he drove her to what she did here and in some ways feels culpable for what happened.

Ms Casey said Ms Walsh was renting apartments in Ennis and Limerick in May 2015 at exorbitant prices to prostitutes she made contact with via the website Escort Ireland.

Walsh was renting the Ennis apartment for 370 a month and was charging 600 a week, or 2,400 a month, to the prostitutes using it, while her Limerick apartment was costing her 650 a month and she charging 700 a week, or 2,800 a month, to the prostitutes there for the rental.

Judge ODonnell gave 14 days for Ms Walsh to get her affairs in order and she will commence her prison sentence on May 22.
He was speaking as gardai decided not to move forward with an investigation into comments made by British actor Stephen Fry in an interview with Gay Byrne on RTE in February 2015.

Its silly. Its a bit embarrassing. It needs to be changed, said Mr Harris.

Im very pleased that the Government wishes to see a referendum in relation to this issue. It obviously does require constitutional change.

Gardai said they spoke to the person who made the original complaint but have failed to find sufficient numbers of people outraged by Frys comments.

A spokesperson for Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said a decision on the scheduling of a referendum on blasphemy would be made in the light of the Governments legislative programme.

Mr Harris said he hoped a referendum would be held sooner rather than later.

This is a democracy, he said. People have the right to express whatever view they do.

Stephen Fry, regardless of your own religious views, was clearly making a number of points that he clearly felt very strongly about in his usual witty way. I think we do need a referendum.

Mr Harriss comments were echoed by former justice minister Dermot Ahern, who said he would have deleted the blasphemy provision from the Constitution if he could, but he was not prepared to hold a referendum on the issue in 2009, the year in which a specific offence of blasphemy was introduced under the Defamation Act.

If a referendum had been called it would have brought every headbanger in the country, on both sides, into the debate, said Mr Ahern.

A number of lay groups, including atheists, have called for a repeal of the current law, saying it makes the case harder to argue against similar laws elsewhere.

Michael Nugent, chair of Atheist Ireland, has described as a betrayal the Governments failure to hold a referendum on the matter.

The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation  which has 57 member states  cites Irelands law as best practice and has proposed the adoption of the precise wording in the Irish Constitution prohibiting blasphemy.

That organisation is led by Pakistan, where a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, is awaiting execution for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed after drinking water from the same fountain as Muslim neighbours.

However, the leader of Muslims in Ireland has said Irelands blasphemy laws protect against a charged atmosphere in Ireland, in a world threatened by terror.

Trinity lecturer Ali Selim said removing the legislation would be unhealthy and not helpful and described as irrational those calling for a referendum.

The law of blasphemy helps secure a positive co-existence, said Dr Selim. It is not just to protect those in the Muslim community, it is to protect those of all faith and, indeed, those of no faith.

It has to be there to regulate freedom of expression. We are very pro free expression, responsible free expression. But if it is not regulated it will turn into aggression  and it will invite aggression.
The prosecutor was giving his opening speech yesterday at the Central Criminal Court in the trial of Eric Locke, aged 35, who is accused of the murder of Sonia Blount, aged 31, in the Plaza Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin, on February 16, 2014.

Mr Locke, of St Johns Park East, Clondalkin, has pleaded not guilty. However, Patrick Gageby, defending, has said the defence admits the accused caused Ms Blounts death.

Remy Farrell, prosecuting, told the jury Ms Blount was a working single mother of a three-year-old son when she began a brief relationship with Mr Locke in late 2013.

He said it would be clear Mr Locke had not taken the ending of that relationship well, and that he seemed to have threatened suicide.

He said he continued to text her for a considerable time, and she blocked him from contacting her through Facebook in February 2014.

Sonia Blount

Mr Farrell said that by mid-February, Ms Blount had received contact from a man called Shane Cully on Facebook. He said the private messaging had started with banter.

It became a little more risque, intimate, he said, explaining that there had been a suggestion that they would meet up, implicitly, for a sexual encounter.

The chat resulted in this arrangement being made that on the evening of the 15th, Sonia Blount would meet Shane Cully in the Plaza hotel in Tallaght.

Mr Farrell said February 15 had been an important day for the deceased, having celebrated her sons third birthday party with family, who thought she was going out with a female friend that night.

She checked into the Plaza Hotel at 9pm. Shane Cully was to come along later and asked that a keycard be left for him at reception.

Later that evening, somebody did arrive at the Plaza hotel, but it wasnt Shane Cully, said Mr Farrell.

There never was a Shane Cully. What he [Mr Locke] had done was he had assumed this false identity and had made contact with Sonia Blount.

He said this seemed to have been done for one purpose, to ensure she was on her own in a hotel room.

He told the jurors that what happened in the room on his arrival was a matter for them. He said it was clear that Mr Locke had cable ties, masking tape, and a realistic-looking airgun when he went into the bedroom.

The prosecution case is that they are items he brought there with the intent of overpowering and dominating Ms Blount, he said.

He said she was found on the floor with a garment shoved in her mouth. She had died of asphyxiation and strangulation.

Mr Farrell said the accused had admitted to gardai he had strangled her, but said he did not mean to kill her. He had suggested she became distressed when he saw the items he had, he panicked and strangled her.

Mr Farrell said the jury would be asked to concentrate on the mental state of Mr Locke and would hear from psychiatrists.

The trial continues.
Lisa Finnegan also urged women in similar relationships to speak out and seek protection before it is too late.

She was speaking outside court after Vesel Jahiri was sentenced to life in jail for killing her sister, Anna Finnegan, a month after the deceased had sought shelter at a womens refuge.

Speaking to reporters on the steps of the Central Criminal Court, Dublin, yesterday, Lisa Finnegan said: Dont be afraid. I know the fear Anna was in. She was petrified to come forward.

But when she did, she was so relieved that she did.

It was tragic what happened. And were hoping that some kind of law will be changed so that women are protected the second they decide to come forward and speak out against the violence thats been rained down on them.

Were hoping somebody is listening to this and will make some move to make it safe for young women to come forward.

Jahiri, aged 35, of no fixed abode, had not guilty to murdering Anna Finnegan, aged 25, at Allendale Glen, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, on September 21, 2012.

He also pleaded not guilty to assaulting Annas brother, Karl Finnegan, causing him harm, at the same place on the same date.

Vesel Jahiri

Last month a jury found Jahiri, who is originally from Kosovo, guilty on both counts.

During the trial, Jahiri assaulted prosecution lawyer Patrick Marrinan in front of the jury after dismissing his legal team and deciding to represent himself.

Yesterday, three prison officers in full riot gear accompanied the handcuffed accused into court for his sentencing hearing.

Lisa Finnegan told the court her mind has never recovered after her sister, whom she described as an angel and an amazing mother, was murdered in such a savage and terrifying manner by a monster.

And she told how she and her family lived in terror as they waited on the killer  who had fled the country during a previous trial for the same charge  being apprehended.

She said: Anna told me the night before she was murdered some of the physical and mental torture which had been rained down on her poor little body and already exhausted mind.

As Ann and I never got to finish our chat, Im now left with despicable and torturous imaginings of what her short adult life had entailed.

"On that fatal night, when my brother Karl was also attacked and assaulted by this monster I, moments after the attack, was told he would be down for myself and my children.

Instant terror entered our lives until he was eventually found.

Then pure terror again while he was on bail, and after he absconded I barely left my home or left my childrens side. Sleep was a thing of the past. I was a prisoner in my own home, always ready to defend myself or my family.

I couldnt see Annas babies for fear that we were being watched, which we knew he did on Anna so many times.

Our lives have mostly been a living hell for the past four and a half years.

The only possible way we could ever begin to move on and try to be happy again is knowing we are safe for the longest possible time.

We hope and pray the court will consider the fear we endured.

The shocking and violent behaviour displayed to us all makes me sadly understand even more how scared she was of him.

He took an angel that night. A wonderful, loving, kind, selfless soul. An amazing mother and best sister and friend.

We will never get over the loss of Anna. I will never get over my sisters life being taken so brutally but I will live my life as best I can in her memory and, please God, without fear.

Sentencing Jahiri to life, Mr Justice Coffey also jailed him for four years for assaulting Mr Finnegan.
Thomas Farnan, aged 37, was shot dead at his home in Kilcronan Court, Clondalkin, west Dublin, just before midnight on April 25, 2016.

Gardai believe the murder stemmed from some relatively minor issue, possibly linked to a verbal altercation the victim had with his killer days beforehand.

While detectives say they have made significant progress in their investigation they believe there are people who have crucial information that could unlock the case and bring some comfort to the victims family.

Its one year since Thomas Farnan was murdered by a lone gunman to whom he had answered to door to, said Detective Inspector Colm OMalley, in an appeal run with Crimestoppers.

He said they were particularly looking for information in relation to the killer.

I believe this gunman would have spoken to individuals in relation to the intended murder of Thomas or subsequently since the murder  he spoke or bragged about it, he said.

I would appeal to them to come forward.

DI OMalley, who is leading the investigation from Clondalkin Garda Station, said he believed several people had information. He said they were either family members or close associates of the killer.

With the passage of time, they may now wish to provide information, he said.

Relationships, friendships and loyalties may have changed and people may be in a better position to help us now. He asked these individuals how they would want other people to act if someone in their family was a victim of a serious crime.

DI OMalley also asked them to think of Thomass family, his wife Elaine, their teenage son, his six siblings and mother and father.

He said the murder had taken a serious toll on them.

He said that while there was speculation the murder may have been related to the theft of a bike owned by Mr Farnan, he said this was 100% untrue.

He said gardai were still trying to establish what the motive was, but are investigating if it was linked to an apparent altercation between the victim and his killer in a public area in Clondalkin in the days before the murder.

DI OMalley said they had made significant progress in their investigation.

They have arrested four people in relation to possibly withholding information, and have gathered considerable forensic evidence.

This appeal is to those people who, we believe, have critical information which could unlock the investigation, he said.

He said the victim was known in his local area and seemed to be a good neighbour. He said on the day of the murder he had mowed a neighbours lawn.

Contact Clondalkin Garda Station on 01 666 7600 or Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25.
It was hoped that the Mackinnon review of the controversial Cork Local Government Review process, the so-called Smiddy report, which recommended a merger of Cork city and county councils, would be ready by now.

The key recommendation  to create a super-council  split the five-person committee three-to-two in favour of the merger, with UCC academics Prof Dermot Keogh and Dr Theresa Reidy publishing a minority report supporting an extension of Corks city boundary.

The recommendations triggered an unprecedented legal challenge by Cork City Council.

The stand-off led to the establishment last year of an expert five-person review group, chaired by the former chief planner in Scotland, Jim Mackinnon, which was asked to review the Smiddy recommendations and report back to the minister.

Unlike the Smiddy committee, the Mackinnon group was asked specifically to consider the strategic role of Cork City as a regional growth centre, and to consider the governance arrangements required to safeguard or enhance the metropolitan interests of the city.

The minister, Simon Coveney said he has received a comprehensive 130-page draft report from the expert review group and has sought clarification on a number of its recommendations.

He said it has drawn extensively on the research contained in the Smiddy report, published by former environment minister Alan Kelly in September 2015.

But he refused to be drawn on the nature of, or the details of its specific recommendations at this stage.

I have seen an initial draft and I have some questions in relation to that draft that Ive asked them to take a more detailed look at, he said.

For example, they were using 2011 Census figures and making assumptions around the 2016 figures. Id like the report to have 2016 figures updated.

And there were some other issues that were being recommended which I think make sense but I wanted to get some further evidence from them, as to the basis of those decisions.

He said the final report should be ready for publication by the first week of June, but suggested that the clarification could be completed quickly, so the publication date may be sooner.

Its a very comprehensive piece of work, and I hope we will be able to get political consensus, Mr Coveney said.

Of course therell be some people who wont be happy but I think it will be politically saleable.

Im a pragmatist. I want to get something of significance done that can put a governance structure in place for Cork as a region for the next 50 years. Thats what Im trying to do here.

He said once the report is finalised, he will advise senior city and council management a few hours before he intends to publish it.

He said he expects to launch the review groups recommendations in the presence of members of the MacKinnon group.
Leadership in some form or fashion is taught in every college and university on the planet and has been practiced in every organization that ever existed. Despite that omnipresence, as well as societys fascination with leadership and ample journalistic treatment of what appears to be a perennial leadership crisis, many executives lack a framework to evaluate and improve their own leadership. Good and bad leadership remains for the most part a subjective, bordering-on-mood-based assessment.

For the past six months, I have been working with a group of early-, mid- and late-stage leaders to better understand the changing state of leadership. To get the ball rolling, stretch the mind and precipitate animated conversation, I asked this group of IT leaders if the traits that made Alexander great were still relevant today. They concluded that leadership has evolved significantly in the 2,400 years since the boy king conquered most of the known western world, with contemporary leaders perceived as being more community-focused.

End of story? Far from it. The tension between the two extremes of leadership style has been studied for millennia. As Emma Dench, the McLean professor of ancient and modern history and of the classics at Harvard University who co-teaches a popular elective course at Harvard Business School called All Roads Lead to Rome: Leadership Lessons from Antiquity, explains, The Romans grappled actively with a very central issue of leadership: How much is a leader for themselves  or how much are they for the people as a whole.  Is it just you on an island, or are you part of a community? 

In recent times, community has been ascendant  but not universal. The tension remains. In 1991, Joseph Rost, professor emeritus of leadership studies in the School of Education at the University of San Diego, researched the state of leadership, examining 450 books, chapters and journal articles. His research documented more than 200 different and not always consistent ways the leadership industry defines leadership. The leadership industry cannot seem to make up its mind whether leadership involves going ahead of others, facilitating others to run, showing others how they should run, motivating others to run, designing the trail the runners run on, timing the run or giving prizes to the fastest runners.

Despite (or perhaps as a direct result of) this lack of clarity, leadership is a big industry. Annually, American companies spend more than $160 billion on leadership training and education and nearly $72 billion recruiting leaders. Global expenditures are three times bigger. The general consensus is that a) we need more leaders, and b) the leaders we have need a skills upgrade.

[ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ]

What skills, though? Leadership is not an immutable set of universal traits. The British have an expression, Horses for courses, by which they mean that just as some horses are best on wet tracks, or long tracks or short tracks, so are some people better suited to certain activities than other people. This applies in IT leadership. Horses for courses; environment matters.

To be successful, IT leaders need to identify and apply a subset of leadership traits relevant to the environment in which they find themselves. This means that when the environment changes, leaders have to change  not who they are, but how they lead.

The essential thing to realize is that the environment is changing, and radically. I have written many columns characterizing our technological age as revolutionary in nature. Such times can be disorienting, but theyre also ripe with potential. Nathan Rothschild was convinced opportunities were greatest when cannonballs were falling in the harbor, when theres blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.

In revolutionary times, two kinds of leaders present themselves, as the middle ground is deserted in favor of the extremes.

The Alpha () leader declares the status quo a disaster, claims to have the answer and starts giving orders. This style of leadership is sometimes termed leading through dominance  inducing sought-for behaviors via ones power and formal authority.

The Delta () leader acknowledges that things are not working as well as they should be and sets about asking fundamental questions designed to collaboratively get at the root cause of the problem. This style of leadership is sometimes termed leading through prestige, where behavior change is induced by displaying ones knowledge and expertise.

Which leader comes to the fore is a function of the fear, patience and wisdom of the followers. What kind of leader sits at the helm of your organization?
Industrial robots used in factories and warehouses that are connected to the internet are not secure, leaving companies open to cyberattacks and costly damages.

That's the word coming from a study conducted by global security software company Trend Micro and Polytechnic University of Milan, the largest technical university in Italy.

"The industrial robot  it's not ready for the world it's living in," said Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud research at Trend Micro. "The reality is these things are being connected in more and more places. There are a lot of attacks that could happen in that environment."

The study looked at Internet security vulnerabilities that could involve industrial robots used on manufacturing lines in areas such as the automobile and aerospace industries. The robots, which generally look like large mechanical arms, are used to move heavy objects, weld seams and fit pieces together. The machines also can be found moving and stacking crates in warehouses.

The issue is taking on greater significance as the use of robots grows in factories around the world. The International Federation of Robotics, in its World Robotics Report, said that 2.6 million industrial robots will be deployed worldwide by 2019, an increase of about 1 million since 2015.

While companies are careful to ensure that industrial robots are safe to work near people, they're often not set up for cybersecurity. But these robots, according to Nunnikhoven, are increasingly being linked to company networks and the internet.

As long as there are proper security precautions, analysts said these robots can be connected to the internet. They need cybersecurity basics such as user names and passwords, two-factor authentication, encryption and hardware-based biometric authentication.

"I'm shocked that anyone would consider attaching anything to the internet without making sure it was secured," said Dan Olds, an analyst with OrionX. "This applies to everything from home thermostats to big robotic arms. Everything attached to the internet is vulnerable to hacking."

Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said he was surprised that enterprises would forgo security on anything connected to the internet.

"The only thing I could attribute this to would be ignorance and maybe a way to save a few dollars here and there," he said. "This could be incredibly dangerous. To protect the security of robots there should be protection all the way from the robot to the network to the data center. Data should be protected at rest and in flight. This means a secure chain of command, end to end, using encryption every step of the way as well as hardware-based biometric authentication all the way through the chain."

Mike Gennert, a professor and director of the Robotics Engineering Program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Worcester, Mass., said unsecured robots are the result of IT departments having to work with a new technology.

Its a whole other level of complexity in our systems, Gennert said. In the past, when you had a robot on a factory floor, it wasnt part of a network that the outside world could view. There was a limited ability for malicious actors to connect with your robot. Now all these devices are on the internet and theyre all exposed.

That means that companies will need to make sure there are IT managers, or even C-level executives, who can oversee robotics, making sure the technology is supporting the companys business strategy while also making sure the machines are secure.

One challenge for companies will be to find people who have experience in both robotics and security. There will be a few folks, but it will be a hot market because not many students study both robotics and security, Gennert said. Those that do both will be able to write their own ticket.

Until companies can effectively combine robotics with security, robots may be an easy entryway for a hacker into a company's networks.

Nunnikhoven said theres no direct evidence that hackers have taken advantage of these exploits. There arent proper monitoring systems in place to know if the systems have been exploited, he said.

Malicious hackers could get into a robot's controller system and make adjustments to its actions, which could create a dangerous situation in the factory or could enable the robots to build unsafe products on the production line.

Hackers also could gain access to the programming used to make the company's products, or they could use the robot as a jumping off point to hack into other enterprise systems. Companies could fall victim to ransomware or sabotage.

"This is dangerous in several ways," said Olds. "The first is pretty obvious -- a hacker gets control of a robot and uses it to destroy company products or to hurt a human operator."

How the research was done

"We looked at cybersecurity [because the robots] are being connected to larger networks and the internet itself," he said. "During our research, the team found more than 83,000 of these robots exposed to the internet."

Trend Micro got that number by running searches for about two weeks on Shodan, ZoomEye and Censys, search services that index data from internet-wide scans, looking for things like web cams, routers, servers and devices on the internet of things.

They then zeroed in on the industrial routers and robots that responded to their queries.

If the industrial robots responded, that meant they were not only connected to the internet but they were exposed. If secured, the robots wouldnt be directly accessible from an unauthenticated random IP address querying them.

The robots responses also gave researchers the software version they were running, along with their manufacturer.

The study found industrial robots from five different vendors -- like ABB Robotics, FANUC FTP, Yaskawa, Kawasaki E Controller and Mitsubishi FTP -- and 12 of their brands of industrial robots. More than 80,000 of them are working in factories around the world.

Nunnikhoven said its unclear how many companies are operating these robots, but more than 10,000 of the machines are running in the U.S. The U.S., followed by Australia and Japan, were the three countries with the highest number of exposed industrial robots.

It reflects the U.S. take on manufacturing, said Nunnikhoven. Theres a resurgence in trying to get smarter factories, and smarter factories would tend to have more industrial robots in play.

According to the study, of the more than 83,000 exposed industrial robots, 59 had known vulnerabilities and more than 5,100 had no authentication.

So why would a company link an industrial robot working on a manufacturing line to the internet? Company IT managers might want internet access to robots so they could remotely adjust the robot's programming or check the status of their factory lines.

There is some logic to it, but a lot of warning flags too, Nunnikhoven said. People tend to look at the positive and the possibilities, and they dont look at the risks. They say, Hey, we can query from one central location or get status from manufacturing lines in real time, even though were manufacturing from the other side of the planet. This exposes you to significant risks.

Nunnikhoven said the researchers worked in isolation -- as opposed to a robot operating on a live factory floor. He said the researchers were able to hack into an industrial robot used for welding that had been set up like many typically are in factory situations. Once they had hacked in, the researchers were able to alter the robots configuration so it was no longer welding in a straight line.

The robot has to be extremely precise, Nunnikhoven explained. Say, a [robotic] arm is doing a weld on a car line. It has to be very accurate to ensure the car chassis is strong enough to withstand impact and meet safety regulations. If they add a curve in [the weld], thats a defect and that could be catastrophic when that car hits the road.

This story, "Industrial robots are security weak link" was originally published by Computerworld .
Craig Diangelo was an IT worker at Northeast Utilities in Connecticut until he completed training his H-1B-visa-holding replacement. He was one of about 200 who lost their jobs in 2014 after two India-based IT offshore outsourcing firms took over their work at what is now called Eversource.

Diangelo, at first, was quiet, bound by severance agreements signed with the company. Then he started speaking out.

Craig Diangelo Craig Diangelo

Now, Diangelo is running for Congress. offering up a first-hand perspective on IT outsourcing that resonates with many other workers in his state.

"I've seen the injustices that have been done to us," said Diangelo, who is not optimistic lawmakers will deliver on H-1B reform. "You can't let this matter die down, because when you stop talking about it nothing seems to get done."

Diangelo isn't a one-issue candidate or political novice. He previously served two terms as an alderman in his hometown of New Britain and remains involved in city planning work.

He's a Republican in this liberal leaning state, but that's not necessarily a liability. For instance, the mayor of New Britain, Erin Stewart, is a Republican in a city that has nearly 15,800 registered Democrats, 3,400 Republicans and 11,500 unaffiliated voters. And the congressional district Diangelo hopes to represent, the 5th, has been held by both Republicans and Democrats.

The 64-year-old has filed the necessary papers to run for office, has a campaign manager, a website and knows he has to raise an awful lot money to challenge Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty, now in her third term. But Diangelo has no illusions about his odds.

Even so, he may be the only person to run for Congress, at least in recent times, who has trained his replacement. He went to college hoping to be come a teacher, but when that proved difficult, he wound up at Travelers Insurance in Hartford -- in the company's data processing center.

[ Discuss this story. Join our H-1B/Outsourcing group on Facebook. ]

He recalled what a manager at Travelers told him: "'Don't worry. We are looking for people from college and we are going to train you in everything that you need to know,'" said Diangelo. "That's how I got into IT."

Connecticut has a unique history when it comes to the battle over outsourcing. Around 2002, IT workers in the state organized -- perhaps the first such effort in the nation -- to fight H-1B visa use. They came from families who had worked in manufacturing and seen their jobs go overseas.

"When you talk to people, you can see the frustration in their faces," said Diangelo. "I know what it's like to get laid off, I know what it's like to live on unemployment."

He draws heavily on his family's experience. Diangelo said his mother was a single working parent with four children. "She never went to the state for help," he said. "I know what's it like to get out there and work for things," including the fight for equal rights.

Diangelo says to be effective you have to be non-partisan. "You can't go in there one sided as to different issues and policies, and you can't go in there with a chip on your shoulder, either," he said. "I consider myself a moderate Republican. Being a gay man and being a Republican is sort of like an oxymoron."

IT workers often fear speaking out because of severance agreements and professional fallout. But the spread of IT offshoring has emboldened more to act. Diangelo has appeared in national media, and recently on 60 Minutes.

Diangelo said he attended some of the town hall meetings run by Esty, the incumbent, and doesn't believe she or her staff understand the issue. "I brought up the subject of H-1Bs, and all I do is get lip service and that's about it."

Esty's office, asked about Diangelo's candidacy, said she is concentrating on her duties -- not next year's election. A spokesperson, in an email, said: "Rep. Esty is focused on doing her job and solving problems on behalf of her district and the country. She's not thinking about an election that's 18 months away."
Today

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High near 70F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight

Clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Mainly sunny. High 72F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
COLFAX  Strawberry season is in full swing, just in time for Mothers Day, and the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market celebrated Friday with its annual Strawberry Day.

The celebration included free samples of strawberry ice cream and a strawberry contest.

Waynette Bailey of High Point took first place in the contest, winning $200. Bailey made a fresh creme strawberry pie. Cold and refreshing and full of strawberries, the pie has four tasty components.

I wanted to give it a pronounced strawberry flavor, Bailey said. You could take either one of those  the filling or the topping  and make a whole pie with it.

She said she came up with this recipe especially for the contest.

The pie begins with a crust made from crushed vanilla sandwich cookies. The filling combines fresh, sweetened strawberry puree with strawberry pudding, no-bake cheesecake mix, milk and plenty of heavy cream. A thick gelatin topping contributes more fresh strawberries, and the whole pie is decorated with vanilla-bean whipped cream.

I like it because its a bit lighter for the summer, Bailey said.
A Winston-Salem State University student who was found dead in a Lexington park took her own life, authorities said Monday.

Kendra Shanice Reid, 20, a WSSU sophomore from Lexington died from asphyxiation by hanging, according to her death certificate. Reids body was found hanging in a wooded area of Finch Park shortly after 9 a.m. on April 28. The public park at 15 Paul Beck Road is just outside Lexingtons city limits, the document said.

Larry James, the Davidson County medical examiner and the countys director of emergency services, ruled Reids death as a suicide. Someone found Reids body in the park in the early hours of April 28 and called 911, James said.

Emergency medical personnel then came to the scene. No autopsy was performed, James said.

Under state law, a medical examiner can forego an autopsy if the cause of death can be determined by an external examination.

Lexington Police Chief Mark Sink said that officers are still investigating Reids death.

Theres no indication of any foul play, Sink said. We are going to do a thorough and complete investigation.

Reids parents could not be reached by the Winston-Salem Journal for comment Monday.

Sink said he had spoken to Reids relatives.

We are sympathetic with the family in this situation, Sink said. Its a very sad time when someone passes.

A campaign on social media is questioning the circumstances surrounding Reids death, as well as the investigation into it.

Sink said he was aware of those accusations, but he declined to discuss them.

James said the rumors on Facebook that Reid was hanged by someone else are unfounded.

In my opinion, I didnt see any thing like that, James said.

Reid was a member of the WSSU Marching Band, known as Red Sea of Sound. She also worked as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home, according to her death certificate.

Reids funeral will be held at 1 p.m. today at New Faith Full Gospel Fellowship Center in Lexington, according to her obituary. Burial will follow at Lexington City Cemetery on South Lexington Drive.

Jay Davis, a WSSU spokesman, declined to comment about Reids death, referring to a April 29 statement by Chancellor Elwood Robinson about Reid.

As a past member of the Red Sea of Sound, Kendra was an active member of the Ram community, Robinson said. She is remembered for her passion for music and her dedication as a student. We are deeply saddened by her passing.
WASHINGTON -- The voters of France acted responsibly and decently on Sunday. But they also sent a warning.

France's new president-elect is Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old centrist whose 2-to-1 victory over the National Front's Marine Le Pen offered yet another sign that the rise of President Trump is not the harbinger of a new and unhinged form of nationalism. For now, the center is holding, pluralism is hanging on, and the far right is being held in check. As they did in recent elections in Austria and the Netherlands, the friends of liberal democracy prevailed while Trump, who publicly tilted toward Le Pen, suffered another rebuke.

The fact that hackers went after Macron's campaign and dumped emails publicly just before the vote underscored the election's international stakes. Russia strongly favored Le Pen and subsidized her party while ultra-right groups across the West saw a Le Pen victory as a chance to break up an alliance system that includes the European Union and NATO. The latest cyberattack increases the urgency of understanding Russia's role in the 2016 election in the United States.

Macron ran as a confident and unflinching advocate of pluralism and openness, and he will become, instantly, a major global voice for those values. But he will have to govern a deeply torn nation in a surly mood. Le Pen's share of the vote, while not as high as her supporters had hoped and her detractors had feared, was still a major breakthrough for what had once been a pariah party long dismissed as a neofascist movement rooted in unsavory aspects of French history. Like Trump, Le Pen rallied voters in once prosperous but now ailing industrial towns. Macron swept France's prospering and cosmopolitan big cities.

The creator of a political party that is only a year old, Macron faces significant challenges reflected in the unusually large number of blank protest ballots. He will have to take on or work around the country's established parties in June's legislative elections. He will also have to square the many circles of his neither-left-nor-right campaign platform. He promised both a more flexible regulatory climate for business and solid social protections for a 21st-century economy. Macron is both a former investment banker and a moderate social democrat. Demonstrating how these two sides of him fit together will define the drama of his presidency.

A particular test will be whether he is willing and able to nudge Germany toward a less austere and constraining economic approach to southern Europe. Macron's election could signal a renewed Franco-German alliance. This would be a tonic for the E.U., but only if it becomes the engine for both reform and more widely shared growth. German Chancellor Angela Merkel quickly expressed her pleasure over Macron's victory.

None of this will be easy, and if Macron is unsuccessful and the mainstream French right fails to revive itself, many in France fear that Le Pen (who is only 48 years old) could win the next election five years from now.

Macron was endorsed by former President Barack Obama, and their similarities are striking: youth, a hopeful attitude toward the future, a vaguely progressive spirit of moderation and a well-advertised desire to overcome traditional divides.

Less remarked upon is their shared political luck. When Obama ran for the U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2004 -- the job that, along with his Democratic National Convention speech that year, propelled him to the national stage -- two of his strongest rivals were forced out of the running by sex and marital scandals.

Macron would likely not even have made it to Sunday's runoff but for the troubles of two key competitors: Francois Fillon, the candidate of the mainstream right, was caught in a scandal involving paid no-show jobs for his family. The more moderate Socialist alternative, former prime minister Manuel Valls, lost his party's primary, opening new room in the political center.

But it took more than luck for the new French president to accomplish something most students of French politics thought impossible: From scratch, he built his own political party of the center, En Marche! Its name can be roughly translated as "Onward," though it might best be seen as a compact Gallic version of John F. Kennedy's "Let's get this country moving again."

While presidents of both the left and the right in France have often pursued moderate policies, the loyalties to political tribes and to the very concept of left vs. right -- a French invention, after all -- have typically stranded centrist politicians in a nowhere land.

Macron grasped that the old left/right divide is an increasingly imperfect construct for the new fissures in a Western politics organized around openness, pluralism and a transnational approach on the one side, and nationalism, more closed economies and a rejection of pluralism on the other.

In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of creating a "Third Way" in politics between an old left and a new right. Under far more trying circumstances, Emmanuel Macron's victory gives the Third Way a second chance -- and liberal democracy a much-needed reprieve.

The Washington Post
Ex-President Park Geun-hye's staff on Saturday moved her household to her new, more affordable house on the outskirts of Seoul.

Park herself spent the day in the remand prison where she has been held since March as she awaits trial for corruption and abuse of office.


The U.S. government appealed both cases, one to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and one to the Ninth Circuit. The Fourth Circuit will hear arguments Monday.

The order, which bars entry of foreign nationals from six Muslim countries for 90 days and refugees for 120 days, has been on hold since March when two lower courts, one in Hawaii and one in Maryland, issued stays.

 The arguments

The U.S. government is appealing U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang's March 15 ruling in Maryland that granted a nationwide preliminary injunction on the part of the travel order banning entry of foreign nationals from six Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.

Lawyers for the government argue the ban is necessary for U.S. security plaintiffs -- several refugee rights groups -- say the order amounts to a "Muslim ban," something Trump talked about repeatedly when he was running for president.

 The court

Travel order case heard "en banc" before a panel of all judges of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (covers Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia).

Each side gets half an hour to argue its case; additional time for judges' questions questioning. Most initial hearings are held before three-judge panels. En banc is rare.

There are 15 active judges on the Fourth Circuit; at least two have recused themselves. Ten of the remaining 13 judges were appointed by Democrats.

 After the Hearing

An immediate ruling is unlikely. The Ninth Circuit will hold a hearing next week on a lower court order blocking two parts of the travel order: the 90-day ban against nationals from six Muslim majority countries and the 120-day refugee ban.

If one of the circuit courts rules for the government, the travel ban would remain blocked because a circuit court does not supersede a district court from a different jurisdiction. Conflicting district court decisions could push the case to the U.S. Supreme Court more quickly.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] heard oral arguments [audio, MP3] on Monday regarding President Donald Trumps immigration executive order. The Trump Administration is appealing a Maryland court ruling in March which placed a temporary ban on Trumps Executive Order 13780 [text], also known as the revised travel ban. The plaintiffs in the case argue [Reuters report] that the executive order violates immigration law and the First Amendment freedom of religion. The government, however, maintains that the immigration executive order was enacted due to national security.

As with Trumps last travel ban, the new immigration order has been highly controversial. In March, Massachusetts, California [JURIST reports], Maryland, New York, Oregon and Washington joined in a lawsuit [JURIST reports] opposing the ban. These lawsuits are premised on what JURIST guest columnist Jonathan Hafetz described as underlying racial discrimination [JURIST report] in the ban. Weeks after the Maryland court ruling, 13 states came out in support of the revised travel ban [JURIST report] by filing a brief with the court stating that the president lawfully acted in the interest of national security.
A Chinese human rights lawyer detained in the city of Changsha since 2015 pleaded guilty Monday to incitement to subversion and disturbing legal proceedings. Prosecutors accused [Xinhua report] Xie Yang of conspiring with people in and out of China to distort reports of police brutality, with the ultimate goals of undermining state power and threatening national security. Xies wife has publicly claimed [Reuters report] that the trial was a sham, that Xies supporters were barred from accessing the proceedings, and that he is innocent of the charges. The Changsha Intermediate Peoples Court released a video of Xies statement, in which he also encourages lawyers to abide by the law and says that he was not forced to confess. In January, however, Xie stated through his lawyers that he was was beaten and deprived of sleep while in custody.

China has faced continued international criticism for its treatment of human rights defenders, ranging from filing of arbitrary criminal charges, suspension or dismissal of law licenses, and disappearances. In February, the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders released its annual report [JURIST report] highlighting intensified crackdowns on human rights defenders. In December the UN called on China to investigate the disappearance of human rights lawyer [JURIST report] Jiang Tianyong, after he had been missing for two months. The same month China suspended the law license [JURIST report] of prominent human rights lawyer Li Jinxing, over his apparent allegedly unacceptable behavior in court while defending a client. Last September China handed down a 12 year sentence [JURIST report] to prominent human rights lawyer Xia Lin. In July China announced plans to prosecute [JURIST report] prominent human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng on charges of subverting state power, furthering its recent crackdown on political dissidents.
[JURIST] Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama [BBC backgrounder] was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison after being found guilty of blasphemy [Criminal Code Article 156, PDF] by an Indonesian court [official website]. Ahok is Christian and the charges came as a result of his reference to a Quran verse used by conservative leaders to justify the claim that Muslims should not be led by non-Muslims. Ahok was detained [Jakarta Post report] immediately following the verdict, drawing criticism from human rights groups [AI press release, PDF] and praise from members of conservative Islamic groups.

Blasphemy laws [JURIST news archive] have been a controversial issue in several countries. In 2010, the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform proposed referendum [JURIST report] to remove the criminal offense of blasphemy from the Irish Constitution, and in 2008, the UK House of Lords voted to abolish [JURIST report] the criminal offenses of blasphemy and blasphemous libel from the UK common law. Earlier this year, however, a Sharia high court in Nigeria sentenced cleric Abdulaziz Dauda and nine others to death [JURIST report] for committing blasphemy against the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and this past February, a Pakistani man was executed for his part in murdering a politician [JURIST report] who supported a Christian who had been convicted of blasphemy.
Barely six months have passed since our last review of car sharing yet there have been a plethora of developments since then. This week alone saw GM expand its Maven car sharing platform to accelerate the gig (freelance) economy. Continuing QUBE/just-autos series of research snapshots, this one takes another look at this blossoming market. Car sharing schemes allow us to rent cars for a short period on an ad hoc basis.

Would you share your car?

Now, most of us would consider offering our car to a stranger as part of a car share.

Most people would consider allowing others to drive their car for a fee, according to a Ford-commissioned survey of more than 10,000 people across Europe. Once lending someone your car keys was the ultimate symbol of trust. Now, most of us would consider offering our car to a stranger as part of a car share. This is among Fords survey findings as it set out to better understand attitudes to car sharing, and a whole range of possessions and services that form part of the growing sharing economy.

The people who share

Fords survey showed that those most likely to share their own car for money are in Spain (up to 61 per cent), compared with Italy (up to 58 per cent), France (up to 56 per cent), UK (up to 50 per cent), and Germany (up to 48 per cent).

Men and younger people were the most likely to embrace the sharing economy, with up to 61 per cent of men prepared to offer their car for car share services, compared with 49 per cent of women. For both men and women aged 25-34 the percentage prepared to share their own car increases to 68 per cent.

Fords GoDrive

In London, Ford has established on-demand pay-as-you-go car-sharing service GoDrive with hubs across the city, each with guaranteed parking. Ford also has partnered with CarAmigo, Belgiums first peer-to-peer car rental marketplace, and in 2015, Ford Credit ran a six-month pilot that enabled thousands of customers in the UK to rent out their cars to other drivers.

In Germany, Ford Carsharing serves small and medium-sized cities, as well as large towns. There are 176 Ford Carsharing stations, while the partnership also allows Ford Carsharing customers to use about 3,600 Flinkster vehicles.

In the US, Ford is piloting a Dynamic Shuttle service, offering employees on-demand ride sharing around its Dearborn, Michigan, campus. Ford also last year announced for SYNC 3 connectivity technology the MyBoxMan social-shipping app that enables drivers to earn money delivering packages for others.

Mercedes-Benzs private car sharing platform

In the first quarter of 2017, Daimlers car2go rentals increased by 23 per cent to 6.2m.

Among those other carmakers promoting car sharing is Daimler. Following a pilot in Munich, Mercedes-Benzs private car sharing platform is being rolled out in other major German cities. Using the app or website, renters locate a vehicle that meets their specifications and price expectations. They are not tied to rental stations in fixed locations and can be certain of being given the exact model of car requested. Owners who rent out their vehicle, meanwhile, are able to optimise their cars rate of usage while earning some extra money. In the first quarter of 2017, Daimlers car2go rentals increased by 23 per cent to 6.2m. Worldwide, the international market leader now has over 2.3m customers in 26 locations; in Europe there are over 1.3m customers in 14 locations.

Car sharing in China

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance is merging both car sharing operations in China, car2go and Car2Share. car2go China currently operates in seven cities  Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Chongqing. Last year, the combined registered users of both services exceeded 250,000, a 12-fold growth over the previous year.

While sharing bikes in China remains popular, running a car share business is altogether more expensive especially for start-ups. A report in the China Daily newspaper indicated that high cost, low fees and a limited user base are among the factors providing headwinds for mobility start-ups in China. The report said that Chinese companies in the car time-sharing business are facing the risk of insufficient cash flow as they take on debts to install vehicle fleets. Strategy&, a subsidiary of PricewaterhouseCoopers, noted in a report that almost all car ride providers books remain in the red, with each car losing 50 to 120 yuan a day, in its recent research report, the China Daily said. However, long-term prospects for car share firms in China are forecast to be bright following a period of industrial restructuring and consolidation, the China Daily noted.

PSA Groups car sharing push

PSA Groups car sharing scheme triggered the first phase of its Push to Pass to the sale of cars in the US. The groups launch of mobility services in North America came through Free2Move, its mobility brand and its partner TravelCar, a start-up founded in 2012. On 3 April 2017, the car sharing service for travellers became available in Los Angeles airport before a larger deployment in the US.

Volvo Cars new shared mobility business unit

Earlier this year, Volvo Cars divulged plans to set up a new shared mobility business unit as part of a broad expansion of its car sharing and mobility services strategy. The new business unit will be based around Sunfleet, which has been operated by Volvo since 1998. Based in Sweden, Sunfleet has around 50,000 subscribers generating some 250,000 transactions in about 50 Swedish towns and cities.

Audi partners with Zoomcar

India car share firm Zoomcar recently announced a partnership with Audi. Zoomcar customers can now book an Audi Q3 in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata via an app or website. For example, an Audi Q3 can be rented for 240 Indian Rupees per hour (equivalent to just over 3 Euros) and this includes fuel, insurance, taxes, and roadside assistance. Mahindra Electric is also partnering with Zoomcar to promote the concept of shared mobility of electric cars in India.

GMs Maven expands

Last year, GM divulged it will partner with Lyft rival Uber to provide drivers with GM vehicles under its Maven car share umbrella. GM stated that Maven, General Motors personal mobility brand, and Uber will team up to provide people who want to drive and earn money on the Uber platform the option to lease qualified vehicles by the week or longer at discounted rates with no mileage limits.

We learned this week that Maven is expanding its mobility platform to accelerate the gig economy. Maven Gig drivers are provided access to vehicles they can use for independent gigs that they choose, such as package delivery, food or grocery delivery, and ridesharing. The programme is live in San Diego and will launch in San Francisco and Los Angeles later this year. Gig is the latest offering within Mavens line-up, alongside Maven City and Maven Express Drive for Lyft drivers, or its partnership with Uber, both of which will run alongside Gig.

The move comes at a time when more people are expected to take up freelance work. GM said it expects about 43 percent of the US workforce to work freelance by 2020. Maven Gig is enabling freelancers to earn income through multiple sources, said Julia Steyn, vice president, General Motors Urban Mobility and Maven. Maven is a smart, innovative platform transforming the future of shared mobility.

Car sharing will boost demand for bacteria free interiors, say suppliers

As car sharing gains popularity, Yangfeng Automotive Interiors (YFAI) believes that this will bring with it a demand for bacteria free interiors. You are sharing cars with other people  do I need to own my car? YFAI VP and general manager Europe & South Africa Jochen Heier told just-auto at its Trencin facility in Slovakia. To make it bacteria free  it is now coming to make it commercial. How to make sure people are in the car thinking they feel good and not thinking, there are 15-20 people [already using the car], what is good and bacteria free. We can learn from other areas such as train [s] and aircraft [interiors].

During an interview with just-auto, Dr Rose Ryntz, Vice President, Advanced Development & Material Engineering, International Automotive Components (IAC) Group explained how new automotive business models such as car sharing and alternative mobility solutions are emerging. She told us: For the vehicle interiors, this means the development of resilient materials for vehicles used by a number of different people with different expectations. Anti-bacterial surface treatments, easy refresh of interior, enhanced IOT connections and direct and in-direct ambient heated interior surfaces (for electrical vehicles) are only few examples of interiors meeting the customers demands for shared cars.

What does it all mean?

The consultants at BCG have conducted a study that points to the convergence of three trends  ride sharing (its rise facilitated by personal connectivity), autonomous drive and vehicle electrification  to transform the automotive industry. BCG forecasts that by 2030 some 25 per cent of miles driven in the US could be in shared self-driving electric cars.

These findings support Fords results that up to 72 per cent of those Europeans surveyed today would use a car share service, and up to 73 per cent a parking space service.

From cars to music to holidays, people are more prepared to share possessions and services than ever before.

From cars to music to holidays, people are more prepared to share possessions and services than ever before. From your smartphone, you can quickly and easily borrow someone elses designer shoes, use their lawnmower, or even walk their dog, said Will Farrelly, user experience innovation, Ford Smart Mobility. When it comes to mobility, sharing  whether through car-sharing, ride-sharing, or transporting packages for others  offers flexibility, a potentially more economical alternative, and can also help reduce congestion.

See also Connected vehicle technologies  forecasts to 2031
One member of a helicopter crew died Monday in the ongoing battle to contain a forest fire that erupted in Korea's eastern Gangwon Province on Saturday.

The chopper was making an emergency landing just before noon when it caught on a high-tension wire and the man, a 47-year-old repairman surnamed Cho, died in hospital.
Dallas, 05/09/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

Each time a new presidential administration takes over, changes are likely to occur. And those federal changes can affect a number of industries. Lately, the American Trucking Association (ATA) has been concerned about the after-effects from the Obama administrations efforts to tighten safety regulations for drowsy driving among commercial semi-truck drivers.

As with many things in Congress, disagreement occurred and the efforts were blocked by the majority party but that hasnt stopped the ATAs efforts to block state rules that would require truck drivers to take additional rest breaks. Specifically, truck drivers would be required to take two rest periods between 1 and 5 a.m. during their mandatory 35-hour-off time during the week, as well as a regulation that would have prevented truckers from driving 75 hours followed by a 35-hour break within the same week.

Following that Congressional lock on debate, many trucking safety experts are concerned about what new White House policies might mean for the trucking industry.

Some truck drivers and others in the trucking industry believe that regulations should mostly be handled at the state level. However, many truck drivers cross state lines when they drive, explained Eberstein Witherite Co-Founder and Principal Amy Witherite. Furthermore, some carrier companies operate trucks in a variety of states, and a truck may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the companys headquarters at the time of an accident. When each state has varying rules that govern how and when truckers can drive, confusion is bound to happen.

There have also been disagreements at the federal and state levels regarding the regulation of autonomous trucks. For example, lawmakers in California would like to implement mandatory rules for driverless trucks. Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration only has voluntary guidelines.

According to the CBS News report, the ATAs statements have prompted the chairperson of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to say its going to be an open season on safety in this coming Congress.

Trucking safety proponents also believe the ATA may pressure incoming lawmakers to increase weight limits for semi-trucks, making it legal for semis to weigh up to 90,000 pounds. Currently, the maximum weight allowed is 80,000 pounds. Safety experts also say the ATA and other industry lobbying groups may push for double trailer lengths to be extended to a maximum of 33 feet  five feet longer than current rules allow.

Whatever the results will be in Congress, as commuters driving next to these semi-trucks every day, you need to be aware and educate yourself about the laws that affect your morning and evening drive.

If you are ever in a truck wreck, Eberstein Witherite AtLanta Lawyers are ready to serve you. Hopefully, you will avoid a truck wreck by staying educated about truck laws.

Media Contact:

Lucy Tiseo

Eberstein Witherite 1800 Truck Wreck Atlanta

Phone: 800-878-2597

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Eberstein & Witherite on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

source: http://www.1800truckwreck.com/eberstein-witherite-principal-discusses-drowsy-driving-rest-break-rules-truckers.html

Social Media Tags:Drowsy Driving, Eberstein & Witherite, Eberstein Witherite AtLanta Lawyers, Eberstein Witherite Principal, Rest Break Rules for Truckers

Newsroom powered by Online Press Release Distribution  SubmitMyPressRelease.com

Like Us on Facebook

It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print
Koreans head to 13,964 polling stations across the nation on Tuesday to elect their next president. Polling stations opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m., two hours later than usual. Out of 42.48 million registered voters, 11 million already cast their ballots during early voting held last week. The results of Tuesday's votes will not only determine the new leader but end a six-month power vacuum caused by the downfall and impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over a massive influence-peddling and corruption scandal.



From left, Moon Jae-in, Hong Joon-pyo, Ahn Cheol-soo, Yoo Seung-min and Sim Sang-jung

All presidential candidates made a last-minute appeal for support on Monday in the crucial Seoul, Chungcheong and Busan areas. The National Election Commission said the vote count will also start two hours later and the winner will not become apparent until after midnight. The key points of interest in this election are whether one candidate will win a clear majority, and who among the two runners-up who are neck-and-neck will be able to sway the centrist vote. Frontrunner Moon Jae-in of the Minjoo Party is confident of garnering a majority and has said that a clear victory is necessary for his reform policies to win broad public support. Runners-up Hong Joon-pyo of the rump-ruling Liberty Korea Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party both still hope to win but refrained from making predictions of an outright majority.

Presidential candidates make last-minute appeals for support on Monday.

No matter which candidate wins, he or she faces a divided and splintered National Assembly, which makes it even more important to gain a solid public mandate. If one candidate wins a clear majority far outpacing the runner-up, he could gain crucial momentum for key policies and selecting Cabinet members in the early days of the new administration. But a slim majority will mean an uphill battle. Most pundits say no single candidate can win an absolute majority as the five candidates in the race dilute voter support. Solid numbers for the runner-up could also mean crucial leverage for his or her party in future decision-making amid plans to take some powers away from the president and hand them over to parliament. Voter turnout is forecast to reach 80 percent for the first time in two decades. The first democratic presidential election in 1987 saw 89.2 percent go to the polls, but that fell gradually until it dropped to the 60 to 70-percent level around the turn of the millennium. Experts believe turnout this time will exceed the 75.8 percent achieved in the previous election because this snap ballot triggered by Park's impeachment has generated huge interest in either reforming the entire system or holding on to the past. Each candidate hopes that a big turnout will work to their advantage. There is a lot of curiosity in how many votes Yoo Seung-min of the minor conservative Bareun Party and Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party will win. The two candidates polled less than five percent in the early stage of the campaign, but their stellar performance in televised debates has raised expectations that they may draw up to 10 percent of votes, reducing support for the two midfielders.
A U.S. Navy strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Carl Vinson has been engaged in joint exercises with the South Korean Navy in the East Sea since it arrived on April 29, a military spokesman here said Monday.

"There's been no discussion yet when to end the drill," the spokesman said. "It will probably likely continue all this week."

The "armada" came to global prominence last month when U.S. President Donald Trump at one point seemed not know where it was, claiming it was headed for South Korea when it was in fact on its way to Australia.
Premier Li Keqiang hailed efforts to streamline certifications during a visit to a free trade zone in Kaifeng, Henan province, on May 8.

The free trade zones certification streamlining promoted the reform of streamlining administration and delegating power to lower-level governments.

The purpose of setting up free trade zones is to build highlands for reform and opening-up, which will streamline administrative approvals, enhance regulation, and improve administrative services, according to the Premier.

The streamlining reform reduced by fourth-fifths the time a new company needs to spend on registration.

As an inland city, Kaifeng can also create a first-class free trade zone. Kaifeng was famous for its ancient history but now it is standing out due to the tree trade zone, the Premier said at the FTZ service center.
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.
KEARNEY  Nathan LeFeber knows the music will sound different.

When the 425 music students from Kearney High School perform Circadian Rhythm for the first time in its entirety at 7 p.m. Thursday at the schools auditorium, the finished product will sound complete.

It has been a very rewarding part of the process, LeFeber wrote about the changes in the musical score in an email interview. As Mr. Georgeson has been working with the kids, we have been able to find what doesnt work musically, what is technically too difficult and what resonates with the students. The final product is vastly different than what we started with.

LeFeber, director of the KHS band program, first met composer and music educator John D. Georgeson when LeFeber did his student teaching under Georgesons direction at Verona (Wis.) High School.

Georgeson said in a previous Hub interview, Nathans brother and I are friends. Nathan and I played together about four years ago at his brothers church, and that rekindled our relationship.

Several years ago LeFeber asked Georgeson to write music for the KHS Marching Band. While working on that project, LeFeber approached the composer to write something to commemorate opening the auditorium in the new high school building.

In his five-section piece, Circadian Rhythm, with poetry by Don Welch, Georgeson explored themes and textures of central Nebraska as ways to honor the students and the land.

I wrote the piece of music that came to me, the music that I was inspired to write, he said. It came out more difficult than they were expecting and more difficult than I was expecting. To that end, it has been a challenge. But to that end, the challenge is part of the joy.

The KHS Music Department commissioned the work with the financial help of the Nebraska Arts Council, the schools music budget, donations at concerts and other funding sources.

Part of the creative process  for both the students and for Georgeson  came from rehearsing the music. LeFeber noted the contribution of the students.

They have had a very big impact on the final product, he said. We have also been preparing the piece for publication so, we hope, this piece will be played by folks all over the country.

Circadian Rhythm includes students from KHSs choir, band and orchestra.

It is difficult music, and we must rehearse it all in chunks at different times with different groups, LeFeber said. Finding time to pull it all together can be a challenge given the kids busy schedule, but the collegiality that comes with doing a work of this scope is really rewarding. Communication is the key to making it all work.

Making sure that the students feel a sense of vision about the music presents a challenge for both the director and the composer.

Musically it is difficult because you have so many kids that need to be feeling the pulse right away, catch the vision of the entire work and perform with artistry and ease, LeFeber said. The stage and choir loft is large and covers a great deal of square feet, and that can also be a challenge to making it all come together.

For the composer, balancing the ability of the musicians and his vision for the music presents a key challenge.

With a high school group, the technique might be more limited, and I need to be more cautious about what they can do from a craftsmanship standpoint, Georgeson said. Yet, the goal is to still get the artistry across.

LeFeber looks to that balance as a teachable moment, especially when Georgeson traveled to Nebraska to rehearse with the young people.

The students have been very involved from the first time they met our composer to the final rehearsals this week, LeFeber said. They have seen the whole project evolve as we have gone on in this project. It is our hope that they have a broader perspective on music and the creative process.

LeFeber enjoys Georgesons music because the composer worked hard to create something with a different sound.

In doing that, it has opened up our ears to new sounds and possibilities, LeFeber said.

The project grew to something bigger than the music director or the composer imagined.

It has challenged me in my rehearsal planning in trying to set the students up for success, LeFeber said. I have also learned that it takes so many people to make this work. No one person is responsible  and without the contributions of everyone involved it wouldnt be nearly as good as if one person tried to do it all. Together we are better than alone.
HOLDREGE  Artistry runs in Holdrege High School junior Ashley Woosleys family.

Ive been doing art ever since I was really little because my dad was really into art, so he always encouraged it, Woosley said.

Woosley remembers her dad, Thomas Woosley, always doodling. He would even sketch pictures on Easter eggs.

My dad is really, really good at drawing. I guess thats why I drew a lot when I was littler and didnt really play with paint very much, because thats what my dad did, she said.

Woosley, the daughter of Thomas Woosley of Kentucky and Nathan and Lori Bell of Holdrege, has taken art classes throughout high school. As a junior at Holdrege High School, she took her first painting classes.

I never really worked with paint before, so it was something that I really liked, and I really got into it, she said.

Woosley especially enjoyed working with acrylic. During one project, her class went to North Park in Holdrege to take photographs class members could later paint.

I took this picture. It was really cool. It was an accidental picture. I pointed to the ground and took a picture. Half of it was a fire hydrant hidden in a bush. So it was really cool, she said. I picked that picture to paint because the red fire hydrant and the green leaves, the complementary colors, looked really cool.

The painting was the first Woosley had ever done with acrylic, and it took her almost the entire first semester to complete.

Woosley was recently recognized for the painting when she was chosen as a Nebraska Young Artist Award winner. The Nebraska Young Artist Awards annually recognize 11th-grade students who are gifted and talented in the areas of visual, art, dance, music, theater, film and new media. Fifty-three students from nearly 30 high schools were selected to participate in a day of activities April 5 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Woosleys art teacher, Nancy Wiese, nominated her for the award.

I selected Ashley for her enthusiasm as well as her skill. She spent many, many hours on her painting and didnt seem to grow weary with it, Wiese said. The painting seems to glow with her zeal and looked like an award-winner.

For Woosley, winning the award was a huge honor.

I was really, really happy. I couldnt stop smiling. I was really proud of myself because I honestly didnt think I would make it into it, but when I got into it, it was really a confidence booster, she said.

As part of the award, Woosley and Wiese, along with the other award winners, were invited to UNL to tour the art facilities, attend classes and receive a certificate during an awards ceremony.

We went to Richards Hall, and we looked at our own artwork that was displayed. ... It was really cool seeing, like, the other people and how they had ideas, too, Woosley said.

Woosleys art will be on display at the upcoming Evening of the Arts today at the Tassel in Holdrege.

She plans to continue studying art her senior year. Woosley intends to take an independent study art class in photography and painting. She hasnt settled on where she would like to go to college yet, but she hopes to study art at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

I have my heart kind of setting on going there for a while because my grandpa, my whole dads side of the family, lives there. My grandpa actually used to be a history professor there, she said.

As she prepares to enter her final year of high school, Woosley is most excited about spending more time working on art.

(Im) excited for my art classes. I really like photography too. ... Im going to take independent study in photography and take, like, journalism and artistic photos. The second semester for my painting class, Im going to use those photos to make really cool paintings, she said.
NORTH PLATTE -- A man who slipped his son a marijuana cigarette in the Lincoln County Detention Center pleaded guilty in Lincoln County District Court on Monday.

Kevin Greer, 57, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced to 12 months probation for attempted possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Prosecutors said Greer was visiting his son Travis, a 29-year-old inmate from the Nebraska Department of Corrections, at the jail in October.

Through security cameras, jail staff watched Kevin Greer pass Travis Greer an object, which was later found to be a marijuana cigarette.

Jeff Courtney, Kevin Greers attorney, said Greer was attempting to help his son with his anxiety problems. As soon as Greer learned there was a warrant for his arrest, he drove to North Platte and turned himself in, Courtney said.

He told an arresting deputy that what he did was stupid, Courtney said.

Deputy County Attorney Angela Franz said Greers remorse prompted her sentencing recommendation, which Judge Donald Rowlands went along with.
GRAND ISLAND  A Grand Island woman who won $1 million playing Powerball plans to use some of the money to help others but wont change her own lifestyle much.

Melinda Rother has been purchasing Powerball tickets from Caseys General Store at Five Points for several years, according to the Nebraska Lottery. Her most-recent winning ticket contained one play that matched all five of the winning white ball numbers (11, 21, 31, 41 and 59) from Saturdays drawing for $1 million.

While claiming her prize on Monday, Rother said she had no idea she had a winning ticket until late Sunday evening. She learned she had won while checking the winning numbers at nelottery.com with her husband.

Rother told lottery officials she was surprised when she learned she had won.

I feel blessed every day when I get up, she said. This was the extra icing on the cupcake.

Despite winning $1 million, Rother said her and her husbands lifestyles will stay the same. She plans to continue to teach Sunday school at her church, as well as volunteering time at The Salvation Army.

Were not really going to change anything, she said. Were very blessed.

Although she hasnt made any definite plans for the prize yet, she told lottery officials she would use the money to buy a new grill and help her sister pursue her degree as a veterinary technician. She also plans to share with her son, as well as her niece and nephew.

Seventeen Nebraska Lottery players have won the $1 million Powerball prize to date, lottery officials said.

Powerball is a multi-state jackpot game currently offered by 44 state lotteries, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of winning $1 million playing Powerball are 1 in 11,688,053, while the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9.

More than $617 million has been raised for the Nebraska Lotterys beneficiary funds since the lottery began in 1993. One of the beneficiary groups is the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.

All 93 counties in Nebraska have benefited from projects funded with these Nebraska Lottery proceeds.
New South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, center right, and his wife Kim Jung-suk salute to the national flag at the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Moon visited the national cemetery where he honored the country's former presidents, independence fighters and war heroes as he began his presidential duties. (Kim Hong-ji/Pool Photo via AP)
Meanwhile, staff of the corporation told the Crime Branch that the letter pad issued in the name of the mayor was fake.
The origins of Veterans Day Throughout the year, we have a few different observances for those who have served our country. We have Memorial Day to celebrate those who gave...

Spindle Items .. PLANNING YOUR TRIP  For those of you who are planning to visit Universal Studios this winter, you may want to know that Universal...

Out of the Past 25 Years AgoNov. 12, 1997 With only one resident questioning its adoption, the Tonawanda Town Board Thursday night adopted the 1998 budget totaling $61,242,060. The...

Winter parking restrictions update There is a lot going on in the Town of Tonawanda this month, so lets get right to it, along with some presidential quotes for...
223 Shares Share

Throughout my premed and medical training, Ive been deluged with a steady stream of negative thoughts regarding medicine as a career from outspoken, burnt-out physicians. To this day, nine years since Ive finished my residency in family medicine, I remain passionately opposed to this sentiment. Ive seen statistics and mathematical calculations painting a dark picture of the financial, personal and professional world of todays physician, overwhelmed with debt, administrative nightmares, declining reimbursement, legislative red tape, and other headaches. Nonsense! I couldnt be happier. I have an ideal work/life balance and a wholly satisfying career.

Surely, geography matters when it comes to your income and cost of living. San Francisco is a beautiful and costly place to live to live if youre a family physician or an investment banker. Thats one reason I live in the Midwest where Im making far more money than I had anticipated as a family physician working four days per week.

What about job security? Its a fact I could pick up and move anywhere in the U.S. or even abroad and instantly be in demand.

Every day, I work I help each of my patients make impactful decisions. Sometimes these decisions are small and affect a temporary or self-limited symptom. Sometimes they involve life and death matters. In my clinic, every patient visit is meaningful for us both. Being a physician is the greatest honor and privilege in my life. There is no question this career is a gift from God.

Andrew Cunningham is a family physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The late Tom Byrne

The death has occurred of Thomas (Tom) Byrne, Dean Cavanagh Place, Kilkenny City, Kilkenny.



Tom passed away on Sunday at St. Luke's Hospital. Pre-deceased by two of his grandchildren. Beloved husband of Breda (nee Kenny) and much loved father of Margaret (Shortis), Noreen (Bergin), Thomas, Ann (Casey) and Monica (Byrne-Azeke). He will be sadly missed by his wife, son, daughters, his eleven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, in-laws, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

Reposing at his home from 3p.m. on Tuesday with Funeral Prayers at 6p.m. followed by Removal to St. Mary's Cathedral. Funeral on Wednesday after 2.30p.m. Requiem Mass to Foulkstown Cemetery.

The late Breda Dooley (nee Cantwell), Mountgale,

The death has occurred of Breda Dooley (nee Cantwell), Mountgale, Rathmoyle, Kilkenny.



Died on 8th May 2017, at her home, Breda, beloved wife of the late Billy and mother of the late Michael and Anthony, sadly missed by her sons John, Billy and Brendan, brother Mick, grandchildren William, John, Chloe, Emma, Jack, Luke, Alice and Sammy, nieces and nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends.

Reposing at her home from 5 o'clock on Tuesday with Rosary at 8 o'clock. Funeral Prayers on Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock followed by removal to St. Brigid's Church, Ballycallan, arriving for Requiem Mass at 11 o'clock. Interment afterwards in Ballykeeffe Cemetery.

The late Pierce Hogan

The death has occurred of Pierce Hogan, Ballykeeffe, Kilmanagh, Kilkenny / Ballycallan, Kilkenny.

Peacefully on Monday 8th May 2017 surrounded by his loving family in the exceptional care of the staff at Castlecomer District Hospital. Deeply regretted by his sorrowing family, wife Ellen, daughter Nora (Delaney), sons James and PJ, son-in-law Paddy, grandchildren Padraic and Niamh, brother Seamus, sister Maura, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, family and a large circle of friends.

Reposing at his home on Tuesday 9th May from 3pm with Rosary and Vigil Prayers at 9pm. Funeral arrving to St. Brigid's Church, Ballycallan for Requiem Mass on Wednesday at 2pm. Burial afterwards in St. Mary's Cemetery, Ballykeeffe. House Private Please on Wednesday morning.

The late Pat Phelan

The death has occurred of Pat Phelan, Garrenconnell, Woodsgift, Kilkenny.



Peacefully at University Hospital, Galway. Deeply regretted by his heartbroken wife Margaret his adoring children Luke, Sarah and Rachel, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, mother-in-law, father-in-law, relatives, his good neighbours and a wide circle of friends.

Reposing at his residence on Tuesday from 2 o'clock until 9 o'clock. Removal on Wednesday to St. Patrick's Church, Graine arriving for Requiem Mass at 1 pm. Burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only. House private on Wednesday morning please.

The late Archbishop Thomas A. White

The death has occurred of Archbishop Thomas A. White, St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny City, Kilkenny and Durrow, Laois.



On the 7th May 2017, at Gowran Abbey Nursing Home, former Apostolic Nuncio, Priest of the Diocese of Ossory, Titular Archbishop of Sabiona. He is survived by his sister Alice, his brother Liam, his brother-in-law Edward and his nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and grand-nieces. He is predeceased by his brother Sean J. White and his sister May McKenna.

Reposing at St. Kierans College Chapel from 4 oclock on Tuesday with Funeral Prayers at 7 oclock followed by removal to St. Marys Cathedral, Kilkenny. Concelebrated Requiem Mass on Wednesday at 12 noon. Interment afterwards in the Cathedral Grounds. Family flowers only please.

The late Mary Ellen (Nellie) Brennan (nee Grace)

The death has occurred of Mary Ellen (Nellie) Brennan (nee Grace), Newrath, Waterford City, Waterford and Carrigeen, Kilkenny.

Died peacefully died on 7th May 2017 at home. Predeceased by her husband James and son Barry.

Nellie will be sadly missed by her loving children Liam, Seamus, Margot, Des and Fergal, son-in-law Joe, daughters-in-law Mary, Veronica, Mary and Ruth grandchildren, great grandchild, brother Bobby, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, extended family, neighbours and friends.

Reposing at her home on Tuesday 9th May from 3pm with prayers at 8pm, Removal on Wednesday 10th May to The Sacred Heart Church, Ferrybank, arriving for Requiem Mass at 10am followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.

No flowers please, donations, if desired, to Waterford Hospice c/o Powers Funeral Directors, Ferrybank.
The first four months of this year represent the worst first four months for the number of patients on trolleys at St Lukes General Hospital since records began.

There were 1,472 patients on trolleys awaiting an in-patient bed at the Kilkenny hospital for the four-month period January to April, figures from the INMO show. Its an increase of more than 15% on last years figure for those four months, and an increase of 170% since 2013 when the figure was 546.

Since records began in 2011, relatively clear trends have emerged. January generally shows a spike in the figures everywhere, in part due to increased cases of seasonal illnesses such as flu. However, last month was also the worst April yet for trolleys at St Lukes. This bucks the national trend, where figures were generally down.

A total of 319 people waited for a bed in St Lukes Hospital in April  a 17% increase on the same month last year, despite an overall national decrease of 12%.

The HSE has not offered a reason for the unusually high figures at this time of year.

In the week approaching the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of April, figures climbed steadily. By Friday, April 28, there were 28 people waiting for a bed on trolleys.

Liam Doran of the INMO has said the latest statistics confirm that health services continue to be too small to adequately, and safely, meet the demands being placed upon the system.

The shortage of beds in acute hospitals and step down facilities remains a real problem in this ongoing crisis, he said.
A NEW plaque has been unveiled at a cemetery in Danganmore, to commemorate the areas Wild Geese, as well as others buried within the graveyard in marked and unmarked graves.

A NEW plaque has been unveiled at a cemetery in Danganmore, to commemorate the areas Wild Geese, as well as others buried within the graveyard in marked and unmarked graves.

The cemetery contains the burial plot of members of the local Ryan family, many of whom fled Ireland during the Penal Laws to escape oppression, and ended up fighting in European wars. At a ceremony last Friday attended by local people and others with an interest in history, Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Paul Cuddihy unveiled the new plaque.

Mary Aylward is the vice chair of the Irish Geneaological Research Society. She has a strong interest in the Wild Geese of Irish history: The men who left to fight in foreign armies, or fled to France, Spain and the rest of Europe in order to find a better life. Currently living in England, she returned to Kilkenny last weekend to visit Danganmore and see the unveiling.

The plaque is to try and bring attention to the Ryan family of Danganmore, who were old Irish Catholic gentry, she said.

Three brothers  John, James and Edmund Ryan  all entered the French army as part of the Irish Brigade during the 1740s.

John fought in the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, which was a tremendous battle between France and England, said Ms Aylward.

The Irish Brigade won the battle for the French king, defeating the English army.

John Ryan then returned to Ireland where he died an old man, and was buried in the traditional family home of Danganmore. His two brothers remained in France.

Edmund was an aide to Bonnie Prince Charlie, who commissioned him to trawl the courts of Europe to find him a wife. Highly respected, and dressed in the finest silk, he would have to have been a gifted linguist capable of speaking many different languages.

The brothers uncle, Thomas Ryan, lived in Spain where he married an Irish girl. Until as recently as 1999, there was a House of Ryan in Cadiz, which was a local wine and brandy business.

Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council Paul Cuddihy said the cemetery plaque was to honour an important piece of Kilkenny and Irish history.

It is important that we remember these significant pieces of local history, he said.

This is also to promote the historic and tourism aspects of rural Kilkenny.

Archaeologist John Tierney and Bernie Kirwan were called upon to decipher the almost illegible inscription on the distinctive altar tomb. They were able to establish that it was indeed the tomb of John Ryan.

We learned how to use a series of non-invasive methods to record inscriptions and iconography and to further upload the complete graveyard on their web site Historicgraves.ie, said Ms Kirwan.

Locals have now formed a cemetery committee, with John Hudson as its chairman, to promote and look after the historic graves.

It is fantastic that they now have this committee, and plan to look after the graveyard into the future and find out more about it, said Ms Aylward.

The plaque on display now is to commemorate John Ryan who is buried there, and his involvement with the Wild Geese and the French army.

We also need to thank the O Neill family, who own the land on which the cemetery is found. They were very hospitable and very helpful with all of this, she said.
Painting in an immersion bath: Industrial water and paints can be sterilized with electric impulses. (Photo: Eisenmann)

Most paints for households or industry are based on water and, hence, are environmentally more compatible than paints based on solvents. Water-based paints, however, have one drawback: Microorganisms, such as bacteria, feel very comfortable and spread. This also affects paint shops of automotive industry and other sectors. Sterilization of industrial water and paints with electric impulses is the objective of the DiWaL cooperation project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This project is coordinated by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and executed in cooperation with partners from research and industry.

Whether brightly colored or classic gray or black: Before a car is painted, the body is cleaned, pre-treated, and provided with a corrosion-resistant coating by surface pre-treatment and electrophoretic immersion painting. The latter is an electrochemical process to produce a homogeneous paint coating by a DC voltage field in an immersion bath. However, bacteria can reproduce well in the water and paints used and then adversely affect the quality of surface coating. To control these bacteria, biocides have been used so far. The new electric impulse technology works without chemical additives, reduces water consumption, and even contributes to water protection, says Dr. Wolfgang Frey of KITs Institute for Pulsed Power and Microwave Technology, who coordinates the cooperation project Dekontamination von industriellen Wassern und Lacken (DiWaL, Decontamination of industrial water and paints).

By means of electric impulses, cells or microorganisms are exposed to an electric field. The cell membrane is polarized, which means that electric poles form and aqueous pores open. This eventually results in the death of the microorganisms. This phenomenon is used on a large scale for the effective extraction of cell constituents and for killing microorganisms (cold pasteurization).

As the electric impulses have a purely physical effect, bacteria are not expected to develop resistances, as they do in the case of biocides. We control microbiological contamination and can achieve an optimum coating quality and prevent rework at the same time, Dr. Frey says.

In automotive industry, painting of the body is the activity with the highest water consumption (up to 600 liters per car body). For this reason, the electric impulse technology is integrated into a new, automated, and resource-efficient water management and plant concept for pre-treatment and immersion painting developed by research and industry partners under DiWaL. By means of this process, the water cycle at the factory is optimized and freshwater consumption is to be reduced. Technical implementation focuses on the aspects of quality, costs, and the environment. The user perspective also is considered highly important. That is why DiWaL analyzes the requirements of the users as well as potential obstacles. The results will then be incorporated in design and technical development.

DiWaL pools the expertise of partners from research (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences) and industry, namely, a plant manufacturer (Eisenmann SE), two paint producers (Emil Frei GmbH & Co. KG and PPG Deutschland Business Support GmbH) as well as an automotive manufacturer (BMW Group).

The project focuses on both surface treatment for automotive industry (cathodic immersion painting) and applications for general industry, e.g. painting of industrial goods by anodic immersion painting. Technical, economic, and ecological framework conditions and requirements are taken into account.

The project Entwicklung eines ressourceneffizienten Wassermanagement- und Anlagenkonzepts fur Vorbehandlungs- und Tauchlackieranlangen unter Nutzung der Elektroimpulstechnologie zur Dekontamination von industriellen Wassern und Lacken (DiWaL, Development of a resource-efficient water management and plant concept for pre-treatment and immersion painting systems using the electric impulse technology for the decontamination of industrial water and paints) is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the WavE program.

More information on the WavE program of BMBF: http://www.bmbf-wave.de/ (in German only).

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
The Herald reports:

Whanganui MP Chester Borrows, cleared of a driving charge laid by police, says he is frustrated it went all the way to court. After a day-and-a-half trial in Whanganui District Court, Judge Stephanie Edwards this afternoon found the politician not guilty of careless driving causing injury after two protesters were hit by his car. Police charged Borrows, 59, after two women suffered minor injuries when they were among anti-Trans Pacific Partnership protesters blocking his car outside a Whanganui motel in March last year.

I would have been outraged with any other verdict. It was ridiculous it went to court. The complaint was obviously wholly politically motivated and if anyone should have been charged it was those blocking the car from leaving. There is no right to block a road. If Borrows had been found guilty it would have sent a green light to every activist out there to jump up and down and in front of MPs cars.

What the hell the Police thought they were doing by doing a criminal prosecution I do not know. Even if they thought Borrows was in the wrong (something many would dispute) youd expect a caution at best.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print



Tumblr


Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Windy with mostly cloudy skies. High near 75F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy and windy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph.
By Kwon Mee-yoo



Presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), who won the election according to exit polls, has said he will take more interest in art and culture, saying he will attend cultural events at least once a month.



"If a president shows interest in culture, Korean art and culture would develop further," Moon said at a conference on hallyu, or the Korean wave, at COEX Artium in southern Seoul on May 4. "Previous presidents mostly attended plays or traditional performances and went to the movies when a film was a big hit. I will try to take part in popular culture events such as K-pop concerts as well."



Moon's framework on cultural policy is to "support artists without interference," conscious of the blacklist created by the former Park Geun-hye administration which censored artists critical of the government.



In his campaign pledges, Moon pledged independence of cultural institutions and financial resources for promoting culture and art. He also suggested introducing a standard form of contract to prevent unfair contracts and making cultural expenses tax deductible to promote the enjoyment of culture.



The presidential candidate said culture and art should be considered an industry in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. "Art and culture play growing roles in this era, but they have been neglected as if they were private territory," Moon said.



In the film industry, distributors control the market, and in Korea, large production companies own the distribution channels, which allows them to dominate the industry. "Externally, the Korean movie industry sees growth, but severe polarization exists inside it," Moon said.



He emphasized the importance of standard contracts to ensure transparent employment relationships between major production companies and small companies or individuals.



"A-list stars earn megabucks, while others suffer in poverty, such as screenwriter Choi Go-eun who died of hunger a few years ago. We began the Artists Welfare Act to complement the unstable employment status of the artists, but it still has a long way to go."



Moon suggested establishing unemployment benefits for artists, whose concept of employment is different from ordinary workers who receive regular paychecks. "Artists don't receive wages periodically and are excluded from unemployment compensation. The unemployment insurance system should protect artists when they are out of work," Moon said.



To support more citizens so they can enjoy a cultural lifestyle, Moon promised to provide realistic financial aid for the culturally underprivileged. For the middle class, Moon proposed tax credits for cultural expenses.




Micky Jung, CEO of the startup Artists' Card

By Park Jin-hai

Micky Jung, CEO of the startup Artists' Card, recently launched the classical music streaming application, "Classic Manager."

After winning a government subsidy and establishing the education program, Youth Startup Academy, his company, housed in the Pangyo IT Cluster, made an open-source, membership-free application, where anyone can view compiled data of 23,000 international classical and jazz musicians and live-stream 5,300 classical music albums and 91,000 repertories no longer protected by copyright.

The Saint Petersburg Conservatory-educated aspiring composer, who released a number of classical music albums, says his urge to make a difference in the closed world of classical music inspired him to create the application he calls a "channel."

Classical music streaming application, "Classic Manager," launched by Jung

"The Classical industry is a conservative and closed culture, which made the music most difficult to access. Beethoven's music should have been made easier to access than, for instance, K-pop boy band EXO's, but in reality, it is not," said the 34-year-old entrepreneur. "People who want to learn to play a Beethoven piece buy the score and a CD, but still they don't know how to begin to learn the piece. The culture _ as if it is made difficult only to allow the few with refined tastes in music who can relish these pieces _ is mostly unchanged since its beginning and this is making the whole industry doomed."

He says K-pop's popularity, now stronger than J-pop, stems from its accessibility and the same should be done for classical music, which has timeless power to move people.

"K-pop ascended in the global music industry, riding on the free channel of YouTube. But, the only thing YouTube has done is to provide a platform for the music to reach people. I wanted to make such a channel, connecting music lovers to humanity's musical treasures and enabling anyone to listen and learn classical music, free of barriers. Easier access means more public interest for classical music, which in turn can nurture the whole industry."

In classical music's video streaming service, YouTube comes to mind first, while the International Music Score Library Project for open-source music scores also exists. But, in terms of classical music sources, no business is wielding dominant power and that is where he thought he should preempt the market.

Although his company is three months old, the initial response from users is great, with 23,000 people having already downloaded the "Classic Manager."

Jung, who previously worked for a sound software/hardware company, developed an algorithm which automatically filters music freshly freed from copyrights and adds them to its free archives of music. He says "Classic Manager" boasts of a vast archive of music thanks to his country-specific filtering and has better sound quality than their European rivals, which mostly service music from old mono records.

The musician-turned entrepreneur _ based on local success _ plans to launch the application in Japan this month and in China and Southeast Asian countries later this year.

Jung says ultimately he wants to turn it into a classical music multi-library, where users can stream and download music, scores, musician information and academic theses. As he himself was one of many classical musicians who had a hard time trying to make a living in Korea _ his six albums earned him some recognition but didn't make him any richer to say the least _ Jung also plans to help talented young musicians release albums, market them through his application and sell their concert tickets as well.

"Everybody says releasing classic albums is a money-losing business. By having a platform where artists can easily release their albums and distribute them, we can change all that so artists can get the biggest share of their own creations," he said.
By Park Jae-hyuk





President-elect Moon Jae-in pledged to foster small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) throughout his election campaign, specifying his plans at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (K-Biz) office on Yeouido, Seoul, last month.

Moon from the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is seeking to promote the growth of SMEs through larger financial support from the government.

His promises can be summarized into three major policies  establishment of a ministry for SMEs, subsidies for small firms hiring young employees and stricter punishment against conglomerates abusing small contractors.

Moon has pointed out that too many ministries deal with tasks related to SMEs and that the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) lacks the power to propose bills related to SMEs.

So he plans to create a so-called Ministry of Small Businesses and Venture which will be able to make laws for SMEs, startups and small retailers.

The ministry will pioneer the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well, according to his election camp.

The president also aims to relieve both labor shortages at SMEs and youth unemployment through subsidies to small firms that hire young workers.

SMEs employ 88 percent of salaried workers in Korea, but young jobseekers have remained reluctant to work for them due to poor working conditions. SMEs themselves have also struggled to pay reasonable salaries amid financial setbacks.

Moon vowed that if small firms recruit three new employees in permanent positions, the new government will pay full wages for the third worker for three years.

"The government will pay wages for 50,000 people each year as small companies hire 150,000," he said. "If the wage gap narrows between conglomerates and SMEs, young people will want to work for small firms."

Moon also promised to strengthen penalties against large corporations that abuse their smaller subcontractors. He said the next government will introduce stricter punitive measures to remove dubious business practices by chaebol.

"It is time to discard conglomerate-oriented growth strategies," Moon said.

In addition, he promised "three-time" financial support for bankrupt venture entrepreneurs, as well as a larger state R&D budget and deregulation for small companies.

In response to Moon's electoral commitments, over 14,000 small and medium-sized business leaders declared their support for him, Monday, at the DPK headquarters. They stressed that Moon's landslide victory is necessary to push ahead his policies.

Critics, however, said Moon will unable to secure finances for the increased support for SMEs. Also, he should respond to an expected backlash from large firms, which have been painted as misbehaving by the presidential hopeful.
By Nam Hyun-woo



Seoul stocks are expected to extend their rally after the presidential election following the clearing up of uncertainties, analysts said Tuesday.



The Democratic Party of Korea candidate Moon Jae-in won the election.



Analysts expect Moon to bring positive sentiment among investors because the country will have filled the leadership vacuum after the impeachment and removal from office of former President Park Geun-hye. The main KOSPI index renewed its all-time high for a second straight session, reaching 2,292.76 points Monday.



"So far, the country has struggled to cope with China's economic retaliation over the installation of a U.S. missile shield and North Korea issues," SK Securities economist Han Dae-hoon said. "After the launch of the new administration, a Sino-Korea summit might take place to ease tension between the two neighbors."



Geopolitical risks surrounding the Korean Peninsula will decrease as the new government will seek diverse ways to reduce risk on the peninsula, including the possible resumption of talks with Pyongyang.



Investors have bargain-hunted among cosmetics companies which have been hit hard by concerns over the fallout of Beijing's retaliatory measures.



AmorePacific and its parent AmorePacific Group on Monday soared 6.81 percent and 6.39 percent, respectively. LG Household & Healthcare also surged 3.28 percent.



On top of easing geopolitical risks, stronger corporate earnings, recovering exports and ample market liquidity will boost the market, the analysts said.



Plus, Moon's pledge to set up a supplementary budget will also prop up the stock market, they said. Moon said last month that he will establish an extra 10 trillion won ($8.83 billion) budget for job creation as soon as he takes office.



Korea Investment & Securities analyst Song Seung-yeon said that in line with his election pledges, Moon will improve corporate governance of big companies and shore up shareholder policy to further draw foreign investors.



Moon's commitment to industries related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution also prompted analysts to be bullish about tech stocks.



"Every time a new government starts, each has suggested its own growth engine and this time it will be about the Fourth Industrial Revolution," HI Investment & Securities analyst Lee Sang-hun said. "Stocks related to the high-tech revolution will be among the stocks that will benefit most."



Moon's promises for the next-generation growth engine are highlighted by a presidential committee for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This would spearhead support for autonomous driving and electric vehicles, renewable energy and artificial intelligence.



Also, Moon has vowed to promote the Small and Medium Business Administration to ministry status so that it can set up policies to nurture startups and other companies related to the revolution.




By Yoon Ja-young





Moon Jae-in has stressed chaebol reform as one of his key pledges. For this, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, who won the election according to exit polls, will strengthen the rights of shareholders and consumers. He is also expected to give more power to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Conglomerates will likely face a bigger tax burden.

Strengthen shareholder rights

Moon has pledged to reform the Commercial Law, which will lead to the introduction of diverse measures to restrict chaebol owner families from abusing their power in management.

Among them is the adoption of the multiple derivative suit, which enables shareholders of a mother company to file lawsuits against executives of affiliates.

He also plans to obligate businesses to introduce an electronic voting system or voting through mail, which will help small shareholders get their voices heard.

Currently, conglomerates select executives at general shareholders' meetings, and choose auditors among those executives. As a result, auditors are mostly those preferred by the large shareholders. Moon, however, plans to restrict large shareholders' rights when selecting auditors.

Workers will also have a bigger say in management as they will be allowed to recommend a board member. It will be adopted in the public sector first.

More power to FTC

Reforming the governance structure of chaebol as well as rooting out their unfair practices is also among the key pledges of Moon. He plans to do this by bolstering the FTC.

Most of all, a bureau in charge of investigating conglomerates will be established within the FTC. Set up during the former President Kim Dae-jung administration, it contributed to diminish unfair internal trading at conglomerates. However, the bureau was scrapped during the former President Roh Moo-hyun administration due to fierce opposition from conglomerates.

Moon also promises to open the door wider for those suffering from unfair trade. Currently, only the FTC can bring cases related with the Fair Trade Act to the prosecution. However, as Moon plans to scrap the restriction, anybody can bring such cases to the prosecution or the police.

Normalization of tax on conglomerates

The corporate tax rate was reduced to 22 percent from 25 percent during former President Lee Myung-bak administration. Though Moon doesn't say that he will immediately raise the corporate tax rate, conglomerates are likely to face a bigger tax bill anyway.

Moon made it clear that the corporate tax rate will return to 25 percent if the government lacks financing. Analysts say this is likely to happen since a tax hike seems inevitable to fund his social welfare pledges.

Moon also promises to pull up the minimum corporate tax rate on extremely lucrative businesses. Conglomerates have also been enjoying diverse tax exemptions and tax cuts, but they will disappear.

Meanwhile, Moon promised to strengthen penalties on conglomerate owner families violating laws. It has been customary for Korea's chaebol chairmen to get presidential pardons, citing their contributions to the economy. But Moon says he will restrict the president's right to pardon them.
Concerns remain over Seoul-Tokyo relations



By Yi Whan-woo





Xi Jinping Shinzo Abe

South Korea and China are expected to restore ties strained by the deployment of a U.S. defense missile shield here considering liberalist Moon Jae-in won the presidential election, analysts said Tuesday.

But they speculated that South Korea's deteriorated ties with Japan may deepen, claiming that Tokyo will refuse the new government's possible call to renegotiate a disputed deal on "comfort women."

"China is anticipated to have considerable expectations on improving ties with the new South Korean government," said Kim Han-kwon, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. "Regarding Seoul-Tokyo ties, it will be a difficult task as the two neighbors have remain poles apart in their view over history, especially when it comes to issues on comfort women."

Kim Hyun-wook, also a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, speculated that Beijing will gradually drop

its economic sanctions against Seoul in retaliation for the installation of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.

"But I'm not sure whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet will accept the new South Korean government's request to renegotiate the comfort women agreement."

Experts said Moon's pledges have been convincing enough to appease China's concerns that South Korea may unilaterally take sides with the U.S. in a Washington-Beijing rivalry, such as joining the U.S.-led Missile Defense system.

Moon of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has pledged to seek parliamentary ratification on the ongoing THAAD installation in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

He also vowed for an early takeover of the U.S. wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces. "Beijing has been concerned THAAD may be used to spy on Chinese military activities instead of deterring North Korea's ballistic missile attacks. And China can be assured that the liberal government, unlike its conservative predecessor, will not cooperate with the U.S. over any such attempt," Kim Han-kwon said.

Regarding the comfort women deal struck between South Korea and Japan in December 2015, all political parties here have been calling for its renegotiation.

They claimed that it failed to reflect the views of the surviving victims of Japan's sex slavery during its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

But Japan has been insisting that South Korea carry out the agreement, claiming it was "final and irrevocable."

Tokyo also asked for the removal of two statues of girls placed outside its embassy in Seoul and consulate in Busan to commemorate the comfort women, claiming they are in violation of the 2015 agreement.

The experts said the hawkish Abe's push to overhaul the Japanese Constitution may add to public resentment against Japan in South Korea.

Abe has argued that the pacifist Constitution now needs to be amended to expand the role of the Japanese military for peaceful purposes. But many South Koreans are concerned that Japanese forces will forcibly enter the peninsula in the event of a war.



US variable on Seoul's diplomatic relations

Although the experts were optimistic about South Korea-China relations, they said the conflict over THAAD cannot be settled completely without considering Washington's relations with Seoul and Beijing as well as the geopolitics in Northeast Asia.

"The disputed THAAD deployment basically stems from the Washington-Beijing rivalry and it's more than South Korea-China relations," Kim Han-kwon said. "We therefore need to make sure that China does not have too much expectation over THAAD-related issues. Otherwise, South Korea-China relations may face a setback."

Hwang Tae-soon, a political commentator, said the U.S. may push South Korea to carry out the comfort women agreement as part of efforts to bolster a trilateral security alliance with Japan against China and North Korea.

"And such attempt can only backfire and raise anti-Japan sentiment," he said.

Kim Han-kwon echoed the view, saying "The U.S. will want South Korea and Japan to reconcile so that it can strengthen security cooperation in the region."

"But it will not be easy, as comfort women-related issues have been the biggest stumbling block for the Seoul-Tokyo ties for decades," he said.

All major presidential candidates pledged to either renegotiate or scrap the deal.

Their diplomatic promises were contrary to Japan's plan to ensure that the next Korean government will carry out the deal as promised by the outgoing conservative administration
By Jun Ji-hye

President Moon Jae-in faces a huge task to keenly coordinate his foreign and security policies with the Donald Trump administration amid advancing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.





Moon Jae-in Donald Trump

How Moon forges his relationship with Trump will exert considerable influence in security affairs facing the Korean Peninsula, considering the impulsiveness and unpredictability of the North Korean regime as well as Trump himself.

Experts say Moon's timely dialogue with President Trump is more important than ever to avoid Seoul's further diplomatic isolation at a time when the United States and China have been moving to join hands to curb North Korean threats.

Since his inauguration, Trump has been fueling fears of Seoul's isolation by skipping South Korea in his telephone talks for policy coordination following the North's launch of a ballistic missile, April 5, only speaking to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump's historically incorrect remark that Korea was once part of China, made after his summit with Xi last month, also sparked skepticism here over the U.S. president's understanding of the Asian ally and commitment to the alliance.

The need for bilateral dialogue is especially growing as Moon has shown negative views throughout his campaigning on the U.S. push for the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on South Korean soil and Trump's abrupt calls on Seoul to pay $1 billion for the deployment.

It has been speculated that President Trump demanded South Korea pay for THAAD to use the issue in the upcoming negotiation to renew the two sides' defense cost-sharing deal in order to make Seoul shoulder more of the burden. With the current deal expiring next year, the allies will begin discussions at the end of this year at the earliest.

Moon has also vowed to take back wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from the U.S. at the earliest possible date and develop the nation's own nuclear-powered submarines.

Both issues are highly likely to trigger conflict between the two nations, as the U.S. earlier agreed with South Korea to delay the OPCON transfer, originally scheduled for December 2015, until the 2020s. Washington also virtually controls South Korea's uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel reprocessing, with critics raising the question of whether the U.S. would approve of Seoul's uranium enrichment activity to operate a nuclear sub.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said the Trump administration appears to be determined to renegotiate the THAAD issue, noting that if the Korean government rejects the renegotiation, the U.S. is likely to respond very strongly, for example, by calling for terminating the free trade agreement between the two countries.

Mindful of the urgency of the issue, he urged the new government to push for a Seoul-Washington summit at the earliest possible date.

"Right after his inauguration, the new president needs to appoint a senior secretary for foreign affairs and national security, and send the secretary to the U.S. to push for an early summit," he said. "Then, the government needs to discuss the THAAD issue."

Cheong added that if the new government concludes that the THAAD deployment here was not a rational decision, it will also need to cancel the deployment. He cited the nation is estimated to suffer annual economic damage of 16 to 18 trillion won due to China's economic retaliation against the deployment.

Chung Sung-yoon, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, also said, "The sooner the Seoul-Washington summit takes place, the better."

He said South Korea should be included in the international community's discussion on the North's nuclear issues at the earliest possible date. "We must lose no more time at a time when the level of North Korean threats has become more serious than ever," he said.

Others, on the other hand, say the new government had better take a cautious attitude in pushing for the first summit with President Trump after making elaborate preparations and plans.

They cited that Moon begins his presidential term right after the election without having a preparatory period with a presidential transition committee because the by-election took place this time following the removal of former President Park Geun-hye in March.

"Uncertainty exists in the Trump administration, and the situation on the peninsula is fluid as well," said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. "The new government will have to complete the appointment of ministers before pushing for the summit."

For its part, the United States said it is looking forward to continuing "our close, constructive, deep cooperation" with the new South Korean administration.

State Department spokeswoman Katina Adams said Monday that the U.S. "continues to be a steadfast ally, friend, and partner" to South Korea, adding, "Our commitment to the defense of the ROK remains ironclad. The Republic of Korea is one of our closest allies and friends, and our partnership is based on shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law."

She added the alliance between the two countries will continue to be "a linchpin of regional stability and security," vowing to meet all alliance commitments, especially with respect to defending against North Korea.
The burning bus in which 10 Korean kindergarten students died. / Yonhap







By Lee Han-soo

Ten Korean kindergarten students were among 12 people killed in a bus blaze in a tunnel in Weihai, China, Tuesday, according to the South Korean Embassy in China.

There were 13 people in the vehicle, owned by an international school, when it caught fire in the tunnel, according to reports. The school, "Zhongshi Korean International School," largely caters for Koreans but has not been certified by the Korean government. A Chinese preschooler and the bus driver were also killed. A Chinese teacher is reportedly in a critical condition.

The exact cause of the fire is unknown.

South Korea's acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn expressed "grave sadness" over the deaths and directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to closely cooperate with the Chinese government to determine the accident's cause.





Smoke billows from the tunnel in Weihai, China, where the deadly accident happened. / Screen capture from Weibo



Hwang has also directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yun Byung-se, to mobilize all diplomatic resources and quickly inform the victims' families.

The South Korean Embassy in China has formed a special taskforce of eight people, including the consul general, who are trying find out the accident's cause.

They plan to support the bereaved and have asked Weihai city for cooperation.
The U.S. Navy's Carl Vinson Strike Group holds a joint exercise with South Korean warships in the East Sea in this undated file photo provided by South Korea's Navy. / Yonhap



A U.S. naval ship collided with a South Korean fishing vessel in the East Sea on Tuesday during its training mission in a highly unusual incident, according to defense authorities here.



"There was an accident involving the U.S. cruiser USS Lake Champlain and the South Korean fishing ship 502 Namyang in the waters 56 miles south of Ulleung Island at around noon today," a military official said.



But there was no report of any casualties from the accident involving the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser and the 9.77-ton, 20-meter-long small fishing boat with six people on board, he added.



The U.S. Naval Forces Korea said the cruiser was conducting "routine operations in international waters." Lake Champlain's port side collided with the ship.



Even after the collision, it said, both ships were able to navigate under their own power and no one was injured.



U.S. Navy and South Korea's Coast Guard are investigating the cause of the incident, with damage assessments of both ships also under way, it said.



As part of the Carl Vinson Strike Group, the cruiser is currently on a Western-Pacific deployment, along with several other ships, including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy.

The team has staged joint drills with South Korean warships near the peninsula. (Yonhap)
Presidential candidates campaign on Children's Day, Friday. With the election only three days away now, their final campaigning will be centered on wooing voters in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. From top left clockwise are Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea, Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party. / Yonhap



Record-high 11 million people vote



By Yi Whan-woo

Over a quarter of eligible voters cast ballots during the two-day early voting for the May 9 presidential election.

Some 11.07 million people or 26.06 percent of the total electorate voted Thursday and Friday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

The voter turnout is a record high since early voting was introduced in 2014. The overall turnout rate was 12.2 percent in the 2016 general election and 11.5 percent in the 2014 local elections.

By region, Sejong marked the highest turnout at 34.48 percent, followed by South Jeolla Province with 34.04 percent, Gwangju with 33.67 percent and North Jeolla Province with 31.64 percent. Daegu had the lowest rate at 22.28 percent.

Analysts said the government's campaign to promote the convenience of the early voting system is "paying off" after it was introduced in the 2014 local elections.

They also attributed the high turnout rate to increased voter awareness about the significance of choosing a capable leader, following the removal of Park Geun-hye from the presidency over an influence-peddling scandal.

"The campaign for early voting was well done," said Hwang Tae-soon, a political analyst. "It was also easy and convenient to vote, so voters who already made up their minds did not have to wait until May 9 and could cast their ballots at the nearest polling station immediately."

Eligible voters aged 19 and older could vote at any of the 3,507 polling stations nationwide from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. if they had a valid ID card with them.

Kim Hyo-jae, a former presidential secretary for political affairs under the Lee Myung-bak administration, claimed the high voter turnout reflects "the public desire for a change in the government to correct wrong practices in the political arena."
Moon Jae-in, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, makes a thums-up gesture while delivering a campaign speech in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Friday. / Yonhap





By Kim Hyo-jin



Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Moon Jae-in has unveiled 10 campaign pledges based on 125,000 ideas and policy suggestions his team gathered through social media in recent weeks.

Moon said he will implement them promptly if elected.

"Many ideas enlightened me," he said during a press conference Friday. "I was reminded again the people are the smartest and answers always lie in the people. We narrowed them down to 10 based on popular suggestions about children, education, women, housing and the environment. I will carry them out swiftly if elected."

The pledges include government support for hospitalized children aged 15 and under and free treatment for premature babies until they are six.

For parents of premature babies, he said the government would provide 80 percent of their monthly salaries during their one-year childcare leave.

To better respond to child abuse, Moon promised to set up a policy control tower and a network involving educational offices, schools, police and nurseries. More money would be earmarked for child protection.

Moon also backed the people's proposal for school uniforms. He plans to adopt standardized yet multiple designs for middle and high school uniforms and have them mass produced to reduce the cost burden on families.












President-elect Moon Jae-in waves to his supporters in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok



By Eom Da-sol

The President-elect Moon Jae-in, from the Democratic Party of Korea, was confident of his support right up to the election. He was right  regardless of other candidates' negative campaigns about Moon, most voters supported him. Who are these supporters and why did not they change their minds? Six people explain why they voted for Moon.

Jeong, 25, a female student majoring in social science at Seoul's Sookmyung Women's University, defines herself as a "centrist" with a moderate political view. "I support any conservative or progressive party only by their selective policies," she told The Korea Times.

"Honestly, I was tired of how the existing parties have polar-different ideas. Politics is all about compromising and integrating within conflicts, and the government exists to make a maximum number of citizens happy."

Moon was not Jeong's first pick. "I really wanted to vote for Yoo Seung-min, but seeing how Hong Jun-pyo's support rate was skyrocketing, there was no room for me to choose another candidate over Moon. Moon was far better than Hong."

"I will still support the new conservative power led by Yoo in other ways."

A male job seeker became interested in politics after the Sewol Ferry tragedy in which more than 300 passengers  mostly students of Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province  died in 2014. The intern, 27, who asked not to be named, was hugely disappointed then with then-President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached in March on charges including corruption and bribes.

He also did not have an absolute political preference. "Finding solutions to the issues within political frames  conservative or progressive  will only increase the division within the Korean public," he said.

"It was highly unlikely that Hong supporters would change their minds before the election. Even though Moon was the frontrunner candidate, votes could have moved to other candidates anytime because his party failed to offer achievable policies on national security and the high unemployment rate until the last minute.

"I voted for Moon because of his strong political foundation, which will play a vital role during his presidency."

Paik Mi-jung, 49, a publishing employee, said she wished Korea to be "a righteous country," where everyone has an equal opportunity for anything.

"People without money or power have thinner pipelines to resolve personal issues," Paik said. "Your problems are much more easily solved if you know someone powerful in public offices or facilities. For instance, if you know powerful people at a hospital, you might receive better medical service."

She considers Moon as a man of principle because he never cheated or committed fraud. "A principled man like Moon will be keen to root out long-existing power abuse in Korea," Paik said.

Eom Jae-hyeok, 48, an automation equipment system manager at Samsung Display, said Moon was a credible candidate because of his ethical approach to the Sewol Ferry incident.

"In cases of national disaster, politicians should not lie to citizens to protect their power," he said. "Moon seemed very sincere and honest as he sided with the victims' families and cried for them.

"My nephew is four years old. I wanted Korea to be a more secure and socially developed nation for her future."

Seo Nan-young, 48, self-employed, referred to a nation as "one big family." "A determined breadwinner' will lead the country to a better future," she said, expressing condolences for the hundreds of young victims of the Sewol Ferry tragedy.

"Moon has shown a refined and well-honed mindset for the last few years. He will bring peace not only to Korea but to international society."

Han Jeong-won, 30, a student, spent her childhood in one of Seoul's most politically conservative areas: Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu. But the more she talked with her neighbors about politics, the more skeptical she became about their "double standards."

"When politicians from conservative parties commit bribery, my neighbors said, That is no big deal'," she said.

"But if politicians from any progressive party were linked to corruption, these neighbors searched even the suspected politicians' farthest relatives to unveil any other crimes to smear the politicians' images. My neighbors demanded a perfect morality only from progressive governments," she said.

For a long time, Han admired a fair society where people were honest. "Moon is a very truthful person," Han said. "Sometimes I cried while reading Moon's slogan for his last presidential election campaign: Equal opportunity, fair progress and righteous result.

"I realized those three values are what Korea craves the most to be a better country."
By Lee Kyung-min



President-elect Moon Jae-in has pledged to move both Cheong Wa Dae the presidential residence to separate nearby locations, as part of his effort to "return the presidential office to the public."



Moon said Tuesday that a discussion was underway to relocate the presidential residence to the current prime minister's residence in Samcheong-dong. On April 24, he unveiled plan to move the presidential office to the Gwanghwamun Government Complex. Currently, both the presidential residence and office are inside Cheong Wa Dae premises.



Moon came up with the campaign pledge to become a "Gwanghwamun president," in a bid to show his desire to become a leader who communicates well with people in Gwanghwamun Square. The square has been a symbolic place for democracy where an aggregate of nearly 20 million people gathered over the past six months to demand former President Park Geun-hye step down.



Moon's pledge reflects his wish to differentiate himself from Park, whose seclusion inside Cheong Wa Dae triggered public anger over her inability to communicate with her staff and the people.



Moon said he would be "nothing like the former president," stressing he would even have a drink with people going home after work near the square.



Against this backdrop, Moon is seeking to revamp the current Prime Minister's Office to use it as his own.



The prime minister, in turn, will be asked to stay primarily in an office in the Sejong Administrative City with a new small residence to be designated soon for stays in Seoul.



However, there has been opposition to the plan. Owners of small shops near the government complex worry about possible sluggish business due to heightened presidential security as well as traffic restrictions. The restriction of telecommunications to prevent illegal phone monitoring and hacking will also inconvenience residents as well as the shop owners.



The plan to relocate the office is already under review by two special committees set up by Moon.



The committees are also considering creating a historical and cultural belt connecting Cheong Wa Dae, Gyeongbok Palace, Gwanghwamun, Seochon, Bukchon and Jongmyo Shrine.



However, the plan is feared to infringe on people's right to freedom of assembly. According to the law, protest rallies are banned from within 100 meters of the presidential office, the National Assembly and the Prime Minister's Office.



If it is realized, protesters will not be able to gather in the northern part of the square and some parts of Gyeongbok Palace Station.



Ahn Jin-geol, the secretary general of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, said Moon seems to have overlooked the legal technicalities.



"Given Moon's pledge to better communicate with the public, his plan requires a revision. It must have been an honest oversight," he said.



One of Moon's campaign officials said the pledge will be delivered in a way that honors the original intent for him to be a "listening" leader.




Moon Jae-in poses with the late President Roh Moo-hyun after being appointed senior presidential secretary for civil affairs in 2004. / Korea Times file photo



By Jung Min-ho

It was a freezing day in December. About 14,000 North Korean refugees got on the U.S. ship, SS Meredith Victory, at the besieged port of Hungnam in North Korea.

Only hours before Chinese and North Korean communist forces swept into the area, Captain Leonard LaRue ordered to unload almost all of the arms and military supplies from the ship to take aboard as many refugees as possible.

The parents of Moon Jae-in, now the president of Korea, were among the 14,000 who arrived on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province on Christmas Eve in 1950.

So when Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party asked whether Moon considers North Korea as the primary enemy of the South during a TV debate for presidential candidates, he could not say he does. For Moon  and many others, the question can't be answered simply with a yes or no. It was the homeland his parents missed for the rest of their entire lives, and it still is home to tens of millions of innocent people enduring dictatorship.



Right-wing politicians have been trying hard to paint him as a "North Korea sympathizer." They aren't entirely wrong, but he also deeply appreciates the American captain who saved the lives of his parents, Moon wrote in his biographical book, "From Destiny to Hope."

Moon was born in 1953, months before the end of the Korean War. Since as early as he can remember, life was always hard. His father and mother worked day and night but the future never looked bright.

As a boy, Moon had to wait in line for corn flour and milk powder given out by Catholic churches. He didn't like doing it, but he liked the nuns who were always nice to him.

So when he entered the prestigious Gyeongnam Middle School in Busan, Moon was shocked to see rich classmates who ate different food and lived in different houses. Around that time, he became aware of social inequality.





During his high school years at Kyungnam High School in Busan / Korea Times file photo



His father was a man of few words, but he often expressed his political opinions to his family, which influenced Moon to shape his own beliefs.

Moon participated in his first anti-government protest in 1969 when then-President Park Chung-hee, the father of former president Park Geun-hye, tried to revise the Constitution to pave the way for his third term.

After entering the College of Law at Kyung Hee University in 1972, Moon continued the fight against the strongman, who declared the Yushin Constitution that year to extend his hold on power.












By Choi Ha-young

The 2017 presidential election was largely a judgment of Park Geun-hye's four years as president, but her influence on conservative politicians is likely to remain.

Liberty Korea Party (LKP) presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo made a strategic choice to work together with the pro-Park faction throughout his campaign. This made it impossible for Hong and Rep. Yoo Seong-min, the candidate of the Bareun Party which played a crucial role in impeaching Park, to unify behind one candidate for the election.

The pro-Park faction is likely to remain a stumbling block for the unity of conservatives.

Pundits say some of the Park loyalists may seek to retake the leadership of the LKP, while the party will be embroiled in yet another factional dispute following the election, they say.

The corruption scandal involving Park and her associates hit the remnants of the ruling party hard. Hong's exit polls  23.3 percent  show that many conservative voters, mainly the elderly from Daegu and the Gyeongsang Provinces, voted for him.

"Hong will try to seize the party leadership after the election, but pro-Park politicians will not give way to him smoothly," political commentator Choi Young-il said. "The pro-Park faction's obsession with power would be the largest barrier to the conservatives' integration."

On Jan. 24, 33 lawmakers broke away from the LKP, then known as the Saenuri Party, and started the Bareun Party. However, 13 of them rejoined the LKP for the presidential race, abandoning Yoo.

The more popular conservative candidate, Hong embraced the 13 anti-Park defectors, forcing the pro-Park politicians to accept their return in an effort to solidify the party.

Hong's decision was an attempt to soften the conflict between pro- and anti-Park factions, in anticipation of the party's role as an opposition party.












By Kim Se-jeong

Many citizens celebrated the win of Moon Jae-in in the presidential election, describing it as the highlight of the "candlelight revolution."

They said the election was more than an ordinary and routine way to choose the next leader.

"I really wanted to elect a leader who can lead the country," a 55-year-old voter surnamed Sohn said outside Hyochang-dong Office in Seoul as she was leaving the voting booth.

Sohn said she had been fed up with former President Park Geun-hye who was impeached for her role in a massive corruption and influence-peddling scandal. "With the election, we complete the process," she said.

Triggered by the scandal in October, the months-long candlelit vigils removed Park from office. Sohn, who attended every single protest, voted for Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Chung Ji-min, 20, from Mangwon-dong in western Seoul, said she's voting because of the protests. She said she went to a few rallies with friends. "What I saw got me to cast my ballot." She had injured her foot in a recent car accident but went to vote with the assistance of her mother.

Election day started wet with a light drizzle. Many showed up braving the unfavorable weather conditions in the morning, which continued until late evening.

One common scene at the polling stations was people taking photos outside polling booths. This had never been allowed before in Korean elections. Many parents were accompanied by their children and took photos together.
By Kim Bo-eun



Gay rights, hardly considered an election issue in the past, emerged as a contentious issue in the 2017 presidential election. Hopes are this signals the situation for sexual minorities will improve under new President-elect Moon Jae-in.



Moon has supported banning discrimination against sexual minorities since he ran for the presidency in 2012. At that time, the legislation of a comprehensive law banning discrimination, including against sexual minorities, was one of his pledges.



On April 12, Moon told the National Assembly's committee on constitutional revision, "We need to guarantee the right to life, safety and sexual equality. We need to expand the scope of subjects against which discrimination must be banned."



However, Moon drew strong criticism when he said he opposes and does not like homosexuality on a nationally televised debate for presidential candidates on April 25.



During the debate, he said he is against discrimination against homosexuality, but does not support the legalization of gay marriage.



This generated a fierce backlash from LGBT communities, as well as the general public. They say opposition to legalizing gay marriage is also a form of discrimination. Moon apologized afterward, but refrained from making any promises to establish the law. He only cautiously commented that "social consensus needs to be reached on the issue," apparently mindful of Christian voters.



According to data from Statistics Korea, there are an estimated 13.7 million Protestants and Catholics in Korea, who account for around a fourth of the population.



A similar law was proposed in 2013, but canceled after fierce opposition from churches.



Nara Lee, chief staff member of the Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea, said regardless of who becomes president, people's perceptions of social minorities have changed as Korean democracy matures.



"The election was held due to people's demands for social ills such as inequality to be abolished, which led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye," Lee said.



"The social climate has changed. Sexual minorities themselves are revealing their identities and calling for their rights. Although Korea still has a long way to go, the fact that gay rights became an issue in the presidential campaign shows the situation has improved. The time has come for the government to start discussing more specific ways to protect the rights of sexual minorities."



At the same time, Lee said legal grounds need to be established to further promote sexual minorities' rights, including legislation banning discrimination, and the abolishment of a military penal code which criminalizes gay sex.



"We will continue to fight for these efforts," Lee said. "It is our wish that under the next administration, sexual minorities will be respected as full-fledged members of society."




President-elect Moon Jae-in has pledged to resume dialogue for peace with North Korea, but it would be done only when certain conditions are met. / Korea Times file



By Lee Han-soo

President-elect Moon Jae-in has pledged to resume dialogue for peace with North Korea, but it would be done only when a condition is met: no more military provocations such as nuclear or missile tests.

"If North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test, cross-border dialogue will be impossible for a time, and given the single, five-year term, it will effectively be difficult to improve inter-Korean ties under the next administration," Moon said during a televised debate on April 27.

He has repeatedly called for a more "open and humanitarian" approach to the isolated country, unlike his two previous conservative predecessors -- Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak -- who pressed the North to abandon its nuclear program through sanctions and other punitive measures. Moon firmly believes that multinational diplomatic efforts will bring an end to the long-running crisis on the Korean Peninsula without military conflict.

"I am confident to lead the diplomatic efforts involving multiple parties, which will lead to the complete abandonment of the North Korean nuclear program, and bring the relationship between South and North to peace, economic cooperation and mutual prosperity," Moon said on April 25.












Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate of the People's Party, speaks to reporters while leaving his home in Nowon-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. Ahn is expected to hold the key to the unity of liberals after the election. / Yonhap





By Kim Hyo-jin





The harsh reality faced by Moon Jae-in, the winner of the presidential election, in domestic politics is that his Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is 30 seats short of a majority in the 299-member National Assembly.



This means the DPK has no choice but to seek cooperation from minor parties to push its reform agenda through.

What makes this task more challenging is the deepened chasm between the DPK and the center-left People's Party during the presidential race.



Reflecting this reality, Moon repeated his promises for "cooperative politics" during the campaign and through election day.



"After the election, we should be one again. I will try my best to embrace the other candidates and their parties so we are engaged in cooperative politics," Moon told reporters after casting his vote on Tuesday morning. "I hope the people also work on achieving national unity."



One of his immediate tasks is to name his Cabinet members. Their smooth appointments are the key to putting the new administration on track, especially when there is no transition period.



Restructuring of government ministries should also be done as early as possible otherwise the administration could easily lose momentum, commentators say.



The previous Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments failed to complete filling of their cabinets in a timely manner after the election. It took them an additional 32 and 52 days, respectively, to complete the process in the face of the opposition's resistance.



Moon previously said, if elected, he would minimize the restructuring of ministries to avoid a prolonged tussle with the National Assembly. Even still, seeking cooperation from opposition parties will be a priority to fill in the administrative vacuum.



"Tapping figures from either side of the ideological blocs as new ministers can be a good start to work with the Assembly in a state of the opposition commanding a majority," said Kim Hyung-joon, a professor of political science at Myongji University.



Moon, a politician from Yeongnam, or the eastern Gyeongsang provinces, said earlier that he would like to appoint a person from outside of his region as prime minister for the sake of regional balance. Aware of the looming challenge against the opposition, he has stressed he would stick to the principle of national unity in appointing his personnel.



The DPK currently holds 120 parliamentary seats of the 299-member Assembly. Moon is expected to meet stiff resistance from the former ruling Liberty Korea Party, which grew bigger to have 107 seats recently with defectors from the party Bareun Party.



Given that an approval of a majority of Assemblymen is needed for the endorsement of the prime minister, Moon's priority counterpart is expected to be Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party. The third-largest party now holds 40 seats.



It is not just limited to the case of getting the new administration going. During the upcoming five-year presidential term, Ahn's support is a prerequisite to enact Moon's domestic reform agenda.



He wants to increase the number of jobs in the public sector to ease high unemployment, increase state spending, improve education and welfare protection for the deprived, and push for a rise in taxes for those with high incomes.

He earlier vowed to have a supplementary budget drafted once the new government is in place though he did not specify its amount.



It will be possible for Moon to bring up the idea of sharing Cabinet posts with minor parties to attract their support in pushing for his administrative agenda.
By Walt Gardner





There's a big difference between teaching students responsibility and abusing them that is too often lost in the discussion about schools today. Those who don't understand the distinction persist in drawing inaccurate conclusions about education.



Requiring students in South Korea to clean their classrooms is a case in point. To some, it's justified as a way of promoting civic duty, while to others it's condemned as a degrading experience. It's hard to understand the opposition. The military has long made recruits responsible for maintaining clean and orderly barracks, with no adverse effects.



Yet in South Korea, the task is attacked as inherently abusive. This reaction is reminiscent of the student rights revolution that began in earnest in the U.S. in the 1960s. Prior to that era, schools acted in loco parentis. This doctrine granted teachers the authority to exercise their professional judgment to maintain an atmosphere where learning could best take place.



Not all learning is restricted to subject matter in textbooks. It also includes non-cognitive outcomes such as attitudes and values. South Korea's version of in loco parentis, which used to prevail in its schools, was gyokwon. As in the U.S., its slow disappearance has done a grave disservice to young people who now consider themselves virtually untouchable.



The insidious process began in the U.S. when courts issued a series of decisions establishing the rights of students. The landmark ruling was Goss v. Lopez in 1975. The U.S. Supreme Court held that when nine students at two high schools and one junior high school in Columbus, Ohio were suspended without preliminary hearings, they violated the students' due process rights.



One year later the high court put teeth in the matter in Wood v. Strickland, holding that if teachers knowingly violate any student's due process rights, they can be held personally liable for financial damages. Not surprisingly, the decision has had a chilling effect on the willingness of teachers to enforce rules, since punitive damages are not covered by the school district or the teachers' union.



If the courts in South Korea follow in the footprints of those in the U.S., they will unwittingly erode educational quality. It's more than mere coincidence that physical assaults on teachers in the U.S. have increased dramatically ever since the authority of teachers has been undermined. The disrespect in other ways is shocking. Cursing at teachers has become almost routine behavior in many urban schools. This has led to chaos in classrooms that cripples learning.



Although teachers' unions in Fresno, Des Moines, New York City, and Indianapolis have all lodged complaints about lax discipline practices, little has changed. No one defends abusing students by striking them or verbally diminishing them. But expecting them to comply with reasonable requests hardly falls into that category. Respect and order are indispensable for effective learning. It's a stretch to believe that cleaning classrooms or teachers' lounges qualifies as degrading.





Walt Gardner writes the Reality Check blog for Education Week in the U.S. Write to walt.gard376@gmail.com.
By Gwynne Dyer



It was striking, in US media coverage of Donald Trump's first hundred days in office, that most observers noted with relief that his foreign policy has turned out to be less radical than they feared. In fact, it's not radical at all. He has already fired cruise missiles at a Middle Eastern country, a ritual that has been observed by every American president since Bill Clinton.



The old Donald Trump was an "isolationist" who opposed US military intervention overseas unless US interests were directly threatened.. When it seemed likely in 2013 that President Obama would attack the Syrian regime over its alleged use of poison gas on civilians, Trump tweeted: "The only reason President Obama wants to attack Syria is to save face over his very dumb RED LINE statement. Do NOT attack Syria, fix U.S.A."



And lo! Obama did not attack Syria after all, although it had crossed the "red line" he had drawn in a statement the previous year.



On sober second thought  and after being warned by James Clapper, his Director of National Intelligence, that the evidence suggesting that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime was responsible for the gas attack, while robust, was not a "slam dunk"  Obama decided not to launch cruise missiles at Syria. (Curiously, there was no Trump tweet praising Obama and taking credit for his change of mind.)



This was the moment when Obama broke decisively with the foreign policy orthodoxy in Washington, and the think-tank "experts" and the reigning media pundits never forgave him for it. Towards the end of his second term, he explained his decision to Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in the following terms.



"There's a playbook in Washington that presidents are supposed to follow. It's a playbook that comes out of the foreign-policy establishment. And the playbook prescribes responses to different events, and these responses tend to be militarised responses....In the midst of an international challenge like Syria, you get judged harshly if you don't follow the playbook, even if there are good reasons why it does not apply."



It did not apply because destroying the Assad regime would just hand Syria over to the jihadi fanatics of Islamic State and al-Qaeda. It did not apply because the Russians might intervene to save Assad, perhaps leading to a direct US-Russian military confrontation. It did not apply because there was no support for an attack in Congress. And it did not apply because it was not even certain that the Syrian regime was to blame.



"Don't do stupid shit" was Obama's prime rule in foreign policy, and emulating George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq in order to destroy Saddam Hussein's non-existent "weapons of mass destruction" definitely qualified as stupid. Even treating the Middle East as a region vital to American security was stupid. With the Cold War over and the United States no longer dependent on Middle Eastern oil, it wasn't even important any more.



Fast forward to 2016, and Obama must have been torn when he contemplated his successors. Hillary Clinton had worked for him and would preserve his legacy in domestic affairs, but she was totally orthodox in foreign policy and would follow the playbook wherever it led. Whereas Donald Trump, in his crude and simple way, actually shared Obama's distrust of the foreign policy elite.



But with Trump it was just gut instinct, not a reasoned analysis of why the playbook was wrong. Once he was in office, and another poison gas attack in Syria landed on his desk, that instinct was swiftly overwhelmed by an even stronger urge to do something dramatic.



In politics, the Law of Mixed Motives always applies. No doubt Trump was truly horrified by the images of dead "beautiful babies", but he was also aware that his policy successes in the first hundred days were sparse and that his popular approval numbers were way down.



So off went the cruise missiles, although the evidence that the Assad regime was responsible for the gas attack was even less certain than last time. It was purely a gesture, aimed mainly at the US domestic audience, and there has been no follow-up. But it did conform to the playbook's rules, and the response by the "lamestream" media verged on the ecstatic.



Trump doesn't give a fig for the playbook, but he does care about popularity. He campaigned as an isolationist, but now he has discovered that a little sabre-rattling abroad yields instant popularity at home.



He is surrounded by people who still believe in the playbook, and they now know how to press his buttons. There will probably be more "limited" military strikes with cruise missiles, not just in the Middle East but also in north-east Asia. And there may well be more wars, because sabre-rattling is not a precise science.





Dwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. Contact gwynne763121476@aol.com.




The file photo taken on Dec. 19, 1950, shows refugees aboard fishing boats and a military ship being evacuated from Hungnam, North Korea. The parents of Moon Jae-in, the winner of the presidential election, were among some 100,000 refugees from the North who eventually settled in Busan and nearby Geoje Island. / Korea Times



By Ned Forney

Nearly 65 years ago, on Jan. 24, 1953, a young couple from Hamhung, North Korea, celebrated the birth of their first son. They had come to the South Korean island of Geoje as refugees during the war, and like thousands of others who had fled the fighting, they struggled to adjust to their new home in the South. Yet, despite their poverty and hardships, they were thankful for their newborn son  and their freedom.





Ned Forney

Three years earlier, in late December 1950, the couple and their two-year-old daughter joined tens of thousands of North Korean civilians at the port city of Hungnam and boarded ships for the South. Fleeing from the advancing Chinese army, these refugees had promised their families they would return in "three days," or as soon as the Communists were defeated.

But this never happened. The Communists were never defeated, the couple never returned to North Korea, and many of the refugees never saw or heard from their families again.

The husband has since passed away. But yesterday the refugee couple's son, Moon Jae-in, became the new president of the Republic of Korea.

As the only American to interview 30 former refugees from Hungnam, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for those who lived through the "refugee experience" of the Korean War. Like Moon's parents and sister, these men, women and children spent days and sometimes weeks exposed to the bitter cold of one of the worst winters in decades before being rescued by U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine ships.

My grandfather, Colonel Edward H. Forney, USMC, was the evacuation control officer of the Hungnam Evacuation _ the largest U.S. military amphibious evacuation of civilians under combat conditions in U.S. history. I have spent nearly two years living in Seoul, researching and writing about him, his fellow U.S. and ROK soldiers, and the refugees, and during this time I have often reflected on the meaning of freedom for Koreans, Americans, and me.

With the world's recent focus on the refugee crisis in Europe, more people are aware of the ongoing plight of refugee families. Over the coming days and weeks, as news outlets and social media sites cover South Korea's newly elected president and his family background, Moon's story will be a bright spot in an otherwise bleak picture of civilians fleeing war-torn countries.

In a remarkable testament to South Korea's open and evolving democratic political system, the son of refugee parents, who as a young boy helped his mother sell coal to earn extra money for his family, has risen from a life of poverty to the highest elected office in his country.

More than ever, I am convinced that American, British, and ROK sacrifices made at Hungnam were not in vain. Their efforts to protect and rescue North Korean civilians have made a profound impact on Korean history and have helped create an environment where democracy and freedom flourish. Today, South Korea has a dynamic society and is an influential global player that has repeatedly shown its ability to overcome political and economic adversity.

Nearly 100,000 North Korean civilians were rescued from Hungnam during the 14-day operation, and it is estimated that over 1 million of their descendants now live in South Korea, the United States, and countries around the world. President Moon is one of them.

The next five years will undoubtedly bring new and unforeseen challenges to the people of South Korea, and as the new president takes the oath of office, people and governments around the world _ regardless of whether they agree or disagree with his political views _ will be wishing him well. But as many of his critics will quickly point out, with his rise from Geoje's refugee camps to Cheong Wa Dae completed, the most important phase of Moon's life is just beginning.

The writer is a grandson of the late Colonel Edward H. Forney, the evacuation control officer of the Hungnam Evacuation in December 1950. Ned Forney himself is a former captain in the USMC. He can be reached at ned.forney1985@gmail.com.
Moon should ditch partisan politics, adopt partnership governance



Moon Jae-in of the largest Democratic Party of Korea couldn't take office as president in more trying times  the country is besieged by big challenges from within and without.



Rising from the ideological battlefield with bruises from identity politics and burns from dog whistling, all wrapped by name calling, lies and backstabbing was the new liberal president. His election ended the nine years of conservative rule.



The road to his election may have been confusing but his mission as the new head of state isn't.



President Moon owes the election to his liberal outpouring of support. From day one  today  as president, he shouldn't settle for being the leader only for them. He needs to work for his detractors, those who didn't vote for him, as well. President Moon should aim not to be "my president or your president but become the president for all."



Only months ago, downtown Seoul and places across the nation were filled by millions of candlelit protesters indignant at the colossal scale of incompetence and hoodwinking of the Park Geun-hye government. Then, it was joined by counter-protesters who pushed back in an attempt to keep Park in power.



The following campaign cauldron came to a boil as the candidates engaged in red-baiting and threats of retaliation. Moon ended up inheriting a basket case of a nation that will remain stuck, not moving forward or backward, if he insists on partisan politics as usual.



In the current balance of power shared by four parties at the National Assembly, without their support, he can't even install a new prime minister without whom a new Cabinet can't be formed. He can't afford such a delay when the nation has suffered months of a power vacuum left by his predecessor, depriving it of coherent rule and making it the object of international mockery.



So it is imperative to reach out to his rival candidates and opposition parties neither with the winner's hubris nor with vengeance in mind but with a genuine proposal for partnership  recognizing their role of checks-and-balances provider and asking them for help in a grand reconciliatory effort.



This partnership can only lead to the healing of the nation, at the same time broadening his mandate beyond partisan limitations. With the bigger political capital bestowed on him, Moon can get devoted to the urgent tasks at hand.



North Korea tops his priorities' list. Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs pose an existential threat to us. It has threatened to use them against our nation and is now on a collision course with the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has not excluded the use of force, claiming that the North's weapons of mass destruction will soon threaten his country. Despite it being most influenced by any change of the status quo, Seoul has been bypassed by Trump who only seeks counsel with China, and the North that refuses to treat us as dialogue partner.



Besides, Pyongyang is a very hot ideological issue at home  the disgraced President Park took a great deal of flak for ditching a conciliatory approach and going for a hard-line confrontational stance  closing the inter-Korean business project, the Gaeseong Industrial Park, and leading in international sanctions.



Now, Moon's job is to weave through a minefield of the conflicting interests of the U.S. and China and find a negotiated settlement, which, in the end, is bound to amount to a nuclear and missile moratorium in the North. That also means avoiding a catastrophic military clash on the Korean Peninsula and the restoration of Seoul's role as a key stakeholder. Reaching this point requires our president to have many sleepless lonely nights, rely on the best of his tact and strong gut, and a sense of duty.



Also equally important is the economic agenda about getting the nation out of the slippery slope of the "middle income trap," and lessening the acute inequality in wealth distribution. In principle, few disagree on this but, in detail  chaebol reform or labor market flexibility  any agreement is a rare commodity. Plus, the external situation involving Korea's key trading partners is not helping as the U.S. is flexing its protectionist muscles on its free trade agreement with us, and China is mixing politics with trade over Korea's deployment of a U.S. missile interceptor.



For Moon it is worth remembering what the late President Roh Moo-hyun, his former boss, once said  "One big realization I have come to as president is that he has very few things he can do alone." He would best communicate more with people, share the burden and pool wisdom together. Moon may succeed where his mentor and friend had failed. We the people know that his success is our success as well and wish him the best of luck.




By Andrew Salmon





Experienced Korea-based reporters tend to acquire a portfolio of stories that crop up time and again. Nothing changes, so these "merry-go-round" stories can be dusted off and re-filed to editors, with minimal edits, ad infinitum. All the lazy, cynical hack needs to do is to alter the lede graf, a few names, dates and numbers, and voila! Another day! Another dollar!



These pieces include the following: Corrupt chaebol chairman charged over fraud/embezzlement/bribery. Corrupt chairman let off by judge due to his "importance to the economy." Chairman charged (again), jailed and pardoned due to his "importance to the economy."



North Korea fires ballistic missile. Japan, USA and South Korea thump desks, while China urges all parties to remain calm. North Korea detonates nuclear device. Japan, South Korea and USA howl that there will be repercussions, while China urges all parties to remain calm. Repercussions fail to impact North Korea's behavior. Nobody is calm.



South Korea and USA conduct spring military exercises. North Korea vows to blow its enemies from hell to breakfast. To the befuddlement of editors worldwide, South Koreans express no fear of impending Armageddon. Armageddon fails to materialize. To the disappointment of editors worldwide, human life continues.



Then there is that old chestnut, "The presidential election."



These come round every five years, but due to the acceleration of another merry-go-round story (president enters "lame duck" period  this time, the president is not just lame, she has been impeached and jailed), today's 2017 election arrived earlier than expected.



The winning candidate faces a depressing merry-go-round of challenges, domestic and foreign.



Domestic: Businesspolitical collusion, cronyism and corruption. Maturing economy resulting in slowing growth and alarm among vernacular media that Korea is in "recession" or "crisis" (In fact, it has not suffered a recession since 1999). Youth unemployment rising. (Albeit, South Korea continues to import hundreds of thousands of migrant workers). Household debt rising. (Defying the efforts of every administration since the credit card crisis of 2002 to ease this problem). Restructuring of (add company or sector name here). Bleak  indeed, suicidal  pessimism among Koreans about the unfairness of their society/future prospects.













Foreign: Security threats from North Korea. Diplomatic disputes with Japan over historical and territorial issues. Strategic disputes with USA over U.S. assets and costs. The potential of latent anti-Japanese and anti-American sentiment  with anti-Chinese sentiment possibly joining the list  exploding into protest. Can (quiver) hallyu continue its global march?



Exacerbating all the above is that, while Korean institutions continue to tick over, actual policymaking has been frozen since late 2016, when the Park administration foundered in the morass of impeachment.



Petrochemical and shipbuilding sectoral restructuring is on indefinite hold. Slavish banks offer further money to grossly indebted zombie companies. THAAD has infuriated Beijing, but any climb-down risks infuriating Washington and its mercurial president, Donald Trump. Tokyo is apoplectic over what it considers Seoul's volte face on the 2015 comfort women agreement (and will be further incensed by presidential candidates' demands to renegotiate it). And speaking of renegotiations: Trump is insisting that the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement needs recalibrating.



These additional challenges add greater weight to the already crushing burden of merry-go-round issues. Hence I pose (again) the question I asked in this column in 2012: "Presidential candidates: Are you mad?"



You know that "winning" an election leads to loss and misery. And do you honestly think you can resolve any of these issues? Particularly given that your back will be against the wall?



You know how vindictive Koreans are toward their leaders! You know how corrupted/corruptive Korean power structures are! Your term will implode in lame-duckery, scandal and disgrace! Post-presidency, you and/or family members will end up in pokey! Oh  and you will probably face impeachment!



So is becoming president wise? It is? Really?



OK, sucker. I warned you! I will conclude with some kind advice for your unfortunate family members.



Extricate yourself from this naive, myopic and compromised ego-maniac's affairs immediately! When things go downhill, as they inevitably will, you don't want to tumble off the merry-go-round and into the vortex.





Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. Reach him at andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk.
By Bernard Rowan





On Tuesday, South Koreans continued the life of a young and vibrant democracy by going to the polls and voting for their president. This vote has great importance. It continues the healing from painful events of impeaching and removing a president. It shows the vitality of Korean political culture in facing international and regional pressures. Koreans celebrate the life of their great state, country, and people through democratic participation.



I've watched from Chicago, Illinois, the impressive displays of the omni-partisan community at debates and other shared forums. Of course, the differences between parties and personalities are real and serious. The candidates for President have shown the leadership needed to chart the future of South Korea. They've stood together as Korean citizens and Korean brothers and sisters. Don't underestimate the value of this practice.



It's also impressive there are more than just two candidates. Too many democracies settle into two-party politics. Koreans regularly advance more than two candidates for the nation's highest office. While some might disagree, that shows the strength of South Korea's democracy and the broad interest in national politics that should continue.



Here's hoping the voter turnout is the largest in history. The best voting mindset is picking the candidate who can do the best job. The Korean president wields great power, greater than American presidents according to the structure of Korean government. Korean presidents also have stronger ties to the people with their standing as the chief executive. They must carry the burden of a popular mandate with heavy expectations.



Beware the trend of present-day politics. Korean voters and political elites build up candidates, regardless of party, to become president. At the end of the person's term, he or she faces a major scandal. May this election see an end to that. The next president needs a more transparent government as a priority.



So many issues stand for the voters: what to do about THAAD and North Korea top the list, but there are so many others. I should say that regulating chaebol and improving employment opportunities for younger Koreans are critical now. Not far behind stands the empowerment of women and the elderly and extending South Korea's support for a more diverse society.



I hope the losing candidates will pledge their support to the winner of the election. Watching the continuing bitterness between American President Trump and Hillary Clinton is pathetic and a blue ribbon example of what not to follow. Of course party political differences will remain. That's healthy in a democracy. Also healthy is the voluntary acceptance of rules of fair play, including how to act when one loses an election. Respecting the new president assumes even greater importance given the issues of national security and domestic political fallout.



The tumultuous period of the Korean War isn't long past. Syngman Rhee began a list that soon will have another name. The next president will share in the awesome responsibility of carrying forward the Korean people in the 21st century. Koreans threw off the military dictatorship. Through the sacrifices of dissidents and youth, Koreans realized a civilian-controlled, multiparty democratic state. Even with serious challenges, historical and recent, the country has continued to grow and develop into an advanced nation. There's plenty more to do. Today, another citizen will step into big shoes buoyed by the realization that in many respects, Korean works, inventions, and technologies propel the peoples of the region and the world to better living.



Vote! Carry forward the life of Korea as a vibrant democracy. Voting isn't a candlelight revolution. It builds habits of voice and loyalty to one's country. This act isn't just about "winning and losing" and whose ideas and policies hold sway. It's about celebrating the citizens' democracy of South Korea, a state and society that have the health to overcome bad times and move forward.





Bernard Rowan is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. Reach him at browan10@yahoo.com
Facebook users in Korea could not access their accounts for almost an hour on Tuesday, the presidential election day. / Korea Times file



By Eom Da-sol

Korean Facebook users could not sign into their accounts for nearly an hour on Tuesday, presidential election day.

They could not access their pages from about 10 a.m. Visitors could only see the administration team's message in English, which said: "Sorry, something went wrong. We're working on it and we'll get it fixed as soon as we can."

A Facebook Korea spokesperson said the outage was "due to a technical problem" and apologized for the inconvenience. He did not reveal details.

"It does not seem like a problem that occurred only in Korea," another official said, without elaborating.

This is not the first time Korean websites have gone down on a national election day. The National Election Commission website was out of service for over 50 minutes on the 12th general election day in 2012 due to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack by two teenagers. The website also was attacked on by-election day on Oct. 16, 2011.
Hyundai Heavy Industries installs a mega-sized elevator at its Ulsan shipyard. Up to 300 people can fit inside the elevator at the same time. As spun-off subsidiaries of the world's top shipbuilder are listed on the Seoul bourse today, analysts expect their share prices to rise. / Courtesy of Hyundai Heavy Industries



By Park Jae-hyuk



Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and its three spun-off affiliates  Hyundai Robotics, Hyundai Electric & Energy System and Hyundai Construction Equipment  will be listed on the Seoul Bourse today.



Analysts came up with rosy prospects that the four companies will enjoy more than 30 percent growth in terms of their market capitalization in time with the inauguration of the new president.



The continuous rise in the benchmark KOSPI index and HHI's fine performance in the first quarter also support such expectations. HHI posted 618.7 billion won ($546 million) in operating profit last quarter  up 90.3 percent year-on-year and 73.65 percent higher than brokerage estimations.



The shipbuilder's market value was 12.5 trillion won as of March 30, when its stock trading was suspended due to the spinoff.

Meritz Securities expects the four firms' market capitalization to reach 19.9 trillion won after listing.



"HHI will benefit from a recovery in the shipbuilding industry," Meritz analyst Kim Hyun said. "Hyundai Robotics has growth potential. Hyundai Construction Equipment has competitiveness in emerging markets and Hyundai Electric will benefit from electronics market growth."



The analyst recently raised HHI's target price from 200,000 won to 230,000 won. The company's closing price was 165,000 won on March 30.



Eugene Investment & Securities expects the four companies' market capitalization will reach 16.5 trillion won. NH Investment & Securities said their market value will be around 15 trillion won.



Analysts varied in picking the most prominent firm among the four. NH opted for Hyundai Robotics, while Eugene went for Hyundai Electric and Hyundai Construction Equipment.



On March 27, 98 percent of HHI shareholders approved the company's plan to split its non-core businesses from the world's largest shipbuilder, seeking to boost each business unit's competitiveness.



This was part of an effort to overcome heavy debts. The spinoff is expected to reduce the company's debt ratio from 106 percent to 95 percent.



Under the plan, Hyundai Robotics will likely be a holding company of HHI group. HHI already declared it would establish the industrial robot firm as a holding company in an investment prospectus submitted to the stock market.



Hyundai Robotics owns Hyundai Oilbank and Hyundai Global Service as subsidiaries. The refiner and the marine service provider would finance Hyundai Robotics to acquire shares of the affiliates.



In addition, some observers said Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard are likely to merge with HHI, so the shipbuilders can abolish their cross-shareholding structure.
"Goblin" actor Gong Yoo was recently in Hong Kong for his "Gong Yoo Live-Make a Wish" fan meeting. During the event, the actor was asked by a fan regarding his future plans.

As reported by Soompi, Gong Yoo was in Hong Kong on Saturday, May 6, to meet his loyal fans and received a question regarding his future plans. In his response, Gong Yoo replied how he missed working on a movie set. Is he hinting on a new movie?

The actor then clarified that he has not decided on anything currently. However, Gong Yoo added that it's possible that his next project might be a movie.

Gong Yoo also said that he does not plan on taking a long break. He added how for him, filming drama was very exhausting.

Gong Yoo's associate from his agency, Gong Hyo Jin, made a surprise appearance at the fan meeting. Hyo Jin happens to be a very close friend of the "Goblin" actor.

The fans were pleased to see Gong Hyo Jin and Gong Yoo on the same stage, and claimed how good they look "together". Gong Hyo Jin then revealed the first time she met the "Goblin" actor, stating how "chatty" Gong Yoo was.

2016 was indeed a good year for Gong Yoo, starring in the hit movie "Train to Busan". However, Gong Yoo was well-known for his role as the protector of souls in the hit TV drama "Goblin".

Gong Yoo's fame even made the Filipino-Australian celebrity/host Anne Curtis-Smith fangirl over him as she attended his Hong Kong fan meet. As reported by ABS-CBN News, the celebrity is well-known to have a huge crush on the Korean actor.

After the fan meet, Curtis expressed how thankful she was to see Gong Yoo in person in her Instagram photo. "Never had I imagined I'd get to see him THIS close. From being a fan that was just watching his series and movies to THIS," captioned the Filipino actress.

Meanwhile, because of Gong Yoo's popularity in the Philippines, "Goblin" is set to air on the country's roster of evening dramas. This is in response to the actor's huge fan-base in the country.
Just recently, Kang Daniel of "Produce 101" season 2 has been penalized because he broke the rules of the hit reality show. What happened was that Kang Daniel hinted his fans on which song he would like to sing in the next episode.

What he did was a clear violation of the systematic voting system of the viewers of the show. This is because instead of letting his fans, as well as the viewers, think and choose freely what song he will get to sing in "Produce 101", he instead gave them a hint on which song he favors most.

According to Koogle, all of this started when a fan posted a message on DC Gallery. The message says that Kang Daniel increase the number of cats to let them know which song number they would want to vote for him to song in the next episode.

Surprisingly, Kang Daniel grabbed the opportunity and posted a cat emoji on his Instagram page. He then increased the number of cat emojis to four, signaling that he prefers to choose the fourth song number.

As soon as this caught the attention of the show's management, Kang Daniel immediately updates his profile message on his Instagram account saying that he will be more careful with his actions next time. He then apologizes sincerely.

According to Korea Portal, because of this, Mnet will issue a penalty on Kang Daniel, wherein he won't be able to sing the fourth song in the choices, which is "Never". With all of these being said, this should serve as a lesson for Kang Daniel to be mindful of his actions because he is in a the K-pop industry, which need a high level of professionalism for one to thrive.
Kim So Hyun is indeed having the time of her life as she is currently getting a lot of positive comments due to her high work ethics and kind behavior on the set of "Ruler: Master of the Mask".

One of the instances which prove Kim So Hyun's kindheartedness was when they were filming out a scene where Kim So Hyun is taking care of a sick child. Despite the cold and freezing temperatures on set during that time, she still did her best to memorize and rehearse the script over and over again and showed no sign of exhaustion.

It was really inspirational for the production team to see Kim So Hyun display no signs of tiredness. However, the good behavior of Kim So Hyun doesn't stop on that as she also shows sincere affection to the child actor that she works with.

She would even to give her hotpack on the child's hands because she's worried that the freezing temperatures might be too cold for the child. She even talked to the child actor in between scenes to cheer him up and to ensure that he feels comfortable on the drama's filming set.

According to Soompi, Kim So Hyun serves as the best energizer in the drama's production set due to her cheerful and kind personality. There is no doubt that the bright smiles of Kim So Hyun manage to keep everyone smiling even when the weather's taking a toll on them.

According to Yonhap News, indeed, Kim So Hyun is the best example of what a proper Korean actress or celebrity be like. She's not just about the money or the work, but she also sees to it that everyone is comfortable and taken well off on the film set.
Bond is set at $100,000 each for two more Bell County teenagers who have been charged with sexual assault after a 15-year-old girl reported she was drugged and raped in an incident that was recorded on video.

The teens were identified through video of the sexual assault that shows one of the teenagers raping the girl vaginally and the other raping her orally, according to arrest warrant affidavits released Wednesday.

Ryan Lane Culley, 18, of Salado, and Marco Saddler, 17, of Killeen, were arrested last week on warrants stemming from the incident on April 17 at an apartment in Harker Heights, police said Wednesday.

Saddler was also charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Bond on that charge was set at $3,000.

Police confirmed Tuesday that Jacob Ryan Wilson, 17, of Harker Heights, was arrested last Thursday on a warrant stemming from the same incident.

The victim told an investigator she was given drugs and was in and out of consciousness and that while she was at the apartment a man had sex with her without her consent, according to an arrest affidavit.

Wilson was arrested after the victim identified him from a photo lineup, the affidavit says.

Wilson is a former Harker Heights High School student, the Killeen ISD said Tuesday.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to call the Harker Heights Police Departments Criminal Investigation Division at (254) 953-5400.
The campaign committee for Springfield City Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky spent $213,250 in her losing bid for mayor. The committee only raised $140,194, however, and has nearly $72,000 in expenses that it incurred but has not paid.

Citizens for Kristi Fulnecky filed its required "30 days past the election" report with the Missouri Ethics Commission last Thursday. The election for mayor and five other City Council seats was April 4. City Councilman Ken McClure, with 68 percent of the votes, easily beat Fulnecky.

McClure's campaign committee, Citizens for Ken McClure, filed its "30 days past the election" report on April 10. It shows it raised $166,271 and spent $141,803 in this campaign cycle, and ended with $4,442 in the bank. Nearly all its fundraising for this race was done before April 1, and it paid all of its expenses, except about $10,631, before April 1.

The report by Citizens for Kristi Fulnecky shows that, of the $140,194 that it raised in this campaign cycle, $2,400 of that amount is a loan from the candidate. Fulnecky lent that amount to her committee in increments of $2,200 on April 7 and $200 on April 10, according to her committee's report.

Citizens for Kristi Fulnecky reported spending $93,657 after April 1, of the total $213,250 spent during this campaign cycle. Most of the late expenses were for "media buys and advertising" arranged by Thompson Communication of Marshfield. The campaign paid Thompson $16,100 on April 5, the day after the election, and owes Thompson $69,691 for a bill that it received on April 12. Citizens for Kristi Fulnecky reported having $40.50 left in its bank account on May 4.

The report shows Thompson, a marketing, advertising, and campaign consulting company founded in 1984 by John Thompson, fronted the funds for Fulnecky's campaign commercials, although Fulnecky's campaign committee report does not list a loan from Thompson.

Nearly all companies that do business with political campaign committees -- including media companies, hotels, catering companies, and others -- require payments before services are rendered so they don't get stuck with unpaid bills by campaign committees that spend more than they raise. That means the $69,691 spent on media buys had to be paid before the ads ran.

The report by Citizens for Fulnecky also shows it owes $2,000 to Epic Strategies of Nixa for campaign management. The committee received the bill from Epic Strategies on April 12.

Fulnecky said in a telephone interview that it's common for candidates' campaign committees to spend more than they raise, and then to continue raise money after the election to pay off the debt. She cited, as an example, campaign committees of U.S. representatives and senators. She acknowledged that it's uncommon for candidates for Springfield City Council to incur such a large debt, but said it's common for city council candidates in other big cities to do so.

Fulnecky said she would personally pay some of the debt of $72,000 and would continue to solicit donations through her campaign committee to pay the rest of it. She said, since she's still on the City Council and plans to run for re-election in 2019, she will keep her present campaign committee in place.

The amounts spent by the campaign committees of Fulnecky and McClure are far and away the largest amounts ever spent in a Springfield mayoral race. Fulnecky announced her candidacy for mayor in January 2016, less than a year after being elected to the City Council in April 2015. McClure, who also was elected to the City Council in April 2015, announced his candidacy for mayor several months after Fulnecky, after incumbent Mayor Bob Stephens decided not to run again. Springfield mayors earn $200 a month from the city.

Fulnecky, an attorney and business owner, got support from, among others, the Springfield Police Officers Association, which represents Springfield police officers at the rank of sergeant and below, and the Greene County Deputy Association. McClure, a retired Missouri State University vice president who previously worked as Gov. Matt Blunt's first chief of staff and served in other positions in state government, got endorsements from, among others, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Southern Missouri Professional Firefighters Association, which includes Springfield firefighters.

Stephens raised and spent about $17,000 in his campaign for mayor in 2015. He spent less than $5,000 in his campaign for mayor in 2013, when he had no opposition, according to reports on file with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The UN Day of Vesak Conference will be held in Sri Lanka with 1600 participants from 85 countries from May 12th to 14th in Colombo and Kandy.

Some 750 international participants are expected from 85 countries, according to the Conference Secretariat.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will ceremonially open the conference in Colombo and Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bandari will be the Chief Guest of the closing ceremony to be held in Kandy. President Maithreepala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and senior Cabinet ministers will also grace these occasions.

The Inauguration of the International Conference will take place on the 12th of Friday with the participation of the Chief Prelates of the respective Nikayas, Ven Maha Sangha, religious dignitaries including Sangharaja Thera's from Theravada countries including Sri Lanka. The theme of this years conference is "Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace. The four main topics of the conference would be Social and Natural Justice in the Buddhist perspectives, Inter- Religious understanding for Common future for the humankind, Buddhist forum for Economics and Promotion of Cultural Tourism and International Buddhist MediaNetwork.



The second half of the Conference including closing ceremony will be held on Sunday (14th) at the Precincts of the Historic Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. A special exposition of the Tooth Relics of The Buddha will also be held in-line with the ceremony. Hon Minister of Buddha Sasana Dr Wijayadasa Rajapakse will conclude the academic sessions with a presentation of the Declaration of the Conference titled " Mahanuwara Prakashanaya. A special cultural pageant to mark the occasion under the guidance of Chief Prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters and the DIyawadana Nilame will also be held to mark the closing the of conference.

Though the UN Vesak Day has a brief history of around 17 to 18 years the initial work originated as far back as 1950, where Prof Gunapala Malalasekera proposed at the conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists held in Ceylon that the Vesak Day should be officially recognized by the UN. However, it was only in 1999 that the then Minister of Foreign Affiairs the Late Lakshman Kadirgamar together with the support of 33 countries moved for the adoption of a resolution to Recognize the Vesak Day which the Birth , Enlightenment and the Parinirvana of The Buddha to be recognized internationally by the United Nations.

Ever since the adoption and ratification, annual celebrations of the UN Day of Vesak was held annually on 13 occasions in Thailand (11 ) and Vietnam (2) . At the annual celebrations held in Thailand last year the keynote address was delivered by Sri Lankas Minister of Buddhasasana Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe where he proposed to grant Sri Lanka the opportunity to host the International Conference and Celebrations in 2017.
PRESS RELEASE

A Foregone Conclusion on Russia by Forsworn Senators

May 8, 2017 (EIRNS) A hearing was held today in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, chair Sen. Lindsay Graham, to re-ignite the McCarthyite witchhunt against Russia and Russians, and any U.S. foreign policy open to collaboration with Russia for security and against terrorism.

Republicans on the subcommittee won some minor battles defending President Trump and his campaign team from claims of colluding with Russians to fix the election. But they lost the battle by agreeing to Russian interference and agitating to block any cooperation with, or even neutrality on, Russia on any matter.

"It is a foregone conclusion that Russia interfered in the election to advantage Donald Trump," proclaimed Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinsteinthough no evidence of this has ever been seen by the public or even by expertsand the GOP Senators went right along with that. "The greatest threat to our Democratic process in our history," said witness and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, who has a documented record of lying to the Senate. Said Sally Yates, former Deputy Attorney General, her only reason for acting was "General [Michael] Flynns lying and his being compromised by the Russians."

Given the Senators agreement to McCarthyite incitement against any contact with Russians, the hearing can only damage the vital consultations in Washington May 10 between Secretary of State Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.

A few discoveries were made. It was Barack Obama who first claimed, to Trump, that Russia could blackmail General Flynnten weeks before Sally Yates did so. The strong implication is that Obama demanded the "unmasking" of Flynns name in classified intercepts. But Clapper and Yates both admitted that they, too, had asked for unmasking of names of Trump team members and/or Members of Congress, and had discussed the unmasking at least with their colleagues. And Senator Graham established that if the Committee could determine exactly who unmasked Flynns name, it could then question that figure about how the intercepts of Flynn talking to Russian Ambassador Kislyak got into the Washington Post two days later.

But overall, the hearing must have pleased London.
PRESS RELEASE

Its Not Too Late for Trump To Go to Belt and Road Conference, South China Morning Post Urges

May 8, 2017 (EIRNS)An editorial in yesterday's South China Morning Post calls on U.S. President Trump to attend the Belt and Road Conference, and marshalls strong arguments for it.

The Hong Kong-based paper proclaims,

"But it is not too late for the U.S. to respond to the call to join [the Belt and Road Initiative] made during the summit between President Xi Jinping and Trump last month. Just last week, in the midst of apparently warming relations between Trump and Xi, Beijings Ambassador to Washington repeated the invitation to the U.S. to participate in the initiative, which opened the gate of opportunities for U.S. enterprises."

The paper reports that attempts to secure U.S. participation were encouraged when Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary General of Japans ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and No. 2 in the party only to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said he would attend the summit, a sign that Abe wants to improve ties with Beijing amid tensions arising out of North Koreas nuclear missile programs.

The article asserts that the U.S.s suspicion of the Belt and Road Initiative is the reason the United States refused to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Japan also remains cautious about the AIIB, but the article quotes Nikai, who is known for his close ties to China, who said that the North Korean issue means that mutual understanding between key U.S. ally Tokyo, and China, is vital. Further, the story reports,
Heres another benefit of the Affordable Care Act you may not have read much about, but is profoundly threatened by the Republican repeal effort: It has reduced the tide of healthcare-related personal bankruptcies.

Thats the finding of an analysis of bankruptcy court data and the results of a questionnaire of 2,000 consumers just published by Consumer Reports.

Personal bankruptcy filings fell from more than 1.5 million in 2010 to 770,846 last year. The publication acknowledges that several factors have contributed to the decline, particularly 2005 changes in bankruptcy law that made personal bankruptcy harder and more costly to file and the general improvement in the economy since 2008. But its experts almost all agreed that expanded health coverage played a major role in the marked, recent decline.

Advertisement

Medical bills are the single largest cause of consumer bankruptcy.  Daniel A. Austin, Northeastern University

The Consumer Reports study is a new data point in a long-running debate about the impact of medical costs on U.S. households and the effect of bringing insurance coverage to millions more Americans. The issue has become highly politicized, in part because healthcare costs affect households in myriad ways and defining medical bankruptcy is difficult.

Another factor is that some of the original studies identifying medical bankruptcy as a problem were co-written by that all-purpose bete noire of conservatives, Elizabeth Warren, when she was a law professor at Harvard and not yet a U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Her critics attacked as exaggerated her claim that as many as 62% of all personal bankruptcies were medical-related.

But Warren and her co-authors hardly concealed that they were defining medical bankruptcies broadly. In a 2009 paper asserting that illness or medical bills contributed to 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007, they included cases in which any of the following conditions applied: the debtors themselves attributed their filing to medical bills, had bills that came to more than $5,000 or more than 10% of family income, had mortgaged their home to pay those bills, or had lost two weeks or more of income because of their own illness or the need to care for a family member.

Even if thats too inclusive, other studies have found that medical expenses can have a devastating impact on household finances in ways that arent even captured by the categories listed by Warren et al, and that the Affordable Care Act offered Americans considerable relief. A series of surveys by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the percentage of Americans reporting problems paying medical bills fell from 56.5% in 2011 to 43.8% in 2016, consistent with the spread of ACA-related insurance coverage.

An especially rigorous analysis published in 2014 by Daniel A. Austin, a law professor at Northeastern University, concluded that even though Warrens definition was too broad, it was nevertheless true that medical bills are the single largest cause of consumer bankruptcy.

Austin placed the percentage of medical bankruptcies at 18% to 25% of all personal filings nationwide. Interestingly, he showed that the rate was much lower in Massachusetts, where health insurance became mandatory after 2006, prior to passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. There, the rate of medical-related bankruptcies was 3% to 9%. Austins survey covered a random selection of 50 bankruptcy cases filed from 2005 to 2013 in each of 10 jurisdictions  parts of Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Oregon, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin  plus Massachusetts.

Its unsurprising that medical costs might stand alone as a spur to bankruptcy. They can come on suddenly, theyre often unexpected, and they can be huge. A household living on the edge of solvency, whether because of overspending, unwise reliance on credit, or other financial pressures could be pushed over the cliff by a sudden health crisis. That underscores how difficult it is to define medical bankruptcy  is it the preexisting financial strains that caused the bankruptcy, or the new health-related factor?

Before the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans in the individual and employer-sponsored markets routinely placed annual or lifetime limits on benefits; families facing a serious or chronic medical condition could outspend their annual benefits before the first crocus of spring, and lifetime benefits before the end of the year. The ACA outlawed such limits and mandated annual out-of-pocket limits instead, so the expenses of even the most beleaguered households were capped.

What is known is that among bankruptcy filers listing any medical debt among their liabilities, those expenses were heavy indeed. About 30% of all debtors owed more than $10,000 in medical bills when they filed for bankruptcy.

Austin tried to dispel the murkiness of the definition of medical bankruptcy by limiting it to cases in which medical debt came to more than half the debtors total debt or more than 50% of his or her income, or if the debtors themselves identified it as the primary cause of their filing. Even so, he found, that definition potentially left out hidden medical debts. Thats because some was paid by credit card, including special healthcare credit cards or paid out of a second mortgage or home equity line, in which cases it wouldnt appear as a medical liability in a bankruptcy filing.

Its also possible that debtors made a special effort to pay doctor or hospital bills before filing, so they wouldnt lose access to medical care. In those cases paying off the medical debt could have forced them to stiff other creditors; so even though medical costs wouldnt appear on the list of liabilities filed with bankruptcy court, it certainly would be a contributing factor.

Putting it all together, Austin found that medical bankruptcies are real and significant in the financial life of America, and that health insurance brings significant relief.

The Consumer Reports survey supports the conclusion that Obamacare delivered that relief to millions. Jim Molleur, a Maine bankruptcy attorney, told the publication, Were not getting people with big medical bills, chronically sick people who would hit those lifetime caps or be denied because of preexisting conditions. They seemed to disappear almost overnight once ACA kicked in.

The implications of the Republican repeal of the ACA are inescapable. The measure approved by the GOP-controlled House and sent to the Senate would allow states to reimpose annual and lifetime caps on some benefits and erode protections against rejection or surcharges for consumers with medical conditions.

By killing Medicaid expansion, the bill would expose some 10 million low-income Americans to life without insurance coverage. By cutting back premium subsidies, the measure would make coverage more expensive for older consumers. The plan is not only dangerous for the physical health of millions of Americans, but to their financial health too.

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.

UPDATES:

7:28 a.m., May 10: This post has been updated with details of Consumer Reports methodology.
Eight U.S. senators have requested an investigation into whether Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor and advisor to President Trump, violated insider trading rules with bets made in the renewable fuel credit market.

In a Tuesday letter to three government agencies, the senators  all Democrats  note that then-President-elect Trump hired Icahn in December as an unpaid advisor on regulatory reform, despite Icahns position as the majority owner of CVR Energy Inc. The Sugar Land, Texas, oil refining company is involved in the renewable fuel credit market.

The senators cited media reports saying that Icahn bet in 2016 that the price of renewable fuel credits would drop. They say he then made recommendations to Trump that caused the price of those credits to drop, netting CVR Energy a $50-million windfall.

Advertisement

A message seeking comment was left with Icahns office. He previously has rejected accusations that his role in the Trump administration represents a conflict of interest.

In their letter, which frequently cites reporting by Reuters, the senators said Icahns actions and the massive profit  raise clear questions about whether he may have violated conflict-of-interest rules that apply to government officials.

The letter was sent to the heads of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.

It was signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Thomas R. Carper of Delaware, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Shares of CVR Energy fell 0.4% on Tuesday to $22.20.

UPDATES:

2 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the letter and about Icahns role in the Trump administration, and with CVR Energys stock price. It also clarifies that CVR Energy received the $50-million windfall, not Carl Icahn directly.

This article was originally published at 12:20 p.m.
Skirmishes involving irate passengers broke out at a Florida airport Monday evening following the cancellation of multiple Spirit Airlines flights.

Broward County Sheriffs Office authorities told ABC News that deputies were called to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to deal with angry passengers. Videos posted online show deputies trying to break up fights and detaining some unruly passengers.

CBS News reported that nine flights were canceled.

In a statement, airline officials said they were shocked and saddened to see videos of the airport incident. They blamed the Airline Pilots Assn. for the cancellations, adding that theyve filed a lawsuit against the pilots association over an unlawful job action.

Advertisement

The association told CBS that Spirit pilots arent engaged in any job action with Spirit and that the airlines operations have experienced significant problems over the past several days.

ALSO

United Airlines passenger-dragging incident hasnt hurt the bottom line

Hate paying airline baggage fees? Here are 5 strategies for avoiding that

American Airlines to squeeze seats closer together on new planes
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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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
Paris-based luxury brand Cartier decamped to Los Angeles last week to launch (well, technically relaunch, but more on that in a minute) its Panthere de Cartier watch collection with an over-the-top fete at Milk Studios that saw Thomas Keller in the kitchen, Alicia Keys on stage performing several of her hits, Mark Ronson deejaying late into the night, and an arrivals red carpet trod by the likes of Marilyn Manson, LL Cool J, Kirsten Dunst and Sofia Coppola.

Coppola was one of the evenings co-hosts (along with Cartier International Chief Executive Cyrille Vigneron and Cartier North Americas president and chief executive, Mercedes Abramo) and, it turns out, the filmmaker was one of the main reasons the City of Angels was picked as the place to stage the global launch party.

Sofia Coppola is a friend of the house, and we had asked her to write and direct a short movie for the marketing campaign, Vigneron said. The young woman in the film is free-spirited and fearless and has a look [of] California style, and [Coppola] set the film and filmed it [in Los Angeles], so the first [inspiration] came from her.

Advertisement

Filmmaker Sofia Coppola, from left, chef Thomas Keller and Cartier International Chief Executive Cyrille Vigneron at the May 5 Los Angeles event. (Willy Sanjuan / Invision / Associated Press left, Cartier right)

If Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus today, she would be [emerging from the sea] in Avalon, not Cyprus.  Cyrille Vigneron, Cartier International chief executive

But Vigneron said there was a second very compelling reason to come to California to celebrate a watch that was offered from 1983 to the mid-aughts before being discontinued. (We told you wed get to the relaunch part.)

Its a rebirth, he said. So, in the current world, where do things begin? There are two parts of the world where I think things begin  in Asia and in California. If the U.S. is the New World, then California is the new New World. If Botticelli painted The Birth of Venus today, she would be [emerging from the sea] in Avalon, not Cyprus. So we thought for a rebirth, L.A. would be the perfect place.

The quartz-movement watch at the center of the celebration is elegant, feminine and sturdy-looking. Its square cases are on the small side (the small is 22mm and the medium is 27mm) with screwed-down bezels and octagonal-shaped crowns. The links of its metal bracelet evoke the look of reptile scales, particularly on the leopard-spot versions. According to Vigneron, a tiny tweak in the bracelet was the only change from the original version.

Theyre the same links as in the past, he said, but the old ones were a little bit looser, and when theyre looser, they can twist and break. People now have a more active lifestyle so it needs to be a little tighter, more like a second skin.

He also explained why Cartier decided to revive a style that, in its heyday, graced the wrists of such notables as Keith Richards, Pierce Brosnan and Grace Jones before being mothballed.

Theres always a question about a collection. Should you evolve it or replace it? he said. At the time, the decision was made to evolve it. That watch, a hybrid between the Panthere and a style called the Santos Demoiselle (which Vigneron described as, Something close but different), was eventually discontinued.

In an effort to refocus on the womens side of the watch business (Cartier had gone too much on the masculine side, said Vigneron), the Panthere presented an opportunity just waiting to be pounced on.

Looking back in [the archives], we found that the shape and proportion [of the Panthere] were perfect, he said. Watches are generally bigger now than they were 25 years ago, but these are the same proportions as the original. Its timeless. That doesnt mean it doesnt age. It means you dont know [when] it was born. It doesnt matter.

Although the official worldwide launch is June 1 (Coppolas short film will premiere online around the same time), the Panthere de Cartier collection is already available at the Beverly Hills boutique as well as online at Net-a-Porter. Prices range from $4,000 for a small version in stainless steel to $123,000 for one blinged out in 18-karat white gold and diamonds.

Video from the May 5, 2017, party at Milk Studios in Los Angeles celebrating the relaunch of the Panthere de Cartier timepiece.

adam.tschorn@latimes.com

For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me at @ARTschorn.

ALSO

William Murray Golf is full of random, unexpected delights  just like Bill Murray

Why is Mr Porter serving up palm trees and surf vibes? To celebrate California style

Opening Ceremony, Wiz Khalifa to headline Made L.A.s sophomore outing June 9 and 10
A rare shorebird has moved back into some of the prime real estate it abandoned seven decades ago  the playground beaches of Los Angeles County.

Now, just weeks away from the long weekend that kicks off summer, the big question from federal biologists is this: Can sunbathers, surfers and developers give the western snowy plovers the peace and quiet they need to nest and raise their young?

The nesting season of the threatened western snowy plover runs from March through September and coincides with the period of greatest human beach use, Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Advertisement

Were seeking a balance between beach recreation and habitat restoration, Chris Dellith, senior wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Ventura, said on Tuesday. The goal is to allow humans and shorebirds like the western snowy plover to peacefully coexist along our coastline.

Federal scientists blame successive building booms, the clatter of civilization, encroachment by nonnative vegetation and predation by crows, ravens, cats and dogs for the demise of the tiny gray and white birds that lay their eggs in small sandy depressions with easy access to ocean water.

The bird was last seen nesting near the ocean in Los Angeles Countys Manhattan Beach in 1949. It was listed as a federally threatened species in 1993, when the California population was estimated to be a 1,300 adults.

The latest counts show the plover population is rebounding and attempting to recolonize historic breeding grounds. Last year, biologists spotted about 1,800 plovers along the California coastline.

Environmentalists were surprised and delighted when Los Angeles Audubon members recently discovered the birds hunkered down in four nests on the sands of Santa Monica State Beach, Malibu Lagoon State Beach and Dockweiler State Beach.

Following the discovery of the birds in April and this month, federal biologists installed small wire cages around the nesting sites in effort to protect their eggs from harm.

But that wasnt enough to protect all of them. The nest at Santa Monica State Beach was wiped out by high winds, and one of two nests found at Malibu Lagoon State Beach was lost for unknown reasons.

The five eggs in two remaining clutches at Malibu Lagoon and Dockweiler beach are viable, Dellith said, and surrounded with protective fencing.

The federal government has spent more than two decades trying to reverse the decline of the shorebirds on the West Coast with scientific studies, elaborate recovery plans and more than 140 miles of coastline designated as critical habitat.

Designated habitat includes Vandenberg Air Force Base and Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, where state and federal officials have marked swaths of coastline off-limits to people and motorized vehicles to prevent plover eggs and chicks from being crushed in the sand.

Over the years, such actions prompted angry protests from municipal leaders and citizen groups upset that sections of their beaches had been fenced off during the shorebirds breeding season.

A decade ago, a popular bumper sticker in Morro Bay read: Eat Plover.

In Los Angeles County, the plovers chose nesting sites that environmentalists had created years ago in hopes of luring them back with creature comforts and security features such as native vegetation, driftwood, nearby foraging grounds and perimeter fences.

Years of intensive management is paying off for the western snowy plover, said Kimball Garrett, manager of the ornithology collection at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The hope was always to give this species a chance to breed and then recolonize.

But its always going to be touch and go for this bird, he added, given how heavily used our beaches are in summer.

Louis.Sahagun@latimes.com

@LouisSahagun

Para leer esta historia en ingles haga clic aqui
USC names retired aerospace executive Wanda Austin as acting president, announces Nikias departure By Harriet Ryan USC appointed a retired aerospace executive as interim president and laid out a detailed plan for selecting a permanent leader Tuesday, ending speculation about whether outgoing President C.L. Max Nikias might remain in the post. Nikias, embattled over his administrations handling of a campus gynecologist accused of sexually abusing patients, relinquished his duties after a meeting of USCs board. The trustees tapped one of their own, Wanda Austin, an alumna and former president of the Aerospace Corp., to temporarily run the university. The trustees also approved the formation of a search committee and the hiring of firm Isaacson, Miller to coordinate the selection of a successor. A second search company, Heidrick & Struggles, will also advise trustees. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Ex-student sues elite Brentwood School after teacher is charged with sexually abusing him By Richard Winton A former student sued the elite Brentwood School on Monday in the wake of a female teacher being charged with repeatedly having sex with the minor, alleging that other faculty members encouraged the unlawful behavior and failed to report it to authorities. The lawsuit accuses the private school, whose students include the children of many of Hollywoods elite and L.A.s powerful, of acting negligently and allowing Aimee Palmitessa to abuse and batter the teenager sexually. The suit alleges that the student was abused in summer 2017 after one of the schools counselors offered words of encouragement to the then-17-year-old, identified in the suit as only John Doe, to engage in an illegal relationship with the teacher. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Civil jury vindicates fired Montebello school executives in whistleblower case By Howard Blume The Montebello school district is in dire straits  at risk of insolvency and under apparent criminal investigation. An outside audit in July found some teachers earning more than $200,000 a year, as well as improper raises, excess paid vacation time and inappropriate overtime, sick leave and car allowances. Fixing the district and pinpointing blame could take time. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. schools fall short on safety measures, new report warns By Howard Blume After the mass shooting at Floridas Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, Los Angeles school officials reassured parents that much had been done to keep local schools safe. California had tougher gun laws, after all, and the school district paid close attention to students mental health. But a new report issued Monday by a panel convened to take a close look offers some cause for concern, flagging inconsistent campus safety measures, thinly spread mental health staff and inadequate coordination between the school district and other public agencies. With the stakes this high, we must strive to do better, said L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer, who assembled the panel. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

L.A. school district says more are graduating, but rate may not show it By Howard Blume The L.A. Unified School District has hopes of continuing its winning streak this year with another record graduation rate, but the official numbers may not show it. A senior district administrator warned the board Tuesday that graduation rates were likely to decline 2% to 3% across the state, even though L.A. Unified is likely doing better than ever in producing graduates, he said. The issue is that the state will now count high school students who transfer to adult school as dropouts, said Oscar Lafarga, who heads the districts office of data and accountability. Previously, schools treated these students as though they had simply enrolled in another high school, he said. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Betsy DeVos to California: Not so fast on that federal education plan By Joy Resmovits In April, Californias top education officials breathed a sigh of relief. After months of debate and back-and-forth with Betsy DeVos staff, they had finalized a plan to satisfy a major education law that aims to make sure all students get a decent education. The state focused on aligning its plan to fulfill the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act with Californias Local Control Funding Formula, which gives extra money to districts to help students who come from low-income families, are in the foster system or are English learners. But this week, DeVos team said not so fast. Jason Botel, the U.S. Department of Educations principal deputy assistant secretary, sent California education officials a letter asking for more information in such areas as measuring student progress, graduation rates and English learners. In an unsigned statement, the California Department of Education declared itself surprised and disappointed because officials thought  after a meeting with federal officials in Washington  that they were on the right track to get approval. Now the Every Student Succeeds Act plan will be up for discussion once again at the July meeting of the State Board of Education. The U.S. Department of Education has already approved most state plans. Every Student Succeeds is the Obama administrations 2015 replacement for the No Child Left Behind Act. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. school board sets a new goal: prepare every grad to be eligible to apply for Cal State or UC By Sonali Kohli Last month, Los Angeles school board president proposed a spate of highly ambitious mandates aimed at ensuring that every district graduate be eligible to apply to one of the states public four-year universities by 2023. By the time the L.A. Unified school board unanimously approved the resolution Tuesday, the original language had been watered down. The goal is no longer that in five years 100% of students meet the long list of benchmarks, which include not just college eligibility for graduates but first-grade reading proficiency and English fluency by sixth grade for all students who enter the district in kindergarten or first grade speaking another language. The original college-readiness goal, for example, called for 100% of all high school students to be eligible to apply to one of the states four-year universities. Now the goal seems to offer more wiggle room: Prepare all high school graduates to be eligible to apply to a California four-year university. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

We have been hurt. More women say they were mistreated by USC gynecologist By Richard Winton USC student Anika Narayanan says she vividly recalls her first appointment with Dr. George Tyndall at the campus health center, alleging that he made several explicit comments during an examination she felt was inappropriate and invasive. When she came back for a second visit in 2016 after a nonconsensual sexual encounter, he allegedly chastised her, she said in a civil lawsuit and at a press conference Tuesday. He asked me if I had forgotten to use a condom again,  said Narayanan, 21. At one point, she said, Tyndall asked if I did a lot of doggy style,  she said. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. Unified gives inspector general brief contract extension By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school board on Tuesday extended the contract of Ken Bramlett, its inspector general, by three months, though his job is far from secure and questions remain about the future direction of his watchdog office. Board members also unanimously promoted Vivian Ekchian, who had been the runner-up for the superintendents job, to deputy superintendent  the districts No. 2 position. Both moves had elements of peacemaking between different factions on the board. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

USCs handling of complaints about campus gynecologist is being investigated by federal government By Harriet Ryan The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it has launched an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled misconduct complaints against a campus gynecologist, the latest fallout in a scandal that has prompted the resignation of USCs president, two law enforcement investigations and dozens of lawsuits. In revealing the inquiry by the departments Office of Civil Rights, officials rebuked USC for what they alleged was improper withholding of information about Dr. George Tyndall during a previous federal investigation. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has been criticized for taking a less vigorous approach to examining sexual misconduct than predecessors, called for a systemic examination of USC and urged administrators to fully cooperate. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Judge to sentence woman and her boyfriend for the murder of an 8-year-old that led to L.A. child welfare reforms By Marisa Gerber A woman and her boyfriend are expected to be sentenced Thursday for the torture and murder of an 8-year-old boy whose killing in 2013 provoked public outrage, prompted sweeping reform of Los Angeles Countys child welfare system, and led to unprecedented criminal charges against social workers who handled the childs case. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 34, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the death of her son, Gabriel. A jury decided last year that her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, 37, should be executed. When paramedics arrived at the boys Palmdale home in May 2013, Gabriel had slipped out of consciousness. He had a fractured skull, broken ribs, burned skin, missing teeth and BB pellets embedded in his groin. A paramedic would later testify that every inch of the boys small body had been abused. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. Unifieds spending out of step with similar school systems, task force says By Howard Blume The Los Angeles school district is out of step with similar school systems, spending more on teachers pay and health benefits and less on activities that could enhance student learning, according to a new report by an outside task force. The L.A. Unified School District Advisory Task Force did not make specific recommendations, but instead posed a series of questions it said the district needs to answer to make sure its funding is aimed at providing a full opportunity for all students to succeed. What were trying to say is: Lets put the data on the table. Lets look at the truth. Lets be transparent and here are the numbers, said task force member Renata Simril. This is not to say that  we should cut teachers salaries. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Top USC medical school official feared dean was doing drugs and alerted administration, he testifies By Paul Pringle A former vice dean of USCs Keck School of Medicine testified Tuesday that he feared the schools then-dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, could be doing drugs and expressed concerns about his general well-being to the universitys No. 2 administrator before Puliafito abruptly left his job in 2016. Dr. Henri Fords testimony at a hearing of the state Medical Board marks the first suggestion that any USC administrator had suspicions about Puliafitos possible drug use before he stepped down. A Times investigation in 2017 found Puliafito led a secret second life of using illegal drugs with a circle of young criminals and addicts. Puliafito testified about his behavior at the hearing Tuesday, saying he took drugs with one young woman on a weekly basis. Ford said that he decided to alert USC Provost Michael Quick after receiving reports in early 2016 that Puliafito was partying in hotels with people of questionable reputation, and that he came to worry about his mental stability. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Why L.A. Unified may face financial crisis even with a giant surplus this year By Jessica Calefati With more than half a billion dollars socked away for next school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District hardly seems just two years from financial ruin. Its a scenario that is especially tough to swallow if youre a low-wage worker seeking a raise or a teacher who wants smaller classes. But budget documents show that todays $548-million surplus cannot be sustained  and that even basic services face steep, seemingly unavoidable cuts because of massive problems barreling the districts way. Theres a disconnect between the rosy short-term picture and what we know is coming, said board member Kelly Gonez. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

We have failed: Top USC officials try to reassure students amid gynecologist scandal By Joy Resmovits Top administrators at USC are reaching out to students in the wake of misconduct allegations against the universitys longtime gynecologist, acknowledging failings and vowing reforms as they try to address growing outrage over the revelations. Several USC deans have sent out messages trying to reassure students and faculty that the university is committed to changing. We have failed, wrote Jack H. Knott, dean of USCs Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a May 24 letter. What happened is antithetical to everything we know is right. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Rick Caruso is named chair of USCs trustees, vows swift investigation of gynecologist scandal By Thomas Curwen The University of Southern Californias board of trustees has elected mall magnate Rick Caruso to be the new chair of the board, giving fresh leadership as the university navigates a widening scandal involving a longtime campus gynecologist. The move marks the latest effort by USC to address the case, which has sparked a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and dozens of civil lawsuits. More than 400 people have contacted a hotline that the university established for patients to make reports about their experience with Dr. George Tyndall. In his first act as chairman, Caruso announced that the white-shoe L.A. law firm OMelveny & Myers would conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the gynecologists conduct and reporting failures at the clinic. He set an ambitious timeline for the review, pledging it would conclude before students return for the fall semester. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

UC Berkeley students persistence helps win more liberal rules for in-state tuition By Teresa Watanabe Ifechukwu Okeke thought shed be a shoo-in for in-state tuition when she was admitted to UC Berkeley for fall 2016. She had moved to the United States from Nigeria in 2012 to go to Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. By the time she got her acceptance to transfer to UC to study molecular and cell biology, she had lived in California four years. She had a California drivers license, bank account and rental records as proof. UC Berkeley, however, ruled she was a nonresident  which meant she would have to pay nearly $27,000 more. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

State medical board calls former County-USC doctor a sexual predator, suspends his license By Matt Hamilton A UCLA cardiologist has been temporarily stripped of his medical license after state regulators described him as a sexual predator who assaulted three female colleagues when he was working and training at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Global California 2030 aims to get more students learning more languages By Joy Resmovits Tom Torlakson (Andrew Seng / Associated Press) Outgoing state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday announced a new statewide effort to encourage students to learn more languages. Called Global California 2030, its goal is to help more students become fluent in multiple tongues. Torlakson said that by 2030, he wants half of the states 6.2 million K-12 students to participate in classes or programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages. By 2040, he wants three out of four students to be proficient enough to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy. Torlakson announced the initiative at Cahuenga Elementary School, which offers a dual-language immersion program in English and Korean. Californias public school students speak more than 60 languages at home, and 40% come to school with knowledge of a language other than English. Torlakson called his plan a call to action that invites parents, legislators, educators and community members to pool resources to expand language offerings in schools and get more bilingual teachers trained. He said the state already is working with Mexico and Spain to expand a teacher-exchange program. Fluency, the plan argues, can help students succeed economically  and language acquisition can help their overall critical thinking. The initiative builds on Proposition 58, a ballot initiative passed in 2016 that undid an earlier requirement that English learners be taught in English-immersion classes unless their parents signed waivers. Torlakson recently visited Mexico and met with that countrys education secretary. They later signed a pact to increase collaboration, particularly in language education. This [Global California 2030] is great follow-through on Toms part and very important, Patricia Gandara, a UCLA education professor who hosted the Mexico meeting, said in an email. It hands over a plan to move forward in an area in which California has a unique advantage, but must seize the opportunity. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Jury convicts man of murder in 2015 slaying of UCLA student found inside her burning apartment By Marisa Gerber A jury on Tuesday convicted a man in the 2015 slaying of a UCLA student found dead inside her burning apartment  a gruesome stabbing case that led to a fierce rebuke of the police response amid concerns that the killing could have been prevented. The panel deliberated for about six hours before finding Alberto Medina, 24, guilty of murder, arson, burglary and animal cruelty. On Sept. 21, 2015, firefighters found the charred body of Andrea DelVesco inside her apartment after responding to the complex a block from campus. The 21-year-old student  an Austin, Texas, native known to her sorority sisters as a fearless giver who befriended others with ease  was stabbed at least 19 times, authorities said. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

LAPD begins sweeping criminal probe of former USC gynecologist while urging patients to come forward By Adam Elmahrek The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating 52 complaints of misconduct filed by former patients of USCs longtime campus gynecologist as detectives launch a sweeping criminal probe into the scandal that has rocked the university. LAPD detectives also made an appeal for other patients who feel mistreated to come forward, noting that thousands of students were examined by Dr. George Tyndall during his nearly 30-year career at USC. More than 410 people have contacted a university hotline about the physician since The Times revealed the allegations this month. Tyndalls behavior and practices appear to go beyond the norms of the medical profession and gynecological examinations, said Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala. We sincerely realize that victims may have difficulty recounting such details to investigators. We are empathetic and ready to listen. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

At L.A.'s only school for the deaf, parents want leaders who speak the same language By Anna M. Phillips Ever since her son was 6 months old, Juliet Hidalgo has been bringing him to the Marlton School, a low-slung building in Baldwin Hills that for generations has been a second home for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Los Angeles. Marlton staff taught Hidalgos brother and sister, both of whom are deaf. The school was where her deaf son learned to make the signs for milk and food. Hidalgo had planned to enroll her daughter, taking advantage of a popular program that allows hearing children to learn American Sign Language alongside their deaf siblings. But after more than a decade of involvement, she and other family members are considering withdrawing their children. They are not alone. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Fueled by unlimited donations, independent groups play their biggest role yet in a California primary for governor By Ryan Menezes An unprecedented amount of money from wealthy donors, unions and corporations is flowing into the California governors race, giving independent groups  unrestricted by contribution limits  a greater say in picking the states chief executive than ever before. The groups have already spent more than $26 million through Thursday, the most ever spent by noncandidate committees in a gubernatorial primary, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance reports. California elections have always been expensive, and the future is even more expensive, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and a former state Republican leader. The stakes are very real. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

2 hurt in Indiana middle school shooting; suspect in custody, authorities say By Associated Press Authorities say two victims in a shooting at a suburban Indianapolis school are being taken to a hospital and the lone suspect is in custody. Bryant Orem, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office, said in a news release that the victims in Friday mornings attack at Noblesville West Middle School are being taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and their families have been notified. He says no other information is available about the victims. Orem said the suspect is believed to have acted alone and was taken into custody. No additional information about the suspect was made public. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

For new L.A. schools chief Austin Beutner, some key unions are giving no honeymoon period By Howard Blume In the less than two weeks since Austin Beutner took charge of Los Angeles schools, unions representing teachers and administrators have staged a job action and a protest. Theyve made it clear that they will not give the new superintendent the traditional honeymoon period, and they are bashing him for his wealth and lack of experience running either a school or a school district. Beutner is a billionaire investment banker with zero qualifications, local teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl told members in a phone alert urging them to participate in a Thursday afternoon rally in Grand Park. The board is saying that billionaires who made their money blowing institutions up and making money off it know best  not the education professionals who have dedicated our careers to working with students. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Pressure grows on Board of Trustees amid USC gynecologist scandal By Paul Pringle USCs large and powerful Board of Trustees is coming under growing pressure to provide a stronger hand as the university faces a crisis over misconduct allegations against the campus longtime gynecologist that has prompted calls for President C.L. Max Nikias to step down. Allegations that Dr. George Tyndall mistreated students during his nearly 30 years at USC have roiled the campus, with about 300 people coming forward to make reports to the university and the Los Angeles Police Department launching a criminal investigation. USC is already beginning to face what is expected to be costly litigation by women who say they were victimized by the physician. So far, the trustees to whom Nikias reports have expressed sympathy for the women who have come forward and launched an independent investigation while also publicly backing the president. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

UC regents approve leaner budget for Janet Napolitano By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved a leaner, more transparent budget for President Janet Napolitano, moving to address political criticism over the systems central office operations. The $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 reflects spending cuts of 2%, including reductions in staffing, travel and such systemwide programs as public service law fellowships, carbon neutrality and food security. Napolitano shifted $30 million to campuses for housing needs and $10 million to UC Riverside to support its five-year-old medical school. She also permanently redirected $8.5 million annually to help enroll more California students, as required by the state. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

USCs Academic Senate calls on university president to resign after a series of scandals By Matt Hamilton The body that represents USCs faculty called on President C.L. Max Nikias to resign Wednesday in the wake of relevations that the universitys longtime gynecologist faced years of accusations of misconduct by students and colleagues at the campus health clinic. The Academic Senate took the vote late Wednesday afternoon after a fiery town hall meeting attended by more than 100 faculty members, many of whom voiced outrage over Nikias and the Board of Trustees leadership. The vote came a day after the trustees executive committee stood firmly behind Nikias, saying it has full confidence in his leadership, ethics and values. At the town hall meeting, Senate President Paul Rosenbloom said he did not think Nikias or Provost Michael Quick committed wrongdoing but that the university president deserved criticism for a lack of transparency. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Californias public universities on the way to getting a big longed-for boost in funding By Teresa Watanabe The University of California and California State University systems are poised to get major funding boosts that will help them enroll thousands of additional state students and eliminate the need for tuition increases in the coming school year. A key Assembly budget panel on Wednesday approved $117.5 million in new funds for the UC. A Senate panel approved a similar sum last week. The same committees recently approved even more funding for the Cal State system. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

UC regents to scrutinize Janet Napolitanos office budget in a step toward stronger oversight By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents this week plan to scrutinize the budget of President Janet Napolitano, whose office came under political fire last year for questionable spending and murky accounting. Regents will vote on the proposed $876.4-million budget for 2018-19 during their two-day meeting, which starts Wednesday, at UC San Francisco. They also will discuss state funding, financial aid, online education and transfer student policies. Board Chairman George Kieffer said regents are stepping up to exert stronger oversight of the presidents office after a blistering state audit last year found financial problems including an unreported $175 million budget reserve. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

State legislative panels approve major funding boost for Cal State By Teresa Watanabe After months of intensive lobbying, Cal State University has convinced two key legislative panels to approve funding to enroll nearly 11,000 more students, hire more faculty and expand housing aid to those without shelter this fall. An Assembly budget panel on Tuesday approved $215.7 million more for Cal State, adding to Gov. Jerry Browns proposed $92.1 million general fund increase. A Senate budget panel approved a similar increase last week. The extra funding  which went beyond Cal States own request to the Legislature of $171 million  is still subject to final budget negotiations with Brown. But the actions by the Senate and Assembly panels amount to a demand from Democrats that the governor hike higher education spending. Cal State University is the workhorse undergraduate university serving hundreds of thousands of Californians, said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who heads the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance. We need more graduates for the California workforce and higher education is the ticket to the middle class. Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White hailed the actions, but said it was too soon to celebrate. The CSU has a singular focus on helping students earn high-quality degrees sooner, and the entire university community has rallied to reinforce that message to our states lawmakers, he said in a statement. The actions taken thus far by the Assembly and Senate are promising and show that our message is being received, but there is still work to be done. Funding for the University of California was not taken up Tuesday as originally scheduled. McCarty would not comment on sticking points but said he was confident that a resolution would be reached this week. Were looking to provide resources above whats in the governors budget, but negotiations are ongoing, he said in an interview. State per-student funding is not what it once was, leaving both Cal State and the UC in a tough financial squeeze. Both systems raised tuition last year after a six-year freeze on higher costs. For this year, Cal State had asked for funding to enroll an additional 3,621 students, but both the Senate and Assembly panels approved three times that amount. Cal State, the largest public university system in the nation, turned away 32,000 eligible students last year because its campuses werent able to accommodate them. The panels asked that at least $50 million of the extra funding be used to hire more tenure-track faculty to help boost graduation rates. The Assembly panel also approved one-time funding of $5 million to ease hunger on campuses and $14 million for rapid rehousing pilot projects at three campuses, offering needy students rental support and short-term case management. Other items approved include $5 million to support the CSU Long Beach Shark Labs research on sharks and beach safety and $2 million for equal employment opportunity practices. This post has been updated to include comments from Assemblyman Kevin McCarty and Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Faculty members call for USC president to step down: He has lost the moral authority to lead By Matt Hamilton Two hundred USC professors on Tuesday demanded the resignation of university President C. L. Max Nikias, saying he had lost the moral authority to lead in the wake of revelations that a campus gynecologist was kept on staff for decades despite repeated complaints of misconduct. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Gun battle, negotiations lasted 15 minutes before Texas school shooter was apprehended, sheriff says By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Minutes after a school shooter opened fire in an art class last week, killing 10 people and wounding 13, including a local police officer, fellow officers returned fire in a protracted gun battle before isolating the suspect, the local sheriff said Monday. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset praised first responders as well as Santa Fe Police Officer John Barnes, who was working as a resource officer at the school the day of the shooting. Their actions, he said, prevented the attack from spreading to other classrooms and potentially claiming additional victims. As officials continue to probe last Fridays shooting at Santa Fe High School, students are worried about returning to the scene of the attack when classes resume next week. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

6 women sue USC, alleging they were victimized by campus gynecologist By Richard Winton Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctors behavior. One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making vulgar remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she likely had AIDS. A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states. The wave of litigation comes as USC continues to grapple with the scandal, which legal experts said could prove costly to the university as scores of former patients come forward about their experiences with the gynecologist. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Fatalities reported in Texas high school shooting; suspect arrested, officials say By Associated Press Houston-area media citing unnamed law enforcement officials are reporting that there are fatalities following a shooting at a local high school Friday morning. Television station KHOU and the Houston Chronicle are citing unnamed federal, county and police officials following the shooting at Santa Fe High School, which went on lockdown around 8 a.m. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm the reports. The school district has confirmed an unspecified number of injuries but said it wouldnt immediately release further details. Assistant Principal Cris Richardson said a suspect has been arrested and secured. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

This student followed the new L.A. schools chief on his first-day tour Melissa Barales-Lopez, a senior at Garfield High School followed Supt. Austin Beutner on his first day on the job, as he toured a variety of programs around the Los Angeles Unified School District. Heres what she took from the experience. LAUSD students and staff alike are looking for a personal champion, someone who will address and improve the difficulties afflicting their education.  What LAUSD students need is someone whos willing to listen and learn, someone who can understand the current issues affecting their schools and act to efficiently amend them, someone who can unlock the full potential of LAUSD students and enable them to reach their goals. During the entirety of his first day, superintendent Austin Beutner did indeed demonstrate a willingness to learn. Posing questions to teachers and students, Beutner engaged with the student communities he encountered to gain a better comprehension of the minutiae and nuances that distinguish each school inside an overwhelmingly large district. From inquiries about Grand View Boulevard Elementary Schools dual language program to questions regarding the services of LAUSDs after-school program, Beyond the Bell, Beutner revealed he has a lot to learn about the system. But, Beutner also showcased a willingness to tackle challenges head-on on his first day. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

USC let a gynecologist continue treating students despite years of misconduct allegations By Matt Hamilton For nearly 30 years, the University of Southern Californias student health clinic had one full-time gynecologist: Dr. George Tyndall. Tall and garrulous with distinctive jet black hair, he treated tens of thousands of female students, many of them teenagers seeing a gynecologist for the first time. Few who lay down on Tyndalls exam table at the Engemann Student Health Center knew that he had been accused repeatedly of misconduct toward young patients. The complaints began in the 1990s, when co-workers alleged he was improperly photographing students genitals. In the years that followed, patients and nursing staff accused him again and again of creepy behavior, including touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

On his first day as L.A. schools chief, Beutner plans a day of visits across the district By Howard Blume L.A. Unifieds new superintendent, Austin Beutner, will kick off his first day of work on Tuesday with a choreographed tour of the nations second-largest school district, from the San Fernando Valley to Carson. His day is scheduled to begin at 5:15 a.m. at a school bus depot and end more than 12 hours later at a parent meeting at Garfield High School. Along the way, Beutner is expected to be joined by school district administrators, L.A. Unified board members and the vice president of the union that represents school bus drivers. Though he will be covering a lot of ground, Beutners tour has him skipping Tuesdays school board meeting, when board members are expected to discuss labor negotiations in closed session. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Cal State trustees to discuss Browns latest budget proposal, which they say still falls $171 million short By Joy Resmovits Just how much money does California State University need to serve its students? In recent years, this question has been front and center for the nations largest public university system. Cal States leaders say that to keep their campuses quality from slipping, they need much more money than the state is giving them. This year, theyre also at odds with Gov. Jerry Brown on the question of whether any extra money should come in one-time bursts or be ongoing. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Why a handful of rich charter school supporters are spending millions to elect Antonio Villaraigosa as governor By Ryan Menezes California voters have seen a barrage of sunny television ads in recent weeks touting former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosas record on finances, crime and education, aired by Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018. But the group is, in fact, largely funded by a handful of wealthy charter-school supporters. Together they have spent more than $13 million in less than a month to boost Villaraigosas chances in the June 5 primary  at a time when his fundraising and poll numbers are lagging. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, jump-started the group with a $7-million check, by far the largest donation to support any candidate in the election. Their efforts are part of a broader proxy war among Democrats between teachers unions  longtime stalwarts of the party  and those who argue that the groups have failed low-income and minority schoolchildren. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Talking schools with L.A. Unifieds new superintendent By Anna M. Phillips Austin Beutner, who officially starts Tuesday as the new superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is taking on a famously difficult job at a particularly difficult time. The school board is divided and did not back him unanimously. The nations second-largest school district has deep-seated problems, including declining enrollment, lagging academic achievement and rising pension and healthcare costs that eat away at its budget. The 58-year-old former investment banker and former L.A. Times publisher has years of experience in the financial world but none as an educator. Earlier this week, he sat down with the Times education team to discuss the challenges facing the district, which has about 60,000 employees and 500,000 students in traditional public schools. He did not talk about his plans  saying repeatedly, stay tuned  but he spoke in broad terms about his mindset in approaching the tough decisions ahead. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Suspect detained, authorities search campus after reports of armed man at Palmdale high school By James Queally One person has been detained after a report of an armed man at a Palmdale high school sparked a massive law enforcement response Friday morning. The suspect was spotted at 7:05 a.m. on the campus of Highland High School in Palmdale, according to Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The person was detained in a nearby parking lot, according to Nishida, who did not know whether that person was an adult or juvenile. Deputies at the scene are clearing the school methodically, and students will be transported home via school buses once the campus is deemed safe, Nishida said. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

The education of Bertha Perez: How a UC Merced custodians disenchantment led to a political awakening By Robin Abcarian Its the third day of a three-day strike, and UC Merced custodian Bertha Perez is taking a break from a picket line at the universitys unremarkable entrance, an intersection with stop lights. Photos from other UC campuses this week have shown big crowds of striking service workers  members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees  marching and chanting pro-labor slogans as they try to force the University of California back to the negotiating table. But here, at UC Merced, whose handful of big buildings rise from a flat expanse of farmland, the picket line is tiny, maybe two dozen workers and a few students. Its not a big-city-style show of force. Then again, a union sympathizer is banging relentlessly on a snare drum, so its noisier than youd expect. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Ref Rodriguez resigns from teacher credentialing commission By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez appears during a court appearance. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez has resigned from the states Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which oversees the integrity and quality of Californias teachers. Rodriguez faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. Separately, his former employer, a charter school organization, has accused him of improperly authorizing checks to a nonprofit under his control. Rodriguez has denied wrongdoing. Rodriguezs resignation from the state body was effective May 4, days after he cast a crucial vote as part of a narrow majority that voted to authorize contract negotiations with Austin Beutner to become superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District. Beutners first official day on the job is Tuesday. Rodriguez remains in his $125,000-a-year position on the Los Angeles Board of Education. The mission of the state body is to ensure integrity, relevance, and high quality in the preparation, certification, and discipline of Californias teachers. Critics had questioned Rodriguezs continued service on the commission, given that teachers can be suspended from work if they face criminal charges. They also can lose their jobs for lapses in personal behavior, such as excessive drinking, with the potential to affect their performance. Police in Pasadena arrested Rodriguez on a Friday afternoon in March for public drunkenness. He was not charged in the incident and has apologized. The state commission reviews teacher discipline cases and can take action to remove a teachers credential to work in a California classroom. The commission has 15 members. Rodriguezs departure was disclosed in a one-sentence announcement on the agencys website. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

School board members request for restraining order against blogger is rejected By Priscella Vega An Orange County Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied a school board members petition for a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger. Attorney Jeffrey W. Shields filed the petition on behalf of Ocean View School District trustee Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, who alleged in court documents that Charles Keeler Johnson, 56, has threatened her on social media and at school board meetings, causing her to fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members. Johnson, who goes by Chuck and publishes HBSledgehammer.com, said the trustee tried to stifle his freedom of speech. He also contended that Clayton-Tarvin took his blog posts and Facebook comments too seriously and out of context, saying anyone who is afraid of metaphors has serious issues. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Deal with workers averts one-day strike that could have shut down L.A. schools By Howard Blume Los Angeles school district and union officials announced a contract agreement Tuesday night that averted a one-day strike planned for next week. The pact, which runs through June 2020, removes one labor problem from the desk of incoming Supt. Austin Beutner  whose first day on the job would have coincided with the strike. Plenty of other challenges remain. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

UC labor strike expands with show of support from more unions By Teresa Watanabe Fong Chuu is a registered nurse who has assisted with countless liver transplants, kidney surgeries and gastric bypasses during 34 years at UCLA. Working with her are scrub technicians who sterilize equipment, hand medical instruments to the surgeon and dress patient wounds. They are a team, Chuu says, which is why she walked off her job Tuesday in support of those technicians and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The 25,000 member AFSCME local, the University of Californias largest employee union, launched a three-day strike Monday. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

We are humans too: Voices of UCLAs striking custodians, hospital aides and imaging technicians By Joy Resmovits Demonstrators parade in front of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) This week, thousands of UC employees are staging a three-day strike for better pay and working conditions. On Monday, more than 20,000 custodians, cooks, lab technicians, nurse aides and other members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 walked off their jobs. By Tuesday, two more unions joined in sympathy strikes. The union and UC reached a bargaining impasse last year. The university has said it wont meet the workers demands. The strikers said they wanted better pay, more equity in the allocation of work, stable healthcare premiums and an end to the universitys use of contract workers. These are their stories. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Massive UC workers strike disrupts dining, classes and medical services By Joy Resmovits A massive labor strike across the University of California on Monday forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes and limit dining services. More than 20,000 members of UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, walked off their jobs on the first day of a three-day strike. They include custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Two altercations involving protesters and people driving near the rallies were reported at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. At UCLA, police took a man into custody Monday after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members. They were treated for minor injuries at the scene and released, said Lt. Kevin Kilgore of the UCLA Police Department. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Sen. Kamala Harris to skip UC Berkeley commencement in support of striking workers By Teresa Watanabe California Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled plans to deliver UC Berkeleys commencement address this weekend in support of UC workers who are on strike over wages and health benefits. Due to the ongoing labor dispute, Sen. Harris regretfully cannot attend and speak at this years commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley, said a statement from Harris office issued Monday. She wishes the graduates and their families a joyous commencement weekend and success for the future. They are bright young leaders and our country is counting on them. UCs largest employee union, the 25,000-member American Federation of County, State and Municipal Employees Local 3299, launched a three-day strike Monday and had earlier called for a speakers boycott. The union and university reached a bargaining impasse last year and subsequent mediation efforts have failed to produce an agreement. The union is asking for a multiyear contract with a 6% annual pay increase while the university is offering 3% annual increases over four years. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ will deliver the keynote address instead, the university announced. About 5,800 students are expected to participate in the ceremony Saturday. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

School mural depicting Trumps bloody, severed head sparks controversy By Gary Warth A Chula Vista school mural that depicts the bloody, severed head of President Trump on a spear sparked a controversy that prompted officials to cover it and issue a response distancing themselves from the work. The statement also said the artist will alter the painting. We understand that there was a mural painted at the event this past weekend that does not align with our schools philosophy of non-violence, read the statement from MAAC Community Charter School director Tommy Ramirez. We have been in communication with the artist  who has agreed to modify the artwork  to better align with the schools philosophy. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

New blackface incident at Cal Poly prompts calls for state investigation By Kim Christensen Cal Poly San Luis Obispo officials have asked the state attorney generals office to investigate after a new photo of a white student in blackface surfaced on a fraternity groups private Snapchat. I am outraged, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a video address Friday to the campus. These vile and absolutely unacceptable acts cannot continue. We must not allow these acts to define us as an institution. Armstrong said the latest photo was intended to imitate an incident last month in which a white member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity was photographed at a party wearing blackface. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

More than 50,000 UC workers set to strike this week but campuses will remain open By Teresa Watanabe More than 50,000 workers across the University of California are set to strike this week, causing potential disruptions to surgery schedules, food preparation and campus maintenance. The systems 10 campuses and five medical centers are to remain open, with classes scheduled as planned. UCs largest employee union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, plans to begin a three-day strike Monday involving 25,000 workers, including custodians, gardeners, cooks, truck drivers, lab technicians and nurse aides. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

New L.A. schools chief Beutner pledges to listen, learn and take action By Howard Blume New Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner proved Wednesday that hes a quick learner even without an education background. Like countless public officials before him, he appeared at an important event  his first speech and news conference  with a photogenic background of students. His message  that he would put those students first  seemed heartfelt if hardly original. Nor was it a huge surprise that he pledged to push cooperatively but unflinchingly to improve the districts academic performance and stabilize its finances. As an introduction, Beutner, a former investment banker who made a fortune on Wall Street, offered little flash, but that was partly the point. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

In a school lockdown, one student takes stock of the stressful scene At the beginning of lunch one day late last month, Duarte High School, Northview Middle School, and California School of the Arts-San Gabriel Valley were advised by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department to go into lockdown mode due to police activity in the immediate area. Phalaen Chang, a junior at the California School of the Arts, wrote a series of notes on her iPhone while she sat in a room with her classmates. By the time the lockdown ended an hour later, she wrote, she knew which of her friends would hold open the door for others, be the ones calming others down, be the ones barricading the doors. She knew that all of them have the potential to be such strong people. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Tale as old as time: L.A. Unified superintendent pick follows a historical pattern of outside-the-box choices By Joy Resmovits L.A. Unified has long gone back and forth between picking insiders and outsiders to run the nations second largest school district. The choice of Austin Beutner, announced Tuesday, places the district squarely back in the outsider camp  months after a consummate insider, Supt. Michelle King, announced that she had cancer and would not return to the job. Check out this timeline of former L.A. superintendents to see how the school board members have changed their minds, sometimes favoring leaders who come from the world of education and sometimes executives from elsewhere, recruited to shock the system into change. At one point, the district hired someone from the military  retired Navy Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, who served as superintendent from 2006-2008. In hiring Brewer, board members had opted for a non-educator  largely because they sought a fresh thinker, unwedded to the bureaucracy, unafraid to make bold, even unorthodox moves, reads a 2008 Times story. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Austin Beutner named superintendent of Los Angeles schools By Howard Blume Austin Beutner, a philanthropist and former investment banker, on Tuesday was named superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second-largest school system. His selection was the biggest move yet by a Los Angeles school board majority elected with major support from charter school advocates. The decision came after lengthy public testimony, most of it in support of the other remaining finalist, interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian, who is well known within the school system. Beutner, 58, has no background leading a school or school district. Less than 2 years ago, a school board with a very different balance of power named Michelle King, a former teacher who rose through the district throughout her career, to L.A. Unifieds top job. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Hearing delay gives both sides more time in Ref Rodriguezs potential trial By Howard Blume Ref Rodriguez and his attorneys will have more time to prepare their defense against charges of political money laundering, a judge ruled Monday. The preliminary hearing in the case had been scheduled to begin May 9, but that date will now be pushed back to July 23 per the ruling from L.A. Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil. Rodriguez, 46, faces three felony charges of conspiracy, perjury and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

L.A. school board poised to name Beutner as superintendent By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is poised to select philanthropist and former investment banker Austin Beutner to be the next superintendent of the nations second-largest school system. Barring a last-minute development, the only mystery is whether Beutner emerges with four or five votes from the boards seven members. Terms of his contract already have been under discussion, according to sources close to the process who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak. The selection of Beutner, 58, who has no experience managing a school or a school district, would be a signal that the board majority that took control nearly a year ago wants to rely on business management skills instead of insider educational expertise. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Teacher walkouts in Arizona and Colorado continue national debate on money for schools By Michael Livingston Following the lead of teachers who walked off the job in other states in recent weeks, thousands of teachers and their supporters took to the streets in Arizona and Colorado for the second day in a row to demand better pay and more funding for education. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Three decades before the #MeToo movement, UC San Diego led the way against sexual assault By Teresa Watanabe When Nancy Wahlig first started her fight against sexual assault, one company was marketing a capsule for women to stash in their bras and then smash to release a vile odor. Because of the very nature of society, the only person who can prevent rape is the woman herself, read a 1981 advertisement for the Repulse rape deterrent. Ideas about how to prevent sexual violence have come a long way since then, and Wahlig has helped lead that evolution on college campuses. In 1988, she started UC San Diegos Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), the first stand-alone program at the University of California. Today, she remains the systems most senior specialist. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Andres Alonso withdraws from consideration for L.A. schools job By Howard Blume Andres Alonso, believed to be one of three remaining finalists to lead the Los Angeles school system, has withdrawn from consideration. The remaining known candidates in the confidential search are former investment banker Austin Beutner and interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian. Alonso, 60, announced his decision on Twitter on Thursday night, saying he had notified the L.A. Unified School District on Monday. The exit of Alonso, the former Baltimore schools chief, seems to solidify the front-runner status of Beutner, who also was a former L.A. Times publisher and a Los Angeles deputy mayor. He held each of those positions for about a year. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Heres why the apparent increase in autism spectrum disorders may be good for U.S. children By Karen Kaplan The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among American children continues to rise, new government data suggest. And that may be a good thing. Among 11 sites across the U.S. where records of 8-year-olds are scrutinized in detail, 1 in 59 kids was deemed to have ASD in 2014. Thats up from 1 in 68 in 2012. Normally, health officials would prefer to see less of a disease, not more of it. But in this case, the higher number is probably a sign that more children of color who are on the autism spectrum are being recognized as such and getting services to help them, according to a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

UC shelves tuition increase for now, in hopes of getting more state funding By Teresa Watanabe University of California regents will not vote on a tuition increase next month, shelving the plan for now in hopes that state lawmakers will come through with more funding. Raising tuition is always a last resort and one we take very seriously, UC President Janet Napolitano said Thursday in a statement. We will continue to advocate with our students who are doing a tremendous job of educating legislators about the necessity of adequately funding the university to ensure UC remains a world-class institution and engine of economic growth for our state. Last week, Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White said the 23-campus system no longer would consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year. But unlike Cal State, UC officials have not taken a tuition increase off the table entirely. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

A chemical spill, unchecked eyewash stations, poor training: Audit details Cal States lax lab safety By Joy Resmovits In May 2016, two bottles tumbled off a poorly supported shelf and broke, leading to a chemical spill in a Sacramento State University lab. The liquid got onto one students legs and soaked anothers feet. Five employees cleaned up the mess, even though no one knew for sure what it was and whether it was dangerous. They called fellow employee Kim Harrington, their union representative, to let her know what happened. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

After blackface incident, minority students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo say they dont feel welcome By Hailey Branson-Potts Aaliyah Ramos was walking through the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus last year when a prospective student approached her. Ramos was the only black person, the young woman said, that she and her mother had seen that day. They asked about the quality of education and the diversity of the student body. Ramos, a mechanical engineering student, didnt want to sugarcoat the truth: Cal Poly long has been predominantly white. But she told the young woman  who also was black  that she didnt want to discourage her from applying, because that wouldnt help with diversity at a school where only 0.7% of students are African American  the lowest percentage of any university in the California State system. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills wins the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon By Carlos Lozano El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills has won the 2018 U.S. Academic Decathlon, officials said. The winner was announced early Saturday at a ceremony in Frisco, Texas. More than 600 students from the U.S., Canada, China and the United Kingdom gathered there over the last three days to compete in the 37th annual U.S. Academic Decathlon. Congratulations to El Camino Real Charter High School for another impressive victory, said Vivian Ekchian, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Your academic stamina and competitive spirit to win is remarkable. The entire L.A. Unified family is so proud of you. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Anticipation mounts as L.A. school board meets over superintendent selection By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education is reconvening in closed session Friday at noon as anticipation mounts about the choice of the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. The presumed front-runner is former investment banker and philanthropist Austin Beutner, but interim Supt. Vivian Ekchian and former Baltimore Supt. Andres Alonso also are in the running. Most district insiders appear to be rooting for Ekchian, who has spent her entire career in education within the school system. After her 10 years as a teacher, her roles have included head of human resources, chief labor negotiator and regional administrator for campuses in the west San Fernando Valley. Shes managed the district since September, when then-Supt. Michelle King went on medical leave and chose Ekchian to fill in for her. King, who is battling cancer, never returned and announced her retirement in January. Numerous influential civic leaders have urged  and pressured  the board to select Beutner. Also lending their weight have been advocates for charter schools, which are independently operated, growing in number and competing for students with district-operated campuses. Four of the seven board members  enough to control the outcome  were elected with major financial support from charter supporters. Beutner has two ongoing connections with the L.A. Unified School District. The first is his leadership of an outside task force that is making recommendations on how to improve the school system. The second is his charity, Vision to Learn, which supplies glasses to low-income students. The charity and the school system are in a dispute at the moment over who is responsible for delays in providing services to students as part of a $6 million contract, half of which is paid for by L.A. Unified. Unlike Ekchian and Buetner, Alonso, who currently teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has no deep-seated local constituency, but the prospect of his selection has generated some excitement. While in Baltimore, Alonso was recognized for pushing for progress at low-performing schools, and for being willing to take strong action. While in Baltimore, he also weathered a test-score cheating scandal and occasionally rocky relations with the teachers union. But by the time he resigned, after six years, he and union leaders seemed to be working together without rancor. Leaders of some community groups have split from the pro-Beutner camp. They worry that Beutners approach to confronting the districts financial problems could shut out their voices or involve severe economic cutbacks that would undermine programs that are helping students. Some prefer Ekchian; some Alonso. Theyve been reluctant to speak out publicly because theyll have to work with whoever is selected, but they have tried to get the ear of board members. On Friday morning, one leader of a community group decided to come out in favor of Alonso. L.A. Unified has the opportunity to bring in an instructional leader of color with a history of success, said Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, which works on behalf of low-income students and families in South Los Angeles. If we have a shot at that, we should go for it  because its in the best interests of our kids and of our community. Retana said his statement was not meant to criticize Beutner or Ekchian but to alert board members that there also is community support for Alonso. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Cal State leader shelves proposed tuition hike: Its the right thing to do, but its not without risk By Joy Resmovits Cal State, the nations largest public university system, will no longer consider a plan to raise tuition for the 2018-19 academic year, Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Friday. The decision is a bet that Sacramento will come through in the end. If Cal State loses that bet, it could mean cuts to campus programs. White said in an interview that Californias economy is strong enough that families should not be shouldering the burden of higher college costs. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. students to participate in national walkout activities on Friday By Joy Resmovits Students are taking to the streets again Friday to protest gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Starting at 10 a.m., students at many schools will spend 13 seconds honoring the 13 people  12 students and one teacher  killed on that day in Littleton, Colo. After that, theyll participate in a host of different activities. Within L.A. Unified, one school is having an open-mic event for students to talk about school violence, and lawmakers are visiting campuses to hear students thoughts. According to a central hub for organizing the protests  written by the students of Ridgefield High School in Connecticut  the walkouts are intended to drive the political change necessary to curb school violence. The day is also a time for students to interact on an elevated platform they have never had before, the site states. It is a day of discourse and thoughtful sharing. Bringing together communities and students to get a national discussion rolling. Organizers have suggested using the event to convey the importance of curbing gun violence to legislators. They are encouraging students to push legislation that would ban assault weapons and tighten up rules around who can buy guns and how. Over 2,500 schools nationwide are expected to participate. In L.A., some students  at campuses including Eagle Rock High School, the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts and Bravo Medical Magnet  plan to walk out. Students from various schools expect to join area marches, including those in Santa Monica and Huntington Park. Other schools are hosting career days and voter registration drives. At 1 p.m., students plan to start a rally in front of L.A. Unified headquarters. For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that 12 teachers and one student were killed in the Columbine shooting. The opposite is true: twelve students and one teacher died. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Stabbing of popular student devastates South El Monte High School; teen friend suspected in slaying By Sonali Kohli When administrators at South El Monte High School called Jeremy Sanchezs parents to say he never showed up for class Wednesday, his father began to worry. It was unusual for the 17-year-old junior to miss school, so his father filed a missing persons report and assembled two of Jeremys close friends to look for the popular student-athlete. Their search took them to a scenic stretch of the San Gabriel River Trail, where one of the friends  a 16-year-old boy  made a tragic discovery. Among the bushes in the riverbed near Thienes Avenue and Parkway Drive was Jeremys body, punctured with stab wounds, according to Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Racist fliers spark outrage at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo By Alene Tchekmedyian Soon after Neal MacDougall arrived on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus Tuesday, the professor noticed university police standing outside a restroom near his office. A racial slur against African Americans had been scrawled in red marker on a stall wall. Later, he discovered a series of racist fliers pinned up next to his door. Someone had also slashed posters hed hung outside his office supporting students in the country illegally. The discovery was the latest controversy on the prestigious campus  which the president said is less than 55% white  that MacDougall said demonstrates a culture of racism at the university. Last week, photographs emerged of white fraternity members, including one in blackface, flashing gang signs. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

The superintendent waiting game, paying for L.A.'s College Promise, Princetons slave history: Whats new in education By Joy Resmovits Acting LAUSD superintendent Vivian Ekchian is a finalist for the permanent job. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) In and around Los Angeles: The L.A. Unified school board spent 10 hours interviewing and discussing candidates for superintendent. When they adjourned after 10 p.m., they said they would reconvene on Friday. Who is paying for Mayor Eric Garcettis much-touted College Promise, a program that promises two years of community college for LAUSD grads? In California: The Legislature is considering a proposal that would boost K-12 education funding for black students. When the cost of living is taken into account, California has the highest rate of child poverty. Nationwide: The families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School are suing Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never occurred. Princeton will name two spaces  an arch and a garden  after slaves who lived or worked on the campus. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. school board meets privately with finalists and debates choice for school district leader By Howard Blume The Los Angeles Board of Education adjourned late Tuesday after spending more than 10 hours interviewing candidates and trying to reach a decision on who would be the next leader of the nations second-largest school system. When the meeting finally recessed at 10:11 p.m., a spokesman announced only that the school board would reconvene Friday at noon. Going into the days meetings, there were apparently four finalists, according to sources who could not be named because they were unauthorized to speak. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Two Sandy Hook families sue Alex Jones and Infowars for saying the school massacre never happened By David Altimari Families of two children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School have filed lawsuits in Texas against controversial radio host Alex Jones for continually claiming the massacre never happened. Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah Pozner died in the massacre, filed separate lawsuits late Monday in Travis County, Texas. The lawsuits allege that Jones defamed the parents by constantly calling them crisis actors and insisting the shooting was a false flag operation; they also claim Jones accusations have led to death threats against the Sandy Hook families by Jones followers. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Beutner emerges as a top pick for L.A. schools superintendent amid last-minute jockeying By Howard Blume Austin Beutner has emerged as a leading contender to run the Los Angeles school district, with backers saying he is smart enough and tough enough to confront its financial and academic struggles. Though he does not have a background in education, the former investment banker has in the last year examined some of the districts intractable problems, serving as co-chair of an outside task force with the support of then-Supt. Michelle King. Sources inside and outside the school district said Beutner appears to have more support on the seven-member board than other finalists, and his name could come up for a vote as early as Tuesday. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Challenge at Chicago school construction site: Watch for 38,000 unmarked graves By Nereida Moreno A 15-year effort to build a school in Chicagos Dunning neighborhood is underway with an unusual complication: Construction workers are taking careful steps to avoid disturbing human remains that may lie beneath the soil. The $70-million school is to be built on the grounds of a former Cook County Poor House, where an estimated 38,000 people were buried in unmarked graves. Among the dead are residents who were too poor to afford funeral costs, unclaimed bodies and patients from the countys insane asylum. There can be and there have been bodies found all over the place, said Barry Fleig, a genealogist and cemetery researcher who began investigating the site in 1989. Its a spooky, scary place. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Oklahoma teacher walkout winds down despite lawmakers failure to meet demands By Washington Post Oklahomas largest teachers union has announced an end to a walkout that has drawn thousands of educators out of classrooms and to the state Capitol demanding greater investment in the states schools, which have endured the nations steepest funding cuts. The announcement Thursday from the Oklahoma Education Assn. does not necessarily end the protests at the Capitol, as teachers not affiliated with the union vowed to stay longer. Instead of a walkout, the union and school districts across the state have said they plan to send delegations of teachers to Oklahoma City to keep the pressure on lawmakers. Teachers and their supporters have also promised to push education issues to the forefront of November elections, when the state chooses a new governor. As school districts begin to reopen, the protests may lose steam. The Legislature is not in session Friday, and observers are waiting to see what happens Monday, when lawmakers return. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Most Californians are worried about school shooting threats and oppose arming teachers, survey finds By Joy Resmovits Hamilton High School student Aiyana Dabriel holds a sign during a March 14 walkout in support of the Parkland shooting victims. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Most Californians are worried that a school shooting like the one that occurred in Parkland, Fla., in February could shed blood closer to home, a new survey found. Some 73% percent of adults and 82% of public school parents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about school shootings. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed 1,704 adults in the state by phone just after the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence. Latino and black respondents were significantly more likely to be concerned about school violence than white or Asian respondents, the institute found. Two-thirds of adults and public school parents said they opposed letting more educators carry weapons in school. The response differed across party lines, with 86% of Democrats and 69% of independents voicing their opposition, while 60% percent of Republicans said they would support a measure to arm educators. The poll, which had a margin of error of 3.2% in either direction, also asked Californians about school funding, educational issues in the governors race and the impact of immigration enforcement on students. You can find the full results here. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Californias largest virtual charter school network agrees to contract with its teachers By Anna M. Phillips Nearly four years after teachers at Californias largest online charter school voted to unionize, they have reached a deal to increase pay and create job protections, according to a spokesman for the California Teachers Assn. The contract, which is still tentative and subject to ratification, is a victory for the teachers union. Although charter schools are publicly funded, most are privately managed and their employees arent protected by labor contracts. Under the terms of the contract  the result of years of negotiation and legal wrangling  approximately 500 teachers working for California Virtual Academies will no longer be at-will employees who can be dismissed for almost any reason. Their average salary will rise to just over $45,000, according to union estimates, a figure that remains far below the norm for traditional public school teachers. Still, it is an improvement over the previous average of $38,000. The accord also places a limit on the number of students each teacher is responsible for monitoring in online homeroom classes. Were very satisfied with the gains we made, said teacher Brianna Carroll, president of California Virtual Educators United. I think were going to see some extraordinary changes in our schools. According to Carroll, teachers at California Virtual Academies  better known as CAVA  had grown frustrated with the organizations foot-dragging and were making preparations to go on strike when CAVAs leadership agreed to the deal. CAVA and K12, the Virginia-based for-profit company linked to its schools, did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday asking for comment. The network currently operates nine virtual charter schools across California. In 2016, the charter network agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims of false advertising, misleading parents and inadequate instruction. The state attorney generals office had also accused K12 of controlling the charters for its own financial benefit. Neither CAVA nor K12 admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement. A year later, the state imposed a $2-million fine on CAVA after an audit found that it had misspent public funds. The network disputed the findings. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

School board approves a new formula for funding high-need schools By Sonali Kohli L.A. schools will soon get more money if they are located in neighborhoods with such problems as high levels of gun violence and asthma. The Los Angeles Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a new formula to determine how to dole out some funding to schools, based not only on the characteristics of the student populations but on the traumas that affect the communities around campuses. The new formula will be applied to $25 million in funding next fiscal year and about $263 million annually in future years  a small part of the districts $7.5 billion annual budget. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Protesters demand Ref Rodriguez resignation outside school board meeting By Sonali Kohli Students, parents, teachers and UTLA marching outside the board meeting chanting "Ref resign" pic.twitter.com/W0LRWZSIXY  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 A few dozen parents, students and teachers marched outside the Los Angeles Unified School Board meeting Tuesday, some calling for board member Ref Rodriguez to resign the week after news broke that he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena bar and restaurant. Rodriguez was not cited or charged in that incident, but was held for more than five and a half hours before being released. The school board member faces felony and misdemeanor charges for political money laundering. He is accused of getting more than two dozen people people to donate to his campaign for his school board seat with the understanding that he would reimburse them. He stepped down from his post as school board president after he was charged last fall, but he did not give up his seat on the board. He has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of conspiracy, perjury, and procuring and offering a false or forged instrument, as well as 25 misdemeanor counts related to the alleged campaign money laundering. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May. He cant give his full focus to our students, said Rebecca LaFond, a Highland Park parent whose three children marched with her as she chanted, Ref resign. One daughter marched in front of her, using a drum stick to hit the bottom of a gallon-size empty water jug. Our kids deserve someone who has the utmost ethical standards representing them, LaFond said. The protests continued into the board meeting, where some addressed Rodriguez directly, calling on him to step down during public comment portions of the meeting. Rodriguez, through his chief of staff, declined to comment. Some parents outside the board meeting did not know about the charges against Rodriguez but came out to protest the possibility of sharing their school campuses with charter schools. Protesters also oppose colocation  not all of the parents are here to ask Ref Rodriguez to step down pic.twitter.com/1Co8zQ9zSi  Sonali Kohli  (@Sonali_Kohli) April 10, 2018 Cynthia Martinez said her son, who goes to Christopher Dena Elementary School in Boyle Heights, has been bullied in the past by students from a charter school sharing the campus. She said she didnt know who Rodriguez was. Some parents and teachers are worried about losing computer labs, robotics rooms and fitness centers if they are required to share their campus with charter schools, said Ilse Escobar, a parent community organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles. The issues of Rodriguez and colocation are related, Escobar said. Rodriguez is part of a majority on the school board elected with financial backing from charter school supporters, and many parents, she said, feel that the school board is compromised if he is a part of it. Staff reporter Howard Blume contributed to this post. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Delaine Eastin tries to gain momentum in the California governors race, one voter at a time By Seema Mehta Delaine Eastin was a sophomore in high school when a drama teacher urged her to try out for a part in The Man Who Came to Dinner. She hesitated until he told her: This is a metaphor for your whole life. If you never try out, you will never get the part. Eastin auditioned and won the role. Decades later, the advice sticks with the former state schools chief, this time in her unlikely run for governor. Despite calls for more women in leadership roles in state politics following sexual misconduct allegations in Sacramento, Eastin has been largely overlooked in the race, lagging far behind her Democratic rivals in fundraising and the polls. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Arizona high court rejects in-state tuition for DACA recipients By Associated Press Young immigrants granted deferred deportation status under a program started by President Obama are not eligible for lower in-state college tuition, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. The unanimous ruling will affect at least 2,000 students attending the states largest community college district and hundreds more at other colleges and the states three public universities. The Maricopa County Community Colleges District and state universities said they would begin raising tuition immediately for the coming school year. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

New York high school students injured when bus strikes overpass By Associated Press A charter bus carrying teenagers returning from a spring break trip Sunday night struck a bridge overpass on Long Island, seriously injuring six passengers and mangling the entire length of the top of the bus. The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday on the Southern State Parkway in Lakeview, according to New York State Police. One of the six injured passengers had very serious injuries, said State Police Maj. David Candelaria. Thirty-seven other passengers suffered minor injuries. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Some good news for California in national student test scores By Joy Resmovits Every two years, the nations fourth- and eighth-graders are tested in math and reading  and newly released results from last years tests give California at least a little reason to be pleased. The 2017 results  out Monday night  were mostly flat nationwide compared with 2015, though the average score in eighth-grade reading went up. But while that improvement largely came from the increased scores of the highest-performing students, California eighth-graders showed some reading progress from the lowest levels to the highest. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Under state control, Inglewood school districts financial picture worsened By Anna M. Phillips When Eugenio Villa agreed to return to the Inglewood schools for a second tour last summer, he knew the district remained one of Californias most troubled. Inglewood Unified had been nearly insolvent when it was taken over by the state Department of Education in 2012. Six years later, its enrollment was still declining. Its school buildings were tired  some edging into decrepitude. Its test scores and graduation rates were still below the state average. And the public was out of patience. Still, Villa, who had signed back on as the districts chief business official, was shocked at what he found when he arrived in June 2017. Two years earlier, he had left the school system on what he thought was firm ground. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Charter school group drops two lawsuits against L.A. Unified By Howard Blume A charter schools advocacy group last week announced that it would end two long-running lawsuits in which it was seeking more classroom space and construction money from the Los Angeles school district. The decision, the California Charter Schools Assn. said, reflects better relations between charter schools and the L.A. Unified School District. But the move also suggests that the litigation, which already contributed to significant gains for area charters, was unlikely to produce much more. It takes time, money and effort to litigate, said Ricardo Soto, general counsel for the charter group. Maybe its better to see if we can find the time and opportunity for collaboration. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

L.A. school board member Ref Rodriguez is arrested on suspicion of public intoxication By Richard Winton Los Angeles school board member Ref Rodriguez was arrested recently on suspicion of being drunk in public at a Pasadena restaurant, the latest trouble for an elected official who faces political money-laundering charges. Pasadena police took Rodriguez into custody on March 16, according to city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian. Officers arrested Rodriguez at about 4:30 p.m. at the Yard House restaurant and bar at the Paseo Mall and held him in jail for more than five-and-a-half hours. Rodriguez was ultimately released without being cited or charged, Derderian told The Times. Other details about the arrest were not available, she said. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Kentucky teachers rally at Capitol over state budget By Associated Press Thousands of Kentucky teachers filled the streets near the state Capitol in Frankfort on a cold, overcast Monday to rally for education funding. Teachers and other school employees gathered outside the Kentucky Education Assn. a couple of blocks from the Capitol chanting, Stop the war on public education and holding or posting signs that say, Weve Had Enough. Were madder than hornets, and the hornets are swarming today, said Claudette Green, a retired teacher and principal. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy L
In the home stretch before the May 16 vote, two very different audiences focused on very different concerns at campaign forums for pivotal Los Angeles school board contests.

The first, sponsored by United Way of Greater Los Angeles, handed over the gavel and much of the organizing to its Young Civic Leaders Program. There were probably few voters among the packed crowd of about 200 on Saturday, but students questions came from their direct experience in schools. A central goal was to get candidates to commit to putting more counselors on campuses.

Two days later, when parents and community members gathered at Palisades Charter High School, a key theme was privately operated public charter schools and their status within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The unavoidable, underlying campaign dynamic was charter advocates versus the teachers union, which, together, have spent millions of dollars to stuff mailboxes, make calls and pound doors.

Advertisement

The Saturday forum took place on the 30th floor of the United Ways downtown offices on Olive Street. About 20 high school students  from the Hamilton, RFK, Sun Valley, Cortines and Orthopedic campuses  had prepared questions. To fill the hall, buses and vans brought in students, mostly Latino, from those and other schools, including some middle schools.

The first question compared the money spent on counselors to the larger budget for school police. How did this square with the candidates priorities?

The answers were predictable and set the tone: Candidates told students pretty much what they wanted to hear, and they didnt get much pushback, except for exceeding the allotted speaking time.

Despite a bitterly negative campaign waged through outside groups, the candidates avoided rancor. Still, the setup, with all of them answering each question, sometimes made it seem like three against one  because school board President Steve Zimmer, the lone incumbent, was the only one to defend district progress. L.A. Unified was a fat target for the others (Nick Melvoin, who is running against Zimmer in a Westside/west San Fernando Valley district, and Imelda Padilla and Kelly Gonez, who are running against each other in the east Valley).

Melvoin, Padilla and Gonez each proclaimed that theyd hire more counselors.

Zimmer said he hoped to get more funding for counseling, but said the numbers comparing police and counselors were misleading because they did not include counselors hired through schools discretionary money. He also said he didnt see counselors and police as a zero sum game; there needed to be enough of each.

Asked how hard candidates would work on behalf of students from families with unauthorized immigrants, all the candidates assured them: very hard.

Students also asked how candidates would help make sure all high school graduates were eligible for admission to Cal State and the University of California (a longtime advocacy goal of United Way) and about preparation for meaningful careers.

The students asked no questions about money squandered on iPads, a balky student records system or the handling of employee sexual misconduct. Nothing about underfunded retiree health benefits. Not one question about charter schools.

But the candidates knew they were talking to a potentially larger audience through Facebook Live or online video replay. So without being asked, Melvoin listed the amounts spent on mishandled technology projects and sexual misconduct settlements.

Padilla and Gonez appealed to students in part through their personal stories.

Padilla noted that she is the only candidate who attended public schools in her district throughout her childhood, during which she overcame rickets (needing surgery to straighten her legs) and gang influences. (Her brother, she told the students, was not so fortunate and is currently in prison).

Gonez told students that she worked three jobs to get through UC Berkeley and that the strain nearly drove her to drop out. Instead, she became a teacher. Her mother, she said, had faced discrimination as an immigrant from Peru.

Two nights later, Zimmer and Melvoin faced off in Pacific Palisades, a short, downhill drive from the ocean, before a largely white audience. Melvoin again hammered on technology debacles and settlements as evidence of an unacceptable status quo even though those issues did not come up in questions.

They have, however, been persistent themes in an independent campaign on his behalf by charter-school advocates, which stretches the facts to pile blame on Zimmer.

Melvoin also defended himself against a pro-Zimmer independent campaign funded by the local teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles. Among other things, that campaign has tried to link Melvoin, a Democrat, to President Trump and his controversial Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. Thats because all three support charter schools.

At the forum, Melvoin made a distinction between the nonprofit charter schools he supports and for-profit and low-performing versions that he linked to DeVos and Trump.

As a school that converted to charter status, Pali High was potentially unfriendly turf for Zimmer, but the audience of about 100 mostly contained itself. Zimmer emphasized that L.A. Unified has more charters than any other school system. The districts strong oversight of charters, he said, has prompted complaints but it also has helped ensure high-quality schools that serve students well.

howard.blume@latimes.com

@howardblume
Local bus service in Lancaster and Palmdale was canceled and commuter routes were cut back Monday as Antelope Valley bus operators entered the sixth day of a strike over salaries, benefits and disciplinary policies with the private firm that pays them.

The strike is the third in less than two months for the 120 operators who drive the Antelope Valley Transit Authoritys fleet of buses but who are employed by Transdev, a French company that provides drivers for dozens of U.S. transportation agencies.

The strike has created a headache for riders in the Antelope Valley who depend on buses to get to work, school and medical appointments.

Advertisement

Transit officials said they tentatively expected local bus service to resume Thursday.

Until then, commuter lines to Century City, downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley are available on limited schedules. More than a dozen local bus routes connecting Palmdale, Lancaster, Pearblossom and Lake Los Angeles will not run.

Talks between Transdev and Teamsters Local 848, the union representing operators, have broken down repeatedly since the start of the year, when a contract extension expired.

Union representatives have pushed Transdev for higher hourly wages and more employer contributions toward retirement and medical costs.

They have also petitioned California labor officials to classify the Antelope Valley Transit Authority as an employer, saying the agency funds their contract and has a say in firings.

That classification could allow union officials to bypass Transdev and negotiate directly with the public agency, said Eric Tate, secretary-treasurer for Teamsters Local 848.

If were successful, AVTA will have to look at Transdev and wonder whether its worth it to keep them around, Tate said. That could be a model that will flow to transit agencies across the country.

That could include other Los Angeles County transit agencies that use contract labor for bus operations, including Foothill Transit and the DASH service operated by the city of Los Angeles, he said.

In an email, Transdev spokesman Scott Hagen responded: We are the employer. We pay their wages. We provide the benefits. They are Transdev employees.

Antelope Valley officials declined to comment on the record. A statement posted online by the transit authority called the unions attempts to bring the agency to the bargaining table a transparent effort to shift the dynamics of their negotiations.

The union has also filed multiple labor complaints against Transdev, accusing the company of coercing employees and refusing to bargain in good faith, according to National Labor Relations Board documents.

Tate said Transdev originally offered a contract that would not have paid entry-level driver wages that met Los Angeles Countys mandatory annual increases. Hagen disputed those claims, saying an early draft of the companys contract proposal had a typo.

Obviously, once the error was identified, we corrected it immediately, he said. The companys latest offer would have paid drivers a starting wage of $15 per hour, he said, gradually rising to $25.46 during the first five years of service.

laura.nelson@latimes.com

For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter.
To snap a photo of the Hollywood sign, tourists have clogged hillside streets and hiking paths, spurring battles in Hollywood Hills neighborhoods and in court over how people should be able to access the iconic landmark.

Now Mayor Eric Garcetti has floated an alternative: Building a gondola to ferry visitors to the beloved sign.

What could we do to actually bring people to the summit, to where the Hollywood sign is, without going through the neighborhoods to the south? Garcetti mused during an interview on ABC 7.

Advertisement

The idea isnt new to Hollywood residents or activists. Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said the suggestion dates back at least two decades and had been mentioned before by former City Councilman Tom LaBonge.

In the past, everybody just viewed that as a pipe dream, Gubler said.

But after the city closed off a Beachwood Drive gate leading to one of the most popular trails, there is fresh debate over how Los Angeles can both protect neighborhoods and ensure access to the sign.

Los Angeles started blocking the gate after a legal fight over hordes of hikers trekking near a Beachwood Drive ranch, interfering with its day-to-day use. Griffith Park preservationists are challenging that move, arguing that the city should have considered alternative ways to protect the ranch while preserving pedestrian access.

A gondola would certainly provide another access point for tourists, said Marian Dodge, president of Friends of Griffith Park, one of the groups contesting the city decision.

But it would not resolve the problem for residents who want to walk up their street and go for a hike, Dodge said.

No formal proposal for the gondola exists. Garcetti told ABC 7 he had been discussing ideas with City Councilman David Ryu, who represents Beachwood Canyon and other affected parts of the Hollywood Hills. Spokesman Estevan Montemayor said it was one of many ideas that Ryu was open to.

However, at this point, its just an idea, Montemayor said, stressing that the councilman was focused on a new study that would help guide decisions surrounding the Hollywood sign.

Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said in a written statement Monday that the mayor was open to exploring ideas that ease congestion and encourages creative thinking when looking at ways to give Angelenos and tourists better access to the Hollywood sign and other iconic landmarks and destinations.

In his televised interview, Garcetti suggested a gondola could come from the Universal Studios area and generate revenue to relieve traffic and improve Griffith Park.

Hollywood Hills resident Jeffrey Briggs said anything is better than the current situation. But he questioned whether tourists gazing up at the sign from Hollywood Boulevard would be willing to go elsewhere for a gondola ride.

If youre sitting here in Hollywood and someone tells you, You have to go take the 101, youre going to say, Why cant I just go straight to it? said Briggs, an attorney who provides legal advice to the Hollywood Sign Trust.

Briggs suggested that the city could instead create a viewing platform in the Hollywood area. Others have pitched the idea of a Ferris wheel.

But there has been scant debate on many of the most ambitious ideas, Briggs said, because no one believes the city can pull it off.

Installing a gondola could face other obstacles: Dodge said the city would have to be careful to avoid spoiling the view from below and pointed out that the sign itself is designated as a historic monument.

Gubler, the head of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, added that the idea would likely have to go through extensive environmental studies.

Neighborhood groups might also raise concerns: Sarajane Schwartz, who was part of a group of Beachwood Canyon homeowners who sued the city over the onslaught of tourist traffic, said noise could be a potential problem in the canyons. If the city wants to make money, she argued, it needs to shut down park entrances that are not approved by the parks commission.

Why would people pay money if they can go to a bootlegged entrance for free? said Schwartz, whose group recently dismissed its lawsuit against the city.

But other residents argue that the city should provide lots of ways to reach the sign  including at the Beachwood Drive gate.

This park is for the public, said Fran Reichenbach, founder of the Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Assn.

Gubler said that the escalating tensions over the Hollywood sign could prod the city to finally examine the longstanding idea.

And now that the mayor is suggesting it, Gubler added, that may give it a little more traction.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesEmily
For much of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcettis first term, advocacy groups have demanded greater accountability at the Los Angeles Police Department, saying officers who engage in major misconduct should face serious punishment.

Activists with Black Lives Matter confronted Garcetti at his home and spent part of last summer camped outside City Hall. Organizers with the Los Angeles Community Action Network have testified before Garcettis appointees on the Police Commission. And the American Civil Liberties Union repeatedly urged Garcetti to require the release of body camera video to ensure officers are held accountable.

Yet those groups  and the larger public  were effectively locked out as Garcetti and the LAPDs rank-and-file officers union worked on an overhaul of the departments disciplinary system, interviews and city records obtained by The Times show. Those talks, launched roughly two years ago, led to the creation of Charter Amendment C, which would introduce one of the most significant changes to the LAPDs disciplinary process in decades.

Advertisement

Those same groups are now campaigning against the May 16 ballot measure, which would allow police disciplinary panels, also known as Boards of Rights, to be composed entirely of civilians. Foes warn the measure will make the panels more lenient toward officers, pointing to a city report that concluded civilians have been voting for less severe punishment.

Opponents also describe the measure as the product of a backroom deal between the mayor and a union known for its influence at City Hall.

Police accountability, police transparency, police reform, is probably the top government issue of concern in communities of color, said Pete White, executive director of the Community Action Network, a skid row advocacy group that also focuses on policing issues. We should be the first, not the last, to be considered in creating reform measures.

The debate over Charter Amendment C comes at a time of heightened pressure to rein in police misconduct, both in Los Angeles and across the country. Activists have filled meeting rooms waiting for police commissioners to reveal their decisions on whether shootings by LAPD officers fell within department policy.

Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell, who handles public safety issues for Garcetti, confirmed that the ACLU and other groups were not involved in the discussions over changing the disciplinary process until after Council President Herb Wesson had publicly unveiled a ballot proposal in November. Gorell also acknowledged that his office had been in talks with the LAPD and the union about reworking the disciplinary process as early as 2015.

Still, the deputy mayor dismissed the idea that the measure is the product of backroom dealings, saying the proposals fate will rest with voters.

This is going before voters in the most public way that a public process could be  and that is, by way of democracy, he said.

A union spokesman offered similar remarks, saying the public had an opportunity to weigh in once a formal proposal was announced last fall. The initial conversations with city officials, he added, constituted labor discussions that are typically confidential.

The LAPDs Board of Rights system was established in 1935. Voters added civilians to the panels in 1992 as part of Charter Amendment F, a measure designed to reform the department in the wake of the Rodney G. King beating.

This is going before voters in the most public way that a public process could be  and that is, by way of democracy.  Deputy Mayor Jeff Gorell

Board of Rights panels currently consist of three members: two high-ranking officers and one civilian. Hired by the Police Commission, civilian panelists must have at least seven years of experience with arbitration, mediation or similar work. Most are attorneys or professional arbitrators.

Under the existing system, Police Chief Charlie Beck must send any officer he wants to fire to a board for a hearing. If the panel finds that an officer is guilty of the accusations, it then must recommend either firing the officer or assigning a lesser penalty, such as a suspension.

The chief can accept or reduce that punishment. However, he cannot increase its severity.

Gorell and union leaders contend that the addition of all-civilian panels will address longstanding complaints from LAPD officers about the integrity of the disciplinary process. Officers believe they will not get a fair shake as long as two-thirds of the panels members are in a chain of command under Beck  the person who is recommending punishment, said union President Craig Lally. Union officials often point to lawsuits filed by LAPD captains, alleging they faced retaliation after going against the chief in disciplinary cases.

Giving officers the power to request all-civilian panels will provide greater fairness, Lally said.

Thats why weve been advocating for it for the last couple of years, added union spokesman Dustin DeRollo.

About a dozen people protested outside Mayor Eric Garcettis home during the summer of 2015, demanding that the mayor fire LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and hold a public meeting to discuss the controversial killing of Ezell Ford in South L.A. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beck has disputed the idea that he influences the boards, noting that in more than half of recent cases, the panels reject his recommendations.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League has exercised its political might at City Hall in recent years, spending more than $1.5 million to support Garcettis opponent in the 2013 election. This year, the union has spent more than $135,000 to help reelect five incumbent council members.

The effort to change the LAPDs disciplinary process followed on the heels of the unions 2015 contract talks. That year, Garcetti appeared at the unions annual delegates conference and informed league officials that he was willing to sit down with them to discuss alternatives to the existing discipline system, Gorell said.

After several months of talks, Garcetti signed on to the idea of testing a system of all-civilian panels for a limited number of years. Lawyers for the union suggested that the proposal be attached in some way to the leagues contract, Gorell said.

But City Atty. Mike Feuer quashed that idea and in 2016 advised city leaders that such a change would require an amendment to the City Charter  the citys governing document  and a public vote.

Lally blasted Feuers opinion in a column in the June issue of the police unions monthly magazine, saying the unions leadership thought they were finally on the verge of fixing the broken Board of Rights system. Gorell, he added, had discussed the progress between the two sides during an appearance before union delegates earlier that year.

In June 2016, the league and its lobbyist met with Wesson and his staff at the Palm Restaurant, a steakhouse in downtown Los Angeles, to discuss efforts to draft a charter amendment. In the months that followed, the unions lobbyist sent emails to aides of Garcetti and Wesson suggesting language.

The mayor and the [union] board have been going back and forth for months but I think theres light at the end of the tunnel on possible consensus, Gorell wrote in an Oct. 25 email to a Wesson aide, a copy of which was obtained by The Times.

Wesson announced his intention to pursue a ballot measure changing the disciplinary panels the day before Thanksgiving, signing a motion to put the idea before voters as soon as May.

Advocacy groups that focus on police discipline say they were taken aback by that move  and were asked to weigh in only after the proposal was a done deal.

Theres no way that they didnt realize that people are interested in this issue. So the choice not to consult any of those groups had to have been deliberate, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

The process used by Garcetti and his aides didnt show any interest in hearing all sides, Bibring said. They only showed interest in providing a political favor for a powerful constituency.

Theres no way that they didnt realize that people are interested in this issue.  Peter Bibring, director of police practices for the ACLU of Southern California

Bibring and other foes of Charter Amendment C have repeatedly hammered on the findings of a report, issued to the council in January, that found that civilians have been consistently more lenient than their sworn counterparts in LAPD disciplinary proceedings. Gorell and union officials have disputed the findings of the report, saying it did not offer enough data to reach such a conclusion.

We trust civilians in juries, Gorell said. We trust civilians to look over the Police Department for discipline cases with the commission. We trust civilian oversight in the military. This is the bedrock of our governance.

Garcetti has thrown his weight behind the campaign for Charter Amendment C, appearing in nine campaign mailers promoting it. Wesson and every member of the council have endorsed the proposal.

The union has already spent at least $839,000 on the effort to pass the measure. By contrast, opponents have not yet formed a campaign committee. Nevertheless, they say they are steadily building a coalition against the proposal. They argue that while the disciplinary system needs changes, the ballot measure is not the solution.

Wesson, who represents part of South Los Angeles, offered some of the measures opponents the opportunity to speak out on the ballot proposal  and other policing concerns  at a council hearing set for Tuesday evening. In an interview, he acknowledged that the city could have done better outreach to community groups focused on police discipline.

If I had a chance to do some of the things differently, I probably would, he said.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

Twitter: @DavidZahniser

kate.mather@latimes.com

Twitter: @katemather

ALSO

LAPD settlements soar as officials close the books on high-profile lawsuits against police officers

Young LAPD officers barely remember 1992 riots, but work in a department shaped by the unrest

ACLU sues LAPD over systemic violation of public records law
The Los Angeles Police Department paid nearly $81 million in legal settlements last fiscal year, a sharp increase as the city closed the books on several high-profile and costly cases.

The settlement numbers were significantly higher than in previous years and involved cases that had been working their way through the court system for the last few years.

Among them were two wrongful convictions of men for separate murders. The men each spent more than 25 years behind bars, and the department settled their cases for about $24 million.

Advertisement

An additional $15 million went to a boy left paralyzed after an LAPD officer shot him. The city last fiscal year also agreed to settle a case that it fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court involving a man who was shot by officers while holding a cellphone they apparently mistook for a gun. The city paid $7 million.

 L.A. community groups say they were excluded from talks leading to LAPD discipline measure

Three cases, $39 million

LAPDs risk manager said that three cases alone accounted for more than $39 million.

It is a few cases that create the most liability, Cmdr. Michael Hyams said. It is not hundreds of cases.

Hyams said he expects that number to be lower by June 30, the end of this fiscal year. Payouts are running about $19 million so far this year, mostly driven by a series of large police shooting settlements. That would reverse a five-year upward trend in payouts for legal claims.

Still, the Los Angeles city attorneys office, which represents the LAPD in litigation, said its looking at altering risk management practices with an eye on how to handle these cases better and reduce liability. Among the changes is trying to settle problem cases more quickly to contain costs.

The surge in LAPD settlements, coupled with other litigation costs across City Hall, sparked the Los Angeles City Council this year to borrow $70 million to avoid dipping into the citys emergency reserve funds.

Kash Delano Register stands outside a Los Angeles restaurant in November 2013 after his release from prison. He received a $16.7-million settlement for a wrongful conviction in a 1979 armed robbery and murder. (Christina House / For The Times)

Wrongful convictions, big payouts

The citys largest payout in the last fiscal year was $16.7 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by Kash Delano Register, who alleged he was wrongfully convicted of a 1979 murder because of a flawed LAPD investigation. Register spent more than 34 years in prison after his conviction in the armed robbery and killing of Jack Sasson.

The city also paid Bruce Lisker $7.6 million to settle his claim that he was framed by the LAPD. Lisker, who was released from prison in 2009 after a Times investigation into his conviction for killing his mother, served 26 years in prison.

Liskers release came after a federal judge ruled that key evidence prosecutors used from LAPD detectives to convict Lisker in his mothers March 1983 slaying was false. That evidence included a bloody shoe print left at the murder scene in the bathroom that investigators had said Lisker left. But an LAPD analyst and FBI expert later testified in a hearing challenging Liskers conviction that the bloody print was not made by his shoes.

The LAPD was the defendant in Liskers lawsuit because the law gives immunity to prosecutors from civil laws over how they handle cases.

L.A. city lawyers recommended that the council approve the two deals, saying that taking the cases to trial could cost even more.

So many of these things were based on eyewitness identifications from years ago. Thirty years ago that is something juries relied on, Hyams said. We may have some of that in the foreseeable future, but going forward there is going to be a lot less wrongful convictions because of the improvement in the forensic evidence.

Sometimes it can take years after an incident when a payout is finally made because of appeals.

Boy paralyzed by officers bullet

In 2010, Rohayent G. Eriza, 13, was playing cops and robbers in Glassell Park with a replica 9-millimeter gun. A police officer thought the gun was real and opened fire. The shooting left the boy paralyzed.

The Police Commission found the shooting to be within LAPD policy. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the boy failed to follow commands.

In 2012, a jury awarded the boy $24 million. The city appealed but then settled last year.

Greg Smith, an attorney who represents officers in litigation, said the city might be able to save money by taking more cases to juries.

Jurors understand the dangers officers face and can weigh these split-second decisions, he said.

But sometimes failing to settle can be expensive. In 2012, the City Council rejected a $4.5-million deal in the case of Robert Contreras, who was left nearly quadriplegic after he was shot by an LAPD officer in September 2005 as he held a cellphone officers thought was a gun.

A jury eventually awarded him $5.7 million.

The city took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing it was a justified shooting because Contreras was fleeing from a van linked to a drive-by shooting in South LA. Contreras was convicted in 2009 for his role in the shooting and received nine years in prison. But in March 2016, the council agreed to the nearly $6.9-million settlement, including legal fees and interest.

Over the last five years, the departments overall litigation costs with settlements and judgments are about $215 million, according to the LAPDs litigation costs examined by The Times using data provided by the Los Angeles city attorneys office.

The judgments and settlements include all kinds of legal claims related to on-duty conduct, motor vehicles and employment. The majority of payouts were tied to civil rights issues involving wrongful incarceration and shootings, accounting for $124 million.

Ticket quotas, bias claims

Last year, Hyams said nearly $10 million in payouts involved employment cases. The department, he said, has moved to emphasize to managers the need to reduce tensions in the workplace and that retaliation allegations have fueled many of the lawsuits.

The largest employment settlement  $2.5 million  involved LAPD Foothill Division detectives who alleged they were passed over for positions and overtime because of racial discrimination after complaining about a lieutenant for banning the speaking of Spanish in the detectives office.

A former Westside motorcycle officer who said the LAPD retaliated against him for not participating in an illegal traffic ticket quota system was given a nearly $1-million settlement. The officer alleged that his then-captain required officers in the division to write a set number of traffic tickets during each shift, establishing a quota system that violated state law.

The ticket quota cases have cost more than $10 million in taxpayer money on payouts and legal fees over the years.

Nearly $3 million in payouts last year involved litigation over how the LAPD policed skid row and handled the homeless.

Hyams said the city trying to resolve cases more quickly, hoping to limit the size of settlements. He pointed to the controversial 2015 shooting of homeless man Brendon Glenn in Venice.

In December, the City Council agreed to pay $4 million to Glenns family. The settlement came after the Police Commission had found the shooting unjustified and Beck recommended that the district attorney file criminal charges against Officer Clifford Proctor. The district attorneys office is reviewing whether to charge the officer criminally.

richard.winton@latimes.com

Twitter: @lacrimes

ALSO

Sheriff whistleblower who testified in federal obstruction case gets $1.275-million settlement

Palmdale mayors former consulting job may have sparked investigation, search of City Hall

Huge arsenal seized from high-ranking Pasadena police officers home, new records show
Los Angeles police fired a rifle from a helicopter during a shootout with a man killed in Sunland earlier this week, marking the first time that specially trained SWAT officers have opened fire from a helicopter hovering over a scene, the LAPD said Tuesday.

Chief Charlie Beck told reporters that an autopsy would reveal how many times the 29-year-old man was struck by gunfire Monday afternoon  and whether it came from officers on the ground or in the helicopter. But, the chief said, it appears he was struck by gunfire from the air.

Police shootings from helicopters are rare. Experts have said such shootings are justified only in the most desperate situations and when other tactics might be more dangerous.

Advertisement

The decision to bring in officers trained to fire from a helicopter was not taken lightly, Beck said. It requires approval from a high-level officer  in this case, an assistant chief who also discussed it with Beck beforehand.

When the geography and the circumstances dictate, we want to make sure that its available. Thats exactly what happened in this instance, Beck said.

The events leading to the shooting began earlier that day, Beck said, when a woman woke up and saw an intruder in her home. The woman escaped through a bedroom window and called police, the chief said.

When officers arrived, Beck said, they peered through a window of the home and saw that the man had armed himself with a gun belonging to one of the residences occupants. The officers then backed off and called for a SWAT team, Beck said, launching a standoff that lasted five hours.

As officers surrounded the house, police used a bullhorn to try to persuade the man to surrender, department officials said.

The house  in the 11300 block of Alethea Drive  was at the top of a hill, surrounded by brush and debris, Beck said. That created what the chief described as a very difficult location for SWAT officers, contributing to the decision to bring in the officers trained to fire from a helicopter.

The suspect definitely had high ground at all of the ground officers, was firing indiscriminately at them  and actually fired at the helicopter, we believe, Beck said.

Police fired tear gas into the house to try to force the man outside. He was shot when he emerged about 2:45 p.m. and opened fire at police, an LAPD spokeswoman said Monday.

After the man was shot, his body rolled down a ravine, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities have yet to release the mans name, saying his relatives had not been notified.

Multiple officers fired their guns during the encounter, Beck said. A department spokesman said no officers were injured, nor was the woman who fled the home.

An investigation into the deadly encounter is underway, which is standard procedure for all shootings by LAPD officers. It also will be reviewed by the district attorneys office, the Police Commission and its inspector general.

Beck told police commissioners Tuesday that investigators still were searching the scene, hampered in part by tear gas vapors still lingering inside the house. But, he said, it appeared that department officials acted appropriately when deciding to put SWAT officers inside the helicopter.

It requires very specific criteria that have to be met regarding terrain, regarding weather, regarding the threat to the community, regarding the other options that have been utilized, the chief told his civilian bosses. It appears that those criteria were met. Obviously there will be further review of this to ensure that.

Geoffrey Alpert, a professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in police use of force, said in certain situations, it may be reasonable for officers who are trained to shoot from helicopters to do so. Approaching a suspect from the air can offer a valuable perspective  a birds-eye view instead of a worms-eye view, he said.

Its an option most departments shouldnt use because theyre not well-trained in it, Alpert said. But LAPD, one of their specialties is tactical shooting.

Shootings from helicopters typically target suspects in car chases, Alpert said  moving targets that could easily crash into bystanders if the driver is shot. What the LAPD did Monday, he said, was a much more reasoned approach.

Samuel Walker, a retired criminal justice professor and policing expert, called the LAPDs move reckless, saying the movement inside a police helicopter increased the risk of a dangerous mistake. Even if there are strict policies in place, Walker said he did not believe officers should fire their guns from the air.

I just worry that it sets a bad precedent, he added. You can have some other departments saying, Well, if the LAPD can do it, we can do it.

When other Southern California officers have fired shots from helicopters, similar questions followed about why the tactic was used.

In 2015, San Bernardino County sheriffs officials used a helicopter to fire on a driver in a wrong-way chase on the 215 Freeway. A department spokeswoman at the time said the decision was made because the suspect threatened the publics safety by speeding, running stop signs and traffic lights, narrowly missing pedestrians and driving in the wrong direction.

Perhaps the most famous police helicopter shooting in Southern California occurred in 1982, after a man suspected of robbing an Orange County bank led authorities on a rolling gunbattle through three counties.

According to Times reports at the time, police said Stephen Moreland Redd, 37, fired at officers with an automatic weapon in one hand while steering his car with the other during the 110-mph chase. One officer was wounded.

He surrendered after a San Bernardino sheriffs deputy fired a pistol from a helicopter hovering 20 feet above the freeway. Officials told The Times that the deputy waited for a break in traffic before firing the shot, which hit Redds rearview mirror.

kate.mather@latimes.com

@katemather

UPDATES:

5:50 p.m.: This article was updated with quotes from Geoffrey Alpert and Samuel Walker.

This article was originally published at 2:15 p.m.
Authorities are searching for an unmarked Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department car that was stolen from an Alhambra auto dealership.

Alhambra police say surveillance video recorded a lone male walking into the service area of Alhambra Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram at 1100 W. Main St. about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, approaching the black 2016 Dodge Charger, then driving it away.

Though the black four-door car has no exterior markings identifying it as a emergency vehicle, it is equipped with covert strobe lights and a Sheriffs Department radio, chrome factory wheels and a California license plate that reads 7MRA998, police said. The vehicle had no weapons or other emergency equipment inside.

Advertisement

Alhambra police asked that anyone with information about the theft call a 24-hour tip line at (626) 308-4875.

tony.barboza@latimes.com

@tonybarboza
A 26-year-old man was found guilty Tuesday of abducting and killing Sierra LaMar, a Northern California teenager who disappeared five years ago and whose remains have never been found.

Jurors in San Jose delivered their verdict shortly after 9 a.m. in the 13-week murder trial of Antolin Garcia-Torres, court officials said. He was also accused of trying to kidnap and carjack three South Bay women in 2009 in grocery store parking lots.

Sierra, a vibrant cheerleader from Morgan Hill, about 30 miles south of San Jose, vanished on March 16, 2012, while on her way to school.

Advertisement

In the days after her disappearance, authorities found her cellphone and her purse, with her underwear and San Jose Sharks jersey folded inside. For years, even though she was presumed to be dead, volunteer search teams continued to scour the area looking for any signs of the missing 15-year-old.

Nothing will take away the pain and the sorrow that we experience every day and that we will continue to experience for the rest of our lives, Sierras mother, Marlene LaMar, said Tuesday outside a San Jose courthouse.

Standing beside her husband and daughter, Marlene LaMar said she believed jurors made the right decision.

It gives us peace as a family knowing this is not going to happen to another child, she said.

Sierras father, Steve LaMar, said the verdict doesnt give his family a sense of closure, but it helps. Justice, he said, was served for Sierra.

So that gives us some form of relief, he said. It will never take away our grief that will be with us forever.

The jury must now decide if Garcia-Torres will be sentenced to death or life without the possibility of parole. The penalty phase starts May 16.

In the penalty phase, Deputy Dist. Atty. David Boyd said, Sierras family and friends will be allowed to speak about the impact her loss has had on their lives.

Garcia-Torres was arrested in May 2012 based on DNA evidence found on clothing in Sierras purse, authorities said. Garcia-Torres DNA was already on file from a previous assault.

Prosecutors said physical evidence recovered from Sierras clothing and Garcia-Torres car also tied him to her disappearance. Investigators told jurors Sierras hair was found on a rope in his car, the Associated Press reported.

At the time, investigators said they thought Garcia-Torres had picked Sierra to be his victim at random.

In 2014, Garcia-Torres was indicted by a Santa Clara County grand jury in Sierras case.

During the trial, defense attorney Alfonso Lopez argued that Garcia-Torres, who lived seven miles from Sierra, was not responsible for her disappearance, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Garcia-Torres attorneys contended that Sierra may have run away.

ALSO

Police kill armed intruder at Sunland home after 5-hour standoff

Teen killed at high school left suicide note, San Diego police say

Driver squealed Oh my God, oh my God after fatally hitting man, then drove away, police say

UPDATES:

11:40 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with comments from Sierra LaMars family and lawyers for the prosecution and defense.

9:25 a.m.: This article was updated with a guilty verdict in the case.

This article was originally published at 9:15 a.m.
San Diego County Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis has been ordered to return more than $100,000 seized from a medical marijuana businessman and his family, 15 months after drug agents raided the company and didnt charge anyone with a crime.

Superior Court Judge Tamila E. Ipema issued the order late Friday, almost six weeks after lawyers representing James Slatic argued that the money must be returned.

Investigations have been ongoing since January 2016 and there is no indication  that criminal charges are going to be filed in this case in the near future, the judge wrote.

Advertisement

Dumanis has used state and federal civil asset-forfeiture rules for years to confiscate millions of dollars from drug suspects.

Steve Walker, a spokesman for Dumanis, said the office was considering an appeal of the ruling.

The investigation remains under review for potential criminal charges, therefore the district attorneys office is not able to discuss the facts, the status of that review or any evidence related to it, Walker said in an email Monday. The funds ordered returned by a civil judge last week were previously found by a criminal judge to be tainted by criminal conduct, and we are reviewing the court transcript from the  hearing in March to explore further options.

Slatic said he was pleased with the judges decision.

Its about time, he wrote in a statement. We did nothing wrong. My business operated openly and legally for more than two years; we paid taxes and had a retirement program for our 35 employees.

No one broke any laws, but the district attorney swooped in and took everything from me and my family, even though they had no connection to my business, he said. Our lives were turned upside down. It felt like we were robbed  by the police.

In late January 2016, drug agents used sledgehammers to break open the front door of Med-West Distribution, a firm that supplied a collective of medical pot shops with cannabis oils used for vaping as well as marijuana-laced edibles, topical creams and other products.

The agents seized all of the inventory, business records and just over $324,000 in cash. A separate forfeiture proceeding for those funds is ongoing. The agents also arrested two employees inside the building at the time, although no criminal charges have been filed.

A few days later, Dumanis office sought to freeze Slatics personal bank account  and those of his wife and two stepdaughters  alleging that the money was illegal drug profits. The money taken was $55,000 from Slatics account, $34,000 from his wifes account and more than $5,000 each from the couples two daughters. It was formally seized a few months later.

During two days of hearings in November, lawyers for the Institute for Justice nonprofit law firm argued before Judge Jay Bloom that the money should be returned because it was not part of Med-West Distribution.

Bloom rejected the argument, saying there was probable cause for prosecutors to pursue a criminal case against Slatic and prove the funds were derived from criminal activity.

Earlier this year, after the one-year anniversary of the raid passed without criminal charges being filed, lawyers for Slatic again sought to secure the return of the familys money.

The district attorneys office opposed the motion, arguing that prosecutors had 12 months from the day the money was formally seized to proceed with a criminal case, giving them until June to decide.

Ipema disagreed, finding that the people cannot hold the claimants money indefinitely without having filed any charges.

California law prohibits law enforcement officials from keeping seized cash and property valued at less than $40,000 in federal cases without obtaining a criminal conviction.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com

McDonald writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune
At UCLA, the furor started with a photo of the undergraduate student body president, making a hand sign associated with the Bloods.

Danny Siegel is white. He was wearing a suit and tie.

Many African American students were angered by what they saw as a man of white privilege mocking their community and clueless about the poverty and despair that drive some in it into gangs.

There were those, of course, who said to chill out, the photo was a joke.

Advertisement

But anger over the image appears to have contributed to the stunning defeat of Siegels campus party in last weeks undergraduate student elections  and the intensity of the reaction was the latest sign of discontent among many University of California students of color who believe that administrators and some fellow students continue to slight them and to discount their needs.

Although UC has steadily increased the enrollment of low-income and minority students and invested millions of dollars into academic and social support services for them, some students say the efforts are not nearly enough.

In the wake of racial tensions that inflamed UCLA, several students of color ran successful independent campaigns for student office. Pictured are the winning candidates, with their campaign staff members and supporters. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Alicia Frison, chairwoman of the UCLA Afrikan Student Union, said African American students face problems throughout the 10-campus university system. At UC Santa Cruz, more than 100 black students occupied Kerr Hall for three days last week before Chancellor George Blumenthal agreed to meet their demands for a guarantee of four years of housing at the Rosa Parks African American Theme House, as well as more student lounge space and the inclusion of diversity education at student orientations.

Frison said African American students at UC San Diego are upset about white nationalist organizations on campus and black victims of sexual violence at UC Santa Barbara have joined sit-ins pressing for more services.

At UCLA, African American students have issued a list of demands, including hiring more faculty of color.

The problems are systemwide, Frison said.

The UCLA and UC Santa Cruz tensions attracted national attention. A New York civil rights organization wrote an open letter to Blumenthal, demanding to know whether UC Santa Cruz was preparing to fund racial separatism with the housing guarantee and foist racial indoctrination on new students with the diversity education.

Blumenthal, in a May 4 letter to the campus community, said administrators fundamentally agree with students of color that they need more support.

Though we have been working with underrepresented communities  we acknowledge that we have not done enough to engage with them successfully, he wrote. Students from historically underrepresented communities deal with real challenges on campus and in the community. These difficulties include things that many people take for granted, such as finding housing or even just a sense of community.

In last weeks UCLA elections, Siegels Bruins United political party, for the first time in several years, failed to win a plurality of the 14 student council seats when votes were counted late Friday. Students running as independents  most of them black, Latino and Asian American  won nine seats.

The election is a real wakeup call...It sends a message that Bruin Uniteds mantra of inclusivity is false, Divya Sharma, a former party member and gay South Asian student, said Monday. He won the seat of academic affairs commissioner as an independent candidate.

In a Daily Bruin commentary that also is credited with influencing the election, Sharma wrote last week that he left Bruins United because I realized they only cared about me so I could be their queer man of color who would add diversity to their slate.

Bruins United was embroiled in another controversy last year when a document from the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity that contained racial slurs against Mexicans and blacks was found on the Google drive of a student who was a member of both the fraternity and the campus political party.

Siegel, the outgoing student body president, has apologized publicly for the photo and told The Times this week that it was foolish and immature. But he said the photo was taken a year ago and just recently showed up on social media, strategically leaked knowing it would inflame racial tensions and help them in the election. As for last years scandal, he insisted that Bruins United had nothing to do with the fraternity document, despite peoples efforts to link them.

Since the photo was circulated, Siegel said he has received threats and another Bruins United member was physically assaulted on campus.

Siegel said that his party, which was formed in 2004, maintains an open-door policy for meetings, candidate recruitment and membership and successfully lobbied for equal funding for all student groups, including Greek organizations and Republican and Democratic clubs.

Some student activists, however, dont think equal funding makes sense. They say they plan to push the newly elected members on the Undergraduate Students Assn. Council to reallocate some of the money to better support historically underrepresented groups.

Robert Gardner, a fourth-year student in political science whose denunciation of Siegels photo was widely shared on Facebook, said African Americans generally are less able than many wealthy members of fraternities and sororities to dig into their own pockets to pay for student events.

He said he and other activists also want the student council to declare UCLA a sanctuary campus for those who feel vulnerable under the Trump administration, including not just Muslim and LGBTQ students and those who are in the country illegally but also African Americans.

Having a new majority on the council gives us an opportunity to make important reforms, especially to support historically marginalized communities, Gardner said.

For her part, Arielle Yael Mokhtarzadeh, who won the student body presidency as an unopposed Bruins United candidate, decried what she called the incivility and inhumanity of last weeks election. But she vowed to mend fences.

The new council must set aside its partisan inclinations to serve all students on this campus, she wrote in an email. We must model what engagement, understanding and empathy can and should look like at UCLA.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @teresawatanabe

ALSO

A gondola to ferry tourists to the Hollywood sign? Mayor Garcetti floats the idea

San Diego authorities ordered to return $100,000 seized from medical marijuana distributor, family

Teen killed at high school left suicide note, San Diego police say
With the May 16 election approaching, Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo looked relaxed as he strode to the lectern at a Lincoln Heights park groundbreaking on a recent morning, speaking after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and state Senate leader Kevin de Leon.

Rise and shine, everybody, Cedillo told the crowd, before making a joke about politicians long speeches.

Cedillo is having a good couple of weeks. His opponent in the District 1 runoff, Joe Bray-Ali, is under fire over comments he made in an online forum that encourages racism and fat-shaming.

Bray-Alis campaign took another hit when the candidate  to head off any more damaging revelations  posted on Facebook that he had slept with several other women who were not his wife and owes nearly $50,000 in state business taxes and fees.

Still, the incumbent faces widespread criticism from his constituents. Neighborhood leaders across his district say they never see him and that his staff members are unresponsive and dont attend community events.

Cedillo, who chairs City Halls Housing Committee, also is accused of not doing enough to stop the displacement of renters in his Northeast L.A. district, a charge he denies.

As the 63-year-old councilman campaigns in the final days before the election, Cedillo appears less interested in attacking Bray-Ali than appeasing voters unhappy with his leadership.

Who are the two candidates?

District 1 challenger Joe Bray-Ali at a candidate debate event last month in Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)

Councilman Gil Cedillo responds to a question during the April 17 debate. (Genaro Molina/ Los Angeles Times)

Joe Bray-Ali Lincoln Heights resident.

Served on Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council.

Worked for Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez.

Private sector experience includes running bicycle shop Flying Pigeon and working at a family-owned real estate development firm. Gil Cedillo Downtown L.A. resident.

Elected to the City Council in 2013.

in 2013. Former state senator and assemblyman.

Previously worked for the Service Employees International Union.

Where they stand:

Development

Joe Bray-Ali Wants to pass a law giving tenants the opportunity to buy their buildings if the owner decides to sell. (Washington, D.C., has a similar law.)

Wants to update citys zoning code to change parking requirements near transit stops.

Do community outreach when an affordable housing project is proposed in area so it isn't blocked by neighbors. Gil Cedillo Says that more than two-thirds of housing built or planned in his district during his tenure has been affordable units.

Wants to overturn Costa-Hawkins Act, which bars rental caps on single-family homes and some apartments.

Wants to work with neighborhoods to help counter not in my back yard attitudes toward development.

Digital billboards

Joe Bray-Ali Doesnt support city proposal to collect revenue from digital billboards on city property. Says billboards are a distraction to motorists and create light pollution.

Wants City Hall to instead focus on supporting businesses that grow citys tax base. Gil Cedillo Supports proposal to collect revenue from digital billboards on city property.

Wants those revenues to go back into the communities where the displays are located, such as Pico-Union.

Airbnb

Joe Bray-Ali Wants neighborhoods to decide their own limits on the number of Airbnb units in their areas to avoid displacement of renters and long-term residents.

Believes fines for noncompliance are too high in the proposed rules. Gil Cedillo Hasnt taken a position on proposed city rules that would allow homeowners to rent out their residences for 180 days a year with Airbnb and similar services.

During the primary, Cedillo refused a Times reporters requests for an interview. (The newspapers editorial board endorsed Bray-Ali, then pulled its backing when his online comments came to light.)

For the run-off, the councilman gave a phone interview last week about the issues in District 1, which includes Chinatown, Pico-Union, Elysian Park and Highland Park.

He didnt dispute neighborhood leaders criticisms that his office has been unresponsive.

Its unacceptable, he said of those complaints, adding that his office has replaced staff members in the last six months and that constituents can expect an upgrade.

He also acknowledged that such changes may be too late for some in the district.

I say, OK, I understand if you dont want to vote for me, Cedillo said.

Bray-Ali, 38, landed in the run-off after hammering the councilman on issues such as bike lanes, gentrification and development.

But since website LAist last month published comments Bray-Ali made on Voat, a provocative site that touts its uncensored content, the issue hasnt gone away for the Lincoln Heights resident.

Residents spent most of a recent 90-minute forum, held by the Echo Park Improvement Assn., asking Bray-Ali for explanations.

If my words online have turned you away from me, I understand, said Bray-Ali, who also blamed the media and said his comments were taken out of context.

He continued his criticism of the councilman, telling the crowd, We want someone in office that will listen to us, that will work for us and that will address problems directly, instead of pushing them off.

In a follow-up email, Bray-Ali wrote that Cedillos campaign has tried every insult and personal attack possible. (Cedillo said his campaign didnt give LAist the tip about Bray-Alis Voat comments.)

The fight over whether to create bike lanes on Figueroa Street in Highland Park has been a divisive issue in council District 1. (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times) (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

In addition to losing the backing of Councilman Mitch OFarrell, Bike the Vote  a street-safety group dedicated to mobilizing voters  rescinded its endorsement of Bray-Ali.

Many of us were disappointed with both his actions but also his lack of contrition, Michael MacDonald, a member of the steering committee member, said in an interview.

MacDonald said Bray-Ali won the endorsement after Bike the Vote sent all the primary candidates questionnaires about bike safety and street issues.

Cedillos office and campaign never replied or filled out the questionnaire, MacDonald said.

The councilman has also been accused of not doing enough to help those affected by rising rents in his district, which has seen a wave of gentrification that is blamed for displacing working-class residents.

A study done last year by the anti-gentrification group Northeast Los Angeles Alliance and other organizations, looked at a 10-block area in Highland Park.

The study found that 23% of the 1,200 families living in the area have been displaced since 2013 because of real estate sales.

John Urquiza, a member of the Northeast Los Angeles Alliance, has marched numerous times with area tenants to Cedillos office to complain about evictions, but says hes left frustrated by the councilman.

Hes on board with luxury development, Urquiza said. And thats going to cause more displacement.

Cedillos office says that the majority of the units built or planned during his tenure have been affordable housing units.

Renters advocate Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, praised Cedillos record as chair of the councils Housing Committee.

Cedillo has passed legislation on seismic retrofitting, tenant buyouts and foreclosed properties, Gross said.

Show me anyone on the council who has done more on the issue of renters rights, Gross said.

Jaime Regalado, a professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A., said he doubts that Cedillo will win over voters who backed Bray-Ali but are now by disappointed by the grassroots candidate.

Those voters are just as likely to stay home, Regalado said, adding: Cedillo still needs to work hard. He cant take anything for granted.

dakota.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @dakotacdsmith
South Koreas left-leaning new president, vowing to unite a nation bruised by a historic corruption scandal, takes power as North Korea flexes its nuclear muscles and Washington sends mixed signals over rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The landslide election win by Moon Jae-in, who favors talks with North Korea and is wary of too much dependence on Washington, throws a new element of uncertainty into the Trump administrations dealings with North Koreas isolated and mercurial leader, Kim Jong Un.



For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Katharine Moons first name as Katherine.

Moon, a lawyer and former presidential aide representing the center-left Democratic Party, pledged in a midnight victory speech to restore the publics faith in the country after a tumultuous six months that saw the ouster and arrest of the former president, Park Geun-hye.

Advertisement

Under the circumstances, with Park jailed and the prime minister serving as a caretaker, Moon was expected to take office almost immediately. No elaborate inauguration is scheduled.

My fellow Koreans, I will not forget what you have asked for as a nation, as a people, Moon told a large crowd in a central square where protesters have gathered in recent months.

Supporters cheer as South Korean presidential candidate Moon Jae-in greets them after exit polls suggested a landslide victory, on a stage in the central Gwanghwamun district of Seoul on May 10, 2017. (Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images)

I will work toward putting our country back on its feet and helping all of you realize your dreams, as Koreans.

The White House, in a brief statement, offered congratulations and expressed hopes for a continuing close partnership with the government in Seoul.

Moons lopsided victory  he received 41% of the vote in a field of more than a dozen candidates, nearly double that of second-place finisher Hong Joon-pyo  was widely expected by policymakers in Washington and elsewhere, muting its immediate impact.

But going forward, the relationship Moon forges with Trump will be heavily influenced by the White House response to North Koreas nuclear testing program and the communist governments efforts to build an intercontinental ballistic missile that could deliver a warhead to U.S. shores, analysts said.

In recent weeks, Trump has engaged in both heavy-handed saber-rattling and seeming outreach toward North Koreas leader  sometimes within a span of days.

Some analysts pointed to Trumps declaration last week that he would be honored to meet with Kim under the right circumstances as perhaps dovetailing with Moons own stated willingness to engage the North.

Trump also warned North Korea, however, that bellicose acts would carry the potential for major, major conflict.

Last month, Trump said he had dispatched a powerful armada  a Navy aircraft carrier task force  to sail toward the Korean peninsula as Washington was strongly cautioning Kim not to conduct a sixth nuclear test.

Days later, the Navy acknowledged that the warships were going in the opposite direction at the time to engage in exercises with Australias navy. The U.S. task force, led by the Carl Vinson, ultimately steamed north to within range of Korea.

There are lots of opportunities and lots of pitfalls.  Jae Ku, director of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University

Trump also caused an uproar in South Korea last month when he suggested that Seoul should foot the $1-billion bill for an advanced missile defense system  an assertion that his national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, subsequently walked back, according to South Korean officials.

Moon has questioned the decision by the previous South Korean administration and U.S. officials to install the missile defense system known as THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, and called for a review of the decision to make it operational.

China strongly opposes putting the system in South Korea, arguing that its sophisticated radar could undermine Chinas military capabilities. U.S. officials insist the antimissile system is only aimed at North Korea.

Some analysts said Trumps seeming changeability added greater unpredictability to the standoff with North Korea, and U.S. relations with Seoul, than did the results of Tuesdays election in South Korea.

Trump has made the U.S. into this big question mark as an alliance partner, said Katharine Moon, a political science professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and a nonresident senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution.

In the past, she said, even serious differences between U.S. and South Korean leaders  and strong anti-American sentiment among parts of South Korean society  did not pose a significant threat to an alliance forged in the Korean War more than 60 years ago.

Moon [Jae-in] has said he wants South Korea to follow a more independent path vis-a-vis the United States, but that does not mean reneging on the alliance, she said.

Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in March 2017. (Ahn Young-joon / Associated Press)

South Korea has been in political limbo for months. Park, the now-jailed former president, was impeached last December in a corruption scandal and officially removed from office in March.

Given the domestic turmoil, Moon Jae-in is likely to move swiftly to try to establish Seouls place as a decision-making partner to Washington when it comes to dealing with North Korea, analysts said.

There are lots of opportunities and lots of pitfalls, said Jae Ku, the director of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Thats why it makes it so important for the new administration to have early meetings with President Trump.

Trump is expected to visit Asia this year, but the White House has not yet said if he will visit Seoul.

Heading into the vote, South Koreans appeared determined to put the scandal behind them and turn a new page. Nearly 80% of voters went to the polls to decide who would lead the country.

Moon, 64, had consistently led public opinion polls during the campaign. A final survey showed him ahead with about 40% support in a crowded field of 15 candidates. A plurality was all that was needed for victory.

The new leaders ascension to the Blue House  South Koreas presidential complex, named for its distinctly colored tile roof  should represent an ideological shift from two administrations of conservative policies, especially on foreign affairs.

Senior U.S. lawmakers called the U.S.-South Korean relationship crucial for both countries.

With threats in the region escalating, it is vital that the United States and South Korea continue to work together, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a joint statement with the committees ranking Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

ALSO

Five big takeaways from Frances presidential election

Shes young, transgender and an anarchist, and is leading Taiwans drive to become a digital powerhouse

Mexicans were afraid Trump would bring disaster. So far, his bark is worse than his bite

Special correspondent Stiles reported from Seoul and Times staff writer King from Washington. Staff writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.

laura.king@latimes.com

Twitter: @laurakingLAT

UPDATES:

5:55 p.m.: This article has been updated throughout with reporting from South Korea, analysis, background.
The debate over the best use of these vast canyonlands is not just about states rights or who should control public land. Nor is it only about environmental protection or the preservation of Native American culture.

It is also about the people who have lived alongside each other in this remote corner of southeastern Utah for decades  and the tension and distrust that continues to divide them.

I dont like to degrade it down to race, but I think a lot of this comes down to that, said Ben Brewer, who is white and grew up in the town of Blanding. Its a heated issue here, for sure.

Advertisement

This week, as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke conducts a listening tour across the region to decide whether to reverse the designation of Bears Ears National Monument or reduce its size from the 1.35 million acres of ancestral Native American lands that President Obama set aside when he created the monument on Dec. 28, the depth and delicate nature of racial tension between many Native Americans and nonnatives has quickly become apparent.

On Sunday, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a Utah Republican whose persistent criticism of Obamas designation helped prompt President Trump to order the review of Bears Ears and about two dozen other monuments nationwide, told reporters that Native Americans who had fought for years for Bears Ears may have been manipulated by environmental groups and do not realize the implications of a national monument designation.

The Indians, they dont fully understand that a lot of the things that they currently take for granted on those lands, they wont be able to do if its made clearly into a monument or a wilderness, Hatch said in Salt Lake City.

Leonard Lee, the vice chairman of the board of Utah Dine Bikeyah, a nonprofit that has focused on obtaining the national monument designation for Bears Ears. (William Yardley / Los Angeles Times)

His comments were quickly condemned by statewide Native American groups, with the Utah League of Native American Voters demanding that Hatch apologize for his blatantly racist, misinformed and condescending tone and words.

The league noted that tribes have sent their best and brightest attorneys, medicine people, policy researchers, anthropologist, ethnologists and economists to work on Bears Ears.

Racial tension in the region dates at least to the end of the 19th century, when Mormon settlers spread south from Salt Lake into a region occupied by Native Americans for thousands of years.

The new arrivals transformed parts of the desert landscape into incongruous grids of paved streets and green grass, with Mormon churches usually the finest buildings in little towns like Blanding. And as they did in so many other places, the white settlers drove Native Americans from their land and insisted that many of their children learn English.

Places like Bears Ears  where ancient native populations hunted and farmed, made mud kivas in the sides of cliffs and left behind countless artifacts and burial sites  were claimed by the federal government. The area has long been controlled by the Bureau of Land Management but given limited protection.

In time, looting and vandalism grew and a shadowy market developed for trading in Indian artifacts.

Government raids on looters and traders began as early as the 1980s  it is illegal to take artifacts from public lands  and the current battle over Bears Ears has roots in the tension created both by the looting and the raids. One raid in particular startled residents and led to lingering bitterness.

In June 2009, more than 150 federal officers swept into Blanding and elsewhere, arresting more than 20 people on charges that they had traded in ancient Indian artifacts dug illegally from the seemingly endless desert canyonlands. Many of those arrested were from longtime local families, including a prominent physician who killed himself the day after officers showed up at his door. Two more suicides followed of people targeted in the investigation.

They got caught red-handed. It has been going on for eons. We couldnt just let it go.  Leonard Lee, board vice chairman of the nonprofit Utah Dine Bikeyah

The raid angered many whites, who cast it as a brazen example of federal overreach in a remote region they believed was best left to the oversight of its inhabitants.

Yet not everyone saw it that way. Many Native Americans believed the raids were more than justified, perhaps even a form of spiritual retribution for desecration of their land.

They got caught red-handed. It has been going on for eons. We couldnt just let it go, said Leonard Lee, the vice chairman of the board of Utah Dine Bikeyah, a nonprofit led by Navajo Indians, the largest Native American group in the U.S.

Lee, whose group has focused on obtaining national monument designation for Bears Ears, spoke as he and dozens of other supporters of the cause waited for Zinke to arrive at Butler Wash Ruins overlook, a site of ancient ruins south of Blanding that is within the boundaries of the new monument. Zinke was accompanied by Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert and Rep. Rob Bishop  both Republicans  and several county commissioners, all of whom opposed the designation.

Welcome to Bears Ears, a man shouted from the small crowd. Welcome to the Native American legacy.

In brief remarks to reporters, Zinke said that Bears Ears was of course worth protecting, but that the question was whether a monument designation was the proper status for all of it. He, like Hatch, suggested that a monument designation potentially could deprive Native Americans of some of their traditional uses of the area, such as collecting herbs for medicine.

Later, Ed Roberson, the state director for the Bureau of Land Management in Utah, who attended the event, clarified in an interview that monument designations do not prevent Native Americans from collecting medicinal herbs and wood but that it was not uncommon for people to believe they did.

Zinke and the group walked half a mile to the overlook, spending several minutes there talking and looking across at cliff dwellings abandoned by ancient pueblo people at least 700 years ago.

Under the terms outlined by Obama, Bears Ears National Monument is to be managed with the help of a first-of-its-kind coalition of tribal governments. Zinke spent an hour on Sunday meeting with members of that coalition and afterward said they were smart, capable, passionate, and have a deep sense of tie to their culture and want to preserve it.

Yet some members of the coalition complained afterward of Zinkes tone and of the meetings brevity. The rest of his announced schedule for the week did not appear to include meetings with Native American leaders.

After the group of officials at Bears Ears viewed the ruins, it returned to its detail of large sport utility vehicles in the parking area, where supporters of the national monument remained.

When Cassandra Begay, a member of the Native American advocacy group PANDOS, persisted in asking Zinke whether he planned to meet again with tribal leaders, he initially ignored the question before stopping, turning toward Begay and, pointing his finger into her face, said, Be nice. Dont be rude. Then he walked away.

william.yardley@latimes.com

@yardleyLAT
Dr. Richard Field sent a friend a text message pleading for help: Somebody was in his apartment.

Minutes later, police arrived and found keys left outside the door of the doctors 11th-floor penthouse. When they entered, a man confronted them.

Police fired their guns and hit the man in the gut, left hand and leg. But they had arrived too late.

Advertisement

Field was already dead, along with Dr. Lina Bolanos, his fiancee and fellow anesthesiologist. Officers found both of them in the Boston apartment Friday night with their hands bound.

Those details emerged Monday during the arraignment of the suspected killer  a 30-year-old man named Bampumim Teixeira  at his hospital bed at Tufts Medical Center in a case that has shocked the city.

With a judge at his side, Teixeira laid with his eyes closed, occasionally nodding his head. His attorney entered a plea of not guilty to two counts of murder. He is being held without bail.

Investigators have not announced a motive in the killings.

Officials originally said that Teixeira had opened fire on the officers who arrived at the apartment Friday about 8:40 p.m., and that he probably knew his victims. But Suffolk County Dist. Atty. Daniel Conley held a news conference Monday to say that Teixeira did not shoot at police and that there was no evidence he knew the two doctors.

Police discovered a black backpack near the front door of the apartment that was filled with jewelry presumably belonging to Bolanos as well as a replica of a gun and at least one knife, prosecutors said.

Teixeira was recently released after serving nine months of a yearlong sentence for larceny. In a guilty plea last year, he admitted to passing notes to bank tellers demanding money on two separate occasions. His attorney, Steven Sack, declined to provide more information about his client.

Bolanos, 38, specialized in pediatric patients at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.

Dr. Bolanos was an outstanding pediatric anesthesiologist and a wonderful colleague in the prime of both her career and life, Johan Fernandez, the president of Massachusetts Eye and Ear said in a statement. We will do all we can to support their families and our staff members who are processing this senseless tragedy and grieving an enormous loss.

Sunil Eappen, the chief medical officer at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, worked with Bolanos over the last five years and said that she cared deeply about her patients. She was warm and caring with both parents and the children she treated, Eappen said in a statement. It is desperately hard for all of us to fathom that our friend who never failed to brighten our days is no longer with us.

Field, 49, specialized in pain management. He had been practicing medicine for 18 years, according to his biography online.

Dr. Field was a guiding vision at North Shore Pain Management and was instrumental in the creation of this practice, said a statement posted by his practice on Facebook. He was a valued member of the medical community and a tremendous advocate for his patients. His tragic and sudden passing leaves an inescapable void in all of us.

melissa.etehad@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Tuesday, May 9, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Go west!

A demand for skilled communications experts has turned Silicon Valley into a retirement community of sorts for veterans of political campaigns who are trying to start fresh outside Washington, D.C. In a lot of ways, a campaign is a lot like a start-up: You have to build it very fast, and be prepared to spend millions of dollars to persuade people your candidate is right, said Matt David, the head of marketing and communications for the dating app Tinder and a veteran of the 2008 John McCain campaign. Los Angeles Times.

Advertisement

Big payouts by the LAPD

The Los Angeles Police Department paid nearly $81 million in legal settlements last year, a sharp increase as the city closed the books on several high-profile and costly cases.It is a few cases that create the most liability. Cmdr. Mike Hyams said. It is not hundreds of cases. Los Angeles Times

Tensions on campus

Racial tensions have inflamed two University of California campuses in recent days, with students of color scoring a major electoral victory at UCLA and housing concessions at UC Santa Cruz. Los Angeles Times

L.A. STORIES

Live from the White House: Steve Bannons former Hollywood partner has broken his silence to defend the White House advisor. The Hollywood Reporter

It takes a team: Doctors in Los Angeles are turning to the power of peer groups to help patients combat diabetes. Los Angeles Times

What it will look like: New renderings are offering some of the proposed plans for Los Angeles 2024 Olympics bid. Curbed LA

Plus: Members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America are planning a campaign against the Olympic bid. Los Angeles Times

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

A lack of workers: The drought may be over, but a dearth of immigrant workers has made agricultural operations in the Central Valley that much harder. Yahoo

Problems behind bars: Immigrant detention centers are beset by the needless deaths of inmates, because theyre not able to offer adequate healthcare, a new report finds. The Guardian

Flipping and flopping: If Gov. Jerry Brown ends up signing a pending bill to make California a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants, it will be an about-face for the governor, who publicly opposed the idea of sanctuary cities several years ago. CalMatters

Detained: An Indian-born taxi driver in Santa Ana has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities during a check-in for an 18-year-old deportation order. Associated Press

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

A race heats up: The Trump-bashing has begun in Californias race for state insurance commissioner. Los Angeles Times

New congressional challenge: Actor Antonio Sabato Jr., who falsely called former President Obama a Muslim, has decided to run for Congress against Rep. Julia Brownley. Los Angeles Times

Money for the homeless problem: The Tipping Point Community charitable organization is pledging $100 million to try to cut the chronically homeless population in half over five years. San Francisco Chronicle

Meet the candidates: Delaine Eastin is the former state schools chief and is the only female candidate for California governor in 2018. KPCC

Big spenders: Here are the top-spending lobbyist groups in the state so far this year. San Francisco Chronicle

CRIME AND COURTS

He left a note: Police say that the 15-year-old who was killed at Torrey Pines High School by authorities left a suicide note. San Diego Union-Tribune

Shooting in Sunland: Los Angeles police shot and killed an armed man suspected of breaking into a Sunland home Monday after he repeatedly exchanged fire with officers during an hours-long standoff. Los Angeles Times

Simmons sues: Reclusive fitness guru Richard Simmons has sued the publisher of National Enquirer. He also accused his former assistant of blackmail. Los Angeles Times

Abuse case: Marin Countys top coroner has been charged in connection with repeated sexual abuse, prosecutors said. Los Angeles Times

THE ENVIRONMENT

Resilient avocados: Researchers in Californias Central Valley are breeding avocado trees they hope will grow well in the states main agricultural region. Valley Public Radio

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

California, here we come? Not anymore. Why the Golden State is now less golden for some outsiders. Orange County Register

KTLA sold: The Los Angeles TV station KTLA is being sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group as part of a nearly $4-billion deal to buy Tribune Media Co. Los Angeles Times

Act now: Karen Mary Davalos, a professor of Chicano and Latino Studies, explains why the time is now to support Chicano art. Artnet News

Stinky cheese please: Here are five California-made cheeses that you have to try. LA Weekly

Choose your TBT: Los Angeles Rams fans will be able to vote on when the team wears throwback uniforms. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: partially cloudy Tuesday, cloudy Wednesday. San Francisco area: sunny Tuesday, partially cloudy Wednesday. San Diego and Sacramento: partially cloudy Tuesday and Wednesday More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California memory comes from Mark Alberici:

My first visit to L.A. was when I was 13. I had run away from home in St. Louis during Christmas break and was trying to get back to San Jose where my girlfriend lived. My family had just moved to St. Louis over my objections. But I was stuck in the L.A. Greyhound terminal in the worst part of town with $3 and no ticket to San Jose. I slept in those plastic chairs for four nights and walked around skid row during the day. I remember a huge poster on the wall of Wilt Chamberlain in a Lakers uniform dunking a ball. Then Im walking around the terminal wondering what to do, stealing cookies for food at the cafeteria, and suddenly find a ticket to Santa Barbara lying right on the floor and the bus was leaving real quick, and I raced to the bus and left L.A. (I eventually made it to San Jose but never got to see my girlfriend because the cops arrested me at her door while she was at a store and I was thrown into juvenile hall for the night, then flown back to St. Louis.)

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
Michael Flynns potential legal troubles are growing. Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

The Early Warnings to Trump About Flynn

Advertisement

The warnings were there, according to former government officials: In November, President Obama cautioned Donald Trump against picking Michael Flynn as national security advisor. In January, acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates told White House lawyers that Flynn could be blackmailed by Moscow, may have violated criminal statutes and had misled Vice President Pence about his dealings with Russian officials. But the rest, as they say, is history. After the testimony of Yates and former Director of National Security James Clapper before the Senate on Monday, Trump responded with a tweet storm  and an update of his Twitter banner to drive home the point: Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows  there is no evidence of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.

The Travel Ban Gets Its Day in Court (Again)

During her testimony, Yates also defended her decision not to defend Trumps travel ban, getting into a particularly pointed exchange with Sen. Ted Cruz. Meanwhile, judges in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over Trumps revised executive order. For them, it comes down to whether the order is based on national security or religious discrimination. Again, Trumps own campaign language came back to haunt the discussion.

More Politics

-- The Trump administration will not reappoint half the expert members of a board that advises the Environmental Protection Agency on the integrity of its science.

-- More and more former political operatives are choosing Silicon Valley over K Street and Wall Street as their destination of choice.

Video: Ted Cruz Never Slammed Those Houston Values

Deep in the heart of Texas, Houston has become a city of cowboys and Indians and Ethiopians and immigrants from all points in between. By one measure, it has become the most racially and ethnically diverse major metropolis in the country, surpassing New York in 2010. Doesnt fit the Texas stereotype, does it? Now, with Texas governor having signed a bill to punish so-called sanctuary cities, Houston could be on the front lines in the immigration battle.

The Margaret Long Wisdom High School soccer team in Houston hails from Central America, Mexico, Africa and beyond. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

UCs Students of Color Wont Be Denied

The University of California is running into some difficult tests. The systems topmost echelon faces questions about its accounting and credibility, and Berkeley has found itself in the center of a free speech free-for-all. At the same time, discontent among many UC students of color has been growing. Several incidents have led them to believe that administrators and some fellow students slight them, and in recent days they have scored a big student body electoral victory at UCLA and housing concessions at UC Santa Cruz.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Three key minutes of Sally Yates testimony before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

-- If Amanda Peet could star in Cagney & Lacey, who would her costar be?

-- Take a drive on scenic Highway 33 in the 610-horsepower Lamborghini Huracan.

CALIFORNIA

-- The Los Angeles Police Department paid nearly $81 million in legal settlements last year, a sharp increase as the city closed the books on several high-profile and costly cases.

-- The furor over Joe Bray-Alis online comments has provided a lift to L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo, an unpopular incumbent.

-- Being a member of the Communist Party would no longer be a fireable offense for state jobs under a measure narrowly approved by the state Assembly. It now goes on to the Senate.

-- Jacob Dekema, who reshaped Southern California in general and San Diego in particular with hundreds of miles of freeways, has died at age 101.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Mary J. Blige explains the mission of her music: Its OK to not be OK  just dont stay there. Keep pushing.

-- Harrison Ford keeps coming back for the sequels: Indiana Jones and Star Wars, of course, and Blade Runner later this year.

-- Playwright Rajiv Josephs latest work, Archduke, is a dark comedy about the assassin who triggered World War I.

-- Suing to the oldies: Richard Simmons wants to take the publisher of National Enquirer and Radar Online to court, claiming libel and invasion of privacy.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Johnny Grant knew how to put on a show as the honorary mayor of Hollywood presiding over Walk of Fame ceremonies. When he put on a 1991 parade to welcome home Persian Gulf War troops, he claimed 1 million people attended. But when a Times reporter told him that no more than 500,000 could fit along the route, he admitted, You know Hollywood. Its hype. Grant was born on this date in 1923.

NATION-WORLD

-- South Koreas presidential election could change its relationship with the United States.

-- The suspect in the killing of two Boston doctors was arraigned at his hospital bed.

-- China has been turning up the heat on Taiwan in some subtle and not so subtle ways.

-- Life expectancy in the U.S. varies from county to county by a lot.

BUSINESS

-- Union membership is on the downswing nationwide, but in Hollywood organized labor controls nearly every aspect of production.

-- Video on demand and a la carte TV programming arent such new concepts, columnist David Lazarus discovered. In the 1950s, one experiment let you drop coins in a box to watch.

-- Will Sinclair Broadcast Group take on Fox News after buying Tribune Media in a $3.9-billion deal?

-- Stanley Weston, who conceived of G.I. Joe but reaped few financial rewards from the toy, has died at 84.

SPORTS

-- For the Pittsburgh Pirates Gift Ngoepe, being the first major league baseball player from Africa is the latest stop in an amazing journey.

-- Chris Taylor and his grand slam during the Dodgers 12-1 rout of the Pirates show that the trade for him is paying off.

OPINION

-- Frances election proves it: America is now an example of what not to do.

-- A lesson in free speech: This Jewish writer felt empowered after meeting with Holocaust deniers.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A small group of scientists has developed an approach to stopping implicit racial bias, and it seems to be working. (The Atlantic)

-- The creator of Pepe the Frog has killed off the character after it was co-opted by the alt-right. (The Guardian)

-- Out with the old, in with the new: Crayola is getting rid of its Dandelion crayon, and taking its spot will be a bright blue color that chemists discovered by accident. (NPR)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

The plane is called the Spirit of St. Louis, but it was built in San Diego. At a dirt airfield called Dutch Flats, Charles Lindbergh would fly the wood, cloth and metal machine for the first time on April 28, 1927  three weeks before making the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Harry Bishop, chief photographer for the San Diego Union and Evening Tribune, documented that test, but many of his images apparently went unseen for decades. See the photos here and discover how they were lost and found.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.
The Los Angeles Unified school board has teetered back and forth during the past decade-and-a-half, from a pro-charter, pro-reform majority aligned with the likes of former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Broad Foundation to one that is leery of charters and more in tune with teachers unions, which tend to be focused on traditional public schools and oppose many accountability measures. This hasnt always been a bad thing; both sides have their weaknesses and their strengths, and the close split on the board has often, if not always, kept it from going too far off-kilter.

The Times has generally tried to endorse independent-thinking candidates who put students education first and employ sharp analytical skills and common sense in making decisions, rather than putting our support behind one ideology or the other. Monica Ratliff has been a strong example of that kind of board member, and were sorry to see her leave the board.

In the May 16 runoff election, if our recommended candidates prevail, the balance would tilt slightly again, back toward a somewhat more reform-oriented board.

Advertisement

District 4: Nick Melvoin

It wasnt easy to choose during the primary between incumbent board President Steve Zimmer and challenger Nick Melvoin in District 4, which includes the Westside and the western San Fernando Valley. Zimmer has been more sympathetic to union concerns and is a frequent critic of the charter movement, but hes also a thoughtful board member who has voted to approve many charter schools. Melvoin, who has worked for reform-oriented groups, is decidedly aligned with that movement but in a more balanced way than, say, Monica Garcia, who easily won reelection to her District 2 seat during the primary.

But L.A. Unified is in troubled shape financially, and Zimmer is among those who have refused to confront this challenge head-on. The district will have to come up with policies to address its heavy and growing obligations to teachers retirement benefits, but Zimmer has been unwilling to lead matters in that direction  or in fact, to even have that discussion at all. This is why we endorsed Melvoin in the primary. We believe in well-compensated teachers, but the district is digging itself deeper into a hole.

A vote in April further crystallized our sentiment. As part of the board majority, Zimmer voted to support state legislation that would be devastating to charter schools. Not only would it take away their means of appealing a local school districts decision to reject their charter application, but it would also allow school boards to reject charter applications if they decide the charter school would have a negative effect on district finances. As Ratliff pointed out in her dissenting vote, pretty much any charter school could fit that description because of the enrollment-linked funding that leaves the district when a student chooses a privately managed school.

The state legislation, SB 808, isnt going anywhere fast. For lack of support, its been put off to next years legislative session. But that doesnt excuse the vote.

This was a cheap shot in which the board, led by Zimmer, tried to foist the blame for its financial dysfunction onto charter schools instead of looking in the mirror. This isnt leadership and its why, for all Zimmers likable qualities, the board needs a change.

District 6: Kelly Gonez

Gonez, a charter-school teacher and a former official in the U.S Education Department during the Obama administration, clearly wouldnt have voted with the board majority on the charter bill. But she also has spoken in favor of tighter charter oversight and greater transparency to make sure that these schools are doing right by their students. On this and other issues, she comes across as reform-oriented but also as an independent thinker who bases her stances not on rhetoric or ideology but on what the evidence shows. Shes a strong choice for District 6, which covers the eastern San Fernando Valley.

Overall, although some change is needed on the board, it would be a shame to see it return to the days when it reflexively adopted ill-thought-out reform positions, such as the rigid graduation requirement it put in place that it was in no position to carry through on. Whats needed on the board is calm, clear leadership toward a solvent district, leadership that focuses tightly on strong curriculum, talented instructors and better-educated students, at whatever public schools parents choose.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Mayor Eric Garcetti has revived an idea that once seemed deader than dead: an aerial tramway to the top of Griffith Park.

During an interview with KABC-TV over the weekend, Garcetti tossed out the concept of a gondola, possibly from Universal Studios, to carry visitors to the Hollywood sign. The gondola could ferry people up the mountain to the summit, alleviating some of the traffic and parking problems in the neighborhoods on the southern side of Griffith Park.

I think we need to have access to the Hollywood sign, both for residents and people who come here, Garcetti said during the interview. Weve got to figure out a better way that doesnt just choke all of the streets with a thousand tour buses. People cant get out of their own driveways.

Advertisement

Its hard to know if Garcetti was just offering an idea or whether he was floating a trial balloon to see if public opinion has shifted. Past proposals for a gondola or aerial tramway or whatever you want to call it have gone nowhere. A 1968 plan for tramways to Mount Hollywood was derided as carnival rides to nowhere. In the 1990s a Hollywoodland resident pitched city officials on a tram from Travel Town to Mount Lee. He was roundly rejected.

Most recently, a proposal for aerial tramways in 2005 was widely and loudly denounced as a terrible idea that would urbanize and commercialize the unspoiled natural beauty of Griffith Park. A draft revision of the parks master plan suggested two trams, one from the parking lots near the Greek Theatre to the Griffith Observatory and the other from the Autry Museum of the American West to the Toyon Canyon Landfill, a closed garbage dump high in the park that has been turned into a meadow and picnic area.

The idea for the trams, along with proposals for parking garages and a shuttle, was to create more ways for visitors to access the far reaches of the park, deal with the increasing number of cars clogging the roads and generate some revenue for park maintenance. But reaction to the Melendez Plan, named for the firm that prepared the draft, was swift and fierce, and it was quickly scrapped.

But heres the thing  more crowds and more commercialization came anyway. The neighborhoods on the edge of the park, near Beachwood Canyon, Lake Hollywood and Canyon Drive, get packed with hikers and sightseers trying to reach the Hollywood sign. There are dozens of tour companies sending vans of tourists into the narrow hilly streets on sign-view tours. And its not just the Hollywood sign drawing visitors. The roads and parking lots serving the Griffith Observatory are jammed during the summer and holidays.

The citys recent decision to close the extremely popular trailhead at the top of Beachwood Canyon, and a subsequent lawsuit attempting to force the city to reopen it, has reignited the debate over how to balance access with impact. Theres a perennial fight over whether to keep Griffith Park pristine even if that means its harder to reach or whether to develop it and make it more accessible to the masses.

For decades, advocates for the pristine have often succeeded in squashing projects to make the park more accessible. Interestingly, Garcettis gondola idea wasnt immediately denounced by groups that have pooh-poohed past proposals. Perhaps now the idea of a tramway quietly soaring over the hillside neighborhoods carrying carless tourists and hikers into Griffith Park is becoming more appealing.

For more opinions, follow me @kerrycavan
In 2009, I interviewed Mark Weber and Bradley Smith, two amateur historians notorious for being among the leading Holocaust revisionists. Smith is an old-school denier, dubious about the existence of gas chambers, while Weber merely believes that Jews exaggerate history to help consolidate Zionist power.

I interviewed Weber in his offices outside Los Angeles, and Smith at a coffee shop close to the border of Mexico, where he lived. In each case I went alone. Although I wasnt afraid  neither had a history of physical violence  meeting with two men whod spent their professional lives spinning theories about the perfidy of my people was, at the least, a bit creepy. Lets put it this way: I hugged my wife extra tight before leaving home.



For the record: This article originally suggested that Pomona and the other Claremont Colleges are located in Pomona. They are in Claremont.

Lately, Ive been reminiscing about my time with Smith and Weber, and not just because white nationalists now have a president who they feel is sympathetic to their cause. Rather, the triggering event, if you will, is the national debate about how to confront speech we find odious.

Advertisement

On college campuses across the country, students have reacted with fear and anger to the possibility that far-right (or even slightly right) thinkers might speak some words somewhere in their vicinity. At Middlebury College, students violently protested a talk featuring Charles Murray, author of The Bell Curve, a 1994 book that many call racist. At Claremont McKenna College, protesters shut down a speech by Heather Mac Donald, whose recent book defends police officers. Ann Coulter had to cancel a speech at UC Berkeley.

It was heartening to listen to my enemies respectfully, and conclude that in a country that permits free inquiry, they would never win.

Protesters have not argued these speakers pose an immediate physical threat to students of color, or women, or anybody. Instead, they posit that its wrong or somehow psychically damaging to allow certain views a platform.

At Wellesley College, for example, a student editorial in March insinuated that Laura Kipnis new book, which questions how Title IX is applied to sexual life on campuses, undermines the existence and rights of others. Students at the Claremont Colleges wrote a letter stating that merely engaging with Mac Donald is a form of violence.

The same logic undergirds the vicious campaign against philosopher Rebecca Tuvel, who recently published an article using the analogy of trans people to interrogate the transracialism of Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who famously passed as black. In a letter to Hypatia, the feminist journal that published Tuvels article, hundreds of signatories argued that the articles failures of scholarship do harm to the communities who might expect better from Hypatia. The articles continued availability, they claimed, causes further harm.

Unquestionably, words can, and do, cause harm. Im not interested in lending support to policies that I despise. But free speech is an important value, one that protects everyone with unpopular views: critics of Israel, defenders of revolutionary movements, anti-vaccine activists. Those who run from unpopular views, moreover, may ultimately harm themselves.

Let me return to the question everyone asked me in 2009: What was it like to meet with Holocaust revisionists? And then spend many more hours on the telephone, listening to their cracked, sinister theories about me, my relatives, my dead co-religionists?

Truth be told, it was invigorating. They were so deluded, so sad, and so alone in the world. Their lives were tangled webs of failed ambitions, failed ideas, even failed marriages. They werent well. I was. It was heartening to listen to my enemies respectfully, and conclude that in a country that permits free inquiry, they would never win.

Interviewing Smith and Weber  two men who downplay the literal genocide of my people; who dehumanize me more profoundly than even Murrays critics believe that he dehumanizes others  actually empowered me as a thinker, as a progressive, and as a Jew. Having looked at evil, I found it puny. We can beat this, I found myself thinking.

I dont think that can be everyones response to every speaker. There are good reasons that a victim of sexual violence might avoid speeches that could trigger memories of the assault. Victims of police violence might carefully consider how theyd feel listening to a speaker who plays down their experience. A concentration-camp survivor might not, to put it mildly, be the right person to interview Smith and Weber.

Each person has to be her own best judge of what experiences will be valuable, detrimental, painful or simply a waste of time. Id skip Coulter because I know what I think of her views. Id rather read a novel or scramble some eggs.

But imagine if, instead of protesting Mac Donalds speech at Claremont, students had waited until she finished, taken the microphone, and then described the abuses theyd experienced at the hands of police officers?

They might have changed her mind, if only a little. But even if they hadnt, theyd have used their experience to shrink hers. Theyd have said, You dont scare us. Theyd have enlarged the scope of their world, and theyd have done so as allies of free speech. And I suspect that theyd have left the room emboldened, ready for the next time.

Mark Oppenheimer, a contributing writer to Opinion, is the host of the podcast Unorthodox.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
I know there arent that many women in the U.S. Senate. Just 21 of the 100 U.S. senators are female, and probably some of them had other plans. But still, couldnt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) find one woman to join the 13 men on his Obamacare overhaul posse? Just one?

True, most of the women in the Senate are Democrats and would probably be annoying about pap smears, mammograms and Planned Parenthood. They might also point out that the Republicans plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will invariably affect women. Women have a higher rate of poverty than men.

But there are a handful of Republican women in the Senate and surely theres one willing to put her signature on legislation that could pull the healthcare rug out from under millions of Americans.

Advertisement

Sen. Susan Collins, for example. The Republican from Maine would have been an obvious choice seeing as how she has some expertise as a former state insurance regulator and some interest in healthcare reform. She and another senator came up with their own health care reform bill earlier this year.

Im not advocating for Collins, simply pointing out that even with a willing, informed Republican woman on hand, McConnell didnt see the benefit of gender diversity in his healthcare working group.

A token is no substitute for true representation, but it is at least an acknowledgement that diversity has value. Not being worried about the optics of a bakers dozen of middle-aged white men (yeah, I know: Sen. Ted Cruz is Latino. Hes also white. It happens) hammering out a proposed healthcare overhaul that could have dire effects on women and people of color indicates they are not even pretending to care.

Fortunately, whatever proposal McConnells team works out will need votes from women to get passed in the Senate. Wouldnt it be easier to work through them now, rather than in last-minute negotiations?

mariel.garza@latimes.com

Follow me @marielgarzaLAT
To the editor: Do we Americans have the courage to embrace an outsider, an individual without a strong political base, and to back him or her for president of the United States? I believe we do. (Macron may have won Frances presidency, but he needs a legislative majority to govern, May 8)

But the individual who runs must inspire us to return to our historic values of hope, inclusion and honesty. Were weary of politicians attempting to manipulate us by besieging us with litanies filled with fear, anger and falsehoods (which include both scientific and moral untruths).

Congratulations to the French people for electing Emmanuel Macron as their next president, a man who did not come from either of his countrys two major political parties. May this French election serve as our own future model.

Advertisement

Mary Mills Presby, Beverly Hills

..

To the editor: What a contrast between the healthy French democracy and our ailing American system.

About two-thirds of eligible voters turned out in France to thump fascism, while we had a paltry turnout of almost 55%, which helped a right-wing nationalist take office here.

But then again, the candidate who wins the majority of the vote is the winner in France, always. In America, we allow the antiquated, undemocratic institution of the electoral college to thwart the democratic rule periodically. Both in 2000 and again in 2016, democracy was defeated by this archaic process.

Today, the French have a lot to recommend with their dynamic, functioning democratic system. But sadly, you cannot say the same for the most venerated democracy in the world, the United States.

Whats the matter with America?

Bob Teigan, Santa Susana, Calif.

..

To the editor: As I observe the constant turmoil spawned by Novembers election of President Trump, it is apparent that American voters did not demonstrate the same diligence and careful consideration that French voters did in electing their respective leaders.

France recognized the multiple dangers in choosing a populist, fear-mongering xenophobe to run the country and rejected Marine Le Pen in favor of Macron.

How I wish American voters had been as prudent and insightful.

Larry Lasseter, Brea

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Congressional Republicans are staking their political future on a healthcare bill that is demonstrably cruel and deeply unpopular. To understand why they have chosen such a wretched and unpromising course, one has to appreciate the depth of their belief in two conservative shibboleths.

The first was articulated in 2015 by Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green who, until he withdrew from consideration on Friday, was the Trump administrations nominee for secretary of the Army. Green was speaking to a church group in his home state when he spoke out against government assistance to needy citizens.

The person whos in need, Green said, as quoted in the Washington Examiner, they look to the government for the answer, not God, and I think in that way government has done an injustice thats even bigger than just the creation of an entitlement welfare state. I think it interrupts the opportunity for people to come to a saving knowledge of who God is.

Advertisement

1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

And he went on: I see our sort of government-based assistance taking God out of the picture. If you look at the Gospels and you go and study the Gospels, every person who came to Christ came to Christ with a physical need. It was either hunger or a disease.

Greens notions are misguided and illogical in so many ways  starting with the question of what he would do about people who still cant pay the bill for their health coverage even after they accept Jesus as their savior  but his vision of the sick and poor is not an aberration in a party whose most devoted support comes from the Christian right. It is not hard to find many Republicans who quietly agree that government subsidies for the less fortunate among us are a bad thing that prohibits struggling souls from pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps or seeking solace in a church community.

Plenty of Christians  including many evangelicals, most mainline Protestants and any Catholics who believe in the social teachings of their church  interpret the lessons of Jesus in a very different way. They are appalled by a healthcare bill that takes billions of dollars away from Medicaid and gives it to a small cohort of wealthy Americans in the form of tax cuts. Nevertheless, Republicans like Green and his particular brand of believers think a bit of unrelieved suffering is not so bad if it brings destitute folks closer to God.

They also think taking from the poor and giving to the rich will promote economic growth, which is the second shibboleth and the most central dogma of the Republican religion. The fact that Bill Clintons tax increase in the 1990s was followed by an economic boom and a balanced budget while George W. Bushs tax reduction a few years later led back to deficits and the Great Recession has not shaken Republicans absolute belief in the magic of cutting taxes.

The Republican health plan passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday was all about that kind of magic; less about healthcare than about tax cuts. Over the next decade, wealthy citizens, insurance companies and medical device makers would see their tax burden drop by $600 billion, thanks to this legislation. Where would all that money come from?

Well, Medicaid, the program that serves the poor and chronically sick of all ages will take a huge hit. Subsidies will be reduced for people who live in parts of the country where the cost of healthcare is high. Struggling hospitals in remote, rural areas and those that cater to low-income communities will get significantly less help from the government. Waivers in the bill will allow states to charge sick people more for their coverage and older people as much as five times more than young people, while also dropping coverage for maternal care and contraceptives.

The Congressional Budget Office projected that an earlier version of the GOP scheme would cause 24 million Americans to lose their healthcare. House Republican leaders rushed their revised plan to a vote so quickly last week that there was no chance for a new CBO analysis. Given that the bill sent to the Senate is even more stingy than the previous iteration, it seems logical to assume the 24 million number is more likely to go up than down.

Curiously, the people who would fare the best under the GOP plan are young, healthy, affluent urbanites  also known as Democrats. Those who would fare the worst are older, less-healthy, lower-income folks in rural areas  also known as Trump voters. One might think that would spell trouble for Republican candidates in the 2018 election, but never underestimate the power of faith. God may not be on the Republicans side, but Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump are. And that pack of preachers have proven they can lead their followers to believe just about any crazy thing, even that terrible healthcare is good for their souls.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter

MORE FROM OPINION

My lesson in free speech: As a Jew, meeting with Holocaust deniers actually left me feeling empowered

Senate Republicans couldnt bother to find a single woman to help overhaul health care

California should be making it easier to walk in cities. That means no more bogus jaywalking tickets
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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Senate fails to back bill to delay the Aliso Canyon reopening, but lawmaker will try again Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

State Senate Democrats pass bills designed to protect against Trumps possible changes Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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 
Federal appeals court judges in Virginia gave a mostly skeptical hearing Monday to a lawyer for President Trump as he attempted to defend the legality of a foreign travel ban affecting six mostly Muslim nations.

The 13 judges of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 10 of whom are Democratic appointees, must decide whether Trumps revised executive order is a valid effort to protect the nations security or an unconstitutional scheme to keep out Muslims. An earlier, more sweeping travel ban was also blocked by federal courts.

The judges pointed to Trumps statements during the campaign when he spoke of what he saw as the danger posed by Muslims and the need to keep out Muslim immigrants, refugees and visitors.

Advertisement

Trump later shifted his focus away from religion to nationality, but administration officials frequently portrayed the executive order as a fulfillment of his campaign pledge.

Even after the second order, there was sort of a wink and nod, said Judge James A. Wynn Jr., an appointee of President Obama. Are his statements irrelevant?

Judge Robert Bruce King noted that Trumps campaign website still featured his 2015 statement calling for the nationwide Muslim ban. That statement was removed Monday shortly after reporters asked White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer about it during a news briefing.

At issue is whether the court should look solely at the language of the order, or whether judges should consider the motivations behind the presidents actions, particularly if the intent violates constitutional prohibitions against favoring one religion over another.

A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union ran into equally sharp questions from several judges who said they did not see why the courts should second-guess the presidents judgment involving a matter of national security. Trump has argued the temporary ban is necessary to protect Americans from possible terrorist attacks.

Judge Paul Niemeyer, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, said several of the targeted nations are state sponsors of terrorism. People coming from there are high risk. And you are saying theres something wrong with that?

He said judges should not be deciding whether screening at the border is justified. I dont know where this stops, he said.

The ACLUs attorney, Omar Jadwat, insisted the Trumps own words had shown that the travel ban was mostly a gesture toward filling a campaign promise. He said national security experts had said there was no need for shutting off new arrivals from the six countries.

His legal argument rested on the 1st Amendments ban on laws respecting an establishment of religion.

The Establishment Clause prohibits denigrating and targeting religion, he said.

Jadwats best moment came when he asked the judges to consider the possibility of a hypothetical anti-Semitic president who says, I dont like Jews. I dont want them in the country. Then, after being elected, he issues an executive order banning new arrivals from Israel because that nation has experienced terrorism. Judges should have no trouble concluding such an order would be illegitimate and unconstitutional, he said.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Wall, acting U.S. solicitor general, argued that Supreme Courts precedents give the chief executive broad power to restrict foreigners from entering the country. He repeatedly cited a 1972 decision in which the justices upheld an order denying a visa to a Belgian communist who was due to speak at Stanford University. Professors had sued citing the 1st Amendment and the freedom of speech, but the high court said it would not second-guess the governments reason for denying the visa.

So long as the president puts forth a reason that is on its face legitimate, Wall argued, the order restricting new arrivals should be upheld. In this instance, the presidents reason involved terrorism and national security. Trump and his advisors said they worried the governments of these countries  including Libya, Somalia and Yemen  could not provide reliable information to screen people who wanted to come to the United States.

The full 4th Circuit was hearing the Trump administrations appeal of a ruling by a U.S. district judge in Maryland who blocked a scaled-down travel ban from taking effect. The original order was blocked by the 9th Circuit on Feb. 9, dealing the Trump White House a major legal defeat in its third week on the job.

On May 15, the 9th Circuit Court, sitting in Seattle, will hear a similar appeal of the second order, which was also blocked by a federal judge in Hawaii.

If the administration loses in either of the appeals courts, its lawyers are likely to appeal to the Supreme Court.

While the judges argued back and forth over whether Trumps order was based on national security or religious discrimination, several asked about procedure issues.

It is possible the court could toss out all or part of the case because only one plaintiff appears to have standing. To have a valid case, the judges said someone in the United States has to show he or she is facing harm because a relative abroad has been denied a visa as a result of the order.

Wall also urged the judges to narrow the Maryland district judges ruling. It should apply only to the single plaintiff, he said, not the entire nation.

david.savage@latimes.com

On Twitter: DavidGSavage
In his first five years as Californias lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom made more than $4 million from his wineries, restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses.

And thats on top of his government salary, which is $142,577 a year.

The former mayor of San Francisco is the first candidate in the 2018 race for governor to release his state and federal tax returns. He filed jointly with his wife, the actress and filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom. On Monday, Newsom allowed reporters to review  but not photocopy  six years of the couples returns, from 2010 to 2015, at the San Francisco offices of his campaign consultants, SCN Strategies.

Newsom, the early front-runner in the June 2018 primary, cites his business expertise as a key credential in his campaign for governor. With the help of the wealthy Getty family, he opened a San Francisco wine store in 1992, expanding it over the last 25 years into a network of nearly two dozen businesses known as PlumpJack Group. They include Napa Valley wineries, hotels in Lake Tahoe and Palm Springs, and bars and restaurants in San Francisco.

Heres what you should know about the tax documents:

The Newsoms reported an average of $1.4 million in income from 2010 to 2015

The Newsoms tax returns provided a window into a complex web of the familys financial interests throughout California. The couples lowest adjusted gross income since 2011 was $1.37 million in 2013.

The Newsoms average income and tax bills in the years 2010-2015 were:

Adjusted gross income: $1.4 million.

Federal tax rate: 26.4%.

Rate of charitable giving compared to income: 6.8%.

Federal taxes paid: $384,687.

State taxes paid: $139,146.

PlumpJack Group was founded by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom as PlumpJack Wine in 1992. Newsom is still a partner in the company, which has expanded to include restaurants, bars and resorts in addition to three wineries and two wine shops, including this store in San Francisco. (Phil Willon/Los Angeles Times) (Phil Willon/Los Angeles Times)

2015 was a good year for the Newsoms

The couple, who now live in Marin County, reported an adjusted gross income of $1,720,383 in 2015, the highest amount they earned in the past six years. The Newsoms total tax bill came to $753,866, with $568,333 going to the Internal Revenue Service and $185,533 to the California treasury. They donated $62,973 to charity, including a $1,000 contribution to the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

The Newsoms biggest income source came from Airelle Wines Inc., which runs Napa wineries, at roughly $790,000.

They made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling silver bars  and donated more than $100,000 to charities each year

The tax returns show the Newsoms made hundreds of thousands of dollars trading silver bars during Newsoms tenure as lieutenant governor. In 2011 alone, they turned a profit of $499,452 on the sale of silver bars.

Newsoms 2013 book, Citizenville, appeared to be a moderate money-maker. From 2011 to 2015, Newsom reported a total of $370,325 in income as an author and by working in media. A spokesman for the lieutenant governor said he was unsure if some of that total included money Newsom was paid for his former talk show on Current TV, The Gavin Newsom Show, which aired in 2012 and 2013.

The Newsoms reported an average of $102,212 in charitable donations each year  nearly 7 percent of their income. But apart from clothing and toy donations to the Salvation Army and Goodwill, it was unclear which charities received money from the couple. Because the Newsoms hold interests in a wide network of partnerships, corporations and trusts, and most of their charitable donations were channeled through them, it is unclear which organizations received the money. A spokesman for Newsoms political campaign said some of the charities the couple donated money to included the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Best Buddies and Planned Parenthood LA.

Newsom owns a Tesla, and received tax credit for it

Over the years, the Newsoms have received a few tax breaks for their rapidly growing, environmentally conscious family.

Newsom received a $7,500 Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit on his 2012 taxes after buying a Tesla Model S.

He received a $500 tax credit in 2012 for installing energy-efficient doors, windows and insulation.

In 2010, the Newsoms daughter Montana was their only dependent. Then came their son Hunter in 2011. Daughter Brooklynn arrived in 2013. The Newsoms fourth child, Dutch, will make his grand entrance on the 2016 return.

Releasing his taxes ratchets up the pressure on his rivals to do the same

Newsoms release of his tax returns puts pressure on his rivals to make theirs public too. The move could be a sign that the lieutenant governor is banking on revelations that he thinks could be useful to his campaign, such as information detailing Antonio Villaraigosa s income sources in the years since he left office as mayor of Los Angeles.

Villaraigosa and Newsoms other chief rival, state Treasurer John Chiang, have agreed to make public their tax returns, but have not yet specified when they will do so. Another candidate, Delaine Eastin, a former superintendent of public instruction, has also vowed to release her tax returns.

A spokesman for the leading Republican in the race, venture capitalist John Cox, said it was too early to say whether he would make his tax returns public.

phil.willon@latimes.com

Twitter: @philwillon

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

Twitter: @finneganLAT

ALSO

This is how much money the candidates running to be California's next governor have raised

Rivalry in the air as Newsom and Villaraigosa march with Armenians in Los Angeles

Who will be California's next governor? New poll shows Newsom leads with 1 in 3 voters undecided
The initial three-month contract for former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. to serve as outside counsel to the California Legislature is being extended for another month, legislative leaders said Monday.

But long-term plans to keep Holder and his firm, Covington & Burling, on contract to provide additional legal firepower against the Trump administration are still to be determined.

Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) told The Times he planned to move forward in retaining Covingtons services indefinitely.

Advertisement

But Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) was less open-ended in discussing future work with the firm.

Were renewing the contract for a month, Rendon said in an interview. Then well evaluate.

Hiring Holder was an unorthodox and high-profile move, signaling California legislators pugnacious stance toward the Trump administration even before the president was sworn into office.

Agreement between California Legislature and Covington & Burling 

Though Covingtons role has been behind the scenes, both legislative leaders said the firms attorneys gave input on some of the most pressing issues facing the Legislature, including the constitutionality of De Leons proposal to make California a so-called sanctuary state and a Senate effort to enshrine federal environmental protections in state law.

Rendon said Holder also advised lawmakers to refrain from being too aggressive in pursuing a states rights legal strategy at the risk of creating legal precedent that could be damaging later on.

If we pursue a pure states rights stance, that may tie our hands if there was someone else in the White House or if Congress was somehow different, Rendon said.

A spokesman for Rendon said Covington would also be working on an amicus brief siding with Santa Clara County, which has sued the Trump administration over its executive order on sanctuary cities.

The initial contract, which was set at $25,000 a month for three months, expired at the end of April. The cost is being covered by the Senate and Assembly operating budgets.

As De Leon explores keeping Covington on contract long-term, he said, were going to look for diverse streams of funding to see how we can cover those costs without it coming from the general fund.

The Senate leader said the first months of President Trumps tenure have underscored the need for ramped-up legal assistance, even though some of his early executive orders  such as his travel ban on visitors from certain Muslim-majority countries  have so far stumbled in the courts.

I still do think its dire; theres no question about it, De Leon said. Weve never had a president who has churned out so many executive orders with a very clear intent to undermine the state of California.

Though Trump has been stymied by the courts, De Leon added, as long as the intent is there to undermine California at every which way possible, we have to be prepared to defend California and our economic prosperity.

Rendon said Californians have certainly gotten their moneys worth in hiring Covington. But he was less certain about whether the Assembly and Senate were on the same page about the contracts future.

Im not sure, Rendon said. I know were on the same page of wanting to extend for another month.

melanie.mason@latimes.com

Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics.

Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder visits Sacramento to meet with his clients: Californias legislators

California braces for a Trump presidency by tapping former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder for legal counsel

Updates from Sacramento
The four months since Gov. Jerry Brown submitted his state budget plans to lawmakers have been some of the most unusual in recent Sacramento history. Rarely have a winter and spring been so politically unsettled, thanks to a jumble of thinly veiled threats over federal dollars and one crucial month of surprisingly weak tax revenue collections.

The disruption has shifted much of the focus in the state Capitol away from traditional debates over taxes and spending  a distraction that will briefly fade starting on Thursday, as Brown sends the Legislature a revised spending plan.



For the record: An earlier version of this article stated that Gov. Jerry Brown would send legislators a revised budget on Wednesday. He will send it to them on Thursday.

Weve got a lot of priorities, from education to the environment and healthcare that we want to keep pushing, said Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), the Assemblys budget committee chairman.

Advertisement

The odds seem low, lawmakers and advocacy group leaders say, that the governor will radically restructure his January blueprint, a $179.5-billion proposal for Californias fiscal year that begins July 1. On the most wide-ranging issue  the financial impact of major policy changes by President Trump  Brown has been steadfast that any state action should only be taken once theres clarity about what actually will happen.

There are so many iffys out there, that its a very highly speculative thing, the governor said in an interview while visiting Washington in late March. Whatever comes up, well have to deal with it.

The flames were fanned early in the year by Trump himself, saying in a national TV interview that Californias liberal Democratic leaders were out of control, and threatening to defund some services in the state. Squabbles have continued over funds provided to so-called sanctuary cities that decline to help federal agents in tracking down immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

Most pressing for Brown and lawmakers, though, is something the federal government is not responsible for: a projected $1.6-billion deficit, the first potential shortfall in four years. Lawmakers have suspected much of that may be due to an error in calculating the costs of Medi-Cal, the program that provides healthcare to low-income Californians.

The math mistake, revealed in January, may have surprisingly been the least of the states headaches about Medi-Cal. The $102.6-billion program, now providing medical care to some 13.5 million Californians, could suffer severe cuts under the healthcare bill approved by House Republicans last week.

No state more eagerly embraced provisions in the Affordable Care Act than California when it came to using federal money in expanded healthcare for the poor. That expansion is expected to cost $20 billion in the states upcoming budget year, with all but about $900 million paid by the federal government.

The initial version of the GOP health plan, on the other hand, was projected to cut $24 billion from the states program within a decade.

It blows a hole in our state budget, said Anthony Wright, executive director of the advocacy group Health Access California.

Brown has insisted it would premature to launch an effort to combat the proposed changes until they become settled law.

The first idea is to do everything to prevent it from happening, he said in late March.

Political Road Map: Does the state spend more money on K-12 schools or prisons? 

Instead, the governor has focused on the more immediate budget shortfall. His original plan called for canceling some assumed expenses like a one-time infusion of cash for affordable housing, as well as ratcheting down the projected growth in K-12 education spending. He also proposed using revenue generated by the states new tobacco tax increase, Proposition 56, to more broadly cover healthcare programs than supporters had expected.

The ballot measure promised that the higher tobacco taxes would boost provider payments for doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients. California has some of the lowest rates in the nation.

It is critical that patients not only have Medi-Cal coverage, but that they also have access to providers that accept Medi-Cal, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) said to Brown last week in a letter that was signed by 38 Democrats in the states congressional delegation.

Brown argues that critics fail to realize that canceling the shift in Medi-Cal funds will only create the need for more cuts elsewhere.

Taking the tobacco money, and using it to plug a hole, is less burdensome than increasing [physician] provider rates but then cutting back on childcare, cutting higher education, he said in March.

Even as Californias economy has strengthened and tax revenues have remained strong, the governor has sought to portray the states finances as stretched thin. His case may have been bolstered by a report Monday from the Legislative Analysts Office that that the months income tax collections missed the mark by $922 million  higher than estimated just two weeks ago. Previous months revenue came in higher than expected, though  effectively returning the revenue trends back toward the governors longer-term forecast.

While April didnt look great, it really just brought us back to where we were, said Ryan Miller, a fiscal researcher in the analysts office.

Lawmakers are also eager to see whether Browns revised budget still includes a $622-million shift in costs from the state to counties for care provided by the In-Home Supportive Services program, which provides care for elderly and disabled. Lawmakers hope hell reconsider the plan, or at least lessen its fiscal impact to local government.

The governors submission of a revised plan will come exactly five weeks before the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass a spending plan  a deadline routinely missed until voters changed the rules in 2010. Now budgets are subject to a simple majority vote of legislators whose salaries can be garnished for every day past the June 15 deadline that it takes to complete the work.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast

ALSO:

Political Road Map: A forgotten cap on state spending could come back in play this year in Sacramento

Californias budget deficit is back, says Gov. Jerry Brown

Updates from Sacramento

Updates on California politics
Trump promotes sons Justice with Judge Jeanine interview President Trump promoted via Twitter an interview with his son Eric Trump just before it aired Saturday night on Fox News Justice with Judge Jeanine. Eric Trump on @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews now!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 Eric Trump called into the show to defend his father from criticism prompted by the first government shutdown in more than four years, as well as a series of Womens March events that saw protesters in dozens of cities take to the streets to oppose the presidents policies. .@EricTrump joined me over the phone from Mar-a-Lago ! pic.twitter.com/Hro3TzUW52  Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) January 21, 2018 Speaking to host Jeannine Piro  who is reportedly an old friend of the presidents  Eric Trump offered effusive praise for his father, ticking off glowing statistics to illustrate the strength of the U.S. economy and gains against Islamic State fighters overseas. My fathers working like no ones ever worked before to bring back this country and to fulfill his promise to make America great again, said the executive vice president of the Trump Organization. He also repeated a sentiment recently expressed on Twitter by his father: That Democratic lawmakers forced a government shutdown on the anniversary of the presidents inauguration in a bid to distract from his achievements. You look at this whole government shutdown, and the only reason they want to shut down government is to distract and to stop his momentum, Eric Trump said. I mean, my father has had incredible momentum. Hes gotten more done in one year than arguably any president in history. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump tweets: a perfect day for all Women to March President Trump hailed the nationwide Womens March gatherings Saturday. On Twitter, the president called it a perfect day for all Women to March, seeming to imply that those taking part were celebrating his administrations accomplishments: Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Participants in the marches across the United States were actually seeking to deliver a powerful rebuke to Trumps policies and mount a crucial mobilization for this years midterm elections. But Trump continued to tout his administrations unprecedented success in tweets sent later in the day: Unprecedented success for our Country, in so many ways, since the Election. Record Stock Market, Strong on Military, Crime, Borders, & ISIS, Judicial Strength & Numbers, Lowest Unemployment for Women & ALL, Massive Tax Cuts, end of Individual Mandate - and so much more. Big 2018!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The Trump Administration has terminated more UNNECESSARY Regulation, in just twelve months, than any other Administration has terminated during their full term in office, no matter what the length. The good news is, THERE IS MUCH MORE TO COME!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2018 In addition to the roll call of major American cities where womens marches took place  including New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta  protesters also raised their voices in suburbs and small towns, reflecting the aim of coalescing a broad-based movement on the anniversary of Trumps inauguration to oppose the presidents stance on immigration, healthcare, racial divides and an array of other issues. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump calls shutdown a present from Democrats By Associated Press President Trump is blaming Democrats for the government shutdown  tweeting that they wanted to give him a nice present to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration: This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present. #DemocratShutdown  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 That comes after Senate Democrats late Friday killed a GOP-written House-passed measure that would have kept agencies functioning for four weeks. Democrats were seeking a stopgap bill of just a few days in hopes that would build pressure on Republicans, and they were opposing a three-week alternative offered by GOP leaders. Democrats have insisted they would back legislation reopening the government once theres a bipartisan agreement to preserve protections against deporting about 700,000 immigrants  known as Dreamers  who arrived in the United States illegally as children. Trump on Saturday accused Democrats of holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration: Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Cant let that happen!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Democrats are laying fault for the shutdown on Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress and the White House and have struggled with building internal consensus. In a series of tweets hours after the shutdown began, the president tried to make the case for Americans to elect more Republicans to Congress in November in order to power through this mess: Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border. They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead. #WeNeedMoreRepublicansIn18 in order to power through mess!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 He noted that there are 51 Republicans in the 100-member Senate, and it often takes 60 votes to advance legislation: For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 #AMERICA FIRST!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 The stopgap spending measure won 50 votes in the Senate, including five from Democrats. Although the House and Senate were in session Saturday, it was unclear whether lawmakers would take any votes of consequence. Trump had been set to leave Friday afternoon for a fundraiser at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where he intended to mark the inauguration anniversary. But he remained in Washington and ended up scrapping his plans to attend the Saturday fundraiser. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump tweet casts doubt on likelihood of averting shutdown President Trump appeared to cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching a deal to avert a government shutdown Friday night in a tweet. Trump also sought to blame Democrats for what would be the first shutdown since 2013. His message came just hours before the midnight deadline by which lawmakers must pass a measure to fund government agencies, or some operations will cease. Not looking good for our great Military or Safety & Security on the very dangerous Southern Border. Dems want a Shutdown in order to help diminish the great success of the Tax Cuts, and what they are doing for our booming economy.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018 Despite last-minute negotiations Friday between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Congress remained deadlocked over a spending bill and the federal government was headed toward a shutdown at midnight. Senate Democrats  joined by some GOP deficit hawks and immigration allies  were set to filibuster a stopgap funding bill approved by the House on Thursday. A Senate vote was planned for 10 p.m. Eastern, and even White House officials predicted it would fail. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Lisa Mascaro. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump signs surveillance law after confusing tweets By Associated Press President Trump on Friday signed a bill into law to renew a foreign intelligence surveillance program, announcing his action in the latest in a series of confusing tweets about the spy program: Just signed 702 Bill to reauthorize foreign intelligence collection. This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2018 Trumps tweet on Jan. 11 created chaos in the House just before it voted to reauthorize what is known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He linked the intelligence program to a dossier that alleges his presidential campaign had ties to Russia. That caused people to wonder if he didnt support the program that allows U.S. spy agencies to collect intelligence on foreign targets abroad. Trump and other Republicans have alleged that Obama administration officials improperly shared the identities of Trump presidential transition team members mentioned in intelligence reports. Democrats say there is no evidence that happened. Shortly before the House vote, and after conferring with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Trump did an apparent about-face. This vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land, he tweeted. We need it! Get smart! In his tweet announcing that he had just signed the bill, Trump wrote: This is NOT the same FISA law that was so wrongly abused during the election. I will always do the right thing for our country and put the safety of the American people first! There are no obvious links between the dossier Trump spoke of, which includes salacious but unsubstantiated allegations against him, and the reauthorization of the spying program, or between the program and Trumps oft-repeated claims that the Obama administration conducted surveillance on Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

In tweet, Trump suggests that Pennsylvania trip is a political one The White House press office was once again forced to walk back a tweet from President Trump on Thursday morning after he described a trip to Pennsylvania later in the day as a political one  a statement that would force the Republican Party, not taxpayers, to pay for the journey. The White House had said Trump was going to an industrial equipment company outside of Pittsburgh to highlight the good economy and new tax cuts, making it an official, policy-oriented event. It was widely assumed that the trip had a political cast  the area is holding a special election to fill a congressional seat vacated by a Republican who resigned. Trump, by his tweet, seemed to confirm that politics was the whole purpose: Will be going to Pennsylvania today in order to give my total support to RICK SACCONE, running for Congress in a Special Election (March 13). Rick is a great guy. We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 Trump later shared via Twitter a pair of video clips of his speech at H&K Equipment, in which he touted the tax cuts he signed into law just before Christmas and tried to turn the conversation back to his accomplishments after weeks dominated by distractions, including questions about his mental health and comments about immigration that some considered racist: Departing Pittsburgh now, where it was my great honor to stand with our incredible workers, and to show the world that AMERICA is back - and we are coming back bigger and better and stronger than ever before! pic.twitter.com/kWPgylqFzj  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 AMERICA will once again be a NATION that thinks big, dreams bigger, and always reaches for the stars. YOU are the ones who will shape Americas destiny. YOU are the ones who will restore our prosperity. And YOU are the ones who are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! #MAGA pic.twitter.com/f2abNK47II  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018 The Republican National Committee, rather than the White House, is supposed to pay for political travel so that taxpayers are not financing party activities; for trips that combine policy and politics, parties have split the cost under past presidents. Neither the RNC nor the White House responded to emails sent Thursday asking who would pay. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement later Thursday suggesting that taxpayers would foot the bill. She insisted that Trump would be conducting government business while in Pennsylvania. Read More This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump tweets praise of Bob Dole after awarding him Congressional Gold Medal By Associated Press Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole knew the art of the deal before President Trump published the 1987 book of the same name. The two shared a stage under the Capitol dome Wednesday as Dole, 94, accepted Congress highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, for his World War II service and decades of work in the House and Senate. Trump later praised Dole in a tweet, attaching to his message a video composed of clips from the ceremony: Today, we witnessed an incredible moment in history  the presentation of Congress highest civilian honor to our friend, and true AMERICAN HERO, Bob Dole. #CongressionalGoldMedal pic.twitter.com/qNQqDLRmCk  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2018 At the ceremony, the president saluted Dole as a patriot and gave tribute to Doles struggle as a veteran who worked his way back from a grievous shoulder wound he suffered in Italy. He knows about grit, said Trump. But it was Doles penchant for working across the aisle that earned him his latest award, according to the legislation. Bob Dole was known for his ability to work across the aisle and embrace practical bipartisanship, reads the legislation Trump signed in September. Some of the awards 300 recipients include George Washington and Mother Teresa, according to the Congressional Research Service. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump touts report that seeks to link terrorism cases with immigration By Joseph Tanfani The Trump administration on Tuesday released a report attempting to link terrorism with migration, arguing that it was evidence of the need to dramatically reshape the nations immigration system. New report from DOJ & DHS shows that nearly 3 in 4 individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges are foreign-born. We have submitted to Congress a list of resources and reforms....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 ....we need to keep America safe, including moving away from a random chain migration and lottery system, to one that is merit-based. https://t.co/7PtoSFK1n2  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The report, ordered by President Trump in an executive order last year, said that 75% of the 549 people convicted of terrorism charges since 9/11 were born outside the U.S. Administration officials called that a sign that the U.S. needs to scrap its policy of family preferences for visas, which they call chain migration, and a diversity visa lottery program. But the report did not specify how many  if any  of the convicted terrorists entered the country through those means. It also did not detail how many of the convictions were related to attacks or plans in the U.S. versus overseas and how many involved people who went to fight overseas for the Islamic State or another terrorist group. Those details were not available, officials said. The report, due last year, is being released in a highly charged moment in the immigration debate, as Trump and some Republicans in Congress seek tough new border and immigration measures in return for a deal protecting the 690,000 people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Trump also fired off a pair of tweets on the topic earlier Tuesday: We must have Security at our VERY DANGEROUS SOUTHERN BORDER, and we must have a great WALL to help protect us, and to help stop the massive inflow of drugs pouring into our country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The focus of our immigration system should be assimilation, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition that his name not be used. He said the nation should give priority to potential immigrants who speak English, who have an education and those who are committed to supporting our values  not family members of people already here. The official said the timing of the report was coincidental. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump tweets welcome to president of Kazakhstan By Associated Press President Trump said Tuesday that he and the president of Kazakhstan are united in a shared determination to prevent North Korea from threatening the world with nuclear devastation. Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed North Korea along with other issues during meetings at the White House. Today, it was my honor to welcome President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/TerYFZViax  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 Trump said Kazakhstan, once part of the Soviet Union, is a valued partner in our efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons. Together we are determined to prevent the North Korean regime from threatening the world with nuclear devastation, he said, as both presidents addressed journalists between meetings. Nazarbayev noted that his country once had one of the worlds largest nuclear arsenals but voluntarily gave it up after the Soviet Union collapsed. He said his country is in talks with Iran, which was the focus of a global deal that lifted some economic sanctions in exchange for Irans curbing its nuclear program. Trump has sharply criticized the Iran nuclear deal and threatened last week to pull out soon unless other countries fix what he says are terrible flaws. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump falsely claims his approval rating among black Americans has doubled By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump lashed out at the news media Tuesday morning in a tweet denouncing the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion among members of his campaign team. Do you notice the Fake News Mainstream Media never likes covering the great and record setting economic news, but rather talks about anything negative or that can be turned into the negative. The Russian Collusion Hoax is dead, except as it pertains to the Dems. Public gets it!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the presidents tweet, but it appeared as though he was watching Fox & Friends. A short time later, Trump tweeted a headline from a report that aired during that mornings episode: 90% of Trump 2017 news coverage was negative -and much of it contrived!@foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 The segment focused on the latest survey results from conservative watchdog Media Research Center, which purportedly analyzed the evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC from Jan. 20 to Dec. 31 and found that 90% of the statements made about Trump were negative. Study: 90% of Trump media coverage in 2017 was negative pic.twitter.com/vbrwup4Drg  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 16, 2018 But believe it or not, through all this negative coverage, they did a survey of 600,000 people about how black America views this president, co-host Brian Kilmeade said. His numbers have actually doubled in approval. Trump highlighted the statement in another tweet: Unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded. Trump approval ratings with Black Americans has doubled. Thank you, and it will get even (much) better! @FoxNews  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018 But its not true. The claim appears to have originated from a misreading of data from the online polling firm SurveyMonkey, according to factcheck.org. The firm polled 600,000 Americans in 2017 and found that Trumps approval rating among blacks actually dropped from 23% early in his presidency to about 17%, as of the week ending Jan. 3. Some conservative outlets, including Breitbart, produced an average from those and other SurveyMonkey figures and compared them to the scores Trump received from black voters in the 2016 exit polls. That methodology is not sound. And since the statistics measure different things, the comparison is misleading. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump goes after senator who surfaced his immigration remark By Associated Press President Trump turned his Twitter torment Monday on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Richard J. Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting, Trump tweeted, using a nickname to needle the Illinois senator. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military. Senator Dicky Durbin totally misrepresented what was said at the DACA meeting. Deals cant get made when there is no trust! Durbin blew DACA and is hurting our Military.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 Trump was referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects young people who came to the United States illegally as children. Members of Congress from both parties are trying to strike a deal that Trump would support to extend that protection. Trump also cast doubt on the likelihood of reaching an agreement in tweets sent earlier Monday: Statement by me last night in Florida: Honestly, I dont think the Democrats want to make a deal. They talk about DACA, but they dont want to help..We are ready, willing and able to make a deal but they dont want to. They dont want security at the border, they dont want.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 ...to stop drugs, they want to take money away from our military which we cannot do. My standard is very simple, AMERICA FIRST & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2018 On a day of remembrance for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump spent time at his golf course with no public events, bypassing the acts of service that his predecessors staged in honor of the civil rights leader. Instead, Trump dedicated his weekly address to Kings memory, saying Kings dream and Americas are the same: A world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from. That message was a distinct counterpoint to words attributed to Trump by Durbin and others at a meeting last week, when the question of where immigrants come from seemed at the forefront of Trumps concerns. Some participants and others familiar with the conversation said Trump challenged immigration from shithole countries of Africa and disparaged Haiti as well. Without explicitly denying using that word, Trump lashed out at the Democratic senator, who said Trump uttered it on several occasions. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump thanks pundit for laudatory Fox & Friends spot By Alex Wigglesworth President Trump thanked Fox News personality Stuart Varney after Varney praised Trump during an appearance on Fox & Friends. In a pair of tweets early Sunday, Trump quoted from Varneys commentary, in which he argued that Trump deserves more credit for the booming economy. The pundit, who also hosts a show on Fox Business Network, cited moves by some corporations to raise workers minimum wage or pay out one-time bonuses in response to the GOP tax cuts. President Trump is not getting the credit he deserves for the economy. Tax Cut bonuses to more than 2,000,000 workers. Most explosive Stock Market rally that weve seen in modern times. 18,000 to 26,000 from Election, and grounded in profitability and growth. All Trump, not 0...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 ...big unnecessary regulation cuts made it all possible (among many other things). President Trump reversed the policies of President Obama, and reversed our economic decline. Thank you Stuart Varney. @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2018 Varney was reacting to a quote from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), who on Thursday called the bonuses handed down to workers pathetic in comparison to the gains corporations are expected to see from the tax cuts. In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving to workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic, Pelosi told reporters. Its pathetic. Varney shot back Sunday that the bonuses, along with explosive stock market growth, are enriching all Americans. This is a huge shot in the arm, its the result of this tax cut deal and I think President Trump should get the credit for it, he said. .@Varneyco Sets the economic record straight after Nancy Pelosi calls U.S. mass bonuses crumbs pic.twitter.com/BvjIHGm3HE  FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 14, 2018 The sweeping tax plan passed last month lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and cuts personal income taxes. Analysts say the benefits will largely flow to corporations and the wealthy, as theyre more likely to be in positions to share in corporate profits. For instance, Wells Fargo & Co., which responded to news of the tax overhaul by announcing it will raise workers pay to at least $15 an hour, also reported that it expects to pay an effective tax rate of 19% this year, down from about 31% in previous years. That should amount to tax savings of more than $3 billion annually. On average, middle-class Americans are expected to see a very small tax cut in the near term and a tax increase after 2025, when all of the tax cuts for individuals expire. The tax cuts for corporations, however, are permanent.  This post contains reporting from Times staff writer James Rufus Koren. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump touts MLK proclamation in tweet, but ceremony is overshadowed by reports of racist remarks By Associated Press President Trump signed a proclamation Friday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, noting the contributions of a great American hero. Today, it was my great honor to proclaim January 15, 2018, as Martin Luther King Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service activities in honor of Dr. King's life and legacy. pic.twitter.com/samlJsz1Nt  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 Overshadowing the event was mounting backlash from Trumps comments during a private meeting with lawmakers the day before. A short time after the meeting, which was called to discuss a possible immigration deal, reports emerged that Trump had asked participants why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senates second-ranking Democrat, appeared to confirm those reports on Friday. Trump did not respond Friday to several questions about the incident, including whether he actually used vulgar language to describe African nations, or if he is racist. The president said at the White House that love was central to the slain civil rights leader. Trump said the nation celebrates King for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no matter what the color of our skin or place of our birth, we are all created equal by God.  This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump criticizes Democrats in tweet calling for stricter immigration rules President Trump hit out at Democrats on Thursday night in a tweet calling for stricter immigration rules. Trump wrote that members of the party seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the border with Mexico: The Democrats seem intent on having people and drugs pour into our country from the Southern Border, risking thousands of lives in the process. It is my duty to protect the lives and safety of all Americans. We must build a Great Wall, think Merit and end Lottery & Chain. USA!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018 It wasnt immediately clear exactly what prompted the tweet. Earlier Thursday, Trump rejected a bipartisan compromise to resolve the standoff over so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children but have temporary permits to work, attend school or serve in the military. The president drew widespread condemnation after reports emerged that he had asked participants in an Oval Office meeting about the proposal why the United States should accept immigrants from shithole countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump touts bill aimed at improving border screening for fentanyl By Associated Press President Trump signed legislation Wednesday aimed at giving Customs and Border Protection agents additional screening devices and other tools to stop the flow of illicit drugs. Speaking at a surprise bill-signing ceremony while flanked by members of Congress from both parties in the Oval Office, Trump described the bill as a significant step forward in the fight against powerful opioids such as fentanyl, which he called our new big scourge. He echoed that language Thursday in a tweet: Yesterday, I signed the #INTERDICTAct (H.R. 2142) with bipartisan members of Congress to help end the flow of drugs into our country. Together, we are committed to doing everything we can to combat the deadly scourge of drug addiction and overdose in the United States! pic.twitter.com/ELZvFol5Lo  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 The legislation will pay for new portable and fixed chemical screening devices to detect and intercept fentanyl at ports of entry and in the mail, along with other laboratory equipment and personnel, including scientists. Trump has made fighting the opioid epidemic a centerpiece of his administration, though critics say he hasnt dedicated nearly enough money or resources to make a difference. Trump suggested during his remarks on Wednesday that hed like to take a more aggressive approach to the drug crisis  but the countrys not ready for what he has in mind. So were going to sign this. And its a step. And it feels like a very giant step, but unfortunately, its not going to be a giant step, because no matter what you do, this is something that keeps pouring in, he said. And were going to find the answer. There is an answer. I think I actually know the answer, but Im not sure the countrys ready for it yet, he added. Does anybody know what I mean? I think so. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump applauds news that Toyota-Mazda plant is slated for Alabama By Associated Press Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda on Wednesday announced plans to build a mammoth, $1.6-billion joint-venture plant in Alabama that will eventually employ about 4,000 people. President Trump lauded the news in a tweet: Cutting taxes and simplifying regulations makes America the place to invest! Great news as Toyota and Mazda announce they are bringing 4,000 JOBS and investing $1.6 BILLION in Alabama, helping to further grow our economy! pic.twitter.com/Kcg8IVH6iA  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Good news: Toyota and Mazda announce giant new Huntsville, Alabama, plant which will produce over 300,000 cars and SUVs a year and employ 4000 people. Companies are coming back to the U.S. in a very big way. Congratulations Alabama!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2018 Several states had competed for the project, which will be able to turn out 300,000 vehicles per year and produce the Toyota Corolla compact car for North America and a new small SUV from Mazda. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and company executives held a news conference to announce that the facility is coming to the Huntsville area not far from the Tennessee line. Production is expected to begin by 2021. The decision to pick Alabama is another example of foreign-based automakers building U.S. factories in the South. To entice manufacturers, Southern states have used a combination of lucrative incentive packages, low-cost labor and a pro-business labor environment, because the United Auto Workers union is stronger in Northern states. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump highlights call for border wall in tweets on visit with Norways prime minister By Associated Press President Trump praised Norways prime minister in a tweet on Wednesday after Erna Solberg became the first foreign leader to visit with the president in 2018. Today, it was my great honor to welcome Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway to the @WhiteHouse - a great friend and ally of the United States! Joint press conference: https://t.co/qWR1BhfQZI pic.twitter.com/PJvwznjRCO  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Trump also shared via Twitter a video clip of a joint news conference he held with Solberg on Wednesday afternoon. In the clip, Trump responds to a question from a reporter by saying there can be no bipartisan immigration deal absent funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been seeking a solution for hundreds of thousands of so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the United States as children and are living here illegally. The United States needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval. The safety and security of our country is #1! pic.twitter.com/4CFzQXb5aS  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 We need the wall for security, we need the wall for safety, we need the wall for stopping the drugs from pouring in, Trump said Wednesday.  Any solution has to include the wall because without the wall, it all doesnt work. On Tuesday, Trump drew widespread attention when he said during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers that he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. That contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill in subsequent tweets and public comments. Read More This post contains reporting from Los Angeles Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump praises Cabinet in tweet touting meeting By Associated Press President Trump promoted a meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, sharing via Twitter a link to a video of the session posted on the White House YouTube account. In his tweet, Trump thanked his Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country and wrote that the last year has been one of monumental achievement. I want to thank my @Cabinet for working tirelessly on behalf of our country. 2017 was a year of monumental achievement and we look forward to the year ahead. Together, we are delivering results and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/ptXa1hAPwW pic.twitter.com/yv6RALkQf3  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The former reality television star continued to dispense accolades at the meeting Wednesday, greeting reporters in the Cabinet Room by saying: Welcome back to the studio. Then he proceeded to relive a Cabinet Room session from the prior day, when he had allowed reporters and TV cameras to stick around for much of his meeting with a bipartisan group of legislators on the thorny issue of immigration. It was a tremendous meeting. Actually, it was reported as incredibly good. And my performance  you know, some of them called it a performance  I consider it work, Trump said. Trump went on to say he had received letters from news anchors calling it one of the greatest meetings theyve ever witnessed. He added that the media will ultimately support Trump in the end, because theyre going to say, if Trump doesnt win in three years, theyre all out of business. Asked for examples of letters received from news anchors, the White House said it had received private communications. It also offered a series of positive on-air comments and tweets from journalists about the unusual access to the meeting. During his remarks, Trump swung from praising his own meeting coverage to telling journalists that they were dependent on his presidency for ratings to threatening a strong look at libel laws. Still, Trump thanked the journalists in front of him, joking: Youve gotten very familiar with this room. I appreciate your nice comments yesterday. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump blasts DACA ruling in tweet calling courts broken and unfair By Lisa Mascaro President Trump denounced the federal courts Wednesday as broken and unfair after a district judge in San Francisco issued a nationwide injunction keeping protections in place for so-called Dreamers. Trump tweeted: It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 On Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco temporarily blocked the Trump administrations decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which has protected from deportation some 700,000 people who came to the country illegally as children. Alsup granted a request by the state of California, the University of California and other plaintiffs to stop Trump from ending DACA on March 5. The administrations decision to end DACA, which was announced in September, was based on a flawed legal analysis, Alsup wrote in his decision. Dreamers would be irreparably harmed if their DACA protections, which allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., were stripped away before the courts had a chance to fully consider their claims, he ruled. The action is the mirror image of a ruling in 2015 by a federal judge in Texas who ruled in favor of that state when it sought to block President Obama from expanding DACA to include the parents of Dreamers. Trump administration officials praised that judicial ruling. By contrast, they sharply criticized Alsups decision. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump thanks lawmakers for productive immigration meeting, says deal must include border wall President Trump thanked a bipartisan group of lawmakers for participating in a meeting on immigration legislation on Tuesday. Much of the discussion involved so-called Dreamers, an estimated 700,000 young people who were brought to the country illegally as children and are now facing deportation. In a tweet, Trump wrote that there was strong agreement to negotiate a bill to protect Dreamers, as well as put into place some of the reforms favored by Republicans. Thanks to all of the Republican and Democratic lawmakers for todays very productive meeting on immigration reform. There was strong agreement to negotiate a bill that deals with border security, chain migration, lottery and DACA. https://t.co/SdqAQ3aL3z pic.twitter.com/8DYHZHspAy  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 The most notable exchange of the meeting came when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the San Francisco Democrat, asked Trump whether he would be agreeable to signing a stand-alone bill to protect the Dreamers, before moving on to a more comprehensive immigration bill. Yeah, I would like to do it, Trump responded. The statement drew widespread attention because it contradicted the Republican consensus that Dreamers fate needed to be part of a broader immigration bill that would include some version of Trumps promised border wall and other immigration reforms. Trump later backed away from a stand-alone Dreamer bill, tweeting that a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico must be part of any deal: As I made very clear today, our country needs the security of the Wall on the Southern Border, which must be part of any DACA approval.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 Pressure has been mounting for Congress to broker an immigration deal by Jan. 19 as part of a must-pass budget package to fund the government. This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Noah Bierman. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump thanks officers and veterans in tweets President Trump doled out a slew of accolades Tuesday via Twitter. He thanked the nations law enforcement officers, including in his message a hashtag denoting a day of appreciation organized by a national support group for law enforcement families. On behalf of the American people, THANK YOU to our incredible law enforcement officers. As President of the United States - I will fight for you, and I will never, ever let you down. Now, more than ever, we must support the men and women in blue! #LawEnforcementAppreciationDay pic.twitter.com/Qb4uxB4JRm  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trump later expressed gratitude for federal immigration agents, in particular: .@ICEgov HSI agents and ERO officers, on behalf of an entire Nation, THANK YOU for what you are doing 24/7/365 to keep fellow Americans SAFE. Everyone is so grateful!#LawEnforcementAppreciationDay

President @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/HXCpTlruVo  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018 The president thanked veterans as he cited his administrations efforts to curb the number of veteran suicides by improving mental health treatment for the high-risk group: Today, it was my great honor to sign a new Executive Order to ensure Veterans have the resources they need as they transition back to civilian life. We must ensure that our HEROES are given the care and support they so richly deserve! https://t.co/0MdP9DDIAS pic.twitter.com/LP2a8KCBAp  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 Trumps tweet included photos of the president signing an executive order Tuesday directing the secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to provide seamless access to mental health and suicide prevention resources for 12 months for members leaving the armed forces. Also on Tuesday, Trump touted a law he signed the day before designating the birthplace of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a national historic park: It was my great honor to sign H.R. 267, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Act, which redesignates the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site in the State of Georgia as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. https://t.co/Qe0b6HBFTY pic.twitter.com/QTgaqTawPT  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2018 And he thanked House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) for sharing a video compilation comprised of clips of politicians and commentators praising the GOPs tax cut bill: Thank you @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy! Couldnt agree w/you more. TOGETHER, we are #MAGA https://t.co/QaxtqpyXTR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 10, 2018  This post contains reporting from the Associated Press and Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump hails tax bill in tweets recapping speech to farmers By Associated Press Connecting with rural Americans, President Trump on Monday hailed his tax overhaul as a victory for family farmers. Farm country is Gods country, Trump told the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Trump became the first president in a quarter-century to address the federations convention. His Southern swing also included a stop in Atlanta for the national college football championship game. Cant wait to be back in the amazing state of Tennessee to address the 99th American @FarmBureau Federations Annual Convention in Nashville! #AFBF18



On my way now - join me LIVE at 4:00pmE: https://t.co/QaljAqekdD. pic.twitter.com/Wm7Io0hYT8  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Joined by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and a group of Tennessee lawmakers, Trump said most of the benefits of the tax legislation are going to working families, small businesses, and who  the family farmer. The package Trump signed into law last month provides generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions for middle- and low-income individuals and families. In every decision we make, we are honoring Americas PROUD FARMING LEGACY. Years of crushing taxes, crippling regs, & corrupt politics left our communities hurting, our economy stagnant, & millions of hardworking Americans COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN. But they are not forgotten ANYMORE! pic.twitter.com/MdYS7xnukQ  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The president vastly inflated the value of the package in his speech, citing a total of $5.5 trillion in tax cuts, with most of those benefits going to working families, small businesses and who? The family farmer. The estimated value of the tax cuts is actually $1.5 trillion for families and businesses because of cuts in deductions and the use of other steps to generate offsetting tax revenue. We have been working every day to DELIVER for Americas Farmers just as they work every day to deliver FOR US. #AFBF18 pic.twitter.com/QDH7fvFkZ7  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 From Nashville, Trump traveled to Atlanta to watch Alabamas Crimson Tide and Georgias Bulldogs face off Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship. We are fighting for our farmers, for our country, and for our GREAT AMERICAN FLAG. We want our flag respected - and we want our NATIONAL ANTHEM respected also! pic.twitter.com/16eOLXg6Fi  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Before departing for the game, Trump referenced his ongoing defense of the American flag and the national anthem, saying there was enough space for people to express their views. We love our flag and we love our anthem, and we want to keep it that way, he said. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump tweet hails drop in unemployment rate for African Americans By Associated Press President Trump touted a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans on Monday in a tweet. African American unemployment is the lowest ever recorded in our country. The Hispanic unemployment rate dropped a full point in the last year and is close to the lowest in recorded history. Dems did nothing for you but get your vote! #NeverForget @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 The rate fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Trump also hailed the development via Twitter on Saturday. His latest tweet on the topic came about an hour after it was discussed during an episode of Fox & Friends, according to Mediaite. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump talks up the economy and dresses down the media in Sunday tweets With President Trump cheering from the sidelines, the White House on Sunday pressed its defense of the presidents fitness to govern, as fired former aide Stephen K. Bannon reversed course and apologized for his role in a new books explosive portrait of Trump. The presidents critics, meanwhile, said Trumps stream of taunts and insults in response to the book  Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, released last week  served only to underscore the authors unsettling portrayal of Trumps year-old presidency, depicting a leader whose own aides consider him childish, ignorant and dangerously erratic. Trump provided more ammunition Sunday morning, as he continued to attack the book via Twitter while preparing to depart Camp David for the White House: Leaving Camp David for the White House. Great meetings with the Cabinet and Military on many very important subjects including Border Security & the desperately needed Wall, the ever increasing Drug and Opioid Problem, Infrastructure, Military, Budget, Trade and DACA.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Ive had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for President. Now I have to put up with a Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 The most vehement defense of Trump on Sunday came from senior advisor Stephen Miller, a onetime Bannon acolyte who distanced himself from his former mentor. In a combative appearance Sunday on CNNs State of the Union, Miller called the book grotesque and writer Michael Wolff the garbage author of a garbage book. Trump is known to closely monitor aides televised performances in putting forth his case, and he gleefully weighed in within moments of Millers televised clash with host Jake Tapper. CNN has long been a particular target of Trumps ire. Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trumps reaction, however, seemed to bolster Tappers on-air depiction of Miller as using his appearance on the show to play to the president rather than addressing questions put to him. I get it  theres one viewer that you care about, the host said exasperatedly after Miller turned the discussion repeatedly to negative news coverage of the president while deflecting specific queries. Later on Twitter, Trump took up two themes that have been prevalent on his social media feeds recently. The president again went after the news media, tweeting that the recipients of his self-proclaimed most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year, which he promised earlier in the week to announce on Monday, would actually be revealed the following Wednesday: The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 Trump later lauded a New York Post opinion piece that compared him favorably with his predecessor, President Obama, as well as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In quoting the op-ed, Trump initally misspelled consequential as consensual, but he deleted those tweets and re-sent the messages. His is turning out to be an enormously consequential presidency. So much so that, despite my own frustration over his missteps, there has never been a day when I wished Hillary Clinton were president. Not one. Indeed, as Trumps accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 ...Clinton in the WH, doubling down on Barack Obamas failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice. This was truly a change election  and the changes Trump is bringing are far-reaching & necessary. Thank you Michael Goodwin! https://t.co/4fHNcx2Ydg  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2018 Trump also continued talking up the economy, which has been enjoying a period of strong gains. The Stock Market has been creating tremendous benefits for our country in the form of not only Record Setting Stock Prices, but present and future Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Seven TRILLION dollars of value created since our big election win!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018 In addition to Miller, other senior administration officials made the rounds of Sunday news talk shows to decry the claims made in Wolffs book. CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Wolffs characterization of Trump as averse to digesting classified briefing material was ludicrous, and the ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, insisted that that those around Trump love their country and respect their president. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Laura King. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Responding to book that mocks his intelligence, Trump tweets hes like, really smart By Tracy Wilkinson President Trump declared himself a very stable genius on Twitter on Saturday and later in a televised news conference called the author of a book that questioned his mental fitness a fraud. His comments came on a bone-cold day at Camp David during a weekend retreat with top administration officials and Republican congressional leaders strategizing on the years legislative agenda, including matters such as infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and national security. Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 ....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Still, Trumps explosive rebuttal to author Michael Wolffs claims not only opened the day, but it also ensured the presidents capability to fill the highest office in the land was a topic that would not go away. In his early-morning tweets, Trump said two of his greatest assets have been mental stability, and being, like, really smart. He noted that his former Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, played these cards [about competence] very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

In morning tweets, Trump touts job numbers and takes digs at news media By Associated Press President Trump used Twitter on Saturday morning to tout a drop in the unemployment rate for African Americans. He also used the tweets as an opportunity to take digs at media outlets whose past coverage he has found to be critical. The African American unemployment rate fell to 6.8%, the lowest rate in 45 years. I am so happy about this News! And, in the Washington Post (of all places), headline states, Trumps first year jobs numbers were very, very good.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The unemployment rate for African Americans fell to 6.8% in December, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1972. The reasons range from a greater number of black Americans with college degrees to a growing need for employers in a tight job market to widen the pool of people they hire from. Still, the rate for black workers remains well above those for whites and some other groups, something experts attribute in large part to decades of discrimination and disadvantages. Robust job creation has lowered unemployment for all Americans. U.S. employers added nearly 2.1 million jobs in 2017  the seventh straight year that hiring has topped 2 million. In his tweet, Trump praised a report that noted the numbers, touting the fact that it appeared in the Washington Post (of all places). Minutes later, Trump renewed his attack on an ABC News reporter who was suspended last month after filing an erroneous report on Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security advisor. Brian Ross, the reporter who made a fraudulent live newscast about me that drove the Stock Market down 350 points (billions of dollars), was suspended for a month but is now back at ABC NEWS in a lower capacity. He is no longer allowed to report on Trump. Should have been fired!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 The reporter, Brian Ross, was reportedly reassigned within ABC News upon returning from his unpaid suspension. But on Saturday, Trump wrote that he should have been fired. Trumps tweets came hours before he was set to host congressional Republicans and administration officials at Camp David. The meeting scheduled to begin at midmorning Saturday was expected to touch on the budget, infrastructure, immigration, welfare reform and the shape of the midterm election this fall. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump commends Sen. Rand Paul after he proposes eliminating all U.S. aid to Pakistan President Trump commended Sen. Rand Paul after the Kentucky Republican announced plans to introduce legislation that would eliminate all U.S. aid to Pakistan. Trump tweeted Friday night: Good idea Rand! https://t.co/55sqUDiC0s  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 On Thursday, the Trump administration announced it was suspending security assistance to Islamabad until the country moves aggressively against local militants who have attacked U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration at the apparent inability of Pakistani authorities to rein in militants who cross out of the countrys rugged tribal areas to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump continues to lash out at Sloppy Steve Bannon in tweets on tell-all book By Associated Press President Trump is praising a major Republican donor family for distancing themselves from his former advisor Steve Bannon. Trump tweeted Friday: The Mercer Family recently dumped the leaker known as Sloppy Steve Bannon. Smart!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trump has continued to lash out at Bannon over an explosive new book that quoted his former aide as questioning Trumps competence and describing a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower among Donald Trump Jr., Trump campaign aides and a Russian lawyer as treasonous and unpatriotic. On Thursday, billionaire GOP donor Rebekah Mercer issued a statement distancing her family from Bannon. Mercer is a co-owner of Breitbart, the populist website Bannon helps run. I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected, Mercer said. My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements. The book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, quickly shot atop Amazons best-seller list, and the publisher moved up its release date by four days, to Friday. Trump took up the topic again on Twitter on Friday night, denouncing both Bannon and the books author, Michael Wolff, in starkly personal terms: Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad! https://t.co/mEeUhk5ZV9  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018 Trumps message linked to a meme depicting a parody book cover titled, Liar and Phony, that featured a photo of Wolff and disparaging quotes about the author. In a tweet sent earlier Friday morning, Trump suggested the book was intended to serve as a distraction from the FBIs investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which Trump wrote is proving to be a total hoax. Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 That came amid reports that Trump directed his White House counsel to tell Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Justice Departments Russia investigation. Trumps effort to keep Sessions, a vocal and loyal supporter of his election bid, in charge of an investigation into his campaign offers special counsel Robert Mueller yet another avenue to explore as his prosecutors work to untangle potential evidence of obstruction. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump praises the economy ahead of meetings at Camp David By Associated Press President Trump is praising the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of meetings at Camp David with congressional Republicans. Trump tweeted early Friday: Dow goes from 18,589 on November 9, 2016, to 25,075 today, for a new all-time Record. Jumped 1000 points in last 5 weeks, Record fastest 1000 point move in history. This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda! Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. Six trillion dollars in value created!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The president also told reporters on the South Lawn that the tax cuts are really kicking in after Congress passed a package of tax cuts at the end of 2017. And the president praised the December jobs report, which found U.S. employers added 148,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, the lowest level since 2000. The modest but steady pace of hiring is a reassuring sign for investors who have been buoyed by the just-passed Republican tax plan and have been sending stock market indexes roaring to uncharted heights. The president is meeting with Republican congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet on Friday and Saturday to discuss the 2018 agenda. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump tweets as Dow crashes through 25,000 By Associated Press President Trump dispatched a congratulatory tweet as the Dow Jones industrial average rose above the 25,000-point mark Thursday, just five weeks after its first close above 24,000. Dow just crashes through 25,000. Congrats! Big cuts in unnecessary regulations continuing.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 After the Dow closed above 25,000, Trump shared a graphic depicting the stock indexs record-setting rise. MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/iONbr1DkVk  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Later in the day, the president was back on Twitter, complaining that news outlets had barely covered the stock market milestone. He suggested that the strength of the economy would be the biggest story on earth, had it unfolded during the presidency of his predecessor. The Fake News Media barely mentions the fact that the Stock Market just hit another New Record and that business in the U.S. is booming...but the people know! Can you imagine if O was president and had these numbers - would be biggest story on earth! Dow now over 25,000.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 The Dow broke past 1,000-point barriers in 2017 on its way to a 25% gain for the year, as an eight-year rally since the Great Recession continued to confound skeptics. Strong global economic growth and good prospects for higher company earnings have analysts predicting more gains, although the market may not stay as calm as it has been recently. The Dow has made a rapid trip since it reached 24,000 points Nov. 30, partly on enthusiasm over passage of the Republican-backed tax package, which could boost company profits this year with across-the-board cuts to corporate taxes. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump reacts to Fire and Fury book in tweet lashing out at author and Sloppy Steve President Trump lashed out at the author of a soon-to-be-released book about the chaotic first year of his presidency Thursday night. In a tweet, Trump called Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a phony book and claimed that hed never spoken to its author, Michael Wolff. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve! Trump wrote. He appeared to be referring to former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, whose stunning criticisms of Trump and his circle figure prominently in the title. I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that dont exist. Look at this guys past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018 Trumps tweet came hours after he had his lawyer demand that Henry Holt & Co. and Wolff stop publication the book. Instead, the publisher expedited the books release to Friday, four days before it was slated to hit bookstore shelves, in response to unprecedented demand. Published excerpts on Wednesday and Thursday whetted that appetite and roiled Washington. Bannons comments, including that it was treasonous and unpatriotic for Trumps son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort to have met in 2016 with Russians said to have dirt on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, prompted Trump on Wednesday to rebuke his former advisor, saying Bannon had lost his mind. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Brian Bennett and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump thanks senators who attended meeting on immigration President Trump tweeted thanks to Republican senators who attended a meeting about possible immigration legislation on Thursday. In his message, Trump also listed his top priorities when it comes to any type of overhaul of the nations immigration system. Thank you to the great Republican Senators who showed up to our mtg on immigration reform. We must BUILD THE WALL, stop illegal immigration, end chain migration & cancel the visa lottery. The current system is unsafe & unfair to the great people of our country - time for change!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Trumps tweet echoed his remarks at the beginning of Thursdays meeting, when he insisted again that constructing a border wall and overhauling two legal immigration programs must be part of any deal with Democrats to protect the so-called Dreamers from deportation. Two-year deportation protections and work permits given under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begin to expire March 6 under an executive order. Trump announced in September that he was ending the Obama-era program, but told Congress to draft a law to continue protections for people brought to the country illegally as children  a group that has widespread public support. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writer Brian Bennett. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump resumes Twitter war against kneeling NFL players President Trump has resumed his Twitter war against NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustice and racial inequality. In a tweet early Thursday, Trump replied to a supporter who shared a meme that appears to depict family members lying on the grave of a fallen soldier with the caption: This is why we stand. Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! Trump wrote. So beautiful....Show this picture to the NFL players who still kneel! https://t.co/tJLM1tvbvb  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The president has denounced players who kneel during the anthem in previous tweets. Hes also called for the firing of players who do so. His latest message came amid news that the NFL finished the regular season with TV ratings that fell nearly 10% below the previous season. Analysts attribute the drop to controversies facing the league, as well as changing viewing habits and a possible saturation point in the number of games available. Read More This post contains reporting from Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Alex Wigglesworth. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump credits himself with facilitating talks between North and South Korea By Associated Press President Trump says his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk. Trump tweeted early Thursday: With all of the failed experts weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasnt firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the North. Fools, but talks are a good thing!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 That assertion is in conflict with some of the presidents own statements. Last year, he ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talking about negotiations with the North. This week, Trump seemed open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Years Day address. But Trumps ambassador to the United Nations insisted that talks wont be meaningful unless the North is getting rid of its nuclear weapons. The overture about talks came after Trump and Kim traded more bellicose claims about their nuclear weapons. In his New Years Day address, Kim repeated fiery nuclear threats against the United States. Kim said he has a nuclear button on his office desk and warned that the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike. Trump mocked that assertion Tuesday evening in a tweet. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

After disbanding his vote fraud panel, Trump still says voting system is rigged By Brian Bennett One day after disbanding his troubled voter fraud commission without any findings of fraud, President Trump continued to call the U.S. voting system rigged and said states should require that Americans have voter-identification cards. In two tweets on Thursday morning, Trump blamed the commissions failure on the lack of cooperation from mostly Democrat States that refused to hand over voter rolls because they know that many people are voting illegally. However, voting supervisors in Republican-led states refused as well, objecting on privacy and other grounds. Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 As Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do.....except when it comes to the most important thing, VOTING for the people that run your country. Push hard for Voter Identification!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Despite Trumps assertions, analysts have not found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in May after alleging, without proof, that millions of illegal votes were cast for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. Trump was elected after winning a majority in the electoral college, but the nationwide count showed Clinton received nearly 3 million more votes. The commission sought personal data on voters across the country and faced mounting lawsuits in recent months over privacy concerns. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump touts another good day for stocks, credits tax cut By Associated Press President Trump touted another good day for the stock market Wednesday in a tweet. Stock Market had another good day but, now that the Tax Cut Bill has passed, we have tremendous upward potential. Dow just short of 25,000, a number that few thought would be possible this soon into my administration. Also, unemployment went down to 4.1%. Only getting better!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Big gains for technology and healthcare stocks helped U.S. indexes set records again Wednesday. Some analysts attributed the surge to investor enthusiasm for Trumps $1.5-trillion tax cut. All told, Wall Street analysts estimate the tax package should boost earnings for companies in the Standard & Poors 500 index by roughly 8% this year. Thats much more generous than the average tax cut of 1.6% that middle-class families will receive, according to the Tax Policy Center. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 The public has been less enthusiastic about the tax law. A Monmouth University poll last month found that nearly half of Americans disapproved of it, with only 26% in support. Still, as Trump also noted on Twitter, some workers have seen a benefit: So far, dozens of companies have announced bonuses and higher minimum wages as a result of the tax cut. AT&T, Comcast, Bank of America, and American Airlines have all pledged to pay $1,000 bonuses to their employees. Some 40 U.S. companies have responded to President Trumps tax cut and reform victory in Congress last year by handing out bonuses up to $2,000, increases in 401k matches and spending on charity, a much higher number than previously known. https://t.co/bmWrwWzxMR  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 Investors also appear less concerned than many politicians about how the additional profits will be used. The Trump administration says it expects companies will plow much of the extra profit back into their businesses, purchasing more software, machinery, and other equipment. Those investments will make workers more productive and provide a key boost to the economys long-run growth. They should also boost wages and salaries for employees. Opponents of the tax law respond that companies are more likely to pass the windfall on to shareholders in the form of higher dividend payments and share buybacks, which raise the price of those shares still in investors hands. Previous cuts in corporate tax rates, in the United States and overseas, havent always led to higher wages. For Wall Street, its all good, at least in the short run. Most analysts take the view that either way, companies and the economy will benefit. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump reacts to death of Mormon Church president By Associated Press President Trump mourned the death of Mormon Church leader Thomas S. Monson on Wednesday evening. Trump tweeted a link to a statement in which he said that Monson demonstrated wisdom, inspired leadership, and great compassion and delivered a message of optimism, forgiveness, and faith. Melania and I are deeply saddened by the death of Thomas S. Monson, a beloved President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...https://t.co/ETD3fWtfU3  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018 A church bishop at the age of 22, Monson became the youngest church apostle ever in 1963 at the age of 36. He served as a counselor for three church presidents before assuming the role of the top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008. After a life of church service, Monson died Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City, according to church spokesman Eric Hawkins. He was 90. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump tweets that Iranian protesters will see great U.S. support at the appropriate time By Associated Press President Trump continued to express support for Irans anti-government protesters on Wednesday. In a tweet, Trump commended the protesters and pledged that the United States will support them at the appropriate time. Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Trumps tweet Wednesday morning came as Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo sent a letter to United Nations officials complaining that Washington was intervening in a grotesque way in Irans internal affairs. The President and Vice-President of the United States, in their numerous absurd tweets, incited Iranians to engage in disruptive acts, the ambassador wrote to the U.N. Security Council president and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The U.S. didnt immediately respond to the letter, which maintains that Washington has crossed every limit in flouting rules and principles of international law governing the civilized conduct of international relations. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds arrested in Iran during a week of anti-government protests and unrest over economic woes and official corruption. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took part in counter-demonstrations Wednesday backing the clerically overseen government, which has said enemies of Iran are fomenting the protests. Trump has unleashed a series of tweets in recent days backing the protesters, saying Iran is failing at every level and declaring that it is time for change in the Islamic Republic. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump congratulates Sen. Orrin Hatch upon news of his retirement By Associated Press President Trump congratulated Sen. Orrin Hatch for an absolutely incredible career upon news of Hatchs impending retirement. In a tweet Tuesday afternoon, Trump called Hatch a tremendous supporter and wrote that he will be greatly missed in the Senate. Congratulations to Senator Orrin Hatch on an absolutely incredible career. He has been a tremendous supporter, and I will never forget the (beyond kind) statements he has made about me as President. He is my friend and he will be greatly missed in the U.S. Senate! pic.twitter.com/0VjzLEeHTl  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Hatchs decision to retire from the Senate after four decades lets the Utah Republican walk away at the height of his power after helping to push through an overhaul of the tax code and persuading Trump to downsize two national monuments. Retirement also preserves the 83-year-olds legacy by allowing him to avoid a bruising reelection battle that would have broken his promise not to seek an eighth term. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump tweet exaggerates progress in improving veterans care By Associated Press President Trump played up tremendous progress in improving care for veterans in his first year on Tuesday in a tweet. His message linked to an Instagram video describing eight accomplishments that show Trump is fighting for our veterans. But it overstates the impact of these steps. We will not rest until all of Americas GREAT VETERANS can receive the care they so richly deserve. Tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time. Keep up the great work @SecShulkin @DeptVetAffairs! https://t.co/ir25vW15hx pic.twitter.com/OtuzIgxMn6  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Of the eight achievements cited, two are ceremonial proclamations recognizing National Veterans and Military Families Month and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Two are pieces of legislation that extended the troubled Veterans Choice program on a temporary basis. This became necessary because the Trump administration repeatedly miscalculated the amount of taxpayer dollars available to pay for care from private doctors outside the Veterans Affairs system when veterans had to endure long waits for treatment at VA medical centers. The departments poor budget planning caught lawmakers off guard. A fifth claim involves telehealth, a step letting doctors practice medicine across state lines using digital technology. Announced in August, it has yet to take full effect because a proposed VA regulation hasnt been completed. The VA wants authority to practice across state lines to come from legislation, not a regulation. On Wednesday, the Senate approved a telehealth measure that now goes to the House. A sixth claim refers to legislation that streamlines the appeals process for disability compensation claims within the VA. This step has had limited effect so far because it applies to new disability claims, not the 470,000 pending claims. The last two initiatives make it easier for the VA to discipline employees. The department has pointed to more than 1,300 employees who have been fired under Trumps watch. Because their infractions are not detailed in public documents, the effect on veterans care is not fully known. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump unleashes his first tweetstorm of 2018 By Noah Bierman President Trump clearly didnt resolve to change his Twitter habits this year. With nine disparate tweets over three hours on Tuesday morning, the first working day of 2018, Trump continued to exploit social media to be the most aggressive commentator in chief in American history. For any other president, his posts would have made for a monumental day of (mis-)statements. Yet for Trump, the series  attacks on political foes and media, provocations of foreign leaders and self-praise for events he had nothing to do with  was all but unremarkable. His Twitter barrage  sent between 7:09 a.m. and 10:16 a.m.  reflected a familiar gamut after nearly a year in office: Attacks on political foes: Nearly 14 months after his election, Trump called for the jailing of Huma Abedin, Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid (his misspelling, another occasional feature of Trump tweets). Crooked Hillary Clintons top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 In the same tweet, he disparaged the Deep State Justice Dept, headed of course by his appointees, calling on it to act against James B. Comey, the FBI director he fired for investigating the Russia thing. Diplomatic provocations: Trump again called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Rocket man, ridiculed the volatile nuclear-armed foe for recent military defections and openly speculated about potential talks between North and South Korea. Sanctions and other pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not  we will see! Trump wrote. Later Tuesday, Trump tweeted: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Also later Tuesday, Trump tweeted an attack on Pakistan, his second in as many days, and added a new one against Palestinians: It's not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They dont even want to negotiate a long overdue...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ...peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Undermining media: Trump offered Congratulations! to A.G. Sulzberger, who took over as publisher of the New York Times this week. The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved. Get...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 ....impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent sources, and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you wont have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the two-part post was really yet another slam against a perceived media foe: Trump said the paper had a last chance to fulfill its journalistic mission, and accused it of relying on phony sources and substandard reporters  just days after he granted another exclusive interview to the paper. As a bonus, the tweet contained a recycled falsehood, that the paper apologized after the election for reporting on him unfairly. It didnt. Trump later said on Twitter that he would soon announce the most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year. Stay tuned! I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 oclock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 The president also tweeted a quote from Fox Business Networks Lou Dobbs Tonight, which aired a segment praising Trumps first-year accomplishments. Dobbs reportedly joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday for a gala to celebrate New Years Eve. President Trump has something now he didnt have a year ago, that is a set of accomplishments that nobody can deny. The accomplishments are there, look at his record, he has had a very significant first year. @LouDobbs Show,David Asman & Ed Rollins  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 Taking credit: Trump congratulated himself for policing the border with Mexico, an area where his policies and anti-immigration rhetoric are believed to have had some effect on reducing illegal crossings. Thank you to Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council for your kind words on how well we are doing at the Border. We will be bringing in more & more of your great folks and will build the desperately needed WALL! @foxandfriends  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 He took credit for employee bonuses by companies after he signed Republican tax cuts into law last month. Companies are giving big bonuses to their workers because of the Tax Cut Bill. Really great!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 But the jaw-dropper was Trump congratulating himself for planes not crashing. Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 It was the safest year on record worldwide, but the American streak without commercial jet passenger deaths goes back to 2009. Trump, who has promoted deregulation as one of his top accomplishments, has not signed off on any new airline safety regulations. The White House pointed to new security screening of passengers, to electronic devices to prevent terrorist attacks and to Trumps support for privatizing air traffic control  a proposal that has gotten nowhere in Congress. Falsehoods: Trump said President Obama, in brokering the 2015 nuclear arms limitation deal with Iran, foolishly gave money to the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. He didnt. The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their pockets. The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 The nuclear deal, which included major U.S. allies as signators, released Irans own funds that had long been frozen. Trumps art of the deal: When Trump sees a big deal looming, he often blasts the other side  to gain leverage, as hes written. This week he resumes a showdown with Democratic lawmakers over funding the government and immigration protections for so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats are doing nothing for DACA - just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start falling in love with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 Trump, who in September ordered a gradual end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, sought to shift blame for the resulting controversy, saying Democrats are doing nothing for DACA and are just interested in politics. Trump has insisted that any help for Dreamers be paired with funding for a border wall and a crackdown on legal immigration. Democrats, and some Republicans, are opposed. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

In tweet, Trump suggests U.S. will withdraw financial assistance to Pakistan By Shashank Bengali Pakistan lashed out Monday after President Trump accused its leaders of lies & deceit and suggested the United States would withdraw financial assistance to the nuclear-armed nation it once saw as a key ally against terrorism. It was the presidents latest broadside against Pakistan after a speech in August in which he demanded its leaders crack down on the safe havens enjoyed by Taliban militants fighting U.S.-backed forces in neighboring Afghanistan. The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018 U.S. Ambassador David Hale was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to discuss the presidents statement, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said. Pakistan lodged a strongly worded protest and asked for clarification about Trumps comments, according to two foreign office officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Pakistans prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, called a Cabinet meeting for Tuesday and a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday to discuss Trumps New Years Day tweet. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump continues to tweet in support of Iranian protesters By Laura King President Trump expressed renewed support Sunday for protesters in Iran, declaring that people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. In a tweet from his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, the president said the nationwide economic protests that began on Thursday  and have taken on wider political overtones as they have grown in size  were a signal that Iranians will not take it any longer. Big protests in Iran. The people are finally getting wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is watching very closely for human rights violations!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Trump has tweeted about the protests for three days straight as Iranians took to the streets despite a heavy police presence, tear gas and scores of arrests. The defiance gained urgency after two people were reported shot to death in the city of Dorud, about 200 miles southwest of Tehran. As the conflict escalated, Iranian authorities on Sunday slapped a temporary ban on Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, which were widely used to fan protest fervor. Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Irans leaders already are casting Trumps increasingly effusive expressions of support for the demonstrators as opportunistic meddling and are painting the demonstrators as foreign pawns, adopting a strategy that some analysts say could jeopardize the legitimacy of the nascent antigovernment protests. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump tweets condolences after Colorado deputies are shot in ambush, one fatally By Associated Press A man fired more than 100 rounds at sheriffs deputies in Colorado early Sunday, killing one and injuring four others, before being fatally shot himself in what authorities called an ambush. Two civilians were also injured. President Trump expressed sorrow, writing on Twitter: My deepest condolences to the victims of the terrible shooting in Douglas County @DCSheriff, and their families. We love our police and law enforcement - God Bless them all! #LESM  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2017 Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said deputies came under fire almost
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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Watch live: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies on Trumps budget Follow live coverage from Times education reporter Joy Resmovits: Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

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

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

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
Scientists are on high alert this week after the Environmental Protection Agency failed to renew the appointments of at least six independent researchers who served on an EPA advisory board.

The decision does not directly affect the work of the scientists who are employed by the agency. Nor was anyone fired from the Board of Scientific Counselors.

But the move will change the makeup of the 18-member committee tasked with reviewing the agencys scientific efforts and suggesting strategic next steps to its Office of Research and Development.

Advertisement

Considering that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is openly skeptical about the scientific case that climate change is being fueled by human activity, the decision made some observers quite anxious.

Rush Holt, chief executive of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science, asked the agency to reconsider the decision.

Academic scientists play a critical role in informing policy with scientific research results at every level, including the federal government, he said in a statement Monday.

He added that he would welcome an opportunity to meet with Administrator Scott Pruitt to discuss how scientists can best advise the Environmental Protection Agency on environmental science.

The American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents more than 9,000 EPA employees, issued a statement expressing fear about who Pruitt might select to fill the new board vacancies.

Our concern centers on scientific integrity and whether or not the scientists eliminated from the Scientific Advisory Boards will be replaced with impartial scientists or with scientists who will operate within the arena of opinions or industry prejudice, the group said.

Our concern centers on scientific integrity.  American Federation of Government Employees Council 238, which represents thousands of EPA employees

That concern wasnt completely unwarranted. EPA spokesman J.P. Freire told the New York Times that Pruitt was interested in giving industry some representation on the board.

The administrator believes we should have people on this board who understand the impact of regulations on the regulated community, Freire said.

Robert Richardson, an environmental economist at Michigan State University, said he was surprised to see this statement.

This board has nothing to do with regulations, Richardson said Monday.

He should know. Until last month, he was a member of the board.

On Friday, he was one of the scientists who was told his appointment would not be renewed.

Weve never been asked to comment on policy or regulation, he said.

Traditionally, board members meet a few times a year to review the published work of EPA scientists and then offer recommendations for future directions that research might take.

For example, they might suggest that EPA scientists collaborate with researchers at other government agencies who are doing similar work, or they might recommend that scientists team with communities that may be affected by the research, Richardson said.

Members are appointed for three years at a time and can sit on the board for a total of two terms. Richardson said it is a part-time gig that rarely requires more than 60 to 80 hours of work over a three-month period.

All of the appointees have full-time jobs. The majority of them are scientists at academic institutions, but the most recent board also included people from the global engineering firm AECOM, the Alfred P. Sloane foundation and the California Energy Commission.

Of the 18 people on that board, three just completed their second term. Nine more were told in January that their appointments would probably be renewed, said Richardson, who was one of them.

Thats why he was so surprised to receive an email from the EPA Friday night letting him know that Pruitt intended to let someone else fill his seat.

Richardson took to Twitter to share the news:

Today, I was Trumped. I have had the pleasure of serving on the EPA Board of Scientific Counselors, and my appointment was terminated today.  Robert Richardson (@ecotrope) May 5, 2017

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, however, he said that reports suggesting members of the board had been fired were incorrect.

Our terms ended and we were not reappointed, he said.

I was given the impression by career staffers that this was unusual, but any administration has the right to appoint advisors of its own liking, he added. Its not like they did anything untoward.

deborah.netburn@latimes.com

Follow me @DeborahNetburn and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

MORE IN SCIENCE

To live a long life in America, it helps to be born in the right county

Detailed look at the global warming hiatus again confirms that humans are changing the climate

Presidential politics has increased job stress and sapped workers productivity, psychologists say
Less than a year after a similar debate was squelched in Newport Heights, neighbors are once again going toe to toe over a proposal to place utility lines underground.

Utility poles with power lines strung across have peppered Newport Heights for decades. Homeowners in the area known as District 114  bordered by Tustin and Irvine avenues, 15th Street, and Cliff Drive  and the area known as District 114b  bounded by Riverside and Tustin avenues, 15th Street and Cliff Drive  have been collecting signatures in an attempt to establish an assessment district that pays to place the above-ground electric, phone and cable lines out of sight.

Typically, before the city can form an underground utility assessment district  the first step to starting the undergrounding process  at least 60% of the homeowners in that neighborhood must sign a form expressing interest.

If the quota is met, the city would then pay to get an estimate of the projects cost from the utility companies and hold a neighborhood election. If 51% of the homeowners vote in favor, the project is approved, and all property owners must pay an equal amount of the cost.

However, project proponents are asking the City Council to consider lowering the threshold below 60% to allow them to move forward with the formal vote process now.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

The urgency stems in part because of a $4 million city sewer rehabilitation and concrete alley reconstruction project expected to move forward in the next year in Newport Heights.

Placing the utility lines underground at the same time other improvements are underway would likely save homeowners money because they wouldnt have to tear up the alleys again and repave them after the lines are placed underground, proponents and city staff say.

A group of homeowners is asking the Newport Beach City Council to certify a petition to underground utility lines in their Newport Heights neighborhood. The issue has pitted neighbors against one another in the area for more than a year. (File Photo / Daily Pilot)

So far, proponents within both districts have received support  in the form of signatures  from more than 50% of the contacted homeowners, according to a city staff report.

However, opponents argue the percentage is likely much lower because some neighbors who are not in favor of undergrounding signed documents without understanding their significance. Some residents who originally signed later rescinded their support.

The cost, which has been estimated at $20,000 to $25,000 per house  payable in installments  plus variable costs of $1,000 to $4,000 to hook up each homes power lines to Southern California Edison  has been a point of contention. The cost could vary, if the project moves forward.

Diane Byers, a Newport Heights resident who opposes the effort, said beautification isnt enough of a reason to ask homeowners to spend thousands.

In todays world thats a lot of money, she said. Theres people in our neighborhood that cant afford that.

After more than an hour of passionate testimony from homeowners during a meeting earlier this month, the City Council voted to postpone the decision until its May 24 meeting.

Newport Heights resident Sara Delia urged council members during their meeting last week to approve lowering the signature threshold.

When you come up PCH and onto Riverside Drive, you see all the wires and the street poles, she said. Just from a beautification standpoint, it would be absolutely lovely.

Proponents have said placing utility lines underground will eliminate the potential hazard of downed power lines and could improve property values.

This isnt the first time the idea has been floated in the Heights.

In June 2015, proponents of undergrounding the swath bounded by 15th Street, Tustin Avenue, Cliff Drive and Old Newport Boulevard,  District 118  suspended their signature-collecting effort after a year for lack of support.

Proponents in District 114 were also collecting signatures at the time and continued to after District 118 stopped.

District 114b was created as a smaller spinoff from District 118 to continue the signature collection among 50 homes. The creation of another district was surprising to some residents who thought the issue was moot.

You can imagine when youre part of an area where its already been decided there are not enough signatures and then all the sudden youre in another district ... its crazy, Byers said.

Councilman Tony Petros, who represents the area, indicated he would not support lowering the threshold to jump start the undergrounding process.

He called for unity in the neighborhood, which he said has been torn apart by contentious debate among neighbors.

This is something that I think someone else had mentioned it is tearing the heart of the Heights apart, and it grieves me, he said during the council meeting. If you really want to be a community then start acting like one.

--

Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Recall of an elected official is a serious issue, a decision that should not be made lightly or without serious forethought. The attempt to recall Newport Beach Councilman Scott Peotter is a serious matter and is a worthy effort.

Those of us who have had the privilege of holding public office understand that it brings the responsibility of adhering to a higher standard  a standard that Peotter is unwilling or unable to meet. He has clearly demonstrated this a number of times, embarrassing himself and putting the city at risk with his decisions.

He was forced to read an apology at the City Council meeting for violating the Brown Act, the states open-meetings law, that city councils are required to follow.

He has violated the municipal code related to the correct use of the city seal; and continued to do so even after being reprimanded twice by his fellow council members. The states Fair Political Practices Commission is looking into a complaint that Peotter possibly violated campaign contribution limits.

During the last election, he did not condemn the use of racist, Farsi-language campaign signs that were not properly identified, as required by law. Other candidates in the race condemned the racist signs.

He supported the appointment to the citys Finance Committee a man who was later convicted of embezzlement for his work as a congressmans treasurer.

Peotters actions speak to his lack of respect and common sense in adhering to standards that we all live within. His actions demonstrate that he is untrustworthy and self-serving.

Why now? Peotter has demonstrated time and again that he has failed to understand city issues. He made a motion to refinance the city bonds at a so-called savings. His proposal would have cost the city hundreds of thousands dollars.

This recall must occur now. If we delay until 2018, Peotter would be involved in two budget cycles and will have the opportunity to do our city great harm with his thoughtless decisions.

The decisions he has made clearly show that he is defiant and does not uphold the city goals and directions. He is not guided by what is in the best interest of this community.

He moved to Newport Beach after he couldnt get elected in Irvine. Newport Beach deserves an upstanding councilman with integrity, who respects the constituency and cares about the good of the community.

Peotter, by his actions has proven, is not fit for public office in Newport Beach.

Marilyn C. Brewer

Newport Beach

The writer is a retired state assemblywoman.

Recall proponents are chilling free speech in Newport

I caught a recent story in the Wall Street Journal reporting on a survey conducted of Yale University students, testing their opinion on the value of free speech. Yale is hardly a bastion of right-wing thought. Its one of Americas most prestigious and liberal institutions.

I was mildly surprised to learn that 72% of the students opposed speech codes to regulate speech for students and faculty while 16% favored the idea.

Juxtapose this on the intolerant few that want to recall Newport Beach City Councilman Scott Peotter. Peotter is an outspoken fiscal and social conservative who has riled up those opposed to his views. Theyre willing to waste your taxpayer money on a special recall election when Peotter is already on the ballot next year.

I firmly believe that in these times of political correctness that Peotter has the right to express his views  thats free speech. Even the intellectual elite and Yale seem to agree.

Bob Rush

Newport Beach

The importance of Laguna Beachs historic rating system

It is important to keep the Contributing rating (C) system as the city revises the Historic Preservation Ordinance because taking away their historic status would probably lead to the loss of a number of them, and the neighborhoods and the city would be the poorer for it. These historic beach cottages contribute their charm and character to the town and what makes Laguna, Laguna.

If Laguna wants to preserve the distinctive character of its neighborhoods, the Cs must be preserved and our General Plan policy requires it. Most of our historic structures are beach cottages, not unlike the cottages at Crystal Cove, and are often not as substantial as the structures that are considered historic in other parts of the country. This means that they may be underappreciated by professionals trained elsewhere.

However, in their modest scale, their homegrown character, and their simplicity they accurately reflect our past, and we value them. It is important that our Historic Preservation Ordinance recognizes C structures as historic resources.

Johanna Felder

Laguna Beach

The writer is president of Village Laguna

Santa Ana Avenue is cracked between 22nd and 23rd streets

Thank you for publishing Costa Mesas attempt at providing citizens information about the quality of their roads (How pitted is that pavement? Check out Costa Mesas interactive road condition map, May 5). I disagree with the Costa Mesa analysis of Santa Ana Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd streets. It is in extremely poor condition, with continuous potholes, crumbling surface, cracked and uneven. With the new development of 13 additional homes off Santa Ana, this section needs to be rebuilt, now.

Niki Parker

Costa Mesa

Op-ed writer contributes nice pieces about family life

Im so glad you have decided to again feature Liz Swiertz Newman in the Daily Pilot (Commentary: Utility bills come with too much ephemera, May 1). I love reading her columns on life and family. I can really relate to them and just enjoy the way she writes. Im a local in Newport Beach, and I sure hope my vote counts and you continue to feature her.

Bonnie Flamm

Newport Beach

Telephonic town halls are not enough

Im one of the many in his district who has wanted Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) to hold an open and in-person town hall. He appears to have no plans to do this. If Rohrabacher is going to insist that town halls can only happen by phone, then they should be pre-announced, with the opportunity for anyone in the district to listen in. Thats the bare minimum we, his constituents, deserve from our representative. Anything less is unacceptable. And certainly a lot more is what he should be doing.

Danny Sullivan

Newport Beach

How to get published: Email us at dailypilot@latimes.com. All correspondence must include full name, hometown and phone number (for verification purposes). The Pilot reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity and length.
At age 8, Audrey Tang wrote a computer game for her 4-year-old brother to help him learn fractions. At 14, she dropped out of school to start a search-engine company. At 19, she had left Taiwan to work as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

Now, at 36, she is Taiwans youngest government minister, charged with jump-starting the islands stagnating, $130-billion high-tech sector. She is also Taiwans first transgender Cabinet minister and, perhaps most remarkable, the only one who describes herself as an anarchist.

This last attribute may seem at odds for someone who is near the top of the governmental food chain, but it gives Tang a perspective that, she contends, is in sync with the unchained ethos of the tech world.

Advertisement

Its no longer the old way where the government predicts what happens over the next eight years and then subsidizes or reimburses the private sector to develop exactly that, Tang said. Weve stopped playing prophets and just said  everybodys in, we welcome everyones input.

Under Tangs oversight, the government plans to deregulate the so-called sharing economy, raise the transparency of government work to unprecedented levels and offer a lot of free online resources to the public, especially to tech start-ups.

She envisions an Internet platform on which the islands 430,000 start-ups can exchange resources for free. Software should be free so that Taiwanese technology firms can follow the lead of Google, which grew to todays scale by using the open-source Linux operating system, she says.

Audrey Tang in her office in Taipei, Taiwan. (Ralph Jennings / For The Times)

Taiwan, despite its decades of high-tech work, lacks a major Internet firm such as Google, Chinas Tencent or South Koreas Naver, vexing local policymakers.

The whole idea of software freedom is an industry enabler, she said.

Tang was born Tang Tsung-han, the child of journalists turned educators. From an early age, she was drawn to math and computers, changing schools every year and studying largely at home until, at 14, she left school permanently to start [my] education  and her career.

After I got a computer, I learned that its really like any other musical instrument, Tang said in her Taipei government office cluttered with tablets, monitors, wires and virtual reality gear. If you practice it every day and get good enough at it, you feel very good after playing it.

Tang came out as a woman in 2005 to match how she had long felt and changed her name to reflect the identity shift. Her status as the first transgender member of a Taiwanese Cabinet fits with President Tsai Ing-wens focus on LGBTQ rights.

Her civil service began in 2015, when she was hired as a consultant to the Taiwanese government on cybersecurity and transparency initiatives. Tang said she was appointed to the Cabinet in October because she had retired from other work and had no political party alignment.

Shes now eager to shift Taiwans high-tech sector from one focused for decades on making hardware such as personal computers to one that fosters start-ups in emerging fields such as virtual reality and the Internet of things.

It is very comfortable to work with Audrey.... However, it is very challenging to keep up with her thinking speed.  Zach Huang, event planner

The Internet of things  use of smart devices to control ordinary appliances  will expand by a fifth worldwide from 2015 to 2020, with spending of $267 billion that year, Boston Consulting Group forecasts. Global revenue from virtual and augmented reality will grow from less than $20 billion this year to $120 billion in 2020, Silicon Valley consulting company Digi-Capital says.

Tangs ministry has helped formulate Taiwans eight-year Digital Nation Plan. Now in its first year, the plan will include the buildup of a digitized licensed commons, a free storehouse of software and files available to anyone online. It is intended to include information that any person or company, especially high-tech start-ups, can use for its own development.

The Digital Nation Plan is expected to put Taiwan among the top 10 spots in the world for information technology by 2025, the Cabinet says on its website.

Tangs office is also shaping a way to work with telecommunications providers to extend broadband Internet to mountainous aboriginal villages, outlying islands and Taiwans bullet train system.

As an anarchist, Tang advocates no hierarchical or bureaucratic relationships among people. Her staff of 15 all volunteered to work with her. Theyre free to change government departments if they get fed up with me, Tang said, though no one has. They produce weekly road maps as collaborators rather than as boss and employees.

It is very comfortable to work with Audrey since she would not give orders against my will or beyond my ability, said her event planner, Zach Huang. However, it is very challenging to keep up with her thinking speed.

Tang releases online the text of nearly all her government-related meetings as long as others involved give consent within 10 days. Younger Taiwanese had criticized the previous government for telling the public too little before making decisions.

Cabinet meetings live-streamed under Tang already get thousands of views as well as comments that she tries to answer in real time. Private companies know through these broadcasts what the government is planning before its formal and can submit petitions for government review, she said.

The digital minister wants to retool Taiwans sharing economy to emphasize a free exchange of resources across industries rather than just an expansion of app-enabled taxi and hotel services. The scheme should connect start-ups with investment funds that are sitting on a lot of cash, she said.

My concept for the economy is one of abundance, Tang said. Im aware of course there are scarce resources around the world, especially cognitive resources, but now thats changing.

The scheme could become a source of business-to-business connections that ultimately fuel tech sector growth, said Tracy Tsai, a research vice president at market research firm Gartner.

Tangs office is studying deregulation in financial technology and maybe other start-up-intensive sectors to let smaller companies experiment, minus todays legal risks, with projects such as bitcoin.

Longer term, Tang aims to let machines do more routine government work so that public servants can focus on tasks that require value judgments.

In the future, what shes going to influence most wont be necessarily just a law or a series of laws, said Lin Ta-han, chief executive of Founder-Backer, a Taipei company that helps start-ups raise money. From my view, Tangs biggest contribution is to use her knowledge of open-source communities to build communication channels in government.

Jennings is a special correspondent.

ALSO

Chinas detention of a human rights activist from Taiwan wont do relations any good

For mainland Chinese students, Taiwans universities are like paradise. But theres a catch

Taiwan demonstrates a newfound love of dogs with a law to stop killing them
Islamic State said it has beheaded a Russian agent who had infiltrated its ranks as a fighter to spy on the militant group.

A gruesome video released late Monday purports to show the man, described as a captain in a Russian intelligence department that spies on terrorists. His name was only given in Arabic.

The video shows a masked man interrogating the alleged spy, who says he was sent to Syria to spy on Islamic State top military commander Omar Shishani. Shishani was killed last year in a U.S. airstrike. The video later shows the alleged spy on his knees somewhere in the desert, where he is killed by a Russian-speaking man.

Advertisement

Thousands of fighters from the former Soviet Union have joined Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
At least 14 people died and 30 were injured when an errant firecracker hit a cache of fireworks in the Mexican state of Puebla, triggering a massive blast.

Local authorities said the fireworks were being stored in a home behind a church ahead of a May 15 religious celebration in San Isidro, a rural village about 150 miles east of Mexico City.

In Mexico, where festivals and holidays are frequently celebrated with fireworks, accidental blasts with deadly consequences have become a common occurrence.

Advertisement

In December, a series of thunderous explosions tore through an open-air fireworks market outside Mexico City, leaving at least 29 dead and 72 injured.

That same market, known as San Pablito, had been rocked by two previous blasts  in 2005 and 2006  that left dozens of shoppers and vendors injured but nobody dead.

Similar explosions have happened across Latin America, where certain festivals are marked by continuous blasts of firecrackers for days on end. In Lima, Peru, more than 250 people were killed in a 2001 explosion in the citys biggest fireworks market.

Photos of the site of Mondays blast show the two-story home almost completely destroyed, with only a few concrete walls remaining. A mangled bicycle can be seen in the smoldering remains, along with a painting of Jesus and a pair of tiny childrens shoes.

Eleven of those killed in the incident were minors, said Javier Lozano, a spokesman for the state of Puebla.

Despite frequent and deadly accidents, data show Mexicans continue to spend about $10 million each month on fireworks nationwide.

During the high season between August and Christmas, people in Mexico state buy more than 100 tons of fireworks, according to officials there.

Puebla Gov. Tony Gali offered his condolences Tuesday, pledging his governments total support to the poor village where the blast took place.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, in a tweet after the explosion, expressed his sympathies to those who died in Mondays tragic accident.

kate.linthicum@latimes.com

Twitter: @katelinthicum

ALSO

Mexican officials enrage women by suggesting a young victims lifestyle was responsible for her violent death

Clashes between soldiers and gasoline smugglers leave 10 dead in Mexico

Mexico captures Sinaloa drug cartel leader Damaso Lopez, a former associate of El Chapo Guzman
The worst may be over  though its not quite time to celebrate.

That seems to be the guarded consensus here more than three months into the administration of President Trump, whose targeting of Mexico and Mexicans yielded profound economic, social and political disquiet throughout the country.

Not long ago, many feared Trumps agenda could edge the nation toward economic ruin and even rip asunder the fabric of Mexican society. Trump appeared to have gotten into the collective Mexican psyche like no other U.S. leader in decades.

Advertisement

But the doomsday scenarios have receded as Trump has backed away from his signature threats against Mexico on trade and immigration policy.

The Mexican peso, which began a steady slide as Trumps fortunes rose in last years U.S. presidential campaign, has regained a measure of stability.

Although it would be absurd to think that things are fixed, everything indicates that the worst has passed, wrote columnist Enrique Acevedo last week in Milenio newspaper. The tension has diminished.

A worker welds a new fence between the Anapra neighborhood of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and Sunland Park, New Mexico, on March 30, 2017. (Rodrigo Abd / Associated Press)

The columns headline: The wall of discord, a nod to Trumps signature pledge to build a wall along the almost-2,000 mile border.

The wall seems bogged down amid funding disputes and a decidedly cool reception in Congress and in U.S. border communities. Mexico adamantly rejected Trumps insistence that it pay for the wall, a clash that led Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to cancel a trip to Washington just days after Trumps inauguration.

That row marked a nadir in recent U.S.-Mexican relations.

Here, the walls uncertain fate has become a symbol of the gap between Trumps bluster and what he can actually accomplish in Washington  where the presidents campaign pledges on Mexico clash with many deep-seated political and economic interests. The two countries share more than $1 billion in cross-border trade each day.

The first 100 days of the government of Trump werent as disastrous for Mexico as had been expected, wrote Raul Rodriguez Cortes in El Universal newspaper. At least until now.

Demonstrators opposed to the policies of President Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto march to the Plaza Angel Independencia in Mexico City on Feb. 12. (Rafael S. Fabres / Getty Images)

Even critics of Pena Nieto have credited his administration with a deft handling of a sensitive and potentially catastrophic challenge. Many have urged the government to be more confrontational, but Mexico City has opted for a low-key, albeit firm, approach.

It has been widely reported here that the foreign secretary, Luis Videgaray, a close associate of the Mexican president, has cultivated a strong relationship with Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and a close advisor.

Videgaray and Kushner, wrote Acevedo in his column in Milenio, have succeeded in maintaining the bilateral agenda far from the presidential tweets.

Mexican officials and business interests, with many longtime links to their counterparts in the north, have reached out to U.S. industrialists, lawmakers and others to push back against Trumps agenda. The Mexican advocates have often noted the potentially deleterious effects north of the border if Trump were to proceed with his plans.

Thus, in the critical realm of law enforcement, Mexico has stressed its considerable efforts to contain Central American immigrants along its southern border, amid hints that Trumps policies could jeopardize that cooperation. Central Americans now outnumber Mexican nationals arrested on U.S. territory for illegally crossing into the United States.

When two top Trump envoys, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, visited Mexico City in February, their conciliatory comments were at a notable remove from their boss broadsides against Mexico.

There will be no, repeat no, mass deportations, Kelly said at a news conference. Everything we do  will be done legally and according to human rights, and the legal justice system of the United States.

Mexico promptly rebuffed a U.S. plan to send Central Americans back to Mexico  rather than holding them in U.S. immigration lockups  after they have been detained along the border and are awaiting decisions on asylum applications and other claims.

Even Trumps oft-stated threat to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement  frequently labeled a disaster by Trump  has diminished. The White House said in April that it had now opted for renegotiation of the tripartite trade pact involving the United States, Mexico and Canada. That drew a deep sigh of relief here.

Trump cast the seeming backtracking on NAFTA as a gesture to make all three countries stronger and better.

But U.S. domestic interests  especially in the agricultural, manufacturing and energy sectors  likely played a role in Trumps seeming turnaround. U.S. agri-business and auto manufacturers have benefited greatly from NAFTA. U.S. energy giants, meanwhile, see a potential windfall in the Mexican governments plans to open up its long-protected energy industry.

If they place a tax on Mexican imports, we are going to put one on theirs.  Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray

Despite the lack of public invective from high-level officials here, Mexican authorities have left little doubt that they are ready to retaliate in key sectors should Washington cancel trade deals or impose punitive tariffs on Mexican imports.

If they place a tax on Mexican imports, we are going to put one on theirs, Videgaray, the foreign secretary, said in a private comment to lawmakers that was widely reported here. But better, because we are going to choose which ones hurt.

Mexicos economy is heavily dependent on trade with the United States, recipient of about 80% of Mexicos exports.

Another key source of foreign revenue, more than $25 billion a year, are remittances sent by Mexican immigrants in the United States back to family members and others in Mexico. The Trump administration has not moved forward on an idea floated during the campaign to place a tax on such remittances to help pay for the wall  an idea widely denounced in Mexico.

Mexico also has discovered that it has more ways to counter Trump than first thought. Talk here of importing more foodstuffs from South America as an alternative to the U.S. market, or boycotting U.S. corn  a more than $2 billion-a-year business for U.S. farmers  clearly resonated in the U.S. Midwest.

Mexican corn is displayed at Zandunga restaurant in Oaxaca city, Mexico, on March 1. (Omar Torres / AFP/Getty Images)

I think what has happened is that Mr. Trump is now faced with the reality of having to respond to very complex public policy issues and widening resistance to his designs in the United States, said Tony Payan, who heads the Mexico Center at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy. By the sheer force of different groups coming to him, and pulling for their interests, I guess he is somehow beginning to have doubts about whether it is that simple.

On both sides of the border, however, experts have cautioned that the Trump effect continues to hover over U.S.-Mexico dealings and that his perceived animus toward Mexico could be revived at any moment.

Mexico right now may be looking a lot safer than it was, but I dont think it can simply rest on its laurels and not think that at any one moment when its politically expedient to him [Trump], that he may come out and rail against Mexico and the binational relationship and trade with Mexico and so on, Payan added. Hes unpredictable.

ALSO

Mexican officials enrage women by suggesting a young victims lifestyle was responsible for her violent death

What its like to report in one of the worlds deadliest places for journalists

Mexican tourists dont want to visit Trumps America. It will cost us billions

Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Twitter: @mcdneville
Peru has lacked the ingredients to make it a global agricultural powerhouse. But investments in irrigation projects and negotiations of trade agreements are changing everything
Trade tensions between Mexico and the US and the continued strong run of Brazilian equities are forcing asset managers to examine their regional strategies. BlackRocks chief investment strategist for Latin America and Iberia, sets out his perspective
All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced.  19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc.
Sorry...

..An error has occured:

If you have any queries about this error, try emailing feedback@mirror.co.uk and we'll do what we can to help you.

ZID:308457493
The Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise is one of 40 hospitals participating in the National Patient Experience Survey, a new nationwide survey asking patients for their views on hospital care.

With an estimated 27,000 patients eligible to participate, approximately 500 of these in the Laois area, this will be the largest single survey of the healthcare system to be conducted in Ireland. All adult patients who spend at least 24 hours in a public hospital and who are discharged during the month of May will be asked to complete the survey.

The National Patient Experience Survey covers all aspects of a patients stay in hospital, including admission and discharge, the ward environment, interaction with staff, and care and treatment. The survey contains 58 tick-box questions and three open-ended questions, where participants have the opportunity to comment on what they found good about the care they received in hospital, and also provide suggestions for improvement.

HIQAs Tracy OCarroll, visiting Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise on Tuesday, encourages all eligible patients in Laois to participate in the survey: "This is a great opportunity for patients to tell us about their hospital experience. By taking part in the National Patient Experience Survey patients can help us to identify areas for improvement, and also tell us the positive work that is carried out every day in Irish hospitals."

Welcoming the launch of the survey, Michael Knowles, General Manager at Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, said: "We are very happy to be part of this important programme. The experience of patients in our hospitals is vital to improving our health service. It is in listening to the feedback and experiences of patients that we can not only enhance the quality and care we provide to patients in Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, but across the wider health service too."

The results of the survey will be used to improve the standard of hospital care for all patients, not just in Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise, but across the country. The responses will help to set priorities for the delivery of better patient-centred care in all Irish hospitals, with the aim of creating more effective and efficient healthcare organisations, both nationally, and in Laois.

The National Patient Experience Survey will allow for comparisons of patient experiences at a hospital-group and national level, but also, for the first time in Ireland, facilitate a comparison with international best practice. Patient experience surveys are regularly conducted in other countries, including Scotland, England, Denmark and New Zealand.

Patients eligible to participate in the National Patient Experience Survey will receive a survey pack in the post approximately two weeks after their discharge from Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise. This pack contains the survey, an information leaflet and a Freepost envelope in which to return the completed survey. The survey can also be completed online up until 26 July 2017.
Archbishop Thomas White, who has died at the age of 85, was a pioneering representative of the Vatican during a critical decade in the turbulent history of two East African nations, as well as serving in several Asian and Central/South American postings.

A native of Durrow, he was was ordained in Rome in 1956 and after postgraduate studies in Canon Law, was immediately recruited by the Vatican Diplomatic Service. He served as official, counsellor and head of mission for the next forty years, retiring in 1996 as Apostolic Nuncio to New Zealand.

Born on 12th. August 1931, Thomas White was a son of William and Bridget White, who operated a hotel, grocery and bar, an enterprise that now trades as the Castle Arms Hotel, in the Laois town. William was from Errill and Bridget from Co. Waterford, and they raised a family of three boys and two girls.

Two have predeceased the archbishop: Sean, who became an international publicist, writer and editor, and latterly an academic, died in 1996, and May, who was married to the actor T. P. McKenna, died in London in 2007.

After his early education at Cullohill National School, the future prelate studied at St. Kierans College, where he had an outstanding academic and sporting record, including membership of the colleges senior hurling team (Leinster champions in 1949 and 1950) and the winning Leinster interprovincial hurling side in 1950, when ten of the fifteen players were from St. Kierans.

He was one of a handful of priests ordained for the diocese of Ossory in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when there was a surplus of vocations on the home mission.

He was intended to succeed the ailing Fr. Pat O'Farrell as a professor of Canon Law at the seminary in St. Kierans. Bishop Patrick Collier fought the Vaticans decision to move the newly-graduated Fr. White to its diplomatic service, but in the end the Vatican won.

There followed a career that saw him first posted as a junior official to eastern Africa, when it was a vast diplomatic territory that stretched from north to south and east to west of that continent (it was divided during his term there).

Over the next twenty years he had appointments in central and south America, the international organisations in Geneva, the Secretariat of State at the Vatican and Taiwan, where, as a 36-year-old monsignor, he was charge daffaires in a mission that had to maintain delicate relations with both the Republic of China and Communist China, as well as Hong Kong.

In 1978 Monsignor White was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Rwanda and raised to the episcopate as titular Archbishop of Sabiona. His consecration in Rome was attended by many from his native area. His time in the small east African nation was difficult but rewarding, and in addition to focusing on efforts to improve the spiritual and physical well-being of the impoverished people, he was also able to visit projects supported by Irish charities, including a turf harvesting initiative.

On his transfer to Ethiopia in 1983, he was faced with a more critical situation, directing during his six years there the effort of Catholic and other charities to counter the effects of famine. As head of the diplomatic corps he was also responsible for coordinating the contributions of many countries in this regard.

He moved to New Zealand in 1989 and combined this assignment with responsibility for the island nations of Fiji and Nauru. After his retirement from the papal diplomatic service in 1996, Archbishop White carried out several important missions for the Vatican Secretariat of State, including liaison work with the church of the Syro-Malabar rite in India.

In retirement, Archbishop White lived initially in Dublin, then at St. Kierans College in Kilkenny, and finally at Gowan Abbey Nursing Home.

He is survived by a brother Liam (Willie) who became a leading fashion and news features photographer and now lives in retirement in London; a sister Alice, who ran a pharmacy in Wicklow, but relocated to Kilkenny in recent years with her husband Eddie OByrne; and by more than a dozen nieces and nephews.

Reposing at St. Kierans College Chapel from 4pm on Tuesday with Funeral Prayers at 7pm followed by removal to St. Marys Cathedral, Kilkenny. Concelebrated Requiem Mass on Wednesday at 12 noon. Interment afterwards in the Cathedral Grounds.



A NOTE ON THE IRISH INVOLVEMENT IN THE VATICAN DIPLOMATIC SERVICE

Archbishop Thomas White was only the second Irishman in the history of the church to have served as a papal nuncio in a country where he did not already hold an episcopal rank: the first was a Clareman named John Gordon (1912-1981) who served in Thailand, South Africa, India and the Netherlands.

Although Gordon was the first Irishman to be appointed to a mainline diplomatic post, two other Irishmen had already served as nuncios: John Collins (1889-1961), a Westmeath-born member of the Society of African Missions, was a pioneering pastor in Liberia, where he became Prefect and then Vicar Apostolic (first of Liberia and then of Monrovia, its capital), but also served as Apostolic Internuncio from 1951 to 1961, when he was succeeded by Newry-born Francis Carroll (1912-80) from the same order, who became an Archbishop and later Pro-Nuncio in 1966 (he resigned his vicariate in 1976 and his diplomatic position in 1979, one year before his death at the age of 68).

Several Irishmen have served as papal nuncios since, including Archbishop Patrick Coveney, a brother of former government minister the late Hugh Coveney and uncle of the present Minister for Housing Simon Coveney. Archbishop Coveney succeeded Archbishop White in both Ethiopia and New Zealand and retired in 2009 as Apostolic Nuncio to Greece. The others were Archbishop Michael Courtney from Nenagh (murdered in Burundi in 2003) and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (Papal Representative and Permanent Observer at the UN and its agencies in Geneva and now Archbishop of Dublin).

OSSORY PRIESTS SERVING AS BISHOPS ELSEWHERE

Archbishop White is also one of a small number of priests ordained for service in the episcopal see of Ossory who have served as bishops other than on their home diocese. Ossory priests have been bishops of Galway (Martin Drennan, 2005-2016); Waterford (Patrick Kelly, 1822-1829) and Ferns (James Staunton 1938-1963) in Ireland and of Lismore, Australia (John Carroll 1909-1949).

A fifth Ossory priest (Robert Healy) became an auxiliary bishop (1975-2000) of Perth, Australia after being incardinated into that diocese in 1950. (Two former bishops of Ossory, John Troy and Patrick Moran, not originally ordained for service in the diocese, have served as Archbishops of Dublin and Sydney respectively at various times).
A Kildare student will represent Ireland at a major international science competition in the USA next week.

SciFest national champion, Caolann Brady, from Donadea, who sits her Leaving Certificate this year at St. Wolstans Community School, Celbridge, will represent Ireland at ISEF 2017, which will be held in Los Angeles California next week.

This Saturday, Caolann (17) will head off for a week to the Intel ISEF, an international pre-college science competition, involving some 1,700 students from over 75 countries competing for a prize fund totalling $4million.

The SciFest programme is funded primarily by Science Foundation Ireland, Boston Scientific and Intel Ireland.

Caolann, daughter of Vanessa and Niall, and sister of Odhran (15) and Fionnan (13), secured her Los Angeles place when she won the top award, the Science Foundation Ireland Intel ISEF award, at the SciFest 2016 national final last November.

Her project focussed on the natural treatment of asthma through humming and breathing techniques.

Caolann was born with asthma and has suffered many asthma attacks which were treated by nebulisers. This led to her award-winning project Hum your way to better health, which found that the prescribed humming technique improves lung function across a range of ages, genders and breathing capabilities by an average of 10%.

Research has shown that the ventilation of the paranasal sinuses (inhaling and exhaling) increases greatly when a person practised specifically defined humming techniques.

Caolann set about exploring whether this was true or not by conducting a series of experiments with 175 participants.

She told the Leader, however,, that she did not have a lot of help from the pharmaceutical industry and believes there could be some fear that the technique she researched could lead to reduced sales for pharma companies.

Along with a few other Irish students, and St Wolstans teacher, Karen OCallaghan, heading to LA with her, she will know her fate, prize wise, on Friday week, after judging on Wednesday, May 17. I am not really expecting too much, said Caolann, who wants to study medicine, subject to her Leaving Cert results.

Caolann said she was looking forward to California and showing her work to some of the top STEM professionals in the world. She said she was grateful to her family, friends, teachers and everyone at SciFest who have supported her.

After the Leaving Cert, she will be lazing around for a bit before heading to the Gaeltacht, where she has been a regular in recent years. Caolann is almost fluent in Irish.

Apart from the trip expenses being paid, there is around 400 spending money for the week.

SciFest CEO, Sheila Porter said they are very proud of Caolann and her study. I am sure she will enjoy it hugely. SciFest is all about encouraging a love of science, technology, engineering and maths among young people and Caolann really embodies all of this. I look forward to seeing what she will achieve in the coming weeks, months and years.
Yesterday, Monday, was a remarkable day for the people of Knock and the Irish diaspora in New York as Fr. Richard Gibbons, P.P., and Rector of Knock Shrine led a group out from Ireland West Airport to New York with Aer Lingus in glorious sunshine.

Nice day for a trip to New York! Glorious weather at take off for Aer Lingus flight to New York  pic.twitter.com/UX2OELhyJZ  Ireland West Airport (@Irelandwest) May 8, 2017

For the last two years, Knock Shrine and Ireland West Airport has welcomed pilgrimages in from New York and Boston and today had the privilege of bringing the people of Knock and the West and North West of Ireland across the waters for a special and historically unique 6-day trip. The primary purpose of the visit is to have the remains of John Curry, the youngest person to witness the Knock Apparition of 1879, re-interred from the current location at Pine Lawn Cemetery, Long Island to St. Patricks old Cathedral, New York.

John Curry was just five years old when he, along with fourteen others witnessed a miraculous phenomenon at the gable wall of the Parish Church. Little did he know at that time what life would bring his way, however he like many others at the time left Ireland for New York where he remained until his death in 1943.

The remains of John Curry will be brought to old St. Patricks Cathedral, Manhattan on Saturday 13thMay where a special requiem Mass will be celebrated. It is a great honour bestowed by the Archbishop of New York for Knock Shrine and for John Currys family to have his remains transferred to the historic centre of the Irish.

Fr. Richard Gibbons, P.P., and Rector of Knock Shrine commented, I am delighted to be leading this historic trip to New York today. The significance of the visit is two-fold in that it will recognise John Currys place as a witness and native of Knock and also pay tribute to others like him, the forgotten Irish who faced the desolation of leaving home never to return. This unique trip provides an opportunity to take part in a special, once in a lifetime trip flying out from Ireland West Airport to New York and take in the various sights and places of significance and to be part of something very unique and special.

Joe Kennedy, Chairman, Ireland West Airport, who was part of the travelling party said I am delighted to be part of yet another historic service with Aer Lingus to New York today, which is another milestone in the relationship between the airport and Aer Lingus. This follows on from the hugely successful charter programmes from New York in 2015 and Boston in 2016 and further highlights the possibilities of pilgrimage growth and the strategic importance of Ireland West Airport to the future of Ireland's National Marian Shrine. We are looking forward to an enjoyable and historic week in New York.
Gardai have arrested a man and woman as part of an investigation into an alleged car hijacking incident in Sligo, yesterday, Monday.

The car was taken at approximately 7.20pm during an incident at Wine Street car park. A male aged in his 70s had his car keys and car taken when he was approached and threatened by a male and female. The alarm was raised and the car was followed by Gardai and intercepted in Carrick-on-Shannon a short time later.

The Leitrim Observer understands that the car was driven the wrong way up the one way system on Main Street in the town was then pursued up Summerhill and out towards Kiltoghert.

A man and woman (both 30 years of age) were arrested at the scene. They were taken to Ballymote Garda Station and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 for questioning.



They both appeared before a sitting of Ballina District Court earlier today where they were charged in connection with the incident.



The injured man was taken to Sligo General Hospital for treatment and was later discharged.



The investigation is ongoing and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Investigating Gardai are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sligo Garda Station 071-9157000 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

It should be noted that this was about the time that many were paying their respects at the home of the late Joe Flynn at St Mary's Close.
Last year may have been jam packed for the 1916 centenary but Leitrim Tourism have also a big year planned for 2017.

Tourism Officer Sinead McDermott briefed council members on the plans for the county this year and they were impressed by her line out.

Leitrim enjoyed a fantastic marketing campaign in 2016 with bus adverts, radio and press coverage. Ms McDermott explained that inviting journalists down to flavour the county has allowed Leitrim to crop up time and time again in Top 10 and Top 20 lists.

Tourist Information Centres opened before Easter and the Carrick-on-Shannon Centre has already seen a 20% increase in visitors seeking information, mostly families.

Leitrim Tourism is excited to be involved in a new exhibition and information centre at Knock airport which is due to open later this year. The county is already featured in the Go West magazine and on two videos displayed at the airport.

12 SMEs in the county have been approved as part of the Slow Adventure in the Northern Territory (SAINT) programme. Leitrim is the Slow Adventure tourism destination in Ireland. Northern Ireland, Scotland and other Nordic countries are part of the programme. There will be a launch later this year with journalists and bloggers invited to attend and videos created to capture activities around the county.

Cllr Sinead McDermott asked about promotion for Leitrims coastline. She said most people dont know we have one and it should be part of the Wild Atlantic Way

Despite issues with access, Ms McDermott said Tullaghan strand is promoted as part of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Sinead McDermott said Failte Ireland are still trying to figure out whether the rest of the county currently promoted as part of Lakelands will be marketed as the Wild Atlantic Way or Irelands Ancient East.

Cllr Des Guckian asked about numbers cruising, Sinead McDermott said cruising numbers are up according to boat hire companies. She said to further compound this Emerald Star are investing in 20 more boats, due to be launched in June.

Leitrim Tourism are trying to organise with some pubs to have earlier traditional music sessions. She said 11pm at night is too late for tourists to enjoy.

Cllr Sean McGowan asked about Angling Tourism. Sinead McDermott said Ballinamore Tourism and Angling have recently secured the return of the angling competition King of Clubs. They are due to return to Leitrim in 2018. She said this is very valuable to the area, as well as drawing seasoned anglers, there is much publicity surrounding it.

Cllr Finola Armstrong said Leitrim has come on leaps and bounds and she noted that social media is very positive towards Leitrim.

The Lough Rynn Regatta is expecting 800 participants from 40 clubs this weekend. The councillors agreed that if they could get good weather the visitors would flock to Leitrim.
Tim Farron has been in Scotland today. He started off this morning in East Dunbartonshire with Jo Swinson, went on to North East Fife with Willie Rennie and local candidate Elizabeth Riches and ended the day in Edinburgh West, at Davidsons Mains Primary School in the Almond Ward with Alex Cole-Hamilton and Christine Jardine. As Alex pointed out in his speech, 13 months ago, that area had no Liberal Democrat representation. Thanks to the power of that #libdemfightback, we now have an MSP and Cllrs Kevin Lang and Louise Young elected with a massive majority.

I was there, for the first time in a long time doing duty as a Lib Dem diamond bearer behind the leader as he spoke to a crowd of around 100 activists.

The advance team spent a while getting us in the right position for the camera shots and got us to practice our cheering.

Then we saw The Bus reversing down the narrow school lane.

And then he was here.

Alex and Christine spoke first and then Tim delivered what in the West Wing would be called modified stump  our basic pitch with embellishments for topical events (immigration targets today) and venue). Its absolutely bang on.

Our view of Alex speaking

Tim speaking. He commented that he had to get used to making speeches with his back to people

Afterwards Tim hung around for a bit to pose for photos with various candidates and to chat with members.

And North East Edinburgh and Leith member Caroline gave him a Lib Dem cupcake which he looked mighty pleased with:

A little observation. Back in 2014/15, I used to joke that Willie Rennie and Nick Clegg were in uniform as they always seemed to wear the same tie in the Scottish and UK versions of our party election broadcasts. Tim Farron is wearing a teal coloured tie here. The funny thing is that Willie Rennie was wearing a very similar tie on Saturday when he was filming our Party Election Broadcast. Why do they do this? Is it seriously co-ordinated?

.@willie_rennie brandishes a bundle of newspapers & says we need to work hard to win over the next few weeks pic.twitter.com/pOCj5di61n  Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) May 6, 2017

And on a similar theme, I dont think Ive ever coveted an item of clothing quite as much as CJs jacket:





And Christine Longworth from the Tour Team had gone the full yellow for her nails.

The bus is pretty impressive by the way:

I was surprised by how shiny its wheels were:

After 12 hours, 3 events and 3 visits, the day was finally over. Only a month to go

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Theres always been a tinge of otherworldly eccentricity about some liberals- the ability to hold a conversation about the merits of site-value rating while simultaneously clutching a bundle of ready-to -go Focuses- the blending of the theoretical with the practical.

Now is the time for the practical. Here in Southport we are fighting off the Tory hordes with our excellent candidate Sue McGuire  and we all know that as a party we need more women MPs.

We need more MPs periodand Southport has provided the party with one since 1987. Its a winnable seat that has to be won and has never been won easily. Its one of only two held in the North West.

Every rational activist in the North West should be asking themselves When am I going to go to Southport and possibly How often?. Those troubled by the current ,relative lack of Lib Dem women MPs should be asking themselves what practical help can I give ?

The threat to our electoral prospects is never people actually being inactive but the super-optimism that sees Tory strongholds and Labour heartlands toppling like ninepins to a Lib Dem surge in one electoral cycle. The threat is not concentrating our firepower but exerting huge amounts of energy in pursuit of a good second place.

The County Council elections gave us reasons for optimism but not super-optimism. The best thing anyone can do in seat where the odds are frankly against us is to ensure we win in seats where we stand a good chance. Victories help us all- second places dont.

When you are in a more difficult seat ,it helps to point to somewhere not too far away where Lib Dems win but it helps even more if you assist that victory.

Sad to say -pleasing endorsements on this site, Facebook likes, good wishes etc dont see off the Tories in the hard world of British politics. Its not practical for most activists and members to come to Southport everyday- much as we would be happy to see you but book some time in.

Campaigning in your own neck of the woods will always be easier/more convenient but theres an argument here from self-interest. Coming to sunny Southport and helping elect a Lib Dem MP is not only good for your health but good for the credibility and political health of the whole party. We often urge people to make their votes count  time to make our activism count too methinks .

* John Pugh was Liberal Democrat MP for Southport until 2017 and was elected as a Councillor for the Dukes ward of Sefton Borough Council on 2 November 2017.
There was joy in the hearts of liberals across Europe on Sunday night when the French results came through. It was certainly worrying that more than a third of voters chose a far-right extremist, but it shows that populism can be beaten.

Tim Farron was quick to congratulate Emmanuel Macron and said that his values could win the day here too:

I would like to congratulate Emmanuel Macron on his election as Frances new President. This is not just a victory for France, but a victory for Britain and the liberal values we hold dear. A National Front win would have posed a grave threat to our national interest. Emmanuel Macron has kept the wolves from our door, but we must never be complacent in the fight against racism, fascism and the far-right. The liberal values of tolerance, openness and free trade that triumphed in France today can triumph in Britain too. Together we can change Britains future, stand up to Theresa Mays hard Brexit agenda and keep our country open, tolerant and united.

Ambafrance has an English translation of Macrons victory speech. Heres an extract.

Im aware of the divisions in our nation which have led some people to extreme votes. I respect them. Im aware of the anger, anxiety and doubts that a large proportion of you have also expressed. Its my responsibility to listen to them while protecting the most fragile, by better organizing solidarity, by combating all forms of inequality and discrimination, by implacably and resolutely ensuring your security, and by guaranteeing the nations unity. For behind each of the words Ive just uttered, I know there are faces: women and men, children and families, entire lives; there are you and yours. This evening Im addressing you all, all of you together, the people of France. We have duties to our country. Were the heirs to a great history and to the great humanist message sent to the world. We must pass on this history and this message, first of all to our children, but even more importantly we must carry them into the future and give them new vigour. Ill defend France, its vital interests, its image and its message: I make that commitment to you. Ill defend Europe, the common destiny the peoples of our continent have given themselves. Our civilization is at stake, our way of living, of being free, of promoting our values, our common enterprises and our hopes. Ill work to rebuild the link between Europe and the people its made up of, between Europe and citizens. On your behalf, I send the worlds nations the fraternal greetings of France. I say to their leaders that France will be active and mindful of peace, of the balance of power, of international cooperation, of respect for the commitments made on development and the fight against global warming. I tell them all that France will be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, both on its soil and in international action. However long this battle lasts, well fight it without growing weak. My dear fellow citizens, a new page in our history has been turned this evening. I want it to be that of renewed hope and confidence. The renewal of our public life will be a requirement for everyone as from tomorrow. Raising moral standards in our public life, recognizing pluralism, and democratic vitality will be the bedrock of my action from the first day. I wont let any obstacle get in my way. Ill work with determination and with due respect for everyone, because through work, school and culture, well build a better future.

* Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary in print, on air or online.
The frantic and febrile environment of a general election isnt always conducive to clear-headed thinking, but I fear we Lib Dems are guilty of some serious fuzzy-headedness that even a general election shouldnt excuse.

This is the background. We tumbled from 57 seats to 8 at the last election. This election is all about limiting Theresa Mays majority, and under a voting system that doesnt help us. If were smart about it, we could boost our seats to the point where we have a healthy bloc that will recapture the oxygen of publicity needed to push liberalism to a wider audience. If were not smart, our number of parliamentary seats could actually go down.

Against this background, the Greens have offered to stand down in about a dozen seats if we stand down in one. Sounds like a good offer, eh? Except the local Lib Dem party in the one seat were being asked to stand down in has said no.

That seat is the Isle of Wight, and its important to stress that the local party there is being very honourable. Its brief is to fight for liberalism, and as we had the MP there until 2001, its potentially fertile ground for us. So IoW Lib Dems have quite reasonably said this is an election where we need to rebuild the Lib Dem base, and in principle we should support that.

But given where were starting from, given how much is at stake, given that it could make the difference between having a single-digit number of MPs and a number in the 20s, someone should be guiding the Isle of Wight party about the wider implications their decision could have.

Lets be clear  were talking about the Greens here, not Labour. Several respondents to my posts on LDV have made it clear they dont consider Labour a progressive party. Thats an argument for another day, but even with the many Labour people I share a lot of values with, I dont believe we should be making any deals with a Labour led by Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. I think we should be receptive to the people Corbyn has attracted into politics, as many of them are looking for that something better that we also seek, but I see very little in common between the policies of Corbyn, McDonnell et al and liberalism.

Which is why Im baffled at our approach to another seat which is crying out for us to be smart. In Jeremy Hunts constituency South West Surrey, Louise Irvine is standing as an independent National Health Action Party candidate. Shes the GP who successfully fought the downgrading of casualty and maternity units at Lewisham hospital, and beat Hunt in court. She could beat Hunt again if she had a clear run, and the Greens have already said they will stand aside.

Weve said we might, but only if Labour does. This is misguided! We should not make any decision conditional on Labour. We are fighting hard to highlight that this election is about more than Brexit, including the likelihood that the Tories will take another axe to the NHS. So if we stand down, and Labour doesnt, we can rightly claim the moral high ground on health.

I realise cross-party cooperation is difficult, and I myself have argued that it doesnt always have to be about standing down candidates. But given the unique situation were in, the fact that even paperless candidates attract enough votes to affect results (as we saw in the recent council elections), and the absence of a fair voting system, we need to be clearer-headed in our thinking.

* Chris Bowers is a two-term district councillor and four-time parliamentary candidate. He writes on cross-party cooperation and in 2021 was the lead author of the New Liberal Manifesto.
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...
A LIMERICK city pub has posted CCTV footage of a young man causing damage to its flower bed outside the premises over the weekend.

Mothers Macs pub on High Street posted the CCTV footage on its Facebook page on Sunday, showing a man uproot a plant from the pubs flower bed in the early hours of the morning.

It said on Facebook: Mother wasn't happy this morning to find one of her plants missing. Maybe your mother might see this and have a word!

The Facebook post has been shared more than 100 times, with a large number of social media users hitting out at the individual, who was accompanied by another male.

Adding in the comments section, Mother Macs said: Mother is disappointed because we are proud of our city, we try our best to promote the city and then individuals have disrespect for our city.

Metropolitan mayor, Cllr Michael Hourigan condemned the anti-social behaviour.

Limerick city is now a purple flag city. A purple flag city means a safe city, and a safe city is very important for the people of Limerick, and also for the people who come into the city.

"And it is very important for those people to feel safe in the city, because that is one of the attractions of a purple flag city.

Purple Flag areas have all reported a consistent increase in footfall and a decrease in crime within the evening and night-time economy.

We have a lot of nice things happening, as we recently saw with Riverfest, where we attracted thousands of people into the city. And we need to be perceived as a safe city, the Mayor said.
MANY people taking part in Darkness into Light at the weekend had deep personal reasons for completing the walk.

Up to 10,000 people gathered outside Thomond Park in the early hours of Saturday morning for the symbolic event for the suicide prevention charity Pieta House, which has a centre in Mungret. Thousands more took part in Kilmallock, Newcastle West and for the first time this year, Murroe.

Katie Keane, 22, from Dooradoyle, completed the six-kilometre route in the city with her boyfriend Kelvin.

I have been a patient in Pieta House, and put simply, they have changed my life. They have done amazing work with me, and they really need more money to help people like me who are in dark places, she said.

Brian O'Connor from Thomondgate paid the money to do the walk for charity following the support a friend received from Pieta House.

Our good friend has been to Pieta House in Dublin 14 times due to an issue he had with chronic depression. Finally, he is over it. But we want to get out there and say to people: if you have an issue, get out and talk about it, said Brian, who walked with his friend Martin Doyle.

Twenty-five year old Ciara Tutty from Raheen added: Its a massive event for Limerick. The suicide rate is so high here. Its an issue which hits home for everyone. It has a really good meaning, walking into sunlight.

For David Neeson, Dooradoyle, who travelled with sister Claire and their dog Roxy, there is a need to tackle the taboo around suicide.

I hope this event might make people realise it is okay to talk. Its okay to express themselves. There are close to 10,000 people here to show they care. A lot of these people will have been directly affected by suicide, David told the Limerick Leader.

Nurse Sheena Connolly from Monaleen has seen first hand the effects suicide has on families, due to her work as an intensive care nurse at University Hospital Limerick.

Its something youd come into contact with every day. The impact it has on families is devastating, and you just have to try and support them as best you can. It is so inspiring to see such a big turnout, but its also quite sad and poignant, she said.

Sean Boland, walking with his dog Honey added: It's such a terrible tragedy when people kill themselves. This is to help out and show that there is help available to people. A lot of people empathise with families who have lost people.

Now in its seventh year in Limerick, it is estimated around 130,000 was raised for Pieta House, which has a centre in Mungret. All the money raised locally will remain in the area.

We get unbelievable support from the people of Limerick. They always come out in their thousands to support this event. It is just overwhelming and unbelievable. Its just getting bigger and bigger. Every year is always emotional for so many people, said Kieran OBrien, national events manager for Pieta House after the walk had reached a finish.
A FATHER-of four who was observed by gardai hanging from the roof of a taxi which was transporting his partner has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

Limerick District Court was told Darren OLoughlin, aged 21, who has an address at Cliona Park Moyross was observed by gardai hanging from the vehice at Glentworth Street at around 12.25am on July 4, last.

When gardai activated the lights of the patrol car, the driver proceeded to nearby Henry Street station  stopping outside..

O'Loughlin, who then jumped off the roof, was intoxicated and aggressive as he was being arrested. He also refused to provide gardai with his name and address.

He was hanging onto the roof of a moving taxi. It then stopped outside Henry Street garda station. The defendant then jumped from the roof, said Sergeant John Moloney.

Solicitor Darragh McCarthy said O'Loughlin, who has four young children was drunk when he jumped on the taxi's roof after he had a row with his partner who had flagged down the taxi to take her home.

She got into a taxi and he latched onto the roof. It was bizarre, he said.

They are still in a relationship, he added.

OLoughlin, the court heard, has 12 previous convictions but has not been in trouble in recent months. He works as a fisherman in West Cork.

He was very drunk; He apologises to his partner, the gardai, and the taxi driver, said Mr McCarthy who told the court his client recognises what he did was wrong:

He said spending a short time in custody following his arrest had been an eye opener for him.

Shaking her head, Judge Marian O'Leary described O'Loughlin's behaviour as shocking.

He was a danger to himself and other road users. It's very serious, she added.

Judge O'Leary adjourned sentencing to July 26, requesting that a garda progress report be prepared for that date.
Apr 28, 2021, 4 AM

Single stamps and sets prepared as auction lots for the April 22 Stamp Out Cancer auction, an annual event organized by the Quad City Stamp Club to benefit the American Cancer Society.

By Steven J. Bahnsen

The Quad City Stamp Club (American Philatelic Society Chapter 249) held its Stamp Out Cancer auction for the 40th consecutive year April 22.

An enthusiastic group of live bidders combined with some 40 mail and online bidders to raise more than $9,200 for the American Cancer Societys Quad Cities Chapter in Iowa and Illinois.

Since the clubs charity auctions began, they have raised more than $280,000 for cancer research.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

This years sale was a larger-than-average event, with 630 lots of United States and worldwide stamps and postal history hammered down between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the basement of Faith Lutheran Church in Moline, Ill.

Four auctioneers took turns in one-hour shifts punctuated by short breaks.

One of the more interesting lots was a box filled with hundreds of U.S. souvenir sheets dating from the 1930s, including dozens of examples of the same sheets. All were post office fresh with perfect gum.

The lot had a face value of almost $220 that could be used for postage today, but a lucky bidder took it home for just $130.

One trademark of the Stamp Out Cancer auction is how often desirable material goes for bargain prices, regardless if the lots consist of mint or used stamps, singles, plate blocks, full panes, or postal history.

Two auctions are conducted simultaneously during this event, with a minimum of confusion.

Worldwide material is offered on one side of the room, while U.S. items are auctioned on the other side. Some bidders sit in the middle so they can participate on both sides, often with great success.

Mail and online bids came in from a dozen states. Thirteen of these bidders were successful, meaning their lots will be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

Quad City Stamp Club members underwrite the printing and rental expenses of the auction.

All proceeds will be given to American Cancer Society representatives at the clubs June 8 meeting at Saint Marys Catholic Church, 410 10th St., in Moline.

To donate to the 2018 auction, send material to Quad City Stamp Club, Box 1301, Moline, IL 61266.
May 3, 2021, 5 PM

The Canadarm first-day cover pictures a small inukshuk-shaped creature assembled from bits of historic Canadian technical and scientific achievements of the modern era, including the C-58 Walkie-Talkie, the first external pacemaker, and the BlackBerry Sma

The third of 10 stamps to be unveiled in the Canada 150 series features the Canadarm deployed on NASAs space shuttles from 1981 to the end of the shuttle program in 2011.

The Canadarm stamp was unveiled May 4 on the Internet, in a video made six days previously at a Toronto public school. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (right) participated in the unveiling.

While the stamp honoring the Canadian Constitution pictures the royal coat of arms of Canada, the official first-day cover depicts Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms, somewhat analogous to the United States Bill of Rights.

The stamp recalling the 1982 patriation of the Canadian Constitution was unveiled May 3 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa by Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin (right), president and chief executive officer of Canada Post Deepak Chopra (near left), and

The second of 10 stamps from Canada Post highlighting events of the past 50 years commemorates the 1982 patriation of the Canadian Constitution. This maple-leaf-shaped stamp was unveiled May 3 and will be issued June 1.

By Fred Baumann

Unveiled live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and on the Internet May 3 and 4, stamps recalling important innovations in 1982 and 1981, respectively, became the second and third stamp designs revealed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian nationhood.

These stamps honor the Constitution of 1982 and the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System known as Canadarm.

As part of the celebration of Canadas 150th anniversary, Canada Post is unveiling 10 stamps between April 27 and June 1. All 10 stamps will be issued June 1.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Canada Post intends them to capture unforgettable moments of the last 50 years as its observance of the Canadian sesquicentennial. The stamps are shaped like Canadas maple leaf.

On May 3, Beverley McLachlin, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, took part in the unveiling of a stamp commemorating the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, which took place April 7, 1982.

On the steps of the Center Block of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, McLachlin spoke briefly of the importance of this foundational document to Canadas emerging identity and sense of self.

The nondenominated, permanent-rate stamp depicts the royal coat of arms of Canada, a symbol of the nation since 1921. Canada Posts official first-day cover for the stamp, however, depicts Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A brief synopsis is provided on the Library and Archives of Canadas website: By 1967, Canada had its own national symbols and possessed all the powers of an independent nation, with one exception: the power to amend its own Constitution, which could only be done by the British Parliament. Repatriating the Constitution was a long and complicated process.

The signing of the proclamation on April 17, 1982, marked the end of efforts by many successive governments. The new Constitution was accompanied by The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and an amending formula that would no longer require an appeal to the British Parliament.

On May 4, Canada Post President Deepak Chopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen revealed the third Canada 150 stamp, bearing an image of Canadas most famous robotics accomplishment  the Canadarm.

In fact, the unveiling itself was a technical achievement of a sort, having been filmed at Glen Ames Senior Public School April 28.

Hansen was at the school to meet students from its robotics club preparing to travel to California to compete in an international robotics competition. Their challenge was to design, build, and program a robot made of Lego bricks to solve a problem.

What they came up with was PetPortion, a robot that manages a pets weight by automatically giving it the proper amount of food based on its weight and daily exercise.

Canadarm made its debut Nov. 13, 1981, during the second mission of the space shuttle Columbia.

The Canada Space Agency said, The Shuttles Canadarm wrapped up 30 years of successful operations when it was retired along with the Space Shuttle program after mission STS-135, which marked the robotic arms 90th flight.

Although Canadarm is retired, the technology lives on. NASA had this to say: Canadarm, the robotic arm used on the Space Shuttle to transfer cargo and release satellites, was the first of its kind. Built in Canada and sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, it can reach and move in ways that humans cant. Canadarm has been such a success that it led to the bigger and better Canadarm2, which is a part of the ISS [International Space Station].

Canadarm also maneuvered astronauts and cargo, in addition to satellites.

Skeptics may regard the staged stamp reveal as a gimmick, but in fact the filmed event at a Toronto school saluted Canadian technical innovation and proficiency past (the Canadarm), present (astronaut Hansen), and future (those grade-school, pet-feeding robot builders).

The stamp depicts the Canadarm deployed from the space shuttle bay in Earth orbit, with the planets surface visible below.

Links to videos, photos, and stamp and first-day cover art for the Expo 67 stamp picturing its on-site Habitat residence unveiled April 27 in Montreal, along with the same for the 1982 Constitution and 1981 Canadarm stamps are available from Canada Post.

The fourth stamp in the Canada 150 pane of 10 will be unveiled Tuesday, May 9.

Roy White and Liz Wurzinger of Subplot Design Inc. in Vancouver, British Columbia, designed the stamps. They were printed by the Lowe-Martin Group. Each stamp measures 40 millimeters by 40mm.

The stamps will be available in self-adhesive form in 400,000 booklets of 10, and in 80,000 gummed panes of 10 stamps with circle perforations 4.5 cm in diameter, according to Canada Post.

A total of 10,000 packs of 10 official FDCs  one for each stamp design and each canceled in Ottawa  also will be made available.

By Fred Baumann

Unveiled live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and on the Internet May 3 and 4, stamps recalling important innovations in 1982 and 1981, respectively, became the second and third stamp designs revealed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian nationhood.

These stamps honor the Constitution of 1982 and the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System known as Canadarm.

As part of the celebration of Canadas 150th anniversary, Canada Post is unveiling 10 stamps between April 27 and June 1. All 10 stamps will be issued June 1.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Canada Post intends them to capture unforgettable moments of the last 50 years as its observance of the Canadian sesquicentennial. The stamps are shaped like Canadas maple leaf.

On May 3, Beverley McLachlin, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, took part in the unveiling of a stamp commemorating the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, which took place April 7, 1982.

On the steps of the Center Block of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, McLachlin spoke briefly of the importance of this foundational document to Canadas emerging identity and sense of self.

The nondenominated, permanent-rate stamp depicts the royal coat of arms of Canada, a symbol of the nation since 1921. Canada Posts official first-day cover for the stamp, however, depicts Canadas Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A brief synopsis is provided on the Library and Archives of Canadas website: By 1967, Canada had its own national symbols and possessed all the powers of an independent nation, with one exception: the power to amend its own Constitution, which could only be done by the British Parliament. Repatriating the Constitution was a long and complicated process.

The signing of the proclamation on April 17, 1982, marked the end of efforts by many successive governments. The new Constitution was accompanied by The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and an amending formula that would no longer require an appeal to the British Parliament.

On May 4, Canada Post President Deepak Chopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen revealed the third Canada 150 stamp, bearing an image of Canadas most famous robotics accomplishment  the Canadarm.

In fact, the unveiling itself was a technical achievement of a sort, having been filmed at Glen Ames Senior Public School April 28.

Hansen was at the school to meet students from its robotics club preparing to travel to California to compete in an international robotics competition. Their challenge was to design, build, and program a robot made of Lego bricks to solve a problem.

What they came up with was PetPortion, a robot that manages a pets weight by automatically giving it the proper amount of food based on its weight and daily exercise.

Canadarm made its debut Nov. 13, 1981, during the second mission of the space shuttle Columbia.

The Canada Space Agency said, The Shuttles Canadarm wrapped up 30 years of successful operations when it was retired along with the Space Shuttle program after mission STS-135, which marked the robotic arms 90th flight.

Although Canadarm is retired, the technology lives on. NASA had this to say: Canadarm, the robotic arm used on the Space Shuttle to transfer cargo and release satellites, was the first of its kind. Built in Canada and sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency, it can reach and move in ways that humans cant. Canadarm has been such a success that it led to the bigger and better Canadarm2, which is a part of the ISS [International Space Station].

Canadarm also maneuvered astronauts and cargo, in addition to satellites.

Skeptics may regard the staged stamp reveal as a gimmick, but in fact the filmed event at a Toronto school saluted Canadian technical innovation and proficiency past (the Canadarm), present (astronaut Hansen), and future (those grade-school, pet-feeding robot builders).

The stamp depicts the Canadarm deployed from the space shuttle bay in Earth orbit, with the planets surface visible below.

Links to videos, photos, and stamp and first-day cover art for the Expo 67 stamp picturing its on-site Habitat residence unveiled April 27 in Montreal, along with the same for the 1982 Constitution and 1981 Canadarm stamps are available from Canada Post.

The fourth stamp in the Canada 150 pane of 10 will be unveiled Tuesday, May 9.

Roy White and Liz Wurzinger of Subplot Design Inc. in Vancouver, British Columbia, designed the stamps. They were printed by the Lowe-Martin Group. Each stamp measures 40 millimeters by 40mm.

The stamps will be available in self-adhesive form in 400,000 booklets of 10, and in 80,000 gummed panes of 10 stamps with circle perforations 4.5 cm in diameter, according to Canada Post.

A total of 10,000 packs of 10 official FDCs  one for each stamp design and each canceled in Ottawa  also will be made available.

When each new design is revealed, stamps and FDCs can be preordered online at the aforementioned website. Beginning June 1, these stamps and FDCs will be available at www.canadapost.ca/shop.

Also on June 1, stamps and FDCs will be available by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

Canadas stamps and stamp products also are available from many new-issue stamp dealers, and from Canada Posts agent in the United States: Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557.
May 8, 2017, 3 PM

The Collectors Club and the Philatelic Foundation will coexist under a single roof in the Collectors Clubs town house at 22 E. 35th St. in Manhattan beginning Dec. 1. Photo by Matthew Healey.

Editors Insights  By Donna Houseman

The Philatelic Foundation is returning home to the Collectors Clubs recently renovated town house at 22 E. 35th St. in New York City. The organizations, two of the countrys most respected philatelic institutions, are joining forces beginning Dec. 1 to serve the stamp hobby.

The joint announcement was made by Mark Banchik, president of the Collectors Club, and Larry Lyons, executive director of the Philatelic Foundation.

The Collectors Club was established in 1896 by 100 stamp collectors, including John Walter Scott, the founder of the Scott catalogs.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

Sign up for our newsletter

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

The clubs membership roll through the years has included many of the hobbys elite collectors, including Alfred Caspary, Col. E.H.R. Green, Theodore Steinway, Alfred Lichtenstein, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Lichtenstein was instrumental in the clubs acquisition, in 1937, of its current home.

The historic building is a five-story town house located in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. The building was designed by American architect Sanford White (1853-1906), whose architecture was honored with a United States 18 stamp (Scott 1928) issued in 1981, as part of the American Architecture series.

The PF, which will occupy two floors of the clubhouse, got its start in 1945 and has served the hobby well as one of the worlds leading expertizing organizations. The PF is returning home to the clubhouse, where it was established 72 years ago.

The education institution has a team of in-house stamp experts; a research library; state-of-the-art, high-tech electronic equipment; the largest collection of United States fakes and forgeries; and a website that offers a searchable database of more than 500,000 PF certificates of authenticity available for review.

According to the announcement of the agreement to share space, the PF is the only expertizing service in this country to use the latest hi-tech electronic equipment including both the VSC6000 and the Bruker XRF Spectrometer.

The Collectors Club has almost 800 members. Its philatelic library, estimated to include about 150,000 volumes, is available to collectors, at no cost, for research. The club offers a monthly speakers programs, and rooms for meetings and stamp auctions.

Banchik said that he is looking forward to the steady stream of visitors to the PFs offices who will see, firsthand, our clubhouse and the many benefits of membership in The Collectors Club as well the opportunity for our members to access the PFs reference collections while conducting research activities.

Philatelic Foundation chairman Robert G. Rose said, We at the PF look forward to a growing synergy between our two organizations which we expect will benefit all of philately in this country.
We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.
A 12-year-old girl in Cheshire County, England, has scored 162 on an IQ test, putting her in the top 99.998 percentile of test takers.

So what does it mean to be that bright?

IQ, or intelligence quotient, is a score of mental ability relative to one's peers of the same age. IQ scores are normalized so that 100 is average. About two-thirds of the population scores within 16 points of 100 in either direction, so between about 84 and 116, said Robert McCall, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Child Development. Roughly 2.5 percent of the population scores above 130, McCall told Live Science, though the precise numbers depend on the exact test taken. (There are many variations.) [Creative Genius: The World's Greatest Minds]

What is an IQ score?

Rajgauri Pawar achieved her high score on British Mensa's IQ test. Mensa is an organization for people who score within the top 2 percent of the population on IQ tests. Pawar's score easily qualified her for admission.

Many news organizations led Pawar's story by saying she scored higher than Albert Einstein or cosmologist Stephen Hawking. Those comparisons are flawed, however, because IQ tests are limited to comparisons within age groups. A 5-year-old who scores a 130 on a youth IQ test is in approximately the top 2.5 percent of 5-year-olds, and a 45-year-old who scores a 130 on an adult IQ test is in approximately the top 2.5 percent of all adults, but there is no absolute measure of intelligence that can compare a 5-year-old's intelligence with a 45-year-old's.

For most people, IQ remains relatively stable, McCall said, but for some people, it can change "very substantially" over time.

"It is not necessarily fixed," he said. "It depends on your experience, the environment in which you live, your parents and other significant others, and how they interact with you, your opportunities."

Intelligence and success

IQ is predictive of success in school and, to a lesser extent, success in the work world, McCall said. That's not because it measures every sort of intelligence in a purely objective way, he said, but because the test is biased in the same ways that school and work are biased: They tend to reward verbal abstract thinking and a particular range of knowledge.

"The bias is in the whole system," McCall said.

But even so, IQ does not cover every type of intelligence or competence, and IQ test scores are not perfectly predictive of success in various areas of a person's life.

"There are lots of people who succeed who don't have a particularly high IQ, and there are lots of people with high IQ who don't particularly succeed," said Robert Sternberg, a professor of human development at Cornell University. Success depends on a variety of factors, including emotional stability, motivation and common sense, he said.

Because of IQ's limitations, it has attracted its share of detractors, and its prominence in psychology and education has decreased. Schools rarely give IQ tests as a matter of course, Sternberg told Live Science, and even admittance to gifted programs typically requires consideration of a student's grades and talents, with IQ as one potential factor to take into account.

Some researchers  including Jack Naglieri, a professor at the University of Virginia and a senior research scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children  have called for IQ to be scrapped.

"These intelligence tests that we have used, especially the Mensa ones, measure more knowledge than raw intelligence based upon brain function," Naglieri told Live Science. "To me, it's a misleading indicator."

Pawar is no doubt very smart, Naglieri said, but she was also able to succeed on a Mensa-style IQ test because she has a lot of knowledge, particularly in vocabulary and math. He and his colleagues have developed a "cognitive assessment system," which tests people on problems that are not knowledge-based but that also require cognitive ability. The idea is to test things such as how well a person can summon attentional resources or reason through problems, rather than how much math or vocabulary experience they've had.

"Somebody can be smart and not knowledgeable," Naglieri said.

Original article on Live Science.
The crimson glow in Tanzania's Lake Natron, shown here in an image captured from the Landsat 8 satellite on Marck 6, 2017, is caused by salt-loving microbes called haloarchaea.

One of the world's weirdest lakes stands out in scarlet in new NASA images.

Lake Natron in northern Tanzania is an incredibly alkaline body of water. Its pH is as high as 10.5  not quite as caustic as ammonia, but similar to the laxative Milk of Magnesia. The reason for this bizarre chemistry is the volcanic geology surrounding Lake Natron. The minerals and salts produced by volcanic processes  particularly sodium carbonate  push Lake Natron's water far above water's typical pH of around 7, which is neutral on the 0 to 14 pH scale.

Many animals can't survive in water that alkaline, but the lake is home to flocks of flamingos and other birds as well as tilapia fish. When the lake's animals die, their bodies are sometimes preserved by the sodium carbonate minerals that are responsible for the water's strange chemistry. Ancient Egyptians used sodium carbonate and other naturally occurring salts, known as natron, in their mummification practices. [Photos: Lake Natron Gives Up Its Dead]

On March 6, 2017, NASA's Landsat 8 satellite swooped over Lake Natron and snapped shots of the water's vermillion beauty. The red color is due to haloarchaea, microorganisms that thrive in the lake's salty waters, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. At the end of the dry season, when this image was taken, the lake level is particularly low and the concentrated salt ponds are especially colorful.

Lake Natron, located in the Rift Valley of Tanzania, spans an area of about 480 square miles (1,250 square kilometers), according to the World Wildlife Fund. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

Near Lake Natron sits Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano that rises abruptly out of the surrounding arid grasslands. According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only volcano that has erupted carbonatite lava in human history. Unlike most volcanos, which spit out glassy, silica-rich lava, carbonatite lava contains very little silica. It's made, instead, of carbonate minerals (like natron) that are more commonly seen in sedimentary rocks.

Ol Doinyo Lengai's carbonatite lava is especially bizarre, erupting at temperatures of around 930 degrees Fahrenheit to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (500 to 600 degrees Celsius), according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Silica-rich Kilauea lava clocks in at 2,120 degrees F (1,160 degrees C), for comparison, while Mount St. Helens spews lava reaching 1,472 degrees F (800 degrees C).

Original article on Live Science.
Sharing preserved plant specimens  like this Ethiopian endemic Acanthus plant from the Herbarium at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London (which was not involved in the recent events in Australia)  is an important part of international botanical research.

Australian biosecurity officers have destroyed historic and irreplaceable plant specimens that date back to the mid-1800s due to a paperwork error, according to news reports.

A rare collection of flowering plants from France's National Museum of Natural History in Paris was incinerated in March due to an email mix-up and insufficient paperwork, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The pressed plant specimens were considered "irreplaceable" because of their high historic and scientific value, according to the ABC.

A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, which controls the country's biosecurity, told the ABC that the documents accompanying the collection from the museum did not comply with Australia's import conditions. Queensland's herbarium, which was set to receive the collection from Paris, was asked to provide further documentation, but an email mix-up delayed the response. When the additional paperwork was received, biosecurity officials requested more information. During the time that the paperwork was being sorted out, the collection was incinerated. [Amazing Images from Australia's 'Lost World']

"The department acknowledges the significant value as a botanical reference collection," a spokesperson told the ABC. "[It] concedes that destruction of the specimens should not have proceeded while communication between the department and the intended recipient was ongoing."

These rigorous biosecurity policies last made headlines in 2015, when actor Johnny Depp and then-wife Amber Heard illegally brought their two pet Yorkshire terriers into the country.

Australia has strict import policies because the country has many biosecurity concerns regarding foreign plants and animals. Because of the nation's geographical isolation, and because some of the country's native flora and fauna is found nowhere else in the world, the introduction of non-native species can disrupt the ecosystem's natural balance. Plants and animals that are brought into the country without appropriate documentation and approval are subject to quarantine, according to the Australian government. These specimens can then be exported or destroyed if they are deemed to be a threat to the nation's ecosystem(animals could be euthanized).

The incineration of the plant collection from France was not the only recent incidence in which research specimens were destroyed. Within weeks of the incineration of the French collection, lichen specimens from New Zealand's Allan Herbarium that were being sent to the Australian National Herbarium were destroyed by biosecurity officers, the ABC reported.

"We rely on sharing specimens from all over the world to be able to do our science. So [the destruction of these collections] may have a major impact on our ability to do our research," Michelle Waycott, chair of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, told the ABC. "The fact that it happened twice in the space of a couple of weeks and that they were two separate ports, two separate entry points, has us very concerned."

According to Waycott, the New Zealand herbaria has since banned sending specimens to Australia.

Original article on Live Science.
Microscopic images of geyserite taken from the Dresser Formation in Australia provide evidence for microbial life that lived 3.48 billion years ago. The ripply "palisade" texture could have been formed when long filaments of bacteria were entombed by the silica from the mineral-rich water from a hot spring.

Ancient rocks found in a remote stretch of Western Australia may contain the world's oldest known evidence of life on land, a new study finds.

The 3.48-billion-year-old rocks are part of an area known as the Dresser Formation, located in Pilbara, Australia. During Earth's early years, the region might have been a volcanic caldera (a volcanic crater often resulting from an eruption) on a small island dotted with hot springs and ponds that were teeming with microbial life, said study lead author Tara Djokic, a doctoral candidate in geosciences at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Djokic and her colleagues found signs of microbial life embedded in rocks that form around hot springs, as well as in deposits in the ancient hot springs themselves.

The findings hint that early life may have gotten its start in hot springs on land, as opposed to deep inside ocean hydrothermal vents, as is commonly believed, Djokic told Live Science. [In Images: The Oldest Fossils on Earth]

Ancient traces

Life emerged on our planet soon after Earth coalesced about 4.5 billion years ago. But exactly how soon after the planet's formation life arose is hotly contested. Ancient rocks in Greenland that date to 3.7 billion years ago contain hints of microbial mats of cyanobacteria known as stromatolites, while another formation in Quebec may date back 4.28 billion years. But a lot has happened in the past 3 billion or 4 billion years, making it hard to pin down whether the chemical or geological traces found in those rocks are truly signatures of life.

In the new study, Djokic and her colleagues looked at an 8.6-mile-long (14 kilometers) stretch of rocks in the Dresser Formation. These reddish, pillowy volcanic rocks were laid down roughly 3.48 billion years ago and, aside from a bit of weathering from age, remain virtually unchanged since then. Since the 1800s, researchers have known that the area contained the fossilized remains of stromatolites. (Stromatolites are mats of cyanobacteria, which often live in shallow tidal pools and build dome-like structures layer by layer as they pull in minerals from the environment and then build colonies atop the dead microbes a layer below.)

In the current study, Djokic and her colleagues found traces of life in a new environment in the Dresser Formation: geyserite rock, which forms only near hot springs, like those found in Yellowstone National Park and Rotorua, New Zealand. They also found a vertical "palisade" texture on some of the geyserite rocks. This vertical, rippling, palisade texture forms when long filaments from microbial mats that exist at the outflows of hot springs get entombed in silica sediment that is common in the water. The researchers also found signs of stromatolites living near the hot springs.

Microscopic bubbles preserved in rock in the Dresser Formation, Australia, could be a sign that a sticky bacterial mucus entrained bubbles billions of years ago, and as such, may be evidence for ancient life. (Image credit: Tara Djokic)

Finally, the team found traces of ancient bubbles. Although the researchers can't determine whether the bubbles contain oxygen or evidence of life per se, "for the bubbles to be preserved so spherically, it has to be preserved in something sticky," Djokic told Live Science.

Around modern hot springs, the only sticky substance with the right elastic properties to preserve such round bubbles is a microbial, mucus-like substance known as extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), which bacteria use to create biofilms, the researchers reported today (May 9) in the journal Nature Communications (opens in new tab).

The new findings push back the fossil evidence of microbial life in hot springs by about 3 billion years, they said.

Oldest evidence

The new study is fascinating and convincing, said Robert Hazen, a mineralogist and astrobiologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science who was not involved in the research.

"Maybe it would be more surprising if there wasn't some ability for life to seize this kind of environment," Hazen told Live Science. "You have chemical energy, which you need; you have mineral surfaces, which can provide a protective environment. It seems like a pretty nice place to make a living if you're a microbe."

The new samples may provide the oldest solid evidence of ancient life, he added.

Though even older rocks in Quebec and others in Greenland may contain traces of potential life, those rocks have been tilted, stretched, baked and changed in many ways since their formation, Hazen said. As a result, it's hard to make conclusions about what really happened so long ago, and determine whether the traces of life are indeed evidence of life and, if so, if they truly come from the primeval period when the rock first formed, Hazen said.

By contrast, the Pilbara region contains pillowy rocks that look essentially the same as they did 3.48 billion years ago, making it much easier to make claims about the ancient environment, Hazen said.

"This is a very detailed paper showing compelling evidence for microbially formed rock structures in some of the oldest hydrothermal precipitate [deposits]," said Dominic Papineau, an Earth scientist at University College London who was not involved in the current study. However, he is not convinced that the bubbles could have formed only by a matrix of EPS, as other possibilities were not seriously considered, he added.

Originally published on Live Science.
B. sinensis</em> lived about 90 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. The adults of this species were enormous, measuring up to 26 feet (8 meters) long from the snout to the end of the tail, and weighing up to 6,600 lbs. (3,000 kilograms) when fully grown at age 11.

About 90 million years ago, a gigantic bird-like dinosaur with a toothless beak and a crest atop its head laid a clutch of enormous eggs. At least one of these eggs never hatched, but rather became the first and only one of its species on record to fossilize, according to a new study.

The discovery of the 15-inch-long (38 centimeters) embryo is remarkable, said study co-researcher Darla Zelenitsky, an assistant professor of paleontology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

"This is the first embryo known for a giant oviraptorosaur, dinosaurs that are exceedingly rare," Zelenitsky told Live Science in an email. [See Images of the Newly Named Giant Oviraptorosaur Embryo]

Moreover, it's only the second species of giant oviraptorosaur on record, Zelenitsky said. The other known giant oviraptorosaur is dubbed Gigantoraptor, a beast that stood as tall as 16 feet (5 meters).

B. sinensis lived about 90 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. The adults of this species were enormous, measuring up to 26 feet (8 meters) long from the snout to the end of the tail, and weighing up to 6,600 lbs. (3,000 kilograms) when fully grown at age 11. (Image credit: Zhao Chuang)

Baby Louie's journey

After the fossilized embryo's discovery, it took 25 years for the previously unidentified Cretaceous-age specimen to receive an official scientific name.

A Chinese farmer in Henan Province found the oviraptorosaur embryo in 1992, and a year later it was exported to the United States by The Stone Co., a Colorado firm that sells fossils and rocks. Word spread when the company uncovered the eggs and embryo, and National Geographic featured it on a magazine cover in 1996.

The National Geographic photographer, Louis Psihoyos, captured so much detail in his shots that people began calling the dinosaur "Baby Louie," even after it went on display at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

However, because of Baby Louie's significance (an embryo representing a new species of rare dinosaur), researchers decided to wait until it was repatriated to China in 2013 to study it, Zelenitsky said.

After the examination at the Henan Geological Museum, a group of researchers from China, Canada and Slovakia gave Baby Louie the formal scientific name of Beibeilong sinensis, which means "baby dragon from China," in a combination of Mandarin and Latin. [Image Gallery: Dinosaur Day Care]

This image depicts a comparison of B. sinensis with a Siamese crocodile embryo. The aqua and green arrows show the neck and hip orientation, respectively. The B. sinensis embryo looks more similar to a 51-day-old crocodile embryo (left) than it does to a 78-day-old embryo (right), which is close to hatching. This comparison suggests that the B. sinensis embryo died before completing three-fourths of its development in the egg. (Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications)

Towering giant

Giant oviraptorosaurs are two-legged dinosaurs that looked like modern-day cassowaries  large, flightless birds that live in Australia. But an adult B. sinensis would have towered over the 6.5-foot-tall (2 m) cassowary, and even a typical oviraptorosaur, such as Oviraptor, Zelenitsky said.

B. sinensis measured up to 26 feet long from its snout to the end of its tail, and it weighed up to 6,600 lbs. (3,000 kilograms) when fully grown at age 11. That means B. sinensis underwent a substantial growth spurt, as it likely weighed just under 9 lbs. (4 kg) after it hatched, Zelenitsky said.

While the incredibly well-preserved specimen and eggs  huge, elongated fossils that measured up to 17 inches (45 centimeters) long and weighed about 11 lbs. (5 kg)  have helped the researchers learn about B. sinensis, they don't contain many clues about the dinosaur's parenting style. It's unclear whether the parents protected the nest and cared for the young because no adult material was found with the nest, Zelenitsky said.

Still, the finding reveals that these enormous eggs  the largest known dinosaur eggs on record, which even have a formal name: Macroelongatoolithus, meaning "large elongate stone egg,"  came from giant oviraptorosaurs, she said.

"Because Macroelongatoolithus eggs are common in the fossil record, the established link between Macroelongatoolithus and giant oviraptorosaurs enabled us to infer that these animals were much more abundant, common [and] widespread than indicated by the scarcity of their bones," Zelenitsky said.

The study was published online today (May 9) in the journal Nature Communications (opens in new tab).

Original article on Live Science.
Dino Embryo

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications; drawn by Vladimir Rimbala)

In 1992, a Chinese farmer discovered an extraordinary fossil: the embryo of a rare and giant bird-like dinosaur that lived 90 million years ago. The embryo, nicknamed Baby Louie, represents a newfound species of giant oviraptorosaur dinosaur, researchers announced today (May 9) in a new study. They named the newly identified species Beibeilong sinensis, which means "baby dragon from China," in a combination of Mandarin and Latin.

Related: Read the full story on Baby Louie or watch the video

Mom and Dad

(Image credit: Zhao Chuang)

B. sinensis lived about 90 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. The adults of this species were enormous, measuring up to 26 feet (8 meters) long from the snout to the end of the tail, and weighing up to 6,600 lbs. (3,000 kilograms) when fully grown at age 11.

Baby dinosaur

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications; drawn by Vladimir Rimbala)

The embryo of B. sinensis was small compared to its parents. After hatching, it would have weighed less than 9 lbs. (4 kg).

X marks the spot

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications; photo by P.J. Currie)

A map (top) shows Nanyang, a city in China's Henan province. The star marks the fossil site where Zhang Fengchen (bottom) found and collected the fossil in December 1992 and early 1993.

Eggs-travagant find

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications)

The fossil (left) and a digital overlay (right) shows where the eggs were placed before they broke and fossilized. Notice the skeleton of the embryo next to the ruler.

Inside the shell

(Image credit: Zhao Chuang)

This illustration shows how Baby Louie was fossilized over the eggs (left). The other drawings (right) show what Baby Louie would have looked like inside its shell.

Baby dragon

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications; illustrated by Xhaochuang)

A photograph and illustration of the 15-inch-long (38 centimeters) Baby Louie.



The dinosaur's scientific name, Beibeilong sinensis, honors Chinese culture. In Mandarin, "beibei" means "baby," and "long" translates to "dragon." The species name is derived from the Latin word for China. Thus, the dinosaur's name means "baby dragon from China."

Eggshell layers

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications)

This photo (top) shows the pattern on the outer surface of the giant eggshells, known as Macroelongatoolithus eggs. A cross section (bottom) shows the Macroelongatoolithus eggshell's two microstructural layers. The scale bar is 1 millimeter (0.04 inches).



Macroelongatoolithus eggs are often laid in clutches up to 10 feet (3 m) long.

Fossil bones

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications)

These bones (left) are in the region of Baby Louie's right knee. The scale bar is in centimeters.



The other bones (right) show the end of Baby Louie's right tibia and fibula. The scale bar is 5 mm (0.2 inches).

Crocodile comparison

(Image credit: Pu H. et al/Nature Communications)

This image depicts a comparison of B. sinensis with a Siamese crocodile embryo. The aqua and green arrows show the neck and hip orientation, respectively.



The B. sinensis embryo looks more similar to a 51-day-old crocodile embryo (right) than it does to a 78-day-old embryo (right), which is close to hatching. This comparison suggests that the B. sinensis embryo died before completing three-fourths of its development in the egg.



Related: Read the full story on Baby Louie or watch the video
Microdosing, or taking tiny doses of psychedelic drugs, is rising in popularity, with users saying it boosts their mood, focus and productivity. But there's been little scientific study of the practice  until now.

Researchers in the United Kingdom say they plan to conduct the first rigorous scientific study on the effectiveness of microdosing.

The study will enroll 20 participants, who will receive either a microdose of LSD  about one tenth of a recreational dose  or a placebo, before they are asked to perform various tasks. Some of these tasks will include measures of creativity, alertness and mood. Participants will also play the ancient Chinese game of Go, which involves pattern recognition. In addition, participants will have their brains scanned so researchers can compare the neural effect of a microdose with that seen in people who take a standard recreational dose. [Trippy Tales: The History of 8 Hallucinogens]

The study will be "double blind" meaning participants won't know whether they're getting LSD or the placebo.

The study will be led by Amanda Feilding of the Beckley Foundation, an organization that researches psychedelic drugs in order to spur changes in drug policies that are based on scientific evidence.

"For decades, we have seen anecdotal evidence that microdosing improves mood and well-being, enhances cognition, increases productivity, and boosts creativity," Feilding said in a statement. "Now we have the opportunity to undertake the first controlled scientific investigationinto the effects of microdosing LSD, thereby finally establishing whether the claims about its benefits are true."

The researchers are raising money for this study, and other studies on psychedelic drugs, through a crowdfunding campaign launched today (May 9).

Original article on Live Science.
If you're a gin drinker in Canada, imbibe cautiously. Canadian liquor authorities are recallingBombay Sapphire London Dry Gin after it was found that the bottles may contain almost twice as much alcohol as claimed on the label.

Although all affected bottles have since been removed from store shelves, some of the bottles may have been purchased, the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) reported.

Drinking a 77 percent spirit as if it were 40 percent alcohol, as advertised on the label, could result in higher impairment, sickness, stomach irritation and more, said Aaron White, senior scientific advisor to the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in the U.S. [7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health]

Some people are sensitive to the taste of alcohol and may notice that the gin drink is stronger than normal, White told Live Science. However, it's also possible that drinkers would not notice the higher concentration quickly enough, which could lead to more significant impairment, he said.

"In terms of the effects on your brain and how you feel, or subjective experience, it takes half an hour to an hour for alcohol to be fully absorbed," White said. "One concern might be that you've already started on your second drink before you realize that the effects of the first drink were stronger than you anticipated."

The overall effect of alcohol on a drinker depends on the amount of alcohol consumed, White said. This, in turn, depends on several factors: the concentration of alcohol in the drinks consumed, the number of drinks the person consumes and how quickly the alcohol is consumed, White explained.

"If you drink more-concentrated alcoholic beverages, your blood alcohol content is going to rise more quickly," he told Live Science. "So, if you accidentally drink too much highly concentrated alcohol at once, your blood alcohol level could rise very quickly, and that's one of the key predictors of amnesia [blacking out] from drinking."

Alcohol also irritates the stomach, causing inflammation of the stomach's lining, which can lead to the queasiness that is associated with hangovers, White said. He explained that drinking even a shot of normal, 40 percent gin could aggravate the stomach lining, so a shot with 77 percent alcohol would really cause irritation.

For people who tend to consume many drinks, having a beverage with a higher concentration of alcohol could prove deadly, warned Mark A. Celio, an assistant professor at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University in Rhode Island.

"In the case of very heavy consumption (approximately 15-20 drinks, which is not unrealistic), it could be deadly," Celio wrote Live Science in an email. "Someone who drinks heavily and often may be able to tolerate a blood alcohol level of 0.20, but might instead reach as high as 0.40 [with the higher-concentration drink], which is extremely dangerous."

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario issued the recall after a quality assurance check discovered that some bottles had not been properly diluted, the CBC said. Officials from Bacardi, the alcohol conglomerate that owns Bombay Sapphire, told the CBC that no more than 1,000 cases of the 1.14-liter (38.5 ounces) bottles of gin were affected.

"[These bottles] inadvertently entered the bottling line during a short period of time (max 45 minutes) when they were switching from one bottling tank to another bottling tank," Bacardi officials said of the alcohol recall in a statement to the CBC.

Original article on Live Science.
Tesoro Corp. won the first major pipeline contract from Mexicos state-owned oil company, giving the San Antonio-based refiner access to Pemexs transportation and storage network in northwest Mexico.

Petroleos Mexicanos awarded Tesoro on May 2 a three-year, first-of-its-kind contract to import up to 9,535 barrels of oil and gas a day and to store more than 320,000 barrels. The pipeline and storage capacity is roughly split between the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora.

Tesoro will supply gasoline and diesel through pipeline infrastructure owned by Pemex Logistica under the countrys 2013 Energy Reform Act meant to open up the countrys state-run energy industry to private competition.

Neither Tesoro nor Pemex said how much the contract was worth.

By being able to go in and acquire this space allows us to physically take product from our West Coast operations into the northwest part of Mexico and put it in the terminal and pipeline system for further distribution to our marketing customers, Greg Goff, Tesoros president and CEO, said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday. It is our intent to use our Arco brand in that part of the country and develop relationships with companies to market at the street level in Mexico.

Goff estimated the northwestern portion of Mexico has a daily deficit of 100,000 barrels of gasoline and 50,000 barrels of diesel. He said Tesoro will take cargo that was already being exported into the country through PMI Comercio Internacional  Pemexs crude oil marketing subsidiary  and export it directly into Mexico.

The refined products will come from Tesoros Anacortes refinery, a 120,000-barrel-a-day facility located north of Seattle, Washington.

Goff was also questioned about the progress of Tesoros $4.1 billion acquisition of Western Refining, which was announced in November and would make Tesoro the fifth-largest refiner in the U.S. The deals total value is $6.4 billion.

The Federal Trade Commission, which reviews and approves large mergers or acquisitions that could reduce competition in the marketplace, asked for further information in February. Goff said the amount of time is probably not unusual for what were trying to do and in the energy business.

As we anticipated when we announced the combination of Tesoro and Western, we said it would take until the first half of 2017 to be able to close the transaction and from where we sit today that will be very true, Goff said.

Tesoro is also looking at combining its logistics subsidiary Tesoro Logistics with Westerns pipeline and storage company, Western Refining Logistics. In an April 17 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesoro said it was considering such a merger, contingent upon the closing of the refining acquisition.

rdruzin@express-news.net

@druz_journo
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Zachry Industrial, a division of San Antonio-based Zachry Group, is reassigning workers who are losing their jobs at a refinery outside Houston that didnt renew its maintenance contract with the company.

The 204 positions at the Phillips 66 Sweeny refinery were listed as layoffs in a Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, notice sent out by the Texas Workforce Commission on Monday.

Company spokesman AJ Rodriguez said Tuesday that Zachry didnt win the contract when it rebid on the project, but it was prepared to transfer employees.

Every single Zachry employee at that site will be offered another opportunity at another Zachry site, Rodriguez said.

Wood Group Infinity will be taking over from Zachry on Monday as the Sweeny refinerys general maintenance contractor, said Phillips 66 spokesman Dennis Nuss.

Some Zachry employees will stay on at the facility with Wood Group, he said without giving a number.

Since April, management at Wood Group Infinity has worked with Zachry Industrial employees at the Sweeny Refinery to offer continued employment at the facility, Nuss said.

A majority of these employees have accepted opportunities with Wood Group Infinity and will remain at the refinery as a result.

Rodriguez confirmed that some of the Zachry employees have decided to remain at the refinery with Wood Group Infinity.

Zachrys contract was for refinery maintenance, Rodriguez said, adding that petrochemical and energy contracts account for about a quarter of Zachrys 400 contracts.

Brazoria County, where the Sweeny refinery is located, has been a major focal point of our business over the last five years, he said.

Rodriguez added that Zachry, which employs more than 22,000 employees worldwide, has doubled in the past five years while increasing its San Antonio workforce from 600 to more than 900 during the same time.

Zachry Group engages in the design, engineering, construction and maintenance of facilities in the heavy industrial, energy and petrochemical industries.

The company was formed from a 2008 split of Zachry Corp., with John Zachry taking over Zachry Group and his brother, David, running Zachry Corp., which specializes in big civil engineering and public works projects.

rdruzin@express-news.net

@druz_journo
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Two San Antonio employers  USAA and H-E-B  are among Forbes magazines 2017 Americas Best Employers list released Tuesday.

USAA was the fifth-best employer in the nation for the second year in a row while H-E-B ranked No. 41 for this year, according to Forbes.

USAA has 30,000 employees worldwide, with about 18,000 working in the financial giants headquarters in San Antonio.

Click through the slideshow above to view the 40 best employers in Texas in 2017.

H-E-B improved its ranking to No. 41 from No. 67 in 2016. H-E-B employs more than 100,000 workers in Texas and Mexico, with about 20,000 workers in San Antonio.

Four Texas employers, including USAA, are among the top 10 companies on the Forbes list. Houstons Memorial Hermann Health System is ranked No. 4., Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center is No. 6, and the City of Austin is No. 9.

A total of 42 Texas companies are named.

RELATED: Forbes: Texas billionaires total 50, San Antonio 4

Forbes worked with research firm Statista to compile its rankings.

Statista surveyed 30,000 American workers to gather their opinions of their employers. On a scale of zero to 10, it asked how likely they were to recommend their organization to friends or family.

Statista also asked employees to recommend other companies outside of their own. Those ratings also informed the ranking, but to a lesser degree.

In March, Fortune magazine published its 2017 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. USAA was ranked No. 35 on that list.

Other San Antonio employers on Fortunes list are NuStar Energy and Rackspace Hosting.

dhendricks@express-news.net
Saints for All Occasions

By J. Courtney Sullivan

Knopf. 335 pp. $26.95

---

"Saints for All Occasions," the new novel by J. Courtney Sullivan, is so unassuming that its artistry looks practically invisible. In fact, from the outside, nothing about this story seems noteworthy: Irish Catholics settle in Boston; they drink too much; they struggle with the church; they gather for a loved one's wake.

That sounds as fresh as a pint of last week's Guinness.

Which makes this quiet masterpiece all the more impressive. In a simple style that never commits a flutter of extravagance, Sullivan draws us into the lives of the Raffertys, and in the rare miracle of fiction makes us care about them like they were our own family.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this novel is its elegant manipulation of time. In the present, the story takes place over just a few days - the period between when 50-year-old Patrick Rafferty loses control of his car and when he's laid out at his funeral.

But within those hours, Sullivan spins the captivating history of his mother, Nora, reaching all the way back to a little Irish village in the late 1950s. This is a place where electricity is a luxury, and some girls are still subjected to arranged marriages. There we see nervous Nora preparing to leave everything and everyone she knows to join her fiance, Charlie, in the United States. "Charlie had said you could make yourself over in America, leave behind all that you didn't like," Sullivan writes. "Yet here she was, not yet to the front gate, and already it was clear that Nora was stuck with herself."

As Sullivan shows, though, Nora has no clear idea who she really is or what she'll be stuck with. Like any well-organized life, hers is one of carefully considered plans that will soon be shredded. She will never return to live in Ireland, despite her fiance's promise. She will not have the kinds of children she imagined. In this ingeniously plotted novel, Nora will be swept along a trajectory she can rarely perceive and only barely control.

And yet "Saints for All Occasions" is primarily the story of one woman's indefatigable efforts to control everything about those she loves - including, most notably, their pasts and their identities. As one of Nora's adult children notes, "His mother put no premium on the truth." Instead, her efforts are directed entirely at preserving her denials: Her eldest son does not have a drinking problem. Her daughter is not a lesbian. Her sister does not exist.

That final illusion is the spike around which the entire novel is wound. We know of Nora's sister, Theresa, from the first chapter - she's spent most of her life as a cloistered nun in Vermont. But how these two siblings fell out and what continues to bind them over the decades are the emotional mysteries that Sullivan tenderly explores. It's a story that draws us deep into the essential qualities of motherhood and the compensations of faith.

"This family has a way of forgetting what it doesn't want to know," Sullivan writes, and Nora depends desperately on that common predilection. "She wondered how much longer she could keep up the lie, even as she understood that she had committed herself to it for life." The most fascinating element of the story is watching a daring act of deception coalesce into the solid-seeming shape of history.

As Nora's family grows, the novel flows out into the varied lives of her children over decades of tumultuous life in and around Boston, where Sullivan herself grew up in an Irish Catholic family. Although the chapters are precisely knit together to maintain or expose old secrets, many of them are self-contained studies of character or social change. We watch neighborhoods shift with new waves of immigrants, and towns turn on themselves over school busing. We follow Nora's children as they alternately embrace or break away from her influence - settling in a Dorchester pub or grasping for WASPy urbanity that seems entirely alien to her.

Meanwhile, the convent in Vermont offers a parallel story in an entirely different register. If Nora's life is one of constant change and reaction, Theresa's is one of enforced stability and contemplation. And yet Sullivan proves to be just as deft and insightful about the complementary challenges that a monastic family faces. These alternating chapters about Theresa feel refreshingly anachronistic, thoroughly at odds with our modern-day requirement that religious characters in literary fiction suffer either madness or disillusionment. Without a breath of sentimentality, Sullivan dares to imagine the entwined trials and riches to be found in cloistered devotion.

Indeed, the ferocious discipline of these two sisters is matched only by the author's. Sullivan never tells too much; she never draws attention to her cleverness; she never succumbs to the temptation of offering us wisdom. She trusts, instead, on the holy power of a humane story told in one lucid sentence after another.

I read parts of "Saints for All Occasions" to my wife over spring break, and for a week afterward, she kept asking, "What happened to Nora's sister? How did her son die? Was her daughter able to adopt a child?"

I don't blame her. To read this engrossing novel is to become invested in these "entirely resilient and impossibly fragile" people. They aren't really saints, of course, at least no more than the rest of us. But that's the point.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The Texas Renaissance Festival grounds in Grimes County got a new look this weekend as fans from across the country flooded the woods to jam and scream along to Electric Dance Music.

The event was the first music festival on the Texas RenFest grounds in Todd Mission, and event goers celebrated the event's success.

"It was an incredible production and set up," said Amber Hunter, who bought a day pass Saturday to attend the multi-day festival. "The staff was the most generous and friendly I've experienced at a festival. I'd go again."

OTHER FESTS: Day for Night VIP ticket holders call music festival a 'scam' in reviews

More accolades flooded in on social media.

Festival goers were able to camp on the grounds if they had weekend passes, with sites ranging from simple car camping to a customized glamping environment. Event organizers estimated there were 66,000 attendees over the course of three days.

The music stars at the festival included Major Lazer, Rae Sremmurd, Kaskade, Houston rapper Fat Tony and others. It included five stages across 60 acres, kingdoms and castles, costumed performers, rides and art. Check out how it looked:

MODELS' PARTY: Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen headline music festival at Post HTX

Middlelands is the work of Insomniac and C3 Presents, the groups behind Electric Daisy Carnival, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival.

While the stars aligned for a successful party, not every ending was happy by the time the festival wrapped up. The Grimes County Sheriff's Office reported that at least 10 people were arrested on felony drug charges during the Middlelands festival. KHOU reports that the arrests took place late Friday night and early Saturday morning.

Another man found himself stuck in a tree and had to be rescued by emergency personnel, according to EDM Sauce. The rescue operation required the performer, GRiZ, to temporarily stop his set. The awkward moment of the set paused was all captured on a Twitter video.

Click through the gallery above to see the festival goers from across Texas and beyond.

BEYOND MUSIC: These are Houston's best festivals throughout the year
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A local public school principal was among the statewide winners announced Sunday at the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards ceremony held in Austin.

During the ceremony, H-E-B Chairman and CEO Charles Butt handed out $430,000 in cash awards and grants, and congratulated eight educators, two school districts, one early childhood agency and a public school board for being among the best in Texas. The program has given away more than $8.5 million in cash and grants since 2002.

Robert Gates delivered the keynote address to a ballroom packed with hundreds of educators, elected officials, community leaders and H-E-B employees. Gates formerly served as the U.S. secretary of defense, CIA director and president of Texas A&M University.

Myrtha Villarreal was announced as one of the two winners in the school principals category. She is principal at United Independent School Districts Colonel Santos Benavides Elementary.

READ MORE: Records: The highest-paid LISD principals for the 2016-17 school year

She received $10,000 in cash for herself and a $25,000 grant for the school.

The winners were selected from a pool of 58 finalists by judges who include former winners, school administrators, and university and community leaders.

H-E-B launched the Excellence in Education Awards program in cooperation with the Texas Association of School Administrators in 2002 as a positive way to support public education in Texas. It has become the largest monetary program for educators in the state, spotlighting best practices and celebrating the passion and creativity of Texas educators.

H-E-B asks customers, Partners (employees) and community members to nominate teachers, principals, districts, early childhood facilities and school boards in Texas. Each nominee is sent an invitation to complete an application online and is asked about their professional experiences, educational philosophies and achievements both in and out of the classroom.

A team of judges reviews the applications, narrowing the field to semi-finalists. From that pool, five regional judging panels comprised of former winners, administrators, and university and community leaders not affiliated with H-E-B select 40 teacher and principal finalists. Finalists and their schools receive a cash prize of $1,000 to $2,500, depending on category.

RELATED: Autistic Laredo-area high schooler gets heartwarming promposal surprise for birthday

Three separate panels select eight school districts and five early childhood facilities as finalists, awarding $2,500 to $5,000 in cash prizes. Up to five school boards may also be recognized, and awarded $5,000 towards the district they serve. Additionally, one or more school boards may receive a special judges award totaling up to $25,000. Site visits are conducted to determine winners.

Teacher and principal finalists are invited to compete on a statewide level for larger cash prizes totaling more than $400,000. A statewide panel of judges, not affiliated with H-E-B, conducts a personal interview with each finalist to select winners.

Eight winners  two principals and six teachers  are announced along with two school districts, one large and one small, a public school board and an early childhood facility, at a celebratory dinner.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Vagrants, drugs and shots fired are some of the reports made to Laredo police in the area of an abandoned structure at 309 W. Frost St.

On Monday, authorities demolished the structure as part of Operation Crackdown, a collaborative effort to rid the city of abandoned structures where illicit activities take place.

Click through to the gallery above to see the buildings scheduled to be demolished during Operation Crackdown.

Operation Crackdown provides engineer assets to assist municipalities in reclaiming control of known drug trafficking areas by working with affected communities to knock down structures that are proven drug trafficking locations, the City of Laredo said in a statement.

This mission helps rid neighborhoods of gangs, drugs and associated violent activity and allows for community revitalization.

More than 30 children from Sanchez Ochoa Elementary witnessed the demolition Monday. All wore shirts with the phrase, Keep Calm And Demo Like A Boss. Children had three words of encouragement for the machinery operators.

READ MORE: 17 arrested in Webb County's Operation GOTCHA

Knock it down! Knock it down! Knock it down! they chanted in unison.

The structure on Frost is one of 33 expected to be demolished. For the past four years, city officials, Laredo police, U.S. Border Patrol and the Texas National Guard have combined efforts to make the operation happen.

Maj. Robert Cowart said it is important to send out the anti-drug message. He said Operation Crackdown is a National Guard engineer mission where soldiers are brought along to do their military job and assist the community.

Demolishing the structures provides safety for children, officials said.

Operation Crackdown is designed to tear down structures that are being used for illicit activity and give a black eye to the community, and a lot of time, (the structures) are near schools, said Eugenio Rodriguez, deputy patrol agent in charge of the Border Patrol Laredo South Station.

RELATED: Middlelands festival brings thousands of EDM fans to Texas Renaissance Festival grounds

These locations are used for illicit drugs  (human) smuggling and so forth. A kid can be exposed to that. Thats what we dont want. We want them to be able to ride their bicycles, go to school, come from school feeling safe.

Acting LPD Chief Gabriel E. Martinez Jr. said demolishing the structures is beneficial because they are a nest of trouble where drug and smuggling activities occur.

As you can see by the structures themselves, do you want to see your kids walking by this every day? Martinez said.

I thank the National Guard for having this type of program where they help the city eradicate some of these buildings.
Iska Wire

The Emerald Circle of the Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council (GSSJC) recognized 24 graduating seniors at the organization's annual Gold Award Scholarship presentation held April 9. The Emerald Circle awarded a total of $29,000 in scholarships to Girl Scouts who have earned the Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting.

Recipients were required to submit a scholarship application, including a resume, essay and description of their Gold Award project.
The prize for the caper was more than a ton of used restaurant grease. Two men busted by police near a strip-mall dumpster in Knoxville, Tennessee, were seen March 2 siphoning the gooey waste into barrels on their truck. In the weeks before then, 44 similar thefts had been reported.

Stealing old vegetable oil that's been used to cook chicken nuggets and french fries sounds a little gross. But a black market for the golden gunk is growing as U.S. refiners process record amounts of grease to comply with government mandates for renewable fuels. Last year, 1.4 billion pounds (635,000 metric tons) were turned into biodiesel -- or 3.84 million pounds a day.

Most restaurants hire waste handlers to get rid of oil after a few days of use. But the National Renderers Association, an industry group, says as much as $75 million is illegally siphoned every year, much of it ending up in refineries. Biofuel prices have been shooting up, boosting the incentive for thieves who are getting bolder and craftier. With the arrival of warmer spring weather, licensed collectors are bracing for even more heists.

"It's like crack money," said Sumit Majumdar, president of Buffalo Biodiesel Inc., a Tonawanda, New York-based collector. "There's an actual market for stolen oil. It's almost like a pawn shop or scrap-metal business."

Finding value in old grease isn't new. For more than a century, the waste product has been processed into ingredients for everything from makeup and paint to pet food and livestock feed, according to the Arlington, Virginia-based National Renderers Association, which represents 51 companies with 205 plants in the U.S. and Canada.

What's different is more cooking oil is being made into fuel. It's now the largest use for old grease, at around 30 percent of demand. A 2007 energy law calls for American cars, trucks and buses to use escalating amounts of biofuels. Most of that is corn-based ethanol used in gasoline, but refiners also are making more biodiesel. Soybean oil is the primary raw material, followed by used grease and corn oil.

This year, oil companies must use 2 billion gallons of biodiesel, the most ever, according to government data. That's up from 1.9 billion in 2016 -- and almost nothing a decade earlier.

All that demand growth has impacted prices. The benchmark for yellow grease this week was around 25 cents a pound, which is more than triple what it was in April 2000, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The commodity got as high as 47.75 cents in 2011, when crude oil was over $100 a barrel and the pump price of gasoline was almost $4 a gallon.

The rally in biodiesel is boosting the value of grease. Since Feb. 17, the fuel is up 12 percent to $3 a gallon, as of April 28. Further gains may be likely because of a trade dispute with competitors in Argentina and Indonesia, which may limit imports of biodiesel, Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth Capital Partners in Newport Beach, California, wrote in an April 17 report.

That's increasing the incentive for thieves from California to New York who already were able to make good money selling filched oil.

"There's a lot of theft in that world," said Daniel Oh, chief executive officer of Ames, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group Inc., one of the largest U.S. biodiesel producers. "It's a valuable commodity."

Still, old grease poses a disposal headache for restaurants, so they sign contracts with licensed collectors, who get exclusive rights to the oil if they agree to pay a small percentage of what they sell to refiners. It's usually stored in locked dumpsters on restaurant property.

While few police departments track thefts of grease, handlers say the crimes are on the rise.

The Knoxville case was one example. At about 5:26 a.m. on March 2, two men were observed near a Wingstop Inc. restaurant using hoses to drain grease tanks. They were filling big drums in the back of an unmarked white truck, which didn't look like the collection contractor's vehicle, according to police reports.

The two men were arrested with what police said was 2,200 pounds of used grease valued at about $600. Both listed their residences in North Carolina, about 300 miles away. One of the accused was deported to Mexico last month, and the other was released on bond, government records show. Neither man could be reached by Bloomberg for comment.

"Anytime diesel goes up, grease goes up," and then "the thieves come along," said Bob Hart, a driver for DAR-PRO Solutions in Knoxville who has been a licensed collector for more than two decades. The Wingstop was one of his customers. Before the arrests, Hart said there had been 44 loads stolen in the previous few weeks.

At restaurants serviced by Buffalo Biodiesel in eastern New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, grease thefts have increased. Over the past six months, Majumdar says he had to replace about 1,000 locks on customer tanks. Because the thefts come out of his pocket, Majumdar hired a private investigator two months ago to help track down bad guys. The business probably loses 20 percent of its income to illegal siphoners, and Majumdar says he's posted a $5,000 reward for the arrest and successful conviction of culprits.

Some Midwest-based companies say thefts have involved international crime syndicates and even street gangs.

In the summer of 2015, the Plymouth Minnesota Police Department started surveillance at some local restaurants and tracked some people who were using an old white box truck that had a "Fruit Co." sign on the side as they collected grease illicitly all over the Minneapolis area, Plymouth Police Sergeant Heath Bird said. No one was prosecuted. Authorities couldn't justify the time and resources to pursue a case involving stolen trash, Bird said.

"At the end of the day, no one cares about used grease," Buffalo Biodiesel's Majumdar said, adding that some thefts may be licensed collectors taking from their competitors.

Brandon Foley, vice president of procurement at Sanimax, a grease collector in the Midwest and Canada, says he's expecting an increase in thefts as the weather warms up. He's currently on the lookout for grease grabbers traveling around in an old Pepsi truck in the middle of the night.

"This grease industry is the wild, wild west," said Mike Kostelac, president of Millstadt, Illinois-based Ace Grease Service, which collects from restaurants in 12 states. His company's website has a video of someone stealing their grease.
HAMPTON, Virginia - Jeion Ward decided it was time to do something about teaching young drivers how to handle a police stop when she realized her grandson had reached driving age.

"My grandbaby!" said Ward, a delegate who represents Hampton in the Virginia General Assembly. As an African American, she has seen her husband and three grown sons deal with what many describe as the special tension of interacting with police while black.

So Ward crafted a bill requiring driver's education classes to teach students how to handle themselves during a traffic stop.

On Monday, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) signed Ward's bill into law, making Virginia one of only a handful of states grappling with an issue made urgent by the high-profile wave of police-related shootings of African Americans in the past few years.

Illinois enacted a similar measure last year. Texas, North Carolina and Mississippi are among states currently weighing their own legislation.

The Virginia law, which takes effect July 1, applies to driver's ed programs in public schools, which are sometimes taught by private driving schools under contract. Most high schools in Virginia offer driver's education classes.

Ward said several states have called her seeking advice, but she told them Virginia has a few months to work out the details of the curriculum. In the meantime, she thinks the main thing is to get drivers and police interacting and thinking about how to handle an inherently stressful situation.

"This should at least make all of us mindful of what we should do," Ward said. "I don't believe most of us know."

Shootings of black motorists, amplified in recent years by social media, have triggered demonstrations throughout the country and spurred the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement. Nationwide since January 2015, police have killed at least 193 people who were inside vehicles, according to a Washington Post database that tracks police shootings.

All the attention has left police and drivers feeling nervous during confrontations, which can be especially unsettling for new drivers. Virginia high school students who take driver's education classes before getting their permits may not get instruction about what to do if they are pulled over by police; it's up to the teachers.

Hampton High School sophomore Xaiver Williams, 16, said he passed the class last December and may have gotten some common-sense warnings about staying calm, but there was nothing specific.

But his father, a firefighter, passed along some tips from his buddies on the force: "Remain calm. Wait for them to come to the door. Let them know you're going to grab the registration from the glove box. Say 'yes, Ma'am' or 'yes, Sir,' " Williams said.

While he hasn't yet faced a traffic stop, he said an African American friend called the day before upset after being pulled over for speeding. Williams counseled calm; the friend got off with a warning.

Ward said she began thinking about the topic last year after several community forums on police-related violence. Then, over Christmas, she heard her youngest son, 39, giving his son some advice about interacting with police.

That's when she wondered: Her grandson is 17 and 6-foot-4; how would a nervous police officer react to him, walking up to that driver's side window?

Her husband had been pulled over enough as a youth to make him counsel their sons about the topic. And her boys all seemed to have more than their share of traffic stops. Nothing ugly, but enough to make her wonder why.

So Ward called a friend who ran a driving school. He wasn't required to teach anything about police stops, he said, but he and some other instructors had put together some informal pointers. Next, she looked at the state code, and while it spelled out instructions for fuel efficiency, motorcycle safety and even organ donation, there was no mention of proper interaction with police.

That's when she decided to act. The resulting bill sailed through the General Assembly. The state Department of Education, Department of Motor Vehicles and police will work together to draw up a curriculum that will go into effect this summer.

DMV Commissioner Richard Holcomb acknowledged that the Virginia driver's manual is vague on the topic. Under a list of tips for traffic stops, "the very first bullet is 'remain calm,' which is obviously a lot easier said than done when you've got that blue light flashing behind you," he said.

In a signing ceremony Monday in Hampton attended by police, state officials and school kids, McAuliffe said the bill was "an easy one to do." Especially, he said, because one of his five children is about to get her driver's license.

Kevin Davis, a principal of Hampton High School, said many parents give their kids advice about how to interact with police - and so do siblings, friends and teachers. But given the tension in society over this issue, it's best to have something more formal.

Young people, he said, need to learn "when to keep your mouth closed. And when you do need to talk, not to have that boldness about you that you know everything."
Scott Gottlieb, President Donald Trump's choice to become the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, was confirmed Tuesday by the Senate. The vote was 57 to 42.

Gottlieb, a physician and venture capitalist with long ties to the pharmaceutical industry, served as a deputy FDA commissioner and a high-ranking official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the George W. Bush administration. He assumes the agency's helm as it faces mounting pressure from Trump and other Republicans to further accelerate its drug-approval process and to take a more aggressive role in combating the nation's opioid epidemic.

The Senate vote was largely along party lines. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., lauded Gottlieb, saying he was committed to the development of groundbreaking treatments. And Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the health committee, said it was a plus that Gottlieb has had extensive experience with "the industry he will be in charge of."

That didn't assuage Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who decried Gottlieb's financial "entanglements" with health-care and pharmaceutical companies. Two other Democrats, Sens. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, criticized his past opposition to FDA risk evaluation and mitigation strategies; those are designed to reduce the perils posed by some products, including opioids.

The 44-year-old Gottlieb has been a prolific writer, often taking aim at the FDA. But some health experts said they don't think his articles necessarily reflect what Gottlieb will do as the agency's chief.

"I understand why people can look at things he has written and have a lot of concerns, but he's going into a different role as FDA commissioner," said Joshua Sharfstein, who was deputy commissioner during the Obama administration and is now a professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

"When you have an opinion and express it, you aren't responsible for the consequences," Sharfstein added. "But as commissioner, you are responsible."

Joseph Ross, an associate professor of medicine and public health at Yale University, noted that Gottlieb has sometimes faulted the FDA for being overly risk-averse in approving new medications. But "sometimes it's OK to be risk averse," said Ross, whose latest research showed that nearly one out of three FDA-approved drugs have a safety issue detected in subsequent years.

"If something comes to market quickly," he said, "it's important to do the work on the back end to see how drugs work in the real world."

Ross applauded Gottlieb's views on another topic - the need to improve the generic-drug approval process. If the incoming commissioner finds ways to get generic products to the market faster and provide more competition, "that will do good things, like bring prices down," he said.
President Donald Trump has approved a plan to directly arm Kurdish forces fighting in Syria as part of a U.S. military plan to capture Raqqa, the Syrian city that is the Islamic State's de facto capital, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said the president made the decision on Monday and described the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, as "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future."

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," White said in a statement. "We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

The decision, first reported by NBC, is sure to enrage Turkey, the NATO ally that views the YPG as a threat and has rebuked the United States for partnering with the group in its fight against extremists in Syria.

White provided no details on what kind of weaponry would be provided to the Kurdish fighters or when. The YPG, which dominates a diverse group of fighters known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has emerged as the United States' premier partner force against the Islamic State in Syria.

That partnership has generated ongoing friction with Ankara, which sees the YPG as an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by both Turkey and the United States.

The Turkish position has created a dilemma for U.S. military officials, who see no viable alternative force in Syria capable of and willing to mount an assault on the Islamic State's final stronghold. Already, the YPG has received air support from the United States and, indirectly through Arab fighters, some U.S. weaponry.

Neither the Trump administration, nor the Barack Obama administration before it, had made any secret of its intention to give the Syrian Kurds a primary role in isolating Raqqa leading up to the planned offensive. Defense officials have said repeatedly that such a role would require direct weapons shipments and upgrading the equipment provided to move through what are expected to be vast minefields and other obstacles leading into Raqqa.

Turkish officials have privately acknowledged that the matter appeared to be decided. But they have continued to complain publicly about what they framed as a counterproductive U.S. strategy that amounted to enlisting a terrorist group to fight another terrorist group.

Turkey has continued to lobby the Trump administration to change course in the days leading up to Erdogan's visit, dispatching top Turkish officials, including General Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, and Hakan Fidan, the intelligence chief, to Washington. A Turkish delegation briefly met with President Trump on Monday, according to a report in the Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper.

Trump is expected to officially inform Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his decision next Tuesday, when Erdogan visits the White House.

To soften the blow, senior administration and military officials have been in near constant contact with their Turkish counterparts to assure them the Kurds will not be part of the force that enters Raqqa and will not dominate the establishment of a new local government. That force, U.S. officials have said, will be comprised of the Arab fighters who are part of the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces.

Turkey has charged that the political wing of the YPG has moved in behind the SDF forces who have taken territory from the Islamic State across northern Syria and forced out Arab and Turkmen populations. Their goal, Erdogan has said, is to create a Kurdish canton that can join with Turkish Kurds of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, separatists who have been at war with the Turkish government-and which both the United States and Turkey have designated as a terrorist organization.

Turkish forces moved into northern Syria late last year, ostensibly to fight against the Islamic State, but equally to ensure that YPG forces did not consolidate their control of the border. Erdogan has said that he will now send his troops, and Syrian rebels fighting with them, to Raqqa, eliminating the need for the United States to depend on Kurdish forces.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, speaking earlier on Tuesday, suggested that the United States hoped to continue some sort of military partnership with Turkey in Syria.

"Our intent is to work with the Turks alongside one another to take Raqqa down," Mattis said during a news conference in Denmark. "We're going to sort it out, we'll figure out how to do it, but we're all committed to it."

Mattis would not elaborate on the possible Turkish involvement or if that meant Turkish troops would enter Raqqa. "NATO allies stick together," he said. "That's not to say we all walk into the room with same appreciation of the problem."

The White House decision comes as Turkey ramps up its military operations against PKK and YPG fighters in Iraq and Syria. Last month, Turkish warplanes launched assaults on Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria, killing more than a dozen people, and prompting a public condemnation from Washington. In the latest airstrikes, on Tuesday, Turkey said that it had destroyed "PKK terrorist camps" in northern Iraq, according to Turkey's semi-official Anadolu News Agency.

Currently, the SDF troops are locked in a pitched battle with the Islamic State around the Syrian town of Tabqa on the Euphrates River. U.S. officials have championed the fight there as a key part of the operation to retake Raqqa and an example of the group's prowess.

The U.S.-backed campaign against the Islamic State is just one of several parallel conflicts unfolding in Syria after more than six years of civil war.

It was not immediately clear whether the decision by Trump means the YPG will receive heavier weapons, including anti-tank missiles and armored vehicles. Both are likely to be needed if Kurdish troops are to successfully penetrate Raqqa, well-fortified by Islamic State militants.

---

Kareem Fahim and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report. Gibbons-Neff reported from Vilnius and Fahim reported from Istanbul.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hit out at his hardline challengers, targeting their records on corruption and freedom of speech, less than two weeks before he seeks re-election.

Rouhani, in a campaign speech in the western city of Hamedan on Monday, said he's in the election to "tell the extremists and those who use violence that your era is over." "You ran this country for eight years and the people saw what you did," the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency reported him as saying.

"We want freedom," Rouhani said, in an apparent swipe at rivals who oppose greater social liberties in the Islamic Republic. "Your rationale is one of just banning things."

Rouhani, 68, on Sunday faced anguished miners as he visited a coal mine where an explosion last week killed more than three dozen men. Conservative news outlets seized on video footage purportedly showing the president's car being surrounded and jumped on by men as it arrived at the mine.

His trip to the northwest was part of a nationwide push to shore up support outside of Iran's biggest cities ahead of the May 19 vote. His leading challengers -- hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi and conservative Tehran mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf -- have attacked Rouhani's record, in particular the delay in turning the 2015 nuclear deal into better living standards for the majority.

Both candidates have said they would respect the accord if elected but a conservative victory could undermine efforts to attract foreign investment and make relations with the West -- and especially the U.S. -- more confrontational. Oil output has recovered under the nuclear deal, the economy is growing again and rapid price gains have subsided. Yet the hoped for surge in foreign investment hasn't happened.

---

Hours later in the city of Orumiyeh, the president, a moderate cleric, addressed the mine tragedy directly. "This mine was under the control of the private sector and the management of this institution have to be answerable to the people," Rouhani said, according to the semi-official moderate newspaper Arman. "We will stand by the people with all our strength."

Sections of Iran's media kept quiet about high levels of unemployment during the eight-year presidency of his hardline predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he said. "Now that we created 650,000 jobs in the past year, they start targeting unemployment and they say we have to pay taxes. But no one is asking them, who was paying taxes when you were in charge, have you even ever paid taxes?"

In Orumiyeh, Rouhani also lashed out at Raisi, who has held several senior positions in the judiciary and as an attorney during his career.

On voting day "the people will say 'no' to those who over the course of 38 years only executed and jailed," Rouhani said.

"Those of you who cut out tongues and sewed mouths shut. Those of you who over the past years only issued the word 'ban', banned the pen and banned the picture. Please don't even breathe the word freedom for it shames freedom," he told his supporters.

Rouhani then used a rally in Kermanshah to criticize censorship of one of his campaign films. References to former President Mohammad Khatami and the house arrests of two other reformist politicians were removed by the state broadcaster before the video was broadcast on Saturday.

"The people want the prohibitions to end," Rouhani told supporters, according to his campaign's Instagram account. "On what grounds do you prohibit a person's picture, the picture of one of society's elders? By what law did you do such a thing?"

--Bloomberg's Ladane Nasseri contributed.
A former general in South Sudan's army said he commands a new rebel movement of at least 30,000 fighters that will seek to overthrow President Salva Kiir, threatening to deepen the three-year civil war in Africa's newest nation.

Thomas Cirillo, a former lieutenant general, resigned as deputy chief for logistics in South Sudan's army in February, accusing Kiir of waging a "tribally engineered war" and turning the military into a force dominated by the Dinka, the president's ethnic group.

Now, Cirillo says his National Salvation Front includes four rebel groups and is prepared to challenge his one-time colleagues. That could mean more bloodshed for a conflict that's already claimed tens of thousands of lives and led to the world's first official declaration of famine since 2011.

"We are sure, that with few armaments, the light armaments that we have, with revolutionary spirit and zeal, we'll be able to defeat Kiir's forces," Cirillo said in an interview in Addis Ababa, the capital of neighboring Ethiopia. South Sudan's presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, dismissed the threat.

South Sudan's war began in December 2013 after Kiir accused his former deputy, Riek Machar, of plotting his overthrow. The army fractured, and civilians of Machar's Nuer community were massacred in the capital, Juba. It was the first of multiple atrocities by both sides in which specific ethnic groups, including Dinkas, have been targeted. While the main rebel organization, the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition, coalesced around Machar, many other groups have since taken up arms.

Famine was declared in two northern counties of South Sudan in February. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a U.S.-backed monitoring group, has warned starvation could spread to another county in the July to September lean season. South Sudan, which holds sub-Saharan Africa's third-biggest crude reserves, has seen oil production decline by at least a third to less than 130,000 barrels a day since the war began.

Cirillo said he and Machar's rebels haven't made any formal agreement to cooperate. A spokesman for Machar's forces, James Koang Chol, put the number of their fighters at 204,000. The figure couldn't be verified.

Cirillo, who was the highest ranked ethnic Equatorian in the army, described his coalition as "not a tribal movement but a national movement," and one that Dinkas could also take part in. "We're not appealing to Equatorians and Nuer as such, but we're appealing to the whole nation to join us," he said.

He wouldn't comment on its sources of finance, weapons or supplies. Cirillo said he's appealing to countries including the so-called Troika -- the U.S., U.K. and Norway -- that helped to negotiate South Sudan's independence from Sudan, and East African nations for backing. The Troika supported a peace deal that brought Machar briefly back into government in 2016, before it collapsed amid renewed violence.

Among the groups to have joined Cirillo's front is the South Sudan Democratic Army-Cobra Faction, whose members are mainly from the Murle community in Jonglei state. The group made a peace deal with Kiir's government in 2014.

Payton Knopf, a former coordinator with the United Nations Panel of Experts on South Sudan, said by phone from Washington that such a move will alter the balance of power in Jonglei.

Short of logistical support, Cirillo's group will probably struggle to challenge Kiir, according to Douglas Johnson, an independent researcher and the author of "The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars."

"Unless they have the finances and equipment to back this up it will be very difficult to keep a united armed opposition group together and growing," he said by email.
Almost a quarter century since the U.S. withdrew from Somalia after militiamen shot down two Black Hawk helicopters and special forces took heavy losses in a battle in the capital, an al-Qaida-backed insurgency is once again drawing U.S. attention.

The U.S., which already supported the Horn of Africa country's battle against al-Shabaab militants with drone strikes and limited special forces, say it's deploying about a dozen troops from the 101st Airborne Division to train Somalia's army and has given U.S. commanders greater authority to use air strikes. A Navy SEAL was killed May 4 in a operation with Somali forces west of the capital, Mogadishu. The Pentagon said it was the first death of a U.S. service member in combat in Somalia since 1993.

President Donald Trump has given "enhanced authorities in the last several weeks" to strike al-Shabaab, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who heads U.S. Africa Command, told reporters last month at Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. military base in neighboring Djibouti. "We continue to develop intelligence and develop targets. And when we have the opportunity, we will use those." He said Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed supports the U.S. efforts.

The steps come as Trump says fighting terrorism is his top priority, the U.S. bolsters special forces in Syria and eases restrictions on military action in Yemen. Analysts say adding foreign firepower is unlikely to bring peace to Somalia, a nation wracked by decades of civil war that's seen three foreign invasions in the past decade.

"Stepping up military engagement is only part of the solution: it won't address fundamental problems," said Matt Bryden, director of Sahan Research, an institute in neighboring Kenya. "Al-Shabaab is constantly evolving -- it adeptly appropriates local social and political grievances -- so defeating al-Shabaab requires a focus on engaging the population, not simply going around and killing militants."

Somalia descended into conflict with the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, prompting the deployment of a U.S.-led United Nations peacekeeping mission that involved as many as 33,000 multinational troops. The U.S. ended its role after the shooting down of the two helicopters and the deaths of 18 of its troops in Mogadishu in October 1993. Other UN troops pulled out shortly afterward. The incident was recounted in Mark Bowden's book "Black Hawk Down."

Al-Shabaab, a splinter group of the Islamic Courts Union that controlled Mogadishu for about six months in 2006, has waged an insurgency ever since, holding parts of southern Somalia and staging suicide attacks that have targeted members of the internationally backed government.

The government has little authority beyond the capital, and while an African Union peacekeeping force, known as Amisom, and Somalia's army have wrested back towns, al-Shabaab often resumes control once the troops withdraw. The militants swore allegiance to al-Qaida in 2012.

"Al-Shabaab is a reflection of a political and institutional vacuum," said Bryden, a former head of the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea. "If we can address that, they will be reduced to little more than a nuisance."

The U.S. has conducted at least 42 drone strikes in Somalia since January 2007, according to data from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a London-based media organization that has tracked the U.S.'s use of the unmanned aircraft in four countries. Some strikes have killed senior al-Shabaab officials, including former leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and intelligence chief Abdishakur Tahliil.

Andrew S.E. Erickson, a former State Department adviser for the Horn of Africa, said by email that greater authority to identify and address al-Shabaab threats "actually makes everybody safer, as previous restrictions hampered effective response."

Hussein Arab Issa, chairman of Somalia's Defence Parliamentary Committee, didn't respond to emailed requests for comment.

The dozen 101st Airborne Division troops will train Somalia's army on "basic logistical operations" and allow them "to better fight al-Shabaab," Africom spokeswoman Jennifer Dyrcz said in an emailed response to questions. Some of these trainers will be replaced by others from the same military unit, meaning about 40 troops will have participated when the operation concludes.

U.S. advisers and technical experts are always on the ground in Somalia, said Ibrahim Ali, a former chief of intelligence in Puntland, a semi-autonomous northern territory where al-Shabaab and Islamic State are present. He and the Puntland Intelligence Agency's former foreign liaison, Mohamed Muse Abdule, said that one of the largest U.S. bases in Somalia is at a southern airfield. Africom said there are no U.S. bases in the country.

Somalia's "army still operates more like a collection of militias than a national army -- if you remove Amisom from the scene, the army is probably not even capable of holding Mogadishu," said Bryden.

Amisom "can provide space for Somali governing institutions and security forces to grow, but ultimately the solution will be largely political: we should be pushing for political and social inclusion to diminish the space for al-Shabaab," while empowering Somali forces to do the rest, he said.

Somalia's neighbors Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti as well as Uganda and Burundi contribute troops to a 22,000-strong Amisom force. Kenya and Uganda have signaled they'll withdraw their forces in the next two years.

The Heritage Institute, a Mogadishu-based think tank, said in an April report that Somalia's government "must understand that brute force alone cannot secure peace."

Mohamed's administration "should seriously explore and strategize on how to bring al-Shabaab to the negotiating table," it said.
A family overwhelmed by years of torment found some peace Tuesday when a Santa Clara County jury convicted Antolin Garcia-Torres in the 2012 kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Morgan Hill resident Sierra LaMar.

The verdict ended a difficult and dark chapter in the high-profile capital murder case that has stunned the small South Bay community. In the half decade since her disappearance, Sierras family, friends and scores of onetime strangers have turned out by the hundreds in weekly searches for the vibrant and social teen, whose body was never recovered.

Sierras family erupted in gasps of relief when the court announced the jurys decision just after 9 a.m. in a packed San Jose courtroom. Garcia-Torres, wearing a light-blue collared shirt and tie, showed almost no reaction to the verdict as he stood alongside his attorneys.

The 26-year-old was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping of Sierra, along with three additional counts of attempted kidnapping stemming from three separate 2009 carjacking incidents at Safeway stores in Morgan Hill.

Deliberating for less than 15 hours, the jury reached its decision late Monday, following the end of closing arguments Thursday.

The case will move on to the sentencing phase of the trial, scheduled to begin Tuesday, during which the same jury will decide whether Garcia-Torres will get the death penalty.

Shortly after Tuesdays verdict was announced, Sierras mother, Marlene LaMar, expressed relief that justice was served, but said the jurys decision does not ease the pain and the sorrow that we experience every day.

Truly, weve been praying for the chapter to have this type of ending  justice, Marlene LaMar said. Were grateful for the jury for coming to the right decision. It gives us peace as a family knowing that this wont happen to another child and that you cant get away with something like this.

Sierras father, Steve, added, This is a long time coming. Its bittersweet. We dont have Sierra  thats the bitter part.

Sierras sister, Danielle LaMar, said the verdict will begin to help the family move on.

Well obviously never get Sierra back. Its not closure, but its a good first step, she said.

Attorneys for Garcia-Torres declined to comment. The convicted killers mother, escorted by sheriffs deputies, walked out of the Santa Clara Hall of Justice in tears before being whisked away in a black sedan.

Sierra, a Sobrato High School student who moved to Morgan Hill from Fremont with her mother, vanished on her way to catch a school bus on March 16, 2012. When she failed to show up to school that day, her parents and friends began a frantic search for the teen.

But what started as a missing-person case grew increasing foreboding, when the next day, police tracked Sierras cell phone to a field less than a mile from her home.

The search grew bleaker when Sierras purse, school books and clothing were discovered near a shed in another nearby field two days after her disappearance.

Prosecutors said mud on the abandoned clothes, which included Sierras underwear, suggested she had been dragged on the ground.

DNA on her jeans matched that of Garcia-Torres, a onetime grocery clerk who lived in a trailer park 7 miles from Sierras home with his then-pregnant wife and daughter.

Prosecutors said he had never met Sierra before she disappeared, making him the overwhelming focus of the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Offices investigation.

Sheriffs deputies used a dog to follow Sierras scent, but the trail went cold 150 yards from her house on Paquita Espana Court.

Hoping to find the body, authorities placed a GPS tracking device on Garcia-Torres Volkswagen Jetta, but they ultimately gave up, and arrested him five days after Sierra went missing.

For more than three years, hundreds of community volunteers, bonded together through the tragedy, joined in weekly search efforts around Morgan Hill for any trace of Sierra.

Sierras childhood friend Tatianna Isom, now 19, was too young to participate in the searches. Instead, she and her mother blanketed the South Bay with missing-person flyers and held fundraisers to help find Sierra over the past five years.

Isom was relieved by the verdict, but still wants to know what happened to her friend.

Until I know for sure, I always hope well get some type of answers, she said outside the courthouse.

Despite not having a body or a crime scene, the Santa Clara County district attorneys office moved forward with charges  a gamble that could have been costly if Garcia-Torres had been acquitted and new evidence were discovered later.

Using the defendants own words, security video and physical evidence, Deputy District Attorney David Boyd laid out the case against Garcia-Torres over the more than three-month trial.

Perhaps the most damning evidence was the DNA. Along with finding Garcia-Torres genetic material on Sierras abandoned clothing, detectives discovered her DNA in his car, and on the outside of a pair of gloves in the vehicle. Crime lab technicians later discovered her hair on a rope that was in his trunk.

Garcia-Torres attorney, Alfonso Lopez, fought to weaken Boyds case by raising doubt about the evidence throughout the trial.

The centerpiece of the defense focused on the prosecutions assertion that Sierra is dead. Lopez argued that with no body, theres no proof a crime even occurred. He said it was possible Sierra is a runaway and simply stopped communicating with her family.

As Lopez worked to cast doubt on individual elements of the prosecutions case, he never presented an encompassing narrative that explained the heap of incriminating evidence against his client.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Sally Yates' riveting testimony Monday raised far more questions than it answered. Most of all, it cast fresh doubts on President Donald Trump's judgment.

The former acting attorney general disclosed that, 18 days before Michael Flynn resigned, she unambiguously warned White House counsel Donald McGahn that the national security adviser was "compromised by the Russians" and "could be blackmailed."

Worried about the danger, Yates said she moved with great "urgency." The FBI interviewed Flynn on Jan. 24th. Yates got a detailed readout on the 25th from the agents who talked with him. Early on the morning of the 26th, she called McGahn and asked to come over to discuss a serious matter that was too sensitive to talk about over the phone.

In a secure room, she revealed that Vice President Pence and other White House officials were making false statements to the public regarding Flynn's conversations in December with Sergey Kislyak. Intercepts reviewed by U.S. intelligence officials showed that the national security adviser had indeed discussed sanctions, despite his repeated public and private denials.

Yates explained that "the underlying conduct General Flynn had engaged in was problematic in and of itself," but she said the bigger worry among senior Justice Department officials was that "the Russians also knew what (he) had done." "This was a problem because not only did we believe that the Russians knew this, but that they likely had proof of this information," she told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. "And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians."

The next morning, McGahn phoned Yates and asked her to return. In her telling, the president's lawyer wondered whether Flynn could and would be prosecuted. He also wanted to see proof. "One of the questions that Mr. McGahn asked me when I went back over the second day was essentially, 'Why does it matter to DOJ if one White House official lies to another White House official?'" Yates recounted in her testimony. "So we explained to him that . . . the misrepresentations were getting more and more specific. . . . Every time that happened, it increased the compromise and, to state the obvious, you don't want your national security advisor compromised with the Russians."

-- Yates' no-nonsense testimony, delivered with the firmness of someone who spent 27 years at the Justice Department, underscored why the administration and its allies tried to block her from telling her story publicly until now. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., canceled a House Intelligence Committee hearing that had been scheduled for last month, and Trump's team tried to assert executive privilege before backing down under pressure.

-- Under oath, noting that she has a senior civil servant from inside the Justice Department's National Security Division who will back her up as an outside witness, Yates outlined a version of events that is at odds with public statements made by the White House chief of staff. Reince Priebus has tried to downplay what Yates told McGahn. "Our legal counsel got a heads-up from Sally Yates that something wasn't adding up with his story. And then so our legal department went into a review of the situation," Priebus said on CBS "Face the Nation" in February. "The legal department came back and said they didn't see anything wrong with what was actually said."

-- The meetings and phone calls Yates described could have been ripped from a good spy thriller. McGahn asked Yates how Flynn had done during his FBI interview. "I declined to give him an answer to that," she said. He also told her the White House was concerned that taking action might interfere with the FBI investigation. "And we told him, both the senior career official and I, that he should not be concerned with it," Yates explained, "In fact, I remember specifically saying, 'You know it wouldn't really be fair of us to tell you this and then expect you to sit on your hands.' "

-- It appeared that there was a great deal more Yates wished she could share, but most of the information surrounding everything that happened remains classified. "Where there is smoke there is not necessarily fire. But there is so much smoke from the Trump-Russia probe that you can't get near it without a respirator," Dana Milbank writes in his column. "Monday's hearing further pumped the bellows."

-- With congressional inquiries and an FBI investigation ongoing, here are 10 significant and unanswered questions related to this scandal:

1. Did McGahn travel to the Justice Department to review the evidence against Flynn? If so, when? On Jan. 30, Yates let McGahn know that the intelligence he asked for was ready to be reviewed. She got fired that same night for refusing to defend the president's travel ban. Thus she could not say either way whether the White House counsel ever came to review the material.

2. What exactly did the president know and when did he know it? Sean Spicer said during his briefing on February 14th that, "Immediately after the Department of Justice notified the White House counsel of the situation, the White House counsel briefed the president and a small group of senior advisors. The White House Counsel reviewed and determined that there is not a legal issue, but rather a trust issue."

3. Assuming McGahn passed along to Trump what Yates had told him, why did the president choose to keep a "compromised" national security adviser in his inner circle? Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., speculated that Trump might have been protecting Flynn primarily to prevent more people from falling: "You ask yourself, why wouldn't you fire a guy who did this? And all I can think of is that he would say, 'Well, we've got all these other people in the administration who have had contacts. We have all these other people in the administration who coordinated, who are talking.' Maybe that. We're trying to put a puzzle together here, everybody. And maybe, just maybe, he didn't get rid of a guy who lied to the vice president, who got paid by the Russians (and) who went on Russia Today because there are other people in his administration who met secretly with the Russians and didn't reveal it until . . . they were caught. That may be why it took him 18 days, until it became public, to get rid of Mike Flynn, who is a danger to this republic." After outlining this theory, Franken asked Yates: "Care to comment?" "I don't think I'm going to touch that, senator," she replied.

4. What contacts did Flynn have with the Russians during the 18 days the White House knew he'd been compromised but he remained as national security adviser? Two days after Yates alerted McGahn about a threat from within, Flynn sat in the Oval Office with Trump as he talked to Vladimir Putin on the phone. During Flynn's tenure, he had several follow-up conversations with Kislyak, and at one point Flynn even proposed that the two have lunch. "The Russian Embassy called repeatedly to collect on that offer, officials said, until Flynn was fired and the calls stopped," The Washington Post's Greg Miller and Adam Entous scooped last Friday.

5. Would Trump have ever acted if The Washington Post hadn't broken the story that Flynn was not telling the truth? It appears no meaningful action was taken until The Post reported details on Feb. 9 of the Flynn-Kislyak conversation that contradicted what he had told his West Wing colleagues. Even then, it took four more days for Flynn to go. In that time, he traveled with Trump to Mar-a-Lago for a bilateral meeting with the leader of Japan. Who knows how long Trump would have tried to sit on what Yates had said if the truth had never come out via the press?

What's more, why would Trump allow Flynn to save face by "resigning" - as opposed to "firing" him? Some White House officials insisted on the night Flynn got ousted that it was a resignation, not a termination.

Spicer refused to engage substantively on any question like this Monday. All he would say is, "The president took appropriate action when he did, once he felt that General Flynn had misled the vice president. . . . I don't think we're going to re-litigate this. The president made the right decision back then and he stands by that."

Since Flynn's departure, the president has called Flynn a good man and characterized him as the victim of a witch hunt. He also reportedly told staff just this past Sunday to stop feeding negative lines about Flynn to the press.

6. Why did Trump completely dismiss Obama's warning about Flynn? It emerged Monday in the hours before the hearing that Barack Obama personally told his successor he should not hire Flynn during their sit-down two days after the election. The outgoing president had fired Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014. The warning about Flynn "was not a prepared talking point," a former Obama administration official told The Washington Post's Philip Rucker, meaning it was not a subject that Obama had planned to raise with his successor: But as the two men discussed personnel, Obama expressed caution about putting Flynn in a high-level position. There were multiple reasons, including Flynn's poor performance leading the DIA, his attendance at the RT event in Moscow and his controversial statements on Islam. "There wasn't certainly at the time the thought that he's compromised" by his association with Russia, the former official said. "It was more a confluence of red flags."

Spicer confirmed that Obama warned Trump about Flynn, but he dismissed it as sour grapes from a sore loser. When a reporter asked whether Obama's comment "gave (Trump) any pause at all," Spicer said no. "He made it clear that he wasn't a fan of his, and I don't think that should've come as a surprise, considering the role that General Flynn played in the campaign," the press secretary replied.

Don't forget, Trump seriously considered picking Flynn to his running mate last summer. Flynn even changed his position on abortion last July, seemingly to make himself a more palatable choice.

The previous questions have focused on the 18 days, but another way to think about this donnybrook is that it took 95 days from when Obama first raised red flags to when Flynn left the White House.

7. What exactly did foreign intelligence agencies turn over to their American counterparts? James Clapper, who also testified Monday, was asked about a news report that Britain's intelligence service first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious interactions between Trump advisers and Russian intelligence agents. The same story also said multiple European allies passed along information in the spring of 2016. Asked if that is accurate, the former director of national intelligence replied: "Yes, it is and it's also quite sensitive. . . . The specifics are quite sensitive."

8. What is the current status of the FBI investigation into whether any of the president's associates coordinated with the Russians to meddle in the presidential election? James Comey has confirmed that the FBI is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, and that this includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who chaired the subcommittee hearing, asked Yates if she had any evidence that would suggest that anybody in the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government intelligence services. "Senator, my answer to that question would require me to reveal classified information," she said. "So I can't answer that." She circled back later to clarify, "Just because I say I can't answer it, you should not draw from that an assumption that that means that the answer is yes."

9. Why is Trump still so cagey when it comes to assigning blame to Russia for election interference? Administration officials have taken a harder line on Russia since the chemical weapons attack in Syria, but the president himself has not always followed suit. Asked last week whether he now believes the allegations of Russian meddling in the election, Trump deflected. He said he'll "go along" with the intelligence community's consensus but then quickly added that it "could have been China." "Could've been a lot of different groups," he told CBS's John Dickerson.

Clapper said it's not helpful when people don't acknowledge who was really behind the cyberattacks. "They must be congratulating themselves for having exceeded their wildest expectations," he said of the Russians. "They are now emboldened to continue such activities in the future, both here and around the world, and to do so even more intensely. . . . If there has ever been a clarion call for vigilance and action against a threat to the very foundations of our democratic political system, this episode is it."

10. Will Flynn face any criminal charges? Yates declined to say whether Flynn may face criminal charges related to what he said during his interview with the FBI in January. The retired general is also under investigation by the Pentagon's inspector general over $45,000 he accepted for appearing at a 2015 event in Russia and $530,000 his former consulting firm was paid for work tied to the Turkish government. NBC News reported Monday that the Defense Intelligence Agency also didn't know Flynn had been paid nearly $34,000 by Russia Today when it renewed his security clearance in April 2016.
With one unanimous vote of the Midland ISD school board, Orlando Riddick became the lone finalist for the districts superintendent position.

That vote was expected. Riddick impressed the school board through a multi-stage interview, which included a site visit to Cedar Hill, an area just southwest of downtown Dallas where Riddick currently is the superintendent of Cedar Hill ISD.

It was after the vote that Riddick introduced himself to a crowd -- and by extension the Midland community -- at the Bowie Fine Arts Academy auditorium. Following a standing ovation from those in attendance, Riddick talked about the journey we are about to go on and that the opportunity is enormous.

Midland ISD is in the midst of an academic reform period that looks to reverse the nearly decade-long achievement/performance slide. With nine campuses designated improvement required and a performance ranking at the bottom of the largest school districts in the state, opportunity might be hard for most to see. But Riddick referenced the hard work that has been put in -- likely by the board (with its Lone Star Governance Report) and interim Superintendent Rod Schroder (with his focus on a no-excuses environment and dedication to instructional processes) -- and said the community is ready to take that next step.

Riddick has been there before. From 2012 to 2014 he worked as chief of schools at Houston ISD, where he implemented instructional rounds for 45 high schools and oversaw an increase in students taking and passing AP exams.

From 2014 to the present at Cedar Hill ISD, he is credited with developing and implementing a new college-readiness program. Highlights of that program included a new College Preparatory elementary school, a new College Academy middle school and improvement in the districts Early College High School, which is the No. 1 Early College High School in Texas and the No. 3-ranked program in the nation.

Under his leadership, the district also went from having four improvement required campuses to none.

If getting people involved is a metric that interests Midlanders, Riddick is credited with the development and growth of the All-Pro Dads program that began with four members and now has more than 1,200 dads actively participating in improving their childs educational outcomes, while also mentoring those students without dads.

He said Cedar Hill is ready for the next person to carry the baton.

When I look at Midland, I see a wonderful place that I feel needs me more than the current city I am in, Riddick said afterward.

He told those at Bowie that Midland will become a district where students will adhere to new standards -- the Riddick Rules. He said it is no different than the rules of a home that friends of his three children have had to live by when entering his own house.

Midland ISD can officially hire Riddick on May 30 after going through the state-mandated 21-day waiting period for lone finalists. In the mean time, district officials will finalize Riddicks contract. At Cedar Hill, according to his current contract on the districts website, Riddick makes $206,700 a year. Midland ISD officials said Riddick would make at least what Ryder Warren was making before he left for Northwest ISD last summer. That salary was $264,999, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Riddick told those in attendance at Bowie that the change that takes place will be like a dust storm that hits an area. That storm, he said, will bring uncertainty and darkness, but if people in Midland grab hands, and forge on, faith and determination will help get them out of that storm.

I want to be sure that we get there, Riddick said. I want to do this for a long time.

Riddick mentioned his military background. He said that it doesnt matter the age of a building but that the building is a place that someone wants to walk into. He said standards for the district should be high and that there are no excuses. He said a strong system requires innovation, risk-taking in a good way, strong values and ethics.

He said Midlanders have to work to get students to the threshold of the door called opportunity. Once they get there, the student can decide what he or she wants to do. He wants students from Midland to stand toe to toe with anyone in the state.

Walk with me along this pathway, Riddick said. Failure will be part of it. Through failure, we get our greatest successes.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A Houston man was charged with capital murder early Tuesday after last month's grisly slaying of his sister-in-law.

Zuleika Hernandez, 23, was likely killed April 21 when an attacker beat her with a board, according to charging documents filed Monday and a Houston Police Department news release.

The 25-year-old man accused in her death, Moises R. Ayala, made his first court appearance via video conference late Monday before a Harris County magistrate who denied him bail.

READY TO GO: Texas man charged with killing wife over breakfast found mentally fit

Prosecutors accuse Ayala of breaking in to Hernandez' home in the 6600 block of Sherwood Drive on April 21 and killing her in retaliation for her apparent role in getting her husband -- Ayala's brother -- arrested and jailed in March.

Her body was not discovered for two days, police said, when investigators found evidence of a struggle.

Police traced the crime back to Ayala with help from a witness as well as an anonymous tipster who called Crime Stoppers and suggested Ayala was responsible. Prosecutors said Ayala admitted to the crime when interviewed by police.

Prosecutors said several items were missing from Hernandez' home, including a compressor, a generator, tires, a lawnmower, nail guns, a television and a laptop.

MISTRIAL: Texas murder case ends when juror admits he was drunk

The victim's husband told police that his brother knew how to enter the home, a prosecutor said during the probable cause hearing.

When the magistrate asked through an interpreter whether Ayala needed an attorney appointed because he could not afford one, Ayala nodded affirmatively.

When the magistrate asked whether, if Ayala was not a U.S. citizen, he would like officials to contact his home country's consulate, Ayala declined, the interpreter said, adding that Ayala was a citizen of El Salvador.

Scroll through the gallery above to see the most shocking crimes of 2017 so far
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Surrounded by his family members, Angel A. Cruz clutched medals from World War II close to him at the end of a ceremony Monday at the federal building in Hemisfair.

Seven decades after the war, the former Army Air Corps technical sergeant received the medals from U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.

It took them 70 years, but Im glad to get them, said Cruz, 94, who served in the Pacific theater in the 345th Bomb Group Squadron 499, known as the Bats Out of Hell.

RELATED: Celebrities who trained at Lackland Air Force Base

When he was 19, Cruz, who was born in Laredo, volunteered for the Air Army Corps shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was motivated by a desire to fight fascism, his family said.

Cruz maintained B-25 bombers while serving on bases in New Guinea, Australia, the Solomon Islands and the Philippines.

His unit would hop from island to island. He said he slept by the bombers, preparing the aircraft before they left and repairing them when  and if  they returned.

RELATED: Rare color photos from WWII

He recalled days spent in jungle conditions, eating K rations and searching for rivers in which to bathe. At one airfield in New Guinea, he said, the engineers dug a nice ditch where they could wash themselves. One day he almost drowned when he and his friends accidentally drove into the ditch with their jeep.

Cruz said he enjoyed working on the planes, even if he disliked the thunderous drone of the propellers.

His service qualified him for four bronze service stars and a silver service star, citations for participating in various campaigns. These campaign stars are different from the Bronze Star and Silver Star medals, which are given on an individual basis.

The family realized Cruz had not been awarded his medals when they applied for veterans benefits early this year.

After the war, Cruz rushed home to take care of his ailing mother, family members said. They believe thats why he didnt receive the awards when the war was over.

The family reached out to Castros staff, who said they looked into Cruzs records and confirmed his eligibility for the medals and benefits.

After the war, Cruz moved to San Antonio, where he worked in construction on sites such as HemisFair Park, now called Hemisfair, and at the former Kelly Field.

His granddaughter, Crystal Viagran, said Cruz remained a tinkerer and an avid repairman into his senior years.

He could always fix anything, Viagran said, adding Cruz would decorate his home with art he crafted. Im really proud, because I do believe he is part of the Greatest Generation.

Asked where hell keep the awards, Cruz said, Near my heart.

jlawrence@express-news.net
A 32-year-old Austin man was arrested last week after his boyfriend notified police that the man had child porn on his electronic devices, according to court documents.

Joshua Paul Melton faces a second-degree felony charge of promotion of child pornography. His bond was set at $75,000.

RELATED: 2 Wagner HS students arrested in connection with overnight break-in

Meltons boyfriend approached the Austin Police Department on May 2, stating that he believed there to be child pornography on Meltons computer. He described seeing images and videos of children under the age of 10 performing sex acts. At least one of the children shown in the porn was as young as 4, according to Meltons arrest affidavit.

The boyfriend told police he had been in a relationship with Melton for about five months, and that around the time they started dating he learned of a pornographic video that Melton was in with a young girl, who investigators learned was underage, the affidavit said.

Meltons boyfriend took photos and video of the pornographic content on Meltons computer and showed it to police.

RELATED: La Vernia ISD employees file motion to dismiss lawsuit over allegations of sex assault at high school

Melton was arrested on Thursday following the investigation.

If convicted, Melton faces up to 20 years in prison.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
Irish Water can confirm that works are progressing and are on target across the four water supply schemes in Co Longford that are on the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL) which was recently published. Irish Water is investing in on-going projects to address the different risks to the water supplies affecting over 28,000 people in the county.

Works carried out by Irish Water over recent years and months has seen a vast improvement in the quality of drinking water being delivered to the public in Longford.

The four plants which remain on the RAL are the Ballymahon Water Supply, the Longford Central Supply Scheme, the Granard Water Supply Scheme and the Gowna Water Supply Scheme. The water supplies are on the RAL due to elevated Trihalomethanes (THMs).

THMs are chemicals formed by the reaction of naturally occurring dissolved organic material and chlorine which is used for disinfection in order to protect against pathogenic bacteria.

Irish Water has put in place the first national THMs plan and a prioritised programme of investment to address all inadequacies in drinking water parameters including THMs. By 2021 the utility plans to reduce the number of schemes on the RAL to zero with an investment of 327 million in upgrading water supplies at risk from THMs.

Irish Water is progressing with assessing and monitoring the raw water sources to the Abbeyshrule Water Treatment Plant which supplies the Ballymahon Water Supply, Smear Water Treatment Plant which supplies Gowna Water supply, Lough Forbes Water Treatment Plant which supplies Longford Central Water Supply and Lough Kinale Water Treatment Plant which supplies Granard Water Supply. This programme of work will enable Irish Water to fully assess the performance of the treatment process at each of the plants.

Work to upgrade the disinfection system at each of these plants is continuing and work at each of the plants is expected to be completed in August next. Further works will then take place to help facilitate the removal of the water supply from the EPA RAL by the end of 2018.

Speaking about the RAL and the ongoing work in Longford, Padraig Farrell, East Midlands Capital Programmes Lead said: The publication of the latest RAL update is a confirmation of the focus and dedication of Irish Water in ensuring the delivery of clean and wholesome water in the county.

As a single utility Irish Water is able to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of Irelands drinking water production plants and where serious compliance challenges are found they can be tackled more effectively and efficiently. Significant improvements are being achieved year on year by this approach, including in Co Longford where there are no boil water notices in place.
Local News, Crime, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

A.G. Schneidermans Operation Uptown Red Alert Takes Down Defendants For Shipping Over $550k Worth Of Narcotics From New York City To The Capital Region.

New York, NY - May 9, 2017 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the guilty pleas of Juan Ramos and Noemi Maldonado, the leaders of a large-scale narcotics trafficking ring that served as a multistate heroin, cocaine, and prescription drug pipeline from New York City to the Capital Region, as well as Maine and Pennsylvania. Ramos and Maldonado, both from Brooklyn, pled guilty yesterday to Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, a class A-1 felony; they will each be sentenced on July 20th to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision.

Last month, Attorney General Schneiderman announced a Suburban And Upstate Response To The Growing Epidemic  ( S.U.R.G.E) Initiative  a new law enforcement effort that brings together the AGs Organized Crime Task Force and local and state law enforcement to disrupt New Yorks widening heroin and opioid distribution networks.

We have zero tolerance for dangerous drug trafficking rings  and those who deal drugs and violence in our communities should be on notice: we wont hesitate to bring you to justice, said Attorney General Schneiderman. Our S.U.R.G.E Initiative is utilizing out states most effective law enforcement resources to crack down on the violent, expansive heroin and opioid networks around the state. Well continue to aggressively prosecute criminals who fuel the cycle of addiction, part of our multipronged approach to fighting the heroin and opioid epidemic that is tearing families apart across New York.

Ramos and Maldonado led a drug trafficking ring that trafficked hundreds of thousands of dollars of heroin, cocaine and illegal prescription medication from New York City to the Capital Region, as well as Maine and Pennsylvania. During the underlying investigation, law enforcement seized more than two pounds of bulk heroin, capable of being packaged into 50,000 bags of heroin to be sold on the streetgiving the heroin an approximate street value of $500,000. Law enforcement also seized more than a pound of bulk cocaine with an approximate street value of $50,000, a homemade heroin kilogram press, 1,067 Oxycodone pills, over $21,000 in cash, two shotguns, and one handgun. The investigation also revealed that Ramos and Maldonado transported narcotics to customers in a BMW valued around $120,000.

The investigation, called  Operation Uptown Red Alert , was conducted by the Attorney Generals Organized Crime Task Force, the City of Albany Police Department, and the New York State Police, and led to the indictment of 27 people, all of whom have now pled guilty with the exception of two defendants that still have active warrants for their arrests. The charges against those remaining two defendants are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Attorney General Schneidermans Organized Crime Task Force has partnered with state and local law enforcement to bring over 800 accused drug and gun dealers to justice, since 2010. In addition to prosecuting major drug trafficking rings, the Attorney General has taken numerous steps to combat the opioid crisis in New York including but not limited to:

Most recently, Attorney General Schneiderman launched the Suburban and Upstate Response to the Growing Epidemic (S.U.R.G.E.) Initiative, which target gangs and individuals who deal heroin and opioids and commit acts of violence in suburban and upstate communities across New York State, in partnership with local and state law enforcement. As part of the S.U.R.G.E Initiative, Attorney General Schneiderman announced the take down a 52-person heroin and opioid ring in Operation Bricktown last month.
Tech & Science, Local News, Health & Wellness, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

First in the Nation App Connects Older Adults and Their Families with Vital Services and Information in Their Communities; Supports Governor's Goal to Make New York First Age-Friendly State in the Nation.

Albany, NY - May 9, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the first statewide mobile app to connect older adults with valuable resources and services in their communities. The New York State Office for the Agings Aging Services app will provide New York's more than 3.7 million older adults with easily accessible material about benefits, programs, and services, including information regarding health and wellness, housing, and transportation options. The app is compatible with both Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the first statewide mobile app to connect older adults with valuable resources and services in their communities. The New York State Office for the Agings Aging Services app will provide New York's more than 3.7 million older adults with easily accessible material about benefits, programs, and services, including information regarding health and wellness, housing, and transportation options. The app is compatible with both iOS and Android platforms.

"This new app ensures that New York's growing older adult population can access resources and services to remain healthy and connected to their communities," Governor Cuomo said. "By helping older adults live with independence and dignity, this is one more way we are using technology to help build a stronger, healthier New York."

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, who announced the Aging Services App at todays Older New Yorkers Appreciation Day celebration, said, Older generations have spent a lifetime building New York and serving their communities and neighbors, and they continue to contribute so much to our state and society. With this app we make sure they have the support they need to meet the challenges of aging while remaining independent and enjoying full and healthy lives.

The Aging Services app is part of the Governors overall goal to make New York State the healthiest and the first age-friendly state in the nation, in accordance with the eight Age Friendly/Livable Community Domains outlined by the World Health Organization and AARP. Communities that are designed and designated as age-friendly are communities that promote healthy aging for older adults and individuals of any age.

One of the primary goals of the app is to provide basic information addressing issues older New Yorkers and their families face and connect them to live local resources that can help. Using the apps Near Me feature, an older adult or caregiver anywhere in New York can immediately obtain address and contact information for local offices for the aging, senior centers, farmers markets, caregiver services, Alzheimers Association chapters, and more, within the closest proximity to their exact location.

The Aging Services app also links users with live information and assistance through NY Connects, the states no wrong door system for community-based long-term services and supports, which is designed to help older adults and those with disabilities remain healthy and independent. Additionally, the app provides timely news and updates about state and federal programs that directly impact the lives of older New Yorkers and their families.

Older adults are increasingly using technological tools to connect to news and information, health and wellness resources, and social supports. Almost 75 percent of people over age 50 and almost 45 percent of people over age 65 now own a smartphone, and those numbers continue to grow.

New York State Office for the Aging Acting Director Greg Olsen said, I applaud Governor Cuomo for recognizing the valuable contributions older New Yorkers make to their communities, and his leadership in making New York the first age-friendly state. Citizens of all ages are inundated with information on a daily basis and sometimes getting basic help or talking to a live human being can be challenging. This first in the country mobile app puts easily understandable information into the hands of older New Yorkers, their families, and their caregivers, but more importantly, it connects people to local resources.

New York State Chief Information Officer Robert H. Samson said, The Office of Information Technology Services is proud to work with the NYS Office for the Aging to advance Governor Cuomos health and age-friendly initiatives. There has been a dramatic shift in the way 21st century citizens look for and obtain information. Under Governor Cuomos leadership, ITS is re-envisioning the role of technology to provide New Yorkers with instant access to a wealth of knowledge and information. The mobile Aging Services app will enable New Yorkers on-the-go to access the resources they need more conveniently, faster, and easier.

New York State Secretary of State Rossana Rosado said, This is one more innovative step toward the Governors ambitious goal of making New York the first state in the nation certified as Age-Friendly by the World Health organization and AARP. The Department of State has been proud to partner with NYSOFA in creating livable, age-friendly communities through our many Smart Growth and community-planning programs.

Senator Sue Serino, Chair of the New York State Senate Aging Committee said, My goal as Chair of the Senates Aging Committee is to make New York a better place to age. That means improving access to critical resources that our seniors and their families depend on to help them age in placeat home, in their communities. Utilizing technology to do just that is an important step forward and will empower seniors across the state by helping them take advantage of critical resources. I applaud this effort to help bring our aging services into the 21st century.

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, Chair of the New York State Assembly Aging Committee said, Older New Yorkers are staying active longer and are more involved in their communities than ever before. This app-based technology will provide residents with easy access to available resources and services conveniently located in one place. It will also provide a link to NY Connects; a valuable source of information about long-term care for seniors and those with disabilities.

Beth Finkel, AARP NY State Director said, AARP is proud to partner with Governor Cuomo to make New York the first age friendly state. The launching of this app, specifically designed for older New Yorkers and their families, supports many of the principles of age friendly/livable communities. Todays older adults are becoming increasingly connected to mobile technology via smartphones and other mobile devices, and this new age-friendly mobile app allows people to more easily link to community resources that help them age independently.

Michael Romano, President of the Association on Aging New York and Director of the Oneida County Office for the Aging said, Governor Cuomos leadership and support for older New Yorkers is unparalleled. Employing mobile technology to further connect older adults and caregivers to resources, services, volunteer and employment opportunities, housing and transportation options in their communities is the next step in creating age friendly communities. The new Aging Services mobile app provides a new level of connectivity for users, especially for those in rural areas, linking them to community resources that keep them healthy, independent, and socially engaged.

Ann Marie Cook, President and CEO of Lifespan said, Lifespan appreciates Governor Cuomos ongoing commitment to older New Yorkers and their families. The new mobile Aging Services app is an innovative tool that allows older adults and caregivers to connect to local resources and services in their area at the touch of a button, as well as link users to the NY Connects system for live information and assistance.

Tom Kamber, Founder and Executive Director of Older Adults Technology Services, said, We are experiencing a longevity revolution in this country and the role of technology to assist and support our daily activities is paramount. There is an increasing awareness of healthy living and social engagement among todays older adults, and technology plays a key role in healthy aging. New York States new mobile Aging Services app helps older adults remain healthy, active, and engaged in their communities, which in turn leads to a stronger and smarter New York.

Individuals interested in accessing the New York State Office for the Agings Aging Services app can do so at the links below:

The Aging Services app was developed by the New York State Office for the Aging in collaboration with the New York State Office of Information Technology Services. To explore more of New York States official mobile apps, visit www.ny.gov/mobileapps

About the New York State Office for the Aging
Local News, Business & Finance, Travel & Local Attractions

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

National Travel and Tourism Week (May 7-13) celebrates what travel means to American jobs, economic growth and personal well-being.

Long Island, NY - May 9, 2017 - In honor of National Travel & Tourism Week (NTTW), Discover Long Island will be hosting a breakfast panel of political experts from the City, County and Federal levels to shed light on the value of tourism to Long Islands economy and provide insight on the importance of industry advocacy. Held on Wednesday, May 10 from 8:00 a.m.  10:00 a.m. at the Melville Marriott, Discover Long Island members are invited to a morning of networking and education featuring Suffolk County Legislator, Kara Hahn, Long Beach City Manager, Jack Schnirman and Legislative Director for Congressman Lee Zeldin, Kevin Dowling.

Established by a congressional resolution in 1983, the 34th annual National Travel and Tourism Week (May 7-13), unites communities across the country to celebrate what travel means to American jobs, economic growth and personal well-being. The theme of this years NTTW, Faces of Travel, shines a spotlight on the people that make up Americas travel industry and Discover Long Islands featured panel represents a selection of Long Islanders who are avid supporters on the regions behalf.

This event, in conjunction with National Travel & Tourism Week, serves to champion the power of our industry as an economic engine, said Kristen Jarnagin, President & CEO, Discover Long Island. Long Islands $5.5 billion tourism industry supports more than 100,000 local jobs and, with more than nine million visitors annually, is second only to New York City in generating tourism spending in the state of New York.

This event is exclusive and complimentary to Discover Long Island members. Media access is limited, please respond to Maggie LaCasse if you would like to attend. To learn more about Discover Long Island, please visit www.discoverlongisland.com. For more information about National Travel and Tourism Week 2017, please visit www.ustravel.org

ABOUT DISCOVER LONG ISLAND
Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

Fegeumsny Edouard, 15, was last seen leaving the Mercy First facility on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

UPDATE - May 15, 2017 - Police report that the Missing Juvenile has been located.

Below is the original report.

Syosset, NY - May 9, 2017 - The Missing Persons Squad is investigating a Missing Juvenile that occurred on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm in The Missing Persons Squad is investigating a Missing Juvenile that occurred on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm in Syosset

According to detectives, Fegeumsny Edouard, 15, was last seen at Mercy First  525 Convent Road, Syosset on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm. Fegeumsny is described as a male black, thin build with glasses.
Local News, Crime, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

Bill Takes a Holistic Approach to Investigating, Prosecuting, and Preventing Gang Activity; First Time that Criminal Gang Activity Would be Defined in States Penal Law.

New York, NY - May 9, 2017 - The New York State Senate has passed necessary legislation to fight the deadly criminal behavior of gangs throughout New York. The bill (S2410), sponsored by Senator Martin Golden (22nd Senate District), creates the Criminal Street Gang Enforcement and Prevention Act to better prosecute gang violence and stop gang recruitment through proactive community outreach.

Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan (2nd Senate District) said, Neighborhoods that have been particularly hard hit by gang violence on Long Island and in communities across the state need better resources to help eliminate gangs and the victimization of those in their wake. Senator Goldens bill takes a comprehensive approach to protect our families by preventing vulnerable young people from being recruited by gangs and strengthening our laws to break up violent and dangerous gang activity.

Senator Golden said, As a former New York City Police Officer, I know firsthand that the presence of gangs on the streets of New York have, and continue to, destroy communities, destroy schools, and destroy families. It is time that we create stricter penalties, along with educational programs, to reduce gang violence across New York State. We must not only work to prevent the formation of gangs, but we should penalize them, track them, and educate them so the dangers they cause on our streets can be eliminated.

Gang violence in urban and suburban areas throughout New York has increased, and the rise of MS-13  who have claimed at least 11 lives in less than a year  demonstrates a need for a more comprehensive method of tackling gangs. This bill would not only strengthen the legal options available to prosecute street gangs, but would also help address many root causes of gang recruitment and growth.

Senator Elaine Phillips (7th Senate District), cosponsor of the legislation, said, Gangs are brutally and mercilessly preying on people across New York State, and they must be stopped. No community should ever have to fear horrific acts of violence like those which took place on Long Island. This legislation is an aggressive, comprehensive approach that will help put violent gang members behind bars and keep children from joining these gangs in the first place. The Assembly should join the Senate in acting on this legislation and providing these new tools to protect our communities.

For the first time ever, the legislation legally defines criminal street gangs in New Yorks penal statutes, giving prosecutors more options when charging offenders. Classifying and identifying this type of criminal activity will also help law enforcement better track gangs. Penalties are increased and new felonies are created for individuals who benefit from gang activity, participate in gang activity, and recruit youth or adults to participate in gang activities.

A new Criminal Street Gang Prevention Fund would also be established to support violence prevention and gang crime deterrence services provided by not-for-profit organizations. The measure would be funded partially through forfeited assets obtained following convictions for gang activity.

In addition, schools would consult with the state Division Criminal Justice Services to implement a model curriculum focused on gang violence prevention. This will help educators interact in a positive manner with children and their parents to assist in developing positive values, self-esteem, knowledge, and skills that can lead to productive, gang-free, and drug-free lives.
Food, Wine, & Dining, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

The event is a small token of thanks to our veterans for all that they have done to keep our country free and safe.

East Northport, NY - May 9, 2017 - Veterans from across Suffolk County gathered with local officials on Monday, May 1, 2017 at the Veterans from across Suffolk County gathered with local officials on Monday, May 1, 2017 at the Larkfield in East Northport for the 4th Annual Veterans Appreciation Breakfast. The event, donated by George and Harry Mountanos the owners of The Larkfield, and coordinated by Suffolk County Legislator William R. Spencer, M.D. is a small token of thanks to our veterans for all that they have done to keep our country free and safe. This year, Legislator Steve Stern the Chairman of the Suffolk County Veterans Committee for the past 12 years was honored for his tireless advocacy efforts along with all of our local service men and women past and present.

Today we join together to personally express our deep and sincere appreciation to our veterans. You are all a beautiful example of what our country stands for and an inspiration; were eternally grateful for your service, said Legislator Spencer as he opened up the ceremony. Our honoree, Legislator Steve Stern is a true friend to the veterans of Suffolk County. He has humbly stood as a voice for our service people, fighting for what is right and for their dignity and respect. I am proud to recognize him today and convey our best wishes and appreciation as he moves forward. Im confident that his advocacy efforts and passion for our veterans will continue into the future.

Since taking office in 2006, Legislator Stern has represented our community with distinction and commitment. Serving as the Chairman of the Suffolk County Legislature Veterans Committee, he has sponsored and co-sponsored several landmark resolutions that directly affect our veterans. Two of his key accomplishments include introducing and passing the Housing Our Homeless Heroes Act an important legislative initiative to end homelessness for the veterans and their families, the Protect Our Fallen Heroes Act which protects military funerals from shameful and disrespectful protests upon grieving families and ensures respect for those who have paid the supreme sacrifice for our great nation.

I am deeply humbled and grateful to be honored at the Annual Veterans Appreciation Breakfast, Legislator Stern said. Throughout my tenure as Suffolk County Legislator I have been privileged to serve as the Chairman of the Veterans Committee, working with and for the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much to protect our great nation and their families. I am proud of my legislative accomplishments, including the Housing Our Homeless Heroes Act and the Protect our Fallen Heroes Act, but I am most proud of our active duty military, our reservists and guard members and our veterans. Thank you for your service.

How wonderful of Legislator Spencer and the Larkfield for recognizing the men and women who have served and are serving, said Bruce Brenner, Past Commander of VFW 1469 and Commander of the Combat Infantrymens Association of Huntington. We look to forward to the breakfast every year and greatly appreciate it.

Attendees of the breakfast were asked to sign a Suffolk County Flag that will be raised in honor of our veterans and will fly above the William H. Rogers Building in Hauppauge on Veterans Day.
Nature & Weather, Local News, Health & Wellness, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 09 2017

Congressman Peter King, Supervisor Joe Saladino, NY State DEC, Northrop Grumman, U.S. Navy and Others Work Together to Move Forward.

Long Island, NY - May 9, 2017 - Today Congressman Tom Suozzi, (NY-03) joined by Congressman Peter King (NY-02) and Today Congressman Tom Suozzi, (NY-03) joined by Congressman Peter King (NY-02) and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joe Saladino, held a meeting featuring all major stakeholders involved in confronting the challenges facing cleanup efforts of the Northrop Grumman/U.S. Navy Groundwater Plume.

Those who attended the meeting included representatives from Northrop Grumman, the U.S. Navy, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), New York State Department of Health, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nassau County Department of Health, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Bethpage Water District, South Farmingdale Water District, Massapequa Water District, Town of Hempstead Water Department, Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and the NYIT Center for Water Resources.

Im very encouraged by the results of todays collaboration. All stakeholders agreed to collaborate together to obtain necessary approvals, permits and funding to accelerate the actual clean up. Having everyone under one roof to address this issue was important. The greatest concern was to speed up the remediation in a cost-effective manner that actually delivers results for the people of Bethpage and surrounding communities.

Im committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure this work actually starts getting done and that the Bethpage Water District does not have to continue to bear the costs of this complex project. While the public drinking water remains safe, this issue has been lingering for over 40 years and the time has come for all these stakeholders to fix the problem once and for all, said Congressman Suozzi.

Very simply, we need a comprehensive plan to remediate this groundwater plume once and for all. I will continue to work with Congressman Suozzi and Supervisor Saladino. Even though the water supply is safe to drink, complete remediation should be the priority. It is in the best interest of our own families health and generations of Long Island families to come, said Congressman King.

The remediation of the plume has been one of my highest priorities and I have been working for 13 years in Albany with the DEC, our residents, the Bethpage Water District, and the impacted communities to accelerate the States role in cleaning up the contamination in our groundwater, Supervisor Saladino said. Under a NYS law which I wrote and passed in 2014, it mandated that the DEC create an in-depth report which ultimately concluded that hydraulic containment will work effectively on the plume and lays out the framework of how to best accomplish that goal. We need to continue working together with the federal, State and all local levels of government in an effort to fully remediate and finally clean up the contamination of the Grumman Navy Plume to fully protect our water and the publics health.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, Governor Cuomos commitment to expediting remediation of the Grumman plume has been unequivocal and unrelenting. DEC will continue to aggressively advance a comprehensive cleanup plan that achieves all remedial goals and holds those responsible for the pollution fully accountable.
A Taliban fighter raises the flag over Qala-i-Zals district center.

The Taliban is making another push to take control of the northern Afghan city of Kunduz and has taken one of Kunduz provinces seven districts during the past several days of fighting. The province has been a focal point of Taliban operations for more than two years.

Taliban fighters overran Qala-i-Zals district center over the weekend and raised their flag over the administrative complex on May 6 after what appeared to be minimal resistance by Afghan forces, according to a video released by the jihadist group. There was little damage to the administrative complex and Afghan forces and personnel based there appeared to have fled hastily.

Afghan officials admitted that Qala-i-Zal has fallen to the Taliban but state they will retake the district center in the near future. Afghanistans interior minister claimed that five Taliban commanders and 32 fighters were killed in airstrikes in the district the day after it fell, according to Khaama Press.

Qala-i-Zal borders Tajikistan, and the taking of the district prompted the Taliban to attempt to reassure neighboring countries that it is not interested in interfering with them.

Therefore we consider it opportune to once again reassure our neighbors that the aim of our struggle is to liberate our land from foreign occupiers and established an Islamic government, a statement released on Voice of Jihad on May 6 noted. We have no intention of meddling in others affairs and nor will we allow others to interfere in our internal affairs.

In addition to the fighting in Qala-i-Zal, the Taliban is threatening to retake Khanabad district, and has blocked the highway between the district and Kunduz City. The Taliban claimed it has killed 25 Afghan security personnel and destroyed 11 tanks, which are most likely armored vehicles. The Taliban claims cannot be independently confirmed.

Prior to the renewed push to take Kunduz, the Taliban, in a statement released on March 26, claimed it controls 60 percent or more of six of Kunduzs seven districts (the Taliban did not provide an assessment of Kunduz district). According to the Taliban, 95 percent of Dasht-i-Archi and Char Dara  except for the district centers  are Taliban controlled, plus 80 percent of Khanabad  including the district center  is in the Talibans hands, while 70 percent of Qala-i-Zal and Imam Sahib, and 60 percent of Aliabad is run by the Taliban.

While the Talibans claims of control are difficult to assess, FDDs Long War Journal has determined them to be credible. Additionally, the Talibans claims are not that different from an assessment form the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. [See Afghan Taliban lists Percent of Country under the control of Mujahideen and Taliban controls or contests 40 percent of Afghan districts: SIGAR.]

Kunduz a key battlefield for Taliban

The Taliban has put significant effort and resources in its efforts to take control of the province. Kunduz is far from what are often considered to be the center of the Taliban power: the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. The Taliban presence in Kunduz and other northern province shatters the image of the Taliban as a southern power comprised of Pashtun nationalists. In Kunduz and other northern provinces, the Taliban draws fighters from an array of ethnic groups.

Led by Mullah Abdul Salam, the previous shadow governor of Kunduz, the Taliban entered Kunduz City twice in the past two years, fully controlling it for two weeks in the fall of 2015, and seizing half the city for more than a week in October of 2016. US special forces and air power was brought in to help Afghan forces retake the city

Kunduz City is the only major Afghan city to fall to the Taliban since US forces entered the country in 2001.

The US killed Salam in an airstrike on Feb. 26 in Aliabad district. General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, called for the Taliban to reconcile with the Afghan government while announcing Salams death, but the Taliban immediately dismissed his call for peace.

Salam has not been forgotten by the Taliban. In its video on the capture of Qala-i-Zal, the Taliban honored Salams contribution to the fight in Kunduz, and displayed his image as Taliban fighters raised the groups flag over the district center.

Images from the Taliban video on the capture of Qala-i-Zal:

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
TRENTON >> Following the two black eyes a couple of Mercer County Sheriffs officers gave the department for domestic abuse, the agencys leader is speaking out.

In a prepared statement, Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler said Tuesday that his officers receive mandatory annual training for domestic violence per New Jersey Attorney General guidelines.

As Mercer County Sheriff, I have zero tolerance for domestic abuse in our community and among our ranks, Kemler said. The Sheriff and his senior staff continually reevaluate the training that officers receive in order to make certain that all regular classes, online instruction and periodic guidance is up to date for individual officers. If an officer violates any of our Standard Operating Procedures, any rules, or is accused of any criminal wrongdoing, we make certain that it is investigated fairly and thoroughly, for both the officer and/or any persons involved.

That incident was preceded by the arrest of Mercer County sheriffs officer Aaron Scolnick, who allegedly assaulted his spouse at their Hamilton home on Nov. 26.

Both officers were charged with simple assault and were suspended without pay following the arrests.

Kemler said when a domestic violence incident involves a sheriffs office employee, the matter is preliminarily reviewed by the Sheriffs Internal Affairs Unit, and then turned over to the appropriate County Prosecutors Office for a full and complete assessment.

It might explain why on Monday, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office had no information on Schoellkopfs arrest.

Each investigation is handled with great seriousness, and once it is properly reviewed and adjudicated, we take all appropriate actions, the sheriff said. It is important to make clear that no one, not even a Sheriffs Officer is above the law.

Simple assault, a disorderly persons offense, carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Kemler said domestic violence affects all communities.

Like many employers, it is impossible to control how people behave outside of the workplace and at home, the sheriff said. Therefore, I urge anyone who has been a victim, feels threatened, or is seeking help to call the New Jersey Statewide Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-572-SAFE (7233). The confidential 24-hour, seven-day-a-week hotline aids domestic abuse victims and others seeking information, referral services or crisis intervention.

Yesterday, The Trentonian reported that Mercer County Sheriffs Lt. Scott Schoellkopf was arrested at his Chesterfield home on April 28 for allegedly beating his wife.
WASHINGTON: The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a four-month low last week as an improving public health environment allows more segments of the economy to reopen, putting the labour market recovery back on track.



Still, a full recovery from the deep scars inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic will probably take years, with the weekly unemployment claims report from the Labour Department on Thursday also showing a whopping 20.1 million Americans collecting unemployment checks in late February.



Were likely on the verge of much lower unemployment claims, but were not there yet, said Robert Frick, economist at Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Virginia. Assuming COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to decline, we expect lower, and perhaps dramatically lower, claims this spring.



Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 712,000 for the week ended March 6, the lowest level since early November. Data for the prior week was revised to show 9,000 more applications received than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 725,000 applications in the latest week.



Unadjusted claims dropped 47,170 to 709,458 last week, amid declines in Texas, New York and Mississippi, where claims had been boosted in the prior period by harsh weather. But there was a big jump in claims in California.



Filings also rose in Ohio, which has been plagued by fraudulent applications. The state accounted for 18% of the claims filed last week, though it makes up only 3.7% of total employment.



Including a government-funded program for the self-employed, gig workers and others who do not qualify for the regular state programs, 1.2 million people filed claims last week. New coronavirus infections have dropped for eight straight weeks, declining 12% last week, according to a Reuters analysis of state, county and CDC data. Vaccinations jumped to a record 2.2 million shots per day and virus-related deaths fell 18%.Reuters




MARTINSVILLENathan Penn started working when he was eight years old. The Martinsville native still remembers growing up on Roundabout Road and working as a delivery boy for Wrays Sandwiches and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. He worked hard at his job and later in school, determined to learn as much as he could. Later on, he applied that work ethic to a job in the Peace Corps, traveling across the world. Now hes in Liberia, helping encourage students there to develop those same traits.

Penn still remembers growing up and attending Albert Harris Elementary School and later Albert Harris High. Sundays were special too him as well, spent at Mount Zion Pentecostal Holy Church. Penn went on to be one of the first African American students to graduate from Martinsville High, under President Lyndon B. Johnsons Freedom of Choice Act in 1966.

The trailblazer earned credentials as a National Merit Scholar and attended Hampton University, where he majored in mathematics and psychology. After graduation, he took as job as a management consultant for Samuel Harris Ltd. In that role, Penn toured the Midwestern portion of the United States, evaluating federal training programs for entry level workers. But when the contract expired with the federal government, another company won the bid and so Penn started considering other options.

Thats when I enrolled in a Master of Education in Mathematics program at Texas Southern University, Penn said. This was a joint program with the University of Liberia, where I studied African history, politics and cultural environment.

The joint program came with a two year commitment as a Peace Corps volunteer in Wainsue, Liberia.

During the two years of teaching and living among Liberians of all ages, I came to respect the zeal for life and learning that seemed missing among the masses back home, Penn said.

In America, Penn said he often heard the phrase, Free schools and dumb children, but found the opposite to be true in Liberia.

In the African country, children paid to go to school and Penn observed that they were eager to learn.

Thats why, after two years, I accepted a direct-hire position with the Liberian Ministry of Education to teach at the Liberian National Cultural Center School at Kendejah, Liberia, Penn said. I extended the school into a senior high school and taught there until the Rice Riots, which preceded the assassination of President [William] Tolbert in 1980.

The Rice Riots as they were called, happened in April 1979 when the Liberian government proposed an increase in the price of rice. The agriculture minister recommended an increase from $22 per 100-pound bag to $26, saying this would encourage farmers to stay on their land and develop rice, rather than looking for jobs in the cities. Opponents however pointed out that the minister, Florence Chenoweth, as well as the presidents family, had large rice farms and would all see their profits increase as a result of the hike.

On April 14, what started as a peaceful protest of 2,000 people in the capital of Monrovia grew into a crowd of more than 12,000, vandalizing local businesses and homes. Military troops were called in to handle the rioters and at the end, 40 civilians were killed, more than 500 were injured and over 100 people were arrested. The damage was placed at $40 million.

With the country at war with itself, Penn decided it was time to come home.

Coming home

Upon returning to the States, Penn accepted employment at his alma mater, Hampton University, where he taught for six years and earned a Master of Science degree in management. He took a job as a computer systems analyst for the U.S. Army in Heidelberg, Germany, and then returned to Martinsville for a position as a regional planner.

In 1996, Penn sought a doctorate in Program Planning and Evaluation at the University of Maryland  Baltimore County. His education helped him land a job as a mathematical statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau. But Liberia wasnt done with him and at this point, almost 20 years after leaving, Penn was ready to answer the call.

I was recruited by the President of Cuttington University to lecture in mathematics during [the 2011-12 school year], Penn said. I [had] retired from the Bureau and felt safe to return to Africa after the long and deadly Liberian Civil War ended.

Cuttington University is a private school in the area of Suacoco in Liberia. The university was founded in 1889 by the Episcopal Church of the United States, making it the oldest private university in not just that country, but all of sub-Saharan Africa.

In April of this year, Penn returned to Wainsue, where he was a Peace Corps volunteer 43 years before. He went with a plan in mind to help.

In recognition and with compassion for the dire needs of the subsistence farmers, I had to do something, Penn said. The children were actually struggling to attend school, being taken from class regularly to assist their parents with farm chores was discouraging to the scholarly students.

In Wainsue, there is no senior high school. Students who wish to attend must travel 10 miles to Gbarnga City, which houses the nearest facility with classes for 10th through 12th grade.

I felt compelled to do something to stimulate the desire to persevere on the part of those seeking to better their lives through at least a high school diploma, Penn said.

The professor offered a $300 per-year scholarship to the top ranking ninth grader in the Wainsue junior high school, Peterson Flomo. Liberia uses the same system of money as the United States, with dollars as the currency, but the value is far different. Due to the current economic situation in that country, a $300 scholarship is worth $32,400 in Liberian dollars.

This will enable the top ranking ninth grade junior high graduate to rent a room in Gbarnga, pay registration fees, buy food, buy school supplies, Penn said. Of course, the family will help too, but the $32,400 LD will most definitely help out.

Completing senior high school will open many doors for Flomo.

He can go on to technical college or the university. He can obtain gainful employment, as most job applications require at least a high school diploma, Penn said. By winning the scholarship, he will encourage other youth not to give up on life and to stay out of mischief.

If you want to help

Penn has set up a donation center for anyone who wants to contribute. Funds may be mailed to the Cuttington University Endowment, P.O. Box 10-0277, Monrovia, 1000 Montserrado, Liberia. Penn recommends that donations be specifically marked as scholarship funds.
STUARTA Hanover County man will serve two and a half years in prison, after being convicted and sentenced Monday of dealing drugs.

Judge Martin F. Clark Jr. sentenced Jordan Ruckert Webb, 32, whose address also is listed as Richmond, to 20 years in prison, with two and a half years of that active and seventeen and a half years suspended on conditions including five years of supervised probation, good behavior and a $1,000 fine. Webb had been arrested and charged with selling Ecstasy at FloydFest in July 2015, where he was working at a booth selling beer.

FloydFest is an annual music and arts festival held near Floyd, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A National Institute on Drug Abuse website says that methylenedioixy-methamphetamine (MDMA)  commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly  is a synthetic drug that alters mood and perception (awareness of surrounding objects and conditions). It is chemically similar to both stimulants and hallucinogens, producing feelings of increased energy, pleasure, emotional warmth, and distorted sensory and time perception.

Webbs lawyer, Christopher Corbett, argued that some people have a perception that regulations and rules are relaxed at festivals like FloydFest. Corbett argued that Webb felt he was helping people have fun. However, as pointed out during Mondays sentencing, the FloydFest website says no drugs are allowed into the festival.

Corbett gave Judge Clark several letters of character reference that people had written on Webbs behalf.

After reading the letters, Clark said that positives for Webb included that he has a skilled vocation  which is more than the vast majority of people in court. Clark said Webb is a good, hard-working electrician, and he has accepted responsibility for the offense. (Webb pleaded guilty Feb. 8 to selling a schedule 1 or 2 controlled substance and was in court Monday to be sentenced.)

MDMA increases the activity of three brain chemicals: dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the effects include euphoria, increased energy, distorted perception, involuntary teeth clenching, dangerously high body temperature, and depression. Many people are unaware that Ecstasy and supposedly pure Molly also often contain not only pure MDMA but other drugs that may be particularly dangerous when mixed with MDMA. Research results vary on whether MDMA is addictive. Some people report signs of addiction.

It says high doses of MDMA can lead to a spike in body temperature that can occasionally result in liver, kidney or heart failure or even death.

MDMA initially was popular in the nightclub scene and at raves (all-night dance parties) but now it affects a broader range of people, who more commonly call the drug Ecstasy or Molly, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Judge Clark ruled that on the day in question (July 24, 2015), Webb was a professional drug dealer. Also, Clark said that Webb  by illegally selling MDMA while working at the festival selling beer at a booth -- jeopardized the ability of a festival to get an ABC license and jeopardized opportunities for everyone else who works at the festival.
Gangsters in Love

"Gangsters in Love" is coming to the Northampton Elks Lodge #997.

If you like your drinks and dinner with a side of crime, Northampton Elks Lodge #997 has just the thing for you.



After its successful show, "Trial & Error: A Comedy" in March, the club will bring back the troupe Have Comedy, Will Travel for a new play, "Gangsters in Love" on Saturday at 6 p.m. (The bar opens at 5:30 p.m.)



The show is described as a highly interactive, comedy-murder mystery, written by Steve Henderson. Attendees will join a "criminally fun" Jack and Jill party for Vinnie and Maria, and solve a mystery while they are at it.



Food will be provided by Myers Catering of Easthampton and include Chicken parmesan, beef braciole, eggplant parmesan, pasta, salad, garlic bread, coffee, and dessert.



Tickets are $35 and available both at the Northampton Elks Lodge (at the bar) or online at: comedymysteryatelks.brownpapertickets.com

For more information, call Lainey at (413) 303-8060 or email her at Laineyelaine1964@yahoo.com

Northampton Lodge of Elks #997 is at 17 Spring Street, in the Florence section of the city.



Scouting report



Also in Florence at the VFW on Saturday will be Bon Appetit Burlesque's latest show "Mayday! Mayday!" which will feature drag performances centered around disasters of all kinds, both big and small. Featured performers include Jane Doe, Femme Brulee, Brandy Wine, Dandy Sherman, Vanil LaFrappe, and Bettysioux Tailor. As always, the event will be hosted by Hors D'oeuvres with music by DJ Cajar. The show starts at 7 p.m.



Ryan Hartt and the Bluehearts will bring their eclectic mix of blues, soul, and rock to Theodores' in Springfield on Friday at 9:30 p.m. In the band's dozen or so years together, Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts have logged numerous gigs and traveled many miles in a Honda minivan, playing clubs and festivals throughout the Northeast and beyond. The band has its roots in the Chicago and West Coast blues styles. Theodores' is at 201 Worthington St.



The Rendezvous in the Turners Falls section of Montague does not have any shows scheduled for this upcoming weekend (May 12-13) but the rest of the month is packed with the club's usual diverse range of fun.

Here are some of the offerings:





May 15: Bingo at 8 p.m.

May 18: Half Shaved Jazz at 7:30 p.m.

May 20: Spring Sprung Dance Party with DJ Drew at 9:30 p.m.

May 22: Scotty K's open mic at 8 p.m.

May 24: Open old-time music session at 8 p.m.

May 25: The Nite Caps (classing honky-tonk for two-step, waltz, and swing) 8:30 p.m.

May 26: Vimana (psychedelic) at 9:30 p.m.



Of course, each Sunday will feature TNT Karaoke at 9 p.m. The Rendezvous is at 78 Third St.



Do you have a cool event coming up at a club or bar? Send me a note about it to geolenker@yahoo.com at least two weeks in advance and I will try to get it in this space.
UNITED NATIONS: Millions of people around the world risk dying of hunger and the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change are increasing the threat, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday. Without immediate action, millions of people will reach the brink of extreme hunger and death, Guterres told the Security Council during a meeting on the links between food and security.



Guterres said over 30 million people in more than three dozen countries are just one step away from a declaration of famine.



Climate shocks and the Covid-19 pandemic are adding fuel to the flames. I have one simple message: if you dont feed people, you feed conflict, he said.



Famine and hunger are no longer about lack of food. They are now largely man-made  and I use the term deliberately There is no place for famine and starvation in the 21st century.



At the end of 2020, more than 88 million people were suffering from acute hunger due to conflict and instability  a 20 percent increase in one year, he said, pointing to a worsening trend in 2021.



High-risk zones include the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, South Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan.



The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told how she saw a two-year-old girl die of hunger in Uganda in 1993.AFP




gannonswl-jpg-1494263650.jpg

The Gannon family.

(Submitted photo)

After decades of caring for children during difficult times in their young lives, Mariam Gannon passed away.

Gannon served as a foster mother to dozens of children, opening her home in Braintree to those in need.

She and her husband became foster parents in the 1960s after their priest spoke of the need for more foster families during Sunday Mass.

Over the decades, she cared for more than 70 children, many of whom had disabilities. She expanded her four-bedroom home to eight bedrooms, had an elevator installed and expanded rooms to make them wheelchair-accessible to better accommodate children, the Boston Globe reports.

"I believe each one of us was meant to be in the family because we fit together so well," the Gannon family's sole biological child, Maryanne Zeller, told the Globe.

Gannon died of lymphoma Friday in her home. She was 82 years old.
A bill that would authorize Connecticut's tribal gaming operators to build a commercial casino in East Windsor passed the state General Assembly's Appropriations Committee on Monday, in a key step toward required authorization from the state legislature.

The Hartford Courant reports that the bill passed by a 33-13 vote, and that amendments that would have required a referendum in East Windsor and payments to surrounding communities failed.

Officials with MMCT, the joint Mohegan-Mashantucket Pequot gaming company authorized to seek a new casino site by Connecticut's 2015 gaming act, cheered the committee's approval of the bill in a statement Monday.

"Another week, another milestone passed," Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown said. "It's clear that Connecticut's elected leaders understand that real people are going to lose their jobs if we don't stand up and compete to save them. We want to thank the members of the Appropriations Committee for their support."

In February, MMCT selected East Windsor as the potential site of the casino, which is targeted at competing with the MGM Springfield casino project and which tribal leaders have described as necessary to protect jobs and revenues from the Springfield facility.

MMCT's plans to build Connecticut's first commercial casino have sparked a war of words between the tribal company and MGM.

MGM has launched an aggressive public relations campaign against the state's approach to MMCT's development bid, describing it as secretive and anti-competitive and criticizing the lack of a local referendum in East Windsor. It has launched a website attacking the process, which it says unfairly restricts development to the tribes.

MMCT has responded with its own website, and on May 5 launched a digital ad criticizing MGM executives as seeking to draw gaming dollars away from Connecticut and into Massachusetts.

East Windsor's site is adjacent to Interstate 91 and currently houses a vacant former Showcase Cinemas theater, which MMCT would likely demolish, The Day reported.

An original Dec. 15, 2015 target date for site selection was pushed back, and in September of last year, the tribes reopened its application process, citing amended site proposals and potential interest from towns that missed the first application period.

In October, East Windsor and South Windsor submitted new proposals, joining East Hartford, Hartford and Windsor Locks in the competition to host Connecticut's third casino.

In January, MMCT ruled out East Hartford and South Windsor, leaving East Windsor and Windsor Locks as finalists.

The construction of a new Connecticut casino has drawn interest both in Connecticut and across the Massachusetts border, with supporters of the Connecticut casino measure framing the new casino as a way to protect state gaming revenues and jobs from Massachusetts competition.

A study funded by both tribes suggested out-of-state casino competition could cost Connecticut 9,300 jobs. An analysis by the Connecticut's Office of Fiscal Analysis suggested the competition could cost the state $68 million in annual gaming revenues. And Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown has described the project as in direct competition with MGM Springfield, which is scheduled to open in late 2018.

MGM sued in federal court to overturn the state's 2015 gaming act, alleging that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. It also alleged the act violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause by restricting the RFP process to a joint company formed by the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes.

A federal judge dismissed the suit in June of 2016, finding that the law did not exclusively favor the tribes and that MGM had no standing to sue. MGM has appealed the decision, and the appeal is still pending.
police lights.JPG

After a 29-year investigation, a suspect has been charged with the murders of two men in Boston.

Carlton Henderson will be arraigned in Roxbury Municipal Court on Tuesday, returning to the neighborhood where authorities allege he shot and murdered two men on May 7, 1988.

Boston Police detectives have continually investigated who was behind the trigger that day in the shooting deaths of William Medina and Antonio Dos Reis on Windsor Street in Roxbury. This week, they found a suspect in Arizona.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced the arrest of Henderson, a 52-year-old Arizona resident, in St. Louis in connection with the 1988 shootings. He was returned to Massachusetts on Monday to face double murder charges in the deaths of Medina and Dos Reis. The case was investigated by Boston Police Department's Cold Case Unit, BPD homicide detectives and Suffolk County prosecutors.

The Boston Globe reports Medina and Reis were shot at 10:25 p.m. that May night in 1988. Medina was reportedly shot in the head, and Reis in the chest. Globe reports said police alleged the shootings were related to drugs, and that $20,000 in cash was found in the back seat of the victims' car. The family reportedly told the Globe Reis was not involved with drugs.

Henderson will be arraigned in Roxbury on two counts of murder on Tuesday.
When in 2018 Prince Harry married Meghan, an American woman, a divorcee and also of mixed race, it was widely seen as a sign of the British royalty having adapted to modern times. More than 80 years earlier King Edward VIII had to abdicate the throne because of opposition from his family, the Church of England as well as the political establishments, to his desire to marry an American divorcee. But the veneer of the royal familys purported change with the times has been stripped away by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a two-hour-long tell-all TV interview with Oprah Winfrey.



The interview, most anticipated for a glimpse of the royal glitter and glamour, turned out to be a melodrama as Harry and Meghan explained they had stepped back from royal duties and shifted to the US because of lack of understanding by the family. At the centre of their predicament was a racial issue. Meghan, whose mother is Afro-American and father is white, said when she was expecting their son, Archie, now aged one, in conversations with Harry the family had raised concerns about how dark the babys skin might be. Archie had also been denied the title of prince. Meghan said she had been silenced by the Firm  which the Queen heads  and that her pleas for help while in distress had fallen on deaf ears. Meghan also said she contemplated suicide: I just didnt want to be alive anymore. Although the couple refused to say who had aired those concerns, the princes grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, is known to have made some nasty racist remarks in the past, despite a stricture on the royal family not to make any comments on political or other controversial issue. In this case, however, the racist conversations, apparently, are linked to Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. Harry disclosed that his family had cut them off financially and that his father had let him down and refused to take his calls at one point. These revelations may put a question mark on Prince Charles status.



To preempt what was coming at it the palace had tried to discredit Meghan as a bully by leaking an old letter written by one of her aides. Yet, the bombshell interview has sent shockwaves through the monarchy. While Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to make any comment on it, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has said the issues raised by Meghan about the state of her mental health and racism should be taken seriously by the Buckingham Palace, and that it was a bigger issue in Britain than just the royal family. That may give some traction to republican voices, without changing anything though. A vast majority of the Britons remains loyal to the monarchy for its love of tradition, and as a spectacle that makes the country a popular tourist attraction. The Firm would still be able to withstand accusations of racism, but the episode makes it look out of date and out of touch with civilized, modern sensibilities.




Juyan, which lies deep in the Gobi Desert, is familiar to some when it comes to ancient frontier outposts, even though most people probably do not know where it's located.

Its fame is largely attributed to its mention in On a Mission Towards the Frontiers by Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Wang Wei.

Juyan, located in Ejin Banner, a county-level administrative region in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Alxa League, was once a key stop on the ancient Silk Road.

At a recent symposium organized by Peking University in Beijing, experts and local government officials said that preparations were underway to apply for Juyan to be inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

According to the plan, a cultural heritage park will be set up in the area before 2020, and official bidding documents will be handed in by 2025.

"The site was a witness to exploration and communication along the Silk Road," says Sun Jianjun, deputy director of Alxa's cultural heritage administration.

"It had huge political, economic and cultural significance in ancient times."

Juyan, covering an area of 15,600 square kilometers, has some of the largest surviving remains of the Great Wall, Sun says.

The remains, dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), comprise 172 beacon towers and over 12.8 km of wall.

"Juyan was created thanks to the Han idea of combining a military post and agriculture," he says. "It (Juyan) was a highly developed agricultural site in ancient times."

Sun Jiazhou, a history professor at Renmin University of China, says that of the 73,000 wood and bamboo slips from the Han Dynasty - important historical records - discovered in China, more than 32,000 were unearthed in Juyan.

"It will greatly help the World Heritage application process if we can study these slips," the professor says.

Other significant remains in the area pertain to Heicheng, which is also known by its Mongolian name, Khara-Khoto.

It was founded in 1032, and later became a key business hub for the Western Xia, an empire built by the Tangut people.

Between 1908 and 1909, Russian adventurer Pyotr Kozlov led an expedition to the area and took more than 10,000 artifacts and Tangut manuscripts from there.

Kozlov was followed by other adventurers in the next few decades, the most famous of whom is probably Briton Aurel Stein.

Since Juyan was listed as a national-level cultural heritage site in 1988, the preservation of the area has been greatly improved.

For instance, remote-monitoring is done in Heicheng to better oversee the site. And about 40 million yuan ($5.8 million) has been allocated by the central government for protection of Juyan in the past three years.

Some experts say that the road to World Heritage status will not be easy.

Guo Zhan, an expert in the field of World Heritage protection with the China Cultural Relic Academy, says: "One issue is whether to look at Juyan as an expanded project and include sites that are already on the World Heritage list or to consider it as an independent entity.

"More interdisciplinary academic support is needed to decide on this."
The flower-and-bird painting style might have disappeared last century if not for Pan Tianshou, whose works are on display to honor his contributions. Lin Qi reports.

The traditional flower-and-bird painting genre may not have survived in the second half of the 20th century if not for Pan Tianshou (1897-1971).

He's recognizedas one of the four 20th-century masters of classic Chinese painting.

The luminary's works that blend scholarly elegance and aesthetic grandeur sell for tens of millions of yuan at auctions today.

Still, he led a low-profile and frugal life.

He committed himself to art education and taught at high schools and colleges. His students include such masters as acclaimed Chinese-French abstract painter Zao Wou-ki (1920-2013).

But his devotion to instruction meant he left behind only several hundred paintings - far fewer than other celebrated artists of his time.

Pan once said: "I have been a teacher all my life. Painting is my side job."

He headed the Hangzhou-based China Academy of Art for two tenures. His son, Pan Gongkai, now 70, later assumed the same position.

The academy is exhibiting 120 paintings out of his oeuvre at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing to mark the 120th anniversary of his birth.

The show, Ethos and Fortitude, commemorates his greatness as a man, educator and painter.

Pan Tianshou is known for his unyielding character. He dedicated himself to modernizing education about, and the creation of, Chinese ink-brush traditions at a time when the classic ink painting faced a decline in the chaos of early 20th century and Western painting was flourishing in the country.

The China Academy of Art's head Xu Jiang says Pan Tianshou's spirit demonstrated by two seals found on many of his works.

One is inscribed with "always be overwhelming" and the other with "stand upright".

"He meant that creators of Chinese culture should be confident, assertive and independent," Xu says.

"He said that Chinese and Western art were two peaks that stood apart yet could interact with each other."

The exhibition's works exemplify his endeavors to enhance a fearless, noble spirit of Chinese painting, which was waning after the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Pan Tianshou revisited the motifs of rocks - which often take up more than one-third of his compositions - tenacious pine trees with twisted branches and ferocious eagles.

He softened the rigidness of these subjects by adding colorful clusters of wild grass on the ground and blossoming flowers on the treetops.

A fine specimen of this is Everlasting Glory, a 6-meter-long piece Pan Tianshou created in 1964 for the celebrations of the 15th anniversary of New China's founding.

It's his largest work and the centerpiece of the exhibition. It depicts three eagles standing on a huge rock and another one resting in a pine tree.

His distinctive approach saved the flower-and-bird genre as it was being abandoned by mainstream aesthetics in the 1950s. The genre was then criticized for embracing a scholarly style of self-enjoyment and lacking grand momentum. Some even said it would someday be replaced by oil painting.

Pan Tianshou reformed the genre to return it to the general public's attention.

In his book, History of Chinese Painting, he wrote: "There are people who, when they see novel things from a different culture, give up their own culture entirely and worship the new one.

"Art benefits and progresses every time different cultures interact. There has never been a situation in which one kind of art is destroyed by another."

China Academy of Art professor Fan Jingzhong says three kinds of people "live in the palace of fine art". The first "works to earn bread". The second seeks spiritual satisfaction. The third group - to which Fan believes Pan Tianshou belongs - is distinctive in that art is a socially ambitious expression of their views of culture during times of dramatic change.

Indeed, Pan Tianshou was an exceptional artist but an ordinary man when not using his brush.

Pan Gongkai says his father lived "as simply as a farmer".

"His favorite dishes were street food like baked beans and fried rice cakes. He swept the courtyard we lived in every morning. When he was the headmaster, he had a car and a driver, but he never used them. He felt uncomfortable in a car," he recalls.

"He didn't pretend to be frugal. He just thought it was unnecessary. He preferred walking and taking the bus."

Pan Gongkai says his father didn't talk much outside the classroom, and when he needed to, he spoke slowly and gently in a way unlike his apparent machismo.

"Although he suffered many setbacks and was often under huge pressure, he didn't complain at home. He didn't bicker with my mother. I often heard them talking about poetry," he says.

"He was sensitive to beauty and had a big heart. That's why he became a good artist."

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

9 am-5 pm, through Sunday. 1 Wusi Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

The Beijing show Ethos and Fortitude is to celebrate the 120th birthday of Pan Tianshou, who devoted himself to the revival of Chinese ink painting in the 20th century. Jiang Dong / China Daily Above: Pan Tianshou instructs students of the ink painting department of the China Academy of Art in 1963. Right: Eagles are a major subject in Pan's works. Photos Provided To China Daily

(China Daily 05/09/2017 page20)
Levente Pap knew he wanted to own a business. He thought about it as he walked around a University of Wyoming laboratory. What did people need? And, more specifically, what did chemists and researchers need?

Thats when he came up with Levsonic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkCaIOrGpjM , a digital lab assistant akin to a Siri for lab workers and health care professionals. Researchers dictate to a small device, which they can attach to a mask, glasses or coat. The device then sends the notes to the researchers computer.

Seth Klamann 307-266-0544, [email protected]

Full Story: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/through-late-nights-and-long-hours-uw-student-builds-a/article_578a4b4c-bcce-54d3-b4ae-a71e574714c0.html
Sinclair appears unique among broadcasters for what some analysts see as a political slant to its programming 

"The must-runs look like they are part of the news," David Twedell, business manager of a local camera workers union in Seattle, said. "And theyre clearly not."

By Todd C. Frankel

Full Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/a-tv-company-warned-its-viewers-about-the-medias-fake-news-problem-now-its-about-to-take-over-some-of-the-nations-biggest-stations/2017/05/08/dcfc70f0-3416-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?utm_term=.f699bbe4490a

***

Conservative media company buys KECI in Missoula, KTVM in Butte and KCFW in Kalispell http://www.matr.net/article-76587.html
"For small to medium to national organizations, for events and fundraisers of any size, in any format  live, virtual or hybrid  the platform is built for scale."
Photographer Chen Man and one of her paintings for Doublemint. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Gum label Doublemint recently held an art exhibition in Sanlitun in Beijing.

Inspired by the Doublemint gum wrapper, more than 10 artists were invited to express their ideas of love and connection through paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs.

Renowned photographer Chen Man made five paintings for the event, based on her story with her grandmother.

"I want to inspire people's respect about love in a digital age when people usually ignore their true feelings," she says.
It started when US light-and-space artist James Turrell bought a volcanic cinder cone in Arizona in 1977.

The 74-year-old has since been sculpting the peak into a large-scale work called Roden Crater by chiseling open-sky tunnels and closed chambers to capture light in both day and night.

He remains fully committed to the ongoing project.

That's despite an injury earlier this year that kept him from attending the ongoing exhibition, James Turrell: Immersive Light, at Shanghai's Long Museum.

The show features photos and documents introducing the project's past, present and future. It includes 13 installations that convey the magic and mysterious qualities of light and shadow.

The Los Angeles native is internationally acclaimed for works that play with illumination.

He uses light and space, rather than specific objects and shapes, to create works that challenge and enrich viewers' perceptions of what they see.

Turrell is also a pilot who has flown for more than 12,000 hours. He works to portray the sky's rich color spectrum. He views the firmament as his "studio, material and canvas".

Many people say Turrell's works make them feel as if they're viewing a sunset.

On his personal website, the artist says: "My work is more about your seeing than it is about my seeing, although it is a product of my seeing. I'm also interested in the sense of presence of space; that is space where you feel a presence, almost an entity - that physical feeling and power that space can give."

Marc Glimcher, president of the American Pace Gallery that represents Turrell, says every work at the Shanghai exhibition represents a different experience. All together, they guide the audience to follow Turrell's investigations of light step by step, and understand how he has learned to shape light into a subject of art over half a century.

On show are works from 1966 and 1967 that were created as a result of Turrell's first efforts to discover how to make light a substance of form. There is also his 1994 work Key Lime, in which viewers walk through a pitch black channel that they navigate by feeling a wall.

"You will feel fear first," Glimcher says.

"Then, it is a feeling that James says: 'With all the fears leaving your eyes, you are adapting and adjusting to receive the incredible light experience until the end.'"

Pace Gallery has spaces in New York, London, Beijing and Hong Kong.

It was at Turrell's exhibition at its New York space last year that Long Museum's director, Wang Wei, first saw his works and decided to bring him to Shanghai.

Wang co-founded the museum with her husband, art collector Liu Yiqian.

Turrell's show is one of their many efforts to enrich Shanghai's art scene by exhibiting works by internationally recognized artists, including a show of Danish-Icelandic Olafur Eliasson's pieces last year and an upcoming exhibition featuring works by British artist Antony Gormley.

Wang says the cost of staging the exhibition has surpassed their initial budget by 30 percent. But it's worth it to bring Turrell's deeply meaningful works to Chinese art lovers.

Shanghai visitor Ge Yi says that, unlike a lot of US artists, Turrell doesn't create to salute the changing commercialism of today.

"Light means the beginning of life and hope," she says.

"Turrell's works always bring me a spiritual feeling - like you'd get inside a church. The longer I'm in front of his works, the more absorbed I feel."

She says she's surprised by Turrell's ability to express exactly how he understands the relationship between light, shadow and space, and to further maximize viewers' experiences.

"I think that is why some people say he works with the precision of Da Vinci."

If you go

10 am-6 pm, Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays; 10 am-9 pm, Fridays and Saturdays, through May 21. Long Museum (West Bund), Lane 3398, Longteng Avenue, Xuhui district, Shanghai. 021-6422-7636.

The Shanghai show James Turrell: Immersive Light includes installations that convey the magic of light and shadow. Photo Provided To China Daily

(China Daily 05/09/2017 page20)
A "magnificent and extremely rare large carved cinnabar lacquer dish" is expected to grab attention at an upcoming Sotheby's auction in London.

Sotheby's is set to auction this large carved cinnabar lacquer dish.

The late Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) dish is likely to sell for between 400,000 and 600,000 pounds ($520,000 to$780,000) when it goes under the hammer at the auction house's Important Chinese Art sale on Wednesday.

Sotheby's described the dish as one of"the finest examples from the period when lacquer carving in China experienced its absolute peak" and noted that lacquer dishes of this size - 44.5 cm in diameter - are "incredibly rare".

Robert Bradlow, Sotheby's head of Chinese works of art, said: "A lacquer dish of this size doesn't really come up at auction. Sotheby's sold one in Paris two or three years ago and it was much smaller."

Lacquerware from this period is more rare than similar age porcelain.

"The quality of carving is just fantastic," Bradlow said."It is built layer by layer, so it is a very slow and laborious process but, with the quality in the carving and the detail, you can almost imagine these various flowers fluttering in the wind."

Unlike ceramics, which were made in an industrial process, Bradlow said the dish would have been made by an individual craftsman.

The signature of the craftsman, Zheng Cheng, is inscribed under the base of the dish.

Other pieces that may appeal to collectors of Ming Dynasty art at the auction include a pair of imperial yellow-glazed dishes, that were likely made around the time of the Ming Dynasty emperor Zhengde (1505-1521). They are likely to sell for between 50,000 pounds and 70,000 pounds. A copper-red dish from the time of Emperor Xuande, who reigned from 1426-1435, is expected to sell for between 300,000 and 400,000 pounds.

Bradlow said:"There aren't many examples of a dish in this under-glaze red; one was sold in a collection in Hong Kong, so I'm optimistic this will sell very well."

And a number of animals, birds and sea creatures carved and modeled from a variety of materials, including jade and bronze, will be auctioned at Sotheby's Menagerie, the sale of an English private collection of Chinese animal carvings.

It will include a white jade carving of "two boys clambering playfully on an elephant to symbolize happiness and good fortune", which was dated to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
WASHINGTON  The White House has postponed a Tuesday meeting to discuss whether the United States should withdraw from the landmark international climate deal struck in Paris under the Obama administration.

The White House said late Monday that the meeting would be rescheduled. This is the second time a meeting of top aides on the issue has been delayed.

Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to renegotiate the accord, but he has wavered on the issue since winning the presidency. His top officials have appeared divided about what to do about the deal, under which the United States pledged to significantly reduce planet-warming carbon emissions in the coming decade.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of the oil company Exxon, said at his Senate confirmation hearing in January that he supports staying in the deal. But Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has said the Paris pact "is a bad deal for America" that will cost jobs.

Ivanka Trump, who serves as an adviser to her father, was supposed to meet separately Tuesday with Pruitt and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. The White House did not immediately respond to questions late Monday on whether that meeting would continue.

The Paris accord, signed by nearly 200 nations in 2015, was never ratified by the Senate due to the staunch oppositions of Republicans. It therefore does not have the force of a binding treaty, and the United States could potentially withdraw from the deal without legal penalty.

A senior administration official said the president's inclination has been to leave the pact, but Ivanka Trump set up a review process to make sure he received information from experts in the public and private sector before a making a decision. The official requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

As speculation continues about how Trump will handle the agreement, Tillerson is set to travel to Alaska for an Arctic Summit council this week amid concerns from other nations that the Trump administration will undermine global efforts to address climate change in the Arctic, where rising temperatures are having a disproportionate effect.

David Balton, a top US diplomat who works on environmental issues, said there would be "no change" in US participation even if Trump ultimately decides to pull out of the Paris pact.
Ralph Lauren Corp. has confirmed to the N.C. Commerce Department rumored plans to eliminate jobs at its Triad facilities.

The companys WARN Act notice, which appeared Monday on Commerces website, listed a combined 107 jobs, many of which were either information technology or managerial and supervisory positions.

The job cuts affect the companys distribution center at 2755 N.C. 66 in Kernersville, its e-commerce service center at 4100 Beechwood Drive in Piedmont Centre in Greensboro, distribution center at 4190 Eagle Hill Drive in High Point, and call center and warehouse at 201 N. Pendleton St. in High Point.

The notice did not say how many jobs would be eliminated at each facility.

Although the job cuts began April 28, the bulk of the employees are projected to lose their positions by July 15, said Jonathan Shiffman, the company's associate general counsel.

Commerces WARN webpage also listed two more notices involving jobs losses in the Triad. Altogether, the notices affect a combined total of 345 jobs.

Ball Metal Beverage Packaging said it would eliminate 142 jobs at its 1900 Barnes St. plant  eight fewer than Ball Corp. disclosed in December. The effective date was listed as June 30.

TMD WEK South LLCs notice affected 96 jobs at its 109 Sands Road plant in Reidsville between July 7 and July 21.

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act was put into place in 1989 with the intent of preventing situations in which rank-and-file employees show up for work only to discover that their employer has shut down without notice.

The act does this by requiring companies that are planning large job cuts  defined as more than 50 employees  to notify their state and local governments, as well as affected workers, at least 60 days in advance.

Ralph Lauren said in a statement that the local job cuts are part of a restructuring to return the company to sustainable, profitable growth and that North Carolina remains a critically important hub for our business.

Ralph Lauren had 2,843 full-time and full-time equivalent workers in High Point as of December 2015, according to the High Point Economic Development Corp.

Ball Corp. said in December that it is transferring production to other U.S. locations. The 450,000-square-foot plant opened in 1978 and was acquired by Ball in 1998 as part of the acquisition of Reynolds Metals Co.

More than half of the Ball plants production went to the MillerCoors plant in Eden that was closed last fall. At least 349 jobs were affected by the Eden plant closing.

Ball listed 31 maintainer jobs being eliminated, as well as 27 adjusters, 24 operators, 18 material handlers, 10 machinists and six electronic technicians. There are also 26 manager or administrative jobs.

The Ball plant is represented by a union, so employees do have bumping rights.

TMD WEK South said the plant is being closed because its production is being shifted to another U.S. plant.

The closing affects 81 production and 15 office employees.
After meeting Ye Xiaorong, I understood that a new kind of Chinatown is emerging, and the Belt and Road Initiative is giving his dream a timely nudge in the right direction.

In many Chinatowns across Europe, restaurants, groceries, traditional medicine clinics and tourist agencies stand next to each other on streets built by local governments specifically for Chinese businesspeople to rent.

"I like markets, where we can bargain. I like bargaining," said the 41-year-old native of Qingtian county, Zhejiang province, who now lives in Budapest.

People from Ye's hometown are famously business-savvy, and his conversation showed he is courageous, flexible and pragmatic: "I dream of turning the streets around us into a modern Chinatown, with hundreds of wholesale shops to satisfy European needs."

Ye's mountainous rural county has a population of about 500,000, but a further 300,000 Qingtian natives live overseas, 90 percent of them in Europe, as restaurant owners and shopkeepers.

Ye grew up in a humble rural family. He began selling ice cream with his brothers in their hometown after leaving school in the early 1990s.

He entered the wholesale garment sector, but lost so much money that his mother ordered him to quit the business. Eventually, though, she loaned him 1,000 yuan ($144) to restart his business and he made a profit of about 300,000 yuan before leaving for Budapest in 1999.

"I learned a lot from losing money at the very beginning," he said.

Ye soon began selling garments and other cheap Chinese products wholesale to neighboring countries from the city's crowded and run-down China-Europe Business Center, which still houses 2,000 stores.

However, he dreamed of building a clean, orderly business venue. In 2001, he started a real estate investment company and began building his Chinatown on wasteland about a kilometer from the old business center. Construction was accelerated in 2008 and now, the Chinatown, consisting of three streets, is occupied by garment wholesalers, restaurants, supermarkets and even legal firms.

He didn't stop there, though. Three years ago, he and his younger brother launched plans to build three more streets in the next five to eight years, selling building materials wholesale, along with lamps, heating and cooling equipment, and auto parts.

"My goal is clear - we must become the biggest player, at least in the region," he said.

The first new street has already taken shape, and about 40 wholesale outfits, a rough 50-50 split between Chinese and Hungarian, have moved in. Eventually, the three streets will host 500 wholesale companies, creating at least 3,000 jobs for local people.

The new Chinatown and Ye's planned streets are just meters from the main railway linking Budapest to other European capitals. Ye is certain the line will become much busier because modernization will result in a large number of goods being transported via the China-Europe land-sea express route, part of which links Greece and Hungary, and other parts of Europe.

"When our blueprint finally becomes a reality, our Chinatown will be a major attraction in Budapest," he said.
China has one of the world's fastest-growing appetites for fresh and smoked salmon, but Scotland's fish farmers have been struggling to keep up with demand from the lucrative market.

Salmon expert Scott Landsburgh expects more exports. [China Daily]

Scotland is one of the world's major suppliers of farmed salmon but the industry's growth was recently hampered by sea lice infestations that led to a drop in production.

Sea lice are a parasite that latches onto fish, seriously affecting their growth. Such fish are usually harvested before their health deteriorates, when they tend to be younger and smaller.

Figures from the United Kingdom's HMRC Revenue and Customs showed the export volume of salmon to China fell from around 11 million kilograms in 2015 to 8 million kilograms last year, something the industry attributes to the sea lice outbreak. In 2014, some 13 million kilograms of the pink-fleshed fish was shipped to the world's second-largest economy.

Despite the fall in the quantity of exports to China, the value of the industry remained high. In 2016, the value of salmon exports was around 52 million pounds ($67 million). In the previous year, it was 53 million pounds.

Beijing first allowed imports of Scottish salmon in 2011.

Industry experts said sea lice are a natural phenomenon.

Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, said: "Sea lice are nothing new, they exist in the wild and climate change is contributing to the spread. The industry has invested tens of millions of pounds on research and development of new techniques and equipment."

He said there have been "significant improvements" and the "trend line has been coming down over the last three to six months".

"I'm confident we are on top of the issue and will be able to supply really high-quality, healthy fish to the Chinese market," he added.

Landsburgh attributed the fall in the volume of exports entirely to the early harvest.

"China likes the larger fish, around 7 kilos, but there was an early harvest last year in order to provide healthy and high-quality salmon, which resulted in smaller fish. That is why exports to China dipped a bit in 2016."

But Landsburgh expects business to pick up this year and anticipates increased productivity in the years to come, thanks to cooperation between regulators and the Scottish government as they look for ways to better meet the demand for salmon in a sustainable manner.

"China is a great market, something we are enthusiastic about, with huge potential," Landsburgh said. "Our largest company, Marine Harvest Scotland, is seeing really good demand from China this month, as May tends to be a strong month for us to supply to the Chinese market."

He said Norway, one of the UK's competitors in salmon exports, is not as active in supplying salmon during May.

Landsburgh is expecting the demand for salmon to remain robust.

"The value of the fish has held up really strong, so that indicates that there is a very strong demand," he said.
BGI Genomics, China's leading DNA sequencing provider, is partnering with United Kingdom genomics software company Congenica to bring cutting-edge genome-based medicine to China's healthcare system.

BGI has invested an undisclosed sum in Congenica, and signed commercial contracts to use the Cambridge-based company's software, called Sapientia, to support BGI operations in China. Sapientia analyzes a patient's entire genome, pinpointing mutations and generating rapid and accurate diagnosis of inherited diseases.

Li Ning, chief development officer at BGI, said the arrangement "offers multiple advantages" to BGI's healthcare partners in China.

Sapientia is used by Genomics England in the UK 100,000 Genomes Project, a Department of Health-backed plan to sequence genomes from National Health Service patients with rare diseases.

Professor Mark Caulfield, chief scientist at Genome England, told China Daily: "Genomics has the potential to transform healthcare, predicting how well a person will respond to a treatment or finding one that will work best for them."

Congenica CEO Tom Weaver said genome-based medicine will revolutionize healthcare, with some rare inherited diseases that previously would have taken years to diagnose now being diagnosed in days.

"Our software combines genetic information with clinical data and our algorithms and interpretation tools allow us to identify the likely mutations that are involved in that disease," Weaver said.

Currently, when a doctor suspects a patient has a certain inherited ailment, tests will be ordered on a small numbers of genes and an accurate diagnosis may be made in around 5 percent of cases.

"Now, imagine going in and looking at all 22,000 genes in a patient  you have a much higher chance of identifying the mutation and making a diagnosis," he said. "With this technology, we see an increase in an ability to diagnose a patient of at least 10 fold. We're seeing cases of up to 50-60 percent of diagnoses in certain conditions."

Congenica's entry into China offers its researchers access to a huge population in a country investing heavily in genomics. Along with a prolific level of DNA sequencing, China is moving forward with a precision-based medicine initiative, and researching how drugs affect different people in different ways by analyzing clinical data, health records and genetic information.

Last week, Yunfeng Capital, a fund backed by Jack Ma of Alibaba Group, invested $75 million in WuXi NextCODE, a contract genomics company headquartered in Shanghai.
Why do some images cause seizures in patients with photosensitive epilepsy, while others do not? A new study investigates the neurophysiological mechanism behind this phenomenon.

Share on Pinterest Certain images can cause several neurons to fire at once, as many as 500 times per second, which can cause seizures in some epileptic patients.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) define epilepsy as a group of neurological disorders in which bundles of neurons signal abnormally, triggering a seizure.

During a seizure, several brain cells may signal simultaneously as many as 500 times per second.

The NINDS also estimate that currently, around 2.3 million adults in the United States, as well as more than 450,000 children and teenagers, are living with epilepsy.

It is known that in people with photosensitive epilepsy, flashing lights can cause seizures. The impact of such provocative visuals can be quite staggering. In 1997, for example, a certain Pokemon episode triggered seizures in 685 people in Japan, and in 2012, the promotional video for the Olympics had to be taken down from the website because it caused seizures in multiple epileptic patients.

However, seizures can also be caused by static images, with no motion or flicker. New research set out to examine why that is. A team of international researchers reviewed the literature available in the field of neurophysiology to see if the neural responses in a healthy visual cortex can predict how people with photosensitive epilepsy might respond to static images.

The first author of the study is Dora Hermes, of the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht in the Netherlands, and it is published in the journal Current Biology .
To reduce the risk of hip and vertebral fractures in women with osteoporosis, physicians should treat them with the bisphosphonates risedronate, alendronate, or zoledronic acid, or alternatively with the biologic agent denosumab. Share on Pinterest The ACP have revised their guidelines for treating osteoporosis and low bone density. This strong recommendation appears in revised guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP) for the prevention of fractures in men and women with osteoporosis and low bone density. Dr. Jack Ende, president of the ACP, also urges that, Physicians should prescribe generic drugs to treat patients with osteoporosis whenever possible and they should discuss the importance of medication adherence, especially for bisphosphonates. The revision takes into account evidence on treatments  including new drugs and biologic agents  that has come to light since the 2008 issue of the guidelines. The new guidelines  which are endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians  make six recommendations: two classed as strong because they are backed by high-quality evidence, and four classed as weak because the supporting evidence is of lower quality. A report on the research that went into the revision, along with the full updated guidelines, is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Osteoporosis is a growing healthcare problem Osteoporosis is a condition that increases the risk of bone becoming fragile and more prone to fracture. It results from loss of bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue architecture. Although the condition may affect any bone, it is most likely to occur in the hip, wrist, and spine. In their paper, the guideline authors describe the huge public health burden of osteoporosis in the United States, where some 54 million people are thought to have osteoporosis or low bone density, and around half of the population of those over 50 is at risk of osteoporosis-related fracture. As the U.S. population ages, the economic impact of osteoporosis on the healthcare system grows, and estimates suggest that by 2025, this will reach $25.3 billion per year.

Against estrogen therapy for osteoporosis in women The other strong recommendation in the new guidelines, which is backed by moderate-quality evidence, is that the ACP advise against using menopausal estrogen therapy or menopausal estrogen plus progestogen therapy or raloxifene for the treatment of osteoporosis in women. The ACP say that the main evidence supporting this advice is that estrogen is linked with increased risk of harms that outweigh the potential benefits. These harms include cerebrovascular accidents and venous thromboembolic events, note the guideline authors. The remaining four recommendations are graded as weak because the supporting evidence is of low quality. One of these states that the recommended treatment of women with osteoporosis should last for 5 years. The ACP say that, in some cases, it may be beneficial to continue for longer than 5 years, should a reassessment of the risks and benefits support such a decision. The ACP also advise against monitoring bone density in women during the recommended 5 years of osteoporosis treatment because the evidence suggests that there is no benefit from doing so. However, this is also classed as a weak recommendation due to the low quality of the evidence.

Less evidence relating specifically to men Another recommendation advises physicians to treat men with clinically recognized osteoporosis with bisphosphonates to reduce their risk for vertebral fracture. This recommendation is classed as weak because the supporting evidence is of much lower quality for men than for women. In their paper, the guideline authors explain how the quality of evidence relating specifically to men is much thinner. Evidence is insufficient regarding the effectiveness of therapies to prevent fractures or treat osteoporosis in men, because few relevant studies have been published, they note. Dr. Ende also comments that the data did not suggest that outcomes associated with drug treatment would differ between men and women if based on similar bone mineral density, so treatment for men may be appropriate.

Older women with osteopenia The sixth recommendation concerns the treatment of women aged 65 and older who have osteopenia  a condition in which bone density is lower than it should be, but it is not low enough to be classed as osteoporosis. The ACP advise physicians that the decision to treat older osteopenic women should follow a discussion of the patients preferences, together with other factors such as benefits, harms, medication cost, and fracture risk profile. However, due to low quality of supporting evidence, this recommendation is also graded as weak. In a preliminary response to the new guidelines, the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) suggest that physicians treating patients with osteopenia may need more guidance on how to identify higher fracture risk  such as on the value of DXA [dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry] testing and risk scoring.
Researchers in dermatology at Lund University in Sweden believe they have cracked the mystery of why we are able to quickly prevent an infection from spreading uncontrollably in the body during wounding. They believe this knowledge may be of clinical significance for developing new ways to counteract bacteria.

"Perhaps we don't need to kill them with antibiotics but simply gather them so that the body can better take care of the infection", say researchers Jitka Petrlova (lead author of the article) and Artur Schmidtchen, Professor in Dermatology and Venereology, Lund University. The study was conducted in close collaboration with their colleagues in Lund, Copenhagen and Singapore, and has been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The researchers have discovered that fragments of thrombin - a common blood protein which can be found in wounds - can aggregate both bacteria and their toxins; something they did not see in normal blood plasma. The aggregation takes place quickly in the wound and causes bacteria and endotoxins not only to gather but also to be "eaten" by the body's inflammatory cells.

"This way, the body avoids a spread of the infection. We believe this to be a fundamental mechanism for taking care of both bacteria and their toxins during wound healing", says Jitka Petrlova and continues;

"Our discovery links aggregation and amyloid formation to our primary defence against infections - our innate immunity. It is well known that various aggregating proteins can cause amyloid disease, in skin or internal organs, such as the brain. Therefore, a mechanism that is supposed to protect us from infections, can sometimes be over-activated and lead to degenerative diseases."

Artur Schmidtchen, who has conducted research in the field of innate immunity for over 20 years, is pleased with the results of the study.

"I have always been fascinated by how nature has effectively created different defence mechanisms, and wound healing provides a rich source of new discoveries. The ability to effectively heal wounds is of evolutionary significance to our survival. Compared to antibiotics, innate immunity has been around for millions of years - and I think we should consider the application of these concepts in an era of increasing antibiotic resistance."

Article: Aggregation of thrombin-derived C-terminal fragments as a previously undisclosed host defense mechanism, Jitka Petrlovaa, Finja C. Hansen, Mariena J. A. van der Plas, Roland G. Huber, Matthias Morgelin, Martin Malmsten, Peter J. Bond, and Artur Schmidtchen, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), doi: 10.1073/pnas.1619609114, published 10 April 2017.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves Radicava (edaravone) to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"After learning about the use of edaravone to treat ALS in Japan, we rapidly engaged with the drug developer about filing a marketing application in the United States," said Eric Bastings, M.D., deputy director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "This is the first new treatment approved by the FDA for ALS in many years, and we are pleased that people with ALS will now have an additional option."

ALS is a rare disease that attacks and kills the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles. Voluntary muscles produce movements such as chewing, walking, breathing and talking. The nerves lose the ability to activate specific muscles, which causes the muscles to become weak and leads to paralysis. ALS is progressive, meaning it gets worse over time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 12,000-15,000 Americans have ALS. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within three to five years from when the symptoms first appear.

Radicava is an intravenous infusion given by a health care professional. It is administered with an initial treatment cycle of daily dosing for 14 days, followed by a 14-day drug-free period. Subsequent treatment cycles consist of dosing on 10 of 14 days, followed by 14 days drug-free.

The efficacy of edaravone for the treatment of ALS was demonstrated in a six-month clinical trial conducted in Japan. In the trial, 137 participants were randomized to receive edaravone or placebo. At Week 24, individuals receiving edaravone declined less on a clinical assessment of daily functioning compared to those receiving a placebo.

The most common adverse reactions reported by clinical trial participants receiving edaravone were bruising (contusion) and gait disturbance.

Radicava is also associated with serious risks that require immediate medical care, such as hives, swelling, or shortness of breath, and allergic reactions to sodium bisulfite, an ingredient in the drug. Sodium bisulfite may cause anaphylactic symptoms that can be life-threatening in people with sulfite sensitivity.

The FDA granted this drug orphan drug designation, which provides incentives to assist and encourage the development of drugs for rare diseases.

The FDA granted approval of Radicava to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc.
Does it matter whether a man or a woman carries out CPR? Researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have shown that female resuscitation teams performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation less efficiently than their male counterparts. The study suggests that there is a need for action in the training of young female physicians. The scientific journal Critical Care Medicine has published the results.

When somebody's heart stops, every second counts. Knowledge, ability and the interaction between members of the resuscitation team are vital for swift action and a successful outcome. Earlier studies have shown that efficient and strong leadership communication improves the patient's chances of survival; students are thus taught these communication skills during their medical training.

However, to date, there has been little research into how gender affects performance in resuscitation situations. A study by the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel has now examined the differences between male and female medical students' performance and leadership behavior during CPR.

Men show stronger leadership in emergency situations

As part of the study, 216 medical students (108 women and 108 men) were divided into groups of three. A Basel-based research team documented and analyzed the performance of the individual groups during a simulated cardiac arrest scenario. They focused on hands-on time, defined as the uninterrupted CPR time within the first three minutes after the onset of the cardiac arrest, and also noted how often the participants made clear leadership statements, i.e. verbal commands to assign tasks or clarify how something should be done.

"In comparison with male-only teams, the female groups showed less hands-on time and took longer overall to start the CPR," says Professor Sabina Hunziker, the study leader. The female-only teams also showed less leadership communication compared with the male-only teams. Even in mixed teams, women made significantly fewer clear leadership statements than men.

Gender-specific training

The results show that there is an important difference between male and female rescuers. Although female medical students possessed at least the same level of theoretical knowledge as their male colleagues, they performed weaker overall. "This suggests that more targeted measures need to be introduced to prepare and train women for emergency situations," says Hunziker. In light of the growing percentage of women in medical schools, the study also shows the importance of gender research for targeted and effective training.

Article: Influence of Gender on the Performance of Cardiopulmonary Rescue Teams: A Randomized, Prospective Simulator Study, Amacher, Simon Adrian MMed; Schumacher, Cleo MMed; Legeret, Corinne MD; Tschan, Franziska PhD; Semmer, Norbert Karl PhD; Marsch, Stephan MD, PhD; Hunziker, Sabina MD, MPH, Critical Care Medicine, doi: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000002375, published 26 April 2017.
Advertisement

Can sting

Takes longer time (up to 30 minutes) to work

Causes blurry vision

Sensitivity to light for several hours afterwords

Retinal Camera- How it Works?

The retina and its blood supply

Portion of the optic nerve that leads into the retina

Reveals health issues like diabetes, glaucoma and elevated pressure around the brain

Drawbacks of Other Traditional Retinal Cameras

Conclusion

Bailey Y. Shen, Shizuo Mukai. A Portable, Inexpensive, Nonmydriatic Fundus Camera Based on the Raspberry Pi Computer. Journal of Ophthalmology; (2017) DOI: 10.1155/2017/4526243

To examine the retina, pupil-dilating eye drops are used routinely. These drops work by dilating the pupil and preventing the iris (which is the muscle that controls the opening of pupil) from constricting in response to light.Some significant disadvantage of the drops include:This can be an inconvenience for both the doctor and the patient."As residents seeing patients in the hospital, there are often times when we are not allowed to dilate patients -- neurosurgery patients for example," said Dr. Bailey Shen, a second-year ophthalmology resident at the UIC College of Medicine. "Also, there are times when we find something abnormal in the back of the eye, but it is not practical to wheel the patient all the way over to the outpatient eye clinic just for a photograph."The prototype camera can be carried in the pocket and can take pictures of the back of the eye without eye drops. The pictures can be shared with other doctors, or attached to the patient's medical record.The camera is based on the Raspberry Pi 2 computer, which is a low-cost, single-board computer designed to teach children how to build and program computers.The board hooks up to a small, cheap infrared camera, and a dual infrared and white-light-emitting diode.The rest of the camera is made up of a handful of other components like a lens, a small display screen and several cables.The camera works by first emitting infrared light, which is used to focus the camera on the retina. This step can take up to a few seconds. The iris does not react to the infrared light.Once the camera is focused, a quick flash of white light is delivered as the picture is taken.The prototype camera photos show:Most table mounted, nonmydriatic fundus cameras use white light, which is why pupil-dilating eye drops are needed.Though they use the same infrared/white light technique, most cameras are bulky, not portable and very expensive."This is an open-source device that is cheap and easy to build," said Mukai. "We expect that others who build our camera will add their own improvements and innovations.""The device is currently just a prototype, but it shows that it is possible to build a cheap camera capable of taking quality pictures of the retina without dilating eye drops, " Shen said. "It would be cool someday if this device or something similar was carried around in the white-coat pockets of every ophthalmology resident and used by physicians outside of ophthalmology as well."Shen and his co-author, Dr. Shizuo Mukai, associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and a retina surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, describe their findings in theSource: Medindia
Advertisement

Attainment of perfect equilibrium and harmony

Promotes self- healing

Removes negative blocks from the mind and toxins from the body

Enhances personal power

Increases self-awareness

Helps in attention, focus and concentration, especially important for children.

Reduces stress and tension in the physical body by activating the parasympathetic nervous system

Lisa Uebelacker et al., Adjunctive yoga v. health education for persistent major depression: a randomized controlled trial, Psychological Medicine (2017) https:doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717000575.

Participants were randomized into two groups - those who participated in a hatha yoga class and a control group who took part in a health education class. The intervention phase lasted 10 weeks and participants were followed for six months afterward."We hypothesized that yoga participants would show lower depression severity over time as assessed by the Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology (QIDS), as well as better social and role functioning, better general health perceptions and physical functioning, and less physical pain relative to the control group," said Dr. Uebelacker. "We found that yoga did indeed have an impact on depression symptoms.""We did not see statistically significant differences between hatha yoga and a control group (health education) at 10 weeks, however, when we examined outcomes over a period of time including the three and six months after yoga classes ended, we found yoga was superior to health education in alleviating depression symptoms."According to Dr. Uebelacker, this is the largest study of yoga for depression to date. The team enrolled individuals with current or recent major depression who were receiving antidepressant medication and continued to have clinically significant depression symptoms.Yogic exercises recharge the body with cosmic energy and facilitates:Source: Medindia
Advertisement

Pain and difficulty in breathing were felt in the initial stages of the tumor. The tumor increased due to the patient avoiding medical treatment. With deterioration in her health over the years, Poonam in April this year had to be rushed to a city hospital.During the tests it was found that Poonam's heart function was only 25 per cent due to a tumour in her heart. Looking at the risks involved, the hospital refused to even to attempt treatment. Later the patient was taken to Fortis Hospital.The hospital set up a team and medical treatment was attempted through surgical intervention."The tumor occupied one entire chamber (atrium) of the heart, obstructing the flow of blood. The patient could have suffered from sudden cardiac death or congestive cardiac failure," said Vaibhav Mishra, Senior Consultant for Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at Fortis Hospital.According to medical science, primary tumors or those that originate in the heart are rare, occurring in one out of 2,000 people, and in the age group 20-50. Tumors that originate in another part of the body and then spread to the heart are called secondary tumors,A non cancerous primary heart tumor usually develops in the left upper chamber or atrium of the heart and tends to be more common among women. Symptoms include shortness of breath, palpitations, abnormal heart rhythm or sometimes stroke.Surgery is the only treatment and when done in the early stage, it is quite straightforward, but as the size increases the operation becomes technically demanding and risky, Mishra said.Elaborating, Mishra told IANS that the tumor was mounting enormous pressure on the neighboring heart chamber and was hindering the flow of blood. which led to grossly abnormal liver function."The tumor was also very friable and could have broken apart from lodging itself into the brain which could have caused a stroke. In a nutshell, considering that out heart is just about the size of our fist, the tumor was large enough to damage the heart and surrounding organs," said Mishra."The surgery took more than three hours and was three times more complicated and risky than normal heart surgeries. Such were the complications that almost all body systems of the patient were getting compromised," Mishra told IANS.Following the surgery, Poonam was kept under observation for three days and discharged after ensuring that every thing was normal. The surgery cost Rs 3.5 lakh.Asked about her health, Poonam told IANS: "I feel blessed that I got a new life. Doctors at other hospitals had almost lost hope of my recovery."Source: IANS


Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested

You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends.

Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice.
Ever since the news came out that Pakistani troops have killed and mutilated two of our jawans, along the LoC in Poonch district; a blanket of gripping tension has wrapped both the countries. However, the Indian Army has made its stand clear that they will not sit quietly after this brutal incident. They will give a fitting response to Pakistans despicable act with their appropriate retribution. An undated video has now surfaced where the Indian Army is seen using an anti-tank guided missile to savagely destroy Pakistans bunkers along the LoC.

According to a report published in The Times Of India, sources said, The incident took place last month during an unprovoked ceasefire violation from Pakistan. I cannot confirm exact location at this point of time. While everyone is anticipating this to be armys reply to the soldiers incident, sources suggest that it wasnt in retaliation to it. In fact, their revenge is planned but the sources didnt reveal the details of it. A senior Army officer further added, that the retaliation for Pakistan armys inhuman act will be executed at a time and place of our choosing. One of the jawans, after hitting the target successfully, can be heard saying Sir, the shell has hit the target, we have brought it down.

Source: The Times Of India
The Foreign Ministry and the Representation of the European Commission in Athens are honouring Europe Day, 9 May, and the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome at a special event taking place tomorrow at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.



The President of the Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos, will deliver a welcome address, while Alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos will speak on behalf of the government. Also to address the event are EU Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, the Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, and the head of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece, Panos Karvounis.



A book commemorating the 40-year presence of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece will be presented at the event.



During the second half of the event, the orchestra of the National Opera, under the direction of Ilias Voudouris, will present a program with the participation of artists from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Malta, Norway, Romania and the Czech Republic.
Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias held telephone conversations today, Thursday, 4 May, with the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, with whom he discussed bilateral cooperation issues and the implementation of the Greek-German Action Plan.



Mr. Kotzias also spoke with the new Foreign Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, Ekaterina Zaharieva, whom he congratulated on the assumption of her new duties. During their conversations, the two Ministers considered the next steps in Greek-Bulgarian cooperation, on both the bilateral and regional levels.



Mr. Kotzias also talked by telephone with the head of FYROM's Social Democratic party (SDSM), Zoran Zaev.
From The Australian. Jakartas outgoing governor Basuki Tjahaja Ahok Purnama has been found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to two years jail.

The 50-year-old ethnic Chinese Christian politician told the court this morning he would appeal the sentence in the next seven days before being taken into custody.

The panel of five Indonesian judges ignored the prosecutors recommendation that the blasphemy charge be dropped against Governor Ahok and that he serve only a two-year probation.

Delivering their verdict today in a trial widely seen as a test of religious tolerance in the worlds largest Muslim-majority country, the judges said they disagreed with the prosecution and found him legally and convincingly guilty of blasphemy.

The court does not find anything which could excuse the defendants actions therefore the defendant must be held responsible for his actions, the judges said, imposing a two-year custodial sentence.

They also dismissed the defence argument that the case was politically motivated.

The judges conceded it was likely some have used this case for political gain however we feel this does not eliminate (the defendants) guilt.

ENDS

What did he say?

Translated:

Ladies and gentlemen, you cant vote for me because youre being lied to by [the Quranic chapter] Al Maidah verse 51 and so on. Thats your right. So if you feel you cant vote [for me] because youre afraid to go to hell after youve been dumbed down, thats fine. This is your personal calling. This program will continue regardless. So, ladies and gentlemen, dont ever feel bad that you cant vote for Ahok.

The video went viral. Other edited versions were made.

However even the straight lift of what he actually said is out of context.

The Governor was facing Muslim opponents in a democratic election. His Muslim opponents were standing (amongst other things) on a platform that said Muslims could not vote for a Christian leader. They said the Quran (Al Maidah verse 51) prohibited it.

Here's the quote in its full context:

Ladies and gentlemen, you shouldnt worry. The election has been moved forward, so if Im not re-elected, Ill step down in October 2017. So if these programs are going to run, you will still be able to reap the benefits from me. Even if Im not re-elected as governor. I want to tell you this so youll be enthusiastic [about the program]. Dont think that oh, if Ahoks not chosen, then his programs will disappear. No, Im here at least until October 2017. So dont believe people  deep down ladies and gentlemen, you cant vote for me because [these people] are lying to you using [the Quranic chapter] Al Maidah verse 51 and so on. Thats your right. So if you feel you cant vote [for me] because youre afraid to go to hell after youve been dumbed down, thats fine. This is your personal calling. This program will continue regardless. So, ladies and gentlemen, dont ever feel bad that you cant vote for Ahok.

Hizb ut Tahrir organised a rally with 3 million angry Muslims in the streets.

Ahok didn't stand a chance.

Australia must lodge a protest with Indonesia.

Democracy doesn't work this way.

Islam and democracy cannot happily co-exist.

One must make way for the other.

Indonesia has chosen Islam today.

That's bad for Indonesia, fatal for democracy and frightening for Australia.
VERONA TOWNSHIP  Three people were injured in a two-vehicle accident that took place recently at the intersection of Thompson and Nugent roads.

According to the Huron County Sheriffs Office, deputies were called to the scene around 3:15 p.m., where a 16-year-old Ubly driver was traveling west on Thompson Road and failed to stop at the stop sign. As a result, his vehicle collided with another vehicle, driven by 51-year-old Harbor Beach man Todd Teeple.
PIGEON  Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker seniors Jake Bushey and Kaylee Wiese recently were selected as recipients of the Gordon W. and Loyse B. Hueschen Science Scholarship.

The two seniors will each receive a four-year scholarship to Michigan State University (MSU). The scholarship covers tuition, fees, room and board.

Bushey, son of son of T.L. and Kelly Bushey, of Caseville, will study crop and soil science at MSU. Hes worked on his familys cash crop farm for years and he works at another family business  Bushey Farm Tiling, a drainage tile business. Hes the Laker FFA chapter president and the Region III president. Hes also involved in the National Honor Society, band and Science Olympiad.

During his first year at MSU, Bushey will be an FFA state officer. As a member of the state officer team, he will spend four hours a week at the state FFA office, located at MSU, and he will visit FFA chapters in various areas of the state. Hell also help plan for the 2018 FFA state convention.

Wiese, daughter of Robert and LaNette Wiese, of Bay Port, will major in human biology at MSU. Her science classes at Lakers and participating in the Science Olympiad team inspired her to choose science as a career. Wiese, who is the 2017 class valedictorian, is an FFA officer and is involved in the National Honor Society, Science Olympiad and VEX Robotics. She also participates in dance at Step It Up Studio.

Both seniors are very thankful for receiving the Hueschen scholarship.

Initially, I was shocked, probably because of the realization that I wont have to pay for four years of college. Thats out of the way, Bushey said. Now, Im able to focus on the (academic) side of college.

He said when he found out he had been selected for the Hueschen, he texted his parents, who werent able to be with him at the time.

They were thrilled, he said. My grandfather was there with me and he was very excited.

Wiese said shes still in shock about receiving the Hueschen.

I dont think its set in yet. I still cant believe it, she said. (My parents) are really proud of me and excited because they know Ive been working toward this for a long time.

Bushey and Wiese said Laker teachers Don Wheeler and Haley Schulz were very instrumental in helping them be successful in high school.

They were great in helping me with those soft skills that I needed for the business side of things, and they helped me develop my love for agriculture, Bushey said.

They helped me improve my communication and public speaking skills, Wiese said. They increased my confidence enough to interview for this scholarship. I dont think I wouldve been able to do that without their help.

Both also named science teacher Deb Hasselschwert as someone who inspired them to love science.

(She) did a very good job of breaking down those hard ideas, especially in chemistry, to a level thats attainable for most students, Bushey said.

Wiese also named math teacher Don Manchester.

He (and Hasselschwert) are enjoyable teachers and their classes drove me toward my career choice, she said.

Bushey said Lakers has prepared him well for life after high school.

I feel Lakers has given me a strong educational base so I can know what to expect (at the college level), especially in the science department, he said. Ill be able to go into this area (of study) with (more) advanced knowledge than some of the other students, especially with some of the unique programs we have here.

Wiese agreed.

I feel pretty prepared to tackle college curriculum, she said.

Wiese and Bushey are both enrolled in the dual-enrollment program through Mid-Michigan Community College. The classes are at the Huron Area Technical Center. They said the classes are challenging, but they feel it was very worth it. Theyll have sophomore status at MSU because of the college credits theyve earned through dual enrollment.

The biggest challenge was keeping up with the coursework and what the college professors expect of you, along with keeping up with involvement in things at (high school), Bushey said.

Theres a huge distinction between high school and college, Wiese noted. At college, youre more independent. College professors leave it up to you to be a good student. In high school, your teachers are with you every step of the way  they push you to do well.

In fact, Laker teachers assisted Bushey and Wiese and other dual-enrollment students with their college-level coursework.

Wiese and Bushey are excited about entering the next chapter in their lives. Wiese said shes looking forward to being in a new area, meeting new people and trying something different. Bushey is looking forward to learning a different perspective of agriculture in college, along with experiencing college dorm life and meeting new people.

The Hueschen Scholarship is awarded each year. The recipients are chosen based on academic performance, test scores, awards and honors, the number of science classes taken and the difficulty of all classes taken. Recipients need to be accepted into a science program at MSU. The scholarship has been awarded since the mid-1990s and is only available to Laker seniors.
BAD AXE  A veterinarian, who is accused of practicing and performing procedures on animals after the state revoked his license, denied the allegations against him in court on Monday, and the case will now move forward to trial.

During his arraignment in Huron County Circuit Court, Bruce P. Langlois, of Lowell, pleaded not guilty to three counts of unauthorized practice of veterinary medicine stemming from an investigation by the Michigan Attorney Generals Office.

From Nov. 1, 2015, through Jan. 1, 2017, the attorney generals office alleges that Langlois, 57, continued practicing veterinary medicine with an invalid license. Langlois is the owner of the Animal Hospital in Lowell, as well as the owner of Spay and Neuter Express  a mobile clinic that offers low-cost surgeries for pets.

The mobile hospital came to Bad Axe in March 2013.

At Mondays hearing, Robert Hayes, state assistant attorney general, told Judge Gerald M. Prill a plea agreement has not been offered to the defendant.

The case will move ahead for an anticipated one-day jury trial on July 25. Prill ordered a final pretrial for July 10, and a plea cutoff date was set for July 20.

Bond was continued, and as of Monday, Langlois remains free. It is unclear if he is still practicing.

In November 2015, Langlois veterinary license was revoked due to a number of previous suspensions and continued practice despite those suspensions. Multiple pet owners alleged that Langlois performed veterinary services for their pet after his license was taken away.

He provided pet owners with a 24-hour telephone number if any complications appeared with pets after the surgery was completed. Its alleged that Langlois was the only one with access to the hotline.

Langlois is being represented by attorney Robert Andretz.
President Donald Trump has brushed aside the vehement complaints of NATO ally Turkey and authorized U.S. forces in Syria to arm the Kurdish YPG group leading the drive on the ISIS capital of Raqqa, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Trump signed off Monday on arming the YPG, or People's Protection Units, which are part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, "as necessary to ensure a clear victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Raqqa," Dana White, chief Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement.

Until now, the Defense Department had admitted only to supplying weapons to the Syrian Arab Coalition element of the SDF.

"We are keenly aware of the security concerns of our coalition partner Turkey," White said. "We want to reassure the people and government of Turkey that the U.S. is committed to preventing additional security risks and protecting our NATO ally."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly threatened additional attacks against the YPG, which Turkey considers a terrorist group linked to the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party.

Erdogan is expected to travel to Washington to meet with Trump next week in what will be their first face-to-face meeting since Trump took office.

The Pentagon sought to assure Turkey that the decision to arm the YPG would not translate into U.S. support for a Kurdish enclave in Syria.

"The U.S. continues to prioritize our support for Arab elements of the SDF," White said. "Raqqa and all liberated territory should return to the governance of local Syrian Arabs."

The YPG clashed with the Turkish military last year as Turkey began Operation Euphrates Shield to clear border areas of ISIS.

Last month, in a rare rebuke to a NATO ally, the U.S. military charged that Turkish airstrikes against the YPG in northern Syria came with little warning and could have endangered American advisers.

"We were troubled by that," Air Force Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said of Turkey's failure to give adequate warning of airstrikes in the Hasaka area.

The strikes reportedly killed at least 20 fighters of the YPG, which has proven to be the most effective anti-ISIS force in northeastern Syria.

"We had forces within six miles of the strikes," Dorrian said. "It was an unsafe way to conduct operations."

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
President Donald Trump wants the Pentagon to come up with a new plan to win in Afghanistan before authorizing the deployment of thousands more U.S. troops to the 15-year-old war, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday.

"We have nothing to share at this time" on whether Trump is close to deciding on troop levels in Afghanistan, Spicer said at the daily White House briefing.

Spicer said Trump "wants to make sure that we do what we can to win, and that's why he charged the generals and other military advisers and national security team to come up with a plan that can get us there."

Trump is also concerned about the untimely disclosing of U.S. plans, Spicer said. "I mean, he's talked about not projecting where he's going and what he's going to do to let the enemy know ahead of time."

As the U.S. weighs sending more troops to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday that a stable and honest government in Kabul is the key to ending the Taliban insurgency.

"In Afghanistan, we're up against a determined enemy," Mattis told reporters accompanying him on a trip to Denmark for a meeting of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

"When the government wins the affection, the respect and the support of their people, then no enemy can stand against them," he said.

Trump is expected to make a decision on yet another U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan before attending a NATO summit in Brussels on May 25.

Taliban success in the north, the combat deaths of two Army Rangers in the southeast, renewed cross-border fighting with Pakistan, and a central government in disarray have lent urgency to the request by Army Gen. John Nicholson for thousands more U.S. troops to be sent to Afghanistan.

The U.S. currently has about 8,500 troops in Afghanistan, including about 300 Marines who returned to embattled southwestern Helmand province last month, and NATO has about 4,500.

All are commanded by Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan and NATO's Resolute Support mission.

Nicholson told Congress in February that that the 15-year-old war against the Taliban was at a "stalemate" and he needed a "few thousand" more U.S. troops to work at lower levels with the more than 300,000 Afghan National Defense Security Forces in the train, advise and assist mission. His request was believed to be in the range of 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops.

The U.S. turned over the lead combat role to the Afghan forces in 2014 amid major troop withdrawals to reduce the U.S. military presence, which once exceeded 100,000 troops. In 2009. President Barack Obama ordered a troop surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan on an 18-month timetable for their withdrawal.

Mattis said the key to turning around the war in Afghanistan was shoring up the stability of the government of President Ashraf Ghani while accelerating a military campaign meant to drive the Taliban to peace negotiations. Ghani has struggled to root out endemic corruption and reportedly is barely on speaking terms with his chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah.

Mattis and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the White House National Security Adviser, went to Kabul separately last month to confer with Nicholson on the way forward. Their visits came days after Ghani sacked the Defense Minister and the army chief following a Taliban assault on a base of the Afghan army's 209th Corps outside Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Balkh province that killed at least 140 Afghan troops.

Mattis said then that he was still hopeful of a political settlement with the Taliban that could lead to peace. "If the Taliban want to join the political process and work honestly for a positive future for the Afghan people who have suffered long and hard, they need only to renounce violence and reject terrorism," he said. "That's a pretty low standard."

Without a political agreement, Mattis predicted that 2017 would be "another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood and will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism and against those who seek to undermine the legitimate, United Nations-recognized government of this nation."

Mattis also expressed concerns that Russia, which has acknowledged contacts with the Taliban, was now arming and supplying the insurgents. "Any weapons being funneled here from a foreign country would be a violation of international law unless they were coming to the government of Afghanistan,"Mattis said.

The deteriorating security situation has led Mattis and the White House to give Nicholson more leeway on how and when to use his forces in assisting the Afghan forces.

Nicholson acknowledged that he had been granted more "latitude" a day after the U.S. made the first combat use of the 11-ton Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, or MOAB, against a cave and tunnel complex of the ISIS offshoot called Islamic State-Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, in southeastern Nangarhar province.

Fighting continued in the mountainous region. On April 26, two Army Rangers, Sgt. Joshua Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Ill., and Sgt. Cameron Thomas, 23, of Kettering, Ohio, were killed in a raid against ISIS-K in the same area. Both were assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Benning in Georgia.

The Army has begun a fact-finding Article 15-6 investigation into the circumstances of their deaths, which initial reports from the Defense Department and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said may have been the result of friendly fire.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

Related Video:
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...
My spouse works his tail end off for his country, not to mention risking his life and leaving his family behind for months at a time. So it's pretty great when people who are not in the military recognize his service with a military thank you. He finds it a little embarrassing, but sometimes I secretly plot ways for us to run errands right after he gets off work and before he has time to change out of his uniform just so that I can hear people thank him for his service.

It's heartwarming.

And then there are the little kids. Even in a town with a huge military population like this one, you still run across awe-struck kiddos who think being a soldier is the coolest thing on planet earth. I love seeing them stare while they say to their parents "look, it's a SOLDIER!"

Service members and military spouses sometimes complain that America is not grateful enough for their service. Other times we question the way civilians express their gratefulness.

But I wonder if poorly expressed thanks (or no thanks at all) is at least partially due to a lack of knowledge. Like being invited to a party with no idea what to bring the birthday boy, they buy the best thing they can think of. And sometimes it just isn't right.

So we're here to give a little guidance. Dear civilians, here are some of our top military appreciation ideas for a great military 'thank you.'

4 Military "Thank You" Ideas

Skip the sympathy -- give gratitude. Military members don't want you to feel sorry for them. We chose this life and we are happy to serve. So instead of saying "I'm sorry," say "Thank you!" Encouraging words make us beam with pride.

If your business offers a military appreciation discount, publicize it. Even though we aren't looking for handouts, we understand that many businesses want to say "thank you" by giving us a percentage off our purchase. That's fabulous -- thank you! If it's a secret discount, however, that only some military members know about it feels more like an advertising gimmick than anything else. Why not let all your clientele know that you appreciate the military? Consider posting a sign. Not only will you be spreading the appreciation love, but more military members will have a chance to find out about the discount and use it.

Hey Hollywood! How about a good story once in awhile? Instead of making movies and producing shows that make us look pitiful, why not produce more movies like "Act of Valor" that make our jobs look really, really cool?

Give a military spouse a hand. Know any deployed military families? Think about doing something nice for the spouse of a deployed service member. An offer to babysit, mow that insanely out of control lawn, drop off a meal or pick a child up from school one afternoon so his exhausted mom can take a nap would all be very appreciated. Little gestures of kindness turn into a military "thank you" in big ways.

Stay Up-to-Date With Military Discounts

Want the scoop on military discounts? From travel to phones and everything in between, troops, military families and veterans can stay on top of military discounts. Sign up for a free Military.com membership to get full access.
For many of the military spouses who have won the Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) Military Spouse of the Year  awards for their service branch since its 2008 inception, the honor plucks them from quiet influence at their home duty station and ends, ultimately, with worldwide recognition in the military community.

That whirlwind of notoriety brings with it certain pressures and a feeling of responsibility to the military community, past winners say. But it also gives them the opportunity to figure out who they are as military spouses, while having a positive, notable impact on others.

For the year after the awards, the annual winners are often guided in those steps by mentors involved in the awards through Military Spouse magazine and Armed Forces Insurance. During this year, many of these spouses will streamline programs and advocacy movements they have created to better serve their military family. They will have the opportunity to pitch these programs for sponsorship, notably to the title sponsor, Armed Forces Insurance, which has gone on to sponsor a number of initiatives and projects created by the award recipients. And, when the year is over, the winners are sent out into the world to do their best.

The impact past winners continue to have nationally and on their chosen subjects is a testament not only to the focus the AFI Military Spouse of the Year  program can give to military spouses, but the tenacity of the winners. And while their paths forward are as diverse as their backgrounds, their ability to continue to leverage that influence is undeniable.

In honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day, we checked in with three past winners who exemplify that truth.

A 'Won't Give Up' Spirit

When Lakesha Cole won both the Armed Forces Insurance Marine Corps Spouse of the Year  and AFI Military Spouse of the Year overall award in 2014, she became the first person to win while stationed overseas. On Okinawa, Japan, Cole had established herself as an entrepreneur, cracking the code on owning and operating a business overseas while also running a storefront in the exchange.

Winning the AFI Military Spouse of the Year  award thrust her success into the spotlight in a very small community. Appearances on national TV, a visit to the White House and a feature in Ebony magazine were part of the package -- but so were the scrutiny and pressure that come with suddenly being very well-known.

"There's no playbook or rule book on how to navigate that," she says. "I had to ask myself, 'Now I have this title. Now what do I do with it?'"

Cole has never stopped answering that question since the day she was given the award. With the AFI Military Spouse of the Year , Cole launched Milspousepreneur, an organization supporting military spouse entrepreneurs. Impressed with her drive and a belief in importance of Coles mission, award title sponsor Armed Forces Insurance elected to sponsor Milspousepreneur, as well. Since then, Cole has produced a guide for operating small businesses as an American military family member living in Japan.

But her real test came when it was time for her family to move to a new duty station stateside.

Not only did she find a way for her boutique, She Swank, to move stateside, she has since established a storefront near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; self-published a book on how she balances military life, family and owning a business; and helped start a new military spouse podcast. She also recently launched a stationery and gift product line.

Sponsored: Click here to learn about AFIs renter insurance policies.

Cole says she is constantly surprised by her influence in the military community and that anyone cares what she thinks or does.

"One thing I learned with the Military Spouse of the Year  awards is people do watch you, people are paying attention," she says. "I often feel like there's a certain level of responsibility on my part to make sure that I'm truthful and transparent and I'm doing what I can do to push people."

Local Focus, Big Impact

Military spouses often view their community from a global perspective. After all, home is where the military sends you. But former Army spouse and 2014 AFI Army Spouse of the Year  Reda Hicks knows that sometimes the biggest changes and impact can be made in the community right outside your door.

Hicks, an in-house counsel for a global transportation company based in Houston, Texas, was selected for the award thanks, in part, to her advocacy for military spouse attorneys through the Military Spouse JD Network (MSJDN).

But unlike many other winners, Hicks' focus has never been nationally driven. Instead, she has used the award title and the recognition it brought to have a strategic impact on Houston, focusing on her passions such as civic engagement and veteran community support and, someday, running for office.

In addition to navigating her day job and life as a mom of three, Hicks sits on a parade of nonprofit boards and steering committees, including the Texas Lyceum, the League of Women Voters, Sketch City, and the Texas Veteran Spouse Network. She is the current chair of the board for Leadership Houston.

Central to Hicks' passions is working to get Houston engaged not only in supporting veterans but in thinking of itself as a veteran-rich community, she says.

"The biggest impact the award had for me was that with the title, so goes the ability to talk to people using that title," Hicks says. "People in my Houston community don't think of me as a military spouse. Having that title and being able to use it and build a fence around it ... it's given me a reason to speak about that part of my personality in a community that should think of itself as a military community."

Hicks sees her role as filling a middle ground between those who focus only on national issues and those who are entrenched only in the day-to-day of their city or town.

"As much as I love going to Washington and doing flybys and advocacy and all that ... it's almost like you need a third category of person, somebody who is local but also understands the national policy implications of what is happening locally [and] can walk into their representative's office. You can only be that third voice if you're there locally. I feel that's part of my package."

Pushing Military Couples Forward

Marriage is hard, but military marriage is often harder. Long separations and deployments, injuries, frequent moves and community tragedy are all just a normal part of military life. But they also come with special stress for military couples.

Corie Weathers, a licensed therapist and the 2015 AFI Army Spouse the Year and overall Military Spouse of the Year, has long focused on helping military couples as part of her work with her Army chaplain husband. But when the award landed in her lap, she was forced to figure out her own identity outside of her roles as a chaplain spouse, wife, mom and clinician.

"One of the bigger things it did for me is that it caused me to have an identity crisis," she says. "The biggest question I got was 'What do I want to do?' I had always been the person to ask 'What do you need me to do?' "

What she wanted to do, she discovered, was support military marriages on a national scale. But it wasn't until an opportunity came to accompany then-Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on a Christmas 2015 visit to Afghanistan as a correspondent for Military Spouse magazine that she was really able to pursue that mission.

Sponsored: Click here to learn how AFI can protect your vehicles.

During that trip, she learned to see her husband's war experience and military marriages through a different lens. She wrote about the experience in her 2016 book "Sacred Spaces," and launched a slew of new projects as a result.

"It put me in a position where I could see the military lifestyle from a higher level," she says. "Instead of being boots on the ground working with couples in my office, it gave me a higher-level perspective on what a lot of our families are going through."

That perspective is what informs her work as the producer of her Lifegiver podcast and app on military and first responder marriage support; a bi-monthly Military.com column; and as the lead speaker at a variety of seminars and trainings, including a recent trip to military bases in Japan.

But her most recent passion project could have an even bigger impact. In partnership with the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, Baylor University and the University of Texas, Weathers is working to develop a six-month military and first responder marriage support curriculum. The program will also include a curriculum for local therapists and counselors to help them better understand the challenges and issues military and first responder couples face, she says.

"It's given me the opportunity to not change one family at a time in my office, but hopefully hundreds of families at a time," Weathers says. "It's a big idea, but we feel like there's a lot of curriculum and books out there and retreats, and all of those are meaningful and helpful, but we really want to see what we can do to transform marriages."
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

DearSir/ Madam, Board of Directors of the Company at its Meeting held on 9th May, 2017 inter-alia has considered the following: 1.Board has approved the Standalone Audited Financial Results for the quarter and year ended on 31st March, 2017. Enclosed herewith Auditors' Report received from M/s Joshi & Kulkarni, Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditors of the Company and Form A (for audit with un-modified opinion) along with Standalone Audited Financial Results as mentioned above. 2.Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on Wednesday, 9th August, 2017 at 11.00 a.m. at 211/A, MIDC Butibori Industrial Area, Kinhi Village, Tah. Hingna, Dist. Nagpur 441122 (Maharashtra) 3.The Register of Members and Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed from Monday, 7th August, 2017 to Wednesday, 9th August, 2017 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of Annual General Meeting of the Company. 4.Pursuant to provisions of Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013, read with the rules made thereunder and Regulation 44 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Company has fixed 2nd August, 2017, as the cut-off date to record the entitlement of the Members to cast their vote electronically for the business to be transacted at the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the Company. The e-voting period commences on 6th August, 2017 (9:00 am) and ends on 8th August, 2017 (5:00 pm). 5.Mr. Mahesh Athavale, Company Secretary in Practice, was appointed as the scrutinizer for the purpose e-voting as per Regulation 44 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. 6.The Board of Directors has not recommended any dividend for the FY 2016-17. This is for your information and record.Source : BSE
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

With reference to our earlier intimation dated 24/04/2017, it is hereby intimated that due to unavoidable circumstances, the said Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company scheduled to be held on Friday, the 12th May, 2017 has been postponed. The new day and date will be intimated in due course of time.Source : BSE
business Defence Minister to discuss strategic partnership model with India Inc: Sources Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley will hold his first meeting on the long pending strategic partnership model soon. Watch CNBC-TV18's Ronojoy Banerjee giving more details.
A security guard patrols besides stacked wheat sacks at a wholesale grain market in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh June 7, 2012. India's wheat stocks at government warehouses surged to a record 50.2 million tonnes on June 1, well above the official target of 4.0 million tonnes for the quarter ending June 30, government sources said on Thursday. REUTERS/Ajay Verma (INDIA - Tags: AGRICULTURE BUSINESS) - RTR3381E

To give relief to Maharashtra growers faced with falling tur prices, the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to procure up to 1,00,000 tonnes of the pulse till May-end under its price support scheme (PSS) after the food ministry expressed its reservations to buy.

Nearly 4 lakh tonnes of tur dal have already been procured from Maharashtra under the price stabilisation fund (PSF) operated by the food ministry. The state chief minister had last month sought procurement of additional 2 lakh tonnes under the PSF in view of the bumper crop of 20.35 lakh tonnes.

But food minister Ram Vilas Paswan had refused the request, saying farmers were no more getting their kharif produce and it was only traders and importers.

The state, which started procuring from its own resources, later sought help from the agriculture ministry under the PSS. "On May 5, 2017, request for implementation of PSS was again received from Maharashtra. In the fresh proposal, they had requested for procurement of 2 lakh tonnes of tur... Considering the proposal, this department has approved the procurement of one lakh tonnes under PSS up to May 31," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

The approval has been given with the condition that the procurement already by the state till April 27 will not be reimbursed or adjusted under PSS and the state government will make necessary arrangements for godown space and other resources for smooth PSS operation, it said.

The Maharashtra government has informed the Centre that that its 2016 kharif tur output would be 20.25 lakh tonnes and it has extended the harvesting period from September-March till this month-end. Wholesale rate of tur dal has come under pressure due to higher output and in some places farmers are not getting even the minimum support prices.

The agriculture ministry has even proposed hiking import duty on tur dal from 10 per cent to 20 per cent to protect the interest of farmers.
With a view towards creating 1 crore jobs, the Narendra Modi-led government is asking all proposals sent to the Cabinet to mention the number of jobs they can possibly create, according to the Economic Times.

At the heart of this initiative is the governments stated objective to address the job market which sees over 1.5 million people entering it every year. In spelling it out, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday said that every proposal which involves expenditure must result in new jobs and has to contain a jobs estimate.

The prime minister asks in every Cabinet meeting what jobs are going to be created? when a proposal comes up for discussion, Sitharaman said.

What adds to the woes in the job sector is the rising wave of automation in corporates which is replacing human labour, adds the newspaper report.

We are the youngest country with 65 percent of our population below 35 years of age. We are the worlds largest democracy and we have a huge domestic market to feed. No country has such an opportunity as India to create jobs with human capital and abundant natural resource, Modi had said earlier.

The government is also working to recast manufacturing policies and tune them to the needs of the job market. Skilling of human workforce will also be a focus area.

Even as the present government is boosting rail, road and shipping projects, new jobs are likely to be created.

Self-employment will also be given a leg-up through the governments focus on Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which is a micro-unit funding initiative.
New Delhi: Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley addresses a Finance Ministers of South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation, (SASEC) countries, in New Delhi on Monday. PTI Photo by Kamal Singh(PTI4_3_2017_000061B)

India is looking to strengthen its military cooperation with Japan and is interested in sourcing defence technologies for domestic manufacture of arms and equipment, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Jaitley, who yesterday met his Japanese counterpart Tomomi Inada, said India and Japan "a very strong relationship between (their) defence forces" and the two nations will pursue strategic partnership for regional peace and stability.

"There have been training and naval exercises. There is a lot of cooperation that takes place (between the two nations)," he told PTI in an interview here.

He said India is looking at Japanese technology for local manufacturing of defence equipment.

"Japan has a lot of defence technologies and India of course, has a great use of these technologies because we are attempting to have local manufacturing in India," he said.

India and Japan, he said, are looking at business-to- business cooperation.

This cooperation would be "both for the purposes of India buying (from Japan) and any possibility of India domestically manufacturing with their technologies."

Jaitley, who is also the Finance Minister, yesterday wrapped up a three-day visit to Japan where he attended an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank and investor meets.

According to an AP report on his meeting with Japanese defence minister, he welcomed a planned trilateral naval exercise among the US, India and Japan in July as a way of strengthening cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.

"This is all reflective of the level of cooperation our armed forces have with each other," he said.

His visit to Japan, a staunch US ally, comes amid rising tension in the region

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sought to expand Japan's defence role and capability amid security concerns over China and North Korea, according to AP.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will take up with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi the delay being caused in clearing the Rs 636 crore arrears towards payment of wages under MGNREGA, the state assembly was informed today Replying to a calling attention on the matter in the state assembly, Local Administration Minister, K T Jaleel said he had informed the chief minister of the matter and he had been assured that it would be taken up with the Prime minister.

The arrears are towards the wages to be paid during 2016-17 fiscal, he said. The centre is releasing very less amounts to Kerala, causing lot of hardhips to workers, who have not been paid since the last six months, the minister said.

Jaleel said he had written to Rural Development and Panchayatiraj Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar in December last year and again in February this year with regard to fund release.

Alleging that the centre was adopting a discriminatory attitude towards Kerala in allotment of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds, he said the state should be alloted more as it was getting the least now.
Agriculture

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government has no plans to tax agricultural income, including that of prosperous farmers, saying a rich farmer is "a very rare institution" and not the norm.

In an interview to PTI, he said the farm sector is in distress and there was no question of taxing agricultural income.

NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy had late last month stated that farmers should be liable to pay tax on their incomes at par with other citizens after seasonal fluctuations are adjusted.

"I have already contradicted that. I have already said that we are not in favour of doing that," he said.

Stating that the agriculture sector is under distress, he said farm holdings are very small in size.

"The rich farmer is a very rare institution. It is not the norm. It is only a rare exception and therefore, at a time when you need to support agriculture because of the distress, this is hardly the time to deflect the issue and start taxing agriculture. This is not the time. They are under distress," he said.

The Finance Minister said farmers should be helped and not taxed. "The government is very clear (on that)," he added.

"In any case, the Central government has no power. It is the power of state governments (to tax farm income) and my own view is none of the states is going to do it," he said.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has also clarified that Debroy's comments on taxing farm income were his personal views and not those of the government think-tank.

On the ordinance promulgated last week to enable the RBI to order lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulters and create committees to advise banks on recovering non-performing loans, Jaitley said NPA resolution will take time but the process has to be expeditiously started now by the banks.

"Already the ordinance has been approved. The authorisation has been given. The RBI itself has come out with some guidelines. Some management changes have taken place.

"Now the next stage is that through the JLF mechanism, the resolutions should start and we do expect the banks to cooperate in making the JLF mechanism a success," he said.

The mechanism of JLF, or the joint lending forum, came into effect in 2014 with the intention of recognising stressed assets early and coming up with a corrective action plan (CAP) within 45 days.

The system, however, did not work seamlessly as there were disagreements between lenders on how to move forward on individual accounts.

Jaitley said equity in public sector banks can be brought down only at a time when the value is there for the government to do so.

"The stress period is hardly the best time to go to the market. So, let us improve their health and then we will do it," he said, adding the government is looking at some more cases of consolidation of public sector banks but refused to share details.
The State Bank of India has invited bids from investment bankers (or book running lead managers) for its proposed Rs 15,000 crore capital raising plan.

The countrys largest lender received Board approval to raise the amount for the fiscal year ending March 2018, which may be mopped up through a QIP, FPO (qualified institutional placement, follow-on public offer) or a rights issue.

If completed, this issue will be the first such sale by SBI since 2008 when it had raised Rs 16,740 crore by selling shares via a rights sale.

The banking behemoth says it will select and appoint up to six merchant bankers for the issue.

The last date of submission of bids by merchant bankers for managing the QIP/FPO issue is May 22.

In March, in a statement on the BSE, SBI had said the sale could be an FPO, QIP, rights issue, Global Depository Receipt, American Depository Receipt or combination of these.

If approved by the shareholders on June 15, the state-owned bank will be able to raise Rs 15,000 crore by selling shares in India or abroad anytime this year.

SBI's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as on December stood at 13.73 percent, well within the minimum requirement of 9 percent.

Banks have been looking at raising funds from the market and sell stake in their non-core assets after the government restricted capital infusion asking banks to fend for themselves to meet the capital requirements.

Last year, SBI had received Rs 7,575 crore from the government as part of its capital infusion plan, while it has slated Rs 10,000 crore cumulative for all banks in 2017-18 and 2018-19 each.

Market estimates that public sector banks would require Rs 1.80 lakh crore to meet Basel III norms, while the government will provide only Rs 70,000 crore for a four-year period till 2019.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Nearly 150 top borrowers with debt worth Rs 8.59 lakh crore owed across the Indian banking system are struggling to pay interest on their loans.

The financial statements of highest debt-ridden corporate borrowers including Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 67,978 crore), Videocon Industries (Rs 47,554 crore), Lanco Infratech (Rs 44,365 crore), Bhushan Steel (Rs 43,440 crore) and GVK Power & Infrastructure (Rs 26,864 crore) show weak debt servicing ability - interest to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) ratio of above 1 or in negative.

EBIDTA of a company is typically seen as a proxy to companys cash flow generating capacity and it signifies the companys ability to meet its debt service obligation.

A negative ratio indicates that the company is incurring operating loss and servicing interest in this condition is a tall order.

A negative ratio was largely seen in the infrastructure and steel sectors including large companies such as Monnet Ispat & Energy (-13.7 percent), Ballarpur Industries and MTNL (-2.7 percent each) and Alok Industries (-2.4 percent).

The above-mentioned companies also have a high debt to equity ratio that raises a red flag: showing high level of debts as against the core capital. Most of these entities not only have a very high debt to equity ratio, but also have negative networth on account of prolonged period of stress in earnings.

Alok Industries (-76), Lanco Infratech (-60.3), IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company (-17.5), Jindal Stainless (-17.8) and Punj Lloyd (-6) portray a weak balance sheet with high level of debt outweighing the assets churned out by the company for the shareholders.

Most of the above-mentioned companies have been in the debt-trap and not servicing repayments to their respective lenders.

This also suggests that any further resolution might require banks to take haircuts of 75 percent or more for the companies to become healthy again.

Project costs from the time loans were borrowed a few years ago to now have increased 1.5-2 times, according to a senior State Bank of India (SBI) executive.

The finance ministry has already pegged the stressed loans at Rs 9.6 lakh crore, including loan amounts in the restructured and special mentioned accounts category.

Last week, the central government amended the Banking Regulation Act to empower the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks to initiate resolution process with more transparency.

Under the new law, the RBI can "issue directions to any banking company to initiate insolvency resolution process in respect of a default, under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016."
IPO

Ahmedabad-based construction firm PSP Projects' initial public offer (IPO), which aims to raise Rs 211 crore, will hit the markets on May 17 with a price band of Rs 205-210 per equity share.

The issue, which closes on May 19, includes a fresh issue of up to 72 lakh equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 28.8 equity shares.

"We plan to utilise the funds raised from the proceeds to meet our working capital requirements and capital expenditure," company's Chief Financial Officer Hetal Patel told reporters here today.

The company will not receive any proceeds from the offer for sale, she said.

"Out of the fresh issue, which will be over Rs 150 crore, Rs 63 crore will be utilised for funding our working capital requirements, while the rest will be our capex which we will be deploying for fiscals 2018 and 2019," Patel added.

The company plans to spend Rs 143 crore as working capital for the current fiscal.

Karvy Investor Services and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors are the Book Running Lead Managers to the issue.

PSP Projects is a multidisciplinary construction company offering a diversified range of construction and allied services across industrial, institutional, government, government residential and residential projects in India.

Currently the standalone order book of the company stands at Rs 279 crore with 27 projects across states like Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
The government push to make use of generic names mandatory in drug prescriptions may get a pushback from doctors. In a poll conducted by Curofy, India's largest community of verified doctors, about 73 percent of 5673 participants, said they were against this proposal.

Many practitioners in the medical field said they are concerned about the quality of the generics as well as the educational qualification of the chemist who will unwittingly get to decide which generic to sell if such a law comes into effect.

Last month Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted at a legal framework to make doctors prescribe generic drugs. Medical Council of India (MCI), the statutory body which regulates medical education and registers doctors, issued a public notice to all physicians in the country to prescribe drugs only by generic names and warned of disciplinary action against doctors violating the code. Understandably, the doctors community, who are against it, has voiced their disapproval.

According to the study, doctors from across tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 cities expressed disagreement with the decision uniformly.

Although doctors from all over the country are against this decision, some states expressed a stronger opposition towards the decision than others. A few of those states from which vehement dissent was voiced include Assam: 89 percent (91 doctors participated); Jharkhand: 86 percent (191) and Kerala: 81 percent (110).

The study found that super specialists were more against this decision than general physicians. More gynecologists, pulmonologists, and intensivist disapprove of this ruling than other specialties. The breakup is as below:

 Obstetrics and Gynecologists: 89 percent (194) Pulmonologists: 93 percent (81)

 Intensivist (Internal Medicine): 89 percent (311)

The poll received comments from more than 1000 doctors across specialities and geographies.

"Can the government guarantee the quality of drugs available in the market? " questioned one doctor.

Another doctor commented "who will take the responsibility of quality of drugs? The government, chemist or the pharmacist? Will the patient not come to the doctor but go to the pharmacist if the drug is ineffective?"

Such a proposal, if implemented, will give more power into the hands of chemists and pharmacists and might worsen the already fragile trust between doctors and patients, feels Mudit Vijayvergiya, Co-founder, Curofy.

The government needs a more holistic plan that considers all aspects of healthcare in India before implementing such a proposal."
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

The Reserve Bank of India has transferred the case relating to the divestment by foreign portfolio investor Alexandra Mauritius in Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sources told Moneycontrol.

Alexandra, one of the institutional investors in MCX, did not have the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to divest its stake in MCX, sources said.

Alexandra had partially divested its stake during MCXs initial public offering in early 2012. The fund house has been untraceable for a while now. Last year, CBI had initiated a probe into the case and sought details from SEBI. The regulator had, in turn, asked for details from the RBI and MCX.

RBI has sent case to ED for further investigation since Alexandra Mauritius is not traceable and did not get FIPB approval even after five years of disinvestment from the company, the source told Moneycontrol.

In 2012, AML had divested 390,754 shares in the bourse through an offer for sale. This was half its holding of 781,508 shares bought in 2007 from MCX promoter (and now defunct) FTIL by paying Rs 45 crore, or Rs 577.50 apiece.

As per norms, MCX had approached the RBI before its initial public offer in 2012 seeking regulators approval for Alexandras divestment in the bourse. The RBI had approved it but had directed MCX to get FIPB approval after the listing gets underway. RBI is believed to have made an exception to the rule that mandates that all foreign companies should ideally have FIPB nod before an IPO is launched.

In 2013, FIPB shot down Alexandra Mauritiuss divestment in MCX after a search couldnt trace the beneficiary of AML.

Following the CBI case against AML, the investigative agency had asked SEBI to follow up with companys divestment details. The markets regulator then sought RBIs intervention, which has finally transferred the case to ED.

Alexandra currently holds no stake in the bourse having sold its entire holding in the secondary market. [the company] sold its residual stake in secondary market after listing of MCX. Promoters of MCX could have frozen Alexandras stake when FIPB approval was not in place [but had failed to so], sources told Moneycontrol.

Alexandra Mauritius had investments in only two Indian companies. One in MCX and other in Su-raj Diamonds. CBI and ED are investigating Su-raj Diamonds for diversion of bank loans.
Have a long-term outlook | Timing investment is logically impossible because the best entry and exit opportunities are known only in hindsight. No one can predict market movements with certainty. Therefore, it is important to allow your investments to compound over a long term.

The US tech giant Oracle today inked a pact with the Jharkhand government to drive digital transformation in the state and said it has not set any limits for technological investments.

The visiting CEO of Oracle Corporation, Safra A Catz, said technologies from Oracle are bound to drive digitisation in India, its second largest base after the US.

She hoped that the latest agreement with the Government of Jharkhand, and a similar one with Maharashtra last year, would pave the way for alliances with other states.

"The investment is unbounded. We have not bound the investments in any way...we have not put a cap on it," Catz, who is on a three-day visit to India, said adding that Oracle will support start-ups in the state.

She was speaking to media after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Jharkhand government for jointly exploring and identifying areas in which Oracle's latest cloud based technologies can be used to deliver improved citizens services.

The alliance would also aim to address the state's citizen and business requirements.

She said that just like the cloud is triggering innovation within the technology industry, it would also drive changes and increase efficiency in emerging economies like India.

"India's rapid transformation echoes the generational shift taking place in the technology industry," she said.

The company said it is looking forward to working with Jharkhand's administration to support entrepreneurship, create opportunity and improve services for its citizens as it has done with governments around the world.

Oracle has 40,000 employees in India, said Catz, who is on her second visit to India.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said the state is ramping up IT infrastructure.

"We have initiated programmes in this direction. We have recently started State Data Centre which is very effective and helpful in providing effective and responsible governance," he said.

Das led a high-level delegation comprising state Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, Principal Secretary to CM Sanjay Kumar, IT & e-Governance Secretary Sunil Kumar Barnwal.

Das said that in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's digital India drive, the state government is undertaking continued efforts to bridge the gap between the government and its citizens through increased usage of IT.

"We have targeted to make all the government departments paperless by the end of this year," he said.

Jharkhand is now heading towards Mobile governance, he said, adding the state is aiming to provide various information and services on time to its citizens.

"The Government of Jharkhand has distributed 100,000 mobile phones to women entrepreneurs," he pointed out.

The key areas of collaboration between Oracle and the Jharkhand government would be usage of cloud services to support the state in various administrative functioning like database management, common citizen services centre.
As you prepare for your foreign travel and are looking for travel insurance, you must be wondering how much cover for you and your family to stay protected.

Insurance companies generally offer a few limited option to retail individual to choose from around $50,000, which can go up to $500,000 under different plans mostly categorised as Silver, Gold and Platinum.

So, which option should you opt for? Insurance experts say the choice would vary depending on the geography you are travelling to, the cost of medical treatment at those places, duration of stay and the age of the traveler.

It is advisable for all consumers to first go through their needs and then make a refined and wise purchase, says Naval Goel, CEO, PolicyX.com.

Goel pointed out the potential loss of each traveler varies. This would depend on how much of your trip is prepaid, refundability of the air ticket, your state of health, the value of your luggage, where you're traveling, and what coverage you already have (through your medical insurance, homeowners or renters insurance, and/or credit card).

Nikhil Apte, Chief Product Officer, Royal Sundaram General Insurance Co, says the geography you are travelling to will have a huge bearing on the plan that you choose. For Asia except Japan and Korea $50,000 is good, for Europe minimum $100,000 cover is good, while for the US one should have a minimum $200,000 insurance cover, he said

Your duration of stay would also have a bearing on the amount of cover you choose. Thus, if you are travelling for a week, you can choose lower sum insured, but for longer stays of more than a months duration, higher exposure to the country and weather increases risks. So better to go for a notch above in the sum insured. If you travel to USA for more than 3 months, it is advisable you take a $5 lakh cover, says Apte.

Mahavir Chopra, Director, Health, Life and Strategic Initiatives, Coverfox.com adds the element of age while deciding. Sum insured should depend on the degree of risk that will vary depending on the age of the members, the number of days of travel and countries you are traveling to. For instance, if your parents who are above 60 years are traveling to USA for 90 days to meet your sister it would demand a coverage of above $200,000, while if you are traveling to Bali for a quick one week holiday, a sub $50,000 cover would be just enough, says Chopra.
Representative Image

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

The race to buy controlling stake in Indias leading healthcare firm Fortis Healthcare and its diagnostic subsidiary SRL Diagnostics has boiled down to two players. According to a report published in Mint, PE funds TPG Capital and General Atlantic LLC have joined hands for the bid, competing with Malaysias IHH Healthcare Berhad, one of the largest healthcare groups in Asia and operator of Parkway Pantai Hospitals.

The report said that the promoters are looking at a price of Rs 250 per share for Fortis and another Rs 2,000 crore for SRL to cede management control of the firm. As per shareholding pattern as on March 31, 2017 available on BSE, promoters holding in Fortis at the end of March stood at around 52.30 percent.

As per the deal, the new owner will buy 26 percent from the promoters, followed by a mandatory open offer for public shareholders to comply with the Indian regulation. The new owner will also buy controlling stake in SRL Diagnostics and Fortis Malar, a listed subsidiary of Fortis, the newspaper said.

The proceeds of stake sale will go toward paying the outstanding obligations to Daiichi Sankyo, which has won an arbitral award against the Singh Brothers and servicing the debt of Fortis.

Daiichi has moved to Delhi High Court to protect its interest and the court directed the Singh brothers in March to furnish details of their unencumbered assets. Any final stake sale will require the court nod to go through.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya used around 40 companies to siphon off more than Rs 100 crore abroad, a source at an investigative agency told Moneycontrol.

We have found 30-40 companies to which he siphoned off more than Rs 100 crores, a senior Enforcement Directorate official said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Board of Investigation (CBI) have tracked down the companies- based out of financial hubs like Singapore and London--used to divert loan money from the country.

The Rs 100 crore remitted was a part of the Rs 950 crore loan to now defunct Kingfisher Airlines by the IDBI Bank.

Mallya used this money to buy lavish properties around the world, which also have been traced, the source added.

The ED is likely to soon file an extradition plea against Mallya - residing at the United Kingdon - and Kingfisher Airlines officials. The plea will include money laundering charges.

If ED does not mention money laundering charges in this extradition, then it would be difficult to investigate (Mallya) after bringing him here, the official said.

The CBI has already filed an extradition application with cheating and forgery charges included. The chargesheet, filed in Januray, names five IDBI Bank officials, four KFA employees and Mallya.

ED is hoping to bring back Mallya in the next six to nine months.

According to earlier media reports, CBI had reached out to seven countries including US, UK and Switzerland to which funds were transferred by Mallya.

Mallya had left India in early March last year for the UK after multiple probes were initiated against him for defaulting on Rs 9,000 crore worth of bank loans.
Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan, who is facing contempt charges, today "sentenced" Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment.

In an escalation of his confrontation with the Supreme Court, Justice Karnan whsaid the eight judges have "jointly committed the offences punishable under the SC/ST Atrocities Act of 1989 and amended Act of 2015."

He named members of the apex court's seven-judge bench, comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph.

The bench had initiated suo motu(on its own) contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work.

Justice Karnan also added another supreme court judge Justice R Banumathi in the list against whom the order was passed for having restrained his judicial and administrative work along with CJI Khehar.

Justice Karnan had on May 4 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".

Stating that the eight judges of the apex court have committed caste discrimination, Justice Karnan said they "shall be punished under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act, 1989."

He said that the eight judges "have operated judicial and adminstrative power and harassed a dalit judge besides insulting me at a public institution. The same has been proved beyond all the reasonable doubt from their orders.

"Hence, an adjudication is not required in the instant case," Justice Karnan said in his order from his makeshift court at his home in Rosedale towers, New Town here.

In his order, Justice Karnan imposed sentences of five years each and a fine of Rs one lakh on three counts, under sub-sections (1)(m), (1)(r) and (1)(u) of Section 3 of the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Justice Karnan directed that all the three sentences would run concurrently and said that if the fines were not paid, they would "undergo further six months of imprisonment."

He directed that the fine amount be "paid within a period of one week to the National Commission, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Constitutional body, Khan Market, New Delhi from date of receipt of the order."

Justice Karnan also said that an order passed by him on April 13 directing the member Judges of the seven-judge bench to pay a fine of Rs 14 crore was in force and directed "the Registrar General attached to the Supreme Court to recover the said amount from the salary of each."

He also directed Justice Banumathi to pay a compensation of Rs two crore.

The apex court has taken suo motu 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.
May 09, 2017 / 04:18 PM IST

It's Kapil Mishra again. He continues his tirade against his party:

"The AAP has lost its mental balance, MCD elections loss was not because of EVM. Even AAP won 67 seats with the same EVMs,"
A worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rides his bicycle past the party's campaign billboard featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi outside their party headquarters in New Delhi, India, February 10, 2015. The billboard reads: "One India, Best India". To match Insight INDIA-MODI/ REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/File Photo - RTX2E3HK

Ruling BJP legislators today complained to the Assam Assembly speaker that ministers never reply to their letters on concerns raised by people.

The legislators also sought a mechanism by which ministers would be bound to reply to their letters in a fixed time-frame.

Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami said that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal should look into the matter.

The issue was brought to the notice of the speaker by BJP MLA Pranab Kalita as a Point of Order immediately after the Question Hour.

Kalita said that people of the constituency submitted written requests to MLAs on various issues which were then forwarded to the ministers concerned.

But these were not replied by ministers, the Palasbari MLA said.

"Sir, if the prime minister can reply to letters in six days, why cannot we make a system to receive replies from our ministers in a fixed time-frame? Can you do something?" Kalita said in the House.

Expressing similar sentiments, Dhekiajuli's BJP MLA Ashok Singhal said, "We keep writing on many issues and ask many questions to the ministers. But they never reply to us."

He too requested the speaker to take initiative in this regard.

Other BJP MLAs supported Kalita and Singhal by thumping on the desk.

Reacting to the complaints, the speaker said that the MLAs raised a valid point.

"I hope the Chief Minister will take note of it," Goswami said.
Supporters of Congress party are framed by the party's symbols installed at the venue where Rahul Gandhi is addressing a rally at Bardoli

Maharashtra Congress slammed the BJP-led state government's decision "to hire" three helicopters of the controversial Agusta Westland company to ferry VVIPs, saying that the move has exposed the ruling party's "double face" on corruption.

However, the BJP countered the charge saying the ghost called Agusta Westland refuses to leave the Congress.

The saffron party also claimed that the government has only appointed agencies to hire helicopters, although they had not been given directions as to which company's services are to be used.

The Maharashtra government recently decided to appoint two private aviation companies to assist it in hiring aircraft and helicopters on rental basis. The government has identified nine helicopters having seating capacity in the range of 5 to 10 people.

As per the GR, the helicopters identified for hiring are: Bell 412 (Non AC), Bell 412 AC, Sikorsky S76 C++, Agusta Grand, MD 900, Bell 230, Bell 429, Agusta 109 P and Agusta 109E. The per hour hiring rate for these 9 helicopters range between Rs 1,78,500 for Agusta 109E to a maximum of Rs 2,89,500 per hour for Bell 412 AC helicopter.

Expressing surprise and shock over the development, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) spokesman Sachin Sawant said, "Three helicopters- Agusta Grand, Agusta 109P and Agusta 109 E- from the controversial company are identified by the government through two private aviation companies."

"The previous UPA government had scrapped the deal with Agusta Westland and instituted a CBI/ED probe into the allegations of corruption and process of blacklisting the company and its subsidiary companies had begun. However, the probe did not take to its logical conclusion by the new government, which came to power in 2014," he said in a press conference.

"In fact, there were allegations that the company and its subsidiaries were part of procurement of 100 naval helicopters. The 'Make in India' and even Foreign Investment Promotion Board had given permission for them to enter into joint ventures. However, the Modi government had denied these allegations and said there was no compromise on corruption," Sawant said.

He claimed that even former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that a request for proposal by the company were stopped and a note had been sent to the law ministry.

"BJP President Amit Shah had said the Agusta Westland company was bogus and fraud. Now with the state government deciding to hire the company's helicopters, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should clarify how these helicopters have made way into the state for flying VVIPs.

"Is there any pressure on the state government to hire these helicopters? We even feel that the per hour hiring rate is too high as compared to the prevailing market rate. The rate contract should be probed," Sawant said.

MPCC demanded that the Chief Minister should come clean on its stand on corruption and also BJP president Amit Shah should clarify if the Fadnavis-led government was following the ideals of the BJP on the issue of graft.

Reacting to Sawant's charges, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "The state government has only appointed agencies to hire helicopters. Which company's helicopter should be hired has not been stated in the GR. Sawant is making such baseless allegations out of frustration."

"Two private agencies- Adonis and Aloft- appointed by the government through e-tendering have no connection with Agusta Westland. Before levelling charges, Sawant should have made a proper study," he said.

"There is a rule which states that a helicopter with a twin-engine be used for VVIPs as a safety measure. This rule is being followed strictly since 1981," he stated.

"There are many companies that manufacture twin-engine helicopters. And the agencies appointed by the government (to hire the helicopters) have been not been given any direction which company's chopper they should hire," he added.

"The ghost called Augusta Westland refuses to leave the Congress. This (Agusta) case has its roots in Italy. Sawant also knows very well who was accused of taking a bribe," Bhandari said.

"When there is no mention of any company in the GR, how does the Congress see only Agusta Westland is a big question. The GR is self-evident and people are free to check it on the government website," the BJP leader added.

The UPA government had signed a deal with Agusta Westland for purchase of 12 helicopters to ferry VVIPs, but it was scrapped after reports appeared in Italy that the firm had paid kickbacks to Indian officials to clinch the deal. The CBI began probing the case in 2013.
GTPL Hathway | In FY21 so far, the stock price has gained 237 percent to Rs 137.35 as of October 14. The company's FY20 total debt reduced by 49 percent to Rs 148 crore compared to its previous fiscal year while it has witnessed decent sales and profit growth of 91 percent and 253 percent respectively.

CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala is planning to provide free internet connections to 20 lakh poor families in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the state assembly in a written reply that the initiative is being implemented under the new optic fibre pathway, 'Kerala Fibre Optic Network' (K-FON).

"Kerala government is planning to launch K-FON system.It is envisaged to provide free internet connection to 20 lakh families as part of the new fibre network," he said.

Besides free internet connection, the government has also plans to distribute free mobile phones to poor families under the initiative, he said.

The proposals had already been mentioned in the ruling LDF's election manifesto and the state's draft IT policy. However, the fund for the project is yet to be earmarked, the chief minister added.

Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac in the budget for the year 2017-18, had proposed to provide 20 lakh free internet connections to as many poor families and internet services at a lower rate for the others.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Why take any other mode of transport when taking a flight to the desired destination can be a low-cost affair. With airlines offering discounts and fares going as low as Rs 899, this lean season after the holiday period could spill good news for both travellers and the airline business.

But, IndiGo is ahead in the race of giving discounts and is offering tickets at Rs 899, the availability of which is from May 8 to May 10 The offer is on select domestic routes like Mumbai-Goa, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Chennai-Port Blair, Guwahati-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Guwahati, Jammu-Amritsar, Delhi-Udaipur, Kolkata-Agartala among many others. Passengers can travel on these tickets from June 1 to August 31.

However, the special rates are for shorter sectors like Bagdogra-Guwahati which will cost a passenger the lowest price announced by the airline. Other routes include Agartala-Kolkata and Ahmedabad-Mumbai and the prices range from Rs 1,599 and Rs 1,299, respectively.

On May 5, Jet Airways celebrated 24 years of its service and gave a 24 percent discount to passengers. During this one-day sale, prices were reduced by 24 percent on the base rate of economy and premier air tickets for international routes, while domestic travelers received 23 percent off on select destination on first-come first-served basis. The validity of special fares is for individual bookings and will come in to effect from June 16, 2017.

Another competitor in the discount game is SpiceJet that offered flight tickets such as Rs 1,189 for Delhi-Jaipur and Rs 1,642 on Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

GoAir came up with prices such as Rs 1,699 for Ahmedabad-Pune and Rs 1,950 for Delhi-Jammu.

According to an Economic Times report, the aviation industry was facing a difficult time after a 15 percent hike in airfares, rise in fuel prices which resulted in expensive air tickets. This also brought down the seat occupancy rate and only an 18.6 percent traffic was recorded in the March period as against last year.

The move of the airlines to cut down prices can benefit the domestic sector as the sale will drive higher growth for the sector.
Ex-choir director in Bucks County pleads no contest to molesting two students, secretly filming another
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
May 09, 2017

Syria: The New Government Plans For Moving East

The de-escalation agreement for four fighting zones in Syria has come into effect. The battles between Syrian government forces (red) and the foreign supported "rebels" (yellow) has ebbed in the north, in Idleb and north Hama, in the south round Deraa, around the besieged "rebel" enclaves north of Homs and east of Damascus in east-Ghouta. That does not mean that those areas are peaceful or safe. In the north Turkey is scrimishing with U.S. supported Kurds (purple), in Deraa governate ISIS is infighting with other Jihadi "rebels" and in east-Ghouta various "rebel" groups are trying to eliminate each other.

This de-escalation has freed up Syrian government forces which are now repositioning for a large attack through south-east Syria towards Deir-Ezzor and the Iraqi border. One axis of the attack will be from the capital to the east along the Damascus-Baghdad highway towards the Iraqi border. Another one will aim from Palmyra east through Sukhnah towards Deir Ezzor. (Roughly painted as red arrows on the map).



bigger

This terrain in-between is largely desert with only a few villages and some oil installations on the way. Large distances can be covert within a few hours. Fighting against ISIS (aka the Islamic State, grey) will be limited to the few build up areas. But the long "lines of communication", i.e. the supply roads, will be under constant danger of raids from roving ISIS militants and possibly U.S. airplanes.

In parallel to the two large attacks smaller operations (sketched as green arrows on the map) will proceed to eliminate ISIS and "rebel" forces near the government held western heartland. The current U.S.-Kurdish operation against ISIS in Raqqa is pushing ISIS elements towards those western government areas. The (green) "secure the realms" operations are designed to surround and eliminate all enemy areas to the west of the line and to prevent further infiltration into core areas.

The south-eastern desert is currently held by the Islamic State. But U.S. supported "rebel" forces and regular U.S. army troops threaten to take the area in a large attack launched from east Jordan towards the north and onto Raqqa. The build up of such a force has been reported several times and likely has some truth to it. (Though recently published photos of a Jordan armor depot some 50 kilometers from the border are probably unrelated. The depot has existed with nearly the same amount of armor since at least 2010.)

It would be quite risky for Jordan to take part or even allow such a large military operation in Syria. ISIS has infiltrated refugee camps in and near Jordan and has a substantial following within the country. But Jordan depends on U.S. and Gulf country money and can only reject their demands to a certain degree.

Should the U.S. military decide to take all of east-Syria by moving in from Jordan it will come into conflict with the Syrian (red arrow) forces pushing east. These Syrian movements will be accompanied by Russian military elements. Any collision of these maneuver groups could lead to serious escalations.

I doubt that U.S. President Trump has a personal interest in any move in Syria beyond the taking of Raqqa, He needs that success together with the taking of Mosul in Iraq from ISIS for propaganda purposes. Taking Raqqa will be difficult enough. The U.S.-Kurdish forces are still skirmishing ISIS around Taqba city and its dam, (some 30 kilometers from Raqqa) and the Kurds want further political concessions before moving on. Any additional "nation building" will hamper Trump's other political aims.

The military hawks in his government and in the Gulf countries led by Saudi Arabia are aiming further. It is now the National Security Advisor General McMaster who is pushing for regime change in Syria. The recent U.S. cruise missile attack on the Syrian Shayrat air base which was predominantly used to fight ISIS was McMaster's plan. But it seems that McMaster is now disliked by Trump and the inner White House circles. There is thus some hope that he will leave soon. The Syrian Foreign Minister already detects some change in the U.S. attitude towards the situation in Syria.

The plans of the Syrian government and its allies make sense. But the large moves towards the east can only proceed if the de-escalation schemes in the west keep the battlefields there relative quiet. This again depends on Turkey's willingness to blockade new weapon flows towards the "rebels" and al-Qaeda especially in north Syria. The Turkish President Erdogan is known for turning on a dime. The Gulf countries will offer him huge bribes to spoil the de-escalation. Russia is offering a pipeline which promises long term profits. It is hard to know which bribe he will prefer and which side he will -in the end- decide to support.

Posted by b on May 9, 2017 at 8:49 UTC | Permalink

Comments
'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.

10 hours ago
Diplomacy reigned at the May 2 school board meeting as wary trustees worked out a compromise in the composition, procedures and responsibilities of an evolving board policy subcommittee.

Morgan Hill Unified School District Board President Donna Ruebusch agreed to meet with Trustees David Gerard and Gino Borgioli, both designated members of the subcommittee, to hash out the details and then bring them back at a future board meeting for approval. No action was taken at the May 2 meeting.

The board policy subcommittee is in place to review the new board policies and changes to existing policies that come in from the California School Boards Association periodically throughout the year.

Instead of a two-member committee, the policy subcommittee will have three members with it being suggested that Ruebusch join Gerard and Borgioli. However, the third trustee on the committee has yet to be named.

Superintendent Steve Betando liked the idea that one of MHUSDs directors would get a first-read of each policy depending on the focus area and be able to make suggested edits prior to those policies going before the subcommittee. Once the body was finished reviewing, then the policies would go to the board of education for approval and/or discussion.

The subcommittee will meet a minimum of three times per year and those meetings will be scheduled around the CSBAs quarterly release of new and changed policies.

I do think were achieving a breakthrough here, said Gerard of the subcommittee compromise between trustees. Its a starting point and I think we need to be flexible.

Currently, the board members receive a packet of policies along with their agendas and approve those policies in one single vote as part of the consent calendar. Consent items are considered routine.

Ruebusch and Board Vice President Ron Woolf were reluctant to give the go-ahead for the subcommittee at two previous meetings, while Gerard and Borgioli had tried to push it forward after researching what other districts do as far as policy review.

I have never been as frustrated with an item as I am right now, said Borgioli, who had worked with Gerard over the last five months crafting a board policy subcommittee memorandum. It behooves me as to why this board cant make a decision.

Following more than an hour discussion at the May 2 meeting, the board came to a compromise in setting the new parameters for the subcommittee that will be introduced at a future date.

The next regularly scheduled school board meeting is May 16 at the district headquarters, 15600 Concord Circle.
Over 800 low-income residents in the Parkdale district of Toronto are under threat by the vicious cycle of real estate speculation, upscaling, and conversion, according to the latest study conducted by the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust.In the report titled No Room for Unkept Promises, Parkdale Rooming House Study, the Land Trust found that almost 60 rooming houses, bachelorette buildings, community non-profit buildings and possible rooming houses accommodating 818 people are likely to be sold, repurposed, or converted into higher-cost properties in the next few years.These units are among the 198 such properties in Parkdale, representing lodging for up to 2,715 individuals.We are concerned, in private hands, that the stock is not secure, so we think there is a unique opportunity as the sector transitions to bring at-risk, private rooming houses into non-profit ownership so we can stabilize sites, improve and restore the housing, and assure that this affordable housing will be available in perpetuity, Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust development coordinator Joshua Barndt told the Toronto Star.What the city did not anticipate is that in 2017 the real estate market would be so hot that these bachelorette units would be attractive to middle and higher income renters.The studywhich will be presented at City Hall within the next few dayssuggested a 10-year plan that will have teeth in delaying or stopping evictions altogether, improving safety and cleanliness standards, and supporting development without pushing marginalized individuals out of the market.We are hanging on by a thread, according to 42-year-old Paul Snider, who moved into a rooming house in the area 3 years ago. I have this feeling that in 10 years Parkdale is going to be unrecognizable and I wont be here and I want to be here.Snider, who is leaning upon Ontario Disability Support Payments, expressed optimism at the possible interventions to the areas swift gentrification.I can survive in a way that is not completely degrading, he hoped.
We've been tracking an uptrend in yields since they bottomed out in mid April. There was some hope that we would see a firmer ceiling take shape heading into May 1st, but the past 4 trading days have seen yields move and hold above the 2.35% ceiling (now looking more like a floor).

For what it's worth, today's weakness was more Treasury-specific, as upcoming auction supply combined with a raft of corporate debt issuance to ill effect. It's not that traders didn't already know that auctions were on the schedule, or that various firms might be offering corporate bonds. But when a few more firms than expected offer a few more billion dollars of corporate bonds than expected on a week where traders are already coping with supply from the auctions, traders sell first and ask questions later.

All that to say that Treasuries had more specific motivation for weakness today than MBS. As such, 10yr yields fell 11/32nds in price to Fannie 3.5's 3/32nds. Most lenders were able to offer rates that were very close to Friday's latest levels, although.
Mount Pleasant, SC (29464)

Today

Cloudy skies. High 69F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional light rain late. Low 64F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Less than a week after a pro-Airbnb bill was proposed by a New York assemblyman, public and private groups alike joined forces to oppose the proposition.Share Better, a union-backed group of Democrats against the online rental marketplace, has been formed in resistance to the bill, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Housing advocates say that with more and more apartments being designated as short-term rentals, its getting more difficult for lower-income renters to find homes.Short-term rentals, like those supported by Airbnb, pose a threat to our neighborhoods, Assemblyman Walter Mosley said in a statement. When thousands of apartments across our city are designated as short-term rentals, there are fewer affordable housing apartments for families that need them. It should not be easier for people to turn apartments into de facto hotels, and instead, the Assembly should be looking at ways to make our neighborhoods affordable in the long term.The group also collected tweets from public officials against the bill.Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres tweeted: NOT GOING TO HAPPEN @Airbnb . We see thru your scam & oppose your bill to repeal affordable housing protections, while Manhattan Assemblywoman Deborah Glick tweeted: Saw clip of @Airbnb flak trying 2 sound reasonable but ignores their platform is seriously undermining housing for New Yorkers.The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn), aims to amend a 2010 law that limits how Airbnb hosts could rent their properties.Currently, the law makes it illegal to rent a home for less than 30 days if the owner is not present.This is just a bunch of hotel industry brouhaha meant to distract from the fact ... that were seeking a working solution that allows everyday New Yorkers to share their home while still cracking down on bad actors, said Airbnb spokesperson Peter Schottenfels.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Analysts may be slowly changing their tunes on Apache Corp.s giant Alpine High discovery, after a skeptical first few months.

Apache announced the Permian Basin find in September, worth an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil and gas, and many analysts were immediately leery.

But Apache released new well results last week, showing improved oil production -- and the early completion of a section of its natural gas pipeline, meaning the Houston company can begin shipping gas to market.

And, by weeks end, analysts were declaring outperform, urging consumers to buy.

Houston investment bankers Tudor Pickering Holt called Apache quarterly results solid, and applauded the company for its progress at Alpine High.

Florida financial services firm Raymond James lauded Apaches first quarter earnings and Alpine Highs potential, calling the company a free cash flow machine.

We reiterate our Outperform rating and $60 target, analysts there said.

Still, not all have turned bullish on Apache.

Paul Sankey at Wolfe Research continued to criticize the play, noting that it does not have the characteristics of the prolific Permian  oodles of pipelines and way more oil than gas. Instead, Apache has to build its own pipelines at Alpine High and get through a lot of gas to find the oil.

Moreover, Sankey didnt feel like Apache executives were willing to answer all of the questions from analysts and investors.

There is, Sankey wrote in a recent note, a sense of almost hostility between investors/analysts who doubt the attractiveness of the play, and the company, which is resolute about the value of what they have discovered & are developing.






Oil and gas companies have given millions over the past three years to Texas lawmakers, according to an analysis released Monday by the non-profit Texans for Public Justice.

More Information Oil and gas industry gives millions to Texas lawmakers See More Collapse

The non-profit found state senators collected around $3.4 million from the energy industry; representatives collected around $5.6 million. Overall, oil and gas companies gave six percent of all money raised by sitting lawmakers.
We are collating signatures to petition ...
GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here.
De : Mary Lin < marylin37@hotmail.com >

Envoye le : Lu, 30 Jan 2017 21:16

Sujet : I will be glad to hear from you soon



Hello My Dear,

How are you today? I will like to be kind and honest with you, i am a woman that have seen life, i have been in the social circle for many years, although it does not matter on age, color or achievement, what matters in our life is your kindness to humanity. Dear, i believe that is the most important thing in life, I had been hardworking all my life, i must think of something better, to enjoy my life and probably have a family ,maybe relocate and start investing in other things. Anyway i will like to tell you more about me, m y name is Miss Marylin Freya, am from France, i was born in France, a nd i left France at age of 12 years to England, which to the glory of God Am working as an Senior Audit/banker in Islamic Bank of Britain Plc United Kingdom, is very painful i lost my only daughter at age of 4 years, i was married but my ex-husband got married to another woman, which caused our divorce, but is ok that is life for you, since he accused me of been so busy due to my bank work activities as accounting/auditing, that i was not having time for him and our kids before she passed away, but he refused to understand that i was pursing a goal, i told him that soon i will resign and we will have enough time for each other but he was impatient, although is over between us, I am happy alone because I have everything i need, This is why I think of relocating to another country to get into investment and maybe own a small company which i can be able to manage on my own. Please would you tell me more about yourself too ? I like to know more about you for me to know if we can achieve this goal together, your marital status and your country of origin.

I will be glad to hear from you soon

Yours faithful Marylin.







De : marylin freya < marylin509@hotmail.com >

Envoye le : Ve, 17 Fev 2017 13:00

Sujet : Get in touch with him to get your $900,000 cheque











Hello, Good day to you my old friend, How is everything around you ?I hope my email finds you well. I left Senegal to Canada where i am presently now for investment projects with my own share of the total sum. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assisting me in the clam of the funds despite that it failed us some how. Now i did not forget your efforts then how you tried to help despite that it failed some how, so i decided to reward you for your good heart with a bank draft cheque i left to the Reverend Father Nathan Kapaya in Senegal, a sum of $900.000.00 US dollars for you as a reward for the fact that you did not take advantage of me over my inheritance as i revealed every thing about me to you when i needed someone to help me out. I want you to know that i would have write to you to demand for your account to pay in this money for you but there was no chance for me to do that because i was in a hurry to catch up with my flight and i did not want my partner to know about my gift to you because i know that he would not have allowed me to give you such huge amount so i decided to drop the Cheque to you for you to use it and start new life as my reverend. Please contact the Rev. father, his contact informations are as follows. .

+221 776304312



rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com



You are to forward to him the followings. .



1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO

2. YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER, Rev. FatherNathan Kapaya+221 776304312You are to forward to him the followings. .1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO2. YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER, 3. YOUR PASSPORT ORID CARD

Do not hesitate to get in touch with him and he will send you the bank draft immediately without any delay. Take care and bye for now. Your old friend, Marylin

I leftinstructions for the bank draft chequebe sent to you, so I want you to feel free and contact him so that he can tell you how you can receive thisbank draft cheque which i left with him on your behalf for your generous kindness to me then.Finally, i want to plead with you not to write to me again with this email because my husband now has access to my emailbox and i do not want him to know that i left a bank draft cheque to you but i will call or write to you when i settle down very well here in Canada because i am still like a stranger here and I feel this is the only way i could say "thank you" for your kindness to me. this is just to let you know that a good mind does not forget some special people who are very nice and thoughtful as you were to me then. I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting my inheritance funds transferred under the co-operation of my new partner from Ireland, and i wish as well to let you know that I travelled to Senegal, in West Africa, but last weekI left Senegalto Canada where i am presently now for investment projects with my own share of the total sum. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assisting me in the clam of the funds despite that it failed us some how. Now i did not forget your efforts then how you tried to help despite that it failed some how, so i decided to reward you for your good heart with a bank draft cheque i left to the Reverend FatherNathan Kapayain Senegal, a sum of De : marylin freya < marylin509@hotmail.com >

Envoye le : Ve, 24 Fev 2017 12:46

Sujet : I left him instructions to send you your cheque



Hello, good day to you my old friend. How is everything around you ? I hope my email finds you well, this is just to let you know that a good mind does not forget some special people who are very nice and thoughtful as you were to me then.

I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting my inheritance funds transferred under the co-operation of my new partner from Ireland, and i wish as well to let you know that I traveled to Senegal in West Africa, but last week I left Senegal to Canada where i am presently now for investment projects with my own shares of the total sum. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assisting me in the clam of the funds despite that it failed us some how. Now i did not forget your efforts then how you tried to help despite that it failed some how, so i decided to reward you for your good heart with a bank draft cheque i left tothe Reverend Father Nathan Kapaya in Senegal a sum of $900.000.00 Thousand United States Dollars for you as a reward for the fact that you did not take advantage of me over my inheritance as i revealed every thing about me to you when i needed someone to help me out. I want you to know that i would have write to you to demand for your account to pay in this money for you but there was no chance for me to do that because i was in a hurry to catch up with my flight and i did not want my partner to know about my gift to you because i know that he would not have allowed me to give you such huge amount so i decided to drop the cheque to you for you to use it and start new life as my Reverend.

CONTACT OF THE REVEREND : Please, contact the Rev. father, his contact information are as follows. . Rev FatherNathan Kapaya +221 776304312

rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com



You are to forward to him the following :



1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO

2. YOUR PHONE NUMBER ANDYOUR PASSPORT ORID CARD

I lefthim instructions to send thischeque toyou. So, I want you to feel free and contact him so that he can tell you how you can receive yourcheque which i left with him on your behalf for your generous kindness to me then. Here is the contact email and phone number of Rev. Father Nathan Kapaya, +221 776304312 rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com Finally, i want to plead with you not to write to me again with this email because my husband now has access to my E-mailbox and i do not want him to know that i left a cheque to you but i will call or write to you when i settle down very well here in Canada because i am still like a stranger here and I feel this is the only way i could say thank you for your kindness to me. Do not hesitate to get in touch with him and he will send you the bank draft immediately without any delay. Take care and bye for now. Your old friend Marylin +221 776304312

De : marylin freya < marylin509@hotmail.com >

Envoye le : Ma, 28 Fev 2017 13:59

Sujet : I left him instructions for your $900,000 cheque



Hello, good day to you, my old friend, How is everything around you ?I hope my email finds you well, this is just to let you know that a good mind does not forget some special people who are very nice and thoughtful as you were to me then. I 'm happy to inform you about my success in getting my inheritance funds transferred under the co-operation of my new partner from Ireland, and i wish as well to let you know that I traveled to Senegal in West Africa, butlast week I leftSenegal to Canada where i am presently now for investment projects with my own shares of the total sum, meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assisting me in the clam of the funds despite that it failed us some how. Now i did not forget your efforts then how you tried to help despite that it failed some how, so i decided to reward you for your good heart with a bank draft Cheque i left to theReverend Father Nathan Kapaya in Senegal $900.000.00 Thousand United States Dollars for you as a reward for the fact that you did not take advantage of me over my inheritance as i revealed every thing about me to you when i needed someone to help me out. I want you to know that i would have write to you to demand for your account to pay in this money for you but there was no chance for me to do that because i was in a hurry to catch up with my flight and i did not want my partner to know about my gift to you because i know that he would not have allowed me to give you such huge amount so i decided to drop the Cheque to you for you to use it and start new life as my Reverend.

CONTACT OF THE REVEREND Please contact the Rev. father, his contact information isfollows. . Rev. FatherNathan Kapaya .

+221 776304312

rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com





You are to forward to him the followings. .



1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO

2. YOUR PHONE NUMBER ANDYOUR PASSPORT ORID CARD

You are to forward to him the followings. .1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO2. YOUR PHONE NUMBER ANDYOUR PASSPORT ORID CARD I lefthim instructions for the bank Draft cheque to be sent to you.So, I want you to feel free and contact him so that he can tell you how you can receive the cheque which i left with him on your behalf for your generous kindness to me. I want to plead with you not to write to me again with this email because my husband now has access to my emailbox and i do not want him to know that i left a Bank Draft Cheque to you but i will call or write to you when i settle down very well Here in Canada because i am still like a stranger here and I feel this is the only way i could say thank you for your kindness to me. Do not hesitate to get in touch with him and he will send you the bank draft immediately without any delay. Take care and bye for now. Your old friend Marylin

De : rvnathankapaya rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com

Envoye le : Sa, 4 Mar 2017 0:11

Sujet : I am waiting for you at the DHL office



Dear,



Your message was received, and I am hereby to inform you that Mrs. Marylin Dear,Your message was received, and I am hereby to inform you that Mrs. Marylin gave me a cheque worth $800.000.00 USD in your name. I also received your particulars, then I went directly to Dhl office with 180 usd, unfortunately the Dhl people said, it will 750 usd, because they will use special package, just to avoid detected that is cheque inside. However, I am just a Revrend, I would have assist you to send it to your country, but my money is not enough. You are advise to send 750 usd by Western Union Money transferto enable me send your cheque by DHL office to your country. Reply me immediately, I am waiting for you at the DHL office. Send the money with the name of my secretary below. .



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Name : Naomy Iwahashi

Country : SENEGAL

Question : GOOD

Answer : OK

Mtcn . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Address :488 H.L.M Grand Yoff Dakar, Senegal

Sender's name . . . . . . .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



Thanks.

Rev. Nathan Kapaya De : marylin freya marylin509@hotmail.com

Envoye le : Ma, 7 Mar 2017 16:52

Sujet : Get in touch with him and he will send you your $900.000 cheque



Hello, Good day to you, my old friend. How is everything around you ? I hope my email finds you well. This is just to let you know that a good mind does not forget some special people who are very nice and thoughtful as you were to me then. I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting my inheritance funds transferred under the co-operation of my new partner from Ireland, and i wish as well to let you know that I traveled to Senegal, in West Africa, but last week I leftSenegal to Canada where i am presently now for investment projects with my own shares of the total sum. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assisting me in the clam of the funds despite that it failed us some how. Now i did not forget your efforts then how you tried to help despite that it failed some how, so i decided to reward you for your good heart with a Bank Draft Cheque i left T o one Reverend Father Nathan Kapaya in Senegal a sum of $900,000.00 Thousand United States dollars for you as a reward for the fact that you did not take advantage of me over my inheritance as i revealed every thing about me to you when i needed someone to help me out. want you to know that i would have write to you to demand for your account to pay in this money for you but there was no chance for me to do that because i was in a hurry to catch up with my flight and i did not want my partner to know about my gift to you because i know that he would not have allowed me to give you such huge amount so i decided to drop the cheque to you for you to use it and start new life as my Reverend. CONTACT OF THE REVEREND Please, contact the Rev. father, his contact informations are as follows. . Rev. Father Nathan Kapaya +221 776304312

rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com



You are to forward to him the following. .

1. FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE

2. TELEPHONE NUMBER ANDPASSPORT ORID CARD

You are to forward to him the following. .1. FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE2. TELEPHONE NUMBER ANDPASSPORT ORID CARD The mane of the Reverend isRev. Father Nathan Kapaya, and i leftinstructions for the bank draft cheque to be sent to you. So, I want you to feel free and contact him so that he can tell you how you can receive thecheque which i left with him on your behalf for your generous kindness to me then. Here is the contact email and phone number of Rev. Father Nathan Kapaya, rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com Finally, i want to plead with you not to write to me again with this email because my husband now has access to my email box and i do not want him to know that i left acheque to you but i will call or write to you when i settle down very well here in Canada because i am still like a stranger here and I feel this is the only way i could say thank you for your kindness to me. Do not hesitate to get in touch with him and he will send you the bank draft immediately without any delay. Take care and bye for now. Your old friend Marylin

De : marylin freya < marylin509@hotmail.com >

Envoye le : Me, 15 Mar 2017 18:53

Sujet : Contact him about your $900,000 cheque



Hello, Good day to you, my old friend ! How is everything around you ? I hope my email finds you well, this is just to let you know that a good mind does not forget some special people who are very nice and thoughtful as you were to me then.

I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting my inheritance funds transferred under the co-operation of my new partner from Ireland, and i wish as well to let you know that I traveled to Senegal in West Africa, but last week I left Senegal to Canada where i am presently now for investment projects with my own shares of the total share. Meanwhile, I didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assisting me in the clam of the funds despite that it failed us some how. Now i did not forget your efforts then how you tried to help despite that it failed some how, so i decided to reward you for your good heart with a Bank Draft Cheque i left T o one Reverend Father Nathan Kapaya in Senegal a sum of $900,000.00 Thousand United States Dollars for you as a reward for the fact that you did not take advantage of me over my inheritance as i revealed every thing about me to you when i needed someone to help me out. I want you to know that i would have write to you to demand for your account to pay in this money for you but there was no chance for me to do that because i was in a hurry to catch up with my flight and i did not want my partner to know about my gift to you because i know that he would not have allowed me to give you such huge amount so i decided to drop the cheque to you for you to use it and start new life as my Reverend. Please, contact the Rev father his contact information are as follows. .

Rev Father Nathan Kapaya +221 776304312

rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com



You are to forward to him the following. .

1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO

2. YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER AND ALSO YOUR PASSPORT OR YOUR ID CARD

You are to forward to him the following. .1. YOUR FULL NAME & ADDRESS WHERE HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO2. YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER AND ALSO YOUR PASSPORT OR YOUR ID CARD i left an instructions for the bank Draft Cheque to be sent to you, so I want you to feel free and contact him so that he can tell you how you can receive the bank draft cheque which i left with him on your behalf for your generous kindness to me then. Here is the contact email and phone number of Rev. Father Nathan Kapaya, rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com +221 <rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com> 776304312 Finally, i want to plead with you not to write to me again with this email because my husband now has access to my mailbox and i do not want him to know that i left a Bank Draft Cheque to you but i will call or write to you when i settle down very well Here in Canada because i am still like a stranger here and I feel this is the only way i could say thank you for your kindness to me. Do not hesitate to get in touch with him and he will send you the bank draft immediately without any delay. Take care and bye for now. Your old friend Marylin



De : Mary Lin < marylin37@hotmail.com >

Envoye le : Di, 23 Avr 2017 12:50

Sujet : The fund will be shared 58% for me, 40% for you



MY DEAR,

i must thank you once again for your humble reply to my mail. I really appreciate it so much and i am very happy to read from you, well from your response i'm convinced that the future has a special place for us, if only we could trust each other and also be honest and faithful to each other as well .



Like i told you earlier, i was looking forward to accomplish a particular mission, which my ex-husband was unlucky to achieve with me, I think with the little you have told me about you, it would be very wise to disclose this secret to you and also tell you my aim and plan. Because it would be of mutual benefit to us and maybe you could be the right person to utilize the opportunity with me, because i believe our knowing each other is the way God have destined it. Remember i told you i am an Auditor of my bank and also the Chief of the International Relations Foreign Remittance Unit. Prior to my position here at my bank, i have the opportunity to loot out some amount of money of a deceased customer, whose autopsy result showed that he died as a result of gun shorts by unknown gunmen. As i was her personal accountant officer, before he died and from the account opening records, he did not indicate anybody as his beneficiary next of kin. Since 2008 to date, nobody has come forward as his beneficiary next of kin to administer the fund. The amount in question is the total sum of $14.500,000. (Fourteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand USD).



I can provide all the required legal papers from the British Court to present you as the legal beneficiary to these funds if you would accept to partner with me in this deal. A lot of abandoned money lay around in this bank as a result of abandoned bank accounts, stock holdings, unclaimed life insurance pay-outs and forgotten pension benefits. I will definitely give you comprehensive details on how we would achieve this legally, without going against the laws of the country once you reply to me indicating your interest to work with me. I have worked with the bank for several years and have taken time to study the British inheritance claims procedures. I would appreciate it if you would treat this issue with every bit of confidentiality and maturity, putting my integrity foremost, because i wouldn't need any mistakes or regrets. I assure you that you will never regret it if you would take the bold step to partner with me in this deal. It would be wise if we make every effort not to loose this golden opportunity. This happens in every bank around the world, even in your own country, but people outside the banking industry do not know this. The fund will be shared at the ratio of 58% for me, 40% for you and 2% will be set aside to cover any expenses and tax in your bank. We will use the fund there in your country to build companies and for investment which both of us would manage, Please this is an honest request for you and i. I only plead for you to make this transaction a top secret because we do not have to trust anybody unless you and i alone. Please treat this business proposal with utmost confidentiality and send me the following Information(s) for further application for this transfer if you are interested. .



1. Full name,

2. Address

2. Identification copy

3.Nationality



Thanks and best regards

Yours faithfully, Marylin De : rvnathan kapaya < rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com >

Envoye le : Lu, 8 Mai 2017 14:07

Sujet : About your $800,000 cheque

Calvary greetings,

From Rev. Nathan Kapaya.

Dakar, Senegal.

+221.77 6304312 rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com



May God be with you and your family.



By his grace, Miss Marylinleft an open cheque (800,000 Usd) in your favor and she ordered me to deliver it to you whenever you ask for it, Meanwhile i will visit the courier services in my country to ascertain the cost of sending it to your country, Meanwhile i want you to send me your details where you want me to send the cheque. Provide me these details of you for reconfirmation. .

1.Your address:

2.Your private phone numbers:

3.Your passport scan copyid card:

4.Your Full Name



Please try and visit the orphanage home in your country and make some donation to them as soon as you receive cheque so that God will help you in future.



May God protect you from today and forever more as i hear from you again.

Rev. Nathan Kapaya. De : rvnathan kapaya < rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com >

Envoye le : Ma, 9 Mai 2017 13:59

Sujet : You are advised to send $750 for fees about your check



You are advised to send $750 usd by Western Union Money transfer, to enable me to send your cheque from



Name , Naomy Iwahashi

Country, SENEGAL

Question , GOOD

Answer , OK

Mtcn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Address 488 H.L.M Grand Yoff

Sender Name . . .



Thanks.

Rev.Nathan Kapaya

You are advised to send $750 usd by Western Union Money transfer, to enable me to send your cheque from marylin509@hotmail.com by DHL office to your country. Send the money with name of my secretary below. .Name , Naomy IwahashiCountry, SENEGALQuestion , GOODAnswer , OKMtcn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Address 488 H.L.M Grand YoffSender Name . . .Thanks.Rev.Nathan Kapaya De : rvnathan kapaya < rvnathankapaya@yahoo.com >

Envoye le : Sa, 20 Mai 2017 14:50

Sujet :About marylin509@hotmail.com send $750 to my secretary below. . marylin509@hotmail.com by DHL office to your country. Send the money with name of my secretary below. .



Name , Naomy Iwahashi

Country, SENEGAL

Question , GOOD

Answer , OK

Mtcn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Address 488 H.L.M Grand Yoff

Sender Name . . . You are advised to send $750 usd by Western Union Money transfer, to enable me to send your cheque from <marylin509@hotmail.com> by DHL office to your country. Send the money with name of my secretary below. .Name , Naomy IwahashiCountry, SENEGALQuestion , GOODAnswer , OKMtcn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Address 488 H.L.M Grand YoffSender Name . . . If you cannot send money then you will wait, till when ever you are ready, because this is the only way we can use. if this takes 1 or 2 years, no problem.



Thanks for your cooperation.

Rev. Nathan Kapaya

If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more....
A congressman is now getting involved in the battle that's left residents at a Kissimmee condo hotel without running water for weeks.

The condo association and unit owners for the Osceola Heritage Park Inn are in a legal battle over utility bills. The litigation has left the complex without running water for almost a month. Residents were getting water from the complex's pool, but that has been drained.

Marie Muscat and her three little ones calls the Osceola Heritage Park Inn on US 192 home. Thats all I got, this is it, Muscat said.

Muscat, said she and her family have been going to 7-Eleven daily to fill up gallons of water to get by.

Congressman Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, said News 13s reporting led him to write a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, in hopes that she will intervene for possible deceptive and unfair practices.

So we will be calling on the attorney generals office to investigate, Soto said. This goes beyond the general landlord/tenant/HOA/owner conflict, its really to the next level.

According to Osceola County, the property has several citations for a number of things like unmaintained dumpster storage areas and lapsed business tax receipts for owners who rent their units.

The chief of Osceola County Fire suggested people move out of the Inn, as it has become a fire hazard. With the lack of water there is no sprinkler system to rely on and the fire extinguishers are gone. The property is facing citations for this too.

"Some people just dont have nowhere to go. We have no choice. We dont have money like that to just drop $2,000 to go somewhere else. I dont have $2,000, Muscat said.

Federal, state or local -- Muscat said she just needs some help. I just hope something good will happen for my family. I am not asking for much, Muscat added. Just to help for the first month and I could take it from there.

The Osceola County Health Department said the unsanitary conditions are not part of their jurisdiction.

We reached out to the FL Department of Business and Professional Regulation, division of Hotel and Restaurants. DBPR said they sent an administrative complaint of license revocation to Heritage Park Inn on May 1, regarding the propertys lodging license.
Without lawmakers passing regulations for medical marijuana in Florida, it is left to local governments and businesses wondering what is next.

On Tuesday, the Brevard County commissioners are looking for the publics input before they go ahead with regulating medical marijuana.

They, like many other local government agencies, were waiting for state lawmakers to set forth rules, but that did not happen.

This has set us back at least a year, said Michael Patterson, who was hoping to set up marijuana dispensaries in Brevard County. We were scouting locations to actually have stores, so we were preparing for licensure if it came through.

Since lawmakers failed to pass any rules during session, it is up to the Florida Department of Health now to come up with regulations for medical cannabis.

Currently, they have only licensed seven dispensaries to produce, sell and transport marijuana across the entire state.

The concern is that monopoly or some people call it cartel, is going to continue which will limit the availability for prices to come down and limit access to patients, said Patterson.

Patterson is hopeful eventually more licenses will be granted. Until then, he and his company, U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research and Development, offer consulting for those looking to get into medical marijuana industry around the world.

We understand people dont want it near schools and playgrounds, thats fine, we understand that, said Patterson. But Im here to tell you that this is going to be as normal and mundane going to the marijuana dispensary, as going to the pharmacy to pick up your medicine or to the doctors office to get your blood drawn.

The Brevard County Commission will seek public input about marijuana rules at its meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Viera.


FBI Director James Comey has been fired and removed from office.

FBI Director James Comey fired by President Trump

Search for permanent director to begin immediately

READ the letters from President Trump and the Justice Dept. (.PDF)

The White House released a statement Tuesday saying Trump informed Comey he has been terminated and removed from office.

The statement said Trump was acting on recommendations from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

A search for a new permanent director will begin immediately.

In the president's letter to Comey, he told the now-former FBI director that, "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Dept. of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."

He said it was vital to restore public trust and confidence in the FBI.

Comey became FBI director under President Barack Obama in September 2013, after a career in the U.S. Dept. of Justice under President George W. Bush.

Comey came under fire during the 2016 presidential election for his handling of candidate Hillary Clinton's email investigation. In October announced in a letter to Congress that the FBI had learned about a new cache of emails that may be pertinent to the Clinton investigation on the computer of an aide's husband.

The Justice Dept. warned against sending the letter, but Comey did so anyway. There is some question as to whether the revelation affected Clinton's standing in the presidential race. Concerns about the emails turned out to be unfounded, according to a second letter Comey sent in November 2016.

Letters from Rosenstein and Sessions indicate it was Comey's handling of the Clinton investigation that led to his firing. Rosenstein in particular said Comey was wrong to close the Clinton investigation in July 2016 without involving the Justice Dept.

"At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors. The Director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed Attorney General Loretta Lynch has a conflict. But the FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and assume command of the Justice Dept."

Rosenstein also says statements made in the months after show Comey does not understand the gravity of his mistakes, and the public will not trust the FBI until the agency has a director who does.

Last week Comey testified about the emails on Capitol Hill, and the FBI had to correct a sentence in his sworn testimony about the October email incident.

Comey told lawmakers that Huma Abedin, a top aide to Hillary Clinton, had sent hundreds and thousands of emails to her husbands laptop, including some with classified information.

On Tuesday, the FBI said in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that only a small number of the thousands of emails found on the laptop had been forwarded there while most had simply been backed up from electronic devices.

Most of the email chains on the laptop containing classified information were not the result of forwarding, the FBI said.

Calls for Comey to testify again

Democrats, who blasted Comey for his handling of the Clinton case, were upset with the decision to fire him Tuesday.

The FBI under Comey was investigating President Trump's alleged ties to Russia and that country's influence in the 2016 election. Democrats are concerned Trump will put someone in power who will close that investigation.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, called for open testimony from Comey on the status of the investigation:

I have been long been a critic of Director Comey, for his views about surveillance and torture, his stance on secret law and his conduct during the investigation into Secretary Clinton. But Donald Trumps decision to fire him now, in the midst of an investigation into Trump associates and their ties to Russia, is outrageous. Director Comey should be immediately called to testify in an open hearing about the status of the investigation into Russia and Trump associates at the time he was fired.

There can be no question that a fully independent special counsel must be appointed to lead this investigation. At this point, no one in Trumps chain of command can be trusted to carry out an impartial investigation.

The president would do well to remember that in America, the truth always comes out.

Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the committee, concurred, also calling for the appointment of special counsel for an independent investigation:

The Presidents actions today are shocking. It is deeply troubling that the President has fired the FBI director during an active counterintelligence investigation into improper contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The administration insists theres no there there, yet President Trump has so far fired the acting Attorney General, nearly every U.S. attorney, and now the Director of the FBI. In addition, this Presidents choice for Attorney General has been forced to recuse himself, and the National Security Advisor has resigned, as a result of undisclosed contacts with Russian officials.

Now more than ever, it is vital that our ongoing investigation is completed in a credible and bipartisan way. We also need to hear directly from former Director Comey about the FBI investigation and related events.

The Presidents actions today make it clear to me that a Special Counsel also must be appointed. Thats the only way the American people will be able to trust the results of any DOJ investigation. The only way this Administration can begin to demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law, which has so far been sorely lacking, is to cooperate fully with the ongoing congressional investigations and to support the appointment of an independent special counsel.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, issued this statement Tuesday:

Now it is more clear than ever that we need an independent commission to get to the truth of Russias interference with our election.

Republicans in general showed considerable less outrage over the firing, as shown by Sen. Lindsey Graham's, R-South Carolina) statement:

I know this was a difficult decision for all concerned.

I appreciate Director Comeys service to our nation in a variety of roles.

"Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well. I encourage the President to select the most qualified professional available who will serve our nations interests.

However, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, reiterated his call for a special congressional committee to investigate Russian interference in the election.

While the President has the legal authority to remove the Director of the FBI, I am disappointed in the President's decision to remove James Comey from office. James Comey is a man of honor and integrity, and he has led the FBI well in extraordinary circumstances. I have long called for a special congressional committee to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 election. The president's decision to remove the FBI Director only confirms the need and the urgency of such a committee.

Sen. Marco Rubio has not issued a statement yet.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
AUSTIN -- The Senate approved a bill on Monday that would allow public school teachers with a license to carry to store their handguns in their cars when parked on school grounds. In 2011, seeking a compromise between business owners who might ban employees from concealed carry while at work and licensed gun owners, the Legislature approved a bill that would let employees to keep their guns in their cars. Last session, that law was extended to cover employees at public colleges and universities. "This was an important compromise reached that respected the rights of everyone involved, it's been settled law and it's worked very well," said Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola. His bill, SB 1942, would further extend the compromise to include cars owned by public school teachers parked in school parking lots. Like private business and college campuses, it would require that the gun be completely out of sight in a locked car.

Counties would get help paying for training some officers in federal immigration policy and enforcement under another bill approved by the Senate on Monday. The federal 287g program allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to delegate some authority to local officials to identify persons in the U.S. illegally, but only if the officer receives training at the ICE academy in South Carolina. It's a four-week training course, and though it doesn't cost anything, counties still have to pay people to cover the officer-in-training's shifts. SB 2094 by Edgewood Sen. Bob Hall would create a grant program within the Office of the Governor to cover overtime pay and other associated expenses when a county sends an officer to receive this ICE training. It's projected to cost just over $300,000 for the next two years.
Thirteen undocumented immigrants and two U.S citizens were arrested on May 3 after a brief vehicle pursuit in West Odessa, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Agents observed a suspicious vehicle headed east on Interstate 20.

After attempting to stop the vehicle, the driver took off, according to a news release. The vehicle exited the interstate and stopped at a gas station where the driver and the passenger then fled the scene on foot. Both were detained shortly after, according to the release.

The two U.S. citizens, who were not identified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were arrested on smuggling charges. Of the 13 individuals found in the vehicle, 10 were from Guatemala and three were from Mexico.

The case was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations.
A roundup of upcoming political events in the Bay Area:

Wednesday

Police shooting: Public meeting hosted by the San Francisco Police Department to discuss the officer-involved shooting May 3 on the 900 block of Market Street, in which a stabbing suspect was killed. The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. on the first floor of 969 Market St.

Art show: The Museum of International Propaganda holds an art and poetry show, Against Trumpism: The Art and Poetry of Resistance. The show will run until May 27. The museum is located at 1000 Fifth Ave. in San Rafael. For information: www.propagandamuseum.net.

Thursday

Town hall: Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, hosts a town hall at 5:30 p.m. at the Danville Community Center, Valley Oak Room, 420 Front St. in Danville.

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.

Saturday

Political art show: A show to celebrate women artists active in opposition to President Trump, hosted by Indivisible Alameda County. The event is from 3 to 7 p.m. at 37275 Niles Blvd. in Fremont. For information: indivisiblealamedacounty@gmail.com.

May 18

Abortion rights: The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League holds a fundraiser supporting the fight for reproductive freedom. The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Tank18, 1345 Howard St. in San Francisco. For tickets: http://naral.org/MenforChoiceSF.

May 27

Immigration discussion: Immigration for Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity will host a discussion on immigration, followed by postcard writing to support social justice. The event is from 10 a.m. to noon at Northern Police Station Community Room, 1125 Fillmore St. in San Francisco. For information, contact info@owlsf.org.
Some farm state Democrats are hoping that fear of a labor shortage sparked by President Donald Trumps hard line on illegal immigration will win support for a blue card that will give undocumented farm workers protection from immigration raids and a path toward citizenship.

The Agricultural Worker Program Act, introduced last week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and soon to be filed in the House by Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, is similar to one promoted during the failed bid for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013. Other Democratic co-sponsors for the Senate bill include Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont; Sen. Michael Bennet, Colorado; Sen. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii; and Sen. Kamala Harris, California.

A key difference this year, Gutierrez said, is that lawmakers are going to be up against the 2018 election cycle and are under pressure to address the immigrant farm labor impasse from both immigrant rights groups and farmers who need a stable labor supply.

Let me make it really, really clear, he said during a conference call with reporters organized by the United Farm Workers on Tuesday, farmworkers, immigrant rights, are now a critical, essential part of progressive politics in the United States of America. If you want to move forward politically you dont move forward politically by leaving behind millions of workers and especially those that work in the fields.

Feinstein said she heard of labor shortages from farmers all over California, whether the wine country, the Central Valley, or from small farmers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

They tell me they cant find workers, that workers are scared, that theyre afraid theyre going to be picked up and deported, that they have disappeared, she said on the same call. They tell me that some of them are looking at developing operations on leased land in Mexico. Thats not an answer. The people who feed us should have an opportunity to work here legally, and thats what we do in this bill that we are proposing.

Shah Kazemi, owner of the nations largest mushroom farming operation, said he was short 500 workers and had been forced to cut production in California, Illinois and Florida. He said he was also considering production cuts of about 7 percent in Texas.

We have been forced to cut back our production because we cannot find people, Kazemi said. Theres a fear factor that exists. ... Theres rumors on the street every day that theres going to be (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids.

Following an ICE raid that took 12 workers from a mushroom operation in Pennsylvania, he said, some of his remaining workers didnt show up.

Across the country, its very very difficult to attract and retain workers, he said. We dont get applicants any more. In the past we used to have a backlog.

To get the blue cards, workers would have to prove they worked 100 days in agricultural settings, including fields, orchards or dairy barns, during the past two years. After continuing to work in agriculture for 100 days a year for the next five years, or 150 days for the next three years, they could earn permanent resident status, otherwise known as a green card. After five years with a green card, they could apply for full U.S. citizenship.

Two farm workers spoke out during the news conference, saying they and their families lived in fear of being split should immigration officials conduct a sting on the farm. They said they also were fearful of leaving their homes and were reluctant to seek help for poor working conditions or withheld pay as it might attract attention to them.

Were working so hard that often our hands and feet are hurting. And were afraid that on the way home to see our children were going to be separated from our families, said Lourdes Cardenas, a grape worker from Californias Central Valley.

Bruce Goldstein, president of Washington, D.C.-based Farmworker Justice, said that while he knew of no good statistics to back up the farm labor shortage, farmers were increasingly turning toward the H-2A visa program, a temporary work program that allows farmers to bring in foreign labor. To use it, farmers need to petition the State Department and show that there arent enough U.S. or legal immigrant workers to get the job done and that U.S. workers wages wont be hurt. In 2016, the program grew by about 20 percent, for about 165,000 jobs approved nationwide.

But he said the program failed to address the approximately 2.5 million farmworkers who are already in the U.S. illegally.

Theyre skilled, experienced workers, he said. This agricultural system would really collapse if we deported any significant number of them.

Critics of the idea in 2013 included farmers who feared a conditional visa would backfire as workers would leave the farms as soon as they had the legal status to do so.

Ira Mehlman, media director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors immigration law enforcement, said he doubted the proposal would get more traction this time around.

I doubt in this Congress its going anywhere, he said. Its another agricultural amnesty. You come here, you work for 100 days over two years, you get your blue card to be converted to a green card, and then you go work someplace else that pays you better, provides better working conditions. And then you just bring in the next group of illegal aliens to do the next thing.

It just becomes a revolving door, all in effort to avoid agricultural employers having to provide decent wages and working conditions, he said.

lbrezosky@express-news.net
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A federal court granted Spirit Airlines a temporary restraining order Tuesday, compelling the pilots union to return to status quo after what the airlines says has been a pervasive illegal work slowdown that caused hundreds of flight cancellations and disrupted travel for more than 20,000 passengers in the past week.

The pilots union said Spirit Airlines pilots will fully comply with the court to help restore normal operations.

We are hopeful that we can put this moment behind us and get back to serving our customers, Spirit Airlines spokesman Paul Berry said in a statement.

The U.S. District Court ruling comes a day after anger and confusion boiled over at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Monday night as nine Spirit Airlines flights were canceled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded, according to airport officials.

What followed was chaos as frustrated passengers clashed with Spirit employees and law enforcement officers tried to maintain order.

Video from the Florida airport showed crowds clustered around Spirit Airlines ticket counters, with people pushing, screaming and cursing.

At one point in one of the videos, the stanchions holding in the line were knocked over, and a Broward County sheriffs deputy was shoved to the ground. Sheriffs deputies detained three passengers and charged them with disorderly conduct, according to arrest reports.

The flight cancellations were reportedly the result of a legal dispute between the budget airline and the Air Line Pilots Association International.

In a statement to the Washington Post, Spirit Airlines blamed its pilots for the cancellations and the resulting chaos. About 300 Spirit Airlines flights have been canceled in the past week, according to a lawsuit Spirit lawsuit filed against ALPA on Monday.

ALPA disputed the airlines accusations. But Tuesday afternoon it said Spirit pilots are committed to helping impacted passengers and the company restore normal operations.

The court has spoken and Spirit pilots will fully comply with the order handed down, which is completely in line with our overriding goal: the resumption of normal operations. We call on the company to join forces with ALPA and the Spirit pilots to do just that, ALPA said in a statement

The pilot actions have impacted about 15 percent of flights across the network, Spirit said. The U.S. District Court in South Florida has scheduled a May 15 hearing for a preliminary injunction.

We sincerely apologize to our customers for the disruption and inconveniences they have suffered, Berry said. We believe this is the result of intimidation tactics by a limited number of our pilots affecting the behavior of the larger group.

Authorities say the behavior of a few passengers at Fort Lauderdale on Monday night caused a crowd of about 500 people to become enraged, fearful, or visually upset. The incident, an arrest report said, resembled the start of a riot.

One of the passengers became increasingly aggressive to the point of near violence toward an airline employee, according to the arrest report. The passenger then challenged deputies with threatened physical violence, the report said.

All of a sudden, one particular flight got canceled, and a mob ensued up here at the front counter, in front of everyone else who had been waiting in line, passenger Paul Smith told the Fox News affiliate.

Another passenger told the station that Spirit employees couldnt handle what was going on, so they called in for the police.

We are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, Berry said. This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers by canceling multiple flights across our network. These pilots have put their quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations and the safety of their fellow Spirit Team Members.

Berry said the airline had filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the pilots union and others for purposely and unlawfully disrupting the airlines operations, leading to hundreds of canceled flights, which has negatively impacted thousands of Spirit customers travel plans.

So we reluctantly filed this suit to protect our customers and our operations, Berry said. This is clearly unlawful activity under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations in the airline industry. ALPA and those individuals responsible should be held accountable.

ALPA said earlier Tuesday that the two are not engaged in a job action.

Rather, ALPA and the Spirit pilots are continuing to do everything possible to help restore the companys operations, which have experienced significant problems over the past several days, an ALPA representative told The Post in a statement. While we will continue these efforts, we will actively defend the association, its officers and its member pilots against the unwarranted and counterproductive legal action brought (Monday) by Spirit Airlines.

Spirit flight cancellations continued for the third day in a row Tuesday at Fort Lauderdale, airport officials said. The airport had had long lines all day Monday, as many travelers whose flights were canceled Sunday were trying to get on already full flights.

There was just a couple of people that got agitated and they started screaming and yelling, airport spokesman Greg Meyer said. It wasnt a riot. It lasted a very, very short time.

Thousands of passengers are impacted by the cancellations. Flights from airports across the U.S., including Baltimore-Washington International Marshall, Minneapolis, Boston and Chicago have been canceled since Sunday, according to FlightWare, which keeps track of airline cancellations and delays.

Tygear Kelly was one of the hundreds of Spirit passengers stranded at Fort Lauderdale on Monday night, according to WFOR.

It was chaotic; it was packed, this whole area was full of people, Kelly told the station Tuesday morning. I had to rebook my flight and everything. I missed my flight, I had to go back to the hotel where I was staying and Im back here now to go back to New York.

Spirit, a low-cost carrier based in Miramar, Fla., often advertises fares as low as about $20 or $30 each way.

But the series of cancellations could drive its customer satisfaction further down. Passenger satisfaction with Spirit dropped to 61 percent this year, and for a third year in a row the airline ranked last for customer satisfaction in the American Customer Satisfaction Index annual survey.

The airline in the past year has also ranked among the lowest for on-time performance, according to the latest Air Travel Consumer report by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Some of its flights from Fort Lauderdale were among the most chronically delayed ones.

The mayhem in Fort Lauderdale was the latest in a string of high-profile, airline-related incidents captured on video.

Perhaps the most notorious came in April, when viral videos captured a passenger being forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight. The incident caused a public-relations crisis for United, which initially defended itself by stating that the passenger, David Dao, had refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily.

Dao and United eventually reached an amicable settlement for an undisclosed amount, the airline said.

A few weeks after Uniteds dragging fiasco, American Airlines grounded a flight attendant after a video showed a confrontation between him and a passenger, allegedly after removing a womans baby stroller from the plane. Also in late April, a Delta Air Lines passenger said he was kicked off a plane for using the restroom; a few days later, a video emerged showing a Delta pilot hitting a passenger on the Jetway in Atlanta. The airline said the pilot was trying to break up a fight.

Earlier this month, a Southern California father posted video showing him and his family being booted from a Delta flight after refusing to give up a seat for their toddler. They had bought the seat for their teenage son and were attempting to use it for his 2-year-old sibling, The Post reported.

The airline eventually apologized and offered a refund and additional compensation.

Deep into this season of viral air-travel incidents, several airline executives came to Washington, where they got a brutal lashing on Capitol Hill last week.

As The Post wrote, congressional panelists grilled United CEO Oscar Munoz and other airline executives about unpopular policies that have infuriated customers and spawned viral videos, such as overbooked flights, hidden charges and absurdly confusing contracts.

The result, according to Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., is lowered expectations that lead many to believe that flying is a horrible experience.

Were all sick of it, Capuano added.

By the end of the four-hour hearing  which also included statements from executives at American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines  Capuanos surprisingly candid language was among the tamest blows that airline executives absorbed. The lawmakers collective message: Fix your airlines, or expect to hear back from us.

Said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.: How much do you hate the American people?
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A family care doctor was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a patient, officials said Tuesday.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar Singla, of Milpitas, a 36-year-old member of the John Muir Health Physician Network, was arrested Monday on multiple sexual-assault charges, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office.

A female patient reported Singlas alleged misconduct to police last week, and, after an investigation, he was arrested without incident at his office on Treat Boulevard in Walnut Creek, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Singla graduated from medical school in India in 2004 and has been a licensed doctor in California since 2014, according to records with the state Department of Consumer Affairs.

He is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, according to his profile on the John Muir Health website.

Singla was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of two counts of sexual battery, two counts of indecent exposure, and one count of attempted oral copulation.

He was released on $130,000 bail early Tuesday morning, according to the Sheriffs Office.

Detectives suspect there may be additional victims, and ask anyone with information to call them at (925) 313-2621, or leave an anonymous voice message at (866) 846-3592. Information on the case can also be emailed to tips@so.cccounty.us.

Filipa Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
Police are investigating a hate crime after a suspect dressed in a security uniform allegedly attacked a man at a BART station in San Francisco on Monday night and called him anti-gay slurs, officials said.

The incident occurred about 11:25 p.m. at the Powell Street BART station, police said.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Albany

Though Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last month that "everything big" he wanted to get done this year was passed in April's state budget, his two chief negotiating partners from the Legislature on Tuesday laid out some other goals, from infrastructure spending to immigration.

In the inaugural event at the Times Union's new Hearst Media Center, featuring Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie of the Bronx and Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan of Long Island, the leaders discussed a wide range of topics surrounding the final six weeks of this year's legislative session.

Flanagan also put some distance between himself and President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, over Trump's tax proposal to eliminate the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which is the most popular federal deduction of New Yorkers.

That would reportedly reduce by $68 billion annually the amount New York residents would be allowed to deduct from their federal tax returns, or $4,500 per taxpayer filing itemized returns.

Asked about the Trump policy by the Times Union's Casey Seiler, who moderated the event, Flanagan said that for him such a policy would have a personal financial impact.

"I know what that would do to me," Flanagan said.

At the same time, Flanagan called on New York's leaders in Washington, including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, to take a diplomatic tone toward Trump, a native of Queens.

"If everyone in a top-level position is just saying horrible things, I think the president will say, 'Why am I trying to help (New York)," he said.

Heastie said Trump's tax deduction plan would be "personally devastating" to him, and said the states hit hardest would be those such as New York and California that didn't vote for the president.

For the rest of the legislative session, Flanagan said his focus would be on "core quality-of-life issues" such as providing clean water and improving infrastructure. He noted ongoing flooding along the shores of Lake Ontario was a deep concern to one of his members, Republican state Sen. Patty Ritchie.

Heastie said that the Assembly Democrats would continue to pursue a "family-first agenda" on issues such as immigration and child care.

While those items may not be as high-profile as a bill passed in the budget to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18, Heastie said they were "as big a deal to our members."

In the wake of the ongoing federal corruption case against former top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco and eight others, both Heastie and Flanagan said measures strengthening procurement oversight deserve support.

"I truly believe the comptroller plays an absolutely critical role in public policy in New York," Flanagan said, referencing Democrat Tom DiNapoli.

"You don't always have to wait for something bad to happen to restore confidence to the public," Heastie added.

Voters will have the chance to vote to hold a constitutional convention at the polls in November. Heastie signaled skepticism about such a conclave, however, maintaining special interests outside New York could spend millions to sway the votes of delegates if a convention was held.

"We should be very careful exposing the constitution to the whims of someone outside the state," Heastie said.

Flanagan said he definitely opposed holding a convention.

The two leaders also discussed their relationship. Flanagan called Heastie a "good guy and a gentleman" despite their policy agreements.

Heastie said that when he first arrived in the Assembly from the Bronx, he considered Republicans "one-eyed monsters" but came to realize they were human beings concerned with their constituents and "you end up developing relationships with them."

Despite all the talk of the state's "three men in a room" budgeting system, Flanagan said the public would be surprised how much bills are debated internally by his conference, noting that the contentious "Raise the Age" legislation that ultimately passed received 30 hours of internal debate.

"We actually go through this stuff in painstaking detail," said Flanagan. "That's something that I wish translated to the public."

cbragg@timesunion.com  518-454-5303  @chrisbragg1
Albany

Western New York political consultant Steve Pigeon is facing a federal charge related to a $25,000 campaign contribution to Gov. Andrew Cuomo that came from a Canadian national, an alleged violation of U.S. Election Law.

According to the federal complaint, an online gambling company based in Montreal that was owned by an unnamed Canadian citizen was a Pigeon client from 2010 to 2015. During that time, the company paid Pigeon about $388,000 for lobbying to legalize online gambling in New York and other matters.

According to the complaint, in early 2014 Pigeon and the Canadian businessman tried to orchestrate a $25,000 gift from the Canadian to Cuomo's re-election campaign  a sum that would have granted access to a Cuomo fundraiser. The gift was rejected by Cuomo's team because it was from a corporation, which can only give $5,000.

The Canadian then attempted to again personally wire money to the Cuomo campaign, but it was rejected a second time by the campaign because he was not an American citizen, according to the complaint.

The Canadian and Pigeon then allegedly worked with an employee of the Canadian's company who was a permanent legal U.S. resident  identified in the complaint as "Person B"  to wire $25,000 to Cuomo's campaign, and the person allegedly did so. "Person B" then requested reimbursement from the Canadian citizen's company for the $25,000, according to emails copied in the complaint.

The complaint says that three days later, on Feb. 28, 2014, "Person B" requested that he not receive the reimbursement after consulting with a lawyer, having based the decision on his "uneasiness with the transaction," according to an April 2017 interview conducted as part of the person's cooperation agreement.

Pigeon appeared in a Buffalo court late Monday morning to answer to the charge, to which he pleaded not guilty.

A longtime ally of Cuomo in western New York, the Buffalo Democratic politico already faces three felony state Election Law violations and a felony false filing charge in an unrelated matter. And he was indicted in 2016 for charges related to a bribery scheme, which also is unrelated to the federal charge.

Pigeon helped foment the 2009 state Senate "coup" that threw the chamber into chaos.
BETHEL  The State Elections Enforcement Commission has ruled that several town officials violated the law when they used public money last September to send a letter encouraging residents to approve funding for water system upgrades.

The commission did not fine the officials involved, but concluded that they violated a state statute saying that municipal funds cannot be used to send printed communications advocating a position on a pending referendum.

Residents Cynthia McCorkindale and Billy Michael filed the complaint last fall against First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker, selectmen Richard Straiton and Paul Szatkowski, Public Utilities Commissioner Deno Guatierei and Public Utilities Commissioner Peter Valenti.

Knickerbocker said the officials disagree with the ruling, but will not spend taxpayers money to fight the issue further. He said the letter was not sent using municipal funds, as the law states, but with money from the Public Utilities Commission, which is supported by water system customers.

Comparing the commission to a nonprofit owned by residents, Knickerbocker said it should be able to disseminate information about issues affecting water quality, just as a private company can.

They can use funds from their business...but we cant, and that is frankly absurd, he said.

But the elections panel concluded that municipal funds were involved because the majority of commissioners are selectmen and the town manages the funds.

Knickerbocker called the ruling a gag order that would prevent the town from communicating with residents. In this case, he said, the town needed the referendum to pass to bring water quality up to state standards.

These upgrades were very desperately needed, Knickerbocker said. The Public Utilities Commission has an obligation to provide those resources, to send a letter to the voters...We really have to do that. We have to communicate with people to tell them whats at stake.

Knickerbocker has had several similar complaints filed against him in the past few years. A few weeks before the water letter was mailed, the commission fined him $1,000 for using town money to send two letters in October 2015 that mentioned his accomplishments within 90 days of the election.

McCorkindale said she specifically requested in her complaint that the commission not fine the officials. She said she was more concerned with protecting taxpayers and ensuring that officials follow the law than punishing their wallets.

McCorkindale said she included several officials besides Knickerbocker in the complaint to show that her filing was not a personal or political attack against him.

That was to demonstrate to him that we are committed to the process, McCorkindale said. Its just that he keeps violating the process. That's why it looks like were targeting him.

She said she does not think Knickerbocker will learn from the ruling, based on the number of past complaints. But McCorkindale said she hopes other officials will better understand the law.

Other people are aware of it now, she said. It might cross their minds to say, Uh, I don't think we should do this. Because its not like everyone is reading the Connecticut general statutes every night like I am.

Knickerbocker said he was aware of the law when the commission sent the letter, which is why he ensured that only Public Utilities money and personnel were involved in its publication.

We took great pains to not cross [the statute], he said.
Cane Island

The Katy master-planned community of Cane Island has named Maddy Burt as its new on-site lifestyle director where she will plan family move nights, wine dinners and tastings, culinary classes, signature and holiday festivals, arts workshops and photography classes, resident social clubs and other events for residents and prospective homebuyers.

"For as long as I can remember, I've had a passion for event planning," says Burt. "Our Amenity Village, with its central lawn, conservatory, fire pit and multi-purpose event space, is ideal for year-round activities."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Pasadena Councilman Jeff Wagner led a crowded field of candidates in the Pasadena mayoral race and is headed to a runoff with John Moon Jr., according to unofficial voting results.

Wagner, 53, won 38.85 percent of the vote, while John Moon Jr., a banker and former trustee for San Jacinto College, was running second with 18.29 percent. The race drew seven candidates.

Wagner, who served 32 years as a Houston police officer, including several terms as a board member for the Houston Police Department union, watched returns along with more than 300 supporters at the Hampton Inn and Suites on East Sam Houston.

Wagner said he appreciated the support he had received from the community.

"The citizens of Pasadena have spoken and they want me to be their mayor," Wagner said.

Although described by some as an ally of term-limited Mayor Johnny Isbell, Wagner said his campaign received no support from Isbell and he had worked to establish his status as an independent candidate.

"My slogan is 'Leadership for All' and not just for a select few," he said. "I think the election results show my message is coming out. Voters weren't there to vote for Johnny Isbell. I received support from voters who responded to my message."

Wagner and his wife Ginny have two grown daughters: Jessica, who works in oil and gas, and Jillian, a schoolteacher, and two young grandchildren.

Moon said he is grateful for support from his family and volunteers and plans to continue working to connect with voters until the runoff.

"I feel very encouraged at the response that the city as given me, and I look forward to the runoff," Moon said. "My strategy for the runoff is to explain what my plans are for the city - to unify the citizens and make it better than where I found it. So far, voters have responded very positively to my message."

Moon contributed his success to hard work and "the fact that the citizens of Pasadena want a mayor that as qualifications and experience and a plan for where the city is going."

Other candidates in the race were David Flores, City Council member Pat Van Houte, Pasadena ISD Assistant Superintendent Gloria Gallegos and former state representatives Robert Talton and Gilbert Pena.

In other unoffical results from the city's election, the District A race was headed for a runoff with Daniel Vela with 37 percent of the vote, followed by Felipe Villarreal with 33 percent. The third candidate in the race, Keith Nielsen had 29 percent of the vote.

The current District A council member, Ornaldo Ybarra, is stepping down due to term limits.

In District B, incumbent Bruce Leamon defeated Steve Halvorson by nine votes to retain his seat. Leamon garnered 407 votes (50.56 percent) over Halvorson with 398 (49.44 percent), according to unofficial results.

Phil Cayton defeated challenger Larry W. Peacock with 62.48 percent for District F. Cary Bass won the District G seat over Allen Munz and Oscar Del Toro with 55.19 percent of the vote.

In a four-way contest for District H, Thomas Schoenbein beat Keith Sargent, April Lance and Brad Hance with 50.92 percent of the vote.

Don Harrison (District C), Sammy Casados (District D), Cody Ray Wheeler (District F) were unopposed.
A new white Honda Civic was gifted to a Wunsche High School senior on Sunday during Spring ISD's first Smart Kid Cool Car giveaway.

Angela Ace Fontelera Alex was the grand prize winner of the car which was donated by Honda of Spring.

"I'm just really, really thankful and blessed, because there are some nice people here who are willing to help out a senior," Alex said. "I hope that their futures will also be blessed, because I know that they have been doing so many good things and serving others through their company."

Alex intends to pursue an associate degree in nursing at Lone Star College with plans to attend the University of Texas Health to complete her bachelor's degree. She's a member of the nursing program and Key Club at Wunsche.

She'll graduate on June 3 in the top five percent of her class.

"I think it's a true testament for what we know about our students here in Spring," district superintendent Rodney Watson said. "We have great students. Once again, we are only as strong as our community, and our community is only as strong as our school."

The district collaborated with Honda of Spring to create the Smart Kid Cool Car program as a way to recognize Spring ISD students "who are motivated academically and also active in service to the community."

To qualify, students must have maintained a cumulative 2.5 GPA, passed all state-required end-of-course exams, maintained a 95 percent attendance rate during the year, completed 25 hours of volunteer service in the Spring community, maintained no out-of-school discipline infractions, and completed the required post-secondary planning assignments.

Seniors from five district high schools - Carl Wunsche Sr. High School, Dekaney High School, Spring Early College Academy, Spring High School and Westfield High School - participated and were eligible for the program with 144 students qualifying to participate in the drawing.

"We believe in Spring ISD," Honda of Spring General Manager Chuck Jett said.

"They do a lot for our community, and we like to be a part of that, and with this program. It's been a very good partnership, and we hope to do it for many years," Jett said.

Alex rounded out her comments expressing appreciation for Jett and Honda's generosity as students, parents, and administrators enjoyed the event.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Three incumbent trustees in the Fort Bend Independent School District won re-election to second three-year terms based on unofficial returns.

Serving another term on the seven-person board will be Jason Burdine in Position 1, Kristin Tassin in Position 4 and KP George in Position 5.

Burdine was opposed in the May 6 election by Lorenzo Angelo DeCamps. Burdine received 61.90 percent of the vote or 3,207 compared to 1,974 for DeCamps.

Tassin defeated two challengers receiving 2,654 votes or 49.35 percent of the total. Shirley Rose-Gillam received 2,227 votes and Rodrigo Carreon received 497 votes.

Tassin, an attorney, also is president of the school board.

Like Burdine, George received more than 60 percent of the vote to win re-election. He received 3,341 votes or 63.72 percent of the vote compared with 1,902 votes or 36.28 percent for Lorena Duenas.

Two newcomers will join the school board in Lamar Consolidated Independent School District as one incumbent lost her re-election bid and voters filled an open position. Two incumbents were re-elected. Terms are for four years. Returns are unofficial until they are canvassed.

District 6 trustee Anna M. Gonzales lost in her re-election bid. She received 268 votes or 25.43 percent compared with 786 votes or 74.57 percent for Joe Hubenak.

Elected to the open seat in District 3 was Mandi Bronsell. She received 270 votes representing 51.14 percent of the vote, while James Beebe received 258 votes for 48.86 percent of the vote.

Re-elected to another term was single-member District 1 trustee Kathryn "Mrs. K" Kaminski. She received 568 votes or 58.74 percent compared with Karen Mendoza's 399 votes, representing 41.26 percent of the vote.

Kaminski currently is the school board vice president.

Kay Danziger ran unopposed for single-member District 2. She received 176 votes.

Both districts face growth-related challenges

Lamar Consolidated is considering a bond election this fall.

In Fort Bend ISD, trustees have talked of a possible tax ratification election this year.

A summary of the March 27 FBISD school board meeting said "A tax ratification election and specifically a tax rate drop and swap, would 'drop' four pennies from the current Debt Service tax rate of $0.30 and "swap" two of those pennies to the current Maintenance and Operations Rate of $1.04. The district's existing tax rate of $1.34 will be reduced by two cents to $1.32, with a debt service tax rate of $0.26 and a M/O tax rate of $1.06."
On April 28, school district Superintendents of Fort Bend County gave a State of the School Address to the Fort Bend community, hosted by Central Fort Bend Chamber at Safari Texas Ranch.

Curtis Rhodes, Needville ISD Superintendent; Thomas Randle, Lamar CISD Superintendent; and Charles E. Dupre, Fort Bend ISD Superintendent shared their enthusiasm for growth, academic achievements, innovative certification programs, and more.

Rhodes shared a video saying, "The video was created by the videography class at Needville High School and is a great summary of our district from the eyes of the students."

Rhodes, who has been the superintendent of Needville ISD since 2006 added, "Many of our [High School] students receive college credits or industry-level certifications by the time they graduate preparing them for the real world".

Since 2001, when Randle became Superintendent of Lamar CISD, the district has doubled in population.

He spoke about the expansion of community developments in the district and a bond planning program upcoming in November 2017.

"With the growth of student enrollment, we will need 12 new elementary schools in the next decade," he says.

Celebrating his four years as superintendent on the day of the luncheon, Dupre opened his presentation saying, "Fort Bend County school districts have a strong alliance.

"Our academic success impacts the economic success and the quality of life in the community."

Dupre invited students Andy Wei, a senior at Clements High School, and Taliyah Butler, a fourth-grade student at Briargate Elementary School, to the luncheon to share their stories about how they are "inspired and equipped to pursue a future beyond what they can imagine".

Wei is an award-winning artist at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and is in the process of deciding on a college to attend following high school graduation.

Butler dreams of being a scientist when she grows up and sees a trip to Jupiter in her future.
Needville ISD has joined forces with nearly 30 other school districts in Region IV to tout the benefits of public education.

As a retired educator and Needville School Board member, Chris Janicek is very involved in Go Public Gulf Coast, the organization that is instigating a grassroots effort to promote public education in Texas.

The group is working to ensure public schools don't lose funding if vouchers, education savings grants, public taxes allowed for private school tuition, and additional charter schools are approved by the Senate.

Janicek, who has been a part of GPGC since its inception about 18 months ago, attended the organization's most recent meeting last month at Alief Independent School District and said, "The main objective is to get the word out and let the general public know how much public education is doing to educate all students, and let everyone know what-all goes into public schools these days. I don't think most folks understand all that public education is doing for our kids. They're getting an excellent education and it's free."

In March, Needville High School hosted a GPGC meeting which attended by about 20 representatives from school districts as well as U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham.

Janicek said if funds requested by charter and private schools are approved by the Senate, public education funding would be cut. In addition, experts are predicting the possibility of a funding shortage due to the state's huge drop in oil and gas industry taxes.

"Public education is free, quality education that allows our children to have productive lives life not only for themselves, but for their families and society in general," Janicek said. "These days, our students are offered such a great variety of options for their education, and dual course credits allow them to leave high school with some qualified as almost sophomores in college.

"We offer them the opportunity to pursue their careers, earn a living, survive financially, accomplish their goals and dreams. There are so many opportunities for students these days, to prepare them for successful futures. To help it stay that way, if people would call their state representatives to voice support for public education, it would really help."

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Trustee Bob Covey founded GPGC and is in the process of attaining 501c3 non-profit status for the organization.

He said plans are in the works to promote public education through everything from movie theater, TV and radio ads to billboards and print and social media.

Janicek said GPGC will begin by educating members of their own communities about the possible plight of public education funding in Texas.

He urges all Gulf Coast area residents to call their legislators and voice their opposition to vouchers and their support for public education and its Teacher Retirement System before it's too late:

Visit www.gopublicgulfcoast.com for more information.
H-E-B recognizes Terry Teacher

Terry High School English teacher Mary Catherine Watson is one of only 150 teachers across Texas chosen a semifinalist during the preliminary judging of the 2017 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards.

Out of 1,300 applications from educators all over Texas, 150 teachers, 40 principals, 25 districts, 15 early childhood providers and 12 school boards were selected as semifinalists and went on to compete in the regional judging process.

The 40 teacher and principal finalists were announced through surprise school visits the months of February and March.

Watson received a certificate signed by H-E-B Chairman Charles Butt, $250 in H-E-B Gift Cards.

"This is a small token of our gratitude for all that you do each and every day to inspire and enlighten young minds," wrote Jill Reynolds, H-E-B's director of public affairs. "You are helping to share the future of Texas and we thank you for your passion and your dedication. You are all an inspiration to us all."

Anti-Defamation League honors Terry teacher

Terry High School English teacher Mary Catherine Watson co-sponsor of the Terry High School's No Place for Hate Club, was honored May 3 at the group's annual Kase Award Luncheon. In addition to a commemorative plaque, Watson receives a $500 stipend and ADL will provide a World of Difference Institute Workshop at Terry High School.

The Club's 2016-2017 campaign was based on the school's motto: All in!

"All In" may be a short message, but it has a tall definition," Watson said at the luncheon. "In fact, our school has become passionate in its approach to spreading love, rather than hate; celebrating diversity, rather than separateness; and, generating the mindset of acceptance, rather than intolerance. The heartbeat of B. F. Terry High School is 'acceptance.' We lift our hands to help another, inspire others, speak kindly, and celebrate friendships; because at B. F. Terry High School, there is 'no place for hate'-only love."

Destiny Dawson, president of Terry's No Place for Hate Club, credited Watson for helping her see that you can always find support in troubled times.

"I look at Mrs. Watson as a mom," Dawson said at the luncheon. "Her caring spirit has brought me and her a very, very long way. I learned from experience that everyone has a support system, whether they know it or not. No matter what people tell you, remember that you are loved and there are people out there to help you with whatever you're going through."

"Before joining the club, I didn't really have a positive outlook on things" said club vice president Trenece Williams. "Now, after being in the club, I have a better outlook on life and I understand other people's lives a lot better, too. I feel that all of this is possible because of Mrs. Watson and everyone else supporting our club. Mrs. Watson is more than my English Teacher: she is a kind and loving person."

The Award is named after Holocaust survivor Walter Kase, who has dedicated much of his life to speaking to youth, educators, and community leaders about the dangers of hate and the importance of love, respect and understanding.
MOSCOW - As my colleague David Filipov wrote on Tuesday, Moscow is back in orange and black, the informal symbol of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. It was loosely adopted from a ribbon tied to the Order of Saint George, the highest battlefield award in Imperial Russia, established under Catherine the Great in 1769. The colors, one legend goes, represented gunpowder and fire.

The St. George ribbons are ubiquitous in Russia, particularly in the weeks before the Victory Day celebration on May 9, where they symbolize patriotism and the memory of the war. The ribbon is one of the most successful stories in Russia's search for unifying symbols under President Vladimir Putin, tying modern support for the state to the country's Soviet-era contribution to the defeat of fascism.

But until 2005, the St. George ribbon was rarely used as a symbol tied to the war at all. Indeed, the Order of St. George wasn't awarded during what Russians call the Great Patriotic War, or World War II, because it was abolished after the Communist revolution and only revived in 2000 (other awards, like the Order of Glory were minted during the war and did carry an orange-and-black ribbon, as did elite "guards" units beginning in 1942).

But what brought back the orange-and-black ribbon was a 2005 PR campaign at Russia's RIA Novosti state-run news agency, where the head of Internet projects, Natalya Loseva, was tasked with coming up with a souvenir to accompany the site's online project collecting family memories about the war. The ribbons were "not made up from nothing," she said in a 2014 interview. "We took a familiar combination of colors, a familiar context... these factors came together and it evoked quite a natural reaction in society." The ribbons were first handed out by student volunteers in 2005, but quickly found support from the city and federal government, which distributed the ribbons widely both in Russia and abroad.

By 2014, more than 100 million ribbons had been distributed. Columnists at RIA Novosti claimed that its "grassroots" campaign had succeeded where top-down efforts to create unifying symbols of Russian identity had failed.

"The ribbons that symbolized martial glory and remembrance succeeded where Independence Day and many other symbols failed - they united the Russian people," RIA Novosti wrote in an op-ed in 2007, when 10 million ribbons had been distributed abroad.

The ribbons quickly adopted a political meaning, too.

Oleg Kashin, a liberal journalist, wrote that Russian nationalists were already wearing the ribbon during protests in Estonia in 2007, when the NATO-aligned government of the former Soviet republic announced it wanted to remove a Soviet war memorial from a central square.

"The participants of that spring also wore the ribbon and it was an important episode in the transformation of the ribbon into a symbol of a concrete political partiality and views, and not just memory," Kashin wrote in 2014 after the ribbon became controversial because of its use in east Ukraine. "The ribbon was a symbol of memory, then almost immediately became a symbol of the state, and then a symbol of loyalty to the authorities."

There were rumors that the ribbons were invented as a counterrevolutionary symbol to Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, although those seem untrue. Later, however, when a mix of Russian liberals, nationalists, and other activists coalesced in a 100,000 person strong rallies under the symbol of a white ribbon, some presented the St. George ribbon as one of opposition. "St. George's Ribbon stands against the White Ribbon," Dmitry Rogozin, a hawkish deputy prime minister, tweeted then.

Loseva, the inventor of the ribbon, said she was never comfortable with the ribbon's use as a political symbol, particularly when separatists in Ukraine rallied around the colors orange and black as a symbol of their support for Moscow (and Moscow's support for them).

"Now it's suddenly and spontaneously being used against part of the Ukrainian people and the authorities of the Maidan," the main square in Kiev where large protests are held, Loseva said in her 2014 interview. "I am not sure, that this kind of politicization of symbols and signs is good."

This year the biggest issue is slightly more practical: how to properly wear the St. George ribbon. One group, "Volunteers of the Victory," has declared that tying the ribbons to bags or car antennae (where they quickly become ragged) is no longer allowed. The ribbons can be tied in a bow, a square, or a loop, and tied to a jacket lapel or affixed elsewhere on one's clothing, preferably "closer to the heart." Putin's press secretary, however, Dmitri Peskov, balked at these new rules: "I have been wearing the St. George ribbon for eight years on my bag," he said. "And I don't want someone to punish me for how I wear the St. George ribbon."
FBI Director James Comey said at a hearing last week that it made him "mildly nauseous" to think that he may have influenced the outcome of the 2016 campaign.

New revelations about his apparently botched testimony are liable to make Democrats - and Comey - a little more than mildly nauseous. And they are going to damage Comey's best defense of his actions.

The Post has confirmed ProPublica's reporting that Comey misstated key details of an investigation into Hillary Clinton at a hearing last week.

Specifically at issue are Comey's statements that:

Top Clinton aide Huma Abedin "forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails" from Clinton's private email server to her husband, disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, as part of a "regular practice" of forwarding emails for Weiner to print out for Clinton, and . . .

These emails contained classified information.

The Post reported that this first claim is just not true and the second one obscures the fact that the few classified emails weren't marked classified at the time:

Neither of those statements are accurate, according to people close to the investigation. The investigation found that Abedin did occasionally forward emails to her husband for printing, but it was a far smaller number than described by Comey, and it wasn't a "regular practice,'' these people said. None of the forwarded emails were marked classified but a small number - a handful, according one person said - contained information that was later judged to contain classified information, these people said.

To be clear, these weren't just small details that emerged from Comey's testimony on Wednesday; they were theheadline for many new outlets that covered Comey's visit to the Senate Judiciary Committee, including The Post.

They were also key to Comey's testimony, in that he used them to defend his decision to disclose the new Clinton emails just 11 days before Election Day. Facing questions from Democrats about why he did what he did, Comey cited these facts as proof of the seriousness of the email discovery and the need to say something.

Democrats, including Clinton, have decried Comey's decision to offer details of an incomplete investigation so late in the election as pointless, extraordinary and even the difference between Clinton and Donald Trump winning the election. In candid remarks last week, Clinton posited that she would have been elected president if the election had been held Oct. 27 - the day before Comey's announcement.

The reason this is so troubling for Comey is because it calls into question his saving grace in this entire situation: His reputation as a nonpartisan, highly competent top law enforcement official.

Comey's first turn in the national spotlight came in 2007, when he delivered gripping testimony about a scene straight out of a movie. With then-Attorney General John Ashcroft confined to a bed in the intensive-care unit in 2004, his then-deputy Comey received a call that White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and chief of staff Andy Card were on the way to the hospital to persuade the ill Ashcroft to reauthorize President George W. Bush's domestic surveillance program. Comey beat them there, and Ashcroft didn't sign the document.

"I was angry," Comey testified. "I thought I just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man, who did not have the powers of the attorney general because they had been transferred to me."

It was a moment of principle over politics, it seemed, and it has been cited as a key part of Comey's bio ever since.

Comey would go on to be a bipartisan top political appointee when President Barack Obama picked him as FBI director in 2013. Over the course of the 2016 election, Comey found himself drawing huge amounts of criticism from both Republicans (for not recommending charges against Clinton in summer 2016) and then Democrats (for his late disclosure about the Abedin-Weiner emails). More recently, President Donald Trump seems to have oscillated on how he feels about Comey, with Comey announcing that the FBI is investigating alleged contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Through it all, there has always been an underlying belief among those who pay close attention to these things that Comey is a serious, apolitical public servant who may have made questionable decisions but whose heart was in the right place.

Getting details of such import wrong in his much-watched testimony to Congress certainly doesn't help him on the competence front; indeed, it's difficult to see how he could get them so wrong.

And for Democrats looking for reasons to believe that Comey was out to get them late in 2016, this will only feed the beast - fairly or unfairly.
With the passage of Proposition E, the Edwardsville District 7 Board of Education and administration have developed financial goals and laid out a plan to move the district forward.

Edwardsville District 7 Superintendent Lynda Andre presented these goals and the plan entitled, Blueprint for Excellence Addressing Academic, Technology and School Security Needs, during the general Board of Education meeting Monday night.

Tonight is a really a night of celebration because we are going to talk about education, curriculum, and updates, and it's been a long time coming, Andre said. I want to again thank the public on the passage of proposition E. This ensures that students are going to have those opportunities in academics and extracurricular areas that we as a group of collective citizens want them to have. That vote made possible the kinds of things I'm going to share with your tonight.... it's a very exciting time in District 7 history.

Andre began by clarifying any misconceptions that the district's financial problems have all been solved by the passage of Prop E, and she emphasized the fact that District 7 remains on the Illinois State Watch List.

She explained that Phase One of the financial goals for 2017-18 includes reducing the education fund debt immediately, balancing the education fund, continuing to monitor and reduce expenditures as opportunities arise over the next two to three years and beginning implementation of the academics and school security plans.

Andre also stressed that reducing the ed fund debt as quickly as possible was key so that the district could begin establishing cash reserves. These things must happen in order to meet the state requirement to avoid possible state oversight. We have some steep challenges ahead of us, Andre stressed. and we want to ensure the public that we see that challenge, we understand it. That's our number one priority and will continue to be.

While the board and administration work on the financial challenges, it also is working to move the district forward with academic, technology and security updates. Phase one of the plan in the area of academics includes the two new EHS courses announced during the last school board meeting.

Also part of Phase One is the implementation of a Learning Management System (LMS), a resource that assists with the organization of course information and resources such as presentations, videos, digital resources and study guides. The technology and curriculum departments are currently in the final stages of evaluating learning management systems, Andre said. A decision is expected to be made in early June.

EHS teachers will participate in professional development on the LMS and begin transferring teaching materials into the system during the summer and first semester of the 2017-18 school year. The implementation date for student access to the LMS at school and home is January 2018. The transition to full use of an LMS is a process that will span one to two years as students and teachers alike learn to navigate the course template and begin to use more of the features offered by this system, Andre noted.

The district will employ a Bring Your Own Device platform and this LMS system will be designed to work with a student's choice of device including smart phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. But Andre pointed out that students will not be required to have a portable device at school. Informational sessions on the use of the LMS will be offered to parents and students during the 2017-18 school year and will be part of all high school orientation programs in future years,she said.

Also a part of Phase One will be new instructional materials for the K-12 standards-aligned math curriculum that was implemented in 2014. District 7 students will begin using new and updated math materials during the first quarter of the 2017-18 school year.

In the area of technology updates that will occur in Phase One, the district's technology staff will complete installation of WiFi, implement wireless device security at EHS, increase bandwidth to serve 2,800 users and install the LMS during the summer.

Also during the 2017-18 school year, the technology staff will begin replacing outdated student computers at all 10 elementary schools as well as the two middle schools. This process will take several years to complete and is a part of the District 7 Technology Replacement Cycle, Andre said.

The district's technology staff will also install 24 cameras at EHS and EHS South to complete security updates at the high school.

In an effort to communicate the district's progress toward achieving financial stability and increasing academic opportunities for its students, Andre announced that Focus on Finance video presentations will continue to be updated and posted on the district's website as well as the individual schools' Facebook pages. In addition, a new video series called Blueprint for Excellence will be posted regularly to provide academic improvements, technology and security updates. Citizens may request that the video updates be emailed directly to them by contacting Hadley House and submitting an email address, Andre stressed.

During board action, the board granted permission to display the proposed amended 2016-17 budget, and two public hearings on the amended budget have been scheduled for 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on June 19 in the Hadley House Board Room.

Board President Monica Laurent also announced that Lelan Olsen had been named Vice President of the board while Terry Dalla Riva was appointed secretary. She also stated applications have been accepted to fill Jeff Miller's seat and that a new board member would be appointed soon. Miller announced during the last board meeting that he was resigning from the board due to a job transfer.
The man who died in what officials called a tragic accident has been identified as longtime Conroe businessman Gary Calfee.

The 70-year-old Calfee was riding shotgun on an all-terrain vehicle on some property in the 24000 block of Texas 105 Sunday. As the driver of the ATV was going down a slight grade, the vehicle flipped over, pinning Calfee, according to Montgomery County Sheriff's Capt. Bryan Carlisle.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, at the recommendation of senior Justice Department officials who said he had treated Hillary Clinton unfairly and in doing so damaged the credibility of the FBI and the Justice Department.

The startling development comes as Comey was leading a counterintelligence investigation to determine whether associates of Trump may have coordinated with Russia to interfere with the U.S. presidential election last year. It wasn't immediately clear how Comey's ouster will affect the Russia probe, but Democrats said they were concerned that his ouster could derail the investigation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Comey's deputy, Andrew McCabe, would be the acting director of the FBI. As a presidential candidate, Trump explicitly criticized Comey and McCabe for their roles in the Clinton probe while at other points praising Comey for his "guts."

"The president has accepted the recommendation of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general regarding the dismissal of the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in the White House briefing room. The firing is effective "immediately," he said.

Matt McClain/The Washington Post

Comey was in Los Angeles on Tuesday on a recruiting trip.

Officials said Comey was fired because senior Justice Department officials concluded that he had violated Justice Department principles and procedures last year by publicly discussing the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. Democrats have long argued that Comey's decisions in the months and days before the election hurt Clinton's standing with voters and affected the outcome, but the president and his closest advisers had argued that Comey went too easy on Clinton and her aides.

Just last week, Trump publicly accused Comey of giving Clinton "a free pass for many bad deeds'' when he decided not to recommend criminal charges in the case.

Officials released a Tuesday memo from the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, laying out the rationale behind Comey's dismissal and attributing it all to his handling of the Clinton case. Officials said Rosenstein began examining Comey's conduct shortly after being sworn into office two weeks ago.

"The FBI's reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage, and it has affected the entire Department of Justice," Rosenstein wrote. "I cannot defend the director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken. Almost everyone agrees that the director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives."

- - -

But Democrats immediately linked the dismissal to the Russia probe.

"The decision by a President whose campaign associates are under investigation by the FBI for collusion with Russia to fire the man overseeing that investigation, upon the recommendation of an Attorney General who has recused himself from that investigation, raises profound questions about whether the White House is brazenly interfering in a criminal matter," Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. The House committee is looking into Russian interference in the election.

Some Republicans were also concerned. "I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination," said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also examining Russian meddling. "I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the Committee."

There were multiple calls by Democrats on Tuesday night for the appointment of a special prosecutor to lead the Russia investigation and take the matter out of the hands of Justice Department leadership.

In an attempt to pressure Republicans to join calls for an independent prosecutor, Senate Democrats have been asked by Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to be in the Senate chamber at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday when the legislative day begins.

In a late-night tweet Tuesday, Trump targeted Schumer. "Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, "I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer." Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp," the president wrote.

Trump plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday. It will be the first face-to-face contact between the president and a senior official of the Russian government.

Rosenstein wrote in the memo that when Comey announced on July 5 that he had decided not to recommend charges in the Clinton case, he did so "without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders. Compounding the error, the director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation . . . we never release it gratuitously . . . It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do."

Rosenstein was also critical of Comey's decision to reveal in late October that the Clinton email probe had resumed, and he dismissed the FBI director's recent defense to Congress that not doing so would have effectively been to "conceal" important information.

" 'Conceal' is a loaded term that misstates the issue," Rosenstein wrote. "When federal agents and prosecutors quietly open a criminal investigation, we are not concealing anything; we are simply following the longstanding policy that we refrain from publicizing non-public information. In that context, silence is not concealment."

In a letter to Trump, Sessions said that he agreed Comey had to go.

"I have concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI,'' Sessions wrote. "I must recommend that you remove Director James B. Comey, Jr. and identify an experienced and qualified individual to lead the great men and women of the FBI.''

But in October - when Sessions was a senator supporting Trump, and Comey revealed less than two weeks before the election that he had reopened the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server - Sessions applauded the decision in an appearance on Fox Business Network.

"He had an absolute duty, in my opinion, 11 days or not, to come forward with the new information that he has and let the American people know that, too," Sessions said at the time.

Nothing in the Rosenstein memo suggests that the Clinton investigation will be reopened.

Tuesday afternoon, White House aide Keith Schiller, who has long served Trump as a bodyguard, visited FBI headquarters to hand-deliver Trump's dismissal letter to Comey's office, although the director wasn't there to receive it, officials said.

Trump wrote to Comey: "You are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.''

The president added: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.''

The news stunned Washington.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Comey's decisions "have called into question the trust and political independence of the FBI.''

The senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), however, compared Tuesday's developments to the Watergate scandal and said the actions "reek of a coverup and appear to be part of an ongoing effort by the Trump White House to impede the investigation into Russian ties and interference in our elections.''

Over the past two years, Comey had assumed an extraordinary role in Washington - overseeing not one, but two investigations involving presidential candidates. In some ways, that made him more powerful than the Justice Department officials to whom he reported.

After Clinton lost to Trump, many Democrats blamed Comey for what they viewed as his unprecedented interference in the election process, but most later came to see him as an independent figure in the Trump administration who would be critical to a fair and thorough investigation of any possible ties between Russia and Trump associates.

- - -

Several current and former officials said the relationship between the White House and the FBI had been strained for months, in part because administration officials were pressuring Comey to more aggressively pursue leak investigations over disclosures that embarrassed the White House and raised questions about ties with Russia.

That pressure was described as conversational challenges to FBI leadership to pursue the source of leaks seen as damaging to the administration, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Although the FBI is investigating disclosures of classified information, the bureau has resisted calls to prioritize leak investigations over the Russia matter, or probe matters that did not involve leaks of classified or otherwise sensitive information, the officials said.

"The administration has been putting pressure on the FBI to focus more on the leaks and weren't satisfied with the results,'' said a former senior U.S. official familiar with the matter. A current official said administration figures have been "very aggressive'' in pressuring the FBI.

The Justice Department inspector general has been investigating how Comey and his top deputy handled the Clinton probe, though that investigation is expected to continue for months.

Shortly before the announcement, the FBI notified Congress by letter that Comey had misstated key findings involving the Clinton email investigation during testimony last week, but nothing about that issue suggested it might imperil Comey's job.

- - -

The Washington Post's David Weigel and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.

---

Video: Comey testifies on Clinton emails, Russia and WikiLeaks:

Short URL: http://wapo.st/2pZp2Vl

<iframe width="480" height="290" scrolling="no" src="//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/f1e62fae-303a-11e7-a335-fa0ae1940305" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

- - -

Video: Trump fires FBI Director Comey

President Trump informed FBI Director James Comey he had been dismissed on May 9, stemming from a conclusion by Justice Department officials that he had mishandled the probe of Hillary Clinton's emails. (Bastien Inzaurralde / The Washington Post)

Short URL: http://wapo.st/2q41v2U

Embed code: <iframe width="480" height="290" scrolling="no" src="//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/36b6bf80-3505-11e7-ab03-aa29f656f13e" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
WASHINGTON - A congressional committee Tuesday opened an investigation into the Drug Enforcement Administration's slowdown of enforcement efforts in the face of a national opioid epidemic and demanded to know why drug distributors had shipped hundreds of millions of painkillers to communities in West Virginia.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to the DEA and the nation's three largest drug distribution companies, giving them until June 8 to answer questions about their responsibilities to combat the rising epidemic, which has claimed nearly 180,000 lives during the past decade.

The letters follow reports in the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail, The Washington Post and other news outlets about the flood of painkillers sent to West Virginia and the DEA's role in holding drug distributors accountable.

"The opioid epidemic has devastated families across the entire country," committee chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said in a joint statement. "These reports shine a light on a problem that many people have wondered about privately and publicly - how are opioids flooding into some of our communities and pharmacies?"

Last month, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced that she was launching an investigation into companies that manufacture opioids. In addition, nine U.S. senators have written letters to the DEA, requesting information about reports that it slowed its enforcement efforts against the pharmaceutical industry.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee said it would examine the nation's three largest drug distributors, McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. Together, the companies distribute nearly 85 percent of the prescription drugs in the United States.

Late last year, the Gazette-Mail reported that drug distributors shipped nearly 780 million tablets of oxycodone and hydrocodone over six years to pharmacies and pain clinics in West Virginia. One pharmacy alone, in the town of Kermit, population 392, received nearly 9 million tablets of hydrocodone in two years.

West Virginia has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation. In 2012, the state attorney general sued the distributors, securing a $36 million settlement from Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen. More recently, seven counties in the state sued the distributors, alleging that the companies were negligent in shipping so many drugs.

Representatives of McKesson did not respond to requests for comment from The Post.

AmerisourceBergen said in a statement: "We understand the tragic magnitude of the opioid abuse problem in our country and we remain committed to working with stakeholders in health care and law enforcement to do what we can as a distributor to combat this problem."

In a statement, Cardinal Health said: "We look forward to working together with the committee and responding to their letter. The people of Cardinal Health care deeply about the devastation opioid abuse has caused American families and communities and are committed to helping solve this complex national public health crisis."

The committee also sent a letter to acting DEA administrator Chuck Rosenberg, asking him to respond to reports in The Washington Post that enforcement efforts against drug distributors slowed during a lobbying campaign by industry. The Post cited internal DEA documents showing that the number of enforcement actions plummeted beginning in 2013.

A spokesman for the DEA did not return requests for comment.
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Thousands of Indonesians gathered outside Cipinang prison in East Jakarta on Tuesday evening to express solidarity with a man who, just hours earlier, had been serving as their governor. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, widely known by the nickname Ahok, was earlier sentenced by a court and taken to the prison - but not for the common crime of corruption, which is rife in Indonesia. Instead, his crime was blasphemy.

Purnama, Jakarta's first Christian governor in decades, had suggested late last year that Jakarta's imams were misusing Koranic verses to discriminate against Christian candidates. The remarks created a furor in Muslim-majority Indonesia, prompting huge rallies by Islamists opposed to Purnama and leading, eventually, to his lopsided electoral defeat on April 19.

After Purnama's election loss, his supporters took to social media to push the idea that he should instead become the governor of Hindu-majority Bali. But that idea, never entirely serious, became fantasy this week after the court ruled against him. The five-judge panel sentenced Purnama, who is ethnic Chinese, to two years in prison.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world, has long been regarded as a political science success case - a democracy with an open political system that generally respects the rights of religious and ethnic minorities. The verdict against Purnama, however, is merely the latest demonstration of the growing influence of Islamists - on the streets and in the state bureaucracy - on Indonesia's politics.

"The rise of sectarianism and the growing power of Islamist hard-liners in Indonesia has led to a decline in freedom of expression and freedom of belief," said Usman Hamid, Amnesty International's Indonesia director. "Ahok is someone who is tough-talking, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be imprisoned. He's not a corrupt leader stealing the money of the state, like so many others do."

Amnesty International and other civil rights organizations have called on Indonesia to repeal its blasphemy law.

Many worry that the law and the growing religious intolerance in Indonesia will deter its ethnic and religious minorities from entering politics.

Sofyan Tan, an ethnic Chinese Christian member of parliament from Medan, in North Sumatra province, said Islamist fury against Purnama reminded him of the time he ran for mayor of Medan but lost after a hate-filled campaign spearheaded by Muslim religious leaders.

"There was nothing weird about this," he said of the Islamist campaign against Purnama. "Racist attitudes are still with us."

The court's decision disregarded the prosecutor's recommendations that Purnama be given a suspended sentence and avoid prison time, in part because of his service to Jakarta. The verdict's reasoning essentially dovetailed with that of the Islamist hard-liners who argued that Purnama's statements on the campaign trail were a direct attack on the Koran.

Among some observers, the ruling has raised doubts about the competence and objectivity of Indonesia's judiciary, which continues to be hobbled by high-level corruption scandals, including one that led to the arrest of a judge on the nation's highest court this year.

"This decision has got to raise questions about what millions spent on judicial reform since the fall of Suharto have achieved: almost nothing," wrote Sidney Jones, director of Jakarta's Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, referring to judicial reforms instituted during Indonesia's transition to democracy two decades ago.

But Tan, the ethnic Chinese lawmaker, said it was too soon to give up on Indonesia. "This is the process of building towards a mature democracy," he said. "Minority groups aren't allowed to give up. We have to continue to love our country and fight for a better future."
PARIS - In the country that invented the modern notions of political right and left, Emmanuel Macron won the French presidency from perhaps the most precarious place possible: the center.

Now he has to figure out how to govern from there.

Macron's victory on Sunday as a 39-year-old political newcomer who enjoyed no party backing and faced a wave of populist anger was improbable enough.

But the task he began confronting Monday is even more difficult. He must figure out how to translate the poetry of a campaign built on borrowing the best ideas from either end of the political spectrum into the prose of governing in a way that doesn't alienate everyone.

At stake is not only his presidency and the future of a nation of 67 million, but also mainstream politics across the Western world. By thoroughly defeating far-right leader Marine Le Pen, Macron instantly became a symbol among those in Europe and North America who are seeking a new style of politics that can break the populist fever.

If he fails to govern effectively from the middle, the extremes could soon rise again.

"It's a huge challenge," said Dominique Moisi, a senior adviser at the Paris-based Institut Montaigne, a think tank that is close to Macron. "He's trying to renew politics, to do it in a different way. I think he can pull it off. But there's no doubt it will be difficult."

Macron will have little time to figure out his strategy. He's due to be inaugurated on Sunday and will barely have the chance to unpack bags at the ElyseePalace before he once again hits the campaign trail.

This time, Macron will be advocating not for himself but for the 577 representatives of his movement seeking seats in National Assembly elections next month.

Their fate and Macron's are intimately linked. Without a parliamentary majority, or something close to it, France's new president has little chance of enacting his ambitious agenda. A poor showing in next month's vote could doom his young government before it really even starts.

Normally, the parliamentary vote that follows a presidential election in France is considered something of a formality - a chance for voters to reiterate their choice and give the president the legislative backing he needs. But not this year.

After a bruising and fragmented campaign - Macron won less than a quarter of the vote in the first round, and most supporters said they were voting against his opponent rather than for him in the second round - it's not clear whether voters will want to give him a free hand.

There's also the problem that Macron's movement - En Marche, or Onward - is starting from zero, not having existed the last time France chose its lawmakers.

The party will now have to select its candidates - without overly relying on the entrenched political clique that Macron railed against during his campaign.

"There's a contradiction in Macronism. He wants to renew the way we do politics. But for now those who support him are politicians who have been in the game for a while," said Eddy Fougier, a researcher at the Institute for International Relations and Strategies. "He's trying to make something new out of the old."

Fougier said En Marche candidates would likely end up being a combination of familiar political names, as moderate lawmakers from the traditional center-right and center-left parties defect to Macron, and political newcomers from civil society.

Richard Ferrand, secretary general of En Marche, told journalists on Monday that the party would announce the names of its candidates on Thursday. Half will be women, he said, and half will have never held elected office.

Ferrand now represents the Socialist Party in parliament, but said he would run this year under Macron's banner.

Macron himself was the economy minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande. But too many ex-Socialists, Fougier said, will be politically fatal for Macron, who must prove to voters that he's not "the second coming of Hollande."

That was the charge that Le Pen leveled at her opponent throughout the campaign. For months, Macron carefully avoided any association with his deeply unpopular former mentor.

But on Monday it was unavoidable. A raucous celebration among Macron supporters Sunday night - which also served as a pep rally for the European Union - gave way Monday morning to a somber procession on the Champs-Elysees as the nation remembered its war dead on Victory in Europe day.

Macron and Hollande together laid a wreath, with the outgoing president making time to pat Macron on the back and offer an apparently heartfelt "Bravo" - a sentiment echoed by leaders from around the world, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a message to Macron - who has taken a tough line with Moscow, and whose campaign was the victim of a suspected Russian hacking attack in the campaign's closing hours - Putin urged the president-elect to "overcome mutual distrust" and wished him "strong health."

President Trump congratulated Macron in a phone call Monday, the White House said, and the two agreed to meet at the May 25 NATO gathering in Brussels.

But domestically, the bonhomie of Macron's win was already giving way to the usual bare-knuckled politics.

Le Pen, for one, had barely finished conceding defeat in the presidential race Sunday night when she announced her party would be the "primary force of opposition" to Macron's government. (She did, however, take at least a little time off from politics, shimmying with supporters to the tune of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.")

The remnants of the Socialists will also be gunning for Macron in the parliamentary vote. So, too, will the center-right Republican party, which was widely expected to win the presidency this year, before its candidate, former prime minister Francois Fillon, badly stumbled. Polls show the party is Macron's closest challenger in the parliamentary vote.

Once lawmakers have been elected, Macron will start pushing the agenda he campaigned on. With anything less than an En Marche majority in the multiparty parliament, he'll have to opportunistically seek out allies across the aisle to avoid gridlock.

Macron's platform includes elements designed to appeal to either side of the political spectrum: smaller class sizes in public schools and a shift to cleaner energy sources to satisfy the left; sharp reductions in government bureaucracy and a more flexible labor system to appeal to the right.

The latter will be especially important to Macron's success. The president-elect has said that loosening the country's notoriously rigid employment system will be key to unlocking greater economic growth and ultimately bringing down chronically high levels of joblessness.

But his push for reform could provoke an early showdown with France's influential labor unions - as Macron knows well from his earlier tangles with the unions as economy minister.

Many observers are betting against the new president's ability to deliver. But Moisi, the analyst whose think tank is close to Macron, said that especially after the last election, no one should be too quick to count him out.

"He has cards to play: his character, his timing, the fact that the global economy, especially in Europe, is picking up," Moisi said. "The French are politically ready for sacrifices and reforms as long as there's someone in Elysee Palace with credibility, energy and optimism. There's a dynamic behind him that may carry him through."

---

VIDEO:

Centrist Emmanuel Macron has won the French presidency. He defeated Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front, a strongly anti-immigrant populist party. Macron, 39, will now become France's youngest head of state since Napoleon Bonaparte.

Embed code: <iframe width="480" height="290" scrolling="no" src="//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/e6d133e8-3346-11e7-ab03-aa29f656f13e" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

URL: http://wapo.st/2potvgs
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Those who work behind the scenes with children in the state's foster care system were put in the spotlight during an appreciation luncheon in Conroe Monday.

Pastors who work with Texas' Orphan Care Solutions threw the Foster Care Appreciation Love Lunch for staff members of Child Protective Services at the Conroe Tower, complete with appreciation awards and  yes  a free lunch. Orphan Care Solutions President Terri Jaggers said this is the fourth year local churches have put on the lunch, which she said brings an appreciation to those who are the boots on the ground in the fight for Texas' orphans.

The dozens of caseworkers packed the sixth floor banquet room of the Conroe Tower.

"Our goal is to create a real foundation of support for our CPS staff so they feel like they are valued," Jaggers said. "As a CPS staff member, that's the one thing that causes throughout the state of Texas the revolving door."

Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal, who Jaggers said is integral with getting county government collaborating with Orphan Care Solutions off the ground, thanked those workers.

"If we take care of our seniors and take care of our youth, everything else will fall into place," Doyal said. "You guys are doing your part, and we recognize that."

During the event, Jaggers said the CPS staffers were given the opportunity to choose a local church that's a part of Orphan Care Solutions to become their sponsor, a 24/7 lifeline for anything the staffer would nee,d from overnight supplies to finding immediate housing for a foster child.

"They can immediately call the church," Jaggers said. "That is their support to help them one on one."

Jaggers said some churches have even donated hotel rooms for the foster children who would otherwise be stuck in the CPS office during emergency situations.

"It makes it as normal as possible," Jaggers said. "We have that collaborative effort between church and state working together."
At his first Port Neches-Groves ISD board meeting since his likely departure for Texas City ISD was announced, trustees and administrators wished Superintendent Rodney Cavness well, but stayed quiet on plans to replace him.

Cavness is expected to sign a contract with the Galveston-area district on May 23, according to a statement from TCISD.

According to Texas City's website, Superintendent Cynthia Lusignolo will retire on June 30.

"It's bittersweet, it's really hard to leave," Cavness said. "We've been blessed in this area. It's a professional move, it's a good move for my family."

"I'll miss him," said PN-G High School Principal Scott Ryan. "He put a lot of trust in me, and supported me," he said.

Cavness has led PN-G since 2010, after more than three years as Evadale ISD's superintendent, where he was named the Region 5 superintendent of the year.

More than a dozen people at Monday's meeting, including teachers, staff and families, declined to comment on his departure. Cavness praised the community and teachers, saying he was glad to be leaving "on good terms."

"It was a financial and professional opportunity he couldn't pass up," Mc-Cutcheon said of Cavness' departure.

According to Texas Education Agency data, Cavness's salary at PN-G is $154,512 for the 2016-17 school year. TCISD's Lusignolo is paid $185,000 for the 2016-17 year. Cavness' new contract has not been released.

Read more in today's print edition of The Enterprise.

Click here to have the eEdition delivered daily to your inbox.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A pair of before-and-after NASA satellite images show the extraordinariness of California's so-called "Super Bloom" that blanketed the state with a profusion of wildflowers in late winter and early spring.

A vast swath of Central California appears parched and brown in an image from March 2016, taken at the tail-end of a five-year drought.

A year later in March 2017, the same area is bright green with patches of almost-fluorescent yellow after three months of heavy rain drenched the state.

The land area depicted in the images stretches across the Sierra Madre and Caliente Range just west of Bakersfield where some of the most spectacular blooms occurred in California this year.

The Carrizo Plain National Monument was at the center of the floral display and attracted thousands of people who wanted to experience the spectacular fields of color. Flowers in bright yellows, oranges and purples bloomed but yellow was dominant as is evident in the satellite image.

Social media was filled with images taken around the park and you can see many in the gallery above.

RELATED VIDEO: Poppies blanket the Grapevine

California's parched, drought-stricken landscape was soaked this winter by ceaseless storms, creating the perfect conditions for wildflowers, as reported previously on SFGATE.

The flowers were especially abundant in Central and Southern California where the climate is suited to floral growth.

"The southern California deserts are having the finest spring bloom since the 'once in a lifetime' bloom of 2005," Richard Minnich, a professor of geography in the Earth Sciences Department at the University of California, Riverside, told SFGATE in March. "In this world of invasive grasses and mustards that outcompete our native wildflowers, this year's outstanding bloom is not only a result of heavy rainfall this winter, but also the collapse of invasive species during drought over the past 5 years."

Minnich added: "The best blooms often occur in the first wet winter following protracted drought, when there is limited interference from sparse exotic annuals."
As police continue to unravel the killings of two beloved Boston doctors, investigators are trying to answer a pivotal question: Did Bampumim Teixeira - the 30-year-old man accused of carrying out the crime - know his victims personally?

A Boston police report cited by the Associated Press reveals that Teixeira worked at the complex where Richard Field, 49, and Lina Bolanos, 38, lived, but authorities have made contradictory statements about whether the accused killer and the victims were familiar with one another.

An email sent by the complex's management and obtained by People this week confirms that Teixeira briefly held a concierge position at the building sometime before 2016, deepening suspicion that he may have known his alleged victims.

Establishing a link between the suspect and the couple would help authorities uncover a potential motive for the killings, which took place Friday.

"If someone would come here and go up to the 11th floor of a penthouse, we've got to believe there was some type of knowledge of each other," Boston Police Commissioner William Evans told reporters this weekend, according to People.

And yet, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley told reporters Monday that "there is no evidence whatsoever at this point" that proves Teixiera knew Field and Bolanos, People reported.

In its email to residents cited by People, the building's management told residents that it was "severely restricted" from offering more information about the crime because of the police investigation but was trying hard to "strike the appropriate balance."

"This is an incredibly difficult time for our entire community," the email added, according to People. "We are all doing the best we can to help our fellow residents and staff through this, while giving the authorities the space they need to do their jobs."

When Boston police entered an 11th-floor penthouse apartment Friday night, they found a gruesome scene: the bodies of a man and a woman bound at the hands, their throats slit and blood on the walls of the luxury condominium. The killer had left cut-up photos of the couple and a message of retribution.

That message has fueled speculation that the two doctors, who were engaged to be married, knew their attacker.

Teixeira has been charged with two counts of murder and pleaded not guilty to each count. He was arraigned on two counts of murder at Tufts Medical Center in Boston on Monday afternoon as he lay in a hospital bed with his eyes mostly closed.

A judge standing beside Teixeira - a 30-year-old from Chelsea, Massachusetts - entered two not-guilty pleas for the deaths of Field and Bolanos.

During the arraignment, NBC News reported, Teixeira nodded "only slightly in response to questions."

He was ordered to be held without bail, authorities said. If convicted, the maximum sentence Teixeira would face is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Texas Department of Public Safety agents Monday arrested the ninth suspect in an alleged prostitution ring under investigation since January.

Gabriel De La O, 33, was charged with compelling prostitution and trafficking of a child. He was released from jail on bail totaling $50,000.
AUSTIN  Time is running out for a medical marijuana bill that has attracted considerable bipartisan support this legislative session.

Although the bill has nearly 80 House members from both parties signed on as co-authors, its still not scheduled for a vote  and Thursday is the last day for the House to consider bills originating in the House.

Patients, caregivers and parents of autistic and epileptic children gathered Monday on the south steps of the state Capitol to urge members of the House Calendars Committee to schedule a vote on HB 2107, authored by state Rep. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville. The legislation would authorize the possession, use and cultivation of cannabis by qualifying patients.

Clifford A. Deuvall, a disabled Vietnam veteran, said the group is not trying to defy state authorities by illegally using medical cannabis. They are simply trying to survive while staying in Texas, he said.

Until the laws are changed for those of us in need, Texas will continue to incarcerate the chronically ill and their caregivers, destroying good Texas families, and driving taxpaying Texas citizens away as medical refugees, Deuvall said.

Under the legislation, patients would need to be diagnosed with one of the conditions listed on the bill, such as cancer, epilepsy, autism and PTSD. Doctors would have to certify the diagnosis in writing and recommend, not prescribe, that cannabis be used to treat the condition. The doctors would also have to determine the appropriate ratio of cannabidiol and THC, the component of cannabis that gives users a high, for each patient and their specific medical condition.

In addition, the patient would need formal authorization from the Department of Public Safety.

The House Public Health Committee on May 2 heard testimony from about 70 supporters of the bill. Among them were parents who had moved to Colorado in order to get access to medical marijuana for their children with severe epilepsy and autism. The group had flown in for the hearing. The bill was approved in a 7-2 vote. As of the hearing, the bill had 77 co-authors.

But the Calendars Committee has until Tuesday to schedule the bill for House debate, which hold have to occur by Thursdays deadline. If it doesnt, the bill will be dead.

The bills companion, SB 269, authored by Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, has not been scheduled for a hearing.

According to a poll by the Texas Politics Project, polling and research group at the University of Texas at Austin, 83 percent of Texas voters believe that seriously ill patients should be allowed to use marijuana for medical purposes if doctors decide it is the best treatment. Currently, 29 states in the United States have laws that protect medical marijuana users from criminal penalties.

In 2015, Texas passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allows patients with epilepsy to use medical cannabis only when federally approved drugs fail. But advocates say the program has major flaws, including instructing doctors to prescribe, not recommend, cannabis. Prescribing it would put the doctors at risk of losing their license since the drug is still illegal under federal law.

The program is also flawed because it allows patients to use only cannabidiol with low amounts of THC, which is not enough to treat specific medical conditions, advocates said.

Weve known for quite some time that a majority of Texans support legal access to medical cannabis, said Heather Fazio, Texas political director of Marijuana Policy Project. We now know most House members support it, too. With more than half of them signed on as co-authors, this bill is sure to pass  if the Calendars Committee allows a vote on it.

elutz@express-news.net

@elenamejialutz
Police recently arrested two Webster women, charging one with driving while intoxicated and the passenger with public intoxication.

According to a Friendswood Police Department report, the caller that notified police was the driver herself, 25-year-old Marissa Ann Sluss.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Two Wagner High School students were arrested Monday on accusations that they broke into the campus in February.

Jakob Ponce, 19, and Jimmy Hennigar, 18, now face one charge of criminal trespassing on private property, a Class B misdemeanor. They were booked into jail on $800 bonds.

RELATED: Ninth arrest made in probe of San Antonio prostitution ring

The duo is accused of breaking into Wagner High School in the 3000 block of North Foster Road on Feb. 12 around 1 a.m. and leaving around 3:30 a.m.

Two other suspects may be involved in the break-in as well, according to Judson ISD officials, though Ponce and Hennigar are the only students facing charges at this time. Officials said there was another break-in on April 15, though Ponce and Hennigar were only arrested in connection with the February break-in, according to their affidavits.

There was no sign of forced entry, according to the affidavit. Surveillance footage from the night of the break-in shows two subjects dressed in dark clothing and wearing Go-Pro style video cameras on their heads.

Their affidavits said several teachers at the high school identified the subjects in the surveillance footage as Ponce and Hennigar.

RELATED: San Antonio murder trial ends when juror admits he was drunk

A statement from officials at Judson ISD said there's no evidence that Ponce or Hennigar stole, vandalized or destroyed anything.

"There is no evidence students or staff have been or are in any danger," said Steve Linscomb, the director of communications for Judson ISD. "Security at all of our campuses is of paramount interest and priority and any information in connection with this incident would be helpful in identifying all who were involved and keeping Wagner and all other campuses secure."

According to Hennigar's Facebook profile, he and Ponce run a lawn care business together.

Anyone with information on the break-ins is asked to call Judson ISD police at 210-659-9789.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
The San Antonio Police Department and Crime Stoppers are seeking the public's help in tracking down suspect who burglarized two Southtown businesses early Tuesday.

Surveillance footage captured images of the suspect, who allegedly broke into Rosario's Mexican Cafe y Cantina and Alamo Street Eat Bar between 2 and 4 a.m. Both businesses are located on Alamo Street, in the heart of Southtown.
Tom Reel/Staff

AUSTIN  The Texas House on Tuesday delayed final approval of a bill that would revoke pensions of elected officials convicted of felonies related to their office.

State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, postponed a vote until Sunday. By a voice vote, the House had approved SB 500 on second reading on Monday.
No issue in America is more toxic than abortion, and thats partly because it is so closely associated with religion. While many feminists see abortion as a matter of choice, some Christians see it as murder.

Then there are people like Dr. Willie Parker. Parker is black, feminist and driven by his Christian faith to provide abortions in the South, where women seeking to terminate a pregnancy have few options.

I believe that as an abortion provider, I am doing Gods work, Parker writes in his new memoir, Lifes Work. I am protecting womens rights, their human right to decide their futures for themselves, and to live their lives as they see fit.

Since childhood, Parker had been taught that abortion was wrong, and for the first half of his career as an OB-GYN, he refused to perform abortions. But then he had what he calls his come to Jesus moment, an epiphany that his calling was to help women who wanted to end their pregnancies.

Since 2002, he has been providing abortions, mostly on the front lines in Southern states, walking past picketers who scream that he is a baby killer. He puts up with the danger, he says, because its morally right to help desperate women.

If that seems incongruous, lets remember that conservative Christianitys ferocious opposition to abortion is relatively new in historical terms.

The Bible does not explicitly discuss abortion, and theres no evidence that Christians traditionally believed that life begins at conception. St. Thomas Aquinas, the father of much of Catholic theology, believed that abortion was murder only after God imbued fetuses with a soul, at 40 days or more after conception.

One common view was that life begins at quickening, when the mother can feel the babys kicks, about 20 weeks. It wasnt until the 19th century that states began enacting laws prohibiting abortions, beginning with Connecticut in 1821.

Even in the modern era, religion has taken a more complex view of abortion than is generally realized. In the 1960s, ministers and rabbis formed the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion, advising pregnant women how to obtain abortions. More than 100,000 women sought their services.

In 1968, a symposium held by Christianity Today suggested that family welfare concerns were good enough reasons for an abortion. The Southern Baptist Convention passed resolutions in 1971, 1974 and 1976 calling on church members to work for the legalization of abortion in some situations.

In 1972, a Gallup survey found that Republicans were more likely (68 percent) than Democrats (59 percent) to say abortion should be a decision between a woman and her physician. Thats partly because abortion was seen as a Catholic issue but not a Protestant one, and most Catholics were Democrats.

Yet today its taken as self-evident among conservative Christians that life begins at fertilization  without realizing that this would have astonished many Christians throughout the ages.

Parker is outraged at the profusion of laws around the country chipping away at abortion rights, and he objects that much of the critique of abortion is based on bad science  yet doctors are sometimes legally obliged to provide incorrect information to patients. Medical opinion is that a fetus cannot feel anything like pain until about 29 weeks, long after most abortions occur, he notes.

Parker tells of seeing a woman whose fetus had Potter syndrome, in which the lungs do not develop. The woman declined an abortion for religious reasons, and a baby girl was born at full term  and then, as was inevitable, died a painful death because she couldnt breathe.

In another case, a 12-year-old girl was with her mother in the waiting room of an abortion clinic in Alabama. When the mother stepped outside to smoke, another patient tried to offer maternal guidance and steer the girl away from boys. Who were you messing with? the woman asked. Dont you know not to go around with those boys?

He isnt a boy, the girl replied. Hes 53 and hes my daddy.

Parker reminds us that abortion is complicated. And that is why, in my view, we need choice.

Nicholas Kristof writes a column for the New York Times.
The State Board of Educations softening of the creationism language in high school curriculum standards is welcome.

Texas students will no longer be required to evaluate evolution and creation, and will only have to compare and contrast the two starting in fall 2018. The action dismantles curriculum standards put in place by socially conservative members of the State Board of Education in 2009 that allowed for the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in evolution.

Its counterintuitive to push students into science, technology, engineering and math career fields, and then undermine their education with science denial in the classroom.

Regrettably, the situation is not unique to Texas. Science education is under assault across the country. Since 2014 more than 60 anti-science education bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country, Washington Post education writer Valerie Strauss reports.

Among the bills she cites is House Bill 1485, introduced by Valoree Swanson, R-Spring. It gives Texas science teachers academic freedom in the classroom. Many view the term academic freedom as an attempt to present foundational science as controversial so it can be debated along with creationism.

Passions run high and the arguments can be fierce when the topic of debate focuses on science. However, it has been encouraging to see how that also brings together communities, as it did in San Antonio last month on Earth Day.

An estimated 1,700 people took to the streets here to rally in support of scientific research and education, joining 600 other groups that turned out worldwide.

On the day of the marches, President Donald Trump voiced his support for environment and scientific research, stating, Rigorous science is critical to my administrations effort to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection.

However, later that same day, he tweeted, I am committed to keeping our air and water clean but always remember that economic growth enhances environmental protection. Jobs matter!

Ironically, much of the turnout at Earth Day rallies can be attributed to the Trump administrations threats to cut billions of dollars in funding for agencies that support scientists research and attempted to bring attention to that plight.

Shortchanging research, denying science and undermining science education play well to a political base, but they do not serve the public good.
David Molak had so much to live for and so much to offer. We wish he could have seen the possibilities in his life beyond the Instagram taunts, profane messages and the relentless cyberbullying and anguish he lived with.

Molak took his own life in January 2016.

He was 16. He was an Eagle Scout, Spurs fan and sophomore at Alamo Heights High School.

If cyberbullying reflects the worst of human nature, then the response to this tragedy reflects our potential for remarkable goodness and resilience.

Molaks family, the San Antonio community and state lawmakers, especially state Sen. Jose Menendez, have rallied around preventing future cyberbullying through Davids Law, which unanimously passed the Texas Senate.

The law honors Davids life, and it sets a tone of zero tolerance for digital harassment.

No, the law wont stop all cyberbullying, but it creates real consequences for such behavior.

If it prevents one such suicide  and we believe it will  then its worth the effort. If it enables adults to intervene in such bullying  and we believe it will  then its worth the effort.

SB 179 would make it a Class A misdemeanor to harass or bully a minor via text messages, social media or other digital forms of communication.

The bill allows for temporary restraining orders for social media accounts and requires schools to notify parents. It also gives schools the authority to partner with law enforcement to investigate cyberbullying, and it opens the door for school employees to report cyberbullying.

Bullying is excruciating, but cyberbullying takes that pain to a new level because there are no limits. It reaches kids far outside of school.

Davids Law recognizes this, and that alone, is a first step toward stopping cyber cruelty.
Government has cut loose 3 700 national youth service workers reinstated by former president Robert Mugabe in July after they had initially been fired by the ministry of Public Service. The move is meant to slash the wage bill by dropping the unqualified youths.

Cabinet decision to abolish the youth officer posts under the ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment and transfer the roles and function to the ward development coordinators in the ministry of Women, Gender and Community Development is being implemented with immediate effect, Chinamasa said.

This will rationalise the total youth officers and ward development coordinators establishment down by 3 739 from 7 269 to 3 530, translating to savings of $1, 6 million per month and $19, 3 million per annum, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said yesterday.

Chinamasa said 528 members of the Civil Service without the requisite qualifications in terms of Section 18(4) e (ii) of the Civil Service Regulations will be retired. He said their retirement will entail payment of a severance package estimated at $8,7 million. Chinamasa said savings will be realised progressively through identification of redundant staff, as ministries are combined and rationalised.

As part of its austerity measures, government had earlier this year terminated contracts of the youths  mostly drawn from the controversial national youth service (green bombers)  who worked as youth officers across the country and were used by the ruling party in previous elections to coerce villagers to vote for Mugabe.

Speaking at a youths interface rally in Chinhoyi in July, Mugabe, who was obviously charmed by the huge numbers that teemed to the event on a wintry day and heaped praises on the partys secretary for youth, Kudzanai Chipanga, said his Cabinet never okayed the termination of the youths contracts.

You are doing this good work and I hear that some youths who were working for government have been fired but we never heard about that.

Our economy is recovering, is that the time we should be dismissing our youths? How can they say we have no money now . . . please reinstate those youths, we never, never agreed on that.

The issue of firing those youths was never agreed. Where is the ministry of Finance and Labour, please stop it, said Mugabe.

Breaking News via Email
Former Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said the opposition MDC alliance will offer its alternative policy vision and critique of 2018 budget today.

The MDC ALLIANCE will offer its alternative policy vision and critique of the 2018 Budget at 11am, on 8 December 2017 at Harvest House 44 Nelson Mandela Avenue Harare All are welcome, said Biti.

Biti also took to micro-blogging social network, Twitter, and said the current government might reintroduce the Zimbabwe dollar.

There is real danger that the regime may reintroduce the Zim $. The country is years away from having sufficient reserves to support a currency.

Besides once you dollarise you cant go back it is confidence issue.

Breaking News via Email
Last weeks committee action brings legislation that would move debit swipe reform closer to the House of Representatives for a vote.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.  Last week, legislation moved through the House Financial Services Committee that would repeal the debit reforms retailers fought so hard to achieve. The next stop for this bill is the House of Representatives, where it is expected to be voted on in just a few weeks.

The provision to fully repeal debit reform was included in the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10), a massive piece of legislation introduced by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) that seeks to reform and repeal parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. NACS opposes H.R. 10 so long as it includes a full repeal of debit reform contained in the Durbin Amendment, which was enacted as part of Dodd-Frank. The reforms injected competition into the payment cards market, which has resulted in $40 billion in savings for consumers and merchants.

NACS and other retail trade associations are pushing for an amendment to H.R. 10 that would remove debit reform repeal from the Financial CHOICE Act.

Seven years ago, convenience retailers sent 3.7 million petitions to Capitol Hillone of the largest petition drives in U.S. historyasking members of Congress to bring transparency and competition to swipe fees. In the coming days and weeks leading up to the House vote on H.R. 10, the convenience store industry must join together and speak out again.

Using the NACS Grassroots portal, you can send a pre-drafted letter to your representatives asking them to remove the repeal of debit reform out of the Financial CHOICE Act. You can also send a tweet and write on the Facebook page of your representative through our Voter Voice grassroots portal. Social media is a highly effective tool of communicating with lawmakers and their staffs.

We must stop the repeal of debit reform. Lawmakers need to hear how their decisions could negatively impact your business and your customers. Contact your Representative today.
ALEXANDRIA, Va.  Convenience is winning, said Todd Hale at the recent NACS State of the Industry Summit. Hale, Nielsen consultant and principal at Todd Hale LLC, offers more insights about current and future shopper and retail format trends in a new NACS podcast.

Convenience retailers must learn to differentiate themselves if they want to stand out among the competition, as more consumers seek indulgence, fresh produce and of course, convenience, said Hale.

In the Convenience Matters podcast, Where Are All the Shoppers? cohosts Jeff Lenard and Carolyn Schnare of NACS, talked with Hale about convenience store industry trends.

In a retail landscape where all the various formatsQSRs, drugstores, grocery stores and Amazon includedare beginning to look the same, retailers need to continue to find ways to innovate and stand out above the noise, said Schnare. Todd ties trends to opportunities for convenience retailers to grow their sales and attract shoppers.

A new Convenience Matters podcast is released every week, focusing on topics related to convenience stores. Episodes of Convenience Matters can be downloaded on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and at convenience-matters.com. Since its launch in February 2016, it has been downloaded in more than 70 countries and total downloads per week have doubled over the past year.
By Steven Rosenfeld who covers national political issues for AlterNet, including Americas democracy and voting rights. He is the author of several books on elections and the co-author of Who Controls Our Schools: How Billionaire-Sponsored Privatization Is Destroying Democracy and the Charter School Industry (AlterNet eBook, 2016. Originally published at Alternet

Chicagos public school system has become a showcase for the negative effects of K-12 privatization, according to a new report that tracks how the city replaced struggling local schools with dozens of charters that didnt perform better, yet deprived traditional schools of funds, students and public accountability.

The report, Closed by Choice: The Spatial Relationship between Charter School Expansion, School Closures and Fiscal Stress in Chicago Public Schools, tracks 108 charter schools that opened between 2000 and 2015, a period when Chicago Public Schools (CPS) was shutting struggling schools, cutting district funding and reducing staff. It details and confirms what many charter critics have long said, that lobbying from pro-privatization forces swayed the city political leaders to impose top-down reforms that riled neighborhoods, undermined traditional K-12 schools, increased segregation and did not lead to schools with better academic results.

Perhaps most insidiously, the report describes in great detail how the CPS system aggressively shut down struggling schools in neighborhoods where student numbers were dwindling, while allowing better-funded charters to open up nearby, taking a greater share of taxpayer funds that might have been used to rescue struggling schools. The report was written by Roosevelt Universitys associate professor of sociology Stephanie Farmer, Loyola University PhD candidate Ashley Baber and University of Illinois PhD candidate Chris Poulos.

CPS approach to saturating neighborhoods with declining school-age population with new charter schools is stripping all middle- class, working-class and lower-income children, families, and communities of education security, where schools are rendered insecure by budgetary cuts, deprivation, or closure, the reports conclusion begins. Education insecurity is the product of the school reform agenda focused on cannibalizing the neighborhood public schools in order to convert CPS into a privatized choice school system.

While new charter schools continue to proliferate in low demand neighborhoods, all CPS neighborhood public schools experience debilitating budget cuts that lead to the elimination of teaching professionals and enriching curriculum, it continues. The most vulnerable communities are stripped of their public school, or their remaining neighborhood public school is rendered unstable by the proximity of new charter schools.

The impact of these decade-long policies is clear, the authors say, calling for a charter school moratorium in the city, more oversight and public accountability for the charters, and abolition of the states charter school authorizing commission.

Working- and middle-class children are also not getting the resources they need, like relief from overcrowded conditions, the report says. The cuts and deprivation across CPS neighborhood public schools underscore the problem of opening too many new schools in a system caught in the vice grips of austeritythere are not enough funds to provide all schools with the resources needed to succeed.

Report Excerpts

Chicago Public Schools currently has 131 charter schools with over 58,000 students (approximately 15% of the city school district). They get the same per pupil allocation as neighborhood public schools, but also tap federal, state and local grants, private foundation grants, and private fundraising. For the 2015-16 school year, CPS charter schools received over $700 million in tax dollars, the report says.

What follows are 11 excerpts from the report that support its conclusions.

1. CPS charters are privately run. In exchange for these tax dollars, a charter operator enters into a three- to five-year contract with CPS to operate a school. Charter schools are not operated by the Chicago Public Schools central office but rather are privately operated and controlled. They have their own board of directors. Charters do not have to abide to the same accountability and transparency standards that public schools are expected to follow. Charters are largely autonomous from the Chicago Board of Education, CPS central office mandates, elected Local School Councils, and public accountability standards regulating traditional public schools.

2. The city shut under-used schools. The report describes how the Chicago Board of Education (CBOE) created a metric to close schools with fewer students than might otherwise be optimal, and then situated new charters in those same neighborhoods.

Using the CBOE under-utilization metric, [Democratic] Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel shuttered 49 so-called underutilized schools, almost 10% of CPS entire school stock. Mayor Emanuel justified the massive closures as a strategy to contend with CPS billion-dollar deficit because, as the Chicago Tribunereported, they could not afford to keep operating deteriorating schools with dwindling student populations in the face of a billion-dollar budget deficit. Like previous waves of closures, 90% of impacted students were African American.

3. The mayor sided with billionaire privateers. The report describes how the citys political elite fell under the spell of the charter industrys billionaire sponsors, in this case Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Gates is among many billionaire entrepreneurs who believe that charters can remake public education in ways that mimic corporate success stories, including a major emphasis on teaching to the testa reflection of Silicon Valleys metric-centric values. Traditional educators say teaching needs to be more individualized and nuanced. Heres how the report describes Chicagos open-ended embrace of charters and Gates, starting with shutting schools over local protests.

The large number of school closures generated significant parent, school, and community protests. In response to the political fallout, CPS committed to a five-year moratorium on district-operated school closures. Soon after the 2013 school closures, it became apparent that CPS had no real commitment to right sizing the school system. At the same time it was mulling over which of its 129 underutilized schools to close in 2012, CBOE entered into the DistrictCharter Collaboration Compact with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Through this relationship, CPS agreed to open another 60 charter schools in the next five years, even as CPS enrollments were shrinking and existing charter schools could not fill 11,000 vacant seats in their schools. Many of the 40 new charter schools opened since the Gates Compact agreement have been located within 1.5 miles of the 49 public schools closed due to low enrollments.

4. Many charter impacts, starting with more segregation. The report found what is often the case in communities with charters; that they lead to more segregated schools, as low-income parents seeking the best for their kids respond to industry marketing efforts. The schools, in turn, cherry-pick students, which means they are frequently rejecting special needs children, whether those with disabilities or whose primary language is not English. Those kids are then pushed back into traditional public schools, whose budgets have been undermined by charters.

Heres how the report discussed this trend in Chicago, starting with the resulting segregation:

Charter schools are open to all students across the city without entrance exams or tuition. Students must apply to enroll in the school. If there are more applicants than available seats in a charter school, the school must hold a citywide lottery to pick its student body. As such, charter schools do not have to admit local neighborhood children. As a result of this self-selecting application process, charters are more segregated by race and class compared to neighborhood public schools.

Heres how the charters cherry-pick students and push more challenging students back to traditional K-12 schools:

Charter schools also have a history of excluding student English language learners and students with special needs; expelling students for discipline policy violations at 10 times the rate of CPS expulsions; and counseling-out poor test takers by nudging these students to drop out and enroll in another school.

5. Charter academics no better than public schools. While there have been charter success stories, the industry as a whole has not met its over-hyped results. This is a key part of charters typical sales pitch to political officials like Chicagos mayor, who embraced them rather than invest in the harder work of improving traditional schools. Reporters from the citys newspapers and journalism schools found charters were no better than the schools they replaced. Heres how they put it:

Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism and the Chicago Sun-Timesdetermined that the average Illinois Standards Achievement Test scores by elementary students at charter schools and neighborhood schools in Chicago were in a virtual tie on the reading and math exams. Neighborhood schools made stronger gains in reading growth and just slightly higher gains in math growth, relative to charter school growth. In the aggregate, Chicagos charter and neighborhood public schools have similar levels of student test performance. Any differences in either direction tend to be slight.

6. Charters seriously disrupt neighborhoods. This finding is the one that most often gets overlooked in the public policy debates about charters and K-12 school reform. Nobody wants to see troubled schools in their community. But instead of taking steps to improve the struggling schools, the city imposed a heavy-handed solution that in many cases did not even include serving the neighborhoods children.

Our data shows that between 2000 and 2015, CPS closed 167 neighborhood public schools. Since 42 of the 167 closed schools were turn-around schools and were reopened as neighborhood public schools, we excluded those from the total number of neighborhood public schools that stayed closed to the neighborhoods children. We count the 15 neighborhood public schools that were closed and reopened as new public schools with some kind of exclusive enrollment criteria as closed neighborhood public schools. We also count the 31 closed neighborhood public school buildings that were reopened as new charter schools as closed neighborhood public schools.

7. Charters undermining surrounding K-12 schools. This pattern is not unique to Chicago, but its happening on a large scale there. Because the city placed its charters in neighborhoods with shrinking student populations, they are drawing some students away from nearby traditional schools. That, in turn, undermines programs in those traditional schools by virtue of diverted per-pupil taxpayer funding.

Heres how the report discussed this trend:

The largely unplanned saturation of charters in neighborhoods experiencing distress from declining population during the Ren10 years [mostly since 2000] contributed to low enrollments in nearby CPS schools that were later used to justify closing neighborhood public schools. Spatial proximity of new charter schools to closed schools matters. Since charter schools draw their student populations from the surrounding neighborhoods, public schools were forced to compete for students in neighborhoods with declining population. Even if there is not a direct one-on-one, or unilineal, relationship between a new charter and declining enrollments at the most proximate neighborhood school, these charter schools will nonetheless capture some share of children from the surrounding neighborhoods.

8. Charters dont follow the rules set for other schools. Part of the sales pitch by education privateers is that charters should be freed from government regulations and allowed to innovate. What that often meansapart from creating a management class where fiscal self-dealing has become a national patternis charters dont have to follow the same rules and accountability standards as traditional K-12 schools. Heres how they put it when the issue was deciding which schools would be forcibly shut down or stay open:

CPS appears to have operated with a double standard by determining whether a neighborhood public school should remain open based on utilization factors while CPS did not adhere to this standard when rolling out new charter schools. Instead, CPS opened new charter schools in areas that were experiencing distress from declining population and school closures. In other words, CPS was not concerned about right-sizing the system when it came to opening new charter schools in neighborhoods already under distress.

The report strongly suggests that political decisions were made to tip the balance in favor of privatization by Chicagos establishment. It continues:

Furthermore, it is questionable whether there was a need for the new charter schools opened in the 2010s. During the 2010 and 2015 period, existing charters were not filling their seats. While it is the case that somecharters have more applicants than available seats, other charters have an abundance of empty seats. Illinois Raise Your Hand (RYH), in conjunction with Apples to Apples, conducted their own independent investigation of CPS data, looking at student enrollment in charter schools. Using CPS underutilization standard, Apples to Apples determined that in the 2012-2013 school year 47 percent of CPS charter and contract schools had student populations below the CPS threshold for ideal enrollment. This meant that nearly 11,000 seats in charter schools remained empty as the city was closing 10% of public schools while opening another 40 new charter schools.

9. Opening unneeded schoolsand giving them more money. Here the report shows how corruption unfolds with serious anti-democratic consequences. Its not enough that Chicago charters were given the go-ahead to open in areas where the citys standards wouldnt allow traditional schools to do likewise. The city decided to allocate more money for charters than for traditional schoolseven in a budget crisis where traditional K-12 schools were facing funding cuts. Heres how they put it:

In 2012, Chicago Public Schools implemented a 5% increase in per-pupil allocation for charter operation expenses and a large increase in the per pupil stipend to cover charter facility expenses. The increase to charters per pupil allocation occurred at the same time CPS cut $100 million from neighborhood public schools. While neighborhood public high schools experienced a 14% decline in their budgets (even though student enrollments only declined by 2%), charter schools enjoyed a 12% budget increase (even though they were enrolling 10% more students).

10. Helping charters buy buildings the public wont own. This is another dimension of how charters have a dark underbelly of fiscal self-dealing with no parallel in the traditional K-12 sphere. The charters, using a mix of for-profit and non-profit arms, tap public funds to acquire real estate they end up owning. Heres how the report describes that giveaway:

The public not only finances charter school operations but it is also on the hook for paying for charter school facilities. Charter schools acquire their school buildings through a variety of mechanisms: some rent their building from a non-CPS source, some lease from CPS, and others pay for new construction. Charters that rent from a non-CPS source receive a per pupil allocation from CPS to cover the rent. When charter networks opt to construct a new building, they too get a per pupil allocation to cover the cost of the facility. Since taxpayer dollars are the primary revenue source used to pay back charter bonds, charter school debt is effectively off-the-books public debt. However, the public does not have ownership rights of charter school buildings. Rather, charter operators retain ownership. Since charters contribute to the conditions where public schools are closed, the public is effectively paying for new and to some degree redundant privately-owned schools while their existing public buildings are being shuttered.

11. Meanwhile, Chicago ignores overcrowded K-12 schools. This is another insidious result from the warped educational landscape charters have brought to Chicago. While theres taxpayer money for privatized schools, theres a corresponding lack of public funds available to help dozens of traditional schools deal with overcrowded classrooms and sub-standard facilities. Heres how they put it:

The impact of stretching limited funds across multiple schools contributes to school closure and budget cuts but it also impacts overcrowded schools. CPS has 68 overcrowded schools that cannot get the resources they need to educate their children. Overcrowded classroom conditions can be claustrophobic, noisy and prevent the teacher from having sufficient one-on-one time with each student. For example, the Better Government Association identified Avalon Park Elementary School on the South Side as one of the most egregious examples of overcrowded classroom conditions, where in 2015, they had a kindergarten class with 51 children and a first-grade room with 48 kids. To relieve overcrowding in schools, schools often resort to drastic measures such as holding classes in hallways, closets and even staircases.

Conclusions

The reports authors note that the issues Chicago faces are a microcosm of national trends. There has been no shortage of local activism thats called on the citys school chiefs to refocus their priorities and reinvest in traditional neighborhood schools, they point out. In 2016, voters in two Chicago wards approved non-binding resolutions calling for a citywide moratorium on new charters. This is the proposal that the NAACPs national board of directors called for last year and is also supported by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Perhaps no one should be surprised that billionaires like Bill Gates can exert disproportionate influence in public policy arenaseven when Democrats are the governing class, as is the case in Chicago. Charters have also prospered in deep-blue California, despite vigorous protests from labor unions and community groups. The report shows how Chicagos political leaders have given the industry a veritable blank check. Look at how they describe what charters need to do to get approved:

There is no citywide school facilities plan that determines where the most need is for new charters. As the process works today in Chicago, when charter schools apply for a charter license, they do not have to include a specific address where they will locate the school. The Chicago Board of Education (CBOE) blindly approves new charters without determining if there is a need in that neighborhood or if it is best fit for the overall school system. The lack of planning is one of the reasons why redundant charter schools have saturated neighborhoods with declining school age populations.

This is how education privatization works. Theres nothing stopping Bill Gates and all the regional and national education franchises from investing in private schools. They simply dont want to. Instead, they want a slice of the billions taxpayers are spending each year to educate a communitys children. Right now in Chicago, as this latest report shows, that is $700 million annually creating more problems than solutions in public education.
One element of Brexit that has me mystified is the lack of appreciation in the British government and what seems to be the overwhelming majority of the UK public of the enormous size of the task versus the un-seriousness with which the Government is approaching it. Weve referred made comparisons from time to time between Brexit and the 2015 Greece-Troika bailout negotiations. One of the striking features was how Greece, which had been budget-starved for years and had cut government to the bone, was obviously struggling with basic mechanics of negotiation, like delivering documents that outlined negotiating positions.

The UK is not well-equipped to negotiate Brexit, to put it mildly, even before getting to the fact that it and the rest of the EU are very far apart on many key issues, the most glaring early topic being the Brexit bill. As we wrote last December:

The UK has not had to handle any meaningful trade talks in decades, so it has no one with relevant skills in house. To make matters worse, has severely hollowed out its Foreign Office, so it is even lacking in generalist negotiators. The difficulties in getting a team include: no one wants to accept government pay when they can make a multiple of that getting hired through a mercenary like an outside law or accounting firm; those firms tend to have siloed experts (usually by industry), making it hard to make tradeoff across issues and areas; the sort of negotiators that the Brits might be able to tease out of retirement or poach from Brussels are pro-EU and will not be philosophically aligned with UK objectives.

Weve long thought the odds of a hard Brexit were uncomfortably high, since the Brits have been underestimating how much work has to be done, and kept refusing to accept the Continental position that no trade deal would be negotiated until departure terms were final. The EU has relented slightly and now says they will be willing to discuss trade if enough of the exit arrangements have been sorted out. But those include all the tough issues like the rights of migrants and the economic settlement.

Our dour view is now looking like a sound early call in light of the notorious Downing Street dinner, the details of which were leaked to the German press. Jean-Claude Junckers team (and frankly anyone who is not a diehard Leave booster) could clearly see what weve inferred from the press: Mays side hasnt taken any of the many warnings the EU has been sending about their red lines as well as other issues that are important to the negotiations. Its as if theyve been sticking their fingers in their ears and saying Nyah nyah nyah.

The wee problem is that the EU has recognized that a hard Brexit, meaning a disorderly withdrawal, is a real possibility. Even though the EU would suffer, the UK would take a much worse hit.

Yet the UK side, astonishingly, not only seems to believe that the EU will capitulate rather than allow this to happen, it also seems not to appreciate that staking out positions when it lacks negotiating leverage means that companies that do business in the UK will start working overtime to reduce Brexit risk. The best way to do that is shift activities in the UK that serve Continental customers out of the UK. Financial services firms already started that sort of contingency planning the day after the Brexit vote. Its not hard to imagine they are looking at taking more concrete steps, such as Lloyds of London planning to move 1/6 of its jobs to Brussels.

With this as background, I forwarded Richard Smith and our Clive, both of whom are in the UK, a copy of the days Brexit Central, a Brexit-cheerleading newsletter that I look at a few times a week because it does link to most Brexit stories, even while trying to take exception to the ones that adverse from the UK vantage. Recall that Clive voted for Leave.

I flagged two of its lead stories:

Theresa May is reportedly drawing up a nuclear option of immediately ending payments to the EU On the site today my colleague Hugh Bennett examines the European Commissions alarming negotiating directive that the European Court of Justice should have legal authority to enforce our exit agreement and then act as legal arbiter of EU citizens rights in the UK after Brexit. He argues this would be totally unacceptable.

My comment:

You gotta love the second item here. What about The UK is part of the EU until is isnt dont you understand? And on the first, the May threat = instant end of negotiations and hard Brexit. I would imagine an accelerated rush out of the City for any functions deemed vulnerable.

Clives response:

I dont see any possible way Brexit will end in a compromise now. Im amazed how bad relations have got and so fast. I suppose I shouldnt be, given the numpties on Mays team (Boris Johnson gets all the headlines for his antics but David Davis is more of a liability because hes ideologically obsessed with the EU as an Evil Empire; the EU may well be an Evil Empire but that doesnt mean you should pick a fight with them at every available opportunity and cant see past settling old scores). Perhaps May will use a thumping electoral mandate to clear house, but I dont think theres exactly a bench full of talent just waiting to step in. What interests me more is why the UK as a whole is so nonchalant about the chaotic handling of Brexit while the EU (and the rest of the world) looks on aghast. Theres no angst in the streets and if you try to engage anyone in conversation about this, no-one Ive talked to is remotely interested  even hardened Remoaners just shrug. You cant blame it all on Daily Mail and Telegraph delusional thinking. I dont know if Richard would agree (and Im not certain on this point so would need a second opinion) but I wonder if, culturally, it is because we dont view muddle through as A Bad Thing but rather as a badge of honour? I recall working on an (ill-fated, of course) project which had a largely German team from the vendors side. We had the usual disorganised make-it-up-as-you-go-along mentality which caused utter incomprehension and bemusement. As we were the clients and they were the suppliers, they had little leverage which skewed how much say they had, but they made continuous attempts to instil more rigour and efficiency into the design and decision-making process. To no avail, I hasten to add. It was like trying to push the North Poles of two magnets together. The harder one side shoved, the more resistance was generated. Ive never encountered anything quite like it, before or since. In short, theres more going on here than simple incompetence in government and right-wing media brainwashing. Theres a reason (probably several reasons) why Brexit Briefing (below) drops into hundreds or even thousands of mailboxes belonging to presumably reasonably intelligent people (it requires a level of intellectual capability over and above that needed to parse The National Enquirer) and isnt met with howls of derision but rather  one supposes  nods of agreement.

Richard Smiths reply:

I agree  reciprocal contempt is the worst imaginable starting point for negotiating anything, never mind a mutually satisfactory compromise.not that anyone in the UK has the faintest idea of what that might be, nearly a year after the vote. It will resemble the Greek negotiation in style and perhaps, purely as a negotation, in success. I also agree with Clive that we have been a nation of bodgers for a long time, but most visibly ever since our Empire and its supporting Navy turned from a national asset into a liability, post WW1. For that long at least, pragmatism has been a necessity as much as a virtue, but it has always come easily to the non-Cartesian commonsense Brits anyway. Drilling down a bit more, I think the nonchalance will be down to different things depending on the underlying mindset. Brexiters simply dont think theres a problem, or at least, that, whatever the cost, it will be worth it to restore national sovereignty (libertarians and really old fashioned Tories) or get control of immigration (erm, neofascists and Corbynistas and the New Labour rump) or find better commercial opportunities away from Europe (libertarians) or detach ourselves from at least one neoliberal worker-impoverishing conspiracy (Corbynistas). This is a truly fucking peculiar coalition of the hithero-marginalized but it now appears to be completely dominant in Parliament, and just dominant enough in the country at large (with the exception of Scotland and maybe NI) to give us Brexit. Remainers (liberals and neoliberals, whether Blairite Labour, Lib-Dem or Cameronite Tory) are still reeling from the shock and a bit cowed. 18 months ago this other coalition (socially liberal, identity politics, deregulatory, mixed-economy but with a small- or smallish-state mindset, internationalist, OK with the financialisation of the economy, offshoring, etc, American poodle, semi-detached from Europe but basically pro, genially corrupt) represented a cross-party consensus that had been dominant at least for 20 years, perhaps since the end of the Cold War, and arguably since Thatcher. Yet it was getting more and more hollowed out; pick your own milestones, but perhaps deregulation and GFC, post-GFC-non-tidyup, Osborneomics, serial Middle East interventions. Most consequentially of all, it simply had nothing persuasive to say about the local consequences of the giant international wages-and-regs arb that is globalization. No-one ever actually said deplorables, but it turns out that our deplorables didnt need the verbal hint. Action and inaction spoke loud enough. Much of this was way overdue for rethink and reform of course, but its too late now. What now turns out to be under threat, and, bodge fashion, in advance of any coherent plan, could turn out to be a lot more:  An international financial services industry that goes back 300 years (not necessarily a pretty part of the scenery, but one had imagined it well-entrenched by now).

 The UK in its current form (in its essentials, also 300 years old): Scotland and even N. Ireland; Gibraltar.

 A foreign policy tradition dating back to the Elizabethan era (dont get the whole of Europe on your back at once).

 The basic aversion of the Conservative Party to authoritarian far right policy, at home. They have now outflanked UKIP from the right. This might look like a disaster for UKIP, but in reality it is a potential disaster for the Tories. I hope they unwind it ASAP but we will see.

 The very pragmatism that we think we embody. The whole Brexit thing looks much more like an outbreak of fanaticism than the judicious improvisation represented very well by our previous half-in-half-out Europosture. Putting any of this at risk is not recognisably conservative or Conservative. It is more like a hapless response to a reactionary convulsion that, if it continues, could lead to the biggest political change in the UK since the Glorious Revolution, and, to some extent, would unwind some of it. Its all a bit daunting in prospect and Brexit might be just the start. Meanwhile no-one knows what Brexit even is. The stakes are dumbfounding, and for the Remainers there seems to be little prospect of a Macron-like figure to cluster around. Blair can see a Blair-shaped vacuum in just the right place, but no-ones anywhere near desperate enough to go for that. So yeah, Remainer shrugs too; they have no idea what to say.

Note finally, as weve also pointed out repeatedly, that none of the supposed benefits of Brexit are likely to be achieved. The UK is a small open economy. If it is to keep trading with the EU, and that is a major objective of the Tories, it will need to conform to EU standards, and yes, jurisdiction. When VW was caught out cheating on US emission standards and paid $14.7 billion in a 2016 civil settlement and agreed to pay an additional $4.3 billion in 2017 which included $2.8 billion in criminal fines. No one in Germany whinged about the US imposing US emission standards on VWs cars. The EU standards that the UK will be able to escape are labor and environmental rules.which are more favorable to ordinary citizens than the ones the Tories are hoping to impose.

Similarly, as we stressed, there are more non-EU migrants to the UK than EU ones, so even if Brexit does restrict the movement of EU citizens to the UK, theres no reason to think that their ranks wont be filled by immigrants from other countries. Nor have we seen any plans how the Brexiteers would address critical shortages, like the fact that 10% of NHS doctors are from the EU.

In other words, there are plenty of causes for alarm, even to those of us who are watching Brexit at a remove. The fact that the Government still hasnt saddled up in a serious way for this task is a bad omen indeed.
Trumps sudden and unexpected firing of FBI director James Comey is likely to damage Trump. The question is whether this move will simply serve as the basis for sowing further doubts in the mainstream media against Trump, or will dent Trumps standing with Republicans.

Comey made an odd practice of making moves that were arguably procedurally improper in his handling of the Clinton e-mail investigation, but some favored Clinton while others were damaging, given an impression of impartiality to the general public via getting both parties riled with Comey at various points in time. And regardless of what one thinks of his political and legal judgment, Comey had a reputation of being a straight shooter.

And more generally, the director of the FBI is perceived to be a role above the partisan fray. Firing him is fraught with danger; it has the potential of turning into in a Nixonian Saturday Night Massacre, where the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox led the press and public to see Nixon as desperate to stymie an investigation into Watergate charges. It was the archetypal the coverup is worse than the crime.

To minimize risk, Trumps would have needed to have engaged in a whispering campaign against Comey, or least have notified some key figures in Congress that this was about to happen and give the rationale for the turfing out. And it appears he did do that to at least a degree, in that (as you will see below), Lindsay Graham, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made a statement supporting the firing. But given the surprised reaction in the press, it looks like any ground-sowing for this move was minimal. Caution and preparation dont rank high as Trump Administration priorities.

More specifically, whether true or not, the Democrats are likely to use this move to claim that Comey was fired for digging too hard into Trump-Russia connections.

Well know more in the coming hours and days. The official story is that attorney general Jeff Session and his deputy attorney general Rosenstein wanted Comeys head. And since the FBI does report to the Department of Justice, Sessions is within his rights to demand the firing of the head of the FBI and expect the President to respect his request. So if this proves to have been a reckless move, it will reflect Trumps poor judgment in selecting Sessions as his AG, who was a controversial pick from the outset.

From the Wall Street Journal:

In a letter to Mr. Comey, the president wrote, It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a statement thanked Mr. Comey for his years of service to the country but said that a change in leadership at the bureau might be the best possible course of action. Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well. I encourage the President to select the most qualified professional available who will serve our nations interests, said Mr. Graham, a South Carolina Republican.

Note that Sessions himself had been fired from the attorney generals office in the Clinton Administration. Clintons attorney Janet Reno, who was the first to engage in large-scale firings of attorneys in the Department of Justice, also fired the head of the FBI. From Bloomberg:

Comey, who has led an investigation into Russias meddling during the 2016 election and any possible links to Trump aides and associates, is only the second FBI chief to have been fired. In 1993, President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno dismissed William Sessions. Trumps decision means that he will get to nominate Comeys successor while the agency is deep into the Russia inquiry. The move quickly intensified Democratic calls for a special prosecutor. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that Trump has catastrophically compromised the FBIs ongoing investigation of his own White Houses ties to Russia. Not since Watergate have our legal systems been so threatened, and our faith in the independence and integrity of those systems so shaken.

The Financial Times confirms that the Trump Administration didnt lay much groundwork with Congress:

Mr Comeys sudden dismissal shocked Republicans and Democrats. Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman, said the stunning action shows why we must have a special prosecutor like our nation did in Watergate.

The proof of the pudding is whether Trump and Sessions will be able to ride out demands for a special prosecutor. Given how much noise and how little signal there has been, I would have though it was possible for Trump to tough this out. With the Democrats having peripheral figures like Carter Page as their supposed smoking guns, all they had was innuendo, amplified by the Mighty Wurlitzer of the media. But that may have gotten enough to Trump and his team to distort their judgment. Stay tuned.

Update 5/10, 12:15 AM. The Hill reports Dems ask Justice Dept, FBI to preserve any and all files on Comey firing/ Despite much howling for blood in the comments section, some readers there were able to provide what I was looking for, which is whether Congress had any basis for getting the info. Here are the two key remarks:

What files? Discussions between Sessions and any other DOJ official about Comey and about personnel changes would be deliberative process privilege. Congress will not get one single file about Comeys firing. Correct Comey serves at the pleasure of the President, not Congress. Trump has the power to hire and fire FBI directors.Congress confirms such appointments, but has no say whatsoever when it comes to firing a FBI director.

Lambert sent on this important find:

THREAD: The key player here is Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Rosenstein. I spent 5 yrs in the DAGs office under Obama. Please indulge me.  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

Rosenstein is a rare breed  a Bush political appointee who Obama kept on for eight years, as U.S. Attorney for Maryland. (2/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

It's no coincidence that the Comey firing took place now. Trump laundered it through Rosenstein to boost its legitimacy. (5/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

Rosenstein's letter to Sessions blasts Comey's handling of Clinton case in terms that could have been written by a Clinton staffer. (6/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

But it never expressly recommends that POTUS fire Comey. Is this deliberate? Who knows. (10/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

Quite possibly Rosenstein, like most of us, thought Comey screwed up but didn't want him fired with Russia investigation pending. (11/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

Yet Sessions wanted a memo on Comey's sins, and Rosenstein felt he had to oblige his boss . . . (12/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

Why does any of this matter? Sessions is recused from Russia, so it falls to Rosenstein to decide whether to appoint special counsel.(15/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

And he cares about DOJ's reputation. He's not a hack  he's been at DOJ for 27 years, under five different presidents. (17/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

Note his language about the FBI  he worries that it now lacks "public and congressional trust." Same could be said now about DOJ. (18/22)  Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017
'It wasn't meant to be': Chandler Smith comes up short in third Chandler Smith talks about what more was needed tonight and what could've been done differently as he puts a cap on the season.
Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum.
(Natural News) Graham Hancock, author of the books Fingerprints of the Gods and Magicians of the Gods, has long been a pariah in the archaeological community. His theories about an ancient civilization that was wiped out in a worldwide catastrophic event have been mocked and widely dismissed by academics. There are, therefore, many scientists who are now eating their words, after one of his cornerstone theories has turned out to be true.

Evidence, which Hancock has insisted backs up his theory, was found at an archaeological dig in Turkey called Gobekli Tepe (Potbelly Hill). Hancock claimed to have discovered the oldest work of monumental architecture on Earth at that site, and insisted it was twice as old as the more famous Stonehenge in England. The stones found there indicate that the builders were part of a highly advanced civilization, and carved stories on the stones tell of a comet which fell from the sky and wiped out nearly all humans on Earth. (RELATED: Without the honeybees well all be wiped out. Check out NaturalNews.com for more information.)

Respected experts from the University of Edinburghs School of Engineering recently published a report in the University of the Aegeans obscure journal the International Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, which confirms that Hancock has been right all along. The report confirms that the carvings at Gobekli Tepe definitely do describe a comet strike, and the scientists were able to pinpoint the date of that strike to 10,950 B.C. (thats about 13,000 years ago), based on a series of carvings on a pillar known as the Vulture Stone. The star constellations depicted on the stone are not as we would see them today, but are as they would have been in 10,950, making it possible to nail down the date definitively.

This is pretty much what Hancock has been saying for decades. The blurb for his book, Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earths Lost Civilisation, explains that towards the end of the last Ice Age, about 12,800 years ago (see how close that is to the dating of the Gobekli Tepe depiction) a giant comet which had entered the solar system broke into fragments, some of which struck the Earth. This caused a global catastrophe when several of the fragments hit the North American and northern European ice caps. The impacts generated massive amounts of heat which liquidized millions of square miles of ice, causing the global flood that is remembered in the Bible and in the myths of ancient cultures from around the globe.

This discovery is dumbfounding to archaeologists who have long insisted that at the time when the Gobekli Tepe stones were carved  about 9,000 B.C.  humans were little more than savages, running around in skins and living in caves. The fact that the people who carved the Gobekli Tepe stones were sophisticated enough to backdate the constellations on the Vulture Stone indicates that they were far more advanced than anyone could have imagined.

As noted by Christopher Stevens of the U.K.s Daily Mail, We dont know what language they spoke, nor how they recorded their knowledge. But unless a band of refugee hunters in Turkey 11,000 years ago suddenly cracked every major branch of human learning, all at the same time, that elder civilisation [sic] must have existed.

As controversial as Hancocks discoveries about the ancient world have been, it is his predictions about the future that really get people in a tizzy. He believes that what hit the earth was actually a piece of debris in the Taurid meteor stream. Astrophysicists have hypothesized that there is an unexploded bomb of a planetoid hidden in that belt, and sealed within its crust is a boiling mass of tar, building up pressure until it detonates. Thousands of white-hot boulders, a mile or more across, will be set spinning through the meteor stream.

Hancock believes that if one of these asteroids were to hit the earth it would mean absolute destruction.

And were due to cross the Taurid meteor stream again in just 13 years, around 2030.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

BadArchaeology.WordPress.com

Mirror.co.uk
(Natural News) The biotech industrys web of attempts to buy credibility, by laundering its messages through supposedly independent academic scientists, is unraveling and beginning to reveal the influence of a huge amount of industry money on the independence of academic agricultural science. Some of this process was revealed recently in The New York Times. Many of these efforts to influence policy or public opinion start with industry staff emails, including suggested topics, points, and themes, which are then laundered through the credibility of academic scientists. It is a matter of academic scientists promoting positions and arguments of the industry, not merely a sharing of positions that each party already held and were acting on.

(Article by Doug Gurian-Sherman republished from Foodtank.com)

The emails from several academic scientists linked in the NYT article show numerous instances of industry personnel, such as Eric Sachs of Monsanto, in ongoing dialogue with academic scientists, including strategizing about how to influence policy and how academic scientists can carry out industry desires.

A deeper dive into the emails coming forward through this article and from U.S. Right to Know public disclosure efforts shows a broader and more troubling picture of influence peddling in the agricultural sciences.

The overriding issue is the huge amount of money from the biotech and industrial agriculture industries pouring into public universities, and the corrosive effect all that money is having on the independence of science. Evidence suggests that biotech industry influence is a pervasive problem, corrupting science and distorting public discussion. It extends much farther than the specific examples provided by the New York Times article. As with the climate change debate, where a powerful fossil fuel industry is slowing response to an environmental and social disaster, the biotech industry and industrial agriculture more broadly is delaying choices that would move us toward an urgently needed sustainable and just food and agriculture system.

The emails linked to the New York Times article also reveals some of the many other academic scientists, who have vocally supported biotech or panned biotech critics, and were copied on industry emails. We should not implicate scientists in greenwashing or collusion with the biotech industry simply for being copied on emails, or even some communication with companies. It is not clear from these emails whether those other scientists have also engaged in collaboration with the industry, or accepted industry money. But the efforts of many of these scientists to vigorously defend biotechnology or even attack critics have been documented elsewhere.

There is no reason to think this money buys less influence in academia than the widely recognized corrupting influence that money has on politics. Unlike academic science though, no one has illusions that our political process is objective. The perceived objectivity of academic scientists presents a huge opportunity for the biotech industry to influence public opinion in ways it could not accomplish otherwise.

A Tangled Web

Since the NYT article was published, several of these scientists have doubled down, saying that they have been proud to serve a cause they believe in. And I have no reason to doubt their sincerity. These scientists are effective in their spokesperson roles in part because of their backgrounds in molecular biology, the deep interest in which preceded their involvement with the ag biotech industry.

But this misses the point, which is that the collaboration with industry, its public relations machines, such as Ketchum, and access to industry dollars, allows these scientists to amplify their voices with the journalists and the media, the public, and policymakers way beyond what could otherwise occur.

As one small example, Bruce Chassy, an emeritus professor at the University of Illinois, bemoans the challenges of flying economy class (all he can afford, he says) to participate as an invited speaker at a biotech conference in New Delhi. He strongly implies he would not endure such tribulations, and would skip the meeting without industry support. In an August 29, 2011 email to Eric Sachs of Monsanto, he suggests that the ag industry trade group CropLife, of which Monsanto and other biotech companies are members, pay his way (Chassy was listed as a speaker at the event). In a separate email, Monsantos Sachs also suggests to Chassy that he participate in an American Medical Association meeting to try to dissuade the AMA from supporting mandatory labeling of GE foods.

Read more at: Foodtank.com
(Natural News) A Kansas grandmother who has been fighting colorectal cancer for the past five years, has been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), not because she had been drinking alcohol, but because she chose to drive after taking Marinol, a drug prescribed by her oncologist to help fight nausea and to try to restore her appetite during chemotherapy treatments. As a result, Angela Kastner was sitting in a jail in Sedgwick County when she should have been receiving treatment.

While Natural News does not endorse chemotherapy as a safe and effective treatment for cancer, the fact that Ms. Kastner was forced to miss a course of this treatment after she had voluntarily chosen it as her best chance against a terminal illness simply because she took a legally prescribed medication, is nonetheless unacceptable.[RELATED: Could marijuana be a cure for cancer?]

Marinol, which is a brand name of the pharmaceutical drug Dronabinol, is used to prevent or treat nausea resulting from cancer treatments like chemotherapy, and to increase the appetites of people with AIDS. The Kansas patrolmen who arrested Ms. Kastner mistakenly believed that she was under the influence of marijuana, since the drug contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plants well-known psychoactive component. Policemen are indoctrinated by the federal government into believing that marijuana is a dangerous gateway drug, and are trained to believe that having THC in your bloodstream when you are driving means that you are impaired.

Their assumption, in this case, was incorrect for several reasons: First of all, Marinol is not the raw marijuana plant; it is a legal, synthetic version of THC which has been approved by the FDA  though one wonders why a Big Pharma-developed chemical version of the drug should be legal, when the natural plant is relegated to Schedule I drug status, along with dangerous substances like LSD, ecstasy and heroin.

Secondly, the amount of THC in Marinol is not sufficient to cause impaired driving. In fact, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the worlds largest medical library, says with regard to Dronabinol, This medicine can give you a false sense of well-being (make you feel high) or make you confused, dizzy, or drowsy. Do not drive or do anything else that could be dangerous until you know how this medicine affects you. [Emphasis added] So, while it is perfectly legal to drive after taking Dronabinol, it is advisable when you first start taking the medication to determine its effects on you personally before determining whether it is safe to drive.

Now, in the case of Ms. Kastner, she had been taking the medication for five years, and had never felt dizzy or caused an accident while under its influence. Her pharmacist also confirmed to ABC-affiliate KAKE that the amount of THC in her bloodstream was insufficient to make anyone high. It is, therefore, safe to say that she was not impaired by it on the day of her arrest.

Ms. Kastner has spoken out publicly about her ordeal because she wants to try to help other cancer patients to avoid going through the same thing.

I feel sorry for the next cancer patient who has to go through anything I have had to go through, she said. They shouldnt have to do this at the end of their life.

Ms. Kastners oncologist has confirmed that if she does not respond to this last round of chemotherapy she will require hospice care. In other words, she is literally fighting for her life. Nobody should have to undergo this level of additional stress and trauma when they need all their strength just to try to stay alive.

Sources:

TheFreeThoughtProject.com

KAKE.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

Legalize-Marijuana.BeforeItsNews.com
France announced that they are going to ban the breeding of dolphins and orcas in captivity.

In addition, they are also prohibiting the keeping of all whales, dolphins and porpoises in captivity, with the exemption for all those animals that are already held captive.

For establishments that already have animals in captivity, the new rule states that they must expand the pools holding the animals to up to 150% of its current size. Under the regulation, direct contact between the animal and the public is also considered illegal.

BBC noted that the establishments have three years to comply with the expansion of the pool and six months to comply with the other rules specified on the newly introduced statute.



A legislation stipulating the measure was signed on May 3 by Environment Minister Segolene Royal. As reported by Telegraph, initially, the version included only "tight controls on the reproduction of dolphins," however, after learning that purposely drugged inside the aquarium, she decided to expand the coverage of the legislation.



As cited by IFL Science, France currently has four dolphinariums. Marineland, in Antibes, has four orcas that are used for displays, and 13 bottlenose dolphins, which customers can "meet," for 70 per person and 5 for any accompanying person. The park also holds sharks and sea lions in captivity.

"In plain terms, this means the end of breeding, exchange and import programs," five conservation groups including One Voice and Sea Shepherd said in a joint statement, as mentioned by Financial Tribune. "Without possible replenishment, this quite simply means the scheduled end of marine circuses on our territory."

Meanwhile, the marine animals' struggle to freedom is not over yet, as theme parks in other parts of the world such as San Antonio, Texas and Orlando are not expected to end the shows until 2019, The Independent reported.
Tarsiers, tiny nocturnal primates that remarkably look like Star Wars icon Yoda, are only found in certain parts of southeast Asia. Recently, scientists discovered two new species of the strange-looking animal in the Sulawesi island of Indonesia, a region where forests are in rapid decline.

According to a report from Conservation International, the two newly discovered species of tarsiers were spotted in the northern part of Sulawesi. Dubbed the Tarsius spectrumgurskyae and Tarsius supriatnai, the two are very similar but display distinct vocalizations and genetic data.

"These two new species are the 80th and 81st primates new to science described since 2000 - this represents about 16 percent of all primate species known, and is indicative of how little we know of our planet's unique and wonderful biodiversity," co-author Russ Mittermeier, a primatologist with Conservation International, explained. "If we haven't even gotten a handle on the diversity our closest living relatives, which by comparison are relatively well-studied, imagine how much we still have to learn about the rest of life on Earth."

The nocturnal animals are light and very small, but the carnivorous primates can leap as far as three meters in a single bound. With their exaggerated features -- startlingly wide eyes (each one as big as their brain), large ears and long feet -- the tiny "Yoga-like" tarsiers attract a lot of tourists who are eager to see and hold rare primates.

Letting people handle tarsiers on a regular basis isn't such a good idea, though. Acording to a report from the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, they're incredibly sensitive animals, and prone to bashing their heads when stressed - even to the point of hurting themselves.

The researchers of the recent study added that their findings highlighted the conservation problems that have been plaguing the region for years. Indonesia is known for having the highest rate of deforestation in the entire world, compromising the habitats of many animals whose population has plummeted in effect.

The findings were published in the journal Primate Conservation on May 4, Star Wars Day.
A bear, who was accidentally shot by a Washoe County Deputy, has died. In a statement, the sheriff's office stated it got a report of bears near homes in the area at about 10:45 a.m. May 6, 2017.

"This group of bears had been previously identified as food aggressive and deputies have had numerous encounters with this group in recent weeks," the sheriff's office said.

The office said that they tried all efforts to save the bear but they failed, adding that the Nevada Department of Wildlife arrived about noon.

According to KTVN, the deputy was trying to drive the bear and his three cubs away from the homes in Inclined Village. However, he accidentally fired a live round instead of a rubber bullet.

Speaking to the local news outfit, Daniel Bales, range master with the Sheriff's Office, said that every shotgun round has a different color, depending on what it is. He added that deputies are trained to recognize the differences between them.

Sheriff Chuck Allen, meanwhile, lamented on the human error and poor judgment that had killed an animal's life.

"Clearly when the shotgun was reloaded with the rubber rounds, they did not get loaded in the correct manner and the live rounds or the slugs were inserted into the magazine," says Allen.

As per Kolo TV, Incline Village residents claim that the bear's death is heartbreaking, especially because the village adored her.The villagers had named the bear "Jasper" and there is a book about her.

"I have personally chased bears even as early as this morning without having to use ammunition or without having to use any kind of force," said Bill Ferrall, Bear League volunteer



More than 7,000 people have signed a petition demanding an investigation to explain the bear's unnecessary death. The petition also criticizes Nevada law enforcement and wildlife officers for their actions regarding bears.

Meanwhile, a Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist is suing a Lake Tahoe bear advocacy group, Bear League for claims which "have damaged his reputation and caused him emotional distress."
It's the miracle of Easter in Achill Island. An Irish beach that was lost over 30 years ago has reappeared after a freak tide, to the delight of local residents.

According to a report from The Guardian, the beach Dooagh was wiped out after storms hit Achill Island in 1984. It was left a ragged strip of rocks and rock pools until Easter this year when hundreds of tonnes of sand were dumped in the very same area by a freak tide. Just overnight, the 300-meter golden sand beach was restored.

"In the space of about eight or 10 days, these very strong winds came from the north," Sean Molloy of Achill Tourism explained to CNN. "Apparently what that does is, it blows the surface water back, because this is a south-facing beach. The sea then takes the sands underneath and brings the sands up. That's what I've been told."

Locals rejoiced at the reappearance of the beach, basking in the "new" picturesque sight of the coastline. Tourists have also flocked to the village to see the beach that has cut short its 33-year absence.

"We have a beautiful little village as it is, but it is great to look out and see this beautiful beach instead of just rocks," Alan Gielty, the owner of a restaurant near the coast, pointed out to The Guardian. "Since people have seen the news of the beach, we have had plenty more visitors from the middle of the country."

Achille Island is the country's largest island with a dramatic landscape of jagged cliffs and rolling beaches. It's a particularly popular place for writers, especially those who visit Nobel Prize award-winning Heinrich Boll's old cottage in the island. The island consists of 3,000 people, and its main economy is tourism.
Roman emperor Caligula famously led "orgy ships" that became the stuff of legends. Now, researchers are scouring the volcanic Lake Nemi in Italy in hopes of finding the emperor's last lost pleasure boat.

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or "Caligula" was the third emperor of the Roman Empire ruling from 37 to 41 A.D. The eccentric ruler often dressed as a woman and called himself a god, but also built a reputation of being particularly sadistic and psychopatic, according to a report from Telegraph.

One of the mysteries attached to Caligula is the location of his missing party boat. The emperor had huge luxurious barges built so he could take pleasure cruises around Lake Nemi. Legends describe these boats as floating palaces with heating, plumbing and ornate fittings of gold, marble and mosaic. Rich purple silk sails billowed in the wind. Inside the massive ships, orgies were said to occur.

Two such ships had already been found in 1928 and 1932, but it's believed that a third barge exists, yet to be found.

In hopes of solving this mystery, Italy officials are leading an expedition to the depths of Lake Nemi. A report from Seeker revealed that the search will include researchers from the Environmental Protection Agency of Calabria, Carabinieri divers of Rome, Port authorities of Fiumicino, Rome, and ISPRA, the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research.

Local fishermen spoke of an area in the lake where they would throw their nets and find themselves hauling ancient Roman artifacts.

"We know from documents from the 15th century that one of the boats went down in an area of the lake different to where the other two were found during the Fascist era," local mayor Alberto Bertucci told The Telegraph.

Extravagant artifacts are expected to be recovered with the shipwreck, should the researchers find them.

Last month, the team observed the 100-foot-deep lake using side-scan sonar and sub-bottom profiling, which can detect objects buried up to 9 feet under the lake bed. The two-week survey yielded enough data for analysis until the end of June.

"We have already noticed some anomalies," Luigi Dattola of the Environmental Protection Agency of Calabria said in an interview with Seeker. "They will be investigated by the Carabinieri divers in the next days."
After watching a generation of patients fall victim to overdoses and addiction from the mass prescribing of pain pills, researchers seeking alternatives to prescription opioids are turning more frequently to a drug the federal government has long said is neither safe nor effective for the treatment of any medical condition.

A growing consensus in the scientific and medical community points to marijuana having the potential to reduce patients dependence on prescription painkillers and help roll back the opioid epidemic ravaging communities across the United States.

Although some government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, are slowly evolving their stance on cannabis, others like the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration arent convinced of its medical potential. They classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug, alongside drugs such as heroin and ecstasy, and say more clinical trials are needed to demonstrate an accepted medical use for the plant and its extracts.

Some researchers who spoke with NBC Bay Area called it a bit of a catch-22. The government wants to see more tests, but because its a Schedule I drug, researchers studying the therapeutic effects of marijuana are subject to tight controls and limited federal funding.

Im a total believer, said Marin County pain management doctor Michael Moskowitz, who has practiced medicine for 40 years. Im not a believer like I believe in the religion of marijuana. Im a believer in the science of it.

Moskowitz has been tracking the results of 78 patients using medical cannabis in conjunction with prescription opioids. His data shows more than half of those patients were able to reduce their dependence on opioids, and five have stopped taking them altogether.

I was listening to people say they are lowering their medicines, but when I actually looked at the data, I was blown away, Moskowitz said.

One of those five patients is an East Bay grandmother who suffered through a decade of sometimes unbearable chronic pain after neck surgery, a car crash and breast cancer. She asked her name be kept private over concerns her career in healthcare could be impacted, despite the recent legalization of marijuana in California.

I feel like if I pulled all of my hair out it would be better than what I was going through, she said.

California Opioid Prescriptions 2008  2015

California opioid prescriptions rose 20% between 2008 and 2015.

COUNTY 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Alameda 778,311 777,277 912,361 889,869 913,749 914,672 916,430 874,769 Contra Costa 704,694 720,474 827,990 803,380 813,737 819,091 830,998 801,117 Marin 162,796 157,563 184,324 176,608 177,145 176,845 173,760 166,319 Napa 95,958 98,816 110,450 102,752 106,588 109,624 112,729 122,942 San Francisco 390,478 417,795 442,072 421,641 419,539 404,755 385,624 370,482 San Mateo 319,075 318,376 367,938 356,632 361,049 356,640 351,320 340,187 Santa Clara 678,887 693,700 794,795 774,044 779,671 765,151 763,259 742,442 Solano 301,771 314,746 356,336 356,875 360,939 366,085 378,086 368,534 Sonoma 400,107 400,021 458,931 441,768 452,022 457,995 455,538 446,855 TOTAL 3,832,077 3,898,768 4,455,197 4,323,569 4,384,439 4,370,858 4,367,744 4,233,647

Source: California Department of Justice, Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System Data

Just like tens of millions of other Americans, she relied on a bevy of prescription painkillers to get her through each day.

According to federal data, more than one-third of people in the United States age 12 and over took prescription pain killers in 2015. Even in the Bay Area, where the epidemic is mild compared to other parts of the country, state data shows about 1,200 people have died from prescription opioid overdoses between 2011 and 2015.

Bay Area Prescription Opioid Deaths by County 2008-2015

Acute poisoning deaths involving prescribed opioid pain relievers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and fentanyl. Death related to chronic use of drugs excluded.

COUNTY 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2008-15 2011-15 Sonoma 52 36 45 21 20 10 25 21 230 97 Marin 24 23 22 5 9 5 2 3 93 24 Contra Costa 53 36 29 35 34 35 40 38 300 182 Solano 14 15 17 13 2 2 18 13 94 48 Napa 4 6 5 4 1 6 4 5 35 20 San Mateo 14 14 14 13 15 20 17 18 125 83 Santa Clara 31 33 38 53 32 39 45 47 318 216 San Francisco 14 88 101 99 52 65 58 72 549 346 Alameda 14 21 30 38 29 31 36 47 246 181 Total 220 272 301 281 194 213 245 264 1,990 1,197 California 1,443 1,616 1,557 1,548 1,318 1,412 1,449 1,382 11,725 7,109

Source: California Department of Public Health

The grandmother says she took the drugs responsibly and never developed any dependency issues, but remained wary after a career in healthcare exposed her to their potential harm.

When Moskowitz approached her about trying medical cannabis, she was nervous at first. She had no interest in "getting high." But faced with the alternative of chronic pain and a dependence on prescription painkillers, she decided to dip her toes in the water, and started with a strain low in THC, the principal psychoactive component of cannabis.

I wasnt sure if it would work or not, she said. I was nervous and shy about the whole process until I began to realize I was getting better.

Moskowitz refers patients to Synergy Wellness, a medical cannabis collective in Marin County that specializes in products that heal without the high. Owner Leonard Leinow says half his members are patients seeking medical marijuana to get off their pain pills.



Although Moskowitz has seen success with his own patients and believes marijuana should have a prominent place in treating pain, he says more clinical trials are needed to sway the greater medical community.

Thats exactly what Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of hematology and oncology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, is working on right now.

Most doctors have adopted the stigma that [cannabis] is a substance of abuse and has no accepted medical use, Abrams said.

Abrams became interested in studying cannabis in the early 1990s and has since become one of the worlds foremost experts on its therapeutic potential. In 2016, he was part of a committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that spent six months reviewing all of the published literature on the health benefits of cannabis and its compounds.

Its very difficult to find published studies in the literature looking for a potential benefit of cannabis, Abrams said. As an oncologist in San Francisco for three-plus decades, I can tell you that Ive seen my cancer patients decrease the doses of opiates or wean totally of them altogether by using cannabis.

Abrams said theres a need for more randomized, placebo-controlled studies to gain a full understanding of the plant and convince the greater medical community of its potential. Now, Abrams is running just one of eight clinical human trials in the country funded by the National Institutes of Health that study the medical benefits of cannabis or one of its compounds.

Legolian Tate is taking part in a clinical trial run by Dr. Donald Abrams studying whether cannabis can relieve pain in patients diagnosed with sickle cell disease. Video credit: Angeline Bernabe

This is the kind of study officials at the FDA and DEA want to see more of before accepting cannabis as a drug with medical benefits.

The FDAs scientific and medical evaluation has determined that the marijuana plan continues to have high potential for abuse and does not meet the criteria outlined by the [DEA] for currently accepted medical use, requiring its continued placement in Schedule I under law, FDA spokesperson Michael Felberbaum said in a written statement.

But some agencies within the federal government, such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which currently funds more cannabis research than any other NIH institute,, are shifting their positions on the drug. According to NIDA, its mission traditionally was to study the adverse effects of drugs and develop treatments for addiction. NIDA says it recently broadened its portfolio to include studies on the therapeutic potential of cannabis, which it says is a reflection of increased interest from the research community.

A recently posted entry on NIDAs website specifically discussed the potential of cannabis to reduce prescription opioid use in pain patients.

Research into the effects of cannabis on opioid use in pain patients is limited, but data suggest that medical cannabis treatment may reduce the dose of opioids required for pain relief. In addition to its research portfolio on the roles of the cannabinoid and opioid systems in pain, NIDA is funding additional studies that will provide data relating to medical marijuana and opioids, it says.

Another recent NIDA study looking at Medicare prescription drug data found that opioid prescriptions were significantly down in states with access to medical cannabis.

Even the DEA, which has yet to budge on its position that marijuana should remain a Schedule I drug, recently began approving more growers to meet the rising demand from researchers. As of now, the only approved source of cannabis for research purposes is a lab at the University of Mississippi.

Yet others in the federal government, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, remain unconvinced that tight controls on marijuana should be lifted.

"I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another," Sessions said at a recent conference for Virginia law enforcement officials.

For researchers like Abrams, the strict controls on cannabis limit his ability to study the drug. He not only needs to get approval from a handful of government agencies, but it can also take a long time to obtain the product and there are limited strains available for testing.

As long as we have the DOJ making decisions as opposed to scientists and physicians, something is broken, he said.

But Abram says those hoops are worth jumping through given the potential he sees in the plant.

Its a lot of work and there are a lot of barriers, but I still think that theyre worth trying to overcome to answer important questions, he said.

Angeline Bernabe also contributed to this report.



Have a story you want the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit to look into? Email theunit@nbcbayarea.com or call 888-996-TIPS. Like Liz on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
Voters head to the polls in Illinois in 10 months for the primary election and already the ad campaign on television signals that the amount of money that will be spent on the governor's race will be record-breaking.

A source tells NBC 5 that Democrat JB Pritzker is spending $1.5 million for two weeks as his introductory TV ad called Think Big saturates TV markets across the state. As one Democratic strategist noted, "if he keeps this pace, he will spend $50 million on TV alone."

That same source said the billionaire businessman has told others that "he's prepared to spend $70 million on the primary alone." [[419186634, C]]

Compare that to 2014, when then-GOP candidate Bruce Rauner spent what was a record-breaking $65.3 million on his entire campaign  both the primary and the general elections. When you add in then-Governor Pat Quinn's campaign funds, $100 million was spent in all.

The Pritzker money factor has incumbent Governor Bruce Rauner "desperate for a budget deal" to end the states nearly two yearlong impasse, according to several Springfield sources.

Rauner, himself a billionaire businessman as well, has begun running his own TV ads, although he has yet to formally announce that is he is running for re-election.
Hundreds of people attended a suburban church service Monday night to pray for the safe return of a neighbor and avid hiker lost in Montana.

While her mom and dad are out of state with the rescue teams, it was standing room only at St. Luke's where a community came together in prayer for River Forest native Madeline Connelly, 23, and her dog Mogi. Family members tell NBC 5 the Oak Park River Forest High School grad is an experienced hiker.

"There is not one of us that doesn't think she's coming home," Elaine Cinkay Connelly, Madeline's aunt, said. She added that Madeline recently spent two nights at nearby Starved Rock by herself.

Madeline had been back, living in the area for a couple months, but the mountains were calling her, family says. She went to Montana to see family, on her way to a job prospect in Alaska when she began the hike Thursday.

"I believe she was intending spending one night out there and come back Friday," Elaine said.

But five days later, Madeline hasn't been heard from. Searchers began looking for her on Saturday around Bear Creek trail where she went missing near Glacier National Park. Her car was found nearby.

"we did have a full-scale search on Saturday," said Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry. "We've continued that throughout the weekend. Both Saturday night and last night. They're back at it today. We've had varying numbers of people. Anywhere from 10 to 15 people actually actively searching."



A family friend, Kate Novelle, told NBC 5 the tracking effort was thwarted Sunday by rain.

"I keep looking at all these grandchildren thinking, out of all of em Madeline is the only one I would trust being out there," Michael Connely, Madeline's uncle, said.

"She just wants to be free," Elaine said.
Law enforcement officers in one majority-white Mississippi county are unfairly targeting black people for traffic stops and searches of homes and property without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, a civil rights group claims in a new federal lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Monday sued the sheriff's department in the Jackson suburb of Madison County. The suit seeks a court order against what it calls "a coordinated top-down program" that creates unequal treatment of black and white people. It also seeks a civilian board to review complaints against the department.

Sheriff Randy Tucker would not immediately comment Monday because he had not seen the lawsuit, spokesman Heath Hall said. Tucker, who is white, took office in 2012.

ACLU Mississippi executive director Jennifer Riley-Collins said problems in Madison County have existed for generations. The lawsuit says Tucker has continued longstanding policies, including warrantless searches of black residents' homes and seizure of their property, vehicle roadblocks that target black people and "jump out" patrols by plainclothes deputies that target black people for searches.

Madison County is 58 percent white and 38 percent black, roughly the same as Mississippi.

Plaintiffs Khadafy and Quinnetta Manning are a married couple who live in Canton, the seat of Madison County government. The lawsuit says that in the early morning of June 26, 2016, six deputies "stormed" into their home and demanded that the couple sign false statements saying they had witnessed a crime in their neighborhood that they did not see.

During a news conference Monday at the ACLU office in Jackson, Quinnetta Manning, 29, said deputies handcuffed and beat her 35-year-old husband, who uses a cane because of a nerve condition. She said one of the officers called her husband "Mr. Cripple." She said one deputy threatened to arrest and jail them if they didn't write a false witness statement against another black person.

"I was terrified," Quinnetta Manning said. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what would happen to my children or I, so I agreed to write the statement."

She said her husband was dragged out of the house, down some stairs, and was put into a patrol car and beaten until he wrote a false witness statement.

"I am scared all the time that the sheriff's department will hurt me or family," Quinnetta Manning said. "I feel unsafe in my own home."

Another plaintiff, 27-year-old Steven Smith of Canton, said that in January, he and a friend were walking near the mostly black housing complex where they live, and they were stopped by deputies.

"I should be able to walk home without being harassed by the police," Smith said Monday.

Smith, who works as a restaurant cook, said he was jailed after a deputy ran a background check on him and found he owed an unpaid fine to the county.

"I should feel protected, but I don't feel protected, and I don't trust them," Smith said. "It's not a crime to be black, and I shouldn't be targeted just because of the color of my skin."

Paloma Wu, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi, said research for the lawsuit started months ago. She said dozens of people were interviewed, and the ACLU filed numerous public records requests with the sheriff's department.
An ordinance banning tobacco products at parks in Cheshire goes into effect next week.

The Cheshire Parks Department says a new ordinance banning tobacco products from town parks aims at helping them clear up the air.

"It's toxic it's dangerous it's a health risk and we want to keep it away from kids," said Parks and Recreation Director Bob Ceccolini.

The ordinance, which passed 7-2 at a town council meeting in April, will affect all six town parks. Residents who spoke with NBC Connecticut were in favor of the move.

"That's actually a good thing. It's not healthy for it to be around children," said Cheshire resident Kelly Plourde.

"Children should not be breathing second hand smoke outside," said resident Rich Lendino.

The ban includes cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and no e-cigarettes.

Officials said theyll need help from the public to enforce the rules.

"People see something going on at the park they'll say something and we would think this would be the same thing," Ceccolini explained.

If users wont comply, park visitors can call the police, and the violator face a $150 fine.

Parents say they will do what they can to ensure the rules are followed.

"I think it's a wonderful idea and if people want to smoke they can walk the 40 feet away and they smoke - they shouldn't be smoking around children anyway, it's a bad example. If they want to smoke when they get older that's their choice," Lendino said.
We value your privacy.

Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy.
Connecticut State Police have arrested a man accused of pulling a gun on troopers during a struggle in April.

Police said the incident began on April 22 around 6:30 p.m., when troopers pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 95 near exit 27. During the traffic stop troopers found illegal items and tried to detain the driver.

The driver, identified as 33-year-old Robert Bowens, of Bridgeport, ran off. Troopers followed and deployed a stun gun on Bowens, but it did not work. Police said that as troopers struggled with Bowens, he pulled out a gun.

Bowens escaped when family members arrived in an SUV. Bowens jumped into the vehicle, which traveled the wrong way down I-95 north. When troopers cut the vehicle off, it drove the wrong way onto Route 8 south and escaped.

On Tuesday, authorities located Bowens and took him into custody. He was charged with criminal attempted assault, assaulting a police officer, reckless driving, criminal possession of a firearm, weapons in a motor vehicle, possessing a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of ammunition, criminal possession of an electronic defense weapon. Police said Bowens is a convicted felon and had two outstanding violation of probation warrants.

He was held on a combined $700,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
A man wanted for murder charges after a fatal shooting in Hartford last November has been arrested in Florida.

Headley Thomas, 28, was wanted on an active arrest warrant after shooting Jamie Rivera to death on Maple Avenue near Bond Street on Nov. 25.

Hartford police said Rivera, 27, was sitting in his car when he was shot, found in the front yard of a home on Bond Street, transported to Hartford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m. that day.

In December, a warrant for Thomas was secured, however, several attempts to locate the suspect were unsuccessful. Hartford police said they learned that Thomas may have fled to St. Petersburg, Florida.

At 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Thomas was arrested by Tampa Florida officials in St. Petersburg.

Thomas is currently being held as a fugitive from justice in Florida and will be extradited to Connecticut.
A day after the announcement of a mass reorganization of churches by the Archdiocese of Hartford some parishioners are left wondering where they'll go next.

The most churches that will be impacted by the reorganization are in Waterbury, where 17 churches will either close or merge with other parishes.

Regular Mass will end at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish on Willow Street at the end of June. Its parishioners have been worshiping for around 100 years

Rich Corrigan of Watertown is upset because St. Margaret is a place where he and his family have made memories.

I was baptized in the old church Dec. 2, 1951. I made my first communion there, I made my confirmation there. My wife and I were married there, said Corrigan.

St. Margaret is slated to close, along with Sacred Heart, St. Lucy, and St. Stanislaus Kostka. Those four will merge with St. Anne and our Lady of Lourdes to become a new parish, known as All Saints. It is the largest union under the reorganization.

"The feeling is its frustration because I dont believe that we should have closed," said Corrigan.

Corrigan said when the official decree was announced at his church, he filed an action to suppress it, but it was rejected.

I still have a strong faith but my faith in the Catholic Church in the administration and the hierarchy and the people that we are dealing with have really been troubling to me. I mean its not a place I want to be," he said.

A spokesperson with the archdiocese of Hartford said that 186 church buildings will remain open and a total of 26 will close.

A closure doesnt mean the physical building wont ever be used  a spokesperson with the archdiocese told NBC Connecticut there still may be weddings and funerals in the building, just not regular Mass.

And its up to the new parish whether they will repurpose the buildings.

NBC Connecticut reached out to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish and its administrator, Reverend Diego Jimenez multiple times today but havent heard back.

For more information, visit the Office of Pastoral Planning website.

The table below details the mergers. The names for newly created parishes were voted on by members of the archdiocese.

Note that some of the mergers have already taken place. Churches with an * are being closed, which means they will cease holding regular Mass by June 29.
Plainville parents say they're shocked and concerned after receiving a letter from their school district regarding someone who, until recently, worked at Plainville High School.

In the letter, Superintendent Maureen Brummett wrote that "On or about, April 3, my office learned that one of its former high school staff members is under investigation for allegations concerning inappropriate off-campus activities."

A source identified the person under investigation to NBC Connecticut and the superintendent said that individual was a teacher at the high school. NBC Connecticut is not releasing the name of the person under investigation because the individual has not been charged.

At a board of education meeting Monday night, the topic was not brought up but the superintendent told us off camera that last month a student brought an online video to the attention of the principal and that the principal then alerted the superintendent. The superintendent says she watched the video, reported it to police, and the teacher was put on administrative leave with pay.

The letter to parents points out that "steps were taken to ensure that the employee would not come onto school property. The employee has since resigned employment with the Plainville Community Schools."



The district did not say what the video showed.

The superintendent told us "We took immediate action. We take this very, very seriously. Student safety is our number one priority."

Parents we spoke to did not want to go on camera but say they're upset to hear the news and they, like many others in the community, want to know more.

We tried to get in touch with that teacher but were unable to do so. We reached out to police but have not yet heard back.
Officials have already warned that its a bad tick season, now the state testing lab says nearly 40 percent of tickets tested in recent weeks carry Lyme disease and the lab is experiencing a backlog.

The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters spoke with one family waiting to hear what kind of consequences their brush with one tick might have.

The Borensteins said they regularly monitor their children, but missed a tiny tick burrowed in their 4-year-old daughters ear.

"We had no idea what it was, but it was pretty horrifying, pretty gross to look at," Yanky Borenstein said.

The family thinks their daughter picked the tick up on a playground and that it probably fed on her blood for an entire weekend before it was discovered. They removed it with tweezers.

Borenstein brought the tick to the testing lab at the Agriculture Experiment Station in New Haven, where doctors test ticks to see if they carry Lyme or other diseases.

"We only test ticks that have blood fed and are engorged," Dr. Theodore Andreadis said.

Ticks are tested so people know if they need to be treated for various tick-transmitted diseases. Lyme disease, one of the most well-known, is a disease that, if left untreated, can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system. Typical symptoms are fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash.

Andreadis said theyve been overwhelmed by the number of ticks coming in to the facility for testing this year.

"It takes several hours just to open these envelopes, determine the species and engorgement status and find out how many will be tested. Routinely, we determine about 80-percent of these ticks needs testing and you can imagine if you receive 1000 of these ticks, we test 800 of them," explained Dr. Goudarz Molaei, a research scientist and director of the tick testing program.

The lab told the Borensteins that theyll have to wait longer than the normal two to three day wait because of the backlog at the facility.

The agency is under a state-mandated hiring freeze and unable to fill a recent vacancy, which is contributing to the issue.

"We're hoping state officials will realize this is an important service we're contributing to the health and well-being of residents," Molaei said.

Andreadis said they need more people to keep up with all the tick testing.

"Some people/physicians are waiting to make a determination to treat. But we're doing best we can, to keep up," Andreadis said.

Andreadis said you need to check yourself very closely, because ticks will feed quickly on humans and pets alike.

Veterinarian Dr. Danielle Bresnan Furphy suggests using a lint roller on pets during a tick check.

"I always check behind their ears, behind their neck and really look around the collar bc that's where they like to go," Furphy said.

She also recommends flea and tick products.

"It's more important you protect your animals from the disease so you don't bring it in your house and infect yourself," she said.

Another lesser-known concern is the emerging viral disease Powassan virus, which is transmitted to humans by infected ticks. Powassan virus can cause long-term neurological problems and people with severe cases often require hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For more information on Lyme Disease, click here.

For more information on Powassan Virus, click here.
Torrington police are investigating two reported sex assaults.

Detective Kevin Tieman told NBC Connecticut the department is investigating two reports of people being sexually assaulted by strangers.

The first incident was on High Street during the first week of April and the second occurred in the area of Still Water Pond Sunday.

The victim of Sunday's attack told NBC Connecticut that she was standing outside her car smoking a cigarette when someone came up behind her and knocked her to the ground.

"He told me not to make a move, so I didn't. And he raped me on the side of the road," she said.

NBC Connecticut is not identifying the woman because she is a victim of sexual assault.

"I stayed there for a few minutes until I heard the footsteps gone. I got in my car and left, she said.

The woman said she was left with scratches all over her body caused by the pavement. She drove herself to the hospital where hospital officials called police.

There is no evidence to suggest that the same person is involved in both incidents, police said.

"Both incidents involved suspects at night, so their descriptions are very, very vague," Detective Kevin Tieman, of the Torrington Police Department, said.
People in Litchfield County woke up to a bit of a surprise this morning - snow was falling at a steady clip! The official observer in Norfolk, Russell Russ, told me the snow was mixed with rain this morning from 8:00-9:00 and then at 9 a good burst of heavy snow occured. No accumulation occurred.

This snow was nothing like what occured 40 years ago in Connecticut. The infamous May 1977 snowstorm dropped an incredible 20" of snow in Norfolk and 1.3" at Bradley International Airport. Still, in Norfolk a trace of snow has been recorded 85 times since 1943 and there have been 16 instances of measureable snow.

The storm was a ferocious nor'easter that was almost as unsual as the October 3, 1987 storm or October 30, 2011 storm with widespread tree and power line damage due to the large number of leaves on the trees.
Fort Worth police broke up a cockfighting event that ended in the arrests of three men, and 130 birds confiscated, but many had to be euthanized.



Officers were called to a home in the 4300 block of Windowmere Street just after 11 a.m. Sunday.

Police said 95 cocks, 17 hens and 18 chicks were seized. Seventeen recently-dead cocks were also found on the property.

"We humanely euthanized 90 roosters, all who were in some state of suffering," Diane Covey with the Fort Worth Animal Shelter said via email. "Some of the roosters were still wearing gaffs, they were bleeding from wounds, and/or near death." Gaffs are the weapons strapped to the roosters' legs for fighting.

The Humane Society of North Texas told the Star-Telegram it is caring for several hens and chicks. Covey said the city shelter will work worth appropriate rescue organizations to place the rest of the birds.

Officers cited five people and three men were arrested. Police identified the arrested men as Andres Hernandez, 65; Melecio Diaz, 33; and Jorge Orozco-Carmona, 25.

Police say officers found Diaz in possession of 15-20 razor like claws, and during the investigation he admitted to putting three cocks into the ring to fight with other cocks.

Hernandez was also found in possession of several gaffs and slashers.

Orozco-Carmona told police he allowed people to have the cockfight on his property because they had nowhere else to fight, and according to police during the interview he told detectives he charged a $20 entry fee and organizers of the fight also gave him a percentage of the earnings.

Diaz and Orozco-Carmona face state felony cockfighting charges, while Hernandez faces a misdemeanor cockfighting charge.
Fire crews worked to extinguish a fire in Lake Worth Monday afternoon.

The fire was reported at the Texas Movie Bistro at 3980 Boat Club Road. That's just north of the Highway 199 and Loop 820 interchange. [[421679453, R]]

We know several other fire crews have been called in to help, including Saginaw, Fort Worth, and Eagle Mountain.

Check back and refresh this page for the latest update. As this story is developing, elements may change.
Tuesday marks three days since the family of Jordan Edwards laid the 15-year-old to rest.

Edwards was known to have a big heart and a bright smile; his character and determination in school pointed toward a bright future.

Edwards was shot and killed by Roy Oliver, a Balch Springs police officer. Oliver now faces a murder charge for the deadly April 29 shooting.

Now, the nightmare of his sudden and tragic death has caused immeasurable grief for his family. Even still, in their loss, they are focused. They have organized a list objectives that they believe will aid in the pursuit of justice.

Their main goal is legislative and systematic change within police departments around the country. However, more specifically, the family is focused on five immediate objectives:

An indictment for murder on former Officer Roy Oliver Assign a special independent prosecutor to the case Release the names of other officers and prosecute said officers to the fullest extent of the law Provide family and family's attorney with all video evidence of the case Request a rigorous investigation of the Balch Springs Police Department by the Department of Justice

The family also filed a lawsuit citing Roy Oliver and the Chief of Police for the Balch Springs Police Department for both sharing a false narrative regarding the direction and motion of the vehicle before Oliver fired his weapon.

"The lawsuit also mentions other officers," said the family's attorney Lee Merritt. "There is another officer involved in the incident or nearby at the time of the shooting. Who we believed had covered up for Oliver immediately following the shooting," Merritt added.

According to the family's attorney, Roy Oliver's deadly force was the result of the department's broken and biased system.

"It's easy to scapegoat one officer as the bad apple," said Merritt. "We get a false sense of security when everything is blamed on one officer, but if we dont look at the system that allowed this kind of thing to fester, if we dont look at the system that went to work immediately to protect this officer from criminal liability, then well see the same thing happen over and over again."



Community Rally, Efforts for Change

The family asked the community not to protest or rally until he was laid to rest, which was purposeful.

"As you value a life, as you identify the person you are protesting for, it separates it from just a cause," Merritt said. "It separates it from the energy of the moment. It personalizes it, and for me, I really did take that time to learn about Jordan and to learn about how much hope he represented."

A march has been scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. People will gather in front of the Frank Crowley Courthouse in Dallas.
It is the same image that keeps playing in Maximus and Maxwell Everette's mind:

Their friend, Jordan Edwards, slumped over in the front seat.

The 15-year-old twins were sitting in the backseat of the Chevy Impala in which Jordan was shot and killed by Balch Springs, Texas, police Officer Roy Oliver.

Oliver now faces a murder charge.

The Everette twins said they hope the charge turns into a conviction  and life in prison.

"Everything that's going on, we're making progress from getting cops doing bad things to people for no reason. We're going in the right direction to get justice for everything going on, especially for Jordan," Maximus said.

The twins' mother said she gave permission for them to go to the house party on Baron Dr. on Saturday, April 29. She didn't know then that it would change everyone's lives.

Police were called to the home for a noise complaint. When teens saw police officers arrive, they started to scatter.

"I got in the car. We were fixing to leave because we heard some loud noises outside, and as we were driving away, all I heard was a cop start shooting the car," Maxwell said.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit for Oliver, the car was driving past the officers when Oliver fired his rifle, hitting Jordan Edwards in the head. Four shell casings were found.

There were five teens in the car: Edwards, his two brothers and the twins. After the shots were fired, they drove down the block and were stopped by other Balch Springs Police officers, according to the affidavit.

"The cops came to tell us to get out of the car, with their guns out and stuff," Maxwell said. "They had put us in handcuffs while Jordan was still in the car. And they weren't even helping him. They were more worried about the caution tape outside, more worried about that. I don't know how long he went without them talking to him."

Maximus said there was confusion about why Jordan was left bleeding in the front seat, and why the teens were promptly handcuffed.

"We were just kids leaving a party. We shouldn't have to fear the police when our parents teach us to respect them," Maximus said. "So I don't see why they would fear kids leaving a party."

A Balch Springs spokesman said the boys were detained for questioning. No citations were issued.



Edwards' family filed an excessive force suit against Balch Springs, the police department and Oliver. The teens account of being handcuffed was included in the lawsuit.

Oliver was released on bond Friday.


Two North Texas families are making funeral arrangements after a tragic crash early Sunday morning.

You cant make sense of it. I cant, said Jeff Wilcox, the uncle of one of the two young victims.

Early Sunday morning, 26-year-old Luis Solano was driving his girlfriend, 23-year-old Promise Hamilton, to D/FW International Airport. She was headed to France to study art and start a new job as an au pair.

The family had a big dinner the night before and she was sitting to my left and she was very nervous, said Wilcox. She was extremely nervous, but excited at the same time.

But the two didnt get far from Hamiltons home in North Dallas. At the corner of Frankford Road and the Dallas North Tollway, a suspected drunken driver, identified Tuesday by police as 26-year-old Moses Githenya Mwangi, slammed into their car, killing both Solano and Hamilton.

Mwangi was hospitalized following the crash, but has since been transfered to the Collin County Jail where he's being held on $500,000 bond while facing two counts of intoxication manslaughter.

I would like to ask him does he really regret it, not just because of whats going to happen to him, and what has happened to him, but does he really regret it, said Wilcox.

The funeral for Hamilton, who was a graphic designer for the Dallas Stars, will be held at the teams practice facility Saturday afternoon.

On the teams Facebook page, the Dallas Stars wrote:

Early Sunday morning, we lost a dear member of the Dallas Stars family. Promise Hamilton was an extremely talented, kind, beautiful, wonderful person. She enriched the lives of everyone she met. If you follow this team, you have no doubt shared our admiration for Promise, every time you see her talented graphic design work come across your social media feed, on our website, or in our advertising. We miss Promise greatly already, and our thoughts, prayers and support are with her family and the family of Luis Solano in this extremely difficult time.

"As her former teacher, its hard to imagine that you would see your former students be buried before you. Promise was a go-getter, she was one of those students you couldn't forget. Full of life, full of energy," said Greg Hill, Hamilton's former geography teacher.



Luis Solano was a student at the University of Texas at Arlington and was a major in mechanical engineering. Upon learning of his death, the school issued the following statement:

Our hearts go out to the Hamilton and Solano families for their tragic loss. The Maverick family will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

Solano's funeral is scheduled for Friday in Sunnyvale.



Friends have established a youcaring fundraising site for Hamiltons family, which can be found here.


A week after Jimmy Kimmel's emotional monologue about his newborn son Billy's open-heart surgery, the late night host again tackled health care with his opening monologue Monday night and spoke to a Republican senator who believes Americans should "have insurance that passes the Jimmy Kimmel test."

Back on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Monday after a week's absence, Kimmel said baby Billy is recovering well from open-heart surgery for a birth defect and thanked well-wishers. Then he charged back into the fraught topic.

"I made an emotional speech that was seen by millions, and as a result of my powerful words on that night, Republicans in Congress had second thoughts about repeal and replace" of the Affordable Care Act, he joked. "I saved health insurance in the United States of America!"

"What's that? I didn't save it? They voted against it anyway?" Kimmel said. The House approved the American Health Care Act last week.

He dismissed those who labeled him an elitist  as a youngster, his family bought powdered milk because they couldn't afford fresh, he said  and pretended to repent for his previous comments.

"I'd like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care. It was insensitive, it was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," Kimmel said.

Kimmel talked to Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana in a video interview. The trained physician had said on CCN last week that health care should be measured by what he called the "Jimmy Kimmel test."

"Would the child born with a congenital heart disease (like Kimmel's) be able to get everything she or he would need in that first year of life... even if they go over a certain amount?" Cassidy told CNN's John Berman. "So simple answer: I want to make sure folks get the care they need."



Cassidy expanded on that idea with Kimmel, explaining that it's up to the Senate now to make the GOP's American Health Care Act work for people, especially middle- and low-income families. The House narrowly passed the controversial bill on May 4.

"We have to have lower premiums so that if another child is born, that child can get the care she needs not only on the first year but every year thereafter," Cassidy said.

Kimmel echoed an opinion he expressed last week when talking about the new  and expensive  health care needs of his family and others in similar situations.

He said the "Jimmy Kimmel test" should be that "no family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they can't afford it."

However, the senator stressed that figuring out how to pay for that kind of coverage will be a challenge.

"I am all about people having the insurance they need but... we have to be able to afford it both in our taxes and in our personal expenses," Cassidy said.

Kimmel offered a pointed solution.

"I can think of a way to pay for it: Don't give a huge tax cut to millionaires like me and, instead, leave it how it is," Kimmel said. "That would be one way."

Democrats have criticized the Republican health care bill as cutting services for the poor while taxing the rich.

Cassidy said that in order for Americans to get the kind of affordable health care they want, they need to take their concerns to their senators, who will soon cast their own votes on the GOP bill.

"We will get there if the American people call their senators," he said, explaining that people should tell Democrat senators to engage in conversations about the bill and Republicans to help in lowering premiums.

"If we do that, we get an American plan," Cassidy said. "Not Democrat. Not Republican. An American plan, and that's where we need to be."

AP writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.
Sheriff's deputies responded to the Spirit Airlines terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after skirmishes involving irate passengers broke out following the cancellation of multiple flights Monday night.

Thousands of passengers were stranded at the airport because of a dispute between the airline and its pilots, who say they are working without a contract.

Cellphone video posted online shows passengers crowding the carrier's check-in counters and Broward County Sheriff's deputies trying to break up fights and tackling unruly passengers.

Sheriff's deputies arrested three people and charged them with disorderly conduct.

In a statement, airline officials say they're "shocked and saddened" to see videos of the airport incident. The Miramar-based company said it filed a lawsuit Monday against the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) and the ALPA Master Executive Council of Spirit pilots over the disruption, which has lead to to hundreds of canceled flights and impacted thousands of travelers.

We are disappointed that ALPA has decided to engage in this unlawful slowdown, Spirit spokesman Paul Berry said. This has led to canceled flights and prevented our customers from taking their planned travel, all for the sole purpose of influencing current labor negotiations. So we reluctantly filed this suit to protect our customers and our operations.

Spirit also suggested the effort was an attempt by the union to affect contract negotiations.



The union's chairman, Capt. Stuart Morrison, denied the allegations, saying Spirit's pilots would not accept "substandard pay and retirement based on the unenforceable hypothesis that the company may grow more quickly," adding that their peers throughout the industry "have uniformly and properly rejected agreements based on that theory."

Spirit says its service in at least four major airports, including Fort Lauderdale, has taken a hit due to the contract dispute.

Shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday there were six flight cancellations and 21 delays for Spirit at the Fort Lauderdale airport, according to tracking website FlightAware.com. System wide, the airline had 38 cancellations and 63 delays. Passengers flying the carrier are advised to check their flight's status at Spirit.com.

Brionka Halbert, 18, was trying to return to New York Monday night after a weekend at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami when Spirit announced her flight was canceled.

Before we took off, the flight attendants told us we have 28 minutes to board the flight or else the flight will be canceled, Halbert said. Everyone was stressed. They asked us to take out our boarding passes and be ready. Then about 20 minutes after that, they told us the flight was canceled. They sent us to the front desk, so that we could either change our tickets or have our tickets refunded.

Halbert said passengers were "angry and stressed" over the abrupt cancellation. She said it took two to three hours in line to get tickets refunded. "It got rowdy."

According to an arrest report, three people detained by deputies were yelling at employees and threatening them. Officers also alleged they pushed deputies while they were trying to place them under arrest.

"I cried. I'm not going to lie, I cried," Spirit passenger Latreece Smith told NBC 6, recalling the chaotic scene. "I was getting mad. I was getting ready to punch on people, I was so serious."

The Associated Press reported nine flights were cancelled out of the Fort Lauderdale airport. According to Spirit, more than 150 flights have been canceled in the last two days.

Officials from the company told NBC 6 that a Federal Court judge had issued a temporary restraining order that could keep pilots from being able to slow down service.
The League of United Latin American Citizens filed the first of what is expected to be several challenges of Senate Bill 4, the so-called Texas "Sanctuary Cities ban, on behalf of a small town near the Mexican border.

But even before that was filed, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) took a preemptive strike against any lawsuit, asking a court to uphold the constitutionality of the law.

Paxton said Tuesday he decided to do it before there was a legal challenge to avoid dragging the issue out and fighting lawsuits all over the state.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) says the state's "sanctuary cities" law is designed to protect citizens and filed a preemptive strike asking a court to uphold the constitutionality of the law before it was even challenged in court.

There have been different entities out talking about suing the state of Texas over this issue. Instead of having this drag out for a long time, instead of having suits all over the state, consolidate in one place. Get it done. We are confident this is Constitutional. We are ready to go, said Paxton.

Since the bill was signed Sunday by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), it has been blasted by some lawmakers, including Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins (D), who referred to it as a show me your papers law."

When asked if Texans should be concerned about traffic stops, Paxton said no because the law is designed to protect citizens.

No. They should be, I think, happy, because now they have a law in place that will protect them from illegals who have committed crime, he added.

Besides giving police officers the authority to asked about immigration status during detainments, the law also says local law enforcement must comply with federal requests to hold criminals for deportation.

There have been protests in Austin over the law and the ACLU has also threatened legal action. Tuesday, the group put out a travel advisory for Texas, telling travelers they could encounter illegal arrests and profiling if they risk traveling to the Lone Star State.

Paxton shot back with a tweet of his own, saying if you are not breaking the law you have nothing to worry about.

I would not be concerned about being in Texas. This is a law that the legislature has reasonably passed that basically says cities, counties cannot prohibit law enforcement from asking about immigration status. It is similar to what Arizona passed, although the Arizona law required that they ask. In this case, it just leaves the discretion up to law enforcement. They are not required to ask but they can, Paxton added.

Paxton said he is very confident about this legal action.
Backlash for a sales pitch from Jared Kushner's family firm to Chinese investors came quickly, with one former White House ethics advisor calling the weekend's presentation "corruption, pure and simple."

Richard Painter, formerly an attorney for President George W. Bush, said the sales pitch, which focused on an "investor visa" program and mentioned both Jared Kushner and President Donald Trump, came "very, very close to solicitation of a bribe."

Over the weekend, the Kushner Companies invited wealthy foreigners to sink cash into a New Jersey real estate project via the EB-5 program. The so-called "golden visa" program gives foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. development projects a faster track to pursue green cards for themselves and their families.



Nicole Meyer, Kushner's sister, said Monday through a spokesperson that she was sorry if anyone misinterpreted her mention of her brother.
There are approximately 3,800 children currently up for adoption in Texas. Lawmakers are debating House Bill 3859, which would allow faith-based agencies to deny an adoption if the applicant was in opposition to its religious beliefs.

Many congregants at Cathedral of Hope in Dallas will watch what happens with this bill closely.

"I think that any House bill that enforces discrimination or says that one group is better than another group is not in line with the principles and values of America," said Senior Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Neil G. Cazares-Thomas.

The pastor has a unique position is this debate. Not only is he a clergyman, but he and his husband are also adopted parents.

"We adopted Sofia actually from birth. We were present at the birth," he said. "She is the best kid ever. But, I know every parent wants to say that about their own."

The bill is meant to protect agencies who would deny adoptions that would be in conflict with its religious beliefs. Cazares-Thomas can't imagine a caring, loving would-be parent being turned away.

"To use religion to discriminate and to justify your discrimination goes against everything that Jesus spoke of," he said.

"This is not just about the LGBT community. [It would also affect] single people, divorced couple, people who married inter-religiously  Jewish and Christian or Muslim," he added.

The bill's sponsor, State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, said without the protections the organizations could pull out of the system and hurt the already critical shortage of foster homes.

"There are other agencies that will come along and replace them if they don't want to work with LGBT couples, and we've seen that in other parts of the country," Cazares-Thomas said.

Representatives for Dallas-based Buckner International traveled to Austin to support the bill.

"House Bill 3859 provides conscience protection for faith-based providers like Buckner Children and Family Services who cannot abandon the tenets of our faith," Randy Daniels said in a statement.

"We believe there is room for all of us to care for these children, and we believe this bill ensures the inclusion of everyone while enabling us to adhere to our deeply held religious convictions," he added.

Cazares-Thomas said he thinks the bill is unconstitutional and he would rather see money going to help the children than being spent to eventually fight the measure in the court system.

"I will support the religious freedom of anyone to believe whatever they want, but I don't believe in enforcing that through legislation," he said.
Officials are warning residents across Los Angeles of abandoned pools, saying the standing murky, dirty water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and disease.

Even if residents don't have abandoned pools in their neighborhood, Los Angeles County Vector Control recommends to still be aware. Mosquitoes can grow from an egg to an adult in one week in even just a few teaspoons of water.

An abandoned backyard pool in Glassell Park produces 10,000 mosquitoes per week, according to vector control.

"That's ridiculous," said Joe Conte, who lives next door. "It's a health hazard."

Conte said the pool has been a hot spot for mosquito breeding since the renter of the home was hauled off to jail 10 months ago.

"Either the city or somebody needs to step in and help us out here because it's a health hazard," he said.

Vector control has been treating this pool since August, but the city can't drain the pool because the owner can't be found.

Residents of a Toluca Lake neighborhood have the same problem. Mindy Fortune and her daughter play in a yard that's next to a vacant home with an abandoned pool.

"Vector control has been coming out and spraying for mosquitoes but it's not taking care of the problem, it's just delaying it," Fortune said.

City officials have found the owner of the Toluca Lake home and told NBC4 the pool will be drained soon.

Vector control recommends to look out for even the smallest sources, such as plant saucers and outdoor buckets, and just simply dump out the water.

For more information on mosquitoes and how to prevent backyard breeding, visit the county vector's brochure.
Its no secret that celebrities get the best tables at restaurants and the royal welcome at shops and hotels. But several patients and insiders tell the I-Team that hospitals are giving the "rich and famous" preferential treatment as well, and claim it could impact your medical care at the most critical times.

"There were a number of experiences that I had over time where it sort of raised the hair on the back of my neck," said Robert Pedowitz, former chairman of UCLAs orthopedic surgery department. "The ethics of it would suggest that every person who's at the medical center deserves the same access, the same treatment and the same protocols, so it is not fair."

Pedowitz filed an unrelated whistleblower lawsuit against UCLA, and received a $10 million settlement.

Robert Baskin says his wife Yolanda was forced to wait for emergency treatment at UCLA in 2016, because rapper Kanye West had reportedly been admitted to the hospital the same day for exhaustion.

Yolanda was in the midst of a 16-month battle with cancer, which ultimately claimed her life.

"There was obviously a greater security presence then what there typically was. It definitely impacted our getting to the hospital, it definitely impacted the time of getting her in there," Baskin told the I-Team.

"[From] what we've seen, people with a certain amount of access or privilege or sort of a higher profile have the ability to get greater access or greater care," said Kathryn Lybarger, president of AFSCME Local 3299, the University of Californias largest employee union. Local 3299 counts UCLA health workers among its 24,000 members.

"It should be totally unacceptable," Lybarger said.

UCLA declined to comment or answer I-Team questions.

"This is common, every place that Ive worked," Pedowitz said. "I know it happens at other places around the country."

The I-Team spoke to eight other medical professionals who preferred to not be identified. All confirmed that celebrities, politicians, donors and other "VIPs" are treated differently.

In New York City, two mothers told the I-Team that their medical care and access to their newborns was compromised because they had the misfortune of delivering their babies at the same time as Beyonce at Lenox Hill Hospital in 2011.

"The hospital just kind of shifted," Rozz Nash said, who had just delivered twin girls by emergency C-section. "It seemed like doctors and nurses had kind of disappeared off the floor."

"We saw that the cameras in the maternity ward had been covered in cardboard, and we thought that was strange," Nash continued. "We saw men walking around in suits and they had badges that said 'special event,' and they were in a maternity ward. So it was really weird."

"We were lucky nothing happened. They were lucky nothing happened."

Another mother who didn't want to be identified told the I-Team that hospital staff told her, "Listen, you have to work with us. You have to be very patient, we have short staff. We have a special event going on."

Lenox Hill declined our requests for an interview and would not provide a statement, but previously told the New York Times "the security plan was designed not to limit access to patient care areas."

After watching his wife endure a long wait for care at a critical time, Baskin says when it comes to medical care, status shouldn't dictate priority.

"Perhaps their VIP policy should just be very important patients with an 'S,'" Baskin said. "That should include everybody."
To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below.

Washington, May 8 (CNA) The United States on Monday reiterated its support for Taiwan to expand its contributions to the world community and urged Taipei and Beijing to engage in dialogue as Taiwan looked set to be excluded from the World Health Assembly gathering later this month due to China's obstruction.
A physical altercation at a bus terminal in southwest Florida led to an arrest that was caught on camera, but this arrest comes with a bit of a twist.

Tampa police say they were called to the bus mall in the downtown area about a trespasser who had assaulted a security guard and one other person. When they arrived, they encountered Charles Gerard Kee seen on surveillance video.

Police say Kee refused to comply with their commands to stop so they could speak with him.

In their attempt to take Kee into custody, he fought off both officers. That's when a bystander walked over to see what was happening. After a few moments, he jumped in to help subdue Kee, and then others joined in to assist the officers.

Kee was charged with felony battery on a licensed security officer and trespassing.
A former Miami-Dade police officer is finding himself in trouble after allegedly lying about needing leave from the department to serve in the Florida National Guard  and taking thousands of dollars in pay from the agency as a result.

William Weaver II was arrested last week on three felony counts, including grand theft, for submitting two fraudulent orders saying he needed to report for service  despite having previously been discharged, according to an arrest warrant obtained Tuesday.

The 34-year-old Weaver, who joined the MDPD in 2007, was discovered to have submitted fake paperwork for two separate requested in July and September of 2015, the warrant said.

Weaver claimed 62 hours of military leave pay during that time, getting just over $2,250 from Miami-Dade Police.

Officials from MDPD spoke with Florida National Guard staff, who informed them that Weaver had been discharged back in October 2012.
What to Know The city's Department of Investigation says the Department of Corrections was spying on them while the DOI was investigating DOC

The DOC listened in on calls between DOI and confidential informants over a period of several months this year, the DOI says

A top DOC official who oversees intelligence has been relieved of his duties, the city says

A top city corrections official has been relieved of his duties after the Department of Investigation says his staffers were caught spying on the DOI.

Gregory Kuczinski, the deputy commissioner for the Investigation Division and Correction Intelligence Bureau, directed subordinates to spy on DOI undercover operations, the DOI alleges.

In a statement, the city Department of Investigation accused Kuczinski of directing his staff to listen in on calls between the watchdog agency and confidential inmate informants. It said the surveillance continued despite a directive saying it should stop.



The DOI investigates city agencies, officers, officials or employees for potential corruption.

"None of the DOC staff were able to provide a coherent explanation for this misconduct," according to a statement from DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters. "DOI is particularly concerned that there was a renewal of this activity, directed by Kuczinski, immediately after he and other senior staff were informed that DOI was preparing a report on their improper use of city vehicles."

"Our investigation provided no alternative explanation that would suggest this timing was coincidental," he said.

Peters didn't publicly detail DOI's findings, saying the report contains sensitive information about security operations. But he's made several recommendations to Mayor de Blasio, including re-training DOC staff who are tasked with listening to inmate calls on the proper rules and guidance and overhauling phone monitoring at DOC.

"Interference, by anyone, with a DOI investigation is a very serious matter that will not be tolerated," said Peters. "In particular, surveillance of DOI activities in the city's jails by the very agency DOI is investigating, not only compromises investigations but can potentially put the lives of investigators, correction officers, inmates and others at risk."

While Peters called for Kuczinski to be fired, a City Hall spokesman said he's not been terminated; instead, he was relieved from his investigation and call-monitoring responsibilities.

Mayor de Blasio said in a statement, "These are serious and troubling allegations. We will work with the Department of Correction and the Department of Investigation to determine what happened and what changes must occur to ensure that it doesn't happen again."

There was no immediate response to messages left on Monday for Kuczinski. He has told The New York Times he didn't do anything wrong.

The case is the latest setback for a sprawling jail facility plagued by corruption and violence.



The DOI issued a report last week finding that DOC officials, including Commissioner Joseph Ponte, were using their city-owned cars to take unauthorized personal trips to shopping malls, airports, beaches, spas and resorts last year.

Ponte said at a City Council hearing Monday that he misunderstood the city's vehicle use policy.

The commissioner also said he knew of the surveillance ordered by Kuczinski but the goal was not to spy on investigators.

"I was aware of what was happening, yes," Ponte said. "I don't have any interest to impede or in slowing down any DOI investigations."
Legislation that would authorize people with terminal illnesses to request life-ending drugs from physicians is again before state lawmakers in Albany, though top lawmakers are either skeptical about its chances or firmly opposed.

Undeterred, several supporters gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday, hoping stories of loved ones lost to painful illness might convince lawmakers to add New York to the list of five states that already allow physician-assisted suicide.

The visit marked a special anniversary for Janet Green, of Poughkeepsie, whose partner of 26 years, Harry Haight, died a year ago following a battle with brain and bone cancer.

"His pain became unbearable," she said. "I could do nothing to ease his suffering. He often kept saying, 'Please, help me die.' It was agonizing to watch the man I loved suffer so much."

The bill before the Assembly and the Senate would allow terminally ill people to request life-ending drugs from physicians. Two doctors would have to certify that a patient is competent to make the decision and is suffering from a terminal illness, and physicians could refuse to participate for any reason. Two witnesses would be required to be present when a patient completes a written request.

The proposal has been introduced before but hasn't received a vote by the full Legislature. Last year, for the first time, it passed a key Assembly committee, encouraging supporters. But the measure still has very vocal opponents, including Senate Leader John Flanagan, R-Long Island.

"This is a very, very, very sensitive subject," he said Tuesday. "I don't support physician-assisted suicide."

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said the measure must receive rigorous scrutiny before it's ready for a vote.

"I'm not sure it can or will be done," he said.

Several groups including the Catholic Church and advocates for disabled state residents oppose the measure. They worry people with mental illnesses might seek life-ending drugs or others might pressure elderly relatives to end their lives to receive inheritances sooner.

Colorado, Washington, Vermont, California, Oregon and Washington, D.C., have laws on the books allowing terminally ill people to request life-ending medication from physicians.
What to Know Sales people at the Major World dealer group allegedly prepared dozens of auto loan applications with inflated income and asset statements

The false information helped unqualified buyers purchase vehicles they could not afford

In court filings, Major World denied all accusations of improper business dealings

Three years after the I-Team revealed a series of lies typed up on a car buyer's loan application, New York City is alleging a pattern of fraud at a well-known Queens auto dealer.

According to a petition filed by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, sales people at the Major World dealer group prepared dozens of auto loan applications containing inflated income and asset statements. The false information helped unqualified buyers purchase vehicles they could not afford.

In 2014, the I-Team reported on Margaret Zollner, a car buyer who accused staff at Major Chevrolet of tricking her into signing a loan application that falsely stated her income was $60,000, even though she was an unemployed senior citizen who needed food stamp benefits to get by.



Zollner's application also reported that she owned a house, but she rents her home.

"They said I made $60,000 a year. I was on food stamps," Zollner said.

At the time, a spokesperson for Major World suggested Zollner was responsible for signing her name to inaccuracies on the loan application.

But the current DCA allegations sound similar to the claims Zollner made to the I-Team three years ago.

According to the petition, Major World submitted at least 26 inaccurate applications, all of which helped buyers qualify for risky loans requiring them to make payments they couldn't really afford.

Lorelei Salas, the DCA Commissioner, said often the auto buyers negotiated the car deals in Spanish, but signed loan documents that had been prepared in English.

"A lot of them feel really pressured," Salas said. "They would walk in and be made to wait for hours. And then, when the business was about to close like at 7 or 8 p.m., they would be shown a stack of papers they had to go through and they were told to hurriedly sign."

In court filings, Major World denied all accusations of improper business dealings.



The dealer group also issued a statement to the I-Team calling the lawsuit "a misunderstanding about our business practices" and emphasizing only 114 Major World customers have filed complaints with the city in the last three years.



"Almost none of the complaints are about vehicle financing," the statement said.

Zollner was forced into bankruptcy because of the car payments. She is now asking to join the city's lawsuit against Major World.

The complaint seeks about three quarters of a million dollars in restitution for car buyers who were allegedly deceived. It also seeks to revoke licenses for several Major World dealerships. Beyond that, the head of the Department of Consumer Affairs is asking City Council to pass a slate of reforms, that would force auto dealers to be more honest with their buyers.

"I think the Department of Consumer Affairs is announcing there is a new sheriff in town," said Charles Juntikka, the bankruptcy attorney who represents Zollner. "I mean, every dealer in the city must have sat up like this when they saw Major World was brought up on charges for this."
The boyfriend of a missing woman whose body was found in the trunk of her car has been indicted on murder charges.

Pedro Lora-Pena also faces a charge of desecrating human remains and two weapons counts in the indictment handed up by an Essex County grand jury. He's due to be arraigned on May 22.

The 42-year-old Belleville man is charged in the death of 41-year-old Diana Boggio, who had been reported missing in late January. The Belleville woman's body was found a few days later in a car parked on a Belleville street.

County prosecutors have said Lora-Pena admitted shooting Boggio three times when she wouldn't stop texting another man during a drive home from the Bronx, New York. They say the couple had dated for about a year.
A registered sex offender has been identified as the suspect in the horrific sex attack and robbery of a 31-year-old German tourist as she walked back to her Airbnb in Manhattan last week.

Police said Monday they are looking to question Keon Robinson, 28, in connection with Thursday's 3 a.m. attack in Harlem, which was captured on surveillance. The video shows the suspect snatch the woman's purse, then repeatedly punch her; police say she was hit so hard her teeth fell out.

The woman falls to the ground, unconscious, and the suspect gropes her all over her body. (Warning: some may find elements of the above video disturbing.)

Robinson is a former parolee who served seven years for first-degree robbery and first-degree sexual abuse. He was released in 2014 and is a registered Level 3 sex offender, meaning authorities believe him to have a high-risk for repeat crimes and consider him an ongoing potential threat to public safety.

Robinson was jailed again, this time on a parole violation, last summer, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at a news briefing Monday. He got out in January. The pattern of attacks began several months later, Boyce said.



Boyce said detectives want to question Robinson in connection with at least two other violent attacks, including a similar attack on April 24 in Hamilton Heights and another one April 27. In the April 24 attack, the suspect walked up to a woman in her 30s on Bradhurst Avenue in Manhattan and told her, "This could be easy. I have a gun. This could be your day," according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce. The woman started screaming and the man punched her, then stole her purse, Boyce said.



The April 27 attack involved another robbery, but Boyce said the May 4 attack was the only one of the three to involve a sex crime.



Police say Robinson is known to frequent Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. Anyone with information on Robinson's whereabouts is asked to call police. Boyce said he's considered to be armed and dangerous.

Police had arrested a 28-year-old Bronx man on Friday in the April 24 attack, but later determined he was not involved and released him, according to DNAInfo.
House Speaker Paul Ryan was greeted with jeers and boos when he visited the Success Academy charter school in Harlem Tuesday.

The Wisconsin Republican did not speak with reporters Tuesday as he slipped into the Success Academy charter school in Harlem. The school is run by Eva Moskowitz, who was considered for the post of U.S. secretary of education.

Some protesters were lined up outside the school as the car carrying Ryan pulled up and the speaker quickly walked out and into the school amid shouts of "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

The demonstrators were complaining about the GOP legislation to repeal and replace Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. They're also against charter schools, and criticized Ryan for only visiting Success Academy and not the public school that shares the same building.

The crowd of protesters barricaded across the street grew as they held signs, beat drums and chanted things like "Health care for all, not just for Paul" and "Paul Ryan don't care" while police officers fanned out across the street and stood watch.

The Harlem school is part of a network of 41 Success Academy charter schools run by former New York City Council member Eva Moskowitz.

The schools have won praise for students' high standardized test scores. But they've weathered controversies including a leaked video that showed a teacher disciplining a student harshly.

Moskowitz, a Democrat, announced in November that she was taking herself out of the running to serve as education secretary in Trump's Republican administration.
What to Know Rutgers student Carimer Andujar came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a young child

She was suddenly called to the ICE offices in Newark on Tuesday, sparking fears she may be deported

She was ultimately allowed to stay, a victory for immigration advocates, who have been fighting the policies of President Trump

An undocumented immigrant and student activist at Rutgers was summoned to ICE immigration offices in Newark on Tuesday, fearful she would be ordered to her homeland, the Dominican Republic.

More than 100 people demonstrated outside the Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Federal Building in support of Carimer Andujar, a Rutgers junior and chemical engineering student. Andujar came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at 4 years old and is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

I was very nervous, because when I first received the letter it was almost as if my entire world were flipped upside down, Andujar said.

Andujar was ultimately not detained. She returned as a hero of sorts to the rally, and to cheers of Ho, ho, hey, hey  Carimer is here to stay!

Will I decide to continue fighting for the rights of the undocumented people? Andujar said. The answer to that question is yes.

ICE does not comment on individual cases, adding that its priority for those qualifying for DACA are threats to national security and public safety.

It was a victory for immigration advocates, who expect they will return to the federal building here over and over again for at least the next four years.

Montclair State University student Heather Francis was among the demonstrators. She said she has a Dreamer friend, an undocumented Mexican immigrant brought to the U.S. as a child.

Shes very worried, and thats why shes not here today or other people either, because they want to lay low, Francis said.

There are about 770,000 DACA students, or Dreamers, across the nation, according to government estimates. There are around 40,000 in New York, 21,000 in New Jersey and 4,700 in Connecticut.

A minister at the rally, Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, was seething with anger. He said four Indonesian immigrants he gave sanctuary to five years ago at his Highland Park church were called in and then detained on Monday  their future in the U.S. very much in doubt.

As a minister of the church, Im not supposed to talk about it, but I hate this place. I hate it, Kaper-Dale said of the ICE office. I hate everything it stands for.
A recent sales pitch by White House adviser Jared Kushner's sister to potential Chinese investors that centered on a controversial visa program came "very, very close to solicitation of a bribe," a former presidential ethics adviser told NBC News.

Addressing crowds in Beijing and Shanghai Sunday, Kushner Companies invited wealthy foreigners to invest in a New Jersey real estate project through a so-called "golden visa" program that fast-tracks green card applications for those who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. development. The event was hosted by a Chinese immigration firm and featured Nicole Meyer, who name checked Kushner, her brother.

"This is corruption, pure and simple," said University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter, an attorney for President George W. Bush.



On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Kushner has divested from his family firm and had "nothing to do" with the investor recruitment, and Meyer said through a representative that she was sorry if anyone misinterpreted her mention of her brother.
President Donald Trump has approved a plan to arm a Syrian ally, the Syrian Kurdish militia, in the fight against ISIS, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The move reinforces American support for the groups, some of which are considered terrorists by nearby Turkey, another important U.S. ally in the region. A U.S. defense official told NBC News that the move indicates the U.S. believes the Syrian Democratic Force is the fighting force that will eventually go into the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa.

The order allows the U.S. to begin providing the Syrian Kurds with arms and equipment like bulldozers, rifles and radios fairly quickly since some equipment is pre-positioned, officials said.
Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania allege that a man told investigators that he was in a "fit of rage" and shot at two brothers, killing one and critically wounding the other.

Twenty-six-year-old Mario Morancy of Temple is charged in Berks County with first- and third-degree murder and aggravated assault in the Sunday shootings in Muhlenberg Township.

Police said Justin Montpeirous was killed and his brother, Jeremy, was reported in critical condition after surgery at Reading Hospital.

Investigators allege that Morancy told detectives that he fired "in a fit of rage" over a previous assault, and was "extremely humiliated" after video of the assault was posted on social media. He later called police to surrender.

Court documents don't list an attorney and a listed number for Morancy was not in service.
Democratic members of Congress sounded off on Tuesday after President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey for what the White House said was his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

Because the FBI was also investigating possible ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, the Democrats questioned the state of the probe and made impassioned calls to have a special prosecutor on the case.

"This investigation must be run as far away as possible" from the president, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who called on the deputy attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor.

Schumer, according to NBC News, even called on all Senate Democrats to "be on the floor in their seats" at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to hear how, if at all, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will address Comey's firing. A special caucus meeting will then take place at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the next steps.

DV.load("https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3711263-2017-05-09-17-48.js", { width: 600, height: 600, sidebar: false, pdf: false, container: "#DV-viewer-3711263-2017-05-09-17-48" });

Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's running mate during the 2016 election, was not shy about giving his thoughts on the Russia investigation.

"Comey firing recommended by Sessions," Kaine tweeted. "I thought he had recused himself from Russia investigation! Trump firing Comey shows how frightened the Admin is over Russia investigation."

Kaine is close to the situation, as Comey had written to Congress about one week before the presidential election that the FBI had reopened Clinton's email case. Clinton recently said that Comey's very public decision is one of the reasons she  and, therefore, Kaine  lost the election.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, both of Massachusetts, also called for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate possible ties between Trump and Russia.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut agreed with Warren and Markey, tweeting that the firing of Comey "compromises investigation of White House ties to Russians  no doubt now special prosecutor is necessary."

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said the firing "raises the critical question as to whether the FBI investigation of Russian interference in the last presidential campaign will continue and as to whether the investigation of any collusion or involvement by the Trump campaign will also be investigated by the FBI. Any attempt to stop or undermine this FBI investigation would raise grave constitutional issues."

He continued, "Under these circumstances, I renew my call for an independent counsel and a special commission to fully investigate the Russian interference. We await clarification by the White House as soon as possible as to whether this investigation will continue and whether it will have a credible leader so that we know it will have a just outcome.

Eric Holder, a Democrat who served as attorney general under Barack Obama and as deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton, also weighed in.

"To the career men and women at DOJ/FBI: you know what the job entails and how to do it. Be strong and unafraid. Duty. Honor. Country," he tweeted late Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Trump's firing of Comey is "nothing less than Nixonian."

Leahy called Trump's justification for the firing  that Comey had treated Hillary Clinton unfairly in his investigation of her use of a private email server  "absurd."

"The President, in fact, celebrated the Directors egregious mistakes in that investigation. That fig leaf explanation seeks to cover the undeniable truth: The President has removed the sitting FBI Director in the midst of one of the most critical national security investigations in the history of our country  one that implicates senior officials in the Trump campaign and administration," Leahy said.

He added that "this cascading situation demands the prompt appointment of an independent Special Counsel to pick up the pieces of these investigations."

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio tweeted, "Now more than ever, we need an independent investigation into Russian ties to ensure American people can have full confidence in findings."

Sen. Mark R. Warren of Virginia said "the only way this administration can begin to demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law, which has so far been sorely lacking, is to cooperate fully with the ongoing congressional investigations and to support the appointment of an independent special counsel."

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings of Florida said Comey's firing "cries out for a special prosecutor. Up until the moment of his dismissal, Director Comey was actively investigating President Donald John Trumps connection to Russian interference in the 2016 election. The American people deserve to know why Director Comey was fired without reason and Donald Trump needs to explain himself immediately.

Rep. Frederica S. Wilson of Florida said this abrupt action raises many serious questions and is further proof that an independent prosecutor should be named to head the Russia investigation  and could make the possibility of such an appointment more likely."



Many other Congress members quickly took to social media to sound off on the dismissal of Comey and the state of the Russia investigation.



.@realDonaldTrump's brazen firing of #FBIDirector raises the ghosts of some of the worst Executive Branch abuses. https://t.co/7yORPHGLnQ pic.twitter.com/zzjGvA15rQ  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 10, 2017

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans were divided over Comey's firing, with some supporting the president's decision and others voicing concern.
About 250 refugees from Central America arrived in Tijuana seeking asylum, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed.

CBP said 78 of the refugees arrived at the at the San Ysidro port of entry around 6 p.m. Sunday night, including children.

"We want the U.S. Mexico and Central America to recognize there is a refugee crisis," said Roberto Corona, with the Refugee Caravan.

Corona told NBC 7, many people are facing death threats or dying in Central America countries--including Honduras, El Salvador.

According to the CBP, the individuals were allowed entry to the U.S. They will be screened and processed on a case-by-case basis.

After they are screened, the refugees will be turned over the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while their cases are reviewed by asylum officers.

The remaining refugees are still at local shelters in Tijuana.
San Diego-based Bumble Bee Foods LLC, which sells packaged seafood, has agreed to plead guilty to fixing the prices of shelf-stable tuna, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

The charge was filed as part of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into the packaged seafood industry.

The DOJ said Bumble Bee had also agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine. Were the company sold, that fine could increase to a maximum of $81.5 million, according to prosecutors. The San Diego company has also agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

Prosecutors have filed two previous charges related to the investigation, both against employees of the San Diego-based company. In December, Bumble Bee Foods executives Walter Scott Cameron and Kenneth Worsham agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices on packaged seafood from 2011 to 2013.

[[283098621,C]]
An 18-acre religious retreat planned for Mission Valley has hit another snag in approval.

The Legacy International Center plans to feature replicas of Roman catacombs and Jerusalems Wailing Wall, according to the developers website.

The San Diego Planning Commission, set to review the project this week, requested a continuance on Friday and a new date for review has not yet been set, according to a public information officer with the city.

The retreat is planned for the lot where the Mission Valley Resort sits along with the Family Restaurant, and a liquor store.

Opposition to the development is already mounting among San Diegos LGBTQ community because of the developers ties to the discredited ex-Gay movement.

Televangelist Morris Cerullo describe the site as a tourist attraction in an online promotional video, saying the idea for it came to him from Jesus in a dream.

The location is near the Interstate 8 freeway in Mission Valley, just down the hill from Hillcrest and UCSD Medical Center.

Traffic has already been listed as a concern among opponents of the idea, along with Cerullos belief in trying to turn gay people straight.

Thinking you can be changed from your orientation, its really a step backwards in where we are as a community. It really has no place in San Diego, said Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, the president of the San Diego Democrats for Equality club.

The Union Tribune first reported on new details on the $160 million project this morning.

If approved by the San Diego Planning Commission, the Legacy Center would need full City Council approval as well.
Ukraine has banned action film actor Steven Seagal from entering the country for five years.

Seagal, an American, was given Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin last year in a ceremony shown on state television. He has vocally defended the Russian leader's policies and criticized the U.S. government.

A statement from the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday said Seagal's entry was banned "on the basis of Ukrainian national security." It did not elaborate.

Seagal also reportedly has spoken in favor of Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.
One person was killed and two others were injured in a crash in Alexandria, Virginia, Monday night.

A 79-year-old Fairfax man was driving south on Quaker Lane when he ran a red light at Duke Street and struck another car about 10:45 p.m., police said.

The 79-year-old man died at the scene. The two people in the other vehicle were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Pictures from the scene show a heavily damaged car.

The eastbound lanes of Duke Street was closed for a short time for the police investigation.
Eight little ducklings are safe thanks to the careful work of D.C.s Fire and EMS.

The ducklings fell in a storm drain at the intersection Monday afternoon between 12 Street and Main Avenue in southwest Washington.

The mother duck was standing close by as rescue workers used nets to lift the ducklings out of the storm drain.

Animal rescue 12 St X Maine Ave SW. Duckings fell into storm drain. Momma duck standing by. We are working to remove drain cover. pic.twitter.com/y9UmZFdXV8  DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) May 8, 2017

D.C.s Fire and EMS, Animal Care and Control, Water and Sewer Authority and Metropolitan Police Department were all on scene to help rescue the ducklings.

The rescue team tried remove the drain cover at around 4:25 p.m., according to a tweet from DC Fire and EMS. The cover was not removed, so the rescuers used the nets, according to video posted on Twitter.

All ducklings were lifted from the storm drain safely and were reunited with their mother by 5:04 p.m.

Mission Successful! 8 duckings safely retrieved and are back with their mother. pic.twitter.com/o7nwaixx0v  DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) May 8, 2017

It wasn't the only duckling rescue of the day across the East Coast. In New York's Long Island, authorities teamed up to rescue nine ducklings that toppled into another storm drain, NBC 4 New York reported.
Justice Antonin Scalias sudden death in February 2016, left the future of our countrys highest court uncertain for more than a year.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a close friend and called him a jurist of captivating brilliance and wit. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer referred to him as a legal titan.

But to Scalias nine children, he was simply dad.

Father Paul Scalia, a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Arlington and the sixth of the Scalia children, told News4 his fathers guidance and mothers strength influenced his own writing. He recently released his first book, That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion.

Scalia said many of his memories go back to the dinner table.

I dont know if thats the same for all my siblings, but ... my mom and dad put a priority on that -- on having a family dinner and coming together and being together. And, you know, we learned a lot there -- hopefully etiquette and grammar and philosophy, theology. There would be discussions or instructions, depending, he said with a smile. And then there would be a lot of joking and, frankly, some goofing off as well.

Scalia was a junior at Langley High School in McLean when his father was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It didnt matter what was going on on the court and things like that, he said. When he came home he was, you know, he was there and we went through those regular things that fathers and sons go through.

Since Justice Scalias passing, the public has seen more of his wife, Maureen. Father Scalia said his mother is a strong person who always worked to maintain personal relationships with each of her nine children.

When I was in college, I think for all of us, she would write letters -- this is before internet, try to imagine that. But getting handwritten letters from mom, I think almost every week, he said.

The emphasis on writing started early for Scalia. While his book will be released this year, it consists of a collection of essays from the past several years, carrying a religious and spiritual message.

My hope is that people will find in it a way to grow in the faith and come to know Jesus Christ better, and his church and the teachings, he said.

Faith is what Scalia trusts has guided him and his family through the pain of the past year.

You lean on those who are around you, he said. Most of all, for us, it was leaning on our faith.

In the wake of Scalia's death, as many people asked who would replace the late justice, his son said he needed to disconnect from the noise. He craved a moment of stillness.

I went away for a couple of days. And, I think, my siblings did as well -- lets just kind of decompress and unplug for a little bit, he said.

Over the past year, Scalia and his siblings have taken turns traveling with their mom across the country. They have attended countless memorials and tributes to Justice Scalia.

In Arlington, George Mason Universitys Law School now bears Justice Scalias name.

Its bittersweet, obviously, because the occasion of all those things is his death, his son said. So, its been tough going through it, but its been a great blessing.

Some of the essays in Scalia's book were written before his father passed away. The Supreme Court justice read and weighed in on some of them.

He encouraged me, you know, [he] thought it was a good thing and sort of [joked], Why didnt you do this sooner? and sort of some good-natured ribbing in that way, he said.

At the start of the book, Scalia mentions another book, one his dad carried with him for more than a half a century: his Catholic missal.

Its the prayer book, if you will, that he got in 1960, the year my parents were married, he said. Its a wonderful sort of connection with him, with the family, with his faith.
When a Maryland man finally found the dream car he could afford online, he got taken for a ride.

Jerome Harrells first car was a 1955 Chevrolet, and years later, he wanted another one. He searched 55 Chevy online and found a lot of them, but most of them were too expensive for him, he said.

Then the Vietnam veteran saw one for $3,000.

I jumped on it because I figured you can't get one for $3,000 nowhere else, Harrell said. So I jumped on it, and everything went just fine.

He said everything looked legitimate. The seller told him she got the car in a divorce settlement, which was why she was selling it at a bargain.

She told him the car would be delivered from West Virginia after he paid using Google Wallet, a service that allows payments to made digitally.

Then he got what looked to him like an official invoice instructing him to pay using a bitcoin ATM, a machine that allows the exchange of cash and bitcoins, the uninsured digital currency created and exchanged anonymously and independent of banks or governments.

Never heard it before or anything, but we went on the computer and looked at it and it says it's in Wal-mart, so I figured it had to be legit, Harrell said.

He sent a total of $4,400 to the seller and was told the car would arrive in three days.

I couldn't even hardly sleep that night because I was excited because the car is going to get here, he said.

He watched out the window for the delivery all day, but as the hours went by, he realized hed been scammed.

He emailed the seller, but she didnt reply.

Google Wallet told him they dont use bitcoin and confirmed hed been scammed.

To prevent becoming a victim of such a scam, here are four things to know:

Be wary of any "too good to be true" deals.

Make sure you know with whom you are dealing. If the seller only wants to communicate through email, that's a big red flag.

Scrutinize every message you receive. Scammers work hard to make their emails look official. The one Harrell received had the Google Wallet logo and even came from an email address that looked legitimate at first glance.

Finally, when making large purchases online, think twice about using bitcoin. Treat the digital currency as cash.

Harrell said he learned an expensive and heartbreaking lesson, and he gave up on the search for another 55 Chevy.
What to Know Harassment was the most frequent type of abuse in 2016, accounting for 18 percent of the total number of cases.

The most prevalent trigger of an anti-Muslim bias incident was the victims ethnicity or national origin in 35 percent of cases.

CAIR found hate crimes targeting Muslims surged 584 percent from 2014 to 2016.

A new report showed a dramatic increase in anti-Muslim incidents, rising by 57 percent from 2015 to 2016, with the most frequent incidents involving harassment.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, released the national report. It also showed a 65 percent increase in anti-Muslim incidents from 2014 to 2016.

Harassment, a non-violent or non-threatening bias incident, accounted for 18 percent of the reported incidents in 2016. The FBI was named in 15 percent of the bias cases and had the highest number of cases involving a federal agency.

In the D.C. metro area, anti-Muslim incidents from 95 in 2015 to 128 in 2106 while hate crimes rose from nine to 12 in the same time frame.

The report listed the triggers for the incidents, with the victims ethnicity or national origin accounting for 35 percent of the cases. Sixteen percent occurred as a result of a woman wearing a headscarf or hijab.

Members of CAIR said they plan to fight back by becoming more visible in the community. They have hired more attorneys to challenge policies from the Trump administration that they consider discriminatory against Muslims, like the travel ban executive order.
Police are investigating an upskirting incident reported at a Wal-Mart in Manassas, Virginia.

A 23-year-old Manassas woman was shopping at the Wal-Mart at 9401 Liberia Ave. Thursday at 1:45 p.m when she felt something touch her skirt, police said. She told police when she turned around she saw an unknown man holding a cellphone under her skirt.

The victim told police she confronted the man, and he fled in a black Lexus SUV.

The suspect is described as a thin black male with black hair. He is about 6 feet tall. He was wearing a gray shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke took an aerial tour Monday of one of America's newest and most hotly contested monuments  one of 27 he's been ordered to review by President Donald Trump to determine if they were properly established.

Zinke's tour guide for the helicopter ride over the 1.3-million acre (5,300 square kilometers) swath of southern Utah with red rock plateaus, cliffs and canyons was Gov. Gary Herbert, one of several prominent Republican leaders in the state who oppose Bears Ears National Monument.

Herbert, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and the rest of the all-GOP congressional delegation consider the monument creation by former President Barack Obama an unnecessary layer of federal control that will hurt local economies by closing the area to new energy development. They also say it isn't the best way to protect the land.

"The only way to truly learn about and understand a place is with boots on the ground," Zinke posted to Twitter after landing in Blanding for the second day of his four-day trip to see Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Zinke and Herbert were expected to hold a news conference later in the day before taking a hike to one of the ancient ruins within the Bears Ears site.

The monument review is rooted in the belief of Trump and other critics that a law signed by President Theodore Roosevelt allowing presidents to declare monuments has been improperly used to protect wide expanses of lands instead of places with particular historical or archaeological value.

Conservation groups contend that the monument review puts in limbo protections on areas that are home to ancient cliff dwellings, towering Sequoias, deep canyons and ocean habitats where seals, whales and sea turtles roam.

In Blanding, with a population of 3,400 people, two large banners read, "#RescindBearsEars," reflecting the popular sentiment among residents.

Those who want Zinke to leave Bears Ears alone to preserve lands considered sacred by tribes made their voices heard, too. Tara Benally, a member of Navajo Nation, was standing just outside the Blanding airport wearing a shirt commemorating the December declaration of Bears Ears National Monument.

"We want it left as is. We have history going through there," said Benally, who lives in the nearby town of Bluff. "That was basically my mom's playground as she was growing up."

After his arrival Sunday in Salt Lake City, Zinke was met by about 500 protesters who chanted, "Save our monuments, stand with Bears Ears."

He held a closed-door meeting with a coalition of tribal leaders who pushed for the monument then spoke of his admiration for Roosevelt,

Zinke, a Montana Republican, said "it is undisputed the monuments have been an effective tool to save, preserve our greatest cultural treasures."

He insisted there is no predetermined outcome of his review, saying he may not recommend the monuments be made smaller or rescinded, and he might even recommend an addition.

Zinke has been tasked with making a recommendation on the Bears Ears monument by June 10, about 2 months before a final report about all the monuments.

"I'm coming in this thing as a Montanan, a former congressman and now the secretary of the Interior without any predispositions of outcome," Zinke said. "I want to make sure that the public has a voice, that the elected officials have a voice."

The two monuments he's reviewing in Utah are quite large. Created in 1996, Grand Staircase-Escalante is 1.9 million acres (7,700 square kilometers), about the size of Delaware. Bears Ears is a bit smaller at 1.3 million acres.

Environmental groups have vowed to file lawsuits if Trump attempts to rescind monuments  a move that would be unprecedented.

On Tuesday, Zinke plans to tour the Bears Ears area on horseback.

"I think, sometimes, the best way to see things is slow and easy with a horse," Zinke said, referring to his commute ride through the streets of Washington, D.C., on his first day as Interior secretary.
New Hampshire's Democratic U.S. senators say the health care overhaul passed by the U.S. House would take a "wrecking ball" to the state's ability to fight the opioid crisis.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan spoke out against the Republican-backed legislation Monday, alongside advocates for mental health, substance abuse and hospitals.

The health care bill has made it through the U.S. House of Representatives but is likely to face significant challenges in the Senate. Shaheen and Hassan say they've yet to speak with their Republican colleagues about the bill and instead want to see improvements made to former President Barack Obama's health care law.

The House bill could jeopardize substance abuse treatment coverage for thousands of people. New Hampshire has one of the nation's highest number of overdoses per capita.
A Maine couple was arrested for allegedly making meth inside their car.

State police say 30-year-old Christopher McGinn and 26-year-old Tiffany Lord, both Lincoln residents, were stopped by Lincoln police on High Street Monday afternoon.

Investigators say more meth making evidence was found during a search of the couple's Cemetery Road home.

McGinn and Lord were charged with unlawful operation of a meth lab and taken to Penobscot County Jail. It's unclear when they'll be arraigned or if they have attorneys.

Monday's arrest is the 16th meth-related arrest in Maine so far this year, according to state police.
A Pennsylvania man is being brought to Massachusetts to face charges in connection to a financial scam over the telephone, according to Norwood Police.

Police said Richie Winters, 26, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was arrested and held as a fugitive from justice following an investigation that began back in December.

Authorities had received a call from a victim that stated a person called her claiming to be her grandson.

The victim told police the caller first requested $1,450.00. In the second call, he requested another $1,450. The woman complied and the caller made more requests until she was out more than $8,200.

After putting the pieces of the investigation together, Officer Kevin Riley was able to identify Winters and found that he had a criminal history including receiving stolen property, theft and robbery.

Winters was in the process of being transported to Massachusetts on Monday to be arraigned on Tuesday in Dedham District Court.

Police wanted to remind residents to not accept calls from numbers that are not familiar to you and to never send money to a strange address via Western Union Green Dot cards, iTunes gift cards, or in other unusual ways.
By Online Desk

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday at a Special session of the Delhi Assembly demonstrated how Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be manipulated. He showed how simple it was for an engineering graduate like himself to rig a voting machine, and challenged scientists to prove him wrong. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal had blamed the partys loss in the recent Punjab Assembly elections to the rigging of voting machines.

Bhardwaj, who told the Assembly that he had a BTech degree in computer science and that he had worked on microprocessors and micro-controllers for years as an occupation, said, An ordinary engineering graduate like me can manipulate an EVM by working on it for just 10 to 15 days.

The special session of the Delhi Assembly began with high drama, and within 15 minutes the leader of opposition Vijender Gupta was marshalled out after he was given three warnings by Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel. After that, all eyes were on Bhardwaj who, during a 40-minute demonstration, showed using a prototype of an EVM, how the voting machines could easily be rigged.

He claimed that the motherboard of the machines could be changed in just 90 seconds. EVM machines can be tampered with, and it is just a matter of 90 seconds to change the machines motherboard, Bharadwaj said.

The Election Commission had repeatedly been saying that EVMs are tamper-proof and had challenged parties making allegations to prove how they can be rigged. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati had also raised doubts over BJPs resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh, saying it was gained by tampering with EVMs. She had pointed to the BJPs vote share in Muslim majority areas to substantiate her argument that that it would not have been possible for the saffron party to get that many votes in those areas, if not for EVM fraud.

Kejriwals and Mayawatis claims had been dismissed by the Election Commission but on Tuesday, Bharadwaj managed to sow doubts in the minds of the public with his demonstration.

Heres how he did the demo.

First, Bharadwaj followed the normal procedure

He cast two votes each for five parties listed on the EVM, namely AAP, BSP, BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party.

After that he pressed a button on the accompanying machine to get the final result

Results appeared as they were cast. A total of ten votes were cast, 2 for each party, and they appeared correctly.

Bhardwaj then demonstrated how results changed after entering a secret code

He pressed the buttons to cast votes for different parties

He cast 10 votes for AAP, 3 for BJP, 2 for Congress, 2 SP and 2 for BSP

Bharadwaj pressed the button to get the results

And lo! The final tally showed that AAP, Congress, SP, and BSP had got 2 votes each, whereas the BJP got 11 votes

The MLA said this was possible by entering a secret code that is assigned to every constituency. He claimed that before voting begins, election officials demonstrate that everything is done fairly but after 10 am on voting day, a manipulator activates a secret code, which ensures that all votes cast thereafter would go to a particular candidate.

There are secret codes that can be used to decide on the day of voting which candidate will win. Give us access to the EVMs that will be used in the Gujarat election for three hours, I challenge that the BJP will not even win a single seat, Bharadwaj said, while demonstrating how the EVM could be tampered with.

The AAP Twitter handle also put out a tweet explaining how the votes were cast in the demo, and how the outcome was different.

- For the first time in India

- LIVE Demo of EVM tampering

- See for yourself

- Share with everyone#WeChallengeEC pic.twitter.com/PxOYoqvV0D  AAP (@AamAadmiParty) May 9, 2017

After the demo, the special Assembly session adopted a resolution and requested the Election commission of India to organise elections with Voter Verfied Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. The special session was attended by various other party leaders of the JDU and CPI(M), including Nilotpal Basu and Manoj Jha who raised question over EVM tampering.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), however, dismissed AAPs demonstration, claiming that the machine hacked in the Delhi Assembly demo was a not an authorised or actual gadget used by the ECI. The poll panel claimed the demonstration was done only on a look-alike machine. In an official statement the poll panel said, It is common sense that gadgets other than ECI-EVMs can be programmed to perform in a pre-determined way, but it simply cannot be implied that ECI-EVMs will behave in the same manner because they are technically secured and function under an elaborate administrative and security protocol."

The special session was attended by almost 50 MLAs including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Responding to the ECIs comments, Sidodia said, This is not your machine versus my machine. Democracy is in danger. An EVM can be hacked in 90 seconds.

Arvind Kejriwal, who was also present throughout the session, asked the Election Commission to handover actual EVM machines on which they would demonstrate how they can be hacked. We have been saying this to Election Commission to hand over actual EVM machines that have been used in the previous election, Kejriwal said after the assembly session.

The Election Commission later put out a challenge asking AAP to demonstrate the same at a hackathon it proposes to conduct. The ECI has been saying for weeks that it plans to conduct a hackathon and thre an open challenge to anyone willing to prove that EVMs could be tampered with. However, the ECI has been dithering on announcing a date for the hackathon, and has not yet set a date.

Meanwhile, allegations raised by AAP MLA Kapil Mishra against Chief Minister Kejriwal were not addressed at the Assembly session. The Anti-corruption Bureau on Tuesday registered a case against the company that was being run by Kejriwal's brother-in-law, which has come under the scanner in an alleged PWD scam. Kejriwals brother died on Monday morning due to cardiac arrest.

We have registered a case against unknown persons and will call company officials to record their statement. A case has been registered under prevention of corruption act, ACB official said. No leader of AAP including Arvind Kejriwal reacted on the corruption allegations levelled against Kejriwal and Minister Satyendra Jain.

(With inputs from ENS in New Delhi)

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday at a Special session of the Delhi Assembly demonstrated how Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be manipulated. He showed how simple it was for an engineering graduate like himself to rig a voting machine, and challenged scientists to prove him wrong. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal had blamed the partys loss in the recent Punjab Assembly elections to the rigging of voting machines. Bhardwaj, who told the Assembly that he had a BTech degree in computer science and that he had worked on microprocessors and micro-controllers for years as an occupation, said, An ordinary engineering graduate like me can manipulate an EVM by working on it for just 10 to 15 days. The special session of the Delhi Assembly began with high drama, and within 15 minutes the leader of opposition Vijender Gupta was marshalled out after he was given three warnings by Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel. After that, all eyes were on Bhardwaj who, during a 40-minute demonstration, showed using a prototype of an EVM, how the voting machines could easily be rigged. He claimed that the motherboard of the machines could be changed in just 90 seconds. EVM machines can be tampered with, and it is just a matter of 90 seconds to change the machines motherboard, Bharadwaj said. The Election Commission had repeatedly been saying that EVMs are tamper-proof and had challenged parties making allegations to prove how they can be rigged. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati had also raised doubts over BJPs resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh, saying it was gained by tampering with EVMs. She had pointed to the BJPs vote share in Muslim majority areas to substantiate her argument that that it would not have been possible for the saffron party to get that many votes in those areas, if not for EVM fraud. Kejriwals and Mayawatis claims had been dismissed by the Election Commission but on Tuesday, Bharadwaj managed to sow doubts in the minds of the public with his demonstration. Heres how he did the demo. First, Bharadwaj followed the normal procedure He cast two votes each for five parties listed on the EVM, namely AAP, BSP, BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party. After that he pressed a button on the accompanying machine to get the final result Results appeared as they were cast. A total of ten votes were cast, 2 for each party, and they appeared correctly. Bhardwaj then demonstrated how results changed after entering a secret code He pressed the buttons to cast votes for different parties He cast 10 votes for AAP, 3 for BJP, 2 for Congress, 2 SP and 2 for BSP Bharadwaj pressed the button to get the results And lo! The final tally showed that AAP, Congress, SP, and BSP had got 2 votes each, whereas the BJP got 11 votes The MLA said this was possible by entering a secret code that is assigned to every constituency. He claimed that before voting begins, election officials demonstrate that everything is done fairly but after 10 am on voting day, a manipulator activates a secret code, which ensures that all votes cast thereafter would go to a particular candidate. There are secret codes that can be used to decide on the day of voting which candidate will win. Give us access to the EVMs that will be used in the Gujarat election for three hours, I challenge that the BJP will not even win a single seat, Bharadwaj said, while demonstrating how the EVM could be tampered with. The AAP Twitter handle also put out a tweet explaining how the votes were cast in the demo, and how the outcome was different. - For the first time in India - LIVE Demo of EVM tampering - See for yourself - Share with everyone#WeChallengeEC pic.twitter.com/PxOYoqvV0D  AAP (@AamAadmiParty) May 9, 2017 After the demo, the special Assembly session adopted a resolution and requested the Election commission of India to organise elections with Voter Verfied Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines. The special session was attended by various other party leaders of the JDU and CPI(M), including Nilotpal Basu and Manoj Jha who raised question over EVM tampering. The Election Commission of India (ECI), however, dismissed AAPs demonstration, claiming that the machine hacked in the Delhi Assembly demo was a not an authorised or actual gadget used by the ECI. The poll panel claimed the demonstration was done only on a look-alike machine. In an official statement the poll panel said, It is common sense that gadgets other than ECI-EVMs can be programmed to perform in a pre-determined way, but it simply cannot be implied that ECI-EVMs will behave in the same manner because they are technically secured and function under an elaborate administrative and security protocol." The special session was attended by almost 50 MLAs including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. Responding to the ECIs comments, Sidodia said, This is not your machine versus my machine. Democracy is in danger. An EVM can be hacked in 90 seconds. Arvind Kejriwal, who was also present throughout the session, asked the Election Commission to handover actual EVM machines on which they would demonstrate how they can be hacked. We have been saying this to Election Commission to hand over actual EVM machines that have been used in the previous election, Kejriwal said after the assembly session. The Election Commission later put out a challenge asking AAP to demonstrate the same at a hackathon it proposes to conduct. The ECI has been saying for weeks that it plans to conduct a hackathon and thre an open challenge to anyone willing to prove that EVMs could be tampered with. However, the ECI has been dithering on announcing a date for the hackathon, and has not yet set a date. Meanwhile, allegations raised by AAP MLA Kapil Mishra against Chief Minister Kejriwal were not addressed at the Assembly session. The Anti-corruption Bureau on Tuesday registered a case against the company that was being run by Kejriwal's brother-in-law, which has come under the scanner in an alleged PWD scam. Kejriwals brother died on Monday morning due to cardiac arrest. We have registered a case against unknown persons and will call company officials to record their statement. A case has been registered under prevention of corruption act, ACB official said. No leader of AAP including Arvind Kejriwal reacted on the corruption allegations levelled against Kejriwal and Minister Satyendra Jain. (With inputs from ENS in New Delhi)
Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Ashok Kantam, a truck driver from Nizamabad, moved to Muscat, Oman, after his crop in his village failed for the fourth time. He had to depend too much on the monsoon and the right rates to make a living. This is when he decided to go to the Gulf and make money. Things didnt quite turn out this way initially when he wasnt able to send money back home for the first few months. He has found comfort there now, but is frustrated because of the living conditions.

From the taxi driver to the government, everyone exploits you. Companies who hire the labourers dont pay enough. There is a desperate need for the Telangana government to release funds to help people here. Kuleru Debaraj is not the first and wont be the last, unless we can find a solution. he said.

Kuleru Devaraj is a 35-year-old construction labourer who died in a hit and run case in Saudi Arabia.The accused is still not punished and his body still hasnt reached his hometown. Caught in the injustice Devaraj cannot rest in peace even weeks after his death. The company he was working for said they wont pay for the fees required to take his body to his hometown in Telangana. Even the governement gave up. It was a few from the Telugu community who raised Rs 6 lakh and arranged to send his body to his family.

Ashok moved to Muscat four years ago and his time there hasnt been great and has come to realise the social issues and decided to do something about it.

He converted his frustration into a Telugu song addressing these issues faced by the Indian labourers in the Gulf. Called Bharatheeya Paurulara Gulf Desa Bhanisalara, this song has started garnering the attention of the netizens with more than 3k views and was a comforting melody to the hard workers there.

He lives in a small room which he shares with four others. His working hours are unpredictable. They start at daybreak and can go on till midnight, occasionally even sunrise. There is no or little security to jobs of these Telanganites that took off. Even after working so hard, this SSC-pass pass truck driver can hardly make ends meet.

The song highlights the difficulties of many such labourers in the Gulf. He refers to them as prisoners and bonded labourers. That they came out in the red hot sun to earn, but in the name of money, they are just melting. How looking at the burden on their loans, their eyelids got heavy. Some families in Telangana dont hear from their loved ones in the Gulf for weeks, only to realise that they died or were arrested for some malpractice that they more often than not are framed for. Even culturally, it is difficult for them to adjust due to the difference in the societies. The labourers backs hurt more from bending in for the Arab Sheikhs than because of working.

When asked why Ashok continues to live and work in Muscat even after all that he and many like him have been through, he compares the Gulf to a mother and says, She may beat you up and make you cry, but at the end of the day, she feeds you. And thats all anybody wants, to eat and sleep. Im able to do that here.

HYDERABAD: Ashok Kantam, a truck driver from Nizamabad, moved to Muscat, Oman, after his crop in his village failed for the fourth time. He had to depend too much on the monsoon and the right rates to make a living. This is when he decided to go to the Gulf and make money. Things didnt quite turn out this way initially when he wasnt able to send money back home for the first few months. He has found comfort there now, but is frustrated because of the living conditions. From the taxi driver to the government, everyone exploits you. Companies who hire the labourers dont pay enough. There is a desperate need for the Telangana government to release funds to help people here. Kuleru Debaraj is not the first and wont be the last, unless we can find a solution. he said. Kuleru Devaraj is a 35-year-old construction labourer who died in a hit and run case in Saudi Arabia.The accused is still not punished and his body still hasnt reached his hometown. Caught in the injustice Devaraj cannot rest in peace even weeks after his death. The company he was working for said they wont pay for the fees required to take his body to his hometown in Telangana. Even the governement gave up. It was a few from the Telugu community who raised Rs 6 lakh and arranged to send his body to his family. Ashok moved to Muscat four years ago and his time there hasnt been great and has come to realise the social issues and decided to do something about it. He converted his frustration into a Telugu song addressing these issues faced by the Indian labourers in the Gulf. Called Bharatheeya Paurulara Gulf Desa Bhanisalara, this song has started garnering the attention of the netizens with more than 3k views and was a comforting melody to the hard workers there. He lives in a small room which he shares with four others. His working hours are unpredictable. They start at daybreak and can go on till midnight, occasionally even sunrise. There is no or little security to jobs of these Telanganites that took off. Even after working so hard, this SSC-pass pass truck driver can hardly make ends meet. The song highlights the difficulties of many such labourers in the Gulf. He refers to them as prisoners and bonded labourers. That they came out in the red hot sun to earn, but in the name of money, they are just melting. How looking at the burden on their loans, their eyelids got heavy. Some families in Telangana dont hear from their loved ones in the Gulf for weeks, only to realise that they died or were arrested for some malpractice that they more often than not are framed for. Even culturally, it is difficult for them to adjust due to the difference in the societies. The labourers backs hurt more from bending in for the Arab Sheikhs than because of working. When asked why Ashok continues to live and work in Muscat even after all that he and many like him have been through, he compares the Gulf to a mother and says, She may beat you up and make you cry, but at the end of the day, she feeds you. And thats all anybody wants, to eat and sleep. Im able to do that here.
By PTI

SHIMLA: A Bangladeshi national, suspected by police to be linked with ISIS, has been arrested close to the Indo-China border.

The ISIS suspect, identified as Mohammad Mustaf Hussain was spotted moving under suspicious circumstances and was arrested on charges of spying from a place close to ITBP camp near Lapcha village in Spiti tehsil of the district on May 4, Superintendent of Police, Lahaul Spiti, Raman Kumar Meena said.

Hussain, a resident of Malikganj district of Bangladesh, was being interrogated but so far he has not revealed much and the investigating agencies are finding it difficult to judge that he was mentally stable or unsound, a police official said.

It was after great efforts that the police was able to extract on May 7 that he was Bangladesh national, Meena said.

Hussain, who was produced in a local court and was remanded to three days police custody.

Investigations are in progress and a case under section 123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 124(A) (sedition) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered.

"Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspected spy was living in the area for past few weeks", police sources added.

Hussain fluently speaks Hindi, English and Bangla and a mobile phone, manufactured in Bangladesh has been recovered from his possession, police sources said.

However, the SIM card he was using was destroyed before the police nabbed him.

Besides, 2-kg of flour and 4 bottles of tomato sauce were also recovered from the possession and it was suspected that he was especially trained in adapting to harsh climatic conditions of Spiti, known as cold deserts, a police source said.

The state Police officials have informed central intelligence agencies about the arrest and they are expected to join investigations as Indo-Tibet was a very sensitive area from defence point of view.

SHIMLA: A Bangladeshi national, suspected by police to be linked with ISIS, has been arrested close to the Indo-China border. The ISIS suspect, identified as Mohammad Mustaf Hussain was spotted moving under suspicious circumstances and was arrested on charges of spying from a place close to ITBP camp near Lapcha village in Spiti tehsil of the district on May 4, Superintendent of Police, Lahaul Spiti, Raman Kumar Meena said. Hussain, a resident of Malikganj district of Bangladesh, was being interrogated but so far he has not revealed much and the investigating agencies are finding it difficult to judge that he was mentally stable or unsound, a police official said. It was after great efforts that the police was able to extract on May 7 that he was Bangladesh national, Meena said. Hussain, who was produced in a local court and was remanded to three days police custody. Investigations are in progress and a case under section 123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 124(A) (sedition) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered. "Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspected spy was living in the area for past few weeks", police sources added. Hussain fluently speaks Hindi, English and Bangla and a mobile phone, manufactured in Bangladesh has been recovered from his possession, police sources said. However, the SIM card he was using was destroyed before the police nabbed him. Besides, 2-kg of flour and 4 bottles of tomato sauce were also recovered from the possession and it was suspected that he was especially trained in adapting to harsh climatic conditions of Spiti, known as cold deserts, a police source said. The state Police officials have informed central intelligence agencies about the arrest and they are expected to join investigations as Indo-Tibet was a very sensitive area from defence point of view.
By PTI

SRINAGAR: Clashes broke out between student protestors and security forces on the busy Moulana Azad Road near Lal Chowk here today.

Students of S P Higher Secondary School and Women's College clashed with security forces who fired several tear gas shells to chase them away, a police official said.

There were no reports of injuries to anyone so far, the official said.

The traffic and the business activities in the commercial hub in the heart of the city were badly affected, the official said, adding that clashes were going on when last reports came in.

He said they were protesting against the alleged high- handedness of security forces against students of the government degree college in Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests across Kashmir.

They were also demanding release of the students arrested during these protests.

The police raid on the college triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 which have been going on intermittently since then. Authorities suspended class work in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month as a precautionary measure.

A number of students were arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.

SRINAGAR: Clashes broke out between student protestors and security forces on the busy Moulana Azad Road near Lal Chowk here today. Students of S P Higher Secondary School and Women's College clashed with security forces who fired several tear gas shells to chase them away, a police official said. There were no reports of injuries to anyone so far, the official said. The traffic and the business activities in the commercial hub in the heart of the city were badly affected, the official said, adding that clashes were going on when last reports came in. He said they were protesting against the alleged high- handedness of security forces against students of the government degree college in Pulwama on April 15 and the subsequent protests across Kashmir. They were also demanding release of the students arrested during these protests. The police raid on the college triggered widespread protests by students across Kashmir on April 17 which have been going on intermittently since then. Authorities suspended class work in the higher educational institutions for over a week last month as a precautionary measure. A number of students were arrested during clashes in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Two Ministries today told the National Green Tribunal that they had "no role" in permitting the cultural extravaganza of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living (AOL) that had caused damage to the Yamuna floodplains, saying the DDA was responsible for it.

In separate submissions, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Water Resources also told the green panel that they were not responsibile for the damage to the eco-fragile floodplains, as alleged by the spiritual guru.

The two ministries were responding to the charge levelled by Ravi Shankar that the government and the NGT should be held responsible for permitting the AOL to hold the 3-day World Culture Festival on the Yamuna river bed in March last year.

The AOL head had also said last month his foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so fragile and pure.

"Delhi Development Authority (DDA) granted the permission for holding the function on the floodplains. AOL conducted the whole event. We had no role to play in this and we are not liable to pay for the damages," the ministries told a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The Environment Ministry said the event did not require Environmental Clearance under the provision of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification and hence it had no role in approving the holding of the festival.

Senior advocate Rajiv Bansal, appearing for DDA, said the permission was granted to AOL for the festival after making it clear to them that no permanent or semi-permanent construction of any kind was allowed on the riverbed.

He said the floodplain demarcation was not done at the time when permission was granted to the AOL for the event and hence the department cannot specify clearly whether there was impact on the floodplain or not.

"I was approached for seeking permission for the World Culture Festival which was bonafidely given. I own complete responsibility for the event. According to my interpretation, NGT has not banned any event on the floodplains by its 2015 judgement," the DDA lawyer said.

He also vociferously opposed Ravi Shankar's statement that the authorities which had granted permission for the event should be held liable for the damage to the floodplains.

"They (AOL) are asking us to pay for the damages. But under which provision of law and for what? DDA can't be held liable for vicarious liability (responsible for granting permission). We were unaware about the size of the whole event at the time of granting permission," he said.

Delhi government echoed the same views and said it had "limited responsibility" in the entire matter as it had only granted no objection certificate on behalf of the Delhi Police and other law and order related issues.

Advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioner and Yamuna activist Manoj Misra, said the AOL chief was guilty of "scandalising" the court and should be held liable for criminal contempt of the court.

"Once you have accepted the order of NGT and the findings of the expert panel appointed by it, they (AOL) cannot say they have not caused any damage to the environment," he said.

Parikh also said the initial amount of Rs five crore, which AOL had deposited as environment compensation, should be used for restoration of the damaged Yamuna floodplains.

"There is urgency in the matter because the monsoons are about to reach. The initial amount deposited should be used for rejuvenating the Yamuna riverbed without any delay before the advent of rains," Parikh said.

The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on May 11.

Earlier, an expert committee had told the NGT that a whopping Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to a cultural extravaganza organised by AOL last year.

NEW DELHI: Two Ministries today told the National Green Tribunal that they had "no role" in permitting the cultural extravaganza of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living (AOL) that had caused damage to the Yamuna floodplains, saying the DDA was responsible for it. In separate submissions, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Water Resources also told the green panel that they were not responsibile for the damage to the eco-fragile floodplains, as alleged by the spiritual guru. The two ministries were responding to the charge levelled by Ravi Shankar that the government and the NGT should be held responsible for permitting the AOL to hold the 3-day World Culture Festival on the Yamuna river bed in March last year. The AOL head had also said last month his foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so fragile and pure. "Delhi Development Authority (DDA) granted the permission for holding the function on the floodplains. AOL conducted the whole event. We had no role to play in this and we are not liable to pay for the damages," the ministries told a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. The Environment Ministry said the event did not require Environmental Clearance under the provision of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification and hence it had no role in approving the holding of the festival. Senior advocate Rajiv Bansal, appearing for DDA, said the permission was granted to AOL for the festival after making it clear to them that no permanent or semi-permanent construction of any kind was allowed on the riverbed. He said the floodplain demarcation was not done at the time when permission was granted to the AOL for the event and hence the department cannot specify clearly whether there was impact on the floodplain or not. "I was approached for seeking permission for the World Culture Festival which was bonafidely given. I own complete responsibility for the event. According to my interpretation, NGT has not banned any event on the floodplains by its 2015 judgement," the DDA lawyer said. He also vociferously opposed Ravi Shankar's statement that the authorities which had granted permission for the event should be held liable for the damage to the floodplains. "They (AOL) are asking us to pay for the damages. But under which provision of law and for what? DDA can't be held liable for vicarious liability (responsible for granting permission). We were unaware about the size of the whole event at the time of granting permission," he said. Delhi government echoed the same views and said it had "limited responsibility" in the entire matter as it had only granted no objection certificate on behalf of the Delhi Police and other law and order related issues. Advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioner and Yamuna activist Manoj Misra, said the AOL chief was guilty of "scandalising" the court and should be held liable for criminal contempt of the court. "Once you have accepted the order of NGT and the findings of the expert panel appointed by it, they (AOL) cannot say they have not caused any damage to the environment," he said. Parikh also said the initial amount of Rs five crore, which AOL had deposited as environment compensation, should be used for restoration of the damaged Yamuna floodplains. "There is urgency in the matter because the monsoons are about to reach. The initial amount deposited should be used for rejuvenating the Yamuna riverbed without any delay before the advent of rains," Parikh said. The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on May 11. Earlier, an expert committee had told the NGT that a whopping Rs 42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to a cultural extravaganza organised by AOL last year.
Kanu Sarda By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: For the first time in the history of Indian Judiciary, the Supreme Court on Tuesday send Justice CS Karnan, the sitting judge of Calcutta High Court to jail for six months after holding him guilty for the contempt of court.

A seven judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said, Contempt has no colour, no individual, no public, no private. We cant distinguish. If he is not sent to jail, there will be blemish that we condoned contempt by a judge.

We are of the unanimous view that judiciary and judicial process of the gravest nature in the present case, the bench said while asking the DGP, Calcutta to constitute a committee and arrest Justice Karnan forthwith.

At the outset of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for West Bengal, said in compliance of apex court's earlier direction, a medical board along with the DGP and police personnel had gone to Justice Karnan's place but he gave a letter saying he was fit and of a sound mind.

Dwivedi read out the letter to the bench.

ASG Maninder Singh told the bench that Justice Karnan knows what he is doing and he needs to be punished for contempt of court as he has passed several orders against the judges of the apex court.

Justice Karnan did not mark his presence before the apex court on Tuesday too.

The judicial bench also restrained print and electronic media from publishing any statements made by the Calcutta High Court judge.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Registrar General of Madras High Court, said that if Justice Karnan is sent to jail, it would create a blemish of a sitting judge being sent to jail for contempt.

The order comes days after the apex court had called for medical examination of Justice Karnan, which he denied stating he was of sound mind and the team of doctors too did not opine otherwise.

The bench also said there was no question about the visit medical board having visited him (Karnan).

"We are assured that he is fit and fine and the medical board does not contradict it," the bench said.

The ASG said that he has passed an order yesterday that he is not in contempt of court.

"Some action should be taken against him so that an appropriate message is sent," he said.

The court also took exception of the orders passed by Justice Karnan yesterday when he sentenced seven judges including CJI Khehar to five years of imprisonment under the SC/ST act and termed it the gravest form of contempt.

The bench said the contempt power does not recognise who is what, whether he is a judge and individual or a private person and that it is simple contempt.



"If we do not send him to jail, there will be a blemish that Supreme Court has condoned the contempt committed by a judge," the bench said.

It also added that Justice Karnan can be punished as he has himself declared that he was of sound mind and the medical board has not contradicted it.

Justice Karnan was earlier facing contempt proceedings for accusing a number of judges of corruption.

The apex court had on March 10 issued a bailable warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it in the contempt case. The warrant had come almost a month after the court had asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings not be initiated against him.



On March 31, Justice Karnan had appeared in the Supreme Court, a first in Indian judicial history, and had sought restoration of his powers as a condition for his re- appearance, but the plea was rejected.



He had also said he would not appear before it again even if he was arrested and put in jail.



Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his conduct. A recalcitrant Karnan had on February 15, 2016 stayed his transfer order. The apex court

even asked the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him.



The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan's order. The Supreme Court also made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the order of his transfer shall remain stayed.

Justice Karnan is scheduled to retire in June this year.

(With Inputs From PTI)

NEW DELHI: For the first time in the history of Indian Judiciary, the Supreme Court on Tuesday send Justice CS Karnan, the sitting judge of Calcutta High Court to jail for six months after holding him guilty for the contempt of court. A seven judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said, Contempt has no colour, no individual, no public, no private. We cant distinguish. If he is not sent to jail, there will be blemish that we condoned contempt by a judge. We are of the unanimous view that judiciary and judicial process of the gravest nature in the present case, the bench said while asking the DGP, Calcutta to constitute a committee and arrest Justice Karnan forthwith. At the outset of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for West Bengal, said in compliance of apex court's earlier direction, a medical board along with the DGP and police personnel had gone to Justice Karnan's place but he gave a letter saying he was fit and of a sound mind. Dwivedi read out the letter to the bench. ASG Maninder Singh told the bench that Justice Karnan knows what he is doing and he needs to be punished for contempt of court as he has passed several orders against the judges of the apex court. Justice Karnan did not mark his presence before the apex court on Tuesday too. The judicial bench also restrained print and electronic media from publishing any statements made by the Calcutta High Court judge. Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Registrar General of Madras High Court, said that if Justice Karnan is sent to jail, it would create a blemish of a sitting judge being sent to jail for contempt. The order comes days after the apex court had called for medical examination of Justice Karnan, which he denied stating he was of sound mind and the team of doctors too did not opine otherwise. The bench also said there was no question about the visit medical board having visited him (Karnan). "We are assured that he is fit and fine and the medical board does not contradict it," the bench said. The ASG said that he has passed an order yesterday that he is not in contempt of court. "Some action should be taken against him so that an appropriate message is sent," he said. The court also took exception of the orders passed by Justice Karnan yesterday when he sentenced seven judges including CJI Khehar to five years of imprisonment under the SC/ST act and termed it the gravest form of contempt. The bench said the contempt power does not recognise who is what, whether he is a judge and individual or a private person and that it is simple contempt. "If we do not send him to jail, there will be a blemish that Supreme Court has condoned the contempt committed by a judge," the bench said. It also added that Justice Karnan can be punished as he has himself declared that he was of sound mind and the medical board has not contradicted it. Justice Karnan was earlier facing contempt proceedings for accusing a number of judges of corruption. The apex court had on March 10 issued a bailable warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it in the contempt case. The warrant had come almost a month after the court had asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings not be initiated against him. On March 31, Justice Karnan had appeared in the Supreme Court, a first in Indian judicial history, and had sought restoration of his powers as a condition for his re- appearance, but the plea was rejected. He had also said he would not appear before it again even if he was arrested and put in jail. Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his conduct. A recalcitrant Karnan had on February 15, 2016 stayed his transfer order. The apex court even asked the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him. The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan's order. The Supreme Court also made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the order of his transfer shall remain stayed. Justice Karnan is scheduled to retire in June this year. (With Inputs From PTI)
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI:Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday chaired governing council meeting of UN Habitat in Nairobi, saying that Indias missions including Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities are addressing infrastructure deficits including affordable housing.

India has been unanimously elected to head UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.The minister chaired the governing council meeting on the theme Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda with focus on inclusive, sustainable and adequate housing. Addressing the governing council of UN-Habitat, Naidu stressed on the need to reorient urban planning and execution strategies to ensure dignity of living.

NEW DELHI:Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday chaired governing council meeting of UN Habitat in Nairobi, saying that Indias missions including Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities are addressing infrastructure deficits including affordable housing. India has been unanimously elected to head UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.The minister chaired the governing council meeting on the theme Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda with focus on inclusive, sustainable and adequate housing. Addressing the governing council of UN-Habitat, Naidu stressed on the need to reorient urban planning and execution strategies to ensure dignity of living.
In 2010, one of the largest gas reserves was found in the African country of Mozambique. Experts predicted that the could become the world's third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. But what happened to it now?

Palmas treasure

The small, palm-fringed fishing town of Palma was meant to become a symbol of Mozambique's glittering future, transformed by one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas projects. But Palma still waits for the jobs, AFP reports

When the discovery happened in 2010, the towns residents were looking for opportunities to lift them out of poverty, AFP adds. Excavation vehicles came and Palma was changing

Roadblocks

But the project has hit a roadblock. Initial estimates were that the first LNG would come on stream in 2016 but now it is expected in 2023or later

Fall in gas prices

Gas prices have plunged globally thus making energy companies slow down on capital expenditure. Even countries like Australia and Russia have been hit by this downfall. Meanwhile Mozambiques government has a bigger problem at hand.

Debt crisis

The government had borrowed secret loans of $2 bn. So, IMF and World Bank stopped budgetary support. The government was planning to repay the loans using the gas money

3.3 % growth in Mozambique in 2016. In 2015 it was 6.6 per cent. For a decade until 2014, it was more than seven percent annually

In 2010, one of the largest gas reserves was found in the African country of Mozambique. Experts predicted that the could become the world's third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. But what happened to it now? Palmas treasure The small, palm-fringed fishing town of Palma was meant to become a symbol of Mozambique's glittering future, transformed by one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas projects. But Palma still waits for the jobs, AFP reports When the discovery happened in 2010, the towns residents were looking for opportunities to lift them out of poverty, AFP adds. Excavation vehicles came and Palma was changing Roadblocks But the project has hit a roadblock. Initial estimates were that the first LNG would come on stream in 2016 but now it is expected in 2023or later Fall in gas prices Gas prices have plunged globally thus making energy companies slow down on capital expenditure. Even countries like Australia and Russia have been hit by this downfall. Meanwhile Mozambiques government has a bigger problem at hand. Debt crisis The government had borrowed secret loans of $2 bn. So, IMF and World Bank stopped budgetary support. The government was planning to repay the loans using the gas money 3.3 % growth in Mozambique in 2016. In 2015 it was 6.6 per cent. For a decade until 2014, it was more than seven percent annually
A Surya Prakash By

Some weeks ago, the Chief Justice of India J S Khehar urged all parties to the Ayodhya dispute to work towards an amicable settlement and even offered his good offices to moderate an out-of-court settlement. Describing the issue as a matter that concerned sentiments and religion, the Chief Justice asked all parties to give a bit, take a bit ... make an effort to sort it out. In his view, the court should come into the picture only if such a settlement is not possible.

Given the sensitivity of the issue, it would be ideal for all parties to move away from the court room and resolve the issue via negotiations as suggested by the Chief Justice. However, many things have happened both within and outside the courts during the life of this seemingly intractable dispute, which are indeed non-negotiable. One such is the sovereign commitment made by the Government of India in the Supreme Court in September, 1994, that if it was established that a Hindu temple or religious structure existed before the Babri Masjid, it would hand over the site to the Hindus.

A five judge Bench of the Supreme Court delivered its judgement in the Faruqui Case (Dr M Ismail Faruqui and Others vs. Union of India and Others) in October, 1994. While doing so, it simultaneously disposed off the Presidential Reference that had been made the previous year under Article 143(1) of the Constitution. In that reference the president asked the court the following question: Whether a Hindu temple or any Hindu religious structure existed prior to the construction of the Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid (including the premises of the inner and outer courtyards of such structure) in the area on which the structure stood. The court declined to answer this question. It said the question posed by the president was superfluous and unnecessary and does not require to be answered.

In the Faruqui Case, the constitutional validity of Acquisition of Certain Areas at Ayodhya Act, 1993 was challenged. The court upheld the Act but declared Section 4(3) of the Act, which provided for abatement of all pending suits and legal proceedings pertaining to the disputed structure, to be invalid. This resulted in the revival of all pending suits and legal proceedings before the Allahabad High Court.

The Presidential Reference said a dispute has arisen whether a Hindu temple or a Hindu religious structure existed prior to the construction of the masjid and that the government proposed to settle the dispute after obtaining the opinion of the Supreme Court of India. Those representing Muslim interests said the reference was purely academic and served no constitutional purpose.

The SC asked the Solicitor General to respond to these arguments. The Solicitor General made a written statement on behalf of the Government of India on September 14, 1994, in response to the courts query. He said the government would treat the courts opinion as final and binding. Further, the government was confident that the SCs opinion will have a salutary effect on the attitudes of the communities and they will no longer take conflicting positions on the factual issue settled by the Supreme Court.

More significantly, the Solicitor General told the court that if efforts at a negotiated settlement do not succeed, the government is committed to enforce the solution in the light of the Supreme Courts opinion and consistent with it. The governments action will be even handed in respect of both communities. If the question referred is answered in the affirmative, namely, that a Hindu temple/structure did exist prior to the construction of the demolished structure, government action will be in support of the wishes of the Hindu community. If, on the other hand, the question is answered in the negative, namely, that no such Hindu temple/structure existed at the relevant time, then government action will be in support of the wishes of the Muslim Community. The Solicitor Generals statement formed a part of the record and was taken into account by the court.

The Narasimha Rao government gave this commitment because Muslim leaders said they would voluntarily hand over the site to the Hindus if the existence of a temple below the masjid was established. The Centre felt everything would fall in place, once this pivotal question was answered.

However, while the Supreme Court declined to answer the question, the Allahabad High Court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to excavate the site. The ASI conducted investigations and said: Viewing in totality and taking into account the archaeological evidence of a massive structure just below the disputed structure and evidence of continuity in structural phases from the Tenth century onwards up to the construction of the disputed structure along with the yield of stone and decorated bricks as well as mutilated sculpture of divine couple ... are indicative of the remains which are distinctive features found associated with the temples of North India.

In other words, the ASI's findings conclusively answered the question raised in the Presidential Reference. Following this evidence, all the three judges on the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court which heard the Ayodhya Case relied on the ASIs report and concluded that a Hindu temple existed below the disputed structure.

The governments solemn assurance before the Supreme Court, the overwhelming scientific evidence presented before the Allahabad High Court on the existence of a temple below the disputed structure and the opinion of all the three judges of that court are all facts which just cannot be wished away. They will have to be central to an eventual settlement, but as Chief Justice J S Khehar has suggested, a negotiated out-of-court settlement will be ideal.

A Surya Prakash

Chairman, Prasar Bharati

Email: suryamedia@gmail.com

Some weeks ago, the Chief Justice of India J S Khehar urged all parties to the Ayodhya dispute to work towards an amicable settlement and even offered his good offices to moderate an out-of-court settlement. Describing the issue as a matter that concerned sentiments and religion, the Chief Justice asked all parties to give a bit, take a bit ... make an effort to sort it out. In his view, the court should come into the picture only if such a settlement is not possible. Given the sensitivity of the issue, it would be ideal for all parties to move away from the court room and resolve the issue via negotiations as suggested by the Chief Justice. However, many things have happened both within and outside the courts during the life of this seemingly intractable dispute, which are indeed non-negotiable. One such is the sovereign commitment made by the Government of India in the Supreme Court in September, 1994, that if it was established that a Hindu temple or religious structure existed before the Babri Masjid, it would hand over the site to the Hindus. A five judge Bench of the Supreme Court delivered its judgement in the Faruqui Case (Dr M Ismail Faruqui and Others vs. Union of India and Others) in October, 1994. While doing so, it simultaneously disposed off the Presidential Reference that had been made the previous year under Article 143(1) of the Constitution. In that reference the president asked the court the following question: Whether a Hindu temple or any Hindu religious structure existed prior to the construction of the Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid (including the premises of the inner and outer courtyards of such structure) in the area on which the structure stood. The court declined to answer this question. It said the question posed by the president was superfluous and unnecessary and does not require to be answered. In the Faruqui Case, the constitutional validity of Acquisition of Certain Areas at Ayodhya Act, 1993 was challenged. The court upheld the Act but declared Section 4(3) of the Act, which provided for abatement of all pending suits and legal proceedings pertaining to the disputed structure, to be invalid. This resulted in the revival of all pending suits and legal proceedings before the Allahabad High Court. The Presidential Reference said a dispute has arisen whether a Hindu temple or a Hindu religious structure existed prior to the construction of the masjid and that the government proposed to settle the dispute after obtaining the opinion of the Supreme Court of India. Those representing Muslim interests said the reference was purely academic and served no constitutional purpose. The SC asked the Solicitor General to respond to these arguments. The Solicitor General made a written statement on behalf of the Government of India on September 14, 1994, in response to the courts query. He said the government would treat the courts opinion as final and binding. Further, the government was confident that the SCs opinion will have a salutary effect on the attitudes of the communities and they will no longer take conflicting positions on the factual issue settled by the Supreme Court. More significantly, the Solicitor General told the court that if efforts at a negotiated settlement do not succeed, the government is committed to enforce the solution in the light of the Supreme Courts opinion and consistent with it. The governments action will be even handed in respect of both communities. If the question referred is answered in the affirmative, namely, that a Hindu temple/structure did exist prior to the construction of the demolished structure, government action will be in support of the wishes of the Hindu community. If, on the other hand, the question is answered in the negative, namely, that no such Hindu temple/structure existed at the relevant time, then government action will be in support of the wishes of the Muslim Community. The Solicitor Generals statement formed a part of the record and was taken into account by the court. The Narasimha Rao government gave this commitment because Muslim leaders said they would voluntarily hand over the site to the Hindus if the existence of a temple below the masjid was established. The Centre felt everything would fall in place, once this pivotal question was answered. However, while the Supreme Court declined to answer the question, the Allahabad High Court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to excavate the site. The ASI conducted investigations and said: Viewing in totality and taking into account the archaeological evidence of a massive structure just below the disputed structure and evidence of continuity in structural phases from the Tenth century onwards up to the construction of the disputed structure along with the yield of stone and decorated bricks as well as mutilated sculpture of divine couple ... are indicative of the remains which are distinctive features found associated with the temples of North India. In other words, the ASI's findings conclusively answered the question raised in the Presidential Reference. Following this evidence, all the three judges on the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court which heard the Ayodhya Case relied on the ASIs report and concluded that a Hindu temple existed below the disputed structure. The governments solemn assurance before the Supreme Court, the overwhelming scientific evidence presented before the Allahabad High Court on the existence of a temple below the disputed structure and the opinion of all the three judges of that court are all facts which just cannot be wished away. They will have to be central to an eventual settlement, but as Chief Justice J S Khehar has suggested, a negotiated out-of-court settlement will be ideal. A Surya Prakash Chairman, Prasar Bharati Email: suryamedia@gmail.com
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after some female students appearing for the NEET were asked to remove their innerwear before entering the examination hall, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission on Monday ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. KSHRC registered a suo motu case and sought report from the regional CBSE director.

P Mohana Das, KSHRCs acting chairperson, said the action, held ostensibly as an invigilation procedure, was a violation of human rights.

He sent a letter to the National Human Rights Commission seeking action against the examination officers concerned.

The district police chief has been asked to submit a separate report and the Registrar of the Kerala University has been given three weeks time to give an explanation. KSHRC said many incidents of human rights violation were reported from several parts of the state during the NEET.



Many parents were frantically running around the exam hall to find suitable clothes for their daughters. Some students had to cut the sleeves of their salwar kameez while some had to remove their shoes. Exploiting the situation, there was even a sale of T-shirts outside some exam centres.

In Kannur, officers asked a female student to remove her innerwear because there was a beep when she crossed the metal detector. Some other girls were not allowed entry because they were wearing black pants, said Das.



He said CBSE informed students of these restrictions at the eleventh hour.

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights also registered a suo motu case. It directed the CBSE headquarters in Delhi and the regional office in Thiruvananthapuram to submit a report in 10 days.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after some female students appearing for the NEET were asked to remove their innerwear before entering the examination hall, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission on Monday ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. KSHRC registered a suo motu case and sought report from the regional CBSE director. P Mohana Das, KSHRCs acting chairperson, said the action, held ostensibly as an invigilation procedure, was a violation of human rights. He sent a letter to the National Human Rights Commission seeking action against the examination officers concerned. The district police chief has been asked to submit a separate report and the Registrar of the Kerala University has been given three weeks time to give an explanation. KSHRC said many incidents of human rights violation were reported from several parts of the state during the NEET. Many parents were frantically running around the exam hall to find suitable clothes for their daughters. Some students had to cut the sleeves of their salwar kameez while some had to remove their shoes. Exploiting the situation, there was even a sale of T-shirts outside some exam centres. In Kannur, officers asked a female student to remove her innerwear because there was a beep when she crossed the metal detector. Some other girls were not allowed entry because they were wearing black pants, said Das. He said CBSE informed students of these restrictions at the eleventh hour. Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights also registered a suo motu case. It directed the CBSE headquarters in Delhi and the regional office in Thiruvananthapuram to submit a report in 10 days.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: In a major political development, former MP and suspended leader of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the State Jayaram Pangi joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan here on Tuesday.

The prominent tribal leader from Koraput, who was elected four times to Odisha Assembly and once to Lok Sabha, said the BJD is doing exactly the opposite of what Biju Patnaik had dreamt about the State. I was a disciplined member of the BJD and never indulged in anti-party activities. I still wonder why I was suspended from the party which did not take 40 minutes to spoil my 40 years of political journey, said Pangi after his induction into the BJP.



Pangi, who held portfolios like Agriculture, Cooperation and Excise in the Biju Patnaik Ministry during 1990-95, said he did not set any terms and conditions for joining the saffron party. My position will be decided by the party, he added. Reacting to Pangis decision, BJD spokesman Rabi Narayan Nanda said, It will not make any difference to the party. Several tribal leaders from Koraput have joined BJD.



Alleging that Pangi was working for other parties while he was in BJD, Nanda said the former will repent in future for leaving BJD. Pangi was suspended from the BJD by party president Naveen Patnaik on charges of anti-party activities.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Pradhan said Pangis joining the BJP will boost the party in the tribal-dominated Koraput district. Asserting that the people of Odisha have made up their mind for a change of Government, Pradhan said more BJD leaders will join the BJP in coming days. The process was started with the joining of youth BJD leader Amar Nayak at Badachana in Jajpur district on Monday.



Meanwhile, BJD MP Baijayant Panda indirectly blamed the party leadership after Pangi and others joined the BJP. He said resentment is brewing in the party as several districts remained unrepresented in the recent ministry reshuffle. One gone yesterday, another today. Yet when I cautioned last week, (I) was contradicted. Now large sections unrepresented, resentment everywhere, tweeted Panda.

Baijayant tweet adds to rejig resentment

Bhubaneswar: Even as resentment over Ministry reshuffle effected by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday continued to spread with supporters of several aspirants taking to the streets, BJDs Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda commented on the issue pointing towards non-representation of a large number of districts. Besides commenting on widespread resentment in the ruling party after the reshuffle, Baijayant also tweeted about the desertions from BJD to other political parties.

BHUBANESWAR: In a major political development, former MP and suspended leader of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the State Jayaram Pangi joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan here on Tuesday. The prominent tribal leader from Koraput, who was elected four times to Odisha Assembly and once to Lok Sabha, said the BJD is doing exactly the opposite of what Biju Patnaik had dreamt about the State. I was a disciplined member of the BJD and never indulged in anti-party activities. I still wonder why I was suspended from the party which did not take 40 minutes to spoil my 40 years of political journey, said Pangi after his induction into the BJP. Pangi, who held portfolios like Agriculture, Cooperation and Excise in the Biju Patnaik Ministry during 1990-95, said he did not set any terms and conditions for joining the saffron party. My position will be decided by the party, he added. Reacting to Pangis decision, BJD spokesman Rabi Narayan Nanda said, It will not make any difference to the party. Several tribal leaders from Koraput have joined BJD. Alleging that Pangi was working for other parties while he was in BJD, Nanda said the former will repent in future for leaving BJD. Pangi was suspended from the BJD by party president Naveen Patnaik on charges of anti-party activities. Meanwhile, Union Minister Pradhan said Pangis joining the BJP will boost the party in the tribal-dominated Koraput district. Asserting that the people of Odisha have made up their mind for a change of Government, Pradhan said more BJD leaders will join the BJP in coming days. The process was started with the joining of youth BJD leader Amar Nayak at Badachana in Jajpur district on Monday. Meanwhile, BJD MP Baijayant Panda indirectly blamed the party leadership after Pangi and others joined the BJP. He said resentment is brewing in the party as several districts remained unrepresented in the recent ministry reshuffle. One gone yesterday, another today. Yet when I cautioned last week, (I) was contradicted. Now large sections unrepresented, resentment everywhere, tweeted Panda. Baijayant tweet adds to rejig resentment Bhubaneswar: Even as resentment over Ministry reshuffle effected by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday continued to spread with supporters of several aspirants taking to the streets, BJDs Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda commented on the issue pointing towards non-representation of a large number of districts. Besides commenting on widespread resentment in the ruling party after the reshuffle, Baijayant also tweeted about the desertions from BJD to other political parties.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI:The proposed indefinite strike by transport workers from May 15 will proceed, since their talks with the state government have failed.

Representatives from 10 major worker unions met with Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar on Monday. During the talks, the minister proposed to allocate Rs 500 crore as a first-step measure, using which the retirement benefits of former employees would be met.

Subsequently, more funds would be allocated by the government, the minister told the unions. It was also pointed out that bus fare in the State was among the lowest in the country, which led to the poor financial situation of the transport corporations.

However, the worker unions were not convinced. We have rejected the initial relief of Rs 500 crore, as it cannot solve the problem. Instead, Rs 2,500 crore is needed immediately, with additional funds required for fleet replacement and bridging the operational deficit of transport corporations, said K Natarajan of the Labour Progressive Federation (affiliated to the DMK).

With no breakthrough achieved in issues such as wage agreement and fulfilling retirement benefits of former employees, Natarajan stated, The proposed strike will take place as scheduled.

The strike is likely to have a major impact on public commuting, as the eight transport corporations operate 22,500 buses carrying several crores of passengers daily across the State.

CHENNAI:The proposed indefinite strike by transport workers from May 15 will proceed, since their talks with the state government have failed. Representatives from 10 major worker unions met with Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar on Monday. During the talks, the minister proposed to allocate Rs 500 crore as a first-step measure, using which the retirement benefits of former employees would be met. Subsequently, more funds would be allocated by the government, the minister told the unions. It was also pointed out that bus fare in the State was among the lowest in the country, which led to the poor financial situation of the transport corporations. However, the worker unions were not convinced. We have rejected the initial relief of Rs 500 crore, as it cannot solve the problem. Instead, Rs 2,500 crore is needed immediately, with additional funds required for fleet replacement and bridging the operational deficit of transport corporations, said K Natarajan of the Labour Progressive Federation (affiliated to the DMK). With no breakthrough achieved in issues such as wage agreement and fulfilling retirement benefits of former employees, Natarajan stated, The proposed strike will take place as scheduled. The strike is likely to have a major impact on public commuting, as the eight transport corporations operate 22,500 buses carrying several crores of passengers daily across the State.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Minister of NRI affairs KT Rama Rao gave a presentation on the vision of Telangana government on Gulf migrants at a meeting conducted by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi on Monday. Rama Rao suggested to the Centre to establish a centralised data bank of Gulf migrants and to share the data with all states to track who was emigrating to the Gulf countries.



He wanted the external affairs minister to appoint Telugu language translators in all embassy offices in all Gulf nations. He also requested Central government to come up with a specific policy on extending legal assistance by recruiting layers of Indian origin who are settled in those countries.



He also advocated an agreement with all Gulf nations to allow the Indian migrant prisoners to complete the sentence term in Indian jails. A few companies are unlawfully taking away the passport of Indian migrants, Rao told Swaraj and requested her to raise this issue as a human rights violation.

He also suggested establishment of e-Sanad  faceless, cashless contact and digital facility. E-Sanad will be inaugurated in Hyderabad in the third week of May.



The Gulf migrants outreach programme of MEA and TS will take off from Hyderabad on May 13.

Rama Rao requested the MEA to form a group of ministers to discuss and emulate the best practices being adopted by the states such as passports and welfare schemes for Gulf returnees. Sushma Swaraj assured Rama Rao of forming such a GoM which will meet once in three months to discuss issues relating to migrants. Ambassadors from Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain also attended the meeting.



Kavitha takes up turmeric board issue with Sitharaman

Hyderabad: On a day when her brother and IT minister KT Rama Rao was busy in Delhi calling on various Union ministers to discuss issues relating to Telangana, TRS MP K Kavitha too tried to put in efforts to take up issues relating to the state with some other Union ministers.

The TRS MP, who represents Nizamabad Lok Sabha segment  the top-most turmeric producing constituency in the country, called on Union minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi on Monday and requested her to take steps to set up a Turmeric Board for welfare of turmeric ryots in the country.

The MP, who wants the proposed board to come up in Nizamabad, told Nirmala that the constitution of the board will be useful for farmers to get Minimum Support Price (MSP) to turmeric. Kavitha recalled the fact that she had earlier introduced a private member bill in Parliament for setting up of Turmeric Board. The TRS MP also requested Nirmala to visit Padigal of Nizamabad district where government is planning to set up a Spices Park. She urged the Union minister to take steps to impose a ban on imports of turmeric in the country.

HYDERABAD: Minister of NRI affairs KT Rama Rao gave a presentation on the vision of Telangana government on Gulf migrants at a meeting conducted by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi on Monday. Rama Rao suggested to the Centre to establish a centralised data bank of Gulf migrants and to share the data with all states to track who was emigrating to the Gulf countries. He wanted the external affairs minister to appoint Telugu language translators in all embassy offices in all Gulf nations. He also requested Central government to come up with a specific policy on extending legal assistance by recruiting layers of Indian origin who are settled in those countries. He also advocated an agreement with all Gulf nations to allow the Indian migrant prisoners to complete the sentence term in Indian jails. A few companies are unlawfully taking away the passport of Indian migrants, Rao told Swaraj and requested her to raise this issue as a human rights violation. He also suggested establishment of e-Sanad  faceless, cashless contact and digital facility. E-Sanad will be inaugurated in Hyderabad in the third week of May. The Gulf migrants outreach programme of MEA and TS will take off from Hyderabad on May 13. Rama Rao requested the MEA to form a group of ministers to discuss and emulate the best practices being adopted by the states such as passports and welfare schemes for Gulf returnees. Sushma Swaraj assured Rama Rao of forming such a GoM which will meet once in three months to discuss issues relating to migrants. Ambassadors from Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain also attended the meeting. Kavitha takes up turmeric board issue with Sitharaman Hyderabad: On a day when her brother and IT minister KT Rama Rao was busy in Delhi calling on various Union ministers to discuss issues relating to Telangana, TRS MP K Kavitha too tried to put in efforts to take up issues relating to the state with some other Union ministers. The TRS MP, who represents Nizamabad Lok Sabha segment  the top-most turmeric producing constituency in the country, called on Union minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi on Monday and requested her to take steps to set up a Turmeric Board for welfare of turmeric ryots in the country. The MP, who wants the proposed board to come up in Nizamabad, told Nirmala that the constitution of the board will be useful for farmers to get Minimum Support Price (MSP) to turmeric. Kavitha recalled the fact that she had earlier introduced a private member bill in Parliament for setting up of Turmeric Board. The TRS MP also requested Nirmala to visit Padigal of Nizamabad district where government is planning to set up a Spices Park. She urged the Union minister to take steps to impose a ban on imports of turmeric in the country.
By AFP

SANAA, YEMEN: Thirty-four people have died of cholera-related causes and more than 2,000 have been taken ill in Yemen, as humanitarian organisations warned Tuesday that the outbreak could spiral out of control.

This is the second wave of cholera-associated deaths in a year in Yemen, where deadly conflict has destroyed hospitals and left millions of people struggling to access food and clean water.

"There have been 34 cholera-associated deaths and 2,022 cases of acute watery diarrhoea in nine governorates, including Sanaa, during the period of April 27 to May 7," a World Health Organization official told AFP.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also said on Tuesday it had independently treated more than 780 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea since March 30 in Yemen, calling the hike in numbers an "outbreak".

"We are very concerned that the disease will continue to spread and become out of control," said Shinjiro Murata, MSF's head of mission in Yemen.

"Humanitarian assistance... needs to be urgently scaled up to limit the spread of the outbreak and anticipate potential other ones."

MSF said patients were travelling dozens of kilometres (miles), in difficult conditions, to reach treatment centres.

The WHO now classifies Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world alongside Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria and Iraq.

Conflict in Yemen has escalated in the past two years, as the Saudi-supported government fights Iran-backed Huthi rebels for control of the impoverished country.

The United Nations, which has called Yemen "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world", estimates more than 7,000 people have been killed since 2015 and three million displaced.

Some 17 million also lack adequate food, with one third of the country's provinces on the brink of famine.

SANAA, YEMEN: Thirty-four people have died of cholera-related causes and more than 2,000 have been taken ill in Yemen, as humanitarian organisations warned Tuesday that the outbreak could spiral out of control. This is the second wave of cholera-associated deaths in a year in Yemen, where deadly conflict has destroyed hospitals and left millions of people struggling to access food and clean water. "There have been 34 cholera-associated deaths and 2,022 cases of acute watery diarrhoea in nine governorates, including Sanaa, during the period of April 27 to May 7," a World Health Organization official told AFP. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) also said on Tuesday it had independently treated more than 780 cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea since March 30 in Yemen, calling the hike in numbers an "outbreak". "We are very concerned that the disease will continue to spread and become out of control," said Shinjiro Murata, MSF's head of mission in Yemen. "Humanitarian assistance... needs to be urgently scaled up to limit the spread of the outbreak and anticipate potential other ones." MSF said patients were travelling dozens of kilometres (miles), in difficult conditions, to reach treatment centres. The WHO now classifies Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world alongside Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria and Iraq. Conflict in Yemen has escalated in the past two years, as the Saudi-supported government fights Iran-backed Huthi rebels for control of the impoverished country. The United Nations, which has called Yemen "the largest humanitarian crisis in the world", estimates more than 7,000 people have been killed since 2015 and three million displaced. Some 17 million also lack adequate food, with one third of the country's provinces on the brink of famine.
By AFP

BANGKOK: A British drug trafficker convicted over a $1.3 million narcotics ring has been arrested in Thailand after years on the run, police said Tuesday, the latest example of global underworld figures using the kingdom as a bolthole.

Jonathan Moorby, 47, was detained by Thai police on the popular southern tourist island of Koh Samui on Monday following an investigation by British detectives.

He has a string of previous drug offences to his name but went on the run in 2014 shortly before an English court sentenced him to nearly 20 years in jail in absentia for conspiracy to supply more than 1 million ($1.3 million) of cocaine and amphetamines.

"We were asked by the British embassy's Interpol representative to arrest the suspect," Major General Soontorn Chalermkiat of Thailand's Narcotics Suppression Police, told reporters.

"He is a key drugs trafficking suspect in Britian, dealing in cocaine and ice (crystal methamphetamine)," he said, adding that he had been found in possession of a fake Belgian passport.

British prosecutors described him as a major drugs kingpin in the country's northeast, according to British media that covered the trial.

Thailand has long been a favoured destination for wanted criminals from across the world, something the police have vowed to end, adopting the official slogan: "Good guys in, bad guys out".

Jonathan Moorby, 47, center seated, talks to police at his house

in Koh Samui, Thailand. (AP)

While they have had some notable successes, western law enforcement officials say high levels of official corruption and weak local law enforcement continue to make the country an attractive bolthole.

The country is also a major trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, the world's second largest drug producing region after Latin America.

Huge quantities of heroin and methamphetamine are produced in the triangle -- the border regions of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and southwestern China -- with record seizures across Asia having little effect on supply or street prices.

Thai police said Moorby would be prosecuted for illegal entry and using a false passport before being extradited.

BANGKOK: A British drug trafficker convicted over a $1.3 million narcotics ring has been arrested in Thailand after years on the run, police said Tuesday, the latest example of global underworld figures using the kingdom as a bolthole. Jonathan Moorby, 47, was detained by Thai police on the popular southern tourist island of Koh Samui on Monday following an investigation by British detectives. He has a string of previous drug offences to his name but went on the run in 2014 shortly before an English court sentenced him to nearly 20 years in jail in absentia for conspiracy to supply more than 1 million ($1.3 million) of cocaine and amphetamines. "We were asked by the British embassy's Interpol representative to arrest the suspect," Major General Soontorn Chalermkiat of Thailand's Narcotics Suppression Police, told reporters. "He is a key drugs trafficking suspect in Britian, dealing in cocaine and ice (crystal methamphetamine)," he said, adding that he had been found in possession of a fake Belgian passport. British prosecutors described him as a major drugs kingpin in the country's northeast, according to British media that covered the trial. Thailand has long been a favoured destination for wanted criminals from across the world, something the police have vowed to end, adopting the official slogan: "Good guys in, bad guys out". Jonathan Moorby, 47, center seated, talks to police at his house in Koh Samui, Thailand. (AP)While they have had some notable successes, western law enforcement officials say high levels of official corruption and weak local law enforcement continue to make the country an attractive bolthole. The country is also a major trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, the world's second largest drug producing region after Latin America. Huge quantities of heroin and methamphetamine are produced in the triangle -- the border regions of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and southwestern China -- with record seizures across Asia having little effect on supply or street prices. Thai police said Moorby would be prosecuted for illegal entry and using a false passport before being extradited.
By PTI

SACRAMENTO: Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed by the state Assembly.

Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill yesterday to repeal part of a law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and overthrow the US government was rampant. The bill now goes to the Senate.

It would eliminate part of the law that allows public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist Party.

Employees could still be fired for being members of organisations they know advocate for overthrowing the government by force or violence.

The bill updates an outdated provision in state law, said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the San Francisco Bay Area Democrat who authored the measure.

Some Assembly Republicans said the Cold War-era law should not be changed.

Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Southern California Republican who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China are "still a threat."

"This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians," said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican who represents a coastal district in Southern California. "Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against."

SACRAMENTO: Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed by the state Assembly. Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill yesterday to repeal part of a law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and '50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and overthrow the US government was rampant. The bill now goes to the Senate. It would eliminate part of the law that allows public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist Party. Employees could still be fired for being members of organisations they know advocate for overthrowing the government by force or violence. The bill updates an outdated provision in state law, said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, the San Francisco Bay Area Democrat who authored the measure. Some Assembly Republicans said the Cold War-era law should not be changed. Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Southern California Republican who fought in the Vietnam War, said communists in North Korea and China are "still a threat." "This bill is blatantly offensive to all Californians," said Assemblyman Travis Allen, a Republican who represents a coastal district in Southern California. "Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against."
By AFP

PIERREFONDS: Canada mobilized its army to help thousands of flood victims try to hold back waters and save their homes Monday after the worst flood in half a century struck, but authorities were optimistic that rising water levels would soon crest.

Several rivers and lakes have overflowed their banks in Quebec province, between Gatineau in the Canadian capital region and Montreal 200 kilometers (125 miles) downstream.

The ground is saturated and unable to absorb any more water.

But recent heavy rains have started to subside and "as of Wednesday, we expect to see the situation begin to improve," Quebec Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux announced.

Some 2,500 homes in Quebec and more than 300 in Ontario have been flooded, and at least 1,500 people have been ordered to evacuate -- most of them in the Canadian capital region.

In Pierrefonds, one of the hardest-hit regions near Montreal, Johanne Aubin spent the morning pumping water from her basement using a pump from her backyard swimming pool.

The flooding took her and most others here by surprise, and she barely had time to erect a small sandbag wall around her property.

After days of fighting an exhausting battle to hold back the waters, often in vain, despair has started to set in.

Most of the streets here are flooded, forcing locals to travel by canoe or other small boat.

Resident David Swidzinsky has been ferrying neighbors to safety, or back to their homes to collect precious belongings that had been missed in the rush to get out when a state of emergency was declared.

People "broke out in tears (seeing the devastation) when I brought them home to fetch their bags," he said.

A few streets over, a dozen soldiers tirelessly filled sandbags. Across eastern Canada, hundreds of thousands of sandbags have been used and Ottawa has asked suppliers for up to four million more, said officials.

Pierrefonds resident John Parker spent his day hauling wet furniture and personal belongings to the curb, as a pump and hose sputtered water from his flooded basement over another wall of sandbags.

"It just kind of tires you out. You move around, get one window fixed and the next window gets full of water," he told AFP. "It's surrounded the whole house now, and it's coming into the garage.

"It will get better, because it can't get any worse," he said.

The Canadian army has deployed 1,650 troops to help stem the flooding, reinforcing dikes, protecting critical infrastructure including water treatment facilities and bridges. Military helicopters and boats also are on standby.

'Dealing with imponderables'

"With this kind of a disaster, it's not where there's a singular event like a dam bursting or a building exploding or a bridge collapsing," commented Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

"This is the gradual building of precipitation where circumstances physically on the ground can change dramatically without notice in a very short span of time. So everybody was dealing with imponderables."

Goodale called it the worst Canadian flood in "50 years" but added that the situation was improving in Ontario, where high water levels in Lake Ontario threatened coastal communities including parts of Toronto, Belleville to the east and the Thousand Islands region, which is home to fabled 19th century mansions and cottages.

"I have never seen so much water between Ottawa and Montreal," Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, the wife of the prime minister, told broadcaster RDI.

The day before, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accompanied by his two young children, had traveled to the town of Terrasse Vaudreuil west of Montreal to help locals fill sandbags.

There are "exceptional circumstances" behind the flooding, explained Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel, pointing to a month of rain coming on the heels of a spring thaw after a "severe winter."

Although it is unlikely to get any worse as of Monday, "the situation will last a few weeks," said Coiteux.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said the recovery and cleanup from this "historic flood" will take time.

Sunday evening, a 37-year-old man and his two-year-old daughter were reported missing after their car veered into a river and was swept away near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts in the Gaspe region of eastern Quebec.

In British Columbia, on the opposite side of the country, the same combination of rain and snowmelt has caused flooding and mudslides that left at least two people missing, including the fire chief of the village of Cache Creek who had been out checking water levels.

PIERREFONDS: Canada mobilized its army to help thousands of flood victims try to hold back waters and save their homes Monday after the worst flood in half a century struck, but authorities were optimistic that rising water levels would soon crest. Several rivers and lakes have overflowed their banks in Quebec province, between Gatineau in the Canadian capital region and Montreal 200 kilometers (125 miles) downstream. The ground is saturated and unable to absorb any more water. But recent heavy rains have started to subside and "as of Wednesday, we expect to see the situation begin to improve," Quebec Public Safety Minister Martin Coiteux announced. Some 2,500 homes in Quebec and more than 300 in Ontario have been flooded, and at least 1,500 people have been ordered to evacuate -- most of them in the Canadian capital region. In Pierrefonds, one of the hardest-hit regions near Montreal, Johanne Aubin spent the morning pumping water from her basement using a pump from her backyard swimming pool. The flooding took her and most others here by surprise, and she barely had time to erect a small sandbag wall around her property. After days of fighting an exhausting battle to hold back the waters, often in vain, despair has started to set in. Most of the streets here are flooded, forcing locals to travel by canoe or other small boat. Resident David Swidzinsky has been ferrying neighbors to safety, or back to their homes to collect precious belongings that had been missed in the rush to get out when a state of emergency was declared. People "broke out in tears (seeing the devastation) when I brought them home to fetch their bags," he said. A few streets over, a dozen soldiers tirelessly filled sandbags. Across eastern Canada, hundreds of thousands of sandbags have been used and Ottawa has asked suppliers for up to four million more, said officials. Pierrefonds resident John Parker spent his day hauling wet furniture and personal belongings to the curb, as a pump and hose sputtered water from his flooded basement over another wall of sandbags. "It just kind of tires you out. You move around, get one window fixed and the next window gets full of water," he told AFP. "It's surrounded the whole house now, and it's coming into the garage. "It will get better, because it can't get any worse," he said. The Canadian army has deployed 1,650 troops to help stem the flooding, reinforcing dikes, protecting critical infrastructure including water treatment facilities and bridges. Military helicopters and boats also are on standby. 'Dealing with imponderables' "With this kind of a disaster, it's not where there's a singular event like a dam bursting or a building exploding or a bridge collapsing," commented Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. "This is the gradual building of precipitation where circumstances physically on the ground can change dramatically without notice in a very short span of time. So everybody was dealing with imponderables." Goodale called it the worst Canadian flood in "50 years" but added that the situation was improving in Ontario, where high water levels in Lake Ontario threatened coastal communities including parts of Toronto, Belleville to the east and the Thousand Islands region, which is home to fabled 19th century mansions and cottages. "I have never seen so much water between Ottawa and Montreal," Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, the wife of the prime minister, told broadcaster RDI. The day before, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accompanied by his two young children, had traveled to the town of Terrasse Vaudreuil west of Montreal to help locals fill sandbags. There are "exceptional circumstances" behind the flooding, explained Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel, pointing to a month of rain coming on the heels of a spring thaw after a "severe winter." Although it is unlikely to get any worse as of Monday, "the situation will last a few weeks," said Coiteux. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said the recovery and cleanup from this "historic flood" will take time. Sunday evening, a 37-year-old man and his two-year-old daughter were reported missing after their car veered into a river and was swept away near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts in the Gaspe region of eastern Quebec. In British Columbia, on the opposite side of the country, the same combination of rain and snowmelt has caused flooding and mudslides that left at least two people missing, including the fire chief of the village of Cache Creek who had been out checking water levels.
By AFP

BONN: Uncertainty over America's future in the climate-rescue Paris Agreement loomed large over UN talks in Bonn Monday to work out the nuts and bolts of implementing the hard-fought international deal.

US President Donald Trump has yet to announce whether he intends keeping a campaign promise to withdraw Washington from the pact in whose birth his predecessor, Barack Obama, was instrumental.

Media reports have said the White House could hold a special meeting within days to discuss the future of the agreement clinched in 2015 after years of tough bartering.

But David Balton, the US deputy assistant secretary for international environmental affairs, said Monday: "The last thing I heard is that the president, our president, has indicated that he plans to make a decision some time over the next couple of weeks, but not this week."

A total of 196 countries are now parties to the climate deal which Trump threatened to "cancel".

The May 8-18 Bonn meeting is meant to start drafting a "rulebook" to guide member countries in executing the pact, which seeks to brake global warming by curbing fossil fuel emissions.

But the negotiations risk being hamstrung over fears that the world's number two carbon polluter will pull out and throw the pact into disarray.

"There's no question that if the US withdraws it is going to create difficulties... in the negotiations," Paula Caballero of the World Resources Institute think-tank said as climate envoys met for their first session since Trump took office.

- No renegotiation -

The US did send a delegation to the talks, led by Obama-era negotiator Trigg Talley, who declined to comment on their brief.

A State Department official told AFP: "We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity."

Numerous speakers at a plenary session Monday stressed that the deal cannot be "renegotiated" -- a proposal of Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

European climate commissioner Miguel Canete, was "in contact with the White House to persuade them to stay," Yvon Slingenberg, a representative for the EU bloc, said in Bonn.

Widely hailed as the last chance to stave off worst-case-scenario global warming, the Paris Agreement was savaged by a campaigning Trump, who called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China.

With the rest of the world waiting ever since, Trump has said he will make his decision before the next G7 meeting on May 26-27 in Sicily.

Salaheddine Mezoua of Morocco, who presided over the last high-level climate negotiations in 2016, said he trusted that "the good sense and pragmatic spirit President Trump and his team" would prevail.

"It would be difficult, crazy, to go against public opinion, against the domestic will, and the will of the international community," Mezoua said in Bonn.

Some fear a US U-turn would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories for more efforts on emissions-cutting targets.

This is key, as current pledges place the world on track for warming much higher than the ceiling of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) written into the agreement.

- US 'waffling'-

The Trump administration has already proposed slashing funds for UN climate bodies, including the UNFCCC secretariat under whose auspices the negotiations take place.

The forum's budget is on the Bonn agenda.

On Monday, 200 global investors managing more than $15 trillion (13.7 trillion euros) in assets, urged the G7 group of rich countries, which includes the US, to "stand by their commitments".

"Global investors are eager to open their wallets to a low-carbon future," said Mindy Lubber, president of CERES, a non-profit organisation that works with North American companies on sustainability projects.

"But it wont happen without clear, stable policy signals from countries worldwide -- in particular, the US government whose waffling on the Paris Climate Agreement is hugely troubling," she said in a statement.

It was not clear to what extent the US team was actively taking part in the latest talks.

"The US remains a party to the agreement and this implies that of course they have the right to have a seat at the table and to participate in all the discussions," UNFCCC executive secretary Patricia Espinosa told AFP.

"They have said that their position is under review, but this doesn't stop their commitments as a party to the process."

BONN: Uncertainty over America's future in the climate-rescue Paris Agreement loomed large over UN talks in Bonn Monday to work out the nuts and bolts of implementing the hard-fought international deal. US President Donald Trump has yet to announce whether he intends keeping a campaign promise to withdraw Washington from the pact in whose birth his predecessor, Barack Obama, was instrumental. Media reports have said the White House could hold a special meeting within days to discuss the future of the agreement clinched in 2015 after years of tough bartering. But David Balton, the US deputy assistant secretary for international environmental affairs, said Monday: "The last thing I heard is that the president, our president, has indicated that he plans to make a decision some time over the next couple of weeks, but not this week." A total of 196 countries are now parties to the climate deal which Trump threatened to "cancel". The May 8-18 Bonn meeting is meant to start drafting a "rulebook" to guide member countries in executing the pact, which seeks to brake global warming by curbing fossil fuel emissions. But the negotiations risk being hamstrung over fears that the world's number two carbon polluter will pull out and throw the pact into disarray. "There's no question that if the US withdraws it is going to create difficulties... in the negotiations," Paula Caballero of the World Resources Institute think-tank said as climate envoys met for their first session since Trump took office. - No renegotiation - The US did send a delegation to the talks, led by Obama-era negotiator Trigg Talley, who declined to comment on their brief. A State Department official told AFP: "We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity." Numerous speakers at a plenary session Monday stressed that the deal cannot be "renegotiated" -- a proposal of Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry. European climate commissioner Miguel Canete, was "in contact with the White House to persuade them to stay," Yvon Slingenberg, a representative for the EU bloc, said in Bonn. Widely hailed as the last chance to stave off worst-case-scenario global warming, the Paris Agreement was savaged by a campaigning Trump, who called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China. With the rest of the world waiting ever since, Trump has said he will make his decision before the next G7 meeting on May 26-27 in Sicily. Salaheddine Mezoua of Morocco, who presided over the last high-level climate negotiations in 2016, said he trusted that "the good sense and pragmatic spirit President Trump and his team" would prevail. "It would be difficult, crazy, to go against public opinion, against the domestic will, and the will of the international community," Mezoua said in Bonn. Some fear a US U-turn would dampen enthusiasm among other signatories for more efforts on emissions-cutting targets. This is key, as current pledges place the world on track for warming much higher than the ceiling of two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) written into the agreement. - US 'waffling'- The Trump administration has already proposed slashing funds for UN climate bodies, including the UNFCCC secretariat under whose auspices the negotiations take place. The forum's budget is on the Bonn agenda. On Monday, 200 global investors managing more than $15 trillion (13.7 trillion euros) in assets, urged the G7 group of rich countries, which includes the US, to "stand by their commitments". "Global investors are eager to open their wallets to a low-carbon future," said Mindy Lubber, president of CERES, a non-profit organisation that works with North American companies on sustainability projects. "But it wont happen without clear, stable policy signals from countries worldwide -- in particular, the US government whose waffling on the Paris Climate Agreement is hugely troubling," she said in a statement. It was not clear to what extent the US team was actively taking part in the latest talks. "The US remains a party to the agreement and this implies that of course they have the right to have a seat at the table and to participate in all the discussions," UNFCCC executive secretary Patricia Espinosa told AFP. "They have said that their position is under review, but this doesn't stop their commitments as a party to the process."
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, speaking publicly for the first time about concerns she brought to the Trump White House on Russia, told Congress today she warned that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "essentially could be blackmailed" because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with the Russian ambassador.

The statements from Yates, an Obama administration holdover, offered by far the most detailed account of the chain of events that led to Flynn's ouster from government in the first weeks of the Trump administration.

Yates, appearing before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, described discussions with Trump White House Counsel Don McGahn in late January in which she warned that Flynn apparently had misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador.

White House officials had insisted that Flynn had not discussed US-imposed sanctions with Kislyak during the presidential transition period, but asked Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had misled them about the nature of the calls.

"We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was making false statements to the public and because we believed that Gen Flynn was possibly compromised," Yates said.

"We knew that was not a good situation, which is why we wanted to let the White House know about it." The Jan 26 conversation took place two days after the FBI interviewed Flynn about those contacts. McGahn asked Yates how Flynn did in the interview, but Yates said she could not answer.

She was fired four days later by the Trump administration. James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, testified as well. He retired when Trump took office.

The hearing came hours after former Obama administration officials revealed that Obama had warned Trump against hiring Flynn as national security adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election.

The highly anticipated hearing -- it was Yates' first appearance on Capitol Hill since her firing -- before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election was expected to fill in basic details in the chain of events that led to Flynn's ouster. Word that Obama directly warned Trump suggests that concern over Flynn's possible appointment spread to the highest level of government months before Flynn's departure.

The Obama-Trump discussion was first reported today by NBC-TV.

Flynn's forced February resignation followed media reports that he had discussed US-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak, which was contrary to the public representations of the Trump White House.

Earlier today, former officials said Obama had raised general concerns about Flynn with Trump and told the incoming president there were better people for the national security post. Trump's White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in response today that if Obama "was seriously concerned" about Flynn's connections to Russia or other foreign countries, he should have withheld Flynn's security clearance. Flynn served under Obama as defense intelligence chief before Obama dismissed him from that post.

Trump moved to distance himself from his former adviser's troubles today, tweeting that it was the Obama administration that gave Flynn "the highest security clearance" when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn had been fired by the Obama administration in 2014.

In a second tweet, Trump said Yates should be asked under oath "if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers" soon after she raised concerns about Flynn with McGahn.

She said today she did not -- and that she had revealed no classified information herself.

Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and isn't aware of any involvement by his aides in Moscow's interference in the election. He's dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaign's possible ties to the election meddling as a "hoax" driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House.

WASHINGTON: Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, speaking publicly for the first time about concerns she brought to the Trump White House on Russia, told Congress today she warned that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn "essentially could be blackmailed" because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. The statements from Yates, an Obama administration holdover, offered by far the most detailed account of the chain of events that led to Flynn's ouster from government in the first weeks of the Trump administration. Yates, appearing before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, described discussions with Trump White House Counsel Don McGahn in late January in which she warned that Flynn apparently had misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. White House officials had insisted that Flynn had not discussed US-imposed sanctions with Kislyak during the presidential transition period, but asked Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had misled them about the nature of the calls. "We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was making false statements to the public and because we believed that Gen Flynn was possibly compromised," Yates said. "We knew that was not a good situation, which is why we wanted to let the White House know about it." The Jan 26 conversation took place two days after the FBI interviewed Flynn about those contacts. McGahn asked Yates how Flynn did in the interview, but Yates said she could not answer. She was fired four days later by the Trump administration. James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, testified as well. He retired when Trump took office. The hearing came hours after former Obama administration officials revealed that Obama had warned Trump against hiring Flynn as national security adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election. The highly anticipated hearing -- it was Yates' first appearance on Capitol Hill since her firing -- before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the presidential election was expected to fill in basic details in the chain of events that led to Flynn's ouster. Word that Obama directly warned Trump suggests that concern over Flynn's possible appointment spread to the highest level of government months before Flynn's departure. The Obama-Trump discussion was first reported today by NBC-TV. Flynn's forced February resignation followed media reports that he had discussed US-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak, which was contrary to the public representations of the Trump White House. Earlier today, former officials said Obama had raised general concerns about Flynn with Trump and told the incoming president there were better people for the national security post. Trump's White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in response today that if Obama "was seriously concerned" about Flynn's connections to Russia or other foreign countries, he should have withheld Flynn's security clearance. Flynn served under Obama as defense intelligence chief before Obama dismissed him from that post. Trump moved to distance himself from his former adviser's troubles today, tweeting that it was the Obama administration that gave Flynn "the highest security clearance" when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn had been fired by the Obama administration in 2014. In a second tweet, Trump said Yates should be asked under oath "if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers" soon after she raised concerns about Flynn with McGahn. She said today she did not -- and that she had revealed no classified information herself. Trump has said he has no ties to Russia and isn't aware of any involvement by his aides in Moscow's interference in the election. He's dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaign's possible ties to the election meddling as a "hoax" driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House.
By AFP

UNITED NATIONS: The International Criminal Court is considering whether to investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya, which has become a "marketplace" for human trafficking, the chief prosecutor said Monday.

Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council that her office was collecting evidence of crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya.

Thousands of vulnerable migrants, including women and children, are being held in detention centers across Libya where "crimes, including killings, rapes and torture, are alleged to be commonplace," she said.

Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and ICC chief prosecutor since 2012, said she was "dismayed by credible accounts that Libya has become a marketplace for the trafficking of human beings".

The ICC prosecution is "carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya" if these cases fall under the court's jurisdiction, she said.

Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 fall of Moamer Kadhafi, its territory controlled by two rival government backed by rival militias, some of whom have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

The chaos has been a boon for migrant smugglers and human traffickers who have turned Libya's coast into a key departure point to Europe.

Noting that Libya's overall security has "deteriorated significantly" since last year, Bensouda warned that migrant-smuggling could help organized crime and terror networks expand their hold in the north African country.

The number of people leaving Libya to reach Europe is up nearly 50 percent this year compared with the opening months of 2016.

On Monday, UN agencies reported that 11 migrants died and nearly 200 were missing after two boats sank off the coast of Libya.

Bensouda said her office was closely following the offensive by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi after a video emerged showing the Libyan National Army allegedly committing serious crimes such as summary executions of detainees.

Bensouda also urged Libyan authorities to arrest former security chief, Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, who she said is currently residing in Libya and is wanted for war crimes trial at the ICC.

A warrant for Khaled's arrest was unsealed in late April.

UNITED NATIONS: The International Criminal Court is considering whether to investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya, which has become a "marketplace" for human trafficking, the chief prosecutor said Monday. Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council that her office was collecting evidence of crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya. Thousands of vulnerable migrants, including women and children, are being held in detention centers across Libya where "crimes, including killings, rapes and torture, are alleged to be commonplace," she said. Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and ICC chief prosecutor since 2012, said she was "dismayed by credible accounts that Libya has become a marketplace for the trafficking of human beings". The ICC prosecution is "carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya" if these cases fall under the court's jurisdiction, she said. Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 fall of Moamer Kadhafi, its territory controlled by two rival government backed by rival militias, some of whom have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. The chaos has been a boon for migrant smugglers and human traffickers who have turned Libya's coast into a key departure point to Europe. Noting that Libya's overall security has "deteriorated significantly" since last year, Bensouda warned that migrant-smuggling could help organized crime and terror networks expand their hold in the north African country. The number of people leaving Libya to reach Europe is up nearly 50 percent this year compared with the opening months of 2016. On Monday, UN agencies reported that 11 migrants died and nearly 200 were missing after two boats sank off the coast of Libya. Bensouda said her office was closely following the offensive by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi after a video emerged showing the Libyan National Army allegedly committing serious crimes such as summary executions of detainees. Bensouda also urged Libyan authorities to arrest former security chief, Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, who she said is currently residing in Libya and is wanted for war crimes trial at the ICC. A warrant for Khaled's arrest was unsealed in late April.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan's party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan has been demanding resignation from Sharif for alleged corruption.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", The Express Tribune reported.

The PTI does not possess substantial evidence to fortify its case except for some interviews and excerpts from a book 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, wife of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was brutally murdered in 2010 by Pakistani Taliban.

"Relying on the revelations made in certain interviews and a book, PTI intends to open up a shady chapter in the country's political history from late 1980s in an apparent bid to further malign Sharif," the report said.

The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took money, amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from former al-Qaeda chief Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, the report said.

They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said.

However in 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak  who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)  had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989.

In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said.

Chaudhry, meanwhile said, "In the past, Sharif remained an active part of several conspiracies against the elected governments".

Last week, the PTI announced to open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case which determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He said the two cases would be filed this week.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan's party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan has been demanding resignation from Sharif for alleged corruption. PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", The Express Tribune reported. The PTI does not possess substantial evidence to fortify its case except for some interviews and excerpts from a book 'Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman' by Shamama Khalid, wife of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was brutally murdered in 2010 by Pakistani Taliban. "Relying on the revelations made in certain interviews and a book, PTI intends to open up a shady chapter in the country's political history from late 1980s in an apparent bid to further malign Sharif," the report said. The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took money, amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from former al-Qaeda chief Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, the report said. They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said. However in 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak  who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)  had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989. In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said. Chaudhry, meanwhile said, "In the past, Sharif remained an active part of several conspiracies against the elected governments". Last week, the PTI announced to open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case which determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party. He said the two cases would be filed this week.
By AFP

JERUSALEM: A senior Israeli official telephoned Turkey's ambassador Tuesday to express indignation over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and anti-Muslim discrimination, diplomatic sources said.

Foreign ministry director general Yuval Rotem spoke with ambassador Kemal Okem at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's behest, the Israeli sources said.

Israel had said in a statement on Monday night, in a reference to Erdogan, that those who "systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region."

It also rejected "baseless smears" from the Turkish leader.

Erdogan has vowed to prevent a draft bill being advanced in Israel that would prevent the use of speakers mounted on minarets to summon Muslims to prayer and accused Israel of apartheid practices.

"What's the difference in Israel's current practices from the racist and discriminatory policies implemented towards the blacks in America in the past, and in South Africa more recently?" he asked at the International Jerusalem Foundations Forum in Istanbul.

Erdogan, a fervent supporter of Palestinians, normalised relations with Israel in June last year after bilateral ties deteriorated over a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed 10 Turkish activists.

Israeli parliament speaker Yuli Edelstein lashed out at Erdogan on Tuesday, telling public radio that "one mustn't forget: Erdogan was an enemy and will remain one."

"As long as Erdogan leads Turkey the ties (with Israel) won't return to what they were," Edelstein wrote on his Twitter account.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant, however, said that Turkey and Israel need their ties.

"We must keep correct relations with them," Galant told army radio.

"The fact that from time to time (Erdogan) makes inflammatory remarks that reflect his own rhetorical political interests -- let him talk, we know how to talk too."

"When it comes to practice, I think the Turks have other interests," Galant said, pointing to the number of Israeli tourists who visit Turkey and the possibility of building a pipeline to Turkey to export natural gas from Israel.

JERUSALEM: A senior Israeli official telephoned Turkey's ambassador Tuesday to express indignation over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and anti-Muslim discrimination, diplomatic sources said. Foreign ministry director general Yuval Rotem spoke with ambassador Kemal Okem at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's behest, the Israeli sources said. Israel had said in a statement on Monday night, in a reference to Erdogan, that those who "systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach morality to the only true democracy in the region." It also rejected "baseless smears" from the Turkish leader. Erdogan has vowed to prevent a draft bill being advanced in Israel that would prevent the use of speakers mounted on minarets to summon Muslims to prayer and accused Israel of apartheid practices. "What's the difference in Israel's current practices from the racist and discriminatory policies implemented towards the blacks in America in the past, and in South Africa more recently?" he asked at the International Jerusalem Foundations Forum in Istanbul. Erdogan, a fervent supporter of Palestinians, normalised relations with Israel in June last year after bilateral ties deteriorated over a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship that killed 10 Turkish activists. Israeli parliament speaker Yuli Edelstein lashed out at Erdogan on Tuesday, telling public radio that "one mustn't forget: Erdogan was an enemy and will remain one." "As long as Erdogan leads Turkey the ties (with Israel) won't return to what they were," Edelstein wrote on his Twitter account. Housing Minister Yoav Galant, however, said that Turkey and Israel need their ties. "We must keep correct relations with them," Galant told army radio. "The fact that from time to time (Erdogan) makes inflammatory remarks that reflect his own rhetorical political interests -- let him talk, we know how to talk too." "When it comes to practice, I think the Turks have other interests," Galant said, pointing to the number of Israeli tourists who visit Turkey and the possibility of building a pipeline to Turkey to export natural gas from Israel.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: The US plans to ramp up its troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,000 as part of President Donald Trump's new strategy to defeat the Taliban and Islamic State militant group.

Ahead of the expected release of the Af-Pak plan, the White House yesterday said Trump wants to have a winning strategy in the war-torn country.

The new strategy, which has the backing of top Cabinet officials, would authorise the Pentagon, not the White House, to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and give the military far broader authority to use airstrikes to target Taliban militants, The Washington Post reported.

Trump is expected to make a final call on the strategy before a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels that he plans to attend.

"The new strategy would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of US military advisers on the battlefield," it added.

"The new strategy is a product of the US military's mounting worries that the fragile stalemate with the Taliban has been steadily eroding for years, jeopardising the survival of an allied government and endangering a key US base for combating militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State throughout South Asia," the report said.

Stating that Trump's most military and foreign policy advisors have proposed a major shift in its strategy towards Afghanistan, the report said the plan envisions an increase of at least 3,000 US troops to an existing force of about 8,400.

The US force would also be bolstered by requests for matching troops from NATO nations. According to the report, the increase in US troop level and aid to Afghanistan would be conditioned upon the efforts of the Ghani Government in Kabul to fight against corruption and improve governance.

Trump, who is having a series of meetings with his top national security advisors including his national security advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster is yet to give his approval to the strategy, the daily said.

In a similar report, CNN said both McMaster and the Defence Secretary James Mattis favour troop increase in this war ravaged country.

"The same source said Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his small contingent of nationalists are expected to push back when those recommendations hit Trump's desk," the news channel reported. At the same time, the strategy would retain the previous administration's reconciliation policy with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, the White House asserted that Trump wants to have a winning strategy in Afghanistan.

"I think he (Trump) wants to make sure that we do what we can to win. That's why he charged the generals and other military advisors and national security team to come up with a plan that can get us there," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference. Trump wants to defeat both the ISIS militant group and Taliban in Afghanistan, he said.

"It's to make sure that we put our national security interests first, and defeat all of those folks that seek to do us harm," he said in response to a question.

The US President is receiving a plan and guidance from his national security team as he had asked form, he said adding that that guidance is coming forward.

"He's continued to meet with them," he said.

According to Spicer, Trump not only wants to defeat the ISIS and Taliban, he also wants make sure that the US protects its people in a responsible and smart way.

"He has talked about not projecting where he's going and what hes going to do to let the enemy know ahead of time...How do we achieve those key outcomes?

How do we do what's in the country's best interest and utilise our military and our treasure to the best of our ability? That is something that we're continuing to work on and do, and thats part of what he is getting briefed on and is implementing," Spicer said.

US troops are stepping up attacks on an extremist group considered an Islamic State affiliate in the country. The three most recent US deaths in Afghanistan were in combat last month against the IS affiliate, which also was the target of a US airstrike on April 13 using the "mother of all bombs"."

WASHINGTON: The US plans to ramp up its troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,000 as part of President Donald Trump's new strategy to defeat the Taliban and Islamic State militant group. Ahead of the expected release of the Af-Pak plan, the White House yesterday said Trump wants to have a winning strategy in the war-torn country. The new strategy, which has the backing of top Cabinet officials, would authorise the Pentagon, not the White House, to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and give the military far broader authority to use airstrikes to target Taliban militants, The Washington Post reported. Trump is expected to make a final call on the strategy before a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels that he plans to attend. "The new strategy would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of US military advisers on the battlefield," it added. "The new strategy is a product of the US military's mounting worries that the fragile stalemate with the Taliban has been steadily eroding for years, jeopardising the survival of an allied government and endangering a key US base for combating militant groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State throughout South Asia," the report said. Stating that Trump's most military and foreign policy advisors have proposed a major shift in its strategy towards Afghanistan, the report said the plan envisions an increase of at least 3,000 US troops to an existing force of about 8,400. The US force would also be bolstered by requests for matching troops from NATO nations. According to the report, the increase in US troop level and aid to Afghanistan would be conditioned upon the efforts of the Ghani Government in Kabul to fight against corruption and improve governance. Trump, who is having a series of meetings with his top national security advisors including his national security advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster is yet to give his approval to the strategy, the daily said. In a similar report, CNN said both McMaster and the Defence Secretary James Mattis favour troop increase in this war ravaged country. "The same source said Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his small contingent of nationalists are expected to push back when those recommendations hit Trump's desk," the news channel reported. At the same time, the strategy would retain the previous administration's reconciliation policy with the Taliban. Meanwhile, the White House asserted that Trump wants to have a winning strategy in Afghanistan. "I think he (Trump) wants to make sure that we do what we can to win. That's why he charged the generals and other military advisors and national security team to come up with a plan that can get us there," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference. Trump wants to defeat both the ISIS militant group and Taliban in Afghanistan, he said. "It's to make sure that we put our national security interests first, and defeat all of those folks that seek to do us harm," he said in response to a question. The US President is receiving a plan and guidance from his national security team as he had asked form, he said adding that that guidance is coming forward. "He's continued to meet with them," he said. According to Spicer, Trump not only wants to defeat the ISIS and Taliban, he also wants make sure that the US protects its people in a responsible and smart way. "He has talked about not projecting where he's going and what hes going to do to let the enemy know ahead of time...How do we achieve those key outcomes? How do we do what's in the country's best interest and utilise our military and our treasure to the best of our ability? That is something that we're continuing to work on and do, and thats part of what he is getting briefed on and is implementing," Spicer said. US troops are stepping up attacks on an extremist group considered an Islamic State affiliate in the country. The three most recent US deaths in Afghanistan were in combat last month against the IS affiliate, which also was the target of a US airstrike on April 13 using the "mother of all bombs"."
By ANI

WASHINGTON: Former director of National Intelligence James Clapper has told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that he still has not seen "any evidence of any kind of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian foreign nationals."

Clapper testified on Monday before a Senate judiciary subcommittee about Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the Washington Post reports.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-N.C., asked if Clapper's prior statement was correct, when he said that there was "no evidence' of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

He replied in affirmative.

Clapper had earlier said, "We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, 'our,' that's NSA, FBI and CIA, with my office, the Director of National Intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report."

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates declined to answer, when asked the same question.

Clapper was also asked why the original report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election did not include the so-called "Russian dossier" which cropped up weeks later in the Trump administration.

He said, "We couldn't corroborate the sourcing."

Clapper also said that Russia's meddling in last year's U.S. presidential elections amounted to a "high-water mark" in its decades-long efforts to interfere in political contests.

He hoped Americans recognised the severity of the threat posed by Russia and that the U.S. moved to counter Moscow before it "further erodes the fabric of our democracy," he added.

Clapper also asserted that Russia was now "emboldened" to interfere in elections in the U.S. and around the world.

Clapper ended his statement with a reminder to the American public and the Senators of what this investigation was really about, CNN reports.

He quipped, "Russia did, without doubt and with little consequence, deploy resources and tactics to disrupt America's presidential election -- to undermine Hillary Clinton, and to help Trump's campaign. Stated without drama or emotion, it was nonetheless sobering."

WASHINGTON: Former director of National Intelligence James Clapper has told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that he still has not seen "any evidence of any kind of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian foreign nationals." Clapper testified on Monday before a Senate judiciary subcommittee about Russia's interference in the 2016 election, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-N.C., asked if Clapper's prior statement was correct, when he said that there was "no evidence' of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. He replied in affirmative. Clapper had earlier said, "We did not include any evidence in our report, and I say, 'our,' that's NSA, FBI and CIA, with my office, the Director of National Intelligence, that had anything, that had any reflection of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. There was no evidence of that included in our report." Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates declined to answer, when asked the same question. Clapper was also asked why the original report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election did not include the so-called "Russian dossier" which cropped up weeks later in the Trump administration. He said, "We couldn't corroborate the sourcing." Clapper also said that Russia's meddling in last year's U.S. presidential elections amounted to a "high-water mark" in its decades-long efforts to interfere in political contests. He hoped Americans recognised the severity of the threat posed by Russia and that the U.S. moved to counter Moscow before it "further erodes the fabric of our democracy," he added. Clapper also asserted that Russia was now "emboldened" to interfere in elections in the U.S. and around the world. Clapper ended his statement with a reminder to the American public and the Senators of what this investigation was really about, CNN reports. He quipped, "Russia did, without doubt and with little consequence, deploy resources and tactics to disrupt America's presidential election -- to undermine Hillary Clinton, and to help Trump's campaign. Stated without drama or emotion, it was nonetheless sobering."
By AFP

KANO: Military pressure, in-fighting within Boko Haram and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's health combined to secure the release of 82 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, sources said Monday.

The latest batch of the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in April 2014 were freed Saturday in a prisoner swap for three senior jihadist commanders, all of them Chadian nationals.

A source with contacts among the Islamist militants under leader Abubakar Shekau said the students were handed over in a forest to the northeast of the town of Banki, on the border with Cameroon, after months of talks.

"Shekau kept unnecessarily dragging the negotiations to gain more leverage," the source, who has previously provided regular, reliable information on the jihadists, told AFP.

But he was forced to accept terms after air strikes on his men in Balla village, on the edge of Sambisa Forest in Borno state, last month.

Several of his senior commanders were killed in the April 28 attack and Shekau himself was said to have been injured, although he later denied it.

"The reason why the aerial bombing in Balla forced him to seal the deal was he had lost many commanders and badly needed replacements," the source said.

Shekau then gave the green light to his negotiator, a Cameroon national stationed in a village on the other side of the border, to agree to the girls' release, he added.

Health concerns

Nigeria's government has refused to comment publicly on the prisoner swap deal and it is not clear whether any ransom was paid, making it difficult to assess how Shekau will benefit.

Talks are already said to have started for the release of some or all of the 113 girls still being held in what would be a boost for Buhari and his government if successful.

A security source involved in the negotiations said the talks took place over six weeks and involved an almost daily "back and forth" between the two sides.

"Boko Haram wanted money not the release of prisoners. For me, the release (of the girls) was more to do with the state of Buhari's health than Boko Haram pressure," he added.

Buhari, a former military ruler, was elected on a promise to defeat Boko Haram and has been seen as giving impetus to the counter-insurgency. But there has been mounting concern about the 74-year-old's health after he spent nearly two months undergoing treatment in London and made few public appearances since March.

On Sunday evening, he looked painfully thin when he met the 82 girls in Abuja then immediately flew to the British capital for another round of treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Greater intelligence

The source with contacts in Boko Haram said Shekau had became increasingly suspicious that some of his fighters were compromising their positions after the Balla bombing.

He has even admitted to executing commanders he suspected of planning to switch sides to a rival faction, including his one-time ally Mustapha Chad and the group's spokesman Abu Zinnira.

A senior military officer confirmed they were increasingly monitoring the jihadists, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 since 2009, and had improved "infiltration methods".

"We foiled attempts to attack multiple locations in the past week, including Maiduguri, Konduga, Kumshe and Bama (all in Borno state), based on intelligence reports," he added.

On Friday, troops repelled an attack on Guduf village outside Boko Haram's former stronghold of Gwoza.

On Saturday, soldiers foiled a raid in Dar village, in the Madagali district of neighbouring Adamawa state, he said.

- Factional clashes -

Last August, the Islamic State group said the son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi, was the new leader of its "West Africa province".

Shekau, who pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015, has maintained he was still in charge.

Mamman Nur, Shekau's former comrade and the mastermind of the August 2011 UN bombing in Abuja, is believed to be the one calling the shots in the Barnawi faction.

The two sides have clashed, including on April 11 in Talala village, in the southeast of Borno state, over ownership of an arms dump in which 33 fighters were killed.

Nur, who was a close ally of Mohammed Yusuf and seen as having links with Al-Qaeda affiliates in north Africa, is said to be gradually winning over Shekau's lieutenants and foot soldiers.

"He has put Shekau in a tight corner because his men are better trained and organised," said the head of the fishermen's union in Borno state, Abubakar Gamandi.

"Nur's men almost always subdue Shekau fighters in battle."

Last week a large number of Shekau's fighters switched sides and arrived at Barnawi's headquarters at Tumbun Gini around Lake Chad, said Gamandi, who has a network of contacts in the region.

KANO: Military pressure, in-fighting within Boko Haram and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's health combined to secure the release of 82 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, sources said Monday. The latest batch of the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted in April 2014 were freed Saturday in a prisoner swap for three senior jihadist commanders, all of them Chadian nationals. A source with contacts among the Islamist militants under leader Abubakar Shekau said the students were handed over in a forest to the northeast of the town of Banki, on the border with Cameroon, after months of talks. "Shekau kept unnecessarily dragging the negotiations to gain more leverage," the source, who has previously provided regular, reliable information on the jihadists, told AFP. But he was forced to accept terms after air strikes on his men in Balla village, on the edge of Sambisa Forest in Borno state, last month. Several of his senior commanders were killed in the April 28 attack and Shekau himself was said to have been injured, although he later denied it. "The reason why the aerial bombing in Balla forced him to seal the deal was he had lost many commanders and badly needed replacements," the source said. Shekau then gave the green light to his negotiator, a Cameroon national stationed in a village on the other side of the border, to agree to the girls' release, he added. Health concerns Nigeria's government has refused to comment publicly on the prisoner swap deal and it is not clear whether any ransom was paid, making it difficult to assess how Shekau will benefit. Talks are already said to have started for the release of some or all of the 113 girls still being held in what would be a boost for Buhari and his government if successful. A security source involved in the negotiations said the talks took place over six weeks and involved an almost daily "back and forth" between the two sides. "Boko Haram wanted money not the release of prisoners. For me, the release (of the girls) was more to do with the state of Buhari's health than Boko Haram pressure," he added. Buhari, a former military ruler, was elected on a promise to defeat Boko Haram and has been seen as giving impetus to the counter-insurgency. But there has been mounting concern about the 74-year-old's health after he spent nearly two months undergoing treatment in London and made few public appearances since March. On Sunday evening, he looked painfully thin when he met the 82 girls in Abuja then immediately flew to the British capital for another round of treatment for an undisclosed illness. Greater intelligence The source with contacts in Boko Haram said Shekau had became increasingly suspicious that some of his fighters were compromising their positions after the Balla bombing. He has even admitted to executing commanders he suspected of planning to switch sides to a rival faction, including his one-time ally Mustapha Chad and the group's spokesman Abu Zinnira. A senior military officer confirmed they were increasingly monitoring the jihadists, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 since 2009, and had improved "infiltration methods". "We foiled attempts to attack multiple locations in the past week, including Maiduguri, Konduga, Kumshe and Bama (all in Borno state), based on intelligence reports," he added. On Friday, troops repelled an attack on Guduf village outside Boko Haram's former stronghold of Gwoza. On Saturday, soldiers foiled a raid in Dar village, in the Madagali district of neighbouring Adamawa state, he said. - Factional clashes - Last August, the Islamic State group said the son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi, was the new leader of its "West Africa province". Shekau, who pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015, has maintained he was still in charge. Mamman Nur, Shekau's former comrade and the mastermind of the August 2011 UN bombing in Abuja, is believed to be the one calling the shots in the Barnawi faction. The two sides have clashed, including on April 11 in Talala village, in the southeast of Borno state, over ownership of an arms dump in which 33 fighters were killed. Nur, who was a close ally of Mohammed Yusuf and seen as having links with Al-Qaeda affiliates in north Africa, is said to be gradually winning over Shekau's lieutenants and foot soldiers. "He has put Shekau in a tight corner because his men are better trained and organised," said the head of the fishermen's union in Borno state, Abubakar Gamandi. "Nur's men almost always subdue Shekau fighters in battle." Last week a large number of Shekau's fighters switched sides and arrived at Barnawi's headquarters at Tumbun Gini around Lake Chad, said Gamandi, who has a network of contacts in the region.
By Associated Press

RICHMOND: A challenge to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that the Republican's past anti-Muslim statements can be used against him.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled Monday with whether the court should look beyond the text of the executive order to comments made by Trump and his aides on the campaign trail and after his election in order to determine whether the policy illegally targets Muslims.

"That's the most important issue in the whole case," said Judge Robert King, who was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton.

The panel of 13 judges peppered both sides with tough questions but gave few clues as to how they might rule. The judges did not immediately issue a decision on Monday.

A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the travel ban in March cited Trump's comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of his repeated promise to bar Muslims from entering the country.

The administration argues that the court shouldn't question the president's national security decisions based on campaign promises.

"This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion," Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told the appeals court.

The countries were chosen because they present terrorism risks and the ban applies to everyone in those countries regardless of religion, Wall said. Further, the banned countries represent a small fraction of the world's Muslim-majority nations, lawyers for the administration say.

Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that Trump's call for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S. remained on his campaign website even after he took office. That call, which was still online earlier Monday, appeared to have been taken down by the afternoon hearing.

Jadwat claims the administration has failed to provide a legitimate national security reason for the policy.

"The order is completely unprecedented in our nation's history," Jadwat said.

Several judges expressed skepticism about the idea that the court would blind itself to Trump's comments about Muslims.

"Don't we get to consider what was actually said here and said very explicitly?" asked Judge James Wynn Jr., who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

Another judge said he was worried about the idea of a court opening the door to using a president's past to evaluate the constitutionality of a policy.

"Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to businessmen 20 years ago?" asked Judge Paul Niemeyer, who was tapped by President George H.W. Bush.

The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours.

After a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused in February to let the travel ban take effect, the administration tweaked the order and issued a new one.

The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas. It removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries.

But critics said while the new executive order impacts fewer people, it remains a realization of Trump's promised Muslim ban and cannot stand.

The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center brought the case on behalf of several organizations, as well as people who live in the U.S. and fear the executive order will prevent them from being reunited with family members from the banned countries.

Elite universities, democratic attorneys general and former foreign policy and national security officials like ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called on the court to block the travel ban.

Meanwhile, a group of 12 state attorneys general and the governor of Mississippi argued that the action is not a "pretext for religious discrimination" and should be allowed to take effect.

Attorneys for the president likely see the moderate 4th Circuit as friendlier territory than the 9th Circuit, which conservatives have long accused of being too liberal. Three 9th Circuit judges appointed by Clinton are scheduled to hear a more-sweeping challenge to Trump's revised travel ban next week.

While the 4th Circuit was long considered one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country, it moved to the center under Obama, who appointed six of the 15 active judges.

Two Republican-appointed judges  Judge Allyson Duncan and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III  didn't hear the travel ban case. Wilkinson's daughter is married to the acting solicitor general. It was not immediately clear why Duncan was recused.

RICHMOND: A challenge to President Donald Trump's revised travel ban appears to hinge on whether a federal appeals court agrees that the Republican's past anti-Muslim statements can be used against him. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrestled Monday with whether the court should look beyond the text of the executive order to comments made by Trump and his aides on the campaign trail and after his election in order to determine whether the policy illegally targets Muslims. "That's the most important issue in the whole case," said Judge Robert King, who was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton. The panel of 13 judges peppered both sides with tough questions but gave few clues as to how they might rule. The judges did not immediately issue a decision on Monday. A federal judge in Maryland who blocked the travel ban in March cited Trump's comments as evidence that the executive order is a realization of his repeated promise to bar Muslims from entering the country. The administration argues that the court shouldn't question the president's national security decisions based on campaign promises. "This is not a Muslim ban. Its text doesn't have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesn't have anything to do with religion," Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall told the appeals court. The countries were chosen because they present terrorism risks and the ban applies to everyone in those countries regardless of religion, Wall said. Further, the banned countries represent a small fraction of the world's Muslim-majority nations, lawyers for the administration say. Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted that Trump's call for a "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S. remained on his campaign website even after he took office. That call, which was still online earlier Monday, appeared to have been taken down by the afternoon hearing. Jadwat claims the administration has failed to provide a legitimate national security reason for the policy. "The order is completely unprecedented in our nation's history," Jadwat said. Several judges expressed skepticism about the idea that the court would blind itself to Trump's comments about Muslims. "Don't we get to consider what was actually said here and said very explicitly?" asked Judge James Wynn Jr., who was appointed by President Barack Obama. Another judge said he was worried about the idea of a court opening the door to using a president's past to evaluate the constitutionality of a policy. "Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to businessmen 20 years ago?" asked Judge Paul Niemeyer, who was tapped by President George H.W. Bush. The first travel ban in January triggered chaos and protests across the country as travelers were stopped from boarding international flights and detained at airports for hours. After a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused in February to let the travel ban take effect, the administration tweaked the order and issued a new one. The new version made it clear the 90-day ban covering those six countries doesn't apply to those who already have valid visas. It removed language that would give priority to religious minorities and erased Iraq from the list of banned countries. But critics said while the new executive order impacts fewer people, it remains a realization of Trump's promised Muslim ban and cannot stand. The ACLU and National Immigration Law Center brought the case on behalf of several organizations, as well as people who live in the U.S. and fear the executive order will prevent them from being reunited with family members from the banned countries. Elite universities, democratic attorneys general and former foreign policy and national security officials like ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called on the court to block the travel ban. Meanwhile, a group of 12 state attorneys general and the governor of Mississippi argued that the action is not a "pretext for religious discrimination" and should be allowed to take effect. Attorneys for the president likely see the moderate 4th Circuit as friendlier territory than the 9th Circuit, which conservatives have long accused of being too liberal. Three 9th Circuit judges appointed by Clinton are scheduled to hear a more-sweeping challenge to Trump's revised travel ban next week. While the 4th Circuit was long considered one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country, it moved to the center under Obama, who appointed six of the 15 active judges. Two Republican-appointed judges  Judge Allyson Duncan and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III  didn't hear the travel ban case. Wilkinson's daughter is married to the acting solicitor general. It was not immediately clear why Duncan was recused.
By IANS

DHARAMSALA: A US Congressional delegation on Tuesday met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama here on Tuesday and reaffirmed their commitment to the cause of Tibetan people and to address the issue of Tibet through the mutually beneficial policy.

The eight-member delegation, led by House of Representatives' Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, reached here on Tuesday on a two-day visit.

"Our delegation visits @DalaiLama in his spirit of faith & peace coming to be inspired & demonstrate our commitment to the Tibetan people," tweeted the Democrat lawmaker.

Besides Pelosi, the delegation includes Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal.

Pelosi, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and last visited Dharamsala in 2008 to express solidarity for the Tibetan people in the aftermath of unrest in Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Congresswoman Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

The delegation met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in a private audience at his residence here.

They also met Central Tibetan Administration (CAT) President and Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay. The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country.

"The CTA is honoured to welcome the second visit by a high-level bipartisan delegation of the US Congress led by leader Nancy Pelosi to Dharamsala after nine years," Sangay said.

Other day engagements of the delegation include meeting with Tibetan women leaders and visit to Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.

The CTA is organising a public felicitation in honour of the Congressional delegation's visit. The Dalai Lama will grace the public felicitation on Wednesday at the Tsuglakhang temple, located close to the spiritual leader's palace.

A day earlier the delegation visited a Tibetan settlement in Kathmandu.

"It was an honor to observe the 70th anniversary of US-Nepal relations as we met with President (Bidya Devi) Bhandari in Kathmandu this week," Pelosi said in another tweet.

The Dalai Lama lives in exile along with some 140,000 Tibetans, over 100,000 of them in India.

DHARAMSALA: A US Congressional delegation on Tuesday met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama here on Tuesday and reaffirmed their commitment to the cause of Tibetan people and to address the issue of Tibet through the mutually beneficial policy. The eight-member delegation, led by House of Representatives' Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, reached here on Tuesday on a two-day visit. "Our delegation visits @DalaiLama in his spirit of faith & peace coming to be inspired & demonstrate our commitment to the Tibetan people," tweeted the Democrat lawmaker. Besides Pelosi, the delegation includes Jim Sensenbrenner, Eliot Engel, Jim McGovern, Betty McCollum, Judy Chu, Joyce Beatty and Pramila Jayapal. Pelosi, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, is a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and last visited Dharamsala in 2008 to express solidarity for the Tibetan people in the aftermath of unrest in Tibet ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Congresswoman Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. The delegation met Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in a private audience at his residence here. They also met Central Tibetan Administration (CAT) President and Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay. The Tibetan government-in-exile is not recognised by any country. "The CTA is honoured to welcome the second visit by a high-level bipartisan delegation of the US Congress led by leader Nancy Pelosi to Dharamsala after nine years," Sangay said. Other day engagements of the delegation include meeting with Tibetan women leaders and visit to Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. The CTA is organising a public felicitation in honour of the Congressional delegation's visit. The Dalai Lama will grace the public felicitation on Wednesday at the Tsuglakhang temple, located close to the spiritual leader's palace. A day earlier the delegation visited a Tibetan settlement in Kathmandu. "It was an honor to observe the 70th anniversary of US-Nepal relations as we met with President (Bidya Devi) Bhandari in Kathmandu this week," Pelosi said in another tweet. The Dalai Lama lives in exile along with some 140,000 Tibetans, over 100,000 of them in India.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) decision upholds years of research on sucralose - the sweetening ingredient in the original SPLENDA Sweeteners - that shows it to be safe and does not cause cancer. The decision was published as an open access Scientific Opinion in EFSA Journal, and rejects allegations made by a small Italian lab regarding a study in mice that they conducted. EFSA concluded that "the available data did not support the conclusions of the authors (Soffritti et al., 2016)."

EFSA noted numerous issues with the Ramazzini Institute study on sucralose, including:

Researchers used an unconventional design leading to inconclusive, unreliable results and were unable to prove any probable effect of sucralose on tumor development.

Mice naturally get tumors as they age. In this study, mice were dosed until they died, which compromises reliable data interpretation.

Researchers drew conclusions that were not supported by data.

Ramazzini Institute has been criticized previously by the regulatory and research community for not complying with recognized research standards in its sweetener studies. The U.S. Congressional House Committee has also expressed concerns that funding of this lab may not meet adequate scientific integrity standards.

The recent EFSA opinion further reinforces the importance of considering recommended research standards when reviewing scientific studies and their results, particularly when the research, as in the case of this latest Ramazzini study, utilizes unconventional methodology and employs scientific practices that have already been found to be problematic for data interpretation.

It's important to remember, for food ingredients, industry does not set the guidelines for what type of research must be done. These are set by health and safety research authorities from around the world. The safety of sucralose has been demonstrated by a wide body of research. FDA and other regulatory agencies reviewed more than 110 scientific studies designed to meet the recommended research programs set by expert health authorities for investigating the safety of a new food ingredient. Reviews of these studies have led to consistent conclusions that sucralose is safe, including for women who are pregnant or nursing and for children. SPLENDA Sweeteners are a safe choice.

The science EFSA just dismissed has been used by some, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), to put sweeteners on their "avoid" lists. As EFSA's review confirms, this is not warranted and is particularly bad counsel when it comes to sucralose-sweeteners like SPLENDA. SPLENDA is one way consumers can safely reduce their added sugar and calorie consumption, which we know is important to long-term health. It would be prudent for CSPI to reconsider their advice based on the latest science and determinations from leading food safety authorities.

EFSA's decision puts good science first, and it is consistent with the movement to bring greater scrutiny to poorly designed studies that draw false conclusions and unjustifiably alarm consumers. This is a topic we are particularly passionate about at SPLENDA. We invite others to commit to evaluating research using rigorous scientific judgment and apply sound research findings before making recommendations or sharing opinions.
A new study led by the University of Delaware found that kids who are bullied in fifth grade often suffer from depression and begin using alcohol and other substances a few years after the incidents.

"Students who experienced more frequent peer victimization in fifth grade were more likely to have greater symptoms of depression in seventh grade, and a greater likelihood of using alcohol, marijuana or tobacco in tenth grade," said the study's leader, Valerie Earnshaw, a social psychologist and assistant professor in UD's College of Education and Human Development.

The study involved researchers from universities and hospitals in six states, who analyzed data collected between 2004 and 2011 from 4,297 students on their journey from fifth through tenth grade. The findings were published online in the medical journal Pediatrics.

The students were from Birmingham, Alabama; Houston, Texas; and Los Angeles County, California. Forty-four percent were Latino, 29 percent were African-American and 22 percent were white.

Although peer victimization is common during late childhood and early adolescence and appears to be associated with increased substance use, few studies have examined these associations longitudinally -- meaning that data is gathered from the same subjects repeatedly over several years -- or point to the psychological processes whereby peer victimization leads to substance use.

"We show that peer victimization in fifth grade has lasting effects on substance use five years later. We also show that depressive symptoms help to explain why peer victimization is associated with substance use, suggesting that youth may be self-medicating by using substances to relieve these negative emotions," Earnshaw said.

Impacts and interventions

Peer victimization leads to substance use, and substance use can harm adolescent development with implications for health throughout the lifespan, Earnshaw said. Alcohol and marijuana use may interfere with brain development and can lead to injuries. Tobacco use may lead to respiratory illness, cancer, and early death.

"Youth who develop substance use disorders are at risk of many mental and physical illnesses throughout life," Earnshaw said. "So, the substance use that results from peer victimization can affect young people throughout their lives."

Among the study's findings, boys, sexual minority youth and youth living with chronic illness reported more frequent peer victimization in fifth grade. Age, obesity, race/ethnicity, household educational achievement and family income were not related to more frequent peer victimization.

Twenty-four percent of tenth graders in the study reported recent alcohol use, 15.2 percent reported marijuana use, and 11.7 percent reported tobacco use. Sexual minority status was more strongly related to alcohol use among girls than boys; it was also related to marijuana and tobacco use among girls but not boys.

Earnshaw used structural equation modeling -- a form of statistical analysis -- to examine the multiple variables across time and to test if there were relationships among them. She started working with the data in summer 2015 and finalized the model in fall 2016 in her office in UD's Alison Hall.

An expert in stigma research, Earnshaw wants to understand why people treat other people poorly and how this poor treatment leads to poor health, including through substance use behaviors. She hopes this latest study will enlighten pediatricians, teachers, parents -- anyone in a position to help students facing peer aggression.

"We urge pediatricians to screen youth for peer victimization, symptoms of depression and substance use," says Earnshaw. "These doctors can offer counsel to youth and recommendations to parents and youth for approaching teachers and school staff for support. Moreover, youth experiencing depressive symptoms and substance use should be offered treatment when needed."

The research team's messages also extend to teachers.

"Peer victimization really matters, and we need to take it seriously -- this echoes the messages educators already have been receiving," Earnshaw says. "This study gives some additional evidence as to why it's important to intervene. It also may give teachers insight into why students are depressed or using substances in middle and high school."
In a recent study in Human Molecular Genetics, researchers from VIB and KU Leuven led by prof. Philip Van Damme, reveal a novel function for progranulin in lysosomes: it acts as chaperone of the lysosomal protease cathepsin D. The results were obtained in collaboration with Prof. Paul Saftig from the University of Kiel.

Prof. Philip Van Damme (VIB-KU Leuven/University Hospital Leuven): "Our findings suggest that dysfunction of lysosomal enzymes such as cathepsin D can contribute to neuronal dysfunction caused by progranulin deficiency in diseases such as frontotemporal dementia. These are important new insights in our search for solutions."

Frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia or FTD is the second most common form of early onset dementia, after Alzheimer's Disease, characterized by neuronal loss in the frontal and anterior temporal lobes. It generally affects people in their mid 40's to mid 60's leading to severe changes in behavior or language problems. Behavioral changes include, but are not limited to, apathy and disinhibition, which eventually prohibit the patient's ability for normal social interaction. Patients can also display different language problems leading to semantic dementia or primary progressive aphasia. Currently, there is no treatment available for this disease, limiting the prognosis of FTD patients to 6-8 years after symptom onset.

In almost half of the patients, the disease runs in the family. Mutations in the gene encoding progranulin are one of the most frequent causes and result in a 50% loss of functional progranulin protein. Efforts to model the human disease in mice have been disappointing as the full knockout of progranulin leads to a mild phenotype without neurodegeneration.

Progranulin functions as a neurotrophic factor in vivo

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Previous studies have shown that progranulin can stimulate neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth in cultures. These findings led to the hypothesis that neurodegeneration in FTD patients might occur due to a reduced trophic support for neurons.

An in vivo paradigm of facial nerve crush injury was used to study the neurotrophic effects of progranulin in more detail. The recovery from such injury was delayed in the absence of progranulin and reintroduction of human progranulin in these mice could completely rescue this deficit, indicating that axonal regeneration after nerve injury depends specifically on the presence of progranulin. Using newly generated microglial and neuronal specific progranulin knockout mice, it was shown that basal progranulin expression is mainly neuronal and that only neuronal progranulin deletion drives the axonal outgrowth deficit.

Progranulin acts as a chaperone for cathepsin D to stabilize the enzyme and increase its proteolytic capacity

A transcriptomics approach to identify possible mediators of the observed effects pointed towards the lysosomal aspartic protease cathepsin d (CTSD) as the most upregulated gene in progranulin knockout mice. A direct interaction between the two proteins was established. In the brains of aged progranulin knockout mice, the relative CTSD activity was reduced. By adding progranulin, the proteolytic activity of CTSD could be stimulated in a dose-dependent manner. Progranulin was shown to bind to CTSD and prevented its heat induced degradation. The interaction between GRN and CTSD proved to be necessary for the recovery after facial nerve injury, linking the neurotrophic effects of GRN to a lysosomal chaperone function on CTSD.
People 65 and older benefit just as much from an operation for a slipped disc in the lower back as do younger patients.

Seniors can benefit from herniated disc surgery, according to the results of a study conducted by Mattis A. Madsbu, a medical student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and colleagues at the Department of Neurosurgery at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway. Madsbu's supervisor was NTNU consultant neurosurgeon Sasha Gulati.

"This study shows that it is fully possible to do good surgical research on elderly patients," says Madsbu.

Lumbar (lower back) spine surgery is a common intervention, with almost 2,000 such procedures being carried out in Norway annually. Study data on surgical outcomes among elderly patients have been limited. Until now.

The recent study has been published in the prestigious JAMA Surgery journal.

Over 5500 patients

If you have a slipped disc, it means that one of the discs that serves as a cushion between each vertebra has been damaged. Slipped discs in the lower back are a common cause of sciatica. This condition can cause severe pain in the back and down the leg and foot. At worst, disc herniation can lead to paralysis.

Usually non-surgical treatment, such as exercise, heat treatment and painkillers, are recommended for patients without serious loss of motion, but this is not always enough.

Surgical treatment is usually offered to patients who have endured considerable pain for a long time despite a period with other treatment therapies.

Researchers at NTNU and St. Olav compared patient-reported treatment outcomes following lumbar spine surgery for 381 patients over 65 years and 5195 younger patients. The figures were taken from the Norwegian quality register for spinal surgery, a national registry for quality control and research.

Minor complications

The study also shows that the over-65 group of patients experienced greater improvement in their low back pain than younger patients.

However, compared with younger patients, older patients experienced more non-serious surgical complications (4.2 percent versus 2.3 percent) and they had somewhat longer hospital stays (1.8 versus 2.7 days).

Even so, this did not affect the treatment outcomes since the complications were less serious, according to Madsbu.

The authors conclude that age alone should not be used to decide against surgery.
Exhibit and events to highlight High definition Dynamic Radiosurgery with Versa HD and Monaco treatment planning software.

At the 36th ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology) meeting, 5-9 May in Vienna, Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) will demonstrate the clinical flexibility of High definition Dynamic Radiosurgery (HDRS), a single oncology platform combining Versa HD linear accelerator and Monaco treatment planning system.

HDRS supports clinicians to deliver high-volume advanced stereotactic therapies, such as stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) within standard treatment time slots.

Equipped with full-field, high definition beam-shaping technology and High Dose Rate modes, Versa HD offers end-to-end precision and accuracy to deliver a variety of stereotactic treatments throughout the body. Monaco enables efficient high definition planning and supports the Monte Carlo algorithm  the most accurate dose calculation available, ensuring lowest possible dose to critical structures while maintaining tight dose coverage to the target. The unique combination of Versa HD and Monaco allows the delivery of highly conformal and efficient stereotactic treatments in shorter or fewer arcs.

With Elektas HDRS solutions, our team plans and delivers high doses and handles small, intricate fields without compromise. Many tumors located near critical organs or difficult-to-access areas require a level of precision not achievable with traditional linear accelerators, and this platform may be an important option for these individuals, says Bora Tas, PhD, Chief Medical Physicist, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yeni Yuzyil University Medicine Faculty, Gaziosmanpasa Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Versa HD also helps optimize clinical workflow, which should allow oncology departments to function efficiently and enable the treatment of more patients each day.

Stereotactic radiation therapies have become increasingly important cancer treatment modalities in recent years because they meet the demand for effective therapies that are low-cost, high value and address the needs of patients and clinicians. Elekta is committed to developing focused solutions that continue to enhance the precision and targeting of radiation therapy and allow our customers to provide their patients with optimal care and outcomes. Dr. Richard Hausmann, Elektas President and CEO.

Visitors to Elektas booth (#3000) will have the opportunity to participate in interactive demonstrations and learn more about recent Elekta innovations, including:
Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine has received initial accreditation from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a University-sponsored residency program in psychiatry, in collaboration with its member teaching hospitals in the FAU College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium.

This new program brings a total of four residency programs to FAU: internal medicine (launched in 2014); general surgery (launched in 2016); emergency medicine (launches this July); and psychiatry (launches in 2018).

The four-year psychiatry residency program is based at Tenet HealthCare system's Delray Medical Center, the primary site for the program, South County Mental Health Center in Delray Beach and Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The program has been approved for 16 positions and will participate in the National Resident Matching Program to welcome its inaugural class on July 1, 2018.

"The United States faces a critical shortage of psychiatrists as the demand for mental health services at all levels continues to rise exponentially," said Phillip Boiselle, M.D., dean of FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. "Working in concert with our outstanding hospital partners in our Graduate Medical Education Consortium we are committed to providing a strong health care delivery system in this region. The addition of our newest residency program in psychiatry is a testament to our continued commitment."

FAU's psychiatry curriculum will include clinical neuroscience, psychotherapy, psychopathology and somatic therapies. The psychiatry residency is led by program director John W. Newcomer, M.D., a leading neuroscientist and psychiatrist, and a professor of integrated medical science in FAU's College of Medicine.

"We are proud to partner with Florida Atlantic University, our colleagues in the GME Consortium and leadership in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine to bring this important program to Palm Beach County," said Mark Bryan, CEO of Delray Medical Center. "Our state-of-the-art psychiatric center provides high-quality inpatient programs and will give FAU's psychiatry residents access to leading physicians and professionals in the field as well as an optimal environment to care for those with various psychiatric disorders and conditions."

In 2015, the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that 9.8 million Americans over the age of 18 suffered from a serious mental illness and an estimated 43.4 million adults aged 18 or older had a mental illness (AMI or any mental illness), representing 17.9 percent of all U.S. adults.

A survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) found that 59 percent of psychiatrists are 55 or older, the fourth oldest of 41 medical specialties. In 2014, 45 states had fewer psychiatrists relative to their populations than they had in 2009. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), the total number of physicians in the U.S. increased by 45 percent from 1995 to 2013, while the number of adult and child psychiatrists only rose by 12 percent, from 43,640 to 49,079.

Neuroscience eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"This new program will help to enrich psychiatry and general medical care at Delray Medical Center, South County Mental Health Center and Boca Raton Regional Hospital and will grow scholarly activity and research," said Lee A. Learman, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate dean for graduate medical education and academic affairs, and designated institutional official. "Our psychiatry residents also will teach third and fourth year medical students at FAU to encourage career choices in psychiatry to help address the troubling projected shortages in this important medical specialty."

In fall 2011, the FAU College of Medicine GME Consortium was formed in partnership with FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Bethesda Hospital East, and Tenet HealthCare system's Delray Medical Center, St. Mary's Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center to establish residency programs in specialties that would serve their communities.

FAU's six-year general surgery training program is based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the primary site for the program, as well as Bethesda Hospital East, and Tenet HealthCare System's Delray Medical Center, St. Mary's Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center. The three-year emergency medicine training program is based at Bethesda Hospital East, the primary site for the program, as well as St. Mary's Medical Center and Delray Medical Center. FAU's first residency in internal medicine is based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the primary site for the program, with participation from Bethesda Hospital East and Delray Medical Center. All five hospitals are member teaching hospitals in the FAU College of Medicine GME Consortium.

Hospital members of the FAU College of Medicine GME Consortium are Bethesda Hospital East (Roger Kirk, president and CEO, and Daniel S. Goldman, M.D., vice president of medical affairs); Boca Raton Regional Hospital (Jerry Fedele, president and CEO, and Cristina Mata, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer); Delray Medical Center (Mark Bryan, CEO, and Anthony Dardano, M.D., vice president of academic affairs); St. Mary's Medical Center (Gabrielle Finley-Hazle, CEO, and Lawrence Lottenberg, M.D., associate dean for medical education and director of medical education) and West Boca Medical Center (Mitch Feldman, CEO, and Jack Harari, M.D., chief medical officer).
Bruker announces that it has acquired Luxendo, a privately held spin-off of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) that develops and manufactures proprietary light-sheet fluorescence microscopy instruments.

Luxendos proprietary single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) technique significantly reduces sampling times over conventional laser scanning confocal microscopes, while reducing phototoxicity and damaging side effects on living specimens. This SPIM technology also enables the fastest scan speeds for volumetric imaging of small organisms, cell monolayers, and cleared tissue. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, Luxendo was founded in September 2015. Under the technical leadership of Dr. Lars Hufnagel, Group Leader of the EMBL Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, Luxendo was able to rapidly develop robust product solutions based on the patented SPIM technology.

The SPIM microscopes significantly enhance Brukers existing portfolio of swept-field confocal, super-resolution, and multiphoton fluorescence microscope product lines, enabling new research advances in small organism embryology, live-cell imaging, brain development and cleared brain tissue, and optogenetics applications. This acquisition is another important step forward in Brukers portfolio transformation.

With its strong IP position and unique SPIM technology, Luxendo has quickly established itself in the light-sheet microscopy market, particularly in Europe, said Dr. Mark R. Munch, President of the Bruker NANO Group. Similar to our recent acquisition in super-resolution microscopy, the new capabilities provide valuable application synergies to our current suite of instruments, and we feel that we can take the business to the next level in both global market reach and next-generation development, which should greatly benefit our life sciences research customers.

Light-sheet microscopy is revolutionizing bioimaging, and Luxendo has had an influential role in the adoption of this type of imaging in an ever-growing variety of live-sample studies, Dr. Andreas Pfuhl, CEO of Luxendo.

We feel that our history with EMBL has given us unique insights into what bioimaging researchers need both right now and in the near future. We are very gratified to join an internationally esteemed instrumentation company like Bruker, whose philosophy, culture and reputation so closely align with our research-oriented goals."

"It has been very rewarding to witness the rapid trajectory from pioneering technology developed at EMBL to Luxendos well-designed, robust microscopes, and now this acquisition, said EMBL Director General Iain Mattaj. We anticipate that Bruker, with its excellent reputation in providing innovative technology, will make SPIM even more widely available. It will be truly exciting to see what the larger biological research community will discover with light-sheet microscopy."
One of the most common acquired heart diseases in the over 75's is aortic valve stenosis. Normally, it requires the replacement of the valve. In principle, there are two ways to do this: the patient's thorax is opened surgically and an artificial valve is implanted; or a new valve is advanced through a femoral artery up to the heart using a catheter. A clinical study of the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) shall investigate for the first time which of the two methods is better for patients with medium to low surgical risk. The study comprises 1,600 patients and costs 4.5 million euros. It is not an industry initiated trial, so the valves of all established manufacturers may be used.

Just a few years ago, very elderly or multimorbid patients had no chance of receiving a new heart valve. The only treatment method - open heart surgery - would have been too risky. Only since the first successful minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in 2002 could these patients be treated. However, even TAVI is not without risk: because of the catheter, vessel wall deposits can rupture and lead to a stroke or heart attack. Moreover, the long-term durability of the TAVI valves, which unfold like an umbrella in the calcified aortic valve, is still under intense discussion.

The advantage of TAVI for younger individuals is not documented enough

Therefore, for years, TAVI was reserved for patients with a high surgical risk. For some time now, however, there has been a paradigm change: more and more physicians are also treating younger and healthier patients with TAVI, even though there are no long-term clinical observations in these patients. The situation unsettles physicians, patients and health insurance companies; and this thus gives rise to conflicting treatment and reimbursement procedures.

The DEDICATE study (DZHK6) is now comparing the surgical therapy procedure to the catheter-supported TAVI method in patients with medium to low surgical risk (STS score of 3 to 6) in order to achieve a higher procedural safety. Only patients who are eligible for both methods may participate in the study. They will be assigned randomly to two groups and their survival rate will be determined over five years. Previous studies have only evaluated considerably shorter periods.

Two treatment methods are being compared

In comparison to other studies, DEDICATE is distinctive in another way: for the first time, not only TAVI valves of one manufacturer will be compared to the surgical procedure, but the physician can choose the valve according to accuracy of fit and size from various models and manufacturers. The same applies to the surgical valves.

"Therefore, we are not comparing one valve model to the surgical method, but one treatment method to another", says the study's principal investigator, Prof. Stefan Blankenberg, cardiologist at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. "Heart surgeons and cardiologists have therefore planned the study together. Together we want to determine the best treatment for our patients", adds Prof. Jochen Cremer of UKSH, Campus Kiel, who represents the surgical branch. All partner hospitals of the DZHK and other leading hospitals in Germany are participating in the study.

Currently, health insurance companies usually only reimburse TAVI, which is almost twice as expensive, for patients with a high surgical risk or if someone is inoperable. Prof. Blankenberg also hopes that the study's outcomes will provide the chance for more objectivity and procedural safety for patients, physicians and health insurance companies.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers found in a recent phase one clinical trial that stereotactic partial breast radiation was as safe as traditional radiation but decreased treatment time from six weeks to just days.

UT Southwestern's Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only site in Texas and one of a few in the world to offer stereotactic partial breast radiation treatment to early-stage breast cancer patients.

"Standard breast cancer treatments are delivered daily to the entire breast area over three to six weeks. We sought to deliver partial breast radiation in a noninvasive way, using precise image-guided stereotactic radiation," said Dr. Asal Rahimi, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and first author of the study. "Our trial decreased treatment time to just five treatments delivered every other day."

Seventy-five patients were studied from 2010-2016, in whom stereotactic partial breast radiation demonstrated both outstanding tumor control and excellent cosmetic results. Patients in the trial had been recently diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. The study is published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics and was funded by a grant from Accuray, producers of the Cyberknife used to deliver stereotactic partial breast radiation.

One of the trial participants is Dr. Rahimi's patient Leslie LeBlanc, a dental hygienist and resident of Arlington, Texas. Mrs. LeBlanc was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer four years ago at age 47. Her daughter had just started college and her son was in high school.

"The same day that I got the diagnosis was mother's weekend for my daughter at college. I drove straight to Austin and told her the news," said Mrs. LeBlanc, who recalled the shock of being diagnosed. "It's like you're in the eye of a hurricane. Everything is buzzing around you, but you can't do anything but what they ask you to do, or tell you is the best option."

While no genetic link has been established, her two sisters had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer, so the family had some experience with the disease. Mrs. LeBlanc was already in a risk assessment program at UT Southwestern and had mammograms and MRIs every six months, which helped catch her disease early.

Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"It was overwhelming to consider doing several weeks of daily radiation while trying to work fulltime, be with my family, and do everything that I needed to do. This treatment option was so much better. I only missed a few days from work," said Mrs. LeBlanc, who is looking forward to reaching her 5-year mark as a survivor next year.

"Mrs. LeBlanc is a working woman, a mom, and a wife. She's a great example of many women that will be impacted by this disease," said Dr. Rahimi. "We wanted to make this treatment more convenient for patients, because cancer is never convenient."

The researchers plan continued studies of the partial breast radiation technique.

"As technology improves, we will detect more early-stage breast cancers." said Dr. Robert Timmerman, Professor of Radiation Oncology and senior author on the study. "Patients with these early cancers might particularly benefit from a local therapy approach that both minimizes the normal tissue exposure while improving the convenience for patients who already lead hectic lives."

According to the National Cancer Institute, 252,710 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. When breast cancer is found early before it has spread, the patient has an improved chance of surviving five years after being diagnosed. For breast cancer I females, 61.8 percent are diagnosed at the local stage. The 5-year survival for localized breast cancer in women is 98.9 percent.

Stereotactic partial breast radiation is delivered with the latest generation CyberKnife, one of several technologies in UT Southwestern's newly opened $66 million, 63,000-square-foot Radiation Oncology facility. The new facility houses a comprehensive mix of UT Southwestern's best cancer treatment technologies and medical expertise under one roof, and has dedicated areas for each major disease site such as brain, breast, and gastrointestinal cancer.

Source: http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/news-releases/year-2017/may/cyberknife-breast-cancer.html
New Delhi: Two former Chief Election Commissioners and various constitutional law experts News18 spoke to have dismissed AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwajs attempt to prove on the floor of Delhi Assembly that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered with. However, they differed with each other on ethics of the demo and its impact.



Former CEC N Gopalaswami told News18 that though there was no question of legality in the demonstration, but using a prototype to prove a claim of EVM tampering doesnt serve any purpose.



What can be done in the House or what cannot be done is the prerogative of the House. But we have seen before that mikes have been broken and chappals (slippers) have been thrown around, thus what this AAP MLA did was not half as disruptive, said Gopalaswami.



But as soon as the member (Bhardwaj) said that this machine is like an EVM, it is then that his contention had failed. This is just a case of political desperation of a party and an EVM machine can never be tampered with, he added.



Subhash C Kashyap, a constitutional law expert, said that demonstrating such a machine in the Assembly was not allowed and was yet another instance of violation of the sanctity of the House.



So far as procedure is concerned, each House is its own master. But in the Parliament, under the rules, demonstration, machines or tape recorders are not allowed. This kind of demonstration is not allowed in the House. In the past, sanctity of various Assembly Houses was violated by throwing papers like missiles, breaking microphones, and not allowing the House to function all these are violations, said Kashyap.



Bhardwaj on Tuesday brought a prototype of the EVM to the floor of the House for live demonstration. He cited his experience as a Computer Engineer and said that even he could rig the machine. I was a computer science engineer for 10 years before becoming an MLA. The foundation of Indias democracy is based on machines that can be easily hacked by small engineers such as me, he said.



Former Chief Election Commissioner, T Krishnamurthy, told News18 that claims of EMVs tampering were completely futile. He said separate reports on EVM tampering submitted by Pavaguda V Indiresan, director, IIT Delhi and in another report by a member of DRDO had clearly stated that EVM machines cannot be tampered with.



This act of demonstration was not morally correct as such a demonstration should be within the Election Commission premises. How can this be any trustworthy demonstration without the presence of experts and only political leaders? Even the SC has time and again found that no one was able to prove that these machines could be tampered with, and has hence dismissed petitions, said Krishnamurthy.



But apart from all the EVM tampering claims and the legality of the issue, Supreme Court lawyer Ashish Dixit said the act of demonstration was not illegal and now the EC had the onus to prove that machines cannot be tampered with.



If the AAP MLA would have stolen the machine from the EC and then demonstrated, then it would be illegal, but using a prototype is permissible. Moreover, as soon as the elections are over, the machines are under the jurisdiction of the government of India and are no more under the ECI. Todays demonstration proved that the machine scan be rigged by a cell phone even from a distant location Now the EC has to prove that the machines cannot be tampered with, said Dixit.
Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday declared that the state government has decided to do away with the Madrassa Board.



The Madrassa Board will be dissolved and academic part will be handed over to the Board of Secondary Education, Sarma wrote in a tweet on Tuesday evening.



To mainstream Madrassa education, we are disbanding Madrasa Education Directorate and making it part of Secondary Education Directorate, he added.



A few months ago, Sarma had drawn criticism for asking madrasas not to observe holiday on Friday. Madrassas remain closed on Fridays in Pakistan and Bangladesh, not in India, he had said.



Sanskrit schools in the state will be looked after by Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit & Ancient Studies University.





We want to introduce modern learning like computers in these educational institutes. For doing this, we have to change the existing structure, Sarma said during his reply to a Cut Motion on Supplementary Demands for Grants for Mid-Day Meal Scheme.



The Education Minister also said that the government will make examinations mandatory from Class V in all schools. Earlier, there was no exams till Class VIII. Now we want to change it to Class IV. After that, there will be examinations, Sarma said.
The 25-year-old woman has alleged that she was assaulted a few days ago when a couple, for whom she worked as domestic help, falsely accused her of theft when she quit. She has alleged that she was wrongly confined and tortured for a week by Kanachal Police Station SHO Rakesh Sharma.

Requesting the #Jammu #Kashmir State Govt to immediately look into it. https://t.co/Iua2xJVEer  Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) May 9, 2017

A woman in Kanachak area of Jammu has accused a station house officer of sexually assaulting her, alleging that he forcibly stripped her and inserted a beer bottle and chilli powder in her private parts.Speaking to CNN-News18, the womans lawyer said the assault was similar to the Nirbhaya gang rape case in Delhi. It was also alleged that the womans husband was arrested when he tried to visit her in custody. The woman was granted bail on Saturday.A medical examination had been conducted but the results were not immediately available. A special investigation team has been formed to look into the allegations.Reacting to the CNN-News18 report, Minister of State in Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh asked the state government to immediately look into it.Speaking to CNN-News18, J&K health minister Bali Bhagat said, If the police have indulged in any kind of brutality, the government will take strict action. Parties in the state are using her for political gains. The government is looking into the matter.
Ahmedabad: Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel's son was stopped by authorities from boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Greece after he arrived in a "heavily drunken" state and argued with airlines staff, officials said.



Jaimin Patel, his wife Jhalak and their daughter Vaishvi were stopped from boarding the plane, which was scheduled to take off at 4 am, airport officials told IANS.



When Jaimin reached Ahmedabad International Airport, he was unable to walk due to his inebriated state. He went through the immigration and other checks in a wheelchair due to his drunken state, officials told IANS.







"Jaimin Patel was prevented from boarding the flight. He also had an argument with the staff of the airways," the official added.



Meanwhile, Nitin Patel told reporters in the evening in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him. "My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well."



"His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed," the 60-year-old minister added.



"Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information," he said.


New Delhi: A US congressional delegation led by top Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi will be briefed by American and Indian business leaders here tomorrow on the ways to strengthen the commercial relationship between the two countries.



The US-India Business Council (USIBC) will host a reception in honour of the bipartisan congressional team from the US House of Representatives here.



Pelosi has been critical of some of the policies of the Trump administration in the past.



Trump last month signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its "abuse" and ensure the visas are given to the "most-skilled or highest paid" petitioners, a decision that is seen to impact India's $150 billion IT industry.



"The fact that leader Pelosi is taking a bipartisan delegation to India underscores the importance of the US-India bilateral relationship," a statement issued by the USIBC said.



"The delegation will be briefed by the US and Indian business leaders on the opportunities for strengthening the commercial relationship between the countries."



Pelosi had earlier served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and is the first woman to serve in that role. She is the highest-ranking female politician in the American history.



"We are pleased that leader Pelosi is taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with business leaders who have made large investments in India and are committed to growing the economy there," USIBC President Mukesh Aghi said.
The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month," official sources said.

Referring to 'the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes to India', India urges the Court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately, 'without waiting for an oral hearing'," India's appeal said.

Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."

The International Court of Justice on Tuesday stayed the execution order against Indian national Kulbushan Jadhav passed by a Pakistani military court.The court had sentenced Jadhav to death for alleged involvement in "spying" and "subversive activities".India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.Reacting to the development, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, "I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court."Swaraj said senior advocate Harish Salve was representing India before the ICJ in the Jadhav case.ICJ President Ronny Abraham has reportedly written a letter to Pakistan government, asking it to act in such a way which would enable the implementation of any order the ICJ may issue in the case.India contends that it was not informed of Jadhavs detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights. It further claims that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the authorities of Pakistan are denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite its repeated requests.India also pointed out that it learned about the death sentence against Jadhav from a press release.Jadhav, 46, was given death sentence last month by the Field General Court Martial in Pakistan, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.The ICJ said India urged it to restrain Pakistan from carrying out the death sentence, and direct Islamabad to take steps to annul the decision of the military court.India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government. India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.The appeal on behalf of Jadhav was given last month to Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who also handed over a petition by Jadhav's mother seeking the Pakistan government's intervention for his release and expressing the desire to meet him.
Police will provide security, including surveillance by drones, for the May 10 concert of Canadian pop singing sensation Justin Bieber at the DY Patil Stadium, an official said on Monday.



Expecting a turnout in excess of 45,000 for the live show, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said around 500 police personnel and 25 officers would be deployed for security and emergency disaster management at the venue.



The 23-year-old icon is likely to reach Mumbai on Tuesday for the Wednesday concert, part of the Asia leg of "Bieber's Purpose World Tour" and his first performance in India.



The tour is to promote his fourth album, the critically-acclaimed "Purpose", in which he has experimented with more adventurous electronic sounds.



Besides India, the Asian component of his current tour includes Tel Aviv and Dubai.



Nagrale said police had been deployed at various entry-exit gates and the event venue to manage the crowds.



Inside the stadium, plainclothes police would be on watch, a special police control room would be functional and a CCTV surveillance system with a command centre would monitor the event.



Prior to the main concert, the entire stadium would be checked by the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad. Throughout the event, drones mounted with cameras shall provide live feeds to the police control room at the venue.



The organisers, White Fox, shall deploy private security agencies for crowd management and ticket checking. Navi Mumbai Police will be attending to overall security.



The organisers have arranged for parking slots for around 15,000 and shuttle services to and from the stadium.


Mumbai: Vegetable khichdi, rajma rice and idli vada will be among the dishes that will replace pizza, noodles and pastries in school canteens across Maharashtra as the state government has banned the sale of junk food in school cafeterias.



The Maharashtra government on Monday imposed a ban on the sale of `High in Fat, Salt and Sugar' (HFSS) food at school canteens across the state.



A Government Resolution (GR) listed 12 categories of foods which cover potato chips, noodles, carbonated soft drinks, pizza, burger, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, etc., which can not be sold.



It also gives a list of 20 items that can be sold, which include wheat roti, vegetable pulao, idli-vada, coconut water and jaljira.



The GR said the Union Government had set up a Task Force under the chairmanship of Director, National Nutrition Institute, Hyderabad to promote consumption of healthy food by children in schools and to ban the sale of junk food.



The task force in its report said that junk food containing high levels of fat, salt and sugar and very little nutritional content leads to obesity, dental diseases, diabetes and heart ailments in later life.



Taking note of recommendations of the Task Force, the state government decided to impose a ban on junk food in school canteens, the GR said.



The GR also calls for creating awareness among children about consuming nutritional food. Schools should counsel students on this, it said.



The broad list of 12 banned food categories covers fried food items like potato chips, sherbets, ice gola, carbonated soft drinks, non-carbonated soft drinks, rasgullas, gulab- jamuns, pedha, kalakand, noodles, pizza, burger, tikka, pani- puri, all kinds of toffees, chocolates and candies, jalebis, imartis, all kinds of sweets, cakes, biscuits, buns, pastries, jams and jellies.



The food items that are allowed to be sold are rotis made of wheat, parathas, multi-grain rotis, rice, vegetable pulavs, rice with cereals and pulses, rice and black gram, halva made out of wheat with channa, sweet daliya, rice with rajma, idli-vada sambar, kheer, firni, milk and milk products like curd, lassi and buttermilk, vegetable sandwich, vegetable khichdi, coconut water, shikanji and jaljira.


Kolkata: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) quashed rumours that the Centre was planning to disapprove West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees official tour to China.



Rubbishing the reports, the ministry, on Monday, said that no application for any approval had been sent by the state government.



"Hence, there is no question of denying permission," said ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay.



Highly placed sources in the state government added that the CM had indeed postponed her visit.



As of now she is not going to China on June 5 which is why no application for approval was forwarded to MEA. She may plan her visit later, a source said.



According to various reports, Mamata was supposed to be in China, from June 5-13. She had plans to visit Jiangsu and Yunan provinces, which have shown interest in investing in Bengal including food processing and automobile industries.



Party sources said, state finance minister Amit Mitra and few prominent industrialists from Bengal were supposed to accompany her.



The visit being planned comes two years after Chinese vice-president Li Yuanchao met the Bengal CM and requested her to visit China. Yuanchao had not only promised loans from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, but Chinese automobile major Zhongtong had promised to set up an assembling unit in Andal in Burdwan.
The top court ruling came on a plea filed by a consortium of banks, led by the State Bank of India. The banks said Mallya has taken the top court for a ride and urged the court to initiate contempt proceedings against him for wilfully breaching the SC orders.

The 61-year-old tycoon, known for his flamboyant lifestyle, was arrested by British authorities last month on India's extradition request in connection with the Rs 900-crore loan default case. He was released on bail within hours by a London court which has fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing.

The CBI has registered two cases against him  one related to the IDBI Bank and the other related to a loan default of over Rs 6,000 crore filed on the basis of a complaint by an SBI-led consortium.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring $40 million to his children in violation of the court's order and ordered the liquor baron, who fled to the UK last year, to appear before it on July 10.In addition to his legal troubles, Mallya faces six months in jail if India is successfully able to extradite him. The banks had also urged the court to direct him to bring back the $40 million.Appearing for the banks, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the court that Mallya has been mocking the Indian judicial system by willful, contumacious conduct and has taken the Supreme Court for a ride.Mallya's extradition is now before the British court where neither the CBI nor the ED are direct parties. Indian agencies primarily aid and assist British prosecutors with case material to counter the plea of absconders before the courts.Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore, including interest, to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps, including a decision by the judge on whether or not to issue a warrant of arrest.The 'wanted' person has the right to appeal to higher courts against any decision all the way up to the Supreme Court.Under the law, the British secretary of state may only consider four issues when deciding whether to order a person's extradition  whether the person is at risk of the death penalty, whether special arrangements are in place, whether the person concerned has previously been extradited from another country to the UK and the consent of that country to his onward extradition is required and whether the person has previously been transferred to the UK by the International Criminal Court.
In her plea, the 35-year-old woman said she was a destitute and had come to know about her pregnancy for the first time around the 13th week, and that too after she was rescued by an NGO and taken for a pregnancy test on January 26.

The top court had on Monday pulled up the hospital for seeking the consent of her father and husband for terminating the pregnancy when she approached them in the 17th week, well within the legal embargo of 20 weeks under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

"She had said that she would terminate her pregnancy. The hospital asked for the consent of the father which he gave, though it was not required under the law," she had said.

A Supreme Court-appointed medical board on Tuesday ruled out the termination of 27-week pregnancy of an HIV positive woman who was raped on the streets of Patna.The court ruled that she would have to carry the baby to term as abortion would threaten her life. It also ordered the Bihar government to pay her a compensation of Rs 3 lakh within four weeks.The woman said she had expressed her desire to terminate her pregnancy on March 4. However, it was only after she revealed to the superintendent of the shelter home that the pregnancy was the outcome of rape that she made attempts to have it terminated at the hospital on March 14.According to the plea, the Patna High Court and Patna Medical College and Hospital refused to admit the woman owing to lack of identity proof. She was deserted by her husband, while her parents had refused to accept her, alleging that she was of an unstable mind, PTI reported."How can her brother, father or husband be asked to give consent? It is she who will mother the child," the bench had said.The womans advocate, Vrinda Grover, had told the bench that her client deserved compensation from the Bihar government as she had gone to PMCH for terminating her pregnancy in the 17th week.To this, the bench had asked Additional Solicitor Generals Tushar Mehta and PS Narsimha, "how is the father's consent required?"The apex court had earlier said it would not go into the orders of the high court which had held that the medical board's report has stated that it would be unsafe for the life of the petitioner and there was a compelling responsibility of the state to keep the child alive.Grover had said the high court had failed to appreciate that the woman was 35 years of age and completely fit to make her own reproductive choices without any interference.
After hearing the submissions of Mahendra Singh, Additional Solicitor General of India and Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, the court ruled that Karnan was medically fit and the fact that Kolkata Medical Board did not contradict his statement that he was mentally stable was enough to prove that he didnt deserve any leniency.

The apex court also heard the submission by a counsel for Justice Karnan stating that if Justice Karnan was convicted, it will be a blemish on the judiciary. But the CJI retorted, asking what about the blemish that we did not punish him because he was a sitting judge.



During the previous hearing, the apex court had raised serious doubts over the mental health of Justice Karnan and had stated that it was to be seen whether he was in a position to defend the case. SC had ordered Justice Karnan to undergo a medical examination on May 4 and had also directed the DGP West Bengal along with medical professionals to ensure that the examination was duly conducted.



In an unprecedented ruling, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar held sitting Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan guilty of contempt of grievous nature and sentenced him six months of imprisonment.The bench stated that Justice Karnan has to be looked at like an ordinary citizen of the country and cannot be treated like a sitting judge in this case. Justice Karnan was also found guilty of abusing the judiciary and judicial indiscretion. CJI Khehar noted that contempt is contempt.Senior Advocate KK Venugopal, appearing for Justice Karnan, had pleaded the court not to take offence of Justice Karnans remarks and that the court should consider the fact that Karnan was close to retirement from services in June.The SC has directed the DGP West Bengal to form a committee of police personnel forthwith and arrest Justice Karnan.Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had argued that Justice Karnan was mentally fit and that the SC must clamp down against this behavior as it was tarnishing the image of the judiciary.Though Justice Karnan was slapped with contempt charges in February by the seven-judge bench and was also stripped of judicial and administrative powers for alleging corruption and caste bias in the judiciary, the Calcutta HC judge had on Monday delivered a verdict holding all the seven judges of the bench guilty under the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Cruelty) Act. The judges mentioned were, the Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra, Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph.But on May 4, Karnan declined to undergo a mental health checkup as ordered, telling a team of doctors that he was absolutely normal.In an earlier occasion, Justice Karnan had directed the Air Control Authority of India to ensure that the SC judges were not allowed to travel abroad as there was risk of the virus of caste bias being spread to other countries.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.
Pune: A special court on Tuesday sentenced three persons to death for killing the 28-year-old software engineer, Nayana Pujari, after abducting and gang-raping her eight years ago.



Special Judge L L Yenkar awarded death sentence to the trio - Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam, a day after convicting them in the eight-year-old gang-rape-cum-murder case, the PTI reported.



While convicting the three on Tuesday, the court had let off the fourth accused who had turned approver in the case. Pujari, who worked at an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on October 7, 2009, evening from Kharadi bypass, while waiting for a transport to return home.



Her body was recovered two days later from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.



Yogesh, Mahesh and Vishwas, who were given death penalty on Tuesday had been convicted of seven counts of various offences including those of kidnapping, gang-rape, murder, robbery, misappropriation of property after hatching a criminal conspiracy in furtherance of their common intention.



The three, however, had been acquitted of three other charges, including those of abduction with an aim to commit murder, causing hurt while committing the robbery and the destruction of evidence as the prosecution failed to prove these charges.



(with inputs from PTI)
Tu Hai Mera Sunday, that concluded the New York Indian Film Festival, received a standing ovation at the end. The film's cast including Shahana Goswami, Rasika Dugal, director and writer Milind Dhaimade and producer Varun Shah attended the film's screening. Konkona Sen Sharma and Adil Hussain were also present.



Set in the backdrop of modern day urban middle-class society, the film revolves around the life of five friends who're trying to escape the madness of everyday life in their trysts to find happiness and love.



The film has previously travelled to film festivals including the homegrown MAMI 2016 and the Cinequest Film Festival in March. The film has also been selected and screened at the Oscar-qualifying Nashville Film Festival.



Actress Rasika Dugal who was present at the festival said, "It was lovely to watch our film with an audience in New York. I felt the audience yesterday was with the film from the word go and they were in peels of laughter through much of the film. Every joke was enjoyed, every detail was noticed and overall the spirit of the film celebrated. I notice many new things in the film with every screening and it's exciting to see how every audience makes you watch your own film differently."



Director Milind Dhaimade added, "Watching the way people enjoy the film is always gratifying. As the world enjoys this film, can't wait to show this to audiences in India."



Konkona Sen Sharma bagged the Best Actress and Best Director awards for Lipstick Under My Burkha and A Death in the Gunj respectively. K Kaladharan bagged the best actor for Malayalam film Ottayaal n Paatha (A Narrow Path) and Shubhashish Bhutianis Mukti Bhawan was declared the best film at the 17th annual film extravaganza.




In a live demonstration in the Delhi Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj has proved EVM tampering, inviting applause from AAP MLAs and uproar from BJP leaders.

Stay tuned for live updates:

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here.
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj stirred the pot in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday, claiming to have "proved" that EVMs can be tampered with.



After Bhardwaj demonstrated the rigging on live television on the floor of the Delhi State Assembly, leaders from opposition parties such as Congress and Samajwadi Party demanded a probe to clear the doubts. But this may not be the end of the EVM tale.



Congress leader Shehzaad Poonawalla on Tuesday sent out invitations to a press conference to be addressed by his brother Tehseen and an independent activist VV Rao.



On 10th May 2017, Wednesday, 'Election watch' Convener and EVM Petitioner in Supreme Court V.V.Rao, along with entrepreneur & activist Tehseen Poonawalla, will be holding a press conference to challenge the Election Commission of India on EVMs, Ponawalla wrote in the email.



Tehseen Ponawalla, in a series of tweets, said, If you want to experience #EVMTampering first hand & learn how EVMs can be tampered join Mr Rao & me tomorrow at Constitution Club 11am. ECI saying this is not their EVMs then why threaten arrest tonVV Rao n me thru sources. Promise us no arrest #delhiassembly. Dear ECI your EVMs are not #EVMTEMPERING proof. We have put all the evidences in the #delhiassembly. Have more evidence. Mr VV Rao and me accpet the ECI challenge that EVMs cannot be stolen Let ECI give this in writing in 2 seconds we will prove it wrong .



A senior Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, There is something sinister afoot. All this is so that the BJP can muster enough numbers in the Rajya Sabha to have complete control. A member of the BJPs Parliamentary Board told me recently that they were planning to dismiss every non-BJP state government one by one. They are starting with AAP because Delhis Rajya Sabha seats fall vacant in January. They will come for us next. Dictators rig elections, not democrats. Modi is like a Desi Putin.


New Delhi: Reaching out to the backwards sections of the Muslim community, BJP leaders on Tuesday urged them to embrace the "pro-poor" policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the poor Muslims have been unable to take advantage of the welfare schemes for minorities and claimed that Modi's "pro-poor" policies will uplift them, the PTI reported.



Modi had asked leaders at the party's national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar to reach out to the backward Muslims, saying they will also benefit from his government's bill that seeks constitutional status for the OBC Commission but was stalled by opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha.



Addressing Muslims drawn from various states, Naqvi said parties like the Congress, TMC and JD(U) came to power on the strength of Muslims' support but blocked the bill which would have "benefited" the backward members of the community.



He said there are 84 such groups, like qureshi, momin and weavers, among Muslims which would get help from his government's development push for the poor and backward.



It is not often that the BJP or its leaders organise events especially targeting Muslims, who have historically been wary of the saffron party due to a host of issues, including its Hindutva agenda.



Former MP and Bihar BJP leader Sabir Ali, who organised the meting, urged Muslims to ally with the party, saying "patrons of secularism" like the Congress, RJD and others did nothing for them while getting their votes all these years.



"Modi says nobody should be poor or remain deprived. He is working for them. His government is working for development and it will help backward Muslims," Ali said sharing the stage with Naqvi.



Interestingly, it was Naqvi who had strongly opposed Ali's induction into the party before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, calling him "a friend of a terrorist" and wondering if Dawood Ibrahim too will join the organisation now.



His outburst forced the party to cancel Ali's membership and the rebuffed leader then filed a defamation case against Naqvi.



He was inducted again before the Bihar assembly polls in 2015 and both the leaders patched up.



Naqvi on Tuesday heaped praise on Ali, who as a JD(U) MP had tried to rally backward Muslims in Nitish Kumar's support, and said he was working diligently for the poor members of the community on the ground.



(with inputs from PTI)
New Delhi: High drama ensued in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday as Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj proved that Electronic Voting Machines can be rigged.



The AAP, since the results of assembly elections in March, has alleged that EVMs have been tampered with to ensure a BJP win. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had raised suspicions over BJPs landslide wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.



I have been an engineer



Bhardwaj brought in EVM to the floor of the House for his live demonstration. He cited his experience as a Computer Engineer and said that even he could rig the machines. "I was a computer science engineer for 10 years before becoming an MLA. The foundation of India's democracy is based on machines that can be easily hacked by small engineers such as me," he said.



First, candidates are made to feel satisfied



When the demonstration began, Bhardwaj said the candidates are first made to feel satisfied. Before voting day candidates are fooled into believing that the machines are fine. This is done during the mock test, Bhardwaj said.



He then went on to caste two votes each for five mock-candidates of AAP, BSP, BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party. He then pressed the result button to demonstrate that the results appeared as they were cast. A total of ten votes were cast and they appeared as they were polled.



Polling before rigging



The Greater Kailash MLA then reset the machine and began to cast votes. Let us assume that voting has now begun, he said. Bhardwaj then proceeded to cast two votes each for all five parties.



A secret code is entered  Then the rigging begins



According to Bhardwaj, a secret code is used to ensure that all votes cast after entering the code go to one candidate alone. Lets say that some votes have been cast till 10 am and we want to ensure that all votes cast after this time go to BJP. A BJP worker comes in to the booth as a voter and enters the secret code, he said.



The secret code for the mock BJP candidate in demonstration was 123414. Bharwdwaj demonstrated by first voting for BJP and the then immediately entering the code by pressing the first, second, third, first, fourth, first and fourth buttons on the machine  in that sequence.After the secret code was entered, he cast 8 more votes for AAP.



The final tally, after polling closed, stood at 10 votes for AAP, 2 for BSP, 3 for BJP, 2 for Congress and 2 for SP. The moment of truth came as Bhardwaj revealed the results.



The final tally showed that AAP, BSP, Congress and SP had all polled only two votes each. This was despite the fact that Bhardwaj had cast ten total votes for AAP. On the other hand, the mock BJP candidate, who had received three votes, polled 11 votes in the final tally.



EC clarification



Election Commission of India (ECI) sources told CNN-News 18 that if an EVM is taken out of the EC security zone, it ceases to be an ECI machine. The source added that the AAP had demonstrated the alleged rigging on a prototype EVM and challenged AAP to prove it during an official EC hackathon challenge.




Hes a former software engineer, who has worked in the US and the UK. His expertise is in microchips and coding. There was no better person than him whom the party could trust with this, Atishi Marlena, advisor to deputy CM Manish Sisodia told News18.

When we came back to power the second time, we had 67 MLAs. Bhardwaj wasnt brought back to the Cabinet because there were more MLAs who had more experience, said Marlena.

He is a suave orator. He exhibits class. Kejriwal doesnt let anyone speak at any given point of time. He makes very calculated calls. Bhardwaj also looks like one. You never know if hes next in line for a Cabinet post, said a former senior AAP leader, on condition of anonymity.

: As Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tried to save its face in the wake of accusations by the sacked Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra, it took to the Delhi Assembly floor to hit back at its opponents and revived the debate around electronic voting machines (EVMs). The party, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, tried to prove that EVMs can be tampered with through a live demonstration.And Greater Kailash MLA and former minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, known among colleagues from his suave appearance and oratory, was chosen for the occasion.The 38-year-old computer engineer-turned-politician, who worked with some of the top multinationals for around a decade before joining AAP, had won Greater Kailash, one of the most affluent constituencies in Delhi, in 2014 Assembly polls by more than 13,000 votes.Also Read: How AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj 'Proved' EVMs Can be Rigged As a reward, Bhardwaj was made a Cabinet minister by Kejriwal in his first tenure, which lasted only 49 days.According to sources within AAP, Kejriwals decision to rope in Bhardwaj at a time when the party is going through its lowest phase, shows how much respect he commands in the party. One of the sources went to the extent of hinting that after Kapil Sharmas sacking, there is a vacancy in the Delhi Cabinet.Also Read: AAPs Demo Was on a Prototype, Not a Real EVM: Former CECs and Experts He has a separate following, which goes beyond him being with AAP, Marlena added. Some of the former AAP leaders who usually criticize the way the party is being run also had praise for Bhardwaj.Marlena, however, junked all rumors of Bhardwaj being in a contest for Cabinet post. There seems to be no need for a Cabinet reshuffle at the moment, she said.
After riding to power on the back of an anti-corruption movement two years ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi finds itself in the midst of allegations of corruption. The man in the eye of the storm is Satyendar Jain, state Cabinet minister and close aide of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Jain is facing allegations of corruption, irregularities and nepotism in at least three major cases. But is Jain, as AAP claims, a victim of political vendetta?Before jumping into politics, Jain was a government employee in the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). Sources close to him say that he brought his experience as an architect in the Delhi governments functioning. He later quit his job to form an architectural consultancy firm and started two NGOs  Drishti and Sparsh. While Drishti works for the welfare of the visually impaired, Sparsh works for the physically and mentally challenged. In 2011, he joined Anna Hazares India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. It was during this time that he became a close confidant of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia.In 2015, after AAP won 67 out of 70 seats in the Assembly elections, Arvind Kejriwal gave some of the most crucial ministries to Jain. It was perhaps a sign of the CMs faith in Jain that he was given charge of six portfolios. Some of the portfolios that Jain got were to do with AAPs most crucial campaign promises  affordable healthcare, more government savings and slashing of power bills.Jains portfolios include health, PWD, home, power and industries. Some of the partys biggest achievements, sources say, can be credited almost exclusively to Jain. As health minister, Jain oversaw the development of Kejriwals ambitious Mohalla Clinics. While the government fell massively short of its target to build 1,000 Mohalla Clinics in a year, the project garnered praise from international press and even from former UN secretary general Kofi Annan. One of the partys biggest poll promises, which it managed to keep, was the slashing of power bills. That, too, fell under Jains mandate.A senior AAP MLA, on condition of anonymity, said, He is a simple man with revolutionary ideas. Many people dont know, but most of the governments radical ideas have been his brainchild. For example, we built five flyovers in one year and saved Rs 350 crore on these projects. It was Jains idea to save this money and use it in areas such as healthcare. His expertise as an architect came in handy. It is because of his work and his abilities to give new ideas that he is the third most important member of the Cabinet after Arvind and Manish. That is why he is so important to the government.Over the last year, Jain got mired in some of the murkiest scandals involving the four-year-old party. Earlier this year, the CBI launched a preliminary enquiry against Jain in a case of money laundering. It was alleged that Jain had laundered Rs 4.36 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 11.78 crore during the 2010-12 period. According to the allegations, he invested the laundered money in property. The CBI is also probing the appointment of his daughter Soumya to the post of adviser to the health department.Jain was reeling under allegations of nepotism and money laundering when his former Cabinet colleague Kapil Mishra dropped a fresh bombshell. Mishra alleged that he had seen Jain handover Rs 2 crore illegal cash to Arvind Kejriwal. He even alleged that Jain had facilitated an illegal land deal involving a member of Kejriwals family.For those close to Kejriwal, however, the charges against Jain are trumped up. Everyone who knows Jain knows that he is honest. He has done some of the best work in the government. He is the force behind Mohalla Clinics, flyover construction and slashing of power tariffs. Even the education sector has benefitted from him. Expanding classrooms may have been Manish Sisodias plan, but it could not have been successful without Jains PWD ministry. The BJP has decided on a strategy to discredit one of AAPs most successful ministers. This way, they want to discredit the government, another senior AAP leader said.
South Africa's MTN Group has agreed to invest more than $295 million in Iranian Net, a fixed line broadband network in which it is to buy an initial 49 percent stake. Read more:Read more: Samsung Galaxy S8 vs OnePlus 3T: Which One Is a Smarter Buy? The outline deal announced on Monday extends MTN's interests in the Iranian telecoms market that has opened up to foreigners following the lifting of international sanctions, which has also allowed MTN to repatriate $1 billion in accumulated dividends from its 49 percent stake in wireless network operator Irancell.The latest agreement, which is still at a non-binding stage, is the second for MTN in Iran this year after Africa's biggest wireless networks group invested in Iran Internet Group, which runs a car hailing app called Snapp.ir.Read more: Xiaomi to Launch Redmi 4 on May 16: Here's All You Need to Know MTN said it will pay 540 million rand ($40 million) to buy a 49 percent stake in Iranian Net and will invest an additional 3.4 billion rand in both equity and loans to help the Iranian company develop a fibre network over the next five years.Watch video review of OnePlus 3T Black"This investment, should it be completed, represents an opportunity to capitalise on the continued strong growth expected in the Iranian broadband market, with an initial focus on eight of the main cities," MTN said in a statement.
Brasilia: The mayor of the Amazonian city of Manaus has announced that he is taking emergency measures to deal with a sudden influx of people from Venezuela, which has been rocked by political and economic turmoil.



Mayor Arthur Neto issued a social emergency decree to allow spending of emergency funds.



Neto said at least 355 Venezuelans, mostly members of the Warao indigenous group in Venezuela, had set up camps in the city of 2 million people in northern Brazil.



City hall said later that they had come looking for jobs as Venezuela struggles with shortages of food and other goods as well as political protests.



Most of the Venezuelans are camping in downtown Manaus, at the city's bus terminal and near key streets.



According to municipal secretary Elias Emanuel, the Venezuelans arrived seeking jobs in the city's industrial complex, but they lack documents to be employed.



"Now our Federal Police will help them. We want to include them in our social programs, too, but since they are foreign Indians we really need support," Emanuel said in a statement.



Neto said Manaus is offering to bus the Venezuelans back to their homeland, which is about 430 miles to the north. Camps of Venezuelan migrants also have appeared in another northern provincial capital, Boa Vista.
Copenhagen: The United States and Turkey will work together as operations continue to retake the Islamic State group's Syria bastion of Raqqa, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said on Tuesday.



His remarks come weeks after Turkey launched air strikes against a key US-backed Kurdish militia ground force, drawing an angry response from Washington.



"Our intent is to work with the Turks, alongside one another to take Raqqa down," Mattis said, speaking at a news conference following an anti-IS summit in Copenhagen.



"We are going to sort it out and figure out how we are going to do it, but we are all committed to it."



But the United States does not envision Turkey actually participating in the ground offensive for Raqqa, which IS has held for more than two years.



Turkish war planes carried out strikes on Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) forces in Syria on April 27 and also hit Kurdish forces in neighbouring Iraq in what Ankara described as "terrorist havens".



Turkey says YPG fighters are linked to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists inside Turkey, who have waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed over 40,000 people.



But Washington has backed the YPG with training and air support and the Kurds make up much of the Syrian Democratic Forces.



The SDF have largely surrounded Raqa and are expected to begin an offensive shortly, though it is not clear what role the YPG will play.



"The tactical activities on the ground -- I don't want to go into details right now," Mattis said.



Mattis met with Basat Ozturk, deputy undersecretary at the Turkish defence ministry, during the anti-IS conference. The US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria discussed the campaign's next steps as the jihadists' "caliphate" around Raqa is collapsing.



Though officials warn that military action will continue for some time, they are generally upbeat about the progress and quickening momentum of the fight.



"We examined the enemy situation and discussed the next steps to make sure we are all on the same sheet of music. We are going to further accelerate this fight," Mattis said after the summit.



After months of brutal, street-by-street combat, IS has now lost control of most of its stronghold of Mosul in Iraq, while the jihadists have become largely isolated in Raqa.



Several coalition countries are keeping a nervous eye on the region as IS-held territory diminishes.



Thousands of foreign fighters remain in Iraq and Syria, and coalition nations -- particularly in Europe -- are bracing for a possible wave of battle-hardened jihadists returning home.



According to a senior US administration official, Interpol has identified 14,000 foreign fighters it knows have travelled to Syria and are still alive.



The largest numbers come from Tunisia, followed by Saudi Arabia. Thousands more have travelled from Europe, including 100 or so from Denmark, said the official, who asked not to be named.



The international law enforcement agency Interpol is now part of the anti-IS coalition, becoming the alliance's 68th member.



The campaign against IS began in autumn 2014 and has seen the Iraqi security forces -- backed with coalition training and air power -- reverse humiliating losses and recapture several key cities including Ramadi and Fallujah.
Jakarta: A supporter of Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama reacts to the judges' verdict outside the court where his sentencing hearing is held in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, May 9, 2017. The court on Tuesday sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison for blaspheming the Quran, a shock decision that undermines the country's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam. (Image: AP/PTI)
Update: Bedford County supervisors approved a new sheriffs deputy position meant to hone the countys defenses against gangs at their Monday meeting.

The board of supervisors heard a budget proposal for a new deputy position for the Bedford County Sheriffs Office at its April 24 meeting, but supervisors tabled a decision until Monday, saying the details of the proposal from Sheriff Mike Brown werent clear.

The new position will be paid for with $48,400 from the fiscal year 2018 contingency fund, while $25,200 to pay for gang investigation-related equipment will be taken out of the Sheriff Federal and State Forfeited Asset funds.

Both the position and the equipment funding received unanimous support from the board. While discussing approval for the new position, supervisor Steve Wilkerson said hed heard from plenty of community members who wanted to see the plan approved.

People were rattled by that incident on Roaring Run Road, and they wanted some sort of assurance that action was being taken, he said after the meeting.

Prosecutor: Three accused in Raymond Wood slaying could face upgraded charges BEDFORD  Upgraded charges could be sought against three men suspected in the killing of Lyn

Wilkerson referred to the death of Raymond Wood, a 17-year-old from Lynchburg whose body was discovered near Big Otter River on Roaring Run Road in late March. Three men, who Sheriff Mike Brown has said are Salvadoran nationals and members of the MS-13 gang, are facing second-degree murder charges following days of investigation by numerous criminal justice agencies.

Brown said after the approval the new position will focus solely on gang enforcement, whereas a deputy has juggled gang enforcement with other duties for the sheriffs office for the past four years. He said the new deputy wont be pursuing any one gang in particular and that Woods death and the resulting investigation wasnt the sole deciding factor to propose the position.

It maybe built a little bit of a fire under us, but weve already [been] planning basically what we asked for tonight, he said.

He said hes considered candidates for the new position from all over, including a number of retired federal agents with experience in organized crime. The position likely would be filled within 90 days, he said.

Among more community outreach and crime analysis, Brown said his office is looking to work with El Paso Intelligence Center, a law enforcement support group originally connected to the Drug Enforcement Administration and federal customs and immigration agencies, to gather more data on gang involvement.

They consult with state and local law enforcement, they consult with international and they have a real  tight hand on criminal intelligence throughout the United States, he said. Were working with them right now. We will be joining several other criminal intelligence databases to see whats going on in Bedford County if, in fact, anything is. We know we have some [gang] activity here  just how much, we dont know.

A resolution on the meeting agenda states board members have been briefed in private due to the sensitive nature of this request. Wilkerson said Brown first had spoken about the position with himself and board Chairman Curry Martin, both members of the personnel committee, in mid-April. From there, he said board members met with the sheriff individually to learn more about the position.

In a Friday news release, the Bedford County Sheriffs Office stated the position and equipment are part of the effort to identify and suppress gangs in Bedford County. As part of that program, deputies share intelligence on gangs, apprehend serious and chronic gang crime offenders in Bedford County, prevent gang association through injunctions or local ordinances and seek prosecution of members under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

Brown said Monday the latter two options would be in Bedfords distant future if the need becomes apparent. Regional MS-13 leaders previously have been indicted under RICO, which requires defendants stand accused of at least two crimes connected to a racketeering enterprise.

It takes a lot of man hours to put it together, but its very successful when it comes to fruition, Brown said of RICO.

Since the investigation into Woods death and a number of other homicides believed to be connected to MS-13 nationwide, federal officials have come out condemning gangs and specifically zeroing in on MS-13. Attorney General Jeff Sessions addressed the recent rash of violent killings in Long Island, New York, in late April, saying strong border control will help curb the number of gang members illegally entering the U.S.

Area law enforcement recently has addressed community and civic leadership groups about the presence of gangs in Central Virginia. Representatives from the Bedford Police Department spoke to Bedford Town Council at a meeting last month, and Lynchburg police detectives have given a number of presentations about gangs in the city to groups that request them.

Law enforcement officials have said they werent aware of the presence of MS-13 gang members in the area before the Raymond Wood case emerged.
What currently resembles a construction wasteland near Greenwood Drive is targeted for transformation into an aquatic wetland, a project designed to help the city improve water quality and meet its stormwater management requirements.

Its actually quite a project; Im really excited about this, Lynchburg Water Quality Manager Erin Hawkins said.

Lynchburg lies within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As such, all tributaries in the city drain into the James River and ultimately the bay.

To help reduce pollutants into that body of water, the dual Greenwood Drive pond and Blackwater Creek Tributary stream restoration project is one of many the city is undertaking to improve water quality.

Lynchburg operates under a federal storm sewer system permit that requires the city to reduce sediments and other pollutants and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that may discharge into the James River and ultimately the bay.

Impervious surfaces like rooftops and parking lots do not allow rainwater to filter into the ground, resulting in fast-moving water that may contain pollutants.

Vegetated areas such as forest or wetlands, by comparison, help to filter water by trapping sedimentation and absorbing nutrients, which reduces the amount of pollutants that are conveyed into streams.

Lynchburg residents who enjoy hiking, biking or kayaking along the James River should be concerned with the health of the Chesapeake Bay, Lynchburg Stormwater Engineer Whitney Blankenship said in an email.

Any impact our residents have on city waters, such as streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, etc. will impact the water quality in the James River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay, she said.

You know that feeling in spring when it rains, everything feels fresh and clean? Hawkins said. Theres a reason for that. Its kind of Mother Natures way of reinvigorating the environment, but at the same time, anything that we as humans have discarded in our yards or into a storm drain or [onto] our roads that could be harmful is washed off with it. And that gets into our creeks and has an impact on water quality and on aquatic life thats in there.

The pond retrofit and stream restoration project is among five city stormwater projects budgeted to cost approximately $3.4 million.

The projects were funded through a 50 percent matching grant of about $1.7 million from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality; a DEQ loan fills the remaining balance of the five projects.

Among the five stormwater management projects are water quality basins at Sheffield Elementary School and the LAUREL Regional Program, which currently are under construction with anticipated completion in early summer. A stream restoration project on a tributary of Rock Castle Creek in the Wards Road area currently is in the design phase.

The site of the Greenwood Drive pond and Blackwater Creek tributary stream restoration project consists of two creeks that merge into a single tributary that discharges into Blackwater Creek.

The project, near Sandusky Park, will improve a stormwater pond that was constructed in the early 2000s as part of the citys combined sewer overflow program, which aims to reduce sewage runoff into the James River. The newly constructed wetland will be more efficient at removing pollutants.

Imagine all of the grit, the grime, the salt, anything that is spilled on a roadway, all of that gets washed off when it rains, Hawkins said. If you can stop that erosion, convey that water cleaner and better, youll have better water quality at the end of the day.

Construction on the project began in February.

Stream restoration will consist of constructing a series of terraced pools along one of the creek beds to slow stormwater before it flows into the pond area. The restored stream also will provide a more stable channel to prevent erosion, which is a source of sediment. A section of the existing stream bank of one of the creeks in the project area is six to seven feet in depth, owing to erosion.

The current pond area will be developed into a series of low-lying cells that will collect water and trap sedimentation. The water in the pond area eventually will flow through the constructed wetland to Blackwater Creek, which flows into College Lake.

Throughout the project area, plants will be used to help stabilize the construction site while absorbing and filtering the water of nutrients and sediments.

Construction on the Greenwood pond/Blackwater Creek tributary project is expected to be completed by summers end, with plantings of water-loving vegetation to occur in the fall.

At its completion, the project area will resemble a natural wetland more closely.

After a year, two years, this is going to begin to look like there was never a construction project here, Hawkins said. That is the intention, to create and restore a habitat.
A Roanoke man was arrested Monday and charged with reckless driving after an Amherst County deputy clocked him at going 128 mph in a 70 mph zone, the Amherst County Sheriff's Office said.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., a deputy operating radar on the U.S. 29 Bypass near Virginia 210 in Madison Heights encountered a silver two-door car traveling at an extremely high rate of speed, according to a news release from the Amherst County Sheriffs Office.

Jonathan P. Hale, 19, was taken into custody and later released on his own recognizance after he was charged, the release said.
President Donald Trump acted in bad faith in proposing his revised travel ban because it had "a religious purpose," a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union told a federal appeals court in Richmond this afternoon.

"His purpose was a religious purpose," and violated the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bars establishment of religion, ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat told 13 judges hearing the case in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"The president is not allowed to set a policy violating the Establishment Clause" by invoking national security, Jadwat said.

The judges are hearing arguments in the government's challenge of a preliminary injunction from a lower court judge that held up implementation of the revised ban in March. The Maryland judge held that the revised executive order's travel ban discriminates against Muslims.

Jadwat said the court should determine whether the order was issued in bad faith by assessing the evidence in the case, including the president's past statements as a candidate, before he took the oath of office.

Trump's campaign website has continued to include his December 2015 statement calling for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" until U.S. officials could "figure out what is going on," the ACLU lawyer said.

The 13 judges questioned the ACLU lawyer after spending 40 minutes questioning Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall, representing the Trump administration.

The violation to the plaintiffs is severe and unconstitutional, Jadwat told the judges.

The judges appeared to question lawyers for both sides aggressively. For example, the judges asked Jadwat whether it would make a difference if Trump repudiated his past statements about a Muslim ban.

Sometimes "saying sorry is not enough," the ACLU lawyer said.

One judge drew laughter in the courtroom when he asked whether it would matter if the president said he was sorry every day for a year.

Early in the questioning of the ACLU lawyer, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer suggested that Jadwat was not addressing the key point.

"You just don't want to answer the question whether this order on its face is legitimate," Niemeyer said.

At another point, Niemeyer asked whether the executive and Congress are due some deference on the issue.

(This has been a breaking news update.)

The Trump administration's blocked revised travel order is not a blanket ban on Muslims, but targets terrorism, Acting Solicitor General Jefffrey Wall told a federal appeals court in Richmond this afternoon.

"He made clear he was not talking about Muslims across the world," Wall told the 13 judges. "That's why this was not a Muslim ban."

Thirteen of the court's 15 judges heard arguments Monday in the government's challenge of a preliminary injunction from a lower court judge who held that the revised executive order's travel ban discriminates against Muslims.

The judges questioned the U.S. lawyer for the first 40 minutes of the hearing in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The hearing is continuing, with the judges questioning Omar Jadwat, a lawyer representing the American Civil Liberties Union.

Several of the justices questioning Wall appeared skeptical of the government's arguments - raising statements that Trump made during the presidential campaign referring to a Muslim ban and more recent comments by White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

Wall told the judges that the Trump administration has been stymied in conducting vetting under its proposed revised travel ban because of the breadth of an injunction by a court in Hawaii.

"We've taken the injunction by its terms," Wall said.

The extent of the Hawaii judge's injunction has thwarted what the Trump administration has termed a proposed "90-day pause" on new visas for people from six mostly Muslim nations, he said.

"We have put our pens down," Wall said of the revised ban, which was to have taken effect March 16.

Several judges asked pointed questions about whether the proposed revised ban violates the Establishment Clause in the in the First Amendment of the Constitution, barring the establishment of religion. Several judges also highlighted comments Trump made during the campaign in which he referred to a Muslim ban.

"He's never repudiated" what he said about the Muslim ban, said Judge Robert B. King.

Wall said: "We're not disputing the statements occurred," during the campaign. But the president later clarified that he was talking about preventing terrorism, Wall said.

Campaign statements don't show the official intent of government action, Wall said.

"Candidates talk about things on the campaign trail all the time."

Judge James A. Wynn Jr. suggested that the case puts the judges in "uncharted territory."

(This has been a breaking news update.)

President Donald Trump's troubled order, "Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," will soon be in the hands of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Thirteen of the court's 15 judges heard arguments Monday in the government's challenge of a preliminary injunction from a lower court judge who held the revised executive order's travel ban discriminates against Muslims.

The president's original order of Jan. 27 was altered after successful court challenges. This is the first time a federal appeals court has considered his revised, March 9 version which suspends entry into the U.S. for the citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

It is not clear when the court will rule, although by hearing it initially as a full court, something the 4th Circuit has rarely done, the judges have indicated they recognize the urgency of the case loaded with legal and political ramifications.

The losing side can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Next week a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a government appeal in a case filed by Hawaii.

Government officials contend the revised order is an appropriate national security measure temporarily suspending the entry of nationals from the six countries while it is determined if current screening is adequate to detect terrorists. The government denies that it discriminates on the basis of religion.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center challenged the ban on behalf of the International Refugee Assistance Project and others.

They allege the revised ban has the same problem as the initial one: it is a religion-based ban against Muslims in violation of the constitution and cite statements by Trump and others in an effort to prove it.

On March 16, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, of Maryland, agreed. He noted changes were made from the initial order of Jan. 27, but issued an injunction blocking the part of the revised order at issue, citing the words of Trump, before he took office, and other officials.

The administration argues that courts should judge a law by what it says and does and at times by the official context surrounding it - not by what is said to be the intent of its drafters.

Nevertheless, Chuang held, "The history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the purpose of the second executive order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban."

The judge wrote that in defending the order the government did not directly contest that public statements by officials revealed a religious motivation for the travel ban. Chuang ruled the record strongly indicates that the national security reasons the government cited are not the primary purpose for the travel ban.

He concluded that, While the travel ban bears no resemblance to any response to a national security risk in recent history, it bears a clear resemblance to the precise action that President Trump described as effectuating his Muslim ban."

The lower court ruling is supported by dozens of advocacy organizations, legal scholars, religious groups, former government officials, members of Congress and states including Virginia. A dozen other states and many organizations are supporting the governments appeal.

Judges J. Harvie Wilkinson III and Allyson K. Duncan sat out the arguments Monday. Wilkinson is the father-in-law of Wall, the acting solicitor general and one of the government lawyers. It is not clear why Duncan did not participate.

Republican presidents nominated Duncan and Wilkinson. Of the judges who heard the case, Democratic presidents nominated nine, Republicans nominated three and presidents from both parties nominated Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory. President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, gave Gregory a recess appointment to the 4th Circuit in December 2000. President George W. Bush, a Republican, nominated Gregory to the same position in May 2001.
Republicans have knocked off one of three Democratic congresswomen in Virginia who faced tough reelection bids in a midterm election season where the GOP sought to regain control of the House of Representatives. Republican challenger Jen Kiggans, a state senator, defeated Democratic incumbent Elaine Luria Tuesday in a district centered in Virginia Beach that was tweaked in redistricting to make it more favorable to the GOP. But Abigail Spanberger won reelection over Republican Yesli Vega in a 7th District seat that the GOP had made one of its top national targets. And another Democratic incumbent, Jennifer Wexton, fended off Republican Hung Cao in Virginias 10th District, which is centered in the outer suburbs of the nations capital.
GamesRadar+ is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Heres why you can trust us.
Learning away from home

IF John Holts premise is accurate, then the students of St Georges College, Barataria, are becoming very active learners. Some of its upper six students, ten (six girls and four boys) to be exact, recently returned from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Associated Schools Project Network trip where they visited Norwegian school, Den Norska Skole in Spain.

This is, however, not the schools first visit to Norway or Spain but rather its eight. Schools across TT began participating in the programme some 20 years ago.

The ASPNET programme as it is called was created in 1953 and was formed to, promote the ideals of Unesco as expressed in its constitution and to further peace and international co-operation by promoting education, science and culture in schools... The programme has four main study areas which are; world concerns and the role of the United Nations system, education for sustainable development; peace and human rights and inter-cultural learning. The latter being the theme chosen by St Georges College which is located at Sixth Avenue and Tenth Street. One of the initial co-ordinators of the programme Jason Ganpat, a former St Georges College teacher as well, explained to Newsday how the exchange began: In 1997 through the local national commission for Unesco and a Norwegian school.

The two teachers [its founder here, Monica Regisford-Douglin] met at a UN conference in New York and the explored the possibility of having the student/teacher inter-cultural learning exchange.

The school in Norway paid the first visit to us in 1997. It started happening after that, schools from TT visiting Norway. The visit is every two years. Ganpat said he became involved through his wife, Gail Ganpat, also a former teacher. She then worked at El Dorado East Secondary [the pioneer school for the programme]. He said they got involved when they hosted the two Norwegian teachers who visited with the first group. We actually hosted the two teachers who were in charge, who came from Norway.

At that time the groups used to be pretty large, 20 students and about four or five teachers, he said.

Although this years group dwindled to ten students, Ganpat said many schools were used to participating in the programme, something he believes should be looked at.

During that period 1997 to 2004/2005, several exchange visits took place. From Norway it was one upper secondary school, from TT we had several secondary schools participating. After El Dorado East, there was St Stephens College, Princes Town; St Josephs Convent, Port-of-Spain; and St Josephs Convent, San Fernando, Signal Hill form Tobago and Bishops High School from Tobago.

After a while a number of these schools dropped out of the programme... Ganpat could not say why less schools were participating but only that, possibly, teachers changed. When Ganpat and his wife who has since retired, moved to St Georges College in 1998 and then 2002 respectively, the Norwegian teachers moved to Spain and the students there began visiting the school in Spain.

When my wife and I moved on to St Georges College, in 1998 and 2002, at the same time the teachers in Norway got the opportunity to transfer to Spain to work at a Norwegian school there. They invited us to come to Spain ...that happened in 2008. We paid the first visit in the year 2009.

This recent visit is our fifth to Spain. They have made four visits to us already and their fifth one will be next year. For Ganpat and the current co-ordinating teacher, Larrisha Nunes-Charles, such exchanges are positive for students since they provide a different perspective.

We think that it continues to have a very positive and strong effect on both sets of students. For example, when our students go across to Spain, they have to know that it is a different community, a Norwegian community living in Spain, in a Spanish environment, so that is two things they have to become accustomed to..., Ganpat said.

The students experience Spanish and Norwegian customs.

Nunes-Charles said the students also learnt that the Norwegian children and their experiences were not far removed from their own. For some of the children some of their expectations is that these people are Norwegians they are so far away from us, they kind of expect a lot of differences but when they meet students their own age they realise they have so much in common...so they can just start coming together and sharing immediately. The group visited Berlin in Germany for three days and then spent the rest of its time in Madrid, Spain. Nunes-Charles said, This year we decided on the UNs theme for this year which is sustainable tourism, for development.

Based on that team, the visiting group would have to prepare presentations to share with the host.

Within that we looked for things that would showcase our culture, naturally. We did festivals, music, a taste of Trinidad and Tobago. We did the natural environment because the tropics is quite different to what they are used to. Linked to the theme, we looked at the benefits of sustainable tourism, which is kind of what we were living at the time.... The group funds its own way to Norway and that is one of the criterion used to choose the students who attend as they must pay their own way. Students discipline and grades are also taken into consideration. This was why only upper-six students were chosen.

However, the school in Norway has asked the group to consider forms five for the next trip as they might be able to get a bigger contingent.

Ganpat said: The group that went in 2013 was 20 students and five adults. It was big up to 2013 but Norway being an economy based on oil and gas and things started to go down. We found that less students who were attending the school in Norway, their parents could not afford to send them so the school is actually downsizing at that age group. For the students, Nunes-Charles said, lifetime memories and friendships are formed from the experience.

Even though there is a school [component] involved, the memories and relationships that they form, last. Some of them become really good friends afterward.

Then some of them discover the environment and decide to study, abroad. Some of them think they want to be there.., she said.

Ganpat added: Some of our people who were involved in the beginning, in 1997, are still in touch with their friends who they met at that time.

I believe it is really very important...

We become sensitised to the whole programme. The students and the families we have to fund it ourselves and then expand it. There were a lot of schools involved in the beginning. They need to look again and see what was the reason for the fallout. It is a very valuable learning experience.
Grenada promotes Spicemas in TT

The team also included Spicemas Corporation chairperson and CEO Jocelyn Sylvester- Gairy and Kirk Seetahal, Grenada Tourism Authoritys (GTA ) Delran A T Andrews and Roger Augustine, and Radissons Grenada sales manager Arleen Redhead. Officials from several other hotels in Grenada were also on the trip.

Spicemas takes place August 14 - 15 and is the last carnival in this part of the Caribbean.

The contingent met with the media, travel agents and others interested in Grenada as a destination.

At the first meeting at the Radisson, Wrightson Road, Portof- Spain, last Tuesday, Hood said: Our culture is part of who we are and we must always preserve and protect it. She said that Grenada was a safe destination and Trinidadians must come and be a part of it.

Grenadas Ambassador to Caricom Dr Patrick Antoine also spoke to the gathering. He said: People who come to Grenada experience the safest Carnival ever, there is a sense of security as there is none safer. You can enjoy the spirit of love and unity in an island that is extremely peaceful.

We want you to enjoy the uniqueness and diversity of the Grenadian product. I want Trinidad and Tobago to walk this walk with us, come to Grenada and share with us. Antoine said he knows all about Carnival as he has been around with his family, Mike Antoine in Legends [Legacy] in Trinidad.

Sylvester-Gairy said: Carnival is a deeply creative event celebrating years of history. It gives visitors an opportunity to gaze back through a time lens while giving nationals renewed pride and ownership as its architects.

Carnival opens up occasions for rebirth through masks, costumes, music, and pageantry; sending older folks reminiscing back in time and giving younger folk the chance to learn, experience and reclaim history. Each is allowed the freedom to own and enjoy the uniqueness of Grenadas carnival. Grenada boasts about the best and most unique jab jab in Carnival and has now put a strong hold on the beauty that is Monday Night mas.
Similarities of Maduro, Mugabe

Maduros regime has brought economic ruin to a country rich in oil and gas; Mugabe has done the same to Zimbabwe, a country rich in mineral resources and was once the food basket of southern Africa.

Shortages in basic food are the order of the day in Venezuela; there is a similar situation in Zimbabwe.

Maduro blames foreign intervention for his countrys woes; Mugabe blames Britain. Maduro also blames foreign interference for the public demonstrations against his government; Mugabe also does the same when his people mobilise against him. Maduro operatives infiltrate the security and judicial systems to crack down on dissent; Mugabe continues to do the same with more brutal force. Maduro has moved viciously on the Opposition; Mugabe had done it for years but has now eased it up considerably. And the list goes on. Calderon is acting out the playbook in precise terms when she says, President Maduro loves Venezuelans and is committed to his people. Mugabes spin doctors were saying the same thing in 1984 when he sent in over 15,000 troops and a hated unit called 5 Brigade to Matabeleland to blockade food supplies to over 400,000 Zimbabweans.

He instituted the brutal blockade to smoke out about 200 dissidents who were opposed to his ZANU-PF party. Hundreds of thousands of his people were reduced to desperation.

Mugabes governments response was, First you will eat your chickens; then your goats; then your cattle; then your donkeys. Then you will eat your children, and finally you will eat the dissidents. Thats the mentality of a dictator. While this was happening the Organisation for African Unity (OAU), now called the African Union (AU), was silent. However, the Organisation of American States is not prepared to be silent, but we are.I will continue to trust the reports on the situation in Venezuela coming from the media rather than what comes out from the Venezuelan Embassy.

HARRY PARTAP former high commissioner to South Africa (Zimbabwe)
UBER IN THE SKY

The Independent senator based his concern on information provided by CAL to the committee on the usage of jump seats on its aircraft. A jump seat in aviation refers to an auxiliary seat for individuals  other than normal passengers  who are not operating the aircraft.

These seats, also known as auxiliary crew stations, can be located in cockpits or passenger cabins.

In cockpits, jump seats are provided for individuals who are not operating the aircraft. These might include trainee pilots, off-duty crew members in transition to another airport, government officials or airline staff.

The passenger cabin jump seats are used by the cabin crew, especially during take off and landing.

These jump seats are normally located near emergency exits so that flight attendants can quickly open the exit door in an emergency.

CAL STAFF FLY FREE Small said information provided by CAL showed one individual taking, 100 jump seat flights and this individual is a pilot. He said there was also information that another individual, made 30 individual jump seat flights between January and April 2010. Is this normal or something that is out of the ordinary, Small asked.

He described himself and other committee members as regular people who never fly more than 100 times in any year. The senator opined that even travelling 100 times between Trinidad and Tobago is hard to believe. That means youre travelling twice a week. So when do you work, he asked. He continued, This committee struggles to see a pilot working with Jet Blue or American Airlines doing 100 personal flights per year. I cant conceive doing 100 flights per year in addition to being a pilot. Small said this would mean that in addition to flying their normal routes, some pilots are, then taking 100 personal flights per year. He accepted that while airline pilots have certain privileges compared to their co-workers, thats not the issue. Small said the issue here is, there is a suggestion here that this system is being abused. Describing this arrangement as just too loose, Small advised CAL officials, That rule needs to be tightened up. While this issue does not impact on CALs revenue situation, Small said, I think there is a message for the management staff and the line staff. Saying this situation can demoralise the airlines staff, Small said CAL personnel with such privileges should apply some discretion in using the facilities available to them.

CAL CONCERNED In response, CAL vice-president (human resources-HR) Hyacinth Guy said, All employees of CAL get 20 rebated tickets per year. Guy explained that analysis of the usage of these tickets by employees in 2012 and 2016 showed, on average, people are using between six and eight of those tickets per year. She said this is part of the terms and conditions of all employees at all levels in CAL.

However with respect to pilots using the jump seat, Guy told Small, What you are speaking to there, that is an industry practice where pilots are allowed to use a jump seat. That is not a term and condition of employment. She added, By convention, that does not come through what we manage in HR in terms of conditions and employment and there is a different procedure for accepting that. CAL chairman Jameer Mohammed told Small that he shared his concerns. Small told him that CAL will receive the JSCs recommendations about how this matter should be treated with. Small also expressed concern that while the mandatory retirement age in TT is 60 years, pilots in CAL are given the option to continue working for an additional five years. Guy replied that this was part of the collective agreement between CAL and the TT Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA).

RETIRE AT 60 She also said other airlines allow their pilots to continue working after 60 once they are fit and healthy to do so. Guy said in CALs case, pilots over 60 years work on contract with the airline.

Small was unconvinced, insisting that at 60 years, the pilots should be thanked for their service with either a gold watch or a golden air plane. Guy said apart from pilots, there is flexibility on the tenure of CALs engineers, as it takes seven years to properly train an aviation engineer. At this stage, DAbadie/OMeara MP Ancil Antoine observed CAL had several employees on its payroll who were well past retirement. He said there was a cargo container supervisor who was 78 years old.

Antoine also wondered if it made sense for CAL to retain certain types of non-technical staff such as upholsterers on its payroll.

With specific reference to pilots, Opposition Senator Wade Mark argued that certain people were holding, a monopoly of jobs at CAL. Mark said this was troubling given the countrys current economic circumstances and the growing number of people joining the unemployment line.

Guy said many of the people employed at CAL came over from its predecessor airline, BWIA.

She said their significant years of experience combined with their qualifications, was one of the reasons why CAL was able to maintain its high level of aviation safety standards. Guy also said some people employed with CAL work in foreign jurisdictions where there is no retirement limit and removing them on the basis of age could be regarded as discriminatory.
Small questions corporate amnesia

The Independent Senator also criticised CAL about the absence of tender documents for its $700 million acquisition of turboprop aircraft, which also took place under the PP. During a public hearing at Tower D of the Port-of-Spain International Waterfront Centre, Small remarked, We have a difficulty understanding how you could spend $2 million of taxpayers money and then nobody is able to evidence same report or know anything about it. He said the committee requested a copy of the Lufthansa report and received a document which was not the report. Small added the full report was subsequently sent to the JSC.

Saying the contents of the report present, a blueprint for the turnaround of the airline, Small declared, We are astonished that this disappeared from the system.

The question we have to ask is, was this a case of corporate amnesia? He opined that had the reports recommendations been implemented since 2014, CAL, would be profitable today and not be a fetter on the purse of the Ministry of Finance. In response, CAL Acting CEO Capt Jagmohan Singh said only two managers saw the full report. Those two management members are no longer with CAL. CAL chairman Jameer Mohammed confirmed this. He was concerned that the report has, been in existence for two to three years. Mohammed said CAL had fallen extremely short in implementing the reports recommendations. He said while the board had some reservations about certain aspects of the report, the majority of its recommendations were reasonable and CALs management will pursue their implementation.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Lisa Phillips, said the ministry was unaware of this document.

On the acquisition of the ATR-72 aircraft, Small was concerned that, $700 million of taxpayers money was spent and there is zero documentation that you can find that some proper process was followed. He added that the committee requested the tender documents for this acquisition but received none from CAL. Small noted there was a Cabinet minute to purchase the ATRs and then an internal CAL document to justify the purchase.
If Donald Trump kills NAFTA, Canada could benefit

Wed still have free trade. But U.S. corporations would no longer have the right to override Canadian law.

Donald Trump says hell tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement if he cant renegotiate a better deal. That has spooked Canadians.We should relax. We should take a deep breath. Depending on how its done, getting rid of NAFTA could work for us.Even without NAFTA, goods could continue to flow tariff-free back and forth across the Canada-U. S. border. Thats because the original Canada-U.S. Free Agreement of 1989, which eliminated most of these tariffs, has never been repealed.It was superseded by NAFTA in 1994. But it continues to exist. And should NAFTA be axed, it will automatically come into play again.Thats the view of trade experts, such as Osgoode Halls Gus Van Harten. It is also the view of the government of Canada, as expressed through its ambassador to Washington, David MacNaughton.So what are the differences between the FTA and NAFTA? One is that the earlier deal doesnt include Mexico  which means that, so far at least, it is not on the U.S. president-elects hit list.The second is that, unlike NAFTA, the original Canada-U. S. pact doesnt allow foreign corporations to challenge Canadian laws.This so-called investor-state dispute settlement mechanism has turned out to be the most controversial part of the three-nation trade and investment pact. American corporations have used it to override Canadian environmental and regulatory laws that they said interfered with profitability.A 2015 study found that of the completed NAFTA disputes involving Canada, roughly half were decided in favour of the corporations.Others never made it to the dispute-resolution stage because Canadian governments caved in.By contrast, no Canadian corporate attempt to challenge U.S. laws under NAFTA has ever succeeded.In short, a U.S. decision to pull out of NAFTA could benefit this country. Technically, Canada and Mexico could continue on with the pact. But it was designed around the giant U.S. market and makes little sense without it.The Canadian government has boldly announced it is willing to renegotiate NAFTA if thats what Trump wants. MacNaughton told reporters this week that Ottawa would particularly like to address Americas persistent bias against importing Canadian softwood lumber.Good luck on that one. The original FTA was supposed to clean up the softwood lumber mess. It didnt. Neither did NAFTA. Americas politically connected lumber producers have successfully scuppered free trade in this commodity. They are not likely to give up.More to the point, a renegotiated NAFTA is likely to go badly for Canada. Trump has campaigned and won on a promise to deliver trade deals that better protect American workers. If he pays any attention at all to Canada (and with luck he wont) he will want visible gains from this country in any renegotiated deal.Trade is not supposed to be a zero-sum game but in some instances  particularly when one of the players wants to demonstrate dominance  it is.What can we do?First, take Trump seriously. He promised to renegotiate or scrap NAFTA. We should assume he means it. He is not likely to give the back of his hand to the working people of Americas rust belt who assured his victory.And he can do so unilaterally  even if free-traders in the new, Republican-dominated Congress object.As the New York Times reported earlier this year, U.S. presidents may have to win Congressional approval to pass new trade deals. But thanks to a series of laws passed over the 20th century, they need no such approval to scrap or override existing trade deals.If Trump wants to slap a punitive tariff on imported goods, he can legally do so.If he wants the U.S. out of NAFTA, he need only give six months notice.There is no guarantee that the president-elect wont turn his rage against Canada. He may decide to scrap the original FTA as well as NAFTA. If so, Canada will have little choice but to resurrect some version of John A. Macdonalds national policy of tariff-protected industrialization.But if Trump kills just NAFTA, that wont be so bad. It hasnt been a good deal for us either.[youtube]N_MR7tL7tWs[/youtube]
Kamla: He was a true son of the soil

She was one of the attendees yesterday at Sabgas funeral at the Church of the Assumption, Maraval and spoke with on the impact of his loss.

Its a tremendous loss. But I think when his son Norman spoke with respect to his legacy there is much that we can celebrate in his life. But the things I always found touching and most memorable about Uncle Tony...is that he was a true patriot and a true patriarch, for his family, for everyone he was there. And for Trinidad and Tobago. She said if we remember the values that Sabga stood for, family values and giving back to the country, I think Trinidad and Tobago would benefit.

So today we pay tribute to a very great son of our soil. He wasnt born here (he was from Syria) but he became a true son of Trinidad and Tobago. Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi told the media Sabgas loss is a tremendous one to the country. He said that Sabgas example is one of dedication and commitment, and his greatest asset was his family fabric. Al-Rawi recalled the advice Sabga gave him at his wedding - Al-Rawis wife is a relative to Sabgas family - to persevere no matter what anybody tells you, to respect your wife and your home.

Lets continue looking at examples of excellence and emulating them and celebrating lives that we have right across our society.
Venezuelans to collect oil sample

Energy Minister Franklin Khan, speaking in the Senate on May 2, said a team comprising officials from his ministry, Petrotrin, the Environmental Management Authority and Coast Guard will visit the affected areas in Guiria, to get first-hand knowledge of the level of contamination existing there.

However, an email from the IMA noted that although the TT team was given Cabinet approval to go to Venezuela, information from the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs states that the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela indicated that only one representative from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries could be accommodated.

So it was decided that the Venezuelans were to collect the samples based on the protocol sent by Trinidad for fingerprinting analysis by IMA, the IMA stated. The IMA also responded to a query whether an oil spill emanating from Pointe-a-Pierre could reach the Venezuelan coastline, stating this is possible given the general circulation pattern of the current in the Gulf of Paria.




Fate of the Senate

Is Being Decided:

4 Big Races Still

Too Close to Call
No, there's not going to be a trade war with Canada

The White House is downplaying talk of a U.S. trade war with Canada, with President Donald Trump's spokesman brushing off the notion when asked about it Monday."No," Sean Spicer said when asked whether he sees a north-south trade war escalating.He said regular trade remedy procedures are simply doing their job. The U.S. has slapped tariffs as high as 24 per cent on Canadian lumber, as part of its long-standing view that Canadian logging companies get unfair subsidies.The Canadian government is now considering retaliation in two areas: one is a possible ban on exports of U.S. coal from B.C., and government sources say the other is a study of potential duties against products from Oregon.The targeting of Oregon is related to the fact that Canadian officials see that state's Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden as a particularly obstinate opponent of a softwood lumber settlement.Sources tell The Canadian Press that federal officials are poring through examples from Oregon state of subsidies for businesses, and exploring grounds for an investigation that could result in duties on Oregon plywood, flooring, wood chips, packing and wine.U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said over the weekend that he won't be pressured into making a lumber deal.The president's spokesman said Monday that the U.S. is merely following its legal, legitimate trade-dispute practices. Domestic law allows U.S. lumber producers to seek an investigation and punitive duties if they feel unfairly undercut; the U.S. government agrees with them that Canadian rivals' low-fee access to public land comprises a subsidy."That's why we have dispute-settlement mechanisms to do this in a responsible way," Spicer said. "Let's let it play out. But I think secretary Ross took appropriate action to protect the U.S. industry and we're going to let the process play out."He was also asked when NAFTA renegotiations might start.The earliest it could happen is August, if the Trump administration immediately sent a 90-day notice to the U.S. Congress. But that letter has not been sent. Lawmakers have been slow to approve the contents of the letter and have not yet confirmed Trump's trade czar.The confirmation of that trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, could happen soon. Yet negotiators could be pressed for time, if they want to get a deal before the Mexican election enters full swing next spring.Spicer said there would be updates, but not right away: "Right now there's nothing to share."
Three teens featured in a 1961 Life magazine article thrust California surfing life into the spotlight, a seemingly carefree existence of surf, sand, and sun. But as Sheila Weller explores in Vanity Fair, there were darker undertones floating underneath the Malibu surfing scene, an "underground saga" that often masked the unhappy home lives of those who drifted toward it. At the center of her storyand the subjects of the Life photo spreadwere Mike Nader, Duane King, and Larry Shaw, three 16-year-olds who came from broken homes filled with abuse, alcoholism, and neglect, seeking refuge and comfort in the warm Southern California waters and under the wing of legendary "surfing hedonist" Miki Dora. Weller explains how the charismatic Dora, whom Nader called "the Cary Grant of surfers," enraptured the so-called "lost boys" with his equal parts masculinity and femininity.

But under Miki's mystique was a small-town scammer who became angry when the movie Gidget put surfing on the mapsending crowds of newbies to the shore to ruin his paradise. The boys became part of Dora's "brazen, swashbuckling counter-narrative," immersed not only in petty theft, but also in the heady world of girl surfers, who "materialized through the ocean glare like Valkyries rising from fjords." Even Jim Morrison of the Doors showed up on the scene for a time. The landscape grew increasingly darker as the '60s progressed, replete with hard drugs and Dora himself eventually earning jail time for his dabblings in check and credit card fraud. To the lost boys, though, Dora would always be the one who offered them shelter from "the jaws of family pain" in a "Technicolor dream of wet and wild and rebellious adventure." More on their story here. (Why the Amazon's best waves are now gone.)
The investigation into the killings of two doctors in their luxury penthouse condominium took a surprise turn Monday when prosecutors corrected earlier accounts by authorities who said police shot a suspect after he opened fire on them inside the couple's apartment. Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley held a news conference to correct details of the investigation, the AP reports. In addition to saying the suspect did not fire at police, Conley also clarified earlier statements by Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, who said he believed the doctors knew their assailant. Bampumim Teixeira was charged with two counts of murder Monday in the killings of Dr. Richard Field and Dr. Lina Bolanos, two anesthesiologists who planned to marry.

Teixeira received three gunshot wounds after police confronted him in the condo Friday night. Police initially said officers opened fire on Teixeira after he shot at them while they were responding to a report of a gunman in the apartment. During Teixeira's hospital arraignment Monday afternoon, prosecutor John Pappas described that same scenario. But late Monday, Conley said Teixeira did not shoot at police. Conley said policein the darkened apartmentbelieved Teixeira either pointed or fired a gun at them. Authorities now believe that one officer responded by firing his weapon, then other officers also fired their guns. Conley also said there is "no evidence whatsoever" at this point to conclude Teixeira had a personal relationship with Field or Bolanos, and that authorities do not know why Teixeira "would attack them so viciously" in their home. Pappas said police found a backpack near the front door that was filled with jewelry they believe belonged to Bolanos. (Read more murder stories.)
The Trump administration has slowly changed course on initiatives set by former President Obama, and the 15-year war Afghanistan has just been added to the list. The Washington Post reports high-level US military and foreign policy advisers have created a new blueprint for dealing with the Taliban, which would let the Pentagon, not the White House, take the lead on how it wants to use airstrikes, as well as the number of US troops. Anonymous senior officials tell the New York Times between 3,000 and 5,000 more US soldiers could be sent to Afghanistan, with US advisers closer to the front lines. The plan, which would reverse Obama's goal of reducing US military presence there, emerged after a review by the Pentagon, the State Department, US intel, and other agencies on how to break the war's "stalemate," as Gen. John W. Nicholson, Afghanistan's top US commander, has called it.

Even though one US official says this strategy has been tailor-made for Trump's push to "start winning" again, it's anyone's guess how Trump himself may come down, as he seems caught between isolationist tendencies and what the Post calls a "delight" in using military power to fight terrorism. Those in the White House who are wary call the plan "McMaster's War"a snarky reference to HR McMaster, Trump's national security adviser who's said to be the impetus behind the strategy. Critics say increased efforts will cost the US billions of dollars, with no guarantee of Taliban concessions, and even plan advocates say the goal is to make small inroads that don't destroy the Taliban, but simply convince them to negotiate. Trump's final decision is expected to come before he heads to a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels. (More than 100 Afghan soldiers were recently killed at a military base.)
A suspect now in custody is behind the "Serial Street Shootings" that terrorized Phoenix for months, police say. Aaron Juan Saucedo, 23, was booked Monday on a total of 26 charges relating to 12 shooting incidents that left nine people dead, the Arizona Republic reports. Saucedo was initially arrested last month in connection with the August 2015 shooting death of 61-year-old Raul Romero. Police say that unlike later victims, who appear to have been chosen at random, Romero had a personal connection to Saucedo: At the time he was killed, he was dating Saucedo's mother. Police say they've also linked Saucedo to the January 2016 shooting death of 22-year-old Jessie Olivas, ABC15 reports.

The other shootings happened between March and July last year. The youngest victim was 12-year-old Maleah Ellis, whose mother was also killed. Witnesses told police the gunman was a young Hispanic man. A Phoenix police spokesman told reporters Monday that no motive has been identified, but Saucedo, a Phoenix resident who has worked as a bus driver, is linked to the shootings by a "wide host" of evidence, including ballistics and surveillance. Police say a $75,000 reward will be given to the tipster or tipsters who provided information that led them to Saucedo. (Read more Phoenix stories.)
First Ronald Reagan, then Arnold Schwarzenegger, and now  Antonio Sabato Jr. The political bug has bitten yet another Hollywood alum, with the 45-year-old filing paperwork Monday with the Federal Election Commission announcing his run for Congress against Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley in California, per the Los Angeles Times. GOP fundraiser Charles Moran confirms Sabato's plans, noting the actor's platform will include substance abuse, foreign affairs, and veterans' issues, among others, KABC reports. Sabato is best known for his roles on General Hospital and Melrose Place, his stint as a Calvin Klein underwear model, and his competition in 2014 on Dancing With the Stars.

He has also been an outspoken supporter of President Trump, though he attracted some controversy last summer when he told ABC News he "absolutely" knew former President Obama was a Muslim and that the US took a "bad turn" during Obama's tenure. "Being a Republican and with proximity to the White House and Republican leadership, hes going to be able to get more donebeing in the majority, with his notoriety, for the residents of the 26th District," Moran tells the Times. Sabato's social media is quiet on his new plans, save for a cryptic tweet accompanied by an American flag emoji: "Whatever you decide to do in life , Do It with passion & conviction 2 be continued." (Trump has also inspired a former SNL star to mull politics.)
A priceless and "irreplaceable" collection of pressed flowers from France encountered biosecurity officials in Australia recentlyand the National Museum of Natural History in Paris is not happy about what happened next. The box of rare daisies collected in the 1850swhich was being shipped to the Queensland Herbarium for research purposes, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporationwas incinerated by quarantine officials who said the paperwork had been filled out incorrectly, the BBC reports. Michelle Waycott, chair of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, says the French museum is upset about the destruction of the collection, which may have come from a habitat that no longer exists.

Waycott tells the ABC that the daisy destruction comes just weeks after lichen specimens from New Zealand bound for the Australian National Herbarium in Canberra were destroyed by overzealous biosecurity officers at another port of entry. Herbaria experts "rely on sharing specimens from all over the world to be able to do our science," says Waycott. She adds the New Zealand facility has now banned sending specimens to Australia and she expects Paris to do the same. Australian biosecurity officials admit the specimens shouldn't have been destroyed and say they're looking into the incidents. (A Swiss tourist soon regretted sneaking her cat into Iceland.)
We Could Have Been Canada

And what if it was a mistake from the start? The Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, the creation of the United States of Americawhat if all this was a terrible idea, and what if the injustices and madness of American life since then have occurred not in spite of the virtues of the Founding Fathers but because of them? The Revolution, this argument might run, was a needless and brutal bit of slaveholders panic mixed with Enlightenment argle-bargle, producing a country that was always marked for violence and disruption and demagogy. Look north to Canada, or south to Australia, and you will see different possibilities of peaceful evolution away from Britain, toward sane and whole, more equitable and less sanguinary countries.No revolution, and slavery might have ended, as it did elsewhere in the British Empire, more peacefully and sooner. No peculiar institution, no hideous Civil War and appalling aftermath. Instead, an orderly development of the interiorless violent, and less inclined to celebrate the desperado over the peaceful peasant. We could have ended with a social-democratic commonwealth that stretched from north to south, a near-continent-wide Canada.The thought is taboo, the Revolution being still sacred in its self-directed propaganda.more
The saleswomen in L'Occitane en Provence's new Havana store make $12.50 a month. The acacia eau de toilette they sell costs $95.20 a bottle. A few doors down, a Canon EOS camera goes for $7,542.01. A Bulgari watch, $10,200. In the heart of the capital of a nation founded on ideals of social equality, the business arm of the Cuban military has transformed a century-old shopping arcade into a temple to conspicuous capitalism, the AP reports. With the first Cuban branches of L'Occitane, Mont Blanc, and Lacoste, the Manzana de Gomez mall has become a sociocultural phenomenon since its opening a few weeks ago, with Cubans wandering wide-eyed through its polished-stone passages. Teenagers pose for Facebook photos in front of stores, throwing victory signs in echoes of the images sent by relatives in Miami, who pose grinning alongside 50-inch TV sets and luxury convertibles.

The five-story Manzana sits off the Prado, the broad, tree-lined boulevard that divides the colonial heart of the city. The upper floors are a five-star hotel opening in early June that is owned by the military's tourism arm, Gaviota, and run by Swiss luxury chain Kempinski. The hotel is earning positive early reviews but many tourists say they find the luxury mall alongside it to be repulsive. "I was very disappointed," says Chicago resident Jeannie Goldstein, whose first trip to Cuba ended Saturday. "I came here to get away from this," she says. "This screams wealth and America to us." Some Cubans, however, say they're glad to see a sign the country is opening itself up to foreign wealth. But for many working-class Cubans, it's painful. "This hurts because I can't buy anything," says a 71-year-old retired electrical mechanic who lives on $12.50 a month. "There are people who can come here to buy things, but it's maybe one in 10. Most of the country doesn't have the money." (Read more Cuba stories.)
An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison on Tuesday for blaspheming the Koran, a jarring ruling that undermines the reputation of the world's largest Muslim nation for practicing a moderate form of Islam. In announcing its decision, the five-judge panel said Gov. Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was "convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy" and ordered his arrest, the AP reports. He was taken to Cipinang Prison in East Jakarta. Photos quickly appeared online of Ahok, who still commands immense popularity in Jakarta, the capital, being warmly greeted by prison staff. Ahok says he'll appeal, but it's unclear whether he'll be released during the process.

The accusation of blasphemy engulfed Ahok in September after a video surfaced of him telling voters they were being deceived if they believed a specific verse in the Koran prohibited Muslims from voting for a non-Muslim leader. Hard-line Islamic groups opposed to having a non-Muslim leader for the city capitalized on the trial to draw hundreds of thousands to anti-Ahok protests in Jakarta. The two-year prison sentence was a surprise outcome after prosecutors had recommended two years of probation. (In Ireland, Stephen Fry is being investigated for alleged blasphemy.)
Count Jimmy Carter among the Democrats with a political crush on Bernie Sanders. So much so that the former president suggests he voted for Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primary, reports the AP. Carter and Sanders appeared together Monday at the Carter Center in Atlanta, where Sanders railed against a growing American oligarchy. Carter then smiled and said, "Y'all see why I voted for him?" Clinton trounced Sanders in Georgia's March 1 primary, 71% to 28%, regardless of Carter's preference.

Carter has never had a cozy relationship with Clinton or her husband. (The Washington Post outlines some of the iciest Carter-Bill Clinton moments over the past 25 years.) Still, Carter last fall said he planned to vote for Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump. Here's how he less-than-enthusiastically put it in August, per the Hill: "Unfortunately, the way it's turned out, both choices in the major parties are quite unpopular. But I dont have any doubt that one of the candidates is better qualified than the other. Everybody knows Im Democratic, and Ill be voting Democratic." (Read more Jimmy Carter stories.)
Two American college students have died in a tragic boating accident while studying abroad in Denmark. Linsey Malia, 21, of Easton, Mass., and Leah Bell of Covington, La., were killed Saturday when a jet ski crashed into a boat carrying them in Copenhagen Harbor, reports Mass Live. Six others, including at least five boaters, were treated for injuries at a hospital and released, reports the Copenhagen Post, which adds it's illegal to ride jet skis in the harbor. Several people were seen trying to flee the scene on jet skis after the crash, but police say nine people are now in custody, including a 24-year-old man arrested on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter, per the AP. The students were celebrating the end of the spring semester and were to return home over the next week.

A relative describes Malia, an honors student at Stonehill College, as a "shining star" who "made everyone who knew her smile," per the Boston Globe. A professor adds she'd co-authored a research paper that she was to present at an August meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Christ Episcopal Church identified Bell, a student at California's Pomona College, as a crash victim on Facebook. The post noted her parents have traveled to Denmark, where a lawmaker is calling for a total ban on jet skis off the coast. Bell was studying to be a neonatal nurse, and her psychology professor describes how Bell "loved the experience of holding babies, premature babies, of helping families learn to bond with them ... It's such a beautiful aspiration that it just makes it more painful to lose her." (An American died while studying in Rome over the summer.)
The Utah mansion was once home to pedophilia and polygamy. Now, it could host tourists. Brielle Decker, the 65th of Warren Jeffs' 79 wives, fled his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints five years ago. She now plans to turn the 41-bedroom home the polygamist sect leader once occupied in Hildale, Utah, into a tourist draw and home for other church defectors, reports Reuters. The house and other church assets in Hildale and neighboring Colorado City, Ariz., were seized in 2005, but are now being sold back to former FLDS members. Reuters reports Decker has occupancy of the building while she raises funds for purchasethough the Salt Lake Tribune reports she already owns the $1.2 million propertyand has big plans in store.

"Everything would flourish more if this thing was turned into something good," says Decker, 31. "We could do tours upstairs, and the middle floor, where the kitchens and the conference rooms are, could be used for events, a restaurant and a gift shop." The property's 41 bedrooms, including the one Jeffs slept in, could also house former church members, says Decker. But it may be current members who are most at risk of homelessness. As the Tribune reported last month, members are unwilling to cooperate with state plans to allow them to occupy the former FLDS properties for a small monthly fee, believing they belong to God, not the state. "Either they enter into agreements with apostates to their faith, or they lose their home," says the mayor of Colorado City, himself an FLDS member. (Jeffs' brother is on the lam.)
Spirit Airlines customers were not happy when as many as nine flights were canceled Monday night at Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airportin fact, they were so unhappy, police had to be called in. Video posted by onlookers and witness reports detail a massively chaotic scene, complete with yelling customers and physical altercations, though the official word from the Broward County Sheriff's Office to ABC News is simply that "several people" were "upset" and that the sheriff's office was called in to make sure things didn't get "very unruly." Three people, however, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, WSVN reports. "I saw two people go down on the floor and get  handcuffed and dragged out of here," one onlooker says. Per the sheriff's office, no injuries were reported.

Video shows lines out the door of the terminal; one customer says they were told they wouldn't be able to get a flight out until Wednesday, while another says three of their flights had been canceled by Spirit and they had already had to spend one night in an airport. The flight cancellations come amid a dispute between Spirit and its pilots. The pilots say they're working without a contract, CBS News reports, but Spirit says the pilots are taking putting their "quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations." The airline calls the move "unlawful labor activity" and an "illegal slowdown" of operations, though it denies an actual strike. More than 150 of the airline's flights have been canceled over the past few days, and Spirit has now filed a lawsuit against the Airline Pilots Association, hoping a court will intervene. (Read more Spirit Airlines stories.)
Exit polls in South Korea forecast that liberal candidate Moon Jae-in will win an election Tuesday to succeed ousted President Park Geun-hye, arrested in March for alleged corruption. A Moon win would end a decade of conservative rule in the South and could result in sharp departures from recent policy toward nuclear-armed North Korea, the AP reports. The exit poll of about 89,000 voters at 330 polling stations, commissioned by three major TV stations and released just after polls closed, showed Moon with 41.4% of the vote. His two main rivals, conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, were expected to garner 23.3% and 21.8%, respectively, with an error margin of 0.8 percentage points, per the poll. "I hope today will open the door for a new Republic of Korea," Moon said. "I will achieve reforms and national unity, the two missions that our people long for."

Moon, a Democratic Party candidate who was chief of staff for the last liberal president, the late Roh Moo-hyun, has called for engagement with North Korea, saying the hard-line approach favored by conservative governments did nothing to prevent the North from expanding its nuclear programs. The winner will be sworn in, set to serve a full, single five-year term, after the election commission finishes the vote count and declares the winner Wednesday. A big challenge for the winner will be President Trump, who has proven unconventional in his approach to North Korea, swinging between intense pressure and threats and offers to talk. "South Koreans are more concerned that Trump, rather than ... Kim Jong Un, will make a rash military move, because of his outrageous tweets, threats of force, and unpredictability," a recent Foreign Affairs article notes. (Read more South Korea stories.)
Photos tucked away for 90 years in a California newspaper's archives portray Charles Lindbergh just weeks before he made the first nonstop solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean, reports the AP. The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday released never-before-published shots of Lindbergh from April 28, 1927. Harry Bishop, chief photographer for what was then the Union and Evening Tribune, shot the 25-year-old as he climbed for the first time into the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane custom-built in San Diego by Ryan Airlines.

The newspaper published a few photos from the test flight. The rest were archived for nearly a century before a researcher discovered them last year, four in a file labeled "Lindbergh negatives," the others in an envelope marked with "Lindbergh, Charles A.," "'Spirit of St. Louis' monoplane," "4-28-27," and Bishop's initials. Three weeks after the photos were taken, Lindbergh and his aircraft made history by flying from New York to Paris, 3,610 miles in 33 hours. (This historical photo just sold for $162,000.)
A South African man was scooped up by authorities on Mount Everest after attempting to climb the mountain alone and without a permit. As a result, Ryan Sean Davy, 43, now faces a fine of $22,000, reports the BBC. In a Facebook post, Davy explains that he reached the mountain only to learn that he couldn't afford the $11,000 solo permit because of "hidden costs." He also figured his lack of "previous mountaineering experience on record" would prevent him from getting permission. Rather than disappoint his supporters back home in Johannesburg, he says he opted for "a stealth entry." How far he got is unclear: He claims on Facebook to have climbed 24,000 of the mountain's 29,029 feet; the AFP cites Nepalese officials who say Davy told them he made it to camp two, around 21,000 feet.

He certainly made it to base camp: One official says Davy was spotted alone near itDavy says he retreated there when a storm was rolling inbut fled into a cave and was apprehended. "He had set up camp in an isolated place" to avoid detection, says the official. Davy sounded generally apologetic on Facebook, but he also complained about his treatment, saying that he was "treated like a murderer" once caught. He also wrote that "expedition companies have no time for wanna be Everesters with no money." He now has to head back to Kathmandu to pick up his passport. It's not clear how Davy will manage to pay a $22,000 fine if he couldn't afford half that much for a permit, but he told his supporters on Facebook not to pitch in. "This was my doing and I took the risks," he writes. "I am accountable." (A man just died in pursuit of an Everest record.)
Audio tapes leaked Monday reveal authorities had a chance to save the 268 Syrian refugeesincluding 60 childrenwho drowned when their boat capsized in October 2013 but instead wasted time with, as the Times of Malta puts it, "bureaucratic wrangling and indifference." Mohammed Jammo, a Syrian doctor on the doomed boat, made multiple calls to Italian and Maltese authorities up to five hours before the disaster, pleading for help, the Washington Post reports. "We are dying, please. Don't abandon us," Jammo says during one of the calls. He told authorities the boat was taking on water and there were injured children aboard.

Italy had a military vessel 20 nautical miles from the sinking ship but didn't send it, instead telling Jammo to call Malta. Malta told Jammo to call Italy. The sticking point: The refugee boat was technically in waters overseen by Malta but was nearly twice as close to the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Independent reports. And Malta didn't have a vessel anywhere near as close as the Italian vessel. Italian authorities also appeared hesitant to bring the refugees to Italy. Italy eventually did send its vesselhours after the first call from Jammobut only after a Maltese plane confirmed the boat had capsized and there were people in the water. Amnesty International says it's "reasonable to question" whether authorities from both countries did everything they could to prevent 268 people from dying. (Read more Syrian refugees stories.)
President Trump will provide heavier arms to Syrian Kurds in a move certain to anger Turkey, the New York Times reports. The US will supply YPG with things like anti-tank missiles and heavy machine guns so the Kurdish militia can help take Raqqa, a Syrian city serving as the capital of the Islamic State. According to the Washington Post, Defense Department spokesperson Dana White says YPG is "the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future." Here's the problem: Turkey says YPG is tied to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and both Turkey and the US consider the Kurdistan Workers' Party to be a terrorist group.

The Obama administration had been considering arming YPG but wanted to figure out how to do it while preserving the US' relationship with Turkey, the AP reports. "We're going to sort it out," Defense Secretary James Mattis says. The Pentagon states the US will arm YPG "as necessary." It won't supply the militia with surface-to-air missiles or artillery and may require it to return the weapons after specific missions to keep them from being used in Turkey. US officials say they've assured Turkey that YPG won't be part of establishing a new government in Raqqa following the fighting. Meanwhile, Turkey is complaining about the US arming terrorists to fight terrorists. (Read more Syria stories.)
James Comey has been fired as FBI director by President Trump, the AP reports. ABC News tweeted a copy of the White House statement on the matter, which says that Trump acted "based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions." Trump says the move will mark "a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement." Senior government officials tell the New York Times that Sessions was given the job of coming up with a reason to fire Comey last week. Democratic leaders point out that Sessions had recused himself from the investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaignan investigation Comey was leading, the New York Daily News reports.

Rosenstein says Comey was fired for his handling of the Clinton email situation, saying he "cannot defend" Comey's behavior, the Times reports. Both Sessions and Trump had previously praised Comey's actions leading up to the election. According to Talking Points Memo, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer wonders if the Russia investigation was "getting too close to home" for Trump and calls for a special prosecutor to continue the investigation. CNN has a copy of Trump's termination letter to Comey, in which Trump says he "greatly appreciate[s]" Comey assuring him, "on three separate occasions," that he is not under investigation, but nonetheless he does not believe Comey can effectively lead the FBI. Comey, who was only three years into a 10-year term, learned of his firing from television reports, which began airing on screens behind him as he spoke to FBI employees in LA. The letter was subsequently delivered to FBI headquarters. (Read more James Comey stories.)
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
The state of Nebraska has seen declining revenues over the past year. This reality has made balancing the state budget without increasing taxes my number one priority during this legislative session. To achieve this, I have been working to constrain spending since last summer and into this year.

Last year, I began working with state agencies to manage their budgets in anticipation of working with the Legislature to address the gap between projected revenues and appropriations. In July, I provided guidance to my cabinet and all state funded agencies urging fiscal restraint. In October, I placed a freeze on non-mission critical hires and a travel ban on non-essential, out-of-state travel. Additionally, my State Budget Office reduced allotments, or the amount of money made available to an agency, as well as carryover appropriations for state agencies.

When I delivered my State of the State address to the Legislature in January, I shared with senators the importance of making the tough decisions necessary to constrain spending. In the opening weeks of the legislative session, senators and I successfully worked together to make much-needed cuts to the current years budget.

As the Legislature has worked on the next two-year budget, we received news that projected revenues are expected to fall even further. Just a couple of weeks ago, the forecasting board dropped revenue projections an additional $55 million. When this occurred, I urged the Legislature to focus on making additional cuts to spending instead of relying on additional funding from the states rainy day fund or other budget maneuvers.

Unfortunately, senators chose to employ a budget gimmick that places the state budget on shaky ground instead of making responsible spending cuts. Last week, the Legislature voted to lower the states general fund minimum reserve from 3 percent to 2.5 percent for the next two years. The minimum reserve is essentially the buffer the state maintains in its checking account to avoid unnecessary borrowing from the states rainy day fund.

Instead of setting priorities and making needed cuts to spending, senators have placed the states finances at risk by lowering the minimum reserve in our checking account. I urge the full Legislature to reconsider this proposal and to roll up their sleeves and get to work on cutting spending to bring the budget into balance. Making additional cuts now will protect the state budget against uncertain revenue streams, and place the state on firmer financial footing.

In the midst of all this discussion about how to balance the budget, there have been some senators proposing additional spending. Thankfully, others have opposed such proposals on the floor so far. The focus needs to be on cutting spending, not on creating new programs and proposals. New spending would only make our budget challenge worse, and make balancing the budget more difficult. I will not support any effort to raise taxes to balance the budget.

The Legislature is debating the budget, and I will continue to work with senators to constrain spending. Lobbyists and special interests, however, are opposing efforts to constrain spending. They are paid to spend your money.

If you want to see the Legislature cut more spending instead of relying on budget gimmicks that could endanger our state, your senator needs to hear from you. You can find all their contact information at www.NebraskaLegislature.gov. As always, I hope you will contact me if you have concerns. My office can be reached at pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or 402-471-2244.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Snow this morning will give way to partly cloudy conditions this afternoon. High 21F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow showers developing after midnight. Low 14F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%.
New Delhi:

The Delhi metro non-executive staffers including train operators continued their protest on the 25th day but "insensitive" DMRC seems in no mood to hear their voices.

Entire operations staff including train operators of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd are protesting since April 17 against the 'discriminatory' policies of DMRC.

"It was started on April 17 by wearing a black ribbon on left hand, but the insensitive management, rather than listening to our problems started to threaten us to end protest or face disciplinary action. They even send show cause notices to some 15 people," said Ravi Bhardvaz, spokesperson of staff council, DMRC.

"There is a lack of standard Policy in DMRC which need to be reformed for betterment, sustainability and Good work culture of the organization in long run," said Ravi.

The protesters have also threatened to intensify their protest and said they will further shave their heads and even go on "hunger strike" if their demands are not met by the authorities.

From May 1, we had given up our facilities including restrooms and working from platforms without taking rests. If the authorities dont listen to us we will go on a hunger strike. We will come and operate trains but will not sign off and continuously work without having food, Ravit old News Nation Digital.

We are working, operating trains and after that, we come here to protest in 40-degree temp, employees are getting exhausted and that is even risky for the safety of passengers as we need 100 percent focus while operating trains, but authorities are not concerned for any of this, he added further.

However, the protesting employees said they have no plans to directly halt metro services but due to incapacity metro services could be halted.

We have no intentions to halt metro services, but if the employees will not eat, they will get weaker physically and due to which trains might stop running automatically, Ravi told News Nation Digital.

We have written to GM HR, R.D. Chaudhary and he gave us assurance that our problems would be sorted out within a week. But nothing such happened and he started threatening us by sending show-cause notices saying a disciplinary action would be taken against us, he added.

Talking to News Nation Digital, R.D. Chaudhary, GM HR of Delhi Metro said that only a "small section of non-executive staff is protesting and he knows about their demands."

However, Chaudhary did not comment on the issues of the halt in metro services due to possible incapacity and whether their demands would be looked after or not.

Quashing the claims of Chaudhary, spokesperson of staff council Ravi Bhardvaz said, "Entire Operations department is in Protest. Maintainance people have been threatened because in 2015 after non-implementation of pay scale change they were on Protest throughout Deepawali, 50+ got hospitalised. They are also part of the Non-Executive cadre.

Also Read: Delhi Metro fare hiked: New fares to be applicable from May 10 | Check new fare tab here

Around 7000 non-executive employees including 3000 operations staff and train operators are holding protests at 8 crew control centres of DMRC including metro stations and depots of Dwarka, Yamuna Bank, Jahangirpuri, Qutub Minar and 4 others.
New Delhi:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) may declare Class 12th results by May 24th. The CBSE 2017 were delayed due to assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The CBSE board have been trying their best to declare Class X exam results before May 20 and that of Class XII by May 24.

A total of 16.67 lakh candidates from 16,354 schools across the country have appeared for Class X exam, while around 10.98 lakh candidates from 10,677 schools will sit for the Class XII exams.

In another major decision, the CBSE has decided to do away with seven Academic Electives and 34 vocational subjects for Class XII because of low enrolment numbers.

If reports are to believed then this year CBSE and 31 other state and national boards have decided to go against the policy of moderation and this may leave students and parents unhappy. Moderation is a policy under which boards go lenient in their checking and give extra marks to students.

The marks are granted across the board to tally with the grace marks in order to employ standardisation. However, standardisation will be implemented this year. This year, the CBSE Board Examinations would expectedly have lower percentages as boards have decides to go against moderation.

In a bid to curb the extra-ordinarily high cut-offs at the degree courses, the decision against moderation has been taken by the boards.

According to sources, concerns have been raised over the increasing cut-offs at various universities in India.

Also Read: GSEB HSC Class 12 Science Result 2017 to be announced today by GSHSEB at 10 AM

Steps to check CBSE Class 10th results 2017:

1. Go to the official website- cbse.nic.in and cbseresults.nic.in.

2. Click on Exam Results

3. Click on the Class 10th supplementary exam results

4. Enter roll number

About Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE):

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was established on Nov. 3, 1962. The headquarter is situated in Preet Vihar, New Delhi. The academic body is responsible to regulates and supervises the development of education in the country. It conducts academic programmes and organises examinations, especially for Class 10 and Class 12 students.

Also Read: Buddha Purnima 2017: Know all about Vesak muhurat, significance and history




New Delhi:



Tollywood actor Prabhas is all set to become a father for the fourth time as his Russian wife Anna Lezhneva is reportedly pregnant. According to the media reports, Anna is pregnant for the second time after the birth of their daughter Polena.



While the reports of Lezhneva's pregnancy are rife, the couple are yet to confirm the new officially.



Notably, Pawan Kalyan who has been married thrice, will be becoming father for the fourth time. Pawan, who was married to Nandini for 10 years from 1997 to 2007, later tied knot with co-star Renu Desai in 2009.



Kalyan had two children with Renu - a son Akira, and a daughter, Aadhya. However, the couple got divorce in 2012, after which he got married to Anna Lezhneva.



Pawan and Anna had met on the sets of the actor's 2011 release 'Teen Maar' and started dating each other soon after. The couple even went for a live-in relationship and tied the knot after Pawan got legally divorced from Renu.



On the work front, Pawan Kalyan is busy with his upcoming movie 'Trivikram' which is expected to release on September 17 this year.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Akshay Kumar is grinning ear to ear these days and he has all the reasons to do so. The actor, who recently received his maiden National award, also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his short visit to Delhi. While the actor was elated to meet PM Modi, he also revealed how PM's made his day by giving a priceless reaction to the title of his upcoming movie 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha'.



The movie is said to be inspired by PM Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan' and will be dealing with the menace of open defecation.



While 'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha' is one of the most talked about movies of the year, PM Modi was all smiles on hearing the title of the movie, which was enough for Kumar to feel on top of the world. Akki took it micro-blogging site Twitter to share the picture of their meeting and wrote, Met PM @narendramodi and got the opportunity to tell him about my upcoming 'Toilet-Ek Prem Katha.' His smile at just the title made my day!"

Met PM @narendramodi and got the opportunity to tell him about my upcoming 'Toilet-Ek Prem Katha.' His smile at just the title made my day! pic.twitter.com/qbvYrlbM2Y a Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 9, 2017



In the picture Akshay looks dapper in his formal attire as he exchange a conversation with PM Modi.



Soon PM Modi also reverted to Akshay's tweet saying he too was happy to meet the actor and even sent his best wishes to him.

Thank you so much Sir YY It was indeed a pleasure https://t.co/00f2t4cT53 a Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 9, 2017



Well, it was indeed the most special moment for Akshay Kumar.



Currently, Akshay Kumar is busy with his upcoming movie '2.0' along with megastar Rajinikanth. The actor is seen playing the lead antagonist in the movie, which is the sequel to Rajini's 2010 release 'Robot'.



Helmed by S. Shankar, '2.0' also stars Amy Jackson in the lead role and is expected to release in early 2018.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
On April 30 I attended Plattsmouth Educational Foundations STARS banquet, which honored the upper 10 percent of students graduating this weekend from Plattsmouth High School.

The banquet also honored teachers who students felt inspired them to excel during their time in Plattsmouth Community Schools.

Dr. Doug McKnight was the featured speaker for the evening, but my story was reaching the short story length and I had to leave out his whimsical yet informative speech he gave and which provided sound advice to the students about college life.

I agreed wholeheartedly with what Dr. McKnight said and thought I would devote my column this week to his wisdom.

First, he said his sister gave him important tips regarding college life.

My first year of college started right after graduation. My sister was finishing her junior year of college. I took sociology because my sister told me to, he explained. All the time she tried to give me all her wisdom about college like how to register for classes on campus or how to walk on campus.

He also said he learned a lot about college on his own. College is a lot more difficult than high school, he said. Sociology was a little bit of a challenge for me, so I took extra science classes.

Dr. McKnight said he also changed his perspective on coming from Plattsmouth to go to college. I thought I was from a small town, but most of the students in Nebraska graduate from Class A schools. Plattsmouth is actually a big town in Nebraska if you compare it to other towns.

In high school, Dr. McKnight said he considered himself an amazing trumpet player.

While he was good enough to make the University of Nebraska marching band, he was amazed by the level of talent he encountered at college. He encountered many amazing trumpet players.

Youre leaders in high school but soon youll be a team member, Dr. McKnight said.

Taking classes and being in the UNL band at the same time kept him very busy. I learned to actually study in my freshman year in college, he said. In college you cant join every club and still graduate with a degree, so be very picky about what you join. You really have to focus on your time.

In addition to band, Dr. McKnight chose to be in the Pre-Dental Club and also attended its monthly meetings.

He started college wanting to major in broadcasting but soon learned it wasnt the path he needed to take. I took chemistry and I was doing pretty well in chemistry, so I switched to pre-dentistry. I majored in biology. Its OK to change your mind. Its OK to change your major, he said.

And then, in his address, Dr. McKnight shared his list of advice for those just starting college.

1. Sit the T-Zone, the middle of every class. Dont sit at the back.

2. Be early to class. Dont walk into class late.

3. Live on campus to get the true college experience.

4. Dont go home every weekend. The weekend is when you make your friends.

5. When you do go home on a weekend, dont forget your laundry.

6. Dont forget what got you here. Draw from your past because Plattsmouth is a great place to be from.

7. Make a smart friend. They are the best people to study with. Make them your study partner and remember there is always someone smarter than you.

8. Make a big friend.

9. Never take the minimum credit hours. You never know when youre going to get that crazy professor and the class is not going to work for you. If you drop a class, you dont want to go below the minimum hours. Better to sign up for the maximum amount of classes.

10. Take a nap. Enjoy taking a nap during undergraduate work. Its the last time youll be able to.

11. When registering for classes see what building they are in and make sure it is physically possible to get from one class to the next.

12. Know your Wi Fi hot spots.

13. Dont be afraid to keep your mind open and dont forget to bring home your laundry.

Id like to add a few tips to Dr. McKnights advice, since no one shared any with me before I attended my Alma Mater, UN-L.

1. Join extracurricular groups and avoid going to the bars. Your time in college should be spent learning new things not studying to be an alcoholic.

2. Dont be afraid to visit your professors during their office time. When I was in college, very few students did. Youd be surprised what more youll learn from that one-on-one time in their office.

3. Remember college is harder than high school, but if you study hard youll graduate, maybe even with honors.

4. If you didnt learn to take notes in high school, learn now. I had one professor who took his test questions entirely from what he said in class, despite he giving chapter after chapter of assigned readings.

5. Dont try to carry all of the books you need for a day of classes in one backpack. While it may not hurt now when youre young, your neck and back will suffer in your senior years. Trust me on that one.

6. When you graduate dont think you now know everything you need to know or that you know more than those older than you. Life is a constant learning experience and the older you get, the more experiences you have to draw upon.

7. And, as my dad always said, An education is something no one can ever take away from you.
New Delhi:

Buddha Purnima or Buddha Dayn is also known as Vesak. This year Buddha Purnima is being observed on Wednesday. Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti marks Gautama Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. It falls on the day of the full moon in May and it is a gazetted holiday in India.

Gautama Buddha who was known as Siddhartha Gautama was a spiritual teacher on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. The time of Gautama Buddhas birth and death is uncertain. However, most historians date his lifetime between 563-483 B.C. Most people consider Lumbini, Nepal as birth place of Buddha. Buddha died at the age of 80 at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

It celebrates the basic beliefs of Buddhism - karunaa (kindness) and ahimsa (non-violence).

Also Read: Justin Beiber All Purpose Tour in India Live Updates: All about the pop star's concert, schedule in Mumbai, and other plans

2579th Birth Anniversary of Gautama Buddha

Purnima Tithi Begins = 01:07 on 10/May/2017

Purnima Tithi Ends = 03:12 on 11/May/2017

History and Origin

Followers of Buddhism have been celebrating Buddhist festivals for centuries, the decision to celebrate Vesakha as Buddha's birthday was taken at the first conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists held in Sri Lanka in 1950. It took another 49 years for the United Nations to recognize the importance of Buddha Purnima. The UN announced only in the year 1999 that it would be celebrating Buddha Purnima at their offices and at their headquarters at New York City.

Dates of Observance

The reason why Buddha Purnima is also known as Vesak because it is celebrated in the "Baisakh" or the "Vaisakha" month. The festival is celebrated according to the Hindu and the Buddhist Calendar in Nepal. Buddha's birth place celebrates Buddha Purnima on the day of the full moon.

In countries like Indonesia, Laos and Thailand, Buddha Purnima is celebrated according to the Chinese calendar. Following the Chinese Lunar Calendar, these countries celebrate Buddha's birthday on the 14th or on the 15th day of the fourth month.



Symbols

The dharmacakra or dharma wheel is a symbol often seen during Vesak. It is a wooden wheel with eight spokes. The wheel represents Buddha's teaching on the path to enlightenment. The eight spokes symbolize the noble eightfold path of Buddhism.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said on Tuesday that the 'unfortunate' incident in Kerala regarding a NEET candidate being asked to remove her inner wear at an examination centre is a "consequence of overzealousness".

The CBSE, which conducts the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS and BDS courses, defended the stringent dress code as a measure to secure the sanctity of the examination.

"The incident reported at Kannur is unfortunate and a consequence of the overzealousness of a few persons involved in the process. However, inconvenience caused to the students inadvertently in the process is regretted by the Board," CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma said.

"Candidates were repeatedly instructed through website,information bulletins, printed instructions on admit cards and individual communication through emails and SMSs about the steps to be taken before entering the exam centres in thehigh-value and high-stake examination.

NEET 2017: Female candidate in Kerala forced to remove inner-wear before entering examination hall

"In order to secure the sanctity of this prestigious examination and to do justice to the genuine and sincere students and parents, CBSE has left no stone unturned to conduct the exam in a fair manner," she said.

As many students were unaware about the dos and don'ts, they faced embarrassment in various parts of the country while appearing for the NEET on Sunday as the invigilators asked them to remove their inner wear, cut sleeves of their tops, asked them to change denims and much more.

Whereas a 18-year-old girl from Kannur alleged that she was asked to remove her inner wear before giving the entrance test, another candidate was asked to remove the metal buttons on her jeans.

READ: NEET Exam 2017: Unofficial Answer Keys available now, check details here

Several boys wearing full sleeve shirts were told thatonly half-sleeve shirts were allowed in the examination hall. In such a scenario, the candidates were left with no choice and had to "customise" their clothing as per the norms.

More than 11 lakh MBBS and BDS aspirants appeared for NEET on May 7 at over 1,900 centres across the country. As per the rules sanctioned by the CBSE to prevent cheating, the students should bring their admit cards alongwith the required documents only.

READ: IPL 2017 | KXIP vs KKR, Match Preview: Kings Eleven Punjab targets win against Kolkata Knight Riders with play-off hopes alive

The don'ts include big buttons, brooches and heeled shoes for female candidates and kurta-pyjama, full-sleeve shirts andshoes for male candidates. The candidates are also not allowed to carry electronic devices inside the exam centre.

READ: 'Toilet-Ek Prem Katha': PM Modi makes Akshay Kumar's day SPECIAL. Here's how

With PTI inputs

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Senior bureaucrats RK Mahajan and Mahender Singh have been appointed as members in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Mahajan is the director general of Central Excise Intelligence and Singh is the director general (audit).



The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved their appointment as members in CBEC, an order issued on Tuesday by the Department of Personnel and Training stated. Both of them are Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officers.

ALSO READ: Congress criticises BJPs move to call Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over GST bill



CBEC, the apex policy-making body for indirect taxes, has only two members, Ananya Ray and S Ramesh, against the sanctioned strength of six. With the appointment of Mahajan and Singh, only two posts are left to be filled up.



Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Vanaja N Sarna is the CBECs chairperson. The board and its officials are key stakeholders in the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, which is slated to be rolled out from July 1.

ALSO READ: Indian economy to clock 8 per cent growth in FY 2018 with GST taking full effect: Shaktikanta Das

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Making it large, Jaipur boy Monark Sharma has got the scientists in the AH-64E combat fighter helicopter unit of the US army.

Sharma bagged the opportunity with an annual salary of Rs 1.20 crore and will be posted in Fort Hood, Texas.

Monark will look after the designing, inspection, manufacturing and maintenance of the fighter helicopters which was inducted in the US army this year.

He started his career as a junior scientist in NASAs mass communication wing in 2013. Later in May 2016, he joined US army.

Within few months, Sharma proved his Indian metal in designing and research for which he was awarded with two prestigious awardsArmy Service Medal and Safety Excellence Award in the same year he joined the US Army.

"Here NASA offered me a job and a green card. He was awarded citizenship through US army in 2016," a newspaper quoted Sharma as saying.

Sharma did his bachelors in electronics and communication from Jaipur National University, Jaipur.

Also Read: Kim Kardashian wants to lose weight, become flexible in 2016

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

The Shivaji Nagar court on Tuesday awarded death sentence to all three convicts in connection with the software engineer Nayana Pujari murder and rape case. On Monday, the special court had convicted all the three accused in the case. The special court heard arguments on the quantum of sentence and awarded the sentence.

While hearing the case , the special judge L L Yenkar had held the trioYogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadamguilty of robbery, misappropriation of property (possessed by the deceased) and criminal conspiracy.

The incident had taken place on the evening of October 7, 2009 when the software engineer from an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped from Kharadi bypass as she was waiting for transport to go home.

Two days later, the 28-year-old techies body was recovered from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

Also Read | Pune 2009 techie rape and murder case: Special court convicts three

Investigations revealed that the victim was gang-raped in a car and robbed of cash by using her ATM card before she was strangulated and bludgeoned to death in the forest area.

Police probe later led to the arrest of four persons including one Rajesh Chaudhari, who later turned an approver in the case.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

On the occasion of International Yoga Day on June 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh wherein he will be doing Yoga asanas.

UP Chief Minsiter Yogi Adityanath will also be present with PM Modi. Around 40,000 people are expected to attend the event, which will be taking place either at Smriti Upvan or Ramabai Maidan.

ALSO READ: UP CM Adityanath directs officials to set up yoga wellness centres in 40 districts

All UP ministers will also be performing Yoga at their respective districts.

In 2016, PM Modi addressed thousands of people, including 100 differently-abled children at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh. At the event, he highlighted the importance of yoga and said that yoga has connected all the people of the nation.

ALSO READ: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath asks officials to make yoga education compulsory in all govt schools

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

On the ocassion of Rabindranath Tagore 156th birth anniversary President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid rich tribute to Nobel laureate. Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. It was for the beautifully written Gitanjali

Taking to Twitter, President Mukherjee said that Tagore was an icon who not only illumined the time he lived in but continues to remain an inspiration for humanity.

Gurudev was the perfect ambassador of our country at a time when little was known about India in the outside world #PresidentMukherjee a President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) May 9, 2017

In a world fettered by race, creed & colour, Gurudev Tagore promoted internationalism for a new world order #PresidentMukherjee a President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) May 9, 2017

In a world fettered by race, creed & colour, Gurudev Tagore promoted internationalism for a new world order #PresidentMukherjee a President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) May 9, 2017

Let us use this occasion to draw inspiration from Tagoreas idea of oneness of humanity #PresidentMukherjee a President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) May 9, 2017

Prime Minister Modi also tweeted saying that Tagore will always be remembered for his powerful thoughts and contribution to the freedom movement

Gurudev Tagore will always be remembered for his powerful thoughts & contribution to the freedom movement. Tributes to him on his Jayanti. a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 9, 2017

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

The Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted fugitive Vijay Mallya for contempt of court for parting away with his property in violation of court's order. The Apex court asked Mallya to appear on July 10, and the court would decide on quantum of punishment on te very day after hearing him.

Last week, India had asked the United Kingdom to ensure in extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is facing trial in cases of bank loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

During the meeting with Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had raised the issue of early completion of the extradition process of Mallya.

Also Read: Vijay Mallya under UK judicial process, India doing its best, says Arun Jaitley

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 had said.

Supreme Court holds #VijayMallya guilty of contempt, summons him on July 10th



Read @ANI_news story -> https://t.co/JxlY50a6Bj pic.twitter.com/ipVEbtDVFT  ANI Digital (@ani_digital) May 9, 2017

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.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

Also Read: After fugitive Vijay Mallyas arrest, PM Modi tweets no place for corruption in India

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday admitted to Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital after food poisoning say sources. Sonia is likely to be discharged on Wednesday.

Sonia Gandhi was admitted on 7th May due to food poisoning. She is well now and will be discharged soon, said hospital statement.

Earlier on May 3, a Congress leader said that an ailing Congress president Sonia Gandhi should quickly appoint her son Rahul Gandhi as party chief as the delay is only helping Prime Minister Narendra Modi achieve his ambition of a Congress-mukt India.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

After receiving complaint of odour from Delhi's Tughlakabad area again, a team of National Disaster Response Force has rushed to the spot. On May 6, around 450 girl students from Rani Jhansi School and Government Girls Senior Secondary School admitted to hospital following gas leak.

"There was odour and we are getting the spot of gas leak covered with sandbags. People are also advised not to come to the area for the next six days," NDRF's media incharge, Shrinivas said.

There was odour,getting spot of gas leak covered with sandbags;told ppl not to come in area for next 6 days:Shrinivas,media incharge,NDRF pic.twitter.com/XV0eRop1B5  ANI (@ANI_news) May 9, 2017

Meanwhile, police have issued notices to various parties to join the probe in connection with the chemical gas leak from the Tughlakabad container depot. Around 10-15 students are still admitted to the Hamdard Institute as a precautionary measure, a senior police officer said.



The police are sending notices to the companies involved in the transportation of the container, the customs department and the Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), the custodian of the depot.

We have asked them to submit a list of the agreements and documents pertaining to the transportation of the container and its content, he said. The officer said their probe will focus on ascertaining where the carelessness occurred and the agency responsible for it.

ALSO READ: Gas leak in Delhi's Tughlaqabad: National Green Tribunal (NGT) issues notice to Centre and Govt



Police had said it is suspected that the leakage might have happened due to the containers not being properly sealed after being checked. The National Green Tribunal had also sought the responses of the Centre and the Delhi government.



The green panel had issued notices to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Delhi government, the Railway Board and the DPCC and asked them to file their replies within a week.



It also issued a show cause notice to the CONCOR on why environment compensation should not be imposed on its Tughlakabad depot and why should it not be shifted to some other place.



The NDRF had said a truck carrying 80 cans of chloromethyl pyridine had left the Tughlakabad depot for Sonepat at 3.30 am on Saturday. The Delhi government, which ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, had issued a show cause notice to the depot authorities.



Police had registered an FIR in the matter under various sections of IPC and the Environment (Protection) Act against unidentified persons. The southeast district administration also issued a show cause notice to the Customs department and the CONCOR.



Around 450 girl students were hospitalised on May 6 after toxic fumes spread due to chemical leakage at a container depot near two schools in southeast Delhis Tughlaqabad area.

With inputs from PTI.

ALSO READ: Gas leak in Delhi's Tughlaqabad: 450 girl students hospitalised, all out of danger

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party's crisis further plummeted on Tuesday as expelled party leader Kapil Mishra paid a visit to CBI to register an FIR against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from health minister Satyender Jain.



On Monday, AAP suspended former Delhi water minister from the party after the latter levelled stunning graft charges against Kejriwal and Satyender Jain.



A decision was taken in this regard during the PAC meeting. Later, Delhi chief minister wrote on social media, saying that turth shall prevail. He said a special session of Delhi Assembly has been convened on Tuesday.

Read | Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra suspended from party; Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says 'truth shall prevail'



LIVE Updates:

#1:40 PM: Kapil Mishra talks to media outside CBI office

-There are 461 fake entries of donations

-We will go to election commission today at 4 PM

-Recognition of Aam Aadmi Party should be cancelled



#1:30 PM: Sacked leader Kapil Mishra files 3 complaints Kejriwal in CBI office



#1:30 PM: Kapil Mishra comes out of CBI office, demands explanation on travel expenses of 5 AAP leaders

#12:15 PM: BJP youth wing protests outside Arvind Kejriwal's official residence

Delhi: Protest by BJP Youth Wing outside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's residence over allegation of corruption on him by AAP's Kapil Mishra pic.twitter.com/NsU1hG4Ju7  ANI (@ANI_news) May 9, 2017

#12:05 PM: Kapil Mishra tweets:

"Some leaders took several foreign trips on donation money, government funds and illegal cash. Make details public



"Where did they go, where did they stay, what deals they made? Which countries they visited and for how long. Passport details?



"Make details of trips taken by Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh Khaitan, Satyender Jain, Raghav Chaddha and Durgesh Pathak



"If these details are not made public then I will start a sit-in protest from tomorrow morning"

aaa aaaaaa aaaaaa aaaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaaaa, asaaa aa aaaaa aa, aaaaaa aaaa aa aa illegal cash aa aa aa aaa aaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa aa aaa  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

aaaa aaaa aa, aaaa aaaa, aaa aaaaa aa aaaa, aaaa dealings aaaa aaaaa aaaaa aa aaa aaa aaa aa aaaa aaaa aaaa aa aaa?? aaaaaaaaY aa details?  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

aaaa aaaa, aaaa aaaaa, aaaaaaaaa aaa, aaaa asaaaa aa aaaaaaa aaa a aa aaaaaaaa aa aaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa aa aaa  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

aaa aa aaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa aaa aa aa, aaaaaaaaY aa aaaYaaaa aaa aa aaa aa aa aaaa aa aaaa aaaaaaa  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

#11:45 AM: Kejriwal tweets: There is a major conspiracy afoot in the country, Saurabh Bhardwaj will reveal it today in Delhi assembly session. Must listen to it. Truth always prevails (Satyamev Jayate)

aaa aaa asa aaa aa aaaa aaaa aaaaaaaa aa aas aa aaa aaa aaaa aaaaaaaa aaa aa aaaaa aaaaaaa aaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaaaaa aaaaaaa aaaaa  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2017

#11:30 AM: Kapil Mishra reaches CBI office to file FIR against Arvind Kejriwal



#9:30 AM: Suspended AAP leader Kapil Mishra writes open letter to Arvind Kejriwal, seeks response

Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal Ji ... will he respond pic.twitter.com/QfqGP5Hc7D  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

#9:00 AM: Kapil Mishra addresses media

-I challenge Arvind Kejriwal to fight election against me

-I seek blessings of Arvind Kejriwal but will file an FIR against him

-I apologise to Kejriwal, but will file and FIR against him today

-Will fight against corruption all alone

-I am aware of all your conspiracies

-Will register an FIR against the one who was once my guru

#8:40 AM:

Kapil Mishra tweets that he will make an important announcement at 9 AM.

at 9 am today, important announcement . I will be going to CBI office at 11:30 am  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

Read | 10 quotes by Kapil Mishra: 'I have proof against Arvind Kejriwal in land scam'

On Sunday, Mishra had said that he had seen Kejriwal accepting Rs 2 crore from Satyender Jain. He had also charged Kejriwal, saying that Jain had settled a land deal worth Rs 50 crore for Kejriwals relatives.



Mishra, on Monday, dared the AAP convener to expel him from the party. He said would lodge an FIR against Kejriwal with the CBI on Tuesday at 11:30 PM.

While addressing a press conference, Mishra said that AAP leaders were saying that he was colluding with the BJP. He said these charges are baseless and he as the only leader who was more vocal and critic of saffron party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mishra, submitted documents to theAnti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against Kejriwal in connection with the alleged water tanker scam, said he has sought an appointment with the CBI to register a complaint.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Mishra asserted he will never leave the AAP, but said he will also never join theBJP in his life. He also claimed that since he has made accusations against Kejriwal, he has been receiving death threats from those who are close to the chief minister.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Mumbai:

Acting upon the recommendations issued by the Centre over two years ago, the Maharashtra Government has banned the sale of unhealthy junk food in all school canteens. The state has instructed schools that food high in Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) should not be sold in school canteens.

The Maharashtra government has also suggested heathier choices to junk food. The decision has been taken by the government considering the rise in childhood obesity and related health disorders.



Government resolution passed by the school education department states that "HFSS food has very little vitamins and minerals... (Their consumption raises the chance of obesity) and other related diseases among children. The effects can be seen on a child's academic performance."



School principals have also been asked to take adequate measures to ensure implementation of the same.

ALSO READ | WARNING: Eating junk food can damage kidneys as diabetes; Study



As per the governments directive, the heathier alternatives that have been suggested include rice, pulses, vegetables, chapattis, wheat upma, payasam, idly and Wada sambhar, lemonade, jaljeera and coconut water. Although many state-run schools do not have canteens, these instructions can be said to apply to vendors who supply prepacked or precooked food in schools during lunch breaks.



The Union Ministry of women and child development (MWCD) was alarmed by the junk food being consumed by children, set up a committee under the director of National institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. The panel concluded that HFSS (High in Fat, Salt and Sugar) food can increase obesity, dental problems, diabetes and even heart problems.

ALSO READ | Babies in UK addicted to junk food even before toothing: study
New Delhi:

Meet Vikram Vishal. At the age of 31, the IIT-Bombay professor has just won the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Scientist award 2017, considered as the highest recognition for young scientists in India. Vishal works as an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT-Bombay.

The award comprises of a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a bronze medal, a release from the IIT-Bombay said. Vishal is currently working on research which attempts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their environmental impact by capturing the natural gases, it said.

His research looks at capturing the carbon dioxide released when coal is burnt or created as a by-product in other industries and injecting it back into the rock deep underground so that it is not released into the atmosphere, the release added.

Thanks to the vast geological diversity, India offers ample opportunities for the storage of carbon dioxide, and injection of carbon dioxide will also lead to enhanced recovery of methane to partly meet our growing energy demands, Vishal was quoted as saying in the release.

The scientific model developed by Vishal can prove to be a long-term solution for carbon dioxide emissions in the country. The model involves trapping the carbon dioxide and injecting them in hard rocks within the sub-surface of our planet.



The analogy comes from the natural gases that remain trapped in rocks for millions of years. If we can successfully inject the emissions into the rocks, they will remain there for several thousand years, said Vishal.



The research was published in several journals last year, however Vishal aims to take the next step  establish a plant to visualise the model. The plan is to have at least a demonstration plant to see the feasibility of it. We can partner with the industries to set up the plant, said Vishal.



Coal-based power plants, oil and gas plants , fertiliser and cement manufacturing units are some of the sources that churn out high emissions.

Vishal has also worked on studies on pollution in Mumbai in the past. We have worked on the emissions from dumpyard fires as well as mine fires and noted similarities in the two, said Vishal.

Vishal has obtained his engineering degree from Presidency College in Kolkata and did a masters course at IIT-B.



Institutes also need to focus on certain research areas based on the contemporary needs of the world. We should also compare our institutes with the best practices in universities abroad to improve the quality of research, said Vishal.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

NASAs Juno aircraft, which has been on a mission to Jupiter for nearly a year, has released some stunning pictures of the planet, revealing its south pole in a jaw-dropping detail. Citizen scientist Gabriel Fiset has created the image using the data provided by the JunoCam that sits atop the NASA Juno probe, according to a report in Daily Mail.

The breath-taking picture also reveals dozens of gigantic oval storms on Jupiters cloudscape. Approaching the pole, the organised turbulence of Jupiters belts and zones transitions into clusters of unorganized filamentary structures, streams of air that resemble giant tangled strings, NASA said in a statement.

NASA has also released the raw images captured by the JunoCam and are available at the official website of JunoCam. The pictures of Jupiter come weeks after NASA Cassini probe showed the watercolor world of Saturn in unprecedented detail.



According to reports, astronomers are stunned by the bizarre swirling patterns on Jupiter. However, according to NASA, megawinds that are one of the fastest in the solar system (1,100 mph) have given birth to these swirling patterns.



When imaged at infrared wavelengths that pierce the planets upper haze layer, the high-speed winds of Saturns atmosphere produce watercolor-like patterns, NASA said.



NASA also said that winds on Jupiter can reach up to a speed of more than 1,100 miles per hour (1,800 kilometers per hour) given the fact that there is an absence of any solid surface creating atmospheric drag.

ALSO READ | NASA JunoCam captures breathtaking pictures of Jupiter as Juno spacecraft performs close flyby



NASA says practically every element necessary for life had been discovered in the same place in the solar systems  on one of Saturns icy moons.



Juno probes first data was presented at the annual conference of the European Geosciences Union.

ALSO READ | NASA Juno spacecraft skims 2,700 miles over Jupiters cloud tops, JunoCam releases breath-taking images

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

A bomb blast inside a seminary in Parwan province of Afghanistan on Tuesday killed eight children and a senior cleric, Afghan media said. Deputy governor Shah Wali Shahid said that the head of the Parwan clerical council, Mawlavi Abdul Rahim Hanafi, was assassinated in the explosion.

The explosives were detonated as soon as the students gathered in the classroom. Denouncing the act as a terrorist attack, Shahid said that Hanafi was the main target of the bombing which occurred at the madrassa in Charakar.

He further said that an investigation is underway to determine how the bomb was brought into the classroom.

ALSO READ: Thailand: Double bomb blast injures more than 50 in Pattani

Officials have claimed that several others too were wounded in the explosion. However, no group has still claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban had announced the start of their spring offensive in April, while threatening to step up attacks across the country.

READ: IPL 2017 | KXIP vs KKR, Match Preview: Kings Eleven Punjab targets win against Kolkata Knight Riders with play-off hopes alive

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Malaysias top Islamic State operative has been killed in an attack in Syria last month, countrys police chief said.



The operative, Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, 26 was allegedly responsible for a grenade blast at a bar in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur in June 2016 that injured eight people.



Intelligence had obtained that Muhammad Wanndy died in an attack in Raqqa, Syria, on April 29, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said. However, he didnt give more details.

ALSO READ: Islamic State recruit from Kerala killed in US attack in Afghanistan

Born in the southern state of Malacca, he left for Syria with his wife in 2014. The US Treasury Department also listed him under the list of global militants in March.



Around 250 suspected militants over the last three years have been detained in Malaysia, including the ones allegedly planning attacks.

With inputs from PTI.

ALSO READ: Islamic State claims responsibility for fatal shooting in Paris: Amaq

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
State Sen. Lynne Walzs three children all went to school at Archbishop Bergan. As a new member of the education committee, shes also a supporter of public education and an opponent of school voucher programs.

One of the reasons that we chose to send my daughter there was the faith piece of that school, Walz said.

Walz, the democratic representative of Dodge Countys District 15, has two sons, Patrick and Adam, who graduated from Bergan. Her youngest, Emma, is 16 and attending Bergan High School.

I would not be in favor of any public funds going to a private school, a parochial school, because I think doing that will change the atmosphere of that school someday, Walz said. Theyre going to require that if theyre using public funds, then youre not going to teach the faith, and Im totally opposed to that.

For six years, Walz was a full-time fourth and fifth-grade teacher at Fremont Public Schools at Bell Field and Northside Elementary, which closed. She studied education at Midland University because she has a passion for education.

I have a passion for helping people in general, Walz said.

She also was a long-term substitute teacher for about four years at Bergan Elementary before going into real estate to get a more flexible schedule after the birth of her youngest.

When speaking against sending public money to private schools, Walz was speaking against a bill introduced by fellow rookie Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn. Legislative Bill 608, a school voucher program, was not prioritized and will not see any progress this session, but it likely is something Linehan will look to move further in a year.

The bill would allow students living in attendance zones with a score of needs improvement to opt-in to a voucher program. Three quarters of the per-student cost at the public school could instead be used to send the student to a private school.

In Fremont Public Schools, two schools are categorized as needs improvement, the lowest category, according to AQuESTT, the Nebraska Department of Educations accountability system: Bell Field and Howard Elementary. If the school voucher bill were in place, students living in these zones could receive a voucher to attend Bergan. Johnson Crossing, Fremont Middle School and Fremont High School are not categorized as needs improvement, but under the bill the students who started at Bergan would be allowed to stay.

Walz is against another Linehan bill that would require the retention of third-graders who do not pass reading assessment or otherwise receive special permission to advance.

I dont think that mandating schools to retain kids in third grade because they didnt pass one test is really the way that we should be determining whether or not they should move on, Walz said.

The bill, LB 651, is a priority bill and looks much more likely to pass. The legislature pulled the bill out of committee in a 30-13 vote.

First of all, not all kids know English, Walz said. Thats a big factor in Fremont. Kids might come from poverty, kids might come from broken homes. There are so many factors that go into where a child is at during that reading learning time.

Walz said technology is a new factor in teaching reading that needs to be looked at.

Its real important that kids are able to put the pen to the paper and write the word, see the word, and feel the word when theyre trying to read, Walz said. Technology , as important as it is, really takes that away.

Instead of holding back students who cant read, Walz said you really have to meet the child where theyre at.

I think retaining a kid is only going to  make it worse for that child later on, Walz said. What we really need to concentrate on is putting supports in for those kids and enabling them to pass the test to progress in reading.

Walz said her experience as a teacher adds to the education committee.

Being a teacher, I can tell you that we are already daily looking at how theyre progressing, Walz said. Every single day, were testing them. Maybe not a paper test, but were listening to them read, and we are measuring their progress every single day.

If there is a reading problem, Walz said it is not the fault of the education system.

The teachers that I know  work really hard at trying to get kids to learn, Walz said. Our goal is to make sure kids can read. We dont go into teaching and not want them to learn something.

In addition to vouchers, Walz is against charter schools.

Im absolutely opposed to taking away public funds and giving them to a small group of kids, Walz said. That school, charter school, is not accountable to taxpayers or to the public for what they are doing.

Like the school voucher bill, the charter school bill is not prioritized and will not likely leave committee, but it has been debated unofficially on the floor.

If you have the secret to making sure that kids are succeeding, then share it, Walz said, so all kids have that secret  so all teachers have that secret. If you really love kids, share that secret.

Walz introduced an education bill that was amended into an education omnibus bill that passed Friday. Her portion of the bill expands on the Summer Food Service Program. Equipment funds for the program will no longer be prorated, and it will cover the entire cost of equipment.

My bill really changed that language and allowed people to use whatever they needed to buy (for example) the refrigerator, Walz said.

While Nebraska faces budget issues, Walz is also a part of debates on cutting teacher retirement and higher education funding. The new budget includes $13 million in cuts to the University of Nebraska. LB 415 would raise the retirement age to 60 from 55.

Its difficult to balance that right now, Walz said. We have so many issues. We have property tax relief for farmers that we have to deal with. I do think that our state needs to fund our TEEOSA (Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act) plan more than what they have in the past.

I think they do need to put education as a priority right now, because if we dont were going to be paying for it down the road.
Kathryn ended her week in the usual way, on the top step of her cement porch with a cup of green mint chocolate chip ice cream. A roach clip sat in the porcelain ashtray beside her. Sugar Magnolia echoed in her thoughts. A crescent moon lit a corner of the sky that evening and she slept well.

The following day her body was discovered at home with no sign of forced entry  no evidence of rape or robbery. She was only twenty eight when it happened, a crime that roused the neighborhood from its provincial slumber. Neighbors whispered from behind the yellow police tape that she should have been more careful. A patrol car idled silently at the curb with lights running. Curious onlookers gathered to see what was going on, speculating among themselves about the pretty kindergarten teacher inside. Detectives arrived in short order to ask them what they had seen or heard, and their responses were predictably useless. No less than a dozen different stories belied the fact that nobody knew exactly why Kathryn James was dead or who was responsible.

A five-block area was scoured for evidence. Detectives went door to door looking for clues. One reclusive neighbor protested for being questioned more than once, but Detective Robin Noel didnt care; she was accustomed to that kind of response.

* * *

After the funeral, a dog-eared copy of A Religion Called Love was disseminated by Kathryns dissenters in an effort to ridicule her, but instead the opposite happenedher ideas gained traction that generated widespread discussion and debate. Not even Kathryn would have predicted the irony of a new movement taking form this way, a vehicle for kindness and tolerance that would spread posthumously despite the efforts of a watchful clergy to the contrary.

To be sure, Kathryn James had never thought of herself as a transformative figure, though history would record her as such, and biographers would rummage through the details of her life to make sense of who she was. Her beliefs were secular yet wholly spiritual. Her boundless faith in humanity called attention to the resilient core of human goodness. She regarded miracles and tragedies as random events that occur despite improbable odds and saw no reason to attribute them to a higher purpose. Rather, she cherished the ordinary events of daily life, the precious moments that slip away.

In matters of romance, Kathryn recognized the capricious nature of love  that people willingly expose themselves to hurt but acclimate to the situations that serve them best. People accept the love thats available to them. They mourn the loss of love and welcome new love with equal passion, whether the event is a birth, a wedding or a funeral. Kathryn recognized the merits of religious ceremonies during such times, but insisted that a belief in one faith or another had become extraneous in the modern world; the more vital part, she insisted, was the gatheringbeing there, togetherto amplify the experience.

She acknowledged the timeless questions: What is the meaning of life? What happens after we die? Why do bad things happen to good people? She freely posed these questions but didnt consume herself with a search for the answers. She found little need to dwell upon the unknowable notions of heaven or hell or the unlikely explanations posed in the scriptures; instead, she embraced the more reasonable aspects of religion, such as peaceful congregation, charity and self-examination, and brought them closer to realitynot with incense but common sense, not with the holy spirit but with the spirit of humanityto promote prosperity without greed, and good deeds for the sake of good. Kathryns classroom was an incubator for these ideas. Her students learned to love and respect one another, and thrived by following her example.

Even in her absence.

Standing behind the mourners at the funeral were watchful detectives and curious neighbors whose emotions were held in check by the shock of what had happened. Detective Robin Noel watched carefully for clues, alert to those whose expressions did not quite match the mood of the funeral service. The school principal and most teachers came to pay their respects. Even Kathryns brazen assailant was there; he stood with the others and bowed his head at the thoughtful words of her remembrance.

The service continued: Kathryn wrote in her manuscript that a prayer is a wish and a blessing is a gift, and any deeper meaning would be speculative at best. She believed that happiness comes from within, not from riches or reward, and that a healthy perspective can bring joy to any moment, even in the setting of sickness, poverty, or bereavement. In fact, its the acceptance of lifes impermanence, she wrote, that soothes the pain of loss when it inevitably happens. This is why she referred to life as a roller coasternot because of the ups and downs or twists and turns, but because of its limits. Eventually the ride comes to a halt for everyone, no exceptions, no repeat rides. How prophetic.

When the last few handfuls of dirt were ceremoniously tossed onto the casket, the service uneventfully ended. A solemn retreat to the parking area was followed by a procession of tail lights through the cemetery gates. Two gravediggers came forward with shovels in hand to finish the task left for them. As they slashed their blades into the earth, one man stood by watching, waiting until they were done  as if Kathryn might still awaken from her slumber to announce the truth of what had happened.

Copyright 2016 by David Trock

David Trock has been published in several genres including crime fiction and medical nonfiction. He is a consulting physician at Danbury Hospital and an assistant clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine. He is married with grown children and lives in Newtown.
With a flip of a white sheet, Karen Ellman reveals a rack of vintage dresses, ranging in shapes, sizes and styles. She deftly moves hangers aside until she finds the triumvirate she is seeking.

Heres Betty, thats Peggy and this one is Megan.

Before her are the kind of dresses the characters Betty Draper, Peggy Olson and Megan Calvet (later Draper) would have worn in AMCs award-winning Mad Men series. Set in the heyday of New York Citys top ad agencies, the show spanned the early 1960s to the 1970s. As much as the dramatic storyline attracted fans, so did the midcentury fashions, interior designs, gadgets and cocktails.

Even though the show, which ran seven seasons, aired its final episode in 2015, it remains a cultural influence  so much so, that the Westport Arts Center will be celebrating the original Mad Men, many of whom lived in Westport, in a gala, Martini Madness, set for May 20 at the Fairfield Hunt Club. Not content to leave it a typical soiree, the organizers hope guests immerse themselves in the fashion, art and creativity of the time. Enter Ellman.

An unabashed fan of Janie Bryant, the costume designer for Mad Men, Ellman said the shows fashions were entirely authentic, showing subtle changes in style from season to season, as well as picking the proper look for each character. Ellman has been asked to help the arts center do the same by bringing some of her pieces to a fashion show and making those and others available for purchase. Bring on those pencil skirts, tulip hems and cupcake dresses. Or, perhaps someone will fall in love with the cream-colored fit-and-flare that would fall flatteringly on Betty, or the forest green plaid, at-the-knee, short-sleeved dress that would have screamed professional creative while worn by Peggy. Megan Drapers slinky brown mini dress is swimming in sequins, sheer sleeves and attached scarf that gives a glimpse of the freedom inching its way into womens frocks by the late 1960s.

Sure, one could find present-day approximations of these styles. The fit-and-flare dress is timeless, Ellman says. You see it on racks today because it always looks beautiful. It offers a great silhouette, a fitted bodice and full skirt. However, the beauty of vintage clothing, Ellman says, is everything from the material to the stitching is organic to that time. In the past, for instance, materials were not as stretchy as they are today. Designers would have had to rely on expert tailoring, such as darts and seams, to expertly sheath a female form.

I have a great appreciation for how the garments are made, says Ellman, who considers herself less a fashionista and more a history fan. She runs an online shop, Vintage Virtuosa, which has been in business for nearly 15 years.

Upon moving to Westport from California, she was intrigued by the architecture of old houses, as well as the treasures she found, and scooped up, in the closets. I have an appreciation of how (vintage) garments are made  how they are tailored and constructed. These were not mass produced.

Her Mad Men offerings are of a time that had an influence that goes beyond the enduring fashion appeal that continues to be seen on runways. The success of Madison Avenue advertising firms was indicative of a broader wave of pitchmen (largely men), artists, illustrators, writers and photographers who not only experienced commercial success, but set into motion an aesthetic that continues to echo in contemporary art, fashion and interior design. It is that impact that encouraged the center to immerse attendees in this creative boom, including the clothes they will wear for the festivities.

This is the second time the center has turned to Ellman to get gala attendees into the spirit. She also helped to create some new It Girls for a Warhol-inspired gala some five years ago. This fundraiser, however, hits a bit closer to home. These are the frocks Westport residents would have been wearing in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, just as advertising executives, photographers and illustrators were catching trains headed into New York City to create the ad campaigns, images and logos that have endured.

This art, rooted in popular culture, everyday items and consumerism, has had an impact on contemporary art, says Amanda Innes, executive director of the arts center. A new exhibition, Main Street to Madison Avenue, has opened at the arts center. It focuses on residents who lived and worked in town in the 1950s to 70s, who impacted contemporary art through their advertising work.

When asked why this era has had such a lingering effect and why people may want to wear these styles, Innes hypothesized the hopefulness and progress that followed World War II seeped into everyday life and surrounding images, including bold, confident lines and strong colors found in ads, commercial art and fashion.

Ellman sees it in the clothes of the era  artful tailoring, distinct details, clean lines and strong fabric designs. She knows how much fun it is to don the garb of another time. It was something she noticed while helping with the Warhol gala. Sometimes you just want to be in the theme stylistically, from head to toe.

chennessy@hearstmedia.com;

Twitter: @xtinahennessy
The most ambitious exhibit ever undertaken by the all-volunteer-run Flinn Gallery of the Greenwich Library had its beginnings more than two years ago after Debra Fram, a 25-year Flinn veteran, returned from an arts tour of Cambodia.

Fram was no ordinary tourist in the country perhaps still best known in the West as the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge. She had gone as a board member of a family foundation that supports Cambodia Living Arts, a program dedicated to reviving what the Khmer Rouge had all but destroyed during its mid-1970s reign of terror. Mostly, Fram and others in her party saw performing arts groups. Once she was back, though, she said to her husband, Id love to do something for the artists. I wasnt sure what and it occurred to me I was on the Flinn Gallery committee and it would be fantastic to have a show of Cambodian artists.

Fram asked Barbara Richards, an even more veteran Flinn volunteer who once lived in Japan and had visited Cambodia, to join her as co-curator of the exhibit that grew and grew and grew, and came to be called Cambodia: Looking Back on the Future.

Weve never had anything like this, Richards says before Fram picks up, Where we brought the work over from another country, where the focus is the art of another country.

Fram says theyve been told by Dana Langlois, their curating partner in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the exhibit is likely, the largest known presentation of Cambodian contemporary visual artists in the United States.

The two almost full-time volunteers are talking one day in April, a week before the 42nd anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge and three weeks before roughly three dozen paintings, photographs and other pieces by 11 Cambodian artists will be sent to the Flinn Gallery for a May 4 opening. On this day all the art is still stored in Frams house, shipped from a country on the other side of the International Date Line, where Fram explains it is tomorrow, but 12 hours later.

Logistical hurdles posed by the time difference and distance were among the reasons Fram and Richards knew they had to find an on-the-ground partner like Langlois. She is a New Hampshire native who runs a gallery called Java Arts and who, it turned out, either represented or was acquainted with most of the artists Fram and Richards identified as exhibit candidates after many hours of online research.

They ruled out large pieces, like sculptures or installation art, that would be costly to transport or too big for the gallery. They also shied away from pieces they judged off-putting. The Khmer Rouge killed an estimated 2 million people, either directly through execution or indirectly through starvation and forced labor. The educated classes, including artists, were special targets.

Fram and Richards wanted an exhibit that would be hopeful and reflective, as the title Looking Back on the Future suggests. Still, the Khmer Rouge is inevitably present in the work of the artists they chose, even if most of the six men and five women are too young to actually remember it.

The story of the Khmer Rouge is in every one of them, Richards says. It comes out differently. Theres nobody in Cambodia who doesnt have a story to tell.

Theyre all personal narratives, Fram says of the art. It might be about memory or displacement or identity  all these issues they struggle with.

The two finally met the artists and saw their work in person on a return trip to Cambodia in October, posting a blog about it on the Flinn website. Seeing the art exceeded all our expectations, as opposed to seeing it in two inch squares on the computer screen, Richards says.

Asked to name a piece especially meaningful to her, Richards chose Flowering Parachute Skirt, by Leang Seckon. (Cambodian names are not immediately recognizable as male or female, or first and last.) Easily the largest piece in the exhibit, it depicts a 10-foot-tall woman, with a coconut husk for a skull, dressed in a floor-length skirt.

As stunning as it may be by itself, Richards tells a story that makes it even more so. One of the older artists in the exhibit, Seckon was born around 1970, when the U.S. was secretly bombing Cambodia. Then came the Khmer Rouge and its ouster by the Vietnamese. Returning to his village almost 40 years later, Seckon found the parachute, probably dropped for illumination, re-purposed as a festive canopy. After some prayer and bargaining, a village monk agreed to sell him the parachute that became the skirt.

The bottom line is he said this was something used for war made into something peaceful and loving, Richards says. Maybe thats what all the artists are trying to do, is take a tough experience and make something positive out it.

Fram chooses to talk about a series of photographs by Neak Sophal, a female conceptual artist. Some show individuals (a basketmaker, a farmer) masked by their work, while others show women with their most prized cooking pots. One set obliterates identity, Fram says, while the other speaks of family endurance.

Fram, however, found a painting by Lim Muy Theam so powerful she bought it. Titled Trapeang Thmor, it depicts a peaceful waterfront scene so busy with people it vaguely resembles a village painting by Dutch master Brueghel. The text that goes with it explains under the Khmer Rouge it once had been a dam construction site where villagers died from overwork, malnutrition and disease.

Fram and Richards say they view the exhibit as a way of sharing Cambodia with the public. The full month of programs planned around it  films, lectures, performances  is a measure of their ambition s. E specially noteworthy are two events today, May 7.

At 1:30 p.m., Dana Langlois, the curator from Java Arts, is scheduled to lecture on how Cambodian artists use humor to confront politics. She will be followed at 3 by Arn Chorn-Pond, a Cambodian poet and peace advocate based in the U.S., and Patricia McCormick, who has written about sex trafficking, surviving the Khmer Rouge and is co-author of the young readers edition of I Am Malala, the memoir of the Pakistani girl who is the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Joel Lang is an award-winning Connecticut journalist and frequent contributor to Sunday Arts & Style.
DANBURY - A driver pursued by police early Saturday morning was killed on CoalPit Hill Road after smashing into a tree.

Police confirmed Monday that a Bethel police officer attempted to stop the Toyota Camry near the intersection of Mansfield Street and Fleetwood Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. The driver refused to stop, they said.

The officer, who had activated the vehicles lights and sirens, began pursuing the car at a normal rate of speed but the driver began to accelerate when approaching the Danbury line, police said. The driver, who authorities have not identified, continued to proceed erratically during the brief chase, police said.

Moments later, the owner of the Camry lost control on the wet roadway. The car overturned and slammed into a nearby tree less than a half-mile from the Fleetwood Avenue intersection during a night of heavy rain.

It took crews from Bethel and Danbury fire departments more than 30 minutes to remove the driver and passenger in what officials described as an especially difficult extrication process. Since the Camrys roof was twisted tightly against the tree, the fire department needed Multiple Jaws of Life tools to extricate the driver and passenger.

A neighbor who witnessed the accident disputed some details of the Bethel and Danbury police reports. He said it appeared the police officer chasing the Camry was driving at a high rate of speed and had to slam on his brakes to stop for the accident.

The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said he offered to help when he heard one of the cars occupants screaming for assistance. Police told him to wait until additional help arrived, the neighbor said. It was nearly ten minutes before police officers broke the cars window and tried to extricate the occupants, he said.

However, Bethel Capt. Steven Pugner said video from one of the police cars cameras shows officers attempting to assist both occupants shortly after the accident. The towns officers, he said, are trained as first responders and carry medical bags in their cruisers.

Both the passenger and driver of the Camry were sent by ambulance to Danbury Hospital, where the driver died from his injuries, police said. The condition and identity of the passenger was not available Monday.

Danbury police say the accident is still under investigation.

dperrefort@newstimes.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

DANBURY - Parishioners of a Catholic church where a former pastor was accused of sexually abusing a minor a decade ago stressed their commitment on Tuesday to supporting the victim.

Faith communities have been through this before, and the way forward is with as much transparency as possible, and to offer support services to any victims who come forward, said Thomas Saadi, a parishioner at St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church.

The Rev. Larry Jensen, who was pastor of the church from 1998 to 2006, has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor during that period.

Later pastor of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Waterville, Maine, Jensen has been permanently relieved of priestly ministry, Michael Thomas, the vicar general of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, told the Associated Press.

Details about the sexual abuse accusation were not available. Thomas could not be reached for further comment Tuesday.

The only information is what I have read online, said Saadi, Democratic minority leader on the City Council. But any allegation like this must be taken seriously.

In Danbury, the parishs current pastor said a letter from the Brooklyn chancery was read during weekend Masses.

I am not authorized to say anything, so I dont feel comfortable talking about it, said the Rev. Kiwan Naji Jalil, the pastor of St. Anthonys. We read the letter from the chancery office in Brooklyn, and that is all we can say.

The letter was read to the three parishes where Jensen has served - in Danbury, in Maine and in North Carolina - assuring parishioners that all abuse complaints would be taken seriously, the AP reported.

Saadi said the church would conduct a transparent investigation.

I have been in touch with the chancery to find out who to contact in case someone comes to me with a question, Saadi said. I expect the Eparchy will investigate this both internally and will cooperate with all civil authorities, including law enforcement.

Although St. Anthonys is a Catholic church in full communion with Rome, it has independent traditions in keeping with its Lebanese heritage. As such it is not under the authority of the Diocese of Bridgeport.

It is part of the eastern tradition of the church, said Brian Wallace, a diocesan spokesman. The parish in Danbury is sponsored and supervised by the Maronite chancery in Brooklyn.

Like all Catholic churches, St. Anthonys has a protocol for reporting allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy, Wallace said.

The fact is sexual abuse is a terrible thing, Wallace said.

A longtime parishioner of St. Anthonys said it is important to support victims of sexual abuse, but it is also important to support good priests.

Its a blemish on the reputation of the priests that are trying to repair the reputation of priests, said Dolores Haddad, former religious education teacher in the parish who raised her family at St. Anthonys. There are a lot of great priests out there who are doing a great job.

His time in Danbury

Jensen, a Michigan native, was an accountant before he decided to join the priesthood.

Jensen came to St. Anthony from Fayetteville, N.C., in 1998. He left in July 2006 to serve at St. Joseph in Waterville.

"I will miss the people very, very much," Jensen said in a 2006 interview with the News-Times. "They have been very loving, very supportive and very affirming. It is like a family feeling, like I belong with them."

During his time at the Danbury church, the number of parishioners tripled, to about 300. Asked how he did it, he said, "I did it by being friendly."

Jensen said in the 2006 interview that he tried to get youth more involved in church, starting a youth play for Christmas and a Passion play for teenagers and young adults.

On Sundays, the youth group, which had about 20 members, made breakfast for the parish after the liturgy. The group also worked with organizations that help HIV/AIDS patients and with school peer leadership groups.

"Children need to feel at home at their church," Jensen said at the time. "It is supposed to be a family feeling when they are here."

rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Local parishioners were saddened after learning that their pastors will be replaced when their churches merge into new parishes this summer, as part of a bigger plan announced Sunday by the Hartford Archdiocese to consolidate and close churches across the state.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Washington Depot and St. Patrick Church in Roxbury will merge into one parish, when the changes take effect on June 29. The church buildings will remain open, but the pastor who serves both churches has been reassigned.

The Rev. Mathew Kappalumakkel will be replaced by the Rev. Philip Schultze, who works in Watertown, according to the Hartford Archdiocese.

We are all bummed to hear that information, said Roxbury First Selectman Barbara Henry, a trustee at St. Patrick. We feel his work here is not finished. He really breathed light into these parishes since he came and he brought us together.

In Kent, Sacred Heart will merge with two churches in Sharon to create a new parish, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, named after the first Native American canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. All three churches will remain open, but the parish will have a new pastor, like Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

I dont think it was a shock that religion is going through hard times since the state of Connecticut is going through hard times too, said the Rev. Francis Fador, who is retiring from St. Bridget and St. Bernard in Sharon, after working at the churches for nearly 15 years.

(But) in a small parish, you get to know the families. You get to know who has a cold, who has the sniffles, you get to know everything about your parishioners, Fador said. For them, its a big loss. One parishioner said, Its like Im losing my birth father.

Monsignor Vittorio Guerrera, who works in Hartford, will be the pastor at St. Kateri Tekakwitha. The future of the Rev. Gerard Masters, the resident priest at Sacred Heart, will be determined once Guerrera starts his new position, said the Rev. James Shanley, vicar for pastoral planning at the Archdiocese.

The Hartford Archdiocese serves Litchfield, Hartford and New Haven counties. The reorganization is the result of a two-year pastoral planning process that recognized declining church enrollment and changes in demographics.

Officials at the Archdiocese said that in the past 50 years, Sunday Mass attendance has declined 70 percent, from an average of 395,000 to 123,500 people. Weddings are also down, and parishes are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain aging buildings with fewer resources, church leaders said.

As of June 29, the number of parishes in the Hartford Archdiocese will decrease from 212 to 127, which includes closing 26 churches inasmuch as regularly scheduled Masses will not be held in them. Overall, 69 parishes will remain unchanged and 59 will merge, according to the Archdiocese.

In Litchfield County, the mergers wont necessarily save money, but it will bring together Catholics from the different local churches, because they will eventually serve on boards together, rather than being isolated in their our congregations.

Its not a cookie-cutter approach, Shanley said. What applies in Litchfield County doesnt apply in Hartford.

The churches in Litchfield County are much smaller than the more urban parishes which can hold hundreds of people.

On Monday morning, Kappalumakkel said, that he didnt know if he was leaving the two churches where he has worked for the last eight years. He said parishioners were upset when they heard it was a possibility.

I know the people, Ive built relationships with the people, he said.

He said it would also be hard for him to leave the parish, but recognized he has a duty to the Catholic Church.

If you get the orders, you go.
TSX symbol: BX

TORONTO, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - BIOX Corporation (BIOX) (TSX: BX), a renewable energy company that owns and operates biodiesel production facilities, today announced its 2017 second quarter financial results for the three-month (Q2 2017) and six-month (YTD 2017) periods ended March 31, 2017.

Highlights

Completed commissioning of the 90 million U.S. gallon (USG) biodiesel production facility in Houston, Texas , through its ownership in the 50/50 joint venture in World Energy BIOX Biofuels LLC ( WEBB )

, through its ownership in the 50/50 joint venture in World Energy BIOX Biofuels LLC ( ) Upgrades to the 13.2 million USG Sombra facility continue with target commissioning in calendar Q3 2017

Production of methylesters was 15.4 million litres at the Hamilton facility and 23.4 million litres of biodiesel at the WEBB facility in Q2 2017

facility and 23.4 million litres of biodiesel at the facility in Q2 2017 Sales were $14,206,000 in Q2 2017

in Q2 2017 Operating loss prior to non-cash items 1 was $2,603,000 in Q2 2017

was in Q2 2017 Net loss was $5,126,000 in Q2 2017

in Q2 2017 Net loss per basic share was $0.11 in Q2 2017

"Our assets are strategically located in growing biodiesel markets where we can cost-effectively deliver product and compliance directly to the obligated parties," said Alan Rickard, Chief Executive Officer of BIOX. "The Houston facility is the only bio-based diesel facility located within the Houston terminal, which is one of the largest petroleum distribution sites in North America. Our Hamilton facility, and once commissioned our Sombra facility is expected to, produce bio-based diesel with the lowest carbon intensity in the province. Lower carbon intensity fuels provide an advantage to obligated parties in meeting their mandates under the Ontario Greener Diesel program. With the lapse of the U.S. Blender Tax Credit at the end of calendar 2016 we are now operating within a more challenging commercial environment. As we work to complete the upgrades to and commissioning of the Sombra facility this year we look to transition from our expansion focus to operating our assets and strengthening our balance sheet."

Financial Highlights

Sales were $14.2 million and $33.7 million for the three-month (Q2 2017) and the six-month periods (YTD 2017) ended March 31, 2017, respectively, compared to $21.4 million and $47.2 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change in the YTD period is partially due to the recognition of US$6.7 million of refundable tax credits from customers and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service related to the retroactive reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive in YTD 2016.

BIOX sold 13.1 million litres and 27.5 million litres of biodiesel in Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to 20.4 million litres and 40.2 million litres in the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016.

The changes in sales and volume sold for both Q2 2017 and YTD 2017 are primarily due to lower sales of third-party product. The Company sold less than 0.1 million litres of third-party product in both the Q1 2017 and YTD periods, compared to 5.3 million litres and 10.8 million litres of third-party product sales in the corresponding periods last year.

Management intends to take advantage of future opportunities to control and distribute third-party product on an ongoing basis, however the Company's primary focus moving forward are its investments in the Houston and Sombra facilities, and as such management does not anticipate significant levels of third-party product sales in future periods.

Direct expenses were $15.3 million and $33.7 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $22.3 million and $41.2 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The changes are primarily the result of the reduction in purchases of third-party product, partially offset by an increase in the average price of feedstock over the prior year periods.

General and administrative expenses were $1.5 million and $3.2 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $1.3 million and $2.7 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The changes were primarily due to an increase in professional fees related to management's growth strategies in Q2 2017. Management expects the G&A run-rate to be in the range of $0.5 million to $0.6 million per month in fiscal 2017 as the Company has added incremental administrative scale to support the ongoing production at the Houston facility followed by the planned start-up and production at the Sombra facility in mid-2017.

Operating loss was $3.4 million and $4.7 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to an operating loss of $3.0 million and operating income of $1.4 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change is primarily a result of the collection of US$6.7 million in refundable tax credits, referenced above, related to the reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive in YTD 2016. There was no such revenue recognized in the corresponding period in fiscal 2017. The expiry of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive and its retroactive reinstatement has occurred multiple times in the Company's history, and once again has resulted in lower relative sales revenues in the fiscal Q2 period.

Operating loss prior to non-cash items1 was $2.6 million and $3.1 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to an operating loss prior to non-cash items of $2.1 million and operating income prior to non-cash items of $3.3 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change in the quarterly period is primarily due to the decision to conduct the annual scheduled maintenance at the Hamilton facility in February, while in fiscal 2016 it was conducted in April. The change in the YTD period is primarily related to the retroactive reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive referenced above.

Net loss was $5.1 million and $8.3 million for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $5.3 million and $0.9 million for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. Net loss per basic share was $0.11 and $0.18 for Q2 2017 and YTD 2017, respectively, compared to $0.12 and $0.02 for the corresponding periods in fiscal 2016. The change in the YTD period is also related to the retroactive reinstatement of the U.S. biodiesel tax incentive referenced above.

As at March 31, 2017, BIOX's available cash position and working capital was $3.0 million and negative $13.3 million, respectively, compared with $3.5 million and negative $6.1 million at September 30, 2016. The negative working capital balance is a result of the short-term nature of the financing obtained from insiders related to the Houston acquisition. The change in working capital is primarily due to a $4.1 million draw on the demand loan and an expansion of the bridge note by $2.0 million.

As at March 31, 2017, BIOX had 46,325,544 common shares outstanding, as well as outstanding options to purchase up to 1,430,000 common shares of BIOX and outstanding warrants to purchase up to 4,400,000 common shares of BIOX.

Outlook

In June 2016, BIOX acquired, or participated in the acquisition of, two biodiesel production facilities expanding its capacity from 67 million litres to 287.5 million litres of owned capacity (458 million litres gross capacity including the joint venture).

These two acquisitions demonstrate BIOX's ability to execute on its growth strategies through increasing the volume of biodiesel it produces, controls and distributes in strategic locations throughout North America.

In the near term, BIOX's primary focus is the operation and marketing of product from its Hamilton facility and WEBB's Houston facility as well as the start-up of the Sombra facility. BIOX continues to invest in upgrades to the Sombra facility that will improve the facility's efficiency and enable the use of a broader range of feedstock, specifically lower carbon intensity feedstocks, such as animal fats and recycled cooking oils. The Company expects the facility to be in production by the third quarter of calendar 2017 to capture a portion of the 2017 blend season in Ontario.

Management believes the Ontario market will play an increasingly important role in its distribution network. The implementation of the Greener Diesel program in Ontario mandates increasing blend rates and a move toward lower carbon intensity fuels in 2017. The greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction aspects of the Ontario Greener Diesel mandate are an important differentiator for BIOX. Bio-based diesel produced by BIOX at the Hamilton facility has the lowest carbon intensity in the province, reducing GHG emissions by more than 100% when compared to petroleum diesel. The Sombra facility, once upgraded to handle lower carbon intensity feedstocks, will produce at a comparable GHG emission efficiency to the bio-diesel produced by BIOX at its Hamilton facility.

In November 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for Biomass-based diesel. The RVO established a minimum volume requirement for biomass-based diesel of 2.0 billion USG in 2017, an increase from 1.9 billion USG for 2016. The RVO is recognized at the primary driver of demand for biodiesel in the U.S. market. Management believes the clarity around the volume obligations will create stable and consistent demand from obligated parties.

With assets in the U.S. and Ontario located in close proximity to blending infrastructure, pipelines and transport access, management believes BIOX is in a strong positon to serve obligated parties in these two growing biodiesel markets.

Notice of Conference Call

BIOX will hold a conference call tomorrow morning, May 10, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. ET hosted by Mr. Alan Rickard, Chief Executive Officer to discuss the Company's financial results and corporate developments. To access the conference call by telephone, dial (647) 427-7450 or (888) 231-8191. To access the telephone replay, dial (416) 849-0833 or (855) 859-2056 and enter reservation number 18583372. A live audio webcast of the call will be available at www.bioxcorp.com. The webcast will be archived for 90 days.

Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures

The following table presents a reconciliation of operating income prior to non-cash items to net income for the three-month and six-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:

(in thousands)



Three months ended Six months ended





March 31 March 31





2017 2016 2017 2016





$ $ $ $ Operating (loss) income before non-cash items

(2,603) (2,105) (3,129) 3,253













Deduct: Production facility depreciation

and amortization

(680) (652) (1,401) (1,438)















Depreciation and amortization of

equipment and intangible assets

(50) (56) (102) (112)















Share-based compensation

(23) (144) (84) (256) Operating (loss) income

(3,356) (2,957) (4,716) 1,447 Income tax expense

(433) (1,739) (767) (1,739) Other income and expenses

(1,337) (626) (2,843) (649) Net loss

(5,126) (5,322) (8,326) (941)





1) Note: Non-IFRS Measures. Operating income (loss) prior to non-cash items is defined as operating income or loss less production facility depreciation and amortization, and less depreciation and amortization of equipment and intangibles and share-based compensation. Management uses this measurement to monitor the operating cash flow of BIOX's business and believes this information is useful supplemental information to a reader of financial statements. This measurement may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Investors are cautioned that operating income (loss) prior to non-cash items should not be construed as an alternative to net (loss) income determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of BIOX's performance.

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.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking" statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, objectives or achievements of BIOX, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, objectives or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements relate to, among other things, BIOX's long-term expectations for the biodiesel market in light of current market conditions, the timeline for the Sombra facility commencing production, the capacity of and anticipated upgrades to the Sombra facility and timing thereof, and the ability of BIOX to benefit from recent regulatory initiatives in the U.S. and Ontario. These statements reflect BIOX's current views regarding future events and operating performance, are based on information currently available to BIOX, and speak only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such performance or results will be achieved. Those assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, the fact that BIOX's results of operations and business outlook are highly dependent on a mix of legislation and producer payment programs and tax credits and upon commodity prices, which are subject to significant volatility and uncertainty. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of BIOX to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including factors described in this press release and those discussed in BIOX's publicly available disclosure documents, as filed by BIOX on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) except as updated herein. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Unless required by applicable securities law, BIOX does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. To the extent any forward-looking statements herein constitute financial outlook, they were approved by management as of the date hereof and have been included to provide an understanding with respect to BIOX's financial performance and are subject to the same risks and assumptions referred to herein. There can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which these forward-looking statements are based will occur and readers are cautioned that any financial outlook information contained in this news release should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein.

BIOX Corporation Condensed consolidated interim statements of comprehensive loss Three and six month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited) (Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)



Three months ended Six months ended





March 31,

March 31,



2017 2016 2017 2016



$ $ $ $











Revenue 14,206 21,426 33,731 47,169











Cost of sales









Direct expenses 15,280 22,268 33,698 41,177

Production facility depreciation and amortization 680 652 1,401 1,438



15,960 22,920 35,099 42,615











Gross margin (1,754) (1,494) (1,368) 4,554











Operating expenses









General and administrative 1,529 1,263 3,162 2,739

Depreciation and amortization of equipment and intangible assets 50 56 102 112

Share-based compensation 23 144 84 256



1,602 1,463 3,348 3,107











Operating (loss) income (3,356) (2,957) (4,716) 1,447











Other expenses









Financing cost 765 230 1,685 467

Loss on investment in joint venture 549 - 1,111 -

Gain on revaluation of asset retirement obligation - - - (329)

Foreign exchange loss 30 402 54 527



1,344 632 2,850 665











Net (loss) income before interest income and income taxes (4,700) (3,589) (7,566) 782 Income tax expense (433) (1,739) (767) (1,739) Interest income 7 6 7 16 Net loss for the period (5,126) (5,322) (8,326) (941) Other comprehensive income (loss)









Foreign currency translation gain (loss) 27 23 (51) 57 Comprehensive loss (5,099) (5,299) (8,377) (884)











Loss per common share









Basic (0.11) (0.12) (0.18) (0.02)

Diluted (0.11) (0.12) (0.18) (0.02)











Weighted average number of common shares outstanding









Basic 46,111,793 46,055,164 46,111,793 46,055,164

Diluted 46,111,793 46,055,164 46,111,793 46,055,164

BIOX Corporation Condensed consolidated interim statements of changes in equity Six month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 (Unaudited) (Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)



Common share capital

Warrant reserve

Accumulated













Share



other













purchase

Equity comprehensive

Total



Shares Amount

warrants Amount reserve loss Deficit equity



# $

# $ $ $ $ $





















Balance, September 30, 2015

46,025,124 168,130

- - 1,968 (659) (136,474) 32,965 Share-based compensation

- -

- - 256 - - 256 Share purchase

72,919 46

- - (20) - - 26 Net loss

- -

- - - - (941) (941) Foreign currency translation gain

- -

- - - 57 - 57 Balance, March 31, 2016

46,098,043 168,176

- - 2,204 (602) (137,415) 32,363





















Balance, September 30, 2016

46,098,043 168,176

4,400,000 727 2,446 (617) (139,883) 30,849 Share-based compensation

- -

- - 84 - - 84 Share purchase

227,501 248

- - (112) -

136 Net loss

- -

- - - - (8,326) (8,326) Foreign currency translation loss

- -

- - - (51) - (51) Balance, March 31, 2017

46,325,544 168,424

4,400,000 727 2,418 (668) (148,209) 22,692

BIOXCorporation Condensed consolidated interim statements of financial position As at March 31, 2017 and September 30, 2016 (Unaudited) (Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars)







March 31, September 30,







2017 2016







$ $ Assets







Current assets









Cash and cash equivalents



3,018 3,529

Restricted cash



1,174 1,174

Accounts receivable



2,007 2,882

Prepaid expenses



973 808

Inventory



4,934 3,841







12,106 12,234











Investment in joint venture



12,087 12,984 Property, plant and equipment



30,345 30,091 Intangible assets



259 304 Deferred income tax assets



9,218 9,985







64,015 65,598











Liabilities







Current liabilities









Accounts payable and other liabilities



8,009 7,108

Demand loan



4,091 -

Short-term debt



10,669 8,330

Current portion of long-term debt



1,500 1,500

Current portion of finance leases



- 6

Current portion of provisions



1,097 1,432







25,366 18,376











Long-term debt



6,360 7,107 Secured promissory notes



6,140 5,570 Provisions



3,457 3,696







41,323 34,749











Equity







Common share capital



168,424 168,176 Warrant reserve



727 727 Equity reserve



2,418 2,446 Accumulated other comprehensive loss



(668) (617) Deficit



(148,209) (139,883)







22,692 30,849







64,015 65,598

BIOXCorporation







Condensed consolidated interim statements of cash flows







Six month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016







(Unaudited)







(Expressed in thousands of Canadian dollars, except share and per share amounts)







2017

2016







$

$ Operating activities









Net loss

(8,326)

(941)

Add (less) items not involving cash











Production facility depreciation and amortization

1,401

1,438



Depreciation and amortization of equipment and intangible assets

102

112



Financing costs

1,206

281



Share-based compensation

84

256



Gain on revaluation of provisions

-

(329)



Accretion of provisions

133

159



Loss on investment in joint venture

1,076

-



Income tax expense

767

1,739







(3,557)

2,715















Net change in non-cash working capital balances











related to operations

247

(2,338)







(3,310)

377













Investing activity









Purchase of property, plant and equipment

(1,578)

(614)

Decrease in restricted cash

-

260







(1,578)

(354)













Financing activities









Payments on tank lease provision

(748)

(762)

Payments on finance leases

(6)

(17)

Proceeds from short-term debt financing

1,888

-

Repayment of long-term debt financing

(750)

(750)

Proceeds from demand loan

4,091

2,250

Issuance of common shares

136

26

Interest paid

(274)

(276)







4,337

471













Effect of exchange rate changes on:









Cash held in foreign currency

40

(231)













Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period

(511)

263 Cash, beginning of period

3,529

7,709 Cash, end of period

3,018

7,972

SOURCE BIOX Corporation

For further information: Alan Rickard, CEO, BIOX Corporation, 905-521-8205 ext. 253, [email protected]

Related Links

www.bioxcorp.com


BURLINGTON, ON, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - Three local women were honoured at the fifth annual BMO Celebrating Women program in Burlington for their remarkable contribution to business and the community in one of three categories: Innovation and Global Growth, Community and Charitable Giving, and Expansion and Growth in Small Business. The program recognizes female leaders in local communities as part of BMO's commitment to drive the advancement of women.

At the Burlington event, the following honourees were recognized:

Innovation and Global Growth: Ruth Liebersbach . Ms. Liebersbach is the CEO of McMaster Innovation Park (MIP), an internationally recognized site for innovation, creativity and research. She has been integral to the growth and expansion of MIP, contributing millions of dollars to the Hamilton economy and leading international collaborations.

. Ms. Liebersbach is the CEO of McMaster Innovation Park (MIP), an internationally recognized site for innovation, creativity and research. She has been integral to the growth and expansion of MIP, contributing millions of dollars to the economy and leading international collaborations. Community and Charitable Giving: Nicole German . Ms. German, global business strategist and consultant, founded the Maddie Project, a community initiative in support of youth with mental illness in honour of her daughter. With North York General, the Project has raised over $1.3 million towards the development of Maddie's Healing Gardens.

. Ms. German, global business strategist and consultant, founded the Maddie Project, a community initiative in support of youth with mental illness in honour of her daughter. With North York General, the Project has raised over towards the development of Maddie's Healing Gardens. Expansion and Growth in Small Business: Michele Bailey . The first Canadian to win the WPO's Mary Lehman MacLachlan Economic Empowerment Award, Ms. Bailey is the President and CEO of Blazing The Agency, an award-winning marketing and advertising firm. In addition, she founded and created MyBigIdea, a goal setting and tracking program available internationally.

"We're pleased to recognize these women for their hard work, commitment and the important role they play in the advancement of women in business, which is a key priority for us at BMO," said Julie Barker-Merz, Senior Vice President, Southwestern Ontario Division, BMO Bank of Montreal. "They've cultivated businesses and initiatives that have a deep, lasting impact and that inspire others here in the community."

The Celebrating Women program follows BMO's second Catalyst Award win for its industry-leading work to accelerate diversity and inclusion in its workplace and dedication to gender equality.

In addition, BMO has partnerships with organizations such as GroYourBiz, WBE Canada, Women Presidents' Organization, SheEO and Catalyst. It has also developed products that address the needs of its female clients, including the recent Women in Leadership Mutual Fund  the first impact investing mutual fund offered by a Canadian bank focused on gender diversity, and spearheaded studies around women entrepreneurs, such as A Force to Reckon With: Women, Entrepreneurs & Risk  an eye-opening report in partnership with Carleton University that debunked myths around the notion of women being risk-averse.

For more information about BMO Celebrating Women, please visit: bmoforwomen.com and join the social conversation using #BMOforWomen.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817, and currently marking its 200th year of operations, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $692 billion as of January 31, 2017, and more than 45,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

SOURCE BMO Financial Group

For further information: Media Contacts: Mark Beazley, Toronto, [email protected], (416) 867-3996; Valerie Doucet, Montreal, [email protected], (514) 877-8224, Web: www.bmo.com, Twitter: @BMOmedia
MEDICINE HAT, AB, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - While Canada marks 150, Canada's own playground manufacturerBlue Imp Recreational Productsis proud to be celebrating 100 years of success. The fourth-generation family-owned company is observing this major milestone by giving away commercial playground equipment with a total retail value of more than $30,000.

"Very few companies reach this milestone so we really want to mark the occasion," says company executive Verna Scott. "We have completely re-imagined four iconic Blue Imp playground pieces for our new Centennial Series and we want to give them away! We are inviting Canadians to take part in our Centennial Giveaway for a chance to win one of these exciting products for their school or community. It's all about celebrating 100 years of success and sharing the fun."

First up for grabs is the all-new Ocean Wave, a freestanding spinner for ages 5-12 valued at more than $8,500. The Ocean Wave delivers the spinning thrills kids love, features dynamic net components and offers varied play for varied abilities. Dubbed "SPIN to WIN", the contest to win an Ocean Wave runs until May 31 and is open to entities across Canada (except Quebec) who provide playground equipment for public use: schools, municipalities, community associations, service organizations, campgrounds and more. Contest details can be found at https://www.blueimp.com/spin-to-win/ or on the Blue Imp Facebook page.

Upcoming contests in the year-long Centennial Giveaway will give organizations across Canada a chance to win even more products from Blue Imp's Centennial Series, including the Giant Stride, ImpMobile and the iconic Elephant Climb. Details on the series can be found at www.blueimp.com/centennial-series

About Blue Imp:

Blue Imp Recreational Products is a division of S.F. Scott Manufacturing Ltd., a fourth-generation family-owned and operated company which specializes in the design and manufacture of commercial playground equipment, outdoor fitness equipment and park amenities. Blue Imp's high-quality playground designs inspire outdoor play for all ages and abilities. Founded by Simon F. Scott in 1917, the company is based in Medicine Hat, Alberta and represents one of the few longstanding Canadian companies to serve the educational and municipal playground markets in Canada. More information can be found at https://www.blueimp.com/about

SOURCE Blue Imp Recreational Products Ltd.

For further information: Media Contact: Lindy Steiner, Spokesperson for Blue Imp Recreational Products, Phone: 1-800-661-1462 Ext. 227, Email: [email protected]

Related Links

blueimp.com


LEVIS, QC, May 8, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Desjardins Group has teamed up with the Canadian Red Cross and made a donation of $100,000 to provide relief for flood victims in several areas.

Desjardins will also enable its employees and the public to make donations to the Red Cross using its AccesD online and phone services and through its caisses in Quebec and Ontario.

Desjardins stands in solidary with the victims of the heavy rain and spring flooding and with the affected communities. The Desjardins General Insurance Group claims teams are working hard to provide quick support to members and clients who are affected by water damage.

Desjardins Insurance and The Personal clients can contact the insurers directly:

Desjardins Insurance: 1-888-776-8343 or file a claim online.

1-888-776-8343 or file a claim online. The Personal: 1-866-776-8343 or file a claim online.

Desjardins will accommodate individual and business members who are affected by this situation. They can contact their caisse directly or call 1-800-CAISSES.

About Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group is the leading cooperative financial group in Canada and the sixth largest cooperative financial group in the world, with assets of close to $260 billion. It has been rated one of the Best Employers in Canada by Aon Hewitt. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, online platforms and subsidiaries across Canada. Ranked one of the world's strongest banks by The Banker, Desjardins has one of the highest capital ratios and credit ratings in the industry.

SOURCE Desjardins Group

For further information: (for journalists only): Valerie Lamarre, Public Relations, 514-281-7275 or 1-866-866-7000, ext. 5557275, [email protected]

Related Links

https://www.desjardins.com/


PIERREFONDS-ROXBORO, QC, May 8, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Over the past few days, the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro has received numerous calls from people or organizations wishing to help citizens affected by the major floods affecting the sector.

The mayor of the borough, Mr. Dimitrios (Jim) Beis, said he was very touched by this huge generosity, but stated that, given the extent of the floods and the dangers present in the area, the borough has decided to register the names and contact information of those who offered their assistance, and to contact them at the appropriate time.

"I warmly thank all the people who, for the last few days, have contacted the borough to express their solidarity with the citizens of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, generously offering their time and energy to help the victims. However, the situation at the present time is such that it is impossible to ensure the safety of people on the ground. In the circumstances, we must be cautious and therefore are relaying on our municipal staff, SIM, SPVM and the Canadian Armed Forces teams who are trained and experienced to respond to emergencies", said Mr. Beis.

However, Mr. Beis wants to reassure the people who volunteered their services that their help is welcome and will be used in due course. He took the opportunity to launch an appeal for solidarity on behalf of the affected families who will necessarily need support and assistance to return to normalcy. "We will not let our fellow citizens rise up alone from this terrible ordeal. We plan to organize a big chore to help them, and it is at this point that the support offered will be taken into advantage", he said.

People or organizations wishing to volunteer can register at the following address: [email protected]. Information already received has been retained.

SOURCE Ville de Montreal - Arrondissement de Pierrefonds-Roxboro

For further information: Source : Arrondissement de Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Division des relations avec les citoyens et des communications, 514 624-1043 ou 514 624-1044
SASKATOON, May 8, 2017 /CNW/ - The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, announced an investment of $142,000 towards the Trails of 1885 Association Inc. to launch a new website highlighting Francophone and Indigenous cultural centres and historical sites in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta.

Project activities included developing a marketing campaign, bilingual signage and marketing materials, as well as expanding the existing Trails of 1885 map.

This marketing initiative will help increase the number of visitors to these sites by promoting their place in Canadian history and marketing their story to a broader audience in preparation for Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation.

Quick Facts

The Trails of 1885 Association was created in 2007 to celebrate the 125 th anniversary of the North-West Resistance in 2010. The Association has a membership of over 60 organizations from Manitoba , Saskatchewan , and Alberta , including provincial destination marketing organizations and national historic sites.

anniversary of the North-West Resistance in 2010. The Association has a membership of over 60 organizations from , , and , including provincial destination marketing organizations and national historic sites. This project is funded by Western Economic Diversification Canada through its Economic Development Initiative program as part of the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages: 2013-2018: Education, Immigration and Communities .

. This federal government commitment will ensure the vitality of bilingualism across Canada , enhance the vitality of official language minority communities, and promote the importance and benefits of our two official languages to our national identity.

Quotes



"The Government of Canada is committed to help generate economic activity in Western Canada by increasing visitors to these important Francophone and Indigenous historic and cultural sites for significant milestone events like Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation and beyond. Canada's heritage is shaped by our diversity, and it deserves to be celebrated and shared."

- The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada

"The Trails of 1885 Association is very thankful for the funding received through Western Economic Diversification Canada. This funding is instrumental in providing both French and English marketing opportunities and materials promoting the different sites, attractions, and events as well as telling the diverse stories of the different people and cultures we celebrate for our 150th Anniversary of Canada."

- Celine Perillat, Chairperson, Board of Directors, Trails of 1885 Association

Additional Links

Stay Connected

Follow us on Twitter: @WD_Canada, @MinisterISED, @trailsof1885

WD Homepage

WD Toll-Free Number: 1-888-338-WEST (9378)

TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired): 1-877-303-3388

IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.

SOURCE Western Economic Diversification Canada

For further information: Rhonda Laing, Director, Policy, Planning and External Relations, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Telephone: 306-975-5944, Email: [email protected]; Celine Perillat, Chairperson, Trails of 1885 Association, Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, Telephone: 306-467-2057, Email: [email protected]; Paula Lichtenwald, Trails of 1885 Website Coordinator, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Telephone: 306-931-7584, Email: [email protected]
$297,500 investment will create jobs, expand research and foster innovation

EDMONTON, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada values the role of post-secondary institutions as they help equip young Canadians with the education and training they need for future careers that will help them join a strong, healthy middle class. Today, the Government of Canada is investing $297,500 for a total combined investment of $605,000 in The King's University, which will help foster the training needed for the well-paying middle-class jobs of today and tomorrow.

The funding was announced by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

Canada's Innovation and Skills Plan aims to make this country a global centre for innovationone that creates jobs, drives growth across all industries and improves the lives of all Canadians. This investment exemplifies that vision in action.

The King's University will use the funding to re-roof the fine arts building with a roofing membrane made using a new synthetic rubber technology. The project will increase the roof's R-value from R-10 to R-40. The university will also install solar panels to reduce its consumption of on-grid energy.

Of the $605,000 total investment for this project:

$297,500 will be provided by the Government of Canada ; and

will be provided by the Government of ; and $307,500 will be provided by The King's University.

In total, universities and colleges throughout Alberta will receive over $500 million from the Government of Canada, the provincial government, the institutions themselves and private donors. Federal funding will be allocated through the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund, which will enhance and modernize research facilities on Canadian campuses and improve the environmental sustainability of these facilities.

Quotes

"This historic investment by the Government of Canada is a down payment on the government's vision to position Canada as a global centre for innovation. That means making Canada a world leader in turning ideas into solutions, science into technologies, skills into middle-class jobs and start-up companies into global successes."

 The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

"This funding will support re-roofing of essential academic and research spaces on campus. On the basis of favourable tender pricing, the Government of Canada has extended the project to include re-roofing the fine arts building, plus additional solar panels. This work will also assist The King's University in achieving greater energy efficiency and sustainability, so this investment is certainly welcome."

 Ellen Vlieg-Paquette, Vice President Administration and Finance, The King's University

Quick facts

The Government of Canada is providing more than $225 million for research infrastructure at institutions across Alberta . The King's University has been awarded $297,500 by the federal government to re-roof buildings and install solar panels.

is providing more than for research infrastructure at institutions across . The King's University has been awarded by the federal government to re-roof buildings and install solar panels. This investment supports Canada's Innovation and Skills Plan, which is designed to ensure our country is globally competitive in promoting research, translating ideas into new products and services, accelerating business growth and propelling entrepreneurs from the start-up phase to international success.

Innovation and Skills Plan, which is designed to ensure our country is globally competitive in promoting research, translating ideas into new products and services, accelerating business growth and propelling entrepreneurs from the start-up phase to international success. The Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund supports the Government of Canada's climate change objectives by encouraging sustainable and green infrastructure projects.

Associated links

Follow Minister Bains on Twitter: @MinisterISED

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

For further information: Karl W. Sasseville, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, 343-291-2500; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]; Sonya Jongsma Knauss, Director of University Relations, The King's University, 780-292-5905, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/icgc.nsf/eng/home


MONTREAL, May 8, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Open letter of Quebec Catholic Bishops:

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Quebec,

Currently together in Rome for the ad limina apostolorum1 visit, we, the bishops of Quebec, are closely following the news about the flooding in many parts of Quebec. We are particularly sensitive to the situation of those who have had to leave their homes, without knowing what tomorrow will bring. We are thinking about the farmers who are worrying about the impact the heavy rains will have on their lands.

We thank all those involved in assistance and relief operations as well as in law enforcement and safety, the medical personnel and all the volunteers who are on high alert and are addressing the various needs of the population. We commend the municipal, provincial and federal authorities on their collaboration in providing a reassuring presence.

We join in prayer with the communities so that the people in this precarious situation may find inner peace and so that this trying time may be a moment of solidarity. Counting on God's Providence, which is manifested in us and through us, we invoke his care and concern to guide us on the way of generous assistance.

 Paul Lortie

Bishop of Mont-Laurier

President

Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops

_________________________

1 This visit includes the pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul in an expression of ecclesial communion and the meeting with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, as the Successor of Peter. It also includes exchanges on the state of the Church in the diocese under his responsibility in the various areas of pastoral life.

SOURCE Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops (AQCB)

For further information: Germain Tremblay, Medias Relations, (514) 274-4323 ext. 227
TORONTO, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - A team of Indigenous activists, including Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members, are at Queen's Park today to call on all MPPs to make June 21, National Indigenous Day, a statutory holiday.

"We must make reconciliation a high-level priority, and come together to continue moving forward in the healing," said Linda Broer, vice-chair of the OPSEU Indigenous Circle and chair of the June 21 Campaign Committee. "Making National Indigenous Day a statutory holiday would be a lasting symbol of Canada's ongoing commitment to reconciliation.

"I want this day to be an opportunity for non-Indigenous people to learn about our culture, our ceremonies, and our beliefs, and to celebrate these with us."

"As we approach the 150th anniversary of Confederation, Canadians have an important opportunity to recognize the role of Indigenous peoples in our history, and move toward true reconciliation," said OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. "Reconciliation is not a partisan issue, and supporting National Indigenous Day as a statutory holiday shouldn't be a partisan issue either. This is an opportunity for all MPPs to demonstrate their commitment to reconciliation through concrete action.

"All Canadians have the responsibility to honour the history of Indigenous people on this land and the richness they bring to Canadian culture. But we must also recognize the continued oppression of Indigenous peoples and take concrete action to undo past wrongs. This year being such a milestone is the perfect time to start a new tradition."

Making National Indigenous Day a statutory holiday was one of the 94 recommendations included in the 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

For further information: Linda Broer, 519-639-4360; Warren (Smokey) Thomas, 613-329-1931

Related Links

http://www.opseu.org


LONGUEUIL, QC, April 24, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (TSX: INE) ( Innergex  or the  Corporation ) will release its First Quarter 2017 financial results on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, and will hold a conference call to discuss the results on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at 9 AM (EDT). The speakers will be Mr. Michel Letellier, President and Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Jean Perron, Chief Financial Officer.

To participate in the conference:

Date and time: Wednesday, May 10, 2017

9 AM EDT Phone numbers: 1 888 231-8191 or 647 427-7450

A replay of the conference call will be available on Innergex's website at innergex.com.

Innergex will hold its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at 4 PM (EDT).

To participate in the meeting:

Date and time: Tuesday, May 9, 2017

4 PM EDT Location: Club St-James 1145, Union Avenue Montreal QC H3B 3C2

About Innergex Renewable Energy Inc.

Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (TSX: INE) is a leading Canadian independent renewable power producer. Active since 1990, the Corporation develops, owns and operates run-of-river hydroelectric facilities, wind farms and solar photovoltaic farms and carries out its operations in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, Canada, in France and in Idaho, USA. Its portfolio of assets currently consists of: (i) interests in 48 operating facilities with an aggregate net installed capacity of 994 MW (gross 1,658 MW), including 30 hydroelectric facilities, 17 wind farms and one solar farm; (ii) interests in one project under construction with a net installed capacity of 17 MW (gross 25 MW), for which power purchase agreement has been secured; and (iii) prospective projects with an aggregate net capacity totalling 3,560 MW (gross 3,940 MW). Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. is rated BBB- by S&P.

The Corporation's strategy for building shareholder value is to develop or acquire high-quality facilities that generate sustainable cash flows and provide an attractive risk-adjusted return on invested capital and to distribute a stable dividend.

SOURCE Innergex Renewable Energy Inc.

For further information: Karine Vachon, Director - Communications, 450 928-2550, ext. 1222, [email protected]

Related Links

www.innergex.com


OTTAWA, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - As Canada celebrates the 150th anniversary of confederation, The Conference Board of Canada is convening stakeholders from across the country to discuss innovative solutions to strengthen Canada's immigration system. Notable speakers include Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick's immigration ministers, and Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary

The Canadian Immigration Summit 2017 will evaluate how Canada can take advantage its global competitive standing to welcome more talented newcomers to the country, as well as explore ways to maintain public support for immigration in Canada, given growing anti-immigrant sentiments abroad.

When: May 9-10, 2017

Where: Shaw Centre, 55 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario

Who:

Speakers include:

The Hon. Ahmed Hussen , Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship The Hon. Laura Albanese , Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Ontario

, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, The Hon. Kathleen Weil , Minister of Immigration, Diversity, and Inclusiveness, Quebec

, Minister of Immigration, Diversity, and Inclusiveness, The Hon. Donald Arseneault , Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour, New Brunswick

, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour, His Worship Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary

Craig Alexander , Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist, The Conference Board of Canada

For the full schedule and times visit: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/conf/immigration/default.aspx

Follow us on Twitter: @ImmigrationCBoC | @CBoC_Events | #Immigration150

Media Accreditation is required.

This conference is sponsored by TD, RBC, World Education Services Canada, CanadaVisa.com, AURAY Capital, Fragomen Worldwide, British Council IELTS, Prepare for Canada, Kadri Law, Newcomers Canada, the Mining Diversity Network, and the Sobey School of Business.

SOURCE Conference Board of Canada

For further information: Natasha Jamieson, Communications Coordinator, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: 613- 526-3090 ext. 307, E-mail: [email protected]; Juline Ranger, Director of Communications, The Conference Board of Canada, Tel.: 613- 526-3090 ext. 431, E-mail: [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.conferenceboard.ca


Canada's best communicators will gather in Kelowna, B.C. May 28-30, to shine a light on fake news, Fentanyl, Fort McMurray and more, at the CPRS National Conference.

TORONTO, May 8, 2017 /CNW/ - The 2017 CPRS National Conference, Illuminate, is being held May 28  30, in Kelowna, B.C. Hundreds of delegates will gather to discuss the impact public relations has had on today's most talked about issues and, in some cases, vice versa.

Topics being examined include the rise of fake news, the national Fentanyl crisis, the aftermath of the Fort McMurray wild fires and the importance of reconciliation between Canada and its First Nations communities.

"The National Conference is more than just our annual professional development retreat. It's also where CPRS Members go to discuss important issues that affect both our industry and the nation as a whole," said Cam McAlpine, APR, Chair of the Local Advisory Committee for Illuminate 2017. "This year, we face the daunting task of trying to figure out how to repair the damage caused by the rise of fake news, but with the united efforts of passionate delegates from across the country, Illuminate will be an important step towards a brighter future for the PR industry."

Comprising 25 separate sessions, including a plenary discussion to develop strategies for contending with the fake news crisis, Illuminate 2017 continues CPRS' history of welcoming thought leaders in public relations and international public figures who embody its core values. Past speakers include Olympic athletes, award-winning journalists, CEOs and the who's who of international communicators. This year's program features:

Peter Shankman , ShankMinds Business Masterminds, who'll explain why the days of PR people simply extolling the clients' virtues are over and what he thinks the future of PR will look like.

, ShankMinds Business Masterminds, who'll explain why the days of PR people simply extolling the clients' virtues are over and what he thinks the future of PR will look like. Mark Ragan , Ragan Communications Inc., who'll reprise his Brand Journalism workshop, previously hosted by CPRS societies across Canada , in which delegates will learn the principles of brand journalism and how to apply them effectively in their careers.

, Ragan Communications Inc., who'll reprise his Brand Journalism workshop, previously hosted by CPRS societies across , in which delegates will learn the principles of brand journalism and how to apply them effectively in their careers. The Diana and Charles Tisdall Lecture in Communications , featuring Marie Wilson , PhD , discussing her work on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), whose mission is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between Canada and its First Nations peoples based on trust, respect and reconciliation.

, featuring , discussing her work on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of (TRC), whose mission is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship between and its First Nations peoples based on trust, respect and reconciliation. Erica Tao , Department of Canadian Heritage and Perry Bolt , Canada 150 Federal Secretariat, highlighting the work involved in the successful branding of the Canada 150 campaign, and how the use of online consultations and crowd sourcing sparked engagement from coast to coast to coast.

, Department of Canadian Heritage and , 150 Federal Secretariat, highlighting the work involved in the successful branding of the 150 campaign, and how the use of online consultations and crowd sourcing sparked engagement from coast to coast to coast. And many more!

"For nearly seven decades, CPRS has been dedicated to promoting the ethical practice of public relations and this year, faced with alternative facts and fake news, our efforts are more important than ever," said Kim Blanchette, APR, FCPRS, National President, Canadian Public Relations Society. "With its amazing lineup of speakers and breakout sessions, this year's Conference illustrates what CPRS stands for, as the leading association of public relations professionals in Canada."

Illuminate won't be all serious business, though, thanks in part to co-MCs, Jan Enns and Matt Wood, who will lighten the mood as they lead delegates through the three-day schedule. Both members of host local society Northern Lights, their unique combination of personality, professional experience and knowledge of both Kelowna and CPRS make them the perfect duo to guide delegates through the day, before segueing into nightly festivities, when the fun really begins.

From Sunday's opening reception at BNA Brewing Co., Monday's excursion to Summerhill Pyramid Winery, and, the piece de resistance, the annual Awards of Excellence Gala, Illuminate 2017 will let delegates celebrate their accomplishments, reconnect with old friends and meet new colleagues, while experiencing the sights and sounds of one of Western Canada's most beautiful (and fun) regions.

Media opportunities:

Members of the media can participate in #CPRS2017 and have the opportunity to interview speakers in our dedicated media room.

CPRS would like to thank its partners for their generous support:

CNW, A Cision Company  Gold Partner: Exclusive Workshop Partner

Nasdaq  Gold Partner: Monday Evening Excursion to Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Argyle Public Relationships - Silver Partner: Awards of Excellence Gala

The Canadian Press  Silver Partner: Conference Photography Services

Eureka.cc  Silver Partner: Monday Luncheon Keynote, Peter Shankman

Fifth Story  Silver Partner: #AlternativePR Plenary Session

McMaster-Syracuse Master of Communications Management (MCM)

Program  Silver Partner: Diana and Charles Tisdall Lecture in Communications

Program  Meltwater  Silver Partner: Sunday Night Opening Reception at BNA Brewing Co.

NATIONAL Public Relations  Bronze Partner: Champagne Reception

Leger  Bronze Partner

Agility PR Solutions  In kind

About the Canadian Public Relations Society:

Founded in 1948, the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) is a not-for-profit organization whose members are engaged in the practice, management or teaching of public relations. Members work to maintain the highest standards and to share a uniquely Canadian experience in public relations. CPRS is a federation of more than 2,500 members across 14 Member Societies based in major cities or organized province-wide.

SOURCE Canadian Public Relations Society

For further information: For more information and to arrange accreditation please contact: Dan LaBelle, Specialist, Communications and Events, Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) [email protected], W - 416-239-7034, C - 416-917-1794
OTTAWA, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - 197 paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media pieces made by some of the most well-known and established Canadian and international artists working today have been donated to the National Gallery of Canada. A gift to the nation in celebration of Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation, the donation of artwork by businessman and art collector Bob Rennie, is one of the largest gifts of contemporary art ever received by the Gallery.

Some of the major, iconic pieces were created by internationally renowned artists, such as Colombian Doris Salcedo, as well as important Vancouver-based artists Brian Jungen, Damian Moppett, Rodney Graham, Ian Wallace, and Geoffrey Farmer, who is Canada's selection for the 57th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, opening to the public Saturday, May 13, 2017. This important donation enriches and complements the Gallery's collection by these artists.

"This remarkably generous gift transforms the National Gallery of Canada into the collection of record for some of our country's most outstanding artists," said Marc Mayer, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. "It deepens the exhibition and the lending possibilities for a museum whose mission is to preserve and disseminate our country's most exceptional artistic achievements."

In appreciation of Bob Rennie's generous gift, the National Gallery of Canada will name the Upper Contemporary exhibition gallery (B204), the Galerie RENNIE Gallery.

"For a few years now, we have wanted to make a gift from our collection to Canada, to the nation. With Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations taking place across the country, we decided this is the moment to do it, to showcase and support the rich and diverse accomplishments of artists," said Bob Rennie. "One of the missions of the Rennie Collection is to span artists' careers, to collect artists in-depth. Ian Wallace's work in our collection is an excellent example of this, and it was important to us to ensure his body of work stayed together. Also, acknowledging this year's selection of Geoffrey Farmer to represent Canada at this year's La Biennale di Venezia gives us an opportunity to celebrate him, and his peers Damian Moppet, Brian Jungen, and Rodney Graham - all Canadian icons - along with their contemporary, Colombian artist Doris Salcedo."

Bob Rennie, a real estate marketer and principal of the Rennie Foundation, is active in the Vancouver and international art communities. He is a former Chair of the Tate Modern's North American Acquisitions Committee and a member of the Tate International Council and the Board of Trustees for the Art Institute of Chicago. He also sits on the Dean's Advisory Board of the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia. In 2008 Bob was recognized with an honorary doctorate from Emily Carr University, and in 2014 he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia for his distinguished leadership and exceptional dedication to strengthening and enhancing arts and culture in British Columbia.

"Mr. Rennie is renowned as a serious connoisseur of art," said Thomas d'Aquino, Chair of the National Gallery of Canada Foundation. "His collection is highly regarded for its range and depth, so it is exciting that he would bestow upon our national collection such a significant number of works."

The Rennie Collection, one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Canada, has evolved over a number of years to focus on works tackling issues of identity, social commentary and injustice, and the challenges of appropriation, painting, photography and film. In 2012, Bob Rennie donated Court by Brian Jungen to the National Gallery of Canada. This work and the collector are featured in the following NGC Magazine article: http://www.ngcmagazine.ca/videos/installing-brian-jungen-s-court.

The Gallery is mounting a series of exhibitions that will display some of the donated works to a wider audience, including the Masterpieces in Focus exhibition Into the Collection: Ron Moppett & Damian Moppett, about the father/son artists, opening on May 12, 2017, and the Canadian Biennial 2017, which opens October 20, 2017.

About the National Gallery of Canada

The National Gallery of Canada is home to the most important collections of historical and contemporary Canadian art. The Gallery also maintains Canada's premier collection of European Art from the 14th to the 21st centuries, as well as important works of American, Asian and Indigenous Art and renowned international collections of prints, drawings and photographs. In 2015, the National Gallery of Canada established the Canadian Photography Institute, a global multidisciplinary research center dedicated to the history, evolution and future of photography. Created in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada has played a key role in Canadian culture for well over a century. Among its principal missions is to increase access to excellent works of art for all Canadians. For more information, visit gallery.ca and follow us on Twitter @NatGalleryCan

About the National Gallery of Canada Foundation

The National Gallery of Canada Foundation is dedicated to supporting the National Gallery of Canada in fulfilling its mandate. By fostering strong philanthropic partnerships, the Foundation provides the Gallery with the additional financial support required to lead Canada's visual arts community locally, nationally and internationally. The blend of public support and private philanthropy empowers the Gallery to preserve and interpret Canada's visual arts heritage. The Foundation welcomes present and deferred gifts for special projects and endowments. To learn more about the National Gallery of Canada Foundation, visit ngcfoundation.ca and follow us on Twitter @NGC_Foundation

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada

For further information: North America press contact: Josee-Britanie Mallet, Senior Media and Public Relations Officer, National Gallery of Canada, 613-990-6835 or 613-355-3989, [email protected]; International press contact: Catriona Collins, Pickles PR, +44 7719 357 114, [email protected]
NYSE MKT Symbol  UEC

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, May 9, 2017 /CNW/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE MKT: UEC, the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") with Pacific Road Resources Funds ("PRRF") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Reno Creek Holdings Inc. ("RCHI") and, indirectly thereby, 100% of its fully permitted Reno Creek in-situ recovery ("ISR") project located in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming ("Reno Creek" or the "Project").

Transaction Highlights

Strengthens UEC's pipeline of low-cost ISR uranium projects with the addition of Reno Creek, located in the prolific Powder River Basin in Wyoming .

Basin in . Reno Creek hosts an NI 43-101 Measured and Indicated resource of 27.47 million tons grading 0.041% U 3 O 8 yielding 21.98 million lbs U 3 O 8 at a grade-thickness (GT) cutoff of 0.20*.

O yielding 21.98 million lbs U O at a grade-thickness (GT) cutoff of 0.20*. The NI 43-101 resource report also indicates potential to expand the resource with additional drilling.

A Source and By Product Materials License for Reno Creek was issued in February 2017 from the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC"), supported by a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, to permit production of up to 2 million lbs. U 3 O 8 per year.

from the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC"), supported by a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, to permit production of up to 2 million lbs. U O per year. Strategically located within the Powder River Basin in Wyoming , a uranium mining-friendly state with excellent infrastructure and an experienced labor force.

, a uranium mining-friendly state with excellent infrastructure and an experienced labor force. A Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS")** on Reno Creek completed in 2014 demonstrated strong project economics with low capital and operating costs consistent with ISR projects in Wyoming . A new and optimized PFS is in progress and will be completed by UEC.

. A new and optimized PFS is in progress and will be completed by UEC. Cumulative expenditures to date of approximately $60 million .

. A new partnership with respected mining private equity firm Pacific Road Resources Funds, who will own approximately 9% of UEC's common shares at closing.

Amir Adnani, President & CEO, stated: "The acquisition of Reno Creek creates an industry-leading diversified pipeline of low-cost ISR uranium projects when combined with our production-ready South Texas hub-and-spoke operations and exploration/development portfolio in Paraguay. The Reno Creek Project presents a rare opportunity to acquire a large, fully permitted, construction ready, and strategic low-cost ISR asset located in the United States  a complete set of attributes for any potential UEC acquisition. The Powder River Basin of Wyoming has produced over 85 million lbs U 3 O 8 historically, and is currently home to two of the largest uranium producers in the world: Cameco and Uranium One (Rosatom). We commend Pacific Road for their outstanding work to advance the Reno Creek project over the past seven years, and we welcome them as our newest shareholder."

"We are very excited about combining Reno Creek with UEC", said Dan Wilton, Partner at Pacific Road. "The UEC team has an outstanding track record of consolidating, developing and operating ISR uranium projects. We believe they have the right technical, operating and financing capabilities to deliver the true value of Reno Creek, continuing the excellent work done by Jim Viellenave's team, who took the property from an initial resource through to a fully permitted project. The combination of UEC and Reno Creek creates one of the most attractive portfolios of U.S.-based low cost ISR uranium assets and is an important step in the consolidation of the U.S. ISR uranium sector."

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will issue to PRRF, in return for PRRF's 97.27% ownership in RCHI (the "Transaction"), the following:

(i) 14.0 million shares of the Company (the "Share Consideration"); (ii) 11.0 million warrants of the Company (the "Warrant Consideration"), with each warrant entitling the holder to acquire one share of the Company at an exercise price of $2.30 per share for a period of five years from closing. The warrants will have an accelerator clause which provides that, in the event that the closing price of UEC's common shares on its principally traded exchange is equal to or greater than $4.00 per share for a period of 20 consecutive trading days, UEC may accelerate the expiry date of the warrants to within 30 days by providing written notice to the holders; and (iii) a 0.5% net profits interest royalty, capped at $2.5 million (the "NPI Consideration", and together with the Share Consideration and the Warrant Consideration, the "Consideration");

Upon completion of the Transaction, PRRF will own approximately 9% of UEC's shares outstanding. PRRF has agreed to certain voting and resale conditions pursuant to the terms of the Agreement.

By way of certain 'drag along' rights, the Company will acquire the remaining 2.73% of RCHI from Bayswater Uranium Corporation for pro-rated consideration identical to the Consideration being issued to PRRF. The Transaction is subject to NRC approval and is expected to close on or about July 31, 2017.

Reno Creek ISR Project Overview

The Reno Creek ISR Project is located in the Powder River Basin, Campbell County, Wyoming, approximately 80 miles northeast of Casper. PRRF undertook significant project advancement since 2010 when they acquired the project, including expenditures targeting land acquisition, resource development, a pre-feasibility study, and permitting, which culminated in the NRC issuing a source and byproduct materials license to construct and operate an ISR uranium facility in February 2017.

The source materials license was the last major permit required to proceed with the development of the Project. The permits allow Reno Creek to process up to 2 million pounds of uranium a year from five resource units: North Reno Creek, Southwest Reno Creek, Moore, Bing, and Pine Tree. Within the five resource units are 16 proposed production units and associated wellfields, header houses, and a central processing plant.

History of the Project

Substantial historical exploration, development, and project permitting work has been completed on the Reno Creek property, beginning in the late 1960s and continuing to present. Approximately 10,000 exploration drill holes have been completed by various operators over time, who continued to advance the project by drilling and growing land and mineral interests to nearly 16,000 acres by 2007. Since PRRF took control of the Project, mineral and surface land holdings have grown to approximately 22,000 acres, including a 40-acre company-owned central processing plant site.

Summary of Mineral Resources

In July 2016, PRRF commissioned an updated Technical Report completed by Behre Dolbear & Company (USA), Inc. on Reno Creek titled "Technical Report and Audit of Resources of the Reno Creek ISR Project, Campbell County, Wyoming, USA" (the "Current Technical Report"). Over $60 million has been expended on the Project to date, including completion of more than 10,000 drill holes. Data from drilling, including survey coordinates, collar elevations, depths, and grade of uranium intercepts, have been incorporated into the database that forms the current resource estimate at Reno Creek (Table 1).

Table 1(1)

Class Tons (millions) Weighted Average Thickness (feet) Weighted Average Grade (% U 3 O 8 ) Pounds U 3 O 8 (millions) Measured & Indicated 27.47 12.3 0.041 21.98 Inferred 1.36 10.6 0.034 0.93 1 Cut-off of greater or equal to 0.20 grade x thickness per intercept

The inferred resources are found principally in underexplored portions of the Reno Creek property, along extensive identified redox fronts. The authors of the July 2016 Reno Creek resource estimate recommend continuing exploration along these trends, with the expectation of further contributions to the reported resource base; given the known mineralization occurs in a continuous sandstone present across all of the Reno Creek, Moore, and Bing resource units.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and was reviewed by Clyde L. Yancey, P.G., Vice President-Exploration for the Company, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Advisors and Counsel

Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to the Company. McMillan LLP and Holland & Hart LLP are acting as legal advisors to the Company. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is acting as legal advisor to PRRF.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company. The Company's fully-licensed Hobson Processing Facility is central to all of its projects in South Texas, including the Palangana ISR mine, the permitted Goliad ISR project and the development-stage Burke Hollow ISR project. Additionally, the Company controls a pipeline of advanced-stage projects in Arizona, Colorado and Paraguay. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

About Pacific Road Resources Funds

The Pacific Road Resources Funds are private equity funds investing in the global mining industry. They provide expansion and buyout capital for mining projects, mining related infrastructure and mining services businesses located throughout the world. The team is located in Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada.

PRRF's position in RCHI is held by Pacific Road Capital A Pty Ltd., as trustee for Pacific Road Resources Fund A, Pacific Road Capital B Pty Ltd., as trustee for Pacific Road Resources Fund B, and Pacific Road Holdings S.a.r.l., a Luxembourg corporation.

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE MKT: UEC

Frankfurt Stock Exchange Symbol: U6Z

WKN: AJDRR

ISN: US916896103

*Notice to U.S. Investors

The mineral resources referred to herein have been estimated in accordance with the definition standards on mineral resources of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in NI 43-101 and are not compliant with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") Industry Guide 7 guidelines. In addition, measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources and inferred mineral resources, while recognized and required by Canadian regulations, are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Accordingly, we have not reported them in the United States. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral resources in these categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves. These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. In particular, it should be noted that mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources will ever be upgraded to a higher category. In accordance with Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part of the reported measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources referred to herein are economically or legally mineable.

**PFS

Upon the closing of the Transaction the Company plans to complete a new and optimized PFS based substantially on the information provided in the Current Technical Report. Accordingly, the current PFS cannot be relied upon and should not be construed to reflect a current PFS in accordance with NI 43-101.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such 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 such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although 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 such 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 contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release.

Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp

For further information: Contact Uranium Energy Corp Investor Relations at: Toll Free: (866) 748-1030, Fax: (361) 888-5041, E-mail: [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.uraniumenergy.com/


STORMVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- A man who spent 22 years in prison for a double killing he said he didn't do walked free Monday, his New York conviction overturned but prosecutors vowing to get it restored.

"It's a beautiful thing," Calvin Buari said as he left a prison in New York's Hudson Valley, to cheers and hugs from a half-dozen loved ones who'd come to bring him home. "It's still a continuous fight, but it's so much better on the other side of the wall."

A judge had overturned the conviction and ordered the 46-year-old man freed without bail Friday, after two newfound witnesses testified they'd seen a different man commit the deadly shooting and a third said Buari was chatting with her down the block when the gunfire rang out. Administrative issues delayed his release until Monday.

Brothers Elijah and Salhaddin Harris, both in their 20s, were parked on a Bronx street when a gunman walked up and fired about a dozen rounds into their car in September 1992. Efforts to reach their relatives by phone or email weren't immediately successful Monday.

Buari was part of a neighborhood corps of crack dealers and sellers; "I was very immature," he says now. Authorities saw him as particularly ominous. Then-District Attorney Robert Johnson said residents "had every reason to fear for their safety as long as he was free to roam the streets."

Six months after the killings, Buari was charged. A half-dozen drug associates and acquaintances testified against him. A jury took only two hours to convict him of murder, and he was sentenced in 1995 to 50 years to life in prison.

The case took a turn with a 2003 confession from another man: the key witness against him, Dwight Robinson. But Robinson later recanted and said he wasn't involved in the killings. He said Buari had threatened him and offered him money to confess falsely, which Buari denies. Courts refused to toss Buari's conviction then.

Robinson, who was never charged in the Harris brothers' deaths, went on to tell Buzzfeed News in 2015 that Buari hadn't been the gunman. But when asked whether he himself fired the shots, Robinson said, "Anybody coulda done it," according to BuzzFeed.

Messages left for a possible attorney for him Monday night weren't immediately returned.

The new witnesses - two of whom implicated Robinson - came forward after Buari's lawyers and family publicized his exoneration effort in recent years. They testified at a recent hearing. Robinson, who's in prison on a murder conviction himself, did not.

Bronx State Supreme Court Justice Eugene Oliver Jr. found the new witnesses credible, saying they provided "direct and straightforward" accounts from people who weren't previously embroiled in the case. The judge said their testimony amounted to grounds for a new trial, but he stopped shortly of declaring Buari innocent.

Prosecutors insist he's not. They stand by his conviction, plan to appeal the judge's ruling and will retry the case if necessary, Assistant District Attorney Felicity Lung said. She portrayed Buari as a mink-coat-wearing, BMW-driving drug peddler with a history of intimidating witnesses.

His lead lawyer, Oscar Michelen, said prosecutors' position was "based on nothing but anger and vestiges of the past."

Buari, for now, plans to focus on his case and family, particularly cheering up his mother, who's been seriously ill. Ultimately, he hopes to go into business.

"I know I could be successful," he said, "if I could fight the way that I did to get over those walls."
The life expectancy of a newborn in Onondaga County increased 5 1/2 years between 1980 and 2014, according to a new study

(Mindy Pavone)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The life expectancy of a baby born in Manhattan increased at twice the rate of a baby born in Syracuse between 1980 and 2014, according to a new study.

Life expectancy has increased everywhere in New York, but the amount of improvement depends on where you live in the state, the study by the University of Washington shows.

The study, published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, tracked life expectancy changes for every county in the U.S.

Life expectancy in New York County, or Manhattan, rose from 71 years in 1980 to 81.8 years in 2014, an increase of nearly 11 years or 15.2 percent, the third biggest increase in the nation.

Onondaga County saw its life expectancy go up from 74.2 years in 1980 to 79.7 in 2014, an increase of 5 1/2 years.

Average life expectancy in New York state is 80.36 years, slightly better than the U.S. average, 79.08 years.

Dr. Ali Mokdad, an author of the study, attributed New York County's dramatic improvement in life expectancy to New York City's aggressive public health programs designed to prevent disease. Those efforts include forcing restaurants to post calorie counts on menus and eliminate trans fats from food, banning smoking in public areas, building bike lanes, installing hybrid buses to reduce air pollution and expanding HIV testing and treatment.

"New York City initiated lots of public health initiatives that leveled the playing field and made it easier for people who were left behind to improve their health," Mokdad said.

The study says obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and socioeconomic factors such as poverty and education contribute to variations in life expectancy among counties.

Rockland County had the state's highest life expectancy in 2014 -- 82.54 years, while Sullivan County had the lowest, 78.03 years. Oswego County had the state's second lowest life expectancy, 78.3 years.

Oglaga Lakota County in South Dakota, a county which includes the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, had the nation's lowest life expectancy in 2014 at 66.8 years - comparable to countries like Sudan (67.2), India (66.9) and Iraq (67.7)

Summit County, Colorado had the nation's highest life expectancy at 86.8 years.

The study found life expectancy decreased in 13 U.S. counties, most of them in Kentucky, between 1980 and 2014. For example, life expectancy in Owsley County, Kentucky, was 72.4 years in 1980, down from 70.2 in 2014.

Mokdad said what surprised him most about the study is the degree of health disparities in the U.S. "Many people are going backwards instead of forward," he said.

When it comes to life expectancy, the U.S. is falling behind other developed countries, even though the U.S. spends significantly more on health care, he said.

The U.S., with a life expectancy of 79.08 years, spent $9,237 per person on health care in 2014.

By comparison, Australia, which spent $4,032 per person, has a life expectancy of 82.3 years. Japan, which spent $3,816 per person, has a life expectancy of 83.1 years.

Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245
WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- Members of a drug task force in northern New York seized a stockpile of illegal drugs from a man they say fueled drug sales statewide and possibly in Canada, according to reports.

Andrew P. Rowley, 28, of State Street in Watertown, was arrested Thursday by the Metro-Jefferson Drug Task Force, WWNYTV reports.

Investigators found $2,900 in Rowley's car and another $20,865 at his home along with 672 grams -- or half a kilo -- of cocaine, according to the Watertown Daily Times. There was also 67.8 grams of marijuana, digital scales, and packaging material.

There were 28 grams of MDMA pills at Rowley's house, and another 1,554 grams of MDMA at his parents' Le Ray home. The pills were hidden inside potato chip bags inside a safe, with another $76,950 and paperwork belonging to Rowley, officials said.

MDMA is a psychedelic, stimulant synthetic drug commonly used in molly and ecstasy. About 3 1/2 pounds of MDMA was seized during the bust.

Officials considered Rowley a "major dealer," fueling drug sales statewide, county District Attorney Kristyna Mills told the Daily Times. His arrest came after a two-week-long investigation, though officials believe he could have been in business for much longer.

"Most of the individuals that are out there are on our radar, and we have a lot of active investigations," Mills said in a Daily Times interview. "Every now and again, you have somebody that is quietly going about their business, and obviously very effectively."

Rowley was charged with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, with additional charges pending, Mills said in an interview. He is currently being held in the Jefferson County Jail, according to VineLink records.

Investigators are working to determine if Rowley also sold drugs across border lines in Canada, according to the Daily Times.
Many analysis of global power and being a superpower often compare nations or regional power blocs based upon who would win or lose in an all out military conflict.

Nations and groups can also analyze situations and potential conflicts and they would choose to avoid engaging in conflicts where their side would be a clear cut loser.

The first and second Iraq Gulf War were relatively unique situations where there was a large miscalculation by Saddam Hussein.

World War 2 and World War 1 had some miscalculations. There was an over-estimation by Germany and Japan of their own military and economic capabilities and an under-estimation of the resolve of opponents and how well opposing forces would adapt and learn.

Now a days there are several questions

1. the rise of China and is China a superpower

2. in a decade or two it will about the rise of India.

3. There is also the problems in assessing Russia and Europe.

4. There is also the issue of addressing terrorism and the problems in the Middle East.

China and Pakistan have had sufficient nuclear deterrent for many decades to deter any all out attack by other nations.

The USA, Russia have long been the dominant nuclear powers and have been the top two powers in terms of conventional forces.

There is no near term situation where the technological and military situation would shift whereby the USA or Russia could not deter any rational nuclear attack. US and european conventional military capability will not effectively challenged for decades. This means the first 2 questions are of academic interest only.

Russias conventional capability eroded during the 80s and 90s to the point where they had trouble asserting dominance in Georgia and other small conflicts. The USA also had problems in Vietnam. Both have had problems in Afghanistan and the middle east.

Russia and the USA both had to re-organize, get the right military equipment and develop precision military capabilities to be able to more effectively assert regional military force in the middle east and for Russia in the Ukraine. In straight up standard regional wars, Russia has shown capabilities in Syria and the US is decisive in battles.

The drawn out US conflicts in the Middle east and dealing with terrorism show that despite the ability to decisively win military battles, the US has not been able to uses military capability to cost effectively address terrorism or to dictate the political situation in the Middle east using its military or economic power.

Communism containment and the Marshall Plan

In the 1950s and 1960s, the US used containment and the Marshall Plan to address the USSR.

After WW2, Stalin was ordering the creation of a communist puppet regime in the Soviet sector of occupied Germany. How many dominoes would fall? United States diplomats saw a continent ravaged by war looking for strong leadership and aid of any sort, providing a climate ripe for revolution.

Greece and Turkey were the first nations spiraling into crisis that had not been directly occupied by the Soviet Army. Both countries were on the verge of being taken over by Soviet-backed guerrilla movements. Truman decided to draw a line in the sand. In March 1947, he asked Congress to appropriate $400 million to send to these two nations in the form of military and economic assistance. Within two years the communist threat had passed, and both nations were comfortably in the western sphere of influence.

A mid-level diplomat in the State Department named George Kennan proposed the policy of containment. Since the American people were weary from war and had no desire to send United States troops into Eastern Europe, rolling back the gains of the Red Army would have been impossible.

Middle East terrorism and radicalism containment and Economically raising Africa, South Asia, Middle East

The US has tried using mostly military power to deal with terrorism and radicalism and opposing political forces in mainly the middle east (although it is also in the Philippines and other places). This effort has been less than effective and definitely not cost effective.

The US could look at containment and trying to cost effectively sway undesired influence where possible.

A more economically aggressive campaign could be used to bolster desired areas. This should be done in conjunction with China and its One Belt and One Road plan.

It seems that China and the USA can be aligned to economic competition and economic cooperation.

The goal would be support nations and political forces that were more anti-terrorism and pro-economic development.
Inbound hotel room bookings to China have increased by 106 percent over the last year and Chinese continue to be among the biggest travelers in the world, as outbound hotel bookings from the market grew by 70 percent year-over-year in the first 17 weeks of 2017.

These are the data from Tourico Holidays; the worlds fastest growing wholesale travel brokerage company. Touricos data also shows that The Republic of Korea (+68% YOY in bookings), the United States (+10% YOY) and the United Kingdom (+40% YOY) continue to be among the strongest source markets to China, while emerging markets such as India (+160% YOY), the UAE (+212% YOY), and Brazil (+90% YOY) are helping diversify the demand.

Regional political turmoil, such as the nuclear crisis in the Korean Peninsula, make the inbound China market more unpredictable this year - as Korea was the number one inbound source country for China last year  but, so far, Chinese travel business remains very strong, said Hillary Wang, the Regional Director of Product Development in North Asia for Tourico Holidays. In fact, Tourico is predicting it will double its overall Chinese business in 2017, as both the larger markets and emerging markets continue to demand product in China.

Tourico currently has four local offices in the region, including in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong - stationing over 55 employees to locally support Chinese supplier partners and distribution clients. In the past year, the Tourico team in China has worked to add a number of new clients, including Alitrip, Tongcheng International, Mioji Travel, eLong, Tuniu, Mogutrip, Mafengwo, Lushu Technology, CNBooking, and Caissa.

Our local Chinese supplier partners and distribution clients are both experiencing a strong demand in 2017 and weve ensured that a dedicated support team is in place to help them push their businesses to the next level, said Wang.

Tourico Holidays will be exhibiting its comprehensive lineup of travel offerings  including hotels, cruises, activities and transfers, car rentals, and vacation homes  at ITB China from May 10 to the 12. To speak with a Tourico Holidays representative at ITB China, please visit Booth 531 located in Hall 2.
Femi-Fani Kayode, a prominent thought leader in Nigeria, writes about the current state of the Muhammadu Buhari regime which he terms as a corpsocracy and comments on the recent announcement of the release of 82 Chibok schoolgirls.

They say that nothing is hidden under the sun. In Gods time and by the power of His word and glorious light, all things that were hidden shall be made known and the sun of truth shall shine forth brightly dismantling the web of mendacity and deceit and displacing the cruel darkness.

The issue of President Buharis health, the enthronement of corpsocracy and the deep conspiracy and growing concerns about the issue of the Chibok girls and the circumstances of their purported release is making waves and generating a high degree of uncertainty, cynicism, skepticism, angst and tension in the country.

For example an anonymous contributor who has deep reservations and grave concerns about the narrative that the Federal Government is engendering wrote the following:

We keep warning you to KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL but you are all easily distracted by the circus show they throw at you. Like his Friday-FRAUD circus appearances, EFCC discoveries, arrests of critics, etc.

But think critically. If a captain was killed few days ago and other soldiers were killed and wounded, how could the same group that killed them release 82 girls? They said Abubakar Shekau was fatally wounded and his deputy killed in an airstrike. How will he, who is wounded, release his captives?

The Federal Government told the world that they are afraid the girls are no longer in Sambisa. That they have been either killed, sold or scattered. How was it so easy to bring out 82 at once?

Why are the girls ONLY released in May or October, when there is a major event coming-like the Democracy Day or Independence Day? THINK ABOUT IT: THEY KNOW HOW YOU ALL THINK AND REACT. THEY KNOW THAT YOU ARE ALL GULLIBLE, SO THEY TWIST YOUR MINDS.

In truth, its all part of the plan but the challenge was Buharis sickness. It took them unawares. They didnt plan for it or for the the loop holes that you see showing in their propaganda. He is suffering for the lies, deceit and the bloodletting that he supports.

By the time God is done with him, his type will never spring up again.

FOCUS ON THE BALL. BUHARI IS THE BALL AND NIGERIA IS THE FIELD. THATS WHAT THEY WANT TO TAKE: HER AND HER CHILDREN TO BE THEIRS.

May 29 is around the corner and since there will be no achievement to talk about in the Democracy Day broadcast, they have decided to ask their co-conspirators to release some of the girls to deceive gullible Nigerians that that is their primary achievement.

The whole thing is nonsense!

Strong sentiments indeed. Yet the author reflects the thinking of many.

For example when asked about his views on the purported return of the 82 Chibok girls, my friend and brother, the discerning, irrepressable and courageous Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, said the following:

the government is flying dubious kites and selling cheap dummies to distract the people.

What is NOT missing cannot be found. Discerning Nigerians understand that the stories do not add up.

Right now, a matter of urgent national importance arresting the attention of all and sundry is that of the Presidents health.

While I continue to pray, in conjunction with other Nigerians, for the Presidents quick recovery, I condemn without equivocation this shameless playing on the intelligence and psyche of Nigerians taking undue advantage of the vexed issue of the so-called Chibok girls.

It has become the style of this government to distract attention but the truth will be told some day.

The questions are: which Chibok girls are they talking about? Chibok girls who purportedly were writing Physics WAEC examinations but cannot speak simple English? Chibok girls who were shielded from the media? Till today the media have not been allowed access to the so-called Chibok girls. When is the next batch of Chibok girls coming? When is the next make-believe?

When there is the need for another cover-up, distraction and diversion of the peoples attention and focus, they will fly their usual kite and sell the self-same jaded dummy. It is very unfortunate that we brought ourselves to this sorry pass.

This is an insightful, concise and effective articulation and it can hardly be faulted.

The suspicion with which most people view the Buhari administration and the unprecedented level of skepticism and cynicism that exists about their assertions and claims is indeed food for thought.

One cannot dismiss the concerns of the skeptics lightly because many questions still have to be answered.

For example it appears very strange to me that every time the Buhari administration has major issues and they need a distraction a new batch of Chibok girls are suddenly released.

Two days ago the leader of Boko Haram, Mr. Abubakar Shekau, mocked and insulted Buhari and now he suddenly releases 82 Chibok girls? It appears to me that this is most unlikely!

This begs the question: WHERE were these girls kept and WHO kept them? WHY are they not being allowed to see their parents? WHY have none of them been allowed to speak to the press? WHAT were the specific conditions of their purported release? There are so many questions that are yet to be answered.

Meanwhile a list of names of the 82 girls have been released to the public showing that most of them are Christians yet curiously, as Aisha Yusuf, one of the convenors of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign (BBOG), told AIT News at 8.00pm on the night of May 7th,

No parent has been allowed to see the released Chibok Girls and this is worrisome: no parent has identified any because the Government would not grant them access.

This seems stranger than fiction. Have the girls become government property now? If so what are the terms and what is the purpose?

Equally strange is the fact that we have been told that they were kept in frightful and barbarous captivity in the hideous, barren and demon-infested Sambisa forest and other playgrounds and jungles of the murderous vampires called Boko Haram for the last three years and that they have been held captive in the cruel clutches of sadistic and battle-hardened Islamist terrorists, barbaric paedophiles, genocidal maniacs, sexual deviants, sociopathic perverts, bloodthirsty psychopaths, serial rapists, and degenerate coprophiliacs yet they all looked well-fed, well-oiled, well-kept and, in most cases, plump and fat with shining smooth skins.

One wonders what type of food the Haramites were feeding their young captives because whatever it was ought to be shared with the unfortunate children that are suffering hell in the federal government-funded Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps of north-eastern Nigeria. It would certainly do them a world of good.

The whole thing is all the more curious when one considers the fact that the 21 Chibok girls that were previously released have not, up until today, been returned to their families or their community. Why is this so?

The question must be asked: what the hell is going on? Clearly we are being played for fools. And we have now been informed that these beautiful young mannequins and damsels were swapped in return for huge sums of money and five hardened and battle-tested Boko Haram commanders.

If this is the case the Nigerian people have a right to know exactly the amounts of money involved and the details and names of the commanders that have now been returned to lead the happy gathering of the ever-faithful, all-powerful and stupendously rich Islamist and Salafist Mujahadeen. Ambassador Babagana Kingibe and Alhaji Mamman Daura: over to you!

Even though journalists were barred from witnessing the event or entering the Presidential Villa on that day, I am glad that pictures and footage of the presidents meeting with the Chibok girls were released to the public.

And those pictures and that footage, taken from a safe distance by the presidents handlers and staff and not by enquiring and inquisitive journalists, tell quite a story.

The truth is that the whole thing stinks to high heavens. There is a rotting fish and a dead rat, combined, dispensing a compelling, overpowering, ungodly and unholy odour from somewhere under the floorboards of Aso villa.

We are told that the President travelled to London immediately after the event. Let us hope that he will come back home hale and hearty though somehow I doubt he will. I doubt that things will ever be the same again for him.

I suspect that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo may be acting president for quite some time and within the year he may well be sworn in as substantive President. Let us wait and see.

The truth is that if the objective of the whole return of the 82 Chibok girls exercise was to distract Nigerians from the numerous challenges of our government and our ailing president it has not worked very well.

We are glad that Buhari was at the mosque on Friday. We are also glad that he received the 82 Chibok girls and travelled to the United Kingdom for more treatment albeit for an indefinite period of time on Sunday.

However we hereby reiterate our call for him to resign honorably and go and take care of his health permanently.

Hanging around and appearing on fridays at the mosque for a photo-shoot and a short prayer with his friends and staff was never going to be enough. If the plan is for him to go away for a few weeks and then return to start that puerile rubbish all over again it is not going to work.

He is not the chief imam of the Villa: he is the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

And we the people say NO to corpsocracy! There is no place in our constitution for the rulership of the living by the dead.

Now if anyone has any doubts about the seriousness of Buharis situation and ailment I urge them to zoom in on the picture of him taken on friday whilst he was walking through the Villa external corridor just before going to the mosque.

I am referring to the one in which he was flanked by his national security advisor, Babagana Monguno and his chief of Staff, my old Cambridge University colleague, Abba Kyari.

Take a close look at his hand and cheeks in that picture. They are swollen beyond the norm.

It appears that he was put on steroids just so that he could come out for the mosque.

Again it appears that he is suffering from dementia. Worse still he can barely walk for long stretches without being propped up and, according to my sources, he drawls and sometimes dribbles when he speaks.

It is sad and pitiful.

No man should be forced to go through that and be displayed before the world in such a condition simply for political purposes.

All those that were around him on friday as he was walking to pray to his god looked like hungry and desperate wolves whilst he looked like the willing and gentle sacrificial lamb.

This is Gods judgement and it is terrifying and humbling. We must not gloat and we must not ridicule him. Rather we must all learn from it and fear the Lord of Hosts and the Ancient of Days. The Bible says it is a frightful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. And so it is.

The President attracts nothing but pathos. He looks like a fallen character from a Shakesperean tragedy. He is a rejected and broken soul: a ghost and a shell of his former self.

He needs to be pitied and he should be allowed to resign and to go home and rest in peace.

Yet whatever Buhari chooses to do we must always remember that rebellion against a tyrant is an act of obedience to God. They may have today but tomorrow belongs to us.

Opposition to corpsocracy, subjugation, internal colonialism, slavery, religious bigotry, persecution, injustice, dehumanisation, the Apostles of hate and the evil cabal that have birthed and nurtured these vices is a divine injunction because the bible says we must resist evil.

Our struggle is not just political. It is ideological. It is fundamental. It is spiritual. It is deep and it is far-reaching.

We do not just want to change the leadership of this country. We want to restructure and redefine the whole nation. We want to pull down the entire system and rebuild a new country. Corpsocracy or no corpsocracy, that is our mission and that is the calling of our generation. That is the battle that we need to fight and the war that we must win.

Permit me to conclude this contribution with the words of Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje, a financial consultant, a writer and a public commentator. He wrote,

As we advocate compassion and prayers for Buhari at this time, I would also like us to reflect on the fate of the hundreds or thousands of people killed by Fulani herdsmen, the hundreds of Shiites killed in Zaria and other places in the north, the many biafran demonstrators murdered in the eastern towns and many other recent victims of state sponsored and tolerated killings. They need compassion too!

These are precisely my sentiments. God be with us all.

Femi Fani-Kayode is a lawyer, a Nigerian politician, an evangelical christian, an essayist, a poet and he was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006. He was the minister of culture and tourism of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from June 22nd to Nov 7th 2006 and as the minister of Aviation from Nov 7th 2006 to May 29th 2007. He tweets from @realFFK
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said that President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that the release of the 82 Chibok girls boos...

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said that President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that the release of the 82 Chibok girls boosted his health. He said the Buhari made the comment when he received the girls in the presidential villa, Sunday night.





Osinbajo spoke during the visit by a delegation from Borno, which came to thank President Buhari for the release of the Chibok girls from Boko Haram captivity. Osinbajo, however, stated that the present generation of leaders must resolve the humanitarian crises in the North East.





He said that the Federal Government would re-strategise with all the agencies involved in the rehabilitation of victims of insurgency in order to address their most urgent problems.

Perhaps it might be wise for us to take a look first about how to save the children and to save people's lives and then begin to address questions of infrastructure as we go along.

But I think it is important that people dont die while we are thinking, people dont die while we are planning to ensure that we are able to provide for them.

So what I will suggest is that we take some time out to look at this, the Borno State government, the Federal Government, and then of cause the PCNI, PINE and all the other government initiatives that are working out there.

And then plan things better, outline what is priority and then determine what it will cost us and then we can work from there.

But I think it is important that we take a second look at what we have organized so far so that we will be able to do something more.

Osinbajo said that the crises in the North East had grown deeper but noted that it was gratifying that more people were freed from captivity by the armed forces and international partners.

He said the government must determine what needed to be done and do everything that it would take to hold the officials to account for the lives of the children and vulnerable people.

That in my view is the whole point about leadership, otherwise I dont see how we can justify our leadership in any other way, he said.

The Acting President acknowledged that a lot of what happened in the release of the Chibok girls were largely because the international community and development partners believed in the integrity of Buhari.

He said the partners recognize his genuineness, forthrightness and felt the need to help, adding that they did not have to wonder if there was any other thing else going on.

We are thankful for that kind of leadership that has showed so much integrity.

Borno State Kashim Shetima, who led the delegation, said the people of Borno decided to pay a visit rather than showing gratitude in silence.

He said: 

With this very heartwarming breakthrough, we asked ourselves: Do we come here to thank Mr President or do we again express gratitude in silence as we did in October, 2016 after the release of our 21 daughters?

We are here to Thank Mr. President. To thank you also and to thank all senior aides of the President. To thank our service chiefs, the Director-General of the DSS, to thank our gallant officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces and entire members of Mr Presidents compassionate team who worked in leading the Nigerian Government to negotiate from the position of strength and logic which ultimately succeeded in bringing back our precious girls.

We are here to also use Your Excellencys exalted office to convey our depth of gratitude to the Swiss Government; to the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and to every organization, individual, group and institution which made whatever selfless contribution leading to the safe release of our daughters. No amounts of words are enough to convey the extent of our very profound gratitude.

Your Excellency, as I said yesterday in a televised remark, negotiation leading to the freedom of these girls could not have succeeded if Buhari lacked integrity. There is no way international actors who helped in facilitating the negotiation, could have involved themselves if they had doubts about the integrity and sincerity of the President.

It is also Buharis integrity that has made it possible for funds meant for arms to be judiciously utilized in making our gallant armed forces far more equipped than they ever were and it is his integrity that has made countries in Africa, Europe and the United States to wholeheartedly support Nigeria in the ongoing, and so far successful fight against the Boko Haram insurgents.

When President Buhari was going round countries organizing regional and global cooperation, critics accused him of flying around the world. He inherited a very serious problem that Nigeria could not solve alone. And to make matters worse, he inherited a country with a terribly battered foreign image. He needed to first win the trust and confidence of allies so he could attract support for Nigeria

The Governor also paid tribute to Osinbajo for his compassion in supporting Borno since 2015, particularly with regards to the management of humanitarian crisis and developing the Buhari plan for the reconstruction and economic development of the northeast which the Vice Presidents office coordinates.
President Muhammadu Buhari has informed the Senate that his length of stay in the United Kingdom will be determined by his doctors.The President said this in a letter to the Senate, informing the lawmakers of his trip to London to see his doctors for further medical attention.Senate President Bukola Saraki read the letter during plenary on Tuesday, two days after President Buhari jetted out of the country.In the letter, the President informed the lawmakers that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would coordinate the affairs of the country in his absence.Senator Ohuabunwa Mao (Abia-North), however, raised a point of order, saying that there was nothing like coordinating vice president as contained in the Presidents letter.Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan countered his claim, arguing that the letter followed due process and should not give rise to any complaint.The Senate President subsequently ruled Senator Ohuabunwa out of order.President Buhari had travelled out of the country on Sunday night, a few hours after meeting with the 82 Chibok schoolgirls that were released on Saturday.
Following the release of 82 Chibok school girls, indications have emerged that the Federal Government will initiate fresh talks on how ...

Following the release of 82 Chibok school girls, indications have emerged that the Federal Government will initiate fresh talks on how to end suicide missions with the Abubakar Shekaus faction of Boko Haram and ensure return of normalcy to communities in the North-eastern part of the country.Part of the talks is to also free more girls still trapped in the sects custody.This comes as Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday that the government will step up welfare packages for the victims as more details of how the Federal Government negotiated release of the 82 Chibok school girls with the leadership of the Boko Haram sect emerged, last night. A top source close to the deal, told newsmen that the entire negotiation was done with the Abubakar Shekau faction of the sect, holed up in remote areas of the N-East.Although there were claims last week that Shekau had been fatally wounded by the military and one of his commanders killed in a deadly offensive, the top source confirmed to newsmen that Shekau was fully involved in deliberations for release of the school girls. The official said: We actually met and discussed the terms of the release of the girls and the commanders with the Shekau faction and he was fully involved in all the stages of the deliberations.What we did this time around was direct swap, which did not involve the payment of ransom as was earlier contemplated.I can confirm to you that no fewer than five top commanders of Boko Haram were freed in exchange for the 82 girls and I think that it was a very good bargain with the sects leadership. Once that number was agreed upon, the five commanders were taken to an agreed location inside the forest where they were exchanged directly with the girls, on Saturday.That was how the whole thing was done. It was a tedious and daring process but we had to do it. The source revealed that apart from the Chibok girls, there were thousands of other Nigerian women still trapped in the enclave of Boko Haram terrorists who must be rescued.He said the Federal Government and the sect leadership had agreed to open discussions on how to free all the girls in the custody of Boko Haram and end atrocities and hostilities orchestrated by the terrorists. We have also agreed to begin talks on how to end suicide missions by the terrorists so as to ensure the return of normalcy to communities in the North-eastern part of the country.Swap deal, setback in insurgency war  PDPThe Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had described the swap deal as a setback to the fight against insurgency. In a statement, Dayo Adeyeye, spokesman of the faction, said their release is an opportunity for them to resume attacks on the society. The spokesman said many of them will recruit members that would be used as suicide bombers.While we welcome the release of the girls, we do not think that exchanging innocent girls for hardened criminals like the terrorists is the right approach, Adeyeye said in a statement.The release of the terrorists is a setback for the war on insurgency. Their release is tantamount to releasing them to resume their war against society. Many of them could find their ways back to the terrorists camps from where they could unleash terror against the country.The piecemeal release of the girls means the terrorists want to extract more concessions from the government which in the end can only prolong the insurgency.PDP factions statement inhuman  FGCountering, the Federal Government, yesterday, described the PDP factions statement as indecent, inhuman and ill-timed. In a statement issued by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the government said it is patently insensitive for any individual or organization to seek to douse, on the altar of politics, the universal joy that has greeted the release of the 82 girls  the highest number so far freed since their unfortunate abduction under the watch of the PDP over three years ago.He said from the ill-advised statement, it is clear that the PDP, whose incompetence and cluelessness precipitated the Chibok girls crisis in the first instance, is not wishing and praying for it to end with the safe return of the abducted girls.In his inaugural address, President Muhammadu Buhari said the Administration cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls.He also said this government will do all it can to rescue them alive. If that includes swapping some Boko Haram elements for the girls, so what? Will the PDP rather have the girls stay in perpetual captivity, just to prove a ludicrous point? Didnt superpower United States engage in negotiations with the Taliban that led to the exchange of five Taliban fighters for US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl in 2014? Didnt Israel release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in 2011?
Member of the House of Representatives from Kogi State, James Faleke, has opined that the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari saved Nig...

Member of the House of Representatives from Kogi State, James Faleke, has opined that the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari saved Nigeria from total collapse.





According to Faleke,It is true that this government will be two years by May 29. I can tell you sincerely that the country has moved forward from what we used to have.

We have done a lot in terms of re-organising our income, especially with regards to what the federal government gets as revenue.

You cannot imagine how much has been recovered from individuals. If the looting had continued, this country would have collapsed and I want to give kudos to the president for having done that.
Travelers need a comfortable hotel room where they can relax but they also need a quiet room as well since not all hotel rooms can offer that. The Quietroom foundation, creator of the Quietroom label, the only objective standard for quiet hotel rooms - is setting up the first worldwide certification process for manufacturers of soundproofing products used in the hotel industry.

"Using certified products will help architects and developers meet objective standards for sound insulation," says Lucas Keizer, president of the foundation, "and hotels can demand the use of certified products as a guarantee that their rooms will be properly insulated."

A wide range of products from manufacturers around the globe are being examined, and so far 36 have received the Quietroom Product Certificate. The certificate is available in various categories such as Floors, Walls & Ceilings, Doors & Windows, Acoustics, Ventilation and Water & Discharge Pipes.

According to the Architect Institute: "Industry professionals have already called the certification an excellent initiative and an important step to achieve better quality control for soundproof products."

The Quietroom foundation has also created the Design & Build Certificate which is aimed at (acoustic) consultants, designers and constructors involved with projects in the hotel industry. Certification of their building systems, construction processes, and services will make them more attractive to clients in the hotel industry.

The aim of the foundation is to create a worldwide database of certified products, systems, processes, and services, which will be freely accessible through the foundation's website, www.quiethotelroom.org. Certificates will be annually revised to ensure that they reflect the latest standards.
A schoolgirl who was among more than 200 kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 refused to be part of a release deal because she is now married...

A schoolgirl who was among more than 200 kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 refused to be part of a release deal because she is now married to a militant fighter, Nigerias government said Tuesday. The disclosure underlines the complex psychological effects of a lengthy captivity, and gives an indication of the work required to rehabilitate and reintegrate those released.Boko Haram has used kidnapping as a weapon of war, seizing thousands of women and young girls as part of its eight-year quest to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Men and boys have also been forcibly recruited to fight in its insurgency, which since 2009 has killed at least 20,000 in Nigeria alone. Presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said the jihadists had initially agreed to release 83 of the teenagers who were abducted from their school in the town of Chibok in April 2014.But he told the local Channels television station: One said, No, I have a husband. Im happy where I am. And then 82 came back. The 82 were released on Saturday following months of talks and the exchange of a number of suspected militants held in government custody. Twenty-one of their classmates were freed in October last year; three had previously been found or escaped. Talks are understood to have started to free all or some of the remaining 113. Complex situation Testimony from former hostages in the brutal conflict has revealed that Boko Haram forced many women and young girls into marriage, and that rape and sexual violence were commonplace. Some were forced to work as domestic slaves for extremist fighters and even deployed to the front line carrying ammunition during attacks. Elizabeth Pearson, a Boko Haram specialist who studies women and conflict, said the case of the Chibok girl who refused to leave was likely to be quite prevalent. From what we know of other young women whove returned, the relationships with their captors is very complex and at times quite ambiguous, she told AFP in an email exchange.We assume because they are abducted they are therefore likely to resist their captors. In fact they have to develop relationships of some sort in order to survive. Genuine relationships will emerge, as not all fighters behave brutally to the women in the camps, particularly if children are involved, she added. Its a much more complex situation than the abducted-rescued-victim narrative weve seen at times, she said. There have been repeated calls for more to be done to support those released, particularly with many women treated as social outcasts because of their time with the rebels. Identities checked Shehu said the government was working to verify the identities of the 82 released so they can be reunited with their families as soon as possible. A list of the girls names was published on Sunday evening and photographs of them have been sent to Chibok and the surrounding area for cross-checking. When we had the first 21, because of similarities in names, more than two, three sets of parents came to Abuja.So, we dont want to create that confusion, he said. When they get the pictures, they see them and verify, then they come on board to Abuja to see their daughters. Aisha Yesufu, coordinator of the #BringBackOurGirls pressure group, told AFP: We have to reach out to the parents and ensure that we match the parents and the daughters.We are still working on it.Nigerias government has come under fire for the length of time it has taken to reunite the former hostages with their families. In December, families who are seen as key to the girls recovery complained they were blocked from celebrating Christmas together. Human Rights Watch has accused the government of failing to respect the girls privacy by publishing their names and for parading them at a photo-call.Amnesty International said on Saturday that holding the released girls in lengthy detention and for security screening can only add to their suffering and plight. Shehu said he hoped the verification process would be concluded soon and pledged: The government will not stop any parents from immediately establishing contacts with their daughters.
In a piece he shared on social media, Reno Omokri raised some questions on the recent release of 82 Chibok schoolgirls by Boko Haram members. Read his piece below...



Anybody that is not happy that 82 Chibok girls were released must be a monster whose humanity should be called into question. Anybody that is not happy that 82 Chibok girls were released must be a monster whose humanity should be called into question.





I thank God that these girls have been released and I commend the Federal Government for the feat of ensuring that these girls are reunited with their families. May God bless President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the leadership that enabled this to happen. Having said that, there are some factual observations I want to raise. What you are about to read is completely devoid of any opinion. I am just stating facts.

You may not like the facts. You may not even like me. But one thing you cannot do is ignore the fact. May 5, 2017, 82 Chibok girls were released by Boko Haram to the Nigerian government after negotiations that involved a prisoner swap and according to some news reports also included substantial payments but questions about this incidence remain. On May 3, 2017, international AFP News Agency reported that on Friday April 29, 2017 fighter jets from the Nigerian Air Force had pounded Boko Haram positions in Balla village, which is 25 miles from Damboa, just outside Sambisa Forest. Citing intelligence reports, they reported that the bombing was so intense that several Boko Haram fighters were killed including the group's deputy leader, Abba Mustapha, alias Malam Abba and another leader, Abubakar Gashua, alias Abu Aisha, described as a key person in the group's hierarchy.

The Nigerian Air force emailed a statement to the AFP in support of these reports on the same day and said "Battle damage assessment conducted after the strike showed that several leaders of the Boko Haram terrorist organisation and their followers were killed during the attacks". Babakura Kolo, a member of the Civilian JTF (a militia registered with the Nigerian government to help in the fight with Boko Haram) testified that "a number of commanders were killed."

On May 4, 2017, Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video denouncing and taunting the Nigerian government over the attack and promising reprisals. Yet, after this incident on April 29, 2017 that led to the death of their top commanders and many of their foot soldiers, Boko Haram still went on to release 82 Chibok girls to the same Nigerian government that their leader had sworn revenge on exactly a week earlier?

Does this add up? Does this gel with reality? Does this even make sense? Is Boko Haram that magnanimous? On May 7, 2017, when the girls were ferried over to the Nigerian Presidential Villa at Aso Rock, Abuja to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, photographs released showed them looking very well fed and robust.

In fact, the next day (May 8) Africa's top blog, Linda Ikeji's blog published a photo of the released girls side by side with a picture of a woman and her baby in one of the Internally Displaced Persons camp in Borno state for a side by side comparison and these Chibok girls, who had been living rough inside Sambisa forest looked well fed, well groomed and buxom while the woman in the IDP camp looked haggard and hungry. It leaves you questioning who has been in captivity and who has been free. How is this possible?

This is not the first time Chibok girls have been released. Almost exactly a year ago, just a week before the current Nigerian administration marked its first year in office some Chibok girls were also released. Another batch were released in October 2016.

The thing is that when these girls are released there is a media blackout on them. No one is allowed near them to interview them. I understand that they have gone through an ordeal, but Malala also went through a similar or even worse ordeal and no one shielded her from the press. Malala Yousafzai was shot at age 15 by the taliban and left unconscious.

She survived and she was threatened by the taliban who threatened to kill her should they catch her. Her case was one of clear and present danger. Yet she was not sequestered from the public even though, like the Chibok girls, her English was not so good at first. In fact, an international press tour was arranged for her placing her on the world stage and kick starting the activism that earned her a Nobel Prize making her the youngest person ever to be so awarded.

One would have thought that is what would have played out for the released girls. Last October, 21 Chibok girls were released by Boko Haram after negotiations. Till date, these girls have been kept from the press. Even their own parents are not allowed to see them The New York Times piece on them published on March 11, 2017.

The girls are kept in a safe house according to the New York Times. During the Christmas holidays they were allowed to visit Chibok but were housed in the home of a "top politician". Their parents were only allowed to 'visit them'. Soldiers guarded the girls and after some hours asked the parents of the girls to leave.

On Christmas Day itself, they were denied entry to the politician's house to see their own children and on January 8, 2017 the girls were returned to their safe house and according to the New York Times "Neither the public nor their parents have been able to see them since." No one really knows what went on with these girls since their abduction. It is all smoke and mirrors. These girls are innocent.

They did not kidnap themselves. They were pawns in a game whose puppeteers we do not yet know. No one should raise any questions about these girls after what they have been through. But surely we can raise questions about events themselves. Think people. Am I the only one seeing this?
An FCT High Court, Maitama, on Tuesday discharged Steve Oronsaye, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, of the N190 million corruption charges levelled against him.Oronsaye was also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan.He was docked on a seven-count charge, bordering on breach of trust and diversion of N190 million meant for the committee he chaired.The judge, Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, in her ruling on the no-case submission filed by Oronsaye, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Oronsaye.There was contradictory evidence by the prosecution witnesses on whether the defendant was still the head of service as at the time he chaired the committee.The court seems to discredit the evidence, suffice it to say that there is no evidence linking the accused with the statutory element and ingredients of the offence with which he is charged.The court of trial must as a matter of law discharge him because it has no business scanting for evidence that is nowhere to be found.I have looked through the case and I am unable to see any justifications for this case.The defendant is hereby discharged she held.The prosecution closed its case on November 15 after calling six witnesses to testify.On December 9, the defence filed no-case submission, on the ground that the prosecution had no case against the defendant.In his submission, the defence counsel Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), argued that there were omissions of essential elements in the charges against his client.He said on that account the charges were imperfect.Agabi said that the charge was initially 2-count, later amended to 7-count.The lawyer said that was a sign that something was wrong with the charge from the beginning.He said that the prosecution did not specify the amount that was entrusted to the defendant, nor the mandate of the committee the defendant chaired.Agabi also said that no evidence of personal use of the fund that the defendant was accused of misusing, but mere allegations.He said that no offence proven by prosecution to warrant the defendant to enter defence and urged the court to grant his no-case submission.Responding, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Offem Uket, told the court that the prosecution has proved its case, adding that the defendant should enter his defence.Uket said that it was not right to bring up the issue of imperfection of charges now, as it was against the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) 2015.He urged the court to dismiss the no- case submission.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has condemned what it described as uncomplimentary remarks by some Nigerians on the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, which it said was not only embarrassing but also ungodly.The body also expressed displeasure that many Nigerians chose to make mockery of or politicise the Presidents health status, rather than seek the intervention of God.This was just as a group, the Organisation for Global Youth Peace Empowerment and Development Initiative, called on the Senate to formally address Nigerians on the state of health of the President.In a statement by its South-West Secretary, Seriki Ayowale, the group noted that the silence of the Nigerian Senate is uncalled for and dangerous for our nations democracy.But the National President of PFN, Dr. Felix Omobude, in a statement by his media aide, Deacon Ralph Okhiria, stated that instead of playing God, Nigerians should recognise that President Buhari was a human being, who needed sincere prayers to keep the ship of the nation afloat.Omobude said, Instead of playing God and making uncomplimentary remarks about the health status of the President, we should all take the issue up in prayers for Gods intervention.It is important that we should show some level of respect to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, irrespective of the political party, religion or ethnic group we belong to.Although President Buhari belongs to a particular political party, he is not the President of that party but the President of the entire Nigeria. Therefore, we should all learn to wish our leaders well and not to wish them evil.The PFN president, however, commended the Federal Government for the recent release of 82 Chibok schoolgirls, describing it as heart-warming.
Though report of the three-man Presidential Committee that investigated the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir ...

Though report of the three-man Presidential Committee that investigated the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General, Nigerian Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ayo Oke, is yet to be made public, both men stand suspended, a Presidency source has said.It was gathered last night, revealed that chairman of the committee, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo would not take any soft measure that may exonerate Lawal and Oke.Findings also indicated that Osinbajo may have quietly submitted the report to President Buhari during their meeting the night the President departed.The top Presidency source, privy to the workings of the committee, which concluded its assignment last week, said Osinbajo, as the Acting President, was likely to implement the outcome of the report without waiting for President Buharis return.The source also revealed that Osinbajo was most likely to sign the 2017 budget into law should the document be passed by the National Assembly any time soon. The same goes for the swearing in of the two minister-designates, who had been screened and confirmed by the Senate.The source said: Look, the President, before leaving, had briefed Osinbajo. He had empowered him to do certain things on his behalf. Both had some discussions on a wide range of issues. So, those things may be part of what they discussed.
The United Nation has urged the international community to support the Nigerian government in its efforts to ensure the release of the over 100 Chibok schoolgirls who are still victims of Boko Haram.It also welcomed the recent relase of 82 Chibok girls in North-Eastern Nigeria and appealed to all citizens in the country to support the Federal Governments reintegration programme for the girls.The UNs Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter Lundberg, disclosed this in a statement issued by the global organisation and made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday by Oxfam Nigeria.Lundberg said, The United Nations welcomes the release of the 82 Chibok girls in North-Eastern Nigeria and appeals to all Nigerians, including the families and communities of the liberated girls, to fully embrace them and provide all necessary support to ensure their reintegration into society.Over 100 of these school girls are still unaccounted for, and the United Nations urges the international community to continue supporting the government of Nigeria in its efforts to ensure the release, rehabilitation and reintegration of all the children, women and men who are victims of Boko Haram.It was reported on Tuesday that some of the schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram militants from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014, refused to be part of a group of 82 girls freed at the weekend.The UN, in its statement, further noted that despite the encouraging news of the recent release of the 82 schoolgirls, insecurity had continue to affect millions of people living in six states in North-Eastern Nigeria amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.It said three states in the region were highly affected by the deepening humanitarian crisis, but pledged to continue supporting the Federal Government through the provision of the needed relief items.The global organisation said, Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, where 8.5 million people are in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection, are the most directly affected by conflict and mass forced displacement.The United Nations and partners are committed to supporting the government of Nigeria to providing much-needed relief to these vulnerable people.
Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has hinged the release of the 82 Chibok girls on the integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari. ...

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has hinged the release of the 82 Chibok girls on the integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari.





Speaking during a state-wide broadcast, in Maiduguri, the state capital, Shettima said the negotiations that led to the release of the girls would not have been possible, but for Buharis personality.

According to Shettima, The international actors who helped in facilitating the negotiations would not have been involved if they had doubts about Buharis sincerity in piloting the affairs of the country.

It was also the presidents integrity that made countries in Africa, Europe and the U. S. to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents and terrorists.

The governor said the efforts of the military and Multi-National Joint Task Force, MNJTF, as well as volunteers placed the Federal Government in a vantage position to negotiate the girls freedom.




The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his election as the next President of France.According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the acting Presidents congratulatory message was contained in a letter he sent to the President-elect.Akande quoted Osinbajo as saying that he received the news of the election of the 39-year-old Macron with satisfaction.The acting President noted that under successive governments, the relations between Nigeria and France had blossomed even as he expressed the optimism that the incoming government would further strengthen the bond of friendship between both countries.The statement said, Under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, there has been a very close collaboration between Nigeria and France in the war against terror.Prof Osinbajo observed that Macrons election is a source of inspiration especially for the French people and portends a greater future in which the French Republic will continue to play its active role, boosting relations with Europe, Africa and the rest of the world.The acting President then noted that the Buhari administration is looking forward to working closely with President-elect Macron to promote international cooperation, advance peace and security, consolidate mutual trade relations and strengthen economic partnership for the benefit of the citizens of both countries.
ATLANTIC CITY -- The 31-year-old man shot and killed Friday night in Atlantic City has been identified as Hammonton resident, authorities said.

Authorities are searching for the person who shot David Blackwell Jr. at 10:15 p.m. on the 800 block of N. Virginia Avenue.

Blackwell, whose identity was released by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office on Monday, was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m.

The prosecutor's Major Crimes Unit and the Atlantic City Police Department are investigating.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Major Crimes Unit at 609-909-7666 or the Atlantic City Police Department's Investigations Division at 609-347-5766.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NORTH ARLINGTON -- Queen of Peace High School will refund registration fees made for next school year and return money donated in a campaign intended to pay for the school's future expenses after announcing that the school is closing, officials said.

Queen of Peace raised $66,214 since September as part of a campaign jumpstarted by a donor who agreed to match any monies raised up to $500,000.

The money was to "be saved for future operations," according to the high school's website. But donors will be able to get back that money and all parents who registered for next school year will be refunded, said Mike Donovan, the school's pastor and president.

The Archdiocese of Newark, which oversees the high school, announced Monday that the school would cease operations on June 30 due to "financial shortfalls."

The school showed its last signs of life last summer when a huge campaign was launched to raise $1 million and keep its doors open. The short campaign ultimately raised more than its goal and the school opened for the 2016-17 school year.

"A number of parents, I think, are angry," Donovan said. "They felt that a promise was made that the school would stay open.

"I disagree with them. That's not what we indicated to them, that was to get us through this year. The problem wasn't created in a year and it's a chronic problem. Despite our best efforts, in this community, it is just not possible."

Even with that fundraiser, the school could end the school year with a deficit up to $1 million, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark said.

Staff members' salaries and benefits extend into the summer beyond graduation day, Donovan said, and everyone will receive the checks they've been promised.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark reiterated that the 30 or so staff members Donovan said work at the school will be paid.

"Whatever bills have to be paid, we'll be sure that they'll be paid and we'll be going on from there. It's not like the school will be closed and money is owed and people will be left hanging," Archdiocese Spokesman Jim Goodness said. "That will not happen. The Archdiocese does not let that happen."

The Archdiocese has said current staff members will be placed on a priority list for new jobs in the Archdiocese. Around this time of year, retirements are announced and teachers shift to other positions, Goodness said, and jobs will be available.

Among the factors that Donovan said contributed to the school closing were the state's high property taxes, a declining school-age population and a smaller interest in families wanting their children to get a Catholic education.

The school, established more than 85 years ago, has the capacity to fit 1,100 students. This year, they had an enrollment of about 225 students, Donovan said.

Annual tuition at Queen of Peace High School was $9,200 plus fees.

"There's a lot of things that are working against the Catholic schools. It's a struggle," Donovan said. "I feel terrible. I believe it was the correct decision, but my mind doesn't console my heart."

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
Thailand's flag carrier, Thai Airways International has been successfully recertified to the international safety standards of ICAO. Thai Airways is the third of Thailands international airlines to receive its AOC recertification as part of CAATs recertification programme, in partnership with CAA International (CAAi), the advisory arm of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA).

Dr Chula Sukmanop, Director General of CAAT said, Thai Airways has long been regarded as the national carrier. The success today should have a significant impact, not only on the company itself but also in the overall confidence of passengers who plan to visit Thailand with Thai carriers.

CAAi was appointed by CAAT in 2016 to provide full-scale technical assistance, and capacity building in the recertification of all Thai registered international airlines and to support CAAT ahead of its next ICAO audit.

Maria Rueda, Managing Director of CAAi said, This is another major milestone for CAAT, the Thai aviation and tourism industry. Thai Airways is Thailands largest airline, serving 80 destinations in 37 countries. We are delighted to have assisted CAAT in recertifying its flag carrier to ICAO standards, and we remain fully committed to supporting CAAT as we enter the next phase of this significant project.

Thailand is expected to be audited by ICAO later this year to address the Significant Safety Concern (SSC) finding in 2015. CAAi will be providing audit preparation assistance to CAAT to help resolve the SSC. Through a combination of on and off-site assistance, CAAi will work with CAAT to raise Thailands level of effective implementation across all of ICAOs eight critical elements, with the initial focus on the SSC and related areas, ensuring CAAT are in the strongest position for its next ICAO audit.
HACKENSACK -- Following a hotly contested and at times bitter race, voters in Hackensack on Tuesday turned out to decide who will next govern the city.

A full slate known as "Hackensack United for Progress" has signed on to challenge incumbent Mayor John Labrosse and his ticket.

Labrosse's team has issued statements attacking that ticket for ties to the Zisa family dynasty -- including former Mayor Jack Zisa and his brother Ken, the former police chief.

"Hackensack residents made a clean break from Zisa control four years ago and we're not going back now. Our city is finally moving forward and taking its rightful position as the economic engine of Bergen County, and we will not let the Zisas come back and stand in the way of that progress," Labrosse said in a statement.

The Zisas have denied backing any political candidates.

"Hackensack United for Progress" has the endorsement of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents nearly 40,000 people in various states, including New Jersey. It is one of the largest trade unions on the East Coast.

Earlier this month, the Labrosse team issued a statement saying a late April poll shows 52 percent of likely voters support the Labrosse team in the three-way race, with 17 percent choosing Hackensack United for Progress and 11 percent supporting Hackensack Strong.

There are three slates running. Council members serve for four years.

Running on the "Hackensack United for Progress" team is:

Hackensack Public Schools Board Vice President Lara Rodriguez

Former councilman Jason Some

Michael Williams

Carlos Merino

Rommy Buttafuoco

The "Hackensack Strong" team includes:

Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis

Angelica Carfi-Meneses

David Dungey

Rafael Del Rosario

Richard Cerbo

The "Labrosse Team" includes:

Mayor John Labrosse

Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino

Councilman Leo Battaglia

Councilman David Sims

Stephanie Von Rudenborg

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and voters can cast their choice at 11 polling stations throughout the city.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
ALPINE -- A motorcyclist died after a police pursuit on the Palisades Interstate Parkway early Tuesday, authorities said.

PIP Officer Martin Clancy was using radar to monitor for speeders when he detected two speeding motorcycles traveling southbound on the highway's Alpine-section around midnight, according to a department news release.

The motorcycles did not stop for the officer, police said. Clancy continued for "several miles" and lost sight of the motorcycles at various points in the pursuit.

Officers called off the chase near Interchange 1 in Englewood Cliffs, police said. As officers continued, they found a motorcycle crash on the southbound Fletcher Avenue offramp in Fort Lee.

Paramedics declared the motorcycle rider dead at the scene, police said. Authorities did not immediately identify the rider or release more details.

PIP police referred further questions the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

A prosecutor's office spokeswoman said the agency would release more information shortly.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A woman who thought she was boarding a United Airlines flight from Newark to Paris last month

.

Lucie Bahetoukilae didn't realize the gate from which her plane was departing had changed and no one bothered to inform her when an agent scanned her boarding pass, WABC-7 reported.

When Bahetoukilae got to her seat someone was in it but the flight attendant simply moved Bahetoukilae to a different seat, never checking her boarding pass. Bahetoukilae speaks no English, the report said.

When she arrived in California, she had to wait 11 hours to catch a flight that would take her to France. She finally arrived in Paris 28 hours after getting on the wrong plane in New Jersey.

Bahetoukilae said she never received an email informing her of the gate switch. She also said United didn't make an announcement in French while she waited in the Newark terminal.

United apologized and refunded the cost of her ticket.

Bahetoukilae told the television station she was in the U.S. to visit her godchildren.

The April 24 mishap came a little more than two weeks after a United passenger was injured after security in Chicago forcibly removed from an overbooked flight. the 69-year-old doctor later sued the airline, settling for an undisclosed amount.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CAMDEN -- David "D.J." Creato Jr., 23, is accused of murdering his 3-year-old son, but three medical examiners testified in his trial that he cannot say how, where or when the boy was killed.

All three testified that though they found some signs of asphyxia, and they eventually came to the same conclusion about his cause of death: that some kind of "homicidal violence," possibly including suffocation or drowning, killed Brendan Creato.

The boy was found dead in a creek in Cooper River Park in Haddon Township Oct. 13, 2015, about three hours after his father reported him missing from his apartment. The prosecutor's office alleges he killed the boy because the toddler was causing problems in his relationship with his teenage girlfriend.

State Medical Examiner Andrew Falzon testified Tuesday that he only came to the "homicidal violence" determination -- reversing his earlier decision to list the cause of death as "undetermined" -- after reading the prosecutor's case file against Creato.

"The autopsy did not provide any conclusive finding," Falzon said Tuesday.

Echoing the prosecution's theory, Falzon said the main indicator that foul play was involved was that Brendan was found about three-quarters of a mile from his home, shoeless and wearing clean socks. If he didn't walk there, someone must have carried him, Falzon said.

"I think the most crucial piece of evidence was the socks -- that there was not any staining on the socks," he said.

Falzon was asked by Camden County Medical Examiner Gerald "Buck" Feigin to perform a third autopsy after Feigin and his associate, Charles Seibert, could not find a specific cause of death in their examinations.

While Feigin is the one who put the cause of death down for the death certificate, Falzon testified that he sent a letter to Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah after the autopsy indicating that there was no conclusive evidence so he would consider the cause of death to be undetermined.

But a year and a half later, he said, the prosecutor's office asked him to review police reports and other evidence in the case file. He then issued the decision concurring with Feigin's and Seibert's findings.

Under cross-examination, Creato's attorney, Richard J. Fuschino Jr., questioned him multiple times about what caused him to change his decision, since he was aware of Brendan's clean socks when he made his first finding after the autopsy.

Falzon said that after reviewing the case file, he knew that investigators never found any shoes belonging to Brendan in the creek or the area, so the clean socks became more significant of a sign of foul play.

"The lack of footwear at the scene is conclusive evidence to me," he said. He confirmed that if any footwear had been found, or if Brendan had been found dead at home, he would probably list the cause of death as undetermined.

Fuschino pointed out that bodies can be moved and asked Falzon whether Brendan might have died elsewhere, perhaps in an accidental asphyxiation, and his body had been moved. Falzon said he could not determine if the body had been moved.

"I don't have a reasonable explanation for how the body ended up at the creek. I don't have a reasonable explanation for how Brendan died," he said. But, he said, that lack of a clear explanation for how the boy got there with clean socks "makes it a suspicious death."

Also during his testimony, Falzon said that he found two things that the other medical examiners did not note in their autopsy reports: a fairly recent, likely self-inflicted, bite mark inside of Brendan's mouth and some scattered petechia -- tiny broken blood vessels in the eyes.

The latter can be an indicator of asphyxiation, Falzon testified, but typical cases of asphyxiation will result in more widespread, significant petechia than Brendan had.

The trial is continuing Tuesday afternoon with two staff members from the prosecutor's office reading from thousands of text messages Creato exchanged his with girlfriend at the time of Brendan's death, Julia Stensky.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
VOORHEES TWP. -- The war in Syria has taken a lot from Mounera Ayoub, 48, a refugee who has lived in Camden for the last six months.

It took her three brothers and her mother, killed in their home in 2014. It took her family's sense of safety and basic necessities.

"We are afraid all the time," she recalled of the war. "No food, no water, no anything."

Mounera Ayoub, right, is pictured with CommUNITY SJP co-founder Medeeha Khan at a family night event the nonprofit put on April 30, 2017.

Ayoub, her husband and their two sons fled to Egypt three years ago. They were able to come to the United States in October.

"Here, we feel [the] opposite: Safety," she said.

Her focus since coming here has been on getting her sons settled in school, learning English, trying to build a new life and to decide what sort of job she could get here.

Getting her hair done at the salon is not on her to-do list at all.

That's why two nonprofits teamed up to put on an event Sunday to treat 37 local women who are refugees from Syria to a day at the salon. They each got a free haircut, blow-dry, and gift bags full of beauty products and books and toys for their kids.

"With Mother's Day a week away, we thought this was a nice way to make them feel special," said Tara Smith, a spokeswoman for Fearless Beauty, one of the nonprofits that put on the event.

It was a day to relax, get pampered, and share a meal and conversation -- in their native language -- with fellow refugees who understand what they're going through.

While waiting to have their hair done, they sat chatting in the hair-dryer seats. A few brought their babies, and the infants were passed around to get kissed and admired.

Several translators were available to help those who are still learning English to communicate with their stylists as they trimmed, curled and straightened their hair.

Dr. Hafeza Shaikh, who helped organize the event, said inspiration struck when she was having her hair done by Heather Packer at Cutler Salon in New York City.

Packer is the founder of Fearless Beauty, a nonprofit that provides haircutting training for impoverished women in India so they can support themselves.

Shaikh, a cardiologist at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, is a co-founder of CommUNITY SJP. The nonprofit aims to bring people in the South Jersey and Philadelphia areas together through community service and it has provided assistance to families resettling in the region.

In the CommUNITY SJP has collected donations for the refugee families and hosted social events, like a recent roller skating event, to get them out of the house and having fun. The group recently bought Ayoub a bus ticket so she could visit her sister, who has been living in Albany.

Shaikh said that the families CommUNITY SJP assists live in Camden and Burlington counties, but women from Union and Middlesex Counties made the trip for the event Sunday.

She said that in her experience, the women are working hard to get their families acclimated and a haircut is not a priority. "The last thing they're going to do is take care of themselves," she said.

And the issue isn't just finding the time to get a cut. All 37 women at Sunday's event wear hijab -- a headscarf to cover their hair whenever men are around -- so they can't just walk into any salon in town.

Sunday's event was only open to women, including the stylists and volunteers, so the refugees were able to remove their hijab and get their hair done.

In Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries, there are female-only salons. Shaikh said that they exist in the U.S., too, but a woman might have to drive hours to find one.

Ayoub said that since coming to the U.S., she has relied on her husband to cut her hair.

A chance to be welcoming

Packer said the event was the first her nonprofit has organized within the U.S. other than fundraisers, she said. "It's such an opportunity for us to be supportive of women and the women who maybe need the most friendship and support," she said.

For her part, Ayoub said that she has met many nice people in the U.S., including an American woman who helps her with her English. Learning the language is important because she wants to find a job.

"In United States, work is hard for me," Ayoub said. She was a teacher in Syria, and she's hoping maybe one day to find work in a preschool or as an aide in a school.

Her sons go to school in Camden and learned the language quickly. She said they help her communicate with people at the supermarket or other places.

"They laugh when I speak English," she said, grinning, and they point out her mistakes.

And while the family is trying to build a life here, Ayoub said she'd still rather be back in Syria -- the Syria she remembers from before the war.

"I hope [to] go to Syria when the war finishes," she said.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
CAPE MAY -- A 23-year-old Millville man was arrested last week on charges of sexual assault and child endangerment, authorities said.

Patrick Hartman was arrested on Thursday in Ocean City following a five-day investigation into allegations he endangered the welfare of a juvenile, Cape May County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor and Ocean City Police Chief Chad Callahan said in a news release.

Hartman was arrested after investigators executed a court-authorized search warrant executed at his residence on May 4, resulting in the seizure of several electronic items and photographs, Taylor and Callahan said.

Authorities said the investigation into Hartman was the result of the ongoing effort by the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to identify those involved in the child pornography trade.

Hartman was charged with sexual assault, child endangerment, luring, obscenities to minors and possession of child pornography.

Hartman faces a term of five to 10 years if convicted of second-degree sexual assault.

Anyone with information regarding child exploitation or criminal activity can report it through the Cape May County Sheriff's Tip Line at cmcsheriff.net and click on anonymous tip. Tipsters can also call the Cape May County Crime Stoppers at 609-465-2800 or 877-465-2801, or to the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office at 609-465-1135.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Princess Cruises announced the addition of two 14-day Grand Asia voyages sailing between Shanghai and Singapore on the fleet's newest ship, Majestic Princess.

Available to guests throughout the world, these sailings will visit Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand in 2018, including spending more time ashore on the late night call in Hong Kong. The first voyage departs Shanghai on February 25, 2018 with the second departing Singapore on March 11, 2018.

"Based on the response we received during Majestic Princess' recent maiden cruise, we are confident she has redefined the international, luxury cruising experience," said Jan Swartz, Group President of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia, "We are thrilled to open up the opportunity for other guests to experience our newest flagship in our fleet."

On May 21, Majestic Princess will embark on the "Silk Road Sea Route" a 49-day journey from Rome to Shanghai. During the voyage she will visit a total of 22 ports including Athens, Dubai, Cochin, Singapore, Port Klang and Xiamen before arriving in Shanghai, her new homeport in China. Majestic Princess will begin her first cruise from China on July 11 carrying 3,560 guests to a variety of cruise destinations.
The Hague has become one of the top 50 international congress destinations among European cities, according to the ranking of The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). It is also one of the top 100 most attractive congress cities in the world.

This ranking supports the findings of the research published earlier this year by NBTC Holland Marketing, which revealed that in 2016 The Hague hosted 135 international congresses - an increase of 50% in comparison to 2014 and 2015.

The congress industry is extremely important for The Hague and we are pleased with the new ranking, emphasized Karsten Klein, The Hague's deputy mayor for Economic Affairs. "It proves that associations highly appreciate The Hagues international business climate, established knowledge infrastructure, top-quality hotels and our renewed World Forum Convention Centre."

Next to securing great rankings in both listings, The Hague also reports that in 2016 a total number of 13139 delegates visited the city - the highest number of congress participants that the city has welcomed to date. The increase of more than 2000 delegates compared to 2015 demonstrates the outstanding and continuously improving event infrastructure of the city.

In 2016 we launched our new brand, we sharpened our positioning, and - more importantly - we worked hard on streamlining the citys network of partners that services the event industry, said Ms Nienke van der Malen  van der Horst, the director of The Hague Convention Bureau (THCB).

This approach has generated very positive outcomes, and we will continue making strategic improvements to ensure that The Hague becomes more and more attractive as a destination for international congresses.

In 2017 and 2018 The Hague will host high-profile and high-impact congresses such as the International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Cyber Security Week, and the much-anticipated One Young World Summit.

Worldwide, The Hague is ranked 85th together with Frankfurt, leaving behind congress cities such as Moscow, Bordeaux and Liverpool.

Every year the ICCA rankings are published as an important benchmark study in the association event industry worldwide. More than 200 European and almost 400 international cities are evaluated by the number of meetings and events organised in a destination each year.
A brief about the early morning murder of Lionel Lae appeared in The Times-Picayune the same day as the killing, on Sept. 5, 1978. (Times-Picayune archives)
International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) announced top cities and countries for the international association meetings in 2016. The number of international association meetings continues to double every ten years. Paris reclaims the top spot in the 2016 city ranking, while USA ranks at top in the 2016 country ranking.

ICCA captured 12,212 rotating international association meetings taking place in 2016, which is clearly an all-time record for ICCAs annual snapshot of immediate past years meetings data, and 136 additional meetings compared to 2015.

ICCA identifies more than double the number of association meetings in a decade: from just under 6,000 in 2006 to over 12,000 in 2016.

ICCAs Researchers also spotted an additional 710 meetings for 2015, and 524 for 2014. The ICCA Association Database now includes 20,000 regularly occurring meeting series, 220,000 meeting editions and 11,500 international associations.

2016 City rankings: Paris reclaims the top spot

Paris, number one in 2014, takes over first place again with 196 meetings in 2016  one more meeting than last years number one Berlin. Even though the order is quite different, this years top 5 cities were also represented in last years top 5. Vienna climbs 2 places to second and Barcelona remains third. Berlin drops from first to fourth place and London remains fifth. Singapore is the first Asian city jumping one place from seventh to sixth. Madrid drop 2 places from a shared fifth in 2015 to a shared seventh in 2016. Newcomers in the top 10 compared to last year are Amsterdam, twelfth last year and now sharing seventh place with Madrid, and Seoul jumping from 13th to tenth. Like last year, Lisbon is ninth.

Table 1: Top 20 city ranking by number of meetings organised in 2016

Rank City # Meetings in 2016 1 Paris 196 2 Vienna 186 3 Barcelona 181 4 Berlin 176 5 London 153 6 Singapore 151 7 Amsterdam 144 Madrid 144 9 Lisbon 138 10 Seoul 137 11 Prague 126 12 Bangkok 121 13 Dublin 118 14 Copenhagen 115 15 Beijing 113 16 Budapest 108 17 Buenos Aires 103 18 Stockholm 101 19 Hong Kong 99 20 Rome 96



2016 Country rankings: France climbs one place

The top 10 is made up of the same countries as last year, with some minor shift and one newcomer on a shared tenth place. U.S.A. remains number one with 934 meetings in 2016; 9 more than in 2015. Germany remains second and The United Kingdom remains third. France and Spain swap places: France is now fourth and Spain fifth. Italy and Japan remain sixth and seventh, while Japan now shares seventh place with China-P.R., which is climbing one place. The Netherlands drops one place form shared eighth to ninth and Canada remains tenth but is now joined on tenth place by Portugal, which was twelfth last year.

Table 2: Top 20 country ranking by number of meetings organised in 2016

Rank Country # Meetings in 2016 1 U.S.A. 934 2 Germany 689 3 United Kingdom 582 4 France 545 5 Spain 533 6 Italy 468 7 China-P.R. 410 Japan 410 9 Netherlands 368 10 Canada 287 Portugal 287 12 Austria 268 13 Republic of Korea 267 14 Sweden 260 15 Brazil 244 16 Australia 211 17 Poland 195 18 Belgium 194 19 Argentina 188 20 Switzerland 184

Whilst these ICCA rankings provide some evidence of a city or country's relative performance, it is only when all data on all the meetings taking place in a destination are considered - corporate, intergovernmental, non-rotating, etc - that a true, complete picture can be seen. ICCA always advises its members to collect their own statistics on all meetings they organise, and provide a full picture on their performance.

ICCA CEO Martin Sirk commented: Once again our report provides clear evidence of the resilience and long-term continued growth of the international association meetings sector. Anecdotally, we hear that it is not just the traditional association meetings business that is in a healthy state: new association-type events are being created by groups of scientists and doctors, destinations are designing and hosting their own world-class STEM meetings and festivals (science, technology, engineering, maths), online discussions are migrating to the real world of concrete face-to-face interactions, and even corporate events are evolving into community gatherings of suppliers, clients, partners, investors, users, and academics, blurring the lines between the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. The Information Revolution and Knowledge Economy are experiencing continuing exponential growth, so its hardly surprising that the entire association meetings community is responding in such a dynamic fashion. Traditional association meetings are growing strongly, but they are definitely no longer the only game in town!
12 startups from Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam have qualified to pitch their business plans to investors at the Mekong Tourism Forum, 6 June in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. Industry experts selected the 12 startups from more than 250 applications spanning travel technology solutions, traditional tourism products, hospitality projects and social enterprises.

All 12 attended a three-day training and evaluation program, 5-7 May in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where experts from Amadeus Next, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Buffalo Tours (TMG), Clickable Vietnam, Entrepid Advisors, Gobi Ventures, the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), and Triip.me mentored the startups.

Mekong Innovative Startup Tourism (MIST) accelerator program co-creator Jens Thraenhart, executive director of MTCO, explained that it is critical in today's competitive and fast changing travel and tourism landscape to integrate innovation and startups into tourism development planning. MTCO is currently the only regional tourism organization that incorporates startups into its tourism strategy development process.

Startups qualifying for the Mekong Tourism Forum Investor Showcase include:

Artisan Origins by TAEC  Lao PDR: Artisan Origins offers authentic, high quality crafts from rural ethnic communities in Lao PDR, a cafe and information center about visiting handicraft communities, and displays about the ethnic groups, cultural context and techniques demonstrated through the crafts.

Bayo  Vietnam: Bayos mission is to help Vietnamese make the best travel decisions by helping them find the right travel information, right suppliers, right products and prices, and to transact with local suppliers easily.

BookMeBus  Cambodia: BookMeBus connects travelers and bus operators in real time, helping bus companies fill their seats and users find the most cost-effective ways to easily get around the region.

CamboTicket  Cambodia: CamboTicket aggregates bus, ferry and private taxi bookings around Cambodia and Laos into one platform, creating an even playing field for over 40 operators.

I Love Asia  Vietnam: I Love Asia offers women-led motorbike tours of Hoi An and Hue while supporting projects for disadvantaged communities in the cities where they operate.

Dichung  Vietnam: Dichung uses technology to promote low-impact rideshare transportation options, giving drivers the chance to trade free seats in their vehicles, and working with taxi companies to develop vanpools.

Chameleon City  Vietnam: Chameleon City is an on-demand chat-based service providing travel and lifestyle answers from local experts, 24/7.

ezStay  Myanmar: ezStay offers hotel reviews and instant booking confirmation, including for hotels and guesthouses without an online presence, broadening and simplifying accommodation bookings for travelers in Myanmar.

GoP  Myanmar: GoP is an online tour platform amassing providers and options into one place, offering high-quality service, reliable bookings and instant confirmation.

GuideInsider  Cambodia: GuideInsider offers comprehensive in-country guidance on local sights and activities, including history, opening times, available tour guides, possible tour packages and user reviews.

Ma Te Sai  Lao PDR: Ma Te Sai preserves cultural heritages while developing skills and offering employment options for youth in Nambak through tourism to unique TaiLue villages via a multipurpose information center and roadside cafe.

Morning Rooms  Vietnam: Morning Rooms is Vietnams largest budget hotel network, helping economical tourists find the right quality rooms for the price they need.

Qualifying MIST startups will present their business plans to media, investors and an expert judging panel. Four will be awarded innovation grants of $7,000-$10,000 USD
The head of Louisiana's largest and most influential anti-abortion group said Monday his organization intends to push the Legislature to not give up any ground from the state's strict ban on abortion and make the law even stricter by removing one 
Policy leaders, statisticians, academicians and private sector will convene in Manila, The Philippines, on 21 - 24 June 2017, to discuss new methodologies to measure the full impacts of tourism. The 6th edition of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) International Conference on Statistics, an official event of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, will address the topic of Measuring Sustainable Tourism.

Supported by the United Nations Statistics Division, the UNWTO initiative Towards a Statistical Framework for Measuring Sustainable Tourism (MST) underlines the need to measure the full effects of the tourism sector. The UNWTO International Conference to be held in Manila will serve as a platform to discuss the first draft of the MST framework and its future implementation.

The Philippines has become a reference in the region with regard to tourism measurement and a role model in the development of effective inter-institutional collaboration to develop tourism statistics. The commitment of the country, shown in the development of the Tourism Satellite Account framework, explains the decision to host the discussion on the MST initiative.

A Ministerial Roundtable will inaugurate the Conference in order to align efforts to advocate among governments the relevance of integrated and reliable data to manage and promote a more sustainable tourism sector. Afterwards, a Panel of Statistical Institutes will provide the opportunity to share experiences and practices implemented at global, regional and national level.

Other technical sessions will focus on understanding data demands, the link between the economic, the environmental and the social dimensions of sustainable tourism, including job creation, sub-national measurement, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators, and data sources including big data.

Besides policy leaders, statistical experts and private sector, representatives from international organizations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and Eurostat will also contribute to the discussions.
The Etihad Aviation Group Board of Directors announced two appoitments: its new group CEO and CFO. James Hogan, current President and Group CEO, and James Rigney, current CFO, will leave the company on 1 July 2017.

The Etihad Aviation Group Board of Directors appointed Ray Gammell as interim Group CEO.

Consistent with the companys leadership transition plan, Gammell will assume full management responsibilities from today. Gammell is Etihad Aviation Groups current Chief People & Performance Officer and has been a member of the Executive Leadership since joining the business in 2009, where he has led the creation of a performance culture across the group.

A parallel handover will occur as Ricky Thirion assumes full responsibilities of the Group CFO, James Rigney, who will also leave the company on 1 July 2017. Thirion joined Etihad Airways in 2007 and is the current SVP Group Treasurer.

Ray Gammell was appointed as Interim Group Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways Group in May 2017 from his position of Group Chief People and Performance Officer.

He joined Etihad in 2009 as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, developing and leading the companys people strategy to create a performance driven culture, enabling the growth of the business and positioning Etihad as one of the most attractive employers globally and in EMEA.

Ray has been responsible for driving the award-winning Emiratisation strategy contributing to the total Emirati workforce of over 3,000 which is the largest nationality among the 154 nationalities at Etihad Aviation Group.

Ray has 20 plus years leadership experience, gained internationally across the technology, financial and government sectors. He has held executive positions for the Intel Corporation in the US and Ireland, Royal Bank of Scotland, and was an officer in the Irish Armed Forces. He has been a Chief Officer at Etihad Airways for over 8 years.

Ray is a chartered fellow at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and holds a Masters Degree from University College Dublin.

Ricky Thirion has overseen the Group Treasury of Etihad since July 2007. His areas of responsibility cover the treasury, corporate and structured finance, tax, insurance, payment solutions and fraud management, as well as the property and infrastructure portfolio.

Prior to Etihad, Ricky held roles as Group Treasurer at South African Airways and Managing Director in the Standard Bank Group.

Ricky holds a Masters Degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering and is an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK).
Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first!

We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you.

Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers.

As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup.

We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily.
The Daily Nonpareil is gathering a list of ways to help the family of fallen Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge, who died in the line of duty last week, as well as injured Deputy Pat Morgan and carjacking victim Cpl. Jerry Brittain, who have both been released from an Omaha hospital.

Heres how you can help:

 A memorial fund has been set up to assist Burbridges wife and three children, according to the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office. Donations can be made at any Treynor State Bank location care of The Mark Burbridge Memorial Fund.

TS Bank has three locations in Council Bluffs, along with locations in Treynor, Macedonia, Atlantic and Corning. Online donations can be made via PayPal using the email address markburbridge7810@gmail.com.

The Treynor State Bank and the PayPal account are the only Burbridge family-approved donation venues, the Sheriffs Office said.

 A donation account at Police Federal Credit Union of Omaha has been established for Cpl. Brittain, a corrections officer in Omaha. Contributions to Brittains fund can be mailed to the banks main office at Police Federal Credit Union of Omaha, 3003 South 82nd Ave., Omaha, NE 68124.

 Strength Behind the Blue Omaha and the Omaha Food Truck Association invites the public to sign a condolence card for Burbridges family and a get-well card for Morgan from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 11 at the Gene Leahy Mall in downtown Omaha.

Donations of $5 or more will be split between the memorial fund and nonprofits backed by Strength Behind the Blue Omaha, the spouses organization for the Omaha Police Department. Many food trucks will donate a portion of their proceeds to the families.

We wish to show them they have a network of blue supporters right across the river, according to a Facebook event post. We will have large cards on hand, or you are free to drop off one of your own.

 Butik, a boutique at 320 East Coolbaugh St. in Red Oak, will host a Back The Blue for Burbridge craft class from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on May 21 with all proceeds supporting Burbridges family.

Participants can create a burlap door hanger for $30, an American flag for $40 or a monogram, Thin Blue Line or We Back The Blue craft for $40. Reservations are required, but the number of people that can attend is unlimited. For more information or to RSVP, call 712-623-8885.

 The Crescent Fire Department will donate the proceeds from its monthly pancake feed in May to the Burbridge and Morgan families. The fire department hosts a breakfast the third Sunday of the month during eight months out of the year.

The pancake feed will be held from 8 a.m. until noon on May 21. It will benefit the deputies families. The cost is $6 for adults, $3 for kids 5 to 12 and free for kids 4 and younger.

 Area Hy-Vee stores are selling a T-shirt honoring Burbridge at area stores. The shirts can also be purchased at goo.gl/7RRlE6. Proceeds will benefit Burbridges family.

 A benefit for Brittain will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 25 at the Omaha Police Officers Association Hall, 13445 Cryer Ave., in Omaha. A hamburger, hotdog, pasta side, bag of chips, and a can of soda will be served for a $10 donation. There will also be a silent auction.

Anyone planning an event to support Burbridges families, or those of Morgan or Brittain, is encouraged to email details  including contact information for verification  to The Nonpareils newsroom at editorial@nonpareilonline.com.
As Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge was laid to rest Monday, the man accused of killing him is awaiting extradition back to Iowa to face a charge of first-degree murder.

Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, 24, is accused of killing Burbridge May 1 at the Pottawattamie County Jail in an attempt to escape custody after being sentenced earlier that day to 45 years for manslaughter. Correa-Carmenaty is also charged with shooting a second deputy, Patrick Morgan, who has since been released from the hospital.

In addition, Correa-Carmenaty faces charges of attempted murder for allegedly shooting a man while trying to carjack him, and then kidnapping a woman and making her drive him to Omaha. The attempted carjacking victim, Jerry Brittain of Council Bluffs, a corrections officer in Omaha, has since been released from the hospital. The kidnapped woman, who has declined to speak with the media, was not injured during her time with Correa-Carmenaty.

The events of May 1 began at 11 a.m. Correa-Carmenaty was being returned to jail when he attacked Burbridge and Morgan, getting one of the deputys firearms and shooting them both, according to authorities. Burbridge died from his wounds an hour later.

Correa-Carmenaty is accused of stealing the prison van and driving it through the garage door. At the intersection of North 16th Street and Big Lake Road, he attempted to carjack Brittain at gunpoint. Brittain resisted and was shot by Correa-Carmenaty, police said.

Correa-Carmenaty got back in the van, drove to the intersection of North 25th Street and Avenue I where he carjacked the woman and drove to Omaha.

After dropping her off at a liquor store, police closed in on Correa-Carmenaty, eventually capturing him near Cuming Street and I-480.

As of Monday, Correa-Carmenaty was still being held in the Douglas County Jail. He will be held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, within a week, Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew said Friday.

Drew said his staff has housed people accused of murder before, and Correa-Carmenaty should be treated like any other inmate.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said Correa-Carmenaty is being held elsewhere due to the liability if the suspect was hurt while incarcerated. Another reason is the possible effect he could have on jail personnel close to Burbridge or Morgan.

Its not conducive to their healing process to have to feed and care for and secure the inmate under these circumstances, Wilber said Thursday.

He is expected to be in court later this week to face his charges, Wilber said. Unless Correa-Carmenaty waives his right to a speedy trial, the case would go to trial by mid-August, Wilber said.

The Douglas County Attorneys Office has dismissed the charges it filed against Correa-Carmenaty so he could be returned to Iowa. The office has the option to refile the charges within three years.

The Nebraska charges are kidnapping, use of a firearm to commit a felony, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. Correa-Carmenatys bail on those charges was $10 million.

Burbridges funeral on Monday was held at the Mid-America Center, with thousands in attendance, including many law enforcement officers who came to pay their respects. The funeral followed a public visitation over the weekend.

 BH News Service contributed to this report.
In T-shirts and shorts or church clothes, visitors arrived Sunday to pay their final respects to Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge.

The snap of the American flags surrounding the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home and the whoosh of cars rushing past were the only sounds as a steady stream of mourners made the solemn march at the public visitation, some starting as early as 8 a.m.

Im glad to see so many people rallying around the family, said Shea Fiedler of Underwood. We have a couple of people in law enforcement in our family, and I know that they do a lot of work that really goes unnoticed.

Burbridge died May 1 after he was shot during an escape at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Burbridge and a fellow deputy, Pat Morgan, had driven a convicted killer, Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, and another inmate back to the jail when Correa-Carmenaty attacked them in the jail garage and shot them both. He also shot a civilian a short while later while attempting a carjacking, authorities said. The inmate was eventually captured in Omaha.

Morgan and the civilian, Jerry Brittain, have since been released from the hospital.

The slaying hit close to home for Denise (Smith) Kain of Council Bluffs. She went to school in Missouri Valley with Burbridges father, who died in June in a car crash.

Kain and her husband, Donald, spent more than an hour in the funeral home. She wiped away a few tears talking about the family she respects so much.

We all know that (law enforcement) does an amazing job, and they put their lives on the line every day, she said. But it even amazes me to see the kind of support here. This community has come together.

Several hundred people attended the visitation, according to a representative of the funeral home.

Kim Mitchell and her daughter, Jessie Moore of Council Bluffs, who dont have a car, walked about 2 miles to pay their respects.

Mitchell said she works at Menards and talks to a lot of the deputies and Council Bluffs police officers there. She and Moore brought three condolence cards, one for the family, one from their church and one for the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office personnel.

Im glad so many folks are showing their support because (law enforcement) deserves it, Mitchell said. It was great how people came out for (Omaha Police Officer) Kerrie Orozcos funeral. I know theyll do it again tomorrow.

Jesse Fitch, 78, of Council Bluffs thought it was important to be there because as a deputy, Burbridge was doing Gods work.

Law enforcement officers, are here for our defense, he said. That is of the Lord, you know, because it gives stability to the neighborhood, and all people.

Jeanie and Bill Botos of Missouri Valley have noticed large numbers of American flags with blue lines for law enforcement, banners and signs honoring Burbridge.

Its all anyone is talking about, Bill Botos said. The least we can do is show our respect.

Sundays visitation was for the general public and followed one on Saturday that was for law enforcement. Still, more law officers turned out Sunday, too.

Deputies from multiple agencies attending on Sunday included those from Sioux and Woodbury Counties in Iowa and Hennepin County (Minneapolis) in Minnesota. Officers from the Chicago Police Department were also there.

At the Pottawattamie County Jail, less than a mile from the funeral home, a memorial continued to grow around a Sheriffs Office cruiser. Flowers, American flags, handwritten notes, stuffed animals and balloons testified to an outpouring of community support.

Donna Hutzell of Omaha and her grandson, Austin Hutzell, walked slowly around the tribute to the 43-year-old deputy.

The support is unbelievable, she said in soft voice. There are so many beautiful things that people have left here. Look at that handmade wooden cross, and there are several of them.

Austin used a cellphone to make a video for his grandmother. He stopped at a poster of hand prints placed on the back of the vehicle by Heartland Child Development.

Each hand had the name of a child next to it. On the other side of the vehicle was a poster from Treynor (Iowa) High School, signed by the students.

I got it, Austin told his grandmother as she hugged him close. I got the video for you.

Hutzell said she thinks the show of community support will be appreciated by the Burbridge family  in time.

I dont think anything can help their heartbreak right now, she said. In time it might. I hope so for their sake.
Slain Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridges loved ones were joined by thousands of law enforcement officers Monday at his funeral inside the Mid-America Center a week after he died in the line of duty.

Burbridges coffin was draped with an American flag as six deputies serving as pallbearers brought him forward. The sound of bagpipes and drums filled the arena before Burbridges children recalled the deputy people knew and the father they loved.

Afterward, a procession of more than 1,000 cars escorted Burbridge to the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home after passing some of his favorite places  including Quaker Steak & Lube, the casinos and the Pottawattamie County Courthouse, where Burbridge reported for duty each day. The six-mile procession route was lined on both sides by those holding American flags, flags with a blue strip in support of law enforcement and signs thanking Burbridge for his service and sacrifice.

At the funeral, members of law enforcement stepped, one by one, before the casket to salute the fallen officer before taking their seats.

The Rev. Michael Harvey of Carson Presbyterian Church in Carson, Nebraska, began the ceremony by stating it was encouraging to see such an outpouring of support from the community for those affected by this tragedy.

My wife and I had the privilege to attend the memorial site Friday evening. A steady stream of well-wishers were there. It was a blessing, he said. To all the men and women representing law enforcement here today, we thank you for what you do.

Harvey spoke on how the law establishes order and peace within society  and those who devote their lives in service of upholding the law are blessed.

Thank you are the only words that seem appropriate, he said. We thank you and pray for you.

Harvey recalled various moments Burbridge  called by many a constant joker and an excellent friend  would make someone laugh or obsess about his love of all things automotive.

However, Burbridge always took his duty seriously, treating everyone with respect and kindness, Harvey said.

Burbridges son, daughter and stepdaughter reflected on the man they called dad. His stepdaughter, Kelsey Brant, said since she was 4-years-old, Burbridge was the man she needed in her life and that he did the most to win her over the minute he met her.

He ended up being one of the biggest parts of my life, she said tearfully.

His son, Kaleb, read the letter he left in his fathers casket.

I love you. Ill miss you till the day I die, he said.

Burbridges daughter, Karley, said the man everyone called a hero was also a hero to her, adding that he protected her from monsters under the bed and those who walk the streets.

Thank you. I miss you and I love you, dad, she said.

After Amazing Grace, sung by Karl Jacoby with Belinda Jacoby on piano, the Rev. Michael Kalstrup, of Fellowship Church in Council Bluffs, spoke about the song and its meaning, written by John Newton in 1779.

As we go from this place today, may His grace sustain our lives, Kalstrup said.

Outside, hundreds stood with flags billowing in the wind on a sunny day as the coffin was placed in the hearse to be taken to the funeral home. The crack of rifles from the 21 gun salute broke the silence before Taps was played. The flag that covered the coffin was folded and given to Burbridges family before Amazing Grace, played on the bagpipes.

The lights on each patrol car and motorcycle in the procession lit up red and blue before pulling away, following Burbridge to the funeral home.

Before the casket was moved from the MAC, the final call from dispatch to Burbridge was played, asking for 78-10 his call sign three times to respond.

Theres no answer from 78-10. He answered his final call on May 1, 2017. Deputy Burbridge, your law enforcement brothers and sisters will watch over your family. Please rest in eternal peace.
Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Jason Burbridge, 43, of Council Bluffs, died in the line of duty on May 1.

He was born Aug. 26, 1973, to the late John and Donna Burbridge.

Burbridge grew up in California Junction and graduated in 1991 from Missouri Valley High School.

He began life as a mechanic before attending the Iowa Law Enforcement Academys 180th Basic Training Class. He became a Missouri Valley police officer in 2000.

He joined the Denison Police Department before being hired at the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office in 2005 working road patrol, investigations and eventually civil and court security.

Mark Burbridges friends and family said he loved to work on cars, motorcycles, camp, fish and make jokes. He was a constant font of humor and the occasional practical joke.

He is survived by his wife Jessica, daughter Karley, son Kaleb, stepdaughter Kelsey Brant, mother Donna, brother Michael and wife Julie, brother Christopher, sister Julie and husband Greg and a host of family and friends.















Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy
Five Iowa law enforcement offices killed in the line of duty were honored Friday during the State of Iowas Peace Officer Memorial Ceremony in Des Moines.

Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds attended the ceremony at the Capitol grounds.

They recognized four fallen officers, according to a release;

 Special Agent Thomas P. Griffin, Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, E.O.W. Nov. 15, 1923

 Sgt. Shawn Glenn Miller, West Des Moines Police Department, E.O.W. Aug. 3, 2016

 Police Ofc. Justin Scott Martin, Urbandale Police Department, E.O.W. Nov. 2, 2016

 Sgt. Anthony David Beminio, Des Moines Police Department, E.O.W. Nov. 2, 2016

In addition, the ceremony paid respects to Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge, who died last week in a shooting at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Branstad and Reynolds attended Burbridges funeral Monday in Council Bluffs.

The Des Moines Register reported that Fridays event in Des Moines included a moment of silence for Burbridge.

Words cant convey our deepest condolences, Branstad said, according to The Register.

National Police Week begins May 15, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a release.

The Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County Police Week Memorial Service will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. May 18. Members of the Council Bluffs Police Department, Iowa State Patrol and Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office, as well as other local law enforcement agencies, will be in attendance.

The event will take place in front of the Pottawattamie County Courthouse at 6:30 p.m. followed up with a ceremony and reception inside St. John Lutheran Church, 633 Willow Ave.

The event is free and open to the public.
Life is a series of unfinished projects.

Each day, we wake up. We have our own routines and make plans to adapt those for whatever changes that may be in the hours ahead.

We begin projects, hoping to finish them within a predicatible amount of time: an hour, a day, maybe a week.

Sometimes, there are changes to our routines that we cant anticipate.

Those unplanned changes could be minor inconveniences that make insignificant alterations to our day. Or they could be so much more.

And sometimes, we are powerless to do anything to stop those unwanted changes. Those unwanted changes might mean our unfinished projects will remain unfinished.

Mark Burbridge was a man of unfinished projects. The Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy, who was killed in the line of duty on May 1, was also a husband, father, son and friend.

During his funeral on Monday, his family told an audience at the Mid-America Center that he had often had many unfinished projects. It could be a car he was working on or something else he was tinkering with.

No doubt, Deputy Burbridge had other unfinished projects: plans that most likely involved special times with his children, his wife, Jessica, or his family.

During the service, his son, Kaleb, said his father and planned to do things like to share Kalebs first beer with him and go four-wheeling. Like any proud parent, he probably planned to be there for his childrens graduation ceremonies and weddings.

There were probably plans for he and Jessica to be there to welcome their grandchildren into the world, and to spend their lives growing old together. There would have been family time, time spent with beloved pets, classic cars and sharing smiles and laughter with friends.

Though with the time he had, Mark Burbridge lived. He took Kaleb to Hooters for his 10th birthday. He did things like make Ovaltine shakes and watch American Pickers with his daughter Karley every Wednesday night. When he met, fell in love with and married Jessica, he embraced his role as a stepfather to his other daughter, Kelsey. He loved his dogs, he loved food and travel. He loved life.

When it comes to the unfinished projects in our lives, we always assume there will be time to finish each one and begin a another.

Time is both beautiful and cruel in this way. When we have those wonderful times, the ones that we store in our memories and carry with us in our hearts, we cherish them.

But we also often take time for granted, and therein lay the cruelty. We forget  or perhaps choose not to think about  that our time on Earth is not an absolute.

Like us, Mark Burbridge had his own daily routines. He had his plans and unfinished projects.

In our lives, there will always be unfinished projects and changes to our routines and plans. But when the sun sets, it is what we did with our time that will carry on.

Embrace time. Love your spouse, hug your children, laugh with your family, embrace your friends.

Above all, use your time to really live.
The following editorial appeared May 3 in The Omaha World-Herald.

Slain Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge, 43, did one of the most underappreciated jobs in law enforcement.

He, like hundreds of other sheriffs deputies across Nebraska and western Iowa, routinely escorted jailed inmates to and from court.

Law enforcement officers who work in and around courts say one of the jobs more dangerous parts comes right after a sentencing.

Most inmates are on their best behavior during trial because they want to convince a jury or judge of their innocence.

But Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, 24, had just been sentenced to 45 years in prison Monday morning, after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2016 slaying of Anthony J. Walker.

He knew he would have to wait nearly three decades before being considered for parole. Correa-Carmenaty was far from contrite.

He told his victims family at the sentencing that Walker died because he was an idiot.

So Burbridge and fellow Deputy Pat Morgan, 59, knew they were driving a dangerous man back to the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Investigators will unearth what happened next. Correa-Carmenaty allegedly got his hands on a deputys gun after assaulting Burbridge with a homemade knife.

Officials say he shot both deputies, critically injuring Burbridge, who died an hour later, and seriously injuring Morgan.

Correa-Carmenaty allegedly shot another man and kidnapped a woman before he was captured across the Missouri River in Omaha.

But his story isnt what matters.

Today we should honor the deputy who gave his life in public service so that inmates, guilty or not, could have their day in court.

Courthouse and jail security are not the glamour jobs of law enforcement. But theyre just as important to public safety as street patrol and homicide investigations  and often as dangerous. The officers who take on those assignments are just as worthy of our thanks.

Mark Burbridge died much as Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco did in May 2015: while performing a routine function of his job.

And just as Omaha residents grieved the loss of Orozco, residents of Pottawattamie County now grieve the loss of Burbridge.

We lost one officer today, Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker said of Burbridge. Excellent man. Were going to miss him.
A man who slipped his son a marijuana cigarette in the Lincoln County Detention Center pleaded guilty in Lincoln County District Court on Monday.

Kevin Greer, 57, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced to 12 months probation for attempted possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Prosecutors said Greer was visiting his son Travis, a 29-year-old inmate from the Nebraska Department of Corrections, at the jail in October.

Through security cameras, jail staff watched Kevin Greer pass Travis Greer an object, which was later found to be a marijuana cigarette.

Jeff Courtney, Kevin Greers attorney, said Greer was attempting to help his son with his anxiety problems. As soon as Greer learned there was a warrant for his arrest, he drove to North Platte and turned himself in, Courtney said.

He told an arresting deputy that what he did was stupid, Courtney said.

Deputy County Attorney Angela Franz said Greers remorse prompted her sentencing recommendation, which Judge Donald Rowlands went along with.

Also in court Monday:

 A man charged with shooting another man in the head pleaded not guilty to use of a firearm to commit of a felony, first-degree assault and possession of a stolen firearm.

Cristian Veras attorney, Amanda Speichert, asked if Vera, 19, could have his bail lowered from $250,000. She told the court that the other man has been released from the hospital and that Vera is willing to follow any court orders to avoid him.

The victim was shot in the head, Deputy County Attorney Tanya Roberts-Connick said. Its a miracle hes actually alive.

The bail reduction was denied.

 A man pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder in connection with a stabbing.

Justin Vieyra, 36, also pleaded not guilty to use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, first-degree false imprisonment, strangulation and third-degree domestic assault.

Police arrested Vieyra after his ex-girlfriend reported that he had locked her inside his home, threw a chair at her and hit her with it, and placed her in a chokehold when she tried to escape to his bathroom. The woman reported that Vieyra told her he would kill her boyfriend if he came to her rescue, and when her boyfriend did, Vieyra stabbed him through the hole, police said at the time.

Vieyra will appear again July 10.

 A man accused of stealing a vehicle in North Platte pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony theft by receiving.

Daniel Founds, 30, also pleaded not guilty to his second offense of carrying a concealed weapon.

Speichert, who sat in for Founds attorney Kent Florom, asked that Founds $12,500 bail be lowered because he works on floors part-time and struggles financially.

Deputy County Attorney Kortnei Hoeft objected, saying that not only is Founds not from North Platte, but has started a crime spree since moving here in January.

Ive got a whole page of priors in just this year alone, she said.

The bail reduction was denied.

 Ann Cox, 43, was sentenced to 151 days in jail and given credit for 151 days served, as well as 36 months probation, for abuse of a vulnerable adult. Cox was arrested after convincing a man with developmental disabilities to take her to several cash advance locations and take out $325.

 James Kohl, 29, was sentenced to 1  to three years in prison and given credit for 181 days served, after failing the conditions of drug court after an original burglary charge.

Kohls attorney, Speichert, said Kohl had stayed off drugs during his time in drug court, but failed the terms by failing to make meetings due to social struggles.

 Howard Knapp, 68, pleaded guilty to his fourth DUI. Both defense and prosecuting attorneys said Knapp has already spent time in treatment, and he was sentenced to two years probation with 90 days of jail up front, and extensive treatment to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

 A man accused of hitting another man with a clothing iron in what police call a drug deal gone bad pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of assault on a peace officer or health care professional.

Corey Havens, 28, entered the same plea to two counts of assault on a peace officer or health care professional.

He entered the same plea in another case to use of a firearm to commit a felony, being a felon in possession of a firearm, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, second-degree assault, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and terroristic threats.

In March, North Platte police found a man beaten in a North Platte apartment. Police later said Havens pushed a door against them to try to keep them out. A psychological evaluation was ordered for Havens, and a jury trial was scheduled for July 18. Attorneys and Judge Richard Birch said the case may be resolved with a plea deal before then.

 Aaron Brannigan, 37, was sentenced to three years of probation for theft, $1,500-$5,000. Prosecutors said Brannigan didnt return a vehicle he rented from a car rental service.

 Rick Brannigan, 47, pleaded no contest to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He will be sentenced July 10.

 Rodney Heinrichs, 25, was sentenced to 240 days in jail and given credit for 20 days for his third DUI.
The Coalition Government is investing a further $5 million to support an additional 1000 places in the Beyond the Broncos Girls Academy for Indigenous girls in northern New South Wales and southern and western Queensland.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, said the funding would also provide continued support for the existing 300 places already part of the programme.

"The Beyond the Broncos Girls Academy is a great programme that provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls with an opportunity to be mentored and encourages increased school attendance while building leadership skills and developing career pathways to further education and employment," Minister Scullion said.

"Investing in the future of in women and girls has a significant benefit not only to them as individuals but also for their family and broader community.

"This programme is a great example of how the Coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women."

Federal Member for Brisbane, Trevor Evans, said he was proud to represent a sporting club that provided so much to the community.

"The Broncos have a strong history of giving back to the people that have supported and barracked for them, and the Beyond the Broncos Girls Academy is just one of many important programmes they run," Mr Evans said.

Brisbane Broncos Chief Executive Officer, Paul White, said the announcement by Minister Scullion and the Federal Government was a wonderful affirmation of the Beyond the Broncos Girls Academy programme.

"The club is very proud of the work the program is doing to empower young women both academically and in their general lives, and is looking forward to partnering with the Government to exponentially expand those opportunities," Mr White said.

This story and video first appeard on broncos.com.au
Sharks prop Andrew Fifita says the specially-designed jersey he'll wear for Indigenous Round is just as significant as the green and gold jumper he reclaimed last week.

For the first time in history, all 16 NRL clubs will wear their Indigenous jerseys in the same round, with the Sharks set to don a jersey designed by Sutherland Shire Elder Aunty Deanna Schreiber that incorporates the local totem  a whale  on the front.

Fifita's maternal grandfather was born in Wagga Wagga and the 27-year-old is keen to do the Wiradjuri people proud against local rivals the Dragons on Friday night.

"This jersey means a lot to everyone, but especially the Indigenous people of this land so to have all 16 teams recognise their culture means a lot," Fifita told NRL.com.

"For me, I'll be wearing my heart on my sleeve this weekend. It's not a rep jersey, but it's a first-grade jersey that holds special meaning.

"I'm a proud Indigenous man and I think you see that every year when I play for the All Stars. You'll see it again this week and I really can't wait to represent my people, my family and friends."



Fantasy Widget

[2017] Fifita Andrew - Sharks



More Url:



Fifita has made a significant contribution to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Sydney with the prop forward helping raise awareness for mental health and facilitating workshops for at-risk youths.

His work hasn't been limited to the city, with the Indigenous All Star making regular trips to the country to brighten the lives of those in need.

Just last year, Fifita took the premiership trophy to schools across the Riverina to let students have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close and personal to rugby league's Holy Grail.

"I always go back to Griffith and I do plenty of work with Indigenous people out there," he said.

"I had a chance last year to take the trophy back home after the grand final. I did a big tour of the Riverina and had the chance to get out to Leeton and Griffith and take the trophy to all the schools in the area.

"There are people in those remote areas who will never have the chance to get that close to a grand final trophy. It wasn't a replica  this was the actual grand final trophy  so I was thankful to the club that they gave me the chance to take the trophy back home and tour it around.

"There were a few teachers who didn't believe me when I told them it was the real one. They were just stoked to be near it.

"At that stage it was still pretty raw with me that we'd won the grand final so I was still embracing the moment. To then take it back home and see the faces of all the kids made it all real."



Why Indigenous Round matters

NRL Indigenous Round jerseys

NRL and RECOGNISE stand together

French eyes Indigenous Round return


You are clearly a super-user of NUVO.net. Thats a good thing. It means you depend on independent and local news sources to keep you informed. You are a smart person.



Coincidentally, independent and local news sources depend on you too. Youve read 25 articles this month and now, wed like you to be join our mission and become a NUVO Supporter. For as little as $4 a month, you can keep us alive and fighting -- and can have unlimited access to the independent news that cant be found anywhere else.
A U.S. Department of Labor official urged local business people to take advantage of help the federal agency offers in finding qualified employees at a Gary Chamber of Commerce meeting at the U.S. Steel Yard Monday.

Christine Quinn, regional administrator of the department's Employment and Training Administration for the Region 5 Chicago office, said her agency oversees funds that go to local job centers like WorkOne that match job seekers to hiring companies.

"In the community we help the employers find the skilled workers they need, and help the employees find the job training they need," she said. "It's making that connection. Unfortunately, what we often find is that people aren't aware there's that resource out there. They don't know where to make the connections, they don't know where to send people, they don't know where to find the help they need."

New legislation focuses on what employers need and the pipeline of talent they need in the future, Quinn said. The Jobs for America's Graduates program works to develop the workforce of tomorrow by preventing drops-outs, keeping young people in school and encouraging them to further their education or pursue work-based learning.

"Our emphasis now is paying more attention to on-the-job training or apprenticeships," Quinn said. "How do we create new apprenticeships? How do we make sure employers have who they need? How can you build your own workforce? Employers direct where we're putting our resources."

The agency also seeks to promote entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment. It tries to connect job seekers to other federal resources, such as the U.S. Small Business Administration.

"When people lose their jobs, first of all they're going to go through the cycle of this happened to me and I'm angry," she said. "Well, what's next? What if there aren't jobs in the areas where they have skills? Well, entrepreneurship is now looked at as an opportunity. How can they start small businesses?"

The Department of Labor has helped many Gary residents over the years, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said.

"You might not have a checkbook today, but the Department of Labor's impact has been felt over and over again in a community like ours," she said. "The city has seen the decline of manufacturing but we still have people and residents who want to work, who want to support their families. It means an awful lot."

Northwest Indiana loses a lot of employees who commute to Chicago but also is lagging behind the nation in hiring in some employment sectors, said Linda Woloshansky, president and chief executive officer of The Valparaiso-based Center for Workforce Innovations. The Region for instance has not seen the recent job gains in construction that the rest of the country has.

"When major employers like the steel mills start investing more in projects and machinery, that will change," she said. "Infrastructure funding could help. But it's a little different in Northwest Indiana than the rest of the country."
GARY  The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority has filed a federal lawsuit against Honeywell International Inc. to recoup the cost of addressing contamination of groundwater on its property and in a ditch that flows into the Grand Calumet River.

The contamination  described as "petroleum constituents and volatile organic compounds"  emanated from a 4.1-acre site adjacent to the airport's main runway, according to the lawsuit, filed March 1 in U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana.

The site was formerly a hazardous waste disposal facility owned and operated by Conservation Chemical Co. of Illinois. The Airport Authority claims Honeywell and its subsidiary, Universal Oil Products, as customers of the former Conservation Chemical, bear responsibility for ongoing cleanup work.

Honeywell and Universal "generated and sent large quantities of hazardous substances to the (Conservation Chemical) site," the lawsuit claims, and the substances "are among those that have migrated onto the airport's property, resulting in the necessity of airport's cleanup efforts with respect to the Boeing Ditch and the groundwater on its property."

Boeing Ditch is 5,700 feet long and empties into the Grand Calumet after exiting airport property.

The airport has spent about $500,000 addressing the contamination, according to the lawsuit, and has incurred costs "capping the entire CCCI site to prevent additional offsite migration of contamination." The airport expects to spend "in excess of $2 million" more on the project.

Conservation Chemical owned the site from 1967 until 1985. Honeywell participated in some early remediation efforts as one of several "potentially responsible parties," as deemed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But the work did not extend south of the Conservation Chemical site itself, according to the airport's complaint. It was only in 2014, when the airport was undertaking its main runway extension project, that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management ordered it to address further contamination.

Honeywell filed a motion to dismiss the case April 24, claiming it had fulfilled its obligations at the airport during the earlier remediation efforts.

The New Jersey-based company issued the following statement Monday: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Honeywell and 14 other parties conducted an extensive cleanup of a portion of the airports property under an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Since we conducted this cleanup, the law protects us from the lawsuits claims. We will vigorously defend this lawsuit.

Federal Magistrate Paul Cherry has given the Airport Authority until June 7 to respond to Honeywell's motion to dismiss.

The Airport Authority Board approved filing the lawsuit at an executive session earlier this year, and was scheduled to publicly ratify that vote Monday. The lack of a quorum of members delayed that vote.
GARY  More than 150 people came out earlier this week to ask questions about the state takeover of the Gary Community School Corp.

State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Merrillville, and other members of the Gary legislative delegation hosted the meeting to better explain Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 567.

SEA 567 is an act that addresses the fiscal, academic and administrative issues that the Gary Community School Corp. has been facing for many years, Melton said.

This is the first time in the state's history Indiana has chosen to take over a school district. The legislation addresses issues in Gary and the Muncie Community School Corp. in Muncie.

The goal of the new law is to finally resolve the school corporation's late vendor payments, delayed payrolls, annual operating deficit and $101 million debt burden.

The meeting was to serve as a precursor for another meeting scheduled for Monday, hosted by the Distressed Unit Appeals Board in Gary. State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said the public's questions would be presented to members of DUAB on Monday who would better be able to answer them.

Per the new law, the state-appointed emergency fiscal manager will supersede the elected School Board for up to five years.

Melton went through the legislation point by point. He said the school district will have a Fiscal Management Board, with members appointed by the school trustees, Gary mayor and state superintendent of public instruction. That board will advise the emergency manager, but his or her decisions are only subject to approval by the Distressed Unit Appeals Board.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who was at the meeting, said she appointed retired Gary Sen. Earline Rogers, who is an experienced educator and legislator.

Rogers said she welcomed state leaders being in Gary, and seeing the expertise in the city.

Members of the audience had dozens of questions, including: who will pay for the emergency manager and chief academic officer, will salaries be cut, will schools be closed, what will be the structure of the administration, and will the school superintendent remain in office.

Smith collected questions written on a card, and said the delegation of legislators would tackle some of the questions but could not answer many of them.

Smith said several other school districts around the state have financial problems, and most are going back to their community with a referendum, asking taxpayers to pay more money to support the operating budget or school construction.

Legislators told the public there had been some discussion at the state level to dissolve the Gary school corporation or merge it with another nearby corporation but local legislators fought against that.

"The initial plan was to divide us into fifths, and we heard that five school districts were contacted  Hammond, East Chicago, Merrillville, Lake Station and Lake Ridge," Smith said.

"Some couldn't take another 1,000 kids into their districts, and others didn't want us," Smith said.

Gary state Rep. Charlie Brown told the audience, "We're our own worst enemy. We have to stop going outside of the city and saying bad things about Gary and the schools."
SCHERERVILLE  An employee who was fired in March from Campagna Academy for allegedly hitting a juvenile now faces battery charges in connection with the incident, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Lamont Hartsfield, 48, last known address unknown, is accused of punching a student at Campagna in the eye following a dispute March 19 in which the child spit on a female staff member, according to court records filed May 3. The child's age is not specified in court documents, but records show he was under age 14 at the time of the incident.

The juvenile, who is a ward of the state of Indiana, was arguing at about 12:37 p.m. March 19 with a female staff member about phone privileges while hitting the walls and throwing items, court records show.

Video reviewed by police show Hartsfield and a female staff member standing in the doorway of the child's room and the the woman is speaking to someone in the room, court records show. The door slams shut at one point and Hartsfield walks away as the woman staff member continues to talk through the closed door, according to court records.

The video then shows the door reopen and the juvenile spit in the female staff member's face, court records show. Hartsfield and two other staff members enter the boy's room and can be observed, with a fourth staff member, dragging the juvenile from the room, according to court records.

The boy is actively resisting at the time, according to documents.

Hartsfield is allegedly seen on video "drawing his arm back and striking the juvenile in the face with a closed fist," court records show.

The boy was placed in a restraint, according to court records. A final report from nursing staff states that the boy "has no injury from restraint," and that he was cooperative with the assessment. A photo from a Child Protective Services case manager shows the boy with a bruised right eye, court records show.

In an interview with police, Hartsfield denied hitting the boy, saying instead the boy "was self inflicting pain."

A staff manager at Campagna told police Hartsfield was fired from the academy and a report was made with DCS. Campagna Academy, 7403 Cline Ave. in Schererville, provides residential programs, substance abuse treatment and foster care for at-risk youth.
MICHIGAN CITY  A Trail Creek man was arrested late Monday on drug and weapons charges after running from a traffic stop near Woodland Avenue and Cherry Street, Indiana State Police said.

A trooper stopped Ryan Thomas, 26, about midnight for failing to stop at a stop sign at the Michigan City intersection, police said.

Thomas exited the silver Dodge Durango he was driving and ran as the trooper approached, police said. A foot pursuit ensued in the area of Dewey Street, and Thomas was arrested, police said.

The trooper returned to the Durango and found a black, loaded Glock 9mm pistol and a clear plastic bag containing suspected marijuana on the floorboard, police said.

Two passengers, who had remained seated during the foot chase, told police they weren't aware of the gun or suspected marijuana and had just been picked up by Thomas.

Thomas also denied knowledge of the gun or suspected marijuana, police said.

The passengers were released and Thomas was taken to jail, where corrections officers found a large sum of cash on him, police said.

Thomas was expected to face charges of felon in possession of a firearm, felony dealing in marijuana, felony possession of marijuana, felony battery on law enforcement and misdemeanor counts of resisting law enforcement and handgun no permit.
INDIANAPOLIS  A top Republican fundraiser based in Schererville is putting his financial prowess to work on behalf of U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, a Munster native expected to announce later this year that he's running for U.S. Senate.

Dan Dumezich, a former state representative and past Indiana Republican Party treasurer, will serve as finance chairman for Rokita's anticipated statewide campaign.

The three-term Brownsburg congressman, and former Indiana secretary of state, said he's proud to have in Dumezich both a friend and a man who knows how to get the resources needed to win elections at the local, state and national level.

"There is no better political fundraiser in Indiana," Rokita said.

Dumezich explained that he was drawn to serve as finance chairman for Rokita because "Todd knows Hoosiers and Hoosiers know Todd."

"With a track record of fighting hard and winning statewide, a real conservative record of accomplishment and over $1.5 million already in the bank, Todd is putting together the finance team needed, if he decides to enter the Senate race, to win the Republican nomination and defeat Joe Donnelly," Dumezich said.

Rokita is likely to square off against U.S. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Shelbyville, in what could be a bruising and costly Republican primary battle for the right to take on Donnelly, the Democratic incumbent, in the Nov. 6, 2018 general election

Messer also has a GOP heavy-hitter serving his still-undeclared campaign as finance chairman: Greg Pence, of Columbus, the brother of Vice President Mike Pence, the former governor of Indiana.

Federal campaign finance records show Messer had $1.6 million in the bank as of March 31, about $70,000 more than Rokita.

However, that difference probably won't matter much in the long run as interest groups are expected to again flood Indiana with ads for and against the candidates, as they did last year when $45.9 million was spent to influence Hoosier votes in the U.S. Senate race.
Teresa Torres, the founder of two independent living centers in Merrillville and Hammond, said Friday her nonprofit organizations have been starved of funding for years because of unfair allocations by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.

Torres said the Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council, a governor-appointed board that works in tandem with FSSA on disabilities issues in the state, released earlier this year its proposed three-year funding model.

She said despite serving one of the largest populations in Indiana, her organization would receive less than half the funds received by smaller, less diverse, communities in Indiana.

The local nonprofit also claims racism by the state agency that allocates federal and state funds to the state's independent living centers, including Torres' Everybody Counts Inc. and Everybody Counts North, which provide services to and advocate on behalf of disabled persons.

James Gavin, an FSSA spokesman, declined to respond to the racism allegations.

Torres provided The Times a copy of the agency's proposed funding formula report.

It shows Everybody Counts Inc. of Merrillville, which serves residents in Lake and Porter counties, would receive $713,798 in total federal funding over the next three years under the council's proposed funding model, or $1.44 per resident. There are about half a million people living in Lake and Porter counties, according to 2010 census data.

By comparison, ATTIC, an independent living center in Vincennes that serves 166,106 residents in eight counties across southwestern Indiana, would receive $1.66 million during the same period, or $10 per resident.

Gavin said in an email Friday there has been no change proposed by FSSA in how it distributes funding to the state's 10 independent living centers.

Lake County is 25 percent black and 18.3 percent Hispanic, according to the most recent U.S. census data, and the eight counties represented by ATTIC are all less than 5 percent black or Hispanic.

Other independent living centers that provide services to communities with large minority populations, including centers in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, also would receive significantly less funding per capita than centers that serve smaller and less diverse communities, according to the proposed funding formula report.

Gavin said FSSA distributes the federal funding equally among the centers, but some centers receive an additional allocation of funding intended to offset the amount received by other centers through a federal grant program.

Gavin said the council was an advisory commission independent from FSSA.

Torres said the funding formula released by the council, which she said was not advisory under federal regulations, directly contradicted Gavin's statement. She said the amount of funding her organization received through the federal grant program would not offset what her organization would lose under the proposed funding allocation.

Amber O'Haver, executive director of the Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council, did not respond to messages on Friday and Monday seeking comment.

Racial tensions rise at meeting

Torres and her staff have butted heads with board members at the council's public meetings for more than a year.

At an Oct. 12 council meeting, video recordings, which are available online, show members requested that a police officer stop a 16-year-old black girl from reading a letter to the council after she allegedly exhausted her 5-minute speaking time.

The officer removed the microphone from in front of the girl and then took the letter from her hands after she continued to read it for the council.

The letter, which was written by an employee of Everybody Counts, addressed in part the adverse effects the lead crisis in East Chicago was having on the city's disabled minority residents.

Barbara Bolling-Williams, state president of the Indiana NAACP, wrote a letter to the council after watching the video recording of the incident. She said in the letter she was appalled by the council's actions and asked that its members apologize to the girl.

Bolling-Williams said Friday she did not receive a response to her letter.

Torres is not alone in claiming racial discrimination by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the council.

State Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, said Friday she has met repeatedly in the past several years with officials from the Family and Social Services Administration to get an explanation for why Northwest Indiana receives significantly less money to support its disabled population than smaller communities.

It's race, Lawson said. It's horrible what they are doing to the people in this community.

Lawson said there was a glaring bias in how the state agency allocates funding for independent living centers.

This is the craziest situation ever, she said. It's crazy. It's so in-your-face biased.

North Township Trustee Frank J. Mrvan said he has worked closely with Everybody Counts Inc. on improving public transportation for the disabled.

He said he believed the funding disparity was not just racial, but also political.

If you follow the money, those areas (with more funding) are heavily Republican areas, and they can bend the ear of the chairman to get those funds, Mrvan said.

The Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council is scheduled to hold its next public meeting May 10 in Indianapolis.
CROWN POINT  An East Chicago woman is accusing the Lake County recorder of demanding sex in return for a job promotion.

Estela "Estelle" Montalvo is suing County Recorder Mike B. Brown and Lake County government over allegations he forced her into a sexual relationship while she was working for him as a part-time clerk.

She alleges Brown used his position as an elected official and her employer to exact sexual favors from her "as a condition of employment and advancement."

Brown declined comment.

Roy Dominguez, a Merrillville attorney, said Monday night he and Valparaiso attorney Ivan Bodensteiner filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hammond on behalf of Montalvo and on behalf of other women working in Brown's office.

Dominguez said they also are filing a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Indianapolis.

"Women should be free of sexual harassment. We want to make sure an office is a harassment-free work environment," Dominguez said.

Dominguez said Montalvo is the wife of Manuel "Manny" Montalvo, a former East Chicago public library director.

Brown has been the county recorder since 2013. His office has an annual budget of more than $1 million and 22 employees who archive legal records.

The suit states Estela Montalvo went to work for the recorder's office in August 2014 as a part-time clerk, but told Brown she wanted a full-time job with insurance and pension benefits.

It alleges Brown began making sexual advances to her almost immediately and she agreed to have a sexual relationship with Brown "only because she believed it was a condition of a promotion to full-time employment."

It alleges they had sexual relations in Brown's office at the Lake County Government Center and at his residence. It alleges she was forced to resign her recorder's job last February because of the continued sexual harassment.

It alleges Brown created a hostile work environment by harassing other women in the office and promoting one who had a prior sexual relationship with him.
VALPARAISO  Those who survive the apocalypse might be living in a teardrop camper, feasting on alligator jerky, boiling water in a jiffy, and arming themselves with a spork that hides a knife.

Those who hope to survive such an event -- and others who would just like to be prepared in case of a tornado, flood, or wildfire -- descended upon the Great Lakes Emergency Preparedness Expo at the Porter County Expo Center Saturday.

Kyle MacNall, of GLEPE, said the on-the-road event, which started in Michigan 14 years ago, is designed for the doomsday people as well as those who want to comfortably survive a days-long power outage.

This is for families who want to learn how to be prepared and survive any kind of disaster, said MacNall. Things like floods, high winds, power outages  and man-made things like terrorists and active shooter situations.

MacNall said nearly 500 people would visit more than 40 vendors who displayed and demonstrated their wares, including freeze-dried peas and corn; alligator, kangaroo and bison jerky; alternative geothermal and solar power sources; knives and pepper spray; water purifiers; and teardrop trailers for camping and bugging out when disaster strikes.

Bill Winand, of Tommys Jerky Indy, touted bison, elk, kangaroo and alligator jerky for everyday people as well as survivalists.

They say it has a one-year shelf life, but really, jerky lasts forever, said Winand, of Indianapolis.

Bret Rivers, of Asymmetric Warfare Studies Group, demonstrated a spork that turns into a knife as well as a lock pick set and a ball point pen that doubles as a handcuff key for anyone who unexpectedly finds themselves in the bracelets.

A lot of people who are here dont know whos going to be in charge next, said Rivers, of Hemlock, Indiana. When things hit the fan, they hit the fan, and theres no going back.

MacNall said the show had a little bit of everything, and plans are to return to Porter County next year.
In the midst of major struggles, whether within our personal lives or the social fabric of our communities, we often require positive context to bring our minds back to center.

Nowhere is this more true than East Chicago, a community struggling with a crisis of lead and arsenic contamination in and around a public housing complex.

It's a public health fiasco, courtesy of graft-fueled negligence that cultivated the USS Lead Superfund site.

Headlines of the city's struggles, EPA testing and the relocation of hundreds of residents may have drowned out some very positive industrial, job-growing news East Chicago is experiencing.

The emergence of Hoist Liftruck's operations in the city is just the positive context our entire Region needs right now.

The premier manufacturer of high-capacity forklifts recently invested $40 million in an East Chicago factory where it plans to employ 500 workers by 2020.

More recently than that great news was a revelation the company plans to start building new, cutting edge products at the East Chicago plant.

At a recent trade show for the material handlers industry, in Chicago, Hoist Liftruck officials said they are going to begin producing new T-series terminal tractors that can move semitrailers in cargo yards, intermodal ports and warehouses, among other innovative products.

The 550,000-square-foot East Chicago plant is the largest big truck factory in North America, company officials say.

Production on the new product lines is expected to begin soon.

We all should look forward to the Region dividends gleaned from having such a new industrial investment.

Meanwhile, it's a welcome respite for a city working to overcome an unrelated crisis.
MONTGOMERY  Macon County officials flocked to Alabamas capital on Tuesday in a unity-building effort to bring the governor, legislators and various other leaders on board in trying to lure a major military contract to produce Air Force trainer fighter jets in Tuskegee.

Leonardo DRS, an Italian-based defense contractor with military and security contracts all over the globe, chose the history of the Tuskegee Airmen and their former training grounds as its proposed U.S. site to build the T-100 trainer jet.

Landing the jets production program in Macon County would mean creating more than 750 jobs and spinoff economic effects that would especially influence the Interstate 85 corridor from Lee County to Montgomery and beyond.

It also would be another major boost for Alabamas growing aviation industry, something not lost on Auburn University, Tuskegee University and Alabama State University aviation programs and the economic officials in the cities that host them.

It would be a major win-win boost for everyone, and its a rare bipartisan effort that has everybody on board with it, said Macon County economic director and former Democratic state chair Joe Turnham, who spoke as a host at a Tuesday luncheon in the Alabama Archives and History building, across the street from the state capitol.

Weve got each others back. Were all together on this, Turnham said to the group, shortly after he and a delegation from Leonardo met with the governor and legislators in the Statehouse.

The contract for the Air Force project is expected to be announced in late December or early January, said Joe Militano, a senior representative with Leonardo, which is headquartered in Rome but already has contracts and production sites within the United States.

The T-100 already is a proven commodity with other militaries, he said, including Israel and in Europe.

The T-100 is training F-35 pilots around the world right now, Militano said, referring to the F-35 fighter jet that rapidly is becoming the next generation fighter for many air forces, including the U.S.

Defense experts and pilots favor the T-100 because of its features similar to the F-35, including a two-engine, tandem-seat design.

However, Leonardo will be facing big competition as American aviation giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin are expected to continue supporting their own bids for the contract, as well as others that could bid.

All three of the known big-bidders already in play for the job are expected to be involved with international partners, meaning none of the bids would be an American-only endeavor.

That has Turnham and the Macon County contingent hopeful that the Italian company planning a U.S. plant using an Alabama labor force in a location steeped in American aviation military history will be a deciding factor in winning the bid.

The Tuskegee Airmen in World War II were the first black pilots trained for combat in the American military, breaking the color barrier in a big way at a time long before the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Furthermore, the first graduates of the intense training program saw action while based in Italy, providing yet another link in the proposed new partnership.

We cant wait to bring Italian technology to Tuskegee, and bring the history full circle, Militano said.

Troy Turner is editor of the Opelika-Auburn News and can be contacted at tturner@oanow.com.
Equipped with hiking gear and loaded down with packs, a group of service men and women set out for a 201.5-mile ruck march from Auburn University on Tuesday with four days of hiking ahead.

The group of 29 Marines, sailors and midshipmen of the Auburn University Navy ROTC and two canine companions will march from Auburn to Navarre, Florida, in memory of Marine Special Operations Team 8231, or The Raider 7, who died in a helicopter crash during a training accident in March 2015.

The march, founded by Auburn student Staff Sgt. Daniel Campbell, seeks to raise money for the families of the victims, including two fiances and seven children that were left behind.

I was right over here at the corner of Glenn (Avenue) and Dean (Road), and I was sitting at a stoplight and thinking about them, said Campbell, who returned from Afghanistan with the men months before the accident. I would pray that someone would take care of my family. I just decided theres got to be something that we can do.

Service men and women traveled to Auburn from five states to participate in the march, including Gary Traylor who considered Campbell a role model. He traveled from Illinois to march with the group.

(The march) means a lot to me because I have a lot of friends whose parents have passed away because of going overseas, Campbell said. I havent personally felt that, but I can still feel it for them. This whole event grasped me. Its crazy to believe those Marines went through a lot. They went on numerous appointments, went out and came back to their families, and then it was a training accident when they died.

Members of the group will march to a memorial for the Marines on the coast and are expected to arrive at sunrise on Friday. The group will break down into three teams, and each will march 7.5 miles carrying seven memorial stones, passing off their packs every 7.5 miles.

The Raider 7 members being honored are Staff Sgt. Kerry M. Kemp, Capt. Stanford H. Shaw III, Master Sgt. Thomas A. Saunders, Staff Sgt. Andrew C. Seif, Staff Sgt. Liam A. Flynn, Staff Sgt. Marcus Bawol and Staff Sgt. Trevor P. Blaylock.

The group has raised $7,000 of its $10,000 goal. To contribute to the fund, visit www.crowdrise.com/rucking-for-raiders-memorial-ruck.

The group will be posting updates on their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/rucking4raiders, throughout the march.
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Research Fellow John Kush was named the 2017 inductee to the Alabama Foresters Hall of Fame at the Southeastern Society of American Foresters Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet held in Miramar Beach, Florida.

As an Alabama resident and Auburn forestry graduate, Kush was considered for the Hall of Fame due to his outstanding contributions to forestry in Alabama over the course of his 40-year career.

A native of Illinois, Kush graduated with high honors in 1980 with a bachelors degree in forest science from the University of Illinois/Urbana Champaign and then worked briefly as an urban forester in the city of Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. In 1981, Kush came to Auburn University as a graduate research assistant in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, or SFWS, where he first began to work with southern forest ecosystems.

After graduating with his masters degree in forestry he transitioned to a research associate position within the school where he would eventually become the data collection and analysis team lead for the USDA Forest Services Regional Longleaf Pine Growth Study, activities he would continue to oversee for more than 30 years.

Later, after earning his doctorate in forest ecology from Auburn in 2002, Kush became a research fellow, where he has continued his work with longleaf pine, fire and other aspects of southern forest management. Among his many achievements, Kush has published four book chapters, produced over 30 referred journal articles and provided countless abstracts, presentations and posters.

To be inducted into the Alabama Foresters Hall of Fame, a nominee must receive unanimous approval of the Alabama Foresters Hall of Fame Award sub-committee members.
A three-vehicle crash Monday claimed the life of a Smyrna, Ga., man.

The crash occurred at 4:39 p.m. on Alabama 165 at 8.5 mile marker, near Cedar Heights Road.

Daniel Yarizadeh, 31, was killed when the BMW he was driving collided head-on with a 2007 Toyota Camry before catching fire. A 2010 Kia Soul was damaged in the initial collision.

Yarizadeh, who was not using a seat belt, was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Toyota was injured and transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Alabama state troopers continue to investigate the crash, and no further information was available.


Democracy Under Threat, but Americans Concerned with Other Things Wed., Oct. 19, 2022 Americans believe that our current form of government is under threat of disappearing, yet most dont think this threat is the biggest problem facing the country, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.
Warren Buffett gave a parting lesson in the rigors of capitalism Monday after spending the weekend with his shareholders, reaffirming the necessity of free trade and improving productivity but helping people whose occupations are destroyed in the process.

We have to take care of people who are the roadkill in better output for all the rest of us, he said during a CNBC interview.

Soon after, he convened a private meeting of the directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., of which he is chairman and chief executive. The Omaha-based conglomerate held its annual shareholders meeting Saturday, with other events before and after.

Berkshire has drawn some criticism for supplying billions of dollars to 3G Capital, a Brazilian investment fund, to finance the purchases of H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods, which were merged into Kraft Heinz Co.

After taking over, 3Gs managers replaced top executives and eliminated thousands of jobs, including shutting down manufacturing plants because of overcapacity.

Society and the business owner benefit, Buffett said, but its a painful process, and sometimes theres a big political reaction to it.

Buffett said the changes improved the companys productivity per person, a necessity in the capitalist system.

If we had not changed any ways we did business, we would be living as we lived in 1776, Buffett said. Productivity gains are the only way that consumption gains come.

Berkshire tries to acquire highly productive businesses with managers who will keep them that way, he said.

3G has come into businesses where they really could do the same level of business with a lot fewer people, Buffett said. And theyve made the changes very promptly. When it happens, theyve been good about severance pay and all of that, but they have followed the standard capitalist formula ... of trying to do business with fewer people.

Agricultures share of U.S. employment has dropped from 80 percent 200 years ago to less than 3 percent, he said, freeing up people to make other things society needs.

Everybody understands productivity gains are the key to living better, Buffett said. But when they happen to you, very understandably, you feel that youre getting the short end of the stick. Society may be benefiting, but youre getting hurt.

Free international trade benefits people in invisible and small ways, he said, and to the person who ... spent 25 years learning a trade as a steelworker or a manufacturer of shoes, it is a disaster.

Because society benefits, he said, society should help those whose jobs are eliminated or exported.

I dont blame anybody for voting against the system that they think is bypassing them and throwing them aside, Buffett said. Because if youre a 55-year-old steelworker or a 55-year-old shoe manufacturer, you are not going to learn a new trade. Youre not going to have another job thats good.

Buffett also said the health care proposal passed recently by the House of Representatives would be a windfall for the wealthy and would have reduced his $4 million 2016 federal income tax bill by $680,000.

He said constituents of House members who voted for the bill should ask their representatives whether they make $250,000 or more per year and whether the bill would reduce their taxes, too.

Also on the CNBC show were Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger and Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and a member of Berkshires board of directors.

Gates said the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is having success with disease prevention, reducing the number of polio cases this year to five worldwide.

He said he hoped there would be no more new cases this year, which would start a three-year clock to declare the disease officially eradicated.

Gates said government support from developed countries is vital in reducing such diseases and improving peoples lives.

Philanthropy alone couldnt do it, he said.

Meanwhile, back to the U.S. economy, Buffett said railroad cargo trends indicate that the economy is probably growing at about 2 percent a year and said the housing industry may have its best year since the recession that began in 2008.

Other comments:

 Buffett said new technology that leapfrogs existing tech companies such as Apple can be a competitive threat, but consumers are incredibly loyal to Apple products. Berkshire owns about $7 billion worth of Apple stock.

 Berkshires Nebraska Furniture Mart and other furniture companies are having decent gains this year.

 The presidency is probably overemphasized in its relevance to the stock market and business prosperity, Buffett said, adding that he has never made a business decision based on who was president.

 Wells Fargos reputation was hurt by its account-opening scandal, but its long-range profit potential wasnt, Buffett said. He noted that former CEO John Stumpf lost his job and his life was, in an important way, ruined.

 Speaking on whether his successor will take over while he is still alive, he said, Well, that could certainly happen. At some points you run out of energy or something. I havent yet.

The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
LELAND  Merle Durby was sitting in a radio van in Panmunjom, Korea, in 1953 when the news he and his crew members had been waiting for hammered out across the teletype.

The United Nations, China and North Korea had reached a ceasefire.

Hostilities in Korea were over.

"We were sent to Panmunjom when they had the peace talks," said Durby, now 86. "The first time, they failed. Then we went back up there again, and that's when they signed the ceasefire."

Durby, of Leland, was a radio teletype operator with the 304th Signal Operation Battalion. The unit was part of the Eighth Army.

His crew's job was to transmit teletype messages between Korea and Japan.

"It was an experience," he said.

Formally known as the Korean Armistice Agreement, the ceasefire was signed July 27, 1953.

It established the demarcation line between the warring factions, created a demilitarized buffer zone and ordered the release of all prisoners.

The armistice also separated the country into sectors controlled by the United Nations Command, which is now South Korea, and an area controlled by the Korean People's Army and the Chinese Peoples Volunteers, which is now North Korea.

Based just north of Seoul, Durby and the radio communications team drove north to Panmunjom three times for negotiations between the United Nations and communists.

"We crossed the line of demarcation, and there was a neutral road leading from there up to Panmunjom; and the area around Panmunjom was neutral, so there was American guards there and there was Korean guards there," he said. "Some way there was when they had negotiations. They had one tent for the American personnel and one tent for the North Korean personnel."

Durby took photos of all of it.

Photography wasn't part of his job duties, but Durby's took dozens of photos of the leaders of both sides and their entourages.

The photos -- part of a collection of hundreds taken during the war -- give a behind-the-scenes glimps of the effort to end the conflict.

His favorite shot is of U.S. Air Force Vice Admiral Joseph "Jocko" Clark, Army Gen. Maxwell Taylor and Army Gen. Mark W. Clark, United Nations commander.

There's also a photo of Durby inside the "Peace Pagoda," the wooden building where the negotiations took place.

It was empty at the time. He won't say how he and his cohorts managed to sneak inside.

"Well, nothing was going on that day, so," Durby said, by way of explanation.

His camera also captured convoys of prisoners -- United Nations forces and communist soldiers -- being trucked to processing centers during the prisoner exchange.

Durby showed a Globe Gazette reporter photos of communist soldiers tearing their clothes off, throwing them over the side of trucks on their way to the processing center.

Afterward, clothing littered the road.

"Propaganda," Durby explained.

He showed the photos not long ago to an audience at the Family Alliance for Veterans of America in downtown Forest City. The agency provides information and assistance to veterans and their families.

Durby, a Buffalo Center native, hadn't planned to be a radio teletype operator when he volunteered for the Army in February, 1952.

Over the years, he's processed what he saw at Panmunjom all those years ago.

"Pretty exciting," he said.
A 16-year-old girl and an Omaha police officer were seriously injured early Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash involving a police cruiser.

The crash occurred around 1:15 a.m. at 24th and Lake Streets.

Police said Officer Travis Mitchell was westbound en route to assist another officer when the crash occurred.

Mitchell may have been heading toward a police pursuit that began about five minutes earlier in the area of 104th and Hamilton Streets. That pursuit ended with no injuries reported.

Police said the westbound cruiser and a northbound 2006 Chevrolet Impala driven by Alexis Jones crashed in the intersection of 24th and Lake. Both vehicles sustained heavy damage in the crash, police said.

Jones, who was alone in the Chevy, was not wearing a seat belt, police said. She was taken by rescue squad to Creighton University Medical Center to be treated for an ankle injury and neck pain, police said.

Mitchell was taken by another cruiser to Nebraska Medical Center to be treated for neck and chest pain and multiple cuts, police said.

The crash remains under investigation.
LINCOLN  The once-troubled Beatrice State Developmental Center will remain open, at least for three more years.

On Tuesday, officials with the State Department of Health and Human Services issued their preliminary recommendation that the Beatrice facility remain open for 36 months.

That time span, state officials said, will allow time to evaluate the true need for the 130-year-old center as well as other options for caring for people with severe and profound intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The fate of the facility after that has not been decided, said Megan Gumbel, a deputy director within the division that operates the Beatrice facility.

We need an evaluation period, Gumbel said.

The announcement, during a public hearing at the State Office Building in Lincoln, was greeted with smiles from several family members who testified that moving their loved ones out of the facility would be disruptive and damaging.

The things the Beatrice State Developmental Center are doing for my brother are just phenomenal, said Jim Swoboda, whose brother has lived for 10 years at the facility.

The brother, Swoboda said, used to have to be heavily medicated and regularly placed in a straitjacket when he was at community-based facilities, but after moving to Beatrice, his behavior has improved markedly.

They are the best, Swoboda said of the staff. The testimony brought applause in the nearly full meeting room, as did other complimentary comments about care at Beatrice.

Also pleased were Beatrice officials, who said the facility was vital to the economic well-being of the area and a source of pride.

BSDC is part of the landscape of Beatrice, Mayor Stan Wirth said.

The Beatrice center now houses 109 residents in cottagelike homes.

In 2009, the center lost its federal funding after being cited for inadequate medical care.

The facility has rebounded in recent years, and the number of residents has declined from 370 a decade ago.

However, concerns about the high cost of care at Beatrice, and its shrinking population, prompted state lawmakers in 2016 to order a study of its future.

On Tuesday, officials with Disability Rights Nebraska and the ARC of Nebraska argued that the state needed to make the transition to community-based care and plan for the closing of the Beatrice facility.

Keeping the center open is unsustainable economically, said Eric Evans, CEO of Disability Rights Nebraska.

To continue to invest in this facility is bad policy, Evans said.

The preliminary report estimated that the annual cost of providing care at Beatrice at $332,000 a year per resident, which is about $120,000 less than previous estimates. In March, 39 staffers at the facility were laid off to save costs.

But Mike Chittenden of ARC of Nebraska said that community-based care can cost as little as $50,000 a year per person and that keeping Beatrice open was a disservice to those on waiting lists for services.

Gumbel, who used to work in community care, said the $50,000 figure was probably too low and didnt include some of the expenses included in the cost of service at Beatrice.

Tuesdays report was required by Legislative Bill 895 passed by state lawmakers last year. The law, sponsored by then-State Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln, required the Health and Human Services Department to study the Beatrice center as well as the Bridges program in Hastings.

In March, the state announced that it was closing the Bridges program because it failed to comply with federal Medicaid regulations.

LB 895 requires a report to the Legislature by June 1. Comments from the hearing Tuesday will be added.
DES MOINES | On Monday, April 24, the sixth annual World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute brought together 299 students from 131 high schools at Iowa State University to explore critical issues related to global food security and discover academic and career paths in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Mentored by Osage High School science teacher, Eric Dralle, Avery Marley, OHS junior, participated in this years event. Marley researched malnutrition in Yemen.

In order to participate, each student was required to write a research paper identifying a key issue - such as environmental volatility, nutrition, water scarcity or gender inequality - that impacts hunger in a developing country. They then propose a solution and present their findings to a panel of peers and experts at the one day event.

Marley said she decided to participate because, I thought nothing negative could come out of it, so why not then.

Marley said she chose the country of Yemen, after she discovered the country was one of the first countries in the world to run out of water.

She added she always wants to help people and thought maybe her plan would someday help others somewhere in the world.

In her research paper, Marley proposed developing a model education farm in the country of Yemen. Specifically, on the farm, there would be smaller education presentations, where people would demonstrate how the residents of Yemen could improve their growing practices.

Not forcing the ideas into the culture, Marley said, rather, educate and give them opinions and ideas to change, if they want.

This was an incredible experience to hear ideas from other kids with the same passion as me, Marley said. It opened my eyes about the facts presented from other kids, in their proposals.

During her panel review, which included students who had previously participated in the Institute, Marley said she received many positive comments.

She added she was able to network with others who also want to help the world.

In the end, it all paid off, when I realized it was such a great experience, Marley said. I hope to be able to follow through with my proposal after college.

The Iowa Youth Institute has now reached over 64 percent of all Iowa high schools since its inauguration in 2011, and has been referred to as the most unique and innovative event to inspire Iowa high school students to focus on global issues and opportunities in STEM.

Dr. Norman Borlaug, Iowas greatest humanitarian-hero, whose statue is now enshrined in the U.S. Capitol for his exceptional agricultural and humanitarian achievements, founded the World Food Prize in 1986. Dr. Borlaug envisioned the World Food Prize youth programs as a way to inspire the next generation of scientists, policy makers, educators, and community leaders to pursue careers fighting hunger and poverty at home and abroad.
On Tuesday, Omaha voters will decide who will lead the city for the next four years  current Mayor Jean Stothert or her challenger, former State Sen. Heath Mello.

All seven City Council districts also are on the ballot, with South Omaha shaping up to be the most competitive race.

The polls opened at 8 a.m. They will close at 8 p.m.

* * *

Long lines at some polling places frustrating to voters

Long lines that appeared later Tuesday were frustrating some voters.

At Baxter Arena, voters said the line was barely moving. Some said they waited an hour or more. Some gave up.

One couple who left without voting said it was their only window to vote today.

"Now we'll just have to watch and see if it turns out the way we want it," one of them said.

Lines were also longer elsewhere, including Bethel Lutheran Church and Joslyn Castle.  Hailey Konnath

Elkhorn voters weigh life since annexation as they head to the polls

Outside Peace Presbyterian Church in Elkhorn, a polling place banner was tied to a swing set next to the parking lot. But it remained mostly unused in the early afternoon as only a handful of voters, most sans children, trickled in and out.

Tricia Ratliff, who stopped by around lunch time, said she was voting for former State Sen. Heath Mello in the mayors race.

I dont vote for parties, Ratliff said. I never have, and I never will.

Ratliff said her support for Mello mostly stems from her dissatisfaction of how Mayor Jean Stothert has treated Elkhorn.

The quality of the streets as well as the police presence has gone downhill since Elkhorn was annexed, she said.

Ive never felt we were part of Omaha, Ratliff said. Were just forgotten.

Fellow Elkhorn voter David Rudd said he thinks Stothert has done a good job, particularly in working with the police.

Rudd, who is a former police officer and whose son is a police officer, said he thinks she has built a good relationship with the police department.

I really believe her vision is better suited to my vision for the city, he said. And shes sincere about what her intentions are.

Of course I dont like the annexation, he said. But even so, he says it is a good business model for the city.

Voters were also able to breeze through Standing Bear Elementary School near 156th and Maple Streets during the lunch hour Tuesday.

Bob Richardson, who stopped by on his lunch break, said he tends to vote along party lines. Hes a Republican, so he voted for Stothert.

Even if I wasnt satisfied with Stothert, Id be compelled to vote for her, he said.

Earlier in the day in west Omaha, near 132nd and Center Streets, a crowd cheered for Stothert during the morning commute.

At nearby Rejoice Lutheran Church, neighbors strolled up to vote. Jack Klein said he voted for Stothert because shes done a good job.

Farther east, Daniel Shutes polling place, the Comfort Inn and Suites at 72nd and Grover Streets, also happens to be his workplace.

That made it easy for him to vote for Mello for mayor Tuesday morning.

Shute said he doesnt vote along party lines. I vote for people I think are going to provide the best change, he said.

Shute has worked as a convenience store clerk as well as in security. Crime is an important issue for him, and he hasnt been pleased with Stotherts handling of the issue.

Safety of the city is a big thing for me, he said.  Hailey Konnath

'If you want to make changes, you start with local elections'

Anna Blessing was at Brownell Talbot School, 400 N. Happy Hollow Blvd., before 8 a.m. so she could vote before work. Blessing said she will be at work until at least 6 p.m., and she doesn't want to stand in any lines after working all day. "I'm a firm believer, if you want to make a difference, if you want to make changes, you start with local elections." Blessing said she votes in every election.

About 8:15 a.m., voters were 12 deep waiting for their ballots at the Nebraska State Office Building polling station at 13th and Farnam Streets.

Toni Freilich, 60, who lives nearby, said she voted for Stothert. "I think she's done a good job," she said.

Julianne Harm, 30, said the close battle between Stothert and Mello may have helped bring her out to vote.

"I felt a little compelled to vote in this election," she said, because of all the attention it has generated and because of Donald Trump's upset win over Hillary Clinton in November's presidential election.

At Morning Star Baptist Church at 20th and Burdette Streets, Wesley Dacus, 68, said he and wife, Lillian, 67, "voted for the best person."

"We feel whoever gets in office will do the best job for all people."

Lillian said the couple prayed over this election. "We asked for God's help."

She also said anyone who thinks that voting is a waste of time is incorrect.

"At least in our community," Lillian said, "voting can make a difference."  Kevin Cole and Jay Withrow

* * *

Here is what you need to know about the races and the process of voting on Tuesday:

Check your district

The City Council approved new districts in the fall that made most eastern districts larger and expanded them westward. The changes were made to bring the districts back into balance after a series of annexations added residents in west Omaha.

Where to vote

Find your polling place at the Douglas County Election Commission website, votedouglascounty.com. The site also lists locations where early ballots can be dropped off through 8 p.m. Tuesday.

When to expect results

Preliminary tallies are expected to be released late Tuesday night. Go to Omaha.com that evening for results.

Any problems?

If you have a problem you can call the Election Commission at 402-444-8683.

Mayor's race

Stothert, a Republican, received the most votes in the five-candidate primary election, although Mello, a Democrat, was less than 3 percentage points behind. Both have spent more than $1 million on the race.

Mello has been supported by many of the citys unions, including the firefighters union, the citys largest public employees union and teachers. He also brought in former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to stump for him.

Stothert has gotten support from former Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker. She also was endorsed by Taylor Royal, who came in third in the primary, with about 11 percent of the vote.

Stothert and Mello offer voters competing visions of the city, with Stothert broadly saying its headed in the right direction after four years of her work and Mello advocating more drastic change.

Crime

Stothert, who touts her efforts to hire more police officers and increase funding for police, has said that the city is on the right track. The citys best strategy, she has said, is to back Police Chief Todd Schmaderer. She also has been a consistent supporter of increasing funding for organizations that reach out to at-risk youth.

Mello contends that an increase in aggravated assaults in the city means change is needed. While he has said he supports Schmaderer, he said the police need more oversight. Hes called for a more robust civilian complaint group, more money directed toward preventive efforts and a voluntary registry of the citys surveillance cameras.

The police union, meanwhile, declined to endorse either candidate.

Annexation

Stothert has been a proponent of annexation, bringing some 27,000 people into the city limits during her term. Those additions, she says, help the city do more overall by building Omahas tax base.

Mello says he would pause Omaha annexations, and instead of pushing west, he would build up the population in Omahas established areas. He said he believes Omahas future opportunities to build its population will come inside the Interstate 680 loop.

Trash

The fate of Omahas yard waste-turned-composting product Oma-Gro may depend on the election.

Stothert favors collecting yard waste and trash together and sending both to the landfill, a change she made in June 2015 because of a driver shortage. She also notes that making Oma-Gro isnt profitable.

Mello wants to collect yard waste and trash separately, so yard waste can be made into compost. He also said he would explore the possibility of privatizing the Oma-Gro business.

Streetcar

Stothert and Mello have both supported the idea of a $156 million streetcar to connect midtown and downtown, a concept promoted by a coalition of business interests in the area. But after the idea received a cool reception in the lead-up to the primary election, both walked back their support.

Mello has called for the city to press pause on the idea, while Stothert has emphasized that she would put the proposal to voters before committing any money to it.

Taxes

Stothert and Mello have both talked about modest, incremental changes. In the face of steep valuation increases by Douglas County, both candidates said theyd do what they could to mitigate the increases by decreasing the citys property tax rate, if the valuation increases remain high. Neither promised a specific rate, however. And the citys rate is only one part of property owners overall tax bill.

The two have each touted their tax records. Stothert has promoted the fact that shes led a successful effort to lower the citys property tax rate twice. Mello has pointed to a legislative effort to boost the states property tax credit by $100 million while he was chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

Infrastructure

Stothert and Mello broadly agree that the city should put more money into streets and infrastructure.

But they differ on their strategies for accomplishing  and paying for  big-picture solutions to the citys transportation needs.

Stothert wants the city to continue on a path she said is leading to good results. Shes put more into the budget for street maintenance, and shes participated in the planning for major public transportation changes, such as a bus rapid transit system.

Mello, meanwhile, argues that the city needs to think bigger and engage citizens more in infrastructure planning.

The centerpiece of Mellos transportation proposal is the creation of a quasi-governmental infrastructure bank to raise money for major projects.

He says that would allow the city to bring in more money from different sources; Stothert argues that it wouldnt be an improvement from the citys current planning process.

Read more

City Council races

All seven districts are up for election. Two of them  Districts 4 and 6  do not have an incumbent running and are guaranteed to seat a fresh face. Incumbents are heavily favored in the other five districts.

District 1

Incumbent Pete Festersen, on the council since 2009, faces a challenge from UNO student Grant Sturek. The district covers north-central Omaha, including Dundee and Benson. Festersen won the primary with more than 75 percent of the vote. Sturek came in third in the primary but was put back on the ballot after the second-place finisher, Paul Anderson, dropped out in the wake of anti-mosque comments.

District 2

In the north Omaha district, incumbent Ben Gray faces off against social services worker Dennis Womack. Gray triumphed in a seven-person primary with 48 percent of the vote, and Womack brought in 13 percent to nab second place and stay on the ballot.

District 3

Chris Jerram, who represents the central Omaha district, faces activist DShawn Cunningham, who emerged from a five-person primary with 11 percent of the vote. Jerram had 67 percent.

District 4

The South Omaha district is one of two districts without an incumbent. Current council member Garry Gernandt is not running again, and two hopefuls are on the ballot to replace him: former Nebraska Democratic Party executive director Jim Rogers and current Omaha Public Schools board member Vinny Palermo. The two finished almost neck and neck in the three-way primary. Both received about 37 percent of the vote, with Palermo finishing ahead by 45 votes out of about 5,000 cast.

District 5

Incumbent Rich Pahls is running unopposed in the southwest Omaha district for his second term in office.

District 6

The west-central district, which covers Elkhorn, also does not have an incumbent, as council member Franklin Thompson decided not to run again. Candidates Brinker Harding and Dwite Pedersen both have political experience, but Harding led in the two-way primary 57 percent to 42 percent.

District 7

Incumbent Aimee Melton faces challenger Brian Thommes in the northwest Omaha district. In the two-person April primary, Melton finished ahead of Thommes 68 percent to 31 percent.

World-Herald staff writers Kevin Cole, Jay Withrow and Roseann Moring contributed to this report.
The committee approved the nomination on a voice vote. The full Senate is expected to vote on the nomination in the next week or two.

Governor Branstads bipartisan, unanimous approval by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should come as no surprise considering how well he did during his hearing, Grassley said in a press release. His significant experience working with the Chinese government on behalf of Iowans and the personal friendships he has developed with Chinese leaders over the years make him uniquely prepared to be the next U.S. ambassador to China.
40 down and counting: Forces on the verge of wiping out Pakistani terrorists in Valley

Mubin did it in Coimbatore: Why do Islamist terrorists shave their body before a suicide mission

200 terrorists walk around scot-free in the Kashmir Valley

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Out of the 200 terrorists operating in the Kashmir Valley, 110 are locals. The revelation was made by the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, S J M Gilani. He said that they had concrete information about the presence of 200 terrorists operating in the Valley.

He further went on to add that students were being instigated by outside elements to pelt stones at the security forces. He called upon the parents to counsel these students and not get carried away by outside elements who want to disrupt peace in the Valley.

On the recent spate of bank robberies, he said that investigation has revealed role of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Investigation revealed terrorists of Laskar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen involved in recent cases of bank loot in south Kashmir, he also said.

Four incidents of bank loot took place in three days in Kashmir and currency worth lakhs was taken away. First such loot took place on May 1 as the militants attacked a cash van of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Five policemen and two security guards were killed in the attack.

Another loot in Kulgam district on May 2 at Ellaquai Dehati Bank was carried out by the militants. On May 3, two different incidents of loot happened and the lakhs of rupees worth of cash was taken away. In response to these attacks, the J&K Bank, on Saturday, decided to stop the cash transactions in 40 of its branches.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 8:04 [IST]
On way to meet kin of teenager killed in Jharkhand, BJPs Kapil Mishra 'detained' at Ranchi airport

AAP crisis: Kapil Mishra approaches CBI, BJP protests outside Kejriwal's residence

India

oi-Anusha

A day after he was sacked from the Aam Aadmi Party, Kapil Mishra approached the CBI with 'proof' against Arvind Kejriwal. A day after he submitted documents to the anti-corruption bureau Mishra approached the Central bureau of an investigation seeking probe against Kejriwal.

Kapil Mishra on Tuesday even threatened to go on a hunger strike if AAP legislators did not reveal details of their foreign trips. On Tuesday morning Kapil Mishra threw open fresh set of dares to Kejriwal including one to resign over allegations. Mishra claimed that he would take on Kejriwal singlehandedly and expose him.

      ,              Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) May 9, 2017

BJP members protest against Kejriwal

Members of the BJP protested outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence in Delhi. Protesters refused to leave even as police used water canons. Shouting slogans against Kejriwal, BJP members walked in a rally towards the residence of the Delhi Chief Minister. Protesters demanded that Kejriwal resign following allegations of bribery and land scam against him. Protests were also witnessed outside the Delhi assembly where a special session is to convene on Tuesday.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 12:27 [IST]
AAP MLA demonstrates EVM hacking in Delhi Assembly, says it just takes 90 seconds

India

oi-Madhuri

Amid a row over corruption allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday sought to demonstrate in the Delhi Assembly how an Electronic Voting Machine can be tampered with to rig results.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission is yet to react on this since the EVM used for demonestration was taken out from the poll panel godown.

AAP, which has alleged that EVMs had been tampered with in the assembly elections in Punjab and the civic polls in Delhi, both of which it lost, used the day-long special session of the assembly to demonstrate how the voting machines can be rigged.

AAP legislator Bharadwaj went on to claim how codes embedded inside an EVM can be used to manipulate results. He did not name the BJP but provided enough hints to insinuate that the Bharatiya Janata Party was the beneficiary.

Though the debate was being held against the backdrop of bribery allegations levelled by sacked minister Kapil Mishra against Kejriwal, neither Bharadwaj nor any other AAP member spoke on the bribery allegations.

During the demonstration, Bharadwaj claimed that EVMs can be tampered with even after a mock test.

"Using codes embedded in the EVMs they can be tampered. Votes will go to a candidate in whose favour it has been rigged no matter which button you press," he said.

OneIndia News (with IANS inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 19:18 [IST]
Somnath Bharti

Somnath Bharti, an MLA from Malviya Nagar was booked for assaulting a public servant. The charges levelled against him included obstructing public servants from discharging their duty, rioting and under sections of prevention of damage to public property law. He was also arrested in a dowry case and for domestic violence.

Sharad Chauhan

AAP MLA Sharad Chauhan from Narela was booked on July 20, 2016 on charges of abetment to suicide. It was alleged that he had circulated videos of a woman without her consent. Charges of kidnapping too were levelled against him. He was arrested on July 31 and released on bail on August 11 2016.

Akhilesh Tripathi

The MLA from Model Town was charged with causing hurt, wrongful confinement, sexual harassment and molestation. An FIR was filed against Akhilesh Tripathi on February 6 2015 and he was arrested on November 26, 2015 and given bail a day later. On March 3 last year, he was acquitted on grounds of antithetical testimonies of public witnesses.

Manoj Kumar

Manoj Kumar was booked in the year 2015 on charges of extortion. He was arrested on November 21.

Commando Surender Singh

Commando Surender Singh was arrested on August 21, 2015 on charges of kidnapping a public servant, obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty, voluntarily causing hurt, relevant sections of the SC/ST Act. He was granted bail a day later.

Jitender Tomar

Jitender Tomar was arrested on June 9, 2015 on charges of forgery. He was accused of forging his LLB and B.Sc. degrees.

Amanatullah Khan

This MLA from Okhla was booked in July 2016 on charges of culpable homicide, molestation and criminal intimidation. A woman complained to the police that she was being pressured to take her statement back.

Dinesh Mohaniya

This AAP MLA was booked on charges of molestation and also threatening a woman. He was arrested on July 25 2016 and granted bail four days later.

Gulab Singh

This MLA from the AAP was arrested on charges of being part of a large extortion syndicate. He was in charge of the AAP's Gujarat unit.

Naresh Yadav

This MLA was arrested on July 24 last year and given bail on July 30. He was booked under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 109 (abetment) of the Indian Penal Code. He was accused of directing co-accused Vijay Kumar of desecrating pages of the Quran.

Satyender Jain

Jain has been accused of giving Rs 2 crore to Kejriwal. Kapil Mishra had accused him and others of being involved in the water tanker scam.

Sandeep Kumar

He was arrested on September 3 and granted bail four days later. Charges of rape were levelled against him. He was accused of raping a woman on the pretext of providing her help to get a ration card. The woman complained that he has also recorded the act and was blackmailing her with the video.

Mahindra Yadav

He was arrested on allegations of rioting and assaulting a public servant in January last year. He has been granted bail.

Prakash Jarwal

This MLA from Deoli was arrested in August last year after a woman complained of misbehaving with her.

Jagdeep Singh

The AAP MLA was booked for causing hurt, criminal intimidation and wrongful restraint. He was arrested in May last year and granted bail the same day.
DES MOINES  Mary Ellen Millers organization has an aggressive goal of gender balance in Iowas elected offices by 2020, and the group recently has been inundated with a sudden abundance of raw materials: women interested in running for public office.

The number of Iowa women showing interest in running for public office has spiked since the November 2016 elections, mirroring a national trend.

The national group Vote Run Lead, which prepares and trains women who want to run for elected office for any political party, says an unprecedented 7,000 women have reached out to the group since the election.

And EMILYs List, a national group that helps Democratic women get elected, says it has been contacted by more than 12,000 women since the election after training just 10,000 in the organizations previous 30 years.

The number of Iowa women who participated in a program designed to prepare and train women who want to run for public office tripled in the first event since the election.

I think we most certainly are, yes. We are seeing more interest from more women talking about what it takes to run, said Miller, who is executive director of the nonprofit organization 50-50 in 2020. Clearly, theres strong interest, and were glad to see that.

Every odd-numbered year since 2007, the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University has hosted Ready to Run, a series of training sessions for Iowa women interested in running for public office. Center director Dianne Bystrom said that in previous years, the highest turnout for the event was roughly 70 or 80 women; earlier this year, 172 people participated in at least one of the six sessions.

I think theres just a lot of interest among women in running in Iowa. Its very positive, Bystrom said. Hopefully, were going to start seeing some of those results in 2017.

'Call to action'

The spike in women interested in seeking public office clearly can be traced to the 2016 elections. The reasons are varied and sometimes partisan.

Bystrom said the center started getting emails at 9:30 a.m. the day after the election, and by the end of the first weekend after the election, the center had 50 emails asking about its program for potential candidates, which the center had not yet started advertising.

People really saw it more as a call to action, Bystrom said.

Many women say they were motivated by their disappointment in the results of the presidential election, in which Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first woman in U.S. history to earn a major political partys nomination, was defeated by Republican businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump. This has created a boost in the number of Democratic women stepping forward to run for office.

I think a switch flipped for a lot of women, who thought, 'If not now, when?' EMILYs List press secretary Alexandra De Luca said. This isnt just a huge increase. This is an unprecedented level of women who are coming to us.

Miller and Bystrom, whose groups are nonpartisan and seek to help women of all political persuasions get elected, said its true many liberal women have been motivated to run by the 2016 election. But they said the increased interest has not been exclusive to Democrats.

Miller said she thinks the negative tone of the 2016 presidential campaign may have provided a breaking point for women. Miller said that in the past one of the most common reasons women gave for not wanting to run for public office is negative campaigns, but she thinks the 2016 election may have made women decide that instead of staying out of the fray, they want to get involved to change it.

One of the challenges we see in getting women to step up and run is the negativity in politics, Miller said. They dont want to expose themselves or their families to that. So you would think that kind of negativity in the 2016 presidential campaign would have turned women off even more.

"But its done the opposite. Its motivated them. Theyre saying, We need to clean this up. We can do better than this. So its had a backlash.

Breaking through

Miller and Bystrom said they hope their groups are able to capitalize on the sudden influx of women interested in running for public office at all levels, from school boards to city and county governments, to the state Legislature, to Congress.

Iowa has broken some glass ceilings in the past few years, but like all 50 U.S. states, it has not yet reached gender equity in elected positions.

Since 2014, Iowa has seen its first woman elected to Congress, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst; first woman speaker of the Iowa House, Rep. Linda Upmeyer; and first woman state auditor, Mary Mosiman. And soon Iowa will have its first woman governor when Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds replaces Gov. Terry Branstad, who is poised to become the next U.S. ambassador to China.

And the number of women running for public office was increasing even before the 2016 elections, Miller said. She said 2016 was the first time in Iowa that a woman was on at every level of the ballot  in the presidential race, U.S. Senate and U.S. House races, and legislative and local races  and that the 65 women on the ballot were the most in the states history.

Although women comprise 50.3 percent of Iowas population, they make up just 22 percent of its state lawmakers. That ranks Iowa 32nd in the country, a little below the national average of 24.3 percent.

(Progress) is incremental, Miller said. Its not overnight, but were seeing it move up.

Reaching for goal

The programs operated by 50-50 in 2020 and the Center for Women and Politics not only prepare women to run for public office but also attempt to demystify some elected positions, especially in the state Legislature. Miller said women often say they do not think they are qualified to run for the Iowa Legislature, so her group hosts events that allow potential candidates to interact with current state lawmakers and staff, as well as reporters who cover the state Capitol.

Time is running short for 50-50 in 2020 to meet its goal, with just the 2018 and 2020 state and federal elections remaining before the groups self-imposed deadline, which not coincidentally aligns with the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Miller said she hopes groups like 50-50 in 2020 and the Center of Women and Politics are able to capitalize on the sudden surge of women interested in running for public office, not just to meet their goal but to improve the states political atmosphere.

More women have said, I just cant stand on the sidelines anymore. You saw that in all the marches. They just simply said, Well, Ive always been this type of person that never paid much attention to politics. Let somebody else do that. Now they recognize they cant do that, Miller said. For a lot of us, we are so focused on just our daily lives  our work, our family  that it does take a little extra energy to pay attention to the world around us thats broader.

"But I do think that last year woke up a lot of people, that they should be paying attention. And I think in the end that will be good for our country.
Advance technology, better Intelligence needed to fight naxalites

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

After the horrific naxal attack in Sukma, the security mechanism has been stepped up. A high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval stressed on the need to use greater technology to fight the naxalite problem.

Singh underlined the need to set up a strategic unified command, saying unity of purpose was needed among all affected states. The key point was to ensure that the strategy against the naxalites was recaliberated and also ensure that the casualty rate among the security forces was low.

Further it was also decided that new methods must be set in place to ensure that the funding for the naxalites was stopped. There is a greater need to deploy better technology to fight the naxalite problem, the meeting also stressed upon.

Technology It was decided to have trackers in weapons, as well as biometrics in smart gun triggers as a tracker can locate a looted weapon wherever it is taken or used, while biometrics can make a smart gun useless for anyone other than the authorised user. Trackers should also be embedded in shoes and bulletproof jackets, it was also said at the meeting. On the surveillance front, the meeting stressed on the need to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. We need to use high-resolution PTZ cameras, GPS tracking, hand-held thermal imaging, radar and satellite imaging, Singh said. Intelligence Surrendered Naxals should be used more effectively to obtain information. There is also a need to evolve actionable intelligence, Singh also said. Further the need to establish a good link with the locals to gather actionable intelligence was also needed. Aggression We have to bring aggression in our policy, there should be aggression in our thinking, aggression in our strategy, aggression in deployment of security forces, aggression in operations, aggression in bringing development, aggression in road construction, the minister also said.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 6:46 [IST]
Not farmers, we're responsible for stubble burning in Punjab, says Kejriwal

Kejriwal now claims BJP offered to spare Sisodia, Jain if AAP backs out of Gujarat polls

Arvind Kejriwal alleges 'huge conspiracy'

India

oi-Anusha

Accused of land scam and bribery Arvind Kejriwal finally broke his silence. The Delhi Chief Minister took to Twitter to claim that 'truth alone will prevail'. Ahead of the special session of the Delhi assembly Kejriwal said in a tweet that AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj would expose a 'conspiracy'.

                         Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 9, 2017

The Delhi assembly will convene for a special session on Tuesday midst the controversy surrounding Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues. Apart from the allegations of bribery and land scam levelled by former AAP minister Kapil Mishra, the party also faces allegations of tax evasion.

While the Congress, BJP and rebels of the AAP themselves attacking Kejriwal and his government, he took to twitter to suggest that a conspiracy was being hatched. He asked people to listen to his MLA speak about the 'conspiracy' in the Delhi assembly.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 11:54 [IST]
Shubham couldn't have enmity with anyone, says father on son's stabbing in Australia

Australian visa policy won't have a huge impact on Indians

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, May 9: After Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced last month that he will be abolishing the existing 457 Visa programme, currently used by temporary foreign workers to gain employment, the country's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said on Tuesday that she did not expect the move to affect Indians much.

Speaking at a media interaction organised by the Indian Women's Press Corps here, Sidhu said the move to abolish the 457 Visa programme was aimed to ensure that people who come to Australia should be properly qualified.

The 457 Visa programme is used mainly to hire foreign workers in the restaurant, IT and medical industries and the majority of such visa holders came from India, Britain and China. Turnbull's statement, coming days after he visited New Delhi, caused a lot of consternation in India.

According to government statistics, 95,758 people were living in Australia under 457 Visa programme last year, with the highest proportion coming from India (24.6 per cent), followed by Britain (19.5 per cent) and China (5.8 per cent).

Sidhu said that most of the Indian 457 Visa holders work in the IT sector and, given the "great shortage" of IT workers in her country, "we expect Indians to continue to qualify" for Australian visas.

"This (457 Visa) is just a temporary visa that allowed people to come and work for a week to four years," she said.

She said that the number of student visas issued to Indians has also continued to rise over the last three years.

From 46,000 student visas issued in 2014, the number rose to 53,000 in 2015 and to over 60,000 in 2017, the High Commissioner said.

As for incidents of racism in Australia, Sidhu, who is a person of Indian origin, said that Australia was "one of the most successful multicultural societies" with people from 120 countries.

"There is a policy of zero tolerance at all levels of government (on racism)," she said.

In this connection, she also pointed out that 48 per cent of Australia's total population of 24 million are first and second generation migrants.

As for India-Australia ties, the High Commissioner said that both countries shared "a fairly strong bilateral relationship".

She said that during Prime Minister Turnbull's visit to India last month, he and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed to "add fresh momentum" to the bilateral ties.

Stating that both countries shared common strategic and security interests, Sidhu said that military ties were growing in numbers, "notably bilateral naval exercises".

She also said that both countries shared a "strong economic relationship" while mentioning that Modi and Turnbull have agreed to "move forward" on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

Later this year, the largest ever Australian trade delegation will visit India for the Australia Trade Week. According to the High Commissioner, the personal relationship between Modi and Turbull is very important for growth of businesses in both countries.

IANS
Centre showing carelessness in Mallya case: Yechury

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, May 9: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday blamed the Central government for not taking necessary measures to get extradition order.

The statement came after apex court held liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt and asked him to appear before the court on July 10.

"The question is if you want to bring Mallya back to India, you are required to have an extradition treaty in order. Our relations with the British Government are excellent. I don't know why this is happening. The government is not taking a necessary step, that's why we are not getting the extradition order," CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury told ANI.

He said that the Indian government is just in talks but no action has been taken yet.

He alleged that why the government is failing to get extradition order from the British government which is very friendly with India.

Earlier in the day, the top court had convicted Mallya for contempt of court. The court ordered that Mallya is present before it on July 10. The conviction was ordered in connection with a loan default case.

The consortium of banks had filed a case in the SC seeking a directive to Mallya to repay the loan amount of Rs 8,600 crore. They had also said that he be directed to be brought down to India and pay the loan amount.

Mallya however despite being ordered to be present before the court failed to do so. The court had given him several dates to be present. However after he failed to appear before the court, the SC held him in contempt.

Mallya is already facing proceedings in the UK in connection with an extradition case. He was arrested briefly last month and then granted bail.

OneIndia News
Chief Justice of India J S Khehar sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

After barring them from travelling abroad, Justice C S Karnan has sentenced Chief Justice of India, J S Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment. In his order the judge of the Calcutta High Court has said that the the SC judges have committed offences punishable under the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act of 1989 and amended Act of 2015.

Justice Karnan held guilty of contempt, sentenced to 6 months in jail by SC

The judges apart from Justice Khehar to be sentenced are Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurian Joseph.

The judges to be sentenced are part of a Bench which had initiated suo-motu contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work.

Justice Karnan also added another supreme court judge Justice R Banumathi in the list against whom the order was passed for having restrained his judicial and administrative work along with CJI Khehar.

Justice Karnan had on May 4 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".

Stating that the eight judges of the Supreme Court have committed caste discrimination, Justice Karnan said they "shall be punished under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act, 1989.

He said that the eight judges "have operated judicial and adminstrative power and harassed a dalit judge besides insulting me at a public institution. The same has been proved beyond all the reasonable doubt from their orders.

Hence, an adjudication is not required in the instant case," Justice Karnan said in his order. In his order, Justice Karnan imposed sentences of five years each and a fine of Rs one lakh on three counts, under sub-sections (1)(m), (1)(r) and (1)(u) of Section 3 of the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Justice Karnan directed that all the three sentences would run concurrently and said that if the fines were not paid, they would "undergo further six months of imprisonment."

He directed that the fine amount be "paid within a period of one week to the National Commission, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Constitutional body, Khan Market, New Delhi from date of receipt of the order."

Justice Karnan also said that an order passed by him on April 13 directing the member Judges of the seven-judge bench to pay a fine of Rs 14 crore was in force and directed "the Registrar General attached to the Supreme Court to recover the said amount from the salary of each."

He also directed Justice Banumathi to pay a compensation of Rs two crore. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu 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.

OneIndia News
Ahead of Diwali, NGT bans sale or use of firecrackers in Delhi from midnight today till Nov 30

What steps have been taken to implement ban on Chinese manjha, HC asks cops

Over 1.25 lakh old vehicles to be taken off road in Noida

Criticised for doing good, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Bengaluru, May 9: Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday said his organisation was facing criticism over holding the World Culture fest along the Yamuna in Delhi when its aim was to bring the river pollution into the limelight.

"Our objective was to attract people's attention to the dirt and pollution in the Yamuna through the event (last year). We wanted to follow the pollution issue with the government to clean the river," he told the Natural Farming Summit in Bengaluru.

"'Magar yaha pe ulta chor kotwal ko dante'" (But it turned out to be a case of pot calling the kettle black), he added.

Ravi Shankar said there was no proof that the festival caused pollution in the river.

The spiritual leader also batted for the promotion of natural and organic farming along with rejuvenation of rivers.

On April 19, the spiritual guru had said the authorities should have never given permission to hold the World Culture Festival if the Yamuna was 'so fragile and pure'. He added that "the fine should be levied on the National Green Tribunal, and the Central and Delhi governments for giving permission to hold the event."

"Ravi Shankar added that the event, which saw over three million attendees from 155 countries over a three-day period, polluted neither air, water nor land."

"The Art of Living, that has rejuvenated 27 rivers, planted 71 million trees, revived several ponds, is being projected as destroying a dead river," Ravi Shankar said.

On April 28, The NGT had issued a notice to AOL chief Ravi Shankar after a plea was moved against him. The plea opposed his remarks against the Centre and the panel for damaging the Yamuna floodplains by allowing AOL's event which was held in March last year.

AOL spokesperson and legal adviser Kedar Desai had said that there was no such order that was passed and the matter was postponed to May 9

The event was held on the left bank of the river between the Barapullah elevated road and the DND flyway between March 11 and 13, 2016.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 14:42 [IST]
IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

Delhi gas leak: NDRF team rushes to spot after complaints of odour

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

New Delhi, May 9: After receiving complaints of odour from the area, the National Disaster Response Force rushed to the spot on Tuesday morning. At least 450 students affected after a gas leak near their school in southern New Delhi on May 6.

A team from NDRF who rushed to the spot inspected the area and have asked the people not to come in area for next 6 days.

There was odour,getting spot of gas leak covered with sandbags;told ppl not to come in area for next 6 days:Shrinivas,media incharge,NDRF pic.twitter.com/XV0eRop1B5  ANI (@ANI_news) May 9, 2017

Addressing the reporters NDRF media incharge Shrinivas said that "there was odour, getting spot of gas leak covered with sandbags; told ppl not to come in area for next 6 days."

The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

Police issues notices

The Police have issued notices to the various parties to join the probe in connection with the chemical gas leak from the Tughlakabad container depot that affected over 450 girl students.

The police are sending notices to the companies involved in the transportation of the container, the customs department and the Container Corporation of India Ltd, the custodian of the depot.

The officer said their probe will focus on ascertaining where the carelessness occurred and the agency responsible for it.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 11:52 [IST]
IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

Delhi Police team that probed Nirbhaya gangrape case to train fellow cops

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 9: A Delhi Police team that had probed the horrific Nirbhaya gangrape case will be training other police personnel about the fundamentals of framing chargesheets in complex rape cases.

The Supreme Court had recently upheld the death penalty to four convicts in the December 16, 2012 gangrape case of a 23-year-old paramedic student inside a moving bus in South Delhi.

She had succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

The team, comprising 41 officers, was today felicitated by Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

"Not only did the officers crack it in a record time, they followed it up with collection of scientific evidence, systematic and painstaking work that led to a conviction in the case," Patnaik said.

The officers, who were part of the probe, said that they are professionally satisfied. The then additional deputy commissioner of police south P S Kushwah said that they were racing against time.

He said that "some women officers were designated to counsel the victims family and assure them that justice would be done."

At every stage of the court proceedings, there were special investigation teams who briefed the counsels appearing on behalf of the victim.

Rajender Singh, who was then an inspector and a key investigator in the case, said that "they will be imparting training to their fellow officers in drafting chargesheets."

Another officer said that "they have held training sessions with some police personnel but this is likely to be made into a regular exercise. The officers recalled the trying times during those days of investigation."

"We delivered against all odds. From facing media and public outrage to handling law and order situation and the various commissions, we were facing so many things but we didnt let our focus shift," Singh said.

"The front gate of the Vasant Vihar police station was blocked by media and public. We used the back gate, which meant climbing a wall, to enter our office," recalled Singh.

"We were shocked and angered at what had happened. But we maintained our objectivity and channelised our anger into the probe," said Singh.

"Brutality was used as an evidence in the case with doctors deposing as prosecution witnesses and listing out the reasons for her death," said the officer.

Singh also said that "the bus was traced from a total of 381 white buses on the basis of a CCTV footage procured from the spot in Mahipalpur where the accused had dumped the victims. The wheel cap of the front tyre of the bus was missing and the vehicle had Yadav written on it," he said.

These clues led them to the bus owner in Noida and subsequently to the bus that was seized from R K Puram area.

The case saw many firsts, said another officer.

"From matching the DNA found on the victims body to those of the accused and using odontology, a branch of forensic science on bite mark analysis, the police relied on scientific evidence to prove the charges," said another officer.

The team probing the case and the victims family forged a lifelong bond, said the then SHO of Vasant Vihar police station, Anil Kumar Sharma.

"Her family was there when I lost my loved ones. Her mother visited us and spent a couple of hours with my family. We forged a strong bond," he added.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 9:15 [IST]
Farooq Abdullah apprises Modi of situation in Kashmir Valley

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, May 9: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the situation in the Valley and urged him to address the issue politically.

During a meeting that lasted over half-an-hour, Abdullah, who was recently elected to the Lok Sabha from the Srinagar seat, briefed the prime minister on the growing unrest in the Valley.

This is the first meeting Abdullah had with Modi after being elected to Parliament defeating PDP-BJP alliance candidate Nazir Ahmed by over 10,000 votes.

The seat had fallen vacant after Tariq Karra had resigned from the ruling PDP. Abdullah urged the prime minister to take urgent steps to address the Kashmir issue politically, saying it was not a mere law and order problem.

PTI
Go beyond caste and religion, think about country's development: Yogi

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Meerut, May 9: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called upon citizens to look beyond religion, caste and personal opinion and think about the country's overall development at an event to honour freedom fighters in Meerut on Tuesday. This is Adityanath's first visit after becoming Chief Minister of UP.

Addressing a huge gathering Yogi said that "the BJP government in the state will focuss on the economic development of all. People in the state will be taken along with the government's development. To look at development, everyone should raise beyond religion and caste.

Speaking about the Swachh Bharat ranking that was revealed recently Adityanath said that "the cleanliness survey was conducted before our government was formed in UP. Only one city from UP is on list of cleanest cities in India and 52 cities on the list of cities that are dirtiest, we will have to change this, adding that he wants everyone in the state to join Swachh Bharat Abhiyan."

Later, in the day the CM is also expected to take a division level meeting to access the progress of development schemes in the region and officials have directed all department heads to keep their records update and special attention is being given on cleanliness in and around of offices.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 14:22 [IST]
LAKE MILLS | A Lake Mills man has been charged with having a marijuana growing operation.

Ralph Boyd Highlander, 53, of Lake Mills, has been charged with felony manufacturing of a controlled substance and sponsoring, promoting or aiding in a gathering where controlled substance were unlawfully used.

He also was charged with marijuana possession, methamphetamine possession and three counts of unlawful possession of a prescription drug, all misdemeanors.

The charges arose after the Lake Mills Police Department executed a search warrant at Highlanders residence on April 28.

Winnebago County Attorney Adam Sauer said two marijuana plants as well as other items consistent with a marijuana growing operation were found.

Bond was set at $5,000. Highlander posted a surety bond on May 3 and was released from custody.

Highlander's arraignment is scheduled for May 19.

 Mary Pieper
GST bill passed in Goa Assembly

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Panaji, May 9: Goa Assembly on Tuesday passed the state Goods and Services Tax Bill with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar expressing hope that the state would not face any major losses under the new tax regime.

The Parliament had on April 6 passed four legislations to pave the way for nationwide roll-out of GST from July 1. "Goa will not face any major loss after the implementation of the GST. Even if we suffer any losses, the Union government will compensate for it," Parrikar told the House, after tabling the bill.

Later, the bill was passed unanimously by the house, which convened a one-day special session for that. The Chief Minister said Goa has reasonable or lesser taxes as compared to the rest of the country due to which the implementation of GST would become easier for it.

"With the implementation of the GST, the entertainment tax, value-added tax and additional Customs duty would be a thing of the past," he said. Admitting that there would be initial hiccups in implementing the GST bill, Parrikar said it is going to be a boon to several sectors including tourism, which is one of the prominent industries in the state.

Parrikar said he was lucky to be a part of the discussion on GST in the parliament during his tenure at the Centre as Union Defence Minister.

"I am lucky to participate in the discussions on GST in the parliament and also now in Goa Legislative Assembly," he said. He said during the first year of the implementation of the GST, Goa will gain around Rs 600-1,000 crore due to the implementation of the new tax regime.

The GST will force losses to the tune of Rs 700-800 crore on the state exchequer, but Goa will gain Rs 12,000 crore through new tax regime, he said. "Goa will be a net gainer," Parrikar said. He said that nearly 18,000 small traders who registered with the state government would be educated about it by holding camps in June month this year.

Special camps for traders would also be held between May 15 and 22 this year, he said. The opposition also supported the bill on the floor of the house. "There will be teething problems in implementing this new tax but it is going to be a revolutionary movement for the state," former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat (Congress) said.

The Congress party supported the implementation of GST bill but said the government should consider its financial implications.

On March 29, Lok Sabha passed the CGST Bill with amendments. All four bills related to GST passed in Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had called for a vote on clause by clause voting on GST Bill amendments after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ended his address with a call for passage of the draft bills. "I request the House to pass the bill unanimously drafted by a representative council as is."

As he sought passage of GST Bills Jaitley had said that goods may become slightly cheaper once all other taxes are removed after implementation of the Goods and Service Tax. the debate for GST that went on for the day without lunch break covered various aspects of GST.

On April 6, the GST bills was passed on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha.

The GST Bills comprises of four bills -- Central Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, and Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to the States) Bill 2017. The Union Cabinet approved the four GST-related Bills on March 20.

OneIndia News ( With PTI inputs)
Grandmaster Shifuji Shaurya Bharadwaj not our man says Indian Navy

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Indian Navy has confirmed that Shifuji Shaurya Bharadwaj is not a Marine Commando of the Indian Navy. Further, no person of this name has been involved in training of Marine Companies, the Navy has replied to an application made under the Right to Information Act. The application was filed Abhishek Shukla along with Mitsu Chavda and others.

Grandmaster Shifuji Shaurya Bharadwaj had created a storm with his social media posts. He claimed to be an elite officer in his photographs he always sported a combat attire. He even claimed that he is the brand ambassador of Madhya Pradesh and won an award called "Living Legend-True Patriot."

He further claimed to be the next Bhagat Singh and also says that he is a special commando trainer for combatants of the Army's fighting regiment. While several media channels exposed his claims, he went on to reiterate that he never claimed to be an Army officer. He states on his website that he is,"Just an ordinary BHARTIYA (An indian)"

A newspaper from Pune had said that Shifuji has spent 29 years in the military, training Hawk Commandos, Special Armed Forces, Counter Terrorist Group, Special Task Force and the Anti Terrorist Squad, and has been teaching women self-defence for the last 15 years.

OneIndia News
Gujarat Dy CM's son stopped from boarding flight for coming 'drunk'

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The son of Gujarat deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was stopped from boarding a Qatar Airways flight on Monday as he had allegedly arrived in a drunken state. It was reported that the deputy CM's son Jaiman Patel argued with the airport staff as well.

According to sources quoted by IANS Jaiman Patel, who is in his mid-30s, along with his wife Jhalak and daughter Vaishvi were stopped from boarding the plane, which was scheduled to take-off at 4am. The family was on its way to Greece for a vacation.

Patel, who is a land dealer, reached the Ahmedabad International Airport in a drunken state, barely able to walk, the agency also reported. He cleared the immigration and other checks in a wheelchair due to his inebriated condition, said airport officials. Jaimin Patel was prevented from boarding the flight. He also had an argument with the staff of the airways," an official said, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Nitin Patel told reporters in the evening in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him. "My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well. His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed," the 60-year-old minister added. Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information," he said.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 7:02 [IST]
Hand over Kashmir to President: Defence expert tells CM Mufti

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Bhopal, May 9: A defence expert on Tuesday demanded Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to hand over the government to the President.

The statement came after Mehbooba on Monday stated that 'not every youth in the state is a stone pelter'and had allegedly blamed the media for making the situation more worst in the valley.

"Mufti was only demoralising the security forces and trying to gain sympathy from people, who have been indulging in such activities," Defence expert Major General (retired)S R. Sinho told ANI.

"She was the one who released almost 700 stone pelters when she took over as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. I think we have seen that the security forces are being demoralised, because she is not taking proper action. She is not allowing the security forces to take action and by making such statements, she is only demoralising the security forces and also giving confidence to the stone pelters to get involve in such activities. I think it is the time she hands over the government to the President and recommends a President rule in the valley because the situation is getting out of control," he said.

On Monday Mehbooba said that not all the youth in the valley are stone pelters and asked if they were involved in such incidents how can the youths achieve the goals do better in all fields.

Speaking to media on Monday, Mufti said, "I know the Kashmir issue is serious, but I don't believe there is anything which cannot be resolved."

Mehbooba's statements came after she after she attended the opening ceremony of the Civil Secretariat in the state.

It is to remind that on Saturday Mehbooba asserted that Prime minister Narendra Modi was the only hope to address the 70-year-old Kashmir issue once and for all.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 9:35 [IST]
Election Commission to review poll preparedness in Himachal Pradesh from Sunday

HPTET 2017 provisional answer key for Urdu and Punjabi released, check now

No trace of Nipah virus in Himachal clarifies officer

Mucormycosis: Himachal Pradesh records its first case of black fungus

Various factors considered, says EC on not announcing Gujarat assembly poll dates

Himachal: Alert in Mandi as Beas level rises

India

oi-Madhuri

Bhakra Beas Management Board authorities on Tuesday issued high alert for 48 hrs for Mandi, Bilaspur, Kangra as water level rises in Pandoh Dam in Mandi.

Himachal: Bhakra Beas Mgmt Board authorities issue alert for 48 hrs for Mandi, Bilaspur, Kangra as water level rises in Pandoh Dam in Mandi pic.twitter.com/90Oz9nUOKc  ANI (@ANI_news) May 9, 2017

The district administration has warned the tourists as well as locals to avoid approaching the banks of the Beas in view of safety concern.

The Pandoh Dam authority has informed the district administration, Mandi, that in view of the increasing water level dam gates could be opened to release excess water.

Also, people of Kangra, Bilaspur, Mandi have been advised not to go near Beas river in their areas as water level is rising in Pandoh dam at Mandi.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 22:19 [IST]
Amazon to pay penalty of Rs 1 lakh for allowing sale of sub-standard pressure cookers

Indian map without disputed territories sold on Amazon Canada

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, May 9: Amazon Canada makes the headlines again after a Bharatiya Janata Party leader found out that the site was selling the incorrect version of India map.

BJP leader Tajinder Pal S Bagga is believed to have observed that Amazon Canada is selling the map of India that differs from the Indian government's official one.

Reacting to the incident, BJP leader took to his Twitter handle and raised concerns about vinyl wall sticker map without the disputed area by Pakistan and China asking them to take down.

"Amazon.ca is selling distorted Map of India. It's unacceptable. Remove this from ur website & stop selling immediately," Bagga Tweeted.

The product is being sold by an unknown seller who registered on the website. The product was said to have transgressed the 2016 Geospatial Information Regulation Bill.

The seller identified by the name of DIYthinker' and is selling the product for C$ 25.35.

According to the norms, it is mandatory to take permission from a government authority to acquire, disseminate, publish or distribute any GioI, failing which the Indian government had every right to put the concerned person behind the bars for seven years and Rs1-100 crore fine.

It is to remind that Amazon Canada landed in a soup after it sold doormats bearing Indian national flag. Later, it apologised and removed the product.

How India took Amazon to task over the sale of mats with Tricolour

External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj had threatened in January to rescind the visas of Amazon employees if such products were not removed from its Canadian website.

Reuters had reported that as per the documents the Indian government went a step ahead in private asking its US and Canadian embassies to raise the matter very strongly with the top officials of Amazon.

The matter was escalated to the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. A global audit was prompted to ensure that no such products are listed on any of its websites around the world.

Amazon later had Indian laws that govern the use of the National Flag and other emblems. These laws have been made as an integral part of the global compliance process.

It had also informed India that it has strengthened its in-house compliance units that monitor products sold by third-party vendors on its websites.

OneIndia News
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's son accused of benami transactions

India

oi-Anusha

Son of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Dr Yathindra has been accused of illegal transactions. In a complaint filed with the income tax department, Varthur Kanaka Das has claimed that Dr Yathindra used his firm to make benami transactions worth crores. The complainant has demanded a thorough probe into the same.

Dr Yathindra, the former director of Matrix solutions private limited has been accused of indulging in benami transactions using different names and routeing money in the form of donations. The complainant also alleged that Yathindra continued to wholly own the company and controlled the shares.

"Properties worth hundreds of crores have been purchased in Mysuru, Mumbai and Dubai. Yathindra and his associates have gone on frequent foreign trips to transferring the money to off-shore accounts. From there the money has been routed back to India in the form of 'donations'. These donations have been deemed as contributions for the development of diagnostics centres in Bengaluru and Mumbai. This has to be probed under Benami Property Transaction Act, 1988," the complainant said.

The complaint has also demanded that a probe be carried out into the reason for the company's sudden growth. The complaint was filed on Monday. The complaint claimed that Dr Yathindra owned many diagnostic centres in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Yathindra is said to have resigned from the company in April 2016. His company had landed in a controversy after it was awarded the tender to run a path lab in a government hospital.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 16:31 [IST]
Karnataka: Petrol bunks to remain shut on Sundays starting May 14

India

oi-Anusha

At least 3,000 fuel stations will remain shut on Sundays in Karnataka starting May 14. Petrol dealers are all set to observe 'No Purchase Day' on May 10 and will not buy fuel from companies. Starting May 15 petrol bunks will work in single shifts between 9 AM and 6 PM

Miffed about the lack of a hike in dealer's commission, the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers has decided to shut fuel stations on Sundays and work in single shift. The protest does not, however, have the backing of Karnataka State Federation of Petroleum Dealers. While dealer commission is the agenda behind the protest, dealers are shielding themselves under the garb of 'fuel conscious'.

At least 52,800 bunks across the country are expected to remain shut on Sundays but the Karnataka federation of petroleum dealers have confirmed that bunks in Karnataka will remain shut for sure.

On May 10, dealers will not purchase fuel causing losses to oil companies. A move that they claim to be aimed at saving fuel. "Inconveniencing public is not our idea. There will not be a shortage of fuel on May 10. We are only trying to make p for the losses that we have incurred over the years by shutting down bunks on Sundays," said Ravindranath, president of Bengaluru Petrol Dealers association.

The Karnataka federation of petroleum dealers has not extended support to the same. "At the All India Petroleum Dealers Association meeting held in New Delhi on May 6, it was unanimously decided that we should not resort to such protests," said H S Manjappa, the president of the federation.

The protesting associations have claimed that dealers across the country have been denied lakhs of rupees in commissions. The previous margins were set years ago and the same, they claim needs to be revised.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 13:15 [IST]
Nayana Phatak-Pujari case: Gallows for three accused

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Pune, May 9: A fast track court on Tuesday pronounced the death sentence for three prime accused in the sensational October 2009 gangrape and murder of a 28-year-old software engineer Nayana Phatak-Pujari.

Special Judge L. L. Yenkar, who on Monday convicted Yogesh Ashok Raut, Mahesh Balasaheb Thakur and Vishwas Hindurao Kadam for kidnapping robbing, gangraping and then killing the victim, sentenced them to death after a hectic day full of arguments between the prosecution and defence lawyers.

Raut (32) and Thakur (31), both belong to Pune, and Kadam (34) is from Satara district.

Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar forcefully argued for the death penalty against the convicts, terming it as "the rarest of rare cases" considering the brutality of the crime against the victim.

He said that the prosecution conclusively managed to establish the complete chain of circumstances that led to the serious crime and said they deserved "the maximum punishment" under the laws.

"Considering the brutal manner in which the victim was gangraped and then killed, this falls under the category of rarest of rare case," he said pressing for the death penalty after the conviction.

As co-accused, Rajesh Pandurang Chaudhari, who was arrested as an accomplice, later turned an approver and was granted a pardon, defence lawyers B.A. Alur, Ranjit Dhomse-Patil and Ankush Jadhav, who sought a milder sentence, also argued that he was also guilty and should face the same punishment.

Raut pleaded that he was innocent and was being framed in the case, the vehicle was not in his possession at the time of the incident and the court should consider that he had an aged mother, wife and daughter before pronouncing its verdict.

Both Raut and Kadam also said that Chaudhari was an equal accomplice in the crime, though Thakur didn't say anything.

The victim's husband Abhijit Pujari, and sisters Manisha G. and Madhuri J. who had demanded the death penalty for the accused after their conviction on Monday, expressed their "relief and satisfaction" over the verdict before the media.

Around 8 pm on the evening of October 7, 2009, Phatak-Pujari had completed her duties at Synechron IT company in Kharadi and was waiting for a bus to go home, when Raut, who worked there as a driver, offered her a lift in his car.

However, instead of driving towards her home, he diverted the vehicle towards Rajgurunagar, while picking up two other friends en route.

The three repeatedly raped her in the moving car and then stopped at a desolate spot, where they snatched her debit card, forced her to reveal the pin at knife-point and later withdrew total of Rs 61,000 from her account.

They subsequently strangled her with her scarf, smashed her head with a large stone to mangle her face and dumped her body in the forests of Zarewadi from where it was recovered after two days.

The case created a scare among Puneites, especially those working in late-night shifts in the IT sector and resulted in enhanced security measures both by the companies and police.

The three and Chaudhari, a guard at the company, were subsequently arrested.

On September 17, 2011, Raut managed to escape from police custody while being taken to a hospital for treatment and was nabbed only in May 2013 after the shocking case of Nirbhaya gangrape case in New Delhi.

In his statement, Chaudhari said he was threatened by Raut, Thakur and Kadam that they planned to eliminate the victim and he should keep his mouth shut about it.

Arrested on October 16, 2009, he claimed that he was "extremely remorseful" about the incident but was equally scared over the death threats issued by the accused. However, he later mustered courage and agreed to turn an approver in the case.

The trial, which continued for over seven years, saw four different judges hearing the matter in which the prosecution examined 37 witnesses and the defence another 13 witnesses.

A large number of civil rights activists and groups had assembled outside the court for the past two days, carrying placards and banner demanding "justicea for Phatak-Pujari and "death for the convicts".

IANS
PM Modi repatriates five IAS officials sought by Yogi Adityanath

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Lucknow, May 9: The central government has repatriated five IAS officials who Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath wanted back to their parent cadre.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the immediate repatriation of Alok Kumar, Sanjay R Bhoosreddy, Prashant Trivedi, Shashi Prakash Goyal and Anurag Srivastava to their parent cadre, the official communique said.

While all the four officials, barring Srivastava will go to their parent cadre with immediate effect, the 1992 batch IAS Srivastava will be relieved after June 2017 as he is with the Ayush department and is required at the Centre for the International Yoga Day in June.

To run the show in Uttar Pradesh, while the state BJP government has rejigged bureaucracy twice, many senior positions are lying vacant and the Chief Minister was waiting for these officials to return to roll out the full road map of his government, a close aide of the Chief Minister told IANS.

Avanish Awasthi, a 1987 batch officer, has already joined as the principal secretary of information, tourism, religious affairs and is perceived to be close to the Chief Minister.

In case of Shashi Prakash Goyal, a 1989 batch IAS, the DoPT has clarified that his repatriation would not adversely effect his additional secretary empanelment eligibility on the ground of his not having served for a minimum of three years with the central government under the Central Staffing Scheme.

IANS

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 8:53 [IST]
MASON CITY | A Rockwell man was sentenced Monday to up to five years in prison on a felony methamphetamine charge.

Lee Alan Best, 27, received that sentence after pleading guilty to methamphetamine possession  third or subsequent offense, in Cerro Gordo County District Court.

That charge was reduced from the original charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

Best was in possession of between one and five grams of methamphetamine, as well as a functioning digital scale, on Feb. 4 in Mason City, according to the Mason City Police Department.

A $750 fine was suspended, but Best was ordered to pay a $125 surcharge.
IT industry veteran appeals to PM for a 'corruption-free' Karnataka

Thailand: PM Prayuth can stay in office, court says

UK PM Liz Truss resigns after 45 days in office, successor to be elected next week

Iraq gets a new government after a year of deadlock

PM Modi to address nation over 3 years completion of NDA govt on May 26

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

By Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, May 9: On the occasion of completion of three years of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from Guwahati on May 26.

The BJP-led Assam government's first anniversary will also be celebrated on the same day.

The first anniversary of BJP-led Assam government will also be celebrated on May 26, said the state BJP unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said.

He added that the decision of PM Modi to address the nation from Assam reflects Centre's commitment towards the North East.

On the same day, PM Modi will also inaugurate the Dhola Sadiya bridge and lay foundation stones of two institutes.

However, the Sarbanand Sonowal-led Assam government will complete one year on May 24 but the celebration will take place on May 26.

7 Things to know about Dhola Sadiya bridge

Dhola Sadiya bridge will be the longest bridge in India

It spans Lohit River to connect Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Dhola bridge is 9.15 kilometres in length

Dhola bridge construction began in 2011 under the aegis of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a public-private partnership with Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd.

The bridge was scheduled to become operational from December 2015, but finishing works were delayed.

The project cost around 10.00 billion rupees and took around six years to complete.

It is 3.55 kilometres longer than the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai, making it the longest bridge in India.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 13:36 [IST]
PU results 2017 Karnataka announced, available now

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The 2nd PUC results have been announced today. The results were announced at 3 pm on May 11. The results would be made available at the colleges on May 12.

The results are available on the websites pue.kar.nic.in and karresults.nic.in. The examinations were held between March 9 and 27. 6,84,490 students appeared for the examinations. There were 3,48,563 boys and 3,35,909 girls who took the examination.

It may be recalled here that the PU board took elaborate measures to prevent leakage of question papers.

    ,  

The evaluation of the answer sheets of both the second year PU and SSLC examinations had been completed recently. The departments concerned are now busy with the task of making arrangements to publish the results. The work of uploading information like subject-wise marks, total marks, grade, etc to the website is in full.

SSLC results:

The Karnataka Secondary School Leaving Certificate exam results will be declared on May 12 at 3 pm. Candidates can check the results from the official website, kseeb.kar.nic.in

The Karnataka SSLC exams 2017 were held between March 21 to April 12 this year in 2,720 centres across the state. As many as 8,77 lakh students appeared.

Of those who appeared, there were 4.69 835 boys while 4.07 339 girls. The Board this year issued separate question papers and answer sheets so that students can take the question papers home. The Board also allowed students coming in 15 minutes late into the exam hall after protests from parents.

OneIndia News
Delhi-NCR likely to choke in the coming days

'Pollution not a state problem': As Delhi chokes, AAP leader passes the buck to Centre

Why Punjab farmers burn stubble at this scale when others do not

In the killing of those protecting Hindus in Punjab, a massive ISI plot revealed

Punjab AAP leader Sukhpal Singh asks Kejriwal to remove him from posts

India

oi-PTI

Chandigarh, May 9: Punjab Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson and the chief whip of the party in the state Assembly, Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Monday urged party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to remove him from the posts.

"I confirm that I have asked Kejriwal to remove me from the posts of the party's chief whip in the Assembly and party spokesperson with immediate effect," he told reporters.

The former Congressman has also requested the Delhi chief minister to give these posts to leaders in the party who were more deserving than him.

"I am very happy to serve the party as an ordinary volunteer and elected representative of the people," said the Bholath MLA.

The Political Affairs Committee of the AAP on Monday met in New Delhi to decide on a revamp of the party's Punjab unit. Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann was appointed as AAP's Punjab convenor at the meeting.

PTI

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 10:40 [IST]
IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

Sonia Gandhi admitted to Sir Ganga Ram hospital, likely to be discharged tomorrow

India

oi-Madhuri

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was on Sunday admitted to Delhi Sir Ganga Ram hospital. She was admitted due to food poisoning and is expected to be discharged on Wednesday.

"Sonia Gandhi was admitted on 7th May due to food poisoning. She is well now and will be discharged soon," said hospital statement.

According to Dr DS Rana, Chairman,''Gandhi was admitted to the hospital on Sunday due to food poisoning. She is well now and will be discharged soon."

Earlier on May 3, a Congress leader said that an ailing Congress president Sonia Gandhi should quickly appoint her son Rahul Gandhi as party chief as the delay is only helping Prime Minister Narendra Modi achieve his ambition of a Congress-mukt India.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 22:10 [IST]
SSLC result: How to apply for revaluation and scanned document of answer sheets online?

Karnataka SSLC Results 2017: 67.87 per cent pass, results available now

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Bengaluru, May 9: The Karnatatka SSLC exams 2017 results have been announced. 67.87 per cent have passed the examinations. The individual results now available.

Candidates can check the results from the official website: kseeb.kar.nic.in and results.nic.in

You can also register and get your results here : examresults.net

The Karnataka SSLC exams 2017 were held between March 21 to April 12 this year in 2,720 centres across the state. As many as 8.77 lakh students appeared.

[   , 3   ]

Of those who appeared, there were 4.69 835 boys while 4.07 339 girls. The Board this year issued separate question papers and answer sheets so that students can take the question papers home. The Board also allowed students coming in 15 minutes late into the exam hall after protests from parents.

KSEEB also made sure that exam centres were under CCTV surveillance and 40 cameras were installed at the Board's office to prevent cheating. Cameras at 30 district treasuries and four sub-treasuries were monitored 24X7 from KSEEB.

Every year, over 8.50 lakh students appear for this examination, and students, who fail in the exam, can appear for the supplementary exam in the month of June.

Know your results

Students can check their Karnataka SSLC Results which will be available online or even it can be accessed through SMS or message. The students can access all the details regarding the SSLC Results and other latest updates from the official website.

Last year, around 8.49 lakh students have appeared for the exam at 3,082 centres. The all round pass percentage stood at 79.16, almost 2% less than previous year.

Girls fared better than boys in class 10 examination. Girls secured a pass percentage of 82.62 as against boys who scored 74.84%, according to the results.

Rural students with a pass percentage of 80.36 had done better than their urban counterparts with 77.63%. Bangalore Rural with 89.63% had secured the best pass percentage.

OneIndia News
Suspended BJD leader Jayaram Pangi joins BJP

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Bhubaneswar, May 9: Former Member of Parliament and suspended Biju Janata Dal Jayaram Pangi on Tuesday joined Bharatiya Janata Party in presence of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at party headquarters in Bhubaneswar.

After joining the BJP, Jayaram said that BJD is doing exactly the opposite of what Biju Babu dreamt about Odisha. He added that as a tribal he treated Naveen Babu as a leader.

He alleged that despite his association with Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik, the BJD leader said that he was very disappointed when he was suspended after working for a party for many years.

On the other hand, BJD leader Rabi Nanda said from Jeypore said that Pangi was suspended from the party on anti-party activities charges and him joining the BJP will not affect the party at all.

It is to remind that the Pangi was suspended from BJD on charges of anti-party activities.The decision was made by the party president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after the clash between two groups in the party over candidate selection of chairperson of Koratpur. Pangi was the BJD president of Koratpur.

Earlier on May 4, the BJD chief Naveen Patnaik had said his party was strong enough to counter the BJP in the state.

"I can assure you that we will counter it (BJP) very well. We are a very strong party," Patnaik told reporters

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.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 16:16 [IST]
J&K: Terrorists have looted Rs 90 lakh from banks in 6 months

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

In the past six months, terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have looted a total of Rs 90.08 lakh from various banks. The terrorists have been resorting to bank robberies of late in a bid to fund their operations and the modus operandi was invented to beat demonetisation.

Between November and May there have been 13 incidents of bank robberies. The main target has been the J&K bank which has a large number of branches in the state. Investigations have revealed that a total of Rs 90.08 lakh has been looted from the J&K bank, SBI, Axis and Ellaqui Dehat Bank.

The J&K police say that these robberies were carried out by the militants of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. Both these groups are very active in the Valley and at least 200 of their terrorists are present in the state. After the decision on demonetisation was made, there was a severe cash crunch and in a bid to beat the same, they resorted to bank robberies.

There has been a rise in the number of bank robberies in Jammu and Kashmir since the decision on demonetisation was made. The module headed by three operatives of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba have been plotting and executing a spate of bank robberies.

Police officials in J&K say that an analysis of the CCTV footage showed that it was the same module comprising three persons which carried out these robberies. According to Rayees Mohammad, the Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, it is the module of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which has carried out these bank robberies.

OneIndia News
IIT in Karnataka: Where would it come up?

Watch how this lake in Hassan caught fire

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A fire was noticed on a patch of a lake near Dodda Basavanahalli on the outskirts of Hassan city. The incident has left residents shocked. The lake is close to a terminal of the Hindustan Petrol Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) in the industrial area.

Immediately after the fire was noticed, residents informed the police and the fire department about the same. The locals were noticeably angry and blamed poor handling of effluents by HPCL terminal as a cause for the fire.

#WATCH: Fire rages on a patch of a lake near Dodda Basavanahalli in Hassan, Karnataka. (May 8) pic.twitter.com/u9g45HlcJ9  ANI (@ANI_news) May 9, 2017

According to Karnataka State Pollution Control Board K.V. Shivakumar, the deposits of petrol and diesel may have been the reason for the fire.It seems empty tankers that carry petrol and diesel are washed in the lake, he also said.

As the density of petrol and diesel is less than water, the particles of the fossil fuel float on the surface causing fire, the officer also added.

The incident comes in the wake of the Bellandur lake in Bengaluru catching fire. The lake grabbed headlines in May of 2015, when yellowish flames arose from the toxic froth that had accumulated in the lake.

Couple of weeks ago the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) ordered closure of 30 polluting industries around the Bellandur lake.

The lake has become a dumping ground for illegal debris and is known for its toxic froth. The lake has caught fire earlier too due to flammable toxic waste that is dumped in it.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 8:54 [IST]
It was dummy EVM that AAP used to demonstrate tampering

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Election Commission of India has said that after initial doubts of an EVM theft, it has been found that the EVM used in the Delhi assembly was a dummy. The AAP decided to use a dummy EVM in the assembly to demonstrate EVM tampering to avoid any sort of legal complications.

Earlier ECI officials had said that they would check to see how the EVM was procured. The EVMs are stored in a go-down of the Election Commission of India are used only during the elections.

Earlier, the AAP members demonstrated in the Delhi Legislative Assembly how EVMs could be tampered with. AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said he has done engineering and had 10 years of experience in the field. He said he knows how embedded systems and softwares function.

He said that there is a secret code hidden under the cardboard covering the EVM which a party's persn presses to direct all following votes to the pre-determined candidate. Bharadwaj cited the Bhind Punjab where all votes were going to the BJP candidate. The error according to him could be detected since the machine had a paper trail. I have years of experience in corporates and MNCs and can challenge anyone to falsify my claim, Bharadwaj also said. I challenge those from Harvard to come and prove that tampering cannot be done. BJP has learnt the trick of hacking EVMs in five years. We learnt it in three months. Hacking and rigging in any machine is simple as all you have to do is change the mother board, he further added to applause from his colleagues.

OneIndia News
Cylinder explosion at crusher plant in Bilaspur kills 1, injures 4 others

Blast in Afghanistan kills 8 children

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kabul, May 9: Eight children and a senior cleric, were killed in a blast inside a seminary in Parwan province of Afghanistan on Tuesday, local media said.

According to TOLONews, Head of the Parian Ulema Council, Maulvi Abdul Rahim Shah Hanafi, was among the deceased.

As soon as the students gathered in the classroom, the explosives were detonated.

According to officials, a number of others were also injured in the explosion. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.

IANS
CLEAR LAKE | A Clear Lake family reported seeing a red and orange fireball before realizing their neighbors summer home was on fire Monday night.

Stacie Gustafson, who lives across the street from 100 15th Ave. S., said her electricity flickered off and on before she saw the ball of fire through her glass front door between 9:30 and 9:40 p.m.

Shortly before and during that time period, Clear Lake was hit by a severe thunderstorm that resulted in quarter-sized hail on the south side of town.

I saw orange, red and maybe even blue, Stacie Gustafson said of the fireball, as she watched firefighters knocking down flames and hacking into the roof of the yellow one-story home, which had a thick drift of hail in front of it. Heavy smoke was coming out of the attic.

Stacies husband, Mark Gustafson, and Bryce Wichman, also of Clear Lake, grabbed a hose and pounded on the windows to make sure no one was home before the fire department arrived around 9:52 p.m. They said they could see fire coming through the houses rafters.

The home, which online property records indicate is owned by Jarvis and Jill Whitinger of Nashua, was unoccupied at the time of the fire. They told the fire department the home was insured.

What an awful time to lose your summer house, said Sierra Gustafson, who is Mark and Stacie's daughter.

A tall tree behind the home was missing long strips of the bark from its top to the base of its trunk. Chunks of bark, some nearly 10 feet long, were scattered across the neighborhood, across the street and even embedded in a nearby yard.

It appeared lightning struck the tree and started a fire in the attic, said Josh Pokorney, public information officer for the Clear Lake Fire Department.

The fire was mostly knocked down by 11 p.m., but Pokorney said hot embers were continuing to smolder among combustible material.

It appeared the lightning hit the tree and went into the ground, he said. Generally the attic is where the fire first goes, because of the cellulosic material.

No one was hurt, Pokorney said. Damage is estimated at over $100,000.

The Clear Lake and Ventura fire departments were on the scene for about two hours. They were assisted by the Clear Lake Police Department and Alliant Energy.
"Help me get released," abducted Indian Priest Tom Uzhunnalil pleads

International

oi-Anusha

Father Tom Uzhunnalil who was abducted in March 2016 has pleaded for help from Indian authorities in a new video. He has claimed that he needs immediate hospitalisation and the Indian authorities' response, as well as that of the Catholic bishop in Abu Dhabi, had been 'very poor' so far. The authenticity of the video could not be ascertained.

The priest from Kerala was kidnapped after an attack on a care home in Yemen's Aden. The video recording bearing a placard with the date April 15, 2017, was aired by Yemeni news portals.

@3rdworldin @BaFana3 Complete video of Indian Catholic priest Father Tom who was abducted in Aden, Yemen by militants: Yemeni media @adenalghad pic.twitter.com/TPBcGkcqxR  Aveek Sen (@aveeksen) May 8, 2017

While thanking people for praying for his wellbeing, Father Tom said he was sad with the 'response of Indian authorities and the Catholic bishop in Abu Dhabi' "My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible. They contacted our Indian government authorities several times and I have seen their response. It was very very poor. They also contacted bishop of Abu Dhabi but there too response was not encouraging," he is seen saying in the video.

"Neither the bishop nor the Indian authorities asked them what they really want to get me released. It is a poor response and I am sad about that. My dear family people do what you can to help me release. Please, please to what you can to get me released. May god bless you for that," he is seen saying as the video comes to an end abruptly.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the care home and consequence kidnap of the priest, in March 2016 four gunmen attacked the care home, killing four Indian nuns, two Yemeni female staff members, eight elderly residents and a guard.

OneIndia News
Iran promises to smoke terrorists out of Pakistan

International

oi-Prabhpreet

By Prabhpreet

With the tensions around the Indo-Pak border running high, following speculation that India might execute a retaliatory action against terror camps, which are provided with safe haven inside Pakistan by its army, the country has also been warned of similar action from Iran.

Last year, witnessed actions taken by India in Pakistani territory, in what are now termed as 'Surgical strikes,' following an attack on an air force base in Pathankot. And there is a growing probability that similar actions might be taken following the brutal killings and mutilation of two Indian soldiers.

Now, Pakistan has been warned by the head of the Iranian armed forces that Tehran would hit terrorist bases inside the country if its government fails to stop cross-border attacks by Sunni militants.

Earlier last month, 10 Iranian border guards were reportedly killed by a Sunni militant group called Jaish, using long range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Iran's border area which it shares with Pakistan has been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs as well as separatist militants.

According to Iran's State news agency IRNA, Major General Mohammad Baqeri said, "We cannot accept the continuation of this situation."

The Major General, who is the head of the Iranian armed forces also reportedly said, "We expect the Pakistani officials to control the borders, arrest the terrorists and shut down their bases." He added, "If the terrorist attacks continue, we will hit their safe havens and cells, wherever they are." The foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif had visited Pakistan last week and reportedly asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to improve the border security while receiving assurances that Pakistan would deploy additional security along the border.

In a similar warning in 2014, the country had said that it would send troops to Pakistan to retrieve five Iranian border guards kidnapped by Jaish al Adl. And Pakistan had responded that such an action would violate international law and issued a counter warning to the Iranian forces not to cross the border.

The issue had calmed down at the time when a local Sunni cleric had stepped in and helped resolve the situation, with four of the five guards being released a few months later, while one was killed by the militants.

Killings of eight Iranian border guards in April 2015 and 14 in October 2013, have previously been claimed by the group.

The Sunni militant group, Jaish al Adl, has been blamed for carrying out several attack the country's security forces in an attempt to highlight what it calls discrimination against the minority Sunni muslims in a Shi'te majority Iran.

OneIndia News
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

Nawaz Sharif took $1.5 billion from Osama Bin Laden to promote Kashmir jihad

International

oi-Vicky

In more trouble for Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's opposition leader Imran Khan's party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan.

The PTI while relying on certain interviews and a book said that Sharif took Rs 1.5 billion US dollars from Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan. They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said.

In 2013 PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989. In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 20:34 [IST]
 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd.

All rights reserved.

One News is a registered trademark

of One News Page Ltd.
MASON CITY | Gatehouse Capital has approved a pre-development agreement to build a hotel and connect it to The Music Man Square, City Administrator Brent Trout said Tuesday.

The City Council will act on the agreement following a public hearing Thursday night. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Mason City Room of the public library.

Gatehouse is proposing to build the hotel in the south parking lot of Southbridge Mall and connect it via a skywalk to The Music Man Square. It intends to build a ballroom/conference center in The Music Man Square and relocate the museum. It is a $15 million project.

The project is included in the city's request for $10 million in state funds through the Iowa Reinvestment Act. It is part of a $36 million plan that includes an ice area/multipurpose center, music pavilion, parking ramp and possibly a mixed-use building.

The city received preliminary approval for $7.2 million for the state and upped its request to $10 million when more state money became available.

The hotel is a key component because the state requires $10 million in private investment which the hotel fulfills.

But there have been several changes since the city's pre-application for state funding was approved. Originally, G8 Development of San Diego was the proposed hotel developer but was eliminated when it failed secure financing in the required time last year.

The city put out a new request for proposals for a hotel. G8 and Gatehouse responded and the City Council chose to go with Gatehouse.

Last month, Trout met with state officials to update them on the changes in the proposal. He said he was told to stick with present developer and have the pieces of the plan finalized by the end of the year.

The proposal, signed by Gatehouse official David Rachie, authorizes Gatehouse Capital to build a 100-room hotel in the Southbridge lot, connect it to The Music Man Square and build a conference center with a 6,500-square foot grand ballroom that could accommodate events with up to 600 attendees and a 1,500-square foot catering/kitchen area.

Gatehouse is requesting a $150,000 refundable payment from the city to pay for a pre-development plan that, in effect, is a feasibility study.

If the city decides to move forward within 90 days of completion of the pre-development plan, the $150,000 would be refundable within 45 days of project financing.

The amended plan includes:

 Development and funding for the music pavilion.

 A $150,000 refundable payment to Gatehouse.

 City funding for a "mezzanine loan," which fills the gap between the developer's equity and traditional financing. The loan would be made with general obligation bonds and would be an "interest forgivable" loan in which Gatehouse would repay the principal  estimated to be $3.5 to $4.3 million  over 20 years. The city would be responsible to pay the interest to retire the bonds.

 Renovations to The Music Man Square, museum and skywalk construction.

 A parking facility. Although the parking facility planned for the north portion of the City Hall parking lot is no longer anticipated as an Iowa Reinvestment Act project, staff is recommending keeping it and the mixed-use building in the urban renewal plan to serve possible future development.

 The new Downtown Revitalization Loan program.

 Allowing the city to enter into other development agreements consistent with the intent of the urban renewal plan.
North Iowa Youth Center will host Inflatable Fun Day at Clear Lake High School Saturday.

Music, face painting, balloon animals, door prizes and several large inflatables will be available to kids from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Socks are requires to play on the inflatables.

Admission is $5 per person and children 3 years and under are free. All proceeds go to North Iowa Youth Center.

The first 50 mothers in attendance will receive a rose donated by Stanley Woolery. Bring your own sack lunch to eat at the gym.

For more information, find the event on Facebook or call 641-423-1883.
BANG Showbiz 19 Jan 2022

Abby Lee Miller is suing a hotel for more than $8 million after a heavy bathroom door allegedly fell on her, trapping her in her..
Jerusalem Post 24 Jan 2022

The Syrian Democratic Forces said plans were underway to clear the rest of the detention complex in Hasaka city.
Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more
Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

As the second half of the Sohn Conference got going in New York, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, the CEO, and founder of Social Capital kicked things off with an interesting call on Tesla. Palihapitiya went through Apple's history to set up a base case that Tesla could be the next big innovator in tech, with the potential to generate "hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue" in the next ten years. Rather than making a long or short call on shares of the company, Palihapitiya recommends owning Tesla's convertible bonds - "we are guaranteed not lose money as long as the company is worth $15 billion," he said.

Algebris Investment's Davide Serra followed Palihapitiya with a short call on UK Gilts. According to Serra, the quality bias in both Gilts and the Pound is unwarranted. He expects Brexit to cut British GDP by approximately 7 percent and sees long-term inequality within Britain creating a challenging environment for bond investors.

Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn also offered a short call on Core Laboratories, an oil and gas production enhancement company. Einhorn said Core Lab's stock could fall as much as 45 percent as energy and commodity prices are unlikely to recover off current lows. The company's stock fell approximately two percent following the presentation.

Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital laid out a surprise case for going long United Airlines. Despite recent headlines abo......................

To view our full article Click here
Global Automotive Cabin AC Filter Market to Reach Value of US$ 3,738.2 Million by 2024

Automotive Cabin AC Filter Market

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11359

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/automotive-cabin-ac-filter-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/11359

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

A new Persistence Market Research report titled Automotive Cabin AC Filter Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 20162024 presents market projections for the global automotive cabin AC filter market over an eight-year forecast period (20162024). The global automotive cabin AC filter market is estimated to be valued at US$ 2,198.4 Mn by the end of 2016 and is expected to reach US$ 3,738.2 Mn by the end of 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 6.9% over the forecast period. Global consumption of automotive cabin AC filters is estimated to be pegged at 366,547 thousand units by the end of 2016 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 4.9% over the forecast period.Sample of this report is available upon request @Market dynamicsDemand for automotive cabin AC filters is expected to increase at a significant rate due to steady rise in vehicle production around the globe. Rising adoption of automotive cabin AC filters to filter pollutants and dust particles and a rising demand for efficient HVAC systems are major factors expected to drive the demand for automotive cabin AC filters worldwide. Cabin AC filters are an integral part of the HVAC system in vehicles. However, many vehicle owners are not aware that this system exists in a vehicle, and hence they are unaware about the replacement cycle of the cabin AC filter. This factor is expected to marginally restrain the growth of the automotive cabin AC filter market over the forecast period.Market highlightsThe global automotive cabin AC filter market is segmented on the basis of filter type (electrostatic, particulate, charcoal), vehicle type (passenger cars, LCV, HCV), and sales channel (OEM, aftermarket). Persistence Market Research projections indicate that the particulate filter type segment is likely to expand at a significant CAGR of 6.2% in terms of value over the forecast period. The electrostatic filter type segment is expected to register a volume CAGR of 7.1% over the forecast period. The electrostatic segment is likely to exhibit steady growth in the near future due to the rising adoption of cabin AC air filters in the OEM and aftermarket categories in countries such as China, India, Brazil, and countries of MEA. --- Analyst, Persistence Market Research.The passenger car vehicle type segment is estimated to account for the largest market share of 76.3% by the end of 2016. This segment estimated to be valued at US$ 1,677.0 Mn by 2016 end and is expected to reach US$ 2,913.6 Mn by the end of 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 7.1% over the forecast period. The segment is expected to grow 1.7X in terms of value between 2016 and 2024.The OEM sales channel segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.6% over the forecast period while the aftermarket sales channel segment is expected to be the most attractive segment in terms of CAGR and market share index throughout the forecast period.Request to view Table of Content @Among regions, the market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness a relatively high CAGR of 10.5% in terms of value over the forecast period. North America and Europe are expected to contribute significant value share to the global automotive cabin AC filter market throughout the forecast period. The market for cabin AC filters is mature in Europe and North America as almost all the passenger cars are equipped with cabin AC filters.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @Vendor detailsThe report profiles some of the leading market players in the global automotive cabin AC filter market  Mann+Hummel GmbH, Sogefi SpA, Donaldson Company, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, Denso Corporation, Ahlstrom Corporation, MAHLE GmbH, Freudenberg & Co. KG, Hengst SE & Co. KG, ALCO Filters Ltd., K&N Engineering, Inc., EuroGIELLE S.r.l, ACDelco, and Airmatic Filterbau GmbH.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:
Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Market Professional Survey Report 2017

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1039088&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-water-and-wastewater-treatment-chemicals-market-professional-survey-report-2017.htm

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

This report studies Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals 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.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringBASFDowDuPontGE Water&Process TechnologiesEvonikBayerAries ChemicalAcceptaChemTreatGet sample report @Veolia Water Solutions & TechnologiesNalcoKroffProchemServyecoKemiraBy types, the market can be split intoAlgaecidesAntifoamsBiocidesBoiler Water ChemicalsCoagulantsCorrosion InhibitorsOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoLiving Water TreatmentIndustrial Water TreatmentBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaBrowse Press Release of this Research Report:Table of ContentsGlobal Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals1.1 Definition and Specifications of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals1.1.1 Definition of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals1.1.2 Specifications of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals1.2 Classification of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals1.2.1 Algaecides1.2.2 Antifoams1.2.3 Biocides1.2.4 Boiler Water Chemicals1.2.5 Coagulants1.2.6 Corrosion Inhibitors1.2.7 Other1.3 Applications of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals1.3.1 Living Water Treatment1.3.2 Industrial Water Treatment1.3.3 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 Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)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
Proteins in Oncology Market: Business Challenges, Emerging Technologies & Competitive Landscape

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/proteins-oncology-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12272

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Global Protein in Oncology MarketOncology is the branch of medical science dealing with cancer research and treatment. There are several research facilities and universities identifying unique proteins in oncology for developing diagnostics. Several studies are underway to discover new proteins that play a role in cancer. Currently there are a number of companies and/or their collaborators engaged in developing several protein drugs in cancer. Surgical treatments and radiation therapy, though effective at treating primary tumors, are not found to be successful in detecting metastatic tumor cells and those flowing in the bloodstream, making treatment of these cancer cells very difficult. Cancer is one of the largest causes of death worldwide and finding leads to cure or control the disease is one of the primary goals of governments globally.Global Protein in Oncology Market: SegmentationObtain Report Details:The global proteins in oncology market has been segmented based on protein type and geography. Protein types include recombinant non-glycosylated proteins, recombinant glycosylated proteins and recombinant peptides. Geographically, North America and Europe lead the global proteins in oncology market thanks to the very stringent regulatory environment for clearing the products. Asia-Pacific countries such as China and India are estimated to be the fastest-growing markets. South Korea and Brazil are also poised to register high growth in the coming years due to boost in biosimilars market. The services that can be provided in the global proteins in oncology market include contract research organizations and contract manufacturing organizations.Global Protein in Oncology Market: Drivers and RestraintsWorldwide increase in the prevalence of cancer and the rising awareness of the therapeutic and commercial opportunities offered by new oncology treatments have provided a major incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to pursue the development of new agents for the treatment of cancer. Proteins or peptide drugs are usually required to be administered only by injection due to their large and labile nature. Peptide drugs are used effectively in monitoring various tumors and related therapies. They selectively are known to bind responsive versus unresponsive tumors. Therefore, this advantage associated with the use of peptides assists their use in assessing tumor response and evaluating its effectiveness in cancer therapy. The main challenge for the newer generation of recombinant drugs seems to be the new route of administration, new formulations and consequently even higher efficiency and safety. Though the parenteral route of administration is the most common, there are advances being made to deliver medicines through the oral route, which is considered to be the most preferred one due to better patient compliance.Recently new research has demonstrated that attaching a cancer killer protein to white blood cells annihilates metastasis. Isolation of a protein named as TRAIL by researchers at Cornell University in the U.S. demonstrated killing of cancer cells on contact. The TRAIL protein is binded with leukocytes (white blood cells) that are present across the bloodstream. The cancer cell is essentially known to kill itself when it comes in contact with TRAIL protein. The mechanism has been surprising and unexpectedly effective as compared to targeting the cancer cells with liposomes.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Global Protein in Oncology Market: Competitive Landscape AnalysisThe key players contributing to the global proteins in oncology market include Actavis, Inc., Biocon Ltd., Celltrion, Inc., Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd., Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Hospira, Inc., Merck, Mylan, Inc., Roche Holding Ltd., Sandoz, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Wockhardt Ltd. Expansion of product portfolio enables these companies to gain a competitive advantage over other players in the market. Strengthening of market position by extensive investments in research and development is also one of the business strategies undertaken by the key players. A lot of research is still to be carried out in the protein recombinant drugs in oncology market which will come along with years of efforts and high risk.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About us:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
LELAND | Merle Durby was sitting in a radio van in Panmunjom, Korea, in 1953 when the news he and his crew members had been waiting for hammered out across the teletype.

The United Nations, China and North Korea had reached a ceasefire.

Hostilities in Korea were over.

"We were sent to Panmunjom when they had the peace talks," said Durby, now 86. "The first time, they failed. Then we went back up there again, and that's when they signed the ceasefire."

Durby, of Leland, was a radio teletype operator with the 304th Signal Operation Battalion. The unit was part of the Eighth Army.

His crew's job was to transmit teletype messages between Korea and Japan.

"It was an experience," he said.

Formally known as the Korean Armistice Agreement, the ceasefire was signed July 27, 1953.

It established the demarcation line between the warring factions, created a demilitarized buffer zone and ordered the release of all prisoners.

The armistice also separated the country into sectors controlled by the United Nations Command, which is now South Korea, and an area controlled by the Korean People's Army and the Chinese Peoples Volunteers, which is now North Korea.

Based just north of Seoul, Durby and the radio communications team drove north to Panmunjom three times for negotiations between the United Nations and communists.

"We crossed the line of demarcation, and there was a neutral road leading from there up to Panmunjom; and the area around Panmunjom was neutral, so there was American guards there and there was Korean guards there," he said. "Some way there was when they had negotiations. They had one tent for the American personnel and one tent for the North Korean personnel."

Durby took photos of all of it.

Photography wasn't part of his job duties, but Durby's took dozens of photos of the leaders of both sides and their entourages.

The photos -- part of a collection of hundreds taken during the war -- give a behind-the-scenes glimps of the effort to end the conflict.

His favorite shot is of U.S. Air Force Vice Admiral Joseph "Jocko" Clark, Army Gen. Maxwell Taylor and Army Gen. Mark W. Clark, United Nations commander.

There's also a photo of Durby inside the "Peace Pagoda," the wooden building where the negotiations took place.

It was empty at the time. He won't say how he and his cohorts managed to sneak inside.

"Well, nothing was going on that day, so," Durby said, by way of explanation.

His camera also captured convoys of prisoners -- United Nations forces and communist soldiers -- being trucked to processing centers during the prisoner exchange.

Durby showed a Globe Gazette reporter photos of communist soldiers tearing their clothes off, throwing them over the side of trucks on their way to the processing center.

Afterward, clothing littered the road.

"Propaganda," Durby explained.

He showed the photos not long ago to an audience at the Family Alliance for Veterans of America in downtown Forest City. The agency provides information and assistance to veterans and their families.

Durby, a Buffalo Center native, hadn't planned to be a radio teletype operator when he volunteered for the Army in February, 1952.

Over the years, he's processed what he saw at Panmunjom all those years ago.

"Pretty exciting," he said.
Sales Market Analysis: Global Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017

Global Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017

http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-514151.html

http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/

This report studies the Particulate Respirators 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 Particulate Respirators market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Particulate Respirators 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 Particulate Respirators.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 Particulate Respirators market include 3M, Honeywell, MSA, Gerson, Crosstex, UVEX, San Huei, Shanghai Dasheng, Chaomei Daily Chemicals, Sinotextiles, Powecom Safety Goods, Suzhou Sanical Protective Product, SMJ, EPC, PITTA,Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:Global Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017Europe Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017China Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017India Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017Korea Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017Japan Particulate Respirators Market Research Report 2017USA Particulate Respirators 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
Sales Market Analysis: Europe Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017

Europe Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017

http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-487898.html

http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/

This report studies sales (consumption) of Cartilage Repair 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, coveringZimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (U.S.)Vericel Corporation (U.S.)Smith & Nephew plc (U.K.)Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (U.S.)Arthrex Inc. (U.S.)......Market Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Cartilage Repair in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxSplit by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoCell based approachesNon-cell based approachesSplit by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Cartilage Repair in each application, can be divided intoHyaline cartilageFibrocartilageAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Cartilage Repair Overview2 Europe Cartilage Repair by Manufacturers, Type and Application3 Germany Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 France Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 UK Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Russia Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Italy Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 Spain Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Benelux Cartilage Repair (Volume, Value and Sales Price)10 Europe Cartilage Repair Manufacturers Analysis11 Cartilage Repair Manufacturing Cost Analysis12 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers13 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders14 Europe Cartilage Repair Market Forecast (2016-2021)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017Europe Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017China Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017India Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017Korea Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017Japan Cartilage Repair Market Report 2017USA Cartilage Repair 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
Sales Market Analysis: Europe Agrigenomics Market Report 2017

Europe Agrigenomics Market Report 2017

http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-482109.html

http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/

This report studies sales (consumption) of Agrigenomics 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, coveringAgrigenomeIlluminaThermo Fisher Scientific IncNuGEN TechnologiesEdico GenomeLGC LimitedEurofins USAAffymetrixAgena BioscienceArrayGen TechnologiesSciGenomUD-GenoMed Medical Genomic Technologies LtdCEN4GEN InstituteGenotypic TechnologyMarket Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Agrigenomics in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBeneluxSplit by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoDNA SequencingRNA SequencingDNA Methylation AnalysisChromatin AnalysisSplit by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Agrigenomics in each application, can be divided intoLivestockCropsOvineFowlFishOthersAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Agrigenomics Overview2 Europe Agrigenomics by Manufacturers, Type and Application3 Germany Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 France Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 UK Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Russia Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Italy Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 Spain Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Benelux Agrigenomics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)10 Europe Agrigenomics Manufacturers Analysis11 Agrigenomics Manufacturing Cost Analysis12 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers13 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders14 Europe Agrigenomics Market Forecast (2016-2021)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Agrigenomics Market Report 2017Europe Agrigenomics Market Report 2017China Agrigenomics Market Report 2017India Agrigenomics Market Report 2017Korea Agrigenomics Market Report 2017Japan Agrigenomics Market Report 2017USA Agrigenomics 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
Global Sprayer Kit Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast,2017 - 2022

Sprayer Kit

https://goo.gl/CxHu7B

https://goo.gl/5OV7Lj

A market study based on the "Sprayer Kit" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Sprayer Kit Market 2017'. The Research report by QY Research Group is a market-oriented, technical, and commercial research analysis of the Sprayer Kit 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 Sprayer Kit 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 Sprayer Kit, its application, and regionsin terms of value and volumethe bottom-up approach is followed. On the other hand, to corroborate the overall Sprayer Kit 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 Sprayer Kit 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 Sprayer Kit 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 Sprayer Kit 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 Sprayer Kit 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
Peristaltic Pumps Market worth 467.5 Million by 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=194304410

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/peristaltic-pump-market-194304410.html

The report "Peristaltic Pumps Market by Type (Tube Pumps, Hose Pumps), End-Use Industry (Pharmaceuticals, Water & Wastewater Treatment, Mining, Food & Beverages, Chemical Processing, Pulp & Paper), and Region - Global Forecast to 2021", The peristaltic pumps market was valued at USD 315.5 Million in 2015, and is projected to reach USD 467.5 Million by 2021, at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2016 to 2021. Low maintenance cost, seal-less design, and corrosion-resistant properties of peristaltic pumps are driving the growth of the market, globally.Request Sample Request SampleDownload PDF Brochure of this Report atBrowse 95 market data tables and 37 figures spread through 129 pages and in-depth TOC on "Peristaltic Pumps Market"The peristaltic tube pump type segment is projected to lead the peristaltic pumps marketPeristaltic tube pumps are used for contamination-free pumping of shear sensitive fluids and viscous sludge or slurries. They are also utilized for dispensing, metering, and transfer of both, aggressive and neutral fluids. In peristaltic tubing pumps, the tube is the only material that is in contact with the fluid. The tube can be changed to avoid contamination, and the chemical compatibility of the pump can be tailored in accordance with the application for which these peristaltic tube pumps are used by changing the tubing material. Peristaltic tube pumps are widely utilized owing to low maintenance cost and hassle-free operations.The pharmaceuticals industry accounted for the largest share of the peristaltic pumps marketThe pharmaceuticals industry accounted for the largest share of the peristaltic pumps market, followed by the water & wastewater treatment and food & beverage industries. In the pharmaceuticals industry, peristaltic pumps are engaged in processing of botanical drugs & herbs, isolating active medicinal principles, and manufacturing pharmaceutical products intended for internal and external consumption in various forms. Highly precise and accurate peristaltic pumps are demanded by the pharmaceutical formulation industry for pellet and tablet coating.The rising demand for peristaltic pumps from Asia-Pacific is expected to be a key factor driving the growth of the peristaltic pumps market in this regionThe Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the leading market for peristaltic pumps. Among all countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China is expected to be the fastest-growing market for peristaltic pumps during the forecast period. India, Japan, and South Korea are major countries contributing to the growth of the peristaltic pumps market in this region. The increasing demand for peristaltic pumps from varied end-use industries, such as pharmaceuticals, water & wastewater treatment, mining, and chemical processing is expected to drive the growth of the peristaltic pumps market in the Asia-Pacific region.Key companies profiled in the peristaltic pumps market include Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (U.K.), Verder Group (Netherland), ProMinent Dosiertechnik GmbH (Germany), Cole-Parmer Instrument Company, LLC (U.S.), Flowrox (Finland), Graco Inc. (U.S.), Wanner Engineering, Inc. (U.S.), IDEX Corporation (U.S.), and SEKO S.p.A. (Italy).MarketsandMarketss flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.701 Pike StreetSuite 2175, Seattle,WA 98101, United States
Market Research Globe

Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Market

http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/request-sample/282823

http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/report/global-electric-hot-water-bottles-market-research-report-2017

http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/check-discount/282823

http://www.marketresearchglobe.com/send-an-enquiry/282823

In this report, the Global Electric Hot Water Bottles 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.Scope of the Report:Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Electric Hot Water Bottles in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGet Free Sample Copy @Global Electric Hot Water Bottles market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingHotties ThermalFashyUrban IndustryNarang MedicalKSK GlobalinkRamedicoHICKSChengdu RainbowZhejiang LexueerShenzhen Home-BossBrowse full Report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoPVCRubberOtherOn 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 Electric Hot Water Bottles for each application, includingWarm UsingMedical HealthcareAsk for Discount @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Some points from TOC:-Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Market Research Report 20171 Electric Hot Water Bottles Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Electric Hot Water Bottles1.2 Electric Hot Water Bottles Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 PVC1.2.4 Rubber1.2.5 Other1.3 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Segment by Application1.3.1 Electric Hot Water Bottles Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Warm Using1.3.3 Medical Healthcare1.4 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles 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 Electric Hot Water Bottles (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Electric Hot Water Bottles Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Enquiry Before Buying @About Market Research Globe:Market Research Globe is a competent consulting company in the field of Global Market Research. We provide our clients a wide range of customized Marketing and Business Research Solutions to choose from, with the help of our ingenious database developed by experts. We help our clients understand the strengths of diverse markets and how to exploit opportunities. Covering a diverse range of business scopes from Digital products to Food industry, we are your one- stop solution right from data collection to investment advices.We provide qualitative analysis of the current market scenario, latest market trends, price and cost changes, product growth rate and market share of the competitors through our exclusive syndicated research. Our comprehensive syndicated reports penetrate deep into micro levels of each target segment of the referred industry. We begin our journey into market research for every project through extensive primary data driven researches, from key suppliers in the industry.Liberty Society,Koregaon Park, Pune- 411001,Maharashtra, India.
Circuit Protection Industry Analysis, Statistics, Trends and Forecast Report by 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1228

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1228

https://www.gminsights.com

https://gminsights.wordpress.com

A research analysis on circuit protection market says that it is The U.S. is a major market for building and construction, which is fueling the growth of the circuit protection market for circuit breakers. In countries, including China and Japan the demand for circuit protection is increasing owing to the factors such as rising rapid technological advancements and a growing predisposition towards smart building infrastructure. Global circuit protection market share is predicted to experience an exponential growth over the forecast period.The major factors pertaining to the increasing growth are rise in the automotive electronics industry and the Internet of Things (IoT) applications in diverse industry verticals. The technology is integrated into various types of equipment in events of unexpected power fluctuations.as fluctuating voltage can damage electrical apparatus by reducing its lifespan and the efficiency of the device. Circuit protection market also enhances passenger comfort, driving assistance, and safety in automotive vehicles.The protection of the fragile and highly sensitive electronic components is done through electrical wiring systems. There is a high demand for fuses and circuit breakers in the design and engineering of automobiles, which may propel the circuit protection market growth. Furthermore, rising awareness associated with the user-safety has led to the growing customer demand for more advanced circuitry protection technologies that have highly specialized uses and maintained by several standards of the automotive segment.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Miniaturization is a trend significantly influencing the circuit protection market growth. With applications relentlessly moving towards more compact surface mount designs, Internal Circuits (ICs) have become more vulnerable to momentary electrical surges through circuits, thus making circuit protection a critical component.Businesses are now focused on adding value to their products, which has led to the creation of hybrid parts. This includes pre-assembling an over-voltage component with an over-current part. The trend has led to simplifications in design and purchasing alternatives for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).This places a higher emphasis on the appropriate selection of circuit protection components due to the varied nature of potential surges in the industry demand. The rapid growth of extremely slim, smart portable appliances with improved sensitivity, faster processors, extended battery life, and better power densities is another prevailing trend that offers opportunities for the circuit protection market.The increasing rate of industrialization and urbanization in emerging economies may surge the demand for the industry creating lucrative opportunities for vendors operating in the global market.IoT technology is anticipated to have an exponential impact on circuit protection market over the next eight years and its applications are expected to extend into several fields. This will aid in connecting a wide range of smart devices in intelligent arrangements, delivering real-time information to the users, which offer insights to improve the decision-making process.Smart sensors will further streamline the data collection and distribution through integration and communications, lowering the energy consumption, improving production capabilities and enhancing various business processes. Connected devices can lead to an increased threat of system failure and reduce reliability. This provides lucrative opportunities for the growth of the circuit protection market.However, increasing raw material costs are inhibiting the growth of the circuit protection market. Additionally, there are strict environmental regulations relating to SF6 circuit breaker technology, which at present are hindering the growth of circuit protection market.Based on the type of protection, the circuit protection market has been segmented into overcurrent, overvoltage, and ESD protection. An essential requirement of any electrical system is overcurrent protection and is expected to hold the highest market share. Overcurrent is encountered when the current surpasses conductors or equipment rating as a result of short circuit or overload.Overcurrent protection device opens the device when this rating is reached. Electrostatic discharge is common in consumer electronics products, especially in smartphones and mobile technologies and will be a factor driving the circuit protection market growth.On the basis of device, the circuit protection market has been segmented into fuses, circuit breakers, surge protection, and ESD protection devices. The market for ESD protection is expected to grow substantially during the forecast period. ESD protection devices have applications in various industries; for instance, construction, automotive, and consumer electronics. Circuit breakers are predicted to become the most widely used circuit protection devices. Besides a compact design, they also provide ease-of-use contributing towards their growing popularity.Make an inquiry for buying this report @Based on the industry, the circuit protection market has been segmented into electronics and electrical equipment, construction, energy, automotive, and others. Commercial and residential structures are major consumers of electricity, a leading factor that helps in the increased adoption of circuit protection technologies in the construction industry.Automotive and transportation is a rapidly growing application area for ESD protection devices and will hold the highest market share in the future.The universal circuit protection market is highly fragmented and competitive due to the existence of many Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) at the regional level with several local manufacturers across the world.Modern-day automobiles are fitted with electronic systems such as navigation and infotainment systems, engine, chassis and transmission electronics. Vendors in the circuit protection market include Siemens AG, Bel Fuse, General Electric Company Schneider Electric SE, Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Toshiba, Texas Instruments, Inc., Littelfuse, Eaton Corp., ABB Ltd., SIBA, and S&C Electric Company.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:
Intelligent Tires Market Share, Trend, Production, Demand and Key Manufacturers Analysis and Forecast to 2022

ReportsWeb

http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001767887/sample

http://www.reportsweb.com/global-intelligent-tires-market-research-report-2017

http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001767887/buy/2900

ReportsWeb.com added Global Intelligent Tires Market Research Report 2017 to its vast collection of research Database. The report is spread across 107 pages and supported by 8 company leaders.The Global Intelligent Tires Market Research Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Intelligent Tires Market. This report studies Intelligent Tires in Global market, especially United States, EU, China, Japan, South Korea and India. focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer covering top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, Yokohama Rubber, Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Hankook.Request a Sample copy of this researchMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Intelligent Tires in these regions, from 2017 to 2022 (forecast), like United States, EU, China, Japan, South Korea and India. Firstly, Intelligent Tires Market On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Direct Tire Pressure Monitoring and Indirect Tire Pressure Monitoring. 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 Intelligent Tires for each application, including Military, Harsh Environment of the Chemical Industry and Others.View more details about this report @Few points from Table of Contents1 Intelligent Tires Market Overview2 Global Intelligent Tires Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Intelligent Tires Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Intelligent Tires Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Intelligent Tires Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 United States Intelligent Tires Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 EU Intelligent Tires Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Intelligent Tires Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Intelligent Tires Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 South Korea Intelligent Tires Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Intelligent Tires Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Intelligent Tires Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Intelligent Tires Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Intelligent Tires Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Intelligent Tires Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Intelligent Tires Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Intelligent Tires Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Intelligent Tires Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Intelligent Tires Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Intelligent Tires Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Bridgestone7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Intelligent Tires Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Bridgestone Intelligent Tires Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Continental7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Intelligent Tires Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Continental Intelligent Tires Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Goodyear7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Intelligent Tires Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Goodyear Intelligent Tires Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Intelligent Tires Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Intelligent Tires Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionBuy a copy of complete 107 pages report @ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. 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
LASIK Treatment Market | Industry Outlook Research Report 2015-2022 By DecisionDatabases

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-9818

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/9818-lasik-treatment-market-report

www.decisiondatabases.com

DecisionDatabases.com offers LASIK Treatment Market Research Report. This Report covers the complete Industry Outlook, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast Till 2022. The report on global LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) treatment market evaluates the growth trends of the industry through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research. The report extensively provides the market share, growth, trends and forecasts for the period 2015-2022. The market size in terms of revenue (USD MN) is calculated for the study period along with the details of the factors affecting the market growth (drivers and restraints).The Rising geriatric population, Growing adoption of the LASIK procedures over corrective lenses and Growing technological advancements are the major factors pushing the market uphill. But Higher price of the treatment procedure and Presence of several manufacturers in the market might restraint the growth in the coming years.Get FREE Sample Report Copy With FULL Segmentations and TOC @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 classifies the market into different segments based on product type and end-user. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.Leading Segment in this market: By Geography - North America (NA)The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the worldwide market with company profiles of key players such as Carl Zeiss, Inc., Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Bausch & Lomb, Inc., Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (AMO), and Nidek, Inc. In terms of geography, the LASIK Treatment market has been segmented into regions such as North America (NA), Europe (EU), Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LA) & Middle East & Africa (MEA). The study provides a detailed view of country-level aspects of the market on the basis of application segments and estimates the market in terms of revenue and volume during the forecast period.Access full report at:About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Veterinary Diagnostics Market : Volume, revenue, product price, top players, market share and growth

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2420

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2420

https://www.tmrresearch.com/veterinary-diagnostics-market

Global Veterinary Diagnostics Market: OverviewProvision of diagnostic medical testing to detect the presence of toxins, infectious agents, and causes of diseases is crucial in the control and prevention of infectious diseases. Advanced diagnostic capabilities are especially of high importance, partially because animals cannot express what is wrong with them. A wide range of tests on urine, blood, sampled tissue, and feces are made available by veterinary diagnostics centers.The global veterinary diagnostics market can be segmented by technology, region, product, animal type, and end user. By technology, the market can be categorized into immunodiagnostics, molecular diagnostics, clinical biochemistry, hematology, and urinalysis.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Veterinary Diagnostics Market: Key TrendsAs the number of pet owners worldwide has been multiplying rapidly, the demand for veterinary diagnostics is expected to soar. Veterinary diagnostics is used in the diagnosis and treatment of different medical conditions such as allergies, bacteria, fertility issues, diabetes, and viruses that affect cats, dogs, and other pets as well as cows, pigs, bullocks, sheep, poultry, and goats.Cancer, anemia, rabies, canine adenovirus type-1, tapeworm, heartworm, roundworm, and diseases of the endocrine function are also tested using veterinary diagnostics. Recent advancements in technology offer low cost, speedy, and highly sensitive testing capacities. Easy usage, handling, transportation, and storage, and elimination of the need for refrigeration promises considerable growth of the market.Global Veterinary Diagnostics Market: Market PotentialOutbreak of cattle diseases worldwide has been necessitating the adoption of veterinary diagnostics on a global scale. For instance, in April 2017, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory reported that five beef cattle herds across three counties were tested positive for Trichomoniasis, an extremely contagious, sexually transmitted disease.Request TOC of the Report @Similarly, Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries (MALF) has undertaken a program to control and prevent livestock diseases in the region. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO) funded consumables and equipment to Tanzania for the same.Furthermore, a number of organizations and agencies have been addressing the issue of zoonotic diseases and the threat posed by them to human health. For instance, The Asean Sectoral Working Group on Livestock (ASWGL), in a meeting conducted on 27 April, 2017, stated its initiatives addressing the socio-economic impact of animal diseases. It has been formulating, developing, and implementing strategic mechanism and frameworks both at the regional and national levels.The market for veterinary diagnostics has been witnessing a number of product launches, acquisitions, collaborations, and mergers. For instance, in April 2017, Calbiotech group of companies, a prominent manufacturer and developer of immunoassays was acquired by Erba Diagnostics Mannheim.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Veterinary Diagnostics Market: Regional OutlookBy geography, the global veterinary diagnostics market can be segmented into Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, North America, and Europe. Of these, North America emerged as the leading segment of the global veterinary diagnostics market, thanks to the augmenting demand for animal-derived food products such as diary and meat. The veterinary diagnostics market in Asia Pacific is also advancing at a steady pace. The growing spending on animal healthcare, increasing animal population, and rising concerns and awareness pertaining to zoonotic diseases has been fuelling the market for veterinary diagnostics in Asia Pacific.Global Veterinary Diagnostics Market: Competitive LandscapeThe global market for veterinary diagnostics is highly fragmented in terms of competition. Neogen Corporation, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc, Heska Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., URIT Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., Abaxis, Inc., Randox Laboratories Ltd., IDVet, QIAGEN N.V., Mindray Medical International Limited, Eurolyser Diagnostica GmbH, BPC Biosed srl, Zoetis, Inc., and Virbac are some of the leading companies operating in the global market for veterinary diagnostics.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
MASON CITY | Mason City iJAG students raised more than $1,000 and over 60 pairs of shoes during the "Homeless But NOT Hopeless Family Fun Walk" in East Park Saturday.

Seventh-period Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates students collaborated with Jeannie Kingery, executive director of the Northern Lights Alliance for the Homeless in Mason City. Kingery told students the big need for local shelters was cash and shoes.

Students then organized, planned and funded the event as their Pay It Forward project, starting with a $100 budget. They generated more revenue by selling cookies and messages during the "It Only Takes 10 Dimes to Be My Valentine" event.
Nonylphenol Ethoxylates Market 2015-2022 Outlook Research Report Release By DecisionDatabases

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-9824

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/9824-nonylphenol-ethoxylates-market-report

www.decisiondatabases.com

DecisionDatabases.com offers Nonylphenol Ethoxylates Market Research Report. This Report covers the complete Industry Outlook, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast Till 2022. The report on global nonylphenol ethoxylates market evaluates the growth trends of the industry through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research. The report extensively provides the market share, growth, trends and forecasts for the period 2015-2022. The market size in terms of volume (KT) and revenue (USD MN) is calculated for the study period along with the details of the factors affecting the market growth (drivers and restraints).The major market drivers are Superior chemical properties and Growth of end-use industries. The market growth might be restricted due Environmental Concerns under the study period.Get FREE Sample Report Copy With FULL Segmentations and TOC @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 classifies the market into different segments based on application. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.Leading Segment in this market:By Application - I&I CleaningBy Geography - Asia Pacific (APAC)The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the worldwide market with company profiles of key players such as Akzonobel N.V., Clariant AG, The DOW Chemical Company, Huntsman Corporation, Stepan Company, India Glycols, Sabic, PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Solvay, and Pcc Exol Sa. In terms of geography, the nonylphenol ethoxylates market has been segmented into regions such as North America (NA), Europe (EU), Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LA) & Middle East & Africa (MEA). The study provides a detailed view of country-level aspects of the market on the basis of application segments and estimates the market in terms of revenue and volume during the forecast period.Access full report at:About Us:DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Global Signaling Devices Market Segmentation, Application, Technology & Market Analysis Research Report 2025 |The Insight Partners

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/signaling-devices-market

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000157

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPTE100000157

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPTE100000157

Latest market study on Signaling Devices Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Type, Application, End-users, the report include key understanding on the driving factors of this growth and also highlights the prominent players in the market and their developments.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the Signaling Devices Market to 2025 @Signaling device generates an alarm to warn or indicate somebody or somebody by producing an audible sound or visible alert in case of emergency or other alert applications. The devices are linked with control panel and are installed at precise locations in such a way that when needed the people can be alerted and corrective measures can be taken. With a motive to minimize the losses that occur due to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcano eruptions and others, safety measures can be taken by using signaling devices. Signaling devices are proved to be very important in security and safety management such as earthquake warning system, mining safety system, heavy rainfall warning system, Fire alarm system & traffic signaling. Signaling device monitors the parameters and generates safety alarm during undesirable situation. These devices are designed according to the requirements for specific applications such as fire alarms are designed using fireproof material.Request Sample Copy @Technological advancements of signaling devices is the prime trend for signaling devices market. Upsurge in the urbanization, government attention on enhancing industrial safety by implying safety rules & regulations and rising demand for safety equipment are the major driver, propelling the growth of global signaling devices market. Whereas, high installation-cost and deficiency of skilled professionals are few of the factors hindering the growth of this market. Several industries such as warehouse, manufacturing, mining and marine use machinery that are dangerous to operate and can be unsafe if not handled correctly. The safety of the workers is always a priority in all industries. This demand for safety resulted in development of a range of products identified as signaling devices. These devices are competent of sensing errors or faults and sending warning signals to evade or decrease the chances of accident. These devices have proven to be suitable in mitigating the expected accidents and detection of malfunctions in smooth running of the manufacturing or production processes.The global market for signaling devices is dominated by North America followed by APAC region. In the coming years, APAC is expected to take over the market for signaling devices owing to increase in the number of manufacturing industries.Inquire about discount on this report @Segmentations Covered in the Signaling Devices Market Type: Control Devices, Audible Signaling Devices, Others Application: Fire & Industrial Signaling, Hazardous Area Signaling, Wide Area Signaling End-users: Warehouse & Factories, Mining, Commercial, Marine,Others Geographical Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), South America (SAM)Some of the leading players in Signaling Devices Market Report Siemens AG Rockwell Automation Emerson Electric Co. Honeywell International Inc. ABB Ltd. Werma Signaltechnik Thales Group Cooper Industries L3 communications Holdings, Inc. R.STAHL Inc. Electrical Engineering ProductsWhy Buy Signaling Devices Market Report? Highlights widely used product offerings thereby allowing organizations to gain revenues by focusing majorly on select products The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Signaling Devices market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long term strategies Get reliable information about the strategies manufacturers in this market use to drive revenue Gain insights into the competitive landscape, to strengthen market competitiveness and positioning Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as the those hindering it Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution Examine the current and future impact of the five forces namely: bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, threat of new entrants and degree of competitionAccess Full Report @About The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/327

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/327

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/polyphenylene-sulfide-pps-market-327

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com

Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) is a semi-crystalline, high temperature engineering plastic, which is widely accepted across various industries for its remarkable features such as high mechanical strength, high temperature and chemical resistance. These properties of PPS make it an appropriate alternative of choice for various metals and thermosets. The demand for PPS has significantly increased in across applications such as automotive components, filter bag in coal boilers, and electrical & electronic products. Polyphenylene sulfide or PPS can be bought in diverse forms and grades, including fibers, films, coatings, filaments and compounds. Unfilled PPS resin holds the ability to be melt spun as well as melt blown, so as to offer fabrics and fibers that have applications in flame-resistant clothing, filtration media and conveyor belts. Various reinforcing materials such as glass fibers help in reinforcing polyphenylene sulfide to enhance its thermal and mechanical properties. PPS is generally applied in injection molding processes and can even be turned into films and coatings. These versatile properties make PPS a preferred choice for diverse applications across various industries.Request For Report Sample:Polyphenylene Sulfide Market TaxonomyOn the basis of application, the global market is classified into:AutomotiveElectrical & electronicsIndustrialFilter bagsAerospaceCoatingsOther applications (sterilizable medical, dental, and laboratory equipment, hair dryer grills, and components)Key players focusing on organic growth strategies to ensure sustainable growth in the polyphenylene sulfide marketVarious leading companies in the global polyphenylene sulfide market have been launching new products with more advanced features to increase the application area and in turn enhance market presence of the players. For instance, DIC introduced impact modified PPS, an elastomer-modified PPS, which possessed features such as elongation, improved strength, excellent performance even under high temperature and humidity, and low flash level. Apart from this, a few key companies are expanding their production facilities in order to cater to growing demand for PPS. For instance, in April 2014, Celanese Corporation, a specialty materials company, announced the expansion of its Nanjing, China manufacturing facility. The company added a new PPS compounding unit to the facility, which helps in replacement of thermo sets and metals in certain applications like aerospace, automotive and electronics. The PPS market is expected to witness increasing competition over the near future with emergence of various local players focusing on capitalizing on lucrative growth opportunities on offer in the market.Browse report summery with TOC:Polyphenylene Sulfide Market Outlook  Increased consumption of PPS in high-temperature applications driving market growthOwing to its properties such as superior performance, PPS finds wide application in high-temperature processes. This factor is projected to notably drive the market growth over the forecast period. Besides, the recyclable nature of PPS, along with its ability to increase fuel economy and cut emission levels, is expected to further increase its demand, globally. The products wide usage in different automotive components, such as transmission components, switches, coolant systems, and pistons, is also likely to drive the global polyphenylene sulfide market growth in the near future.Asia-Pacific market for polyphenylene sulfide is expected to witness the fastest growth, during 2016-2024. This growth can be owed to increased demand from emerging markets in the region, including India and China. On the contrary, factors such as easy availability of substitutes, such as PEEK and PEI, and price volatility of raw materials are projected to inhibit global market growth over the near future.Browse Market Research Report @The key players operating in the global polyphenylene sulfide market are Tosoh Corp., DIC Corp., Toray Industries Inc., Kureha Corp., Solvay SA, China Lumena New Materials Corp., Lion Idemitsu Composites Co. Ltd., FORTRAN Industries LLC, Initz Co. Ltd. and Zhejiang NHU Special Materials, among others.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.CONTACT US:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel : +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Printing Ink Industry to 2025 Forecast and Key developments |The Insight Partners

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/reports/printing-ink-market

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/sample/TIPTE100000363

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/discount/TIPTE100000363

http://www.theinsightpartners.com/buy/TIPTE100000363

Latest market study on Printing Ink Market to 2025 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Process and Application, the report include key understanding on the driving factors of this growth and also highlights the prominent players in the market and their developments.Browse market data tables and in-depth TOC of the Printing Ink Market to 2025 @Printing inks are widely used across the globe by packing and publishing industry for printing magazines, newspaper, and various packing material and others. High growth of the packaging industry especially high demands for flexible packaging is directly resulted in the growth of printing ink market worldwide.The report aims to provide an overview of Global Printing Ink Market along with detailed segmentation of market by process and application and five major geographical regions. Global Printing Ink market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period due to high growth in demands from packaging industry.Request Sample Copy @The objectives of Printing Ink Market report are as follows: To provide overview of the global Printing Ink market To analyze and forecast the global Printing Ink market on the basis of process and application To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Printing Ink market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and South America (SAM), which are later sub-segmented across respective major countries To evaluate market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions To profiles key Printing Ink players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategiesInquire about discount on this report @Segmentations Covered in the Printing Ink Market Process: Lithographic Printing, Digital Printing, Flexographic Printing, Others Application: Packaging, Commercial Printing and Publication, Others Geographical Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA), South America (SAM)Some of the leading players in Printing Ink Market Report DIC Corporation T&K TOKA CO LTD Royal Dutch Printing Ink Factories Van Son Flint Group Sun Chemical Corporation Altana AG Sakata INX Corporation, Wikoff Color Corporation Toyo Ink Group and Huber Group among others.Why Buy Printing Ink Market Report? Highlights widely used product offerings thereby allowing organizations to gain revenues by focusing majorly on select products The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Printing Ink market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long term strategies Get reliable information about the strategies manufacturers in this market use to drive revenue Gain insights into the competitive landscape, to strengthen market competitiveness and positioning Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as the those hindering it Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution Examine the current and future impact of the five forces namely: bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of substitutes, threat of new entrants and degree of competitionAccess Full Report @About The Insight Partners:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Media, and Telecommunication industries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.com505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Smart Factory Market - Size, Share, overview, scope, Revenue, Gross Margin 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2444

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2444

https://www.tmrresearch.com/smart-factory-market

Global Smart Factory Market: OverviewThe global smart factory sector has been propelled by the need for efficient and precise ways of operating a manufacturing unit. The increasing adoption of industrial robots in the global manufacturing sector was the first step for the smart factory market. Modern factories incorporate sophisticated industrial robotic systems, Internet of Things technology, and machine communication technology to enable smooth automated manufacturing. The rising government support to the smart factory sector, due to their increased output and the benefit of the same on the nations economy, is likely to enable sustained growth of the smart factory market in the coming years.Global Smart Factory Market: Key TrendsThe rising demand for industrial robots and the steady technological progression of the industrial robotics sector is one of the key drivers for the global smart factory market. Industrial robots offer significantly higher precision and a lower error rate than human workers. Large-scale use of industrial robots also raises the productivity of the manufacturing unit, providing a significant cost advantage. As a result, human factory workers across the world could find themselves without a livelihood following steady growth of the global smart factory market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The booming automotive industry is one of the prime consumers in the global smart factory market and is likely to remain influential in the smart factory sector in the coming years. Due to the rising need for extremely precise engineering in automotive design, smart factory solutions such as industrial robotics are becoming popular in the automotive industry. The steady growth of the automotive industry due to the rising disposable income of consumers across the world is thus one of the key drivers for the global smart factory market in the coming years. The rising automotive industry in Southeastern and Eastern Asia could play a particularly important role in the global smart factory market in the coming years.Global Smart Factory Market: Market PotentialSouth Korea is likely to be a leading regional market for smart factory technology in Asia Pacific due to rising government as well as corporate interest. The South Korean government had earlier set the target of having 10,000 smart factories operational in the country by 2020. In April 2017, the government extended its support to the smart factory market in the country by upping the target to 30,000 smart factories by 2025. South Koreas determination to remain a leading light in the industrial sector has made it a pioneer in terms of the adoption of digital and automation technologies, which is likely to benefit the smart factory market immensely in the coming years.Request TOC of the Report @Global Smart Factory Market: Geographical DynamicsDeveloping countries in Asia Pacific are likely to be the dominant leaders in the global smart factory market in the coming years. Apart from South Korea, the smart factory market has also received steady government support in China, Japan, Taiwan, and India. The rapid pace of urbanization in these dynamic economies is a prime factor aiding the smart factory markets growth in the region.Global Smart Factory Market: Competitive DynamicsThe global smart factory market is dominated by companies that have established mutually beneficial partnerships with technology companies. Fanuc-Cisco and Kuka-Huawei are among the leading lights in the global smart factory market. ABB-IBM, a relatively recent collaboration, could also play a key role in the development of the global smart factory market in the coming years. Other key players in the global smart factory market include Emerson Electric Co., General Electric Co., Atos SE, Schneider Electric SE, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, Siemens AG, and Yaskawa Electric.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Logistics Worldwide Market 2017 Trend, Analysis and Forecast to 2021

ReportsWeb

http://www.reportsweb.com/global-logistics-market-2017-2021

http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001758563/sample

http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001758563/buying

Logistics involve delivering, controlling, and planning of physical flow of goods, information exchange from the producer to a market as to meet the customer demands and outsourcing services that specializes in handling functions, such as transportation, warehousing, and freight and forwarding. Global logistics is the outsourcing of various elements of logistics and distribution by companies to logistics solution providers. There are various logistics providers catering to different businesses with different services. There are three major logistics model under global logistics, namely, second-party logistics (2PL) , third-party logistics (3PL) , and fourth-party logistics (4PL) .Publisher's analysts forecast the global logistics market to grow at a CAGR of 6.54% during the period 2017-2021.For more information about this report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global logistics market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated by different vendors through the sales of logistics services to various industries that include manufacturing, consumer goods, F&B, automotive, and others.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- APAC- Europe- North America- South America- ROWPublisher's report, Global Logistics 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- DB Schenker- Deutsche Post DHL Group- Kuehne + Nagel- DSV- C.H. Robinson- RhenusRequest Sample Copy atOther prominent vendors- Agility- Allcargo Logistics- APL Logistics- BDP International- CEVA Logistics- Damco- Expeditors- FedEx Supply Chain- Gati- Hitachi Transport System- Hub Group- Hyundai Glovis- Imperial Logistics- J.B. Hunt- Kerry Logistics- Logwin- Menlo Worldwide Logistics- Mitsubishi Logistics- NFI- Nippon Express- Panalpina- Ryder- Sankyu- Sinotrans- SNCF- UPS- Werner Enterprises- WincantonMarket driver- Cost reduction through 3PL.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- High cost of operation and competitive pricing.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Growing demand for professional logistics services.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire for Report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Smart Meters Market : Revenue, Opportunity, Forecast and Value Chain 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2447

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2447

https://www.tmrresearch.com/smart-meters-market

Global Smart Meters Market: OverviewSmart meters are electronic devices that keep track of electric energy, gas, and water consumption in uniform time intervals and sends the information digitally to utility for monitoring and billing. They have been designed to better understand energy usage and ensure accurate energy bills. Besides this, they are also effective in controlling the levels of radioactive emissions in the eco-system. Smart meters are used for electricity, gas, and water and can be deployed across residential, industrial, and commercial sectors. These meters use technologies such as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and automatic meter reading (AMR).Global Smart Meters Market: Key TrendsGovernment policies are playing a vital role in the growth of the global smart meters market. The ever-rising demand for energy in form of electricity is compelling governments worldwide to pay attention to not just its production and transmission but also keep a check on losses due to theft and leakage. This is promoting the installations of smart meters across the globe. In addition, the growing emphasis on energy and water conservation is augmenting the market. The global smart meters market is also supported by the increasing deployment of smart grid. Furthermore, the rising awareness regarding environment conservation is stoking the growth of the global market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the flip side, the lack of awareness among consumers is limiting the widespread adoption of smart meters. Moreover, the high cost of installation makes end users less willing to switch to these meters from traditional meters, thereby hampering the growth prospects of the market.Global Smart Meters Market: Market PotentialThe majority of key players in the global smart meters market are enjoying the encouraging policies by governments in several parts of the world to set up smart meters. For instance, with the digitization of the Energy Turnaround Act in July 2016 in Germany, the legislation established guidelines for initial smart meter rollout, which is set to begin in 2017. These guidelines lay the foundation for a new phase in Energiewende. Similarly, in the U.K. in July 2016, British Gas decided to offer free daytime electricity for one day per weekend to over 2 million customers who had smart meters deployed. Such initiatives encourage people around the world to deploy smart meters, thereby boosting the sales.Request TOC of the Report @Global Smart Meters Market: Geographical SegmentationThe North America market for smart meters is a highly lucrative marketplace for global participants. Continuous efforts by governments to improve the infrastructure pertaining to electricity, water, and gas supply along with deployment of devices that monitor and prevent their leakage are escalating the growth of the region. Governments in several parts of the U.S., and Mexico are rolling out smart meters at subsidized prices, which in turn is encouraging the growth of the market in North America.Asia Pacific, on the other hand, is an emerging market. The robust growth of the industrial sector and the pressing need for reliable systems to address growing electricity and water scarcity are driving the region. Besides this, the increasing investments in repairing and upgrading aging infrastructure and the booming concept of smart city are supplementing the growth of APAC.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Smart Meters Market: Competition ScenarioThe high capital investment and technical acumen required for the manufacturing and distribution of smart meters is restricting new players from venturing into the global smart meters market. However, government regulations and strategic partnerships could help new players in overcoming high entry barriers. To deal with the high competitive rivalry, players are resorting to strategies such as product innovation and mergers and acquisitions. Some of the key companies operating in the global smart meters market are Itron Inc., Kamstrup A/S, Holley Metering Ltd., Landis+Gyr, Honeywell International Inc., and Toshiba Corporation.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.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.
Data Center Security Market 2017 by Type of security, Physical, Logical, Analysis and Forecast To 2021

ReportsWeb

http://www.reportsweb.com/global-data-center-security-market-2017-2021

http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001713439/sample

http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001713439/buying

http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001713439/buy/3500

Data center security solutions safeguard confidential data against unauthorized external access and malicious software. The increased adoption of cloud-based services and virtualization has fostered the need for advanced security mechanisms that must be implemented in data centers worldwide. Enterprises can deploy on-demand services quickly and efficiently using comprehensive security measures, thereby increasing the availability of resources.Publisher's analysts forecast the global data center security market to grow at a CAGR of 10.51% during the period 2017-2021.Complete Report Available at:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global data center security market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the adoption of both physical and logical security solutions to calculate the market size.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:- Americas- APAC- EMEAPublisher's report, Global Data Center Security 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- Check Point Software Technologies- Cisco Systems- Fortinet- Honeywell International- Intel- Schneider Electric- Siemens- Trend Micro- Tyco InternationalGet Sample of the Report at:Other prominent vendors- Allegion- Arecont Vision- Assa Abloy- Axis Communications- Boon Edam- Byremote- Digitus Biometrics- EMKA- Exacq Technologies- FutureNet Security Solutions- Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology- Hurricane Fence Company- MOXA- Perimeter Protective SystemMarket driver- Enhanced focus on service level agreements (SLAs) .- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge- Increased number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend- Growing numbers of cloud data centers and security measures.- For a full, detailed list, view our reportInquire about Report at:Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Market research methodologyPART 04: IntroductionPART 05: Market landscapePART 06: Market segmentation by applicationPART 07: Market segmentation by technologyPART 06: Five forces analysisPART 07: Market segmentation by type of securityPART 08: Market segmentation by logical securityPART 09: Market segmentation by physical securityPART 10: Market segmentation by geographyPART 11: Decision frameworkPART 12: Drivers and challengesPART 13: Market trendsPART 14: Vendor landscapePART 15: AppendixPurchase 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
Surgical Sutures Market : Revenue and Value Chain 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2450

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2450

https://www.tmrresearch.com/surgical-sutures-market

Global Surgical Sutures Market: OverviewSurgical sutures are medical tools used to stitch open wounds and close the surgical incision. The growing awareness regarding healthcare, especially in low- and middle-income countries is impacting the global market for surgical sutures. On the basis of product, the global surgical sutures market can be bifurcated into non-automated sutures and automated suturing devices. Non-automated sutures can be absorbable and non-absorbable. Similarly, automated devices are disposable and reusable. Based on applications, the market can be segmented into general surgeries, cardiovascular surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, gynecology surgeries, and ophthalmic surgeries.Global Surgical Sutures Market: Key TrendsThe growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and diabetes is leading to the rising number of surgical procedures worldwide. This factor is, thereby, creating a staggering volume of demand for surgical sutures. The increasing focus on research and development activities is facilitating the launch of advanced sutures, which in turn is also working in favor of the market. Besides this, expenditure on the majority of surgical sutures is covered under insurance policies, therefore, the presence of favorable reimbursement scenario is stoking the growth of the market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @On the flip side, the growing preference for minimally invasive surgical procedures is creating a dent in the global demand for surgical sutures. Moreover, the lack of proper sterilization systems in healthcare organizations and presence of a number of substitute wound care management products are impeding the growth of the market.Global Surgical Sutures Market: Market PotentialTo ensure maximum profit, market players are focusing towards the development of innovative and safe sutures. For instance, in September 2016, Mellon Medical unveiled a precision-suturing instrument, Switch, which allows surgeons to suture tubular and layered structures about twice as fast as the traditional technique at reduced risk of complications. This is expected to allow enhanced patient outcome and reduced costs. The international market launch of this instrument is anticipated to happen by 2018. The advent of such suturing devices is likely to work in favor of the global surgical sutures market. The adoption in robotics in suturing procedures is also poised to open new avenues for market players.Request TOC of the Report @Global Surgical Sutures Market: Geographical SegmentationGeographically, North America will account for a large chunk in the revenue pie of the global surgical sutures market. The expanding pool of patients suffering from lifestyle disorders, rapidly growing geriatric population, and conducive healthcare reforms are contributing to the growth of the region. The domicile of a large number of key players also provides a competitive edge to North America over other regions.Asia Pacific is expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period. Large population base, rising consumer spending on healthcare, and booming medical tourism sector are rendering the region highly opportunistic. The growth of the region can also be attributed to the growing number of people undergoing surgical procedures and improving healthcare infrastructure.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Surgical Sutures Market: Competitive ScenarioKey companies are primarily focusing towards developing absorbable and anti-bacterial sutures, which will help them in enhancing their visibility in the global surgical sutures market. Several players are looking upon mergers and acquisitions as key growth strategies to expand their product portfolio. The market features high competitive rivalry among players in terms of pricing. Some of the prominent participants in the global market are Lotus Surgicals Pvt. Ltd., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Ethicon Inc., DemeTECH Corporation, Medtronic Plc., Smith & Nephew Plc., Sutures India Pvt. Ltd., CP Medical, Boston Scientific Corporation, and Teleflex Medical OEM.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
Bio-Alcohol Market is Expected to Reach USD 110 Billion by 2022

Bio-Alcohol Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/963

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/bio-alcohol-market

Market Highlights:Bio-alcohol is manufactured from feedstock such as biomass including organic waste. It is organic chemical with essential properties through fermentation of cellulose or sugar. With technological advancement in bio-based chemicals, cellulosic biomass has increased their usage in industries which is also expected to support the demand of bio-alcohol market. Bio- alcohol market is growing owing to rise in need of conventional fuels in transportation and power generation industries which is due to scarcity of non-renewable resources. The pressure on automobile and power generation companies to reduce carbon foot print and greenhouse effect is driving the focus on bio-alcohols as alternative to gasoline.Bio-Alcohols has various advantages like ecofriendly, easily producible, renewable etc. which makes it viable to use in various industries across the globe. According to types, bio-alcohol is segmented into bioethanol, bio methanol, biobutanol, and BDO. Out of all, Bio-ethanol is leading segment. Ethanol gases is less atmospheric reactive and reduced oxidized formulation. These leads to extensive use of bio-ethanol in automobile industry. It also offers high octane fuel alternative for gasoline which is also used in another industry like power generation. Rising need of fossil fuels over conventional fuels are creating steady growth demands of bio-alcohols across the globe.Request a Sample Copy @According to application, transportation is leading segment in bio-alcohol market. Rapid industrialization in developed countries are boosting the need of power generation with less consumption of fuels. Bio-alcohol are ecofriendly in nature and has found tremendous application in transportation, infrastructure and construction industry. Moreover, increasing carbon emission with increasing greenhouse effect is trending the focus on bio-alcohols in automobile and transportation industry. Reducing the global dependence on non-renewable resources and increase use of bio-based chemicals is driving the bio-alcohol market over the forecasted period.Segmentation:The global bio-alcohol market is majorly segmented on the basis of types and application. Based on type of bio-alcohol the market is segmented into bioethanol, bio-methanol, biobutanol and BDO. Based on application of bio-alcohol the market is segmented into infrastructure, transportation, medical, power generation, others.Competitive Analysis:BASF SE, Fulcrum Bioenergy Inc, Cool Planet Energy Solutions, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Harvest Power, Inc. has dominated the global Bio-Alcohol market share in 2016.Fluctuating prices of crude oil and rising energy prices have challenged many manufacturers to tackle with suitable cost-pricing policies. Low purchasing cost of ethanol and inadequate supply is constraint to achieve blending targets for many players. The key players are expected to exert pressure on exports especially in middle east countries to increase the supply of bio-based chemicals.Global Bio-alcohol Market Players:To sustain in competitive market, the major players are looking out for opportunity in using bio-based products and are entering into agreements, expansions and other development activities. The major key players of this market are: BASF SE, Fulcrum Bioenergy Inc, Cool Planet Energy Solutions, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Harvest Power, Inc., Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Myriant Corporation, Mascoma LLC, Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, Red Rock BioFuels LLC and others.Regional Analysis:Europe and North America dominate the market segment. Germany and U.S being largest producer of automobile industry is shifting its focus to bio-alcohol owing to severe government regulations in developing bio-based chemicals and reduce greenhouse effect.U.S is also largest consumer and producer of bio-alcohols. U.S government is also taking beneficial initiatives for shifting the industries demand for bio-alcohols or bio-based chemicals over non-renewable resources such as loan guarantees to those manufacturers which are using high performance bio-based chemicals. Developing countries like china, India and Japan are steadily growing owing to lenient regulations of government. Existing manufacturers are shifting to eco-friendly products like bio-alcohol. Many countries are growing infrastructure facility over the use of bio-based chemicals to run their daily activities.Browse Full Report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
MASON CITY | A 32-year-old Mason City man who died of cancer last week is being remembered for his dedication as a nurse, his service in the Army National Guard and his fun-loving, giving nature.

James Erickson's funeral was held Tuesday on what would have been his 33rd birthday.

"He had a caring heart," said Bill Hand, who worked with Erickson on the Geek Squad at Best Buy in Mason City a number of years ago.

James Forrest Erickson, Mason City MASON CITY | James Forrest Erickson, 32, of Mason City, IA, passed away on Friday May 5, 201

Hand remembers how Erickson would go above and beyond to help people with their computer problems.

Erickson also was proud to be going into the service, according to Hand.

"He loved his country," he said, adding his faith also was important to him.

Hand, an ordained minister now living in Indianapolis, officiated at James' and Sara Erickson's wedding in 2006.

He remembers James singing a song to Sara as she walked down the aisle.

"He really loved Sara," Hand said. "That was so obvious."

James, a 2001 graduate of Northwood-Kensett High School, graduated from basic training in March 2007 in Fort Benning, Georgia.

His wife and his grandparents, Jim and Jill Larson of Mason City, were traveling back to Iowa after his graduation when their vehicle was involved in a five-vehicle accident near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Jill was killed, and Jim and Sara were seriously injured.

Three years after the accident, Sara and James were interviewed for a Globe Gazette story about Sara's recovery.

James was quoted as saying, "When you get married, you say for better or worse. This is the worst time. There's going to be better times."

James worked as an orderly at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. After graduating from nursing school, he returned to Mercy as a pediatric nurse. He also worked in the operating room.

"He was very fun-loving, very pleasant to work with," said Linda Latham, director of critical care and nursing administrative services at Mercy.

"He would talk to anyone and everyone," she said. "He was a very personable guy."

Erickson was a huge Minnesota Vikings fan who "liked to joke around," Latham said.

Erickson later worked as a critical care nurse at Convenant Medical Center in Waterloo.

In November 2013, not long after he got a job in the ICU at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

"As a nurse he understood the severity of his condition, and as a soldier, he chose to push forward so that doctors could learn more about his condition and help those who might follow in his path," his obituary stated.
Sales Market Analysis: Global Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017

Global Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017

http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-387246.html

http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/

This report studies sales (consumption) of Biosimilar Drug 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, coveringCP Guojian PharmaBiotech PharmaCelgen PharmaHenliusMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Biosimilar Drug 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 intoInjectionTabletsOthersSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Biosimilar Drug in each application, can be divided intoAnkylosing SpondylitisTumorRheumatoid ArthrtisCardiovascularAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Biosimilar Drug Overview2 Global Biosimilar Drug Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application3 United States Biosimilar Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 China Biosimilar Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 Europe Biosimilar Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Japan Biosimilar Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Southeast Asia Biosimilar Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 India Biosimilar Drug (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Global Biosimilar Drug Manufacturers Analysis10 Biosimilar Drug Maufacturing Cost Analysis11 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers12 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders13 Market Effect Factors Analysis14 Global Biosimilar Drug Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017Europe Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017China Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017India Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017Korea Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017Japan Biosimilar Drug Sales Market Report 2017USA Biosimilar Drug Sales 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.Guangzhou
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2453

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2453

https://www.tmrresearch.com/terrestrial-trunked-radio-market

Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market: OverviewThe rising demand for higher level of encryption for voice to meet the security needs for public safety organizations is boosting the global terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) market. The ability of terrestrial trunked radios to transfer data quickly as compared to the mobile communications earlier is also boosting their demand. Terrestrial trunked radio is a private, digital mobile radiotechnology, finding its application in medical, transport, security, and fire services. As all communications via terrestrial trunked radio are private and secure, they are increasingly being adopted. As vendors operating in the terrestrial trunked radio market are putting all their efforts towards realizing a secure, reliable, and efficient communication method so as to fulfill the needs of consumers, the market is witnessing a growth.The demand for TETRA is also forecasted to increase in the coming years on account of the growing penetration of professional mobile radio (PMR) organizations. The growing usage of TETRA networks in the military and defense applications will further the growth of the market. Additionally, the high demand for consumer electronics will also help in furthering the growth of the global terrestrial trunked radio market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market: Key TrendsThe rising need for mission critical communication and radio communication devices to shift from analog to digital will create a heightened demand for the deployment of terrestrial trunked radio worldwide. The use of terrestrial trunked radio for supporting the disaster relief and next generation public protection communications infrastructure will also push the market towards growth. In addition to this, the increasing need for efficient communication for home security and also for emergency medical services will ensure a growth of the TETRA market in the coming years. However, the installation cost of TETRA networks is very high and can pose a challenge for the growth of the market.Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market: Market PotentialThe military and defense sector is the largest applications segment for the TETRA market. Portable radios with inbuilt TETRA are catering to the needs of critical communication needs in the military and defense sector, which require seamless operation.Request TOC of the Report @Companies such as Hytera Communications Corporation Limited, have developed PT580H Plus, which has tamper proof protection, making the device more secure. The data stored in the radio is thus protected from security attacks. Such innovations in the industry are likely to boost the adoption rates and thus drive the market for terrestrial trunked radio in the future.Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of geography, the global terrestrial trunked radio market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Of these, Asia Pacific is projected to hold key shares in the market on account of the growing acceptance of TETRA networks and a rise in the focus on critical communication operations. North America is expected to be second leading regional segment. Europe is expected to be one of the lucrative markets for TETRA on account of high adoption of these networks for both commercial and public applications. Moreover, the presence of a large number of established vendors is also proving to be beneficial for the growth of the market in the region.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Market: Competitive LandscapeThe key players operating in the Terrestrial Trunked Radio market includes Motorola Solutions, Inc. (The U.S), Simoco Group (U.K), Hytera Communications Corporation Limited (The U.S), Airbus Defense and Space Corporation (France), Bitea Limited (U.K), Rohill Engineering B.V. (Netherlands), Sepura PLC (UK), and Cellular Systems A/S (Denmark).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
Well Intervention Market Growth with Worldwide Industry Analysis to 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2456

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2456

https://www.tmrresearch.com/well-intervention-market

Global Well Intervention Market: OverviewWell intervention refers to assessing the potential of the well towards the end of its lifecycle. Well intervention operations provide an exact and an accurate analysis and diagnostics of the well to better the production levels through repairs and maintenance. The global well intervention market has been growing at a rapid pace due to the skyrocketing demand for energy. The unstoppable pace of urbanization and industrialization has instigated an unending demand for well maintenance, which necessitates timely interventions. The soaring demand for oil and gas is expected to be the key growth driver for the global well intervention market over the forecast period.Global Well Intervention Market: Key TrendsThe report suggests that the global well intervention market is likely to grow at a healthy CAGR due to rising number of deeper water activities as the subsea well count increases. The need for servicing is likely to soar due to increasing number of subsea wells. Rapid technological advancements have enabled production and exploration of oil and gas in extreme weather conditions and in toughest of terrains. This has resulted in depleting shallow water resources, thereby creating a need for well intervention.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Discoveries of newer oil fields and gas reserves have also triggered significant demand for well intervention. Analysts indicate that the demand for better recovery rates will also compel end users to opt for frequent well interventions in developed fields. Factors such as increased water or sand production, scaling in wells, and reduced pressure have been assessed to bolster the growth of the overall market.Global Well Intervention Market: Market PotentialThe fluctuating oil and gas prices across the globe has drastically affected the well intervention companies. To combat the fallout of volatile political conditions that are negatively impacting business, players in the global well intervention market are focusing on mergers and acquisitions to stay strong against the headwinds. For instance, GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes' joined hands in 2016 to add value to their product portfolio. The collaboration will be able to offer better intervention services to the aging oilfields. The companies are looking enable consumers to extract more hydrocarbons from current fields instead of developing new fields. This move is aimed at catering to consumers to are looking at making opex-driven decisions.Request TOC of the Report @Global Well Intervention Market: Regional OutlookFrom a geographic point of view, the global well intervention market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Of these regional markets, North America well intervention market is expected to lead the pack. Currently, the U.S. holds a dominant share in the regional due to ongoing activities in the shale gas industry. Analysts project that the increasing investments in shale gas in the U.S. are likely to drive the North America well intervention market throughout the forecast period.Meanwhile, the Middle East and Africa market is also likely to experience a robust growth rate. Emerging economies of India and China are also likely to offer the global market a plethora of options to grow in the region of Asia Pacific. The burgeoning demand for oil and gas in these developing countries is expected to propel the Asia Pacific well intervention market over the forecast period.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:Some of the key players operating in the global well intervention market are Baker Hughes Incorporated, GE Oil & Gas, Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton Company, Weatherford International plc, Archer Limited, Expro International Group Holdings Ltd., Welltec International ApS, Trican Well Service Ltd., TechnipFMC plc, Basic Energy Services, Inc., Key Energy Services, Inc., Superior Energy Services, Inc., and Lupatech SA , among others.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Herpes Markers Testing Market

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4185

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4185

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Herpes is a type of infection caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). Herpes is mainly categorized into two forms: oral herpes and genital herpes. Oral herpes leads to the occurrence of cold sores around the face and mouth. Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease which affects the genital organs, buttocks, and anal area. Other herpes infections can affect the skin, eyes, and other parts of the body. HSV can be dangerous in newborn babies and people with weak immune systems. There are two types of HSV occurrences in the environment: HSV type 1 and HSV type 2. HSV type 1 primarily causes cold sores, and HSV type 2 leads to genital herpes. Most people get HSV type 1 in their childhood and adult stages. This virus can be spread by skin-to-skin contact with an adult who carries the virus. Most people get HSV type 2 through sexual contact. Some people do not report any symptoms of herpes. However, others get sores near the area where the virus has entered into the body. These sores turn into blisters and become itchy and painful.A sample of this report is available upon request @The global herpes marker testing market is categorized based on various diagnostic tests and by vaccines and drugs used to treat oral herpes and genital herpes. Based on diagnostic technologies, the global herpes marker testing market covers molecular diagnostic technologies, monoclonal antibodies, immunoassays, differential light scattering, liposome, flow cytometry, chromatography, diagnostic imaging, and gel microdroplets.In terms of geography, North America dominates the global herpes market testing market due to increased awareness about various forms of herpes in the region. The U.S. represents the largest market for herpes marker testing in North America, followed by Canada. In Europe, countries such as Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, and Spain account for a major share of the herpes marker testing market. This market is expected to expand at a significant rate in Asia over the next five years. This is due to the setting up of manufacturing facilities by various companies in the region. Moreover, factors such as increasing awareness about herpes and rise in population are also driving the market growth in the region. Countries such as India, China, and Japan are expected to be the fastest growing herpes marker testing markets in Asia.In recent times, advancements in diagnostic technologies and increased demand of therapeutic products for the treatment of this medical condition are among the key drivers of the global herpes marker testing market. Factors such as increased investments in R&D in the pharmaceuticals sector, and the introduction of innovative drugs have also fueled the growth of this market. The ongoing development of drugs with properties such as improved safety and high patient compliance are also supporting the growth of the global herpes marker testing market.However, stringent regulations by various governments hamper the growth of the global herpes marker testing market. Moreover, factors such as the risks of complications and side effects associated with vaccines have hindered the growth of the market. Increasing mergers and acquisitions of diagnostic technologies providers, and rapid product launches are some major trends in the global herpes marker testing market.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @The key companies operating in this market include Abbott Laboratories, Danaher Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, bioMerieux, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc, Cepheid, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Siemens AG, DiaSorin, EIKEN CHEMICAL CO., LTD., Hologic, Life Technologies, and Novartis.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:
Seam Welding Machines Market 19 Key Vendor Profiles and 2022 Projections- 2017 Report

http://emarketorg.com/pro/global-seam-welding-machines-market-research-report-2017/

http://emarketorg.com/pro/global-quantum-dot-displayqled-market-research-report-2017/

https://twitter.com/emarketorg

Seam Welding Machines Market research report has data of regional analysis and is well segmented for the Global Seam Welding Machines market by applications (Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Cellular Phone, Computing, Storage, and Peripherals, Medical, Industrial, and Instrumentation, Networking and Communications and Others).The report also offers market shares of key regions such as the North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. Leading vendors analyzed in this report are Nippon Mektron, Zhen Ding Technology, Unimicron and more.About Seam Welding Machines and Its Industry OutlookContinuous linear spot welding is a kind of Welding in line without space between spot welds is known seam welding. Seam Welding Machines market report has well defined numbers for Seam Welding Machines industry value of 2016, its CAGR numbers and forecasts to 2022.Browse Complete Seam Welding Machines Market Report with comprehensive Table Of Contents @The report has experts take on Global Seam Welding Machines market estimated numbers of production/sales/revenue industry evaluation of size supported by a thorough and an up-to-date research methodology. A review of the prevalent trends seen in the global Seam Welding Machines market forms an integral part of this research report. The study also includes insight reference on the leading companies active in the Seam Welding Machines market, not only offering numbers about these businesses but also their contact information and an overall business overview. The competitive landscape of Seam Welding Machines market covers data on product offerings of these players, each companys production/price / revenue/ market share/ gross margin numbers, manufacturing base details and Seam Welding Machines market product specifications.Some Eminent questions answered in the report include:1) What will be the market growth rate and scope of Seam Welding Machines market by 2021/2022? 2) What is the market share by regions of the Seam Welding Machines market? 3)What are the crucial market trends impacting the growth of the Seam Welding Machines market? 4) Who are the Key Industry Players in the competitive landscape? 5) What are the industry challenges and ways to overcome them? 6) What are the Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers of the global Seam Welding Machines market? 7)What are the Consumer Needs and Customer Preference Changes? 8)What is the Manufacturing cost analysis?Product subdivision of the Seam Welding Machines marketThe product subdivision in this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Flex, Mirovia (HDI), Rigid-flex, Substrates and Others.Segmentation by Utilization Channels/Applications of Seam Welding Machines marketThe applications/Utilization Channels of this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Seam Welding Machines for each application, including Aerospace and Defense, Automotive, Cellular Phone, Computing, Storage, and Peripherals, Medical, Industrial, and Instrumentation, Networking and Communications and OthersGeographical segmentation of the Seam Welding Machines marketGeographical segregation of Seam Welding Machines market with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Seam Welding Machines in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast) includes North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and IndiaCompetitive landscape and leading Industry PlayersThe leading vendors in the market are Nippon Mektron, Zhen Ding Technology, Unimicron, Young Poong Group, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Ibiden Group, Tripod Technology Corporation, TTM Technologies, Sumitomo Electric SEI, Daeduck Group, Nan Ya PCB Corporation, Compeq, Viasystems, HannStar Board (GBM), LG Innotek, AT&S, Meiko, Kinsus, TPT, Fujikura, Chin Poon, Career and FlexiumRelated report:Partial List of Tables and FiguresFigure United States Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Europe Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Seam Welding Machines Sales Volume (Million Pcs) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Market Major Players Seam Welding Machines Sales Volume (Million Pcs) (2012-2017)Table Global Seam Welding Machines Sales (Million Pcs) of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)Table Global Seam Welding Machines Sales Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)Figure 2016 Seam Welding Machines Sales Share by Players/SuppliersFigure 2017 Seam Welding Machines Sales Share by Players/SuppliersFigure Global Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)Table Global Seam Welding Machines Revenue (Million USD) by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)Table Global Seam Welding Machines Revenue Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)Table 2016 Global Seam Welding Machines Revenue Share by PlayersTable 2017 Global Seam Welding Machines Revenue Share by PlayersContact Details:Ronald Aldensales@emarketorg.cominfo@emarketorg.comAbout Us:eMarketOrg.com aims to provide businesses and organizations market intelligence products and services that help in making smart, instant and crucial decisions. Our database offers access to insights from industry leaders, experts and influencers on global and regional sectors, market trends, user behaviour, for companies as well as products. With data and information from reputable and trusted private and public sources, our clients are never short of statistics and analysis that are up to date.F/3, 4A Bharat Pushpa Apt.,Subhash Nagar, Shukrawar Peth,Pune  411002
Global Transcatheter Valve Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 : Bracco Group, Braile Biomedica, Direct Flow Medical

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=908423&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-transcatheter-valve-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022.html

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Transcatheter Valve Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The Transcatheter Valve from the point of view of all its present patterns that are impacting it, is essential to comprehend so as to acquire the most adjusted answer for business procedures in it. These patterns are financial, topographical, monetary, political, buyer, and social, and their general impact on customer or purchaser inclinations will have a noteworthy say in how this market will frame itself in the years to come. These elements and the way they affect the Transcatheter Valve have been examined in supreme detail in the report. A definitive objective for the spread of this data is to make an unmistakable investigation of how these patterns could conceivably influence the eventual fate of the market inside the report's given forecast period.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @The report, similar to all reports added to this research repository, is a comprehensive and engaging perspective of the Transcatheter Valve. It explains available progression, extent of development in different regions and specific locations, and different parameters that have been so far compelling amid its extension regarding value and volume. This examination study is along these lines a quantitative and a subjective review for conferring a reasonable vision of every single conceivable circumstance in the Transcatheter Valve, and in addition the drivers that may exist between 2017 and 2022.The Transcatheter Valve is likewise introduced to the readers of this report as an all-encompassing preview of the competitive scene inside the given time frame. It displays a similar examination of the regional portions and player competitiveness, offering readers a superior comprehension of where territories in which they can put their current assets.Browse full table of contents and data tables of Report @Table of ContentsGlobal Transcatheter Valve Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Transcatheter Valve1.1 Transcatheter Valve Market Overview1.1.1 Transcatheter Valve Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Transcatheter Valve Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Transcatheter Valve Market by Type1.3.1 Balloon Expanded Transcatheter Valve1.3.2 Self-Expanded Transcatheter Valve1.4 Transcatheter Valve Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Transcatheter Aortic Valve1.4.2 Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve1.4.3 Transcatheter Mitral Valve2 Global Transcatheter Valve Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Transcatheter Valve Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Boston Scientific Corporation3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Bracco Group3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Braile Biomedica3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Direct Flow Medical3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Hansen Medical3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 JenaValve3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Medtronic3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 St. Jude Medical3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Symetis3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Transcatheter Valve Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 ValveXchange4 Global Transcatheter Valve Market Size by Type and Application (2011-2016)4.1 Global Transcatheter Valve Market Size by Type (2011-2016)4.2 Global Transcatheter Valve Market Size by Application (2011-2016)4.3 Potential Application of Transcatheter Valve in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Transcatheter Valve5 United States Transcatheter Valve Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Transcatheter Valve Market Size (2011-2016)5.2 United States Transcatheter Valve Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)6 EU Transcatheter Valve Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Transcatheter Valve Market Size (2011-2016)6.2 EU Transcatheter Valve Market Size and Market Share by Players (2015-2016)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Timing Devices Market : Emerging Market Trends, Size, Share and Growth Analysis 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=2462

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=2462

https://www.tmrresearch.com/timing-devices-market

Global Timing Devices Market: OverviewThe three broad segments of timing devices are semiconductor clocks, oscillators, and resonators. Timing devices are the semiconductor components bringing about timely performance of electronic products. Small timing devices are usually pocket instruments and wrist instruments and the larger ones are typically table and the panel-mounted units, which includes demonstrational timers.Timing devices run on electricity and have a digital display. Akin to clocks and the watches, timers have a basic pattern of mechanical, electrical, and electronic movement for measuring time. They have a special type of mechanism for beginning, ending, and resetting the indicator hand, which allows the measurement of the elapsed time intervals.Global Timing Devices Market: Key TrendsMajorly boosting the global timing devices market is the soaring demand from the consumer electronics and automobile manufacturers. Rising uptake of timing integrated circuits (ICs) in smartphones and tablets has also been bolstering the market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @In the near future, the continued rise in need for microwave components in both the military and the civilian radar and in different communication applications is expected to push up demand for timing devices. Shipboard radars is also expected to stoke demand for timing ICs in the next couple of years, thereby catalyzing growth in the timing devices market.One factor posing headwinds to the global market for timing devices is the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry. Besides, MEMS oscillators synthesize the output frequency from a few MEMS resonator designs only. The presence of a PLL in between the MEMS resonator and the output prevents generating a good quality signal as the quartz based design. This is another factor dampening the growth of the timing devices market.Global Timing Devices Market: Market PotentialThe timing devices market can be divided depending upon the type of products into oscillators, clock generators, resonators, clock buffers, and jitter attenuators. Among them, oscillators form the most promising segment on account of its increased application in portable electronics and wearable electronics. Going forward, companies can also bet big on the resonators segment as it is slated to clock maximum growth as a result of miniaturization of electronic devices and soaring demand for semiconductor clocks in wearable devices.Request TOC of the Report @Depending upon materials again, the timing devices market can be segregated into ceramic, crystal, and silicon. The main end users in the timing devices market are consumer electronics, automotive, industrial, healthcare, etc.Global Timing Devices Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the key segments of the global timing devices market are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World. Asia Pacific, among them, is a key market on account of a burgeoning consumer electronics and automotive industry which has substantially driven up demand of timing ICs. Besides, swiftly increasing demand of MEMS and Crystal Oscillators in broadcast transmitters and mobile phones is also predicted to drive the market exponentially. Going forward too, Asia Pacific is slated to maintain its dominant position, powered primarily by countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan, among others.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Timing Devices Markets: Competitive AnalysisTo assess the competition prevailing in the global timing devices market, the report profiles prominent companies such as Texas Instruments Incorporated, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Rakon Limited, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, IQD Frequency Products Ltd., TXC Corporation, and SEIKO Epson Corporation.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Anti-Static Floor Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=737270&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-anti-static-floor-industry-report-2016.htm

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

The global anti-static floor market was 3764.78 Million USD in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.76% from 2016 to 2021.Anti-static floor is a kind of floor that can dissipate the electric charge by adding conductive material when it is grounding or connecting to lower potential. It is widely used in computer training rooms, data warehousing, clean room, electronics manufacturing, hyperbaric spaces in healthcare settings and so on.Major companies with their market volumes and revenues are covered for EU, US and China. The top ten players in the anti-static floor industry are Mohawk Group, Armstrong, LG Hausys, Gerflor, Staticworx, Julie Industries, Tarkett, Altro, Huatong and MERO.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @First, the report provides a basic overview of the anti-static floor industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.Second, the report states the global anti-static floor market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the anti-static floor industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview 11.1 Definition and Specifications of Anti-static Floor 11.1.1 Definition of Anti-static Floor 11.1.2 Specifications of Anti-static Floor 21.2 Classification of Anti-static Floor 21.2.1 Direct Laying Anti-static Floor 31.2.2 Anti-static Access Floor 31.3 Applications of Anti-static Floor 41.3.1 Computer Training Rooms 51.3.2 Data Warehousing 6Browse Complete Report with TOC @1.3.3 Clean Rooms 61.3.4 Electronics Manufacturing 71.3.5 Hyperbaric Spaces in Healthcare Settings 81.3.6 Others 81.4 Industry Chain Structure of Anti-static Floor 101.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Anti-static Floor 101.5.1 Industry Overview of Anti-static Floor 101.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Anti-static Floor 111.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Anti-static Floor 111.7 Industry News Analysis of Anti-static Floor 122 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Anti-static Floor 142.1 Raw Material Suppliers and Price Analysis of Anti-static Floor 142.2 Equipment Suppliers and Price Analysis of Anti-static Floor 182.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Anti-static Floor 192.4 Other Costs Analysis of Anti-static Floor 222.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Anti-static Floor 232.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Anti-static Floor 243 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Anti-static Floor 263.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Anti-static Floor Major Manufacturers in 2015 263.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Anti-static Floor Major Manufacturers in 2015 273.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Anti-static Floor Major Manufacturers in 2015 283.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Anti-static Floor Major Manufacturers in 2015 314 Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Regions, Types and Manufacturers 334.1 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Anti-static Floor by Regions 2010-2015 334.2 Global and Major Regions Capacity, Production, Revenue and Growth Rate of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 364.3 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Anti-static Floor by Types 2010-2015 444.4 Global Capacity, Production and Revenue of Anti-static Floor by Manufacturers 2010-2015 465 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Regions, Types and Manufacturers 595.1 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Regions 2010-2015 595.2 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Types 2010-2015 625.3 Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Manufacturers 2010-2015 646 Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Regions, Types and Applications 736.1 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Anti-static Floor by Regions 2010-2015 736.2 Global and Major Regions Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Growth Rate of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 766.3 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Anti-static Floor by Types 2010-2015 816.4 Global Consumption Volume and Consumption Value of Anti-static Floor by Applications 2010-2015 836.5 Sale Price of Anti-static Floor by Regions 2010-2015 866.6 Sale Price of Anti-static Floor by Types 2010-2015 876.7 Sale Price of Anti-static Floor by Applications 2010-2015 886.8 Market Share Analysis of Anti-static Floor by Different Sale Price Levels 897 Supply, Import, Export and Consumption Analysis of Anti-static Floor 907.1 Supply, Consumption and Gap of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 907.2 Global Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 917.3 EU Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 917.4 US Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 927.5 China Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 937.6 Asia (except China) Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption of Anti-static Floor 2010-2015 93QYReseachReports.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.QYresearchreportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Hermetic Packaging Market : Analysis & Trends and Key Developments 2017 - 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1136

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1136

https://www.tmrresearch.com/hermetic-packaging-market

Global Hermetic Packaging Market: OverviewExhibiting a positive CAGR between 2017 and 2025, the global hermetic packaging market is forecast to spawn into a multi-billion dollar industry by the end of the forecast period. The need to protect the sensitive electronic components used in sectors such as defense and military against invasion of moisture, oxygen, humidity, and any other forms of contaminant, which may result in system failure is the key factor spurring the demand for hermetic packaging. Besides this, with the growing use of hermetic packaging across end-use industries such as aeronautics and automobile electronics, experts see strong growth on cards for the market in the coming years.The report provides a holistic market overview, covering growth witnessed across end-use industries, key application segments, and major regions. The classifications under these segments are studied in detail. The study also includes an in-depth analysis of various drivers and restraints projected to impact the markets trajectory across the aforementioned segments. It therefore compiles exhaustive information regarding the market obtained via proven research methodologies. The market study also identifies the most lucrative segments in the market and gauges the investment feasibility for the new market players.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Hermetic Packaging Market: Trends and OpportunitiesAmong major end users, the demand for hermetic packaging is considerably high in the military and defense sector. This segment is expected to gain from the high budget allocation in the defense sector in countries such as the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Besides this, the high demand from the defense industries in India and China will boost the hermetic packaging market in Asia Pacific. In the coming years, the rising demand from the aeronautics and space industry will contribute to the markets growth as well.Among other segments helping the market gain pace, the contribution of the multilayer ceramic segment is worth mentioning. The market players are expected to witness considerably high opportunities in response to the increasing adoption of multilayer ceramic packages across high-frequency applications such as wireless communication, optical communication, and data communication. Multilayer ceramics allow a large volume of electrical feed-throughs, which is a key factor fueling its demand, subsequently gaining increased traction for the overall market.Request TOC of the Report @In the coming years, the use of hermetic packaging transistors is expected to increase at a robust pace. This growth will be stoked by the increasing uptake of hermetically sealed transistors for designing home appliances and telecommunication circuits. Spurred by the increasing applications across diverse segment, the global hermetic packaging market is forecast to report strong growth in the coming years.Global Hermetic Packaging Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, the leading manufacturers will find a lucrative market in Asia Pacific. The region exhibits increasing demand for energy, backed by growth in the rate of GDP across emerging nations such as India and China, which will create growth opportunities for hermetic packaged electronic component manufacturers. Besides this, India, Japan, and China are now allotting increased funds in space research. The growth in space-related activities such as exploration missions and satellite launches in these countries will give impetus to the Asia Pacific hermetic packaging market. Additionally, North America and Europe will continue offering attractive opportunities to the enterprises operating in the market.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@Global Hermetic Packaging Market: Vendor LandscapeTeledyne Microelectronics, AMETEK, Inc., SCHOTT AG, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Amkor Technology, Legacy Technologies Inc., Micross Components, Inc., Willow Technologies, KYOCERA Corporation, and Materion Corporation are among the established players in the global hermetic packaging market. Besides in-depth assessment of the companies profiled, the report also studies the impact of the strategies they adopt on the overall market.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
Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market : Revenue, Share, Growth, Size Analysis & Forecast to 2025

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1124

https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1124

https://www.tmrresearch.com/nuclear-decommissioning-services-market

Global Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market: OverviewNuclear accidents such as the unfortunate event in the Fukushima Daichii power plant in 2011 has compelled governments to enforce pre-closure of nuclear power plants. The practice has gained paced especially in European countries, subsequently creating the demand for nuclear decommissioning services worldwide. Experts predict the global decommissioning services market to exhibit robust growth between 2017 and 2025. Besides this, the rising political pressure to pre-close nuclear power plants posing threat to agglomerating regions will stoke the demand for nuclear decommissioning services as well.The report is aimed at identifying the key opportunities in the market, besides listing hindrances requiring attention of the leading market players. It covers the key growth drivers and sheds light on the most lucrative segments. Thus for the purpose of the study, the global nuclear decommissioning services market can be segmented based on capacity, strategy, reactor type, and region. In terms of strategy, the market can be segmented into deferred dismantling, immediate dismantling, and entombment. Among this, growth witnessed in the immediate dismantling segment has been quite high. By reactor, the market can be bifurcated into gas-cooled reactors and water-cooled reactors.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The report presents insights into the factors influencing the markets trajectory across aforementioned segments. It is thus intended at updating stakeholders about the prevailing market dynamics and helping readers gain a better perspective about the overall market. To provide a detailed assessment the effect of Porters five forces on the overall market operation is also gauged.Global Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market: Trends and OpportunitiesRecent power plant disasters divulge vulnerability of nuclear power plants. It is therefore imperative for governments to digitize and update nuclear decommissioning services in order to ascertain increased safety to the world. New strategies as well as regular inspections of nuclear reactors can significantly bring down the risk of such disasters. The governments around the world have thus implemented stringent regulations compelling pre-closure of lower performing nuclear reactors. Besides this strategic collaborations between government organizations and private parties are likely to boost nuclear strategy by building global platform. Spurred by these factors, the demand for nuclear decommissioning services is scale higher.Request TOC of the Report @Global Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market: Regional OutlookAmong the leading regional markets for nuclear decommissioning services, Europe is currently exhibiting highly lucrative opportunities. The increasing demand from Germany is expected to give impetus to the nuclear decommissioning services market in Europe. Factors such as the rising government support, coupled with public concerns regarding nuclear power plants closing before schedules, will fuel the demand for nuclear decommissioning services further. Meanwhile, in Asia Pacific as well the market is expected to gain significant traction over the course of the forecast period. Japan and South Korea boast a large number of nuclear power plants, which is expected to bolster opportunities for the nuclear decommissioning services market in Asia Pacific.Global Nuclear Decommissioning Services Market: Vendor LandscapeThe global nuclear decommissioning services market includes prominent companies such as Babcock International Group PLC., Areva Group, AECOM, Studsvik, and Westinghouse Electric among others. A study into their marketing strategies and business policies can reveal the prevailing market trends. The report therefore includes profiles of some of the leading companies operating in the global nuclear decommissioning services market. SWOT Analysis is conducted on the companies profiled to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and present insights into opportunities and threats that they might face over the course of the reports forecast period.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report@About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
MASON CITY | The Iowa National Guard 1133rd Transportation Co. will host a free Bandit 5K fun run May 20.

The event is at the armory, 1160 19th St. S.W. The entrance can be accessed by following the signs for the National Guard Readiness Center on South Pierce Avenue.

Registration and an open house begins at 8 a.m., where people can see the facility and equipment and meet soldiers.

The run begins at 9 a.m.

To register, complete an entry form at tinyurl.com/in2shb9.
Global Backhoe Loaders Market is Accounting for US$ 4 Billion by 2026

Backhoe Loaders Market

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3791

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/backhoe-loader-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/3791

www.persistencemarketresearch.com

Top eight players account for 85% revenue share; center-mount loaders continue to outsell side-shift equipmentThe top eight global players accounted for nearly 85% revenue share of the US$ 2.14 Bn backhoe loaders market in 2015. JC Bamford Excavators Ltd (JCB) remains the largest player (20%), followed by CNH Industrial NV, and Volvo Construction Group. These three behemoths collectively account for nearly 44% revenue share of the global backhoe loaders market. The other five leading players in terms of revenue share include Komatsu Ltd., Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd., Terex Corporation, Caterpillar Inc., and Deere & Company.Sample of this report is available upon request @Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), the largest market in terms of volume and value, was worth US$ 866.6 Mn in 2015, and is projected to surpass US$ 1 Bn in revenues by 2018. India will continue to be the worlds most lucrative and largest market for backhoe loaders, growing at 6.9% -- higher than the 5.9% global CAGR  through 2026. On the back of strong demand from the US construction sector, North America will maintain its position as the worlds second largest market, followed by Latin America.According to Persistence Market Researchs report, Global Market Study on Backhoe Loaders: APEJ Expected to be the Most Attractive Regional Market for Backhoe Loader Manufacturers in Terms of Growth Rate , the India backhoe loaders market will continue to experience steady gains throughout the forecast period on account of a slew of factors. Government focus on infrastructure development coupled with easy finance schemes have ensured steady buoyancy, and the status quo is anticipated to remain unchanged throughout the forecast period. JCB remains the market leader in India as well, accounting for roughly three-fourth revenue share.Demand for backhoe loaders and other construction equipment is directly co-related to the pace of infrastructure development. India is going through a momentous phase of development of roads, railways, and dams receiving government support and FDI. Further, Indias real estate sector remained largely unaffected by the global housing crisis of 2007-08, and leading construction equipment manufacturers consolidated their position to compensate for sluggish demand in US and Europe. Since then, the India construction equipment market has been on an upswing, and our research projects the demand to remain buoyant throughout the forecast period.  Persistence Market Research analyst.Request to view Table of Content @Center-mount backhoe loaders will continue to outsell side-shift variants, with the former projected to account for over 86% revenue share of the market throughout the forecast period. Center-mount backhoe loaders remain sought-after among end-users in Asia Pacific and North America, whereas side-shift backhoe loaders are concentrated in Europe. Side-shifts were first introduced in Europe in the 1960s and since then they have remained the preferred choice; however, across the pond, end-users have shown a marked preference for center-mount machines. They also remain the preferred choice among end-users in India, influencing manufacturers to increase production capacity and broaden their range, adds the Persistence Market Research analyst.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @Backhoe loaders find their application in a wide range of end-use industries, including construction & mining, utility, and agriculture & forestry. Construction and mining remain the largest end-use sector, accounting for nearly 53% revenue share of the market in 2016. Frenzied construction activity in Tier II cities, combined with the implementation of Smart City program are anticipated to provide an impetus to overall construction equipment sales in India, which in turn, is expected to have a crucial impact on prospects of the global market. Demand for backhoe loaders from the agriculture & forestry segment will remain steady, growing at 5.9% CAGR through 2026.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Automotive Interior Materials Market Analysis, Market Size, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies, and Forecasts, 2016 To 2024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/337

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/337

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/automotive-interior-materials-market-337

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com

Automotive interiors, including seats, door panels, cockpit modules, steering wheels, and dashboards offer comfort to the vehicle drivers and also enhance the aesthetic appeal of the vehicle. Automotive interiors of superior quality minimize engine vibrations and act as effective cabin insulators, thereby enhancing the consumers riding experience. Attributed to the growing consumer preference for premium automotive interior materials and the desire to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the interiors, the global automotive interior material market is expected to witness a significant growth during the forecast period.Growth of the automotive interior materials market is mainly driven by rapidly growing automotive industry and rising inclination of consumers towards aesthetic features of the automotive interiors and also improving driving experience. OEMs offer high customization to satiate the specific demands of consumers, in order to capitalize upon high consumer purchasing power. Consumers are increasingly inclined towards vehicles with features that were until now reserved for premium vehicles. These include premium seat covers, leather covered dashboards, and luxury carpeting, among others. This creates a highly conducive environment for growth of the market. Furthermore, increasing demand for lightweight vehicles due to its low carbon emission quality, is also driving the manufacturers to focus on smart textiles appropriate for the vehicles thereby, boosting the demand for automotive interior materials. In 2015, global vehicle production was pegged at over 90 million, which increased to around 95 million in 2016. This creates a highly conducive environment for growth of the automotive interior materials market.Sample of this report is available upon request @Growing awareness about waste disposal in the process of leather manufacturing required for the automotive interiors along with high prices of leather material are expected to restrain the growth of the market. Leather manufacturing is affected by a number of factors such as the use of chemicals such as formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, cyanide based materials and others that result in toxicity of the environment, usage of animal by-products thereby pressurizing the animal population, manufacturers who use premium leather to manufacture automotive interiors. A number of U.S. cities have passed on procurement policies on phasing out the purchase of PVC which is considered to a toxic material that can contaminate the environment. Hence the use of PVC in automotive interior materials is decreasing thereby hampering the growth of the market.Automotive Interior Materials: Market TaxonomyBy Material TypeThe global market can be segmented on the basis of type of material used which includes:Synthetic leatherPure leatherFabricsThermoplastic polymersBy Vehicle TypeOn the basis of vehicle type, the global market can be segmented into:Passenger vehiclesLight commercial vehiclesHeavy commercial vehiclesBy Interior TypeBased on the interior type, the global market can be segmented into:Seat beltsSteering wheel beltsSeat coversUpholsteryInterior roofingCockpitOthersRequest to view Table of Content @Global Automotive Interior Materials Market Outlook: Burgeoning growth of Automotive Sector in Asia Pacific to Fuel Market GrowthGeographically, the global automotive interior materials market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Booming automotive industry along with rising middle class population with high spending power creates highly lucrative opportunities for players in the automotive interior materials industry. In Asia-Pacific region, government initiatives in terms of subsidies and tax concessions across various countries are attracting the automotive OEMs to build their manufacturing plants in the region. For instance, in July 2016, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced plans to make electric car batteries run longer, build a network of charging stations and make electric car purchases and ownership more affordable. The government expects that the current and future policy programs will help increase the electric car market share in South Korea to 0.5% in 2017, up from 0.2% in 2015, and to achieve 5.3% in 2020. Also, In April 2014, the Indian government announced a new plan to provide subsidies for hybrid and electric vehicles. The plan will have subsidies up to US$ 2,314 for cars and US$ 463 on two wheelers. This in turn positions Asia Pacific as a high growth market for automotive interior materials.To Buy Full Report for a Single User @Global automotive interior materials market is extremely competitive and consolidated with the presence of large players accounting for major share. Key players in the market include Sage Automotive Interiors Inc., BASF S.E., Katzkin Leather Interiors Inc., Eagle Ottawa, Borgers A.G., International Textile Group Inc., Faurecia S.A, Johnson Controls Inc., Lear Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, DK Leather Corporation Berhad, and E.I.DU Pont De Nemours.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.CONTACT US:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel : +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Phenolic Resins Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2016-2024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/341

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/341

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/phenolic-resins-market-341

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com

Phenolic resins or phenol formaldehyde resins are the synthetic polymers derived from the reaction between formaldehyde and phenol. Phenolic resins were regarded as the first commercial resins used in manufacturing of moulded products such as laboratory countertops and billiard balls. They are also used as coasting and adhesives. Various product types of phenolic resin currently available in the market, include, novolac resin, cresol, resol resin, bio-phenolic resin, and formaldehyde-free phenolic resin. Various trade names associated with these products include Bakelite, Aquarius, Maritex, Novo Text, and Oasis, etc. Attributed to its properties such as moisture resistance, heat resistance, adhesion, and high mechanical strength phenolic resins find prominent application in number of industrial activities such as laminates, offshore oil drilling, moulding compounds, , insulation purposes, hardeners, fire retardants, abrasives, friction materials, wood-adhesive, and others.Request Sample Copy of Research @Regulatory framework pertaining to phenolic resins include Japan Society of Occupational Safety that marks the permissible concentration of phenol and formaldehyde for the production of phenol resins and Industrial Safety and Health Act that has stated phenol and formaldehyde as labelled substance which allows the usage of phenol resins in various applications. Other agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), European Phenolic Resins Association (EPRA), and, REACH are also some of regulatory bodies for phenolic resins industry. These bodies ensure consumers health & safety by limiting pollution, and hazardous emissions pertaining to this industry.Phenolic Resins Market TaxonomyBy Product TypeOn the basis of product type, the global phenolic resin market is segmented into:Resol ResinNovolac ResinOthers (Cresol Resin, Bio-Phenolic Resin, etc.)By FormBased on form, the global phenolic resins market is classified as:PowderGranulesLiquidBy ApplicationBased on application, the global phenolic resins market is segmented as:Moulding CompoundsWood AdhesivesInsulationLaminatesFoundryPaper ImpregnationOthers (Abrasives, Friction Materials, etc.)By End-user IndustryOn the basis of end-user industry, the global phenol resins market is segregated as:Building & ConstructionAutomotiveElectrical & ElectronicsFurnitureOthers (Paints & Coatings, etc.)Request For TOC:Novolac resin has emerged as the leading phenolic resin type owing to its increasing application in maintenance coatings or as high-solid varnishes due to its high fire and corrosion resistance attributes combined with high carbon residue.Global Phenolic Resin Market Outlook  Asia Pacific is set to register the fastest growth rate in global phenolic resins market owing to rapid urbanizationThe global phenolic resin market is geographically segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Asia Pacific has been the dominant market of phenolic resins in terms of consumption, thereby accounting for almost more than one-third share of the global phenolic resin market. This region is expected to exhibit the fastest growth during the forecast period (2016-2024), owing to the regulatory governing frameworks promoting the usage of lightweight composites in the automotive industry. Other driving factors for the significant growth in Asia Pacific include rapidly increasing population and rapid urbanization. According to the recent trends, phenolic resin manufacturers are gradually shifting their production bases from North America and Europe to emerging economies such as Asia in order to capitalize upon economies of scale by tapping in on low cost labour and extensive resource pools to increase production of phenolic resins.Browse Full Report:The key players operating in the global phenolic resins market are BASF SE, Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd., Ludwigshafen Verbund, Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd., Georgia Pacific Chemicals LLC, SI Group, Prefere Resins, Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc., DIC Corporation, Kolon Industries Inc., and, Mitsui Chemicals Inc. These phenol resin players are focusing on establishing strategic agreements and partnerships to broaden and strengthen their production base in the value chain, either by forward integration in terms of supply of raw materials, or manufacturing the product themselves. Recently, BASF SE has expanded its South Korean production base, by doubling its phenol capacity. Few other companies such as Kanoria and Momentive have entered into a joint venture to build new production plants in India.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.CONTACT US:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel : +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Thymus Cancer Market 2016-2024: Research Report Split by types, Treatment, Care Centers, Applications and Regions

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1550

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/thymus-cancer-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1550

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medical-holography-market

Market Scenario:Thymus cancer is an uncommon tumor, best known for its association with the neuromuscular disorder myasthenia gravis and is found in 20% of patients with myasthenia gravis. It is a rare type of cancer which accounts for only 1 % of total cancers.The tumor occurs at the rate of only 1.5 cases in million people each year in the United States. Once diagnosed, thymus cancer can be removed surgically.The report for Global thymus cancer market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance.Request a Copy of Sample Report @Major Key Players: Amgen Inc Astellas Pharma Inc Astrazeneca Bristol-Myers Squibb Celgene Corporation Cellceutix Corporation Eli Lilly and company Johnson & Johnson services Inc Merck & Co. Inc. Novartis AG Onxeo SA Pfizer Inc Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. Taiwan Liposome Company Ltd. Takeda pharmaceutical company Tiziana Life Sciences Plc.Market Highlights:Thymus cancer is a tumor formed on the outer surface originating from the epithelial cells of the thymus. Thymus is a small organ located in the upper chest under the breast bone and makes specific type of white blood cells which help the body fight infection.There are no prominent causes or risk factors for thymus cancer. In the rare cases of a malignant tumor, chemotherapy may also be used. The market for thymus cancer is showing a limited growth.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 90 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Thymus Cancer Market Research Report- Forecast To 2024Browse Full Report Details @Study Objectives Thymus Cancer Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 8 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the thymus cancer market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the thymus cancer 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-Pacific, and 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 segments by type, by treatment, care centers and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global thymus cancer market.Make an Enquiry @Intended Audience Thymus cancer drug manufacturers Thymus cancer drug suppliers Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Independent Research Laboratories Government and Independent Regulatory Authorities Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Medical Research Laboratories Academic Medical Institutes and UniversitiesMarket Segments:Global thymus cancer market has been segmented on the basis of types which comprises of type A, type AB, type B1, type B2, type B3 and thymic carcinoma (type C). On the basis of treatment, which consist of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and others. On the basis of care centers, market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers, research laboratories and others.The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market.Browse Related ReportGlobal Medical Holography Information, by types (Reflection holography, Transmission holography, Hybrid Holography and others), by applications (Endoscopy, Medical Tomography, Ophthalmology, Dentistry, Otology, Orthopedics, X-Rays and others) By end users (Research Laboratories, Medical Academic Institutes, Hospitals and Clinics, Life Science Companies and others) - Forecast to 2027About 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
Lithium Hydroxide Market  Global Industry Insights Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/344

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/344

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/lithium-hydroxide-market-344

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com

Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) is an inorganic compound that is insoluble in water and partially soluble in ethanol. It is commercially available as a monohydrate (LiOH.H2O) and in anhydrous form, both of which are strong bases. On the basis of purity level, it is also available in battery grade and technical grade. Lithium hydroxide is manufactured by means of a metathesis reaction between calcium hydroxide and lithium carbonate and it finds extensive use in battery manufacturing and as an industrial lubricant. Owing to improved properties of lithium hydroxide, as compared to other concentrates, it is mostly preferred in new battery technologies. Besides, there is a potential market for lithium hydroxide in rechargeable battery manufacturing. The compound is also majorly used in production of industrial greases such as lithium stearate, a popular lubricating grease that offers excellent thermal resistance. However, owing to its indispensable use in these industries along with difficulties in sourcing and manufacturing, the compound is available at significantly high prices. Furthermore, the supply-demand gap prevalent in the industry due to lack of supply and growing demand is expected to further push prices upwards. Lithium hydroxide on being heated produces toxic fumes which act as potential restraint for the market growth. According to CMI analysis, the worldwide demand for lithium hydroxide is forecast to expand at a healthy rate in the foreseeable future.Request For Report Sample:Lithium Hydroxide Market TaxonomyBy End-user IndustryOn the basis of end-user industry the global market is classified into:Consumer ElectronicsEnergy StorageTransportationOthers (Dyestuffs and Adhesives, etc.)By ApplicationOn the basis of application the global market is classified into:Lubricant GreaseBatteriesChemical SynthesisGlass & CeramicsCarbon dioxide ScrubbingOthers (Portland Cement, etc.)Browse report summery with TOC:In recent years, demand for lithium hydroxide has been dominated by its use in lubricant grease application and the trend is expected to continue over the next few years. However, the emergence of nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) cathode use for power tool batteries and later transportation is expected to surpass the growth of lubricant grease application segment in the latter half of the forecast period. Rapidly growing power generation industry in Asia Pacific region, together with increasing establishment of manufacturing facilities are expected to drive demand for lithium hydroxide in the region. Furthermore, setting up of Tesla Gigafactory in the U.S. is another major factor that is expected to drive demand in the North American market.Lithium Hydroxide Market Outlook  Rapid industrialization coupled with growing battery storage market to fuel demand for lithium hydroxide in emerging economiesRapid economic development in countries such as China and India is expected to drive demand for multi-purpose grease, which in turn, is expected to fuel revenue growth in the global lithium hydroxide market. Also, growing industrialization across the world is expected to evoke demand for power tools, which requires NCA cathode, made from lithium hydroxide. Besides, rising global demand for electric vehicles is anticipated to boost consumption of lithium hydroxide over the forecast period (2016-2024). Furthermore, rising solar PV installations across the world coupled with an increasing demand for high storage capacity batteries is driving the lithium hydroxide market, and simultaneously driving revenues for existing stakeholders. The market is governed by various regulatory bodies such as International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Technical Instructions and corresponding International Air Transportation Association (IATA), Dangerous Goods Regulations and International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code, with regulations mainly pertaining to transportation of primary lithium.Browse Market Research Report @Some of the companies operating in the global lithium hydroxide market are FMC Corporation, Sociedad Quimica Minera (SQM), Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium, Albemarle Lithium, Shandong Ruifu Lithium, Jiangxi Dongpeng New Materials Co. ltd., Sichuan Brivo lithium Materials Co. ltd., Leverton Lithium, Rockwood, Tianqi Lithium, etc. These players are currently focused on increasing their production capacity to meet the growing demand for lithium hydroxide. As an instance, in May 2016, FMC Corporation announced plans of tripling its existing lithium hydroxide production capacity. Furthermore, players are focused on research and development activities to gain a competitive advantage, for example, in July 2016, Neometals Ltd. progressed the commercialization of ELi Process that converts spodumene concentrate into high value battery grade lithium hydroxide.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.CONTACT US:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel : +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Fluoropolymers Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/347

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/347

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/fluoropolymers-market-347

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com

Fluoropolymers are polymers characterized by numerous strong carbon-fluorine bonds. Owing to the unique attributes such as mechanical, chemical resistant and electrical insulation, fluoropolymers are considered as highly durable protective coatings in various applications such as architectural coating preparations, particularly those required in the exteriors. Fluoropolymers have a high usage in industrial processing due to their oil and chemical resistant properties.Key factor driving the global consumption levels of fluoropolymers is rampant growth of the automotive end-use industry. Fluoropolymers have a prominent application in the auto industry activities such as production processes of fuel hoses, gaskets, O-rings, shaft seals, power steering systems, and transmission systems. All types of fluoropolymers used in automotive industry offer superior and desirable characteristics of high resistance to thermal wear, chemical exposure, friction, and mechanical wear and tear. Furthermore increasing demand for fluoropolymers is also observed in the manufacturing processes of electronics and medical devices. The various other applications of fluoropolymers in cookware, semiconductors, cables, and wires are also expected to fuel demand for fluoropolymers over the forecast period (20162024).Request For Report Sample:However, the market is expected to have few potential restraints such as environmental concern regarding the usage of fluoropolymers, as it is nearly impermeable to natural degradation due to its attributes. Furthermore, numerous fluoropolymers break down into chemicals that can cause cancer.Fluoropolymers Market: Market TaxonomyBy Product TypeThe global market is segmented on the basis of product type as follows:Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)FluoroelastomersBy ApplicationThe global market is segmented on the basis of application as follows:Automotive & TransportationIndustrial EquipmentElectrical & ElectronicsChemical ProcessingAdditivesCoatings & LinersFilmsOthersBy End UserThe global market is segmented on the basis of end users as follows:HealthcareIndustrial ProcessingAutomotive & AerospaceTransportation EquipmentConstructionMedicalTextilesCookwareLubricantsPlastics & ElastomersElectrical & ElectronicsOthersRequest For TOC:Fluoropolymers Market Outlook- Asia Pacific is expected to highlight potential market opportunity for the key playersIn Europe, Germany holds a dominating position in the fluoropolymers market attributed to its rapid economic advancement along with significant demand from across industries, particularly automobiles. The U.K. was the second largest market for fluoropolymers in Europe.North America fluoropolymers market is expected to witness moderate growth over the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to growing demand for fluoropolymers in various flourishing industries such as electrical & electronics and automobile in the region. U.S. holds a leading position in the North America market, followed by Canada and Mexico, respectively. Rapid industrial growth in Mexico in turn creates a highly conducive environment for growth of the regional market for fluoropolymers in the near future.Asia Pacific held the largest share of the global fluoropolymers market in 2016. Owing to the high growth in GDP along with the significant increase in manufacturing activities, the market market in APAC has witness a prominent growth in the recent past and the trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. Increasing demand from the electrical and electronics and healthcare industries is expected to further drive demand for fluoropolymers in the region. Moreover, the significant adoption of specialty grades of fluoropolymers in the healthcare industry for manufacturing of medical devices is expected to generate high revenue for the market.Browse Full Report:Prominent players operating in the global fluoropolymers market include E.I. Dupont DE Nemours & Company, Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd. (GFL), Honeywell International Inc., Daikin Industries Limited, Solvay SA, 3M Company, Asahi Glass Co. Ltd., Kureha Corporation, Saint-Gobain Arkema SA, Dongyue Group Ltd, Halopolymer Ojsc, and others.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.CONTACT US:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel : +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
High-performance Polyamides Industry Trends and key Insights by 2024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/high-performance-polyamides-market-350

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/350

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/350

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com

High performance polyamides (HPPA) have the ability to withstand extreme conditions such as heavy moisture, continuous exposure to heat and chemicals. Also, HPPAs offer improved dimensional stability as compared to conventional polyamides such as PA 6 and PA66, owing to the low moisture absorption property. Gradually bridging the performance and cost gap between the engineering polyamides and other high performance polymers, HPPAs find extensive use in electronics, automobiles, medical and various other demanding applications. Coherent Market Insights projected the market for high performance polyamides to grow at a healthy rate over the forecast period (2016-2024).The global high performance polyamides market is driven by the escalating demand for high performance polyamides in the pharmaceuticals industry, due to its exceptional properties such as high chemical resistance, rigidity, impact resistance, high temperature resistance, impermeability, light weight and high tensile strength. The automotive industry is witnessing increasing demand for HPPA as a result of increasing lightweighting of vehicles characterized by rapid shift towards lighter non-metal components. Furthermore, demand for specialty polyamides is spurred by development of unconventional oil & gas technologies. However, difficulty in processing of HPPAs along with factors such as high cost of HPPAs as compared to other conventional polymers and high threat of substitution from composites and hybrid polymers are expected to hamper market growth in the near future.Browse Market Research Report @High Performance Polyamides: Market TaxonomyBy Product TypeOn the basis of product type, the global market is segmented into:Polyamide 11 (PA 11)Polyamide (PA 12)Polyamide 9T (PA 9T)Polyacrylamide (PARA)Polyphthalamide (PPA )Polyamide 46 (PA 46)By End-user IndustryOn the basis of end-user industry, the global ]market is segregated into:AutomotivePharmaceuticalsElectrical & ElectronicsIndustrialOthers (Textile, Oil & Gas, etc.)Among all the available types of high performance polyamides, the PA 11 type accounted for the largest share of the market in 2015 and the trend is expected to continue over the forecast period, owing to its cost-effectiveness and easy availability. Moreover, PA 11 finds a variety of applications in automotive, sports, oil & gas, and textile industry. Among end-user industries, the automotive segment accounted for the major share of the global high performance polyamides market in 2015, owing to the rising adoption of these polyamides in coolant systems, engine components, induction systems, and manufacturing of fuel systems. However, the pharmaceuticals industry is projected to witness fastest growth in the global market over the forecast period due to the rising adoption of HPPAs in various applications.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @High Performance Polyamides Market Outlook- Asia-Pacific is expected to be the top investment destination for key market playersRegion-wise, the global high performance polyamides market is classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Asia Pacific region currently dominates the global high performance polyamides industry, both in terms of value and volume, owing to the growing demand from various end-user industries such as pharmaceuticals, automotive, and electrical & electronics from countries such as China and India. Also, the large presence of major manufacturers in the region drives growth of the market for high performance polyamides in the Asia-Pacific region.The key players identified in the global high performance polyamides market are BASF SE, Kuraray Co., Ltd., Royal DSM N.V., Evonik Industries AG, E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, Solvay S.A., SABIC, Arkema SA, Lanxess AG, EMS Grivory and Mitsui Chemicals. Others players present in the market are EMS-Chemie Holding AG, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc., Toyobo Co., Ltd., Zhejiang NHU Co., Ltd., and Ube Industries, Ltd.Request to view table of content @Key players in the global high performance polyamides market are currently focused on strategic investments and expansion strategies to enhance their production capabilities. For instance, in September 2016, Arkema SA expanded its existing specialty polyamides production capacity in China and U.S., through an investment of US$ 10.6 million. Furthermore, in February 2016, Evonik Industries AG announced plans to build a new plant in Germany for production of polyamide 12 powder under the brand name Vestosint.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.CONTACT US:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel : +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Learn details of the Biosimilars And Follow-On Biologics Market Forecast and Segments, 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1250

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1250

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Biosimilars is defined as a type of biological product that is similar to another drug, which has already been licensed (approved) by the US FDA or European Medicines Agency. Due to their high degree of similarity with the biological reference product, they have no clinically evidenced and meaningful differences from the reference product in terms of quality, safety or efficacy. These drugs are also coined as follow-on biologics and are mostly derived from biological sources such as bacterium and yeast. The constitution of the biosimilar drugs can be either small molecules such as human insulin or erythropoietin, or complex molecules such as monoclonal antibodies. Biosimilars are increasing gaining prominence given the loss of exclusivity of big branded drugs. In Europe, biosimilars can be marketed through independent applicant following expiry of patent and market exclusivity periods of the reference product. A good example for this is Pfizer acquisition of Hospira, to gain access to the latters attractive biosimilars portfolio. Regulatory harmonization, naming and labelling, innovative licensure norms and route to market for the biosimilar drugs are issues expected to gain attention and traction from big drug makers in the forthcoming years.Biosimilars and Follow-on Biologics Market: Drivers and RestraintsDrivers for the biosimilars market include big brand name drugs losing patent extensions, cuts in healthcare costs across nations, forming of incentivized pricing policies by companies in order to access high growth pharmerging markets and good development in pharmacovigilance procedures across the globe. Other factors increasing the demand for biosimilar drugs include rising disease incidences across the globe and better access to healthcare for all nations.Restraints for the market include constraints in developing and registering biosimilar drugs and the complexity in the manufacturing processes. The drugs are difficult to verify and have to undergo complex regulations. Further, the drugs are different from each other due to variability in raw material and in the manufacturing process, which is expected to deter the future development of biosimilar drugs. There are also risks in having an increase in the versions of an identical biosimilar drug.Request Report Sample@Biosimilars and Follow-on Biologics Market: SegmentationBiosimilars and Follow-on Biologics Market can be segmented into these following ways:Segmentation by product classepoetins;filgrastims;insulins;growth hormones;alfa interferons;monoclonal antibodies;beta interferons;follitropins;low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH).Segmentation by applicationRheumatoid arthritisAnemiaCancerDiabetesOthersSegmentation by regionsBiosimilars and Follow-on Biologics Market: OverviewBiosimilar market is expected to gain prominence over the forthcoming years due to leading biologic drugs expected to lose exclusivity over the next seven years. Further, biosimilar drugs, once formed, are expected to generate cost savings for the patient population. Competition is expected to be limited in the market as the drugs are expected to be formed using various types of innovative technologies. Biosimilars may generate smaller savings for drug makers because of their complexity as well as regulatory challenges of getting FDA approvals.Biosimilars and Follow-on Biologics Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, biosimilar drug market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.Request For TOC@In terms of geography, Europe dominates the market, followed by Asia-Pacific. However, rising technological advancement in healthcare and systematic drug review process will drive the markets over North America, Japan and other regions. Europe dominates the biosimilars market driven by technically advanced healthcare infrastructure and high patient awareness & regulatory harmonization. Increasing funding for development of biosimilar drugs, availability of high-quality research infrastructure and strategies developed by drug makers to restrict entry of new players. Emerging markets include Eastern European countries followed by countries in Eastern Africa. Rising disease incidences in these countries is expected to prove favorable for the growth of the biosimilar drug market.Biosimilars and Follow-on Biologics Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in biosimilar market are Pfizer Inc. (AC. Hospira), Sandoz International GmbH, , Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Biocon Limited, Mylan, Inc. , Amgen, Celltrion Inc., Roche Diagnostics, and Merck KGaA.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:
Heat Stabilisers Market Forecast and Segments, 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1269

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1269

www.futuremarketinsights.com

Heat stabilisers play a key role as an additive in the processing of PVC polymer, and the global market of heat stabilisers is largely dependent on the status of PVC market. While heat stabilisers play a key role in prevention of the decomposition chain reaction in PVC processing, there are several other reasons they are predominantly used in the PVC industry. Stabilisers are one of the decisive factors influencing the physical properties and quality of PVC, as well as their formulation costs. Moreover, they impart enhanced resistance against heat ageing, weathering, daylight effects, and other environmental conditions.Although these advantages and a wide range of commercial applications of heat stabilisers support their demand in the market, FMIs research indicates moderate growth of the global heat stabilisers market over the forecast period 2016-2026. The report focuses on assessment of various drivers and restraints impacting the market outlook, regional analysis, extensive segmentation, and major players participating in the market growth.Heat Stabilisers Market: DriversIntrinsic Properties of Heat StabilisersCompared to other stabilisers, which are used as additives in the PVC industry, heat stabilisers have a strong hold in the market owing to their advantages, high compatibility and lasting heat stability to mention the top two. Due to this competitive edge, the demand for heat stabilisers is higher.Widespread Applications of PVCBurgeoning demand for PVC for vital applications in construction, electronics, electrical, fashion, medical and healthcare, automotive, furniture, packaging, and commercial and consumer products industries, is a key driver bolstering the demand for heat stabilisers as additives.Growing Consumption of PlasticWith increasing population and urbanisation worldwide, the need for plastic products is also elevating. The growth of plastic industry is estimated to drive demand for heat stabilisers in the near future.Request Report Sample@Key RestraintsStern regulatory processes associated with the approval of heat stabilisers are estimated to pose a challenge to the market growth in the near future, especially in case of lead-based stabilisers. The approval processes differ with each country, restricting the international market from thriving. Other limiting factors include volatile prices of raw materials and poor SCM capabilities.Global Heat Stabilisers Market: SegmentationFMIs research on the global heat stabilisers market provides a 10-year forecast, segmenting the market, based on the type of stabiliser.Tin stabiliserLead stabiliserMixed metals stabiliserOrganic stabiliserOthers (calcium stabiliser, barium stabiliser)The choice of heat stabilisers for specific applications depends on multiple factors such as the PVC products technical requirements, formulation costs, and regulatory approval processes. This influences the demand for a particular stabiliser in the market. Out of the most prevalent stabilisers available globally, the lead heat stabilisers segment currently has the largest market share but is expected to witness decline in the near future owing to various health, regulatory, and environmental monitoring processes. However, the organic stabilisers segment is estimated to exhibit rapid uplift during the forecast period.Request For TOC@Regional Outlook: Global Heat Stabilisers MarketOn the basis of geography, the market of heat stabilisers is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. While Europe and Asia Pacific collectively account for more than 80% of the profit share in the global market revenues for lead heat stabilisers, the tin heat stabilisers segment is led by North America. China is foreseen as the strongest and most lucrative market for heat stabilisers, over the forecast period. Asia Pacific is particularly anticipated to have high untapped potential of market growth.Key Players in the MarketSome of the important players competing in the market include Akcros Chemicals Ltd., Albemarle Corporation, Arkema Group, Cytec Industries Inc., Baerlocher GmbH, Ferro Corporation, and BASF SE.Most of the leading industry brands are expected to shift their manufacturing base for heat stabilisers, as lead-based stabilisers are consistently facing critisisation in terms of environmental impact. Mergers and acquisitions among major brands in the industry will aid them in enhancing their products portfolio and retain strong presence in the global market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT: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:
Sales Market Analysis: Global Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017

Global Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017

http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-527648.html

http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/

This report studies the Cement & Concrete Additives 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 Cement & Concrete Additives market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Cement & Concrete Additives 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.Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Cement & Concrete Additives Market Overview2 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Production by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Consumption (K MT) by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Production, Revenue, Price Trend by Types6 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Market Analysis by Applications7 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Cement & Concrete Additives Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Cement & Concrete Additives Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionRelated Reports:Global Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017Europe Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017China Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017India Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017Korea Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017Japan Cement & Concrete Additives Market Research Report 2017USA Cement & Concrete Additives 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
James was born on May 9, 1984, to Konnie (Branstad) Ellis. He attended school in Mason City and later moved to Northwood where he graduated in 2001. He met the love of his life Sara Ann Smith in June of 2005 and the two were married on Aug. 19, 2006. On their wedding day, James proudly announced his aspiration to have eight (8) children. Though challenged during their marriage by an auto accident for Sara and James battle with cancer, they remained steadfast in their love and commitment for one another. They are a testament to love, honoring your vows, and doing the work to make a marriage last. James joined the Army National Guard in 2006 and graduated from basic training in Fort Benning, Georgia, in March 2007. He later enrolled in Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was proud to accept his commission. While in the National Guard, James worked for Best Buys Geek Squad and went to nursing school. He became a RN in 2009 and soon after that he starting working for Mercy Medical and Covenant Hospital in Waterloo. In November of 2013 James landed his dream job at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis working overnights in the ICU, but life is never simple. On Nov. 30, 2013, James was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. As a nurse he understood the severity of his condition and as a soldier he chose to push forward so that doctors could learn more about his condition and help those who might follow in his path. James loved learning about computers, nursing, home improvement, and history. He was a natural leader who took every opportunity to teach and encourage others. His favorite students were his nephews. He spent countless hours playing video games with Jayden and just as many hours teaching Dean and Konlin, about wrestling, sportsmanship and life.
X-Band Radar Market to Reach Nearly US$ 7 Bn by 2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-879

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-879

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/

According to a new market report published by Future Market Insights titled X-Band Radar Market - Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016 - 2026, the global X-band radar market was valued at US$ 4.6 Bn in 2015 and is expected to register a CAGR of 3.8% from 2016 to 2026 to reach US$ 6.9 Bn by 2026. Growth of the global X-band radar market is primarily driven by increasing need of advanced security and surveillance systems across the world.Increasing significance of weather and climate predictions, and aviation safety is propelling the demand for X-band radar market globally. X-band radars help improve aviation safety and increase the operational efficiency of the entire air transport industry. Besides, they also provide alerts on floods through continuous monitoring of rainfall. Vendors such as Saab Group and Northrop Grumman Corporation recently introduced weather monitoring radar.Inability to adjust quickly to track a stream of separate missiles is one of the factors restraining the growth of the market. Sea-based X-band radar can be supported by a land-based early warning radar in case of an event of an attack. These radars could help X-band radars by identifying a definite location for Sea-based X-band Radar (SBX) to focus on. However, aiming and re-aiming the giant radars beam is a clumsy process. This inhibits X-band radars ability to bend swiftly enough to track a range of different missiles.Request For Report Sample:On the basis of type, the global X-band radar market is segmented as mobile X-band radar and sea based-X-band radar. The mobile X-band radar segment was valued US$ 3.1 Bn in 2015 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period 20162026. The sea-based X-band radar segment was valued US$ 1.5 Bn in 2015.X-Band Radar Market: Region-wise SegmentationNorth America, the largest market for X-Band radar, was valued US$ 1.5 Bn in 2015and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period of 2016-2026. In North America region, ARL-E long range radars developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation have witnessed traction in their adoption by the U.S. government. These radars have enhanced the U.S. Armys C4ISR capabilities.Western Europe region is expected be the second largest market of global X-band radar, followed by Eastern Europe. Ground Master 400 radar, developed by the Raytheon Company is very popular in this region.Send An Enquiry:Key Players in X-Band Radar MarketKey players of the global X-band radar market include Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Company, Saab Group, Japan Radio Company Limited, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd, Furuno Electric Co.,Ltd, Terma A/S, Detect, Inc., Reutech Radar Systems, and ProSensing, Inc.Leading players in the global x-band radar market are focusing on the development of end-to-end products and services such as logistics, infrastructure and maintenance, and providing support to their clients. Companies such as Saab Group, Raytheon Corporation, DeTect, Inc. serve both domestic and international government customers as a prime contractor and subcontractor of defence and related programmes.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Automated Endoscope Reprocessors Market Worth US$ 1,367.6 Mn by 2024  PMR Report

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/5333

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/automated-endoscope-reprocessor-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/5333

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

According to the latest market report the global automated endoscope reprocessors market estimated to be worth US$ 740.6 Mn in 2015, is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.2% through 2024.Key market dynamicsIncreasing adoption of automated endoscope reprocessors in hospitals for infection control and prevention is expected to fuel revenue growth of the global automated endoscope reprocessors market over the forecast period (2016  2024). An increasing number of endoscopy procedures coupled with minimally invasive surgeries among a rising global population is further expected to drive demand for the adoption of automated endoscope reprocessors. Rising concerns pertaining to patient safety, strong healthcare infrastructure support, and well-established reimbursements for surgical procedures are also driving revenue growth of the global automated endoscope reprocessors market.However, risk of infection after endoscopic reprocessing procedures and complications associated with automated endoscope reprocessors are some of the challenges likely to hamper the growth of the global automated endoscope reprocessors market over the forecast period.Segment analysisThe Single Basin Automated Endoscope Reprocessors product type segment is anticipated to dominate the global automated endoscope reprocessors market in revenue terms during the forecast period. This segment is expected to exhibit the highest growth over the forecast period, registering a CAGR of 8.6% between 2016 and 2024.The Standalone Automated Endoscope Reprocessors modality segment is anticipated to be the most attractive segment of the global automated endoscope reprocessors market throughout the forecast period. Revenue from this segment is expected to increase 1.7X by 2024 end as compared to that in 2016.The Hospitals end user segment is estimated to account for 65.6% revenue share of the global automated endoscope reprocessors market by 2016 end. This segment is projected to be the most attractive market segment, registering a market attractiveness index of 2.6 during the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Regional analysisThe global automated endoscope reprocessors market is segmented into the five key regions of North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America is the largest market in terms of revenue and is estimated to hold a market share of 41.2% by the end of 2016. This market is projected to witness a CAGR of 8.2% over the forecast period. Europe is expected to be the second most lucrative regional market in the global automated endoscope reprocessors market and is expected to represent absolute $ opportunity of US$ 13.6 Mn in 2017 over 2016. The Asia Pacific automated endoscope reprocessors market is anticipated to reach US$ 210.2 Mn by the end of 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 6.7% over the forecast period.Key market playersCantel Medical Corp., Olympus Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Steris Plc., Steelco SpA, Getinge Group, Metall Zug AG, Hoya Group, and Laboratoires Anios are some of the leading companies operating in the global automated endoscope reprocessors market. Top market players are focusing on utilizing advanced medical technology and infrastructure to develop innovative, cost-effective, and high quality products to enhance their presence in untapped, emerging markets. Some of these companies are also entering into strategic mergers and acquisitions and collaborations with endoscope manufacturers to enhance their product portfolio and increase market share.View Report Table of Contents, Figures, and Tables@The global automated endoscope reprocessors market is highly consolidated owing to high price of the equipment and high capital required for systems manufacturing. In 2015, Olympus Corporation was the leader with maximum market share in terms of revenue in the global automated endoscope reprocessors market. Cantel Medical, Steris Plc., and Advanced Sterilization Products Services Inc. (Subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) offer a wide product portfolio in the global automated endoscope reprocessors market. Steris Corporation also holds a substantial market position in the global automated endoscope reprocessors market. Getinge Group and Laboratoires Anios collectively hold more than 50% of market revenue share in the Europe automated endoscope reprocessors market. Pentax medical (Hoya Corporation) is focusing on expanding its endoscopy segment in the Asia Pacific and Europe markets.Full Market Report 2016-2024 is available for US$4900 (Single User License) @Persistence Market Research OverviewPersistence 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.ContactPersistence Market ResearchU.S. Sales Office:305 Broadway, 7th FloorNew York City, NY 10007United StatesUSA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353Web:Email: sales@persitencemarketreserach.com
Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017

Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017

http://www.qyresearcheurope.com/goods-527601.html

http://www.qyresearchglobal.com/

This report studies the Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere 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 Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere 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 Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere market include BORAL, CEMEX, Artha Mineral Resources, Kansas, Arihant Sales Corporation, Mumbai, San Cera Coat, Ash Grove Resources, L.L.C, Headwaters Resources, Inc, Titan America LLC., Lafarge, Boral Cement, Enx Inc, Mohta Cement Pvt. Ltd, Halliburton.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSouth AmericaMiddle East and AfricaOn the basis of product, the Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere market is primarily split intoFly AshCeramic MicrosphereOthersGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSouth AmericaMiddle East and AfricaOn the basis of product, the Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere market is primarily split intoFly AshCeramic MicrosphereOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversConstructionSoil and Water TreatmentAgricultureOthersAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Overview2 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Production by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Consumption (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Production, Revenue, Price Trend by Types6 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Analysis by Applications7 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 Methodology and Data SourceRelated Reports:Global Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017Europe Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017China Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017India Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017Korea Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017Japan Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere Market Research Report 2017USA Fly Ash and Ceramic Microsphere 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
Demand for Friction Modifiers Additives to Reach 174 Thousand Tonnes in 2016

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1656

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1656

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/

Global demand for friction modifiers additives will reach about 174 thousand tonnes in 2016, up from 167 thousand tonnes in 2015. This will represent a market value of US$ 1,027 Mn, an increase of US$ 62 Mn from 2015. While wide-ranging applications, most prominently as lubricants in automotive sector, will continue to fuel demand, availability of affordable alternatives, such as dispersant additives, corrosion inhibitors and detergent additives will continue to pose challenges.By product type, inorganic friction modifier additives will continue to outsell organic, reaching about 597 thousand tonnes in 2016. Among the inorganic friction modifier additives, MoDTC will continue to account for the highest demand, reaching 275 thousand tonnes in 2016. Among the three types of organic friction modifier additives-polymers, fatty acids, and esters & amides-polymers are witnessing high demand from the automotive sector in North America and Western Europe. This trend is expected to gain further momentum in 2016, propelling the growth of the overall market.Automotive lubricants will continue to be the largest application segment for friction modifier additives in 2016, witnessing a growth rate of about 6% over 2015, representing a market value worth US$272 Mn.Request For Report Sample:Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will maintain its numero uno position in 2016, with total demand expected to reach around 48 thousand tonnes. Demand will be supported by the regions expansive automotive sector, especially in the populous countries of China and India. These two countries will remain key to the growth of the global friction modifiers additives market in 2016 and beyond, as consumers in these countries put a lot of emphasis on the fuel efficiency of a vehicle while making buying decisions. In addition to the regions behemoth automotive industry, strong demand from the plethora of end-use industries in the region will continue to support demand. North America will continue to remain the second largest market for friction modifiers additives, representing a 22.5% share of global revenues.Key players operating in the global friction modifiers additives market are Chemtura Corporation, Multisol, Archoil, International Lubricants, Inc., Afton Chemical Corporation, and Wynns.Send An Enquiry:Long-term Outlook: The long-term outlook on the friction modifiers additives market remains positive with global volume witnessing a CAGR of 5.1% through 2026, whereas global revenues expanding at 6.9% through 2026.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Sugar Confectionery Market to Grow Exponentially by 2022

https://goo.gl/CRIxv4

https://goo.gl/YYnRMT

http://www.bigmarketresearch.com

Big Market Research added a report on Sugar Confectionery Market By Product Type (Hard-Boiled Sweets, Caramel & Toffees, Gums & Jellies, Medicated Confectionery, Mints, And Others (Marshmallows, Nougat, Lollipops, And Liquorice) - Global Opportunity Analysis And Industry Forecast, 2014-2022Confectionery is related to food products that comprise high sugar content such as chocolates, caramel, sweets, gums, candies, cookies, and marshmallows. These products are used to reduce stress, alleviate boredom, and to satisfy cravings.Introduction of new products with innovative flavors & healthy ingredients, growth in retail market, and increase in gifting trend drive the market growth. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to register significant growth in the market, owing to rise in disposable income and increase in population in emerging countries such as China and India. In addition, introduction of low-priced, smaller versions of established confectionery chocolate brands by key players has supplemented the market growth However, rise in demand for sugar-free products on account of increase in instances of diabetes and growth in health concerns are anticipated to restrain market growth.Request for Sample Copy@The report categorizes the global sugar confectionery market by product type into hard-boiled sweets, caramels & toffees, gums & jellies medicated confectionery, mints, and others (marshmallows, nougat, lollipops, and liquorice). Further, based on geography, the market is classified into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.For Purchase Enquiry@KEY BENEFITS This report provides a quantitative analysis of the current trends and estimations from 2014 to 2022 of sugar confectionery market, which assist to identify the prevailing opportunities. Major countries in each region are mapped according to individual market revenue. This study evaluates the competitive landscape to understand the competitive environment globally. Comprehensive analysis of factors that drive and restrict the growth of the market is provided. Microlevel analysis is conducted based on type and region. Key players and their significant developments in recent years are listed.KEY PLAYERS PROFILED Nestle SA Chupa Chups SA. Cadbury PLC, Kraft Foods Inc. Ferrero SpA. The Hershey Company Perfetti Van Melle S.P.A.KEY MARKET SEGMENTSBy Product Type Hard-Boiled Sweets Caramel & Toffees Gums & Jellies Medicated Confectionery Mints Others (Marshmallows, Nougat, Lollipops, and Liquorice)By Geography North America Europe Asia-Pacific LAMEAAbout Us:With the arsenal of different search reports, we help you here to look and buy research reports that will be helpful to you and your organization. Our research reports have the capability and authenticity to support your organization for growth and consistency. With the window of opportunity getting open and shut at a speed of light, it has become very important to survive in the market and only the fittest and competent enough can do so. So, we try and provide with latest changes in the market that can suit your needs and help you take decision accordingly. Our research services ranges into different domains and penetrates in different verticals so that we can carter to diverse needs of various organization. Not wrong to quote that this is the hotspot for research needs of yours. 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.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220, United StatesDirect: + 1-503-894-6022Toll Free: + 1-800-910-6452Email: help@bigmarketresearch.comWeb:
System Integration in Telecommunication Market Will Cross US$ 36.9 Bn by 2024

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/asia-pacific-latin-america-and-emea-system-integration-in-telecommunication-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14008

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

On an average, 40% of revenues procured in Latin Americas system integration in telecommunication market will be emanating from Brazil. The demand for integrating OSS and BSS will also gain traction in Mexico and Argentina. Although, the overall system integration in telecom market in Latin America is being projected to expand at a moderate CAGR of 4.4%. High implementation costs of system integration solutions are imposing a relatively less adoption in Latin America, as opposed to the APAC region, Europe or Middle East & Africa. Leading IT service providers mapping Latin Americas telecom industry are identified as Telefonica Brasil, TIM Brasil, Telecom Argentina SA, Nextel, Telcel, Claro Brasil, and Telefonica SA.Persistence Market Research projects The future of global telecommunication industry will witness higher adoption of complex information systems which will facilitate speedy data convergence, System integrators will play a key role in compiling information emanating from multiple and advanced telecommunication network standards, Integration of business support systems (BSS) and operation support systems (OSS) will boost the support for end-to-end telecommunication services and bring forth some improved customer management solutionsOwing to rising urban population, growing strength of telecom networks, brimming data transference, and deployment of advanced technologies, the demand for system integration in telecommunication continues to surge in regions namely, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. A latest study published by Persistence Market Research has estimated that the market for system integration in telecommunications across these regions is presently valued at US$ 22.5 Bn. By the end of 2024, these regions will collectively showcase revenue growth at an impressive 6.3% CAGR and witness the market for system integration in telecommunication reach US$ 36.9 Bn in value.The demand for system integration in telecommunication across APAC countries is projected to witness revenue growth at 7.1% CAGR. A majority of system integration solutions adopted across APAC telecommunications industry will be directed towards OSS, revenues from which will reach US$ 10.6 Bn by the end of 2024. China will contribute with more than one-third of overall revenues, while India, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and ASEAN countries will showcase rampant revenue growth. Vodafone Hutchinson Telecommunications, Telstra Corporation Ltd., SingTel Optus Pty Limited, NTT-Docomo Corporation, Ideal Cellular Ltd., Reliance Communications, and Softbank Corporation are some of the prominent IT service provider in the APAC telecommunications industry.Request to view table of content @The EMEA system integration in telecommunication market is presently valued US$ 10.5 Bn. In the Middle East and Africa, South Africa is projected to exhibit high value CAGR of 7%, while the European system integration in telecommunication market will see consolidated growth from the EU5  Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the UK. These five countries will also dominate the overall EMEA region, accounting for over 40% value share by the end of 2024. The MTN Group, Saudi Telecom Company, Vodacom, and Airtel Africa are leading telecom service providers across the Middle East and Africa. The telecom industry of Nordic countries and Russia is mapped by IT service providers namely, Telenor ASA, VimpelCom Ltd., and Mobile TeleSystems. Meanwhile, companies such Deutsche Telekom, Orange SA, BT Group plc., Telefonica SA and Vodafone Group plc. are charting the waters of telecommunication services in EU5 countries.A sample of this report is available upon request @The report has also profiled leading providers of system integration solution in telecom across Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa. These include, Oracle Corp., Redknee Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Sigma System Canada, NetCracker Technology Corporation, Openet Telecom, Ericsson, Comptel Corp., and Amdocs Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Patient Capacity Management Market Will Cross US$ 1,229.9 Mn by 2024

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/patient-throughput-and-capacity-management-market/toc

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13198

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com

The global market for patient throughput & capacity management, according to Persistence Market Researchs report, is presently valued at US$ 834 Mn, and will soar steadily at 5% CAGR during the eight-year forecast period. The report further anticipates that over half of global revenues procured from sales of patient throughput & capacity management solutions will be accounted by the US and Canada.The need for aligning resources in healthcare settings has compelled medical organizations towards adoption of technological solutions that help manage & arrange patient care information in orderly fashion. Hospitals from across the globe are installing patient throughput & capacity management solutions to tackle challenges associated with management of increasing capacity & space. Ideal use of added functional capacity through improved patient throughput solutions is also a key trend driving the demand for such solutions. Persistence Market Research estimates that towards the end of 2024, more than US$ 1.2 Bn worth of patient throughput & capacity management solutions will be employed across the globe.North Americas dominance over the global patient throughput & capacity management market is justified by the regions robust healthcare industry, which is also a proponent to technological advancements and adoption of intelligent solutions. Europes patient throughput & capacity management market will also leave a sizable imprint on the global market, registering a value CAGR of 5.3%.Request to view table of content @The report reveals that an analysis of global sales of patient throughput & capacity management solutions indicates a major upsurge in demand for RTLS solutions. With more than one-third share, RTLS solutions will remain a top-selling product dominating the global market revenues through 2024. Revenues from global sales of workflow management solutions will impose a consistent share on global revenues, while bed management solutions will exhibit revenue growth at 5.2% CAGR during the projected period. A majority of products offered in the global patient throughput & capacity management market will be offered as integrated solutions. Towards the end of 2024, integrated solutions will surpass 65% share on global revenues, while global demand for standalone solutions will register a marginal decline.A sample of this report is available upon request @The report also reveals that over 40% of patient throughput & capacity management solutions are delivered through on-premise models. By 2024-end, on-premise delivery of patient throughput & capacity management solutions will net nearly US$ 500 Mn in global revenues. On the other hand, cloud-based delivery is likely to lose out its traction, but will witness a negligible downtrend in terms of revenue growth. The report has also profiled companies such as EPIC Systems Corporation, STANLEY Healthcare, Central Logic, Care Logistics LLC, McKesson Corporation, TeleTracking Technologies, Inc., Sonitor Technologies, Inc., Allscripts, Awarepoint Corporation, and Cerner Corporation as key players of the global patient throughput & capacity management market.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:
Rare Earth Metals Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/293

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/293

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/rare-earth-metals-market-293

Rare earth metals are seventeen chemical elements that occur together in the periodic table. The group consists of yttrium and the 15 lanthanide elements (lanthanum, cerium, gadolinium, terbium, praseodymium, neodymium, europium, erbium, thulium, promethium, samarium, dysprosium, holmium, ytterbium, and lutetium). Cerium is a silvery-white metal is the most abundant of the rare earth elements and has numerous applications. Cerium oxide is used as a catalyst in catalytic converters which are used to reduce emissions in automotive exhaust systems. Cerium is also used in magnesium, iron and aluminum alloys.Owing to unique luminescent, magnetic and electrochemical properties, the rare earth metals elements have contributed in the creation of many technologies in performing with reduced emissions, reduced weight, and energy consumption. It is also characterized by enhanced efficiency, speed, durability, performance, miniaturization and thermal stability. Military uses of these metals include precision-guided weapons, night-vision goggles, GPS equipment, communications equipment, batteries, and other defense electronics. Rare earth metals are also used in magnetic resonance imagery (MRI) contrast agents, x-ray tubes, nuclear medicine imaging, portable x-ray machines, for genetic screening tests, medical cancer treatment applications and dental lasers.Request a sample copy of this report:Rare Earth Metals Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product type, the global market is classified into:Cerium,NeodymiumLanthanumPraseodymiumYttriumEuropiumSamariumOn the basis of applications, the global market is classified into:PhosphorsPolishingMetals AlloysMagnetsAdditivesBatteriesCatalystsYttrium is used in cancer treatment drugs, TV sets and for enhancing strength of alloys. Lanthanum is widely used in camera and telescope lenses. Lanthanum containing compounds are used have various applications in carbon lighting, which include studio lighting and cinema projection. Samarium is used in powerful magnets used in many defense, transportation and commercial technologies. It is also used in combination with other compounds for intravenous radiation treatment which can kill cancer cells and is also used for the treatment of lung, breast, prostate and other forms of bone cancer. As samarium is a stable neutron absorber, it is used in controlling rods of nuclear reactors.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report:Rare Earth Metals Market Outlook  Increasing Demand for Recyclable and Environment Friendly Materials to be the Major Market DriverAsia Pacific is expected to be the most potential market for Rare Earth Metals companies. Asia Pacific is projected to witness relatively high growth in terms of value over the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to the major rare earth metal resources found in countries such as China and India. According to The Wall Street Journal China produces around 90% share of the total rare earth metals globally. This has attracted many industries depending on the rare earth metals. According to Scientific American, India is authorizing a plant which will produce up to 5,000 tons of rare earth metals in a year. This would help India to contribute around 5 percent to the global supply of the rare earth metals used in cars, cameras, iPhones and wind turbines. This trend is expected to be followed over the forecast period.Rising demand of cleaner energy sources and increasing applications are some major factors boosting the growth of rare earth metals market. Fluctuating prices is one of the growth restrainers in the rare earth metals industry globally. Renewable energy applications of rare earth metals include hybrid automobiles, next generation rechargeable batteries, wind turbines and biofuel catalysts. Some of the major companies operating in the global rare earth metals market include Lynas Corporation, Avalon Rare Metals Inc, Greenland Minerals and Energy, Iluka Resources Ltd., Alkane Resources Limited, Rock Tech Lithium Inc., Artemis Resources Limited and Great Western Minerals Group.Click here to know more about this report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Dyes and Pigments Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/296

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/296

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/dyes-and-pigments-market-296

Dyes and pigments are colorants which are extensively used in printing, textile and automotive industry. Dyes are ionizing and aromatic compounds used as colorants, which show affinity towards the surface they are applied to. Color modifiers such as methyl and ethyl groups are used to alter the color of dyes. Dyes are used as colorants for various polymers, textile dyeing industries and also in biotechnology industry. Dyes are also used by industries for inks and tinting. Dyes are available in various forms such as granules, liquids, pastes, pellets, dry powders and chips.Pigment is organic or inorganic powdered solid which is insoluble. Pigments offer excellent characteristics such as good baking stability, excellent solvent resistance, easily dispersible nature, high tinting strength, and offer consistent unique shades. Pigments are used in paints that are for decorative and protective coatings. These are also used in coloration various plastics such as poly vinyl chloride(PVC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resins (ABS), urea-formaldehyde(U-F), rubber, synthetic polymers and melamine-formaldehyde molding powders, nylons, polyfins, phenol-formaldehyde(P-F).Request a sample copy of this report:Dyes and Pigments Market TaxonomyOn the basis of type of dyes, the global market is classified into:Acid dyesVAT dyesDisperse dyesReactive dyesDirect dyesOn the basis of pigments, the global market is classified into:Organic pigmentsInorganic pigmentsTitanium dioxide pigmentsOn the basis of type of end use industry, the global market is classified into:AutomotiveConstructionChemicalsTextileLeatherPaperPaints & CoatingsReactive dyes are specialty dyes of highly colored organic substances, which have primary application in tinting of textiles. Due to reactive nature these dyes tend to attach themselves to the fabric surface by a chemical reaction, thus forming a covalent bond between the molecule of dye and fiber. Acid dyes exhibit characteristics such as anionic nature and are suitable for wool, modified acrylics polyamide, and silk. Acid dyes combine with the fiber through hydrogen bonds, vander Waals forces or through ionic linkages. Titanium dyes are used in industrial paints, printing inks, powder coatings, construction industry rubber, gloss tinting bases, enamels, paints and coatings and in various plastics applications. This mainly attributed to the properties such as low oil absorption, excellent tint strength.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report:Dyes and Pigments Market Outlook  Growth of Textile Industry Expected to Amplify DemandExtensive use in the textile and automotive industries is one of the major factors contributing to the growth of the market. Asia Pacific is expected to be a major contributor in the dyes and pigments market. Rapidly growing textile industry in the developing countries such as India and China is one of the major factors contributing to the growth of the market in the region. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), during FY 2015-16 the textile industry in India employed approximately 40 million workers and exported textile products worth US$ 40 Bn. This has augmented the growth of dyes and pigments market in the region.Increasing regulatory restrictions on production of dyes and pigments is expected to be one of the restraining factors in the dyes and pigments market. United States Environmental Protection Agency has implemented regulations, which list down potential effects of waste generated from the production of azo, triarylmethane, and anthraquinone dye and pigment product classes. Expanding production and distribution and research on improving properties of ecofriendly colorants are some of the key strategies adopted by the top players in the global dyes and pigments industry. These dyes and pigments are usually used for coloring textiles, paper, plastics, leather, inks, paints/coatings, food, drugs, and cosmetics. Some of the major companies operating in the dyes and pigments market are Clariant AG , BASF SE, DIC Corporation Kiri Industries Ltd., Atul Limited , Sudharshan Chemical Industries Limited , Huntsman Corporation, Kronos Worldwide, Inc., Lanxess AG , and Tronox Limited.Click here to know more about this report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Researchmoz: CRO Benchmark Report - Financial Performance Benchmarking & Competitive Landscape Assessment of Leading CROs

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=173553

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=173553

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "PharmaLeaders: CRO Benchmark Report - Financial Performance Benchmarking & Competitive Landscape Assessment of Leading CROs" to its huge collection of research reports.The CRO Benchmark Report applies GlobalDatas proprietary ranking methodology to compare the competitive positions of 11 leading CRO companies on 17 financial metrics. These companies are analyzed based on financial performance, cost-containment, capital structure and firm utilization to illustrate the different strategies these companies are using to increase value for their shareholders. Throughout the report, GlobalDatas Industry Dynamics Team provides you with expert insight, expanding on each of the metrics discussed. In addition to the financial metrics, this report discusses trends impacting the CRO marketplace, along with partnering and acquisition activity, and operations strategy. This report also provides drill-down analyses of three service lines and four geographies examining each of these segments revenue and growth leaders, and business development strategies. Lastly, this report provides GlobalDatas outlook on the CRO sector and each companys future competitive position.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @HighlightsAbout the ReportThe CRO market is highly fragmented comprised of some 1,000 individual companies, most of which are privately owned. These companies vary significantly in size and breadth of services from a four person bioanalysis research lab in Thailand to companies like Quintiles and Covance which have tens of thousands of employees in over 100 countries across the globe. GlobalData identified 11 CROs to apply its benchmarking methodology providing a foundation for strategic discussion and analysis. GlobalDatas coverage examines these CROs from a unique company-centric lens combining financial performance and resources allocation with partnering activity and regional developments to assess a companys overall strategy. This type of coverage is unlike any other analysis available, and delivers a consistent view into the evolution of these companies corporate growth. We also covered some 30 other privately-held CROs to give our analysis more specificity and granularity.Key Questions Answered- What specific strategies are these CROs employing to gain market share?- What drivers accounted for the revenue growth for the company over the past year?- Which trends will affect the CRO marketplace over the next few years?- What particular services or capabilities are my competitors developing?- Who are the revenue and growth leaders in each service line and geography?- What specific business development activities are taking place, in terms of partnerships or M&A?- How are CROs growing their physical infrastructures and human resources to better serve the needs of their customers?- What region-specific operations and capabilities are CROs adding to gain share in emerging markets?Scope- Analysis of the key drivers and trends shaping the global CRO market; including biologics manufacturing, emerging markets, and eClinical technologies- A deep dive into the synergies behind partnering and acquisition activity- Discussion of business line and regional segment strategies- Assessments of company financials by revenue, margin, expense and capital structure- Firm utilization, resources management, and efficiency metrics- Leadership/management changesReasons to buy- Analyze and track the strategies that these CROs are using to gain share in the increasingly competitive market- Understand the underlying financial metrics that differentiate certain companies from the pack in terms of growth and profitability, spending and asset structure- Organize your sales and marketing strategy to identify companies with proprietary technologies to maximize opportunities for strategic investment or partnerships- Use this information as an independent source for your due diligence and transaction strategyMake 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 Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2017

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1055518

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1055518

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the global Nuclear Power Control Valve market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Nuclear Power Control Valve in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Nuclear Power Control Valve market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingSpxflowRockwell IndustriesSulzerVelan S.A.SSANKIHaatterley HeatonFisherNewayKSBOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoRegulating ValvesSafety ValvesPressure Reducing ValvesOtherOn 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 Nuclear Power Control Valve for each application, includingConventional IslandBOPNuclear IslandOtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Research Report 20171 Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Nuclear Power Control Valve1.2 Nuclear Power Control Valve Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Regulating Valves1.2.4 Safety Valves1.2.5 Pressure Reducing Valves1.2.6 Other1.2.4 Type II1.2.4 Type II1.3 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Segment by Application1.3.1 Nuclear Power Control Valve Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Conventional Island1.3.3 BOP1.3.4 Nuclear Island1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve 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 Nuclear Power Control Valve (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Nuclear Power Control Valve Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Nuclear Power Control Valve Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Nuclear Power Control Valve Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesMake 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 Scotch Whisky Market To Grow At A CAGR Of 2.35% During The Period 2017-2021

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066997

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1066997

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Scotch Whisky Market 2017-2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Scotch whisky is produced in Scotland. It is produced, packaged, and labeled as per SWR 2009. Scotch whisky is produced in five regions in Scotland: Highland, Lowland, Islay, Speyside, and Campbeltown.Technavios analysts forecast the global scotch whisky market to grow at a CAGR of 2.35% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global scotch whisky market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the retail selling price as the average selling price for the product.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEuropeMEATo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Scotch Whisky 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 vendorsBacardiBeam SuntoryDiageoPernod RicardWilliam Grant & SonsOther prominent vendorsAceoBen Nevis DistilleryBrown-FormanEdringtonGlenmorangieGeorge Ballantine and SonGordon & MacPhailHarvey's of Edinburgh InternationalInternational BeverageIsle of Arran DistillersMarket driverPremiumizationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeIncrease in demand for aged Scotch whisky leads to shortage and price riseFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncrease in demand for premium Scotch whiskyFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?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 @
Lebanons Leading Internet Service Provider Selects InfiNet Wire-less as Its Platform for Growth

www.infinetwireless.com

Dubai, United Arab Emirates  May 09, 2017 - InfiNet Wireless, the global leader in fixed broadband wireless solutions for mobile operators, Internet service providers (ISPs) and public safety agencies, has announced that Connect, Lebanons premier ISP, has selected InfiNet Wireless solutions to serve as the backbone of their new wireless network infrastructure. The upgraded platform will allow Connect to meet the high-bandwidth and zero-downtime demands of premium residential and enterprises customers across the country, while at the same time significantly reducing maintenance and service costs.Explaining some of the challenges Connect were facing with their existing network, Jubran El Ayan, RF Manager at Connect explained, We are using a WiMAX Network, on the 2.3 GHz frequency band, to serve residential customers. While we are able to meet the standard bandwidth requirements of our residential customers, some of our premium residential and corporate customers such as banks and retail outlets, require high bandwidth. Our existing WiMAX platform is limited to 5 Mbps for downlink and 2 Mbps for uplink which meant that we simply could not meet such bandwidth requirements.To serve premium and corporate customers, we had to use Wi-Fi based point-to-point (PTP) solutions available in the local market but the frequency bands that we were operating in started to suffer from major interference issues, resulting in a further drop in capacity and decreasing reliability. More importantly, the deployed Wi-Fi platform proved to be extremely temperamental  links would go down frequently and it ultimately got to a point where we had to send field engineers to troubleshoot outages and maintain the network on a daily basis. Not only was this a drain on our resources and added significant costs to our operations, but we had several unhappy customers which was hurting our reputation and revenue streams.Realizing that upgrading their wireless network infrastructure was critical to not just business growth but the viability of the business itself, Connect turned to their sister company, Mada in Kuwait, for a recommendation on the most suitable solution for their business model. An InfiNet customer since 2012, Mada has heavily relied on InfiNets range of 3.5GHz solutions to provide its own customers across Kuwait with a reliable, high-bandwidth and always-on connectivity.For a number of their most critical and strategic locations, Connect opted to deploy the InfiLINK XG which is capable of reaching a peak net throughput of 500 Mbps in 40 MHz of spectrum and more than 130 Mbps in only 10 MHz. Once the complete backbone of the network was in place, Connect then started to deploy the InfiMAN 2x2, InfiNets range of wireless Point-to-Multipoint (PTMP) solutions, mainly to connect their corporate customers and premium residential customers with high bandwidth needs. Working directly with the InfiNet team, Connect deployed in excess of 30 base stations and 250 subscriber terminals across Lebanon in just a few months.Discussing some of the benefits of deploying the InfiNet solution, Jubran said, With InfiNet, we are now able to serve customers more efficiently. With our Wi-Fi based PTP links we had to connect all our customers in a Point-to-Point topology, which is not only cumbersome to manage but also expensive to procure and deploy. This is no longer the case thanks to the InfiMAN 2x2 platform. All we need to do now is set up a sector in a specific area and we can provide, almost instantly, a large number of customers with high bandwidth connectivity, all achieved without disrupting any other customer or our wider network.The most noticeable benefit of the InfiNet solution though, has been the reliability of the network. We routinely had network outages with our previous platform which was a drain on our financial and human resources and had a noticeable negative effect on our business growth and reputation. With the InfiNet solution, we no longer have any downtime or performance loss, ultimately giving us the confidence that we can provide our customers with the best-in-class wireless network. InfiNet has truly saved our business and reputation in the marketplace, continued Jubran.Service providers across the Middle East are coming under immense pressure to provide customers, both residential and commercial, with higher bandwidth and reliable connectivity. These service providers account for a large portion of our customer base and over the last couple of years, we have made significant investments in developing solutions, like the InfiLINK XG and InfiLINK XG-1000, to cater to this sector. Having worked closely with Mada in Kuwait, it is gratifying that their sister company in Lebanon, Connect, have also selected InfiNets solutions to improve service to their customers. I look forward to supporting them over the years to come as they achieve their growth ambitions in the region, concluded Kamal Mokrani, Global Vice President, InfiNet Wireless.InfiNet Wireless is in a unique position, being one of the largest privately owned Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) development and manufacturing companies in the world. Since its foundation, InfiNet has maintained organic growth through innovation and the ability to deliver complete customer satisfaction throughout. Listening to its customers for more than 24 years, coupled with its innovative approach in research and development, have resulted in a range of advanced fixed wireless connectivity solutions that are a perfect fit for many requirements, making InfiNet Wireless the natural choice for global communication corporations and governments, all of whom require uncompromised connectivity. With over 500,000 deployments from the plains of Siberia to the deserts of the Sahara, InfiNet Wireless is active in market segments that deliver Broadband Wireless Access to service providers of all types, government entities, transportation sector (including mobile and nomadic functionality) and Oil & Gas. For more information, please visit our website ator connect with InfiNet Wireless on social media: @InfinetWVernon SaldanhaProcre8D02-12, Rahat, MudonDubai, UAEPO BOX 78835
3PL Market in the US 2016-2020 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=560889

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=560889

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "3PL Market in the US 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.3PL is a business process through which companies outsource their logistics and distribution functions to a service provider that specializes in handling logistics functions such as transportation and warehousing. Often, 3PL providers go beyond logistics and provide value-added services such as inventory management, cross-docking, door-to-door delivery, and packaging of products. They also provide strategic and operational value to many shippers across the globe. There are currently new and innovative supply chain management techniques to improve overall service quality in the 3PL market.Technavios analysts forecast the 3PL market in the US to grow at a CAGR of 3.29% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the 3PL market in the US for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers net revenue generated by 3PL service providers.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market is divided into the following segments based on service area:Domestic transportation management (DTM)International transportation management (ITM)Dedicated contract carriage (DCC)Verified accredited wholesale distributors (AWD)Technavio's report, 3PL Market in the US 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 vendorsC.H. RobinsonDeutsche Post DHLExpeditorsJ B HuntKuehne + NagelUPSUTi WorldwideOther prominent vendorsA.N. DeringerAgilityAPL LogisticsArnold LogisticsBAX GlobalBDP InternationalBNSF LogisticsCardinal LogisticsCat LogisticsCEVA LogisticsCornerstone LogisticsCoyote LogisticsCRST LogisticsDB Schenker LogisticsDSC LogisticsEcho Global LogisticsFedExGencoHub GroupKenco Logistics ServicesKerry LogisticsLandstar LogisticsLeSaint LogisticsMenlo WorldwideMIQ LogisticsModusLink Global SolutionsNAL LogisticsNeovia Logistics ServicesNFIOzburn-Hessey LogisticsPanalpinaPenske LogisticsRoadrunner Transportation ServicesRyder SystemSaddle Creek Logistics ServicesSchneider LogisticsSwift DedicatedTMSI LogisticsTotal Quality LogisticsTransplaceUnyson LogisticsUTX LogisticsWerner Enterprises Dedicated and LogisticsXPO LogisticsMarket driverCost-effectiveness of 3PL servicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeLow adoption of technologically advanced equipment by 3PL providersFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncrease in M&AFor 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 @
North America Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=893314

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=893314

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters Market - North America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.North America Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters Market: OverviewThis report on the North America wheelchair accessible vehicle converters market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. It comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. It is a combination of primary and secondary research. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts along with information collected from telephonic interviews and interactions via e-mails. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, stock analysis presentations, and various international and national databases.The report provides market size in terms of US$ Mn for each segment for the period from 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. Growth rates for each segment within the North America Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, and regulatory requirements. A detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and future opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. This section of the report also includes market attractiveness analysis that provides a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the North America Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year. Market size estimations involved in-depth study of services and product features of different types of services. Additionally, market related factors such as increasing preference for technologically advanced services, product innovation, and increasing prevalence of trauma cases and disability cases in North America and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size.North America Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters Market: SegmentationBased on vehicle type, the North America Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters market has been segmented into full size vehicle, medium size vehicle and small size vehicle. The market has been further studied from the point of view of major entry modality. Based on entry modality, the market has been categorized into ramps and lifts. On the basis of entry mode, the market has been segmented into side entry and rear entry.The report also profiles major players in the Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Converters market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments.Companies Mentioned in the Research ReportKey companies profiled in the report include Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., BraunAbility, Freedom Motors USA, Vantage Mobility International and Mobility Ventures LLC.The North America wheelchair accessible vehicle converters market has been segmented as follows:By Vehicle Type- Full Size Vehicles- Medium Size Vehicles- Small Size VehiclesBy Entry Modality- Ramp- LiftsBy Entry Mode- Side Entry- Rear EntryBy Country- U.S.- CanadaMake 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 Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=275228

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=275228

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.This report provides strategic analysis of the global Power Distribution Unit (PDU) market. The scope of the report includes competitive analysis of various market segments based on the types of PDU, power phases, applications of PDUs in various industry verticals and in-depth scrutiny of the PDU market across different geographic segments. The major objective of a PDU is to provide power to various network components of a server rack present in a data center. Modern PDUs has functionalities such as a display of power input and output, controlling of power usage through remote monitoring, alarm sensors for alerting any deviation from standard power consumption. PDU models having high amperage plugs can provide multiple low amperage outlets from high amperage outlets. Certain new PDUs such as standalone PDUs are being deployed by military forces, which account for a very niche market. Growing need of data centers to optimize power consumption and the increasing cost of power have led to the need for effective and monitored power distribution. This has led to the increase in the demand for PDUs.The report also breaks down and reviews the various factors impacting the market growth, which can be appropriately described as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. The market drivers are further segmented into supply side drivers, demand side drivers and economic drivers. These factors help to determine the various existing trends and their impact on the market growth. Overall, taking into consideration the various factors affecting the PDU market, the report includes a holistic analysis of the global PDU market, and provides an estimate of growth for the period 2016 to 2024.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Power Distribution Unit Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe global PDU market is primarily driven by an increase in the amount of data generated globally. Growing population across the globe, in turn, is increasing the amount of data being generated across various sectors such as Telecom & IT and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, government, among others. Generation of data is triggered by multiple factors such as an increase in penetration of process automation in the power industry, rising volume of unstructured data from operations and increase in volume of machine sensor data among others. Increasing volume of data has automatically increased the demand for data centers across the globe. Furthermore, the overall economic growth, increase in the number of internet users and increasing preference for online shopping globally has increased the demand for data centers. Additionally, increased acceptance of cloud computing and virtualization across all industry verticals globally has also increased the demand for data centers. The increase in demand for data centers has positively impacted the PDU market.Global Power Distribution Unit Market: Key SegmentsThe global power distribution unit (PDU) market, by power phase, has been divided into two types: single phase and three phase. The global power distribution unit (PDU) market, by types, has been divided into basic, metered, monitored, switched and others. The global Power Distribution Unit (PDU) market, by applications has been divided into telecommunication & information technology (Telecom & IT), banking, financial services & insurance (BFSI), healthcare, government, energy, and others. The global market has been segmented into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. The market revenue for PDU has been provided in terms of (USD Million), along with the CAGR for the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report also includes competitive profiling of leading players in the industry and their market share to aid in strategic decision making. The market attractiveness analysis and company market share analysis included in the report provide insight into market dynamics, industry competition and strategies adopted by market leaders.Some of the leading players in the market are Cyber Power Systems (Taiwan), Eaton Corporation (Ireland), Emerson Electric Co. (US), Raritan Inc. (U.S.), Tripp Lite (US), Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc. (U.S.), Server Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Enlogic Systems LLC. (UK), Cisco Systems, Inc. (US), and Schneider Electric (France) among others.The report segments the global PDU market as:PDU market, by Types- Basic- Metered- Monitored- Switched- OthersPDU market, by Power phase- Single phase- Three PhasePDU market, by Applications:- Telecom & IT- Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI)- Healthcare- Government- Energy- OthersPower Distribution Unit (PDU) market, by Geography: The market is segmented on the basis of geography into:- North America- The U.S.- Canada- Mexico- Europe- The U.K- Germany- France- Italy- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- China- India- Japan- South Korea- Rest of Asia Pacific- Middle East and Africa- South Africa- Saudi Arabia- United Arab Emirates (UAE)- Rest of MEA- Latin America- Brazil- Argentina- Rest of Latin AmericaMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Calcium Chloride Market Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=225130

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=225130

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Calcium Chloride Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.Calcium chloride, an ionic compound of calcium and chlorine, is highly soluble in liquid. It is commercially available as anhydrous and dihydrate flakes, pellets and powder, or as 30% to 45% solution. In terms of application, drilling fluids and deicing held majority share in the global calcium chloride market. Rising demand from these industries is projected to boost calcium chloride market during the forecast period.This study analyzes, estimates, and forecasts the global calcium chloride market in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) from 2015 to 2024. The report also analyzes several driving and restraining factors and their impact on the market during the forecast period.Global Calcium Chloride Market: SegmentationThe report provides a detailed view of the calcium chloride market based on applications. Key applications included in the report are de-icing, dust control, drilling fluids, construction, industrial processing, and others (comprising agrochemicals, tire ballast, etc.). In terms of product types, the market is segmented into: Flakes 77%, Flakes 94%, Prills 94%, Pellets 94%, and Liquid grade. Furthermore, the report segments the market based on key geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. It also provides market volume and revenue for each application and product under every regional segment. The calcium chloride market is further analyzed into major countries of each region. It also analyzes individual country in the GCC.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Based on applications, product and countries, the report analyzes the attractiveness of each segment with the help of an attractiveness tool. The study includes value chain analysis, which provides a better understanding of key players in the supply chain (from raw material manufacturers to end-users). Additionally, the study analyzes market competition and industry players using Porters five forces analysis.Global Calcium Chloride Market: Research MethodologyPrimary research represents the bulk of our research efforts, supplemented by an extensive secondary research. We reviewed key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents for competitive analysis and market understanding. Secondary research includes a search of recent trade, technical writing, internet sources, and statistical data from government websites, trade associations, and agencies. This has proven to be the most reliable, effective, and successful approach for obtaining precise market data, capturing industry participants insights, and recognizing business opportunities.Secondary research sources that are typically referred to include company websites, annual reports, financial reports, broker reports, investor presentations, and SEC filings, internal and external proprietary databases, and relevant patent and regulatory databases. Other sources include national government documents, statistical databases, and market reports, news articles, and press releases and webcasts specific to the companies operating in the market. Secondary sources referred for the study of the calcium chloride market include InfoMine, U.S. Geological Survey, Internet Archive Educational Portal, and company presentations.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The report includes an overview of the market share of key companies in the global calcium chloride market. Key players profiled in the calcium chloride study include OxyChem, Tetra Chemicals, BJ Services Company, Qingdao Huadong Calcium Producing Co. Ltd, Solvay S.A., Tiger Calcium, Ward Chemical, Inc., Weifang Haibin Chemical Co. Ltd., Zirax Limited, Aditya Birla Chemicals, The Dow Chemical Company, Nedmag and Gujarat AlkaliesThe report segments the global calcium chloride market into:Calcium Chloride Market  Product Analysis- Flakes 77%- Flakes 94%- Prills 94%- Pellets 94%- Liquid GradeCalcium Chloride Market  Application Analysis- De-icing- Dust Control- Drilling Fluids- Construction- Industrial Processing- Others (Including agrochemicals, food, tire ballast, etc.)Calcium Chloride Market  Regional Analysis- North America- U.S.- Rest of North America- Europe- U.K.- France- Germany- Russia- Italy- Rest of Europe- Asia Pacific- Japan- India- China- ASEAN- Rest of Asia Pacific- Latin America- Brazil- Argentina- Rest of Latin America- Middle East and Africa- GCC- Saudi Arabia- UAE- Qatar- Bahrain- Oman- Kuwait- South Africa- Egypt- Rest of Middle East and AfricaMake 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 @
Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories Market expected to reach a value of US$ 2,209.7 Mn by 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/blood-pressure-monitoring-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1630

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Blood Pressure monitoring is a diagnostic process to measure the systolic & diastolic blood pressure of a person. The process uses oscillometric technique or auscultatory technique to determine the arterial pressure in the body. The blood pressure monitoring devices consists of an inflatable cuffs, which is wrapped around a persons upper arm or wrist to constrict & release the artery in a controlled manner. The manometer can be digital or manual which gives the reading of systolic & diastolic blood pressure of a person.Favorable reimbursement policies & rising geriatric population due to continuous increase in the lifespan of population are propelling the Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories market in the forecast period. However, the low adaption rate for digital self-serving diagnostic devices, and reluctance towards hypertension can restrain the market growth of Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories in 2016-2024 duration.Browse Report with Complete TOC -The Global Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories market has been segmented according to Device type & End-user. Based on the device type, the market is divided into Sphygmomanometers, Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors, Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors, Blood Pressure Transducers, and Blood Pressure Instrument Accessories. Sphygmomanometers has 3 types as Mercury, Aneroid, and Digital, while Blood Pressure Transducers has been classified into Disposable & Reusable Transducers. The Blood Pressure Instrument Accessories are Blood Pressure Cuffs, and Bladders, Bulbs & Valves. The Ambulatory Sphygmomanometers dominated the market in terms of revenue in 2015, due to its high price, and need & demand for technologically advanced Blood Pressure Monitoring devices. The same device is expected to lead the market in the forecast period, owing to the rising adaption rate of population for self-serving diagnostic tools. Automatic Blood Pressure Monitors & Sphygmomanometers are the most commonly utilized Blood Pressure Monitors, owing to their cost effectiveness. They are expected to capture highest market share in terms of volume which is attributed to the government participation to create awareness for control & prevention of hypertension, and establishment of R&D units by key players at a global level. Blood Pressure Transducers & Blood Pressure Instrument Accessories are anticipated to witness moderate growth in the forecast period. High accuracy of Blood Pressure Transducers, rising geriatric population, and favorable trade regulations in the developing countries are the major factors expected to boost the market of Blood Pressure Transducers & Blood Pressure Instrument Accessories in the forecast period.Based on End-user, the Global Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories market has been segmented into Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical centers, Clinics, Homecare Settings, and Others. The Hospitals captured highest market share in 2015, owing to the availability of trained & qualified personnel and favorable reimbursement structure. The Homecare Settings is estimated to register highest CAGR in the forecast period, which is attributed to the miniaturization of the devices, and rising need & demand for self-serving diagnostic equipment by population. Rising geriatric population & improvements in the healthcare facilities in developing countries are anticipated to propel the popularity of Clinics in the forecast period. Ambulatory Surgical centers and others segment are expected to witness moderate growth by 2024. However, rising need & demand for Blood Pressure Kiosks at public places (Gym, Airports, Colleges etc.), and government funding to boost the production volume of Blood Pressure Monitors can propel the market of Ambulatory Surgical Centers & others end-user segment in the forecast period.The prominent players in the Global Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices & Accessories market are Omron Healthcare, Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., Schiller AG, American Diagnostic Corporation, SPENGLER, Spacelabs Healthcare, Bosch + Sohn GmbH u. Co. KG, Withings SA, Welch Allyn, Inc., SunTech Medical, Inc., A&D Medical, and GE Healthcare. Investing in R&D of Blood Pressure Instrument Accessories & emphasizing on the improvement of distribution network are the strategies being adapted by key players in the market.Inquire for a Sample Copy of Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Biopesticides Market By Analysis of Major Industry Segments 2023

Biopesticides Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/biopesticides-market.html

http://bit.ly/2pqMeqN

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://marketresearchreports2017.blogspot.in

Pesticides that are derived from natural sources such as animals, plants, minerals, and bacteria are known as biopesticides. From environmental perspective and the point of ecological chain of crop protection, biopesticides are highly beneficial, and are commonly used to control the progress of pests, insects, pathogens, weeds, and other microorganisms in a crop field. Some of the common examples of biopesticides are microbial pesticides, plant growth regulators, insect pheromones, insect growth regulators, fungal biopesticides, viral biopesticides, and bacterial biopesticides. With biopesticides, farmers can significantly increment their yield as well as the quality of it.According to the report, the global biopesticides market was worth US$1.96 bn in 2015 and the opportunities are estimated to reach a valuation of US$4.17 bn by the end of 2023, expand at a strong CAGR of 9.9% during the forecast period of 2015 to 2023. This prosperity of the market for biopesticides can be attributed to growing World population, which has consequently incremented the food demand. In addition to that, protecting crops from pests via other alternatives is now perceived as harmful in comparison to biopesticides protected crops. Owing to decreasing arable land and growing awareness regarding the contamination caused by chemical pesticides, the preference of biopesticides is increasing, as they are derived from natural resources. Moreover, regulations on food residues, growing resistance of insects against synthetic pesticides, convenience in handling, relatively low cost, and technological advancements are some of the other factors augmenting the demand in the global biopesticides market.Browse Market Research Report @Ease of Deployment Favoring Bioinsecticides SegmentBased on product type, the market for biopesticides is segmented into biofungicide, bioinsecticide, bionematicides, and bioherbicides. Among these, the segment of bioinsecticides is quickly gaining popularity for the purpose of crop protection. This is a reflection of the resistance shown by insects against pesticides in the recent times. Bioinsecticides are easy to deploy, which is another factor favoring the demand for the same.On the basis of active ingredient type, the market for biopesticides has been categorized into microbial pesticides, plant pesticides, and biochemical pesticides. Based on crop type, the market has been bifurcated into permanent crops, arable crops, and others including turf and forage grasses and greenhouse crops. Application-wise, the market has been segmented into seed treatment, on-farm application, and post-harvest application.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Organic Food Trend Driving North America MarketThe demand for biopesticides is incrementing across all regions, while North America in particular is quickly turning into a highly lucrative region due to the growing organic food trend. Consumers are now willing to pay extra for food that have not been subjected to chemicals and growing organically using biopesticides and via advanced agricultural techniques. The U.S. is the primary North America market for biopesticides, and the demand is expected to primarily come from the fruits and vegetables segment, which is attributed to increasing awareness pertaining to nutritional benefits of crops produced using biopesticides. North America is expected to remain most prominent regional market for biopesticides throughout the forecast period, followed by Europe, although vast population base and growing awareness in several emerging economies such as India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea is expected to turn Asia Pacific into a lucrative market towards the end of the forecast period.The competitive landscape of the global biopesticides market is moderately consolidated with top five companies accounting for more than half of the shares. These five companies are Bayer CropScience AG, BASF SE, Valent Biosciences Corp, Arysta LifeSciences, Novozymes A/S, and Dow AgroSciences.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog:
Polyacrylamide Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/305

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/polyacrylamide-market-305

Polyacrylamide is made up of acrylamide monomer and is water-soluble. It increases the viscosity of water and facilitates the flocculation of particles present in water.Polyacrylamide is used for water treatment and sludge dewatering of municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater, potable water treatment, air flotation, and primary settling. The wide use of polyacrylamide in wastewater treatment has fueled growth of polyacrylamide market globally. Polyacrylamide supports are usually gelatinous in appearance and soft in nature. They also exhibit low nonspecific binding character toward biomolecules, buffer stability, good pH and owing to totally synthetic nature, are resistant to microbial growthAnionic polyacrylamide appear as white powder and have a molecular weight ranging from 6 to 25 million water soluble. This enables it to be dissolved in water in any proportion and insoluble in organic solvents. Characteristics include effective PH range of 7-14, high-polymer electrolyte, and electrolyte salt sensitive. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is suitable for separation of molecules by size and can be applied in different systems subject to the sample and downstream applications. Polyacrylamide gels thinner than agarose gels are poured between glass plates. This facilitates resolving power albeit, allowing the investigator with the separation of nucleic acid molecules above a much larger size range.Request a sample copy of this report:Polyacrylamide Market TaxonomyOn the basis of type of material, the global market is classified into:AnionicCationicNon-ionicOn the basis of end-use industry, the global market is segmented into:Mineral ProcessingWastewater treatmentPulp and PaperOil recoveryIn mineral processing, polyacrylamide is used for settlement/clarification of fine coal slurry in the thickening vessels, enhancement of solid-liquid separation coal with the help of filtration/centrifugation, settlement/clarification of the waste slurry and enhancement of solid-liquid separation of the tailings. In the paper and pulp industry, polyacrylamide is used as retention agent, dry strength agents and for filter aid. This has resulted in improved paper quality, enhanced physical strength of paper and reduced fiber loss. Drilling fluid additives, waste mud dewatering, enhanced oil recovery, oily water clarification, scale inhibition and as a drag reduced agentPolyacrylamide Market Outlook  Rapid growth of Water treatment Market to Augment Demand for PolyacrylamideExcellent flocculating and coagulating properties has rapidly increased consumption of polyacrylamide in wastewater treatment. Asia Pacific is expected to be the most potential market for polyacrylamide manufacturers. This is attributed to booming mining industry in emerging economies such as India and China. According to IBEF, in 2015, India produced 91.46 million tons (MT) of finished steel and is the third-largest steel producer in the world. Rapidly increasing urbanization and allied sectors have caused a surge in mining activities and boosted the growth of polyacrylamide market. India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) is a Trust founded by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Commerce in collaboration with the Government of India with the aim of promoting and creating international awareness of goods manufactured in India.Click here to know more about this report:Fluctuating prices of raw material such as acrylonitrile is expected to be one of the restraining factors for growth of synthetic rope market over the forecast period. Mergers and expansions is one of the key strategies adopted by the top players in the polyacrylamide market to maintain their position. In April 2016, BASF SE set up a new bio-acrylamide manufacturing facility in Bradford. This will complement the companys product portfolio of polyacrylamide with improved supply reliability and operational efficiency. Some of the major companies operating in the global polyacrylamide market are Shandong Shuiheng Chemical Co., Ltd., The Dow Chemical Company, Kemira, Ashland Inc., BASF SE, Beijing Heng- Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Shandong Zibo East Polymer Co., Ltd., Group, and Xitao Polymer Co., Ltd.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Protective Clothing Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/308

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/308

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/protective-clothing-market-308

Protective clothing includes high-visibility vests, footwear, respiratory aids, gloves, helmets, harnesses, and eye protection gear. These find application in various working environments that are deemed hazardous for legs and feet, such as dampness, falling objects, cuts, slips, chemical spillages, and abrasive materials. The need for prevention such hazards has led to the increased consumption of oil and chemical resistant soles on shoes and boots, safety boots with steel toe caps, leggings, and gaiters. This has augmented growth of protective clothing market across the globeWhile working with chemicals exhibiting a high acute toxicity and corrosive materials in high concentrations, gloves are used based on chemical compatibility. In construction industry, fall arresting systems such as body harnesses, lifelines, and other accompanying equipment are used when fall hazards cannot be controlled by railings, floors, and nets. Protective clothing is used in the healthcare industry to prevent transmission of microorganisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Staphylococcus aureus.Request a sample copy of this report:Protective clothing Market TaxonomyOn the basis of type of material, the global market is classified into:AramidPolyamidePolyolefinsCotton FibersPBIUHMW PolyethyleneLaminated PolyestersOn the basis of end-use industry, the global market is segmented into:ConstructionOil & GasMiningHealthcareMilitaryManufacturingOn the basis of application, the global market is segmented into:ThermalChemicalMechanicalBiological/RadiationVisibilityAccess Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report:In the chemicals industry, protective clothing is used for protection against liquid chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and also from hazardous gases. It is also used for protection from flame, welding, heat, and sparks from molten metal. Polyamide clothing offers various benefits such as protection against flames, high mechanical strength, excellent thermo stability, high chemical resistance, and protection against gas emissions. Protective clothing is used in the construction, chemicals, and oil& gas industries, owing to properties such as inherent non-flammability, high durability, and excellent dimensional stability resistance to chemicals and heat. Waterproof suits, breathing masks, and helmets are widely used in the mining industry.Protective Clothing Market Outlook  Increasing Safety Concerns and Hazard Prevention Expected to Fuel DemandHazardous work environment and stringent regulations for employee safety has rapidly amplified the consumption of protective clothing globally. Laws such as The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989, The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002, The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999, The Noise at Work Regulations 1989, The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 and others have inadvertently boosted growth of the protective clothing market. Asia Pacific is expected to be the most potential market for elastomeric coating manufacturers. The market in the region is projected to witness relatively high growth in terms of value over the forecast period. Growing population coupled with rapidly increasing manufacturing and allied industries is expected to fuel demand for protective clothing in the region, which in turn is anticipated to enhance the protective clothing industry.High initial price of the protective clothing is expected to be one of the restraining factors for the growth of the protective clothing market over the forecast period. Innovation in products and expansions in different geographies are some of the key strategies adopted by the top players in the protective clothing market. In 2016, Honeywell announced investment of US$ 100 million for expansion of the Asia Pacific regional headquarters and R&D facilities in Shanghai. This would complement the companys network of R&D facilities across the globe. Some of the major companies operating in the market globally are 3M Company, Kimberly Clark Corp, Ansell Limited, Lakeland industries, Honeywell International Inc., Royal Ten Cate, Sioen Industries NV, and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.Click here to know more about this report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Global Feminine Hygiene Market Accounting for US$ 35,203.8 Mn by 2024 End

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3226

http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/feminine-hygiene-product-market/toc

www.persistencemarketresearch.com

According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research (PMR) titled Global Feminine Hygiene Product Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016-2024, the global feminine hygiene market is expected to expand at CAGR of 7.2% over the forecast period (2016-2024) in terms of value.The report has categorically been divided into three sections namely by product type, distribution channel, and region. On the basis of product type, the global feminine hygiene market has been segmented into sanitary napkins/pads, tampons, panty liners, menstrual cup, and feminine hygiene wash. On the basis of a distribution channel, the global feminine hygiene market has been segmented into a supermarket, convenience stores, department stores, retail pharmacies, and online purchase. By product type, sanitary napkin/pad segment is expected to expand at highest CAGR of 8.4% over the forecast period, in terms of value, attributed to increasing awareness about the benefits of sanitary napkins/pads. This segment is expected to be valued at US$ 16,896.8 Mn by 2024 end.By product type, tampons segment is expected to be the second most dominant segment during the forecast period.By distribution channel, supermarket segment is expected to dominate the global feminine hygiene market over the forecast period, followed by department stores distribution channel segment.Increasing awareness and high adoption of feminine hygiene products in developing countries are expected to drive demand for feminine hygiene products during the forecast period. Factors such as easy availability and affordable prices of such products are expected to drive revenue growth of the global feminine hygiene market during the forecast period.The global feminine hygiene market is fragmented in nature, with a prevalence of oligopolistic competition among renowned brands. Established players are focused on manufacturing innovative feminine hygiene products in developed and developing countries to increase revenue generation.The report offers analysis and insights into each segment of feminine hygiene market in specific regions. On the basis of region, the global feminine hygiene market is segmented into five key regions namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). In 2015, Asia Pacific dominated the global feminine hygiene market in terms of revenue and is expected to register a CAGR of 5.4% over the forecast period.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Market participants covered in the report include Kimberley  Clark Corporation, Procter & Gamble, Unicharm Corporation, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA, Johnson & Johnson, Lil-lets UK Limited, Sanofi, Ontex, and Egdewell Personal Care. These companies are primarily focused on enhancing their product portfolio through research and development and introducing new cost-effective products, in order to strengthen its position in the global market.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:
Global Genitourinary Drugs Market Trends, Competitive Analysis, Research Report 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1382

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/genitourinary-drugs-market

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1382

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/urinalysis-market

https://www.gminsights.com

https://gminsights.wordpress.com

Genitourinary Drugs Market size is driven by increasing prevalence of genitourinary disorders, rising disposable incomes, and constant improvements in healthcare infrastructure over the forecast timeframe. Genitourinary Drugs Market size will witness a considerable growth over the forecast period.Patients with diabetes are highly susceptible to suffer from urinary tract infections. Women are more disposed to this problem due to the short length of urethra that facilitates easier entry of microorganisms. Global prevalence of diabetes is projected to reach up to 552 million by 2030 from 366 million in 2011, as per the statistics by International Diabetes Federation. Tremendous growth in diabetes prevalence should also boost the demand for genitourinary drugs over the coming years.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Lack of therapy compliance and continual patent expirations may hamper the overall genitourinary drugs market growth. Invasion of a wide range of generics by major- and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies is likely to constrain the industry growth.Prostate cancer contributed to over 25% revenue share in 2015. A wide range of therapeutics, such as radiopharmaceuticals, immunotherapy medication, and anti-neoplastic agents, available to treat prostate cancer will drive this segments growth. According to National Cancer Institute (NCI), the total number of new prostate cancer cases between 2009 to 2013 were 129.4 per 100,000 men every year.Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) affect more than 150 million people every year worldwide, resulting in direct healthcare expenses of over USD 6 billion. Around 2.4 percent of women and men will be detected with bladder cancer at some point during their lifetime.Hormonal therapy dominated the segment in 2015 due to increasing usage of medicines; however, anti-infective drugs should witness a healthy growth over the forecast period with increasing rate of urinary tract infections. The presence of an extensive drug pipeline for reproductive disorders in women may boost sales of the gynecological products over the coming years.U.S. genitourinary drugs market size held a large share of the global genitourinary drugs in 2015 due to robust healthcare infrastructure, growing awareness, and technological advancements in the development of genitourinary drugs.Browse key industry insights from the report, Genitourinary Drugs Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Growth Potential, Competitive Market Growth & Forecast, 2016  2024 in detail along with the table of contents:Canada genitourinary drugs market share is driving due to the burden of cancer disease in the country. As per the Canadian Cancer Statistics in 2015, about 196,900 people diagnosed with cancer.The data is important to focus on prevention efforts, in both primary prevention and secondary prevention of cancer, and allow more effective treatment of certain cancer through earlier detection.Europe genitourinary drugs market will witness a significant growth over the forecast timeframe. It was estimated that over 78% of the new cancer medicines that were introduced between 2010 and 2014 are available within the greater EU. In 2012, Germanys GDP accounted for over USD 34,706.8 per capita, driving the industry growth.APAC should witness a lucrative growth during the forecast period owing to the increasing R&D in China and India, high disposable income, and growing awareness in these emerging countries.Some of the companies operating in this industry include Abbott Laboratories, Astellas, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Hoffman-La Roche, Immunex, and Ionis Pharmaceuticals.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @High R&D expenditure by global players will drive industry innovation. Industry participants are developing novel products to gain competitive market leverage over their peers.Companies are focusing on the implementation of strategies including mergers & acquisitions, new product development, and regional expansion. In October 2016, the U.S. FDA approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) of Bristol-Myers Squibb, to enlarge the practice of Opdivo (nivolumab) to treat patients suffering from an advanced form of bladder cancer. Similarly, in June 2016, the U.S. National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and Bayer, collaborated on a new Phase III trial to study Stivarga (regorafenib) tablets as an adjuvant therapy in colon cancer. Growing geographical presence of the industry players is expected to raise the awareness levels regarding treatment options for genitourinary diseases among the patients and the doctors.Browse Related Reports:Urinalysis Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Development Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Global 3D Projectors Market 2017 : Sony, Panasonic, Acer, HITACHI & Sharp

3D Projectors

https://goo.gl/I4ZUln

https://goo.gl/ABmwJ9

This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering- Sony- Optoma- Epson- NEC- Panasonic- Acer- HITACHI- Sharp- VivitekThe survey report by Market Research Store is an overview of the global 3D Projectors market. It covers all the recent trends including key developments in the global market in present and in future. Analyses of the global 3D Projectors market trends along with the projections of CAGRs (compound annual growth rates) are provided in the research report.Further, an evaluation of the history of the global market and the basic information of the global market is included in the report. A developmental perspective of the industry is also documented in the report. Competitive profiles of the key players in the industry are also discussed.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The research report provides both an assessment of recent developments in the industry along with forecasts examining the industry from the perspective of major competitors, present players and prospective end users in the 3D Projectors market.Forecasts are generated on the basis of region, type, product, supply, demand, and other vital factors of the global market. The research report analyzed the major factors driving the global 3D Projectors market in various countries with a satisfactory and manufacturing and structure of the global market. Forecasts are also provided region-wise in the research report.The research report comprises several chapters, tables, figures, graphs, and various other presentations formats so as to provide a precise overview of the market. The sequence of the report is maintained in such a way that highlights the overall flow of the global market. Recent developments in the global market are further described in the research report. The report also summarizes latest trends along with abstracts of the 3D Projectors market. Major competitors of the global market including commercial and non-commercial participants in the global market are also covered in the report.Inquiry For Buying @Thus, the research report provides in-depth analysis covering all the major regions, competitors, and vital aspects of the 3D Projectors industry.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.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
Global Corneal Implants Market Trends, Competitive Analysis, Research Report 2024

Global Market Insights, Inc.

https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1227

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/corneal-implants-market

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1227

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/diabetic-retinopathy-market-report

https://www.gminsights.com

https://gminsights.wordpress.com

Corneal Implants Market size is driven by rising geriatric population base coupled with increasing incidence of eye diseases worldwide. An increase in the number of keratoplasty cases and corneal surgeries should boost industry growth. Corneal Implants Market size is estimated to witness considerable growth prospects from 2016 to 2024.According to Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), the number of endothelial keratoplasty cases in the U.S. was over 23,000 in 2012 and corneal surgery was the most adopted choice to avoid blindness and restore the damaged eye.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Intracorneal ring segments (ICRS) are made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and implanted in the deep corneal stroma to adapt to the corneal curvature. Two types of ICRS include Intacs and Ferrara rings. Corneal implants have been developed as a treatment option for corneal ectasia.Keratoprosthesis is a class II medical device proposed to offer transparent optical pathway in a patient with opacified cornea. The U.S. FDA approved Boston KPro and AlphaCor as the permanent implantable keratoprostheses for patients with failed corneal grafts.KAMRA inlay is the first implant device approved by the FDA to improve near vision in patients, who have not undergone the cataract surgery. The inlay is based on the small-aperture optics technology, which offers human eye with a good depth of focus and image quality, accelerating the demand for small aperture corneal implants.The Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) is used for refractive error correction and used in cases of high-quality vision correction requirements. The phakic intraocular lens has several benefits such as correction of the wide range of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.Ophthalmic clinics contribute majorly to the revenue share owing to a large number of inpatient corneal implant procedures performed in clinics and growing demand for corneal implantable devices.Browse key industry insights from the report, Corneal Implants Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Growth Potential, Competitive Market Growth & Forecast, 2016  2024 in detail along with the table of contents:Corneal ectasia application segment is likely to generate significant revenue share. The corneal ectasia is suitable for the treatment only if patient have clear central cornea, and corneal thickness of over 400 m at the place where Intracorneal ring segments (ICRS) are located. The most common postoperative complication is the ring segment extrusion or relocation due to thin placement. The common outcome after ICRS implantation is the existence of intrastromal deposits that gather in the lamellar channel after the implant procedure. The channel deposits consist of intracellular lipids. They do not grow and do not decrease visual performance and accelerates demand for corneal implants over the forecast period.Myopia is the lucrative application for corneal implants. Corneal inlays are used to correct myopia or hyperopia that creates lamellar flap and place synthetic material in the stroma. This modify the optical power of the cornea and change the shape of the anterior corneal surface.The refractive errors can also be corrected by implantation of lens with a high index of refraction than the corneal stroma. Various types of synthetic inlays has been tested, which includes polysulfone, PMMA and hydrogel.U.S. corneal implants market should drive the regional industry owing to a high prevalence of ophthalmic and ocular conditions and early diagnosis of eye disorders. The availability of advanced products, such as Raindrop Near Vision Inlay, used to correct near vision in patients with presbyopia should stimulate the business growth.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Europe corneal implants market size will contribute to the majority of revenue share in the coming years. According to National Statistics, over 200 million people suffer from presbyopia and nearly half of the population in Europe will have presbyopia by 2030. Keratoprosthesis is developed with the EU funded CORNEA project and will be made available under the tradename MIRO CORNEA UR.Spain corneal implants market will experience lucrative growth over the forecast period. The growth is attributed due to consumers are willing to spend for eye care in the country. People take eye health checkup regularly, and they will also look for eye care products for their daily hygiene routines.Companies operating in the corneal implants market are Neoptics, ReVision Optics, AcuFocus, Presbia, KeraMed, Powervision, Cornea Research Foundation of America, Ocular Systems, Cornea Biosciences, DIOPTEX and SMR OPHTHALMIC. New product launch is the major strategy adopted by the companies in corneal implants market space.Browse Related Reports:Diabetic Retinopathy Market Size By Type (Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy, Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy), By Management (Anti VEGF Drug, Intra-ocular Steroid Injections, Laser Surgeries, Vitrectomy), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, China, Brazil and South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Gaffers Tape Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20162024

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/314

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/314

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/gaffers-tape-market-314

Gaffers tape is meant for temporary use and is designed accordingly so as to leave no residue once removed. Earlier, duct tape was introduced in the packaging industry which created a revolution in the market. Duct tape is least preferred in the construction industry as it does not fare well in conditions wherein it is subjected to cooling and heating of the surface. The temperature variation causes the adhesion to fail over time. Gaffers tape was introduced in the market with improved properties and better performance despite temperature fluctuations. Packaging industry has seen a revolution in over the last decade with introduction of carton sealing, void fill, and pallet wrapping. Rising adoption of carton sealing in turn has increased demand for industrial tapes. Gaffers tape has witnessed increased acceptance due to growing demand for industrial tapes in the global packaging industry.Gaffers tape, also known as camera tape, is a heavy cotton cloth pressure-sensitive tape that has high adhesive properties. Gaffers tape provides packaging companies with the freedom to use any type of packaging material without the use of solvent. The extensive growth of industrial tape industry has in turn propelled demand for gaffers tape. This trend is expected to continue over the foreseeable future. This is mainly attributed to increased consumption of gaffers tape in the construction, electronic, and automotive industries, among others.Request a sample copy of this report:Gaffers Tape Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product type the global market is classified into:Cartoon fastening tapeMasking tapeElectrical tapeDouble sided tapeOn the basis of backing material, the global market is classified into:PolypropylenePVCPaperOn the basis of appearance, the global market is classified into:GlossMattOn the basis of application, the global market is classified into:AutomotivePackagingHealth and HygieneBuilding and ConstructionElectrical and ElectronicsThe application of gaffers tape has increased rapidly in the electronic industry owing to its properties such as adhesive holding capability, easy removability, and relatively better moisture resistance as compared to other conventionally used tapes such as duct tape, box sealing tape and adhesive tape. Masking tape is widely used in the decorating industry as it does not leave any residue on the surface. Gaffer tape is widely used in the film industry in stage decoration, to hold down lights and cables on the platform and for marking instruments.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report:Gaffers Tape Market Outlook - Increasing Electrical and Electronics Industry Growth Leading to Augmented Demand for Gaffers TapeAsia Pacific is one of the largest markets for gaffers tape. This is mainly attributed to the rapidly growing construction industry in this region. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)a trust by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India,in FY2020 the Indian construction Industry is estimated to reach a value of US$ 5 billion. This inadvertently would boost growth of gaffers tape market in India. Also, gaffers tape market is expected to receive a boost in APAC region due to wide availability of Polypropylene, PVC, which is used as raw material for production of gaffers tape. Also the growth in automotive industry has further fueled consumption of gaffers tape in Asia Pacific region.With high ease of entrance for new manufacturers, the global gaffers tape industry has become highly fragmented. This had led to competition among manufacturers. This is expected to be one of the restraining factors in the gaffers tape market. However, the present focus of manufacturers is towards introducing ecofriendly technology in the market. The major players have adopted this strategy to maintain their position in the market. This approach is also expected to prove beneficial for the new entrants in the gaffers tape market over the forecast period. Some of the companies operating in the global gaffers tape market are KGaA, 3M Company, Avery Dennison, Can-Do National Tape, The Dow Chemical Company, Ashland Inc., H.B Fuller, Henkel AG & Co., Le Mark Group, and PROTAPES AND SPECIALTIES, INC.Click here to know more about this report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #320000A0Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Cosmetic Dentistry Market Size Worldwide Industry Growth, Share, Statistics, Opportunities & Forecasts up to 2022

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/44575/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/44575/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-cosmetic-dentistry-sales-market

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/2017-top-5-spine-biologics-manufacturers-in-north-america-europe-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa/?utm_source=RR-SP

http://marketsizeforecasters.com/

Global Cosmetic Dentistry Industry Report offers market overview, segmentation by types, application, countries, key manufactures, cost analysis, industrial chain, sourcing strategy, downstream buyers, marketing strategy analysis, distributors/traders, factors affecting market, forecast and other important information for key insight.In this report, the global Cosmetic Dentistry market value is provided for 2016 in million dollar terms and its forecast value, again in million USD, is offered by the end of 2022, which shows a consistent growth between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Cosmetic Dentistry for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering: United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, India.Request a Sample Copy of Global Cosmetic Dentistry Market Research Report @Global Cosmetic Dentistry market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Cosmetic Dentistry sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including such as Danaher Corporation, Institut Straumann, Dentsply International, Sirona Dental Systems, A-Dec, Align Technology, Planmeca Oy ...On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into - Teeth Whitening, Veneers, Implants, Crowns, Shaping, Bonding.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 Cosmetic Dentistry for each application, including are Redress & Beauty.Enquiry Discount for Global Cosmetic Dentistry Market Research Report @Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Cosmetic Dentistry Sales Market Report 2017Cosmetic Dentistry Market OverviewGlobal Cosmetic Dentistry Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and ApplicationUnited States Cosmetic Dentistry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)China Cosmetic Dentistry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Europe Cosmetic Dentistry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Japan Cosmetic Dentistry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Southeast Asia Cosmetic Dentistry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)India Cosmetic Dentistry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Global Cosmetic Dentistry Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataCosmetic Dentistry Manufacturing Cost AnalysisIndustrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersMarketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersMarket Effect Factors AnalysisGlobal Cosmetic Dentistry Market Forecast (2017-2022)Research Findings and ConclusionFor more information about Global Cosmetic Dentistry Market Report @Related Reports: -2017 Top 5 Spine Biologics Manufacturers in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and AfricaThis report studies Spine Biologics in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa, focuses on the top 5 Spine Biologics Players in each region, with sales, price, revenue and market share for top 5 manufacturer, coveringMarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
United States Infant Incubator Market Report 2017 And Its Covering With Texas,New York,Florida

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1000447&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/united-states-infant-incubator-market-report-2017.htm

This report studies sales (consumption) of Infant Incubator in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringGE HealthcareDragerAtom MedicalMEDICOR ELEKTRONIKAFanemCobamsPhoenixGinevriNatus MedicalShvabeErtunc OzcanOlidefJW MEDICALWeyerPT. Fyrom InternationalMedipremaV-careDAVIDDisonNanjing JinlingBeijing JulongsanyouSiling MedicalEnquiry For Discount Visit @Table of ContentsUnited States Infant Incubator Market Report 20171 Infant Incubator Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Infant Incubator1.2 Classification of Infant Incubator1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Infant Incubator1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 United States Market Size Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) of Infant Incubator (2012-2022)1.4.1 United States Infant Incubator Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Infant Incubator Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 United States Infant Incubator Competition by Manufacturers2.1 United States Infant Incubator Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 United States Infant Incubator Revenue and Share by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.3 United States Infant Incubator Average Price by Manufactures (2015 and 2016)2.4 Infant Incubator Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.4.1 Infant Incubator Market Concentration Rate2.4.2 Infant Incubator Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 United States Infant Incubator Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by States (2012-2017)3.1 United States Infant Incubator Sales and Market Share by States (2012-2017)3.2 United States Infant Incubator Revenue and Market Share by States (2012-2017)3.3 United States Infant Incubator Price by States (2012-2017)4 United States Infant Incubator Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (2012-2017)4.1 United States Infant Incubator Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.2 United States Infant Incubator Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)4.3 United States Infant Incubator Price by Type (2012-2017)4.4 United States Infant Incubator Sales Growth Rate by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Infant Incubator Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)5.1 United States Infant Incubator Sales and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)5.2 United States Infant Incubator Sales Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)5.3 Market Drivers and OpportunitiesBrowse Press Release of this Research Report: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
Global Breathing Trainers Market Professional Survey Report 2017

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1067133&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

This report studies Breathing Trainers 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.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringCordiO2BreathslimIngMar MedicalLungTek LtdMichigan InstrumentsRescue CrittersPowerBreatheBy types, the market can be split intoUltrabreathe Respiratory TrainersPowerbreathe Respiratory TrainersPowerLung Respiratory TrainersExpand-A-Lung Respiratory TrainersBy Application, the market can be split intoChildrenAdultsBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTo Get Free Sample Copy of this Report visit @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Breathing Trainers1.1 Definition and Specifications of Breathing Trainers1.1.1 Definition of Breathing Trainers1.1.2 Specifications of Breathing Trainers1.2 Classification of Breathing Trainers1.2.1 Ultrabreathe Respiratory Trainers1.2.2 Powerbreathe Respiratory Trainers1.2.3 PowerLung Respiratory Trainers1.2.4 Expand-A-Lung Respiratory Trainers1.3 Applications of Breathing Trainers1.3.1 Children1.3.2 Adults1.3.3 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 Breathing Trainers2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Breathing Trainers2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Breathing Trainers2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Breathing TrainersQYresearchreports.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
Global Automobile Oil Pump Market Research Report 2017 - Magna, Continental AG, Hellr, Denso, Aisin, Johnson Electric, Delphi Automotive

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1055504&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Automobile Oil Pump in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesEUChinaJapanSouth KoreaIndiaGlobal Automobile Oil Pump market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingMagnaContinental AGHellrDensoAisinAisin Seiki Co. LTDJohnson ElectricRobert Bosch GmbHSHW AGDelphi Automotive LPPTRW AutomotiveKSPG AGDelphi Automotive LPPRobert Bosch GmbHMikuni CorporationOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMechanical PumpElectrical PumpOn 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 Automobile Oil Pump for each application, includingPassenger CarLCVHCVTwo WheelerTo Get Free Sample Copy of this Report visit @Table of Contents1 Automobile Oil Pump Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Automobile Oil Pump1.2 Automobile Oil Pump Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.3 Mechanical Pump1.2.4 Electrical Pump1.3 Global Automobile Oil Pump Segment by Application1.3.2 Passenger Car1.3.3 LCV1.3.4 HCV1.3.5 Two Wheeler1.4 Global Automobile Oil Pump Market by Region (2012-2022)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
Iowa's senior U.S. senator helps counter by the example he sets the disillusionment so many Americans express about Congress. He works collaboratively with other senators  both Democrats and Republicans.

A study just released by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy illustrates Grassley's exemplary commitment to bipartisanship. The researchers evaluated how often members of the Senate work across party lines as evidenced by bill sponsorship and co-sponsorship. It based its conclusions on data drawn from the 114th Congress (2015-2016).

Grassley ranked No. 5 out of the 100 U.S. senators in terms of documented bipartisan behavior.

"Many Americans might be surprised to learn that real bipartisanship exists these days in Washington," Grassley said in a statement reacting to the study's conclusions. "I hope my work for Iowans serves as an example that working together is not only possible, but also should be expected of elected officials. Just this Congress, there's been bipartisan legislation involving veterans' access to health care, prescription drug costs and combating sexual assault on campus. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find common ground to address the problems facing the nation."

In the 114th Congress, the Judiciary Committee, which Grassley now chairs, reported 30 bills out of the committee, 24 of which were passed by the full Senate and 17 of which became law. All were bipartisan.

That's an impressive record that deserves strong praise.

Grassley's exemplary performance reminds us that good government requires collaboration and cooperation in the public interest. Unfortunately, too few federal officeholders seem to be committed to that approach.

The Messenger applauds Grassley's record. Iowans should be proud that they have sent to Washington a senator who is dedicated to the highest standards of public service. We hope that other officials at all levels of government will take note of Grassley's performance and be inspired to put the public interest ahead of partisanship.

This editorial appeared in the April 28 edition of the Fort Dodge Messenger.
Global Irreversible Electroporation Ablators Market 2017 : Smith & Nephew, Olympus Corporation, Galil Medical

http://www.marketsnresearch.com/request-for-sample.html?repid=7389

http://www.marketsnresearch.com/inquiry-for-buying.html?repid=7389

Irreversible Electroporation AblatorsA market study based on the " Irreversible Electroporation Ablators Market " across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Irreversible Electroporation Ablators Market 2017. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the worldwide Irreversible Electroporation Ablators industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market on the basis of this analysis.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research Report1.Smith & Nephew2.Olympus Corporation3.Galil Medical4.CONMED Corporation?5.Siemens Healthcare6.Boston Scientific Corporation7.CONMED CorporationThe report studies the industry for Irreversible Electroporation Ablators across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market & dynamics of demand and supply of Irreversible Electroporation Ablators into consideration. The ' Irreversible Electroporation Ablators ' research study covers each and every aspect of the Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market globally, which starts from the definition of the Irreversible Electroporation Ablators industry and develops towards Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market is classified and analysed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market. The geographical segmentation of the Irreversible Electroporation Ablators industry has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the worldwide market for Irreversible Electroporation Ablators is determined by evaluating the various industry participants, production capacity, Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market worldwide.Enquire Here :The global Irreversible Electroporation Ablators market 2017 is also analysed on the basis of product pricing, Irreversible Electroporation Ablators production volume, data regarding demand and Irreversible Electroporation Ablators supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the industry for Irreversible Electroporation Ablators across the globe.About Us :Market and Research are a trusted brand in the research industry with capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Market and Research, we believe in building long term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries including Energy, Chemicals and Materials, Automotive and Aerospace.Contact Us :Market and ResearchUnited States
Self-Injections Market Outlook 2017 to 2024 - Industry Growth Analysis

Global Self-Injections Market Industry Trends And Forecast To 2024- A report by Data Bridge Market Research

http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-self-injections-market-trends-forecast-2024/

http://databridgemarketresearch.com/global-self-injectionsmarket-poised-grow-22-6/

Global Self-Injections Market, By Type (Devices (Needle-Free, Auto, Pen, Wearable Injectors), Formulations), Dosage Form, Therapeutic Application, Route of Administration, End-User, Distribution Channel, Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, MEA, South America)  Trends and Forecast to 2024Global self-injections market is expected to reach USD 119.5 billion by 2024, from USD 23.4 billion in 2016 growing at the CAGR of 22.6 % in the forecast period 2017 to 2024.The self-injections market is segmented based on type, dosage form, and therapeutic application, route of administration, end-user, distribution channel, and geography.Request a sample pages:On the basis of type, the global self-injections market is segmented into devices and formulations. The devices market is segmented into needle-free injectors, auto injectors, pen injectors, wearable injectors, and other devices. The formulations market is segmented into conventional drug delivery formulations, novel drug delivery formulations, and long-acting formulations.Based on therapeutic application, the market is segmented into autoimmune diseases, hormonal disorders, oncology, orphan diseases, pain management, respiratory therapy, and others. The market is also segmented based on dosage form into single dose and multi-dose.On the basis of route of administration, the market is segmented into skin, circulatory /musculoskeletal, organs, and central nervous system.Based on end-user, the market is segmented into patient, physicians, home care settings and, others. The market is also segmented on the basis of distribution channel into hospital pharmacies, private clinics, chemist, and online pharmacies.On the basis of geography, the self-injections market is segmented into geographical regions such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa and, Rest of the World. The geographical regions are further segmented into 24 major countries such as U.S. Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, U.K., Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, China, Singapore, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and many others.Read more about the report:The key players operating in this market are Abbvie, Inc., Antares Pharma, 3M, Becton Dickinson & Company, Baxter International Inc., Penjet Corporation, PharmaJet, GerresheimerAG,Pfizer Inc.,Terumo Corporation, Mylan N.V.,SHL Group, Bespak, Janssen Biotech Inc., Insulet Corporation, Unilife Corporation, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., Ypsomed, Eli lilly and Company, Haselmeier AG, Alkermes, AptarPharma, Credence MedSystems, Inc., SchottAG, Ypsomed, Owen Mumford Ltd., Glide Technologies, among other companies.Data Bridge set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Data Bridge Market ResearchOffice Number 317, Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune  411028Maharashtra, IndiaToll Free: +1-888-387-2818Mail: sales@databridgemarketresearch.com
Asia-Pacific Wheelbarrows Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022

Wheelbarrows Market

http://www.globalinforeports.com/request-sample/243505

http://www.globalinforeports.com/report/asia-pacific-wheelbarrows-market-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022

http://www.globalinforeports.com/request-sample/243505

http://www.globalinforeports.com/send-an-enquiry/243505

"A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear.Statistics in the report includes traditional wheelbarrows and the hand trucks."Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Wheelbarrows in Asia-Pacific market, especially in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, India and Australia. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries/Regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers:Qingdao Taifa GroupQingdao Huatian Hand TruckQingdao Xinjiang GroupQingdao Runda Wheel BarrowGriffonHaemmerlinMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:ChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanSoutheast AsiaIndiaAustraliaMarket Segment by Type, covers:Traditional WheelbarrowsHand TrucksMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into:Construction ApplicationsIndustrial ApplicationsHome ApplicationsAgriculture & LivestockOthersBrowse full report with Table of Content @There are 19 Chapters to deeply display the Asia-Pacific Wheelbarrows market.Chapter 1, to describe Wheelbarrows 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 Wheelbarrows, 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 Asia-Pacific market by countries, covering China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India and Australia, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Wheelbarrows, 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, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 to analyze the key countries by manufacturers, Type and Application,covering China,Japan,Korea,Southeast Asia, Taiwan, India and Australia,with sales,revenue and market share by manufacturers,types and application;Chapter 14, Wheelbarrows market forecast, by countries, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 15, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 16, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 17, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 18 and 19, to describe the research findings and conclusion, appendix, methodology and data sourceCheck for discount @Some points from TOC:-Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Wheelbarrows Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Traditional Wheelbarrows1.2.2 Hand Trucks1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Construction Applications1.3.2 Industrial Applications1.3.3 Home Applications1.3.4 Agriculture & Livestock1.3.5 Others1.4 Market Analysis by Countries1.4.1 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Australia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Qingdao Taifa Group2.1.1 Profile2.1.2 Wheelbarrows Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Type 12.1.2.2 Type 22.1.3 Qingdao Taifa Group Wheelbarrows Sales, Price, Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.1.4 Business Overview2.1.5 Qingdao Taifa Group News2.2 Qingdao Huatian Hand Truck2.2.1 ProfileEnquiry 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.ContactJohn+1-888-376-9998 (US)
Infinity SAV USA Nominated for the Katerva Award

http://www.infinitysav.us

http://www.katerva.net

http://www.infinitysav.us

http://www.fundable.com/infinity-sav-usa

http://www.infinitysav.us

Infinity SAV USA has been nominated by Katerva Award for sustainable innovations in Clean Energy.Seattle, WA, USA -- Infinity SAV USA () has been nominated for the Katerva Award for sustainable innovations in Clean Energy. Katerva Award () is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Sustainability. Gary Tripp, President of Infinity SAV USA says their, "generator will stop Climate Change by eliminating CO2 from electricity and transportation and will cut the cost of power by 90%." Katerva selects the companies with innovations that will change the market and the environment for the better and Infinity certainly does.Infinity SAV USA technology claims it technology will replace fossil fuels for electricity and transportation. The company's working generator prototype is powered by permanent magnets and produces 3 kW of excess energy. The generator has been demonstrated to hundreds of people including engineers and academics.The Infinity generator technology will benefit everyone - the poor villager with no electricity, who has to walk miles for water and the clogged cites breathing polluted air. Infinity's generator powered solely by permanent magnets will replace fossil fuels for electricity and transportation.Infinity SAV USA Incorporated is developing an electric generator to power homes and small businesses for as little as $0.02 per kWh. The goal is to stop climate change, save the environment, and save money.The company has uploaded several video demonstrations to YouTube and those videos have received 500,000 views, and many many requests to purchase generators. The company plans to use this technology as the starting point to develop a 20 kW generator that will completely power a house or small business.The company's founder and inventor, Andrii Slobodian, explains that the generator has permanent magnets in the stator and coils of copper wire in the rotor. When a magnet approaches a coil of copper wire, it induces a like polarity in the coil. North induces North and North repels North and that causes the rotor to spin and creates power.Skeptics say it is impossible because it violates the Law of Conservation of Energy. Infinity responds by pointing to their working prototype. Magnets are caused by quantum mechanical spin of unpaired electrons. The company believes their generator conforms with Law of Conservation of Energy on the quantum level. Electron spin may be the source of the quantum effect causing this new source of energy. (Electrons don't spin, it is just shorthand for "maintaining their magnetic dipole moment.")The company is using the crowdfunding site Fundable.com to raise money to complete the engineering in the US for a bigger version of the generator.The many benefits of this new energy source include cheap, clean, renewable, 24/7 electricity with no CO2. These generators could be used to power a house, charge the battery of electric cars, or provide power in remote locations. Decreasing the cost of electricity and stopping pollution will benefit everyone, especially the poorest among us.Website:Crowdfunding Campaign:If you have any questions, please contact Gary Tripp at 206-383-2245 or gary@infinitysav.us. Tripp is available for an interview.Media Contact:Gary TrippInfinity SAV USA9605 Olympus Beach Rd NEBainbridge Island, WA 98110206-383-2245gary@infinitysav.us
Global industrial PC market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period 20162022.

Global Industrial PC Market - Strategic Assessment and Forecast 2017-2022

http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-heavy-industry-market/industrial-pc-market/

http://www.beigemarketintelligence.com/reports/research-report-heavy-industry-market/industrial-pc-market/

A recent report released by Beige Market Intelligence on Global Industrial PC Market - Strategic Assessment and Forecast 2017-2022, considers the present scenario of the global industrial PC market and its strategic assessment for the period 20162022. It includes a detailed study of market growth drivers, trends, and restraints. It also analyzes the leading five vendors and ten other prominent vendors in the market.Scope of the reportIt provides the analysis of key market segments by product type, end-user, geography, and vendors. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of the revenue from the following segments:By Product TypePanelBoxRackmountEmbedded panelEmbedded boxDIN railThin clientBy End-userManufacturing automationCommunicationsDefense and securityEnergyHealthcareRailMarineOthersBy GeographyAPACEMEALatin AmericaNorth AmericaBy CountryCanadaChinaEuropeGermanyJapanMEAUKUSIndustrial PC Market  Trends, Drivers, and RestraintsIncreased demand for high-density data storage has led to improved adoption of high-density data center storage technology, which is not only fast and compact but also economical such as SSDs. SSDs use NAND flash memory and are available in single-level cells (SLC), Multi-level cells (MLC) and Triple-level cells (TLC). 3D NAND flash memory has provided a much-needed breakthrough from our traditional HDDs and conventional SSDs by offering storage multipliers of up to 10TB. This has led to a dramatic evolution in applications in personal, enterprise, and industrial computing. Hence, the increased adoption of SSDs over traditional HDDs is one of the emerging trends that is expected to drive the market.For More Information Click here:The construction and manufacturing sectors involve rugged working environments with exposure to harsh environmental and human usage; however, there has been a dramatic shift in work practices driven by automation. Computers are driving this automation and are enabling efficient, faster, and safer workspaces. The increased demand for industrial PC due to renewed construction and manufacturing activities is one of the major growth driving factors discussed in the report.Further, rapidly evolving processor and memory technology is one of the major challenges discussed in the report. The market research report provides a detailed discussion of various factors that are driving the market. It also provides emerging trends and upcoming challenges of the market. In addition, it includes the Porters Five Forces analysis and its impact on the global market.Industrial PC Market  Market Size and DynamicsAnalysts at Beige Market Intelligence expect that the global industrial PC market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period 20162022. The demand for industrial PC is driven by the growth in manufacturing and construction activities from emerging economies such as India and China, which are supported by favorable demographics, huge indigenous consumption, and the supportive regulatory and investment environment. Establishment of semiconductor fabs and electronic assembly units in the Asian economies of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China that involve the highest degree of automation is likely to affect positively the demand for IPCs.Industrial panel PCs are the most preferred IPCs and is the largest segment contributing the most significant revenue to the global industrial PC market. Similarly, the manufacturing and automation end-user segment is likely to be the major revenue contributor during the forecast period.The Industrial PC market, however, does involve some challenges for vendors, especially pertaining to miniaturization of computer systems without the loss of functionality. Also, keeping up with constantly evolving processing and memory technologies that can render the existing versions obsolete is another major challenge. The industrial PC market can be termed as the brighter spot in view of subdued growth prospects of the conventional PC industry.For More Information View Report:About Beige Market IntelligenceBeige Market Intelligence is a new-age provider of competitive business intelligence, working across various industry verticals. Our expertise and knowledge ensures that the market analysis Beige provides is comprehensive, detailed and complete. The analysis helps our client organizations become aware and make educated decisions, as far as investing or devising a marketing strategy is concerned. The actionable insights delivered through our market research provide a comprehensive market analysis for every level of market segmentation in an industry. Beige Market Intelligence is a quality driven high end Market Research organization. Our team of experts ensure the analysis you receive is not just analyzed and smartly presented, but is completely customized based on the clients requirement. Our deliverables guarantee our current global client base does not look beyond Beige when it comes to any kind of industry and market analysis.Beige Market IntelligenceChinnapannahalli Main Road, Bangalore - 560037Mail: contactus@beigemarketintelligence.comUS: +1 347 903 9949UK: +44 20 323 99499APAC: +91 99 012 75473
Dental Prosthetics Market Share Global Industry Growth, Size, Trends, Statistics, Opportunities & Forecasts to 2022

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/44580/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/44580/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-dental-prosthetics-sales-market

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-and-chinese-caffeine-citrate-industry-2017-market/?utm_source=RR-SP

http://marketsizeforecasters.com/

Dental Prosthetics Market Research Report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Dental Prosthetics Market for 2017-2022. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of Dental Prosthetics globally. Dental Prosthetics Market, 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 and discussion of the key vendors effective in this market.This Dental Prosthetics market report values the industry in USD million terms for 2016, expected USD million value by the end of 2022 is provided, showing a steady CAGR percentage number between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Dental Prosthetics for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering are United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, India.Request a Sample Copy of Global Dental Prosthetics Market Research Report @Global Dental Prosthetics market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Dental Prosthetics sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including such as Institut Straumann, Danaher Corporation, Dentsply Sirona, Zimmer Biomet, 3M Company, Avinent Implant System, Camlog Biotechnologies, Biohorizons Iph, Osstem Implant, Bicon.On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into - Crowns, Bridges, Dentures, Abutments, Veneers, Inlays & Onlays, Others.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 Dental Prosthetics for each application, including are Hospitals and Clinics, Dental Laboratories, Others.Enquiry Discount for Global Dental Prosthetics Market Research Report @Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Dental Prosthetics Sales Market Report 2017Dental Prosthetics Market OverviewGlobal Dental Prosthetics Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and ApplicationUnited States Dental Prosthetics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)China Dental Prosthetics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Europe Dental Prosthetics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Japan Dental Prosthetics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Southeast Asia Dental Prosthetics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)India Dental Prosthetics (Volume, Value and Sales Price)Global Dental Prosthetics Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataDental Prosthetics Manufacturing Cost AnalysisIndustrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersMarketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersMarket Effect Factors AnalysisGlobal Dental Prosthetics Market Forecast (2017-2022)Research Findings and ConclusionFor more information about Global Dental Prosthetics Market Report @Related Reports: -Global and Chinese Caffeine Citrate Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportThe 'Global and Chinese Caffeine Citrate Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Caffeine Citrate industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Caffeine Citrate manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Demand for Clean Energy to Power Automobiles will Propel Global Energy Harvesting Market

MRRSE

http://www.mrrse.com/energy-harvesting-market

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse

https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse

ince the advent of electricity, coal and fossil fuel reserves have been the most widely used option for man to obtain the easily usable electric power. However, rampantly usage of these natural resources, which have had adverse repercussions on the environment, has now led to belated acknowledgement of the problem. Leading economies today are standing on the verge of an acute energy crisis as a consequence as the historical exploitation of fossil fuel and coal reserves. Depleting levels of fossil fuels have now emerged as a global concern. To counter the issue of energy shortage, the use of eco-friendly and renewable alternative energy sources is being promoted by governments all over the world.Clean and renewable sources of energy are present abundantly across the universe. They are found in the form of wind, solar, mechanical, kinetic, and electromagnetic energy. Energy harvesting market is the process which captures, accumulates, stores, and manages energy derived from these sources for domestic, commercial, and industrial use. The energy harvested from these renewable resources is mostly supplied to remote areas where conventional grids can be hard to extend.Electric Vehicle Industry Expected to Reach US$533billion by 2025Electric vehicles use energy harvesting to recharge the traction battery and power up the prime traction. The prime traction battery inbuilt in electric vehicles exhibits the ability to control energy generated from multiple ambient sources, owing to which the smaller batteries installed in these vehicles can be recharged through various energy sources within the vehicle. According to a recently published report, the market for energy harvesting will greatly benefit from the robust development of the electric vehicle industry, which is expected to be valued at US$533billion by 2025.As the general populace and the industrial sector is beginning to realize the inherent environmental as well as financial benefits of harvested energy, its applications are gradually widening. There are a few vehicles in the market today which function completely on harvested energy. These include vehicles such as solar lake boats. There are other vehicles such as cars and buses that recycle the energy obtained from excess kinetic energy with the help of regenerative brakes and/or regenerative shock absorbers.Harvesting Energy Will Reduce the Cost of VehiclesApart from its ability to enhance the energy efficiency of a vehicle, harvested energy also helps reduce elements such as the weight and cost of a vehicle, which has had a positive impact on the energy harvesting market. When a vehicle runs on harvested energy, it can easily do away with wiring harnesses. This leads to a simpler design and in turn a lighter curb weight, with no compromise in the vehicles performance. Using harvested energy in automobiles offers superior design and flexibility, which has significantly propelled the energy harvesting market.Industry experts suggest that the future of the car industry has a leading role to play in the future development of the global energy harvesting market. Leading players in the industry are likely to be the early adopters of this technology. Companies like EvFuture, Audi, Toyota, and SunPods are the prominent participants of the energy harvesting market.Browse the full Global Energy Harvesting Market report atMarket 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 States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter-
Circulator Pump Market Set For Expansive Growth By 2021

http://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1000796

http://www.researchtrades.com/checkout/1000796

http://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-circulator-pump-market-outlook-2016-2021

Research Trades adds new Press Releases on Circulator Pump Market- Size, Share, Trends, Forecast 2022A circulator pump is a specific type of pump used to circulate gases, liquids, or slurries in a closed circuit. They are commonly found circulating water in a hydronic heating or cooling system. Because they only circulate liquid within a closed circuit, they only need to overcome the friction of a piping system (as opposed to lifting a fluid from a point of lower potential energy to a point of higher potential energy).Get Sample Copy of Circulator Pump Market report@Circulator pumps as used in hydronic systems are usually electrically powered centrifugal pumps. As used in homes, they are often small, sealed, and rated at a fraction of a horsepower, but in commercial applications they range in size up to many horsepower and the electric motor is usually separated from the pump body by some form of mechanical coupling. The sealed units used in home applications often have the motor rotor, pump impeller, and support bearings combined and sealed within the water circuit. This avoids one of the principal challenges faced by the larger, two-part pumps: maintaining a water-tight seal at the point where the pump drive shaft enters the pump body.This report provides detailed analysis of worldwide markets for Circulator Pump from 2011-2015 and provides extensive market forecasts 2016-2021 by region/country and subsectors. It covers the key technological and market trends in the Circulator Pump market and further lays out an analysis of the factors influencing the supply/demand for Circulator Pump, and the opportunities/challenges faced by industry participants. It also acts as an essential tool to companies active across the value chain and to the new entrants by enabling them to capitalize the opportunities and develop business strategies.Purchase a Copy of Circulator Pump Market report for single user price of $2800 @Global Circulator Pump Market Outlook 2016-2021, has been prepared based on the synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of information about the global Circulator Pump market collected from specialized sources. The report covers key technological developments in the recent times and profiles leading players in the market and analyzes their key strategies. The competitive landscape section of the report provides a clear insight into the market share analysis of key industry players. The major players in the global Circulator Pump market are Xylem (USA), Taco (USA), AquaMotion (USA), Armstrong Fluid Technology (Canada), Grundfos (Denmark), Wilo (Germany), DAB (Italy), Hefei Shinhoo (China), Shanghai Eastpump (China), Shandong Shuanglun (China), among others.The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Rest of World. In this sector, global competitive landscape and supply/demand pattern of Circulator Pump industry has been provided.Table of Contents:Part 1. Exclusive SummaryPart 2. MethodologyPart 3. IntroductionPart 4. Market LandscapeView Complete TOC @About UsResearch Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights. The research encompasses information gathered and examined by subject-matter experts, laying down growth opportunities and developmental strategies for enterprises.Contact Us:Flat No.10, Wing C, S. No. 245/4/2+245/5/1, Baner, Pune-411045Phone: +91 7507349866Skype: researchtradesconEmail: sales@researchtrades.com
Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market Latest Trend, Sales, Price, Revenue and Industry Growth to 2021

http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-server-system-and-server-motherboard-consumption-market-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2021

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/277911

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/enquiry-before-buying/277911

http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/discount/277911

https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research

https://twitter.com/orbisresearch

https://plus.google.com/+Orbisresearch/posts

Server System and Server Motherboard is Called mainboard, motherboard, which is installed in the chassis, is one of the basic server is the most important part. High-performance server board for stability.A server is a running instance of an application (software) capable of accepting requests from the client and giving responses accordingly. Servers can run on any computer including dedicated computers, which individually are also often referred to as "the server". In many cases, a computer can provide several services and have several servers running. The advantage of running servers on a dedicated computer is security. For this reason most of the servers are daemon processes and designed in that they can be run on specific computer(s).Servers operate within a client-server architecture. Servers are computer programs running to serve the requests of other programs, the clients. Thus, the server performs some tasks on behalf of clients. It facilitates the clients to share data, information or any hardware and software reSources. The clients typically connect to the server through the network but may run on the same computer. In the context of Internet Protocol (IP) networking, a server is a program that operates as a socket listener.Servers often provide essential services across a network, either to private users inside a large organization or to public users via the Internet. Typical computing servers are database server, file server, mail server, print server, web server, gaming server, and application server.Numerous systems use this client server networking model including Web sites and email services. An alternative model, peer-to-peer networking enables all computers to act as either a server or client as needed.Scope of the Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market ReportThis report focuses on the Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Industry 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.Browse the full report @This report covers Analysis of Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market Segment by ManufacturersHPDellIBMOracleFujitsuCiscoNECSGILenovoHuaweiInspurPowerLeaderSugonASUSGigabyteSupermicroMSIFoxconnIntelASRockMitacEVGABiostarLoongsonGiadatechJ&W GroupGlobal Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market Segment by regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)Latin America, Middle and AfricaRequest a Sample of this Report @Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market Segment by TypesCISCRISCVLIWIndependent resettlementRack ServerBlade serversRackmount serverISAEISAMCAGlobal Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoEnterprisePersonalOthersMake an enquiry before buying this report @Some of the Points cover in Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market Research Report is:Chapter 1: Describe Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption IndustryIntroduction,Product Scope,Market Overview,Market Opportunities,Market Risk,Market Driving ForceChapter 2: To analyze the top manufacturers of Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Industry in 2015 and 2016SalesRevenue and priceChapter 3: Competitive analysis among the top manufacturers in 2015 and 2016SalesRevenue and market shareChapter 4: Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market by regions from 2011 to 2016SalesRevenue and market shareChapter 5, 6, 7 and 8: Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market by key countries in these regionsSalesRevenue and market shareChapter 9 and 10: Global Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Market by type and application from 2011 to 2016SalesRevenue and market shareGrowth rateChapter 11: Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption Industry Market forecast from 2016 to 2021RegionsType and application with sales and revenueChapter 12 and 13: Server System and Server Motherboard Consumption IndustrySales channelDistributorsTraders and dealersAppendixData sourceCheck discount of the report @Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Follow us on G+ :
Analysis On Hexamethylenediamine Market Outlook Report 2016-2023

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-16929

http://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-16929

www.decisiondatabases.com

www.decisiondatabases.com

The new research report on Hexamethylenediamine Market offered by DecisionDatabases.com provides Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016-2023.The report on global hexamethylenediamine 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 volume (KT) and 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 growing demand of Nylon 66 resin and increasing demand from coating industry are the major factors pushing the market uphill. But availability of substitutes might restraint the growth in the coming years.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 Arkema, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Ascend Performance Materials LLC, BASF SE, Formosa Plastic Corporation, Invista, Ivonik Industries AG, Rennovia Inc., Solvay S.A. and Toray Industries, Inc. 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.Hexamethylenediamine Market Analysis By Application5.Hexamethylenediamine Market Analysis By End-User Industry6.Hexamethylenediamine Market Analysis By Geography7.Competitive Landscape Of The Hexamethylenediamine Companies8.Company Profiles Of The Hexamethylenediamine IndustryPurchase Complete Global Hexamethylenediamine Market Research Report At @About DecisionDatabases.comDecisionDatabases.com is one stop shop for your Market research requirements like market reports, company profiles and industry databases. Our team consists of expert Business Analysts who have been trained to map your research requirement to the correct research resource.Contact:DecisionDatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Email: sales@decisiondatabases.comWeb: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.About the company:3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Present Scenario And Growth Prospects Of Global Payroll Outsourcing Services Market During 2017 - 2021

Market Research Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1067023

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1067023

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Present Scenario And Growth Prospects Of Global Payroll Outsourcing Services Market During 2017 - 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.Payroll outsourcing is the fastest-growing segment of the global human resource outsourcing (HRO) market. Organizations are rapidly adopting payroll services to achieve cost reduction. They either outsource a single process or the entire set of services to enhance the existing function. Most of the payroll outsourcing functions are related to finance and accounting (F&A), human capital management (HCM), and shared service centers. Organizations maintaining an in-house team for tasks such as payroll, time and attendance, workforce administration, and benefits administration spend 20% more than organizations that outsource the same functions.Technavios analysts forecast the global payroll outsourcing services market to grow at a CAGR of 5.56% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global payroll outsourcing services market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from payroll services outsourced to third-party service providers.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Payroll Outsourcing Services 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 vendorsADPCeridian HCMNGA Human ResourcesPaychexTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Other prominent vendorsAccentureCaliber Point Business Solutions (Hexaware Technologies)CGI GroupGenpactHewlett Packard Enterprise DevelopmentIBMInfosysIntuitRamco SystemsSafeGuard World InternationalWorkdayMarket driverIncreasing demand to standardize processes, technology, and governance.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeIssues related to geographical transition.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendRise of multi-country and centralized outsourcing models.For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?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 @
Middle East & North Africa: Healthcare Facilities For Medical Aesthetic Devices Market During 2016 - 2024

Market Research Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066988

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1066988

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Middle East & North Africa: Healthcare Facilities For Medical Aesthetic Devices Market During 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.Medical aesthetic devices are used in body contouring, dermal resurfacing, dermal tightening, acne prevention, hair removal, reduction of age related dermal or vascular lesions and reduction of skin pigmentation and blemishes. A wide range of devices are available for addressing these conditions such as dermal lasers, microdermal abraders, intense pulsed light devices, light emitting diodes (LEDs), infrared devices, radio frequency-based devices, dermal fillers, and implants. Factors prompting the adoption of medical aesthetic devices include the aging of the large baby boomer population that continues to demand anti-aging medical techniques, increasing disposable income and developing health and wellness sector.This report on the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. The research is a combination of primary and secondary research. Detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section.Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2016 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year.Market related factors such as technological developments, product innovation, expansion of healthcare infrastructure facilities in Middle East and North African countries, and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size. Growth rates for each segment within the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, product development life cycle, and regulatory requirements. These factors would help the market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their share in the global market.Middle East and North Africa Medical Aesthetic Devices Market: SegmentationIn terms of application, Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market is segmented into facial and body contouring, facial & skin rejuvenation, breast enhancement, scar treatment, congenital defect repair, reconstructive surgery, tattoo removal, hair removal and vaginal rejuvenation and tightening.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @In terms of products, Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market is segmented into aesthetic laser and energy devices, skin tightening and body contouring devices, aesthetic implants and facial aesthetic devices. The aesthetic laser and energy devices segment is further categorized into ablative skin resurfacing devices and non-ablative skin resurfacing devices.Skin tightening and body contouring devices are segmented into liposuction devices, skin tightening devices and cellulite reduction devices. Aesthetic implants are categorized into breast implants, soft tissue implants, aesthetic dental implants and others. Facial aesthetic devices segment is further divided into microdermabrasion devices, botulinum toxin, dermal fillers and threads. In terms of end users, the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market is segmented into hospitals, dermatology clinics and cosmetic centersGeographically, the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market has been segmented into two regions: Middle East and North Africa.The regions have been further segmented by major countries. An overview of Middle East and North Africa has been provided, and the Middle East and North Africa region has been analyzed in depth at country as well as application, product and end-user segment level. The countries in Middle East include Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Rest of Middle East. The countries in North Africa include Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Rest of Africa. The competition matrix section included in the report is likely to assist the existing players to increase their market shares and new companies to establish their presence in the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report also profiles major players in the Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic devices market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Key companies profiled in the report include Allergan plc., Mentor Worldwide LLC, Merz, Inc., ZELTIQ Aesthetic, Inc., Fosun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Alma Lasers), Aptos Medical Aesthetics, Inc., Cynosure, Inc., Galderma S.A. (Nestle), Lumenis Ltd., Promoitalia, Solta Medical, Inc., Syneron Candela, TEOXANE Laboratories and Viveve Medical, Inc.The Middle East and North Africa medical aesthetic device market is segmented into:By ProductAesthetic Laser and Energy DevicesAblative Skin Resurfacing DevicesNon-Ablative Skin Resurfacing DevicesSkin Tightening and Body Contouring DevicesLiposuction DevicesSkin Tightening DevicesCellulite Reduction devicesAesthetic ImplantsBreast ImplantsBy ApplicationFacial and Body ContouringFacial & Skin RejuvenationBreast EnhancementScar TreatmentCongenital Defect RepairBy End UserHospitalsDermatology ClinicsCosmetic CentersBy GeographyMiddle EastSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)QatarOmanMake 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 @
Technological Advancement And Growing Application Of Process Analyzer Market During The Forecast Period 2016 - 2024

Market Research Report

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066990

http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1066990

http://www.researchmoz.us/

http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG

ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Technological Advancement And Growing Application Of Process Analyzer Market During The Forecast Period 2016 - 2024".Increasing demand of technological advancement and growing application of process analyzer in the oil and gas, chemical, power generation and transmission sector is expected to have an encouraging influence on the market for process analyzer globally.Increasing usage of volatile organic components for different food products is having a positive influence on the process analyzer market. Usages of process analyzers coupled with well-established techniques and methods are some of the enhancing factors for the process analyzer market.The growing usage of different types of instruments both software and hardware in the production of process analyzer is expected to have a positive impact on the process analyzer market. In addition, continuous demand by the end users for maintenance, replacement services and regular support to confirm the operative performance of the analyzer equipment are the other important factor that are expected to generate the growth of process analyzers market. However, pharmaceutical sector across the globe, especially in developing countries such as India and China among others across the Asia Pacific is one of the most important factor anticipated to trigger the demand of different categories of process analyzer in the coming years.Global Process Analyzer Market: Key SegmentsBased on form factor, the process analyzer market is segmented into standard, portable and rackmount. In addition, demand for standard analyzer in processing plants is estimated to rise in developed countries during the forecast period owing to increasing demand for chemical sources in order to keep pace with the rising demand of chemical related product line. Based on end use industry, the market is segmented into oil and gas, chemical, power genaration and transmission, pharmaceutical, mining, food and beverages and others.In oil and gas industry process analyzer technology is used in different industry verticals which include mineral or liquid separation, adding ingredient and temperature control of mixture among others which in turn has increased the usage of process analyzer application in coming years. Geographically, the global process analyzer market has been bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Latin America. The process analyzer market has been provided in (USD million) in terms of revenue as well as the CAGR for the forecast period of 2016 to 2024.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Global Process Analyzer Market: Scope of the ReportThe report also provides assessment of different drivers that is impacting the global market, along with the restraints and opportunities that has also been covered under the scope of this report. For each segment (such as form factor, end use industry), market dynamics analysis has been provided. All these factors helps in determining different trends that has been impacting the overall market growth. Moreover, after taking into consideration all this factors, an extensive analysis of the region wise growth parameters of process analyzer market along with the overall assessment for the forecast period of 2016-2024 has been also been provided within this report. Furthermore, the report includes the porters five forces and value chain analysis. Moreover, patents analysis is also included in the scope of the research. Major share and competitive landscape of major companies has been covered in the scope our report.Global Process Analyzer Market: Competitive LandscapeThe key players in the process analyzer market have been competitively profiled across the five broad geographic regions. This competitive landscape is inclusive of the various business strategies adopted by these major players and their recent developments in the field of process analyzer market. Further, the report includes the market attractiveness analysis of different form factors of process analyzer market and insight into the major end use industry area of the process analyzer.Moreover, some of the important players operating in the process analyzer market are ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Siemens AG (Germany), Modcon Systems Ltd. (The U.K), Applied Analytics, Inc.(The U.S), Endress+Hauser Management AG (Switzerland), Applied Instrument Technologies, Inc.( The U.S), Emerson Electric Co.(The U.S), SICK AG ( Germany), INFICON, Inc.(Switzerland), AMETEK, Inc. (The U.S) and Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan) among others.The process analyzer market has been segmented as follows:Global Process Analyzer Market by Form FactorStandardPortableRackmountGlobal Process Analyzer Market by End Use IndustryOil and GasChemicalPower Generation and TransmissionPharmaceuticalMiningFood and BeveragesOthersGlobal Process Analyzer Market by RegionNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeMake 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 Azorubine Market Driven by Food and Beverage Industry

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/azorubine-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=23930

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Global Azorubine market: OverviewAzorubine is a red synthetic red food dye which belongs to azo dye group, azo dyes include allure red, sunset yellow, FCF, Tartrazine. Azorubine is also known as food red 3, carmoisine, azorubin S, acid red 14, brillantcarmoisin O its color ranges from red to maroon. It is used where the food is to be heated after fermentation and also found in blancmange, marzipan, jellies, cheesecake mixes, Swiss roll, jams and preservatives, brown sauce, sweets, packet soups, breadcrumbs, flavored yogurts. Its E number is 122.azorubine does not show any proof of mutagenic or carcinogenic properties hence can be consumed but the daily intake must not exceed 0-4 mg/kg. It is also used in the detection of photometric of Mg, Cu, Cr, Pd, and Sn.Obtain Report Details @Global Azorubine market: Market dynamicsThe growth of global Azorubine market is driven by food and beverage industry, such as dried fruits, cheese and some alcoholic beverages as they are cheap to produce and more stable than most natural food dyes. The key factors restraining the global Azorubine market is due to studies that have shown that the intake of azorubine may cause allergies, rhinitis and urticarial, breathing problems, hives, skin swelling especially for those people who are sensitive to benzoic and salicylic acid.it can also cause asthma and formation of neurodermatitis.it also causes intolerance reactions amongst those people who have aspirin intolerance. Azorubine also gives other rashes like nettle rash and water retention.it is not at all recommended for consumption by children as it can cause hyperactivity syndrome in children in combination with benzoic acid. Because of its setbacks azorubine was only used externally in drugs and cosmetic products in 1939. In 2010, European parliament came up with a decision which was binging on all member states of the European Union that with the addition of E122 and other dyes in food products must stand warnings on the labels of the food products stating may cause disruption of activities and attention of children avoid!. It is used in pharmaceutical industries only as an excipient in medications and not permitted for any other use. Food and beverage manufactures are moving towards adding colorants substitutes that are natural and not synthetic to food and beverage and pharmaceutical products.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Global Azorubine market: Market segmentationOn the basis of end users industry, the global Azorubine market is segmented into:Food industryPreservativesFlavoring agentsBeverage industryCosmetic industrycolorantPharmaceutical industryTablet colorantTextile industrydyeOn the basis of product type, the global Azorubine market is segmented into:PowderliquidGlobal Azorubine market: Segment OverviewFood and beverage industry has a higher rate of consumption of azorubine as a colorant followed by pharmaceutical and textile industry. The azorubine is mainly manufactured in powder form than liquid.Global Azorubine market: Regional overviewBased on the geographies, the global Azorubine market is fragmented into seven key regions- Latin America, North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific except Japan, Middle East & Africa, Japan. Among the regions mentioned above, Western Europe is the largest consumer of azorubine. Azorubine is already banned in Japan, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and North America and Western Europe is still in process to ban this colorant and many other food manufactures are removing this from their product list. Overall the outlook for the global Azorubine market will have negative growth over the forecasted period, owing to the increase in ban and restrictions on the use of the azorubine colorant in food & beverage and pharmaceutical and other industries.Global Azorubine market: market playersSome of the market players identified in the global Azorubine market includes:Dynemic Products Ltd.Parshwanath Dye Stuff Industries.Standardcon Pvt. Ltd.Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC.Magnil Dye Chem.Cathay IndustriesSensient Colors LLCSunfoodtechLOBA CHEMIE PVT.LTD.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Sodium Stearyl Fumarate Market Growing at a Healthy Rate

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sodium-stearyl-fumarate-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=23924

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Sodium stearyl fumarate is a monoester of fumaric acid used as a water soluble lubricant in the development of various products such as tablets, food products, and personal care products. Sodium stearyl fumarate is used similarly as magnesium stearate with a same lubrication efficiency. However, due to less hardness, and insufficient tablets stability provided by conventional lubricating agents, sodium stearyl fumarate come into demand. It has good compatibility with APIs such as fluvoxamine, and a perfect lubricant for high-performance formulations. Sodium stearyl fumarate is used in various application such as wet granulation, dry granulation, and direct compression. Some of the properties of sodium stearyl fumarate include anti-adherent, hydrophilic, control particle size, lamellar structure, less sensitivity to blending time, high consistency compared to magnesium stearate.Obtain Report Details @Sodium Stearyl Fumarate Market: Drivers and RestraintsSodium stearyl fumarate market is witnessing maximum growth owing to its lower hydrophobicity property which does not increase tablet disintegration time, reduce friction, high melting point, compatibility, solubility and an alternative to magnesium stearate. Moreover, sodium stearyl fumarate improved drug stability, harder tablets, faster formulation development, and faster dissolution rates, provide protection from over blending, and enhanced lubrication efficiency is some of the factors that can boost the demand for sodium stearyl fumarate over the forecast period. However, rising safety standards, clinical trials are time-consuming coupled with significant capital investment may hamper the growth of sodium stearyl fumarate market in near future.Sodium Stearyl Fumarate Market: SegmentationThe sodium stearyl fumarate market has been classified on the basis of application, and end user.Based on application, the sodium stearyl fumarate market is segmented into the following:Tablets & CapsulesOral DosagesBath ProductsHair & Skin Care ProductsFood AdditiveOthersMake an Enquiry @Based on the end user, the sodium stearyl fumarate market is segmented into the following:Pharmaceutical IndustryFood & Beverages IndustryCosmetics & Personal Care IndustryOthersSodium Stearyl Fumarate Market: OverviewSodium stearyl fumarate market revenue is expected to grow at a rapid growth rate, over the forecast period. The market is anticipated to perform well in the near future owing to rising demand for sodium stearyl fumarate from pharmaceutical industry mainly from APAC, and Latin America region. Moreover, sodium stearyl fumarate used for dough conditioner, oxidant, wheat flour treatment agent, and offer various advantages such as high degree of API compatibility, no adverse effect on bioavailability, robustness to over lubrication are some of the factors that can accelerate the market revenue growth of sodium stearyl fumarate during the forecast period. Based on the end user, pharmaceutical industry segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR over the forecast period attributed to use as a lubricant in the development of capsules, tablets and other oral dosage forms.Sodium Stearyl Fumarate Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on the geographic region, sodium stearyl fumarate market is divided into seven key regions: North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Western Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America held the largest revenue share in sodium stearyl fumarate market followed by Europe, and Japan owing to advanced technology, developed infrastructure, availability of raw materials, and rapid organic growth by key players in these regions. The developing nations in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa hold huge potential for growth in the sodium stearyl fumarate market rising disposable income, expanding pharmaceutical industry in developing countries such as India, and presence of numerous small companies in these regions are some of the factors which strengthen the growth of sodium stearyl fumarate market throughout the forecast period.Sodium Stearyl Fumarate Market: Key PlayersSome players of sodium stearyl fumarate market are FMC Health & Nutrition, JRS PHARMA GmbH & Co. KG, Fuji Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Maruti Chemicals, TCI Chemicals (India) Pvt. Ltd., Apollo Scientific Ltd., Gustav Parmentier GmbH, Hefei TNJ Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., Taizhou TianRui Pharmaceutical Chemical Co., Ltd., Technoco Co., Ltd., and others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Furcelleran Market Strongly Driven by Highly Increasing Demand as a Food Additive

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/furcelleran-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=23909

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Furcelleran: Market OverviewFurcelleran, a sulfated polysaccharide is extracted from red seaweed (algae) Furcellaria fastigiate. It is mostly found in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent sea, especially in Denmark and Sweden. This is thus the basis of the Danish seaweed industry. Furcellaran is a composition of D-galactose, 3, 6-anhydro-D-galactose and sulfated portions of these sugars. Its structure is similar to kappa carrageenan. It is white, odorless powder, soluble in water. The gel formed by the furcelleran is of low pH level. The gelling properties of Furcellaran are intermediate to agar and carrageenan. These gels are thus used in confectionaries, food, and cosmetic industry. It is used as stabilizers in beverages, jams, jellies and as a thickening agent in purees. It facilitates the protein precipitation and improves the clarification of the beer.Obtain Report Details @The majority of the furcelleran is consumed by food industry which includes baby products, weight reducing products and remaining in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Furcelleran can be modified with hot water treatment, to increase gel strength. Viscosity in furcelleran is a characteristic for its standardization. A furcelleran with high viscosity forms the elastic gel, and that with a low viscosity forms the brittle gel.Furcelleran: Market DynamicsThe furcelleran market is driven by factors such as its special properties, its application based consumption, highly increasing demand as a food additive and its availability. Emerging Innovative techniques and constantly changing food trends triggers demand for furcelleran by the food manufacturers in the market. The major factor favoring the furcelleran market is the permission of food and drug administration for the usage of furcelleran in the food, fosters the demand for food additives. With the support of these factors, the furcelleran market is expected to have positive growth graph. It is expected to have increasing CAGR in the forecasted period.Apart from its gelling and other physical and chemical properties, few factors stagnant the growth of this market. These factors include temperature dependency of furcelleran. Its high viscosity causes foods to burn more easily while cooking. Extreme cooling or high temperature affects the taste of food. It needs extra care in cooling. Thus such factors affecting the food taste has considerably fewer preferences in the food additive markets. All the above factors thus affect the furcelleran market.Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @Furcelleran: Market SegmentationThe furcelleran market is segmented majorly on its applications. It has a huge range of applications.By Application, Furcelleran is segmented asFood and Beverages IndustryConfectionaries1. Preserves like Jams, JelliesDairy ProductsMeat products1. Jellied Veal, minced meat, pie fillingsFruit JuicesBeer (clarification)Pharmaceuticals and CosmeticsSuspensions, emulsions, foamsTabletsBy Region, Furcelleran market is segmented asNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeThe Middle East and AfricaAsiaJapanFurcelleran: Segment OverviewFurcelleran, used as food additives has various uses in the food industry depending upon the concentration of different salts of Furcelleran. Salts used are ammonium, calcium, potassium and sodium. These are naturally occurring salts and are preferred as per the norms. The amount of food additive to be used are necessarily in specified amount as required for an emulsifier, stabilizers or thickening agents in food. The packaging label must specify the amount and type of furcelleran salt used in that product. The furcelleran, due to its special physical and chemical properties are combined with other gums or thickening agents such as carrageenan, sucrose to produce gelling products.It is thus used based on its applications such as food industry in which it is used as a food additive in jams, jellies, confectionaries, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Due to its special characteristics, it is used in tablets also.Furcelleran: Regional OverviewThe availability of furcelleran was discovered during Second World War. It was used as a substitute for agar. Thus it is majorly found in the Atlantic Ocean and specifically near Denmark and Sweden. Its major producers consist of Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa.Furcelleran: Market PlayersSome of the players is EST-AGAR AsAbout 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:
WiFi Test Equipment Market 2017 Teradyne(LitePoint), ROHDE&SCHWARZ, Anritsu Electric Corporation

https://goo.gl/Sw3U0J

https://goo.gl/XX1kPP

https://goo.gl/xr6qis

Global WiFi Test Equipment Market 2017 report spread across 124 pages gives Market Segment Analysis by Key Manufacturers, Countries, Types and Applications. WiFi Test Equipment is built for the front-line IT responders dispatched to the complaints of: The Wi-Fi is not working or the Internet is down. The WiFi Test Equipment provides fast, simple, and accurate isolation and troubleshooting, thereby reducing the time to resolution of wireless issues.Complete report is available atScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Global WiFi Test Equipment 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: Teradyne(LitePoint), ROHDE&SCHWARZ, Anritsu Electric Corporation, Spirent, NETSCOUT, National Instruments, Greenlee, Viavi, TESCOM Co.,LTD., Dycon, Vonaq Ltd, Trilithic IncFigureMarket 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: Desktop WiFi Test Equipment, Handheld WiFi Test EquipmentMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Household, CommercialRequest for discount atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global WiFi Test Equipment market.Chapter 1 to describe WiFi Test Equipment Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2 to analyze the top manufacturers of WiFi Test Equipment, with sales, revenue, and price of WiFi Test Equipment, 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 WiFi Test Equipment, 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 WiFi Test Equipment market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15 to describe WiFi Test Equipment 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
Advancing Women Artists Foundation Reaches Goal For Restoration Of The Last Supper By Plautilla Nelli

Mark Gordon Smith

http://www.advancingwomenartists.org

Advancing Women Artists Foundation has announced they have reached the $65,000 crowdfunding goal to restore the sixteenth-century 'Last Supper' by Florentine convent artist Plautilla Nelli. This is the only work in the world on this theme painted by a woman, and it will now be returned to its original dignity thanks to contributors from all over the world.409 donors from 19 countries contributed. Their awareness became a concrete gesture of love. Thanks to the $66,810 dollars raised, the AWA Foundation and its restoration team can work together to safeguard this fundamental example of female artistic talent. Nellis work, discussed by Italys first art historian Giorgio Vasari in his 'Lives', is being restored to its rightful place among Renaissance Italian masters. 'This Last Supper' will be a gift to Florence, Nellis beloved home city. Once conservation is completed, it will be permanently displayed in the soon-to-be revamped Museum of Santa Maria Novella, an iconic location in the heart of Florence, a place which represents all the beauty and culture of one of the worlds best-loved art capitals.AWA extends heartfelt thanks to all those who have worked so tirelessly to remember the forgotten women artists in history. They have supported a campaign which enormously benefited from the efforts of our dedicated partners. On the Florence scene, a special mention goes to Dario Nardella Mayor of Florence, Florentine actress Elena Sofia Ricci and the citys Councilor for Welfare of Equal Opportunity Sara Funaro, in addition to the citys Civic Museum Services, in charge of curating the conservation efforts. We share this victory with FLOD, the communications agency that curated the entire campaign and our prize partners: the Medici Dynasty Show, Casa dellOrafo Nerdi, the artisanal perfumery AquaFlor, Palazzo Spinelli, the Savoy Hotel of Rocco Forte Hotels and The Florentine, Florence and Tuscanys English-language newspaper.Mark Gordon Smith, President of Private Italy Tours LTD, kicked the campaign over the goal with a sizeable donation made in memory of his mother, artist Helen D. Smith. Following a diagnosis of cancer when the family was living in Tirrenia in the 1950s, she had to return to the United States and was never able to return to her beloved Italia."Our donation, Mark explains, "is made with the hope that all women will be inspired by the story of a dedicated artist whose genius is just now coming to light, whose love of craft created such a legacy."As stated on their website, "Advancing Women Artists Foundation, an American not-for-profit 501(c)(3), is committed to identifying, restoring and exhibiting artwork by women in Florences museum storages. As of today, compelling artistic treasures continue to be a silent, undiscovered part of the citys creative heritage. Through education (lectures, books, seminars, and conferences) and by exhibiting these works in Florence and abroad, it will be possible to show this vital cultural legacy and its importance in Florence, in Italy and to the world."PO Box 1613Shallotte, NC 28459
New Marsden scales with BSA calculation believed to be an industry first

http://www.marsden-weighing.co.uk/index.php/medical-scales/entry-level-scales-range.html

British weighing scales manufacturer Marsden Group has launched a new range of weighing scales with a unique Body Surface Area (BSA) calculation function.And Marsden believes it is the first time BSA calculation has ever been made available on a weighing scale.Body Surface Area is a calculation used to help determine the amount of fluids to be administered intravenously, and the correct drug dosage for a patient, such as drug dosage for chemotherapy.There are a number of different ways BSA can be calculated. Marsdens new scales use the most commonly used formula, DuBois.The function is available to three new Marsden scales: a column scale (the Marsden M-125), a floor scale (Marsden M-545) and a chair scale (Marsden M-225). This means one scale can provide a patients weight, BMI and BSA readings.Marsdens Managing Director, Richard Black, said: Last year Marsden contacted thousands of GPs to find out whether a BSA function would be useful to them on their scales - and the overwhelming answer was yes.It will help doctors to calculate dosages of medicine and the amount of fluid to be administered.Operations Director, Mark Coates, added: BSA is already used in NHS DEXA standards to calculate body composition. BMI also features on the new scales, to provide a picture of body health.Weve never seen a weighing scale with a BSA function, so we believe weve brought something brand new to the market - that will save medical professionals a lot of time.Find out more about the new scales and order at:EndsDavid SmithMarsden Weighing Groupt: 01709 364296e: david@marsdengroup.co.ukFor over 90 years, both the UK medical profession and British industry have relied on Marsden for reliability, accuracy and value for money.Today, youll find Marsden weighing scales around the world, from the United States to Africa - and were now proud to be able to meet just about any weighing need.Unit 1, Genesis Business Park, Sheffield Road, Rotherham, S60 1DX
Ultra Secure Smartphone Industry Research, Analysis, Technology, Growth, Demand, Report, Trends and Forecast

http://www.researchbeam.com/global-ultra-secure-smartphone-research-report-2016-market/request-sample

http://www.researchbeam.com/global-ultra-secure-smartphone-research-report-2016-market/enquire-about-report

http://www.researchbeam.com/global-ultra-secure-smartphone-research-report-2016-market

http://www.researchbeam.com

Research Beam added a report on Global Ultra Secure Smartphone Market Research Report 2016 - Ultra Secure Smartphone Industry Research, Analysis, Technology, Growth, Demand, Report, Trends and ForecastReport splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, and market share and growth rate of Ultra Secure Smartphone in these regions, from 2011 to 2021Sample Report @The Ultra Secure Smartphone Market Research Report is an extensive study of the current market trends and growth prospects of the industry. The report offers comprehensive analysis for the historic period, 20112016 and the forecast period, 20162021. Industry overview is provided in terms of definition, specifications, and industry chain structure of Ultra Secure Smartphone. Manufacturing processes and cost structures are discussed along with raw material and equipment suppliers. In addition, in-depth analysis of types and applications is covered in the study with the help of figures offering insights on market share in similar format presented in ReportRegional analysis for the Ultra Secure Smartphone market is offered on the basis of market size, sales, sale price, and growth rate. In addition, import, export, supply, and consumption analysis are included for each region.Following regions are analyzed: North America Europe AsiaApplied Analytics Global market size in terms of volume & value, growth rate, sales, and sale price are analyzed for the historic period. Moreover, an extensive analysis of market size of types, applications, and regions is offered for the forecast period. The feasibility and SWOT analysis for new project investment is explored along with marketing distributor analysis.Data & statistics are provided with the help of figures and tables to help market players, investors, and stakeholders gain thorough understanding. Research conclusions are presented at the end of the report.For More Information about Report@Global Ultra Secure Smartphone Industry Report is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions of the Ultra Secure Smartphone industry, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia) and the main countries (United States, Germany, Japan and China).The report firstly introduced the Ultra Secure Smartphone basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.The report includes six parts, dealing with basic information; the Asia Ultra Secure Smartphone industry; the North American Ultra Secure Smartphone industry; the European Ultra Secure Smartphone industry; market entry and investment feasibility; and the report conclusion.Report Description with TOC @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:
Global Dried Meats Market Research Report 2017 - Nikken Foods, Herbsmith, Ohanyan's, Habbersett, Knauss Foods, Natmade

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1044130&type=E

http://www.qyresearchreports.com

In this report, the global Dried Meats market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Dried Meats in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Dried Meats market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value)and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingCargillBHJNassau FoodsSARIANikken FoodsKnauss FoodsHormel Foods CorporationHabbersettHerbsmithOhanyan'sVital EssentialsBraaitimeNatmadeOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDried BeefDried PorkDried SheepmeatOtherOn 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 Dried Meats for each application, includingHuman BeingsPetsOtherTo Get Free Sample Copy of this Report visit @Table of Contents1 Dried Meats Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Dried Meats1.2 Dried Meats Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Dried Meats Production and CAGR (%)Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Dried Meats Production Market Share by Type (Product Category)in 20161.2.3 Dried Beef1.2.4 Dried Pork1.2.5 Dried Sheepmeat1.2.6 Other1.3 Global Dried Meats Segment by Application1.3.1 Dried Meats Consumption (Sales)Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Human Beings1.3.3 Pets1.3.4 Other1.4 Global Dried Meats Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Dried Meats 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)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
Fresh Meat Packaging Market 2017 - Industry Survey, Market Size, Competitive Trends, Outlook and Forecasts up to 2022

https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/364525

https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-fresh-meat-packaging-market-research-report-2017

https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/364525

https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/send-an-enquiry/364525

QY Research Groups has published its new and latest market report based on thorough research on the Fresh Meat Packaging Market. This detailed, all-inclusive report renders an integrated approach to growth of the market along with an elaborate and accurate analysis of the complete competitive situation of this market on a global level with the key market trends and newest technologies, being a major part in the markets growth during the estimated period.Besides the current analytical and statistical account, the report cloaks the trends, market drivers, challenges, potential opportunities, which have an effect on the market. This market report discusses the present situation to predicted trends and aspects of the Fresh Meat Packaging Market. Furthermore, it gives a dynamic overview and insights related to the market at both global as well as regional scale.Request for sample of Fresh Meat Packaging Market research report @Global Fresh Meat Packaging market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, and revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingAmcor Limited, Dupont, Bemis Company, Inc., Berry Plastic Group, Winpack Ltd., Sealed Air Corp., Crown Holdings, Reynolds Group, Coveris Holdings S.A., Sealpac International BV.On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoModified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), Vacuum Skin Packaging (VSP), Vacuum Thermoformed Packaging (VTP), OthersOn 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 Fresh Meat Packaging for each application, includingBeef, Pork, Poultry, Seafood, OthersDistinguishing the increasing predominance of Fresh Meat Packaging Market, this market research report demonstrates to be a key source of management and thorough data on the market across the globe. In order to strategize the outlook and prospects, this report assesses the current market status along with the altering trends in the market.It is a methodical research depending on the market and examines the competitive framework of the global Fresh Meat Packaging Market industry. Comprehensive information attained from trusted sources from the industry and via proven research methodological analysis, this report gives the 360 degree data on this market. The report features market figures, graphs, and data and renders a superior level strategic plan of the global market.Detailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Fresh Meat Packaging Market Research Report available @Several acknowledgeable tools based on analysis have been put to use to render an in-depth evaluation of the market. The report cloaks every aspect of the global market for Anthrax Vaccines. Starting from basic ground-level information to advanced market segmentation and classification depending on separate criteria. It studies the prime segments and the regional segregation of the market and assists in establishing the future of the market in the global arena.The report renders penetrates into the competitive landscape of the global market industry along with major manufacturers profiled in the report. The Fresh Meat Packaging Market is extremely competitive and regulated. Lastly, trends, plans, company profiles, business strategies, M&As, financial metrics and strategical business planning of the leading market players in the global market of this industry have been analyzed in this study.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-7 Global Fresh Meat Packaging Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Amcor Limited7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Amcor Limited Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Dupont7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Dupont Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Bemis Company, Inc.7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Bemis Company, Inc. Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Berry Plastic Group7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Berry Plastic Group Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Winpack Ltd.7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Winpack Ltd. Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Sealed Air Corp.7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Sealed Air Corp. Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Crown Holdings7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Crown Holdings Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Reynolds Group7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Reynolds Group Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Coveris Holdings S.A.7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Coveris Holdings S.A. Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Sealpac International BV.7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Fresh Meat Packaging Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Sealpac International BV. Fresh Meat Packaging Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Fresh Meat Packaging Manufacturing Cost Analysis8.1 Fresh Meat Packaging Key Raw Materials Analysis8.1.1 Key Raw Materials8.1.2 Price Trend of Key Raw Materials8.1.3 Key Suppliers of Raw Materials8.1.4 Market Concentration Rate of Raw Materials8.2 Proportion of Manufacturing Cost Structure8.2.1 Raw Materials8.2.2 Labor Cost8.2.3 Manufacturing Expenses8.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Fresh Meat PackagingEnquiry before Buying @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.Jia WangRoom B1510, ShijiKemao Building, No.66, Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China
Practice Management Systems Market - Global Markets & Advanced Technologies

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/practice-management-systems-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12185

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Practice Management Systems Market: OverviewMedical practice is defined as the science and the art of healing in accordance with scientific diagnosis of the disease. Medical practice therefore, requires significant volume of patient data which is difficult to maintain in the long run especially if its recorded in the physical form of documents and files. The entry of computer software and software systems like SaaS (Software as a Service) has greatly assisted in the overall process of patient data and medical practice data management. Medical Practice Management System (PMS) is a software that helps medical organization (or clinic) to record patient data, fix appointments with practitioners, maintain record of insurance payment companies (and contacting them when required), perform billing related tasks and generate final reports. PMS nowadays are integrated with Electronic Medical Records (EMR) that deals strictly with patient medical data (medical and treatment history) as an all inclusive data management system.Obtain Report Details:PMS is designed according to the volume of data that needs to be maintained, the size of the organization and their financial capacity. Generally PMS are classified as; desktop variants for limited computers, client-server (physical servers) for large institutions with strong finance and requirement for easy access to patients confidential data, and internet server (virtual/cloud servers) for institutions that require cost saving alternatives. Software companies offer services in different price ranges varying from few hundreds to thousands of dollars depending upon aforesaid parameters. Integrated systems (EMR and PMS) are more expensive in comparison to standalone services. Some companies that provide these services are Acrendo Softwares, Allegiance MD, WRS Health, Practo Ray and Athena Health to name a few.Practice Management Systems Market: Opportunities and TrendsPMS have a great future ahead, as medical institutions worldwide see it as a better alternative to physical document records which have a very high error rate bringing into light the nature of human incompetency, that are minimized to a great extent in PMS. Also, medical errors result in severe adverse events and death, this is efficiently tackled by the presence of automated programmed software. Cost saving is another financial reason for a shift into PMS, it reduces data management costs and as a result the overall medical treatment costs. Medical insurance claims and payouts also see a positive change with fast processing times. Countries like the U.S. also offer subsidies to hospitals opting for such systems.Practice Management Systems Market: RestraintsPMS however, is useful only as long as the personals are trained in the dynamics of the software, this requires training and practice. Many countries also have strict patient confidentiality laws, any breach or leak patient records may pose a great threat to the integrity of the whole process and shall render an institution liable for prosecution by the law. In such a situation, PMS becomes more of a liability than assistance. However, with entry of Asian software companies like Practo Ray who have developed portable android based software systems can be easily accessed and require minimum training. Cost effective alternatives are on the rise along with better algorithms to integrate the complete process of medical practice.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Practice Management Systems Market: Regional InsightPMS market is expected to increase owing to the presence of virtual/cloud based service systems, these enable companies far offshore to provide services at competitive prices. Service providers are at present largely based in the North America and European region, where the demand is the highest owing to large population patients with health insurance. The PMS market in Asia-Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR owing to more number of companies establishing business in this region coupled shift in service providers from the North American region to emerging economies. Also, with greater returns on investment a large number of Asian medical institutions are now opting for PMS.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research,customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional marketintelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals andmaterials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, amongothers. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of themarket with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, keytrends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Just new on the market  BHT-1600 by DENSO combines smartphone with mobile data capture

DENSO's BHT-1600 combines smartphone with mobile data capture

https://www.denso-autoid-eu.com/en.html

The ruggedized version of the PDA-style BHT-1600 is extremely robust and offers numerous advantages.Innovative new BHT-1600 with Android 6.X by DENSO is now on the market. / Smartphone and handheld terminal for mobile data capture in one device. / Scanner can be used in retail, transport, logistics, production, field & sales force automation and in the health sector. / Ruggedized version is extremely robust due to its pre-installed protective cover. / Device is equipped with NFC technology. / Further information on NFC, QR Code, scanners, handheld terminals, mobile data capture, and DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit at the company's website. /Dusseldorf. Modern digitalization is not only a big challenge for all logistics and their sectors such as in transport and production, but also for retail, field & sales automation and the health market. Digitalization is progressing rapidly in all fields, and therefore, the technology with which complex operations are carried out, must be further developed to meet these new requirements. DENSO, part of the Toyota group and inventor of the QR Code, has now launched a new scanner specifically designed to meet the market demand for devices that combine standard mobile data capture with all the advantages of modern smartphones. The BHT-1600 was launched in the style of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It comes with Android 6.X and NFC technology. Sina Haupt, Marketing Assistant of the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit, explains: Our BHT-1600 in the ruggedized version is much more robust than comparable devices on the market today. One reason for this is the pre-installed special protective cover. The other advantage is the shatterproof Dragontrail glass that our scanner is equipped with. That way, it can fall on concrete without getting damaged instantly. The maximum height from which the ruggedized version of the BHT-1600 can be dropped is 1.8 metres. Further information on the DENSO scanners and handheld terminals, on RFID and NFC, the QR Code, solutions for mobile data capture, and the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit, can be found atIn addition to its robustness, further key features of the new DENSO Android 6.X PDA scanner are the integrated mobile data capture scanning engine coupled with all common standard applications support for wireless communication such as Bluetooth, WiFi or 4G. All this combined with in an appealing design, compact size, and an ergonomic weight. Sina Haupt points out some of the many advantages that the new data capture device offers: The BHT-1600 increases the users mobility and makes real-time management of the stock piles in storage possible. Furthermore, the movement of goods can be managed much more easily. That way, the employees can get more precise results while lowering the overall operating costs. Also, the data to manage the stock arrangement on retail shelves and in storage units is available immediately. All this improves the coordination in storage areas and shortens the transit times between back office and front office. Ultimately, the BHT-1600 offers exactly those features that are important in the logistics, transport, production, retail, field & sales force automation, and the health sectors: an extremely robust and shockproof case, reliability, flexible communication possibilities, and an efficient mobile data capture function. Additionally, USB OTG (On the Go) is also possible. Depending on the requirements, the handheld terminal can be programmed both as USB master or USB slave. Further information on all DENSO products, such as handheld terminals and scanners for mobile data capture, RFID and NFC, personal digital assistants (PDA), the QR Code, and the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit is available at the company's website.Before the new handheld terminal, which combines mobile data capture and smartphone features, was released onto the market, DENSOs partners had already tried and tested the BHT-1600. They especially pointed out that the function keys are ideally placed and that the device works smoothly with WLAN. Additionally, the satisfied partners underlined that the display could be operated easily while wearing different types of gloves such as nitrile, latex or even thick work gloves. The satisfied users also said that the readability of the 4.7-inch display was outstanding. With the scanner and high-end camera, SQRC and FrameQR Codes can be captured securely. Overall, the BHT-1600 can scan both 1D and 2D codes easily and securely. The fact that the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit has been working with many of their partners for over 20 years already is not only based on the high quality of the handheld terminals and scanners, but also on the service and technical support offered. Our technicians are ready at all times to help our clients during the launch of the BHT-1600, of course. We are very happy and thankful for all the positive feedback that we have received to date. Furthermore, we will continue to face the challenges that the digital world brings up. After all, we are really motivated to develop new innovative data capturing devices, says Sina Haupt.For the European market, the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit is the contact window for all enquiries on QR Codes, mobile data capture, handheld terminals and scanners. The durable and robust terminals and scanners manufactured by DENSO are to be found in storage, logistics, POS, production and field & sales automation applications. Short and informative video clips about the terminals, scanners and solutions from the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit can now be viewed on YouTube. The clips include the 20th anniversary of the QR Code, a company presentation, and introductions to the various devices for mobile data capture such as the BHT-1500, BHT-1400 and the GT20 scanner.QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.DENSO is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of mobile data capture devices. We follow one mission: Driven by Quality  maximum quality in mobile data capture. Decision-makers in the fields of retail, logistics and production rely on DENSO for their business requirements and in implementing the Internet of Things. DENSO is a member of the Toyota Group and is exclusively represented in Europe by the DENSO Auto-ID Business Unit of TT Network Integration Europe: http://www.denso-autoid-eu.com/en.html.DENSO Auto-ID Business UnitImmermannstr. 65 BD-40210 DusseldorfPhone +49 (0)211 545547 450Managing Director:Takashi HaraMarketing Assistant:Sina HauptPhone +49 (0)211 545547 403E-Mail:Sina.Haupt@denso-autoid-eu.comWebsite:http://www.denso-autoid-eu.com/en.htmlPress Contact:PPR HamburgRafael R. Pilsczek, M. A.Sinstorfer Kirchweg 18D-21077 HamburgPhone +49 (0)40 32 80 89 80Fax +49 (0)40 65 58 43 58Mobil: +49 (0)170 310 79 72
Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Forecast up to 2023: Global Industry Analysis of Key Players, Growth, Trends, Drivers, & Challenges

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/45384/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/45384/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/homecare-oxygen-concentrators-market

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-and-chinese-endoscopes-industry-2017-market/?utm_source=RR-SP

http://marketsizeforecasters.com/

Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (North America, U.S., Canada, Europe, Germany, UK, Asia Pacific, China, Japan, Latin America, Brazil, MEA, South Africa), Application Development status, Sales, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2023.Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market size will exceed USD 1.5 billion by 2023; as per a new research study.Growing healthcare expenditure, disposable income trends and the favorable reforms will drive homecare oxygen concentrators market size. Improvement in healthcare infrastructure coupled with introduction of technologically advanced homecare devices should propel industry growth.Request a Sample Copy of Global Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Research Report @High prevalence of chronic pulmonary and respiratory disorders along with rapid adoption of home healthcare services for patient care should stimulate global homecare oxygen concentrators market size. Spurring geriatric population and increasing exposure to dust and pollution will also accelerate homecare oxygen concentrators demand, fueling the industry growth.Homecare oxygen concentrators market growth should be restrained by the strict government regulations and longer approval time for medical devices. Presence of environmental guidelines for use and disposal of oxygen concentrators by-products should also hamper industry expansion.Portable home oxygen concentrators led the industry growth with over USD 480 million for 2015. It is the most widely used homecare oxygen concentrator owing to its ease of use, light weight and ability to provide effective care to the patients suffering from COPD and other respiratory diseases.Liquid oxygen is the fastest growing business segment with industry size set to exceed USD 125 million by 2024. Some of the factors contributing to its high growth are its capacity to store more oxygen volume in lesser space, light weight and its affordability due to no electricity consumption. Some of the key companies operating in homecare oxygen concentrators market space include Covidien, Teijen, Precision Medical, Invacare, AirSep, Yuwell, BOC Healthcare, Nidek Medical, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, and Philips Healthcare.Enquiry Discount for Global Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Research Report @U.S. homecare oxygen concentrators market share was over 88% of regional revenue in 2015. High prevalence of respiratory diseases, rising demand for home healthcare for geriatric population and growing adoption of innovative products will drive business growth. Presence of favorable regulatory and reimbursement policies should also boost industry growth.Germany homecare oxygen concentrators market share accounted for over 31% of regional revenue in 2015. Large unmet needs for home healthcare services and increased prevalence of COPD will fuel Industry growth. Presence of large number of industry players will also stimulate business expansion.UK homecare oxygen concentrators market should witness lucrative growth over forecast years to reach USD 118 million by 2023. Increasing geriatric population, improved healthcare services and rapid growth related to new product development should drive industry growth.Japan should propel regional homecare oxygen concentrators market growth on account of its rising disposable income and favorable government initiatives to control healthcare costs. Japan homecare oxygen concentrators market size was over USD 52 million in 2015 and anticipated to exceed USD 138 million by 2023. New product development and market expansion through strategic collaborations are the most commonly adopted strategies in the competitive market space.Homecare oxygen concentrators market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of revenue in USD million from 2012 to 2023, for the following segments:Global Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market By Product: Portable home Oxygen Concentrators, Compressed gas oxygen cylinders, Liquid oxygen.The above information is provided for the following regions and countries:North America, U.S., Canada, Europe, Germany, UK, Asia Pacific, China, Japan, Latin America, Brazil, MEA, South Africa.For more information about Global Homecare Oxygen Concentrators Market Report @Related Reports: -Global and Chinese Endoscopes Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportThe 'Global and Chinese Endoscopes Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Endoscopes industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Endoscopes manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Machine Condition Monitoring Market Application Analysis and Forecast- Global Market Worth USD 2,700 Million by 2022

Machine Condition Monitoring Market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2776

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/machine-condition-monitoring-market-2776

Market HighlightsThe study reveals that machine condition monitoring is trending in North America region. The machine condition monitoring market is driven by the innovation in transmitter and sensor technology and automation of processes. A recent trend in IoT and smart technologies is boosting the machine condition monitoring market.The study indicates that the shift from preventive to predictive maintenance is resulted as the key driver for machine condition monitoring market. The study indicates that an increase in need for reduced maintenance cost is boosting machine condition monitoring. The study reveals that the lack of customization and increased costs results as a limitation to the machine condition monitoring market.The Machine Condition Monitoring Market is growing rapidly over 5% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD ~2,700 million by the end of forecast period.Machine Condition Monitoring Market SegmentationThe Machine Condition Monitoring Market has been segmented on the basis of end-user and region. Looking through the end-user segment it has been observed that automotive sector has shown a substantial increase in Machine Condition Monitoring Market and holds the largest market share. The study indicates that the pharmaceutical sector is expected to show a sudden hike in the machine condition monitoring market.Request a Sample Copy of Report @Key Players:The prominent players in the Machine Condition Monitoring market are Emerson Electric (U.S.) General Electric (U.S.) Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.) National Instruments (U.S.) Rockwell Automation (U.S.) Azima Dli (U.S.) Bruel & Kjaer Sound and Vibration Measurement (U.S.) Flir Systems (U.S.) Fluke Corporation (U.S.) SKF (Sweden)Access Report Details @Market Research Analysis:On geographic basis, Machine Condition Monitoring Market is studied in different regions as Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. It has been observed that North America region is leading in the machine condition monitoring market. North America is expected to grow with a high rate as well as hold the largest market share in the machine condition monitoring market. It has been observed that from last couple of years North America is improving and is making heavy investments to upgrade existing thermal power plants and build new ones based on natural gas to meet the growing domestic power demand thus boosting the adoption of machine condition monitoring. The study shows that European region has a positive growth in the Machine Condition Monitoring Market owing to government initiatives in this region. The developing economies in Asia-pacific regions like China, Japan and others are showing high adoption in the machine condition monitoring systems.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Pelvic Floor Electrical Stimulation Device Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2016-2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pelvic-floor-electrical-stimulation-device-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=17438

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Electrical stimulation is a therapeutic treatment to treat muscle spasms and pain. It prevents atrophy and builds strength in patients with injuries. It is helpful to keep muscles active, especially after a spinal cord injury or stroke. Electrical muscle stimulation can be used to strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles. Stimulating activity can be achieved by passive contraction of the pelvic floor muscles through the transmission of low grade electrical impulses to the nerves that supply impulse to the bladder and other sections in the pelvic area. The small electrical impulses are delivered to the pelvic structures through an internal vaginal method or anal electrode method. Posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) is done by inserting a small electrode through skin of lower legs. The electrode can be connected through pulse generator. Similarly, sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is done using a pacemaker like stimulator above the skin which plays an important role in functioning of the bladder. However, new developments in medical devices allow imaging at the cellular and molecular level, paving the way for earlier diagnosis and treatment by pelvic floor stimulation.Obtain Report Details:High prevalence of diseases such as urinary infection, neurological diseases, rising patient awareness, growing research and development initiatives, and increasing demand for electric stimulation devices such as electrodes and pacemakers are the major factors driving the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 17 million adults in the U.S. suffer from urinary incontinence, where women are twice affected as compared to men. Nearly 35% of female Medicare beneficiaries and 25% of male beneficiaries are estimated to suffer from urinary incontinence. Cost of reagents and sensitivity toward electrical impulses from the devices used during treatment are expected to hamper the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market from 2016 to 2024.The global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market has been segmented by device type, treatment, end-user, and geography. In terms of device type, the pelvic floor electrical stimulation market is classified into non-implantable electrical stimulator device and implantable electrical stimulator device. Based on treatment type, the market is classified into pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), intravaginal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS). In terms of end-user, the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market is classified into hospitals and ambulatory surgical units. The non-implantable device type segment is projected to witness strong growth driven by increase in urinary incontinence among the population, rising number of elderly women, and obesity. The Journal of Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing 2016 has conducted a study to evaluate the effect of intravaginal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in women with multiple sclerosis disease in order to compare the efficacy of the approaches.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Geographically, the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market due to increasing number of elderly women, rising obesity, and urinary infection rates. Early-phase diagnosis and treatment of disease is driving the medical biotechnology market, which in turn is expected to propel the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market in North America. Europe is the second largest market for pelvic floor electrical stimulation devices due to favorable government policies regarding improvement of health standards for women and awareness programs by NHS and other health institutions. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rising population, changing lifestyle, aging population, and increasing per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth has led to improvement in health care infrastructure in developing countries such as India, China, and southeast Asia. These factors collectively support the growth of the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market in Asia Pacific.Major players operating in the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market include Boston Scientific, Coloplast A/S, C. R. Bard, Inc., and Ethicon, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson).The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research,customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional marketintelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals andmaterials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, amongothers. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of themarket with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, keytrends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Enterprise Mobility Market to Exhibit 24.7% CAGR during 2015-2022, Boosted by Demand for Operational Efficiency in Enterprises

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/enterprise-mobility-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6113

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

In its latest report, Transparency Market Research studies the growth trajectory exhibited by the global enterprise mobility market and the factors compelling organizations to adopt these advanced solutions. The report is titled Enterprise Mobility Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2022, and is available on the companys website for sale.Mobility is regarded as an important element for business organizations to enjoy uninterrupted operations. Earlier desk phones or wired telephones used to be the most common mode of communication in organizations. However, the advent of sophisticated wireless devices helping people stay connected online or with one another at any time of the day from anywhere, has revolutionized the paradigm of mobility for enterprises worldwide. Enterprise mobility has, therefore, emerged as the most viable solution for businesses, helping them cope with the demands of a competitive business environment.Obtain Report Details @Enterprise mobility refers to the trend promoting a shift in work culture, allowing employees to work from outside office premises by using cloud services and mobile devices. With the introduction of the latest technologies, enterprise mobility has become indispensable for organizations regardless of their size or specialization. This is a sophisticated solution enabling businesses to stay connected with their clients and employees irrespective of their location. With an increasing number of companies from around the world seeking enterprise mobility solutions to leverage the latest wireless technologies, the market for enterprise mobility is anticipated to exhibit robust growth.According to the findings of the TMR report, the global enterprise mobility market, which in 2014 stood at US$86.36 bn, is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$510.39 bn by the end of 2022. If the figures hold true, the global market for enterprise mobility will exhibit an incredible CAGR of 24.7% between 2015 and 2022.With organizations around the world increasingly demanding better operational speed and efficiency, the global market for enterprise mobility is poised to expand exponentially. Enterprise mobility solutions are usually customized as per the distinct requirement of enterprises to keep the complex web of their activities and assets running without any disruptions.Based on device, the global enterprise mobility market is segmented into laptops, tablets, and smartphones. In 2014, laptops emerged in the market as the most preferred device. However, the demand for smartphones is also anticipated to increase substantially during the reports forecast period. In terms of software, the global enterprise market is segmented into mobile application management, mobile device management, telecom expense management, mobile message management, and content and enterprise email management. Of these, mobile device management emerged as the most widely used software.Based on application, the market is segmented into BFSI, education and government, IT and telecommunications, hospitality and retail, automotive and manufacturing, media, life sciences, and healthcare. In 2014, the IT and telecommunications segment accounted for the largest share in the market.Regionally, North America led the global market for enterprise mobility. Growth in the region is mainly facilitated by the emergence of a mobile user workforce across multiple industry domains.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The report provides an executive-level blueprint of the global enterprise mobility market, presenting insights into the factors impacting the markets growth trajectory and growth exhibited by the various market segments.To provide a holistic overview of the markets competitive landscape, it profiles some of the leading companies operating therein. The market for enterprise mobility is fragmented in nature, with the presence of several companies. The majority of these enterprises are focusing on expanding their businesses by catering to the varying demands of consumers. Some of the most prominent companies profiled in the report are Symantec Corporation, MobileIron, SOTI, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Alcatel Lucent S.A., Avaya Inc., Citrix Systems Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., AirWatch LLC, Aruba Inc., Meru Networks, and others.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:
Product Innovation and Differentiation will Enable Solid State Drive Manufacturers to Cut Through the Competition

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/solid-state-drive-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2978

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The global solid state drive (SSD) market is currently witnessing a progressive increase in competition. As per a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the rivalry prevailing among key players has played a role in the creation of a consolidated vendor landscape in the SSD market. Companies such as Intel Corporation, Micron Technology, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd have been identified as the leading players in the market. These companies together held a share of around 51% in the global SSD market in 2014.Targeting lucrative segments, acquisitions and partnerships, and providing high-capacity solutions to clients and enterprises are among the most widely seen strategies adopted by the companies operating in the market. They are also focusing on product innovation and differentiation to strengthen both revenues and geographical reach. This will further help accelerate the demand for SSDs.Obtain Report Details @Rising Incorporation of SSDs in Mobile Devices Emerges as Significant Market DriverThe rising use of SSDs for manufacturing the latest models in mobile devices will emerge as a crucial driver for the global solid state drive market, said a lead TMR analyst. The mobile phone industry is incorporating SSDs to improve the performance of mobile devices and reduce the application launch time, thus boosting the speed of the devices. The intrinsic benefits of SSDs are encouraging leading players such as Apple, Inc. to incorporate SSDs in mobile devices manufactured by them. The use of SSDs as primary storage in hand-held devices such as notebooks and ultraportable computers and gadgets has therefore increased considerably.Currently hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturers enjoy a greater share of the demand; however, performance benefits offered by SSDs will soon influence the HDD markets trajectory, added the TMR analyst. Unlike SSDs, which store information in a microchip, HDDs have mechanically designed moving parts that make them vulnerable to damage. Moreover, SSDs consume lesser power and provide high-performing features such as error correction, garbage correction, read-write caching, and encryption. The compact form factor has worked well for SSDs enabling them to be fitted into smaller spaces. The growing knowledge regarding benefits offered by SSDs over HDDs will thus bolster demand for the former in the forthcoming years.Besides this, TMR expects the use of SSDs to considerably increase among cloud providers aiming to scale up their operations and performance. TMR finds these factors extremely beneficial, creating positive growth opportunities for the global solid state drive market.High Price of SSDs will Negatively Impact their DemandSSDs come with a high price tag. This is a key factor threatening the markets growth to an extent. A combination of expensive manufacturing process, costly raw materials, and relatively low market negative is impacting the demand for SSDs. However, in the long term, the adverse impact of high price of SSDs is expected to reduce as SSDs will eventually beat HDD prices. This limits the possibility of their increased adoption in the highly lucrative low-cost mobile sector, states TMR.Nevertheless, technological breakthroughs are creating novel opportunities for the sales of solid state drives. The latest technological advancements are likely to increase the capacities of SSDs well beyond what HDDs offer. This will provide SSD manufacturers with much scope for reducing the prices at which they make their products available in the market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Spurred by the aforementioned factors, TMR projects the global SSD market to rise at an exponential 40.7% CAGR between 2015 and 2022. The market stood at US$15.1 bn in 2014 and is expected to reach US$229.4 bn by the end of 2022. By end user, enterprise SSD is likely to exhibit the highest CAGR of 76.3% between 2015 and 2022, in terms of revenue. Currently, Asia Pacific dominates the global solid state drive market. The presence of several key manufacturers will enable the APAC market rise at a CAGR of 42.5% in terms of revenue, from 2015 to 2022.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:
Flat Panel X-Ray Detectors Market: Globalization Leads to Greater Uptake of Newer Technologies

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/flat-panel-xray-detectors-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=18920

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

A collective share in the global flat panel x-ray detectors market of 56.1% in 2015 was held by Konica Minolta, Inc., PerkinElmer, Olympus Corporation, and Rayence, Inc. Their strong presence in the market has overshadowed the much smaller shares held by regional players in the key regions of North America and Europe.As stated in a research report published by Transparency Market Research, the global flat panel x-ray detectors market is likely to continue being dominated by these players in terms of size and revenue generation rates. The degree of rivalry between them is expected to be very high over the coming years, while players are trying to cater to the growing demand for new, improved, advanced flat panel detectors. The leaders in the market are largely interested in creating cost-effective solutions in order to penetrate the markets in emerging economies.Obtain Report Details @Technological Improvements in Flat Panel X-Ray Detectors Find Greater Regional ContactMany markets have taken up the advantages to civilization brought about by globalization and attaining a global commercial perspective, including the global flat panel x-ray detectors market. The introduction of newer technologies is being received positively by all key regions, thereby creating a surge in uptake for all advanced X-ray systems. Digital X-ray systems are far more advanced than the older analog technologies and have been successfully introduced to the large client pools from emerging economies, states a TMR analyst.The global flat panel x-ray detectors market is also being driven by the steadily lowering price caps of flat panel technologies, primarily due to an increase in their manufacturing rate as taken up by nations such as India and China. The market is also benefitting from the current advancements in radiology. One of the key application segments that players from the global flat panel x-ray detectors market need to look out for is the manufacturing sector. Manufacturers are increasingly adopting flat panel x-ray detectors in order to improve product quality to get an edge over competitors. This is seen especially in the manufacture of automobiles, healthcare devices, and defense and aerospace equipment. Security companies are also taking up flat panel x-ray detectors amid the growing concerns over safety and anti-infiltration advancements in aerospace.Advancements Slowed by High Regulatory PressureOne of the key factors hindering the overall growth rate of the global flat panel x-ray detectors market is the extremely strict regulatory framework surrounding them. Flat panel detectors technically fall into the category of radiation emission and radiation devices. This puts an additional strain on manufacturers into building devices considered as safe under these norms.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The emerging economies are currently showing a great deal of promise to ramp up their demand for flat panel x-ray detectors. India, China, Brazil, and South Africa are among the key countries that global entities are targeting in terms of increasing sales of flat panel x-ray detectors as well as introducing manufacturing facilities. Countries in the Asia Pacific regions are showing an especially positive outlook towards adopting newer technologies, thereby improving the revenue generation scope of current players, adds the analyst.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Man charged with lascivious acts

MASON CITY | A Mason City man was arrested Saturday on a warrant for a felony charge of lascivious acts with a child.

Christopher Alan Hull, 36, touched a 10-year-old child's genitals and placed the child's hand on his own genitals in 2015 in Mason City, according to the criminal complaint filed on April 19.

Hull was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $10,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 12.

 Mary Pieper

Inflatable Fun Day at CLHS

North Iowa Youth Center will host Inflatable Fun Day at Clear Lake High School Saturday.

Music, face painting, balloon animals, door prizes and several large inflatables will be available to kids from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Socks are requires to play on the inflatables.

Admission is $5 per person and children 3 years and under are free. All proceeds go to North Iowa Youth Center.

The first 50 mothers in attendance will receive a rose donated by Stanley Woolery. Bring your own sack lunch to eat at the gym.

For more information, find the event on Facebook or call 641-423-1883.

Workshop on planning and health

MASON CITY | Local decision-makers, planners, zoning and design professionals are invited to a health planning and design workshop in Mason City on Thursday.

The workshop will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Center (North Iowa Regional Commerce Center), 9 N. Federal Ave.

The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health has received funding to help bring in a specialist in healthy community planning and design for this workshop, which is being facilitated by the American Planning Associations Iowa Chapter.

The workshop will focus on embedding health into planning, design and community decisions to support community and resident health.

To register for the workshop, contact Kelli Gerdes at kgerdes@cghealth.com or call 641-421-9312.

Start Smart workshop offered

MASON CITY | Start Smart, a free workshop for those considering starting their own business, will be offered from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday at IowaWORKS, 600 S. Pierce Ave.

The workshop is offered by The North Iowa Area Community College Pappajohn Center and the Small Business Development Center.

Participants will learn how to create a business plan, do market research, consider different types of business ownership and register a business.

To register, contact Mary Spitz at 641-422-4342 or mary.spitz@niacc.edu.

Presentation on LBD set

MASON CITY | A presentation titled "Living with Lewy Body Dementia from a Caregiver's Perspective" is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at Homestead Assisted Living & Memory Care.

The primary goal is to equip professionals to treat those with LBD.

LBD is the second most frequent form of dementia but the most misdiagnosed, according to a new release about the presentation.

Homestead is located at 2501 W. State St., Mason City.

Mother and Son dance set

MASON CITY | IOOF Home and Community Therapy Center is having a Mother and Son dance Friday to raise money for its foundation.

Mother and Son Night of Fun will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Music Man Square.

Sons of all ages and mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters all are welcome.

Tickets are available on Eventbrite, the IOOF Home website, and at the IOOF Home for $15 a pair and $5 for each additional guest. Tickets are non-refundable.
Cumene Sulfonic Acid market products, applications & Performance Forecast

https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1403

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1403

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/cumene-sulfonic-acid-market

https://www.gminsights.com

Cumene sulfonic acid market has wide range of applications including thermoset resins used in paints & coating industry, esterification process, and phenolic foams and various pharmaceutical applications.Purchase Cumene sulfonic acid Market Report by calling Global Market Insights, Inc. at 1-888-689-0688 (Toll Free) or 1-302-846-7766Cumene Sulfonic Acid Market size is flourishing and is projected to grow at a healthy rate over the projected timeframe. Cumene is an oily, colourless and aromatic hydrocarbon attained from propylene and benzene. The product is an aromatic sulfonic acid synthesized by sulfonation process in which cumene is treated with sulphuric acid in the presence of oleum.Paints & coating market is growing significantly at a CAGR close to 5% and is expected to have a positive influence on the cumene sulfonic acid market size in the coming years. Robust growth in pharmaceutical industry due to intensifying focus on R&D will eventually result in prominent contribution towards growing trends in cumene sulfonic acid market size by 2024.Request for table of contents of Cumene Sulfonic Acid Market research report @he product is extensively employed in preparing esters which has widespread applications in cosmetics industry used in synthetic flavours, perfumes, deodorants etc. Changing life style has resulted in thriving cosmetics industry and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 4%. Growing demand for esters in cosmetics industry will lead to mounting cumene sulfonic acid market size in the coming years.The product has extensive range of applications in various end-user industries such as pharmaceuticals, construction, paints & coatings, etc. and henceforth likely to have rising opportunities which will heavily contribute towards growing cumene sulfonic acid market size over the projected timeframe.The Cumene sulfonic acid Market Report Consists of,1. Methodology and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Cumene sulfonic acid Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2. Industry size, forecast and growth expectations, 2016 - 20243.3. Industry ecosystem analysis3.4. Raw material insights3.5. Technology insights3.6. Regulatory framework3.7. Industry dynamics3.8. Key growth opportunities3.9. Porter's analysis3.10. Company market share, 20153.11. PESTEL analysis3.14. Regional price trends4. Cumene sulfonic acid Product Insights5. Cumene sulfonic acid Application Insights6. Cumene sulfonic acid Regional Insights7. Competitor ProfilesInquire about to purchase Cumene sulfonic acid Market research report@In Asia Pacific, rapid industrialization and urbanization is prevailing in developing countries including India and China and will result in growing trends in construction industry. Henceforth, it will positively influence cumene sulfonic acid market size in future. North America and Europe contributed a prominent chunk of the overall industry share in 2016.Key global cumene sulfonic acid market players are Kuantum Corp, RUTGERS Organics Corp., Henan Fengbai Chemical Co., Ltd., Nandadeep Chemicals Private Limited, Nease Company, LLC, Wuhan Jadechem International Trade Co., Zibo Dehong Chemical Technical Co., Ltd., etc. Most of these players are employed in activities spread across the entire industry ecosystem.Browse complete summary of Cumene sulfonic acid Market report @About Global Market Insights, Inc.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105,Ocean View DelawareUnited States 19970
Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Market Global Industry Top Manufacturers, Product Type, Growth, By End-User Industry, Geography Trends & Forecasts 2024

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/45385/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/45385/?utm_source=OPR-SP

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/linear-low-density-polyethylene-lldpe-market

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-limestone-market/?utm_source=RR-SP

http://marketsizeforecasters.com/

Worldwide Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Market report of 2017 provides a detailed market overview as well as industry analysis for / of companies, manufacturers and distributors covering data on gross margin, cost structure, consumption value, sale price and more.Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Market size will cross USD 60 billion by 2024 according to a new research report.LLDPE market is projected to grow at a moderate rate and the growth is extensively attributed to robust increase in retail packaging, automotive, agriculture and other consumer goods. Global packaging industry is set to cross USD 1 trillion by 2024, with its major usage in paper & board sector. Innovation in processed food and beverages products packaging designs is taking place as leading brands such as Cadburry, Nestle etc. are setting a global benchmark for different package formats.Request a Sample Copy of Global Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Market Research Report @LLDPE demand as a substitute for other polyethylene grades such as LDPE and HDPE is increasing, owing to better physical and chemical properties of the product. The polymer is extensively used in canal lining, hazardous waste liners, mining, packaging industry, and geomembrane liners. Increasing application avenues of the product is set to accelerate its market at a substantial pace.LLDPE is also used in manufacturing bags and sacks due to growing demand for rigid posture and excellent finish in final products. It is also increasingly used for other applications such as injection molding, a plastic component manufacturing process. This process is used to produce bottle caps, automotive dashboards, pocket combs, and wire spools. Growing injection molding adoption in the manufacturing industry coupled with rising applications of this technology augments linear low density polyethylene market.Asia Pacific accounted for over 40% of the market revenue in 2024. Rapid industrialization in the region due to flourishing automobiles, textiles, oil & natural gas, electronics, and manufacturing industries in emerging economies is giving a boost to construction spending and will propel linear low density polyethylene market. Organized retailing and rapidly expanding e-commerce in India, Thailand and Malaysia are strengthening the packaging sector which in turn will increase consumption of the product.Enquiry Discount for Global Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Market Research Report @North America is a pioneer in packed food & beverage products and its market for LLDPE films will be over USD 7.5 billion by 2024. U.S. has an established base of pharmaceutical companies and require these films for medical packaging. Construction spending in U.S. is forecast to grow at a CAGR of over 6% by 2024 owing to its infrastructural development. North America will witness CAGR of approximately 5% between 2016 to 2024.Europe is witnessing an upsurge in automobile, meat packaging, electronics, and telecommunication industries. The region is recognized as one of the largest automobile market globally with major OEM's and other automotive suppliers having base in Germany, Sweden etc. In Russia, 1.25 lakh new cars were registered in September 2016. These industries adopted rotomolding technology to manufacture their required components in which linear low density polyethylene is consumed widely. Rapid industrialization coupled with technological advancements have increased consumption of the product. Europe will register above 5% CAGR in linear low density polyethylene market.by 2024.Films likely to contribute to 70% of the application revenue share by 2024. LLDPE films are used in a wide range of applications such as food packaging, moisture resistance in the concrete structure, and prevention of soil erosion in agriculture. Global food packaging industry is projected to cross USD 310 billion by 2024. These films are also used for bags and sacks manufacturing due to its mechanical properties.Rotomolded LLDPE will record over USD 6.9 billion market revenue in 2024. This technology is being adopted extensively due to its benefits of being affordable and simpler than blow molding or injection molding. It is used in packaging, water treatment, automotive, agriculture, furniture, and construction industries.Key manufacturers in linear low density polyethylene market are Exxon Mobil Corporation, Mitsui and Westlake, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, INEOS Group AG, The Dow Chemical Company, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), Borealis AG, Mitsubishi Chemicals, LyondeBassells Industries N.V., Nova Chemicals Corporation, and Braskem S.A.Linear low density polyethylene market research report includes an in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of volume in kilotons & revenue in USD million from 2016 to 2024, for the following segments:Linear Low Density Polyethylene Market By Application: Films, Injection molding, Rotomolding, Others.The above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following: North America, U.S., Canada, Europe, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Asia Pacific, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Latin America, Brazil, Mexico, MEA, South Africa, GCC.For more information about Global Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) Market Report @Related Reports: -Global Limestone Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of calcium carbonate, plus calcium and/or magnesium. It is formed when layers of minerals (particularly calcite), fine sediment, and the skeletons and shells of marine organisms undergo lithification. Limestone is one of the most useful and versatile of all industrial minerals. It is widely used in architecture and it is the raw material for the manufacture of quicklime (calcium oxide), slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), cement and mortar.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Rubber Processing Chemicals Market, Application Development Potential, Price Trends, 2017-2024

https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1405

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/rubber-processing-chemicals-market

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/rubber-processing-chemicals-market

https://www.gminsights.com

The global rubber processing chemicals market size is propelled by positive growth initiators in the construction industry. As the product finds application in floor covering, roofing materials, sealants and sound insulators in the industry. Due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, the construction industry is gaining momentum and is expected to grow at a CAGR close to 4% over the projected timeframe. It is probable to positively influence the rubber processing chemicals market by 2024.Purchase rubber processing chemicals market Report by calling Global Market Insights, Inc. at 1-888-689-0688 (Toll Free) or 1-302-846-7766Rubber is a polymer of isoprene, harvested in the form of latex and contains minor impurities. The elasticity of rubber makes it suitable for shock absorbers and other applications to reduce vibrations in machinery. The product is used to increase the commercial viability of rubber in various end user applications. Automotive industry is a major growth driver for rubber industry due to heavy consumption of rubber in manufacturing tires and other small equipment.Request for table of contents of rubber processing chemicals market research report @Stringent regulations are imposed by government due to hazardous impact of the product on human health and environment. It is expected to curb the rubber processing chemicals market size in the coming future. Furthermore, the shift in the industry from conventional tires to green tires in future is likely to decrease the footholds and henceforth resulting in hampering the overall rubber processing chemicals market over the forecast timespan.Global rubber processing chemicals market share is divided based on product into accelerators, anti-degradants, flame retardants and processing aids/promoters. Anti-degradants are a major segment in the business and captures over 50% of market size in terms of revenue. During vulcanization process, it is mixed with other products including curing agents, accelerators and crude rubber to obtain exceptional results in terms of finishing, tensile strength and higher resistance from heat.The Rubber Processing Chemicals Market Report Consists of,1. Methodology and Scope2. Executive Summary3. Rubber Processing Chemicals Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2. Industry size, forecast and growth expectations, 2016 - 20243.3. Industry ecosystem analysis3.4. Raw material insights3.5. Technology insights3.6. Regulatory framework3.7. Industry dynamics3.8. Key growth opportunities3.9. Porter's analysis3.10. Company market share, 20153.11. PESTEL analysis3.14. Regional price trends4. Rubber Processing Chemicals Product Insights5. Rubber Processing Chemicals Application Insights6. Rubber Processing Chemicals Regional Insights7. Competitor ProfilesInquire about to purchase rubber processing chemicals market research report@In North America, countries including the U.S. and Canada has growing automobile sector due to consistent technological developments which are likely to scale the growth of rubber usage in the industry. It is expected to contribute towards growing trends in the rubber processing chemicals market. In Asia Pacific, countries including China and India are witnessing rapid industrialization and urbanization and henceforth resulting in booming construction industry.The key global players of rubber processing chemicals market share are BASF SE, Solvay SA, Lanxess AG, AkzoNobel N.V., R.T. Vanderbilt Holding Company, Inc., Eastman Chemicals Company, Arkema Inc., Sumitomo Chemical Company, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, LINKWELL, Merchem. Company and Emerald Performance Materials.Browse complete summary of rubber processing chemicals market report @About Global Market Insights, Inc.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact UsArun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1 888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105,Ocean View DelawareUnited States 19970
Savings in Purchasing Are More Than Doubled Thanks to Bundling

http://hubs.ly/H07rQSz0

http://hubs.ly/H07rR6_0

www.pool4tool.com

POOL4TOOL Customers Confirm Added Value from Digital Procurement ProcessesVienna | Munich | Belgrade | Detroit | Dubai | Singapore, May 9th, 2017  POOL4TOOL, the leading software specialist in digital procurement, conducted their annual customer satisfaction survey and received positive feedback. By digitizing their procurement processes, customers were able to significantly reduce their process and material costs. Customers are relying on the intelligent Procurement platform more and more to connect their purchasing organizations. When asked about the savings they were able to achieve through bundling, customers indicated more than a 100% increase. For POOL4TOOL, the online survey is an important means of measuring customers satisfaction with the companys products and performance.Based on the analysis of the most recent customer satisfaction survey, the procurement software vendor POOL4TOOL has received very high marks overall. The softwares contribution to increasing efficiency throughout the company is becoming more and more apparent. When asked about savings that the customers were able achieve with POOL4TOOL, there were noticeable improvements. In addition to being able to reduce material and process costs, customers also benefitted from the improved quality of their processes and improved supplier performance. The savings achieved as a result of bundling and risk prevention were even more significant. Customers indicated that the savings they were able to achieve through bundling and risk prevention increased 54% in comparison with last years results. When it came to savings resulting from the improved connection between international purchasing organizations, customers indicated a more than 100% increase.New Developments Strike a Chord with BuyersAccording to the survey, digital procurement (), digital supplier networks and more efficient QM processes are currently the most important issues for Purchasing. A comparison of trending topics with POOL4TOOLs product roadmap shows that the software vendor has their finger on the pulse when it comes to the issues that matter most to their customers. The intelligent procurement platform covers nearly 70% of customers business requirements with its all-in-one tool.The growing importance of mature QM processes is also evident from the increased use of POOL4TOOLs QM modules. However, solutions for more efficient supplier management and digital sourcing processes are still the most commonly used. POOL4TOOL is constantly working on new solutions for these areas of procurement in particular. The recently added Global Price Management tool improves global bundling, Savingstracking makes it easier to manage procurement initiatives, and Digital Category Management helps to improve the management of commodities.Long-term PartnershipThe annual customer satisfaction survey is a way for POOL4TOOL to gauge their customers attitudes and opinions towards their products and services outside of day-to-day business. We value our customers openness, because this is the only way for us to make improvements in the right areas, says Michael Rosch, the Chief Operations Officer at POOL4TOOL. Constructive feedback is extremely important for the success of future projects and cooperation with our customers. POOL4TOOL makes regular communication with their customers a priority. The companys willingness to work together with their clients to solve problems and develop new solutions has led to many successful and long-term partnerships. The customers interest in actively working on new solutions is clear: 61% of POOL4TOOLs customers want to have an active role in further developing the software in the future.POOL4TOOL is the intelligent procurement platform. The global leader in Direct Procurement software helps customers get the most out of eSourcing, Supplier Management and more. The all-in-one software can be built step-by-step. Connecting seamlessly to ERP, it uses workflows as unique as its users. With expertise from 15 years of partnership with manufacturing industries, the company is developing cognitive procurement. Over 300 customers worldwide use the platform to connect to a network of more than 300,000 suppliers. Learn more atPOOL4TOOL AG | Kathrin Kornfeld | Corporate Communications Manager | Wienerbergstr. 11 | A-1100 Vienna |Telephone: +43 (1) 80 490 80 | Email: kathrin.kornfeld@pool4tool.com
Global Automotive Drum Brake Market Rising at 3.74% CAGR During 2017-2021

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/get-sample/42951/?utm_source=OPR-NL

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/enquire-for-discount/42951

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/global-automotive-drum-brake-market

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/north-america-electric-brake-booster-market

http://marketsizeforecasters.com/

https://marketsizeforecasters.com/news

2017 Global Automotive Drum Brake Market Status, 2011-2022 Market Historical and Forecasts, Professional Market Research Report a professional and in-depth study on the current trends and Future Forecast.The Report analysts forecast the global Automotive Drum Brake market to grow at a CAGR of 3.74% during the period 2017-2021.A drum brakesystem is composed of brake shoes, hydraulic wheel cylinders, springs, and a brake drum. In a vehicle, when a brake pedal is applied, the curved brake shoes with a friction material lining are forced against the inner surface of the rotating brake drum. Drum brakes are mostly equipped in heavy-duty and medium-duty commercial vehicles.The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global Automotive Drum Brake market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.Request a sample copy of Global Automotive Drum Brake Market Research Report @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas, APAC, EMEAGlobal Automotive Drum Brake 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 Bosch, Aisin Seiki, ContinentalOther prominent vendors ATE, Cardone, Dorman Products, Federal-Mogul, Akebono BrakesThe listed pricing for this Global Automotive Drum Brake Market report starts at $ 3500. Request Discount for Global Automotive Drum Brake Market Research Report @Market driver - Improvement in the design and manufacturing techniques of drum brakes, For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge - Increase in the popularity of disc brakes in the passenger car segment is decreasing the demand for drum brakes, For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend - Growing trend of low and zero copper eco-friction brake pad material to enhance the braking system, For a full, detailed list, view our reportBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Global Automotive Drum Brake Market Report @Related Reports: -North America Electric Brake Booster Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022This report focuses on the Electric Brake Booster in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.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:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter
Global Barcode Printers Market 2017 - Toshiba, Honeywell, Fujitsu, Hp, Canon, Zebra, Bixolon, Argox

http://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/27651/request-sample

www.fiormarkets.com

www.9dimenreports.com

Report studies Barcode Printers in Global market that focuses on the top Manufacturers, Market Segment by Countries, Split by Product Types (with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type), Split by applications this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Barcode Printers in each application.The report, titled Barcode Printers is an in-depth analysis of the Barcode Printers market across the world. A brief historic overview of the Barcode Printers market has been mentioned in the report, followed by the present scenario of the market. The report analyses the size of the market and forecasts the valuation and the growth rate of the market in the span of next couple of years. Key drivers and restraints of the overall market has been pointed out. The report cites the various opportunities to favor the growth of the Barcode Printers market during the forecast period. It also indicates the key market trends shaping up the market.The Barcode Printers market has certain distinct aspects. The report throws light on each of these aspects and studies the various segments of the market in detail. The growth of each of the market segments during the forecast horizon has been analyzed in the report. The present state of the Chinese economy has lowered the demand from every market. The report discusses the impact of the various initiatives taken by the government in China to revive the economy and how this would impact the demand from Barcode Printers market in the nation. The report also takes note of the various micro- and macro-economic factors governing the overall market in rest of the world.Request For Sample Report @Discussing about the key players operating in the Barcode Printers market, the report provides crucial information about them. The Barcode Printers market has become very competitive worldwide. The report profiles the key players and analyzes their growth in the next couple of years. The report serves as a useful tool for enterprises looking out to invest in projects in the Barcode Printers market.Various analytical tools are applied in the analysis on the Barcode Printers market to achieve an accurate understanding of the market players into the potential development of this market. These tools include feasibility analysis, investment return analyses, as well as SWOT analysis of the major market players.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 ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog:
Alexander & Sons Plumbing Provides Complete Plumbing Support For Residential Properties

http://www.myalexanderandsons.com

Virginia, US; 05/09/17: Fully licensed and certified, Alexander & Sons Plumbing offers a number of plumbing services to residential property owners in Virginia. The plumbing company is known for its high quality services at affordable rates.When it comes to residential plumbing services, you need to find a service provider you can count on. We have been in the plumbing business for 17 years and are still going strong. Why our clients choose our services is simple. We deliver what we promise and that is quality service at budget-friendly pricing, said a company spokesperson.We know how uncertain, frustrating and common plumbing problems can be. That is why we frequently provide savings coupons and discounts deals to our clients. So, if youre searching for highly effective plumbing service in Fredericksburg and the surrounding areas at economical pricing, feel free to contact us.Alexander & Sons Plumbing provides an extensive selection of services for various plumbing issues and concerns, including clogged drains; damaged or broken water pipes; drain cleaning; plumbing (fixtures, toilets, showers, sinks, leaks, etc.) inspection, repairs and replacement; water heater installation and repair; sewer line repairs and replacement; plumbing insulations, including fixtures, toilets, sinks, etc.); hydro jetting and more.In addition to this, the company is available 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week to repair garbage disposal, faucets, sewage and sump pump, and more.Alexander & Sons Plumbing has a team of trained, knowledgeable plumbers who leave no stone unturned in meeting client expectation. They utilize top notch plumbing tools and parts to maintain service quality. They are also updated regularly about the latest plumbing techniques to deliver quick and sound results. We guarantee superior workmanship due to the fact that we use the best tools, techniques and technology. Our team works extra hard to make sure that you wont have to worry about plumbing issues again, added the spokesperson.Coupled with residential clients, Alexander & Sons Plumbing also caters to commercial businesses in Virginia. The company also works on bathroom and kitchen plumbing renovation and remodeling projects. They also offer receive no-obligation, free estimates on all services, regardless of project scope or complexity.Alexander & Sons Plumbing operates in Northern Virginia, Prince William, Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania. Their services come with complete guarantee.Alexander & Sons Plumbing are a family-owned and operated company offering emergency plumbing services to residential and commercial clients in Virginia.Phone: 1 (888) 959-8285Address: 12501 Sickles ln, Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA 22551 United StatesEmail: plumbing@alexanderandsons.netWebsite:
Oil and Gas Data Management Market - Definitions, Classifications, Applications and Industry Chain Overview Industry Policies and Plans with Product Specifications, Manufacturing Processes, Cost Structures

Oil and Gas Data Management Market

https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-sample/oil-and-gas-data-management-market

https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-customization/oil-and-gas-data-management-market

https://www.progressivemarkets.com/get-discount/oil-and-gas-data-management-market

https://www.progressivemarkets.com

Data management is a consolidated approach that is used to obtain, store, analyze, aggregate, and deploy various types of structured and unstructured upstream data for strategy formulation, support operations, and decision making by various business domains. The oil & gas industry implements data management solutions to restructure bulk quantity of data generated for various operations such as real-time down-hole drilling, reservoir performance, minimizing downtime, enhancing recovery, and ensuring higher safety, and others.Data management solutions are used by oil and gas companies to enhance their production capabilities and reduce operational costs to gain a competitive edge in the market.The global oil and gas data management market is segmented on the basis of type and geography.The Asia-Pacific region is expected to register the highest CAGR of over 15% due to the factors such as digital transformation in oil and gas companies operating in the region.Request Sample Report:Market DynamicsDrivers Enhancement of performance and operational efficiency in long run ( data management oil and gas market ) Growing adoption of predictive and real-time analytical tools and solutions in Oil & Gas industry ( data management in oil and gas industry ) Increasing awareness regarding benefits of data management solutions among end users ( seismic data management market )Restraints and Challenges Growing number of data breaches and cyber-attacks worldwide ( upstream data management market ) Lack of skilled workforce ( oil and gas information management market ) High deployment cost ( subsurface data management market )Market PlayersProminent companies operating in this industry have adopted product launch, partnership, geographical expansion, and acquisition strategies to facilitate business growth and expand in the untapped regions. The key players profiled in the report are EMC Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Hitachi, Ltd., NetApp, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, SAP SE, Infosys Limited, Wipro Limited, Oracle Corporation, and IBM Corporation.KEY TAKEAWAYS This report entails the detailed quantitative analysis of the current market for the period of 2014-2025 to identify the prevailing market opportunities. In-depth analyses of the drivers, restraints, and opportunities are provided to understand the market dynamics. The report includes the key strategies adopted by the key players in the market. Porters Five Forces analysis determines the competitive structure of the market to assist in strategy formulation. The regional and country-level analyses of the market are provided in the report. Competitive intelligence of leading players assists in understanding the competitive scenario across geographies. The report provides extensive qualitative insights on the potential and niche segments or regions exhibiting favorable growth.MARKET LANDSCAPEBy Type Data Analysis IT Infrastructure ServicesBy Geography North Americao U.S.o Canadao Mexico Europeo UKo Germanyo Franceo Russiao Rest of Europe Asia-Pacifico Chinao Japano Indiao Australiao Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEAo Latin Americao Middle Easto AfricaCustomized Report:Table of Content ContainSECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1.1. KEY FINDINGS1.2. MARKET ATTRACTIVENESS AND TREND ANALYSIS1.3. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE AND RECENT INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT ANALYSISSECTION 2 INTRODUCTION2.1. REPORT DESCRIPTION2.2. SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS2.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.3.1. Secondary research2.3.2. Primary research2.3.3. Analyst tools and modelsSECTION 3 MARKET LANDSCAPE3.1. GROWTH DRIVERS3.1.1. Enhancement of performance and operational efficiency in long run3.1.2. Growing adoption of predictive and real-time analytical tools and solutions in Oil & Gas industry3.1.3. Increasing awareness regarding benefits of data management solutions among end users3.2. RESTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES3.2.1. Growing number of data breaches and cyber-attacks worldwide3.2.2. Lack of skilled workforce3.2.3. High deployment cost3.3. PORTERS FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS3.3.1. Bargaining power of buyers3.3.2. Bargaining power of suppliers3.3.3. Degree of competition3.3.4. Threat of substitutes3.3.5. Threat of new entrants3.4. GLOBAL OIL AND GAS DATA MANAGEMENT MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS, 2014-2025ContinuedList of TablesContain 23 TablesList of FiguresContain 48 FiguresDiscount on Full Report:About UsProgressive Markets is the answer to every possible business query. It is a market research and business consulting firm, headquartered in India that aims to deliver conversant executive support to foster overall growth of an organization in its domain.Reach UsAntviews Global,Serve No. 721/1 Flat No 404,Sudhanshu co. op Housing Society,Shastri Road, Near Kalavati Devi Mandir,Fatak Baug, Pune 411 030.help@progressivemarkets.com
Europe Autonomous Vehicles Market Type Segment to Partake Significant Development USD 14.19 Billion and 23.7% of CAGR by 2027

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/statistical-reports/enquiry/2404

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/statistical-reports/europe-autonomous-vehicles-type-market-2404

The Autonomous Vehicles Market statistical report, published by Market Research Future contains succinct information on the autonomous vehicles market, segmented by types (semi-autonomous, fully autonomous) and forecast from 2016-2027.Make an Enquiry @The various factors driving the autonomous vehicles market are rise in the aging population, technological advancement, ride sharing, and fuel efficiency.Contribution from major companies such as BMW, Volkswagen and Audi AG is giving boost to the Europe Autonomous Vehicle market. As these companies succeed in their assignments and get closer to the reality of autonomous vehicles existence, the market in the Europe region will rise subsequently.Europe Semi-Autonomous Vehicle Market is expected to reach USD 14.19 Billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 23.7%Access Report Details @Table of Contents1. Info graphics Information1.1 Europe Autonomous Vehicles Market, By Type, 2016 VS 2027 (USD Billion)2. Introduction3. Europe Autonomous Vehicles Market, By Type, Market DataList of TablesTable 1 Europe Autonomous Vehicles Market, By Type, 2016-2027 (USD Billion) ..5List of FiguresFigure 1 Europe Autonomous Vehicles Market, By Type, 2016-2027, (USD Billion) ..6ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Europe Autonomous Vehicles Market Type Segment Outlook (2016-2027) 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
Pipeline Pigging System Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2025

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pipeline-pigging-system-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24053

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Pipeline pigging system refers to the process of using systems known as pigs to conduct maintenance activities and various operations such as cleaning and inspection on pipelines; and dimensioning, which is carried out without ceasing the flow in pipelines. Pigging is required in blending, storage, or filling systems of transfer process of any product. Pigging systems are being used in industries such as lubricating oil, paints, chemicals, and others. Various types of pipeline pigging systems are employed in the market. These include swabs, pipe cleaners, cleaning pigs, poly pigs, go-devils, Pipeline Intervention Gadget (P.I.G.) and intelligent pigs.Browse Market Research Report @Pipeline pigging systems are used in water pipelines to remove sediment, scale, calcium carbonate, mud, manganese iron, bacteria, bio-films, and other contaminants. They are employed in mining & process slurry pipelines to remove calcium carbonate, manganese iron, particles, scale, rust, and other debris. Pipeline pigging systems are used in crude oil pipelines to remove sand, wax, bacterial formations, chemical residues, rust, scale, and other impurities. They are employed in new gas transmission pipelines to remove water, construction debris, and rust & scale. These systems are also used in gas pipelines to remove iron sulfide, iron oxide, and iron carbonates (known as black dust). Pipeline pigging systems are employed in different process pipelines to remove product residues, contaminants, and other impurities.Based on application, the pipeline pigging system market can be segmented into oil & gas, chemicals, and others. Increase in the global demand for energy for oil and gas is expected to boost the pipeline pigging system market. The oil & gas segment is anticipated to dominate the pipeline pegging system market in the near future due to the proposed construction of gas pipelines in order to meet the global demand. Advancement in pipeline inspection technology is also estimated to drive the global pipeline pigging system market. Decreasing profit margin owing to the involvement of high cost and intense competition is likely to be the restraining factor of the pipeline pigging system market across the globe.Geographically, the pipeline pigging system market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. North America dominates the global pipeline pigging system market due to the mature pipeline network and development in the gas pipeline network. The pipeline pigging system market in Europe is anticipated to expand due to the economic revival in the region. The pipeline pigging system market in Middle East & Africa is also anticipated to expand due to the rise in activities in pipeline network in the region. The market in Latin America is estimated to expand significantly during the forecast period. Asia Pacific has been experiencing a rise in sale of products and services pertaining to the pipeline pigging systems. This trend is projected to continue during the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Pipeline Pigging System Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Key players operating in the pipeline pigging system market include 3P Services GmbH & Co KG, Baker Hughes, Dacon Inspection Services Co., Ltd., PLL Pipeline Solutions, and LIN SCAN, CIRCOR Energy, Diamond Edge Services, Pure Technologies, GeoCorr, and Pigs Unlimited International.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:
Seattle, WA, May 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Climate activists marked the beginning of Alaska cruise season by greeting passengers on the Carnival Legend, which is bound for the glaciers of Alaska, with a 10 x 20 banner reading, Carnival Stop Polluting the Climate.

While other industries are working to reduce their climate pollution, Carnival, the largest cruise company in the world, has increased its climate pollution by nearly 20% over the last decade. In fact, the collective pollution created by the full Carnival fleet of ship is equivalent to the combined climate pollution produced by all the cars in Alaska, Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Delaware, and Rhode Island.

"Although Carnival claims to be environmentally responsible, its ships create more climate pollution than any other cruise company in the world, said Sean Rudolph, Climate Campaign Director at Stand.earth. For many people, a cruise is the trip of a lifetime. Passengers have the right to know about Carnivals impact on the very destinations, such as the Arctic, that they are so excited to explore. They also deserve the ability to make their voices heard and demand that Carnival clean up its dirty ships.

Cruises and the shipping industry are among the fastest growing sources of climate pollution. This is in part because cruise ships and the shipping industry use one of the dirtiest fuels in the world, called bunker fuel. On land, bunker fuel would be considered a hazardous waste, but it is allowed to be used at sea. Bunker fuel produces harmful and significantly higher emissions of Sulphur Dioxides, Nitrogen Oxides and Black Carbon than other fuels. Black Carbon is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for almost 50% of warming in the Arctic. Without urgent action by cruise and shipping companies, climate pollution created by the shipping industry is predicted to increase 250% by 2050 and account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Stand.earth, formerly ForestEthics, challenges corporations and governments to put the health and well-being of people and the environment first, because all of our lives depend on it.

For more information, visit www.Stand.earth.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/afad36eb-d83a-4d21-aa33-3da7255fbb24
Plastic Coatings Market - Industry Analysis, Forecast 2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/plastic-coatings-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=16592

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The global market for plastic coatings is growing at a healthy pace and is predicted to offer potential opportunities for the key players operating in it across the globe. The competitive nature of the market and the expected entry of new players are expected to focus on the expansion of the product portfolio, which will contribute towards the markets growth in the near future. In addition to this, the rising number of applications of plastic coatings and advancements in the technology are likely to accelerate the growth of the global market.Browse Market Research Report @What are the key challenges faced by the leading players in the global plastic coatings market?The key players operating in the plastic coatings market across the globe are expected to face several challenges, which are predicted to restrict the growth of the market in the near future. The strict environmental rules and regulations related to VoC content and the cost and availability of specialized raw materials are projected to curtail the markets growth in the near future. In addition, the increasing price cutting measures is considered as a major challenge for the leading players, which if not sorted, is expected to hamper the growth of the market in the near future. Nevertheless, the increasing demand and growth prospects in the developing economies across the globe is projected to propel the global plastic coatings market in the near future.Which factors are anticipated to supplement the markets growth in the coming years?The rising use of plastic coatings from diverse industries is estimated to encourage the growth of the global market in the next few years. In addition, the enhanced features offered by plastic coatings, such as durability, enhanced performance, and improved aesthetics is predicted to boost the demand for plastic coatings. This is likely to accelerate the markets growth in the near future. Furthermore, the development of the automotive refinish market and the rising demand for bio-based coatings are likely to supplement the growth of the global plastic coatings market in the coming years.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Plastic Coatings Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Which geographical segment is likely to witness healthy growth in the global market?Among the key regional segments, the Europe market for plastic coatings is expected to account for a large share of the global plastic coatings market in the next few years. The rapidly developing automotive industry in this region is the key factor likely to encourage the growth of the market in the coming years. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to register a progressive growth rate, thanks to the rising contribution from China and India. The rising mining activities and the developing oil and gas sector are the key factors that are projected to augment Asia Pacific market in the near future.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Dewatering Equipment Market Research Report 2017

https://www.1marketresearch.com/sample/?flag=rs&rep_id=3317&sku=1888

https://www.1marketresearch.com/market-reports/2017-global-dewatering-equipment-market-research-report-1888/

https://www.1MarketResearch.com

Here comes the New Version of Dewatering Equipment Market Research Report is a core market research report in this current market.This report majorly discuss the global and regional market, major manufacturers and segment market details various classifications and mode of applications.Do u Want Sample of report then visit at:Top Manufacturers which covers in this report:Alfa Laval ABAndritz AGVeolia Water TechnologiesAqseptence Group, Inc.Huber SeRecent DevelopmentsFlo Trend Systems, Inc.Phoenix Process Equipment Co.Hiller GmbHDewaco Ltd.Gea GroupFirst and foremost, Dewatering Equipment report gives the basic analytic scope of this industry like definition, classification, specification, industry policy,application and news in the Chapter 1 of the report.In addition, the analysis and breakdown on firm chain which has be provided including the up and down stream industry also and also the major market players alongside and the analysis on manufacturing which include the process cost structure and major plants distribution. Further discussion on this is supply in the chapter 2 of the reportMore Information of Report visit at:Then the global and regional market is being breakdown. The analysis of the major market data like production, capacity, price, capacity utilization rate, cost, revenue, gross, supply, import, export, gross margin, growth rateconsumption, market share, and more were reported on this chapter. This report also give analysis of major regions like Europe, North America, Asia,China (Excluding China),South America, and ROW for regional market. These analysis are conducted in Chapter 3 and 4.In Chapter 5 of Dewatering Equipment report, major manufacturersperformance was analyzed and then in 6th and 7th chapter of the analysis on major classification and mode of application was reported.The marketing channel analysis was provided including the major distributors in 8th chapter of the report.The analyzed report is a market forecast from 2017 to 2022 for regional and global market in the 9th chapter which continued with project investment feasibility analysis in Chapter 10.In conclusion, The conclusion of the research was provided I the 11th chapter of the reportThis report serves as a valuable source of guidance for all manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, customers, investors and individuals that are having interest in partaking in the market.About Us:1MarkerResearch is a top provider and consulting services and leading marketIntelligence Company that sells reports of top publishers in the technologyindustry.Our MissionOur mission is to lead from the front by innovating, collaborating anddelivering unrivalled market research worldwide.Contact Us:1MarketResearch304, S. Jones Blvd, #3299,Las Vegas, NV - 89107USA : +1 702-425-8599Email : Sales@1MarketResearch.comWeb :
Specialty Coating Market - Global Industry Analysis,Trends and Forecast 2023

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/specialty-coating-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=5042

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://depthresearchreport.blogspot.in/

A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global specialty coating Market. The study, titled Specialty Coating Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023, is available for sale on the firms website.Specialty coatings are a kind of coating that delivers performance as per the needs of particular applications. Specialty coatings meet the basic definition of a topcoat, primer, and a self-priming. Some of the benefits of specialty coatings are fire or temperature resistance, antireflection, sealing, substrate compatibility, temporary protection, excellent adhesive properties, and enhanced corrosion protection.Browse Market Research Report @The global specialty coating market is segmented on the basis of geography, end-use application, and base material. Based on geography, the global specialty coating market is divided into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The global specialty coating market is predicted to develop rapidly in the years to come due to their growing consumption in various industries, especially in the paints and coatings industry.The overview section of the global specialty coating market report highlights details such as key drivers of the market, factors limiting the growth of the market, and current market trends. The report studies the industry chain structure, market projections for the coming few years, and the overall market structure. Growth factors, restraints, and opportunities of the global specialty coating market are studied in the report. The Porters five force model is used in the report to analyze the feasibility of new projects as well as the possible future growth opportunities. Competitive analysis of the global specialty coating market is studied in the report on the basis of new products introduced by the new entrants and mergers done by the leading players.Overview of the Specialty Coating MarketThe global specialty coating market is classified on the basis of base material into alkyd, epoxy, acrylic urethane, and polyamide. Based on its end-use application, the global specialty coating market is classified into OEM paint, refineries, oil and gas, aerospace and defense, power, pulp and paper, petrochemical, pipeline, railway, fireproofing, water and wastewater, marine, and architectural. The global paints and coatings market is predicted to expand at a 5.0% CAGR during the period between 2015 and 2020. Rise in the paints and coatings industry in the coming years is predicted to have a positive impact on the global specialty coating market in the years to come.In 2014, in terms of consumption, Asia Pacific dominated the global specialty coating market. Asia Pacific, being the hub for several end-use industries including electrical and electronics, construction, and automotive, is expected to maintain its dominant position in the coming few years. North America is expected to be the second largest market in the global specialty coating market, followed by Europe. Stringent environmental regulations related to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions are expected to drive Europe and North America specialty coating market.Stringent environmental regulations, coupled with testing standards, are expected to restrict the growth of the global specialty coating market in the years to come.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Specialty Coating market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.@Companies mentioned in the research reportThe global specialty coating market is highly fragmented and competitive. With the entry of new companies, the global specialty coating market is expected to be more competitive in the years to come for the leading players. However, with mergers and acquisitions, the leading players are expected to maintain their dominant position in the coming few years. Some of the leading companies in the global specialty coating market are Ashland, Axalta, Specialty Coating Systems, Nicoat, Specialty Polymer Coatings Inc., PPG industries, Evonik, U.S. Specialty Coatings, Inc., and NV Specialty Coatings Srl.Key segments of the Specialty Coating Market are as follows:Specialty Coating Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaAsia PacificEuropeMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaMajor regions analyzed under this research report are:EuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificRest of the WorldThis report gives you access to decisive data such as:Market growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for the coming yearsAbout 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. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit :
ADHD Therapeutics Industry Trends and Global Foresight to 2024

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1573

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/adhd-therapeutics-market

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/request-toc/1573

Market Synopsis of ADHD Therapeutics Market:Market Scenario:ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors or be hyperactive. It is normal for children to have trouble focusing and behaving at one time or another. However, children with ADHD do not just grow out of these behaviors. The symptoms continue and can cause difficulty at school, at home, or with friends. A child with ADHD might daydream a lot, forget or lose things a lot, make careless mistakes, have difficulty getting along with others. Rising prevalence of ADHD and increasing awareness regarding ADHD are some of the factors responsible for the growth of the global ADHD therapeutics market. The market for ADHD therapeutics is growing rapidly. The global market for ADHD therapeutics is expected to grow.Segments:Global ADHD therapeutics market has been segmented On the basis of drug types which comprises of stimulants and non-stimulants. On the basis of distribution channels, market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, research laboratories and others.Request a Sample Report @Key Players for ADHD therapeutics Market:Some of the key players in this market are: Concordia International Corp., Eli Lilly and Company, Highland Therapeutics Inc., Janssen Global Services LLC, NEOS Therapeutics Inc., Novartis AG, Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pfizer Inc., Shire, Teva Pharmaceutical.Browse Report Details @Intended Audience ADHD drug manufacturers ADHD drug suppliers Research and Development (R&D) Companies Government Research Laboratories Independent Research Laboratories Government and Independent Regulatory Authorities Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Medical Research Laboratories Academic Medical Institutes and UniversitiesRegional Analysis of ADHD therapeutics Market:Globally North America is the largest market for ADHD therapeutics. The North American market for ADHD therapeutics is expected to grow by the end of the forecasted period. Europe is the second-largest market for ADHD therapeutics which is expected to grow. Asia pacific region is expected to be growing in ADHD therapeutics market.Request Table of Contents for this Report @Study Objectives ADHD Therapeutics Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 8 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the ADHD therapeutics market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the ADHD therapeutics market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Exhibits Emerging Pipeline with 50+ Drug Candidates

www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/systemic-lupus-erythematosus-pipeline-analysis

www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/systemic-lupus-erythematosus-pipeline-analysis/report-sample

www.psmarketresearch.com/industry-report/pharmaceuticals

https://www.psmarketresearch.com

The study analyzed that the systemic lupus erythematosus pipeline comprises of 57 drug candidates, of which four drug candidates are in Phase III stage, 21 drug candidates are in Phase II stage, 20 drug candidates are in Phase I stage, 11 drug candidates are in Pre-Clinical stage and one drug candidates is in the Discovery stage. Systemic lupus erythematosus is a type of lupus in which the immune system damages its own tissues. The disease affects many parts of the body including skin, joints, lungs, brain, blood vessels and kidneys. The systemic lupus erythematosus is caused by impaired immune system due to which the immune system attacks its own tissues and can cause widespread inflammation and tissue damage in the affected organs. Some of the common symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus include oral ulcers, sun sensitivity, heart problems, kidney problems, psychosis, lung problems, arthritis, seizures, fevers, skin rashes, fatigue, swelling and pain in the joints. Systemic lupus erythematosus is being treated using a combination approach as number of organs are involved. Therefore, various combination therapies are being used to improve quality of life of the patients. Also, combining novel drugs against different organs as well as combination of drugs with biological and biochemical agents may further enhance the treatment quality.Explore Report at:Insights on pipeline segmentsAs per the findings of the research, around 25.0% of drug candidates of systemic lupus erythematosus pipeline are being developed to be administered by subcutaneous route, 19.0% by oral route, 17.0% by intravenous route and 14.0% are to be administered by other routes which includes topical, infusion and intramuscular.Many companies are involved in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus pipeline, with their products in different phases. Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and AstraZeneca plc have their drug candidates in the Phase III stage of development. Janssen Research & Development, LLC has three drug candidates out of which one is in Phase II stage of development and two are in Phase I stage of development. Merck KGaA also has two drug candidates in Phase II stage of development. Redx Pharma plc has two drug candidates in Pre-Clinical stage of development.Explore Report Sample at:Major companies collaborate for the development of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus PipelineThe research also found that various companies have collaborated for the development of systemic lupus erythematosus pipeline. In October 2015, XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. announced an agreement with Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd. to amend the development milestones in the license agreement signed between the parties in January 2014 for the development of hCDR1, for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. In September 2010, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and ZymoGenetics, Inc. signed a definitive agreement providing for the acquisition of ZymoGenetics by Bristol-Myers Squibb, for $9.75 per share in cash.Browse Other Related Report at:Some of the key players developing drugs for systemic lupus erythematosus include Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genentech, Inc., Merck KGaA, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Redx Pharma plc and AstraZeneca plc.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:KundanManager  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-Free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:
Fleet Management Solution Market: Development Catalysts, Market Trends And Key Players 2025

Fleet Management Solution Market,Fleet Management Solution Market Size

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/fleet-management-solution-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=24092

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The global fleet management solution market has become a key part of the global economy over the years due to the rising importance of logistics in almost every sector. Fleet management comprises a financially important part of the operations of a company and has thus been the subject of intense attention. Increasing the efficiency of fleets is the key target of fleet management solutions, with a view to keeping the expenditure to a minimum. Compliance with government safety regulations is another key aspect of fleet management systems.Cloud-based fleet management solutions are likely to remain popular in the global fleet management solutions market in the coming years, dominating the on-premise deployment segment comprehensively. The convenience of cloud architecture in storing large amounts of data is a key factor augmenting the prospects of the cloud segment of the fleet management solutions market. By product type, operation management solutions are likely to lead the global fleet management solutions market, as achieving maximum efficiency has become the key goal for fleet management solutions.Obtain Report Details @On the basis of end use, the global fleet management solutions market is led by the transportation and logistics sector. Transportation and logistics companies are likely to remain the key consumer of fleet management solutions in the coming years due to the rapid urbanization in developing countries, which has led to a consistent demand for infrastructure development. Moreover, the automotive industry is likely to exhibit increasing demand for fleet management solutions in the coming years, with the segment expected to emerge as the fastest growing application segment of the global fleet management solutions market over the 2017-2025 forecast period.The rising adoption of fleet management analytics is likely to be a crucial factor for the global fleet management solutions market in the coming years. Due to the availability of sophisticated physical as well as electronic monitoring technologies, significant data can be gained by analyzing the usage data of fleets. This helps companies employ more comprehensive and effective fleet management solutions. The rising preference for smaller and more efficient fleets is thus a prime driver for the global fleet management solutions market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Fleet Management Solution Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@The rising use of shopping services offering home deliveries could also play a key role in the global fleet management solutions market. The widespread use of online shopping portals in developed countries has led to increased dependence on vehicle fleets. The sustained rise in the number of avenues adapting to market forces and bringing their product to the consumer is likely to drive the global fleet management solutions market at a consistent rate in the coming years.North America is likely to account for a dominant share in the global fleet management solutions market in the coming years. The regional fleet management solutions markets position in the global scenario is due to the strong support network between leading industry players and OEMs. Europe, led by France, Germany, and the U.K., is also a key regional market for fleet management solutions. The increasing trade through Pan-European corridors is likely to ensure a steady share for Europe in the global fleet management solutions market in the coming years. The regulatory framework in Europe is also likely to support the use of fleet management solutions in the coming years.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. 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:
Passive Optical LAN (POL) Market: Accelerating Bandwidth Requirements Driving Need for Passive Optical LAN

Passive Optical LAN Market, Passive Optical LAN Market Analysis, Passive Optical LAN Market Trends

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/passive-optical-lan-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=2945

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The market for passive optical LAN (POL) is poised for substantial growth in the coming years, registering a double-digit CAGR through the forecast period. Escalating bandwidth requirements, coupled with the energy efficient nature of passive optical components, is driving the POL market. The growth of networking technologies in the Asia Pacific and RoW markets, increasing fiber deployments, and rising investments in technological advancements and research infrastructure across both the regions are also propelling the passive optical LAN market.The global passive optical LAN market is expected to expand at an impressive CAGR of 22.9% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024, reaching a market size of US$103.4 bn by 2024. The market stood at US$14.1 bn in 2015.Obtain Report Details @The key components of a passive optical LAN include cables, power splitters, filters, wavelength division multiplexers/de-multiplexers, couplers, encoders, connectors, patch cords and pigtails, amplifiers, attenuators, transceivers, circulators, network terminals, and line terminals. The global passive optical LAN market was led by the wavelength division multiplexers/de-multiplexers segment in 2015, followed by optical amplifiers. The latter enjoys a significant share in the POL market owing to their increased use in ultra-high capacity networks. Fixed and variable optical attenuators and amplifiers are likely to grow at an above average CAGR over the course of the forecast period following the increasing demand for higher bandwidths and rapid growth in fiber optic technologies.In 2015, Asia Pacific led the market for POL, accounting for a share of more than 36%. The growing demand for passive optical networks in the region, especially in China, is one of the primary forces driving this passive optical LAN market. A surge in data traffic and the use of electronic gadgets by a large volume of customers further drives the APAC market. Governments of major countries across the region are planning to invest in the deployment of fiber optic networks to improve the network infrastructure in their respective countries. This is anticipated to boost the Asia Pacific market for passive optical LAN during the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Passive Optical LAN (POL) Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@North America is also a key contributor to the growth of the POL market globally. Technological advancements and an increasing demand for more advanced security are some factors that can be expected to boost the growth of passive optical LAN in North America. Furthermore, the rising demand for energy conservation and simplified network operations is anticipated to bolster the growth of the POL market in this region. The passive optical LAN market in North America is expected to grow at a remarkable CAGR of 20.0% over the forecast period.The growing demand for energy-efficient solutions and increased investments in network solutions and research infrastructure are propelling the passive optical LAN market in RoW countries such as Brazil and South Africa. In addition, major investments have been lined up in wireless cell tower base stations as the volume of network traffic grows exponentially in the RoW.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:
Veterinary Antiseptics Market: Technologies, Markets and Players

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/veterinary-antiseptics-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6448

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/veterinary-antiseptics-industry.htm

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The top three players in the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market are Zoetis Inc., Merial, and Merck Animal Health. Collectively, these companies held a share of 46.3% in 2014. Companies will focus progressively more on developing solutions for the companion animals segment as the growing number of pet owners has created scope for business diversification, says Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a new research report. For instance, developing cosmetic-based antiseptic products such as skin lotions and shampoos will prove to be a game-changing tactic for companies operating in the market.Browse the Veterinary Antiseptics Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023 report atAbsorbing a talent pool of microbiologists and immunologists by collaborating with institutes will benefit players in the coming years, observes the lead author of this research report. This will help the companies to gain an insight into not yet recognized conditions, which in turn could prove to be a catalyst in development a preventive veterinary antiseptics. Thus, innovation will be a key sustainable strategy adopted by players to stay ahead of the competition.The report suggests that the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market was worth US$243.0 mn in 2014 and will rise steadily to touch US$401.6 mn by 2023. Between 2015 and 2023, the market is expected to progress at a CAGR of 5.6%.Growing Meat Consumption Escalates Demand for Veterinary AntisepticsThe growing demand for meat, milk, eggs, and other protein-rich food items across Latin America and Asia Pacific due to rising disposable income is the primary market driver for the veterinary antiseptics in the overall market. The increasing awareness about fitness has also been fuelling the demand for these antiseptics that ensure that animals reared for consumption are well looked after. Thus, the rising expenditure on animal healthcare is creating a direct impact on the revenues of the veterinary antiseptics market of Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World.The growing adoption of animals in emerging market is also anticipated to drive the veterinary antiseptics market of Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World. Pet ownership has considerably made its mark in the veterinary antiseptics market as growing number of pet owners are investing in the high quality of animal care products.Country-specific Regulatory Guidelines Hamper Overall MarketCountry-specific regulatory guidelines, especially in countries such as Japan, have been hampering the growth of this market in the recent years. The long-drawn process of approval, despite the international approval of the product, has restrained the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market in the recent years. The overall market is also being hampered by the significant dip in the number of veterinarians across emerging economies. Poor career prospects for veterinarians in developing nations of India, China, and Brazil in the past few years is also anticipated to put a downward pressure on sales of veterinary antiseptics as the number of prescriptions will drop.Asia Pacific Leads Veterinary Antiseptics Market due to Rising Pet AdoptionThe market will be led by the iodine and iodophors market at a CAGR of 6.3%. Despite the other types of products, iodine and iodophors are being popularly as they are milder on the skins of both small and large animals.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Veterinary Antiseptics Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.On the basis of geography, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market will witness the veterinary antiseptics market is Asia Pacific rising at a steady CAGR of 6.0% between 2015 and 2023. This growth will be supplemented by the rising number of companion and production animals in the region. By the end of 2023, the Asia Pacific veterinary antiseptics market will contribute revenue worth US$193.6 mn to the overall market.This review is based on Transparency Market Researchs report, titled Veterinary Antiseptics Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Key Takeaways:Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market to stand at US$401.6 mn by 2023Iodine and iodophors to lead the overall market at a CAGR of 6.3% between 2015 and 2023Asia Pacific to contribute revenue worth US$193.6 mn by 2023 as population of production and companion animals goes upThe Veterinary Antiseptics Market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World, by ProductIodine and IodophorsChlorhexidineAlcoholHydrogen peroxideOthersThe Veterinary Antiseptics Market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World, by SpeciesBovinePorcineOvineEquineCanineFelineCamelidaeThe Veterinary Antiseptics Market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World, by GeographyAsia PacificJapanChinaIndiaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaMexicoRest of Latin AmericaBrowse : Our new press releasesAbout 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:
Specialty Medical Chairs Market:Technological Advancements, Evolving Industry Trends and Insights 2023

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/specialty-medical-chairs-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2115

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The emerging economies are on the cusp of revolutionizing their healthcare facilities, which is likely to create a positive impact on the specialty medical chairs market as well, observes Transparency Market Research. Companies must invest in Brazil, China, India, and countries of Latin America and Asia to reap benefits of the economic upheaval, says the lead author of this research report. Presently, the analysts have identified Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, ACTIVEAID, Inc., DentalEZ, and A-dec, Inc., amongst others, as the leading players in the global specialty medical chairs market.Browse the Specialty Medical Chairs Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023 report atKey players will also strive to expand their distribution network by striking strategic alliances with large multispecialty clinics, private clinics, and distributors. Broadening distribution networks will help companies to expand their geographical presence, thereby creating a foundation for higher sales in international markets in the near future.Customization Options Prompt Medical Facilities to Invest in Specialty Medical ChairsCustomization of chairs to serve the unique needs of patients and medical practitioners has propelled the global specialty medical chairs market. Several players are designing chairs to cater to the clinical needs of the patients such as pregnancy, obesity, cardiac issues, and others. Furthermore, the introduction of specialty medical chairs with newer technologies and better comfort is also propelling this market.The market is also witnessing an upbeat momentum due to the consistent rise in the geriatric population as they are far more susceptible to a range of chronic diseases and other physical disabilities in comparison to the younger population. The World Health Organization explains that the geriatric population will reach 1.5 billion by 2050 from 524 million in 2010, thus giving the market a big boost. Investments across emerging economies of the world to upgrade medical infrastructure is also expected to create several growth opportunities for the global specialty medical chairs market.High Cost of Modern Specialty Medical Chairs Retains MarketUnfortunately, the market will be stymied by the exponential cost of the modern specialty medical chairs. Thus the reluctance of medical facilities and governing boards to invest in top-of-the-line chairs is expected to restrain the market. Furthermore, the growing trend of refurbishing old medical chairs is also hampering the growth of the market.High Density of Medical Clinics in North America to Help GrowthAccording to the research report, the opportunity in the global specialty medical chairs market is expected to reach US$6.75 bn by 2023 as compared to US$3.80 bn in 2014, expanding at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2015 to 2023. The global market will be led by the rehabilitation chairs product segment as it will progress at a CAGR of 8.1% over the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Specialty Medical Chairs Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Geographically, North America will hold the largest share in the market as the region will continue to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2015 and 2023. A strong presence of ENT, dental, ophthalmic clinics in the region will be the primary growth driver for specialty medical chairs market in North America.This review is based on Transparency Market Researchs report, titled Specialty Medical Chairs Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Key Takeaways:Global specialty medical chairs market to reach a valuation of US$6.75 bn by 2023North America specialty medical chairs market to expand at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2015 and 2023Customized products being regarded as untapped opportunity in specialty medical chairs marketThe global specialty medical chairs market is segmented as follows:Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market, by Product TypesExamination ChairsBirthing ChairsCardiac ChairsBlood Drawing ChairsDialysis ChairsMammography ChairsTreatment ChairsOphthalmic ChairsENT ChairsDental ChairsOther Surgery ChairsRehabilitation ChairsPediatric ChairsBariatric ChairsGeriatric ChairsToilet ChairsGlobal Specialty Medical Chairs Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaEuropeUnited KingdomGermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificIndiaChinaRest of APACLatin America (LATAM)BrazilMexicoRest of LATAMMiddle East and Africa (MENA)South AfricaRest of MEAAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Oral Contraceptive Pills Market: Technologies, Markets and Players

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/oral-contraceptive-pills-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=8323

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/global-oral-contraceptive-pills-market.htm

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

Teva Pharmaceutical is one of the leading companies in the combination oral contraceptive pills segment and is followed by Allergan (Actavis) plc. Local manufacturers such as Alkem, Taj Pharma, and Zydus Alidec on the other hand, held a majority of the market for ormeloxifene and mifepristone. Transparency Market Research has observed that almost all manufacturers offer combination oral contraceptive pills owing to the fact that they are more efficient, cost effective, and are the first line of treatment for birth control.Browse the Oral Contraceptive Pills Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023 report atFocusing on untapped market with unmet needs is one of the major growth strategies adopted by an increasing number of players in the oral contraceptive pills market, states the author of the study. For instance, in 2014, India-based Mankind Pharma expanded its business by exporting products to Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda.Strategic collaborations, the launch of new products, and a focus on research and development also serve as highly lucrative investment options for companies in the oral contraceptive pills market.High Unmet Contraceptive Needs Emerging Owing to Increased Incidence of Unintended PregnanciesOne of the leading factors driving the oral contraceptive pills market is the high incidence rate of unintended pregnancies among women between the age of 15 and 44. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that in the U.S. alone, an estimated 37% of the total pregnancies in the country between 2006 and 2010 were unintended.The growing percentage of unintended pregnancies in several parts of the world, including among married women, has also boosted the demand for oral contraceptive pills, states the author of the TMR report. The United Nations has reported in a study that the percentage of married women using at least one method of contraception has been steadily rising and this is a positive sign for the global contraceptives market as a whole.The increasing maternal age, late pregnancies, and rising awareness programs by governments and NGOs to promote the usage of contraceptives are also fueling the oral contraceptive pills market.Legal, Religious, and Ethical Hurdles in Some Countries Deter GrowthIn some countries, the oral contraceptive pills market is restricted by a number of social, ethical, and religious barriers. The Middle East is one of the key regions where the oral contraceptive pills market faces major roadblocks, the TMR analyst states. The sale of emergency contraceptive pills in the region is restricted owing to the fact that they are considered to be a means of abortion.Ineffective or strict legal and policy frameworks on reproductive rights and health in many countries also acts as a deterrent to the growth of the oral contraceptive pills market.Demand for Generic Oral Contraceptive Pills Takes Precedence over Branded PillsThe value of the oral contraceptive pills market is poised to rise from US$13.1 bn in 2014 to US$22.9 bn by 2023. If these values hold true, the market is likely to expand at a steady CAGR of 6.6% during the forecast period. Combination oral contraceptive pills held the leading share in the market in 2014 and the opportunity in this segment is likely to be worth nearly US$18 bn by 2023. Combination oral contraceptive pills are also identified to form the most rapidly growing segment during the forecast period, exhibiting a 6.8% CAGR therein.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Oral Contraceptive Pills Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Generic oral contraceptive pills gained a higher share in the overall market in 2014 compared to branded pills and are also projected to record the highest CAGR by 2023. By region, while North America will continue leading the global oral contraceptive pills market, Asia Pacific is forecast to register the fastest growth from 2015 to 2023.This review is based on the findings of a TMR report titled Oral Contraceptive Pills Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015-2023.Key Takeaways:Revenue of global oral contraceptive pills market to cross US$22 bn by 2023.Combination oral contraceptive pills present the most lucrative investment option for market players.Generic oral contraceptive pills exhibit greater demand compared to branded versions.Legal and ethical roadblocks in the Middle East a cause for concern.Global Oral Contraceptive Pills Market, by TypesCombinationMonophasicTriphasicOthersProgestin OnlyOthersGlobal Oral Contraceptive Pills Market, by CategoryGenericBrandedGlobal Oral Contraceptive Pills Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.Rest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanRest pf APACLatin AmericaBrazilRest of LATAMMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaRest of MEABrowse : Our new press releasesAbout 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:
CLEARWATER, Fla., May 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Saturday, May 6th, 2017, over 3,000 residents flocked to downtown Clearwater to celebrate the Downtown Clearwater Spring Block Party sponsored by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization and six Humanitarian Centers on the block of Cleveland Street and Fort Harrison Avenue.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b0de2898-1100-471c-bf10-72e00f92003c

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f34afde6-e857-4915-8b14-fe37eaa6e13f

I cant wait for your block party, said owner of Princess Nails, a local salon on the 400 block of Cleveland Street in downtown Clearwater when he was invited. Ive been looking forward to this for months and counting the days. They are so much fun!

Designed for the entire family, the party included live music, a balloon artist, a bouncy house, train and face painting for children. The Church of Scientology sponsored some of the areas favorite food trucks and downtown restaurants at the party so that there was free food for everyone. Vendors and restaurants that participated were: Engine 53 (brick oven pizza), Better than Eves BBQ, Crepelicious, La Fondita de Leo, Umai Cafe and Dunkin Donuts. A raffle was also held that included items donated by downtown Clearwater stores and restaurants.

The Church-sponsored humanitarian programs saw hundreds through their doors during the event. Fourteen non-profit groups who partner with the humanitarian centers, were also showcased at the event with their individual booths.

It is one of the tenets of the Church of Scientology to do all we can to assist other groups in the community that are helping people, said Church spokesperson, Pat Harney. In that way we work together to bring even greater improvement to our city. The non-profit partners included: the Childrens Home Network, Second Chance Life Skills, Hard2Guard, Owls Nest Sanctuary For Wildlife, Haitian Mission Par La Foi, Cole Link Foundation, Clearwater Audubon Society, Angels On Assignment Worldwide, Food Our Children Ministries, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Childrens Home Network, The Refuge, L. Ron Hubbard East Coast Theatre, the Community Learning Center and Narconon Suncoast.

Volunteering to help my community is something I am very committed to, said Church volunteer, Kelly Yaegermann, it is part of being a Scientologist. Local Scientologists donate an estimated 200,000 hours of their time each year.

Visitors learned the following from the humanitarian centers:

*United for Human Rights -- implementing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

*The Way to Happiness Foundation -- restoring trust and honesty the world over based on "The Way to Happiness" booklet written by L. Ron Hubbard.

*Foundation for a Drug Free World -- empowering youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions and live drug-free.

*Criminon -- addressing the causes of criminality and restoring the criminal's self-respect.

*The Scientology Volunteer Ministers -- a global force of volunteers, who live by the motto "Something can be done about it".

*Citizens Commission on Human Rights -- helping to enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive psychiatric practices.

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 members in 167 nations. Based on L. Ron Hubbard's 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 events.
Digital Advertising Market 2017 New Investment Projects Review

Reportsweb

http://www.reportsweb.com/global-digital-advertising-market-research-report-2017

http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001553629/sample

http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001553629/buy/2900

This report studies Digital Advertising in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringGoogleFacebookBaiduAlibabaMicrosoftYahooIACTwitterTencentAOLAmazonPandoraFor more information about this report atMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Digital Advertising 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 intoIndoor Video AdvertisingOutdoor Video AdvertisingSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Digital Advertising in each application, can be divided intoTraffic ToolsMobile Electronic DevicesOtherRequest a sample copy atTable of Content1 Digital Advertising Market Overview2 Global Digital Advertising Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Digital Advertising Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Digital Advertising Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)4.1 Global Digital Advertising Consumption by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Digital Advertising Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Digital Advertising Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Digital Advertising Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Digital Advertising Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Korea Digital Advertising Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 Taiwan Digital Advertising Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Digital Advertising Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Digital Advertising Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Digital Advertising Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Digital Advertising Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Digital Advertising Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Digital Advertising Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Digital Advertising Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Digital Advertising Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Digital Advertising Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Google7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Digital Advertising Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Indoor Video Advertising7.1.2.2 Outdoor Video Advertising7.1.3 Google Digital Advertising Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Facebook7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Digital Advertising Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Indoor Video Advertising7.2.2.2 Outdoor Video Advertising7.2.3 Facebook Digital Advertising Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Baidu7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Digital Advertising Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Indoor Video Advertising7.3.2.2 Outdoor Video Advertising7.3.3 Baidu Digital Advertising Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 Digital Advertising Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Digital Advertising Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 AppendixPurchase Complete Report atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
A man who was arrested in California near the Mexico border after being accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl as she was sleeping in her Milwaukie-area apartment months earlier is back in Oregon.

Isidro Flores-Ramos, initially identified by police as Santiago Martinez Flores, was booked Monday into the Clackamas County jail, records show. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Clackamas County Circuit Court on accusations including attempted first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and identity theft.

Prosecutors said Flores-Ramos, 44, used several aliases including Santiago Martinez Flores.

Flores-Ramos broke into the apartment in the 10400 block of Southeast Cook Court and attacked the girl in her room in February and fled, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. He didn't know the girl, investigators said.

The girl later met with investigators and they made a sketch of the suspect from her description. Physical evidence tied Flores-Ramos to the attack and a warrant was issued for his arrest, the Sheriff's Office said.

U.S. Customs and Border Control agents in California found Flores-Ramos on April 26 about 15 miles from San Diego.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey
Elliott State Forest won't be put up for sale

A view of Oregon's 82,500-acre Elliott State Forest, which state leaders pulled back from the brink of a sale Tuesday.

(Tony Andersen/Oregon Dept. of Foresty)

The Elliott State Forest, the 82,500-acre Coast Range parcel the state nearly sold to a timber company, will stay in public ownership, bringing an end to Oregon's years-long flirtation with divesting the land.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Secretary of State Dennis Richardson and state Treasurer Tobias Read voted Tuesday in Salem to halt the sale, pulling the remote forest back from the brink of a plan that was wildly unpopular with hunters, anglers and environmental groups.

The potential divestiture had put Oregon at the forefront of a nationwide debate over publicly owned land, leaving a Democrat-controlled state positioned to do something that some Republicans, including President Donald Trump's interior secretary, have rejected.

Huge questions about the forest in Coos and Douglas counties remain unanswered. Chief among them: Which agency will manage the land, what role logging and recreation will play in its future and how many acres of the forest will be protected with a proposed $100 million investment from state taxpayers.

The sale had been driven by the archaic system by which Oregon holds the state forest. The state is constitutionally required to use revenue from logging the land to benefit schools. But logging was curtailed by environmental lawsuits after the state in 2011 tried to nearly double the amount of clear-cutting allowed each year.

The vote was a major win for Brown, who successfully fought back a February attempt to sell the land. Her plan would use $100 million in taxpayer-funded bonds to end the state's obligation to earn money for schools from the forest's old growth trees, riparian areas and steep slopes.

Under Brown's proposal, decisions about the rest of the land would be entrusted to what's called a habitat conservation plan, a blueprint that would dictate where logging could occur and where habitat for threatened species like the marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl would be protected. It would need federal approval, something that federal agencies withheld the last time Oregon tried to draft such a plan for the Elliott.

Liz Dent, a state department of forestry official, said the expected timber harvest under Brown's plan would be about 20 million board feet each year  roughly half as much as the state's aggressive 2011 plan that led to the situation today.

The vote was a remarkable turnaround for Read, a Democrat who has been assailed by environmental groups since siding in February with Richardson in rejecting Brown's effort to keep the land public. Oregon Wild and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters had attacked the new treasurer through a social media campaign with the hashtag #betrayedmyvote.

Read and Richardson would have sold the forest for $221 million to Lone Rock Timber Management, which bid in conjunction with Native American tribes and The Conservation Fund. The state would've received an assurance that half of the forest would be kept open to public access.

Three months later, Read is now touting his own plan to build on Brown's, offering Oregon State University the option to buy the forest for $121 million after the initial $100 million state investment.

Such an idea, which would decouple all of the forest from its school-funding obligation, appears to be a long shot.

Ed Ray, Oregon State's president, described Read's idea as "a burst of imagination," noting that the university would use revenue from logging it to pay for its purchase. "I haven't got $120 million lying around," Ray said.

Thomas Maness, dean of Oregon State's forestry school, said the university's 15,000 acres of timber holdings do not include any old-growth habitat home to threatened species including the coastal Coho salmon, northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet. The Elliott would provide the school with a place to conduct long-term research to understand how active timber harvesting impacts them.

"If we don't learn how to manage with these listed species we're going to see disaster" in the state's timber industry, Maness said. "We've learned nothing about managing with spotted owls."

Rather than borrowing $100 million from taxpayers and paying additional interest on the debt, Richardson proposed swapping the high value state land for federal forests that aren't home to endangered species. He offered scant detail, saying it would be modeled on similar transfers in Minnesota, California and Utah.

 Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis
Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures

Summer movie preview 2017

It's almost summer, which means wall-to-wall blockbuster movies: superheroes, sci-fi, sequels and raunchy comedies from May until August. The cinematic elites will straighten their pocket squares and sigh until Oscar season, but if you love popcorn movies full of horse-riding apes, face-hugging aliens, friendly neighborhood Spider-Men and Charlize Theron effortlessly murdering rows of Russian spies, it's time to celebrate. Also, "Baywatch" for some reason! We are here for all of it. Here is our week-by-week guide to the year's most glorious movie season.

-- David Greenwald

dgreenwald@oregonian.com

503-294-7625; @davidegreenwald

Instagram: Oregonianmusic

Don't Edit

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The first superhero movie of the summer brings back Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and his star-faring motley crew.

In theaters: May 5

Don't Edit

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

A King Arthur reboot for the age of "Game of Thrones," starring Charlie Hunnam in the Excalibur-wielding title role and director Guy Ritchie behind the camera for the royal origin story.

In theaters: May 12

Don't Edit

Jvr

Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawnin her first film in 15 years!co-star in an action-comedy from "Ghostbusters" reboot writer Katie Dippold. Think "Taken," but with jokes.

In theaters: May 12

Don't Edit

Lowriders

Don't look for "The Fast and Furious" chases here: "Lowriders" is a down-to-earth drama about an East L.A. graffiti artist and the family car culture heritage he's trying to escape.

In theaters: May 12

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Everything, Everything

Amandla Sternberg ("Hunger Games") plays an isolated, very allergic young woman who finds an unexpected romance: could it be this year's "The Fault in Our Stars"?

In theaters: May 19

Don't Edit

Alien: Covenant

Franchise helmer Ridley Scott explores the story between "Prometheus" and "Alien" with Michael Fassbender and a whole lot of murderous, ahem, aliens.

In theaters: May 19

Don't Edit

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

Based on the best-selling books, the "Wimpy Kid" saga continues with a new cast and a family road trip.

In theaters: May 19

Don't Edit

j!

For whatever reason, the 1990s' greatest lifeguard-based TV show is now a movie with shirtless hunks Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Zac Efron as bantering David Hasselhoffs. Judging by the trailer, "Baywatch" is unlikely to pass the Bechdel test, but at least some of the gazing is female.

In theaters: May 26

Don't Edit

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

In the fifth installment of the swashbuckling Disney series, Johnny Depp puts on a hat and cashes another paycheck as Captain Jack Sparrow as an old rival, Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), leads a ghost ship hot on his tail.

In theaters: May 26

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Wonder Woman

Finally: a superhero film led by a heroine. Gal Gadot stars in the iconic DC Comics role, with Chris Pine ("Star Trek") and an army of World War I evildoers along for the ride.

In theaters: June 2

Don't Edit

The Mummy

The reboot of the Brendan Fraser classic, and the Universal Studios monster films before it, trades out our big guy and his "Indiana Jones" fun for Tom Cruise and a grittier tone. Keep an eye out for one Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe), whose appearance could plant the seeds for the Universal Monsters expanded universethough director Alex Kurtzman has promised this movie won't be "The Mummy: Dawn of Monster Justice."

In theaters: June 9

Don't Edit

It Comes at Night

The horror movie premiered at Oregon's own Overlook Film Festival, with a cabin-in-the-woods scenario built around family, suspense and a mysterious contagion.

In theaters: June 9

Don't Edit

Rough Night

"Broad City" director/comedy genius Lucia Aniello makes her big screen debut with a superstar lineup and a bachelor party that goes horribly wrong.

In theaters: June 16

Don't Edit

All Eyez On Me

The hip-hop biopic tells the story of the late Tupac Shakur, the gangsta rapper who became a poetic voice on inner city realities before being gunned down in a still-unsolved murder.

In theaters: June 16

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

The Book of Henry

Colin Trevorrow ("Jurassic World") directs the family drama, which stars Jaeden Lieberher as a brilliant 11-year-old trying to protect the girl next door (Maddie Ziegler).

In theaters: June 16

Don't Edit

Cars 3

In Pixar's animated latest, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) trains for one last race against a speedy younger car.

In theaters: June 16

Don't Edit

47 Meters Down

An underwater thriller starring Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, and shaaaaaarks! Is this part of "The Shallows" shark movie expanded universe? We don't care. We live every week at the box office like it's shark week.

In theaters: June 16

Don't Edit

Transformers: The Last Knight

If you're just tuning in to the "Transformers" franchise, the blockbuster toy-selling saga has gone from mere alien car-robots to sword-swinging medieval times. Why not? Anthony Hopkins, who started his career as understudy to Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, stars alongside Mark Wahlberg, Laura Haddock, and the best CGI money can buy. Michael Bay returns to direct, bless his heart.

In theaters: June 23

Don't Edit

Baby Driver

Edgar Wright ("Scott Pilgrim," "Hot Fuzz") brings his quick wit and quicker cuts to a new original, a crime comedy starring Ansel Elgort (as Baby), Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and more on one last job.

In theaters: June 28

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Despicable Me 3

The animated romp introduces Gru's brother, Druboth voiced by Steve Carellwho tries to tempt the reformed villain back to the dark side. Also, Minions!

In theaters: June 30

Don't Edit

Spider-Man: Homecoming

The web-slinger returns in his third big-screen iteration, this time played by charming youngster Tom Holland as a full-fledged member of the Marvel universeone that includes Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, as well as classic Spidey villain the Vulture (Michael Keaton).

In theaters: July 7

Don't Edit

War for the Planet of the Apes

The "Apes" prequel saga follows the ugly gorilla infighting of "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," with Caesar's attentionand his furynow turned toward the world of humans and their brutal Colonel (Woody Harrelson).

In theaters: July 14

Don't Edit

Dunkirk

"Interstellar" and "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan's next opus is a realist's World War II drama, until former One Direction singer Harry Styles cameos as a cape-wearing billionaire whojust kidding. Styles is really in the movie though.

In theaters: July 21

Don't Edit

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Luc Besson ("The Fifth Element") returns to sci-fi fabulosity with Cara Delevigne, Dane DeHaan and Rihanna (yes, that Rihanna) in a film inspired by French comic book "Valerian and Laureline."

In theaters: July 21

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Emoji Movie

Time magazine says it best: "The main thing to know about this movie is that Sir Patrick Stewart has been cast as the Poop Emoji." You could see this or just look at your phone for 90 minutes, which is probably more rewarding.

In theaters: July 28

Don't Edit

Atomic Blonde

Charlize Theron is having a good summer: she was a cold-hearted hacker in "The Fate of the Furious" and now she gets to play one of the good guys, a M16 agent here to absolutely wreck some Cold War-era Russian secret-stealers. Good thing they don't do that any more! James McAvoy, John Goodman and more co-star.

In theaters: July 28

Don't Edit

The Dark Tower

Stephen King's long-running fantasy series leaps into theaters with an action blockbuster, starring Idris Elba as the heroic Gunslinger.

In theaters: Aug. 4

Don't Edit

Wind River

Jeremy Renner ("Avengers: The Age of Ultron") and Elizabeth Olsen (also "Avengers: The Age of Ultron") star as federal agents investigating a Wyoming homicide and definitely not fighting Loki, Asgardian god of mischief.

In theaters: Aug. 4

Don't Edit

Detroit

John Boyega stars in Kathryn Bigelow's first movie since Oscar darling "Zero Dark Thirty," a portrayal of the real-life Algiers Motel Incident that left three black men dead.

In theaters: Aug. 4

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Ingrid Goes West

Aubrey Plaza stars in a dark comedy where "Spring Breakers" meets Instagram thirst.

In theaters: Aug. 11

Don't Edit

Logan Lucky

Didn't Steven Soderbergh retire? Regardless, we're thrilled to have him back in the director's chair for "Logan Lucky," which reunites him with Channing Tatum ("Magic Mike XXL") plus Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig and more in a heist comedy.

In theaters: Aug. 18
While it doesn't match the action-packed ballot of the November 2016 election, the May ballot asks Portland voters to decide plenty of weighty issues. Chief among them: whether to approve a $790 million construction bond for Portland Public Schools. Below are summaries of The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board's endorsements on the bond and three other issues on the May ballot. Readers can read the full endorsements by clicking on the highlighted links.

Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16.

Measure 26-193 (Portland Public Schools Bond): It's hard to like Portland Public Schools' leadership these days, which makes the district's request for the largest school bond in state history feel especially ill-timed. But voters should consider the underlying facts that make this bond necessary and vote yes.

The bond request is part of a methodical 30-plus year plan to modernize its schools, whose average age is 77 years old, into buildings that can support the 21st century curriculum that students need. Most of the money will go to rebuilding four schools - Kellogg Middle School and Lincoln, Benson Polytechnic and Madison high schools. Another $150 million will also go to necessary health-and-safety fixes such as removing lead from schools' water and installing fire safety equipment.

There's no question that the bill is sizable and that better management could have stemmed some of the problems. But that doesn't change the fact that these buildings, owned by the public, need significant investment and that the cost will only grow the longer we wait. The office overseeing the bond is one of the bright spots in the district for its professionalism, a citizens' team of experts will provide accountability checks and the addition of three new school board members should give voters confidence that the money will be spent well. Vote yes.

Portland School Board: The seven-member board is about to be overhauled with three seats up for grabs. Voters should mark their ballots for Rita Moore, Virginia La Forte and Julia Brim-Edwards for the accountability, experience and priority on students that the three women will bring to the table.

Moore is a policy analyst running in Zone 4. La Forte is a small business owner and marketing executive running in Zone 5. And Brim-Edwards is a Nike executive, who served on the school board from 2001-2005 running in Zone 6.

Unlike some of their competitors, all three have been deeply involved with the district over the years. They are well-aware of the systemic organizational problems and lack of transparency that has hurt the district's ability to deliver quality education for students and alienated the public. And all have shown the ability to get things done. Voters should send all three to the school board.

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, John Maher, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and Len Reed.

To respond to this editorial:

Post your comment below, submit

, or

.

If you have questions about the opinion section, contact Laura Gunderson, editorial and commentary editor, at 503-221-8378 or lgunderson@oregonian.com.

Measure 26-189 (Auditor independence): This measure seeks voter approval to amend the city charter and modestly expand the auditor's authority and independence from those the position aims to hold accountable. This is an easy yes for Portland voters who have benefited greatly from the many ways the auditor provides a check on city government. The charter amendment would allow the auditor to present a budget to City Commissioners for consideration rather than leave that to the city's budget office; authorize the auditor to seek legal outside counsel instead of relying on the city attorney's advice; and approve the ability to make hiring and procurement decisions for the office. Voters should approve it.

Measure 26:194 (Online booking agents): This measure seeks to amend the city charter to make clear that online booking agents, such as HomeAway Inc., are required to collect lodging taxes from those renting rooms or homes through its platform. Hotels and motels have been collecting the city's lodging tax, levied as a percentage on room rentals, for decades. And while some online competitors, such as AirBnb, have willingly collected the tax, HomeAway Inc. has successfully challenged it. The charter amendment would ensure that HomeAway follows the same rules as everyone else. Vote yes.

For more opinions, check out endorsements from Willamette Week, the Portland Tribune and the Portland Mercury.
Vigorous gets first customer

Swan Island based-Vigor Industrial's massive floating drydock called The Vigorous.

(LC-)

By Alan Sprott

Sometimes it is difficult to see the forest for the trees. This is especially true when considering the benefits of Senate Bill 1008 for improving air quality in Oregon.

Last year, Gov. Kate Brown ordered an overhaul of Oregon's air quality regulations after heavy metals were detected in moss samples collected near a Portland glass manufacturer. Companies across Oregon are now responding to an information request from the Department of Environmental Quality to provide data on 633 pollutants that may be a component of their air emissions. The cost of this effort is significant, and we do not yet know the ultimate cost or public health benefits of the new regulations that will be applied across the state.

Two years ago, the Oregon legislature passed the Clean Fuels Standard in an effort to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuel, which is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. While the law may help cultivate a biofuels industry for Oregon, the reality is our total contribution to the national greenhouse gas inventory is less than one percent. And the effort is not without cost, as fuel prices at the pump are projected to climb by as much as 19 cents per gallon.

Both of these initiatives have merit and are based on good intentions. But there is an immediate air quality problem that remains largely unaddressed, yet exposes over a million Oregonians to a known air toxin.

Diesel soot, emitted from heavy duty vehicles and construction equipment, is linked to a number of cardiovascular and respiratory ailments. When released to the air, the soot can be inhaled and imbed deep in the lungs. While the exposure goes unnoticed, the health effects on some people can be chronic and serious.

We have known for some time that the Portland region has a problem with diesel soot. In 2012, the Department of Environmental Quality released a report on an air toxics study showing that exposure to diesel soot is creating a health risk across the region. The report also framed a strategy for reducing the risks by reducing diesel soot emissions, which are almost entirely associated with older diesel engines lacking modern emission controls. To date, little has been accomplished to advance the strategy, other than to wait for the attrition of older equipment.

Oregon now has an opportunity to begin implementing DEQ's strategy to reduce diesel soot. Senate Bill 1008 would create a program to phase out or retrofit older diesel engines for cleaner engines used on roads, create an inventory of off-road diesel equipment, and create a fund from public improvement projects to repower or retrofit diesel powered equipment. The program also uses money from the Volkswagen Diesel Settlement to provide grants for reducing diesel emissions. These steps hit the core of DEQ's strategy to reduce emissions by accelerating the replacement of older engines, and providing financial support for clean diesel projects.

In the analysis of cost versus benefit, reducing the emissions of diesel soot is an area that my employer, Vigor Industrial, believes is a good investment for the health of both for our employees and the community. Accordingly, we have committed to reducing our emissions by replacing our older diesel equipment, and shore powering vessels calling on the Portland Shipyard so they don't run their diesel power plants while in port.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

While not without costs, SB 1008 establishes a practical path forward for the state to address an air quality problem that we know can affect a large number of people throughout their lives, and even lead to an early death. And when measured against the costs of other air initiatives Oregonians have already signed up for, this is an air quality issue that should have been at the top of the priority list years ago.

Alan Sprott is the Vice President of Environmental Affairs for Vigor, which operates shipyards and manufacturing facilities throughout Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.
Public safety 1

(The Oregonian/OregonLive)

UPDATE: Authorities offer few details about Florence jail altercation that left man dead, officers injured

Two officers were "seriously assaulted" Monday in an altercation with a man they were trying to release from the Florence jail, and the man who assaulted them later died at a hospital, an official said.

Lt. Cari Boyd, an Oregon State Police spokeswoman, said troopers and other officers were called to the jail around 9 a.m. and found two officers had been assaulted while trying to release the 40-year-old man from custody.

He "became non-responsive" as medics arrived to treat the officers, Boyd said in a news release. They began tending to him, and he was later pronounced dead at PeaceHealth Peace Harbor Medical Center in Florence.

The officers were also taken to a hospital. Boyd declined to say what agency employs the officers who were injured.

A corrections officer staffs the jail and also works as the Florence Municipal Court bailiff, according to the city's website.

The Oregon State Police Criminal Division is helping investigate. The state police didn't release any additional information Monday.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
The U.S. Department of Energy in Richland declared an emergency at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington on Tuesday morning after a portion of a tunnel containing rail cars storing nuclear waste collapsed.

There apparently has been no release of radiation and no workers were injured, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

An emergency was declared at 8:26 a.m. after employees noticed the collapse in the 200 East Area during routine surveillance, said Hanford Emergency Center spokesman Destry Henderson.

About a 400-square-foot area of the ground sunk in near where two underground tunnels join, the Department of Energy said. The tunnels, one 360 feet long and the other 1,700 feet, originally were used in the 1950s to store contaminated equipment. The tunnels have 8 feet of soil covering them.

A 20-foot section of one of the tunnel's roofs caved in, Henderson said.

No workers were in the tunnel.

Six employees at the site of the tunnel collapse were evacuated, Henderson said. All employees in the Hanford site were told to take cover after inspectors found the collapse.

It's still unclear what caused the cave-in, Henderson said.

Officials were using a robot to get closer, up to a half-mile, to monitor "radiological and industrial hygiene," the Department of Energy said.

The Northwest News Network reported about 3,000 employees work in the 200 East Area.

"At the moment we're focusing on the safety of workers and making sure there's no release beyond immediate site," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told reporters at the scene.

.@GovInslee on #Hanford: "At the moment we're focusing on the safety of workers and making sure there's no release beyond immediate site." pic.twitter.com/TrDo88ZT8L  Molly Solomon (@solomonout) May 9, 2017

Everyone is accounted for and there is no initial indication of worker exposure or airborne radiation, the Department of Energy said in a statement on Twitter.

Nearby roads weren't affected, officials said.

The collapse initially triggered an alert but was later upgraded to a "Site Area Emergency," which means the incident could affect people in the site but not beyond its boundary. Residents of nearby Benton and Franklin counties weren't required to take any action, the Department of Energy said.

The Oregon Department of Energy activated its emergency operations center in response to the accident as a precaution, the department said in a tweet. Nuclear experts at the Oregon department said the incident didn't affect Oregon.

"While there are special precautions being taken on-site at Hanford, Oregonians do not need to take any special precautions or protective actions," said department Director Michael Kaplan said in a statement. "We want people to be aware that we're closely monitoring the incident at Hanford and will continue to provide more information as soon as it becomes available."

The sprawling Hanford site is near Richland and is half the size of Rhode Island. It is about 35 miles north of Umatilla.

The tunnel collapsed near the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant, a facility built in the 1950s that is no longer used today, according to the Department of Energy. The plant processed plutonium from 1956 to 1972, and again from 1983 to 1988 -- more than 70,000 tons of uranium fuel rods, about 75 percent of the plutonium at Hanford.

Some scientists believe no other building on the planet processed more plutonium, according to the Department of Energy website. The building has been vacant for more than two decades but remains highly contaminated, according to the website.

Hanford is the largest depository of radioactive defense waste that must be cleaned.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden criticized the Department of Energy's past handling of the nuclear site in a statement Tuesday.

"Today's cave-in at the PUREX plant should remind everyone that the temporary solutions DOE has used for decades to contain radioactive waste at Hanford have limited lifespans," Wyden said. "The longer it takes to clean up Hanford, the higher the risk will be to workers, the public and the environment."

The site contains about 56 million gallons of radioactive waste, most of it in 177 underground tanks.

Several rail cars used to transport the fuel rods were buried inside the tunnel near the plant.

Employees north of the site's Wye Barricade and outside the 200 East Area were sent home from work at noon as a precaution. Later, non-essential employees in the 200 East Area were sent home, officials said on Twitter. Swing shifts north of the Wye Barricade were canceled.

Hanford employees should follow the site's Facebook page and Hanford's alert system for updates on the status of Wednesday shifts, Henderson said.

Officials continue to monitor the air and are discussing how to fix the collapsed tunnel roof.

 The Oregonian staff and wire reports
Dutch English

Regulated information

Nazareth (Belgium)/Rotterdam (The Netherlands)1, 9 May 2017

Fagron shareholders approve all proposed resolutions

Robert Peek steps down as Chairman of the Board of Directors

Fagron announces today that its annual general meeting of shareholders and the extraordinary shareholders meeting, both held on 8 May 2017, have adopted all proposed resolutions. The meeting approved the 2016 financial statements and discharged the directors and the statutory auditor who were active during the financial year 2016. The meeting also approved the co-optation by the board of directors of AHOK BVBA, permanently represented by Koen Hoffman as independent non-executive director, the co-optation by the board of directors of Vanzel G. Comm. V., permanently represented by Giulia Van Waeyenberge as independent non-executive director, the co-optation by the board of directors of Karin de Jong as executive director, the co-optation by the board of directors of Alychlo NV, permanently represented by Marc Coucke as non-executive director, and the co-optation by the board of directors of Marc Janssens as non-executive director.

After the meeting, Robert Peek announced his decision to step down as non-executive director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fagron. The Board of Directors decided to appoint Koen Hoffman as Chairman and to co-opt Veerle Deprez as independent non-executive director. The formal appointment of Veerle Deprez will be proposed to the next shareholders meeting of Fagron.

Hans Stols, CEO of Fagron: "We very much appreciate Robert Peek's valuable contribution to Fagron. In 2007, Robert was in charge of obtaining a public listing for Fagron. He was a driving force behind the successful transition from a business active in many areas of healthcare in North-west Europe to a leading global specialist in pharmaceutical compounding with prominent market positions in Europe, North America and South America. During the intensive period in which we realized the company's new financing, Robert demonstrated great professionalism, dedication and leadership. Now this has been completed and Fagron finds itself in the next phase, Robert made the decision to step down. We wish him all the best."

Composition Board of Directors (9 May 2017)

AHOK BVBA, permanently represented by Koen Hoffman (Chairman)

Vanzel G. Comm. V., permanently represented by Giulia Van Waeyenberge

Management Deprez BVBA, permanently represented by Veerle Deprez

Johannes (Hans) Stols (CEO, executive director)

Karin de Jong (CFO, executive director)

Holdco FV B.V., permanently represented by Frank Vlayen

Matthias Geyssens

WPEF VI Holdco III BE B.V., permanently represented by Nathalie Clybouw

Marc Janssens

Alychlo NV, permanently represented by Marc Coucke

Michael Schenck BVBA, permanently represented by Michael Schenck

1 This press release was sent out by Fagron NV and Fagron BV.

Veerle Deprez (1960)

Veerle Deprez created in 1987, together with her brother Hein Deprez, the foundation for what later on became the Univeg Group. Through acquisitions, Univeg became a vertically integrated group specialized in the production, packing and distribution of fruit and vegetables. In 2003 and 2004, Univeg acquired Peltracom and Agrofino, two companies active in potting soils, soil improvers and substrates. In 2005, the Deprez family took a stake in Pinguin, a Euronext quoted company, market leader in frozen vegetables. The range was extended with canned vegetables with the acquisition of Noliko in 2011. The three companies, Univeg, Pinguin and Peltracom, merged in 2015, the whole group being called now Greenyard. Greenyard is a global market leader in fresh, fresh frozen and prepared fruits and vegetables, flowers and plants, growing media and substrates and delivers to the majority of Europe's retailers. In her capacity of permanent representative, Veerle Deprez represents Management Deprez BVBA, since 2005, as non-executive director of Greenyard. Veerle is also directly or indirectly via Management Deprez BVBA, a director of DS Consult NV, De Kraaiberg NV, Nova Natie NV, De Weide Blik NV, The Fruit Farm Group BV, Deprez Holding NV, Deprez Invest NV and Food Invest International NV.

In case of inconsistencies, the Dutch press release prevails.

Please open the link below for the press release:
PENDLETON  U.S. Rep. Greg Walden defended his vote to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, telling constituents at town hall meetings that he saw last week's action as a way to fix a failing system.

The East Oregonian reports the Republican faced vocal crowds Monday in Baker City, Elgin and Wallowa. Though Walden heard from constituents angry about his vote, not all the feedback was negative in the strongly conservative territory.

When asked how many Oregonians stand to lose coverage under the new proposal, Walden said it was not easy to predict. That drew jeers.

At one point, Walden asked the crowd in Elgin if they would support a universal, government-run health care system. The auditorium erupted in cheers.

A recurring question was whether the Obamacare replacement would cover patients with preexisting medical conditions. Walden said he's confident they will be taken care of.





-- The Associated Press
public_safety_oregonian_105.JPG

A Sutherlin man was arrested for driving drunk after he crashed into a drug and alcohol treatment center in Roseburg.

(The Oregonian/OregonLive)

A Sutherlin man was arrested late last month for allegedly driving drunk after he crashed into an alcohol and drug rehab clinic, according to Douglas County Sheriff's records.

The News-Review reports James Christian Powell, 23, was reportedly driving westbound on Northeast Diamond Lake Boulevard in Roseburg when his Ford Ranger crossed the road's eastbound lanes and crashed into The Crossroads, an alcohol and drug addiction center.

James Christian Powell

Powell drove into a sign and crashed into three vehicles in the parking lot before hitting the facility, the newspaper reports.

A passenger and two dogs were found in the pickup after the crash.

Powell reportedly fled, the News-Review reports. Police stunned him with a Taser and detained him.

Powell was booked into the Douglas County Jail on counts of drunk driving, recklessly endangering another person and two counts of animal abandonment, among other charges.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
English Finnish

CapMan Plc Stock Exchange Release 9 May 2017 at 1.30 p.m. EEST

CapMan Plc: Managers' transactions

Based on the notification requirement in Article 19 of MAR Andreas Tallberg has notified that he has completed the following transaction:



Person subject to the notification requirement

Name: Tallberg, Andreas

Position: Member of the Board/Deputy member

Issuer: CapMan Oyj

LEI: 743700498L5THNQWVL66

Notification type: INITIAL NOTIFICATION

Reference number: 743700498L5THNQWVL66_20170509114947_3

____________________________________________

Transaction date: 2017-05-05

Venue: NASDAQ HELSINKI LTD (XHEL)

Instrument type: SHARE

ISIN: FI0009009377

Nature of the transaction: RECEIPT OF A SHARE-BASED INCENTIVE

Transaction Details

(1): Volume: 11530 Unit price: 1,66510 EUR

Aggregated transactions

(1): Volume: 11530 Volume weighted average price: 1.66510 EUR





CAPMAN PLC

Linda Tierala

Manager, Communications & IR

Distribution:

Nasdaq Helsinki

www.capman.com

CapMan www.capman.com

CapMan is a leading Nordic investment and specialised asset management company. As one of the Nordic private equity pioneers we have actively developed hundreds of companies and real estate and thereby created substantial value in these businesses and assets over the last 25 years. CapMan has today 100 private equity professionals and manages 2.8 billion in assets. We mainly manage the assets of our customers, the investors, but also make direct investments from our own balance sheet in areas without an active fund. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors and value adding services to professional investment partnerships, growth-oriented companies and tenants. Our current investment strategies cover Buyout, Growth Equity, Real Estate, Russia, Credit, Infrastructure and Tactical Opportunities. We also have a growing service business that currently includes fundraising advisory, procurement activities and fund management.
NEW YORK, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The microcap community is gearing up for the 2017 Marcum MicroCap Conference, to be held June 15-16 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.



In excess of 90 companies are enrolled to present thus far, with 150 total company presentations anticipated. The conference focuses on seven principal industry sectors, including Technology, Media & Internet; Software & Business Services; Life Sciences & Healthcare; Retail & Consumer Products; Energy & Natural Resources; Industrials; and Financial & Asset Management Services. The conference also provides a platform for one-on-one meetings between management teams and investors. Nine panel discussions on topics of interest to the investing community and publicly traded companies will take place concurrently with the company presentations.

Conference registration currently exceeds 1000 investors and other participants, with attendees including senior management, finance and legal executives, venture and lower middle-market private equity investors, institutional investors, directors, investment bankers, buy- and sell-side analysts, and service providers to the microcap marketplace.

The Marcum MicroCap Conference is noted for keynote speeches by some of the most prominent political and business leaders in the country. This year, there will two keynote events. On June 15, the Democratic-Republican husband-and-wife team of James Carville and Mary Matalin will parse the countrys current political environment in a moderated conversation entitled 150 Days into the New Administration: What has Happened and What to Expect. On June 16, economist and financial commentator Lawrence (Larry) Kudlow will deliver remarks entitled From Washington to Wall Street.

David Bukzin, partner-in-charge of Marcums SEC Services Practice group and chair of the conference, said, The Marcum MicroCap Conference has become a focal point for the microcap community not only for companies and investors to network, but also to stay abreast of the current issues confronting the market. The 2017 conference has all the markings of shaping up to be our best event yet. We are looking forward to welcoming all the different sectors of the microcap community on June 15 and 16.

The Marcum MicroCap Conference is presented by Marcum LLP, a top national accounting and advisory firm with offices across the U.S, as well as Grand Cayman, China and Ireland. Since its launch in 2012, the event has become a nationally recognized forum for publicly traded companies with less than $500 million in market capitalization to network with fund managers and high net worth investors who focus on small cap equities. For registration and sponsorship information, visit www.marcummicrocap.com.

Marcum is a registered Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) firm. Marcum's Assurance Division provides the most up-to-date service and guidance on SEC accounting and reporting issues. Services include Financial Statement Audits in accordance with PCAOB standards; Tax Compliance and Advisory Services; Due Diligence; Agreed-Upon Procedures and Other Attest Work; Internal Audit Services; Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Compliance Services and Software; Technical Accounting Assistance; and IPO Assistance. For more information, visit www.marcumllp.com.

About Marcum

Marcum LLP is one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the nation, with offices in major business markets throughout the U.S., as well as Grand Cayman, China and Ireland. Headquartered in New York City, Marcum provides a full spectrum of traditional tax, accounting and assurance services; advisory, valuation and litigation support; and an extensive range of specialty and niche industry practices. The Firm serves both privately held and publicly traded companies, as well as high net worth individuals, private equity funds and hedge funds, with a focus on middle-market companies and closely held family businesses. Marcum is a member of the Marcum Group, an organization providing a comprehensive array of professional services. For more information, visit www.marcumllp.com.
HOUSTON, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spine Injury Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB:SPIN), a technology-driven, medical service and healthcare solution company servicing the multi-billion dollar spine injury sector, today announced that it has scheduled an interactive video Investor conference call for Monday May 15, at 4:20 p.m. (EST) to discuss the Company's financial results for Q1 2017, business initiatives and provide an update on expansion plans for its core Personal Injury Case funding Affiliate Program along with the current marketing status of its patented Quad Video HALO v.3.0 (QVH3) and HALO Rx. Shareholders Question & Answers will follow.



Spine Injury Solutions intends to issue its Q1 2017 financial results on Monday, May 15, 2017 prior to the Conference Call.

Conference Call Details



Conference Call: An investor's conference call with management will be held on Monday, May 15, at 4:20 p.m. (EDT). The call will be video WebCast with a short live Power Point Presentation followed by Q & A. The call may be accessed either by phone alone, which will not allow asking questions, or by phone and/or VOIP with headset after internet log-in with an on screen provided Audio Pin # which will allow verbally asking questions. Questions can also be typed into an online chat screen at any time during the presentation or Q & A period.

Access to the Call: To use the internet link, you must register prior to access. So we suggest you complete the registration and get your log-in information in advance of the start of the presentation. You can register at any time. As mentioned above, the call is Monday May 15, at 4:20 p.m. (EDT).

Click or paste the link below in your browser for registration and web access to the presentation and follow the online instructions:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1432887234380451075

or if the above link doesn't work, please try the following:

Telephone Dial-in and/or VOIP which provides Q&A: To ask a question using your telephone, you must be online at the presentation website during the internet presentation where a unique Audio PIN # will be provided to you on screen after you log-in to the presentation console. You must use the pin to hear the call on the phone. During the presentation, all will be muted until the Q&A portion. Questions can be asked by typing in the question in the provided questions link on the provided console at any time during the presentation and will be answered during the Q&A.

The Q & A will be moderated, but without an operator, and will be open to all questions after the formal presentations. Review this short YouTube tutorial video for pointers on how to use the Webinar Features. (This is just a demo. Do not use the numbers or codes on this demo. Use what is provided above.)

YouTube webinar instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61o5cMOhYls

If you use the telephone, but are NOT also online, you will be able to hear the presentation plus Q & A, but will remain in "listen only" mode for the duration of the call.

Conference Dial-in Number: 1 (914) 614-3221

Participant Access Code: 255-540-580

Conference Play Back: A video replay of the conference call presentation will be available several hours after the completion of the call at the company website:

http://www.spineinjurysolutions.com

About Spine Injury Solutions, Inc:

We are a medical services and technology company facilitating diagnostic services for patients who have sustained spine injuries resulting from traumatic accidents. We deliver turnkey solutions to spine surgeons, orthopedic surgeons DOs and other healthcare providers that provide necessary and appropriate treatment of musculo-skeletal spine injuries resulting from automobile and work-related accidents. Our management and funding services help reduce the financial burden on healthcare providers that provide patients with early-stage diagnostic testing and non-invasive surgical care, preventing many patients from being unnecessarily delayed or inhibited from obtaining needed treatment. We believe that our services and technology brings strong transparency and impartiality to all parties involved in the settlement of patient cases.

Additional information about the company, along with a video replay of most recent Investor Conference Call can be found at its website at www.spineinjurysolutions.com.

About Quad Video HALO, Inc.:

A wholly owned subsidiary of Spine Injury Solutions, Inc. Quad Video HALO, Inc. brings surgeons and interventional pain doctors the technology to provide Transparency of their surgical procedures. The Quad Video Technology V3.0 and HALO Rx creates a digital turnkey video and audio documentation solutions that integrates multiple views from other OR/treatment imagining sources with several other viewpoints just outside the sterile field.

Additional information about QVH, can be found at its website at www.QuadVideoHalo.com

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release includes forward-looking statements as determined by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events, or developments that the company believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such 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 such forward-looking statements. Such factors include general economic and business conditions, the ability to acquire and develop specific projects, the ability to fund operations, healthcare services demands, changes in healthcare practices, government regulation, and other factors over which the company has little or no control. The company does not intend (and is not obligated) to update publicly any forward-looking statements. The contents of this press release should be considered in conjunction with the warnings and cautionary statements contained in the company's recent filings with the SEC.
Tuesday 9 May 2017 11:01am



Professor Philip Seddon

The resurrection of vanished species - through cutting-edge technologies such as gene-editing - should be targeted towards recently extinct species rather than ancient ones, according to a leading University of Otago conservation biologist.



In a guest editorial newly published online in the journal Functional Ecology, Professor Philip Seddon of the Universitys Department of Zoology suggests that long-gone species such as the woolly mammoth would not be the best focus for de-extinction efforts.



Professor Seddon says the prospect of resurrecting species through cloning or genetic reconstruction through tools such as CRISPR gene-editing has caught the imagination of scientists and the public alike.



However, while the idea of resurrecting mammoths, for example, might hold a wow-factor appeal, efforts would likely be better directed instead towards species where the conservation benefits are clearer.



The ecological niches in which mammoths - or moa for instance - once lived, no longer exist in any meaningful way. If we were to bring such species back, apart from just as scientific curios, these animals would likely be inherently maladapted to our modern eco-systems.



Instead, using cloning techniques to re-establish proxies of species that have recently become extinct should be the focus, along with determined efforts to prevent endangered species dying out in the first place, he says.



The money and considerable effort required to resurrect, reintroduce, and manage in the wild, viable populations of once-extinct species means there will inevitably be fewer resources available to manage threats facing the very many species that are currently at risk of dying out, but could still be saved.



Professor Seddon suggests that de-extinction projects will inevitably be pursued.



The reality of the idea is too sexy to ignore, and it could be driven by aesthetic, commercial, scientific, or some other hitherto unanticipated imperatives and motivations, he suggests.



Commenting on the de-extinction papers appearing in the special issue of Functional Ecology, Professor Seddon concludes that there are two principal messages arising from the articles.



The first is that the risks and the uncertainties involved will be hugely reduced, and hence the likelihood of achieving a conservation benefit from the production and release of resurrected species will be enhanced, if de-extinction candidates are drawn from the most recent extinctions.



Second, and perhaps most importantly, extinction of any species marks a significant threshold that once crossed, cannot be fully reversed, despite the apparent promise of powerful new technologies.



Our primary conservation objective must therefore be, as it always has been, avoiding species loss, and one the most significant contributions to be made by de-extinction technology might well be to prevent extinctions in the first place.

For more information, contact:

Professor Philip Seddon

Director, Postgraduate Wildlife Management Programme

Department of Zoology

University of Otago

Tel 64 3 479 7029

Email philip.seddon@otago.ac.nz
Tuesday 9 May 2017 12:35pm

Venomous Australian redback spiders are increasingly sinking their fangs into New Zealands Central Otago region and their invasion is being aided by the activities of another introduced pest  European rabbits  new University of Otago research has shown.



Otago scientists undertook a study near the town of Cromwell that found members of this invasive spider species are finding happy homes in old rabbit holes, in which they spin webs that catch scores of critically endangered Cromwell chafer beetles, and other native insects.



As part of a study for her masters degree, Ms Jackie Spencer investigated the spiders habitat in the 81 hectare Cromwell Chafer Beetle Nature Reserve (CCBNR).



Ms Spencer and the Department of Zoologys Professor Phil Seddon and Associate Professor Yolanda Van Heezik and AgResearchs Dr Barbara Barratt found that old rabbit holes were providing a very effective shelter from Central Otagos hot dry summers and very cold winters for at least 455 redback spiders.



Redbacks first became established in the region in the 1980s, and likely arrived with goods such as steel products from Australia. In recent years they moved into the reserve.



Ms Spencer recorded and analysed prey caught in redback webs on the reserve over a four-month period and then studied what effect filling in rabbit holes had on spider populations. The reserve is surrounded by a rabbit-proof fence and none of the warrens are currently inhabited by rabbits.



The research team found that 99 per cent of redback spiders in the CCBNR had built their webs in old warrens. The reclusive Cromwell chafer beetle, which is listed internationally as a critically endangered species, was the second-most common prey found in these redback webs.



After removing fifteen female spiders from their burrows, and filling these and surrounding holes in and releasing the spiders, four months later the researchers found none living in the vicinity of the filled-in holes. Of the control group of 15 females who were not removed from their holes, 13 of them were still present after this time period.



Ms Spencer says the clear implication of the study is that conservation efforts to save the chafer beetle must focus on eliminating rabbit holes.



These flightless nocturnal beetles are easy prey for redbacks  if we want to see this rare and enigmatic species survive we must get rid of these spider lairs.



The Department of Conservation has experimented with filling in all the burrows in the central area of the reserve, and the results so far have been promising, she says.



The Otago study findings were published earlier this year in the international journal Biological Invasions.




Live Webcast



Mr. Lich's presentation will be webcast live on www.investors.eastman.com.

Slides used by Mr. Lich will be available at the time of the presentation and can also be accessed at www.investors.eastman.com.
Goose Creek, SC (29445)

Today

Generally cloudy. High near 70F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low 62F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Midland County Sheriff Scott Stephenson will be the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the League of Women Voters of the Midland Area, which takes place at 6 p.m. May 24 at Midland Holiday Inn, 810 Cinema Drive.

Stephenson speaks at 7:30 p.m. on the Midland Sheriffs Department: Law Enforcement Services in Midland County.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department.

Monday, May 8

1:57 a.m.  A motorist was arrested in the 1100 block of Haley Street for drunken driving.

Sunday, May 7

1:36 a.m.  A motorist was arrested at Waldo Avenue and Whitewood Drive for third-offense drunken driving.

2:59 a.m.  Police made arrests for drunken driving, marijuana possession and possession of a firearm while intoxicated in the 2500 block of North Saginaw Road.

11:07 a.m.  Deputies assisted Child Protective Services at a Lee Township home. A 47-year-old man was arrested on a warrant.

1:07 p.m.  A deputy assisted Midland Police with a report of a road rage incident that occurred in the city. No criminal acts were reported.

3:31 p.m.  Police were sent to a Haley Street address for a domestic assault and report of damaged property.

4:01 p.m.  A syringe was found at an abandoned Coleman home that was being renovated. The syringe was disposed of by a deputy.

7:22 p.m.  A deputy transported a 14-year-old Greendale Township boy to the Midland County Juvenile Care Center.

7:23 p.m.  A deputy was sent to Greendale Township for a report of two females who appeared to be throwing rocks at a home. No one was found in the area.

10:28 p.m.  A deputy was called to a Midland Township business to investigate a trespassing complaint.

Saturday, May 6

12:21 a.m.  An Ingersoll Township man, 22, reported his 2006 Chevrolet Malibu was stolen from his home. The vehicle was involved in a roll over crash in Saginaw County, and the driver was arrested for drunken driving. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

3:31 a.m.  Deputies were sent to a Mount Haley Township home to locate the suspect in a hit and run traffic crash that occurred in Midland.

3:56 a.m.  A deputy was sent to South Sasse and East Gordonville roads for a report of a man carrying boots and walking. The man was walking home from the bar and was lost. The deputy gave him a ride home.

10:25 p.m.  A Hope Township woman, 19, reported unauthorized charges of $578.12 were made to her debit card. There are no suspects.

11:21 p.m.  Deputies assisted Child Protective Services at a Lee Township home.

12:06 p.m.  Gasoline, valued at $77.02, was stolen from a Coleman gas station.

4:23 p.m.  A Midland man, 20, was cited in Jerome Township for speeding and improper plate. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

7:12 p.m.  A deputy investigated a hit and run traffic crash in Ingersoll Township.

7:34 p.m.  A Grand Rapids woman, 53, was cited in Greendale Township for burning prohibited materials. Lee Township firefighters also were at the scene.

8:27 p.m.  A deputy was sent to Ingersoll Township for a report of an explosion. No smoke or fire was found in the area.

8:58 p.m.  Deputies were sent to a Jasper Township home for a report of a possible overdose. A 36-year-old woman was taken to the emergency room.

11 p.m.  Deputies were sent to an Edenville apartment building for a report of two teenagers using BB guns to shoot two adults. There were no injuries. The BB guns were confiscated and reports are being sent to the prosecutors office and the probate court.

Friday, May 5

10:40 a.m.  Police investigated a case of fraud in the 7300 block of Dahlia Street.

12:45 p.m.  A Larkin Township man, 21, was found to have violated the requirements of the states sex offender registry. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

1:01 p.m.  An Edenville Township man, 74, received a check in excess of the cost of items he was selling at an online site with directions to cash the check and wire the overage. The man cashed the check, which later bounced, leaving him owing his credit union $2,850.

1:02 p.m.  A Lincoln Township man, 50, was found to have violated the requirements of the states sex offender registry. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

1:19 p.m.  Police investigated a case of retail fraud in the 400 block of East Main Street.

1:43 p.m.  Deputies assisted Child Protective Services at a Lee Township home.

6:23 p.m.  Police investigated a domestic assault at a Virginia Street address.

8:09 p.m.  A Larkin Township man, 54, reported someone tried to file for unemployment in his name.

8:42 p.m.  A deputy was sent to westbound U.S. 10 near M-30 for a report of a car fire.

11:37 p.m.  A motorist was arrested at Sturgeon Creek Parkway and West Wackerly Street for driving on a suspended license.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Midlander who is now serving a hefty prison sentence for making methamphetamine.

William Joseph Sherwood, 35, was convicted by a jury in 2015 of operating and maintaining a methamphetamine lab. The jury deliberated for one hour before handing down the conviction.

He was sentenced to serve between 20 and 40 years in prison.

Sherwood appealed, claiming the improper admission of testimony of witnesses as well as ineffective assistance of counsel based on the jury instructions.

In the unanimous opinion, the Court of Appeals found otherwise, ruling Sherwood received a fair trial as well as effective assistance of counsel. The unpublished opinion is dated April 18.

Sherwood was arrested after Midland Police saw a vehicle drop off a person in a business parking lot on February 7, 2015, and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle for an expired plate. The person dropped off was identified as Sherwood, who was wanted on a warrant for a parole violation.

A police dog was called to the scene, and the dog tracked Sherwood to a Walter Court apartment. A resident at the home allowed officers to search the place, and they found a one pot methamphetamine cook.

A state police meth response team was called to the apartment due to the highly toxic and volatile nature of the chemical reactions that occur during the process of making the drug.

After the trial, Sherwood was charged with inciting or procuring perjury in a court proceeding, as well as a habitual fourth offender status. He was sentenced to between two and 7  years in prison for the perjury charge.

Sherwood is not eligible for parole until 2037.
To the editor:

In 1987, I arrived in Midland as the founding chief executive officer of the Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV). A prior nuclear plant project had been abandoned three years before and the community was still suffering from the loss of tax base and jobs. The importance of a strong local economic base is often overlooked until adversity hits.

Through the efforts of many, MCV became a positive contributor to the local economy, and has remained so for about 30 years.

Over the years, MCV sought to bring in new manufacturing facilities adjacent to its site but was unsuccessful. For new ventures, markets to the north of Midland are thin. On the east and west coasts of Michigan are the Great Lakes. Thus, resources for new ventures had to come from the south, and finished products needed to flow south. We found that for beginning entities, our site could not compete against sites in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, etc. that were closer to the markets. The incremental cost and issues meant we were not competitive. We were losing on the margin.

Fortunately, Dow Chemical is already established and is in a better position to incrementally add new product lines. They already have the organization infrastructure in place. If they have the needed land and facilities, they can add new products more easily and less expensively than elsewhere.

I attended one of the community forums Dow Chemical is sponsoring to obtain input on the idea of closing a section of Saginaw Road. I applaud Dow Chemical for seeking community input.

Certainly, some residents would be negatively impacted by the rerouting, and their concerns are very real. Dow Chemical should work hard to be responsive to the needs and concerns of these residents.

However, it seems to me that the long term viability of Dow Chemical in Midland and in Michigan rests on its ability to continue to make the Midland site more productive and profitable than alternative sites. Based on the experience we had at MCV, I concluded that the community should support the redirection of Saginaw road so that the combined Dow Chemical and Dow Corning sites offer the best sites for new production. On the margin, it makes the most sense.

RODNEY BOULANGER

Midland
PHOENIX, May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of the 15th Annual American Business AwardsSM program, Yandy.com today announced it has been honored with two gold Stevie Awards, one for Best Retail Website and a second for Company of the Year in the Apparel, Beauty and Fashion, Medium Sized Company category. Yandy also received a silver Stevie Award for Retail Company of the Year, Medium Sized Company category.



The American Business Awards are the nations 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. Past winners include: Kohls, eBay, Starwood, Google and other notable brands.

Im proud of our team for being recognized for the business and reputation they have built thus far, said Thom Brodeur, CEO of Yandy. Our goal of evolving Yandy.com to a branded marketplace for specialty apparel for every woman is starting to take shape. We will continue to push ourselves every day to do better and to do more for our customers so that these honors continue to drive excellence at Yandy.

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. More than 190 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this years Stevie Award winners.

Yandy was selected as a multiple Stevie winner as a result of its growth in 2016 and early 2017, as well as its innovation in the intimates, lingerie, costumes and swimwear apparel categories. The companys website also demonstrates innovation with its superior technology, a leading customer experience, a highly attractive design, and a fast and efficient back-end.

Yandys swimwear business is on the rise - doubling in size from Q1 2016 to Q1 2017. And, recently the company was named the official swimsuit sponsor of the 2017 Miss USA Competition.

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.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning crowned, the awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Tuesday, June 20. Tickets are now on sale. The list of 2017 Stevie winners are also available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About Yandy: Yandy is a retailer of sexy womens specialty apparel. The Yandy Girl lives on trend. Her passion is for the look, not the label. She trusts Yandy for the latest affordable looks in everyday intimates, lingerie, swimwear and costumes. The Yandy Girl lives out loud and is unapologetically connected with her mind, her body and her own brand of sexy. Visit http://www.yandy.com/.

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.
CVB's annual luncheon Wednesday

BLOOMINGTON  The Bloomington-Normal Area Convention and Visitors Bureau will host its Annual Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the DoubleTree Hotel & Conference Center in Bloomington.

The theme is BN Made and will highlight local artists, makers and creators unique to Bloomington-Normal, while Director Crystal Howard will give a presentation on the CVBs year in review.

Awards will be given to a community Friend of Tourism and to those hotels that rated 90 percent or higher in the CVBs Hotel Standards Program.

Illinois Office of Tourism Director Cory Jobe will be the guest speaker.
BLOOMINGTON  As Wade Barney Masonic Lodge 512 in Bloomington celebrates 150 years of fraternal brotherhood, members are emphasizing a rebranding as a more transparent social fraternity and a focus on philanthropy.

To honor the anniversary, officers of the Grand Lodge of Illinois will lead a ceremony at noon Saturday to rededicate the Bloomington Masonic Temple at 302 E. Jefferson St., near downtown.

The 106-year-old building is a landmark for Masons, including the lodge's 200 members who meet there twice a month.

There are a few events throughout the course of the year that the public is welcome to attend, but this one is special in that it happens so infrequently, said Jeff Fox, worshipful master of the lodge that was chartered in October 1866.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, will provide a glimpse into some of the organization's rituals.

It's filled with pomp and ceremony and arranged in a very particular way, said Fox. There will be a lot of folks here with a lot of fancy aprons on and fancy jewels on, and in suits and ties and so forth."

Freemasonry began as a guild for stonemasons in medieval Europe, and like the original stonecutters, Masonic members wear aprons.

The ceremony of rededication will be based very similarly to the laying of the cornerstone of the (United States) Capitol building by George Washington, added past worshipful master Dan Leifel. The kinds of things we do go back that far and beyond that, actually.

Washington and Ben Franklin were among Masons of note during the American Revolution.

"We have nothing to hide," said Leifel, shrugging off Freemasonry's long-held image as a secret society.

But Leifel notes the creation of the lodge  named after two early Illinois Masonic leaders, John Barney and Thomas Jefferson Wade  stemmed from "the debacle of the Morgan affair."

Allegedly a member of a New York lodge named (William) Morgan divulged the secrets of his fraternity," added Leifel. "Again allegedly, he was then kidnapped and taken to Canada and murdered.

The 1826 incident, whether true or not, sparked an anti-Masonic movement in the United States and Masonry went into decline, he said.

By the 1860s, Masonry membership remained at a low ebb so the master of Bloomington Lodge 43, Lucien Darwin Hains, believed the Masons needed to increase membership by rebranding themselves by starting a new lodge.

The first meeting of the Wade Barney lodge was held in 1866. Members met at several locations before moving to the East Jefferson Street temple upon its completion in 1911.

Fox said he doesn't like Masonry being characterized as a secret society because that makes it sound like something nefarious, and it isn't.

"It's a society with secrets, but it's not a secret society," said Fox. "The only secrets in this organization ... are public modes of recognition between ourselves and the symbolic penalty to the obligation that we assume when are initiated."

Which, since Morgan, has not been enforced, added Leifel.

Wade Barney had 930 members in 1953, a peak period for the lodge.

"For the first time in a long time we're seeing young, college-educated and non college-educated people joining, said Leifel.

"We are appealing toward a younger crowd," added Matthew Knapp, who, at 33, is among the lodge's youngest members.

"There are very few secrets that we do not talk about, he added. Everything else we can, and once we started talking about what we can, I think the appeal grew, especially among people our age.

Knapp and Jesse Slater, 26, said the organization's system of morality and emphasis on self-improvement appealed to them.

"They include assisting those who need it, being of a good moral character, to have high integrity, to treat everyone as equal," said Knapp.

Through the lodge, Slater said he has met people whom he might never have crossed paths with otherwise, and "I know they will always have my back, and that's because of the bond we share as Masons.

"It's a male-bonding thing," added Leifel. "We don't drink in Masonic buildings. We don't gamble in Masonic buildings. We don't discuss politics or religion. So it's a safe place."

Much of the lodge's activities center around taking in new members after learning Masonic rituals, and its charitable giving, which include high school scholarships and sponsorship of the statewide high school academic bowl.
NORMAL  Doug DeLong didn't bother to meet with his congressman Monday.

"I'm done talking to Rodney," he said. "I'm ready for him to go."

The Bloomington resident was one of about 30 people  many 13th District constituents  who protested at U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis' office at 104 W. North St. in Normal as Davis held open office hours.

The meetings inside focused mainly on health care, said Davis Communications Director Ashley Phelps, and so did the protests. Those waiting inside to see Davis could clearly hear singing, chants and spoken readings through the wall.

"We're doing what we can to help support people who are going to lose their health care," said Debbie Lubbert of Bloomington, a Davis constituent who read aloud a list called "The Ten Commandments of Health Care."

"If you don't have a pre-existing condition, one of your relatives does," she said.

Davis, a Taylorville Republican, voted Thursday for a bill passed by the House that, in an earlier form, would have made 24 million people lose health insurance, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office  partially because insurers can raise rates for those with conditions that are expensive to treat. The CBO has yet to release an analysis of the bill's final form.

Some who met with Davis shared DeLong's anger, including Jim and Laurie Swindler of Normal.

Jim Swindler said he doubts Davis' claims that the new health care bill will offer better care than the Affordable Care Act at a lower cost.

"He's talking as if we'll have all the benefits of a single-payer (universal health care) system but lower costs, which makes no sense," Jim Swindler said.

He added that Davis should hold a town hall meeting, which Davis has refused to do. Davis has said he has never held one and that they're "grandstanding events."

Davis has not let constituents address him unfiltered in public, favoring private meetings  media were barred from Monday's sitdowns, with Phelps citing privacy concerns  and public teleconferences in which staff members screen questions.

As Davis walked inside after briefly speaking to the protesters, they shouted, "Town hall, town hall, town hall."

Many held up signs in support of expanding or not contracting health care  Lubbert's read, "Save the ACA," and her husband, Mike, who suffers from kidney disease, held one reading, "My life depends on it." Some criticized Davis instead, including signs reading, "Replace and Repeal Rodney Davis" and "Rodney Davis is a pre-existing condition."

At least one person left happy: Janet Guaderrama of Normal, who visited the office to ask Davis to sign her petition to get the Equal Rights Amendment on the ballot in Illinois. He did so before addressing the protesters.

"I am ecstatic," said Guaderrama, who added she also visited the office of State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, on Monday. "I told him he's my favorite person today."
BLOOMINGTON  A week after Normal Mayor Chris Koos was sworn in for a fourth term, he was confident his razor-thin re-election would withstand a recount.

From the evidence Ive found, people that have gone through this process, attorneys that have represented (candidates in) discovery recounts like this in Illinois, have said its incredibly rare that the results change, he said. We just have to go through the process.

Koos and challenger Marc Tiritilli, who finished 11 votes behind in the April 4 election among 6,336 votes cast, will be on hand alongside attorneys, other campaign representatives and McLean County clerk's office staff for a discovery recount of their race starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Government Center, downtown Bloomington.

The partial recount will let Tiritilli examine ballots from seven Normal precincts to gather evidence to potentially pursue a full recount.

Im not sure how long it will take to make that determination, Tiritilli said of choosing to ask for a full recount, which he can do through May 25 in circuit court. It will take some time sifting through what weve noted, consulting my lawyer and doing a little research.

Tiritilli will examine precincts 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 25, which he said he chose by total votes, votes for Koos and undervotes  ballots not counted in the race because the voter appeared to choose neither candidate.

Well be trying to get a visual on each ballot so in effect we can do hand tabulation while the machine tabulation is being run, he said.

A high percentage of undervotes could reflect faulty machinery, and checking more votes for Koos gives Tiritilli a better shot to challenge votes against him.

Tiritilli also has examined voter signatures from those precincts to find discrepancies between voter registration cards and Election Day signatures.

We found a few dozen of varying degrees of mismatch. ... There were a few missing judges' initials. Im not sure what that means, he said. We werent there to speculate, just to note differences and see where that goes."

He noted some voters have valid reasons for changing signatures.

Some of these signatures are quite old. We found some from the '60s. Given 40 or 50 years, we would expect some discrepancy," he said.

In response, Koos has asked some to sign affidavits verifying they voted April 4.

By our estimates, somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 (signatures) are likely to be challenged, he said. I probably talked to about 60 people. ... I got about 20 (affidavits) back.

The discovery recount is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but will finish when every vote has been retabulated, said County Clerk Kathy Michael.

Koos, 68, the owner of Vitesse Cycle Shop, has been mayor since 2003.

Tiritilli, 51, is a Bloomington High School science teacher.
Politically our nation is split right down the middle  with most liberal voters on the coasts and most conservatives in middle America This last election conservatives prevailed, and liberals have fought that fact at every opportunity with marches and general mayhem. In other words, they have not accepted the election.

Although the nation is split down the middle politically, in higher education liberalism has the edge with a preponderance of liberal professors; consequently, university students are generally quite liberal/progressive along with their professors. Because this is so, a truly liberal arts program is hard to find  with all viewpoints discussed in a civil manner. Rather, when the liberal viewpoint is predominant it tends to force out the conservative worldview. It has become difficult even to invite a conservative to campus as a speaker without causing difficulties. Witness UC Berkeley, where violence has been employed to bar conservative speakers.

When the classical liberal arts program is jettisoned in favor of an indoctrination of liberal/progressive training, then we lose democracy  a social system which thrives on the free civil exchange of ideas. This is a serious loss. Totalitarianism rears its ugly head when dissenting views are not allowed.

For parents and future students searching for appropriate university programs it is prudent to research the ratio of liberal to conservative professors. Universities which are out of balance with a high majority of liberal professors would not be a good choice if parents and prospective students are looking for a classical liberal arts education.

Theodore H. Loy, Normal
Patna: The railway police on Monday arrested two men from the Howrah-Amritsar Mail and seized 55 kilogram of silver jewelries to the tune of several lakh rupees.

The breakthrough came during routine checking for alcohol on running trains when the railway security officials bumped into two large tote bags in the sleeper bogie of the train when it was approaching Mokama station.

When enquired, two men who were identified as Gajanan Giri of Kolkata and Praveen Seth of Howrah said the bags belonged to them. When opened, security officials were shocked to find hundreds of silver ornaments and jewelries in the bag.

Giri and Seth had reservation for Ambala Cantonment. When asked to show any consignment paper of the jewelries, the men failed to do so.

The two were brought to Patna Junction where they remain in police custody pending further investigation.
Patna: More than 200 government officials in Patna on Monday pledged to donate their eyes after their death, an initiative started by Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Agrawal who had pledged last December to donate his eyes in the event of his demise from the mortal world.

"This is a very noble cause as a person, after his death, could give the gift of sight to those who were either born blind or were the victims of some accident later in their lives," the DM said.

Agrawal said that not only government officials but their spouses also pledged in writing to donate their eyes after their death.

"We intend to intensify our efforts to spread awareness about the importance of eye, or cornea, donation. There are thousands of people of all ages in Bihar who would benefit greatly from this great gift of sight. Our next move is to attract senior citizens and let them know the importance of this noble cause," he said.

The DM said that those pledging to donate their eyes will be given a card specifying this person's intention and in the event of death, the family members have roughly eight hours to call the doctors who would come and take the eyes before the person is cremated or laid to rest.
Patna: Former Chief Minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi, at a press conference on Monday, said that he would soon meet with the Governor of Bihar and the Central Home Minister in Delhi urging them to initiate a CBI probe into the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and former RJD MP and a jailbird Mohammed Shahabuddin nexus after a recording of their conversation was released by a private television channel this past weekend.

"This matter is too serious to be investigated by a state agency as they can be influenced by politicians. Only a high-level probe by the CBI would bring the truth to the front. I will soon meet with Governor Ram Nath Kovind and then with Home Minister Rajnath Singh to demand a CBI investigation into the Lalu-Shahabuddin nexus," Manjhi said.

The leader of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) said that talking to someone from the jail cell is against the rules in the jail manual and when the leader of a ruling party in the state acts at the direction of a criminal, it was not good for the state.
Low-cost smartphones like the Moto G5 introduced a few months ago are shipping with soon-to-be-outdated chips from Qualcomm, which has announced successor chips.

Qualcomm on Monday introduced the Snapdragon 630 and 660, which are massive upgrades to chips used in low-cost smartphones introduced over the last six months or so.

And in a few months, youll be able to buy low-cost smartphones with these new chips, with prices starting at $200. The handsets will feature LTE download speeds equivalent to that in the iPhone 7 and have graphics processors capable of capturing 4K video.

Additionally, the low-cost smartphones will charge up faster than ever. The chips support Qualcomms Quick Charge 4, and smartphones can charge up to 50 percent in just 15 minutes.

The Snapdragon 660 is like a tweaked version of the Qualcomm 821 chipused in top-tier phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7for low-end phones. It is based on the Kryo architecture, which is also in the 821.

Smartphones with the Snapdragon 660 will have 2560 x 1600 pixel screens. The chip has about a 20 percent faster CPU than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 653. Its Adreno GPU is about 30 percent faster.

Some of the big upgrades with the new chips are best highlighted by the low-end Snapdragon 630, which succeeds the 625, which is used in the Moto G5 Plus. Phones with Snapdragon 630 will have Bluetooth 5 and 802.11ac, compared to Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11 b/g/n in the Moto G5 Plus.

The Snapdragon 630 also supports USB-C 3.1, while the Moto G Plus has an older micro-USB 2.0 charging port. The eight-core Snapdragon 630 chip is not based on the Kryo architecture, but on standard ARM Cortex-A53 designs. That is similar to the Snapdragon 625, but the 630 has faster clock speed.

The phone with Snapdragon 630 will be able to grab 4K video, while the Moto G5 Plus is capable of 1080p capture. The GPU in Snapdragon 630 is about 30 percent faster than the Snapdragon 625/626. The CPU is roughly 10 percent faster.

A secondary feature of the new chips is support for artificial intelligence via APIs like Facebooks Caffe2. Developers can write applications where cameras can recognize images in real time. Smartphones with the new chips will take advantage of the CPU, GPU, and digital signal processor for machine learning.

This technology could bring natural language processing to smartphones. While the use of multiple processing units isnt the most efficient way to create neural networks for machine learning, its a good start.

Also, the chips are made using Qualcomms 14-nanometer process. Thats not quite as advanced as the top-line Snapdragon 835used in the Samsung Galaxy S8 phoneswhich is made using the 10-nm process.

The new chips are also designed for tablets. Some vendors may choose to use the chips in drones, robots, and internet of things devices.
Over 100,000 internet-connected cameras may be falling prey to a new IoT malware thats spreading through recently disclosed vulnerabilities in the products.

The malware, called Persirai, has been found infecting Chinese-made wireless cameras since last month, security firm Trend Micro said on Tuesday. The malware does so by exploiting flaws in the cameras that a security researcher reported back in March.

The researcher, Pierre Kim, found that the vulnerabilities can allow an attacker to remotely execute code on the cameras, effectively hijacking them.

At least 1,250 camera models produced by a Chinese manufacturer possess the bugs, the researcher went on to claim.

Over a month later in April, Trend Micro noticed a new malware that spreads by exploiting the same products via the recently disclosed flaws.

It goes to show that the people behind this are probably more aware of how to use these vulnerabilities, said Jon Clay, Trend Micros director of global threat communications.

The security firm estimates that about 120,000 cameras are vulnerable to the malware, based on Shodan, a search engine for internet-connected hardware.

The Persirai malware is infecting the cameras to form a botnet, or an army of enslaved computers. These botnets can launch DDoS attacks, which can overwhelm websites with internet traffic, forcing them offline.

Once Persirai infects, itll also block anyone else from exploiting the same vulnerabilities on the device.

Security firm Qihoo 360 has also noticed the malware and estimated finding 43,621 devices in China infected with it.

Interestingly, Persirai borrows some computer code from a notorious malware known as Mirai, which has also been infecting IoT devices, such as DVRs, internet routers, and CCTV cameras, but by guessing the passwords protecting them.

Specifically, Persirai lifts certain functions Mirai relies on to scan the internet for new devices to infect, said Marshal Webb, CTO of BackConnect, a DDoS protection provider.

Although the resulting Persirai-powered botnet is capable of launching DDoS attacks, its largely refrained from assaulting any websites for the moment, probably because the malware developers are still testing how to use it.

The security researcher, a white hat, may have had the best intentions with releasing a full disclosure on these vulnerabilities, Webb said. But now theyre just out there, making it convenient for anyone to exploit.

The researcher, Pierre Kim, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment, but he noted difficulties with finding and contacting all the vendors involved, in a blog post about the disclosure.

However, Trend Micro has identified the primary Chinese manufacturer behind the cameras and is working with it to roll out a patch.

The security firm is declining to name the manufacturer until the patch is published. Until then, its hard to know what exact products and brands may be vulnerable, since so many models appear to be affected.

However, owners can protect a vulnerable device by placing it behind a firewall, and blocking access to the malwares command and control servers, which are located in Iran. Trend Micro has provided more technical details to Persirai in a blog post.
Minister of Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, has encouraged foreign investors to consider investing in Ghanas infrastructural sector, especially the countrys rail subsector.



Hon. Ghartey disclosed this while delivering a keynote address on behalf of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at the AI CEO African Pension Wealth Fund Leaders Summit 2017 held in Durban, South Africa under the theme, Facilitating Pension Fund Investment Partnership with African Asset Owners.



The summit was aimed at focusing on investment strategies and governance and showcasing institutional-grade opportunities and instruments to de-risk and catalyse global and African institutional capital.



According to the minister, there were huge investment opportunities in the countrys rail sector currently.



In Ghana currently, our priorities in infrastructure development include the rail sector and the energy sector, the minister said.



Ambitious Programme



Hon. Ghartey told investors that the rail sector has suffered neglect for a long time, and in the words of President Akufo-Addo this neglect of the rail sector is one of the tragedies of our post-colonial development as a nation.



We intend to address this tragedy as a nation. There are several opportunities in this sector and in the next three and a half years we have admittedly ambitious programme of constructing approximately 1,200 kilometres of rail.



This programme of developing associated infrastructure, including new industrial estates, inland rail terminal, new suburban housing and commercial centres all create opportunities for investors, he said.



According to Hon. Ghartey, the expansion of the rail sector is economically viable and would also transform Ghana from a lower middle income to a first world country.



Mining, agriculture and freight in Ghana, as well as to landlocked countries north of Ghana, assures the economic viability of the rail network, he said.



He added that the building of a modern railway network, coupled with our programme of developing associated rail infrastructure under the programme dubbed From Stations to Cities which seeks to take advantage of the rail network to bring accelerated economic development to the rail corridors will transform Ghanas economy.



The minister explained that private sector investment was crucial in bridging the infrastructural deficit on the African continent.



It is important therefore that clear strategies are developed to attract African sovereign wealth funds and pension funds for investment across Africa, he said.



Unfortunately, the pension sector in Africa is not as large as it ought to be. With the exception of South Africa, the African continent is on the fringes of the global pensions industry.



According to the Global Pension Assets Study, the 10 biggest African markets have a combined asset value of $37 billion.



While Africa adopts measures to increase pension penetration, it must also take steps to create an enabling environment for other pension funds, including US and Global Pension Funds and institutional investors, he said.

Source: Daily Guide









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
A book that outlines the stages of Ghana's economy from a dominant state to resource abundance nation has been launched in Accra.



Titled "the economy of Ghana; 60 years after independence", the 215-page book was put together by 32 authors and edited by a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Aryeetey and Mr Ravi Kanbur.

Divided into three sections, the book throws more light on Ghana's economic journey for the last 60 years.



The first part talked about the various kinds of industrial policies that Ghana has adopted historically and the industrial development outcomes that they have produced.

The second part highlighted the evolution of a key element of industrial policy and state business relations.



The final part touched on how industrial policy in Ghana would need to adapt to the emerging importance of the natural resources sector following the discovery of oil.

The book concluded that despite laudable efforts at modernising its agrarian economy, Ghana's transformation to an industrial economy remains largely unfulfilled.



Solid output

In his overview of the book, Professor Aryeetey Said the book was solidly put together with the knowledge and experience s of more than 30 scholars.



He said the book traced Ghana's economic path and the various transformation process leading to the current nature of the economy.



Professor Aryeetey, therefore, applauded the various contributions of all the scholars, especially his co-editor Mr Kanbur.



Review

Reviewing the book, a former Deputy Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Dr Nii Noi Ashong, said it explored the evolution of state-business relations in the country as a key element of industrial policy, and its effects on the development of the nation.



"Ghana's lack of a long-term industrial development strategy may reflect the relationship between governments and private indigenous entrepreneurs," he quoted from the book

Dr Ashong said the book extensively examined industrial policies in Ghana and how it would need to adapt to the emerging importance of the natural resources.

"There are discussions of the benefits and associated challenges of diversification of the economy, where sole focus is shifted away from the resource sector by improving cruelty competitiveness of other tradable activities," he quoted from the book.



The book was launched by a former Minister of Finance, Dr Kwame Pianim.



Quick Read

Ghana's economic transformation over the last 60 years has been put into a book Titled " The economy of Ghana, 60 years after independence"









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
Dusk Capital, in partnership with Vodafone Ghana and Peoples Pension Trust, has launched a scheme to enable employees in the informal sector make their pension contributions through the use of mobile money.



The scheme gives Ghanaians the opportunity to enroll onto pension scheme and make voluntary contributions through Vodafone Cash.



The move is expected to help rope more people into the pension space.



Currently, Ghana has about 12 million people in the informal sector with no pension scheme.



Bernard Osei Tutu, Chief Executive of Dusk Capital, who was speaking at the partnership signing agreement ceremony in Accra, said the initiative, which is the first of its kind in Ghana, would make pensions easily accessible to all Ghanaians through various digital innovations.



We live in a country where 85 percent of the workforce is in the informal sector. This means that about 12 million Ghanaians dont have pensions.



Due to this, thousands of Ghanaians fall into old age poverty. Therefore, we believe the partnership is timely and will help salvage the situation. The move will also go a long way to help the industry, he said.



Osei Tutu reiterated that the scheme would make it easy for consumers to pay their pensions contributions wherever they find themselves.



Many people were worried about the medium of collection. So the cocoa seller, the palm nut seller and my mum who sit at the Mallam Atta Marketwho do they contribute to. Now we have brought a simple technology to help, he added.



Samuel Bediako Waterberg, CEO of Peoples Pension Trust, said his company was keen on addressing the issues that prevent people in the informal sector from signing onto the pension scheme.



You dont have to go to the bank and fill a form to pay just five cedis, with your Vodafone Cash you can just with a click of a button pay for your pension, this scheme is governed by the NPRA so the government is also involved, he said.



He said the companies involved in delivering the scheme are very credible, stating that Vodafone is tried and tested so people can trust it, same with Peoples Pension Trust.



We also have support from some of the biggest pension companies in the world supporting us. Dusk Capital is licensed by NPRA so all the parties involved are trustworthy.



Martison Obeng-Agyei, Director of Vodafone Cash, said: We are going to give workers the opportunity to contribute and promote their wellbeing after retirement.



He encouraged all workers- both in the formal and informal sectors- to join the scheme and contribute towards their future.

Source: Daily Guide









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
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, Chairperson of Groupe Nduom and prolific Ghanaian businessman will be honoured with the GUBA 2017 Black Star Award for Excellence In Business at the Intercontinental Hotel in London on Saturday the 3rd of June 2017.



The Excellence in Business award sponsored by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, recognises leading outstanding businesses that best demonstrate exceptional financial returns, strong growth, innovative strategies, and market leadership in their sector.



The GUBA Awards, now in their sixth year, seek to celebrate exceptional talent and commitment to advancement within the Ghanaian and British community.



The prestigious GUBA Black Star Award will be awarded to thirteen outstanding members of the Ghanaian, UK and African community, honouring them for their consistency, dedication to excellence and longstanding contributions to society.



A product of Elmina, Central Region of Ghana, Dr Nduom is an esteemed academic who holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Economics, a Master of Science Degree in Management and a Doctorate Degree in Service Delivery Systems, in addition to other qualifications.



He joined Deloitte & Touche in 1981 and became a partner in Milwaukee, USA in 1986.



He became the Chairman of the Board of Deloitte & Touche Africa Region in 2000. Co-owner of Groupe Nduom (an international conglomerate with close to 60 companies in countries across Africa, the UK and the United States), Dr Nduom has an impeccable record as an economist & management analyst.



Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has also made a considerable mark in Ghanaian politics.



He has been elected an Assembly Member and also a Member of Parliament.



He has been a three-time presidential candidate. Dr Nduom has also had the privilege of serving as minister of state for Economic Planning, Energy and Public Sector Reform between 2001 and 2007.







The GUBA Black Star award is in recognition of Dr Nduoms exceptional business acumen in establishing and sustaining various successful ventures across numerous sectors.



Tickets for the award can be purchased at www.gubaawards.co.uk/ticket/



GUBA 2017 SPONSORS  Title Sponsor: ECOM Ghana. Category Sponsors: uniBank Ghana, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Imperial Homes, ABN TV and Radio. CEO Dinner Sponsor: PayAngel.



Media Partners: ROK TV, VOX Africa TV, Starr Radio UK, Hot Digital Online FM, Rising Africa, Afropulp Magazine, The Voice Newspaper, Glam Africa, ABN TV and Radio, GHOne TV, Starr FM, OK FM, Peace FM, Adom TV, UTV, Hot Digital Online FM, Ahomka FM, FAB Photography, AKLASS photography, SWAG of Africa, Screen Nation, Inspirational You.

Source: 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
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, returned home last Sunday night after a six-day visit to three West African countries  Togo, Burkina Faso and Cote dIvoire.



The trip had a three-pronged mission: to introduce himself to the people and leaders of the three countries as the new President of Ghana, interact with Ghanaians living in those countries and re-enforce Ghanas position on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) project.



He was met on arrival at the Kotoko International Airport by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and other state officials.



Briefing the media following the Presidents arrival, the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, said President Akufo-Addo left Ghana on May 2, 2017 to start the three-nation tour that took him first to Togo.



Togo



He said in Togo, where he went by road, the President called for the 24-hour opening of the Ghana-Togo border, saying that would bring actualisation to the ECOWAS protocols on the free movement of goods and people.



He said President Akufo-Addo and the Togolese Leader, President Faure Gnassingbe, agreed to exploit resources in the northern part of their respective countries for the benefit of the people.



The Sogakope-Lome Water Project, he said, was another issue that came up, with the two leaders reaching the consensus that it should be expedited to be able to supply 80 per cent of its output to Lome.



Burkina Faso



In Burkina Faso, Mr Arhin said, there were three issues on top of the Presidents agenda  the railway, agricultural development and water resources.



The President had declared in his campaigning that one of the highlights of his achievements in office would be the construction of a railway line from Accra to link the Upper West Region, Paga, to Burkina Faso.



In pursuance of that objective, President Akufo-Addo was accompanied by the Railway Minister on the trip to Burkina Faso to ensure that an agreement was drawn up to ensure that the required funding and technical needs were achieved to make the project a reality.



Mr Arhin said Presidents Akufo-Addo and Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso agreed to ensure that whenever water was spilled from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso, it would not cause damage to lives, property, and especially, farmlands and livestock in Ghana.



Also, he said, an agreement had been reached to stem the tide of smuggling subsidised fertiliser from Ghana to Burkina Faso.



To address the Fulani herdsmen menace, Mr Arhin said, an agreement was reached for frequent consultations on how to end the menace.



By the end of 2017, the Bolgatanga-Ouagadougou power project would be completed to export 87 megawatts of power to Ouagadougou, he added.



Cote dIvoire



Top on the agenda in Cote dIvoire was the issue of cocoa and the two countries maritime boundaries, Mr Arhin said.



He said the two countries agreed to the drawing up of a strategic partnership agreement which would ensure that every year there would be a joint council of ministers to sit and discuss issues regarding price volatilities in cocoa.



He said the two countries produced about 65 per cent of the worlds cocoa but had no say when it came to pricing, leading to the agreement on the part of the two countries to set up a marketing mechanism to help them have a say in the pricing of cocoa.



Regardless of the outcome of the maritime border issue between the two countries at the Hague in the The Netherlands, Mr Arhin said, Presidents Akufo-Addo and Alassane Dramane Ouattara agreed that co-operation between the two countries would be unaffected.



On the issue of galamsey, he said, since the Bia and the Tano rivers flowed directly into Cote dIvoire but illegal mining had polluted them, it was agreed that the ministers in charge of mines in the two countries should meet to discuss issues and ensure that measures were instituted to counter the effects of illegal mining.



Mr Arhin said a common theme that ran through President Akufo-Addos interactions with all three Presidents was the need for African countries to become independent of foreign aid.

Source: Daily Graphic









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
A 30-year-old man was in the early hours of Tuesday shot and killed by the police at Tema New Town in Accra.



Patrick Mensah, was fired at by some members of the Police Patrol Team who were responding to a distress call in the area at about 1:30 am.



The Public Relations Officer of the Tema Regional Police Command, ASP Mr. Joseph Darkwa told Graphic Online that the police received a distress call from someone (name withheld) to the effect that he was under attack.



Car invasion



According to him, the complainant told the Police Patrol Team that he had parked his car to buy something only to return to find another person in the driving seat.



He said, the complainant added that in an attempt to question the intruder, a struggle ensued and the suspect was joined by another person in the car.



Mr Darkwa said the car owner on realising that he could not handle the ensuing struggle placed a call to the police.



He said the suspects on seeing the police took to their heels but were pursued by the policemen who later apprehended the deceased.



Weapon snatching



According to Mr Darkwa, in an attempt to handcuff the deceased, he allegedly snatched the rifle of the policeman and in the process of taking the rifle back, the other policeman who was with the team shot the deceased.



He said the body has since been conveyed to the police hospital morgue for autopsy.



Mr. Darkwa said the Regional Police Command has opened investigation into the case.



Protest



Meanwhile, some residents of Tema New Town have staged a protest over the incident.



They pelted the police station with stones leading to the damage of a police operational vehicle with registration number GP 3842.



Mother of the deceased has also disputed the account of the police insisting her son, who had gone to buy food after close of work, was not a robber as alleged.



About 20 armed police men are guarding the New Town Police station at the time of filing this report.

Source: Daily Graphic









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
Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Betty Mould Iddrisu, has described as amateurish, the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah-Dames assessment of the famous lawyer Tsatsu Tsikatas legal prowess.



Godfred Yeboah-Dame during Starr Chat last Wednesday, May 3, 2017 claimed lead Counsel for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 2012 election Philip Addison is a better lawyer than his colleague Tsatsu Tsikata from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).



But the comment seemed not to have gone down well with the Vice Chairman of the NDC who observed that the comment was distasteful, amateurish and childish.



I find the comments by the deputy Attorney General Godfred Odame in a recent interview he granted Starr FM to the effect that Philip Addison is a better lawyer than Tsatsu Tsikata very distasteful, amateurish and childish. Maybe Godfred should be reminded that by convention the AG is the official leader of Bar and presumably the deputy hence the need to exercise caution and maturity when making comments about members of the Bar, she said.



That is why the attorney generals cases are given priority over others in court. In any case what was the basis for the comparison, she asked.



Madam Betty Mould reminded the deputy minister that he was too young in the late 70s to know that Tsatsu Tsikata was a highly sought after lawyer in the country indicating that more than 80% of Supreme Court Judges of present day passed under his tutelage.



Someone should remind Godfred who perhaps was either not born or too young in the late 70s that Tsatsu Tsikata was one of the highly sought after lawyers in his days. Is Godfred also aware that more than 80%of judges of todays Supreme Court passed through Tsatsus tutorship.



Or does the fact that Godfred trained under Phillip Addison mean hes a better lawyer than Tsatsu Tsikata? I can appreciate his crass and pathetic ignorance because in the late 70s when his boss Nana Akuffo, lawyer Adae Mensah and Tsatsu Tsikata formed the Human Rights Committee of the Ghana Bar Association where was he? Remember Lawyer Adae Mensah subsequently moved on to become the solicitor General for the Rivers State in Nigeria. I expect better from our deputy Attorney General.



Godfred should rise above this pettiness. There is so much work to do for mother Ghana. Away with the politicking and childishness while we hold sensitive public offices which come with enormous responsibility. I am curious though



She appealed to the president to immediately call the deputy minister to order in view of the fact he is the official leader of bar and presumably the deputy hence the need to exercise caution and maturity when making comments.



Will the president, his boss, who is also member of the Bar call him to order, she quizzed. 

Source: todaygh.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
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, has locked up her sick husband and refused to give him food, Northern regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu, has disclosed.



Mr Naabu described the Gender Minister as a controversial person who has refused to use her husbands name or the title Mrs in her endeavours.



The Northern regional Chairmans jab is in reaction to an allegation made against him by Ms Djaba that he is a bribe-taking politician.



 A woman who is married, the husband is a doctor, she is supposed to be called Mrs Tapan but nobody knows that Otiko is married. Whatever she does, she does it without any Mrs. The husband is sick, she has locked the husband in the house. She doesnt give him food to eat, the mans children are angry [and want] to go and prepare food for their father. So such a woman, is she responsible? In Tamale here everybody knows, Mr Naabu said in an interview with Accra-based Radio XYZ.



Ms Djaba and Mr Naabu have been at each others neck following a supposed meeting the Gender Minister had with some womens group in the Northern Region.



Ms Djaba accused Mr Naabu of extorting money, cows, and goats from people with the promise to secure them appointments in the Akufo-Addo government in a radio interview after Mr Naabu had interrupted her meeting with the women on Friday, 5 May.



Mr Naabu, in his defence, described the meeting as illegal and unconstitutional because she had not informed him of the meeting. He also alleged that Ms Djaba was meeting with the women to introduce her choice of School Feeding Programme coordinator to them, an allegation Ms Djaba has denied.

Source: classfmonline.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
The Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bugri Naabu has been given a 48 hour ultimatum to retract and apologise over an allegation he made against Rockson Bukari.



Bugri Naabu had accused the Upper East Regional Minister and Otiko Afisa Djaba of being the masterminds behind the death of Adams Mahama.



Bugri Naabu on Monday, May 8 accused Otiko Djaba and the Upper East Regional Minister Rockson Bukari of being behind the killing of the late Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).



You could remember Adams Mahama who certainly died when he was bathed with acid, [it was through] the same secret meetings  Mr Bugri Naabu alleged in an interview with Radio XYZ



Speaking in an interview on Peace FM morning show Kokrokoo, lead counsel of the Minister, Samson Ayenini, lead counsel of Rockson Bukari said if Bugri Naabu does not apologise unconditionally, he will face the full rigours of the law.



Our client wanted immediate action but we advised him to wait for a while to see if Bugri Naabu will apologise and retract the story. If he doesnt do it, it means he has evidence to prove his statementwe have given him 48 hours to apologise. The 48 hours started yesterday (Monday) and if he doesnt retract and apologise unconditionally; it must be in writing and he must undertake that he will never repeat those false claims anymore, he will face the law



A statement signed by Samson Lardy Anyenini of [email protected] said two other media houses are also included in the ultimatum.



Attached is the full statement;



We hold the instructions of MR. ROCKSON BUKARI  UPPER EAST REGIONAL MINISTER, to demand a retraction and apology from you for your defamatory comments on an Accra Radio XYZ 93.1, which comments have been widely circulated including onClass 91.3 fm, www.classfmonline.com as well as www.ghanaweb.com on Monday May 8, 2017.



Our client takes very seriously your false forceful yet direct accusation of felonious conduct on his part of deep involvement in connection to the unfortunate murder of the former regional Chairman of the NPP in 2015, and for which named individuals are presently standing trial at the High Court.



Our clients demands are for an immediate unconditional unequivocal written retraction and apology for those unprovoked and maliciously defamatory statements.



Our client, for the avoidance of doubt, wishes to place on record that your said allegations are completely false and that that also explains why investigations by appropriate state authorities have never remotely linked him or any person(s) associated with him with the dastardly act.



The retraction and unconditional apology must contain an undertaking NEVER to repeat said false claims, and same must be given same prominence as the complained publications and republications within forty-eight hours (48) from the 6pm of date first above.



We have firm instructions to, without further notice to you, and upon your failure, neglect or refusal to fully satisfy our clients demands herein, take out a suit and hold you, the platforms used and those carelessly republishing, liable for your said defamatory comments.



The Editors/Operators of Radio XYZ 93.1, Classfm are by copy of this notice deemed duly requested and served separately to comply separately accordingly.



Be advised accordingly.





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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
Controversial Gender Minister is in the hot soup as some members of Pro-NDC group called the Young Cadres Association [YCA] has petitioned the Chief Justice [CJ] to issue a warrant for the arrest of Madam Otiko Djaba.



The group wants the minister and under arrest in connection with NPPs Upper East regional chairman, Adams Mahama.



The petition signed by the General Secretary of the group, Bright Botchway stated that  We, the leadership of the Young Cadres Association (YCA) a political youth activist group, on behalf of our members, would like to petition your high office to cause the arrest and prosecution of Mrs Otiko Afisa Djaba and Bukari Rockson."



 . . The said persons are personalities of high standing in the nation and appointees of His Excellency, President Akuffo Addo and thus any mud thrown at them indirectly damage the image of the President and the citizenry as well. It is thus in accordance with the laws of natural justice to grant these persons an opportunity to redeem their names by putting them before the law courts, the statement read.



Their petition comes after the Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party; Daniel Bugri Naabu alleged that Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba was deeply involved in the killing of NPPs Upper East regional chairman, Adams Mahama.



Otiko has been a controversial woman in the party. As Im telling you, this Adams issue, she was deeply involved, so because of that most of us who know her will call her a controversial woman," Bugri Naabu said in an interview on Accra-based Radio XYZ.



Over the weekend, Otiko had an altercation with Bugri Naabu on Friday in Tamale after the NPP National Women's Organiser said she went to meet women organisers of the party in the Northern region.



Otiko Djaba, however, alleged that Bugri Naabu has collected monies, goats, cows and other things from people in exchange of jobs in the Nana Addo-led administration.



She stated that "it is not the mandate of the regional chairman to decide who is a caterer [to the School Feeding programme]."



Bugri Naabu in response to the gender minister said "Youll be surprised that some of these people who masterminded the killing of Adams have come to take positions in the government . . . like the Upper East Regional Minister. He was deeply involved in the masterminded killing of Adams."



Below is the YCA petition to the CJ



Petition to Arrest Madam Otiko Djaba and Mr Bukari Rockson in Connection with Adams Mahama's Death



We, the leadership of the Young Cadres Association (YCA) a political youth activist group, on behalf of our members, would like to petition your high office to cause the arrest and prosecution of Mrs Otiko Afisa Djaba and Bukari Rockson. The said persons are personalities of high standing in the nation and appointees of His Excellency, President Akuffo Addo and thus any mud thrown at them indirectly damages the image of the President and the citizenry as well. It is thus in accordance with the laws of natural justice to grant these persons an opportunity to redeem their names by putting them before the law courts



The facts of the case, Sir, as you are aware of are that exactly two years ago this month, Ghanaians woke up to news of the gruesome murder of Adams Mahama, the then Upper East regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who was bathed in acid in a alleged reprisal attack over political disagreements.



Not only did this dastardly act shake the very foundations of Ghanaian politics, but it also led to a spike in the number of acid bath incidents around the country.



As prosecutors struggle to convict those who have been arrested in connection with this murder, there is a new development which could potentially lead to a break in the deadlock as to who really murdered Adams Mahama.



Mr Bugri Naabu, the Northern regional chairman of the NPP has offered an important clue as to who murdered Adams Mahama. The leading NPP figure has revealed in an interview with an Accra-based radio station that Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba (Minister for Gender, Women and Children's Affairs) and Mr Bukari Rockson (Upper East Regional Minster) have a hand in the murder. What then are we waiting for?



It is not always that high-profile murder cases in this country get such huge breakthroughs and as such we belief the Police administration should take this huge opportunity presented to get to the bottom of this case.



The law enforcement agencies have done their best in trying to bring the culprits of that gory attack to book, although the snail-pace approach of the justice system has all but heightened the apprehension of the family of the deceased. As the case is currently in the law courts, we will not stray so far as to be held for contempt.



We believe and trust in the high professional standards of the Ghana Police and believe this professionalism would be brought to bare in this important issue. In the end any move made will go a long way in making the public repose confidence in the Police administration.

We count on your high office for a favourable response to this petition.

Thank you.



Signed:

Bright Botchway

General Secretary

YCA

(0249999145)



Ebo Crentsil

National Coordinator

YCA

(0244148654)

Cc.The chief justice

Judiciary service Accra





Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007









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
Three Municipal and District Executives (MDCE) nominees out of five who constitute the first batch of 25 nominees in the Volta Region have been approved by their respective Assemblies.



Per the itinerary of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, confirmation of nominees would take place from 8-16 May 2017.



The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archiebald Letsa is in charge of the Central and Southern Volta, while his deputy, Maxwell Blagogee, would supervise the Northern sector.



At North Dayi, the assembly members overwhelmingly approved Kudjo Edmund Attah, who received 100 percent votes from all 34 assembly members.



Mr. Attah, who is the chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the North Dayi, becomes the second District Chief Executive (DCE) of the young district.



His unanimous confirmation did not come as a surprise to many people in the area.



In his maiden speech, the new DCE called for collaboration from all the assembly members and indigenes of the area to effectively develop the district effectively.



He pledged to make education his topmost priority in the area.



The MP for the area, Joycelyn Tetteh, pledged her unflinching support for the DCE.



In the Ketu South Municipality, the MCE nominee, Edem Eliot Agbewornu, was also confirmed by the assembly members of the area.



He polled 53 votes out of the 56 votes cast, representing 93 percent while three assembly members, representing seven percent voted against him.



Seth Yornewu of the Keta Municipal was also confirmed by members of the assembly after he obtained 56 votes out of the 70 votes cast, representing 80 percent.



Meanwhile, members of the Kpando District Assembly rejected the Presidents nominee for the area.



Mr. Elvis Kwaku Djampoh failed to secure two-thirds of the total votes cast by polling 15 votes out of 28 votes cast, representing 54 percent, which is less than the mandated 67 percent of the total votes.



He would therefore be presented to the assembly members again in 10 days time for another election.



The Deputy Volta Regional Minister, Mr. Maxwell Blagogee, who was disappointed at the turn of events, appealed to the assembly members to reconsider their decision when the nominee is presented to them again.



According to Mr. Blagogee, development projects cannot be executed in the area without a substantive DCE, who is the representative of the president at the local level.



The Volta Regional Minister, on his part, urged the Presidents nominee to justify the confidence reposed in them by the President, adding that their actions and inactions would have an effect on many aspects of the country.

Source: Daily Guide









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
Former Chief of Defence Staff Brigadier General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah has said he cannot wait to be given a job by President Nana Akufo-Addo so he can bring his experience to bear on the new administration.



Hes [Nana Akufo-Addo] the president and I want to help him  I know he will hear what Im about to say  his security will, whatever you are saying they are recording it and theyll inform him  he knows Im not dead yet, he knows Im healthy enough, my brain is still working, if you give me a problem in mathematics I will solve it right now, so he knows I can help, Gen Nunoo-Mensah told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Tuesday, 9 May.



But I know the party, there are elements in there who will say: This man, what is he going to do with us? He is coming to beg for a job. I dont need a job.  If he asks me to go to the Flagstaff House today, Ill go there and wait for him because Ghana needs people like me to help, Im telling you, Im not boasting  I want to help, I cant wait because Ghana is going astray and I want in my lifetime to move Ghana on the right track.



This is not the first time Gen Nunoo-Mensah has expressed willingness to work in the Akufo-Addo administration. The former campaign manager of Nana Akufo-Addo said on Sunday, 12 February 2017 that he wished he could freely approach Ministers in the new Akufo-Addo government to sell his ideas about how to develop Ghana, in line with the president's urge to Ghanaians to be "citizens and not spectators", but the "gates" of officialdom are shut to people like him, who do not belong to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), thus, stifling his patriotic efforts.



"I can do it " he told TV3's Hot Issues programme, by putting "young people who are roaming the streets to work." "It can be done, but we haven't got the willpower to do it," the former National Security Advisor to late President John Mills complained.



"I want to approach many ministers today, I've got ideas about agriculture, ideas about security, ideas about many issues, but to get the minister to talk to you, it's difficult," he observed.



Asked why gaining access to the presidency should be a problem for him considering that he could easily have access to the president, who he has described on many occasions as a "friend", Mr Nunoo-Mensah said: "If I went to him [President Nana Akufo-Addo], they [the people around the president] will say I'm coming to him to ask for a job. I'm not coming to ask for a job, at this age I don't need any more jobs.



"I have no problem with Akufo-Addo, I've been with NPP and I know the hardliners there, what they didn't want  they think that when you go near the areas of power, you are going to ask for a favour, I've never asked for a favour in my entire life  I don't ask for favours  I don't need favours from anybody."



He said despite the president's call on citizens to participate in developing the country, "it's not an easy trying to get in touch with them [ministers], they won't pick your call, I'm telling you. You see, this is horrifying," he noted.



Citing an example to buttress his point, Brig Gen Nunoo-Mensah said: "I wouldn't want to be here and say things about people that will not be palatable, [but] I called one individual, I said: 'I want to see you.' He said: 'I'm going into a meeting, call me at 4 o'clock.' I never called him again! You [the individual] are half my age, why should I call you?" he wondered to the host, saying: " So this is the attitude, which is sad.  I want to be able to talk to them, but I can't get the chance. The president says we should be participants, if you don't open the gate how can I get in there and participate?



"[So the president should open his gate] so that we go there and talk to them. We can build Ghana. Tell him that I say I can build Ghana. He knows me very well.  I was his campaign manager and what a wonderful time [that was]. He needs people like me  I'm not boasting" the 80-year-old former military officer said.

Source: Classfmonline









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
Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has hailed Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu Ekuful and the former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah for consolidating their integrity.



Commenting on the recent animosity between Gender Minister, Otiko Djaba and the NPP Northern Regional Chairman, Bugri Naabu; Mr. Pratt was of a strong view that Communication Minister who most people thought is radical has kept a solid integrity since her appointment.



According to him, Mrs. Owusu Ekuful has become a role model to many Ghanaians and earned huge respect while the two - Otiko Djaba and Bugri Naabu - go on rampage.



He also commended the former Chief of Staff claiming he's over the years proven to be a humble person and there's never a time that he (Mr. Debrah) shows any sign of arrogance.



To Kwesi Pratt, these two politicians are remarkable and deserve a pat on the back.



He however condemned the conduct of the Gender Minister and Bugri Naabu for attacking each other and called for them to be brought to order.

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
The newly elected president of the Ghana Actors Guild, Mr Sammy Fiscian says he and his team will reorganise and rebrand the guild.



The new executives were elected at a by-election held at the Centre for National Culture in Accra on Saturday. They are Sammy Fiscian, President, Van Vicker, Vice President, and Kalsoume Sinare, Welfare Officer.



Speaking to Showbiz yesterday, an obviously elated Fiscian said he was excited about his victory, Im really excited and I give thanks to God almighty for making it possible.



He used the opportunity to outline his vision for the guild, I am looking at a situation where we will re-organise the Ghana Actors Guild and rebrand it. At the moment, the guild is nothing to write home about so there is the need to bring every actor in Ghana to the guild to give it a new focus and make it vibrant and attractive, the actor said.



Another area that is dear to his heart is welfare issues. If you belong to an organisation where the welfare system is not good, then it is not worth it, there should be a proper welfare scheme.



We will look up to government institutions and corporate bodies for sponsorship so that we will have a stronger financial base to be able to invest in managing and running the welfare scheme, he said.



Sammy Fiscian added that he also intends to support the various groups which fall under the Ghana Actors Guild such as the Concert Party Groups and the Theatre Groups. We need to get funding to support these groups to enable them put up performances.



Finally, he is looking at the guild running collaborations with TV stations, the foreign soaps have pushed us out of jobs and we need to work our way back, we can only do that with support from the TV stations.



Fiscian added that his team have up to October 2018 to end their tenure for which reason he was looking at what is achievable.



On her part, Kalsoume Sinare who was elected as Welfare Officer said she is grateful to God. I would like to thank God because without Him, I couldnt have made it. I feel very humbled and I am also grateful to the people who voted, the people have spoken, she said.



One thing Kalsoume intends to bring on board is transparency which she said has been missing from the guild.



We will put in place a proper welfare system so that we can support members when they are bereaved or getting married, we intend to change the face of the guild, the Sala actress added.



According to Kalsoume, they will seek support from partners, we will talk to the sector Minister for assistance as well as corporate bodies. I feel sad when I see aged actors begging for money to take care of their medical bills, we should be able to take care of all that, she said.



The general secretary of the guild, Don Ziggy Netyson expressed appreciation to members for making the elections a successful one.



We have had some few challenges but everything was sorted out and the elections came off successfully, the attendance was massive and I am happy for the enthusiasm and recognition of the guild, he said.



The newly elected executives were sworn into office after the elections.

Source: Daily Graphic









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
A 63-year-old Australian man has been found dead in Bali in what looks like suspicious circumstances.

Stephen James Richardson, from Perth, was found dead in his rented house in south Denpasar on Monday, with several wounds to his arm, forehead and cheeks.

Local police said there were signs of a violent struggle and the first possibility is that he died as the result of an assault, but also that the victim had a habit of drinking alcohol  so there is a possibility that the victim died due to be (sic) drunk and falling and hitting glass.



Richardson had moved to Bali about three months ago, according to some reports. His body was only discovered when friends had made several unsuccessful attempts to contact him, and went to check on him after he failed to attend a wedding anniversary party.

A glass cabinet door and a window at his home were both smashed.

On the floor of (sic) in the middle room there were a lot of dried blood spots, police said. A knife has been collected as evidence.

His son Ben Richardson, 29, told the Daily Mail the family had initially thought a heart attack had killed him, until police sent them photos from the crime scene.

I will not stop until I know what really happened because its very clear someone took him from us, he said. I am fuming, he didnt even get to see us get married or have kids.

Source: ABC / The Australian / Daily Mail.



Photo: Facebook.Edit raw
The family of accused drug smuggler Cassie Sainsbury has reportedly agreed to sell an interview to 60 Minutes, after reports emerged Sainsbury was reaching out to the Australian Federal Government to fund part of her legal fees.



News Corp cites a report that Sainsburys mother Lisa Evans and sister Khala Sainsbury have signed on to speak with the program. The pair had been vocal in the media regarding Sainsburys arrest in the days after it made national news, but have not made public statements since.

News of the alleged television deal coincides with the Nine Network securing images of Sainsbury inside Colombias El Buen Pastor prison.

#BREAKING: Nine News has obtained exclusive photos of Cassie Sainsbury inside her Colombian jail. More to come in #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/pHSOIfePh9  Nine News Adelaide (@9NewsAdel) May 8, 2017

A spokesperson for the network told News Corp the deal to obtain those photos was made separately to any potential deal regarding an interview with her family.

Previously, Sainsburys fiance Scott Broadbridge held a brief press conference with high-profile lawyer Stephen Kenny regarding his ongoing support for Sainsbury.

Source: news.com.au.

Photo: 7 News Sydney / Twitter.
Theres something exceptionally deranged about someone as prolific a tweeter as Donald Trump who still doesnt know how to use the damn thing.

Earlier today, his Twitter header image scored itself a snazzy lil update. Trump, as President of the United States, used all the resources at his disposal and found someone with a proclivity in Microsoft Paint to whip this up:

That, mates, is his several-hours-old tweet shopped on top of his Twitter header.

It begs so many questions. Why didnt Trump simply pin his tweet?

Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is no evidence of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Why didnt the Presidents social media team optimise it for desktop AND mobile?

And why didnt he just tweet I am not guilty, nor am I mad four thousand times and call it a day?

The tweet is in response to Mondays Senate hearing on Russia, where both former acting attorney general Sally Yates and the former director of national intelligence James Clapper Jr testified  and while the former delivered a smackdown of wonderful proportions, it was the latter that sent Trump into a tizzy.

Its all because Clapper, in a March 5 interview with NBC, said that there was no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump team and Russia to the best of my knowledge, a claim thats been dragged up again and again by Trump and his lackeys (mostly Sean Spicer) whenever news reports on the Russian story emerge.

However, at the hearing today, Clapper said that it was standard policy for him to be uncertain about ongoing counterintelligence investigations. As Mother Jones points out, Clapper essentially destroyed Trumps back-pocket arsenal in one afternoon.

Which brings us to the tweet and subsequent header. As several people have pointed out, Trumps Twitter header is basically the 2017 version of Richard Nixons infamous 1973 statement: Im not a crook.



Nixon (1973): Im not a crook. Trump (2017): pic.twitter.com/SwnHEr1Yn5  yaRn Sims (@_r_y_a_n__) May 9, 2017

Its also evidence to him being not mad online, at all.

Getting a staffer to Photoshop your tweet denying collusion with Russia into your banner image is untold levels of Not Mad pic.twitter.com/M2kUZkkG2W  Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) May 9, 2017

Obviously, everyone took the piss pretty much immediately.

Its so weird how Trump has added one of his own tweets to his header photo pic.twitter.com/17hkZH7L6S  Pixelated Boat (@pixelatedboat) May 9, 2017

did everyone see trumps new banner pic.twitter.com/d7twjmaNLK  BRANDON WARDELL (@BRANDONWARDELL) May 9, 2017

Pretty weird of Trump to photoshop an old AIM away message into his twitter header pic.twitter.com/Q0Fvvzi4mY  pat tobin (@tastefactory) May 9, 2017

Which was good, because in the time between starting this article and finishing this article, Trump  or someone with even a basic concept of how Twitter works  took his ridiculous header down.

Were back to a bunch of balding white men forced to thumbs up, folks.

Photo: Twitter.
In an article last year I listed the most precious of Australian virtues as blokesmanship, fairgoedness, bullshittery and matitude. Clearly, though, I left arguably one of the most important ones out: hooninism.





As much as we love blokesmanship, fairgoedness, bullshittery and matitude, we love hooninism more. Given the opportunity, we love both fanging it and having a bit of a hoon around. If our coat of arms had been designed post-1986, the two animals wouldnt have been a kangaroo and an emu, they would have been a VL Commodore and the empty Maccas carpark it was doing burnouts in.





While I personally celebrate the (responsibly exercised) practice of hooning, the Queensland Police Service do not, having set up the Hoon Hotline in 2010 in the hopes of exterminating this practice.





Queensland police has a dedicated hoon hotline, 13HOON, to which you can report hoons and counter hooning (you can also report hoons online) pic.twitter.com/NSBW61V5lI  Elle Hunt (@mlle_elle) May 9, 2017





Like a lot of the more esoteric parts of Australian culture, some of it is a little hard to explain to outsiders  what exactly constitutes a hoon? Is it someone who drives irresponsibly? No, that could be just any fuckhead. Hooning is driving like an insane person for the sheer thrill of it. Its closer to an art form than it is to a crime, although, in a lot of cases, it is definitely a crime.





For some reason, the Hooning Hotline surfaced as a topic on Australian Twitter and, understandably, this left the non-Australians that are subject to the monstrosity that is Australian Twitter shitposting, a bit perplexed:





TWO YEARS Ive been in Australia and I have no clue what a dedicated hoon hotline could possibly be https://t.co/go8hDEGsVj  Claire Phipps (@Claire_Phipps) May 9, 2017

this page learn about hooninghttps://t.co/0vLozKeXW7  Beast Jesu Lil ?? (@karengeier) May 9, 2017

Australia has instituted an anti fast and furious force

Also lmao counter hooning pic.twitter.com/INZ2d3rA2j  TAke a look yall: (@edzitron) May 9, 2017

Australians and their damned words pic.twitter.com/SXN3Ub0qOd  Roqayah Chamseddine (@roqchams) May 9, 2017

Word of the day: Hooning https://t.co/qKx4rPcLBZ  House Mobius (@MobiusLooped) May 9, 2017

tonight i learned about hooning and its as great as it soundshttps://t.co/KDV6rJTQMm  Brian Hanson (smart) (@brian_hanson) May 9, 2017

The Aussies are talking about hooning again  Mark (@haircut_hippie) May 9, 2017

this is the most baffling thing Ive ever seen, and the replies to it add absolutely no clarity at all. its like I had a stroke https://t.co/ZlydWpKMqL  jitka (@jitka) May 9, 2017





Obviously, we took a chance to take pride in this great national pastime:





welcome to 13HOON. if you know the name of the hoon you are dobbing in, press 1. to report an unfamiliar hoon, press 2  crab eating nudle (@marrowing) May 9, 2017

@roqchams hooning is an essential cultural practice  j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) May 9, 2017

[notices hooning] m-m-my god I need a hotline to call right now!  Colley (@JamColley) May 9, 2017

when the timeline is talking about hooning pic.twitter.com/7ng88IWsES  Solid Take (@DirectingTitan) May 9, 2017





God bless this ridiculous country.





Photo: Fury Road.
Last week mustve been a hell of a time for Jimmy Kimmel.

The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! had to take an unexpected break from the show, after his newborn son William Billy Kimmel ran into health issues from more or less the moment he arrived.

Hours after little Billy was born, he was being whisked into emergency open heart surgery to treat a congenital heart defect that was spotted by an eagle-eyed nurse at the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.

Though surgery was successful and Billy will eventually recover and live a normal life, a clearly stunned and emotional Kimmel fronted his show last Monday night to address the issue before taking the rest of the week off to look after his family as friends from the industry stepped in to help fill his hosting duties.

Earlier today Kimmel gamely returned to his usual gig, and gave everyone an update on Billys condition, as well as to address media criticism that was bafflingly levelled at him from conservative outlets following his tearful monologue.

The good news, the little mate is doing very well and is totally adorable.

Kimmel specifically singled out Newt Gingrich (who apparently has the 411 on the problem with humour in America), as well as a pair of articles  one in the New York Post that accused Kimmel of obscene lies, and one that labelled him an elitist creep  that took exception to Kimmels heartfelt assertion that no child in America should be denied health care because they cant afford it.

The extended chat with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy feels a little softball and pandering in parts, but the Senator is one of the few from the GOP adamant about removing exclusions for people with pre-existing conditions from the Trump bill that tore down and seeks to replace Obamacare. So at least theres that.

Bottom line though, the little lad is gonna be a-ok. And thats a real good, real nice thing.

Onya, Billy!

Source: YouTube.
As if it hadnt already been made abundantly clear through a series of hints as subtle as a brick through a window, Ed Sheeran is now confirmed to bring his tiny guitar to a series of huge stadiums around Australia and New Zealand.

The copper-topped troubadour will be heading Down Under next March, which should just be long enough for groundskeepers at each respective venue to prepare for the most trying evening of their lives.

Itll be the first time Sheeran will grace our shores since a handful of appearances in February, and itll be his first fully-fledged tour since 2015. Thats a few years between drinks, but it all makes sense when you remember he essentially took an entire year off, just because.

Godspeed anyone who actually tries to buy tickets when the sale goes live on Tuesday, 23 May.

Saturday 3 March  Perth Stadium, Perth

Wednesday 7 March  Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Saturday 10 March  Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

Friday 16 March  ANZ Stadium, Sydney

Tuesday 20 March  Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane



Saturday 24 March  Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland

Thursday 29 March  Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin



Source: Frontier Touring.

Photo: Stefania DAlessandro / Getty.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with Air New Zealand to make sure yall know theres a #betterwaytofly to San Francisco. Check out why you should travel via Auckland, fly with their modern fleet and get around their award-winning service when heading to the USA HERE.

Us Aussies and Kiwis share certain tastes and feelings towards a host of different things  were relaxed folks when stacked against other nationalities, not to mention we really love ourselves breakfast / brunch.

So yeah, knowing where to go as described by a local who was originally a local of where youre a local is pretty much travel goals. With that in mind, we picked a few of our mates heads for their omfg youve gotta go there joints in Californias San Francisco.

First up on the advice-giving chopping block is Jess Thoms. Originally born in NZ, Thoms is the co-founder at Xandra  a technology design agency that started in Australia and soon expanded to California. She fell in with the start-up mob after graduating in communications, and the rest is history. Thoms is now based between sunny Queensland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco for client work (not a bad trifecta of homes, youve gotta admit). Her Instagram (which you can follow HERE) is a dedicated shrine to food and coffee.

Ah, smell the billionaire sweat in the air, says Thoms. I would describe San Francisco as a melting pot of food, culture, and energy that is hard to find anywhere else in the world. The start-up hub breeds opportunity and brings together an eclectic set of international minds that means theres always something happening. San Franciscans believe that anything is possible.

WHITECHAPEL

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Whitechapelsf / Facebook.

Whitechapel is a bar that stocks over 400 different types of gin. Literally. After stepping off the hustling San Francisco streets, Whitechapels cosy decor makes you feel like youre in an abandoned London Underground station. Order the The Modern Prometheus.

LA TAQUERIA

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Anna Maria Barry-Jester / FiveThirtyEight.

TACOLICIOUS

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Tacolicious / Facebook.

Im such a foodie so everyone ~has~ to check out the Mexican food in San Francisco. You cant beat it. La Taqueria and Tacolicious (both shown above) in the Mission will change your life.

SANRAKU SUSHI

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Sanraku Sushi.

My go-to restaurant is Sanraku Sushi, just down from Union Square. Youd be stupid not to get the Sashimi  the quality of fish means it literally melts in your mouth. And they have an insane Sake selection.

BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: @bluebottle / Instagram.

Blue Bottle Cafe is an Australian saviour. The closest youll get to Australian specialty coffee in the USA (you can even get almond milk) and they serve fresh waffles.

San Frans looking damn-decent, aint it? Well get tucked in, cause we arent done yet.

Founded by Scott Purcell and Frank Arthur, Man of Many is the epitome of all things en pointe (AKA on point in the common tongue). Seriously though, theyre cooler than cool  which is probably why they find themselves in SF on the reg.

We love introducing our readers to fresh, exciting and unique brands, as well as celebrating innovative designs, on-trend styles and timeless classics, says the duo. Man of Many values products of quality, aesthetic elegance, high levels of workmanship and inherent usefulness.

If youre not already reading their stuff on the daily, you really needa start (which you can do so HERE). Theyve even compiled their own SF travel guide, so if youre keen on even MORE insights on where to head while there you can suss more of their picks HERE.

In the mid-1800s it was the gold rush. In the late-1960s it was the summer of love. Now its the tech boom. It seems no matter what the era that Californias San Francisco (or SF if you will) remains at the centre of the action. As such, the beloved city by the bay continues to defy old trends and set new ones, depopulate and repopulate, shift, grow, innovate, gentrify and modernise.

JOSHU + VELA

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: @joshuvela / Instagram.

Taking a true hands-on approach is Joshu + Vela Tradeshop, where designer bags and wallets are manufactured in house from the ground up using only the best materials. The result of such quality control is a portfolio of handmade accessories that are built to last, practically before your very eyes.

NOPA

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Nopa.

If youre looking for a prime example of the northern California dining experience with a touch of European technique, look no further than Nopa. Here youll find mouth-watering rustic food and craft cocktails served in an open environment that encourages camaraderie. Drink, eat, laugh and make some new friends.

CITYSCAPE LOUNGE

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Cityscape Lounge.

Theres more than one way to get high in SF, folks. Consider the Cityscape Lounge, aka the Hiltons impeccable rooftop bar. Gaze through massive floor-to-ceiling windows at breathtaking, 360-degree views of the entire Bay Area including the citys most iconic landmarks. Joining those unparalleled vantage points are exquisite small plates, signature cocktails and a variety of beers and wines. Sit back, drink up and soak in some of the best scenery youre likely to find in an urban setting anywhere.

UNIONMADE

MORE INFO: HERE

Photo: Unionmade.

Unionmade delivers classic, American style by way of well-made apparel that both looks and feels great. The retailer hosts all the best menswear brands and any modern gentleman with an eye for fashion could get lost in here for hours.

As Man of Many and Jess Thoms have clearly shown, San Francisco is where its at. Like, we all need to get their ASAP to live our best lives. If youre feeling inspired to get your damn-fine ass over there quick smart, then consider flying with Air New Zealand. Check out why its quicker and easier to transit via Auckland when heading to San Francisco / LA / Houston / Buenos Aires / Vancouver by heading HERE.

Photo: Whitechapel.
To the woman in western Pennsylvania arrested for allegedly throwing bricks at a man's car, it was a "prophecy from God" commanding her to "throw bricks at white men."

To police in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was simply a crime.

According to KDKA-TV, suspect Jasmine Fox, 31, is accused of throwing bricks at a man's car Monday morning.

The motorist told police he caught Fox throwing bricks at his car and chased her into an abandoned Roman Catholic school, KDKA writes.

Sure enough, police found Fox, who is homeless, hiding in the school's locker room.

Upon her arrest, Fox allegedly told cops she was carrying out a "prophecy from God" urging her to attack white men with bricks, KDKA reports.

The male motorist who was the apparent target of this alleged biblical wrath was not identified in the story. There was no immediate information on his injuries, if any.

Meanwhile, Fox faces charges of propulsion of missiles, criminal mischief and defiant trespass.

A preliminary hearing is set for May 17.
Dauphin County prison interior.jpg

A state appeals court has upheld the 52 1/2- to 105-year prison term of a man who beat a 4-year-old girl to death.

A man convicted of beating his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter to death while her mother stood by and watched has failed to convince a state appeals court that his 52 1/2- to 105-year prison sentence is too long.



Edward Golphin doesn't deserve a new trial, either, the Superior Court panel concluded in a ruling issued this week.



Golphin, now 29, of Philadelphia, is behind bars for what a county judge described as the "prolonged torture" that led to the July 2013 death of Seanita Brown. Investigators said Golphin beat the little girl so severely she died from internal bleeding. A medical examiner said the 36-pound girl was so badly battered she looked like she'd been hit by a car.



As Senior Judge Correale F. Stevens noted in the state court's opinion, police concluded that Golphin had been beating the little girl for months before her death.



The child's mother, Josephita Brown, testified the child broke one of her legs when Golphin pushed her down some stairs in March 2013. That incident prompted county Childrens Services to develop a "safety plan" that required a cousin to monitor how Golphin and Brown were treating the child.



Yet Stevens cited Brown's testimony that on the night of the murder she watched Golphin punch and kick her daughter. Golphin left the home, and resumed the beating when he returned. "Josephita could hear (Seanita's) screams," Stevens wrote.



That second beating was fatal. Seanita wasn't breathing when Golphin finished it, the state judge noted.



Stevens listed the girl's injuries, which included a lacerated liver, an array of scars, cuts, bruises and bite marks, 11 fractured ribs, a leg fracture and a ruptured eardrum.



Brown tried to justify her inaction by claiming she was afraid of Golphin. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy and child endangerment charges and was sentenced to 4 to 8 years in prison.



Golphin received his jail term after a jury convicted him of third-degree murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy and child endangerment in February 2016.



On appeal, he claimed his trial was tainted by a prosecutor's comment, that Brown lied on the witness stand, that there wasn't enough evidence to tie him to the girl's death, and that the county judge wrongly rejected his challenges to the seating of two jurors. He contended as well that he should not have received separate consecutive prison terms for each of his convictions.



None of those arguments swayed the state court. There was plenty of evidence to show Golphin is the killer, Stevens concluded, and county Judge Genece E. Brinkley acted within her authority in running his jail terms back-to-back.




BLACKWELL -- A Lancaster County man has been the object of a search since he went missing in Pine Creek after the biyak he and another man were in upset Sunday afternoon in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in Tioga County.

The missing man has been identified as Larry Peifer, who is in his 60s, from Manheim.

Peifer and other man were in the middle of the canyon, about seven miles north of Blackwell, when their biyak, a two-seat craft with pontoons on either side, overturned in the rain-swollen creek, Chris Gastrock, Tioga State Forest district forester said Tuesday.

The other man, who was not identified, made it to shore uninjured, he said. The biyak was recovered less than a mile downstream from where it overturned, he said.

This was not the first time the two men had taken a watercraft through the gorge, Gastrock said. An investigation into what caused the biyak to overturn is underway, he said.

Volunteer firefighters, Fish and Boat Commission representatives, forest rangers, state police and others have been searching for Peifer since Sunday.

The search has been expanded into Lycoming County downstream to near where Pine Street empties into the Susquehanna River, Gastrock said.
Gillian Petersen.png

Gillian Petersen

(State police)

State police in Monroe County are asking for help finding a missing woman.



Gillian Petersen was last seen at noon in Scranton, police said. She is known to frequent the Buck Hill Falls area of Monroe County. Authorities believe Petersen may be at special risk of harm or injury, but did not disclose what danger the missing woman may be facing.

Petersen is described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 135 pounds, and having long, brown hair. She may be driving a silver 2002 Mazda Protege with Pennsylvania registration plate HJE-9967.

Anyone with information as to Petersen's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or contact state police at 570-839-7701.
Timothy PIazza

Timothy Piazza (center) is pictured with his parents, Evelyn and James, at Hunterdon Central Regional High School football's Senior Night. Piazza died Feb. 4 from injuries suffered in a fall Thursday at the Alpha Upsilon chapter house of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Penn State University.

(Courtesy of Patrick Carns)

Eight more defendants in the Beta Theta Pi hazing death case at Penn State have been scheduled to appear in Centre County court for arraignment Tuesday afternoon.

A first group of 10 defendants - including eight students charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault - were arraigned on Friday.

In all, Centre District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller has brought charges against 18 fraternity brothers in connection with the Feb. 4 death of sophomore engineering student Timothy Piazza after a Beta "bid acceptance" party.

The arraignments are the first step in the criminal justice process, where the court makes sure defendants understand the charges they face, ensures they have legal counsel, and sets bail where warranted.

Piazza, of Lebanon, N.J., suffered what doctors termed irreversible brain injuries on the night of Feb. 2, when, after participating in a binge-drinking "gauntlet," he fell down a flight of stairs at the Beta house.

Fraternity members were immediately aware of the fall, case documents show, but waited nearly 12 hours before seeking medical care for Piazza.

Two of the students being arraigned Tuesday are charged with hazing, reckless endangerment and furnishing alcohol to minors; five are facing single counts of evidence tampering; and one faces one charge of reckless endangerment.
Two people might be identical in virtually every way. But if they are of different political leanings, the news that's fed to them will be vastly different, and could support vastly different interpretations of events.

It happens because a large portion of Americans now get all their news from Facebook, which collects information about users and employs algorithms to control what appears in their news feeds. And the news they get tends to tell them what they want to hear, and play on their emotions, rather than telling them the truth.

In the face of that, people who want the truth need to understand what's going on, and seek out multiple sources of information. "Know you are being targeted and kept in your own echo chamber," said Linda Beck, a communications instructor at Harrisburg Area Community College.

Beck was the keynote speaker Monday night at a town hall meeting focusing on "real journalism in the 'fake news' era."

Event sponsors included PennLive/Patriot-News, TV station WGAL and the Middletown Press and Journal. It featured a panel which included journalists from each of those news organizations as well as a Messiah College journalism professor, and which answered questions from an audience of about 120 people in a HACC auditorium.

Because of factors including algorithms and financial pressures that cause news organizations to make the news entertaining, it's ever harder for people to sort out the truth, Beck said.

She said news consumers need to understand the difference between what she called "legitimate news," which names sources of information and has a bylined author, versus "fake news," which is designed to look like legitimate news but often lacks sourcing and a byline, and what she called the "murky gray area" characterized by "a high amount of spin."

She advised people to check multiple sources as well as fact checkers such as

,

and a lesser known site,

, which rates stories on how far they lean to either the left or the right. "Always check more than one source if you're really trying to figure something out," Beck said.

It was clear many people in the audience are having trouble figuring out the truth about the most important events and issues.

Tammy Mills of Susquehanna Township said she and her husband Curtis came to the event to help them figure out "where we can actually get factual information that's not slanted one way or the other." That's critically important to them, she said, as they struggle to figure out how proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act and things like pre-existing conditions will impact them.

Terra Schiebold of Harrisburg came to the event with her daughter Danielle, a sophomore in high school. She said she has been discussing with Danielle "the whole thing with fake news ... how to find sources we can trust."

A 55-year-old Camp Hill man who didn't want his name published said news organizations "are in too much of a hurry to tell a story and don't get the facts straight," and he wants to better understand how news organizations conduct their work.

Cate Barron, the vice president of content for PennLive and The Patriot-News, said news organizations all over the country are struggling against revenue declines that have caused them to reduce staffs. She acknowledged trust in the news media has fallen to an all-time low.

She told the audience "what we want to do is have a real conversation about the way we work, and how we cover the news. We're hoping better transparency can help earn us greater trust."

Jason Maddux, the editor of the Press and Journal, said there's no such thing as "the media." He each of the news organizations at the event choose stories and report them in their own way, and it's wrong to blame and dismiss the media as a whole. "There is no giant, monolithic media -- the media is any place you get information," he said.

Several audience members asked how news organizations prevent bias and opinion from being injected into the news. The journalists replied that all humans have biases. But professional journalists are expected to strive to put aside their biases, and ensure accuracy and fairness through steps such as basing stories on multiple sources of information.

Beck told told the audience they must understand and recognize the difference between hard news stories and opinion stories such as those produced by columnists.

Jere Gish, a WGAL anchor, said during his career he hasn't seen many cases of hard news reporters injecting opinion into their stories. Rather, he believes the main bias stems from what stories a news organization chooses to cover, and how much space or time is devoted to it. Unfortunately, there's no "exact science" to help make the right call, he said.
consumer-prices-65cfa008b215bd2ejpg-26e35707c97b7d76.jpg

Depending on who you ask, a proposal to reverse the flow of fuel across a portion of Pennsylvania will either save you money at the pump or cost you more.

(Gene J. Puskar)

Depending on who you ask, a proposal to reverse the flow of fuel across a portion of Pennsylvania will either save you money at the pump or cost you more.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission will consider a plan to reverse the Laurel Pipe Line's flow between Pittsburgh and the Eldorado terminal near Altoona, so that it would now receive fuel from midwest refineries and not from Philadelphia refineries. Buckeye Partners, owners of the pipeline, said it would ship 40,000 barrels of cheaper gasoline and diesel fuels into the state if the plan is approved.

While a portion of the line would be revered, the proposal calls for the remainder of the pipeline to continue to flow from Philadelphia to Eldorado. The total project will require $200 million worth of equipment upgrades.

A map of the proposal to partially reverse Laurel Pipe Line's flow between Pittsburgh and the Eldorado terminal near Altoona.

Bill Hollis, senior vice president for Buckeye Partners, told the PennLive/The Patriot-News Editorial Board that reversing the flow of fuel would result in the same or cheaper gas prices in Pennsylvania.

A number of entities have come out against the project and argued against claims that bringing in midwest fuel would result in cheaper fuel prices for Pennsylvanians.

Large gas retailers in the western portion of the state -- including Sheetz and Giant Eagle -- have filed protests with the PUC. They've argued that reducing the fuel supply from Philadelphia would result in higher wholesale gas prices in western Pennsylvania.

Refineries in Philadelphia have come out against the proposal because it would prevent them from selling their fuel supply to the Pittsburgh market. Buckeye Partners has argued that Philadelphia refineries affected by the reversal can find other options to sell and transport their fuel other than the Laurel Pipe Line.

Philadelphia Energy Solutions said in a PUC filing that the options are not considered to be "economic, practical or viable from a business perspective."

"[PES] has a substantial, immediate, direct and material interest in any cessation of service enabling the flow of petroleum products from Southeastern Pennsylvania to delivery points near Pittsburgh," the company said in its filing.

Hollis said the opposition to the proposal is being driven by companies that are financially benefitting from the current fuel market. They want to keep cheaper midwest fuel out of Pennsylvania and have the status quo upheld, he said.

Buckeye Partners said the prices of gasoline sourced from midwest refineries has dropped by 7 cents over the past 10 years, relative to east coast supplied gas.

"As long as people don't put their thumb on the scale and interfere with the market, I think the consumer is in a better place," Hollis said.

The PUC will hold two hearings on May 16 to gather public comment on the proposal. The first hearing will begin at 1 p.m. and the second will begin at 6 p.m.

The hearings will be held in Hearing Room 1 of the Commonwealth Keystone Building, located at 400 North Street in Harrisburg. You can also watch the hearing online

.
Anthony Joseph Raine is shown in a photo from the Facebook tribute page "R.I.P. Anthony Joseph Raine." Members of an indigenous community in central Alberta are angry that strangers are using social media to attack the mother of a toddler who was found dead near a church last month. The body of 19-month-old Anthony Raine was discovered April 21 outside the Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Edmonton. Police have said the boy had bruises all over his body and died from a severe blow to his head. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Facebook-R.I.P Anthony Joseph Raine MANDATORY CREDIT
New East Jordan trail to be named for Don and EIleen Klein

environment
Petrobras says Bolivia director under house arrest





SAO PAULO/LA PAZ

Petroleumworld 05 09 2017

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras said the head of its Bolivian operation was under house arrest due to a disputed payment with a local contractor.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, said late on Sunday that $2.5 million of a $9.5 million earthworks contract in the San Antonio petroleum bloc was under dispute.

A lawyer for the contractor, Vialco SRL, told Bolivian newspaper El Deber that Petrobras owed it more than $2.5 million, while Petrobras says it had paid in full.

Petrobras, the world's most indebted oil company, has been hit by a massive corruption scandal and low oil prices in recent years.

The company said its "legal representative" in Bolivia had been under house arrest in Santa Cruz since March 22, and a court had turned down a request to jail him on May 2. Local media said the legal representative was Bolivia director Marcos Antunes.

Reuters could not immediately reach Vialco SRL or its lawyer. Petrobras said it was confident the house arrest would soon be overturned.






Oil prices put Saudi Arabia and its partners right back where they started - Lee



Crude oil price drop means OPEC's missing return ticket for trip back to 2014

LONDON

Petroleumworld 05 09 2017

The benefits of OPEC's agreement to cut output have proved elusive. With less than three weeks to go before the group's next meeting, something is very, very wrong as far as oil producers are concerned. And they have no easy solution to put it right.

The oil price is not far off where it was in November, before OPEC and friends agreed to cut output -- Brent briefly fell to within 30 cents a barrel of its pre-meeting price during early trading on Friday.

Even without that brief dip, Saudi Arabia is now earning less from its oil sales 1 than it was before concluding a deal that was meant to kick prices up to $60 a barrel.

The rapid recovery in U.S. oil production is eroding the effectiveness of the plan, as I have argued. That erosion was compounded last week by news that Libya -- one of two members exempt from the arrangement -- had restored output from two of its biggest fields, taking production to the highest level since December 2014. Nigeria, the other member spared cuts, plans to restore exports from its Forcados terminal next month, potentially adding another 200,000 barrels a day to supply.

While the recovery in both countries remains fragile, it could nevertheless not have come at a worse time for the rest of OPEC.

Oil supply is still expected to lag demand by a healthy margin in the second half of the year, resulting in a significant reduction in the excess inventory -- as long as the cuts are extended and compliance remains good. At least, that is what the forecasts tell us.

The International Energy Agency sees inventories falling at a rate of around 1 million barrels a day this quarter, assuming OPEC maintains production at its current level. And the drawdown should accelerate in coming quarters. But there are warning bells ringing in the back of my head.

I am worried that they are overestimating the strength of global oil demand. My colleague Liam Denning wrote on Thursday about headwinds to demand growth in the U.S. and there are concerns elsewhere, too. India, Russia and Brazil all saw weaker-than-expected oil demand growth in the first quarter of 2017, according to the IEA, leading the agency to cut its estimate for the year-on-year increase to 1.1 million barrels a day for the period, from a forecast in January for a 1.5 million gain.

But here's the rub. There's been no impact on the IEA's outlook for annual average growth for the year, which is still 1.3 million barrels a day. To achieve this, the agency is now building in a pickup in demand growth in its projections for future quarters.

I'm skeptical that this surge will happen. The headwinds are too great. Furthermore, I'm wary of an approach to forecasting that allows the cut from one quarter's projections to be transferred to the rest of the year, leaving the outlook for the full 12 months unchanged. That the producer group is already less optimistic about demand than the IEA adds to the grounds for skepticism.

If I'm right, then the rebalancing that OPEC is counting on to lift prices will be severely curtailed.

So oil ministers face a difficult choice when they meet on May 25. Simply extending the current deal for production cuts to the end of the year and hoping to carry their non-OPEC pals along with them still looks the likeliest outcome. There seems to be no discussion of making deeper cuts, but perhaps there should be.

It's easy to understand OPEC's reluctance. The current deal took the best part of a year to cobble together. Compliance will be difficult to maintain in the coming months, now that there's no longer a need to perform maintenance that in past months has restricted output. Deepening the cuts would almost certainly see compliance fall, eroding confidence in the group's ability to control supply.

But if demand growth falls short of expectations, deeper cuts will be needed to drain the excess. Saudi Arabia and its partners are right back where they started in 2014 -- sacrificing market share to prop up higher cost producers.

1. On a simple production volume times price basis, excluding the effects of production costs and subsidized domestic sales.






iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in the U.S. House of Representatives could have far-reaching consequences on the ongoing opioid epidemic if it passes the Senate in its current form and gets signed into law.



Potential changes to Medicaid and to rules on insurance policies could affect millions of people's access to substance abuse treatment, according to several experts at organizations that study mental health and addiction issues. The changes could come at a critical time, as the opioid epidemic has continued to worsen. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now reports that 91 Americans are dying every day from an opioid overdose.



Here are some of these key provisions that could change under the AHCA possibly affecting those seeking treatment for opioid addiction or substance abuse.



Medicaid changes



Under the AHCA as it is currently written, Medicaid would change tremendously. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowed states to expand Medicaid to provide coverage to people who make up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Under the proposed AHCA, this expansion would be curbed and Medicaid financing would be changed to a per capita cap rather than a matching program starting in 2020.



By changing to a per capita cap rather than the current method in which the federal government supplies funds based on the number and needs of the enrollees, experts studying Medicaid and mental health are concerned that there could be a lack of funds to help people with substance abuse issues.



The American Society of Addiction Medicine released a statement addressed to congressional members in March that pointed out that changes to Medicaid could mean fewer people get help for addiction.



The officials at ASAM said that "rolling back the Medicaid expansion and fundamentally changing Medicaids financing structure" to per capita cap "will certainly reduce access to evidence-based addiction treatment and reverse much or all progress made on the opioid crisis last year."



The changes would reduce $880 billion in federal spending on Medicaid over the next decade, pushing onto the states more of the financial burden for covering more than 74 million people in the program, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.



MaryBeth Musumeci, an associate director at Kaiser Family Foundations program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, said states may be less able to fund to new treatments or respond to crises that arise under this model. Without federal funding, states may look to see what programs or services can be cut and decide that there are not enough funds to cover substance abuse treatment.



We're looking at a fairly substantial reduction in Medicaid funding, Musumeci said. It's unlikely that states will be able to make up that loss on their own.



Doug Walter, associate executive director of government relations at the American Psychological Association, fears that curbing funding for Medicaid expansion in 2020 means many will lose a key safety net. Without any primary care physicians, who can refer them to mental health counselors or substance abuse specialists, they may not seek medical help or mental health treatment until they're in crisis.



The ASAM found that Medicaid expansion was associated with more low-income people being able to get addiction treatment services. They reported that the unmet need among low-income adults seeking addiction treatment services decreased by 18.3 percent in states that expanded Medicaid.



Medical providers could help people with opioid addiction and with plan of treatment, Walter told ABC News, explaining if people have health coverage they can more easily afford a primary care doctor or mental health help when they first have symptoms of addiction or other mental health issues.



Without that, They get to crisis because they didnt have plan of care to begin with, he said.



Medicaid is the major provider for mental health at this point, said Walter. It covers at least 25 percent of mental health treatment in this country ... it's another reason why this bill is so troubling to us.



Pre-existing conditions



With the AHCA, states could petition for a waiver that will allow them to bypass a provision that bars insurance companies from charging higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. People would not be at risk for higher premiums if they maintain continuous health coverage.



Thomas D'Aunno, professor of health policy at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, said these waivers that could strongly affect those struggling with opioid addiction's ability to get affordable healthcare.



By definition, anyone who has an opioid disorder has a preexisting condition, DAunno told ABC News.



While states may opt to create high-risk insurance pools to help people pay for insurance or medical care, DAunno worries that there may not be enough funding to cover everyone who needs help, especially since it's unknown how many states will seek these waivers.



Before the ACA, 35 states had high-risk pools to cover residents who otherwise would not be insured because of pre-existing conditions. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that state high-risk pools often had significantly higher premiums and likely included just a small fraction of people who needed coverage.



DAunno pointed out people with opioid addiction usually need both mental health treatment and medical care to help them recover.



Research shows that someone has to be in high-quality treatment in at least a year and half to continue to fight opioid addiction because it's such a strong biological urge, DAunno said.



If there are higher premiums, getting help to overcome opioid addiction could make a difficult situation nearly impossible.



Essential health benefits



Should the AHCA become law, insurance companies may not have to provide for certain essential health benefits, including substance abuse treatment.



Under the proposed bill, states can apply for a waiver that could let insurance companies provide plans that do not cover all essential health benefits -- which include maternal health benefits, mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment.



One might imagine if states are allowed to get waivers if they don't cover certain types of treatment ... substance abuse is one of the first things to get cut, said DAunno.



Additionally, if people seek out plans that do provide for mental health or substance abuse treatment, they could face higher premiums for these now-specialized plans.



The ASAM implored Congress to protect the essential health benefits provision in its earlier statement, finding that these provisions along with Medicaid expansion "have surely reduced the burden of this epidemic and saved lives."

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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.
Members of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Tuesday lauded President Trump's nomination of Commissioner Robert F. Powelson of Kennett Square to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Powelson recently set off a storm after saying anti-pipeline activists were engaged in "jihad."

Trump named Powelson and Neil Chatterjee, senior energy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky,), late Monday to the five-member regulatory commission, which approves interstate energy-transmission projects. Their selection was reported in March, but the pair needed to clear security review before they were officially nominated to the FERC.

"Commissioner Powelson is knowledgeable and passionate about public utility issues  from infrastructure investment and marketplace competition to innovation and the development of our next generation of utility workers," PUC chair Gladys M. Brown said in a statement.

A Republican and former PUC chair, Powelson is known as a pro-market regulator who is not shy about speaking his mind. In March, he walked back his "jihad" comment as "inappropriate" after it triggered a backlash.

Powelson was appointed to the PUC in 2008 by Gov. Ed Rendell and reappointed by Gov. Tom Corbett. He previously was president of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry, and in November assumed a one-year term as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the Washington advocacy group for state public utility commissioners.

The FERC has three vacancies and has been unable to advance projects without a quorum. Senate Energy Committee chair Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) has expressed her intention to quickly approve the nominees and forward them to the full Senate for consideration.

Utility- and energy-industry representatives voiced support for the nominations on Tuesday, while environmentalists expressed dismay. Jeff Tittel, head of New Jersey's Sierra Club, called Powelson and Chatterjee "fossil fools."

Powelson, 48, is a graduate of St. Joseph's University and the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Drexel University board of trustees since 2013.

His departure from the PUC would create a void that Gov. Wolf could fill only with another Republican, because state law requires that the bipartisan commission have no more than three members from one party. The five-member PUC now has three Democrats.

Powelson posted a tweet on the PUC's statement Tuesday afternoon:
Philadelphia Gas Works says it needs an 11.6 percent rate boost to offset the effects of warmer winter weather, but its proposal generated a cold response Tuesday at the first of four public hearings in Philadelphia.

"Pennsylvania customers try hard to live within their means," said Colmon Holmes, an AARP spokesman who was among about 30 people attending the hearing Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's Philadelphia office. "PGW should do so, as well."

The city-owned utility says it needs higher rates to maintain revenue to counter declining consumption resulting from warming weather trends. The increase is concentrated in a proposed 50 percent boost of the fixed customer charge, from $12 a month to $18.

Residential gas consumption has declined 15.4 percent since 2010, from 91 Mcf for a typical household to about 77 Mcf last year. The reduction is partly due to more-efficient furnaces and appliances, but PGW said it mainly reflects warming weather trends, which reduce the need for heat.

Nora Levitt, a retired Philadelphia resident, said it was ironic that the utility encourages its customers to conserve energy and then justifies a rate increase because natural-gas sales are in decline. "It's kind of like we are being punished for doing what you told us to do." she said.

In preliminary filings with the PUC, several advocacy groups said they planned to challenge PGW's assumptions for seeking the rate increase.

PGW has proposed to change the method by which it forecasts its gas sales. Like other utilities, PGW has used a 30-year weather average to calculate the city's projected need for heat. With warming trends, PGW says, the 30-year projection has become increasingly inaccurate, prompting it to seek a change to a 10-year history.

The filing would be PGW's first base-rate increase since 2009, but the PUC has approved five surcharges on PGW customers since 2013 to pay for infrastructure improvements, energy-conservation measures, and post-retirement employee benefits.

Consumer advocates also are expected to challenge PGW's methodology for allocating a higher rate increase to residential customers, who make up most of the utility's 500,000 customers. The utility says it costs more to serve residential customers.

Under PGW's proposal, the total bill for a typical commercial customer account, with use of 332 Mcf a year, would increase to $342.15 a month from $327.07, or about 4.6 percent.

Rates for a typical industrial customer account, with use of 717 Mcf a year, would decrease to $694.58 per month from $712.81, or by about 2.6 percent.

The utility said it has cut expenses as best as it could, noting that it reduced payroll by 36 employees in seven years, to 1,650.

PGW said it also has tried to expand moneymaking ventures to nonresidential customers, such as boosting sales for natural-gas vehicles and to buyers of liquefied natural gas produced at its Port Richmond plant.

It is also aggressively seeking new industrial and commercial customers that generate power and heat on-site, saying the sales to those customers help reduce the pressure on residential rates. One of its more promising new customers would be SEPTA's proposed 8.8-megawatt $26.8 million power plant in Nicetown, which climate-change activists have opposed.

Without a rate increase, PGW said, its improved bond rating might be imperiled, causing borrowing costs to increase and ultimately costing customers even more.

In addition to Tuesday morning's hearing, the PUC was to conduct a session at 6 p.m. at the Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Gymnasium, 8501 Provident Ave. On Wednesday, hearings are scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine St.; and 6 p.m. at the George Washington High School Auditorium, 10175 Bustleton Ave.

Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge Christopher P. Pell and Administrative Law Judge Marta Guhl, who are hearing the testimony, will make a recommendation on the rate request later this year. The PUC has set a Nov. 28 target date for its decision on PGW's request. A rate increase would go into effect Jan. 1.
Composer Julius Eastman (1940-90) is not having an easy resurrection. But was anything about him ever easy?

His best pieces are acclaimed  though they have provocative, unprintable titles.

Surviving scores have significant information gaps. Like how they fit together. Or what they were titled. Or if they were ever performed.

Under such odds, the current festival "Julius Eastman: That Which is Fundamental" presents 10 of his works this month at the Rotunda in University City, through May 26. Two full rooms of archival materials are displayed at the nearby Slought Foundation. There's more to come in future years, though nobody is sure what or how much.

"As Julius' profile starts to emerge again with articles in the New Yorker and the New York Times, more people are saying, `Oh, yeah, I knew that guy. He did a concert in our space,' " said Dustin Hurt, whose Bowerbird-produced concerts are a significant force in the Eastman revival, starting with a 2015 program of his music and now with the "That Which is Fundamental" festival.

"Black, openly gay, virtuosic, and arrogant" was how Eastman was described Friday by his younger brother Gerry at the festival opening. It was a magnetic combination in cutting-edge circles, but less welcome in the rest of the world.

Born in Ithaca, N.Y., educated at the Curtis Institute, Eastman migrated from one artistic hotbed to another, from the faculty of the University of Buffalo when it was a new-music crucible in the 1970s to the downtown Manhattan minimalist circles in the 1980s. His compositions were performed at fashionable venues, such as the Kitchen, and his famously exclamatory vocal performance in Peter Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King was heard at the New York Philharmonic.

It was a wild time. Mary Jane Leach worked alongside him as a vocalist during that period in 1981: "At 10 a.m., Julius breezed in, dressed in black leather and chains, drinking Scotch," she wrote in an album note for an Eastman recording. "That was my introduction to the outrageousness that was Julius Eastman, who strove to push his identities as a gay black man and musician to the fullest."

Only a few years later, having fallen afoul of addiction, he lost his scores and papers in a New York apartment eviction and, living homeless, was so off the grid that when Meredith Monk wanted him to sing on one of her albums, the Lower East Side had to be plastered with fliers imploring Eastman to call. Then at age 49, he made his way back to Buffalo, where he died.

Eastman's revival began around 2005, with the release of the three-CD set Julius Eastman: Unjust Malaise, on the New World label. Hurt discovered Eastman only several years ago, around the time of Gay Guerrilla, a collection of essays about Eastman edited by Leach and Renee Levine Packer (University of Rochester Press). At that time, barely a single concert of Eastman music could be assembled. Now, Hurt estimates that of Eastman's 50 or so works, 15 are lost. One piece, titled That Boy, survives in a single page of incomprehensible score. Most enigmatic is an untitled choral work that turned up months ago, written for the largest ensembles of his career. It appears to have been performed, but nobody yet knows where or when.

Scholars of centuries-old music are used to exhaustively piecing together enough evidence to yield a performance. Though Eastman's world is more chronologically recent, it's also strangely distant. Gerry Eastman had some scores. A blue suitcase owned by his late mother, Frances, yielded others. Hurt has spent days leafing through endless newspaper clippings in Buffalo, yielding a clue here and there that makes another piece fall into place. Friday's performance of Femenine, for example.

The score to the hour-plus minimalist work has survived, but just last year an archival recording by the S.E.M. Ensemble in Albany surfaced that allowed performers to fill in the blanks, such as the hazy rhythmic texture established by a set of jingle bells. How could anybody maintain that exact rhythm for so long? One review described a mechanical contraption invented to do the job. Also, Eastman served soup during the performance  while wearing a dress.

Such things weren't all that unusual in the 1970s avant-garde. Nor were fragmentary scores. Acknowledged masterpieces such as Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians wasn't fully written down until years after its creation.

The question is whether these musical experiments still speak to the current century, and Femenine, performed Friday at the Rotunda by the Arcana New Music Ensemble, turned out to be as entrancing as anything written during that period by Reich or Philip Glass. Underneath Eastman's incessantly repeated main theme, all sorts of things arose  pianistic storm clouds, wind writing suggesting fantastical plants growing in time-lapse photography, something resembling a Bach chorale, and then, after an hour, a cathartic flute melody.The 1974 recording captures perhaps only 60 percent of the gravitas experienced here live.

Will there be more of the same? Well, scores at the Slought Foundation show Eastman using traditional notation in one score, graphic illustrations in the next. He was always on the move. "Throughout his life, there was a struggle to find a sense of belonging.  In the exhibition, you can see how different he looks in pictures," said Hurt.

The young Eastman could pass for a Bible salesman. But in a somber series of black-and-white portraits, he has a shaved head and long prophetlike beard, with bony bare shoulders. Yet these photos, by Andrew Roth, date from 1980, when Eastman was on the upswing.

His story is that of an unfinished symphony. You don't have the luxury of understanding what's there from the perspective of where it led. Hurt readily refers to Eastman as a creative genius. But will the full range of that genius ever be heard?

Julius Eastman: That Which is Fundamental continues May 12, 19 and 26 at The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. Tickets: $12-$25. Information: 267-231-9813. www.ThatWhichIsFundamental.com. Exhibition through May 28 at Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St., noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, free.
I dare you to read the grand jury report about the hazing death of a 19-year-old Penn State student without getting ill.

Read it without your stomach turning at the lack of humanity shown to Timothy Piazza, who slowly died from head injuries and internal bleeding as his fraternity brothers mostly went on a booze-fueled night.

Read it without being sickened by the warped show of "brotherhood" that allowed fraternity members to justify doing little to help another person and who then put self-preservation above loyalty.

Read it without screaming!

I've read the horrific 65-page grand-jury report, and mostly I want to get in the faces of every single one of Piazza's pathetic frat bros and scream the words that his father, Jim, repeated during a news conference after charges were filed against 18 Beta Theta Pi members, and the fraternity, in the February death of his son:

"This didn't have to happen."

At so many points in the hours between 10:45 p.m. Feb. 2, when a drunk Piazza fell down the steps at the frat house, and 10:48 a.m. Feb. 3, when an ambulance finally was called, there were countless times where this tragedy could have taken a different turn and ended with Piazza alive.

Just two days after he arrived at the Beta house for pledge activities, the sophomore engineering major from Lebanon, N.J., who wanted to build prosthetic devices for children and soldiers, died at Hershey Medical Center.

What if someone had called for help the first time Piazza fell down the stairs during the hazing ceremony?

What if instead of putting a backpack full of textbooks on him so he didn't roll over and choke on his own vomit, someone called medical professionals?

What if instead of slapping him, throwing water on him, and documenting his deterioration on Snapchat, the members of the fraternity had exerted just a sliver of that effort by calling 911? In Pennsylvania, "medical amnesty" allows people to help an underage drinker without getting in trouble with the law.

And while it's unclear when the policy was instituted, Penn State says students who act responsibly by notifying the appropriate authorities typically won't face university disciplinary action. It requires students to attend an alcohol educational program, but the $250 fee is waived.

What if one frat brother  one! - out of who knows how many who were in the house at the time did the right thing.

I am trying to appreciate how hard it must be to go against a group that you're desperately trying to belong to, to speak up when you're struggling to find your place  especially when that group is full of alpha males drunk on power and crazy amounts of alcohol in a frat that absurdly presented itself as dry.

Piazza and other pledges were ordered to run a gauntlet of drinking stations at the party that night. A doctor found that Piazza's blood alcohol content was between 0.28 and 0.36 when he first fell down the steps. That's between three and four times the legal limit for driving in Pennsylvania.

A young man is dead. No one gets points for almost doing the right thing.

In a deleted text from a frat brother that was recovered, one member wrote, "If need be, just tell them what I told you guys, found him behind [a bar] the next morning at around 10 a.m., and he was freezing-cold, but we decided to call 911 instantly, because the kid's health was paramount."

The kid's health was paramount.

Of all the things that sicken me about this case, that sentence, which clearly shows that these weren't just some good kids who made a bad decision, might make me sickest of all.

The kid was supposed to be your brother.
Over the past five years, teams representing the Department of Justice and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations have prosecuted multiple cases against unlicensed wholesalers selling large quantities of non-FDA-approved medications to U.S. doctors.

The largest Canadian online pharmacy and related entities were indicted for selling $78 million worth of unapproved and counterfeit medicines that ultimately were administered to cancer patients. Agents lab-tested these medications and found them to be devoid of active pharmaceutical ingredients. In other cases, testing of seized drug samples revealed toxic additives.

As Congress struggles to gain consensus for an overarching solution to rising health-care costs, some policymakers have introduced piecemeal legislative solutions to permit drug wholesalers, licensed U.S. pharmacies, and individuals to import prescription drugs direct from Canada and eventually from Europe and other parts of the world. The reality of these proposals is the elimination of safeguards that currently protect our prescription-drug supply. Candidly speaking, this move will vastly increase the incentive for criminal organizations to counterfeit drugs. The result would be that U.S. and international law enforcement would be overwhelmed as they lose a major tool in fighting the proliferation of counterfeit drugs.

In the fight against terrorism, we have assumed the additional costs of heightened security at airports to ensure that our air travel is safe. Opening up the U.S. prescription-drug supply is akin to eliminating any of the familiar security checkpoints we have in place to safeguard our air travel. Current proposals would take away one of the most effective means to protect our prescription-drug supply and leave U.S. and international law enforcement vulnerable to criminal organizations seeking to infiltrate our prescription-drug supply with fake, adulterated, and counterfeit drugs. We rarely think about taking down lines of defense in our fight against terrorism, so why would we permit it within our health-care system?

Consider recent cases in which FDA special agents have seized the customer lists of unapproved distributors as a part of their investigations. The lists have revealed names of more than 2,000 doctors and medical clinics in 49 states, Washington, D.C, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands doing business with four criminal rings. These cases could be prosecuted because of our closed, FDA-supervised drug distribution system that requires all manufacturers, distributors, and sellers to be licensed and subject to oversight. The importation proposals before Congress take away these critical protections. Each case required a multi-year, multi-agency collaborative investigation.

At the same time, the proposals also make it easier for drug cartels, which are not likely to forgo the opportunity to expand their business at the expense of the nation's health and safety, to distribute counterfeit drugs throughout the United States. The increased volume alone would make it impossible for the FDA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Drug Enforcement Agency to keep up with vastly expanding criminal operations. The United States is in the midst of an opioid crisis exacerbated by the introduction of fentanyl, a super-potent synthetic opioid that is easier to ship and with higher profit margins than other illicit drugs. As one DEA special agent stated, "Criminals are putting fentanyl into fake pills and passing them off as legitimate prescription medications."

Finally, the sheer strain that legalized drug importation would have on law enforcement agencies cannot go unappreciated. We've all come to realize the range of criminal threats that exist both at home and abroad. However, we've also been faced with resource and budget challenges that force us to do more with less. Rolling the dice on a drug importation law would undoubtedly take resources away from other important law enforcement efforts, at a time when we're living in a perpetual state of heightened alert.

Allowing citizens to purchase medicine direct from foreign countries will mean more risk to consumers from counterfeit drugs, more opportunity for criminal activity in the marketplace, and more stresses placed on overstressed law enforcement efforts to combat this problem. The belief that U.S. consumers can gain access to safe and low-cost medicines from Canadian and European drug markets without an offsetting cost to consumer confidence and law enforcement is not realistic. Quite the contrary, drug counterfeiting is a global threat that we're inviting upon ourselves if Congress allows this idea to move forward.

Louis J. Freeh is former director of the FBI and a former federal judge. He is currently chairman of Freeh Group International Solutions. Bescript@freehgroup.com
A scathing state report has found that a Jersey Shore medical clinic ignored standard hygiene practices, likely leading to 40 patients' developing septic arthritis of the knee after being treated there.

One physician at Osteo Relief Institute Jersey Shore, a clinic in Wall Township in Monmouth County, told Health Department investigators she did not wash her hands between treating patients. Nor was she in the habit of checking patients' vital signs before injecting their knees with a product that was supposed to relieve knee pain, the report stated.

Single-use vials of injectable contrast agent  which allows doctors to see where they are injecting their needles  were reused up to 50 times, potentially allowing the spread of germs from patient to patient. Leftover needles and syringes were thrown in the regular trash instead of containers approved for medical waste. Staff said they used hand sanitizer when preparing medications, but no sanitizer was found in the room, according to the report.

State and local health inspectors have identified 40 patients who came down with septic arthritis of the knee after undergoing treatment at the clinic, of which 29 required follow-up surgery to treat the infection, according to the March 24 state report, which was labeled preliminary.

Its authors said they could not determine which breach may have led to the infections, but said that in a number of respects, the clinic did not follow guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The infection practices at Osteo Relief Institute represent a deviation from guidelines provided by the CDC and endorsed by professional associations," the report stated.

Paul Werner, an attorney for the clinic, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Lawsuits against the clinic and staff were filed Monday on behalf of 17 patients in Superior Court in Monmouth County.

Joshua S. Kincannon, a Freehold lawyer who represents seven of the patients, said some of them required heavy-duty intravenous antibiotics to combat their infections. An additional 10 such patients are represented by another firm. The lawsuits were initially reported by the Asbury Park Press.

Treatments at the clinic include injections with a fluid containing a substance called hyaluronic acid. Some studies have suggested it can help patients suffering knee pain, but in 2013, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons found there was insufficient evidence to support its use.

The clinic treated up to 85 patients a day in two exam rooms, according to the state report. Kincannon said such turnover suggests each visit lasted less than a quarter of an hour.

"I think that this clinic put profits above patient safety," Kincannon said. "I think that when you have a facility that is seeing 80-plus patients a day, it's not surprising at all that errors and safety breaches would occur."

Physicians wore gloves when administering the medication, but the gloves were not sterile, according to the report. Sterile gloves are not required but would be good practice, said Lawrence Muscarella, a biomedical engineer and infection-prevention consultant who reviewed the document.

"Any time a needle is penetrating the skin tissue and entering the vasculature, you don't want to introduce bacteria," said Muscarella, who is based in Montgomeryville.

In addition, sterile needles and syringes were unwrapped and placed in bins under a prep table for later use, state inspectors found. Guidelines call for waiting to unwrap needles until just before use, lest they become contaminated, Muscarella said.

For 15 of the infections, the bacteria from patients' knees was identified as species that typically live on the surfaces of teeth, the oral cavity, or the upper respiratory tract, according to the state report.

The clinic closed voluntarily March 7 and reopened two weeks later. The physician who said she did not wash her hands in between patients no longer works there, nor does a medical assistant who prepared medication, according to the state report.
Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.

Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.

Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
WASHINGTON  Former acting attorney general Sally Yates testified Monday that she expected White House officials to "take action" on her January warning that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by Russia, offering her first public statements about the national security concerns that rocked the early days of the Trump administration.

Yates' testimony to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee capped months of debate over her role in the ouster of Flynn, a retired general who stayed on at the White House for 18 days after Yates' warning.

The unanswered questions about whether any of President Donald Trump's associates coordinated with Russian attempts to meddle in last year's presidential election has dogged the new administration since its first weeks, when the FBI's investigation into Flynn first came to light. Congressional committees have been seeking answers to the same questions, but those efforts have been bogged down by partisan finger pointing and accusations that lawmakers are using important national security issues to score political points.

In more than three hours of closely watched testimony inside a packed hearing room, Yates described discussions she had with White House Counsel Donald McGahn, beginning on Jan. 26, in which she laid out her concerns about public claims made by Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials regarding Flynn's conversations in December with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

At the time, Pence and others had publicly denied that Flynn had discussed easing U.S. sanctions with the Russian official. Intercepts reviewed by U.S. intelligence officials showed that he had, according to people familiar with the matter.

"We began our meeting telling him that there had been press accounts of statements from the vice president and others that related to conduct that General Flynn had been involved in that we knew not to be the truth," Yates said. "The vice president was unknowingly making false statements to the American public, and General Flynn was compromised by the Russians."

The hearing marked the most intense public scrutiny Yates has ever faced, but she did not appear rattled. The longtime prosecutor had kept a low profile until her brief tenure as acting attorney general, when she instructed government lawyers not to defend the president's first executive order on immigration temporarily barring entry to the United States for citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries and refugees. Trump immediately fired her.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, challenged her on that move, saying that while he voted to confirm her as deputy attorney general, "I find it enormously disappointing that you somehow vetoed the decision of the Office of Legal Counsel with regard to the lawfulness of the president's order."

Yates calmly replied that she remembered her confirmation hearing as one "where you specifically asked me in that hearing that if the president asked me to do something that was unlawful or unconstitutional . . . would I say no? . . . That's what I promised you I would do, and that's what I did."

After further criticism on the same subject from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Yates made her point even more plain, saying: "I did my job."

During the hearing, Yates described her concerns about Flynn but was careful not to say anything that would reveal the classified details that sparked them.

"The first thing we did was to explain to Mr. McGahn and say the underlying conduct that General Flynn had engaged in was problematic in and of itself," she said.

But the larger issue, she added, was concern among senior Justice Department officials that the Russians could try to use the information to manipulate Flynn.

The Russians "likely had proof of this information and that created a compromise situation  a situation where the national security adviser could be blackmailed by the Russians," Yates said. "Finally we told them we were giving them all of this information so that they could take action."

After the initial meeting, Yates met with McGahn the following day to discuss the issue further. She said McGahn asked her why the Justice Department cared if one government official lied to another.

Yates said she emphasized that she was trying to warn them of a potential future vulnerability to Russian intelligence operatives.

"We were really concerned about the compromise here and that is why we were encouraging them to act," she said.

Yates said she did not urge the White House to take any specific action, such as firing Flynn. Asked if she thought Flynn had lied to the vice president, Yates replied: "That's certainly how it appeared, yes."

White House officials have said McGahn immediately took the issues raised by Yates to the president but determined there was no pressing criminal issue. It is not clear what other actions, if any, White House officials took after the warning from Yates.

The FBI has been probing whether any Trump associates may have coordinated with Russia's efforts to meddle with the presidential election last year. Two days before Yates took her concerns to McGahn, agents interviewed Flynn about his contacts with Russians. Yates repeatedly refused to say whether she thought Flynn faced potential criminal charges over any statements made in that interview.

Anticipation over Yates' testimony has been growing since a scheduled appearance in March before a House committee was scratched.

Democrats repeatedly pointed out that 18 days passed after Yates' warning before the White House moved to force out Flynn  and that move came only after The Washington Post reported details of the Flynn-Kislyak conversation.

Even the run-up to the Yates hearing was eventful. Current and former officials said that in November, President Barack Obama warned the president-elect not to hire Flynn.

Trump weighs in

Word of that warning came shortly after Trump tried to shift the focus toward alleged leaks of classified information.

"Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Council," wrote Trump in a Twitter post early Monday, apparently misspelling the word counsel. He later retweeted the message with the word spelled correctly. The president offered no further details about his suggestion that Yates knew who might have leaked classified information. At the hearing, Yates denied leaking sensitive information to reporters or knowing who might have done so.

The president tweeted again after the hearing ended, saying Yates "said nothing but old news" and adding: "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?"

Yates' testimony seemed to contradict public statements made by White House press secretary Sean Spicer and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Both men described the Yates-McGahn meeting as less of a warning and more of a "heads-up" about an issue involving Flynn. Repeatedly in her testimony, Yates emphasized how concerned she was that Flynn's situation could compromise national security.

Testifying alongside Yates was former director of national intelligence James Clapper, who said that Russian efforts to interfere with the U.S. election were so successful they "must be congratulating themselves for having exceeded their wildest expectations with a minimal expenditure of resource."

"And I believe they are now emboldened to continue such activities in the future both here and around the world and to do so more intensely," he warned.

Lawmakers said after the hearing that Yates had revealed a number of new details they had not known before, particularly about her conversations with the White House on Flynn.

"I thought it was one of the most riveting hearings I've ever taken part in," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Trump administration spokesman Sean Spicer recently said that U.S. sanctuary cities "have the blood of dead Americans on their hands." That might have sounded a bit hyperbolic, but it's really an understatement. Illegal multiple offenders are committing crimes by the thousands across the country. Sanctuary cities are their enablers.

As controversy rages over the administration's executive order on sanctuary cities and the courts begin to determine the constitutionality of withholding federal funds from them, it is worthwhile taking a look at what they actually do.

There are hundreds of sanctuary cities across the country. There is no clear definition and they take different approaches. They are the brainchild of well-meaning liberals who want to protect illegal immigrants from deportation even when they have victimized innocent people. The left-leaning Center for Popular Democracy has gone so far as to publish a manual and "tool kit" designed to help local policymakers establish sanctuary cities. "Detention and deportation," according to these misguided liberals, "separate families and cause grave harm to communities.  When a person is arrested, locked up, and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), it is an act of violence that causes immense suffering to everyone connected with that person."

But let's be clear. Trump's executive order is not aimed at first offenders, but at criminal recidivists  multiple offenders  who may commit dozens, if not hundreds of crimes in their lifetime. The order notes that "tens of thousands of removable aliens have been released into communities across the country.  Many of these aliens are criminals who have served time in our federal, state, and local jails."

Here is what ICE asks of local law enforcement so they can rid the country of immigrant criminals:

When local police make an arrest the offender's identity is fed into the National Crime Information Center, the FBI's data system, which reports whether the person has prior arrests. If the person appears to be an immigrant, his information is forwarded to the ICE, who checks to see if he is an alien (whether legal or illegal), whether he has a criminal history, and whether he presents a risk to national security, border security, or public safety. Aliens who commit crimes in the United States may be punished here and then returned to their home country or deported straightaway. So ICE issues a "detainer," a "hold-this-guy" request, to the jurisdiction of arrest. Sanctuary cities often ignore these requests  which they are allowed to do. ICE calls this a "declined detainer," and it allows the criminal to return to the street.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in a report issued in March, uses the example of Estivan Rafael Marques Velasquez, "a self-admitted MS-13 gang member, who was released from New York City custody with an active ICE detainer in place. The Salvadoran national has a criminal history in the United States which includes reckless endangerment in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and disorderly conduct." Not the sort of fellow you would want to meet on a dark New York street.

Velasquez is not alone. According to a new report from the DHS, in just one three-week period in February, 245 immigrants were released from custody despite requests from DHS that they be detained. Barry Latzer, former professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, analyzed the ICE data at our request and found that 45 of those crimes were extremely serious, including homicide, robbery, rape, burglary, and aggravated assault, and more than 200 were what Latzer calls "less serious" crimes, including possession of illegal weapons, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

Immigration detainers are one of the primary means federal immigration authorities use to identify and remove criminal aliens from the interior of the United States. During 2016, nearly 140,000 criminal illegals were deported, most as a result of detainers.

But not from sanctuary cities.

Sanctuary cities have adopted laws or policies that shield illegal immigrants from deportation, and often ignore ICE's request for detainer and let the criminal return to the streets, even if he is a multiple offender. Release of criminals is not a rare occurrence: In just one week in February, ICE issued 2,868 detainers. Eleven sanctuary counties in California and New York declined 315 of those detainers, releasing 315 known offenders back to the streets to continue their unfettered life of crime.

And the victims? No concern on the part of the liberals. Luckily for the American people, the Trump administration takes a more enlightened and humanitarian view.

Alfred Regnery is chairman of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund and served in the Department of Justice during the Reagan Administration. alfred@leldf.org

Stephen Thayer was appointed U.S. attorney for New Hampshire by Ronald Reagan and was a justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. stephen@leldf.org
Born out of street protests at a time when the ecstasy of change was sweeping the Arab world, the Syrian revolutionand subsequent civil warhas become a six year hell on earth. Since fighting broke out between rebel forces and the government of Bashar al-Assad roughly 500,000 have been killed and millions more displaced. Over the past year, the Syrian city of Aleppo has become the victim of the conflict's power imbalance and Assad's fearsome disregard for innocent lives. Bombs dropped by Syrian and allied Russian jets have reduced a once-vibrant metropolis to a graveyard of piled homes, and hope for a peaceful and just end to the conflict remains out of reach.

Born out of this atrocity is the Syria Civil Defense, known more widely as the White Helmets. This all-volunteer group of untrained emergency responders has made it its mission to rush to the scene of bombings in order to dig out and save as many human lives as possible. The White Helmets' profile in international media skyrocketed thanks to Netflix's 40 minute film of the same name. Today, the Oscar-winning documentary is the best-known story of the Civil Defense's work. But it's far from the only one.

Directed by Syrian filmmaker Feras Fayyad, Last Men in Aleppo is an upcoming feature-length portrait of the White Helmets that delves far deeper into the personal lives and struggles of Aleppo's heroic first responders. At 100 minutes, it unravels at a slower and more emotive pace, interspersing scenes of heartbreaking destruction with bright moments of repose, and self-reflection from men who shoulder the absurd burden of digging out from the wreckage of war with their bare hands.

In Last Men In Aleppo, Fayyad has made a full and vivid document of war. It brilliantly renders the deep horror and shaky hope of the White Helmets, who emerge as kind, engaged, and imperfect people that, like those they rush to save, suffer so much and yet endure. The film premieres in Los Angeles later this month, and a nationwide release is due later this year. During a recent trip to New York, Fayyad spoke about his filmmaking process, as well as his hopes for Syria's future.

Can you describe the shooting process? Were you in Aleppo for one long period of time, or were there trips in and out of the besieged city? The idea to make this film started in 2013. Back then, the White Helmets had started to congregate, but they were not known by that name. It was just people running to protect their neighborhoods, their neighbors' families. This is their motivation: they just want to help and protect their families. Then I started to follow a guy named Rahed, and through Rahed I started to meet Khaeld and Mahmoud.

Then I began cooperating with Aleppo Media Center, which are local journalists, video journalists, cinematographers. Some of them studied it as a career, some got their experience during the war. They started shooting for me when I was outside of Syria.

So there were parts of the shooting process where you were not there, and they were capturing footage? Yes, locals.

You didn't work with a crew that came in, shot, and then left? No, I worked with local people from Syria, all of them. Especially during 2015, I couldn't enter Aleppo. It was besieged from the outside. I tried, during that time, to explain to all of them it was their safety that comes first. There's nothing more important than your life. We need to continue, we need to keep telling these stories.

When I was outside Syria, I wrote notes to them, and they tried to follow stories that were interesting, talking to characters. I know what I want exactly, and when there's something happening, we have to follow this line or that linedecide what's important. I sent them notes, they uploaded footage, I watched and wrote back notes like "get closer" and "You have to use tighter frames. You have to change the angle." What's happening behind the Last Men in Aleppo is using all these film school tools to explain what we need to say.

Were there ever moments where you or your crew felt compelled to put the cameras down, stop filming, and help them with their work? Yes, many times. We've been in situation when we had the camera in one hand and with the other hand we tried to help the people. Sometimes we threw the camera down because it's not about objectivity vs. subjectivity. It's not about journalism. It's not about filmmaking. It's about humanity. You are in a moral situation. You have to put the camera down. If you rescue another life, it makes sense. You won't shoot a moment and let them die. Everyoneevery journalist, because we are sons of that country, anyone. A lot of international journalists and international filmmakers did the same. They threw their cameras down and started to help people. These are the rules, you are a human.

What's your opinion of the ongoing smear campaign against the White Helmetspeople claiming that they are Al Qaeda propaganda, that they're puppets of the F.S.A. or Qaeda?

The Russian and Syrian regime and those who support them, they have their stories. But the real story I can tell, that that I've been witnessing while shooting, is the White Helmets on the ground were made up of Syrian people, many of whom decided to leave their weapons and join the White Helmets. A lot of them, they had been armed, but they put down their guns and found themselves in the White Helmets. In the group, every one of them has their own political opinion. You can't say, for somebody, that they should not. They have their way of thinking, but as a group, as volunteers, they have a mission to rescue everybody that's in harm's way. Nobody directs them to do this and not that.

It's more about their responsibility to their citizens, their friends ,their neighbors. In many instances they rescue Iranian fighters. They rescue Assad supporters and send them back to the regime. A lot of themof course you can't say all of these volunteers kept going in their volunteer work. Some of them left it and did return to the army.

How upsetting is it to witness widespread international outcry over chemical weapons, but essentially silence and ignorance when it comes to conventional bombs? We see in the film the huge amount of damage that barrel bombs and cluster bombs are doing to Aleppo, but chemical weapons seems to be the only thing that gets the West involved and engaged. Actually, the last time that they used chemical weapons in Syria, it's not the first time. It's been used in Aleppo three times, in the Damascus countryside more than four times, in the countryside of Idlib more than four times. The silence on Syria was kept in the beginning. What made ISIS come and Al Qaeda come was that silence from the international community.

That made a place for ISIS, and the Syrian regime was happy for it because it helped them with their agenda. Saying, "These are the people you're supporting, they're terrorists, they don't believe in freedom of speech or democracy." More ISIS means more reason for Assad to stay in power, and a reason to continue what he's done, supposedly "fighting terrorism" while killing more and more people. Many journalists, even, he's called Al Qaeda.

And this is what's also happening in the U.S.anywhere where the authority controls the life of the people, or tries to destroy the freedom of speech and declare journalists their enemies. All of these freedoms are taken from people's lives.

It's impossible not to compare Last Men in Aleppo to the White Helmets documentary produced by Netflix. Your film is quite different, in ways that very apparent. There's a lot more artful cinematography. It's color graded in a way that makes things visually stunning. What was the value, for you, in making scenes of horrific violence look nice, even perhaps beautiful? This mostly came from the photography background of the videojournalists and cinematorgraphers who shot the movie. They understand shadow and light, they understand composition and depth of field. They understand layers and the rules of photography. All of the time, we were thinking of how we can capture moments in beautiful ways and how we can tell this story in a human way. We need it. We need to use the beautifulthe tools of cinema. It can help you to give a more human feeling to everything around you. It's what we love, to tell the story in a cinematic way, and we saw all these documentaries coming from Syria that were just collected footage.

The most gripping, central piece of footage in the Netflix documentary is collected cell phone footage that wasn't even taken by the film crew. But you have scene after scene after scene of rescues, rubble, injured bodies, and the Civil Defense working. We see them after they've spent many hours on the job. That was important to you? This is one of the main goals of making the movie, and main conflict with the funding side because everyone else is making documentaries one single way: interviews, voiceover, some footage. There's reference for the arts. But I sent paintings to the cinematographers to consider, to think about how to make compositions, to capture the city in the midst of the war.

All the time we were thinking about how we could use beauty to create an arc of storytelling, support our story, and give us more. This is also the perspective of Khaled: he loved life and found ways to ignore death around him. In the moment which his city is captured, he goes to buy fish.

These warm moments that you capture with these men are as important and intense as the very very harrowing times. But about those difficult momentsthere's much more gore in your film than in what many other news outlets are either willing or able to show. Certainly we don't see so many corpses in the Netflix documentary. What was important to you about not hiding body parts, the corpses of children? Did you know from the beginning that you needed that in this film? Yes. Of course. I believe that if we want to show something, we have to show it clearly. I believe that the shocking image can leave a lasting effect. People need to see with their eyes the bodies of the children that are killed. The crimes, the evidence of what's happened there. At the same time it's reflecting on the main characters. It's showing their thought process, it puts the audience in the moment and position of the father who's all the time watching children be killed.

This world is not beautiful and clean. It's not La la Land. The world is harder and tougher than you can imagine, and there's people fighting for the meaning of their lives. The love of their lives. This is what I'm trying to show in a documentary.

My last question: are you at all hopeful that we'll see an end to the conflict? Do you think that Assad will be able to remain in power and there'll be peace in Syria, but no justice? I think the best step for changing the reality in Syria is removing Assad. It's a step for justice. Removing Assad is justice, that's justice for everyone. Nobody will accept it, if you're Syrian, you won't accept Assad.

Many Americans refuse to accept certain politicians around them because they take from them. They harm them. But the offenses here are small, they can't compare to what's happening in Syria. For us, the first step of removing Assad is the best for who supported him, and who's opposed to him. We have evidence of the crimes done by Assad. This evidence should go to lawyers, be put in front of prosecutors, and justice should come in that way. As far as the future of Syria, I don't know what will happen. Nothing good. You can't look to the future of this country. But every conflict in the world will end. Conflicts end. It won't be tomorrow, or a year from now. It's going to take a hundred years to repair Syria.

There's a line in your film"It's not about us. The children are the dilemma." Yes. That's it.
Must-Read Travel Guides

EAST ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Featured Articles

Contact

Copyright

Disclosure

If you wish to contact me for questions, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much!
The Planetary Society

Our Vision

Know the cosmos and our place within it.

Our Mission

Empowering the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.
The city that never sleeps may soon have a "mayor" that doesn't either, at least if one city councilmember gets his way. Rafael Espinal is currently drafting legislation to create an Office Of Nightlife, overseen by a "night mayor" who would serve both as an advocate for independent art spaces and a liaison between City Hall and New York's $10 billion nightlife industry.

"What I imagine the office doing is finding ways we can be helpful in creating a business friendly environment that supports nightlife," Espinal said by phone. "And I want to make sure that we're not a city where artists' ability to express themselves is hindered by bureaucracy."

While the position would be unique among American cities, the concept of a night mayor has been spreading across Europe since Amsterdam first introduced its nachtburgemeester in 2014a move that's been "transformative" for the Dutch capital, according to the Economist. Among other achievements, the former party promoter is credited with delivering a new licensing regime to Amsterdam that allows some clubs to operate 24 hours a day, cutting back on noise complaints caused by crowds streaming into the streets at last call. Similar night mayors have since been established in Zurich, Paris and London, with varying mandates based on the idea that a thriving nightlife could be a good thing for a city's culture and economy.

In Espinal's proposal, the night mayor would also be focused on ensuring the survival of DIY spaces and smaller venues, which city has been cracking down on in recent years, according to the councilman. A March report from Mayor Bill de Blasio's office on the city's music industry found that, due to a host of reasons that are "more acute and worrisome today," these venues are at the greatest risk of closing. The day after the report was published, beloved punk venue Shea Stadium temporarily shut its doors in an effort to raise money for repairs amid "increasing pressure from the local authorities." After nearly doubling their Kickstarter goal, the landlord backed out of the plan to keep the venue open.

Councilman Espinal, who represents parts of Bushwick, East New York, Brownsville and Cypress Hills, said Shea Stadium's plight is a perfect illustration of why a night mayor is necessary. "I feel like these venues are facing a whole array of issues, getting up to code, and also dealing with pressures of real estate market here in New York," the councilman said. "We've gotten to the point where the only venues who are able to survive in this city are the high end nightclubs in the Meatpacking district, or places with similar business models."

"My main motivation to push for this office is to make sure that the DIY venues and the smaller venues that actually provide a hub for artists and musicians to come together and express their art are able to survive," Espinal added.

For some in charge of these precarious venues, Espinal's goal of enacting "sensible nightlife policies" is welcomed, even if the potential office's actual power remains unclear. According to John Barclay, the operator of Bushwick's Bossa Nova Civic Club, the current "interdepartmental regulations are absurd and thorough and their enforcement is arbitrary and at times bigoted." The result, Barclay said, is that "any harmless youth or subculture movement...is essentially declared illegal and either pushed out of the city or pushed underground into unregulated, unsafe spaces."

While there are plenty of mechanisms for pushing out undesirable venues, both Barclay and Espinal point to a Prohibition-era law requiring dance venues to have a cabaret license as the city's most egregious tool of enforcement. Nightlife advocates say that the license, held by less than 1 percent of the New York's food and beverage establishments, is used as a failsafe to shut down businesses that the city or the NYPD don't want to exist. Espinal has also introduced a request to draft a bill repealing the law, and hopes that the two pieces of legislation will be passed together.

As for what the actual structure of the office will look like, that decision will be figured out once the bill gets its first hearing, which Espinal is confident will happen sometime this year. The councilman doesn't have any candidates in mind yet, though says he'd like the night mayor to be someone "who has experience frequenting a DIY venue."

The real, day mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo: Chicago PD/Facebook

A reputed gang member has been charged for his alleged role in the shooting of two plainclothes Chicago police officers earlier this week in the South Side's Back of the Yards neighborhood, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Angel Gomez, 18, was charged Saturday night with two counts each of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

Sources familiar with the investigation said Gomez was the alleged driver of a Chrysler minivan that was involved in the Tuesday night shooting in the 4300 block of South Ashland Avenue.

The suspected shooter  a passenger in the minivan who investigators believe used a military-style semi-automatic rifle to shoot the two Deering District tactical officers  remains at large.

It's unclear whether the shooter knew that the unmarked, covert van carried officers or he thought they were rival gang members, police said.

A source said the suspects are reputed members of the La Raza street gang, one of four Hispanic gangs believed to be responsible for about three dozen shootings tied to semi-automatic rifles in Back of the Yards and the nearby Brighton Park neighborhood since early 2016.
The Chicago Police Department warned its officers Monday about gangs armed with rifles, after three people were shot to death over the weekend and two officers were targeted in an ambush last week.

Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman, said three people who were killed in shootings Sunday were all members of the same street gang. Two of them died while attending a memorial for the earlier victim.

Given the very real possibility that the gang war has not played itself out, the department has saturated the same area with officers and tactical teams, Guglielmi told Fox News. It also has issued a warning about gunmen with weapons powerful enough to pierce bullet-proof vests.

Prosecutors said Monday that a reputed gang member sprayed a police van with more than two dozen rounds from a rifle after mistaking the vehicle and plainclothes officers inside for rival gang members. Authorities arrested the alleged driver in the ambush, Angel Gomez, but not the shooter. The shooting occurred in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, where two officers were shot last week.
Phoenix Police announced that a suspect in 2016's serial street shooting incidents in Arizona has been identified, reports KSAZ.

According to police officials, Aaron Saucedo, 23, has been identified as a suspect in connection with the shootings. The announcement was made during a news conference Monday afternoon.

The shootings happened in 2016, and according to a Phoenix Police update posted on the department's verified Facebook page on August 3, 2016, at least 9 incidents are allegedly related to the serial street shooter.
FN 509 (Photo: FN America)

FN America LLC announced the award of a long-term firearms contract by Brink's Incorporated, a premier provider of secure logistics and security solutions throughout the United States. After extensive testing of all major pistol manufacturers over the course of nine months, Brink's has selected the all-new FN 509 striker-fired 9mm pistol and will issue the new sidearm to its armed security guards.

FN's law enforcement sales team worked with TK Tactical, an FN Law Enforcement Distributor based in Dallas, TX, to develop the lead, and then directly with Brink's to provide a firearms solution that met and exceeded the needs of its armed personnel. The first order of pistols will begin shipping in early June. Brink's Incorporated is the first major private security company to adopt the FN 509 since its official release in April 2017, according to FN.

"We are proud to announce the contract with Brink's, Incorporated," said Mark Cherpes, President and CEO for FN America LLC. "Like FN, Brink's has a long and honored history. Brink's is one of the most iconic private security firms in the world. The decision to purchase the FN 509 is an important achievement for our organization. It is validation of the hard work that our team put into designing, producing and supporting this pistol."

The FN 509 was born out of the company's effort to produce a contender for the U.S. Army's Modular Handgun System (MHS) competition and has been further enhanced to meet the needs of U.S. law enforcement and commercial customers. Built on the proven architecture of the FNS Compact, FN made changes internally and externally to meet the rigorous performance standards of the MHS requirements and further developed the platform into the FN 509 with help from industry experts. Over the course of development, the platform has been tested extensively for reliability, ammunition compatibility, and durability  totaling more than 1 million rounds.

To read more about the FN 509 or other FN products, visit fnamerica.com.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance was not mincing words on Monday when it comes to the never-ending scandal connecting the Trump White House to Russia.

On MSNBCs All In with Chris Hayes, Nance expressed his outrage over the administrations handling of Michael Flynns connections to Russia, calling this a hair-on-fire intelligence breach and proposing everybody in the White House be subject to a polygraph test in order to get to the bottom of the scandal.

Video:

Nance said:

This is a hair-on-fire intelligence breach no matter how you look at it. Ive been in situations where people, when I was in the NSA, a person on the same floor as my entire operation, everyone got re-polygraphed. Everyone was considered an accomplice in this. The White House should be going through a full lifestyle polygraph to determine was Michael Flynn just an individual liar or did he have accomplices?  The White House counsel himself should have said, We have to assume a national security breach, we have to assume everyone associated with this is part of this operation if its an operation, and we need to reclear everybody.

Nances comments come hours after Sally Yates testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, telling the panel that she warned the Trump White House that Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians.

Not only did the White House not seem to care, but they kept Flynn in his powerful position for weeks longer, even letting him sit in on a phone call between Trump and Vladimir Putin  all suggesting that the administration was either okay with Flynns links to Russia or they were in on it.

All of this only raises more questions about the administrations connections to Russia.

As Nance noted on Monday, its time to start assuming everyone associated with Flynn, including the president, is part of the operation until we see evidence to the contrary.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

There are some obvious signs Donald Trump is terrified that the Russia scandal is blowing up in his face, like his latest Twitter tantrum about todays Sally Yates hearing before the Senate.

But Rachel Maddow pointed out the clearest clue yet on Monday night, reporting on a move the Trump administration made as soon as todays hearing ended.

Video:

Maddow points out that, right as #SallyYates hearing ended, Trump re-declared war in Afghanistan  a sure sign the White House is terrified pic.twitter.com/Z32sBAhyfH  Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) May 9, 2017

Maddow said:

We now know a lot more about this investigation, specifically about the still-unexplained behavior of this White House when it came to this red-hot issue of their secret contacts with the Russian government. That is bad news. That is very, very bad news for this White House. And as soon as this hearing ended today, the White House floated the news that they are considering basically redeclaring war in Afghanistan, starting the war there all over again in its 16th year, which had the practical effect of shoving the headlines on this hearing today down toward the bottom of the page, at least at the Washington Post. And that is as cynical as I have felt about anything else in politics in many, many years. It has been 108 days of this presidency so far  thats it  and already we are at this level of cover-up and scandal.

As Maddow noted, the administration essentially redeclared war in Afghanistan in an obvious effort to divert attention away from the new information revealed by Yates  and it worked, at least in one newspaper.

Its the clearest sign yet that the president is terrified of where this investigation is headed, and he will go to any length to distract from it, even if that means redeclaring war in the Middle East.

Despite todays news, there is still a lot of information that remains unknown to the public, much of which Yates could not reveal in todays hearing. But between the information she disclosed and the behavior of the President of the United States following the hearing, its clear that this scandal is far from over  and that is, as Maddow said on Monday, very, very bad news for this White House.
We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

While the stolen seat on the Supreme Court got the most press coverage, Republicans stole over 120 seats on Federal Courts since 2015. Now Trump is set to nominate 10 people chosen by the Federalist Society to start filling those seats.

Refusing to confirm nominees simply because a Democratic President nominated them, Republicans now expect Democrats to just go along with nominations selected by the Federalist Society and formally nominated by a man who has been under investigation throughout his presidency.

Among the people Trump reportedly plans to nominate are two state Supreme Court Judges, Justice Joan Larsen of Michigan and Justice David Stras of Minnesota to the 6th and 8th circuits.

SCOTUS Blog describes Larsen as a judge with solid conservative bona fides and mixes roots in the heartland. She worked at the Bush Administrations OLC at the time others in that office wrote memos justifying torture by way of water boarding and sleep deprivation. Her record as a judge is thin, making it difficult, if not impossible to make a responsible assessment of her judicial philosophy.

Stras has served on Minnesotas Supreme Court since 2010. He taught at University of Minnesota Law school between 2004 and 2010. And like Larsen, he was on Trumps short-list for the Supreme Court nomination won by Neil Gorsuch.

His other appellate nominees include Kevin Newsom for the 11th Circuit, John Bush for the 6th Circuit and law professor, Amy Coney for the 7th Circuit.

Kevin Newsom is another Federalist Society pick, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice David Souter and served as solicitor general of Alabama.

Bush is president of the Louisville Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. He was one of Ronald Reagans lawyers during Iran-Contra. He has no experience as a judge.

Amy Coney Barrett is another Federalist Society pick, (surprise!) She teaches at Notre Dame Law School. She clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals 1997-1998 and for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia 1998-1999. Coney-Barrett also has some scholarly work, which combined with her clerkship with Scalia suggests she is a constitutional originalist, which means she will interpret civil rights narrowly unless they apply to the rich and/or corporations.

Even though Trumps nominees have the academic qualifications. and some of them have some experience as judges; as we saw with Gorsuch, the resume doesnt reveal judicial philosophies or testify to the quality of a nominees rulings when applicable.

There is no way to assess whether they are conservative judges or conservative judicial activists, other than by the fact that they were chosen by the Federalist Society. That probably explains why candidates with thin or non-existent judicial records appeal to Trump. Even he has figured out you cant question something that doesnt exist.

Regardless of their qualifications, Trumps judicial nominees are tainted not only by the Republican obstructionism that occurred since 2015 but also because they selected by an interest group and nominated by a man who has an unprecedented disrespect for judges and the law, including the United States Constitution.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

For those wondering whether the unhinged commander-in-chief could keep his cool after former acting Attorney General Sally Yates humiliated Republicans in todays Senate hearing, Donald Trumps Twitter feed over the past several hours should clear things up.

In a series of tweets fired off a short time ago, the president lashed out at Sally Yates and the so-called fake media, clearly showing his disappointment over Yatess solid performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Tweets:

Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today  she said nothing but old news!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Biggest story today between Clapper & Yates is on surveillance. Why doesnt the media report on this? #FakeNews!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Yatess unflappable testimony on Monday made the Trump administration  and the Republicans on the committee who tried to provide political cover for the president  look like fools.

Not only did Yates best the White House and its GOP allies on the facts, particularly when it comes to Trump ignoring her and President Obamas concerns that Flynn was compromised and susceptible to Russian blackmail, but she also destroyed them on the optics, which may be even more important to the former reality TV host.

Yates did her job and warned the administration about Flynns clear ties to Russia. The president and his team apparently had no problem with those ties since they let him remain in a powerful position after being informed about them.

As more information on this scandal continues to come out and the investigation into Flynns  and the entire administrations  ties to Russia continues to go on, Trump is becoming increasingly desperate to muddy the waters and change the subject.

Mondays Twitter tantrum is just the latest evidence of that.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Donald Trump was rattled into another Twitter meltdown after the Russia hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday during which former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified.

But the bottom line is it took 18 days for the Trump White House to get rid of retired General Mike Flynn after they were told that he was being dishonest about his conversations with Russian officials.

Sally Yates said on Monday that White House Counsel Don McGahn asked her, Why does it matter to the DOJ if one White House official lies to another official?

Yates answer was that you dont want your National Security Adviser compromised by the Russians. This is kind of a derp moment, because even the greenest president would know this.

To state the obvious, you dont want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians, Yates told the panel. Malcolm Nance highlighted that the Russians have their own transcript of the Flynn call and could blackmail the White House if they lie.

Yates also said that the more explanation Flynn gave was increasing series of lies that compromised him (and the Trump White House, dont forget) further.

But for the Donald Trump White House, it was not alarming that the man they put in charge as NSA was compromised. And they knew he was compromised. They knew this for at least 18 days per Sally Yates.

But they also knew it because President Obama himself warned Trump. Less than 48 hours after the November election, Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn, whom the former President had fired in 2014 for temperament issues (and lets face it, because everyone knew he was off).

So what did Trump do? He not only re-hired Flynn, but elevated him to be his NSA.

Now this might seem confusing because Trump is blaming Obama for Trump hiring and not vetting Flynn. But then, Trump has yet to own a mistake hes made.

Trump was told personally, by a man who has yet to be busted by the press for a lie anywhere near the level that Trump achieves on a daily basis, not to hire Flynn.

The Trump White House was told again, after they hired Flynn, that he was compromised.

And they kept him on for 18 days until the pressure became insurmountable from the media.

Now there are two people who can testify that Donald Trump knew about Flynn and hired him and then kept him on while knowing this.

This is very bad news for Donald Trump, and thats why Republican ran the hearing yesterday like they were on a desperate deflection mission.

This double corroboration that Trump knew about Flynn is a huge part of holding Trump directly responsible for his decision to hire and keep Flynn, and its also damning in terms of the entire Russian collusion narrative (not yet proven, only being investigated) swirling around Trumps entire campaign and top level advisers.

Theres no plausible deniability for Trump on Flynn now. And thats a big problem for Donald Trump.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

The ACLU has issued a travel alert warning Americans that they can anticipate having their constitutional rights violated if they travel to Texas.

In a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, the ACLU announced the travel warning:



The American Civil Liberties Union issued a travel alert today informing anyone planning to travel to Texas in the near future to anticipate the possible violation of their constitutional rights when stopped by law enforcement.

The alert comes amid the passing of a Texas law known as SB4. The law gives a green light to police officers in the state to investigate a persons immigration status during a routine traffic stop, leading to widespread racial profiling, baseless scrutiny, and illegal arrests of citizens and non-citizens alike presumed to be foreign based on how they look or sound. The travel alert applies to all travelers to Texas, including U.S. travelers from other states and U.S. citizens. In addition, this alert applies to all encounters with federal, state, county law enforcement including local police and sheriffs.

The message is clear. Texas is not a safe place for you and your constitutional liberties to travel.

Lorella Praeli, ACLU director of immigration policy and campaigns, said, The ACLUs goal is to protect all Texans and all people traveling through Texas  regardless of their immigration status  from illegal harassment by law enforcement. Texas is a state with deep Mexican roots and home to immigrants from all walks of life. Many of us fit the racial profile that the police in Texas will use to enforce Trumps draconian deportation force.

Presidential elections have consequences at the state and local levels. Texas is following the Trump administrations lead, and the knows that there will be no challenge to their law from the Jeff Sessions run Justice Department.

People can now be stopped in Texas based on how they look or sound. These arent American values, but they are the values of an administration and a political party that has racism and bigotry a central feature of their ideology.

Be warned that you are risking your constitutional rights as an American citizen when you visit or travel in Texas.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

After Senate Republicans made it clear on Monday that they have no intention of investigating Russias influence and or relationship with Republican Donald Trump, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer took to the floor Tuesday to try to shame Republicans into actually caring about Russias attack on their country by citing the founding fathers warning us about foreign interference.

The Founding Fathers in their wisdom wrote in the Constitution that we had to worry about foreign interference, Schumer warned on the Senate floor. Its happening now in a way that it has never happened before.

Mr. President, both parties here in Congress should be focused on the threat posed by Russias hacking activities and their attempts to influence foreign elections, especially ours, Schumer said in floor remarks sent to PoliticusUSA.

Make no mistake about it: these cyber-attacks wont be limited to any one party or president Whatever is good for Russia at the moment, whatever hurts the United States the most, thats what he will pursue.

Director Clapper testified that Russia likely feels emboldened to continue their hacking activities given their success at disrupting our 2016 elections, the Democrat continued, trying to rouse a hidden morsel of patriotism from his colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

He said, If there has ever been a clarion call for vigilance and action against a threat to the very foundation of our democratic political system, this episode is it. I hope the American people recognize the severity of this threat and that we collectively counter it before it further erodes the fabric of our democracy.

I couldnt agree more with Mr. Clapper. I hope these hearings are just the start of a bipartisan discussion about how to combat these efforts and safeguard the integrity of our elections. Democrats and Republicans should join together, pick out what Russia has done to us in the past, and how we prevent it from happening in the future. Again, as Director Clapper said, the very foundation of our democracy is at stake. The Founding Fathers in their wisdom wrote in the Constitution that we had to worry about foreign interference. Its happening now in a way that it has never happened before. And in a bipartisan way, we must act.

A valiant effort by Senator Schumer, but lets face it. Republicans arent buying.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday made it clear they were not there to discuss Russia. Instead, they asked questions about leaks to the press about the Trump camps ongoing contacts and possible collusion with Russia. They asked questions about Hillary Clintons emails (oh, yes, really). They asked questions about Yates refusing to defend Trumps immigration executive order (the Muslim ban), which she said she found unlawful.

But none of those questions addressed the elephant in the room. That is that Russia might well be in control of our government right now. They interfered in the 2016 election, they will interfere in the next one unless they are stopped.

Republicans might feel like they are safe as Putins dirty acts of war helped them so who cares that hes attacking the U.S.A. Or perhaps, given that they were also hacked, they are unable to do the right thing for their country because they are also compromised.

Either way, Republicans are not doing the right thing for their country. The only way to deal with this is to vote them out in 2018 as an act of patriotism.

If Republicans will not appoint an Independent Counsel or independent investigation to look into the possible collusion with Russia, they shouldnt be in office.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced at his daily briefing the latest Trump scheme to try to make the Russia scandal go away, and it involves sending a certified letter to the Senate proclaiming that he has no business dealings with Russia.

Video of Spicer:

When asked about Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wanting to look into Trumps business dealings in Russia, Spicer said, So the president obviously was aware of Sen. Grahamss suggestion after he made it today, and hes fine with that. He has no business in Russia. He has no connections to Russia, so he welcomes that. In fact, he has already charged a leading law firm in Washington, D.C. to send a certified letter to Sen. Graham to that point that he has no connections to Russia, so that should be a really easy look.

Instead of providing actual evidence that he has no business, and has not done business in Russia, Trump thinks Graham is going to settle for a certified letter saying something like, Believe me, I have no business in Russia.

You know what would be better than a meaningless certified letter? Trumps tax returns.

Lindsey Graham isnt going to settle for a written pinky swear promise that Trump has no business connections to Russia. The fact that the White House is trying to sell a certified letter as a credible response is insane.

Trump doesnt seem to realize that he is not playing in the small time worlds of real estate and reality television anymore. The gimmicks that used to work back then arent going to work now that he is president.

People want real evidence, and a certified letter is a dumb response that will only make investigators dig deeper.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Pretty sure you know this story by now. Republicans changed their already horrible healthcare bill to appease the even more conservative Freedom Caucus and then when the public doesnt like it, they claim it was bipartisan, when in fact not a single Democrat voted for it.

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Ca.), facing angry constituents at town hall, calls GOP health care bill bipartisan..both parties working together, associate politics editor at Huffington Post Igor Bobic reported on twitter.

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Ca.), facing angry constituents at town hall, calls GOP health care bill bipartisan..both parties working together"  Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) May 9, 2017

More on this exchange: Woman asked if he read the bill. He said yes: It was read in committee. Bipartisan. Both parties working together'

More on this exchange: Woman asked if he read the bill. He said yes: "It was read in committee. Bipartisan. Both parties working together"  Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) May 9, 2017

Thats funny, because the Republican amendment that is causing so much outrage hadnt even been seen by many Republicans the night before the vote.

Mercury News pointed out that all 14 members of Californias GOP congressional delegation voted for the death panel bill which some healthcare advocates around the state called a betrayal. Most egregious, the advocates say, were the votes by U.S. Reps. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock; David Valadao, R-Hanford; and Steve Knight, R-Lancaster, who just the day before had either told the public  or whose staffs had told reporters  that they were undecided.'

Wait for it

Unknown to most Californians, however, all three had quietly signed on earlier in the day as co-sponsors to an amendment designed to ease the bills passage.

Oh.

Californians were not pleased and now 30-year-old investor Josh Harder, a Democrat, is challenging Denham in 2018 and registered nurse Dotty Nygard, another Democrat, is also gunning for Denhams seat. Nygard told the Los Angeles Times that she was drawn to the race in part because of attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Denham won his seat in 2016 by less than 5 percentage points in a Republican leaning district.

Trumpcare is bipartisan like Donald Trump tells the truth. But a lie like this is on par with Denhams desperate deflection that worrying about Trumps hidden taxes as he operates a non-separated business empire while being president is equivalent to birther conspiracies.

Im not going to ask the previous president to show his birth certificate any more than I would ask this president to show his taxes, Denham said in mid April at a town hall.

You know, because we dont have Trumps taxes, whereas President Obama was actually forced to reveal his birth certificate to Republicans who just couldnt wrap their heads around his legitimacy.

Denham, the guy who told his constituents that he would break with his party over issues like immigration, helped them pass the most egregious attack on American citizens health in the modern era.

And for what? Oh, to give rich people a bigger tax cut.
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

Paul Ryan was greeted by protesters shouting Shame! and carrying signs reading, among other things, Healthcare is a human right! during his Tuesday visit to the Success Academy charter school in Harlem.

Paul Ryan just entered success academy, prompting shame! chant, Gothamist reporter Emma Whitford shared on Twitter Tuesday.

Signs greeted Ryan saying, Healthcare is a human right!, Our lives are not your keg party! and Too cruel for school, NYC families wont let your empty heart cost our students what they need to learn as protesters chanted, Shame! at the Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI).

Paul Ryan just entered success academy, prompting "shame!" chant pic.twitter.com/G0edRe28y4  Emma Whitford (@emma_a_whitford) May 9, 2017

People from The Alliance for Quality Education, the Working Families Party, Metro NY Health Care for All, Strong Economy for All, Make the Road NY and Citizen Action NY had vowed to protest Ryans visit.

Ryan avoided the people, of course, much as he did when passing the healthcare bill through the House with no actual, real debate:

"Ryan! Come out! We've got some things to talk about"  Emma Whitford (@emma_a_whitford) May 9, 2017

Paul Ryans push to get Trumpcare through the House put an estimated 1 million people from New York City in jeopardy of losing their healthcare.

This is what happens when you lead the way to take healthcare away from millions of Americans. They follow you around and shout shame, and for good reason.

Update: Ryan gets booed as hes leaving, people chanting Healthcare for all not just Paul!

.@SpeakerRyan Got the shot Paul Ryan getting booed leaving Success Academy. "Health care for all not just Paul" #TheResistance #ACAForAll pic.twitter.com/yNtPNkcKXZ  Sandi Bachom (@sandibachom) May 9, 2017
Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Email

Print

The testimony that Sally Yates and James Clapper gave to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism dealt a fatal blow to the White Houses claims that the Russia story is fake news.

Per CNN:

Given the importance of the job, the President through there were better people for it, and that Flynn wasnt up for the job, a former senior Obama administration official told CNN Monday.

Other former Obama administration officials said then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper didnt think highly of Flynn, and in fact was the person who recommended Flynns firing as DNI in 2014.

Yates acknowledged that some of Flynns conduct in his relations with Russia and which is publicly known rises to the level of criminal behavior. Flynn could reasonably face criminal charges and if found guilty, there would be a basis to lock him up. One can only speculate about the underlying conduct Yates referenced, but wouldnt specify because doing so would entail disclosing classified information.

Clappers testimony was devastating on the matter of collusion between the Trump campaign and Vladimir Putin.

As David Corn observed, On March 5, Clapper was interviewed by NBC News Chuck Todd on Meet The Press and asked if there was any evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians. Clappers response: Not to my knowledge.

Trump et al cited that interview every chance they got. On March 20th, Trump tweeted, James Clapper and others stated there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. The story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it.

Actually, there is a difference between a categoric statement that no evidence exists and one not being aware of such evidence, which was made evident in Clappers testimony.

Clapper took that talking point away, during his testimony on Monday. Clapper is on record acknowledging that he was not aware of the FBIs investigation of contacts between Trump associates and Russia that FBI director James Comey disclosed during his testimony before the House intelligence committee. So if he wasnt aware of the investigation, it stands to reason that when Clapper told Todd he was unaware of any evidence of collusion, he was speaking accurately. On Monday, he told the Senate subcommittee that he was not in a position to know with certainty.

Corn went on to note that Clapper confirmed that US intelligence agencies have possessed secret information about ties between Trumps circle and Moscow since late 2015. Clapper described a report by the Guardian on this matter, published last month, as accurate.

Between testimony offered by Yates and Clapper, and reports that President Obama warned the current White House about Flynn, no reasonable person can doubt that the Trump White house protected a national security adviser who could be compromised by Moscow.

Its small wonder the Trump White House did everything possible to prevent this testimony from happening, including requests the sub-committee cancel the hearing. When that failed, Trump applied the smear and run strategy Jason Easley wrote about on Sunday followed by attempts to intimidate Sally Yates via Twitter on Monday.

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

The drip, drip, drip of truth is making Trumps White House very nervous. They should be. This story isnt going away and the facts wont be dropped down a memory hole.
Pizza has been a constant in Brian Kesslers life, from the time he got a job in a pizzeria as a teenager until the day he met his wife in a pizza joint. Read moreIggy's Pizza Shop is now open in Mount Pleasant
Boeing's 787 assembly plant in North Charleston houses one of the largest rooftop solar installations in the nation. The 18,000-panel project was handled by Charleston-based SolBright Renewable Energy, which has been sold to a New Jersey firm. File
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Overcast. High near 70F. Winds NNE at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with light rain developing after midnight. Low 64F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Watchdog and Public Service reporter

Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576.
Russell Laffitte, a former top executive for Palmetto State Bank, faces trial this week in Charleston's U.S. District Court. He stands accused of helping Alex Murdaugh defraud his former law clients, while using money from his family's bank to prop up the disbarred attorney's shaky finances. Read moreEx-Murdaugh banker Russell Laffitte faces federal witnesses at 2nd day of fraud trial
A brawl broke out in Fort Lauderdale Airport last night after Spirit Airlines canceled at least nine flights, sending frustrated travelers over the edge. The chaos, of course, was well-documented on cell phone video:

Spirit Airlines has cancelled hundreds of flights in recent days (81 were cancelled "on Sunday alone") as it battles its pilots union. CNN reports, "In a federal lawsuit, the airline says cancellations have been caused by pilot unavailability and is accusing the pilots' unionthe Airline Pilots Association, International (ALPA)of orchestrating an unlawful slowdown."

Yesterday was no different, with passengers waiting hours as "at least nine flights" were cancelled. Brionka Halbert, who was heading back to LaGuardia, told NBC News that she and others on her flight were told "they would have 28 minutes to board the flight or it would be canceled."

"Everyone was stressed. They asked us to take out our boarding passes and be ready," Halbert told NBC News. "Then about 20 minutes after that, they told us the flight was canceled. They sent us to the front desk, so that we could either change our tickets or have our tickets refunded." She said the passengers then went to the front desk, where approximately 15 police officers were keeping watch. "People were angry and stressed after this," Halbert said. "Tensions ran high because of the abrupt cancellation. Then, we waited two to three hours at the front desk so that our tickets to be refunded. It got rowdy." About two hours after her scheduled take off, Halbert said she was inside the terminal witnessing what she described as "excessive force" from the law enforcement officers. "The cops went about it in the wrong away even if they were trying to do the right thing," she said.

, "Everyone was already aggravated about flight delays and the ridiculousness of standing in such a long line for hours, which Spirit Airlines did nothing to help, and then in walks these people off their flight raising a ruckus (and) cussing and screaming and they went straight to the counter."

Three Long Island residents, Desmond Waul, 22; Janice Waul, 24; and Devante Garrett, 22, were arrested and charged with inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing.

One group of passengers that allegedly clashed with police were reportedly furious because they were missing a graduation ceremony.

In a statement, Spirit Airlines said, "We are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport this evening... This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers, by canceling multiple flights across our network."

ALPA release its own statement in response: "The Air Line Pilots Association, Intl and the Spirit pilot group it represents are not engaged in a job action. Rather, ALPA and the Spirit pilots are continuing to do everything possible to help restore the companys operations, which have experienced significant problems over the past several days. While we will continue these efforts, we will actively defend the association, its officers and its member pilots against the unwarranted and counterproductive legal action brought this evening by Spirit Airlines."


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.
Around 100 activists gathered on the fifth-floor terrace of Trump Tower on Tuesday afternoon for a teach-in protest calling on New York City to divest its pension funds from fossil fuels.

"It's the end of the world! It's the end of the world!" protest evangelist Reverend Billy's Stop Shopping Choir sang to kick off the event. "Only so many beautiful days on Earth."

"We're gathered around at Trump Tower here today to send a very loud and clear message to the Trump administration and leaders of the city and state that the time to divest is now," said Denise Patel, coordinator for the Divest Invest Initiative, which aims to pressure institutions into divesting from fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy. Patel and organizers with the allied group 350 said it makes sense to push New York's liberal leaders at a time when the federal government is rife with climate science denialists and fossil fuel industry bigwigs.

"New York has shown itself to be a climate leader, both in the city and the state, especially following superstorm Sandy, and is really responding to what the people here want," Patel continued.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer, the main target of the campaign and steward of the city's $175 billion pension funds, has initiated a series of projects aiming to reduce the pensions' reliance on fossil fuels in various ways, but his office says that across-the-board divestment would be fiscally irresponsible without further study showing it won't hurt pensioners.

"Heres what these folks arent telling you: Scott Stringer has one of the strongest environmental records around," Comptroller's Office spokesman Jack Sterne said in a statement. "From being one of the first to fight against fracking nationwide, to working with comptrollers and treasurers across America to support the Paris Agreement, to fighting against climate deniers and pushing for climate competent corporate boards, Comptroller Stringer has gotten real results."



Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Choir in a spirited round of Earth-a-lujahs. (Scott Heins/Gothamist)

The protest lasted around half an hour. The terrace, and activists' access to it, was made possible by a deal Donald Trump struck with the city back in the '70s ahead of the tower's construction as part of the privately owned public space program. Under the arrangement, Trump got to build the tower 20 stories taller than he would have otherwise in exchange for keeping the lobby and terraces open to the public and offering retail stores on the ground level.

At Trump Tower, as at most of the 332 other POPS spaces in the city, management doesn't always play by the rules. For example, it took $18,000 in fines and a deluge of news stories to get the Trump Organization to replace a required bench in the lobby and remove the kiosks it had been replaced with, which were being used to hawk Make America Great Again swag.

Also mysterious, until now, was the closure of the fourth-floor terrace since at least December. A sign indicates that the closure is "DUE TO CONSTRUCTION," but no workers or equipment are visible, and no permits are on file for such work. The Trump Organization has in the past declined to comment on that and another unexplained POPS closure (at the plaza beside the Trump International Hotel and Tower) and did not respond to a comment request for this story.

Department of Buildings spokesman Alex Schnell tells Gothamist that an inspector responded to a complaint about the terrace in January, and established that the space had been closed for security reasons. "All of Trump Tower is now under the jurisdiction of" the police department, he said.

Last June, the DOB announced that it was investigating whether Trump violated the terms of his POPS agreement through repeated unapproved lobby closures during his presidential campaign. Now it seems that the probe is stalled and the agency is waiting for a witness to go on record about the closures.

"Nobody ever came forward to submit an affidavit in evidence, and that's what we would need to give him a violation for those closures," Schnell said. Not that the agency is holding its breath. He continued, "We're not looking for the witnesses. If somebody wants to come forward and say, 'I was at Trump Tower on x date and they closed the POPS space for a campaign event,' we'll certainly take that."

Tuesday's teach-in was the fourth held on or near the terrace space since March, and police arrested 25 immigration-rights protesters who dropped a banner and chanted in the lobby in April.



A member of the Trump Tower security team watches over the proceedings. (Scott Heins/Gothamist)

The repeat visits have led to tense exchanges with building security, which includes NYPD officers, Secret Service agents, and Trump Organization hired men. Around a dozen security people in suits, and one hoodie, monitored Tuesday's event from the sidelines, and four FDNY medical personnel stood by inside the terrace door.

The event also attracted a loafer-wearing young man whose business card identifies him as Fred Brown III of a group called Common Sense Energy. Brown nervously paced the sidelines of the protest, and pulled me aside to offer "the other side" of the divestment debate.

"If you're cutting out tens of billions of dollars from a state pension fund, and you're investing in green energy as part of that portfolio, you're going to have a billion dollar shortfall, and that's going to fall on the pension holders," Brown suggested. According to 350's analysis about $3 billion of the city's pension investments are tied to fossil fuels. Some of the five city pension funds recently decided to divest from coal after a study showed that the impact would be negligible, according to the Comptroller's Office.



"Fred Brown III" (Nathan Tempey/Gothamist)

What's more interesting than what Brown was saying is what he was doing: attending a protest rally specifically to provide counter-messaging on behalf of some unknown entity. Asked who backed his group, Brown said "Basically, it's industry-backed. It's backed by the industry." Asked in various other ways if he knew who specifically he was representing, Brown repeated this line, and at one point said "not off the top of my head." (350 is supported by a variety of funders, heavy among them the Rockefellers, and a center founded by a former General Motors honcho and the daughter of an IBM founder.)

A cursory Startpage search shows no record of a Common Sense Energy coalition advocating for the oil and gas industry, nor a Fred Brown III working in energy. The domain of the website listed on his business cardsmartenergynow.comis for sale, and no one answered at the Alaska cellphone number listed on the card.

The teach-in concluded with a tug-of-war between Stringer and Trump stand-ins wearing masks. Activists had planned to chant their way out of the building, but an NYPD officer warned that they could be arrested for disorderly conduct if they did so, so they scrapped that, according to organizers. Police made no arrests.

The protest was part of an international week of action around divestment, which includes several other planned events in New York City. For more information click here. 350 and New York Communities for Change are also encouraging other New Yorkers to organize demonstrations on the Trump Tower terrace, and have created a #TakeTrumpTower website to publicize them.
Maya T. Prabhu covers the Statehouse from Columbia. She previously covered city government and other topics in South Carolina and Maryland. Maya has a bachelors in English from Spelman College and a masters in journalism from the University of Maryland.
NEW YORK  Comcast and Charter have agreed to cooperate on upcoming cellphone services as both cable companies face growing threats from national wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon.

The cable companies said that while they'll offer wireless services separately to customers, they will work together on behind-the-scenes matters such as customer billing and device-ordering systems. They said the agreement will save money and help them compete with the national providers.

As part of the deal, announced Monday, Comcast and Charter agreed they wouldn't buy other wireless companies for one year, or make related deals without consulting each other first. It also includes restrictions on any transaction that would give another company a majority ownership or voting power in either Comcast or Charter.

The deal comes amid speculation of impending consolidation in the wireless industry and has the effect of letting both companies develop wireless services to compete with existing wireless carriers without having to worry about also competing with each other.

For the most part, Comcast and Charter aren't direct competitors, as their service territories don't overlap. The bigger threat comes from the likes of Verizon and AT&T, which are able to offer TV, internet and home phone services, along with wireless.

ADVERTISEMENT

To compete, Philadelphia-based Comcast expects to launch its own wireless plan, Xfinity Mobile, in the next several weeks. Charter, based in Stamford, Conn., expects to introduce its unnamed service next year. Both wireless services will lease Verizon's network.

To reduce costs, Comcast and Charter will need to try to encourage customers to use Wi-Fi hotspots rather than cellular whenever possible. By working together, the two companies can explore ways to let customers use each other's hotspots when they travel.

Analysts at MoffettNathanson said in a research note the Verizon lease lets each company market wireless service only in its cable service territory. But if either Comcast or Charter were to buy a wireless carrier, such as T-Mobile or Sprint, it suddenly would be able to sell service nationwide, including in the other cable company's region.

The deal won't prohibit the companies from making a joint bid for a wireless carrier.

"Neither company wants a future where they are adjacent in wireline but overlapping and competing in wireless," the research note said. "Either company acquiring T-Mobile or Sprint would have been an untenable situation."
ST. PAUL  A former vicar general for the Diocese of Winona is expected to be named today as a defendant in a lawsuit that alleges he suppressed a report of child sexual abuse.

Michael Joseph Hoeppner , 67, now the Bishop of the Diocese of Crookston , is the first bishop in the United States to be individually sued for coercion , said Jeff Anderson , a St. Paul attorney who's represented hundreds of survivors of clergy abuse.

Hoeppner was vicar general at Winona from about 1998 until being named bishop at Crookston in 2007, church records show.

The survivor, who was participating in a program to become a deacon in the Catholic Church, allegedly told Hoeppner in 2010 that he'd been sexually assaulted in about 1971 by Roger Grundhaus, who was vicar general at the diocese at the time.

Instead of investigating the claim, Hoeppner advised the survivor to tell no one of his abuse and threatened his future with the church, Anderson said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"He made him sign a false declaration saying that he was not sexually abused," said Patrick Wall, a victims' advocate for Anderson. "If he didn't sign it, (Hoeppner) wouldn't ordain him as a deacon and would penalize his son  who was a priest of the (Crookston) diocese under Hoeppner."

In 2015, the diocese was ordered to produce all information on clergy accused of child sexual abuse before 1985; however, Grundhaus' name was not included in the required, court-ordered disclosure.

After the court order was issued, the bishop actively suppressed the survivor's abuse report, the lawsuit says.

The survivor, his son and a former chancellor with the Crookston Diocese are expected to speak against Hoeppner during a news conference today in St. Paul, Anderson said, describing the threatened retaliation against the survivor and his son.

The diocese also is expected to be named as a defendant in the civil suit.

"The coercion and concealment in real-time demonstrates the crisis continues unabated," Anderson said.

A call this morning seeking comment from the Crookston Diocese was not immediately returned.

Hoeppner was born in Winona and was ordained there in 1975, according to his online biography. He served as judicial vicar for the diocese until his appointment to vicar general, where he would have been tasked with working on investigations of sexual abuse allegations for the Winona Diocese.

ADVERTISEMENT

Among Hoeppner's assignments were stints as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, West Concord; pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish, Claremont; associate pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Winona; pastor of St. Paul Parish, Minnesota City; pastor of St. Casimir Parish, Winona; pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish, Lewiston; and pastor of St. Anthony Parish, Altura.

He was a faculty member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, Winona; principal of Pacelli High School and at Queen of Angels Parish, Austin; administrator of Queen of Peace Parish, Lyle; and chaplain at Sacred Heart Hospice, Austin.
A Rochester City Council member wants to make sure developers are aware planning goals are changing in the city.

"I would like that they pay attention to some of the work being done in the new comp plan," Council Member Michael Wojcik said.

The city's updated comprehensive plan aims to lay the groundwork for the city's vision of the future. While it doesn't regulate development, it could be used to create new regulations.

The current plan has been in the works since early 2015, and the latest draft of its first section was presented to the city council last month. That draft is available for public review and will be the subject of two public forums and two presentations to community leaders next week.

Wojcik said he is concerned about projects in what has been identified as a prime areas for walkable, transit-oriented development. Particularly, he raised questions about plans for the 8.8-acre former Golden Hills School site, which could include four commercial buildings, housing 54,500 square feet of space, as well as parking. Two of the stores are listed in marketing materials as having national retail tenants, Marshalls and Ulta Beauty

ADVERTISEMENT

"What this is is basically a strip mall," he said.

In an earlier memo to fellow council members, he identified other developments that appear to conflict with goals that could be adopted in the new plan. They were:

 Caribou Coffee on North Broadway

 Casey's on Seventh Street Northwest

 Caribou Coffee on Civic Center Drive

 Starbucks on South Broadway

While Wojcik suggested potentially restricting similar development until the new comprehensive plan is adopted, the proposal failed to receive support from other council members Monday.

"Projects will stand or fall on their own merit," Council President Randy Staver said, noting the Golden Hills development proposal hasn't reached the city council yet.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mark Schoening, senior vice president of national retail for Twin Cities-based Ryan Cos., said the project has been presented to city staff for preliminary review, but formal advancement has been delayed by the complex nature of the site. Ryan Cos. has been been working on purchasing the former school on the corner of South Broadway and Third Avenue Southeast since 2015.

"We're now on the verge of coming forward formally," he told the council.

With other representatives involved in the project attending the committee-of-the-whole meeting, Wojcik said he accomplished one of his goals..

"I wanted to at least draw attention to the issue, which I'm sure has been accomplished," he said.



If you go

The Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department has a series of meetings planned next week to discuss Rochesters comprehensive plan.

Two public forums will be held:

ADVERTISEMENT

 6:30 p.m. May 16 at 125 Live, 125 Elton Hills Drive NW.

 2:30 p.m. May 18 at Rochester Public Library, 101 Second St. SE.

The two-hour sessions, which will include staff presentations and an opportunity to provide input, will be identical.

Two sessions also are planned for community leaders:

 3:30 p.m. May 17 in rooms A and B of Fire Station No. 2, 2185 Wheelock Drive NE.

 7:30 a.m. May 19 in rooms A and B of Fire Station No. 2, 2185 Wheelock Drive NE.

The public is invited to attend and observe the presentations to community leaders.
ST. PAUL  A Byron lawmaker's bill to create a law enforcement memorial license plate unanimously passed the Minnesota House on Monday.

Republican Rep. Duane Quam is sponsoring the measure to create the specialty plate. The bill requires the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to design the plates featuring a "thin blue line." A set of plates would cost $10. People purchasing the plates would contribute $25 initially and a minimum of $5 annually to support the Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association. That nonprofit organization helps support families of fallen officers.

"I think that it's appropriate with this bill to allow for a memorial plate to honor and memorialize those law enforcement members that have served and sacrificed on our behalf," Quam said.

Widows of officers killed in the line of duty watched the House floor vote. They were joined by bill supporters and law enforcement officers. The measure needs to pass the Senate before heading to DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's desk.
The Democrats who attacked President Trumps travel order in front of carefully-selected Democratic judges made the extraordinary claim that the Presidents statements on the stump, as a candidate, were somehow relevant to whether the order was constitutional. This claim implies that an order may be unconstitutional if issued by one president, while the exact same order would be perfectly fine if issued by another. This is an absurd result.

It may be absurd, but it is what the Democrats believe. ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat, arguing today before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, told the court that President Trumps travel order could be constitutional if it had been written by Hillary Clinton. Here is a portion of the audio from todays hearing:

The last part of the audio is rather funny. Jadwat, asked whether the order on its face is valid, says No. Why? I dont think so, Your Honor, because the order is completely unprecedented. To which one of the Fourth Circuit judges replies, with astonishment that seems mostly genuine: So the first order on anything is invalid?

As usual, the liberals have no coherent theory. Basically, they believe that anything they dont like is unconstitutional. And unconstitutional, for them, has nothing to do with the actual written document called the Constitution, the charter on which our nation is founded. Unconstitutional merely means something they dont like.

The sad fact is that Democratic presidents appoint Democratic judges who are willing to subscribe to such lawless nonsense.
Dartmouths prospective Dean of Faculty Bruce Duthu has responded to the furor his appointment has created in light of his support of the BDS movement. We posted Professor Alan Gustmans message to the Dartmouth board and faculty here over the weekend. Dean Duthu has now circulated a letter to the faculty. Algemeiner has posted a blurry PDF of the letter here along with this summary:

I continue to believe in the right of private citizens to express criticism of any countrys government policies. At the same time, I do not believe that a boycott of academic institutions is the appropriate response. Instead, I support sustained, open and collegial engagement with fellow academics, including collaborative research and teaching. Duthu continued, In my role as Associate Dean for International Studies and Interdisciplinary Programs, I have embraced the position of the Dartmouth president, who rejected BDS in 2013. [A]s Dean of the Faculty, I will continue to fully support it [the presidents position], Duthu wrote. Duthu added that on subjects that are particularly contentious, divisive or polarizing, such as the issue of academic boycotts generally or criticism of the state of Israel, it is his firm expectation that they will be discussed with open and civil discourse. He also noted that he condemn[s] anti-Semitism.

Professor Gustman has issued the following statement on Duthus letter:

Professor Duthus statement to the Faculty does not reconcile his past support for the BDS movement with his current position that he does not support academic boycotts. He does not simply say, I withdraw my support from the letter I signed. He cannot, without contradiction, 1) assure council signers of the NAISA document and holders of their position of his continuing support for their document, which calls for action to boycott Israeli academic institutions, and at the same time 2) administer his job as Dean of the Faculty, while assuring Dartmouth, as his letter does, that he will not take such action. Professor Duthus response to the Faculty is an attempt to avoid the anger his public advocacy of BDS has created without repudiating the reasons his positions created this anger in the first place. The BDS movement is anti-Semitic. The chant of the BDS movement, from the river to the sea, is anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and profoundly anti- Jewish. It refers to sweeping the Jews out of Israel. Again, this movement has become a cover for many anti-Semites who like nothing better than to once again be free to exercise their prejudices. It also is important to understand, especially when evaluating the significance of appointing a BDS advocate as the Dean of the Faculty, that BDS is not just a statement of beliefs or a philosophical movement: it is a statement of action. As Dean of Faculty Professor Duthu represents the Faculty of Dartmouth. If Professor Duthu wishes to quiet the anger he is hearing from faculty and Alumni, he must clearly and unambiguously repudiate his past support of BDS or give up his position and go back to the faculty where he can freely advocate for his beliefs  the view his letter implies that he continues to hold as a private citizen. If he does not clearly and unambiguously repudiate his position and support for BDS, the anger directed his way will only get louder. In view of Dartmouths anti-Semitic history and Professor Duthus apparently continuing endorsement of the anti-Semitic BDS document, Dartmouth must not simply appoint Duthu to the position of Dean of the Faculty and ignore the implications of that appointment. Alan Gustman

Loren Berry Professor of Economics

Dartmouth College

The BDS movement of which Dean Duthu is an active supporter in his professional capacity reeks of anti-Semitism. Rather than defend it, Dean Duthu asserts that his advocacy of BDS simply reflects his views as a private citizen and assures his colleagues that he will not act on it. Duthu does that voodoo so well; he must think the faculty are idiots. I agree with everything Professor Gustman has had to say and am grateful for his raising the issue.
President Obama is still lying about Obamacare, peddling the fiction that it covered 20 million people who lacked health insurance and that the Democrats who voted in favor of it made out profiles in courage rather than pols following the party line. Accepting the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Sunday, Obama spoke at what felt like Castroite length (text and video here). All that was missing was the traditional leftist praise of free Cuban health care. Instead, Obama added this:

[I]t is my fervent hope and the hope of millions that regardless of party, such courage is still possible, that todays members of Congress, regardless of party, are willing to look at the facts and speak the truth even when it contradicts party positions. I hope that current members of Congress recall that it actually doesnt take a lot of courage to aid those who are already powerful, already comfortable, already influential. But it does require some courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm, those who often have no access to the corridors of power.

Listening even briefly to Obama, I remembered why I detest him. It all came back in a flash. Nobody articulated what I was thinking better than Charles Krauthammer last night on the FOX News Special Report with Bret Baker. Krauthammer responded (video below): There are a lot of arguments you can make on either side of the debate about Obamacare but notice how it was complete moral condescension. The other guys are cowards because I, and the people who support me, and oppose the legislation, stand with the poor and the afflicted and all of that and the others are on the side of the rich and powerful. That is nonsense.

Quotable quote: Good riddance, Mr. President.

Via RealClearPolitics.
Lanre Gentry, the estranged husband of top Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe, has been remanded in Kirikiri Prisons in Lagos.

The 52-year-old hotelier, who finally appeared in court on Tuesday after failing to show up twice, is being remanded in prison until he meets the bail demands of N500,000 and two sureties who reside in Lagos and have landed properties.

He was granted bail on Tuesday after he was arraigned at an Ikeja magistrate court on three-count charge of domestic violence, assault and threat to life.

The case has been adjourned to July 12.

Mr. Gentry was initially asked to appear in court on Monday following a physical assault charge levelled against him by the Lagos State Department of Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team.

He however failed to show up in court saying he was admitted in a Lagos hospital for an undisclosed ailment.

His estranged wife then took to her Instagram account on Monday morning to raise an alarm that her husband was trying to evade arrest with the help of the police.

The pair is currently involved in a domestic violence case, which the police are still investigating.

A fight between the couple allegedly led to her bleeding, a situation which informed her decision to storm the office of the Lagos State Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Commissioner, Lola Akande, last week Tuesday, to report the matter.

Mrs. Akande was said to have handed over the case to the state Ministry of Justice. Despite the explanations given by Mr. Gentry that the pictures of the actress bruised face were behind-the-scene images from a movie set, the actress has secured a restraining order against him.

Mr. Gentry has been ordered by a court not to come within one mile of Mercy Aigbes location at all times.

The couple was married for seven years and the union produced a son. While it is Mercys second marriage, it is her husbands third marriage.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The management and board of Nigerian Breweries has appointed Johan Doyer as the companys new Managing Director.

Mr. Doyer replaces Nocolaas Vervelde who resigned last week to take up another appointment within the Heineken group.

Mr. Doyer joined the Heineken group in Netherlands in 1978. He held many positions within the group while in service.

He, however, retired as Managing director of Heineken Ethiopia in 2015.

A statement posted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday stated that his appointment becomes effective June 16.

The company also stated that the new appointment is on an interim basis pending the appointment of a substantive Managing Director for the company.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The general counsel to BFIGroup Corporation, Jimmie Williams, has written to the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Kayode Fayemi, describing as puzzling his pledge a fortnight ago to work with Russian firm, UC RUSAL, to reactivate the Aluminium Smelting Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, Ikot-Abasi, in Akwa Ibom State.

BFIGroup is the Nigerian-American consortium declared winner of the bid for ALSCON in 2004 by the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, but was later disqualified by the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, in controversial circumstances, triggering a lingering ownership legal tussle.

The Supreme Court in two separate rulings declared BFIGroup the ideal winner of the bids and ordered the government not to hand over ALSCON to any other firm including UC RUSAL, a directive the federal government has not obeyed.

Mr. Fayemi, during his visit to the aluminium plant, assured UC RUSAL, led by its managing director, Dimitriy Zaviyalov, that government would encourage the Supreme Court to expedite action on the ruling on ALSCON, to free the complex of any encumbrances.

Besides, the minister said, he would encourage the court to synergize any decision with the London Court of Arbitration, particularly on the UC RUSAL alleged involvement in asset stripping.

Following the visit, BFIGroup Chairman/Chief Executive, Reuben Jaja, reacted angrily, saying the ministers action and utterances were not only illegal, but also contemptuous of the Supreme Court, which had ruled twice, sacking the Russians from the company since 2012.

Mr. Williams said in his letter he was puzzled by the ministers position on the issue, as he was not aware of any other case pending before the Supreme Court for decision.

The counsel said the only cases that involved the Supreme Court and ALSCON was No. SC. 12/2008 between BFIGroup Corporation and Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, which was decided on July 6, 2012.

In the ruling, he said the Supreme Court not only declared BFIGroups appeal as meritorious, but ordered the Nigerian government to provide BFIGroup with a mutually agreed agreement to allow it to pay for ALSCON.

In the ruling, Mr. Williams said the Supreme Court had equally imposed a perpetual injunction to restrain the Nigerian government from inviting any further bidding for the purpose of selling ALSCON and from negotiating to sell, selling, transferring or otherwise handing over ALSCON to any other person.

This order, he said, effectively nullified any agreement UC RUSAL may have made with the Federal Government of Nigeria regarding ALSCON.

On November 4, 2015, UC RUSAL filed an appeal seeking a review and vacation of the July 6, 2012 judgment, based on an award it said it received from the London Court of Arbitration against the Supreme Courts judgment.

However, on July 11, 2016, the Supreme Court again in a unanimous verdict struck out the application for lack of merit.

Given these rulings, it is the federal governments inaction that is encumbering ALSCON, Mr. Williams said. Since the issuance of these Supreme Court rulings, regrettably, the government has not provided us (BFIGroup) with the mutually agreed agreement.

On 13 February 2013, we provided the government with a signed 58-page agreement patterned verbatim after the one provided to Rusal. In response, the government only offered a 16-page truncated agreement, which failed to address the many administrative issues involved in operating the plant.

On the ministers observation that ALSCON was well maintained by UC RUSAL, Mr. Williams said nothing could be farther from the truth, as ALSCON, at the time of its privatization in 2004 had total equity value of about N127.14 billion ($0.964 Billion).

The valuation was based on certified audited financial statement from Price WaterHouseCoopers, as against a valuation of about N14.57billon (about $89,994,616), by the 2011 financial statement from KPMG.

We respectfully inform you that there are no other Supreme Court actions in existence outside of those mentioned within this letter, Mr. Williams told Mr. Fayemi.

With ALSCONs valuation declining by more than 90 per cent since its privatization in 2004 to UC RUSAL, the BFIGroup counsel faulted the minister that the plant as well maintained.

He said BFIGroups insistence on the recognition of its emergence as the preferred bidder for ALSCON over the last 13 years, and expenditure of about $30 million pursuing about 20 court cases involving the plant was its conviction that the terms of the Supreme Court Judgments were sacrosanct.

Urging government officials to learn to operate within the rule of law, Mr. Williams said BFIGroup has acknowledged that ALSCON was a national treasure that deserved being preserved.

Copies of the letter sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday were sent to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is also the Chairman of the National Council on Privatization, NCP.

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, W. Stuart Symington, was also sent a copy of the letter, which was accompanied by certified true copy of the two Supreme Court rulings on the matter.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe has left the country for medical checks in Singapore, the government said in a statement, about two months after his previous such trip to the south Asian nation.

Aged 93, Mr. Mugabe is the only leader the southern African country has known since independence in 1980, and his health is a hot topic ahead of a presidential election scheduled for next year that he is due to contest.

He flew to Singapore late on Monday.

The Ministry of Information said he was expected to return home at the weekend.

Mr. Mugabe now struggles to walk, with security aides forming a human shield around him in public, often making it difficult for reporters to film or take pictures of him.

On May 4 at a World Economic Forum Summit in South Africa, Mr. Mugabe sat slumped in his chair, wringing his hands, as he told a panel discussion in a low murmur that his country was not a fragile state.

Critics say his infirmities make him unfit to hold office but he continues to exercise tight control over his ZANU-PF party.

In February he said the party and Zimbabwes people saw no viable alternative candidate to him for 2018 elections.

NAN reports that on Feb. 17, Mr. Mugabes wife, Grace, warned those aspiring to take over from her husband that there is no vacancy at the state house before God ordains his husbands retirement.

Speaking at a rally in Buhera North, Manicaland Province, the first lady lashed out at perceived factionalists and successionists in the ruling Zanu-PF party, who were bent on toppling her 93-year-old husband.

Mr. Mugabes tenure as party leader ends in 2019, but the party in 2014 had endorsed him as its presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

Whoever is engaging in factionalism must stop forthwith, stop it, she bellowed to thousands of people that included school children.

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen as the face of successionist politics but he has since denied harbouring ambitions to take over from Mugabe before his tenure ends.

The first lady challenged the successionists to self-introspect to determine whether they possess leadership qualities and are able to emulate her husband.

She added that her husband was irreplaceable and even if he contested the election as a corpse the people would vote for him.

(Reuters/NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


As Nigeria takes stock of the heavy toll of the current meningitis outbreak on its citizens, concerns persist over the continuing failure of the authorities to take obvious measures to check the recurrent disease.

The current outbreak this year became an epidemic, despite the countrys past experiences with the disease and early warnings by local and international health agencies of its imminence.

The outbreak, which was first recorded in November last year in Zamfara, killed about 813 persons in 23 states across the country within 16 weeks.

Long before the first case was recorded in Zamfara State, however, the World Health Organisation, WHO, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, the agency in charge of primary health care in Nigeria, had issued stern warnings of likely Meningitis C outbreak in Nigeria due to previous occurrences and the epidemiological cycle of the disease.

In July 2015, the WHO predicted an outbreak of Meningitis C in Nigeria and some other African countries in 2016 and called for step-up in the production of vaccines to contain the disease before the 2016 meningitis season would start in January.

According to the WHO, in a statement published on its website, Africa was at large risk of Meningitis outbreak and an acute shortage of Meningitis C-containing vaccine threatened to severely limit the worlds ability to minimize the number of people that would be affected.

In a background to the grim prediction, William Perea, Coordinator for Control of Epidemic Diseases Unit at WHO, said meningitis tends to hit Africa in cycles. He pointed out that cases of Meningitis C had been rising since 2013, first in Nigeria in 2013 and 2014, and then in 2015.

We have to be ready for a much larger number of cases during the 2016 meningitis season, he warned.

Somehow, the warning went unheeded.

Instead, the Federal Ministry of Health did not start procurement of the vaccines until after deaths from the disease were reported in Zamfara and Sokoto. The two northern states were hardest hit by the outbreak, with close to 400 deaths recorded in Zamfara state alone.

According to the WHO, this years was the fourth Meningitis C outbreak in Nigeria in the last five years.

The difference this year, however, was that it is of epidemic nature, as 9,645 cases were suspected and 813 deaths recorded in 43 local government areas in 23 states in the country.

Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Kebbi were the states most affected. Zamfara was the first to record the outbreak in November 2016. But the state did not report it to the appropriate health agency for intervention until February, about four months after the first incident.

According to Health Minister, Isaac Adewole, the Nigerian government could not immediately start the administration of vaccine to the affected states because it did not have vaccines for the type C meningitis in stock. It was after the outbreak that the authorities started soliciting the assistance of the WHO and other international partners to procure vaccinations and drugs to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

Mr. Adewole, a professor of Medicine, said containing the spread of the disease had at that point become an emergency for international health agencies, the federal government, state government, local government and concerned individuals across the globe.

Explaining why the country did not act on the early warnings ahead of the outbreak, the Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, said the drugs and vaccines are extremely expensive and have a short shelf life.

The vaccines are expensive to make and if acquired and stored without use, they could expire and there is just a limited stock of the type C vaccine as it is not much in demand. This outbreak has led to a greater demand, he said.

Though there is now a decrease in the rate of causalities, the government has now succeeded in providing vaccination only in two states, Zamfara and Sokoto.

Other states were yet to be catered for at the end of April, as the government had not been able to procure enough vaccines due to shortage of supply across the globe.

Statements from the Nigerian Ministry of Health showed that the government within the first month of soliciting international support got an estimated 1,300,000 doses of the vaccine. These consist of 500,000 vaccines from WHO and 800,000 from the British government. It said it was still expecting more vaccines from other international health donors.

Vaccine shortage

In 2015, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC, Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF, United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, and WHO; (the four organizations organisations, which together constitute the International Coordinating Group for Vaccine Provision for Epidemic Meningitis Control  ICG) had called on vaccine manufacturers to step up meningitis C-containing vaccine production by five million doses ahead of the 2016 meningitis season in January.

We have had preliminary discussions with vaccine manufacturers and impressed upon them (manufacturers) the need to produce a stockpile of five million doses of vaccine so as to be ready for flare-ups of the disease next year in Africa, but so far they havent yet revised their production plans to meet demand, said Imran Mirza, Health Specialist, Program Division, UNICEF.

According to the WHO, substantial progress had been made in recent years in protecting Africa from other main sub-types of meningitis with, for example, the introduction of the MenAfrVac vaccine against meningitis A in 2010, which was also administered in Nigeria same year.

Much work, however, needs to be done to protect the African meningitis belt from meningitis C outbreaks.

Within six months in 2015, there were 12,000 cases of Meningitis C in Niger and Nigeria, and 800 deaths recorded from both countries.

Though there are few vaccine manufacturers globally, Nigeria unfortunately is one of the countries where infectious vaccine preventable diseases become endemic due to lack of vaccines to prevent occurrences.

Health experts have lamented the inability of Nigeria to produce vaccines locally.

The Nigerian Medical Association, in a press statement during the meningitis outbreak, lamented the governments response to the epidemic and condemned the late immunisation of Nigerians against the disease.

Mike Ogirima, president of the association, said the governments reactive measures were ineffective based on the epidemiology of the disease and demanded immediate resuscitation of local vaccine production (LVP) at Yaba, Lagos State and the expansion of the scope of LVP at the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State. The facility in Yaba has been moribund since 1991.

Our pharmaceutical industries should be challenged and supported to produce our consumables. This should be the new order instead of budgeting huge sums of money for importation of vaccines and other consumables, Mr. Ogirima said.

The minister, Mr. Adewole, had said the country will need $1 billion to vaccinate 21 million people against the strain C meningitis.

In an interview with the Nigerian Guardian newspaper, Toyosi Raheem, National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, AMLSN, said the government needs to encourage local production of vaccines in the country and the resuscitation of the laboratory in Lagos.

He recalled that the Lagos laboratory was producing bacterial vaccines for local use and for export to neighbouring countries in the 60s and 70s, before it went moribund.

He, however, blamed gross mismanagement and corruption across all sectors, inappropriate leadership, lack of teamwork among health professionals and lack of commitment to the Nigerian project for Nigerias inability to produce its own vaccines.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Some officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Ogun State Command, on Tuesday engaged in a gun battle with smugglers along Ota-Idiroko road.

A witness said crisis erupted when some customs officials tried to stop a well-known smuggler identified as Sherif. The officials shot and killed Sherif at Ola junction, Onibuku along Ota-Idiroko road, during the shootout, the witness said.

Sherif and his fellow smugglers were allegedly smuggling rice, turkey and other items from Benin Republic through the border when they were accosted.

The witness, a resident of the area, said Sherif and his gang are known to always bribe compromised customs officials to ensure easy smuggling until Tuesdays action.

Following the killing of Sherif, there was a mob action as some of protesters went on rampage, setting the Customs Hilux van and office along Idi-Iroko road ablaze.

The mob also allegedly wounded some Customs officers, who were shielded by combined security officials including the police and the Nigerian Navy.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Customs in Ogun, Abdullahi Maiwada, said the violence started when Customs officials intercepted the smugglers with their products. He said the smugglers attacked the officials before the latter fought back.

We intercepted a Mazda vehicle with registration number KTU 504 AN carrying 45 bags of smuggled rice, and also a Passat vehicle with 28 cartons of smuggled turkey, he said.

But in a reprisal attack, the smugglers mobilised themselves and destroyed our official vehicle which was set ablaze, and also destroyed personal vehicles of our men. They also destroyed the command post at Atan junction.

The spokesperson said he could not confirm any death and that investigation was still ongoing.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The leaders of Nigerias federal legislature have finally agreed to make the 2017 National Assembly budget open to the public, ending eight years of secrecy, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report.

The decision was reached at the meeting of the joint leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which commenced late Monday and ended moments after midnight, at the Maitama, Abuja, residence of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, sources who attended the meeting told PREMIUM TIMES.

Following that resolution, the proposed 2017 budget of the National Assembly is to be laid in both Houses Tuesday when the lawmakers reconvene for business.

It is now certain, one source said, the budget of the National Assembly will be laid this morning, the leaders of the National Assembly, Senate and the House of Representatives have decided. The Speaker was also here.

The source did not disclose the total sum of the budget, which stood at N115 billion in 2016.

Last week, Mr. Saraki, who is the chairman of the National Assembly, renewed his promise to open the budget, saying it would be laid alongside the 2017 Appropriations Bill.

The line by line of the National Assembly budget, part of the #Opnenass, is a done deal. (it) will be laid with 2017 budget, Mr. Saraki tweeted.

Mr. Saraki, who had previously failed to deliver on the same promise at least six times, seemed serious this time with his spokesperson, Bankole Omishore, vowing to resign from his post should the Senate President again renege on that pledge.

Mr. Omisore said it took the Mr. Saraki-led National Assembly two years to agree to disclose its budget because institutional reforms do not happen overnight.

Since 2010, Nigerians, including most of the lawmakers, have been denied knowledge of the details of the finances of the National Assembly.

From N23.347 billion in 2003, the National Assemblys budget ballooned to N115 billion in 2016, representing over 492 per cent rise in 13 years. Until 2016, the budget had gone as high as N150 billion under former Senate president, David Mark.

In 2010, when the budget hit a shocking record sum of N154.2 billion, Mr. Mark decided to block its details from the public, concealing how much members earned in allowances, especially.

Mr. Saraki became the Senate president in June 2015, days after Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated Nigerias president. In the spirit of the high hope that waste, corruption, impunity and opacity would be fought in the countrys public institutions, Nigerians reignited calls for the National Assembly to be opened.

Apparently riding the populism wave, Mr. Saraki included in his inauguration speech the vow to change from impunity and elite arrogance to a life of accountability, and then circulated a text in which he named a committee to review NASS budget, to make it open and more realistic.

It would take two years for that to happen.

In those years, the NASS budget became so closely guarded that several members of the National Assembly got no idea of its details.

Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, on January 10, openly challenged Mr. Saraki to make the budget open, disclosing that he and his colleagues, like most Nigerians, had no knowledge of details of the NASS budget.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


President Muhammadu Buhari says Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will coordinate the nations affairs while he is abroad for medical treatment.

A letter sent by the president to the Senate, notifying lawmakers of his trip, however raised questions Tuesday about Mr. Osinbajos powers after Mr. Buhari failed to address him as acting president.

Mr. Buhari left Nigeria Sunday night, shortly after receiving 82 Chibok girls who regained freedom after three years in Boko Haram captivity.

Since coming to power in May 2015, it is the fourth time Mr. Osinbajo would be acting on behalf of the president.

Mr. Buhari has won praises for promptly handing over power before embarking on each trip.

This time, the president said his stay in the United Kingdom would be determined by his doctors.

But his latest correspondence to the Senate, read by the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, was questioned by a Senator who argued that Mr. Osinbajo should have been designated acting president.

Mao Ohabunwa, a Peoples Democratic Party senator, representing Abia North, said it was not proper to name the vice president coordinator of the nations affairs.

He was however ruled out of order by Mr. Saraki, after the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, defended Mr. Buhari, citing Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.

That section says, Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Federal High Court, Abuja, has declared as illegal, the joint panel constituted by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to investigate alleged infractions in the December 10 re-run elections in Rivers.

Justice Gabriel Kolawale, who delivered the judgment on Tuesday in Abuja, described the panel as a strange illegal contraption unknown to law.

Mr. Kolawale said although the Police Act gave the police the powers to carry out such investigations, there was no where in the Act that allowed the police to bring in another body.

Section 4 of the Police Act allows the Police to set up such a panel to carry out investigations, the section does not however, state that the police can carry out such an investigation with apparatus outside the force, the judge said.

The judge said the special panel set up by the police which also included members of the State Security Services (SSS) was unknown to law and therefore unconstitutional.

He said the Attorney-General must be cautious in using the report presented to him by such the panel since it was an illegal body.

The judge, however, refused to quash the report of the panel as sought by Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, on the grounds that the report was not before him and he could not, therefore, take action on what was not before him.

He added that the report of the panel, if it contained useful information, could be useful if turned over to a proper body under the law.

He further stated that the other prayers sought by the plaintiffs were ungrantable since the reliefs the prayers sought had been overtaken by events as the panel had already submitted its report to the Attorney-General.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mr. Wike had approached the court to challenge the setting up of the Nigerian Police Special Joint Investigation Panel on the Dec. 10 re-run election.

Mr. Wike, along with the Rivers government, the second plaintiff in the suit, also prayed the court to nullify the outcome of police investigation into violence that marred the legislative re-run election in the state.

Mr. Wike, in the suit, queried the legality of the probe panel that was constituted by the Inspector- General of Police.

The inspector-general had set up the panel to uncover those who masterminded violence and other electoral malpractices during the re-run election.

The panel, which also had personnel of the SSS as members, was chaired by Damian Okoro, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Teachers in Bayelsa public primary schools have embarked on indefinite strike to press for the payment of the nine-and-a-half months salary owed by local governments in the state.

This was after they rejected the one month salary offered to them by the state government to avert the action.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the teachers had commenced an indefinite strike on Monday after a three-day warning strike.

The state wing of the Nigeria union of Teachers, NUT, said in a statement on Tuesday that it has directed the teachers to commence the action.

The Chairman of NUT, Kalama Toinpre, who signed the statement, said the action was meant to press for payment of outstanding salaries owed the teachers.

Toinpre, therefore, directed all primary school teachers to stay away from classrooms with effect from Monday.

The chairman insisted that they should stay at home until government pays them at least three months salaries to cushion the effects of biting economic hardship they were facing.

He said the teachers also demanded that the state government should take over the management and funding of the primary school system or carry out its augmenting role to the local government councils.

He noted that augmenting primary school funding was being practiced in other states of the federation to sustain primary education.

The chairman also called on the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and the Post Primary Schools Board to implement the recent promotion exercises, and commence fresh promotions for teachers who are due.

He also demanded that the deductions made from the primary school teachers for identity cards be stopped forthwith, while all monies so far deducted should be refunded to the teachers without delay.

Mr. Toinpre urged all teachers to embark on seven days of fasting and prayers, in the first week of the strike, to seek Gods intervention over the plight of primary school teachers in Bayelsa.

He said that after two weeks of the strike, if nothing was done, teachers in secondary schools would also embark on sympathy strike that would ground the education sub-sector.

It will be recalled that the warning strike called by the NUT over the unpaid salaries in primary schools ended on May 4.

The state Commissioner for Local Government Administration had on Friday announced the payment of April salary to persuade the teachers to shelve the planned strike which the teachers rejected.

Also in Bayelsa, Health workers at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Yenagoa, under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, on Tuesday suspended their five-day strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the workers embarked on the strike on May 4, over non-payment of March and April salary arrears, and backlog of salary shortfalls owed the workers.

The suspension of the strike followed a meeting between the workers representatives and the management of the hospital on Tuesday.

It was gathered that the March 2017 salary was paid on Monday while the strike was in force.

The parties agreed that the strike be suspended and workers return to their duty posts from May 10.

It was also agreed by both parties that the outstanding April of JOHESU 2017 salary be paid within 14 days, with effect from May 10, 2017.

According to the agreement, signed by Denis Alagoa, Medical Director, FMC, and Save Nubani, Acting Coordinator of the union, no member of staff would be victimised for taking part in the strike.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Board of Trustees(BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], says no decision has been taken to adopt an alternative platform because of the leadership crisis rocking the party.

The PDP BoT Chairman, Walid Jubrin, made the clarification in a statement he issued on Tuesday.

The Supreme Court has adjourned its sitting on the partys leadership tussle till May 24.

Mr. Jubrin expressed the BoTs commitment to follow all legal processes that will help redeem the partys image as anything not built on truth will fail and falsehood will crush.

The attention of the PDP BoT has been drawn to series of publications alleging that PDP has adopted a particular political party just newly registered as its fall back position.

I want to make it very clear that PDP has never formed any alternative party.

If it has to agree on something like that, all organs and forums of the party viz BoT, National caucus, PDP Governors Forum, National Assembly caucus have to be consulted.

The PDP States chairmen forum, former ministers forum, former Governors forum, various youth forums, elders forum nationwide, womens forums etc will also be fully consulted before such a very sensitive decision is taken, Mr. Jubrin said.

He assured all party supporters that the BoT has accepted the judicial processes going on at the Supreme Court as the only option left to the party to resolve the persistent crisis.

We are very confident that the Supreme Court shall freely and independently take fair decision which will be historic in Nigerias democracy.

He also assured all PDP members that the BoT remains resolutely united and absolutely loyal to the party.

Any child that does not allow his mother to sleep, he too will never sleep.

I want to further assure our members and supporters that we shall keep them informed of any development before any action is taken .

Mr. Jubrin also congratulated PDP governors who won all seats in recent local government elections in their states .(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Kaduna State senator, Shehu Sani, has defended the swap of newly released 82 Chibok school girls for Boko Haram fighters as being the best decision.

Mixed reactions have continued to trail the announcement by the Nigerian government that the girls were exchanged for some Boko Haram suspects held by the government.

The Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had condemned the deal.

The negotiations are in clear violation and indeed a direct assault on the generally accepted international principle never to negotiate with terrorists, the PDP said in a statement by its spokesperson, Dayo Adeyeye.

This international principle is sound and logical because negotiation with the terrorists only fuels their urge to continue with their heinous crimes.

The federal government responded by describing the statement from the PDP as indecent, inhuman and ill-timed.

Mr. Sani (All Progressives Congress/Kaduna Central), who is known to have been involved in previous talks to free the girls, endorsed the process that led to Boko Haram freeing the 82 girls.

The negotiation settled for the swap than paying a huge sum of money as ransom. The decision taken was the best and of lesser consequence, Mr. Sani tweeted.

The senator made reference to the U.S and Israel engaging in a prisoner swap with the Taliban and Hamas respectively.

He said in one of his tweets that no price was too high to pay for the release of the girls, adding that the swapped Boko Haram commanders were five, and not two as reported.

Chibok girls are not the only hostages with the insurgents, but their freedom rekindled the hope of freedom for others.

Chibok girls captivity tested the degree of our conscience, of our resilience, of our humanity and of our claim of responsibility to others, he said.

The released girls are among the over 270 abducted from their dormitories in a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014 as they prepared to write their final exams.

Twenty-one of them were earlier released last October after negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government.

Two other girls were found separately, in addition to those who escaped on the night of their abduction.

With the latest release, about 80 Chibok girls are now being held by the Boko Haram.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A Reverend Sister and Principal of School of Nursing, Umulogho in Imo, Eberechukwu Nwachukwu, was on Tuesday arraigned in Owerri for allegedly defrauding 25 students of N8.25 million.

Ms. Nwachukwu is facing a nine-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretences and threat to life at an Obowo Magistrates Court.

The students had reported a case of fraud against the school principal at the Police Area Command in Okigwe sometime in March.

The students, in their petition, claimed that each of them paid N330,000 to the school management for Nursing and Midwifery Council Examinations, but their names were not forwarded to the appropriate quarters for the examination.

The police prosecutor, Emmanuel Wonah, said the offences contravened provisions of the Criminal Code, Laws of Imo.

Giving evidence at the trial, one of the complainants, Amarachi Wokenna, told the court that she paid a total of N330,000 to the school management as registration fee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council Examination.

She said the principal acknowledged the payment by issuing a receipt to her.

Ms. Wokenna said surprisingly the principal refused to forward her name to the council for the exam which held in April.

Ms. Nwachukwu, however, denied the charges.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, M. O. Onyeweotu, granted her N500,000 bail with two sureties and adjourned the case until June 29 for continuation of trial.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the accused will remain behind bars pending when her bail condition will be perfected.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Andrew Yakubu on Tuesday told the Federal High Court, Abuja, how the 9.8 million dollars and 74,000 was found in the defendants house in Kaduna.

Mr. Yakubu, who was the former Group Managing Director, GMD, of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was arraigned by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a six-count charge of money laundering and false asset declaration.

Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Ben Ikani, the witness, Tasiu Abubakar, who is a superintendent of police attached to the EFCC, said on February 2, the EFCC Zonal Head of Operation in Kano received information of money kept in the defendants house in Sabon Tasha, Kaduna State.

The witness said when he received the information, the zonal head directed the Intelligent and Special Operation Section (ISOS) to carry out an investigation on the said house.

He said on their arrival at the house, a search warrant was obtained and they presented it to the caretaker of the house, Yakubu Bitrus, a brother to the defendant.

We then demanded for the key to the house from his brother who told us the key was not with him but he then called an iron bender who came with break-in materials and opened the door.

When we entered the room, we discovered another unlocked door and inside it we saw a grey colour gubabi four panel safe and a white excel CPU component which Bitrus said belonged to the defendant.

After discovering the safe, the team along with the defendants brother, proceeded to EFCC office in Kano where key experts were invited to unlock the safe, he said.

The witness added that the zonal head also invited the services of a Bureau de change operator who came with two machines and counted the money which amounted to $9,772,800 and 74,000.

Mr. Abubakar said the defendant was out of the country for medical treatment when the money was recovered but on Feb. 8, he came with his counsel and his statement was recorded.

He further said that an order of forfeiture of the money was made and a court order for the defendant to be detained was issued.

He also said the money recovered from the defendants house was kept at the Central Bank for safe keeping.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed admitted in evidence the four-panel safe, the search warrant and the defendants statement after the prosecution applied to tender them.

When cross examined by the defence counsel, Ahmed Raji , the witness said all money recovered during investigation was registered as exhibit pending the determination of the matter.

The judge adjourned until May 24 for continuation of the trial.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Kadijah Abba-Ibrahim, on Tuesday tendered apology to Nigerians who may have been treated poorly by some of the country`s embassies staff abroad.

The minister tendered the apology in Abuja when a delegation of Igbo World Union visited her.

The group had earlier, described service delivery at most of the countries embassies abroad as disgusting and non-charlatan.

Mrs. Abba-Ibrahim noted that the embassy of every country represents its face in the international community, saying that it was unfortunate that Nigerians were complaining of some of the country`s embassies abroad.

We have sensitised these members of staff, because this is not the first time such complaint is coming up.

If Nigerians are complaining of our embassies abroad, then we have a very long way to go.

I apologise to every of our citizens that have had course to complain about our embassies, we will handle this issue and take it up with all seriousness, she said.

She, however, said that since the Foreign Affairs Minister visited South Africa following the xenophobia attack, there had been less complains of molestation of Nigerians in that country.

The minister assured that the Federal Government was committed to ensuring the protection of Nigerians in their host countries.

She maintained that the world was a free place for everyone to leave in, adding that Nigerians were abroad to make a leaving and a difference like every other national.

Nobody has the monopoly of space in the world, where you find yourself and wherever God takes you to, is where you call home, she said.

She, however, stressed that Nigerians should continue to be good ambassadors wherever they find themselves in the world.

The minister commended the group and particularly the industrious nature of the Igbos and urged other tribes in the country to emulate them.

She tasked the group to use their positions abroad to attract foreign investment to Nigeria, adding that the Federal Government was doing everything possible to ensure conducive business environment.

The environment is gradually becoming more secured, corruption is becoming less and anti socio activities that destroys our country is becoming a thing of the past.

We have to believe in ourselves, our country and our made in Nigeria goods if we want to progress, she said.

Earlier, Mishak Nnanta, secretary of the group, charged the ministry to ensure the protection of Nigerian citizens across the world and facilitate the airlift of those in troubled nations.

He stressed that there was need for Ndigbo to support the Buhari administration and give him maximum cooperation to enable him deliver on his campaign promises.

Ms. Nnanta expressed optimism that the ministry would be used as a platform to unite Africans and showcase Nigeria`s heritage and diversities to the world.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Igbo World Union is a pan Igbo socio-cultural organisation with branches across the world.

It is geared to build bridges with all countries of the world, while championing the socio-cultural diplomacy of Ndigbo and suing for unity, socio justice, transparency, peaceful co-existence and equity.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Justice Joyce Abdulmaleek of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, has adjourned ruling on the application asking her to disqualify herself from further trial of Festus Adeyemi, an accused in the N8 billion CBN currency scam.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ms. Abdulmaleek on Tuesday adjourned proceedings to May 24 following the absence of the defence counsel, Michael Lana, for no reason.

Adebisi Adeniyi, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had earlier asked the court to take judicial note of the defence counsel, saying Mr. Lana was doing this for the third time.

My Lord, this case, which is slated for ruling, will not be taking place today as a result of the absence of Mr Lana without any notice.

This is not in the interest of justice because all other accused persons want speedy trial and the trial cannot continue without first determining this very ruling, said Adeniyi.

Mr. Lana had asked Justice Abdulmaleek to disqualify herself from further adjudication of the case involving his client, Adeyemi, accusing the judge of being biased.

Meanwhile, a mild drama ensued during the proceedings when one R. O. Sadiq appeared as counsel to apply for the bail of the second, third and the fourth accused persons.

The prosecution, however, opposed the appearance of multiple counsel in the same matter.

The judge, subsequently, upheld the objection of the prosecution.

NAN reports that Kolawole Babalola, Muniru Olaniran, Kayode Togun, Isiaka Akano and Sunday Ajuwe with others, had since 2015 been standing trial.

The accused are facing multiple charges bordering on conspiracy, stealing and recirculation of mutilated currencies at the Ibadan office of CBN.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologised to the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, over claims that he was under probe by anti-graft officials for alleged mismanagement of Kano Emirate fund.

Jamie Angus, editorial director at BBC, informed Mr. Sanusi that an April 24 story that said the traditional ruler was amongst those being investigated in connection to alleged misappropriation of about N6 billion Emirate Council fund was not correct.

Mr. Angus explained that the stations editorial staff in Abuja had inaccurately translated an April 24 interview with Muhyi Magaji, the Chairman of Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, who allegedly stated that Mr. Sanusi was under investigation.

The recording of the interview was passed to another colleague in Abuja office, summarised in a despatch and then sent to London where the online report was written and published.

It is now clear from our investigations that the reports did not accurately reflect what we were told by Mr. Magaji, who had, in fact, made clear to our reporter that you had not been invited in for questioning and indeed that it was unlikely that there would be a need to invite you for question.

Accordingly, the report we published suggested that you were under personal investigation was not correct and for that I offer my sincere apologies, Mr. Angus said.

In the apology letter, dated April 28, 2017, Mr. Angus said the BBC removed the inaccurate interview from its website on April 26, but PREMIUM TIMES check revealed that Hausa version of the report was still live as at 9:06 p.m. Tuesday.

Mr. Magaji said his commission was investigating the Kano Emirate Council as a body over alleged misappropriation of up to N6 billion, but not Mr. Sanusi as an individual.

But the Emirate Council denied allegations of fraud and said the amount involved was only N4.3 billion.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


An FCT High Court, Maitama, on Tuesday discharged Steve Oronsaye, former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, of the N190 million corruption charges levelled against him.

The judge ruled that the prosecution failed to establish its case against him.

Mr. Oronsaye, who was also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force, set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan, was docked on a seven-count charge, bordering on breach of trust and diversion of N190 million meant for the committee he chaired.

The judge, Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, in her ruling on the no-case submission filed by Mr. Oronsaye, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Oronsaye.

There was contradictory evidence by the prosecution witnesses on whether the defendant was still the head of service as at the time he chaired the committee.

The court seems to discredit the evidence, suffice it to say that there is no evidence linking the accused with the statutory element and ingredients of the offence with which he is charged.

The court of trial must as a matter of law discharge him because it has no business scanting for evidence that is nowhere to be found.

I have looked through the case and I am unable to see any justifications for this case.

The defendant is hereby discharged, she held.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalled that the prosecution closed its case on November 15 after calling six witnesses to testify.

On December 9, the defence filed no-case submission, on the ground that the prosecution had no case against the defendant.

In his submission, the defence counsel, Kanu Agabi, argued that there were omissions of essential elements in the charges against his client.

He said on that account the charges were imperfect.

Mr. Agabi said that the charge was initially 2- count, later amended to 7-count.

He said that, that was a sign that something was wrong with the charge from the beginning.

He said that the prosecution did not specify the amount that was entrusted to the defendant, nor the mandate of the committee the defendant chaired.

Mr. Agabi also said that no evidence of personal use of the fund that the defendant was accused of misusing, but mere allegations.

He said that no offence proven by prosecution to warrant the defendant to enter defence and urged the court to grant his no-case submission.

Responding, the prosecuting counsel, Offem Uket, told the court that the prosecution has proved its case, adding that the defendant should enter his defence.

Mr. Uket said that it was not right to bring up the issue of imperfection of charges now, as it was against the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, (ACJA) 2015.

He urged the court to dismiss the no- case submission.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Justice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered the State Security Service, SSS, to produce the detained Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Ubah, on Friday, May 12 to show why he should not be released unconditionally.

Mr. Idris gave the ruling in favour of an ex-parte application filed by Mr. Ubahs counsel, Ifeoma Esom, asking the court to order the businessmans release from the custody of SSS where he had been since Saturday.

Following the court ruling, Mr. Ubahs company issued a statement reiterating his innocence in the matter over which he is being detained.

The secret police had arrested Mr. Ubah over allegations of economic sabotage and diversion of petroleum products to the tune of N11 billion.

The petroleum products were stored by NNPC Retail in Capital Oils tank farm in Lagos under a throughput agreement but went missing under controversial circumstances.

PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported the diversion which eventually led to the sack of the head of NNPC Retail, Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, and some other officials of the corporation.

On Tuesday, an affidavit deposed to by one George Oranuba on behalf of Mr. Ubah claimed that the SSS acted in disregard for the constitutional doctrine of separation of power and sanctity of the judicial process.

According to Mr. Oranuba, the throughput agreement allows conversion and diversion of IT products by operators so long as the operator is prepared to re-deliver the products within seven days of demand by the products owner or to pay a penalty for non-re-delivery.

He went further to explain that failure to re-deliver is a mere breach of contract, remediable by the payment of penalty to the owner, and there can be no issue of crime in conversion or diversion of product, and does not call for the intervention of any law enforcement agency.

The throughput agreement expressly states that any penalty due for non-re-delivery is to be treated as a debt and I verily believe that law enforcement agencies are not allowed to operate as debt collectors, said Mr. Oranuba.

Mr. Oranuba also said the NNPC is indebted to Capital Oil and Gas Limited in sum in excess of N13 Billion, yet the company did not call law enforcement agencies to collect the debt, despite the length of time NNPC has held on to the money.

The court document claimed that Mr. Ubahs arrest was in respect of the allegations made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which are already encumbered by a lawsuit.

In the document, it was revealed that Notwithstanding the pendency of this suit and the service of the originating process as aforesaid the 3rd (EFCC) and 4th (DG, SSS) respondents again invited the 1st applicant to report to their offices in respect of the same allegations made by the 7th (NNPC) to 9th (AMCON) respondents which is the subject matter of the instant suit

Mrs. Esom argued that unless the court orders the applicant to be produced in court within 48 hours, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and SSS will continue to keep him in their custody where they may coerce him into acceding to whatever conditions they impose on him in exchange for his freedom

The court document meanwhile, stated that Mr. Ubah was detained from March 24 to April 14, 2017.

But Mr. Ubah had denied reports of his arrest at that time.

In the statement by the company later on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, the management of Capital Oil dismissed the accusations by the SSS against Mr. Ubah as completely false, saying it was an attempt to criminalise a commercial dispute with the NNPC.

The company, which accused NNPC of owing it about N16 billion from various business transactions since 2013, said his continued detention was a breach of his fundamental right.

Capital Oil said Mr. Ubah was coerced during his detention into signing various documents committing the company to certain payments and pledging some asset to NNPC Retail Limited as well as the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON.

Details of the N16 billion Capital Oil said the NNPC was owing included $5.54 million (about N2.2 billion) for unpaid berthing fees since 2015 for the corporations vessels called at its jetty and $2.95 million (about N1 billion) in respect of invoice for chartered vessels to convey petrol to NNPC storage.

Others were N1.17 billion, being debt for throughput services from March to October 2016 and N3.14 billion, paid to NNPC for 26.82 million litres of petrol.

The company said another N2 billion was paid to NNPC in April to facilitate the release of Mr. Ubah following his earlier arrest on March 24, and reconcile accounts with NNPC and N6.27 billion, being throughput charges on over seven billion litres of petrol dispensed to NNPC.

It is unimaginable that a company which has stood by NNPC, and by extension the country at very crucial petroleum supply crises, could now be accused of engaging in activities to undermine the effective distribution of petroleum products across the country, the statement said.

But in his reaction to the companys statement, NNPC spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, said as far as NNPC was concerned business was not about sentiments.

In business, you carry our reconciliation of the books on a regular basis to balance accounts. At the moment, such reconciliations are carried out with Capital Oil whenever the need arises. The same goes to all the companies we have business dealings with, he said.

However, the issue remains that there is civil and criminal matter. What NNPC is saying is: Capital Oil has a tank farm under a throughput arrangement for it to store some petroleum products for the corporation on demand-release basis.

But Capital Oil sold the products without NNPCs knowledge. This is clearly a criminal matter. Thats why the DSS is involved. Its not about Capital Oil owing NNPC and NNPC owing Capital Oil.

The scandal involved alleged illegal sale without authorization of about 100 million litres of petrol imported by the NNPC downstream and stored in the two companys depots.

The SSS said so far, investigations had established that the stolen products amounted to over N11 billion.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Minister of Power, Works and Housing , Babtunde Fashola, has threatened to sanction power distribution companies, Discos, for their continued breach of agreed terms and epileptic service.

The minister, who spoke during the 15th monthly meeting of power sector stakeholders in Jos , Plateau State on Monday, declared that the power firms had failed Nigerians in many aspects.

Mr. Fashola, who condemned a statement released by the Discos recently, said the alarms raised by the power firms were wholly misleading and substantially untrue, because they conceal facts from the public.

Earlier, the distribution companies had, among other issues raised, alleged that the infrastructure in the power sector were obsolete and affect their operations.

But in his reaction, the minister said the allegations were unnecessary because the power firms were aware of the state of the facilities when they purchased the asset.

Commenting on how the Discos frustrate efforts of the government, Mr. Fashola said the firms had formed themselves into an association of power distribution companies and had consistently issued statements on issues they either did not present for discussion at meetings, or which contradicted the communique jointly released after each meeting.

He, however, said that the power ministry reserved the right to recognise or deal with the Discos as a body, but would only deal with them as individual power firms if the need arises.

The minister, who expressed worry over the poor attendance at the forum, said the distribution companies are bent on frustrating the stakeholders meetings.

Mr. Fashola also alleged that the Discos had failed in providing meters and electricity feeders to consumers, adding that they had been remitting very poor revenue to the market and making false allegations against the government.

On the allegation made by the firms that attempts to escrow their revenue accounts would amount to nationalisation or an intrusion into their business, Mr. Fashola said the firms failed to state that the condition was agreed upon by the firms and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, noting that the agreement between the Discos and the CBN was a condition for the bank to offer the firms stabilisation funds by way of loans to fund the business they invested in because commercial banks were reluctant to do so.

What you (Discos) also failed to state was that the loan was at 10 per cent interest , which is well below the commercial rate, the minister said.

What you also failed to state is that you also agreed under that arrangement to establish letters of credit to guarantee future payments to the NBET and Transmission Company of Nigeria s Market Operator, that the agreed commercial terms of the letters of credit authorises the NBET and the Market Operator to draw on the letters of credit for any default in payment to them, and that such defaults have occurred and continue to occur.

Any right-thinking person will accept the principle that any person lending you money must have the right to know what you are doing with the money , especially when under  collection and underpayment have been a major feature of many Discos performance.

As far as the regulation on your procurement is concerned, what the public needs to know, which your statement was silent on , is that you are entitled to fully recover your costs and investments by law , and this is the function of how tariffs are calculated.

On corporate governance, the minister stated that the power firms had failed to provide audited financial statements as required by their licences.

If a company cannot produce all the records of its transactions and accounts , does that not allude to gaps in its governance ? Does the fact that consumers go beyond their service provider who collects the money monthly to complain to government, who does not collect money for their power, not call for a look in the mirror about your corporate governance ?

Good corporate governance will ignite the conscience of an electricity business to first provide meters to its customers before seeking tariff increase, so that a metered consumer will at least have the ability to fairly measure from his meter how he is being billed, he said.

Similarly, according to the minister, many of the power firms failed to invest in feeders and distribution equipment to get power to consumers , adding that this resulted in reduction in an economy that did not have enough electricity.

The minister also condemned alleged attempts to frustrate consumers who choose to facilitate power generation for themselves, adding that the epileptic service of the firms led to the development in the first place.

He said, Your statement does not address the ill- logic of standing in the way of a consumer seeking to get by himself what the service provider has failed or is unable to give him.

As for the alarm and panic which your statement seeks to raise about increased tariff, eligible customer declaration is not compulsory and applies only to those who elect to benefit from it, and they are in a position to decide whether a tariff of over N60 per Kilowatt hour of generation by diesel which they currently use is preferable to investing in a distribution asset that gives them power at a lower tariff.

What is important is that the law is followed, consultations are held with prescribed and decisions are taken.

No Disco has exclusive rights over any area and its ability to retain an area must be consistent with the ability to provide service to the area.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Italy will open new detention centres across the country in the next few months as part of its push to speed up deportations of illegal migrants, in spite of critics saying that the centres are not only inhumane but also do not produce the desired result.

Violent protests and difficulty identifying migrants has led to the closure of similar centres over the past few years, but on Tuesday the Interior Ministry asked regional governments to provide a total of 1,600 beds in such centres.

Interior Minister, Marco Minniti says migrants must be detained to stop them from slipping away before they can be sent home.

The plans include reopening one for men at Ponte Galeria on the outskirts of Rome where migrants had sewed their mouths shut in protest before it was destroyed by interned migrants in 2015.

Over the weekend, Reuters journalists visited the still-open female section of the Ponte Galeria centre, and spoke to three Nigerian women.

All have applied for asylum from behind bars.

Of the 63 women now being held in the centre, more than two thirds are awaiting asylum request responses. Twenty-seven are Nigerian, many of them victims of sex trafficking.

Isoke Edionwer, 28, said she was a prostitute for five years, but two years ago paid off her debt and lived in Naples until she was brought to the centre a few weeks ago.

Im a changed person. Im no longer a prostitute, she said. She wants to go back to Naples and earn a living from selling soaps and other items from a shop she opened.

Mass migrant arrivals by sea are putting Italy under increasing pressure.

Numbers are up almost 40 per cent this year after a record 181,000 came in 2016, and more than 175,000 are being housed in shelters for asylum seekers.

Senator Luigi Manconi of the ruling Democratic Party said the new-style detention centres had been phased out previously because officials working there had failed to determine the real identity and nationality of most migrants for deportation.

If they didnt work before, the solution isnt to create a bunch of new ones, he told Reuters outside the Ponte Galeria centres gate, which is guarded by soldiers and police.

In particular, victims of sex trafficking should be helped, not locked up, Mr. Manconi said: Why arent they being protected? Are they a threat to the state? No!

Between 45 to 50 per cent of those held in the new centres were likely to be deported, officials said.

Others either cannot be identified or are not accepted by their countries of origin and must be released.

Some 4,000 were deported in 2015, but there are no official numbers yet for 2016.

Happy Idahosa, 20, was picked up by police in the city of Perugia on New Years Eve and sent to Ponte Galeria.

She said: I didnt do anything wrong.

I came to Italy because there is peace and freedom here, and I want to stay.

(Reuters/NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Switzerland has given an insight into why it was part of the negotiation that led to the release of the 82 Chibok girls abducted three years ago by the terror group, Boko Haram.

According to a news report published on Tuesday by a UK newspaper, IBTimes UK, the Swiss government said their involvement in the negotiation with Boko Haram was as a result of a request from the Nigerian government, in addition to humanitarian concerns.

President Muhammadu Buhari, Sunday, had thanked Switzerland, the International Committee of Red Cross, Nigerian military and security agencies, and local and international NGOs for their help in the release of the girls.

The Red Cross had on Monday explained its rolein freeing the girls.

IBTimes UK quoted Noemie Charton, the spokesperson for the Switzerlands foreign ministry, as saying Switzerlands commitment is motivated by humanitarian concerns.

Switzerlands engagement in this operation was guided by the principles of strict neutrality and non-interference.

The paper also quoted a security analyst and counter-terrorism expert, David Otto, who said that the Switzerland representative played an active role in organising negotiations from within Nigeria and outside Nigeria along with local key actors like Barrister Zannah Mustapha and (human rights activist and lawyer) Asiha Wakil who wield trust due to their pre-existing relationships with one or more factions (of Boko Haram)

Details of the negotiations that resulted in the release of the girls have not been disclosed by the federal government. The government has also not disclosed the number of Boko Haram suspects released in the swap deal.

Switzerland, according to the paper, called on Boko Haram to release the remaining girls who are in their captivity.

The released girls are among the over 270 abducted from their dormitories in a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014 as they prepared to write their final exams.

Twenty-one of them were earlier released last October after negotiations between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government.

Two other girls were found separately, in addition to those who escaped on the night of their abduction.

With the latest release, about 80 Chibok girls are now being held by the Boko Haram.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Tuesday inaugurated the Governing Councils of 23 out of the 40 federal universities in the country.

The new councils are to serve for a period of four years.

Mr. Adamu said the inauguration came on the heels of the completion of the tenure of the immediate past governing councils appointed in April, 2013.

According to the minister, the governing councils are charged with the responsibilities of approving the financial guidelines of the universities; determining the terms and conditions of appointment of the vice chancellors and principal officers of the universities as well as annually reviewing the universities budget to monitor their performance and assess the overall impact of their implementation, among others.

He also called on the newly inaugurated councils to focus efforts on broadening the Internally Generated Revenue Base, IGR, of the universities.

In view of the current economic situation in the country, I call for the prudent management of the scarce resources while efforts should be intensified to broaden the Internally Generated Revenue Base of each university.

You should also ensure the judicious application of revenues so generated, Mr. Adamu said.

The minister also called on the council to live above board in the discharge of their duties by seeing to it that every act of corruption was avoided in their various universities.

I call upon the governing councils, to join in this war against corruption. Any corrupt practises by councils including condoning cases of indiscipline by staff, is bound to have a destructive effect on the system and, on the products of the system. This must be avoided.

You should also remember that governance and management are two distinct responsibilities in the university system. that distinction should remain clear in your mind. you shall set the policies. You shall define the directions, Mr. Adamu told the new councils.

He, however, urged universities managements to support the governing councils as they implement their policies and decisions.

In his address, Abubakar Rasheed, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, urged the new council to be committed in the discharge of their duties.

Mr. Rasheed, who reiterated the role of the council in the development of universities, said the commission would continue to support the councils to achieve its desired result.

NUC appreciates the critical role of the governing council in the development of Nigerian universities.

The NUC will continue to make itself available to ensure that it succeeds in its task and to succeed, every one of you should display a high sense of commitment, teamwork and dedication no matter the challenges, he said.

Also, Suleiman Aminu, Chairman, House Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund advised the councils to work closely with vice chancellors of the universities to ensure unity of purpose.

Mr. Aminu promised to work with the legislature to ensure that universities were properly funded, adding that the various leakages in the universities must be blocked.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in April constituted the chairmen of governing councils of the 23 universities.

The institutions affected are those whose Governing Councils tenures elapsed in April.

In making these appointments, Mr. President had taken cognizance of the requirements for membership into governing councils, which include among others, a minimum of a university degree, high integrity, and commitment to educational development of the country.

In addition, consideration was also given to geo-political spread, in order to reflect federal character and foster sense of belonging.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


Eight persons were feared dead following an attack by suspected herdsmen, on two villages in Logo Local Government Area of Benue state, a Police statement said.

Police spokesperson for Benue State, Moses Yamu, confirmed the attacks in a statement on Monday.

Mr. Yamu said the attacks on Akaa and Tse-Orlalu villages in Mbamar, Ugondo communities, were perpetrated by suspected herdsmen late on Sunday.

He said the police had yet to establish the motive for the attack and that adequate personnel had been drafted to the villages to restore normalcy.

He said the attackers invaded the villages, killed eight people and injured many others.

A witness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that the herdsmen came in from Taraba State through Abaji and Mbamar in Ugondo community.

They started first by attacking Akaa village before advancing to neighbouring Orlalu, the witness said.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that several villagers were still missing.

Herdsmen attacked some communities in the state in the past, including Agatu community, where several persons were killed.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the federal government to prosecute the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, for making unsubstantiated claims on the over N13 billion uncovered by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, in an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos State.

The discovery of the huge money, stacked in local and foreign currencies, had generated controversy, more so since its ownership was initially unknown to the public.

The National Intelligence Agency, NIA,claimed the money belonged to the agency and that it was meant for some special covert operations around the nation.

But the Rivers governor, Mr. Wike, had claimed that the money belonged to Rivers State and that it was stolen and secretly kept in the Ikoyi apartment by Mr. Amaechi, the immediate past governor of Rivers.

Nigerians would recall that on the night of Friday, April 14, during his hurriedly arranged shambolic press briefing, Wike had threatened the President Buhari administration with fire and brimstone, vowing the mother-of-all legal action against the Federal government if the over $43million was not given to him within seven days, Mr. Amaechi said in press statement issued on Sunday by his media office.

The seven-day ultimatum has long expired, yet no action, whether legal or otherwise by Wike to prove his malicious allegations and claim to the money, he added.

The minister said that Governor Wike also failed to show up when a Federal High Court in Lagos asked anyone laying claim to the money to come forth for it.

Neither Wike nor his lawyers were anywhere near the court, he said.

Wikes failure to prove his allegations against Amaechi in a court of law or even in the court of public opinion clearly vindicates our position and completely exonerates Amaechi of any link or connection to the Ikoyi money and apartment.

Wikes failure to prove this his latest malicious outburst against Amaechi also clearly shows that all previous fake stories of allegations upon allegations of graft against Amaechi by Wike are all lies, like this Ikoyi silly lie from a sick and warped mind.

Wike sleeps and wakes up every day, with a sole, one-point agenda to attack and denigrate Rotimi Amaechi, his erstwhile benefactor, no matter how ridiculous and silly he sounds.

Every day in Rivers State, there is one frivolous, false story of what Amaechi did or didnt do. Same pattern, the same blatant lies with no proof, same old concocted stories of corruption allegations against Amaechi told with different flavours, just like this his latest Ikoyi money blatant lie.

To stem this dangerous trend, this is why we are in full support of Prof. Wole Soyinkas call that in the anti-corruption war, detractors who deliberately create distraction should be criminalized and prosecuted.

Detractors of the fight against corruption like Nyesom Wike, and his lackeys and minions like Femi Fani-Kayode, Lere Olayinka, one Senator George Sekibo who like a clown, foolishly blew a whistle on the floor of the senate to push Wikes false narrative of the ownership of the Ikoyi money etc, should not be allowed to go scot-free with their politically motivated lies to distract the fight against corruption, the minister said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


At least three persons from Ndiagu Okpotiumo in Abakaliki local government area of Ebonyi State have been reportedly killed following attacks by suspected hoodlums from a nearby community in Obubra local government area of Cross River State.

Also, over 20 other persons sustained bullet or matchet wounds in the attacks, it was gathered.

The attackers were said to have invaded the community at about 2 p.m. on Monday and started burning houses and shooting on sight.

At the time of filling the report, about 14 victims of the attack who were brought to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, on Monday night were still receiving treatment at the emergency ward.

Azuoffia Edda community in Abakaliki LGA was involved in a violent clash with a neighboring community in Obubra in Cross River state a month ago over boundary disputes.

A medical doctor from the community, Lawrence Nwangele, said he received a call from the people of his community around 4.30p.m. about the development.

He said he was asked to be on alert as they were bringing victims of the attack to the hospital in Abakaliki.

Mr. Nwangele explained that 15 persons were brought to the hospital but one of them died on arrival. He said the others were receiving medical attention in the hospital.

While some of the victims said they were attacked in their farms, others said they were attacked at their homes by the hoodlums.

They all acknowledged that they had been having land disputes with the Cross River State people and had lost over 70 persons to incessant attacks.

A victim, Peter Oche, alleged that the attackers invaded the community with sophisticated weapons.

Another victim, Sunday Ugoru, said they were farming when the hoodlums came and started destroying their farms and that when they tried to stop them, they started attacking them with guns and marchets.

Another victim who gave his name only as Julius said his community had suffered a series of attacks as a result of the intractable land disputes.

Police spokesman in Ebonyi State, Jude Madu, confirmed the development and said the command had moved in reinforcement to control the situation.

The spokesman, however, said he was yet to ascertain the number of casualties as a result of the attacks.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


A 17-year-old patient, Ganiyu Jinadu, who sustained severe burns from a gas explosion at a fuel station in Abeokuta has been detained by management of Federal Medical Hospital, FMC, Abeokuta over the inability of his family to offset the sum of N150,000 medical bill.

Mr. Jinadu, who survived the fire that claimed the lives of five other victims at Adigbe area of the town about four months ago, was admitted in the hospital, where he received medical attention.

His mother, Tolani Jinadu, said having spent all she has, the hospital management was magnanimous to continue the treatment despite her inability to continue to pay her sons bills.

After being referred to another hospital on April 27 for another stage of skin grafting, the family was told the teenager owes an outstanding bill of N150,000 at the FMC.

She said the management of the hospital refused to release her son for the further treatment, until the bill is paid.

The single mother called on Nigerians to assist her.

Mrs. Jinadu, a petty trader who lives at number 4, Iyana Oluwo, Onikolobo, Abeokuta said the patient had earlier undergone two surgical operations which cost huge sums before he was recommended for the skin grafting.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited the hospital, the patient with hospital number 133282 was found on bed number 23 in the male surgical ward.

He was referred to the consultant in-charge of Burn Centre, Gbagada Hospital, Lagos, but could not go because of the unpaid outstanding bill.

The referral letter signed byJ. A Akindipe of Department of Surgery, Burns and Plastic Unit of the FMC was dated April 27. The letter showed that the patient was presented at the hospitals accident and emergency unit on January 17.

He was a victim of major burn injury from a gas explosion at a petrol filling station. He was admitted and resuscitated, the referral letter stated.

When the wound became clean enough, we commenced stage skin grafting. He has had two stages so far. However, there was wound infection because of irregular dressing caused by patients refusal to have dressing despite of oral morphine among others. Further grafting may require use of dermatone and mesher which are not available here. Hence, this referral, the letter stated.

Almost two weeks after the referral, however, the hospital has refused to let the teenager leave.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the Public Relations Officer of the FMC, Segun Orisajo, he refused to answer directly whether or not the patient was being detained against doctors advice and against his will.

He, however, said the patient was in good care at the hospital.

I can confirm the patient in question is with us and has been receiving the best of medicare from our specialists since on admission, Mr. Orisajo said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


The police in Ogun State have arrested a man, Tunde Olatubosun, who fled across the borders to a neighbouring country after allegedly shooting dead a motorboy at a carwash centre in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The 49-year-old suspect had allegedly shot dead the motorboy identified as Razaq on April 29 at the centre along Sam Ewang Estate, claiming that the fuel tanker the boy was working with blocked his passage.

He thereafter maneuvered his Sienna car and fled the scene of the crime.

On the fateful day, the tanker, with registration number TTD 456XA and bearing the inscription of oil service company, NIPCO, was parked opposite the carwash centre awaiting parking space at the centre.

The driver of the vehicle was said to have taken a stroll within the vicinity when Mr. Olatunbosun approached the motorboy sitting inside the truck and in the course of an argument, shot him.

Parading the suspect on Monday at the police headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta, the state commissioner of police, Ahmed Ilya, said officers and men of the command immediately put officers and men on red alert to get the murderer arrested.

He added that the police uncovered the profile of the suspect less than four hours after the incident through technical intelligence.

The commissioner said the suspect had fled to Republic of Togo after the crime but was traced and lured back to Nigeria and arrested two days later.

Mr. Ilyasu said preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the suspect was a member of a notorious gang of bandits that had been snatching vehicles, kidnapping people and parading as military officers to dupe unsuspecting members of the public in Abeokuta and its environs.

He disclosed that exhibits recovered from the suspect included one Ava pump-action gun with serial number 15-0083, 43 live cartridges, two camouflage army trousers, one camouflage army knicker, one camouflage army jungle cap and seven pairs of different vehicle plate numbers.

In an interview with journalists, the suspect confessed to shooting the victim and fleeing the crime scene when it dawned on him that the shot was fatal.

He said that he had reacted in anger to the truck blocking his passage, adding that he had inadvertently shot the boy in the process of an argument between the two of them.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook


 Copyright 2022 - Todos los derechos reservados
Distinguished Mr Chairman,

Distinguished Delegates,

Honourable Ambassadors,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for your invitation, your hospitality and your friendly welcome to Addis Ababa. I am pleased and grateful for this opportunity to address, as the first incumbent Polish President, the African Union  an organization representing over one billion people, the establishment of which was and continues to be an expression of strength of the pan-African idea, a strength to overcome conflicts for the sake of dialogue and cooperation.

I can see the depth of symbolism standing here before you at the plenary forum of the African Union. My presence in Addis Ababa is the result of Poland showing interest in more than just its immediate neighbourhood. Poland is also ready to conduct dialogue and to cooperate with the world which might be more distant, but which is not at all foreign to us. Many of your countries maintain frequent, close and direct contacts with Poland. For a number of years your youth  students  were coming to Poland for educational reasons. Our engineers and doctors were coming to your countries to help foster the development and protection of health.

And let us not forget about services rendered to us by our African friends from Uganda, Kenya, today`s Tanzania, the Republic of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe who received on their soil thousands of my compatriots fleeing from Poland in the period 1942  1943, when my country was at the epicenter of the Second World War. Over that time friendships were formed, marriages were entered into and the rich legacy of cooperation accumulated. Mindful of our historically friendly relations, both from the more distant and recent past, we wish to look into the future by giving a new momentum to our cooperation. This constitutes a huge shared capital, since I firmly believe in close people-to-people contacts. For they are the essence of international politics.

It is also symbolic that I am addressing you on the Day of Europe, also referred to as the Day of the European Union. On the one hand,it symbolizes the end of the most tragic conflict in the contemporary history of the world  the Second World War. But first of all, this is the day when the so called Schuman Plan was conceived. That plan later became the symbol of the restauration of the European unity, both in the purely practical sense, but also in the metaphysical one  understood as the reinvention of ideas, values and observed norms. I am saying this as a representative of the country which achieved success becoming, after many years of isolation behind the iron curtain, part of the European unity and integration. I believe that this is something we have in common: both continents  Europe and Africa  know that a world dominated by conflicts and wars is a world devoid of the future and development  a world evil by nature. We also know that a world built on cooperation, founded upon respect for mutual subjectivity, is a world which guarantees stability and development. Poland is successful thanks to the European unity. Therefore we are defending this unity, and opposing the plans of divisions, hierarchies and exclusion. I am convinced that the African Union will also prove to be the source of success for your countries, through cooperation and stabilization.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On my way to this room I walked past the monument to the former president of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah, who right here, in Addis Ababa, speaking at the first, historic conference of the Organization of African Unity, held also in May, 54 years ago, uttered words which today are carved into a plaque nearby: Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God. Africa Must Unite!. I think that the existence of an organization which today unites all African states is the fulfillment of the vision and dreams: his and those of other authors standing behind the idea of African unity.

To ensure the effectiveness of that vision,one needs to adapt it to the currently dynamic conditions and the complex situation in the international arena. It is necessary in order to be successful on the path to integration. Agenda 2063isthe 2013 plan for the social and economic transformation on the African continent, spanning the next 50 years.To my mind, it expresses the belief of the African Union and its member states that such a long-term, strategic planning is necessary.

I am also closely following theAfrican Peace and Security Architecture(APSA), as a comprehensive concept framing the African Union`s actions in the fields of security and peace policy. Efforts to conduct internal reforms within the African Union itself clearly prove that the project is alive and dynamic in nature. And the willingness to further improve it, is aimed at finding response to the needs of all member states and their people.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The significance and activeness of the African Union for the sake of keeping peace and security in Africa cannot be overestimated. You are undertaking initiatives in a number of the most explosive regions across the continent, by cooperating with the United Nations Organization in joint peace-keeping operations. I am well aware of the degree of importance, sacrifice and danger involved in the peace-keeping missions served by soldiers from your countries. I feel deep respect for their daily dedication and that of their families. I also know how much hard work it requires from the politicians, diplomats and officials from across the continent.

Still, the African Union means so much more than that: it involves, among others, political, economic, scientific, social and human rights cooperation. It requires coordination of actions to ensure a comprehensive and realistic improvement of the living conditions and perspectives for all inhabitants of Africa: from Tunisia to the Republic of South Africa, from Cape Verde to Mauritius.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This visit to Ethiopia made me realize what immense amount of energy and the will for action the African people have.Using this vast potential in a creative, constructive and just way constitutes, in my opinion,one of the greatest challenges currently faced by the African Union and all the member states.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me assure you of one thing: you have allies and friends outside Africa. One of them is my country  the Republic of Poland. We can see the potential of the African continent: we have had a long-standing presence in a number of countries, such as: Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, the Republic of South Africa, to name but a few. We are developing our activities on the African continent: last year we opened our diplomatic representation in Senegal. Right now, we are re-engaging with our diplomatic presence in Tanzania. We are developing political contacts, as proved by our regular presence at the African Union summits. We are involved in the economic cooperation and are funding developmental projects, including the GoAfrica programme. African countries account for fifty percent of the priority partners covered by our developmental cooperation programme. We are open to friendly and partnership-based cooperation by offering our vast experience in areas such as the economic transformation. We want to invest in Africa and not exploit it.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Poland is the biggest country in Central-Eastern Europe. We are an experienced nation who, just like the African people from all over the continent, had to secure its independence through armed struggle. Therefore, I approach with great respect the efforts aimed at looking for and promoting your own, African solutions to African problems. It is You  representatives of the proud states and nations of this continent who not only can, but also should present to the international community Your opinions on all sorts of challenges faced by Africa and the world, as well put forward proposals on how to solve them. I am convinced that thanks to the African Union, the voice of Africa is and will be better heard.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today I am standing before you in my capacity as President of the Republic of Poland  a country bidding for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in the period 2018-2019. Taking into consideration the current state of international relations, it seems certain that the security of the world today should be understood in a complex and all-round way. It goes beyond the Armed Forces and the factor of the military power. It also covers issues beyond the regular agenda of the Security Council,starting from the changes in natural environment: deforestation, access to drinking water: conflicts centred on natural resources, economic disparities (abuse, unfair trade), and ending with healthcare. These issues should also become a regular item on the agenda of UN Security Council. Nowadays, international communitys capability to prevent conflicts is seen as an important feature. This cannot be attained without the appropriate diagnosis of the sources of such conflicts.

There is one and indivisible security. Failure to achieve such security may result in massive migrations and exile, the problem which is now shared by Europe and Africa alike. That is why it is incumbent on international community to eliminate root causes of seeking refuge and to restore to each man the right to live in his own home country. There are no conflicts without reasons, therefore there are no conflicts which cannot be terminated.

Moreover, it is our obligation to engage in cooperation to permanently eliminate any criminal procedures committed by the people who want to prey on the refugee tragedy in a most inhuman way. We cannot turn a blind eye to blood-stained money which circulates across the world.

That is why I wish to assure you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that as a member of this body Poland would listen carefully to the voices of all like-minded partners who share our belief in the fundamental importance of principles enshrined in the UN Charter, which are pivotal for the world peace and security. Poland would like to take heed of and to show understanding to the voices and views coming from African states, from the members of the African Union.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I myself and my compatriots view security, in the broad sense of the word, through the prism of three values that I trust  is shared by you as well. The first of them in FREEDOM: personal freedom, the dignity of the human person and inviolability of his/her life, as well as freedom of conscience and of religion.

It was back in history that a motto was coined in Poland: For our freedom and for yours whose permutations can be heard world-wide. It is due to FREEDOM understood in such way that Poland never was a colonizing state and never had any dependent territories in Africa or in any other place in the world. It is due to freedom understood in such a way that Poland`s foreign policy was always directed towards assistance and support of those who stand up for their right of self-determination, the right to establish democratic government and to secure respect of human rights.

The second foundation on which rests our view of the world is SOLIDARITY. This concept is very close to the Poles who -carried by the social movement bearing this name  achieved a peaceful political transformation some 30 years ago, rejecting a system based on lies, exploitation and enslavement. The permanent foundation for Polish solidarity was broadly shared sensitivity to ill-will suffered by the others, and respect for every human being, regardless of his/her origin and social status.

Solidarity is therefore understood as the need to involve all citizens - women, men, children - in sustainable development so that they can equally benefit from the opportunities that the world of today gives them.

On the other hand, SOLIDARITY, in international terms, consists in humanitarian and development aid in areas affected by economic crises, armed conflicts or natural disasters. The previously mentioned migration flows, which the international community must now face, reminds us about it. SOLIDARITY is after all a responsibility.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The third pillar and a safeguard of security is the ABSOLUTE PRIMACY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW in inter-state relations. We would like to pave the way for cooperation with a view of building international order, founded on political sovereignty and territorial integrity in the first place. Each instance of violation of these rules, each act of aggression in violation of international commitments undermines mutual confidence.

At the session of UN General Assembly I called for the establishment of a world which will be guided by the force of law and not the law of the force. These words will continue to inspire us in all actions taken in the whole UN forum, as well as in the UN Security Council, provided we should be elected.

It is not a coincidence that the motto adopted for our campaign is: Solidarity-Responsibility-Commitment. These are the values that we wish to promote and include also in the proceedings of the Security Council. Here we are led by our conviction that only through a joint and several, solidarity based responsibility and harmonious cooperation among all states shall we be able to secure to future generations sustainable growth, security and peace.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I started my address with a quote from President Nkrumah, son of the Ghanaian soil, and I will conclude with one of Nelson Mandela: "Although we are so different, we are unity." In the world of today, it is much easier to build bridges between continents and countries, provided that there is good will. Geographical distances do not matter so much anymore. Peoples mutual attitudes: of openness, commitment, solidarity, are capable of overcoming distances. And so I have come to you: as an engineer who builds people-to-people bridges, one more engineer from Poland coming to Africa. I would like us to jointly pave the way for success: economic, political and social one.

Once again, I would like to thank you for such a warm hospitality. It is my profound conviction and hope that we shall continue our dialogue based on freedom, solidarity, openness and commitment.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for your attention!
PLEASANTVILLE  An Atlantic City driver was in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus in Atlantic City, after his car hit a utility pole on Doughty Road between Washington and Woodlawn avenues.

David Aikens, 41, was driving north on Doughty when his car left the northbound lane, crossed the southbound lane and hit the pole on the southwest side of the street in front of the A.E. Stone Inc. asphalt plant, 1435 Doughty Road, city police Capt. Matt Hartman said.

Police received the accident call at 2:03 p.m. Aikens was driving a rented 2015 gray Volkswagen Jetta with South Carolina license plates, and the airbags deployed upon impact, Hartman said.

Aikens was the only person in the car, Hartman said. He was out of the car, and the Tricare Medical Transportation ambulance was on the scene by the time police arrived, he said.

Pleasantville fire and rescue were on the scene in addition to city police and the ambulance.

Doughty Road was closed at Washington Avenue to northbound traffic for about 20 minutes so the accident scene could be cleared.

Officer Astrid Aurelus is investigating the accident, Hartman said.
Federal regulators are meeting this week to discuss summer flounder management measures, and fluke enthusiasts in New Jersey will be watching closely.

Thats because the regulators could ask Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to place the state out of compliance with a previously approved decision to cut this years summer flounder catch by about 30 percent.

The move could trigger an important decision from Ross, who could institute a complete shutdown of flounder fishing in New Jersey, among other options.

On Wednesday, officials from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will look at a number of issues related to fluke, including whether states have complied with the regulations adopted in February.

Earlier this year, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council voted to go out of compliance with the federal measures.

The new regulations would limit New Jersey recreational fisherman to three fish at 19 inches in the Atlantic Ocean and three fish at 18 inches in the Delaware Bay. Last summer, anglers could keep five fluke at 18 inches in the ocean and four at 17 inches in the bay.

For summer flounder, scup and sea bass, five years Ive been working on this plan, and Ive never seen a state be ruled out of compliance, said Kiley Dance, a fishery management specialist for MAFMC. Its not very common, from what I understand.

Last month, the state council met in Galloway Township, and the bodys chairman, Dick Herb, said the state may have to respond soon after the federal meeting, which is being held in Alexandria, Virginia.

We know that by May 11 something has to happen, Herb said last month. I think were going to have to move awfully quickly when we get some movement on this.

On Thursday, the ASMFCs Interstate Fisheries Management Board will review New Jerseys formal appeal of the new flounder rules.

State representatives to the commission appealed the decision in March, citing a number of factors, including the accuracy of fishery data, procedural issues and the economic repercussions of a cut to the flounder harvest.

Federal fishery experts say the reductions are needed because the flounder population has been on the decline and experiencing overfishing.
The race to replace Gov. Chris Christie will kick into gear Tuesday when the first of only two statewide debates takes place at Stockton University.

We were thrilled, Sharon Schulman, executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy, said of being chosen to host the event ahead of the June 6 primaries.

Schulman, who will moderate both the Democratic and Republican portions of tonights debate, said the decision to hold two debates was made after she and other staff at Stockton did a presentation March 28 in front of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

I am personally thrilled to be giving people the opportunity to meet the gubernatorial candidates that will be in the primary next month, said Schulman.

The four Democrats will debate in their second and final showdown Thursday in NJTVs studios in Newark, Essex, where the two Republicans will meet again May 18.

Tuesdays debate will begin with the Republicans at 6:30 p.m. featuring Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. The Democrats will debate at 8 p.m. The candidates will be Phil Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany; Assemblyman John Wisniewski; former U.S. Attorney Jim Johnson; and state Sen. Ray Lesniak.

The last debate held at Stockton was in 2015 for the 2nd Legislative District Assembly candidates.

Phil Murphy goes into this debate as the front-runner in the Democratic primary for governor, earning the endorsement of every county Democratic party throughout the state. A recent Quinnipiac Poll found 26 percent of registered Democrats favored Murphy. The next closest candidate was Johnson, with 7 percent.

Both Republican candidates have been trying to distance themselves from Gov. Chris Christies administration.

Ciattarelli has long been a critic of Christie. He recently gave the sitting governor a D when The Star-Ledger asked him to grade Christies performance.

Ciattarelli has touted a five-point plan for New Jersey that includes school-funding reform, tax reform, employee-benefits reform, streamlining government processes and creating bipartisan communication.

Guadagno has broken with the administration on several issues, most notably the gas-tax public question on last Novembers ballot. In a recent campaign commercial, Guadagno made no mention that she is the sitting lieutenant governor.

The recent Quinnipiac poll gave Guadagno an advantage among Republicans with 23 percent of the vote. Ciattarelli came in second with 12 percent.

The majority of voters on both sides have not yet decided who they will vote for, which makes the debate critical for the candidates.

Schulman said all 250 seats in the auditorium have been assigned, while another 150 people have signed up to watch on a TV from the campus event center.

It can be seen at PressofAC.com.
An Avalon restaurant is not responsible for a womans loss of a limb due to eating bad shellfish there seven years ago, a federal judge has ruled.

Maureen Horan sued The Windrift Hotel Resort in Avalon in federal court after she ate three raw clams and two days later ended up in the hospital having her left leg amputated due to an infection associated with raw shellfish.

According to the facts of the case, the clams, harvested from Great Bay, were delivered to the Windrift on July 30, 2010, the same day Horan ate them.

On Aug. 1, 2010, Horan went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a Vibrio vulnificus sepsis infection and fasciitis. She underwent an above-the-knee amputation of her left leg and several surgeries on her arm as a result of the infection.

Several months later, Horans doctor advised her she suffered from an iron disorder called hemochromatosis and to never eat shellfish again because those with the disorder are more susceptible to infections.

In 2015, United States District Court of New Jersey Judge Renee Marie Bumb denied summary judgment to Dilbet Inc., doing business as The Windrift, because she believed the plaintiffs would present evidence the clams did not contain Vibrio prior to delivery to The Windrift.

Oral arguments were held April 7 before Bumb.

In her opinion dated May 5, Bumb granted summary judgment to The Windrift.

There remains no evidence to put before the jury that the clams delivered, more likely than not, did not contain an infective Vibrio. This Court would be allowing mere speculation or supposition to go before the jury upon which evidence Dr. (James D.) Oliver would opine that the Windrifts negligent handling of the clams substantially increased or proximately caused Plaintiffs injuries, Bumb wrote.

The Windrift was represented by Joseph DeDonato of Livingston. Horan was represented by Mitchell Makowicz Jr., of Chatham.
ATLANTIC CITY  Now that his name is off the former Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, the new president of the United States is showing up on eBay.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account.
Shabazz supports Small

The election on June 6 will decide who will be the Democratic candidate for mayor of Atlantic City. I support City Council President Marty Small for mayor.

Over the years, I have watched Small grow into a very effective councilman and have witnessed him stand up and defend the rights of all Atlantic City residents in big and small meetings. Small has shown a keen focus on the group of important issues that affect the city now and in the future.

Marty Small is a family man, who shares the belief that people should look out for one another. He has a voting record that supports neighborhood development, lowering taxes, public safety, better schools and all things that affect quality of life. Small has been a true champion of the rebirth of Browns Park.

Small has never wavered in his opposition to the takeover, yet he has shown the leadership and maturity to work cooperatively with the state for the benefit of the residents.

In the coming weeks there will be a lot about promises, wishes and dreams, but Marty Small is a proven, qualified leader. People should support him for mayor in the primary.

Kaleem Shabazz

3rd Ward Councilman

Atlantic City

Invoking God blasphemy

Regarding the April 16 letter, Syria attack a big hit:

The writer congratulated the president for attacking Syria and surmised divine providence intervened in the timing of his sending a message to China as a way to curb North Koreas growing nuclear ambitions. There was no mention, of course, that within 24 hours Syrian jets had resumed bombing raids on civilian targets, albeit using traditional munitions.

Although I agree it was appropriate to deliver what has been termed by some pundits as a symbolic message to the Syrian president, its blasphemous I feel to conjoin a possible intervention by God.

As a U.S. Army veteran, I encourage the writer to rethink his misguided, imprudent interpretation of these events.

Frank Rue Tamru

Egg Harbor Township

CRDA cuts questioned

Recently a reduction in force took place at the offices of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in Atlantic City.

The changes that were made, resulting in loss of employment for a number of staff members (without any advanced warning), was unexpected and shocking.

This unusual action should be open to question.

Anne Damico

Ventnor
Theres a saying that when youre taught history in elementary school, youre given a basic understanding of what happened in the world. In high school, youre told what you were taught isnt actually quite right; by college everything you thought you knew is wrong.

Its the difference between finding out George Washingtons teeth werent made of wood but rather other materials, like ivory, and finding out that some of the teeth in his dentures were actually human teeth  possibly those of slaves.

History, as much as wed like it not to be, is complicated. Depending on where youre standing, the story can look different.

Which is why to some, Charles K. Landis, founding father of Vineland and Sea Isle City, might be seen as a benevolent visionary who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the working man, and to others, a deranged murderer.

The reality is, Landis was more complex than that.

By most accounts, Landis was brilliant. At 15, he entered law school, and by 19, he started his own practice before he realized he had a taste for real estate.

Many years after developing Vineland, he penned an unpublished sci-fi book about life on Mars  years before anyone had even considered the idea that the planet could be inhabitable.

When Landis came to Vineland, it was said to be the dream of a lunatic. This wouldnt be the first  or last time  someone would call him that, but if the former Philadelphia lawyer heard it, it never deterred him.

The land wasnt much to look at in the early spring of 1861, but in Landis eye, he saw a utopian society paved with tree-lined streets, fruit farms, flower beds, railroads and a society free from the ills of liquor.

By his own account, Landis woke early, hitting the unpaved streets of Millville where pigs  yes pigs  ran at large. Soon, he was certain the town was everything he was looking for.

War loomed close, as seven slave states had recently seceded from the union by the time he arrived in Millville, and by that April, the first shots of the Civil War would ring out.

Patricia A. Martinelli, curator of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, said Landis was passionate about the projects he worked on, but he had a stubborn streak. Getting his own way didnt always endear him to certain friends and family members.

We try to stereotype as a matter of mental shorthand when we look at history, she said. But when you pull away the layers on someone like Landis, youre going to find those complexities and nuances like every person  but he was such a public figure, thats what made the difference.

What Landis dreamed eventually became a reality. By the summer, construction on Vineland was underway and he purchased 22,000 acres from Richard D. Wood before slowly buying more until he owned 32,000.

When he got to the community, Martinelli said he paid the German immigrants and black residents living in the area an unheard of $1 a day to help set up Vineland.

Fruits flourished  particularly the towns grape orchards  and in 1869, Thomas Bramwell Welch began making unfermented wine for church services, later becoming Welchs Grape Juice.

Landis advertised Vineland, and people from all over the country  and even as far flung as Europe  came to Vineland to start a new life. For some of the immigrants who settled, it was the first time some of them had ever owned their own land, said Martinelli.

With railroads coming in and out of the town, access to major cities such as Philadelphia became easier than ever before.

This is someone who is interested in modern technology. He was always looking at ways to make his communities better, but Vineland rapidly became the cultural mecca very early on and it was nationally known and respected as a successful utopian community, said Martinelli.

Just as he had pictured from the start, the town stayed tavern-free, and he later wrote that he didnt see how residents could have succeeded without temperance and industry from the get-go.

The winter after founding Vineland, Landis wrestled with doubts and even wrote that he felt depressed when hed look out at the vast, unsettled wilderness still in front of him. He later wrote there was no one he could lean on for assistance and encouragement, and the financial responsibility at the time was was daunting.

But by the fall of October 1868, the founder would find love  much to the surprise of townsfolk  when he married the daughter of Capt. Richard Meade, Clara F. Meade.

By the time the pair had wed, Clara Meades uncle, General George W. Meade, was somewhat of a rock star, having defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Their marriage would last only eight years. Their firstborn son, Henry Meigs Landis, died young, and while some accounts say he died from a rat bite, more recent research leans toward cholera.

Rumors and small towns have a tendency to go together. The editor and publisher of The Vineland Independent, Uri Carruth, had been a critic of Landis. But when he published a rumor that Landis wanted to commit Clara to an insane asylum, it must have crossed a line.

To the outside, Landis had everything going for him in 1875; his town was thriving with 20 schools, four post offices and railways.

On March 18, taking the article with him, Landis went to Carruths office and shot him in the head.

Carruth languished for seven months until finally dying of an abscess around the wound. Testimony from his sister indicated he went blind and suffered constant pain.

Ironically, Carruths move to Vineland from the Midwest was prompted by one of Landis ads touting the towns healthful climate.

Landis murder trial became high-profile  think O.J. Simpson  with spectators crowding around the courtroom in Bridgeton.

Testimony from former employees and doctors detailed Landis erratic behavior leading up to the killing: He stopped eating, sleeping, and for a time, expressed fears about being assassinated.

Even the sheriff who arrested him testified he locked Landis in a cell because he was afraid he would do himself bodily harm.

Landis was found not guilty by reason of insanity  a verdict that brought mixed criticisms.

Landis and Clara divorced and his sister Matilda raised the children, while Clara would go on to marry a German nobleman. According to Martinelli, Clara wasnt a victim in their relationship and Landis treated her well.

You have to remember, this is a young woman who grew up in high society and used to live a very luxurious lifestyle, she explained. When it came to Vineland, it was very much a Wild-West frontier town  I dont know if she ever successfully adapted to living in Vineland.

With a messy trial behind him, Landis set his eyes toward Ludlam Island in 1879, now known as Sea Isle City.

Inspired by his European travels, he dreamed of digging canals that would turn the island into a little Venice of sorts. In 1881, he started the Sea Isle City Improvement Company and the rest would be, as they say, history.

Landis left a formidable legacy behind when he died June 12, 1900, at age 67, with the once-infamous murder trial absent from his obituary.

However, this wouldnt be the last time the Landis family would see the inside of a courtroom. Landis two youngest sons, James and Richard, were excluded from his will.

Their aunt, Matilda, was named the executor of Landis estate. Though the two sons contested it in court on the grounds that Landis was found insane, they lost. The courts found Landis to be perfectly sound of mind.

If you ever wonder if history repeats itself: James would go on to shoot at a lawyer he felt was having unscrupulous relations with his wife. But in a twist of fate, all for the better, James missed.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Stockton University hopes the race for the states highest political office passes through its campus.

Stockton has applied to the states Election Law Enforcement Commission to host a gubernatorial primary debate. The commission is expected to select a host for the debate during its meeting Tuesday in Trenton. Ocean County College in Toms River and NJTV also have applied to host the debate. According to the commission, the debate must occur between April 13 and May 23.

We put in for this four years ago, said Sharon Schulman, executive director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton. This has always been a part of the Hughes Center mission.

In the past, the school has hosted legislative, congressional and senatorial debates. Most recently, the Hughes Center sponsored a District 2 legislative debate with Republican Assemblyman Chris Brown and running mate Will Pauls and Democratic Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo and running mate Colin Bell.

High school students crack the code at Stockton competition GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Demetrios Roubos wasnt sure if any of the teams at the high school codi

Sponsoring a primary debate here would provide residents with an exceptional opportunity to assess the candidates first-hand, said Harvey Kesselman, president of Stockton.

Jeff Brindle, executive director of ELEC, said the agency considers a variety of factors before selecting a venue.

How many counties and households it reaches is very important, Brindle said, adding the commission wants as many people to experience the debate as possible.

"Showboat law" will require more oversight of college land purchases TRENTON  State public college presidents would have to get final approval from their boards

According to Stocktons application, if awarded, the debate would be held from 7 to 8 p.m. May 9 at the schools Center Theater. If Stockton is selected, the debate will be live-streamed on Facebook, and 200 tickets will be made available.

We are allowing people to communicate with people that they serve, Schulman said. We act as a conduit.

The Hughes Center is no stranger to applying to host debates.

In 2011, Stockton put in to host a 2012 presidential debate. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates selected other schools to host the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.

They were the University of Denver in Colorado; Centre College in Danville, Kentucky; Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York; and Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

Appellate court rules against Straub appeal of Showboat decision A state appellate court on Thursday denied developer Glenn Straubs efforts to enforce his c
VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The global respiratory devices market was valued at nearly US$ 13 billion in 2016. It is projected to grow at 9.2% CAGR during the period 2017-2027 to reach US$ 34.17 billion in revenues.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO )



Demand for respiratory devices will continue to be driven by increasing ageing population and rising prevalence of COPD and obstructive sleep apnea. Increasing emphasis on healthcare spending in developing countries, especially in Asia Pacific and Latin America, will continue to positively influence the growth of the market.

Adoption of non-invasive techniques in pulse oximeters and advancement in full polysomnography testing are also favourably impacting the growth of the market.

Although Future Market Insights maintains a positive outlook on the global respiratory devices market, premium pricing, budgetary constraints, and increasing use of generic product types can impede the growth of the market.

The key trends expected to influence the global respiratory devices market in the foreseeable future are,

Portable and wearable devices are steadily gaining popularity among patients owing to ease-of-use and flexibility in carrying the devices.

Growing demand for stationary oxygen concentrator with pulse flow technology and rechargeable batteries.

Increasing demand for respiratory devices in Asia Pacific on account of rising prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Multinational companies are focusing on consolidating their position in developing countries to leverage upon the emerging opportunities.

Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-794

Positive Airway Pressure Devices Account for the Highest Demand

According to Future Market Insights' research, positive airway pressure devices currently account for the highest demand. This segment accounted for nearly 29% revenue share of the market in 2017; by 2027, this is projected to increase to 34.6%. In terms of revenues, positive airway pressure devices segment is projected to reach US$ 11.81 billion in revenues by 2027.

Other key product types by revenue are respiratory consumables (respiratory masks, nasal cannulas, tracheostomy tubes and oxygen tubes) and pulse oximeters.

Future Market Insights also offers market forecast and analysis on other key respiratory devices, including nebulisers, oxygen concentrators, polysomnography devices, mechanical ventilators, and spirometers.

Hospitals Largest End-users

By end-user, the key segments include hospitals, ambulatory surgical centres, clinics, and long-term care centres. Currently, hospitals account for the highest demand for respiratory devices, followed by ambulatory surgical centres and long-term care centres. Demand for respiratory devices from hospitals was worth US$ 5.18 billion in 2016; by 2027, this is projected to grow at 9.8% CAGR to reach US$ 14.36 billion.

U.S. Continues to Account for Significant Percentage of Global Sales

The U.S. remains the largest market for respiratory devices globally. On the back of strong sales in the U.S., the North America respiratory devices market accounted for over 40% revenue share of the market in 2016. Future Market Insights projects North America to remain the largest market for respiratory devices during the period 2017-2027.

Western Europe and APEJ are the other leading markets for respiratory devices. These two markets collectively accounted for a revenue share of over 35% in 2016.

Future Market Insights, in its report, has also profiled the respiratory devices market in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Japan, and MEA.

Preview Analysis on Global Respiratory Devices Market Segmentation By Product Type - Respiratory Consumables (Oxygen Tubing Sets, Breathing Filters), Nebulizers (Compressed Jet Nebulizers, Ultrasonic Nebulizers), Oxygen Concentrators (Home Oxygen Concentrators, Portable Oxygen Concentrators), Positive Airway Pressure (Pap) Devices, Polysomnography Devices, Pulse Oximeters, Mechanical Ventilators, Spirometers; By End User - Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, Clinics, Long Term Care Centres, Others: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/respiratory-devices-market

In its report, companies profiled by Future Market Insights are Massimo Corporation, Teleflex Incorporated, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited, ResMed Inc, Hamilton Medical AG, Medtronic PLC, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Smiths Medical, General Electric Healthcare Limited, Dragerwerk AG & Co. and KGaA, Inogen Inc.

More from FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence:

Central Venous Catheter Market Segmentation By Product Type - Tunnelled Catheters and Non-Tunnelled Catheters, By Property - Antimicrobial Catheters and Non Antimicrobial Catheters, By Design - Single Lumen, Double Lumen and Multi Lumen, By Composition - Polyurethane, Polyurethane / Poly Carbonate and Silicone, By End Use - Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, Specialty Clinics and Others: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/central-venous-catheter-market

Ophthalmic Lasers Market Segmentation By Product Type - Photo-coagulation Lasers, Photo-disruption Lasers, Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty; By Disease Type - Diabetic Retinopathy, Glaucoma Surgery, Cataract Surgery; By End User - Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centres, Ophthalmic Clinics: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/ophthalmic-lasers-therapeutic-market

Aromatherapy Market Segmentation By Product - Consumables (Essential Oils (Floral, Citrus, Herbaceous, Spicy, Woodsy, Earthy, Camphhorous), Blended Oils, Carrier Oils), Equipment (Nebulising, Ultrasonic, Evaporative, Heat Diffuser), By Mode of Delivery - Tropical Application, Direct Inhalation, Aerial Diffusion; By Application - Relaxation, Insomnia, Pain Management, Scar Management, Skin and Hair Care, Cold and Cough: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/aromatherapy-market

About Us

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends.

Browse More Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Medical devices Market Insights



ContactUs

616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,

Valley Cottage, NY 10989,

United States

T: +1-347-918-3531

F: +1-845-579-5705

T (UK): +44-20-7692-8790

Sales: sales@futuremarketinsights.com

Press Office: Press@futuremrketinsights.com



FMI Blog: http://www.fmiblog.com/

Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com

SOURCE Future Market Insights
LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Victor Dahdaleh, Canadian philanthropist and businessman, joined academic and business leaders last week at the 95th Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce annual event at the House of Lords.

Dr Dahdaleh, whose charitable foundation The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation supports a diverse range of causes across education, healthcare and social and economic development, was the President of the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce from 2004 to 2009. Fellow former President Robert Brant and current President William Swords were also in attendance.

Introducing Peter MacKay - former Canadian Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Minister of Defence, and Minister of Foreign Affairs - as guest speaker, Dr Dahdaleh highlighted the Nova Scotian's leadership and principled thinking.

"It is all too common for us to take for granted the real leadership it takes to shape the political future of a nation. It takes courage, tenacity and integrity. Peter knows that a government must always decide whether to lift people up to reach their potential or weigh them down with over-regulation and too heavy a tax burden," said Dr Dahdaleh.

Guests were joined by leading political figures - including Trade Secretary and President of the Board of Trade Liam Fox, Lord Giddens, Lord Bell and Canadian High Commissioner Janice Charette - to discuss the future of Canada-UK relations in the year in which Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of Confederation.

The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation seeks to strengthen this historic relationship culturally by its ongoing sponsorship of the Canada Gallery at Canada House in London, which celebrates Canadian artists and their work.

Also present at the event was Dr Kent MacDonald, president and vice-chancellor of St Francis Xavier University - another institution with which Victor Dahdaleh has close ties. In 2015, Dr Dahdaleh was honoured by the university with a Degree of Doctor honoris causa in Law.

And additionally representing the Canadian academic establishment was York University president and vice-chancellor Dr Rhonda Lenton. York University is among several academic organisations partnered with the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation to deliver cutting-edge research programmes. In late 2015 the Foundation made a record $20million donation to York to fund the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health, a state-of-the art facility.

With The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation's fundamental principle of matching other funds when it considers donations, it has also been an active supporter of McGill University in Montreal, one of the world's leading centres of medical-doctoral research. The Foundation matches the funds for an endowment in perpetuity for 32 scholarships at the university. The awards are aimed at outstanding full-time undergraduates from low-income countries. And last year it also matched a donation to found a new Chair in Neuroscience at the university, building on McGill's world-class research in the study of chronic brain disease.

In the UK, the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation partnered with the British Lung Foundation in 2016 to launch a new programme of research into mesothelioma. Research teams from the University of Leicester, Imperial College London and Cambridge University came together under the initiative. The Foundation's 5 million donation matched UK government funding announced earlier in the year.

Also in the UK, Victor Dahdaleh is an Honorary Fellow at London School of Economics, where he has funded a range of new schemes and backed a scholarship programme to enable disadvantaged students from overseas to study at the school.

The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation's support for education also reaches Africa, where it is a donor to the Northwood African Educational Trust, which manages a school for orphans in northwest Ethiopia.

Victor Dahdaleh is the owner and chairman of Dadco, a privately owned investment, manufacturing and trading group established in 1915.

For more information, visit victordahdalehfoundation.com.

SOURCE The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation
1450 Franklin, developed by Pacific Heights Franklin Partners II, LLC, is represented by Polaris Pacific. The community presents uniquely spacious studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes offering refined interiors, impeccable finishes, and light-filled living spaces with private outdoor space. With the community's central location on Franklin and Bush streets in Lower Pacific Heights, residents will benefit from the modern conveniences of city living in a walkable, residential setting.

"From the central location and phenomenal design, to the stunning views, elevated finishes, and spacious floor plans, 1450 Franklin is a one-of-a-kind luxury boutique community and, we are proud to say, one of the fastest selling developments in the city," says Mark Friedberg, the community's Sales Manager.

The March 23rd Grand Opening event drew more than 300 guests who experienced 1450 Franklin's porte-cochere arrival, attended lobby, and scenic rooftop deck overlooking Pacific Heights. Amid passed hors d'oeuvres, fresh oysters, and live music, potential homebuyers received a first look at the community's penthouse model home while learning more about BLUBOX, the design team behind the community's studio and two-bedroom model homes. 1450 Franklin's partnership with innovative design firm, BLUBOX also offers residents the unique opportunity to enlist in personalized, turnkey interior design services for their new home. The event kicked off a successful sales season distinguished by the achievement of a 70-percent-sold milestone in just over one month.

Each residence at 1450 Franklin marries thoughtfully-designed spaces with meticulously-curated finishes. Expansive floor plans with views of all exposures are highlighted by Bosch appliances, Studio Becker cabinetry, floor-to-ceiling windows and private outdoor spaces. Residents enjoy city skyline, downtown and water views from the property's rooftop deck with fire pit seating area, in addition to an open-air entertaining kitchen, attended lobby and reception lounge, secured vehicle and bicycle parking, and storage.

The community's studio and two-bedroom model residences are available for personal tours. Interested parties may schedule a private tour of 1450 Franklin by calling 415-931-1450 or may book an appointment online at 1450FranklinSF.com.

About Polaris Pacific

Polaris Pacific is the leading real estate sales and marketing group for today's high-density communities. Drawing on a 30-year legacy of success in the Western United States, Polaris Pacific specializes in new development, leveraging the latest tools and technology to create a clear path forward. Long-term client relationships with industry leaders provide the company's platform for innovation, establishing Polaris Pacific as the irrefutable expert in major urban markets. For more information, please visit www.polarispacific.com

Contact: Johanna Williams

T: 415.361.4822

[email protected]

SOURCE Polaris Pacific

Related Links

http://www.polarispacific.com


Arrhythmias develop when electrical signals that regulate heart rhythms become disrupted or change, making the heart develop an irregular heartbeat. A patient with AF is at increased risk for stroke because the rapid heartbeat can let blood pool in the heart, which can cause clots to form and travel to the brain. To restore optimal electrical signals in the heart, ablation catheters deliver radio-frequency energy to cardiac tissue, creating small scars or lesions to areas responsible for generating arrhythmias. Not all ablation technology is the same, however, and recent research has continued to show the importance of applying optimal contact force to the heart during ablation procedures. Too much pressure applied to heart tissue can result in complications, yet if not enough pressure is applied the lesion may not be effective enough to stop the erratic signals in the heart.

"The TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled along with the EnSite Precision cardiac mapping system create a powerful combination for more precisely treating patients with cardiac arrhythmias," said Martin Lowe, M.D., clinical director of cardiac electrophysiology at Bart's Heart Centre at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London. "Feeling confident in the accuracy of the contact force reading allows me to target the optimal pressure for creating effective and safe lesions."

The TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled, is a significant update to the TactiCath Contact Force Catheter family  which is the most-studied Contact Force ablation catheter platform to date and has unmatched clinical evidence based on number of completed prospective, protocol driven, industry-sponsored, registered studies on Contact Force technology. The clinical evidence show use of optimal Contact Force guided AF ablation with the TactiCath Quartz catheter resulted in clinical success in 85.5% of patients and fewer post-ablation clinical events, translating to a 15% reduction in post-ablation management costs ($3,402 savings per patient) in the year after ablation vs. patients treated with a non-contact force ablation catheter.

The magnetic sensor of the TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled integrates with the Abbott EnSite Precision cardiac mapping system, providing the ability to collect both magnetic and impedance (resistance) data so physicians can create more life-like models of the heart. It also uses the Abbott FlexAbility catheter platform's advanced ergonomic handle-shaft combination, which is designed for reach, maneuverability and 1:1 torque.

When utilized with the EnSite Precision cardiac mapping system, the TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled can improve workflow efficiency in the lab. The system enables automated guidance of lesion marking, verification of the ablation catheter stability, the ability to automatically record the precise location of the catheter tip during radiofrequency energy application, the capability to add mapping points based on Contact Force and the ability to review and identify any potential gaps by viewing specific lesions from the display list.

"The goal in developing the TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled was to provide the most innovative solution for treating atrial fibrillation and lead the way in clinical outcomes for patients with cardiac arrhythmias  even during long and complex ablation procedures," said Srijoy Mahapatra, M.D., FHRS, medical director of Abbott's electrophysiology business. "Integration with the EnSite Precision cardiac mapping system provides an unprecedented opportunity to help patients suffering with atrial fibrillation."

Currently the TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter, Sensor Enabled is available in select markets in Europe, with full market release expected in the third quarter. Abbott is pursuing approval in the U.S.

About Abbott:

At Abbott, we're committed to helping people live their best possible life through the power of health. For more than 125 years, we've brought new products and technologies to the world -- in nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and branded generic pharmaceuticals -- that create more possibilities for more people at all stages of life. Today, 94,000 of us are working to help people live not just longer, but better, in the more than 150 countries we serve.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.

SOURCE Abbott

Related Links

http://www.abbott.com


BOSTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Acend Inc., an insurance and technology company, and Liberty Specialty Markets, part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, are teaming up on a new drone insurance platform, DroneInsurance.com. By replacing paperwork and complexity with data-driven automation and user control, DroneInsurance.com is a platform that makes buying drone insurance easy to understand and convenient to purchase online.

"Insurance is complicated for drone operators. Insurance providers rely on historical manned aviation methods to evaluate drone risk. This approach has proven difficult to adapt to the dynamic way drone enterprise works, and places many operators with rigid, complex, and expensive policies," said Jason Griswold Co-Founder and COO of Acend. "The collaboration with Liberty Specialty Markets empowers us to collectively design innovative drone insurance products as well as have our policies backed by one of the world's most trusted insurance brands."

Key components of the platform:

Platform provides coverage for all drone types, sensors and equipment.

Baseline policies for drone assets on the ground start at an affordable cost.

Flight coverage may be purchased on-demand to suit the customer's enterprise requirements. Whether customers require flight coverage for one day or for one year, the on-demand insurance platform provides users the control to dial up or down the policy coverages they need, when they need it.

Includes a "Flight Saver" intelligent system that automatically looks for and applies discounts to customers who employ risk reduction techniques such as continuous pilot training, implementation of safety management and operation of more reliable equipment.

A fast and easy to use claims portal and support center.

An easy to use document center including the ability for a client to add Additional Insureds.

An easy to use program for brokers.

"At Liberty Specialty Markets, we are always looking to provide risk solutions to our policy holders in new and innovative ways. The rise of drone usage by our customers is expanding rapidly and partnering with Acend makes perfect sense to meet this increasing demand," said Mike Gosselin, Chief Underwriting Officer, Specialty. "Here we have a chance to match Acend's market leading technology with innovative insurance products and collectively create a best-in-class solution for the drone market."

DroneInsurance.com is the first of several online products to be launched by Acend, Inc. focusing on the intersection of insurance and autonomous vehicles. DroneInsurance.com will go live in limited release and be on display for the first time at the DroneInsurance.com booth (#440) at Xponential 2017. It will move into full release across the US in summer 2017 with additional international markets scheduled to follow.

About Acend:

Acend is an insurance technology company building an insurance and risk platform for an autonomous and dynamic world. Acend's wholly owned subsidiary, Acend Insurance Solutions, LLC. division, is a licensed producer nationwide and its insurance products are available through www.DroneInsurance.com. Acend is bringing insurance tools to leverage artificial intelligence that are designed around delivering policies and rapidly managing claims for autonomous vehicles including driverless cars, robots and drones. Acend's first product to publicly launch is DroneInsurance.com. Acend is invested in by a team of entrepreneurs with strong aviation, technology and finance backgrounds. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Boston Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.DroneInsurance.com or www.Acend.io.

About Liberty Specialty Markets:

Liberty Specialty Markets offers specialty and commercial insurance and reinsurance products across key UK, European, Middle East, US and other international locations. We provide brokers and insureds with a broad product range through both the Company and Lloyd's markets and have approximately 1,000 employees in 22 offices.

You can learn more by visiting libertyspecialtymarkets.com.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance

Liberty Mutual Insurance helps people preserve and protect what they earn, build, own and cherish. Keeping this promise means we are there when our policyholders throughout the world need us most.

In business since 1912, and headquartered in Boston, Mass., today Liberty Mutual is a diversified insurer with operations in 30 countries and economies around the world. We are the fifth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2015 direct written premium data as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. We also rank 73rd on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2015 revenue. As of December 31, 2016, Liberty Mutual had $38.3 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

Liberty employs more than 50,000 people in over 800 offices throughout the world. We offer a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, accident & health, commercial automobile, general liability, property, surety, workers compensation, group disability, group life, specialty lines, reinsurance, individual life and annuity products.

You can learn more about us by visiting www.libertymutualinsurance.com

SOURCE Acend
This event originally launched in 2011 as five separate advanced design and manufacturing industry trade shows running alongside one another. This year, under the new ADM Expo Toronto banner, UBM presents a cohesive brand experience throughout the customer journey. ADM Expo Toronto will bring together the region's five most popular industry trade shows  ATX Canada, Design & Manufacturing Canada, PACKEX Toronto, PLAST-EX, and Toronto Powder & Bulk Solids  into one event on a unified show floor spanning plastics, packaging, design engineering, automation, and processing.

With the new name comes an even greater emphasis on providing the sourcing, education, and networking opportunities attendees want. ADM Expo Toronto will feature more than 450 top exhibitors showcasing the latest innovations, plus a full range of free event activities and education delivered through a flexible agenda of panels, presentations, group tours, speed networking, live demos, and more. More than 6,000 industry professionals from across Ontario are expected to attend.

Show highlights include:

Panel Discussion: We Need to Talk About NAFTA  As the current U.S. administration moves forward on President Trump's pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we've convened a panel to discuss how this might affect Canada's plastics industry.

 As the current U.S. administration moves forward on President Trump's pledge to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we've convened a panel to discuss how this might affect plastics industry. Presentation: Cutting Back Food Waste Through Sustainable Packaging  Carol Zweep , Manager of Packaging, Food & Label Compliance, for NSF International, will provide information on the issue of food waste, reducing food waste through extension of shelf life and use of sustainable packaging solutions.

 , Manager of Packaging, Food & Label Compliance, for NSF International, will provide information on the issue of food waste, reducing food waste through extension of shelf life and use of sustainable packaging solutions. Presentation: Trends in Manufacturing from Now to 2027  James Anderton , Director of Content for engineering.com, gives his insights into how the manufacturing industry will evolve over the next decade.

ADM Expo Toronto features the support of key trade associations, including: IEEE Canada, NSF International, PAC, Canadian Plastics Industry Association, Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Professional Engineering Ontario, Process Equipment Manufacturers' Association, and STIQ, among others.

More details on show floor activities and educational opportunities will be available in the weeks ahead at the ADM Expo Toronto website.

Follow us on social: #ADMexpo, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter

To register for UBM's Advanced Design and Manufacturing Event in Toronto, please visit: ubm.social/Toronto

To register for a media pass, please visit: ubm.social/media

About Advanced Manufacturing Expos & Conferences

UBM's Advanced Manufacturing portfolio is the leading B-to-B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3 trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the advanced manufacturing market and leverage our proprietary 1.3 million name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Advanced Manufacturing portfolio is organized by UBM Americas, a part of UBM plc (UBM.L), an Events First marketing and communication services business. For more information, visit www.ubmamericas.com.

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.

SOURCE UBM

Related Links

http://www.ubmamericas.com


NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Investment management firm The Estate Planners Group, LLC ("EPG") announced that it is partnering with Swiss-based research firm, Logical-Invest ("LI") to provide managed accounts based on the firm's successful investment strategies.

David Loesser, founder of EPG, plans to augment his firm's discretionary management offer by offering clients quantitative, rules-based strategies meant to provide stability, predictability and downside protection.

"We offer planning advice as well as traditional and alternative investment strategies. Our partnership with the Logical-Invest team is a perfect addition to our suite of services. We appreciate LI's transparent, well-researched and adaptive investment approach. Clients entering or already knee deep in the retirement years cannot easily recover from recessions like those seen in the first decade of this new millennium. It's important to both protect and grow assets which is LI's forte."

Accounts will be held at Interactive Brokers and managed by EPG. Investors can open or transfer accounts quickly and easily by filling an online application. You can find more information on https://logical-invest.com/epg-investment-portfolio-analyzer.

The partnership allows Logical-Invest to offer their strategies to a wider audience. Logical's signal service has been available to sophisticated do-it-yourself investors and professional advisors. Investors who prefer a set-and-forget approach can now allocate funds in the strategies while leaving the management and trading to a professional firm.

Logical-Invest partner Alexander Horn notes: "We specialize in creating investment strategies with build-in hedging and protection mechanisms. But we don't stop there. Investors can combine multiple of our strategies to create a truly diversified portfolio. This used to be accessible only to very sophisticated and wealthy clients. Now anyone can deploy a custom, multi-strategy solution starting at a 0.99% fee, our service included."

About Logical-Invest

Logical-Invest is a pioneer in building transparent rules-based investment strategies that perform well under real market conditions. The strategies allow investors to participate intelligently in core assets like Equities, Bonds, Gold and Volatility Harvesting. All strategies are thoroughly back-tested and publicly documented so that both advisors and investors have a good understanding of "what is inside the box". Logical-Invest provides details and statistics as well as a community forum for investors to openly discuss new ideas and experiences.

About The Estate Planners Group

The Estate Planners Group, LLC, was founded by David W. Loesser in 2001. EPG is a SEC registered investment advisory. The EPG team specializes in helping pre-retirees and retirees prepare for and navigate through retirement.

Contact:

Michael Sullivan

EPG Headquarters

113 Pondview Drive

Washington Crossing, PA 18977

Tel 215.321.4410

[email protected]

SOURCE The Estate Planners Group, LLC
HANOVER, Md., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aerotek, the leading provider of recruiting and staffing services, is proud to announce that the company was recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Large Employers for 2017. This is Aerotek's third consecutive year on the list.

"Aerotek's culture is centered on a set of values and guiding principles that are not only critical to making Aerotek a great workplace, but to fueling the growth and success of our company," said Aerotek President Todd Mohr. "We are excited to be recognized by Forbes as one of America's Best Large Employers for the third year in a row."

Ranging from Fortune 500 companies to universities and government agencies, the 2017 list of America's Best Large Employers includes the top 500 employers with more than 5,000 employees across 25 industries. The list is compiled from independent surveys of more than 30,000 American workers. Respondents were asked, anonymously, on a scale of zero to 10, how likely they were to recommend their employer to someone else and how they felt about other employers in their industry. Aerotek ranked No. 10 within the Business Services & Supplies category, and No. 300 overall.

To see the full list of America's Best Employers 2017, visit Forbes online. For more information about internal careers at Aerotek, please visit Aerotek.com.

About Aerotek

Our people are everything. For more than 30 years, Aerotek Inc. has distinguished itself as a leader in recruiting and staffing services by having a deep understanding of the intersection of talent and business. As a strategic partner to more than 17,000 clients and 300,000 contract employees every year, Aerotek's people-focused approach yields competitive advantage for its clients and rewarding careers for its contract employees. Headquartered in Hanover, Md., Aerotek operates a network of over 230 non-franchised offices with more than 6,000 internal employees dedicated to serving our customers. Aerotek is an operating company of Allegis Group, a global talent solutions provider. To learn more, visit Aerotek.com.

SOURCE Aerotek

Related Links

https://www.aerotek.com/


PHILADELPHIA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pete Matthews, President of AFSCME District Council 33, today announced at a news conference that the Executive Board of his Union has endorsed Lawrence Krasner for District Attorney and Alan Butkovitz for re-election as City Controller.

Both Krasner and Butkovitz attended the news conference at the Union's headquarters at 30th and Walnut Streets.

Matthews noted that District Council 33's endorsement of Krasner was grounded in a need for a District Attorney who would "treat all Philadelphians fairly as he enforces the law."

"We are taking this Primary Election very seriously and that is why we carefully reviewed each candidate's position on the issues that impact District Council 33 members," said Matthews. "The jobs our members perform put them in direct contact with thousands of Philadelphia citizens on a daily basis and they know the needs of the communities they service."

Matthews said District Council 33 members would be best served by Lawrence Krasner as District Attorney.

"Our members made it clear that they want a District Attorney who is fair, honest and able to understand the needs of our communities," said Matthews. "We believe that Lawrence Krasner is that person."

District Council 33's endorsement of Alan Butkovitz for re-election as City Controller was based on years of experience working with him to settle fair contracts with the City.

"Alan Butkovitz has always treated District Council 33 members fairly and his ability to monitor the City's finances has proven to be extremely valuable for many years," said Matthews. "We believe that Alan Butkovitz deserves to be re-elected and we will work towards that end next week."

"We will have phone banks doing GOTV calls and members on the street pulling out voters," said Matthews. "Through that effort we are confident that we can reach between 50 and 60 thousand voters on election day."

SOURCE AFSCME District Council 33
SEATTLE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported April and year-to-date operational results on a consolidated basis, for its mainline operations operated by subsidiaries Alaska Airlines, Inc. (Alaska) and Virgin America Inc. (Virgin America), and for its regional flying operated by subsidiary Horizon Air Industries, Inc. (Horizon) and third-party regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and Peninsula Airlines (Regional).

Air Group's acquisition of Virgin America took place on Dec. 14, 2016. Operational results below include Virgin America results from pre-acquisition periods for comparison.

AIR GROUP

On a combined basis for all operations, Air Group reported a 7.8 percent increase in traffic on a 4.6 percent increase in capacity compared to April 2016. Load factor increased 2.5 points to 86.6 percent.

The following table shows the operational results for April and year-to-date, compared to the prior-year periods(1):



April

Year-to-Date

2017

2016

Change

2017

2016

Change Revenue passengers (000) 3,674

3,421

7.4%

13,691

13,021

5.1% Revenue passenger miles RPM (000,000) "traffic" 4,346

4,033

7.8%

16,054

15,220

5.5% Available seat miles ASM (000,000) "capacity" 5,019

4,797

4.6%

19,413

18,516

4.8% Passenger load factor 86.6%

84.1%

2.5 pts

82.7%

82.2%

0.5 pts





(1) 2016 information has been adjusted to include Virgin America operating results for comparison.

ALASKA

Alaska reported an 8.9 percent increase in traffic on a 6.1 percent increase in capacity compared to April 2016. Load factor increased 2.3 points to 87.2 percent. Alaska also reported 81.6 percent of its flights arrived on time in April 2017, compared to 89.4 percent reported in April 2016.

The following table shows Alaska's operational results for April and year-to-date, compared to the prior-year periods:



April

Year-to-Date

2017

2016

Change

2017

2016

Change Revenue passengers (000) 2,208

2,014

9.6%

8,158

7,656

6.6% RPMs (000,000) 2,986

2,741

8.9%

11,077

10,458

5.9% ASMs (000,000) 3,425

3,228

6.1%

13,224

12,582

5.1% Passenger load factor 87.2%

84.9%

2.3 pts

83.8%

83.1%

0.7 pts On-time arrivals as reported to U.S. DOT 81.6%

89.4%

(7.8) pts

79.2%

88.0%

(8.8) pts

VIRGIN AMERICA

Virgin America traffic increased 4.5 percent on a 0.8 percent increase in capacity compared to April 2016. Load factor increased 3.1 points to 87.2 percent. Virgin America also reported 64.6 percent of its flights arrived on time in April 2017, compared to 76.4 percent in April 2016.

The following table shows Virgin America operational results for April and year-to-date compared to the prior-year periods:



April

Year-to-Date

2017

2016

Change

2017

2016

Change Revenue passengers (000) 684

661

3.5%

2,517

2,427

3.7% RPMs (000,000) 1,039

994

4.5%

3,776

3,609

4.6% ASMs (000,000) 1,191

1,182

0.8%

4,652

4,447

4.6% Passenger load factor 87.2%

84.1%

3.1 pts

81.2%

81.2%

 pt On-time arrivals as reported to U.S. DOT 64.6%

76.4%

(11.8) pts

64.6%

77.1%

(12.5) pts

REGIONAL

Regional traffic increased 7.7 percent on a 4.1 percent increase in capacity compared to April 2016. Load factor increased 2.7 points to 79.7 percent. Regional also reported 86.6 percent of its flights arrived on time in April 2017, compared to 89.9 percent in April 2016.

The following table shows regional operational results for April and year-to-date, compared to the prior-year periods:



April

Year-to-Date

2017

2016

Change

2017

2016

Change Revenue passengers (000) 782

746

4.8%

3,016

2,938

2.7% RPMs (000,000) 321

298

7.7%

1,201

1,153

4.2% ASMs (000,000) 403

387

4.1%

1,537

1,487

3.4% Passenger load factor 79.7%

77.0%

2.7 pts

78.1%

77.5%

0.6 pts On-time arrivals as reported to U.S. DOT 86.6%

89.9%

(3.3) pts

76.4%

88.3%

(11.9) pts

Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million customers a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners , customers can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Mileage Plan ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Airline Loyalty Rewards Programs" in the J.D. Power Airline Loyalty/Rewards Program Satisfaction Report for the last three consecutive years. Learn more about Alaska's award-winning service and unmatched reliability at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

SOURCE Alaska Air Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.alaskaair.com


BOISE, Idaho, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Albertsons Companies announced today that it is distributing 1.7 cents cash per Contingent Value Right (a total of approximately $4 million) related to the sale of the assets of Safeway's property development subsidiary, Property Development Centers (PDC). The Contingent Value Rights, or CVRs, were issued on January 30, 2015 to former holders of common stock of Safeway Inc. in connection with the merger of Safeway into a wholly owned subsidiary of Albertsons. The PDC CVRs represent the right to receive certain net proceeds from the sale of PDC.

The shareholder representative is seeking to collect additional net proceeds of approximately 0.03 cents per CVR with respect to PDC; however, the timing and amount, if any, of any future distribution is uncertain and it is possible that no further distribution will be made with respect to the PDC CVR.

Holders of CVRs should consult their tax advisors as to the tax treatment of the PDC CVRs and any distributions thereon. For tax reporting purposes, Safeway reported that the fair market value of the PDC CVR at the time of the merger was $0.0488 per share, based on a third-party valuation. This amount was reflected on Forms 1099-B issued by the paying agent with respect to the merger consideration.

Today's announcement has no effect on the CVRs issued in connection with the merger with respect to the sale of Safeway's interest in Mexico-based food and general merchandise retailer Casa Ley.

Albertsons will provide more information on the PDC CVR and the Casa Ley CVR when it has more clarity on the amount and timing of distributions with respect to the CVRs.

Albertsons is deeply saddened to announce that T. Gary Rogers, former Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Safeway Inc. passed away on May 2, 2017. Since the completion of the merger, Mr. Rogers served as member of the shareholder representative with respect to the CVRs. The shareholder representative has appointed Thomas Herman to replace Mr. Rogers in that position.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with both a strong local presence and national scale. We operate stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under 19 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2016 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave nearly $300 million in food and financial support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities and veterans outreach.

Contact: Christine Wilcox

[email protected] | 208-395-4163

SOURCE Albertsons Companies
"Alex is the kind of guy you want on your team. He's got the experience, expertise, and initiative to help drive results and strengthen our clients' businesses," said Jack Struyk, President of Lockton's Omaha office. "We are extremely happy to have him join our team."

He comes to Lockton from Arthur J. Gallagher and Co. where he spent two years as a Sales Executive. Prior to his role at Gallagher, Petrovich established his insurance expertise at Mutual of Omaha and at Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary for eight years.

Petrovich holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Art in Finance from Creighton University. Petrovich is an Engagement Council member of the Greater Omaha Chamber and an active member of the Downtown Rotary Club of Omaha.

Lockton's Omaha office is located at 13710 FNB Parkway, Suite 400, Omaha, NE 68154. Petrovich can be reached at [email protected] or 402.970.6160.

About Lockton

More than 6,000 professionals at Lockton provide 50,000 clients around the world with risk management, insurance, employee benefits consulting, and retirement services that improve their businesses. From its founding in 1966 in Kansas City, Missouri, Lockton has attracted entrepreneurial professionals who have driven its growth to become the largest privately held, independent insurance broker in the world and 9th largest overall.

SOURCE Lockton Companies

Related Links

http://www.lockton.com


DUBLIN, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) today reported its first quarter 2017 continuing operations performance.

First Quarter 2017 Continuing Operations

(unaudited; $ in millions, except per share amounts) Q1 '17



Q1 '16



Q4 '16



Q1 '17 v Q1 '16



Q1 '17 v Q4 '16

Total net revenues** $ 3,572.9



$ 3,399.3



$ 3,864.3





5.1%





(7.5)%











































Operating (Loss) $ (906.0)



$ (171.5)



$ (900.0)





428.3%





0.7%

Diluted EPS - Continuing Operations $ (7.85)



$ (0.41)



$ (0.31)



n.m.



n.m.

SG&A Expense $ 1,185.2



$ 1,096.3



$ 1,276.8





8.1%





(7.2)%

R&D Expense $ 759.9



$ 403.1



$ 913.3





88.5%





(16.8)%

Continuing Operations Tax Rate

17.2%





81.6%





96.4%





(64.4)%





(79.2)%











































Non-GAAP Adjusted Operating Income $ 1,617.8



$ 1,733.9



$ 1,868.7





(6.7)%





(13.4)%

Non-GAAP Performance Net Income Per Share $ 3.35



$ 2.99



$ 3.90





12.0%





(14.1)%

Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA $ 1,734.2



$ 1,815.9



$ 1,975.7





(4.5)%





(12.2)%

Non-GAAP SG&A Expense $ 1,105.9



$ 969.0



$ 1,067.0





14.1%





3.6%

Non-GAAP R&D Expense $ 393.9



$ 276.5



$ 425.9





42.5%





(7.5)%

Non-GAAP Continuing Operations Tax Rate

13.2%





9.7%





10.4%





3.5%





2.8%











































** Excludes the reclassification of revenues of ($31.9) million in Q1 2016 related to the portion of Allergan product revenues sold by our former Anda Distribution Business into discontinued operations.

Total net revenues of $3.6 billion, a 5 percent increase versus prior year quarter, were driven by strong performance from higher revenues in Facial Aesthetics, BOTOX Therapeutic, Eye Care products, Lo LOESTRIN and the addition of LifeCell and new products, including VRAYLAR and VIBERZI, partially offset by lower revenues from the NAMENDA Franchise, the loss of exclusivity of ASACOL HD and lower revenues from Diversified Brands and MINASTRIN.

"2017 is a pivotal year for Allergan, and we started with a solid, well-executed first quarter. Many of our key brands continued to deliver significant year-over-year growth, led by BOTOX, our JUVEDERM Collection of fillers, our Regenerative Medicine business, LINZESS and Lo LOESTRIN. We also saw strong performance from our newer launch products. We recently completed the acquisitions of LifeCell and ZELTIQ, adding to our leading position in medical aesthetics. We are focused on executing successful integrations of those businesses. And our R&D team continued to advance many of our six "star" R&D programs and deliver FDA approvals, including VOLLURE XC and TrueTear," said Brent Saunders, Chairman and CEO of Allergan. "These solid results and strong execution were delivered by our 18,000 global colleagues who continue to Be Bold. They are powering new ideas and building bridges with our customers to help them better care for their patients. They are acting fast and driving results that will continue to make a profound impact on global health and patient care. I thank them for their continued commitment as we focus on solid execution and delivering results for the remainder of 2017," added Saunders.

First-Quarter 2017 Performance

GAAP operating loss from continuing operations in the first quarter 2017 was $906.0 million, primarily due to amortization, research and development (R&D)-related charges and in-process research and development impairments. Non-GAAP adjusted operating income from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2017 was $1.6 billion, a decrease of 7 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted by higher operating expenses.

Operating Expenses

Total GAAP Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) Expense was $1.2 billion for the first quarter 2017, compared to $1.1 billion in the prior year quarter. Total non-GAAP SG&A expense increased to $1.1 billion for the first quarter 2017 from $969 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to additional selling and promotional expenses for key products and new product launches, as well as the costs associated with LifeCell. GAAP R&D investment for the first quarter 2017 was $760 million, compared to $403 million in the first quarter of 2016. Non-GAAP R&D investment for the first quarter 2017 was $394 million, an increase of 42 percent over prior year quarter, due to increased costs associated with advancing clinical programs, as well as personnel costs.

Amortization, Other Income (Expense) Net, Tax and Capitalization

Amortization expense from continuing operations for the first quarter 2017 was $1.74 billion, compared to $1.59 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Included within other income (expense), net in the three months ended March 31, 2017 is the other-than-temporary impairment of Teva securities of $1.98 billion. The Company's GAAP continuing operations tax rate was 17.2 percent in the first quarter 2017. The Company's non-GAAP adjusted continuing operations tax rate was 13.2 percent in the first quarter 2017. As of March 31, 2017, Allergan had cash and marketable securities of $9.0 billion and outstanding indebtedness of $31.7 billion.

Discontinued Operations and Continuing Operations

As a result of the divestiture of the Company's generics business and the divestiture of the Company's Anda Distribution business in 2016, the financial results of those businesses have been reclassified to discontinued operations for all periods presented in our consolidated financial statements up through the date of the divestitures. Included in segment revenues in the three months ended March 31, 2016 are product sales that were sold by the Anda Distribution business once the Anda Distribution business had sold the product to a third-party customer. These sales are included in segment results and are excluded from total continuing operations revenues through a reduction to Corporate revenues. Cost of sales for these products in discontinued operations is equal to our average third-party cost of sales for third-party branded products distributed by Anda Distribution.

First Quarter 2017 Business Segment Results

U.S. Specialized Therapeutics

Segment Information

(Unaudited; $ in millions)

Three Months Ended March 31,





2017



2016 (1)

Eye Care

$ 553.1



$ 533.0

Total Medical Aesthetics



490.1





373.9

Facial Aesthetics



318.7





279.4

Plastic Surgery



54.3





48.1

Regenerative Medicine



75.5



-

Skin Care



41.6





46.4

Medical Dermatology



86.6





69.0

Neuroscience & Urology



334.7





306.8

Other Revenues



17.5





16.0

Net revenues

$ 1,482.0



$ 1,298.7

Operating expenses:















Cost of sales(2)



89.2





70.7

Selling and marketing



330.4





264.6

General and administrative



44.8





39.2

Segment contribution

$ 1,017.6



$ 924.2

Segment margin



68.7%





71.2%

Segment gross margin(3)



94.0%





94.6%



















(1) Includes revenues earned that were distributed through our former Anda Distribution business to third party customers. (2) Excludes amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles including product rights.



(3) Defined as net revenues less segment related cost of sales as a percentage of net revenues.



U.S. Specialized Therapeutics net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 grew 14 percent versus prior year quarter, driven primarily by growth in Facial Aesthetics, BOTOX Therapeutic and the addition of ALLODERM.

Eye Care

Allergan's Eye Care franchise delivered solid results versus prior year.

RESTASIS  net revenues grew 3 percent to $308.8 million in the first quarter of 2017.

net revenues grew 3 percent to in the first quarter of 2017.

The Glaucoma franchise experienced a modest decline, with ALPHAGAN  /COMBIGAN  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 remaining stable at $86.4 million , while LUMIGAN  /GANFORT  net revenues of $74.3 million declined 9 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted primarily by lower demand and trade buying patterns.

/COMBIGAN net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 remaining stable at , while LUMIGAN /GANFORT net revenues of declined 9 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted primarily by lower demand and trade buying patterns.

OZURDEX net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were strong at $22.5 million , up 16 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand from the diabetic macular edema indication.

Medical Aesthetics

The Facial Aesthetics franchise continues to deliver strong double-digit growth.

BOTOX  Cosmetic net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $183.8 million , up 11 percent versus prior year quarter, reflecting continued strong volume growth.

Cosmetic net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 11 percent versus prior year quarter, reflecting continued strong volume growth.

JUVEDERM  Collection (defined as JUVEDERM  , VOLUMA  and other fillers) net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $119.8 million , up 17 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand and market share gains.

Collection (defined as JUVEDERM , VOLUMA and other fillers) net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 17 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand and market share gains.

KYBELLA  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $15.1 million , up 34 percent versus prior year quarter. Demand and consumer interest is increasing following the launch of DTC advertising.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 34 percent versus prior year quarter. Demand and consumer interest is increasing following the launch of DTC advertising. Plastic Surgery

Breast implant net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $54.3 million , an increase of 17 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by higher demand following the launch of INSPIRA breast implants.

, an increase of 17 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by higher demand following the launch of INSPIRA breast implants. Skin Care

SkinMedica  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $28.0 million , up 5 percent versus prior year quarter, driven primarily by continued strong demand following the launch of HA 5 .

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 5 percent versus prior year quarter, driven primarily by continued strong demand following the launch of HA . Regenerative Medicine net revenues for the first quarter of 2017 reflect two months of revenues following the close of the LifeCell acquisition on January 31, 2017 .

. ALLODERM  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $54.1 million .

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were .

STRATTICE net revenues, a component of "other" Regenerative Medicine, were $18.8 million in the first quarter of 2017.

Medical Dermatology

ACZONE  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $40.6 million , up 23 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand following the launch of ACZONE  7.5%.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 23 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand following the launch of ACZONE 7.5%. TAZORAC net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $23.4 million .

Neurosciences & Urology

BOTOX  Therapeutic net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $308.8 million , up 13 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand across chronic migraine, overactive bladder and adult spasticity indications.

Therapeutic net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 13 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by continued strong demand across chronic migraine, overactive bladder and adult spasticity indications. RAPAFLO net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $25.9 million , a decrease of 22 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by lower demand and trade buying patterns.

U.S. Specialized Therapeutics gross margin for the first quarter of 2017 was 94.0, percent a decrease of 0.6 percent versus prior year quarter, mainly attributed to the inclusion of LifeCell mid-quarter. SG&A expenses for the first quarter 2017 were $375.2 million. Selling and marketing expenses for the first quarter 2017 were $330.4 million, an increase of 25 percent versus prior year quarter mainly attributed to sales force expansion, new product promotion and the inclusion of two months of LifeCell. General and administrative expenses for the first quarter 2017 were $44.8 million, an increase of 14 percent versus prior year quarter mainly attributed to the addition of LifeCell, and employee compensation. Segment contribution for the first quarter 2017 remained strong at $1.0 billion, an increase of 10 percent versus the prior year quarter, driven by stronger revenues.

U.S. General Medicine

Segment Information

(Unaudited; $ in millions)

Three Months Ended March 31,





2017



2016 (1)

Central Nervous System

$ 309.1



$ 321.6

Gastrointestinal



387.5





403.6

Women's Health



244.7





263.7

Anti-Infectives



55.7





51.5

Diversified Brands



299.0





411.0

Other Revenues



49.8





2.3

Net revenues

$ 1,345.8



$ 1,453.7

Operating expenses:















Cost of sales(2)



194.5





219.6

Selling and marketing



302.5





277.3

General and administrative



40.7





42.2

Segment contribution

$ 808.1



$ 914.6

Segment margin



60.0%





62.9%

Segment gross margin(3)



85.5%





84.9%



















(1) Includes revenues earned that were distributed through our former Anda Distribution business to third party customers. (2) Excludes amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles including product rights.



(3) Defined as net revenues less segment related cost of sales as a percentage of net revenues.



U.S. General Medicine net revenues in the first quarter 2017 were $1.35 billion, a decrease of 7 percent versus the prior year quarter, impacted by lower revenues from the NAMENDA Franchise, MINASTRIN and Diversified Brands, as well as the loss of exclusivity of ASACOL HD, offset primarily by strong growth from new products, including VRAYLAR and VIBERZI, as well as continued growth from LINZESS and Lo LOESTRIN.

Central Nervous System

Allergan CNS franchise net revenues of $309.1 million decreased 4 percent versus the prior year quarter as a result of lower revenues from NAMENDA  XR, offset by continued strong growth from VRAYLAR and NAMZARIC  .

decreased 4 percent versus the prior year quarter as a result of lower revenues from NAMENDA XR, offset by continued strong growth from VRAYLAR and NAMZARIC . NAMENDA XR  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $122.0 million , a decrease of 30 percent versus the prior year quarter, driven primarily by lower demand as a result of a reduction in promotional support and conversion to NAMZARIC  , as well as trade buying patterns.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , a decrease of 30 percent versus the prior year quarter, driven primarily by lower demand as a result of a reduction in promotional support and conversion to NAMZARIC , as well as trade buying patterns. NAMZARIC  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 increased to $23.6 million from $10.3 million in the prior year quarter driven by increased demand following an expanded label with new dosages for the product allowing patients to begin combination therapy on NAMZARIC  .

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 increased to from in the prior year quarter driven by increased demand following an expanded label with new dosages for the product allowing patients to begin combination therapy on NAMZARIC . VRAYLAR net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were strong at $53.6 million , reflecting its rapid acceptance in its first year post-launch.

, reflecting its rapid acceptance in its first year post-launch. VIIBRYD  /FETZIMA  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $72.5 million , a decrease of 13 percent versus the prior year quarter, impacted by a reduction in demand for FETZIMA  , and trade buying patterns impacting both brands.

/FETZIMA net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , a decrease of 13 percent versus the prior year quarter, impacted by a reduction in demand for FETZIMA , and trade buying patterns impacting both brands. SAPHRIS net revenues were $37.3 million , a decrease of 10 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted by lower demand.

Gastrointestinal

LINZESS  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $147.6 million , an increase of 8 percent versus prior year quarter driven primarily by strong demand and continued OTC conversion, offset by trade buying patterns.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , an increase of 8 percent versus prior year quarter driven primarily by strong demand and continued OTC conversion, offset by trade buying patterns. VIBERZI  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $31.5 million , driven by increased demand.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , driven by increased demand. ASACOL/DELZICOL net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $57.6 million , a decrease of 46 percent versus the prior year quarter, impacted by generic entry for ASACOL HD and a decline in demand for DELZICOL.

Women's Health

Lo LOESTRIN  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $99.8 million , up 12 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by strong prescription growth. Lo LOESTRIN  remains the number one prescribed branded oral contraceptive.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 12 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by strong prescription growth. Lo LOESTRIN remains the number one prescribed branded oral contraceptive. ESTRACE  Cream net revenues in the first quarter were $73.4 million , a decrease of 9 percent versus prior year quarter, due to lower net pricing and the impact of trade buying patterns, offset by increased demand.

Cream net revenues in the first quarter were , a decrease of 9 percent versus prior year quarter, due to lower net pricing and the impact of trade buying patterns, offset by increased demand. MINASTRIN  24 net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $41.1 million , a decrease of 48 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted by loss of exclusivity for MINASTRIN  on March 15, 2017 .

24 net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , a decrease of 48 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted by loss of exclusivity for MINASTRIN on . TAYTULLA net revenues, a component of "other" Women's Health, were $12.0 million in the first quarter of 2017 following launch of this new oral contraceptive soft gel product in November 2016 .

in the first quarter of 2017 following launch of this new oral contraceptive soft gel product in . LILETTA net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $7.2 million following launch of the single-hand inserter in September, 2016.

Anti-Infectives

TEFLARO  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $30.6 million , a decrease of 8 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by lower demand, offset by net price appreciation.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , a decrease of 8 percent versus prior year quarter, driven by lower demand, offset by net price appreciation. AVYCAZ  net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $11.3 million , following supply resumption in the latter part of the fourth quarter of 2016.

net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , following supply resumption in the latter part of the fourth quarter of 2016. DALVANCE net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $9.6 million .

Diversified Brands and Other Products

Diversified Brands net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $299.0 million , a decrease of 27 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted by a decline in BYSTOLIC  /BYVALSON  revenues, the impact of loss of exclusivity for ENABLEX  , the impact of trade buying patterns, and a decline in PacPharma sales following outsourcing of distribution. The Company currently records revenue related to PacPharma products within "Other Revenues."

, a decrease of 27 percent versus prior year quarter, impacted by a decline in BYSTOLIC /BYVALSON revenues, the impact of loss of exclusivity for ENABLEX , the impact of trade buying patterns, and a decline in PacPharma sales following outsourcing of distribution. The Company currently records revenue related to PacPharma products within "Other Revenues." BYSTOLIC/BYVALSON net revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $139.8 million , a decline of 15 percent versus prior year quarter, when the product experienced higher revenues following inventory re-stocking of the 20 mg dose and subsequent reduction in 10 mg sales. BYSTOLIC remains the flagship product of Allergan's primary care sales force.

U.S. General Medicine gross margin for the first quarter of 2017 increased to 85.5 percent due to the Company reacquiring rights to select licensed products in the segment, which had the impact of lowering royalty expense on these products. SG&A expenses in the segment were $343.2 million in the first quarter of 2017. Selling and marketing expenses were $302.5 million, an increase of 9 percent versus prior year quarter mainly attributed to new product promotion. General and administrative expenses decreased to $40.7 million at the segment level. Segment contribution for the first quarter 2017 was $808.1 million.

International

Segment Information

(Unaudited; $ in millions)

Three Months Ended March 31,





2017



2016

Eye Care

$ 299.5



$ 291.5

Total Medical Aesthetics



288.1





244.9

Facial Aesthetics



245.9





205.5

Plastic Surgery



38.0





36.8

Regenerative Medicine



2.0



-

Skin Care



2.2





2.6

Botox Therapeutics and Other



133.9





123.3

Other Revenues



15.8





13.6

Net revenues

$ 737.3



$ 673.3

Operating expenses:















Cost of sales(1)



100.3





99.2

Selling and marketing



209.5





187.3

General and administrative



29.9





27.6

Segment contribution

$ 397.6



$ 359.2

Segment margin



53.9%





53.3%

Segment gross margin (2)



86.4%





85.3%



















(1) Excludes amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles including product rights.



(2) Defined as net revenues less segment related cost of sales as a percentage of net revenues.



International net revenues were $737.3 million, an increase of 10 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact, driven by growth in Facial Aesthetics.

Medical Aesthetics

Facial Aesthetics

BOTOX  Cosmetic revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $122.2 million , an increase of 19 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact driven by continued strong growth across all regions.

Cosmetic revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , an increase of 19 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact driven by continued strong growth across all regions.

JUVEDERM  Collection revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $122.2 million , an increase of 23 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact, reflecting continued strong performance across all regions.

Collection revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , an increase of 23 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact, reflecting continued strong performance across all regions. Plastic Surgery

Breast implant revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $37.6 million , an increase of 3 percent versus prior year quarter, excluding foreign exchange impact.

Eye Care

LUMIGAN  /GANFORT  and ALPHAGAN  /COMBIGAN  revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $85.9 million and $42.3 million , respectively, reflecting continued stable performance across Allergan's glaucoma product franchise.

/GANFORT and ALPHAGAN /COMBIGAN revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were and , respectively, reflecting continued stable performance across Allergan's glaucoma product franchise. OZURDEX  revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $51.1 million , up 29 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact, reflecting strong demand across most regions.

revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 29 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact, reflecting strong demand across most regions. OPTIVE revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $27.5 million , up 13 percent versus prior year quarter, excluding foreign exchange impact.

Botox Therapeutic & Other Products

BOTOX  Therapeutic revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $82.4 million , up 7 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact reflecting continued volume growth across most regions.

Therapeutic revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were , up 7 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact reflecting continued volume growth across most regions. ASACOL/DELZICOL revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were $12.1 million , a decrease of 14 percent versus prior year quarter excluding foreign exchange impact.

International gross margin for the first quarter of 2017 was 86.4 percent. SG&A expenses in the segment were $239.4 million in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 12 percent versus prior year excluding foreign exchange impact, primarily due to investments in key brands and market expansion. Segment contribution was $397.6 million.

Corporate Function

Included within our corporate function are shared costs, including above site and unallocated costs associated with running our global manufacturing facilities, corporate general and administrative expenses and corporate initiatives.

Pipeline Update

Allergan R&D continues to build and deliver on its pipeline. Key development highlights included:

U.S. and International Branded Product Approvals and Launches

Allergan received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market JUVEDERM VOLLURE XC, for correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in adults over the age of 21.

Allergan was granted marketing authorization from the FDA for the TrueTear Intranasal Tear Neurostimulator, the first and only FDA-cleared device developed to temporarily increase tear production during neurostimulation in adult patients.

Regulatory Milestones & Clinical Updates

Allergan announced that the FDA accepted for filing the company's supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for VRAYLAR (cariprazine), seeking the addition of new clinical data evaluating VRAYLAR for the maintenance of efficacy in adults with schizophrenia to the current product label.

Allergan announced topline data from a Phase II study with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The study evaluated the efficacy, safety and tolerability of a single administration of 2 different doses of BOTOX  (30 units or 50 units) relative to placebo in adult females with MDD over duration of up to 24 weeks. The BOTOX  30-unit dose demonstrated numerically superior efficacy in the MADRS total score compared to placebo. The treatment (LS mean) difference for the 30-unit dose was -4.2 at 3 weeks (p- value 0.005); -3.7 at week 6 (p-value 0.053) and -3.6 at week 9 (p-value 0.049). The primary endpoint was at week 6. The 50-unit dose did not demonstrate superior efficacy over placebo (LS mean difference was 1.3). Based on the data, Allergan plans to move the program into Phase 3 studies.

(30 units or 50 units) relative to placebo in adult females with MDD over duration of up to 24 weeks. The BOTOX 30-unit dose demonstrated numerically superior efficacy in the MADRS total score compared to placebo. The treatment (LS mean) difference for the 30-unit dose was -4.2 at 3 weeks (p- value 0.005); -3.7 at week 6 (p-value 0.053) and -3.6 at week 9 (p-value 0.049). The primary endpoint was at week 6. The 50-unit dose did not demonstrate superior efficacy over placebo (LS mean difference was 1.3). Based on the data, Allergan plans to move the program into Phase 3 studies. Allergan has initiated patient screening in a Phase 3 study of cenicriviroc (CVC). The study is being conducted to confirm the efficacy and safety of CVC for the treatment of liver fibrosis in adult subjects with NASH.

Allergan and Paratek Pharmaceuticals announced that two Phase 3 trials of sarecycline for the treatment of moderate to severe acne met their 12-week primary efficacy endpoints. Based on these data, Allergan plans to file a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA in the second half of this year.

Allergan and Molecular Partners announced that the companies have completed enrollment for two studies in their Phase 3 program for abicipar in wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The studies will evaluate the efficacy and safety of abicipar versus ranibizumab (Lucentis) and the potential of abicipar to be dosed every 8 or 12 weeks vs. ranibizumab every 4 weeks.

Allergan Raises Full Year 2017 Continuing Operations Guidance

This update to Allergan's full year 2017 estimates are based on management's current belief about prescription trends, pricing levels, inventory levels and the anticipated timing of future product launches and events. Continuing operations includes the U.S. Specialized Therapeutics, U.S. General Medicine and International segments.

The following guidance includes the following assumptions:

Full-Year 2017:

Contribution of ZELTIQ  as of April 28, 2017

as of

R&D Expense reflects faster clinical program enrollment, lower than expected attrition



Non-GAAP Net Interest Expense assumes Teva dividend income in first half of 2017



Other prior assumptions remain unchanged including, but not limited to:



NAMENDA XR  generic launch in the fourth quarter of 2017

generic launch in the fourth quarter of 2017



RESTASIS  remains stable

remains stable



~$100 million of foreign exchange headwind to revenue

of foreign exchange headwind to revenue



No ESTRACE  Cream generic entry in 2017

Cream generic entry in 2017



Non-GAAP Net Interest Expense weighted toward back-half of 2017





Non-GAAP Average Share count assumes Accelerated Share Repurchase settlement in Q3 2017 or earlier

Full Year 2017 GAAP NON-GAAP

Total Net Revenues $15,800  $16,000 million $15,800  $16,000 million

Gross Margin (as a % of revenues) ~84.5% - 85.5% ~86-87%

SG&A Expense ~$4.750 - $4.850 billion ~$4.450 - $4.550 billion

R&D Expense ~$2.1 billion ~$1.6 billion

Net Interest Expense/Other Income (Expense) ~$3.0 billion ~$1.075 billion

Tax Rate ~19% ~13.0%

Net Income / (Loss) Per Share1 $(9.70) - $(10.20) $15.85 - $16.35

Average 2017 Share Count2 ~334 million shares ~356 million shares











1 GAAP represents EPS for ordinary shareholders. GAAP (loss) per share includes the impact of amortization of approximately $7.1 billion including the preliminary assumptions around acquired Zeltiq intangible assets, IPR&D impairments and asset sales and impairments, net of $360 million and dividends on preferred shares of approximately $278 million. Non-GAAP represents performance net income per share. 2 GAAP EPS shares do not include dilution of shares as earnings are a net loss. As such, the dilution impact of preferred share conversion and outstanding equity awards is not included in the forecasted shares.

First Quarter 2017 Conference Call and Webcast Details

Allergan will host a conference call and webcast today, Tuesday, May 9, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its first quarter 2017 results. The dial-in number to access the call is U.S./Canada (877) 251-7980, International (706) 643-1573, and the conference ID is 65877868. A taped replay of the conference call will also be available beginning approximately two hours after the call's conclusion, and will remain available through 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time on June 9, 2017. The replay may be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 and entering the conference ID 65877868. From international locations, the replay may be accessed by dialing (404) 537-3406 and entering the same conference ID.

To access the live webcast, please visit Allergan's Investor Relations Web site at https://www.allergan.com/investors. A replay of the webcast will also be available.

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 pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine 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, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs currently in development.

Allergan's success is powered by our 18,000 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 on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. 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.

The following presents Allergan plc's statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016: Table 1 ALLERGAN PLC CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited; in millions, except per share amounts)



















Three Months Ended



March 31,



2017



2016 Net revenues

$ 3,572.9



$ 3,399.3















Operating expenses:













Cost of sales (excludes amortization and impairment of acquired

intangibles including product rights)

450.4





477.4 Research and development



759.9





403.1 Selling, general and administrative



1,185.2





1,096.3 Amortization



1,736.0





1,589.7 In-process research and development impairments



340.0





6.0 Asset sales and impairments, net



7.4





(1.7) Total operating expenses



4,478.9





3,570.8 Operating (loss)



(906.0)





(171.5)















Non-operating income (expense):













Interest income



25.3





2.9 Interest (expense)



(289.7)





(332.8) Other income (expense), net



(1,922.8)





0.5 Total other income (expense), net



(2,187.2)





(329.4) (Loss) before income taxes and noncontrolling interest



(3,093.2)





(500.9) (Benefit) for income taxes



(532.1)





(408.7) Net (loss) from continuing operations, net of tax



(2,561.1)





(92.2) (Loss) / income from discontinued operations, net of tax



(3.1)





348.6 Net (loss) / income



(2,564.2)





256.4 (Income) attributable to noncontrolling interest



(1.0)





(0.7) Net (loss) / income attributable to shareholders



(2,565.2)





255.7 Dividends on preferred shares



69.6





69.6 Net (loss) / income attributable to ordinary shareholders

$ (2,634.8)



$ 186.1















(Loss) / income per share attributable to ordinary shareholders - basic:











Continuing operations

$ (7.85)



$ (0.41) Discontinued operations



(0.01)





0.88 Net (loss) / income per share - basic

$ (7.86)



$ 0.47 (Loss) / income per share attributable to ordinary shareholders - diluted:











Continuing operations

$ (7.85)



$ (0.41) Discontinued operations



(0.01)





0.88 Net (loss) / income per share - diluted

$ (7.86)



$ 0.47















Dividends per ordinary share

$ 0.70



$ -















Weighted average shares outstanding:













Basic



335.1





394.8 Diluted



335.1





394.8





The following table details Allergan plc's product revenue for significant promoted products globally, within the US Specialized Therapeutics, US General Medicine, and International segments for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. Table 2 ALLERGAN PLC NET REVENUES TOP GLOBAL PRODUCTS (Unaudited; in millions)



































































































Three Months Ended March 31, 2017



Three Months Ended March 31, 2016



Movement



US Specialized Therapeutics



US General Medicine



International



Corporate



Total



US Specialized Therapeutics



US General Medicine



International



Corporate



Total



Total Change



Total Change Percentage Botox

$ 509.4



$ -



$ 204.6



$ -



$ 714.0



$ 455.5



$ -



$ 182.0



$ -



$ 637.5



$ 76.5





12.0% Restasis



308.8





-





13.9





-





322.7





298.7





-





15.0





-





313.7





9.0





2.9% Juvederm Collection **



119.8





-





122.2





-





242.0





102.7





-





100.1





-





202.8





39.2





19.3% Lumigan/Ganfort



74.3





-





85.9





-





160.2





81.5





-





88.1





-





169.6





(9.4)





(5.5)% Linzess/Constella



-





147.6





4.9





-





152.5





-





137.1





3.8





-





140.9





11.6





8.2% Bystolic /Byvalson



-





139.8





0.5





-





140.3





-





163.6





0.4





-





164.0





(23.7)





(14.5)% Alphagan/Combigan



86.4





-





42.3





-





128.7





84.9





-





41.8





-





126.7





2.0





1.6% Namenda XR



-





122.0





-





-





122.0





-





173.1





-





-





173.1





(51.1)





(29.5)% Eye Drops



47.8





-





65.3





-





113.1





40.8





-





67.2





-





108.0





5.1





4.7% Lo Loestrin



-





99.8





-





-





99.8





-





89.3





-





-





89.3





10.5





11.8% Breast Implants



54.3





-





37.6





-





91.9





46.4





-





36.7





-





83.1





8.8





10.6% Ozurdex 



22.5





-





51.1





-





73.6





19.4





-





41.1





-





60.5





13.1





21.7% Estrace Cream



-





73.4





-





-





73.4





-





80.6





-





-





80.6





(7.2)





(8.9)% Viibryd/Fetzima



-





72.5





0.4





-





72.9





-





83.3





-





-





83.3





(10.4)





(12.5)% Asacol/Delzicol



-





57.6





12.1





-





69.7





-





105.9





15.3





-





121.2





(51.5)





(42.5)% Carafate  /Sulcrate 



-





58.7





0.7





-





59.4





-





61.0





0.5





-





61.5





(2.1)





(3.4)% Alloderm



54.1





-





1.2





-





55.3





-





-





-





-





-





55.3



n.a. Vraylar



-





53.6





-





-





53.6





-





7.6





-





-





7.6





46.0



n.m. Zenpep



-





46.5





-





-





46.5





-





49.6





-





-





49.6





(3.1)





(6.3)% Canasa/Salofalk



-





38.3





4.4





-





42.7





-





41.1





4.0





-





45.1





(2.4)





(5.3)% Minastrin 24



-





41.1





-





-





41.1





-





79.6





0.8





-





80.4





(39.3)





(48.9)% Aczone



40.6





-





-





-





40.6





33.0





-





-





-





33.0





7.6





23.0% Saphris



-





37.3





-





-





37.3





-





41.5





-





-





41.5





(4.2)





(10.1)% Armour Thyroid



-





37.3





-





-





37.3





-





42.1





-





-





42.1





(4.8)





(11.4)% Viberzi



-





31.5





-





-





31.5





-





4.0





-





-





4.0





27.5



n.m. Teflaro



-





30.6





-





-





30.6





-





33.4





-





-





33.4





(2.8)





(8.4)% SkinMedica



28.0





-





-





-





28.0





26.6





-





-





-





26.6





1.4





5.3% Rapaflo



25.9





-





2.0





-





27.9





33.0





-





1.2





-





34.2





(6.3)





(18.4)% Savella



-





24.3





-





-





24.3





-





23.7





-





-





23.7





0.6





2.5% Namzaric



-





23.6





-





-





23.6





-





10.3





-





-





10.3





13.3





129.1% Tazorac



23.4





-





0.2





-





23.6





17.1





-





0.2





-





17.3





6.3





36.4% Kybella /Belkyra



15.1





-





1.5





-





16.6





11.3





-





0.5





-





11.8





4.8





40.7% Latisse



13.6





-





1.9





-





15.5





19.8





-





2.1





-





21.9





(6.4)





(29.2)% Lexapro



-





13.4





-





-





13.4





-





18.7





-





-





18.7





(5.3)





(28.3)% Avycaz



-





11.3





-





-





11.3





-





8.4





-





-





8.4





2.9





34.5% Dalvance



-





9.6





-





-





9.6





-





6.2





-





-





6.2





3.4





54.8% Liletta



-





7.2





-





-





7.2





-





4.9





-





-





4.9





2.3





46.9% Enablex



-





0.9





-





-





0.9





-





12.8





-





-





12.8





(11.9)





(93.0)% Namenda IR



-





0.1





-





-





0.1





-





5.8





-





-





5.8





(5.7)





(98.3)% Other Products Revenues



58.0





167.8





84.6





7.8





318.2





28.0





170.1





72.5





5.5





276.1





42.1





15.2% Less product sold through our former Anda Distribution business n.a.



n.a.



n.a.





-





-



n.a.



n.a.



n.a.





(31.9)





(31.9)





31.9



n.a. Total Net Revenues

$ 1,482.0



$ 1,345.8



$ 737.3



$ 7.8





3,572.9



$ 1,298.7



$ 1,453.7



$ 673.3



$ (26.4)





3,399.3



$ 173.6





5.1% ** Represents sales of all fillers including Juvederm and Voluma product lines.

The following table presents Allergan plc's Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016. Table 3 ALLERGAN PLC CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited; in millions)



March 31,



December 31,



2017



2016































Assets













Cash and cash equivalents

$ 1,092.9



$ 1,724.0 Marketable securities



7,858.2





11,501.5 Accounts receivable, net



2,542.0





2,531.0 Inventories



904.7





718.0 Other current assets



1,302.9





1,383.4 Assets held for sale



27.0





27.0 Property, plant and equipment, net



1,659.3





1,611.3 Investments and other assets



538.6





515.4 Product rights and other intangibles, net



62,994.2





62,618.6 Goodwill



47,917.1





46,356.1 Total assets

$ 126,836.9



$ 128,986.3















Liabilities & Equity













Current liabilities

$ 4,865.2



$ 5,076.8 Current and long-term debt and capital leases



31,749.4





32,768.7 Deferred income taxes and other liabilities



15,023.5





14,940.3 Total equity



75,198.8





76,200.5 Total liabilities and equity

$ 126,836.9



$ 128,986.3

The following table presents Allergan plc's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. Table 4 ALLERGAN PLC CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited; in millions)



Three Months Ended March 31,



2017



2016 Cash Flows From Operating Activities:













Net (loss) / income

$ (2,564.2)



$ 256.4 Reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities:











Depreciation



41.6





42.1 Amortization



1,736.0





1,592.1 Provision for inventory reserve



23.9





59.2 Share-based compensation



62.7





99.0 Deferred income tax benefit



(712.8)





(519.2) In-process research and development impairments



340.0





6.0 Loss on asset sales and impairments, net



7.4





(1.7) Net income impact of other-than-temporary loss on

investment in Teva securities

1,978.0





- Amortization of inventory step up



27.9





42.4 Amortization of deferred financing costs



6.7





10.0 Contingent consideration adjustments, including accretion

30.7





33.6 Other, net



(18.8)





(9.1) Changes in assets and liabilities (net of effects of

acquisitions):











Decrease / (increase) in accounts receivable, net

53.2





(148.6) Decrease / (increase) in inventories



(50.5)





(148.5) Decrease / (increase) in prepaid expenses and other

current assets

2.5





14.4 Increase / (decrease) in accounts payable and

accrued expenses

(363.7)





31.3 Increase / (decrease) in income and other taxes payable

123.8





(52.2) Increase / (decrease) in other assets and liabilities

(1.1)





(54.1) Net cash provided by operating activities



723.3





1,253.1 Cash Flows From Investing Activities:













Additions to property, plant and equipment



(33.2)





(84.9) Additions to product rights and other intangibles



(346.3)





- Additions to investments



(6,387.9)





- Proceeds from sale of investments and other assets



9,655.3





19.0 Proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment



0.7





12.1 Acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired



(2,874.4)





- Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities

14.2





(53.8) Cash Flows From Financing Activities:













Proceeds from borrowings on credit facility and other



-





900.0 Payments on debt, including capital lease obligations



(1,015.9)





(854.2) Proceeds from stock plans



52.6





69.6 Payments of contingent consideration



(76.3)





(32.3) Repurchase of ordinary shares



(29.5)





(53.2) Dividends



(305.8)





(69.6) Net cash (used in) financing activities



(1,374.9)





(39.7) Effect of currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash

equivalents

6.3





5.2 Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents

(631.1)





1,164.8 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period



1,724.0





1,096.0 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

$ 1,092.9



$ 2,260.8

Non-GAAP performance net income per share is used by management as one of the primary metrics in evaluating the Company's performance. We believe that non-GAAP performance net income per share enhances the comparability of our results between periods and provides additional information and transparency to investors on adjustments and other items that are not indicative of the Company's current and future operating performance. These are the financial measures used by our management team to evaluate our operating performance and make day to day operating decisions. We define non-GAAP adjustments to the reported GAAP measures as GAAP results adjusted for the following net of tax: (i) amortization expenses, (ii) global supply chain and operational excellence initiatives, (iii) acquisition, integration and licensing charges, (iv) accretion and fair market value adjustments on contingent liabilities, (v) impairment/asset sales and related costs, including the exclusion of discontinued operations, (vi) legal settlements and (vii) other unusual charges or expenses. Non-GAAP performance net income per share is not, and should not be viewed as, a substitute for reported GAAP continuing operations loss per share. The Company has consistently excluded amortization of all intangible assets, including the product rights that generate a significant portion of our ongoing revenue. The Company's total accumulated amortization related to our intangible assets as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 was $16.4 billion and $14.6 billion, respectively, and is expected to continue to be a material non-GAAP adjustment. The following table presents Allergan plc's GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:



Table 5

ALLERGAN PLC

GAAP TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTMENTS

(Unaudited; in millions)























































































Three Months Ended March 31, 2017





Net Revenue



COGS



Research & Development



Selling & Marketing



General & Administrative



Amortization



Asset sales and Impairments, net



Interest expense, net



Other income (expense)



Income taxes

GAAP

$ 3,572.9



$ 450.4



$ 759.9



$ 869.1



$ 316.1



$ 1,736.0



$ 347.4



$ (264.4)



$ (1,922.8)



$ (532.1)



















































































Impact of selling through purchase accounting mark-up on acquired inventory

-





(27.9)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Expenditures incurred with the Pfizer

transaction

-





(2.0)





(2.4)





(5.6)





(10.5)





-





-





-





-





-

Purchase accounting impact on stock-based compensation for acquired awards

-





(1.0)





(5.6)





(9.4)





(6.0)





-





-





-





-





-

Severance due to integration of acquired

entities and other restructuring programs

-





(0.3)





(0.6)





(9.7)





(3.8)





-





-





-





-





-

Costs associated with disposed businesses

-





-





-





-





(8.1)





-





-





-





-





-

Integration charges of acquired businesses

-





(0.5)





(0.9)





(0.4)





(27.0)





-





-





-





-





-

Brand related milestones and upfront

expenses for asset acquisitions













































































Assembly Biosciences, Inc.



-





-





(50.0)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Lysosomal Therapeutics, Inc.



-





-





(145.0)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Editas Medicine Inc.



-





-





(90.0)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Other



-





-





(6.1)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Accretion and fair-value adjustments to

contingent consideration

-





35.5





(66.2)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Net income impact of other-than-temporary

loss on investment in Teva securities

-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





1,978.0





-

Non-cash amortization of debt premium

recognized in purchase accounting

-





-





-





-





-





-





-





(10.3)





-





-

Termination of agreement for SER-120



-





-





-





-





-





-





(147.4)





-





-





-

Decrease in realization of certain

R&D projects acquired in the Warner

Chilcott acquisition

-





-





-





-





-





-





(200.0)





-





-





-

Settlement of Naurex, Inc. agreement



-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





(20.0)





-

Litigation settlement related charges



-





-





-





-





1.1





-





-





-





-





-

Other adjustments



-





1.1





0.8





(0.8)





0.9





(1,736.0)





-





-





(0.1)





-

Income taxes on pre-tax adjustments



-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





686.0

Discrete income tax events



-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





27.5



















































































Non-GAAP Adjusted

$ 3,572.9



$ 455.3



$ 393.9



$ 843.2



$ 262.7



$ -



$ -



$ (274.7)



$ 35.1



$ 181.4





































































































































































ALLERGAN PLC

GAAP TO NON-GAAP ADJUSTMENTS

(Unaudited; in millions)























































































Three Months Ended March 31, 2016





Net Revenue



COGS



Research & Development



Selling & Marketing



General & Administrative



Amortization



Asset sales and Impairments, net



Interest expense, net



Other income (expense)



Income taxes

GAAP

$ 3,399.3



$ 477.4



$ 403.1



$ 766.8



$ 329.5



$ 1,589.7



$ 4.3



$ (329.9)



$ 0.5



$ (408.7)



















































































Impact of selling through purchase accounting mark-up on acquired inventory

-





(42.4)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Expenditures incurred with the Pfizer

transaction

-





(0.7)





(1.0)





(8.4)





(26.6)





-





-





-





-





-

Purchase accounting impact on stock-based compensation for acquired awards

-





(2.8)





(13.6)





(21.1)





(12.3)





-





-





-





-





-

Severance due to integration of acquired

entities and other restructuring programs

-





(1.9)





(2.5)





0.9





(2.5)





-





-





-





-





-

Integration charges of acquired businesses

-





(2.1)





7.4





(5.9)





(32.0)





-





-





-





-





-

Brand related milestones and upfront

expenses for asset acquisitions













































































Anterios, Inc.



-





-





(89.2)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Other



-





-





(1.8)





-





-





-





-





-





-





-

Accretion and fair-value adjustments to

contingent consideration

-





(7.8)





(25.9)





-





(0.1)





-





-





-





-





-

Mark-to-market adjustments for foreign

currency option contracts

-





-





-





-





(8.8)





-





-





-





-





-

Non-cash amortization of debt premium

recognized in purchase accounting

-





-





-





-





-





-





-





(20.0)





-





-

Asset sales and impairments, other



-





-





-





-





-





-





(4.3)





-





-





-

Litigation settlement related charges



-





-





-





-





(9.5)





-





-





-





-





-

Other adjustments



-





-





-





-





(1.0)





(1,589.7)





-





-





-





-

Income taxes on pre-tax adjustments



-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





625.1

Discrete income tax events



-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





-





(82.2)



















































































Non-GAAP Adjusted

$ 3,399.3



$ 419.7



$ 276.5



$ 732.3



$ 236.7



$ -



$ -



$ (349.9)



$ 0.5



$ 134.2



















































































The non-GAAP income tax expense is determined based on our pre-tax income, adjusted for non-GAAP items on a jurisdiction by jurisdiction basis. The non-GAAP effective tax rate in the three months ended March 31, 2017 was impacted by U.S. income taxed at rates higher than the Irish statutory rate, partially offset by income earned in jurisdictions with tax rates lower than the Irish statutory rate. The non-GAAP effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 excludes a net discrete tax benefit of approximately $27.5 million related to the tax effects of integration activities, share-based compensation and other individually insignificant items.



The following table presents a reconciliation of Allergan plc's reported net (loss) from continuing operations attributable to shareholders and diluted earnings per share to non-GAAP performance net income and non-GAAP performance net income per share for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:

Table 6 ALLERGAN PLC RECONCILIATION TABLE (Unaudited; in millions except per share amounts)



















Three Months Ended



March 31,



2017



2016































GAAP to Non-GAAP Performance net income calculation





























GAAP (loss) from continuing operations attributable to

shareholders

$ (2,562.1)



$ (92.9) Adjusted for:













Amortization



1,736.0





1,589.7 Acquisition and licensing charges (1)



2,358.4





239.5 Accretion and fair-value adjustments to contingent consideration



30.7





33.8 Impairment/asset sales and related costs



347.4





4.3 Non-recurring (gain) / losses



-





8.8 Legal settlements



(1.1)





9.5 Income taxes on items above and other income tax adjustments



(713.5)





(542.9) Non-GAAP performance net income attributable to

shareholders

$ 1,195.8



$ 1,249.8















Diluted earnings per share





























Diluted (loss) per share from continuing operations

attributable to shareholders- GAAP

$ (7.65)



$ (0.24)















Non-GAAP performance net income per share attributable to

shareholders

$ 3.35



$ 2.99















Basic weighted average ordinary shares outstanding



335.1





394.8 Effect of dilutive securities:













Dilutive shares



22.2





23.0 Diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding



357.3





417.8

(1) Includes stock-based compensation due to the Allergan and Forest acquisitions as well as the valuation accounting impact in interest expense, net.

We define adjusted EBITDA as an amount equal to consolidated net income / (loss) from continuing operations attributable to shareholders for such period adjusted for the following: (i) interest expense, (ii) interest income, (iii) (benefit) for income taxes, (iv) depreciation and amortization expenses, (v) stock-based compensation expense, (vi) asset impairment charges and losses / (gains) and expenses associated with the sale of assets, including the exclusion of discontinued operations, (vii) business restructuring charges associated with Allergan's global supply chain and operational excellence initiatives or other restructurings of a similar nature, (viii) costs and charges associated with the acquisition of businesses and assets including, but not limited to, milestone payments, integration charges, other charges associated with the revaluation of assets or liabilities and charges associated with the revaluation of acquisition related contingent liabilities that are based in whole or in part on future estimated cash flows, (ix) litigation charges and settlements and (x) other unusual charges or expenses. We define non-GAAP adjusted operating income as adjusted EBITDA including depreciation and certain stock-based compensation charges and excluding dividend income. The following table presents a reconciliation of Allergan plc's reported net (loss) from continuing operations attributable to shareholders for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted operating income:

Table 7 ALLERGAN PLC ADJUSTED EBITDA and ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME, RECONCILIATION TABLE (Unaudited; in millions)





Three Months Ended



March 31,



2017



2016































GAAP (loss) from continuing operations attributable to shareholders $ (2,562.1)



$ (92.9) Plus:













Interest expense



289.7





332.8 Interest income



(25.3)





(2.9) (Benefit) for income taxes



(532.1)





(408.7) Depreciation (includes accelerated depreciation)



41.6





41.0 Amortization



1,736.0





1,589.7 EBITDA

$ (1,052.2)



$ 1,459.0 Adjusted for:













Acquisition and licensing and other charges



2,346.7





209.7 Impairment/asset sales and related costs



347.4





4.3 Non-recurring (gain) / losses



-





8.8 Legal settlements



(1.1)





9.5 Accretion and fair-value adjustments to contingent consideration

30.7





33.8 Share-based compensation including cash settlements



62.7





90.8 Adjusted EBITDA

$ 1,734.2



$ 1,815.9 Adjusted for:













Depreciation



(41.6)





(41.0) Dividend income



(34.1)





- Share-based compensation restructuring charges and purchase

accounting impact on stock-based compensation for acquired

awards

(40.7)





(41.0) Adjusted Operating Income

$ 1,617.8



$ 1,733.9

The following table details Allergan plc's segment contribution reconciled to the non-GAAP contribution for the same financial statement line items for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.







































































































































































































Table 8

ALLERGAN PLC

Segment Contribution to Non-GAAP Allergan plc Contribution

(Unaudited; $ in millions)























































































Three Months Ended March 31, 2017



Three Months Ended March 31, 2016



US Specialized Therapeutics Segment



US General Medicine Segment



International Segment



Corporate



Total Company



US Specialized Therapeutics Segment



US General Medicine Segment



International Segment



Corporate



Total Company

Net revenues (1) $ 1,482.0



$ 1,345.8



$ 737.3



$ 7.8



$ 3,572.9



$ 1,298.7



$ 1,453.7



$ 673.3



$ (26.4)



$ 3,399.3

Operating expenses:













































































Cost of sales(1)(2)

89.2





194.5





100.3





71.3





455.3





70.7





219.6





99.2





30.2





419.7

Selling and marketing

330.4





302.5





209.5





0.8





843.2





264.6





277.3





187.3





3.1





732.3

General and administrative

44.8





40.7





29.9





147.3





262.7





39.2





42.2





27.6





127.7





236.7

Segment contribution $ 1,017.6



$ 808.1



$ 397.6



$ (211.6)



$ 2,011.7



$ 924.2



$ 914.6



$ 359.2



$ (187.4)



$ 2,010.6

Segment margin

68.7%





60.0%





53.9%



n.m.





56.3%





71.2%





62.9%





53.3%



n.m.





59.1%

Segment gross margin(3)

94.0%





85.5%





86.4%



n.m.





87.3%





94.6%





84.9%





85.3%



n.m.





87.7%



















































































(1) Includes revenues earned that were distributed through our former Anda Distribution business to third party customers for the US Specialized Therapeutics Segment and the US General Medicine Segment in the three months ended March 31, 2016 of $31.9 million, which are reclassified to discontinued operations through Corporate. The corresponding reclassification recorded in cost of goods sold was $31.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2016. (2) Excludes amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles including product rights.

(3) Defined as net revenues less segment related cost of sales as a percentage of net revenues.



The following table details Allergan plc's product revenue for significant promoted products within the US Specialized Therapeutics segment for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.





Table 9 ALLERGAN PLC US Specialized Therapeutics Product Revenue (Unaudited; in millions)

























Three Months Ended March 31,



Change



2017



2016 (1)



Dollars



%































Total Eye Care

$ 553.1



$ 533.0



$ 20.1





3.8% Restasis

308.8





298.7





10.1





3.4% Alphagan/Combigan

86.4





84.9





1.5





1.8% Lumigan/Ganfort

74.3





81.5





(7.2)





(8.8)% Ozurdex

22.5





19.4





3.1





16.0% Eye Drops

47.8





40.8





7.0





17.2% Other Eye Care

13.3





7.7





5.6





72.7% Total Medical Aesthetics

490.1





373.9





116.2





31.1% Facial Aesthetics

318.7





279.4





39.3





14.1% Botox Cosmetics

183.8





165.4





18.4





11.1% Juvederm Collection

119.8





102.7





17.1





16.7% Kybella

15.1





11.3





3.8





33.6% Plastic Surgery



54.3





48.1





6.2





12.9% Breast Implants

54.3





46.4





7.9





17.0% Other Plastic Surgery

-





1.7





(1.7)





(100.0)% Regenerative Medicine

75.5





-





75.5



n.a. Alloderm

54.1





-





54.1



n.a. Other Regenerative Medicine

21.4





-





21.4



n.a. Skin Care



41.6





46.4





(4.8)





(10.3)% SkinMedica

28.0





26.6





1.4





5.3% Latisse

13.6





19.8





(6.2)





(31.3)% Total Medical Dermatology

86.6





69.0





17.6





25.5% Aczone

40.6





33.0





7.6





23.0% Tazorac

23.4





17.1





6.3





36.8% Botox Hyperhidrosis

16.8





16.3





0.5





3.1% Other Medical Dermatology

5.8





2.6





3.2





123.1% Total Neuroscience & Urology

334.7





306.8





27.9





9.1% Botox Therapeutics

308.8





273.8





35.0





12.8% Rapaflo

25.9





33.0





(7.1)





(21.5)% Other Revenues

17.5





16.0





1.5





9.4% Net revenues

$ 1,482.0



$ 1,298.7



$ 183.3





14.1%































(1) Includes revenues earned that were distributed through our former Anda Distribution business to third party customers.

The following table details Allergan plc's product revenue for significant promoted products within the US General Medicine segment for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.

Table 10

ALLERGAN PLC US General Medicine Product Revenue (Unaudited; in millions)

























Three Months Ended March 31,



Change



2017



2016 (1)



Dollars



%































Total Central Nervous System (CNS) $ 309.1



$ 321.6





(12.5)





(3.9)% Namenda XR



122.0





173.1





(51.1)





(29.5)% Namzaric



23.6





10.3





13.3





129.1% Viibryd/Fetzima



72.5





83.3





(10.8)





(13.0)% Vraylar



53.6





7.6





46.0



n.m. Saphris



37.3





41.5





(4.2)





(10.1)% Namenda IR



0.1





5.8





(5.7)





(98.3)% Total Gastrointestinal (GI)

387.5





403.6





(16.1)





(4.0)% Linzess



147.6





137.1





10.5





7.7% Asacol/Delzicol



57.6





105.9





(48.3)





(45.6)% Carafate/Sulcrate



58.7





61.0





(2.3)





(3.8)% Zenpep



46.5





49.6





(3.1)





(6.3)% Canasa/Salofalk



38.3





41.1





(2.8)





(6.8)% Viberzi



31.5





4.0





27.5



n.m. Other GI



7.3





4.9





2.4





49.0% Total Women's Health

244.7





263.7





(19.0)





(7.2)% Lo Loestrin



99.8





89.3





10.5





11.8% Estrace Cream



73.4





80.6





(7.2)





(8.9)% Minastrin 24



41.1





79.6





(38.5)





(48.4)% Liletta



7.2





4.9





2.3





46.9% Other Women's Health



23.2





9.3





13.9





149.5% Total Anti-Infectives



55.7





51.5





4.2





8.2% Teflaro



30.6





33.4





(2.8)





(8.4)% Dalvance



9.6





6.2





3.4





54.8% Avycaz



11.3





8.4





2.9





34.5% Other Anti-Infectives



4.2





3.5





0.7





20.0% Diversified Brands

299.0





411.0





(112.0)





(27.3)% Bystolic /Byvalson



139.8





163.6





(23.8)





(14.5)% Armour Thyroid



37.3





42.1





(4.8)





(11.4)% Savella



24.3





23.7





0.6





2.5% Lexapro



13.4





18.7





(5.3)





(28.3)% Enablex



0.9





12.8





(11.9)





(93.0)% PacPharma



3.0





28.8





(25.8)





(89.6)% Other Diversified Brands



80.3





121.3





(41.0)





(33.8)% Other Revenues



49.8





2.3





47.5



n.m. Net revenues

$ 1,345.8



$ 1,453.7



$ (107.9)





(7.4)%































(1) Includes revenues earned that were distributed through our former Anda Distribution business to third party customers.

The following table details Allergan plc's product revenue for significant promoted products within the International segment for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016.



Table 11

ALLERGAN PLC International Product Revenue (Unaudited; in millions)



































Three Months Ended March 31,



Change



2017



2016



Dollars



%































Total Eye Care

$ 299.5



$ 291.5



$ 8.0





2.7% Lumigan/Ganfort



85.9





88.1





(2.2)





(2.5)% Alphagan/Combigan



42.3





41.8





0.5





1.2% Ozurdex



51.1





41.1





10.0





24.3% Optive



27.5





24.1





3.4





14.1% Other Eye Drops



37.8





43.1





(5.3)





(12.3)% Restasis



13.9





15.0





(1.1)





(7.3)% Other Eye Care



41.0





38.3





2.7





7.0% Total Medical Aesthetics

288.1





244.9





43.2





17.6% Facial Aesthetics

245.9





205.5





40.4





19.7% Botox Cosmetics



122.2





104.9





17.3





16.5% Juvederm Collection



122.2





100.1





22.1





22.1% Belkyra (Kybella)



1.5





0.5





1.0





200.0% Plastic Surgery



38.0





36.8





1.2





3.3% Breast Implants



37.6





36.7





0.9





2.5% Earfold



0.4





0.1





0.3



n.m. Regenerative Medicine

2.0





-





2.0



n.a. Alloderm



1.2





-





1.2



n.a. Other Regenerative Medicine



0.8





-





0.8



n.a. Skin Care



2.2





2.6





(0.4)





(15.4)% Botox Therapeutics and Other

133.9





123.3





10.6





8.6% Botox Therapeutics



82.4





77.1





5.3





6.9% Asacol/Delzicol



12.1





15.3





(3.2)





(20.9)% Constella



4.9





3.8





1.1





28.9% Other Products



34.5





27.1





7.4





27.3% Other Revenues



15.8





13.6





2.2





16.2% Net revenues

$ 737.3



$ 673.3



$ 64.0





9.5%

The following table provides a reconciliation of anticipated GAAP loss from continuing operations to non-GAAP performance net income attributable to shareholders for the year ending December 31, 2017:





Table 12















(in millions, except per share information)

LOW



HIGH GAAP (loss) from continuing operations attributable to

shareholders $ (3,130.0)



$ (2,962.0) Adjusted for:













Amortization



7,100.0





7,100.0 Acquisition, licensing and other non-recurring charges

2,850.0





2,850.0 Accretion and fair-value adjustments to contingent

consideration

45.0





45.0 Impairment/asset sales and related costs



360.0





360.0 Legal settlements



5.0





5.0 Income taxes on items above and other income tax

adjustments

(1,589.0)





(1,578.0) Non-GAAP performance net income attributable to shareholders

5,641.0





5,820.0















Diluted earnings per share





























Diluted (loss) per share from continuing operations attributable to

shareholders- GAAP $ (9.37)



$ (8.87)















Non-GAAP performance diluted net income per share attributable

to shareholders $ 15.85



$ 16.35















Basic weighted average ordinary shares outstanding



334.0





334.0 Effect of dilutive securities:













Dilutive shares



22.0





22.0 Diluted weighted average ordinary shares outstanding



356.0





356.0

CONTACTS:

Allergan:





Investors:





Daphne Karydas





(862) 261-8006













Media:





Mark Marmur





(862) 261-7558



SOURCE Allergan plc

Related Links

http://www.allergan.com


PERTH, Australia, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alloy Steel International, Inc. (OTC: AYSI) advises that its 2017 Financial year Second Quarter Report for the six months ended March 31, 2017 is now available on www.otcmarkets.com website by searching for AYSI then choosing "Filings and Disclosure."

About Alloy Steel

Alloy Steel manufactures and distributes Arcoplate, a technically superior and market leading 'alloy overlay' wear plate, servicing the global market place from its modern manufacturing facilities in Perth, Australia. Arcoplate is used throughout the mining and materials processing industries, from opportunistic one-off specialty applications in small companies to large relationship based repeat business applications with leading international companies.

Arcoplate provides users with superior wear protection due to its premium alloy mix, its high ratio of carbide rich alloy and its unique manner of manufacture. The product's technical superiority combined with its unbeatable 'whole-of-life' cost has resulted in Arcoplate's wide acceptance in the mining and mineral processing industries to reduce wear in a host of fixed plant and mobile equipment applications.

In mining and materials processing industries, where premature equipment wear is the primary cause of downtime, to undertake repairs or refurbishment, Arcoplate can provide users with significant profit improvement. Arcoplate can substantially lower equipment downtime, resulting in higher production, whilst also lowering the overall cost of wear protection.

Furthermore, in applications where material 'hang-up' or 'carry-back' are also a significant cause of lost production, such as sticky materials that do not discharge freely from truck trays, buckets and chutes, Arcoplate's unique characteristic of polishing to a very low friction factor has the potential to virtually eliminate these problems, whilst simultaneously providing enhanced equipment wear life.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Thushara Sam Dahanayake

Company Secretary

+61-8-9248 3188

SOURCE Alloy Steel International, Inc.
SALT LAKE CITY, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Amazon's sales of bulkier non-traditional eCommerce itemsincluding those in the Tools & Home Improvement, Outdoor & Sporting Goods and Home Appliance groupsare steadily gaining traction. This according to research from One Click Retail, a market leader in eCommerce data measurement, sales analytics and search optimization for global brand manufacturers.

Tools & Home Improvement

In the Tools and Home Improvement market, the most revealing figure is the overall growth rate: 35% for Amazon.com, much larger than the U.S. domestic market's total growth of 6%. With many highly-connected (read: ecommerce junkies) young professionals new to home ownership and putting together their own woodshops from scratch, carpentry tools are in big demand right now. This helps to drive Amazon's sales in Woodworking (30%), Tool Organization & Garage Storage (35%) and Power Saws (25%).

"Though often seen as an Amazon-proof industry, the old-fashioned American hardware store is not untouchable," explains One Click Retail's VP Nathan Rigby. "Amazon has all the same advantages in the Tools & Home Improvement sector that it has in Grocery, Beauty Products and Health Care  and we've seen plenty of evidence of those industries feeling the Amazon Effect. As more uber-connected millennials enter home ownership, Amazon's share of this product group, like many others, will continue to grow at a disruptive rate."

Outdoor & Sporting Goods

With dozens of U.S. sporting goods retailers filing for bankruptcy over the last two years, the shift in consumer purchasing preferences and platforms has never been so evident. The reality is that these retailers have failed to compete in a new market paradigm. One Click Retail's Outdoor & Sporting Goods report confirms that Amazon's 20% YoY growth in this product group is four times the rate of the overall market, valued at $120 billion in 2016.

"Amazon understands that it's the consumer driving the company's success," says Rigby. "The ways they are innovating new services and offerings, they are doing so with one thing in mind: is this what the consumer wants? Amazon isn't just selling you the bike, they're selling you the service to professionally assemble it and deliver it to your door. It's no surprise that Amazon bike sales increase 50%."

Major Appliances

According to One Click Retail data, in 2016 Amazon saw sales in major home appliances upwards of $16.5 million with the top performers in refrigeration, cooking and laundry. While still a relatively small portion of the total retail market, if sales on Amazon mirror the 30%+ growth in Housewares, Amazon is positioned to disrupt the Home Appliances industry. More and more consumers are opting to buy large and mid-size appliances online, deciding that the high shipping expense for these items is worth the ease of having them delivered right to their doorstep.

"Much of this growth can be credited to millennials, who spend more than twice as much on housewares online vs other demographics" says One Click Retail's CEO Spencer Millerberg. "They are not only digital natives, but they're eCommerce natives. As this demographic becomes a larger portion of homeownership, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers who do not embrace an online strategy will see sales dwindle. Similarly, if brand manufacturers think they can employ a brick-and-mortar retail strategy without considering both the researching and purchasing habits of today's eCommerce consumer (and the distinctive features of the Amazon platform), they will ultimately lose."

Methodology

One Click Retail uses a combination of website indexing, machine learning and proprietary software to estimate weekly online sales figures at the SKU level on Amazon.

About One Click Retail

One Click Retail is a market leader in eCommerce data measurement, sales analytics and search optimization for brand manufacturers in North America and Europe. Using a combination of website indexing, machine learning and proprietary software to estimate weekly online sales and traffic figures at the SKU level, OCR has developed the most accurate, trusted and reliable data platform in the marketplace. The OCR Product Suite provides 1st and 3rd party business intelligence across the largest online retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Tesco, Sainsburys, Macys, and Home Depot. The world's top brands, such as Procter & Gamble, Panasonic, Nestle, Philips, and Sony, rely on OCR insights to drive sales and profitability across eCommerce.

One Click Retail was acquired by Ascential plc in 2016.

For more information, visit the company's website, www.oneclickretail.com, and visit One Click Retail on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Pola Hallquist

Apothecary Communications for One Click Retail

[email protected]

1-866-213-9210 x801

SOURCE One Click Retail

Related Links

http://www.oneclickretail.com


"Effective lighting does more than just illuminate up a store," says Mr. Plageman. "Well designed fixtures clearly improve the overall aesthetics of retail interiors and exteriors, however, visual cues can play a major role influencing consumer purchasing habits. Thoughtful lighting provides brick and mortar stores with a distinct advantage over the rapidly growing competition, including open-air markets and online websites, while also addressing the rapidly changing buying habits of millenials.

"Grocers are rethinking how they can light the aisle and influence sales between the shelves," says Mr. Plageman. "Many are exploring architectural grade lighting that generates greater excitement and visual interest by illuminating high-margin areas such as fresh and prepared foods," says Mr. Plageman. "Utilizing intelligent lighting design impacts consumer perception, makes produce pop off shelves, and retains customers in the space to buy more.

"We updated our Lighting Toolbox with data mining sensors, color tuning capabilities, energy efficient controls, and a small amount of UV/Violet light that can be added to fixtures to help live products continue to grow, as well as add life while on the shelf," explains Mr. Plageman. "Smart sensors embedded in fixtures yield key insights about shopper behavior and leverage the physical footprint to determine best placement for signage, displays and entire departments. In addition to data collection, integrated sensors activate fixtures with motion and photocell detection, and implement dimming control for incremental efficiency, safety and security."

"Imagine growing herbs, vegetables and fruit in a store using lighting fixtures without natural daylight," says Mr. Plageman. "We can customize fixtures that appeal to consumers' senses with visual and olfactory cues.

"Utilizing vast capabilities, retail-oriented lighting is elevated from homogenous functionality to a more prescriptive nature," says Mr. Plageman. "We can custom tailor each lighting program based on the store's objectives, department by department, aisle by aisle, with an individualized methodology. Not just for driving sales, but building deeper connections to customers. In short, we offer a human centric approach to lighting."

About Amerlux LLC

Amerlux creates lighting designed around its customers and will stop at nothing to help realize their vision. Amerlux works closely with customers every step of the way, from design through construction, to ensure total success and total satisfaction. Amerlux is fueled by a passion to consistently deliver in a fraction of the time of competitors, even on short-run custom orders, and that includes making sure every order is accurate, every product performs flawlessly, and every customer is successful.

Amerlux speaks the language of light for design and construction professionals around the world by manufacturing a broad array of optically superior, energy efficient lighting solutions for the retail, supermarket, hospitality, commercial and exterior lighting markets. Amerlux products and services include track lighting, recessed downlighting and multiples, pendants, linear systems, and custom lighting solutions, as well as support for energy reduction plans that can be used as a guide to state, city and local utility rebate programs for maximum energy savings and utility incentives. The company's domestic and international clients receive the support of Amerlux's highly trained specification sales force, as well as expert service from initial design to on-time delivery made possible by strategically located manufacturing, warehousing and shipping locations.

Contact:

AMERLUX, LLC

178 Bauer Drive

Oakland, New Jersey 07436

www.amerlux.com

[email protected]

T 973.882.5010

F 973.882.2605

SOURCE Amerlux

Related Links

http://www.amerlux.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Anaplan, a leading platform provider driving a new age of connected planning, will demonstrate the advantages of connected planning at the upcoming WorldatWork 2017 Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition, held May 7-10 in Washington, D.C. With more than 1,200 HR professionals expected, Total Rewards 2017 is an ideal venue to showcase Anaplan's latest Workforce Planning app, as well as its Global Compensation and Equity Planning app, and predictive labor forecasting tools.

Anaplan counts top brands such as CareerBuilder, American Express Global Business Travel, and Tableau among its workforce customers. Anaplan is sponsoring a session at the conference, "Learn How to Optimize Compensation with Connected Workforce Planning," presented by Erin Hoff, Senior Business Analyst at Tableau; Timothy DeSimone, Solutions Consultant at Anaplan; and Stephanie Glass, Anaplan's Head of Workforce Solutions.

"Connected workforce planning is essential for a successful compensation strategy," Hoff observed. "The Anaplan platform enabled Tableau to leave spreadsheets and manual work behind and devote our energy to strategic workforce planning. That translates into better performance and more revenue."

"Anaplan's workforce and compensation apps unite HR, finance, sales, and other business units to reveal how changes in total rewards impact performance," said Glass. "Our Workforce Planning app is now more expansive, enabling companies to see how changes affect employee well-being, in addition to company financial results and performance indicators."

Anaplan's connected approach enables HR and finance professionals to manage even the most complex compensation plans, and the platform's modeling capabilities can deliver valuable insight across business units. HR can model benefits, bonuses, headcount, and salary to see how changes impact performance and hiring. For example, they can compare scenarios such as hiring more employees at a lower salary or fewer at a higher salary, then view the effect on workforce optimization and headcount, facilities, and capacity planning. Anaplan's enhanced Workforce Planning app enables four planning methods: sales and capacity outlook, a ratio-driven approach, setting the hiring plan for operational FTEs and temps' hourly labor, and ad hoc planning.

Anaplan also offers a Compensation and Equity Modeling app that helps HR professionals get creative with equity, base salary, bonus, and perks. The Compensation and Equity Modeling app enables users to work within tight budget constraints or build the business case for additional resources. In addition, Anaplan offers workforce planning apps designed for restaurants, retail, and distribution businesses.

The Anaplan App Hub now features more than 200 apps to help drive better business decisions. For more information, visit https://apphub.anaplan.com/

The WorldatWork 2017 Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition is held May 7-10 in Washington, D.C. Visit Anaplan at Booth #623.

About Anaplan

Anaplan is driving a new age of connected planning. Large and fast-growing organizations use Anaplan's cloud platform in every business function to make informed decisions and drive faster, more effective planning processes. Anaplan also provides support, training, and planning transformation advisory services. Anaplan is a privately held company based in San Francisco with 16 offices and over 150 expert partners worldwide. To learn more, visit anaplan.com.

SOURCE Anaplan

Related Links

http://www.anaplan.com


While the HPPI shows a widening perception gap, appraised values continue to rise at a steady pace. The National Home Value Index (HVI), the only measure of home value change based solely on appraisals, showed values rose 1.06 percent in April. Home values also increased when viewed annually, rising 5.08 percent year-over-year.

Home Price Perception Index (HPPI)

Owner estimates of home values were higher than appraiser opinions by 1.90 percent, as reported by the national HPPI. This is compared to a 1.77 percent disparity between home value opinions in March. April marks the fourth month the spread between home value opinions widened nationally. A wide range of perceptions persists across the country, but month-to-month change in most metros was minor. The study continues to find appraised values higher than expected in the West, while it was more likely to have appraisals lower than owners estimated in the Midwest and East.

"The appraisal is one of the most important data points in a mortgage transaction. This single number can impact how much money a buyer needs to bring to closing, or the equity that is available to the homeowner on a refinance," said Quicken Loans Vice President of Capital Markets, Bill Banfield. "If homeowners have a grasp on home value differences throughout their local area, it can lead to a smoother mortgage process."

Home Value Index (HVI)

Home value growth not only continued, but accelerated in April. The National HVI showed appraisal values rose 1.06 percent from the previous month and increased 5.08 percent since April 2016. This is compared to 3.30 percent year-over-year growth in March. All regions measured by the HVI show positive momentum, ranging from 3.54 percent annual growth in the Northeast to a 6.52 percent year-over-year increase in the West.

"Home values were pushed higher once again by the demand for housing outpacing the stock of available homes. This effect is intensified by the start of the spring buying season," Banfield said. "While sellers are obviously thrilled as their investment continues to grow in value, this trend could make homebuyers set their sights on smaller homes or less pricey neighborhoods. I would encourage homeowners who are considering listing their home to take advantage of the opportunity they have in this sellers' market."



HVI April 2017 January 2005 = 100 HVI April 2017 vs. March 2017 % Change HVI April 2017 vs. April 2016 % Change HPPI April 2017 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner Perception of

Value* HPPI April 2016 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner Perception of

Value* National Composite 101.52 +1.06% +5.08% -1.90% -1.95%

*A positive value represents appraiser opinions that are higher than homeowner perceptions. A negative value represents appraiser opinions that are lower than homeowner perceptions.

Geographic Regions HVI April 2017 January 2005 = 100 HVI April 2017 vs. March 2017 % Change HVI April 2017 vs. April 2016 % Change HPPI April 2017 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner

Perception of

Value* HPPI April 2016 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner

Perception of

Value* West 122.04 +1.03% +6.52% -1.65% -1.66% South 103.79 +0.67% +5.02% -1.83% -1.95% Midwest 84.1 +0.80% +4.08% -2.02% -2.11% Northeast 97.27 +1.96% +3.54% -2.17% -2.13%

*A positive value represents appraiser opinions that are higher than homeowner perceptions. A negative value represents appraiser opinions that are lower than homeowner perceptions.

Metropolitan Areas HPPI April 2017 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner

Perception of

Value* HPPI March 2017 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner

Perception of

Value* HPPI April 2016 Appraiser Value

vs. Homeowner

Perception of

Value* Denver, CO +2.72% +2.69% +3.32% Dallas, TX +2.55% +2.25% 2.05% Portland, OR +1.44% +1.77% +1.74% Seattle, WA +1.32% +1.31% -0.14% San Francisco, CA +1.10% +1.31% +2.88% Los Angeles, CA +0.99% +1.17% +0.55% Boston, MA +0.82% +1.10% +0.62% San Jose, CA +0.72% +0.70% +3.56% Charlotte, NC +0.53% +0.99% -1.23% Sacramento, CA +0.50% +0.59% +1.13% Houston, TX +0.45% +0.53% +1.85% Miami, FL +0.44% +0.33% -0.23% Minneapolis, MN +0.42% +0.43% -0.66% San Diego, CA +0.42% +0.30% +0.01% Kansas City, MO +0.32% +0.47% -1.59% Riverside, CA -0.16% -0.04% +0.50% Phoenix, AZ -0.37% -0.57% -0.60% Las Vegas, NV -0.38% -0.41% -0.34% Washington, D.C. -1.05% -0.70% -0.09% Atlanta, GA -1.11% -1.01% -1.36% Detroit, MI -1.19% -1.26% -3.14% Tampa, FL -1.38% -1.40% -1.06% New York, NY -1.86% -1.65% -1.88% Cleveland, OH -2.26% -2.41% -2.03% Chicago, IL -2.37% -2.14% -2.95% Baltimore, MD -3.01% -3.18% -3.31% Philadelphia, PA -3.37% -3.20% -3.46%

*A positive value represents appraiser opinions that are higher than homeowner perceptions. A negative value represents appraiser opinions that are lower than homeowner perceptions.

About the HPPI & HVI

The Quicken Loans HPPI represents the difference between appraisers' and homeowners' opinions of home values. The index compares the estimate that the homeowner supplies on a refinance mortgage application to the appraisal that is performed later in the mortgage process. This is an unprecedented report that gives a never-before-seen analysis of how homeowners are viewing the housing market. The HPPI national composite is determined by analyzing appraisal and homeowner estimates throughout the entire country, including data points from both inside and outside the metro areas specifically called out in the above report.

The Quicken Loans HVI is the only view of home value trends based solely on appraisal data from home purchases and mortgage refinances. This produces a wide data set and is focused on appraisals, one of the most important pieces of information to the mortgage process.

The HPPI and HVI are released on the second Tuesday of every month. Both of the reports are created with Quicken Loans' propriety mortgage data from the 50-state lenders' mortgage activity across all 3,000+ counties. The indexes are examined nationally, in four geographic regions and the HPPI is reported for 27 major metropolitan areas. All indexes, along with downloadable tables and graphs can be found at QuickenLoans.com/Indexes.

About Quicken Loans

Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation's second largest retail home mortgage lender. The company has closed more than $300 billion of mortgage volume across all 50 states between 2013 and 2016. Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010, and now more than 13,500 of its 16,000 team members work in the city's urban core. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Scottsdale, Arizona. The company also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit.

Quicken Loans ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Primary Mortgage Origination" in the United States by J.D. Power for the past seven consecutive years, 2010  2016, and highest in customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers the past three years, 2014  2016. The company is owned by Rock Holdings, Inc., parent company of several FinTech businesses. Quicken Loans is also part of a Family of Companies comprising nearly 100 affiliated business spanning multiple industries. For more information, please visit QuickenLoans.com.

Twitter: @QLnews

Facebook.com/QuickenLoans

SOURCE Quicken Loans

Related Links

http://QuickenLoans.com


LAS VEGAS, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DELL EMC WORLD 2017 -- Atos, a leader in digital transformation, and Dell EMC today announced they are joining forces to address the growing Internet of Things (IoT) and business analytics markets. This collaboration is based on best-in-class hardware and software from Dell EMC combined with the Atos Codex, a complete set of solutions and capabilities to design, build, run and secure smart data business services, data platforms and Internet of Things. The offering will initially focus on North America and Europe.

By 2020, nearly 40% of IoT-related revenue will come from services according to Markets and Markets. This number is expected to increase annually due to an increasing need for IT consulting and support. IoT professional services accounted for $57 billion in 2016 and are expected to reach $158 billion by 2021, a CAGR of over 22%1.

The unprecedented growth in connected devices, the data generated and the applications generating value out of these connections will need a strong offering in end-to-end service management, considering the enormous size and complexities of the networks generated by the Internet of Things.

Yugal Joshi, Practice Director at Everest Group: "Atos' approach to enabling IoT use cases for achieving operational efficiency, customer engagement, and business transformation meets a clear market requirement. Its capabilities across the IoT stack, enhanced by strategic investments, partnerships, such as with Dell EMC, and experience in executing large-scale projects drives continuous value delivery and improved business outcomes for the customers."

Atos and Dell EMC are working together to build an IoT service management framework to allow customers to be always in control and to be assured that all users can continuously create value from their connected devices. The service management framework will be called Atos Codex IoT Services.

The Atos Codex IoT Services framework will contain a catalogue of services including management of devices, connectivity, data and storage, change and release control, incident management, service desk and support, and the operations to increase resilience against failures or disturbances. These services will be delivered with user-defined service levels, including the necessary security measures for access management and data encryption. The framework also defines an architecture blueprint, containing hardware and software solutions from Dell EMC as well as software solutions and integration services from Atos.

The collaboration is expected to cover two areas:

Joint development/design of the Service Delivery Framework, utilizing existing assets from both companies.

Joint market approach, building upon the strength of each company's brand and capabilities to build and sell solutions driven by customer demand.

The first Atos Codex IoT Services framework capabilities are available now with additional services and products will be added based on market demand.

Jay Snyder, Senior Vice President, Global Alliances, Industries & Service Providers at Dell EMC: "We are proud to help Atos enhance their IoT service offering, which will leverage our comprehensive portfolio such as Dell Edge Gateways to securely transfer and analyze important data at the edge of the network and Dell EMC hyper-converged infrastructure and scale-out storage at the core. Combining these assets with Atos' expertise, services, hardware and their IoT capabilities in the Atos Codex end-to-end managed analytics offering, we are well positioned to help our customers successfully deliver their IoT-driven digital transformation agenda."

Paul Albada Jelgersma, Head of IoT Solutions at Atos: "We are proud to partner with Dell EMC to provide our clients with the services, technology and capabilities they need to effectively manage their assets and generate value from them, by leveraging our combined strength in IoT products and services. This will offer businesses the tools to utilize their data and assets to provide continuous value and improved business outcomes, wherever they are."

About Dell EMC

Dell EMC, a part of Dell Technologies, enables organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center using industry-leading converged infrastructure, servers, storage and data protection technologies. This provides a trusted foundation for businesses to transform IT, through the creation of a hybrid cloud, and transform their business through the creation of cloud-native applications and big data solutions. Dell EMC services customers across 180 countries  including 98 percent of the Fortune 500  with the industry's most comprehensive and innovative portfolio from edge to core to cloud.

Dell EMC World 2017, May 8-11, is Dell Technologies' flagship event, bringing together technology and business professionals to network, share ideas and help co-create a better future. Learn more at www.dellemcworld.com and follow #DellEMCWorld on Twitter.

About Atos Codex

Atos Codex is the Atos brand for business driven analytics, Internet of Things and cognitive solutions consisting of methodology, design labs, an open industrial platform factory as well as high-performance data analytics. It provides clients a complete set of products and skills to design, build and run digital business platforms. Atos Codex is a key pillar of Atos' Digital Transformation Factory to deliver its clients digital transformation that is on time, on budget and on specification.

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with approximately 100,000 employees in 72 countries and annual revenue of around  12 billion. The European number one in Big Data, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Digital Workplace, The Group provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across various business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Energy & Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications, and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index. www.atos.net

Copyright  2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, Dell EMC and Dell Inc. are trademarks of Dell Technologies in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

1 Markets and Markets, February 2017

SOURCE Dell EMC

Related Links

https://www.emc.com


BALTIMORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men in the United States, and is why the American Urological Association (AUA), in collaboration with the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO), released a new evidence-based clinical guideline for the appropriate management of localized prostate cancer, which refers to cancer that has not moved outside of the prostate.

More than 161,000 new cases of prostate cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2017. It is estimated that one in seven men will be diagnosed with this disease in their lifetime; however, their odds increase to one in five if they are African American and one in three with they have a family history.

Following a prostate cancer diagnosis, men are often faced with an array of treatment options, based on their prostate cancer severity or its potential to spread elsewhere within the body. Based on the tumor, treatment-related factors such as oncologic outcomes and side effects, as well as other patient-related considerations, these options can be overwhelming, which is why the guideline panel strongly suggests physicians and patients engage in shared decision making to select the best care option for each individual patient.

"Selecting optimal care for each prostate cancer patient is a complex process that requires physicians to help patients choose options consistent with the patient's own values and in accordance with the best available scientific evidence," said Martin G. Sanda, MD, chair of the guideline development panel and chair of the department of urology at the Emory School of Medicine. "The new clinical guideline offers a framework to facilitate such shared decision-making, while also specifying which cancers are better managed by active surveillance, as well as providing guidance as to which treatments are appropriate for cancers warranting intervention. It also provides specifics for implementing care options, managing side effects and administering post-treatment follow-up."

The Localized Prostate Cancer Clinical Guideline makes 68 statements in total, including the recommendation that active surveillance is preferred for the care of low-risk localized prostate cancer, while radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy plus androgen deprivation therapy are recommended as the treatment standard for patients with intermediate- or high-risk localized prostate cancer. The guideline was developed by a panel of AUA, ASTRO and SUO-selected experts, all of whom have specific expertise with regard to prostate cancer. It was then distributed to peer reviewers of varying backgrounds as part of the AUA's extensive peer review process before being finally approved by the AUA, ASTRO and SUO Board of Directors. Shared decision making, care options based on cancer severity, as well as, specific care options including active surveillance, radical prostatectomy, high intensity focused ultrasound and focal therapy management are among the statements covered in this guideline. The full text of the evidence-based Localized Prostate Cancer Guideline is now available online.

NOTE TO REPORTERS: Experts are available to discuss this study. To arrange an interview with an expert, please contact the AUA Communications Office at 410-689-3932 or e-mail [email protected].



About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 21,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy. To learn more about the AUA, visit www.AUAnet.org.

Contact:

Christine Frey, AUA

443-909-0839, [email protected]

SOURCE American Urological Association

Related Links

http://www.AUAnet.org


WASHINGTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Upskill (formerly APX Labs), the leader in enterprise software for augmented reality (AR) devices, today announced the acquisition of Austin, TX-based Pristine, the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of AR collaboration and video streaming software. Pristine's remote assistance and knowledge capture solutions will complement Upskill's existing Skylight industrial AR platform to offer the most comprehensive product offering in the industry, making it easier for customers to meet their operational needs and IT requirements.

"Augmented reality is driving incredible productivity results across functional areas in industrial enterprises. Our customers are seeing an average of 32 percent performance improvement from their very first use of Skylight," said Brian Ballard, co-founder and CEO, Upskill. "There aren't very many new technologies that can deliver this kind of 'out of the box' value creation, which is why adoption of AR technology is accelerating at an incredible pace. This underscores the importance for Upskill to leverage new opportunities that will help us scale and innovate faster than anyone else in the space. The acquisition of Pristine will allow us to do just that."

Pristine is best known for its flagship product, EyeSight, which provides best-in-class "see what I see" video streaming capabilities for remote experts. Customer deployments have proven EyeSight to help workers complete inspection, compliance and repair processes at a fraction of the cost and time normally required. Through the acquisition, Upskill will now offer Pristine's portfolio of field-worker collaboration solutions including EyeSight. These applications are typically deployed on smart glasses, but are also available across Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad and Android devices. With Pristine solutions in its repertoire, Upskill will be able to add breadth and domain expertise to its product offering and more choices for customers seeking to implement AR across manufacturing, logistics and field service applications.

Along with the added technology capabilities and product solutions, Pristine also brings to Upskill a talented engineering and product team with deep industry experience in scaling deployment of enterprise wearables across an impressive client base, including Coca-Cola, Bayer, The Hershey Company, National Oilwell Varco, Sandvik and Bureau Veritas. Pristine's CEO, Peter Evans, will step into a newly appointed role as Executive Vice President. The acquisition will also establish Upskill's third U.S. office in Austin, expanding recruiting to a growing epicenter for tech talent and providing increased regional support to customers located in the Southwestern US.

"Our EyeSight solution makes it easy for clients to get up and running quickly with remote assistance capabilities, making skills and knowledge available via the cloud. The need for this type of work solution in enterprises is massive, particularly in organizations with a large field services workforce, where there is a growing gap between demand for skills, and the availability of those skills," said Peter Evans, CEO, Pristine. "As customers expand the use of AR across their operations, a scalable AR platform with direct integrations to their IT and OT investments becomes more important. With Upskill's Skylight platform, we can now address the entire operational lifecycle of an enterprise and do it in the cloud, on premise or in hybrid cloud environments."

"With these combined capabilities, Upskill now powers an unparalleled suite of applications covering complex assembly, process management, service, inspection, material handling and logistics." said Dr. Magid Abraham, Executive Chairman, Upskill. "Further, we can offer even more flexibility to our customers in how they create and support a connected workforce across their operations. It also fortifies Upskill's position as the leading choice for powering the industry 4.0 workforce with augmented reality."

This news comes just following the closing of Upskill's Series B financing, led by Boeing HorizonX and GE Ventures. Earlier this year, Upskill also participated at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos as one of WEF's 2016 Technology Pioneers.

About Pristine

Pristine is pioneering the "wearable worker," with enterprise software solutions for smart glasses, and smart devices. EyeSight, Pristine's flagship platform, powers secure and scalable audio/video streaming for hands-free collaboration and remote support in life sciences, industrial and manufacturing environments, field services and healthcare. With on-demand expertise from off-site specialists, Pristine's clients are reducing costs and driving ROI through case pre-screening and guided service workflows. EyeSight is available across every platform: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android, and smart glasses including ODG, Realwear, Google Glass and Vuzix, amongst others. More information can be found at www.pristine.io.

About Upskill

Upskill (formerly APX Labs) is the market leader in enterprise software for augmented reality devices in industrial settings. Trusted by the world's greatest companies, such as GE, Boeing, Rio Tinto, and Shell, our industrial application platform, Skylight, enhances the capabilities of hands-on workers to measurably and immediately improve business operations from the factory to the warehouse to the jobsite. By connecting workers to the information they need to do their jobs with greater efficiency and fewer errors, businesses become more agile and competitive through greater productivity, quality, and compliance. To learn more, visit upskill.io.

Media Contact

Katherine Verducci

MIX Public Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Upskill

Related Links

http://upskill.io


LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Growing consumer preference for convenience-enhancing technologies and automobiles-as-a-service options helped double the adoption of vehicles with automated driving features in 2016. Going forward, large-scale investments from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will refine the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive cloud-based technology solutions even further, enabling level 4/5 autonomous driving within the next five years. Retrofitted automated driving solutions and deployment in shared mobility (taxi) platforms will experience robust growth.

"With the introduction of automated driving taxis to support shared mobility business models, the commercial entry of level 4 vehicles is expected by as early as 2020," said Mobility Senior Analyst Anirudh Venkitaraman. "In the European and North American markets, the introduction of level 3 automation by 2018, driven by over-the-air updates from Tesla, will strengthen the initial take rates for the technology. Pilot offerings from Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz will soon follow, taking the product into the premium market."

Global Autonomous Driving Market Outlook, 2017, recent research from Frost & Sullivan's Automotive & Transportation Growth Partnership Service program, finds that the global autonomous driving market will be worth $83 billion by 2025. The study examines the top trends in the automated driving market, including developments like growing usage of driver assistance, new solutions, robot taxis, cognitive cloud computing, and adoption of mechanical light detection and ranging (LiDAR) for perception improvement.

Click here for more information on the Autonomous Driving market and to speak to us: https://goo.gl/1izEYn.

"Concerns surrounding legislation, system reliability issues, and incompatible infrastructure limit the opportunities for OEMs looking at automated driving," noted Venkitaraman. "Nevertheless, the journey from human-operated to completely autonomous cars is a progression, and pioneering semi-automated vehicles will be an important milestone toward achieving level 5 automated vehicles."

For now, fast-tracked innovation from startups and technology leaders in automated vehicle technologies will force OEMs, technology providers and disruptors to partner with, acquire or upgrade R&D to stay competitive. Key growth trends and opportunities expected in the global automotive driving market this year include:

Boom in shared or rental models that offer consumers better ownership experience than the traditional ownership model

Increasing adoption of autonomous technology in specialised industries, such as transportation and deliveries, as well as by individual consumers willing to spend big, creating a niche

High investment in AI and vision sensors; perception improvement sensors, such as solid state and MEMS LiDARs, will have a strong penetration into autonomous test programs in 2017 as demand for mechanical LiDAR diminishes

Tier I OEM acquisition of telematics service providers to leverage their industry know-how in the connectivity services market

Substantial investments in and acquisitions of startups from the bigger companies

Increased demand for high definition 3D mapping and imaging, and fast and automated processing of the graphic data gathered

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion

Global Autonomous Driving Market Outlook, 2017

MCCA-18

Contact:

Jana Schoneborn

Corporate Communications  Europe

P: +49 (0)69 77033 43

E: [email protected]

http://www.frost.com

Twitter: @Frost_Sullivan or @FS_Automotive

Facebook: FrostandSullivan

Linkedin: Future of Mobility  A Frost & Sullivan Forum

http://ww2.frost.com

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Related Links

http://www.frost.com


LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At the AI Summit today, Kami announced that it is opening the next round of fundraising as it develops a next-generation AI conversational platform and innovative technologies in external memory, automated reasoning and sentiment-attention analysis. Kami was awarded the 'Most Investible Company' accolade in the StartPlanet NI 2017 accelerator program and was selected by the UK Department of International Trade to join the Global Entrepreneur Programme (GEP) and Level 39, Europe's largest fin-tech accelerator in London. As part of the AI Summit, Kami has been shortlisted as a finalist in the AIconics Award 2017, an international Artificial Intelligence contest, in four categories  Best Intelligent Assistant Innovation, Best Innovation in NLP, Best Application of AI in the Enterprise and Best Chatbot Experience.

As a deep-tech specialist in the space of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Software Engineering, Kami creates literate machines that can reason, remember and communicate. Founded by CEO Alex Cheung, the foundation for Kami's patented technology is a combination of unique neural networks and machine learning algorithms which are pivotal to taking Conversational AI to the next level.

Kami's focus is on the banking, finance, securities and insurance sectors, where there is a paramount emphasis on trust and client relationships. Kami's next-generation conversation platform enables virtual assistants and chatbots to engage in intuitive, human-like dialogue that not only understands conversation context but also remembers conversation history. Dialogue that is natural and relevant provides a seamless interface to elevate the user experience and, ultimately, to earn trust. Kami helps businesses make smart, well-informed and in-depth decisions by analysing these conversations in real time.

A powerful reasoning machine with super strong memorising ability

Unlike conventional conversational interfaces, which are hard-wired question and answer, Kami dives deep into machine logical reasoning. Kami's automated reasoning mechanisms extract rationale, cognitive understanding, decision-making processes, purchase mentality, perceptions, bias, and many subtleties underlying user conversations. We have also developed and patented external Dynamic Memory Network technology and Attention Analysis technologies, which greatly enhance the capabilities in both conversational context tracking and systematic reasoning from inferences. Kami's unique meta language allows data engineers to visualize and model the decision-making process across multiple business scenarios by analyzing context and inferences.

"We look forward to Kami's technology disrupting the conversational AI landscape but, more importantly, that it will generate solid business impact for companies through meaningful conversations, highly personalised responses and building trust with their customers," said Alex Cheung, CEO, Kami. "Kami aims to transform chats into intelligent conversations and into critical insights. In short, it is AI that we can trust."

Kami Relate(TM) enables learning and knowledge building from every conversation. Text and voice supported, it runs across messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Skype, Kik, Slack, Wechat and is architected to support multiple languages.

Kami Analytics(TM) provide real-time conversation analytics, user segmentation and a testing platform to optimise efficiency and insights.

"The team were incredible to work with during the accelerator and fully vindicated our decision to select them for our programme. I spent over three months working closely with the team and witnessed clearly how they drove the business, reacted to daily challenges, committed to deadlines and achieved goals set, all in a high- pressure environment. At all times they were laser focused and fully committed to delivering on their potential. They also set a fantastic example to all our other teams in terms of sheer dedication, hard work and talent," said Wayne Murphy, Programme Director, StartPlanet NI.

He added, "The vote by the audience in awarding 'Most Investible Company' award to Kami was a testament to their potential and ability to now share their story in a way that resonates and makes sense."

About StartPlanet NI:

StartPlanet NI is an international accelerator programme based in Belfast that assists the development of high potential start-ups that have the ability to scale. It is a member of GAN (Global Accelerator Network), which provides invaluable input and access to connections all around the globe. It is a mentor-led program that seeks to drive the future success of talented start-ups by availing leading edge advice, direction and support from internationally successful entrepreneurs and subject matter experts leading to an investor-ready proposition.

About Kami:

Kami is a deep-tech start-up developing a next generation trusted conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform. Kami's platform learns and builds knowledge from conversations, knows and remembers individuals and converses naturally and relevantly. It is a critical enabler to disrupt customer and advisory services, where superior quality dialogue and exchange is essential to building customer trust. Its patented technologies, based on unique algorithms, enable virtual assistants to remember, reason and deliver contextualised responses. It also provides the critical analytics to build actionable insights. Kami is a StartPlanet NI alumni and was voted 'Most Investible Company' from the 2017 accelerator programme. For more information, please visit www.kami.ai

Media Contact:

Alex Cheung

[email protected]

Sharon Ee

[email protected]

+44-7768858779

SOURCE Kami Intelligence

Related Links

http://www.kami.ai


"We are thrilled to be adding Common and OK GO to our list of outstanding Lowdown Hudson Music Fest headliners," said Karen Kitchen, Vice President, Arts Brookfield. "Lowdown has become an eclectic summer music festival staple in New York. The Waterfront Plaza is the perfect setting for this annual communal party for music lovers, with all the creative dining and shopping options of Brookfield Place."

Grammy and Academy Award winning rapper, actor, producer and poet Common opens the festival on Tuesday, July 18. Common's illustrious career began in 1992 with the release of Can I Borrow a Dollar? and he is now one of the most well-known voices in modern rap and R&B. In 2003, Common won his first Grammy Award: Best R&B Song for "Love of My Life" with Erykah Badu. Its popularity was matched by May 2005's Be, which was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Common was awarded his second Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for "Southside (featuring Kanye West)" in 2007. Common won the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the 2015 Academy Award for Best Original Song for his song "Glory" from the 2014 film Selma, in which he co-starred as Civil Rights Movement leader James Bevel.

On Wednesday, July 19, high-energy pop-rock pioneers OK GO take the stage. Formed as a quartet in Chicago in 1998 before relocating to Los Angeles, OK GO (Damian Kulash, Tim Nordwind, Dan Konopka, Andy Ross) have spent their career in a steady state of transformation. On their most recent EP, the band worked with longtime producer and friend Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Weezer, MGMT), while also enlisting a new collaborator in veteran Tony Hoffer, (Beck, Phoenix, Foster the People) to create their most comfortable and far-reaching songs yet.

For more information about the 2017 Lowdown Hudson Music Fest at Brookfield Place NY, visit artsbrookfield.com/lowdown.

ABOUT ARTS BROOKFIELD

Arts Brookfield presents exciting, world-class cultural experiences to hundreds of thousands of people for free each year in both indoor and outdoor public spaces at Brookfield Property Partner's premier office properties in New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Washington, D.C., London, Toronto, Perth and Sydney. From concerts, theater and dance to film screenings and art exhibitions, Arts Brookfield brings public spaces to life through art. Learn more about us at artsbrookfield.com.

ABOUT BROOKFIELD PLACE

Brookfield Place New York is the apotheosis of luxury shopping, dining and cultural arts in downtown Manhattan. The complex is uniquely positioned just south of Tribeca along the Hudson River waterfront. International fashion houses including Hermes, Bottega Veneta, Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Omega, Ermenegildo Zegna, and contemporary fashion brands such as Diane von Furstenberg, Theory, Michael Kors, Vince, Paul Smith, and Lululemon make Brookfield Place Downtown Manhattan's most sought-after shopping destination. An 85,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue women's department store opened Fall 2016, in addition to a dedicated Saks Fifth Avenue men's store, which opened its doors at Brookfield Place in Winter 2017. Best-in-class dining options include Hudson Eats, a curated collection of 14 chef-driven fast-casual eateries; Le District, a 30,000-square-foot French-inspired marketplace and signature restaurants including Amada and Parm. Del Frisco's Grille will open in 2017, further diversifying the robust dining experiences at Brookfield Place NY. Complemented by the renowned cultural programming of Arts Brookfield, Brookfield Place NY is leading the transformation of the area as the premier destination for residents and visitors alike. For more information, please visit: brookfieldplaceny.com.

SOURCE Arts Brookfield
FedEx Services has hired six of the graduating students as IT support associates at the FedEx World Technology Center in Collierville, Tenn. Students will have the opportunity to transition into full-time roles at the end of the summer. The positions are in software and hardware engineering.

FedEx recently launched the Pathfinder Program, designed to seek out top talent for hire from non-traditional educational paths, and Base Camp Coding Academy was a perfect match.

"The caliber of the education, which simulates a traditional 40 hour work week, coupled with deep hands-on coding education and soft-skill development, created graduates with excellent potential to thrive at FedEx," said Bob Bortz, director of Projects & Talent Development at FedEx.

C Spire, a Ridgeland, Miss.-based telecommunications and technology company, hired four Base Camp graduates in full-time, paid summer internships with the potential to convert into full-time permanent jobs at the end of the internship period.

Base Camp students had a chance to visit C Spire earlier this spring to tour company operations, talk with executives, and interview for the summer positions. Recently, three students returned for a week of job shadowing, where they saw all they have learned over the last 11 months, applied on the job.

"Base Camp students have demonstrated strong project-based coding experience, coupled with a hunger to learn and grow, which is an ideal fit for our company culture," said Carla Lewis, CIO for C Spire and a founding BCCA board member. "We look forward to challenging them to achieve their potential."

After hosting a shadowing week for students, Oxford, Miss.-based mTrade made a full-time job offer to one student. "I'm passionate about assessing a candidate's skills and potential more so than whether or not they have a degree," said mTrade CTO Zack Watts, noting that software engineering is a field that lends itself to alternative education.

"Technology is changing so rapidly that seasoned engineers need to self-educate to stay current and there are plenty of online tools to do so. The Base Camp education provided a strong foundation that we can easily build upon with real-world experience," Watts added.

With their mission of providing 100 percent scholarships to all students accepted into the year-long coding program, Base Camp was thrilled to receive a sponsorship grant from FedEx.

"We are deeply appreciative of this generous donation and look forward to our continued relationship with FedEx," said Bethany Cooper, founding trustee of Base Camp.

The success of the inaugural class at Base Camp came to the notice of Jan and Lawrence Farrington, a couple with a long history of investment in entrepreneurship and philanthropies across Mississippi. The Farringtons have joined the community of businesses, philanthropists, and educational institutions making Base Camp possible as Founding Sponsors.

"This donation means a great deal coming from Jan and Lawrence, Farrington, true leaders and philanthropists supporting technology in Mississippi," noted Glen Evans, co-founder of Base Camp Coding Academy and President of FNC, Inc.

Each founding sponsor and partner make Base Camp possible and allow it to operate with zero cost to the students. This group of business, education, and philanthropic leaders includes Northwest Mississippi Community College, Diane and Dick Scruggs, the C Spire Foundation, Paige and Glen Evans, FNC / Corelogic, the John N. Palmer Foundation, Renasant Bank, and now FedEx and Jan and Lawrence Farrington.

Base Camp Coding Academy also cited other recent community sponsors who have shown their support, including Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy on behalf of their Make it Happen Foundation, Brainshark, Inc., a web-based software company in Waltham, Mass., and the AOL Charitable Foundation.

The Base Camp board hosted a recent celebration for the graduating class and a fundraiser for the organization with proceeds funding future student scholarships.

As the program celebrates its inaugural year success, Executive Director and co-founder Kagan Coughlin said BCCA is busy recruiting its 2018 class of students. Off to a strong start, Coughlin said teachers, clergy, and other community leaders have been nominating graduating seniors, who have high aptitude and potential, with limited opportunities following high school graduation.

For more information about Base Camp Coding Academy, go to www.basecampcodingacademy.org. To nominate a student for the full scholarship program, contact Coughlin at [email protected]. The 2018 class will begin on June 1.

About Base Camp Coding Academy

Located in Water Valley, MS, the non-profit Base Camp Coding Academy (BCCA) is a hands-on, challenging and fun program, designed to train high school age students to be software developers. In a small classroom setting, students work with real world technologies to learn the fundamentals of coding, app development and the life leadership skills they will need to be successful in their career and competitive in the job market. The year-long program is free to students and aims to help address the private sector's historical shortage of high-tech skilled labor by training local youth to fill the positions. Every year, Mississippi has 1,200 unfilled computing jobs and less than 200 computer science graduates.

SOURCE Base Camp Coding Academy

Related Links

http://www.basecampcodingacademy.org


CORBETTA, Italy and SOUTHFIELD, Mich., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- By 2020, predictions indicate that 70 percent of light vehicles worldwide will use turbocharged engine technology1. As a result, BASF is introducing the use of its Ultramid Endure polyamide with high heat aging resistance up to 220 C in these engines. There are two new powertrain applications utilizing the company's high heat resistant Endure thermoplastics; the air intake manifold with integrated charge air cooler, and hot-side turbo duct. Both debut on the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia with the new 2.0L GME engine.

Turbochargers provide high pressure air to the engine that makes fuel burn efficiently  delivering greater engine power while consuming less energy. However, most standard thermoplastics cannot maintain desired performance under the high heat and pressure developed in a turbocharged engine, which is why BASF developed the Ultramid Endure portfolio of engineered resins. The Endure grades offer high heat aging resistance, good processability, excellent weld line strength and are available for production in North America, Europe, and Asia to support global Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) programs.

The Ultramid Endure portfolio can be used in many air induction applications of the turbocharged system including the air intake manifold, charge-air ducts, resonators, intercooler end caps and throttle bodies. It can also achieve long-term service temperatures of 220 C, and withstand peak temperatures of 240 C. Its notable heat aging behavior results from an innovative stabilization system, which greatly reduces oxygen attack on the polymer surface.

"We predict that about 20 percent of all turbocharger applications will require a high heat resistant plastic as engine temperatures increase due to downsizing," said Mike Chiandussi, Powertrain Market Segment Specialist at BASF. "BASF is able to deliver not only the innovative materials necessary for these applications, but also the design and welding expertise and know-how to ensure that suppliers and automakers can incorporate them successfully into their turbocharger system parts."

Hot-Side Turbo Duct

BASF collaborated with ABC Group Inc. to develop the hot-side turbo duct for the Alfa Romeo Giulia. For this application, ABC Group used BASF's Ultramid Endure D5G3 BM, a 15 percent glass fiber reinforced blow molding grade, which has a high melt strength and superior heat aging resistance.

ABC Group leveraged BASF's material and joining technology expertise to optimize the infrared (IR) welding parameters for this part. It was crucial to achieve strong welds to insure the long-term durability of the duct.

"After conducting numerous resins trials through molding, welding and vigorous validation testing, we were able to use an industry-first material and meet the significant requirements for this application," said Mary Anne Bueschkens, CEO of ABC Group. "The part requires many weld connections, and our engineers worked closely with BASF's material and joining experts to understand the unique requirements, allowing us to fine tune our infrared welding technology, and assuring success of the welding process for this demanding high temperature duct."

Air Intake Manifold with Integrated Charge Air Cooler

BASF worked with Magneti Marelli to develop the air intake manifold with integrated charge air cooler for the Alfa Romeo Giulia. The need for materials to withstand a 200C continuous use temperature made this air intake manifold a prime candidate for the Ultramid Endure D3G7, a 35 percent glass fiber injection molding grade.

The air intake manifold has a burst pressure requirement; therefore, Magneti Marelli needed a solution that offered reliable weld strength at elevated temperatures. Using BASF's design, material and processing expertise, Magneti Marelli could achieve the required burst strength and durability targets for the assembly.

"BASF's technical support was useful to ensure the application passed the burst requirement," said Marcello Colli, Product Manager Throttle Bodies, at Magneti Marelli. "Their material and welding experience ensured that we could use this heat resistant material and meet long-term durability targets."

As heat under-the-hood increases, the Ultramid Endure portfolio of solutions enables automakers to achieve engine downsizing and turbocharging without sacrificing performance.

This Alfa Romeo-exclusive engine debuts in the new 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia and Giulia Ti premium mid-size sedan. The 2.0-liter Alfa Romeo engine delivers 280 horsepower and 306 lb.-ft. of torque, allowing it to launch from 0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds, and achieve a top speed of 149 mph.

For more information, visit www.automotive.basf.com

1 Source: Honeywell, a global developer of automotive turbochargers

For press photos, click on the link below:

https://www.basf.com/en/company/news-and-media/news-releases/2017/05/p-17-211.html

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 17,500 employees in North America, and had sales of $16.2 billion in 2016. For more information about BASF's North American operations, visit www.basf.us.



At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about 58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.

About ABC Group Inc.

Founded in 1974, ABC Group Incorporation is one of the world's leading, full-service automotive suppliers of thermoplastic components and systems to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's). Our global headquarters is in Toronto, Canada, with 36 domestic and international locations across Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Poland, Japan and China. For further information about ABC Group Inc., please visit www.abcgroupinc.com.

About Magneti Marelli

Magneti Marelli designs and produces advanced systems and components for the automotive industry. With 86 production units, 12 R&D centres in 19 countries, approximately 43,000 employees and a turnover of 7.9 billion Euro in 2016, the group supplies all the major car makers in Europe, North and South America and the Far East. The business areas include Electronic Systems, Illumination, Powertrain, Suspension and Shock Absorbing Systems, Exhaust Systems, Aftermarket Parts & Services, Plastic Components and Modules, Motorsport. Magneti Marelli is part of FCA.

SOURCE BASF

Related Links

http://www.basf.com


SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BioAtla, LLC, a global biotechnology company focused on the development of Conditionally Active Biologic (CAB) antibody therapeutics, today announced the appointment of Yong Ben, M.D., as chief medical officer. Dr. Ben, an experienced biotechnology drug developer in oncology, joins the Company from AstraZeneca, where he was most recently Global Clinical Lead, Immuno-Oncology. His clinical leadership in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies led to several oncology drug approvals including, for AstraZeneca, the most recent approval of a PD-L1 antibody, durvalumab (Imfinzi), for the treatment of urothelial cancer, ixazomib (Ninlaro) in multiple myeloma for Millennium/Takeda, axitinib (Inlyta) in renal cancer for Pfizer, and oncolytic virus H101 in head and neck cancer for SunwayBio.

"Dr. Ben's experience and proven capabilities in leading the clinical development of innovative oncology products over a range of indications greatly enhances BioAtla's ability to design, implement, and execute clinical programs evolving from our CAB platform" said Jay M. Short, Ph.D., chairman, president and chief executive officer of BioAtla.

About Dr. Ben

Dr. Ben joins BioAtla with over 20 years of industry and academic experience in oncology. During his 13 years of increasing responsibility in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, he has led wide-spectrum clinical development efforts from phase 1 to phase 3 clinical trials, from strategy planning to study execution and BLA/NDA submissions. Prior to his career at AstraZeneca, Dr. Ben was Medical Director, Oncology Clinical Research at Millennium Pharmaceuticals where, in addition to leading the pivotal global phase 3 study for ixazomib in refractory/relapsed multiple myeloma, he was clinical lead in the orteronel and alisertib programs. Prior to that, Dr. Ben was Lead Clinician/Global Medical Monitor, Clinical Development for the Pfizer Oncology Business Unit and earlier was Project Manager, Asia Research & Development for Pfizer Global Research & Development. Dr. Ben began his career in industry with Shanghai Sunway Biotech Co., a leader in the field of oncolytic viruses. Dr. Ben started his career as a surgical oncologist at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. Dr. Ben received his medical degree from Norman Bethune Medical University and his MBA from the University of California, San Diego.

About Conditionally Active Biologics (CABs)

Conditionally Active Biologic proteins are generated using BioAtla's proprietary protein discovery, evolution and expression technologies. These proteins can be mAbs, enzymes and other proteins designed with functions dependent on changes in microphysiological conditions (e.g., pH level, oxidation, temperature, pressure, presence of certain ions, hydrophobicity and combinations thereof) both outside and inside cells.

Studies have shown that cancerous tumors create highly specific conditions at their site that are not present in normal tissue. These cancerous microenvironments are primarily a result of the well understood unique glycolytic metabolism associated with cancer cells, referred to as the Warburg Effect. CAB proteins are designed to deliver their therapeutic payload and/or recruit the immune response in specific and selected locations and conditions within the body and to be active only in the presence of a particular cellular microenvironment. In addition, the activation is designed to be reversible to repeatedly switch 'on and off' should the CAB move from a diseased to a normal cellular microenvironment and vice versa. CABs can be developed in a variety of formats including antibodies, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), bi-specifics, chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-Ts) and combination therapies.

About BioAtla, LLC

BioAtla is a global biotechnology company with operations in San Diego, California, and Beijing, China. BioAtla develops novel monoclonal antibody and other protein therapeutic product candidates designed to have more selective targeting, greater efficacy, and more cost-efficient and predictable manufacturing than traditional antibodies.

Learn more at www.bioatla.com.

Contact:

Richard Waldron

Chief Financial Officer

BioAtla, LLC

[email protected]

858.356.8945

SOURCE BioAtla, LLC

Related Links

http://bioatla.com


BIOTRONIK's MRI AutoDetect technology ensures patients with CRM devices can safely undergo MRI scans while minimizing programming burdens for hospitals. Once activated by a physician, MRI AutoDetect can automatically recognize when the patient enters an MRI environment and convert the device to MRI mode. When the scan is complete, MRI AutoDetect automatically returns the device to its permanent program. Physicians can program MRI AutoDetect to be active for up to 14 days, allowing patients unprecedented flexibility to undergo, reschedule or repeat MRI scans as needed during the set timeframe. MRI AutoDetect is currently available on BIOTRONIK's newest line of CRM devices, including the Ilivia series for tachycardia.

BIOTRONIK is committed to encouraging discussions about the patient care continuum and will highlight proven CRM solutions at the Heart Rhythm Society's 38th Annual Scientific Sessions on May 10-13 in Chicago (booth #820).

"At BIOTRONIK we know that physicians need trusted solutions that they can use with confidence. Because confidence provides peace of mind so physicians can focus on what is truly most importantpatient care," said Marlou Janssen, President of BIOTRONIK, Inc. "Patient care isn't about one day, it's about every single day. We must continue strivingas caregivers, as committed researchers, as industry partnersto provide care that extends beyond the implant. MRI AutoDetect is another example of innovative technology from BIOTRONIK that instills confidence and provides peace of mind for patients and caregivers."

Attendees at the Heart Rhythm Scientific Sessions are invited to engage in the #CareBeyond discussion by participating in the following events:

Visit BIOTRONIK's booth (#820) to learn about medical technology that improves efficiency and cardiac patient outcomes beyond implantation. BIOTRONIK is highlighting MRI AutoDetect technology, 360 CRT solutions, BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring  , cardiac diagnostics, DX and ProMRI  .

, cardiac diagnostics, DX and ProMRI . Attend the Electrophysiologists International Community (EPIC) Alliance welcome reception, sponsored by BIOTRONIK, on May 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel. Founded in 2010, the EPIC Alliance is a global network for female electrophysiologists.

from at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel. Founded in 2010, the EPIC Alliance is a global network for female electrophysiologists. Learn about the company's response to global CRM treatment challenges from BIOTRONIK, Inc. President Marlou Janssen during Scientific Session "Too Many Go Without: Combatting the Global Challenge of Inadequate Access to Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices & Treatment" on May 11 from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. (C-EP02).

during Scientific Session "Too Many Go Without: Combatting the Global Challenge of Inadequate Access to Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices & Treatment" on from (C-EP02). Visit poster presentations:

"A randomized comparison of economic and clinical effects of automatic remote MONITORing versus control in patients with ICDs: The MONITOR-ICD study," May 12 , 1:30-1:45 p.m. (C-AB24-01)

, (C-AB24-01)

"Predicting Appropriate ICD Therapy with Real-Time Home Monitoring in the IMPACT Trial," May 12 , 2-5 p.m. (C-PO05-33)

, (C-PO05-33)

"Early Experience of the Sentus OTW Quadripolar LV Lead Confirms Safety and Performance," May 13 , 9:30 a.m.-noon (C-PO06-30)

, (C-PO06-30) Share thoughts and pictures on Twitter using the hashtag #CareBeyond discussing the importance of extending care beyond the implant and what that means to physicians, hospitals and patients.

About BIOTRONIK

A global leader in cardio- and endovascular medical technology, BIOTRONIK is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and represented in over 100 countries. Several million patients have received BIOTRONIK implants designed to save and improve the quality of their lives, or have been treated with BIOTRONIK coronary and peripheral vascular intervention products. Since its development of the first German pacemaker in 1963, BIOTRONIK has engineered many innovations, including Magmaris*, the first clinically-proven resorbable magnesium scaffold; BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring; Pulsar-18, the world's first 4 F compatible stent for treating long lesions; Orsiro**, the industry's first hybrid drug-eluting stent; and the world's first implantable cardioverter defibrillators and heart failure therapy devices with ProMRI technology.

* Not currently available in the United States.

** CAUTION  Investigational device. Limited by United States law to investigational use.

For more information, visit: www.biotronikusa.com

Twitter: @BIOTRONIK_US

Facebook: facebook.com/BIOTRONIKUS

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/BIOTRONIK

YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UC3d_gUXhUICD-mxHRYDoHcQ

SOURCE BIOTRONIK
97.1 percent complication-free rate at six months

1.43 percent lead dislodgement rate

93.4 percent of subjects achieved permanent pacing vector pacing threshold lower than 2.5 V at three months

As more patients are living longer with cardiac conditions, BIOTRONIK continues to invest in research and development to bring solutions to market that improve quality of life for patients. Sentus ProMRI is a quadripolar coronary sinus left ventricular (LV) lead with an isodiametric design that marries co-radial wire insulation technology and polyurethane coating for maximum flexibility and reduced friction. The lead's four electrodes feature BIOTRONIK's proven fractal iridium coating to maximize performance.

"With the array of leads available today, every patient should be implanted with an MR conditional device," said Dr. Venkat R. Iyer, electrophysiologist at Bayview Physicians Group in Norfolk, Virginia. "Our patients deserve nothing less than the best possible care. With MR conditional solutions, we can help ensure this continues throughout the patient care journey."

Sentus ProMRI completes the ProMRI quadripolar system when used with BIOTRONIK's Inventra HF-T QP cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D), making it the only MR conditional heart failure solution available in the United States that delivers ultra-high energy (42J) therapy on the first and every shock. This system offers Closed Loop Stimulation (CLS)BIOTRONIK's unique physiologic rate-adaptive algorithm that automatically optimizes to each patient's needs based on real-time metabolic demand. It also features BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring, which has shown a 50% reduction in mortality1 in patients with heart failure, as proven in the IN-TIME study.

"After more than 50 years with zero lead recalls, we continue to invest in solutions that positively impact patient lives," said Marlou Janssen, President at BIOTRONIK, Inc. "By equipping physicians with the most impactful cardiovascular solutions to confidently treat patients, we reinforce BIOTRONIK's dedication to advancing innovation that matters to health systems, physicians and patients."

Reference

1 Hindricks G, et al. The Lancet. 2014, 384 (9943).

About BIOTRONIK

A global leader in cardio- and endovascular medical technology, BIOTRONIK is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and represented in over 100 countries. Several million patients have received BIOTRONIK implants designed to save and improve the quality of their lives, or have been treated with BIOTRONIK coronary and peripheral vascular intervention products. Since its development of the first German pacemaker in 1963, BIOTRONIK has engineered many innovations, including Magmaris*, the first clinically-proven resorbable magnesium scaffold; BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring; Pulsar, the world's first 4 F compatible stent for treating long lesions; Orsiro**, the industry's first hybrid drug-eluting stent; and the world's first implantable cardioverter defibrillators and heart failure therapy devices with ProMRI technology.

* Not currently available in the United States.

** CAUTION  Investigational device. Limited by United States law to investigational use.

For more information, visit: www.biotronikusa.com

Twitter: @BIOTRONIK_US

Facebook: facebook.com/BIOTRONIKUS

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/BIOTRONIK

YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UC3d_gUXhUICD-mxHRYDoHcQ

SOURCE BIOTRONIK
BMC believes these results are a catalyst for the new adaptive approach to IT automation  Digital Business Automation  that simplifies managing hybrid multi-cloud environments.

The BMC study of over 650 IT decision makers across 12 countries found that by 2020, 94 percent of IT decision makers expect automation to spread from IT departments into all areas of business in order to keep pace with the accelerated digital business innovation race sweeping every industry and region worldwide. The Top 3 areas of investment priority in the next 24 months are containerization, workload automation/scheduling and DevOps.

"As companies continue to incorporate hybrid cloud capabilities across the digital enterprise, they are challenged by the complexity of managing workloads across on premises, public and private clouds," said Gur Steif, president, digital business automation at BMC. "IT teams must be able to manage the customer value chain in spite of decentralized usage of cloud services. This is requiring a new level of IT automation to adapt to the challenges posed by increasingly diverse infrastructure, disparate data, and accelerated applications  the critical components of digital business."

Almost 9 in 10 (89% of) global IT decision makers agree that IT automation must be used in new ways to achieve their desired digital business objectives. Enterprise architects, in particular, cite various obstacles preventing them from achieving their digital business objectives, including a lack of the necessary budget (67 percent), skills (44 percent) and time (51 percent.)

Gur Steif added, "BMC believes that without taking a new approach to IT automation, companies will not be able to overcome the budget, skills, and time constraint challenges identified by the survey respondents. Only through new digital-first technologies with automation solutions that support hybrid multi-clouds, will CIOs enable their companies to innovate, transform, and accelerate growth by aggressively pursuing a digital agenda that differentiates them from their competitors."

The research also suggests that businesses face other digital transformation challenges in ensuring objectives are aligned. Of CIOs surveyed, 42 percent believed that conflicting objectives remain between business units, with 32 percent of CIOs expressing the need for tighter internal organizational alignment.

Despite the new challenges and opportunities associated with digital business automation, the BMC study found that 88 percent of IT decision makers believe they are empowered to deliver the required IT innovation to drive digital business transformation and bridge this gap, and 77 percent of respondents believe that businesses are doing enough to prepare and train the workforce with greater automation skills. Respondents in the USA (97 percent), Mexico (98 percent), and Spain (94 percent) feel the most empowered to deliver IT innovation.

Seventy-six percent of global respondents consider themselves excellent or very good at using data to deliver tangible business outcomes for a competitive advantage (88 percent in North America, 80 percent in South America, 75 percent in Europe, and 64 percent in APAC.)

To download an e-book to learn more about the need for Digital Business Automation, click here.

To register for the May 31 webinar about how digital business is shaping the next wave of automation, click here.

Methodology

654 respondents were surveyed online between the 3rd and 12th of April 2017. The sample was split across Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, the UK, and the USA. All of the markets had a minimum of 50 respondents with 100 in the USA alone. The data was weighted to 600 respondents globally with equal contributions for each market. Respondents were eligible if employed either full or part-time at companies with at least 250 employees, and they identified themselves as having one of the following job titles (base size shown in brackets): CIO (237), VP IT Operations or above (214), VP Application Development or above (131), Enterprise Architect (98). Respondents were sourced through pre-recruited online B2B research panels by opinion.life, a sub-division of delineate.

About BMC

BMC is a global leader in innovative software solutions that enable businesses to transform into digital enterprises for the ultimate competitive advantage. Our Digital Enterprise Management solutions are designed to make digital business fast, seamless, and optimized from mainframe to mobile to cloud and beyond. BMC digital IT transforms 82 percent of the Fortune 500 and serves more than 10,000 customers worldwide.

BMC  Bring IT to Life

BMC, BMC Software, the BMC logo, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software Inc., are registered or pending registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2017 BMC Software, Inc.

About opinion.life

opinion.life is an international market research firm driven by the idea that all opinions matter. From the individual, to the communities and workplaces they form, opinion.life uses research and technology expertise to understand the behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that shape our world - www.opinion.life

Editorial contacts:

Sheila Watson

BMC

D: 713.918.8832

M: 713.294.6818

[email protected]

Daniella Kohan

Hotwire PR

D: 646.568.3184

[email protected]

SOURCE BMC

Related Links

http://www.bmc.com


BOCA RATON, Fla., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 26, 2017, local and national sponsors came together to host the ninth annual Proper Affair Fashion Show at the Old School Square Fieldhouse. Hosted by Boston Proper, retailer of fearlessly feminine fashions, this dazzling fundraising benefitted the Achievement Centers for Children & Families in support of underprivileged children and low-income families in the local community raising over $40,000.

National womens retailer Boston Proper recently hosted the ninth annual Proper Affair Fashion Show at the Old School Square Fieldhouse. Proceeds from the event benefitted Achievement Centers for Children & Families, an agency supporting underprivileged children and low-income families in the Boca Raton/Delray Beach, Florida area. For information about Boston Proper, visit www.bostonproper.com. For information about Achievement Centers, visit www.achievementcentersfl.org.

Hosted by Eye On South Florida's Lisa Sussman and taking place at Old School Square, the Proper Affair featured an extensive silent auction, DJ Bumi Benjamin, complimentary cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, special performances by the ACCF drumline and dance troupe, an incredible live auction and a knockout fashion show.

Proceeds from the event support programs at the Achievement Center for Children & Families in Delray Beach. The center provides services to nearly 800 boys and girls from ages 1 to 18 and their families.

Event sponsors included Boston Proper, Celebrity Cruises, A and J Apparel Corp., Alexia Admor, Clothes Lines Unlimited, Elks Lodge of Delray Beach, Epstein Family, Global Wise Development LTD., Grieco Chevrolet of Delray, Grieco Ford of Delray, Grove Industries, Infogroup Media Solutions, Jump Apparel, Listrak, LSC Communications, MC2 Model Management, Michelle Smith & Stacey McBall, Northern Trust, Premier Properties  Judi Lukens and Kim Lekas, Saltwater Brewery, Sheryll Thogerson, Soft Surroundings, Swimwear Anywhere, The Central National Gottesman Foundation and Tito's Handmade Vodka.

If you would like additional information regarding the event, please contact Christine Galenski, Director of Events & Marketing for Achievement Centers for Children & Families, at [email protected] or Katrina Turner, Brand Marketing Communications & PR for Boston Proper, at [email protected].

About the Achievement Center for Children & Families

The Achievement Centers for Children & Families is a non-profit, community-based, social services agency that provides a safe, nurturing environment for children living in poverty while meeting their academic, social, emotional and physical needs. The organization's award-winning services and nationally accredited programs serve over 800 children aged 1-18 years and 500 adults. The centers' campus is at 555 NW 4th Street in Delray Beach, FL; the Village Academy campus is at 400 SW 12th Avenue, and the newest location at Pine Grove Elementary School at 400 SE 10th Street. For more information, call (561) 266-0003 or visit www.achievementcentersfl.org.

About Boston Proper

Boston Proper, headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, is a national retailer of fearlessly feminine apparel and accessories for women who wear it like no one else. Considered fashion's best kept secret for more than 25 years, the brand specializes in sexy and distinctive styles you can't find anywhere else and is sold exclusively via direct catalog and at www.bostonproper.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Katrina Turner

Brand Marketing Communications & PR

(561) 990-1749

[email protected]

SOURCE Boston Proper

Related Links

https://www.bostonproper.com


RALEIGH, N.C., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bulk TV & Internet (Bulk TV), a leading provider of television, Internet and voice solutions to commercial properties nationwide was recently named as one of the 2017 Best Employers in North Carolina. This survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize, and honor the best employers in the state to benefit the economy, workforce, and businesses in North Carolina.

The 2017 Best Employers in North Carolina list is made up of 35 companies from various industries. Bulk TV ranked #10 in the Small-Medium Companies category, which represents companies with 15 to 249 U.S. employees. This is the fifth consecutive year that Bulk TV has been included on the list.

Bulk TV has quickly become the leader in turnkey, in-room technology solutions tailored to meet the needs of hotels, senior living communities, healthcare centers, universities, and fitness centers as well as restaurants and other small businesses. As a nationally recognized integrator, the company delivers turnkey television and Internet solutions that include design and engineering of systems, project management, installation and round-the-clock live technical support. Bulk TV's commitment to providing high quality products, services and support has driven the exponential success since the company's inception in 2004.

"We appreciate the dedication and efforts that our team puts in daily, and we recognize the importance of providing our employees a fulfilling place to work," said Tim Conley, chief operating officer for Bulk TV. "One of our top priorities is to retain and develop our staff in an effort to maintain our reputation as the best in the industry. It is an honor to be included among the most well-respected employers in North Carolina."

To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

Be a for-profit, not-for-profit business or government entity;

Be a publicly or privately held business;

Have a facility in the state of North Carolina ;

; Have a minimum of 15 employees working in the state of North Carolina ;

; Must be in business a minimum of one year.

This program was created by Business North Carolina, NC Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and Best Companies Group. Companies from North Carolina entered the two-part survey process to determine the 2017 Best Employers in North Carolina. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process, analyzed the data, and determined the final rankings.

The actual rankings were published May 1, 2017, by Business North Carolina. To see the entire list of the Best Employers in North Carolina please visit Business North Carolina's website, www.businessnc.com. For more information on the Best Employers in North Carolina program, visit www.BestEmployersInNC.com. For more information on Bulk TV & Internet, please visit www.bulktv.com.

About Bulk TV & Internet

Bulk TV & Internet (Bulk TV) is a leading provider of DIRECTV television solutions designed to meet the unique needs of commercial properties. Bulk TV provides service to more than 430,000 rooms nationwide including free-to-guest television programming and digital satellite TV systems. Each customized TV solution receives thorough quality assurance throughout every step of the process, which includes engineering, project management, professional installation and 24/7 technical support. In addition to award-winning television services, Bulk TV also offers high speed Internet access services in partnership with Blueprint RF and Mitel voice systems.

SOURCE Bulk TV & Internet

Related Links

http://www.bulktv.com


BOSTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Burns & Levinson announced today that three highly accomplished life sciences attorneys  Daniel W. Clarke, Ph.D., Christopher R. Cowles, Ph.D., and Richard B. Emmons, Ph.D.  have joined the firm as partners in its Life Sciences and Intellectual Property (IP) Groups. Together, the team brings over three decades of combined experience representing innovative clients in the life sciences and technology sectors on intellectual property matters. Their expertise expands the depth and breadth of the intellectual property practice at Burns & Levinson and allows Drs. Clarke, Cowles, and Emmons to provide clients with seasoned advice and unparalleled service. They were previously with Mintz Levin in Boston.

"Our life sciences and intellectual property practices continue to grow in response to increasing demand for the client-focused and results-oriented legal services that our firm provides," said David P. Rosenblatt, managing partner at Burns & Levinson. "We are committed to strategically growing our Intellectual Property Group into one of the nation's top IP practices, and are always looking to add exceptional talent to our world-class team. Dan, Chris, and Richard are impressive attorneys who will be a great asset to our high profile life sciences clients."

Dr. Clarke counsels clients in strategic patent procurement, IP due diligence, and worldwide prosecution in the area of biotechnology and the life sciences. He works with a broad range of clients  from small biotech start-ups and academic institutions, to mid-sized and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies  in the fields of cellular and molecular biology, oncology, immunology, microbiology, and virology, among others. Dr. Clarke earned his B.A. from the University of Texas in 2001, his Ph.D. in molecular microbiology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2006, and his J.D., with distinction, from Suffolk University in 2011. In 2016, he was recognized as a Rising Star by Massachusetts Super Lawyers and as a Future Leader by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Cowles possesses law firm and in-house experience in biotechnology patent preparation and prosecution, domestic and international IP portfolio management, and IP due diligence. His areas of expertise include oligonucleotide therapeutics, oncology, diagnostics, antibody, microbiology, virology, cell biology, and genomic technologies. Dr. Cowles earned his B.A., magna cum laude, in biochemistry and economics from Rice University in 1992, his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of California  San Diego in 1998, and his J.D., cum laude, from Suffolk University in 2008. He performed post-doctoral research at the Whitehead Institute/MIT as a Damon Runyon fellow, and has been recognized as a Rising Star in 2016 by Massachusetts Super Lawyers.

Dr. Emmons counsels corporate and institutional clients in the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patents in the life sciences, medical device, and mechanical art areas. He assists clients with IP due diligence, IP licensing, and patentability, infringement, validity, and freedom-to-operate analyses. His areas of expertise include cell and molecular biology, genetics, and developmental biology. Dr. Emmons earned his B.A. in ecology from the College of the Atlantic in 1992, his Ph.D. in developmental biology from Washington University School of Medicine in 2000, and his J.D. from Suffolk University in 2012. He also performed post-doctoral research in the Department of Genetics at the Harvard Medical School. He has been recognized as a Rising Star (2014-2016) by Massachusetts Super Lawyers.

The legal and scientific prowess of Drs. Clarke, Cowles, and Emmons further enhances Burns' existing team of high-caliber IP and business attorneys who advise life sciences companies throughout their life cycle  from technology and product licensing, patent and trademark procurement and enforcement, and strategic partnering and acquisitions to public and private financings, cross-border transactions, and export regulation compliance. The firm represents life sciences companies and entrepreneurs around the globe in diverse industries including biotechnology, clinical diagnostics, health care, medical devices, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals, as well as academic institutions and research organizations.

About Burns & Levinson LLP

At Burns & Levinson, we provide high-level, client-centric and results-oriented legal services to our regional, national and international clients. We are a full-service law firm with over 125 lawyers in Boston, Providence and other regional offices. The firm has grown steadily and strategically throughout the years and has become a premier law firm. Our areas of expertise include: business/finance, business litigation/dispute resolution, divorce/family law, venture capital/emerging companies, employment, estate planning, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A/private equity, probate/trust litigation, and real estate. We partner with our clients to solve their business and personal legal issues in a collaborative, creative, and cost-effective way. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com.

Contact:

Amy Blumenthal Kristen Weller Blumenthal & Associates Director of Marketing & Communications 617.879.1511 617.345.3555 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Burns & Levinson LLP

Related Links

http://www.burnslev.com


LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In an age where ideas are increasingly conveyed through infographics, snackable soundbites and limited characters, Forbes Insights and Deloitte have produced a report that stands counter to the general perception that brevity and digital content are most effective in the field of communications in the 21st century. The study shows that many C-level executives buck these trends, with more than one-third of them preferring traditional longer data-based formats, in print.

Forbes Insights, the thought leadership arm of Forbes Media, in partnership with the Deloitte Center for Industry Insights, surveyed nearly 300 C-level executives globally to analyse how top executives prefer to receive business insights. The resulting report, "Thought Leadership in Action: Strategic Content to Help CXOs Learn and Lead," explores how executives consume the thought leadership insights that shape how they steer their businesses into the future. To view the report, please visit http://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/thought_leadership_cxo/index.html.

Key findings include:

-- C-suite executives expect to be able to access insights in multiple ways. While C-suite executives like being able to access shorter formats and visualization tools online (particularly true for CIOs, CFOs and COOs who often times need access to data quickly and easily), the majority continue to benefit from traditional longer formats, such as presentations, books and comprehensive papers.



Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer of Forbes Media, puts this in the context of the level of the audience who participated in the survey. "Short-form content serves as a gateway to more information," he says. "Nevertheless, CxOs need to think and act strategically, which is why they want access to longer pieces, which take them from hypothesis, through case studies, to conclusion, and are based on credible data."

-- Big data is a mixed bag in terms of its usefulness for business insights. Big data is considered a critical source (63 percent), but 62 percent of surveyed CxOs said that insights from big data are not always useful. At the same time, 71 percent of the CxOs believe that traditional surveys remain valuable. CxOs need to find a way to process all types of data, as only 30 percent say that their organisations value the judgment of executives over insights from customer data. Relying on gut instinct is finally becoming the way of the past.

Gina Pingitore, Managing Director, Deloitte Services LP, Deloitte Center for Industry Insights, said, "Evidence-based decision-making is more critical than ever before for setting strategy. That's why thought leadership needs to present CxOs with data-based insights that are credible, relevant to their organisations and lead to business outcomes."



-- Online is growing, but print is not dead. While content needs to be designed for and distributed via multiple channels, print is still an important medium. Half of the C-suite says that reading business insights in print is still critical, particularly for longer pieces, and over 84 percent indicate they would choose to read a four- to five-page report off-line, followed by on a PC (75 percent), tablet (70 percent) and smartphone (59 percent).

-- Professional publishing and consulting firms produce the most valuable content. CxOs obtain the most valuable content from organisations that can analyse information and put it in a narrative context: general news media and business publications (54 percent), consulting firms (48 percent) and management journals (47 percent).

The report also provides several sections on content creation, based on Forbes Insights' publishing acumen. It includes guidelines for how to write, edit and structure content to create engaging thought leadership insights that will be widely read by business executives. Forbes Insights also offers ideas about what's coming nexttop thought leadership themes for 2020 and beyond.

For marketers, 90 percent of whom told Forbes Insights that they must develop a publishing function to execute growth, the report presents the "Keys to Enabling the Enterprise Publishing Process with Technology."

Note to Editors

About this research

This report is based on a global survey of 283 C-level executives conducted by Deloitte and Forbes Insights. Half the respondents represent companies with annual revenues of at least $5 billion. Download the report at http://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/thought_leadership_cxo/index.html.

About Forbes Insights

Forbes Insights is the strategic research and thought leadership practice of Forbes Media, a global media, branding and technology company whose combined platforms reach nearly 75 million business decision makers worldwide on a monthly basis. By leveraging proprietary databases of senior-level executives in the Forbes community, Forbes Insights conducts research on a wide range of topics to position brands as thought leaders and drive stakeholder engagement. Research findings are delivered through a variety of digital, print and live executions, and amplified across Forbes' social and media platforms.

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


BOCA RATON, Fla., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Celsius Holdings, Inc., (OTCQX: CELH), the maker of CELSIUS, a leading fitness drink designed for the active lifestyle, today announced the CELSIUS was named Best Functional Drink at the recent 13th Innobev Global Beverage Congress organized by Zenith Global and held in Frankfurt, Germany.

More than 100 entries from around the world, in 18 categories, demonstrating creativity, innovation, marketing and sustainability, participated in this year's awards.

"CELSIUS was a worthy winner amongst a range of outstanding entries. The functional category is attracting ever greater interest as consumers seek their own solutions to enhance their well-being through longer, active life," commented Zenith's Global Chairman, Richard Hall.

The panel of judges was impressed with Celsius Holdings' innovation in its' CELSIUS beverage product line and shared the following observations:

"Innovative and highly credible"

"There is a good, interesting range of flavors, offering excellent consumer choice of a brand that looks good and is offering innovation"

"Strong USP, sleek packaging design, unified branding"

"We are honored to have CELSIUS selected as Winner of the Best Functional Drink category," said John Fieldly, Celsius Holdings, Inc., CFO and interim CEO. "Competition was extremely tough as we faced many great products across the world. This award further validates our vision at Celsius Holdings, Inc., and continues to be supported by our loyal customers in their active lifestyles and recognized by the beverage trade.

"We don't stop here," added Fieldly. "Celsius Holdings, Inc., continues to innovate our brand and focus on the healthy aspect as proven by our latest line extensions in our product portfolio, naturals and CELSIUS HEAT."

Vanessa Walker, EVP of Sales and Marketing, Celsius Holdings, Inc., views this award as a testament to the CELSIUS concept, a clinically proven thermogenic, which conveys its proven function, "Delicious that Delivers."

ABOUT ZENITH GLOBAL:

Zenith Global is a specialist independent consulting firm of global food and drink experts with over 1,000 clients in more than 50 countries, including Coca-Cola, Diageo, Lactalis, Nestle and PepsiCo.

ABOUT CELSIUS HOLDINGS, INC.

Celsius Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX: CELH), founded in April, 2004, is a global company, with a proprietary, clinically proven formula for flagship brand CELSIUS. Celsius Holdings, Inc., has a corporate mission to become the global leader of a branded portfolio which is proprietary, clinically proven or innovative in its category, and offers significant health benefits.

CELSIUS' original line comes in seven delicious sparkling and non-carbonated flavors, and in multi-count powder packets. CELSIUS' new natural line, is also available in six refreshing flavors: three sparkling - grapefruit, cucumber lime, orange pomegranate and three non-carbonated - pineapple coconut, watermelon berry and strawberries & cream. The natural line is also naturally caffeinated and sweetened.

CELSIUS has no preservatives, no aspartame, no high fructose corn syrup, is non-gmo, with no artificial flavors or colors, and is very low in sodium. The CELSIUS line of products is kosher and vegan certified, soy, gluten, and sugar free. Sold nationally at Fitness Clubs, 7-Eleven stores, Sprouts, the Fresh Market, and key regional retailers such as HEB, Publix, Winn-Dixie, Harris Teeter, Shaws and others. The first university study of the science underlying CELSIUS products was conducted in 2005, and additional studies from the University of Oklahoma were conducted over the next five years. All studies were published in peer-reviewed journals and validate the unique benefits CELSIUS provides to the consumer.

For investor relations information, please visit us at www.CelsiusHoldingInc.com for branded information, please visit our websites: www.CELSIUS.com and www.CELSIUSHEAT.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Hayden IR

Cameron Donahue, Partner

(651) 653-1854

[email protected]

For additional information, and for all press inquiries and product samples, please contact John Filizzola at [email protected].

SOURCE Celsius Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.celsius.com


NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CheapOair, a leading flight-focused, next generation concierge travel service, was recently awarded a Gold Stevie by the American Business Awards for its innovative app development for both the iOS and Android operating systems.

The American Business Awards were created in 2002 to honor the achievements of organizations and professionals in the United States. It is one of the premier business awards organizations in the U.S. and features a variety of categories to recognize all areas of the workplace. The entries are judged by a panel of respected executives, entrepreneurs, innovators and business educators. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations in all industries were submitted for consideration in the 2017 competition.

"This award is very exciting as we have worked very hard this year to make our mobile app the most efficient in the travel industry," said Sam S. Jain, CEO and Founder of CheapOair. "Our mission is to create the world's best customer experience on all of our platforms and this recognition is a testament to our skilled mobile development teams' ability to achieve this goal."

The CheapOair app gives customers access to over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and hundreds of rental car companies on the go. The app is personalized to each user with a "Predictive Home Screen" that understands where the user is in the search process and provides contextually relevant options. Additionally, with the integration of Apple Pay and Android Pay, customers can complete their transactions simply and safely without pulling out their wallet.

In the past year, the app made great leaps in functionality. Highlights include:

Personalized push notifications for upcoming trips

Integration with Apple Watch for a quick glance at itineraries

A companion Apple TV app allowing users to browse destinations and add them to a Wishlist that they can later access through the app to book

The convenience of selecting seats right from the app

US-Spanish, Canadian, Mexican and Australian versions

"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.

About CheapOair

CheapOair is a flight-focused hybrid travel agency that enables consumers to book online, on mobile apps for iOS and Android, by phone or live chat. CheapOair (https://www.cheapoair.com, 1-800-566-2345) bridges the gap between an online and traditional travel agency with certified travel agents available 24/7 to help find deals and offers to destinations worldwide on over 450 airlines, 150,000 hotels, and 100s of car rentals. Partner airlines benefit from access to CheapOair's broad customer base that books high yield international travel and add-on ancillaries at above the industry average. Follow CheapOair on Facebook and Twitter to learn how to travel the world for less.

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 .

SOURCE CheapOair

Related Links

https://www.cheapoair.com


BEIJING, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE: CMCM) ("Cheetah Mobile" or the "Company"), a leading mobile Internet company that aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2017 financial results on Monday, May 22, 2017 before market open. The Company will hold a conference call on Monday, May 22, 2017 at 8:00 am Eastern Time or 8:00 pm Beijing Time to discuss the financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers:

International: +1-412-902-4272 United States Toll Free: +1-888-346-8982 China Toll Free: 4001-201203 Hong Kong Toll Free: 800-905945 Conference ID: Cheetah Mobile

The replay will be accessible through May 29, 2017 by dialing the following numbers:







United States Toll Free: +1-877-344-7529 International: +1-412-317-0088 Access Code: 10107194

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cmcm.com.

About Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Cheetah Mobile is a leading mobile internet company. It aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform.

Cheetah Mobile's products, including its popular utility applications Clean Master, CM Security and Battery Doctor, help make users' mobile internet experience smarter, speedier, and safer. The Company has attracted 623 global mobile MAUs as of December 2016, of which approximately 81% were located outside of China. Leveraging the success of its utility applications, Cheetah Mobile has launched its line of mobile content-driven applications, including News Republic and Live.me.

Cheetah Mobile provides its advertising customers, which include direct advertisers and mobile advertising networks through which advertisers place their advertisements, with direct access to highly targeted mobile users and global promotional channels, which are capable of delivering targeted content to hundreds of millions of users.

Investor Relations Contact

Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Helen Jing Zhu

Tel: +8610 6292 7779 ext. 1600

Email: [email protected]

ICR, Inc.

Jessie Fan

Tel: +1 (646) 417-5395

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Cheetah Mobile

Related Links

http://ir.cmcm.com


BEIJING, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Mobile Inc. (the "Company" or "Cheetah Mobile") (NYSE: CMCM), a leading mobile internet company that aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform, today announced that it will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders at the offices of Cheetah Mobile at Building No. 8, Hui Tong Times Square, Yaojiayuan South Road, Beijing, China, on May 25, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. (local time).

No proposal will be submitted for shareholder approval at the annual general meeting. Instead, the annual general meeting will serve as an open forum for shareholders of record and beneficial owners of the Company's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") to discuss Company affairs with management.

The Board of Directors of the Company has fixed the close of business on May 11, 2017 as the record date (the "Record Date") for determining the shareholders entitled to receive notice of the annual general meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.

Holders of record of the Company's Class A and Class B ordinary shares at the close of business on the Record Date are entitled to attend the annual general meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof in person. Beneficial owners of the Company's ADSs are welcome to attend the annual general meeting in person.

The Company has filed its annual report (the "Annual Report"), which includes the Company's audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The Company's Annual Report can be accessed on the investor relations section of its website at http://ir.cmcm.com , and on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

Holders of the Company's Class A ordinary shares, Class B ordinary shares or ADSs may obtain a copy of the Company's Annual Report, free of charge, by emailing Ms. Helen Jing Zhu, at [email protected] or by writing to:

Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Hui Tong Times Square, No. 8, Yaojiayuan South Road,

Chaoyang District, Beijing 100123

People's Republic of China

Attention: Ms. Helen Jing Zhu

About Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Cheetah Mobile is a leading mobile internet company. It aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform.

Cheetah Mobile's products, including its popular utility applications Clean Master, CM Security and Battery Doctor, help make users' mobile internet experience smarter, speedier, and safer. The Company has attracted 623 global mobile MAUs as of December 2016, of which approximately 81% were located outside of China. Leveraging the success of its utility applications, Cheetah Mobile has launched its line of mobile content-driven applications, including News Republic and Live.me.

Cheetah Mobile provides its advertising customers, which include direct advertisers and mobile advertising networks through which advertisers place their advertisements, with direct access to highly targeted mobile users and global promotional channels, which are capable of delivering targeted content to hundreds of millions of users.

Investor Relations Contact

Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Helen Jing Zhu

Tel: +86 10 6292 7779 ext. 1600

Email: [email protected]

ICR, Inc.

Jessie Fan

Tel: +1 (646) 417-5395

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Cheetah Mobile
CHICAGO, LIVONIA, Michigan and LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

CIGNEX Datamatics, a subsidiary of Datamatics Global Services Ltd., today announced that it has signed a global partnership and now is a Registered Partner of Salesforce. CIGNEX Datamatics is the global leader in implementing enterprise-level Open Source, Cloud and Automation solutions whereas Salesforce is world's largest provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/340232LOGO )

In the last decade, CIGNEX Datamatics has built CoEs around Open Source technologies like Liferay, Alfresco, MongoDB and Magento and are extending that experience in neo-Salesforce platforms like Lightning Experience, Lightning Bolt, Wave Analytics and Einstein for Artificial Intelligence. Beyond the conventional Salesforce solutions, the 50 Salesforce consultants at CIGNEX Datamatics are adding value to their Fortune 500 customers by engaging in innovative business solutions like enterprise SFDC health assessment, consolidated business management through mobile, customer engagement through sentiment analysis, data automation, Classic to Lightning migration and Wave Analytics to create unified dashboards. This partnership will help both the companies extend their innovation and leadership positions in cloud to serve customers jointly.

"We plan to leverage CIGNEX Datamatics' Open Source and Cloud Computing experience and Salesforce's industry leadership to deliver secured and scalable CRM solutions. The capabilities we have developed in new frameworks like Lightning Bolt enable us to deploy next generation communities and portals faster than ever. We seek to bring similar depth in all our Salesforce service offerings and the partnership would enable us to exactly do that," said Harish Ramachandran, CEO, CIGNEX Datamatics.

CIGNEX Datamatics will provide key assessment, consulting, implementation, migration, integration, support and training services in its role as a Salesforce partner, based on Salesforce technology. For more information on the service and solution offerings, please visit http://www.cignex.com/services/salesforce-consulting.

About CIGNEX Datamatics

CIGNEX Datamatics, a subsidiary of Datamatics Global Services Ltd., is a Michigan based global consulting company offering solutions, services and platforms in Open Source, Cloud and Automation. Since 2000, CIGNEX Datamatics has been delivering enterprise class solutions using leading platforms and tools that integrate with existing systems to achieve unparalleled results.

Find out more at http://www.cignex.com.



For more information, please contact:

Priyanka Sharma

CIGNEX Datamatics, Inc.

[email protected]

Tel.:+91-79-6701-0345



SOURCE CIGNEX Datamatics Technologies Limited
WATERVILLE, Maine, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President David A. Greene will present bachelor of arts degrees to approximately 480 seniors at Colby College's 196th Commencement Sunday, May 21. The ceremony, which will feature Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the commencement speaker, will begin at 10 a.m. in front of Miller Library and will be streamed live. It is open to the public, weather permitting.

Sharing the lectern with Biden will be senior class speaker Muhebullah Esmat, an art history major from Kabul, Afghanistan. Esmat, who has curated art exhibitions and worked at the Colby Museum of Art as a Mellon Program research assistant, was chosen by vote of the senior class.

Amy Walter '91, national editor of The Cook Political Report and one of the nation's most highly regarded political analysts, will address the graduating class at baccalaureate Saturday, May 20. Baccalaureate, an event open only to graduating seniors, celebrates graduates' ties to the College.

Walter and Biden will receive honorary doctorate degrees along with Yoshihiro Takishita, a noted architect and historic preservationist, and Warren Washington, a lauded research scientist and climate change expert.

Members of the Class of 2017 came to Colby from 35 states and 30 countries. The class includes 49 members of Phi Beta Kappa, a Fulbright grant winner, and a Davis Projects for Peace winner. Approximately two-thirds of the class have studied abroad in more than 40 countries. The majority of graduates have completed internships and significant research, and they will go on to a broad range of careers and to competitive graduate or professional schools.

Michelle Boucher of Fryeburg, Maine, recipient of Colby's Condon Medal for engaged citizenship, will be the only student award winner acknowledged at commencement. A psychology major and sociology and human development double minor, Boucher was described by Greene earlier this month as "a committed advocate, organizer, and leader."

Members of the media who plan to attend, need information, or wish to arrange an audio feed during the ceremony should contact Kate Carlisle in the Office of Communications at [email protected] or 207-859-4369. Advance notice and Colby-issued press credentials are required and must be requested on or before Friday, May 12. The event will also be streamed live on Facebook.

For more information, visit colby.edu/commencement.

SOURCE Colby College

Related Links

http://www.colby.edu


PITTSBURGH, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Community LIFE, a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly will be opening two new Day Health Centers in Lower Burrell and McKeesport early summer 2017. These openings will enable Community LIFE to serve roughly 300 more individuals in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. Community LIFE is also expanding services into more areas of the Mon Valley community, including Charleroi, Donora, Monessen, and Monongahela.

Community LIFE has been serving area seniors for 17 years, with centers currently in Tarentum, East End, Homestead, and McKeesport. Day Health Centers provide a place for older adults in the community to receive all the care they need in one location. Centers offer access to primary medical care, nursing, social services, therapies, transportation, and more.

Along with center openings, Community LIFE is introducing an updated logo, designed by Pittsburgh advertising agency, Elisco Advertising. The new logo highlights the organization name, as well as the LIFE acronym, which in Pennsylvania means "Living Independence for the Elderly."

"Our name - "Community" and "LIFE" - reflects that we are all about helping individuals maintain their community life. The modern look to the name shows that we are the still the cutting edge of alternatives to moving into congregate facilities," says Richard DiTommaso, Executive Director of Community LIFE.

With changing and complex healthcare options, older adults should be aware that Community LIFE is available for enrollment at any time throughout the year. "Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is the most successful model in terms of preventing nursing home placement. We go further than any other community option in integrating medical services with the long term living supports that people need to age in place, and LIFE providers are the only programs in Pennsylvania right now financed to cover all things Medicare and Medicaid, so that participants don't have to worry about who covers what, co-pays, deductibles, or confusing bills," says DiTommaso. For more information, call 1-866-419-1693 TTY: 711, or email [email protected].

Community LIFE is a program of all-inclusive care for the elderly, committed to enabling older adults to remain at home while preserving their dignity, independence and quality of life. Visit www.commlife.org to learn more.

SOURCE Community LIFE

Related Links

http://www.commlife.org


AUSTIN, Texas, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Austin-based CTS has been awarded Texas DIR contract DIR-TSO-3782 for Law Enforcement IT Products and Related Services. The contract supports the provision of rugged computer hardware and situational awareness software as well as complementary accessories, peripherals and services.

Complete Tablet Solutions (CTS) is an Austin, TX-based company focused on delivering productivity-enabling technologies as an approved vendor on Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Cooperative Contracts Programs since 2013, holding six contracts and listed on two additional OEM DIR contracts. CTS is authorized to sell various rugged computer hardware, tablet computers, situational awareness software peripherals, accessories and deployment services, to DIR customers, delivered as a comprehensive solution. Both purchase and lease options are available. See DIR-TSO-3782 for details.

"CTS is very proud of our relationships with our partners, leading manufacturers of mobile devices and innovative software providers," said Dan Hurd, President of CTS. "These tools enhance productivity and increase safety for law enforcement officers and the public they serve. We look forward to continuing to provide comprehensive technology solutions to Texas DIR customers."

CTS is a recognized industry leader in the provision of turn-key mobility solutions that enhance productivity and uptime while delivering low TCO. CTS now holds six contracts with the Texas DIR. The contracts are for PROMISE Technology storage solutions, Education IT products, Managed IT Services, Apple products, IT Security products and Law Enforcement IT products. CTS is able to provide DIR customers with hardware for all operating systems, IT and application software and productivity-enhancing peripherals and accessories as well as deployment and uptime services.

About Complete Tablet Solutions

CTS is committed to helping their clients develop and execute enabling mobility strategies that drive productivity, deliver value, manage cost and mitigate risk. Key offerings include Managed Mobility Services (MMS), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and endpoint management, as well as network and mobility strategies. CTS is engaged in Government and Private sector business across a broad array of vertical disciplines. With offices in Austin, TX and Long Beach, CA, CTS supports a nationwide customer base. For more information, visit http://www.ctsgovt.com/. Follow CTS on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/230213?trk=tyah.

For more information, please contact: Leslie Fisher, Marketing Director, Complete Tablet Solutions, 512-501-6358, [email protected]

SOURCE Complete Tablet Solutions

Related Links

http://www.ctsgovt.com


BOULDER, Colo., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Congruex, a newly-formed company established to build a nationwide platform that delivers end-to-end design, engineering, construction and maintenance services to broadband network and utility operators, today announced that it is partnering with Crestview Partners, a New York-based private equity firm with significant experience in the cable, telecommunications and business services industries. Congruex and Crestview are partnering to consolidate the highly fragmented engineering and construction services industry via acquisitions and organic growth, as robust spending on communication networks and utility infrastructure is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Funds managed by Crestview and the Congruex leadership team are committing up to $200 million of equity as part of what is expected to be a total investment of approximately $500 million. Bill Beans and Kevin O'Hara, two highly-experienced industry executives, will lead Congruex. Mr. Beans will serve as CEO and Mr. O'Hara will serve as Executive Chairman.

Congruex's strategy is to acquire and partner with best-in-class, growing providers of design, engineering, construction and maintenance services to the broadband network and utility industries. Congruex plans to partner with the acquired companies' existing management teams to drive growth as part of Congruex's national platform.

Bill Beans, Congruex's CEO, said, "It is a very exciting time to be investing in the highly fragmented engineering and construction services industry as investment in broadband networks as well as in utility-related infrastructure looks to be very strong for years to come. We are also very pleased about the opportunity to partner with Crestview as we make Congruex the consolidation platform of choice for engineering and construction service companies looking to accelerate their growth. We were attracted to Crestview due to its significant experience in the communications services space and history of partnering with management teams to grow businesses."

Kevin O'Hara, Congruex's Executive Chairman, added, "There are a host of growing engineering and construction companies to which Congruex can serve as a transformational partner. Bill and I have known each other for 30 years, and we have each spent our entire careers in the construction and communications services industries. We look forward to sharing our experience building and operating network services businesses with the high-quality management teams we are looking to bring into Congruex. Our alliance with Crestview combines significant capital, deep operating experience and extensive industry relationships that are critical to helping the companies that join Congruex grow."

Brian Cassidy, Partner at Crestview and co-head of the firm's media investment strategy, said, "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Bill and Kevin. They are seasoned industry veterans who are ideally suited to pursue this consolidation strategy in a sector experiencing significant secular tailwinds from increasing demand for broadband capacity. We continue to evaluate a pipeline of exciting investment opportunities and look forward to advancing them with Congruex."

Lazard Middle Markets served as the exclusive capital advisors to Congruex.

About Congruex

Congruex is comprised of seasoned industry executives bringing together leading engineering and construction companies across the U.S. Congruex is building a company with unique capabilities ranging from network development, engineering, construction and operations. Our customers benefit from the integrated skills that the Congruex companies can offer either as a single discipline, or as a turn-key solution with self-perform capabilities. For more information: www.congruex.com.

About Crestview Partners

Founded in 2004, Crestview Partners is a value-oriented private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with over $7 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners who have complementary experience and distinguished backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: media, industrials, energy and financial services. For more information: www.crestview.com.

About Lazard Middle Markets

Lazard's middle market advisory business provides substantive financial and strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, financing of debt and equity, and restructuring to mid-sized companies. Our senior professionals bring deep sector expertise and relationships with CEOs and board members, while leveraging the global resources of Lazard. For more information, please visit www.lazardmm.com.

Media Contacts:

Jeffrey Taufield/Daniel Yunger

Kekst and Company

212-521-4800

[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Congruex

Related Links

http://www.congruex.com


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CopaSAT, a world leader in highly reliable and secure mobile communication technology, today announced it has been awarded a Complex Commercial SATCOM Solutions (CS3) Contract from the United States General Services Administration (GSA). The contract has a total maximum value of $2.5 Billion among all awardees over the potential 10-year period of performance.

CS3 is a multiple-award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract to provide a wide range of complex commercial satellite communications solutions, such as Interactive Services; Continuity of Operations (COOP); Broadcast Satellite Services; Direct Customer, Steady State, and Emergency Responder Operations; and Fleet and Asset Tracking and Reporting Services. CS3's overarching objective is to be as flexible and agile as possible to meet and satisfy the widely differing requirements of Federal Government organizations, now and for decades to come. Winning this contract is validation of CopaSAT's extensive blend of expertise, capabilities, experience, and industry relationships.

"This award significantly expands CopaSAT's access to business opportunities well-suited to our engineered networks based on industry preferred Tampa Microwave terminals or other best-of-class hardware components. As an agile, small, engineering business, we will work with our Government customers through CS3 to ensure they are always provided the optimal solution to their communications problem, including from managed global satellite services including terminals, disparate remote points of presence for critical sensor exfil, or wired and wireless network infrastructure," said Obie Johnson, President, CEO, and Founder of CopaSAT.

For the next ten years, CS3 will be a key contract vehicle for the DoD and federal civilian agencies to purchase a wide range of fixed and mobile satellite services, components, service-enabling authorizations (e.g., host nation approvals, landing rights, frequency clearances, etc.), and components and ancillary equipment such as terminals, teleports, terrestrial tail circuits, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, and peripherals. The CS3 Contract ensures CopaSAT continued ability to serve our Government customers with industry-leading COMSATCOM services as technologies and options evolve over the next decade.

About CopaSAT Inc.

CopaSAT is a certified small business provider of turn-key and end-to-end complex satellite solutions to simplify the deployment of specialized satellite communications. CopaSAT provides a wide range of SATCOM products, services, and infrastructure incorporating Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), airborne ISR/COTM, maritime supporting mission-critical applications. CopaSAT is located in St. Petersburg, Florida. CopaSAT solutions are tailored to the unique requirements of our customer segments in aerospace, maritime, broadcast, government, and infrastructure. www.copasat.com

Contact Information:

Scott Bohnsack

Vice President of Business Development

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE CopaSAT, LLC

Related Links

http://www.copasat.com


SEOUL, South Korea, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmos (https://cosmos.network), who is creating the Internet of Blockchains, and the self-evolving cryptocurrency platform BOScoin (https://boscoin.io), have just signed a strategic partnership agreement. Cosmos and BOScoin will share resources, conduct research on blockchain technologies, and help expand the overall blockchain network.

The Internet of blockchains, Cosmos (https://cosmos.network) and the self-evolving cryptocurrency platform, BOScoin (https://boscoin.io) has signed a strategic partnership.

Cosmos aims to create a network of distributed ledgers. The Cosmos network will solve various persistent problems in the blockchain ecosystem, including proof-of-stake, scalability, and interoperability of chains. The Cosmos network is comprised of independent parallel blockchains called zones. Each zone is powered by the Tendermint Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) and consensus algorithm, with Cosmos as the underlying network that connects them together.

Jae Kwon is a founder of Cosmos and a director of the Interchain Foundation, which recently concluded a fundraiser for Cosmos. Jae is also the creator of Tendermint, a consensus engine that secures distributed ledgers without the need for wasteful proof-of-work energy expenditure.

"Cosmos is creating a common infrastructure for the internet of blockchains, to enable projects like BOScoin to focus on creating uniquely innovative financial applications while benefiting from our state of the art open-source consensus engine and growing ecosystem of interconnected applications." - Jae Kwon (Cosmos Founder)

It's impossible to predict the future, which is why BOScoin aims to create a self-evolving cryptocurrency platform. BOScoin utilizes executable smart contracts called "Trust Contracts" and has a decision-making body called the "Congress Network" to ensure perpetual adaptation.

"With so many technological advances, it's impossible to even predict the next 5 years. BOScoin is designed to evolve through an internal funding and voting system." - Changki Park (BOScoin CEO)

The BOScoin Fundraiser starts on May 10th, 2017 (GMT). The Fundraiser will last for 41 days. Overall 276,093,688.786 BOScoins will be distributed.

Websites

https://cosmos.network

https://boscoin.io

Contact

[email protected]

[email protected]

Related Links

Cosmos Website

BOScoin Website

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66qNrfr9F5M

SOURCE BOScoin

Related Links

https://boscoin.io


SANTIAGO, Chile, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CrowdPal, the first online equity crowdfunding platform purpose-built to support Palestinian entrepreneurship, announced today the launch of their website.

Ongoing political unrest and the resulting economic slump have presented difficulty in finding venture capital opportunities for Palestinian-based founders. With an unemployment rate over 20% and low GDP per capita, securing funding to get startup businesses off the ground has been a constant uphill battle.

"Through investing in promising startups, we can drive economic and social development as a step forward to pave the way for peace," said CrowdPal Founder and CEO Anas Hamed.

To remove these barriers to entry and promote economic growth, Anas and his team created CrowdPal to allow Palestinian-founded companies or other international entrepreneurs who want to invest part of their funding in early stage Palestinian startups or employ/outsource professionals in Palestine to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Users can seek investment funding by reaching out to personal contacts or by leveraging CrowdPal's community of investors, who can be located anywhere in the world.

Co-Founder and CVO Alejandro Dughman views the platform as offering an important economic lifeline to an area limited in resources but with great investment opportunities. "Palestinians and peace supporters all over the globe that wish to do their part to and make an investment in the future of Palestine haven't had a sound place to put their investment. With CrowdPal, now they do."

Entrepreneurs also have access to a world-class mentorship and advisory network which provides founders with valuable educational resources. From a combination of online materials, video tutorials, and advice from industry experts, entrepreneurs can gain key insights into best practices for successfully running their business.

The CrowdPal platform will also feature a job search and hiring function. This will allow companies funded through the site to hire from the talent pool in their particular region.

CrowdPal is already garnering early interest in the investment community and with industry influencers. Paul Niederer, a lead pioneer in equity crowdfunding, said, "Crowdfunding for a purpose is very rewarding for the entrepreneurs, supporters and society as a whole. CrowdPal are a passionate, highly qualified team that are serious about making a real difference for Palestinian entrepreneurs wherever they may be."

The company's launch comes at a time when the regulatory environment has become increasingly favorable for entrepreneurs across the globe. For the founding members, CrowdPal represents a vital opportunity to use entrepreneurship as a mean of inspiring change in a volatile region, "The ultimate goal is to support companies that give back to the Palestinian community, create jobs, and increase quality of life," said CrowdPal Co-Founder and CIO Marcelo Diaz.

CrowdPal is launching with an initial concentration on the Chilean market, which has an influential Palestinian community of half a million. CrowdPal will then roll out in the Americas, followed by the Middle East, and then Europe.

The CrowdPal platform is currently seeking early adoption by investors and entrepreneurs. The company invites those interested in getting involved to follow their journey by visiting their website to find out more.

For more information about this story, contact:

Anas Hamed, Founder & CEO

CrowdPal

[email protected]

Av. Las Condes 7700 Oficina 704-B, Las Condes

Santiago, Chile

+56979679273

SOURCE CrowdPal

Related Links

http://www.crowdpal.net/


BEIJING, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On 4th May, an airplane attracted many eyes in the UK. Deer Jet, a global leading business aviation company, is marking the European debut of the world's first 787 "Dream Jet", making a brief stop at London Stansted Airport (Harrods Aviation FBO) before continuing with the series of exhibitions "Dreams Encounter the World" across the globe.

This B787-8 Dream Jet is capable of flying non-stop for 18.5 hours, 16,000 kilometers, equivalent to London to Perth, Australia, non-stop.

The 787's cabin pressure is set to 6,000 feet at the height of 30,000 feet. Tests have proved that between sea level and 6,000 feet people remain perfectly comfortable on board even on an 18-hour journey.

In August 2016, Deer Jet took over the operation of the world's first BBJ 787 VVIP, and made its maiden flight to Hong Kong in September.

Deer Jet is also launching exclusive, bespoke travel packages aboard the 787 Dream Jet starting with the "Hong Kong to Tahiti Dream Journey". It plans to add more itineraries in the future as part of its goal to create seamless travel to fulfill its vision of "Making travel an art", through best-in-class service inspired by Deer Jet's values of "elegance", "performance" and "distinction".

Frank Fang, Vice President of Deer Jet said: "We are delighted to bring this unique aircraft to London. Its showcases the signature service of Deer Jet which is inspired by the values of performance, elegance and distinction. Our goal is to provide the best flying experience for our customers and 'make travel an art'."

The aircraft is operated on the Guernsey aircraft registry (2-DEER), under the AOC of BAS Guernsey. Typically the aircraft resides at Hong Kong International Airport operated by Deer Jet's subsidiary Hong Kong Jet. The price to charter the 787 Dream Jet, although previous reports said it should be around 20,000 pounds, actually is RMB 500,000 per hour (About GBP 55,000).

About Deer Jet

With 22 years of expertise, Deer Jet started as the first private jet company in China and has rapidly evolved into the largest business aviation group in Asia. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of HNA Group, a Global Fortune 500 company and one of China's most recognized and socially responsible brands. The company manages and operates an impressive fleet of 90 aircraft including the world's only 787 Dream Jet.

SOURCE Deer Jet
LAS VEGAS, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DELL EMC WORLD 2017

News Summary:

New, award-winning 14 th generation of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers enable up to 50% more VDI users per server 1

generation of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers enable up to 50% more VDI users per server Easy-to-use, next-generation OpenManage Enterprise console engineered to unify system management experience

New security features for enhanced protection against malicious threats and unwanted internal changes

ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist can reduce time to resolve hardware issues by up to 90% 2

Full Story:

Dell EMC is previewing its most cutting-edge portfolio of PowerEdge servers ever to help customers drive IT Transformations. The newly designed 14th generation of the Dell EMC PowerEdge server portfolio forms a secure, scalable compute platform that is the ideal foundation for cloud, analytics or software-defined data center initiatives. The new portfolio delivers innovation in three key areas:

Scalable business architecture optimizes data centers for a wide variety of new and emerging workload requirements

optimizes data centers for a wide variety of new and emerging workload requirements Intelligent automation via expanded APIs and the all-new OpenManage Enterprise console enable IT to spend more time on higher priority work

via expanded APIs and the all-new OpenManage Enterprise console enable IT to spend more time on higher priority work Integrated security protects customers' businesses and data for the life of the server

"In today's digital economy, technology must transform at the speed of business to develop and deploy new applications, optimize resources and deliver an ideal customer experience," said Ashley Gorakhpurwalla, president, Server Solutions Division at Dell EMC. "With our leadership in server technology innovations, the newest generation of PowerEdge servers are the bedrock of the modern data center."

Legacy data center technologies are not agile, flexible or efficient enough to meet the needs of businesses undergoing a Digital Transformation. In fact, the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) 2017 IT Transformation Maturity Curve study, commissioned by Dell EMC, showed that only 5% of survey respondents are currently prepared to meet the IT requirements of digitally transformed businesses with modern platforms.

PowerEdge 14th generation servers will be embedded in storage and data center appliances, hyper-converged appliances and racks, ready nodes, bundles and other industry-leading Dell EMC solutions.

The new scalable business architecture of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers enable customers to meet dynamic business needs with performance optimized for traditional and cloud-native workloads. The new Dell EMC PowerEdge server portfolio is enhanced to:

Increase application performance and response time  With 19X more Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) low latency storage than the prior generation, Dell EMC leads the industry in driving industry standards in NVMe via Express Flash

 With 19X more Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) low latency storage than the prior generation, Dell EMC leads the industry in driving industry standards in NVMe via Express Flash Get results from PowerEdge faster  One-click BIOS tuning enables quick-and-easy deployment of many processing-intensive workloads

 One-click BIOS tuning enables quick-and-easy deployment of many processing-intensive workloads Access to the right data at the right time  With enhanced storage capacity and flexibility, customers can tailor their storage configurations to their application needs, this is especially critical in a software-defined-storage (SDS) environment

Newly enhanced systems management features embedded in the Dell EMC PowerEdge portfolio uniquely automate productivity and simplify lifecycle management from server deployment to retirement. These new management features:

Unify the server management experience and provide full data center monitoring  OpenManage Enterprise is a new virtualized enterprise system management console with application plug-ins, an easy-to-use interface and customizable reporting

 OpenManage Enterprise is a new virtualized enterprise system management console with application plug-ins, an easy-to-use interface and customizable reporting Speed troubleshooting and maximize server uptime  The enhanced iDRAC 9 provides up to 4 times better systems management performance over the prior generation

 The enhanced iDRAC 9 provides up to 4 times better systems management performance over the prior generation Enable faster remediation - ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist can reduce time to resolve parts failure by up to 90% 2

- ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist can reduce time to resolve parts failure by up to 90% Improve power efficiency and compute density  Automatic multi-vector cooling enables more GPU accelerators in a single configuration, increasing up to 50% more VDI users per server1

The Dell EMC PowerEdge portfolio embeds new hardware and system-level security features to protect the infrastructure with a deep layer of defense and quick detection in order to recover to a trusted base, if breached. The differentiated security features in the server:

Prevent unauthorized or inadvertent changes  System Lockdown, an industry-first feature, prevents configuration changes that create security vulnerabilities and expose sensitive data

 System Lockdown, an industry-first feature, prevents configuration changes that create security vulnerabilities and expose sensitive data Secure data center through a cyber-resilient architecture  Features such as SecureBoot, BIOS Recovery capabilities, signed firmware and iDRAC RESTful API (compliant with Redfish standards) provide enhanced protection against attacks

 Features such as SecureBoot, BIOS Recovery capabilities, signed firmware and iDRAC RESTful API (compliant with Redfish standards) provide enhanced protection against attacks Ensure privacy  System Erase quickly and securely erases user data from drives or wipes all non-volatile media when a server is retired

The new design of the Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation server portfolio has already won a user-experience design award, with a completely reimagined portfolio identity to mirror how customers interact with servers:

Improve airflow  A new streamlined front profile moves air efficiently, optimizing power for application performance

 A new streamlined front profile moves air efficiently, optimizing power for application performance Deliver an intuitive user experience  Server configuration and monitoring is now possible via a handheld smart device with Quick Sync feature

 Server configuration and monitoring is now possible via a handheld smart device with Quick Sync feature Be eco-friendly  Introduction of hemmed edges as a structural element, eliminates the use of paint on the server reducing environmental impact

Services are a critical component of the Dell EMC next generation server strategy. Dell EMC's services drive the rapid adoption and optimization of digital technologies. Services include:

Our IT Transformation Workshop , where Dell EMC consultants help customers compare their efforts to best-in-class peers and identify key priorities to accelerate their transformation to a modern, cloud-enabled infrastructure and IT model

, where Dell EMC consultants help customers compare their efforts to best-in-class peers and identify key priorities to accelerate their transformation to a modern, cloud-enabled infrastructure and IT model Award-winning ProDeploy Enterprise Suite accelerates technology adoption, saving time and money with up to 91% less IT effort and up to 39% faster deployments than in-house resources 3

accelerates technology adoption, saving time and money with up to 91% less IT effort and up to 39% faster deployments than in-house resources ProSupport Enterprise Suite, services which are fully integrated with the PowerEdge 14th generation server's intelligent management and automation features, include ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist, Dell EMC's automated, proactive and predictive technology that can resolve hardware issues up to 90% faster2

Availability:

In collaboration with Intel, Dell EMC is bringing the upcoming Intel Xeon Processor Scalable family to Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers. Intel's technology will include many advancements that complement Dell EMC PowerEdge server performance, efficiency and security. Additional details and pricing information on the Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th Generation servers are expected to be available in mid-2017.

Customer Quotes:

Joe Wiese, systems design engineer, Rackspace Hosting

"I totally love the new iDRAC 9. The new version is quite comprehensive and can be used to configure most everything for managing and maintaining the servers. The web front-end can view and edit the iDRAC, the PERC, the NICs and the BIOS all through a single web interface that is also Redfish compliant for scripting via API calls. It is hands-down the single greatest addition to PowerEdge that I have encountered."

Vishvas Chitale, director, Chitale Dairy, India

"With a massive growth in operations, we wanted to apply technology to automate the milk production process and monitor dairy cow habits and health via an Internet of Things (IoT) solution. As a long-time Dell EMC customer, we had confidence in scaling our mission-critical application on PowerEdge servers using VMware. As a result, we have automated a manual process with complete lifecycle management of cows via the cloud."

Analyst Quotes:

Matt Eastwood, SVP, Enterprise Infrastructure and Datacenter, IDC

"Dell continues to grow its server business as a combined company with EMC. Its Dell EMC PowerEdge portfolio addresses a broad set of customer needs from traditional business use cases to cloud-native applications while offering a strong foundation to support future IT and business needs. Dell EMC has continued to invest in innovative technology combinations, which has resulted in a secure, scalable infrastructure and comprehensive solutions portfolio."

Michelle Bailey, chief research officer, 451 Research

"The next transition in enterprise architecture will increasingly be built on flexible hyper-converged infrastructures, those that simplify procurement and ongoing operations with a single supplier, lowering risks of implementation while helping speed time to delivery. Dell EMC's new generation servers is geared toward addressing many of these issues with intelligent management and automation capabilities."

Channel Partner and Alliance Partner quotes:

Lisa Spelman, vice president and general manager of Intel Xeon Products and Data Center Marketing Group, Intel Corporation

"With breakthrough performance, security and agility, the Intel Xeon Processor Scalable family represents the biggest set of data center platform advancements in a decade. A modern, multi-cloud-ready infrastructure built on industry-leading technologies from Intel and Dell EMC enables organizations to successfully transform into digital businesses."

Yanbing Li, senior vice president and general manager, Storage and Availability Business Unit, VMware

"Adopting modern data center technology, such as hyper-converged infrastructure, is key to enabling IT transformation that supports the new demands of today's digital business. The combination of the new Dell EMC PowerEdge servers and VMware solutions will accelerate this transition with reliable infrastructure that is less complex to deploy while reducing total cost of ownership."

Bob Olwig, vice president of Business Development & Innovation, World Wide Technology

"What sets Dell EMC apart is how they listen to their partners and customers. It is clear that this server portfolio was developed based on that feedback from the end-user. This is positive for channel partners as we can continue to deliver on business and technology outcomes while increasing potential revenue opportunities."

Additional Resources:

Direct2DellEMC blog by Ravi Pendekanti - "New Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers: Bedrock of the Modern Data Center"

- "New Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers: Bedrock of the Modern Data Center" Link to PowerEdge page

Link to PowerEdge 14th generation server video at DEW

Read the complete ESG IT Transformation Maturity Curve research paper

Connect with Dell EMC via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and DECN

For the latest news from Dell EMC, follow @DellEMCNews on Twitter

Dell EMC

Dell EMC, a part of Dell Technologies, enables organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center using industry-leading converged infrastructure, servers, storage and data protection technologies. This provides a trusted foundation for businesses to transform IT, through the creation of a hybrid cloud, and transform their business through the creation of cloud-native applications and big data solutions. Dell EMC services customers across 180 countries  including 98 percent of the Fortune 500  with the industry's most comprehensive and innovative portfolio from edge to core to cloud.

Dell EMC World

Dell EMC World 2017, May 8-11, is Dell Technologies' flagship event, bringing together technology and business professionals to network, share ideas and help co-create a better future. Learn more at www.dellemcworld.com and follow #DellEMCWorld on Twitter.

Copyright  2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, Dell EMC and Dell Inc. are trademarks of Dell Technologies in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

1Dell EMC Engineering has tested and approved a maximum of 3 NVIDIA GPUs in the 14G R740xd server compared to 2 GPUs in 13G R730 server. The NVIDIA Tesla M10 GPU Accelerator supports up to 64 Users per GPU board. For more information: http://images.nvidia.com/content/tesla/pdf/188359-Tesla-M10-DS-NV-Aug19-A4-fnl-Web.pdf.

2Based on September 2015 Principled Technologies report, Resolving Server Problems with Dell ProSupport Plus and Support Assist Automated Monitoring and Response, commissioned by Dell. Testing conducted in the United States. Actual results will vary. Full report: http://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/ProSupport_Plus_with_SupportAssist_for_servers_0915.pdf

3 Based on September 2015 Principled Technologies report, Deploying New Dell Solutions with Dell ProDeploy, commissioned by Dell. Testing conducted in the United States. Actual results will vary. Full report: http://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/Deploying_new_solutions_with_ProDeploy_unabridged_1015.pdf

SOURCE Dell EMC
LAS VEGAS, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DELL EMC WORLD 2017 --

News Summary:

Support for Dell EMC PowerEdge 14 th generation servers across software-defined storage portfolio to usher in new levels of performance and scalability

generation servers across software-defined storage portfolio to usher in new levels of performance and scalability The next version of Dell EMC ScaleIO accelerates the path to IT transformation using software-defined storage by delivering superior efficiencies, greater performance and simplified management

Updates to the Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS) platform include the ECS Dedicated Cloud Service, which enables hybrid deployment models for ECS, as well as ECS.Next, which features enhanced data protection, management and analytics capabilities

Preview of Project Nautilus, a new software-defined solution for storing and analyzing high volumes of streaming IoT data, enabling businesses to make real-time decisions

Updates to Dell EMC IsilonSD Edge, providing simplified deployment options as well as support for virtual storage platforms like ScaleIO and VMware vSAN.

New and updated Dell EMC Ready Nodes expand software-defined storage portfolio with pre-tested and pre-configured SDS and server solutions to offer a flexible path to IT transformation

Full Story:

Dell EMC announced new and enhanced software-defined storage (SDS) products that help customers modernize their data centers to lower IT costs, get quicker returns on their investments, and deliver new digital capabilities. The comprehensive software-defined storage portfolio will be further enhanced through support for Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers, providing increased levels of performance and scalability across a wide spectrum of applications and workloads.

Updates to ScaleIO, ECS and IsilonSD Edge, along with the introduction of Project Nautilus and expansion of the Ready Node portfolio, allow customers to harness the power of Dell EMC as they move from traditional to modern data centers. These new software-defined storage capabilities provide a choice of deployment modelswhat every business needs to be able to grow and change. Software-defined storage makes the enterprise infrastructure programmable and, therefore, more automated and easier to scale and manage than traditional infrastructure.

Dell EMC offers a broad portfolio of SDS solutions to provide the best fit for organizations based on business requirements, future plans, skill levels and geolocation challenges. Portfolio enhancements include:

Dell EMC ScaleIO.Next  The leading enterprise-grade software-defined block storage solution, ScaleIO will introduce new .Next features and enhancements.

Improved efficiencies by delivering inline compression, enhanced snapshots capabilities, granular thin provisioning and seamless volume migration.

Greater performance and reduced latency using the latest Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers with NVMe flash drives.

Simplified management for VMware with support for VMware Virtual Volumes.

Dell EMC ECS Updates  Multiple announcements related to Dell EMC's scale-out object storage platform, which is designed to provide cloud-scale, global data access to traditional and next-gen apps.

ECS.Next , features enhanced enterprise data protection and management capabilities, as well as advanced analytics support. Additionally, ECS software is certified to run on Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers.

, features enhanced enterprise data protection and management capabilities, as well as advanced analytics support. Additionally, ECS software is certified to run on Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers. The ECS Dedicated Cloud Service, enables customers to use ECS through a hybrid cloud model. As a dedicated, single tenant offering hosted in Virtustream datacenters, the ECS Dedicated Cloud Service combines private cloud control with the hands-off operations and agility of the public cloud.

Preview of Project Nautilus: Dell EMC previews a new software-defined solution for storing and analyzing high volumes of streaming IoT data. Project Nautilus enables businesses to make real-time decisions based on streaming device data from across the globe. Designed to work seamlessly with ECS or Isilon as its resilient storage tier, Project Nautilus brings real-time data processing capabilities to Dell EMC's unstructured storage platforms.

Dell EMC Ready Nodes portfolio enhancements

Dell EMC VMware vSAN Ready Nodes  Now validated for PowerEdge 14th generation servers, these vSAN building blocks are quick and easy to scale and are pre-configured with the required amount of CPU, memory, network, input/output (I/O) controllers and storage to help customers reduce deployment risks and lower costs of their vSAN environments.

 Now validated for PowerEdge 14th generation servers, these vSAN building blocks are quick and easy to scale and are pre-configured with the required amount of CPU, memory, network, input/output (I/O) controllers and storage to help customers reduce deployment risks and lower costs of their vSAN environments. Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Nodes  Combines all the power of Dell EMC ScaleIO software with pre-configured Dell EMC PowerEdge servers to deliver performance, scale and flexibility. These easy-to-deploy building blocks will utilize the latest Dell EMC PowerEdge 14 th generation servers, including NVMe Drives and NVDIMM options. Software feature updates include simplified management with auto-discovery, streamlined provisioning and storage node-only deployment mode.

 Combines all the power of Dell EMC ScaleIO software with pre-configured Dell EMC PowerEdge servers to deliver performance, scale and flexibility. These easy-to-deploy building blocks will utilize the latest Dell EMC PowerEdge 14 generation servers, including NVMe Drives and NVDIMM options. Software feature updates include simplified management with auto-discovery, streamlined provisioning and storage node-only deployment mode. New Dell EMC Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes  Pre-configured Dell EMC PowerEdge servers provide the storage density and compute power to maximize the benefits of Storage Spaces Direct and the advanced feature sets in Windows Server 2016. Windows Server Software Defined (WSSD) solutions use Microsoft-validated designs and follow engineering best practices for seamless deployment and a steady-state operational experience. Dell EMC gets customers up and running without lengthy design and build time and offers a single point of contact for implementation and support services.

Dell EMC IsilonSD Edge enhancements - IsilonSD Edge can now be deployed on a single Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation server, bringing increased efficiency and a lower-cost entry point for smaller remote offices. The updates to the IsilonSD Edge platform also include support for VMware vSphere version 6.5, as well as deployment using virtual storage platforms like Dell EMC ScaleIO and VMware vSAN.

Dell EMC Executive Quote:

Jeff Boudreau, President, Storage, Dell EMC

"While software-defined everything is a critical piece of IT transformation, the reality is that we're still early with regard to the ability of enterprises to consume software-only offerings. Offering software-defined storage offerings for on-premises and the cloud, in a variety of deployment models including ready nodes, allows us to meet customers where they are today and take them where they need to be as they transform their IT and their businesses."

Availability:

ECS.Next and ScaleIO.Next have planned global availability in the second half of 2017.

ECS Dedicated Cloud Service and IsilonSD Edge have planned global available in the second quarter of 2017.

Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Nodes and Dell EMC VMware vSAN Ready Nodes are available globally today and have planned availability on new Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers in mid-2017.

Dell EMC Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes have planned global availability in June 2017 and planned global availability on new Dell EMC PowerEdge 14th generation servers in mid-2017.

Additional Resources:

Dell EMC

Dell EMC, a part of Dell Technologies, enables organizations to modernize, automate and transform their data center using industry-leading converged infrastructure, servers, storage and data protection technologies. This provides a trusted foundation for businesses to transform IT, through the creation of a hybrid cloud, and transform their business through the creation of cloud-native applications and big data solutions. Dell EMC services customers across 180 countries  including 98 percent of the Fortune 500  with the industry's most comprehensive and innovative portfolio from edge to core to cloud.

Dell EMC World

Join us May 8-11 at Dell EMC World in Las Vegas, Dell Technologies' flagship event bringing together technology and business professionals to network, share ideas and help co-create a better future. This is the first time the Dell Technologies family of brands will be all in one place, at one conference. Meet our experts and more than 12,000 IT practitioners and business leaders who are making Digital Transformation a reality. Learn more at www.dellemcworld.com and follow #DellEMCWorld on Twitter.

Copyright  2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Dell EMC

Related Links

http://www.dellemcworld.com


PARIS and WARSAW, Poland, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Personetics, the leading provider of cognitive applications for the financial services sector, is joining forces with Deloitte, the leading digital business and technology professional services firm, to host educational boot camp sessions featuring best practices and case studies of AI and chatbot implementations in financial institutions.

The next two boot camp sessions will be held 16th May in Warsaw and 18th May in Paris.

In addition to speakers from Deloitte and Personetics, a case study of chatbot implementation will be presented by Horia Velicu, head of innovation lab at BRD Societe Generale.

"Cognitive applications incorporating AI and conversational technologies hold a great promise for financial services providers that are looking for new ways to engage with customer in the digital era," said Alon Shem-Tov, executive director of business development at Personetics. "We are excited to hold these boot camp sessions in collaboration with a leader in the digital space such as Deloitte."

According to Deloitte, leading companies are moving from pilots and proofs of concept to production applications driven by cognitive technologies as part of their digital transformation initiatives. "These educational sessions will give attendees the benefit of combining Deloitte's strategic market knowledge and implementation methodologies with Personetics' technology expertise and financial domain proficiency," said Meirav Hickry, partner and leader of financial services technology solutions at Deloitte Israel.

A recent survey conducted by Personetics shows that almost half of the financial institutions surveyed have active chatbot projects in place, and more than three quarters expect it to be a viable commercial solution within the next two years.

The boot camp sessions are designed to help financial services executives get up to speed on emerging best practices for AI and chatbots and follow a practical roadmap for deploying these technologies in alignment with the financial institution's digital strategy.

Topics covered in the boot camps include:

AI and chatbot use cases and business drivers

Enabling conversational self-service

Delivering predictive insights

Lessons learned from early implementations

Implementation roadmap

Attendance is free for qualified executives employed by financial institutions. Additional details and registration can be found here.

About Deloitte

Deloitte is the world's largest professional services firm, with over 240,000 employees in over 150 countries, serving 80% of the world's leading companies.

Deloitte is the leading professional services firm, offering audit, tax, risk management, financial advisory and business consulting services, including strategy, operations, technology and human capital consulting. Deloitte provide end to end solutions to complex needs, based on the broadest and most professional range of solutions and Deloitte's global leadership. Our experts have ample experience assisting senior managers in various organizations overcome their most significant business challenges; business growth, regulatory compliance while maximize value, optimization and risk management.

About Personetics

Trusted by millions of customers, Personetics' Cognitive Financial Services Applications provide personalized guidance, conversational self-service, and automated self-running programs that help customers reach their financial goals.

Combining built-in financial intelligence and conversational proficiency with advanced cognitive capabilities, the Personetics framework is able to engage in natural conversations and knowledge-rich interactions, execute tasks on behalf of the customer, and constantly adapt and improve based on prior behavior. Ready-to-deploy within existing digital channels and across popular messaging platforms, Personetics' Cognitive Financial Services Applications enable financial institutions to take a leadership position by delivering a highly engaging branded customer experience, reducing the cost of service, and increasing share of wallet with innovative new products and services.

Led by a team of seasoned FinTech entrepreneurs with a proven track record, Personetics has been named a Gartner Cool Vendor, a Top Ten FinTech Company by KPMG, and a Top Ten Company to Watch by American Banker.

For more information, visit http://personetics.com.

SOURCE Personetics

Related Links

http://personetics.com


ATLANTA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Community Credit Union (www.DeltaCommunityCU.com), Georgia's largest credit union with more than $5 billion in assets, announces the 2017 recipients of its annual scholarship program. Five students were chosen based on academic achievement, community service and submission of an essay on a topic selected by the Credit Union.

"We're proud to offer this Scholarship Program for our members," said Delta Community CEO Hank Halter. "A good education and thoughtful career plan are essential to personal growth and development, and we wish these hard-working students every success as they pursue their academic and professional goals."

The following students will each receive a $5,000 scholarship:

Justin Clark is a senior at Woodward Academy Upper School in Atlanta , who will attend the University of Arizona and major in entrepreneurship.

is a senior at Woodward Academy Upper School in , who will attend the and major in entrepreneurship. Katherine Dionne is a 2016 graduate of North Hall High School in Gainesville, Georgia , who will attend the University of South Carolina to study international business and Chinese.

is a 2016 graduate of North Hall High School in , who will attend the to study international business and Chinese. TyNiyah Harris is a senior at the Academe of the Oaks in Decatur, Georgia who will attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and major in aeronautical science.

These students will each receive a $2,500 scholarship:

Tanner Thompson , from Torrance, California , is a rising sophomore at Arizona State University majoring in business management, sports and media studies.

, from , is a rising sophomore at majoring in business management, sports and media studies. Raya Ward is a senior at Norcross High School in Norcross, Georgia . She will attend Princeton University and major in political science.

The scholarships are designed to assist eligible members with higher education expenses such as tuition, books, dormitory lodging and meal costs. For additional program details, visit https://www.DeltaCommunityCU.com/Scholarship.

About Delta Community Credit Union

Delta Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative with a mission of providing consumers better service and value on the deposit, loan, investment and insurance products they use to manage their household expenses and save for the future. Founded in 1940, Delta Community has become Georgia's largest credit union with more than 350,000 members and 26 branch locations. It now welcomes residents of 11 metro Atlanta counties and employees of more than 150 businesses, including Chick-fil-A, Delta Air Lines, RaceTrac and UPS. Visit www.DeltaCommunityCU.com to learn more about opening an account at Delta Community or follow the Credit Union on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DeltaCommunity and Twitter at @DeltaCommunity.

SOURCE Delta Community Credit Union

Related Links

http://www.deltacommunitycu.com


WASHINGTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- An article published in Experimental Biology and Medicine (Volume 242, Issue 9, May, 2017) describes a new treatment for minimizing injury to the heart during cardiac procedures. The study, led by Dr. Paul Iaizzo from the Department of Surgery and Institute for Engineering in Medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, reports that administration of Deltorphin D, a delta-opioid agonist, during reperfusion improves heart function in a porcine ex vivo model system.

Patients undergoing cardiac procedures such as coronary artery stenting, bypass surgery, and cardiac transplantation often experience decreased blood flow and lack of oxygen, a process called ischemia, which damages the heart. Paradoxically, additional injury to the heart can occur upon reperfusion and restoration of blood flow. One option for reducing reperfusion injury is post-conditioning, which involves treatment with adjuvant therapies at the onset of reperfusion. Although numerous agents have shown promise in preclinical trials, results from clinical trials for reperfusion injury have been disappointing. Thus, improving clinical outcomes for cardiac patients requires new insights regarding the pathophysiology and pharmacology of reperfusion injury.

Several studies suggest that opioids are cardioprotective in humans and animal models when administered prior to ischemia (pre-conditioning) and at the onset of reperfusion (post-conditioning). In this study, Dr. Iaizzo and colleagues investigated the ability of Deltorphin D, a delta specific opioid agonist, to reduce reperfusion injury when administered as a supplement to the reperfusion buffer in an ex vivo reanimated swine heart; that underwent an ischemic downtime. Post-ischemic hemodynamic performance, arrhythmia burden, relative tissue perfusion, and development of necrosis were improved over the 2-hour reperfusion period, suggesting improved microvascular function.

Dr. Daniel Sigg, a co-author on the study, said, "Delta opioid receptors, alone or in conjunction with other drug targets, represent a promising strategy to minimize reperfusion related cardiac injury."

Dr. Iaizzo added that "the opportunity to utilize post-conditioning pharmacological agents to improve cardiac function will have significant applications in both cardiac surgery and transplantation."

Dr. Steven R. Goodman, Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Biology and Medicine, said, "Iaizzo and colleagues have demonstrated that delta specific opioid agonists, such as Deltorphin D, may play an important therapeutic role in decreasing reperfusion injury during cardiac procedures."

About Experimental Biology and Medicine

Experimental Biology and Medicine is a journal dedicated to the publication of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in the biomedical sciences. The journal was first established in 1903. Experimental Biology and Medicine is the journal of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine. To learn about the benefits of society membership visit www.sebm.org. If you are interested in publishing in the journal, please visit http://ebm.sagepub.com/.

Disclaimer: Newswire is not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to Newswire by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the Newswire platform.

SOURCE Experimental Biology and Medicine
NAPA, Calif., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dorothy L. Cardoza Indelicato of Manteca, age 84, passed away on May 5, 2017 in Stockton, CA. She was born in San Leandro, CA on April 19, 1933.

Dorothy attended Manteca schools and graduated from Stockton College. She began working with her husband Vincent Indelicato in the family business, Delicato Family Vineyards, in 1956. She served on the Family Board of Directors, was an active member of the Audit and Finance Committee as well as Corporate Treasurer. Before her passing she was "retired" in name only as she still came to work every day and reveled in her philanthropic and creative outlets, including sponsoring the annual Delicato art shows.

Dorothy was the official Indelicato family historian and took great pride in documenting her family history to ensure future generations appreciated the Indelicato heritage. She co-authored the Delicato Family Cookbook, which chronicles the family history told through stories and traditional family recipes.

Dorothy embraced opportunities for community service and held active roles in the Soroptimist International, Manteca Chamber of Commerce, Manteca Visitor & Convention Bureau, Manteca Mayor's Committee on the Arts, Stockton Symphony Comes to Manteca, St. Dominic's Hospital Council, Delta College Foundation and many others.

"My aunt Dorothy brought joy and caring to not just our family, but our community, our employees and their families," commented Chris Indelicato, President and CEO of Delicato Family Vineyards. "We will miss her smile, laughter, and especially her cooking."

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Vincent Indelicato; her children Marie Mathews and husband Kim, Robert Indelicato and wife Leslie; her brother Edward Cardoza and wife Dolores; and grandchildren Stephen Mathews, Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato, Katie Bloudoff-Indelicato, and Kyle Bloudoff-Indelicato.

About Delicato Family Vineyards

Delicato Family Vineyards is a family-owned company founded in 1924. Four generations of the Indelicato family have overseen vineyard operations and winemaking at their California properties, maintaining the unparalleled standards for which they are known. The Delicato portfolio includes a unique range of brands such as Bota Box, Gnarly Head, Noble Vines, Black Stallion Estate Winery, Z. Alexander Brown, Diora, Belle Ambiance, Brazin, HandCraft Artisan Collection, Irony, Loft, and Earth Wise. For more information, visit www.delicato.com.

SOURCE Delicato Family Vineyards

Related Links

http://www.dfvwines.com


NORTH READING, Mass., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TraceLink Inc., the World's Largest Track and Trace Network for connecting the life sciences supply chain and eliminating counterfeit prescription drugs from the global marketplace, announces Dr. Bertalan Mesko, "The Medical Futurist" and Amazon Top 100 author, as a headline keynote speaker at NEXUS 17, taking place June 7  8 in Barcelona.

As the pharmaceutical industry prepares for the implementation of drug product serialization and fast-approaching regulatory deadlines, such as the European Union Falsified Medicines Directive (EU FMD) in February 2019, Dr. Mesko will address business leaders from across the entire pharmaceutical supply chain at NEXUS 17, the industry's premier venue for key industry leaders and stakeholders. His keynote presentation will discuss the future application of digital technologies in medicine and the ultimate impact on healthcare and patients.

Dr. Bertalan Mesko, PhD is The Medical Futurist analyzing how science fiction technologies can become reality in medicine and healthcare. As a geek physician with a PhD in genomics, he is also an Amazon Top 100 author. With 500+ presentations including courses at Harvard, Stanford and Yale Universities, Singularity University's Futuremed course at NASA Ames campus and organizations including the 10 biggest pharmaceutical companies, he is one of the top voices globally on healthcare technology. Dr. Mesko has been featured by dozens of top publications and influencers, including CNN, the World Health Organization, National Geographic, Forbes, TIME magazine, BBC, and the New York Times. He publishes his analyses regularly on medicalfuturist.com.

"If you work in the life sciences supply chain, NEXUS has become the one industry event that you can't afford to miss, providing attendees with high caliber speakers and innovators who are at the forefront of the industry and offer invaluable insight on global track and trace trends and new, disruptive technologies," said Shabbir Dahod, president and CEO, TraceLink. "This year, we are delighted to host Dr. Bertalan Mesko, one of the world's leading influencers on digital health. There is a natural synergy between his pioneering vision and the future opportunities that can be achieved from a digital life sciences supply chain, and we are excited that NEXUS will be the venue for this revolutionary industry discussion."

"Drug serialization is one of the greatest transformations currently affecting the pharmaceutical supply chain and, while this brings significant challenges, it also presents a positive opportunity for innovation and advancement," said Dr. Bertalan Mesko. "Technology will play a pivotal role in advancing the future of the medical and healthcare industries and in this case, ensuring patient safety. I am delighted to join business leaders and companies at the forefront of this transformation at NEXUS 17, discuss the latest developments and debate the positive impact of technology in helping to shape the future of the pharmaceutical industry."

Additional keynote presentations include experts from the European Medicines Verification Organisation (EMVO) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as industry leaders from Recipharm, Sanofi, Santen, Aurobindo and Tjoapack.

NEXUS 17 is open to everyone in the life sciences community at a registration fee of 995. TraceLink customers can register for a special discounted rate of 795. To register for NEXUS 17 in Barcelona, please visit http://nexus-tracelink.com/

About TraceLink

TraceLink is the World's Largest Track and Trace Network for connecting the Life Sciences supply chain and eliminating counterfeit prescription drugs from the global marketplace. Leading businesses trust the TraceLink Life Sciences Cloud to deliver complete global connectivity, visibility and traceability of pharmaceuticals from ingredient to patient. A single point and click connection to the Life Sciences Cloud creates a supply chain control tower that delivers the information, insight and collaboration needed to improve performance and reduce risk across global supply, manufacturing and distribution operations. A winner of numerous industry awards including Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 (ranked number 149 in 2016), the Amazon AWS Global Start-Up Challenge Grand Prize, and the Edison Award for Innovation in Health Management, the Life Sciences Cloud is used by businesses across the globe to meet strategic goals in ensuring global compliance, fighting drug counterfeiting, improving on-time and in-full delivery, protecting product quality and reducing operational cost. For more information on TraceLink and our solutions, visit www.tracelink.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

TraceLink is funded by Goldman Sachs, FirstMark Capital, Volition Capital and F-Prime Capital.

SOURCE TraceLink

Related Links

http://www.tracelink.com


FORT WORTH, Texas, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcon, the global leader in eye care and a division of Novartis, has appointed Stephen (Steve) S. Lane, MD as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Global Head Franchise Clinical Strategy. He will join the company on June 1.

In his new role, Dr. Lane will lead the integration of scientific, clinical and commercial priorities across Alcon's Surgical and Vision Care franchises, with a focus on the needs of patients and eye care practitioners. Dr. Lane will also support the generation of Surgical and Vision Care clinical evidence and represent Alcon to academic, scientific, and industry communities, and government agencies.

"All of us at Alcon are pleased to welcome Steve to the team," said Franck Leveiller, Senior Vice President, Global Head R&D, Alcon. "His extensive experience in ophthalmic surgery, contact lens and intraocular lens development, clinical trial design and execution, and the regulatory environment complements Alcon's medical device innovation and commercial execution strategy. Dr. Lane's knowledge will be invaluable as we continue to develop products that protect and preserve sight, and help eye care practitioners deliver the best visual outcomes for their patients."

For the past 32 years, Dr. Lane has been a world-renowned ophthalmologist specializing in cataract surgery, cornea/external diseases, anterior segment surgery, LASIK, and refractive surgery. He is a founding partner of Associated Eye Care, past president of the American Society of Cataract Surgeons (ASCRS), serves on the editorial boards for several ophthalmic journals, is a distinguished lecturer, and has published numerous academic articles and book chapters. In addition, Steve is an adjunct professor of ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota, Co-Chair of the ASCRS Foundation, and a visiting faculty member of ORBIS International, an Alcon partner.

Throughout his career, Dr. Lane has been honored with numerous awards, including The American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Award, Senior Achievement Award and Secretariat Award. He has been named a Top Doctor, including recognition in the top 1 percent of ophthalmologists, by U.S. News, and one of the "34 Best Ophthalmologists in America" by Becker's ASC Review.

Dr. Lane earned his medical degree from the University of Minnesota, completed his ophthalmology residency at Pennsylvania State University, and is fellowship-trained in cornea/external disease.

About Alcon

Alcon is the global leader in eye care. As a division of Novartis, we offer the broadest portfolio of products to enhance sight and improve people's lives. Our products touch the lives of more than 260 million people each year living with conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, retinal diseases and refractive errors, and there are millions more who are waiting for solutions to meet their eye care needs. Our purpose is reimagining eye care, and we do this through innovative products, partnerships with eye care professionals and programs that enhance access to quality eye care. Learn more at www.alcon.com.

Alcon is on Facebook. Like us at www.facebook.com/AlconEyeCare. 

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis

For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library

For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected]

Novartis Media Relations

Central media line: +41 61 324 2200

E-mail: [email protected]

Eric Althoff Novartis Global Media Relations +41 61 324 7999 (direct) +41 79 593 4202 (mobile) [email protected] Amy Leger Alcon Global Communications +1 817 551 4988 (direct) +1 862 210 4685 (mobile) [email protected]

Novartis Investor Relations

Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944

E-mail: [email protected]

Central

North America

Samir Shah +41 61 324 7944 Richard Pulik +1 212 830 2448 Pierre-Michel Bringer +41 61 324 1065 Cory Twining +1 212 830 2417 Thomas Hungerbuehler +41 61 324 8425



Isabella Zinck +41 61 324 7188





SOURCE Alcon
SIGNAL HILL, Calif., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Signifying an exciting new chapter for the company, Edge Systems  an award-winning skin health technology company  announced on May 1st that it will now be known as The HydraFacial Company.

In December 2016, healthcare-focused private equity firms Linden Capital Partners ("Linden") and DW Healthcare Partner ("DWHP") jointly acquired the Southern California-based company with a vision to invest in the global expansion of the HydraFacial brand.

"We have set a modern vision for the company to build upon our great product technology," explained Clint Carnell, Chief Executive Officer of The HydraFacial Company. "In the near term, I think you'll see that we take a purposeful approach to growing our brand, with a focus to drive patient awareness, as well as best-in-class physician support, both from a clinical and marketing perspective. We are staking out our space and being very disciplined, thoughtful and assertive in what HydraFacial stands for."

This name change is accompanied by a refreshed look of their premier brand HydraFacial. "Our logo represents our modern approach to turning the expected upside down. The brand visual identity is a celebration of our uniqueness, demonstrating the emotional connection we create by revealing a brighter, more confident life through amazing skin," explained Rosemarie Holcomb, Director of Marketing for The HydraFacial Company.

The new name is effective immediately, and will be implemented across the company's product line throughout the calendar year 2017.

About The HydraFacial Company

Established in 1997, our Southern California-based company designs award-winning, patented skin care technologies and solutions. We pioneered hydradermabrasion and now HydraFacial and Perk products are popular in over 75 countries around the world.

For more information visit www.hydrafacial.com.

SOURCE The HydraFacial Company

Related Links

http://www.hydrafacial.com


LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Email Marketing Industry: Overview

This report on the global email marketing provides analysis for the period 2015  2025, wherein 2016 is the base year and the period from 2017 to 2025 is the forecast period. Data for 2015 has been included as historical information. The report covers drivers which is driving factor for email marketing industry. It also covers restraints and opportunities for the growth analysis of email marketing. The regional trends covered in the scope of the study expected to influence the global Email marketing growth during the said period.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4885796/

The study provides a comprehensive analysis on market growth throughout the above forecast period in terms of revenue estimates (in US$ Mn) across different geographies. Email marketing is basically used to do advertisements and brand awareness related to products, solution and services. The email marketing has wide adoption across various end-use industry includes retail/e-commerce, IT & telecom, travel & leisure, publishing, BFSI and others for promoting their products, solutions and services and improve customer relationship.



Global Email Marketing Industry: Segmentation



The global email marketing industry has been segmented on the basis of component, type, enterprise and end-use industry. The component segment has further been divided into software/applications and services. Furthermore, software is sub-divided into white label software, third party and web-based application and the services segment into integration & installation and support & maintenance. On the basis of type the market has been divided into traditional and automated. The enterprise segment has been segregated into small and medium enterprise and large enterprise. On the basis of end-use industry the market has been divided into retail/e-commerce, IT & telecom, travel & leisure, print & publishing, BFSI and others



Geographically, the report classifies the global email marketing industry into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America; the regions are analyzed in terms of revenue generation and also included analysis of countries such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K, France, Germany, China, India, Japan, Australia, UAE, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Argentina. The market size and forecast for each region and country has been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025 along with the CAGR (%) for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025.



Global Email Marketing Industry: Scope of the Study



The report further includes key industry developments in the email marketing industry. Porter Five Force analysis and ecosystem analysis is also included in the report. The report also covers market indicator which provide supporting factor for the growth of the email marketing covered in the scope of study. It shows market attractiveness analysis for all the segments and for all the regions in the scope of study which identifies and compares segments market attractiveness on the basis of CAGR and market share index.



The study also includes competition landscape which include competition matrix, market share analysis of major players in the global Email Marketing industry based on their 2016 revenues, and profiling of major players. Competition matrix benchmarks leading players on the basis of their capabilities and potential to grow. Factors including market position, offerings and R&D focus are attributed to company's capabilities. Factors including top line growth, market share, segment growth, infrastructure facilities and future outlook are attributed to company's potential to grow. This section also identifies and includes various recent developments carried out by the leading players.



Companies Mentioned in the Report



Company profile of the key players profiled in the global email marketing industry specifically covers provides company details (HQ, Foundation Year, Employee Strength), market presence of the company by segment., strategy of the company for the growth in the competitive market, revenue and operating profits and SWOT analysis.



Key players operating the global email marketing industry companies profiled are Alchemy Worx Ltd., Adestra Ltd, GetResponse, VerticalResponse, Inc., dotmailer Ltd, Forfront Ltd., BlueHornet Inc., Constant Contact, Inc., BlueTie Inc., Drip, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), The Rocket Science Group, LLC (mailChimp), iContact Corporation, Salesforce Inc., Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Campaign Monitor, Natexo Group, Epsilon, Responsys Inc (Oracle Corporation) and Salesforce Inc.



The global market for email marketing is segmented as below:



By Component



Software/Application

White Label Software

Third-party Standard

Web-based Application

Services

Integration and Installation

Support and Maintenance



By Type



Traditional

Automated



By Enterprise



Small and medium Enterprise

Large Enterprise



By End-use Industry



Retail/E-Commerce

IT & Telecom

Travel & Leisure

Print/Publishing

BFSI

Others



By Geography



North America

The U.S.

Canada

Rest of North America

Europe

The U.K

Germany

France

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

India

Japan

China

Australia

Rest of APAC

Middle East and Africa (MEA)

UAE

South Africa

Saudi Arabia

Rest of MEA

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4885796/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com

For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


"We are pleased to work with our partners at Entergy to bring low-cost, renewable energy to their customers and introduce the first universal solar project of this scale in Arkansas," said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources. "This project will bring good jobs, tax benefits and affordable, renewable energy to the state for decades to come."

The Stuttgart Solar Energy Center will span 475 acres, approximately seven miles southeast of Stuttgart, AR. Construction will last approximately nine months. Once complete, the facility will feature more than 350,000 photovoltaic solar panels that convert the sun's energy into electricity. The solar energy center will have a capacity to generate 81 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power more than 13,000 homes. An affiliate of NextEra Energy Resources is developing the project and will build, own and operate it. The energy will serve Entergy Arkansas customers under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

"This project allows Entergy Arkansas to diversify our power generation in the state and provide our customers with access to emissions-free, renewable energy at a good price," said Rick Riley, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas. "In NextEra Energy Resources we have an experienced partner to build and operate a project that will deliver tremendous value to our customers."

The project will create a significant economic boost for Arkansas County, creating up to 250 jobs during the construction phase. From labor and materials, to housing, health care and construction - a wide variety of local businesses will benefit from the influx of economic activity.

"This project will provide good jobs, and Arkansas County businesses will benefit from the extra activity, too," said Bethany Hildebrand, executive director and CEO of the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce. "We are thrilled to host the state's largest solar facility and help realize the benefits it can bring to our community."

Over its operational life, the Stuttgart Solar Energy Center is expected to generate nearly $8 million in additional revenue for Arkansas County, with much of that funding going to help Arkansas County Public Schools.

"I know our county and school district will look at all of the opportunities these funds will provide," said Arkansas County Judge Eddie Best. "The funds will be a big boost to many of the school district and county's future projects and we couldn't be happier to welcome this facility to our community."

NextEra Energy Resources

NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (together with its affiliated entities, "NextEra Energy Resources"), is a clean energy leader and is one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S., with approximately 19,990 megawatts of generating capacity, which includes megawatts associated with noncontrolling interests related to NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP), primarily in 29 states and Canada as of year-end 2016. NextEra Energy Resources, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. The business operates clean, emissions-free nuclear power generation facilities in New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin as part of the NextEra Energy nuclear fleet, which is one of the largest in the United States. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more information, visit www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

Entergy Arkansas

Entergy Arkansas provides electricity to approximately 700,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Arkansas is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR), an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of approximately $11.5 billion and more than 13,000 employees.



SOURCE NextEra Energy Resources

Related Links

http://www.nexteraenergyresources.com


"The GOJO Purpose, Saving Lives and Making Life Better Through Well-Being Solutions, drives our commitment to solving real human problems and offering our customers gentle and effective hygiene solutions," said Jessica McCoy, GOJO vice president and general manager, business development. "Living our Purpose not only has a positive impact on public health and the world in which we live, but it also allows us to find new ways to innovate to create Sustainable Value for all GOJO stakeholders. One such innovation is our PURELL  Surface Disinfecting and Sanitizing Sprays."

GOJO developed its new PURELL Surface Disinfecting and Sanitizing Sprays based on the principles of the Safer Choice program  developing a product that performs well and contains ingredients that meet strict safety criteria for both human health and the environment as determined by the EPA's evaluation of the best available science. PURELL Surface Disinfecting and Sanitizing Sprays are EPA Design for the Environment certified, which follows the principles of Safer Choice. Available for the Foodservice, Healthcare and Professional markets, PURELL Surface Disinfecting and Sanitizing Sprays contain no harsh chemicals, while quickly killing germs including Norovirus, MRSA and cold and flu.

"The Safer Choice program's focus on safer chemistry closely aligns with one of our own sustainability goals  reducing our own chemical footprint and elevating the safety profile of our portfolio of products," added McCoy. "GOJO is the first and only company to publicly declare our commitment to advancing sustainable chemistry by reducing our chemical footprint, both through the elimination of chemicals of concern and through mindful substitution by 50 percent by 2020. Our relationship with the Safer Choice program has provided us with a platform to educate and encourage others to join us in taking a closer look at the ingredients in their products."

More information about PURELL Surface Spray products can be found at www.PURELLSurface.com.

About GOJO

GOJO, the inventors of PURELL Hand Sanitizer, is the leading global producer and marketer of skin health and hygiene solutions for away-from-home settings. The broad GOJO product portfolio includes hand cleaning, handwashing, hand sanitizing, skin care formulas and surface sprays under the GOJO, PURELL and PROVON brand names. GOJO formulations use the latest advances in the science of skin care and sustainability. GOJO is known for state-of-the-art dispensing technology, engineered with attention to design, sustainability and functionality. GOJO programs promote healthy behaviors for hygiene, skin care and compliance in critical environments. GOJO is a privately held, family-owned corporation headquartered in Akron, Ohio, with operations in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada and Brazil.

About the Safer Choice Program

The Safer Choice program was developed in 1997 and draws upon chemical and environmental expertise from across EPA. EPA's Safer Choice program focuses on chemistry and identifying safer chemicals. When either the Safer Choice or Design for the Environment label appears on a product, it means that EPA has evaluated each ingredient in the product for potential human health and environmental effects and that--based on hazard and risk information, the latest models and predictive tools, and expert scientific judgment--the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class. Safer Choice works closely with companies to help them understand the chemistry of their products and to select safer alternatives to chemicals that pose potential health or environmental concerns. For more information about the Safer Choice program, visit: www.EPA.gov/saferchoice.

SOURCE GOJO

Related Links

http://www.gojo.com


ATLANTA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) today announced that Chief Financial Officer John Gamble will meet with investors on Monday, May 15th in New York.

Gamble will discuss the company's first quarter 2017 performance, as well as the strategic outlook for 2017.

An archive of the presentation will be available at investor.equifax.com.

About Equifax

Equifax is a global information solutions company that uses trusted unique data, innovative analytics, technology and industry expertise to power organizations and individuals around the world by transforming knowledge into insights that help make more informed business and personal decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its database includes employee data contributed from more than 7,100 employers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,700 employees worldwide.

Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Ranked 13 on the American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2015); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2015); named one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes' World's 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015). For more information, visit www.equifax.com.

SOURCE Equifax Inc.

Related Links

http://www.equifax.com


MIAMI, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- RNB Thursday's Delight, a Belgrade, Serbia-based R&B event and event marketing company, has partnered with Executive Digital, a global digital marketing expert agency, for its expansion into the European and US marketplaces. The team at RNB Thursday's Delight has long been looked to as a leader in event marketing in Eastern Europe.

"Our chance to partner with a Global Digital Marketing Agency leader like Executive Digital gives us a marketable reach of our weekly and quarterly events around Europe, and as we expand our offering into the US marketplace, we are confident that this partnership will take our exposure to the next level," said Nemanja Neni Petrovic, CEO of RNB Thursday's Delight.

"As we continue to mark our expanded presence in Europe, becoming a digital marketing partner to some of the most popular events in and around our targeted areas is a crucial component of our growth" stated Aleksandar Sasha Jovicic, CEO of Executive Digital.

As Jovicic added, digital marketing continues to be the number one driver of tourists worldwide, and as such, having a multi-lingual approach to cross-continent marketing is important to all businesses.

Since they first opened for business, the team at RNB Thursday's Delight has attended live events at both local and foreign markets. The organization has developed a well-deserved reputation for its high-quality work, and has been backed by some of the world's most famous R&B and hip-hop names.

This summer, RNB Thursday's Delight finds a new home on the Lasta Gradski Splav in Belgrade, and in the fall season, a US tour of the performing artists and DJs expands RTD's footprint overseas.

About RNB Thursday's Delight: RNB Thursday's Delight is an organization that involves R&B and Hip-Hop events in Belgrade (Serbia). Their team holds two locations throughout the summer and winter seasons in Belgrade, at Terassa and Brankow. This team is also the organizer of the first official R&B festival in Serbia  3SOME RNB FESTIVAL  which is renowned for hosting famous DJs and rap names.

To learn more about RNB Thursday's Delight and the event-related services that they offer, please visit http://rnbthursdaysdelight.com/.

To watch a short video about RNB Thursday's Delight's location in Terassa last summer, please check out https://vimeo.com/186092159.

About Executive Digital: Executive Digital LLC is a top digital marketing agency, operating from 8 managed offices with more than 80 employees throughout the United States, Dubai (UAE), Novi Sad (Serbia) and Karachi (Pakistan). Executive Digital LLC delivers digital marketing expert services based on deep industry knowledge and our longtime status as digital experts in our respective realms of the industry. As a global premier group of digital experts, we have brought forth complete marketing solutions in the SEO, Social Media, Paid media, Web Development, Visual/Creative Arts and Lead Generation areas.

Media Contact:

Maria Storm

[email protected]

Executive Digital

9325 Park Drive Suite G

Miami Shores, FL 33138

754.701.2891

Related Video

https://vimeo.com/186092159

SOURCE Executive Digital
SOMERVILLE, Mass., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Evergage, the real-time personalization platform company, today announced the appointment of Josh Baumrind as senior vice president of partnerships and corporate development. With nearly two decades of experience cultivating partnerships for leading cloud, e-commerce and customer engagement companies, Baumrind will be responsible for spearheading Evergage's strategic alliances.

"As demand for our solutions continues to accelerate, going to market with strategic agency, system integration and technology partners is an important initiative for Evergage in 2017 and beyond," said Evergage CEO Karl Wirth. "We're thrilled to have Josh join our team and know he'll play an important role as Evergage extends its leadership in real-time, 1:1 personalization. Josh's expertise and success with partner programs focused on customer engagement and omnichannel commerce will create growth opportunities and deliver tremendous value to our customers."

Baumrind will report directly to Wirth and will be based out of San Francisco. Before joining Evergage, he spent the last 18 years developing organic and M&A growth strategies that contributed to multi-million-dollar revenue streams at leading companies, including Kibo Commerce, Janrain, VerticalResponse, CNET Networks and LetsTalk.com. In these roles, he was responsible for driving and managing channel, agency, systems integration and technology partnerships. Baumrind earned a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University and a Bachelor of Arts in marketing from Johnson State College.

"Evergage's cutting-edge personalization capabilities, visionary leadership and clear mission for success are what drew me to the company," Baumrind said. "Personalization is the future of digital customer engagement. After doing significant research on the space, I recognized Evergage offers the market-leading solution and is poised to capture even greater market share, as customers continually realize transformative benefits. I look forward to helping Evergage cultivate new partnerships that contribute to the growth goals of both Evergage and its partner ecosystem."

About Evergage

Only Evergage's real-time personalization platform delivers The Power of 1, enabling digital marketers to transform the dream of 1:1 customer engagement into reality. Combining in-depth behavioral analytics and customer data with advanced machine learning, Evergage provides the one platform you need to systematically understand and interact with each person that visits your site or uses your app  one at a time, "in the moment" and at scale  to deliver a maximally relevant, individualized experience. Evergage's powerful and flexible cloud-based platform delivers real-time personalization to more than 2 billion web visitors, improving revenue growth, demand generation and customer success for leading organizations across industries, including Academy Sports+Outdoors, Endurance International Group, Intuit, Publishers Clearing House, Rue La La and Zumiez. Evergage is a two-time winner in the Best in Biz Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Stevie American Business Awards and MITX Awards. For more information, visit http://evergage.com or contact the company at [email protected] or 1-888-310-0589.

Media Contact:

Meghan Locke

LEWIS

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1 781-418-2434

SOURCE Evergage

Related Links

http://www.evergage.com


WASHINGTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolent Health (NYSE: EVH), a company providing an integrated value-based care platform to the nation's leading health systems and physician organizations, today announced its partnership with Houston Methodist, an eight-hospital system consistently ranked amongst the nation's best. The partnership will initially drive the development and execution of a value-based care strategy for improving the health of Medicare patients.

"It is exciting to work with a world-renowned and innovative partner like Houston Methodist on its value-based care strategy and operations," said Evolent Health Chief Executive Officer Frank Williams. "Its mission of providing high quality, cost-effective care is closely aligned with our own, and together we can further advance the positive impact Houston Methodist has on the health and wellbeing of its community."

Evolent Health is working with leadership at Houston Methodist to advise the delivery system through an approach to clinical care and operations that promotes value-based care. Together, the organizations are taking a physician-led approach to deploying a value-based care technology infrastructure and clinical programs, including advanced analytics and predictive modeling, to help identify patients that might benefit from targeted clinical interventions early and with improved accuracy. Through this closely-aligned collaboration, Evolent supports Houston Methodist in the development of Houston Methodist Coordinated Care (HMCC), a physician-led ACO.

"In our collaboration with Evolent Health, our goal is to provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value and health outcomes for our community," said President and CEO of HMCC, Julia D. Andrieni, MD.

Houston Methodist Hospital is consistently ranked among U.S. News & World Report's best hospitals, and that same level of care extends across its eight-hospital system. Houston Methodist employs more than 21,000 people, has a network of more than 5,500 participating physicians and annual revenues of approximately $3 billion.

About Evolent Health

Evolent Health partners with leading provider organizations to achieve superior clinical and financial results in value-based care. With a provider heritage and over 20 years of health plan administration experience, Evolent operates in more than 30 U.S. health care markets, actively managing care across Medicare, Medicaid, commercial and self-funded adult and pediatric populations. With the experience to drive change, Evolent confidently stands by a commitment to achieve results. For more information, visit evolenthealth.com.

About Houston Methodist

Houston Methodist is a nonprofit health care organization based in Houston, Texas. It has extended the world-renowned clinical and service excellence of its founding entity, Houston Methodist Hospital, through a network of community hospitals, a research institute and a comprehensive residency program. For more information visit www.houstonmethodist.org .

SOURCE Evolent Health

Related Links

http://evolenthealth.com


Featuring standout pieces inspired by her mission and her music, the first Demi Lovato for Fabletics collection reflects Demi's authentic voice of female empowerment and unique style. The collection will support the brand's ongoing partnership with the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up campaign  a "by girls, for girls" movement that empowers girls to become a force for change for girls everywhere.

"When we first met, I remember being so impressed by how intelligent, accomplished and confident Demi was, even at such a young age. I loved her spirit, her honesty and how she was open to showing vulnerability, because that shows so much strength. She naturally came to mind as I was thinking about creating our first collaboration for Fabletics. Demi embodies so many elements of the Fabletics brand in such a unique way; she's a definitive voice for female empowerment and body positivity  especially for the younger generation  which is something we believe in very strongly at Fabletics," said Kate Hudson.

The Demi Lovato for Fabletics collection will launch with an initial limited edition capsule collection in mid May 2017, which will include an assortment of tops and leggings, followed by a full performance collection in August 2017 ranging from bras and leggings to layering pieces including tops, jackets and much more. The collection reflects the fashion meets performance DNA of Fabletics, blended with styles inspired by Demi's mission, music, and voice of female empowerment.

Of the collaboration, Demi Lovato said: "When I was approached by Kate to do a collaboration for Fabletics, I couldn't have been more excited. I am thrilled to lend my voice to such a powerful brand and organization, both of which represent many of the values I stand for  particularly the importance of empowering girls. Being involved in the creative design process while being able to have a daily impact on young girls' lives around the world is so rewarding to me, making this initiative very dear to my heart."

As part of the Fabletics partnership with Girl Up, the brand is dedicated to creating a community that nurtures inspiring, confident, and spirited girls who are able to realize their best selves. By integrating Demi's authentic voice and passionate influence, Fabletics will further strengthen its efforts to raise funds and awareness for some of the world's most marginalized adolescent girls, ensuring that they are educated, happy, healthy, safe, and positioned to be leaders in their communities, specifically, with the aim to support one of Girl Up's priority initiatives, SchoolCycle. With approximately 130 million girls out of school globally, getting girls to school and keeping them there is of utmost importance. Girl Up's SchoolCycle initiative works with UNFPA to give girls bikes  along with spare parts and maintenance training  so they can continue their education and travel quickly and safely to and from school. The bikes also give girls independence and mobility to create a better future for themselves, their families, and communities.

The Demi Lovato for Fabletics capsule collection will be sold across 8 countries and will be available on the official website as well as in the 21 Fabletics stores nationwide.

About Girl Up

Girl Up, the United Nations Foundation's adolescent girl campaign, supports the empowerment of girls everywhere. Since its launch in 2010, the campaign has funded UN programs that promote the health, safety, education, and leadership of girls in developing countries and built a community of nearly half a million passionate advocatesincluding Girl Up Global Advocates Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and Latin American business leader Angelica Fuentes. Our youth leaders, representing more than 1200 Girl Up Clubs in 66 countries, stand up, speak up, and rise up to support the hardest to reach girls living in places where it is hardest to be a girl. Learn more at GirlUp.org.

About Fabletics

Fabletics is a fashion-focused activewear brand co-founded by Kate Hudson in 2013. In line with their mission to empower women by making a healthy, active lifestyle accessible to everyone - regardless of size, shape, age or ability - Fabletics' innovative business model allows the brand to offer high-quality activewear at an unrivaled value. Designed with every woman in mind, Fabletics now offers new monthly collections in sizes ranging from XXS-3X to a loyal community of over one million VIP members across eight countries. The full selection of apparel and accessories can be found at Fabletics official website and in the brand's twenty-one U.S.-based retail stores.

For general information on Fabletics, please visit the TechStyle website.

Visit Fabletics Blog to experience the brand's editorial content site.

SOURCE Fabletics

Related Links

http://www.fabletics.com


WASHINGTON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (OTC Bulletin Board: FNMA) today submitted its Duty to Serve (DTS) Underserved Markets Plan to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for public comment. The draft Plan aims to address the needs of America's most underserved housing markets and will focus on three key underserved areas: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation, and rural housing.

Fannie Mae's DTS Underserved Markets Plan can be found on FHFA's DTS Underserved Markets Plan List page. Public input on the proposed Plan can be provided through July 10, 2017 on FHFA's DTS Draft Underserved Markets Plans Input page.

"Fannie Mae welcomes the opportunity to create housing opportunities that are affordable and we are prepared to bring all our experience, knowledge, and capabilities to bear in fulfilling our Duty to Serve. We recognize that there are no easy solutions to the tough and often long-standing challenges that characterize underserved markets. It will take research, education, and innovative partnerships to make housing more affordable in all markets," said Jeffery Hayward, Executive Vice President and Head of Multifamily, Fannie Mae. "We are excited that the Duty to Serve rule aligns with our mission to increase access to mortgage credit and housing options for all Americans as we find new ways and new partners to support underserved markets that need help."

To learn more about what Fannie Mae is already doing to make housing more accessible, visit Fannie Mae's website.

Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of Americans. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit fanniemae.com and follow us on twitter.com/fanniemae.

SOURCE Fannie Mae

Related Links

http://www.fanniemae.com


DENVER, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Following storms with large hail that moved through the west side of Denver and the surrounding areas on May 8, Farmers Insurance has deployed catastrophe response claims representatives, other personnel, and resources to assist customers. Affected customers can file a claim by calling their agent, online at https://www.farmers.com/claims/, using the Farmers app through their smartphone or tablet, or by calling the 24-hour claims center:

Farmers Claims Contact Center number: 1-800-435-7764.

Foremost customers can also use the 1-800-435-7764 number for assistance.

Bristol West customers can call 1-800-274-7865 for assistance.

Spanish-language claims assistance is available to Farmers customers by calling: 877-RECLAMO (877-732-5266).

According to the Spring 2017 Seasonal Smarts Digest, which uses actual Farmers claims data to highlight spring's common dangers and provides suggestions to reduce drivers' and homeowners' risks, Colorado is one of several states in the Midwest Region prone to experience hail-related home and auto claims between March and May.

Immediately following a storm, Farmers Insurance recommends the following actions when safe:

Walk around the home inside and out to identify potential damage

Take photographs of any damage noted to the property

Make emergency repairs or temporary emergency repairs as needed to prevent further damage, if you are unable to do so yourself, you may want to consider hiring a professional

Do not forget to check your landscaping

Talk to your Farmers agent if you have questions regarding damage and the claims process

More information about safety and preparedness for homeowners and motorists across the country can be found at https://www.farmers.com/news/seasonal-smarts/.

About Farmers

"Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies nationally, through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2016 Fortune 500 list.

For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

Contact: Media Relations

Farmers Insurance

(818) 965-0007

[email protected]

SOURCE Farmers Insurance

Related Links

http://www.farmersinsurance.com


ROCKLAND, Mass. and NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the US and Canada, and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BAVENCIO (avelumab) Injection for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO was previously granted accelerated approval from the FDA for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). These indications are approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response and duration of response. Continued approval for these indications may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.1

"This approval for BAVENCIO in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma exemplifies our unwavering commitment to finding new treatments for the most challenging cancers," said Luciano Rossetti, M.D., Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development at the biopharma business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "Coming just a few weeks after the approval for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, we continue to demonstrate our ability to accelerate access to innovative medicines for patients in need."

"This approval builds on the ongoing clinical development program for BAVENCIO in urothelial carcinoma and reinforces our commitment to providing new medicines to patients with difficult-to-treat cancers," said Liz Barrett, Global President, Pfizer Oncology. "By drawing on the strength of the alliance, as well as Pfizer's deep experience in genitourinary cancers, we believe BAVENCIO will be an important treatment option, and we hope it will help to improve outcomes for these patients."

Bladder cancer makes up approximately 90% of urothelial carcinomas and is the sixth most common cancer in the US.2,3 When the disease has metastasized, the five-year survival rate is approximately 5%.4 Despite advances in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, the prognosis for patients remains poor and more treatment options are needed.2

"Once urothelial carcinoma progresses after treatment with chemotherapy, the five-year survival rate is alarmingly low," said Dr. Andrea Apolo, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, US. "Until recently, there had been limited innovation in urothelial carcinoma, and this approval gives us another treatment to help battle this aggressive disease."

The efficacy and safety of BAVENCIO was demonstrated in the urothelial carcinoma cohorts (N=242) of the JAVELIN Solid Tumor trial, a Phase I, open-label, single-arm, multicenter study of BAVENCIO in the treatment of various solid tumors. The urothelial carcinoma cohorts enrolled patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy or who had disease progression within 12 months of treatment with a platinum-containing neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy regimen. These data will be presented at an upcoming medical congress.

The warnings and precautions for BAVENCIO include immune-mediated adverse reactions (such as pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction and other adverse reactions), infusion-related reactions and embryo-fetal toxicity. The most common adverse reactions (reported in at least 20% of patients) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma were fatigue (41%), infusion-related reaction (30%), musculoskeletal pain (25%), nausea (24%), decreased appetite/hypophagia (21%) and urinary tract infection (21%).1 For more information, please see Important Safety Information for BAVENCIO below.

BAVENCIO is designed to potentially engage both the adaptive and innate immune systems. By binding to PD-L1, BAVENCIO is thought to prevent tumor cells from using PD-L1 for protection against white blood cells, such as T cells, exposing them to anti-tumor responses.1 BAVENCIO has also been shown to induce antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vitro.1

The alliance is committed to providing industry-leading patient access and reimbursement support through its CoverOne program. This program provides a spectrum of patient access and reimbursement support services intended to help patients receive appropriate access to BAVENCIO in the United States. CoverOne may be reached by phone at 844-8COVER1

(844-826-8371) or online at www.CoverOne.com.

About Urothelial Carcinoma Cohorts in JAVELIN Solid Tumor Trial

The efficacy and safety of BAVENCIO was demonstrated in the urothelial carcinoma cohorts of the JAVELIN Solid Tumor trial, a Phase I, open-label, single-arm, multicenter study that included 242 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with disease progression on or after platinum- containing chemotherapy or who had disease progression within 12 months of treatment with a platinum-containing neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy regimen who were treated with BAVENCIO.

Patients with active or a history of central nervous system metastasis; other malignancies within the last five years; an organ transplant; conditions requiring therapeutic immune suppression; or active infection with HIV, hepatitis B or C were excluded. Patients with autoimmune disease, other than type 1 diabetes, vitiligo, psoriasis, or thyroid disease that did not require immunosuppressive treatment, were excluded. Patients were included regardless of their PD-L1 status. Patients received BAVENCIO at a dose of 10 mg/kg intravenously over 60 minutes every two weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Tumor response assessments were performed every six weeks, as assessed by an Independent Endpoint Review Committee (IERC) using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1. Efficacy outcome measures included confirmed overall response rate, (ORR) and duration of response (DOR). Efficacy measures were evaluated in patients who were followed for a minimum of both 13 weeks and 6 months at the time of data cut-off.

Out of the total 226 patients evaluable for efficacy, 44% had non-bladder urothelial carcinoma, including 23% of patients with upper tract disease; 83% of patients had visceral metastases; 34% of patients had liver metastases. Nine patients (4%) had disease progression following prior platinum-containing neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy only. Forty-seven percent of patients only received prior cisplatin-based regimens, 32% received only prior carboplatin-based regimens, and 20% received both cisplatin and carboplatin-based regimens.

The international clinical development program for avelumab, known as JAVELIN, involves more than 30 clinical programs, including nine Phase III trials, and more than 5,200 patients across more than 15 tumor types.

In December 2015, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer announced the initiation of a Phase III multicenter, multinational, randomized, open-label, parallel-arm study (JAVELIN Bladder 100) of BAVENCIO plus best supportive care versus best supportive care alone as a maintenance treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease did not progress after completion of first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. This trial is currently enrolling patients.

For more information about JAVELIN trials, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

For full prescribing information and medication guide for BAVENCIO, please see www.BAVENCIO.com.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION and INDICATIONS

BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated pneumonitis, including fatal cases. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of pneumonitis and evaluate suspected cases with radiographic imaging. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater pneumonitis. Withhold BAVENCIO for moderate (Grade 2) and permanently discontinue for severe (Grade 3), life-threatening (Grade 4), or recurrent moderate (Grade 2) pneumonitis. Pneumonitis occurred in 1.2% (21/1738) of patients, including one (0.1%) patient with Grade 5, one (0.1%) with Grade 4, and five (0.3%) with Grade 3.

BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated hepatitis, including fatal cases. Monitor patients for abnormal liver tests prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater hepatitis. Withhold BAVENCIO for moderate (Grade 2) immune-mediated hepatitis until resolution and permanently discontinue for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) immune-mediated hepatitis. Immune-mediated hepatitis was reported in 0.9% (16/1738) of patients, including two (0.1%) patients with Grade 5 and 11 (0.6%) with Grade 3.

BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated colitis. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of colitis. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater colitis. Withhold BAVENCIO until resolution for moderate or severe (Grade 2 or 3) colitis and permanently discontinue for life-threatening (Grade 4) or recurrent (Grade 3) colitis upon re-initiation of BAVENCIO. Immune-mediated colitis occurred in 1.5% (26/1738) of patients, including seven (0.4%) with Grade 3.

BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated endocrinopathies, including adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, and type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency during and after treatment, and administer corticosteroids as appropriate. Withhold BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal insufficiency was reported in 0.5% (8/1738) of patients, including one (0.1%) with Grade 3.

Thyroid disorders can occur at any time during treatment. Monitor patients for changes in thyroid function at the start of treatment, periodically during treatment, and as indicated based on clinical evaluation. Manage hypothyroidism with hormone replacement therapy and hyperthyroidism with medical management. Withhold BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) or life- threatening (Grade 4) thyroid disorders. Thyroid disorders including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroiditis were reported in 6% (98/1738) of patients, including three (0.2%) with Grade 3.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus including diabetic ketoacidosis: Monitor patients for hyperglycemia or other signs and symptoms of diabetes. Withhold BAVENCIO and administer anti-hyperglycemics or insulin in patients with severe or life-threatening (Grade  3) hyperglycemia, and resume treatment when metabolic control is achieved. Type 1 diabetes mellitus without an alternative etiology occurred in 0.1% (2/1738) of patients, including two cases of Grade 3 hyperglycemia.

BAVENCIO can cause immune-mediated nephritis and renal dysfunction. Monitor patients for elevated serum creatinine prior to and periodically during treatment. Administer corticosteroids for Grade 2 or greater nephritis. Withhold BAVENCIO for moderate (Grade 2) or severe (Grade 3) nephritis until resolution to Grade 1 or lower. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for life-threatening (Grade 4) nephritis. Immune-mediated nephritis occurred in 0.1% (1/1738) of patients.

BAVENCIO can result in other severe and fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions involving any organ system during treatment or after treatment discontinuation. For suspected immune-mediated adverse reactions, evaluate to confirm or rule out an immune-mediated adverse reaction and to exclude other causes. Depending on the severity of the adverse reaction, withhold or permanently discontinue BAVENCIO, administer high-dose corticosteroids, and initiate hormone replacement therapy if appropriate. Resume BAVENCIO when the immune-mediated adverse reaction remains at Grade 1 or lower following a corticosteroid taper. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for any severe (Grade 3) immune-mediated adverse reaction that recurs and for any life-threatening (Grade 4) immune-mediated adverse reaction. The following clinically significant immune-mediated adverse reactions occurred in less than 1% of 1738 patients treated with BAVENCIO: myocarditis with fatal cases, myositis, psoriasis, arthritis, exfoliative dermatitis, erythema multiforme, pemphigoid, hypopituitarism, uveitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and systemic inflammatory response.

BAVENCIO can cause severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) infusion-related reactions. Patients should be premedicated with an antihistamine and acetaminophen prior to the first 4 infusions and for subsequent doses based upon clinical judgment and presence/severity of prior infusion reactions. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of infusion-related reactions, including pyrexia, chills, flushing, hypotension, dyspnea, wheezing, back pain, abdominal pain, and urticaria. Interrupt or slow the rate of infusion for mild (Grade 1) or moderate (Grade 2) infusion-related reactions. Permanently discontinue BAVENCIO for severe (Grade 3) or life-threatening (Grade 4) infusion-related reactions. Infusion-related reactions occurred in 25% (439/1738) of patients, including three (0.2%) patients with Grade 4 and nine (0.5%) with Grade 3.

BAVENCIO can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise patients of the potential risk to a fetus including the risk of fetal death. Advise females of childbearing potential to use effective contraception during treatment with BAVENCIO and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO. It is not known whether BAVENCIO is excreted in human milk. Advise a lactating woman not to breastfeed during treatment and for at least 1 month after the last dose of BAVENCIO due to the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants.

The most common adverse reactions (all grades,  20%) in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) were fatigue (50%), musculoskeletal pain (32%), diarrhea (23%), nausea (22%), infusion-related reaction (22%), rash (22%), decreased appetite (20%), and peripheral edema (20%).

Selected treatment-emergent laboratory abnormalities (all grades,  20%) in patients with metastatic MCC were lymphopenia (49%), anemia (35%), increased aspartate aminotransferase (34%), thrombocytopenia (27%), and increased alanine aminotransferase (20%).

The most common adverse reactions (all grades,  20%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (UC) were fatigue (41%), infusion-related reaction (30%), musculoskeletal pain (25%), nausea (24%), decreased appetite/hypophagia (21%) and urinary tract infection (21%).

Selected laboratory abnormalities (grades 3-4,  3%) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC were hyponatremia (16%), gamma-glutamyltransferase increased (12%), lymphopenia (11%), hyperglycemia (9%), increased alkaline phosphatase (7%), anemia (6%), increased lipase (6%), hyperkalemia (3%), and increased aspartate aminotransferase (3%).

INDICATIONS

BAVENCIO is indicated for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).

BAVENCIO is indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy.

These indications are approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response and duration of response. Continued approval for these indications may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

Please see full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide.

Avelumab has not yet been approved for any indication in any market outside of the US. As announced on October 31, 2016, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has validated for review Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's Marketing Authorization Application for avelumab, for the proposed indication of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

About BAVENCIO (avelumab)

BAVENCIO is a human programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) blocking antibody indicated in the US for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy, as well as for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.1 These indications are approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response and duration of response. Continued approval for these indications is contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

BAVENCIO is not approved for any indication in any market outside the US.

Alliance between Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer Inc., New York, US

Immuno-oncology is a top priority for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer Inc. The global strategic alliance between Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer Inc., New York, US, enables the companies to benefit from each other's strengths and capabilities and further explore the therapeutic potential of avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody initially discovered and developed by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The immuno-oncology alliance will jointly develop and commercialize avelumab and advance Pfizer's PD-1 antibody. The alliance is focused on developing high-priority international clinical programs to investigate avelumab as a monotherapy, as well as in combination regimens, and is striving to find new ways to treat cancer.

About EMD Serono, Inc.

EMD Serono is the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany  a leading science and technology company  in the US and Canada focused exclusively on specialty care. For more than 40 years, the business has integrated cutting-edge science, innovative products and industry-leading patient support and access programs. EMD Serono has deep expertise in neurology, fertility and endocrinology, as well as a robust pipeline of potential therapies in oncology, immuno-oncology and immunology as R&D focus areas. Today, the business has 1,200 employees around the country with commercial, clinical and research operations based in the company's home state of Massachusetts. www.emdserono.com

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Website. Please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life  from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2016, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of 15.0 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, holds the global rights to the "Merck" name and brand except in the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

Pfizer Inc.: Working together for a healthier world

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world's best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @PfizerNews, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

Pfizer Disclosure Notice

The information contained in this release is as of May 9, 2017. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.

This release contains forward-looking information about BAVENCIO (avelumab), the alliance between Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer involving anti-PD-L1 and anti-PD-1 therapies, and clinical development plans, including their potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, uncertainties regarding the commercial success of BAVENCIO; the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical study commencement and completion dates and regulatory submission dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable study results, including unfavorable new clinical data and additional analyses of existing clinical data; risks associated with interim data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations, and, even when we view data as sufficient to support the safety and/or effectiveness of a product candidate, regulatory authorities may not share our views and may require additional data or may deny approval altogether; whether and when drug applications may be filed in any other jurisdictions for the Indication or in any jurisdictions for any other potential indications for BAVENCIO, combination therapies or other product candidates; whether and when any such applications (including the pending application for BAVENCIO for metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma in the EU) may be approved by regulatory authorities, which will depend on the assessment by such regulatory authorities of the benefit-risk profile suggested by the totality of the efficacy and safety information submitted; decisions by regulatory authorities regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of BAVENCIO, combination therapies or other product candidates; and competitive developments.

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results", as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.

References

BAVENCIO Prescribing Information. Rockland, MA : EMD Serono Inc.; 2017. National Cancer Institute. Bladder Cancer Treatment (PDQ)  Health Professional Version. Available at https://www.cancer.gov/types/bladder/hp/bladder-treatment-pdq. Accessed May 9, 2017. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Guidelines Version 1.2017 Updates. Bladder Cancer. Available from: https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/pdf/bladder.pdf. Accessed May 9, 2017 . National Cancer Institute. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER): Cancer Stat Facts: Bladder Cancer. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/urinb.html. Accessed May 9, 2017.

Your Contacts EMD Serono Inc. Media Melissa Lauer +1 781 738 5673 Investor Relations

+49 6151 72 3321 Pfizer Inc., New York, USA Media Sally Beatty +1 212 733 6566 Investor Relations Ryan Crowe +1 212 733 8160

SOURCE EMD Serono; Pfizer

Related Links

http://www.emdserono.com


DRAPER, Utah, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc. (FLXT) today released a corporate update for shareholders on current company activities and projected events for 2017.

"We have been able to build and expand on many of our relationships, resulting in recurring revenue streams from multiple sources across industries," commented Clark Mower, Flexpoint President and CEO. "We have worked for years to get to this position and now that we are here, we are reaping the benefits from our years of hard work. We have established ourselves in many industries that have proved to be very lucrative for the company including virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), medical IoT and robotics just to name a few."

Some key highlights include:

The biggest contributors to Q2 2017 revenue will be glove based products and the toy relationship.

Flexpoint is expected to deliver on over one million sensors in 2017 for the toy manufacturer.

Medical IoT sensor volume is expected to be more than 50,000 sensors in 2017.

Sensor volume from glove based applications is expected to exceed 175,000 in 2017.

Flexpoint, year-to-date, has delivered on approximately 150,000 sensors for its partnership with the toy manufacturer. The company expects annualized volumes for 2017 to be in excess of one million sensors.

The launch of ZeroUI, which was featured at CES 2016 and 2017, is taking place in Q2 2017, and Flexpoint anticipates delivering more than 10,000 sensors for ZeroUI in 2017. ZeroUI sells a hand-gestured modular robotics toy kit.

Initial clinical tests for Haemoband have completed. Haemoband is expected to incorporate the Bend Sensor in multiple product and device types that will launch beginning in late 2017. It is anticipated that production orders for these new products will begin in the second half of 2017 and are expected to significantly increase in 2018.

The product launch of a wearable shoe application will take place in Europe in the second half of 2017. The second half of this year will also see the product launch in North America of a medical orthotics shoe product. Between these two products, sensor volume is estimated to be 175,000.

The company began selling and distributing sensors through two resellers in 2016. Flexpoint has since greatly increased its relationships with resellers and is currently working with seven resellers across diverse industries. Some of these companies include Amazon, NoDNA, RobotShop, Oz Robotics, Karlsson Robotics, SPI and Infusion Systems.

"This meets our stated goal and expectation for 2017 of expanding our reseller markets," mentioned Paul Sexauer, VP Sales and Marketing. "We expect to add a few more resellers this year, two of which will be in the near term. We are receiving recurring sales from these resellers with most experiencing a growing number of sensors ordered each time." Sensor volume sold in 2017 through these channels will approach 25,000.

Virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) continues to be a focus of Flexpoint's because it has proven to be an incredibly fast growing multi-billion industry. ManusVR and Virtual Motion Labs both have products that are currently commercially available and feature the Flexpoint Bend Sensor. CaptoGlove along with a few other companies are all expected to release Bend Sensor products in 2017. Flexpoint expects the purchase orders that are currently being fulfilled for ManusVR and CaptoGlove to significantly ramp up in volume and frequency throughout 2017.

Flexpoint has also established relationships with several medical IoT vendors. These include companies like 11Health, Neofect, Gloreha and YouReHab; all with a focus on medical rehabilitation with a different approach. Products from these companies range from gloves to prosthetics to virtual reality, all with the intention of improving medical health or medical rehab.

Sexauer further commented, "2017 will be a significant advancement year for consumer electronics, an exploding market which focuses on VR/AR, smartphones and other electronics. This growing market puts Flexpoint in a position for exponential growth. We expect this growth to carry over into 2018 across various industries."

"In summary, we have positioned the company for a record setting year in both sensor production and revenue for 2017 because of our new and expanding relationships. I further wish to thank everyone in the investment community who has been a part of our journey at Flexpoint over the years as we look forward to a prosperous 2017 and our best year yet," concluded Mower.

About Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc.

Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc. (FLXT) is an innovative technology firm specializing in developing products that feature the Company's patented Bend Sensor and related technology. The Bend Sensor is a groundbreaking sensing solution that is revolutionizing applications in many industries such as sports/fitness, automotive, safety, medical and industrial; some of which can be further categorized in the rapidly growing "wearables" space. The Bend Sensor's single-layer, thin film construction cuts costs and mechanical bulk while introducing a range of functions and stylistic design possibilities that have never before been available in sensing technology. Flexpoint's technology and expertise have been recognized by the world's elite business and academic innovators for over 17 years. The company is setting a new standard for sensing solutions in the "smart" age of technology.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" and involve both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such uncertainties include, among others, certain risks associated with the operation of the company described above. The Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results.

Contact Information:

Flexpoint Sensor Systems

Clark Mower, President

801-568-5111

Brokers and Analysts

Chesapeake Group

410-825-3930

[email protected]

SOURCE Flexpoint Sensor Systems, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.flexpoint.com


"We are honored to be recognized by Forbes. It has always been our philosophy that if our physicians, nurses, entire medical staff and all of our other valued employees are happy and proud to work at NYU Winthrop, that this will translate into the highest quality medical care possible," said John Collins, President and CEO of NYU Winthrop. "We consider all who work at NYU Winthrop to be family, and this recognition underscores that the workplace environment that has long existed here has allowed each and every employee and medical professional to achieve their personal best. NYU Winthrop personnel like each other, respect each other and take care of each other which has created an environment that allows us to treat our patients like family. Patients sense this, and often remark about the unbelievable "caring" they experience at NYU Winthrop."

Working with online statistics provider Statista, Forbes asked more than 30,000 U.S. workers to determine, on a scale of zero to 10, how likely they were to recommend their employer to someone else. Further, how did they feel about the other employers in their industry?

The employees who took part in the survey were consulted anonymously through several online access panels. Their scores were analyzed using the net promoter score theory  and involved highly-selective criteria  to determine the company's eligibility and rank as one of America's Best Employers.

This year's list includes 500 employers across 25 industries ranging from hospitals to corporate giants to universities and government agencies.

About NYU Winthrop Hospital

Founded in 1896 by a group of local physicians and concerned citizens, Long Island's first voluntary hospital is a 591-bed university-affiliated medical center and an American College of Surgeons (ACS) Adult Level 1Trauma Center which offers a full complement of inpatient and outpatient programs and services for the newborn through the elderly in a dynamic, progressive environment. With one of the top cardiac programs in the region, NYU Winthrop Hospital holds its rightful place among the top five Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) centers in the country. A leader and innovator in the many specialty areas, NYU Winthrop Hospital is home to the first Diabetes Education Program in New York State and was the first major teaching hospital in New York State to earn The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for its Advanced Inpatient Diabetes Care.

Consistently recognized for quality patient care, NYU Winthrop's awards, recognitions and accreditations are many including recent national recognition for excellence in nursing from the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program  the highest recognition that a hospital can earn in the area of nursing excellence.

Ever changing and growing with the diverse community it serves, NYU Winthrop Hospital is, in many ways, a unique institution, simultaneously large and small, regional as well as local. It successfully blends the progressive philosophy, sophistication and advances of a teaching and research institution with a very personal approach to patient care  an approach that has become the cornerstone of our organization.

SOURCE NYU Winthrop Hospital
"I can't think of a better lawyer and person to be our first white-collar Partner in Minnesota and to enhance our national and global capabilities," said Ted Chung, the leader of Jones Day's Investigations & White Collar Defense practice. "With his rare combination of stellar legal and leadership skills, broad-based experience in major matters, and seasoned judgment, Andy will be a strong and steady hand for clients in a host of areas, including internal investigations, criminal and regulatory enforcement actions, and high-stakes civil litigation."

As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Luger supervised large scale, complex white collar cases including the prosecution of two lawyers for a wide ranging national copyright lawsuit scam, a federal tax court judge for tax crimes and multi-million dollar corporate embezzlement and trade secret cases. He also focused significant attention on matters relating to violent extremism and hate crimes, human trafficking, and gang-related activities. In what is to date one of the largest prosecutions of terrorism recruitment activities brought by the government, Mr. Luger charged 11 Minnesota men with plotting to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or "ISIS." The actions ran concurrently with a federal pilot project  managed by Mr. Luger's office  structured to curtail the recruitment of Somali-Americans by terrorist organizations. He also supervised the prosecution of Danny Heinrich in a case that brought to an end the mystery over the disappearance of Jacob Wetterling in October 1989.

"I am very excited to return to private practice and to be doing so with Jones Day," said Mr. Luger. "Not only is the Firm well-known for its seamless and collaborative approach in serving clients, it is also involved with some of the most intense white collar matters and investigations in the U.S. and around the world. Since its arrival to the Twin Cities less than one year ago, Jones Day has quickly become an important part of the business and legal community and I look forward to being part of its continued growth and involvement here."

Added Brian Easley, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Minneapolis office," Andy Luger is an accomplished trial lawyer with a long track record successfully litigating complex civil and criminal disputes throughout the United States. "More importantly, he shares our commitment to exceptional client service and to the local communities where we do business. We are confident that Andy will significantly enhance our practice in the Twin Cities."

Mr. Luger's private sector experience includes complex business litigation and white collar defense work, which involved trying civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts. At the special request of several Minnesota officials, he conducted public investigations into allegations of improprieties at the state's now-defunct Metro Gang Strike Force, and into security measures at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Mr. Luger has also served on the Board of Trustees of Temple Israel in Minneapolis and on the board of Amicus, a non-profit that works with prisoners returning to their community.

Mr. Luger's previous public sector experience includes serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Minnesota, where he prosecuted numerous criminal cases in federal court and argued appeals to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where he prosecuted white collar and organized crime cases, including a $750 million international money laundering case against the National Mortgage Bank of Greece.

With its singular tradition and widely recognized record of client service, Jones Day provides formidable legal talent across multiple disciplines and jurisdictions through the seamless collaboration of a true partnership that shares fundamental professional values. Spread across five continents, Jones Day has more than 2,500 lawyers in 44 offices located in major centers of business and finance around the world.

SOURCE Jones Day
Located in Guangzhou's Panyu district in China's southern Guangdong province, the industrial park has a planned area of 5 square kilometers. More than 45 billion yuan (US$6.5 billion) of investment, from both GAC Group and other enterprises that will locate there, are expected to be poured into the project. The new electric vehicle plant, part of the industrial park, is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 with a total investment of 4.69 billion yuan (US$679 million). which will provide GAC Motor with a production capacity of 200,000 units per year.

With a focus on smart manufacturing, innovative technologies and the development of an environmentally-friendly town, the industrial park's aim is to become a collaborative, intelligent, open, innovative, and green center of manufacturing for electric and intelligent vehicles. It is also plays a significant role in pushing forward GAC Motor's global branding strategy.

"The planning and construction of this industrial park is a concrete step to implement the Chinese government's green development goals for Guangdong and the national 'Made in China 2025' strategy," said Yu Jun, General Manager of GAC Motor. "The move will help promote the development of the automobile industry and drive economic growth."

A leader in the development of electric vehicles, GAC Motor unveiled its first pure electric vehicle, the GE3, at the 2017 North America International Auto Show this January, and released the new plug-in hybrid sedan GA3S PHEV and plug-in hybrid SUV GS4 PHEV at Auto Shanghai 2017 in April.

"In the coming five years, we will push out at least seven new electric vehicle models and cover three product series including pure electric, range-extending and hybrid." said Yu Jun, "Our goal is for GAC Motor to take the lead in the EV business and achieve sales of 20,000 electric vehicles by 2020."

With the aim of becoming a world-class brand with globalized research, production and sales, GAC Motor has signed strategic partnership agreements with the world's top 10 auto suppliers, including Aisin Seiki, Michelin, Continental and Faurecia during Auto Shanghai. The cooperation in product development, quality control, production supply and market expansion provides the strong support for GAC Motor to make the best quality automobiles.

GAC Motor is also commencing talent recruitment, gathering global top talents and experts in Silicon Valley, Detroit and Boston to conduct advanced research and development to create innovative future mobility.

"These resources and capabilities, along with the upcoming North America R&D Center," according to Yu, "enable GAC Motor to better compete in the global market and to succeed on the world stage as an international auto brand with sustainable development capacity."

About GAC Motor

A subsidiary of GAC Group, GAC Motor develops and manufactures premium quality vehicles, engines, components and auto accessories. Its year-to-year growth rate of 96 percent in 2016 was the highest among all Chinese brands in the corresponding period, doubling its sales volume to more than 380,000 units worldwide. The company ranked 5th among all brands in J.D. Power Asia Pacific's 2016 China Initial Quality Study, the highest of all Chinese brands for the fourth consecutive year.

GAC Motor has already built a presence in the international markets in regions such as the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. The company aims to enter the U.S. no later than 2019 to further its global footprint.

Media Contacts

Suki Wong

+86-186-8058-2829

[email protected]

Taki Jiang

+86-134-5028-4242

[email protected]

SOURCE GAC MOTOR
DENVER, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gates Corporation, a global diversified manufacturer of industrial and automotive products, has been recognized as the Denver Public School's (DPS) CareerSpark Partner of the Year. The CareerSpark Industry Exploration Program partners with Denver businesses to expose middle school students to professional work environments and inspires them to consider careers in STEM industries.

Gates was honored at the DPS CareerConnect Partnership Recognition Breakfast on Thursday, April 27 in Denver, Colorado and was nominated for its work in developing and hosting a customized curriculum for middle school students. Over the years, the company has recognized a growing need for skilled manufacturing workers in the United States and other industrialized countries. With the goals of addressing this need, supporting its manufacturing partners, and the manufacturing industry in general by introducing young people to the benefits of the various careers available in manufacturing, Gates developed the "Empowering Creators" program.

Karis Morrall, Communications & Partnerships Manager for the DPS CareerConnect program commented, "The awards committee was very impressed by the thoughtful, engaging workshop that Gates held for our middle school students."

Working with the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance (CAMA) throughout the 2016 school year, the program has hosted over 200 7th and 8th Grade students at the company's Englewood, Colorado technical laboratory facility. During the all-day workshops, students took active roles in developing solutions to real manufacturing challenges related to engineering design, procurement, marketing, finance, and production with positive results. One student wrote, "Thank you for allowing us to have the experience that we did, it opened a lot of new possible career choices for me."

"Exposing these diverse groups of students to the different career pathways the manufacturing sector has to offer was an extremely rewarding experience," said Cindy Cookson, Director Global Product Lines and chair of the Gates "Empowering Creators" committee. The program shows younger students that manufacturing is a good option as a career choice before career planning starts in High School. It is also easily duplicated for implementation in other communities.

About Gates Corporation

Gates Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer of power transmission belts and a premier global manufacturer of fluid power products. Our highly engineered products are critical components used in diverse industrial and automotive applications where the cost of failure is very high relative to the cost of our products. We provide a differentiated value proposition to our customers by offering a complete portfolio of premium product and service solutions for both replacement and first-fit applications across our targeted end markets, which encompass process and specialty, construction, agriculture, energy, transportation, and automotive. We sell our products globally under the Gates brand, which is recognized by distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and installers as the premium brand for quality and technological innovation, a reputation which we have built for over a century since our founding in 1911.

As an engineering leader with a strong foundation in research and development, Gates is committed to advancing the science of motion performance by developing safe, forward-thinking products, services, systems, and solutions, as well as fostering long-term customer and employee relationships. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Gates employs over 14,000 people across 106 locations in 30 countries.

If it moves you, there's a good chance Gates has a part in it.

Gates. Powering Progress.

About CareerSpark

Denver Public Schools' CareerSpark Industry Exploration Program partners with Denver businesses to expose middle school students to professional work environments and inspires them to consider careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) industries.

Through CareerSpark, DPS students learn about careers available within a particular industry and experience aspects of STEM careers through hands-on, engaging activities. They also learn about post-high school educational paths to the careers included in the event.

SOURCE Gates Corporation

Related Links

http://www.gates.com


SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GenomeDx Biosciences, a leader in the field of urologic cancer genomics, today announced the appointment of Michael Rodriguez as the company's chief financial officer, effective immediately.

As chief financial officer, Mr. Rodriguez will support strategic and operational initiatives across the business and oversee accounting and finance to help drive GenomeDx's growth strategy. Mr. Rodriguez brings more than 25 years of experience to GenomeDx, including an extensive background in various senior roles within private and publicly traded diagnostics businesses, ranging from finance to operations.

Doug Dolginow, M.D., chief executive officer of GenomeDx, commented, "We are delighted to have someone of Michael's caliber join our team. His experience managing across the reimbursement landscape in diagnostics, along with a strong track record executing strategic initiatives, will be immensely valuable as GenomeDx continues its push to become the leading diagnostic company in the urologic cancer space."

Prior to joining GenomeDx, Mr. Rodriguez served as an advisor and chief financial officer of Crossover Health, a medical group delivering comprehensive primary health services to self-funded employers. Before Crossover Health, he was chief financial officer at Epic Sciences, Inc., a privately backed biotech company, where he led the securing of $40 million in equity capital and $15 million in debt financing. Earlier, Mr. Rodriguez served as chief operating officer of Clarient Diagnostic Services, a GE Healthcare molecular diagnostics and laboratory services company, where he led an organization of more than 350 people across multiple departments. Prior to his promotion to chief operating officer, he served as chief financial officer, building a best-in-class organization and guiding Clarient to profitable operations during his first year of tenure, facilitating its $587 million sale to GE Healthcare. Prior to Clarient, Mr. Rodriguez served in a variety of financial leadership roles in public and private companies spanning medical devices, healthcare information technology and business services. Mr. Rodriguez received an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in accounting from the University of Southern California.

"The genomic solutions developed by GenomeDx have the power to transform the treatment of urologic cancers, providing physicians and their patients with potentially more diagnostic information than ever before," said Mr. Rodriguez. "I am excited to be joining GenomeDx during such a dynamic time for the company and the diagnostics industry in general, and I look forward to working with this talented team to position the company for its next phase of growth."

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://www.genomedx.com


LONDON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Delivering value in the current dynamic healthcare environment will require a broad set of partnerships, relationships, and joint ventured initiatives. The breadth and scope of healthcare changes and range of different regional delivery systems all indicate that partnering models will be quite diverse. Realizing new insights, new approaches, and new sources of value within a meaningful time frame will require collaboration.





Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886816/







The medical devices industry is experiencing an evolving reasoning for moving away from an input-based approach, that is, inputs from patients and physicians, to a value-and outcome-based approach, that is, improving the patient health outcomes. The main aim of this transformational shift is to provide the utmost benefit to a large population alongside a set of controlled resources.



Despite global political uncertainties and a sluggish economic outlook, 2017 will be a significant year for the global medical devices industry that promises the partial realization of major health policies and initiatives. Future medical devices will be more targeted to meet the unique needs of emerging markets (such as China, India, and Brazil), which demonstrate high growth opportunities compared with saturated developed markets in the Western hemisphere.



The pressure to reduce healthcare expenditure, intensifying competition, and consolidation of hospitals and health systems has resulted in unprecedented changes in the way medical device companies do business. The dynamic marketplace is transforming the traditional way of doing business and requires the medical device manufacturers to rethink their existing business models and create value proposition for customers through innovative products and solutions. This transformation of the medical device industry is fueled by ageing population, proliferation of chronic diseases, increasing emphasis on quality of care and treatment, stringent regulatory landscape focusing on patient safety and cost-containment, empowered and informed customers, and emerging technologies.



Research Scope: The medical device industry has been analyzed for the 2016-2017 period.



The global medical device market segment includes medical devices in cardiovascular, orthopedics, wound care, minimally invasive, neurology, endoscopy, anesthesia and respiratory, audiology, ophthalmology, urology & gynecology, aesthetics, and others such as durable medical equipment, hospital supplies, and so on.



Geographic Region: Global



Key questions this study will answer:

What are the top trends that will drive the medical devices industry in 2017? What impact will these trends have on the market?

What are the new business models, developments, and companies to watch out for in the medical devices industry in 2017?

What was the size of the total medical device industry in 2016, and how is it expected to grow in 2017?

What are the opportunities available for medical device manufacturers in key sectors in 2017?

What are the key takeaways from Frost & Sullivan's CEO Survey?

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886816/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- About Residential Electric Fryer



Electric fryers are considered as small kitchen appliances that are used for frying food items. Some electric fryers are also used for baking, roasting, and grilling. Within cooking appliances, other than electric fryers, gas fryers are considered as the other segment. The global home appliances market currently registers a healthy growth owing to the growing middle-class economy and improved disposable income levels worldwide. In mature markets, such as the US and parts of Europe, the demand for generic home appliances has reached a stable stage, and the market for smart white goods is increasing owing to better awareness about such products and appliances.





Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04886900/Global-Residential-Electric-Fryers-Market.html





Technavio's analysts forecast the global residential electric fryer market to grow at a CAGR of 9.03% during the period 2017-2021.



Covered in this report

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global residential electric fryer market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.



The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:

 Americas

 APAC

 Europe

 MEA



Technavio's report, Global Residential Electric Fryer Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.



Key vendors

 Cuisinart

 Havells

 Kenstar

 Koninklijke Philips

 Tefal

 Waring



Other prominent vendors

 AvalonBay

 Breville

 Hamilton Beach Brands

 Jarden Consumer Solutions

 National Presto Industries



Market driver

 Growing product visibility through different mediums.

 For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market challenge

 Growing market for healthy snacks restricting growth of deep fat fryers.

 For a full, detailed list, view our report



Market trend

 Growing penetration of smart connected fryers.

 For a full, detailed list, view our report



Key questions answered in this report

 What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?

 What are the key market trends?

 What is driving this market?

 What are the challenges to market growth?

 Who are the key vendors in this market space?

 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



You can request one free hour of our analyst's time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.



Methodology

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04886900/Global-Residential-Electric-Fryers-Market.html



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



http://www.reportlinker.com

__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


HOUSTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Goodrich Petroleum Corporation (NYSE MKT: GDP) (the "Company") today announced financial results and an operational update for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

FINANCIAL RESULTS SUMMARY

Revenues for the quarter totaled $9.4 million and Adjusted Revenues, when adding in net cash received in settlement of derivatives, was $9.6 million, with 56% of our oil and gas revenue attributable to natural gas.

Production for the quarter totaled 2.3 Bcfe, with average daily production of approximately 26,000 Mcfe per day (79% natural gas). Current production is approximately 29,000 Mcfe per day (80% natural gas), and with the completion of two operated Haynesville Shale wells over the next 30 days in which the Company owns a net revenue interest in excess of 50%, the Company expects natural gas production volumes to grow significantly by the end of June when the new wells have reached peak rate.

Capital expenditures totaled $6.2 million in the quarter, of which $6.0 million was spent on drilling and completion costs and $0.2 million on facilities, capital workovers and other expenditures. The Company's capital expenditure budget for 2017 is expected to range between $40 - 50 million. We plan to focus all of our 2017 drilling efforts in the Haynesville Shale Trend.

Balance sheet for the Company as it exited the quarter had $38 million of cash and $59 million of funded debt.

OPERATIONAL UPDATE

HAYNESVILLE SHALE

We drilled two gross (1.4 net) wells in the quarter which we are currently completing. The Company-operated Wurtsbaugh 26H-1 (74% WI) well in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, a 4,600 foot lateral in which we pumped 5,000 pounds of proppant per foot, has been fracked and is expected to commence flowback within a week. The Company-operated Wurtsbaugh 25&24HC 1-ALT ("Wurtsbaugh 25&24 No. 1") (69% WI) well, a 9,000 foot lateral in which we are pumping approximately 4,000 pounds of proppant per foot, is being fracked currently and is expected to be online and producing by June 1st.

The Company has previously announced a combined initial production rate of 72,000 Mcf per day from two Haynesville wells with an average of 9,600 feet of usable lateral in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. The ROTC 36&25-15-16 HC 1-ALT ("ROTC No. 1") well was completed with 5,100 lbs of proppant per foot and the ROTC 36&25-15-16 HC 2-ALT ("ROTC No. 2") well was completed with 3,100 lbs of proppant per foot. To date, the wells have produced approximately 7.7 Bcf (ROTC No. 1  4.5 Bcf; ROTC No. 2  3.2 Bcf) in approximately 4.5 months, or an average of approximately 56,000 Mcf/day, with a current combined rate of approximately 51,000 Mcf per day. The Company owns a 17.4% working interest in the wells which are producing above the Company's internal high case type curve of 25.0 Bcf.

Our Haynesville acreage comprises approximately 48,000 gross (23,000 net) acres in Caddo and DeSoto Parishes, Louisiana and Angelina and Nacogdoches Counties, Texas. We estimate approximately 235 gross (96 net) locations prospective for the Haynesville on our core North Louisiana acreage, where we are allocating the vast majority of our capital expenditures in 2017.

TUSCALOOSA MARINE SHALE ("TMS")

We held approximately 176,000 gross (128,000 net) acres in the TMS as of March 31, 2017. We had 2 gross (1.7 net) TMS wells drilled and waiting on completion. Our net production volumes from our TMS wells represented approximately 21% of our total equivalent production on a Mcfe basis and approximately 100% of our total oil production for the quarter. We did not conduct any capital workover operations on any wells during the quarter.

EAGLE FORD SHALE

We hold approximately 32,000 gross (14,000 net) acres of undeveloped leasehold in the Eagle Ford Shale Trend, all of which is prospective for future development or sale.

THE COMPANY HAS POSTED A NEW PRESENTATION ON THE COMPANY'S WEBSITE WHICH WILL BE REVIEWED ON THE EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL. INVESTORS CAN ACCESS THE SLIDES AT: http://goodrichpetroleum.investorroom.com/events-and-presentations

1Q17 FINANCIAL RESULTS

REVENUES

Revenues totaled $9.4 million in the quarter, with an average realized price of $4.05 per Mcfe ($2.89 per Mcf and $50.12 per barrel of oil). When factoring in the realized gain or loss on derivatives not designated as hedges, Adjusted Revenues totaled $9.6 million in the quarter, with an average realized price of $4.11 per Mcfe ($2.97 per Mcf and $50.12 per barrel of oil).

(See accompanying tables at the end of this press release that reconciles Adjusted Revenues, a non-US GAAP measure, to its most directly comparable US GAAP financial measure.)

CASH FLOW

Adjusted EBITDA was $0.7 million in the quarter.

Discretionary cash flow ("DCF"), defined as net cash provided by operating activities before changes in working capital, was $0.4 million in the quarter.

(See accompanying tables at the end of this press release that reconcile Adjusted EBITDA and DCF, each of which are non-US GAAP financial measures, to their most directly comparable US GAAP financial measure.)

NET LOSS

The Company announced a net loss of $5.7 million in the quarter, or ($0.63) per basic share.

OPERATING EXPENSES

Lease operating expense ("LOE") was $4.3 million in the quarter, or $1.86 per Mcfe. LOE for the quarter included $2.1 million, or $0.92 per Mcfe, for workovers. Lease operating expense excluding workovers was $2.2 million, or $0.94 per Mcfe. Per unit LOE will continue to fall as new Haynesville wells are added, as these wells carry very low operating costs per unit of production.

Production and other taxes were $0.7 million in the quarter, or $0.28 per Mcfe. Haynesville Shale wells drilled in North Louisiana have severance tax abatement until the earlier of payout or two years, and therefore the Company's production and other taxes per unit of production will continue to fall as new Haynesville wells are added.

Transportation and processing expense was $1.2 million in the quarter, or $0.51 per Mcfe. Transportation and processing expense for the quarter includes transportation fees incurred on non-operated natural gas volumes that we take in-kind. Effective with August 2016 production, we elected to take in-kind and market the majority of our outside operated Haynesville Shale natural gas volumes, resulting in the fees being paid directly to the transporter.

Depreciation, depletion and amortization ("DD&A") expense was $2.3 million in the quarter, or $0.99 per Mcfe. The Company's DD&A rate is expected to decrease over time as the Company adds new Haynesville wells to the full cost pool and reserves, as finding costs for these new wells are expected to be lower than the current DD&A rate.

General and Administrative expense was $4.5 million in the quarter, which includes $1.0 million of stock based compensation, $0.7 million in estimated performance bonuses to be compensated in common stock and $0.2 million in non-cash amortization of office rent. G&A payable in cash for the quarter was $2.6 million, or $1.12 per Mcfe, which included certain year-end costs. Per unit G&A payable in cash will continue to fall in 2017 as production volumes grow.

OPERATING LOSS

Operating loss, defined as revenues minus operating expenses, totaled a loss of $3.5 million in the quarter. Adjusted operating loss, when adjusted for cash received in settlement of derivative instruments of $0.2 million, was a loss of $3.3 million for the quarter.

INTEREST EXPENSE

Interest expense totaled $2.2 million in the quarter, which includes cash interest of $0.3 million incurred on the credit facility and non-cash interest of $1.9 million incurred on the Company's second lien notes, which includes $1.4 million paid in-kind interest and $0.5 million amortization of debt discount.

CRUDE OIL AND NATURAL GAS DERIVATIVES

The Company had a loss of $0.3 million on its derivatives not designated as hedges in the quarter, which is comprised of a loss of $0.4 million representing the change in fair value of our natural gas derivative contracts, offset by a $0.1 million realized gain on cash settlement.

The Company currently has 2017 natural gas swaps on a total of 6,000 MMBtu/day at a fixed price of $3.20 and natural gas costless collars on 12,000 MMBtu/day at a price range of $3.00-$3.60, as well as 2018 natural gas swaps on a total of 12,000 MMBtu/day at an average fixed price of $3.01. As volumes grow, the Company anticipates adding hedges for additional downside protection.

OTHER INFORMATION

In this press release, the Company refers to several non-US GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, DCF, Adjusted revenues, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted net loss and Cash operating margin. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA, DCF, Adjusted Revenues, Adjusted operating income (loss), Adjusted net loss and Cash operating margin are good financial indicators of the Company's performance and ability to internally generate operating funds. Neither DCF nor Cash operating margin, should be considered an alternative to net cash provided by operating activities, as defined by US GAAP. Adjusted revenues should not be considered an alternative to total revenues, as defined by US GAAP. Adjusted operating income (loss) should not be considered an alternative to operating income (loss), as defined by US GAAP. Adjusted net loss and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net loss, as defined by US GAAP. Management believes that all of these non-US GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors because they are monitored and used by Company management and widely used by professional research analysts in the valuation and investment recommendations of companies within the oil and gas exploration and production industry.

Initial production rates are subject to decline over time and should not be regarded as reflective of sustained production levels. In particular, production from horizontal drilling in shale oil and natural gas resource plays and tight natural gas plays that are stimulated with extensive pressure fracturing are typically characterized by significant early declines in production rates.

Unless otherwise stated, oil production volumes include condensate.

Certain statements in this news release regarding future expectations and plans for future activities may be regarded as "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. They are subject to various risks, such as financial market conditions, changes in commodities prices and costs of drilling and completion, operating hazards, drilling risks, and the inherent uncertainties in interpreting engineering data relating to underground accumulations of oil and gas, as well as other risks discussed in detail in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

Goodrich Petroleum is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company listed on the NYSE MKT under the symbol "GDP".

GOODRICH PETROLEUM CORPORATION SELECTED INCOME AND PRODUCTION DATA (In thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited)















Three Months Ended







March 31, 2017

Volumes







Natural gas (MMcf)

1,833



Oil and condensate (MBbls)

82



Mmcfe - Total

2,324













Mcfe per day

25,822











Oil and natural gas revenues

$ 9,411

Other

2

Total Revenues

$ 9,413











Operating Expenses







Lease operating expense (LOE excluding workovers - $2,163)

4,311



Production and other taxes

659



Transportation and processing

1,176



Depreciation, depletion and amortization

2,294



General and administrative (payable in cash - $2,608)

4,463

Operating loss

(3,490)











Other income (expense)







Interest expense (payable in cash- $252)

(2,179)



Interest income and other

9



Loss on derivatives not designated as hedges

(260)







(2,430)











Reorganization items, net

195











Loss before income taxes

(5,725)

Income tax benefit

-

Net loss

$ (5,725)

































Discretionary cash flow (see non-US GAAP reconciliation) (1)

$ 445













Adjusted EBITDA (see calculation and non-US GAAP reconciliation)( 2)

$ 674











Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic

9,109

Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted (3)

9,109











Earnings per share







Net loss - basic

$ (0.63)



Net loss - diluted

$ (0.63)





(1) Discretionary cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities before changes in operating assets and liabilities. Management believes that the non-US GAAP measure of operating cash flow is useful as an indicator of an oil and natural gas exploration and production company's ability to internally fund exploration and development activities and to service or incur additional debt. The company has also included this information because changes in operating assets and liabilities relate to the timing of cash receipts and disbursements which the company may not control and may not relate to the period in which the operating activities occurred. Operating cash flow should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net cash provided by operating activities prepared in accordance with US GAAP.

(2) Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest expense, income tax, DD&A, and impairment of oil and natural gas properties. In calculating adjusted EBITDA, gain/losses on derivatives, less net cash received or paid in settlement of commodity derivatives, are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. Other excluded items include Interest income, Stock compensation expense, Reorganization items and Other expense.

(3) Fully diluted shares excludes approximately 6.0 million potentially dilutive instruments that were anti-dilutive due to the net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2017. We report our financial results in accordance with US GAAP. However, management believes certain non-US GAAP performance measures may provide users of this financial information with additional meaningful comparisons between current results and the results of our peers.

GOODRICH PETROLEUM CORPORATION Per Unit Sales Prices and Costs

















Three Months Ended









March 31, 2017















Average sales price per unit:









Oil (per Bbl)









Including net cash received/paid to settle oil derivatives

$ 50.12





Excluding net cash received/paid to settle oil derivatives

$ 50.12





Natural gas (per Mcf)









Including net cash received/paid to settle natural gas derivatives

$ 2.97





Excluding net cash received/paid to settle natural gas derivatives

$ 2.89





Oil and natural gas (per Mcfe)









Including net cash received/paid to settle oil and natural gas derivatives

$ 4.11





Excluding net cash received/paid to settle oil and natural gas derivatives

$ 4.05



























Costs Per Mcfe









Lease operating expense ($0.94 Per Mcfe excluding Workovers)

$ 1.86





Production and other taxes

$ 0.28





Transportation and processing

$ 0.51





Depreciation, depletion and amortization

$ 0.99





General and administrative (payable in cash - $1.12)

$ 1.92









$ 5.55















Note: Amounts on a per Mcfe basis may not total due to rounding.









GOODRICH PETROLEUM CORPORATION Selected Cash Flow Data (In Thousands):























Reconciliation of discretionary cash flow and net cash provided by operating activities (unaudited)



Three Months Ended



March 31, 2017







Net cash provided by operating activities (US GAAP) 4,665

Net changes in working capital 4,220

Discretionary cash flow $ 445









Supplemental Balance Sheet Data (unaudited)



As of





March 31, 2017











Cash and cash equivalents $ 37,949











Long-term debt 49,132









Reconciliation of Net loss to Adjusted EBITDA



Three Months Ended





March 31, 2017











Net loss (US GAAP) $ (5,725)



Depreciation, depletion and amortization ("DD&A") 2,294



Stock compensation expense 1,728



Interest expense (payable in cash - $252 ) 2,179



Loss on derivatives not designated as hedges 260



Net cash received in settlement of derivative instruments 142



Other excluded items * (204)



Adjusted EBITDA $ 674











* Other excluded items include Interest income and Reorganization items, net.









Other Information and Reconciliations









Derivative Activity (unaudited)







Three Months Ended





March 31, 2017



Change in fair value of derivatives not designated as hedges prior to cash settlement $ 402



Net cash received in settlement of derivative instruments (142)



Net loss on derivatives not designated as hedges $ 260











Reconciliation of interest payable in cash to interest expense (unaudited)











Three Months Ended





March 31, 2017











Interest expense (GAAP) $ 2,179



Amortization of debt discount and paid-in-kind interest (1,927)



Interest payable in cash $ 252









GOODRICH PETROLEUM CORPORATION Other Information and reconciliations continued (In Thousands):





Reconciliation of adjusted revenues and total revenues (unaudited)







Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017 Total revenues (US GAAP) $ 9,413 Net cash received in settlement of derivative instruments 142 Adjusted revenues $ 9,555





Reconciliation of capital expenditures (unaudited)







Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017 Net cash used in investing activities (US GAAP) $ (3,384) Cash calls utilized (294) Cost incurred in 2016 and paid in 2017 648 Capital accrual at March 31, 2017 (3,209) Total capital expenditures $ (6,239)

Reconciliation of adjusted operating loss and operating loss (unaudited)







Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017 Operating loss (US GAAP) $ (3,490) Net cash received in settlement of derivative instruments 142 Adjusted operating loss $ (3,348)





Reconciliation of general & administrative expense payable in cash to general and administrative expense (unaudited)









Three Months Ended



March 31, 2017 General & administrative expense (GAAP) $ 4,463 Share based compensation (1,008) Bonus share based compensation (698) Non-cash rent expense (149) General & administrative expense payable in cash $ 2,608





Calculation of cash operating margin (unaudited)







Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017



Adjusted EBITDA (see calculation and non-US GAAP reconciliation) (3) $ 674 Adjusted revenues (see non-US GAAP reconciliation) $ 9,555 Cash operating margin 7%

SOURCE Goodrich Petroleum Corporation

Related Links

http://www.goodrichpetroleum.com


"Our 40-year anniversary marked the perfect time to also celebrate the unique attributes which have helped grow our business all these years by adopting a strong new logo and brand promise reflecting our qualities as a company," Mr. Wong said.

"We surveyed our customers, staff and management as part of the process to develop an enhanced and enduring brand to replace the logo we adopted quickly after TriWest Capital Partners purchased the business from ATCO Group in late 2015.

"Our industrial clients told us they were comforted by Innova's product guarantee, responsiveness, proactive problem solving approach and ability to help them achieve results so they can proudly stand among the communities within which they operate."

Mr. Wong said the overwhelmingly positive client feedback had been vital for development of the new logo and brand identity to reflect the company's purpose, core values and refined brand promise  "balance without compromise".

"Essentially Innova exists to help its clients be compliant with local environmental standards and improve their operations by being cleaner, quieter and more efficient," Mr. Wong said.

"Our vision is to create harmony between industry and the environment, resulting in a more sustainable world around us."

Innova's identified brand values represent firmly held core beliefs within the company: excellence through engineering; guaranteed product performance; the industry's most experienced team; and, collaboration with clients and communities.

About Innova Global

Innova is a full-service engineering, manufacturing, procurement and installation company that develops and utilizes innovative technologies to provide solutions for air and noise emissions control, acoustic consulting, heat recovery, and equipment and infrastructure primarily for oil and gas and power generation customers. Innova's equipment designs focus on bringing the environment and cost-efficiency into balance, with technical expertise and an unparalleled performance guarantee. Innova has 170 engineers and support staff and over 200 production workers at fabrication facilities in Monterrey, Mexico and St. George, Utah, with offices in nine locations across North America including Calgary, Alberta; Cambridge, Ontario; Albany, New York; Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Plymouth, Minnesota; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Scottsdale, Arizona; and, offices in Brisbane, Australia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For more information visit www.innova-gl.com or call us at 1-888-833-3939.

SOURCE Innova Global
LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

INTRODUCTION

It is predicted that the global economy will increase by three-folds between now and 2050. This, in turn, is likely to result in increased energy demands. According to Enerdata Energy Statistical Yearbook 2016, electricity demand has more than doubled between 1990 and 2015 to reach 20,568 TWh. This demand is projected to grow even further; in fact, by 2035, the growth is expected to be in the range of 69% to 81%. As the global economy aims for energy security, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are expected to hold a key position in the future. However, a major constraint with such renewable sources is that energy is generated with a highly variable output in an intermittent manner. Therefore, the surplus energy is required to be stored so that it can be supplied during non-optimal generation periods such as at night time or when the wind is not blowing. Storage at a large scale has remained a major challenge; however, several developments have taken place in this domain and efforts are being made towards their feasible commercial deployments.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886789/

A variety of grid scale energy storage technologies are known to the industry and can be broadly categorized based on the type of energy being stored. Pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) is a well-established energy storage technique; however, because of known challenges, various other energy storage techniques, backed by public and private lending, have surfaced over the last decade. For a market such as energy storage, which is linked to the economy of a country, initiatives related to policy decisions and mass awareness play a key role in the growth. Some countries have introduced reforms / amendments in the policies to encourage the market for energy storage, while others are still debating on it. The White House Summit 2016 is a recent example of such initiatives. At the summit, a range of utility, industry and government storage commitments were highlighted to signify the importance of this subject. Post this, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) started working on re-evaluating some of the policies to encourage energy storage in the US.



At the time of release of this study, policies favoring renewable energy over other sources were in place in about 50 countries. The common theme across these policies is priority dispatch of electricity from renewable sources, special feed-in tariffs, quota obligations for renewable energy and energy tax exemptions. In addition, legal bindings / agreements, such as COP21, to tackle climate change are encouraging the use of renewable energy, which, in turn, is likely to drive the energy storage industry.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

The Grid Scale Energy Storage Technologies Market, 2017-2030 report provides a comprehensive analysis of the current market landscape and a detailed future outlook of the large scale energy storage technologies. The study highlights various energy storage technologies that are currently commercially available or are under development. These technologies can be classified as mechanical energy storage, chemical energy storage, electrochemical energy storage, thermal energy storage or electromagnetic energy storage technologies. The industry has long revolved around pumped hydro energy storage, which currently contributes close to 95% of the global energy storage capacity. However, several geographical and environmental constraints associated with it are likely to limit its growth in the long term. As a result, stakeholders have developed / are developing novel energy storage technologies to overcome the limitations of conventional systems. The primary focus of this study is on these novel / upcoming energy storage technologies, including different types of battery storage, compressed air energy storage, concentrated solar power / molten salt energy storage, flywheel energy storage and power-to-gas energy storage.



The study provides a holistic coverage of the developments that are impacting the current energy storage setup and are likely to drive significant changes in energy management approaches in the long term. We were able to identify close to 170 energy storage technologies (excluding PHES) segmented across aforementioned categories. In addition to other elements, the study elaborates on the following:

- The current status of the market with respect to key players / technologies along with information on rated power, energy, duration / discharge time of the technologies and geographical location of the companies.

- Comprehensive profiles of some of the upcoming players under each energy storage category, covering details on the current focus of the companies, their specific energy storage technologies and associated recent developments / initiatives.

- Various investments and grants received by companies focused in this area to support their R&D activities, a key enabler that will continue to drive developments in the long term. In addition, respective governments have taken encouraging policy decisions, which have provided positive outlook to the energy storage industry.

- A case study on pumped hydro energy storage, where we have provided information on the plants that are currently operational as well as the ones expected to be operational in the near future. In addition, we have highlighted the historical trends that are likely to govern the future evolution.

- Key drivers and restraints for the growth of the grid scale energy storage market. Factors such as rising adoption of renewable energy sources, limitations of conventional energy storage systems and high electricity charges are likely to fuel the demand of energy storage systems.

- Potential future growth of the grid scale energy storage market (both in terms of installed capacity and expected revenue generation) across different technologies (CSP / molten salt energy storage, compressed air energy storage, lithium-ion batteries, lead acid batteries, flow batteries, flywheel energy storage, power-to-gas energy storage and other upcoming technologies). We have taken into account the levelized cost of energy storage to determine revenues for different energy storage technologies. The report covers forecast (till 2030) for the global as well as specific regional markets (North America, Europe, Asia and Rest of World) in terms of installed capacity. It also includes individual forecasts on the installed capacity in specific countries, including the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Ireland, China, India, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Chile and Morocco, that are poised to witness healthy growth in the short-midterm and long term.



Our opinions and insights presented in this study were influenced by discussions conducted with several key players in this domain. The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with Anoop Mathur (CTO and Founder, Terrafore Technologies), Camilo Lopez Tobar (Business Development Manager, Electrochaea), Dr. Markus Ostermeier (Product Development Manager, Electrochaea), Eric Murray (President and CEO, Temporal Power), Itai Karelic (Vice President Business Development, EnStorage), John McCleod (Vice President Engineering, ZincNyx Energy Solutions) and Suresh Singh (President and CEO, ZincNyx Energy Solutions), Nicolas Velasco (Commercial Director, Albufera Energy Storage), Rainer Grumann (Vice President Sales, Heliocentris), Sonya Davidson (President and CEO, H2 Energy Now), and Tom Stepien (CEO and Co-founder, Primus Power).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Most of the data presented in this report has been gathered via secondary and primary research. For all our projects, we conduct interviews with experts in the area (academia, industry, medical practice and other associations) to solicit their opinions on emerging trends in the market. This is primarily useful for us to draw out our own opinion on how the market will evolve across different regions and technology segments. Where possible, the available data has been checked for accuracy from multiple sources of information.



The secondary sources of information include

- Annual reports

- Investor presentations

- SEC filings

- Industry databases

- News releases from company websites

- Government policy documents

- Industry analysts' views



While the focus has been on forecasting the market over the coming ten years, the report also provides our independent view on various non-commercial trends emerging in the industry. This opinion is solely based on our knowledge, research and understanding of the relevant market gathered from various secondary and primary sources of information.



CHAPTER OUTLINES

Chapter 2 provides an executive summary of the insights captured in our study. The summary offers a high level view on the likely evolution of energy storage market, with a special focus on technologies that are meant for large scale storage applications.



Chapter 3 is an introductory chapter on energy storage technologies. It focuses on various renewable energy sources and their current status in terms of their contribution to the overall energy generation. In addition, the chapter provides information on various challenges being faced by the energy sector, highlighting the unmet need and how energy storage can revolutionize the market. We have briefly discussed different types of energy storage technologies and their applications at the grid level.



Chapter 4 identifies the energy storage technologies that have been developed / are under development by different companies. It provides information on rated power, energy capacity and duration / discharge time. The technologies have been classified on the basis of the type of stored energy (mechanical, electrochemical, chemical, thermal or electromagnetic). The classification system mentioned in this chapter helps develop a deeper understanding of the market. In addition, we have identified various trends in the industry that are likely to govern the future of energy storage industry.



Chapter 5 features a detailed discussion on a number of factors that act as drivers or barriers to the growth of energy storage market. It describes the increasing trend towards the use of renewables over the past few years due to initiatives being taken by the government bodies, constantly rising prices of electricity and high demand charges.



Chapter 6 provides a detailed review of mechanical energy storage technologies. It includes profiles of upcoming players in this domain that are in the process of developing / deploying their compressed air energy storage or flywheel energy storage technologies. The profiles cover information about the company, details on their specific technology and recent developments / future plans with respect to the energy storage industry.



Chapter 7 reviews chemical energy storage technologies, which store energy in the form of hydrogen gas. The technology is also known as power-to-gas energy storage, and we have presented profiles of some of the upcoming players in this area, covering information about the company, details on their specific energy storage technology and recent developments / future plans with respect to the energy storage industry.



Chapter 8 provides a detailed review of electrochemical energy storage technologies, including a wide variety of batteries such as lithium-ion, lead acid, flow batteries and sodium based batteries. It presents profiles of some of the upcoming players that have developed / are developing these technologies covering information about the company, details on their specific battery storage technology and recent developments / future plans with respect to the energy storage industry.



Chapter 9 reviews thermal energy storage technologies, which primarily include concentrated solar power / molten salt energy storage technologies. The chapter presents profiles of some of the upcoming players in this area, covering information about the company, details on their specific energy storage technology and recent developments / future plans with respect to the energy storage industry.



Chapter 10 provides a detailed review of energy storage technologies other than the ones mentioned in Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9. These include superconducting magnetic energy storage technologies and the use of ultracapacitors / supercapacitors as energy storage systems. We have presented profiles of some of the players in this area covering information about the company and details on their specific energy storage technologies.



Chapter 11 is a case study on pumped hydro energy storage technology. It highlights the key advantages and constraints of pumped hydro energy storage technology. It features information on currently operational pumped hydro storage plants across the globe and specific energy storage trends across different regions. The chapter also provides a list of upcoming pumped hydro storage plants.



Chapter 12 provides information on several funding instances that have driven innovations in this industry. Our analysis reveals interesting insights on the growing interest of venture capitalists and other stakeholders in this market.



Chapter 13 presents a detailed 14 year forecast highlighting the future potential of grid scale energy storage technologies. The forecast, which estimates the market opportunity (both in terms of value and installed capacity) across various types of energy storage technologies (CSP / molten salt, CAES, batteries (lithium-ion, lead acid and flow batteries), flywheels and power-to-gas), is backed by robust secondary research and inputs gathered from senior stakeholders via primary research. The analysis also highlights the relative growth opportunity across various regions across the globe (Asia, Europe, North America and Rest of World) in terms of installed energy storage capacity. Within these regions, we have provided forecasts for individual countries that currently have or are likely to have an impact on the overall energy storage industry in the future.



Chapter 14 is a collection of transcripts of interviews conducted with key players during the course of this study. We have presented the details of our discussions with Anoop Mathur (CTO and Founder, Terrafore Technologies), Camilo Lopez Tobar (Business Development Manager, Electrochaea), Dr. Markus Ostermeier (Product Development Manager, Electrochaea), Eric Murray (President and CEO, Temporal Power), Itai Karelic (Vice President Business Development, EnStorage), John McCleod (Vice President Engineering, ZincNyx Energy Solutions) and Suresh Singh (President and CEO, ZincNyx Energy Solutions), Nicolas Velasco (Commercial Director, Albufera Energy Storage), Rainer Grumann (Vice President Sales, Heliocentris), Sonya Davidson (President and CEO, H2 Energy Now), and Tom Stepien (CEO and Co-founder, Primus Power)..



Chapter 15 summarizes the overall report. In this chapter, we have provided a recap of the key takeaways and an independent future outlook based on the research and analysis described in earlier chapters.



Chapter 16 is an appendix, which provides tabulated data and numbers for all the figures provided in the report.



Chapter 17 is an appendix, which provides a list of companies and organizations mentioned in the report.





EXAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS

1. Over 170 grid scale energy storage technologies (excluding PHES) are either commercially available and / or are under development across different regions worldwide. The energy storage technologies landscape is distributed across a variety of systems; these include mechanical energy (compressed air energy storage (CAES) and flywheels), chemical energy (power-to-gas), electrochemical energy (batteries), thermal energy (concentrated solar power (CSP) / molten salt energy storage) or electromagnetic energy (supercapacitors and superconducting magnetic energy storage).

2. Specifically, battery energy storage systems are becoming quite popular; these are expected to witness a healthy growth in the future once the cost barriers are overcome. Over 60% of the players we identified during our study are focused on developing different types of batteries for grid scale applications. Examples include (in alphabetical order) ABB, AES Energy Storage, Bosch Energy Storage Solutions, Gildemeister Energy Solutions, Greensmith Energy, Hitachi, LG Chem, Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, NGK Insulators, Panasonic, S&C Electric Company, Saft, Samsung SDI, Sony Energy, Sumitomo Electric, Tesla Motors and Toshiba.

3. At the same time, it is worth highlighting that concentrated solar power, molten salt energy storage (categorized as thermal energy storage) and compressed air energy storage are amongst relatively more established energy storage technologies. Specifically, thermal energy storage technologies have about 3 GW of installed capacity across the globe. Countries such as Spain (over 1 GW of capacity), the US (600 MW), Chile (over 480 MW) and India (over 200 MW) are leaders in this specific domain.

4. Upcoming energy storage technologies such as flywheels, power-to-gas and ultracapacitors are also being explored for their applications at grid level. Such technologies are being developed by a large number of SMEs and start-ups. Examples of such companies working in these areas include Amber Kinetics, Beacon Power, Temporal Power and Teraloop (in flywheels); Areva, Electrochaea, H2 Energy Now, Heliocentris, Hydrogen Technologies and Hydrogenics (in power-to-gas); Ioxus and Nesscap (in ultracapacitors).

5. Funding agencies have strongly backed the innovation. We identified over 250 instances of funding across 70 companies since 2000. The total amount invested has been close to USD 16 billion; of this, a staggering amount of USD 14.5 billion has been invested during the last ten years alone. Some of the companies that have raised capital in multiple funding rounds include (in order of number of instances) Plug Power, Superconductor Technologies, A123 Systems, Tesla Motors, Abengoa Solar, Boston-Power, Aquion Energy, BrightSource Energy, Fluidic Energy, Electrovaya, SolarReserve and Eos Energy Storage. Debt funding (USD 6.5 billion of the total amount raised) has been quite popular. In addition, several VC firms have supported the ongoing initiatives. Examples of prominent VC firms active in this area include (in alphabetical order) Khosla Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Sequoia Capital, Total Energy Ventures, VantagePoint Capital Partners and Venrock Associates.

6. Government organizations such as US Department of Energy, NSW Department of Environment, Department of Energy and Climate Change (UK) have also supported the initiatives of technology developers; over 70 instances of grants, with an encouraging value of USD 1.8 billion, have been recorded since 2000.

7. Over the course of next decade, we expect the current installed capacity of 5.8 GW (excluding PHES) to grow at an annualized rate of 4.9% (till 2030). North America and Europe are currently the leading markets and this trend is likely to sustain in the long-term. Specific pockets of growth (in terms of technologies under development) include lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries, power-to-gas and flywheels.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886789/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --



Highlights

 The global market for air quality monitors reached $3.5 billion in 2015. This market is expected to increase from $3.8 billion in 2016 to nearly $5.9 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% for 2016-2021.





Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4887118/





 Outdoor air quality monitors market is expected to grow from nearly $1.3 billion in 2016 to $2.1 billion at a CAGR of 10.7% from 2016 through 2021.

 Indoor air quality monitors market is expected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2016 to $3.7 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2016 through 2021.



Study Goals and Objectives

The objective of this report  Growing Markets for Air Quality Monitors: China, North America, Europe and Developing Markets  is to discuss the changes and new developments in the air quality monitoring technologies market and the opportunities for various stakeholders. The report forecasts market demand from 2016 through 2021 with historical data for 2015, with the goal of understanding various growth drivers, key trends, growing segments and technologies.



Reasons for Doing This Study

BCC Research is publishing this study because it has identified air quality monitoring technologies as a growing market that presents strong growth opportunities for all stakeholders. The market is dynamic and growing with new developments and adoption from new industries and sectors.



Scope of Report

BCC Research defines air quality monitors as equipment used to monitor, quantify and determine the quality of outdoor and indoor air in various places, including households. Air quality monitors determine a range of air pollutants in the air, such as various poisonous and harmful gases, pollen, dust, smoke, etc. Air quality monitors determine all types of air pollutions, namely, chemical pollution, biological pollution and physical pollution. These devices are extensively used by government and related institutions to measure any violations in air quality and pollution in various installations, as well as used to measure general outdoor air quality.



Air quality monitoring can be autonomous (continuous) monitoring or manual monitoring. In both processes, pollution and air quality sensors are installed in order to record air quality and provide measurable output, which precisely indicates the amount of pollutants in the air, as well as general composition/quality of the sampled air.



Air quality monitoring devices consist of hardware (sensors) as well as software that analyze data that is compared to a pre-populated database. An extension of air quality monitoring is analytics, in which software analyzes the air quality from various regions on earth in order to create a detailed map for comparing air quality (and pollution) around the globe.



To calculate and segment the market, we have mainly considered air quality monitoring hardware (sensors and overall devices). However, the report also considered associated software revenue, as well as companies that may not be sensor manufacturers, but market air quality monitoring products as their own by incorporating sensors from other manufacturers. The calculation also considers services revenue from the air quality monitoring technology/device providers.



However, stand-alone software (such as analytics software) that is sold separately from the air quality monitoring device/hardware is beyond the scope of this report. Other categories not investigated by this report include after-market software, hardware and services (including services which do not directly relate to air quality monitoring, such as education, consulting, training, etc.) and air quality control equipment.



The report begins by introducing the reader to how the market for air quality monitoring technologies has evolved over time and how various factors are impacting the sector.



Building on that understanding, the report proceeds to identify the following factors:

 Primary forces with a direct impact on the air quality monitoring technologies markets.

 Secondary forces that have an indirect impact.

 Key funding and financing in this space, which are particularly supportive for new entrants.

 Some key challenges that may hinder market growth.

 Key visible trends.

 Top applications of air quality monitoring technologies, along with leading air quality monitoring technology segments.

 Demand in the North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia-Pacific (APAC) and South America for air quality monitoring products.



Information Sources

BCC Research studied more than 100 companies to obtain data for this report. The companies range from air quality monitoring technology providers and end users of air quality monitors (e.g., environmental companies, governments, etc.) to air quality monitoring and related software providers. Studies prepared for peer-reviewed professional literature and reports by technical experts were also investigated. Other data came from scientific and technical conferences, presentations prepared by the companies and associates, press releases, annual reports, white papers, investor webinars and government sources that are publicly available.



Methodology

To undertake this forecast, BCC Research analyzed the markets for related technologies and products (products and solutions that are related to the air quality monitoring technologies market), as available in the product literature and catalogs and forward-looking statements made by public companies. Press releases, innovations and research and development papers, white papers and presentations were also consulted as well as data from other independent sources.



BCC Research used a dual approach to forecast and estimate the values for the air quality monitoring market.



Firstly, BCC Research analyzed spending by various key air quality monitoring providers and users. Global, regional and sector-specific air quality monitoring technology spending was analyzed. Further, other factors, such as the overall increase in adoption of air quality monitors were also analyzed. To arrive at the final figures, BCC Research also estimated the overall budget allocation to air quality monitoring technology products, and the forecast spending and allocation of air quality monitoring technologies by major companies around the world.



Secondly, BCC Research created a detailed survey and collected opinions from industry and domain experts, company executives and others with strong knowledge in the space to provide a qualitative assessment of the trends in the market. Along with the qualitative data, the survey also indicated some quantitative data sets and figures.



The final values were obtained through a combination of the above methods. Compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) were calculated by assigning the appropriate weight to various markets (e.g. air quality monitoring sensors) that broadly impact the air quality monitoring technologies markets. Calculations were performed using the company growth that occurred in this space over the past five to 10 years, along with other factors, such as growth in budget allocation to air quality monitoring technologies, growth of air quality monitors in the past and by analyzing the relationship between sectoral growth and rising demand for air quality monitors in the past.



Estimated values are based on manufacturers' total revenues.



Geographic Breakdown

In this report, the geographic regions considered for market analysis include, and only include:

North America

 United States

 Mexico

 Canada



EMEA

 Germany

 France

 U.K.



APAC

 China

 India

 South Korea Rest of the World



Summary and Highlights

This BCC Research report examines the changing and evolving air quality monitoring market. The analysis includes a detailed survey of new organizations (innovators) in the sector as well as existing organizations. At the industry level, BCC Research identifies, examines, describes and provides global and regional market sizes for 2015 and forecasts demand from 2016 through 2021.



While there is a wide range of companies operating in the market, the players can be broadly classified as follows:

 Sensor technology providers and manufacturers.

 Air quality monitoring hardware and software providers.

 Air quality monitoring device manufacturers.

 Air quality monitoring operators and service providers.



North America, and particularly the U.S., is the most prominent user of air quality monitors. North America is followed by EMEA, APAC and South America. However, APAC and South America (the developing regions) are witnessing the strongest growth in terms of the adoption of air quality monitoring products. Due to the initial high price (high implementation cost), air quality monitoring products still have a low penetration in most underdeveloped regions.



BCC Research's analysis of the market has identified the following key points:

 Global demand for air quality monitoring market was valued at $3.5 billion in 2015.

 Global demand is expected to increase from $3.8 billion in 2016 to $5.9 billion in 2021.

 Total geographical and technology-wide compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is projected to be 8.8% over the forecast period of 2016 through 2021, indicating strong growth.



BCC Research estimates that while the overall market is witnessing strong growth, the outdoor air quality monitoring market will lead both categories, following a rise in market share from 33.1% in 2015 to 33.6% in 2016 and 36.6% in 2021.



BCC Research has identified the following key market drivers:

 Increasing stringent government regulations and guidelines.

 Ever-increasing air pollution and rising concern among government and the general population.

 Growing number of deaths due to air pollution.

 Increasingly adverse environmental affects due to air pollution.

 Increasing availability of air quality monitoring devices.



Of these drivers, BCC Research identified increasing stringent government regulations and ever- increasing air pollution to be the strongest drivers. However, all of the drivers are expected to have a strong impact towards the growth of this market.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4887118/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


BLUE ASH, Ohio, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Handyman Connection, a home repair company with over 25 years experience, announced today that in honor of National Home Improvement Month participating U.S. locations across the country will give back to their communities. During recent years, Handyman Connection franchisees have donated countless service hours to charities such as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross and Rebuilding Together Aurora, assisting them with home improvement projects.

In May, Handyman Connection craftsmen will offer their expertise on various home improvement projects to help homeowners with improvements that have been lingering throughout their homes. According to a recent survey, Americans are getting ready to spend a record $317 billion on home renovation projects in 2017, making this month ideal to begin projects.

"At Handyman Connection, we understand the importance of giving back in our local communities and know under this initiative we can help others perform home maintenance tasks," said Jeff Wall, President and CEO of Handyman Connection. "During National Home Improvement Month, our goal is to have our expert craftsman help you identify areas around your home in order to protect one of your most valued treasures."

Handyman Connection operates more than 80 locations throughout 27 states and Canada. For more than 25 years, the brand has offered homeowners across North America a complete resource for professional craftsmanship and exemplary customer service. Handyman Connection offers a variety of services ranging from traditional home repairs to painting, remodeling and more.

To request a free, no-obligation project estimate, contact Handyman Connection at 1-800-88-HANDY or visit us at www.handymanconnection.com.

About Handyman Connection

Since 1991, homeowners across North America have been calling on Handyman Connection for our professional craftsmanship and exemplary customer service. Each Handyman Connection franchise is locally owned and operated, backed by the company that helped launch the industry. Our values are steeped in a long-standing dedication to the people we serve, and truly differentiate Handyman Connection as a home repair company.

CONTACT:

Julia Block

Fish Consulting

954-893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE Handyman Connection

Related Links

http://www.handymanconnection.com


MILWAUKEE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Harley-Davidson Motor Company today announced an exclusive alliance with EagleRider, the world's largest motorcycle rental, travel and tour company. Motorcycle enthusiasts and travelers will now be able to rent and tour on the most current Harley-Davidson Touring and Cruiser motorcycles at EagleRider locations around the country.

Customers will also benefit from an expanded network of EagleRider pick-up and drop-off points, as many of them will now be located in Harley-Davidson dealerships across the country. For the first time, customers nationwide will be able to pick up a motorcycle near their home, take their dream trip, and drop off the same motorcycle near their destination, something that was not possible except in a few locations.

"This strategic deal with EagleRider supports our efforts to grow ridership by making it easier for more riders to throw a leg over and experience the thrill of riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle across our great country," said Harley-Davidson Vice President and Managing Director U.S. Mike Kennedy. "EagleRider's advanced nationwide reservation system, proven customer service and extensive travel industry expertise will allow our 700 U.S. dealer locations to seamlessly deliver premium motorcycle rental, travel and tour experiences."

Founded in 1992 by Chris McIntyre and Jeff Brown with four Harley-Davidson motorcycles in a Los Angeles garage, EagleRider has grown to serve more than 100,000 riders annually through motorcycle rental and touring experiences across the U.S.

"It's a dream of millions of riders across the world to explore America in the most authentic way possible, on an iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycle," said McIntyre. "For the past 25 years, we've seen riders return from their trips completely transformed by finding freedom of the open road to be the ultimate adventure vacation."

Through the alliance, EagleRider will exclusively offer current model year Harley-Davidson motorcycle fleets in the Touring and Large Cruiser motorcycle segments, serviced by Harley-Davidson-trained technicians and equipped with Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Parts & Accessories. Harley-Davidson will exclusively work with EagleRider to provide rental, travel and tour experiences from its U.S dealership network.

About Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Since 1903, Harley-Davidson Motor Company has fulfilled dreams of personal freedom with cruiser, touring and custom motorcycles, riding experiences and events, and a complete line of Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts, accessories, general merchandise, riding gear and apparel. For more information, visit www.h-d.com.

About EagleRider

Pioneering the motorcycle rental concept in 1992, EagleRider has since grown to become a motorcycle experience industry leader, fulfilling dreams of thousands of motorcyclists worldwide. EagleRider's vast network of locations allows the company to offer a variety of motorcycle travel options and a Club EagleRider membership program - the first of its kind in the motorcycle industry. EagleRider has grown from four Harleys in a home garage to a global company with thousands of motorcycles for rent and hundreds of tour options including guided, self-drive or custom. For more information, visit www.eaglerider.com or www.facebook.com/EagleRider.

SOURCE Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Related Links

http://www.h-d.com


ATLANTA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hojeij Branded Foods (HBF) takes flight with Delta Air Lines as the official food and beverage partner for Wednesday's annual Delta Day of Hope supporting the American Cancer Society. When flying into or out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday, May 10, visit any of the HBF restaurants to donate to the cause. Donating is fast and simple, unlike fighting cancer, and every dollar helps. Look for HBF employees wearing special Day of Hope shirts. Dip your credit card into the donation jar at checkout at these quick food options to donate $1 to the cause: Arby's, Boar's Head/Piece of Cake, Chick-fil-A, E Piano Bar, Freshens Yogurt, Goldberg's, Great Wraps, LowCountry, Nathan's, Qdoba Grill and Villa Pizza. HBF restaurants that are donating a percentage at Hartsfield include Atlanta Hawk's Bar & Grill, Cat Cora's Kitchen, Gordon Biersch, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, TAP and Varasano's Pizzeria. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will be the site of a Relay for Life event this year.

About Hojeij Branded Foods

Hojeij Branded Foods is a Morgan Stanley Private Equity Portfolio Company founded by Wassim Hojeij, president of business development. HBF is an Atlanta-based company operating more than 75 restaurants and bars with over 40 widely known national, regional and local brands in its U.S. portfolio. For more information, visit www.hbfairports.com.

SOURCE Hojeij Branded Foods

Related Links

http://www.hbfairports.com


TAMPA, Fla., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeBanc announces it has been selected as the 2016 North Florida District "Top Community Bank Lender by Number of Loans" by the U.S. Small Business Administration. This award recognizes the dedication HomeBanc contributes to the economic growth in Florida.

"On behalf of The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), I would like to congratulate HomeBanc on their recent award as the Top Community Lender by Number of Loans in North Florida. Community banks help the SBA to provide outreach and lending in underserved communities and in smaller markets," stated Wilfredo J. Gonzalez, SBA North Florida District Director.



"We are honored to receive this award as it recognizes HomeBanc's longstanding commitment to serving small business organizations within our communities and we look forward to continuing this effort in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration," said Tim Dixon, Chief Lending Officer.

HomeBanc was named to American Banker Magazine's "2016 Best Banks to Work For" list and ranked the #2 bank to work for out of 60 banks chosen for the list for two consecutive years; the top rated bank on Florida Trend Magazine's "2016 Best Companies To Work For In Florida" list for the fifth year in a row; the top rated bank on Tampa Bay Times "2017 Top Workplaces" list for the fifth consecutive year; and named one of the "Best Places to Work for Millennials" in 2015 by The Center for Generational Kinetics and Best Companies Group.

The Bank, with headquarters in Tampa, has fourteen offices, including retail branches in Lake Mary, Winter Park, Lakewood Ranch (Sarasota), Belleair Bluffs, Countryside (Clearwater), Dunedin, Kenneth City, Pinellas Park, Seminole, Largo, St. Petersburg, and in Tampa on North Dale Mabry Highway and in Westchase.

HomeBanc offers a variety of retail deposit products, along with SBA, USDA and commercial mortgage loan products. The Company has assets of over $1 billion. The HomeBanc team is committed to exceeding customer expectations and making HomeBanc a Great Place to Work and a Great Place to Bank. More information on HomeBanc can be found at www.homebanc.com.

SOURCE HomeBanc

Related Links

http://www.homebanc.com


DUBLIN, May. 09, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "India Ballistic Protection Market Outlook to 2021 - Rising Defence Expenditure and Growing Exports to Shape the Future" report to their offering.

The report titled India Ballistic Protection Market Outlook to FY'2021 - Rising Defence Expenditure and Growing Exports to Shape the Future which provides a comprehensive analysis of the ballistic protection market India.

The report covers various aspects such as overall size of the ballistic protection market in terms of value and volume, segmentation on the basis of types of products, domestic sales and exports and others. The report also covers future outlook and projections of the industry. Additionally, the report offers prevalent trends, developments and challenges in industry and SWOT analysis of the current market. The report also covers the competitive landscape of the industry and comprehensive profile of leading players operating in the market. Major macroeconomic indicators affecting the market have also been highlighted in the report. The report is useful for manufacturers of ballistic protection equipments companies, consultants and stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in the future.



Ballistic protection market comprises of defence equipments which are used by people to protect themselves against the firearm or an explosive device. Such products are most commonly used by the armed forces of a nation, VIPs and HNWIs, which face risk on their lives due to their influence or stature in the society.



The need for ballistic protection has been growing in India with the rise in threat of domestic and cross-border terrorism. Apart from terrorism, local extremist outfits such as Indian Mujahideen, Bodo militants, Maoist-Naxalite insurgency in several of its states has led to the deployment of military and paramilitary forces in these regions. As the casualties and fatalities from stray explosives and firings rise in these regions, the need for protective armour by the general public in these regions has been growing. Moreover, there is a constant demand from the armed forces in India, since the country's borders are shared with China and Pakistan.



The market has overall sales volume of - units of bullet proof jackets as of FY'2016, which has substantially enhanced over the years. Over the period FY'2011-FY'2016, the market for bulletproof vests has generated significant demand from different units of the Indian Army as well as police forces of J& K, Assam, Manipur; Nagaland and several other Indian states.



Ballistic boots have been produced with the major focus towards preventing damage from bullets and other shrapnel to the legs and feet of users. Indian ballistic boots market has showcased a healthy growth rate in terms of revenues over the period FY'2011-FY'2014. The market has risen steadily from INR - million in FY'2011 to INR - million in FY'2014. As of FY'2016, demand for ballistic boots in India is -, however only - are being procured. There is a huge demand-supply gap majorly due to new completed tenders for ballistic boots.



Bomb blanket is a combination of suppression blanket and safety ring for quick protection against blast shocks and fragments. The market revenues were registered at INR - million during FY'2016. Units consumed during FY'2016 have been registered at -. Similar to ballistic vests and helmets, the market for ballistic blanket in India has been dominated by exports during FY'2016. Exports have captured a share of -% in the total sales of ballistic blanket market during FY'2016.



The bomb suits are generally made with high strength aromatic polyamide polymer fabrics such as Kevlar. The suits have extra padding in their built to protect against the massive impact of blasts. The demand for bomb suits in India has been recorded at - units, with revenues of worth INR - million in FY'2016



The sales volume of bulletproof helmets during FY'2016 was recorded at - units. The price of bullet proof helmets in India has been witnessed at INR - per unit. India ballistic helmet market is highly export driven with export accounting for -% share in the total sales during FY'2016. Domestic sales have accounted for a low share of -% in the total sales of ballistic helmets in terms of units in FY'2016.





Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Appendix



3. India Ballistic Protection Market Introduction

3.1. Comparative Analysis with Global Industry



4. India Personal Ballistic Protection Market Introduction

4.1. India Personal Ballistic Protection Market Size, FY'2011-FY'2016

4.1.1. By Revenues, FY'2011-FY'2016

4.1.2. By Sales Volume, FY'2011-FY'2016



5. Indian Personal Ballistic Protection Market Segmentation, FY'2016

5.1. By Products, FY'2016

5.2. India Ballistic Vests/Jackets Market Introduction

5.3. India Ballistic Boots Market Introduction

5.4. India Ballistic Blankets Market Introduction

5.5. India Demining Suits Market Introduction

5.6. India Bomb Squad Outfit Market Introduction

5.7. India Ballistic Helmets Market Introduction



6. India's Vehicle Ballistic Protection Market Introduction and Market Size, FY'2016



7. India Bulletproof Glass Market Size, FY'2016



8. Trends in India's Ballistic Protection Market

Introduction of 6th generation ballistic protection technology

Increasing Usage of Dyneema Force Multiplier Technology

Rise in Domestic Production

Increase in Demand from Civilians

Increased Cross-Border Activity

Modernisation of Indian Military Forces

Online Sales of Bullet Proof heads

Keeping Pace with Global Trends

Tender Driven Market

Large Requirement and Supply Gap



9. SWOT Analysis of India's Ballistic Protection Market



10. Government Policies for Personal Ballistic Protection Armour



11. Competitive Landscape of Major Players in India Ballistic Protection Market

MKU

Shri Lakshmi Defence Limited

Jeet and Jeet Glass and Chemicals

Indian Armour Pvt Ltd

Star Wire Pvt Ltd

TATA Advanced Materials Ltd



12. Indian Personal Ballistic Protection Market Future Outlook and Projections, FY'2017-FY'2021



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vcz2kq/india_ballistic

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


COLDWATER, Mich., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinisource Benefit Services has been honored by WEX Health with a 2016 Partner Excellence Award for outstanding business achievement. The company received the Excellence Award for Growth at the WEX Partner Conference 2017, the annual WEX Health Partner conference held recently in Hollywood, Florida.

The awards recognize members of "the top echelon of the high-performing WEX Health Partner ecosystem  the best of the best." Infinisource was chosen because of its significant, above-average growth in use of WEX Health solutions and products. The company has also established innovation in enrollment meetings, shown excellence in new sales and marketing endeavors and sustained strong retention.

The Excellence Awards, established in 2008, are presented annually and recognize WEX Health Partners who have achieved extraordinary, notable accomplishments. Award recipients were recognized for reaching significant milestones in 2016 across several areas including growth, evangelism, leadership, innovation, and customer service as well as overall outstanding Partner successes.

Jody Oliver, President of Infinisource Benefit Services, expressed appreciation for the award. "This recognition affirms the shared goals and mutual success enjoyed by WEX Health and Infinisource Benefit Services. We are proud to accept on behalf of our amazing staff, partners and customers who have made it all possible."

About Infinisource Benefit Services

Infinisource Benefit Services has been a leader in the COBRA and benefits administration industry since it started in 1986. Over the past 30 years, Infinisource Benefit Services has grown and expanded to include administration for COBRA, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements. Over 10,000,000 COBRA notices have been generated without a single adverse judgment or penalty. Infinisource Benefit Services has also processed more than 5,000,000 FSA/HRA claims, and that number continues to grow. With 30 years of experience comes a unique understanding of employers' needs and how to best provide for those needs. For more information, visit www.infinisource.com.

SOURCE Infinisource

Related Links

http://www.infinisource.com


MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: INFU), a leading national provider of infusion pumps and related services for the U.S. healthcare industry, today announced that it will issue first quarter 2017 financial results on Thursday, May 11, 2017, after the market close.

The Company will also conduct a conference call for all interested investors on Friday, May 12, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss first quarter 2017 financial results. To participate in this call, please dial in toll-free 1 (800) 446-2782 and use the confirmation number 44914783.

A replay of the call will be available via the Company's website for 90 days following the call at http://ir.infusystem.com/.

About InfuSystem Holdings, Inc.

InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. is a leading provider of infusion pumps and related services to hospitals, oncology practices and other alternate site healthcare providers. Headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan, the Company delivers local, field-based customer support and also operates Centers of Excellence in Michigan, Kansas, California, Texas, Georgia and Ontario, Canada. The Company's stock is traded on the NYSE MKT under the symbol INFU. Additional information about InfuSystem Holdings, Inc. is available at www.infusystem.com

CONTACT: Joe Dorame, Joe Diaz & Robert Blum

Lytham Partners, LLC

602-889-9700

SOURCE InfuSystem Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.infusystem.com


HOUSTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovapptive Inc., the leading provider of a highly configurable SaaS mobile workforce management company, today named Sundeep V. Ravande as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

After five years at the helm, Innovapptive co-founder and former CEO Hari P. Kamineni nominated Sundeep V. Ravande, President & co-founder for the position as the company lines up for a Series B funding round in 2018. Hari will move to the role of Chief Product Officer (CPO) and stay on Innovapptive's Board of Directors and focus on products, innovations and its fast-growing rapid mobile application development framework (RMAD) and vision.

"Sundeep is an immensely talented, enterprising and experienced individual who is the perfect fit to lead Innovapptive to new heights," says Kamineni. "As the President & co-founder, Sundeep has been instrumental in leading Innovapptive's sales revenue growth and customer acquisitions over the last 5 years. Sundeep is well-positioned to guide Innovapptive through its next stage of growth and has given me the confidence to make this decision to help accelerate our products and innovation execution and vision."

As President & co-founder, Ravande has quadrupled Innovapptive's revenues in Q1-2017, while leading its $1.5M raise in 2016. The company acquired several Fortune 500 customers under his leadership, opened its European presence, built international partnerships, and implemented processes to grow the product, sales, and human resources teams to meet the ever-increasing demands.

"We know that Hari made this decision with the best interests of Innovapptive in mind as Hari was looking to provide focused leadership to Innovapptive's product & innovation roadmap," says Kishore Ganji, Innovapptive Board Member and Board Member of Hyderabad Angels, an investor in Innovapptive. "We're thrilled that Sundeep has accepted this responsibility and confident that he is the right person to lead Innovapptive through its next growth stage."

Prior to co-founding Innovapptive, Sundeep worked at IBM and other Big 5 consulting firms leading large business transformation projects. Sundeep has held various positions in supply chain, software and technology industries and has a master's in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Mississippi.

"I see tremendous opportunities for Innovapptive to help enterprises across the globe transform their mobile workforce management and help enterprise IT teams address the outrageous demand for enterprise mobility with our Rapid Application Configuration Engine (RACE), a Rapid Mobile Application Development (RMAD) and Configuration Framework," says Sundeep.

Innovapptive continues to build on its rapid momentum of 400% revenue growth in Q1-2017. In 2016, the company hired a new Managing Director for Europe based out of Waldorf, Germany and several key advisory board members from the oil & gas industry to support expansion of its enterprise asset management (EAM) and supply chain product portfolio.

About Innovapptive

Innovapptive is an American Multinational software company headquartered in Houston, TX. and is a provider of highly configurable cloud based enterprise mobile solution framework for enterprise asset management (EAM), field operations and supply chain. With over 150 employees across offices in USA, Germany and India, we serve some of the world's largest brands within the Oil & Gas, Life Sciences, Chemicals, and Manufacturing industries to name a few. Innovapptive was named a 2016 SAP Pinnacle Award Winner and has won this recognition three years in a row. Today, some of the world's largest brands run Innovapptive technology and software.

For more information,

Sri Karthik

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1 713 275 1806

SOURCE Innovapptive Inc.
TEHRAN, Iran, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In Tehran, the burgeoning startup culture of Iran, one rapidly-growing business is poised to take on more Iranian cities and regions.

Peykyab was created to fill the need for a reliable, inexpensive alternative to courier services in Tehran, a city in which up to 400,000 parcels are sent and delivered each day. Drawing inspiration from Uber and other ride-hailing models, the app "hails" a courier, tracks the parcel's progress, and notifies the sender/receiver when the order is delivered.

The service has seen rapid growth since its launch in 2016. Now, Peykyab is expanding throughout Iran and aiming to grow within the region.

Iran's reputation as the startup hub of the Middle East is attracting more and more foreign investors, but not all new business ventures succeed. Peykyab gained traction from the start. Company founder Ali Maserrat, who holds a Finance degree from Ryerson University of Toronto, developed the app in response to mounting frustrations in the business community over traditional courier services.

Most courier services schedule multiple orders in a single trip, meaning the customer's parcel is just one of many in a queue of pickups and deliveries. Peykyab, available for Android and IOS, changed the model by using freelance couriers. Each order is handled individually, by a single agent, with no multiple stops. Moreover, because Peykyab couriers use motorbikes, they outpace traffic on Tehran's heavily-congested streets.

The app allows customers to schedule pickups in advance and offers a tracking tool with which both sender and receiver can monitor their package in transit. They can also receive an SMS or push notification to follow the status of their order.

New features for the app are already in development, says Maserrat. Peykyab follows Agile development methodology, the standard framework used by companies like Facebook and other Silicon Valley giants today.

Bolstered by its local reputation for efficiency and economy, the startup is now aiming for expansion into new Iranian territory. Many local and international investors have shown interest. For now, the company is holding out for the right investors who have similar agendas.

Meanwhile, Maserrat expects to capture a greater share of the B2C market. The app's API connection to e-commerce sites is a plus for online e-businesses and Instagram stores looking for a simpler, more affordable way to ship their goods.

Press Contact:

+982122270566

[email protected]

www.peykyab.com

Related Images

image1.png

image2.jpg

image3.jpg

image4.jpg

SOURCE Peykyab

Related Links

http://www.peykyab.com


Next generation app gives parents more control over how their children use smartphones and tablets

TORONTO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - It is one of the greatest challenges facing parents today: how many hours of the day is my child glued to their smartphone screen, and how are they using that time?

A Toronto-based company has unveiled the next generation parental control solution to selectively block their children's app and Internet access based on a schedule. The technology  redgreentree  is created by parents for parents, and is designed to combat the harmful effects of smartphone misuse and distraction, without invading the child's privacy.

"We have transformed the smartphone and tablet," says Nicholas Minovski, co-founder of redgreentree. "What was once a distraction is now a purpose-driven tool."

With the technology, parents can rest assured their child will not be distracted by social media, streaming media or games while at school or during bedtime.

"It's not entirely the child's fault they spend so much time on their devices," Minovski says. "Apps are designed to be addictive and engaging. The objective with this new app is to assist parents in overseeing how their children are using new technologies. It is more about promoting communication and collaboration with the children, giving parents a tool in helping to educate."

Key features of the new technology include:

Simple and intuitive family management via a dashboard, allowing parents and caregivers to quickly and remotely manage when their children can spend time on certain apps on their mobile devices

Schedules that enforce time management skills (school, homework, dinner, bedtime or even piano)

Application blocking that can be done at the individual app level or by category, both of which can be applied to a schedule

Multiple administrators, including school teachers, unlimited number of schedules and application-specific blocking

Family messaging to ensure ongoing communication and organization

The app is available for download at the Google Play store, and costs $2.49 on a monthly plan, with bi-yearly and annual plans at a discounted rate.

About redgreentree:

Created by parents for parents, redgreentree was conceived through first-hand experiences and the desire to create a viable solution that leverages classical parenting and addresses the parent/child technology gap. Redgreentree is focused on the development of the family unit in an ever-increasing technical world. Social responsibility is central to the company's beliefs, which is why redgreentree defines success a bit differently than most companies. The spirit of redgreentree comes to life by sharing in any successes. The company believes in giving back to communities, so a portion of proceeds from sales of the app will be donated to children's charities. "You can feel good knowing that your subscription is helping manage your child's technology and making a positive impact in the lives of other children," says Minovski. For more information on the company visit www.redgreentree.com

SOURCE Redgreentree
Helena College is turning back the clock on a Space Age relic that has delighted children for decades.

The rocket slide, removed from Bill Carson Memorial Park at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds in mid-August of last year, is slated to make its return journey on May 13, a Saturday. The unveiling of the rockets restoration will be at 2 p.m.

Returning the rocket slide to its former grandeur could cost $10,000 or perhaps a little more, said county Commissioner Andy Hunthausen.

Our hope, plan is to raise all of that from donations, he said.

Helena College is donating a huge amount of resources, Hunthausen continued, adding its just a wonderful gift theyre giving the community."

The county is contributing staff time and equipment. It helped with the loading of the rocket slide when it was taken to Helena College and will be there when it's returned to the park.

Hunthausen was 4 years old when the rocket was dedicated in the park and remembers playing on it as a child, recalling it was one of the highest points a kid could get and not be in trouble.

It was a place to take a sweetheart too, he added.

But his interest is also professional, and he explained restoring the slide adds to the communitys quality of life.

Theyll be a whole other generation of people that will have a connection to that rocket, he said.

Therell be a whole other generation that plays on that rocket and will remember it.

The rocket's colors, agricultural red, summit white and cosmo blue, speak of the era when it was built and the space race that engaged the nation after the Russians gained the lead with the launch of Sputnik 1 on Oct. 4, 1957.

Rockets were popular in playgrounds in the late 1950s and into the 1960s. A 1963 issue of Life magazine noted the arrival of Space Age playground equipment.

For the last 12 or 13 years, the rocket slide had been closed  a rusting reminder of history. Its six legs werent to be trusted if children took to climbing it again. Small black plastic signs with orange lettering warned against trespassing and read Keep Out.

But on Thursday, a week before it was to be hauled by truck back to the fairgrounds, much remained to be done. Painting of it was not quite completed and the steel tubing, galvanized metal stairs, fiberglass and stainless steel had yet to be reassembled.

Steel tubing gleamed with red paint sat drying while in another room was the blue steel circular stairs. In an aircraft-hangar sized room sat the rockets nosecone, where its white paint was tipped with red.

Other pieces of the rocket slide lay outside on concrete awaiting the paint booth where perhaps a fine mist of billet silver paint would give them new life and luster.

Brandon Richter, a student in the colleges diesel technology program, set the stage for the restoration when he began his work with a cutting torch. He disassembled the rocket slide.

Just some rusty nuts and bolts that we had to cut off, he said. But other than that, it was pretty easy.

His was but a days work, although one of the colleges maintenance staff gave him a hand.

It was pretty cool playground equipment, Richter, 19, of Joplin, said.

He remembered thinking that restoring it would be something that children who come to the park would enjoy.

Parts that could be reused were kept carefully set aside. The best of those that had to be rebuilt were saved to provide models for the fabrication work that would come, he added.

Glen Zeigler figures four or five of his students in the industrial welding and metal fabrication program volunteered for the restoration.

A lot of us didnt know what we were getting into for sure, but it ended up being less of a repair and more of a new fabrication on a lot of parts, Zeigler said.

All of the vertical poles had to be rebuilt as did the fiberglass with the exception of the slide and the rockets nose cone.

It was a big undertaking. A lot of time new fabrication is easier than restoration," he said.

The work wasnt necessarily challenging or particularly difficult but was time consuming, Zeigler explained.

The devils in the details," he added.

Each of his students contributed at least 40 hours of sandblasting, he said, adding that it would be hard to say with certainty how many hours went into the work.

Students needed a capstone project and this was a good one for that, he continued, adding that it was also a way to give back to the community and showcase what they had learned.

This was also an opportunity for students to show Zeigler what he taught them.

They will take away from the project practical experience, he said, and it taught them patience.

A lot of the older students remember that thing, he said of the rocket. Some of the older students are kind of excited about it.

His entire class was enlisted to work on it Monday and Tuesday, Zeigler said.

It will be an assembly line.

A couple of days will also be spent at the fairgrounds to prepare the site, he said, and Im going to cross my fingers that everything lines up."

Tod Dumas, the lead instructor in the colleges aviation maintenance program, and his students get credit for the bright and vibrant colors cloak the rocket slide.

They repaired fiberglass on the rocket too and worked on the slide that undulates as it descends. A stainless steel liner will protect the fiberglass from the decades of wear that will come.

Work on the rocket slide refined some of the skills that students learned in class, he said.

It was a different challenge, something different we wouldnt normally work on.

Dumas didnt track the hours spent on it by the 10 or 12 students in his program that were part of the restoration.

I enjoyed the nostalgia of it, said Derek Foster, 39, of Billings, who was one of the five or six students who helped with the painting.

I saw it when it came in and it was all dingy and terrible and I wanted to see what it originally looked like, or close to it anyway.

When he was painting the tip of the nose cone, he thought of all the sanding on it that he did and took extra care for fear hed have to sand it off and start anew if he wasnt careful.

Now that almost all of the painting is complete, Foster can reflect on what has been accomplished.

And its been neat to see the transformation of it, from the dingy cream-colored thing to something bright white and red, you cant hardly look at in the sun its so bright.

Its amazing what time will do to something, time and hard work, he added.

I feel really good about it. Im excited to see it up. Take my kids down and show them.

It makes it even better if people can use it.

It was just fun to do something to better the community, Foster said.
The new John Trudell Archives and Inside Recordings LP release is on black, 180-gram vinyl and was manufactured by the Pallas Group in Germany, and includes printed lyric sleeves and a full digital download of the album along with a bonus video for Rockin' The Res. The CD package is expanded from the original 1992 release, and also includes Trudell's lyrics.

The CD and LP can be pre-ordered through Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/Aka-Grafitti-Man-John-Trudell/dp/B00WVE1MQ4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1493072444&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=aka+grafitti+man+2017

For more information please visit johntrudell.com and johntrudellarchives.org

JOHN TRUDELL AKA GRAFITTI MAN

TRACK LISTING

1. Rockin' The Res

2. Grafitti Man

3. Restless Situations

4. Wildfires

5. Baby Boom Che

6. Bombs Over Baghdad

7. Richman's War

8. Somebody's Kid

9. Never Never Blues

10. What He'd Done

11. Beauty In A Fade

12. Tina Smiled



ABOUT JOHN TRUDELL

John Trudell (1946-2015) was a leader for the Indian of All Tribes Occupation of Alcatraz in 1969, and went on to serve as Chairman of the American Indian Movement (AIM) from 1973-1979. On February 11, 1979, he burned an American flag on the steps of the F.B.I J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington D.C., as he'd been taught in the military to burn the flag once it had been desecrated; and the US government's treatment of Native Americans and its classism and racism had desecrated the flag. Some 12 hours after the flag incident, a fire "of suspicious origin" burned down Trudell's home on the Shoshone-Paiute reservation in Nevada, killing Trudell's pregnant wife, Tina, their three children and Tina's mother. The F.B.I. declined to investigate, and the blaze was officially ruled an "accident." After the fire, Trudell turned his tears into writing poetry and later, spoken word music and acting. A lifelong activist and human rights advocate, he was quoted as saying "I'm just a human being trying to make it in a world that is rapidly losing its understanding of being human."

SOURCE Inside Recordings
Redgrave LLP Managing Partner Victoria Redgrave noted, "We are honored to be associated with Judge Nolan. In addition to her impeccable reputation and extensive experience regarding criminal and civil litigation, Judge Nolan has been a true leader of the bench and bar in the eDiscovery world." Judge Nolan added, "I am excited to have the opportunity to work with the Redgrave Firm and its diverse team of lawyers and other professionals who are committed to excellence in their representation of clients as well as moving the law forward."

Prior to joining the bench, she had more than two decades of experience handling a wide variety of civil and criminal matters in private practice as well as with the Federal Public Defender program. After retiring from the court in 2012, Judge Nolan served as an arbitrator, mediator and special master with JAMS. Judge Nolan received a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a B.S. in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago.

Among other awards and recognitions, Judge Nolan received the 1996 American Bar Association Award for "Pro Bono Publico Award," the 1996 Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) Award, and the 1996 Public Interest Law Initiative, "Distinguished Public Service Award" (Rolando Cruz Defense Team). In 2014 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She also received a 2016 Leadership Award from the Electronic Discovery Institute at the Sixth Annual EDI Leadership Summit.

ABOUT REDGRAVE LLP

Redgrave LLP is focused exclusively in the area of Information Law. It is the only firm with two of top ten eDiscovery lawyers in United States, Jonathan M. Redgrave and Kevin F. Brady, as rated globally by Chambers and Partners. Redgrave LLP provides Fortune and Global 500 companies and Am Law 100 law firms with the legal and technical advice, business strategy, and legal representation needed to support their immediate and future legal, regulatory, and operational requirements. The Firm's dedicated teams of legal and technical professionals are at the forefront of helping global organizations address the everevolving challenges associated with the creation, receipt, storage, retrieval, production, and destruction of documents and electronic information. Redgrave LLP has offices in Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, San Francisco, Cleveland and Minneapolis.

To learn more, visit www.redgravellp.com.

SOURCE Redgrave LLP

Related Links

http://www.redgravellp.com


AKRON, Ohio, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kay Jewelers has proudly partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital since 1999. This year, as the company begins its 19th year in partnership with the organization, Kay has launched its annual Mother's Day card promotion. Guests can purchase a Mother's Day card, featuring art from actress, artist and philanthropist Jane Seymour, at all Kay Jewelers locations for $3. All profits, no less than $2.50 from every card sold, will be donated to St. Jude, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Since 1999, Kay, its Team Members and customers have raised more than $60 million to benefit St. Jude. These funds have helped to enhance the St. Jude campus, including the expansion and remodel of the St. Jude cafeteria, now known as the Kay Kafe, as well as renovations to the second floor in-patient care center and patient registration area.

The Kay initiatives have also supported important programs and extensions of the life-saving work at St. Jude. This includes the Solid Tumor Clinic and the St. Jude/Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, which resulted in the largest-ever release of comprehensive human cancer genome data for free access by the global scientific community. Another example of this important support is the introduction of the Kay Research and Care Center, ushering in a new era of research, education, collaboration, care and treatment for the kids at St. Jude.

"We are so proud to partner with St. Jude and grateful to our Team Members and customers who have helped us support this incredible organization for the past 18 years," said Katy Jones, executive vice president, store operations of Kay Jewelers. "Last year represented our largest donation to St. Jude to date and we are excited by the challenge to exceed that again this year."

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital opened its doors in 1962 with the mission that "no child should die in the dawn of life." Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude specializes in the treatment of children from all over the world and no family ever pays St. Jude for anything.

Located in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital revolutionized the way the world treats pediatric cancer and other deadly diseases. As one of the world's premier pediatric cancer research centers, St. Jude has developed protocols that have helped push overall survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent, when the hospital opened in 1962, to 80 percent today. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and St. Jude won't stop until no child dies from cancer. On average, 7,800 active patients visit the hospital each year, most of whom are treated on an outpatient basis.

To find the Kay Jewelers location nearest you, visit www.Kay.com/FindAStore.

About Kay Jewelers

Kay Jewelers, the number one jewelry store in America, is conveniently located in malls and off-mall shopping centers across the country. Kay Jewelers is operated by Signet Jewelers Limited, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry. Signet Jewelers operates Kay Jewelers among its approximately 3,600 stores. For additional information on Kay Jewelers visit www.Kay.com, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KayJewelers), Twitter (www.twitter.com/KayJewelers), YouTube (www.youtube.com/KayJewelers), Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/KayJewelers) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/KayJewelers).

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food  because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).

SOURCE Kay Jewelers

Related Links

http://www.Kay.com


CLEVELAND, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyBank today announced that it is one of the companies that will fund and back a new Ohio-based global financial technology (fintech) accelerator, "Fintech71". Fintech71  a nod to the cross-state highway I-71 connecting Ohio via its three largest cities: Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland  will attract more fintech companies and expand the innovation pipeline for current private-sector stakeholders. This includes Ohio's strong financial services base as well as Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in the state.

This accelerator will focus on growing entrepreneurial activity in Ohio and will benefit companies selected into the accelerator by offering them an exceptional range of mentor and partnership options. Combined with a stipend of $100,000 for each finalist team, access to some of the country's best millennial talent, and an attractive cost of living, Fintech71 and its graduates will be positioned for sustained success.

KeyBank's backing of Fintech71 shows its commitment to cultivating innovation in financial services, with the goal of accelerating innovation cycles and partnering to find the best talent in the industry. Fintech71 is another example of KeyBank's focus in this space in recent years KeyBank has teamed up with high growth firms such as AvidXchange, and Instamed  in an overall strategy to provide the best integrated technology to solve client needs.

"At KeyBank, we recognize that fintech partnerships are an important source of innovation to drive better client experiences. As a result, we spend significant time helping to establish and support the start-up ecosystem, and being a part of Fintech71 enables us to concentrate some of our efforts here in Ohio with a nexus of strong partners," said Ken Gavrity, head of KeyBank's Commercial Payments Group and a Fintech71 board member.

Fintech applicants can apply for Fintech71 from May 15 to July 15. The inaugural class of up to 12 companies will start on Sept. 10, 2017, and will be based in Columbus, Ohio. All fintech-related innovations ready for commercialization are encouraged to apply. International companies are particularly welcome and visa support will be provided for outstanding candidates. Combined with a stipend of $100,000 for each finalist team, access to some of the country's best millennial talent, and an attractive cost of living, Fintech71 and its graduates will be positioned for sustained success in the future.

For additional information, read the Fintech71 press release and sign up for alerts on the accelerator through www.Fintech71.com .

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $134.5 billion at March 31, 2017. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, insurance, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of more than 1,200 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

SOURCE KeyBank

Related Links

https://www.key.com


CHICAGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. (LGIMA) announced today that Kathleen Gallagher has been appointed to the Board of Directors, effective May 1. Ms. Gallagher is the former Chief Investment Officer - Benefit Plans for Ford Motor Company, one of the world's largest automakers.

Ms. Gallagher recently retired after 31 years at Ford. In her last role as CIO - Benefit Plans from 2007 to 2016, Kathleen had investment responsibility for approximately $66 billion in global defined benefit assets which included the $41 billion U.S. pension fund, the sixth largest corporate DB plan in the U.S.

"We are very excited that Kathleen is joining the Board. Kathleen is highly respected across the industry, known as one of the more forward-looking CIOs," said Aaron Meder, CEO of LGIMA. "She brings to the Board strong financial services experience from her long career at Ford, where the retirement plans represent one of the largest global pools of institutional assets. We look forward to having Kathleen on the Board and leveraging her insights and expertise as we continue to focus on delivering market-leading solutions and investment excellence to our clients."

Ms. Gallagher was a key architect of Ford's pension de-risking strategy, which provided retirement security for Ford's nearly half million pension participants while strengthening the balance sheet and risk profile of the company. In addition to her defined benefit responsibilities, Ms. Gallagher also had investment responsibilities for $14 billion in U.S. Defined Contribution assets. Collectively, her oversight encompassed more than 68 DB and 65 DC plans across more than 32 countries where Ford does business. Before assuming her former CIO - Benefit Plans position, Ms. Gallagher served in Ford's Michigan and Melbourne, Australia offices as Global Risk Management Director, Finance VP for Ford Australia and Controller for North American Engine Operations.

Ms. Gallagher holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with high distinction, from the University of Virginia.

For more information, please visit http://www.lgima.com/.

Media Contact:

Name: Audrey Belloff

Company: RF Binder

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 212 994 7547

ABOUT LGIMA: Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc. (LGIMA) is a Chicago-based registered investment advisor specializing in designing and managing investment solutions across active fixed income, index strategies, multi-asset and liability driven investment (LDI) for the US institutional market. With over $148 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2017, LGIMA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legal & General Investment Management (Holdings) Ltd. (LGIM(H)), which also owns its affiliates Legal & General Investment Management Ltd. and LGIM International Ltd. Legal & General's worldwide assets under management are approximately $1.1 trillion as of December 31, 2016. In May 2014, LGIMA became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legal & General Investment Management US (Holdings), Inc. (LGIMUS(H)) which is wholly owned by LGIM(H).

SOURCE Legal & General Investment Management America, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.lgima.com


PHILADELPHIA, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LIGHTFAIR INTERNATIONAL  Legrand, North & Central America and its Eliot Program are showcasing Wattstopper Connected Services at LIGHTFAIR International 2017 in Booth # 1841. The Connected Services suite securely connects to a Digital Lighting Management (DLM) system via a dedicated modem, providing remote diagnostics and instant technical support to offer the industry's best startup, installation, and post-sales support experience.

The first offering in the suite, RACCESS, is available on select new DLM-networked projects and comes with an industry-leading enhanced first-year warranty that includes access to a dedicated DLM technical services team.

DLM with RACCESS provides a superior installation and startup experience to electrical contractors, delivers the best first year experience to facility directors and building owners, and provides assurance of high customer satisfaction to specifiers. Benefits include:

Efficient Startup and Commissioning with diagnostic checks that ensure devices are connected to the network prior to onsite startup.

with diagnostic checks that ensure devices are connected to the network prior to onsite startup. Swift Response Times from dedicated system experts that can address programming, configuration, and troubleshooting issues remotely.

from dedicated system experts that can address programming, configuration, and troubleshooting issues remotely. Huge Time and Cost Savings by streamlining installation and helping close out jobs faster with support for punch list items and last minute sequence of operations changes.

by streamlining installation and helping close out jobs faster with support for punch list items and last minute sequence of operations changes. Peace of Mind with a secure and remote connection, independent of a company's IT network.

Customers can extend service throughout the life of the DLM system to ensure maximum energy savings, functionality, and performance of devices.

"Connected Services was developed to bring more value to specifiers, contractors, and end-users by focusing on simplifying the installation and startup process. We're addressing customer pain points with a new system and will be able to make system adjustments immediately when customers want to make changes right after move-in," said Ray Acciardo, Director, Service Marketing at Legrand, North America. "Our enhanced first-year warranty is unmatched in the industry, and support for DLM-networked projects is just the beginning."

Legrand Eliot Program

New Connected Services capabilities showcase the larger context of Legrand's Eliot (Electricity + IoT) program in North America. Eliot is a global Legrand IoT program that brings together Legrand's worldwide expertise to advance connectivity and intelligence in the built environment, mobilize Legrand's capabilities around the world, and speed development of Legrand connected devices wherever the Internet of Things can enhance value for all users.

Products, systems, and services under Legrand's Eliot program adhere to three important principles:

The products and solutions must enhance value by simplifying usage, facilitating maintenance, and/or personalizing the experience for users and professionals. They must be intuitive and easy to install and operate, which is part of Legrand's DNA. And finally, they must respect the user. Consistent with Legrand values, Eliot products, systems, and services will preserve the confidentiality of user's data.

These critical principles shape how Legrand is approaching innovation under the Eliot program.

For more information on Eliot, visit legrand.us/eliot.

To learn more about Wattstopper lighting control solutions, please visit the team at Booth # 1841.

About Wattstopper

Wattstopper, a product line of Legrand, offers the most comprehensive line of simple, scalable, and flexible energy-efficient lighting controls and solutions for commercial and residential applications. The Wattstopper range of products, programs, and services have been helping customers save energy, meet green initiatives, and comply with energy codes for more than 30 years. www.legrand.us/wattstopper.

About Legrand and Legrand, North & Central America

Legrand is a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Its comprehensive offering of solutions for use in commercial, industrial, and residential markets makes it a benchmark for customers worldwide. Innovation for a steady flow of new products with high added value is a prime vector for growth, including, in particular, connected devices stemming from Legrand's global Eliot (Electricity and IoT) program. Legrand reported sales of $5.6 billion in 2016. Legrand has a strong presence in North and Central America, with a portfolio of well-known product lines that include C2G, Cablofil, Electrorack, Luxul, Middle Atlantic, Nuvo, OCL, On-Q, Ortronics, Pass & Seymour, Pinnacle, QMotion, Quiktron, Raritan, Solarfective, Vantage, Wattstopper, and Wiremold. Legrand is listed on Euronext Paris and is a component stock of indexes including the CAC40, FTSE4Good, MSCI World, ASPI, Corporate Oekom Rating, and DJSI (ISIN code FR0010307819) www.legrand.us.

Media Contact:

Mary Placido, Legrand Building Control Systems

415-218-3627 [email protected]

SOURCE Legrand, North & Central America

Related Links

http://www.legrand.us


RESTON, Va., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a global science and technology company, announced that Art Ibers, Leidos senior vice president, Exploration & Mission Support, and John Soldner, senior program manager, received the 2017 Aerospace Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The award is given to alumni in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in the field of engineering. They were the only recipients to receive the award this year.

Ibers currently is responsible for leading a team of 2,700 employees and subcontractors focused on supporting customer missions in exploration, science, aviation and information technology through engineering operations and infrastructure services. He has over 32 years of large-scale systems integration, engineering and program management experience. One of Ibers' career highlights is leading the team that developed the Next Generation Identification system for the FBI, a state-of-the-art biometric investigative tool currently used by more than 18,000 local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies across the county. He holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Soldner currently manages a staff of consultants, methodologists and data scientists that provide data-driven insights to senior government management in the Intelligence Community to improve the intelligence analysis that is provided to senior national security policy makers. He has 30 years of program management experience, including creating both technical and creative learning solutions for Special Access Required customers, the Director of National Intelligence, and National Aeronautical Space Administration Johnson Space Center. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master of business administration in finance and business policy from the University of Chicago.

"This well-deserved award highlights Leidos' strong engineering talent and expertise," said Leidos Chief Technology Officer, John Fratamico. "Art and John are true assets to our organization and exemplify the strong leadership and technical skill we rely on to deliver critical programs and support to our customers."

About Leidos

Leidos is a global science and technology solutions 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


LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

INTRODUCTION

The number of biopharmaceuticals being developed and manufactured has increased significantly in recent years. This is evident from the fact that over 10 novel biologics have been approved annually by FDA over the last three years; this represents around 30% of the total novel drugs approved during this time period. Currently, more than 50% of the drugs in clinical pipeline comprise of biologics. It is worth highlighting that most of these products are not stable as aqueous formulations, making it difficult to preserve them for longer durations. In order to achieve longer and commercially viable shelf lives, lyophilization has emerged as the preferred choice for making dry biopharmaceutical formulations. The method proves to be beneficial for biologics with stability issues or when providing exact dosage is challenging (for instance, very small and highly concentrated doses). In addition, it is suitable for biologics that are sensitive to heat, oxygen and / or humidity.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886788/

The lyophilization process requires specialized equipment, expertise and care. Contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) that provide such services have specialized facilities and dedicated lines for lyophilization operations. A number of biopharmaceutical companies are outsourcing their lyophilization operations to CMOs to leverage their expertise and capabilities. It is well-known that setting up in-house lyophilization capabilities and operations is an expensive and time-consuming process. In order to decrease the overall cost of the product and yield cost savings, we expect that drug developers will continue to outsource such operations to CMOs. Key drivers, both in the short-mid term and long term, not only include the increasing demand for biological therapies but also the expected entry of a number of biosimilars and the technological advancements that are steadily resulting in improved productivity for clients.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

The 'Lyophilization Services for Biopharmaceuticals, 2017-2027' report provides an extensive study on the current market landscape of lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals. The study presents an in-depth analysis of a diverse set of companies that provide such services across different regions worldwide. In fact, we identified close to 90 companies that are actively involved in providing lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals. In addition to other elements, the report covers the following:

- The current state of the market with respect to key players along with information on location of facilities, the type of biopharmaceuticals lyophilized (antibodies, proteins, peptides, vaccines, nucleic acids and ADCs), scale of operation (lab, clinical and commercial) and the containment systems (vials, bulk containers, syringes, ampoules and cartridges) utilized for lyophilization operations.

- Elaborate profiles of established / emerging players that primarily have expertise in providing broader lyophilization services and / or are focused on providing lyophilization services for emerging containment systems such as syringes; each profile provides a company overview, financial information, details on lyophilization capabilities and facilities, recent developments and an informed future outlook.

- Most active regions in terms of lyophilization services for biologics; the report contains schematic representations of world maps that clearly indicate the location of active lyophilization service hubs.

- Benchmark analysis allowing companies to compare their existing capabilities within respective peer groups and identify ways to become more competitive in the industry.

- Competitive landscape of companies providing lyophilization cycle development and / or optimization services for biopharmaceuticals.

- A case study on alternative approaches to lyophilization such as spray drying, spray freeze drying, atmospheric spray freeze drying and vacuum foam drying.



The study features a detailed analysis of the existing size and potential future growth opportunities (2017-2027) in the lyophilization services market for biopharmaceuticals. We have provided insights on the likely regional evolution of the market covering North America, Europe (UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India and South Korea) and rest of the world. In addition, we have provided the likely evolution and a market attractiveness analysis on the basis of the type of containment system (bulk containers, vials, syringes, ampoules and cartridges). In order to account for the uncertainties associated with some of the key parameters and to add robustness to our model, we have presented three different forecast scenarios, depicting conservative, base and optimistic tracks of the market's evolution.



The research, analysis and insights presented in this report are backed by a deep understanding of key insights gathered from both secondary and primary research. Actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available data. For the purpose of the study, we invited over 80 stakeholders to participate in a survey to solicit their opinions on upcoming opportunities, challenges and likely future trends. The opinions and insights presented in this study were also influenced by discussions conducted with experts in this field. These included contributions from Steven Nail (Principal Scientist, Baxter BioPharma Solutions), Adam Viverette (Lyophilization Manager, Patheon), Patrick DePalma (Director, CMO Business Development, BioDefense Division, Emergent BioSolutions) and John Shaw (Head of Business Development and Marketing, Vibalogics).







RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The data presented in this report has been gathered via secondary and primary research. For all our projects, we conduct interviews with experts in the area (academia, industry, medical practice and other associations) to solicit their opinions on emerging trends in the market. This is primarily useful for us to draw out our own opinion on how the market may evolve across different regions and technology segments. Wherever possible, the available data has been checked for accuracy from multiple sources of information.



The secondary sources of information include:

- Annual reports

- Investor presentations

- SEC filings

- Industry databases

- News releases from company websites

- Government policy documents

- Industry analysts' views



While the focus has been on forecasting the market over the coming ten years, the report also provides our independent view on various technological and non-commercial trends emerging in the industry. This opinion is solely based on our knowledge, research and understanding of the relevant market gathered from various secondary and primary sources of information.

CHAPTER OUTLINES

Chapter 2 provides an executive summary of the insights captured in our research. This summary offers a high level view on the current state of the lyophilization services market for biopharmaceuticals and its likely evolution in the mid-long term.



Chapter 3 provides an introduction to the lyophilization approach. It includes a detailed discussion on the history / evolution of the lyophilization technology, the principle on which the process is based, the basic components of a lyophilizer, and highlights the advantages / disadvantages and applications of the lyophilization process.



Chapter 4 highlights the importance of lyophilization for biopharmaceuticals. It elaborates on the steps involved in the process of lyophilization, lyophilization cycle development and optimization, and the containment systems in which lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals are carried out.



Chapter 5 includes a comprehensive market landscape of the companies that provide lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals. It presents an analysis of the lyophilization service providers on the basis of their geographical location, types of biopharmaceuticals lyophilized (antibodies, ADCs, proteins, peptides, nucleic acids and vaccines), scale of operation (lab, clinical and commercial) and the containment systems (vials, bulk containers, syringes, cartridges and ampoules).



Chapter 6 provides detailed profiles of some of the lyophilization service providers for biopharmaceuticals based in North America. Each profile presents a brief overview of the company, its financial information, lyophilization capabilities and facilities, recent developments, and a comprehensive future outlook. The chapter also provides insights on the overall evolution of the North American lyophilization services market, specifically distributed on the basis of type of containment system.



Chapter 7 provides detailed profiles of some of the lyophilization service providers for biopharmaceuticals based in Europe. Each profile provides a brief overview of the company, its financial information, lyophilization capabilities and facilities, recent developments, and a comprehensive future outlook. The chapter also provides insights on the overall evolution of the European lyophilization services market, specifically distributed on the basis of type of containment system.



Chapter 8 provides brief profiles of some of the lyophilization service providers for biopharmaceuticals based in the Asia Pacific region. The chapter also provides insights on the overall evolution of the Asia Pacific lyophilization services market, specifically distributed on the basis of type of containment system.



Chapter 9 presents a comprehensive view on how the lyophilization services market for biopharmaceuticals is likely to evolve over the next ten years. We have segregated the financial opportunity on the basis of different regions (North America, Europe (UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India and South Korea) and rest of the world) and the type of containment system (bulk containers, vials, syringes, ampoules and cartridges). All our predictions are backed by robust analysis of data procured from both secondary and primary sources. The analysis also presents insightful 2 X 2 matrices based on Market Share and Market Attractiveness derived from the current and likely future state of the market. Due to uncertainties surrounding some of the assumptions within our forecast model, we have presented three different growth tracks outlined as the conservative, base and optimistic scenarios.



Chapter 10 provides a benchmark analysis of the companies that provide lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals. The key parameters considered for this analysis include the scale of operation, number of biologics lyophilized and type of containment system used for the lyophilization of biologics. The analysis allows the companies to compare their existing capabilities within their peer group and identify opportunities to become more competitive in the industry.



Chapter 11 presents elaborate details on lyophilization cycle development and optimization services, highlighting the important parameters and techniques required for these processes and the list of players providing such services for biopharmaceuticals.



Chapter 12 features a case study on alternative methods to lyophilization such as spray drying, spray freeze drying, atmospheric spray freeze drying and vacuum foam drying. It specifically elaborates on spray drying, covering information such as step-wise approach, applications of spray drying for biopharmaceuticals, key players providing such services and an informed comparison with lyophilization.



Chapter 13 presents insights from the survey conducted for this study. We invited over 80 stakeholders involved in providing lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals. The participants, who were primarily Directors / CXO level representatives of their respective companies, helped us develop a deeper understanding on the nature of their services and the associated commercial potential.



Chapter 14 summarizes the overall report. It presents a list of key takeaways and offers our independent opinion on the current market scenario and key trends that are likely to determine how the market is likely to evolve in the short and long term.



Chapter 15 is a collection of interview transcripts of our discussions with some of the key players in this industry. We have presented the details of our conversations with Steven Nail (Principal Scientist, Baxter BioPharma Solutions), Adam Viverette (Lyophilization Manager, Patheon), Patrick DePalma (Director, CMO Business Development, BioDefense Division, Emergent BioSolutions) and John Shaw (Head of Business Development and Marketing, Vibalogics).



Chapter 16 is an appendix, which provides tabulated data and numbers for all the figures in the report.



Chapter 17 is an appendix, which contains the list of companies and organizations that have been mentioned in the report.





EXAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS

1. Over 80 companies, with a diverse array of offerings and scale of operations, are providing lyophilization services for biopharmaceuticals. Majority (more than 80%) of these companies are based in North America and Europe. A number of players have also emerged in Asia Pacific; examples include (in alphabetical order) Bovogen Biologicals, Kemwell Biopharma, Mycenax Biotech, Pharmagen, Piramal Pharma Solutions, Samsung Biologics, Siam Bioscience and WuXi AppTec.

2. It is worth highlighting that, while majority of the companies provide a broader suite of services, there are several companies that solely / primarily focus on providing lyophilization services. These include (in alphabetical order) Anteco Pharma, Biopharma Technology, LSNE Contract Manufacturing, Lyofal, LYOCONTRACT, Lyophilization Technology and Quality BioResources.

3. The companies are providing lyophilization services for a wide range of biopharmaceuticals, including antibodies, proteins, peptides, vaccines, nucleic acids and ADCs. As expected, a larger proportion of companies (~ 70%) provides services for antibodies and proteins followed by peptides (~ 50%) and vaccines (~ 45%).

4. Development and optimization of the lyophilization cycle are crucial methods for generating a lyophilized formulation of the product. During our research, we identified over 70 players specializing in providing such services. North America is home to majority of these companies (approximately 47%); this is followed by the EU, where approximately 40% of the companies are based.

5. Methods, such as spray drying, spray freeze drying, atmospheric spray freeze drying and vacuum foam drying, have emerged as potential alternatives to lyophilization for the production of dry formulations of biologics. Specifically, spray drying has gained relatively more popularity in recent years. RAPLIXA, a blend of spray-dried thrombin and fibrinogen, was the first spray dried novel biologic to receive USFDA approval in April 2015. In fact, we identified 16 players, including (in alphabetical order) Biopharma Technology, IDIFARMA, Lonza, Micro-Sphere, Nova Laboratories and Upperton, which provide spray drying services for biopharmaceuticals.

6. The increasing focus on biological therapies is the key factor that is likely to drive the lyophilization services market in coming years. Additionally, technological advances in the field and the entry of a number of biosimilars in the near future are likely to provide the necessary impetus. We expect the lyophilization services market for biopharmaceuticals to grow at an annualized growth of 9.5% between 2017 and 2027. North America and Europe, the current hubs, are likely to continue to dominate the market in the next decade.

Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886788/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


FAIRFAX, Va., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Madison Taylor Indoor Environmental has been contracted to provide mold testing and mold remediation services for public schools with concerning mold issues in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C.

Mold is a growing concern in educational facilities. Many schools have moisture conditions which can lead to mold growth. Water events, including flooding, roof, window, foundation, and plumbing leaks, elevated relative humidity, poor ventilation, and malfunctioning HVAC systems, can all lead to mold issues in aging school facilities. Some schools have added trailers to increase class space and accommodate an expanding student population. These trailers are susceptible to significant mold concerns. Many have unsealed, poorly ventilated crawlspaces, inadequate insulation, and exterior joint leaks, which create conditions conducive to mold growth.

As parents, teachers, and students become educated on indoor air quality effects, many of these facilities have added indoor air quality testing and monitoring to their routine maintenance to ensure students are learning in a healthy environment. Studies have shown that prolonged exposures to building dampness and mold have been associated with headaches, dizzy spells, respiratory issues, sinusitis, itchy, watery eyes, and hives. Individuals with asthma and allergies may be at risk for progression to more severe conditions if the connection between illness and exposure is left unchecked.

John Taylor, owner of Madison Taylor Inc. and Certified Indoor Environmentalist, encourages parents who have concerns about indoor air quality and their child's learning environment to request testing information from their local school district. "Many schools have testing performed for mold, bacteria, lead, asbestos and other indoor air quality concerns annually. If you have concerns and testing has not been performed, request it."

John Taylor continued, "Mold has proven to be a legitimate concern in many schools and buildings in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. It has been rewarding helping resolve these indoor air quality problems, which protects so many from potential health-related conditions."

Madison Taylor Indoor Environmental is the most established indoor environmental company in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. They have helped thousands of home and business owners solve mold and related indoor air quality problems. Their clientele encompasses residential and commercial, hospitals, schools and government facilities.

If you have questions about mold or other indoor air quality concerns, contact:

John Taylor

Madison Taylor Inc.

Office: 877-932-4652

Cell: 703-932-6134

Email: [email protected]

www.madisontaylorenvironmental.com

Related Links

Mold Testing VA, MD, DC

Mold Removal VA, MD, DC

SOURCE Madison Taylor Indoor Environmental

Related Links

http://www.madisontaylorenvironmental.com


BURLINGTON, Vt., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This Mother's Day, Mamava, maker of the world's first free standing lactation suite, is standing in solidarity with breastfeeding mothers and their babes with the release of a video announcing their new mobile locator app. The Mamava app provides a digital solution for the struggle endured by every breastfeeding mom: the lack of dignified space to express breastmilk. The new Mamava app supports moms on the go by locating Mamava lactation suites and over 1200 other Mamava-vetted public lactation rooms.

"We're a company founded by moms for moms. We understand better than anyone the real challenges breastfeeding moms face, and we're changing those realities. This Mother's Day we're celebrating moms and babies with a tool that will enable mom to be supported on this day, and everyday." Sascha Mayer, Mamava CEO and co-founder. "To celebrate our launch, we've created a video that powerfully and emotionally illustrates the story of struggle, solidarity and solution - all from the perspective of those who need it most: the babes."

The app features useful resources including a content feed of tips and information from Mamava's trusted partners, a breastfeeding goal tracker, a personal profile where moms can upload images of their babes for help with milk let-down, and a Mamava guided lactation meditation. For Mamava suites with a keypad lock, the mobile app integrates new proprietary technology to unlock the suites through the Mamava SmartLock  an important security feature for moms.

The app is available now for free on iTunes and in the Google Play Store, and will be officially launching at Techcrunch Disrupt in New York City, May 15th.

About Mamava

Mamava, based in Burlington, Vermont was incubated at Solidarity of Unbridled Labour, a world-renowned design studio. Mamava creates design solutions for breastfeeding mothers on the go. We believe that a woman should be able to breastfeed her baby anywhere she wants to, and we also know there is a need, especially in high-traffic public areas, for a private and comfortable place to use a breast pump or nurse. Mamava is mama owned, made in America, and a proud member of the B Corp community. The free Mamava app for iPhone and Android allows moms to search for pumping and breastfeeding friendly locations.

SOURCE Mamava
CHICAGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LotLinx, the leading VIN specific digital marketing solution for car dealers, today announced that Mark Conner has been named Senior Vice President, Channel Strategy. Formerly with Lithia Motor Group, Mark is a proven expert in dealership marketing, and will lead major initiatives to expand the company's presence in the car dealer market. The newly created position will tap into Mark's deep understanding of how car dealers drive ROI, and help LotLinx customers eliminate ad waste while improving inventory turn. Mark will also lead all efforts to serve larger dealer groups given his expertise in understanding how to scale best practices across a multi-rooftop dealer group.

During his tenure at Lithia Motors, which ranked #4 on Automotive News' list of 150 dealership groups in the US, Mark managed a team of 60 marketers that delivered cost-efficient solutions for the Fortune 500 company. Mark's efforts significantly impacted Lithia's marketing approach, and was a vital driver in Lithia's ability to double its store footprint over the past seven years.

"Under Mark's long and skillful leadership as AVP of Marketing, Lithia grew to be the highest performing publicly traded dealership group in the US," said Len Short, founder of LotLinx. "I'm confident Mark will be a tremendous asset toward the growth of our award-winning product suite of technologies. He is an auto marketing maven, bringing a deep knowledge and passion for the retail car business that will add significantly to our 'dealer-first' operating mission."

This announcement marks another significant milestone for LotLinx, whose solutions enable auto dealers to maximize inventory turn while minimizing wasted ad spend. In addition, LotLinx is currently taking its message of digital efficiency and the importance of measuring shopper engagement to local markets, as sponsor of the seven-city Automotive Engagement Conference. Earlier this year, LotLinx launched the LotLinx TURN platform, a marketing solution that empowers dealers to focus digital marketing initiatives on specific inventory, rather than relying on "trickle-down" efforts. For more visit www.lotlinx.com.

About LotLinx:

LotLinx is an award-winning digital retailing technology company, developed specifically to advantage automotive dealers and the agencies that work with them. The LotLinx TURN platform can transform dealer results, dramatically increasing online engagement and net-new shoppers while eliminating digital advertising waste. Founded in 2012 and based in Chicago, LotLinx works with thousands of dealers around the country to reach over 63 million unique car shoppers per month across more than 500 digital properties.

Press Contact:

Kevin Blomberg

Clarity PR for LotLinx

[email protected]

617-869-1413

SOURCE LotLinx

Related Links

http://www.lotlinx.com


"We believe that Southeast Florida is a highly desirable and active geographic area, and will nicely complement our other divisions in terms of strategic growth in the US," says Jim Leiferman, President of Mattamy's US Group. "It represents the next great opportunity for us to build the Mattamy brand and business in a large and growing market."

To lead the company's newest division, Mattamy welcomes aboard Lara Swanson, who joined the team on May 8 as President, Southeast Florida Division. Lara has had an impressive career in the Florida homebuilding industry. Most recently she was the Division Vice President in SE Florida for Meritage Homes, where she led the formation of this start-up division. Lara was also the VP of Land for Meritage in Orlando. Previously she was in land acquisition and development for Pulte in Orlando, and for CSX and The Wood Development Co. in Jacksonville. Lara has a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida, and is a licensed Community Association Manager by the State of Florida. Of note, earlier this year she was named by Professional Builder magazine as one of the Top 40 Under 40 industry professionals in the country.

Lara will be responsible for leading all aspects of Mattamy's business in Southeast Florida. Her strong local land acquisition skills will allow the Division to be grown on an organic basis, vs. nurturing the business out of another Mattamy office in Florida. As such, her initial responsibilities will be to source, analyze and submit land acquisition proposals, and then to quickly grow the Southeast Florida operation into an operating Division. Lara will also be setting up an office locally and hiring staff as needed.

"I am excited to join the Mattamy team to help build on the impressive growth trajectory of Mattamy in the US. Mattamy's vision for growth aligns well with what it takes to be successful in the Southeast Florida market," says Lara. "I am looking forward to collaborating with the Mattamy leadership team to build a sustainable new business in Southeast Florida. I also look forward introducing Southeast Florida to the Mattamy Way and their commitment to the communities in which they build."

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity for Lara to guide our newest Division through the exciting start-up phase and beyond," says Jim. "Her knowledge of and experience in this market are going to be invaluable as we expand our presence in Southeast Florida as part of a continuing significant growth plan in the US."

About Mattamy Homes

Mattamy Homes is the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America, with operations across the United States and Canada. Mattamy has sold 90,000 homes in hundreds of communities. In the United States, the company is represented in nine metropolitan areas Charlotte, Phoenix, Tucson, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Naples and Southeast Florida  and in Canada, those communities stretch across the Greater Toronto Area, as well as in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. Visit www.mattamyhomes.com for more information.

SOURCE Mattamy Homes Limited

Related Links

http://www.mattamyhomes.com/


NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- McCann was honored across the board with Digital Agency of the Year, Agency of the Year, and Network of the Year distinctions at the ADC 96th Annual Awards celebrating the best in craft, design and innovation in advertising. The agency also won the coveted ADC Black Cube in Digital for best in discipline. This follows a recent announcement that McCann was named Network of the Year and Agency of the Year at the International ANDY Awards.

McCann won 21 ADC awards that contributed to its Network of the Year title, including the ADC Black Cube in Digital. McCann New York won as both Agency of the Year and Digital Agency of the Year for award-winning work on behalf of clients including Lockheed Martin, Godiva, Girls Who Code, The Brady Campaign, and the U.S. Army. Campaigns by McCann agencies in Japan and Colombia were represented among the wins; McCann Japan won a Gold Cube for their work with Amazon for Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo.

"Being named the top digital agency means that people are recognizing that our teams use the most innovative and interesting ways to speak to our audience on behalf of our clients," said Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman of McCann Worldgroup. "We are humbled by the triple ADC titles and will continue to put out brilliant work to make our clients proud."

McCann client Lockheed Martin was named Client of the Year for its work with the agency on "Field Trip to Mars," which has been met with extraordinary public and industry acclaim since its release.

Sean Bryan, Co-Chief Creative Officer of McCann New York, said, "The 'Field Trip to Mars' campaign exemplifies the best collaboration between an agency, a client, and a production studio specializing in VRit's one of those campaigns where the final product became more than just the sum of its parts." Tom Murphy, Co-Chief Creative Officer of McCann New York, added, "We are thrilled to see so many of our campaigns represented in the ADC Awards this year, and we're excited to create more outstanding, noticeable work for our clients."

Michael O'Rourke, executive director of ADC, part of The One Club for Creativity, said, "McCann demonstrated the epitome of our judging criteria for excellence in craft, design and innovation. We salute the network and its clients for their outstanding work and performance in this year's show."

McCann's ADC 96th Annual Awards performance is the latest of many recent top global creative honors won by McCann Worldgroup, which was ranked in 2016 by The Gunn Report as the world's second most creatively awarded network overall in advertising and specifically in digital as well. In 2017, the agency won both Network of the Year and Agency of the Year at the International ANDY Awards, in addition to taking the Best in Show GRANDY award.

About McCann Worldgroup: McCann Worldgroup, part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), is a leading global marketing services company with 24,000 employees in more than 100 countries, comprising McCann (advertising), MRM//McCann (digital marketing/relationship management), Momentum Worldwide (total brand experience), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (global adaptation and production), UM (media management), Weber Shandwick (public relations), FutureBrand (consulting/design), ChaseDesign (shopper marketing) and PMK-BNC.

SOURCE McCann Worldgroup

Related Links

https://mccannworldgroup.com


HANOVER, Pa., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- McClarin Plastics, a premier manufacturer of highly engineered thermoformed plastic, fiberglass reinforced plastic, composite products and complex assemblies today announced its investment in Oklahoma City, Okla.-based Custom Composites, a niche manufacturer of polypropylene and composite fiberglass products including tanks, grating, fire apparatus and custom parts. Together, McClarin and Custom Composites will continue to supply innovative composite products to the industrial equipment, construction, rail, transportation, energy, agricultural and medical industries.

With the addition of Custom Composites, McClarin is even now better positioned to serve the Central and Southwest United States. This acquisition represents the next evolution of McClarin Plastics as it continues to experience significant growth. The move adds significant strategy value to the company, which already maintains facilities in the Pacific Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast United States.

"The opportunity to expand operations to serve Oklahoma and surrounding states is a tremendous benefit to McClarin Plastics, and more importantly, our customers," said Jerry Armstrong, CEO of McClarin Plastics. "We've experienced continued demand for our highly engineered products and this is the next step in improving our delivery and production capabilities in that area. Through the acquisition of Custom Composites, McClarin will be able to hit the ground running and leverage a state-of-the-art facility and an experienced team of employees."

McClarin Plastics plans to invest additional capital into Custom Composite's new, state-of-the-art 83,000 sq. ft. production facility. McClarin will continue to service Custom Composites existing customers and plans to move additional business to the location. McClarin expects to add over 50 additional jobs at the facility over the next several years, and has earned support from the Oklahoma City council in the form of economic development incentives for doing so. McClarin partnered with MetaFund, an Oklahoma City-based socially responsible private equity firm that owned Custom Composites, to complete the deal and spark additional job growth at the facility.

The acquisition of Custom Composites marks another successful and strategic addition to McClarin Plastics. With geographic coverage of the entire United States and a variety of innovative, often custom-designed, composite manufacturing processes, McClarin has positioned itself as an industry-leader. McClarin, a portfolio company of Blackford Capital, continues to pursue add-on opportunities throughout the U.S.

About Custom Composites

Custom Composites, founded in 1972, is a niche manufacturer of polypropylene and composite fiberglass products including tanks, grating, fire apparatus and custom parts. For additional information, visit www.customcompositesok.com.

About McClarin Plastics

McClarin Plastics, Inc. is a premier contract manufacturer of large thermoformed plastic and fiberglass reinforced plastic components for industrial equipment, construction, rail, transportation, agricultural and medical applications. In 2015, the company merged with Amtech to provide more comprehensive capabilities for the military and commercial markets. The company provides production throughout North America and China, with international exports to Asia and Europe. The company is owned by Blackford Capital, a private equity firm based in Grand Rapids, Mich. For more information, visit www.mcclarinplastics.com.

Contact:

Eric Kamstra

Blackford Capital

616.233.3160

[email protected]

SOURCE McClarin Plastics

Related Links

http://mcclarinplastics.com


RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MCNC, the non-profit owner and operator of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), has successfully completed a Service Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type II examination. Accountancy firm Assure Professional performed the rigorous audit of MCNC's organizational security controls and processes.

The SOC 2 Type II standard not only defines what controls should be in place, but also verifies that MCNC is appropriately managing security risks and is a trusted partner serious about data protection and effective operations. For more than three decades, MCNC has been a leader in broadband connectivity and networking, placing high importance on securing customer data while operating a 2,600-mile fiber network across the state.

"We commend MCNC for taking the initiative to evidence that their control environment has been implemented successfully and is operating as intended," said Juan Vargas, Senior IT Security Auditor, Assure Professional. "It is admirable for a company to provide this assurance to their users."

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the governing organization for SOC 2.

In 2012, MCNC achieved SOC Type I certification. Type I reports examine policies and procedures placed in operation at a specific moment in time. Type II reports are more comprehensive and designed for advanced IT service providers as systems are evaluated for a minimum of six months to a year. Organizations that undergo this independent review and achieve this level of certification by meeting very stringent requirements have proven that its entire system is designed to keep its customers' sensitive data secure.

"In today's cyber environment where third-party vendor risk is at an all-time high, it is imperative that customers look for solutions that can provide baseline security controls for the protection of their data," said Maria Thompson, State Chief Risk Officer with the N.C. Department of Information Technology, noting that NC DIT requires all state agencies to certify the facilities housing state data are appropriately secured. "Understanding that there is no 'silver bullet', a SOC 2 Type II certification is an industry best practice designed to identify organizations that can best meet the trust principles."

MCNC Director of Security and Chief Security Architect Chris Beal explained that securing an organization's networking infrastructure requires employees and institutions alike to proactively manage and protect personal and organizational assets. He says MCNC manages security threats and responses in the context of business risks and continues to strengthen its ability to rapidly detect and respond to security threats on NCREN.

"MCNC recognizes the increasing importance of ensuring our services are secure and resilient in the face of cyber threats," said Beal. "The SOC 2 Type II standard sets a clear bar for appropriate security and risk management practices, and then goes a step further to ensure the right controls are in place, signifying our commitment to operating a secure data center."

MCNC employs an experienced team of engineers to efficiently run and manage its data centers. MCNC's 5,000 square-foot data center in Research Triangle Park is SOC 2 Type II compliant. MCNC also has a data center presence at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) in Rosman that has more than 1,500 square-feet, raised-floor space in a building constructed to stringent U.S. Department of Defense standards.

"From basic broadband to advanced services for experimental networks, MCNC is instrumental in connecting millions of North Carolinians with reliable and forward-thinking technology solutions," said Jean Davis, MCNC President and CEO. "This extensive effort to validate our security protocols and procedures further demonstrates our commitment to our customers with a structured approach to risk management."

MCNC offers colocation, data protection, and managed hosting within its data centers. MCNC's Network Operations Center (NOC) staff and Client Network Engineers (CNE) offer a range of expertise from the most basic managed hosting services to more advanced performance monitoring, digital diagnostics, architecture assessments and planning, system tuning, IT management, and planning services. For more information, view the MCNC Service Catalog. For more information and specifics about MCNC Security, visit here.

About MCNC

MCNC, a technology nonprofit that builds, owns and operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), has served research, education, non-profit health care and other community institutions with Internet connectivity in the state for more than 30 years. NCREN is the fundamental broadband infrastructure for more than 500 of these institutions including all K-20 education in North Carolina. As one of the nation's premier middle-mile networks, MCNC leverages high-speed fiber on NCREN to customize Internet services and related applications for each customer while supporting private service providers in bringing cost-efficient connectivity to rural and underserved communities in North Carolina. Visit www.mcnc.org. MCNC Social:Facebook, Twitter@MCNC,YouTube,Google+,LinkedIn.

Editorial Contact

Noah Garrett, NGC Communications, on behalf of MCNC: (252) 423.1277 or [email protected]

SOURCE MCNC

Related Links

http://www.mcnc.org


NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MEGA Electronics Inc. is pleased to introduce the IEC C13 Lock Rewireable, the world's first locking rewireable C13 IEC connector.

Designed to guard against accidental disconnection from computers, PDUs, servers and most network devices, the new IEC Lock adds flexibility and ease of use, as well as LSZH (low smoke zero halogen) compatibility, to its list of features.

The beautifully straightforward high-visibility locking mechanism is combined with a simple release mechanism which allows for disconnection from all sides. Ideal as a retrofit solution, it requires no other equipment or special inlets to secure it. Simply plug it into an appliance as you would a standard IEC lead. The red cage release mechanism also marks the connector out from standard IEC leads to allow maintenance and other data center staff to identify critical power sources.

The IEC Lock's slim design means it can be easily implemented in areas where access is limited and ease of removal is paramount. Its LSZH attribute is crucial for critical applications in military, broadcast, transportation and data centers.

For more information about the IEC Lock product range, including the new rewireable connector, contact MEGA Electronics Inc at 732-249-2656, or visit us on the web at www.megaelectronics.com.

Media Contact:

Guy Francfort

Vice-President, Sales and Marketing

732-249-2656

SOURCE MEGA Electronics

Related Links

http://www.megaelectronics.com


PRINCETON, N.J., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mikros Systems Corporation (OTCQB: MKRS) announced today that it has received a new delivery order from the Navy to provide training services for its ADEPT product line at Navy facilities worldwide.

Mikros produces advanced maintenance systems for the Navy, including the ADEPT (Adaptive Diagnostic Electronic Portable Testset) Maintenance Automation Workstation and the ADSSS (ADEPT Distance Support Sensor Suite) Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) system.

The new award is the fourth delivery order under Mikros' $35 million Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract and covers continuing training of Navy sailors in the use of the Company's ADEPT system. Mikros has been providing ADEPT training at Navy bases around the world for the past decade. The Company's Manufacturing and Depot Center, in Largo FL, is staffed largely by Navy veterans who provide training and other logistics support for over 200 ADEPT systems in the field. This award provides the latest funding increment to continue this training. The next training sessions are currently planned for Norfolk, VA and Pearl Harbor, HI.

"This award enables Mikros to deliver high quality training for ADEPT users in the fleet," said Austin Hartley, Mikros' Operations and Training Lead in Largo. "Providing training at Navy waterfront locations allows us to train sailors in a relevant and timely fashion."

Mikros Systems Corporation is an advanced technology company specializing in the development and production of electronic systems for advanced maintenance in military, industrial and commercial applications. Classified by the U.S. Department of Defense as a small business, its capabilities include technology management, electronic systems engineering and integration, radar systems engineering, command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems engineering, and communications engineering. For more information on Mikros, please visit: www.mikrossystems.com.

Important Information about Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this news release other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements which contain our current expectations about our future results. Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties. We have attempted to identify any forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "could," "expects," "intends," "may," "should" and other similar expressions. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in all of our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results, events or financial positions to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, changes in business conditions, a decline or redirection of the U.S. Defense budget, significant delays or reductions in appropriations for our projects, the termination of any contracts with the U.S. Government, changes in our sales strategy and product development plans, changes in the marketplace, continued services of our executive management team, our limited marketing experience, competition between us and other companies seeking SBIR grants, competitive pricing pressures, market acceptance of our products under development, delays in the development of products, our ability to adequately integrate our new software offerings into our business model, our ability to market our solutions to commercial customers, numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business and competitive nature, statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing, and other factors disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Mikros Systems Corporation

Related Links

http://www.mikrossystems.com


"With a 350-year legacy in the pharmaceutical and chemistry business, we recognize the attractiveness of the chemical synthesis and cheminformatics market and how it complements our existing leadership position in chemicals and reagents," said Udit Batra, CEO, MilliporeSigma.

Virtual synthesis significantly reduces the time between chemical target conception and route evaluation by using a lab's preferences to filter millions of data points. The tool quickly and efficiently provides optimized routes, providing significant benefit to all researchers, especially those working in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery.

GSI's knowledge base of tens of thousands of expert-defined rules of chemical reactivity, combined with proprietary algorithms, enables the program to scrutinize millions of synthetic pathways and to choose the routes that lead to desired targets in the most cost-effective way.

"As chemists who grew up with Sigma-Aldrich and Millipore in the lab, we couldn't be more proud to be acquired by a company with such a long legacy and sincere interest in chemistry," said Bartosz Grzybowski, founder of GSI and inventor of Chematica. "Combining our revolutionary planning tool with MilliporeSigma's large number of available starting materials and its industry leading e-commerce platform will provide immense value to our customers."

The Chematica tool is available now through a limited release for users in academia and in industry.

About Grzybowski Scientific Inventions (GSI)

Grzybowski Scientific Inventions (GSI) is a start-up company with exclusive licensing, development, marketing and sales rights to the revolutionary chemistry decision-making and synthetic planning software product Chematica. Since its establishment in December 2013, GSI has successfully engaged a clientele composed of a wide range of industries as well as academic and government institutions from all over the world. Today, Chematica is widely recognized as the first computer program capable of "chemical thinking" and the only expert system able to design chemically viable synthetic pathways for complex targets -- including drugs, natural products as well as theoretical molecules -- within seconds.

All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the EMD Group website. In case you are a resident of the U.S. or Canada please go to www.emdgroup.com/subscribe to register again for your online subscription of this service as our newly introduced geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service.

About the Life Science Business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

The life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has 19,000 employees and 65 manufacturing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products enabling scientific discovery. Udit Batra is the global chief executive officer of MilliporeSigma.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany completed its $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich in November 2015, creating a leader in the $125 billion global life science industry.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in healthcare, life science and performance materials. The company has six businesses  Biopharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Allergopharma, Biosimilars, Life Science and Performance Materials  and generated sales of 15.0 billion in 2016. Around 50,000 employees work in 66 countries to improve the quality of life for patients, to foster the success of customers and to help meet global challenges.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company  since 1668, the company has stood for innovation, business success and responsible entrepreneurship. Holding an approximately 70 percent interest, the founding family remains the majority owner of the company to this day. The company holds the global rights to the name and the trademark "Merck" internationally except in the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

SOURCE MilliporeSigma
WORCESTER, Mass., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released by Massachusetts Nurses Association:

In a strongly worded letter to UMass Memorial Medical Center, the Mass. Department of Public Health rejected the hospital's plan to close 13 of 27 inpatient psychiatric beds at its University Campus at a time when the psychiatric unit is nearly always full and patients are boarding in the hospital's emergency department for several hours to several days waiting for needed care and services, including those patients with both psychiatric and medical conditions that cannot be cared for at any of the alternative sites identified by UMMMC.

The DPH letter, sent to the hospital yesterday, was issued in response to a plan submitted by the hospital which the DPH requested as part of its legal review and evaluation of the closure's impact on the health of the community. On April 17, the DPH had issued an initial finding that the beds slated for closure provided an essential service that is "necessary for preserving access and health status in the hospitals' service area." The DPH had requested the hospital provide more detailed information about their plan for the closure and their rationale for how patients would be cared for post closure.

In rejecting the hospital's closure plan, the DPH calls into question nearly every aspect of the hospital's rationale for the closure, stating UMass Memorial's response does not "meet the needs of the patients in the Community. As a result of this review, the Department is deeply concerned that the proposed closure of thirteen out of twenty-seven psychiatric beds in the central Massachusetts area, will impact the timely admission and treatment of persons in need of inpatient psychiatric care." The DPH further calls upon the hospital to "reassess" the closure "to best meet the needs of those individuals presenting with a need for inpatient psychiatric care." Reporters can obtain a PDF of the letter by emailing [email protected].

The DPH is not alone in its opposition to the closure, as the plan has been met with strident opposition from every sector of the community, including leading mental health advocates, the Worcester City Council (which cast a unanimous vote in opposition to the closure), several members of the Worcester legislative delegation, local law enforcement officials, former patients and family members of patients, as well as staff at the facility.

"No one outside of those proposing this callous and dangerous plan supports this closure," said Lisa Goss, RN, a nurse on 8 East, the unit where the beds are slated for closure. "All, including the agency in our state charged with protecting public health have evaluated and rejected the hospital's arguments for this closure, yet UMass has turned a deaf ear to the outcry from our community."

UMass Management Shocks Staff by Threatening to Close the Unit Regardless of DPH Findings

Goss's skepticism about UMass Memorial management's commitment to its patients is well founded. Nearly two weeks ago, after the DPH issued its initial finding that the beds slated for closure were an essential service that should be preserved, and before UMass had even submitted its required response to DPH, hospital management met with the staff on the unit and told them that they planned to go forward with the closure no matter what DPH ruled.

"We were shocked that our management could take such an arrogant position and show such blatant disdain for our patients, and those who oversee the safety of our patients," said Goss. "In the interest of our patients and this community, we can only hope that UMass management finally comes to its senses and places its concern for patients ahead of its concern for the bottom line."

The DPH rejected nearly every claim made by the hospital to justify the closing, including rejecting its contention that patients currently cared for on the unit can be safely admitted and cared for in other facilities in the region, particularly patients with both psychiatric and medical conditions, and patients who may be poor. "As the existing beds at the Medical Center treat patients with both psychiatric and medical needs, the Department is deeply concerned that the lack of information on diagnoses accepted at alternative sites and the potential inability of these alternate sites to accept some patients from the Medical Center will delay transfer of these patients to a facility that can meet their needs"

The DPH letter further states, "these additional sites are not immediately availableGiven the uncertainty of bed availability, the Department questions the Medical Center's assertion that there is sufficient capacity to treat patients with serious medical needs. Further, the Department is concerned that the Medical Center's reliance on beds at other facilities will consequently strain the regional capacity and limit access to inpatient psychiatric services and lead to increased ED boarding."

In January, the management of UMass Memorial Medical Center announced plans to close 13 of the 27 psychiatric beds on 8 East, its busy inpatient psychiatric unit, and to convert these beds to medical surgical beds.

On 8 East staff care for patients from the age of 16 up to geriatrics. They suffer from a range of mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, addiction, and also may be suicidal, self-injurious, and have homicidal thoughts and behavior. These patients often also need treatment for other medical issues which they are able to receive on 8 East because it is a medical psychiatric unit within an acute care hospital.

This unit is nearly always full, while at the same time, the UMass University and UMass Memorial emergency departments are overburdened with psychiatric patients waiting for a bed on this or any other unit in the state that can take them These patients often wait several hours to several days for a bed.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association

Related Links

http://www.massnurses.org


SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobilize, developer of a next generation messaging platform for large groups, today announced the launch of its mobile application, now available for download at the app store. Existing mobile messaging solutions like Slack, Google Groups and Yammer were created for conversations between friends, families and small teams--when required to scale to facilitate conversations between thousands of people they quickly fall short. Built to enable seamless communications from tens to tens of thousands of contacts, the Mobilize App brings scale, structure and organization to mobile messaging for an increasingly mobile-first society.

"Existing messaging technologies were never designed to support communication with large groups. These problems become even more urgent when attempted from a mobile device where managing a group and communicating with even hundreds becomes impossible," said Sharon Savariego, CEO and co-founder, Mobilize. "Mobilize is the ultimate messaging solution to rally groups through multi-channel communication that works at scale. Our new app allows users to send both group and targeted messages and follow ups, stay organized with topic based threads and manage multi-channel communications through our easy to use dashboard. The app is our latest step in solving for large-scale communications."

Today more than 2,500 leaders at 250 organizations use Mobilize to connect, manage and empower more than 500,000 people. From marketplaces and their sellers, to on-demand platforms and their workforces, to tech companies and their developers, to the world's many volunteer-based organizations and nonprofits, the new Mobilize App will help strengthen group and network partner engagement and communication.

Mobilize: Scalable Messaging for Large Groups to Take Action and Achieve Results

Mobilize customers including Microsoft, Salesforce, Telefonica, Prezi, Meetup, The United Nations and the California Democratic Network, have one thing in common: they rely on large external groups and partner communities to get the word out and work done. Mobilize was created to provide a new generation of scalable messaging technologies that empowers large groups and communities to take action and achieve results. The Mobilize App makes it easy for organizations to effectively communicate with partners and communities to drive actionable results wherever they are.

With sellers located all over the Bay Area, Etsy uses Mobilize to collaborate, take polls, idea share and communicate meaningfully with seller groups on ways to grow their businesses. Since switching to Mobilize, the San Francisco Etsy network has grown its membership from 1,400 to 2,200 local sellers in the last year alone.

"Mobilize has been really amazing in so many different ways. It's given us the opportunity to talk to our community in ways we weren't able to with a Google Group. When we were using Google Groups to collaborate with sellers, we found the features to be very limited. There were too many hoops to jump through to effectively grow our group--which really limited our growth potential. Having a Mobilize App at our fingertips helps our community stay engaged and connected wherever they're trying to make sales happen," said Rebecca Saylor, Co-Captain, SF Etsy.

Mobilize App: Features and Benefits

To take messaging technology to the next level Mobilize created the Mobilize App in close partnership with MetaLab, the leading app design firm behind Slack, and its customers. It includes:

Member Management and Organization: Stores all member and contact data in one smart network directory with synced and customizable profiles that can be organized into subgroups and cohorts for more targeted communications. The app also includes the ability to publish an external registration form that makes it easy to sign up new members.

Stores all member and contact data in one smart network directory with synced and customizable profiles that can be organized into subgroups and cohorts for more targeted communications. The app also includes the ability to publish an external registration form that makes it easy to sign up new members. Multi-Channel Communications Center for Effective Communication: Enables organizations to message their entire network or send targeted messages via regular message, SMS, email campaigns and easily see who replied. Custom call to action buttons are also included to enable organizations to move beyond a stream of unrelated posts and organize communication among large groups by topic.

Enables organizations to message their entire network or send targeted messages via regular message, SMS, email campaigns and easily see who replied. Custom call to action buttons are also included to enable organizations to move beyond a stream of unrelated posts and organize communication among large groups by topic. Frictionless Participation: With no log-in or download required, it's easy for members to join the network and participate. Most are up and running within minutes.

With no log-in or download required, it's easy for members to join the network and participate. Most are up and running within minutes. Events and Polls to Drive Action: Mobilize posts events directly to invitees' calendars and can RSVP from their email, calendar or on Mobilize. Organizations can increase engagement and measure sentiment with quick polls which members can reply to on the fly.

Mobilize posts events directly to invitees' calendars and can RSVP from their email, calendar or on Mobilize. Organizations can increase engagement and measure sentiment with quick polls which members can reply to on the fly. Group-level Analytics and Network Dashboard to Measure Success: Track member growth, post activity, engagement rates, most engaged groups and most active members. Empowers leaders to conduct targeted smart follow ups and follow up actions.

Maker Faire a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness and celebration of the Maker Movement used Mobilize to organize nearly 200 Faires in 2016 alone, engaging more than 1.4 million attendees globally in 38 countries around the world.

"Mobilize allows us to communicate and build community with over 200 Maker Faire event teams in 40 countries around the globe. Before Mobilize, we used Google Groups, and the lack of sub-groups or a member directory created messaging noise and limited community building. Now with Mobilize, we're more efficient and effective, using the platform to share best practices with our Maker Faire partners, segment our groups by different regions and interests and communicate vital updates to hundreds of our licensees," said, Sabrina Merlo, Program Director, Maker Faire.

Now available on iOS, Mobilize is free up to 100 members with tailored non-profit, business and enterprise plans available for larger groups. To learn more about how the Mobilize platform and app work, watch this short video: Mobilize, a Communication Hub for Groups.

About Mobilize

Based in San Francisco, Mobilize is the developer of a next generation messaging platform that enables organizations including Microsoft, Salesforce, Telefonica, Prezi, Meetup, The United Nations and the California Democratic Network to empower large groups to take action and achieve results. Backed by Trinity Ventures, Floodgate Ventures, Hillsven Capital, Array Ventures and Upwest Labs, more than 2,500 leaders at 150 organizations use Mobilize to connect, manage and empower +250,000 partners.

More information:

Michael Celiceo

[email protected]

SOURCE Mobilize

Related Links

https://mobilize.io/


SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Metropolitan Transportation Commission  the Bay Area's transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency  is recruiting Bay Area residents for its 27-member Policy Advisory Council. The Policy Advisory Council is a citizen advisory committee created by the Commission to advise MTC on a range of topics including regional planning, housing, land use, greenhouse gas reduction, public transit improvements, and new revenues for transportation in the Bay Area. Advisors will jump into the thicket of transportation, learn about the complexities of funding, and help analyze the connections between transportation, land use, air quality and climate change.

Applications for the Policy Advisory Council will be accepted through Monday, June 12, 2017. Applicants must be willing to serve a four-year term currently scheduled to begin in September 2017 and to end in July 2021. Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month in the afternoon at MTC's offices in San Francisco. Members receive a small stipend and travel reimbursement for attendance at each meeting. Membership of the Policy Advisory Council is structured around interests related to the economy, the environment and social equity.

"MTC works hard to make decisions about transportation policy and investment that serve all Bay Area residents," said Commission Chair and Rohnert Park Mayor Jake Mackenzie. "The Policy Advisory Council helps ensure we consider a range of viewpoints. I encourage anyone interested in helping us improve Bay Area mobility to apply for a seat."

Nine economy and environment representatives will be appointed to at-large seats. Appointment recommendations are made by Chair Mackenzie and Commission Vice Chair and Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty. The make-up of these nine representatives must be as follows:

Four of the nine members represent economic interests, and four bring an environmental perspective; the ninth member may be selected from either category.

In addition, five of the nine must be from each of the five most populous Bay Area counties  Alameda , Contra Costa , San Francisco , San Mateo and Santa Clara .

Eighteen equity representatives will be appointed, and are recommended by Commissioners in each county. These 18 representatives will include:

Nine members (one from each county) representing communities of color and issues affecting low-income residents or environmental justice.

Nine members (one from each county) representing issues related to transportation for seniors and persons with disabilities.

Individuals representing economic, environmental or equity interests should have either a work, academic or extensive volunteer background in the subject, or have life experiences that have made them extremely familiar with these issues.

New Council members will be expected to attend their first meeting on September 13, 2017. To apply for a vacant position or to learn more about the Policy Advisory Council, visit http://mtc.ca.gov/whats-happening/news/mtc-recruits-new-policy-advisory-council-term or call 415.778.6706.

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Related Links

http://www.mtc.ca.gov


LOS ANGELES, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MWest Holdings announced today that Matthew Ellis has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer. In this role, Ellis will oversee the firm's acquisition and capital markets group, where he will be responsible for all acquisitions and financings of the firm's portfolio.

"I am thrilled to elevate Matthew into this well-deserved executive role," says Karl Slovin, President of MWest. "For the past eight years, Matthew has shown an unparalleled understanding of the macro and micro-economic drivers of our business, and a street-by-street knowledge of the local market, uncovering diamonds in the rough time after time. As Senior Vice President, Matthew has driven our market share, assets under management, and nurtured lasting equity partnerships. I have no doubt that Matthew will continue to build upon his outstanding reputation as we grow MWest's portfolio."

Since joining MWest in 2008, Ellis has played an integral part in the company's shift back to focusing on value add multi-family properties, and its expanding to become one of the premier boutique investment houses in Los Angeles.

Ellis joined the MWest team with extensive experience in real estate lending and structured finance. He previously worked for Wachovia Securities where he held the position of Vice President of Originations in their Los Angeles office. During his tenure with Wachovia, Ellis originated, underwrote, structured and closed debt and equity transactions totaling over $4 billion, at all levels of the capital stack. This experience allowed Ellis to jump right into his first role at MWest, where he was tasked with sourcing and underwriting prospective investments in Southern California.

"I'm as eager to take on the responsibilities of MWest's new Chief Investment Officer as I was when I first started with the company," said Ellis. "MWest Holdings has been such a great fit for me personally. MWest has built a reputation for its creative but highly strategic and balanced investment approach, which has resulted in exceptional returns for investors. I'm excited to help bring the company to the next level."

Ellis received a Masters of Economics with a concentration in Finance, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Geography, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

About MWest Holdings

Founded in 1991, MWest Holdings is a vertically-integrated investment holding company. MWest credits much of their success to a management team comprised of seasoned professionals with broad backgrounds in all facets of residential and commercial real estate investment. MWest focuses on core-plus and value-add multifamily opportunities and acquires, renovates, leases and manages real estate property in Los Angeles and New York City.

CONTACT: Jessica Martin, [email protected]

SOURCE MWest Holdings

Related Links

http://www.mwestholdings.com


BOSTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NBD Nanotechnologies, the surface "wettability" experts, today announced a partnership agreement with Mendener Prazisionsrohr GmbH (MPG), a leading international condenser tube manufacturer. Under the terms of the agreement, MPG will incorporate NBD's RepelShell coating on the condenser tubes it sells to its power plants customers. This coating helps plants run more efficiently and reduce their overall carbon footprint.

The steam-electric generation power industry has long been seeking ways to improve the efficiency of converting steam back into water. Today condenser cooling tubes are used to facilitate the steam-water conversion cycle.

NBD Nano's RepelShell coating is specifically designed to increase the rate of dropwise condensation on metal surfaces. When this coating is applied to MPG's tube, the nucleation of the droplets is greatly enhanced. The result is a greater efficiency of heat transfer and direct fuel savings of the system. NBD has successfully piloted this technology in a coal-fired power plant, and it will integrate seamlessly into MPG's existing manufacturing processes.

"We're proud to partner with MPG, the leading high-performance specialized supplier of heat exchanger tubes and heat technology products," said Deckard Sorensen, President at NBD Nano Nanotechnologies. "MPG selected NBD because our solution provides proven heat transfer performance and aligns with MPG's existing manufacturing process."

"We're really excited about our partnership with NBD Nanotechnologies. NBD's RepelShell coating is an industry game-changer that promises to improve the operating efficiency of an entire class of power plants," said Dr. Andreas Gahl, managing director at MPG. "This is a solution we have been waiting for."

About NBD Nanotechnologies

NBD Nanotechnologies is the only company to create coatings and additives that: provide tailored surface 'wettability' solutions and are both durable and adaptive. No other wettability solution lasts a long time and integrates seamlessly with existing production processes while making the surfaces of glass, metal, plastics, and paint products extremely repellent to water, dirt, oil, and chemicals.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, NBD Nano has a proven team of top scientists and experienced entrepreneurs leading its business and research operations.

NBD Nano's proprietary nanotechnology platform, and its expanding IP portfolio, enables the creation of customized coatings and additives for any application, on any substrate, with unprecedented durability and adaptability. http://nbdnano.com

Contact:

Jay Staunton

Skibereen Consulting

[email protected]

(781) 790-6023

SOURCE NBD Nanotechnologies

Related Links

http://nbdnano.com


CHICAGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leadership and communications expert David Grossman releases his most inspiring ebook yetRespectful Authenticity: Bringing Your Best to Work and Bringing Out the Best in Others. By telling the story of his own self-discovery, Grossman stresses the value of leaders living authentically so they can be their best selves, motivate their teams, and get results. Designed for leaders who wish to bring more of who they truly are to the workplace, Grossman walks readers through the process of getting there, regardless of where they might be on their personal journey.

Published by leadership and communications expert David Grossman, new eBook reveals how respectful authenticity makes you a more effective leader Leadership and communications expert David Grossman releases his most inspiring ebook yet-Respectful Authenticity: Bringing Your Best to Work and Bringing Out the Best in Others. By telling the story of his own self-discovery, Grossman stresses the value of leaders' living authentically so they can be their best selves, motivate their teams, and get results.

"While the concept of authenticity has been around for a long time, I've added the word respectful to help distinguish it as a powerful tool in the workplace, and to eliminate the downsides that can come with using authenticity as an excuse to be painfully blunt, rude or closed off to different points of view," says David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CSP, Founder and CEO of The Grossman Group. "At its core, respectful authenticity is about being true to yourself and acting in ways that are consistent with your values."

In an era of leadership in a fast-paced business environment, respectful authenticity has never been more important, especially as high-profile business and ethics scandals fill the news. Grossman points out that authenticity isn't a skill. Instead, it's an approach leaders can take to lead a more fulfilling life by accentuating their talents and acknowledging and addressing their flaws, whether it's on the job, in relationships, or at home.

Grossman knows from research, consulting, and experience that employees feel more comfortable with an authentic leader. There are fewer question marks about what's on the leader's mind because employees know what to expect, and that's hugely motivating. People like them, follow them and they're influenced by them in a way that's seamless. Every person can benefit from being more authentic today.

The ebook provides the steps in the journey to respectful authenticity, including:

What respectful authenticity means

Why it matters and why it's so important today

How to start on the path to respectful authenticity

Three components of respectful authenticity and how to achieve them

Three important things to take with you on your journey

The high value of being authentic

Respectful Authenticity: Bringing Your Best to Work and Bringing Out the Best in Others is available online for free and can be downloaded here.

About David Grossman

A leading consultant, speaker and author, David Grossman ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CSP is one of America's foremost authorities on communication and leadership inside organizations. He is Founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based leadership and communications consultancy that focuses on organizational consulting, strategic leadership development and internal communications for Fortune 500 clients. A frequent media source, David provides expert commentary and analysis on employee and leadership issues. He's been featured on "NBC Nightly News," WSJ.com, Today.com, in the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, and CBS MoneyWatch, among others. His latest book "No Cape Needed: The Simplest, Smartest, Fastest Steps To Improve How You Communicate By Leaps and Bounds" recently won the Pinnacle Book Award for the "Best in Business" category and the Beverly Hills International Book Award's President's award.

Contact: Kayla Ellsworth

The Grossman Group

312.850.8211

[email protected]

SOURCE The Grossman Group
CHICAGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study finds that individuals struggling with obesity who are not candidates for weight-loss surgery can benefit substantially from non-surgical endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2017. Patients who underwent ESG achieved greater weight loss than laparoscopic banding, but less weight loss than laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy surgery.

"Our research  the first to compare these treatments  demonstrates that endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is safe and effective in helping patients lead healthier lives. It should be considered as another tool available to clinicians and patients in the fight against obesity," said Reem Z. Sharaiha, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and attending physician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the study's lead author.

Dr. Sharaiha followed 278 patients who underwent ESG, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic banding. At one-year follow-up, patients who chose laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy surgery achieved the greatest percent total body weight loss at 29.28 percent, compared to 17.57 percent for ESG patients and 14.46 percent for laparoscopic banding patients.

Researchers found patients who received endoscopic treatment had lower complications (1 percent) than those who received surgical treatment (10 percent for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and 11 percent for laparoscopic banding).

Dr. Sharaiha noted these results show that endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is another possibility that patients and health-care providers should consider when discussing weight management treatment.

The team also reported that endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty patients customarily left the hospital on the same day of treatment, while laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy patients stayed for about three days and laparoscopic banding patients for a day and a half.

"For years, patients seeking weight-loss interventions had limited options because they could not tolerate or did not want surgery, or it was not even an option for them," added Dr. Sharaiha. "Our research shows that endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty can be the treatment they've been looking for. It's less invasive than surgery and helps them reach their health goals."

Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2017 is the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery. More information can be found at www.ddw.org.

SOURCE Digestive Disease Week

Related Links

http://www.ddw.org


NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Deutsche Bundesbank will occupy an additional 7,000 sqm across five floors

Second largest leasing transaction in Frankfurt this year

NorthStar Realty Europe ("NRE") has signed a new 10 year lease for 7,000 square meters of office space in the Trianon tower to Deutsche Bundesbank, the German Federal Bank, in one of the largest leasing transactions in the Frankfurt market this year. Deutsche Bundesbank also extended the lease on its existing space by a further two years signalling its long term commitment to the building. As a result, it will occupy a total of 21,500 square meters across 16 floors through 2027.

The Deutsche Bundesbank commitment comes on the back of a significant capital investment towards building upgrades since NRE acquired the building in 2015 as well as a rebranding programme focused on highlighting the building's credentials as a dominant landmark in the Frankfurt CBD.

The Trianon Tower, with its distinctive triangular shape, is one of the most iconic office towers in Germany and is centrally located at Mainzer Landstrasse 16. It is the sixth tallest office building in Germany at 186 metres with a total rentable area of 66,000 sq m over 47 floors. The Trianon Tower has been LEED Gold Certified since 2012.

In addition to Deutsche Bundesbank, other high profile tenants include the Deka Group and investment manager Franklin Templeton, which renewed its 4,200 sqm lease by 10 years in December 2015.

Mahbod Nia, CEO of NRE said: "We have committed significant resources towards upgrading and repositioning this landmark property since acquisition. The Trianon Tower is one of the best office buildings in Frankfurt and we are delighted that Deutsche Bundesbank has decided to expand its presence and extend its commitment to our building."

Separately, NRE recently signed a new long term lease for 2,700 sqm in another Frankfurt asset in Uhlandstrasse, increasing occupancy of the building from 87% to 100%.

About the Trianon Tower

The property was constructed in 1993 and was designed by AS & P Albert Speer & Partner, Novotny Maehner Associates, HPP Hentrich-Pteschnigg & Partner. For further information please see: www.trianon-frankfurt.de.

About NorthStar Realty Europe

NorthStar Realty Europe Corp. (NYSE: NRE) is a European-focused commercial real estate company with predominantly high quality office properties in Germany, the United Kingdom and France, organized as a REIT and managed by an affiliate of Colony NorthStar, Inc. (NYSE: CLNS), a leading global real estate and investment management firm. For more information about NorthStar Realty Europe Corp., please visit www.nrecorp.com.

SOURCE NorthStar Realty Europe Corp.

Related Links

http://www.nrecorp.com


EAST HANOVER, N.J., May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack (ribociclib tablets; letrozole tablets) for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women1. The Kisqali Femara Co-Pack is the first, and only currently available, combination pack with two prescription products in advanced breast cancer.

With this FDA approval, physicians in the United States now have the flexibility to prescribe Kisqali two different ways: via the new Co-Pack or as two separate prescriptions of Kisqali and any aromatase inhibitor.

"As we strive to keep the patient at the center of every decision that we make at Novartis, we are pleased that collaborating closely with the FDA has resulted in our being able to offer this unique combination pack of two prescription cancer medicines," said Bill Hinshaw, Executive Vice President and Head, US, Novartis Oncology. "Providing physicians a convenient one package prescribing option for their patients underscores our commitment to deliver innovative treatment solutions to the metastatic breast cancer community."

The innovative packaging of the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack allows patients the convenience of obtaining a full 28-day cycle of the two medicines in one package with one prescription and one co-pay. The Kisqali Femara Co-Pack is available at the same cost as Kisqali alone.

The Kisqali Femara Co-Pack is available in three dosage strengths: Kisqali 600 mg plus Femara 2.5 mg, Kisqali 400 mg plus Femara 2.5 mg, and Kisqali 200 mg plus Femara 2.5 mg. The Kisqali Femara Co-Pack will be available in the US later this month at both specialty and retail pharmacies, and does not change the indication for either medicine.

Kisqali was approved on March 13, 2017 in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy for the treatment of postmenopausal women with HR+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer2. Femara is an aromatase inhibitor approved for first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with HR+ or unknown advanced breast cancer3. Developed by Novartis, Femara has been a standard of care option for more than a decade in early and advanced breast cancer.

About Kisqali (ribociclib)

Kisqali (ribociclib) is a selective cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, a class of drugs that help slow the progression of cancer by inhibiting two proteins called cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6). These proteins, when over-activated, can enable cancer cells to grow and divide too quickly. Targeting CDK4/6 with enhanced precision may play a role in ensuring that cancer cells do not continue to replicate uncontrollably.

Kisqali was developed by the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) under a research collaboration with Astex Pharmaceuticals.

About Femara (letrozole)

Femara (letrozole) is a form of hormone therapy known as an aromatase inhibitor, which works by reducing the amount of estrogen produced in the bodies of postmenopausal women. Femara was first approved in 1997 for treatment of postmenopausal women with HR+ or unknown advanced breast cancer that progressed after antiestrogen therapy. In 2001, Femara was approved as first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with HR+ or unknown locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Femara has been available for nearly 20 years and research by Novartis has continued during this time.

Kisqali (ribociclib) and Femara (letrozole) Important Safety Information

Kisqali (ribociclib) is a prescription medicine used in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as the first hormonal-based therapy to treat women who have gone through menopause with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The Kisqali Femara Co-Pack (ribociclib tablets; letrozole tablets) is a prescription medicine used as the first hormonal based therapy to treat women who have gone through menopause with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer. The Kisqali Femara Co-Pack contains 2 different types of medicines: Kisqali and Femara. It is not known if Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack is safe and effective in children. Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack can cause a heart problem known as QT prolongation. This condition can cause an abnormal heartbeat and may lead to death. Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they have a change in their heartbeat (a fast or irregular heartbeat), or if they feel dizzy or faint. Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack can cause serious liver problems. Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they get any of the following signs and symptoms of liver problems: yellowing of the skin or the whites of the eyes (jaundice), dark or brown (tea-colored) urine, feeling very tired, loss of appetite, pain on the upper right side of the stomach area (abdomen), and bleeding or bruising more easily than normal. Low white blood cell counts are very common when taking Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack and may result in infections that may be severe. Patients should tell their health care provider right away if they have signs and symptoms of low white blood cell counts or infections such as fever and chills. Before taking Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack, patients should tell their health care provider if they are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant as Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack can harm an unborn baby. Females who are able to become pregnant and who take Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack should use effective birth control during treatment and for at least 3 weeks after the last dose. Do not breastfeed during treatment with Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack and for at least 3 weeks after the last dose. Patients should tell their health care provider about all of the medicines they take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements since they may interact with Kisqali. Patients should avoid pomegranate or pomegranate juice, and grapefruit or grapefruit juice while taking Kisqali or the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack. The most common side effects (incidence 20%) of Kisqali + letrozole are white blood cell count decreases, nausea, tiredness, diarrhea, hair thinning or hair loss, vomiting, constipation, headache, and back pain. The most common grade 3/4 side effects in the Kisqali + letrozole arm (incidence >2%) were low neutrophils, low leukocytes, abnormal liver function tests, low lymphocytes, and vomiting. Abnormalities were observed in hematology and clinical chemistry laboratory tests.

Please see full Prescribing Information for the Kisqali Femara Co-Pack, available at https://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/sites/www.pharma.us.novartis.com/files/kisqali_copack.pdf.

About Novartis in Advanced Breast Cancer

For more than 25 years, Novartis has been at the forefront of driving scientific advancements for breast cancer patients and improving clinical practice in collaboration with the global community. With one of the most diverse breast cancer pipelines and the largest number of breast cancer compounds in development, Novartis leads the industry in discovery of new therapies and combinations, especially in HR+ advanced breast cancer, the most common form of the disease.

Disclaimer

The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as "strive," "offer," "commitment," "will," "may," "pipelines," "in development," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential additional marketing approvals for the Kisqali Femara CoPack, or for Kisqali or Femara individually, or regarding potential future revenues from the Kisqali Femara CoPack, or Kisqali or Femara individually. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the Kisqali Femara CoPack, or Kisqali or Femara individually will be submitted or approved for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Neither can there be any guarantee that the Kisqali Femara CoPack, or Kisqali or Femara individually will be submitted or approved for sale in any additional markets, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that the Kisqali Femara CoPack, or Kisqali or Femara individually will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding the Kisqali Femara CoPack, and Kisqali and Femara individually could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company's ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing and reimbursement pressures; safety, quality or manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Novartis

Located in East Hanover, NJ, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is an affiliate of Novartis which provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. In 2016, the Group achieved net sales of USD 48.5 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.0 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are sold in approximately 155 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis and @Novartis Cancer at http://twitter.com/novartiscancer.

For Novartis multimedia content, please visit www.novartis.com/news/media-library.

For questions about the site or required registration, please contact [email protected].

References

Kisqali Femara Co-Pack [prescribing information]. East Hanover, NJ : Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; 2017. Kisqali [prescribing information]. East Hanover, NJ : Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; 2017. Femara [prescribing information]. East Hanover, NJ : Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; 1997.

SOURCE Novartis

Related Links

http://www.novartis.com


MAPLE GROVE, Minn., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NxThera, Inc., a medical device company pioneering the application of its convective radiofrequency thermotherapy to treat endourological conditions, today announced the company's Rezum System has been used to safely and effectively treat more than 10,000 men suffering from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) across the U.S. and Europe.

"Our mission is to transform the BPH treatment experience for urologists and their patients," said Bob Paulson, president and CEO of NxThera. "With more than 12 million men in the U.S. suffering from BPH, the Rezum System offers a versatile, durable and cost-effective alternative for men who are unhappy on or who discontinued their BPH medications, or who are choosing 'watchful waiting' rather than undergo a surgical procedure to treat their BPH. We are honored that more than 500 urologists in the U.S., together with their urologist colleagues in Germany, Sweden and England, have used the Rezum System to treat more than 10,000 men suffering from the debilitating lower urinary tract symptoms of BPH and significantly improve their patients' quality of life."

"Since my Rezum procedure, I've been free from having to know where the bathroom is right away," said patient James Huber. "It worked beautifully and there have been no side effects. I don't have to take pills, and don't have to pay for them. The end result is freedom, and when you're 75, that becomes a really important issue. It gives you the freedom you never thought you would have again."

"Based on the conservation of sexual function and efficacy in treating LUTS/BPH, Rezum could be offered as first-line treatment in lieu of drugs for patients with moderate to severe LUTS," said Dr. Kevin McVary, professor and chair, Division of Urology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Ill.

BPH is one of the top 10 most common and costly diseases in the U.S., affecting more than 12 million American men aged 50 or older, with nearly 800,000 new diagnoses each year. BPH causes significant quality of life issues including waking up multiple times during the night to urinate, frequency, urgency, irregular and weak urinary flow, anxiety, challenges with sexual function and limitation in daily activities. The Rezum System uses radiofrequency current to create thermal energy that is convectively delivered to obstructive prostate tissue through targeted, precise treatments. The treated tissue is then resorbed by the body's immune system which alleviates the symptoms of BPH and improves patients' quality of life and ability to urinate, while preserving sexual function.

Urology experts will present five abstracts reporting the data from clinical studies they conducted on the Rezum System to treat BPH during the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting in Boston May 13 - 15, 2017. These presentations will include Dr. Claus Roehrborn, chair of UT Southwestern Urology Department, presenting the two-year outcomes from the company's randomized controlled, level one pivotal study of the Rezum System to relieve LUTS caused by BPH. Dr. Nikhil Gupta of Southern Illinois University will present clinical data demonstrating the effectiveness of the Rezum System to treat BPH in (i) obese men, while preserving erectile and ejaculatory function (which received the "Best Abstract Award" from the AUA), (ii) men who are in retention as a result of their BPH, and (iii) men compared to the outcomes data from the National Institute of Health sponsored "Medical Therapy of Prostatic Symptoms" (MTOPS) study. In addition, Dr. Tobias Kohler, most recently of Southern Illinois University and now of The Mayo Clinic, will present the Rezum procedure as part of the Plenary Prime Time BPH Surgical Techniques session.

For more information about the Rezum System, visit www.Rezum.com.

About NxThera

NxThera pioneered its convective radiofrequency thermotherapy platform technology to treat a variety of endourological conditions, beginning with BPH. NxThera's FDA-cleared Rezum System is a next-generation transurethral needle ablation system using radiofrequency to create thermal energy that is convectively delivered to obstructive prostate tissue in targeted, precise thermotherapy treatments, with minimal discomfort, to improve the symptoms of BPH and quality of life. Founded in 2008, NxThera is located in Maple Grove, Minn. For more information, visit www.Rezum.com.

SOURCE NxThera, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.Rezum.com


EDMONTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - OncoQuest Inc. ("OncoQuest"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of immunotherapeutic products for the treatment of cancer, today announced the enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 1/2 clinical study to evaluate the use of oregovomab in combination with Nivolumab, an anti-PD1 human monoclonal antibody which works as a checkpoint inhibitor in ovarian cancer patients in the recurrent setting. This clinical trial is being conducted at the National Cancer Centre in Singapore ("NCCS"), with Dr. Tira Tan as Principal Investigator, Adjunct Associate Professor John Chia from Oncocare Cancer Centre as the Study Chair, and Dr. Jack Chan as the co-chair.

"We are extremely excited about launching this study," noted Dr. John Chia. "Ovarian cancer is a lethal disease, and this trial may offer new hope for our patients. Early clinical data suggests that oregovomab may improve the immune system's processing of cancer antigens, and enhance the immune ability to recognize these cancer targets. We believe that the combination of oregovomab and Nivolumab, which amplifies such immune activity, will have a synergistic effect to elicit a higher quality tumor immune response, and hence improve control of the cancer." This will be the first clinical trial testing the combination of oregovomab with a checkpoint inhibitor as potential treatment of ovarian cancer in the recurrent setting.

"We continue to explore the potential of oregovomab in various stages of the progression of ovarian cancer," said Dr. Madiyalakan, CEO of OncoQuest. In frontline ovarian cancer, OncoQuest has recently announced positive interim results from its randomized controlled multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial with oregovomab as an indirect immunizer, in scheduled combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel. "In the recurrent setting, we are exploring the use of oregovomab with immune adjuvants in two clinical trials. The trial NCCS is conducting is in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor. We are also in the process of initiating a trial in U.S. in combination with a TLR3 agonist, Hiltonol," continued Dr. Madiyalakan.

About Oregovomab

Oregovomab is OncoQuest's high affinity monoclonal antibody (Mab B43.13) that is designed to bind to the tumor associated antigen CA125 (also designated MUC16) and initiate a cascade of immune responses against this glycoprotein. CA125 is expressed in epithelial ovarian cancer on the tumor surface but it is also shed into the circulation. OncoQuest believes that carboplatin paclitaxel based chemotherapy used in front line treatment in precisely scheduled combination with oregovomab can improve outcomes relative to chemotherapy alone and is currently exploring the role of select immune adjuvants and checkpoint inhibition to assess oregovomab's application in advanced disease settings. The Company plans to initiate Phase 3 development of this product in an optimal combination with commercial grade antibody product when the current combinatorial Phase 2 program is completed.

About OncoQuest

OncoQuest is a subsidiary of Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSXV-QPT) ("Quest"), and is a privately held, Canadian-based pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of immunotherapies for cancer. OncoQuest's technology platform includes a panel of tumor antigen specific monoclonal immunoglobulins including CA125, MUC1, PSA and Her2/neu; and the application of combinatorial immunotherapy to enhance tumor specific immunity and clinical outcome. OncoQuest's lead product is oregovomab for the treatment of ovarian cancer that is currently undergoing multiple Phase 2 clinical trials. OncoQuest's MUC1 program has already undergone a Phase 1 clinical trial in breast cancer patients, and its development is being led by OncoVent Co. Ltd., OncoQuest's joint venture partner that has licensed the rights of the immunotherapy technologies in the territory of Greater China. OncoQuest's next-generation products are based on immunoglobulin E licensed from UCLA, Stanford University and Advanced Immune Therapeutics, Inc. These antigen-specific monoclonal IgE antibodies are currently in preclinical development.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions. These statements are based upon current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and include statements regarding the trial offering new hope for patients, early clinical data suggesting that oregovomab may improve the immune system's processing of cancer antigens, and enhance the immune ability to recognize these cancer targets, the belief that the combination of oregovomab and Nivolumab will have a synergistic effect to elicit a higher quality tumor response and hence improve control of the cancer, the continued exploration of the potential of oregovomab in various stages of the progression of ovarian cancer, the belief that that carboplatin paclitaxel based chemotherapy used in front line treatment in precisely scheduled combination with oregovomab can improve outcomes relative to chemotherapy alone and the planned initiation of Phase 3 development of this product in an optimal combination with commercial grade antibody product when the current combinatorial Phase 2 program is completed. These statements are based on management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements, including the ability of OncoQuest's product candidates to demonstrate safety and efficacy, as well as results that are consistent with prior results, the ability to enroll patients and complete the clinical trials on time and achieve desired results and benefits, the company's ability to obtain regulatory approvals for commercialization of product candidates or to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, regulatory limitations relating to the company's ability to promote or commercialize its product candidates for specific indications, acceptance of its product candidates in the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale of products, the company's ability to maintain its license agreements, the continued maintenance and growth of its patent estate, its ability to establish and maintain collaborations, its ability to obtain or maintain the capital or grants necessary to fund its research and development activities, and its ability to retain its key scientists or management personnel. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release based on new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

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.

SOURCE Quest PharmaTech Inc.
The 65th Legislative Session adjourned on Friday, April 28, and elected representatives returned to their home districts.

When this Session convened, the state was faced with a depleted reserve fund due to overspending during the past biennium by the administration. We were committed to NOT spending one more penny on new programs until better accountability methods were achieved. As an example, the House Appropriations Committee evaluated the manner in which Medicaid funds were being spent and transferred. This year alone, $10 million in Medicaid overages came back from the federal government and the administration transferred it to the highway funds. Recently, more than $9 million that was appropriated for Medicaid services went to pay for state lawsuits.

The final budget for the biennium is set at $10.3 billion, or 0.6 percent higher than the 2015-2017 biennium. We also established a $200 million ending fund balance, and a Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund or rainy day fund, with more transparency and oversight of the Administrations accounting practices.

During the Session, we successfully funded essential infrastructure projects, and passed more than $1 billion worth of projects throughout the state in House Bills 5, 6, 7 and 11, and through the Department of Transportations HB2. The House resisted an additional $150 million in spending brought forward in floor amendments. There were over a dozen bills to increase taxes on cash-strapped Montanans, including sales taxes on medicine, wine, liquor, cigarettes, income, and lodging taxes. Like many of my fellow GOP members in the House, we promoted limited government and minimizing taxpayer liability, while advocating for educational opportunities, prudent infrastructure spending, job development, and our Second Amendment.

Infrastructure spending became one of the most contentious issues again this Session. House Bill 473, the gas tax bill signed into law by the Governor on May 3rd, raises our gas taxes by four-and-one-half cents per gallon. It becomes effective July 1, 2017, and revenues generated will primarily fund highway and bridge projects. When the Session started, there was a lot of angst about not having enough matching funds to commit to those projects slated to receive federal funding. Within the first couple of weeks of the Session, matching funds were located that had been tucked away in the Administrations budget. At the same time, the Montana Infrastructure Coalition (a consortium of a board of directors; 26 voting members including numerous Montana municipalities, associations, architectural and engineering firms, construction companies and special interest groups; and 71 associate members), lobbied vigorously throughout the Session on behalf of the infrastructure bills.

Working groups of the GOP caucus regularly discussed the gravity of essential infrastructure projects. Those discussions included both a bonding bill and a gas tax bill  a number of our members cited they could support one or the other, but not both. Many also stated they would prefer the proposed bonding bill (HB645, of $33.4 million) over a gas tax because the bonding bill would be paid off in 20 years, versus the forever gas tax. HB645 would have authorized state loan funds for water, wastewater, reclamation, bridges and Quality Schools.

During the waning days of the Session, HB645 was rolled into SB367 proposing over $70 million in state bonding authority  or, DEBT on the backs of Montanas taxpayers and our closely-guarded coal tax trust fund. This bill failed on the House floor on the final day of the Session, not obtaining a two-thirds vote. The House Leaderships repeated negotiations with the Governors office failed to reach a deal to reduce the debt amount.

The bright spots? We killed a number of proposed tax increases on oil and gas production, income taxes, soft drinks, beer/wine and liquor licenses, resorts and lodging, tobacco, medical marijuana, and local option taxes. Issues originating from HD80 constituents: HB554, addressing a property tax assistance program clarification, was signed by the Governor into law on May 3rd; and HB367, creating a voluntary check-off on conservation licenses to help manage wolf predation on livestock, was transmitted to the Governor for signature on May 1st and awaits action.

Bills we passed, but which were vetoed by the Governor, included protections for whistleblowers; trespassing; Second Amendment bills allowing for conceal carry; and revising seasonal employee overtime laws.

Now that the Session is over, were awaiting our assignments on interim committees. There are a number of House and Senate study bills being prioritized for interim committees as well. My concerns include education for Montanas special needs students, tax and associated tax-credit policies, and the status of EMS and volunteer firefighter organizations across the state. Proposed policy issues will likely be drafted from these interim studies for deliberation by the 66th Session.

The Legislatures work was strengthened with your help. Ive appreciated your input and testimony during the 2017 Legislature Session. Its my honor to serve as your House District 80 Representative and to help raise your voice. Thank you.

Becky Beard, R-Elliston, represents House District 80 in the Montana Legislature.
LOS ANGELES, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OriginClear Inc. (OTC/QB: OCLN), a leading provider of water treatment solutions, today announced that its Joint Venture (JV) in Malaysia, OriginClear Water Solutions (OWS), has received a commercial scale purchase order from Envirogard, a water treatment systems engineering company based near Kuala Lumpur.

The assignment is to retrofit an underperforming landfill leachate treatment system with an EWS:AOx system. Required capacity is 100 m3 (approximately 26,000 gallons) of waste water per day, to be increased to 400 m3 (more than 100,000 gallons) per day, to manage peak flows during the rainy season beginning in October.

Rainwater causes runoff from landfills which is extremely difficult to treat, as the dense debris and high contamination level quickly overload membranes and filters. This runoff is called leachate, or "black water." Tests by OriginClear and its partners in Malaysia and China have shown that EWS:AOx effectively clarifies landfill leachate, to avoid such overloads. Scheduled for July, this is the first commercial rollout of EWS:AOx in a landfill setting.

Mr. Yoon Man Yap, Envirogard's Managing Director, declares: "We first met OriginClear about a year ago, and immediately thought of the potential application for leachate treatment." Mr. Yap continues, "Prior to committing to this project, we conducted extensive lab testing. The consistent results and ability to comply with discharge regulations convinced us to employ this breakthrough technology. We're very proud to be the first to install EWS:AOx on a fully commercial operation in Malaysia."

The EWS:AOx system will be retrofitted to an existing conventional treatment system, at a landfill operation located in Negeri Sembilan, the Malaysian state south of the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. An Envirogard team will use a few existing basins in the current system (see photos) to install EWS:AOx components. Due to the efficiency of EWS:AOx, only a fraction of the current basins' volume is needed; and the pumping and piping system will also be reused and adapted. Significant chemical costs will also be avoided, as compared to the system in place.

"There are approximately 300 landfills in Malaysia," said Jean-Louis "JL" Kindler, President of OriginClear Technologies, who recently inspected the site. "This means that a successful installation could lead to more business in both landfill runoff and other applications in Malaysia, China and elsewhere. We also believe that our ability to retrofit to existing basins is a competitive advantage."

OriginClear recently entered into a research agreement on landfill leachate with Florida Atlantic University in the United States. As part of this newly established relationship, OriginClear has started the first laboratory tests on leachate originating from the Eastern United States, and will correlate these with results obtained so far from tests in East Asia.

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Signup for our Newsletter

About OriginClear, Inc.

OriginClear is a leading provider of water treatment solutions and the developer of a breakthrough water cleanup technology serving the rapidly growing $500 billion world market. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, OriginClear provides systems and services to treat water in a wide range of industries, such as municipal, pharmaceutical, semiconductors, industrial, and oil & gas. To rapidly grow this segment of the business, we strategically acquire profitable and well-managed water treatment companies, which allow us to expand our global market presence and technical expertise. To enable a new era of clean and socially responsible water treatment solutions, we invented Electro Water Separation, a breakthrough high-speed water cleanup technology using multi-stage electrolysis, that we license worldwide to water treatment equipment manufacturers. Water is our most valuable resource, and the mission of the "Family of OriginClear Companies" is to improve the quality of water and help return it to its original and clear condition. To learn more about OriginClear, please visit our website at www.originclear.com.

OriginClear Safe Harbor Statement:

Matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this update, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with our history of losses and our need to raise additional financing, the acceptance of our products and technology in the marketplace, our ability to demonstrate the commercial viability of our products and technology and our need to increase the size of our organization. Further information on the Company's risk factors is contained in the Company's quarterly and annual reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Press Contact:

Kaitlyn Finegan

Antenna Group

415-977-1914

[email protected]

Investor Relations OriginClear:

Tom Becker

Toll-free: 877-999-OOIL (6645) Ext. 3

International: +1-323-939-6645 Ext. 3

Fax: 323-315-2301

[email protected]

www.OriginClear.com

SOURCE OriginClear, Inc.

Related Links

http://originclear.com


"I am thrilled to be spearheading our Nevada operations," said Dave Cheval, President of OS National  NV. "Las Vegas is a very exciting place to be in real estate right now. I believe that OSN offers our customers a breath of fresh air in a somewhat stagnant title services industry. As we approach an expanding economy, with renewed confidence in the market and an increase in home buying, real estate professionals, lender and builders need a title partner who is just that  a partner. I believe in building strong relationships and creating unique approaches that will ultimately benefit our home buyers and sellers."

Local to Las Vegas, Cheval understands the cyclical nature of the Las Vegas market, and has supported the community during both the ups and downs. Cheval believes in cultivating businesses and strategic growth in the Las Vegas area, and he serves as a Board of Director on the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, as well as having served on numerous other boards and stakeholder advisory committees as it relates to real estate. His experiences include serving as the Division President for Las Vegas at Stewart Title, President of CoreTitle of Nevada, and has exceled in title operation management positions for several local Las Vegas title companies.

The Nevada expansion comes in on the heels of the company's recent attainment of the American Land Title Association (ALTA) Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices third party certification by Frazier & Deeter CPAs & Advisors. For more information, visit https://osnational.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/PR_3rdPartyCertification_030617_FINAL.pdf.

The Las Vegas office can be reached at (702) 963-8200, or by emailing [email protected]. With offices in Atlanta, Houston, DFW (Arlington and Plano), Phoenix and Las Vegas, OSN is rapidly expanding their national operations with local offices to better serve the niche real estate needs of local communities. For more information on OS National, visit https://www.osnational.com.

About OS National LLC

OS National LLC is redefining title solutions as a nationally recognized provider of residential and commercial title and settlement services. OSN provides services to national lenders and banking institutions, REITs, private equity firms, mortgage servicers and institutional investors to facilitate real estate transactions and title insurance-related services.

OS National provides services in certain jurisdictions in partnership with its wholly owned subsidiaries and/or its related entities, OSN Texas LLC and OSN Escrow LLC (known together as "OSN"). OSN has received the American Land Title Association (ALTA) Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices third party certification by Frazier & Deeter CPAs & Advisors, and is a licensed agent for most of the country's major national title underwriters, with work ranging from single property transactions to multi-million dollar, multi-site transactions. For more information, visit http://www.osnational.com.

OS National LLC

2170 Satellite Blvd., Suite 200

Duluth, GA 30097

(770) 497-9100

http://www.osnational.com

Contact:

Jamie Wunder, Managing Partner

[email protected]

SOURCE OS National LLC
ALEXANDRIA, Va. and SANTA CLARA, Calif. and FRIENDSWOOD, Texas, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxford Finance LLC ("Oxford"), a specialty finance firm that provides senior debt to life sciences and healthcare services companies, and Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the world's most innovative companies and their investors, today announced the closing of a $20 million credit facility with Castle Biosciences, Inc. ("Castle" or "the Company"), a privately held, commercial-stage molecular diagnostics company dedicated to improving cancer treatment decisions. The facility is comprised of a $15 million senior secured term loan and a $5 million line of credit.

Castle Biosciences currently offers prognostic tests for patients with underserved cancers including cutaneous melanoma (DecisionDx-Melanoma), an aggressive form of skin cancer, and uveal melanoma (DecisionDx-UM and DecisionDx-PRAME), a rare aggressive eye cancer. The Company's tests are performed in its CAP-accredited, CLIA-certified clinical laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona.

Proceeds from the credit facility are being used to provide additional working capital as Castle accelerates marketing support and new product development to further help patients and their physicians make the best possible treatment and follow-up care decisions based on the molecular signatures of their tumors.

"Oxford is pleased to provide financing to Castle Biosciences, which has developed and clinically validated prognostic tests enabling improved treatment decisions and outcomes for patients with uveal and cutaneous melanomas" said Christopher A. Herr, senior managing director at Oxford Finance. "We look forward to supporting the Company's continued growth and development of new tests for other underserved cancers."

"Silicon Valley Bank is pleased to continue its longstanding relationship with Castle Biosciences in support of its development efforts and commercial growth endeavors," said Anthony Flores, director of Silicon Valley Bank's Southwest Biopharma and Diagnostics practice. "Our goal remains to bring the right financing, connections and services to bear for Castle as they work to improve diagnostic outcomes, and ultimately the broader treatment paradigm for cancer patients."

"Castle Biosciences is focused on delivering high value tests to improve cancer treatment. This expanded capital facility will be used to accelerate growth of our cutaneous melanoma test, DecisionDx-Melanoma, and support our near-term pipeline," said Derek Maetzold, president and chief executive officer of Castle Biosciences. "Through this relationship with Oxford and Silicon Valley Bank we will be able to expand the reach of our innovative molecular diagnostic tests, and help more physicians and patients make improved disease management decisions."

About Oxford Finance LLC

Oxford Finance is a specialty finance firm providing senior secured loans to public and private life sciences and healthcare services companies worldwide. For over 20 years, Oxford has delivered flexible financing solutions to its clients, enabling these companies to maximize their equity by leveraging their assets. Oxford has originated over $4 billion in loans, with credit facilities ranging from $5 million to $100 million. Oxford is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with additional offices in San Diego, California; Palo Alto, California and the greater Boston area. For more information, visit oxfordfinance.com.

About Silicon Valley Bank

For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com.

2017 SVB Financial Group. All rights reserved. Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary of SVB Financial Group.

Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve System.

About Castle Biosciences, Inc.

Castle Biosciences is a molecular diagnostics company dedicated to helping patients and their physicians make the best possible treatment and follow-up care decisions based on the individual molecular signature of their tumor. The Company currently offers tests for patients with cutaneous melanoma (DecisionDx-Melanoma; www.SkinMelanoma.com)and uveal melanoma (DecisionDx-UM and DecisionDx-PRAME; www.MyUvealMelanoma.com), with development programs in other underserved cancers. Castle Biosciences is based in Friendswood, TX (Houston), and has laboratory operations in Phoenix, AZ. More information can be found at CastleBiosciences.com.

DecisionDx-Melanoma, DecisionDx-UM and DecisionDx-PRAME are the trademarks of Castle Biosciences, Inc.

Media Contacts:

Amanda Stern Julia Thompson Derek Maetzold Oxford Finance LLC Silicon Valley Bank Castle Biosciences, Inc. Tel: 888-471-0174 Tel: 415-764-4707 Tel: 866-788-9007 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Oxford Finance Corporation

Related Links

http://www.oxfordfinance.com


(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150203/727958-b )



This Congress will bring together more than 11,000 top eye and vision researchers and clinicians from around the world to explore cutting-edge basic and clinical science. "We are proud to be able to present our results to such a well prepared audience. We trust our technology, innovative in its field, and we hope that SYL1001 will soon be a real alternative for treating millions of people that suffer from dry eye disease around the world", states Ana Isabel Jimenez, R&D Director of Sylentis.

Accordingly, Sylentis participates at this event with the presentation of data from various clinical and preclinical trials. On one hand, the stability results of SYL1001 in different commercial containers. The stability of the compound in various containers and conditions through time concludes that all the formats analyzed guarantee the integrity and specifications of the product.

On the other hand, Sylentis has presented the results of the study of this product in animal models, to evaluate its efficacy in the treatment of the symptoms and signs of dry eye disease. These patients have a deficit of mucine, a protein found in tears, a low density in the goblet cells and inflammation of the ocular surface. These studies have concluded that SYL1001, apart from reducing the feeling of ocular discomfort, it also improves the quality of the tear and reduces inflammation. In animal models, the statistical increase in the levels of mucine (MUC5A+) present on the eyes surface has also been demonstrated, allowing for the formation of a tear film. In this same study, an increase in the density of goblet cell (those producing and secreting mucine) and also in tear secretion was observed. The inflammatory mediators of the eye surface also decreased after treatment.

Finally, the Company presents a third study that demonstrates the existing correlation between the preclinical and clinical results in the search for the optimum and most efficient dose. Both, in animal and human models, the concentration of 1.125% of SYL1001 was observed to be the most efficient, along with a very low incidence of adverse events.

Principle studies of Sylentis to be presented at ARVO 2017:

Stability study of SYL1001 eye drops (a siRNA compound) for DED in different containers (Posterboard Number: 476 - A0401)

Session: 7th of May of 2017, from 13:30 to 15:15 hours. Lead author: Veronica Ruz, et al. Regulatory Affairs, Sylentis, Spain.

Efficacy of SYL1001 in different animal models of Dry Eye Disease (Posterboard number: 458 - A0383)

Session: 7th of May of 2017, from 13:30 to 15:15 hours. Lead author: Ana Isabel Jimenez et al. R&D, Sylentis, Spain.

Clinical and preclinical study correlation for SYL1001, a new treatment for dry eye disease (Posterboard number: 2670 - A0260)

Session: 9th of May of 2017, from 8:30 to 10:15 hours. Lead author: Maria Victoria Gonzalez et al. Clinical Department, Sylentis, Spain.

Contacts: Media Relations (+ 34-638-79-62-15) and Investor Relations (+34-914-444-500)

SOURCE PharmaMar
DALLAS, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Phigenics, the Independent Leader in Water Management, hosted its 5th Annual Smart Water Leadership Summit April 24-25 in Dallas, TX. The event gathered leaders in building water management to exchange knowledge on topics related to advancing an organization's water management program and preventing Legionnaires' Disease.

The 2017 Summit included speakers from Florida Hospital, US Green Building Council, Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services, Mayo Clinic, Novant Health, Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, North Texas Municipal Water District, Children's Medical Center of Dallas and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Enterprise.

Topics ranged from Developing a Comprehensive Enterprise Water Management Program to When and How to Work with Your Local Health Department to Managing Ice Machines and Decorative Water Features for Legionella. The keynote, which described the current legal landscape following the 2015 release of ASHRAE Standard 188, "Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems" and 2016 release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Water Management Toolkit, was delivered by Scott Furman, Esq. of the environmental law firm of Sive, Paget and Riesel P.C.

This year's Summit featured a panel composed of early adopters of water management programs, who shared their experiences of leading and actively participating on a water management team. A second panel of infection prevention professionals discussed the importance of their role within water management teams. To view content from this year's Summit or request an invite to next year's Summit in Orlando, go to www.smartwaterleadership.com and join the Smart Water Community.

About The Smart Water Leadership Summit

The Smart Water Leadership Summit is an invitation-only event produced by Phigenics. The purpose of the Summit is to provide an invigorating forum for water management leaders to learn, develop and promote best practices for sustainable facility water management. Invited guests include professionals in facility management, EH&S, engineering, sustainability, compliance, infection prevention, research, government policy and regulation, academia, and related disciplines who are responsible for managing utility, process and potable water within their facilities. Industry sectors include a broad base of healthcare, higher education, retail, commercial, hospitality, government and manufacturing organizations. www.smartwaterleadership.com.

Contact: Kellen Utecht, [email protected], 844-850-4087

SOURCE Phigenics

Related Links

http://www.phigenics.com


BEIJING, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix New Media Limited ("Phoenix New Media", "ifeng" or the "Company") (NYSE: FENG), a leading new media company in China, today announced that it will report its first quarter 2017 financial results in the evening on Sunday, May 14, 2017 Eastern Time. The earnings release will be available on ifeng's investor relations website at http://ir.ifeng.com.

Following the earnings release, ifeng's management team will hold a conference call on Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (or Monday, May 15, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time) to discuss the financial results and operating performance.

To participate in the call, please dial the following numbers:

International: +6567135440 Mainland China: 4001200654 Hong Kong: +85230186776 United States: +18456750438 Conference ID: 19736746

A replay of the call will be available through May 21, 2017 by dialing the following numbers:

International: +61290034211 Mainland China: 4006322162 Hong Kong: +85230512780 United States: +16462543697 Conference ID: 19736746

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.ifeng.com.

About Phoenix New Media Limited

Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG) is a leading new media company providing premium content on an integrated Internet platform, including PC and mobile, in China. Having originated from a leading global Chinese language TV network based in Hong Kong, Phoenix TV, the Company enables consumers to access professional news and other quality information and share user-generated content on the Internet through their PCs and mobile devices. Phoenix New Media's platform includes its PC channel, consisting of ifeng.com website, which comprises interest-based verticals and interactive services; its mobile channel, consisting of mobile news applications, mobile video application, digital reading application, fashion application and mobile Internet website; and its operations with the telecom operators that provides mobile value-added services.

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Phoenix New Media Limited

Matthew Zhao

Email: [email protected]

ICR, Inc.

Vera Tang

Tel: +1 (646) 277-1215

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Phoenix New Media Limited

Related Links

http://ir.ifeng.com


The research report " Power And Control Cable Market Size By Product (Power Cable, Control Cable), By Voltage (HV, MV, LV (LV Power, LV Control)), By Application (Utilities, Industrial (Power Plants, Oil & Gas, Cement)), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Turkey, Germany, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, Argentina, Peru), Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 - 2024 " by Global Market Insights, Inc. says Power And Control Cable Market is poised to reach USD 180 billion by 2024.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160418/799556-a )



Rising investments by developing countries towards construction and infrastructure sector will drive the global power and control cable market size. Introduction of smart city initiatives across several countries including China, India and UAE will further stimulate the product demand. In 2015, the National Development Bank of China in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced an investment of over USD 12.8 billion towards the advancement of country's national smart city project.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/1502

Growing measures to strengthen the transmission and distribution network to cater the growing electricity demand will embellish the power and control cable market. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the global electricity demand has expanded over 3% from the past six years however, it is 16% lower than the generated electricity owing to inefficient grid infrastructure. Utilities across the globe are making significant investments to enhance their transmission capability with the aim to reduce the energy loss which will positively impact the business outlook. In 2016, the U.S. Federal Government announced USD 10 billion grant to reduce the curtailment rate across their western transmission network through the development of new and improved grid infrastructure.

Asia Pacific power and control cable market size is set to exceed USD 100 billion by 2024. Ongoing rural electrification program coupled with increasing demand for reliable and safe electricity will positively impact the industry size. Positive outlook towards renewable energy with growing industrialization will further boost the product demand.

Browse key industry insights spread across 190 pages with 264 market data tables & 9 figures & charts from this 2017 report Power And Control Cable Market in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/power-and-control-cable-market

Adoption of microgrid network and favorable government initiatives towards expansion of T&D networks to interconnect renewable sources with the central and state grids will complement the MV power and control cable market. In 2016, Belgium based Tideway B.V. awarded USD 14.19 million contract to Prysmian Group for the supply of 33kV MV inter array submarine cables for its 309 MW offshore wind farm projects.

UK power and control cable market is set to expand over 3% over the forecast timeline. Government initiatives to shift the dependency to sustainable energy sources will augment the industry outlook. The Reseau de Transport d'Electricite (RTE) and UK National Grid awarded a contract worth USD 290 million to ABB, to develop high-voltage direct current technology aimed at interconnecting electric networks between UK and France. The company will provide two high-voltage HVDC light converter stations that will be linked by a subsea cable.

Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1502

Middle East & Africa power and control cable market share is set to expand over 7% by 2024. Growing investments towards rebuilding of war affected countries including Syria along with extension of transmission and distribution network will fuel the industry size. According to Siemens, the region is set to increase its current electricity generation capacity by 66% over the next 15 years.

Notable players across the power and control cable market include Polycab, Prysmian, CMI, Havells, Nexans, LS Cable & System, Furukawa Electric, Southwire, General Cable and Sumitomo Electric Industries.

Read Our Blog @ https://www.fractovia.org/news/industry-research-report/power-and-control-cable-market

Browse Related Reports:

- U.S. Commercial Boiler Market Size 2017 - 2024

U.S. Commercial Boiler Market size was over USD 850 million in 2016 and the annual installation is set to exceed 80,000 units by 2024. Increasing government spending towards healthcare and education sector will stimulate the U.S. commercial boiler market size.

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/US-commercial-boiler-market

- Combined Heat And Power (CHP) Market Size 2017 - 2024

Combined Heat And Power Market size for 2016 was valued over USD 20 billion, with annual installed capacity to exceed 25 GW by 2024. Shifting trends from conventional to sustainable energy along with growing demand for captive power generation will positively drive the combined heat and power market size.

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/combined-heat-and-power-CHP-market

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.



Contact Us:

Arun Hegde

Corporate Sales, USA

Global Market Insights, Inc.

Phone: +1-302-846-7766

Toll Free: +1-888-689-0688

Email: [email protected]



Web: https://www.gminsights.com

Blog: https://gminsights.wordpress.com

Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter

SOURCE Global Market Insights, Inc.
CONCORD, N.C., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- An industry trade show is one event that many eager entrepreneurs aspire to attend. They seek inspiration, innovation, and information on what the next "big thing" is in their industry. The goal is to meet companies that can aid them in bringing their professional dreams and aspirations to fruition. And because PreGel (Pre Gelateria) is a B2B company that is dedicated to providing the supplies and specialty dessert ingredient solutions that dessertprenuers need, the company will reestablish its annual presence at the 2017 National Restaurant Association Show, May 20-23, McCormick Convention Center, Chicago, IL, booth # 7113 to introduce captivating novelty ingredients, fascinating culinary innovation, and artisanal dessert intrigue.

PreGel to Present Dessert Innovation at National Restaurant Association Show, May 20-23, McCormick Convention Center, Chicago, IL, booth # 7113

"Exhibiting at the NRA Show is always very exciting for PreGel," says Anna Pata, director of sales, PreGel America. "We always look forward to presenting the industry with fresh, new ingredients that translate into the opportunity for newcomers to stand out from the crowd, and allow established dessert professionals to push the 'refresh' button and reinvent themselves with something attractive and brand new," Pata concludes.

Keeping innovation at the forefront of its exhibit, PreGel has enhanced both its Super Sprint line of instant flavored powdered bases with:

Butter Pecan Super Sprint

An instant flavored powder mix that exacts the flavorful taste of traditional butter pecan, boasting the classic earthy flavors of buttery, caramelized pecans, sweet vanilla spice, and subtle brown sugar.

Spiced Apple Cider Super Sprint

This instant flavored powdered mix duplicates the invigorating burst of undeniable flavor produced by the pure, unfiltered essence of freshly pressed apple cider enhanced with the dominant tastes of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves.

Adding to its diverse collection of Variegates, Toppings & Coatings, the company has extended this line to include:

Otto Cookie Butter with Pieces Arabeschi

The perfect blend of irresistible flavors including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, complete with crunchy pieces of the actual cookie, utilize this dynamic dessert sauce as a topping, inclusion, or flavoring for gelato, soft serve, ice cream, and frozen yogurt.

PreGel Crunchy Coatings

These exciting new frozen dessert coatings for gelato cakes, semifreddo, and frozen pops are available in white chocolate, lemon, gianduia, hazelnut, and pistachio. With irresistible enclosed crunchy pieces, these coatings allow for even dessert coverage and reject smearing while being cut for optimal presentation.

PreGel is celebrating the company's 50th anniversary this year, and invites show attendees to visit its booth # 7113 to enjoy original, celebratory recipes specific to each station to be showcasedgelato, soft serve, and pastryfeaturing the company's first flavor, Orange Fortefrutto, fruit-based flavoring paste.

For more information, or to register to attend NRA 2017, visit the events page at www.pregelamerica.com.

About PreGel America

Established in 2002, PreGel America is the U.S. subsidiary of PreGel (Pre Gelateria), a global developer, manufacturer, and distributor of specialty dessert ingredients, with main headquarters in Reggio Emilia, Italy. PreGel is a B2B company dedicated to providing authentic, high quality, and shelf-stable semi-finished dessert ingredient solutions and supplies to passionate chefs and business owners/operators for the creation of innovative finished desserts. The company's diverse product lines include bases, bases with flavorings, pastes, compounds, variegates, toppings & fillings, coatings, and instant dessert bases in four main sectors: Gelato, Sorbetto & Ice Cream, Soft Serve Ice Cream, Pastry & Confections, and Specialty Beverage Solutions.

PreGel provides private label options, a team of dedicated sales agents for all regions of the U.S., and hosts four PreGel International Training Centers staffed by trained and award-winning chefs in North Carolina, California, Florida, and Illinois. With distribution facilities in Charlotte, NC and Los Angeles, CA, PreGel sells directly to full service restaurants, quick service restaurants, frozen dessert establishments, coffee shops, bakeries, patisseries, pizzerias, hospitality and tourism, grocery stores, colleges, universities, hospitals, and other noncommercial foodservice, as well as distributors in the United States.

Your Passion. Our Ingredients. It's not just a slogan; it's what PreGel believes in.

For more information, visit www.pregelamerica.com.

Contact:

Janae Morris, PreGel America

Phone: 704 707 0300 ext. 326

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.pregelamerica.com

SOURCE PreGel America
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla., May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alliance Strategies Group, LLC (ASG) is pleased to announce it has been retained by legendary American Political Operative Roger Stone, to exclusively represent his online presence especially through the StoneColdTruth.com website for digital advertising opportunities. Stone is most well-known as President Donald Trump's confidant and political advisor of over 40 years and often viewed as the architect of the Trump presidential strategy.

With over 100,000 active followers and growing his fan base daily, Roger Stone will offer digital advertising opportunities at www.stonecoldtruth.com with the assistance of ASG, beginning on June 1, 2017. Advertisers will have the ability to place ads on the website, sponsor newsletters, social media posts and send dedicated email messages to his passionate and active freedom-loving audience.

Roger Stone states: "As I continue to be at the center of the attacks by liberals and Democrats who want to blame me for Hillary Clinton's failure to steal her chance at the White House, it seems befitting that I ally myself with ASG who has a history of challenging the Left and the Establishment. I've been so effective in showing America the Stone Cold Truth, that Democrats will stop at nothing to blame me for any failure they can conjure up."

"We are honored to have Mr. Stone and StoneColdTruth.com join the ASG portfolio with his substantial track record for impacting the history of our nation and we are confident he will continue to impact its future," states Bryan Rudnick, Chief Evangelist of Alliance Strategies Group. "Few people can see beyond the present and know how to move the pieces on the board as well as Roger Stone, who after all, foresaw nearly 40 years ago that Donald Trump would one day be President of the United States."

As reported in the New York Times on April 22, 2017:

Few alliances in politics are as complicated as the 40 year relationship between the Nixon-tattooed Mr. Stone and Mr. Trump. Mr. Stone won't say how frequently they speak these days, but he shares the president's tear-down-the-system impulses and is ubiquitous on cable news, radio and the website InfoWars defending Mr. Trump.

A documentary about Mr. Stone, entitled "Get Me Roger Stone" will be launched on Netflix on May 12th detailing his impact in American politics.

ABOUT ROGER STONE

Roger Stone is a seasoned political operative and pundit. A veteran of nine national presidential campaigns, he served as a senior campaign aide to three Republican presidents. An outspoken libertarian, he is the author of the New York Times bestseller "The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ" and has written for Fox Opinion, Breitbart News, StoneZone.com, the Daily Caller and the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. A well-known voice in politics for over forty years, Roger Stone often gives insights on behind-the-scenes political agendas on Fox News and InfoWars and has been banned by CNN and MSNBC for his outspoken and politically incorrect criticism of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

ABOUT ASG

Alliance Strategies Group, located in Boynton Beach, Florida, is a full-service strategic planning, online marketing, communications, and business development firm, with a global network of experienced professionals. Since 2005, our dynamic team has been dedicated to providing our clients with professional, unique, and innovative strategies. Our combined energy and experience provides unparalleled synergy for intelligent results. ASG consults non-profit organizations and businesses as well as participates in political campaigns at almost all levels of elective office, including more than six Presidential candidates since 2012. ASG's reach offers strong relationships for both advertisers and publishers within the top political, health, faith, firearms, prepper and financial sectors.

Related Links

Best ROI Lists

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IPyv4KgTAA

SOURCE ALLIANCE STRATEGIES GROUP LLC
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company recognized Primus Technologies Corp. (www.primus-tech.com) with its Supplier Excellence Program Premier Award for outstanding achievement. For 20 years, Primus Technologies has been a trusted partner of Raytheon and a leader in both quality and overall performance. Primus continues to make significant investments in technology, infrastructure and process optimization in order to best support Raytheon and our mutual customer, the U.S. Warfighter. Premier awards are given to Suppliers who have demonstrated premier achievement for Raytheon in Business Management, Technical, Partnership, or Affordability. Only the highest-achieving Suppliers receive this honor.

"Primus is deeply grateful to Raytheon for our longstanding partnership and for this award," said Christopher Sullivan, Primus Technologies Chairman and CEO. "It is our great privilege and honor to serve Raytheon."

Primus Technologies is a recognized leader in electronics manufacturing services (EMS), providing electronics manufacturing solutions to businesses worldwide. Primus serves Fortune 500 and other leading companies in defense, aerospace, medical, industrial automation, and transportation markets. More information is available at www.primus-tech.com or by calling 570-326-6591.

CONTACT: Christopher Sullivan, 917-797-4474

SOURCE Primus Technologies Corp.

Related Links

http://www.primus-tech.com


During no other time of world conflict have our opponents been more able to command us and to tell us what to think. During no other time have we been less able to speak to those opponents. We cannot talk to the ISIS folks who want us dead. We cannot talk with rioters at major conferences. Disruption is so routine that such acts of censorship are called, family friendly protests.

The problem oozes through Montana during political competition for Montana's House seat, an important executive position. The campaign poses an experienced executive against a man with a guitar and a Mexican hat. Like many, I am concerned that Greg Gianforte is denied free access to media while his opponent gets headlines for things far outside of executive skills.

Oddly, one of the charges hurled against Mr. Gianforte is that he has religious faith. Nobody should be discriminated against on the basis of faith, but thats how it is. Another concern is irrational attacks on Gianfortes ability to earn and distribute wealth even though skill with wealth is required for the position.

It is my firmest hope that voters will research each candidate knowing that both mean well but that executive skill is the key issue.

Jack Wiegman

Missoula
SAN MATEO, Calif., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualpay, a leading provider of integrated omnichannel payment solutions, today announced it is modernizing the payment process with its next generation cloud-based platform. Using a data-driven approach and access to real-time insights, featuring robust reporting capabilities and data analytics, Qualpay sets a new standard for payments by driving informed decisions for the merchant, developer, independent software vendor (ISV) and independent sales organization (ISO).

According to a recent Accenture survey, digital payments are on the verge of becoming mainstream. To maintain customer retention and revenue growth, merchants must understand changes in consumer behavior and accommodate the consumer's preferred payment method whether it is by check, credit or debit card, mobile or gift card. With Qualpay, merchants provide customers with a unified, omnichannel payment experience.

"Our previous payment system required many manual steps including logging credit card transactions and keying cash receipts into our accounting software. Our Qualpay solution auto-generates our logs and allows us to import cash receipt data straight into our accounting software," said Addison Webster, CFO of HOJ Engineering & Sales Co. Inc. "With Qualpay, our payment system is now fully automated and data-driven. Qualpay has modified their system to our specific needs which has improved employee productivity. Our customers are able to pay through their chosen payment type and can rest assured their confidential information is securely stored."

"With consumer habits consistently changing and the widespread adoption of technologies across industries, merchants are feeling the pressure to accommodate the needs of their customers and to advance their systems," said Craig Gass, CEO of Qualpay. "As a trusted ally to our customers, the next generation of Qualpay continues to deliver on its promise to ease the payments process and provide a seamless experience from start to finish."

In partnership with ISVs-ISOs, resellers and financial institutions, Qualpay provides merchants with a simple and cost-effective end-to-end solution. The Qualpay platform is easy to integrate with and customizable to meet each merchant's unique requirements. The convenient and interactive on-line application allows for fast boarding and fulfillment, and the transparent residual reporting and portfolio management tools let you always follow the money. Together, Qualpay and its partners share a common vision of empowering businesses to address the challenges facing payments for businesses today and tomorrow, that is agile, data intelligent and grows with your needs.

"As an independent sales organization, the success of our business is dependent upon the solutions provided by our partners, how quickly they can respond to a deal and the technology's ability to deliver on its promise," said Brian Hughes, CEO of Platinum Payment Systems. "Since partnering with Qualpay, we've maintained a collaborative relationship, migrated a few of our flagship customers to their systems and seen remarkable growth in revenue.

Qualpay will attend TRANSACT 2017 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, May 10-12. For more information on Qualpay, please visit: https://www.qualpay.com/.

About Qualpay

Qualpay is a leading provider of integrated, omnichannel payment solutions. The company's cloud-based platform enables businesses to modernize intelligently through the use of reporting and data analytics to streamline the payment process. Qualpay addresses and resolves the challenges facing payments for business and ensures a stronger, more robust infrastructure for the merchant and partner. Simply, Qualpay enables a better way to manage payments. For more information on how Qualpay is reinventing a new era of payment processing, visit www.qualpay.com.

SOURCE Qualpay

Related Links

https://www.qualpay.com


GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- REcolorado, the largest multiple listing service (MLS) in Colorado, serving more than 20,000 real estate agents from Denver and the Colorado Front Range today announced a partnership with Remine, the real estate intelligence platform. The statewide exclusive partnership will provide REcolorado's subscribers the most advanced lead generation platform using Big Data available today including predictive analytics, and a la carte contact information.

"REcolorado is thrilled to be the exclusive provider of a powerful predictive analytics tool that will put next-generation technology in the hands of Colorado real estate professionals," said Kirby Slunaker, president and CEO of REcolorado. "Remine and REcolorado have a common goal  to support real estate professionals to do more business. REcolorado real estate professionals will benefit from the comprehensive real-time market insights and opportunities created by the application."

Jonathan Spinetto, COO of Remine, said, "Colorado is the perfect market for Remine. Their real estate market is red hot with very low inventory. The Remine platform provides intuitive big data and intelligence to agents so they can make full use of discovering and tracking opportunities before they hit the market."

REcolorado

Since 1984, REcolorado has been focused on providing the most accurate and up-to-date real estate information for professionals and consumers. Updated continuously with new and sold listings and powered by the state's largest network of real estate professionals, REcolorado.com is Colorado's most accurate home search website. REcolorado.com also offers consumers mortgage resources, information about Colorado neighborhoods and cities, sold listings, open houses, and a comprehensive database of real estate professionals.

REcolorado is the largest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Colorado with more than 20,000 professional subscribers who operate throughout the state. It is REALTOR owned and serves Aurora Association of REALTORS, Denver Metro Association of REALTORS, Mountain Metro Association of REALTORS, REALTORS of Central Colorado, and South Metro Denver REALTOR Association. Contact a REALTOR for accurate information about your property and neighborhood.

About Remine

Remine delivers real estate intelligence to MLSs, Brokers/Teams and Realtors. The Remine platform analyzes property records, transactional history, consumer data and delivers results on an intuitive user interface. Visit Remine.com or call 855-217-0171.

SOURCE Remine

Related Links

http://www.remine.com


The market for public cloud infrastructure is massiveworldwide spending is set to grow from $38 billion last year to $173 billion in 2026 1 . The growth is undeniable because the promise of digital business is so tantalizing: it's both a growth strategy, delivering new digital products, services and revenues, and a cost-reduction driver, leveraging tools and ecosystems to slash capital and operational resources. The cloud is at the core of this transformation.

"Companies need to be confident that they can gain complete visibility into public infrastructure security to verify security policies, investigate incidents, or ensure full compliance in a cloud environment," said Varun Badhwar, CEO and co-founder of RedLock. "This is a true business imperative and our singular mission at RedLock: to help customers achieve their cloud infrastructure security goals and serve as the catalyst for digital business advancement."

Cloud service providers are working with their ecosystems to help address customer security needs.

"AWS allows customers to scale and innovate, while maintaining a secure environment," said Stephen Schmidt, Vice President, Security Engineering & Chief Information Security Officer at Amazon Web Services. "We are committed to empowering our customers with the right tools to achieve their cloud security objectives, and AWS Partner Network Technology Partners like RedLock play a major role. Our customers want solutions that effectively leverage the security features of AWS to provide holistic visibility into their risk postures, which RedLock provides."

The RedLock Solution

The RedLock Cloud 360 platform enhances cloud infrastructure security with a series of technological advances designed to take on these challenges. These include:

Comprehensive visibility: RedLock enables organizations to visualize their entire public cloud environment, across multiple cloud service providers and down to every component within the environment. The platform dynamically discovers workloads and connects the dots between configuration, user activity, network traffic, and threat intelligence data. Security professionals can quickly pinpoint risks.

RedLock enables organizations to visualize their entire public cloud environment, across multiple cloud service providers and down to every component within the environment. The platform dynamically discovers workloads and connects the dots between configuration, user activity, network traffic, and threat intelligence data. Security professionals can quickly pinpoint risks. Policy monitoring: RedLock enables companies to set guardrails for DevOps, ensuring full productivity without compromises to security. The platform comes with policies that adhere to security best practices such as CIS, PCI, and NIST. In addition, security administrators can create custom policies based on individual needs. RedLock Cloud 360 automatically monitors new and existing workloads for violations to these policies.

RedLock enables companies to set guardrails for DevOps, ensuring full productivity without compromises to security. The platform comes with policies that adhere to security best practices such as CIS, PCI, and NIST. In addition, security administrators can create custom policies based on individual needs. RedLock Cloud 360 automatically monitors new and existing workloads for violations to these policies. Anomaly Detection: The platform combines a deep understanding of your public cloud infrastructure, correlation with third party data sources, and machine learning to baseline user and network behavior. Any anomalous pattern immediately triggers an alarm so the issue can be addressed as soon as it's detected.

The platform combines a deep understanding of your public cloud infrastructure, correlation with third party data sources, and machine learning to baseline user and network behavior. Any anomalous pattern immediately triggers an alarm so the issue can be addressed as soon as it's detected. Contextual Alerting and Adaptive Response: RedLock Cloud 360 continuously scores every workload based on risky attributes and behavior. The highest rated risks bubble to the top which makes it simple to prioritize response. The platform also provides context on the risk factors associated with a particular workload so that appropriate actions can be taken. RedLock data can also be used with third-party tools to speed responses.

RedLock Cloud 360 continuously scores every workload based on risky attributes and behavior. The highest rated risks bubble to the top which makes it simple to prioritize response. The platform also provides context on the risk factors associated with a particular workload so that appropriate actions can be taken. RedLock data can also be used with third-party tools to speed responses. Cloud Forensics: Thanks to its deep understanding of the cloud environment, the platform cuts the time needed to resolve incidents from weeks or even months to seconds. It enables organizations to go back to any point in time and use its interactive map to easily pinpoint active threats and perform impact analysis. The platform also provides time-serialized activity for any workload to review the history of changes and better understand the root cause of an incident.

Thanks to its deep understanding of the cloud environment, the platform cuts the time needed to resolve incidents from weeks or even months to seconds. It enables organizations to go back to any point in time and use its interactive map to easily pinpoint active threats and perform impact analysis. The platform also provides time-serialized activity for any workload to review the history of changes and better understand the root cause of an incident. Compliance and Management Reporting: RedLock enables organizations to easily report on risk posture to their management team, board of directors, and auditors. Similar to a credit score, the platform computes risk scores for every workload based on the severity of business risks, violations and anomalies. It then aggregates the risk scores to enable organizations to benchmark and compare risk postures across different departments as well as across the entire environment.

Venture Funding and Stability

RedLock is not entering the market with great technology alone. While having the characteristics of a disruptive startup, the company is also building on the stability that comes from venture capital support, and an early customer base.

The company has already raised $12 million in funding from Sierra Ventures, which has built a 30-year track record of nurturing early-stage ventures into market leaders and successes include security leader Sourcefire (acquired by Cisco for $2.7B); Storm Ventures, which has a 20-year record of 100% focus on early-stage enterprise investments and successes include EchoSign (acquired by Adobe) and Marketo (acquired by Vista); Dell Technologies Capital, which came out of stealth earlier this week highlighting investments in more than 70 early-stage startups and nearly 30 exits, including Arista and Nutanix ; and other high-profile investors.

"Our goal has always been to support innovative startups that can maintain the right balance between innovation and market need, and RedLock clearly meets that high standard," said Mark Fernandes, Managing Director at Sierra Ventures. "The cloud technology market has seen tremendous excitement and backing over the past few years, but we believe we're still a long way from realizing its true potential. A holistic cloud-native approach that breaks down silos is crucial for the benefits to be fully realized. We believe RedLock has a major role to play in that transformation, and this has been validated by our CXO Advisory Board of more than 70 Fortune 1000 technology executives."

While RedLock is only coming out of stealth mode and making its public debut now, the company has been quietly making its presence felt. It already counts market leaders such as Proofpoint as a client, and was named as a finalist for 'Most Innovative Startup' at the Innovation Sandbox Competition at RSA 2017.

"Dell Technologies Capital understands the unique challenges and needs of young companies poised to make their mark. We are pleased to be an early investor in RedLock and excited by the transformational work they are doing in cybersecurity," said Deepak Jeevankumar, Managing Director at Dell Technologies Capital. "As organizations embrace hybrid cloud computing, security and compliance across their public cloud footprint becomes critical. RedLock provides organizations with much needed risk visibility and control across multiple cloud service providers in a single pane of glass. We look forward to using our extensive technical, business and go-to-market capabilities to help RedLock rapidly develop and deploy their innovative solutions."

Market Need

Traditional security solutions are often geared towards largely static on-premise environments rather than dynamically changing cloud environments. Many legacy tools rely on defining rigid policies based on fixed IP addresses. However, IP-based policies cannot be applied since cloud workloads are ephemeral and their IP addresses can change dynamically. Moreover, agent or proxy-based solutions need to be deployed inline with traffic which will not work with API-driven services such as Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Elastic Load Balancing. None of this is truly compatible with a cloud environment that is continuously changing.

On a related front, the numerous point solutions implemented in most on-premise environments over time to secure the network create siloed views into configuration data, user activity, network traffic, and threat intelligence data. To get a true picture of risk within an organization's cloud infrastructure environment, holistic visibility is imperative.

In contrast, RedLock's Cloud 360 platform provides a comprehensive cloud-native approach. It connects the dots between configurations, user activity, network traffic, and threat intelligence data which makes it easier to accurately assess risk within the public cloud infrastructure environment. The platform's API-based approach ensures that DevOps is unimpeded and complete visibility across all workloads is achieved. The solution is automated so that the right level of security is applied and adjusted as existing workloads change and new ones are instantiated.

Here's a different way to understand the need for a dynamic approach. In many organizations, software is now delivered on a weekly (or even daily) basis. RedLock's own research suggests that the average lifespan of a workload is only 127 minutes, and one customer, a leading cloud provider, creates and destroys 10,000 cloud workloads per day. To keep pace with such dynamic conditions, security teams require tools to implement adequate security and compliance measures.

From Process to Benefit

It is a challenging issue, and the RedLock Cloud 360 platform was designed specifically to tackle these problems. Despite its sophisticated architecture, the platform can be implemented within minutes by connecting to public cloud environments via 50-plus APIs, without impeding DevOps. It ingests massive volumes of raw, siloed data from the environment and produces concise, actionable insights in a five-step process:

Discovery : RedLock Cloud 360 continuously aggregates configuration, user activity, and network traffic data from disparate cloud APIs. It automatically discovers new workloads as soon as they are created.

: RedLock Cloud 360 continuously aggregates configuration, user activity, and network traffic data from disparate cloud APIs. It automatically discovers new workloads as soon as they are created. Contextualization : Next, the platform applies machine learning to connect the dots between configuration, user activity, and network traffic data. It learns the role and behavior of each cloud workload to provide context that is necessary for defining appropriate policies.

: Next, the platform applies machine learning to connect the dots between configuration, user activity, and network traffic data. It learns the role and behavior of each cloud workload to provide context that is necessary for defining appropriate policies. Enrichment : The correlated data is further enriched with external data sources such as vulnerability scanners, threat intelligence tools, and SIEMs to produce critical insights.

: The correlated data is further enriched with external data sources such as vulnerability scanners, threat intelligence tools, and SIEMs to produce critical insights. Risk Assessment : RedLock Cloud 360 scores each cloud workload for risk score based on severity to the business, policy violations, and anomalous behavior. Risk scores are then aggregated, enabling organizations to benchmark and compare risk postures across different departments as well as across the entire environment.

: RedLock Cloud 360 scores each cloud workload for risk score based on severity to the business, policy violations, and anomalous behavior. Risk scores are then aggregated, enabling organizations to benchmark and compare risk postures across different departments as well as across the entire environment. Visualization: The entire cloud infrastructure environment is visualized with an interactive dependency map that goes beyond raw data to provide context on security and compliance risks.

Availability and Pricing

The RedLock Cloud 360 platform is generally available. Pricing is subscription-based and depends on the number of workloads deployed within an organization's public cloud infrastructure environment.

About RedLock (www.redlock.io)

RedLock enables organizations to accelerate digital business by managing security and compliance risks within their public cloud infrastructure without impeding DevOps. We provide security teams with the most comprehensive view of their environment, across multiple public cloud service providers, and down to every component within them. The RedLock Cloud 360 platform enables automated monitoring, anomaly detection, cloud forensics, adaptive response, and compliance reporting, all to deliver unparalleled true cloud infrastructure security. Global brands across a variety of verticals trust RedLock to secure their public cloud infrastructure. The company is backed by Sierra Ventures, Storm Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital, and other high profile investors. RedLock was a finalist amongst hundreds of startups for the coveted title of Most Innovative Startup at RSA 2017 in San Francisco.

-- ADDENDUM --

REDLOCK LAUNCHES WITH TREMENDOUS INDUSTRY SUPPORT

 Ray Espinoza, former Head of Global Security at Proofpoint

"We were able to deploy RedLock in minutes without disrupting DevOps and immediately gained visibility into risks across our entire AWS footprint in a single view."

 David Tsao, Global Information Security Officer (CISO) at Veeva Systems

"Our cloud-based business model has been a huge factor in our success. To enable customer success, we take pride in ensuring the highest levels of compliance of our platform with industry regulations. This requires us to continuously audit the public cloud infrastructure that we use to host our applications, and provide rapid feedback to our internal teams. The RedLock Cloud 360 platform provides Veeva with the tools it needs to continuously monitor our environment, quickly identify and respond to issues, and provide improved visibility on its compliance posture."

 Bala Sathiamurthy, Head of Security at NerdWallet

"To protect our customers' data, we make it a priority to secure the underlying public cloud infrastructure," said Bala Sathiamurthy, Head of Security at NerdWallet. "We need to continuously monitor the infrastructure as well as ensure real-time visibility into risks, and RedLock enables us to do just this without impeding our agile development processes."

 Michael Osterman, President at Osterman Research Inc.

"Organizations are creating and destroying cloud workloads at a quicker pace every day, which is making public cloud infrastructure increasingly difficult to protect. Add to this the fact that many companies don't have a good handle on security for their cloud environments, and you end up with a scenario ripe for disaster. A new breed of cloud security that can keep up with this rate of change and also get organizations securing their public cloud infrastructure instantly is sorely needed. RedLock is stepping in with an impressive solution that's purpose-built for dynamic cloud environments that change by the minute. Moreover, its integration with threat intelligence data sources ensures that organizations are protected in real-time against the latest public cloud threats and vulnerabilities."

 Christian Christiansen, Senior Consultant with Hurwitz & Associates

"There may be no area of technology more hyped and more scrutinized than public cloud computing, and it's easy to see why. According to RedLock, 'The average cloud workload exist for 127 minutes' and 'A leading cloud provider creates and destroys 10,000 workloads per day.' This is an unforeseen and extraordinary rate of change and sharply alters many aspects of DevOps and SecOps. But despite cloud computing's promise of digital transformation, many IT organizations still haven't internalized the message that public cloud infrastructure is fundamentally different from its on-premise predecessor (e.g., rules, processes and threats). Manual processes and complex decision-making need streamlining. Automation becomes mandatory to find and prioritize risk across an organization's public cloud infrastructure. This enables security teams to focus on the highest rated risks. Overall, RedLock offers the potential to greatly reduce the time it takes to perform cloud discovery, anomaly detection and forensics due to its holistic visibility."

 Daniel Kirsch, Principal Analyst, Hurwitz & Associates

"We at Hurwitz & Associates have seen many companies adopting multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments. A Multi-cloud environment gives organizations the flexibility that they need to meet SLA, cost, governance and regulatory requirements. However, many organizations have developed new cloud instances with little oversight from IT security teams. Many enterprise security teams are struggling to find the right balance between giving developers and other teams the freedom to choose the tools and environments they wish while also ensuring security protocols are met. Having each new cloud environment separately managed by a security team is not a process that can scale and will surely result in security gaps. Security organizations are searching for tools and platforms that can help them manage a variety of cloud environments through a single view. RedLock's approach to secure workloads across multiple public cloud providers will help security organizations quickly understand their risk through a single visual environment."

 Andrew Kellet, Principal Analyst with Ovum

"As organisations continue to embrace public cloud computing, security and compliance strategies must adapt to address the dynamic nature of the cloud. The RedLock approach helps security teams by delivering much needed visibility and control over public cloud infrastructure. It offers the ability to detect anomalies, monitor configurations and activities, investigate incidents, and audit for compliance, enabling security teams to gain a comprehensive view of risk across their environment. DevOps and the rise of the cloud have blurred the lines of accountability over security, and with various lines of business adopting public cloud services, key elements of security have been left under protected. RedLock is looking to provide a level of visibility and control that is currently missing in many public cloud environments."

 Mike Matchett, Senior Analyst and Consultant with Taneja Group

"Looking at the landscape, it's amazing how many business processes have improved drastically with a move to public cloud computing, and yet many more simply haven't been able to keep up. Large technology shifts don't occur in a vacuumbasic business processes must adapt to those changes for the benefits to be realized, and this still hasn't been possible for most opportunities because of cloud security concerns." He continued, "When technology changes come so frequently and so fast, even a small gap can quickly become a chasm. That's what we're seeing now between the wider adoption of public cloud infrastructure and the full security that organizations need to maintain. The ability to secure all business applications across multiple public cloud providers is becoming essential, and RedLock is leading the way in helping organizations secure workloads both in the cloud and across clouds. We can recommend that organizations just try it outRedLock's ability to immediately help organizations visualize their risk posture across the public cloud environment is something we haven't seen before."

 Bob Tarzey, Analyst and Director, Quocirca

"The growing use of public cloud infrastructure has changed the way business processes are supported both within and between organisations. A major benefit is more flexible and dynamic access to IT resources, however, a potential downside is less visibility and reduced security through the frequent changes to applications themselves and the way they are deployed. RedLock helps mitigate these issues by providing a single view of workloads and common controls across the three leading public cloud platforms; AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google."

 Gaurav Kumar, Co-founder & CTO at RedLock

"We find that the most compelling aspects of the RedLock Cloud 360 platform is the comprehensive visibility that it provides across an organization's public cloud infrastructure. The platform applies machine learning to automatically discover workloads and connect the dots between configuration, user activity, network traffic, and threat intelligence data. It combines this deep understanding of the cloud infrastructure with patent-pending risk scoring technology to provide a true picture of risk and help organizations prioritize issues. Security teams can quickly respond to incidents with notifications, policy orchestration, and auto-remediation."

 Robi Papp, Managing Partner at AvantGarde Partners

"RedLock has enormous market potential, enabling organizations to obtain the same level of visibility, security assurance, compliance and auditability in the cloud as in physical data center environments. This addresses a significant problem our clients face today."

 Jonathan Villa, Practice Lead, Cloud Security at GuidePoint Security

"RedLock's solution is necessary and timely given the mass migrations we're seeing to public cloud infrastructure. We can offer our customers peace of mind as they make this journey knowing that we have visibility and control across all risks within their environment."

Please refer to press release for additional company, customer, partner, and industry analyst quotes.

- end addendum -

RedLock, RedLock logo, and RedLock Cloud 360 are trademarks or registered trademarks of RedLock, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective firms.

1 Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2016/03/13/roundup-of-cloud-computing-forecasts-and-market-estimates-2016/#7156c2832187

PRESS CONTACT:

CONTOS DUNNE COMMUNICATIONS

Paula Dunne (e) [email protected]

(o) +1 408 776-1400 (m) +1 408 893-8750

SOURCE RedLock

Related Links

http://www.redlock.io


BOSTON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Registration has opened for the International Containerboard Conference  Latin America presented by RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The conference will take place November 8-10, 2017 in Miami, Florida with a kickoff cocktail reception on November 8th followed by a day and a half full of key regional topics. Presentations will explore growth prospects, cost reduction strategies, changing quality requirements, market consolidation and more in containerboard and corrugated markets.

The International Containerboard Conference  Latin America brings together producers, suppliers, and big buyers of containerboard and boxes. The program attracts attendees from over 20 different countries around the world involved in producing, marketing, distributing, converting, buying and financial aspects of the global paperboard packaging market.

At the conference, RISI experts and industry leaders will share their analysis and outlook of containerboard and corrugated board for several countries including Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Several speakers are expected to address current trends in the packaging market due to consolidation. Other key topics will include:

E-commerce - Packaging demand growth

Beverage cartons recycling

A recovered paper outlook

An Agroforestal Obera P&P Mill Project in Corrientes, Argentina

Senior-level industry leaders are joining this year's speaker lineup, providing attending delegates opportunity to hear key industry insight. These speakers will include Eduardo Posada, CEO of Grupo Gondi and Humberto Trevino, CEO of Washington Box.

For more information about the International Containerboard Conference - Latin America, click here.

About RISI (www.risi.com)

RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, packaging, wood products, timber, biomass, tissue and nonwovens industries to help them make better decisions.

Headquartered in Boston, MA, RISI operates additional offices throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.

For Press Enquiries, please contact:

Kimberly Rizzitano

Events Marketing Manager

O: +781-734-8996

E: [email protected]

SOURCE RISI

Related Links

http://www.risiinfo.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Remix, the company changing how public transit is designed around the world, today announced a $10 million Series A round of financing. Sequoia Capital led the investment round and Sequoia partner Aaref Hilaly has joined Remix's Board of Directors. This new investment will enable the company to aggressively accelerate product innovation, expand its sales and marketing efforts and support ongoing plans to broaden its geographic reach.

Remix's web-based platform is transforming decision-making and planning in the public sector. Many cities still rely on a combination of disjointed, labor intensive tools when making transit decisions that affect millions of people. With Remix, planners can quickly design transit routes and immediately understand the cost and demographic impact of a proposed change.

The ability to adapt to changing commuting patterns and mobility needs not only helps individuals who rely on public transportation, but also helps cities become more livable. Innovative cities are preparing for a multimodal future that balances transit, biking, walking, and vehicles that may be on-demand and autonomous. They need the right tools to plan and react as their communities change and grow.

"Public transit determines more about a person's life than almost any other factor. It determines which jobs they can hold and which family members they can reach. It determines how far they can go, and in turn, the freedom that they have. But there's a gap between where our public transit is and where it needs to be  resulting in lost opportunities for cities and the communities they serve." said Sam Hashemi, Co-Founder and CEO, Remix. "At Remix, we believe technology has the potential to dramatically improve public transportation. With this new round of funding, we will continue to invest in building a planning platform that helps transit agencies create opportunities for people of all incomes to live and work."

"Remix's technology is a game-changer. Before Remix, it was impossible to test out potential transit solutions in real-time," said Todd Plesko, Vice President of Planning and Development, Dallas Area Rapid Transit. "With Remix, we can automatically visualize service and financial trade-offs and quickly evaluate how the proposed transit scenarios impact low income and minority populations. The ability to easily explain the impact of prospective improvements has helped streamline the public approval process."

"We used Remix's web-based platform to analyze our current system and found it utterly groundbreaking. There is nothing else like it in the transit marketplace. It places many planning tools into one resourceful package, providing a useful and intuitive solution, that allows transit planners to reimagine the deployment of resources on the fly," said Jon Y. Nouchi, Deputy Director, Department of Transportation Services, City and County of Honolulu. "Before Remix, redesigning a few routes would have taken a few weeks, now it takes a few days."

The Series A financing comes on the heels of exceptional momentum for Remix, which tripled its revenue in 2016. Over 200 cities in over 10 countries now use Remix. The company has helped approximately a quarter of all US transit systems optimize routes, impacting close to one billion transit trips per year.

"Remix helps local governments improve the quality of urban life by reducing congestion and pollution and enhancing social mobility," said Aaref Hilaly, partner at Sequoia and Remix board member. "In two short years, we've already seen Remix have a major impact on public transit around the world."

About Remix

Remix helps transit agencies and local governments make cities more livable, with a mission to build a more equitable world by expanding access within it. Trusted by over 200 cities on four continents, the Remix team of transit planners and urbanists helps agencies reduce their transit planning timelines from months to days. Remix has raised a total of $12 million in venture funding from Sequoia, Y Combinator, and SV Angel. Headquartered in San Francisco with 45 employees, Remix was founded in 2014.

SOURCE Remix

Related Links

http://www.remix.com


DALLAS, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Edmonton International Airport ("EIA") will be the first ever airport in the world to integrate a full suite of unmanned aerial system ("UAS") services into their daily airport operations. Starting in Q2 of 2017, Clear Flight Solutions ("CFS") and AERIUM Analytics ("AERIUM") will focus on safely integrating UAS technology at EIA. The primary focus will be on enhancing EIA's Wildlife Management Plan while supporting continued growth of the Edmonton Metro Region's aerotropolis.

The Wildlife Management Plan will integrate CFS's Robird technology to guide birds safely away from air traffic, while discouraging nesting near airside operations and glide paths. The Robird has been proven around the globe to be an effective, ecologically-friendly method of bird control. The high-tech Robird mimics the flight of an actual falcon in realistic fashion, making its flight behavior so indistinguishable from its natural counterpart that other birds believe that their natural enemy is present in the area.

"This is truly a historic moment for our company but especially for the entire aviation industry," says Nico Nijenhuis, CEO of Clear Flight Solutions. "We currently operate our Robirds in a variety of places, but taking the step towards full integration within daily operations at an airport is huge. For years, there has been a lot of interest from airports. To now officially start integrating our operations at a major Canadian airport is absolutely fantastic."

"Front runner in innovation"

As part of the integrated suite of services, CFS AERIUM will be providing UAS mapping and inspections services to support EIA's maintenance programs and future economic development efforts. These operations will continue from the flight missions that have been diligently conducted prior to this release. The missions were completed to satisfy Safety and Hazard Identification Risk Assessments requirements in addition to demonstrating competency. UAS missions have been conducted under tight supervision within 400m of active runways. CFS AERIUM will continue working towards full integration into airside operations in a professional, safe, and effective manner.

"The Robird was the missing link in our integrated service model," says Jordan Cicoria of AERIUM. "Our relationship with Clear Flight Solutions has created an opportunity to have a positive ecologically-friendly impact on local industries at and surrounding the airport. In a world so focused on innovation Edmonton International Airport is an industry front runner and we are proud to have a partnership with Clear Flight Solutions that allows us to actually translate innovation into value," says Tim Bibby of AERIUM.

Edmonton International Airport

Edmonton International Airport is Canada's fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area. It is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation whose mandate is to drive economic prosperity for the Edmonton Metro Region. Historically, EIA has been an early-adopter of promising technologies that can add economic value. It has always taken great care to ensure that technology is implemented strategically and safely. "EIA is excited to trial this new technology. We will ensure that all of the airports regulatory requirements are met as part of our Safety Management System, including risk assessments etc. to ensure that the testing is completed in a safe manner," says Steve Rumley, VP of Infrastructure at EIA.

EIA also houses the Alberta Aerospace and Technology Center ("AATC"). Since 2015, the AATC has been focused on the development and attraction of Aerospace and Technology companies to Alberta. In 2016, the AATC joined up with AERIUM to focus on the growth and development of UAV technologies in Alberta. "The partnership between AERIUM Analytics and Clear Flight Solutions is exactly the types of companies and solutions we look to foster under the Alberta Aerospace and Technology Center. We look forward to supporting and promoting this incredible integration of UAS services into airport operations around North America." said Myron Keehn, VP of Commercial Development at EIA.

Note to the editor

About Clear Flight Solutions

Clear Flight Solutions is a Dutch company combining expert knowledge of unmanned aerial vehicles with extensive expertise in the ecological domain. Whether the situation requires a robotic bird of prey or a stable multicopter, the Company provides a working solution. With the Robirds, flying on unique patented flapping wing technology, the Company offers unmatched effectiveness in the field of bird control. Clear Flight Solutions also offers unique platforms for wildlife observation and protection, safety and surveillance, and surveying and mapping.

After winning the UVS International Innovation Award in 2011, the Company was founded in 2012 as a spin-off of the University of Twente. Clear Flight Solutions has obtained a $1.7 million investment from the Cottonwood Euro Technology Fund early 2015. The Company was elected Startup of the Year in the Twente region in 2015 and has recently been awarded with the euRobotics Technology Transfer Award, the ASME Young Technology Award, as well as the first ever EU Drone Award for best drone-based solution.

For further information:

Media Relations Contact:

Wessel Straatman

[email protected] / [email protected]

+31 6 393 00 747

For further information about our services please visit

http://www.clearflightsolutions.com

About AERIUM Analytics

AERIUM Analytics (AERIUM) is a Canadian 'UAV-As-A-Service' provider with a strong focus on data. AERIUM's value lies in its ability to build an integrated service model offering UAV flight services, data processing, and enhanced data visualization. This model creates an alignment with clients and builds value from exploring UAV technology. As the world embraces UAV technology, AERIUM will be at the forefront of this next technological wave. Our mission is to inspire innovation, transform data, and realize opportunity in the world around us.

For further information:

Media Relations Contact:

Jordan Cicoria

[email protected]

+1 403 690 6137

For further information about our services please visit

http://www.aeriumanalytics.com

About Edmonton International Airport

EIA offers non-stop connections to 60 destinations across Canada, the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. EIA is a major economic driver, with an economic output of over $2.2 billion, supporting over 12,600 jobs.

For further information:

Media Relations Contact:

Chris Chodan

[email protected]

+1 780 700 3596

For further information about Edminton International Airport please visit

http://www.flyeia.com

About Alberta Aerospace and Technology Center

The AATC is a joint venture founded by Canadian Helicopters (an HNZ company), Canadian North, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC), the Government of Alberta and EIA. As part of AATC, Canadian North operates a 737 training simulator in the airport's Cargo Village, HNZ Topflight operates a helicopter training simulator in the main terminal building and the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) will begin construction of a new educational facility in the north part of EIA.

Press conference:

The official contract signing will take place during AUVSI Xponential in Dallas, Texas. There will be an opportunity for the press to ask questions during the accompanying press conference. This will take place Tuesday May 9th in the Drone Stars Club in Dallas, Texas. The press conference will start at 12.00, noon, local Dallas time (UTC -5). Access to the Drone Stars Club is limited to people registered as press to AUVSI Xponential and persons individually invited to the Drone Stars Club. An invitation can be obtained by registering through sending an e-mail to [email protected].

More details can be found here: http://xponential.vporoom.com/AERIUMAnalytics-ClearFlightSolutions

The address of the Drone Stars Club is:

Drone Stars Club

Hosted by W XYZ

Aloft Dallas Downtown

1033 Young St, Dallas, TX 75202

SOURCE AERIUM Analytics; Clear Flight Solutions
NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rothschild Global Advisory today announced that Chris Gaertner has joined the firm, effective August 7, 2017, as the Global Head of Technology and will lead the launch of the firm's new office in the San Francisco Bay Area. He will be joined by Walid Khiari, who joins the firm as a Managing Director on its Technology team. The Bay Area office is the seventh Rothschild office in North America, and second to open in the past year.

Jimmy Neissa, Head of Rothschild & Co North America, stated, "This is a very exciting day for the firm. Chris and Walid have an exceptional reputation and background in technology, and we are delighted to welcome them to the team. Chris' background and depth of experience will serve the entire firm and our global clients well, and we are certain that he is the right choice to lead our technology practice and launch our new office in Silicon Valley."

On the firm's opening of its office in Silicon Valley, Robert Leitao, Managing Partner and Head of Rothschild Global Advisory, said, "We have been serving clients in the San Francisco Bay Area for some time, and the opening of our office there will allow us to strengthen our team, ensuring that our clients continue to have access to the best people and advice. The U.S. and North American markets are a strategic priority for our firm, and this announcement demonstrates our commitment to the region. Following the opening of our Chicago office last year and the success of our team in Los Angeles over the past few years, Silicon Valley is another key piece in our plan to build out the business in the U.S."

With nearly 30 years of experience, Mr. Gaertner has significant depth and breadth within the technology sector, most recently with Credit Suisse as Managing Director and Global Head of Corporate Finance Technology Investment Banking. Prior to Credit Suisse, Mr. Gaertner was a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and held roles as Head of Technology Investment Banking and Head of Global Software and Enterprise Technology Investment Banking. He was also previously a Managing Director and Head of Global Software at Lehman Brothers. Over his career, Mr. Gaertner has advised a number of leading technology firms, including Microsoft, Intel, HP, Ansys, Cisco, Oracle, Lyft, Palantir, Dell, Google, Adobe, Apple, IBM and Amazon, among a host of others. Mr. Gaertner holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"Rothschild is a world class firm and I am honored to be joining and leading its Global Technology business," said Mr. Gaertner. "Helping this illustrious firm strengthen its presence in Silicon Valley by opening its new office is an incredible opportunity, and I am eager to help the firm in its commitment to this market. I look forward to working with Walid and my new colleagues to provide our clients with the best advice and services possible."

Mr. Khiari joins Rothschild, effective August 7, 2017, after spending 20 years in investment banking. He joins Rothschild from Credit Suisse where he served as Director of Technology Investment Banking. Prior to this, he worked for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Technology Investment Banking group. He has worked with clients around the world and spent time early in his career in Tokyo, Japan. His recent transaction experience includes the $4.7 billion sale of Blue Coat Systems to Symantec, the $2 billion acquisition of Websense by Raytheon, and the $1.5 billion sale of Hybris Security to SAP, among others. Mr. Khiari has a deep and broad network across global technology markets, including Australia, Europe, Canada and Silicon Valley. Mr. Khiari holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Paris and an MBA from The Wharton School.

"I am excited about this opportunity to join Chris, who I have worked with for many years, as well as Jimmy and the entire team at Rothschild to found and grow this new office," said Mr. Khiari. "Rothschild has a global reputation for premier client service, and I look forward to delivering that for our clients in the technology sector and here in the San Francisco Bay Area."

Rothschild Global Advisory Brunswick Group Kim Nicholson Justin Dini / Alex Yankus Tel: +44 20 7280 5422 Tel: +1 212 333 3810 [email protected] [email protected]

About Rothschild & Co

Rothschild & Co is a family-controlled and independent business that has been at the centre of the world's financial markets for over 200 years. It is one of the world's largest independent financial advisory groups, employing approximately 3,300 people in over 40 countries around the world. Our integrated global network of trusted professionals provide in-depth market intelligence and effective long-term solutions for our clients in Global Advisory, Private Wealth, Asset Management, and Merchant Banking.

Rothschild Global Advisory, a division of the Rothschild & Co Group, designs and executes strategic M&A and financing solutions. It combines the breadth of its advisory offering with a high volume of transactions to achieve a unique understanding and perspective into markets and participants worldwide.

Rothschild Global Advisory provides impartial, expert advice to large and mid-sized corporations, private equity, families and entrepreneurs, and governments through an unrivalled network of 900 industry and financing specialists in over 40 countries worldwide.

SOURCE Rothschild & Co
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Administrator Linda McMahon, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, will deliver the keynote address at the first-ever Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Knowledge Summit Thursday, May 11 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The MSME Knowledge Summit is organized by the International Council of Small Businesses, a nonprofit organization promoting the growth and development of small businesses worldwide. The event will host a gathering of policy shapers and global private sector partners who will discuss the important role micro, small and medium-sized enterprises play as catalysts, creators and supporters in achieving the growth of sustainable businesses worldwide. The summit will also focus on work toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, aimed at ending poverty and promoting prosperity through global entrepreneurship.

"I'm honored to have the opportunity to discuss the SBA's role in helping small businesses launch and thrive," McMahon said. "Exporting is an essential component of small business growth, and the SBA is here to help entrepreneurs discover new exporting opportunities, expand into new markets and compete in the global economy."

MSME Knowledge Summit attendees will also hear from country ministers and dignitaries from Argentina, Arab Republic of Egypt, and Kuwait. Private sector representatives include Dr. Patrice Harris, Chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees and Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation General Counsel Michael Falk. Other speakers include college presidents from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

For more information about the MSME Knowledge Summit, please visit http://www.icsb.org/event/msmesdayun/.

For more information about the SBA's export lending programs, visit

www.sba.gov/international .

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and since January 13, 2012, has served as a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. Visit the website at www.sba.gov.

Release Number: 17-36

Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Blogs

Contact: Carol Chastang (202) 205-6987

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

Related Links

http://www.sba.gov


Simple, beautiful and designed for mobile, NewsCenter allows sales reps to self-select channels of interestsuch as competitive intelligence and industry updatesand get smart so that they can deliver relevant information to a prospect, putting them in the best position to win. Reps can also explore additional channels and customize the app to meet their needs and interests. In addition to becoming an engrained part of their morning routine, reps can take advantage of the day's micro-moments, such as waiting in a lobby before a meeting, to easily explore new information anywhere at any time.

"Prior to Seismic NewsCenter, our sales communication process largely revolved around mass email blastslengthy weekly updates that were impersonal with many parts being irrelevant to the individual reader, meaning they were often ignored," said Cathy Rowell, worldwide sales knowledge management leader at HPE. "NewsCenter allows us to take a more efficient and effective approach. The reps have an experience they're already familiar with, as simple as accessing Flipboard or Pinterest, ensuring that they remain constantly knowledgeable on our products, the market, competitors, and the company as a whole. We're finally able to address their concerns around too much email clutter. Feedback thus far is extremely positive  easy to use, and a great tool for them to have in the field on their mobile devices."

"With an abundance of available information, we live in the age of the educated buyer, and sellers who aren't equally educated enter every interaction at a disadvantage," said Doug Winter, Seismic CEO and co-founder. "If a sales enablement solution isn't providing sales teams with the all the new information, updates, and training they need before their first meeting of the day, then it is failing to truly enable sales teams. Coupled with our integration with sales readiness platforms like MindTickle, Seismic provides the industry's most complete sales enablement platform."

A new sales enablement standard

Research firm SiriusDecisions notes that a complete sales enablement function has three core components: sales asset management, sales talent management, and sales communications. With the recently announced integration with sales readiness solution MindTickle and the launch of NewsCenter, Seismic has once again redefined what it means to be a complete enterprise-grade sales enablement platform by offering capabilities in all three core components.

"As a stand-alone function, sales enablement continues to exhibit dramatic enterprise growth, with 74 percent of departments, in our 2017 survey, planning an enablement budget increase over last year," said Peter Ostrow, Research Director at SiriusDecisions. "Regarding sales communications, we see that high-performing firms are 22 percent more likely than others to centralize internal messaging flow within this growing sales enablement function. This helps streamline enablement's ability to maximize rep and channel partner productivity."

Similar to other recent technology partnerships, the benefits of NewsCenter extend beyond sales reps. Integrations with Marketo and Eloqua open up unparalleled precision in marketing campaign segmentation and lead scoring, and the integrations with sales readiness solutions such as MindTickle reveal new insights into rep engagement for sales and marketing ops. NewsCenter, meanwhile, opens up opportunities for additional teams to have their impact felt on the bottom line.

For example, public relations teams can quickly relay new company coverage or press releases to the right sales reps, along with any competitive intelligence they find in their daily news scans. Content marketing teams can automatically alert relevant sales reps of new top-of-funnel content that may have just been distributed along with its intended purpose, and C-level executives can share thoughts and insights, further conveying to each sales rep that what they do is essential to the company's future.

"The most successful sales reps are the ones who go into every conversation with the confidence in knowing that they are supported by an organization fully devoted to their success," said Winter. "Large enterprises like HPE and rapidly growing market leaders like Procore recognize this advantage and have standardized on Seismic to support their diverse and complex needs."

For more information about Seismic NewsCenter, visit's the company's site at https://seismic.com/newscenter.

About Seismic

Seismic's leading sales enablement solution allows marketing teams to personalize content at scale and equips large sales teams with the right content for every interaction, dramatically improving time spent selling and win rates. Seismic is the only sales enablement platform powered by machine learning algorithms and the award-winning LiveDocs technology, which automates the creation of personalized sales materials within seconds. Real-time analytics provide unprecedented insight for marketing teams looking to gauge which content helps close deals, further aligning marketing and sales efforts. Headquartered in San Diego and with more than 250 employees across the globe, Seismic is privately held by its executive team and investment firms General Atlantic, JMI Equity, and Jackson Square Ventures.



To see how Seismic is being used by firms in your industry, visit http://www.seismic.com.

Contact:

Jason Fidler

Public Relations Manager, Seismic

[email protected]

978-505-9148

SOURCE Seismic

Related Links

https://seismic.com


NEW YORK, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed KBR, Inc. ("KBR" or the "Company") (NYSE: KBR) and certain of its officers, on behalf of shareholders who purchased KBR securities between February 26, 2016 through April 27, 2017, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: http://www.bgandg.com/kbr.

This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (1) KBR's United Kingdom subsidiaries had violated applicable bribery and corruption laws; and (2) consequently, KBR's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On April 28, 2017, the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office revealed that "it has opened an investigation into the activities of KBR, Inc's United Kingdom subsidiaries, their officers, employees and agents for suspected offences of bribery and corruption," and stated that the "investigation is related to the SFO's ongoing investigation into the activities of Unaoil." Unaoil is a Monaco-based oil company. Following this news, KBR stock dropped $1.43 per share or over 9% to close at $14.05 per share on April 28, 2017.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firm's site: http://www.bgandg.com/kbr or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Hurwitz of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in KBR you have until July 3, 2017 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firm's expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Hurwitz

212-697-6484 | [email protected]

SOURCE Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Related Links

http://www.bgandg.com


A former heavyweight boxer previously sentenced to prison for threatening to kill a cop was hit with an electroshock gun twice Friday while trespassing at the Kelley Mine Yard and then arrested Saturday after bonding out of jail for assaulting a man with a weapon.

According to police, Richard Girard, 37, was trespassing shoeless at the mine yard around 7:30 p.m. Friday while screaming and bashing rocks into his head. Police said Girard told them he was not trespassing as he owned the yard and refused to put down the rocks as ordered.

Undersheriff George Skuletich said police are familiar with Girard and said he is known to resist arrest. Skuletich said officers shocked Girard with a stun gun when he came towards them and refused to drop the rocks, and he fell to the ground. After being shocked, Girard then got up and went after an officer, requiring another shock, police said. Girard was then handcuffed, arrested, and booked into the jail for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and trespassing.

Girard posted a $705 bond at 2:35 p.m. Saturday. Around 11 p.m., a man at St. James Healthcare called police to report that a man had assaulted him at a home on the 1200 block of East Second Street, striking him in the face and back with a weapon before he escaped. Police are unsure of what the weapon was and the relationship between the two men.

When they arrived at the home, police said they found the doors open and blood inside with Girard sitting on a porch across the street. The owner of that house said he did not know Girard. Officers arrested Girard for felony assault with a weapon as well as criminal mischief for damaging the open house. The owner of that house allowed police inside where they found a knife, firearms, and more blood.

Skuletich said the victim was released from the hospital but is seeking additional medical attention. A mental health evaluation is being sought for Girard, police said.

Girard was sentenced in 2006 to 10 years in the Montana State Prison with five suspended for felony intimidation. According to court documents, Girard threatened to kill a police officer during a traffic stop, going as far as describing where the officer lived. He was released from prison in 2011.

Girard remains in jail without bond.
NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of PetroQuest Energy, Inc. (NYSE: PQ).

If you are a shareholder of PetroQuest Energy, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at:

http://pjlfirm.com/petroquest-energy-inc/

You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation.

Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

SOURCE Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP

Related Links

http://www.pjlfirm.com


NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Silipos - www.SILIPOS.com - the global leader in gel technologies and manufacturer of products for the active lifestyle today announced a new partnership with Algeos, one of the U.K.'s largest distributors in the orthopaedics market.

Algeos will stock the full range of Silipos products which includes orthopaedic gels as well as the new Silipos Active Line recently launched in March 2017. Silipos' gels are soft and stretch with the foot, absorbing force, pressure, and vibration.

"Algeos is a strong partner with an established network," said Silipos President and CEO, Josh Margolis. "We're growing internationally at a fast pace and getting a lot of interest from outside the US. We feel the partnership with Algeos will help promote that expansion."

Silipos' orthopedic and foot care products offer easy to use solutions for a variety of ailments ranging from common foot discomforts to post traumatic injuries.

Silipos is the original manufacturer of podiatry TPE gels, which are made under the strictest quality guidelines with a proprietary formula of medical-grade mineral oil. Silipos' gels are soft and stretch with the foot, absorbing force, pressure, and vibration. The gels contain mineral oil that gradually diffuses into the skin to help prevent against calluses and dryness while reducing scarring. Silipos Active products can be washed and reused while retaining all of their unique benefits, and are odorless, latex-free, antimicrobial, vegan, and hypoallergenic.

Algeos Product Director Marc Cameron said of the partnership, "Silipos is the original, go-to brand for foot care and orthopaedic gels. We feel this partnership will elevate both Algeos and the Silipos brands."

About Silipos:

Founded in 1989, Silipos is the global leader in gel technologies across a wide range of industries including orthopedics, prosthetics, skin care, and health and beauty aids. Silipos is committed to continually improving people's lives with new and innovative gel solutions. Many of Silipos' gels are developed and manufactured at the company's headquarters in New York State. Learn more at http://www.SILIPOS.com and connect with us on Instagram @siliposusa.

About Algeos:

Algeos traces its roots back to 1881 as a Liverpool leather merchant for boots and shoes. The company has seen significant growth in the orthopaedics market, both organic and through a number of strategic acquisitions. Based in Speke, Liverpool, where it has 50,000 square feet of industrial space, Algeos today has offices in Australia and the Middle East, and a staff of around 85 worldwide.

The company designs and develops many products under its own brands and also distributes world-leading brands within the podiatry, physiotherapy and O&P (orthotic and prosthetic) markets. In the UK, it offers the widest range of podiatry products available and is the largest podiatry supplier to the NHS.

Silipos Media Contact:

Elon Evora

[email protected]

334-819-6912

Algeos Media Contact:

Viki Boult

A Algeo Ltd

Tel: + 44 (0)151 448 1228 Ext 237 / + 44 (0) 7836 575692

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Silipos

Related Links

http://www.SILIPOS.com


LAS VEGAS, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Social Play USA, Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets; Symbol SPLY), ('Social Play' or the 'Company') announces that it has entered into a binding Letter Of Intent ('LOI') with Spot and Pay Inc. ('Spot&Pay') of Henderson, Nevada.

The binding LOI covers the acquisition of a unique and robust consumer mobile payment application predicated on the rapidly expanding use of QR codes for individual product purchases, charitable giving, and bill payment options.

Spot&Pay is a mobile payment application that is used in connection with third party QR codes that have been generated for specific uses; i.e. individual consumer products, specific services or group of services offered to the general public, B2B product and service offerings, monetary donations to charitable organizations, and quick and easy bill payments on recurring monthly accounts.

QR codes allow consumers a quick, simple, and paperless method of making purchases, donating to their favorite charity, and paying bills. The process relies on setting up a Spot&Pay mobile payment account attached to a credit card or direct debit account and then simply scanning a QR code with a mobile device for a particular product or service the consumer wishes to purchase. The Spot&Pay application will instantly facilitate the order and purchase of the product associated with the QR code and pay for it from the pre-designated method of payment set up by the user.

The most unique aspect of the Spot&Pay application is the ability to purchase products remotely, without having to visit a website or physically attending a retail establishment. This is accomplished simply by scanning a product's QR code wherever it can be seen; such as from a bus shelter advertisement or other media, i.e. television or computer screen situated in a public space.

While QR Codes have been used for years in direct marketing, they are only quite recently being used more widely for mobile, remote purchasing, banking, and payments. Wal-Mart, which introduced QR code payment solutions as part of its Wal-Mart Pay feature in 2015, reports that usage of its internal application was up 45% as of July 2016, with 38% of payments coming from repeat users in all of its 4,600+ stores nationwide. This evolution speaks to the growing acceptance of QR Codes as a more sophisticated tool for problem solving and information delivery.

Under the terms of the LOI the Company will acquire an initial thirty percent (30%) interest in Spot and Pay Inc. and the Spot&Pay mobile payment technology for $300,000. The Company also has an Exclusive Option to Purchase (the 'Option') the remaining seventy percent (70%) of Spot&Pay by issuing common shares in the capital of the Company valued at $700,000. The exact number of shares to be issued will be determined by the five day average trading price of the Company's shares prior to the date of exercising the Option.

Social Play USA is a business to business solutions provider for online companies; providing marketing, monetization, and support services for companies in the mobile applications marketplace.

This news release was prepared on behalf of the Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its contents. For more information please contact Investor Relations at +1-855-780-4878 or [email protected]

Robert Rosner

President & CEO

Forward-looking Statement:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements," 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 news release, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this news 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. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements that are preceded by, followed by, or that include such words as "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "plan" or "expect" or similar statements are forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties for the company include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with software development, sales & marketing, and funding as well as the risks shown in the company's most recent annual and quarterly reports filed and published on http://www.sec.gov, respectively, and from time-to-time in other publicly available information regarding the company. Other risks include risks associated with the regulatory approval process, competitive companies, future capital requirements and the Company's ability and level of support for its exploration and development activities. There can be no assurance that the Company's software development, sales & marketing efforts will succeed and the company will ultimately achieve commercial success. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance those beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consider all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosed in the company's periodic reports filed and published from time-to-time on http://www.otcmarkets.com this news release has been prepared by management of the company who takes full responsibility for its contents. No securities regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

SocialPlay USA, Inc.

8275 S. Eastern Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89123

T: +1(702) 430-2850

[email protected] | http://www.socialplayusa.com



SOURCE Social Play USA, Inc.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) announced today that it will audio webcast its Investor Day scheduled for Tuesday, May 16, 2017, in New York, NY. Presentations by senior management will be webcast beginning at 9:00 AM EDT and concluding at approximately 1:00 PM EDT.

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.

SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker

Related Links

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com


SALT LAKE CITY, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoel Rives LLP, an Am Law 200 law firm, is pleased to announce that Mark Bonham has joined the firm in Salt Lake City. Bonham focuses his practice on providing corporate legal counsel to technology companies and emerging businesses.

Scott F. Young, Salt Lake City Office Managing Partner of Stoel Rives said, "We are pleased to welcome Mark to our corporate group. His depth of knowledge in corporate law, financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and business strategy will be of great value to Stoel Rives' clients."

Bonham has worked with numerous tech start-ups and emerging businesses, and has extensive experience in financing, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate transactions. He was a partner with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for 20 years in California and Utah. Thereafter, he and others formed an emerging business consultancy, SageCreek Partners LLC, which advised technology companies in all stages of business. He has served as general counsel and chief privacy officer of an innovative software company and as the director of a leading networking tools software company.

"It is a pleasure to join such a well-regarded and market-leading law firm," said Bonham. "I look forward to working with a firm rooted in a client-first, client value philosophy."

A magna cum laude graduate of Brigham Young University, Bonham earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He has been listed in Chambers USA as one of America's Leading Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Capital Markets Lawyers in Utah.

About Stoel Rives LLP: Stoel Rives is a leading U.S. corporate and litigation law firm. One of the largest national firms focused on energy, natural resources, environmental law and climate change, Stoel Rives also serves the agribusiness, food and beverage, health care, life sciences and technology industries. With more than 350 attorneys operating out of 10 offices in seven states and the District of Columbia, Stoel Rives is a leader in regulatory and compliance matters, business, labor and employment law, intellectual property, land use, real estate development and construction law.

Contact Stoel Rives LLP:

Jasmine Trillos-Decarie, Chief Business Development Officer, 206.386.7637



SOURCE Stoel Rives LLP

Related Links

https://www.stoel.com


CHICAGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Genotyping of patients with advanced cirrhosis from hepatitis C virus could help health-care professionals predict the likelihood of improvement after successful hepatitis C treatment, thus minimizing the need for liver transplants. This study was presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2017.

"Our findings further the move toward precision medicine, because we can potentially use a person's genetic makeup to identify individuals who can benefit most from hepatitis C treatment," said Winston Dunn, MD, the study's lead author and associate professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Most patients with hepatitis C virus can be cured by direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs), but some with the more serious decompensated cirrhosis fail to improve or experience further deterioration even after treatment.

Dr. Dunn's team focused on the Rs738409 single nucleotide polymorphism, which is a variation in a single base pair of DNA in the PNPLA3 gene; patients possess one of three genotypes  CC, CG, or GG. The PNPLA3 gene is the most important genetic risk factor for both alcoholic liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

The team followed 32 patients with decompensated cirrhosis who had initially achieved sustained virologic response (SVR). They had become essentially virus-free, using interferon-free DAAs. Twelve to 48 weeks after SVR, researchers tracked changes in the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) and the Child-Pugh (CPT) scores, measures that assess the severity of chronic liver disease.

Following DAA treatment, researchers found that five of the 16 patients with the CG or GG genotypes experienced worsened MELD or CPT scores. In comparison, only one patient with the CC genotype worsened in either score.

"These findings suggest screening for the Rs738409 CG and GG genotypes in hepatitis C patients with decompensated cirrhosis can help to identify individuals who are less likely to recover after achieving a 'cure' of their hepatitis C," added Dr. Dunn.

Financial support for this study was provided by the Frontiers Pilot and Collaborative Studies Funding Program.

Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2017 is the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery. More information can be found at www.ddw.org.

SOURCE Digestive Disease Week

Related Links

http://www.ddw.org


BALTIMORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of the recent National Charter School Week, the Success for All Foundation, an organization that works with schools to improve literacy for all at-risk students, would like to recognize and thank their charter school partners for the 2016-2017 school year, and congratulate them on another successful year.

"Charter schools that partner with Success for All are more successful than comparable non-charter school nationwide," said Nancy Madden, President, SFAF which currently works with 74 charters schools in 13 states.

Detroit Edison Public School Academy Compared to Michigan. The performance of the charters partnered with Success for All is higher than the state average even though they serve more students challenged with economic disadvantage.

Here is a sample of the charter schools that partner with Success for All:

The San Jose Charter Academy, West Covina, CA

The San Jose Charter Academy, a California state charter school, partners with Success for All to provide its students with research proven instruction and leadership systems. San Jose Charter Academy serves a population that is nearly 50% economically disadvantaged and for whom English is a second language. San Jose Academy students consistently achieve proficiency on state assessments at much higher rates than the state average despite the additional challenges presented.

Liza Jackson Preparatory School, Fort Walton Beach, FL

"I think it made a difference to have this one charter school that was excelling, and everybody else wanted to do well. That's when we saw the whole district really improve and skyrocket to the top," said Julie Jenzen, Elementary Education Assistant Principal of Liza Jackson Preparatory School in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

"[SFA] had all the things we were looking for in a program...This program lends itself to every teacher being effective," Jenzen says. "Whether they're working in a low school or whether they're working in a high school, it still works."

Since SFA places students at their own academic levels, teachers report that their fear of failure dissipates, creating "a very safe environment," says Jenzen. "The thing I love about SFA is that each kid gets an individualized program." The data backs that assertion: 84% of Liza Jackson fourth graders scored above average in reading on the 201112 FCAT.

Success at school makes for happier children at home. Jenzen has found that they especially value SFA's 90-minute block of uninterrupted reading time. The difference in reading skills is palpable, especially among struggling readers. "It's amazing how fast they start picking it up," she says. "Their parents will come to me and say, 'My child never read like this when they were in other schools!'"

Liza Jackson administrators appreciate how Success for All stays on top of an ever-changing academic climate. SFA is "constantly evolvingit's not a stagnant program," says Jenzen. "They're constantly out there looking at the research."

Hynes Charter School, New Orleans, LA

Through the efforts of a core group of community and staff members, Hynes won charter-school approval status in 2006, with near-unanimous staff support of SFA as the reading program. Obtaining approval turned out to be the least of their problems, however, as the newly minted Hynes Charter had "no building, no books, no furniture, no school supplies and no staff," according to Michelle Douglas, school principal. Yet assisted by what she refers to as the "powers that be," Hynes opened its doors for a new school year on August 14, 2006.

When Edward Hynes Charter School in New Orleans reopened in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, the teachers decided to adopt the instructional framework and materials provided by the Success for All whole-school improvement program, to get their students' reading up to speed. They hoped the rigorously evaluated program developed at Johns Hopkins University would provide the structured curriculum, professional development, data tools, and intervention strategies required to succeed.

"SFA is a template for learning and teaching; in a 90-minute lesson, it's got all of the effective strategies for balanced delivery of a good reading lesson," says Douglas. "We felt that with SFA, we were so well trained and moving on our way to reform that we couldn't imagine teaching children the old way."

"The foundation offered in first grade and kindergarten is unbelievable," says the school's SFA facilitator Joan Reilly. "It's very rich in phonics and language development, which lead to later success."

"It's not just about the test scores," she explains. "Success for All Foundation brought in the collegiality and the collaborative approach to instruction. And the Foundation is always kicking it up a notch, making sure we sustain our growth, but always digging deeper to improve learning for all our kids."

Read success story 1.

Read success story 2.

Detroit Edison Public School Academy, Detroit

Each component of SFA, from Word Power to class discussion, is a research-based strategy that works. Children become better readers with the implementation of each interlocking piece of the program, says teacher Cheryl Andrade.

Against all the negative mainstream media coverage about Detroit, Detroit Edison Public School Academy in Detroit became a prime example of what happens when citizens don't give up on the city's future. The collaborative effort of administrators, teachers, students and SFA helped to make DEPSA the first charter school in Detroit to receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award from the Department of Education. This award is given to schools that show dramatic gains in student achievement. DEPSA, with 54% of students living below the poverty level, continually outperformed other public schools across the state.

Dugsi Academy Charter School, St. Paul, MN

In the spring of 2014, Dugsi Academy Charter School, in St. Paul, MN, found itself facing a tough challenge: getting its growing population of Somali students up to reading speed. All Minnesota public schools, including its public charter ones, are required to show positive reading gains from year to year.

Dugsi turned to the Success for All Foundation (SFAF) to put an improvement plan in place. Known for its whole-school reform approach, the nonprofit SFAF employs proven research-based solutions and positive supports to help students improve reading scores and quickly meet state proficiency standards. A rich phonics foundation enables the program to meet the specific needs of each student at all grade levels.

About Success for All Foundation

Founded in 1987, the nonprofit Success for All Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that every child, from pre-kindergarten to grade 8, becomes proficient in reading and learning  opening up new doors for a lifetime of achievement. Not only has SFA been proven time and again to help with student reading ability and math performance, it also addresses non-academic concerns, improving behavior, attendance and parental involvement.

SFA has been honored by the White House as part of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative.

For more information about Success for All, go to http://www.successforall.org.

Contact

Kenly Novotny

Success For All

410-616-2440

[email protected]

SOURCE Success for All Foundation

Related Links

http://www.successforall.org


DALLAS, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) ("SUN" or the "Partnership") today announced that its senior management will hold 1x1 meetings with institutional investors at the 2017 MLP, Midstream and Natural Gas Conference hosted by Deutsche Bank in New York City.

Presentation materials to be used during these meetings are available on the company's website at www.sunocolp.com in the Investor Relations section under Events & Presentations.

Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) is a master limited partnership that operates 1,355 convenience stores and retail fuel sites and distributes motor fuel to 7,825 convenience stores, independent dealers, commercial customers and distributors located in 30 states. SUN's general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE: ETE).

Contacts

Investors:

Scott Grischow, Senior Director  Investor Relations and Treasury

(214) 840-5660, [email protected]

Patrick Graham, Senior Analyst  Investor Relations and Finance

(214) 840-5678, [email protected]

Media:

Alyson Gomez, Director  Communications

(469) 646-1758, [email protected]

SOURCE Sunoco LP

Related Links

http://sunoco.com


SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower by Stellar Solar, San Diego's oldest SunPower dealer and one of two Master Dealers in San Diego County, has combined their warehouse and office operations into their company owned facility in Oceanside. The move will not only improve internal operating efficiencies, but will also translate into cost savings and quicker installations for both their residential solar and commercial solar customer base.

SunPower by Stellar Solar

Kent Harle, co-founder and CEO of SunPower by Stellar Solar had this to say about the move. "After a strategic move to become a Master Dealer last October, we are starting to see the efficiencies associated with being just that. It was the perfect time to build out a building that we have owned for the past couple years and make the move. We are making every internal effort possible in this competitive market to improve our operations which, on top of having the worlds most efficient solar panels, makes us more appealing to home and business owners." He added, "We tell our customers that not all solar is created equal, and make sure they know that SunPower products are the most efficient and reliable solar solutions on the market today and in addition, we now have the most streamlined internal systems in place to install them on their roof quickly. We are also quite excited to invest time and money into our own facility and to not to be paying rent to someone else."

Master Dealers offer complete SunPower solar solutions to homeowners, including the highest quality consultation and system services. Master Dealers leverage the strength and credibility of the globally trusted SunPower brand in key geographies based on a superb knowledge of the company's technology, the local solar market, and industry best practices. Certified SunPower Master Dealers handle the entire solar energy process for customers, which can include system design, installation, maintenance, permitting, and rebate processing, as well as advise on flexible financing options. Master Dealers complete regular, in-depth training on SunPower products and services in order to provide customers with the best possible solar experience, and offer peace of mind when choosing SunPower by Stellar Solar to install the industry's most reliable solar technology.

About SunPower by Stellar Solar

SunPower by Stellar Solar is a leading California residential and commercial PV solar design and installation company, based in San Diego since 1998 with over 6,000+ installations across Southern California including notable commercial installations on The Salk Institute, US Foods, Cedars Sinai Hospital and more. Readers of the Union Tribune have voted them best solar panel company again in 2015 marking the third year in a row and fourth time in 5 years winning the award. Their 5 Star Reviews on Yelp, A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and high customer ratings on Angie's list are further testament to their standing as the leading solar provider to homes, businesses and faith based organizations in San Diego County. Learn more at www.stellarsolar.net

Media Contact:

David Boylan

858.395.6905

[email protected]

SOURCE SunPower by Stellar Solar

Related Links

http://stellarsolar.net


LEESBURG, Va., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Paramount Business Jets, a global aircraft charter, jet card membership, sales, and leasing broker salutes Captain Shaesta Waiz as she prepares to embark May 13 from Daytona Beach, FL in a single-engine Beechcraft A36 Bonanza to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. PBJ is among the sponsors of this "Dreams Soar" round-the-world flight.

On May 13, Capt. Shaesta Waiz will start her journey to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. Paramount Business Jets (PBJ) is a sponsor of Capt. Waiz's "Dreams Soar" initiative to promote the value of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, and inspire other young people to pursue their dreams.

"It's been exciting to watch as Shaesta and the entire Dreams Soar team have prepared for this mission, and it is truly an honor to support an extraordinary individual who aims to inspire young people throughout her upcoming journey and beyond," said Richard Zaher, president and CEO of Paramount Business Jets.

Born in a refugee camp, Capt. Waiz emigrated with her family in 1987 from Afghanistan at the height of the Soviet-Afghan war. As a child, she ardently pursued her education despite living in one of the country's most underprivileged school districts, as well as pressure to follow a more traditional path as an adult.

Shortly after her high school graduation, a commercial airline flight led Capt. Waiz to pursue a collegiate education and flight training at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach. She became the first person in her family to earn a bachelor's and master's degree, as well as the first certified civilian female pilot from Afghanistan.

Zaher also noted that PBJ's support for Dreams Soar is just one of the many ways in which the company and its employees give back to the community. "We work with extraordinary causes led by inspirational people," he continued, "and we're proud to support them as they make a difference to countless lives."

Among the programs PBJ is proud to support include:

Leesburg Aviation Expo - Paramount Business Jets regularly sponsors ProJet Aviation's Annual Aviation Education Career Expo in Leesburg, VA . Dependent solely upon private donations and corporate support, this free event aims to inspire young adults aged 16-22 to explore career options in the world of aviation, with scholarship opportunities available to assist these students in pursuing their futures in aviation.

Recycle Life - Founded in 2009 by Dave Morgan and Juan Arevalo , two brothers born with a hereditary heart condition, Recycle Life provides practical support for other organ recipients and their families, and helps raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. "An organ transplant is life-saving, but also life-altering," notes Dave Morgan . "We want to reassure other organ recipients about the process and let them know they are not alone during their recovery."

Paramount Business Jets Scholarship Fund - With the cost of higher education skyrocketing, many students work multiple jobs and rely on high-interest loans to make it through college. They graduate into a highly competitive job market, often balancing low-paid entry level jobs with huge student loan debts. Launched in partnership with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), the Paramount Business Jets Scholarship Fund aims to address this by alleviating some of the financial burdens faced by aviation students at ERAU's Dayton Beach campus.

"Those involved in aviation have a profound responsibility to contribute not only to our industry, but throughout their own communities as well," Zaher concluded. "It's particularly important that we support endeavors, like Dreams Soar, aimed at inspiring others and helping talented, passionate individuals reach their full potential."

About Paramount Business Jets

Paramount Business Jets (PBJ) is a worldwide private aviation solutions provider offering a wide range of services including private jet charter, jet card membership programs, and private aircraft sales and leasing. The company is recognized throughout the industry for its fair and ethical business practices, with a corporate culture built upon the core principles of honesty, integrity, and transparency. Twice ranked for as one of INC 500's fastest growing companies in America, PBJ was founded in 2005 by Richard Zaher, a former pilot and Aerospace Studies graduate of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and the current chairman of the Air Charter Association of North America (ACANA). For more information, visit www.paramountbusinessjets.com.

Media contact:

Alexander Cohen

[email protected]

+1-877-727-2538 x 2

SOURCE Paramount Business Jets

Related Links

http://www.paramountbusinessjets.com


BILLINGS  In Montanas U.S. House race, Republican Greg Gianforte leads Democrat Rob Quist by 8 percentage points, according to a Gravis Marketing poll released Monday.

The poll shows Quist closing the gap in the final three weeks before voting ends Thursday, May 25.

The Democrat is gaining  among independents hes doing well, which is good for him," said Doug Kaplan of Gravis. "They dont have as many Democrats in Montana, compared to the Republicans."

Gravis has done several polls in the Montana race to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in the U.S. House. Zinke, a Republican, resigned Montanas lone House seat March 2. Gianforte, Quist and Libertarian Mark Wicks are the candidates listed on the ballot.

Gravis finds that 45 percent of Montanans who say theyre likely to vote would vote for Gianforte, a Bozeman businessman. Roughly 37 percent of the likely voters told Gravis they would vote for Quist. Wicks support was 5 percent.

Quists polling surge comes as voters tire of the political calls. Kaplan said Gravis polled 462 people in its latest round of polling; the low sample rate stems from election-weary voters hanging up. The margin of error for the poll, taken May 2 through May 4, was 4.6 percent.

Despite the margin of error, Kaplan said there is a trend favoring Quist. Gravis polled 836 likely Montana voters April 27 and found Gianforte leading the pack with 52 percent of the vote. Quist had 39 percent in that poll. The erosion in support for both candidates showed up in a growing number of undecided voters, 10 percent as voting started last week.

Other signs the race is tightening include a secretly recorded campaign phone conversation last week in which Gianforte and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., recognized the Republican's lead as being in single digits, while noting that no poll had Gianforte trailing.

Garin-Hart Research Group, a polling firm surveying Montana voters for the Senate Majority Super PAC, reported in a memo that its late-April results that 44 percent of the 601 Montana voters it interviewed intended to vote for Gianforte, while 38 percent intended to vote for Quist.

Garin-Hart noted that there was enthusiasm gap that favored Quist. Among voters who identified as most motivated to vote, Gianforte had 48 percent support to Quists 47. The memo provided no margin for error.

Montanans are voting. Absentee ballots went out in the mail May 1. Sunday night, Montanas secretary of state reported that 17 percent of those absentee ballots had been returned. In Yellowstone County, the Monday ballot count was about 22,000, said Elections Administrator Bret Rutherford. Thats roughly a third of the vote submitted in a county that represents one-seventh to one-eighth of the vote in most statewide elections.

Rutherford suggested anyone wondering about the status of their ballot should check the My Voter Page at the Secretary of States webpage.
ATLANTA, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Synthio, formerly known as Social123, the fastest growing Data as a Service (DaaS) provider, announced today it will be presenting at two major business-to-business (B2B) marketing conferences this month.

Synthio's Director of Marketing, Emily Wingrove will present at the Gartner Digital Marketing Conference which takes place next week in San Diego. This exclusive event brings together the country's leading B2B marketers with a focus this year on managing change, risk and opportunity in the era of the empowered customer. Wingrove's session will highlight how to combine Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies with traditional lead generation tactics. The presentation will take place on Wednesday, May 10 at 1:25pm PDT.

Later in the month, Synthio will participate for the third consecutive year at the Sirius Decisions Summit taking place in Las Vegas. This four-day, action packed event focuses on the latest trends in B2B marketing and sales methodology and has developed a reputation for turning out the most innovative marketers in the industry. On May 16, at 11:15am PDT, Synthio will host a case study session with a multi-billion-dollar client leading the FinTech industry. The session will highlight the opportunities that contact data platforms provide for marketers.

"The Gartner and Sirius Decisions conferences represent the apex of B2B marketing knowledge, providing the best venues for modern marketers to learn, adopt and utilize the latest and most impactful tools anywhere," said Aaron Biddar, Synthio's CEO. "These settings provide us a professional but relaxed environment to highlight Synthio's award-winning solutions and build important relationships."

Synthio has been honored to earn a spot in the Inc. 500 fastest growing companies for 2015 and 2016. Today, the company has more than 50 employees, recently moved to a new office and looks to continue it strong growth trajectory.

For more information about Synthio's involvement in events, or to schedule an appointment with them at any upcoming event, visit their events page.

About Synthio

Synthio is the first of its kind Data as a Service platform that automates the cleansing, standardization, and synthesis of contact data to make it actionable for immediate use. From merging non-standard or free-form data into a single usable dataset, to deduplication, standardization, augmentation, or simply understanding more about existing data through a data health analysis, Synthio meets every data need of the modern marketer.

For more information, visit Synthio.com. You can also follow Synthio on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Synthio

Related Links

http://www.synthio.com


FREMONT, Calif., May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tailored Brands, Inc. (NYSE: TLRD) today announced that it will release fiscal 2017 first quarter results on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, at approximately 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time. The announcement will be followed by a conference call and live webcast hosted by management at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

To access the conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on June 7th, please dial 412-902-0030. To access the live webcast, visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://ir.tailoredbrands.com. A telephonic replay will be available through June 14, 2017, by calling 201-612-7415 and entering access code 13661107#, or a webcast archive will be available free on the website for approximately 90 days.

Tailored Brands, Inc. is a leading authority on helping men dress for work, special occasions and everyday life. We serve our customers through an expansive omni-channel network that includes over 1,600 locations in the U.S. and Canada as well as our branded e-commerce websites. Our brands include Men's Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Joseph Abboud, Moores Clothing for Men and K&G. We also operate an international corporate apparel and workwear group consisting of Dimensions, Alexandra and Yaffy in the United Kingdom and Twin Hill in the United States.

For additional information on Tailored Brands, please visit the Company's websites at www.tailoredbrands.com, www.menswearhouse.com, www.josbank.com, www.josephabboud.com, www.mooresclothing.com, www.kgstores.com, www.mwcleaners.com, www.dimensions.co.uk, www.alexandra.co.uk and www.twinhill.com.

Contact:

Investor Relations

(281) 776-7575

[email protected]

Julie MacMedan, VP, Investor Relations

Tailored Brands, Inc.

SOURCE Tailored Brands, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.tailoredbrands.com


LONDON and OSAKA, Japan, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) and GammaDelta Therapeutics Ltd, an Abingworth portfolio company, announced today that they have formed a strategic collaboration to develop GammaDelta Therapeutics' novel T cell platform, which is based on the unique properties of gamma delta () T cells derived from human tissues. The companies intend to use this novel platform to discover and develop new immunotherapies, with the aim of treating a broad range of cancers, including solid tumours, and autoinflammatory diseases.

"The pioneering research developed by Professor Adrian Hayday and Dr. Oliver Nussbaumer at King's College London and the Francis Crick Institute, the scientific Founders of our company, forms the basis for the development of potentially transformational treatments for cancer and autoinflammatory diseases," said Dr Paolo Paoletti, MD, CEO of GammaDelta Therapeutics. "We believe the collaboration with Takeda validates our novel approach and should allow us to move rapidly to the clinic."

Takeda, together with Abingworth, will commit up to $100 million in funding to accelerate GammaDelta Therapeutics led Research and Development. The funding includes an equity investment, an option fee and research and development funding, and provides Takeda the exclusive right to purchase GammaDelta Therapeutics. Under the agreement, Takeda will appoint a director to GammaDelta Therapeutics' board.

"At Takeda, we recognize the enormous potential of tissue resident  T cells to deliver transformative medicines in our core therapeutic areas of oncology and gastroenterology," said Daniel Curran, MD, Head of the Center for External Innovation, Takeda. "This collaboration is another example of our strategy to invest in highly innovative areas of science and we're pleased to collaborate with the experienced team at GammaDelta Therapeutics as they aim to take a leadership position in this rapidly emerging field."

"We are delighted by the progress GammaDelta Therapeutics has made since we founded the company in 2016," said Tim Haines, Managing Partner at Abingworth and a Director at GammaDelta Therapeutics. "This collaboration with Takeda will enable the company to advance the development of this exciting technology, which has the potential to address significant unmet needs in cancer and autoinflammatory diseases."

Takeda signed certain of the agreements with GammaDelta Therapeutics through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

About GammaDelta Therapeutics

GammaDelta Therapeutics is working to develop improved immunotherapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company's research and development is focused on exploiting the unique properties of tissue resident gamma delta () T cells, which are a unique and conserved population of lymphocytes that contribute to many types of immune responses and immunopathology.

GammaDelta Therapeutics was founded in 2016 by Abingworth with support from Cancer Research Technology Limited based on research undertaken by Professor Adrian Hayday and Dr Oliver Nussbaumer at King's College London and the Francis Crick Institute. The company's offices and laboratories are located at the London BioScience Innovation Centre, London.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited is a global, research and development-driven pharmaceutical company committed to bringing better health and a brighter future to patients by translating science into life-changing medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas plus vaccines. Takeda conducts R&D both internally and with partners to stay at the leading edge of innovation. New innovative products, especially in oncology and gastroenterology, as well as Takeda's presence in Emerging Markets, are currently fuelling the growth of Takeda. More than 30,000 Takeda employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients, working with Takeda's partners in health care in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit http://www.takeda.com/news.

Takeda's Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact, including plans, strategies and expectations for the future. Statements made in the future tense, and words such as "anticipate," "expect," "project," "continue," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "pro forma," "intend," "potential," "target," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "seek," "assume," "will," "may," "should," and similar expressions are intended to qualify as forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by management that are believed to be reasonable, though they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Investors and security holders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or experience to differ materially from that expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Some of these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: competitive pressures and developments; applicable laws and regulations; the success or failure of product development programs; actions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; changes in exchange rates; and claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates in development.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and neither GammaDelta Therapeutics nor Takeda undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or circumstances after the date of the forward-looking statement. If one or more of these statements is updated or corrected, investors and others should not conclude that additional updates or corrections will be made.

About Abingworth

Abingworth is an international investment group dedicated to collaborating with life sciences entrepreneurs to develop their ideas into products that have a dramatic impact on health. With over $1 billion under management, Abingworth invests at all stages of development, from start-ups to publicly traded companies, and across all life science sectors.

Supporting its portfolio companies with a team of 27 at offices in London, Menlo Park (California) and Boston, Abingworth has invested in 142 life science companies, leading to 64 IPOs and 40 mergers and acquisitions. http://www.abingworth.com.

SOURCE GammaDelta Therapeutics and Takeda
SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Morrison, a leading national homebuilder and developer, has teamed up with HomeAid and Volunteers of America to help remodel six apartment homes in Sacramento for veterans and their families. A longtime partner of HomeAid Sacramento, Taylor Morrison is committed to supporting the community and is honored to have the opportunity to provide updated homes with modern comforts for local veterans.

"Giving back to our community, particularly to those who have served our country, is something that our company truly believes in," said Aren Bazzocco, Sacramento Division President for Taylor Morrison. "Providing shelter to those in need is a responsibility that my whole team takes seriously and we feel privileged to be able to make a positive impact on these people's lives."

In addition to renovating the brand new apartment homes, Taylor Morrison has created an online registry that allows the community to donate essential items needed to fully furnish the homes for veterans and their families such as bedding, towels, kitchen tools and more. Once construction is complete, Taylor Morrison employees will help make the finishing touches on each home so they are move-in ready for the families. In addition, Taylor Morrison has launched a canned food drive to aid in stocking the pantries in all six homes. Taylor Morrison is encouraging everyone to participate by donating non-perishable food items at any Taylor Morrison Sacramento area community sales center.

Scheduled to be completed this summer, these two bedroom apartment homes have undergone a complete renovation that include new windows, updated kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. Two of the six units will be ADA compliant, complete with wheelchair access. Taylor Morrison's trade partners have also been instrumental in the success of this project and are donating their time and materials. Partners include: BSB Design, General Electric, Timberlake Cabinets, West-Cal Construction, Cultured Marble Products, Creative Design Interiors, Capital City Drywall Inc., Fletcher's Plumbing & Contracting Inc., J&J Quality Door, Delta Lath and Plaster, Homesite Services, Power Factor Electric, Rayco Electric, Production Framing, Southgate Glass/Milgard, Lighting Solutions, Villara Building Systems, Preferred Windows, Lennox, Capital Insulation, Hutton Lovewell, D7 Roofing Services and Concrete Value Corp.

To learn more about Taylor Morrison or to find a community near you, please visit TaylorMorrison.com or Facebook.com/TaylorMorrisonSacramento.

About Taylor Morrison

Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE:TMHC) is a leading national homebuilder and developer that was recently recognized as America's Most Trusted Home Builder for 2016 by Lifestory Research. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona we operate under two well-established brands, Taylor Morrison and Darling Homes. We serve a wide array of consumer groups from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury, and 55 plus buyers. In Texas, Darling Homes builds communities with a focus on individuality and custom detail while delivering on the Taylor Morrison standard of excellence.

For more information about Taylor Morrison and Darling Homes please visit www.taylormorrison.com or www.darlinghomes.com.

Media Contact: Jill Eyler

Taylor Morrison

[email protected]

(916) 355-8900



SOURCE Taylor Morrison Home Corporation

Related Links

http://www.taylormorrison.com


ORLANDO, Fla., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Morgan & Morgan, the nation's largest plaintiffs' law firm, is excited to announce that its renowned litigator Keith Mitnik will be the focus of a new website  www.keithmitnik.com  in which this ace strategist shares his winning systems that simply work  in any case, by any lawyer.

Mitnik, nicknamed "Mitlock" (after the TV lawyer, Matlock), is one of the most respected attorneys in America, with a head-turning list of remarkable verdicts. Through his book, videotapes and seminars, he is a national resource, sharing, teaching and helping attorneys around the country solve the many puzzles of the courtroom, preaching on what he calls, "The Art of Outsmarting  The Fun Part That Sets You Apart."

He serves as Morgan & Morgan's Senior Trial Lawyer, which means all he does is try cases, month after month, assisting his colleagues at the firm when they go to trial. The cases range from tobacco trials and complex business trials to medical malpractice and car crashes. He has spent a lifetime in front of jurors, with justice hanging in the balance.

"Plaintiffs' lawyers share a common bond," Mitnik said. "It is our calling to take a stand against injustice. People pick us to stand up for them when they cannot stand up for themselves against powerful insurance companies and big business bullies."

"We are stronger when we pool our knowledge," he continued. "My role with Morgan & Morgan puts me in a unique position to see trends of the defense and track their tricks. It also lets me invent and test new countermeasures to foil their plans to spoil your case. Over the years, I have developed systems that simply work. Not flashes of inspiration that worked in an individual case, but strategies that can be reproduced and make a difference globally. I relish the opportunity to pass on these difference-makers to others committed to the cause."

In his time with Morgan & Morgan, Mitnik has obtained many massive verdicts. For example, working with one of the firm's managing partners and trial partner, Greg Prysock, to net a $90 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company on behalf of the widow of a lifetime smoker in 2010. Last month Mitnik joined forces with partner Matt Morgan to secure an $8 million verdict for a woman who suffered a herniated disc in a car crash.

Mitnik shares his secrets willingly in Don't Eat the Bruises: How to Foil Their Plans to Spoil Your Case. The book, published by TrialGuides, shows how to identify and eliminate juror bias in voir dire, how to give winning openings that swallow whole the defense's opening, then how to stay ahead through the rest of the trial by creating the language of the case and by using nimble cross-examination information management systems  ultimately delivering closing arguments that make it all count.

Last year, he released The Power of Analogy, a DVD that teaches about the untapped power of analogies. He also has an audio recording, Winning at the Beginning, which is designed for listening to in the car. All of these materials are available on the TrialGuides website. Mitnik sees his new website as an opportunity to "pass the torch" to even more plaintiff's attorneys in more places using podcasts, blog posts and online videos.

If you're interested in finding out more about these winning systems developed by one of the best trial attorneys and strategists in the country, visit his site.

ABOUT MORGAN & MORGAN

Morgan & Morgan, a national plaintiff's law firm fighting for the people, not the powerful, has recovered more than $4 billion for more than 200,000 clients. The firm has more than 300 attorneys in about 40 offices in 10 states. With the support of nearly 2,000 employees, the firm's attorneys represent clients in a range of practice areas, including personal injury, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, product liability and class actions and mass torts, among others.

For more information, contact:

Karine Lim / Erika Nedwell

[email protected] / [email protected]

(212) 738-6265

SOURCE Morgan & Morgan

Related Links

https://www.forthepeople.com


"I am honored to assume the role of President and CEO of LSAC, an organization whose sole mission is to serve law schools, law students, and legal education," Testy said.

LSAC Board of Trustees Chair Susan L. Krinsky announced the appointment: "Dean Testy's enthusiasm for LSAC's mission is clear, and her commitment to diversity and access to legal education is inspiring. We believe Dean Testy's experience and commitment are perfectly suited to her new role. Her leadership in pursuit of quality legal education will allow LSAC to reach even greater heights of success in serving our member schools and their students."

"For the rule of law to flourish, we need outstanding lawyers and that, in turn, means that the quality of legal education is paramount," said Testy. "LSAC has long been a leader in encouraging and assisting law schools in admitting diverse classes capable of success."

Dean Testy led the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle for eight years, hiring a new generation of outstanding faculty, significantly expanding philanthropic resources, advancing equity and inclusion, and heightening the school's stature and visibility. National Jurist magazine recently named her the second-most influential person in legal education. A native of Bloomington, Testy received both her undergraduate and law degrees at Indiana University. She graduated summa cum laude and Order of the Coif and then clerked on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit before joining the academy. A beloved teacher and expert in corporate law and governance, Testy has published extensively in those fields, as well as in several others.

As Testy assumes her role, LSAC is announcing several new initiatives.

To enhance its commitment to access and diversity, LSAC has entered an innovative partnership with the Khan Academy to develop free, online practice materials for the LSAT with the goal of making personalized, online LSAT practice free for all. LSAC is also expanding the frequency and formats of the LSAT to reduce barriers to entry to legal education, including piloting the first nationwide digital LSAT exam on May 20, 2017. Further, LSAC has made a significant investment in the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, Inc. (CLEO), to assist in that organization's efforts to advance the diversity of the legal profession.

To support its member schools' efforts to recruit and enroll JD and LLM students who seek out legal education from ever more diverse fields and locales, LSAC is working on a significant update to ACES, its sophisticated, proprietary admissions technology platform that it provides free to its members. LSAC also operates the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) that enables students to apply efficiently to multiple schools.

LSAC will hold its Annual Meeting on May 31-June 3 in Palm Desert, California. Among dozens of panels on legal education, LSAC will present an update on its state of the art testing research on the LSAT. The LSAT is the most valid, reliable and widely used test in law school admissions.

"In a time of considerable change in the legal profession and the academy, we look forward to accelerating key partnerships, integrating technology intelligently, and serving our members in ever-more innovative and effective ways," said Testy.

Dean Testy succeeds Daniel O. Bernstine, who passed away in September 2016. Athornia Steele, former chair of the Law School Admission Council's Board of Trustees, has served as LSAC's interim president during the search for a successor.

About the Law School Admission Council

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is a nonprofit corporation that provides unique products and services to ease the admission process for law schools and their applicants worldwide. Currently, 222 law schools in the United States, Canada, and Australia are members of the Council and benefit from LSAC's services, including the LSAT. Approximately 100,000 tests are administered annually at hundreds of testing centers worldwide. LSAC also processes academic credentials for an average of 60,000 law school applicants annually, funds diversity programs, publishes research, provides essential software and information for admission offices and applicants, conducts educational conferences for law school professionals and prelaw advisors, and provides many related services. For more information, visit LSAC.org, Official_LSAT on Twitter, or @LawSchoolAdmissionCouncil on Facebook.

Media Contact

Wendy Margolis

215.968.1219 (office)

267.981.0490 (cell)

[email protected]

LSAC.org

SOURCE Law School Admission Council
NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellphone customers looking for the best mix of plans, performance and customer support should turn to Verizon. The carrier is Tom's Guide's pick for the best cellphone service provider after beating eight rival carriers.

Verizon recently finished on top of Tom's Guide's customer service and network performance testing results. Those strong performances, combined with Verizon's attractive mix of unlimited and tiered data plans, pushed the carrier ahead of T-Mobile, which held the top-carrier title in Tom's Guide's last survey. This year's runner-up, T-Mobile, offers an appealing unlimited data plan, industry-leading special features and fast LTE.

T-Mobile subsidiary MetroPCS was the top-ranked discount carrier and took third overall, thanks to its strong network performance and a good range of prepaid plans. MetroPCS finished ahead of Sprint, which grabbed fourth place in the Tom's Guide rankings.

"Wireless shoppers spend a lot of money each year on service, and our special report shows which carriers provide the best overall value," said Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief of Tom's Guide. "Verizon showed why it deserves to be No. 1."

Tom's Guide bases its carrier rankings on the results of its undercover customer service testing, LTE network testing in six cities, and evaluation of monthly data plans that each carrier offers. Tom's Guide also looks at the selection of phones from each carrier, along with special features, such as rates for using cellphones overseas, and other customer perks.

You can see the full results of Tom's Guide's Best and Worst Carriers report here .

About Tom's Guide

Tom's Guide helps consumers make buying decisions on everything from smartphones to cellular service, testing hundreds of products and evaluating the brands that make them. We also provide helpful tips and advice so that you can get the most out of your products and accomplish your goals.

About Purch

Purch is a digital publishing and marketplace platform uniquely positioned at the intersection of content, commerce and customer.

By combining in-depth product reviews, comparisons, and services with industry-leading publisher tech, Purch creates a seamless connection between intent-based buyers and sellers. The company generates more than $1 billion annually in facilitated commerce through its tech, shopping, lifestyle and SMB brands, including Tom's Guide, Top Ten Reviews, ShopSavvy and Business.com. With more than 1,200 product categories, Purch is #1 for buying advice for more than 100 million people each month.

Follow Purch on Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Purch
ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Towne Park announced today that it has partnered with ParkDIA at Denver International Airport to reimagine off-airport parking and build a better customer experience for travelers at the nation's sixth-busiest airport.

Travelers face numerous headaches when using traditional off-airport parking: archaic systems, highly stressful delays, and poor customer service. Now Towne Park has a new way to put smiles on travelers' faces. The company is leveraging its nearly 30 years of experience in valet and hospitality services for premium hotels to give customers what they want: outstanding, seamless door-to-door hospitality that makes travel a great experience.

"We're bringing elements of first-class hospitality into off-airport parking, rethinking the travel experience from door-to-door," stated Towne Park President and Chief Executive Officer Chuck Heskett. "Our services at ParkDIA will address longstanding travel problems and close the gap between hotel and airport hospitality with highly affordable, fast, and convenient services that make a difference."

"Towne Park's tremendous operating processes, systems, and training expertise, along with their deep insight into how to delight people, will make our brand really shine," stated ParkDIA owner Darren Fisk. "We will now be able to offer even more valuable and extensive services and solutions to our customers."

Located just minutes from Denver International Airport, ParkDIA offers efficient mobile solutions and a five-star vibe with extensive amenities, including multiple parking options and a well-stocked traveler's lounge. The facility offers over 7,500 spaces, with pick-up, drop-off, and assistance at your vehicle. Loyalty and discount programs are available; prices start at just $6 per day.

"The addition of modern hospitality services marks the beginning of a sea change for the off-airport parking industry as it starts to reflect the way people live today," added Heskett. "Nobody is better positioned to drive this change than Towne Park."

The partnership with ParkDIA strengthens Towne Park's off-airport and airport parking business, positioning Towne Park for continued record growth. Towne Park currently manages approximately 30 off-airport and airport parking operations, serving nearly 20 of the country's airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport.

In February, Towne Park announced that it expects record performance in 2017, driven largely by organic growth of its leading hospitality services business as it continues to capitalize on the rapid professionalization of the industry and strong demand for more sophisticated, value-added hospitality services.

About Towne Park

Towne Park is America's leading hospitality and healthcare services company with over 13,000 employees at more than 800 sites nationwide, including approximately 500 hotel and hospitality sites and 300 hospitals. We build better guest experiences, touching the lives of over 15 million people every year. For nearly 30 years we have been partnering with some of the most respected corporations in the world, including premiere global hospitality brands and state-of-the-art hospitals, offering a broad array of world-class, high-impact services and solutions. See what happens when you extend your brand and add new services that matter. Deeper connections. Greater efficiencies. Made Simple. Towne Park has been honored as a "Best Run Company," a "Best Place to Work" and frequently been named one of "America's Fastest Growing Companies." For more information on Towne Park, please visit our website at www.townepark.com.

SOURCE Towne Park

Related Links

http://townepark.com


ROUND ROCK, Texas, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TSS, Inc. (Other OTC: TSSI), a data center and mission critical facilities and technology services company, will report financial results for the first quarter of 2017 on Monday, May 15, 2017. The Company will conduct a conference call at 4.30 p.m. eastern time that day.

To participate on the conference call, please dial 1-877-691-2551 toll free from the U.S., or 1-630-691-2747 for international callers. The conference ID number is 44859803. Investors may also access a live audio web cast of this conference call under the "events" tab on the investor relations section of the Company's website at http://ir.totalsitesolutions.com/events.cfm.

An audio replay of the conference call will be available approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call and will be made available until June 14, 2017. The audio replay can be accessed by dialing 1-888-843-7419 in the U.S., or 1-630-652-3042 toll free then enter access ID number 4485 9803#. Additionally, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available for 90 calendar days.

About TSS, Inc.

TSS provides a comprehensive suite of services for the planning, design, deployment, maintenance, refresh and take-back of end-user and enterprise systems, including the mission-critical facilities they are housed in. TSS provides a single-source solution for enabling technologies in data centers, operations centers, network facilities, server rooms, security operations centers, communications facilities and the infrastructure systems that are critical to their function. TSS's services consist of technology consulting, design and engineering, project management, systems integration, systems installation and facilities management. www.totalsitesolutions.com

SOURCE TSS, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.totalsitesolutions.com


NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tutor.com, the largest online tutoring service in the U.S., announced today that it has reached a milestone of delivering 15 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. A brand of The Princeton Review, Tutor.com offers on-demand tutoring sessions to individuals through the Tutor.com and Princeton Review websites, as well as through partnerships with libraries, colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, the United States Department of Defense, and corporate employee benefit programs.

Each day, thousands of students visit Tutor.com to get help in one of the 45-plus subjects available to support students in middle school, high school, and college. Tutor.com helps students succeed in their schoolwork; 96% of students say the service helps them improve their grades, complete more assignments and feel more confident, according to post-session surveys.

"We are honored to have been there for studentsright when they needed us15 million times," said Kate Eberle Walker, CEO of The Princeton Review. "The key to our success in helping students is our network of highly-screened expert tutors. Our tutors are the best in the business, and our students value having access to these top tutors on-demand 24 hours a day, seven days a week." The tutor onboarding process, which includes rigorous subject tests, education verification and background checks, is so challenging that in 2016, less than three percent of Tutor.com applicants were able to successfully meet all criteria and qualify to tutor.

After serving its first session in 1998, Tutor.com has continued to innovate to stay on the cutting edge of the education tech industry. In 2014, Tutor.com and The Princeton Review joined forces to help students succeed on their educational journeys. The Princeton Review recently launched a new Homework Help app, to make it easier for students to start an on-demand session on the go. In addition, Tutor.com recently unveiled the SAT/ACT Essentials offering to its library clients, giving more students access to The Princeton Review's world class test preparation services.

"We're proud to have served 15 million sessions and look forward to continuing our thriving partnerships with our clients," said Walker, "As we look toward the future, we're excited to develop new partnerships while continuing to develop innovative ways to support students of all ages to help them achieve their academic dreams."

About The Princeton Review:

The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school-bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. Its Tutor.com brand is the largest online tutoring service with a community of more than 3,000 expert tutors and 15 million one-to-one tutoring sessions completed. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. For more information, visit www.princetonreview.com. Follow the company on Twitter @ThePrincetonRev.

The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. Test names are the registered trademarks of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with The Princeton Review.

SOURCE The Princeton Review

Related Links

http://www.princetonreview.com


BUTTE  Despite Sundays catastrophic fire, the R.L. Winston Rod Co. is determined to continue making bamboo fly-fishing rods in Twin Bridges, general manager Jeff Wagner said Monday.

The fire, at 105 E. Third Avenue in Twin Bridges, affected only the companys bamboo rod-making facility. The companys graphite rod-making and Bauer Reel operations were unaffected. But the bamboo operation, Wagner said, was a total loss.

More than the money, the fire feels like the passing of a cherished family member, Wagner said. Countless hours through many hands have shaped the fine bamboo rods that have passed through the now-charred doors.

Among those talented hands were those of Glenn Brackett, who helped former Winston owner Tom Morgan move the Winston business from San Francisco to Twin Bridges in 1975  to the building that burned Sunday. Brackett made many rods in that building before moving on to establish his own company, Sweetgrass Rods, in 2006.

On Monday, Brackett toured the burned-out building. It was sad beyond belief, he said. Theres absolutely nothing there to be salvaged, except the memories.

The building and everything in it was completely lost, Wagner confirmed. That includes all of our tools, raw materials, including our bamboo, and finished goods.

The bamboo, he said, will take time to replace. It isnt an easy resource to acquire, he said, Especially not when youre as concerned about quality as we are. Theres a constant culling process that takes place.

He declined to release a dollar estimate of the damage, saying the company is still working through the lost inventory and dealing with its insurer.

Wagner said Winston is determined to treat the setback as an opportunity.

Its not surprising the emotion that people at Winston are feeling, he said. The healing process will take time. But as we grieve, we look to the future.

He said he spoke Monday with Winston owner David Ondaatje, who bought the company 25 years ago this year. Ondaatje expressed determination to double down with bamboo rod building, Wagner said.

Even though his company now competes with Winston, Brackett was one of several people in the industry who reached out Monday with offers of help.

The bamboo rod building community is tight-knit. Not a lot of people do it. Were so grateful to everybody who has reached out, Wagner said.

Were confident we can come up with a short-term solution and get some production going again over the next two to four weeks. Then, well come up with a longer-term solution over the next few months.

Bracketts offer might just help in the short term. He has a shop in Twin Bridges that hes no longer using, having moved Sweetgrass operations to Butte recently. Monday, he offered his competitor the use of his Twin Bridges facility.

I hope they take me up on it, he said. It is sort of serendipitous, having that building available in Twin Bridges.

Bracketts offer says a lot about what a great person Glenn is, Wagner said.

Bamboo fly rods have a special place in the sport. While high-tech materials like Winstons trademark Boron III graphite have surpassed bamboo in some respects, many anglers prize bamboo above all for the special feel it conveys  and for its connection to the sports earlier days.

Bamboo rod-building is a craft that has been passed literally from one set of hands to the next, and Winston, one of the revered names in a sport that cares about tradition, hopes to be building more bamboo rods than ever in the years ahead.

We still have all of our patterns and the intellectual property that goes into the bamboo process, Wagner said. There are two sides to everything. Theres this tragedy and theres the opportunity behind it.

The R.L. Winston Rod Company has been in business for almost 90 years, he said. A fire will not impede that history and our continued growth.
BOSTON and AMSTERDAM, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ultimaker, the global leader in professional desktop 3D printing, announced today the development of a Print Cluster Management software solution to work in concert with its Ultimaker 3 desktop printer and CURA print slicing software. The software will empower engineers, designers and more to effectively and efficiently utilize multiple 3D printers in a fully integrated environment.

"At Ultimaker, we continuously listen to our customers and their needs are what spurs the improvement and development of our solutions," said Paul Heiden, SVP of Product Management at Ultimaker. "With the Ultimaker 3, desktop 3D printing with industrial-grade materials became a reality. Demand for clusters of multiple 3D printers has grown and so has the need to better manage and control them. That's where our new Print Cluster Management software comes in."

Ultimaker's Print Cluster Management software works with any Ultimaker 3 and allows users in professional environments to:

Oversee prototype, tooling and small-scale production across an organization.

Select printers, queue jobs, monitor prints and receive notifications.

Manage clusters of Ultimaker 3's directly from CURA.

With Print Cluster Management software, Ultimaker will soon add another piece to a seamless 3D printing experience making professional 3D printing even more accessible.

About Ultimaker

Ultimaker has been in operation since 2011, and over the years has grown to become the global market-leader in desktop 3D printing; creating powerful, professional and accessible 3D printers. With offices in the Netherlands, New York, and Boston, plus production facilities in both Europe and the US, Ultimaker's team of over 250 employees continually strives to offer the highest-quality 3D printers, software, and materials on the market.

Media Contact

Iris Smeekes

Ultimaker

[email protected]

Emily Adams

SHIFT Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Ultimaker

Related Links

http://www.ultimaker.com


LONDON, May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --



"UHMW PE market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.9%"

The Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW PE) market is projected to reach USD 2.16 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 9.9% from 2016 to 2021. Growth in the healthcare & medical industry due to increasing use of UHMW PE for the manufacture of prosthetic implants, is leading to a demand for UHMW PE. However, volatile prices of raw materials are expected to restrain the UHMW PE market.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886765/





"Sheets segment to register the highest growth in the UHMW PE market"

Sheets is the most common form in which UHMW PE is used, and UHMW PE sheets are available in a variety of dimensions and thicknesses. The thicknesses range from 1mm to 100mm. UHMW PE sheets are used in conveyor belts in the food processing industry due to properties such as ease of machining, self-lubrication, and chemical stability. These properties are expected to drive the sheets segment.



"Healthcare & medical segment to register the highest growth in the UHMW PE market"

UHMW PE is widely used for orthopedic implants (knee replacements, hip replacements, shoulder implants, elbow implants, ankle implants, spinal implants, and bone substitutes, among others), cardiovascular implants (pacing devices, cardiac stents, and structural cardiac implants, among others), and other medical implants (gynaecological devices, otolaryngeal implants, ophthalmic implants, and gastroenterological implants, among others). Due to properties such as, low absorption and self-lubrication, fatigue resistance, yield strength, and high elastic modulus, manufacturers prefer UHMW PE over other polymers. Increasing demand for prosthetic implants from the developed economies is expected to drive the growth of the UHMW PE market in the healthcare & medical industry.



"The UHMW PE market in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period"

The Asia-Pacific UHMW PE market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2021. Increasing industrialization and infrastructure development in the region is expected to lead to the growth of the UHMW PE market. The increasing middle class population has led to increasing urbanization and growth in the manufacturing sector, which is expected to drive the UHMW PE market in this region. China, Japan, and India are the major countries contributing to the growth of the Asia-Pacific UHMW PE market.



BREAKDOWN OF PROFILE OF PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:

 By Company Type: Tier 1 - 21 %, Tier 2 - 36%, and Tier 3 - 43%

 By Designation: C Level - 24%, Director Level - 42%, and Others - 34%

 By Region: Europe - 18%, North America - 20%, , Asia-Pacific - 50%, Middle East & Africa - 5%, and South America  7%



Major companies profiled in this report include Braskem S.A. (Brazil), Celanese Corporation (U.S.), LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (Netherlands), Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands), Asahi Kasei Corporation (Japan), Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Japan), Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products AG (Switzerland), E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company (U.S.), Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.), Toyobo Co., Limited (Japan), and Rochling Engineering Plastics SE & Co. KG (Germany).



Research Coverage:

This report offers an overview of the market trends, drivers, and barriers with respect to the UHMW PE market. It also provides a detailed overview of the market across five regions, namely, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. The report categorizes the UHMW PE market on the basis of type, product, end-use industry, and region. A detailed analysis of the leading players, along with the key growth strategies adopted by them is also covered in the report.



Reasons to Buy the Report:

This report covers the following key aspects:

 The market size by 2021, and the growth rate from 2016 to 2021

 The key market trends

 The factors expected to drive the growth of the market

 The barriers that impact market growth

 The key players in this market

 The global UHMW PE market report covers key regions, such as North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America including major countries in these regions, such as the U.S., China, Japan, India, and Germany.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4886765/



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

http://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

http://www.reportbuyer.com


NYSE MKT Symbol  UEC

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE MKT: UEC, the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement (the "Agreement") with Pacific Road Resources Funds ("PRRF") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Reno Creek Holdings Inc. ("RCHI") and, indirectly thereby, 100% of its fully permitted Reno Creek in-situ recovery ("ISR") project located in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming ("Reno Creek" or the "Project").

Transaction Highlights

Strengthens UEC's pipeline of low-cost ISR uranium projects with the addition of Reno Creek, located in the prolific Powder River Basin in Wyoming .

Basin in . Reno Creek hosts an NI 43-101 Measured and Indicated resource of 27.47 million tons grading 0.041% U 3 O 8 yielding 21.98 million lbs U 3 O 8 at a grade-thickness (GT) cutoff of 0.20*.

O yielding 21.98 million lbs U O at a grade-thickness (GT) cutoff of 0.20*. The NI 43-101 resource report also indicates potential to expand the resource with additional drilling.

A Source and By Product Materials License for Reno Creek was issued in February 2017 from the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC"), supported by a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, to permit production of up to 2 million lbs. U 3 O 8 per year.

from the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC"), supported by a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, to permit production of up to 2 million lbs. U O per year. Strategically located within the Powder River Basin in Wyoming , a uranium mining-friendly state with excellent infrastructure and an experienced labor force.

, a uranium mining-friendly state with excellent infrastructure and an experienced labor force. A Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS")** on Reno Creek completed in 2014 demonstrated strong project economics with low capital and operating costs consistent with ISR projects in Wyoming . A new and optimized PFS is in progress and will be completed by UEC.

. A new and optimized PFS is in progress and will be completed by UEC. Cumulative expenditures to date of approximately $60 million .

. A new partnership with respected mining private equity firm Pacific Road Resources Funds, who will own approximately 9% of UEC's common shares at closing.

Amir Adnani, President & CEO, stated: "The acquisition of Reno Creek creates an industry-leading diversified pipeline of low-cost ISR uranium projects when combined with our production-ready South Texas hub-and-spoke operations and exploration/development portfolio in Paraguay. The Reno Creek Project presents a rare opportunity to acquire a large, fully permitted, construction ready, and strategic low-cost ISR asset located in the United States  a complete set of attributes for any potential UEC acquisition. The Powder River Basin of Wyoming has produced over 85 million lbs U 3 O 8 historically, and is currently home to two of the largest uranium producers in the world: Cameco and Uranium One (Rosatom). We commend Pacific Road for their outstanding work to advance the Reno Creek project over the past seven years, and we welcome them as our newest shareholder."

"We are very excited about combining Reno Creek with UEC", said Dan Wilton, Partner at Pacific Road. "The UEC team has an outstanding track record of consolidating, developing and operating ISR uranium projects. We believe they have the right technical, operating and financing capabilities to deliver the true value of Reno Creek, continuing the excellent work done by Jim Viellenave's team, who took the property from an initial resource through to a fully permitted project. The combination of UEC and Reno Creek creates one of the most attractive portfolios of U.S.-based low cost ISR uranium assets and is an important step in the consolidation of the U.S. ISR uranium sector."

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will issue to PRRF, in return for PRRF's 97.27% ownership in RCHI (the "Transaction"), the following:

(i) 14.0 million shares of the Company (the "Share Consideration"); (ii) 11.0 million warrants of the Company (the "Warrant Consideration"), with each warrant entitling the holder to acquire one share of the Company at an exercise price of $2.30 per share for a period of five years from closing. The warrants will have an accelerator clause which provides that, in the event that the closing price of UEC's common shares on its principally traded exchange is equal to or greater than $4.00 per share for a period of 20 consecutive trading days, UEC may accelerate the expiry date of the warrants to within 30 days by providing written notice to the holders; and (iii) a 0.5% net profits interest royalty, capped at $2.5 million (the "NPI Consideration", and together with the Share Consideration and the Warrant Consideration, the "Consideration");

Upon completion of the Transaction, PRRF will own approximately 9% of UEC's shares outstanding. PRRF has agreed to certain voting and resale conditions pursuant to the terms of the Agreement.

By way of certain 'drag along' rights, the Company will acquire the remaining 2.73% of RCHI from Bayswater Uranium Corporation for pro-rated consideration identical to the Consideration being issued to PRRF. The Transaction is subject to NRC approval and is expected to close on or about July 31, 2017.

Reno Creek ISR Project Overview

The Reno Creek ISR Project is located in the Powder River Basin, Campbell County, Wyoming, approximately 80 miles northeast of Casper. PRRF undertook significant project advancement since 2010 when they acquired the project, including expenditures targeting land acquisition, resource development, a pre-feasibility study, and permitting, which culminated in the NRC issuing a source and byproduct materials license to construct and operate an ISR uranium facility in February 2017.

The source materials license was the last major permit required to proceed with the development of the Project. The permits allow Reno Creek to process up to 2 million pounds of uranium a year from five resource units: North Reno Creek, Southwest Reno Creek, Moore, Bing, and Pine Tree. Within the five resource units are 16 proposed production units and associated wellfields, header houses, and a central processing plant.

History of the Project

Substantial historical exploration, development, and project permitting work has been completed on the Reno Creek property, beginning in the late 1960s and continuing to present. Approximately 10,000 exploration drill holes have been completed by various operators over time, who continued to advance the project by drilling and growing land and mineral interests to nearly 16,000 acres by 2007. Since PRRF took control of the Project, mineral and surface land holdings have grown to approximately 22,000 acres, including a 40-acre company-owned central processing plant site.

Summary of Mineral Resources

In July 2016, PRRF commissioned an updated Technical Report completed by Behre Dolbear & Company (USA), Inc. on Reno Creek titled "Technical Report and Audit of Resources of the Reno Creek ISR Project, Campbell County, Wyoming, USA" (the "Current Technical Report"). Over $60 million has been expended on the Project to date, including completion of more than 10,000 drill holes. Data from drilling, including survey coordinates, collar elevations, depths, and grade of uranium intercepts, have been incorporated into the database that forms the current resource estimate at Reno Creek (Table 1).

Table 1(1)

Class Tons (millions) Weighted Average Thickness (feet) Weighted Average Grade (% U 3 O 8 ) Pounds U 3 O 8 (millions) Measured & Indicated 27.47 12.3 0.041 21.98 Inferred 1.36 10.6 0.034 0.93 1 Cut-off of greater or equal to 0.20 grade x thickness per intercept

The inferred resources are found principally in underexplored portions of the Reno Creek property, along extensive identified redox fronts. The authors of the July 2016 Reno Creek resource estimate recommend continuing exploration along these trends, with the expectation of further contributions to the reported resource base; given the known mineralization occurs in a continuous sandstone present across all of the Reno Creek, Moore, and Bing resource units.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101 and was reviewed by Clyde L. Yancey, P.G., Vice President-Exploration for the Company, a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Advisors and Counsel

Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to the Company. McMillan LLP and Holland & Hart LLP are acting as legal advisors to the Company. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is acting as legal advisor to PRRF.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company. The Company's fully-licensed Hobson Processing Facility is central to all of its projects in South Texas, including the Palangana ISR mine, the permitted Goliad ISR project and the development-stage Burke Hollow ISR project. Additionally, the Company controls a pipeline of advanced-stage projects in Arizona, Colorado and Paraguay. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

About Pacific Road Resources Funds

The Pacific Road Resources Funds are private equity funds investing in the global mining industry. They provide expansion and buyout capital for mining projects, mining related infrastructure and mining services businesses located throughout the world. The team is located in Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada.

PRRF's position in RCHI is held by Pacific Road Capital A Pty Ltd., as trustee for Pacific Road Resources Fund A, Pacific Road Capital B Pty Ltd., as trustee for Pacific Road Resources Fund B, and Pacific Road Holdings S.a.r.l., a Luxembourg corporation.

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE MKT: UEC

Frankfurt Stock Exchange Symbol: U6Z

WKN: AJDRR

ISN: US916896103

*Notice to U.S. Investors

The mineral resources referred to herein have been estimated in accordance with the definition standards on mineral resources of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum referred to in NI 43-101 and are not compliant with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") Industry Guide 7 guidelines. In addition, measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources and inferred mineral resources, while recognized and required by Canadian regulations, are not defined terms under SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. Accordingly, we have not reported them in the United States. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the mineral resources in these categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves. These terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. In particular, it should be noted that mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources will ever be upgraded to a higher category. In accordance with Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part of the reported measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources referred to herein are economically or legally mineable.

**PFS

Upon the closing of the Transaction the Company plans to complete a new and optimized PFS based substantially on the information provided in the Current Technical Report. Accordingly, the current PFS cannot be relied upon and should not be construed to reflect a current PFS in accordance with NI 43-101.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such 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 such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although 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 such 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 contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release.

Certain matters discussed in this news release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp

Related Links

http://www.uraniumenergy.com/


"Egypt is one of the most intriguing countries in the world, and it remains a top destination for many of our guests," said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises. "For two decades, we have led the industry in river cruising with our innovative ship design and itineraries that bring our guests closer to the cultures of the world. We are committed to Egypt, and with the introduction of Viking Ra , we look forward to providing our award-winning service to our guests on the Nile  and to their experiencing this culturally rich region in the Viking way."

During the 12-day, Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary, guests will experience Egypt's cultural treasures in seven destinations. The cruisetour begins with a three-night stay at a first-class hotel in Cairo, where guests can visit iconic sites such as the Great Pyramids of Giza, the new Grand Egyptian Museum and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Guests will then fly to Luxor, where they will visit the Temples of Luxor and Karnak before boarding Viking Ra for a 8-day roundtrip cruise on the Nile River to Aswan, featuring Privileged Access to the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens and excursions to the Temple of Khnum in Esna, the Dendera Temple complex in Qena, and a visit to a colorful Nubian village where guests can experience a traditional elementary school. Finally, the journey concludes with a flight back to Cairo for a final night in the historic city.

Viking Ra Designed for Destination Cruising

The newly rebuilt, all-suite Viking Ra will boast 24 staterooms that will exclusively accommodate 48 Viking guests for an intimate cruising experience. Named in honor the Egyptian sun god Ra, Viking Ra's name also pays homage to the great Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his papyrus-reed boats Ra and Ra II. Designed by experienced nautical architects and engineers, including the same interior design team responsible for the award-winning fleet of Viking Longships, Viking Ra will be a state-of-the art ship with the clean, elegant Scandinavian design for which Viking is known blended with local influences like traditional geometric Arabic patterns and terrazzo floors. Viking Ra will help guests immerse themselves in local surroundings and will feature:

All Suite Staterooms : The ship features three suite stateroom categories, each of 291 sq. ft., including 20 Veranda Suites with a full-size veranda in the living room and a French balcony in the bedroom. All staterooms include premium amenities such as a hotel-style bed, luxury linens, sofa, private bathroom with shower, air conditioning and flat-screen TVs.

: The ship features three suite stateroom categories, each of 291 sq. ft., including 20 Veranda Suites with a full-size veranda in the living room and a French balcony in the bedroom. All staterooms include premium amenities such as a hotel-style bed, luxury linens, sofa, private bathroom with shower, air conditioning and flat-screen TVs. Pool and Two Jacuzzis: In addition to two Jacuzzis, the ship features a pool at the back of the ship, allowing guests to swim surrounded by their destination. A sanctuary from the sun is provided by sculptural "sail-shades" inspired by local dhow ships and intricate mashrabiya -influenced screens surrounding the Pool and Sun Deck .

In addition to two Jacuzzis, the ship features a pool at the back of the ship, allowing guests to swim surrounded by their destination. A sanctuary from the sun is provided by sculptural "sail-shades" inspired by local dhow ships and intricate -influenced screens surrounding the Pool and . Spa : Specifically designed for Viking Ra , guests can relax in The Spa offering massage services and a variety of treatments.

: Specifically designed for , guests can relax in The Spa offering massage services and a variety of treatments. Onboard Dining, Bar and Lounge: Dine in The Restaurant, which serves three full meals and a selection of regional and international fare, then head to the clinker-built bar to share a cocktail with friends. During the day, guests can enjoy The Lounge to relax, take in the views through floor-to-ceiling glass doors or hear an informative discussion on the next destination.

Dine in The Restaurant, which serves three full meals and a selection of regional and international fare, then head to the clinker-built bar to share a cocktail with friends. During the day, guests can enjoy The Lounge to relax, take in the views through floor-to-ceiling glass doors or hear an informative discussion on the next destination. Enriching Entertainment: Connecting guests to their destinations through authentic experiences is central to Viking's "thinking person's cruise." Instead of casinos and water slides, guests are offered Viking's Culture Curriculum, which includes a Nubian evening event on board and a local experience riding a camel. Additionally, Viking's expert Egyptologist leads all excursions, sharing the archaeological and historical significance of the sites.

The Viking Difference

The Viking Difference provides guests with extraordinarily well-designed cruises that bring them closer to the cultures of the world. Itineraries are designed for maximum time in port, often with late evenings or overnights, so guests can experience local culture at night or evening performances. And only The Viking Way brings guests itineraries that feature Local Life, Working World and Privileged Access experiences.

Media Assets

For more information, images and b-roll for Viking River Cruises, contact [email protected].

About Viking Cruises

Viking Cruises, the leader in river and small ship ocean cruising, offers destination-focused itineraries designed for experienced travelers who have an interest in geography, culture and history. In its first year of operation, Viking Ocean Cruises was rated the #1 ocean cruise line in Travel + Leisure's 2016 "World's Best" Awards, which came on the heels of being rated the highest of all cruise lines in the 2015 "World's Best" Awards. Viking currently operates a fleet of 62 vessels, offering scenic cruising along the rivers and oceans of the Americas, Europe, Russia, Egypt, China, and Southeast Asia. By 2019 the company will operate six 930-guest ocean cruise ships and will sail itineraries in Scandinavia and the Baltic, the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, Asia, Australia, North America and the Caribbean. In addition to the Travel + Leisure honors, Viking has also been honored multiple times on Conde Nast Traveler's "Gold List" as well as recognized by Cruise Critic as "Best Overall" Small-Mid size ship in the 2017 Cruisers' Choice Awards, "Best River Cruise Line" and "Best River Itineraries," with the entire Viking Longships fleet being named "Best New River Ships" in the website's Editors' Picks Awards. For additional information, contact Viking Cruises at 1-855-8-VIKING (1-855-884-5464) or visit www.vikingcruises.com.

SOURCE Viking Cruises

Related Links

http://www.vikingcruises.com


SAN FRANCISCO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vision6 is pleased to announce that it has integrated Twilio, the world's leading cloud communications platform, into its marketing platform. Vision6 customers can now leverage the power of both email and text messages to send personalized, targeted communications to both prospects and customers.

With an impressive open rate of 99% the power of text messages is unrivalled, according to a Dynmark report. Vision6 customers can now incorporate SMS into the email marketing automation workflow to easily communicate across multiple channels. Beyond serving as an excellent reminder for sales, appointments, and event details, text messages are the perfect channel to convert prospects into customers.

"As technology evolves, the way businesses communicate with their customers needs to evolve too," said Mathew Myers, cofounder of Vision6. "Email marketing has the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel, and SMS has the highest open rate of any mode of communication. When combined and fully automated, the possibilities are endless."

In today's world, the average customer checks their phone 46 times a day. The smartphone has definitely become a lifeline to the outside world for most people. Finding new ways to connect with consumers is essential for businesses to remain relevant and thrive. The perceived urgency of text messages makes it a powerful channel for time-sensitive communication between brands and their audience. This integration will allow Vision6 customers to reach their audience with a level of immediacy, even more so than any other channel.

Beginning today, Vision6 customers can leverage the power of the Twilio integration by inserting text message components directly into their existing email automation workflow. The text message capabilities will complement customer communications programs and deliver a more effective method of connecting with the customers' audience. The fully-automated and personalized text message feature sets Vision6 apart from competitors and delivers a truly integrated customer experience.

About Vision6

Vision6 is an advanced email marketing solution for marketers and agencies. Vision6 helps people connect with their customers and build their businesses. Thousands of companies across the world trust Vision6 every day to simplify their customer communications. Vision6 brings a full suite of email marketing, automation, SMS, forms and social media amplification together in one intuitive platform. Founded in 2001 with headquarters in Australia, Vision6's customers include Audi Sydney, BMW Brisbane, Mitsubishi Electric, Royal SPCA, and WWF. Passionate about giving back to the community, Vision6 provides ongoing education with free training, timely resources and industry events, like the annual Email Marketing Summit. To learn more, visit vision6.com.

SOURCE Vision6

Related Links

https://www.vision6.com/


HOLMDEL, N.J., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of cloud communications for business, today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Consolidated Results

"We are off to a solid start in 2017. Consolidated revenues were $243 million, a 7% year-over year increase and our eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year consolidated revenue growth," said Vonage CEO Alan Masarek. "We are transforming our Company to capitalize on the enormous cloud communications market opportunity. Our strategy remains rooted in continued investment in Vonage Business to drive faster long-term growth, leveraging the Company's strategic assets to become the clear leader in business cloud communications."

Mr. Masarek continued, "We are pleased with the progress we have made against our growth initiatives in Vonage Business, including accelerated traction in the enterprise segment, the build out of our multi-channel sales infrastructure, and strengthening our customer value proposition through the integration of UCaaS and CPaaS. At the same time, we continue to generate significant cash. In the first quarter, we used this strong cash flow to return value to our shareholders through opportunistic share repurchases, repurchasing 1.6 million shares for $10 million."

For the first quarter of 2017, Vonage reported revenues of $243 million, a 7% increase from the year ago quarter. Income from Operations was $5 million, down from $19 million in the prior year. Adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization ("Adjusted OIBDA")1 was $37 million, down from $42 million in the prior year. GAAP net income was $6 million or $0.03 per share, down from $8 million or $0.04 per share in the year ago quarter. Adjusted net income2 was $15 million or $0.07 per share, up from $12 million or $0.06 per share in the year ago quarter.

Business Segment Results

Revenues at Vonage Business, which includes $26 million of Nexmo revenue, were $112 million , a 51% year-over-year increase on a GAAP basis.

of Nexmo revenue, were , a 51% year-over-year increase on a GAAP basis. In April, Vonage signed the largest UCaaS deal in its history, with a global real estate firm. Vonage will deliver its UCaaS suite to more than 20,000 corporate seats across 550 company-owned locations. In addition, Vonage will partner with the customer's Corporate Franchise team to offer its services to their 4,000 franchisee offices in the United States .

. Ending seats at Vonage Business were 659,000, up from 570,000 seats in the year ago quarter, a 16% increase.

Vonage Business revenue churn was 1.4%, flat sequentially and up from 1.3% in the year ago quarter.

The Vonage API Platform increased its registered developer count to 249,000, a sequential increase of 42,000.

The Vonage API platform secured several enterprise wins in the first quarter, including: Microsoft, Gett, Lyft and Zoho.

Consumer Segment Results

Revenues from Consumer Services were $132 million , down from $153 million in the prior year period, consistent with the Company's expectations and its strategy to redeploy capital into the rapidly growing, Business Cloud Communications sector.

, down from in the prior year period, consistent with the Company's expectations and its strategy to redeploy capital into the rapidly growing, Business Cloud Communications sector. Consumer customer churn was 2.2%, flat sequentially and from the prior year.

Average revenue per line ("ARPU") in Consumer Services was $26.10 , flat sequentially and down from $26.68 in the year ago period.

, flat sequentially and down from in the year ago period. The Consumer segment ended the first quarter with 1.6 million subscriber lines.

Focus on Cloud Communications

On May 4th, the Company signed a definitive agreement to sell its hosted infrastructure services business, a mixed portfolio of products including Infrastructure as a Service, virtual desktop, hosted Microsoft Exchange and other managed services. The Company acquired this portfolio in the iCore acquisition and, after operating this business for the last year and a half, determined it is not core to its strategy. The Company expects to close this transaction at the end of May.

Patent Portfolio

Vonage continues to execute on its strategy to develop innovative technologies and to protect its valuable intellectual property. The Company was granted seven new patents in the first quarter and now owns 155 U.S. patents, with more than 150 U.S. patent applications pending, along with many foreign patents and pending applications in jurisdictions worldwide.

Share Repurchase

In the first quarter, Vonage repurchased 1.6 million shares of stock for $10 million at an average price of $5.95 under its current four-year $100 million program. Since beginning its repurchase programs in August 2012, the Company has repurchased 57.2 million shares for $191 million at a highly accretive average price of $3.33.

Guidance

The Company is adjusting its revenue guidance solely to reflect the divestiture of the hosted infrastructure services business. Vonage now expects 2017 consolidated revenues to be between $966 million and $981 million. Within this, the Company expects Vonage Business revenues, which include both UCaaS and CPaaS, to be in the range of $483 million to $489 million, which takes into account approximately $4 million of anticipated revenue from the divested business for the period from the end of May through the end of December.

Conference Call and Webcast

Management will host a conference call to discuss the first quarter 2017 results and other matters on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. To participate, please dial (877) 359-9508 approximately 10 minutes prior to the call. International callers should dial (224) 357-2393.

A webcast will be available through Vonage's Investor Relations website at http://ir.vonage.com. A replay of the call and webcast will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and may be accessed through Vonage's Investor Relations website at http://ir.vonage.com or by dialing (855) 859-2056. International callers should dial (404) 537-3406. The replay passcode is 5291957

This is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer below to Table 3 for a reconciliation to GAAP income from operations. This is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer below to Table 4 for a reconciliation to GAAP net income.

VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)





Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016

(unaudited)

(unaudited)

(unaudited)





(revised) (1)



Statement of Income Data:









Revenues $ 243,347



$ 246,763



$ 226,824













Operating Expenses:









Cost of service (excluding depreciation and amortization of $6,782, $7,211, and $6,833,

respectively) 87,596



88,768



69,150

Cost of goods sold 7,293



7,768



9,066

Sales and marketing 81,931



84,293



79,601

Engineering and development 8,370



7,607



6,834

General and administrative 35,086



34,043



26,670

Depreciation and amortization 17,947



19,070



16,979



238,223



241,549



208,300

Income from operations 5,124



5,214



18,524

Other income (expense):









Interest income 5



14



21

Interest expense (3,703)



(3,565)



(2,446)

Other income (expense), net (220)



(109)



154



(3,918)



(3,660)



(2,271)

Income from continuing operations before income tax expense 1,206



1,554



16,253

Income tax expense 4,707



(3,592)



(8,322)

Net income 5,913



(2,038)



7,931

Net income per common share:









Basic $ 0.03



$ (0.01)



$ 0.04

Diluted $ 0.02



$ (0.01)



$ 0.04

Weighted-average common shares outstanding:









Basic 220,371



218,375



214,039

Diluted 239,486



218,375



224,225



















(1) Revised due to the correction of prior period financial statements.

VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 1. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA - (Continued)

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)



Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016

(unaudited)

(unaudited)

(unaudited)





(revised) (1)

(revised) (1) Statement of Cash Flow Data:









Net cash provided by operating activities $ 17,261



$ 23,842



$ 17,468

Net cash used in investing activities (6,759)



(2,812)



(10,877)

Net cash used in financing activities (13,540)



(25,210)



(28,995)

Capital expenditures, intangible assets, and development of software assets (7,081)



(8,767)



(11,207)



















(1) Revised due to the adoption of new Accounting Standard Updates.





March 31,

December 31,



2017

2016



(unaudited)

(revised) (1) Balance Sheet Data (at period end):







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 26,220



$ 29,078

Marketable securities

300



601

Restricted cash

1,799



1,851

Accounts receivable, net of allowance

32,108



36,688

Inventory, net of allowance

3,644



4,116

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

30,895



29,188

Deferred customer acquisition costs

2,184



3,136

Property and equipment, net

45,722



48,415

Goodwill

362,424



360,363

Software, net

22,966



21,971

Debt related costs, net

2,162



2,333

Intangible assets, net

191,250



199,256

Total deferred tax assets, including current portion, net

198,502



184,210

Other assets

13,950



14,460

Total assets

$ 934,126



$ 935,666

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

$ 121,727



$ 139,946

Deferred revenue

31,564



32,892

Total notes payable, net of debt related costs and indebtedness under revolving credit facility, including current portion

329,291



318,874

Capital lease obligations

2,265



3,428

Other liabilities

3,931



3,985

Total liabilities

$ 488,778



$ 499,125

Total stockholders' equity

$ 445,348



$ 436,541



















(1) Revised due to the correction of prior period financial statements.

VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 2. SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED OPERATING DATA

(unaudited)

The table below includes revenues and cost of revenues that our management uses to measure the growth and operating performance of the business focused portion of our business:



Business Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016 Revenues:









Service $ 92,291



$ 91,663



$ 56,473

Product (1) 13,360



12,655



12,912

Service and Product 105,651



104,318



69,385

USF 6,151



6,193



4,435

Total Business Revenues $ 111,802



$ 110,511



$ 73,820













Cost of Revenues:









Service (2) $ 39,195



$ 38,697



$ 15,403

Product (1) 13,202



12,664



12,462

Service and Product 52,397



51,361



27,865

USF 6,151



6,193



4,445

Cost of Revenues $ 58,548



$ 57,554



$ 32,310













Service margin % 57.5 %

57.8 %

72.7 % Gross margin % ex-USF (Service and product margin %) 50.4 %

50.8 %

59.8 % Gross margin % 47.6 %

47.9 %

56.2 %

















(1) Includes customer premise equipment, access, professional services, and shipping and handling.

(2) Excludes depreciation and amortization of $4,875, $5,013, and $4,319 for the quarters ended March 31, 2017, December 31, 2016, and March 31, 2016, respectively.

The table below includes revenues and cost of revenues that our management uses to measure the growth and operating performance of the consumer focused portion of our business:

Consumer Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016 Revenues:









Service $ 119,117



$ 123,114



$ 137,772

Product (1) 203



188



147

Service and Product 119,320



123,302



137,919

USF 12,225



12,950



15,085

Total Business Revenues $ 131,545



$ 136,252



$ 153,004













Cost of Revenues:









Service (2) $ 22,100



$ 22,834



$ 26,520

Product (1) 2,016



3,198



4,301

Service and Product 24,116



26,032



30,821

USF 12,225



12,950



15,085

Cost of Revenues $ 36,341



$ 38,982



$ 45,906













Service margin % 81.4 %

81.5 %

80.8 % Gross margin % ex-USF (Service and product margin %) 79.8 %

78.9 %

77.7 % Gross margin % 72.4 %

71.4 %

70.0 %

















(1) Includes customer premise equipment, access, professional services, and shipping and handling.

(2) Excludes depreciation and amortization of $1,907, $2,198, and $2,514 for the quarters ended March 31, 2017, December 31, 2016, and March 31, 2016, respectively.

The table below includes key operating data that our management uses to measure the growth and operating performance of the business focused portion of our business:



Business Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016 Revenues (1) $ 111,802



$ 110,511



$ 73,820

Average monthly revenues per seat (2) $ 43.98



$ 44.65



$ 44.25

Seats (at period end) (2) (3) 658,792



638,096



570,358

Revenue churn (2) 1.4 %

1.4 %

1.3 %

















(1) Includes revenue of $26,245 and $26,541, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 from CPaaS, which was acquired on June 3, 2016.

(2) UCaaS only

(3) Seats (at period end) included an adjustment of 6,212 for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

The table below includes key operating data that our management uses to measure the growth and operating performance of the consumer focused portion of our business:



Consumer Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016 Revenues $ 131,545



$ 136,252



$ 153,004

Average monthly revenues per line $ 26.10



$ 26.11



$ 26.68

Subscriber lines (at period end) 1,648,927



1,711,366



1,881,826

Customer churn 2.2 %

2.2 %

2.2 %

VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 3. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP INCOME FROM OPERATIONS

TO ADJUSTED OIBDA AND TO ADJUSTED OIBDA MINUS CAPEX

(Dollars in thousands)

(unaudited)





Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016 Income from operations $ 5,124



$ 5,214



$ 18,524

Depreciation and amortization 17,947



19,070



16,979

Share-based expense 7,064



9,462



6,303

Acquisition related transaction and integration costs 139



(219)



93

Change in contingent consideration 



(4,110)





Acquisition related consideration accounted for as compensation 6,763



6,813





Loss on sublease 



744





Adjusted OIBDA 37,037



36,974



41,899

Less:









Capital expenditures (3,701)



(6,166)



(8,895)

Intangible assets $ 



$ (50)



$ 

Acquisition and development of software assets (3,380)



(2,551)



(2,312)

Adjusted OIBDA Minus Capex $ 29,956



$ 28,207



$ 30,692



VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 4. RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO VONAGE TO

NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO VONAGE EXCLUDING ADJUSTMENTS

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)





Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016





(revised) (1)



Net income $ 5,913



$ (2,038)



$ 7,931

Amortization of acquisition - related intangibles 8,999



8,706



6,962

Acquisition related transaction and integration costs 139



(219)



93

Acquisition related consideration accounted for as compensation 6,763



6,813





Change in contingent consideration 



(4,110)





Loss on sublease 



744





Tax effect on adjusting items (6,569)



(4,932)



(2,915)

Adjusted net income $ 15,245



$ 4,964



$ 12,071

Net income per common share:









Basic $ 0.03



$ (0.01)



$ 0.04

Diluted $ 0.02



$ (0.01)



$ 0.04

Weighted-average common shares outstanding:









Basic 220,371



218,375



214,039

Diluted 239,486



218,375



224,225

Net income per common share, excluding adjustments:









Basic $ 0.07



$ 0.02



$ 0.06

Diluted $ 0.06



$ 0.02



$ 0.05

Weighted-average common shares outstanding:









Basic 220,371



218,375



214,039

Diluted 239,486



237,670



224,225



















(1) Revised due to the correction of prior period financial statements.

VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 5. FREE CASH FLOW

(Dollars in thousands)

(unaudited)





Three Months Ended

March 31,

December 31,

March 31,

2017

2016

2016





(Revised) (1)

(Revised) (1) Net cash provided by operating activities $ 17,261



$ 23,842



$ 17,468

Less:









Capital expenditures (3,701)



(6,166)



(8,895)

Purchase of intangible assets 



(50)





Acquisition and development of software assets (3,380)



(2,551)



(2,312)

Free cash flow $ 10,180



$ 15,075



$ 6,261

























(1) Revised due to the adoption of new Accounting Standard Updates.

VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP.

TABLE 6. RECONCILIATION OF NOTES PAYABLE, INDEBTEDNESS UNDER REVOLVING CREDIT

FACILITY, AND CAPITAL LEASES TO NET DEBT

(Dollars in thousands)

(unaudited)













March 31,

December 31,



2017

2016 Current maturities of capital lease obligations

$ 2,184



$ 3,288

Current portion of notes payable

18,750



18,750

Notes payable and indebtedness under revolving credit facility, net of current maturities and debt related costs

310,541



300,124

Unamortized debt related cost

959



1,064

Capital lease obligations, net of current maturities

81



140

Gross debt

332,515



323,366

Less:







Unrestricted cash and marketable securities

26,520



29,679

Net debt

$ 305,995



$ 293,687



About Vonage

Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a leading provider of cloud communications services for business. Vonage transforms the way people work and businesses operate through a portfolio of cloud-based communications solutions that enable internal collaboration among employees, while also keeping companies closely connected with their customers, across any mode of communication, on any device. Vonage's API Platform provides tools for voice, messaging and phone verification services, allowing developers to embed contextual, programmable communications into mobile apps, websites and business systems, enabling enterprises to easily communicate relevant information to their customers in real time, anywhere in the world, through text messaging, chat, social media and voice. The Company also provides a robust suite of feature-rich residential communication solutions. In 2015 and 2016, Vonage was named a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as-a-Service, Worldwide. Vonage has also earned the Frost & Sullivan Growth Excellence Leadership Award for Hosted IP and Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Services. For more information, visit www.vonage.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the Securities and Exchange Commission, including: adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization ("adjusted OIBDA"), adjusted OIBDA less Capex, adjusted net income, net debt (cash) and free cash flow.

Adjusted OIBDA

Vonage uses adjusted OIBDA as a principal indicator of the operating performance of its business.

Vonage defines adjusted OIBDA as GAAP income (loss) from operations excluding depreciation and amortization, share-based expense, acquisition related transaction and integration costs, change in contingent consideration, acquisition related consideration accounted for as compensation, and loss on sublease.

Vonage believes that adjusted OIBDA permits a comparative assessment of its operating performance, relative to its performance based on its GAAP results, while isolating the effects of depreciation and amortization, which may vary from period to period without any correlation to underlying operating performance; of share-based expense, which is a non-cash expense that also varies from period to period; of one-time acquisition related transaction and integration costs, acquisition related consideration accounted for as compensation and change in contingent consideration, and loss on sublease.

The Company provides information relating to its adjusted OIBDA so that investors have the same data that the Company employs in assessing its overall operations. The Company believes that trends in its Adjusted OIBDA are valuable indicators of the operating performance of the Company on a consolidated basis.

Adjusted OIBDA less Capex

Vonage uses adjusted OIBDA less Capex as an indicator of the operating performance of its business. The Company provides information relating to its adjusted OIBDA less Capex so that investors have the same data that the Company employs in assessing its overall operations. The Company believes that trends in its Adjusted OIBDA less Capex are valuable indicators of the operating performance of the Company on a consolidated basis because they provide our investors with insight into current performance and period-to-period performance.

Adjusted net income

Vonage defines adjusted net income, as GAAP net income (loss) excluding amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, acquisition related transaction and integration costs, change in contingent consideration, acquisition related consideration accounted for as compensation, loss on sublease and tax effect on adjusting items.

The Company believes that excluding these items will assist investors in evaluating the Company's operating performance and in better understanding its results of operations as amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets is a non-cash item, one-time acquisition related transaction and integration costs, change in contingent consideration, acquisition related consideration accounted for as compensation, loss on sublease and tax effect on adjusting items are not reflective of operating performance.

Net debt (cash)

Vonage defines net debt (cash) as the current maturities of capital lease obligations, current portion of notes payable, notes payable and indebtedness under revolving credit facility, net of current maturities and debt related costs, and capital lease obligations, net of current maturities, less unrestricted cash and marketable securities.

Vonage uses net debt (cash) as a measure of assessing leverage, as it reflects the gross debt under the Company's credit agreements and capital leases less cash available to repay such amounts. The Company believes that net cash is also a factor that first parties consider in valuing the Company.

Free cash flow

Vonage defines free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities minus capital expenditures, purchase of intangible assets, and acquisition and development of software assets.

Vonage considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management about the amount of cash generated by the business that, after the acquisition of equipment and software, can be used by Vonage for debt service and strategic opportunities. Free cash flow is not a measure of cash available for discretionary expenditures since the Company has certain non-discretionary obligations such as debt service that are not deducted from the measure.

The non-GAAP financial measures used by Vonage may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies due to differences in accounting policies and items excluded or included in the adjustments, which limits its usefulness as a comparative measure. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about acquisitions, acquisition integration, growth priorities or plans, revenues, adjusted OIBDA, churn, seats, lines or accounts, average revenue per user, cost of telephony services, the Company's share repurchase plan, capital expenditures, new products and related investment, and other statements that are not historical facts or information, that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, other statements in this press release that are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available at the time the statements are made and/or management's belief as of that time with respect to future events and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to be materially different. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: the competition we face; the expansion of competition in the cloud communications market; our ability to adapt to rapid changes in the cloud communications market; the nascent state of the cloud communications for business market; our ability to retain customers and attract new customers; the risk associated with developing and maintaining effective internal sales teams and effective distribution channels; risks related to the acquisition or integration of businesses we have acquired; security breaches and other compromises of information security; risks associated with sales of our services to medium-sized and enterprise customers; our reliance on third party hardware and software; our dependence on third party facilities, equipment, systems and services; system disruptions or flaws in our technology and systems; our ability to scale our business and grow efficiently; our dependence on third party vendors; the impact of fluctuations in economic conditions, particularly on our small and medium business customers; our ability to comply with data privacy and related regulatory matters; our ability to obtain or maintain relevant intellectual property licenses; failure to protect our trademarks and internally developed software; fraudulent use of our name or services; intellectual property and other litigation that have been and may be brought against us; reliance on third parties for our 911 services; uncertainties relating to regulation of VoIP services; risks associated with legislative, regulatory or judicial actions regarding our CPaaS products; the impact of governmental export controls or sanctions on our CPaaS products; our ability to establish and expand strategic alliances; risks associated with operating abroad; risks associated with the taxation of our business; risks associated with a material weakness in our internal controls; our dependence upon key personnel; governmental regulation and taxes in our international operations; liability under anti-corruption laws; our dependence on our customers' existing broadband connections; differences between our services and traditional telephone service; restrictions in our debt agreements that may limit our operating flexibility; foreign currency exchange risk; the market for our stock; our ability to obtain additional financing if required; any reinstatement of holdbacks by our credit card processors; our history of net losses and ability to achieve consistent profitability in the future; and other factors that are set forth in the "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. While the Company may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, and therefore, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to today.

(vg-f)

SOURCE Vonage

Related Links

http://www.vonage.com


BEIJING, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Deer Jet, the largest business jet company in Asia, recently launched "Hong Kong-Tahiti Dream Journey". In addition to enjoying 7 nights of a presidential suite in a local top-level five-star hotel, passengers will take the unique 787 Dream Jet between Hong Kong and Tahiti.

787 Dream Jet was formally taken over by Deer Jet on September 19, 2016. This jet has a spacious 220m2 cabin. Passengers can savor delicacies supplied by Four Seasons Hotel high in the sky and appreciate Primrose Tiara (there are only four Primrose Tiara crowns in the world) in the bedroom on board. This 787 is praised as "the most perfect business jet in the world" the first time it was launched.

Zhang Peng regarded 787 Dream Jet introduced by HNA Group and taken over by Deer Jet as an opportunity for Deer Jet's strategic upgrading. Facing the restoring global business aviation market, Deer Jet will try a brand new business model, with an ambition to be a world-leading company in business aviation market.

Without a doubt, the service price of 787 is costly. External services offered by business aircraft are charged hourly. The standard fee for a Gulfstream G550 is about RMB100,000/hour, while that of 787 Dream Jet reaches about RMB500,000/hour. However, the flights for the Dream Jet have been booked through June.

Over the years, HNA Group has expanded into numerous directions and acquired quite a few high-quality resources and now it has unintentionally entered a stage of resource integration. In this regard, Deer Jet proposes a new branding idea of "making travel an art" and extends its tentacles to every aspect of high-end business travel.

"There are still changes in the overseas market. China put forward the 'Belt and Road' at that time, so we decided to make a strategic adjustment and lay our focus on the international market instead of the domestic market, accelerate our internationalization course and extend our outbound industry chain," said Chang Peng.

In fact, 787 Dream Jet took the lead in operating in international market. According to Zhang Peng, Deer Jet will park a plane in the Middle East throughout the year, with a view to serve local customers.

According to Zhang Peng, "We are committed to building a world-leading high-end business travel service brand on behalf of China in the near future."

SOURCE Deer Jet
NEW YORK, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. today announced that Rachel Barkow of New York University Law School and Tracey Meares of Yale University Law School have been appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board for its Legal Education business, the leading provider of high-quality instructional and learning solutions to U.S. law schools. The Editorial Advisory Board, drawn from distinguished scholars and educators, provides insight and guidance to help Wolters Kluwer Legal Education fulfill its mission of partnering with law schools to help today's law students achieve long-term career success in the legal field.

Rachel E. Barkow is the Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Policy and the Faculty Director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University. In June of 2013, the Senate confirmed her as a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission. Since 2010, she has also been a member of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Policy Advisory Panel. In 2013, she was the recipient of the NYU Distinguished Teaching Award. The Law School awarded her its Podell Distinguished Teaching Award in 2007. Prof. Barkow served as a law clerk to Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the District of Columbia Circuit, and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her scholarship focuses on criminal law, and she is especially interested in applying the lessons and theory of administrative and constitutional law to the administration of criminal justice.

Tracey L. Meares is the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law at Yale University. Before arriving at Yale, she was Max Pam Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Studies in Criminal Justice at the University of Chicago Law School. Before going into academia, Professor Meares held positions clerking for the Honorable Harlington Wood, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and as an Honors Program Trial Attorney in the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice. Professor Meares has worked extensively with the federal government, having served on the Committee on Law and Justice, a National Research Council Standing Committee of the National Academy of Sciences from 20042011. In November of 2010, Ms. Meares was named by Attorney General Eric Holder to sit on the Department of Justice's newly-created Science Advisory Board. In December 2014, President Obama named her as a member of his Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Professor Meares's teaching and research interests focus on criminal procedure and criminal law policy, with a particular emphasis on empirical investigation of these subjects.

"We are delighted that Profs. Barkow and Meares have agreed to join our advisory board, generously adding their voices to an ongoing dialogue that enables our business to design forward-looking learning solutions for the evolving educational philosophies of the legal academy," said Vikram Savkar, Vice President and General Manager of Wolters Kluwer Legal Education. "As a result of their distinguished scholarly work in criminal law and criminal justice, recognized excellence as educators, and long-standing engagement with public policy, the addition of Profs. Barkow and Meares meaningfully broadens the perspectives that we are fortunate to be able to draw on when consulting our Board."

The full membership of the Wolters Kluwer Legal Education Editorial Advisory Board is:

Rachel E. Barkow

Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Policy

Faculty Director, Center on the Administration of Criminal Law

New York University School of Law

Erwin Chemerinsky

Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law

Raymond Pryke Professor of First Amendment Law

University of California, Irvine School of Law

Richard A. Epstein

Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law

New York University School of Law

Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow

The Hoover Institution

Senior Lecturer in Law

The University of Chicago

Ronald J. Gilson

Charles J. Meyers Professor of Law and Business

Stanford University

Marc and Eva Stern Professor of Law and Business

Columbia Law School

James E. Krier

Earl Warren DeLano Professor of Law

The University of Michigan Law School

Tracey L. Meares

Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law

Director, The Justice Collaboratory

Yale Law School

Richard K. Neumann, Jr.

Professor of Law

Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University

Robert H. Sitkoff

John L. Gray Professor of Law

Harvard Law School

David Alan Sklansky

Stanley Morrison Professor of Law

Faculty Co-Director, Stanford Criminal Justice Center

Stanford Law School

About Wolters Kluwer Legal Education

Wolters Kluwer Legal Education is a business unit within Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. Wolters Kluwer Legal Education is a leading publisher of teaching and learning tools for law school and law-related undergraduate programs in the United States and throughout the world. Wolters Kluwer Legal Education has produced extremely high quality, pedagogically rich, market leading textbooks covering every discipline in law for almost fifty years, and, in recent years, has established a strong track record as a digital innovator in the market. New product models, such as the Law School Simulation and the Connected Casebook, deliver outcome-oriented, personalized education to a new generation of law students.

About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.

For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit www.WoltersKluwerLR.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer

Related Links

http://www.lrus.wolterskluwer.com


SILICON SLOPES, Utah, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Workfront, the leading provider of cloud-based Enterprise Work Management solutions, today announced that the company has accepted the Women's Leadership Institute's pledge to ElevateHER. ElevateHER challenges Utah companies to commit to enhancing and elevating women's leadership within its organizations.

"While women comprise roughly half of the population, less than 24% of leaders in technology are women," said Laura Butler, SVP of People and Culture at Workfront. "Increasing gender equality in the workplace drives innovation, creates a contagious culture, and both these things positively impact our clients."

Accepting the ElevateHER challenge is one of the many ways Workfront is stepping up its commitment to gender equality. Workfront recently made changes to its maternity and paternity policy, now giving women 12 weeks of paid leave and men 3 weeks. Workfront also offers anyone in the company up to $7,000 towards adoption fees. In the past year, there have been multiple "Lean In" chapters started up where women are encouraged to uplift and empower other women in the company. Workfront is also an elite sponsor of Women in Tech, an organization that is built specifically for women working in STEM (Science Technology Engineering, and Math) positions. The focus on increasing the influence of women is bolstered by the fact that 40% of Workfront's current senior leadership team are women.

To join the Workfront team, visit www.workfront.com/careers.

Follow us on social

Follow @Workfront_Inc on Twitter

Like Workfront on Facebook

About Workfront

Workfront is a cloud-based Enterprise Work Management solution that helps marketing, IT and other enterprise teams conquer the chaos of excessive email, redundant status meetings and disconnected tools. Unlike other tools, Workfront Enterprise Work Cloud is a centralized, easy-to-adopt solution for managing and collaborating on all types of work through the entire work lifecycle, which improves team productivity and executive visibility. Workfront is trusted by thousands of global enterprises, like Cars.com, Cisco Systems, Comcast, iProspect, Schneider Electric, and Trek. To learn more, visit www.workfront.com or follow us on Twitter @Workfront_Inc.

Contact: Shelbi Gomez

[email protected]

801-477-9813

SOURCE Workfront

Related Links

https://www.workfront.com


"My memory is like a slideshow," Keith said. "I forget 70, maybe 80 percent of my day. And I don't remember a lot of the family stuff. I know it's in there, I just can't get to it."

Like many warriors, Keith's injuries are not visible.

In addition to WWP Talk, a non-clinical mental health support line providing emotional support, WWP offers intense multi-day mental health workshops for veterans coping with TBIs and PTSD. These help warriors and their families maintain healthy, meaningful relationships while pursuing life goals  free from the stigmas associated with mental health issues. The workshops  offered as all-male, all-female, or all-couples  are powerful, outdoor rehabilitative gatherings that connect warriors with each other and local communities.

Reconnecting warriors in the civilian world is critical to healing, which is why WWP serves them through its Peer Support program by fusing supportive rehabilitation with the military adage "Leave No Man Behind." This warrior-to-warrior support is a special therapy that reintroduces injured veterans to the unique bonds experienced during military service.

"Suddenly being around people who just understood what you were trying to do and how hard it was  it just clicked," explained Keith of his instant bonds and friendship with fellow veterans. "The hardest thing is fear  it's a natural emotion that everyone has. It's the ability to push past it that helps you move on."

If you or someone you know is interested in support for TBI or other mental health concerns, please contact the WWP Resource Center at 888.997.2586. To learn and see more about how WWP's mental health workshops connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/, and click on multimedia.

About Wounded Warrior Project

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project

Related Links

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org


BEIJING, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan" or the "Company") (NYSE: XIN), an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and in other countries, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2017 financial results on Thursday, May 18, 2017, before the U.S. market opens.

The Company will hold a conference call at 8:00am ET on May 18, 2017 to discuss its first quarter 2017 results. Listeners may access the call by dialing:

US Toll Free: 1-877-723-9517

China: +86-400-120-2694

International: 1-719-325-4771

A webcast will also be available through the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.xyre.com.

A replay of the call will be available through May 25, 2017 by dialing:

US: 1-844-512-2921

International: 1-412-317-6671

Access code: 3753482

About Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan") is an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and in other countries. In China, the Company develops and manages large scale, high quality real estate projects in over ten tier one and tier two cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Xi'an, Suzhou, among others. Xinyuan was one of the first Chinese real estate developers to enter the U.S. market and over the past few years has been active in real estate development in New York. The Company aims to provide comfortable and convenient real estate related products and services to middle-class consumers. For more information, please visit http://www.xyre.com.

For more information, please contact:

Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Mr. Joe Xu

Investor Relations Deputy Director

Tel: +86 (10) 8588-9376

Email: [email protected]

ICR, LLC

Investors:

William Zima

In U.S.: +1-646-308-1472

In China: +86 (10) 6583 7511

Email: [email protected]

Media:

Edmond Lococo

In China: +86 (10) 6583-7510

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Related Links

http://ir.xyre.com


Worldwide, waves of products managed by ZAG America and 17 agents, are rolling out across Europe, LATAM and North America. Several retailers in Spain, UK, France and Brazil have made significant in-store statements and are experiencing strong sell through of Bandai's fashion dolls, figures, and plush, along with publishing, fashion and lifestyle products. A growing number of new products are rolling into the market this summer and during Back to School and Christmas 2017. Miraculous  became Brazil's #1 Girls Brand and Toy in 2016, while spring '17 finds record sell-thru in Spain.

Pre-eminent broadcasters including Netflix/USA, Disney Channel (EMEA), TF1/France, Gloob/Brazil, and many more, have committed to broadcast Season 2 and 3 based on Miraculous ranking as high as #1 with girls and/or kids in such markets as France, Spain, UK, Germany, Poland, Norway, Latin America, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Peru and Korea. Free to air partners Super! in Italy and POP in the UK, have both registered #1 rankings since Miraculous launched on their networks this spring.

ZAG works with stellar licensing agents in each territory: Bulldog Licensing, CLM, Doce, Gloob Licensing, Haven, IMC, J&M, MBC, Mediogen, Planeta, Plus, SamG, Segal, Team License, TF1 and Tycoon.

ABOUT ZAG 

ZAG is an award winning, global animation production company founded by Jeremy Zag (32) in 2009. ZAG was founded in Paris, France and now has offices located in USA, Europe, Canada and Asia. With a vision to develop global brand franchises, ZAG Animation Studios makes full-length animated feature films and ZAG/Zagtoon produces groundbreaking TV animation for the global market. Today ZAG is most well-known for Miraculous, Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir which is a critically acclaimed, comedy-action, CGI animated series about a transforming girl super hero. Since its launch in late 2015, it has been topping TV ranking charts around the world and appearing in over 80 countries worldwide. ZAG will release at least one new TV series each year and its first feature film is slated for 2019.

Visit us at www.zag-inc.com, www.miraculousladybug.com, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWjVfZ3VnyUwBEOkuOlaU3g

#MiraculousLadybug #ZagHeroez #SpotsOn #BeMiraculous

SOURCE ZAG

Related Links

http://www.zag-inc.com


ARGENTA  Nearly $1 million in back pay and an extra $200,000 a year for the future are on their way to Argenta-Oreana schools after a state mix-up sent the money to Decatur instead.

Since at least fiscal year 2014, some 229 students who live in the Argenta-Oreana district have been counted as Decatur students for the purposes of the state poverty grant, Superintendent Damian Jones said. The grant pays school districts an extra portion of general state aid for students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch.

Since the mistake was discovered, Argenta-Oreana schools will receive a check for $942,000 this month from the state. Jones credited state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, with helping to resolve the issue.

We've believed basically forever that something was wrong, and previous administrations had tried to get the ball rolling, and we had even explored mapping. But until I was able to get Sen. Rose to really assist us and open doors we'd have never been able to open ourselves, nothing happened, Superintendent Damian Jones said. We always suspected it was mapping, crediting our students to Decatur, and that's exactly what it was.

Decatur won't have to pay back the money it received in error, said Todd Covault, chief operational officer for Decatur schools. But in the future, he said it could mean the loss of more than $200,000 annually for the district.

Covault said he is still working on figuring out the full effect that losing those funds will have on Decatur's future budgets, as the poverty grant formula is complex.

Jones said it appeared that an incorrect map was used to determine the number of students for each district who qualified for free and reduced lunches, a component of calculating the poverty grant.

Jones said the Argenta-Oreana district will receive an estimated $200,000 more a year going forward, which he called a game-changer. The money coming this month, plus the money in the future, will allow for some facilities improvements and staffing additions.

Argenta-Oreana's annual budget for the current fiscal year is $9.6 million, and the education fund is $6 million of that, so the percentage of the budget overall isn't that great, Jones said, but after years of underfunding, it's a boon.

As Rose and Jones were working on this problem, Rose said, he was insistent that Decatur's schools should not have to pay back the misdirected funds.

I made it very clear, he said. You screwed this up decades ago, but it wouldn't be fair to claw that money back from (Decatur schools).

The areas in question are the Camelot neighborhood, Wilder Haven and the area south of Mound Road on Decatur's northeast side. Those areas have Decatur zip codes, Jones said, as do several other areas where Argenta-Oreana students live, and that may have contributed to the confusion. A map provided by the Macon County Clerk's Office to the Herald & Review and to Jones concurs that those areas are in the Argenta-Oreana district.

Jones said it took 18 months from the time he first suspected a problem to the resolution, and without Rose's help, it might never have been resolved.

He truly went to bat for the students of A-O," Jones said of Rose.

Rose gave credit to Jones and his team for their persistence in getting their questions answered and the situation resolved.

It was part treasure hunt and part detective story, Rose said. It was started with a hunch that something wasn't right in the state aid breakdown, and that wasn't easy because of the variables in the state aid formula.

Jones knew how many students in Argenta-Oreana qualified for free and reduced lunch, and he knew the numbers didn't add up, Rose said, and after months of work, it finally boiled down to the maps having not been updated for years, possibly as many as 50 years.

One bump in the road was that the University of Illinois at Chicago had a grant to geocode the state maps and bring them up to date, and the person in charge of that project had retired.

When that person went away, literally nobody knew how to decipher or input or change the codes, Rose said.

The Illinois Department of Transportation had maps, too, because keeping information on roadways is its role, but it turned out the most current and correct maps were in the Macon County clerk's and the tax assessor's hands. Those have been updated annually.

To update the geocodes with the state records, somebody had to manually input every address in the neighborhoods in question, and then go back through school records to determine which houses were the homes of Argenta-Oreana students and which of those students qualified for free or reduced lunch. Rose was stunned when he learned Friday how much back funding Argenta-Oreana was going to receive.

Holy cow, Rose said. We've been to every agency, every entity you can imagine trying to figure out this puzzle.

He said he has been asked if this could have happened to other districts, and he thinks it's possible.

You'd think by now more would have stepped forward (if they had suspicions), Rose said. I think this story is going to make superintendents go back and look at their numbers.

Most of the state's school districts are more than 100 years old, he said, and in recent years when districts have consolidated, the geomaps are uploaded and the computers take it from there. But with older districts, the old maps may still be in use.

The theory that Jones and Rose came up with, but have no proof, is that when Camelot and Wilder Haven were built, those areas were swapped to the Argenta-Oreana school district and the state records were never updated with that information.

The Illinois State Board of Education acknowledged the IDOT map used to calculate the low-income student numbers was outdated.

ISBE, the Department of Human Services and other state agencies have coordinated on a correction to Argenta-Oreana Unit District 1s General State Aid supplemental low-income grant. The map used to match low-income students to the appropriate school district did not match the districts actual boundaries, said spokeswoman Jaclyn Matthews. Local authorities are responsible for informing the appropriate state agency of any changes to boundary maps. In this situation, the map provided to DHS was outdated.

The updated map will be used going forward, Matthews said, and state law allowed the recalculation of claims for the previous three years.
Amaravati, May 5 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who began his week-long visit to the US, sought California state's help in areas like technology, industry and agriculture.

Naidu, leading a high-level delegation, met California Governor Jerry Brown at Sacramento on Thursday.

The Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh would emerge as the gateway to Southeast Asia given its long coastline and the presence of deep water ports.

Naidu also explained to the Governor about the unscientific manner in which Andhra Pradesh was divided.

"Due to that hasty decision, Andhra Pradesh was left without a capital. Now we have a great opportunity to build a capital for ourselves," the statement quoted Rao as saying.

Soon after his arrival in San Francisco, Naidu met Mike McNamara, CEO, Flextronics, and highlighted the enormous advantages Andhra Pradesh has to offer in terms of location and accessibility.

The Chief Minister spoke about the friendly business atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh besides citing that it stood first in the 'Ease of Doing Business' rankings.

Naidu said Andhra Pradesh was a potential logistics hub of India and it was the right time for Flextronics to expand the scope of their existing operations in Visakhapatnam.

The Chief Minister also met Simon Segars, CEO of ARM Holdings.
Islamabad, May 7 : Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has taken a senior pilot off duty after he allegedly slept for two-and-a-half-hours while on an Islamabad-London flight, a report on Sunday said.

The incident happened in April when Amir Akhtar Hashmi took the nap in the passenger compartment after handing over the aircraft to an under-training pilot soon after the take-off, the Dawn said.

This put the lives of over 305 passengers at risk, it said.

Dawn quoted unnamed sources as saying that PIA was initially reluctant to act against Hashmi, a former president of the highly influential Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA) "but later caved in to pressure from above".

PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani told Dawn that Hashmi was off from flying duty due to the investigation under way but refused to share further details.

On April 26, Hashmi was in charge of operating the London-bound PK-785 along with first officer Ali Hassan Yazdani, the Dawn said.

Another first officer, Mohammad Asad Ali, who was under training, was also in the cockpit.

Hashmi, an instructor, gets paid over Rs 100,000 each month to train pilots and was supposed to train Ali during the flight. "However, instead of performing his duty, Hashmi went for a quick lie-down."
Amaravati, May 7 : Tech giant Dell has expressed interest in setting up a data centre in this upcoming Andhra Pradesh capital.

The company expressed the interest when Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met Srikanth Satya, a top executive of Dell in Dallas.

Naidu, currently on a visit to the US, met officials of various companies.

According to the Chief Minister's office here, 28 IT service companies have come forward to start their operations in Andhra Pradesh. Premier IT solutions GlobalOutlook, Tekpros, Arcus Technologies are among them.

These companies will lease space in Visakhapatnam and Amaravati.

Naidu met the Director of Bell Helicopters wherein the possibilities of establishing manufacturing facilities in Andhra Pradesh were discussed.

The Chief Minister will also attend a Non-Resident Telugus (NRTs) community dinner.

Earlier, he interacted with high-end technology entrepreneurs and Indian CEOs in a meeting organised by KPMG at San Francisco.

The Who's Who of Indian business and tech industry were present in the meeting chaired by Arun Kumar, who was with Obama administration for three years.

Andhra Pradesh, strategically located with abundant natural resources and a long coastline, can be a logistics hub of India, said the Chief Minister.

He reaffirmed his commitment to make Amaravati one of the five best cities in the world, which would be a completely green, blue, eco-friendly and most liveable metropolis.

Naidu sanctioned Rs 6 crore for establishing Amaravati School of Telugu linguistics in the University of Silicon Andhra.
New Delhi, May 8 : A pregnant rape victim on Monday sought compensation from the Bihar government after doctors at AIIMS said in their report that her pregnancy could not be terminated due to its advanced stage.

The woman, who is also HIV positive, had moved the Supreme Court last week after the Patna High Court rejected her plea for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) in the 17th week of her pregnancy on the grounds that the termination would involve major surgical procedure.

However, the victim's counsel Vrinda Grover told the apex court that the Patna High Court came to the conclusion that surgical procedure may be hazardous to the victim as there is compelling state interest in keeping the unborn child alive.

The victim was examined by a medical board on the directions of the Patna High Court in March this year.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 (amended in 2002) allows abortion upto 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In response to her plea, a bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra, A.M. Khanwilkar directed a medical board at All India Institute for Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital to examine if it was safe to terminate her pregnancy.

While directing the medical examination of the victim, the top court had observed: "We are concerned with saving the life of a destitute who was sexually assaulted and is suffering from serious medical ailment, not to undergo further suffering."

The medical board at AIIMS opined that MTP could not be performed as she was now in the advance stage of pregnancy.

The victim was raped in Patna when she ventured out of the shelter home, Shanti Kutir. She is in the care of NGO Koshish.

When she found out earlier this year that she was pregnant, she decided to terminate the foetus.
Seoul, May 9 : Tens of millions of South Korean voters started casting their votes on Tuesday to elect one candidate to lead the country for the next five years.

Voting in the country's presidential election began at 6 a.m. local time at 13,964 polling stations throughout the country, Yonhap news agency quoted National Election Commission (NEC) as saying.

The voting will end at 8 p.m. local time, instead of 6 p.m. in previous presidential elections.

The two-hour extension came as the election marked a rare presidential by-election caused by the March 10 ouster of former President Park Geun-hye by a Constitutional Court ruling over a massive corruption scandal that has also led to her arrest and indictment.

Also, unlike in the previous elections, the president-elect will be inaugurated immediately after an official declaration of his or her victory by the NEC in a meeting slated for early Wednesday.

Thirteen candidates are vying for the top elected office, but many believe the election is, in reality, a three-way race between Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party, Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party and Ahn Cheol-soo of the centre-left People's Party.

The election had been considered tilted in favour of liberal candidates from the very onset as it followed the removal of the former conservative president over corruption allegations.

Hong, the candidate from the former ruling party, however, was seen catching up with his liberal rivals at the last minute.

A total of over 42.4 million people, or 82 per cent of the country's 51 million population, was eligible to vote in the presidential election, marking the largest number of voters in the country's history.

Over 26 per cent or some 11 million have already cast their ballots over a two-day early voting period held last week.
Rome, May 9 : Former US president Barack Obama met privately with former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi in Milan on Monday.

Obama was hailed by hundreds of locals and tourists in the northern Italian city, who reportedly waited hours to catch a glimpse of him outside his hotel where he was staying, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Glad to have seen a friend and a great leader, Barack Obama, in Milan," Renzi wrote on Facebook after the two met in a closed-door meeting that reportedly lasted about two hours.

"He was in great shape: he still has a lot to say and to give to global politics," wrote Renzi.

The two politicians also telephoned French president-elect Emmanuel Macron to congratulate him together.

Both Obama and Renzi publicly declared their support for Macron, a pro-EU independent, before the runoff vote that swept him to power on Sunday, defeating far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 : Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar's offer to the Union Government to hand over the 1948 made Douglas DC3 'Dakota' Aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) that will arrive in India shortly, is now getting all the mandatory clearances.

Speaking to IANS, the businessman-turned-lawmaker said the aircraft was currently in London.

"Since it is a long haul flight and has to fly over 11 countries, one has to get sanction from all these countries, for which we have applied for. I expect the aircraft to arrive in the country in the coming months and wish to officially hand it over on Vijay Diwas," Chandrasekhar said.

Incidentally, he first made this offer to the UPA Government, but failed to get a positive response and it was only last year that a green signal came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

After buying this aircraft from Ireland in 2009, he has now made the aircraft airworthy in London, where it is waiting to begin its flight to India.
Washington, May 9 : US federal appeals judges appeared divided after hearing the President Donald Trump's administration's defence of the revised travel ban on admitting refugees and travellers from six Muslim-majority countries, the media reported.

The nearly two-hour hearing on Monday before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, came about two months after a federal judge in Maryland imposed a nationwide halt to the core portion of the President's revised executive order, CNN reported.

"He's never repudiated what he said about the Muslim ban," Judge Robert B. King said, underscoring a key rationale for the Maryland federal district court's halt to the ban.

But Judge Paul V. Niemeyer questioned the plaintiffs' attorney about his motive for opposing the ban.

"If some other candidate had won the election and issued this order, I gather you would have no problem with that," said Niemeyer, who was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush.

District Court Judge Theodore Chuang said that the travel ban likely violates the Constitution by disfavouring Muslims, and the the Justice Department appealed that decision in March.

Jeffrey Wall, the acting solicitor general, however, argued that Trump's statements about Muslims prior to taking office should not be considered evidence of discrimination.

"(Trump) made it clear he was not talking about Muslims all over the world, that's why it's not a Muslim ban," CNN quoted Wall as saying in the hearing.

In response, Omar Jadwat, a senior attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project, argued the ban does not serve a valid national security purpose.

Normally, such an appeal of a district court's decision would be heard by a randomly assigned panel of three judges, and the losing party may ask for it to be reheard by the full court.

Yet in this case, the judges on the 4th Circuit decided it should be heard by the full court -- otherwise known as "en banc" -- in the first instance.

The suit in front of the 4th Circuit on Monday was brought by several refugee rights organisations, along with individual plaintiffs who claim the executive order, if allowed to go into effect, would separate them from loved ones abroad, CNN reported.
Washington, May 9 : More than two-fifths of American voters oppose the new Republican legislation aimed at repealing and replacing Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a new poll has revealed.

Forty-four per cent oppose the new legislation called the American Health Care Act (AHCA), while 31 per cent favour the Republican plan, The Hill magazine quoted the HuffPost/YouGov poll released on Monday.

A quarter of those polled were unsure.

The survey results come after the House last week narrowly passed the AHCA, which aims to repeal and replace key provisions of Obamacare.

Support for the new bill is split along party lines, with 69 per cent of Republicans supporting the plan while 70 per cent Democrats opposed it.

Eleven per cent of Republicans oppose the legislation, with 20 per cent who said they were not sure if they favoured or opposed it. Among Democrats, 13 per cent favour the bill and 17 per cent were unsure.

The survey was conducted on May 6, polling 1,000 adults online.

While Republicans have touted the bill's passage through the House as a win, Democrats have vowed to ramp up their efforts against vulnerable lawmakers in the 2018 midterms, reports The Hill magazine.

The Senate is currently conducting a working review of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell over the weekend said he does not expect help from Democrats as the upper chamber tries to pass its own version of the legislation.
DECATUR  Kenny Davis didnt even know where the African-American Cultural & Genealogical Museum of Illinois was when he first heard Mount Zion history teacher Rich Hansen needed money for his class to build an exhibit there.

A year later, both Davis and his daughter Morgan have a permanent investment in the museum. Davis, a Farmers Insurance agent, clued Hansen into a Farmers program that could grant $2,500 to a teacher. Mount Zion was able to secure the grant and on Monday, the exhibit that money helped pay for  and in which Morgan had a painting of Rosa Parks looking out the window of a bus to go along with  debuted.

Breaking Barriers: The Civil Rights Movement Begins is the sixth exhibit Hansens African-American Experience class has designed and constructed for the museum.

In the first five years, the Mount Zion Educational Foundation funded the exhibit. But for both this year and next year, the Foundation instead funded technology  each student was given access to a Chromebook.

I told the class, Heres the project, but this is what its going to cost and we dont have much,  Hansen said. So I told them Id need them to help raise money.

Davis is a former school board member and when he heard Hansen needed money for the project, he sent Hansen an email about Farmers Thank Americas Teachers program.

To get the money, a school had to garner votes in the month of October and finish in the top 60 among the schools entering the contest. Each of the home pages in those new Chromebooks was set to the page to vote for Mount Zion, and Hansen reached out to everyone he knew to vote.

We put those Chromebooks to good use, Hansen said. We had 800 students voting three times a day, and their parents and parents friends and their friends voting.

Davis surprised Hansen with the money at a veterans' event in Mount Zion.

"It was a big community event, and I came from backstage with a big, oversized check," Davis said. "They called me up and we surprised him in front of everyone."

The exhibit is a semester-long project. Responsibilities, delegated to everyone in the class, included raising additional funds through donations and sponsors, researching, designing and building the exhibit.

Kelsi Hayes, a Mount Zion senior, was among the group that helped find the photos that made up the new collage wallpaper in the upstairs with the exhibit, which features images of African-Americans from the era. The wallpaper was printed by DynaGraphics in Decatur.

We tried to find images of people who had the courage to break barriers  African-American nurses, soldiers, musicians and just anyone who helped break through, Hayes said. And I also learned its not just national people. That happened locally as well with people like Ottis Livingston and Evelyn Hood.

Senior Tory Parkhurst was the head of the fundraising committee second semester. The money other than the grant the students helped raise paid for new carpet in the upstairs and the collage wallpaper, along with anything else the project needed.

I really didnt know much about things like Brown v. the Board of Education, Parkhurst said. I knew it ended segregation in schools, but I didnt know how it happened.

Senior Ali Valdez also worked on the wallpaper. She said she loved knowing something she helped produce would be a permanent part of a museum.

"I feel like I'm part of it and left my imprint on something," Valdez said. "I hope more people come out and see it and the work we did on it."

Museum founder and curator Evelyn Hood said she loves working with Hansen and the predominately white Mount Zion students.

It thrills me to know youre trying to learn about our culture, Hood told them. Thats whats its all about, learning about each others culture so we can communicate.

The foundation won't be able to fund the exhibit next year, either, and the same teacher can't win the Farmers Insurance twice. But Davis is still on board to help raise the money.

"I was just talking to Mr Hansen about what we're going to do  we have to get to thinking," Davis said.
Washington, May 9 : Senior Trump administration and military officials have recommended sending several thousand additional American troops to Afghanistan that would put the US back on a war footing with the Taliban.

The new plan, which still needs President Donald Trump's approval, calls for expanding the US military role as part of a broader effort to compel Taliban in moving to the negotiating table, US officials said on Monday.

The recommendation is the product of a broad review by the Pentagon, the State Department, intelligence community and other government agencies on America's longest war.

It would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of US military advisers on the battlefield, the Washington Post reported.

It is broadly consistent with advice General John W. Nicholson, the top American commander in Afghanistan, gave Congress in February.

Warning that the US and its NATO allies faced a "stalemate", General Nicholson told lawmakers that he had a shortfall of a "few thousand" troops and said more personnel would enable the American military to advise the Afghan military more effectively.

The international force assisting the Afghans has about 13,000 troops, of whom about 8,400 are American.

American officials said that 3,000 to 5,000 additional troops, including hundreds of Special Operations forces, could be sent.

Trump is expected to make a decision on his Afghan strategy before a May 25 NATO meeting in Brussels, the Post reported.

The new strategy is a product of the US military's mounting worries that the fragile stalemate with the Taliban has been steadily eroding for years, jeopardising the survival of an allied government and endangering a key US base for combating al Qaeda and the Islamic State throughout South Asia.

Even as it moves to the President's desk, the proposal faces resistance from some senior administration officials who fear a repeat of earlier decisions to intensify military efforts that produced only temporary improvements.

The Pentagon would have final say on troop levels and their deployment on the battlefield.

The plan would also increase spending on Afghanistan's troubled government in an effort to improve its capacity.

US officials said that increase in US troop levels and support to the Afghan government and military would be heavily conditioned on the ability of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to weed out ineffective military commanders and reduce corruption.
Los Angeles, May 9 : After making headlines with a healthcare argument that he sparked following his newborn son's open-heart surgery, popular TV host Jimmy Kimmel returned to "The Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and responded to the criticism that came his way.

Along with providing an update about his son's health, he responded to critics who called him a "Hollywood elitist" for discussing health care.

He returned from paternity leave to his late night show on Monday, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Last week on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", the host had revealed that his son William Kimmel was born on April 21 with a serious heart issue. His monologue prompted an outpouring of support but also some negative reactions on social networks and in the media.

He said: "One week ago tonight, I made an emotional speech that was seen by millions, and as a result of my powerful words, Republicans in Congress had second thoughts about repeal and replace, they realised that what is right is right - and I saved health insurance in the United States of America! Oh, I didn't? I didn't save it? They voted against it anyway? I really need to pay more attention to the news."

He also mentioned the online backlash he received for his stance on accessible health care, "including from members of the media".

"I can't even count the number of times I've been called an 'out of touch Hollywood elitist, creep' this week...Anyway, I'd like to apologise for saying that children in America should have health care. That was insensitive - it was offensive - and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," Kimmel said sarcastically.

He also assured viewers that his son Billy is doing well, and thanked everyone for their support.

"The Jimmy Kimmel Live!" is aired in India on Star World and Star World HD.
Washington, May 9 : A key meeting of White House advisers to discuss the Paris climate change agreement will not take place on Tuesday as scheduled earlier, the media reported.

An official familiar with the issue told Politico news late Monday that the meeting has been postponed.

A White House spokeswoman confirmed that the meeting is being rescheduled.

It is the second time that a meeting to discuss the Paris agreement has been delayed.

President Donald Trump's advisers remain divided over the accord, which won the backing of 195 nations in 2015.

Trump is expected to make a final decision on whether to withdraw sometime this month.

European countries and other US allies are strongly encouraging Washington to remain in the agreement, and Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump is also said to support staying, along with others such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, reports Politico news.

But senior White House adviser Steve Bannon and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt have called to withdraw, as Trump had promised during the presidential campaign.
Jammu, May 9 : One of the two Special Police Officers (SPOs) injured in a mysterious firing incident in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, succumbed in a hospital here on Tuesday.

Police said SPO Muhammad Younis, injured at Tanta police post on Monday, succumbed to critical bullet injuries in the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu city.

Both the injured SPOs were referred to the hospital for specialised treatment by the doctors in Doda district hospital.

Police had denied militants were involved.

Doda's Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Shabir told IANS: "Preliminary investigation revealed it was not a militant attack. But the exact cause of the firing is not known."

The SSP had added, "Things will become clear once we are able to record their statements,"

The SPOs are recruited by the police on a monthly remuneration to fight militancy in the state since the mid-1990s.
Tehran, May 9 : The death toll in a coal mine blast in Iran's Golestan province rose to 42 as rescue teams retrieved seven more bodies on Tuesday, officials said.

The newly recovered bodies have been taken for forensic identification, Xinhua news agency quoted a provincial official as saying.

Accumulation of methane gas at the Zemestanyurt coal mine in Azad-Shahr city triggered the blast on May 3 and killed 35 miners who were working at a depth of 1,200 metres.

Twenty-two bodies were found on Sunday and 13 more on Monday, Press TV reported.

The explosion also left 73 other workers injured.

The mine commenced operations 13 years ago, and there were reports that the equipment being used was in dire need of repair or replacement.
Titagarh (West Bengal), May 9 : India is preparing a law for safeguarding its interest in Antarctica, an official of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) said here on Tuesday.

"India doesn't have laws for Antarctica. We are preparing it and it is in circulation in the law ministry," MoES secretary Madhavan Nair Rajeevan told the media.

"The law entails regulating our activities. When we go there if we do a mistake, what will happen, what to do. It is about safeguarding our own interests," he said.

Rajeevan said India is also poised to expand its research activities in the coldest continent.

Maitri, which is India's second research station in Antarctica as part of the Indian Antarctic Programme, will be replaced by a new one in the next few years.

"The Maitri station will be replaced by a new station in the next three-to-four years. Scientific activities will be expanded. We are also planning to buy a ship which can go to Antarctica," Rajeevan added.
Madrid, May 9 : A group of about 300 sub-Saharan migrants on Tuesday staged a mass attempt to breach the border fence between Spain and Morocco, authorities said.

The mass attempt to reach Melilla, a Spanish autonomous city on the North African mainland, early on Tuesday saw about 100 migrants succeed, while about 200 others were blocked by Spanish and Moroccan security forces, Efe news reported.

The 100 or so who managed to get over the fence were taken to a temporary immigrant processing centre.

The incident took place at the southern part of the border fence in Melilla, and saw migrants hurling rocks as efforts to reach Spanish territory turned violent, according to the authorities.

During the assault, three members of the Spanish Civil Guard were injured and several security vehicles were damaged.

The last successful mass attempt to reach Melilla was on February 6, when 18 of a group of 40 migrants made it over a fence in the same area.
Imphal, May 9 : Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Tuesday vowed to hunt down the militants who ambushed and killed two soldiers a day earlier in an area bordering Myanmar.

Biren Singh was speaking on the sidelines of a condolence function at the "B" company headquarters of 165 Territorial Army at Koirengei near Imphal.

The Chief Minister laid wreaths at the coffins of the two slain soldiers. He met members of the bereaved families.

The killings took place in the border district of Tengoupal on Monday.

Biren Singh said: "Security forces and intelligence agencies are working overtime to identify and round up the militants responsible for the attack.

"We strongly condemn the ambush. Once the militants are rounded up, they will be punished under the law of the land."

There has been no claim from any banned underground outfit regarding the Monday attack.
Patna, May 9 : At least six persons were killed, hundreds rendered homeless, and property worth lakhs of rupees destroyed on Tuesday when a storm hit several districts of Bihar, officials said. Road transport and electricity supply too was hit.

High-velocity winds and heavy rain hit Patna, Gaya, Aurangabad, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Lakhisarai and Munger districts, severely affecting normal life, Disaster Management Department Principal Secretary Prataya Amrit said.

State Disaster Management Authority officials said high-velocity winds hit electricity supply in Patna and other districts as well.

"So far, reports from different districts have confirmed six deaths," Amrit said.

In Aurangabad, farmer Ramadhar Singh was killed when struck by lightning. Farmer Bindeshwar Yadav died in a similar fashion in Darbhanga. Besides, two persons were killed in Lakhisarai, and one each in Munger and Samastipur.

Movement of vehicles in the affected districts was severely hit as uprooted trees and fallen electricity poles blocked roads.

However, the unexpected storm provided much needed relief to people from the scorching heat, with weather becoming pleasant in Patna and other districts due to a resultant dip in the mercury.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced payment of Rs 4 lakh to each of the bereaved families. Officials were assigned the task to disburse the compensation among those affected.
New Delhi, May 9 : The BJP on Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of lying to the Election Commission by not revealing the exact amount of funds it received through donations.

"Kejriwal and his party have lied to that institution, which acts as a watchdog for political parties," Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Manoj Tiwari said at a press conference here.

Citing a news report by CNN-News18 channel on Monday night, Tiwari said, "CNN-News18 in its report showed discrepancies in the donations that AAP received. We also probed and were shocked to find the details.

"We were shocked that the AAP lied not only to the Income Tax department but also to the Election Commission," the BJP leader said.

"The AAP in its affidavit to the Income Tax (IT) department in 2013-14 said that it received Rs 50.64 crore donation, while on its website it disclosed that it received Rs 19.82 crore," Tiwari, who also represents the northeast parliamentary constituency of Delhi, said.

"They informed the Election Commission that they received only Rs 6 crore donation in 2013-14," Tiwari alleged.

"Was it the money which Kapil Mishra saw you (Kejriwal) receiving from Satyendar Jain (Health Minister)?" Tiwari asked.

Attacking the AAP and its national convenor Kejriwal, Tiwari said, "They again lied in 2014-15, as in their affidavit to IT department they claimed that they only received Rs 65.52 crore as donation, while on their website it was mentioned that they received Rs 27.48 crore," he said.

"Where did the rest of Rs 40 crore go? Is it the same money which is being converted into white?" Tiwari questioned.

"We are going to EC at 4 p.m. today to complain against them," Tiwari said.

The BJP leader said the AAP is a "gang of fraudsters", where if anyone raises his voice is ousted from the party.

Tiwari also accused the AAP-led Delhi government of betraying the people of Delhi who voted for a corruption free government.

"People of Delhi voted for a corruption free government, but what did they get in return -- betrayal, corruption, loot, lies, hawala and bribery," Tiwari said.

The AAP is in the throes of a crisis with its sacked Water Minister Kapil Mishra alleging corruption by Kejriwal and other senior leaders.

The AAP has termed the allegations of Mishra "baseless".

Mishra on Monday evening was suspended from the party.
DECATUR  The century-old Lincoln Square Theatre, a former movie house that has faced years of fundraising struggles and mounting maintenance costs, has again ceased operations and some board members have left.

Adam White has stepped down as president of the theater board and Vice President Jake Bonnett said hes in the process of resigning as well. Bonnett declined to comment on the reason.

The latest volunteer board took over running the 141 N. Main St. space two years ago but has struggled with having enough money to run the aging theater. A key stop on "Haunted Decatur" tours and setting for a number of local ghost stories, the vast theater's red carpet and seats, lobby with original mosaic floor tiling and proscenium arch offer a glimpse into its storied past.

Lincoln Theatre board member Anne Thompson said, Right now, were dark, of the theaters status but would not go into any more details about future plans.

Signs have been removed from the theater windows, and its former website address, lincolnsquaretheatre.com, was listed as potentially for sale.

After news of the closure became public Monday night, a post on the theater's Facebook page said the closure was temporary, and that the website was taken down for changes and would return. "We are only closed for the time being to regroup and come up with new ideas, as always we are welcome to hear your ideas as well," it said, thanking fans for their support.

Lincoln Square Theatre Inc. owns the property, according to Macon County records. It is registered as an active not-for-profit corporation with the Illinois Secretary of State's Office. Thompson is listed as its agent.

Its tax-exempt status was automatically voided in 2014 for its failure to file a Form 990-series return or notice for three consecutive years, according to Internal Revenue Service records.

Bonnett said Monday that the status was revoked while the theater was controlled by a previous board, but current board members are working with an accountant to regain the status retroactively.

He said the board pays federal taxes and sales taxes on candy and other items it sells. People who give money to the Lincoln can't currently claim those donations on their taxes, but Bonnett said that's what the board is working to remedy.

White and Bonnett had served as president and vice president of the organization's board for the past two years but had been volunteers for several years before that.

Following an inquiry from the Herald & Review, White released a statement on his resignation.

For the last two years I have devoted all of my time to the theater, White said. With that, I have missed out on a lot of time with family, friends and goals that I would like to achieve before I get too old. Im sad to go, but running a theater full time takes a lot of energy and time.

The theater still holds a special place in my heart as we have made major changes and brought in major shows, movies and more in the last two years. I'm sure someone with the same drive I had will come along, and I wish the theater the best. Its a great theater, with a good board with great ideas, and Im looking forward to what they will be bringing next.

Bonnett said he and White worked together to bring in several shows to the Lincoln, with White signing the acts and Bonnett coordinating the movies.

The Lincoln celebrated its 100th anniversary last October. At one time, with Decaturs location as a hub between St. Louis and Chicago, the Lincoln drew big-name acts such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Chico Marx, Louis Armstrong, Davy Jones and Alabama.

But by the 1980s, the theater had become too dilapidated to host shows. The Decatur Education Association met there during the 1986 teachers' strike before renovations finally began in the 1990s.

In 2002, the state granted the Lincoln $3.5 million for renovations but didnt deliver the full amount until 2005. At that time, the theater had seats missing, paint and plaster falling off the wall, a damaged stage and no fire escapes. The first phase of renovations corrected these problems as well as adding air conditioning and lighting, fixing bathrooms and dressing rooms and repairing the marquee.

The theater closed in 2005 for additional renovations and has been open on and off ever since. Finding consistent revenue to pay the bills and problems with the lighting and boiler systems have kept it struggling. Keeping the Lincoln warm has been an ongoing problem since 2011.

The space sat dormant for more than a year between 2014 and 2015 before the board decided to begin offering more events to generate revenue.

A lot of people just don't realize that we are showing shows again, White told the Herald & Review in July 2015. But we're hoping to show the community: 'Hey, we're here, and we're here to stay.' 
Riyadh, May 9 : Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced its decision to stop hiring foreign dentists to provide job opportunities for locals.

The decision, announced by the Labour Ministry, aims to encourage the private sector to hire more locals in the medical area, Xinhua news agency reported.

The latest move is part of Saudi Arabia's efforts to expand its labour force.
Agartala/Silchar, May 9 : The 156th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate and poet Rabindra Nath Tagore was celebrated on Tuesday in Tripura and Assam.

Numerous programmes were organised across Tripura and southern Assam, with "Prabhat Pheri" (morning procession) being held in each locality.

Songs written by the world famous bard were sung and his poetry was recited at different venues in Tripura by local artists and performers as well as some from West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The Tripura government, which declared a holiday on Tuesday on the occasion, also organised programmes in the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan and Rabindra Kanan in Agartala.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, a devoted Tagore fan, and Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Bhanulal Saha were present at the functions.

Chhandaneer, a renowned cultural organisation of Tripura, has also organised the "Kabi Pranam" programme in Agartala.

"We are organising Rabindra Jayanti for the past 43 years. Artists from West Bengal and Kolkata along with Tripura took part in the week-long programme," Chhandaneer chief Samiran Roy told IANS.

In Silchar, controversy fuelled after the Assam government officially cancelled the celebrations in schools and instead asked the Education Department to hold classes as usual.

However, non-government cultural organisations observed the day with numerous programmes and functions in four districts of south Assam.

Tagore had visited and stayed in Agartala and Shillong between 1899 and 1927.

Researcher on Rabindra Nath Tagore Bikach Chowdhury said: "Tagore's close relations with the princely state of Tripura and its four successive tribal kings form an important chapter in the state's history. This relationship prompted him to visit the state as many as seven times between 1899 and 1926."

"Tripura had a special place in many of Tagore's songs and he wrote a number of novels with the then princely state's history as the theme. Some of these are 'Bisharjan', 'Rajarshi' and 'Mukut'," he added.
Tokyo, May 9 : The Asia-Pacific region will continue to lead global growth, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday and also alerted of the risk posed by protectionism, rapidly ageing populations and a fall in productivity, in the medium term.

The region has a robust economic perspective, with growth expected at 5.5 per cent for 2017 and 5.4 per cent for 2018, which are above the 5.3 per cent registered last year, the agency said during the presentation of its annual report, 'Preparing for Choppy Seas'.

"The signs of growth in the region are encouraging so far. The policy challenge now is to strengthen and sustain this momentum," Changyong Rhee, Director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, said in a statement.

The results are expected to boost the global average, which is forecast to be around 3.5 per cent for 2017 and 3.6 per cent for 2018, against the 3.1 per cent recorded in 2016, Efe news reported.

The IMF predicted a slight slowdown for China, with a growth rate of 6.6 per cent for 2017 and 6.2 per cent for 2018, owing to a slack in the real estate market and lower increases in salaries and consumption.

For Japan, the forecast for this year is pegged at 1.2 per cent, riding on the country's fiscal policies, while South Korea is expected to grow at 2.7 per cent.

The forecast for India is 7.2 per cent for 2017, making it among the fastest growing economies in the world.

The IMF, in its report, while underlining the strong performance of the financial markets in Asia, also urged the countries in the region to take measures and adopt reforms against future risks.

In the short term, the IMF warned of a substantial risk posed by a possible shift towards protectionism, to which the region is particularly vulnerable owing to the degree of trade openness and participation in the global supply chain.

In the medium term, the IMF warned against problems posed by an ageing population, as the population of the region is currently ageing faster than Europe and the United States.

According to the IMF, several places in Asia run the risk of "getting old before becoming rich" and countries such as China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Thailand, could witness a slowdown of 0.5 to 1 percentage points in their gross domestic product over the next three decades.
Kolkata, May 9 : Hours after the Supreme Court sentenced Calcutta High Court judge C.S. Karnan to jail for six months, the West Bengal Police on Tuesday said it was yet to receive a copy of the order.

"We are waiting for the order from them. Let the order come. We will proceed accordingly," Additional Director General of state police (law and order) Anuj Sharma told IANS.

He refused to share any more information on the matter.

The apex court on Tuesday held Karnan guilty of contempt and sent him to jail. It ordered the Director General of West Bengal Police to constitute a team for the implementation of its order "forthwith".

There were reports that personnel from the Newtown police station had gone to Karnan's residence "Rosedale" in northeast Kolkata, but could not find the judge there.

But police did not confirm it.
New Delhi, May 9 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of the contempt plea against Kerala Chief Secretary Nalini Netto after it was informed that its order directing the reinstatement of IPS officer T.P. Senkumar as Director General of State police has been complied with.

The bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta closed the contempt plea as the court was told that the Chief Secretary has already tendered an unconditional apology for delay in reinstating Senkumar as Kerala police chief.

Senkumar was reinstated as state police chief on May 6. He is set to retire on June 30. The top court by its April 24 order had directed restoration of Senkumar as police head.

Senkumar was removed as police chief when Pinarayi Vijayan took over as Chief Minister on May 25, 2016.

The top court had imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 on Kerala government on May 5 as it dismissed the State plea for a clarification on its April 24 order directing the reinstatement of IPS T.P. Senkumar as the Director General of State Police.

Senkumar had moved the top court challenging his removal as State police Chief and his transfer. Senkumar had moved the top court after his plea against his transfer was turned down by the Kerala High court.

Reinstating Senkumar as DGP, the top court in its April 24 judgment had said that he was dealt with "unfairly and arbitrarily" and it was post the Puttingal Temple tragedy and the Jisha murder and not the two tragedies themselves that led to it.

The top court had brushed aside the state government's submission that its subjective satisfaction in removing Senkumar could not be gone into.

The court had said, "The subjective satisfaction of the State Government must be based on some credible material, which this court might not analyze but which can certainly be looked into."
Kolkata, May 9 : Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan left for Chennai on Tuesday morning even as the Supreme Court directed the West Bengal Police Director General to implement "forthwith" its order sentencing the judge to jail for six months.

While a senior Bengal Police officer said police were yet to receive a copy of the apex court's order, personnel of the Newtown police station went to Karnan's residence in the morning, but found he was not there.

"We are waiting for the order from them. Let the order come. We will proceed accordingly," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma told IANS.

He refused to share any more information on the matter.

But an officer of Newtown police station confirmed that a team was sent to Karnan's residence "Rosedale" to enquire about his whereabouts.

"They found he was not there in his flat. The team was told that he had left for Chennai on an early morning flight," the officer said.

Asked whether the team was also under instruction to arrest the judge, the officer replied in the negative.

"We have not received any such order yet. The team was sent only to check whether he is still there in his flat."

The apex court on Tuesday held Karnan guilty of contempt and sent him to jail.

The court ordered the Director General of West Bengal Police to constitute a team for the implementation of its order "forthwith".
New Delhi, May 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday telephoned Emmanuel Macron, the President-elect of France, and congratulated him on his victory and said he is looking forward to working with him.

"Called President Emmanuel Macron to convey my congratulations on his victory in the French Presidential election," Modi said in a tweet.

"I look forward to working with President Emmanuel Macron to further deepen cooperation between India and France," he added.

Macron, 39, was elected France's next president on Sunday after he emerged victorious over his far right rival Marine Le Pen.
Kolkata, May 9 : Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore's poetry and writings have impacted India and the world for generations but many do not know the bard's gastronomic side.

As homage to the literary giant on his 156th birth anniversary, a special platter themed on the cuisine which was the hallmark of the Tagore household or "Thakurbari" is set to debut here on Sunday.

A select few recipes sourced from the book, "Amish O Niramish Randhan" (Non-vegetarian and Vegetarian Food) by Prajnasundari Devi, a niece of Tagore, published in 1900, are being showcased at a three-day festival "Janmadiner Khaowadawa" (Birthday Feast) at the Nalban Food Park. The event was inaugurated on May 9, the polymath's 156th birth anniversary.

"We will showcase a few recipes from the book during the festival. Once it is over, we will carry it forward with a full-fledged 'Thakurbarir Thaali' from Sunday," Soumyajit Das, Managing Director, West Bengal State Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd, told IANS.

It was Das's idea to showcase the heritage of Thakurbari cuisine, a mix of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and West Bengal as also the pronounced Western influence.

The Tagore family, with over 300 years of history, has been one of the leading families of Kolkata and played a key role during the Bengal Renaissance.

Bhetki pudding, curd infused with basil and rose petals, prawns in mayonnaise -- some of Tagore's favourite dishes -- are the highlights of the gourmet gala.

Tagore's travels to Europe, the US, South America and so many other distant lands, shaped his palate which in turn left an imprint and enriched the 'Thakurbari' food culture. Between 1878 and 1932, Tagore visited 30 countries in five continents.

He brought back recipes (menu cards) from events he attended abroad and these were replicated by the talented Thakurbari women.

"Bhetki pudding was a regular at the Tagore household. In summer, they set their curd in a different way. It was flavoured with basil (Tulsi) and rose petals. Another summer speciality was the cumin (jeera) and mango sorbet. The Thakurbari household appreciated good food," Das said.

A fish lover, Tagore loved his kebabs (Turkish ones), pies and puddings too. He never ate in excess. The poet loved to cook and relished feeding his friends, the likes of pioneering scientist J.C. Bose.

"One of the dishes he loved rustling up was pulao with fish cubes (boneless fish pieces shaped in cubes). In fact, food was served in marble and clay plates at Thakurbari. For our festival and in the 'thaali' menu, we are using clay dinnerware," Das added.

Though heavily dipped in Western influence, fish was prominent. Be it hors d'oeuvre, main course or dessert, a Bengali's love for salt and freshwater fish comes through strongly in the Thakurbari kitchen.

Sample this: Rui (rohu) stew, Chital machh (Clown knife fish) stew with brinjal, Katla fish with jackfruit, spicy boal (a type of catfish), spicy Chapila machh (Indian river shad), Shol or murrel fish with green mango.

"There was a great variety in fish and we have also ensured that the festival as well as the thaali reflects this. We have also showcased Chingri Jalfrezi (prawn jalfrezi, which is basically an Indian version of Chinese stir-fry made with curry spices) and chingri (prawn) stew. Paanta bhat (fermented rice porridge) was a staple and this also can be tasted at our food park," Das added.

The dishes are priced between Rs 60 and Rs 100 at the festival.
New Delhi, May 9 : Dharamsala is going to be the first city in the world to have suspended "skyway" transport system, which will become operational within three years, Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said on Tuesday.

Sharma said the feasibility of a high-speed "skyway link" between Dharamsala and Shimla was also being studied.

The minister was speaking here on the eve of signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Himachal Pradesh government and Belarus-based company Skyway Technologies.

Sharma said a 15-kilometre stretch had been identified in Dharamsala where work would start in the next two-to-three months.

"The plan is to complete all formalities over the next couple of months and then immediately start work on the project," he said.

Skyway is an elevated light-rail transportation system with suspended carbon-fibre cars moving at high speed on steel rails.

Sharma added that skyway technology was ideal for the hilly terrain in Himachal Pradesh, where train, metro and monorail were not practical.

He said a high-speed link to connect Dharamsala with the state capital Shimla would also be built.

"The suspended cars on the skyway can run at a speed from 50 to 500 kilometres per hour. Since not much land is required, acquisition won't be a problem," he said.

The minister added that the system would be silent, safe and earthquake-resistant, as the "area comes under the seismic zone".

"The system can be used for passenger as well as freight traffic. So, it would help in reducing congestion and pollution as well as offering efficient and cheap mode of transport," he said.

While the suspended cars can be customised in size for carrying two to 34 passengers at a time, Sharma said six-person driver-less cars would be introduced in Dharamsala with a capacity of carrying up to 20,000 passengers per day.

"We have also talked to Skytech Technologies to set up a manufacturing plant in India, which would lead to some cost-cutting as well."

Sharma said the project would cost Rs 38 crore per kilometre, which he said was cheaper than other alternatives like metro and monorail.

Skyway Technologies creator Anatoly Yunitskiy said the technology was not a fantasy but it already existed.

"What we want to do in Dharamsala has already been implemented and verified," he said, referring to the demonstration unit set up in Belarus.

He said while the system could attain speeds up to 500 kilometres per hour, it would be 50-60 kilometres per hour in Dharamsala, "which is quite good for a city".

"Higher speeds would be possible for Dharamsala-Shimla link."
Chandigarh : Chandigarh May 9 (IANS) Japanese electronics major Panasonic would soon set up its refrigerator factory in Haryana's Jhajjar district, Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu said here on Tuesday.

The Japanese envoy, who met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and other senior functionaries, said that investment from Japanese companies in Haryana had considerably increased during the last two and a half years.

"Statistics revealed that maximum number of companies which came to India in 2016 had set up units in Haryana which is a testimony of the increased faith of Japan in Haryana," he said.

Japan also sought Haryana's cooperation in setting up Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing in the state for imparting skill training to the youth in the manufacturing sector.

Thanking the Haryana government for providing a safe and secure atmosphere to the Japanese people residing in Haryana, the state requested Khattar to allow the setting up of a Japanese Language Cell, and also to start one or two schools, preferably in Gurugram, for Japanese students.

"At present, units of about 341 Japanese companies are operational in the state and about 2,500 Japanese nationals are residing here," Hiramatsu pointed out.

While assuring all support and cooperation to Japanese companies in the state, Khattar said they should contribute maximum to development through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

"The state government is in the process of establishing an authority through which all CSR activities would be undertaken," he added.

Khattar said that a major industrial hub is also being developed in Jhajjar district where more Japanese companies are expected to set up units.

Japan has considerable investment in Haryana, with manufacturing units of Japanese companies like Suzuki, Honda and others.

The first big name to establish base in Haryana, Maruti-Suzuki, piloted by Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki was a runaway success in early 1980s.

The big names that have, over the years, lined up to invest in Haryana include Canon, Yakult, Denso, Mitsubishi, Toyo, Daikin, Yokohama, Showa, Nippon, Kansai Paints, Asahi, Stanley and many others.
DECATUR  The Macon County Fair is scheduled for Tuesday, June 6, to Sunday, June 11, the fair association announced Monday.

Grandstand events will begin Thursday night with the Macon County Fair Pageant at 7 p.m. The Miss Macon County Fair Queen will move on to compete in January for the title of Miss Illinois County Fair for 2018.

The Illiana Pullers Association Tractor and Truck Pulls will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

The fair will host the Adorable Baby Contest for children from newborn to 36 months at 2 p.m. Saturday. On Saturday evening, C-Bar Rodeo will perform in the Grandstand with bull riding, barrel racing, mini bulls, comedy acts and a trick rider.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, the Macon County Fair will be the first of 12 county fairs to hold the Illinois State Fair Karaoke Contest. Contestants are encouraged to sign up online at llinois.gov/statefair.

The band Icon For Hire is returning to Decatur on Saturday and will perform at 8 p.m. in the Maltas Building. Opening acts are Assuming We Survive and October Sky.

The swine show will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday. The fair will conclude with the demolition derby at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Admission to the fair is $2 per person with children 3 and under being free. Parking on the fairgrounds is free. The fair opens at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings. On Saturday and Sunday, the fair opens at 1 p.m.

Visit www.maconcountyfair.com for more information.
Ramallah, May 9 : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday announced he is ready to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restart peace talks with the support of US President Donald Trump.

Abbas made the remarks during a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Palestinian leader told reporters he reiterated to Trump during their meeting in Washington last week his readiness to cooperate and meet Netanyahu under the US President's sponsorship for peace making.

Abbas said he is looking forward to meeting Trump during his scheduled visit to the region on May 22. The two leaders are expected to hold a meeting in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on May 23.

German President Steinmeier expressed his support for the Palestinian state and its institutions and acknowledged the need to improve the lives of Palestinians in West Bank.

Steinmeier advocated the two-state solution as the "only solution" in negotiations between Israel and Palestine and highlighted Trump's initial contacts with both leaders.

Besides visiting Israel and Palestine in his first foreign tour as President, Trump will also travel to Vatican City and Saudi Arabia.
New Delhi, May 9 : Secretary of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTy) Aruna Sundararajan has said that India is one of the most promising growth markets in the world.

"India is amongst the most promising growth markets in the world, and this makes it an attractive destination for all," Sundararajan was quoted as saying at the Annual West Coast Summit of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) in California on Monday.

Besides, Sundararajan spoke about the 'Digital India' and the 'Make in India' flagship initiatives of the central government.

The IT secretary was awarded the 'Transformative Leadership Award' by the USIBC on Monday for her excellence in public service and for championing the US-India trade ties.

Sundararajan is leading a delegation to the US to meet IT companies.
New Delhi, May 9 : In a first in India's judicial history, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced a sitting high court -- Justice C.S. Karnan of the Calcutta High Court -- to six months in jail for contempt following a series of actions by the Dalit judge topped by his order of sentencing Chief Justice of India and seven other apex court judges to five years rigrous imprisonment.

"We are of the unanimous view that Justice C.S. Karnan is guilty of contempt of court and interfered with judicial process of grievous nature," a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said while holding him guilty of contempt for his utterances against the Chief Justice of India and other judges of the apex court.

"We sentence him to imprisonment for six months. The sentence shall be extended forthwith," it observed bringing to an end a long showdown between Karnan and judges of the Madras High Court when he was part of it and later with the apex court judges.

Karnan had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January about alleged corruption in Indian judiciary.

The judge was sentenced in absentia and West Bengal Police was ordered to constitute a team immediately to arrest Karnan, whose tenure comes to an end in June.

West Bengal Police chief chief Anuj Sharma, however, told IANS that he was waiting for the Supreme Court order before he could "proceed accordingly".

But Karnan had reached Chennai where he was staying in the State Guest House at Chepauk.

Senior Advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for Justice Karnan, asked the court if it can wait for his retirement and not sentence a sitting judge of a High Court.

Chief Justice Khehar said the court cannot make such distinctions to punish for contempt.

"Before us, there is no judge or private party or public party. He is a citizen of India, if he is guilty he should be punished," the Chief Justice said.

The bench also said it was satisfied in punishing him.

In its order, the Supreme Court also restrained the print and electronic media from carrying statements by Justice Karnan.

The sentencing followed a series of "judicial orders" the controversial judge had passed even after being stripped of judicial work.

What apparently came as the final straw on the camel's back was the order issued by Justice Karnan on Monday awarding five-year rigorous imprisonment to the Chief Justice of India and seven other Supreme Court judges and imposition of a fine of Rs 100,000 on each of them under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and the amended Act of 2015.

The apex court had earlier asked all courts and tribunals not to take cognisance of any orders issued by the judge.

Justice Karnan had taken on the top judiciary after he wrote a letter to Modi accusing various judges and officers of the Madras High Court of corruption.

The Supreme Court initiated contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan on February 8 and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work.

In his January letter, he said corruption charges against the judges could be proven if investigated by competent officers of the central agencies.

After this, the Supreme Court issued a warrant on March 10 against Justice Karnan.

He appeared before the Supreme Court on March 31 -- becoming the first sitting High Court Judge to do so in a contempt case.

The judge remained unrestrained and continued with his tirade against the Supreme Court judges, accusing them of caste bias.

The Supreme Court then called for a medical examination of Justice Karnan. He refused to undergo the test, insisting that he was of sound mind.

Reacting to the apex court decision, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani observed that the Supreme Court had no option but to sentence Justice Karnan who he said had "lost his head".

Another senior advocate Kamini Jaiswal, however, felt that it was totally unfortunate for the judiciary and the Supreme Court unnecessarily got into the issue.

The judge had written to the executive and the apex court should have left the matter to the executive which could have initiate impeachment proceedings.

She admitted that the judge suffered from a foot-in-the-mouth disease and after a notice was issued to him then it had to go to a logical end.

"I think in the first place, it is a very, very sad day," she said.
Pune, May 9 : A fast track court on Tuesday pronounced the death sentence for three prime accused in the sensational October 2009 gangrape and murder of software engineer Nayana Phatak-Pujari.

Special Judge L. L. Yenkar, who on Monday convicted Yogesh Ashok Raut, Mahesh Balasaheb Thakur and Vishwas Hindurao Kadam for kidnapping robbing, gangraping and then killing the victim, sentenced them to death after a hectic day full of arguments between the prosecution and defence lawyers.

Raut (32) and Thakur (31), both belong to Pune, and Kadam (34) is from Satara district.

Special Public Prosecutor Harshad Nimbalkar forcefully argued for the death penalty against the convicts, terming it as "the rarest of rare cases" considering the brutality of the crime against the victim.

He said that the prosecution conclusively managed to establish the complete chain of circumstances that led to the serious crime and said they deserved "the maximum punishment" under the laws.

"Considering the brutal manner in which the victim was gangraped and then killed, this falls under the category of rarest of rare case," he said after the conviction.

As co-accused, Rajesh Pandurang Chaudhari, who was arrested as an accomplice, later turned an approver and was granted a pardon, defence lawyers B.A. Alur, Ranjit Dhomse-Patil and Ankush Jadhav, who sought a milder sentence, also argued that he was also guilty and should face the same punishment.

Raut pleaded that he was innocent and was being framed in the case, the vehicle was not in his possession at the time of the incident and the court should consider that he had an aged mother, wife and daughter before pronouncing its verdict.

Both Raut and Kadam demanded that Chaudhari was an equal accomplice in the crime and he also deserved the same punishment, though Thakur didn't say anything.

The victim's husband Abhijit Pujari, and sisters Manisha G. and Madhuri J. who had demanded the death penalty for the accused after their conviction on Monday, expressed their "relief and satisfaction" over the verdict before the media.
New Delhi, May 9 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday asked leaders of Muslim community who met him to initiate reform on triple talaq without letting the issue to be politicised.

Modi, who met 25 leaders from the Muslim community under the umbrella of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said democracy's greatest greatest strength is harmony and amity and the government does not have any right to discriminate among citizens, said a PMO release.

Stressing India's specialty has been its unity in diversity, he said that the new generation in the country must not be allowed to fall victim to the rising global tide of extremism.

"On triple talaq, the Prime Minister reiterated that the Muslim community should not allow this issue to be politicized, and urged the assembled gathering to take the responsibility for initiating reform in this regard," the release said, adding the members of the delegation appreciated the Prime Minister's stand on the issue.

The delegation members expressed concern over the situation in the Kashmir Valley and "said that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi can resolve the issue".

Noting the Muslim community is keen to be an equal partner in the making of New India, they said terrorism was a major challenge and expressed a common resolve to combat it with all their might.

The delegation also said it is Muslim community's responsibility that under no circumstances should anyone compromise the nation's security or well-being.

"They said that the Muslim community would never allow any conspiracy against India succeed," the release said.

The release said that members of the delegation, who are associated with educational institutions, also mentioned the progress made by their institutions in taking advantage of government initiatives such as the start-up scheme.

The release said the delegation also appreciated implementation of minority welfare schemes.

Welcoming the delegation, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said that the whole world is looking at India and it is the responsibility of all segments of Indian society to take the nation forward.

The members of the delegation included Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind President Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman Mansurpuri, its General Secretary Maulana Mahmood A. Madani, Mumbai-based Anjuman-i-Islam's President Zahir I. Kazi, academician Akhtarul Wasey and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal.
Mexico City, May 9 : At least 14, including five children, have died following an explosion in a fireworks warehouse in Mexico, according to reports.

Apart from the 14 dead 22 people were injured, officials were quoted by the Independent online as saying.

The blast happened on Monday evening in a rural area of central Puebla state, Diodoro Carrasco, a senior state government official in Puebla state, told Cinco Radio.

The area is located around 200 km southeast of Mexico City.

The incident comes just five months after more than 30 people were killed and 70 injured by a similar explosion in a fireworks market at the northern edge of Mexico City.

More than a dozen children suffered 90 per cent burns.
New Delhi, May 9 : Power Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting Austria and Britain from May 10 to 13 to hold a energy dialogue, said an official statement.

On May 10, Goyal will participate in investors meet organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna.

"The Minister will deliver key note address at Vienna Energy Forum 2017 on Thursday, May 11, after which he will be having dialogue with Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to explore prospects of better business opportunities in the energy sector," the statement said.

He will also participate in a ministerial panel discussion on '2030 Development Agenda for Energy'where he is expected to discuss International Solar Alliance and investment in renewable energy.

During his British leg of visit, on May 12, Goyal will be participate in UK-India Business Roundtable on Energy organised by FICCI and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in London.

"The Minister will also witness the listing of NTPC's bonds at London Stock Exchange on the same day," it said.

NTPC is regularly issues Offshore medium-term notes (MTN) and the current issuance is the second Masala Bonds offering by NTPC within a 12 months period.

The first Masala Bonds issuance in August 2016 was for Rs 2,000 crore (approx $300 million) as is the current one is approx $310 million. Both the Masala Bonds are of 5 years tenure.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)'s affordable lighting scheme - UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All) will be launched during the visit.

The Minister will also formally announce the state-Arun EESL's investment of 100 million pounds in Britain over the next three years.

The India-UK energy dialogue will witness the formalisation of EESL's collaboration with Cenergist to strengthen its LED pipeline.

Goyal will be accompanied by senior officers of his ministry.
Colombo, May 9 : A group of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees returned from south India on Tuesday, the government said.

Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan said 16 refugees returned and were greeted by officials at the main international airport outside Colombo, reports Xinhua news agency.

The spokesperson said that over the past two weeks, 56 Sri Lankan refugees had returned to the country from India.

The refugees were among thousands who had fled Sri Lanka during a 30-year conflict between Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the military.

The official said arrangements were being made to resettle all the refugees who return to the country.

India and Sri Lanka are divided by a narrow strip of sea.
Rome, May 9 : More than 1,590 migrants arrived in the Italian coastal city of Salerno on Tuesday along with the body a three-year-old child who died during the Mediterranean crossing.

The toddler's corpse arrived aboard a Norwegian rescue vessel which had 990 migrants on board. The child will be buried in a local cemetery, officials said.

Among the migrants who landed in Salerno, 100 will remain in the surrounding Campania region while the others will be transferred to the northern Italian regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, said the officials.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Italian navy vessel docked in Palermo, Sicily, with more than 600 migrants aboard who were rescued in the Strait of Sicily including many women and children, according to the officials.

A total of 41,196 boat migrants reached Italy this year till May 7 while 1,222 perished on the treacherous crossing from North Africa, the UN migration agency the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday.

The figures compare with 31,214 arrivals and 966 deaths over the same period of 2016.
New Delhi, May 9 : Keen to improve BJP's reach among Muslims in view of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a meeting was held here on Tuesday in which the party's Muslim leaders urged the backward sections of the community to take advantage of the government's pro-poor initiatives.

The meeting, organised under the banner of Bharatiya Mulim Pichada Varg Mahasammelan, was addressed by leaders including former MP Sabir Ali, who had left the Janata Dal-United to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, and Minorities Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Ali, the main organiser of the event, said that Muslims were keen to take advantage of the development initiatives of the NDA government and were not willing to be treated as "vote banks" by political parties.

"We need to introspect seriously. It's been 70 years since the country got independence but the condition of Muslims still remains the same. The person who used weave clothes or apply punctures, their families are still in the same trade. We should take advantage of Modi government's pro-poor policies," he said.

Ali said "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas" was not a mere slogan of the government and there was no discrimination in implementation of various government schemes.

He said they will reach out to Muslim community and make them aware about the initiatives of the government including in areas of boosting entreprenuership and skills.

Naqvi, in his speech, said Congress had done did little for the Muslim community in its long rule and accused it of practising an "appeasement policy."

"During the Congress rule, the benefits of schemes for minorities were derived by a section and it did not reach the masses. Now the schemes are reaching the poor and the needy including those belonging to the minority community," he said.

He said NDA government had started several schemes for the minority community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during the BJP national executive meeting at Bhubaneswar in April this year had said that there were backward and marginalised sections among Muslims the government must address their concerns.

Modi had asked the party leaders and workers to hold district-level meetings over the issues of backward Muslims and women.

BJP sources said that it was the first ocassion when Ali and Naqvi had come together on a public platform. Naqvi had opposed Ali's entry into BJP the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Ali was inducted into the party in 2015 ahead of Bihar assembly polls.
DECATUR  Richland Community College is positioning itself to train students for potential employment opportunities through several avenues, President Cris Valdez told members of the business community Tuesday.

That community outreach was a focus of Valdez's half-hour address as he spoke Tuesday morning at the Decatur Club breakfast for SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentoring.

That partnership can come in a number of ways, including an increased focus on entrepreneurial education for students, as some space in the planned Carroll Center for Innovative Learning has been designated for such opportunities.

Another angle is in the ability to fill the "skill gap" found when employers cannot fill hundreds of jobs due to an untrained workforce, Valdez said.

The question is, how do you get young people interested in technical skills required to fill these roles? Valdez said.

A possible way to fix that gap is strengthening the relationship between the college and the local grade schools. While high school students soon will head off into higher education or the workforce, Valdez said many of these students start to develop future plans while they are in grade school and junior high.

We want to let them know that we offer that technical training or associate or certificate degree education that can assist them to being successful, he said.

Most of the presentation was more of an introduction for Valdez and his background, as the he is about to celebrate his first anniversary as president of Richland.

"Its been a quiet first year," Valdez deadpanned.

The comment was a nod to the challenges faced by the college due to declining enrollment and a lack of state funding.

To help address a $2.6 million loss in revenue over the past two years, the college has announced that 37 full-time and part-time employees will be laid off or bought out by the end of the spring semester. The college will also close its child care center on May 19. Administrators have said they will evaluate future steps to reduce the budget by next year.
New Delhi, May 9 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Bihar government to pay Rs 3 lakh compensation to a destitute woman suffering from HIV, who became pregnant after being raped and cannot terminate her pregnancy because of its advanced stage.

"The petitioner (the victim) shall be paid sum of Rs 3 lakh, as she has been a victim of rape," directed the bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar in their order.

The court ordered for compensation under the Bihar government's victim compensation scheme that has been framed under Section 357A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Section 357A, providing for compensation to victim, states: "Every State Government in co-ordination with the Central Government shall prepare a scheme for providing funds for the purpose of compensation to the victim or his dependents, who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and who require rehabilitation."

The court said that the compensation of Rs 3 lakh would be paid in four weeks' time and the compliance of the same would be communicated to the court.

The court said that other aspects of compensation on account of negligence by the authorities in not carrying out the medical termination of pregnancy when the victim had approached them within its 17 weeks would be considered on August 8 when matter would come up for further hearing.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, as amended in 2002, allows abortion up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The victim came to know about her pregnancy during her medical examination early this year. It was then that she decided to terminate the foetus.

The court ordered compensation under victim compensation scheme after a medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, which had examined the victim, opined that she was in advance stage of pregnancy and termination of the same would be risky for her life.

The destitute victim was raped in Patna when she ventured out of the shelter home, Shanti Kutir. She is in the care of non-governmental organisation Koshish.

The woman, who is also HIV positive, moved the Supreme Court last week after the Patna High Court rejected her plea for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) in the 17th week of her pregnancy.
New Delhi, May 9 : The Deen Dayal Research Institute (DRI), a think tank linked to RSS, has come up with suggestion of "Nanaji Thali" to meet the nutritional needs of the common man.

The suggestion will be further explored at a workshop to be held in Shillong next month which will be attended by well known nutritionists, social scientists and representatives from agriculture ministry, it said.

DRI General Secretary Atul Jain said the focus all along has been on food security but emphasis should also be on nutritional security.

"Since 1950 we have been following a policy of food security but we never thought of providing nutritional foods. During our last three seminars we had discussed the issue of providing nutritional thali to the common people. We found that this should be done and this can be done," Jain told reporters here.

"This was the idea of Nanaji Deshmukh, whose birth centenary celebrations are underway," he said.

A social activist, who worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance, Deshmukh was also a leader of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor of BJP, and a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Jain said Nanaji Thali would be based on indigenous crops and traditional food habits of the people.

Jain also said that a seminar will be held at Ahmedabad next month to push for the Indianisation of education.

"The two day seminar would be attended among others by opinion makers and officials of the HRD Ministry," he said.
New Delhi, May 10 : The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has suspended the death sentence on alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court," she said in a tweet.

She also said that legal luminary Harish Salve was representing the country on the matter.

Article 74, paragraph 4 of the ICJ rules says "pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects". Under this provision, the ICJ's President Justice Ronny Abraham has written to Pakistan seeking the suspension of the sentence.

India had moved the court on Monday seeking a set of reliefs including "by way of suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused", and "restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court".

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistan said Jadhav worked for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) fuelling the Baloch separatist movement and attempting to sabotage the CPEC project.

A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad.

New Delhi had warned that if Jadhav was hanged, it would be considered "premeditated murder" by Islamabad.
Mumbai, May 10 : State-owned lender IDBI Bank on Tuesday evening said that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated a "prompt corrective action" (PCA) Ain view of its high non-performing assets (NPAs) and negative return on assets (RoAs).

"RBI, vide their letter dated May 05, 2017, has initiated PCA for IDBI Bank in view of high NPA and negative RoA," IDBI Bank in a regulatory filing to the BSE.

"This action will not have any material impact on the performance of the bank and will contribute to improving the internal controls of the bank and improvement in its activity."

The development follows April 13, 2017 revision of the PCA guidelines by RBI.

Last month, RBI said that capital, asset quality and profitability would be the basis of the PCA framework on which the banks would be monitored and has defined three kinds of risk thresholds.

In a notification issued by RBI that time, the mandatory action that would be taken when a bank breaches the risk threshold includes restriction on dividend payment/remittance of profits, restriction on branch expansion, higher provisions, restriction on management compensation and director's fees.

"The PCA framework would apply without exception to all banks operating in India including small banks and foreign banks operating through branches or subsidiaries based on breach of risk thresholds of identified indicators," the RBI had said.

With regard to credit risk related action, the RBI can ask the banks to prepare a time bound plan and commitment for reduction of NPAs; restrict or reduce credit expansion for borrowers below certain rating grades or unrated borrowers/unsecured exposures/loan/concentration of loans in identified sectors or borrowers.

The bank had posted a net loss of Rs 2,254.96 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, as compared to net loss of Rs 2,183.68 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015.
New Delhi, May 10 : In a reprieve for alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, the International Court of Justice at the Hague in the Netherlands has suspended the death sentence on him by a Pakistani military court, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.

"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court," she said in a tweet.

She also said that legal luminary Harish Salve was representing the country on the matter.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ICJ said: "On 8 May 2017, the Republic of India instituted proceedings against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, accusing the latter of aegregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations' (hereinafter the aVienna Convention') in the matter of the detention and trial of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan," the ICJ said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The Applicant contends that it was not informed of Mr. Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights," the statement said.

Under Article 74, paragraph 4 of the ICJ rules, which says "pending the meeting of the Court, the President may call upon the parties to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects", ICJ President Justice Ronny Abraham has written to Pakistan seeking the suspension of the sentence.

India had moved the court on Monday seeking a set of reliefs including "by way of suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused", and "restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court".

It had also sought the sentence of the military court "arrived in brazen defiance of Vienna Convention rights" as well as the rights of the accused be declared violative of international law.

Citing "the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes India", it urged the court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately "without waiting for an oral hearing".

Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer, was allegedly arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 and Pakistan said Jadhav worked for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) fuelling the Baloch separatist movement and attempting to sabotage the CPEC project.

A military court sentenced him to death on April 10 on charges of espionage and waging war against Islamabad.

New Delhi had warned that if Jadhav was hanged, it would be considered "premeditated murder" by Islamabad.

Since Jadhav's alleged arrest in Pakistan in March last year, India sought consular access to him 16 times till this month but Islamabad refused to respond.
Logo BiZZdesign BiZZdesign helps companies to drive simplicity. We enable our community to improve the quality and speed of decision-making on their journey towards continuous improvement and transformational change.

BiZZdesign, a global market-leading business change software organization, has had an excellent first quarter of 2017, reporting double-digit growth in recurring revenue. BiZZdesign also reports a 200% increase in revenue from new deals and expanding its portfolio at existing customers. Many industry leading organizations are putting their trust in BiZZdesign to help ensure the future success of their business.

BiZZdesigns new Q1 customers include a global leader in container shipping and ports, a world-leading credit card company, a global provider of IT and Technology solutions, and a multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer. Over 50% of all new bookings are closed in North America.

Customers reward BiZZdesign Enterprise Studio with a 4.4 out of 5, commending its ease of use and short time to value (source: Gartner Peer Insights, as of May 1, 2017). BiZZdesign Enterprise Studio provides an excellent user experience, and makes the life of the professional architect a lot nicer, says a customer in the Finance industry. Another customer in the Energy and Utilities industry praises the fast implementation of the product, and the support of BiZZdesigns service desk, while another in Government claims that BiZZdesign is a sound partner with lots of knowledge about Enterprise Architecture, understanding it's all about improving business outcomes. These positive reviews indicate the indispensability of business change software.

BiZZdesign continues to be the software platform of choice for several important global companies in a range of industries. BiZZdesign CEO Huub Janse: BiZZdesign helps companies to drive simplicity. We enable our community to improve the quality and speed of decision-making on their journey towards continuous improvement and transformational change.

About BiZZdesign  Driving Simplicity

BiZZdesign empowers organizations worldwide to improve the quality and speed of decision-making. Our collaborative business change platform, Enterprise Studio, provides indispensable insights in strategic business initiatives and triggers change across all key disciplines.

BiZZdesign is recognized by analysts as a Leader in the Enterprise Architecture space.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner Peer Insights reviews constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-users based on their own experiences, and do not represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates.
Zui Spa at Renaissance Jaragua The spas approach to physical and mental treatment relies on something it calls intensity of experience.

Scents and herbs are rediscovered in the city of Santo Domingo with the newly-opened Zui Spa at the Renaissance Santo Domingo Jaragua Hotel & Casino, which seeks to provide scented journeys of crafted mind-body-soul balance.

The spas approach to physical and mental treatment relies on something it calls intensity of experience. All its treatments have been designed so that each visit helps guests recover the days balance. Depending on the experience that is sought, guests can enjoy three intensity levels:



Renew: designed to offer special therapy sessions for intense stress moments and energy balance after a long days journey.

Restore: designed to balance body systems in depth to achieve changes in the treated area.

Relax: designed to be fast and effective therapy sessions and treatments that achieve immediate effect for anxiety relief.

Zuis features include individual treatment rooms for maximum relaxation, treatment rooms for couples, an invigorating sauna for body refreshment, a welcoming jacuzzi bath area, a steam room and other recreation rooms.

Among other services, the new spa is characterized by its diverse rituals, called Signature Journeys. These are El susurro de la Cohoba (The Cohobas Whisper), consisting of exfoliation and body wrap treatments and a massage fueled with aromatic bags; La Yayama (The Yayama), a leg, neck, back & shoulder massage and eye treatment; and the Aura de mar (Sea Aura), an exfoliation and body wrap treatment, oxygenating facial, and massage. These Signature Journeys are named around elements of the indigenous culture in the Dominican Republic.

The name Zui comes from the name of the Mother God of the Jaragua chiefdom in pre-Colonial Dominican history.

Zui Spa at the historic Renaissance Jaragua is open from 8:00am to 9:00pm. For spa reservations, guests can dial (809) 221 2222, ext. 5124, or email zuispa(at)renaissancehotels(dot)com.

# # #

ABOUT RENAISSANCE HOTELS:

Renaissance Hotels encourages guests to Live Life to Discover at 160 hotels in over 35 countries around the world. Each hotel is unique and every stay offers an opportunity to explore local discoveries exclusive to the destination. At Renaissance Hotels, we believe that every guest is a storyteller and we aim to deliver with unexpected experiences meant to be shared. Our signature events in our lobbies, bars & lounges are designed to showcase emerging talent in music, the arts, mixology and culinary and more to inspire new discovery. Renaissance Navigators are neighborhood experts who are ready to assist guests in discovering true local flavors and activities. R.E.N. Meetings offers groups an experience beyond a traditional meeting, rooted in creative sensory meeting design and custom-curated local Navigator excursions and networking events. At Renaissance Hotels, we work to ensure that every trip is transformed into an eye-opening, unforgettable journey. You spend your life working, you should discover the world as you go. To discover more visit http://www.renhotels.com.

For upcoming events visit http://www.renhotels.com/events

Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RenHotels

Follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/RenHotels

Like us on Instagram http://www.instagram.com/RenHotels

Visit Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) for company information.
We make product enhancements frequently. Were constantly turning customer feedback and specific use cases into product improvements. Botify is an agile company and weve used that agility to innovate and provide the market with something it really needs.

Botify, the premiere technical SEO platform for enterprise companies, was named the Software Innovation winner in the European Search Awards. This is the fourth award win for the company over the past year.

The European Search Awards are a celebration of the very best in SEO, PPC and Content Marketing from across Europe. These awards recognize outstanding campaigns and teams from the many countries throughout Europe. The awards are now in their sixth year and attract hundreds of entries from some of the leading search and digital agencies from across Europe.

The Innovation - Software category of the European Search Awards recognized innovation in the development of a software tool or platform in the past year. This is the second year Botify has been recognized in the European Search Awards and the fourth win awarded to the company in the past year across the US, EU, and UK.

Botifys industry-leading technology has been shaking up the search marketing landscape globally. The unrivaled combination of the Botify Crawler and Log Analyzer empowers users to examine how their site is seen by search engines with unprecedented visibility. That visibility enables understanding and optimization of large-scale websites and drives organic traffic and revenue on both mobile and desktop. After partnering with Botify, clients quickly see organic improvements of 15% on average, with some clients driving as much as 200% improvement. The Botify team is ever-focused on improving the tool, demonstrated by the recent launch of JavaScript Crawling capability (the first in the industry!) among other powerful features.

We make product enhancements frequently. Were constantly turning customer feedback and specific use cases into product improvements. Botify is an agile company and weve used that agility to innovate and provide the market with something it really needs. said Adrien Menard, CEO of Botify.

Botify is backed by top European VC firms Idinvest and Ventech which invested $7.2 Million in Series A funding in early 2016. This investment will contribute to the continued expansion of Botifys product offering.

About Botify

Botify is the premiere technical SEO platform for enterprise companies. Built by SEOs for SEOs, this innovative, award-winning solution empowers users to improve performance with unprecedented visibility into how search engines crawl and index a site. Botify has offices in Paris, New York, and London, and works with more than 400 customers in 30 countries. Their enterprise customers span industries and include Expedia, Staples, Refinery29, eBay, and iProspect. For more information visit our site https://www.botify.com/.
WARRENSBURG  A chemical leak discovered in a field south of Warrensburg prompted the shutdown of Park and Hackney roads between West Street and Glasgow roads Monday.

The leak of what was described as an unknown petroleum product was discovered at 10:30 a.m coming from a field drainage tile, according to a statement from Lt. Jamie Belcher with the Macon County Sheriff's Office.

The affected roads remained closed Monday night as investigations continued involving experts from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency who were trying to find out what the chemical is and where it came from.

The discharge has been contained and authorities do not believe there is any immediate threat to the public health, Belcher said.
The Naples Hotel Group, a leading hotel development and management company announces Edgardo Rodriguez as the General Manager for the new TownePlace Suites by Marriott at Miami International Airport. The Florida hotel is currently under construction and anticipates opening this summer.

Mr. Rodriguez is a veteran in the Miami hospitality community with over 20 years of experience in different leadership roles. Edgardo has worked with some of the most prominent brands in the industry such as Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Intercontinental Hotel Group, as well as independent hotels. Upon opening, he will be charged with managing all aspects of the hotel including operations, revenue management, sales and guest satisfaction. In addition to his operations experience, Edgardo has successfully opened several hotels throughout Miami, and will work with the Naples Hotel Group preopening team to ensure the same success for the TownePlace Suites Miami Airport.

"Edgardo has a proven track record in the industry, known for his warm, welcoming demeanor and dynamic personality", commented Carrie Alexander, Director of Training & Task Force for Naples Hotel Group. "Our company is excited to have him on our team!"

The TownePlace Suites is located at the main entrance of Miami International Airport. The hotel has 165 suites with covered on-site parking and an expanded lobby with a full-service bar. Other hotel amenities include an outdoor pool and patio area, an exercise room open 24-hours per day, complimentary shuttle service to the airport, laundry facilities and 750 square feet of meeting space to accommodate functions of up to 108 people. The hotel also offers complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and on-site business services.

For more information or media inquiries, please contact Brittany Bou-Sliman at brittany(at)napleshotelgroup(dot)com or 239-206-4273.

About Naples Hotel Group

Naples Hotel Group is a hotel development and management company founded in 1999. NHG has achieved superior results and has a proven ability to enhance the performance of hotels using their experience, responsiveness and extensive resources. NHG, based in Naples and Orlando, prides itself on building long-term relationships with quality people and organizations. To learn more visit, http://www.napleshotelgroup.com.
Attend a Roadshow Event in a City Near You! The key, innovative technology that enabled the Universitys adoption of agile business intelligence was the successful use of data virtualization

Denodo, the leader in data virtualization, today announced that Indiana University has implemented Denodo Platform to create a logical data warehouse for their Decision Support Initiative (DSI), a multi-year project for improved strategic decision making across all levels throughout the University. By delivering a logical data warehouse in less than half the time required by a traditional data warehouse solution, Indiana University demonstrated a novel use and adoption of the agile data virtualization methodology in support of an enterprise-wide data analytics and decision-making platform.

The key, innovative technology that enabled the Universitys adoption of agile business intelligence was the successful use of data virtualization, said Dan Young, chief data architect at Indiana University. The Denodo Platform provided the flexibility to solve the complex issue of University data integration. The Denodo Platform has opened up the opportunity to create a logical data warehouse, leading to an improved self-service BI experience for users.

The Denodo Platform has empowered the University to quickly and seamlessly integrate disparate data sources and present this information through visualization tools, such as Tableau, in a secure, high-performing manner. Leveraging the Denodo Platform, Indiana University is now able to provide university-wide self-service BI and develop interactive reports and trends using modern reporting tools. The DSI enables all University schools to gauge and assess fiscal trends and academic unit health, and it helps HR to identify trends in employee metrics and behavior in support of strategic staffing initiatives.

We are excited to see how fast Indiana University has been able to roll out their modern data architecture to support their DSI across the entire university, said Ravi Shankar, CMO at Denodo. We are glad to see that Denodos advanced, best-in-class features like the dynamic query optimizer and self-service search have been instrumental in meeting the needs of Indiana University with unprecedented speed.

Please Tweet: News: @IndianaUniversity implements @Denodo for #DataVirtualization to enable self-service #BI and strategic decision making

About Indiana University at Bloomington

Indiana University (IU), a multi-campus institution with 8 locations spread throughout Indiana, serves a student body of more than 114,000 individuals and boasts more than 19,000 employees. Ranked 20th amongst public colleges by Forbes Magazine in 2016, Indiana University is also recognized as an R1: Doctoral University  Highest Research Activity by the Carnegie ClassificationTM and operates with an annual budget of $3.4B. More information about the University is available at https://www.indiana.edu/

About Denodo

Denodo is the leader in data virtualization providing agile, high performance data integration and data abstraction across the broadest range of enterprise, cloud, big data and unstructured data sources, and real-time data services, at half the cost of traditional approaches. Denodos customers across every major industry have gained significant business agility and ROI by enabling faster and easier access to unified business information for agile BI, big data analytics, Web and cloud integration, single-view applications, and enterprise data services. Denodo is well-funded, profitable, and privately held. For more information, visit http://www.denodo.com or call +1 877 556 2531 / +44 (0) 20 7869 8053.
Clinerion will be running an open seminar event in Sao Paulo on May 15th, 2017, presenting cutting-edge techniques and technologies which can increase the speed, efficiency and competitiveness of Brazilian clinical trials. The event is supported by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Sao Paulo, and will take place at the official residence of the Consul General.

With the passing of the PL200 law in the Senate, Brazil is poised to become a major world player in the field of clinical research. Healthcare institutions in the country have an opportunity to get their patients access to innovative medication, earlier. Brazil, itself, has an opportunity to become a world leader for clinical trials.

Having forged a partnership with the iHealth Group in Brazil, Clinerion is now working with the major stakeholders in clinical trials in the country, including legislators, to introduce new ideas to accelerate clinical research.

During the event, a spectrum of experts and international key opinion leaders will look at the clinical research process and offer new thoughts and approaches to accelerating clinical research in Brazil, sharing use cases and discussing best practices.

Speakers will include the Honorary Consul of Switzerland, Luiz Gonzaga Coelho, representing the Consul General of Switzerland in Sao Paulo; and the Chairman-elect of the International Clinical Trials Network, Professor Dr. Ali Yagz Uresin. A representative of the University of Istanbul will speak on their experiences with trial recruitment.

According to the Consul General of Switzerland in Sao Paulo, Claudio Leoncavallo, Switzerland is a leading place for innovation in the health sector, and is home for many international players in life sciences. In this regard, we are interested in fostering the relationship between Swiss companies and their Brazilian counterparts.

The time is right, for Brazil, and Clinerion is solidly behind the advancement of clinical trials in the country, says Ulf Claesson, CEO of Clinerion. We expect that attendees will gain a new appreciation for how they can use innovative tools and techniques to support patients and advance the research potential of the country.

About Clinerion

Clinerion enables early patient access to innovative treatments through solutions for clinical trial patient recruitment, real-world evidence, and market access. Clinerion's Patient Recruitment System accelerates clinical research by radically improving the efficiency and effectiveness of trial recruitment. Key tools for Clinerions patient data services include data-assisted protocol optimization, site feasibility evaluation and patient identification. Clinerions solutions allow member hospitals to participate in leading-edge, industry-sponsored trials and save time in patient recruitment. They enable pharmaceutical companies to gain time and save costs by streamlining operations and leveraging strategic intelligence. Clinerions proprietary Big Data analytics technologies leverage real-time data from electronic health records which remain under the full control of participating hospitals. Clinerion is a global data technology company headquartered in Switzerland. Clinerion's solutions follow international patient privacy and data security standards.

Clinerion website: http://www.clinerion.com

Clinerions Patient Recruitment System: http://www.clinerion.com/index/OverviewOurSolutions/PatientRecruitmentSystem

For more information, please contact:

Le Vin Chin

Head of Marketing and Communications

Clinerion Ltd

Margarethenstrasse 47, CH-4053 Basel, Switzerland

Tel.: +41 61 865 60 54

media(at)clinerion(dot)com
With the services and capabilities of both PGI and FIS we will bring added value to our clients specifically in the personal insurance segment with our robust technology offerings. stated Tom Riley, President and COO of AssuredPartners.

AssuredPartners, Inc. announced today that Preferred Guardian Insurance (PGI) of Dallas, TX has joined the national broker. PGI was formed in 2003 during the black mold crisis in Dallas; since this time the agency has grown to be the elite broker of choice in the area offering all lines of coverage with a specialty in E&O Insurance for Real Estate Firms. The staff of 7 will remain under the leadership of CEO Barney Schwartz and will report into AssuredPartners agency Florida Insurance Specialists. Preferred Guardian Insurance reports approximately $1.3 million in revenues.

At PGI we pride ourselves on the ability to represent many insurance companies to serve our clients throughout Texas while providing competitive pricing options, said PGI CEO Barney Schwartz. Joining AssuredPartners will allow us to stay on the cutting edge of the insurance industry while having the ability to grow our agency to meet and surpass the needs of our clients while allowing us to expand our Real Estate E&O Specialty on a National Platform.

PGI is recognized as an industry leader with outstanding sales and service of commercial and personal lines in their multiple locations throughout Texas. With our business model and the opportunity for development in the Texas market, our team has identified this as the next move to increase organic growth, said Florida Insurance Specialists CEO Frank Russo.

President and Chief Operating Officer of AssuredPartners, Tom Riley, stated, We are pleased to continue our expansion of our national footprint in the Texas marketplace with the addition of Preferred Guardian Insurance. With the services and capabilities of both PGI and FIS we will bring added value to our clients specifically in the personal insurance segment with our robust technology offerings. 

For more information about Preferred Guardian Insurance, please visit: http://www.preferredguardian.com.

ABOUT ASSUREDPARTNERS, INC

Headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida and led by Jim Henderson and Tom Riley, AssuredPartners, Inc. acquires and invests in insurance brokerage businesses (property and casualty, employee benefits, surety and MGUs) across the United States and in London. From its founding in March of 2011, AssuredPartners has grown to over $860 million in annualized revenue and continues to be one of the fastest growing insurance brokerage firms in the United States* with over 190 offices in 30 states, Canada and London. Since 2011, AssuredPartners has acquired more than 170 insurance agencies. For more information, please contact Dean Curtis, CFO, at 407.708.0031 or dcurtis(at)assuredptr(dot)com, or visit http://www.assuredpartners.com.

---

*As ranked by Business Insurance in the July 18, 2016 edition, featuring the 100 largest brokers of U.S. business.
Best Home Services has been operating in southwest Florida since 1980. Our economy is on a roll and now is not the time to take our foot off the gas.

Best Home Services, a family-owned HVAC, electric and plumbing business serving southwest Florida from Naples to Sarasota hosted Governor Rick Scott's "Fighting for Florida's Future" week-long tour on May 4th at 1455 Rail Head Blvd., Naples. As the Florida legislative sessions winds down, Governor Scott commenced a ten city tour to encourage Floridians to contact members of the Florida Legislature and urge them to invest in key priorities for Floridas future. In January, Governor Scott presented Best Home Services co-owners Chadd and Keegan Hodges with the Business Ambassador Award in honor of their job creation and expansion. Members of the media were invited to participate in this event.

Governor Rick Scott said, The 60 day legislative session is wrapping up this week and I have been fighting the politicians in Tallahassee for three things to help Florida families  funding for tourism marketing so we can continue to bring record visitors to Florida; funding for proven economic development programs so we can continue to diversify our economy and bring more jobs to Florida; and $200 million to help fix the Dike at Lake Okeechobee so we can protect our environment for future generations. All three of these issues are tied to jobs, but unfortunately the politicians in Tallahassee still havent committed to funding these important priorities."

"As long as we continue to push agendas through like Governor Scott's talking about, and continue to fund large to mid-size companies to come to this area and bring thousands of jobs and tourism, Florida's going to be great," says Keegan Hodges, co-owner of Best Home Services.

There are still a few days left of the regular session which means that there is still time for the politicians to do the right thing and fund priorities to protect our environment and keep our economy growing," said Governor Scott. "Lets remember, the total state budget is around $83 billion and all three of these priorities I am fighting for make up less than 1 percent. However, not funding these priorities will have severe repercussions across our state and Florida could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs. Our economy is on a roll and now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. I look forward to traveling the state this week to urge Floridians to contact their legislators and tell them to fund these priorities that are critical for the future of our great state.

About Best Home Services

Best Home Services is an award winning, full service, family-owned residential heating, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing company, which has been operating in southwest Florida since 1980. The company employs more than 140 technicians and other associates at their 40,000-square-foot headquarters in Naples, and satellite offices in Fort Myers and Sarasota. Best is an Angie's List "Super Service Award" recipient and is A+ rated with the Better Business Bureau. Learn more at http://www.getbest.com.

Downloadable Image Gallery & Other Media Assets

Best Home Services logo:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz9nhxhfvfLnMEY5R0oyTC1BdWs/view?usp=sharing
Well play master pianists of the twentieth century, such as Van Cliburn and Artur Rubinstein

Media Contact:

Curtis Brothers

919.556.5178

curtis(at)TheClassicalStation(dot)org

WCPE FM Features the Piano

TheClassicalStation.org offers Primarily Piano Weekend

WCPEs Music Director William Woltz announces Primarily Piano Weekend on May 12-14, 2016. The program will feature great composers as well as virtuoso performances.

Well play master pianists of the twentieth century, such as Van Cliburn and Artur Rubinstein, says Woltz. We also feature some of todays best young performersDaniil Trifonov, Alexandre Tharaud, Elizabeth Joy Roe and Yuja Wang, to name a few.

A partial listing includes:

12 Friday

7:00 p.m. Beethoven: Piano Sonata no. 15 in D (Pastoral)

8:00 p.m. Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no. 3 in C

9:00 p.m. Faure: Piano Quartet no. 1 in C Minor

10:00 p.m. Field: Nocturne in E (Nocturne Pastorale)

13 Saturday

7:00 a.m. Schumann: Arabeske in C

8:00 a.m. Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 19 in F

9:00 a.m. Bach: Toccata in E Minor

11:00 a.m. Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

14 Sunday

7:00 a.m. Bach: Prelude and Fugue no. 1 in C from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

11:00 a.m. Granados: Poetic Waltzes

12:00 p.m. Dvorak: Songs My Mother Taught Me

1:00 p.m. Chopin: Piano Sonata no. 2 in B-flat Minor

2:00 p.m. Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 21 in C

3:00 p.m. Beethoven: Piano Sonata no. 14 in C-sharp Minor (Moonlight)

4:00 p.m. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no. 2 in C Minor

Also the Saturday Evening Request Program enables listeners to add their favorite composers and performers to the playlist.

http://theclassicalstation.org/features_request.shtml is the link to the SERP request page.

WCPE can be heard worldwide, 24/7, via the Web in multiple streaming formats, including the next generation IPv6. Visit TheClassicalStation.org/internet.shtml to begin listening online. Across North America, WCPE can be heard through cable television and radio transmission affiliates. For a complete list of affiliates and cable broadcasters, visit TheClassicalStation.org/rebroadcasters.shtml and TheClassicalStation.org/cable.shtml.

In central North Carolina and southern Virginia, WCPE is found on the radio at 89.7 FM.

For more information on WCPE, or to print a downloadable version of Quarter Notes, the WCPE members magazine, please visit TheClassicalStation.Org.

About WCPE:

With a 38 plus year history, WCPE 89.7 FM is a non-commercial, 100 percent listener-supported, independent station dedicated to excellence in Great Classical Music broadcasting. WCPE is heard worldwide on the Internet in multiple formats, including the next generation IPv6. Because WCPE receives no tax-derived support, the station conducts two on-air fundraising campaigns and two major mail-out campaigns per year to raise needed operating funds. For more information, visit http://www.TheClassicalStation.org or call 919-556-5178.

###
Acend Inc. Assessing risk around autonomous vehicles is a very complex challenge but an extremely important one for the industry to grow.

Acend Inc., an insurance and technology company, today announced that Christopher Dean has been appointed as the companys new Chief Executive Officer.

An experienced business and technology leader, Christopher Dean was previously the Co-Founder and President of PrecisionHawk, Inc., a leading commercial provider of advanced drone technologies. From its inception in 2010, Deans efforts were critical in the development of PrecisionHawks products and rapid enterprise client growth across the globe.

Chris is a talented business executive with a great track record in building and scaling a technology company, said Steve Rabbitt, Acend Investor and Co-Founder. With his strong product vision, team-building and deal making skills, Acend is well positioned to capitalize on the large market opportunity around the intersection of insurance and autonomous vehicles.

Acend is building an insurance and risk platform for an autonomous world. Acend is bringing insurance tools that leverage machine learning that are designed around delivering policies and rapidly managing claims for autonomous vehicles including driverless cars, robots and drones. Acends wholly owned subsidiary, Acend Insurance Solutions, LLC., is a licensed producer nationwide.

Acends first of several products to launch is DroneInsurance.com. By replacing paperwork and complexity with automation and user control, DroneInsurance.com is a platform that make buying drone insurance easy to understand and quick to do. The website will go live in limited release and be on display for the first time at Xpotential 2017 (booth #440). It will move into full release in the US in summer 2017 with additional international markets planned for the future.

I am excited to join the Acend team. It is a great group of operators, partners and investors, said Christopher Dean. Assessing risk around autonomous vehicles is a very complex challenge but an extremely important one for the industry to grow. Underlying risk variables for insurers, manufacturers and operators are changing and Acend will be in the middle of that transformation.

About Acend:

Acend is an insurance technology company building an insurance and risk platform for an autonomous and dynamic world. Acends wholly owned subsidiary, Acend Insurance Solutions, LLC. division, is a licensed producer nationwide. Acend is bringing insurance tools to leverage artificial intelligence that are designed around delivering policies and rapidly managing claims for autonomous vehicles including driverless cars, robots and drones. Acends first product to publicly launch is DroneInsurance.com. Acend is invested in by a team of entrepreneurs with strong aviation, technology and finance backgrounds. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Boston Massachusetts. For more information, please visit http://www.acend.io and http://www.DroneInsurance.com.
This Mothers Day, expats worldwide are invited to celebrate moms, the crazy lovable people who shape their childrens personalities and would do anything to make them happy. How? In a Facebook contest hosted by PhoneClub.com, challenging expats to share the most valuable thing they learned from their mothers. The contest starts on May 9 and ends on May 14. The winner will be selected randomly on May 15 and will be awarded $10 free Voice Credit.

PhoneClub.com, a telecommunication website dedicated to ethnic groups living outside their mother countries, can be used when calling from any landline, mobile or even payphone in the world, through local or toll free access numbers. Calls can also be placed through the free PhoneClub app. The iOS and Android applications can be used to call without having to dial any access number and even any phone number at all. Once logged in, customers can use their phone contacts list to call.

The mechanism PhoneClub.com proposes is simple and intuitive: become a PhoneClub.com member for free, buy Voice Credit and start calling internationally at the lowest rates in the world, no matter the destination. The most important advantage PhoneClub.com offers is the free access to amazing rates. Once they join PhoneClub, customers have access to the lowest calling rates that allow them to make long calls to whatever destination they need to reach.

Whether back home is in Canada, UK, India, Nigeria, or Mexico, calling family and friends more often is a good idea to feel closer to home.

Calling Canada? Sure, for hours on end. For $10, customers can talk for 5,000 minutes, as the rate is as low as 0.2/min. Crossing the ocean to UK? The same rule applies here: long calls are most appreciated. The rates for calling UK vary from 0.3/min for landlines to 1/min for mobiles. So, with PhoneClub.com customers get 3,333 minutes for calls to landlines for only $10, and 1,000 minutes if they call mobiles.

India and Nigeria are also expecting calls from their citizens living abroad: calls to India mobiles are as low as 1/min for landlines and 1.1/min for mobiles. If home is Mexico, for $10 spent customers receive 5,000 minutes to call landlines or 3,333 to call mobiles.

The 100% transaction security, the 24/7 Customer Service available by email, phone, and chat in both English and Spanish, plus the comprehensive Help Center are key elements PhoneClub.com focuses on in order to make the service reliable and secure.

All PhoneClub.com promotions and contests can be found on their Facebook page: Facebook.com/PhoneClubMembers

About PhoneClub.com

PhoneClub.com is an interactive website designed by KeepCalling, a global telecommunications company registered in 2002 in USA. Presently, KeepCalling provides its services to hundreds of thousands of consumers, with a focus on customer satisfaction. In 2014, Inc. 5000 listed KeepCalling as the 18th fastest growing company in the telecommunications industry in USA.
Mothers Day, coming soon! No, its not a movie trailer, but a heads up, because this special occasion deserves a proper celebration. Thats why LlamaColombia.com offers its customers two surprises: $3 bonus for Voice Credit orders of minimum $20 and a nostalgic Facebook contest.

The promotion is valid between May 9-11 and brings 102 extra minutes, in case customers are calling mobiles and 88 minutes, if customers are calling landlines in Colombia. All they have to do is use coupon code MXTH3R at checkout.

The Facebook contest challenges Colombian expats to share the most valuable lesson they learned from their mother. The contest is launched on May 9, the customers can add their comment until May 14, and the winner will be selected randomly on May 15. The winner is awarded $10 free Voice Credit.

The international calling service offered by LlamaColombia.com is intuitive and simple to use, since calls can be placed from:

1. any phone, through the use of access numbers

2. any smartphone, as LlamaColombia.com offers a free app, for both iOS and Android devices, called KeepCalling. By using the free app, customers can make calls by using their phone contacts as long as they are saved in international format.

Besides Voice Credit, LlamaColombia.com also offers Monthly Plans and a Mobile Recharge service. Monthly Plans are monthly subscriptions which offer discounted rates for frequent calls to both landlines and mobiles in Colombia. The plans available on LlamaColombia.com are Colombia 300, that includes 300 minutes for $4.49/month, Colombia 500, with 500 minutes for $6.99/month, and Colombia 1000, offering 1000 minutes for $12.99/month.

Mobile Recharge is a service that helps customers recharge phones anywhere in the world. The process is fast and secure and the credit reaches its destination instantly. The operators available for top ups to Colombia are Tigo, Movistar, Claro, Uff Movil, Virgin Mobile, Avantel, ETB, and UNE.

LlamaColombia.coms mission is to bring people together, no matter the distance, because no distance is too long if people stay connected. Thats why all the services the website offers are a great solution for keeping a close relationship with everyone living back home in Colombia. This is mainly due to:



the customer-focused approach, based on safe and easy to use services

the frequent special offers: bonuses on international top ups or discounts on international calls

the great Customer Service available 24/7, both in English and in Spanish.

About LlamaColombia.com

LlamaColombia.com is an interactive website designed by KeepCalling, a global telecommunications company registered in 2002 in USA. Presently, KeepCalling provides its services to hundreds of thousands of consumers worldwide, with a focus on customer satisfaction. KeepCalling has been listed by Inc 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the USA for 5 consecutive years. In 2015 the company registered a revenue increase of over 200% from 2011 to 2014.
Mothers Day is a special day both for mothers and for their sons and daughters. To make it even more special, TelephoneJamaica.com launches a promotion designed to help them talk longer: $3 bonus for Voice Credit orders above $20. The offer is valid starting May 9 until May 11, just in time for long stories on Mothers Day.

The list of surprises TelephoneJamaica.com offers its customers is not over, because Jamaican expats are also invited on the websites Facebook page, to share the most valuable thing they learned from their mother. The contest starts on May 9 and is open until May 14. The winner will be chosen randomly on May 15 and is awarded $10 free Voice Credit.

Customers can reach Jamaica at the lowest rates using the Voice Credit product available on the website telephonejamaica.com. Calling with Voice Credit costs 14.9/min to landlines and 19.9/min to mobiles, while sending an SMS is 4.

Besides calling, Jamaican expats can send a useful gift to their mothers or to other people back home whom they miss: a mobile recharge. The international mobile recharge service TelephoneJamaica.com offers allows customers to top up prepaid mobiles in Jamaica. Digicel and Lime operators are available.

Customers are happy both with the quality and the prices offered by TelephoneJamaica.com. On Trustpilot, a famous review website, TelephoneJamaica.com receives constant feedback from its customers and currently has an 8.7 rating.

One customer writes, Excellent service, never had a problem. I would recommend this company for calling Jamaica; their rates are quite competitive and at times they do give a bonus voucher which is appealing to customers like me.

About TelephoneJamaica:

TelephoneJamaica.com is an interactive website dedicated to Jamaican expats. It is a brand of KeepCalling, a global telecommunications company registered in 2002 in USA. Presently, KeepCalling provides its services to hundreds of thousands of consumers, with a focus on customer satisfaction. KeepCalling was listed by Inc 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the USA for 5 consecutive years.
Regarding your April 20 story "Future of landlines for AT&T consumers in legislative limbo," many people arent aware that AT&T is pushing legislation that would eventually scrap the most affordable, reliable phone service for people who need it most. The company dismisses landline users as a small percentage of its customer base, but this debate isnt about percentages, its about people, like Carol and Michele.

Im not against cellphones, said Carol, whose landline connects to her pacemaker/defibrillator. But we cant guarantee cellphones will work all the time for important devices like mine. Michele says her landline gives her good service on a tight income: I have affordability, and with my landline reliability.

With the Illinois Telecommunications Act set to expire July 1, AT&Ts legislation (SB 1381/HB 2691) would allow the company to end service to 1.2 million business and residential landlines once the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gives final approval. And it would ax Illinois best local phone deals, the Consumers Choice calling plans, which are under a state-mandated rate freeze.

Heres why you should oppose AT&Ts plan, even if you dont own a landline:

It poses a serious public safety concern. Too many people  including seniors, low-income families, and rural residents with bad cellphone reception  still rely on landline service as their most affordable, reliable connection to 911, medical monitoring services, and home security systems.

It does nothing to modernize Illinois telecom network. AT&T argues that current telecom policy doesnt leave it with enough resources to modernize, despite $58 billion in profits over the last five years. But AT&Ts legislation contains no requirement that the phone giant upgrade its network.

It strips Illinois of important power. Illinois Telecom Act gives legislators the authority to hold AT&T accountable for certain phone standards. That could give the state leverage to win other big fixes, like improving broadband access and speed. AT&Ts bill would destroy that opportunity, and shift any power to protect phone customers to the FCC. Why would Illinois cede that authority to Washington bureaucrats?

For todays landline callers, other options  wireless service, Internet-based phones, and bloated triple-play packages from the cable company  arent as easy, reliable or affordable as plain old telephone service. Consider this: Advanced 911  which can trace the exact location of a cellphone  wont be fully implemented in Illinois until 2020 at the earliest. AT&Ts recent 14-state wireless 911 outage proves that the company is not yet able to provide a satisfactory alternative for landline customers.

Rather than let AT&T dictate the terms, Illinois should launch a more comprehensive discussion on how to create a better, pro-consumer plan for our telecom future. Please, call a special AARP Illinois Telecom Hotline, 1-844-220-5552, and tell your legislators to reject SB 1381 and HB 2691.
Today, Pearson announced a partnership with the University of Hawaii (UH) System, to reduce the cost of course materials for students across the state. This is the 40th Direct Digital Access (DDA) partnership Pearson has signed in 2017. Through the UH Systems Interactive Digital Access Program (IDAP), faculty across 10 colleges and universities will have the option to provide students with streamlined access to Pearsons digital learning materials from campus bookstores by the first day of class.

The UH System piloted its IDAP initiative in Fall 2016 and Spring 2017. The full launch with Pearson will begin in Summer 2017 and Fall 2017.

Since 2016, 190 colleges and universities have partnered with Pearson to implement the Digital Direct Access model. Pearsons DDA model enables institutions to deliver high-quality digital course materials, including eBooks, MyLab and Mastering, and REVEL, to students on or before the first day of class at a savings of up to 60 percent. Educators also gain valuable insights into students learning activity through data access, enabling them to continuously track and assess students progress.

We launched the IDAP initiative, based on several studies that indicate the lack of access to course materials negatively impacts student academic performance in the classroom. Our IDAP initiative, in partnership with Pearson and other leading educational content providers, is designed to improve outcomes for our students by providing them equitable, easy access to essential course materials they need to succeed, said Tricia Ejima, director, University of Hawaii Bookstore System.

Our strategic partnership with the UH System leverages Pearsons innovative DDA model to improve access, achievement and affordability in higher education, enabling many more learners to remain on track for completing their academic goals. In addition, DDA makes it easier for instructors to access and analyze data on students performance, and intervene when needed to ensure they are on the path to success, said Tom Malek, senior vice president of partnerships at Pearson.

The Digital Direct Access model is part of Pearsons ongoing commitment to making college more accessible and more affordable for students, through the use of effective immersive digital learning content and technologies that are designed to help educators increase engagement and produce measurable outcomes for learners.

In addition, Pearson recently announced a partnership with IBM Watson to create virtual college tutors, making digital learning easier and more engaging.

###

About Pearson

Pearson is the worlds learning company, with expertise in educational courseware and assessment, and a range of teaching and learning services powered by technology. Our mission is to help people make progress through access to better learning. We believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives. For more, visit http://www.pearson.com.

About the University of Hawaii System

Founded in 1907, the University of Hawaii System includes 3 universities, 7 community colleges and community-based learning centers across Hawaii. As the states public system of higher education, UH offers opportunities as unique and diverse as our island home. For more information, visit http://www.hawaii.edu/.
Photo: (left to right) Lauren Bogart, NBTS; Jonathan Weinberg, ABC2; Roberta Liss, Cushman & Wakefield; Nike Beddow, Race Co-Founder; Max Wallace, ABC2; David Arons, NBTS; and Jeff Kolodin, NBTS The Race for Hope  DC brings together a dedicated community who all share a common goal: an end to brain cancer - said David Cook, previous American Idol winner and Honorary Chair of the Race for Hope  DC.

On Sunday May 7th, the 20th annual Race for Hope  DC, presented by Cushman & Wakefield, brought together nearly 10,000 brain cancer advocates raising $1.7 million to benefit Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC) and the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS).

These organizations, as well as all of the participants, survivors and volunteers, share the hope for a day when a cure for brain tumors exists. Since its inception 20 years ago, the Race for Hope - DC has raised over $29 million for brain tumor research and support for those affected by the disease.

In its 20-year history, the Race for Hope has made a powerful and lasting contribution to the brain tumor community, said Max Wallace, CEO of ABC. The funds raised here help ABC advance effective new treatments for brain cancer that would not move forward without our investment.

Race for Hope is an extremely powerful event to really kick-start Brain Tumor Awareness Month every May and generate positive momentum for the remainder of the month and, indeed, year, said David Arons, CEO of NBTS. Were flexing our muscles  our legs, our vocal chords and our hearts  in support of our shared cause, while raising proceeds that will help NBTS continue to drive strategic research, resource new clinical trials, and influence public policy in order to generate more treatment options that will improve the lives of brain tumor patients and their families.

The Race for Hope  DC brings together a dedicated community who all share a common goal: an end to brain cancer, said David Cook, previous American Idol winner and Honorary Chair of the Race for Hope  DC. Cooks Team for a Cure has raised more than $1.2 million for the annual events.

The Race for Hope DC is an extremely important cause for Cushman & Wakefield in the Washington metropolitan area, said Roberta Liss, Regional Managing Principal, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions, Cushman & Wakefield. Our involvement started 17 years ago when one of our legacy firms co-founders, Pat Cassidy, fell ill with a brain tumor. While we lost Pat in 2001, our support of this cause has been unwavering ever since. On the 20thAnniversary, we are honored to serve as the presenting sponsor of the largest fundraiser for brain tumor research in the country.

The Race for Hope provides invaluable funding for the National Brain Tumor Society and ABC as they fund new research and support for brain cancer patients, Liss continued. Together, we are making real progress towards a cure and improving the quality of life for brain tumor patients. Cushman & Wakefield wants to thank all of our friends and clients for their continuous support of our efforts.

Highlights of the 20th annual Race for Hope - DC included a Survivor Tribute featuring more than 350 brain tumor survivors who marched together towards the start line as a symbol of hope and strength in their battle against brain tumors. The Race for Hope - DC is the culmination of a weekend of activities, including a benefit concert by David Cook at Jammin Java and many team-sponsored fundraising parties. These activities provide an opportunity for family and friends to honor and celebrate the lives of their loved ones, as well as provide support to each other.

This years Rabbi Joseph P. Weinberg Triumph of Spirit Award honored the Roth Family and Urban Country Design for creating the Wall of Hope  a 24-foot long tribute to brain tumor survivors and those who lost their battles.

Top sponsors include: Cushman & Wakefield, Holliday, Fenoglio and Fowler and the Conley Family; Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP; R&R Mechanical; Genentech; The Case Foundation; Newmark Grubb Knight Frank; Normandy Real Estate Partners; M&T Bank; Urban Country; and Fresh FM 94.

Each year, the Race for Hope  DC helps to bring hope and attention to this often underserved brain tumor community. The need to increase research funding is more urgent than ever  there are almost 700,000 people living with a primary brain tumor diagnosis in the U.S. and within the next 12 months, more than 210,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor.

About ABC (Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure)

ABC is focused on speeding the discovery of a cure for brain cancer. By applying an aggressive, venture funding approach not typically seen in the nonprofit sector, ABC closes current gaps in funding in order to catalyze research and rapidly bring new therapies to patients. ABC has awarded more than 100 grants totaling $20 million in brain tumor research funding to highly qualified investigators and physician-scientists from 54 institutions and companies. To learn more, visit http://www.abc2.org.

About National Brain Tumor Society

National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. dedicated to the brain tumor community. We are fiercely committed to finding better treatments and driving rapid progress toward a cure for brain tumors. We drive a multi-faceted and thoughtful approach to aggressively influence and fund strategic research, as well as advocate for public policy changes, in order to achieve the greatest impact, results, and progress for brain tumor patients. Money raised by the generous donations of our supporters has directly funded groundbreaking discoveries, programs, clinical trials and policy initiatives. To learn more visit http://www.braintumor.org

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm that helps clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. Our 45,000 employees in more than 70 countries help occupiers and investors optimize the value of their real estate by combining our global perspective and deep local knowledge with an impressive platform of real estate solutions. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest commercial real estate services firms with revenue of $6 billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facility services (C&W Services), global occupier services, investment & asset management (DTZ Investors), project & development services, tenant representation, and valuation & advisory. 2017 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Cushman & Wakefield brand. 100 years of taking our clients ideas and putting them into action. To learn more, visit http://www.cushwakecentennial.com, http://www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.
Diane Douglas, Seattle CityClub Executive Director at Civic Cocktail We commend Seattle CityClub for its leadership and its work designed to strengthen civic health in Seattle, said Sally Prouty, Interim CEO of NCoC

The 2017 Greater Seattle Civic Health Index is scheduled for public release May 23 by Seattle CityClub. In collaboration with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), the 2017 report ranks 51 American cities across 26 categories measuring civic engagement and the health of their democracies.

Started in 2006 by the NCoC, the Civic Health Index (CHI) examines how Americans connect with each other and their communities by surveying the levels of volunteerism, voting, philanthropy, neighbor-to-neighbor connectivity, political expression and religious affiliation amongst residents. The Civic Health Index uses census data provided to the NCoC from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Of the 51 cities studied in 2017 Greater Seattle Civic Health Index, Seattle ranked in the top 10 in 19 of the 26 categories, including 1st in charitable donations over $25, 1st in group participation and 2nd in product boycotting. Seattles reputation for being a difficult city to make new friends incommonly referred to as the Seattle Freezealso improved. When it came to residents doing favors for their neighbors, Seattle improved from 37th in 2014 to 6th in 2017 among the 51 cities studied.

The 2017 Greater Civic Health Index also found there are significant disparities in citizen engagement due to lack of access to leaders, civic skills and knowledge of democratic power structures. Greater Seattle residents without a high school diploma are nine times less likely to attend public meetings than residents with a college degree, and Latino Greater Seattle residents are three times less likely to attend public meetings than their White/Caucasian counterparts.

According to NCoC research, communities with strong indicators of civic health as measured by the Civic Health Index have higher employment rates, stronger schools, better physical health, and more responsive governments. We commend Seattle CityClub for its leadership and its work designed to strengthen civic health in Seattle, said Sally Prouty, Interim CEO of NCoC.

The 2017 Civic Health Index will be available May 23 at SeattleCityClub.org.

A preview of the 2017 Civic Health Index will be provided to participants at FullConTech, a cross-sector collaboration conference at Seattle City Hall organized by Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) on May 22. FullConTech participants will utilize the 2017 Greater Civic Health Index as a tool to inform the direction of their conversations and solutions around civic health.

The 2017 Civic Health Index is sponsored by Premera Blue Cross, Boeing, Microsoft, Seattle Foundation, Womens Funding Alliance, Providence Health and Services and Community Attributes Inc.

If you are interested in Seattle CityClub speaking about the 2017 Civic Health Index at your organization or event, please contact Diane Douglas, Seattle CityClub Executive Director at ddouglas(at)SeattleCityClub(dot)org or 206.682.7395.

About Seattle CityClub

Seattle CityClub is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization improving the civic health of the Puget Sound region by informing residents, engaging community leaders and providing programs that bridge politics, professions, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.

About the National Conference on Citizenship

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) is dedicated to strengthening civic life in America. We pursue our mission through a nationwide network of partners involved in a cutting-edge civic health initiative, our cross-sector conferences and engagement with a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations interested in utilizing civic engagement principles and practices to enhance their work. Connecting people for the purpose of strengthening civic life is our goal. At the core of our joint efforts is the belief that every person has the ability to help their community and country thrive.

For more information, contact:

Everett Lawson, Marketing + Web Manager

Seattle CityClub

elawson(at)SeattleCityClub(dot)org

206.682.7395

Seattle CityClub

240 Second Avenue S., Suite 208

Seattle, WA 98104
REI Co-op will offer in-store and field classes and experiences at its new Greenwood Village location. This new store will show how we bring the outdoors in and connect the local community to a life outdoors.

Outdoor co-op REI today announced plans to relocate its Englewood, Colorado store to nearby Greenwood Village in the fall of 2017. After nearly two decades in its current location, the new store will carry a larger assortment of gear and apparel to make it easier for the more than 365,000 active co-op members throughout the region to get outside. At its new location, REI will continue to support the local outdoor community by investing $160,000 in Colorado nonprofits this year to make a positive, lasting impact on trails, parks and waterways.

The REI Englewood team is very excited to continue to serve our members and customers in the southern Denver metro communities at our new Greenwood Village store this fall, said store manager Kris Reale. To be able to support this outdoor community in a larger space just a couple miles from our current location will help all of us to inspire each other to get outside. This new store will show how we bring the outdoors in and connect the local community to a life outdoors. We cant wait for this fall when we can join the community at the new Greenwood Village co-op.

The new store will be located in Greenwood Village on Arapahoe Road and I-25, less than five miles from the current location. At 45,000 square feet, the store will offer a wider selection of gear for the regions most popular outdoor activities, including mountain biking, climbing and snow sports. The store will feature a bike shop and ski and snowboard shop for maintenance and repairs from highly trained experts. REI has eight other stores throughout Colorado, with nearby locations in Denver (15 miles away), Lakewood (20 miles) and Colorado Springs (49 miles). The co-op also opened a new store in Dillon, Colorado on May 5.

REI Outdoor School will continue to offer a robust schedule of in-store and field classes and experiences for mountain biking, hiking, climbing, backpacking, snowsports and more. In addition the store will host presentations by well-known authors and athletes. The majority of programming will be free, as is the case at REI stores across the country. Across the Front Range, REI Outdoor Schools programming increased by more than 28% over the last year in its focus to help people live a life outside. This summer, join REI Outdoor School across the Front Range for an array of programs designed for women, including Force Wednesday events at the co-ops flagship in Denver.

REI opened its Englewood location in 1998 and has developed strong relationships throughout the Colorado outdoor community since first coming to Denver in 1983. In 2017, REI plans to invest $160,000 in local nonprofits that steward and increase access to nearby outdoor places. REI teams will support a series of trail service projects this summer, leading up to the co-ops sponsorship of the Golden Giddyup mountain bike festival in September. REI also partners with nonprofits that impact some of the states most iconic outdoor places, including the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Colorado Youth Corps Association and the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, and most recently the Friends of Dillon Ranger District.

About REI

REI is a specialty outdoor retailer, headquartered near Seattle. The nations largest consumer co-op, REI is a growing community of more than 16 million members who expect and love the best quality gear, inspiring expert classes and trips, and outstanding customer service. REI has 147 stores in 36 states. If you cant visit a store, you can shop at REI.com, REI.com/REI-Garage or the free REI shopping app. REI isnt just about gear. You can take the trip of a lifetime with REI Adventures, a global leader in active adventure travel that runs 170 custom-designed itineraries on every continent. REIs Outdoor School is run by professionally-trained, expert-instructors who teach beginner- to advanced-level courses about a wide range of activities. To build on the infrastructure that makes life outside possible, REI invests millions annually in hundreds of local and national nonprofits that create access toand stewardthe outdoor places that inspire us.
Dr. Shyamala Raman

Charter Oak State College, (http://www.CharterOak.edu), Connecticuts public online college, is pleased to announce that its 2017 commencement ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 4 at 1:30 p.m. in Welte Auditorium at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT. Dr. Shyamala Raman, Faculty Emerita of Economics and International Studies at the University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT, and former Core Consulting Faculty member for Charter Oak will be the commencement speaker. A live webcast of the ceremony will be hosted on CharterOak.edu for students unable to attend in person.

Dr. Shyamala Raman has a passion for economics, education, and for international, multicultural, womens and human rights understanding. Her international advocacy, academically as well as programmatically has included presentations at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain; at the Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, sultanate of Oman; and at the Human Rights Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda, sponsored by the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. She has also served as a speaker/workshop leader on the Millennium Development Goals at nine of the Annual Intergenerational Leadership Forums held by the UNESCO Chair. As Director of International Studies and Programs at USJ, she assisted with the international agreement with HAN University, Nijmegan, The Netherlands.

She generously gives of her time and talent to support numerous non-profits, including: Board of the World Affairs Council, Mercy Housing and Shelter Corporation, and Volunteers in Service to Education in India, Inc.

She has a Ph.D. in Economics and an M.BA. in Finance from the University of Connecticut, a M.A. in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Madras, India.

***

Founded in 1973, Charter Oak State College (http://www.CharterOak.edu) is Connecticuts only public online college, offering associate and bachelors degree completion programs in high-demand fields including Health Information Management, Health Care Administration, Cyber Security and Business Administration. The College offers a Master of Science in Organizational Effectiveness and Leadership. Charter Oak is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and governed by Connecticuts Board of Regents for Higher Education.
A rendering shows the new Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center along Lake Beresford. This facility is not only a mark of Sandras generosity, but it will enshrine the Stetson family name on a university structure once again, said Libby.

Stetson University leaders and athletes gathered on April 28 for a ceremonial ground breaking of the much-anticipated Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center. Named for a great-granddaughter of the universitys namesake, John B. Stetson, the 10,000-square-foot facility will provide a permanent home for Stetson University Rowing teams, a space for water research and a place for public recreation when it is completed next year.

Sandra Stetson donated $6 million for this project, including $1.5 million which has been placed into an endowment to maintain and operate the building. In addition, Volusia County awarded a $400,000 grant from the ECHO program (for environmental, cultural, historical and outdoor recreation projects) to build public restrooms and public parking on the 10-acre lakefront site, and provide a public launch for canoes and kayaks.

At the Universitys 10-acre lakefront site along Lake Beresford, Stetson University President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D., expressed gratitude to Sandra Stetson for her generosity which is making this cutting-edge facility a reality for future Stetson students and the community.

This facility is not only a mark of Sandras generosity, but it will enshrine the Stetson family name on a university structure once again, said Libby. Sandra is a donor who cares about the environment and shares a love for the water. Her generosity allows us to put water recreation and sport, and research together under one roof.

Just as Lake Beresford is the perfect place for rowing, it is also the best place to research and develop innovative technical, social and political solutions to protect freshwater resources and related environmental concerns. The Aquatic Center will enhance Stetson research at the Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience. While the Institute will remain on campus, the center will serve as its research arm.

This facility is the realization of a dream, said Karen Ryan, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A place for the Institute to call home and a place for our students and faculty to interact with the water and environment around us.

Stetson leased the site for a decade before purchasing it four years ago for its rowing teams. Currently, the teams keep their crew boats in a greenhouse building on the site. The new aquatic center will provide storage for 60 boats on the first floor, as well as rowing machines for the teams daily workouts. The center will be used for rowing competitions and as a winter training site for high school and college rowing teams from the north. Stetson University has hosted the fall Rendezvous regatta, the largest racing regatta in Florida with more than 1,100 participants and 3,000 spectators for the past four years.

The new boathouse is a manifestation of where we are going, said Sarah Burnham, a member of the Stetson Womens Rowing Team. We are growing so much in numbers and speed and it is important to have a boathouse that matches that. It is ushering in a new era that will make Stetson rowing known throughout the country.

The aquatic center was designed by Preston T. Phillips of Bridgehampton, New York, who was recommended to Stetson University by Sandra Stetson to design and provide the architectural and engineering for the project.

The second floor of the facility will have glass walls on three sides with a balcony that will wrap around three sides of the building. The second-floor ceiling will be vaulted. From the exterior, the roof is designed to resemble a boat. Outside the facility, trails and elevated walkways will lead to the waters edge. Along Lake Beresford, there will be docks to launch crew boats and a viewing platform that will overlook the lake.

About Stetson University

Founded in 1883, Stetson University is the oldest private university in Central Florida, providing a transforming education in the liberal arts tradition. Stetson stresses academic excellence and community-engaged learning, and consistently earns high marks in national rankings. Stetson encourages its students to go beyond success to significance in their lives, the lives of others and their communities. Stay connected with Stetson on social media.
Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and former State Department official Kim Field has joined Creative Associates International as Director of the organization's Countering Violent Extremism Practice Area.

Field will oversee projects aimed at promoting peace and tolerance and minimizing the factors that can lead to violent extremism. She will also lend her expertise to other Practice Areas as they incorporate into their projects strategies that prevent and counter violent extremism.

She brings more than 30 years of experience in the U.S. military and the State Department to Creative's expanding efforts to respond to radicalization and violent extremism around the world.

After stints supporting civilian agencies in conflict-affected areas including Somalia, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Haiti, Iraq and Syria, Field says she wanted to work more directly with non-military interventions.

Many years of work in the military led me to conclude that we will not shoot our way out of the global phenomenon that is violent extremism, she said. Creative really appeals to me. The companys long-standing work in conflict zones, especially at the local level, its willingness to embrace innovation and its agile, smart partnerships are things I was looking for after I left government.

A 1987 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Field most recently served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Departments Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations.

She was previously Deputy Director for Middle East in the political-military affairs office on the Joint Staff, and as the Deputy Director for Army Strategy helped craft the Armys way forward during a significant period of transition.

"We are very privileged to have Kim  with her extensive military and interagency experience  join Creative. She will not only contribute insightful thought leadership for countering violent extremism but also bring valuable senior management skills to continue growing our successful CVE Practice Area," says Tom Wheelock, Senior Vice President and Senior Director of Creative's Communities in Transition Division.

Fields expertise, experience and commitment are wonderful resources for the entire Creative team, he says.

For 40 years Creative has addressed the root causes of extremism through development, using local insight to build solutions by promoting counter-narratives, engaging marginalized communities and applying good governance practices.

About Creative Associates International

Creative Associates International works with underserved communities by sharing expertise and experience and building local capacity in education, economic growth, governance and transitions from conflict to peace.

Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has active projects in more than 27 countries. Since 1977, it has worked in nearly 90 countries and on almost every continent. Recognized for its ability to work rapidly, flexibly and effectively in conflict-affected environments, Creative is committed to generating long-term sustainable solutions to complex development problems.

Started by four enterprising women with diverse backgrounds, Creative has grown to become one of the leaders among the U.S. private sector implementers of global development projects. Creative is minority-owned and operated.
Phillips Lytle LLP named Dennis W. Elsenbeck Head of Energy and Sustainability to lead Phillips Lytle Energy Consulting, a newly created service offered by the firm. Mr. Elsenbeck will be based in the firms Buffalo office, and will provide consulting services to clients in all eight offices across the firms footprint.

Prior to joining Phillips Lytle, Mr. Elsenbeck served as Director of Stakeholder and Policy for National Grid U.S. Operations. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry to Phillips Lytle. Mr. Elsenbecks background includes experience in the three key areas of the energy industry  supply, delivery and demand  bringing a unique perspective in ensuring alignment of market needs, applied technology and sustainable energy policy.

Any time we can add new, valuable perspectives from a veteran industry insider, it is to the benefit of our clients, said David P. Flynn, Phillips Lytle partner and practice team leader for the firms Energy and Environment Practice Teams. Dennis has unparalleled energy industry knowledge and contacts, and will be a tremendous asset for our wide range of sophisticated clients.

Phillips Lytles Energy Practice Team is among the best in the business, with a very diverse, high caliber client base, said Mr. Elsenbeck. Energy is a rapidly changing industry. I look forward to working with the firms attorneys on a number of initiatives, and to being a resource for clients as they navigate the complex policies and regulations surrounding the energy industry.

Phillips Lytle Energy Consulting will provide resources in a variety of areas including:



Project Development and Transactional Support

Regulatory Counseling and Advocacy

Municipal Consulting

Procurement Consulting

Litigation Support

We have an opportunity to develop the markets voice in the policy conversation, said Mr. Elsenbeck. The market stakeholders, technology innovators and policy makers need to be working in lock step to achieve synergy in the creation of a well-organized, cohesive energy plan that makes sense for all stakeholders.

Mr. Elsenbeck received his Masters in Engineering from University at Buffalo, as well as his Masters in Business Administration from University of Rochester. He received a Bachelors of Technology from SUNY Institute of Technology.

Phillips Lytle LLP is a premier regional law firm that is recognized nationally for its legal excellence. With offices in New York State, Washington, D.C., and Canada, our attorneys serve a multinational client base including FORTUNE 1000 companies, global and regional financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations, middle market companies, startups, entrepreneurs and individuals on important matters affecting their businesses and personal wealth. For more information, visit http://www.phillipslytle.com.
The Chattanooga law firm Cavett & Abbott, PLLC has announced effective May 1, 2017, the firm will be renamed Cavett, Abbott & Weiss, PLLC, to include Joshua P. Weiss as a named partner. Mr. Weiss joined as a partner to expand the firms criminal defense and civil litigation practices in Tennessee and Georgia, in both state and federal courts. With a rich history and over sixty years of trial experience, Cavett, Abbott & Weiss has positioned itself as a leading legal advocate in the Chattanooga community. The firm will remain in the famous Pioneer Building at the corner of Eighth and Broad Street in downtown Chattanooga.

Within the legal community, Mr. Weiss has garnered a reputation for providing effective and zealous advocacy for all of his clients. We want our clients to know that they are in the best of hands, explained John Cavett. We enthusiastically welcome Mr. Weiss to the firm and we are thrilled to add his experience, talent and dedication to the firms practice of law. An important area of practice for our firm is criminal defense and Mr. Weiss will greatly expand our ability to provide those services.

Mr. Weiss joined Cavett & Abbott as Of Counsel in 2013. In addition to his criminal defense practice, he supported and grew the firms real estate and construction litigation practice significantly. John Cavett and Barry Abbott, already well-known as the local legal authority for real estate and title issues, hope to build stronger client relationships and provide greater access to the firms legal services. Mr. Weiss will help advance the firms civil litigation practice in the areas of personal injury, malicious prosecution, consumer protection and defamation. In addition to expanding the firms civil litigation practice, Mr. Weiss brings with him a considerable criminal defense experience; he represents individuals charged with domestic assault, DUI, drug crimes, theft as well as all other misdemeanors and felonies. Licensed to practice law in both Georgia and Tennessee allows the new Cavett, Abbott & Weiss to assist those with criminal charges that straddle the state line.

Joshua Weiss earned dual bachelor of art degrees in Political Science and Latin and Classical Culture from the University of Georgia in 2007, and his juris doctorate from the University of New Hampshire School Of Law in 2011. Currently, Mr. Weiss lives on Signal Mountain with his wife Eden and their two dogs, Nola and Manny.

Cavett, Abbott & Weiss is also pleased to announce the publication of their new website, https://www.cawpllc.com/. The new, modern, user-friendly website, along with the news of Weiss joining the practice, establishes the firms renewed dedication and commitment to providing the highest quality legal services for their clients. By retaining knowledgeable and experienced legal counsel, the firms clients can feel confident when they appear for their day in court. When the risks are high and the value is great, Cavett, Abbott & Weiss says, You Cant Afford To Go To Court Without Us!
e-Spirit Inc., maker of the FirstSpirit Content Experience Hub, today announced that it exceeded all 2016 goals, and has had the biggest quarter in the companys history in Q1 2017. e-Spirit expects this growth trajectory to continue throughout 2017 largely due to demand for its new content-as-a-service solution FirstSpirit CaaS, its rapidly growing cloud business, growth in North America, as well as strong license and service revenues in Central Europe.

New customer development

More than 20 new customers selected the FirstSpirit Content Experience Hub in 2016, including fashion retail groups such as ECCO and CBR Fashion Group brands including Street One and Cecil, as well as KfW Bankengruppe, Ernst Klett Verlag, Wilo, and other international trading, insurance and industrial enterprises.

"In 2016 e-Spirit had two of the best performing quarters in the company's history and were very pleased that momentum is continuing in 2017 with a banner first quarter, says Udo Straer, chief revenue officer at e-Spirit. "I would like to thank all our customers and partners for their confidence and loyalty, and I especially would like to thank all of my colleagues at e-Spirit who have made these outstanding results possible through their commitment and passion."

In 2016, e-Spirit launched a strategic change process which is supported by three pillars: the transparent management of the company, the adaptation of the product strategy and a focus on the creation of value added by the customer. Specific measures taken include a reorganization of sales with the formation of cross-functional performance teams, and the company-wide introduction of Kanban as a methodology used to create transparency, optimize processes, and thus produce faster results. Other notable change initiatives include the product development teams transition to trunk-based development and shorter incremental release cycles that create continuous value for the customer.

"With the many minor and major improvement measures taken last year, we are now fit and more agile and plan to continuously optimize our solutions and processes to enable other areas of growth that we will invest heavily in this year," said Jorn Bodemann, chief executive officer at e-Spirit.

The company invested significantly in research and development in 2017 already, and plans to create some 40 new jobs in order to further product innovation and realize its potential. "The extremely positive response to our content-as-a-service solution confirms our commitment to pursuing the path to further developing FirstSpirit into a world class content experience platform," added Bodemann.

About e-Spirit

e-Spirit changes the way companies in every sector monetize their content. It is a leader in enabling companies to unlock the value of digital content and transform the way they communicate with customers and employees. FirstSpirit combines all systems, applications, data and content into a central content experience hub that helps customers create engaging customer experiences. It gives companies the infrastructure needed to efficiently supply increasingly large quantities of personalized content for a growing number of channels and touchpoints along the customer journey, allowing them to systematically reach customers worldwide.

With FirstSpirit, FirstSpirit Cloud and FirstSpirit CaaS, e-Spirit offers users diverse solutions for significantly accelerating the time-to-market of their communication for products and brands and rolling out digital marketing measures target group specific and in real time.

e-Spirit was founded in 1999, is part of the adesso Group and has offices in 16 locations in the US, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. Customers include international brands and corporations such as LOreal Luxe, BASF, Bosch, Commerzbank, EDEKA, MAN, Media-Saturn and many others. http://www.e-Spirit.com

e-Spirit Inc.

One Cranberry Hill, Suite 100

Lexington, MA 02421, USA

+1 781 862 5511

us-info(at)e-Spirit(dot)com

http://www.e-Spirit.com

Media contact for e-Spirit:

Anne Schneider

McKenzie Worldwide

+1 (503) 780-3471

annes(at)mckenzieworldwide(dot)com
Using the dysfunction in Springfield as an excuse for funding messes is such an easy target, the complaints can begin to feel like arrows puncturing the broad side of a barn. You can't miss if you complain, but impact of the complaints can rarely be seen.

Social services, public recreation spots and public schools regularly find themselves on the losing end when it comes to state budget negotiations. Yet as we stumble toward a third year of budgetary ineptitude, incompetence and indifference from the state, it's legislators inability to accomplish even the most simple of lawmaking that begins to touch more and more of us.

The state's inability to even make an effort toward making Illinois more business-friendly has wide-ranging effects as well. As Decatur city councilman Pat McDaniel wrote to the Herald & Review, Decatur and Macon County can only do so much in attracting new types of industries to the area because they are hampered by the inaction of the General Assembly. Industry does not like to deal with uncertainties in government operations.

Moving forward in Springfield is impossible because of equal and opposing forces. Like it or not, Gov. Bruce Rauner takes much of the heat around the state. That's going to be the case because Rauner is the one thing we can do something about. Speaker Michael Madigan is an equally imposing roadblock to the state's progress.

We can vote in candidates and pressure them to remove some of Madigan's power. Too many state Democrats kowtow to Madigan and his dead-end, obstructionist style of government. The representatives we elect are the only ones who have the power to do the same thing all state voters have the power to do with Rauner.

A handful of Democrats have shown the willingness to buck Madigan. We need to encourage more, and find a solution to this embarrassing issue.

This is not a partisan issue. Democrats and Republicans share the blame. One of the biggest problems, however, is that the state's power base, from Rockford to Cairo, is determined by a handful of state voters, those in Madigan's district.

Unfortunately, bravery and competence both seem in short supply in Illinois. Still.
May 17, Sheraton Boston Hotel Join industry leaders in recognizing these amazing women

Kinvey, the leading HIPAA compliant Backend as a Service (BaaS), today announced that they will be the Technology and Innovation Track sponsor at the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT recognition event on May 17th at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The conference will honor the award winners and will offer professional development, mentoring, and networking time for women in the industry.

This is the second annual event hosted by SourceMedia, publishers of HealthData Management. The program recognizes the extraordinary contributions of women in the field of health information technology, including:



Health Information Technology (HIT) Leaders (CIO, CMIO, CSO, VP of IT)

Industry Thought Leaders/Influencers

Technology Vendor Executives

Honorees are being recognized for their efforts in driving technology innovation, overcoming organizational and technology barriers, deploying cutting-edge technology, shaping IT regulation and policy, and implementing healthcare technology that dramatically increased patient safety and health organization efficiency. Special attention was given to those candidates who have mentored female staff or peers and elevated the status of women in the profession.

Women have been innovating in healthcare IT for years, but have lacked recognition, said Margaret Rimmler, Vice President of Marketing at Kinvey. Now is the time to raise the awareness and recognize these award winners for their years of hard work and achievements.

Hospital, health system and clinic executives, and health plan and payer executives should attend this recognition event to honor these award winners. Register here to join the celebration.

About Kinvey

Kinvey provides a fully integrated HIPAA compliant app cloud delivered as a Backend as a Service (BaaS). The service provides everything needed to build and run native, hybrid, web, and IoT digital health applications. Kinvey customers deliver applications 86% faster, dramatically shortening the timeline from idea to implementation. With Kinveys decoupled architecture, client application developers are masked from the nuances of EHR and enterprise system access and performance issues and pre-built services mean less code to write, test, and maintain. Kinvey is a leader in The Forrester Wave: Mobile Development Platforms, 4Q 2016.
Bill Baldwin, Chief Operating and Financial Officer Our problem-solving methodologies are the gold standard and we are excited to be showcasing our products and services

Today, Kepner-Tregoe, the leader in problem solving, officially launches its new website and product-focused messaging. The new approach makes it easy for companies that want to equip their employees with improved problem-solving and decision-making skills to excel.

As part of this initiative, Kepner-Tregoe has overhauled its existing website, fine-tuned its messaging, and rationalized its product lines to better serve clients. Kepner-Tregoe will focus on Problem Solving for Operations and Manufacturing, IT Service Management (ITSM) and Technical Support and Training products and services. The business will be offering foundational to advanced training, project-based consulting services and technology products, all focused on its core problem-solving methodology. The website is available at http://www.kepner-tregoe.com.

Bill Baldwin, chief operating and financial officer of Kepner-Tregoe, said, The website is a major element that affects the perception of the company. Our problem-solving methodologies are the gold standard and our new focus will serve our clients more effectively to help them compete in a complex global market.

Baldwin added, An important purpose of the new Kepner-Tregoe website is to reinforce our primary branding message of empowerment. In a rapidly changing and evolving workplace, problem solving and decision making are more important than ever. At Kepner-Tregoe, we feel it is our primary goal to empower organizations with the problem-solving capabilities which allow them to have the confidence to act under pressure and make the best decisions possible for their business

For the official launch of their website, messaging and people-focused brand, Kepner-Tregoe will be participating at the ServiceNow Knowledge 17 Conference on May 7-11 at the Orlando Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.

About Kepner-Tregoe

For almost 60 years, Kepner-Tregoe has empowered thousands of companies to solve millions of problems. We provide a data-driven, consistent, scalable approach to clients in operations, manufacturing, IT Service Management, Technical Support and Learning and Development. We empower you to solve problems.

Kepner-Tregoe provides a unique combination of training and consulting services, designed specifically to reveal the root cause of problems and permanently address your organizational challenges. Our approach to problem solving will deliver measurable results to any company looking to improve quality and effectiveness while reducing overall costs.
AvePoint, the Microsoft Cloud expert, announced today the appointment of two AvePoint employees to Microsoft Regional Director status and six employees to Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status. AvePoint employees recognition across both programs demonstrates the companys continued ability to provide first-class guidance and expertise to customers taking advantage of the latest Microsoft technologies and services  including Office 365, SharePoint, and Dynamics 365.

Microsoft has appointed two AvePoint employees to its Regional Director Program  an elite group of approximately 150 top technology visionaries from around the world who are honored for their technical expertise and for actively engaging with the Microsoft community. The AvePoint employees who have been named Microsoft Regional Directors include:



John Peluso, Regional Director: As Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at AvePoint, Peluso is responsible for aligning product strategy with the key needs, problems, and initiatives of current and potential customers. Peluso also holds Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Trainer certifications.

Dux Raymond Sy, Regional Director and Microsoft MVP for Office Servers and Services: First appointed Regional Director in 2016, Sy is the Chief Marketing Officer of AvePoint and Chief Technology Officer of AvePoint Public Sector, with over 20 years of business and technology experience. At AvePoint, Sy has successfully driven digital transformation initiatives for commercial, educational, and public sector organizations worldwide.

In addition to Sy, five other AvePoint employees have been named Microsoft MVPs this year. The MVP awards recognize independent IT community leaders who have demonstrated outstanding knowledge of Microsoft products and technical expertise. The following AvePoint employees have earned Microsoft MVP status this year:



Fabrice Di Giulio, Microsoft MVP for Business Solutions: First awarded MVP status in 2015, Di Giulio is also a returning MVP this year. As a Technical Solutions Professional for AvePoint France, Di Giulio helps customers to find the best combination of tools and processes to fulfill their requirements.

Darce Hess, Microsoft MVP for Office Servers and Services: Hess is a Strategic Advisor with AvePoint Client Services (ACS). With a background in SharePoint administration and web design, Hess works to create custom SharePoint intranet branding solutions for clients throughout the United States.

Justin Liu, Microsoft MVP for Office Servers and Services: Liu has been named Microsoft MVP three times since 2014. Liu, General Manager for AvePoint at the Shenyang office in China, has over eight years of software development experience and four years of project management.

Shelley Liu, Microsoft MVP for Office Servers and Services: A ten-year veteran at AvePoint, Liu is a Vice President based out of the Changchun office, where she leads pre-sales, Technical Sales Professionals, and service delivery for the China and Taiwan markets. Liu was recognized as an MVP in 2016 for her insights on personal CSDN Blogs, Microsoft Wiki, and Microsoft Tech Community.

Paul Olenick, Microsoft MVP for Office Servers and Services: Olenick is a five-time Microsoft MVP. As Director of Product Strategy for AvePoint, Olenick helps to evolve AvePoint's market and product strategies as well as product marketing with focuses in sales enablement and product innovation for the business productivity portfolio.

The continued recognition of AvePoint employees by the Microsoft community is a true honor, said Dr. Tianyi (TJ) Jiang, AvePoint Co-CEO and Co-Founder. Through the appointments of our two RDs and six MVPs, were able to provide customers with increased knowledge and best practices for deploying and managing Microsoft tools.

To learn more about AvePoint, please visit our website.

About AvePoint

AvePoint is the Microsoft Cloud expert. Over 15,000 companies and 5 million cloud users trust AvePoint to accelerate the migration, management, and protection of their Office 365 and SharePoint data. AvePoints integrated cloud, hybrid, and on-premises software solutions are enhanced by 24/7 support and award-winning services. Organizations across six continents and all industries rely on AvePoint to ease transition to the Microsoft Cloud, increase IT administrator productivity, and satisfy governance and compliance objectives.

A three-time Microsoft Partner of the Year, AvePoint has been named to the Inc. 500|5000 six times and the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 five times. AvePoint is a Microsoft Global ISV Partner, a Microsoft Gold Partner in Application Development, Cloud Platform, Cloud Productivity, and Collaboration and Content, and a US Government GSA provider via strategic partnerships. Founded in 2001, AvePoint is privately held and headquartered in Jersey City, NJ.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Iphone Kids "Traditional banks have failed to keep pace with the realities of commerce and consumer needs, specifically for kids getting their first bank accounts."

With cash usage declining amongst U.S. consumers, parents are seeking smart, digital money management solutions for their children. Financial services technology firm Current today unveiled a new type of banking account to address these issues.

The Current Student Account has two primary components: A Visa-branded debit card enabling teens to swipe in stores and online; and an app-based platform available on iOS and Android that allows parents to track their childrens spending in real time, automate allowances, set chores, encourage saving, and foster charitable giving.

"Traditional banks have failed to keep pace with the realities of commerce and consumer needs, specifically for kids getting their first bank accounts," said Stuart Sopp, Current founder and CEO. "The Current Student Account brings allowances into the digital age - providing parents and their children with ways to mutually agree on allowances, how those funds will be used, and the chores and responsibilities needed to gain access to those funds. Additionally, our Spending, Saving, and Giving Wallets provide the tools necessarily to teach financial responsibility and get kids thinking about giving back to their local communities."

The Current Student Account helps parents teach their kids to spend responsibly, save wisely and act charitably through three wallets:



The Spending wallet tracks and provides real-time alerts to parents on expenditures, incorporating budgetary limits, and pre-set blocks on prohibited retailer categories.

The Savings wallet features tools to help teens become more attuned to fiscal responsibility and to improve spending habits while adhering to pre-set savings objectives by illustrating how savings can grow beyond compound interest.

The Giving wallet enables parents to collaborate with their kids to identify charities to support and automatically set aside monthly allocations for philanthropic contributions.

Currents platform seamlessly connects to any domestic bank account and facilitates transactions via a host of popular social media sites and messaging services including Facebook Messenger, iMessage and Kik, among others. The Visa debit card will be issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank, while Galileo Processing will provide card processing.

In early March, Current raised $3.6 million via a seed-financing round led by Expa, Human Ventures , and Future Perfect Ventures.

ABOUT CURRENT

Current enables people to more effectively manage their money with family and friends, however they live their life. Currents flexible, API-based platform adapts to the needs of each user, allowing people to automate payments, set spending controls, and see insights on every purchase. The company is based in New York City, and is backed by Expa, Human Ventures, and Future Perfect Ventures. For more information, visit Current.com.
Bracing for the flood President Jerry Garbutt convened his team to discuss the most pressing issue  how to service customers  amid the crisis. Shutting the doors for three days and leaving doctors with no technical support or replacement parts weighed heavily on him.

A Dental & ENT manufacturer began preparing for the worst on Monday, after the deluge of rain over the weekend hit St. Louis. Employees at Global Surgical are all too familiar with the flooding. Inside the 48,000-square ft. building on Tree Court Industrial Boulevard, they pitched in to elevate everything off of the floor. Machinery, production inventory, and contents from lower desk drawers all had to come up.

It was a deja vu for most who had been with the company 16 months prior, when the water rose rapidly over Christmas break. Peggy Scotino, a Customer Service Representative, has been working in this area for almost 40 years. She notes in all the time Ive been here, the Meramec River has only flooded this industrial park three times, including this week. Controller, Bob Colie, recalls an employee using a boat to check on the office in 94 when water was just inches below the dock doors.

Disaster planning kicked in as workers raced to fill sandbags and protect the exterior doors. President Jerry Garbutt convened his management team to discuss the most pressing issue  how to service customers  amid the crisis. Shutting the doors for three days and leaving doctors with no technical support or replacement parts weighed heavily on him. The critical work employees do is tethered to the physical building. With rising flood waters, it would not be safe for them to be there.

The team quickly updated their plan with a stop-gap measure and rerouted the phones for customer emergencies. Dave Grant, the Technical Service Manager, led the effort to gather stock items and other necessities so his team could continue their work offsite.

The customer & technical support teams have in-depth knowledge from years of working closely in the office with other departments. Technicians can walk down the hall to discuss an issue with the engineers or out to the manufacturing line to solve a problem. This rapport provides an instant feedback loop for connecting trends in the field with development.

Globals Technical Service heroes were able to fulfill the companys mission and mitigate disruption for its customers. Although the facility was shut down, doctors using a Global Microscope were able to continue receiving help and support.

Tech support representative, Scott Hall, was on duty fielding calls from his home on Wednesday when a dentist in Florida called the emergency line. Scott diagnosed the doctors issue and shipped him a replacement part. Careful planning and quick thinking gave the doctor a speedy resolution. The equipment was operational the next morning to resume using in procedures. Without this foresight, the doctor would have been unable to use his microscope for an additional two days.

On Thursday, as water receded, Global Surgical reopened its doors, unpacking sandbags and moving supplies back into their proper place. Preparedness allowed Global Surgical to weather the flood relatively undamaged, aside from the two days of lost productivity.

About Global Surgical Corporation

Global Surgical Corporation is dedicated to helping doctors to realize their full potential by manufacturing innovative equipment for the Dental & ENT markets. An underlying commitment to total customer satisfaction drives decision making at every level of the organization; delivering high-quality products with superior customer service and technical support. Visit  http://bit.ly/2p5xylP for more information.
PandaDoc PandaDoc, the leading digital transaction management solution, today announced that its platform is now available as part of bpm'onlines process-driven CRM for marketing, sales and service.

PandaDoc, the leading digital transaction management solution, today announced that its platform is now available as part of bpm'onlines process-driven CRM for marketing, sales and service. The Chicago-based custom software development company Velvetech was instrumental in building the integration, which will ensure that bpm'online customers can now close more deals with better quotes, proposals and contract management processes with the PandaDoc integration.

The integration with bpm'onlines CRM solution is seamless, and was developed on time thanks to the professional services rendered by Velvetech, stated PandaDoc CEO, Mikita Mikado. The team at Velvetech is to be commended for their professionalism, and their ability to provide the best user experience possible for our document automation platform within the bpm'online CRM ecosystem.

PandaDoc helps accelerate the way organizations transact. It integrates with the worlds leading CRMs, as well as ERP, payment, cloud storage and other systems. PandaDoc has powerful features that enable businesses to easily generate, track and execute documents. Companies that run on PandaDoc are consistently reporting higher close rates, bigger deals, shorter sales cycles, full compliance and other improvements that relate to the final stages of the buying cycle.

"We want customers to get the most out of bpm'online. For this, we develop a wide range of powerful integrations with solutions like PandaDoc, which significantly increase the capability of bpm'online," said Yuri Yushkov, Principal at Velvetech. "We are extremely delighted with the results of the PandaDoc bpm'online integration."

Velvetech invites members of the media, and businesses community alike, to attend bpm'onlines new Global Tour. There, Velvetech will answer questions and share customer success stories. The first event will be held in Boston, MA, on May 11-12, 2017 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

To learn more about PandaDoc, simply visit PandaDoc.com. For more information regarding Velvetech, go to Velvetech.com. And for more about bpm'online, visit bpmonline.com.

About PandaDoc

PandaDoc helps organizations close more deals with automated proposals, contracts, quotes, and other business documents. Features include eSignatures, CRM integrations, data merge, building, editing, executing, tracking documents, and more. PandaDoc was founded in 2013 and is based in San Francisco, California. Learn more at PandaDoc.com.

About Velvetech

Velvetech specializes in custom software development for enterprises, SMBs and startups. Services include software development, business technology consulting, managed IT services, Web and mobile Apps, digital marketing and creative services. Learn more at Velvetech.com.

About bpm'online

Bpm'online provides unique synergy of BPM technologies and CRM for sales, marketing, service to empower organizations to accelerate time-to-strategy execution. The beauty and the core value of bpm'online products is the agility to change processes faster than ever and align marketing, sales and service on a single platform. Users love bpm'online's engaging interface with a social look and feel, free from redundant information to keep them focused on what's relevant. Today, the company serves thousands of customers worldwide.

For more information, visit bpmonline.com.

###
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will visit Granite Technical Institute Tuesday, 11:30 a.m. to see where students start in the Utah Aerospace Pathways program before moving on to related courses at Salt Lake Community College and elsewhere. DeVos is expected to meet with officials from Granite, SLCC and local industries related to the Aerospace Pathways program at the Institute, 2500 South State Street in Salt Lake City.

Since 2015, the Aerospace Pathways program has been providing Utah students the opportunity to graduate high school with a certificate in aerospace manufacturing and begin a career in that field. The first semester (60 hours of study) of the program takes place in high schools while the second semester (48 hours of study) is held at Salt Lake Community College and Davis Applied Technology College. Students also participate in paid internships during their senior year of high school. Coursework includes composite manufacturing, basic metrology, tool usage and safety, environmental health, precision measuring instruments, organization awareness, applied mathematics and reading.

Upon completion of the program and after passing pre-employment requirements, students can work for program industry partners Boeing, Harris, Hexcel, Hill Air Force Base, Janicki or Orbital ATK. Jobs at these employers are considered to provide family-sustaining wages and, in some cases, include tuition reimbursement programs for continued education after working for the company for at least one year.

Salt Lake Community College is an accredited, student-focused, comprehensive community college meeting the diverse needs of the Salt Lake community. Home to more than 60,000 students each year, the College is Utahs leading provider of workforce development programs. SLCC is also the largest supplier of transfer students to Utahs four-year institutions and a perennial Top 10 college nationally for total associate degrees awarded. The College is the sole provider of applied technology courses in the Salt Lake area, with multiple locations, an eCampus, and nearly 1,000 continuing education sites located throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Personal attention from an excellent faculty is paramount at the College, which maintains an average class size of 20.

Granite School District is the third largest school district in the state of Utah, serving more than 67,000 K-12 students in 90 schools throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Granite offers students a myriad of educational pathways that cater to interests, goals and needs. Teachers in Granite receive ongoing professional development to help them prepare students for college, career and life in the 21st century world. The district has been nationally recognized for its new teacher mentoring program, industry partnerships, and unique approaches to help all students succeed.
Root Logo Expanding west gives more drivers access to a better car insurance model and better rates overall.

Root, the first insurance company founded on the principle of fundamental fairness, today expanded to Arizona after a highly successful launch in Ohio. Effective immediately, Arizona drivers can download Roots iOS or Android app and take a test drive to determine a personalized rate. Roots unique insurance modelusing mobile data to personalize rates and only insuring good drivershas proven to be a game-changer in Ohio, and the expansion to Arizona will increase the companys potential reach by 60 percent.

Expanding west gives more drivers access to a better car insurance model and better rates overall, said Root CEO and co-founder Alex Timm. Arizona is a natural fit for us as a business. The state embraces innovation in the auto industry, welcoming important technological advances that will ultimately transform our lives. Theres a reason that Uber and Waymo are testing self-driving car services in Arizona! Its a state that looks to the future. Root is entirely reimagining how car insurance works and were proud to join the list of innovative companies operating here.

Root is the nations first entirely mobile-based car insurance company. Their data-driven approach ensures drivers receive a quote based primarily on how they actually drive, rather than solely on demographic data (as is the practice of most traditional insurers). To join, users download an app and take a test drive. Upon completion of the test drive, Roots proprietary rating engine generates a personalized quote based on the individual risk of the driver. Since Root doesnt insure bad drivers, good drivers can save up to 52%.

In preparing for Roots arrival in Arizona, we did a lot of research to understand the states driving dynamic, said Dan Manges, chief technology officer, Arizona has a high crash ratein 2015, there were 20% more fatal crashes per capita in Arizona compared to the rest of the USbut, to us, that just means there are a lot of good Arizonan drivers picking up the insurance tab for bad ones. Thats not right and we want to provide a fairer alternative. Since our pricing model is designed to reward good drivers, we think it will be great addition to the insurance market in Arizona.

In addition to its unique pricing model, Root made waves throughout the insurance industry in March by announcing it would be the first car insurer to offer a discount for self-driving cars because of their decreased crash risk. The discount is currently available to Tesla owners, but the company plans to extend it to owners of other autonomous vehicles in the future. With todays expansion, Root becomes the first insurance carrier to offer such a discount to Arizona drivers.

To join Root, drivers simply download the app and take a test drive, which takes approximately two to three weeks, depending on how much they drive. Once complete, Root provides a quote and allows customers to transfer their policy, all through their mobile phone.

Root is available today to good drivers in Ohio and Arizona, and will be coming to more states soon. To learn more and sign up for updates on Root's availability, please visit http://www.joinroot.com.

About Root:

Root is the first insurance company founded on the principle of fundamental fairness. We create personalized products that give good drivers the protection they deserve.

At Root we only insure good drivers, and that is why our rates are always fair. Unlike other insurance companies, we do not bundle good drivers with bad drivers. Instead, we use data science to find and reward good drivers with the best rates.

Root is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. We are an official carrier licensed by the Ohio and Arizona Departments of Insurance. We are backed by the largest reinsurance company in the world, and we're a member of both the Ohio Insurance Guaranty Association and the Arizona Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund.

Get the rate you deserve at http://www.joinroot.com.
Dr. Luciana Lagana at the 2016 Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festivals screening of her anti-bias film LGBT UNITED You set an example for other artists. Creative work should inspire and make a difference! (Prof. Nate Thomas, Head of the Film Production Option in the CSUN Department of Cinema and Television Arts) Past News Releases RSS CSUN Professor Luciana Lagana and...

CSUN Professor Luciana Lagana and...

CSUN Professor Luciana Lagana...

CSUN Psychology Professor and NIH-funded researcher Luciana Lagana has been writing, hosting, directing and producing numerous films and series, with the intent to help discriminated minorities. She is currently preparing several feature documentaries that she will use in her randomized controlled trials to test whether watching these films could decrease biases against a variety of minorities. She has incorporated her passion for filmmaking into her academic career through using her films in innovative experiments.

Professor Nate Thomas is the Head of the Film Production Option in the CSUN Department of Cinema and Television Arts; he trained Dr. Luciana in film production and congratulated her on receiving the award by saying You set an example for other artists. Creative work should inspire and make a difference! Receiving this award confirms that Dr. Lucianas creative efforts are unique and contributing to social change.

(from the awards description): One faculty member each year is awarded the Exceptional Creative Accomplishment(s) Award. The award honors exceptional creativity embodied in music, dance, film, a work of art, a theatrical production, or a written work. The award is generously supported by the University Foundation and carries a prize of $1,200. The criteria used in evaluating a nominated work will be:  originality of expression  innovative use of materials, concepts or technology  initiatory exploration in the fields of art, literature, music, theater, mass communication, radio, television, film and/or dance  critical recognition or acclaim given the work  professional evaluation of and support for the work.

In addition to fulfilling her academic responsibilities in the Department of Psychology at CSUN, since 2006, Dr. Luciana has been pursuing her creative endeavors by studying acting, TV and radio hosting, screenwriting, directing, and producing in Los Angeles. She has over 50 IMDb credits for hosting and acting in many independent feature films, TV pilots, and web series, as well as several credits for her award-winning screenwriting, directing, and producing. She is the writer, lead actor, director and producer of the 2014 award-winning satirical web series INTIMATE TEMP AGENCY, focused on helping young people with special needs find employment. This series won Best Trailer at the 2015 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, among other awards. Her 2014 DR. LUCIANA SHOW  AGING AND FALLING web series won numerous awards, including Best Educational Show at the 2015 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. Her 2015 TV pilot DR. LUCIANA ON AGING AND FALLING also fared well on the film festival circuit. In addition, she wrote, hosted, directed, and produced three award-winning social impact feature documentaries, LGBT UNITED, UNDERSTANDING PAIN IN OLDER AGE, and AGING AND FALLING, which she has been using in her anti-bias experiments at CSUN.

As previously reported, Dr. Lucianas randomized controlled study on whether watching LGBT UNITED could reduce homophobia achieved successful preliminary results. Moreover, young adults who watched her film UNDERSTANDING PAIN IN OLDER AGE reported significantly higher levels of empathy towards older adults. With some of her research assistants, she presented the results of this pain-focused study at the 2017 Convention of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Diego, California.

It is an honor to receive the Exceptional Creative Accomplishments faculty award. I have admired past winners of this award for their documentary filmmaking and other creative activities. I hope to follow in their prestigious footsteps as an advocate for discriminated minorities using my films to decrease biases against them, concluded Dr. Luciana.

Written by Stefanie Friesen

Luciana Lagana is a caring clinical and experimental psychologist, as well as a professor of psychology, gerontology, womens health, and sexuality at CSUN, where she teaches classes and mentors many undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, since 2002, she has been conducting government-funded research at CSUN on the physical, psychological, sexual, and social health of ethnically diverse, primarily low-income older women.
POSSIBLE Acquires Marketplace Ignition, a Leading Consultancy Specializing in Amazon "The potential for brands and retailers on Amazon is enormous, but they need a holistic strategy to succeed." Shane Atchison, CEO of POSSIBLE

POSSIBLE, a WPP Digital agency, announced today the acquisition of Marketplace Ignition, a leading strategy consultancy focused on helping retailers and brands increase their business on Amazon and other marketplaces. With offices in Seattle and Atlanta, Marketplace Ignition has worked with more than 400 brands, representing more than 2 million SKUs and $2 billion in annual retail sales. Their main goal is to establish and grow the eCommerce presence for their clients on Amazon. Launched in 2011, Marketplace Ignition is relentlessly data-driven and uses research and ongoing impact analysis to identify immediate and long-term strategic growth levers for clients including the Hallmark Company, Lifetime Brands, Inc. and Reynolds Consumer Products.

Marketplace Ignition specializes in operational marketing, the science of leveraging product data and channel expertise to optimize brand performance through online channels. With the growth in size and importance of Amazon including Amazon.com, Amazon Media Services, Amazon Prime and other services, operational marketing has become a fundamentally important part of online marketing and very few brands have a core competency in it.

The potential for brands and retailers on Amazon is enormous, but they need a holistic strategy to succeed. Our clients are increasingly asking us for Amazon expertise and for POSSIBLE to be that one agency to help them solve for all things Amazon, remarked Shane Atchison, Global CEO of POSSIBLE. Marketplace Ignition has built a leading consultancy with tremendous expertise and relationships with Amazon and we are thrilled to welcome them to the POSSIBLE Commerce team.

As the largest consultancy specifically dedicated to helping brands succeed on Amazon and other online marketplaces, the acquisition of Marketplace Ignition deepens POSSIBLEs expertise and experience in all aspects of the Amazon ecosystem. From supply chain and operations, to assortment planning, operational marketing, content optimization, and search management, the acquisition demonstrates POSSIBLEs commitment to delivering success on Amazon for clients.

POSSIBLE understands the future of retail and the potential that brands have on Amazon, but Shane and the team also know it requires deep knowledge of the entire Amazon platform and its ecosystem to succeed, said Eric Heller, CEO and Founder of Marketplace Ignition. Category leadership on Amazon takes dedication, operational excellence and a deep understanding of how data drives sales and market share. POSSIBLE has data in its DNA and this coupled with their award-winning approach convinced me they were exactly the partner we needed to take our organization to the next level. Im excited for what Marketplace Ignition and POSSIBLE will do together to deliver more value to brands and Amazon customers.

The POSSIBLE Commerce practice helps clients manage Amazon as well as other commerce platforms and unites brand building with sales performance. Led by Frank Kochenash, Global SVP of Commerce, the practice offers a full suite of services and leverages POSSIBLEs deep experience with data and technology to improve efficiency and performance. Marketplace Ignition will operate under the name Marketplace Ignition, A POSSIBLE Commerce Agency and will be led by current CEO and founder, Eric Heller. Eric, Frank and the team will work closely together to bring the power of POSSIBLE Commerce to clients.

About POSSIBLE

POSSIBLE is a creative agency that moves brands by moving people, creating value for consumers, not products. By design, we are visionaries, innovators, and pioneers. We back up every idea with real-world insights to create work that makes a differenceand makes a measurable impact. With more than 1,500 employees around the globe, POSSIBLE brings results-driven digital solutions to some of the worlds most dynamic brands, including Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Adidas and ConAgra. POSSIBLE is a WPP Digital agency.

Follow POSSIBLE on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1915024

Twitter: https://twitter.com/POSSIBLE & https://twitter.com/WORKatPOSSIBLE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/POSSIBLE.com

More information is available at http://www.possible.com/commerce

About Marketplace Ignition

Marketplace Ignition is the leading strategy consultancy for helping retailers and brands increase their business on Amazon and other marketplaces. The agency specializes in operational marketing and advises clients on all aspects of eCommerce from sales strategy and merchandise selection, to dynamic pricing and promotion strategy. Data-driven, it uses research and ongoing impact analysis to identify immediate and long-term strategic growth levers. Marketplace Ignition uses deep industry expertise to help retailers effectively compete and win in this increasingly critical channel.

Follow Marketplace Ignition on Linked In.

For more information, please visit marketplaceignition.com
The Trump administrations decision to relax some of the school lunch rules involving sodium intake, whole grain content and milk approved in 2012, following the provisions of a 2010 law adopted at the behest of then-first lady Michelle Obama, drew fire from some health experts. An American Heart Association official warned that there could be serious health consequences for students.

But in explaining the decision to give school districts the option to not meet strict standards, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made a crucial point: If kids arent eating the food, and its ending up in the trash, they arent getting any nutrition  thus undermining the intent of the program. Patricia Montague, CEO of the School Nutrition Association, agreed with the decision: We have been wanting flexibility so that schools can serve meals that are both nutritious and palatable. We dont want kids wasting their meals by throwing them away.

The evidence that the lunch rules backfired is considerable. A 2013 study estimated that 1.1 million students had stopped buying school lunches in the 2012-13 school year, the first year-to-year decline after nearly a decade of steady increases. Another 2013 study pegged the annual cost of wasted food at school cafeterias at $1.24 billion. Anyone who doubts student antipathy to school food should search #ThanksMichelleObama on Twitter for a look at photos of lunches that left kids fed up instead of fed.

Good intentions dont always pay off with good results. Having a healthy school lunch menu achieves nothing if the lunch goes uneaten.

 The San Diego Union-Tribune
It is estimated that 15% of Americans, which is nearly 40,000,000 people, suffer from dental anxiety  the type of fear that makes you tremble, sweat, feel sick and can bring on panic attacks.

Odontophobia (the correct medical term) is a serious condition that increases the sufferer's risk of gum gingivitis, tooth decay and oral cancer, simply because they avoid going to the dentist unless it's absolutely neccessary  and a proportion of these, who are known as dentally phobic, never go at all, choosing to endure the pain of cavities and chipped or broken teeth rather than take their chances in the dentist's chair.

"For those with who are dentally phobic, it's unlikely they'd get near the surgery, let alone allow a dentist to look in their mouths," says Professor Gerald Humphris, a clinical researcher into dental phobia from the University of St Andrews. "It can be a problem that's very deep-seated, often triggered by a bad experience in childhood, and requires sensitive and careful handling from a sympathetic dentist who's prepared to spend time with a nervous patient. Sufferers may also need sessions with a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist to uncover the root of the problem and help change they way they think about dental treatment."

Dr. Jay Grossman DDS (http://www.drjaydds.com/) of Concierge Dentistry in Brentwood, California, is deeply concerned about this public phenomenon and is working to educate the world on the importance of regularly visiting their dentist. "Just like any fear, concern, or anxiety, there are solutions." Dr. Grossman says, "however, the solutions will require an action by the patient to either seek professional help to deal with their anxiety, or communicate their concern to the dentist and allow and trust the dentist to provide various modalities of anxiety reducing procedures such as nitrous oxide, Oral Conscrious Sedation, or IV sedation."

Dr. Grossman has already taken steps to alleviate symptoms of Odontophobia by offering "sleep dentistry" to his patients. At his practice, his board-certified anesthesiologist delivers safe, comfortable sedation to customers so they can get all their dental work done painlessly in a single visit. This is only the first of many ground-breaking solutions that Dr. Grossman is working on to change the public perception of dentistry. He wants people to view their trip to the dentist as an easy way to increase their personal health, rather than an annoying chore that should only be done if necessary.

"The bottom line," Dr. Grossman goes on to say, "is that there is a solution! And, it will require the patient to be courageous and deal effectively with their anxiety."

Along with running his practice, Dr. Jay Grossman is a professor of dental medicine at Western University College of Dental Medicine, as well as a lecture at UCLA College of Dentistry for the past 21 years. He also founded the organization Homeless Not Toothless that provides free dental care to the homeless and underserved (http://www.HomelessNotToothless.org/).
Schaffer Consulting works side by side with its clients to accelerate innovation, cut through complexity, and deliver immediately tangible results against their strategic priorities Our case study showcases Rich Products path to accelerating growth by strengthening its ability to innovate and respond in an agile manner to new shifts and trends in the industry

Schaffer Consulting, a management consultancy specializing in innovative methods for driving immediate and sustainable growth, will play a major role in the upcoming Change Management Conference 2017, to be held in Vienna, Austria on May 10. The event, sponsored by Integrated Consulting Group, will address some of the biggest challenges faced by business today, with topics related to high-impact change, corporate culture, and innovation.

Markus Spiegel and Logan Chandler, partners at Schaffer Consulting, will both participate in the conference, along with Schaffer client Rich Products, a global food company employing over 10,000 associates. Schaffer and Rich Products will jointly present a case study about the power of Design Thinking combined with a laser focus on results to accelerate corporate innovation efforts.

Our case study showcases Rich Products path to accelerating growth by strengthening its ability to innovate and respond in an agile manner to new shifts and trends in the industry, said Chandler. Rather than looking to established best practices, we worked with Rich to help develop a cross-functional team, which created their own set of best practices, strengthened innovation, and served as a change catalyst.

On the second day of the conference, Markus Spiegel will present a second case study on Boosting Innovation Culture  exploring Rapid Innovation Teams and the Four Conditions Leaders need to create for innovation to thrive. This interactive session stems from a Learning Journey that conference producer and Schaffers European partner Integrated Consulting Group hosted in Silicon Valley earlier this year.

Were both looking forward to sharing our insights, said Chandler. This conference is especially important to attendees interested in change management and corporate culture, and the hands-on sessions give attendees a chance to try out methods and tools.

The conference also features several breakout discussions that will allow participants to experience Design Thinking first-hand, along with subjects such as a Scrum boot camp, agile project management, linear versus exponential thinking, and team radar  which involves taking team cooperation a step further, along with subjects such as emotional competence and change communications.

About Schaffer Consulting

Schaffer Consulting is a Stamford CT-based consultancy that works side by side with its clients to accelerate innovation, cut through complexity, and deliver immediately tangible results against their strategic priorities. By unlocking the potential to perform and innovate at higher levels, Schaffer helps organizations make rapid and measurable progress towards those key priorities. Visit Schaffer Consulting online at http://www.schafferresults.com.
She brings a connection to the market in her customer interactions that will be invaluable to building more innovative mobile technologies.

SyncDog, Inc., the leading ISV for mobile application containerization, today announced the expansion of its business development team with the addition Tammy Murphy, an enterprise software sales strategist specializing in Enterprise Mobility Management, who previously held executive sales roles at Good Technology, BoxTone, and AetherPal. Murphy joins SyncDog with a longstanding track record of top performances for start-up organizations, accompanied by record breaking revenue achievements. Additionally, Murphy brings depth in experience for operational efficiencies and a global customer experience spanning the past 15 years that will provide an additional data point for SentinelSecure product development and roadmap.

We are honored and very fortunate to have Tammy Murphy joining the SyncDog team, said Jonas Gyllensvaan, SyncDog president and founder. Obviously, Tammy brings a wealth of experience to the team but most importantly, she brings a connection to the market in her customer interactions that will be invaluable to building more innovative mobile technologies.

The move to add Murphy to the team comes at a time when SyncDog is also looking to expand its corporate footprint in the U.S. and Canada. Gyllensvaan recently traveled to the Canadian province of New Brunswick to meet with Opportunities NB, a government organization that helps companies expand into the province.

Users want a better mobile app experience and were seeing some great traction in this space for a workspace thats highly functional with government-grade encryption, and that is not too complex to master, added Gyllensvaan. This added product interest has us seeking resources that will help expand the business to the level of customer support required. This is why we are looking at bringing on experts like Tammy and (Chief Technology Officer) Clay Miller, our most recent executive strategist addition.

Visit with Tammy Murphy and the SyncDog Team at MobileIron Live! 2017

SyncDog will moderate a thought-provoking, conversational roundtable at MobileIron Live! this year, addressing a topic in which c-, director-, and manager-level enterprise titles have a vested interest, such as mobile app functionality, security, mobile device procurement/management, and compliance management.

The roundtable is titled Mobile EUX After BYOD  Security versus Functionality and Is There a Middle Ground? The discussion will last 45 minutes with Q&A and an opportunity to meet with SyncDog in its booth after the session. Roundtable attendance is on a first-come basis and will be held in a common area of MobileIron Live! at the Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara, Ca.

Additionally, SyncDog will be hosting live demonstrations of SentinelSecure in the exhibit hall at the MobileIron Live! Sponsor Zone. Attendees will be able to get a hands-on experience of the latest release, version 2.6, throughout expo hours.



Where: Hyatt Regency | Santa Clara, CA

When: May 9-11

Booth: Hyatt Regency Expo Hall, MobileIron Live! Sponsor Zone

About the SentinelSecure C2 Workspace

The SentinelSecure Collaborative & Containerized or C2 Workspace provides a secure application platform that encrypts and transports data between the enterprise and secure, partitioned applications running on employees mobile devices. The C2 Workspace delivers a highly functional and easy app experience for users, and protects client enterprise networks with a secure, partitioned FIPS 140-2 certified* container, a. Available on both iOS and Android devices. SentinelSecure secures data both on the device and in transit using AES 256-bit encryption. A full suite of mobile-enabled productivity applications is available in the defense-grade container, including SharePoint, Enterprise Chat, Geo-location Services, DropBox, a Personal Information Management (PIM) suite, Office Suite, Office 365, File Sync, and Secure Mobile App Management & Development functions.

A full list of applications and additional solution details can be found the SyncDog website here.

About SyncDog, Inc.

SyncDog is the leading ISV for building Containerized and Collaborative mobile IT frameworks (the C2 Workspace) that extend app functionality to devices while securing corporate and Government networks from mobile endpoint threat. SyncDogs flagship solution, SentinelSecure delivers a rich and unimpeded mobile experience for employees working remotely, and supports a multitude of enterprise collaboration apps within a NIST-certified (FIPS 140-2 cert. #2687), C2 Workspace. The C2 Workspace is ideal for organizations that want to deliver a rich mobile app experience across BYOD, CYOD (choose your own device), or other remote device policy.

The SentinelSecure C2 Workspace delivers a host of applications addressing a wide footprint of enterprise workflows including:

Secure Communications

Secure File Management

Secure Internet/Intranet Access

Secure Location-Based Services

For more information on SyncDog and our products please visit syncdog.com/solutions/.
Dr Andy Pearson There are many external factors which will influence the design of refrigeration systems in the next twenty five years.

Star Refrigerations Group Managing Director Dr Andy Pearson will deliver an insightful industry paper to raise awareness of natural refrigerants and new innovative components for industrial systems. The paper, which aims to forecast the industrys future, analyses past and current events to reveal the Megatrends set to drive the industrial refrigeration sector forward.

Dr Pearson, who is President of Scientific Committee, Former President of IoR UK and a Member of IIR Commission E1 said, There are many external factors which will influence the design of refrigeration systems in the next twenty five years. Sharing, discussing and examining these at high profile events such as the IIR Conference is important to ensure we are prepared for these trends.

Pearsons paper is titled Megatrends in Industrial Refrigeration and covers various external factors that are likely to influence the decisions taken by designers of industrial refrigeration systems and examines them in different contexts. Carbon reduction, automation, globalisation and universality, as in the rapid transfer and sharing of information and knowledge, are considered in the light of increased urbanisation, growing environmental awareness and ever-present pressure on cost.

The International Institute of Refrigeration hosts a global conference each year. It currently has 58 member countries and organises events all over the world promoting the sharing of knowledge of refrigeration and related technologies. This paper is just one of many included in the conference programme to be delivered by Star Refrigeration staff. Delegates will hear another keynote speech from Dr Rob Lamb, Star Refrigeration Group Sales and Marketing Director who will provide an overview of low charge ammonia refrigeration systems looking at the multiple factors driving the transition to greener, cleaner and more efficient cooling solutions. Stars consultancy company, Star Technical Solutions will also be represented with Dr Dermot Cotter sharing its specialised engineering knowledge on ammonia refrigeration systems safety and legislative compliance.

The International Institute of Refrigeration conference runs from 11th  13th May 2017 in Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia.

To find out more about the event and how to register go to: https://www.mf.edu.mk/web_ohrid2017/ohrid-2017.html

To find out more about Star Refrigeration and its pioneering work in the development of refrigeration systems, visit the website at http://www.star-ref.co.uk
Jeffrey McCarron, Managing Partner This recognition is wonderful and we are humbled by it. Winning for our clients is what we get up every day to do. Tomorrow we will work even harder to help our clients succeed.

Swartz Campbell LLC is pleased to announce that its Professional Liability Department has been named the Litigation Department of the Year 2017 by The Legal Intelligencer. The Legal Intelligencer is the oldest law journal in the United States and is the most trusted source of Pennsylvania legal news, information and analysis.

Long regarded as one of the top professional liability practices in the country, Department Chair and Managing Partner Jeffrey McCarron said: This recognition is wonderful and we are humbled by it. Winning for our clients is what we get up every day to do. Tomorrow we will work even harder to help our clients succeed.

In addition to McCarron, members of the Swartz Campbell Professional Liability Department include the following seasoned litigators: Joshua Byrne, Candidus Dougherty, Kathleen Carson, Nicole Graham and Caryn Steiger. They focus their practice on the defense of actions and proceedings against professionals arising out of professional practice. Many of the matters involve professional malpractice which accuses the professional of deviating from the standard of care. The matters handled by the Professional Liability Group also include claims for breach of contract, defamation, commercial torts, intentional torts such as fraud, conspiracy and illegal acts, and claims based on regulations of professional conduct.

Swartz Campbell LLC is a regional insurance defense firm providing legal services and counseling to insurers and self insureds in litigated matters throughout the United States. Focusing its practice primarily on the East Coast, Swartz Campbell LLC attorneys have become leaders in their fields of expertise. Swartz Campbell attorneys are regularly called upon to take over or assist in complex matters involving issues of first impression. Many of the cases which form the basis of Pennsylvania law have their origin in the briefs and argument of Swartz Campbell attorneys. The firm has offices throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with additional regional offices being located in New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia and Delaware. To learn more about the firm, please see http://www.swartzcampbell.com.
We (QA Graphics) typically do most of our work nationally and saw this opportunity to work locally, wanting to showcase our complete commercial building skills, start to finish, to the surrounding area, said Dan McCarty, Owner of QA Graphics.

QA Graphics is releasing a project spotlight on their recent opportunity to work with another local company, D.R.A. Properties L.C. from Ankeny, Iowa. QA Graphics provided full design solutions that included site map, exterior building renders, a fly through video and floor plans for D.R.A., assisting them in enhancing the visibility of The District of Prairie Trail. QA Graphics utilized their award-winning 3D design team and state of the art 3D technology, providing versatile design tools which will be used for multiple marketing and presentation opportunities.

Using 3D design will enable potential tenants to view the Prairie Trail property with photo-realistic views to aid in the decision-making process and on-site selection for potential build sites. The final products allow anyone wanting to see The District in an accurate 3D perspective including business and potential growth of the development.

To download a copy of the study visit: https://www.qagraphics.com/dra-prairie-trail-project/

We (QA Graphics) typically do most of our work nationally and saw this opportunity to work locally, wanting to showcase our complete commercial building skills, start to finish, to the surrounding area, said Dan McCarty, Owner of QA Graphics an Ankeny native.

QA Graphics has expanded their services over the last ten years into a full-service design firm that serves the commercial building industry from start to finish. This is highlighted in the project spotlight through the variety of work completed on this project. The post production of this project provided impactful realistic views for full design deliverables to be used in sales and marketing opportunities that will enhance the visibility of The District of Prairie Trails  the first community in the state of Iowa to embrace the concept of New Urbanism development. This style cultivates with diverse and distinctive homes, neighborhood stores, offices, schools, and parks.

About QA Graphics - QA Graphics is a leader in the building automation and green building industries. The company specializes in HVAC graphic development services, system graphics, floor plan graphics, and Energy Efficiency Education Dashboards (EEEDs). Since 2006, QA Graphics has served as an expert design resource for the building controls industry and is able to provide BAS graphics for any type of building automation. The company also provides marketing solutions such as interactive applications, 3D design and animation, UX design, videos, and more. Visit http://www.qagraphics.com to learn more.

D.R.A. Properties L.C. - D.R.A. Properties L.C. is an Ankeny, Iowa-based real estate development company founded by Ankeny native, Dennis Albaugh. Albaugh took his first steps into real estate in 1992, with the goal of wanting to create a positive impact on his hometown of Ankeny, Iowa. Mr. Albaugh is also CEO and owner of the globally known agriculture chemical company, Albaugh, LLC which is recognized as the largest wholly-owned formulator and packager of crop protection products in the industry. Visit http://www.prairietrailankeny.com/dra-properties/ to learn more.
On the heels of impressive growth, Miracle Method, the nations largest professional bathroom and kitchen refinishing franchise, continues to set the pace for another record-breaking year. The brand added 10 new territories in 2016, ultimately seeing its system-wide revenue reach the $61 million mark. Thats a double digit increase in the brands sales over the year before, showing strong, upward momentum thats expected to continue throughout 2017.

As the American economy continues to rebound, more and more consumers are making the decision to update their homes. From remodeling efforts to interior upgrades, homeowners are once again willing to spend money on their old or outdated properties. Thus, Miracle Method is capitalizing on that spike in demand.

Another trend thats set to continue for the brand this year is actively engaging more commercial clientsright now, 42 percent of Miracle Methods total revenue comes from commercial accounts. Thats up from 17 percent five years ago, proving that between college campuses, hospitals, military bases, hotels and other commercial businesses, theres no shortage in demand for top quality remodeling services at an affordable price.

Demand for our services is at an all-time high, which puts us in a unique position to capitalize on our strong momentum. We experienced an incredibly successful 2016, but were confident that well be able to outperform ourselves this year. The Miracle Method team is actively expanding across the country, meaning that 2017 will be another milestone year for our brand, said John Tubiolo, Vice President of Franchise Sales and Development for Miracle Method.

The brands growth potential is already being realized on a daily basis through Miracle Methods rapidly growing network of passionate franchisees. In 2016, nearly three quarters of the brands local owners increased their sales over the year before. And more franchisees are being recognized as top performers.

The franchisees behind those successful units  as well as those who improved the most  were recognized for their accomplishments at the brands annual conference in Dallas, Texas which was held from April 20-April 23.

Five of Miracle Methods franchises earned a spot in the brands Platinum Club, marking units that brought in $2 million in sales or more. Another 15 are included in Miracle Methods Gold Club for 2016, signaling units that experienced between $1 million and $1,999,999 in sales. The brands Silver Club, honoring franchise locations that brought in between $600,000 and $999,999 last year, is also made up of 18 units, with an additional 30 joining the ranks of Miracle Methods Bronze Club, which includes units that secured $300,000 to $599,999 in sales.

We were excited to honor all of our franchisees at this years conference. While were always in contact with our local owners to ensure that the lines of communication are always open between corporate and franchisee teams, its always great to get everyone together in person to celebrate success and think ahead to the future, said Erin Gilliam, Marketing Manager for Miracle Method. This conference definitely positioned us to set the tone for the year ahead and break even more records throughout the rest of 2017.

Additionally, several franchisees were recognized for their success and dedication to the brand including: Brian and Lynne Weber, Miracle Method of Boulder took home the Presidents Award at the annual convention in recognition of exemplary service and commitment. Fred Haas, Miracle Method of Chicago NW Metro was presented with the Spirit Award in recognition of his exemplary attitude and spirit. In addition, Austin North received the Rookie of the Year Award for a tremendous sales reach in just the first 12 months of business. And the Most Improved Award went to Mike Nield, Miracle Method of Kansas City SE with an increase of 133% over last year!

Leo Sayles, Miracle Method of Columbus took the #1 spot in the Platinum Club with sales reaching over $2 million in 2016 with an increase of 17% over last year. Platinum Producers consisted of: Ted Fisher, Miracle Method of Central New Hampshire & Northern Massachusetts, Del Murphy, Miracle Method of Sacramento, Tyler Murphy, Miracle Method of Seattle with an impressive 40% increase over last year and Andrew Gorski, Miracle Method of Cleveland.

With 25 franchise agreements expected to be signed by the end of the year  and a targeted focus on expanding in key development markets like Nevada, Florida, California, Nebraska, Texas and Illinois  its clear that Miracle Method is on pace to make its development goals a reality this year. With the established strong support system for existing franchisees, the brand is making it simple for prospective franchisees to realize their dreams of business ownership.

ABOUT MIRACLE METHOD:

Miracle Method is the largest bath and kitchen refinishing company in the US. Powered by a rapidly growing community of 135+ franchisees, the company specializes in repairing and restoring all types of tubs, ceramic tile and countertops, helping homeowners save thousands of dollars in replacement costs. All Miracle Method franchisees live in the markets they serve, working as independent small business owners who deliver quality work and superior service. For help with bathtub, countertop and ceramic tile refinishing projects, contact your local Miracle Method franchise. To learn more about the company or explore franchise opportunities, please click here or call John Tubiolo at 1-877-434-5096.

###
Denville law firm Einhorn Harris is pleased to announce Partner and Morris Township resident Matheu D. Nunn has been selected as one of three finalists for the New Jersey Law Journals 2017 Attorney of the Year Award. This prestigious award recognizes an attorney who has had the greatest impact on the law, the legal profession or the cause of justice in New Jersey over the past year.

According to the Law Journal, its editorial staff, with assistance from an outside panel of distinguished practitioners, narrowed a lengthy and formidable list of nominees down to three finalists.

Nunn and his fellow nominees will be recognized for this award on June 20, 2017, at the Law Journals Professional Excellence Awards Dinner at Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park.

The event will also feature numerous other recognitions for Professional Excellence, including New Leaders of the Bar, Lifetime Achievement honorees and Legal and Litigation Departments of the Year.

We are delighted, but not surprised, to learn that Mat has been selected as a finalist for the Law Journals Attorney of the Year Award, says Einhorn Harris Managing Partner Patricia M. Barbarito. Mat has been an integral part of our firm since the day he joined us, and we are thrilled that our colleagues at the New Jersey Law Journal have also recognized the diligence and dedication that he brings to our firm day in and day out, says Barbarito.

Nunn, who joined Einhorn Harris as an Associate in 2011 and made Partner in January 2016, handles matrimonial litigation and a variety of appellate matters. Between public and private practice, Nunn has tried both jury and bench trials and has been counsel of record in more than 35 Appellate Division or Supreme Court matters, including published decisions in Quinn v. Quinn, 225 N.J. 34 (2016); in re Child by J.E.V., 226, N.J. 90 (2016); in Bisbing v. Bisbing, 445 N.J. Super. 207 (App. Div. 2016); in re Adoption of Child by J.E.V., 442 N.J. Super. 472 (App. Div. 2015); and in Clark v. Clark, 429 N.J. Super. 61 (App. Div. 2012).

Nunn earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Delaware. He attended Rutgers School of Law-Camden, where he earned with Honors distinction and was an editor of the Law Review. Following law school, Nunn clerked for the Honorable B. Theodore Bozonelis, the Assignment Judge for Morris and Sussex Counties, and, subsequently, for the Honorable Jack M. Sabatino, now a Presiding Judge of the Appellate Division of New Jersey. Following his clerkship with Judge Sabatino, Nunn joined the Morris County Prosecutors Office, where he worked as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Appellate Unit and Major Crimes Unit.

Nunn has been selected for inclusion on the New Jersey Super Lawyer Rising Star List in appellate practice, family law and criminal law. He has also received an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell (the highest possible rating). Most recently, Nunn was selected to the New Jersey Law Journals 2015 New Leaders of the Bar.*

###

ABOUT EINHORN HARRIS

Established in 1961, Einhorn Harris, based in Denville, New Jersey, is a comprehensive, full-service law firm devoted to serving a broad range of legal needs. In its more than 50 years in business, Einhorn Harris and its attorneys have earned a reputation for dedication to the community. The firm specializes in many areas of practice including family, criminal and tax law; accidents/personal injury; and commercial litigation. http://www.einhornharris.com.


The average total cost per workers compensation claim in Florida grew moderately from 2010 to 2015, according to a study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).

Total costs per claim in Florida grew 3 percent per year from 2010 to 2015 for claims with more than seven days of lost time and 12 months of experience, said Ramona Tanabe, WCRIs executive vice president and counsel.

The study, CompScope Benchmarks for Florida, 17th Edition, reflects research in the period before the following Florida Supreme Court decisions, both of which were expected to increase workers compensation system costs:



The Castellanos decision in April 2016 declared the mandatory workers attorney fee schedule in workers compensation unconstitutional as a violation of due process.

In its June 2016 Westphal decision, the Supreme Court ruled the states 104-week limitation on receipt of temporary total disability (TTD) benefits unconstitutional on the grounds that the limitation denied a right of access to the courts.

Before the Castellanos decision, Florida had a higher use of defense attorneys and a higher average defense attorney payment per claim than most of the other 17 states included in this WCRI study, said Tanabe. Nearly 40 percent of 2013 workers compensation claims with more than seven days of lost time and three years of experience had defense attorneys involved, about 9 percentage points higher than in the typical state, with the average defense attorney payment per claim coming in 22 percent higher than the 18-state median.

Prior to the Westphal decision, WCRI found that the average duration of temporary disability benefits in Florida was shorter than in many study states. Several system features may be related to this result. For example, Florida has clear rules governing TTD payments. Also, the statutory limit on TTD benefits in Florida was set at 104 weeks prior to the Westphal decision, while in many other states there were either longer statutory caps, or no caps, on TTD benefits, Tanabe said.

The following are among the studys other findings:



Indemnity benefits per claim in Florida were lower than typical of the WCRI study states, which may be related to rules governing temporary disability and impairment benefits.

The percentage of claims with attorneys in Florida increased again after the decrease following the implementation of a workers attorney fee schedule in 2003.

Florida had typical medical payments per claim of the 18 states, a result of lower prices for nonhospital services offsetting higher prices for hospital outpatient care prior to the recent fee schedule changes after 2015.

For more information on this study, visit https://www.wcrinet.org/reports/compscope-benchmarks-for-florida-17th-edition.

The Cambridge-based WCRI is recognized as a leader in providing high-quality, objective information about public policy issues involving workers compensation systems.

ABOUT WCRI:

The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is an independent, not-for-profit research organization based in Cambridge, MA. Organized in 1983, the Institute does not take positions on the issues it researches; rather, it provides information obtained through studies and data collection efforts, which conform to recognized scientific methods. Objectivity is further ensured through rigorous, unbiased peer review procedures. WCRI's diverse membership includes employers; insurers; governmental entities; managed care companies; health care providers; insurance regulators; state labor organizations; and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Justin Wiseman Pet Wants has revolutionized the way dry pet food is handled and supplied to our furry friends and Im thrilled to be part of that revolution.

Everyone is busy and it can be hard enough to worry about making sure our families are eating good, quality food. So what about our pets? Local resident Justin Wiseman is looking to make it easy to get fresh, high-quality pet food with his new business, Pet Wants of Lansing.

Pet Wants carefully developed proprietary pet food is slow-cooked in small batches with fresh, high-quality ingredients once per month, so every kibble is guaranteed to be fresh and packed with nutrition. Pet Wants of Lansing offers fresh pet nutrition by the pound with free, personal delivery to the entire Lansing area as well as the surrounding communities.

I was looking for a new career opportunity when I heard about the Pet Wants franchise opportunity. We have two wonderful Westies at home, so I ordered samples for them and then offered samples to some of my friends with pets. Everyone loved the idea of the fresh, slow-cooked, limited-ingredient food. As important, the pets loved the fresh food formulas as well. Thats what led my family and me to open our own Pet Wants business here in Lansing. Im thankful for the opportunity to bless pets and pet parents across Lansing and the surrounding communities with Pet Wants, Wiseman said.

In addition to being made fresh monthly, Pet Wants only sources the best salmon, chicken, lamb, brown rice and other ingredients available. Theres no gluten, no added sugar, no fillers and no animal by-products and Pet Wants never uses corn, wheat, soy or dyes, which means the food is great for animals with allergies. Wiseman also offers homemade beef jerky, balms and salves for pets.

The whole concept of Pet Wants is unique and exciting. You get fresh, high-quality food delivered right to your door by a local business owner who has you and your pets best interests at heart without breaking the bank. Pet Wants has revolutionized the way dry pet food is handled and supplied to our furry friends and Im thrilled to be part of that revolution, Wiseman said.

Pet Wants originally launched in Cincinnati in 2010. Owned by Michele Hobbs, the business was built to provide proprietary crafted, fresh, slow-cooked, all-natural pet food delivered to customers through a retail store and a convenient home-delivery service. Hobbs, now the company founder, turned the business into a franchise in 2015 with the help of Franchise Funding Group, an investment and franchise-development company designed to help entrepreneurs scale their companies nationally as franchise systems.

Pets really bring joy into so many of our lives and I feel like Pet Wants is a small but BIG way for us to be able to give back to them. Once we started giving Pet Wants to our dogs, we saw not only how much they liked the food but also the positive impact it has on their health, Wiseman said.

To order Pet Wants food for your favorite companion or to learn about the company, call 517-622-2772, email JWiseman(at)PetWants.com or visit http://PetWantsLansing.com.

About Pet Wants: Pet Wants was started by Michele Hobbs out of love for her pets and frustration. Veterinarians were unable to help relieve her dogs painful skin allergies. After doing much research, Michele discovered the national dog food brand she trusted was not fresh, not all natural, and lacked sufficient nutrition...and when pet food sits in warehouses and store shelves for months and months it loses even more nutritional value. She was committed to developing a better solution for all dogs and cats. Their food is exclusively crafted fresh, healthy, slow-cooked and all natural with no sugar added, no fillers and no animal by-products. They source only the best salmon, chicken, lamb, brown rice, and other ingredients. Fresh ingredients make for better food and better health for pets. And since they never use corn, wheat, soy or dyes, the common pet health problems associated with these ingredients are no longer worries. Their fresh food is conveniently delivered to the customer within weeks of production, not months. Roughly half of Pet Wants products are sold through their store and half through their convenient, home-delivery program. You can learn more at http://www.PetWants.com.
If the French election that installed Emmanuel Macron as president caught you by surprise, it could be because France cast its votes on a Sunday.

Thats right. In one of the more civilized gestures a democracy can make, the French vote on the weekends: Sunday, if youre in-country, Saturday if youre outside it. French expats around the world cast their ballots at local French embassies, international schools and, in Mumbai, at a polling station that served cafe et croissants, bien sur. (Of course.)

In fact, the entire French election process is short and relatively fuss-free. An initial round of voting winnowed the field last month, with a final vote just two weeks later. By law, campaigns end at midnight on the Friday before the election, starting a media blackout on potentially vote-swaying news that lasts until polls close on Sunday, ensuring two blissful days of quiet voter contemplation. Ten days later, the new president takes office.

While many of those elements are worth considering, the one that leaps to the fore is weekend voting. Despite a voter turnout that lags most of the worlds democracies, the United States has stubbornly, inexplicably, clung to its anachronistic tradition of voting on a Tuesday in, of all months, November. The practice appears to be a holdover from the mid-19th century, when polling places could be a days travel and Sunday travel was often problematic, making Tuesday an appealing choice. Why November? The harvest was in.

But these arent agrarian times. Americans are working more hours than ever, many with unpredictable schedules, and there seems little reason to demand that an election be held during the busy work and school week. Some states require employers to give time off, but others do not, and laws vary wildly. Penalties are light and seldom pursued. Under such circumstances, it is understandable that workers might be unwilling to make such a demand.

The Weekend Voting Act has been kicking around Congress since 2009 and was last reintroduced in 2015, but has never gained much traction. Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar from Minnesota, is the co-founder of Why Tuesday?, a group dedicated to the weekend switch. He points to the French election as a real-world example of the impact weekend voting can have. Their 74 percent turnout was low for them, but it would be revolutionary for us, he said. Ornstein notes that weekend voting is not the only factor. Registration there is beyond simple: French citizens are automatically registered when they turn 18 or are naturalized. But, he said, the convenience of weekend voting is unassailable.

So why no change? In the absence of scandal, Ornstein said, inertia takes over. But he said there also may be a partisan factor. Enhanced voter turnout is not universally valued. Republicans nationally have shown a marked preference for voter suppression tactics, including restrictive voter ID laws, shorter polling hours, fewer polling places and opposition to same-day registration.

Voting is by its nature a partisan act. Voting rights should never be. Its time to stop putting up hurdles for working Americans who simply want to exercise the most fundamental right of a democracy.

 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Michael Arluck Joins Phoenix Marketing International His innate ability to bring optimal solutions to meet his clients current and future business challenges will be a tremendous asset to both Phoenix and our clients. John Schiela

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Arluck as a Vice President in Phoenix Marketing Internationals Converged Technology & Media Practice.

Arluck will be based in PMIs New York City office, and will lead business development efforts for the Converged Technology & Media team.

We are extremely excited to have Michael join our team, says John Schiela, Co-President of Phoenix CT&M. His innate ability to bring optimal solutions to meet his clients current and future business challenges will be a tremendous asset to both Phoenix and our clients.

Arluck brings over a decade of experience in the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) market and has worked with the industrys leading companies to successfully navigate their most difficult product, market, brand, and customer-related business issues.

What drew me to Phoenix was the impressive pool of in-house talent, and the opportunity to bring leading edge research and analytic techniques to the most pressing problems of TMT clientsmany of whom have not yet had the benefit of exposure to these ideas.

Arluck comes to PMI from Hanover Research, where he built and managed Hanovers 18-person technology research practice and Manhattan office. Prior to Hanover, he led business development efforts for the Americas consulting practice within IHS Technology, the TMT subsidiary of IHS Market. He joined IHS by way of the 2012 acquisition of IMS Research, where he was initially hired as a research analyst. He holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Jane Fournet, Survey Division Controller Jane is a tremendous asset to our team. Her extensive experience in the oil and gas industry as well as her firm grasp of Fenstermakers mission to exceed client expectations makes her a perfect fit for this position.

C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, L.L.C recently announced the promotion of Jane Fournet to the position of Survey Division Controller. In her new role with Fenstermaker, Ms. Fournet will assist the Division Vice President with the development, implementation and auditing procedures to standardize division practices while adhering to corporate standards and practices. In addition, Ms. Fournet will oversee the financial health of all survey projects, from pre-project pricing, fee structure and costs for services, to analyzing project status, budget and revenue. This new role will enhance the ability to forecast potential gains and losses in pursuing future work with clients for the Survey Division.

Fenstermaker Vice President of Survey and Mapping, Marc Broussard says, Jane is a tremendous asset to our team. Her extensive experience in the oil and gas industry as well as her firm grasp of Fenstermakers mission to exceed client expectations makes her a perfect fit for this position.

Ms. Fournet graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1984 with a degree in Geology. Prior to joining Fenstermaker in 2007, Ms. Fournet worked in various areas of the oil and gas industry. Her experience, work ethic and customer service skills have enhanced her previous leadership roles in both the Environmental and Business Development Divisions. In her new role as the Survey Division Controller, Ms. Fournet will continue to play an active role in promoting Fenstermakers diverse services.
DocLink - Logo Altec experienced an explosive 70 percent growth in our Sage business last fiscal year which means a significant number of Sage customers are finding great value and success implementing DocLink.

Altec Products, Inc., a leader in enterprise document management and workflow solutions, announced today their Gold Sponsorship of Sage Summit 2017, held May 9-11 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Sage Summit is a unique learning, training and networking event that connects Sage users, partners, experts and industry leaders interested in the latest enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, trends, capabilities and integrations. Sage Summit will feature keynote presentations by renowned speakers as well as more than 250 informative breakout sessions designed to provide the tools for attendees businesses to thrive.

Altec joins Sage Summit as the Sage Endorsed document management solution provider. DocLink allows users to fully utilize and enhance their Sage ERP solutions by providing improved visibility and control to the entire document lifecycle. DocLink offers a secure, single repository to store, search for, retrieve and send all documents, effectively eliminating the need to file paper documents while improving organizational efficiency and reducing costs associated with human errors.

Don Howren, Altec president and COO comments, Altec experienced an explosive 70 percent growth in our Sage business last fiscal year which means a significant number of Sage customers are finding great value and success implementing DocLink. We are committed to providing our Sage customers with superior solutions that eliminate silos of data, streamline business workflows, improve security and maintain compliance while making it easier to capture and use of information easily.

Alex Solomon, Co-President and Co-Founder of Net@Work, Altecs 2016 Sage Partner of the Year Award winner, states, Working with recognized industry-leaders such as Altec is so important to us. Altecs DocLink solution is a perfect fit for our Sage customers looking to enhance their business processes and improve operational efficiency with an enterprise document management solution.

Smart City, an Altec customer since 2006 using Sage 500, has found great success using DocLink. Calene Kozma, senior financial analyst comments, DocLink has allowed Smart City to become almost entirely paperless, streamlining and expediting our processes for invoices, approvals, account coding, purchase card statements, customer payments, cash management and more.

Altec at Sage Summit

Organizations interested in taking the first step toward fixing outdated business practices can learn about document management from Altec at Booth #161 and during Altecs theater session titled DocLink  The Solution You Need! on Thursday, May 11th. Attendees will learn how DocLInk can help companies eliminate paper while providing easy, secure, and controlled access to documents across their organization for any process, anywhere, anytime. Attendees will leave the session knowing how to become almost entirely paperless, streamlining and expediting their processes for invoices, approvals, account coding, purchase card statements, customer payments, cash management and more.

Altecs Booth #161 will have industry and domain experts available to answer questions and offer live product demonstrations. Product Manager Merri Jo Cleair will be on hand to share how DocLink creatively expedites business processes; scans/routes documents; creates alerts; customizes forms; automates workflows and allows data to be accessed from any device that drive organizational efficiency and improves profitability.

To speak with Altecs document management experts, see detailed demonstrations and discover future plans, visit Altec at Booth #161.

Altecs Session

DocLink  The Solution You Need!

Thursday, May 11th from 11:30am  12:15pm

About Altec

Altec is a leading provider of integrated document management and workflow solutions. Its flagship product, DocLink, enables companies to capture, archive, workflow, and route any document for any process, anywhere. Connecting data for thousands of customers globally, Altec also enjoys strong, collaborative partnerships with ERP solution providers such as, Epicor, Microsoft, Sage, SAP B1, and Amtech to provide the most comprehensive enterprise document management solution. Learn more at http://www.altec-inc.com.
Jack Ratkovic

With each lap Jack Ratkovic swims in the pool, the stroke he had almost two years ago fades from memory.

The retired residential developer walked down the stairs of his St. Augustine condo in August 2015 and said he felt groggy and off balance. He tried to say, Good morning to his wife, Alison, who was downstairs, and his words were slurred and his face drooping. His wife knew something was wrong.

She insisted on calling 911 despite his reluctancy, and Ratkovic was rushed to Flagler Hospital and then taken by helicopter to Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, which serves as the regional center for advanced treatment of strokes, aneurysms and other brain conditions.

Ratkovic was having an ischemic stroke, which occurs from an obstruction within a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain.

Neurovascular surgeon Ricardo Hanel, MD, PhD, director of the Baptist Neurological Institute, used a stent retriever device and a stent to reopen Ratkovics blood vessel. In a minimally invasive procedure, Dr. Hanel inserted a microcatheter into an artery in Ratkovics groin and then threaded it through his body and up to his brain.

Ratkovic never let the stroke define him or slow him down despite months of speech therapy to get his words back. He stayed determined to return strength to his body and mind.

The hard work has paid off as Ratkovic, now 76, heads to the National Senior Games in June after placing in three breast stroke categories in the Florida Senior Games in December.

I feel Im just as good or even faster after the stroke than I was before, said Ratkovic, who has been swimming competitively for six years. I was determined that I wanted to compete again and I wanted to be better.

Dr. Hanel said hes amazed to see Ratkovics transformation since the stroke left him unable to express himself.

Now he is an inspiration to others to exercise and to be healthy, Dr. Hanel said.

Unfortunately, unlike Ratkovic, about 80 percent of people who have a stroke dont seek care in time, which reduces their chances of recovery.

As soon as you recognize symptoms, call 911. Dont wait to see if the symptoms will go away, said Wendy Camp, ARNP, MSN, director of the Stroke and Cerebrovascular Program at Baptist Health. The longer you wait, the more tissue is damaged and the chances of a good recovery can be diminished.

A lifeguard in his 20s and a lifelong runner, Ratkovic swam competitively in the 2013 regionals, state and nationals. He was anxious to get out of the hospital and back in the pool.

He started working out in the gym about 45 days after the stroke while learning how to pronounce his words again. He returned to competitive swimming about a year later. He now trains four to five days a week in public pools and the YMCA in St. Augustine.

I just like competition. If you cant compete, what will you do, be a couch potato? he laughed. Dr. Hanel told me after the surgery that I could be just like I was and even better. I told him I felt the same way. I didnt want to feel sorry for myself.

He tells his competitors, If you want to beat me, you better get ready. Ill shake your hand and make you dinner, but when we get next to each other, I want to beat you. Thats just the way I am.

Ratkovic admits his vocabulary is still not like it was before the stroke, but hes not embarrassed and hes thankful his wife took quick action. When he speaks before his condo association, he tells them he may fumble some words, but not to worry about it.

Im not going to hide from it or be concerned about it. I just want to keep pushing forward, he said.

Now part of his mission is to encourage others who have had a stroke not to give up.

If I can help people realize they can go back to where they were and maybe even better, its all worth it, he said. If just maybe one or 50 or 1,000 people said I can do that, then that is good enough.

For more information on stroke services at Baptist and Lyerly Neurosurgery, go to lyerlyneuro.com.

###

About Baptist Health

Baptist Health is a faith-based, mission-driven system in Northeast Florida comprised of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville; Baptist Medical Center Beaches; Baptist Medical Center Nassau; Baptist Medical Center South; Baptist Clay Medical Campus and Wolfson Childrens Hospital  the regions only childrens hospital. All Baptist Health hospitals, along with Baptist Home Health Care, have achieved Magnet status for excellence in patient care. Baptist Health is part of Coastal Community Health, a regional affiliation between Baptist Health, Flagler Hospital and Southeast Georgia Health System forming a highly integrated hospital network focused on significant initiatives designed to enhance the quality and value of care provided to our contiguous communities. Baptist Health has the areas only dedicated heart hospital; orthopedic institute; womens services; neurological institute, including comprehensive neurosurgical services, a comprehensive stroke center and three primary stroke centers; a Bariatric Center of Excellence; a full range of psychology and psychiatry services; urgent care services; and primary and specialty care physicians offices throughout Northeast Florida. Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center is a regional destination for multidisciplinary cancer care which is clinically integrated with MD Anderson Cancer Center, the internationally renowned cancer treatment and research institution in Houston. For more details, visit baptistjax.com.
The Luxury Collection, one of the worlds largest and fastest growing luxury hospitality brands, today announced that The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale, will be undergoing major refurbishments. These plans showcase the brands continued commitment to expanding and enhancing its North America portfolio. One of Scottsdales most luxurious resorts, The Phoenician will remodel its signature public areas this summer and fall, allowing guests to stay anew in style and experience. Work began Thursday, May 4, with most construction scheduled for completion by Saturday, September 30, 2017. The complete rebuild of the spa is expected to be completed by the end of December 2017.

The extensive renovations represent the second phase of a two-year repositioning plan, which began in summer 2016 with the redesign of the resorts casitas and all guestrooms, as well as the makeover of The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician  the only Forbes Five Star and AAA Five Diamond hotel in the greater Phoenix area.

Rooted in luxury and layered with details that define the destinations history, location and culture, The Phoenicians new look will feature a more contemporary use of the rich tones and warm hues of the surrounding Sonoran Desert, creating an inviting, residential feel that flows throughout the property. The wide-ranging capital project will include:



Main Lobby  A smart, spacious entrance will lead to personalized welcome desks to assist with check-in, as well as a relocated concierge service area.

Main Lounge  The Thirsty Camel will take advantage of floor-to-ceiling views and new seating to create a more relaxed, central gathering spot. A fresh, regionally-centric menu will also be incorporated.

Afternoon Tea Court  The venue will be repositioned off of the lounge to provide a more intimate backdrop for this traditional English experience.

Il Terrazzo  The restaurant will be re-concepted as Mowry & Cotton, featuring a lively atmosphere and approachable menu that speaks to the flame-cured, indigenous flavors and textures of modern American cuisine.

Pool Complex  Additional deck space will be integrated to allow for more seating and VIP areas. A new waterslide and other family-friendly recreational offerings, such as a tree house, will be introduced. An adult-only hot tub will complement the signature Mother of Pearl pool. The current bar & grill will be relocated to reveal more of the resorts overall sweeping views, and repurposed as the Kalio Kabobery, featuring Mediterranean-inspired fare.

The Shops at The Phoenician  The retail space will be redesigned to welcome a variety of specialty boutique stores featuring apparel, jewelry and gift items.

Cafe and Ice Cream Parlor  This anchor to the retail area will also have a new layout, concept and menu with the introduction of The Marketplace  breakfast, lunch and custom offerings presented in grab & go style.

Spa  The Centre for Well-Being will be replaced by The Phoenician Spa, a stunning, three-story facility that will feature a rooftop pool, 24 treatment rooms  including a couples VIP suite  a Drybar, full-service nail salon, fitness center with movement studio and personal training gym.

Since opening its doors on October 1, 1988, The Phoenician has curated the exceptional in luxury travel, said General Manager Mark Vinciguerra. Along with our owner, Host Hotels & Resorts, we now begin the second phase of our resort-wide transformation that will blend contemporary inspiration with our natural, Sonoran legacy.

About The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale

Located at the base of Camelback Mountain, the 250-acre Phoenician offers two exquisite experiences  a 585-room AAA Five Diamond luxury resort and a 60-room, Forbes Five Star, AAA Five Diamond boutique hotel, The Canyon Suites -- at one magnificent destination. Both The Phoenician and The Canyon Suites are owned by Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., and operated by Marriott International as part of The Luxury Collection. For additional information, please call (480) 941-8200; (800) 888-8234 or visit http://www.theluxurycollection.com/phoenician and http://www.luxurycollection.com/canyonsuites.

About The Luxury Collection

The Luxury Collection brand is comprised of world-renowned hotels and resorts offering unique, authentic experiences that evoke lasting, treasured memories. For the global explorer, The Luxury Collection offers a gateway to the world's most exciting and desirable destinations. Each hotel and resort is a unique and cherished expression of its location; a portal to the destination's indigenous charms and treasures. Originated in 1906 under the CIGA brand as a collection of Europe's most celebrated and iconic properties, today The Luxury Collection brand is a glittering ensemble, recently surpassing 100 of the world's finest hotels and resorts in more than 30 countries. All of these hotels, many of them centuries old, are internationally recognized as being among the world's finest. For more information and new openings, visit theluxurycollection.com or follow Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Editors Note: Additional renderings are available upon request.
BeaverTails, makers of unique and delicious BeaverTails pastries, today announced that it will be an exhibitor at the upcoming National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show 2017, May 20-23.

The NRA Show is the largest annual gathering of the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industries in the US. It takes place every May in Chicago. This year, the event will be held at McCormick Place and BeaverTails will be located in booth 8424.

Based on an old family recipe, BeaverTails pastries are a Canadian icon  a unique and delicious treat. Served hot and topped with numerous choices, including cinnamon & sugar, chocolate hazelnut spread, Reeses Pieces and peanut butter, BeaverTails pastries satisfy indulgences of all tastes. BeaverTails also offers a menu of favorite snack foods, including Beaver Bites treats, BeaverDogs, poutines, and moozoo smoothies, frozen yogurts and gelatos.

We are very pleased to be exhibiting at the NRA Show for the first time, says Pino Di Ioia, CEO, BeaverTails. We have almost 40 years of experience at leading amusement parks and other top leisure destinations. Based on this experience, we are confident that our opportunities will be very attractive and we invite interested parties to visit us on the show floor.

The BeaverTails business model is compelling for several reasons. First, our operations are comparatively simple and our food costs are attractive. Second, our product is unique. Third, BeaverTails pastries are topped with a variety of choices, which allows us to provide an animated and interactive experience that creates superior customer engagement and loyalty, adds Mr. Di Ioia.

Media contact: Mark Lowe, PRagmatic Communications for BeaverTails.

mark(dot)lowe(at)pragcom(dot)com / (514) 499-9632 / (514) 576-2519

For more information, please visit http://www.beavertails.com.

BeaverTails and Beaver Bites are registered trademarks of BeaverTails Brands Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

BeaverTails USA Inc., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801; (514) 392-2222
Ten industry leaders, including an American Dream Miami consultant, will discuss the state of South Florida commercial real estate at the fifth annual MIAMI Association of REALTORS (MIAMI) Realtors Commercial Alliance (RCA) Midyear Update. More than 100 MIAMI members will attend the event Friday at the Coral Gables Country Club.

 Date: Friday, May 12

 Venue: Coral Gables Country Club (997 Greenway Dr., Miami, FL 33134)

 Time: 9 am  11:30 am

Miamis commercial real estate continues to evolve in new and exciting ways, said Jose Maria Serrano, the 2017 MIAMI Commercial president and New Miami Realty Corp. broker. Our top market experts will provide the latest commercial trends. American Dream Miami, which would be the largest mall and theme park in North America, will deliver a special presentation and discussion.

The $4 billion American Dream Miami  which is proposed in an unincorporated wedge of northwest Miami-Dade County, immediately north of the city of Hialeah would total 6.2 million square feet, including 3.5 million square feet of retail, plus 2,000 hotel rooms. The tourist complex could house an indoor ski slope, water park, movie complex and more.

American Dream Miami estimates it would receive 40 million projected visitors and create 14,500 permanent jobs. If approved by the county and state, the mall could be completed by 2022. Edgar Jones, a development consultant with American Dream Miami, and Robert Gorlow, an attorney for the tourist complex, will make a presentation and facilitate a discussion at the RCA Midyear Update.

The 2017 RCA Midyear Update will also feature an All-Star Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Investment Panel and a Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) Innovation Panel. These panels were provide important insights on the future of Miami multi-family, retail, office and land.

CCIM members Serrano, Sandra Goldstein of Sandra Goldstein Commercial, F. Antonio (Tony) Puente of Fairchild Partners and Rafael Romero of Continental Real Estate will lead the CCIM panel. 2017 SIOR National President Geoffrey Kasselman of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Tere Blanca of Blanca Real Estate, John Dohm of Infinity Commercial Real Estate and Jose I. Juncadella of Fairchild Partners will headline the SIOR discussion.

To register for the RCA Miami Midyear event, visit http://bit.ly/RCAMidyearUpdate

Members of the media interested in attending should email credentials to Lynda Fernandez, Sr. Vice President of Public Relations & International, at 305-468-7040 or lynda(at)miamire.com.

About the MIAMI Association of REALTORS

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 97 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward Council, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 46,000 real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S., and has official partnerships with 161 international organizations worldwide. MIAMIs official website is http://www.miamire.com

###
"CapitalSphere 3.0 bridges the gap between investors and business owners," says Nick Chini, Managing Director of Bainbridge, Inc. "Our solution is a deal engine unlike any other, thanks to our exclusive AI technology."

Bainbridge Capital Advisory, a leading source for proprietary deal-flow opportunities across a multitude of industries, announces the launch of CapitalSphere 3.0: The latest version of its deal generation engine, which is the result of proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) technology and Bainbridges team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Named by Forbes as one of the top 20 Best Management Consulting Firms, Bainbridge has significant expertise involving mergers and acquisitions, investments and many other disciplines.

CapitalSphere 3.0 enables investors to find fully qualified opportunities across a full spectrum of industries outside the auction process. This resource also allows business owners to explore their respective options, in terms of partnering with an investor or a series of investors concerning transaction types such as: Majority, Minority, Growth Equity, Add-On Acquisitions and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).

CapitalSphere 3.0 bridges the gap between investors and business owners, says Nick Chini, Managing Director of Bainbridge, Inc. Our solution is a deal engine unlike any other, thanks to our exclusive AI technology, which offers a secure  and diverse  private exchange for M&A listings and a surplus of financial transactions.

About Bainbridge

Founded out of MIT in 1975, Bainbridge is a Forbes-ranked global strategy and consulting firm dedicated to providing its clients with custom solutions and accelerated growth. Through our unique expertise in primary-source research, Bainbridge specializes in articulating innovative strategies and competitor analysis. Our industry executives, consultants, and business analysts continuously monitor each clients external environments to build the most effective market and competitive positioning. Bainbridges clients leverage the insight we provide to gain a competitive advantage and construct strategic decisions. For more information, visit http://www.bainbridge.com.
An impressive line-up of speakers and hands-on clinics promise attendees exceptional opportunities to learn and network with experts.

JPD Financial is sponsoring the 17th Shared Services for Finance & Accounting. JPD Financial will be joined by top industry leaders, June 21-23 at the Highlands in Dallas, Texas.

In its 17th installment, Shared Services for F&A offers greater interactivity and has an 80% new speaker faculty. The 2017 program will be premiering a series of hour-long clinics to help attendees optimize their 3rd-party provider relationships, master data management, and integrate Smart Technology into their automation roadmaps.

Speakers include Jonathan Kepets, Global Head of Business Analysis & Reporting, Cantor Fitzgerald; Bryan Ternes, Vice President of Finance  GBS, Levi Strauss & Co.; Brenda McCoy, Americas R2R, Global Finance Shared Services, Apple, Inc.; John Nderitu, Staff VP, Business Improvement Group, Anthem; Scott Gillan, Executive Director of Transformation & Service Management, Enterprise Financial Services, Warner Bros.; and Misty Thorpe, Business Leader, GBSC Accounting Services, and MasterCard.

With an impressive line-up of speakers and hands-on clinics, this years event Shared Services for F & A promises attendees exceptional opportunities to learn and network with experts, said Alexa Bradley, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing for JPD Financial. We look forward to contributing to the program and helping attendees learn how to transform their service delivery into the indispensable backbone of the business.

The event is designed to include a four pre-conference workshops, 2 main conference days, Process Improvement Clinics, Quickfire Intelligence Labs, and more than 7 hours of networking to discuss the most important challenges and most effective strategies and solutions within the industry.

JPD Financial will be featured in the comprehensive expo hall that is showcasing innovative solutions and services for the industry. JPD is a professional service provider that employs a team of highly skilled individuals who communicate directly with their clients suppliers. As the audit landscape continues to evolve, JPD has become proficient in rebalancing expectations and offering a solution that is advantageous to its clients.

About JPD Financial:

For more than 30 years, JPD Financial has worked behind the scenes on behalf of Fortune 1000 clients to research and uncover funds that would otherwise be lost in todays automated systems and written off due to accounting miscommunications. They work with their clients suppliers to research credits, overpayments, and misapplied or duplicate payments that appear on their records, but which may not appear on the standard statements their clients receive. JPD Financial is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with a European office in Harpenden, UK to serve its global clients. JPD Financials client base includes major vertical industries such as healthcare, telecommunications, energy, consumer goods, oil and gas, and manufacturing. For more information, visit http://www.JPDFinancial.com.

About IQPC:

IQPC produces 1,500 global events that are custom-tailored to the unique needs of business executives. Founded in 1973, IQPC leverages an office network that spans six continents and a wealth of intellectual capital to provide an unparalleled portfolio of conferences and seminars. For more information, please visit http://www.iqpc.com.
Ron Samuels, Founder of Marimba One Come celebrate Marimba One's 30th Anniversary during the International Katarzyna Mycka Marimba Academy in June in Arcata!

It was the sound--elusive but haunting--that drove Ron Samuels, a 25-year-old college student a few classes short of a degree in psychology, to build a marimba from scratch.

Not knowing how to begin, he started by merely tracing the shape of the one marimba at Humboldt State. "It was not the way to do it," Ron Samuels laughingly says today.

Now 30 years later, the world's top players are coming to Arcata for an international marimba festival--and to play Samuels' top-of-the-line instruments.

Back then, Samuels, who had played classical piano since the age of five, thought that the concept and theory of playing the marimba was the same. But the technique is completely different--and you still had to coax the sound from the rosewood keys.

Originally coming from Africa as a folk instrument, the marimba was likely one of the first musical instruments--just imagine a caveman hitting one piece of wood with another.

Samuels' first marimba "looked cool but it was pure happenstance; only one or two keys sounded right." But he was compulsive, taking a lowly job sweeping and sanding at a shop in Arcata while learning about woodworking.

He also took six months of marimba lessons, learned how to use an electronic tuner, forgot about the college degree and met "two old guys"--Lowell Montz and Dell Roper--who gave him a one-hour tuning lesson.

That was enough to get him going, with "confidence, cappuccino and craziness" and two hand-hewn instruments, to the Percussive Arts Society international convention in San Antonio in 1987--and he received two pages of comments and suggestions from the world's best marimbists.

The following year, he drove his pick-up truck to the festival location in Nashville with two newer marimbas. This time, he took only one page of notes and suggestions, got lots of encouragement--but no sales.

Undeterred, the next year he flew to Philadelphia--no longer would he drive across the country. The teacher who bought his marimba told Samuels "I'm taking a chance on you" because Ron showed how much love and care he put into his acoustic breakthrough product.

Samuels still shows the same love and care in building a superior concert marimba--the refined ear that understands sound and the ability to engineer a scientifically precise resonator. With a large temperature-controlled production facility and a large staff, he doesn't work alone any more.

But thousands of marimbas later, his goal remains the same as when he started: to get the perfect sound that is dark, warm and resonant as you play up and down the keyboard.

In the era when most manufactures of musical instruments have gone off shore, Marimba One has recently expanded into manufacturing vibraphones at their California factory.

You will be able to hear it in 9 concerts during IKMMA (International Marimba Festival) starting on June 3, 2017 in Arcata.
ServiceMaster Kwik Restore Mobile Site

Proceed Innovative, an internet marketing agency that provides SEO web design services, recently built a new website for ServiceMaster Kwik Restore with improved search ability and user friendliness. ServiceMaster Kwik Restore is a trusted provider of disaster restoration and cleaning services that has been serving Kane County in Illinois since 1972 and they just expanded to Milwaukee County in Wisconsin recently. Their new website has a modern, mobile friendly design that was developed with SEO strategies to help boost local search traffic.

The newly designed website for ServiceMaster Kwik Restore has a responsive design and easy to use navigation that is user friendly on desktops and mobile devices. The top navigation menu allows users to quickly jump to specific service pages and each service page has a contact form built into the sidebar for users to enter their information. The responsive web design greatly improves the usability of this website because it displays properly on any type of mobile devices. People are relying more and more on their mobile devices to look for local business information. Having a mobile friendly website with SEO implemented will help improving the online presence and search traffic.

About ServiceMaster Kwik Restore

ServiceMaster Kwik Restore has been a leading provider of disaster restoration and cleaning services in the north Chicago suburbs since 1977. They have merged with several local ServiceMaster businesses over the years to provide services in Lake, McHenry, and parts of Cook counties in Illinois, as well as the southern Wisconsin counties of Racine and Kenosha. Each of their technicians is extensively trained to provide quality disaster restoration services like water damage and fire damage restoration, as well as cleaning services including carpet and upholstery cleaning. ServiceMaster Kwik Restore is dedicated to providing outstanding customer service and has received a ServiceMaster Achiever Award every year since 2002. Contact ServiceMaster Kwik Restore at (888) 504-6053 to learn more or visit servicemasterkwikrestore.com.

About Proceed Innovative

Proceed Innovative is an internet marketing agency based in the Chicago suburbs that provides a range of search engine marketing (SEM) services such as search engine optimization (SEO), web design, pay per click (PPC) management, local SEO, and lead generation. Their SEO experts use proven strategies to help improve online visibility and brand awareness to increase search traffic as well as the ROI of their clients websites. Their web design services focus on SEO design elements to improve search ability and mobile responsiveness for a better user experience across all devices. Contact Proceed Innovative at (800) 933-2402 or visit proceedinnovative.com to learn more.
Sunita Kulshrestha, M.D., of Shady Grove Fertility's Waldorf, MD office This is such a fulfilling and exciting time to be in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility with the tremendous scientific advances and high treatment success rates.

Shady Grove Fertility, a respected leader in the fertility community, announced that Sunita Kulshrestha, M.D., FACOG has joined the Shady Grove Fertility team in Waldorf, MD. Dr. Kulshrestha offers patients more than 17 years of experience successfully treating patients with infertility. For the past several years she has been part of the Shady Grove Fertility practice outside of Philadelphia, PA.

This is such a fulfilling and exciting time to be in the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility with the tremendous scientific advances and high treatment success rates. I feel privileged to be a Shady Grove Fertility physician and be able to help individuals and couples create life and build their families. I enjoy developing close relationships with my patients and my favorite moment is sharing in their joy when they first see their babys heartbeat on a pregnancy ultrasound.

Dr. Kulshrestha graduated with honors from both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She then completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Virginia and her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and subspecialty board certified in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. Her expertise is in diagnosis and treatment of infertility, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), donor egg treatment, and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Dr. Kulshrestha has earned numerous awards and repeated honors including being a Main Line Today Top Doctor, Northern Virginia Magazine Top Doctor, Americas Top Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and a Washington Post Superdoctor.

Dr. Kulshrestha will be providing patients in Waldorf, MD with a full range of state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment options for female and male infertility, as well as fertility preservation and elective egg freezing. She is seeing patients in the Shady Grove Fertility Waldorf, MD office.

About Shady Grove Fertility

Shady Grove Fertility is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence offering patients individualized care, innovative financial options, and pregnancy rates among the highest of all national centers. 2016 commemorated 25 years of Shady Grove Fertility providing medical and service excellence to patients from all 50 states and 35 countries around the world, and over 40,000 babies bornmore than any other center in the nation. Today, 39 physicians, supported by a highly specialized team of more than 700 Ph.D. scientists, geneticists, and staff care for patients in 19 full-service offices and six satellite sites throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Shady Grove Fertility physicians actively train residents and reproductive endocrinology fellows and invest in continuous clinical research and education to advance the field of reproductive medicine through numerous academic appointments and partnerships such as Georgetown Medical School, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the University of Maryland, and the National Institutes of Health. More than 1,700 physicians refer their patients to Shady Grove Fertility each year. For more information, call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com.
Arizona DUI Lawyers Awarded Best Law Firms Ranking A listing in 'Best Lawyers' is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor.

The Tucson criminal defense law firm of Nesci & St. Louis, PLLC is proud to announce that it has once again received a Tier 1 ranking in the area of DUI/DWI Defense from U.S. News & World Report. This year marks the seventh edition of the Best Law Firms rankings.

Nesci & St. Louis, PLLC is being acknowledged for its professional excellence and exceptional ratings from both clients and attorney peers. This ranking exemplifies the firms high quality of customer service alongside its legal expertise.

Law firms are chosen through a rigorous process that includes evaluations, peer and client reviews, and a formal submission. Best Lawyers is the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession. A listing in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor.

The premier criminal defense law firm of Nesci & St. Louis, PLLC is located in Tucson, Arizona. The veteran litigators have over 50 years of combined legal experience and a vast knowledge of the criminal justice system. The firm handles criminal law cases related to DUIs, assaults, felony theft, armed robbery, domestic violence, drug offenses, sex offenses, and homicides.

In 2013, the firm received the Arizona Public Defender Associations Robert J. Hooker Award. The firms success has also been highlighted by other nominations and high rankings with Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers, AVVO, Tucson Lifestyles Magazine, and the National College for DUI Defense. Additionally, Nesci & St. Louis, PLLC is Arizonas only Certified Criminal Defense Team in both criminal law and DUI defense.

About Nesci & St. Louis, PLLC:

The Tucson criminal defense lawyers at Nesci & St. Louis, PLLC represent individuals charged with DUI and other crimes throughout the state of Arizona, including in the counties of Pima, Miracopa, Cochise, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma. Contact the law firm today to setup an initial case consultation. Call 520-777-0235 or visit http://www.azdefense.com for more information.
Infographic: Vya Ad Systems - How It Works Vyas ad systems free creative resources from the tedious and time-consuming task of ad resizing while also simplifying the process of distributing print and digital ads to publishers, all of which saves time and money.

Vya, a leading provider of simplified marketing execution for distributed organizations, today introduced ad resizing services and ad distribution automation to help bank marketers effectively manage advertising requests from local associates.

Vyas new ad systems enable bank marketers to reduce turnaround time for ad resizing, redeploy talented creative resources to higher-value projects, and build a central repository of ads in varying sizes.

As local branches become more involved with local sponsorships and other forms of community reinvestment, the need to manage local ads continues to grow. For some multi-location banks, the annual volume of local ads required to support local sponsorships has mushroomed into the thousands. Fulfilling these local ad requests manually, either in-house or with an agency, is costly and time-consuming. Vyas ad systems address the need for a more cost-effective and efficient approach.

Local associates require ever more ads in a wide range of sizes to carry out their marketing initiatives, said Kandi OConnor, COO, Vya. The simple task of resizing ads has become a significant drain on creative resources for many banks as they increase their community reinvestment activities and related advertising. Vyas ad systems free creative resources from the tedious and time-consuming task of ad resizing while also simplifying the process of distributing print and digital ads to publishers, all of which saves time and money.

For details on how Vyas ad systems work, visit http://www.vyasystems.com/systems/ad-systems/.

Vya will be demonstrating its new ad systems, along with its full suite of marketing resource management (MRM) solutions, at next weeks Financial Brand Forum, May 17-19, in Las Vegas. Attendees can visit Vyas exhibit kiosk #K8 for a personal demonstration.

About Vya

Vya (@vya_systems) offers businesses a full range of integrated marketing resource management tools to help customers simplify and localize marketing efforts. The company combines more than 20 years of print fulfillment experience with the latest technology to provide a platform to help companies customize their marketing, messaging and materials. Learn more about Vya at vyasystems.com or contact Vya at 800-426-7921 or sales@vyasystems.com.
Prescient Solutions will sponsor an upcoming webcast, Top Cybersecurity Threats & How to Protect Your Organization, to discuss some of the most dangerous threats to your information technology including phishing, ransomware, breaches, and more.

This important and complimentary webinar scheduled for Wednesday, May 31 at 1:00 P.M. CT will feature Jerry Irvine, National Cyber Security Task Force member, and Chief Information Officer at Prescient Solutions. As a certified ethical hacker, Jerry will discuss real life examples of cyber risks along with strategies your company can deploy to effectively defend your environment from these threats.

Cyber risks are increasing as threats grow more sophisticated, states Jerry Irvine. Organizations must have security measures in place in order to defend its technology from these threats.

The webcast is free and will identify best practices for protecting your devices from cyber attacks. To register for Top Cybersecurity Threats & How to Protect Your Organization, click here.

###

About Prescient Solutions

Prescient Solutions is a Chicago-based IT consulting company that provides onsite, remote, managed and cloud-based services to small, mid-sized and global organizations, as well as government entities. For more than 20 years, its expert team has advised organizations on best practices in IT and cyber security, and guides executives in IT decision-making and implementation across all systems and networks. For more information call 888-343-6040, or visit http://www.PrescientSolutions.com.
Throughout Armenia, apart from historical and architectural monuments, one can locate the skeletons of airplanes that have long stopped flying. These aircraft are not only exhibited at museums, but also at sites that at first glance appear odd.

One of these sites is located on the grounds of the Mayr Hayastan (Mother Armenia) Memorial overlooking Yerevan.

On display is a MiG-19 - a Soviet second-generation fighter aircraft. Design and development of such aircraft began after the Great Patriotic War, in the 1950s. Approximately 6,500 MiG-19s of all versions were produced. The aircraft saw service not only in USSR, but also in the air forces of several countries in Asia, Africa, and the socialist bloc. The aircraft and its Chinese version (J-6), saw combat during the Vietnam War, the 1967 Six Day War, and the 1971 Bangladesh War.

MiG-19S in Yerevan (2015)

It should be noted that from 1938-1960, Yerevans Erebouni Airport was used as a base for Soviet aviation units, but they used older generation aircraft than the MiG-19.

Another MiG is part of the memorial built next to the famous Mikoyan Brothers' Museum in the Armenian village Sanahin. One of the brothers, Artem, was one of the designers of the MiG. The other was Mikhail Gurevich (Mikoyan + Gurevich = MiG). The museum and the memorial were opened in the summer of 1982, years after the brothers died. The MiG-21 fighter, brought from Moscow, and Artem Mikoyans ZIM limousine, are among the most valuable showpieces in the museum.

MiG-21U at Sanahin (2015)

MiG-21s were put into service in the mid-1950s. They were used in the air forces of many countries. Overall, more than 11,000 were produced. The fighter also had its Chinese version  the J-7. MiG-21s fought in the Vietnam War, the 1999 Kargil war, the 1980 Iran-Iraq War, the 1977 Libyan-Egyptian border war, the 1977 Ogaden War, wars in Lebanon and those in Yugoslavia, among others.

Another MiG fighter is now located in the Mets Taghlar village in Artsakh,birthplace of Soviet Air Marshal Armenak Khanperyants (Sergey Khudyakov). The MiG-17 is situated in front of the museum, operating since 1984, where items devoted to the marshal and other military personnel born in the village are exhibited alongside archaeological finds.

Mets Taghlars MiG-17 (2012)

MiG-17s entered service in the early 1950s, after the success of its predecessor, the MiG-15. In the Soviet Union alone, some 8,000 units were produced. Another 3,000 were produced in other countries under a licensing deal. Like the above-mentioned aircraft, these were not only used for military patrols, but also during the wars in Vietnam and the Middle East.

MiG-17 (2016)

While combat MiGs are logically found near museums related to the military, other aircraft that have been turned into monuments seem to have nothing to do with the surrounding locale.

Theres a Yak-40 passenger aircraft parked on the grounds of the Noy Land Resort, between the villages Chkalovka and Norashen, in Armenias Gegharkounik Province. The site is near the shore of Lake Sevan. It once belonged to Armenian Airlines, as evidenced from the half-deleted inscriptions on the aircraft.

The Yak-40 on the shore of Sevan (2012)

Small Yak-40 aircraft were famous both in the USSR and abroad, being used for local and regional lines. During 1960-80's, more than 1,000 were produced.

This particular plane was produced at the Saratov Aviation Plant in 1976. It began to fly the same year. Initially, it was at the disposal of the Armenian Department of the USSR Ministry of Civil Aviation, and flew under Aeroflot name bearing the number USSR-88167.

The plane in 1993

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, when aviation depots passed to the independent republics, this Yak-40 entered the fleet of the new Armenian Airlines as the EK-88167.

The EK-88167 on the Sevan shore (2015)

Ararat Avia CJSC was a by-product of Armenian Airlines. The company operated out of Erebuni Airport and flew the Yak-40, the An-12 and An-24 planes, and Mi-8 helicopters, belonging to Armenian Airlines.

The EK-88167 was also under Ararat Avias disposal for a while. In 1999, the Armenian government decided to reorganize the company by joining it with Armenian Airlines. All aircraft were moved to Zvartnots Airport, except for helicopter squadron. The tough times for Armenian Airlines had begun in 1998, resulting in the company going bankrupt in the spring of 2004.

The EK-88167 had a unique fate. It was parked at Zvartnots for a time, and then moved to the Lake Sevan shore, to be used as a cafe.

Another Yak-40 belonging to Armenian Airlines is now standing next to the Lake Van restaurant in Ashtarak, on the bank of Kasagh River. Its in much worse shape than the Lake Sevan Yak-40.

Lake Van restaurant and plane (2011)

This plane was also produced in Saratov, in 1977, the birthplace of Yak-40s. It flew that same year. Like the previous Yak-40, it was also put at the disposal of the Armenian Department of the USSR Ministry of Civil Aviation from the beginning, flying under the number USSR-88256.

After Armenia got independence, it entered Armenian Airlines fleet, and became EK-88256. The plane had been taken out of service by 1997, and moved to Ashtarak in the early 2000s.

The EK-88256 in Ashtarak (2015)

Top Photo: A Yak-40 on the Lake Sevan shore (photo by Hakob Poghosyan)
While dairy producers from major exporting countries have long reduced milk flow, U.S. milk production kept chugging along growing 1.8 percent over the past year. Thats on top of a 1.3 percent growth rate in 2015 and 2.4 percent in 2014. Those strong growth rates were in direct response to U.S. milk pay prices that were among the highest among major dairy exporters.

Those conditions no longer exist.

Farm gate milk prices in both the European Union (EU) and New Zealand have passed the U.S. this March. Thats because other major exporting countries have begun to clear inventories and expand dairy exports.

U.S. milk prices were $15.26 per hundredweight this March, said Rick Smith, CEO of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). For the first time in well over a year, both the EU and New Zealand have higher pay prices, said the 11-year CEO. The EU stood at $16.07 and New Zealand at $16.46, he said, turning his eye toward the screens at the annual meeting and pointing to converted milk prices on a per hundredweight basis.

Thats a big change from this January when the U.S. averaged $18.90, New Zealand $16.08, and the EU $16.09, he explained to the 1,500 attendees at the co-ops annual meeting.

A full comparison of prices on a per hundredweight basis follows:
Cookies

What are cookies ?

How do we use cookies?

How to control cookies?

Managing cookies in your browser

see what cookies you have got and delete them on an individual basis

block third party cookies

block cookies from particular sites

block all cookies from being set

delete all cookies when you close your browser

X

A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.Website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") to help analyse the use of this website. For this purpose, Google Analytics uses"cookies", which are text files placed on your computer.The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website - standard internet log information (including your IP address) and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form - will be transmitted to and stored by Google including on servers in the United States. Google will anonymize the information sent by removing the last octet of your IP address prior to its storage.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website and compiling reports on website activity.We not use, and not allow any third party to use the statistical analytics tool to track or to collect any personally identifiable information of visitors to this site. Google may transfer the information collected by Google Analytics to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google`s behalf.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.You may refuse the use of Google Analytics cookies by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics.Cookies are also used to record if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site, so that you are not asked the question every time you visit the site.You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.Most browsers allow you to:If you chose to delete cookies, you should be aware that any preferences will be lost. Also, if you block cookies completely many websites (including ours) will not work properly and webcasts will not work at all. For these reasons, we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our webcasting services.
Caldecott Award-winning childrens author and illustrator Peter Spier died on April 27 of congestive heart failure in Port Jefferson, N.Y. He was 89.

Spier was born June 6, 1927 in Amsterdam, and grew up in the village of Broek-in-Waterland, which readers in the U.S. may know as home to the fictional protagonist in Mary Mapes Dodges novel, Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates. In his autobiographical notes in Something About the Author, Spier recalled growing up in a house that was on the water where boats passed close to the windows. His father was a political cartoonist and illustrator, and Spier has noted that the family home was filled with books and intellectual discussion. As a boy, he enjoyed carving figures out of clay, and by the age of 18, Spier had decided to pursue an art career and began studies at the Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam.

After art school, Spier served three and a half years in his countrys navy, but still felt the creative pull of publishing and illustration. In 1949, he began work as a junior editor at Elseviers Weekblad, then the largest Dutch newspaper, and was stationed in Paris. The following year, a work transfer landed him in Houston, Tex., but by 1952 he had moved to New York City and embarked on the life of a freelance writer and illustrator. Soon after, he brought his portfolio to the offices at Doubleday, where he made the connection with the house that would become his longtime publisher.

Spier became a U.S. citizen in 1958, the same year that he married Kathryn Pallister. The couple had two children; Spier is survived by them, along with two grandchildren.

His early work in childrens books was as an illustrator for other writers picture book texts. Spier estimated that he illustrated close to 50 of those books before trying his hand at writing his own words. Bible stories, animals, American history, and Mother Goose rhymes were among the subjects he focused on in his books. The first title he both wrote and illustrated was The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: An Old Song (Doubleday, 1961), which won a Caldecott Honor. Spiers wordless adaptation of Noahs Ark (Doubleday, 1977) was awarded the 1978 Caldecott Medal. Reviews of Spiers work often lauded the accurate detail and intricate line drawing in his illustrations, which reflected the careful research he did for each project, and also praised the sense of humor and whimsy in many of his images.

In 2014, Spiers publisher Doubleday launched a reissue program to bring back a selection of favorite titles in both hardcover and e-book formats. Spier was very involved in the effort, providing two new covers and refreshing some of his illustrations by adding color, or defining elements that had faded after years of reprinting. The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night and The Star-Spangled Banner were among the first titles to be reissued. In a PW article about the program, Spier reflected on his career. I do know if I had to do it all again, Id do the books the very same way, he said. I wouldnt know how to do them any other way! I am a very lucky man to have earned a living by doing my hobby.
This year, Sasquatch Books Little Bigfoot imprint is celebrating the 10th anniversary of author and illustrator John Skewess Larry Gets Lost, a picture book series for young armchair travelers. The series, which launched in 2007 with Larry Gets Lost in Seattle, has sold more than 350,000 copies.

The books follow Larry as he explores a new city with his owner Petes family. Along the way, Larry wanders off on his own and discovers local landmarks before reuniting with the family. Skewes spends several weeks visiting each location as research for each book. A former character artist for Disney Consumer Products, Skewes works with co-writers on the story. Collaborators have included Robert Schwartz, Michael Mullin, Andrew Fox, and Eric Ode. To date, the adventures of Larry the puppy include 25 books featuring 12 cities, with more books to come in the fall.

Throughout the month of April, Little Bigfoot commemorated the publishing milestone with bookstore celebrations and extensive online promotion.

Special Edition. Updated anniversary editions of Larry Gets Lost in Seattle and Seattle ABCthe books that launched the Larry Gets Lost series ten years agowere released on April 4. The books feature all-new artwork and several new Seattle landmarks.

Larry Gets a Website. Little Bigfoot launched LarryGetsLost.com, a newly designed website for the series. The site includes a landing page for parents, educators, and booksellers looking for more information about the series, downloadable resources, and an interactive map.

Seattle Independent Bookstore Day. In honor of the city that launched the series, Little Bigfoot partnered with Seattle Independent Bookstore Day to host a childrens scavenger hunt at a select number of local bookstores.

Storytime Tour. Independent bookstores nationwide joined the anniversary celebration by hosting Larry-themed storytimes throughout April. Participating stores received storytime kits, including web assets, a customized activity kit (themed for the stores city), a Larry plush doll, and a set of books from the bookstores city.

The national storytime tour kicked off on April 1 at Brookline Booksmith in Boston.

The storytime crowd at the Book Cellar in Chicago celebrated 10 years of Larry on April 7.

The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle hosted a storytime on April 8 for the book that launched the series.

On April 20, Larry paid a visit to Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, where kids read stories, sang songs, and participated in an art activity.
The significant and sustained growth of the audiobook category, led by digital downloads, has been a familiar headline for a few years now. According to the most recent data from the Association of American Publisherss StatShot program, sales of downloaded audio through the first three quarters of 2016 grew 29.6% compared to the same period in 2015, and in November 2016 sales of digital audiobooks were up 47.2% over the previous November. The Audio Publishers Association is awaiting the compiled results of its latest consumer and sales surveys, which are due to be released next month. But the 2015 APA findings showed audiobook sales were 20.7% higher than in the previous year, part of a string of year-to-year increases since 2011.

As the demand for, and supply of, audio content increases, so too does the workload of the people producing and marketing that content. How have audio departments been meeting that challenge? PW spoke with audio publishers at several of the larger traditional publishing houses to see how staff size and responsibilities have been evolving.

For audio publishers across the board, the growing popularity of digital downloads has sparked a sharp increase in title output and variety. But surprisingly, most companies report that head counts have not necessarily reflected that same uptick.

Anthony Goff, senior v-p of content development and audio publisher at Hachette Book Group, notes: Things have changed dramatically: we are producing so many more books and so many more kinds of books. Our staff, however has stayed relatively the same. Goffs team of 12 will be producing more than 700 titles this year. When I started here in 2003, we were doing somewhere in the range of 50 to 75 titles a year, he says.

Hachette has two recording studios and is currently adding a smaller studio in-house. Weve picked up a new engineer, and we picked up a producer, Goff says. So were growing and our staff is growing, but not nearly as much as the title count and the workload, and so everyone is full-on sprinting to make things happen. And its really exciting, but you always hope that things dont fall through the cracks because you have so many things going, so many balls in the air.

The situation is similar at Simon & Schuster Audio. Weve basically tripled the number of titles we publish from four or five years ago, says president and publisher Chris Lynch. So as a group, weve had to take a hard look at how we do our jobs. Weve added a couple of production positions to help absorb the increase in titles, but thats really it in terms of new people.

Other publishers are responding to the ramp-up in projects by increasing their staff numbers. Amanda DAcierno, senior v-p and publisher at Penguin Random House Audio, summed up her divisions growth spurt: In response to the increased demand for audiobooks, our goal is to produce every Penguin Random House title suitable for recording, she says. That translates to a 20% increase in our list over last year. After increasing our studio space in both L.A. and New York in late 2014, were again expanding our studios here in New York and have hired additional production and operations staff to ensure we have ample resources to produce more than 900 titles this year.

Macmillan Audio is looking at an equally robust picture. We have grown in the number of people, and were actually planning to grow again, which is very exciting, says Mary Beth Roche, president and publisher of Macmillan Audio. There are 13 of us and I would say by the beginning of summer there will be 16 dedicated solely to audio. The hard part, then, is figuring out where you need the additional resources. If youre adding more titles, where are the pain points going to be? Im looking at production, marketing, design, as well as the people who are managing the metadata and making sure that all of that is being optimized.

In step with the other major publishers we spoke with, Macmillan has an in-house studio. Its been fully operational now for a little over a year, and its been a huge success, Roche says. Were able to keep it very busy and we use it both for authors and for local talent to come in an use the space here.

And when its warranted by staff, space, or time limitations, most audio publishers have long worked with trusted partners. Weve always used a wide array of outside sound engineers and people who do a whole variety of tasks, says Roche. But, she explains, the completion of all the elements of the recording is still done at Macmillan.

Goff says: Were using not only our additional staff but outside firms to help take on some of the production work. Were recording all over the country simultaneously now, using different partners, different vendors, and employing as many people as we can to keep growing the audio list.

Audio Leads with Synergy, Innovation

Logic dictates that, as audio departments are producing more titles, they are in turn doing more marketing. And bringing digital titles to market has been a largely digital endeavor.

Digital marketing has been a real focus, says S&Ss Lynch. Social media and email marketing have been at the forefront of our efforts the last couple of years.

Goff says that at Hachette, our marketing for the past few years has been focused on all the things you can do while youre engaged with this type of content. He adds, Everybodys busier and has less time in their day.

To Goffs point, Roche cited several examples of her groups marketing campaigns targeting a now-larger pool of multitasking listeners. Efforts have included a promotion with the Avis rental-car companys business customers, sponsoring foot races to appeal to those who listen while they run, and working with food companies to do sponsorships and promotions for people who listen while theyre cooking. These are not things we havent done before, she says. Were just doing them in new ways.

But one of the biggest recent changes for audio departments is where and when they begin planning their marketing campaigns. At Macmillan weve been involved from the very beginning on a lot of projects, and certainly on all the major acquisitions, were part of the very early P&L [profit and loss sheet] acquisitions process, says Roche. As audio has gotten bigger and bigger, its now included from the very beginning on even more books, going deeper and broader. Often well meet the author when they come in even before the book is signed up. Audio is fully integrated into planning from very first launch meeting for the book and audiobook publicationall of that synergy is being optimized.

Lynch also offers a positive assessment of the corporate synergy his team has participated in. As a company, Simon & Schuster has done a tremendous job in integrating audio into the marketing and publicity plans for each publication, he says. But the key within the division has been thinking digital first, and making sure that we arent continuing to do things just because thats the way weve always done them. If somethings not moving the needle in terms of sales or publicity or faster and better productions, we shouldnt be doing it. S&S has another advantage when considering corporate strategies and partnerships, says Lynch. We also have the benefit of being part of a major media company, CBS.

The use of audio and video is not merely restricted to presenting book content; theyre also increasingly being used in marketing. In Roches assessment, marketing people see audio as providing them with more assets to work with. Audio has gotten sexy, she says. Well have an author in, and I cant tell you the number of times the marketers ask, While the authors in the studio, can you have him read a 30-second spot for this? 

Video is another medium in the synergistic marketing toolbox. Were recording video from almost every production that the author will put on their Facebook page, or that will go on the books landing page, Roche explains. Were creating assets that obviously help sell the audio but also help sell the book. She notes that her team has a good working relationship with Macmillans e-book division, a set-up that provides opportunities for the groups to exchange knowledge and support.

Roche also oversees Macmillans podcast division. Podcasts are a growing format that she says are another source of in-house advertising and another way to create more listeners. I think podcasts are helping, she says. A lot of people who hadnt previously listened to audiobooks maybe have gotten turned on to listening because of podcasts, and audiobooks are maybe the next thing for them to try once theyve gotten used to long-form listening again.

Hachettes Content Development

In addition to trying to reach various benchmarks of more, faster, or better, most audio publishers agree that in this age of digital proliferation they have more opportunities to create content and production or marketing techniques that are innovative. We had always experimented, we would dip our toes into lots of waters, looking at new ways to sell audio, new channels, new partnerships, Goff says. Weve really opened that up now. In fact, it was that audio experimentation that was a factor in Goffs being promoted last year by HBG CEO Michael Pietsch to lead a companywide strategic initiative from under the audio umbrella. According to Goff, the content development initiatives mission is to find new ways to branch out in digital and in print to expand the readership and market of authors.

In that new capacity, Goff says that he was able to hire somebody who was in a parallel universe doing similar business in the childrens division, Tina McIntyre. He adds, I asked her to join our team and now were doing this not only for audio, but for all the divisions. McIntyre had previously worked in the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers group, where, as marketing director during the Twilight years of Stephenie Meyers bestselling vampire series, she says she created a lot of interesting partnerships and content promotions and things that you would normally do free of charge, but we kind of thought we could probably be charging for some of these things. She then moved into a business development/digital publishing hybrid role in the company. As for joining Goffs team, McIntyre says, Corporate thought it made sense to pair us up and see what we could do. She was named senior executive of the content development team in March of last year.

The initiative is a good fit with the audio department for several reasons, in McIntyres view. Audio has been doing derivative product in their own way, she says. So theyre familiar with the scrappiness involved with everyone rolling up their sleeves and pitching in to help. Everyone gets on board and helps us decide what to move forward with. The other part thats nice about being absorbed in the audio team is that all the publishers are used to working with this division, so theres an inherent trust and familiarity thats already been built up, knowing that they produce these beautiful recordings of their books.

Its not just audio anymore, Goff stresses. Its also not about an audio bottom line vs. a print bottom line. We are now genuinely driving revenue to all of our divisions and working with their editors and their marketers, really intrinsically on a day-to-day basis: brainstorming original content, looking at distribution partnerships, b-to-b, b-to-c, looking at all these different ways we could be selling our books and audiobooks, not only traditionally but with new content based on these writers and what they have in their stable. It could be stories they might have never published, or expanded character development. Or we may engage our authors in conversation about what else we can do to find younger listeners or new listeners.

According to McIntyre, her first year in the new position has involved a lot of testing of ideas and concepts: do consumers want chunked content? Do they want serialized content? What more could we do with audio? What kind of partnerships could we explore? In the future, she notes, my vision for the group is to be very experimental and innovative while 100% respecting the rights we have in our contractslooking for authors and agents who are willing to maybe work with us on some of those new, innovative, experimental things, but never doing a rights grab, never trying to go and take a whole category away from an author that they might be able to exploit somewhere else.

Among the groups recent content development partnerships based in audio, Goff lists working with Booktrack, a technology company that creates and syncs movie-style soundtracks and ambient sound to e-books and audiobooks, and Novel Effect, a startup tech firm whose voice recognition technology allows readers to read aloud from a print book and have it automatically sync with music and effects. And last month Hachette embarked on a global partnership with online writing and reading community Wattpad to launch Hachette Audiobooks: Powered by Wattpad, which will publish 50 audiobook editions of Wattpad stories this summer.

Content development ideas reach beyond digital, too. A lot of what were doing is not only digital but is really to sell physical and keep physical doing well, and to find new ways to for physical readers and physical audio purchasers to engage in different ways, Goff says.

Hachette Book Group has demonstrated strong buy-in to the new initiative. Goff says that his team hosted a digital open house with all Hachette employees, and it was standing room only in a room with more than 100 chairs. I was excited to see how enthused all of the staff was, how excited they are to want to be a part of the next generation of finding new readers and listeners and doing out-of-the-box experimentation, Goff adds. Because everybodys engaged in different ways nowbetween social media, mobile devices, podcasts, peoples shorter attention spans, you have to try different things.

The Next Wave

Goff says, Were constantly looking for new ways to get particularly younger audiences loving reading, loving listening. He adds, And, as we know about audio, once you get people excited about it, they are on board for life.

At S&S, Lynch knows that flexibility is key for his team. We need to stay nimble and stay creative in how we produce, publish and market our titlesfrom where and how we sell them to expanding the definition of what an audiobook is, he says. Weve always published original or first-to-audio titles, but as the medium expands, we can push the envelope there too.

Roche says she hopes for more rosy scenarios ahead: We want to see [the audio segment] continuing to grow, and theres still more audience to find. Were not mature. There are still a lot of people who havent tried an audiobook, which makes the marketing piece of it still really fun. Were not just fighting over a set group of listeners. Its, Listen to an audiobook and youll find one of ours. 
A new bookstore for Long Island City; New Orleans store to close; indies celebrate 'Anne of Green Gables;' and more.

New York City Bookstore Chain Expands: Book Culture is opening a new store in Long Island City, Queens; the store will be the chain's fourth location, and its first outside Manhattan.

New Orleans Bookstore Closing: Maple Street Book Shop in New Orleans will close after 53 years in business.

Indie Bookstores Promote Netflix Series: Twenty independent bookstores around the U.S. are hosting host viewing parties, on Saturday, for Neflix's new series, Anne of Green Gables.

Charleston May Get New Bookstore: Officials approved a license for a new bookstore/wine shop in the South Carolina city's French Quarter.

Appreciating Politics & Prose: A writer for World Literature Today offers an appreciation of the Washington, D.C. bookstore.

Running a Used Bookstore in a Library: The librarian at the used bookstore in the Princeton Public Library discusses her career.
David Limbaugh, who is the younger brother of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, debuted at #2 on PW's Religion Nonfiction Bestsellers list with his latest release, The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in the Gospels.

The title offers a combined account of the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in an attempt to offer a new perspective on Jesus, according to Regnery Publishing. Publicity for The True Jesus included radio coverage (Eric Metaxas Show), as well as on television (Fox & Friends, the Glenn Beck Program), while a marketing campaign included ad placement on Google, Instagram, and Facebook. Christian personalities Lee Strobel and Sean Hannity also endorsed the book.

Easter shopping boosted sales for the paperback edition of Killing Jesus by Mark Dugard and Tim OReilly in April. However, the book slid one spot to #5 in the wake of OReillys firing from Fox News.

On the heels of the film adaptation of Lee Strobels The Case for Christ, the paperback edition of the book came in at #6 in Religion Nonfiction. Publicity for the The Case for Christ was tied to promotions for the film, including a media junket in Los Angeles and New York. Strobel appeared with the cast at the junkets, and also at a red carpet premiere in Chicago. Further, Strobels speaking tour included appearances at conferences such as the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Convention and at churches around the U.S., where he signed copies of the book.

On the Religion Fiction chart, Beverly Lewis came in at #3 with her new Amish romance, The Ebb Tide. In its starred review, PW called the book a heartwarming story of self-discovery, friendship, and the search for Gods will. Marketing and publicity for the standalone title included a book trailer on YouTube, free excerpts available on BeverlyLewis.com, and promotion on Bethany Houses website and socials.
Danish Puppet Book Draws Bidders

The Danish Octo Book, which was just published in Denmark by Alvilda, is drawing the eye of various publishers in Europe. The Salomonsson Agency is handling rights to the lifestyle/hobby book, which has just sold in a flurry of sales. The book explores the phenomenon behind the octopus puppets that are used in Danish neonatal units to help soothe premature babies, with instructions on how to create a puppet at home. (The puppets supposedly remind newborns of the umbilical cord.) The agency accepted quick preempt deals with Luitingh-Sijthoff (Netherlands), Azbooka-Atticus (Russia) and Aula & Co (Finland). At press time, rights to the book had also sold in the U.K. and Croatia, and there are offers from Spain.

Dutch Debut Sells in Germany

A Thousand Fathers by Nhung Dam has sold to Ullstein in Germany, in a deal brokered by Dutch publisher De Bezige Bij, which controls world rights to the book. De Bezige Bij published the book last month; it's about an 11-year-old girl from a family of Vietnamese immigrants trying to survive after her father abandons the family. Ullstein will publish the book in spring 2019, in hardcover.

Two German Novels Nabbed Down Under

Australia's Text Publishing has bought world English rights to two German novels. The first, Look at Me by Mareike Krugel, was acquired from Piper in Germany; it's a woman who, after discovering a lump in her breast, contemplates her life. Piper, which is publishing Look at Me in August, has sold rights to Mondadori (Italy), Laffont (France), and other houses. The second book, Beside Yourself by Sasha Marianna Salzmann, was acquired from Suhrkamp, and is a multigenerational story set in several cities, including Berlin, Moscow, and Istanbul about a young woman who goes searching for her lost twin brother. The author has written several plays and rights to the book have sold to various publishers, including Seix Barral (Spain) and Grasset (France).

Italian Sociology Book Crosses the Border

Born Liquid, the final work by Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, has sold in Germany. Italys Sperling Publishing controls rights to the book, which Bauman finished before his death, in January. Written with journalist Thomas Leoncini, the book follows a group of people born in the 1980s who lack stability in their lives today; the work, according to the publisher, zeroes in on various aspects of what Bauman thought were interesting aspects of this generation, from their need for body transformations (through plastic surgery and tattoos) to the ways they build relationships on social networks. German rights sold to Bastei Luebbe and, at press time, offers were in from houses in several other territories. Sperling published the book in Italy last month.
SPRINGFIELD (AP)  University of Illinois-Springfield administrators and a union representing professors have reached a tentative contract agreement, ending a strike that started last week.

The University of Illinois Springfield United Faculty union represents nearly 170 tenured and tenure-track faculty members. Representatives of the school and the union announced the deal Sunday.

The strike started last Tuesday over issues including reappointment, tenure and promotions. Contract terms aren't expected to be released until the contract is ratified. The union says that the deal establish greater transparency for the future.

The strike came during the final week of classes for the semester and the week before final exams. Those exams are expected to take place starting Monday as planned. The school says this Saturday's commencement also is expected to take place as previously scheduled.
Celebrating Our Service Members

Friday, November 11 is Veterans Day, when we honor and show gratitude to all members of our Armed Forces  those currently serving, those who...

Transit Equity Starts With QueensLink

For decades Queens has seen a disinvestment in the necessary transit infrastructure the borough needs to promote equity and sustainability. Most of the time, transformative...
What happened

Shares Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSEMKT: NAK) popped again on Tuesday and were up 12% at 2:45 p.m. EDT. That continued the gold-mine developer's recent string of rallies that have taken the stock up 27% over the past week.

So what

Today's rally, like the ones over the past week, is directly related to last week's announcement that the company's wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership has signed a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For a refresher, it filed a Joint Motion in federal court to "extend a stay of proceedings in the parties' long-standing legal dispute over the federal agency's pre-emptive regulatory action under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to May 11, 2017." With that deadline drawing closer, investors are getting increasingly optimistic that the company will finalize a settlement so it can take the next step toward developing its Alaskan Pebble Deposit, the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold resource.

That said, the resolution with the EPA is just one step in a long process before the company can ever turn Pebble's mineral riches into cash flow for shareholders. Northern Dynasty Minerals also would need to re-partner the project, so it has the money to help finance development. Furthermore, it needs to reposition the project to regain public support. In the meantime, it has a slew of permits, studies and other agreements to complete before it can start construction -- which, if everything goes according to plan, wouldn't begin until 2020. That would put the company on pace to start producing from the mine in 2024.

Now what

Northern Dynasty Minerals believes it is sitting on the largest untapped deposit of copper and gold in the world. However, getting to that buried treasure has proven to be excruciatingly challenging. While the project is starting to move in the right direction, it will be years before investors see tangible value in the form of production and cash flow. This stock remains nothing more than a vehicle for traders hoping to earn a big payday should the company finally get the green light to develop this project.

10 stocks we like better than Northern Dynasty Minerals

When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Northern Dynasty Minerals wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017

Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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!
According to a statement from the presidents office, the Malayer - Firuzan section of the Malayer - Kermanshah - Khosravi line also opened on the same day.

A further 132km line running west from Hamedan to Sanandaj, a city of around 400,000 people, is under construction and tracklaying is expected to begin soon.

For detailed data on rail projects around the globe subscribe to IRJ Pro.
Quebec acquired the 325km line in 2015 after declining revenues forced the Gaspe Railway (SFG) into receivership. Via Rail had suspended Montreal - Gaspe passenger services east of Matapedia in August 2013 due to the poor condition of infrastructure.

Work on rehabilitating the line is expected to begin within the next few months and will initially focus on the Matapedia - Caplan section. The government of Quebec says it is also committed to the rapid revival of the Caplan - Port Daniel Gascons stretch and studies will be carried out into the repair of 16 structures on the Port Daniel - Gaspe section.

Couillard says facilitating the restoration of passenger services is an objective of the project, although he concedes it will be several years before this is accomplished.
The largest container vessel to call Canada arrived on May 5 at Global Container Terminals (GCT) Deltaport, located in the Port of Vancouver. The port was able to attract the vessel due in part to its enhanced rail connections.

GCT Canada said the Hapag-Lloyd vessel is the first of a progressive ship upsizing that has been deployed as part of the Transport High Efficiency (THE) Alliances Transpacific mainline West Coast PN3 service.

Our dedicated PN3 shuttle service is a competitive East-West product with short transit times, said Wolfgang Schoch, senior vice president of Hapag-Lloyd (Canada). Working together with our supply chain partners, through this facility our cargo reaches more than 20 destinations across Canada and the US Midwest.

THE Alliance is comprised of Japans Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), along with Hapag-Lloyd, United Arab Shipping Co. (UASC) and Yang Ming Transport. The three Japanese carriers plan to merge their container operations by April 1, 2018. Hapag-Lloyd and UASC have announced their own merger, by May 31 of this month.

Improved transit times and the ability to reach various destinations were made possible through GCT Deltaports recently completed Intermodal Yard Reconfiguration project. The CA$280-million ($204-million) project increases rail capacity by more than 50% within the yards existing footprint and enables the port to better handle big ship surge volumes.
Metras Office of Diversity and Civil Rights will host a free Doing Business with Metra event from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 11, at Metra headquarters, 547 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago.

The event will offer small business owners and representatives an opportunity to meet with Metra staff, learn about the functions of the Office of Diversity and Civil Rights and receive information regarding Metras upcoming projects.

Were committed to making sure businesses of all types and sizes have the tools and information needed to effectively bid on Metra contracts, said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. The goal of this event is to give small businesses a fair chance to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available at Metra.

In 2016 Metra launched the Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program, to increase the number of competitively awarded contracts to small businesses, maximize contract opportunities and minimize contract bundling.

The event is intended for small businesses, including those that have received their Disadvantaged Business Enterprise or Small Business Enterprise certifications, as well as those that have not been certified. Staff from Metras procurement, engineering and mechanical departments also will speak during the event.

To register for more information, contact DBE Community Liaison Romayne Newton at [email protected] or 312-322-6587.

Explore the Challenges, Issues, and Trends Affecting the North American Rail Market. REGISTER NOW for Railway Ages 3rd Annual RAIL INSIGHTS June 7 & 8, 2017, Chicago.
Last month the world watched in horror as innocent Syrian civilians were brutally attacked by chemical weapons. France recently joined the United States, Britain, Turkey and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in assigning blame for the April 5 attack to the Syrian government and President Bashar Assad.

In a sense, the French announcement comes as no surprise given the incontrovertible evidence uncovered by the other investigations. The chemical used was sarin  a powerful nerve agent. The chemical formulas match those of known Syrian stocks and the aircraft that conducted the attack came from a Syrian Air Force base. Hard to argue with such facts.

What has been a surprise is the tepid global response. Russia continues to defend the Assad regime, accusing Syrian opposition forces of staging the attack to draw the United States into the nation's 6-year civil war. With every statement from President Vladimir Putin or the Russian government, the indifference towards the Chemical Weapons Convention and rule of law becomes more evident.

After an initial salvo of cruise missiles by the United States on the airbase from which the chemical attacks were launched, follow-up actions have been modest and slow in coming. The Trump administration announced sanctions on 271 employees of the Syrian government agency responsible for producing the chemical weapons and ballistic missiles. The cruise missiles and sanctions are a start. However, a broader discussion of a strategy for Syria is needed to halt the further use of chemical weapons.

After an emergency meeting and an initial flurry of condemnations at the United Nations, no tangible action has occurred. Not surprisingly, Russia vetoed the UN resolution condemning the killings and calling on Syria to assist in the investigation. Meanwhile, the norms against the use of these horrific weapons continue to be threatened by the lack of broader action.

Perhaps most surprising has been the deafening silence on the issue by countries in the region. These countries are the ones most likely to be affected by the continuing violence and use of chemical weapons.

Rather than (more) righteous indignation or continued (unsuccessful) calls for Assad's ouster, countries in the region and supporting powers should do something to tighten border controls and those over precursor chemicals.

While options for influencing Assad are admittedly limited, some actions could be undertaken to deter future use of chemical weapons. First and foremost, regional leaders could continue to apply pressure on the Assad regime to drive home the message that the use of these weapons will not be tolerated.

Borders with Syria could be sealed to prevent any of the remaining stocks from leaving the country.

Borders with Syria could be sealed to prevent any of the remaining stocks from leaving the country. This would likely require a mix of military, law enforcement and border police to ensure that any illicit crossings are immediately halted. In the event that chemical weapons do breach the Syrian border, response forces should be prepared to stop suspect shipments, conduct searches of cargo and have appropriate protection to avoid becoming casualties themselves.

Despite global efforts to eliminate Syria's chemical munitions stocks in 2014, it has become clear they were not fully successful and that Syria as a new member of the Chemical Weapons Convention is in violation of the treaty.

To eliminate any remaining stocks of chemical weapons, a second international effort could be undertaken to account for all of Assad's stocks, transport the munitions to a safe location and destroy them.

On the disposition of Assad, regional leaders could make clear that the future of Syria does not include him. They could call for the International Criminal Court to indict Assad for war crimes. The Chemical Weapons Convention is not the only treaty countering weapons of mass destruction Assad has violated. Others include the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as Assad has failed to provide a full accounting of Syria's nuclear programme, the ballistic missile regime and the Biological Weapons Convention where concerns remain about past activities.

Over the past 15 years, the norms against the use of chemical weapons have continued to be threatened, with increasing state and non-state actor use. Most of these attacks have occurred in the Middle East. This trend cannot be allowed to continue. Nations in the region are in the bullseye and should act now to prevent further chemical attacks and put a halt to this abhorrent form of warfare.

Daniel M. Gerstein is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct professor at American University. He was the undersecretary (acting) and deputy undersecretary in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security from 201114.

This commentary originally appeared on The Arab Weekly on May 7, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
This week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, will be meeting in Alaska to discuss topics of mutual concern in the Arctic. After a tumultuous start to relations with the new administration, there could be room for a legitimate aligning of interests. Moscows interest in exploring the region could be part of a larger thawing in relations between the two countries.

As it stands, relations between the White House and Kremlin are the worst they have been in years. The vaunted promise of a reset in relations was shattered with the chemical attack in Syria last month, in which U.S. President Donald Trump and other members of his administration reversed public positions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. stance on the regime in Damascus is now rather unclear. However, the new announcement from Secretary Tillerson that, [o]ur values around freedom, human dignity, the way people are treated -- those are our values. Those are not our policies seems to be an olive branch to the Russians, extended in advance of the meeting. Perhaps the administration will try at least to cool relations with Moscow.

The reason that the Arctic could be a point of mutual benefit for the United States and Russia is clear. The Kremlin is critically dependent on oil and gas revenues as part of the state budget, a large share of which comes from the export of energy products. Because energy is so critical to the governments income, Russian planners have emphasized the importance of the Arctic as part of Russias overall economic health. Moscow recently unveiled a new facility to highlight this point, part of Russias goals in the region to control Arctic shipping routes and protect the nations oil and gas interests, as well as defending against intrusions by foreign warships and other threats.

The impact of oil and gas prices was shown clearly last year as Russias GDP fell. The economic hit Russia took was in part due to Western sanctions, but it owed more to the steep fall in the price of oil. The choice to drill in the perilous Arctic is partially explained by Russias economic hardships, in addition to the fact that oil and gas fields throughout the country are are depleting and are depleting fast, according to Mika Mered in an article from Politico. The Kremlin realizes that it needs to move beyond the countrys already fairly old oil and gas fields and look for fresh fields to the north.

There is also the American angle to consider. Russia has long looked to the West for help in developing its energy resources. Indeed, the American energy titan ExxonMobil and Russian state energy company Rosneft have worked together on shared long-term strategic goals. The two companies signed deals in 2012 to explore the Black Sea and Kara Sea and in 2013 to further explore the Chukchi and Laptev Seas, in addition to regions in the Far East. This cooperation was put on hold in 2014, due to the Kremlins annexation of Crimea and the U.S. government sanctions that followed.

ExxonMobil has petitioned to be exempted from sanctions on exploring oil and gas resources in Russia, but was recently denied by the Treasury Department. Given the American domestic political climate, and the debate about the extent of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, this setback is no huge surprise. Secretary Tillersons own connections to Exxon, and the potential profits his former company could earn in the case of a relaxation of sanctions on Russia, has also conjured thoughts on the risk of a conflict of interests.

Setting aside the rocky relations between Moscow and Washington, the meeting between Tillerson and Lavrov could facilitate a discussion on how to advance American interests. If Trump is truly invested in making America First, this could start in the Arctic. He has already enacted an executive order aimed at easing the restrictions on drilling in the region that he claims will create thousands and thousands of jobs. In order for the United States to take advantage of energy resources farther north, it also requires infrastructure to transport oil and gas back south in order to be refined in American facilities. Steps have been taken in this direction with the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Besides the potential for spurring job creation in the United States, trying to strike a deal with the Russians in the Arctic could establish some level of trust between the two. Because the Kremlin considers the Arctic so critical to its own security -- and especially since America has relatively few naval assets in the region or icebreakers -- cooperation appears possible. The mere mention of accommodating Moscow in a region where it already has significant advantages would be a win-win and could help solve other conflicts in which Washington and Moscow are involved, whether those be in the scorched lands of Syria or amid the simmering conflict in Ukraine. It is perhaps a stretch to believe a greater understanding can be found while Russia hysteria so pervades Washington, but this could be the one area where a mutually beneficial arrangement can be reached right now.
Secretary of State Rex Tillersons May 3 address to State Department employees is perhaps the most important and comprehensive articulation of the Trump administrations foreign policy approach since candidate Donald Trumps April 2016 foreign policy address (to a group invited by The National Interest). For the first time, a senior administration official has outlined a foreign policy concept that delivers on the vision that President Trump promised during the campaign. Secretary Tillerson appeared confident, articulate and thoughtful in explaining what America first means for U.S. foreign policy, in assessing key regional priorities, and in connecting both to the State Department and its mission. If he and the administration can succeed in executing policies on this basis, the Trump administration will successfully reorient U.S. foreign policy to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Tillersons remarks are a serious and encouraging start to the process and he and the aides behind it, perhaps including States policy planning chief Brian Hook (one of few senior political appointees in the building), deserve praise for their efforts.

Secretary Tillerson began by explaining that he and President Trump see Americas partnerships and alliances as having become a little bit out of balance during the post-Cold War era. This phrasing and Tillersons subsequent explanation in his remarks made clear that he was referring to Americas dealings with its trading partnersespecially emerging economiesand not only what he described as the notional obligations of Americas NATO allies to increase their defense spending. He further stressed that restoring balance in these relationships would require engagement with others and thus clarified that it would not be a form of isolation or retreat as some fear.

A second major focus in his remarks, which has since received considerable attention, was Secretary Tillersons effort to answer the question how do we represent our values? He started with the unambiguous statement that guiding all of our foreign policy actions are our fundamental values which never change and are on our shoulder wherever we go. At the same time, however, Tillerson acknowledged the reality that if you condition our national security efforts on someone adopting our values, we probably cant achieve our national security goals or our national security interests. He was then more specific, adding that in some circumstances, we should and do condition our policy engagements on people adopting certain actions as to how they treat people. They should. We should demand that. But, he continued, that doesnt mean thats the case in every situation. And so we really have to understand, in each country of each region of the world that were dealing with, what are our national security interests, what are our economic prosperity interests, and then as we can advocate and advance our values.

This is a practical and realistic approach to one of the most difficult problems in U.S. foreign policy, reconciling our interests and our values. It states explicit that Americas fundamental values should guide U.S. policy while making clear that Washington cannot condition U.S. national security upon others adoption of American standards and practices in governance and human rights on a timeline sufficiently rapid to satisfy U.S. political cycles. As Tillerson explained, I hear that from government leaders all over the world: You just cant demand that of us, we cant move that quickly, we cant adapt that quickly. In some cases, this retort may reflect genuine intent to change behavior in the face of economic, social or political obstacles. In others, of course, it is almost surely a deflection. Yet America cannot afford that either should prevent U.S. officials from working with foreign governments to protect vital national interests. And no small number of the governments from which we most need cooperation are precisely those that fall far short in reflecting American values.

Still, there are predictable critics of this approach, especially among those who have opposed President Trump from the outset and who reject any scrutiny of the costs and consequences of their preferred interventionist course. Thus neo-conservative professor Eliot Cohen, an organizer of anti-Trump open letters, rather disingenuously seeks to take Tillersons calibrated approach to its extreme, arguing that since there are always some kind of security and economic interests in play, America cannot stand for much in the world beyond a kind of national selfishness, less intense perhaps but essentially no different than that of China or Russia. This is preposterous and directly contradicts both Tillersons clear statement about the guiding role of American values in U.S. policy as well as his more nuanced and logically unimpeachable acknowledgement that Washington will be in a better position to insist upon American values in some circumstances than in others.

Bizarrely, Cohen also tries to marshal the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address, and the Bill of Rights as arguments against Tillersons approach. This is intellectually dishonest. The first sentence of the Constitution states: We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. This statementthe preamble to the Constitutionexplicitly puts America first. It describes the purpose of the Constitution, and of the U.S. government, as serving ourselves and our posterity. That means American citizens, not the citizens of foreign countries.

In citing the Declaration of Independence, Cohen perhaps has in mind its historic and inspirational insistence that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But there are two other self-evident truths. One is that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governedan obvious failing in many authoritarian regimes. The other is that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. This is an assertion of the right to self-determination among the wronged, not a call for a global effort to apply Americas emerging principles. Indeed, one of George Washingtons most consequential foreign policy decisions was to avoid intervening in the French Revolution to support efforts to overthrow the autocrat King Louis XVI and establish a democracy.

Cohen is equally off-target in trying to use former Secretary of State Dean Acheson against his modern-day successor. In his book Present at the Creation, Acheson took pride in a policy that placed the strategic approach to practicable objectives, concretely and realistically conceived, ahead of generalizations, even those wearing the garb of idealism. NSC-68, a founding document of Americas Cold War strategy that Acheson had an important role in formulating as Secretary of State, is even more specific in asserting that in relations between nations, the prime reliance of the free society is on the strength and appeal of its idea, and it feels no compulsion sooner or later to bring all societies into conformity with it. Dean Acheson was no crusader and, like most of the founders almost two hundred years before him, prioritized Americas value as an example, not an enforcer, of moral principles of government. Ensuring that the United States provides a powerful example for others is among the Presidents important responsibilities.

There are, in fact, sound reasons for the careful balance between interests and values that Secretary Tillerson describes. First, Tillerson is right that America cannot always afford to stake its security on the degree to which others are prepared to accommodate our values. Sometimes, our security needs may be too great. In other cases, the values Washington advocates internationally may be politically contested within the United States and therefore subject to whipsaw reversals when conservatives or progressives assume power. Sacrificing U.S. security interests to advance a value that could take a generation or more to instill when the next administration or Congress will likely abandon it in an early executive order, law, or administrative directive makes little sense.

Second, as many have argued, because Washington cant apply its principles universally, it inherently applies them selectively. Foreign leaders, American and foreign journalists, and others ask U.S. officials to justify the differences between cases. If officials admit that America applies its principles selectively after asserting their universality, they admit to hypocrisy. The alternative is to obscure or defend indefensible conduct, which tacitly but openly acknowledges hypocrisy at a greater moral cost. Secretary Tillersons position avoids this problem by stipulating from the beginning that the U.S. government will be selective in pressing others to adopt American values.

Third, and perhaps most important, Americans are far more likely to forgive their leaders for their perceived lapses in promoting values than their perceived failures to protect national interests. Polling by organizations like the Chicago Council on Global Affairs regularly demonstrates that Americans give greater priority to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and jobs in U.S. foreign policy than they assign to democracy or human rights. This doesnt mean that Americans dont think human rights are important or that they dont want their leaders to conduct a moral foreign policy that asserts American values. What it does mean is that when they are forced to choose, they put security and economic objectives first.

More convincingly, voters elected Barack Obama and then Donald Trump as President of the United States rather than John McCain and Hillary Clinton. Obamas 2008 victory owed a great deal to public rejection of George W. Bushs transformation of what were security-based wars in Afghanistan and Iraq into costly nation-building projects to bring democracy to these two deeply fractured nations. Eight years later, this sentiment appeared to endure even among conservative and military-friendly South Carolina Republicans who voted for Trump during the states 2016 presidential primary following what many pundits considered politically fatal criticism of Bush over Iraq. Foreign policy, like other policies in a democratic society, ultimately depends upon the consent of the governed.

Faced with these facts, those determined to equate Americas interests with its values usually argue that a president able to communicate more effectively with the public could solve this problem. This ignores the fact that even one of Americas best political communicatorsBill Clintonfailed at this task in pursuing interventions in Haiti, Somalia and elsewhere. Recall that candidate George W. Bushs statement that what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations rather than Americans. It similarly dispenses Clintons only recent superior in this skill, the great communicator Ronald Reagan, who took a more candid and humble approach to American values than many recall when he acknowledged that our nation, too, has a legacy of evil with which it must deal several paragraphs before famously describing the Soviet Union as an evil empire. And notwithstanding this 1983 characterization, Reagan was ready to negotiate with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev only two years later, long before most Americans and especially most conservatives were prepared to do so.

Secretary Tillersons remarks were refreshingly honest and direct. They establish the basis for a policy that can both protect and advance U.S. national interests as well as assert American values in practice rather than through inconsistently executed rhetoric. That he wisely outlined his views to a State Department audience rather than a Washington think tank or in another venue highlights both Tillersons good judgment in winning over the building before the blob and his adroitness in establishing his foreign policy role without attempting to compete with or overshadow the president. Hereand in his repeated result-oriented references to ensuring that the State Department will deliver on missionSecretary Tillersons background as a corporate leader may be most visible. Rather than immediately seeking public attention, for which he took some heat from the media, he has used his initial months in office to familiarize himself with the State Department and to learn his job. He seems readily to grasp that to succeed in performing for his shareholders, the American people, he cannot do without the support of his superior or his subordinates. And he appears to recognize that good intentions and pious pronouncements are no substitute for satisfactory outcomesa stark contrast to his two political predecessors.
Emmanuel Macron's decisive victory - 65% to 35% - over Marine Le Pen has calmed fears of a Eurozone crisis and boosted the hopes of centrists and business in Europe that the momentum for populist parties has stalled, at least for now. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman was quick to describe Macron's win as a 'victory for a strong, united Europe'. With Theresa May's victory in the UK election in June now seemingly assured, attention will soon turn to Germany - where Merkel's Christian Democrats will face a serious challenge from the Social Democrats in late September - and to Italy where the populist Five Star Movement is currently leading the polls ahead of elections due between October and February 2018.

One of Macron's first visitors to the Elysee Palace after his inauguration parade in mid May is likely to be former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Their high-profile meeting will be designed to seal a winning image of young, dynamic moderate leaders of a rejuvenated Europe rather than one that is falling apart. They will be critical of the Brussels bureaucracy and ECB constraints but will fight for both EU reform and its survival.

Echoing both Tony Blair and Justin Trudeau, these two self styled 'Radical Centrists' will try to forge a way forward to outflank populists to their left and right. This will not be easy and their rhetoric must be matched by policies capable of producing real results, particularly for both countries' flagging economies.

For the first time in France neither major party, the Republicans or the Socialists, won enough votes to be listed on the second-round Presidential ballot paper, such is the disenchantment with the political establishment. However, Macron and his 'En Marche!' movement do not yet have any members in the 577 seat National Assembly and have no experienced party machinery embedded nationwide. This could pose real problems for the new President in June's parliamentary elections and in the choosing of his Prime Minister. The inevitable, and necessary horse trading that is likely to follow could well take the shine off Macron's and the Centrists' momentum and reinforce fears of 'politics as usual' to a cynical electorate.

Meanwhile in Italy, Renzi has just been re-elected leader of Partito Democratico (PD), the centre left party that is the dominant grouping in Italy's coalition government. Renzi resigned as Prime Minister last December following the defeat of his referendum on constitutional reform. At the time, he vowed to leave elected politics forever although few commentators or colleagues believed his pledge would stick. It certainly didn't last long. In February Renzi resigned as PD Party Secretary but immediately announced he would seek re-election and a new mandate as party leader and, if successful, would again be a candidate for the Prime Ministership.

In the PD primaries Renzi was overwhelmingly re-elected. It was a significant victory for several reasons:

The size of the victory. Renzi won with 70% of the vote while Justice Minister Andrea Orlando came second with 19.5% and the President of Puglia, Michele Emiliano, received 10.5% of the vote.



The turnout. Even if lower than in 2013, the turnout helps legitimise Renzi's return. During the previous primaries 2.8 million people voted with Renzi receiving nearly 1.9 million votes. This time 1.8 million people voted (with nearly 1.3 million choosing Renzi). The turnout was much higher than predicted by pollsters and commentators or expected by party colleagues.



The strength of the vote tightens Renzi's control of the party machine, including over candidate selection.

The geography of the party vote demonstrated Renzis strength in the Centre but also in the South and in the northern region of Veneto, areas of Italy which voted massively against the referendum last December. While the PD vote assures Renzis comeback into national politics leading up to the elections, he remains a polarising rather than uniting figure with the broader electorate. He damaged his chances of securing a majority in last year's referendum by promising to quit if it failed. The referendum quickly became a vote of confidence on him, a gift for populists on the right and left. Now Renzi has assured party loyalists that after his primary win, PD will return to first place in the polls by the end of May, replacing the surging Five Star Movement which has been narrowly leadingin opinion polls for some month, with an agenda that terrifies business.

So what is likely to happen during the next few months?

Last year Italian politics was dominated by the referendum campaign. Since then Renzi's comeback bid has consumed PD and media commentary. Soon the build up to the election will take over, once again side-lining much needed reforms. However, in the immediate future, the main topic of contention will be proposed changes to Italy's complex electoral laws which will require prolonged and no doubt bitter negotiations with other parties.

Just before the primaries, on 26 April, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, summoned Piero Grasso (President of the Senate) and Laura Boldrini (President of the Chamber of Deputies) to reinforce the need for a new electoral law, given the imbalance between the current law governing elections to the Chamber of Deputies and the corresponding law for the Senate. Mattarella is not expected to give a green light to elections before this imbalance is resolved.

Despite this, Renzi will continue to push for the earliest possible election, which will be resisted by not only the President but also by many of the Ministers in the government he previously led. This will weaken and destabilise the government now led by his mentor Paolo Gentiloni. Gentiloni will remain as PM until the election while Renzi barnstorms the country as party leader. Southern Italy will become a campaign and policy focus given that it is where Five Star is currently attracting 40% of the vote.

Internationally, there will be complications for the government given that Renzi is keen to regain a high profile in international as well as domestic politics. Renzi and Gentiloni are, however, likely to coordinate their foreign policy positions, except in statements about the EU where Renzi will take a harder and more critical line. Domestically every crisis, such as the current financial black hole faced by Alitalia, will be used by Renzi to push for elections.

To compete with the Five Star movement, Renzi will at times attack the government his own party leads to distance himself from unpopular decisions and from coalition partners, including leftists who recently quit PD faced with the prospect of Renzi's return. In doing so he will have to perform a difficult balancing act; acting like a populist opposition leader one day and a prime minister the next. For instance, he is likely to challenge the government with alternative proposals on fiscal policy and on other economic issues. By doing so PD insiders say he will hope to cause a parliamentary rupture in order to trigger an election. His preference will be to engineer an incident caused by the left or by centre right groupings in the coalition. Renzi will want others, not PD, to be blamed for the coalition break up.

Ironically Forza Italia's Silvio Berlusconi, now 80 years old and sidelined by serious health and protracted legal problems, could also be heading for a comeback. The European Court of Human Rights last week announced it will examine Berlusconis case. A decision is expected during the summer. A positive ruling by the ECHR would enable Berlusconi to seek re-election for public office, and this could accelerate the center-rights support for snap elections in October 2017. However, this support also depends on an agreement between Berlusconi and the Northern League on who will lead the combined centre right opposition parties into the election.

Five Star likely to win election but not government

Despite Renzis comeback, the Five Star Movement remains the favorite to come first in national elections. Summer is coming and in Italy that means migration will again become a key issue: 181,000 migrants arrived in Italy in 2016, and more are expected this year. Carmelo Zuccaro, a judge in Catania, has made several statements likely to inflame the debate. According to Zuccaro, there is proof of direct contacts between African people smugglers and drug traffickers and some NGOs patrolling the Mediterranean. Zuccaro believes that in 2017 more than 250,000 migrants will come to Italy, most crossing the Mediterranean during the summer. While his claims, already much disputed, will be scrutinised further during coming months, they have generated heated debate among Italian politicians with the controversy likely to favour the populist Five Star Movement and the hard line Northern League. Within PD, the Minister of Internal Affairs Marco Minniti tops confidence ratings among Ministers for his tough, law-and-order approach to security issues. His profile is likely to rise further during the summer in an attempt to quell a Five Star surge.

There are other leadership rumblings. The young Mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino is the rising star of the Five Star Movement. According to Italian journalists, Davide Casaleggio (the owner of Beppe Grillos web platform, and de facto party co-chairman with the comedian) favors Appendino as the national leader of the party over the lacklustre Luigi di Maio. If Appendino is elevated to the national leadership, the Five Star's electoral appeal will no doubt be strengthened.

Most pundits, however, do not predict that a Five Star government will be sworn in after the next election even if the party wins more votes than PD. Most predict another grand coalition government. If the election is close, Forza Italia could well be part of the new mix which means Silvio Berlusconi could play an important role in the formation of the next government, even if his own party polls poorly. If that happens it is no means certain that Matteo Renzi's dominance of PD will mean he will resume the Prime Ministership. There's even a chance, in the event of an impasse, that a continuation of the consensus style of Gentiloni could be preferred.
Harry J. Kazianis (@grecianformula) is director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest. Kazianis also presently serves as Executive Editor of the National Interest and fellow at both the Potomac Foundation and the Center for China Policy at the University of Nottingham (UK). He is the author of The Tao of A2/AD: Chinas Rationale for the Creation of Anti-Access. This piece is part of a special RCW series on the U.S.-China geopolitical relationship. The views expressed here are the authors own.

A few years ago, while attending a track 2.0 dialogue on U.S.-China relations, I listened as a Chinese scholar made an observation that has always stuck with me. When it comes to North Korea, the scholar explained: We [China] dont like the status-quo, a North Korea that wants the most powerful weapons on the planet -- nuclear weapons -- who points them at our top trading partners in Asia and eventually America. But it could get much worse, as crazy as that sounds.

People in the room were aghast. They relentlessly challenged the Chinese expert, who was also a retired official of the Peoples Liberation Army, on what he meant. Scholars from around the globe pressed him for details. How could he say in good conscience that there could be anything worse than a North Korea armed with nuclear weapons?

Waiver he did not. He pressed his case, noting, look at this problem from where I sit in Beijing. I see a world of trouble when it comes to North Korea. I see war. I see death. I see superpower showdowns. We must all agree we dont want this. Yes, nuclear weapons are bad, but North Korea could create far more trouble than you realize, and China would have to deal with most of it.

My colleague from Beijing was correct. While we hate the status quo on the Korean Peninsula, there are far worse outcomes, especially if the Trump administration pressures China to solve the North Korea issue and destabilize the regime in Pyongyang.

To demonstrate what we could be in for, lets gaze for moment into our crystal ball. Suppose, for example, that China did begin to apply major pressure to what is often called the Hermit Kingdom. Beijing could cut by 25 percent all North Korean oil exports to get the North Koreans to abandon or at least negotiate over their nuclear and missile programs. North Korea might be able to survive the reduction for a time, but not forever. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may eventually grow desperate as gas shortages begin to pop up all over the country, threatening the stability of his regime. Kim then decides that he must show he is still in control, and that his military might has not been affected. So he decides to not only test another nuclear weapon, the sixth such test of his atomic resolve, but at the same time he test-launches his very first inter-continental ballistic missile into the skies above the mid-Pacific Ocean. Kim chooses to be a little daring -- he selects a flight path that would see the missile crash 250 miles north of Hawaii into the ocean. But American missile defenses in Alaska are ready, easily shooting the missile out of the sky. How then might Kim respond?

Here is another scenario in which China does its best to solve the Korea crisis, only to see it backfire. Beijing decides to not only cut back fuel exports by 25 percent, but also slow food exports to Pyongyang for two weeks in what would amount to a temporary 20 percent slashing of North Koreas food supply. Already short on food -- 40 percent of North Koreas population is undernourished and depends on food rations -- chaos breaks out in six different major cities, with more than 400 people killed in food riots. In an army base near the Chinese border, a group of 700 rioting North Koreans storm the food pantries, killing 60 soldiers in the process and taking some of their weapons. Choppy cell phone video leaks out of the North, with the rioters screaming, we wont starve anymore, a reference to mass famine in the 1990s that claimed the lives of possibly 2.5 million North Koreans.

From here, things get worse. Kim sends in his army to put down the riots. They are ordered to use all means necessary, including VX gas, to end the chaos. But Kims generals are nervous to give the deployment orders -- seeing an opportunity to end this regime once and for all and attempt market-style reforms like their allies in Beijing. Instead, in the middle of the night, hours before troops are to leave their barracks and attack the rioters, Kims top generals attempt a coup. They send 200 special operations soldiers into a bunker Kim is staying in for protection against America if it were to attack. The mission, at least it appears at the time, is a success, with reports that Kim Jong Un is dead. However, Kim outsmarted his generals, and through electronic bugs and intercepts he knew they were coming -- they kill a decoy instead. Kim, now safe in a remote location, appears on state TV and names the so-called traitors and orders them executed. But the military is evenly split between those who are loyal to Kim, and those who are loyal to the mutinous generals. A civil war seems imminent, with both sides armed with weapons of mass destruction that could see the death of millions and drag in not only South Korea, but also China, the United States, and potentially Japan.

Now, a little disclaimer: The above scenarios I have heard outlined on several occasions from academics and retired military officials in China over the years. And while they may seem too far-fetched, they only scratch the surface of what could happen if the North Korean regime were accidently pushed over the abyss. It doesnt take a Tom Clancy novel to understand why many past U.S. administrations have not poked Kim too hard: North Korea might just be the ultimate Pandoras box. Open the lid too far, and you just never know what will come out.
Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada.

Search Real Estate
,



We're sorry, this article is not currently available
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/09/2017



ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

Abby Lee Miller has learned she's going to spend some time behind bars for bankruptcy fraud following a year and a half of court proceedings.The star was sentenced on Tuesday to 366 days in federal prison followed by two years supervised release, People reported.In addition, the 50-year-old dance instructor has reportedly been fined $40,000 and must pay $120,000 judgement as well as provide a DNA sample in connection with her felony charge.Multiple sources told the magazine, however, that Miller will realistically and likely serve only 10 months in prison and spend some time in a halfway house afterwards.Miller was indicted in 2015 on 20 counts of bankruptcy fraud, false bankruptcy declarations and concealment of bankruptcy assets once the FBI, IRS, and postal inspectors conducted an investigation.She pleaded guilty in June 2016, only days after reportedly making a plea deal with federal prosecutors because she originally faced up to five years in prison on the initial charges in the $5 million fraud case.Miller allegedly hid more than $755,000 in secret bank accounts between 2012 to 2013, when she was getting paid for multiple projects, including starring on Lifetime's and its spinoff Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.Miller was also accused of dividing $120,000 Australian into separate plastic bags so friends could carry her money in their luggage when traveling into the United States in August 2014, People reported. The law mandates travelers must report foreign currency if more than $10,000 is being brought into America.In January 2017, Miller reportedly agreed to forfeit the $120,000 Australian."Throughout this case, Ms. Miller has taken both the allegations and the proceedings very seriously," Miller's attorney Robert Ridge previously told People in a statement. "This has been a challenging time for Ms. Miller. She appreciates the words of encouragement and support from around the world."Miller filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and admitted at the time she had $400,000 worth of unpaid taxes. The reality TV star's attorney confirmed her dance studio in Penn Hills, PA, was actually "scheduled for sale for unpaid taxes."The star -- who recently quit the series and was replaced by longtime Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke -- went about business per usual in the last several months despite her financial issues and court proceedings. She had reportedly traveled to London and Newcastle in England in February and even underwent a risky weight-loss surgery last month.Just last month, Miller opened up to People about her bankruptcy case."I made mistakes. I trusted people. But ultimately I have to take responsibility for those mistakes. I have to take the blame. I have to take the punishment," she said, adding that she was scared about the idea of going to prison."I'm afraid of being physically abused or raped. I have to stay busy. If I thought about it every day, I'd just sit around and cry."
The government feels the industry needs some government oversight and cant be left unregulated. A panel of bureaucrats will soon submit their recommendations on the subject, said an official.

The Union finance ministry is in the process of preparing norms for crypto-currencies or virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin.



The move has been impelled by the latters rising market size and investor base, apart from reports of related fraud.

Ministry officials said comments would be invited from the public on the proposed rules.

The government feels the industry needs some government oversight and cant be left unregulated. A panel of bureaucrats will soon submit their recommendations on the subject, said an official.

The panel is unlikely to recommend a ban on digital currencies.

The global market capitalisation for virtual currencies is about $40 billion. Bitcoin trades at around $1,600 and is volatile. Another such currency, the Etherium, reached $100 a unit from $4 only 10 months before. The price of Litcoin is also rising.

In India, Bitcoin is traded around Rs 1 lakh a unit.

Sandeep Goenka, operations head and co-founder of Indian Bitcoin exchange company Zebpay, said: Regulation will have a huge positive impact on this industry. We have recently seen that as soon as Japan legalised Bitcoin, it became the number-one country in the industry.

However, Indian exchanges are already self-regulated. Nishith Desai (a leading lawyer) is helping the industry foundation, Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of India (Dabfi), to get started. Once that is complete, Dabfi will keep reviewing self-regulation processes of its members.

The segment says it is fine if the regulations are finalised after hearing them.

Zebpay is planning to support more digital assets in the near future. The prices of all these assets, including Bitcoin, are rising and touching new highs every few months, it appears.

The issue of regulating virtual currencies like Bitcoin and others is gaining seriousness as some frauds have come to light in recent past in India also.



Last week, information technology giant Wipro got an anonymous e-mail demanding Rs 500 crore worth of currency in Bitcoin by May 25, failing which its employees could be attacked.

And, two weeks ago, the police in Mumbai arrested 18 individuals associated with OneCoin, a fraudulent scheme which began eight months earlier and had collected nearly $90,000 from 72 investors, promising huge return from Bitcoin. All this underlines the need for formal recognition and regulation.

About a million investors are trading in Bitcoin India, mainly through five-odd exchanges.

Indian Bitcoin prices are trading at premiums of five to 40 per cent compared to those abroad.

Soon after demonitesation was announced, many Indians rushed to buy these and reportedly paid up to 40 per cent in premiums. Premiums are marginal now.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held businessman Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order.

The apex court directed Mallya, who is currently in the United Kingdom, to appear before it on July 10 to argue on the quantum of punishment in the matter.

India had recently asked Britain to ensure the early extradition of Mallya, who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

"We have found respondent number 3 (Mallya) guilty of contempt of court on two grounds," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit said.

The order came on a plea by consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), which had said that Mallya had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo, to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.

The apex court had on March 9 asked the liquor baron about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

The bench had reserved its order on two pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo respectively.

The banks have alleged that Mallya concealed the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in "flagrant violation" of the orders passed by the Karnataka high court.

The bench had also posed several queries to consortium of banks and asked it whether any criminal proceedings have been initiated against Mallya.

The court had asked Mallya as to why he did not disclose the receipt of USD 40 million from London-based company Diageo Plc and subsequent transfer of money to trusts to which his three children were the beneficiaries.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the banks, had contended that unless Mallya deposits USD 40 million before this court, he does not deserve to be heard and, moreover, he needed to appear personally as the contempt notice has already been issued.

The AG had also told the court that the government is seeking Mallyas deportation from the UK.

Divan had referred to various orders passed by the Debt Recovery Tribunal, the high court and the Supreme Court and said that the DRT has passed a decree in favour of the banks and the amount to be recovered is approximately Rs 9,200 crores.

There was a specific order of the high court that Mallya will not transfer or alienate any movable and immovable assets to any person, he had said.

The bench had asked as to how the decree of the DRT to recover Rs 9,200 crore would be executed, to which the AG had said, "God knows, how will it get the money back," adding that Mallya has taken this court for "a ride".

The bench had also asked C S Vaidyanathan, Mallya's counsel, about the response on the contempt notice.

The lawyer had said that an application for recall of the order has been filed and according to him, no contempt is made out and hence, the plea itself can be considered as the reply.

Mallya's counsel had said the money which came from Diageo belonged to his children and not him.

The bench had shot back: "Somebody who is faced with a default of Rs 6,200 crore and suppose if he gets Rs 3,000 crore, he should have given it to repay the dues".

Vaidyanathan maintained that the USD 40 million was not covered under the injunction order.

In October last year, the court had rapped Mallya for not making full disclosure of his overseas properties and had asked him to do so within a month.

The bench had also pulled up Mallya for not giving details of USD 40 million which he had allegedly received from Diageo in February last year, saying it was of the "prima facie view" that proper disclosure as per its earlier order was not made.

The banks had on August 29 last year told the Supreme Court that Mallya had deliberately not made full disclosure of his assets including the USD 40 million he received on February 25 from Diageo.
Girls in the Kashmir valley hurling defiance at the security forces will detract from the legitimacy of India's response and its standing in the world, observes Ajai Shukla.

IMAGE: A Kashmiri student throws a stone at security forces in the Kashmir valley. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters

For years now, India has faced almost negligible pressure from the international community to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Most other countries, even China, have largely respected India's position that Kashmir is a bilateral issue with Pakistan. Only New Delhi and Islamabad pay much attention to their annual United Nations General Assembly tit for tat in New York, where Pakistan launches broadsides at India over Kashmir, provoking New Delhi into responding.

But that counts for little, given Pakistan's standing as the epicentre of global jihad and its reputation for using extremist groups as instruments of State policy.

Besides this, there is only occasional back-channel pressure from Washington encouraging New Delhi to de-escalate when confrontation with Pakistan crosses a certain threshold.

Worryingly, this might be changing since last July, when the Kashmiri street erupted in violent protest after the security forces gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist and Kashmiri social media icon Burhan Wani.

In November, United States President-elect Donald Trump, who fancies himself a deal-maker, offered to mediate on Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

While New Delhi brushed that off as naivety from an inexperienced leader, Washington reiterated its unsolicited offer last month when America's envoy to the UN and influential foreign policy mouthpiece, Nikki Haley, announced that President Trump himself might join an India-Pakistan peace process.

This time, New Delhi had to publicly reject the offer.

Now, with New Delhi unable to douse the anger in the Kashmir valley, more unwelcome offers are coming in.

On the eve of his visit to New Delhi, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an Indian television channel that 'multilateral dialogue' was needed to 'settle this question once and for all,' for which he offered Ankara's involvement.

The offer apparently stems from the conviction that India is in trouble in Kashmir.

This trend towards internationalisation of the Kashmir issue is exactly what Pakistan wants, having for decades been trying to bypass the 1972 Shimla Agreement stipulation that India and Pakistan must solve Kashmir bilaterally.

When the Indian Army foiled General Pervez Musharraf's plan to push Pakistani soldiers across the Line of Control near Kargil to capture Indian territory, he tried to justify the debacle by claiming it had successfully internationalised Kashmir.

That cut little ice when all the headlines were about Indian success and strategic restraint.

This time, the headlines are lambasting India: The Washington Post: 'Teen girls with stones are the new threat in India's Kashmir conflict'; The New York Times: 'Cruelty and cowardice in Kashmir'; Los Angeles Times: 'India swiftly rejects UN request for a visit to the disputed territory of Kashmir'.

While these are the views of a liberal news media, they influence the agenda for American lawmakers in Congress.

REDIFF RECOMMENDS:

Last August, soon after Kashmir went up in flames, a provocative opinion piece in the Hindustan Times, co-authored by Ashok Malik and Samir Saran, argued that international opinion on Kashmir would inevitably side with India since 'international appetite for experiments with self-determination is at its lowest since World War I' and 'the desire of the global community for a quasi-independent or unshackled Kashmir... is near zero'.

Arguing that the Kashmiri aspiration for azaadi (freedom) was Islamist rather than nationalist, the article outrageously stated: 'Cruel as this sounds, images of stone-pelting protesters being tear-gassed and shot today evoke less horror in the rest of India and the planet than do visuals of masked young men, dressed in black, carrying AK-47s and promoting a mix of religion and armed rebellion. In a post-9/11, post-Islamic State world, the proposition that Islamists are fighting for freedom is neither sellable nor credible.'

Rising international concern over Kashmir has discredited this argument, which boils down to: We can keep killing and maiming Kashmiris, since Islamophobia will temper any criticism. While even crusading non-governmental organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International might cut India some slack in security forces operations against armed jihadi groups such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen, the killing and maiming of civilian protesters will evoke only horror and outrage.

When a staunch Western ally such as Israel draws savage criticism for using disproportionate force against Palestinian civilians -- even the stone-pelters of the two intifadas -- why would New Delhi expect to be judged by a lesser standard?

IMAGE: The images of young girls taking to stones rather than their books is disturbing and a problem for India on the international level. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com

Yet, the pivotal question should not be whether India could plausibly justify using violent, even lethal, force against rampaging civilian mobs.

Instead, the question should be whether India -- as a humane, liberal democracy that goes by the rule of law -- wants to do so.

This confrontation is avoidable. As numerous commentators such as former Kashmir interlocutor Radha Kumar; experienced Bharatiya Janata Party elder Yashwant Sinha and the previous army commander in Jammu-Kashmir Lieutenant General D S Hooda, have pointed out, the Kashmiri street can be quietened by initiating a dialogue process with multiple stakeholders in the valley, including the separatists.

This would end the bloodletting, at least for now.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political instincts are to make no concessions, instead tossing Kashmir a trite choice between tourism and terrorism, and directing Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to tell the Supreme Court that the government will not talk to separatists.

This invites continuing bloodshed, weakening our international position further.

Ironically, while Kashmir goes ignored, last month saw Mr Modi's confidant steel tycoon Sajjan Jindal travelling to Pakistan for a hastily arranged meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Speculation centres on the resumption of dialogue, which could be the reason why the Pakistan army killed two Indian soldiers and mutilated their bodies.

New Delhi has remained silent on Jindal's visit, but it would be infinitely preferable to sequence talks with Kashmiri groups before initiating dialogue with Pakistan.

After pacifying the valley to some extent, New Delhi would not have to talk to Islamabad from a position of weakness.

Human rights bodies have a record of criticising Indian security forces (sometimes undeservedly) for heavy-handedness in Kashmir, and for the continuing imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

However, recent images from Kashmir, like disturbing footage of young girls in school and college uniforms hurling defiance at armed Indian security men, will inevitably detract from the legitimacy of India's response and our standing in the international community.

MORE KASHMIR-RELATED FEATURES IN THE RELATED LINKS BELOW...
'We are not trying to disturb the peace in Kashmir. On the contrary, we want to restore peace in Kashmir.'

IMAGE: A student throws a stone at a policemen during a protest in Srinagar. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters

In a mission to support security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, a squad called the Jan Sena began its journey to the Kashmir valley on May 7, to respond to the stone-pelting locals by giving them a dose of their own medicine -- pelting stones back at them.

The group, which includes Muslims and sadhus, is part of a voluntary organisation set up by Kanpur-based Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanya Maharaj.

Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanya Maharaj tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf why the Jan Sena decided to involve itself in Kashmir.

Why are you organising this movement against Kashmiri stone-pelters?

This move has come about after we saw what happened to our jawans in Jammu-Kashmir post the elections (a couple of CRPF jawans were mocked, pushed around and kicked by Kashmiri protesters).

The Hurriyat and others mislead Kashmiri youngsters. Now they are insulting our army and a nation of 125 crore people.

They want Jammu and Kashmir to secede from India and therefore we have formed this Jan Sena.

When did you form this group?

We formed it a month ago. 15,000 youth have joined our Sena. We want this Sena to go to Kashmir and give a befitting reply to Kashmiri stone-pelters.

As of now, we have only one office in Kanpur, but soon we will expand to other cities across the nation.

How can one join your organisation? Will those who join it be paid?

We are not going to give any money to anybody.

Whoever loves the nation can join us.

Jammu and Kashmir is and will always be a party of India and those who share these feelings must join us.

Sena ke samman mein, Jan Sena maidan mein (To respect the army, the Jan Sena has come to the battlefield).

IMAGE: Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanya Maharaj, who formed the Jan Sena.

What training are you giving people who join your group?

We have made artificial statues of human beings and are training our youth how to throw stones at these statues.

There is a proper training procedure which they have to follow. At present, we are only training our youth how to pelt stones against Kashmiri stone-pelters.

We are giving this training on the ghats of the Ganga. Other kinds of training will follow later.

When does your first batch of youth leave for Kashmir?

On May 7, we took a batch of 1,500 youth from Kanpur to Kashmir.

We performed a havan before leaving.

On April 24, we wrote to the Prime Minister's Office asking for permission to go, but we did not get any reply.

We have taken dal, chana, some wood (for lighting fire) to go to Kashmir.

As we left Kanpur, the police stopped us. They did not allow us to proceed to Kashmir.

We refused to be stopped and reached Kanauj, which is the next district to Kanpur.

PLEASE READ:

Why did the police stop you?

We were told that if we go to Kashmir, the central government's image will be badly affected.

I got a call from Devender Singh Bhole, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Akbarpur member of Parliament. He requested me to postpone my visit to Kashmir for a month. He told me he will hold meetings with us soon, so we stopped.

Don't you think you are taking the law into your own hands? The security forces and the police in Kashmir are tackling the stone-pelters.

People told me the same thing -- that I am going to disturb the peace in Kashmir. My point is there is no peace in Kashmir.

Kashmir is our dev bhoomi and the pride of India. We are giving Kashmiris rice at Rs 2 kg and yet they wave the Pakistani flag at us.

Unfortunately, today even girls are taking part in protests.

We are not trying to disturb the peace in Kashmir. On the contrary we want to restore peace in Kashmir.

Don't you think it is better for a sanyasi like you to speak the language of love with Kashmiris rather than the language of violence?

We have tried to reach out to the Kashmiris for long, but no solution has come out till date.

You may recall that recently an all-party delegation had gone to Kashmir to talk to Hurriyat leaders, but they refused to meet and talk to them.

IMAGE: Students have taken to stone-pelting this season. Photograph: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com

So, according to you, your Sena throwing stones at Kashmiri stone-pelters is a solution to the Kashmir issue.

These people do not understand the language of love. We have spoken with love many times, but did not succeed.

You know why? Because these stone-pelters only understand the language of violence.

Why has America never been attacked post 9/11? The answer is because they went to Abbottabad in Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden.

Were you associated with any political party earlier?

I am a Naga sanyasi. I took sanyas at the age of 14, but after seeing the Kashmir situation I realised we should help our soldiers.

We have such a huge army of people in India, but we don't support our troops.

I feel that till we don't resettle the Kashmiri Pandits, the problem of Kashmir won't be solved.

You see how the human rights of the Kashmiri Pandits were violated in Kashmir.

Do you feel you will find a solution to the problems in Kashmir by throwing stones at the stone-pelters?

Yes, I do.

Take jallikattu. The Supreme Court had banned jallikattu, but the Tamil Nadu government brought a notification and passed the jallikattu Act.

So you see, anything is possible owing to public pressure.

If there are thousands of people from India ready to go and throw stones at Kashmiri stone-pelters, then even the Supreme Court will agree to my move.

What about violence?

Violence is the only answer to violence.

I am ready to die and let my body be wrapped in the Indian tricolour.

The Pakistani army is a wretched army. They beheaded our soldiers, which was a very horrible thing to do.

MORE KASHMIR FEATURES IN THE RELATED LINKS BELOW...
Amid an intense debate on whether electronic voting machines were tamper-proof, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday held a "live demonstration" in the Delhi assembly on how the voting machines can be rigged, a claim trashed by the Election Commission, which said a "duplicate" gadget was hacked.

Participating in a discussion on the issue during the day-long special session of the Delhi assembly, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj dramatically claimed a voting machine can be manipulated by simply feeding it with a "secret code".

Using what his party claimed was a "prototype EVM" developed by "a group of IITians", Bhardwaj, himself an engineer, showed how it could be tampered with to favour a particular candidate.

After entering a "secret code", Bhardwaj pressed 10 votes for the AAP but the display panel of the machine showed the votes went to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"We are not making baseless allegations on EVM manipulation. With this demonstration, it has been proved that EVMs can actually be hacked," Bhardwaj claimed.

"EVM manipulation is a very serious issue. It is a danger to the democracy of the country. There is no machine in the world which cannot be hacked," he said.

After a string of electotral reverses, including the recent ones in Goa, Punjab and the latest in Delhi municipal elections, the AAP has been insisting on scrapping EVMs and going back to ballot papers.

The Election Commission, however, rejected the claim of the Aam Aadmi Party that its EVMs can be tampered with, saying the machine hacked in the Delhi assembly was a "look-alike" gadget and not the actual equipment used by it.

"It is common sense that gadgets other than ECI-EVMs can be programmed to perform in a pre-determined way, but it simply cannot be implied that ECI-EVMs will behave in the same manner because they are technically secured and function under an elaborate administrative and security protocol," the commission said in a statement.

The "so-called" demonstration on "extraneous and duplicate gadgets" which are not owned by the EC "cannot be exploited to influence our intelligent citizens and electorate to assail or vilify the EVMs used by the commission in its electoral process," it added.

The BJP called the hack "demonstration" a "drama".

"It was a drama enacted by the AAP to divert attention of the public from the allegations of bribery and forgery in donations received by it," Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said.

Before Bhardwaj's demonstration, Kejriwal tweeted, "Saurabh Bhardwaj will reveal the truth behind a big conspiracy in the country. Satyameva Jayate".

Bhardwaj, who represents Greater Kailash constituency, claimed being an engineer he had extensively worked in that area and was aware of how the machines can be fiddled with.

The AAP's attempt to whip up the EVM issue in the state Assembly where it has 66 of the 70 seats, comes at a time when the party is in the eye of a political firestorm over its sacked minister Kapil Mishra's allegations of corruption against Kejriwal and minister Satyendar Jain.

Mishra, who was suspended from AAP's primary membership on Monday, mocked the exercise, saying the party should stop living in "denial" mode and accept the fact that people do not vote for Kejriwal anymore.

Kejriwal has repeatedly claimed that the AAP's poll debacles have something to do with tampering of EVMs.
In a diplomatic embarrassment, China has removed the remarks of its envoy in India offering to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor from the transcript of his speech posted on the Chinese embassy website.

Chinese ambassador to New Delhi Luo Zhaohui's remarks that "Even we can think about renaming the CPEC" has been removed from his speech copy posted on the Chinese embassy website.

Seeking to allay India's concerns, ambassador Luo had offered to rename the CPEC which passes through Pakistan- occupied Kashmir, insisting it was an economic cooperation and connectivity enhancement project devoid of "sovereignty issues".

He also pushed for New Delhi's participation in the 'One Belt One Road' project.

Referring to the CPEC, which is part of OBOR, he said China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan and that the project is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity in the region.

"It has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. Even we can think about renaming the CPEC. China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes from bilateral relations before," he had said in closed-door address to a think-tank last Friday.

Meanwhile in Beijing, Chinas Foreign Ministry parried questions over the Chinese embassy removing the much-publicised offer of renaming the CPEC from Luo's speech.

"You just mentioned a statement of Ambassador Luo Zhaohui while attending an activity in India," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media in Beijing replying to a volley of questions on why the key line expressing Chinas willingness to rename the USD 50 billion CPEC was dropped.

"According to my understanding, the Chinese embassy in India released information about the Ambassadors attendance and relevant activities. If you are interested I suggest you use the internet for more information," Geng said.

Asked whether Pakistan has sought clarification from China over the renaming of CPEC as per the reports from Islamabad, Geng said, "I am not aware of that. As for the ambassador's participation and his speech, the embassy has released relevant information on the website."

To another question whether the ambassador was speaking for the Chinese government when he said China was open to renaming the CPEC, Geng said, You have been asking questions about renaming the corridor. I suggest that information about relevant actives of the ambassador and his speech, the Chinese embassy has put relevant information on the its website. You can check the the website. I have nothing more to offer."

Geng reiterated that the CPEC will not have any impact on China's stand on the Kashmir issue.

"With regard to the CPEC, we have been stressing that it is an economic corridor. Chinas promotion of the programme does not mean we have changed our position on the relevant (Kashmir) issue," he said.

"These are two different things. We have been pointing out that the issue of Kashmir is left over from the history between India and Pakistan and the two sides would properly address it through dialogue and consultation," he said.

The envoy had also proposed a four-point initiative to improve ties between India and China which includes aligning its 'OBOR' project with India's 'Act East Policy', and restarting negotiations on a free trade pact.

Asked about Luos other proposals, Geng said, As per his proposals what I can say is China and India are two major developing countries in the world. Enhancement of bilateral relationship and expansion of cooperation between the two countries serve the best interests of the people of the two countries.

"It is also conducive to peace and stability of the region and the world at large. China's willingness to improve relationship with India is very clear and remains unchanged."

The Chinese envoy's offer to rename the CPEC has reportedly caused consternation in Pakistan with Ministry of Planning and Development writing to Chinese embassy in Islamabad, seeking clarification over Luo's remarks.

Chinese officials in their 'off the record' conversation expressed scepticism over Beijing renaming the CPEC which is a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's multibillion silk road initiative called Belt and Road that too ahead of the BR summit to be held later this week, China was keen about India's participation in the project.

The summit will be held on May 14-15 in Beijing. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and 27 other heads of state and government will attend the summit.

India, which is an invitee, is yet to name its delegation.

Geng said "as far as India's participation is concerned, some Indian scholars have registered to attend the high-level meeting during the forum.

"As the host country, China will warmly welcome all the participants including the scholars from India", Geng said.

To another question about the CPEC's progress, Geng said the building of the corridor is progressing very smoothly and has entered into a comprehensive stage of implementation.

We have planned 17 priority programmes in the field of energy. Eleven were already put into construction. A Majority of the programmes will be finished by the end of 2019. Energy shortage in Pakistan will be greatly relieved and the projects will deliver benefits for the people of Pakistan," Geng said.

Asked about Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawats remarks that India should have good relations with Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan to counter close relations between China and Pakistan, Geng said, We welcome bilateral cooperation between India and other relevant countries. We hope this kind of cooperation would be conducive to enhance mutual trust among countries in the region as well as regional peace and stability."
The party is looking at Amit Shahs visit to Tamil Nadu and the PMs to Sri Lanka to boost its expansions efforts in the state for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reports Archis Mohan.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is banking on a two-pronged attack, using its chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to gain a political foothold in Tamil Nadu.

BJP chief Amit Shah will be in Tamil Nadu later this month, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sri Lanka later this week. The move could be more than a mere coincidence, as the BJP is looking at the twin visits to boost its expansion efforts in Tamil Nadu in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The party has traditionally been weak in the state.

Party strategists say there is an opportunity to fill the political vacuum that has arisen in the state after the death of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader J Jayalalithaa and the retirement from politics of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.

The BJPs assessment is that Karunanidhis son, M K Stalin has struggled to fill the shoes of his father, while the AIADMK has been largely rudderless after Jayalalithaas death. In contrast, the PM has immense credibility in the state, a strategist said.

Shahs visit to Tamil Nadu is part of his tour across India to galvanise cadres and strengthen the party organisation. Tamil Nadu is a state where the BJP hopes to make inroads by the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. Other states on this list are West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha and some north-eastern ones. The BJPs in-charge for Tamil Nadu is its national general secretary Muralidhar Rao.

The PM will be in Colombo from Thursday to attend the International Day of Vesak celebrations. It is the biggest Buddhist festival. It commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha.

In Sri Lanka, the PM is scheduled to address a gathering of Tamils and hold discussions with leaders of Tamil political parties.

During the visit of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to India in the last week of April, Modi had expressed hope that Colombo would stick to the time frame it had set for reconciliation with Tamil minorities and address their concerns. Sri Lankas Tamil issue has always struck a chord in Tamil Nadu.

Beyond the leadership crisis in Tamil politics playing to its advantage, the BJP is also hopeful that AIADMK leaders and cadres would join the party, which it needs to grow in the state.

What could play to the BJPs advantage is that several state politicians are not just facing corruption charges but are also indiscreet, a BJP source said. The BJP chief will largely spend time in Chennai and Coimbatore.

As for the antipathy in Tamil Nadu towards a north Indian party like BJP, party strategists are of the view that the state has changed in the last couple of decades. With success in business and improved social indicators, the Tamil society is no longer insecure about spread of Hindi or the influence of North India. These are non-issues and Stalin is playing a politics that is well past its sell-by date, a BJP strategist said about Stalins recent efforts to revive the memories of the anti-Hindi agitations of 1950s and 60s.

The BJPs effort will be to turn the Dravidian movements strength as its Achilles heel. In contrast to the atheism that Dravidian parties profess, the BJP agenda will be to revive Tamil glory of the past, particularly to celebrate Tamil cultures Hindu elements. The BJP chiefs tour is about positioning the party. We currently have only one seat in the Assembly. We have little to lose and all to gain, the BJP strategist said.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patels son was stopped by authorities from boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Greece after he arrived in a heavily drunken state and argued with airlines staff, officials said.

Jaimin Patel, his wife Jhalak and their daughter Vaishvi were stopped from boarding the plane, which was scheduled to take off at 4 am on Monday, airport officials said.

According to reports the politicians son was so drunk that when he arrived at the Ahmedabad International Airport, he had to use the wheelchair as he was unable to walk.

Meanwhile, Nitin Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him. My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well.

His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed, Patel added.

Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information, he was quoted as saying.
The storage of water in the six major reservoirs in the state was just 6.2 per cent of capacity as of April 27.

T E Narasimhan and Gireesh Babu report.

IMAGE: People walk on the parched bed of Chembarambakkam Reservoir in Chennai on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Azhagesan, 36, had been under stress for several days because his paddy field, a piece of leased land in a small village in Tiruvarur district, withered owing to the scorching sun, deficient rain, and dried-up water resources. He was found dead in his field, leaving his three children and their mother in the lurch.

Arogyamary, the mother, is one among hundreds of such widows in the Cauvery delta, which consists of 12 districts with around 1.6 million acre (one acre is 43,560 square feet) of agricultural land, and is mostly an agrarian region.

The government has compensated the families of 82 such deceased farmers, including Azhagesan, says a farmers association.

It has sanctioned Rs 3 lakh for their families. However, the number of deaths due to this calamitous situation is around 300, including suicides and those due to heart attacks, the causes of which are failing crops and increasing debt.

This is the first time that both the monsoons have failed in the same year, leaving the farmers traumatised.

Till recently, Thanjavur had no record of suicides by farmers even if there was a drop in the production of one or two crops. But in the past few months, 18 farmers have died, and six of them have committed suicide, claims Sami Natarajan, Thanjavur district secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association.

For many of them, the last Kuruvai (short crop during June-September) and Samba (the crop during October-January) wilted due to monsoon failure and lack of surface water from the Cauvery. Many who raised the crop abandoned cultivation halfway and used it as cattle fodder since they could not find the water to irrigate the fields, says Arogyamary, a farmer-turned-daily wage worker in Thanjavur.

Farmers who used to cultivate rice in Tamil Nadu and other states have to stand in front of ration shops to get one or two kilos for their own consumption, says Thavamani, who is finding it hard to repay debts, including loans taken against gold.

Sethurajan, a small farmer, says that the crop now depends on groundwater, drawn from borewells 500-600 feet deep, and at any time the crop might turn bad if the well dries up or throws out sand, damaging the motor pumps. Digging a well requires at least Rs 1 lakh, and the cost could go above Rs 3 lakh if the depth of the well is 500 feet.

Farmers in the delta region are buying water for irrigation or deploying gensets because the power generated by transformers fails to provide the energy to run the high-powered motors. Many of them have run up huge debts and are not aware what to do, considering that jobs are shrinking and banks are reluctant to give further loans.

The cost of cultivating an acre of paddy is around Rs 30,000. If a farmer gets a good harvest and a good price, it could fetch him or her Rs 60,000 per acre.

IMAGE: A farmer from Tamil Nadu rubs blood on a fellow protestor feet after deliberately cutting himself with a razor blade during a protest demanding a drought-relief package from the central government in New Delhi. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Many in the Thanjavur belt are raising a summer crop using groundwater and this could jeopardise the daily life of the people in the region, says S Ranganathan, secretary of the Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association. Groundwater is the major source of drinking water, while agriculture is expected to rely on surface water.

The additional crop during the summer is a recent trend that started after the region received adequate rain in the past and the water was surplus. However, some farmers are using groundwater for this.

The summer crop is expected to make good the losses on account of the Kuruvai and Samba crops, says Natarajan. The summer crop does not need pesticides or other cares and would give a greater yield, he says.

During the Samba season last year, Karnataka supplied water from September 24 but stopped it by November 20, which affected the crop.

Besides the monsoon, demonetisation and prices also hurt farmers. Demonetisation has affected those who required money to manage their fields in the crucial months of November and December, during the last Samba season, Ranganathan said.

Natarajan says farmers would require at least Rs 2,200 per quintal of rice, while they are getting Rs 1,510 per quintal. The pending amount to be received from various sugar mills is around Rs 600 crore.

Small farmers are the first to be hit by any disaster, considering there is no support for them. Those who turned to daily wages for livelihood also suffered because the MGNREGS failed to offer adequate work throughout the days, a daily wage worker says.

The Cauvery is the key source of water in the delta region, which has many dams, lakes, and other water bodies, including the more than 2,000-year-old Grand Anicut. But most of them have dried up.

The Cauvery basin, in central Tamil Nadu, spans 81,155 square km. Of the states 16,682 villages, 13,305 were drought-affected in January, according to the state government data. The storage of watr in the six major reservoirs in the state was just 6.2 per cent of capacity as of April 27, 2017.

They said hardly 20 per cent of the crop has been grown and that too by people who can afford to invest in borewells. Tamil Nadu is likely produce 600,000 tonnes in the 2017-18 season, down from around 1 million tonnes.

IMAGE: Farmers also shaved half their heads and moustache during the protest. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Farmers are asking the Centre and the state government to waive loans, address the Cauvery dispute, and lend more for digging borewells. They went to Delhi and sat for nearly 40 days in Jantar Mantar with skulls of farmers who committed suicide, ate rats, and consumed urine instead of water but the central government seems to have no time to meet or hear them. Rather, the Bharatiya Janata Party blamed the state government for the crisis and said it was a state subject.

Much to the surprise of the farmers, the state government in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday said that 30 farmers committed suicide because of various causes and family issues while the rest of the farmers died out of cardiac arrest and other illness.

The water quest

With the reservoirs and dams drying up, the state, including Chennai, is facing a huge drinking-water crisis. The storage in the four water reservoirs under the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board was just 836 mcft (million cubic feet) out of the total capacity of 11,057 mcft, as on April 27. The storage level was 5,741 mcft during the same day of 2016.

Cholavaram, a reservoir, with a full capacity of 881 mcft, has no water now.

Tankers carrying water to commercial establishments, schools, colleges, factories, poultry farms, and office establishments have become a regular scene now. A tanker of water available in villages for Rs 300-400 fetches up to Rs 3,000-3,500. Many have got together to dig borewells, which is aggravating the situation.

People are lining up with plastic pots for hours in front of a tap or a tanker truck for drinking water. Sometimes there is no water supply for days on end, resulting in chaos on roads or in front of district administration offices.

On the other side, the water mafia is charging Rs 2,500-3,000 for a tanker, which supplies 4,000-6,000 litres.
India, in its appeal to the International Court of Justice, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The International Court of Justice on Tuesday stayed the hanging of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "spying".

The order by the Hague-based International Court of Justice came a day after India approached it against the death sentence handed down to Jadhav by Pakistan's Field General Court Martial last month, official sources said.

India, in its appeal to the ICJ, accused Pakistan of "egregious" violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and asserted that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy but Pakistan claimed to have arrested him from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.

Following India's appeal, the ICJ stayed Jadhav's execution.

India, in its appeal, contended that it was not informed of Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights.

It further asserted that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the Pakistani authorities were denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite repeated requests.

"Referring to 'the extreme gravity and immediacy of the threat that authorities in Pakistan will execute an Indian citizen in violation of obligations Pakistan owes to India', India urges the Court to deliver an order indicating provisional measures immediately, 'without waiting for an oral hearing'," India's appeal said.

Reacting to the development, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, "I have spoken to the mother of Kulbhushan Jadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court."

"Mr Harish Salve, Senior Advocate is representing India before International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case," she tweeted.

Jadhav, 46, was given death sentence last month by the Field General Court Martial in Pakistan, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.

Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."

India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the navy but denies that he has any connection with the government.

India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.

The appeal on behalf of Jadhav was given to Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua by Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale, who also handed over a petition by Jadhav's mother seeking the Pakistan government's intervention for his release and expressing the desire to meet him.

HERE is the copy of the ICJ order.
An employee at the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King has filed a complaint against the state alleging she was discriminated against on the job.

Amber Nikolai, the former member and public relations director at the King home and the current volunteer and event coordinator, said she was discriminated against because of her sex and her efforts to oppose discrimination at the agency against others.
The OPS camp believes Sasikala's family still calls the shot in the EPS camp.

Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar reports from Chennai.

IMAGE: Former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam with his supporters.

The unity moves between the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam factions that have been playing out in Chennai for the last fortnight will challenge P G Wodehouse for its comic element and Dame Agatha Christie for its mystery quotient.

There have been so many twists and turns that if it were charted out on a snakes and ladders board one could easily lose one's way.

Last month, when the faction of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (popularly referred to as EPS) threw out V K Sasikala and T T V Dinakaran from the AIADMK, there was euphoria and a firm belief that it was a precursor to a merger with the faction led by former CM O Panneerselvam.

The two sides even appointed seven-member committees to discuss the merger. But nothing came of that as the committees never met.

Why? Because each was waiting for the other to invite them.

"We believed they had cut their ties with the Sasikala family, but later we found it was false news," Ramachandran -- the OPS faction's IT wing secretary (he was the first to be dismissed from the party by Sasikala after he tweeted from the official AIADMK handle that OPS was meditating at Jayalalithaa's samadhi on the night of February 7) -- told Rediff.com

"They (the EPS faction) still maintain strong ties with them (Sasikala's family). They don't do anything without consulting them. They pretended to throw out the two of them, but 28 others from the family are still there in their party," Ramachandran added.

"Namadhu MGR, the party newspaper, is in their hands," Ramachandran pointed out, "and Sasikala's cousin looks after it. Jaya TV is run by them. Among the 33 ministers, there are 10 groups pulling in different directions."

"One still swears by Sasikala, another supports Dinakaran, a third likes Sasikala's brother Divakaran, and a few are guided by Natarajan, her husband. Very few are with the chief minister, EPS," Ramachandran said.

"So who do we hold talks with?" he asked. "That is why we have cooled the efforts of a merger. It is just not happening even though the media writes about it every day."

OPS has in the meanwhile announced a grand alliance -- a Tamil mahagathabandan, so to speak -- of political parties, of which G K Vasan's Tamil Maanila Congress is a part.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will likely be a member of this alliance though its state secretary Karu Nagarajan told Rediff.com, "We are ruling in Delhi, any alliance that we are a part of will be led by us."

OPS has also undertaken a campaign to meet AIADMK cadres in every district. This will bring out into the open who is with him and who is with the EPS camp. Also, it will enthuse party cadres for the coming panchayat elections.

Whenever they are held, the local bodies elections will identify who AIADMK cadres and voters in Tamil Nadu prefer.

"I am fed up with these faction fights," Solomon George, an AIADMK member from Tuticorin, told this correspondent. "When I have work with the OPS faction I approach Shanmuganathan (the former minister who abandoned a bus full of Sasikala's MLAs going to the Koovathur resort on the pretext of using the rest room and later surfaced in the OPS camp). And when I have work with the EPS faction I meet minister Sengottaiyan."

"I don't care whether they come together or not," George added. "My work gets done now and will also get done in the future."

Despite the current nonchalance, AIADMK cadres say, "When the next assembly election takes place, if we don't have the two leaves symbol, the DMK will win easily."

The AIADMK's two leaves electoral symbol has been frozen by the Election Commission pending a discussion on which of the party's two factions deserves it.
In an unprecedented order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held controversial Calcutta high court judge Justice C S Karnan guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to jail for six months, ordering that he be taken into custody forthwith.

A seven-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, said We are of the unanimous view that Justice C S Karnan committed contempt of court, contempt of judiciary and the process.

This is the first time that a sitting high court judge is being sent to jail by the Supreme Court on charges of contempt.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur, P C Ghose and Kurian Joseph, said it was satisfied that Justice Karnan be sentenced for six months in jail.

The sentence shall be executed and he be taken into custody forthwith, the bench said.

The bench also banned the media, both print and electronic, from publishing the contents of further orders passed by Justice Karnan.

At the outset of the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for West Bengal, said in compliance of apex courts earlier direction, a medical board along with the director general of police and police personnel had gone to Justice Karnans place but he gave a letter saying he was fit and of a sound mind.

Dwivedi read out the letter to the bench.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh told the bench that Justice Karnan knows what he is doing and he needs to be punished for contempt of court as he has passed several orders against the judges of the apex court.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Registrar General of Madras high court, said that if Justice Karnan is sent to jail, it would create a blemish of a sitting judge being sent to jail for contempt.

The bench then said there was no question about the visit medical board having visited him (Karnan).

We are assured that he is fit and fine and the medical board does not contradict it, the bench said.

The ASG said that he has passed an order on Monday that he is not in contempt of court. Some action should be taken against him so that an appropriate message is sent, he said.

The bench said the contempt power does not recognise who is what, whether he is a judge and individual or a private person and that it is simple contempt.

If we do not send him to jail, there will be a blemish that Supreme Court has condoned the contempt committed by a judge, the bench said.

It said Justice Karnan can be punished as he has himself declared that he was of sound mind and the medical board has not contradicted it.

Justice Karnan had on Monday sentenced Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and seven other judges of the Supreme Court to five years rigorous imprisonment.

The apex court had on May 1 directed a medical check-up of Justice Karnan by doctors with police support, as the judge did not appear before it.

The judge had on May 4 declined to undergo a mental health check-up as ordered by the supreme court, telling a team of doctors he is absolutely normal and has a stable mind.

The apex court had on March 10 issued a bailable warrant against Justice Karnan to ensure his presence before it in the contempt case. The warrant had come almost a month after the court had asked Justice Karnan to appear in person and explain why contempt proceedings not be initiated against him.

On March 31, Justice Karnan had appeared in the Supreme Court, a first in Indian judicial history, and had sought restoration of his powers as a condition for his re-appearance, but the plea was rejected.

He had also said he would not appear before it again even if he was arrested and put in jail.

Justice Karnan was transferred from the Madras HC to the Calcutta HC for his conduct. A recalcitrant Karnan had on February 15, 2016 stayed his transfer order. The apex court even asked the Chief Justice of the Madras high court not to assign any judicial work to him.

The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnans order. The Supreme Court also made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of the order of his transfer shall remain stayed.
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.
Indonesia: Ahok conviction for blasphemy is an injustice

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 9 May 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Indonesia: Ahok conviction for blasphemy is an injustice, 9 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911b1854.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 conviction and imprisonment of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as "Ahok", will tarnish Indonesia's reputation for tolerance, Amnesty International said today.

"This verdict demonstrates the inherent injustice of Indonesia's blasphemy law, which should be repealed immediately," said Champa Patel, Amnesty International's Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

"Despite protests of his innocence and evidence that his words were manipulated for political purposes, he has been sentenced to two years in jail. The verdict will tarnish Indonesia's reputation as a tolerant nation."

Amnesty International calls on the Indonesian authorities to repeal blasphemy laws, including Articles 156 and 156(a) of the Criminal Code that have been used to prosecute and imprison people may be imprisoned for "defamation" of religion for as long as five years simply because they have peacefully exercised their right to freedom of expression or to freedom of thought, conscience or religion, which are protected under international human rights law.

Background

The prosecutor demanded the judges sentence Ahok for one year's imprisonment during two years of probation and charged him for "insulting or making hostility" towards a certain group in public under Article 156 of the Criminal Code and dropped the blasphemy charges. However, the North Jakarta District Court convicted Ahok of blasphemy under Article 156(a) of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment. Ahok is now imprisoned at the Cipinang Detention Facility.

Although the blasphemy law (Presidential Decree No. 1/PNPS/1965) and Article 156(a) of the Criminal Code were enacted in 1965, they were used to prosecute only around 10 individuals between 1965 and 1998, when former President Suharto was in power during which time the right to freedom of expression was severely curtailed. Between 2005 and 2014 Amnesty International has recorded at least 106 individuals who have been prosecuted and convicted under blasphemy laws.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Libya: Enforced Disappearance of Tripoli Activist

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 7 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Libya: Enforced Disappearance of Tripoli Activist, 7 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d2424.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.

A Tripoli-based activist, Jabir Zain, remains missing after being abducted on September 25, 2016, by an armed group linked to the Interior Ministry of the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord, Human Rights Watch said today.

Since the beginning of the 2014 conflict in Tripoli, militias aligned with various governmental authorities and criminal gangs have kidnapped or forcibly disappeared with impunity scores of people in the capital for political gain, ransom, and extortion. The investigations unit of the Interior Ministry recorded 189 kidnap cases in March 2017, and 68 in April, of men, women, and children in the capital alone.

"Jabir Zain's family has the right to know who is holding him, where, and why," said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Zain, a Sudanese national born in 1987 who had lived in Tripoli with his family since he was 6, is an outspoken blogger and participant in conferences and meetings on human rights and social issues. Zain frequently discussed topics in social media that are considered controversial in Libya, in particular women's rights and religion.

Zain's relatives told Human Rights Watch in April 2017 that, according to their sources, he had been seized by masked members of the Second Special Support Division based in the Fernaj district in Tripoli. The group, also known as Martyr Adnan Al-Shibani Brigade, is at least nominally under the Interior Ministry of the Government of National Accord. The sources said the men seized Zain and three of his friends at a cafe on Girgaresh Road in Tripoli, on the evening of September 25, 2016, after an event on women's rights. The armed group released the three other men after four hours, the family said.

On October 10, family members attempted to visit Zain at the Fernaj base. Although they were not allowed to see him, a Second Special Support Division member informed them that they accused him of secularism, atheism, moral indecency, and other positions that they opposed, and that once investigations were concluded, he would be deported to Sudan, the family told Human Rights Watch. They left a bag of clothes and some personal hygiene articles for him.

On October 12, the family was summoned to the base. But when they arrived, they said members of the group professed ignorance about Zain's whereabouts, claiming they had mistaken someone else for him. They asked the family members to take back the personal effects.

The family hired a lawyer, who told them that the prosecutor in charge of the case sent letters both to the Second Special Support Division seeking information about where Zain was being held, and to the Special Deterrent Force, another armed group nominally under the Interior Ministry and suspected by the family of having Zain in their custody at some point. Only the Special Deterrent Force responded saying that they were not detaining Zain, the lawyer said. Zain's family now believe, based on information a government official provided informally, that the Intelligence Agency may be holding him and seeking to deport him.

The police would not open an investigation, a relative said:

"We went to the police station in Hai Andalous, which is the neighborhood where the incident took place, to record the disappearance of Jabir, but the police refused to open an investigation without any witnesses. We cannot ask any witnesses to come forward because we are concerned for their safety."

International law stipulates that a state violates the prohibition against enforced disappearance when its affiliates take a person into custody and then either denies it is detaining the person, or fails to disclose the person's whereabouts. The police have refused to open an investigation in Zain's case, and the armed group that abducted him refuses to acknowledge his detention or disclose his location.

A person who has been forcibly disappeared is at heightened risk of torture because they are at the mercy of their captors outside of the protection of the law, with no formal safeguards requiring for example that a third party, such as a judge, see the person periodically.

Zain's mother expressed fear for her son's well-being and treatment due to his outspoken nature.

The security and political situation in Tripoli remains unstable after armed groups affiliated with the UN-backed Government of National Accord pushed rival militias, most of them from the town of Misrata, to the southern outskirts of Tripoli, in March. The Government of National Accord, headed by the Tripoli-based Presidency Council, is struggling to assert control over all institutions in Tripoli as it competes for control and legitimacy with another, self-proclaimed authority there, the Government of National Salvation. Libya's parliament, the House of Representatives, is based in the eastern city of Tobruk and supports a third authority, the Interim Government in the eastern town of al-Bayda. The parliament has failed to confirm the Government of National Accord cabinet.

Armed groups operating under its Interior Ministry receive their salaries from the Central Bank of Libya through the ministry. This is the case for most major armed groups in Libya, including those supporting the other governments in Libya.

As a result of the insecurity and armed conflict in the capital, many institutions are either dysfunctional or unable to exercise their powers, including the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, Human Rights Watch said.

In one recent case in Tripoli, the family did not report a kidnapping to the police because they had no confidence they would act. The victim was released after five weeks, after the family paid a hefty ransom. In two other cases, the families reported kidnappings, they told Human Rights Watch, but the police made no effort to investigate.

Salah al-Bakush, a political commentator and participant in the UN-backed Libyan political dialogue, disappeared on January 26, 2017, with his friend Haitham Ghenaw and another man after their car was stopped at a checkpoint near the Rixos Hospitality Palaces, a compound that the National Salvation Government was using at the time as its headquarters. Despite the families' attempts to locate the men, their relatives told Human Rights Watch, the kidnappers neither conveyed any demands to the families nor indicated their location. Both were freed on March 28 during clashes between militias in the capital.

There are no publicly available statistics on the number of kidnap victims who have been released.

Abdelmoez Banoon, a prominent activist and frequent critic of militia and government abuses in social media and at public events, has been missing since his abduction by an unidentified armed group, on July 25, 2014, in Tripoli.

Under Libyan law No. 10 [2013] on the Criminalization of Torture, Enforced Disappearances and Discrimination, enforced disappearances are punishable with up to eight years in prison.

The UN Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which reviews government compliance with the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, said in a statement on August 30, 2012, that: "Enforced disappearance is not only a heinous crime, it is an act that negates the very essence of humanity and is contrary to the deepest values of any society."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Iraq: Kirkuk Security Forces Expel Displaced Turkmen

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 7 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Iraq: Kirkuk Security Forces Expel Displaced Turkmen, 7 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d2a84.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.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities in Kirkuk are forcing internally displaced Sunni Turkmen to leave the city, Human Rights Watch said today.

Affected residents said that the regional government's Asayish security forces confiscated their identity and benefits cards and otherwise harassed them. They said the intention was to compel them to return to towns under the control of abusive Shia units of the Iraqi government's Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Sha'abi or PMF). The Sunni Turkmen said they thought the abuses were linked to the perception among KRG authorities that the Turkmen come from areas where some Sunni residents supported the Islamic State (also known as ISIS).

"All Iraqis have the right to live in safety, and forcing displaced Turkmen families out of their homes to parts of the country where they would be in danger is particularly egregious," said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "KRG forces should cease harassing Turkmen and unlawfully forcing them to leave Kirkuk."

In a written response to a Human Rights Watch inquiry, a KRG spokesperson denied that displaced people were being given a deadline to leave Kirkuk, a major city in Iraq's so-called "disputed territories" between the Iraqi government and the KRG, and that any religious or ethnic groups, including Turkmen, were being discriminated against. He said, however, that based on a decision by local authorities, displaced people "whose areas have been liberated months or a year ago are assisted to return to their original areas of residence."

Following an ISIS attack on Kirkuk on October 21, 2016, KRG authorities forced hundreds of displaced Sunni Arab families to leave the city. Human Rights Watch has not identified any cases of displaced Kurdish or Shia residents being forced to leave Kirkuk.

In February 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 Turkmen, including three women, who had been living in Kirkuk since 2014 because of insecurity elsewhere in Iraq. All had registered with local authorities as required. In some cases, Asayish officers had confiscated their essential documents then and told them to leave the city, but had not followed up until recently. In other cases, the Asayish had confiscated the documents in recent months and ordered them to leave Kirkuk. All were in hiding in Kirkuk and most had eluded attempts to force them to leave. Two of the Turkmen said Asayish tried to force them out in late 2016, two in January 2017, and eight in February. They said that they were afraid to return to their homes because PMF units that were controlling their towns would target them because they were Sunni.

People interviewed said that Asayish officers who confiscated the documents said they would be returned when the owners left the city or when they reached the Daquq checkpoint, 30 kilometers south of Kirkuk and the border of the governorate. Several Turkmen said that the Asayish arbitrarily detained them for several hours and, in some cases, beat them as part of efforts to compel them to leave the city.

Confiscating Turkmen families' documents further marginalizes an already vulnerable group, Human Rights Watch said. These cards are two of four identification documents Iraqi citizens are regularly required to present when visiting government offices or institutions. A failure to present an ID when requested at a checkpoint can result in detention. Without both cards, individuals are not able to obtain humanitarian aid or other benefits. Without ID cards, they are unable to buy property, or vote in local or national elections.

One Turkmen man said that his son was in custody near Tikrit, "but I can't even go visit my son in Tikrit because I have no ID card to travel." All of those interviewed said they were struggling to provide for their families because they could not get food assistance without their cards.

International human rights and humanitarian law prohibit forced displacement because of a person's religion or ethnicity. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement provide that all internally displaced people have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose their residence (principle 14). They also have the right to seek safety in another part of the country and to be protected against forcible return to any place where they would be at risk (principle 15). All humanitarian assistance should be provided without discrimination (principle 24).

In a written response to Human Rights Watch about its findings, Dr. Dindar Zebari, chairman of the KRG High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports, said that Kirkuk's Asayish contend that:

There has not been such thing as a deadline for the refugees [i.e. displaced people] to leave Kirkuk, especially Sunni Turkmen as there has not been any kind of discrimination or ill-treatment against any religions or ethnicities. According to a decision by the Kirkuk governorate, governors and the Iraqi Council of Ministers, the refugees whose areas have been liberated months or a year ago are assisted to return to their original areas of residence.  For that reason, sometimes it has been necessary to take their documents for their return procedures so that the checkpoints will not prevent them from getting back their land and properties.

Dindar said that as displaced people passed through the relevant checkpoint, usually Daquq, authorities would return their documents.

KRG authorities should make a public commitment to immediately end unlawful forced displacements and return all wrongfully confiscated identity documents and benefits cards, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should provide compensation, including housing and other assistance, to families harmed by being unlawfully forced out of Kirkuk.

"Turkmen families, like any other Iraqis, have the right to live in Kirkuk without fear of having their papers taken or being forcibly evicted," Fakih said.

All names of those interviewed have been changed for their protection.

Fear of Returning Home

Ethnic Turkmen interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that because of their fear of returning home, they have taken the risk of continuing to live in Kirkuk after Kurdish officials confiscated their documents.

Most of those interviewed were from Yengice, an ethnically Turkmen town in Salah al-Din governorate, 62 kilometers south of Kirkuk. Yengice fell under ISIS control in June 2014, and PMF and Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the town three months later in September 2014.

The displaced Yengice residents said that the Khorasani Brigades, a PMF unit, immediately set up a base inside the deserted town. The Turkmen have been afraid to return home because of serious abuses by PMF against Sunnis elsewhere. Human Rights Watch has documented such abuses in Fallujah and Nineveh, among others.

One man from Bustamli, a Turkmen village six kilometers south of Yengice, said fear of being targeted by PMF kept him from returning home. He said that while some Shia Turkmen families have since returned, to his knowledge Sunni families have not returned for fear of revenge attacks by PMF in the area.

Another man from the ethnically diverse Kurdish, Turkmen, and Arab town of Tuz Khurmatu in Salah al-Din, 80 kilometers south of Kirkuk, said he was afraid to return because there had been ethnic tensions, including bombings, abductions, and arson attacks by Peshmerga and PMF.

Confiscation of Documents

Some of the displaced Turkmen in Kirkuk said that Asayish officers took their papers soon after their arrival in the city in 2014 and demanded that they leave, but had not bothered them again until recently. Others had been able to keep their cards when they arrived.

"Ammar," 30, a public health worker from Yengice, moved to the majority-Kurdish Runaki neighborhood in Kirkuk in June 2014, after ISIS took Yengice. He said that on February 19, 2017, when he was not at home, two Asayish officers arrived and confiscated his mother's ID and benefits cards, telling her that her family had to return to Yengice since it had been retaken and that she could get her cards at the Daquq checkpoint. The family was still living at home, without the mother's paperwork, when interviewed on February 22.

"Noura," 45, a housewife from Yegice, said she moved to Kirkuk in July 2014. In late January 2017, she said, Asayish officers came to her home and demanded that her husband, who was out at the time, go to the Asayish office in the Raheem Awa neighborhood the next day. She and her husband and four other couples in their area who had been called in all went to the office the next day. The officers confiscated her husband's ID card and the cards of the four other men, saying they could retrieve them from the office on their way out of the city. On February 20, Asayish officers returned to their home and demanded again that they leave, forcing the family to hide in another area of Kirkuk.

"Qassim," 37, a laborer from Yengice, moved to the Shaterlaw neighborhood of Kirkuk in mid-2014. In late November 2016, two Asayish officers came to his home and confiscated his ID and benefits card, saying he would get them back if he left the city. After three days, Qassim said, he went to the Asayish office in the central market to try to get his documents back but officers said that they had "lost" the papers. The two officers returned to his home on February 22 and threatened to detain him if he did not leave. He and his family were still living at home when interviewed.

"Omar," 50, a farmer, said he left his home in Yengice in August 2014, and resettled in Kirkuk's Quria neighborhood with his family and his five brothers' families. In early January 2015, two Asayish officers who said they were from Raheem Awa came to their house and demanded the ID and benefits cards of the entire family, saying the family had to return to Yengice and could get their papers at the Daquq checkpoint. A month later, he and his brothers, whose documents had also been taken, went to the Asayish office in Raheem Awa to demand the return of their documents.

Omar said that an officer there asked if they were prepared to leave the city but refused to explain why he was making that demand and in a loud voice ordered them to leave the office. Omar said they returned 10 days later, and the officers claimed they could not find the cards. Omar and his brothers then traveled to the Daquq checkpoint to ask for their papers, and said that an Asayish officer there said that their papers had been burned.

On February 12, 2017, Omar returned to the Raheem Awa office again to try to get his cards but the senior officer in charge told him that he and his family needed to leave Kirkuk by February 15. After Omar pleaded, the officer said he could stay until February 25, after which the officer said his forces would forcibly move them to the Daquq checkpoint. The officer made him sign a paper written in Kurdish, Omar said, without knowing what was written on it. He and his family have since been hiding in another Kirkuk neighborhood.

Arbitrary Detention and Ill-Treatment as Harassment

Several displaced Turkmen said that in early 2017, Asayish officers in Kirkuk had briefly detained and mistreated them as part of efforts to compel them and their families to leave Kirkuk.

"Zaki," 55, a laborer from Yengice, said that in September 2015, an Asayish officer came to his home and demanded that he turn over his ID and benefits cards. The officer said he would be able to get the documents back at Daquq checkpoint. On February 21, 2017, while Zaki was selling chewing gum in the main market, two Asayish officers, one in uniform and the other in civilian clothes, detained him and took him to the Asayish office in Raheem Awa, he said.

The officers held him in a bathroom for five hours. One officer punched him for no apparent reason. Another slapped him in the face at least 10 times, saying that he had to leave town by noon the next day. An hour after he was taken into the bathroom, officers brought in his cousin, who said three officers had arrested him at his workplace. Zaki and his cousin said the officers only agreed to release them after they each signed a paper written in Kurdish whose contents they did not understand. An officer warned both, "If you do not leave the city, we will use this paper against you in court," and with that let them leave. Zaki returned to the Asayish office the next morning, asking to speak to the senior ranking officer, but staff at the office turned him away and said that if he did not leave by noon, he would be detained. He is in hiding in Kirkuk.

"Arsan," 52, a laborer from Yengice, said he moved to the mixed Kurdish and Turkmen neighborhood of Quria in Kirkuk in August 2014. He said that on February 12, 2017, an Asayish officer called him and told him to come to their Raheem Awa office. There he said officers demanded his ID and benefits cards, and said he had one week to leave the city and return home because his home district had been retaken from ISIS. On February 21, while Arsan was out, Asayish officers came to his home and told his wife that they would "show them hell" if the family did not leave.

Later that night, after Arsan had returned, more than 10 officers showed up, blindfolded him and took him back to the station, locking him in a small room for three hours, until a neighbor vouched for him, he said. The officers let him leave after he signed a paper whose contents he could not understand because it was in Kurdish. They ordered him to come back the next morning, telling him then to leave that afternoon. He is in hiding in Kirkuk.

Arbitrary Detention and Ill-Treatment against Alleged ISIS Affiliates

Asayish forces in the past have arbitrarily detained, and in some cases mistreated, displaced Turkmen in Kirkuk on suspicion of ISIS-affiliation. Some of those who told Human Rights Watch they had been detained for that reason had been held for several months, but all said that they were eventually released without charge.

"Muhammad," 45, a healthcare worker, said that he and his family moved to the Quria district of Kirkuk after leaving his home in Yengice in August 2014. He said that three days a week he would drive to Tuz Khurmatu, where he worked at the local hospital. On the morning of December 29, 2014, Asayish officers at a checkpoint outside of Tuz Khurmatu detained and blindfolded him without providing a reason and held him for about 24 hours. Muhammad said that at least one guard beat his hands and legs with a plastic stick for an hour that day while questioning him about any links to ISIS.

The next day guards drove him to an Asayish office they said was in the village of Qura Hanjir, 20 kilometers west of Kirkuk, and held him for one month in a cell with approximately 60 other men, all of whom told him they were being held on suspicion of ISIS-affiliation. The guards there slapped him and punched him a few times as they accused him of delivering food to ISIS, and kept him blindfolded throughout his detention, he said. He did not have access to his family or a lawyer.

In late January 2015, guards transferred him to the Interior Ministry's intelligence office and allowed him to telephone his family to tell them where he was. His family hired a lawyer who appeared with him before an investigative judge the next day at a Kirkuk court, he said. The judge told him that the Interior Ministry needed to complete their intelligence screening process but that he could be released within two weeks. Instead, he was held in several different facilities before Interior Ministry authorities released him on May 15, 2015, without charge, he said.

He said that two weeks after his release an Asayish officer called and told him to come into the local Asayish office with his family's identity documents and benefits cards. The officer confiscated all of the family's documents, and told him the family had one week to leave Kirkuk. He said they could pick up their documents at Daquq checkpoint on their way out. The officer provided no reason or paperwork for the order, Muhammad said. For nearly two years he has tried to get his documents back without success. He is unwilling to leave Kirkuk to return to his home, which he says is unsafe, and continues to live with his family in Kirkuk without any paperwork.

Because of his absence while in detention, he lost his job and had been unable to get a new one.

"Azadeen," 63, a former soldier, said that he left Yengice in July 2014, to stay with his two brothers in the Quria neighborhood of Kirkuk. He said that in August 2014, a large group of Asayish forces and Interior Ministry forces including the local police came to their home and demanded that the three men come with them to the local police station. They held the men there for 13 days in a cell in the station, interrogating him twice, asking if he had joined ISIS. Four days into his detention, police brought Azadeen and his brothers before an investigative judge. Azadeen said he refused to respond to the judge's questions.

He said the Asayish allowed the men's families to visit them at the police station. He said that after 13 days, the police transferred him and his brothers to Kirkuk's pretrial detention facility, where they were held in a cell with about 65 other detainees for 45 days. They were not interrogated or taken before a judge, and not allowed to see their families but finally were released without charge. A week later, an Interior Ministry intelligence officer came to the brothers' home and demanded Azadeen's identity card, and took him to the local intelligence office in Quria. The officer said that if he left the neighborhood, the officer would give him his ID back, Azadeen said.

Azadeen did not leave the city, but in the course of the next year he moved with his family to two different neighborhoods. Each time he informed the local police, Asayish, and intelligence officers. During this period the officer who had taken his ID document returned it to him.

In November 2016, Azadeen was living in a house in the mixed Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen Faylaq neighborhood, when one day four Asayish officers came and demanded his ID and benefits cards along with those of his son, and his son's wife. The Asayish told the family to go to the local Asayish office the next day. He said that when they arrived, an officer told him that he had orders for Azadeen and his family to return to Yengice, and that if they did, they would get their documents back at the Daquq checkpoint. He and his family have remained in Kirkuk without documentation. He said that another son was detained in October 2016 on ISIS-affiliation charges after he returned to Yengice and is being held in Tikrit. But Azadeen cannot travel to visit him without an ID card.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Burma: Two Islamic Schools Shuttered in Rangoon

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Burma: Two Islamic Schools Shuttered in Rangoon , 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d3514.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 Burmese government should immediately reopen two madrasas, or Islamic religious schools, that local authorities sealed off in Rangoon on April 28, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should publicly commit to protecting the right to freedom of religion for all religious communities in Burma, including in worship, observance, practice, and teaching.

In late April, a mob of about 50 to 100 Buddhist ultranationalists put pressure on local officials and police in Rangoon's Thaketa Township to close the two madrasas. The ultranationalists alleged Muslim community members were using the schools to conduct prayers, which they claimed violated an agreement signed by the schools' leaders last year. The authorities carried out the mob's demand and have not reopened the schools, denying a reported several hundred students their education.

"Burmese local officials' craven capitulation to mob demands to shutter two Muslim schools is the latest government failure to protect Burma's religious minorities," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. "The government should immediately reverse these closures, end restrictions on the practice of minority religions, and prosecute Buddhist ultranationalists who break the law in the name of religion."

Claims by Buddhist ultranationalist groups that the shutdowns were lawful because madrasa leaders had signed a document in October 2015 agreeing not use the schools for prayer provide no justification for their closure. Even if the agreement was not signed under duress, as evidence suggests, it would be an infringement on the Muslim community's basic rights to religious freedom. The media reported that Buddhist ultranationalists had previously pressured local officials about whether prayers were being said at the two madrasas.

Tin Myo Aung, 45, a security officer at one of the schools, told Human Rights Watch that a crowd of Buddhist ultranationalists appeared at about 4 p.m. outside the school he was guarding. As they grew more agitated he became worried, before the police arrived. At about 6 p.m. the police padlocked the schools to prevent anyone from entering. An altercation between some Buddhist ultranationalists and a reporter from the Associated Press did not escalate. A school committee member told Human Rights Watch that the authorities said the closure was temporary but gave no timeline for the schools' reopening.

Human Rights Watch visited Thaketa Township on April 29 and observed dozens of police outside both schools. Just after 11 a.m., local authorities and school representatives, along with individuals identified by local residents as Buddhist ultranationalists, entered the schools to examine them. After they emerged, the officials replaced the locks and put yellow tape and barricades around the entrances. Police outside the schools have since refused to allow Muslim community members, including those whose children attend the schools, to enter.

The school committee member told Human Rights Watch that the schools immediately sent a letter to the Rangoon Region chief minister's office requesting to have the schools reopened. However, so far they have not received a response. Tin Myo Aung said that several hundred children between the ages of 5 and 12 ordinarily attend the two schools. The closures deny children their right to an education.

Wunna Shwe, 54, joint secretary general of the Islamic Religious Affairs Council, said that closures like this are not uncommon in Burma, and that they also affect other minority religious groups, such as Christians.

"According to our experience, madrasas that are sealed or closed almost never open again," Wunna Shwe said. He added that since violence in Taungoo, Bago Region, in 2001 caused the government to seal ten mosques, only four have since been reopened.

Human Rights Watch repeatedly telephoned the Rangoon police information committee, but no one was willing to comment on the incident.

"Burmese authorities and police have repeatedly shown they are unwilling to confront Buddhist ultranationalists inciting violence against Muslims and other religious minorities," Robertson said. "In doing so the government has failed to protect the rights to freedom of religion and education and provide basic security to all of its people. Burma's leaders can't sit back and wait for the next round of violence against a minority group; they need to take proactive steps to address religious tensions and disputes so that all can practice their religion peacefully and safely."

Muslims in Burma

During the British colonial period and early years after independence in 1948, Muslims held high positions in Burma's government and civil society. They were in the forefront of the fight for independence from the British. After independence, Muslims continued to play a prominent role in the country's business, industrial, and cultural activities. Many were public servants, soldiers, and officers. After General Ne Win seized power in 1962, he initiated the systematic expulsion of Muslims from the government and army. No written directive bars Muslims from entry or promotion in the government, but that has long been the practice. In 2001, Human Rights Watch documented anti-Muslim violence in various parts of the country that left dozens of mosques and madrasas destroyed.

According to government census data collected in 2014, Muslims make up just over 2 percent of the population of Burma, which is about 90 percent Buddhist. However, that figure does not include more than one million Muslims who are Rohingya, a largely stateless ethnic group living primarily in Rakhine State. Christians make up just over 6 percent of the country's population.

Burma is obligated under international human rights law to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to express religious belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching. Protection of this right must be done in a nondiscriminatory way. The right is subject to limitations for the protection of public safety, order, health, or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. However, those restrictions must be prescribed by law, narrowly tailored to prevent a specific threat, and proportionate to the threat. Burmese officials have provided no information or evidence to suggest that the two Islamic schools posed any imminent threat.

Successive Burmese governments have repeatedly allowed Buddhist ultranationalist groups to prevent minority religious communities from choosing the places they worship, practice, or receive religious education. In its 2017 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom again found pervasive discrimination against both Muslims and Christians in Burma.

Government regulations on venues for prayer and constructing religious buildings are opaque, often only explained orally by local officials, and have onerous requirements. Wunna Shwe told Human Rights Watch that there are no official written rules or regulations proscribing prayer at religious schools or restricting the construction of religious buildings, though some religious schools have been required to ask for permission to conduct prayers over limited periods of time. Burmese government authorities also prohibit construction of new mosques, and make it extremely difficult to get authorization to make repairs to existing religious buildings. Such restrictions have been in place since the early 1960s, and as a result there are many mosques in Burma that have fallen into severe disrepair, while others struggle to support growing Muslim communities.

For example, a leader at a mosque said that local authorities recently forced the mosque to tear up a concrete floor built to keep out rats. Officials had said the construction was illegal because the mosque did not receive permission before undertaking the project. Mosque leaders said this approval process involves no less than six approvals from nearly every level of local and regional governmental office  from the ward-level up to the Rangoon regional administrative office.

The forced closure of the two madrasas in Rangoon is part of a broader trend of pressure, intimidation, and violence perpetrated by Buddhist ultranationalist groups against Muslim communities. The most prominent such group, Ma Ba Tha, or the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, has been actively promoting discriminatory policies and fueling anti-Muslim sentiments. These have included a successful campaign to have enacted four rights-abusing "race and religion laws," signed into law in May and August 2015, which inordinately target Muslims and other religious minorities, violate women's rights, and encourage Buddhist ultranationalist groups to pressure local officials to enforce the laws.

Successive waves of violence against Muslim populations in various parts of the country, but particularly against Rohinyga Muslims in Burma's western Rakhine State, have left many mosques razed and communities without places to worship. Violence in June 2012 between Buddhist and Muslims in Rakhine State was followed in October 2012 by coordinated attacks against the Rohingya by Rakhine Buddhist mobs backed by the police and military. Human Rights Watch found that the assaults on Rohingya communities in October amounted to "ethnic cleansing" and crimes against humanity. Thousands of buildings were burned, displacing over 140,000 people, most of whom were Rohingya and Kaman Muslims.

In 2013, clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Meiktila, Mandalay Region, resulted in dozens killed and over 800 buildings destroyed. Further attacks against Muslim communities over the course of the year occurred in April in Okkan village, Sagaing Region; in May in Lashio, Shan State; in August in Htan Gone village, Sagaing Region; and in October in Thandwe Township, Rakhine State. In July 2014, a Buddhist mob attacked a Muslim house in the city of Mandalay.

In late June and early July 2016, mobs destroyed two mosques in the same week, one in Bago Region, the other in Kachin State.

In October 2016, after a Rohingya militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked three border posts in northern Rakhine State, Burmese security forces engaged in a campaign of arson, torture, extrajudicial killings, and rape. In March 2017, the United Nations passed a resolution to dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate these attacks and other abuses, which a report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said very likely amounted to crimes against humanity.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Saudi Arabia: 'Unofficial' Guardianship Rules Banned

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 9 May 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia: 'Unofficial' Guardianship Rules Banned, 9 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d45d4.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.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman issued an April 17, 2017 order to all government agencies that women should not be denied access to government services because they do not have a male guardian's consent unless existing regulations require it, Human Rights Watch said today. Government agencies will have to provide a list within three months of procedures that require male guardian approval.

The order, if adequately enforced, could end arbitrary guardian consent requirements imposed on women by government officials. But it appears to keep in place regulations that explicitly require guardian approval, such as for women to travel abroad, obtain a passport, or get married. It also does not address areas where private individuals and entities ask women for guardian permission such as before they are employed or undergo medical procedures, Human Rights Watch said.

"Saudi Arabia has a tremendous opportunity to root out all vestiges of the guardianship system, and should use the three-month review period King Salman ordered to immediately declare all guardian consent requirements null and void," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The king should also require state agencies to actively prevent discrimination by private individuals and businesses."

A July 2016 Human Rights Watch report documented the impact of the guardianship system on Saudi women. Under the system, every woman must have a male guardian  a father, brother, husband, or even a son  who has the authority to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf. Women are required to receive guardian approval to apply for a passport, travel outside the country, study abroad on a government scholarship, get married, or exit prison. They regularly face difficulty conducting a range of transactions  from renting an apartment to filing legal claims  without a male relative's consent or presence. Women also face challenges making decisions for their children on an equal basis with men.

The two-page order, which Human Rights Watch reviewed, forbids government agencies from requiring a male guardian's consent for women seeking services "unless there is a regulatory obligation for this request." The order's requirement for government agencies to compile a list of all procedures requiring male guardian approval, opens the door to reviewing, amending or cancelling these requirements. Saudi Arabia should use the three-month period to abolish all remaining vestiges of the guardianship system and ensure that women are treated equally in both law and practice, Human Rights Watch said.

The order also says that government agencies should work to provide transportation for women seeking services. Women are barred from driving in Saudi Arabia.

The directive also orders support for the government's Human Rights Commission to provide "programs to introduce international conventions that the kingdom has joined" and to develop a "comprehensive plan for raising awareness on women's rights." And it calls for education around Saudi Arabia's reservations regarding international conventions for women's rights.

Dozens of Saudi women have told Human Rights Watch that the male guardianship system is the most significant impediment to realizing women's rights in the country, effectively leaving adult women legal minors who cannot make key decisions for themselves.

For almost a year, Saudi women have campaigned to abolish the male guardianship system. They created hashtags that trended for months, wrote articles critiquing various aspects of the guardianship system, posted personal video testimony about how guardianship affects their lives, and created and distributed art about the subject. In September 2016, Saudi women organized and delivered a petition with more than 14,000 signatures calling on the King to abolish the guardianship system.

Saudi Arabia law clearly and directly enforces guardianship requirements in certain areas. In other areas, there appear to be no written legal provisions or official decrees explicitly mandating a guardian's consent or presence, but public officials and private businesses have historically demanded such permission without fear of sanction. The King's April 17 order appears to address only this second, more informal, manifestation of the guardianship system.

For instance, health regulations do not require guardian consent for medical procedures in either public or private hospitals. But some hospitals' internal regulations require such consent. The government also does not require guardian permission for women to work, but does not penalize employers who require this permission.

Saudi authorities should issue clear and explicit directives to the Ministries of Health, Education, Interior, Justice, and Labor and Social Development prohibiting staff from requesting a guardian's presence or permission to allow a woman access to any government service.

The need for substantial, systemic reform is starkest with regard to the state's response to violence against women, Human Rights Watch said. The guardianship system allows men to control many aspects of women's lives and makes it difficult for survivors of family violence to get protection or redress. Women who have escaped abuse in shelters may, and in prisons do, require a male relative to agree to their release before they may exit state facilities.

International media have highlighted recent cases of women who have tried to escape this repressive system. Dina Ali Lasloom, a 24-year-old Saudi woman, was returned to Saudi Arabia against her will in April while in transit in the Philippines. She was reportedly seeking asylum in Australia, and is now in a detention center facing indefinite detention or possible forced return to the family she fled. Mariam al-Oteibi, 29, fled abusive family members in al-Qassim Province for Riyadh, only to be captured by authorities and jailed.

When Saudi Arabia acceded to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2000, it entered a general reservation stating that: "In case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic law, the kingdom is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention."

Women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly called on the government to abolish the male guardianship system. In 2009, and again in 2013, Saudi Arabia agreed during its universal periodic review of its human rights policies at the UN Human Rights Council that it would abolish the system.

Since making these promises, Saudi Arabia has taken minor steps to lessen guardians' control over women, including no longer requiring permission for women to work and passing a law criminalizing domestic abuse. In 2013, then-King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the Shura Council, his highest advisory body, and, in 2015, women voted and ran as candidates in municipal council elections for the first time. However, Human Rights Watch found that such reforms were hindered or even nullified because the male guardianship system remains largely intact.

"We have seen Saudi Arabia's baby steps on women's rights reform obstructed or nullified as a result of the male guardianship system," Whitson said. "King Salman's order will also have a limited impact unless the authorities finally act boldly and end this discriminatory system once and for all."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Unimpeded access, humanitarian funds urgently needed in Yemen  senior UN relief official

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Unimpeded access, humanitarian funds urgently needed in Yemen  senior UN relief official, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d59f4.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.

Voicing concern over lack of humanitarian access  particularly for medicine and medical supplies  in war-torn Yemen, a senior United Nations relief official has called on all parties to the conflict to ensure urgent and unrestricted access to people in need across the country.

Giving the UN and humanitarian partners safe and unimpeded access to those in need would be a strong demonstration by the warring parties of their concern for the Yemeni people, said Jamie McGoldrick, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, in a statement yesterday.

It is imperative that humanitarians reach people in need without obstacle, wherever they may be, he underscored.

According to the statement, administrative delays at ports, checkpoints, and interference with aid delivery have hampered efforts to transport medicine and medical supplies to people in need in a timely manner.

The access is all the more important now given the current threat of famine and outbreaks of cholera in locations throughout the country. Some 17 million Yemenis are battling food insecurity, making it the largest hunger crisis in the world.

Recent information suggests that medicine supplies are being delayed from reaching Taizz City, where the need of the people is urgent. I call on the authorities in Sana'a [,the capital of Yemen,] to allow trucks carrying medicines into Taizz City without delay, said the Humanitarian Coordinator.

Also in the statement, Mr. McGoldrick underscored the urgent need for additional resources and called on the international community to fund the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan.

In February this year, UN together with humanitarian partners launched an international appeal for $2.1 billion to provide life-saving assistance to millions in Yemen in 2017, the largest-ever humanitarian response plan for the country.

Last month, commitments amounting to little under $1.1 billion were made at a UN-led humanitarian pledging conference in Geneva.

All commitments made during the pledging conference need to materialize at once, stressed Mr. McGoldrick in the statement, adding: While Yemen awaits for peace, humanitarian action is saving lives every day across the entire country.
More than one million children have fled escalating violence in South Sudan  UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, More than one million children have fled escalating violence in South Sudan  UN, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d5e54.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 escalating conflict in South Sudan had driven more than one million children out of the country, the United Nations announced today, warning that the future of a generation is 'on the brink.'

"The horrifying fact that nearly one in five children in South Sudan has been forced to flee their home illustrates how devastating this conflict has been for the country's most vulnerable," said Leila Pakkala, the Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), in a press release issued jointly with the UN refugee agency.

"Add this to the more than one million children who are also displaced within South Sudan, and the future of a generation is truly on the brink," she warned.

Children make 62 per cent of more than 1.8 million refugees from South Sudan, according to the latest UN figures. More than 75,000 refugee children in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have crossed South Sudan's borders either unaccompanied or separated from their families.

"No refugee crisis today worries me more than South Sudan," said Valentin Tapsoba, the Africa Bureau Director of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"That refugee children are becoming the defining face of this emergency is incredibly troubling," he added.

South Sudan has the highest proportion of out-of-school children in the world at about 75 per cent.

The trauma, physical upheaval, fear and stress experienced by so many children account for just part of toll the crisis is exacting. Children remain at risk of recruitment by armed forces and groups and, with traditional social structures damaged, they are also increasingly vulnerable to violence, sexual abuse and exploitation.

UNICEF's appeal of $181 million for South Sudan and South Sudanese refugees in the region for the rest of the year is currently only 52 per cent funded while UNHCR's funding appeal of $ 781.8 million for the country is only 11 per cent funded.

VIDEO: More than one million children have now fled South Sudan where escalating conflict is ravaging the country, UNICEF and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, announced today.
Nigeria: Welcoming release of 82 Chibok girls, UN urges support for their rehabilitation

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Nigeria: Welcoming release of 82 Chibok girls, UN urges support for their rehabilitation, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d6354.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.

Welcoming Saturday's release of 82 of the schoolgirls abducted from the Nigerian town of Chibok by the Boko Haram insurgent group three years ago, the United Nations has called for continued global support for the country's efforts to release, rehabilitate and reintegrate all Boko Haram victims.

"We appeal to all Nigerians, including the families and local communities of the liberated girls, to fully embrace them and provide all necessary support to ensure their reintegration into society," said a statement issued today by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

"We remain deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the schoolgirls and other victims still in captivity," added the statement.

The newly-released girls will be put on a similar rehabilitation programme set up for the 21 Chibok girls who were released in October 2016, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

The programme is tailored to meet each girl's specific needs of counselling, to help overcome the trauma endured after being held under captivity for more than three years.

It includes, among others, access to quality education to bridge the learning gap created during the abduction, access to reproductive health care for their sexual well-being and rehabilitation support, and a skills-acquisition programme to ease their re-integration into their society.

UNFPA has deployed an emergency team of psychosocial counsellors and health professionals to assist with the profiling of the girls, so their critical needs can be met.
International Criminal Court may investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya, Security Council told

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 8 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, International Criminal Court may investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya, Security Council told, 8 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d68d4.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 Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today told the United Nations Security Council that her Office is considering launching an investigation into alleged migrant-related crimes in Libya, including human trafficking.

"My Office continues to collect and analyze information relating to serious and widespread crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya," said Fatou Bensouda during a Security Council meeting on the North African country's situation.

"I'm similarly dismayed by credible accounts that Libya has become a marketplace for the trafficking of human beings," she added, noting that her Office "is carefully examining the feasibility" of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya should the Court's jurisdictional requirements be met.

"We must act to curb these worrying trends," she said.

Ms. Bensouda said that reports indicate the country is at risk of returning to widespread conflict, and such an outcome would not bode well for the rule of law in Libya, and will surely aggravate a climate of impunity, which could in turn lead to widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

Turning to specific cases before the Court, she said that her office has alleged Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, the former head of the Libyan Internal Security Agency under the Muammar Gaddafi regime, is responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The pre-trial chamber of the Court found reasonable grounds to believe that the Internal Security Agency, led by Mr. Al-Tuhamy, along with other Libyan military, intelligence and security agencies, arrested and detained persons perceived to be opponents of Mr. Gaddafi and his rule.

The prosecutor said these persons were allegedly subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including severe beatings, electrocution, acts of sexual violence and rape, solitary confinement, deprivation of food and water, inhumane conditions of detention, mock executions, and threats of killing and rape, in various locations throughout Libya.

Ms. Bensouda urged Libya as well as State or non-State parties to take immediate action to verify the suspect's whereabouts and facilitate his arrest and surrender to the Court.

She said the Court "unsealed" its arrest warrant for Mr. Al-Tuhamy to enhance the chances of justice being done.
UN experts 'strongly' condemn brutal murder of journalist and rights defender in Maldives

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 9 May 2017 Cite as UN News Service, UN experts 'strongly' condemn brutal murder of journalist and rights defender in Maldives, 9 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5911d6ec4.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.

A group of United Nations human rights experts have strongly condemned the murder of a prominent journalist and human rights defender in Maldives and called on the authorities to conduct a public inquiry into the killing and bring those responsible to justice.

Yameen Rasheed  an outspoken critic of the Government who wrote about alleged public corruption and human rights violations  was found stabbed in the stairway of his home in the capital, Male, on 23 April.

We strongly condemn the killing of Mr. Rasheed and we urge the Government of the Maldives to take action now to promote and protect the rights of their people to express their views freely, the experts said in a news release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Mr. Rasheed was also at the forefront of a campaign calling for accountability over the disappearance of another journalist and human rights defender, Ahmed Rilwan, who has not been seen or heard from since 8 August 2014.

According to OHCHR, he had received numerous death threats, which he had reported to the police, but apparently no action was taken to protect him.

This murder is the latest in a series of attacks against journalists and human rights defenders expressing liberal views. The killings come against a backdrop of rising religious intolerance in the Maldives and reports suggest that most of the attacks have gone unpunished.

In the news release, the rights experts recognized that the Maldivian authorities have started an investigation and arrested two individuals.

However, they stressed that the extreme seriousness of the attack warranted a thorough and independent public inquiry [] bringing to bear all of the resources of law enforcement and focusing on Mr. Rasheed's murder and the disappearance of Mr. Rilwan.

Government has to 'take active steps' to promote tolerance  experts

Further in the release, the experts also noted that the island nation's authority must take seriously their obligation to promote a free and safe space for all forms of expression.

On 27 April 2017, four days following his statement condemning the murder of Mr. Rasheed, the President of Maldives reportedly stated in a public meeting that any speech that mocks Islam cannot be tolerated or protected under freedom of expression, read the release.

It is the Government's responsibility, the UN experts emphasized, to take active steps in law and practice to promote tolerance.

They also voiced concern over a legislation that uses religion and social norms to restrict freedom of expression in ways that are incompatible with the obligations of the Maldives under international law.

We call on the Government to revise this legislation and other restrictive measures and to show a sincere commitment to human rights and democracy, they stressed.

The UN human rights experts issuing the appeal included:

Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
From 2-7 to sectional champs, Monrovia has one question: 'Why not us?'
Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday warned of civil war if the public does not support his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) in local elections slated for next month, but observers said his threats are doing the nation more damage than good.



Speaking at the inauguration of a government office in Tbong Khmum province, Hun Sen said Cambodias current state of peace could be upended if the people do not work to keep it intact.



The saying a bird in hand is worth two in the bush is truebe wary of the bird in hand and do not lose it, he said.



Please beware that the peace enjoyed throughout the country can be very precarious. If you want to see how fragile this peace is, you only need look to Facebook posts [by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)]  Youll see how war is started.



Hun Sen has made similar threats in recent months, with CPP-controlled media regularly alluding to civil war as the country prepares for commune elections in June.



In February, the prime minister hinted that he might deploy military force against any political party that attempts to wrest power away from him with a victory in national elections scheduled for July 2018.



Some individuals dared to claim that in 2018 we would be crushed because we wouldnt recognize the election results, he said at the time.



They predicted that in 2018 they could win, and if we dont hand over power to them, they will crush us. How can this happen if the troops are in my hand?



Hun Sen, who has already ruled Cambodia for three decades, has previously suggested he would remain in power for 10 more years.



The CPP won more than 70 percent of the vote and secured 1,592 of 1,633 communes in Cambodias 2012 local elections, held before the CNRP was formed. The CNRP won nearly half of the vote in the general election the following year.



Observers say the CNRP could give the CPP a run for its money in the June pollsa race that many believe may foreshadow the general election in 2018.



Campaign tactics



Political commentator Meas Ny told RFAs Khmer Service Tuesday that a good leader is someone who can help solve the problems of the people systematically and consistently, not someone who only offers to help people when an election is near.



He also suggested the prime minister is hurting the nation by fomenting disunity.



Any leader who promotes division amongst Cambodians is humiliating his own race and allowing foreigners to look down on his people and country, Meas Ny said.



Hun Sens threats of war also came as domestic nongovernmental group Future Forum issued a report entitled Changes in Voters Socio-Economic Status on Tuesday, which said the CPP strategy of issuing threats and providing gifts is ineffective as a method of luring voters ahead of the June ballot.



Cambodians are increasingly aspiring to enjoy material lifestyles, Future Forum said, and political parties are more likely to attract voters with policies aimed at improving the private economy.



Recent research has indicated that the tradition of gift-giving, perceived as a way to buy votes, seems to be counter-productive, because people nowadays evaluate a political party based on their families current economic status, the report said.



Therefore, it is important for politicians to take into consideration these social changes and to design genuine political programs and policies that reflect the needs of citizens, such as, for example, by taking into consideration the changes in economic activities adopted by the electorate.



Reported by Moniroth Morm for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Nareth Muong. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Protests in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong against a planned waste incinerator plant escalated on Tuesday with local residents shutting up businesses and students striking from class in spite of a huge security presence.



Some 20,000 residents of Feilaixia township near Guangdong's Qingyuan city took to the streets following several days of protests and in spite of clashes with riot police.



Shops were shuttered and high-school students ditched class to swell protest ranks on Tuesday in spite of police efforts to cordon off the schools.



Chanting "Protest! Protest! Protest!" and holding up banners and placards, the demonstrators appeared peaceful, while residents said police had detained more than 300 people in recent days.



"The entire city is shut down today; taxis and shops, other businesses, everyone is out on strike," a Feilaixia resident surnamed Xie told RFA on Tuesday. "You couldn't even get a bowl of wonton noodles if you wanted to."



"The kids didn't go to school, and there are about 20,000 people outside the township government offices right now in a huge protest march."



He said protesters appeared to be digging in for a long wait.



"They are holding up banners ... local people have mobilized to help; there are vehicles distributing food and water to [protesters] in case they get faint," Xie said. "We have also brought bottled water and biscuits with us."



Several thousand people had remained on the streets overnight in spite of police attempts to disperse them, Xie said.



"There were probably around 1,000 police officers ... they have the whole place surrounded, and police officers were breaking windows and detained ... people who took part in the protests, men, women, even kids," he said.



"All the people who started the protest are now in detention."



Focus on township



A second Feilaixia resident surnamed Du said a massive security cordon around the Qingyuan municipal government offices means the protest is now focused on the Feilaixia township government instead.



"The authorities have sealed off all the roads, so we're not going into the city," Du said. "When they all came back from the city, the police were checking everyone's ID, and they were detaining anyone who came from Feilaixia township."



"Now we're out on strike, both from our businesses and the students from school," she said. "If our protests have no effect on the township government, then maybe we'll head back into the city again."



"We don't really know how to use legal channels to fight for our rights, and the authorities have imposed an information blackout," Du said.



"One journalist told me today that they'd like to get into the township to cover the story, but they couldn't get past the roadblocks."



A resident surnamed He said the authorities also appear to have pulled the plug on local access to the internet.



"There is very tight [online] surveillance, because when we tried to post a video to a local friends group [on WeChat], it was immediately deleted," she said.



"We want the government to shelve its plans to build a waste incinerator power plant."



Government won't talk



Another resident surnamed Zhao said not all high-school students had taken part, however. "It's just some high-schoolers," he said.



"Some of them have banners, but some of the schools have prevented their students from attending, so they can't get here."



"So far, none of our local government leaders have come out to talk to us," he said. "The place looks like a crime scene, there are so many police here."



A protester surnamed Liang said nobody had come out of the government buildings to talk to the crowd.



"There are thousands of us outside the government offices, and yet not one person has come out to talk," he said. "It's not as if they have started work on the incinerator plant."



He agreed with the estimate that as many as 300 people had been detained since the start of the protests in early May.



"Some of them were given administrative sentences of 10 days," he said, referring to a short-term sentence that police can issue without the need for a trial.



Repeated calls to the Feilaixia township and the Qingyuan municipal governments rang unanswered during office hours on Tuesday.



Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Ding Wenqi for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.




Chinese authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have detained a Uyghur woman for retweeting social media posts quoting the Quran and other religious content.



The 26-year-old member of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group was detained in Korla city on May 7 after forwarding posts that carried devotional Islamic messages, including quoting from Muslim scripture and praising Allah.



She is now being held under criminal detention on suspicion of promoting "extremist religious thought," sources in the region told RFA.



An employee who answered the phone at the government-backed website Licheng Online Police, which received the initial "tip-off" about the woman's posts on the popular chat service QQ, confirmed the reports of the woman's detention.



Asked if the detainee was a young Uyghur woman, he replied: "Yes, that's correct ... We work against forbidden content that promotes separatism, or damages ethnic unity, or that is forbidden."



"There is also extremist religious content that you're not allow to repost, and she reposted it; she reposted that kind of thing many times," he said, adding that quotations from the Quran or about Allah are "against the law."



He said the severity of the woman's punishment would depend on which laws she was judged to have broken.



"People who read this sort of extremist content can undergo personality changes over the long term, so if we don't nip it in the bud, she could become unrecognizable," he said.



But Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress group representing the Turkic-speaking ethnic group, said the woman could face serious charges, owing to recent government policy targeting every aspect of Uyghurs' religious lives.



"I fear that this woman may be severely punished for incitement to extreme religious thinking in the current climate that is extremely repressive of [Islam]," Raxit told RFA.



Quran ban



Meanwhile, an internet user based in Xinjiang said the Quran is banned from open sales in bookshops in the region.



"I have experienced something like this as well," said the internet user, who has previously been accused of "propagating extremist religious content as text and images."



"It was of people wearing Islamic dress, black from head to foot, and the star and crescent moon symbol of the Muslim faith," the user said. "When I retweeted it, I got a message back saying that it had been deleted."



"The Quran is banned from sale in public places, and it's a very sensitive issue; it's banned," he said. "I have been to several bookshops ... and asked to buy it, to read by myself, and they said it is currently under review."



"The government is currently approving a new version of the Quran," he said.



An employee who answered the phone at the Korla municipal police department hung up the phone when contacted by RFA on Monday.



An official who answered the phone at the municipal branch of China's powerful Cyberspace Administration confirmed that any content promoting "separatist" views would be deleted.



"The internet police will delete any images it regards as sub-standard, and there are also appropriate punishments," the official said. "The Quran is regarded as pretty separatist."



"The other thing is people wearing beards and dressed entirely in black, which has a kind of separatist feel to it," he said.



Asked if such content is believed by China to be linked to terrorism, the official declined to comment.



"I can't read out all of our requirements from this document for you; it's a classified document," the employee said. "I can't tell you all of it."



'Religious extremism'



China has vowed to crack down on what it calls religious extremism in Xinjiang, and regularly conducts strike hard campaigns including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material.



While China blames Uyghur extremists for terrorist attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009.



Last month, officials revealed a region-wide policy to ban dozens of baby names with religious meanings that are widely used by Muslims elsewhere in the world.



Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina are among dozens of baby names banned under ruling Chinese Communist Party's "Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities," they said.



Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Three men are facing felony charges after police said they were involved in a shooting incident at a Southwest Side gas station where a man suffered a head injury on April 24.

Chad A. Miller, 23, and Richard T. Miller, 21, both of Fitchburg, and Rakim F. Bass, 23, of Madison, were each charged with first degree recklessly endangering safety in a Dane County courtroom Monday. Bass also was charged with obstructing an officer. Chad Miller and Bass, both of whom are felons, were released from jail after posting bail of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively. Richard Miller was released on a $500 signature bond.

The alleged incident was the first of eight similar incidents to occur in the city over four-plus hours on April 24 and 25. Madison Police Chief Mike Koval was so alarmed by the night of gun-violence  the likes of which I have not seen in my (33 years) as a police officer here, he said  that he called a news conference two days later to bring attention to it.

According to a criminal complaint:

The victim told a Madison police officer he was injured in the back of the head by a bullet fragment or glass shattering after gunfire struck his vehicle as he was putting gas into it at the BP gas station, 4501 Verona Road, sometime after 8 p.m. The victim said the shooting occurred after he was confronted by the three defendants, all of whom were associated with this girl I was messing with. He also told police that the dude that dont like me had a big shotgun or something.

Chad Miller was in one vehicle and Bass and Richard Miller were in a second vehicle, according to the victim. He told police that Bass and Richard Miller were at an adjacent pump initially when Miller told him, you got lucky, Im giving you a pass.

At that point, the victim noticed that Miller took what appeared to be a sawed-off shotgun from Bass, who got out of the car and began hitting the victims car while yelling at him. Then, Chad Miller pulled up and began shooting at him, the victim said, although he said he didnt see the firearm.

The victim said he got into his car and drove to the Madison Police Departments South District headquarters, 825 Hughes Place, to report the incident.

The victim later recognized all three defendants after he was shown their mugshots from previous arrests.

Bass was arrested on May 4 by Madison police SWAT personnel after he fled a vehicle that had been stopped on Verona Road by an unmarked Madison police squad car.
Bags of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and coal powder were among the bomb-making materials found by Myanmar security forces in Theni village, Buthidaung township, in western Myanmar's Rakhine state, May 5, 2017.

An accidental explosion of handmade bombs in a village in Buthidaung township of western Myanmars volatile Rakhine state last week killed two people and injured three others, the State Counselors Office said Monday.

The blast occurred on May 4 as victims assembled the bombs in Buthidaungs Theni village, the announcement said.

When security forces checked the village the following day, they found bags of potassium nitrate, sulfur, and coal powder, and other materials used to make bombs near a forest, it said.

No Ahlaung and another unnamed person lost their lives, while Seanshu Ahlaung and two other unnamed people were left injured, according to the announcement.

Security forces are still investigating others involved in making bombs.

Buthidaung along with Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships were under a four-month crackdown from October 2016 to February after a raid blamed on local Rohingya Muslim militants on three border guard stations killed nine officers.

The crackdown killed about 1,000 people and displaced about 90,000 Rohingya, most of whom fled to neighboring Bangladesh where they are living in refugee camps.

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution in March to send an international fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate atrocities that the countrys army is said to have committed against the Rohingya during the crackdown.

Advisory commission visits Yangon

An advisory commission appointed by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to help resolve the religious and ethnic divisions between Buddhists and minority Muslims in Rakhine met on Monday with area religious leaders in the commercial capital Yangon to seek their suggestions about the commissions report.

The interim report, issued in March, recommended that the government immediately begin allowing displaced Rohingya to return to their homes in Rakhine and eventually shut down the internal camps where more than 120,000 Rohingya have lived following communal violence with Buddhist nationalists in 2012.

The report also recommended that humanitarian groups and media be permitted to visit conflict areas in Rakhine, and that the government provide equal access to health care and education to residents, and recognize the Rohingya as Myanmar citizens and give them citizens rights.

Buddhist monks Say Kaneda, Dhamma Piya, and Ariya Wuntha and Muslim leaders Tin Myint and Wunna Shwe attended the meeting on Monday with members from the Rakhine Advisory Commission.

Ariya Wuntha, from Rakhines capital Sittwe, told RFAs Myanmar Service that he suggested the commission urge the government to work on the citizenship process in Rakhine as soon as possible according to 1982 Citizenship Law.

The law excludes the Rohingya from countrys list of 135 national races and stripped them of the citizenship they had enjoyed in the years after the country then known as Burma gained independence from Britain.

I also said that we need to build trust in order to live together in peace, he said. We had problems because we lost trust in each other, so I asked the commission to urge [both communities] to build trust.

A country has to have an accurate law [for citizenship] and everybody has to respect and follow it, he said. If we have rule of law, we will have fewer problems. Then we will have peace. So we asked the commission to work on rule of law and to respect the law.

He also said he suggested that the commission, whose members include three Buddhists, three Muslims, and three international experts, be fair and impartial when it presents its findings.

Ariya Wuntha also said that he and the others suggested that the commission eliminate some clauses in its report that granted some of the same rights to both local ethnic people and those who are not citizens yeta tacit reference to the Rohingya who have been denied Myanmar citizenship because they are believed to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Every country has a concrete law for its citizens and noncitizens, he said. Noncitizens cant work in the administrative sector. We urged the commission to eliminate some clauses concerning this from its report.

Commission member Win Mra, head of the National Human Rights Commission of Myanmar, said the body was satisfied with the meeting.

The commission members will also go to Rakhines capital Sittwe and solicit suggestions from residents based on its findings in its interim report.

The Myanmar government agreed with the findings of the interim report and said it would implement the majority of its recommendations.

The commission must submit its final report to the government on Aug. 24.

Appointed in August 2016, the nine-member advisory commission headed by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan has visited Rakhine several times to meet with camp residents, state officials, and ethnic Rakhine and Muslim community leaders to discuss conflict resolution, humanitarian assistance, and development issues in the divided and impoverished state.

More than 1.1 million stateless Rohingya Muslims, whom the Burmese call Bengalis because they consider them illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, have long been subjected to persecution and attacks and denied basic rights, including citizenship.

HRW condemns school closures

In a related development, the international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Myanmar government on Monday to protect religious freedom after the forced closures of two Islamic religious schools that Yangon authorities shut down on April 28.

A group of up to 100 Buddhist ultranationalists pressured local officials in late April to close the two schools in Thaketa township attended by students aged five to 12, arguing that Muslims were allegedly using them to hold prayers in violation of an agreement signed by school leaders in October 2015.

But HRW said evidence suggests that the agreement is an infringement of the Muslim communitys basic rights to religious freedom.

Burmese local officials craven capitulation to mob demands to shutter two Muslim schools is the latest government failure to protect Burmas religious minorities, said Phil Robertson, HRWs deputy Asia director, in a statement.

The government should immediately reverse these closures, end restrictions on the practice of minority religions, and prosecute Buddhist ultranationalists who break the law in the name of religion, he said.

Robertson went on to say that Myanmar authorities and police hardly ever confront Buddhist nationalists who incite violence against Muslims and other religious minorities in the Buddhist-majority country.

In doing so, the government has failed to protect the rights to freedom of religion and education and provide basic security to all of its people, he said.



Reported by Kyaw Thu for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Uyghur students enrolled in schools outside China are being ordered by Chinese authorities to return to their hometowns by May 20, with family members in some cases held hostage to force their return, sources in Xinjiang and in Egypt say.



Launched at the end of January by authorities across the Xinjiang region, the campaign has frightened targeted students, some of whom have disappeared or been jailed after coming back, a Uyghur studying at Egypts Al-Azhar University told RFAs Uyghur Service.



It seems that everyone who went home from Egypt has simply vanished, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. We havent been able to contact any of them.



A friend of mine has already returned because his parents, brother, and sister were detained, RFAs source said.



There is a dark cloud hanging over every Uyghur students head. All of them are very depressed. They are really scared now, he said.



Many of those ordered home have been jailed after arriving in Xinjiang, another Uyghur studying in Egypt said.



Two sisters named Sumeyya and Subinur were detained by police after being called back to Xinjiangs Hotan prefecture, the source said.



Within seven to eight days after their return, the older sister was sentenced to three years in jail, and the younger sister was sentenced to political reeducation, he said.



There was another girl, Asma, also from Hotan, he said. She left two weeks after the other girls went back, and was detained at the airport when she arrived.



We have all been notified to return by the deadline, one married Uyghur studying at Al-Azhar said.



They are forcing us to do this by locking up the parents of each student to make them go back. My own father has been detained for the last two months, he said.



Some Uyghur students are now vowing to stay in Egypt until their school terms end, while others attempting to refuse their orders to return by fleeing into Turkey are being stopped at the Turkish border and denied entry, other sources said.



Political views investigated



Also speaking to RFA, police officers and officials of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Kashgar prefectures Peyziwat county described the campaign as an effort to investigate the political views of the students ordered home.



From what I understand, the goal of this policy is to identify their political and ideological stance, and then educate them about our countrys laws and current developments, a police officer in a village of Peyziwats Barin township said.



We have a directive from the top, he added.



Uyghurs ordered home to Barin include students now studying in Turkey, France, Australia, and the United States, party officials in three of Barins villages told RFA.



We have five students studying abroad, two Chinese and three non-Chinese, the party secretary of one village said. So far we have brought back two Uyghurs. One of them was studying in America, and the other one was in Turkey.



Another party secretary said that three residents of his village are now studying abroad.



One was in America and two were in Turkey. The one in America was brought to us by his father and returned after talking to us. One from Turkey is still here, and hadnt gone back there.



One girl studying in Turkey has not yet returned home, though, the party secretary said.



Right now we are talking to her parents about this matter, he said. We are telling them she should come back within the next two weeks, otherwise things wont be good for any of us.



A government official has been specially assigned to talk to parents about the new policy, he said.



He basically tells the students parents to advise their children so that they dont go astray and dont take part in any anti-China activities.



We have two now studying abroad, the party secretary of a third village said. One is in France, and the other is in Australia, but neither of them has returned yet.



We told them they must come back by the end of May, he said.



We have orders to enforce this policy. The directive came from the Uyghur Autonomous Regional government, he added.



We are now managing the return of Uyghur students studying abroad, a police officer in Xinjiangs Turpan city said, also speaking to RFA.



This work consists of several stages, but I cant give you any of the details of this over the phone, he said.



Only Uyghurs targeted



Underscoring the policys apparently exclusive focus on Uyghur students, a Hui Muslim from Chinas Ningxia region now studying at Al-Azhar said he had received no notice to return.



We Hui students are not returning, but are staying, he said.



Bai Kecheng, chairman of the Chinese consulate-affiliated Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Egypt, meanwhile denied any knowledge of the orders to Uyghurs to return.



The consulate doesnt know about this either, he said. [The orders] may have come from Xinjiang local authorities.



Meanwhile, Uyghur bakeries and restaurants near Egypts Al-Azhar are closing as their customers depart for home, sources said.



It has been at least a month now that our business has been slow, one restaurant owner said.



Our food was consumed mostly by the Uyghur students, since the locals dont really like it. Our business has suffered great losses due to the lack of students here, he said.



Reported by Shohret Hoshur, Gulchehra Hoja, and Eset Sulaiman for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff and Mamatjan Juma. Written in English by Richard Finney.
The Catholic clergy in Vietnam has dismissed what they say is a bid by the government to denounce two priests who organized protests against the official handling of a toxic waste spill that devastated the countrys central coast last year.



Last week, the official Voice of Vietnam said in a report that priests Dang Huu Nam and Nguyen Dinh Thuc, who manage the Phu Yen and Song Noc dioceses, respectively, in Nghe An provinces Quynh Luu district, had worsened the image of God in Vietnam through their recent work.



The two priests have incited the laity to take part in activities including marching and causing disorder in the area, used the church to distort the situation in the country, and defamed the authorities to spread insecurity and hate in the name of the environment, the report said.



They also denied the fruits of the unification of the country by holding protests against the waste spill by Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Groups steel plant during celebrations last week marking the 42nd anniversary of the communist victory in the Vietnam War, and did so for the purpose of enlisting exile support from abroad, it said.



Responding to the accusations, 18 priests from Thuan Nghia and Mai Vang divisions, under the Vinh Diocese, issued a declaration on May 8 opposing the governments allegations against Nam and Thuc.



In the declaration, the priests said the two men had instead served the nation by acting in the interest of the victims of the April 2016 Formosa waste spill, which killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces.



Priest Giuse Tran Thanh Loi, one of the signatories from Thuan Nghia division, told RFAs Vietnamese Service Tuesday that the declaration was meant to show solidarity among the Catholic priesthood and demonstrate a willingness to protect justice and truth.



What Priest Nam and Priest Thuc have done is protect our country in a way that is recognized by the constitution and the state of Vietnameven though whenever we organize peaceful protests, we are always oppressed, Loi said.



We see [the government denunciation] as a move to accuse the two priests of committing crimes against the state, and so on. But we will never let them achieve their goal. We will always join hands to improve the country so that the Formosa victims can return to stability.



Formosa has voluntarily paid U.S. $500 million to clean up and compensate coastal residents affected by the spill, but slow and uneven payout of the funds by the Vietnamese government has prompted protests that continue to be held more than a year later.



Paid protests



State media had also reported that thousands of people gathered in Nghe An province last week to protest Nam for creating social instability while leading anti-Formosa protests, but sources told RFA on Tuesday that the demonstration had been organized by authorities as part of a campaign to smear the priests name.



One Catholic noted that only the official Nghe An and Police newspapers had reported on the protest, which was attended mostly by members of the War Veterans Association, while no other media outlets had covered the event.



Recently, the authorities from Quynh Luu  and many other places have proposed prosecuting Dang Huu Nam, saying that he must bear criminal liability, but there was no such movement before, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.



I am saying this so people know that the authorities were behind the proposal. They organized the protest to be really large and noisy to give credence to the idea of prosecuting him.



A second Catholic source cited reports that the government had paid people to take part in last weeks protest calling on authorities to bring criminal charges against Nam.



To be honest, [the authorities] are doing all they can to arrest Priest Nam, the second source told RFA.



We heard from  several people that theyre protesting under the lead of the Quyng Luu authorities. [The authorities] even gave money to protesterssomething between 20,000 and 50,000 dong (U.S. $0.88 and $2.20), he said.



Nobody there was even Catholic.



No photocopies



Also on Tuesday, the government of Tan Tao A ward, in the commercial capital Ho Chi Minh Citys Binh Tan district issued an order instructing local photocopy shops not to print or copy any documents or leaflets related to the Formosa spill.



The order also informed photocopy shop owners that they are required to notify police about anyone requesting to do so.



Several photocopy shops confirmed to RFA that they had received the order from Tan Tao A ward authorities.



Phone calls to Huynh Dang Ha Tuyen, who signed the Tan Tao A ward order, went unanswered on Tuesday.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
TOWN OF MERRIMAC  The U.S. Army is backing out of its agreement to build an estimated $20 million public drinking water system to protect private well owners from possible groundwater contamination from the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin dated April 7, J. Randall Robinson, acting assistant secretary of the Army, stated after a review of the proposed construction and operation of a drinking water system near the former ammunition plant that Army representatives acted prematurely and beyond their area of authority. As a result, providing a drinking water system would be inconsistent with our authority under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program.

Town of Merrimac officials and local residents began questioning whether the Army would stand by its agreement in January when the Army said the situation would require a comprehensive review.

Although the Badger Army Ammunition Plant is no longer operating, the chemicals previously used there have made their way into groundwater used by Merrimac residents and residents in the surrounding area. Six homes had wells replaced in the Waters Edge development due to the presence of the dangerous compound dinitrotoluene, said Merrimac Town Administrator Tim McCumber.

In May 2015, the Merrimac Town Board approved the creation of a water district and a governing board; the first major step in working with the Army to build the drinking water system. It was part of a groundwater contamination strategy developed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2010. The Army previously agreed to pay for and build a water system serving portions of the towns of Merrimac, Sumpter and Prairie du Sac, at a cost of about $20 million. The water system was proposed to decrease the risk of future contamination of residents water supplies through their private wells due to groundwater contamination spreading beneath the former ammunition plant.

The Army was testing 240 private wells; it had been doing that for several years, McCumber said. Forming the sanitary district was the way to get away from private wells.

The DNR plan involved capping the private wells and providing safe drinking water. It took about five years to put a petition to the Merrimac Town Board for the creation of the water district, during which time the Army stopped regularly testing the private wells. The water district was approved.

The Army was going to have the final decision document signed to approve the funding so we could start working on ordinances, getting the plans approved, then determine the water rate so it would be equal to or less than that of a private well, McCumber said.

So the first letter we received in May 2016 was saying it was approved; then in January the Army said we are reviewing the process," he said. "Now its May 2017 and now they are saying they cant do it. Its a joke. They are leaving everybody here high and dry.

McCumber said he has corresponded with public officials  U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin, State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and State Rep. David Considine  about the matter.

Considine and Erpenbach signed a letter in March addressed to the Department of the Army which asked, If the Army does not intend to follow through on its commitment to provide the town of Merrimac with a municipal drinking water facility, what is your plan to continue treatment and testing of the towns water supply?

Really outside of legal action, Im not sure what the options are, McCumber said. I know we came into this agreement in good faith, but now that good faith is gone.

MCCumber said while he has the utmost respect for the U.S. military, they absolutely dropped the ball, on Merrimacs water situation.

We will keep working the legislative channels to see if we can change it, he said.

Representatives from the U.S. Army did not return requests for comment.
"We have been working to better understand the facts of these situations and, importantly, both the intent and impact of these events on members of our community," the provost says.
When Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, announced his retirement from the House of Delegates last month, he ended by dropping his desk microphone with a classic quip: Dave Albo, out.

But Albo is coming back  as a lobbyist.

Williams Mullen, an influential Richmond-based law firm, announced Tuesday that it had hired the 24-year House veteran  who chairs the House Courts of Justice Committee  to join its law and lobbying practice. Albo plans to vacate his seat after his successor is elected in November.

Were excited to have Dave join our team, said Ralph L. Bill Axselle Jr., a former delegate who leads the firms government relations practice. His legislative experience speaks for itself, and he will be a great advocate at the Capitol for our clients.

Albo, 54, said Tuesday that he reached out to the firm after the end of the General Assemblys 46-day session in March and before announcing his plans to retire in a surprise speech on the House floor at the veto session in April.

He said the decision to retire from the House was financial, driven by the impending departure of his longtime law partner, Dave Oblon, who will become a Fairfax circuit court judge on Jan. 1.

When Dave Oblon got on the bench, I told my wife, Game over,  he said.

Under state law, Albo wont be able to lobby the General Assembly for a year after he gives up his seat in the 42nd House District in November. Instead, he will join Williams Mullens litigation practice as a criminal defense lawyer, as he has done for 29 years in private practice at Albo & Oblon. He will work at the firms office in Tysons Corner  part of Fairfax County.

I would continue to practice as a criminal and traffic lawyer, because Im good at it, he said.

Albo also will be able to lobby the governors office and executive branch agencies, including the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which will become an authority next year under legislation he sponsored in the House.

Williams Mullen spokesman Douglas Bowman said the firm expects Albo to concentrate on ABC, technology, the food and beverage industry, and transportation, as one of the architects of the transportation funding package adopted in 2013 with additional taxes to raise money for projects in Northern Virginia.

Albo said he does not regard his move as entering a revolving door from public service to lobbying. People have this bad image of lobbyists  Ive never thought that, he said. Particularly in a part-time legislature, they provide a very valuable service.

He added: I have spent 24 years as a legislator helping my constituents let the commonwealth know their views and problems, he said in the Williams Mullen announcement. I am now looking forward to continuing to help people and businesses communicate with their government.

Albo decided to leave the House because he said he couldnt afford to spend 80 to 100 days a year on legislative business, especially with his law partner leaving the practice.

The bottom line is this: I just cannot financially do it anymore, he told the House on April 5.

By then, Albo says, he had called Calvin W. Woody Fowler Jr., a partner at Williams Mullen, about a possible position there.

Albo said he long has admired and respected the firms lobbying practice, led by Axselle, whom he recalls serving as a Democratic delegate from Henrico County in 1987, when Albo served as a law intern under then-Del. Robert K. Cunningham, R-Fairfax.

Its kind of mind-blowing that I get to work with him, he said of Axselle.
The two candidates battling for the Democratic nomination for governor will square off tonight at a Highland Springs union hall in their third debate of the primary season.

The "Debate for the State," which will be broadcast live on Richmond's WTVR (Comcast channel 206, Verizon channel 466) beginning at 7 p.m., will feature Lt. Gov Ralph Northam and former congressman Tom Perriello discussing "issues of racial and economic justice," according to the coalition of progressive groups hosting the event.

The event will also air live on Norfolk's WTKR. Both TV stations will provide live streams on their websites and Facebook pages.

The debate, hosted by Progress Virginia, New Virginia Majority, Black PAC and SEIU Virginia 512, is the IBEW Local 666 union hall at 1400 E. Nine Mile Rd. in eastern Henrico County. The moderators are WTVR anchor Bill Fitzgerald and WTKR's Barbara Clara.

New Virginia Majority, one of the organizations hosting the debate, will hold a watch party for Spanish-speaking viewers in South Richmond at Sacred Heart Center, 1400 Perry St.

Northam, a pediatric neurologist from the Eastern Shore who served as a state senator for six years before becoming lieutenant governor in 2013, is the establishment favorite in the primary. He's backed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who cannot seek re-election due to Virginia's term limit, and every major elected Democrat in the state.

Perriello, a Charlottesville native who represented Virginia's central 5th District in Congress from 2009 to 2011 and later served as a U.S. State Department envoy to Africa, is running an insurgent campaign stressing a message of economic populism. Despite a lack of experience in state government, Perriello has won endorsements from national progressive figures like U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

On the campaign trail, both men have promised to resist President Donald Trump's agenda, protect minorities and LGBT people, restrict access to guns, pursue a $15 per hour minimum wage and provide workforce training or community college free of charge.

Perriello has said he opposes two natural-gas pipeline projects planned for the state and has pledged to refuse any donations from Dominion and Appalachian Power, both state-regulated energy companies. Northam has declined to take a firm position on the pipelines, saying only that they should be guided by science and that the authority for approving the projects lies with the federal government, not the governor.

With few major policy differences, the Perriello and Northam campaigns have sought to highlight potential weak spots in their opponent's progressive credentials. Perriello has had to answer for being gun-friendly and abortion-averse while representing a conservative district, while Northam has been forced to come clean about voting twice for former President George W. Bush.
Wisconsin child welfare officials on Monday defended the handling of an incident involving a runaway Dane County foster child discovered in a high-crime area of Chicago last week, after Cook County Sheriffs deputies could persuade no one, including the girls foster mother in Madison and two Dane County agencies, to come and take her home.

Citing the Interstate Compact for Juveniles, under which states coordinate the return of runaway youth, Eloise Anderson, secretary of Wisconsins Department of Children and Families, told Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart his office was at fault for contacting the wrong agencies about the girls plight.

Deputies should have started with Cook County child welfare workers, Anderson said in her letter to Dart, to begin the process of working with (Dane County Human Services) to begin to facilitate the safe return of the child.

Andersons response followed a sharply worded letter Dart sent Gov. Scott Walker on Friday in which he said the experience his office had with Wisconsins child welfare system on Thursday night was shocking and disgraceful.

The girl, who turns 18 in August, was a passenger in a car driven by Justin J. Burage, a 28- year-old man on parole from Wisconsin who was stopped on Chicagos West Side, according to Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the Cook County Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs deputies reported finding 420 grams of heroin and four grams of cannabis inside the car. Burage was arrested. The girl was never under arrest, but authorities needed to find her someplace safe Thursday, Smith said.

These young girls are at grossly increased risk of being trafficked, Smith said. All kinds of horrific things can happen. We ought to be ultra-concerned whenever anyone of this age group and vulnerability is found in that situation. We were shocked by Wisconsins response.

Smith said a formal response to Andersons letter would be sent Tuesday.

The Secretarys letter is wholly unresponsive to the concerns the Sheriff raised in the letter  namely, that the responses we received from the foster mom and the two agencies we were directed to were void of care or concern for the child, and there was never so much as a mention of the compact, with which I am very familiar, she said.

Cook County officials also believe the girl was not reported missing until deputies began their calls, so the compact would never have been triggered, Smith said.

Cook County deputies had first contacted the girls foster mother, who referred them to the juvenile jail in Madison, which in turn referred them to Dane County Human Services. They all refused to come get the girl, Dart said.

Child welfare systems have an obligation to protect (their) wards, not boldly refuse to care for them, Dart said in his letter. When a child goes on the run, reports must be filed. When a foster mother receives a call, she should act and agencies whose mission it is to ... care for vulnerable children must be held accountable for doing so.

But Anderson indicated in her letter that it was the Cook County Sheriffs Office that didnt follow protocol.

While we appreciate the passion that you have expressed in your letter, a better understanding of the well-established practices would have resulted in improved communication between Cook County and Dane County, Anderson wrote to Dart. We hope that you are open to the idea of working with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to further train your staff on these protocols to prevent future miscommunication.

The girl eventually was placed with child protective services in Chicago on Thursday night. On Friday night, the girl ran away from her Chicago placement, Smith said, adding the Sheriffs Office learned Monday the girl had returned to her foster home in Madison.

These child welfare agencies have the most monumental of tasks, Smith acknowledged. But it has to start with a foundation of caring deeply about the kids entrusted to your care.

Anderson in her letter said the care and well-being of children is our paramount priority in Wisconsin. DCF believes Dane County Human Services acted properly and in accordance with the processes clearly outlined in the Interstate Compact and in place for years, she said.

Child welfare systems have a long history of working together across state lines with the common goal of achieving the best possible outcomes for the children and youth in our care, Anderson said.

Burage remained in the Cook County Jail on a $100,000 bond Monday. According to court records, his record in Wisconsin includes felony drug convictions in 2011 in Rock County and misdemeanor disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property in Dane County in 2014 and 2013.
ROSEVILLE, Mich. 

After 17 years at the same company, Dawn Wilson has just lost her job.

The petite blond stands in the parking lot of Roseville Towne Center, a strip mall with a Walmart, a Dollar Tree, a jewelry pawn shop and what was Hillary Clintons campaign office, where a bright yellow sidewalk tent now hawks free cell phones. A few people wait to sign up for one.

Wilson explained: Ive worked there for 17 years. I was on vacation when I got a text from my boss on Good Friday to call him. He told me dont come back to work on Monday, you no longer have a job.

Of her ability to get another job as a purchaser and customer service professional, she sounds pragmatic, saying: Im confident Ill find something. I am an incredibly hard worker, I have had two job interviews this week, it will happen.

Of her towns fortunes, she sounds blunt. It was once middle-class, now I would call it lower middle-class, she says.

Of Clinton having a campaign office here  only to skip visiting the struggling working-class manufacturing town and send in Hollywood surrogates Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen, who scolded voters about climate change  she is sardonic.

Your message and your optics are everything when you are trying to persuade people to buy something from you or vote for you. Does this look like somewhere that needs to be schooled on climate change? she asks. That is why she did not win Michigan. No matter who she chooses to blame, it is time for her to really look inward.

Roseville is in Macomb County, the heart of Reagan Democrat country, of socially conservative white Democrats who are anxious about their economic future. Its like so many places where candidate Donald Trump exceeded expectations  an economically anxious, culturally conservative tight-knit community that doesnt understand how elite-driven change will benefit it.

For the Clinton campaign to send Hollywood liberals here in the closing days of the race to preach about climate change was tone-deaf on a Guinness World Records level.

The decisions we make on how to communicate to people are fragile: They can change lives, cause chaos and regret, or take us to a better place by tapping into something deep.

Last week, two politicians made news for the ways they communicated to Americans: Clintons words were crafted, deliberate and dishonest; President Trumps words were a string of thoughts bouncing everywhere, with no craft and no massaging and great gaps of context.

The press reacted wistfully to the former. To the latter, it went into full meltdown. Again.

Michael Kinsley once observed, A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. By this definition  and this is how the press appears to view it  Trump speaks in gaffes.

Now, that doesnt mean Trump is always accurate in what he says, but he says (or tweets) what he truly thinks at that moment.

We in the press are just not accustomed to this type of honesty. Most politicians are loath to veer from carefully vetted talking points; they dont commit gaffes because they never tell you what they really think. Instead, they talk around the point or tell you what they think you want to hear. Trump never does this.

Trumps willingness to say what he thought during the 2016 campaign endeared him to his supporters. Unlike the press, Trump supporters understood that Trump shot from the hip and would make mistakes. To many of them, his walking back of some of what he said makes sense and is a sign of learning, not of duplicity.

Compare this to Clintons interview Monday with Christiane Amanpour. She conceded to mistakes during the campaign, said she is writing her confessions in a new book and seeking absolution, and then blamed it all on FBI Director James Comey.

Bruce Haynes, founding partner of the bipartisan Purple Strategies consulting firm, calls this typical political doublespeak. He says: She may as well have said, Wasnt on me, bro. She says she takes responsibility but, in the next breath, she blames James Comey, WikiLeaks, Vladimir Putin and who knows who else.

Clinton neglected to include things like calling voters deplorable and irredeemable and failing to adequately campaign in states like Michigan, where voters had the highest levels of economic anxiety and the biggest questions about what her policies would do to help, Haynes said.

In a year defined by a backlash against elites, the Clinton campaign closed the race in Michigan with elite cultural figures talking about elite social issues. It couldnt have gotten it more wrong.

Last October, Danson and Steenburgen addressed 35 people in this strip mall, many of them Clinton campaign volunteers and local elected officials.

At the same time, Trump was planning his sixth and seventh trips to manufacturing towns in Michigan, and the local Trump headquarters had lines outside its doors of people wanting yard signs, despite the Republican nominee being 6 points down in most polls just days before the election.

Words delivered with honesty, despite being loose with facts, sometimes are more appealing to people than a perfectly crafted message that is dishonest at its core.

Thats why Wilson chose Trump over Clinton.

And thats why Trump is president and Clinton is not.
RACINE  It appears that Lucky the dog, who was revived after a house fire last week, has caught another break.

His owner, Janiqua Henderson, was away from her upper-floor unit in the 1300 block of Michigan Boulevard Wednesday when fire broke out in the other second-floor apartment. Racine fire investigators said the fire started when a 5-year-old child playing with a lighter accidentally sparked the blaze.

The Red Cross has been helping 10 people, including five children, who lived in the building and were displaced by the fire.

As firefighters fought the fire, they forced entry into Hendersons apartment to rescue her dog, and one of them emerged from the building carrying the small, unconscious papillon-mix dog named Lucky. They gave him oxygen, he survived, and a neighbor, Amanda Thomas, volunteered to take care of him until Henderson returned.

As of Monday, Henderson was staying on the south side with a friend, and with Lucky, whom shes had for three years. But Henderson said Lucky still doesnt have his usual energy and coughs a lot.

Also, Henderson told The Journal Times she couldnt afford to take Lucky in for the veterinary care he likely needs, nor to meet his other needs beyond that.

I just cant afford to take care of him anymore, she said. Just find him a good home. I just want him to be safe and sound because I cant do it.

When The Journal Times contacted Wisconsin Humane Society to see if that organization might have any options that would work for Henderson, WHS spokeswoman Angela Speed said we would, absolutely, waive the surrender fee if shes in a tough spot like that.

Within 30 minutes, Speed called back to say WHS had called Henderson and offered to take him in for treatment and rehoming  and even to pick him up later that afternoon, because Henderson did not have transportation.

She was thrilled, Speed said.

The organizations veterinarians are scheduled to examine Lucky today, Speed said, because not all dogs survive after smoke inhalation.

But they (will) do their best, she said, to make sure the dog gets treatment.

And Lucky continues to live up to his name.
CHRISTIANSBURG  An execution date has been set  again  for William Charles Morva.

This time, however, the death sentence that Morva received in 2008 seems likely to be enacted. In February, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Morvas final appeal.

In a brief Tuesday conference call with attorneys and state officials, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Turk scheduled Morvas execution for July 6. With the time to seek a rehearing by the Supreme Court expired, all thats left is to set a date for the sentence to be imposed, Turk said.

Immediately after the conference call, the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center released a statement calling Morva a severely mentally ill man whose crimes were motivated by delusional disorder.

Justice is not served by executing a severely mentally ill man, attorney Dawn Davison, who represented Morva, said in the statement. We urge Gov. McAuliffe to act with compassion and use his power to stop this unjust execution.

Morva, a former Blacksburg resident now being held at Sussex I State Prison, was convicted of three counts of capital murder for an August 2006 binge that began with his escape from custody and included the murders of Derrick McFarland, a security officer at Montgomery Regional Hospital, and Eric Sutphin, a corporal with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. Morvas third murder conviction came from killing two people in less than three years, a capital crime in Virginia.

Then 24, Morva was in jail for a series of robbery attempts when he reported that he had injured himself in a fall in his cell. He was taken to the hospital, where he was able to knock out the deputy guarding him and take the deputys gun. He then shot McFarland and ran from the hospital. A 37-hour manhunt ensued with law enforcement officers stopping motorists and searching their vehicles and with Virginia Tech shutting down on its first day of classes.

Morva was hiding near the Huckleberry Trail in Blacksburg when he encountered and shot Sutphin, who was searching for the fugitive.

Hours later, Morva was located and arrested while hiding in a ditch near where hed killed Sutphin .

A long legal struggle began, with Morvas trial being moved to Abingdon after a judge decided that too many people in Montgomery County had strong ties to the case. Morva was found guilty, and a jury recommended the death penalty.

Morvas immediate response to his sentence was to snap his fingers and mouth Dont worry to friends who were crying in the courts spectator area.

His execution was scheduled and delayed as an appeals process lasted nine years.

The bid for a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court was the final step of that process. Now Morvas only hope to avoid execution may be last-minute intervention by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who in April commuted a prisoners sentence from death to life in prison in a murder-for-hire case. McAuliffe said he spared Ivan Teleguz not because he thought he was not guilty but because the sentencing phase of his trial had been unfair, with jurors given false information.

Virginia has executed 112 people since the death penalty was re-introduced in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Virginia and Oklahoma are tied for second place in the centers ranking of the number of executions by states, surpassed only by Texas, which has killed 542 people in the same time period.

The most recent execution in Virginia was in January, when Ricky Javon Gray died by lethal injection for the 2006 murders of two sisters in Richmond during a rampage that included killing their parents.

Virginias executions are conducted at the Greenville Correctional Facility in Jarratt.
Lately Ive been trying to solve a mystery. It involves the price of beer, specifically beer sold by Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits.

For your information, California-based Ballast Point is the 11th largest brewer in the United States. Its owned by Constellation Brands, which also sells Mexican imports Corona and Modelo in America.

Ballast Point may climb up that big-brewery ladder after it opens a giant factory in Botetourt County this summer. That will increase their brewing capacity by up to 245,000 barrels per year.

This is great news for the Roanoke Valley, considering that another West Coast craft brewer, Oregon-based Deschutes, is also planning a big brewery in Roanoke thats expected to open in 2021. We may be on our way to changing the local nickname from Star City to Beer City.

But in case you havent noticed, Ballast Point beer is  whoa!  expensive compared to just about every other American or imported brew. Take for example Sculpin IPA, one of its bestselling products. A six-pack of 12-ounce bottles costs $12.99 at Kroger. Thats more than three times the price of Hamms, which is $3.99 in cans.

Now, $12.99 would be a great price for a case of any beer, and good deal for many 12-packs. But for a six pack? Come on. Beers chief ingredient is water.

What could account for such a price? Why does Ballast Point cost $2 more than Get Bent, a delicious IPA produced by Parkway Brewing in Salem?

In batting this around with a colleague, we decided the high price might reflect steep transportation costs. Currently, Sculpin IPA is brewed in San Diego. And it has to be trucked 2,460 miles to Roanoke. Im assuming those trucks are refrigerated. But even if they arent, all that transportation has to cost something.

Lets assume Ballast Point pays one-tenth of a penny per mile to truck each six-pack to Roanoke. That means each 100 miles a six-pack travels costs the company 10 cents. That would work out to $2.46 per six-pack to get it across the country.

Almost all of that cost will evaporate once the company is up and brewing in southern Botetourt County. And that suggests we can expect the price of Sculpin IPA to drop to about $10.50 per six-pack once Ballast Point is up and running here, right?

Thats right in line with the price of the wonderful and local Get Bent.

Those are merely assumptions, however. To check them, I called Hilary Cocalis, the vice president of marketing for Ballast Point. Ive been trying to get her on the line for more than a month. The first call was April 5. The second was May 2. The third was yesterday. Cocalis must be super busy marketing lots of expensive beer because I havent heard back from her.

But theres always more than one way to skin a cat, you know? And last week I figured out an easy way around her. I would simply call supermarkets around San Diego and ask what they charge for a six-pack of Sculpin IPA.

Considering thats where its brewed and that shipping costs are not a factor, Sculpin IPA should be far cheaper there, right?

So I called two different Ralphs Supermarkets in San Diego. Ralphs, by the way, is a subsidiary of Kroger. Its employees were friendly and helpful. They checked the price in their beer coolers and reported back that theyre selling Sculpin IPA for $14.99 per six-pack.

What? Oh dear. The beer costs MORE in its home city than it costs after being trucked 2,460 miles across the country to Roanoke. That makes no sense whatsoever. (Its certainly not because of taxes. Californias tax on beer is 20 cents per gallon; Virginias is 26 cents.)

Even worse, it suggests the price of Sculpin IPA may actually increase here after Ballast Points brewery opens in Botetourt. In that case I might never get to try it.

Still seeking answers, I called a local beer expert. His name is Bob Archer, and hes the CEO of Blue Ridge Beverage Co. Blue Ridge has operations in Salem, Lynchburg and Waynesboro, and they distribute wine, soda and beer in 49 Virginia counties and 17 cities. Among the 200 brewers it represents is Miller. Another is Deschutes (whose Fresh Squeezed IPA was selling at Kroger for $10.99 on Sunday).

The company has been in business since 1938; the Archer family has been in charge since around 1959. So you could say they really know their stuff when it comes to beer pricing. Blue Ridge does not distribute Ballast Point, by the way.

Under Virginia law, brewers can sell their beer in retail stores only through licensed distributors, such as Blue Ridge Beverage.

Basically, Archer said, the brewery sets the price for the distributor, and the distributor marks it up and sells it to the retailer, and retailer marks it and sells it to the customer. He declined to divulge those markups, but said theyre pretty standard in the industry. The end result is, the brewer more or less sets the price.

The question of freight is a valid issue, Archer said. Thats why brewers, if theyre big enough and theyre on the West Coast, would want a brewery on the East Coast. But there are other cost factors, too. One is ingredients and another is the brewing process. Those can vary considerably.

The beer business has changed a lot over recent decades, when there used to be a handful of major brewers such as Miller Brewing and Anheuser-Busch and some regional ones like Colorado-based Coors and Baltimore-based National Brewing.

Most of the smaller American brands got swallowed up by the larger brands, and that happened on an international scale, too. Today, Anheuser-Busch is part of a company that produces Becks (a German beer) and Stella Artois (a Belgian brew). Molson (a Canadian brew) merged with Coors and bought Miller. They also own Fosters (which got its start in Australia).

Besides all that, there are now 5,000 craft brewers operating today, Archer said. And theyre all competing for limited shelf space in supermarkets and convenience stores.

So are we likely to see the price of Ballast Point beer drop or rise after its brewery opens in Botetourt County, and they no longer have to truck their stuff 2,460 miles to Roanoke?

Its hard to say, Archer replied.

The strategy of that brewer is to be at that price level, Archer said. But sooner or later, its the consumer who will decide. Any craft brewer that doesnt take that into consideration may lose.

Did you catch that, readers? You and I are ultimately in the drivers seat when it comes to beer pricing and selection. Thats a principle called supply and demand.

And its something you might want to consider the next time youre staring at a $12.99 six-pack on a store shelf.
Several residents said their concerns with the park began worsening a few months ago following the sale of the property to a firm with ties to a hedge fund that has gained notoriety in recent years over its purchase  and attempted purchases  of a number of newspapers across the country.
NEWPORT  Banners erected in the quaint village of Newport by pipeline opponents ominously proclaim Entering Pipeline Blast Zone.

Many of the small Giles County communitys historic buildings would be within the potential impact radius if there was a rupture of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline.

If approved as currently routed, the project could burrow through town, transporting natural gas at high pressure through a buried, 42-inch diameter steel pipeline.

On Tuesday, Preservation Virginia chose Newport and the circa-1853 Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church to hold a news conference to tout the nonprofits 2017 list of the states most endangered historic places  a list that includes Newport.

More than 100 people crowded into the church to hear speakers decry the potential impacts of the pipeline on the Greater Newport Rural Historic District, the Newport Historic District and residents of the county and village.

Karolyn Givens thanked Preservation Virginia for responding so tangibly to the concerns of residents  something she and other speakers alleged has not been true of Mountain Valley Pipeline or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

She said Preservation Virginia listened to our anger and our sadness about the projects potential for ravishing the regions mountains, valleys, farms and historic structures.

The crowd included Fern Echols, 76, and her husband, Earl Echols, 80, whose home would be within about 65 feet of the pipelines centerline as staked by a survey crew.

Before the event, Fern Echols expressed a mix of feistiness and resignation about the project.

You can cry or you can laugh and neither of them is going to make it much better, she said.

Seated nearby, Andrew Downs, a regional director for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, told Echols he appreciated her wry observation.

As routed, the pipeline would cross the Appalachian Trail on Peters Mountain, and its right-of-way would affect hikers views from the trail from several key observation points. Downs has been among many others who have described as incomplete and inaccurate Mountain Valleys filings with FERC, which reviews proposed interstate pipelines.

Justin Sarafin of Preservation Virginia told the crowd that both Mountain Valley and FERC had failed to adequately consider the impacts of the pipeline on historic resources.

He and David Brady  a Giles County resident and member of Preserve Newport Historic Properties, a grassroots organization formed in 2016  alleged that FERC and Mountain Valley had violated provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act by failing to include regional organizations as consulting parties while reviewing impacts to historic properties.

Craig Cano, a FERC spokesman, declined to respond.

Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley Pipeline, said the company has worked with communities and landowners along the proposed route of the 303-mile pipeline to address their concerns. She said hundreds of route changes have been incorporated to avoid or minimize any potential impacts, including those related to historic resources.

Cox added, While we appreciate the support we have received across the region, we understand that the efforts and progress we have made to plan and design a pipeline route that will protect cultural and historic resources, as well as preserve sensitive and environmental species, may not satisfy those opposed to underground, natural gas infrastructure.

The pipeline would transport gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing from shale formations in the Appalachian Basin.

The company and project supporters, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe, say the gas is needed to serve markets in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Pipeline foes counter that existing pipelines could serve those markets and contend that much of the gas transported by the pipeline will be exported  a charge the company denies.

The $3.5 billion project would travel through West Virginia before crossing into Giles County. Its route would go through Montgomery, Craig, Roanoke and Franklin counties en route to another natural gas pipeline in Pittsylvania County.

Tuesdays crowd in Newport included former broadcast journalist and political newcomer Chris Hurst, a Democrat, and the man he is trying to unseat, Del. Joseph Yost, R-Pearisburg, who is executive director of the Giles County Historical Society.

Both men have expressed opposition to the pipeline, as have boards of supervisors in Giles, Montgomery, Craig and Roanoke counties.

George Jones, 87, attended Tuesdays gathering, accompanied by his son, Don Jones. George Jones suffered a stroke roughly a year ago, an event his family has attributed to stress about the pipeline route crossing family property in Giles County.

Don Jones said Tuesday that when he first saw his father after the stroke he was talking, with some difficulty, to the ambulance crew about the pipeline. He said his father expressed determination even then to continue fighting.

Brady noted Tuesday that the church hosting the gathering would be designated a high consequence area  a locale in which the failure of a pipeline could have a significant impact on people or property, as defined by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Sara Gosman, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, serves on the board for the nonprofit Pipeline Safety Trust.

Gosman has said that even though the probability of serious ruptures of natural gas transmission pipelines is low, when they do occur they tend to have high consequences.

FERC said it will issue on June 23 a final environmental impact statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

It seemed clear Tuesday that many residents of Giles County remain resolved to fight.

Dave Yolton said the pipeline would pass within about 200 feet of his house.

Its been a nightmare, he said. I have felt violated and abused.

Yolton said he felt heartened by Tuesdays turnout.

Fern Echols and others suggested that greed was the key motivator for investors in the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

All theyre out for is to make the wealthy wealthier and the poor poorer, Echols said.
When Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax, announced his retirement from the House of Delegates last month, he ended by dropping his desk microphone with a classic quip: Dave Albo, out.

But Albo is coming back  as a lobbyist.

Williams Mullen, an influential Richmond-based law firm, announced Tuesday that it had hired the 24-year House veteran  who chairs the House Courts of Justice Committee  to join its law and lobbying practice. Albo plans to vacate his seat after his successor is elected in November.

Were excited to have Dave join our team, said Bill Axselle , a former delegate who leads the firms government relations practice. His legislative experience speaks for itself, and he will be a great advocate at the Capitol for our clients.

Albo, 54, said Tuesday that he reached out to the firm after the end of the General Assemblys 46-day session in March and before announcing his plans to retire in a surprise speech on the House floor at the veto session in April.

He said the decision to retire from the House was financial, driven by the impending departure of his longtime law partner, Dave Oblon, who will become a Fairfax Circuit Court judge Jan. 1.

Under state law, Albo wont be able to lobby the General Assembly for a year after he gives up his seat in November. Instead, he will join Williams Mullens litigation practice as a criminal defense lawyer, as he has done for 29 years in private practice at Albo & Oblon.
May 6, 2017 James Robert (Pyro) Leech, 42, of Elliston, passed away on Saturday, May 6, 2017. He was employed by East Coast Metal Distributors. James served his country in the United States Marine Corps and served his neighbors as a member of the Elliston Volunteer Fire Department for 26 years and at Hubert, N.C. fire department prior to that. He was preceded in death by his father, William (Wayne) Leech; and sister-in-law, Heather Leech. James is survived by his wife, Christie Taylor Leech; daughter, Sydney Morgan Rector; mother, Sarah J. Leech; sisters, Sara (Jackie) Carneal, Sandra Jones (Ronnie); brother, William Wayne Leech, Jr.; nephews, Alijah Everson (Ruriko), Christopher Jones (Crystal), Matthew Jones, Joey Leech (Hillary), Josh Leech; niece, Maddie Carneal; as well as several great-nephews and great-nieces. The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at Horne Funeral Home. The Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2017 in the Horne Funeral Home Chapel, with Pastor Mike Johnston and the Rev. Neal Turner officiating. A Graveside Service with military honors will follow in the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery, Dublin. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.hornefuneralservice.com.
RICHMOND  Inside the courtroom, legal arguments ensued over President Donald Trumps second attempt at a travel ban from certain Muslim-majority nations. Outside on the sidewalks, protesters chanted and marched with signs of opposition.

I wanted to be part of our political system, said Mona Siddiqui of Midlothian, who added that the travel order is an important civil rights issue to her as a citizen who cares about this, and a Muslim who will be directly impacted.

Siddiqui joined a protest formed by a group of religious and civil rights groups. The crowd reinforced her hope in the American system, she said.

Suja Amir of Glen Allen, who is Muslim, said she joined the protest because a ban on any religion violates civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Trump said during the presidential campaign that he wanted a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on.

Siddiqui and Amir said such rhetoric from leaders filters down to the public and can give license to someone to commit a crime.

Hes kind of painting the whole 3 million Muslims in America with a broad brush, Siddiqui said.

The protest, which appeared to attract more than 100 people, was coordinated by the Washington group Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

John Yang, the groups executive director, referenced the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and the profiling of South Asians after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Its important to gather people to show solidarity, he said.
Business News Southern Business School Namibia Graduates 225 | RobinsPost News & Noticias

NAMIBIAN representatives Lucia Kim Hamunghete, Jose Carlos Amutenya and Jerome Claasen recently graduated as part of the Multichoice Talent Factory class of 2022 at a ceremony held in Zambia. For ... Read More Local schools are making progress in the numbers of students who graduate from high school ready for further education or high-quality careers, but Blount County still has far to go to catch up ... Read More THE education ministry has ordered King Kauluma Combined School in the Oshikoto region ... This comes after The Namibian reported in August that parents had demanded intervention from the ministry ... Read More The economic news these days can seem grim ... A degree from the UAB Collat School of Business can land you anywhere. Just ask Tina Poe. A spring 2022 graduate, Poe is heading to Italy this fall to ... Read More WINDHOEK  The Namibian economy is expected to grow 2.8% in 2022 and 3.4% in 2023, a mid-year budget review document by the government showed on Tuesday. We apologize, but this video has failed ... Read More Billboards top music business schools are chosen based on industry recommendations, alumni information provided ... school earning No. 1 status in U.S. News & World Report, recently wrote ... Read More LUSAKA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Thursday called on the business community to engage in business partnerships with their Namibian counterparts for improved ... Read More The discoveries could make Namibia, the southern neighbour of OPEC member Angola, another oil producer along the African Atlantic coast. The companies have not yet detailed the quantities found ... Read More Namibia would consider joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries if recent oil discoveries by TotalEnergies SE and Shell Plc turn out to be significant, according to the African nation ... Read More In principal we have agreed on conditions, whatever the materials, we are going to process them here, Alweendo said about the approaches being taken to ensure the southern African country reaps the ... Read More The Namibia example of cost savings must be replicated all over Africa, especially in broke Ghana. Our expenditure patterns have created an unpardonable class structure the HAVES and ... Read More Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Barney Barnett School ... and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 ... Read More
Business News Time Inc S Fortune Partners With The University Of North Carolina To Create Online Business Program | RobinsPost News & Noticias

 2022 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and ... Read More The affiliation does not apply to Fortunes new development sales or development business, said Thad Wong, an @properties co-founder. Fortune signed a 10-year deal with Christies with the ... Read More NEW YORK--(BUSINESS ... The live online part- and full-time tech bootcamps will equip students with the skills needed to fill the more than 45,000 available tech jobs across North Carolina ... Read More LAURINBURG, N.C. (AP)  A South Carolina-based ... a facility in North Carolina, creating 440 jobs in a county with one of the states highest jobless rates. SO-PAK-CO Inc. and Gov. Read More Fortune recently released its 2022 rankings of the best full-time master's in business programs in the U.S.. The top 10 schools for full-time MBA programs, according to the rankings: 1. Harvard ... Read More PRNewswire/-- Fortune Rise Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: FRLAU) (the 'Company'), announced today that it plans ... Read More North Carolina ranks as FORBES' Best State for Business for the third straight year (2017 was its first time on top). With one of the highest net migration rates in the U.S., people have been ... Read More The conditions that created outsized achievements the first time ... s Secretary of State for guidance about investment fund business structures. In the case of hedge funds, most are formed as limited ... Read More North Carolina ... to Northwestern's website. The university said its direct student costs are up 4 percent this year over last. Financial aid was not included in The Business Journals' calculations. Read More Look to your local community and online to see what business resources are already available  some are often free resources. Take the time ... University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. Read More You've put in the hard work and sacrifice to build your business for years, and now is the right time to sell ... it is crucial to understand the buyer's desires following acquisition, as well ... Read More
Press Release Nokia Joins Smart Tampere Initiative To Help Bring Smart City Services To One Of Finland S Largest Municipalities | RobinsPost News & Noticias

and core by leveraging 5G technology with Nokias innovative technologies. 5G network with end-to-end slicing functionality will help Nedaa deliver improved public safety and smart city services to ... Read More In addition, Nokia`s application ecosystem program ngConnect will bring ... the City Council`s desire to offer an improved range of services to its citizens. The initiative promotes smart city ... Read More Nokia provides NL-ix with IP platforms to enable 400GE and 800GE access and interconnection services  Nokias ... Finland  Nokia today announced its expanded relationship with NL-ix, the ... Read More [119 Report Pages] "Smart City Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) Market" Insights 2022 By Types (Services ... Is there a problem with this press release? Contact the source provider Comtex at ... Read More Nokia Lightspan MF-14 is the world's ... services. Fiber PON will be capable of supporting high bandwidth consumer services, industry 4.0 applications, business connectivity, 5G transport and ... Read More As power utilities such as SGCC adopt the Internet of Things (IoT) in the creation of smart grids, both bandwidth and complexity increase. The Nokia solution, which consists of Nokias family of ... Read More To a large extent, it will be up to the Finland ... Nokia's head of demo digital customer journey, demonstrates how green screen technology works.(Elias Valverde II / Staff Photographer) Batra ... Read More Dubai, UAE  EIGHTClouds Private Equity, a homegrown company that focuses on brands within the consumer sector, announces its acceptance into the United Nations Global Compact initiative (UNGC), the ... Read More Tuya Smart can reach more customers around the world and continue to provide high-quality IoT-related services. In the future, we will continue to work with AWS to help global customers. Read More ABU DHABI, 26th October, 2022 (WAM)  A UAE newspaper has commended the country's smooth network of highways linking each of the seven emirates, saying that it is one of the country's most ... Read More Espoo, Finland ... and interconnection services for its cloud provider and national research and education network (NREN) customers. This deployment of Nokia's FP5 is one of the earliest ... Read More
Health News Taiwan Activists Appeal To China Not To Politicise Un Health Meeting | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Taiwan Leader Tells China ... not had any formal contacts the first of her two terms began in 2016. Apart from military threats, Beijing blocks Taiwan from participating in international health ... Read More The threat posed by authoritarian regimes is a "wake-up call for democrats worldwide," Taiwan's leader said Tuesday, as she opened a meeting ... China is a key ally of Russia and has not condemned ... Read More President Xi Jinping said on Sunday at the opening of a major party meeting. Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, responded that it will not back down on its sovereignty or compromise ... Read More War between Taiwan and China is "absolutely not an option", Taiwan President Tsai ... Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning ... Read More Most countries, including the United States, initially recognized Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) as the true Chinese government. That changed in 1971 when the UN voted to recognize the ... Read More As Xi Jinping announced China's mission ... and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region is the common responsibility of both sides and meeting on the battlefield is not an option, Taiwan's ... Read More has often called for achieving Chinas rejuvenation, which includes reunifying with Taiwan. However, Xi has not mentioned a timeline, at least not publicly. And he offered no clues during ... Read More Reunification of China and Taiwan meets the interests of all, including Taiwan compatriots, Sun Yeli told a news conference in ... Australia's top health insurer reels after data breach, article ... Read More World Mental Health Day is Monday ... when they're depressed they may not want to run," Aoun told Fox News Digital. If this happens, first try to run one block, then two blocks  gradually ... Read More Your doctor says you need a test or treatment or medication, but your health insurance ... have a guaranteed right to appeal. And the good news is that its not that hard to do. Read More It is up to the Chinese people to resolve the Taiwan ... both sides and meeting on the battlefield is not an option, Taiwan's presidential office said in the statement. Tags China Xi Jinping ... Read More
Health News Mental Health Facilities Resources Across Utah | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Experts at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute discussed when to seek help for depression Wednesday and what options are available. Read More Nonprofit agencies First Step House and Odyssey House raised pay and added 40-hour work weeks to help retain staff. Read More Utah Gov. Spencer Cox hosted this week the first of what governors across the ... support resources and letting young people know that help is available. Mental health hospitalizations have ... Read More Our leadership team is responsible for directing the work at University of Utah Health, as well as the Huntsman Mental Health Institute ... for providing oversight for all pharmacy services across the ... Read More A dozen or more children come to the emergency department of CHKD on many days because of mental health challenges, according to Dr. Carl Petersen, chief of mental health services for CHKD. Read More "There was unanimous, literally unanimous agreement that all of us need to be focusing deeply  particularly coming out of the pandemic  we've had mental health challenges," said New Jersey Gov. Read More But for some students, especially those with special needs, the drills can trigger or exacerbate mental health problems ... wage for support staff at health care facilities in Southern California. Read More On the occasion of the World Mental Health Day, the Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) initiative of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was launched. Read More Cultural norms and social expectations also play a role in defining mental health. There is no standard measure across cultures ... part of overall health care services. It's also important ... Read More To commemorate World Mental Health Day 2022, News ... services. Also, there was obviously a contribution from transport restrictions and people being fearful of coming to health facilities. Across ... Read More Digital health software platform, Videra Health, announced today a partnership with California-based behavioral health system Signature Healthcare Services, to improve patient post-discharge follow-up ... Read More She has an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Utah Department of Psychiatry. Her focus is overseeing and providing psychological services ... mental health diagnoses. Her clinical ... Read More
Politics News Bret Stephens On France Climate Change And Domestic Politics | RobinsPost News & Noticias

French President Emmanuel Macron released a selfie video on social media platforms Saturday asking the public to send him questions about what France should do about climate change and biodiversity. Read More David Frost joins thinktank that disputes global heating - Global Warming Policy Foundation provides objective view, ex-Brexit minister argues ... Read More French President Emmanuel Macron released a selfie video on social media platforms Saturday asking the public to send him questions about what France should do about climate change and biodiversity. Read More
Politics News Download The Politics Of The Centre The Juste Milieu In Theory And Practice France And England | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Catch up on more political news. Election Guides and Explainers What is decided in the 2022 midterm elections, and how do they work? Start by learning the basics. We surveyed every state about ... Read More Linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer analyzes the origins of words in the news. Read previous columns here. If there is one word that encapsulates Liz Trusss tempestuous month and a half in ... Read More Nor would the vast majority of COVID dead care whether the kind of increased COVID protections that might have saved their lives polled well or not for whatever political party was in power at the ... Read More To round up everything thats going on, the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast crew tries to rank the electoral significance of some of the biggest stories in the news right now. They also ask ... Read More In his book "The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915," historian Jon Grinspan, curator of political history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American ... Read More PARIS  Thousands of protesters, including Frances newly crowned Nobel literature laureate, piled into the streets of Paris on Sunday, in a show of anger against the bite of rising prices and ... Read More Much of the money in politics doesn't come from small, individual donors though. It comes from deep-pocketed contributors, and from PACs or Super PACs. What is a PAC, and why is it important? Read More What they were actually up to was hashing out something that looked awfully close to a new kind of American politics. For a segment of the tech elite, the industry isnt just about building ... Read More Inc., asked U.S. voters the following question about the practice by behemoth social media platforms of censoring political content: Do you approve or disapprove of Big Tech companies such as Twitter ... Read More Oct 15 (Reuters) - Centre Emily Scarratt scored all of England's points as they claimed a tense 13-7 victory over France in their women's Rugby World Cup Pool C clash at the Northland Events ... Read More "This is an absolute disgrace," Conservative lawmaker Charles Walker told BBC News on Wednesday evening ... LONDON  An extraordinary few days in British politics plunged embattled Prime ... Read More Thousands of protesters, including Frances newly crowned Nobel laureate for literature, have piled into the streets of Paris PARIS -- Thousands of protesters, including France's newly crowned ... Read More
Elections News Why So Tense Kenya S High Stake Elections Explained | RobinsPost News & Noticias

How to watch 2022 election night results and live coverage Republican lead in House shrinks again as voters see high-stakes contest - CBS News ... Why is the margin tightening? The Supreme Court's ... Read More This election is setting the groundwork for the remainder of the Biden-Harris administration and the future of local, state and federal priorities for the next five to 10 years. We must all vote in ... Read More Elections can put a heavy finger ... Amazon rainforest isnt the only thing at stake. As my colleague Jack Nicas wrote, the future of Brazils democracy itself could hang in the balance ... Read More All 50 states are hosting midterm elections that will determine the balance of power in Washington and state capitals across the nation. Republicans are predicting a massive red wave as ... Read More AUGUSTA, Maine  Maines 2022 elections feature high-stakes races between longtime rivals ... There are a few theories behind why 2022 is a slower campaign. Well-known candidates mean fewer ... Read More Brazil Election: What to Know About the High-Stakes Race By CARLA BRIDI ... far-right politics or return a leftist to the nations top job. On one side is incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, a former ... Read More Well send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest US midterm elections news every morning ... on his side in 2002. So if, as polls suggest, Joe Bidens Democrats lose one ... Read More If youre wondering when your school board elections are, chances are its when you least expect it. Thats why, in state after state, hardly anyone shows up to vote. Consider Missouri. Read More How will the midterms determine Biden's future in office? Again, midterm elections do not include the presidency  so you won't see Biden's name on the ballot this November. But the results of ... Read More Heres what you need to know about the Brazilian presidential runoff, which is on Oct. 30. Brazil holds general elections once every ... That is why da Silva, who was president from 2003 to ... Read More Brazil is days from a presidential election ... so-called gender ideology. Recently, Bolsonaro has given government funds to poorer Brazilians, who traditionally have been inclined to vote for da ... Read More Heres what you need to ... That is why da Silva, who was president from 2003 to 2010, can run this year. WASN'T THERE ALREADY A BRAZILIAN ELECTION? Brazil held its first round of voting on ... Read More
Elections News Oklahoma Voters Head To Polls In House Special Elections | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Democrat Kendra Horn, who flipped a House seat in 2018, runs a long-shot campaign against Trump-endorsed Markwayne Mullin in ruby-red Oklahoma. Read More Live Oklahoma election results from the 2022 general election including Senate and House races and ballot initiatives. Read More Were gathering news, updates, analysis, and results from high-stakes races across Massachusetts and the United States. Follow along. Read More Oklahoma Senate Special Election Results for the 2022 midterm election. See Live Oklahoma Senate Special Election results and maps by state, county and district from NBC News. Read More Oklahomans voted on a long slate of offices, including U.S. Senate seats, all five U.S. House of Representatives seats, governor and more. Read More With midterm elections approaching, there is renewed hope for higher participation from Native American and Alaskan Natives. Read More For the first time, Oklahoma will have four days of early voting before the general election. Voters can cast ballots starting Wednesday. Read More
Elections News Explainer What S Behind The High Stakes In Kenya S Presidential Elections | RobinsPost News & Noticias

How to watch 2022 election night results and live coverage Republican lead in House shrinks again as voters see high-stakes contest - CBS News ... vice presidential nominee. She's also leaned ... Read More Elections can put a heavy finger ... the potential consequences of two upcoming ones: a presidential runoff this month in Brazil and U.S. midterms in November. All these countries matter hugely ... Read More This election is setting the groundwork for the remainder of the Biden-Harris administration and the future of local, state and federal priorities for the next five to 10 years. We must all vote in ... Read More All 50 states are hosting midterm elections that will determine the balance of power in Washington and state capitals across the nation. Republicans are predicting a massive red wave as ... Read More The midterms are elections that occur halfway through a president's four-year term. All 435 seats in the U.S. House are up for election, as well as 35 seats in the Senate. Thirty-six states and 3 ... Read More AUGUSTA, Maine  Maines 2022 elections feature high-stakes races between longtime ... There are a few theories behind why 2022 is a slower campaign. Well-known candidates mean fewer undecided ... Read More Heres what you need to know about the Brazilian presidential runoff, which is on Oct. 30. Brazil holds general elections once every four years, choosing state and federal representatives as ... Read More Heres what you need to know about the Brazilian presidential runoff, which is on Oct. 30. Brazil holds general elections once every four years, choosing state and federal representatives as ... Read More Brazil is days from a presidential election featuring two political titans and bitter rivals that could usher in another four years of far-right politics or return a leftist to the nations top ... Read More Heres what you need to know about the Brazilian presidential runoff, which is on Oct. 30. Brazil holds general elections once every four years, choosing state and federal representatives as ... Read More Heres what you need to know about the Brazilian presidential runoff, which is on Oct. 30. HOW OFTEN ARE ELECTIONS IN BRAZIL? Brazil holds general elections once every four years, choosing state ... Read More
Potus News Trump Russia Collusion Story A Total Hoax | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Hillary Clinton wants Donald Trump to pay. The failed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate filed court papers Monday demanding that the former president pay her legal fees in a dismissed lawsuit she ... Read More
Potus News Donald Trump Weighing Up Troop Surge For Afghanistan Amid Split In White House | RobinsPost News & Noticias

At the latest House ... President Donald Trump knew he'd lost the 2020 election and "rushed to complete unfinished business," including a hurried attempt to withdraw troops from Afghanistan ... Read More Donald Trump ordered a complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Somalia after ... Yes.' Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson was shown recalling a conversation between her ... Read More WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to rapidly pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan ... recalled typing up the order to withdraw from Afghanistan and securing Trump's ... Read More It was not the first time Trump touched on antisemitic tropes. The White House on Monday blasted former President Donald Trump for a weekend post on his social media platform telling American Jews ... Read More UPDATE, 7:10 AM Friday: Donald Trump followed up his Twitter rants about the January ... With a number of Trump confidents like former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows blatantly ignoring ... Read More (CNSNews.com) - The White House on Monday condemned as anti-Semitic former President Donald Trumps comments about Jews needing to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel. ... Read More WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's recent comments that American Jews have offered insufficient praise of his policies toward Israel were "insulting" and "anti-Semitic", White House ... Read More WASHINGTON  The White House ... news briefing that Trumps comments on his Truth Social website were "antisemitic" and "insulting" both to "Jews and to our Israeli allies." "For years now ... Read More WASHINGTON  The House Committee investigating the Capitol attack voted Thursday to subpoena Donald Trump ... unyielding Trump. Just FYI potus is pissed  breaking news  supreme court ... Read More White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not comment Friday on the new subpoena calling for former President Donald Trump to testify before the House's January 6 Select Committee. The ... Read More The White House on Monday called Donald Trumps attack on American Jews antisemitic after the former president wrote online that American Jews need to get their act together and show more ... Read More
Potus News Trump Trolls The Media After Former Obama Administration Officials Testify On Russia Investigation | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Former President Barack Obama mocked his presidential successor for not accepting the 2020 election results during an appearance at a Georgia rally on Friday. Read More
Potus News Donald Trump Mocked For Changing Twitter Banner To Hit Back At Russia Links | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Donald Trump has been mocked for giving a speech at a wedding ... said no normal person ever, one Twitter user said. It is such a mystery why people think this narcissist cares about them ... Read More UPDATE, 7:10 AM Friday: Donald Trump followed up his Twitter rants about the January 6th Committee with a 14-page letter to the committee chairman, Bennie Thompson. The letter begins with Trump ... Read More Is Trump coming back to Twitter? With Musk in charge, chances are Trump's permanent ban for inciting violence during Capitol attacks will be reversed. Read More Elon Musk has clarified that the return of banned Twitter accounts will take "a few more weeks". In other words, Donald Trump, Kangana Ranaut, and other Twitter users who have been banned from Twitter ... Read More An image shared on social media purports to show Donald Trump thanking Elon ... Reuters found no credible news reports saying the former president was back on Twitter using this handle ... Read More POTUS is pissed  breaking news ... back through old quotes of Trump talking about the 2020 election, I came across a piece I wrote in May 2019 headlined: What happens if Donald Trump ... Read More A US judge has ruled that Donald Trump must sit for deposition in a defamation lawsuit brought by the writer E Jean Carroll, who's accused the former POTUS ... store changing room in the mid ... Read More Former President Donald Trump bashed the U.S ... "Its unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be 'disloyal' to," Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said on ... Read More Former President Donald Trump will have to decide ... just like a sitting president. Trump's his first response to the subpoena vote was to mock the committee that issued it. Read More Trumps legal team has tried various legal tactics to delay the lawsuit and prevent him from being questioned by Carrolls attorneys. But Judge Kaplan wrote that it was time to move forward ... Read More
Potus News The Pentagon Wants Trump To Send Thousands Of More Troops Into Afghanistan | RobinsPost News & Noticias

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to rapidly pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia in the immediate aftermath of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, alarming ... Read More President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to rapidly pull all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia in the immediate aftermath of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, alarming senior aides ... Read More Trump distanced himself from New Hampshire loser Don Bolduc and reportedly trashed Pennsylvania loser Mehmet Oz ... Read More The Pentagon will now offer funds and other support to service members who want to get an abortion ... privacy protections by giving troops until 20 weeks into a pregnancy to notify commanders ... Read More WASHINGTON (AP)  The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops ... into law, if Democrats control enough seats in Congress to pass it. And he said, in a forum with NowThis News ... Read More Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON (AP)  The Pentagon ... into law, if Democrats control enough seats in Congress to pass it. And he said, in a forum with NowThis News ... Read More WASHINGTON  The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents ... will be one that writes abortion protections into law, if Democrats control enough seats ... Read More WASHINGTON (AP)  The Pentagon will provide travel funds and support for troops and their dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal, according to a new ... Read More
Science News A Light For Science And Cooperation In The Middle East | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Rarely is there good news to write about in the Middle East. The same seems to be true of foreign policy more generally. So when something good happens, and American mediation produced it ... Read More Nov. 3, 2022  A new method to treat sewage can efficiently convert leftover sludge to biogas, an advance that could help communities lower their waste treatment costs while helping the .. Read More Astronomers led by the University of Warwick have identified the oldest star in our galaxy that is accreting debris from orbiting planetesimals, making it one of the oldest rocky and icy planetary ... Read More An uptick in tensions with Iran followed with more strategic cooperation between the Gulf ... a research and visiting fellow at the Middle East Centre of the London School of Economics and Political ... Read More That was a prevailing idea in 2019, when I started as the social sciences reporter at Science News. But when I began ... taking aim at how we define the middle class showed me how alternative ... Read More Roughly 3,000 light-years from ... the 2021 International Science and Engineering Fair, an annual competition run by the Society for Science, which publishes Science News. Steffen was skeptical ... Read More The eclipse is expected to be visible across much of Europe, northeast Africa, the Middle East and western Asia ... to perceive a kind of cold light, the Sun needs to be at least 95 percent ... Read More JOHN DANKOSKY: This is Science Friday. Im John Dankosky ... SHAHLA FARZAN: Mm-hmm. Well, I have some news that might make both of us feel a little bit better about this. Research shows that if you ... Read More Considerations of science, technology and engineering need to become embedded in the heart of every government department, says Patrick Vallance, the UK governments chief scientific adviser. Read More Scientists theorize that the small fluctuations in CMB can shed light on the formation of ... Africa and the Middle East. Science News // 5 days ago Year-round daylight saving time could reduce ... 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 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
Science News California Science Teacher Kelly Gonez Is Running For A School Board Seat | RobinsPost News & Noticias

For the last decade, teachers ... District 6 board member Kelly Gonez, who won the seat in 2017, is running for reelection. She won her first race with support from charter school allies, but ... Read More Each school board seat represents a different geographic area. LAUSD Board District 2 spans several neighborhoods in central and east L.A., from Los Feliz to Boyle Heights and Highland Park. District ... Read More Four candidates are seeking terms on San Diego Unified School Districts board of trustees. They are competing for two seats representing the districts coastal Sub-district C and northeastern ... Read More The battle to replace Monica Garcia reflected a charter schools-versus-teachers union divide, but the issues run deeper in the nation's second-largest school system. Read More Running against Marcano is Kern County native Joan Smith. Smith was appointed to the Area 2 Kern County School Board seat a little over a year ago. Smith is also a professor at California State ... Read More "Our number one concern right now is making sure he does not get a seat on the school board." Belair isn't the only one worried about the priorities of candidates running for school board trustee. Read More A California high school teacher was placed on administrative leave ... and the F slur is another one," Anderson said. Fox News Digital reached out to Bean and to Cajon High School for ... Read More A California teacher ... Alice Birney Public Waldorf school, in the Sacramento City Unified School District. The schools website lists her as a second-grade teacher. A school district ... Read More Each seat has a term of four years. Marysville school board President David Schmorrow and Vice President Kevin Palmateer are incumbents. Trustees Michelle Kut and Ben Lasher are not running for ... Read More Unlike many Indiana districts, Mishawakas school ... teacher  to the board in July after Amanda Roberts left her seat early to pursue a job opportunity in Indianapolis. Parks is running ... Read More That statistic explains why Maryland school board candidates who replied to a Capital News Service ... whos running for re-election to an at-large board seat. Great teachers and principals ... Read More a California teacher hid a boy who had been reported missing at age 15, authorities allege. Sacramento public school teacher Holga Castillo Olivares, 61, is accused of concealing the fact that the ... Read More
Internet News How To Deal With The Internet Access Challenge In China | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Harvesting data is the norm for social media apps, but the question that many have is where it goes and who has access to it ... Read More And in that package, there are news and all of these ... to the right to access to the Internet, and deal with it in that way. Because if tomorrow China and Russia implement the same ... Read More The summit is not only a feast to present the latest achievements in the internet industry but also a chance to show the comprehensive application of high technologies. Many cutting-edge technology ... Read More Her internet ... s about access to the tools people need to fully participate in our democratic system, said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. That is a far bigger deal and ... Read More Double-sided digital printing technology, equipment and applications are showcased at the Global Industrial Internet Conference in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning province on Nov 7, 2022. Read More Austin Ramzy Xi Jinping said China had faced arduous challenges over the past five ... have cracked down on many sectors, including, internet, education and real estate. One lawyer in Anhui ... Read More Her internet ... s about access to the tools people need to fully participate in our democratic system, said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. That is a far bigger deal and ... Read More AT&T offers residents of the mostly white, upper-income neighborhood of Lakeview internet ... access appear to result not from invidious discrimination, but from ordinary business-case challenges ... Read More
Technology News These Are Africa S Top Female Technology Innovators For 2017 | RobinsPost News & Noticias

In this series we will be shining a spotlight on some of the most inspiring women who are breaking down barriers, leading by example, and paving the way for the future of women in the social ... Read More We are seeing first-hand how mobile and cloud technology is accelerating growth for Africa. At the same time, we are seeing how our local innovators are using these platforms to accelerate ... Read More With companies like Google (Alphabet), Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft leading the pace as the top five largest technology stock in the world, all owned by males, female tech founders have ... Read More All technical staff in the NVI's Research and ... Science, technology and innovation can supply new solutions to the problems facing agrifood systems. Harnessing these, we will be better placed ... Read More Kibwezi, Kenya  More frequent and severe droughts in Africa ... technology with cowpea[s]. We have also tested the technology with maize, and we realized that farms where we had installed these ... Read More The MarketWatch News Department ... Electronics And Technology market Report provides In-depth analysis on the market status of the Wearable Fitness Electronics And Technology Top manufacturers ... Read More Deploying cutting-edge solutions at South Africas water treatment plants will ... while addressing the poor state of infrastructure, says technology company ABB Power and Water local ... Read More especially in this technology industry. Ortman said she was part of womens networks at firms where she previously worked and is on boards of colleges and universities where she advocates for ... Read More Some of Australias most successful businesses have started as 3:00am flashes of inspiration, a conversation with a friend, or a single shop front. Australias top female entrepreneurs have ... Read More Our journey began in 2011 with the tagline ''Big Brand Strategies For Small Business". While PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Marketing: Kylie Nero 503.560.8041 kylie.nero@fairwayamerica.com ... Read More Newsweek today announced their annual rankings for the Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces ... entrepreneurs and startups who are reshaping the region's innovation Join Brian Bandell and panelists ... Read More RALEIGH  The Triangles cities rank among the nations best for innovation, in part driven by ongoing demand for technology workers ... areas against the top 100 most populous regions ... Read More
Technology News Information Technology Company Closing North Carolina Office | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The project is worth about $1 billion total, Scott Millar, president of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation, told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday, adding that the investment will ... Read More RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  The North Carolina Department of Information Technology identified a cyber ... For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. Read More The North Carolina-based solar panel firm ... according to the Charlotte Business Journal. Ahmed Nanzeen in Stein's office said its consumer division saw a significant increase in complaints ... Read More Applications are now being accepted for a new round of grantmaking from a key source of capital for North Carolinas emerging technology companies. Read More Regals parent company ... Carolina theaters are High Point, Apex and Asheville in North Carolina and Lexington and Simpsonville in South Carolina. Regal is not the first theater closing in ... Read More Office Depot plans to close its store at 616 E. Colfax Ave. in the Cap Hill neighborhood. Large Closing signs ... a request for additional information. The company is owned by Florida ... Read More (KDKA) - The Go Ape zipline and adventure park in North Park is closing. Go Ape's treetop attraction ... but the park is landlocked so the company is looking for other opportunities. Read More but they have technology that can render images onto those lenses and render images at different perceived depths, Kopper said. Its a way for emergency workers to get real-time information ... Read More BISMARCK  North ... mining company, according to an announcement from Gov. Doug Burgum on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Burgum tapped Riley for the top job at the state's Information Technology ... Read More 2022 /CNW/ - Datable Technology Corporation (TSXV: DAC) ("Datable" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the further to its news releases dated June 20, 2022, August 9, 2022 and August 19 ... Read More North Carolina is big business for the U.K. Pre-pandemic, 37,600 North Carolinians were directly employed by U.K. subsidiaries, according to the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office. In terms of ... Read More
Travel News Trump Travel Ban Bill Clinton Appointed Judges To Decide Hawaii Appeal | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Hillary Clinton wants former President Donald Trump to fork over more than $1 million to pay her legal fees after a judge threw out his racketeering lawsuit against her in September. Read More Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is asking a federal court to order former President Trump to pay her legal fees over a suit he filed alleging she and others engaged in a ... Read More Hillary Clinton wants Donald Trump to pay legal fees after conspiracy lawsuit dismissed - The former secretary of state argues that Mr Trump and his attorneys should be forced to pay $1.06m ... Read More
Us News Us And Philippine Forces Scale Down Annual Joint Military Drills | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Stahl echoed remarks by Philippine military officials that the regularly scheduled annual exercises ... The military drills were the first large-scale exercise between the treaty allies under ... Read More A U.S. M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, fires a missile during annual combat drills ... of adversarial forces, he said. Stahl echoed remarks by Philippine military officials ... Read More
Us News Former Us Intel Chief No Evidence Of Trump Campaign Collusion With Russia | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Top U.S. election security officials say current threats to the nation's voting systems are more complex than ever. The task of protecting those systems has become increasingly more difficult as ... Read More As a long Tuesday night bled into a bleary Wednesday morning, it was still not clear whether Democrats or Republicans had won control of Congress in the pivotal 2022 midterms. Yet amid all the ... Read More
Us News Us National Security Adviser Meets Turkish Delegation In Washington | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Turkey's bid to shut down lawsuits in U.S. courts stemming from a violent brawl outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington more than five years ago ... Read More The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Turkey's bid to dismiss two lawsuits filed by demonstrators seeking monetary damages after accusing Turkish security forces of injuring them during a ... Read More Turkish president says Russia will resume participation in deal; Russian foreign and defence ministries have accused Britain of being involved ... Read More The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Turkeys bid to shut down lawsuits in U.S. courts stemming from a violent brawl outside the Turkish ambassadors residence in ... Read More
Us News Us Suspends Aid To Kenya S Health Ministry Over Corruption | RobinsPost News & Noticias

People are afraid theyll contract the virus or disease thats driving the epidemic ... human movement in Kenya during the pandemic period, as well as health ministry data about confirmed ... Read More Six regions in Kenya have been hit with cholera outbreaks including the capital Nairobi, the health ministry announced ... dyg/pvh/rox The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation ... Read More In her maiden address during the handover ceremony at Afya house, CS Wafula thanked her predecessor Senator Mutahi Kagwe for the seamless handover acknowledging the efforts by ministry officials to ... Read More The U.S. on Thursday extended the public health emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic, weeks after President Biden's controversial remarks declaring the pandemic was "over." The move extends ... Read More Pakistans high commissioner in Kenya said it was also in touch with the Kenyan police authorities and foreign ministry over the matter. The forces use of lethal violence has drawn concern ... Read More Kenya's ministry of finance ... The Kenyan government is blamed for over-borrowing in the past and overvaluing major projects, leaving the country with gigantic loans to pay back. Read More A senior Democratic US senator has blocked an additional $75m in American military aid to Egypt over concerns about the countrys human rights record. Cairo receives around $1.3bn annually in ... Read More The Bahamas Records Its First Case of Cholera Since 2017, Health Ministry Says NASSAU (Reuters) - The Bahamas has recorded its first case of cholera since 2017, the country's health ministry said ... Read More Considered a proxy for layoffs, applications for jobless aid ... that's been wobbling since early this year. The government reported Thursday that that inflation in the United States accelerated ... Read More The case centres on 1,000 documents detailing the results of research and correspondence between Philips and the health ministry about problems with the ... Your financial support has helped us to ... Read More Jessica is a writer on the Wellness team with a focus on health news ... the US Food and Drug Administration goes into effect on Oct. 17, which will allow many hearing aids to be sold over ... Read More Six regions in Kenya have been hit with cholera outbreaks including the capital Nairobi, the health ministry announced Wednesday, with a total of 60 cases registered nationwide. Cholera is an ... Read More
Us News Us Ignores Turkey S Objection Approves Arming Kurdish Forces In Syria | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The Turkish government has in the past rejected accusations of forcibly returning refugees to Syria. Turkey houses the worlds largest refugee population, mostly 3.6 million Syrians who fled the ... Read More A former Kurdish ... and US Central Commands approach of working with the Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria to fight ISIS, others believed that the US should work with Turkey and ... Read More With the worlds attention focused on Ukraine ... kind of a match for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US-backed, Kurdish-led group that together with its civilian arms is running northeastern ... Read More Officials and reports say police have detained 11 journalists affiliated with pro-Kurdish ... organization in Turkey, Europe and the United States. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events ... Read More Hikmet Adal, a reporter for Bianet, one of Turkeys oldest independent online news organizations, said the reasons for Kurdish reporters being targeted ... Just imagine what life is like for those of ... Read More Finland and Sweden's aspirations to join NATO are in doubt as Turkey has renewed its objections ... it can be the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the United States, [or] external support ... Read More US soldiers assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment ... with a barrage of missiles the US base in the Al-Omar Field in Syrias eastern Deir ez-Zur region. The channel cited several sources that ... Read More ISTANBUL (AP)  Hundreds of Syrian men and boys were detained, beaten and forcibly returned to their country by Turkish authorities over a six-month period, a leading human rights group said Monday. Read More
Us News Could North Korea Really Sink A Us Aircraft Carrier | RobinsPost News & Noticias

North Korea condemned the United States Thursday for redeploying a US aircraft carrier into the waters east ... carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The redeployment came ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea  (AP)  North Korea warned Saturday the U.S. redeployment of an aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula is causing a considerably huge negative splash in regional ... Read More North Korea has conducted an uncommon late-night missile test on the eve of an anniversary marking the founding of its Workers Party. The test came hours after a U.S. aircraft carrier task ... Read More A month after sailors on the US Navy aircraft ... of everything from sink drainage to fuel to chemicals to even sewage. The Navy just deployed its $13 billion aircraft carrier, which was both ... Read More More info A US aircraft carrier is likely to be deployed to South Koreas east coast after Pyongyangs ballistic missile test on Tuesday, a news report ... condemned North Korea's test in ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A U.S. aircraft carrier ... say the North Korean moves clearly suggest its not interested in returning to denuclearization talks until the United States and others ... Read More (Bloomberg) -- North Korea test-launched ... the border and sternly criticizing the US for deploying its USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group to the region, where it conducted joint naval drills ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A. U.S. aircraft carrier and its ... resume the nuclear diplomacy. North Korea has said it wont return to talks unless the United States drops its hostile policies ... Read More North Korea warned Saturday the U.S. redeployment of an aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula is causing a considerably huge negative splash in regional security, as it defended its ... Read More
High-performing students could receive scholarships worth $5,000 per year to attend Wisconsins public universities under a Republican bill backers said Tuesday could keep the states top young minds from going elsewhere.

But some are questioning the complex model lawmakers have devised to pay for the new scholarships, which would be funded by the proceeds from the sale of public land from one state agency to another.

The legislation would require the Department of Natural Resources to spend tens of millions of dollars to buy more than 70,000 acres owned by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands  much of which, according to a former head of the board, is land of little value that other prospective buyers have passed on.

The bills authors, Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, and Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, say the sale would generate $80 million, creating an endowment that permanently funds $5 million per year in merit-based scholarships. The program would provide aid to 1,000 in-state students at University of Wisconsin System institutions based on their standardized test scores and grade-point averages, regardless of their families financial need.

Were trying to give UW tools to keep the best and brightest here in the state, August said.

UW System President Ray Cross and state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk, a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, voiced their support for the legislation at a news conference Tuesday morning.

Cross said UW is competing with public and private colleges beyond Wisconsins borders that give students really attractive packages of merit-based financial aid, and needs to counter those offers.

Were losing too many (students), and this is a way for us to attempt to keep them and retain them, he said.

Aid could flow

to wealthy

Universities and lawmakers across the country have embraced merit-based financial aid programs in recent decades to encourage students to stay in-state for college, experts say. In other cases, the scholarship packages may be used to attract bright minds from elsewhere in a bid to boost an institutions prestige and its position in national rankings.

The legislation proposed Tuesday is an example of the former, said Rosemaria Martinelli, a senior director at Huron Consulting Group who studies higher education.

(UW is) losing so many of their top-tier students to other states and private institutions, and they want a chance to be in the mix, Martinelli said.

The state already offers some merit-based financial aid through the Wisconsin Excellence Scholarship, which gives $2,170 to the top graduate in each high school. UW-Madison is raising money from donors to fund merit scholarships as one piece of its $3.2 billion fundraising campaign.

Rules for the new scholarship  which would cover about half of the $10,488 cost of tuition and fees this year at UW-Madison  would be written by the UW System Board of Regents.

Critics, however, question whether the money spent on merit scholarships might be better used for need-based financial aid. Since students who score well on standardized tests and get good grades tend to come from affluent families, Matthew Chingos, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, said funding for the proposed scholarships will almost certainly go to those who dont have as much need for aid as their low-income peers.

Nass said low-income students already have financial aid programs available to them, and added middle-class families tend to get short-changed under current scholarship programs.

Money would come from DNR

The legislation introduced Tuesday would require the DNR to set aside $10 million per year for eight years from its stewardship program to purchase territory owned by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. The board is charged in the state constitution with selling off millions of acres of land given to Wisconsin by the federal government; the 77,000 acres, most of which are in the northern part of the state, are the last of those parcels still under the boards control.

The $80 million price tag lawmakers gave for the land is based on a 2005 assessment, said Jonathan Barry, the boards executive secretary.

Tia Nelson, a former executive secretary who resigned in 2015, noted the board has already tried to sell much of that territory, but couldnt find anyone willing to buy it.

While some of the land could be valuable for its timber, Nelson said, many parcels dont have public access and could prove burdensome and costly for the DNR to manage. Nelson noted about 70,000 of the acres were granted to the state by the federal government under the Swamp Land Act of 1850.

As the name suggests, its mostly swamp, she said. I question the value theyre attributing to that land.

Barry said the board is required to have another assessment of the land before it can be sold.

He and a DNR spokesman declined to comment on the scholarship proposal.

The DNR stewardship program acquires land to expand outdoor recreation opportunities and protect environmentally sensitive areas.

GOP lawmakers have criticized the program for taking too much land off tax rolls and generating too much debt. In 2013, Walker and legislators required the DNR to sell 10,000 acres by mid-2017. The land was to lay outside boundaries of projects like state parks or forests.

In 2015, Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature reduced stewardship borrowing to $33.25 million annually from the previous level of $50 million per year.

State Journal reporter Steven Verburg contributed to this report.

xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx
World News Dp World 10 Hurt In Crane Collapse At Dubai Main Cargo Port | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Dubai port company's Jebel Ali, Jeddah and Qingdao operations record 'strong' performance The global headwinds from higher inflation and currency fluctuations need careful watching, but DP World ... Read More Dubai, in the season ending $10 million DP World Tour Championship. Get Breaking News Alerts From Gulf News Well send you latest news updates through the day. You can manage them any time by ... Read More DP World recently hosted The India-UAE Bridge; Dubai  Indias Gateway to the World along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for key business leaders in Mumbai to showcase the role of ... Read More Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ), announced on Sunday a collaboration with DP World to support the Tumoohi Initiative. This falls in line with its ongoing commitment to empowering ... Read More DP World Limited delivered growth and efficiency in handling worldwide cargo when it announced a nine-month volume growth of 2.5 percent, almost 127 percent better than the industry average. The Dubai ... Read More Work has started on site to build a new fourth berth at DP World's London Gateway smart logistics hub, the Dubai-owned ports giant ... Over the next 10 years we have earmarked a further 1 ... Read More Subscribe to our Telegram News Service Download our mobile app This will be the first time in the championships history that the prize pool has reached 500,000. The DP World Dubai World ... Read More To date in 2022, Garcia has played in just three DP World Tour eventsthe Dubai Desert Classic, BMW International and the BMW PGA. For a player to maintain his membership, he is required to play ... Read More DP World Limited handled 59.6 million TEU (twenty ... Subscribe to our Telegram News Service Download our mobile app At a consolidated level, the operator's terminals handled 34.6 million TEU ... Read More The new routes  connecting the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East  have opened new trading opportunities for cargo owners ... from DP World Posorja at Guayaquil port, connecting ... Read More 17 (UPI) --Four people were killed and at least 25 others were injured after ... picture concerning the world's fight to curb climbing temperatures. World News // 10 hours ago 35 adult migrants ... Read More
World News Cyprus To Celebrate World Migratory Bird Day | RobinsPost News & Noticias

World Migratory Bird Day is a campaign to raise awareness and emphasize the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. Every year, the second Saturday of May and October is known as World ... Read More Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest developments and special offers! Read More The world marks World Migratory Birds Day today, with a focus on light pollution. Artificial light, which is increasing globally by at least two per cent every year, is known to adversely affect ... Read More It comes as part of World Migratory Bird Day, happening this weekend. Columbia Park Ranger Bailey Parker and her husband Clay spent part of Sunday searching for birds at the Saluda Riverwalk on ... Read More The good news is that solutions to address light ... due to take place next year in Uzbekistan. World Migratory Bird Day  Dim the Lights for Birds at Night Light pollution is the theme of ... Read More Follow Us Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) As we look forward to a better co ... Read More Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (pic), in a statement issued to mark the World Migratory Bird Day, said over 50 million migratory bird species migrated through ... Read More Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, in a statement issued to mark World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, said more than 50 million bird species migrated through the ... Read More For all latest news ... of birds that come to our country as winter or summer migrants, and as autumn and spring passage migrants. Why and how migration is important? Considering that the world ... Read More PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's World Food Day. Several local groups are holding events to talk about the importance of stopping world hunger. Chef Claude Pierre, the founder of the EAT Initiative ... Read More They have a low environmental footprint, being recognized as a "low impact protein source" by the World Resources Institute. Clearly, there are many reasons to celebrate them on World Egg Day. Read More
World News From France S Macron To Jfk A Look At Some Of The Modern World S Youngest Leaders | RobinsPost News & Noticias

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that France was ending its Barkhane anti-jihadist mission in Africa after over a decade, saying a ... Read More French President Emmanuel Macron is urging the countrys most climate-damaging industries to double their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the next decade ... Read More A rare book gifted by French President Emmanuel Macron to Pope Francis ... World War Two. Macron gave the pope the first-edition 1796 French translation of German philosopher Immanuel Kant's ... Read More France's Macron Says There Is ... it will come around at some moment," said Macron at a conference in Rome aimed at seeking ways to promote world peace. "And at a particular moment, given how ... Read More France's Macron ... leaders in Brussels sent her messages of congratulations on Saturday. Macron, who on Sunday attended a conference in Rome aimed at seeking ways to promote world peace, will ... Read More We do not want a World War. Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted: "We do not want to appease evil. Thought you guys learned that 70 years ago." Macron's comments that France ... Read More "We do not want a World War." Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 13, 2022 But France has been criticized for giving low levels of support compared to many other of Ukraine's allies in ... Read More But the world has ... the largest in France, has been on strike, disrupting fuel deliveries throughout the country.Credit...Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times Mr. Macrons opposition ... Read More "There is the prospect for peace, it will come around at some moment," said Macron at a conference in Rome aimed at seeking ways to promote world peace ... Sunday with France's Armed Forces ... Read More PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held talks in Rome on Sunday in the first, though informal, meeting between the two ... Read More
World News The World S Greatest Chef Went To Mexico And Was Blown Away By The Local Ingredients | RobinsPost News & Noticias

One of the world's greatest ... head chef role at a brand-new restaurant in Napa Valley called Auberge du Soleil. He accepted, and Le Plaisir elected to close down rather than try to go on without ... Read More Odd News // 2 days ago World's largest bread mosaic created in Mexico Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Bakers in Mexico teamed up to create 20,689 loaves of bread and assemble them into the world's largest bread ... Read More As the inaugural list of Mexicos Best Employers reveals ... Mexico is the 15th largest exporter in the world, and roughly 80% of exports go to the U.S, says Verhoogen. Read More George Mason University economist and blogger Bryan Caplan has made a career out of killing sacred cows and cooking them into great steaks. His first book, The Myth of the Rational Voter, took on ... Read More (CNN)  It's one of the best parts ... in with their local expertise with the aim of creating the ultimate guide, spotlighting 51 of the coolest neighborhoods in the world. Read More And they proved it by barking excitedly and slobbering all over my pants. They were the worlds greatest greeters. If they had worked in a restaurant, in which case the joint would have closed ... Read More Mexico City with four; and Barcelona with three bars, including No. 1 Paradiso and No. 3 Sips. Buenos Aires, Athens and Dubai each had three of the Worlds Best Bars as well. When we get ... Read More Since 1971, Travel + Leisure editors have followed one mission: to inform, inspire, and guide travelers to have deeper, more meaningful experiences. T+L's editors have traveled to countries all ... Read More Harvard University has been ranked the best school in the world, according to a new report from U.S. News and World Report. In U.S. News and World Reports 2022-2023 Best Global Universities ... Read More
World News Story Actor Antonio Sabato Jr Running For California House Seat | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The University of Virginias Sabatos Crystal Ball predicted on Wednesday that Republicans will notch the majority in the House with the November midterms now less than two weeks away. The elections ... Read More
World News Story Aclu Sues Trump Admin For Documents On Deadly Yemen Raid | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The Justice Department on Friday appealed a Florida judges appointment of a special master to review documents seized by FBI agents during a raid on former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago ... Read More Some aspects of the raid remain secret more than a decade later, he added. The seizure of top secret documents ... of the Obama administration and the first two years of the Trump administration. Read More Investigators seized some 11,000 documents in the raid to recover what the ... documents held at Mar-a-Lago. But Trump has not been charged. After Trump sued, that court appointed an independent ... Read More In a phone conference, the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, complained that the log of an initial batch of documents over which Trump is seeking ... Read More Two previous caches of documents returned from Trumps possession to the National Archives and Records Administration earlier ... were now leaking to news outlets about the investigation. Read More The Justice Department is reportedly increasing pressure on key witnesses in the investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of documents after leaving office. Two people in ... Read More Ever since Donald Trump descended the escalator in 2015 to announce his run for the presidency, every arm of the Left's prodigious propaganda machinery (the media, Hollywood, academia, the ... Read More Thousands of documents were seized in August ... than 11,000 documents seized by the FBI in its August raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. The DOJ argues that U.S. district ... Read More It's Amy here with today's top stories out of Washington. After the military raid that killed ... with Donald Trump's assertion that as president he could declassify documents merely by thinking ... Read More
Angola, which is a major supplier of rough diamonds to the world market, is to hold parliamentary elections in August 2017, in the run-up to which some publications of the past years dedicated to diamonds once again look relevant. One of such articles was published in 2014 by Maka Angola, a website run by journalist Rafael Marques de Morais.

(makaangola.org) - Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of the Angolan president, is the main beneficiary of the diamond trade in Angola. This involves simple arrangements in Angola, and more sophisticated ones abroad. Forbes magazine recently published an article in which this author investigates the partnership set up by Isabel dos Santos, through her husband Sindika Dokolo, and the Angolan state for the acquisition of the Swiss jeweller De Grisogono. This brand is known to be the favorite choice of movie stars and fashion celebrities including Sharon Stone and Heidi Klum. Maka Angola expands on this investigation and puts it in context.


GCT Deltaport

The largest container vessel to call Canada arrived on May 5 at Global Container Terminals (GCT) Deltaport, located in the Port of Vancouver. The port was able to attract the vessel due in part to its enhanced rail connections.

GCT Canada said the Hapag-Lloyd vessel is the first of a progressive ship upsizing that has been deployed as part of the Transport High Efficiency (THE) Alliances Transpacific mainline West Coast PN3 service.

Our dedicated PN3 shuttle service is a competitive East West product with short transit times, said Wolfgang Schoch, senior vice president of Hapag-Lloyd (Canada). Working together with our supply chain partners, through this facility our cargo reaches more than 20 destinations across Canada and the US Midwest.

Improved transit times and the ability to reach various destinations were made possible through GCT Deltaports recently completed Intermodal Yard Reconfiguration project. The CA$280-million (US$204-million) project increases rail capacity by more than 50 percent within the yards existing footprint and enables the port to better handle big ship surge volumes.

GCT Deltaport also credits improved rail transit times on collaboration between itself and its rail partners: Canadian National and Canadian Pacific.

CP is proud of its relationship with GCT Canada and Hapag-Lloyd, and looks forward to unlocking future international intermodal growth as a result of the improvements at GCT Deltaport, said John Brooks, CPs senior vice-president and chief marketing officer. CPs customers enjoy the fastest service from Vancouver to Minneapolis, Chicago and beyond and in close collaboration with our supply chain partners, we will continue to leverage our competitive advantage.

CNs vast network connects the Canadian West Coast Gateway to the largest number of destinations across Canada and the United States and is big ship and big alliance ready, said Keith Reardon, vice president of intermodal and automotive at CN.

CN notes that with its acquisition and integration of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, CN is able to offer the fastest route from Asia to the Midwest.

Our service level agreements with ports and partners across North America has created the fastest and most reliable supply chain from Asia to our customers front doors. We provide truck and rail options to efficiently move freight from the port and GTC to final destinations from Toronto to Detroit to Chicago to Memphis and beyond, Reardon said.
Canada will headquarter its new infrastructure bank in Toronto, ON, and has also launched an intense search for the bank's senior leadership.

We are excited to be taking this next step towards the creation of the bank, said Canadian Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi. We will be looking for talented and experienced leaders from across the country to ensure that the Bank meets its mandate: build more infrastructure for Canadians that will create growth and equip our communities for a more sustainable and productive future.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank is part of the Canadian governments CA$180-billion (US$131.1-million) Investing in Canada infrastructure plan that will commit up to CA$35 billion (US$25.5 billion) from the federal government into new infrastructure projects that contribute to economic growth and support the creation of middle class jobs.

Former Metrolinx President and CEO Bruce McCuaig began an advisory position with the Privy Council Office in late April to help support the launch of the new infrastructure bank. Minister Sohi said the search for the banks senior leadership will be open, transparent and merit-based with the goal of having the bank operational in late 2017. The government will first select a chairperson of the board, followed by the board of directors and chief executive officer.

While the bank will be set up to finance infrastructure in all parts of Canada, the government said decision to headquarter it in Toronto was based on the citys established global reputation for excellence as a center for infrastructure financing.
Industrial production and foreign trade from Germany are due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 1.45 am ET, Swiss unemployment data is due for April. The jobless rate is forecast to fall to 3.3 percent in April from 3.4 percent in March.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany's industrial production and foreign trade figures for March. Economists forecast industrial output to fall 0.7 percent on month in March, reversing a 2.2 percent rise in February.

Germany's exports are forecast to grow 0.2 percent on month in March, following a 0.8 percent rise in February.

At 2.30 am ET, the Bank of France is scheduled to issue sentiment survey results. The index is forecast to remain unchanged at 103 in April.

At 3.00 am ET, the Czech Statistical Office is set to issue retail sales and external trade for March. Sales are forecast to grow 7.2 percent annually after rising 1.1 percent in February.

In the meantime, Hungary's preliminary foreign trade data is due. The trade surplus is expected to rise to EUR 898 million in March from EUR 881 million in February.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy's statistical office Istat releases retail sales data for March. Economists forecast sales to grow 0.2 percent on month in March, reversing a 0.3 percent fall in February.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Hungary's foreign trade surplus decreased in March from a year ago, as imports grew faster than exports, preliminary figures from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office showed Tuesday.

The trade surplus dropped slightly to EUR 956 million in March from EUR 957.5 million in the corresponding month last year. Economists had expected a surplus of EUR 898 million for the month.

Exports advanced 18.0 percent year-over-year in March and imports expanded by 21.0 percent.

The share of EU member states was 80 percent in exports and 74 percent in imports.

During the first quarter of this year, total trade surplus of the country was EUR 2.47 billion versus EUR 2.54 billion in the same period of 2016.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Indian shares ended on a flat note on Tuesday as investors booked some profits in recent outperformers and looked ahead to quarterly earnings from Bharti Airtel and Hero MotoCorp for further direction.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session up 7.10 points or 0.02 percent at 29,933, while the broader Nifty index inched up 2.80 points or 0.03 percent to 9,316.85.

Among the top gainers, Wipro, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro and IOC rose 1-3 percent. Hero MotoCorp, Lupin, Bharti Airtel and Aurobindo Pharma were among the prominent decliners.

Globally, Asian stocks fell from a two-year high as the French election euphoria faded and a lack of fresh catalysts kept investors on the sidelines.

European stocks rose in early trade, with a weaker euro, higher oil prices and a raft of well-received corporate earnings helping underpin investor sentiment.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
A Syrian family who reunited after suing President Donald Trump over his travel bans is now settling into life in Wisconsin.

Ahmad, 32, and his wife, Iman, spoke to the Associated Press at their lawyers office last week through an interpreter. They requested only their first names be used to protect family members still in danger in Aleppo, Syria.

I feel like Im dreaming because an impossible thing became possible, Iman, 25, said of their reunion and new Madison apartment with views of trees, squirrels and children on their way to school. Waking up in Wisconsin made me regain my feeling of being safe. ... Waking up in Aleppo was a nightmare.

Iman and the couples 3-year-old daughter had been living in hiding in an apartment regularly shaken by bombings and hit by gunfire. Iman said now their daughter is enjoying trips to Chuck E. Cheeses, going on walks without hearing gunshots and time with her father after not seeing him for three years.

Ahmad, who according to his lawsuit was imprisoned and tortured by opposing military factions in Syria, came to Wisconsin in 2014 and received asylum status two years later. After Trump issued a January executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Syria, lawyers from two law firms  Pines Bach in Madison and Holwell Shuster and Goldberg in New York  suggested Ahmad file a lawsuit alleging the ban stalled his petitions to bring his wife and daughter to join him.

One of his attorneys, Vincent Levy, said after U.S. District Judge William Conley barred Trump from imposing the ban on the family, the federal government expedited the familys visa interviews, leading to a cheerful reunion in a crowded terminal of Chicagos OHare Airport.

Spokeswomen for the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Customs and Immigration Services declined to comment on what prompted the action. Trump said the ban and its subsequent replacement, which remains largely blocked by courts, were meant to prevent foreign terrorists from entering the country. Iman said it prevented innocent victims from escaping dangerous conditions like those in Syria.

Ahmad, whose mother and several other relatives also live in Madison, said hed been consumed by worry as conditions deteriorated in Aleppo.

Every morning when I woke up, I had fears Id get a phone call with bad news that I lost one of them, similar to the call I got when my son was killed, he said.

The couples son died in 2015 at age 3 after their building was hit by artillery fire and he fell three stories trying to escape.

I dont like talking about him, Iman said through tears. It brings back too much.

Iman had never traveled outside of Syria before embarking on the grueling, weekslong journey last month that took her through Lebanon to Jordan and onto the U.S., which was all the more complicated traveling alone with an active 3-year-old.

As the couple spoke, their daughter happily crawled from one parents lap to the others, taking a break to play with Arabic counting blocks on the floor and playing a Syrian game with her mother that involves darting out of the way as Iman pretends to be a fly buzzing toward her.

Ahmad, who managed his fathers sporting goods business in Syria before it was destroyed in the civil war, worked as a chef at the now-closed Palmyra Mediterranean Grill in Downtown Madison before becoming a delivery driver.

When asked about their worries now, Ahmad and Iman looked at each other and smiled.

Everything is wiped out, Iman said. As long as Im with Ahmad, Im fine.
Senate Republicans have indicated they will take their time in crafting legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, but House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is optimistic a bill can be passed within the next couple of months.

Ryan told Fox News on Tuesday he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., after the House approved a healthcare bill and urged him to move quickly.

"The legislation should not take that long. Hopefully it takes a month or two to get it through the Senate," Ryan said on "Fox & Friends." "Hopefully it takes a month or two because we need to give people the ability to plan."

He added, "The insurers are pulling out very, very quickly. And we need to show the insurers there's a better system coming. Stay in the market."

However, Senate Republicans have indicated they plan to craft their own healthcare legislation rather than vote on the bill that passed the House.

Following the vote in the House, Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., stressed that there will be no "artificial deadlines" for passing a bill in the Senate.

Alexander, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, will play a key role in crafting the Senate bill.

A working group that includes Alexander, moderate Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and conservative Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tex., has reportedly been meeting to begin writing a Senate healthcare bill.

Nonetheless, Ryan expressed confidence that lawmakers will be able to reconcile any differences between the House and Senate bills.

The House voted 217 to 213 in favor of the Republican bill known as the American Health Care Act last Thursday, narrowly clearing the hurdle of the 216 votes needed.

Republicans have a much narrower majority in the Senate and can only afford two defections on any potential legislation.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm...

3 weeks ago
Here are the unofficial results for Saline County in the 2022 election
Dear Editor

Re: Economic reasons force 400 women to sex work

Yep, was inevitable this situation would occur. Ive been watching the desperation in Samoa increase, a plea for help ignored and now this.

Educating the people is paramount especially in colleges as the age of sex workers is younger.

Have them realise they can die and their children suffer and die as well. Who will support the babies/children victims of this, when the father is unknown?

Born with defects including alcohol syndrome from this coupled with alcohol use.

Do they realise it can be transmitted other ways not just sexual. Set up safe houses and provide education with condoms.

Get the kids off the street, ban them after dark. Here comes the next tsunami.

Samoan Princessy
The Ministry of Police has expressed their concern regarding the growing number of murder cases where alcohol has been a pivotal factor.

Police Spokesperson, Sua Le Mamea Tiumalu said Samoa is not what it used to be. There is a huge change in our country and the number of murder cases in Samoa has increased significantly.

Nowadays alcohol plays a huge part in these crimes, says Sua.

He believes that in most of the murder cases they investigate, the parties had no intention of committing murder but when anger is fuelled by alcohol, the end result is never good.

Sua said in the meantime, all the Ministry can do is advise people.

If youre upset, go get some air to clear your mind. Dont turn to alcohol as that will only make the situation worse.

He pointed to a recent case of a 45-year-old, father of Vaoala who died of severe injuries following a drinking session that went wrong.

According to Sua, there was a dispute between the victim, Konelio Peteru and his drinking buddies.

Three men have since been arrested and charged with murder and they were scheduled to appear in the Supreme Court yesterday.

Sua said the victim suffered a severe cut to his neck and his face was badly injured.

It appears the wound on his neck was from a sharp object. An autopsy will be required in this case.

He was admitted to hospital in critical condition on Thursday and he died on Saturday, due to the severity of his injuries.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Ahn Cheol-soo's supporters believe that as South Korean president he'll rise above a political culture long bogged down by corruption and factional bickering. His critics say the former computer software mogul is torn between his slogans that cater to both liberal and conservative voters.

Opinion surveys see Ahn as coming in second in Tuesday's vote to Moon Jae-in, who seems to be capitalizing on conservative disarray following the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye, who was jailed in March on corruption charges.

However, South Korean elections can be tricky to predict because the electorate is deeply split along ideological lines. Surveys have suggested Ahn was attracting conservative voters disappointed by Park but who continue to dislike Moon, who calls for engagement with belligerent North Korea.

Ahn says he, instead of a more traditional politician like Moon, can better rebuild the country after Park's fall, which he says exposed a decades-long "accumulation of evils," such as abuse of presidential power and corruptive ties between politicians and big businesses.

Ahn wants to curb the excess of the "chaebol," referring to a privileged group of family-owned conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai, which have been criticized for bribing politicians for business favors and unfairly crushing smaller companies in competition. Ahn's ideas include strengthening the powers of the country's fair trade watchdog so that it could break up companies with excessive market shares.

Ahn mixes his reform calls with business-friendly promises, such as stronger financial support for small and medium-sized companies and start-ups in technology sectors.

Ahn's stance on North Korea has often caused confusion as he tries to please both conservatives and his many supporters in the southwest Jeolla region, who have traditionally supported rapprochement with the North.

After initially opposing the move, Ahn flip-flopped to support a decision by Washington and Seoul to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, to cope with North Korean threats. This has drawn criticism from some members of his own party who oppose the deployment over fears of worsened relations with China, which sees the system as a security threat.

Ahn criticizes the hard line Park took against North Korea and also the Obama administration's "strategic patience" policy to wait out the North, saying neither approach did anything to prevent Pyongyang from speeding up its nuclear weapons and missiles development.

After working as a medical professor and navy doctor, Ahn in 1995 established AhnLab, which became South Korea's largest maker of antivirus software. Ahn resigned as AhnLab's CEO in 2005 and taught at universities before entering politics ahead of the 2012 presidential election, when his rivalry with Moon began.

The two competed to stand for liberals before Ahn, then an independent, bowed out at the last minute. Moon went on to lose the election to Park.

After the 2012 setback, Ahn briefly joined Moon's Democratic Party before leaving and creating his own party for parliamentary elections in April last year. His People's Party then won 38 seats after dominating the Democratic Party in its traditional stronghold in the Jeolla region.
Poor quality of healthcare; $10million NZD spent on sending patients off island for treatment; too much money spent on hiring top officials rather than funding going to clinical services; triplicating of work and lack of working relationship between the sectors are among the many reasons the merge is appropriate between the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.), National Health Services (N.H.S.) and National Kidney Foundation (N.K.F.S.).

This is according to Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr Leao Talalelei Tuitama in response to Samoa Observer questions regarding the merge.

In his office, Tuitama explained that its been 10 years since N.H.S. and the M.O.H. were separated.

Over the years, the problems of offices not working together and the services not being up to par, have continued.

Its apparent that the Ministry does its own thing, they are not working together, yet each Ministry cannot work without the other."

They need the cooperation of one another, this is the reason behind the problems that have occurred. He said another reason is the lack of appropriate health care services as the Ministrys priority is not the right place.

$10 MILLION SPENT TO SEND PATIENTS OVERSEAS

He pointed out there is a lack of appropriate equipment for better health care, the lack of experts and specialists and also the government is spending more than $10million NZD sending patients for treatment off island.

And this is every year. Yet because we have a new hospital, the service should be up to par.

The Minister said the question had been asked as to why the services were not up to par despite the new hospital.

It is expected the health care should be somewhat at the top level.

Its unclear why the hospital hasnt hired experts and specialists to conduct heart surgery, Ear Nose and Throat (E.N.T.) specialists and eye doctors."

We have a good hospital and we should be able to bring in the latest equipment to better the services but thats not happening.

HIRING AT TOP LEVEL, MONEY NOT GOING TO SERVICES

The Minister is especially concerned with the increasing numbers of people utilizing the dialysis clinic and it raises the questions as to why. Yet there are managers, assistant managers, officials with their assistants, the management has increased and depriving the clinical services, funds should go to these services, another reason which has prompted the move for a better change for the Ministry.

Tuitama pointed out that 100+ people are employed with the corporate service at MOH, almost the same number of people are working for N.H.S. and N.K.F.S yet these three agencies have the same goals."

Do we need all these corporate services, the increasing numbers of management personnel and yet the clinical services are starving.

TRIPLICATING OF SERVICES

The top management is quite heavy creating all the new positions and in doing so they are there is duplication of services.

According to Tuitama, N.H.S. is mandated by M.O.H. in terms of Human Resources and quality assurance but it appears, they have hired their own people do to the same job and this means not only duplication of work, but also triplicating of services.

Aside from the management level each of the agencies has their own boards.

This is service provider not a revenue earner and the government is not looking for money using our hospital."

The government is paying to take members of public off island, if the operation cannot be done locally, its the responsibility of the government to send the people off island to get treatment."

Because it is the responsibility of the government.... $10million that is... yet the hospital is not prioritizing the public.

These are some of the most difficult predicaments behind the move to merge these ministries.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM EXPERTS

According to Tuitama there were recommendations by experts who visited Samoa and have given the advice and suggested to merge the services to minimize the excess.

The Minister said merging is nothing new to the government, and Samoa is not the only country thats done this.

He pointed out that in the government there are ministries which have been created and established, yet in not even 10 years, they are back under the umbrella in which were once separated from.

If we see the problem we have to fix it right away. We don't wait; we act immediately. Prevention is better than cure, said the Minister.

SPECIALISTS FROM OFF ISLAND

The Minister also indicated that currently there are a mission, group of heart surgeons in Samoa and they are conducting valve replacements. It costs the government $50,000 for one operation and we had 14 operations conducted by this group.

The government has saved a lot of money, but this guided mission is kind of a goodwill mission. Our main core is to cater to the needs of these people, but we cant just rely on the goodwill of others.

We need to stand on our own two feet, it is up to these people to help us or not.

The Minister pointed out the need to increase our own capacity to extend our own ability to deal with our own problems.

So based on those reasons and many others I cannot discuss with you fully, not because I don't want to, but simply because we don't have enough time, there a lot things involved that have an impact on the management issues.

The government feels that it is appropriate time and it is the right move at this time to merge in order to minimize the impact at the management level.
A forum in Lemon Grove brought into focus the crime of human trafficking with a compelling documentary by a local filmmaker.

The event was held Monday at Lemon Grove Academy to raise community and parental awareness about the growing global issue.

Lemon Grove School District Superintendent Ernie Anastos and Academy Principal Rick Oser, and several of the academys students and their parents were among the nearly 100 residents who attended the two-hour discussion.

Advertisement

My hope is that (students) continue to be leaders and continue to know how to protect themselves and also to be advocates to their peers, Oser said. This is a difficult topic. We as citizens want to put the blinders on and pretend it doesnt exist, but as all of you know, it is right here. Its not just a school issue, but a public issue.

San Diego County has been identified by the FBI as one of the top 13 high intensity child prostitution areas.

Lemon Grove and Spring Valley are two of the most impacted areas for the number of human trafficking victims, said Ilse Hanning of the Lemon Grove Soroptimist Club, which helped present the program.

The audience watched a 33-minute film by Lemon Grove filmmaker Jim Ellis titled Indoctrinated: The Grooming of our Children into Prostitution. The film included interviews with former victims who were able to escape from human trafficking.

Former San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn narrates the film and shares some sobering statistics  300,000 children in the United States are at risk annually.

It is the most neglected form of child abuse, Gwinn said in the film. Children are brainwashed into life they do not truly choose. Theres a false sense of security and worth.

A panel of experts included:

Victim services supervisor Lisa Nugent of the District Attorneys Office

Violeta Mora of the San Diego County Office of Education

San Diego Sheriffs Sgt. Matt Blumenthal

Mary Delozier of Open Door Ministry, a faith-based support group in Spring Valley

Charisma De Los Reyes, trafficking and exploitation liaison for child welfare services in San Diego County

Some of what the panel noted:



Predators find victims as young as 10 years old at shopping centers, around schools and through the internet.

The number of victims recruited under their parents radar via computer and cell phone is rising.

Most sex trafficking activity is controlled by street gangs, some of which have turned to prostitution as their top source of income.

Predators often woo the victims with promises of fancy purses, expensive clothes and a glamorous lifestyle.

The need to belong is seen time and again in victims of human trafficking, many of whom are runaways.

De Los Reyes said, One of the things that makes a difference that we hear is that (the victim wanted to know) that someone was looking for me when I was missing. 

Society has given up on such kids, thinking theyre out of control and they dont want to listen, De Los Reyes said. That attitude really needs to change.

What we can do better is not only intervening but really doing true prevention, about what are really healthy and unhealthy relationships. she said. At 15, nobody should ever lay their hands on you.

De Los Reyes said that human trafficking needs to be attacked on all sides, including those who are buying sex at $810 million dollars per year in our county. That is a lot of revenue.
Opening statements began Monday in the retrial of a former headmaster at a Carlsbad military school accused of repeatedly molesting a ninth-grade cadet nearly 20 years ago.

Eighteen months ago, an earlier jury deadlocked in the case against former Army and Navy Academy headmaster Jeffrey Barton, 59, The new trial could run through the end of the month, with testimony starting Tuesday.

Prosecutors are retrying Barton on 11 felony charges accusing him of repeatedly molesting a cadet from 1999 to 2001, both on campus and during out-of-town trips. During the first trial, two other former Army and Navy students testified they had been abused by Barton, but he was acquitted on those charges.

Advertisement

Barton faces a prison sentence of 88 years if convicted. He is jailed in lieu of $1 million bail, and has been in custody since his 2013 arrest.

On Monday, prosecutor Patricia Lavermicocca told the jury that the victim, referred to only as John Doe, will testify about repeated abuse by Barton, who she said used his position of power to isolate and groom the cadet with gifts and special attention.

Doe has said Barton began molesting him not long after he started attending the military boarding school in 1999. Lavermicocca said the powerless boy was left confused and helpless, sure he would not be believed  especially since Barton was a respected school official, and he had gained the trust of his mother.

Who would believe a 14-year-old boy over the defendant? Lavermicocca asked.

She said the boy reluctantly went along with the molestation just to get through his freshman year, because his mother said he could come back home if he stayed out of trouble. When his mom reneged and had him return to the school he ended up withdrawing. The next few years were troubled for the boy, who ended up in foster care and also used drugs, she said.

Deputy Public Defender Sherry Stone told the jury that John Doe waited years and years before accusing Barton. She said the case comes down to the credibility of the accuser, and noted that he filed a civil suit against Barton and the military academy in 2016. (The civil trial is scheduled to start in August.)

Jeffrey Barton treated John Doe with kindness. John Doe has used that kindness to extract money, Stone told the jury.

Before the current case, Carlsbad police had twice before investigated Barton, once in 2000 and again in 2010, after adults reported suspicious behavior with particular cadets. In each instance, the cadets  including Doe  denied abuse, and the investigations fizzled.

But in 2013, Doe came forward. Lavermicocca said he had lied back in 2000 because he was not ready to disclose sexual abuse.

His accusations uncovered more alleged victims, and led to Bartons first trial in fall 2015. At the end of that month-long proceeding, a North County jury deadlocked as to all counts accusing Barton of molesting John Doe.

That same jury also cleared Barton on four charges alleging he drugged and molested two middle-school cadets during a 1997 ski trip. However, the jury hung on a fifth count related to one of those cadets. But the prosecution chose not to retry Barton on that count;

The retrial will include testimony from two additional accusers  strangers to each other  whose allegations date to the mid 1980s and cover boarding schools in other states.

Although Barton is not formally charged with molesting the additional accusers, the jury can consider their testimony as potentially corroborating evidence.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
It takes only one look at Dwayne, a rescued retriever mix whose face and leg have been severely deformed by abuse, to want to help.

Thats all it took for the directors at Helen Woodward Animal Center to take in Dwayne on Saturday after his photos were emailed to them from an animal shelter in Tijuana.

And it took less than 24 hours for an online fundraising campaign launched Monday to exceed the $20,000 needed for the surgeries Dwayne will need to recover.

Advertisement

Dr. Patricia Carter, chief veterinarian at Helen Woodwards Center Companion Animal Hospital, said the 18-month-old black-and-white dog had an extremely hard start in life. But thanks to the publics help, hes poised for a happy future.

It was heart-rending to look at those photos, said Carter, whos fostering Dwayne at her home until hes ready for adoption in a few months. But even with all hes been through, hes just a love. Theres not a mean bone in his body.

Carter said shes never seen a more extreme case of animal abuse. Shes also been shocked that despite his human-caused injuries, hes still friendly, affectionate and trusting. Thats how he got his name. When he arrived Saturday, center officials nicknamed him for Dwayne The Rock Johnson, the affable wrestler turned film star. It symbolizes the dogs strength and kind nature.

Veterinarian Patricia Carter of Helen Woodward Animal Center shows how a tight wire binding around Dwaynes muzzle severely deformed the bones and soft tissue on his face. (Pam Kragen/San Diego U-T)

According to neighbors and shelter officials in Tijuana, Dwayne was raised by a man who would kick and beat the dog with a stick at nights when he came home drunk. The repeated injuries permanently dislocated Dwaynes right elbow, which protrudes at an odd angle and causes a painful limp, and also dislocated his right hip.

Then when Dwayne was around six to nine months old, the man bound his muzzle with a crude wire harness to keep him from barking. The wire was never removed, so as the dog grew, the wire cut deeper and deeper into his upper and lower facial bones, gums and mouth until they were permanently deformed. Also, much of his hair fell out due to malnutrition, because the binding and deformities limited his ability to eat and drink.

Neighbors said they called animal officials, but nothing was done, and when the man was sent to jail last fall on an unrelated offense, the dog was turned out on the streets. People found the dogs appearance so disgusting, they threw rocks and pots of boiling water at him to scare him away.

Finally in December, a San Diego woman named Elsa who rescues street dogs in Mexico found Dwayne and took him to a shelter in Tijuana. There, with help from a donor in Arizona, the wire was removed from his face, he was neutered and given food and basic medical care.

But his problems werent over. When a shelter volunteer took Dwayne and another dog out for a walk a few months ago, two pit bulls jumped over a neighboring fence and attacked them. The smaller dog was killed and Dwayne was severely bitten on the neck, lost most of his left ear and his right ear was torn in two.

Carter said that Dwayne was originally scheduled to be sent to a shelter in San Francisco, but when officials there saw the photos of his injuries last week, they backed out. Thats when they reached out to Carter.

I immediately called our president, Carter said. You cant look at this dog and not want to do everything in your power to help him.

Mike Arms, president and CEO of Helen Woodward, said he couldnt believe it when he saw the photos. Arms insisted they take him in immediately.

This beautiful dog took all the despicable abuse and neglect man can show to an animal and still he wouldnt turn on mankind, Arms said.

Dwayne has a long recovery ahead. Thanks to surgery, his ears are healing and with proper nutrition and medical care, his hair is beginning to grow back . Next, hell see a specialty surgeon to determine if his elbow can be repaired. Carter plans to do a procedure to put his hip back in its socket. Finally, theyll tackle his face.

The compressed bones on the top of his muzzle have obstructed Dwaynes nasal passages so he cant breathe normally. The compression on the sides and bottom of his mouth caused his lips to hang in an inverted V-pattern, exposing his teeth and gums and causing food and water to spill out when he eats. Carter said it could take several surgeries to improve his breathing and close up the gaps in his mouth.

Since the center posted Dwaynes story on its website Monday, a flood of donations and several adoption requests have poured in.

Carter said shed keep him herself if she didnt already have three dogs at home. But she promises that whoever adopts Dwayne will be one lucky owner.

Shelter spokeswoman Mindy Wright said the center will look for an adoptive family where Dwayne can be the star of the show.

He has had such a hard time that he needs to be the center of attention, Wright said. Its his turn to be spoiled.

To learn more about Dwayne, visit animalcenter.org/RescueDwayne.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
The Chula Vista City Council, along with the Planning Commission, recently passed a resolution accepting a report that revealed five of 11 city services were out of compliance with specific sets of standards.

Each year, an oversight group submits its annual report, which identifies growth management issues that affect residents daily life.

The group is in place to ensure public facilities, services and infrastructure keep up with new development and revitalization.

Advertisement

The 2017 report covers fiscal year 2016, which ended June 30, and was presented to the Planning Commission at a workshop April 27.

The five non-compliant areas include:

libraries

police priority 1 and 2

traffic

fire/EMS

parks and recreation

For libraries, the city should stay at or above the citywide ratio of 500 gross square feet of library space per 1,000 residents. Chula Vista hasnt met this standard for the 13th consecutive year.

The group recommended that the City Council direct the city manager to prioritize libraries just below public safety.

This would include increases to the librarys total operating budget, including materials and staffing, said Eric Mosoigo, vice-chair of the growth management oversight commission.

Police response standards are subdivided into priority 1 (emergency calls) and priority 2 (urgent calls).

Police are expected to respond to at least 81 percent of priority 1 calls within 7 minutes, 30 seconds and maintain an average response time of 6 minutes or less.

Police are expected to respond to priority 2 calls within 12 minutes or less.

The priority 1 average response time missed the 6-minute threshold standard by 31 seconds.

The priority 2, 12-minute threshold standard response time has not been met for the last 19 years.

The Police Department reported that increasing staffing levels and purchasing new equipment would help it improve priority 2 response times.

In addition, a new computer aided dispatch system expected to be installed later this year is expected to improve response times and provide more accurate data.

Traffic standards are different for urban and non-urban streets.

Non-urban must maintain a level of service of C or better as measured by an observed average travel speed segments except during peak hours, and urban streets D or better.

All urban streets complied with the traffic standard, and one non-urban segment did not: Palomar Street between Industrial Boulevard and Broadway.

City engineers attributed the failure to the rail crossing at Palomar Street, where traffic at the Palomar Trolley Station causes back-ups onto Palomar Street.

City staff is currently working with the San Diego Association of Governments to separate the grade at the rail crossing from vehicle and foot traffic.

Fire and emergency medical services are expected to respond to calls within 7 minutes in at least 80 percent of the cases.

It has failed to meet the threshold standard for six consecutive years.

The average response time of 6 minutes 15 seconds was one second longer than last year. Average dispatch and turn-out times improved, but the average travel time was 34 seconds slower.

The fire and EMS response times in western Chula Vista are significantly better when compared to those in eastern Chula Vista, which are significantly longer.

Fire stations 6, 7 and 8, all in eastern Chula Vista, continue to struggle to meet the standard due to location, geography, the number of homes and software deficiencies.

The citys fire facility master plan suggests the department moving from the current three-person staffing model to putting four people on each engine. This would increase efficiency on medical calls and reduce fire company on-scene times.

Parks and recreation fell out of compliance from last year with 2.83 acres per 1,000 residents, falling just below the threshold standard of three acres of neighborhood and community parkland per 1,000 residents east of Interstate 805.

Our recommendation is the City Council approve an update to the parks and recreation master plan by fall of 2017, Mosoigo said.

The remaining six areas were found to be in compliance.
Jeremy Denk  one of the nations leading pianists  returns to San Diego in a program that will close the La Jolla Music Societys acclaimed piano series. Denk, winner of the 2013 MacArthur Genius Fellowship, will perform a mix of Baroque, classical and ragtime pieces, including work by the King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin and conclude with Schuberts Piano Sonata in B-flat major. Denk has performed all over the world, including with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra. A lecture will precede the concert with UC San Diego literature professor Steven Cassedy talking about Writing music for the piano from the Baroque to modern.

La Jolla Music Society presents Jeremy Denk: 7:30 p.m. Friday. La Jolla Presbyterian Church, 7715 Draper St., La Jolla. $30-$80. (858) 459-3728 or ljms.org

Twitter: @outdoorlivingsd

Advertisement

michael.rocha@sduniontribune.com
The hit Netflix series 13 Reasons Why is a drama about a teenage girl named Hannah who commits suicide and leaves behind audio tapes for the 13 people she says played a part in her decision to take her own life. Since the shows debut on March 31, 13 Reasons Why has become an internet sensation and a pop-culture phenomenon. It was recently named the most tweeted show of 2017, and Netflix just announced it has renewed the show for a second season.

The series is a work of fiction based on the best-selling young-adult novel by Jay Asher, but the response by young viewers is real and really intense. So are the concern and controversy.

And in San Diego, this work of fiction feels too close to real life. On Monday, San Diego police announced that the 15-year-old Torrey Pines High School student who was fatally shot by two police officers after he pulled a BB gun on them over the weekend had a suicide note in his jacket pocket.

Advertisement

The show is out there. Everyone is talking about it, said Azmaira Maker, a licensed clinical psychologist with a practice in Carmel Valley. It is scaring parents, and I think there is a lot of anxiety around it. The show raises alarms and creates awareness, but it doesnt give us the tools to deal with it. It doesnt educate parents about warning signs, and it doesnt talk about what we can do to help.

Like the book, the series is constructed as a mystery. Readers and viewers know from the beginning that Hannah killed herself, but why? And who is to blame? With its graphic scenes of partying and violence and its keen eye for the hothouse drama of high school life, 13 Reasons Why is the kind of compulsively watchable show that is made for the streaming-TV format, where all 13 episodes were available as soon as the show appeared on viewers Netflix queues.

While young viewers are binge-watching and sharing their thoughts on social media, parents and mental health professionals have been waving red flags about the shows possible effect on vulnerable young people.

My biggest concern with teenagers is you dont always know their emotional and cognitive functioning level and their emotional stability level, Maker said. For one group of teenagers, it can be educational. But for others, it can be a high risk for triggering feelings, thoughts and ideas that may push them to more impulsive actions.

In 2014, suicide was the second leading cause of death for children and young adults ages 10 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The series goes into great detail about the many painful ways Hannahs life went wrong, and experts are concerned that it sensationalizes suicide without suggesting that there were any other solutions to Hannahs struggles.

We do not recommend that vulnerable youth, especially those who have any degree of suicidal ideation, watch this series, the National Association of School Psychologists said in its five-page 13 Reasons Why guide for educators and parents. Netflix has added trigger warnings about the shows disturbing content, and the 13reasonswhy.info page is full of mental health and suicide prevention links and information.

In addition to the school psychologists association, members of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the American Psychiatric Association have expressed concerns about the shows failure to deal with the role mental illness plays in suicide and its suggestion that suicide is the best revenge strategy ever.

But there is also the hope that any conversation about suicide is better than no conversation about suicide. For Carol Skiljan, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program, 13 Reasons Why is not a solution to anything. But it could be a starting point.

From my point of view, to get people talking about it is a good thing. As long as we equip them with the information that suicide is preventable and help people identify resources. We encourage parents to use this as a teachable moment. Ignoring suicide never makes it go away.

Twitter: @karla_peterson

karla.peterson@sduniontribune.com
A gray-haired, Vietnam War veteran sat rustling on the paper of an examining table at the small veterans clinic in Grants Pass, Oregon, on a recent afternoon when his doctor for the day appeared on a screen in front of him, wearing a white lab coat and bulbous headphones.

Take some deep breaths. All the way in.  And, sir, do you want to give me a good cough? the doctor said as he listened to the veterans heart and lungs from about 2,400 miles away in his office overlooking the White House.

It was Dr. David Shulkin, the new secretary of veterans affairs, and this was not some publicity stunt. Shulkin believes it is impossible to right the stumbling bureaucracy used by 9 million veterans without understanding the experience of patients in the examining room.

Advertisement

So Shulkin, the leader of the countrys second-largest federal agency, has been seeing patients regularly, both in person and remotely, since he was named the Department of Veterans Affairs undersecretary of health in mid-2015 to help turn it around after the scandal over a cover-up of appointment delays.

Sometimes leaders get disconnected from their organizations, Shulkin said after he finished the exam with the Vietnam vet. The risk is especially great, he said, because the department has more than 350,000 employees and 1,700 facilities. There is no better way to understand it than to use it and actually see.

His prognosis for the patient in Oregon: Good. He was doing well, but was stressed from caring for his wife, who has dementia. With the push of a button, Shulkin patched in an on-call psychologist who could help connect the veteran to therapy and a support group.

His prognosis for the Veterans Affairs department: Not nearly as sunny. Were in critical condition, but moving toward stable, he said, his brow furrowed. The V.A. has experienced a very, very tough time. It lost the most important thing any organization could have: its trust.

Shulkin, by his own admission, is an unlikely choice to overhaul veterans services under rump. The son of an Army psychiatrist, he is not a veteran  a first for the head of the agency. And when Shulkin led the medical side of the department in the Obama administration, Trump regularly criticized the agency  and by association Shulkin  as corrupt and incompetent.

After the November election, Shulkin, who had already packed up his office, was not the presidents first choice to lead the troubled agency. He was not even his fourth or fifth.

It was only after a number of leaders in private health care and reliable Republican circles turned down the post that Shulkins name came up. He was recommended by Trumps ambassador to Israel, David M. Friedman, who knows Shulkin personally, according to a White House official familiar with the process.

Despite his roundabout selection, veterans groups and politicians of all stripes have hailed him as a qualified leader. Shulkin, 57, has spent a lifetime studying how to make health-care organizations deliver better care at lower costs.

In a cabinet of outsiders, many eager to deconstruct the departments they oversee, Shulkin wants to rebuild his. And after Trump was battered by divisive partisan confirmations of his appointees, the mild-mannered defender of government health care was confirmed by the Senate, 100 to zero.

We havent passed a kidney stone unanimously in years, much less a cabinet secretary, said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia and chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. (Mr. Trump is so pleased with the distinction that he has taken to calling Shulkin the 100 to nothing man, he said during an appearance at the department last month.) Even the departments most consistent critics have quieted their sirens, at least for now.

Constant tinkering

Aware of that unlikely opening and uncertain how long it could last, Shulkin has already made a number of bold moves. In April, the agency began publicly posting wait times and quality data for every veterans hospital and clinic  sunlight he sees as crucial for accountability. In June, it plans to begin offering free mental health care to veterans long barred from its hospitals because of less-than-honorable discharges, including thousands with post-traumatic stress disorder.

That move really told me what kind of man he is, said Rep. Phil Roe, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. No one told him he had to do it. He saw a problem, said we are going to do it and he got it done.

That style of decisive action has defined Shulkins rise through some of the countrys largest private medical systems, friends and former colleagues said. But he now faces a bureaucracy far larger and more complicated than any he has encountered.

Beginning at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he was drawn into the obscure field of health care management. He became a tireless student of efficiency. Shulkin can tell you, for instance, that postabdominal surgery infections add, on average, $12,542 to the cost of patient care, and that some surgical mistakes occur more frequently in the first part of the academic year.

By standardizing best practices, Shulkin believed, he could save money and patients. Before long, he was one of the high priests of patient-centered care, said Stanley Brezenoff, a longtime health-care executive who is the interim chief executive of New York Citys health system. Shulkin pushed each system he worked in to train its focus on quality. Financial savings, he argued, would naturally follow.

Constant tinkering was a part of Shulkins design, according to Dr. David Bernard, who worked with Shulkin in the 1990s to start an innovative disease management program at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, one of the countrys top-ranked academic medical systems.

Rocking the boat?

Hospital leadership typically is risk-averse; David is a standout in being just the opposite, said Bernard, who is now semiretired and in private practice. He is constantly looking for the next best thing. And he is happy to try things that may not succeed.

A book Shulkin gave him when he arrived at the University of Pennsylvania Health System summed up his style, Bernard said. Its title: Stop Paddling and Start Rocking the Boat.

The formula was successful, and Shulkin rose through top jobs there, at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and eventually at Morristown Medical Center in northern New Jersey.

At each stop, he tried to stay out of the executive suite and in the examining rooms. When he noticed that the quality of care at Beth Israel was distinctly worse after the sun went down, he began walking the wards after midnight to better understand the challenges of the after-hours staff.

At times, his actions created friction. Some doctors saw him as brash and overly ambitious, but often the results spoke for themselves.

David could have 500 ideas in three days, said Karen Kessler, who was the chairwoman of the board of Atlantic Health System, which included Morristown. The question was how to edit them and decide which ones we could move on.

Some innovations fizzled. The disease management program he championed at the University of Pennsylvania Health System was ultimately stymied by the systems larger budget woes. And a company he started in 1999 called DoctorQuality, which aimed to establish one of the industrys first pay-for-performance models, ultimately folded.

Though Shulkin was originally tapped to work in the Obama administration, former colleagues said, he has been shrewdly bipartisan, helping to raise money for both Democrats and Republicans who represented his hospitals interests. He has not registered with a political party, and his tendency to speak in precise, pragmatic terms betrays little in the way of political ideology.

David said Democrats think hes a Democrat and Republicans think he is a Republican, Bernard said.

Shulkins office, which overlooks the National Mall, has framed pictures of not only Trump and Barack Obama, but also Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush. All of them, however, are outnumbered by images of Abraham Lincoln, the president who, near the end of the Civil War, admonished the nation to care for him who shall have borne the battle.

Hard decisions

Shulkin came to the Veterans Affairs Department expecting to find a less efficient copy of private health care that would be straightforward to streamline or even privatize. His first clinical visit, with an intoxicated double amputee Vietnam veteran at a hospital in Manhattan, taught him that it would not be so easy.

This guy was really, really upset, and he was cursing me, Shulkin said. If I was seeing him in my last hospital, I would have called security. I would have had him removed. I would have sent him a certified letter telling him not to come back.

Many of the agencys patients have a complex mix of physical and mental health issues, he said. They cant go get care in the private sector, he added. At least not the comprehensive care the V.A. gives them.

Since then, Shulkin has become one of the systems most vigorous defenders. At the same time, he has battled his own bureaucracy in an attempt to kick-start changes. He supports a bill now in Congress that would streamline hiring and firing. Currently, it can take six months or more to hire a nurse.

The department currently sends about one-third of appointments to private providers. Shulkin wants to increase reliance on private health care for routine procedures, like hearing aids, so it can focus on its core mission of caring for the wounded.

He said that the systems hospitals would most likely fight the outsourcing of some services, but that hard decisions needed to be made. As an example, he cited a recent news report about a veteran who had lost both legs to a roadside bomb and faced a long wait to get prostheses fitted at a veterans hospital.

That made my blood boil, Shulkin said. We make eyeglasses for our veterans. Last time I checked, every shopping mall in America has a place where you can get glasses in an hour. I dont care about making eyeglasses. I care about getting that veteran his prostheses.

As under secretary, he quickly gained a reputation for forcing action.

After he first took the job, he grew concerned that the agency was not doing enough to prevent suicide after a news report showed high rates among young combat veterans. Suicide prevention leaders told him that they would put together a summit meeting to respond, adding that it would take 10 months.

Shulkin told them to get it done in one month. When his staff members pushed back, he pulled out a calculator and began quietly tapping, then showed them that during the delay, nearly 6,000 veterans would kill themselves. They got it done in a month.

For me it was a very important day, he said, remembering the meeting. It taught our people you can act with urgency, and you can resist the temptation to say we work in a system that you cant get to move faster. I think they learned that you can.

Philipps and Fandos write for The New York Times.
New court documents reveal that federal agents continue to probe a soldiers 2013 hanging at Camp Pendleton, with her civilian husband a top suspect in the case.

On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Crawford in San Diego approved a search warrant request by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Special Agent Jeffrey Kierman, a cold-case homicide investigator for the NCIS, said the agency is looking for evidence allegedly left on three cellphones. Those phones were used by Imelda Oppelt, her husband, David Roneld Oppelt, and their daughter.

On Sept. 12, 2013, authorities found Imelda Oppelt dead in the family residences bathroom at the base. She was 35.

Advertisement

Originally from the Philippines, she resided in Hawaii before moving to Camp Pendleton and joining a small Army staff on the sprawling Marine Corps base. She served in the Active Guard Reserve program.

There have been no arrests in the case, but an attachment to the search-warrant affidavit indicates that authorities are investigating Imelda Oppelts death as a murder. Electronic data and physical documents could point to her husbands efforts to plan and execute her death, according to the federal court filing.

On Monday, David Oppelt referred The San Diego Union-Tribune to Dallas-based attorney Patrick McLain. In a statement, McLain said NCIS agents have been non-communicative with him on the case, adding that the bulk of his work for Oppelt has been to obtain Freedom of Information Act paperwork and civil rights issues.

Mr. Oppelt wants the NCIS to get to the truth and resolve this case so that his family can have closure after the tragic loss of the woman he loved, his wife, McLain wrote.

Authorities contend that David Oppelt told them that he discovered his deceased wife in the bathroom an hour after they argued about pork chops. But he allegedly told a Marine police officer arriving at the scene a different story, saying that just before she died, the couple had quarreled over a romantic affair she had with a person in her Army unit, according to the search-warrant application.

The couples daughter  who now lives with her father in Florida  told investigators that she heard a loud noise and then saw her father grab a large knife, the documents state. She told agents that she heard three loud banging noises from the upstairs bathroom and her father yelling, then later saw him carrying her mother by the neck and waist from the bathtub.

Crime-scene investigators seized a butcher knife and ceremonial sword found near the bathtub, plus a handwritten note in Imelda Oppelts pants pocket about her self worth and grief and loss, among other psychological problems her husband told agents might have contributed to her death. These details come from other court documents in the case.

An autopsy conducted by the San Diego Naval Medical Center determined Imelda Oppelts cause of death to be hanging, but the manner of death was described as undetermined.

In the search-warrant application, NCIS agent Kierman alleged that David Oppelt bugged his wifes cellphone to track her movements. The investigator also said Global Positioning System data on the husbands phone could confirm his whereabouts on the day of his wifes death.

NCIS officials declined to comment on the case Monday.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

cprine@sduniontribune.com
A 70-foot South Korean fishing boat collided with a San Diego Navy cruiser on Tuesday in waters off of Asia, but no one was injured.

The cruiser Lake Champlain was hit on its left, or port, side at mid-ship, Navy officials said this morning. They didnt release a damage estimate, saying one is being assembled.

The Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser was able to sail away under its own power, as did the fishing vessel.

Advertisement

Welcome to The Intel, a blog examining the hot military news of the day

The Navy said the Lake Champlain was conducting routine operations in international waters when the fishing boat hit it just before noon local time.

Late last month, the San Diego cruiser was doing exercises in the Philippine Sea with other U.S. ships and Japanese naval vessels as part of a show of force to North Korea, amid heightened nuclear tensions.

The San Diego cruiser left home in January as part of the Carl Vinson Strike Group deployment.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

jen.steele@sduniontribune.com

Facebook: U-T Military

Twitter: @jensteeley
At UCLA, the furor started with a photo of the undergraduate student body president, making a hand sign associated with the Bloods.

Danny Siegel is white. He was wearing a suit and tie.

Many African American students were angered by what they saw as a man of white privilege mocking their community and clueless about the poverty and despair that drive some in it into gangs.

Advertisement

There were those, of course, who said to chill out, the photo was a joke.

But anger over the image appears to have contributed to the stunning defeat of Siegels campus party in last weeks undergraduate student elections  and the intensity of the reaction was the latest sign of discontent among many University of California students of color who believe that administrators and some fellow students continue to slight them and to discount their needs.

Although UC has steadily increased the enrollment of low-income and minority students and invested millions of dollars into academic and social support services for them, some students say the efforts are not nearly enough.

In the wake of racial tensions that inflamed UCLA, several students of color ran successful independent campaigns for student office. Pictured are the winning candidates, with their campaign staff members and supporters. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Alicia Frison, chairwoman of the UCLA Afrikan Student Union, said African American students face problems throughout the 10-campus university system. At UC Santa Cruz, more than 100 black students occupied Kerr Hall for three days last week before Chancellor George Blumenthal agreed to meet their demands for a guarantee of four years of housing at the Rosa Parks African American Theme House, as well as more student lounge space and the inclusion of diversity education at student orientations.

Frison said African American students at UC San Diego are upset about white nationalist organizations on campus and black victims of sexual violence at UC Santa Barbara have joined sit-ins pressing for more services.

At UCLA, African American students have issued a list of demands, including hiring more faculty of color.

The problems are systemwide, Frison said.

The UCLA and UC Santa Cruz tensions attracted national attention. A New York civil rights organization wrote an open letter to Blumenthal, demanding to know whether UC Santa Cruz was preparing to fund racial separatism with the housing guarantee and foist racial indoctrination on new students with the diversity education.

Blumenthal, in a May 4 letter to the campus community, said administrators fundamentally agree with students of color that they need more support.

Though we have been working with underrepresented communities  we acknowledge that we have not done enough to engage with them successfully, he wrote. Students from historically underrepresented communities deal with real challenges on campus and in the community. These difficulties include things that many people take for granted, such as finding housing or even just a sense of community.

In last weeks UCLA elections, Siegels Bruins United political party, for the first time in several years, failed to win a plurality of the 14 student council seats when votes were counted late Friday. Students running as independents  most of them black, Latino and Asian American  won nine seats.

The election is a real wakeup call...It sends a message that Bruin Uniteds mantra of inclusivity is false, Divya Sharma, a former party member and gay South Asian student, said Monday. He won the seat of academic affairs commissioner as an independent candidate.

In a Daily Bruin commentary that also is credited with influencing the election, Sharma wrote last week that he left Bruins United because I realized they only cared about me so I could be their queer man of color who would add diversity to their slate.

Bruins United was embroiled in another controversy last year when a document from the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity that contained racial slurs against Mexicans and blacks was found on the Google drive of a student who was a member of both the fraternity and the campus political party.

Siegel, the outgoing student body president, has apologized publicly for the photo and told The Times this week that it was foolish and immature. But he said the photo was taken a year ago and just recently showed up on social media, strategically leaked knowing it would inflame racial tensions and help them in the election. As for last years scandal, he insisted that Bruins United had nothing to do with the fraternity document, despite peoples efforts to link them.

Since the photo was circulated, Siegel said he has received threats and another Bruins United member was physically assaulted on campus.

Siegel said that his party, which was formed in 2004, maintains an open-door policy for meetings, candidate recruitment and membership and successfully lobbied for equal funding for all student groups, including Greek organizations and Republican and Democratic clubs.

Some student activists, however, dont think equal funding makes sense. They say they plan to push the newly elected members on the Undergraduate Students Assn. Council to reallocate some of the money to better support historically underrepresented groups.

Robert Gardner, a fourth-year student in political science whose denunciation of Siegels photo was widely shared on Facebook, said African Americans generally are less able than many wealthy members of fraternities and sororities to dig into their own pockets to pay for student events.

He said he and other activists also want the student council to declare UCLA a sanctuary campus for those who feel vulnerable under the Trump administration, including not just Muslim and LGBTQ students and those who are in the country illegally but also African Americans.

Having a new majority on the council gives us an opportunity to make important reforms, especially to support historically marginalized communities, Gardner said.

For her part, Arielle Yael Mokhtarzadeh, who won the student body presidency as an unopposed Bruins United candidate, decried what she called the incivility and inhumanity of last weeks election. But she vowed to mend fences.

The new council must set aside its partisan inclinations to serve all students on this campus, she wrote in an email. We must model what engagement, understanding and empathy can and should look like at UCLA.

teresa.watanabe@latimes.com

Twitter: @teresawatanabe

ALSO

A gondola to ferry tourists to the Hollywood sign? Mayor Garcetti floats the idea

San Diego authorities ordered to return $100,000 seized from medical marijuana distributor, family

Teen killed at high school left suicide note, San Diego police say
The only way I can lose this election is if Im caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy.

The late great Jack Orr, an old-school Republican consultant, used to crack that Louisiana chestnut when talking about GOP candidates in safe San Diego districts.

Since Orr is unavailable, Ill wonder aloud: Is there somebody with a D behind his/her name who can steal the 50th District, one of the safest GOP seats since Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry gave his name to a district shaped like a salamander.

Advertisement

Or even more breathtaking, is it possible that for one two-year cycle, San Diegos congressional delegation is all Democrat?

Orr, I suspect, would sneer and ask: Do chickens have lips?

Incumbent Congressman Duncan Hunter, Id remind him, has turned into a national punch line after (wittingly or unwittingly) using his campaign fund as a personal ATM, a $60,000-plus shopping spree that included the jet flight of the family bunny.

The jurys out on whether Hunter will be indicted by the Justice Department or merely spanked by the House Ethics Committee.

Stepping back, this much is certain: The Republicans will lose a bunch of House seats in 2018.

Controlling Congress and the White House, the Republicans will be pushed down by political physics. For parties in total command, the typical loss in midterms is 35 House seats,. Throw in an unpopular president and, well, youre looking at a thumper, so to speak.

If the Democrats regain control of the House in November, President Trump, especially if his popularity numbers remain low, could be vulnerable to impeachment. (Thats assuming the less likely event that the 25th Amendment, removal from office on competency grounds, hasnt been invoked.)

If Democrats win back the House, all bets are off on possible probes into the Trump White House. (Think Dem versions of Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS.)

So how could this national about-face play out in San Diego?

Rep. Darrell Issas 49th District is boiling with Democratic activism. The Cook Political Report rates it a tossup. Two Democrats, Doug Applegate and Mike Levin, are jockeying to face Issa in the 2018 general election. Its going to be a raucous photo-finish.

Notably absent from the lists of contested districts, however, is the 50th.

My view is that its in play, but on one condition: Hunter cant come home from the Hill.

Remember Randall Harold Cunningham.

When Cunningham was the 50ths congressman, struggling under a cloud of corruption in 2005, consultants for Democratic challenger Francine Busby prayed that the Dukester would slog it out to the end, bleeding himself white in the process.

Cunningham, however, resigned from office; a swarm of Republicans flew in; and Brian Bilbray, a former congressman, won the GOP-leaning North County seat in a special election.

In 1990, on the other hand, Dede Alpert was a Democratic dark horse from Solana Beach who shocked the handicappers by defeating Republican incumbent Sonny Mojonnier for the deep-red 75th Assembly District seat. Virtually unchallenged in previous races, the scandal-plagued Mojonnier barely survived a bruising Republican primary. Alpert got the only candidate she could beat.

If Hunter, like Cunningham, bows out under legal and/or political pressure, Republicans can sort through well-known conservatives  Joel Anderson? Brian Jones? Bill Horn? Those are the names Ive heard  and capitalize on the GOPs 15-point registration advantage over Democrats in the 50th.

If Hunter stays in office, however, and hes still wearing his hare shirt, a Democratic candidate has a fighting chance to flip the district, at least for one election cycle.

It still wont be easy. The cultural conservatism of East County is baked in. Whats more, the Hunter brand, initiated by Rep. Duncan Hunter the Elder, is based in part on being a target for liberals. Its no coincidence that Hunter the Younger was an early and ardent ally of Trump. His base loves him for flipping off the elites.

Not surprisingly, pragmatic Democratic activists in the 50th are looking for progressive candidate who can appeal to independents and Republicans.

At a Voters Town Hall Saturday afternoon, seven Democratic candidates appeared before 250 mostly older, white progressives in San Marcos.

The goal, articulated by Indivisible event organizer Brina Bujkovsky, was to identify the candidate who could most plausibly win the district, not the room.

After the forum, a survey was conducted online, receiving more than a hundred responses from audience members. Three candidates stood out. Josh Butner, a former Navy SEAL, Jamul rancher and school board trustee was judged to have the most potential appeal to independents and Trump voters. Hannah Gbey (pronounced BAY), an environmental science researcher, organic farmer (I have the dirt of East County under my fingernails) and wife of a disabled veteran, also broke through.

The youthful charisma award went to Ammar Campa-Najjar, a young American of Latino and Arab descent, a confident speaker with a background in community organizing, campaigning to re-elect Obama in 2012 and working in the Obama White House.

Rounding out the forum were Patrick Malloy, a real-estate agent who ran against Hunter in 2016; Gloria Chadwick, a nurse who has served multiple terms on the Grossmont Healthcare District board; Glenn Jensen, a UC San Diego-educated tech expert and fourth-generation San Diegan; and Pierre Beauregard, a Vietnam vet whos worked in health care and has an East County down-home charm. (His photo for the town hall features a horse nuzzling his cheek.)

Tellingly, the national Democrats so far are not putting any money into a safe GOP district that, at best, they probably cant keep beyond one term.

That term, however, could be historic if it plays a role in impeaching the president.

All told, Democrats in the 50th are going to need lots of luck.

They might try carrying around rabbits feet.

logan.jenkins@sdunintribune.com
San Diego Superior Court Judge Gary Kreep should be removed from the bench for committing numerous acts of misconduct and his lack of candor during a hearing on the charges in February, a lawyer for the states judicial discipline agency said.

Mark Lizarraga, trial counsel for the California Commission on Judicial Performance, said in legal brief filed Monday that Kreep should also lose his seat because he has not acknowledged he violated judicial ethics rules on many of the 29 acts of misconduct that a three-judge panel said he committed.

The argument that Kreep should be removed from the bench  the most severe penalty that the commission can levy  marks the most serious blow against the one-time conservative legal activist who won an upset election to the bench in 2012 but whose early months as a judge were rocky.

Advertisement

James Murphy, Kreeps lawyer in the discipline case, said removal was too harsh of a penalty because the judge is not corrupt or dishonest, his conduct has improved from his first year on the bench, and he is liked and respected by lawyers who appear before him.

Murphy said Kreep has acknowledged some of his conduct when he first became a judge was inappropriate and that a lesser penalty is warranted so Kreep could remain on the bench. He is up for re-election next year.

Removing a judge from the California bench is a rare event. Only 11 judges have been removed since 1995, according to commission statistics. The most recent was in 2016 when Valeriano Saucedo, a Tulare County judge, was removed after 14 years on the bench for having an improper relationship with a court clerk and then lying about it.

The charges against Kreep filed last year focus mostly on his conduct while on the bench, though some also cover campaign finance violations from his 2012 race.

He was accused of making a series of remarks from the bench that included comments about the physical attractiveness of women lawyers who appeared in his court, using nicknames like Bun Head and Dimples for lawyers, and speaking Spanish to Hispanics in his courtroom instead of English. All judicial proceedings are supposed to be conducted in English.

In all, Kreep faced 32 separate allegations of misconduct. Most happened during his 2012 campaign and the first year he was on the bench.

At the week-long hearing in February before a panel of judges, Kreep alternately took responsibility for some but not all of the comments, and said he did not mean to be offensive. Murphy also contended the judge was the target of a harassment campaign by senior leadership of the San Diego bench who were embarrassed that Kreep had won the seat.

Before becoming a judge, Kreep had a long legal career that included work on a number of conservative legal causes, including the discredited birther fight that erroneously questioned if former President Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen.

In a 90-page report issued in April, the judicial panel found Kreep committed misconduct on 29 of the 32 accusations against him. The most serious finding of willful misconduct centered on his comments after learning he would be sent to Traffic Court after the San Diego City Attorneys Office said its lawyers would boycott taking cases to his misdemeanor courtroom.

That move, known as a blanket challenge, came in September 2013. Senior lawyers had complained about how Kreep treated some deputy city attorneys and how he handled some misdemeanor cases.

After learning of the challenge and his transfer, Kreep talked about it with some deputy public defenders and said one of them could be targeted too. Those comments about a challenge are inappropriate for a judge to make and violate judicial ethics, the judges said.

They also concluded that Kreeps testimony at the hearing that he spoke with the defense lawyers as a courtesy to let them know he would not be hearing cases that day was not credible.

Lizarraga said that was just one instance where the judicial panel concluded that Kreeps version of events lacked candor or credibility. For that reason, as well as the sheer number of misconduct findings, Kreep should be removed he said.

Neither Kreep, who works in the downtown San Diego Superior Court, nor his lawyer Murphy responded Tuesday to requests to comment on the latest filing.

The matter will now go before the 11-member Commission on Judicial Performance, which will decide what discipline  if any  Kreep will get. The commission can chose a range of options from issuing an advisory letter, private admonishment, public admonishment, censure or removal from the bench.

The commission also will hold a hearing of its own and can hear from both sides, then make a determination to adopt the findings and conclusions from the judicial panel that heard the case in February. A date for the commissions hearing has not yet been set.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
After deliberating for 12 hours over two days, a New York jury on Monday convicted a man of manslaughter in a horrific boat crash on Lake George in July that killed a visiting 8-year-old from Carlsbad as she slept in her mothers lap.

The man, Alexander West, 25, faces up to 22 years in prison, having been found guilty of eight of 12 charges, including criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a crash. Sentencing was set for June 5.

The case has gripped this area of the Southern Adirondacks for the last nine months, extending its impact beyond the courtroom: Local officials said they were putting an end to the annual daylong bacchanal called Log Bay Day, at which Mr. West was partying before he slammed his boat into the one carrying the girl, Charlotte McCue, and her family.

Advertisement

Log Bay Day was a time bomb waiting to happen, Robert M. Blais, the Village of Lake Georges longtime mayor, said in an interview. And now it has.

The anguish of the girls family was palpable throughout the three-week trial in the Warren County courthouse, just south of Lake George. Her parents and grandparents all took the witness stand and sobbed through their testimony, with Charlottes father, Eric McCue, showing flashes of anger, as they recalled the night their lives were turned upside down.

Mr. Wests 21-foot fiberglass Larson was going so fast that it went airborne over the 28-foot antique wooden Gar Wood piloted by Charlottes grandfather, Robert Knarr. While Mr. Wests boat was in the air, its propeller mangled Charlotte, killing her instantly and severely injuring her mother, Courtney McCue.

Mr. Wests lead defense lawyer, Cheryl Coleman, portrayed the crash as an accident, which she all but blamed on Mr. Knarr. In her 90-minute summation to the jury on Thursday, Ms. Coleman asserted that Mr. West had had the right of way and that Mr. Knarr had failed to yield.

Beyond that, Ms. Coleman accused the police of conducting a one-eyed, one-sided investigation that failed to examine Mr. Knarr, who is taking heart medication and had consumed two glasses of wine with dinner that night.

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander, Ms. Coleman declared, a theme throughout her summation. She said the prosecution had not proved that Mr. West was impaired at the time of the crash and said the police had failed to examine Mr. Knarr as closely as her client.

If alcohol matters, alcohol matters, she thundered, whether youre consuming it at Log Bay Day or whether youre consuming it in your beautiful home with your family.

Kate Hogan, the Warren County district attorney, was clearly incensed by Ms. Colemans analogy and seized on it in her 80-minute summation.

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander? Ms. Hogan said to the jury. Are you kidding me?

More than 1,000 people filed a petition to put an end to Log Bay Day, an annual event held on the last Monday in July that drew hundreds of young people to the eastern shore of Lake George.

There was no comparison, she said, between Mr. West, who loaded his boat with alcohol and drugs in preparation for Log Bay Day, and Mr. Knarr, 68, a business executive whose doctor had told him he could safely drink two glasses of wine with dinner.

Good for the goose, good for the gander? Ms. Hogan said again with rising indignation.

While Mr. Knarr outfitted his three grandchildren in life jackets and took the family on a slow twilight cruise to help the children unwind before bed, she said, Mr. West was drunk and high and driving recklessly and absolutely destroyed a family.

And it was a defense expert, Ms. Hogan pointed out, who testified that even if a boater has the right of way, that boater must slow down or change course if a crash appears imminent.

Mr. West did neither.

Mr. Knarrs wife, Christine, called 911 immediately; Mr. West did not report the crash until he turned himself in 12 hours later.

At a news conference after the verdict was read, Mr. Knarr said he was appalled at the lame, underhanded defense tactic of trying to shift the blame from the villain to the victim.

Fighting back tears, he called the verdict a big win but a hollow one because we dont have Charlotte.

Mr. Wests lead defense lawyer, Cheryl Coleman, asserted that Mr. West had had the right of way and that Charlottes grandfather had failed to yield. CreditShawn Lachapelle/The Post-Star, via Associated Press

He said the trial had been almost unbearable for Charlottes family members. In a way, he said, the trial was almost more painful than the crash itself because that night, they were in shock. There was no such protection during the trial, he said, as they were forced to relive the crash over and over.

As a result of Charlottes death, with pressure from more than 1,000 outraged residents who signed a petition, Log Bay Day will no longer be tolerated.

Officials cannot eliminate it because it is a crowdsourced event with no sponsor and no license required. Still, officials said, the event  which would draw hundreds of young people to Log Bay, on the eastern shore of the lake, on the last Monday in July  will no longer take place.

Log Bay Day is no more, so dont come up for the day if thats your expectation, said David Wick, executive director of the Lake George Park Commission. He said officials were still working out the details.

Theres simply no socially redeeming value in having a massive crowdsourced party on Lake George every year, he said. Its a public-safety hazard, and were going to treat it as such.

At the news conference, Mr. Knarr said his family had received thousands of letters of support from around the country. Ms. Hogan, the district attorney, explained why she believed the case had captured the nations attention.

I think that a child who is innocently sleeping in her mothers lap on gorgeous Lake George  on a family boat ride  is the picture of innocence, she said. The fact that she was ripped from their lives in such a violent and vicious manner and the person who did it just fled  I think its the culmination of those factors that made this a very poignant case.

Seelye writes for the New York Times.
Teachers look for warning signs, classmates keep an eye on their friends and counselors have meetings with parents, but all the efforts still are not enough at times.

I think the natural reaction for people is to consider, Is there more we could have done, and are there things we should have seen? San Diego County Office of Education interim Director Bob Mueller said about the shooting early Saturday morning at Torrey Pines High School.

In a general sense, I dont think any school in the country can say, We are doing everything, were doing enough, because its not something that will ever be finished with, he said. The work on school climate is something well always be working to improve.

Advertisement

San Diego police officers fatally shot Torrey Pines freshman Jacob Peterson, 15, outside the school around 3:30 a.m. after responding to a 911 call. The shots were fired after Jacob aimed a pistol at the officers and kept advancing despite their demands he drop the weapon, which turned out to be a BB gun. Investigators later discovered that the student had made the call and had a suicide note in his pocket.

Mueller said schools generally have counselors, psychologists and social workers who work together as a team that tries to identify psychological issues before they spin out of control and result in students harming themselves or others.

More efforts are being made to spot warning signs that students have serious emotional or mental issues, and the County Office of Education has a new grant to train school employees throughout the county on identifying students with problems, Mueller said.

Bullying, academic performance, poor attendance, outbursts and things written in essays can be warning signs of emotional problems, he said.

Dr. Jill Harkavy-Friedman, vice president of research for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said other factors include long-standing substance abuse, physical ailments, depression and stressful life events.

A state law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires the California Department of Education to create a model suicide prevention plan and calls for school districts to adopt the plan or create one of their own.

Eric Dill, superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District, which includes Torrey Pines High, said his district has had such a plan in place for about 20 years.

Staff is learning to recognize the warning signs of crisis, and curriculum is taught for kids to understand how feelings of depression can lead to suicide, he said, adding that students also are taught to develop coping skills and recognize warning signs in their friends.

We were all shocked by these events and did not anticipate this, he said about the shooting, but declined to discuss details about the incident or Jacob.

The district in March held Yellow Ribbon Week to raise awareness of mental health issues and suicide prevention, and many Torrey Pines students wore yellow in solidarity Monday.

The role of school counselors in helping students cope with serious issues became a topic at San Diego Unified School District board meetings in recent weeks when trustees considered cutting some positions to help balance the budget. Several counselors appealed to the board and said their work can help prevent student suicides.

Katherine Cowan, communications director for the national Association of School Psychologists, said its not uncommon for districts to cut counseling positions when budgets are tight, and most districts in the country do not meet the associations recommendation of one counselor for every 250 students.

Dill said San Dieguitos ratio is one counselor for every 419 students, but that doesnt account for other steps the district has taken, including peer counselors who help fellow students.

Dr. Jeffrey Rowe, supervising psychiatrist for San Diego Countys Juvenile Forensics Division, said there are about 10 suicides among children per year throughout the region.

In assessing whether an adolescent or young adult is suicidal, Rowe said he focuses on four main factors that can lead to despondency: Are they experiencing extreme pain and suffering either physical or emotional? Are they struggling with extreme embarrassment or shame? Are they overwhelmed from demands placed upon them? Are they exhibiting extreme anger or hurt?

In recent years, bullying has received outsize attention from the public, especially at schools where it most often occurs. But Harkavy-Friedman said bullying alone has not been shown to cause suicide. It is often present in those who take their lives, but there are always a host of other factors present.

Rowe and Harkavy-Friedman said the key is to watch for the warning signs and take them seriously when they do pop up.

Rowe said that most dont realize that suicide attempts are successful one out of every two times, but those odds are changed dramatically when someone notices the warning signs and reaches out.

If somebody intervenes at all, even if its just to get them to a nurse practitioner or family doctor, that rate of success goes down to 2 percent, Rowe said.

The act of simply asking whats going on when warning signs such as slipping grades, uncharacteristic mood swings, social withdrawal or depression and irritability keep cropping up can significantly lessen the chances of suicide.

You dont have to start out with are you thinking of killing yourself? Just let the person know that you care enough to notice that theyre struggling, Harkavy-Friedman said.

Suicide prevention resources

In San Diego County, the Its Up to Us program provides an array of resources at up2sd.org.

Anyone who is in immediate need of help can call the San Diego County Crisis Line: (888) 724-7240

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is also available at (800) 273-8255 or by texting TALK to 741-741.

Signs and symptoms that someone may be thinking about suicide include:

*Talking about wanting to die or wanting to kill themselves,

*Talking about feeling empty, hopeless or having no reason to live

*Making a plan or looking for a way to kill themselves,

*Talking about guilt or shame,

*Talking about feeling trapped or feeling there are no solutions,

*Feeling unbearable emotional or physical pain,

*Talking about being a burden to others,

*Using alcohol or drugs more often,

*Acting anxious or agitated,

*Withdrawing from family and friends,

*Changing eating and/or sleeping habits,

*Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge,

*Taking great risks that could lead to death,

*Talking or thinking about death often,

*Displaying extreme mood swings,

*Giving away important possessions,

*Saying goodbye to friends and family,

*Putting affairs in order, making a will.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Many scientists and their supporters have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest what they see as a White House administration unwilling to listen to their input on policy and regulations, especially when it comes to climate change.

Controversy erupted again this weekend, when scientific advisers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said they were being dismissed without warning.

Multiple news reports are being published saying that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has decided to overhaul the 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors, an independent panel that works with the agencys scientific research arm to develop priorities and ensure accuracy.

Advertisement

Advisers on the panel serve three-year terms, and they were anticipating reappointment. The agencys leaders are describing the shake-up as a routine part of governance by new presidential administrations and said the scientists could reapply for their positions.

The news was enough to rattle, among others, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest general scientific membership group and publisher of the journal Science.

We are concerned about news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed scientists serving on its Board of Scientific Counselors, Rush Holt, the associations chief executive, said in a statement. Academic scientists play a critical role in informing policy with scientific research results at every level, including the federal government.

At this point, you may be scratching your head about what the Board of Scientific Counselors does exactly. So heres a quick primer:

Who sits on the EPAs Board of Scientific Counselors?

The board has 18 members, largely made up of academics from places such as Arizona State University, North Carolina State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Utah State University.

Robert Richardson, a professor at Michigan State University, tweeted on Friday that his appointment had been terminated. Today, I was Trumped, he wrote.

There are private-industry representatives on the board as well, including Sandra Smith, a toxicologist with AECOM, a large engineering and consulting company headquartered in Los Angeles. And theres Joseph Rodricks, a principal with Ramboll Environ, an environmental consulting firm based out of Virginia.

What are the boards functions?

Formed in 1996, the advisory panel works specifically with the EPAs Office of Research and Development.

Among other things, it conducts an annual review of the programs administered by that office  from efforts to track global warming to developing ways to limit water pollution and protect aquifers.

To assess the agencys performance, the advisory panels executive committee has five subcommittees that focus on particular areas of expertise: air, climate and energy; chemical safety; homeland security; safe and sustainable water resources; and sustainable and healthy communities.

The subcommittees critique the agencys efforts and offer suggestions on how programs can be improved and how scientific models can be refined, as well as ensure that projects are based on the most accurate scientific data available.

How might Pruitt change the make-up of the board?

Critics of President Donald Trumps administration fear that Pruitts team will replace the ousted board members with scientists from the private sector who oppose government regulation of various industries.

Its important to note that Trump and Pruitt havent announced their replacements yet.

We wont know what the change in course is until we see who they replace, said Joanne Carney, director of the office for government relations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. People are concerned about industry, but if theyre Ph.D. scientists, thats not necessarily bad.

On its own, changing the line-up of scientists on the EPAs advisory panel probably wouldnt create much of a stir. But its the latest in a string of moves aimed at dramatically changing course at the agency  and it comes amid high tensions between Trumps supporters and detractors.

Trump has called for a 30 percent cut to the EPAs budget, and he wants to eliminate Obama-era rules aimed at curbing greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants and promoting clean water.

Before Pruitt became head of the EPA, he routinely sued the agency in his capacity as Oklahomas attorney general. He has also publicly challenged the scientific consensus on climate change.

In addition, Republicans in Congress have tried to limit who can serve on another scientific advisory board for the EPA  the 47-member Science Advisory Board. Trump has called for slashing funding for that panel by 84 percent.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com
In many ways, the life that Karen Kanter and Stan Tobin share in Philadelphia sounds entirely typical. Both 75, they happily see movies and plays together, visit children and grandchildren, try new restaurants (but avoid sushi).

Mr. Tobin, an accountant who maintains a small tax practice, makes time for a monthly mens group. A retired middle-school teacher, Kanter hustles between book and art appreciation groups while volunteering and writing a historical novel.

He supported her through a successful breast cancer treatment years ago. She has been prodding him about putting on pounds, so he has returned to Weight Watchers.

Advertisement

Careful about financial and legal arrangements, they co-own their condo near the Museum of Art and a cottage in upstate New York. She has his power of attorney and health care proxy, and vice versa.

We love each other and want to be together, and weve made the commitment to stay together until death parts us, Kanter said.

But although they have been a couple since 2002 and have shared a home since 2004, they are not married. And among older adults, they have a lot of company.

The number of people over 50 who cohabit with an unmarried partner jumped 75 percent from 2007 to 2016, the Pew Research Center reported last month  the highest increase in any age group.

It was a striking finding, said Renee Stepler, a Pew research analyst. We often think of cohabiters as being young.

Most still are. But the number of cohabiters over age 50 rose to 4 million from 2.3 million over the decade, Stepler found, and the number over age 65 doubled to about 900,000.

Demographers are paying attention. At the Population Association of Americas annual meeting in Chicago last month, featuring a session on repartnering in later life, the panelist Jonathan Vespa of the Census Bureau pointedly offered a presentation entitled, A Gray Revolution in Living Arrangements.

The trend partly reflects the sheer size of the baby boom cohort, as well as its rising divorce rate.

So-called gray divorce has roughly doubled among those 50-plus since the 1990s. Divorce leaves two people available for repartnering, of course; losing a spouseleaves one, and these days it tends to strike at older ages.But attitudes have shifted, too. People whove divorced have a more expansive view of what relationships are like, said Deborah Carr, the Rutgers University sociologist who served as chairwoman of the Population Association panel.

The whole idea of marriage as the ideal starts to fade, and personal happiness becomes more important.

Of course, the boomers pretty much invented widespread premarital cohabitation while in their 20s and 30s  or like to think they did.

It used to be called shacking up, and it was not approved of, said Kelly Raley, a sociologist at the University of Texas, Austin, and former editor of The Journal of Marriage and Family. Families and religious groups often condemned living together outside marriage.

But Americans are far more accepting now, she said, and the people turning 60 are very different from the people who were 60 twenty years ago.

Karen Kanter, for instance, had divorced twice after long marriages  38 years, in total  when she met Tobin on Match.com. Getting divorced gives you so much to untangle, she said.

Our life is good together, so why disturb it? I just dont see the importance of that piece of paper. Tobin, also divorced after a long marriage, wouldnt mind marrying his partner  he actually proposed on bended knee once, though he knew Kanter would say no  but he is also fine with cohabiting.

The relationship is looser, he said. We dont make demands on each others time. She has her life, I have my life, and we have our life together.

For older people, the advantages and drawbacks can stack up differently than at earlier ages, when such relationships tend to be more unstable. Demographers see most youthful cohabitation as a prelude to marriage or simply a short-term arrangement.

In later life, however, cohabitation  like remarriage  brings companionship and wider social circles, not to mention sexual intimacy, at ages when people might otherwise face isolation. Financially, pooling resources in a single household often improves elders economic stability, especially for women, who are at higher risk for poverty.

It also offers certain economic protections. Older adults have more debt than previous generations, Dr. Carr pointed out, including mortgages and childrens college loans. You become responsible for your legal spouses debt, but not for your cohabiting partners debt, she said.Marrying or remarrying can also affect government and pension benefits.

Consider Jane Carney and Norm Stoner, who live in Oklahoma City and were both widowed. For years, even after he moved into her house in 2004, they debated whether to make their union legal.

The list of pros was very short, and the list of cons was very long, said Carney, 69. Among the latter: Each was receiving Social Security survivors benefits, checks that would have stopped had they remarried. Nor will one partners assets prevent the other from qualifying for Medicaid.

Other factors become harder to quantify. Couples monitor one anothers health, so cohabiters fare better, physically and mentally, than those who live alone, Dr. Carr said.

But relationships with adult children sometimes suffer. Matthew Wright, a doctoral candidate in sociology at Bowling Green State University, reported at the Population Association meeting that cohabiters had less frequent contact with their children, and less positive relationships, than continuously married or widowed parents.

Cohabiters didnt differ from remarried or divorced parents, however, suggesting that marital dissolution itself, rather than the legal status of parents new partnerships, creates those tensions.

What about caregiving, then? Spouses explicitly vow to care for one another; in fact, reluctance to assume that burden can dissuade older women, especially widows, from marrying.

Older cohabiters, one large national study has found, are less likely to provide care than spouses  though when cohabiters do shoulder caregiving, they devote as much time to it as married people do.

Maybe theyll rely more on the children, Dr. Carr speculated. If divorce has chilled that relationship, though, children may be less willing to step in.

What happens when cohabiters reach advanced ages and ill health remains something of an open question  but one that couples should consider.

Documenting end-of-life wishes, designating health care decision-makers and writing wills is even more important than for married couples. Otherwise, state laws could thwart a cohabiters preferences.

In many ways, cohabitation among older people remains improvisational, only recently a common phenomenon, one that couples shape to suit them. There are no strongly established rules, Dr. Raley said. You can invent them as you go along.Or you can follow a marital pattern without the letter of the law.

In the end, Carney and Stoner, now 74, never married. But when he developed liver disease and vascular dementia, she cared for him as if they had. And when she could no longer keep him safely in their home, she and his children agreed on a continuing care retirement community, where she visits him almost daily.

Married or not, we were committed to each other, she said. I cant imagine his getting sick and my saying to his kids, Its your problem. After 20 years? No.

Span writes for The New York Times.
A woman many call San Diegos homelessness czar has abruptly left her high-profile position seven months after Mayor Kevin Faulconer created it.

Stacie Spector, a former White House aide under President Bill Clinton, will no longer serve as the citys point person on homeless issues or seek greater coordination among social service agencies across the region.

A leading homeless advocate said Spector will be badly missed, primarily for the cohesion she fostered among community groups, nonprofits and Faulconer since she was hired last October.

Advertisement

But another homeless advocate said her departure could pave the way for stronger leadership by the newly revamped Regional Task Force on the Homeless, a countywide group that controls significant local resources.

A Faulconer spokesman said the mayor plans to replace Spector and that her job  senior adviser for housing solutions  will remain an important one at the city.

After seven months, Mayor Faulconers homeless czar is suddenly out, though the reason is not yet clear. Regardless of the reason, her exit is a big setback for Faulconer, who has been unable to get his arms around San Diegos growing homeless crisi

The spokesman, Matt Awbrey, declined to say why Spectors tenure ended so abruptly. Her annual salary was $175,000.

Spector also declined to address why her employment with the city ended, but she said her departure comes at a crucial point.

It is now time for the hard decisions  and as you know  change is hard, she said in a text message to the Union-Tribune.

She is referring to several key initiatives on homelessness the city has been exploring, including possible creation of a central intake center for the homeless and the addition of hundreds of shelter beds to help clear the streets.

RELATED: Proposed homeless center aims to clear downtown San Diegos streets

They have a plan and with strong leadership from the city, City Council, Housing Commission and regional task force, they will hopefully address this regional crisis once and for all, Spector texted. It has been my honor to work on behalf of the 5,000 unsheltered and over 9,000 homeless in San Diego.

Spector said the new leadership of the regional task force  County Supervisor Ron Roberts and City Councilman Chris Ward  makes her confident that much hope lies ahead.

Ward declined to address Spectors departure, but said he remains focused on identifying and implementing strategies at the city and regional level to address San Diegos homelessness crisis.

Bob McElroy, chief executive of the nonprofit Alpha Project, said Spector will be badly missed.

The position was created to keep us all moving in the same direction and to really build cohesive collaboration among all parties, he said, adding that he talked to Spector nearly every day for information about what other groups were doing.

She also served as a bridge between groups in other parts of the county, local nonprofits, resident organizations and the mayor, McElroy said.

Before Spector was hired, McElroy said communication was hit or miss because there was no focal point at the city.

RELATED: Mayor hires staff member to focus on homeless

Michael McConnell, a downtown homeless advocate and former vice president of the regional task force, said hes not sure San Diego needs a homeless czar.

Identifying a powerful point person to coordinate efforts has worked in some other cities, but those cities didnt have a strong leadership board like the regional task force, McConnell said.

Spector also was in a difficult position, McConnell said, because of the mayors approach to homelessness.

She had a really tough job, especially under the current mayor, who seems to favor some kind of a quick fix, whether its criminalizing the homeless or warehousing them, McConnell said. Some of these business groups have put a lot of pressure on the mayor to do a mega shelter or different types of facilities, which arent necessarily the evidence-based practices that we need. So she was in a really tough position trying to manage all of that.

Spector did face some turbulence from advocates more focused on permanent supportive housing as a solution, such as McConnell, because they are less enthusiastic about the mayors plans to add shelter beds and create a central intake center.

Awbrey, the Faulconer spokesman, said the mayors office will continue working with the City Council and regional partners on multiple types of solutions. He said they will include expanding services, developing an assessment center and helping more individuals and families move into permanent supportive housing.

He also said Spectors departure wont lessen the mayors focus on homelessness.

Reducing homelessness continues to be our top social service priority, Awbrey said. Stacie cares deeply about this issue and the future of our city, and we appreciate her longstanding commitment to San Diego. We sincerely wish her well in her future endeavors.

Faulconer and his staff have consistently bristled at using the term czar to describe Spectors job.

While the position involves leadership and regional coordination, they say a czar would lead the region in solving the problem, while the person in Spectors position only collaborates with stakeholders and serves as a single point of contact at the city.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick
Weeks after he faced hundreds of constituents and protesters at events in Oceanside, Rep. Darrell Issa says hes planning another town hall meeting at the end of the month, a forum thats likely to focus on the Republican health care bill working its way through Congress.

Issas vote for the disputed legislation has generated protests against him from coast-to-coast.

Ill head back, and Ill be doing town hall meetings back in my district, Issa told an ABC news affiliate outside a weekend fundraiser near Sarasota, Fla., where he addressed a small group of protesters.

Advertisement

We have one scheduled. Its actually a few days more than the moment I go back. I regularly do it, the Republican said.

Issas spokesman said the meeting is tentatively planned for 7 p.m. May 31 in Oceanside, and exact details will be available later this week. In addition to back-to-back town hall meetings in March, Issa has regularly held telephone town hall meetings, where people can dial in and participate.

Health care has been a central issue of the weekly Tuesday protests outside Issas Vista office, and activists say that will be the case today.

Indivisible, the group that organizes the rallies that have included hundreds of people, say protesters will use canes, crutches, slings and face masks as props to underscore their dislike of Issas vote for the Republicans American Health Care Act and repeal of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

They had planned to hold anti-Issa signs on an Interstate 5 overpass in Encinitas.

More protests are being planned for later this week outside the Hotel del Coronado, where the Republican National Committee holds its quarterly meeting.

Issa faced pressure on the health care vote weeks before it was scheduled, as well as ongoing television commercials. After he was re-elected last year in the closest congressional race in the country, Issa is seen by Democrats and Republicans alike as one of the most vulnerable members of Congress.

Twenty Republicans and all 193 House Democrats voted against the bill, which passed 217 to 213. Issa was one of the last members to record his vote, but his staff disputes that he cast the deciding 216th vote as some have reported.

Issa has long contended that health insurance premiums and deductibles under the Affordable Care Act are too high.

Lets stop pretending Obamacare is going to fix itself or that somehow, someday, its going to get better, he said in a statement after the vote on Thursday.

In the brief television interview in Florida, Issa said the House approval of the new health care plan was a step in an ongoing process. Several senators, including Republicans, have said they want major changes in the bill and are drafting their own version.

Its a good starting position, he said. Its one I believe will begin the debate.

But any changes could run into problems when the health measure returns to the House, where the conservative Freedom Caucus has already issued warnings about major changes.

Meanwhile, Issa is facing a new series of attacks based on his vote. Save My Care, an organization funded by labor and allied organizations, ran television ads that encouraged viewers to tell Issa to vote against the bill, and, on Sunday, uploaded a new spot to YouTube.

Issa voted to raise your costs and cut coverage for millions, to let insurance companies deny affordable coverage for cancer treatment and maternity care and charge five-times more for people over 50, the new ad says. Issa voted yes even though the bill makes coverage completely unaffordable to people with pre-existing conditions. Congressman Issa, how could you do this to us?

Issas spokesman, Calvin Moore, said that commercials like this are the reason why people do not like politics.

What the Democrats and their advertising agencies wont tell you is they broke our health care system, refused to fix it and now want to blame Republicans for cleaning up their mess. It wont work, and the voters will see through it, he said.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is planning a drive-time radio advertisement targeting Southern California House members for their support on the bill.

The legislation he backed doesnt include some provisions he has previously said a bill would need before it would get his support, including a prohibition against discrimination on coverage based on gender and pre-existing conditions, as well as portability to allow people to take their same health insurance plan with them when they change jobs or retire.

After the vote, Issa headed to Florida for the fundraiser, where he was met with another gaggle of protesters who were coordinated with the San Diego and Florida chapters of Indivisible.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
The last of four men sentenced for smuggling 14 immigrants from Mexico into the U.S. in a small boat off the Pacific Coast was handed down a prison term of three years.

Issac Osuna-Sanchez, 22, was the ringleader of the crew that was caught smuggling the group of unauthorized immigrants in November of last year, the U.S Attorneys Office said. Osuna-Sanchez was sentenced Friday.

He and three other men  Mario Sainz-Avila, Enrique Ramirez-Fernandez and Hector Velasquez  had pleaded guilty, admitting they tried to smuggle a Nicaraguan citizen and 13 Mexican citizens on a vessel that lacked navigation lights.

Advertisement

U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped the boat at sea the night of Nov, 4, 2016 and arrested the 18 people on board  including the smugglers.

Last month, Sainz-Avila, 31, was sentenced to two years in prison for his role as the boats captain, while Ramirez-Fernandez, 27, and Velasquez, 22, were sentenced to 13 months in prison for aiding in the smuggling attempt.

Two of the unauthorized immigrants, Ernesto Madrigal-Garza and Danilo Mairena, had been deported before their Nov. 4 arrests and later were prosecuted on charges of returning to the U.S. illegally. Madrigal-Garzas criminal history includes fraud and an immigration offense. Mairenas previous convictions include battery, assault, and domestic violence-related offenses.

Breaking News

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
Suicide by cop is a phenomenon recognized since the 1980s where someone deliberately puts a plan in motion to compel officers to use deadly force.

Its a situation thats difficult to diffuse or prevent, once it is in play, experts say.

A FBI bulletin issued in 2014 backs that up: It found that suicide by cop is often unpreventable because officers arrive in the midst of a planned scenario.

Advertisement

In the Torrey Pines case Saturday morning, 15-year-old Jacob Peterson pulled that BB gun and pointed it at the officer. There was no time to deliberate on the part of the officers; it is an automatic shoot or be shot situation, said Ed Obayashi, an expert on the use of force.

While officers are being trained to de-escalate situations involving mentally ill or suicidal people, that approach doesnt work with individuals intent on having police kill them, said Obayashi, a deputy sheriff and deputy district attorney in Plumas County.

Theres not time to say, whats wrong with you, can we talk about this, he said. Someone is going to get shot  either the officer or the individual.

Obayashi said such shootings are traumatic for police officers.

It puts the cops in a horrible situation, he said. It isnt like they are shooting a bad guy who just killed someone Everybody is going to suffer on this one.

San Diego police say the boy had a suicide note tucked in his jacket pocket when he called 911 to summon police to Torrey Pines High School early Saturday morning. He took a BB air pistol from his waistband, pointed it at officers and refused repeated orders to drop his weapon.

The two officers fired.

When someone is in a true suicidal depressive episode they will got to amazing lengths to end their life, said David Klinger, a criminology and criminal justice professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Klinger, who has interviewed dozens of officers involved in police shootings, said when someone is determined to die, it is very difficult to slow that train down and to avoid police gunfire.

Looking at the police account, Klinger said the officers involved showed remarkable restraint by giving the boy multiple warnings and holding off on firing until he was advancing. They put their lives in danger to (try to) avoid a shooting, he said.

Fatally shooting someone who is suicidal brings an additional burden for officers, Klinger said.

Officers who end up killing a bank robber or a carjacker or a righteous bad guy feel like they are protecting society, he said.

But when officers are involved in a suicide by cop incident, when the person wants them to take their life, it is completely outside the rubric of what policing is about, Klinger said.

No one keeps statistics on such incidents in the U.S., but in San Diego, a report by the District Attorneys Office in 2015 found that 19 percent of the 358 officer-involved shootings between 1993 and 2012 were considered suicide by cop.

According to a Union-Tribune database of officer-involved shootings, 41 youths between the ages of 5 and 17 have been injured or killed by law enforcement since 1980 in San Diego County. Most cases involve teens suspected of being involved with a criminal act.

In two cases, officers shot teen boys, one fatally, who had been described as depressed or distraught.

San Diego police officials identified the two officers involved in Saturdays shooting as Officer Gilbert Flores, a 28-year veteran, and Officer Kai Johnson, a four-year veteran.

The officers will be on paid administrative leave for at least three days, although it can be longer at their discretion, said department spokeswoman Sgt. Lisa McKean. They also have been offered peer support and counseling provided by psychologists and chaplains.

Obayashi from Plumas County said everything he knows about Saturdays fatal encounter is as justified a shooting as there is. But the fact that it was a teen who died at the hands of officers likely will hit especially hard, he said.

You dont have to be a cop to understand, thats going to be with them for a long time, he said. Theres not special cop training or special cop therapy. We are not any more invulnerable than any other person would be in a similar situation.

The toll? All I can say is, if it was me, it would be with me the rest of my life.

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said Monday Congress should end a contentious citizenship-for-sale visa program in order to eliminate a potential conflict of interest for Jared Kushner, President Donald Trumps son-in-law and a White House adviser.

The comments from Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California came in response to media reports that Kushner Companies representatives  including Kushners sister, Nicole Meyer  marketed use of the EB-5 investor visa program to Chinese nationals at a conference in Beijing over the weekend. Kushner resigned as CEO from his familys real estate company in January, ahead of joining the White House staff.

Feinstein said in a statement reports by The New York Times, The Washington Post and others make crystal clear that the EB-5 regional center program presents a stark conflict of interest for the Trump White House.

Advertisement

Given that President (Donald) Trump and Jared Kushner refuse to divest from their vast financial holdings, the only way to eliminate this conflict is for Congress to allow the program to expire in September, said Feinstein, who has sponsored legislation to end the program.

The EB-5 program allows rich foreign nationals to invest as little as $500,000 in a U.S. development project likely to create 10 or more new jobs in order to obtain a green card.

Troubled program

The program has been dogged by waste, fraud and abuse. Chinese investors received 7,719 of the 9,947 EB-5 visas issued by the State Department in fiscal 2016.

Kushner Companies has already benefited from the EB-5 visa program, taking in $50 million in investments to complete a 50-story, Trump-branded apartment complex in Jersey City, N.J.

The real estate firm said in a statement Monday that Meyer was attempting to make clear that her brother had stepped away from the company in January and has nothing to do with this project when she mentioned him to investors in Beijing.

Kushner Companies apologizes if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors, the firm said. That was not Ms. Meyers intention.

Asked about Meyers sales pitch, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Kushner has taken steps to comply with ethics rules and referred questions to his familys firm. The real estate company has said Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, has no role in the firms management or operations.

Obama regulations

The EB-5 program has been extended with little change for years, often through omnibus spending bills or continuing resolutions. The latest reauthorization was granted through the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill that Trump signed on Friday.

The White House is currently weighing sweeping changes to the EB-5 program proposed by former President Barack Obama. If Trump opts to implement them, the $500,000 investment level would be raised and the federal government would receive greater power over where projects may be built.

Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, a proponent of EB-5 changes and co-sponsor of Feinsteins bill, says he expects the White House to stand by the proposed Obama regulations and does not believe Kushners family ties would endanger their implementation.

Senator Schumer strongly supports bipartisan legislation that would crack down on fraud, abuse, and improper influence within the EB-5 program, said Matt House, a spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer. The New York Democrat is not a co-sponsor of the Feinstein bill.

Ethics watchdogs also took note of Meyers comments.

This crass effort by the Kushner family to raise large amounts of funding in China and to use government investment visas as incentives for wealthy Chinese individuals to invest in the Kushner family business is clearly intended to create the appearance that Jared Kushner and his family can be influential in their obtaining investor visas to the United States, wrote Fred Wertheimer, president of the ethics watchdog Democracy 21, in a letter Monday to the Office of Government Ethics.

The White House has indicated some willingness to follow through on the Obama-era proposals, which some in the real estate industry say are too drastic and could bring investments in the program to a trickle.

Michael Short, a White House spokesman, said in an email in mid-April that the EB-5 program needs substantial repair.

There are serious concerns held by the administration regarding the EB-5 visa program, in part because it is not being used as it was primarily intended, and in part because it poses something of a security risk to the United States, Short said.

Dean DeChiaro is an immigration reporter for Roll Call.

Roll Call staff writers Stephanie Akin, Niels Lesniewski and Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
Three passengers were arrested Monday night at a Florida airport after anger and frustration over canceled flights erupted into a brawl inside a terminal.

Video of the unrulyness at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport shows travelers bunched up near the ticket counter yelling, cursing and finally pushing, shoving and then clashing with police after Spirit Airlines canceled several flights due to a labor dispute.

More than one woman is seen struggling with authorities in the ensuing chaos and one man is seen face down on the floor as he is handcuffed by officers who led him out of the airport.

Advertisement

According to the Washington Post, the airlines canceled nine flights, leaving hundreds of flyers stranded. All of a sudden, one particular flight got canceled, and a mob ensued up here at the front counter, in front of everyone else who had been waiting in line, passenger Paul Smith said.

In a statement to the Post, the airline blamed the disruptions on its pilots whose contracts and pay disputes with the carrier has resulted in the cancellation of at least 300 flights.

We are shocked and saddened to see the videos of what took place at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, Spirit spokesman Paul Berry said in a statement. This is a result of unlawful labor activity by some Spirit pilots designed to disrupt Spirit operations for our customers, by canceling multiple flights across our network. These pilots have put their quest for a new contract ahead of getting customers to their destinations and the safety of their fellow Spirit Team Members.

The Air Line Pilots Association International, however, denied that assertion and said, rather, that it is working with the airline and was continuing to do everything possible to help restore the companys operations.

One ticket-holder said the way the airline had treated its customers did not help the situation.

Everyone was already aggravated about flight delays and the ridiculousness of standing in such a long line for hours, which Spirit Airlines did nothing to help, and then in walks these people off their flight raising a ruckus (and) cussing and screaming and they went straight to the counter, passenger Cindy Matthews Beard told CNN.

According to the Associated Press, the people arrested and accused of starting the near-riot were from New York. The three are facing charges of inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing.

619-293-1710

debbi.baker@sduniontribune.com

twitter.com/Debbi_Baker
Regarding Trump fires FBI Director James Comey (May 9): So, our new president, who is smarter than our generals, knows NATO is obsolete, doesnt believe in climate science, who considers Kim Jong-un, Rodrigo Duterte and Vladimir Putin worthy of praise, is certain President Obama was not a U.S. citizen and that he wiretapped his residence, has fired the one man who significantly aided his run for the presidency in the last weeks of the campaign.

From distraction to distraction, while Rome burns. I wonder if Trump knows how to fiddle?

I have serious doubts that this man, who claimed he alone could fix our nations problems, is fit for office, and about those in office who refuse to see the danger this man represents.

Advertisement

Stop the presses, investigate. Lets see the real man behind the curtain.

Greg Orth

Carlsbad

I think President Trump did the right thing.

This nation doesnt need wishy washy people in positions of authority as critically important as the FBI. We need doers and dedicated patriots who understand U.S. law and the need to apply it fairly to keep our nation functioning properly.

I think that the firing of Director Comey enables a national catharsis and a chance for our country to move on to solving the more critical problems currently plaguing us.

Michael Pravica

Henderson, Nevada

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

History will remember Comeys efforts in electionFBI Director James Comey says he is mildly nauseous thinking that he might have swung the election. But how nauseous  or nauseated  will he be when leafing through American history books and spotting something like: Director Comey may have been instrumental in swift-boating the highly qualified candidate Hillary Clinton, who quite likely would have become our first female president.?Director Comey might not have been in such a funky position today if he had concurrently said something about ongoing investigations into the unusual Republican connections with Communist Russia. Sort of level out the playing field a little, no?But today one thing is perfectly clear: the Russian connection is far more compelling  and and far more threatening  than Hillary Clintons boring emails.

Neil Thomas

Chula Vista

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
How Trump is harming the Republican brand

A recent letter (Ludicrous articles do not win publics trust, May 4) that characterized David Brooks, a Republican, as a far-left New York Times writer reminded me that Donald Trump is not a partisan problem.

Trump debased our political discourse with his references to little Marco, lying Ted and crooked Hilary. Trump made fun of a handicapped person in front of thousands of his supporters and then lied about it. Trump insulted women with his vulgar talk, and then he and his apologists implied that all men did the same. Trump incited violence with his suggestion that a disruptor be carried out on a stretcher.

Trump mocks us all by his continued lying. Trump claims to be a Republican. As a result, it is incumbent upon Republicans like David Brooks to speak out because Trump is a very serious American problem.

Advertisement

Roland Madden

Carlsbad

Letters and commentary policy

The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below.

Good reasons Trump looks back to Jackson

For all the folks making fun of President Trump and his tweets that our Civil War might have been stopped from happening I would ask them to read American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.

It is true that Jackson knew all about South Carolinas plans to secede from the union over the nullification rule, but he got sidetracked by other events; a possibility of war with Spain, moving Indians out of the Southeast and fighting blatant corruption in our national banking system. Otherwise, he was going to send troops into South Carolina and stop the rebellion in its tracks.

By not acting early in 1836, he merely postponed the war for another 25 years. It is amazing how Trumps presidency so far mirrors Andrew Jacksons eight years including moving family members into the White House as trusted counselors.

Nicholas Waln

Temecula

Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook.
President Donald Trump s revised travel ban faced a tough day in court on Monday as a panel of judges from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenged it with question after question.

Back in March, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the executive order  which bans travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen  from being enforced. The order also sought to temporarily halt the U.S. refugee program.

The appeals court is trying to decide whether the order violates the First Amendments protection of all religions.

Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall represented the Trump administration in the Richmond, Virginia, court room against a panel of 13 judges.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, hears oral argument in International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump, a case concerning President Trumps revised tra ...

The Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the case to court, are arguing over two main questions.

Is the executive order a ban specifically on Muslims?

Does the executive order illegally target Muslims?

Thats the most important issue in the whole case, said Robert B. King, one of the judges on the panel.

That argument was used to block the ban in March when a federal judge pointed out that the countries included on the list were Muslim-majority countries. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang called the executive order the realization of Trumps long-envisioned Muslim ban.

This is not a Muslim ban, Wall told the judges on Monday. Its text doesnt have to anything to do with religion. Its operation doesnt have anything to do with religion.

Trumps lawyer argues that the countries were chosen because of their ties to terrorism and that they only represented a small fraction of Muslim-majority nations.

The ACLUs attorney Omar Jadwat argued back that Trumps administration hasnt provided enough evidence of the national security risk posed by these nations.

The order is completely unprecedented in our nations history, Jadwat said.

This brings us to the next question.

Should Trumps campaign statements be held against him?

Trumps attorney is trying to persuade the appellate judges that statements Trump made on the campaign trail shouldnt factor into their decision in this case. Thats after U.S. District Judge Chuang cited those statements in March to block the order, saying it showed Trumps intent with his executive order was to target Muslims.

One of the examples used is a press release from team Trump (which he also read out loud at a campaign rally in 2015) which calls for a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on.

The statement has since been removed from his website but the url still says donald-j.-trump-statement-on-preventing-muslim-immigration.

And you can watch him say it here.

Donald Trump called Monday for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" during a rally in South Carolina, an idea swiftly condemned by his rival GOP ca ...

Does that mean Trump meant the order to target Muslims?

Judge Paul V. Niemeyer on Monday pondered just how far a court should go into someones past to determine the persons intent.

Can we look at his college speeches? How about his speeches to businessmen 20 years ago? Niemeyer asked.

Wall argued that the order should be judged for its text specifically, rather than Trumps past statements.

The appeals court did not announce a decision on Monday and experts predict the case will likely fall to the Supreme Court for an ultimate decision.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin
Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join

That summer, somewhere along in July, Sibyl Armstrong, who was still the wife of Rex Armstrong, formed a habit of sliding the screens together  the house was of Oriental inspiration  and then pulling the curtains over them. She wasnt sure why she did it, particularly after she had stumbled twice over a little wicker footstool, once when it was where it belonged and once after shed moved it.

Perhaps the reason, although she did not really seek it, was that summer gloom was in her blood. Her mother kept the house back in Davenport, Iowa, where Sibyl grew up, as dark as possible in the summertime on the theory that if you dont see the sun you dont think about the heat. Its an untenable theory, but here was Sibyl beginning to do things the way her mother had. A sign of age, or at least of maturity  of settling in with the ancestors.

It was hard to read in that house in Davenport, Iowa, in the summertime; Sibyl had not, in fact, done much reading. Summer was when she mostly sat in a big chair with one leg flung over a chair arm and thought about life  what she would be when she grew up, how she would look, what she would wear, and how deeply and imaginatively and stylishly her husband would love her after a wedding that could take, in her fancy, many forms, from a production in a church to an elopement involving the use of a ladder. She seldom, in the depths of the big chair, thought about what the children would be like or how many there might be, and this might in some way account for the fact that she and Rex hadnt had any. What you dont dream of you often dont get, not that you always get what you do, of course.

Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today

In that big chair Sibyl dreamed of being rescued and married and maintained in a style to which she became thoroughly accustomed, well in advance of reality, during the heat of those adolescent summers. It was very fancy dreaming she did in that chair, but it had worked out accurately  up to a point. The rescue had been effected eventually from college, not from home. It was an elopement, too: a no-ladder elopement, but authentic, dramatic and uncontested. And the marriage was, in its way, a living reenactment of the dream  with all that love, all that style, all that elegance: the king-size bed in the master bedroom, the double dressing rooms, the pool, the terrace, and beyond it the teahouse  the one they built when they were on an inner-peace kick  with the great flat imported stones to leave shoes on. Thats how it was; name anything, the Armstrongs had one and knew how it worked.

Some churls always say of happiness that you cant buy it, and others will add that you cant take your purchases with you, and the truth is that nemesis, although it operates on a hit-or-miss system, manages frequently to hit some very happy people, among them now the Armstrongs  Sibyl with the screens pulled together and the curtains drawn, and Rex in the hospital with a no-visitors sign on his door, floating in a coma compounded of morphine and ultimate non-aggression.

The telephone rang, and Sibyl Armstrong, sitting with one leg flung over a chair arm, jackknifed herself up and out of the chair. Crossing the room, she tripped over the footstool again, picked it up, took it with her, sat down on it and caught the telephone at the second ring. One way to keep track of a footstool is to sit on it, and sitting doubled up is one way to keep from shaking. She put the telephone against her knees, bent to it and said hello in a voice that cracked a little. She lived in fear, and her voice was untrustworthy. The other voice was cultured, female, nobody from the hospital. It asked, elaborately, for Mrs. Armstrong.

Speaking, said Sibyl, to her own surprise. It was the first time in her life shed answered speaking, but at least she didnt say shaking.

Sib? the other voice said, quite simply now. Maggie Staples.

No bell rang. No bell very well could. Sibyl Armstrongs consciousness was taken up with one name only these days, in a very one-track way. She was excluded from the hospital room until noon, while the nurses did their things, but she was admitted at 12 and allowed to sit beside the bed until midnight or whenever somebody sent her home. And from six in the morning until noon she waited for the telephone to ring, hoping wildly that it wouldnt. Not today, please, not today, some other day, and not by phone. Let me be there.

The name Maggie Staples meant nothing, and when she said, Oh, Maggie Staples, she brought so little conviction to it that her caller offered a short refresher course.

Theyd lived straight across the hall from each other for three years at Biddle College (for Women) before Maggie Staples lit out and went on to higher things in the region about Times Square and Broadway. Maggie Staples kept it brief and said it quite gracefully, but Sibyl recalled that theyd both failed to graduate, and for much the same reason, except that Maggies marriage had been to a career. When youre offered a meaty role on Broadway, you dont tell the producer to wait until youve been handed a diploma and can therefore switch your tassel from one side of your silly hat to the other. You accept the role. You go.

I know, Sibyl said. I think I saw a thing on you in one of the magazines.

Oh? the voice said. When was that?

Ages ago, Sibyl said; twenty years at least.

If at this moment the hospital was trying to call her, they would be getting a repetitive sound indicating that the telephone was in use.

It couldnt have been that long, Maggie Staples said, because, goose girl, weve only been out of college seventeen years.

Fifteen, then, Sibyl said, or twelve. I never have had much sense of time. Anyhow, I remember we were very proud.

Bless you, the voice said, most sincerely. Ive tried to live up to it  that pride. In a way its the actors first obligation.

Maggie  Ill have to say it  Im in a predicament.

Yes, dear, the voice said quickly, tell me.

Its just that Im expecting a call.

Oh. If its important, Ill hang right up.

It is. But call again sometime.

That Ill do, the voice said. Bravely. And hurt. That Ill certainly do.

Look, Maggie Sibyl said. Where are you staying? Ill call you when I can.

Its an unlisted number, Miss Staples said, and Im not there, and I cant remember it. Ive been out here six weeks only, and my minds a whirlpool of terribly important numbers, one of which is mine  but which one?

Then you call me, Sibyl said, sometime. Its nice of you to remember me after so long.

Nonsense. Bye, dear.

Click. And if the hospital had tried to call during the course of this unpredictable conversation, it would call again. It was 9:30 now. Two and a half hours more and she could push open the door with the no-visitors sign on it and try to share the coma.

Nine-thirty was an odd time for an actress to be up and about, communicating with old college classmates uncommunicated with for how many? . . . 17? . . . years. A girl named Maggie Staples had lived straight across the hall from her for three years. But girls who lived across the hall that long ago tend to blur and become confused with a lot of other more or less memorable girls from across the hall. Right now, for instance, Sibyl Armstrong found it hard even to recall the face of her roommate of those three years. Her memory limited itself to collecting memorabilia directly connected with Rex Armstrong, and it served her lavishly with all manner of bits and pieces and larger reconstructions. It brought her details  significant, insignificant and mixed  the insignificant becoming significant. The mole, for instance, on the bottom of his left foot, flat and smooth, more like a freckle, but large, the size of a quarter, and of a handsome brown color. When did she first know he had it?

Well, reconstruct.

He was lying in the sand, on his stomach, with his feet toward the ocean. West, that is, of course, and she, Sibyl, the reconstructor, was lying at right angles to him, at his feet, with her head facing Santa Barbara. She was gazing with fascination at his feet and thinking profound thoughts about man, not men, but primates all the way from apes to fellows  how the backs of their hands are hairy, but their palms are smooth and so are their feet. Then she was off the general and onto the particular, as usual, and lost in admiration of these particular bare soles, and it was then that she discovered the particular distinguishing mark. It was on the bottom of the foot farther north, the one closer to Santa Barbara. She remembered thinking that if you had to have such a large handsome freckle, the sole of the foot was a brilliant place to have it. And that night they had dinner in Santa Barbara with shoes on  a night that was all stars and no moon.

She lifted the telephone from her knees to the desk and stayed where she was, on the footstool. She was still sitting there, reconstructing, when the doorbell made the flat impersonal summons which Armstrong Associates  and Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong also  preferred to chimes. She sat where she was and ignored it, impersonally. She could do this for three summonses, but not for the fourth. She got up and walked across the living room into the entrance hall and opened the door during the fifth buzz.

There was a woman standing there, and when the door opened, she withdrew her gloved hand from the button she was pressing. She wore dark glasses and a floppy black hat and a black linen dress. An obvious example of a witch in gloves, and she spoke in a voice she knew the use of, a cool light breeze of a voice.

When I took my bearings, she said, it turned out I was so near that I came along.

She stepped in, still speaking, and said what she meant, very directly  that she knew a great deal about trouble and that shed heard the sound of it  unmistakably just now on the phone.

Youre Maggie Staples. Already? Sibyl Armstrong said with a logic of her own.

Just like that, said the light voice, and Maggie Staples snapped a gloved middle finger against a gloved palm. Just like that, I came where I was needed.

She walked past Sibyl to the far end of the entrance hall and turned back to say, Or if Im not needed, something quite obviously is. Can you tell me what?

Sibyl closed the door and leaned back against it with her hand still holding the knob.

Cant you, Sibyl, make a try?

She turned, tentatively, toward the living room, and Sibyl walked across the hall behind her. They went in together.

Be careful of that stool, Sibyl said, that one in front of the desk. She drew some curtains and separated the screens, and Maggie Staples stood in the center of the room and looked at the room from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall and gave a sigh of profound admiration.

Marvelous room, she said. Absolute room.

Sibyl looked at it too. It was the first time shed seen it for a long, long time.

An architects house has more or less of an obligation to be good, she said.

It lives up, Maggie Staples said. She started toward a chair and then stood still and said, Show me the kitchen, will you, Sib? Thats the test of a house.

The kitchen also lived up. Gourmet to the very whisks was how Maggie Staples put it, and speaking of food, she was a little weak. Shed missed breakfast, for complicated reasons, but the custom of the country would suit her perfectly, if there happened to be any vodka in the house and any California orange juice toward the making of a screwdriver. Or better still, some tomato juice toward that other breakfast favorite out here  the Bloody Mary. Foolish custom of a foolish country, and how adaptable can you get? But shed go back to soft-boiled eggs in New York. Meanwhile vodka, like the Romans when in Russia.

Maybe wed better go into the saloon, Sibyl said.

Saloon?

Well, its not a family room. Sibyl led her in, and Maggie Staples laughed behind her all the way and found it beautifully stocked and wonderfully restful.

Great relief from those bars all hung over with Toulouse-Lautrec. Arent you having one?

No, thanks, Sibyl said and felt foolish, not for the decision but for the thanks. She had never liked to drink, except with Rex. When he stopped wanting to, she stopped wanting to. She looked at the telephone hanging low under the bar, touched it to ask it not to ring and then went around to the other side and sat on a stool beside the breakfast guest.

What are you doing out here? she said. Television?

Maggie Staples responded with a restrained double take. She heard it, couldnt believe it, heard it again and appeared to choke slightly on the Bloody Mary.

Do I look like television? she asked. Do I give the impression of being both adult and Western?

I dont really know much about it, Sibyl said. Ours blew up and we never remember to have it fixed.

Good policy, said Maggie Staples. Its the kind of sawmill I dont care to get tangled up in. And whatever else you can say for me or against me, I havent. She took a drink, set the glass down and added with emphasis, Ever.

The next question should be, logically, a narrowing down (Then what is this job? What are you doing?), but Sibyls guest answered it, in an oblique way, before she was asked.

Im trying to do a little good in a world where anxiety arrives and serenity departs. She looked into her glass, saying it, and rattled the ice cubes like dice in a cup.

Im told your husband is very ill, she said.

Sibyl jumped as suddenly as if shed touched an open wire. She got off her stool and went around the counter to make certain the telephone was hanging properly on its hook.

Maggie Staples misinterpreted the move. Pushing her empty glass across the counter, she said, Thanks, I will. You know, most women can cook passably, but very few can mix a decent drink. Why do you suppose that is?

Her hostess, behind the counter, didnt offer a guess. She found a small can of tomato juice and opened it, looking deeply preoccupied. Finally she looked up and said, But how  

How did I know? Sixth sense, I suppose. I knew you married a man named Rex Armstrong  as a matter of fact, I danced with him once when he came up to one of those dumb Biddle dances we used to go through every spring. Now hes an important man. People hear about important men.

She took off the dark glasses, and Sibyl saw her eyes and was seen seeing them. Smog, Maggie Staples said. One more reason for me not to stay out here.

She put the glasses back on and said quietly, Sibyl, I hope you know Id never presume on a college friendship, nor on my reputation, nor your husbands, for that matter. How serious is it  do you know?

Do I know? Sibyl said, but only to herself. She pared a sliver of peel from a lemon, gave it a twist and let it drop into the glass. It was quite a while before the answer came. And Maggie Staples waited for it, decently, with respect.

The classification, Sibyl said very slowly, is terminal. And she went on, faster: Terminals the term, and it doesnt mean where you change trains  its where you get off and stay off.

She felt around for the tray of ice cubes, but it had gone somewhere. End of the whole bumping line, she said.

Maggie Staples watched her hunt for the tray and waited for her to find it be- fore she spoke. It was a trained voice  calm, kind, compassionate and dispassionate at once.

It goes without saying, she said, that with your combined intelligences youve done everything that can possibly be done, and Sibyl answered a little breathlessly that, intelligent or not, theyd tried first things first, and then, one after the other: the rays, the pills, the shots, the chemical approach.

But nothing new is new enough. By now there should be a cure, but the geniuses all go into physics to help us get into a great big game of Russian roulette. Any number can play.

Dont talk that way or think that way, Sibyl. Its wrong, wrong, wrong.

Whats so wrong, wrong, wrong about it?

Bitterness wont help. Thats really what I came to say  that youve got to learn to accept this and then prepare yourself for it. In spiritual ways and in practical ways.

Sibyl put a glass in front of her, and Maggie curled her hand around it. This for me? Shouldnt you have one?

I had breakfast, Sibyl said, at six oclock. Thats when the switchboard operator comes on duty. They close the board at midnight and open it at six, and if anything significant has happened during the night, after midnight and before six, theyll telephone. She folded a towel, dampened it and pushed it along the counter, with the grain. At least they say they will, she said. and it gives me something to think about in the two minutes it takes me to eat my three-minute egg every morning at six oclock.

You talk exactly the way you did in college.

Well, I dont feel the way I did in college  exactly. Sibyl hung the towel on a hook. Youre right, Im bitter as all gall.

The dark glasses turned directly to her now, and the rich, light voice told her how to think of it. Think of it this way. The voice grew more rich than light. Youve had much more than most people ever have. Youve had a wonderful life together. Its been an achieved relationship.

Sibyl Armstrong, behind the bar, picked up an ice cube, closed her hand on it and looked truly puzzled. Has it? she said.

Hasnt it? Maggie Staples said, just audibly.

Oh  achieved and a half, Sibyl said, but I didnt know it had been written up in Variety.

You are bitter, Sib. Listen, girl, tell me about it. Just talk. Say anything. Believe me, it helps.

Sibyl took the towel off the hook and folded it precisely, corner to corner. What would I say if I talked? That hes six feet three and a quarter inches and that hes now edging a hundred and ten pounds? Does that help?

Doesnt it? To get it off your chest  to an old friend?

No, it doesnt. Not one   Not one what? Whit, jot, bit or smidgen? No, it doesnt help at all, she said.

She unfolded the towel, twisted it, snapped it and looked at Maggie Stapless glass, a third full. She drank fast, there was that about her old friend Maggie Staples. Sibyl looked at her closely, then at her watch and said, I dont remember you very clearly from college, to tell you the truth.

Im sorry. Vain of me, but I supposed you would.

There was now a fourth of the drink left and a little over an hour left before it would be time to go to the hospital.

You were in the plays  the class plays and the Masquers.

Was I not! said Maggie Staples. All the way from Hedda to Jocasta through Sabina. I worked in those days, slaved. I still am, of course  still do, I mean.

She laughed suddenly. Am, do, be, was, been. Take your choice, its all the future imperfect or action completed in the past. She laughed again.

I hate to do, it, Sibyl said, getting it in fast, but Im going to have to close the bar and get ready to leave. First, though, Id like   She started it bravely enough, then stopped, upsure, and then said it. Id like to know what you want.

Maggie Staples heard the question, drained her glass and pushed it across the counter. The same thing, only this time a little less tomato juice and a touch heavier on the vodka, if you can stand a suggestion. Lots of people cant.

My own fault, Sibyl said to herself. I should have said, Why did you come? not, What do you want? But she mixed the drink, in line with the suggestion, and then she dried her hands on the towel, hung the towel on the hook and put both hands on the counter and both elbows out, an Irish stance, and said it clearly: What do you want? You wanted to see me  for a reason. But you havent made the reason clear.

Maggie Staples took it slowly. Yes, she was here for a reason, and shed stated it earlier. She was here, knowing the trouble, with an offer of help. But this was not one of those vague let-me-know-if-theres-anything-I-can-do offers. No. Not one of those. Her offer was a specific one, pragmatic, practical, and it meant that when the time came there would be no panic or indecision; distressing details would be taken care of, intelligently and with the utmost delicacy, by a staff of men and women skilled in solving problems of this sort. There would be no taking advantage of grief and distraction to drive a bargain.

Though I fully realize, Maggie Staples said, that money is not a problem here, still its a matter of pride with me to be representing a group that I, personally, respect.

Sibyl Armstrongs voice became untrustworthy again, and when she said, You represent a group? the group came out falsetto.

The best, Maggie Staples said, and she sipped her drink while Sibyl Armstrong looked, rather stupidly but with fascination, at a brochure which now lay displayed on the counter before her.

She didnt know how it got there; she didnt touch it, but she did see it, more or less, and in a moment she said, Why do they call it Crestview? Is there a view of a crest?

I dont really know, Maggie Staples said. Ive only been with them three weeks. Most of the staff is new.

But skilled, I believe you said, said Sibyl, who suddenly had to sit down.

Oh, very skilled, very highly, Maggie said. Whats the idea sitting on the floor? All these stools.

I like it here. Its where I landed and I like it here. Lets hear the proposition.

There was no answer from above.

How did you get my name?

Still no answer. Silence at the bar.

Go ahead, represent your group. How did you get my name?

Not yours. Your husbands.

Sibyl Armstrong heard that word, looked fast at her watch and saw that there was still a little time. She stood up, got a glass, poured herself a measure of bourbon and looked into it while she thought out the answer. Out loud. Somebody gets to somebody who gets to an orderly who gets to a nurse who keeps informed on prognosis. And sells you the worthwhile names?

It felt like a long speech, and when shed finished it she drank off the bourbon and set down the glass.

That make you feel any better? Maggie Staples said.

I didnt drink it to feel better. I only needed something to toast one of Biddle Colleges distinguished graduates.

Maggie Staples started to get off the stool and then stayed where she was. Youre forgetting. I didnt graduate. I went on to higher things.

Yes.

How do you mean, yes?

I mean yes, higher things, yes you bet, Sibyl said, and this time Maggie did get off the stool.

All right, but it wasnt always like this, she said. I was good. You read the notices, you saw the spread. I started strong.

She took off the dark glasses and let her eyes show  red  and then she half sat on the stool again and said simply, I dont know. I dont know what happened.

She picked up the brochure, shoved it into her bag and laughed  a short one. I even had to tell these ghouls who I am  I mean who I was.

She put the dark glasses in the bag and felt around in it and brought out the black gloves and drew them on, finger by finger. She looked for a moment at what was left of her drink, then turned her back on it and started toward the kitchen, the way theyd come in.

Sibyl followed her. In the kitchen she said, Maggie, I dont really have to leave for another half hour, if youd like another drink. Or something.

Maggie Staples reached up and touched one of the wire whisks hanging from the hood of the stove. Id like to have eighty-nine other drinks, she said. Or something. But in eighty-nine other places.

Dont feel that way, Sibyl said. Dont be bitter.

Thats my line.

I know, Sibyl said. I got it from you.

They crossed the living room, and Sibyl Armstrong opened the door, and Maggie Staples stepped out onto the bricks and felt in her bag for her dark glasses.

Call me sometime, will you? Sibyl said.

Maggie picked her way across the stepping-stones. Lets say this, the voice called back from under the hat. I wont unless theres absolutely no need to.

Either way, Sibyl said.

She closed the door and stood looking at it and then moved to one side of it, opened a louver and looked out, and watched Maggie Staples in her floppy hat and black dress and black gloves taking the stepping-stones until there was none left to triumph over. At the curb she stopped to look first down and then up the street. There was no car parked in the block. Sibyl saw her raise her hands to her waist in a gesture that very delicately suggested the tightening of a belt, and then move off to the right. She walked well on flat ground. Anyone who has learned to walk across a stage, no matter how long ago, can walk down a street as far as the corner. And turn the corner and be out of sight.

In Rex Armstrongs house the telephone rang. Sibyl Armstrong heard it, knew what it meant, closed the louver and heard it ring again. Then she took a deep breath, touched her hands to her waist in a gesture shed seen somewhere, and crossed the room, fairly steadily, to answer it.
Valley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/08/2017 -- Castor oil is one of the most multipurpose plant oils, obtained by pressing the seed of the castor oil plant (Ricinus communis).It is well known source of a monounsaturated, ricinoleic and 18-carbon fatty acid. Owing to its unique chemical structure and rich properties, castor oil and its derivatives find uses in many industries such as cosmetics, food, lubricants, paints, agriculture, electronics & telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, perfumeries, plastics and rubber, inks & adhesives and textile chemicals. After plant oils, castor oil is considered to be the most required oil. However, growing concerns pertaining to biofuels specially biodiesel and biopolymer across the globe is pushingcastor oil to play a much larger role in the world economy.



Castor Oil Derivatives: Drivers & Restraints



Growth of major end-use industries (includes lubricants, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) and increasing demand for sustainable products & biodegradable, on account of reducing dependence on petrochemicals is anticipated to fuel the demand for castor oil derivatives market. Also regulatory support and rising prices of alternative renewable chemicals is expected to drive the global castor oil derivatives market. However, factors influencing its manufacturing cost includes raw material availability, weather uncertainties, shortage of working capital, techniques & methods used for extraction and availability of substitute oil are resulting in restraints for the castor oil derivative market.



Request For Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-474



Castor Oil Derivatives: Segmentation



On the basis of product type, the global castor oil derivatives market is segmented into Undecylenic Acid, Sebacic Acid (largest consumed castor oil derivatives), Castor Wax or Hydrogenated castor oil (HCO), Dehydrated Castor Oil (DCO) and others. On the basis of application, global castor oil derivatives market is segmented into Lubricants, Cosmetics & Pharmaceuticals (largest application segment), Biodiesel, Plastics & Resins and Others.



Castor Oil Derivatives: Region-wise Outlook



The global castor oil derivatives market is expected to register a double digit CAGR for the forecast period, 2015?2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to continue its dominance on the global castor oil derivatives market. India accounts for largest production of castor oil derivatives worldwide, followed by China and Brazil. Higher demand from the US, Europe and China has resulted in the higher prices for castor as well as increase in demand for castor oil derivatives. The major castor producing countries are India, China, Brazil, Paraguay, Ethiopia, Philippines, Russia and Thailand.



Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-474



Castor Oil Derivatives: Key Players



Some of players in global castor oil derivatives market are Thai Castor Oil Industries Co. Ltd., Jayant Agro Organics, Hokoku Corporation, ITOH Oil Chemicals Co. Ltd., Gokul Overseas, Bom Brazil, Liaoyang Huaxing Chemical Co., Ltd., Kanak Castor Products Pvt. Ltd., and others.
Boca Raton, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/09/2017 -- The team at Volume Cases is thrilled to announce their latest client's major order. Grand Island Schools in Grand Island, Nebraska recently made an order for 700 customized Dell Chromebook 11" 3180 Zip cases for their Chromebook deployment.



Each of the cases is customized with Grand Island Public Schools logo.



"We are proud to have Grand Island choose Volume Cases as their supplier of choice for student Chromebook case deployment two years in a row. Grand Island evaluated the Zip Chromebook Cases against many competitors and decided to go with our best-of-breed cases," said Judi Lesser at Volume Cases.



Volume Cases creates customized student cases that are designed to be protective, functional, and durable. The rugged cases come with a 5-year warranty and competitive pricing.



Each model features luggage-grade materials, air-cooling channels, and special crumple zones that absorb shock.



The Volume Cases team is thrilled to partner with Grand Island Public Schools and looks forward to serving them in the future.



More information can be found at http://www.volumecases.com/.



About Volume Cases

Volume Cases delivers premium, personalized protective Chromebook, MacBook, and laptop cases for students and schools.



Contact:

Volume Cases

2701 NW 2nd Ave. Boca Raton, FL 33431

Phone: 561-571-2523

E-mail: info@volumecases.com

www.VolumeCases.com
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/09/2017 -- Nitrogen is an odorless, colorless chemical element which is a source of raw material in various important industrial compounds such as nitric acid, ammonia, and cyanides. It occurs in majority of the organisms, primarily amino acids such as proteins, and nucleic acids (RNA and DNA). Nitrogen is widely used as fertilizers where synthetically manufactured nitrates and ammonia are some of the vital industrial fertilizers used in the agrochemical industry. Other than fertilizers, nitrogen compounds are versatile organics used in industrial applications, developing Kevlar fabric and pharmaceutical drugs such as antibiotics.



A sample of this report is available upon request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4328



The global market for nitrogen has been witnessing noticeable growth mostly due to the development of the fertilizer industry. Moreover, long term leases of ammonia vessels at fixed prices have enabled large scale companies to manage transportation costs thereby providing economical delivery to the consumers in developed as well as developing regions. These companies also own manufacturing facilities as well as major supply contracts with certain region emerging economies such as China thereby gaining flexibility and logistics strength for the imports.



Growing demand for fertilizers on account of increasing food grain production is anticipated to boost the demand for nitrogen over the forecast period. However, increasing health and environmental concern regarding the ill effects of nitrogen based chemical fertilizers are expected to slow down the growth of the market. Increasing focus towards developing bio based agrochemicals such as nitrogen fixation biofertilizers are anticipated to provide new opportunities for the growth of the market. North America remained the largest consumer for nitrogen. However, Asia Pacific is expected to lead the market over the forecast period on account of increasing use of agrochemicals and rising industrial activities in emerging economies such as China and India.



To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/4328



Agrium Inc., PotashCorp, ICL Fertilizers, K+S AG, Sinofert, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile(SQM), andThe Mosaic Company among others are some of the major manufacturers of nitrogen dominating the market.



Key geographies evaluated in this report are:



North America

U.S

Canada

Europe

France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK

Eastern Europe

CIS

APAC

China

India

Japan

Australia

Others

Latin America

Argentina

Brazil

Others



Key features of this report



Drivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Nitrogen market dynamics

Latest innovations and key events in the industry

Analysis of business strategies of the top players

Nitrogen market estimates and forecasts (2015 -2021)
Providence, RI -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/09/2017 -- Stephen Hopkins was from Hampshire, England. He married his first wife, Mary, and resided in the parish of Hursley, Hampshire. They had three (3) children: Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles; all baptized there. It has long been claimed that the Hopkins family was from Wortley, Gloucester, but this was disproven in 1998 with the discovery of his true origins in Hursley.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/hopkins-stephen/



Stephen Hopkins went with the ship Sea Venture on a voyage to Jamestown, Virginia in 1609 as a minister's clerk, but the ship wrecked in the "Isle of Devils" (Bermuda). Stranded on an island for ten months, the passengers and crew survived on turtles, birds, and wild pigs. Six months into the castaway, Stephen Hopkins and several others organized a mutiny against the current governor. The mutiny was discovered and Stephen was sentenced to death. However, he pleaded with sorrow and tears. "So penitent he was, and made so much moan, alleging the ruin of his wife and children in this his trespass, as it wrought in the hearts of all the better sorts of the company." He managed to get his sentence commuted. Eventually the castaways built a small ship and sailed themselves to Jamestown. How long Stephen remained in Jamestown is not known. However, while he was gone, his wife Mary died. She was buried in Hursley on 9 May 1613, and left behind a probate estate which mentions her children Elizabeth, Constance and Giles.



Stephen was back in England by 1617, when he married Elizabeth Fisher, but apparently had every intention of bringing his family back to Virginia. Their first child, Damaris, was born about 1618. In 1620, Stephen Hopkins brought his wife and children Constance, Giles, and Damaris on the Mayflower (child Elizabeth apparently had died). Stephen was a fairly active member of the Pilgrim group shortly after arrival, perhaps a result of his being one of the few individuals who had been to Virginia previously. He was a part of all the early exploring missions, and was used as an "expert" on Native Americans for the first few contacts. While out exploring, Stephen recognized and identified an Indian deer trap. And when Samoset walked into Plymouth and welcomed the English, he was housed in Stephen Hopkins' house for the night. Stephen was also sent on several of the ambassadorial missions to meet with the various Indian groups in the region.



Stephen was an assistant to the governor through 1636, and volunteered for the Pequot War of 1637 but was never called to serve. By the late 1630s, however, Stephen began to occasionally run afoul of the Plymouth authorities, as he apparently opened up a shop and served alcohol. In 1636 he got into a fight with John Tisdale and seriously wounded him. In 1637, he was fined for allowing drinking and shuffleboard playing on Sunday. Early the next year he was fined for allowing people to drink excessively in his house: guest William Reynolds was fined, but the others were acquitted. In 1638 he was twice fined for selling beer at twice the actual value, and in 1639 he was fined for selling a looking glass for twice what it would cost if bought in the Bay Colony. Also in 1638, Stephen Hopkins' maidservant got pregnant from Arthur Peach, who was subsequently executed for murdering an Indian. The Plymouth Court ruled he was financially responsible for her and her child for the next two years (the amount remaining on her term of service). Stephen, in contempt of court, threw Dorothy out of his household and refused to provide for her, so the court committed him to custody. John Holmes stepped in and purchased Dorothy's remaining two years of service from him: agreeing to support her and child.



Stephen died in 1644, and made out a will, asking to be buried near his wife, and naming his surviving children.



BAPTISM: 30 April 1581 at Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England, son of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Hopkins.

FIRST MARRIAGE: Mary, possibly the daughter of Robert and Joan (Machell) Kent of Hursley, co. Hampshire, prior to 1604.

SECOND MARRIAGE: Elizabeth Fisher on 19 February 1617/8 at St. Mary Matfellon, Whitechapel, co. Middlesex, England.

CHILDREN (by Mary): Elizabeth, Constance, and Giles.

CHILDREN (by Elizabeth): Damaris, Oceanus, Caleb, Deborah, Damaris, Ruth, and Elizabeth.

DNA HAPLOGROUP: R1b-M269



Contact Adam Green!

c: 801-809-7766

e: g3president@comcast.net



Providence Rhode Island General Society of Mayflower Descendant, Adam Paul Green (Ancestor Stephen Hopkins / Gen.No. 86,723) Reveals New Geneology Resource Website for Local Enthusiasts http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com



Master Christopher Jones and several business partners purchased the ship Mayflower about 1607. Its origins prior to that remain uncertain. Its first documented voyage of record was to Trondheim, Norway, in 1609. Andrew Pawling hired the ship to take a cargo of London goods to Norway, sell them off, and buy Norway goods (lumber, tar, and fish) to return back to England. Unfortunately on the return voyage, the Mayflower encountered a severe North Sea storm and the master and crew were forced to toss most of Pawlings goods overboard to lighten the ship. The home of Master Christopher Jones: Harwich, co. Essex, England.



http://mayflowerhistory.com/



Following that, Christopher Jones seems to have stuck with safer trading routes. The Mayflower made numerous trips primarily to Bordeaux, France, returning to London with cargoes of French wine, Cognac, vinegar, and salt. The Mayflower could freight about 180 tons of cargo. The Mayflower also made occasional voyages to other ports, including once to Malaga, Spain, and twice to Hamburg, Germany.



Upon returning from a voyage to Bordeaux, France, in May 1620, the Mayflower and master Christopher Jones were hired to take the Pilgrims to Northern Virginia. This was the first recorded trans-Atlantic voyage for both ship and master, though Christopher Jones had several crewmembers, including pilot and master's mates John Clarke and Robert Coppin, who had been to the New World before.



The Mayflower was supposed to accompany another ship, the Speedwell, to America, but the Speedwell proved too leaky for the voyage so the Mayflower proceeded alone. Departing on 6 September 1620, the ship was at sea for 66 days, arriving November 9. The ship and crew overwintered with the Pilgrims and departed back for England on 5 April 1621, arriving back to England on May 6.



Christopher Jones took the ship out for a few more trading runs, but he died a couple of years later in March 1621/2. The ship was appraised for probate purposes in May 1624, and was referred to as being "in ruins." It was only valued at 128 pounds sterling, and was almost certainly broken up and sold off as scrap.



The Mayflower was hired in London, and sailed from London to Southampton in July 1620 to begin loading food and supplies for the voyage--much of which was purchased at Southampton. The Pilgrims were mostly still living in the city of Leiden, in the Netherlands. They hired a ship called the Speedwell to take them from Delfshaven, the Netherlands, to Southampton, England, to meet up with the Mayflower. The two ships planned to sail together to Northern Virginia. The Speedwell departed Delfthaven on July 22, and arrived at Southampton, where they found the Mayflower waiting for them. The Speedwell had been leaking on her voyage from the Netherlands to England, though, so they spent the next week patching her up.



On August 5, the two ships finally set sail for America. But the Speedwell began leaking again, so they pulled into the town of Dartmouth for repairs, arriving there about August 12. The Speedwell was patched up again, and the two ships again set sail for America about August 21. After the two ships had sailed about 300 miles out to sea, the Speedwell again began to leak. Frustrated with the enormous amount of time lost, and their inability to fix the Speedwell so that it could be sea-worthy, they returned to Plymouth, England, and made the decision to leave the Speedwell behind. The Mayflower would go to America alone. The cargo on the Speedwell was transferred over to the Mayflower; some of the passengers were so tired and disappointed with all the problems that they quit and went home. Others crammed themselves onto the already very crowded Mayflower.



Finally, on September 6, the Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, and headed for America. By the time the Pilgrims had left England, they had already been living onboard the ships for nearly a month and a half. The voyage itself across the Atlantic Ocean took 66 days, from their departure on September 6, until Cape Cod was sighted on 9 November 1620. The first half of the voyage went fairly smoothly, the only major problem was sea-sickness. But by October, they began encountering a number of Atlantic storms that made the voyage treacherous. Several times, the wind was so strong they had to just drift where the weather took them; it was not safe to use the ship's sails. The Pilgrims intended to land in Northern Virginia, which at the time included the region as far north as the Hudson River in the modern State of New York. The Hudson River, in fact, was their originally intended destination. They had received good reports on this region while in the Netherlands. All things considered, the Mayflower was almost right on target, missing the Hudson River by just a few degrees.



As the Mayflower approached land, the crew spotted Cape Cod just as the sun rose on November 9. The Pilgrims decided to head south, to the mouth of the Hudson River in New York, where they intended to make their plantation. However, as the Mayflower headed south, it encountered some very rough seas, and nearly shipwrecked. The Pilgrims then decided, rather than risk another attempt to go south they would just stay and explore Cape Cod. They turned back north, rounded the tip, and anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims would spend the next month and a half exploring Cape Cod, trying to decide where they would build their plantation. On December 25, 1620, they had finally decided upon Plymouth, and began construction of their first buildings.



Adam Paul Green was born to a multi-talented beauty queen Mother and a Father who, in addition to being a US Army Spy and a Counter-Intelligence Special Agent, was also a highly accomplished entrepreneur. Adam was taught at a young age that, in both life and business, loyalty is a requirement for success. He's had the honor of working directly with his father in several of the family businesses. In fact, this is where he learned crucial entrepreneurial skills and honed his talents with international business strategies and venture capitalism. http://www.AdamPaulGreen.com , http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



Adam earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Utah. He was hand-picked by the President of the University's renowned School of Business to compete with dozens of other ambitious nationwide-graduates for the opportunity to secure a lucrative job within a prestigious Fortune 100 company. http://www.Twitter.com/AdamPaulGreen



Adam's hard work and creativity helped him land this job of a lifetime. He obtained incredible business experience there and spent years innovating, improving processes and setting sales records. Although this dream job in Traditional Corporate America was a fun challenge for him, and something he truly enjoyed mastering, Adam's natural entrepreneurial spirit kept nudging him to do something more significant with his time and talents. http://www.MyChocolatePod.com , http://www.Facebook.com/AdamPaulGreen



Since 2001, Adam has been involved in the Health and Wellness Industry as a successful Entrepreneur, Broker, Product Developer and Manufacturer of Cosmeceutical products. During his career, he has worked with some of the most recognizable Fortune 500 businesses along with many top international Network Marketing companies. Adam has consistently proven his unique ability to help his clients achieve their goals through creative Distribution-Channel Placement, innovative Product Development and custom Manufacturing. Adam currently owns three profitable businesses.



Admittedly, Adam was not initially a fan of Network Marketing. He did not understand the business model because it was new to him. However, once he learned that the REAL focus of Direct Sales is to help average people get a taste of entrepreneurialism --- with minimal risk and at a low cost --- Adam was absolutely convinced of the potential with Multi-Level Marketing.



http://www.ImAdamGreen.com



About MayflowerHistory.com

MayflowerHistory.com, the Internet's most complete and accurate website dealing with the Mayflower passengers and the history of the Pilgrims and early Plymouth Colony. The website was first created back in 1994 (when the web was still mostly text!) as a simple, but complete, passenger list of the Mayflower. It has grown over the past twenty years as the author, historian Caleb Johnson, has researched and compiled material.



http://mayflowerhistory.com
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/09/2017 -- Tungsten carbide powder is a compound containing atoms of tungsten and carbide. Tungsten carbide powder can be pressed and molded into different shapes and sizes for usage in cutting tools, abrasives, industrial machinery, jewelry, and other tools and equipment. This powder is characterized by high thermal conductivity, extreme stiffness, and intense strength. Furthermore, it is denser than steel and aluminum. Tungsten carbide powder is produced through a conventional method of carburization, which involves mixing tungsten powder with high purity carbon and reacting the mixture at temperatures ranging between 1,300 and 1,600 degrees centigrade in hydrogen atmosphere. The powder formed is stored in sealed polythene lined steel drums. Micro grain tungsten carbide powder is employed for nozzles, circuit board drills, and end mills, while fine powder is utilized in cutting tools. Further, ultra and medium coarse powders are employed in energy drilling tools, mining tools, and road construction bits.



Rise in mining and construction activities, development of engineering industries, and expansion of the transportation sector are some demand-generating factors which are estimated to drive the expansion of the global tungsten carbide powder market. In the mining and construction industry, these powders are employed in tunnel boring machines and roller-cutters since these powders offer resistance from abrasion, wear and tear, and improve the strength of materials. It is also widely utilized in jewelry to prevent them from getting scratched or tarnished easily. Demand for energy minerals such as coal has led to an increase in mining activities. This, coupled with rapid urbanization and improved infrastructure, has led to expansion of the in construction project. The emerging economies have been witnessing a rise in demand for coal and other minerals due to an increase in electricity consumption to satisfy a large population. Therefore, all these factors are anticipated to lead to an increase in demand for tungsten carbide powders.



Obtain Report Details @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tungsten-carbide-powder-market.html



However, tungsten carbide powders are highly toxic. Inhaling them can cause serious respiratory diseases and can also severely affect vision and cause skin allergies. Extensive usage of these powders in cement carbide causes harmful effects on the environment. Therefore harmful health and environmental effects of tungsten carbide powders can lead to their reduced usage, thereby causing hindrance to the expansion of the market.



The global tungsten carbide powder market can be segmented into application, and geography. In terms of application, the market can be further segmented into mining and construction, nuclear reactors, sports, surgical instruments, jewelry, and others. Tungsten carbide powder finds its maximum usage in the mining and construction industry. Therefore, this segment is estimated to hold prominent share in the market. However, it is also extensively employed in the other mentioned application areas. For instance, tungsten carbide powder is a very effective nuclear reactor.



Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=23747



In terms of geography, the global tungsten carbide powder market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America. Asia Pacific market is projected to dominate the global market during the forecast period due to rise in construction, mining and engineering activities. Countries such as China, Japan, and India contribute



Key kaolin mining companies operating in this market include Kennametal Inc. (U.S.), Extramet (Switzerland), Sandvik AB (Sweden), Guangdong Xianglu Tungsten Co., Ltd. (China), Federal Carbide Company (U.S.), Ceratizit S.A. (Luxembourg), Japan New Metal Co., Ltd. (Japan), China Tungsten Online (Xiamen) Manu. & Sales Corp. (China), Nanchang Cemented Carbide Co., Ltd. (China), Jiangxi Yaosheng Tungsten Co., Ltd. (China), and Eurotungstene (France).
[GAZA] A meeting to evaluate a European-Union funded collaborative project, held in mid-March, has brought Palestinian universities a step closer to raising the visibility of locally produced research.

The project  Research Output Management through Open Access Institutional Repositories in Palestinian Higher Education (ROMOR)  aims to collect, document and provide access to scientific research produced at universities in Palestine.

It kicked off earlier this year (19-21 January) during meetings held over three days in the Austrian capital and hosted by the Vienna University of Technology, one of the participating European universities. The others are the British Universities of Glasgow and Brighton, and the University of Parma in Italy.

The four Palestinian universities are Birzeit University, Al Quds Open University, Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie, and the Islamic University of Gaza. The latter is the institution coordinating the project, and home of its director, assistant professor Rawia Awadallah.

Speaking about the idea behind the project, Rawia told SciDev.Net that it "stemmed from the Palestinian universities need to show their research outputs to the world."

As a first step to address the problem of low visibility, a preparatory meeting was held at the end of January at the Faculty of Information Technology at the Islamic University in Gaza. That meeting launched the projects website, which includes information on training activities and material related to the establishment of open access repositories  a widely accepted way of preserving, disseminating and raising awareness about local research.

"The website represents an open window to transfer the experience to those interested in the establishment of similar research repositories," says Rawia.

The project also seeks to find a solution to the failure of Palestinian universities to advance in global rankings. This is because researchers, who make do with poor resources, tend to publish their work in journals with low impact factors, which may not be included in well-established search engines for research. Language is another barrier, including when it comes to the abstracts of research that may not exist in a language other than Arabic.

I believe this research will become available through the existence of such repositories, and through requirements to support and develop our [Palestines] scientific output. Khaled Shaaban, Palestinian Planning Center

The project will extend to three years, ending in October 2019. The focus, in the first year, will be on building the capacity of participating Palestinian universities to build and manage repositories through training. The results of this effort will act as a cornerstone for other universities in Palestine to build their own repositories.

The second year will see the application of this training, with each of the four Palestinian universities designing and building its own repository.

In the last year, nine training workshops will be held at the participating universities, after which the process of depositing published research will kick off. Keeping an eye on maintaining the continuity and sustainability of the project will "require the adoption of special policies at the level of universities, such as acknowledging repositories as a basis of career advancement for researchers and university professors," says Rawia.

The role of the European partners during the three years, Rawia explains, is to provide supervision and expertise, ensure that the four repositories are designed according to international standards, and point out any errors at the implementation phase.

She says the European Commission is providing the necessary funding, estimated at EUR1.25 million. The project lies within the Erasmus+ programmes Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education section.

Khaled Shaaban, academic and researcher at the Palestinian Planning Center, believes "the project will help researchers and students in Palestine to overcome a major obstacle".

He tells SciDev.Net: "Researchers face a big dilemma, represented in the failure to access contemporary research on humanitarian and applied science [and other areas]. I believe this research will become available through the existence of such repositories, and through requirements to support and develop our [Palestines] scientific output."

The challenge of low research accessibility and visibility extends across the Arab world, not only in Palestine.

Rawia refers to a 2015 study, titled An Assessment of Institutional Repositories in the Arab World, which confirmed that research repositories in the Middle East are at the "infancy stage" compared with those in the Western World.

Although there are a number of initiatives in the Arab world to create digital repositories, they lack adherence to the international standards and protection of intellectual property rights  so they require continuous development.

Rawia believes this project on Palestinian repositories will contribute to the effective promotion of scientific research, and increase the quality of that research so it meets international scientific standards.

Speaking about plans for the future, she says: "After the end of the [three-year] project, we hope to develop it further through the transfer of experience to Arab world universities as part of a new project. We dream of creating a [research] bank for research in the Arab world, not only in Palestine."

This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Middle East and North Africa desk.
The government of Brazil is now looking for a private firm that would help monitor the deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. This major and controversial proposal was the reason behind the termination of one of the top scientists in the country's Ministry of the Environment.

In an article published in Science Mag, Tasso Azevedo, the coordinator of the Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimate System and Observatorio do Clima said that Brazil's proposal to lend the observation of the Amazon rainforest to a company is astonishing. "This is a surprise for everyone [as this is some] crazy stuff," the former head of the Brazilian Forest Service said.

The ministry has relied on the National Institute of Space Research (NISR) to observe and analyze the land cover changes in the Amazon Rainforest since 1988. The large rainforest in Brazil is known for holding the world's largest intact swaths of forest.

In an article published by Bioethics.org, there have been various ways to combat the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest as there has been the focus of harmful interest due to its rich resources. This is also Brazil's largest region of rich biodiversity and shaping regional climate.

The government clarified that the NISR would still continue to monitor the Amazon rainforest. However, researchers are worried that the $25 million annual contract will result in important duplication of effort, a waste of scarce resources, possible confusion over deforestation rates and create an apparent conflict of interest for the government and the ministry.

In a statement by the ministry, they said that the purpose of looking for a company to watch over the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest is to add technology that is not available in INPE like the radar imagery. INPE would also continue to minor and estimate deforestation in the Amazon.

Raoni Rajao, a social scientist at the Federal University of Minas Gerais said that the proposal by the Brazil's government is just a waste of money. He said that the bid request for the Amazon Rainforest would just replicate.

Currently, Rajao created an online petition to ask the government to cancel the request of having a company to watch over the Amazon Rainforest. He also said that this will cause a conflict of interests as Brazil's government might just look at the numbers of the company and not their intention for the rainforest.
Archeologist and conservation authorities are having a tough challenge on how to safely transport Pharaoh Tutankhamun's artifacts. Items like the throne, bed, and chests are to be transferred to the new Grand Egyptian Museum, also known as the Giza Museum due to its very close proximity to the pyramids. The King Tut's transfer prompts the international experts to discuss the procedure to transport them safely.

To recall, there was a massive uproar in 2014 when an accident happened that damaged the priceless King Tut artifacts. A group of workers was installing new lights near Tutankhamun's death mask when they accidentally broke the beard. The workers hastily used an epoxy compound to reattach the beard.

The conservation authorities discovered the knocked off beard and cried in dismay. King Tut's artifacts are considered to be a world heritage and damage are unacceptable. It also took a year for the combined team of Egypt and German experts to painstakingly scrape the epoxy and properly restore Tutankhamun's severed beard, according to ABC News.

Given the 2014 precedent, the Ministry of Antiquities assembled an international team, comprising of Egypt, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. A global consensus should be reached in order to delicately transport King Tut's effects. Even so, Egyptologist Gabrielle Pieke admits that moving Tutankhamun to its new location is a tall order. She also urged the officials to carefully plan the project before commencing.

Meanwhile, the international meeting is equally important for other King Tut-related agenda. There is a new research that can shed light on new methods in displaying human remains like the Tutankhamun mummy, said the Christian Dogma. Further, scientists extracted and matched the DNA of King Tut to those of his presumed family and daughter from the same era.

There is a plan for the restoration of the funeral furniture of Tutankhamun as well. This is to be accomplished before the formal opening of the museum. King Tut is to be housed in a new hall that covers a massive 7,000 square meters hall in the Grand Egypt Museum.
The largest offshore wind farm in the world is now ready to generate power for the Dutch people. A remarkable achievement that increases the use of the renewable energy.

Phys.org reported that Dutch officials have finally opened the offshore wind farm that includes 150 turbines to generate power for a huge number of people. Gemini wind park is the destination of this wind farm. The wind park lies some 53 miles off The Netherlands' northern coast.

This offshore wind farm is regarded as one of the largest in the world. The Gemini wind park will help for the next fifteen years to meet the energy requirement of 1.5 million people. The wind park can generate almost 600 megawatts power using the full wind. This amount of energy will help to meet the energy requirement of some 785,000 Dutch households.

Matthias Haag, managing director of the Gemini wind park, announced that the operational stage of the project is now officially ready. The project was first conceived in the year 2010. The use of the offshore wind farm to generate power for the Dutch households is an adorable step.

The project is the outcome of an important collaboration between four companies. These companies are Northland Power, Siemens Wind Power, Van Oord and HVC. Van Oord is the Dutch maritime contractor, while HVC is a popular company expert in waste processing.

On the other hand, Siemens Wind Power is famous for manufacturing the wind turbine. Northland Power is an independent renewable energy company in Canada. The whole project bears a cost of $3 billion. The success of this project is regarded as a great achievement that provides benefits to the Dutch people.

Matthias Haag uttered that the Gemini wind park will contribute almost 13 percent of Netherlands' complete renewable energy supply. The wind park will contribute almost 25 percent of the wind power, though, the country is mainly dependent on the fossil fuels to generate electricity. According to a report from the Ministry of the economic affairs of the Dutch Government, fossil fuels cover almost 95 percent of total energy supply. The said report was prepared in 2016.

According to the Dutch News.nl, the Dutch Government has already given the green signal to the developers for building another five offshore wind farms. The government is committed to producing 14 percent of the required energy from solar and wind power by 2020. Even by 2023, the production will probably reach 16 percent.

It is quite clear that the Dutch Government is now preparing to ensure the use of renewable sources as much as possible. The step will reduce the emissions of the carbon dioxide, the key greenhouse gas responsible for the global warming. Now the new offshore wind farm is a positive step towards availing a clean environment.
FLORENCE, S.C. Plans are in place to replace two high-traffic bridges that cross over Jeffries Creek in the city of Florence by 2019 -- one on South Edisto Drive and the other on James Jones Road.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is in the planning and design phase on both projects, with each showing estimated costs of $3 million respectively.

Brian Dix, program manager for the DOT, said the James Jones Road bridge replacement should start in the spring of 2018, while the Edisto Project is slated for summer 2019.

Both of those bridges are structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, he said. Theyll both be closed completely during the construction period.

Dix said the Edisto bridge project could cause some traffic headaches, but its being planned specifically during the summer months so traffic from Royall and Briggs Elementary Schools wont be a major factor.

Monitor of that area shows that much of the traffic comes from those schools, he said. Hopefully well be able to close the bridge temporarily when theres less traffic and have it reopened by the time school starts back.

The Edisto project will be on an accelerated schedule due to the traffic concerns, Dix added.

The Florence City Council took steps to facilitate the DOTs requirements for these projects at its meeting on Monday.

Officials passed first reading on ordinances to transfer .04 acres of land near the James Jones site to the DOT and more than half an acre near the Edisto bridge.

The city will take on the cost of relocating several hundred feet of water and sewer utility lines at the James Jones project site, which is roughly $300,000.

The DOT wants us to move those utility lines and deed a bit of land to make those bridges safer, so well do that, said Florence Mayor Stephen J. Wukela during Mondays meeting.

The city owns sewer and water right-of-way at the Edisto project site and will not be required to relocate utility lines for that project.

For now, there are no public hearings planned for either of these bridge replacement projects. Dix said the DOT website will be updated regularly to show project details and up-to-date detour routes as construction dates become final.
Political instability and harsh living conditions in Somalia and Yemen have contributed to a return of maritime attacks in that part of the world, with 22 incidents reported in Q1, it says. This despite the substantial suppression of piracy by the international community that took place since the problem was at its peak there in 2012.

The latest rise in the number of attacks means that the Indian Ocean area has become a potentially dangerous route for commercial vessels and trade into Europe again, according to MAST coo Gerry Northwood, former Royal Navy counter-piracy commander

But the problem is not geographically confined since Southeast Asia has also seen a rise in attacks with 17 maritime crime incidents recorded across Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia in Q1, while other criminal activity occurred in South Asia (4) and South America (5).

Of the 48 incidents in the first three months of this year, 36 involved a ship being boarded by unknown assailants resulting in a robbery, with some cases leading to the ship being hijacked.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Cayetano: 'shabu,' violent crimes interrelated in PH context Senator Alan Peter Cayetano appealed to members of the United Nations Human Rights Center (UNHRC) to recognize the relationship of illegal drugs, especially methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, with violent crimes and poverty in order to understand the Philippine situation. Cayetano on Monday (May 8) explained to the UN Body the extent of drug-related crimes by showing video clips and news reports of gruesome cases in highly urbanized areas in the country, where the perpetrators were mostly high on illegal drugs. "There was impunity during the previous administration, but it was from the criminals and from the drug lords," Cayetano said as he described the incidents in the previous years. The senator pointed out that in many cases of heinous crimes in the country, the suspects are usually confirmed users of shabu. He further cited a technical brief by the World Health Organization (WHO), which cited violence as among the physical consequences of the use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) like methamphetamine. "The World Health Organization pointed out that the dependence and chronic usage of ATS is associated with psychosis and causes cognitive impairment, aggression and violence, and social and family disruption," he said, citing a WHO document on the consequences of substance abuse. "The Filipinos have witnessed how the use of illegal drugs like methamphetamine led to violence and destroyed the lives of many," he added. Cayetano was reacting to a recent statement delivered by an American doctor during a drug policy forum in the Philippines, saying there is no evidence that shabu causes violence. The statement was reposted by UN rapporteur Agnes Callamard in her social media account. "Illegal drugs can easily destroy a whole generation," Cayetano said in his opening statement before UNHRC members. He cited that young people are the most vulnerable to the temptation and evils of prohibited drugs. "It is projected that we will have 32.7 million Filipinos aged 14 and below, or 31% of our population," Cayetano said, citing Philippine Statistics Authority data. The senator reiterated that the people's campaign against illegal drugs is pursued to preserve the lives of the Filipino people and prevent the country from turning into a Narco-State. He assured the Body of the Duterte government's dedication to effect bold reforms in ending the country's drug problem, particularly the prevalence of shabu within Filipino communities.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Janet Napoles' acquittal

Dispatch from Crame No. 80 5/9/17 The acquittal of Janet Lim Napoles is a disturbing development but not so much because of the fact that it was pushed for by Malacanang in the pursuit of its mutant kind of "justice". We already expected this, by now all too familiar habit of the Duterte regime to enter into exchange deals with convicted criminals, where the lowliest scums are used to frame up political enemies. I know this. I am the first victim of this despicable practice. What worries me more is the possibility of the judiciary succumbing to Malacanang pressures. The day an independent judiciary ceases to act using only the scale of justice and instead allows itself to be dictated upon by the executive is the day we official become a dictatorship. The moment justices of the courts succumb to Malacanang pressures, we also lose the remaining bulwark of our democracy. My appeal to the courts, the judges and justices is not to allow themselves to be bullied by the President into issuing unjust judgments. Like any bully, this one will have his just desserts. And when that time comes, all his collaborators, whether from the legislative, executive or judiciary, will be remembered by their names. Our justices are called "Justice" for a reason. They are expected to give justice, especially when there is so much injustice around us. They are not prostitutes to be disrobed inside the bedrooms of Malacanang. The possibility that Napoles in turn will be used against me for my supposed selective prosecution of PDAF Scam legislators was, I was told, implied today in an interview of Napoles' lawyer. Let me be clear about this. No.1, Napoles was not made a State witness in the PDAF Scam cases because she was the MOST GUILTY. No.2, when we asked her to identify legislators, she asked us instead who among the Senators and Congressmen we wanted included in her PDAF list of clients. That is when I knew that Napoles cannot be relied upon and is only too willing to fabricate her own testimony to save her skin at the expense of innocent Senators and Congressmen. Her extended list of PDAF Scam legislators turned out to be a product of her imagination, without any documented evidence or credible and verifiable accounts of the transactions to support the same. What we found as credible and reliable are the testimonies, with supporting documents, of Benhur Luy and the other whistleblowers. Hence, the successful indictment thus far of certain lawmakers, based on such evidence. In his desire for the absolute acquiescence of all politicians it is not remote that Duterte will use Napoles to blackmail and threaten any remaining opposition in Congress. This whole Mafiosi scheme is as shameless as it is destructive of our political system. It is vintage Duterte.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the 45-1 UNHRC vote calling to stop the EJKs in the Philippines

Dispatch from Crame No. 82 5/9/17 It was a double-slap on the PH delegation to the UNHRC when in a vote of 45-1, the UNHRC delegates urged the Philippines to take the appropriate actions to stop the EJKs in the country. Obviously, the UNHRC completely ignored the fictional boasts of Cayetano on the human rights accomplishments of the Duterte regime: While most of the report embodied accomplishments of the PNoy administration, the UNHRC delegates were not about to be fooled, as they were able to distinguish between PNoy's accomplishments and the opposite reality of summary executions that now pervades in the country. The delegates also called on the regime to allow UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard to investigate the EJKs under Duterte regime. This is the second part of the double-slap. After criticizing and cursing Callamard for appearing in the CHR anniversary and attending the FLAG forum on the drug war, the government is now asked to invite back Callamard. It's time for Malacanang to swallow its pride and stop all the foolishness. Spouting fictional numbers and condescendingly lecturing brilliant HR defenders on the definition of EJK doesn't work as the images of bloodied corpses on city pavements is already seared in the mind of the international community. It will take Cayetano and Malacanang some time to recover from this double slap. Hopefully, the lingering pain and ringing in the ears will teach them never ever to play around with the UN human rights bodies again, and that its officials like Callamard. On a positive note for Malacanang, Duterte's sell-out of the Spratlys and the West Philippine Sea to his Chinese masters has paid off, as China is the lone state delegate that chose to side with its lackey, Duterte.
Senator Chiz on the appointment of Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla as BSP Governor

I highly commend President Rodrigo Duterte's choice for Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor. From the start, I have been batting for an insider to replace Mr. Amando Tetangco, Jr. in order to ensure the continuity of policies and stability, thus far, of our monetary policies. This is essential in order to provide the needed fiscal and monetary backbone which, in turn, will ensure the continued and sustained robust growth of our economy.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, I have been working closely with BSP in crafting and amending measures that will be beneficial to our country such as the Bank Secrecy Law, amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act, and amending the BSP Charter.

I wish Mr. Nestor Espenilla the best and I congratulate him on his appointment and designation. I look forward to continuously working with him again in many important pieces of legislation.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Balance Counter-Terrorism Efforts With Drug War - Gatchalian Sen. Win Gatchalian on Tuesday urged the Duterte administration to maintain a balanced allocation of law enforcement resources between the government's aggressive anti-illegal drugs campaign and other public safety priorities amid successive blasts that have rocked Manila's densely populated Quiapo district in recent days. "These bombings serve as a tragic reminder that there are many public security issues aside from illegal drugs that deserve the attention of law enforcement authorities. The government needs to manage its law enforcement manpower and intelligence resources wisely to make sure we have all our bases covered, from counter-terrorism efforts to the War on Drugs. We shouldn't put all of our eggs in one basket," said Gatchalian, a member of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security. Although it remains doubtful whether any of the recent bombings were indeed the work of ISIL or another terrorist organization, Gatchalian expressed concern that the recent string of successful bombings would embolden terrorists within the region to launch attacks in the Philippines. Gatchalian also urged President Duterte to fully mobilize the National Security Council, the country's top national defense and security body, to shore up strategies to neutralize any possible terrorist threats looming over the horizon. "The last thing we want is for terrorist groups to get it into their heads that the Philippines is an easy target that they can use to promote their despicable agenda. The Philippine national security apparatus must be ready to crush public security threats and mercilessly destroy any terrorist organization that would dare to endanger the safety of our people," said Gatchalian.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 TRANSCRIPT OF SEN. GRACE POE'S CONCLUDING REMARKS

On proposals to extend the validity of driver's license to 5 years In today's hearing of the Senate committee on public services, we discussed Senate Bill Nos. 271, 941 and 1224 filed separately by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto and Senators Richard Gordon and Joseph Victor Ejercito calling for the extension of the validity of all non-professional and professional driver's licenses from the current three years to five years. Under Section 23 of Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, as amended by Batas Pambansa Bilang 398, all driver's licenses shall be valid for three consecutive years reckoned from the birth date of the licensee, except for student permits and new licenses. To summarize this public hearing: The contract for the five-year license validity has been awarded already to a Filipino-German joint venture to address the backlog on the issuance of driver's licenses. The LTO assured that license cards will be issued in August. Around P526 million was included in the agency's budget for the driver's license. We suggested that the LTO place more biometric scanners in more populated LTO offices to cut long queues. In 2016, there were 5.8 million driver's license applications. Sa 5 million licenses times P800, mga 4 billion ang kinikita ng LTO. Cards will no longer be printed. It will be engraved. LTO purchased the equipment and will produce the cards from now on and they will only buy supplies. Eventually, LTO plans to bid out the supplies needed to produce driver's licenses. Not from now on but then eventually after they deliver on the contract. The new driver's licenses will feature a hologram mark and "hidden" data. Traffic violations will be uploaded on the system and the barcodes in the license will reflect the changes immediately. According to LTO, the cost of production of one license is P389. Driver's license applicants, however, currently pay P820 for new license applications and P652.63 for license renewal. The Senate President Pro-Tempore, one of the authors of the measures, pointed out two computer fees for new license applications. This should be checked by the LTO. LTO cannot recover more than the cost of production, as this is merely a fee. LTO is now in the process of revising the examination questions for license applications, especially for professional drivers, to ensure that qualified and disciplined drivers are allowed to drive. This committee requests the DOTr and the LTO to submit necessary documents related to the following: Capitalization and profile of the German firm and their Filipino counterpart which won the bidding for the new license plates, and list of fees included in the driver's license and the reason for their inclusion We will have a separate hearing for the issues of the LTFRB and the driver's academy as pointed out by Mr. San Mateo and also we would like to get, at another time, an update on the license plates. For those that have already paid will they have to pay later on? And the money that they paid for those, are these placed in escrow? So in the next hearing, I want an update on those undelivered license plates because of all of the court cases that's not part of our hearing today so I would like you to prepare for that. We would like to thank our resource persons present here today. There is no opposition to proposals to lengthen the validity of driver's licenses. This committee, therefore, approves in principle measures seeking to amend Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, as amended by Batas Pambansa Bilang 398, extending the validity of all driver's licenses to five years. Our committee shall now be working on a final and consolidated version of the bill and present it to the plenary soon. This public hearing is hereby adjourned.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 SENATE OKAYS SHIELD LAW ON 2nd READING The Senate today passed on second reading a measure which affords legitimate print, broadcast and online media protection from having to reveal their sources, paving the way for the journalists' privilege statute to be put to a vote on third and final reading next week. Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, sponsored Senate Bill No. 1255 seeking to amend the 70-year-old law, Republic Act 53 also known as the Sotto Law or Shield Law. Poe lauded the chamber's move, saying it is appropriate to amend the "outdated" law that only protected print journalists but excluded broadcast and online journalists. Under the measure, print, broadcast and online media cannot be compelled to reveal their sources published in their news reports, except in cases involving national security, as determined by the courts or any committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives. "This is an important step toward upholding the freedom of the press sanctioned by the Constitution because we consider a free and responsible press as one of the foundations of our democracy," said Poe. The Senate minority group expressed support for the measure, with Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon moving to approve the measure on second reading. Poe's committee did not introduce amendments to the measure, neither did the senators. "The chamber can now proceed with the third reading possibly by next week before the sine die adjournment of sessions next month," said Poe. Poe said even cartoonists, opinion writers, and web masters are included in the coverage of the measure as they have sources, too, who should be "afforded protection under the law." Also dubbed the Sotto Law in honor of the original author and sponsor, former journalist and the late Sen. Vicente Y. Sotto, Sen. Sotto's grandfather, RA 53, however, cannot be used to protect a journalist from libel. Previously, the law was successfully invoked when in 2007 the Senate ethics committee tried to compel a journalist to reveal her sources who exposed details of a closed-door hearing. Under the bill, Poe said the coverage of RA 53 would be expanded to include any publisher, owner, or duly recognized or accredited journalist, writer, reporter, contributor, opinion writer, editor, manager, producer, news director, web master, cartoonist or media practitioner involved in the writing, editing, production, and dissemination of news for mass circulation, of any print, broadcast, wire service organization, or electronic mass media, including but not limited to the internet, and cable TV and its variants. The Shield Law, however, does not cover fake news sites which usually just aggregate content from legitimate news sites and distort the content to propagate information that will either fit their political agenda or spread misinformation. Poe said fake news sites "belittle and mock the effort and time a journalist spends vetting his or her sources."
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Senate OKs creation of select oversight committee on intelligence, confidential funds The Senate yesterday adopted a resolution that sought to create a select oversight committee on intelligence and confidential funds used by various government agencies. Proposed Senate Resolution No. 361 would reconstitute the Select Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Confidential Funds, "to enable the Senate to oversee the efficiency of concerned government institutions in the production of accurate and timely intelligence information to better deal with the threats to national security, including the maintenance of peace and order." "In light of the recent threats to our country's national security, including disturbance to peace and order by lawless elements, the importance of gathering intelligence information by concerned government agencies cannot be overstated," Senator Gringo Honasan II, who introduced the measure, said. According to the resolution, the new Select Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Confidential Funds in the 17thCongress would allow the Senate to "continue exercising its oversight functions over the use, disbursement and expenditures of confidential and intelligence funds granted to certain government agencies; and to provide vigilant legislative oversight over the conduct of these activities." After the resolution was adopted, Honasan was named the chairman of the oversight committee, while Senators Ping Lacson, Richard Gordon, Manny Pacquiao, Bam Aquino IV and Kiko Pangilinan were named as members of the committee. Honasan noted that in the 2017 General Appropriations Act alone, P5.48 billion has been allocated for confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) "to implement programs and activities of the government, relative to national defense, peace and order, and national security." "The intelligence and confidential funds are not subject to the regular auditing rules and procedures of the Commission on Audit," the resolution stressed. The resolution said that the previous Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses each had a Senate Select Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Confidential Funds. Section 14, Rule X of the Senate provided that whenever necessary, special committees shall be organized, the membership and jurisdiction of which shall be determined by the Senate President.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Senate commends 2016 bar topnotcher Karen Mae Calam The Senate today adopted a resolution commending Karen Mae Calam, a certified public accountant and law graduate from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, for topping the 2016 Philippine Bar Examinations. The Senate resolution, introduced by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, congratulates Calam for "obtaining the highest mark in what is considered as one of the toughest licensure exams in the country." The resolution also lauds Calam for "besting over 6,300 other examinees who took the gruelling tests which were held during the four Sundays of November 2016 at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila." "Karen Mae Calam serves as an inspiration for the people of Bukidnon, and those in other provinces as well, to work hard and believe that with the continued guidance of our Lord, and ample hard work and determination, no dream is too big and no goal is impossible to achieve," Zubiri, also a native of Bukidnon, said in the resolution. According to the resolution, Calam hails from the Municipality of Kalilangan in the Province of Bukidnon, where she completed both her primary and secondary education at the Kalilangan Elementary School and Kalilangan High School. "She earned the distinction of being the first bar topnotcher from Bukidnon and the first-ever law graduate of the University of San Carlos, the oldest university in Cebu, to rank first in the Philippine Bar Examination," the resolution said. The resolution also noted that the 2016 Philippine Bar Examination "was marked with numerous milestones," including the fact that it registered the highest passing rate in the last 16 years at 59.06 percent, or 3,747 examinees passing out of 6,344 examinees. "For the first time in the bar's history, all ten topnotchers are from schools outside Metro Manila, three of which are Mindanaoans," the resolution added. The resolution said that Calam will join the ranks of "prominent and great lawyers" who in the past ranked first in the bar such as former Presidents Manuel Roxas, Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand Marcos, former Vice-President Emmanuel Pelaez, Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, former Senate President Jovito Salonga, former Senators Lorenzo Sumulong, Tecia San Andres, Jose Diokno, San Juan Representative Ronaldo Zamora, former Chief Justices Roberto Concepcion, Claudio Teehankee and Pedro Yap, former Supreme Court Justices Cecilia Munoz-Palma, Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera, Carolina Grino-Aquino and Arturo Brion, and former legislator and Secretary of Defense Gilbert Teodoro, among others.
Press Release

May 9, 2017 Villar launches farm school directory, encourages more farmers to convert farms into tourist destinations Sen. Cynthia Villar led yesterday the launching of the directory summarizing tourist farm and farm school in the Philippines in simple ceremonies at the Senate. Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said the "Directory of Farm School, Tourist Farms and Learning Sites in the Philippines," will serve as a reference guide for farm enthusiasts, interested trainees and tourists. "It is our hope that the directory will be useful in spreading the word about the joys of farming and its potential to lift people out of poverty," Villar said. She noted that Republic Act 10816 or the the Farm Tourism Development Act, which she principally authored, paved the way for an increasing number of farmers, farm owners and farming communities to enjoy the benefits of converting their farms into tourist destinations. "I continue to urge many to follow suit as it will allow them to double and diversify their income source. Increasing the number of venues for agriculture-related training will also help remove the barriers that prevent Filipino farmers and fisherfolks to have more income and be more competitive, which are lack of technology, mechanization, financial literacy, and inability to access cheap credit," Villar said. The directory features farm tourism destinations and learning sites all over the Philippines, including the two farm schools built by the Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance) in Las Pinas City-Bacoor, Cavite and in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. It also includes a list of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)- accredited courses on agriculture, which farm schools can teach and students and farmers can avail of for free in accredited learning sites nearby. The directory is a project of Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governace (Villar SIPAG) in partnership with TESDA, Department of Agriculture (DA), Agricultural Training Institute, Department of Agrarian Reform, and the Department of Tourism.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Rescue crews with search dogs and a helicopter overhead were combing the trails of Yosemite National Park on Monday for an experienced hiker and U.S. Navy serviceman who disappeared last week.

The 24-year-old hiker, Alexander Joseph Sevier, an active member of the U.S. Navy, had flown into California from his home in Virginia and entered the park alone on May 1, said Scott Gediman, a spokesman for the National Park Service.

Sevier had been staying at Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite Valley, and his fellow campers told park investigators he would go on long, solo day hikes before returning to the camp to sleep each evening.

People in the camp said they saw him Wednesday morning, going out on a day hike, and he just hasnt been seen since, Gediman said.

Sevier was scheduled to check out of the camp, a cluster of concrete pods covered with canvas roofs, on Saturday, and when housekeepers at the camp saw his belongings still there Sunday, they sounded the alarm, Gediman said.

Sevier also missed a scheduled flight back to Virginia.

Some 30 people were searching along and off of the Yosemite Falls Trail and the Mist Trail, among others that originate in Yosemite Valley, Gediman said.

Because Sevier is young and in shape from his Naval training, Gediman said they dont suspect that any physical issues befell him, but he noted that the Merced River has been running deceptively quick and cold from the abundant snow melt that has swollen its banks.

He also noted that temperatures have fallen into the 40s during the evenings, making the cold a concern for survival.

Gediman said hikers visiting the park in the spring should take extra care around the river, noting that even if a stretch looks calm, there are often fast-moving currents beneath the surface.

Park rangers in Yosemite rescue about 200 people each year, Gediman said, ranging from twisted ankles to more serious injuries.

Anyone with information on Seviers whereabouts is asked to contact park officials at (888) 653-0009.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Mayor Ed Lee, his top homelessness advisers and Tipping Point Community founder Daniel Lurie got a peek Monday at the citys newly beefed-up medical respite center for acutely ill homeless people, but it was no typical rollout. They mostly kept their game faces on, but underneath they all were practically giddy knowing this was just the beginning of what is expected to be a $100 million tsunami of charity-funded improvements to San Franciscos homeless programs over the next five years.

The Medical Respite and Sobering Center on Mission Street has been a key tool in helping sick homeless people since it opened in 2009, and not just because it manages to permanently house 30 percent of the people who land in its beds. It saves big money. One bed in the center, which comes fully staffed with a doctor and nurses, costs $350 a day  as opposed to $1,200 a day for a regular hospital spot.

Tipping Point gave the citys Public Health Department $612,000 for construction to add 34 beds to the center, bringing the total to 79. Patients will start filling those spaces over the next couple of weeks. But the big story beneath Mondays little walk-through was the rest of the money Tipping Point is promising to hand over to the city and some of its nonprofits: $100 million over the next five years for supportive housing, mental health and a galaxy of other issues core to solving chronic homelessness.

The goal, Lurie, the mayor and his managers said, is to cut the hardest-core street population in half by 2022. Expanding the respite center was the first visible part of that effort.

This gives us such great momentum, Lee told Lurie as they strolled through the center. Of all the segments of the homeless population we looked at, this is the hardest to treat. Thank you for that.

The center sits unobtrusively near Seventh Street, and though Mission Street traffic is always roaring by, inside, the beds and clinics and meeting rooms are an oasis. Here, chronically homeless people fighting diabetes, heart disease and other conditions can recover while plans are made to house them or place them in long-term care.

This place saves lives, and now it will be able to save even more, said Barbara Garcia, director of the Department of Public Health, her face still looking a little like that of someone who just got a holiday gift she had no idea was coming.

 Kevin Fagan

And then there were two: The race to succeed Fiona Ma on the states troubled tax board just got easier for San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen.

Cohens odds shifted abruptly last week after former Assemblyman Rich Gordon dropped out, citing concerns over a damning Department of Finance audit that led Gov. Jerry Brown to call for an investigation of the board. The audit, released in March, found that several Board of Equalization members were redirecting staff to do work that was outside their Board of Equalization duties at events and conferences.

In a letter to supporters, Gordon said he no longer thinks the board should be an elected body, so it would be hypocritical for him to seek the office.

Gordon, a Democrat from Menlo Park, would have been a formidable opponent, said San Francisco political strategist Ace Smith, who is running Cohens campaign.

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.

The former assemblymans decision to drop out is a game-changer, Smith said. He noted that Gordon and Cohen would have been sparring over the Bay Area voters who form an essential piece of District Two, a coastal swath that runs from Santa Barbara to the Oregon border.

Now Cohens main challenger is Democratic state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani from Stockton.

Smith downplayed the findings of the audit, saying only that Cohen has her eyes wide open about all the reforms that need to be done.

 Rachel Swan

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider, @kevinchron, @rachelswan
Bill Hutchinson / The Chronicle

A Menlo Park man was rushed to a hospital after his wife allegedly stabbed him multiple times with a kitchen knife, officials said Tuesday.

Police initially responded to the couples house on the 200 block of Terminal Avenue for a medical call, but upon arrival about 5:30 a.m. on Monday, officers discovered the scene of a domestic assault, according to the Menlo Park Police Department.
Sarah Ravani/The Chronicle

A shooting near AT&T Park in San Francisco over the weekend sent one man to the hospital and an alleged gunman to jail, officials said Monday.

The 21-year-old victim was sitting in a parked car with a man about 11:05 p.m. at Pier 48 when the 30-year-old suspect approached the vehicle and opened fire, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Is it too cold?

Sprawled in a turquoise velvet chair, Chip Conley fiddled with the temperature controls for the hotel room at Laurel Inn in San Franciscos Presidio Heights neighborhood.

He pulled over a small round ottoman and put up his feet, clad in tri-tone oxfords from Baja California, where he lives half-time, when hes not at his Potrero Hill house. Many hotels save money by omitting comfy details like this, he said. But to stay fresh, hotels need to cater to evolving tastes for unique and flavorful lodgings that feel more homelike  a penchant propelled in part by his former employer, Airbnb, for which he still consults.

Despite his affable demeanor, Conley is viewed by some as the hotel industrys Darth Vader: He crossed enemy lines four years ago to join a startup that is upending the traditional hotel business. Now, several months after leaving Airbnb, he has plunged back into the hotel world, bringing some of the lessons learned as the companys global head of hospitality and strategy. At Airbnb, Conley traveled the globe as the companys main liaison to its million hosts and helped them act more like hoteliers, providing a smoother experience and consistent standards for things like cleaning.

Conley, 56, is a guy who worries about details while also heeding the big picture. That stood him in good stead when he built San Franciscos Joie de Vivre from a decrepit Tenderloin motel into the worlds second-largest boutique-hotel company, eventually selling the management company and brand to the family behind Hyatt Hotels in 2010 for an undisclosed sum, while retaining ownership stakes in 16 hotels (thats now down to eight).

And it informed his tenure at Airbnb, where he started as a part-time consultant to CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky, who quickly piled on more responsibilities.

Twice the age of most of his cohorts, Conley felt like both a mentor and an intern at the same time. I was a babe in the woods, about technology and how to scale globally, he said. But he was also the only person at the then-350-person company who came from the hospitality or travel industry.

Conley ducks questions on Airbnb controversies, such as its impact on tight housing markets, the sometimes-hostile reception from cities and neighbors, and its recent deal with San Francisco  forged after a judge forced it to the negotiating table  to help register its hosts after years of fiercely resisting the idea.

The one hot-potato issue hell discuss is its impact on hotels.

With more than 3 million listings worldwide, Airbnb dwarfs the worlds biggest hotel chains. Marriott has about 1.1 million rooms; Hilton has 774,000. The startup can continue to grow far more rapidly than its brick-and-mortar rivals since it simply has to sign up more hosts, rather than actually build rooms.

That has hotels rattled. The American Hotel and Lodging Association, an industry trade group, discussed a multipronged campaign to thwart Airbnb at its November meeting, according to the New York Times.

But Conley thinks Airbnb is expanding the travel market, appealing to people who wouldnt travel or would take much shorter trips if it didnt exist. He points to STRs reports that Airbnb impact on hotels is fairly negligible. Of course, there are other reports from the likes of Morgan Stanley that say Airbnb poses a threat to traditional hotels.

If anything, its boutique hotels in residential neighborhoods that are most challenged by Airbnb, Conley said. Now they have competition in the neighborhood that didnt exist before. Neighborhood hotels need to reinvent themselves to be the best of both worlds.

Case in point: The Laurel Inn, a 49-room hotel in an upscale residential neighborhood, 28 percent owned by Conley, felt generic and dated, like a motor inn. With his suggestions, the rooms were renovated to appeal to the same folks who like staying in private homes through Airbnb. Already relatively large at 400 square feet, many now feature kitchenettes and dining areas, eclectic art from local artists; and other personal touches. Theres a book club in collaboration with a nearby Books Inc. and savings for extended stays.

Another strategy hotels can take is to offer Airbnb-style lodgings alongside traditional offerings, he said. Europes Room Mate Hotels now offers short-stay urban apartments through a brand called Be Mate. AccorHotels, Europes largest hotel group, bought Londons OneFineStay, an upscale version of Airbnb.

Despite stepping down from Airbnb in January, Conley still puts in 20 to 30 hours a month as a strategic consultant to the co-founders and other top executives. Why leave one of the tech worlds hottest startups?

It was only supposed to be 15 hours a week: mentor Brian, create a hospitality ethos, he said. It quickly turned into a lot more, creating learning and development, head of strategy, head of business development. Fifteen hours a week quickly became 15 hours a day.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

While he loved his time at Airbnb, he had never wanted a job, he said, and he has no regrets about exiting before its potential, hotly anticipated initial public offering, date still unknown. It wasnt the money but the challenge that drew in him, he said.

Leaving before his four-year anniversary meant I was making a lifestyle choice and giving up some compensation, some vesting, he said. But at some point I realized I wanted some space back in my life.

Hes now plunging into myriad projects, personal to professional. Hes learning to surf and writing his fifth book, Modern Elder, about how people can stay relevant after age 45. Hes also updating a previous book. He gives speeches to groups like Stanford Medical School and the Milken Summit. With an ownership stake in seven Joie de Vivre hotels, including the Laurel Inn, plus two others, hes lending a hand with them, bringing to bear insights he gained at Airbnb.

Boutique hotels helped pave the way for Airbnb because they sent the message that predictability as defined by Sheraton and Holiday Inn-type chain motels was waning in importance for travelers, he said. They showed people willing to be more adventurous in where theyd stay.

On the other side, if theres one thing Airbnb has proven, its that people want to live like a local he said, making air quotes.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

After months of uncertainty, San Franciscos Speakeasy Ales & Lagers has announced a new owner: Hunters Point Brewery, a brand-new entity created for this purchase by Ces Butner, former owner of the Horizon Beverage distributorship and a onetime Oakland mayoral candidate.

The purchase, for $2.5 million, appears to ensure that Speakeasy beers will remain on bar taps and grocery shelves as it brings an end to a period of uncertainty for the 20-year-old San Francisco craft brewery.

On March 10, Speakeasy announced it was shutting down indefinitely, firing all its employees, ceasing beer production and closing the taproom. It had failed to repay its primary creditor, Union Bank, and was forced to enter into receivership, a step short of bankruptcy.

Three days later, a Los Angeles court appointed a receiver to oversee the sale of the company, forcing out the brewerys owner and founder, Forest Gray. But a week later, the brewery was up and running again, continuing production in order to remain an attractive asset to interested buyers.

By the end of March, most of Speakeasys production had been outsourced to Shmaltz Brewing Co. of Clifton Park, N.Y., to ensure a smooth transition while the new buyer applies for transfer of ownership and transfer of premise permits from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Meanwhile, five wage claims were filed against Speakeasy, all pertaining to final pay, according to the states Department of Industrial Relations. Such claims typically come from employees who have not received final paychecks. These remain the responsibility of the previous owner.

Butner is no stranger to selling Speakeasy beer: Horizon was its distributor for more than five years. We were one the first companies to expand their distribution beyond San Francisco, Butner said in a statement. Keeping Speakeasys San Francisco born-and-brewed tradition alive is very important to me.

Buyers who showed interest in Speakeasy ranged from individuals to private equity firms to existing breweries. In the end, it was pretty straightforward, said Speakeasy public relations and media director Brian Stechschulte. Someone came in with the highest bid.

The eight Speakeasy employees who remained during the transition period will stay, said Stechschulte, adding that we hope to try to bring back a few of our former employees. Sam Cappione, a longtime employee of Butners at Horizon, joins Speakeasy as vice president and general manager.

There are no changes planned for Speakeasy beers at the moment, and the taproom will reopen as soon as possible, according to Stechschulte.

Speakeasy's $7.5 million expansion in 2015, which brought its brewing capacity from 15,000 barrels to about 65,000, left prior owner Gray burdened with bank loans that, less than two years later, he was unable to repay. The astronomical sales growth that Speakeasy had seen just before that expansion  38 percent in 2014  didn't keep pace.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Because this is an asset sale, Butner, who could not be reached for comment in time for this article, is not taking on Speakeasy's bank debt.

Will Butner be able to turn the sluggish sales around? His resume indicates a strong presence in the national beer industry, without particularly strong ties to craft brewing. Under his ownership, Horizon, which he purchased in 1987 at the age of 33, tripled in size. He has served on Anheuser-Busch InBevs Wholesaler Advisory Board and was named as one of its top distributors in the nation multiple times.

Hes also very active in public life in Oakland, where he lives. He has served in leadership positions on the boards of the East Bay YMCA and Oaklands Chamber of Commerce, and is first vice president on Port of Oaklands Board of Commissioners. In 1998, he ran for mayor, but lost to current Gov. Jerry Brown.

Despite that East Bay background, however, Butner has named his new venture after the San Francisco neighborhood, Hunters Point, indicating that the companys focus will likely remain on Speakeasy  which is now merely a brand, not a company in its own right.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
Bill Hutchinson / Bill Hutchinson /

A man was arrested in Oakland late Monday afternoon for stabbing to death a man in an industrial area of East Oakland, police said.

The victim, who was not identified pending notification of his family, was found bleeding in the 4500 block of San Leandro Street near 45th Avenue just before 2 p.m., according to the Oakland Police Department. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

East Bay detectives got a surprise break in a disturbing killing in Castro Valley, when a 36-year-old man jailed in San Joaquin County for molesting a child admitted to the slaying, the Alameda County sheriff said Monday.

Investigators continue to collect evidence after the Alameda County district attorney last week charged Stockton resident Luckie Dacany with murder, torture and arson in the killing of 59-year-old widow Andrea St. John.

Im so proud of our detectives, Sheriff Gregory Ahern said. Theyve worked tirelessly. This case has been very disturbing to the neighbors and family.

Making the slaying particularly unsettling to investigators and residents in the community was its randomness.

Ahern said Dacany was seen on security video walking along the 1800 block of Grove Way in the late-night hours of Dec. 12, apparently looking for a home to burglarize.

When St. John confronted the suspect in her garage, investigators said Dacany stabbed her to death before he went about trying to conceal his crime in a frightful fashion.

Firefighters were called to the home around 2:45 a.m. the next morning as large flames exploded out of the homes garage. Crews extinguished the blaze in minutes and made the grim discovery of charred human remains.

He burned her to hide the evidence, Ahern said. He was walking around and randomly picked this residence. Its just a terrible set of circumstances.

With no suspect or obvious motive immediately identified, the days after the killing stretched to weeks and later months, as detectives started running out of leads. Then on May 2, the Alameda County Sheriffs Office got a stroke of luck: Dacany confessed to the killing while in custody in San Joaquin County, Ahern said.

Dacany had surrendered to police in February on warrants alleging he molested a child and stole a vehicle.

In recent days, detectives recovered a stolen 2011 Toyota Corolla in Tracy that they believe was used in the Castro Valley crime. Authorities believe Dacany has committed other crimes in Alameda County.

This is the reason that people get house alarms, get firearms and protect themselves, Ahern said. Were glad were able to make sure this person is never going to commit any crimes outside of jail again.

The special-circumstance killing means Dacany is eligible for the death penalty should the Alameda County district attorneys office seek it.

Dacany will face charges in San Joaquin County before being moved to face the charges in Alameda County.

St. John was buried in a private ceremony attended by her two adult daughters.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Evan Sernoffsky

A suspect accused of killing a man found dead in bushes on the side of a road in Concord has been arrested, police said Monday.

The suspect, who was not identified by police who cited their ongoing investigation, was arrested Sunday morning  the day after the victims body was discovered, according to the Concord Police Department.
Sage Ryan has never been a regular kid.

At age 7, he growled a blues tune with his grandpa on Americas Got Talent. At 11, he appeared in Gianni Schicchi, Woody Allens debut as an opera director. At 14, he enrolled at UC Berkeley  as a transferring junior.

Now Sage is a 17-year-old college graduate. And, true to form, he wants to be the youngest substitute teacher in the state.

But the San Francisco Unified School District, to which he applied, isnt interested in sending the educational version of Doogie Howser, M.D. into classrooms. When officials found out his age, they rescinded a job offer.

I put in all this time and it didnt happen, he said. They never said anything.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

It was the perfect job, Sage figured, paying about $150 a day and offering needed flexibility as he pursues a career in film and television. He applied, passed the basic skills exam, submitted a clean tuberculosis test and went through a background check.

San Francisco Unified hired him, and he attended an orientation for new subs. Thats when school officials realized he was 17.

Sage likens his treatment to age discrimination, though in legal terms that typically applies to those on the other side of the spectrum  people over 40.

Technically, theres no reason a 17-year-old cant teach, as long as the individual fulfills all requirements, state officials said. But San Francisco district officials said they couldnt hire someone like Sage.

If someone is under 18, the school district cant comply with its statutory duty to do a thorough criminal background check as the Department of Justice doesnt release information about any crimes committed prior to the age of 18, said spokeswoman Gentle Blythe. We usually have several years of adult records to demonstrate that a person is mature and responsible  so far as criminal records show  to handle supervision of students.

District officials declined to say how old applicants need to be to teach in city schools, or if Sage could be hired when he turns 18 in August.

Michelle Parker, president of the San Francisco Parent Political Action Committee, said a juvenile substitute teacher might not be well received by parents.

Age doesn't always mean you have wisdom, so Im thinking that, she said. At the same time, you cant even vote.

Parker also wondered how a teenager would fare given that substitutes are the least respected of any adult that walks into a classroom.

The irony, Sage said, is that the traditional school system didnt work for him when he was a child, growing up in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other places. The typical classroom, he said, wasnt flexible enough for his wandering mind.

The system is unable to adapt to those who dont fit the mold, he said. Its frustrating.

The boy tried to fit in, said his mother, Jessica Dirschel. Over 10 years, they tried 23 schools, including public, private, charter and even an arts-focused boarding school.

When all else failed, Sages mom homeschooled him, and at age 11, he started taking community college courses.

He found it easier to focus on one topic at a time rather than jumping around in a normal school day, said Dirschel, a third-grade teacher at San Franciscos Rooftop Elementary and an alternative schooling consultant.

Sage earned his high school diploma at home, while simultaneously earning two years of college credit. At the same time, he did commercials, movies including A Christmas Carol, television and voice-over work.

When he was 14, he applied to a handful of universities. Woody Allen wrote a recommendation letter to USC, but he didnt get in. After UC Berkeley accepted him as a transfer, he lived in off-campus cooperative housing with other students. He graduated in December with his peers, most of whom were at least 21.

COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California.

Unlike many children who attend college early, Sage wasnt an academic phenom, his mother said.

The reason he went to Berkeley is not because he was a super smart kid, she said. Its because the traditional school system failed him.

Dirschel believes the system is failing him again. Hes out potential wages, and has spent months waiting for the district to process his application and send his paperwork to the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

While Sage could have worked for San Francisco  it was the sponsoring district of his substitute credential  he now he has to wait to get state certification to teach in any district, he said.

Hes decided to head south, where he lined up an interview with Los Angeles Unified, and will be pursuing work in Hollywood. He has agents in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The ideal and conceivable thing for me is to be acting and writing and directing for sketch comedy, he said, citing Portlandia as the kind of production he admires. Comedy is my passion.

But he still wants to be a substitute teacher. He had hoped to land in elementary classrooms, where he might encounter students struggling like he did and encourage them to believe in themselves.

He thinks his experiences  rather than his age  would help him relate to a lot of students.

I've had a lot of rejection, he said. Im going to keep trying to make it happen.
Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson and his wife, Denise Bradley, were at the American Conservatory Theaters recent 50th anniversary gala; and at mention of seeing his picture with a group of health executives at the White House, he said hed been there twice since the Trump election.

The two were just back from New York for ceremonies honoring Time magazines Top 100 Most Influential People in the World 2017, an honor announced on April 20. Tyson earned a shout-out in Editor in Chief Nancy Gibbs introduction to the list, and the inspiring tribute essay on him was written for Time by revered civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

Lewis described Tyson as smart, gifted, thoughtful and a highly respected voice in the struggle to make high-quality health care affordable for every American. As the CEO of Kaiser Permanente, one of the nations largest nonprofit health plans, Bernard addresses the medical needs of more than 11.3 million people. ... rather than just treating disease, seeking to provide high-quality, affordable, accessible health care to all of its members.

Lewis views on health care are hardly those of the man in the White House. Health care is a right. It is not a privilege reserved for a wealthy few, Lewis said in March, arguing against the first, unsuccessful Trumpcare proposal. It doesnt profit this body to pass this bill and lose our soul. This bill is a shame. It is a disgrace. Lewis also voted against the subsequent bill passed by the House last week.

At the White House, says Tyson, hes been working with several other CEOs on helping the Veterans Administration. Its not the occasion to dwell too much on the logic of traditional allegiances. There are practical matters and long-range goals to consider. (And also, the taking of a picture or two.)

Stephen Seewer was joking, when in response to a request that he confirm a teeth-cleaning appointment, he said, I prefer black cherry-flavored tooth-polishing paste. For my goodie bag, Id like wintergreen mint floss and an orange tooth brush. When he showed up, his requests had been fulfilled. He said he was so pleased that at his November appointment, Im going to ask for turkey giblet-flavored toothpaste and butternut squash-flavored mouthwash. (If hygienists are going to be asked to fulfill such orders, they deserve tips ... but theyve got to interrupt the cleaning to ask, How you liking that?)

Neighborhood bard Paul Kilduff says the possibility that a recently closed CVS on Ocean Avenue will become a BevMo has received support from Ingleside Alcoholics United. To make sure he was joking, I Googled Ingleside Alcoholics United, and came up with word of an AA meeting at United Methodist Church in Ingleside, Ill.

Strange de Jim was watching when Seth Meyers discussed Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes bragging about taking enemies up in a helicopter and pushing them out the door. This is whats given him his nickname, said Meyers, United Airlines.

As to the coast-to-coast eclipse upcoming in August, Eureka Scientific president John Vallerga says that six years ago, his astronomy research company booked 70 rooms at an upscale resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where the eclipse will be total. After servicing friends, family and other astronomers, he emailed, we hope to cash in on the few rooms we have left. From what I understand, everything is booked but locals are still selling RV parking spots.

Leah Garchik/San Francisco Chronicle

The sun beckoned us Sunday, May 7, to the How Weird Street Faire, which draws the usual San Francisco revelers: fishnet everywhere, sequins in beards, nakedness on the skinniest/paunchiest men and half-nakedness on the most perfectly toned women (gender distinctions between those who dare to bare must be someones Ph.D. thesis somewhere). As Lizzie Johnson has written, there was music, drinking and dancing, art and even a bit of politics (Winston Smith and his Trump Hates Me buttons and T-shirts). It was the non-mobile Bay to Breakers.

For me, the standout attire was worn by a boy of 11 or 12, waiting in line to get in. He had on a simple T-shirt and jeans, and a helmet made out of a hollowed-out watermelon. To prove the agricultural provenance of the chapeau, this good-natured kid even let me stick my index finger under its surface. The inside was cold and wet, the ideal headgear for a basking/baking afternoon.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

Im starting to believe the people in my life who are always judging me.
I wandered around San Francisco City Hall last week. It turned out to be an uplifting exercise in these dark days of American democracy. The grand old palace of the people was hopping with events, including former state Sen. Mark Lenos formal kickoff for the 2019 mayoral race, which he announced to a news scrum outside the Department of Elections office, and City Attorney Dennis Herreras declaration of victory in the long-running legal battle with Airbnb, which will force the short-term rental giant to abide by local law.

The Airbnb settlement was a major win not just for the city, but for Herrera, whose squad of civil service lawyers outmaneuvered the legal army of the $31 billion corporate colossus. I dropped by the city attorneys office to see how he was celebrating. There was no Champagne in sight, but a bit of swagger was on display.

We never felt intimidated by Airbnbs legal firepower, Herrera told me. We didnt see it as David versus Goliath. Theres a reason this office is seen as one of the premier municipal law offices in the country. We can hire the best talent. And weve taken on everyone from the federal government, over issues like sanctuary, to the gun lobby.

Herrera said he felt no heat from Airbnb investor Ron Conway, who has been known to throw his political weight around, or from Conways close ally Mayor Ed Lee. The ground has shifted, said the city attorney. Im counting on the mayors full support to enforce the settlement.

The next Goliath for Herrera and his staff? Ride-hailing behemoth Uber, which last week sued the city to prevent the San Francisco tax collectors office from compelling Uber drivers to obtain business licenses. The lawsuit echoes Airbnbs own losing effort to operate outside of the law in San Francisco, and Herrera is confident the Uber maneuver will suffer a similar fate.

Uber is thumbing its nose at the San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector Office, which is just trying to do its job, Herrera said. The city has a right to require Uber drivers to register, just as it does with other business operators. And my office will aggressively defend the citys right to enforce its laws.

The Airbnb settlement and looming Uber battle are part of a larger struggle between public rule and pirate capitalism. This buccaneer business ethic  with its open contempt for governmental authority  holds sway at break-all-the-rules tech companies like Uber.

The same principle is at stake in the Uber battle as the citys showdown with Airbnb, said San Francisco political consultant Jon Golinger. Will companies like Uber and Lyft be allowed to take over the city, with private fleets swarming public streets, or does the city have the right to impose some basic rules and order? The quality of life has clearly gone down in San Francisco since these companies took over.

Herrera agrees. The city is less livable these days. Weve been vexed by the homeless problem for a long time, but from what I see on the streets, its worse now. Likewise, gentrification has long been an issue, but the city is less affordable now than ever. Added to that, we now have the nightmare of traffic congestion.

Herrera, who lost to Lee in the 2011 mayoral race, was starting to sound like he might give it another go. When I told him I had just come from Lenos news conference, he didnt exactly jump on the bandwagon. Mark has a long and distinguished record of public service, and I wish him well, said Herrera, as if he were reading a prepared statement. But the election is a long way off, and anything can happen in two-plus years.

And then he cut to the chase: Im not ruling out a race for mayor.

Supervisor Jane Kim is another potential mayoral name that comes up in progressive circles, so I dropped by her office as well. Kim, who will be termed out of office next year, is considering her political options but hasnt come to any firm decisions. Still, she was happy to talk about big-picture topics.

Everyone is progressive in San Francisco until theres money involved, said Kim. All politicians here support core social issues  but housing and land use are the dividing lines that separate the true progressives from fake ones.

Kim is increasingly concerned about the citys enormous wealth gap. The disparity in San Francisco between the top and bottom is now akin to countries like Rwanda. Actually Rwanda ranks slightly better.

Shes also focusing more these days on the challenges of automation, which will produce massive disruptions in the labor market. Ive already seen robots making deliveries in hotels. And theres a robot bartender at the Folsom Street Foundry  one of Kims watering holes.

Politics has a particularly foul odor these days, and for good reason. But its reassuring to know that at least in cities like San Francisco, the peoples profession still draws men and women who are willing to fight the big battles and grapple with the big issues.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Talbot appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Email: dtalbot@sfchronicle.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

The South Bay jury in the high-profile murder case of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar has reached a verdict, Santa Clara County Superior Court officials said on Monday.

The jury will read the much-anticipated decision at 9 a.m. Tuesday, deciding the fate of 26-year-old Antolin Garcia-Torres, who, if convicted, faces the death penalty in the 2012 disappearance of the 15-year-old Ann Sobrato High School student.

The jury will also announce its verdict in three additional counts against Garcia-Torres of attempted kidnapping during the commission of a carjacking from three separate incidents at Morgan Hill Safeway stores in 2009.

The jury informed the judge it reached its decision at the end of its first complete day of deliberations. The panel began discussing the case Thursday, following closing arguments, and worked a half day on Friday before resuming deliberations Monday morning.

Sierra vanished on March 16, 2012, while walking to catch a school bus. Authorities found her cell phone and clothing abandoned in fields near her home in the days after she disappeared.

DNA on Sierras jeans led them to Garcia-Torres as a suspect, but no body, crime scene or other direct evidence was ever found.

Prosecutors built their case on physical evidence, including the DNA and Sierras hair found on a rope in the trunk of Garcia-Torres car. Prosecutors also introduced circumstantial evidence, including security video of Garcia-Torres movements and details he told investigators during interviews.

The defendants attorney, though, argued that prosecutors could not prove Sierra is dead, much less that Garcia-Torres is her killer.

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.

Defense attorney Alfonso Lopez sought to chip away at the evidence  at times blaming shoddy work by crime lab technicians  throughout the more than three-month trial that included emotional testimony from Sierras family and friends.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
AL DRAGO/NYT

One of the first new laws President Trump signed, an appropriations bill, contained a provision renewing the controversial EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.

Hours later, Nicole Kushner Meyer of the Kushner Cos.  the family-owned real estate development company that was, until very recently, run by Trumps son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner  was urging wealthy investors in Beijing to consider putting $500,000 each into two luxury apartment towers the company is erecting in Jersey City.
Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Despite being dismissed as President Barack Obamas defense intelligence director, paid by Vladimir Putins propaganda shop, and seen dining with the Russian strongman, Michael Flynn became President Trumps top national security aide. While Flynns Russian entanglements are troubling enough, theyre made more so by the outrage that Trump and company have reserved not for Flynn, but for those who exposed him.

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates told a Senate subcommittee Monday that she repeatedly advised the White Houses top lawyer that Flynn had apparently misled Vice President Pence about his discussions with Russias ambassador during the campaign. The deception meant that the national security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.
French voters overwhelmingly rejected far-right nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen in favor of Emmanuel Macron, a centrist and political neophyte, in the countrys closely watched presidential run-off this weekend. Had Le Pen won, the election could have been the deciding blow to the future of the European Union.

Instead, Macrons victory signals a different future. It suggests the limits to the wave of nationalist politics thats recently swept the worlds advanced economies.

Many expected France to follow the United Kingdom, with Brexit, or the United States, with Donald Trump, and elect a hard-right nationalist who promised to restore lost glory.

Certainly France has seen better days: its economy is stagnant, its cities have been roiled by a series of terrorist incidents, and its citizens angers and fears about migration have been growing.

But French voters turned away from Le Pens talk of borders and xenophobia. They agreed to renew their faith in the world economy. Macron, who at 39 will be the youngest president in Frances history, strongly supports the EU. Alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hell be a counterweight to pro-nationalist sentiment  and an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who supported Le Pen.

It wont be easy. Macron is an untested newcomer leading a new party, Le Pens voters remain disaffected and angry, and the challenges facing France are large ones.

But Macrons victory should be a wake-up call for international leaders. While Brexit and the election of Trump were alarms about the depth of voters dissatisfaction with free trade and immigration, they have other concerns, too.

In Macrons case, the citizens were clearly concerned with the values of the French Republic, and their own desire to face the world with pragmatism rather than fear. Smart politicians  in every country  will find ways to channel this energy into positive policy directions.
When a record-shattering blizzard threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands of livestock, Operation Haylift flew into action.

I was searching The Chronicles archive recently for photos of the Steinhart Aquarium crocodiles when I stumbled across this classic, quirky story from the late 1940s.

The winter storms of 1948-49 were the heaviest in the West since 1889, and thousands of residents and more than 1 million cows and sheep were stranded in remote regions of California, Nevada and into the Northwest.

Rescue operations were launched, including the Great Hay Lift of 1949, whose mission was to drop bales from planes to the thousands of hungry livestock on ranches around Ely, Nev. Chronicle photographer Carl Randall and ace photographer Bob Campbell caught a ride and captured the story for Bay Area readers.

Military planes were loaded with hay in Fallon, Nev., and stopped off in Ely to pick up a rancher to guide them to the stranded herds. On the first day, 16 of the C-82 boxcar aircraft flew 18 trips and dropped nearly 150,000 pounds of hay to the animals. Difficulties with refueling kept the number of loads from being greater, but workers and locals were pleased with the early results.

It was a damn fine job, said Ely rancher Lloyd Sorenson, a guide for one of the runs. He reported the planes dropped bales about 30 yards from a herd, and the sheep scrambled over and quickly started gorging themselves.

While doing research I found one negative report from Operation Haylift. According to Clel Georgetts book Golden Fleece in Nevada, A flying boxcar with 4 tons of baled hay on board flew over Tom Thurnals place and tried to drop eight bales of hay in his corral. On the planes first pass, some bales the plane dropped took off the porch of the house. On the next pass the heavy bales falling out of the sky smashed the wash house with his wifes new washer in it. Tom got on a saddle horse, rode to McGill, called Operation Haylift and said, Please! Do not drop any more hay on my place. My wife will divorce me.

Bob Campbell/The Chronicle

Despite the small-scale catastrophe at the Thurnal ranch, the mission was deemed a success. It was not, however, an easy assignment for the pilots and crew. Maj. Edmund McCready was quoted as saying, This is worse than anything we ran into up in Alaska. Temperatures in Nevada were about 28 degrees below zero at flight level, and planes had to drop down to 100 to 200 feet above ground to release the bales.

Operation Haylift ended Feb. 17, 1949. According Col. Adrian Williams, the missions commanding officer, Operation Haylifts Air Force planes flew 1,600 hours and 270,000 miles with no accidents, and they dropped more than 1,800 tons of feed, saving over 300,000 cattle and sheep.

Bill Van Niekerken is the library director of The San Francisco Chronicle, where he has worked since 1985. In his weekly column, From the Archive, he explores the depths of The Chronicles vast photography archive in search of interesting historical tales related to the city by the bay.
Paul Chinn/The Chronicle

Every weekday, dozens of AC Transit buses carry hundreds of Oakland students to three schools in the hills  expensive supplementary routes that the transportation agency says the school district should help pay for.

After months of fruitless negotiations, the AC Transit board is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to continue the service to Skyline High, Montera Middle and Community Day schools, or eliminate the bus routes after this academic year.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

In 1950, an artist, sculptor and aerospace engineer by the name of Alexander Weygers envisioned a San Francisco with no traffic congestion.

That's because, in the future, almost everyone in the city travels by flying saucer.

Weygers' drawing of San Francisco shows saucers in the sky, parked on the top of high rises and sitting on launchpads on the Embarcadero. There are even semicircular pods on the waterfront where oversized (mass transit?) saucers dock. A Reddit user compared them to Roombas.

San Francisco's saucer-themed future is one of many visions for the city that were never realized. In the above gallery, we explore others that were abandoned as well as some that did come true, although often differently than originally conceived.

Several of the designs involve well-known San Francisco landmarks.

Weygers was an interesting fellow. A renaissance man living off the grid in Carmel, Calif., he was skilled in blacksmithing, painting, carpentry and philosophy, and spoke at least five languages. The San Francisco Chronicle called him a "a modern Leonardo da Vinci."

In 1944, he received a patent for what he called a "Discopter," a vertical liftoff aircraft. But even though the U.S. military expressed interest in his saucer-shaped invention, it was never developed.

The machine eventually became known as a "flying saucer" in sci-fi magazines, B-movies and Saturday morning TV cartoons.

In fact, if you ever grew up watching "The Jetsons" as a child, you probably owe it in part to Alexander Weygers.
A 92-year-old woman was assaulted in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco over the weekend during an altercation with a tent-encampment resident, officials said Monday.

The woman got into an argument around 9:30 a.m. Saturday with two people that escalated into an assault when a man grabbed and twisted her arm near the intersection of 26th and Shotwell streets, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

This story originally appeared on Hoodline.

If San Francisco and Oakland feel more crowded than ever, the numbers back you up. According to a newly-released population report by the California Department of Finance, the two cities have more people living in them than theyve ever had before.

San Francisco now has 874,227 people, up by 9,000 residents from 2016s population count. Oakland has a population of 426,000, gaining 7,000 people from last year.

By 2030, San Franciscos population is expected to surge to a million.

Statewide, the number of housing units completed last year was 31 percent higher than in 2015, and 5.75 percent of the new homes (5,114 new units) completed in California were in San Francisco.

As Curbed SF points out, San Francisco has added one unit of housing per 1.82 new residents, doubling the state's ratio (one new unit of housing per 3.76 incoming residents).

Californias population grew by a number equivalent to the entire population of Iceland, SF Weekly notes. Some 335,000 people moved into the state, carrying it to an all time high of 39.5 million people.

Los Angeles crossed the 4 million threshold and San Jose swelled to 1,046,000, maintaining its status as the Bay Areas largest city. Menlo Park was the fastest-growing city in the state, growing at a rate of 5.5 percent, and followed by the towns of Rocklin and Dublin.

Although the next official census wont be tallied until 2020, the latest data released by the states Department of Finance shows there are 2.25 million more inhabitants currently living in California than at the time of the 2010 count.

The US Census Bureau will release its population estimates later this year; however, the bureau historically undercounts Californias population because of the high number of undocumented immigrants and migrant workers who live here, making the state's own count more accurate.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A federal appeals court agreed Tuesday to consider reviving the Federal Trade Commissions lawsuit against AT&T for reducing the data speed of iPhone customers with unlimited-data plans after their use exceeds a certain amount.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had ordered dismissal of the suit in August, reversing a federal judges ruling to let the case proceed. The panel said the FTC lacked authority over AT&T because the telecommunications company is a common carrier, exempt from the commissions regulations of business practices.

On Tuesday, the court said a majority of its 25 judges had voted to set the August ruling aside and grant the FTC a new hearing before an 11-judge panel.

As a common carrier, AT&T remains subject to regulation by the Federal Communications Commission, which has filed its own case against the company, seeking $100 million. However, new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, an appointee of President Trump, rejects the commissions 2015 classification of AT&T and other Internet providers as common carriers.

Pai is leading an effort to repeal the FCCs rules for net neutrality, which requires equal treatment for online data regardless of source and bans fast lanes for companies that pay higher prices.

Pai called the Ninth Circuits decision to rehear the AT&T case a big win for American consumers. In a statement, he said that the courts action strengthens the case for his commission to reverse its 2015 order assuming oversight of Internet providers. That task, he said, belongs to the FTC, which can better protect online privacy.

The court case stemmed from accusations by the FTC that AT&T had misled iPhone customers who signed up for mobile data plans that were advertised as unlimited when they were sold between 2007 and 2010.

The company stopped selling unlimited data contracts in June 2010 but, to avoid losing customers, allowed those who already had unlimited plans to keep them.

Starting in July 2011, however, AT&T began throttling those customers, or substantially reducing their transmission speed, once they reached a certain threshold of use in their billing cycle. That was initially 5 gigabytes of data, but AT&T announced in the fall of 2015 that it was raising the limit to 22 GB.

The Federal Trade Commissions regulations do not apply to common carriers. But U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco agreed with the FTC in 2015 that it could still regulate mobile phone data service, which was not classified as a common carrier activity.

In August, the appeals court panel overruled Chen, saying the century-old law that established the FTC exempted common carriers from the commissions regulations for all their activities. The 11-judge panel will reconsider that issue in a hearing that has not yet been scheduled.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko
Kolkata, May 9 (IBNS): Ramgopal Rajpuria at the age of 80 brings the latest range of handcrafted cotton shirts for the younger generation Belissimo ( meaning beautiful in Italian).

Annually he aims to produce 1200 pcs this custom designed shirts with original German thread and on German machines specially imported by his company making Brunito line of shirts.

At 80 he is the oldest in his trade still actively involved in each of the stages of fabric selection, designing, color matching, stitching and finishing. He keeps a strict watch on his products and caters to his buyers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore apart from his stand alone store at Alipore, Kolkata.

Belissimo shirts begin with a price a price range of Rs 3500-9500.



Among his satisfied customers include Sanjiv Goenka, Dabur family, Saurav Ganguly, Brett Lee among many other noted people.

This is an amazing story of successful entrepreneurship by a 80 years old, Ram Gopal Rajpuria, who broke the traditional Marwari business model and carved a niche in exclusive fashion styling amongst the rich and famous

Ram Gopal Rajpuria was born in 1937 in a traditional Marwari family of traders/retailers of clothiers.

He took up his ancestral business Mohanlal & Co and steadily made started a custom made tailoring which grew in popularity and there was a steady line of queue in front of his Burrabazaar shop.

But slowly Ram Gopal Rajpuria branched out to form his signature style and counts amongst his clients legends as Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Brett Lee, Sanjiv and the late RP Goenka, Corporate heads of MacDonalds India, KFC, Usha Martin, Emami, Dabur, Hyatt, Simplex, Mani Group, Sureka, Prasad, Khetawat, NK Realtors and many more.

He is perhaps the sole exclusive shirt maker in India who imports his textiles from Italy and his thread from Germany and machines from Germany as well.

A unit of 50 tailors have been exclusively working since 2001 at his Behala factory which itself is a heritage structure of famous Rays of Behala. Annually 13000 shirts are made by him.

His shop has 2500 ready shirts with 500 shirts in each size ready at his exclusive store in Alipore.

His brand name is BRUNITO (meaning Rising Sun in Italian) is a tie up with an Italian designer label.



The USPs are quite a few, finest fabric, perfect fitting and classical collection for both party and office wear. The brand has over 1000 loyal customers and is available at some of the top drawer shops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.



The price range is Rs.1800- Rs. 9500 per shirt.
Pandora Media Inc. received $150 million from KKR & Co. and will step up its efforts to explore strategic options, including a possible sale of the Internet radio company.

Richard Sarnoff, who oversees KKRs media and communications holdings in the Americas, will join Pandoras board, one of several governance changes, according to a statement Monday. Two directors will leave and the company will form an independent board committee to help guide the money-losing Web music service.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

A little more than a month after announcing plans to expand to Larkspur, Wise Sons deli is on the move again, this time to the shelves of Whole Foods.

Starting Tuesday, Whole Foods will begin selling Wise Sons' products like rye bread, bagels, challah and babka, at four Whole Foods' locations in San Francisco (Ocean Avenue, Franklin, Potrero Hill and Noe Valley).

Last year, Wise Sons entered into similar partnerships with Bi Rite, Gus's and The Market on Market.

The Whole Foods news is par for the course when it comes to Wise Sons. Despite the Jewish deli scene fading across the country, the mini-chain is managing rapid expansion.

It only took roughly five years from the time they opened on 24th Street, to open up posts in the Fillmore, the Contemporary Jewish Museum and, soon, Marin Country Mart.

Wise Sons' co-owner Evan Bloom said the recent Whole Foods move was "years in the making."

"With steady but measured growth, we are now at a point where we have the capacity to produce retail product for broader local consumption," he said.

Whole Foods is no stranger to partnering with popular Bay Area chefs and brands. In 2016, they collaborated with Top Chef alum Melissa for ready-to-eat meals. And both the popular organic chicken chain Organic Coup as well as Humphry Slocombe have joined forces with the grocery chain to sell their products in all of Whole Foods' 43 Northern California retail locations.

Whole Foods locations selling Wise Sons products: 1150 Ocean Ave., 1765 California St.; 450 Rhode Island St.; and 3950 24th St.

Justin Phillips is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
WASHINGTON  Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates told Congress Monday she bluntly warned the Trump White House in January that new National Security Adviser Michael Flynn could be blackmailed by the Russians because he apparently had lied to his bosses about his contacts with Moscows ambassador in Washington.

The testimony from Yates marked her first public comments about the concerns she raised, and filled in basic details about the chain of events that led to Flynns ouster.

Her testimony, coupled with the revelation hours earlier that President Barack Obama himself had warned Trump against hiring Flynn shortly after the November election, made clear that alarms about Flynn had reached the highest levels of the U.S. government months before. Flynn had been an adviser to Donald Trump and an outspoken supporter of his presidential candidacy in the 2016 campaign.

Yates, appearing before a Senate panel investigating Russian interference in the election, described discussions with Trump White House Counsel Don McGahn in which she warned that Flynn apparently had misled the administration about his communications with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador.

White House officials had insisted that Flynn had not discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions with Kislyak during the presidential transition period, but asked Flynn to resign after news reports indicated he had lied about the nature of the calls.

We felt like it was critical that we get this information to the White House, in part because the vice president was unknowingly making false statements to the public and because we believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians, Yates said.

To state the obvious, she added later, you dont want your national security adviser compromised with the Russians.

Republican senators in the hearing repeatedly pressed Yates on an unrelated matter  her refusal to defend the Trump administrations travel ban  and whether she was responsible for leaking classified information. She said she was not.

Trump shouldered into the conversation early in the morning, tweeting that it was the Obama administration, not he, that had given Lt. Gen. Flynn the highest security clearance when he worked at the Pentagon. Trump made no mention of the fact that Flynn had been fired from his high position by the Obama administration in 2014.

Yates filled in new details of the events of Jan. 26, describing contacting McGahn in the morning and telling him she had something sensitive to discuss in person. Later that day, at the White House, she told him there was an alarming discrepancy between how Trump officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, were characterizing Flynns contacts with Kislyak and what intelligence officials knew to be true based on recordings of those calls.

The pair spoke several times over the next two days, with McGahn asking Yates how Flynn had fared during an interview with the FBI earlier that week  she did not answer  and why it was the business of the Justice Department if White House officials had misled each other. Flynns forced February resignation followed media reports that he had discussed U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia with Ambassador Kislyak, which was contrary to the public representations of the Trump White House.

Yates herself, a longtime federal prosecutor, was fired by Trump on Jan. 30 after refusing to defend his travel ban. James Clapper, director of national intelligence under Obama, also testified Monday. He retired when Trump took office.

Trump repeatedly has said he has no ties to Russia and isnt aware of any involvement by his aides in any Russian interference in the election. Hes dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into his campaigns possible ties to the election meddling as a hoax driven by Democrats bitter over losing the White House.

The subcommittee meeting Monday is one of multiple congressional probes into the Russia interference, along with those by House and Senate intelligence panels. All the committees are led by Republicans.

Eric Tucker and Eileen Sullivan are Associated Press writers.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

In the first federal appeals court test of President Trumps revised ban on immigration from overwhelmingly Muslim nations, a government lawyer argued Monday that courts should avoid engaging in psychoanalysis to look for an underlying religious bias and instead defer to Trumps judgments on national security.

The president was operating at the height of his powers ... acting at the borders to protect our nations security, Jeffrey Wall, the Justice Departments acting solicitor general, told the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

This is not a Muslim ban, Wall said of Trumps March 6 executive order. To conclude otherwise, Wall said, federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii seized on a handful of campaign statements to conduct an unprecedented ... kind of psychoanalysis of Trumps alleged motives.

But some members of the 13-judge court, said they couldnt ignore Trumps statements as a presidential candidate that he wanted to ban immigration by Muslims.

All this stuff was reaffirmed after the election. ... Hes never repudiated it, said Judge Robert King. He cited Trumps comment when signing the revised ban  that everyone would know what I mean  and a statement by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Trump adviser, that the president had told him to find a legal way to draft a Muslim ban.

The presidents power over immigration must be exercised in a way thats consistent with the Constitution, including its ban on religious discrimination, said Judge Pamela Harris.

The court was reviewing a Maryland federal judges injunction against the executive order, which would prohibit U.S. entry from the six nations for 90 days. An earlier order by a judge in Hawaii, blocking both Trumps immigration ban and his proposed 120-day freeze on all U.S. admissions of refugees, will be reviewed next Monday by a panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at a hearing in Seattle.

The Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, released the names of the randomly selected panel Monday: Judges Michael Hawkins, Ronald Gould and Richard Paez, all appointees of President Bill Clinton.

During Mondays hearing in Richmond, which lasted more than two hours, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer came under intense grilling, mostly from the three judges on the panel appointed by Republican presidents. Nine judges, including King and Harris, were appointed by Democrats, and Chief Judge Roger Gregory got a recess appointment from Democrat Clinton and a lifetime appointment by Republican George W. Bush.

If courts can examine Trumps statements as a presidential candidate to discern his motives, can we look at his college speeches? asked Judge Paul Niemeyer. How about his speeches to businessmen 20 years ago?

Judge Dennis Shedd asked why the president, the executive branch, (was) not entitled to some deference in concluding that a pause in travel from the six nations would reduce the threat of terrorism. Shedd also noted that Trumps order would affect fewer than 10 percent of the worlds Muslims.

ACLU attorney Omar Jadwat replied that Muslims make up more than 90 percent of the population of the six nations, which he said is evidence of Trumps real intent. Judicial deference to the president is not a license to violate the establishment clause that requires the U.S. government to remain religiously neutral, he said.

Trumps order, a revision of a Jan. 27 order that was also blocked by federal courts, would temporarily halt admissions of anyone from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as well as refugees fleeing violence and hardship in their home countries. During the pause, the administration had said it would study methods of extreme vetting for entrants from dangerous areas, but Wall said the studies were not completed when the courts intervened.

The defining issue at Mondays hearing, as in previous proceedings, was whether courts can look past the text of Trumps order  which refers to incidents of terrorism and government deficiencies in the targeted countries  to his statements and other evidence of alleged discriminatory motives.

Wall noted that the six nations  plus Iraq, named in Trumps earlier order but excluded from this one  had been the subject of a law signed by President Barack Obama that required their residents to obtain visas before entering the United States.

Conditions in these countries have continued to deteriorate, Wall said. He said Trump was merely seeking a brief opportunity to assure that the protections are sufficient, and that the legality of his order shouldnt be based on what we think was in the head of the president.

Judge James Wynn replied that he was unaware of any previous case of a presidential candidate promising to exclude members of a particular religion and then issuing an order to that effect a week after taking office.

Jadwat, the ACLU lawyer, said the supposed rationale for Trumps order had been undercut by his own Department of Homeland Security, whose recent report found no connection between nationality and the threat of terrorism.

Niemeyer retorted that if opponents of Trumps order, and the judges who blocked it, had their way, youd have the judiciary and all the various judges in the country supervising how the executive carries out national security.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @egelko
Sarah Ravani/The Chronicle

A Daly City man and woman were arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in San Franciscos Civic Center, San Francisco police said Monday.

Windell Lightle, 34, and Christina Bryant, 31, were booked into San Francisco County Jail on Friday on suspicion of murder and conspiracy in connection with the death of a 20-year-old San Francisco resident.
Credit: Alexander ThompsonBlondie released its latest studio album, Pollinator, on Friday, and the influential New Wave band will celebrating the new record's arrival with a performance Tuesday evening on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

As previously reported, Pollinator finds Blondie mixing elements of its classic sound with contemporary influences, including modern electronic dance music. It features collaborations with a wide variety of artists, including Joan Jett, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, avant-garde musician Laurie Anderson, The Strokes' Nick Valensi, TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, pop stars Sia and Charli XCX, and indie-R&B artist Blood Orange.

In a new interview with Clash magazine, frontwoman Debbie Harry notes that Pollinator was an unusual project for Blondie because it features songwriting contributions from various artists outside of the band, among them Marr, Sia, Sitek and Blood Orange's Dev Hynes.

"We've never done anything like this," Harry notes. "We've never pulled it together like this. Seemed like a good idea at the time!"

The album was recorded in Blondie's hometown of New York City, and guitarist Chris Stein tells Clash that the group approached making the record in a similar way that it made its early recordings.

"We had to go back to our roots," he explains. "I could see the fans wanted to see that, hear that. Everybody being in a room together and playing definitely shows off. I guess there's a return to rock sensibilities."

In support of Pollinator, Blondie will be teaming up with Garbage for the Rage and Rapture tour, a North American trek that gets underway July 5 in Saratoga, California.

Catch Blondie on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday at 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. CT on NBC.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Image: Sujoy Dhar

Sundarbans, the land where three great rivers merge, is the third most vulnerable delta in the world today. Sea level rise due to climate change, devastating cyclones, etc. are affecting this densely populated area. Realising the urgency, international agencies are working on issues like adaptability to cope with the new reality. Ranjita Biswas reports

This is a country of The Hungry Tide as award winning author Amitav Ghosh titled his novel on the Sundarbans landscape. Some surmise that the name -Sundarbans (beautiful forest in Bengali) comes from once abundant Sundari trees in the area. It is a fascinating land where mangrove forests- one of the largest contiguous blocks in the world, crocodiles, snakes, the ferocious Royal Bengal Tiger, and resilient human society have been coexisting for centuries.

Yet, today, this deltaic region straddling West Bengal in India and Bangladesh where the great rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna converge to meet the Bay of Bengal, is hardly a palette of beautiful stories.

Image by Bijoy ChowdhuryRather, it is in the news for hosting powerful cyclones, flooding of low-lying areas, islands disappearing from the archipelago due to the rise in sea water level, thanks to global warming, and submerged stories of displaced people due to these calamities.



People in the Sundarbans reside in 53 islands, according to the Delta Vision 2050 document (WWF-1, 2011). It is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The area outside the protected National Park has been mostly used for agriculture.



The connection between global warming and sea level rise has been conclusively established by scientists, including those of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

The latter warns that in the Sundarbans, rising sea level and depletion of mangrove forests that act as a natural buffer against cyclones and rising water, could see more islands getting submerged. Like Ghoramara, Suparibhanga and Lohachara, which have wholly or partly been submerged in the sea.



From these islands, more than 30 thousand people were relocated to the Sagar island, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, 25 km away. Now as more low lying areas are under threat, the continued migration could put a strain on the dedicated area in Sagar too, say experts. Incidentally, scientists point out that while globally, sea level rise due to climate change is usually at 1.2 mm per year, in Sundarbans it is much higher at 4.2 mm per year.



In such a scenario, what can be done to tackle peoples vulnerability? DECCMA (Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Migration and Adaptation), a multinational project involving hundreds of environmental scientists and academics from different disciplines are working to find a more viable answer to this vexing problem. More importantly, as it is also one of the most densely populated regions of the world: 1000 plus persons per sq. km. The Indian Sundarbans area locates an estimated 4.5 million people.



DECCMAs three main aims are: To evaluate the effectiveness of adaptation options in deltas; to assess migration as an adaptation in deltaic environments under a changing climate; to deliver policy support to create the conditions for sustainable gender-sensitive adaptation.



Image by Avishek MitraAt the moment the case studies are focusing on three deltas- the largest- Ganga- Brahmaputra- Meghna (India and Bangladesh), and smaller ones at Mahanadi (Odisha) and Volta (Ghana) which have similar characteristics.



Kolkata-based autonomous research organization, Centre for Environment and Development (CED), is an active partner of this five-year project (2014-2018). Says Ashish K. Ghosh, director, The Sundarbans is the third most vulnerable delta in the world. We have to see how the inhabitants, taking into consideration the topography and new climate change, can adapt to the new reality and lifestyle.



Some of the key areas on adaptability, scientists at DECCMA are working on to ameliorate the misery of the inhabitants are: ensuring an early warning system for the people so that they can be prepared; building accessible cyclone centres for temporary period: if they have to migrate, how the government is planning their rehabilitation and resettlement.



Another important element that is inseparable with adaptability is food security. Ghosh worked earlier at re-introducing lost strains of saline-resistant paddy crops in the area. The devastating cyclone Aila thrashed the southern part of West Bengal in 2009. One million people became homeless in one night; the date was 29 May, Ghosh recalls from his field experience. Post this national disaster, 40 to 80 per cent of the male population of the most vulnerable island areas migrated to 11 states in India in search of a livelihood leaving behind the women, children and the elderly to fend for themselves, although emigrants sent regular remittances. Obviously, women have to bear the extra responsibility. Hence its important to ensure that people can sustain themselves, despite the challenges, he says.

Increased salinity due to sea water invasion became a problem for growing paddy; so far, the farmers were used to rain-fed agriculture.



This made ENDEV (A Society for Environment and Development) Ghoshs sister concern, search for saline-resistant paddy strains which had all but disappeared though they were once cultivated by farmers in this area. With help from the seed bank Vrihi, a brainchild of Debal Deb, an ENDEV associate, who shared two potential strains, and researching to retrieve long-forgotten strains by Ghosh , five varieties of saline-resistant paddy seeds were collected.

Image by Arne HAckelheim Creative CommonsThen farmers workshops were organised with support from National Council for Rural Institute (NCRI). After deciding on the right seed variety, planting started on an experimental basis in collaboration with local communities in blocks of Sandeshkhali I and II, Hingalganj, Gosaba, Mathurapur and Namkhana. The success thereof brought international recognition for ENDEV in 2013.



The other important element, Ghosh believes, to curb migration is skill development. Centres can be built to use local skill which would also help employment.

A WWF funded study, Indian Sundarbans Delta: A Vision (2011) warns about the likelihood that by 2050, the Global 200 iconic ecoregions of which the Sundarbans is one, will regularly experience monthly climatic conditions.



What becomes clear is that, to tackle various socio-economic problems, as well as to cope with effect of global warming in this vulnerable area, and population, a multi-pronged approach, drawing in expertise from various agencies call for urgent attention.

As the Vision report cautions, The increased intensity of extreme events in the Indian Sundarbans, potentially due to climate change, poses great challenges to the safety of the human settlements in the delta as a direct result of sea level rise, coastal erosion, cyclone incidences and coastal flooding.



Image credit for Sundarban village: Arne Huckelheim/Creative Commons
Voting-rights advocates accused the state Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday of violating the federal motor voter law by requiring the more than 1 million Californians who renew their drivers licenses by mail each year to fill out a separate form to register to vote.

In a federal court lawsuit in San Francisco, the League of Women Voters and other organizations said the 1993 National Voter Registration Act requires states to include voter registration opportunities in their applications to obtain or renew a drivers license or a state identification card. The California DMV provides a single form, for both voting and driving, to people who apply in person or online, but requires mail-in applicants to fill out a separate form for voter registration, the suit said.

That may be one of the reasons that more than 5.5 million eligible voters in the state are unregistered and that California ranks near the bottom of the states in registration rates, the advocacy groups said.

Its an embarrassment that in 2017, more than 20 years after the law was enacted, California DMV is still violating the law by making millions of people jump through hoops to become voters, Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

The DMV issued a statement saying California has been in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act for decades. The agency contended the 1993 law allows separate application forms for mailed license renewals and voter registration and does not require a single form.

The lawsuit, the DMV added, serves as an unfortunate distraction from ongoing joint efforts by the secretary of states office and the DMV to further improve the voter registration process in California, which already exceeds the voter registration obligations in the federal law.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla, Californias top elections official, has been trying to make voter registration easier in the state. He sponsored a law, enacted in 2015, that would automatically add applicants for drivers licenses and state ID cards to the voter rolls unless they opted out. The change requires additional state funding, however, and its implementation date is uncertain.

Plaintiffs in Tuesdays lawsuit said they sent letters to Padilla, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto and Gov. Jerry Brown in February 2015, notifying them of the requirements of federal law and their intention to sue. The state has improved the DMV registration process since then but still fails to provide mail-in applicants with a single form to renew their licenses and register to vote, the suit said.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Kolkata, May 9 (IBNS): Rotary International District 3291Rotary and Club of Calcutta Victoria in association with14 other Rotary Clubs joined hands to present a District Seminar "TB-free India: Creating awareness on MDR TB" at Hotel Park Plaza here recently.

The speakers included RD Dubey, Chair, IMA South Calcutta Medical Association, Kavita Ayyagiri, Project Director ( Challenge TB), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Shiva Shrestha, Tech Advisor Challenge TB, Gitanjali Saha, Director, GRECALTES and the City TB Officer Dr. Pal.

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan endorses the cause of a TB Free India as a TB survivor.

JN Gurtu, District Coordinator Community Service Medical gave the welcome address and the District Governor Shyamashree Sen also addressed the gathering. The host club President Rtn Arvind Agarwal offered the vote of thanks.
WASHINGTON  Growers and farmworker unions said Tuesday that a federal immigration crackdown in rural towns is scaring away workers and forcing cutbacks in production of hand-harvested produce.

The comments came as part of a push for a long-shot bill by California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris to revive Feinsteins 2013 blue-card visa proposal that would provide legal status and a path to citizenship for farmworkers.

Wherever I go in California  I was just up in the wine industry  when I talk to dairy farmers, when I talk to small farmers in the Bay Area, even some in the Central Valley, they tell me they cant find workers, Feinstein said on a conference call with reporters. That workers are scared, that theyre afraid theyre going to be picked up and deported, that they have disappeared.

Feinstein said growers tell her they are looking to set up operations in Mexico, but thats not the answer. The people who feed us should have an opportunity to work here legally.

Shah Kazemi, owner of Watsonvilles Monterey Mushrooms, which has operations in several other states, said a federal immigration raid on a neighboring grower in Pennsylvania had scared away his workers. Kazemi said that the shortages have forced him to cut production 12 percent in California and 15 percent in Illinois, and that efforts to mechanize harvests of the tender plant have proved unsuccessful so far.

Feinsteins office, using a UC Davis estimate, said 70 percent of Californias 560,000 farmworkers are in the country without authorization. Her bill, the Agricultural Worker Program Act, would grant blue card legal status to farmworkers who have worked in agriculture for at least 100 days in both 2015 and 2016. If they continue working on farms for at least 150 days a year over the following three years, or 100 days a year for the following five years, they would be eligible for permanent residency.

The bill is similar to one that Feinstein attached to a 2013 immigration overhaul that passed the Senate but died in the House. Its chances of passage are bleak, given stout opposition to expanded immigration in the GOP-controlled Senate, House and White House.

The 2013 Feinstein bill was part of a compromise Feinstein brokered between the United Farm Workers union and California growers. Arturo Rodriguez, president of the union, said he is confident growers will support the new version.

Kazemi said he pays farmworkers an average of $16 an hour plus benefits. An analysis by the Los Angeles Times found the average farmworker in the state earns about $30,000 a year for full-time work, about half the state average.

UC Davis farm economist Daniel Sumner said farmworker wages have been rising recently, and we project in California they will continue to rise. Sumner said farm wages in some regions of the state are now in the $15-an-hour range, although wages in the Central Valley tend to be lower than on the coast.

Growers said they have not seen systematic federal raids on farms despite the Trump administrations stepped-up enforcement. Rodriguez said that in California, unions have an agreement with growers to direct federal agents to the farms administrative office before allowing them in the fields.

Rodriguez said the alarm stems from the presence of federal agents in rural towns. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is very prevalent within the communities where farmworkers live throughout the San Joaquin and Salinas valleys, Rodriguez said. It doesnt take much to spread alarm.

Growers have complained of worker shortages for many years. In addition to raising wages and pleading with Washington to ease legal entry for laborers, growers have expanded operations to Mexico and mechanized harvests of some crops such as nuts. Some produce remains too delicate for machines, however. Rodriquez said growers are experimenting with labor-saving methods such as growing strawberries on tables so that workers dont have to stoop to harvest them.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., is introducing a companion bill in the House. He said Americans face a choice of admitting foreign workers to grow food domestically, or importing food from abroad.

Its pretty simple, Gutierrez said. Foreign hands in foreign countries, or foreign hands in our own.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead
Image: www.i.ytimg.com

Dallas, May 9 (IBNS): UT Southwestern research investigating the blood glucose-regulatory actions of the hormone ghrelin may have implications for development of new treatments for diabetes.

Blood glucose is tightly regulated by the opposing actions of the hormones insulin and glucagon. Earlier studies led by Dr. Roger Unger, Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, demonstrated that experimentally deleting or neutralizing receptors for glucagon can prevent or correct dangerously high blood glucose levels in different models of diabetes.

Dr. Ungers research suggested that high or unopposed glucagon action that results from insulin deficiency is the main culprit in the development of high blood glucose  known as hyperglycemia  in diabetes, said Dr. Jeffrey Zigman, Professor of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study, published online today in the journal Diabetes.

He proposed that blocking or neutralizing glucagon action may serve as a new treatment for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This idea formed the basis of our current study, Dr. Zigman added.

Like glucagon and insulin, ghrelin also plays an important role in blood glucose control. But because the hormone was only discovered in the 1990s, ghrelins actions on blood glucose havent been studied as much as those of glucagon and insulin. The UTSW research team wanted to learn more about the role of ghrelin in diabetes.

We studied mice that lack glucagon receptors. When we tried to make these animals diabetic by giving them an agent that destroys insulin-producing cells, the mice did not develop diabetes. Their blood sugar was normal. In addition to these results, we found that their ghrelin levels were high, said Dr. Zigman, who holds the Kent and Jodi Foster Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology, in Honor of Daniel Foster, M.D., the Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Brookshire Professorship in Medicine, and The Diana and Richard C. Strauss Professorship in Biomedical Research.

In a related set of studies, when the researchers blocked the action of the elevated ghrelin, doing so caused the animals blood sugar levels to drop below normal, he added.

These findings suggest that when glucagon activity is blocked, circulating levels of ghrelin rise, which helps to prevent dangerously low blood sugars from developing, a condition known as hypoglycemia, Dr. Zigman said.

Pharmaceutical companies are now developing drugs targeting glucagon receptors to treat diabetes, including antibodies that will neutralize glucagon receptors or drugs that will block glucagon receptors, he added.

The bodys normal ghrelin response should protect diabetic individuals being treated with agents that target glucagon receptors from experiencing hypoglycemia, Dr. Zigman said.

Since the current study focused on a Type 1 diabetes model, researchers next plan to examine the coordinated actions of the ghrelin and glucagon systems in a Type 2 diabetes model. They also want to study the impact of ghrelin on hypoglycemia.

A potential side effect with any treatment that lowers blood sugar is that hypoglycemia may develop, Dr. Zigman said. We would like to determine whether the administration of ghrelin or a compound that mimics the action of ghrelin could help correct that hypoglycemia.

Lead author of the study is Dr. Bharath Mani, Instructor of Internal Medicine, and the co-senior authors include Dr. Unger, who holds the Touchstone/West Distinguished Chair in Diabetes Research, and Dr. Eric Berglund, Assistant Professor in the Advanced Imaging Research Center and of Pharmacology. Other contributing UTSW researchers are Dr. Aki Uchida, postdoctoral research fellow; Dr. Young Lee, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine; and Sherri Osborne-Lawrence, senior research scientist.

The study received support from the National Institutes of Health, the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, and the Hilda & Preston Davis Foundation.
Ahmedabad, May 9 (IBNS): aAmates a Expressions of Art on Handmade Papera, an exhibition of traditional paintings on handcrafted paper by indigenous people of Mexico, will be on display at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad until May 20.

The National Institute of Design, in association with the Embassy of Mexico in India, on Tuesday opened a unique exhibition, Amates featuring the traditional paper art of Mexico.

The exhibition was co-inaugurated on Monday, May 8, 2017 by Melba Pria, Ambassador of Mexico to India, and Pradyumna Vyas, Director, National Institute of Design.

The Amates exhibition lays emphasis on three main themes of this traditional art form: Birds, Village Scenes and Religious Rituals. In the Design Gallery at NID, the visitor will witness a display of Mexican paintings, which have similarities to the traditional Warli paintings of Gujarat. Much like the Warli art form, these Mexican paintings depict a way of life, through the daily village scenes, birds and animals. The theme of some Amates paintings are also special occasions such as weddings and rituals.

At the inauguration ceremony, Ambassador Pria spoke about enhancing cultural exchanges between Mexico and India, by looking to explore collaborations with design institutes in Mexico and Indias premier design institute, National Institute of Design.

During her day-long visit to Ahmedabad, Ambassador Melba Pria and Mr. Rodrigo Blanco, Director, ProMexico, India, also visited the facilities of Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd. to discuss the companys expansion plans in Mexico. Ambassador Pria concluded her trip with a courtesy visit to Mr. Vijay Rupani, Honble Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The Amates exhibition will be on display at the Design Gallery, National Institute of Design, Paldi, Ahmedabad, from May 9  20.
At least 12 persons - 10 civilians and one sepoy each from the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps (FC) - lost their lives, and some 40 others were injured in firing and shelling after Afghan forces attacked FC personnel guarding staff conducting a census in the Kali Luqman and Kali Jahangir areas of Chaman tehsil (revenue unit) in the Qilla Abdullah District of Balochistan on May 5, 2017. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release tweeted by its Director General (DG) Major General Asif stated, "Afghan border police opened fire on FC troops detailed for security of census in a village along Chaman border. Since 30th April, Afghan Border Police had been creating hurdles in conduct of census in divided villages of Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir in Charnan area on Pakistani side of the border. This was done despite the fact that Afghan authorities had been informed well in advance and coordination was carried out through diplomatic and military channels for conduct of census."

On April 24, 2017, a private passenger van a carrying census team hit a landmine at the Pato Kot village of Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), killing at least 15 persons, including five woman and four children and injuring another nine. The van was en route to Sadda from Godar. The injured included four Khasadar census workers, who were scheduled to carry out their activities in far-flung areas of the Agency.

On April 5, 2017, eight people - five Army soldiers, an employee of the Air Force and two passers-by lost their lives after a suicide bomber targeted a census team in the Bedian Road area of Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab. At least 19 were injured in the attack. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'spokesperson' Muhammad Khurassani claimed responsibility for the attack.

On March 22, 2017, a Policeman was injured when a census team came gun fire in the Harihchand Mandani area of Charsadda District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The attacker sustained injuries in retaliatory fire by Security Forces (SFs), and was arrested and moved to an undisclosed location.

On March 14, 2017, suspected militants abducted three Government schoolteachers in the Giskhor area of Awaran District in Balochistan. Levies official Muhammad Jan disclosed that the teachers were returning from a training session facilitated by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for the upcoming national census in the Giskhor area. Jan identified the abducted teachers as Rashid Ali, Elahi Bakhsh and Rasool Bakhsh. The location of these teachers remains unknown.

Census workers have been the target of many attacks since the national enumeration exercise kicked off on March 15, 2017, in 63 Districts of the country, after a delay of 19 years. A statement issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics noted, "The purpose of the attack apparently was to spread fear within the enumerators and other staff." On April 10, 2017, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had declared that the census would be completed "at any cost". During his visit to Army Census Support Centre (ACSC), established at the headquarters of the Army Air Defence Command in Rawalpindi, he emphasized that "conducting the census was a national obligation". Referring to the April 5-killing of Army personnel at Lahore, he added, further, "These sacrifices will only strengthen our resolve and with the support of the entire nation we will cleanse the menace of terrorism from our soil".

The first phase of the Census was scheduled between March 15 and April 15; the second between April 25 and May 25; and final results are expected by the end of July. In the second phase, 87 Districts will be covered.

The decision to initiate the Census was taken by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Government only after the Supreme Court took suo motu action on July 5, 2016, over the delay in carrying out the crucial process. This is the second time the census has been delayed since the country gained its independence in 1947. The first census in the country was conducted in 1951, the second in 1961, the third in 1972, instead of 1971 due to political turmoil, and the fourth in 1981. The fifth census, which was due in 1991, was conducted in March 1998 with the help of the Army.

Fast-growing Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, with an estimated 200 million people, but has not held a census since 1998. According to the 1951 census, there were just 33.7 million people in the country, which rose to 42.8 million in 1961, 65 million in 1972 and 85 million in 1981. The last census of 1998 estimated the population at roughly over 130 million. Punjab was the most populous province, followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The census exercise is a mammoth undertaking with numerous security concerns. One of them is on account of the militant elements still remaining in the country and who are, for obvious reasons, violently opposed to security personnel. Second-generation Afghan migrants also oppose the census. Significantly, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has blocked 350,000 Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) ahead of the first phase of the census. PBS chief Asif Bajwa claimed that most of the blocked CNICs belonged to Afghan nationals. Most of the Afghan migrants settled in Tribal areas and Balochistan fear being singled out for future deportation.

There are also fears among the large population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) of being left out, as well as Baloch nationalists who are targeted through an aggressive process of demographic re-engineering in Balochistan, and who fear that Afghans in the province may be enumerated as Pashtuns. In an atmosphere where the Baloch population and the Army lack mutual trust, the presence of soldiers in the company of the census takers may induce many in the Baloch-dominated districts to stay away from the population count, either in boycotts or because of security apprehensions. This is likely to result in a systematic exclusion of the Baloch - especially in the insurgency-hit southern Districts.

The process deploys more than 300,000 people and involves 55 million census forms - as well as a second, separate form distributed by the military. The PBS deploys some 119,000 people, including 84,000 enumerators: teachers and local officials who go door-to-door to count homes and then individuals. Chief Census Commissioner Asif Bajwa disclosed that the national exercise was being carried out at a total cost of PKR 18.5 billion. Of this, PKR six billion would be spent on civil and armed personnel and the remaining PKR 6.5 billion on hiring vehicles.

Unlike previous years, when the Army refused to provide security to census teams, on January 27, 2017, the Army approved the deployment of 200,000 troops for duties during the Sixth Population and Housing census. A statement issued by the ISPR declared, "Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has approved the plan to support conduct of 6th Population and Housing Census. Up to 200,000 troops will be employed." The decision to deploy the troops for the census paved the way for the holding of the long-delayed exercise. Unavailability of troops because of their pre-occupation with security tasks had been cited as the biggest obstacle to the conduct of the census in the past. The ISPR statement clarified that the military's engagement with census duties did not mean that counterterrorism operations would come to a halt and "other security responsibilities" would continue.

The Chief Census Commissioner Asif Bajwa stated the Army would act as 'observers' to ensure enumerators did not inflate local counting. However, Pakistan had faced criticism from United Nations' agencies for involving the armed forces in the Census exercise on the grounds that this went against international standards and best practices.

Despite being under direct Army supervision, the regular terrorist attacks on census teams rips apart the claim of providing fool proof security. Circumstances during the first phase of the Census clearly demonstrate that two Army personnel and as many Policemen with each census team are far from sufficient to ensure security and the integrity of the exercise.
New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS) : In a rare case of a sitting judge being convicted by fellow judges, the Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Justice CS Karnan of Calcutta High Court to six months jail holding hi guilty of contempt and ordered the Kolkata police chief to arrest him, reports said.

"If we don't send Justice Karnan to jail then there will be a blemish that SC condoned contempt by a judge," a 7-judge bench headed by CJI J S Khehar said.

The 61-year-old judge, who virtually rebelled against the top judiciary of the country, was accused of contempt after he named 20 "corrupt judges" of the country earlier this year.

He sought an investigation alleging corruption in the judiciary. He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging an inquiry.

On being repeatedly summoned by the Supreme Court, that suo moto initiated a contempt case against him, Justice Karnan refused to show up.

Instead he held "home court" at his residence matching every Supreme Court order with one of his own.

Last week, the Calcutta High Court judge had turned away a team of psychiatrists who had arrived along with the police for a medical examination ordered by the top court.
Kolkata, May 9 (IBNS) : West Bnegal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi, who underwent a minor surgery on Sunday night after bleeding from his nose, is now stable, doctors said on Monday.

"The condition of His Excellency, Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Honourable Governor of West Bengal, is stable hemodynamically and he is cheerful," a medical bulletin issued by Belle Vue Clinic said.

" There is no active bleeding from his nose. He had a peaceful sleep last night. Today, he had light breakfast with fruit juice," the bulletin said adding the Governor's condition is being constantly monitored by the Medical Board.

Tripathi was admitted to the Clinic with acute Epistaxis (nose bleeding). He was found to have been bleeding from an artery in the nose with nasal spur bleeding.




New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS) : The Supreme Court on Tuesday found liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court and ordered him to appear before the court on July 10 to decide the quantum of punishment to be awarded to him, reports said.

We give him an opportunity to be present in court personally while deciding on quantum of punishment, justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit said.

The order of the top court comes following the contempt plea by the State Bank of India, which is leading a consortium of banks seeking to recover more than Rs 9,000 crore from Mallyas grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. , moved a contempt plea against Mallya in July 2016.

The banks sought action against Mallya for allegedly diverting $40 million to his children's accounts in foreign banks in violation of the court order.

The banks argued that Mallya had wilfully disobeyed the orders of the apex court by making vague and unclear disclosure of his assets and appearing before the apex court.

Mallya fled to the UK in March 2016 and has been living there since then. The Indian Government has been putting in efforts for his extradition for investigation in connection with alleged money laundering by him.

The apex court had started proceeding against Mallya and had issued notice to him on March 8, 2016 on the plea by banks for recovery of the loan money taken by Mallya for the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines that he owned.
New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS): Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minster Farooq Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him urged him to address Kashmir issue politically.

"Dr. Farooq Abdullah sought a political approach from New Delhi to deal with the Kashmir situation and said dealing with the Kashmir Issue solely through operational and law-and-order mechanisms would continue to compound the already grave situation," a party spokesperson has said.

During a meeting that lasted over half-an-hour, Abdullah briefed the Prime Minister on the growing unrest in the Valley.

This is the first meeting Abdullah had with Modi after being elected to the Parliament, defeating PDP-BJP alliance candidate Nazir Ahmed by over 10,000 votes.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri,Image: Wikimedia Commons)
New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he called up French President-elect Emmanuel Macron and congratulated him over his recent poll victory.

Modi said he is looking forward to work with him to further deepen cooperation between India and France.

"Called President @EmmanuelMacron to convey my congratulations on his victory in the French Presidential election," PMO India quoting Modi tweeted.

"I look forward to working with President @EmmanuelMacron to further deepen cooperation between India and France," he said.
New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS): Twenty-five leaders from the Muslim Community, under the umbrella of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind called on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Welcoming the delegation, National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, said that the whole world is looking at India today, and it is the responsibility of all segments of Indian society to take the nation forward.

Leaders from the delegation agreed with Doval.

They said that the objective should be to take the country forward, together, following the Prime Ministers call of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.

Praising the Prime Ministers vision, members of the delegation expressed hope that the nationwide trust that he has among the people, will ensure prosperity and well-being of all segments of society.

They said that the Muslim community is keen to be an equal partner in the making of New India.

Noting that terrorism is a major challenge, they expressed a common resolve to combat it with all their might.

They added that it is the Muslim communitys responsibility that under no circumstances should anyone compromise the nations security or well-being.

They said that the Muslim community would never allow any conspiracy against India to succeed.

Expressing concern at the situation in Kashmir valley, members of the delegation said that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi can resolve the issue.

They appreciated the Prime Ministers stand on the issue of Triple Talaq.

Members of the delegation, who are associated with educational institutions, also mentioned the progress made by their institutions, in Government initiatives such as cashless transactions, start-ups, and the Hackathon recently organized by NITI Aayog.

The delegation also appreciated the implementation of minority welfare schemes under the Union Government.

Welcoming the members of the delegation, the Prime Minister said that democracys greatest strength is harmony and amity (aaa aaaaa). Emphasizing that the Government does not have any right to discriminate among citizens, the Prime Minister said that Indias speciality has been its unity in diversity. He said that the new generation in India must not be allowed to fall victim to the rising global tide of extremism.

On Triple Talaq, the Prime Minister reiterated that the Muslim community should not allow this issue to be politicized, and urged the assembled gathering to take the responsibility for initiating reform in this regard.

The members of the delegation included Maulana Qari Syed Mohammad Usman Mansurpuri  President of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind; Maulana Mahmood A Madani  General Secretary of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind; Dr. Zahir I Kazi, President - Anjuman-i-Islam, Mumbai; Prof Akhtarul Wasey; and Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal.
Image: indiaevm.org

New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS): The Election Commission of India on Tuesday gave its response to the claims made by the Aam Aadmi Party that Electronic Voting Machines were rigged in the recent Assembly polls and Delhi civic body elections and said their EVMs are 'non-tamperable'.

Giving a live demo in the Delhi Assembly, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed that Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs can be rigged.

The ECI, however, rejected the claims and said in a statement: "|The Election Commission, through media, has learnt about a so called demonstration of tampering of look-alike EVM. In this context it should be understood that it is possible for anyone to make any electronic gadget which looks-like ECI EVM and demonstrate any Magic or Tampering."

"Very simply put, any 'look-alike'' machine is just a different gadget, which is manifestly designed and made to function in a tampered manner and has no relevance, incidence or bearing on the Commission's EVMs. It is commonsense that gadgets other than ECI EVMs can be programmed to perform in a pre-determined way, but it simply cannot be implied that ECI EVMs will behave in the same manner because the ECI EVMs are Technically Secured and function under an elaborate Administrative and Security Protocol," it said.

The statement further said: "Such so called demonstration on extraneous and duplicate gadgets which are not owned by the ECI cannot be exploited to influence our Intelligent Citizens & Electorate to assail or vilify the EVMs used by the Commission in its electoral process."

Meanwhile, the Election Commission said it has scheduled an All Political Parties meeting on May 12 to discuss the controversy related to EVMs.
Media reports and confirmations to SAIR from family members of Islamic State (IS or Daesh) and al Qaeda recruits from the southern Indian State of Kerala, indicate that two Daesh volunteers and an al Qaeda volunteer were killed in three separate US drone attacks in Afghanistan and Syria in the month of April. Bestin Vincent akaYahya, who belonged to the Palakkad District was killed in US strikes in the Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan on April 29, 2017. Murshid Muhammed from Kasaragod District, who had also joined Daesh was killed in the second week of April 2017 (date not specified), again, in Nangarhar. Abu Thahir from Palakkad District had joined al Qaeda, and was killed in Syria on April 4, 2017.

Earlier, T. K. Hafeezudin, from Kasaragod District, who had joined Daesh, was killed in a US drone strike in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan, on February 25, 2017.

While Abu Thahir had reportedly gone missing in 2013 and had joined al Qaeda, the remaining three deceased were part of a group 21 persons, including six women and three children, who went missing from Kasaragod District in June 2016 and had reportedly joined Daesh. Of these 21, 17 were from two neighbouring villages, Padanna and Trikkaripur in Kasaragod District, while the remaining four were from Palakkad District, some 305 kilometres further south.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 28 youth from Kerala, including the 21 already mentioned, had travelled to attend Daesh training camps in Afghanistan/Syria/Iraq. Another 21 youth from other southern Indian states (Karnataka, nine; Tamil Nadu and Telangana, five each; and Andhra Pradesh, two) had also travelled to these battlefields. The total number of Indians who had travelled to these areas is estimated to stands at 67. Incidentally, according to reports, Haja Fakkruddin from Parangipettai village in the Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu was one of the first Indians to have joined Daesh in Syria in January 2014.

A number of Indians have also been arrested or detained before they could leave the country. On November 22, 2016, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir informed the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) that as many as 68 sympathisers or supporters of Daesh had been arrested across the country, till that date. The Minister added that 50 of these persons had been arrested by security agencies in 2016, of which 26 belonged to southern Indian states [Telangana (11), Karnataka (7), Kerala (6), and Tamil Nadu (2)].

Daesh in South India has reportedly found an ally in Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) which has established a presence in several parts of India, including the South, in recent times. JMB, a terror outfit which operates in Bangladesh, after suffering decisive losses in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina came to power in 2009, shifted some of its camps to India in an effort to regroup. The formation has once more become active in Bangladesh and has sworn allegiance to Daesh. Reports, meanwhile, indicate that JMB modules in Tamil Nadu and Telangana have been establishing operational capabilities in coordination with Daesh. Investigations found that several of the persons arrested in connection with Daesh had a JMB link as well.

While Daesh has found some sympathisers down South, raising security concerns, the activities of the 'Base Movement', an al Qaeda-affiliated group, has also drawn the attention of security agencies. 'Base Movement' is suspected to have orchestrated five different bomb blasts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka since April 2016. The incidents include:

November 1, 2016: A low intensity improvised explosive device (IED) blast took place in a car parked near the judicial first class magistrate court in Malappuram, Kerala. No one was injured in the incident. Police recovered a box with 'Base Movement' written on it, along with a notice which claimed the blast for the 'Base Movement' containing a photo of slain al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden.

September 12, 2016: A low-intensity blast occurred in the district Court premises in the Nellore town of Andhra Pradesh. There were no casualties.

August 1, 2016: Two persons were injured in an IED explosion at a public toilet in a court complex in Mysuru in Karnataka.

June 15, 2016: A bomb hidden in a tiffin box and planted inside a parked jeep in the Kollam Civil Station premises in the Kollam District of Kerala, exploded at around 10.45 am, injuring one person. The civil station houses the District Collector's office, apart from several Courts and Government offices.

April 7, 2016: The first such explosion took place at a parking lot in the Chittoor Court complex in Andhra Pradesh, injuring three persons. Another bomb was defused.

The modus operandi in each of these low intensity attacks was similar. According to security sources, arrested members of the 'The Base Movement' confessed that module only wanted to register its presence at a time when there was a huge traction towards Daesh. They told the investigators that their aim was not to kill but only spread fear and that is the reason they planted low intensity devices in such locations, so as to cause no casualties. Reports indicate that the elusive fugitive Al Umma leader, Abu Bakr Siddique aka Kakka, was the brain behind the emergence of this new terror formation - 'The Base Movement'. The group was active across all the five South Indian States, and had sent several letters to authorities since early 2015 to announce its existence and warn of attacks. The first such letter was reportedly sent to the then Additional Chief Secretary to Karnataka Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah, in January 2015, where the group stated that it was commencing activities in that year (2015). No incident was, however, reported in 2015.

On November 28, 2016, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with Tamil Nadu and Telangana Police, in a joint operation, arrested three suspected members of The Base Movement, identified as Abbas Ali (27), Suleiman Mohammad Abdullah (23) and Samsun Karim Raja from Madurai District in Tamil Nadu. Again, on November 29, 2016, the Joint Team arrested another two members, identified as Mohammed Ayub Ali (25) and Shamsudeen (25) from Madurai District. Further investigation revealed that these persons were part of the terrorist outfit, Al Umma and had regrouped under the banner of The Base Movement and had sworn allegiance to al Qaeda. It is suspected that their allegiance is to al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), formed in August 2014 with the official name of "Jamaat Qaidat al-jihad fi'shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya'' or "Organisation of the Base of Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent''. On April 9, 2017, Kerala Police arrested another two 'Base Movement' members, N. Abubaker and his aide A. Abdurahman, from Madurai District in Tamil Nadu.

While the emergence of these two groups is a worrying development, concerns persist regarding the presence of various Pakistan-backed terror formations such as Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and Indian Mujahideen (IM). According to the SATP database, after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, about 31 persons, including 19 civilians, five Security Force (SF) personnel and seven terrorists have been killed in seven terrorist attacks in different parts of South India. Incidentally, the last of the major terrorist incidents targeting civilians outside strife-torn Jammu & Kashmir, the Northeast and Punjab, in which more than 10 persons were killed, was reported from Andhra Pradesh. On February 21, 2013, 17 persons were killed and another 117 injured in twin blasts at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad.

Since 26/11, 2008, as many as 595 Islamist terrorist suspects have been arrested from five south Indian States - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. The number of arrested persons stood at 88 in 2016, 98 in 2015, 110 in 2014, 101 in 2013, 77 in 2012, 34 in 2011, 22 in 2010, 20 in 2009 and 35 in 2008. At least 10 persons have already been arrested in 2017, till April 30. Those arrested included terrorist cadres, persons involved in Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) cases, which are integrally linked to Pakistan-backed terrorism, and Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents.

Meanwhile, radicalisation is on rise, as one April 9, 2017, report observed,

Multiple new Salafi outfits such as Niche of Truth (Kerala), Peace Educational Foundation (Kerala), Jamiat ul Muflihaat (Hyderabad), Discover Islam Education Trust (Bengaluru). have emerged during the last few years, which have provided direct access to indoctrination materials. Cadres of radically inclined Popular Front of India, Tamil Nadu Tauheed Jamat and Kerala Nadwathul Mujahideen factions are increasing in numbers significantly. Others are also getting motivated by reading material available online. Another example is the immense growth in the membership of Kerala Nadwatahul Mujahideen factions whose combined strength has grown from about 25,200 in 1993 to 65,200 till date. In the last decade, the membership of Tamil Nadu Tauheed Jamat has increased from 20,000 to one lakh. Another radically inclined outfit PFI has grown from a cadre strength of about 45,000 during 2009 to over 1,20,000...

While these various formations are not directly connected to terrorism, they create a base of non-violent radicalization that creates tremendous potential for recruitment to extremist violence. It will be impossible to contain radical Islamist violence unless this underpinning of diversified and widespread non-violent radicalization is addressed. Focus on preventive measures and counter-radicalization is therefore imperative to contain future prospects of Islamist terrorist/radical formations making further inroads in India's south and, indeed, across the rest of the country.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Now's the time prospective presidential candidates start taking the subtle but crucial behind-the-scenes steps that get them noticed by the political intelligentsia, and Sen. Kamala Harris is quietly following the script.

She's making speeches to key national constituencies. She's due for an appearance at a Washington think tank panel full of chattering-class presidential favorites that the national media will be reporting and analyzing, probably for days. She's been fundraising for colleagues and making sure that she is forming relationships with key national reporters.

They're all boxes that prospective presidential candidates routinely check. It's a chance to ultimately convince insiders they've got the gravitas and the fundraising chops to be taken seriously.

The California Democrat, sworn into office four months ago, insists she's not thinking about a run for president. Her inner circle forcefully tries to tamp down 2020 speculation - after all, there is no upside to being seen as a new senator focused more on national political ambition than on California.

But the speculation is not going away, not with the absence of a clear Democratic presidential front-runner and the party desperately in search and in need of a new generation of leadership.

"A lot of activists in the party would love to see a new leader step forward," said Roger Hickey," co-director of the progressive strategy group Campaign for America's Future.

Harris is being closely watched.

"Looking forward to see how she performs as a senator, I think that the sky is the limit for her," said Jaime Harrison, associate chairman and counselor of the Democratic National Committee.

So far, Harris has leaped into the political spotlight with a resume that screams potential presidential material. She's 52, a generation younger than better-known favorites such as Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or former Vice President Joe Biden.

"From everything I've seen of her she'd be an attractive candidate, she could be a compelling candidate, and I think she'd have a lot of appeal for primary voters," said Bob Shrum, a senior adviser to the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and John Kerry.

A strong block of liberal Democrats, though, would eagerly embrace another Sanders run. And Shrum said Democrats would rally around a Biden presidential candidacy but, if the 74-year-old Biden doesn't run, and he has said that he will not, "there's a deep desire in the Democratic Party to move on to a new generation."

What every new presidential hopeful needs is an early defining moment.

President Barack Obama's was his 2004 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. Harris' was her energetic performance in a prominent speaking role at the Women's March on Washington, a rally that attracted worldwide attention and had an estimated crowd of a half a million people. She instantly became a favorite of liberals, and followed that with remarks at an immigration rally at the White House and a podcast with former top Obama adviser David Axelrod, the architect of Obama's out-of-nowhere 2008 campaign.

Harris' rollout accelerates this month. She was the keynote speaker at last week's National Democratic Institute's Madeleine Albright luncheon, a prominent Washington event hosted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan group. She'll give the May 13 commencement speech at Howard University in Washington, her alma mater.

Days later she'll join a host of others floated as Democratic presidential wannabes, including Warren, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York in a speaking role at the Ideas Conference, a Washington gathering seen as the liberal equivalent of the Conservative Public Action Conference, a traditional testing ground of GOP presidential hopefuls.

Harris is building relationships in the party. She's done fundraising emails for fellow Sens. Warren, Gillibrand and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

It's the sort of quiet bridge-building that ultimately paid off for Obama, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and many others years before they were elected.

The presidential buzz around Harris, though, is more a product of national Democrats than Californians. Though she won election last year with 61.6 percent of the vote, a recent Public Policy Institute of California poll found that 30 percent of Californians - including 20 percent of Democrats - don't know enough about Harris to say one way or the other what kind of job she is doing the Senate.

Interviews with nearly two dozen ardent Harris supporters in California showed most think it is too soon for her to run for president. Gary Peichoto, a Harris enthusiast who lives outside of Modesto, laughed when asked whether she should run in 2020.

"It's too early," Peichoto said. "I'd rather go with Elizabeth Warren."

Christine Wasserman, a social worker in Los Angeles, said she's been a fan ever since Harris as California's attorney general helped broker a settlement with the nation's five largest mortgage firms for improper foreclosure practices during the housing crisis. But president? Right after joining the Senate?

"Let's let her be a senator for awhile," Wasserman said.

Harris insisted she shares that sentiment. "I'm not thinking about that," she said when asked about the possibility of a presidential run.

"I'm four months into the Senate and we've got a lot of work to do," Harris said after an event in downtown Los Angeles. "I just got back from Iraq, from Baghdad, and from looking at one of the largest refugee camps in the world with 80,000 Syrian refugees. Those are the issues I will focus on."

It's customary in Washington to deny any interest in running for president before doing so (Obama did it. Warren, Booker, Biden and Gillibrand are all doing it, with Gillibrand saying she is "ruling it out"). So Harris' reluctance won't stop the talk.

Bob Schoonover, president of the largest employee union in Los Angeles County, said in an interview "I think she should consider" a run for president. Labor support like that of the Service Employees International Union, where Schoonover leads the more than 57,000 employees of Local 721, would be critical to a run.

Vito Chiesa, a registered Republican who chairs the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors in California, said he tried to get a meeting with Harris in Washington.

"She's in such demand," he said. "She's kind of a chosen one."

Harris is the charismatic daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India. Obama called her brilliant and "by far the best looking attorney general in the country" (he later apologized for what was deemed a sexist remark). She seemingly has the ingredients to energize the Democratic base, and her next tasks if she runs are centered in two places: Washington and the rest of America.

At the Capitol, she needs to develop a reputation as someone to watch. Harris is making immigration her signature issue. She tried to convince Democrats to vote against Trump's nomination of John Kelly for homeland security secretary after he dodged her questioning on whether he'd use information that "Dreamers" voluntarily provided the government to deport them.

"Dreamers," who came to the U.S. illegally as children, identified themselves to the government in return for a promise from the Obama administration not to deport them. Just 10 of the 44 Senate Democrats and two independents joined Harris in voting against Kelly, which clearly rankles her.

"He was confirmed - and within days the Muslim ban dropped," Harris said, referring to the attempted ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority nations.

At the same time, Harris needs to get herself known in political circles outside Washington.

Democratic strategists said Harris' outspoken opposition to Trump's immigration policies can resonate with the progressive base, and she'd now need to campaign for Democrats seeking election next year, notably in early primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The possibilities are there, said Dick Harpootlian, former South Carolina Democratic chairman. "I think she's articulate, I think she's a lawyer," he said. "I think that she's somebody who could galvanize a huge swath of progressives but she is untested on a national stage."
New York, May 9(Just Earth News): Welcoming Saturdayas release of 82 of the schoolgirls abducted from the Nigerian town of Chibok by the Boko Haram insurgent group three years ago, the United Nations has called for continued global support for the countryas efforts to release, rehabilitate and reintegrate all Boko Haram victims.

We appeal to all Nigerians, including the families and local communities of the liberated girls, to fully embrace them and provide all necessary support to ensure their reintegration into society, said a statement issued on Monday by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General.

We remain deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the schoolgirls and other victims still in captivity, added the statement.

The newly-released girls will be put on a similar rehabilitation programme set up for the 21 Chibok girls who were released in October 2016, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

The programme is tailored to meet each girls specific needs of counselling, to help overcome the trauma endured after being held under captivity for more than three years.

It includes, among others, access to quality education to bridge the learning gap created during the abduction, access to reproductive health care for their sexual well-being and rehabilitation support, and a skills-acquisition programme to ease their re-integration into their society.

UNFPA has deployed an emergency team of psychosocial counsellors and health professionals to assist with the profiling of the girls, so their critical needs can be met.

Photo: UNICEF Nigeria

Source: www.justearthnews.com
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Simon the giant rabbit has been dead for two weeks, but the controversy surrounding his demise while in the care of United Airlines just won't go away.

It turns out that Simon's main owners are some of Iowa's most prominent businessmen: retired Wells Fargo executive Mark Oman, People's Co. president Steve Breure and Benning Financial partner Duke Reichardt. They purchased Simon to compete in the Iowa State Fair's big-rabbit competition.

As Simon was the 3-foot-long-and-still-growing offspring of the world's largest rabbit, Darius, his owners must have thought they had a pretty good shot at the blue ribbon. Naturally the word of Simon's death came as a shock. But when they learned that United had cremated the rabbit without their permission, shock turned to outrage.

Des Moines trial attorney Guy Cook announced at a press conference Monday that the owners are demanding an independent investigation into Simon's death.

Cook said Simon may have been locked in a freezer by mistake for up to 16 hours after arriving in Chicago on a flight from London. But on Tuesday, United again denied that the rabbit was inadvertently frozen.

"The assertion that Simon died in a freezer is false," said United spokesman Charles Hobart in an email. "He was cared for by the United PetSafe kennel facility. He arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport in apparent good condition at 10:25 am (local time). He was seen by a representative of the kennel facility moving about within his crate about 11 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a kennel representative noticed Simon was motionless and that he had passed away."

However, no reason was given for the rabbit's speedy cremation.

"Whatever the cause of Simon's death may be, Simon died in the care of United Airlines' and its decision to destroy his remains establishes a reckless disregard for the Simon Group's rights and are indicative of the negligent care United Airlines provided Simon," according to a demand letter from the ownership group's attorney.

The owners are demanding that United pay for the purchase of the rabbit, shipping costs and "economic loss." The letter threatens a lawsuit if United doesn't respond within seven days.

Hobart said United was saddened by Simon's death and is reviewing the letter.

Simons' breeder, Annette Edwards, told the Sun the bunny was "fit as a fiddle" on the day it flew from London to Chicago.

Hobart last week said the airline was saddened by the loss of Simon and had reached a "satisfactory resolution" with Edwards.
1 Climate talks: Despite uncertainties about whether the United States will remain committed to the Paris climate accord under President Trump, envoys convened talks Monday in Bonn, Germany, on implementing the details of the deal to combat global warming. During 10 days of talks, officials will try to agree on how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement to cut carbon emissions, a treaty that former President Barack Obamas government played a leading role in forging. The Paris accord calls for limiting the global average temperature increase since the industrial revolution to 3.6 degrees or less  a goal that has been called ambitious.

2 Kidnapped girls: Nigerias presidency on Monday released the names of the 82 Chibok schoolgirls newly freed from Boko Haram extremists. Parents anxiously scoured the list to see if their daughters were released three years after their capture. Five Boko Haram commanders were released in exchange for the 82 girls freedom; 113 Chibok schoolgirls remain missing. Boko Haram seized 276 girls in the 2014 abduction. Girls who escaped early on said some of their classmates had died from illness. Others did not want to come home because theyd been radicalized by their captors, they said.
SEOUL  South Korea elected Moon Jae-in, a human rights lawyer who favors dialogue with North Korea, as president Tuesday, returning the nations liberals to power after nearly a decade in the political wilderness and setting up a potential rift with the United States over the Norths nuclear weapons program.

His victory caps a remarkable national drama in which a corruption scandal, mass protests and impeachment forced a South Korean president from office for the first time in almost 60 years, leaving the conservative establishment in disarray and its former leader in jail.

Moon, 64, a son of North Korean refugees, faces the challenge of enacting changes to limit the power of big business and address the abuses uncovered in his predecessors downfall, while balancing relations with the United States and China and following through on his promise of a new approach to North Korea.

His election also scrambles the geopolitics over North Koreas nuclear arsenal. Even as the Trump administration is urging the world to step up pressure on Pyongyang, it now faces the prospect of a critical ally  one with the most at stake in any conflict with the North  breaking ranks and adopting a more conciliatory approach.

Moon has argued that Washingtons reliance on sanctions and pressure has been ineffective and that it is time to give engagement and dialogue with the North another chance, an approach favored by China. He has also called for a review of the Pentagons deployment of an antimissile defense system in South Korea that the Chinese government has denounced.

In a nationally televised speech before cheering supporters, Moon declared that he would be a president for all the people. He said he would work with political rivals to create a country where justice rules and common sense prevails.

The National Election Commission officially declared him the winner after a meeting Wednesday morning, the Associated Press reported. The election body said Moon gathered 41 percent of the votes, comfortably edging conservative Hong Joon-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, who gathered 24 percent and 21 percent of the votes, respectively.

Shortly after the commission declared him as winner, Moon, as the new commander in chief of the countrys military, was briefed on the militarys preparedness against North Korea.

Moons position on North Korea is a sharp departure from that of his two immediate predecessors, conservatives who tended to view anything less than strict enforcement of sanctions against the North as ideologically suspect.

While he condemned the ruthless dictatorial regime of North Korea during his campaign, Moon also argued that South Korea must embrace the North Korean people to achieve peaceful reunification one day.

To do that, we must recognize Kim Jong Un as their ruler and as our dialogue partner, he said. The goal of sanctions must be to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.

Choe Sang-Hun is a New York Times writer.
How much?

The Santa Fe city commission that's studying how much to pay the mayor when the position goes full-time next year came up with a whopper: at least $145,000 and maybe as much as $175,000. The panel isn't bound by that range, and at least one member already thinks it's too high. Voters passed the full-time mayor proposal with a $74,000 position on the ballot.

Chan jury to travel to crime scene

Yesterday, the retrial of former Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy Tai Chan began in earnest. After choosing a jury, the judge agreed to allow prosecutors to

in person. After opening statements this morning, the jury will travel to the Hotel Encanto in Las Cruces, where Chan shot and killed fellow deputy Jeremy Martin in October 2014.

A failure to communicate

New Mexicans have been hearing a lot about lawmakers failing to pass a balanced budget. That's part of why the governor has called them back to the Capitol for a special session later this month. But is that claim true? Dan McKay at the

Journal

.

Troubling times at Molina

Last month, one of New Mexico's largest companies, Molina Healthcare, lost its president. Last week, two sons of the company's founder were fired from their jobs as CEO and CFO after stock values dropped. Now, the company has announced it's

. That will likely drop its number of total employees below 1,000.

Wilson's in as USAF Secretary

The US Senate has confirmed Heather Wilson as the next head of the US Air Force. The former New Mexico congresswoman, political consultant and university president (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology) made it through by

. Both New Mexico senators voted for her confirmation.

Fair Plame

Santa Femous former spy Valerie Plame and her diplomat husband Joe Wilson have their

for a cool couple million. That may or may not mean they're planning on picking up stakes with their two children. We've asked, and will let you know if we hear back from her.

Jeopardy!

A Santa Fe kindergarten teacher fared well in the

Jeopardy!

tournament featuring educators. Gail Ansheles is through to the semifinals. She

last night. Also, that exclamation point; it's technically part of the show's name. Maybe that's where "Jeb!" got his campaign slogan? Maybe!

Storms likely Tuesday

Santa Fe had a whopper of a thunderstorm last night, and more downpours

. Grab that umbrella on your way out the door!

Thanks for reading! The Word appreciates your joie de vivre.

Subscribe to the Morning Word at sfreporter.com/signup

Santa Fe Reporter
So, about that hearing today. One of the key takeaways is that we don't know the extent of who has been compromised by Russia.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 Do we have any reason to believe that Putin has not ordered the hacking of individual Republicans, especially in leadership positions? No.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 Which means that we cannot be certain that Senators leading the investigation which includes today's hearing aren't themselves compromised.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 The GOP Senators did not. In fact, they largely failed to even acknowledge the ostensible subject of the inquiry at all.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 I have been watching these sorts of hearings for many years. And even taking into consideration their partisanship, something seemed off.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 That's just an instinct. But what is a fact is that we do not & cannot know if any of the investigating Senators are themselves compromised.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 And that is a massive problem. We can't expect a credible investigation of Russian influence when the investigators could be compromised.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 Also: I'll just note that two of the presidential candidates from the very election being investigated were on the panel. Graham and Cruz.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017 Do you have a problem with two candidates in the election in which Russia interfered leading the investigation? I sure do.  Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2017

As expected, Sally Yates did an excellent job at yesterday's Senate hearing on Russian interference in the election. She is an extremely competent, dedicated career bureaucrat and American patriot, and that was completely evident in every moment of her testimony.If you didn't watch the hearing, it went a little something like this:Democratic Senator: Asks serious question about Michael Flynn and Russian interference.Sally Yates: Answers seriously.Republican Senator: Asks unserious and irrelevant question about leaking and unmasking, and/or unserious question about why Yates failed to defend Donald Trump's Muslim ban.Sally Yates: Answers seriously, despite the fact that neither of these issues are the subject of the hearingdespite the fact that the all-male Republican Senators talked to her like condescending assholes.Hours of that. And remember: The Republicans are the majority on the Judiciary committee, and every other Senate committee. If they want a hearing on intelligence leaks,If they want a hearing on Yates failing to defend Trump's Muslim ban,They did not have to use this hearing on Russian interference to probe these issues; they can call for a hearing to get on-the-record testimony at any time.The point was to deflect and obfuscate. The message was: We don't care, even a little, about preserving the integrity of this nation's elections, nor even about the very real possibility that the current administration has been compromised by a foreign government.Yates was greatbut it truly does not matter how great she was, because the majority party isn't interested in a credible investigation or meaningful accountability.And then there is this.The very problem that we desperately want solved has critically compromised the investigation. We simply cannot be certain that none of the investigators are compromisedand it is deeply alarming to me that there is no significant concern that two of the candidates in the election being investigatedare doing the investigating.The political press, whose job it is to scrutinize and report these things, hasn't even seemed tothe curiosity of former candidates investigating the election in which they ran, no less do they appear to be wondering if it isn't foolish tothat neither of them were compromised.It is more apparent than ever that we need an independent investigation, done by people outside the likely target sphere for hacking and who are thoroughly vetted to ensure they haven't been compromised.And it is more apparent than ever that we're never going to get one.
[Donald] Trump's most senior military and foreign policy advisers have proposed a major shift in strategy in Afghanistan that would effectively put the United States back on a war footing with the Taliban.



The new plan, which still needs the approval of the president, calls for expanding the U.S. military role as part of a broader effort to push an increasingly confident and resurgent Taliban back to the negotiating table, U.S. officials said.



The plan comes at the end of a sweeping policy review built around the president's desire to reverse worsening security in Afghanistan and "start winning" again, said one U.S. official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The new strategy, which has the backing of top Cabinet officials, would authorize the Pentagon, not the White House, to set troop numbers in Afghanistan and give the military far broader authority to use airstrikes to target Taliban militants. It would also lift Obama-era restrictions that limited the mobility of U.S. military advisers on the battlefield.



The net result of the changes would be to reverse moves by President Barack Obama to steadily limit the U.S. military role in Afghanistan, along with the risk to American troops and the cost of the war effort, more than 15 years after U.S. forces first arrived there.

Missy Ryan and Greg Jaffe at the Washington Post: U.S. Poised to Expand Military Effort Against Taliban in Afghanistan Here, then, is the predictable result of the press jizzing their pants when Trump fired missiles into Syria and dropped the "mother of all bombs" in Afghanistan. He wants good press, and the only way he gets it is by flexing U.S. military might. People will die, including U.S. troops, so that Donald Trump can get a good headline.15 years. No reasonable person imagines that increased airstrikes will improve the situation. But here we are. And soon Trump may be ordering airstrikes as he eats the most beautiful chocolate cake , because he wants to "start winning" again. Which means: Win a news cycle.
A decision on the future of the controversial Ruataniwha water storage scheme in the Hawke's Bay is looming, with Hawke's Bay Regional Council set to consider a review on its risks at a special meeting tomorrow.

The council is to consider the findings of its review into the scheme and is likely to seek further advice before a formal decision is made on its future at a council meeting on May 31, it said in a statement. The review examines the legal, financial, economic, engineering and environmental elements of the scheme, and the implications of withdrawing from it.

The $275 million water scheme proposes to create a 93 million cubic metre reservoir to store water in the upper Makaroro river to improve river flows for agricultural use in the Tukituki River catchment. It's estimated it would provide irrigation for 25,000 hectares of farm land in central Hawke's Bay. The scheme has divided opinion because it would allow farmers in the often parched central Hawke's Bay to ramp up production but also poses risks to the region's waterways that are already under pressure from agricultural and industrial runoff.

A full uptake of water under the scheme is forecast to increase the region's annual gross domestic product by between $130 million and $380 million, and create between 1,130 and 3,580 jobs.

The review describes the scheme as an "unprecedented intervention" for any regional council in New Zealand, seeking to generate better environmental outcomes with economic and social benefits via commercial water storage. The council first embarked on a project to address low summer water flows in its catchment in 2012, which developed into the Ruataniwha scheme, with $19.5 million invested to date.

"The area of greatest uncertainty and risk for the council relates to the environmental management challenges for water quality arising from land use in the Tukituki catchment," the review says, noting that substantial environmental risks and uncertainty exist for the council in the catchment with or without the Ruataniwha scheme.

Land use on the Ruataniwha Plains is already dominated by intensive livestock production and the review concludes that the scheme will need to facilitate land use away from this to lower forms of nitrogen leaching, such as arable farming, vegetable cropping and horticulture, such as apple and grape production.

It says the Ruataniwha scheme provides a framework with stronger controls on farms, more flexibility and economic upside, as well as improving river flows in dry summer conditions; however, it is not possible to rule out scheme-enabled irrigation making the current nitrogen management challenge worse if it cannot transition land use effectively.

(BusinessDesk)

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

TEM - Market Abuse Regulation, Article 19, Paragraph 11

NZME updates FY22 guidance & announces new dividend policy

November 9th Morning Report

FSF - Results announced for the 2022 Fonterra Elections

Heartland 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting

a2MC commences on-market buy-back of up to NZ$150 million

TradeWindow enters trial agreement with GSBN

November 8th Morning Report

OCA - Notice of Half Year Result Announcement

Westpac 2022 Full Year Financial Results Announcement


New Zealand's technology sector saw record growth in funding, driven by overseas investors in the year to March, according to the second annual Investors' Guide to the New Zealand Technology Sector.

"The tech sector is New Zealands third largest exporting sector, contributing $16 billion to GDP (gross domestic product) and it is growing fast," Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges said in a statement. "It presents multiple opportunities for New Zealand and international investors."

Venture capital or publicly funded investment is a major driver of growth for more than 50 percent of New Zealand's fastest growing tech companies, the report shows. In the year to March 2017, early stage tech companies received more than $173 million in foreign investment, up from $51 million in the prior year. In the 2016 calendar year, tech companies received $69 million from New Zealand-based angel investors and $7 million crowdfunding. Venture capital investment in New Zealand tech companies reached $92 million in 2016.

According to the guide, in calendar 2016, a record total of $1 billion in capital was raised by funds for New Zealand private equity and venture capital investment.

Early stage investments from offshore investors are typically larger than are commonly seen in New Zealand. As the source of this money broadens, particularly with growing Asian investment, we can expect the trend to continue, said Technology Investment Network managing director Greg Shanahan.

The guide says the sector is made up of 28,749 firms and employs 98,900 people, or about 4 percent of New Zealand's working population.

The guide also shows that revenue from the top 200 tech companies grew 12 percent in 2016, generating $6.9 billion in offshore revenues, with growth in every region. In Auckland, key areas of growth were digital media and healthcare, while in Wellington financial services technology and software solutions topped the charts. Overall, the highest growth sector was the financial services technology, up 23.1 percent on a five-year compound annual growth rate and digital media, up 15.9 percent on a five-year CAGR.

A total of 21 percent of firms in the technology sector now have annual revenue of more than $50 million and Datacom became the first IT company to reach $1 billion in revenue in 2016, it said.

"This year's guide shows that funding is a critical part of the accelerate in sector revenue growth," said Shanahan.

Bridges noted that high-profile successes like Vend, Xero, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Vista Group are leading the way "but a growing number of early stage companies like Soul Machines and 8i are attracting significant international attention for their cutting edge technologies in artificial intelligence and virtual reality."

A key priority for the government is to ensure that these businesses are supported and enabled to grow and compete with the worlds leading technology innovators, he said.

Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith said the government "is working hard to develop New Zealand as a hub for high-value, research and development intensive businesses."

In the year to June 2016, the government's business innovation agency Callaghan Innovation committed over $150 million to research and development grants, funding up to 40 percent of companies' R&D expenditure.

(BusinessDesk receives assistance from Callaghan Innovation to cover the commercialisation of innovation)

(BusinessDesk)

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:

Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process.

Related News:

TEM - Market Abuse Regulation, Article 19, Paragraph 11

NZME updates FY22 guidance & announces new dividend policy

November 9th Morning Report

FSF - Results announced for the 2022 Fonterra Elections

Heartland 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting

a2MC commences on-market buy-back of up to NZ$150 million

TradeWindow enters trial agreement with GSBN

November 8th Morning Report

OCA - Notice of Half Year Result Announcement

Westpac 2022 Full Year Financial Results Announcement


New Zealand stocks fell, weighed by ongoing worries about Comvita, weaker sentiment across the Tasman as banking stocks took a tumble, as well as some profit taking in blue-chips like Fletcher Building and Ebos Group.

The S&P/NZX 50 index fell 14 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,412.12 Within the index, 23 stocks fell, seven were unchanged and 20 rose. Turnover was $134 million. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.6 percent in late trading.

Comvita led the market lower, falling 3.6 percent to $6.10, extending its decline after the discovery of the myrtle rust fungal plant in the Far North.

"It's not hard to see why Comvita is down as markets don't like uncertainty," said Hamilton Hindin Greene broker James Smalley. While commentary out of Australia would indicate that fungal plant has had little impact, investors are jittery about what will happen in New Zealand where conditions may be different, said Smalley. "Investors will be watching the headlines for the impact over the next few weeks and months to see if it will have an impact," he said.

Dual-listed banking stocks fell as banking shares were weaker across the Tasman after the four big banks said they working hard to cut costs to maintain earnings momentum as they face challenges such as new government inquiry and a possible new levy. Westpac Banking Corp shed 3 percent to $35.27 while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group fell 2.5 percent to $31.20. Locally owned lender Heartland Bank fared better, adding 2.9 percent to $1.75.

Smalley noted that there was some profit taking in stocks including Fletcher Building given its recent gains. The stock may also have been impacted on reports that the Commerce Commission was investigating a complaint that Fletcher Building sold substandard steel. According to Radio New Zealand, the complaint, which was made by an unidentified industry player, relates to steel imported in the year to March 2016. Fletcher said its subsidiary, Easysteel, was cooperating with the inquiry. Fletcher Building ended down 1.9 percent at $8.48.

Sanford shed 2.1 percent to $7.10 but Smalley said the volumes were thin and it may have just been someone looking to sell down their holding.

In the other direction, New Zealand Refining posted the biggest but again, on very light volumes. The stock added 3.4 percent to $2.43. "It might just be the opposite story to Sanford, where it has been bid up to that level so the buyer can actually get some volume," said Smalley.

A2 Milk continued to attract attention, adding 2.6 percent to $3.60 while Port of Tauranga ended up 1.7 percent at $4.24.

Meanwhile, other large caps gave back some recent gains with Auckland International Airport down 1.3 percent to $6.97, Ebos shed 1.4 percent to $18.15. Tegel Group remained out of favour, down 0.9 percent at $1.08 and Sky Network Television fell 0.8 percent to $3.69.

(BusinessDesk)
New York, May 9(Just Earth News): A lack of trust leads to increased intolerance and xenophobia, the United Nations envoy on international migration told UN Member States told, calling on Governments to review and put in place effective migration policies that reject an aus vs. thema mentality between national and migrants.

Migrants are not a burden. Even less so are they a threat. Properly managed, migration stands to benefit all, Louise Arbour, the Special Representative for International Migration said in Geneva, kicking off the process to the first-ever global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, due to be adopted in 2018.

She urged Governments to ratify and implement all international and regional human right instruments and related conventions, so that their countries migration policies would be grounded in human right norms and standards.

Success will rest in large part on your sustained engagement, in word and deed, to changing the optic by which we view migration, from a phenomenon currently feared by too many, to one that better reflects its overwhelmingly positive impact on society, Arbour said.

The UN envoy was addressing the first informal session on the human rights of migrants, looking at their social inclusion and cohesion in societies, and the necessity to counter discrimination including racism, xenophobia and intolerance against migrants.

The two-day session opened on Monday under the co-facilitation of Switzerland and Mexico. It is the first of six thematic discussions to be held between now and November, as consultations for the intergovernmental conference on international migration in 2018, of which Arbour is the Secretary-General.

Leading up to the conference, the UN launched the Together initiative last year to change negative perception and attitudes towards refugees and migrants, and to strengthen the social contract between host countries and communities, and refugees and migrants. The initiative bolsters the work of the 2016 UN Summit to Address Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants and its outcome, the landmark New York Declaration.

In on Mondays session, Arbour noted that deep-seated attitudes of prejudice and xenophobia, which many of the worlds 245 million migrants often confront, is particularly felt by so-called irregular migrants who enter, stay or work in a country without the necessary authorization.

While such migrants may have constituted administrative offences, they are not crimes per se against persons, property or national security. And while states retain the sovereign prerogative to order their removal, the very presence of such migrants under their jurisdiction places certain obligations on national authorities.

These obligations include protections, which despite political commitments, are not implemented, and include access to services.

Putting in place firewalls between immigration enforcement and public services is an effective way to facilitate access to justice, housing, health care, education, social protection and social and labour services for migrants, Arbour said.

She continued that the erroneous perception of an increased influx of irregular migration, combined with a lack of trust in state capacities to deal with such influxes has led to increased intolerance and rejection of migrants  particularly in communities that face poverty or discrimination themselves.

Distrust grows between host communities and irregular migrants when an effective migration policy is not in place, devolving into an us vs. them mentality between nationals and migrants, she said.

Irregular migration by some people feeds xenophobic and racist attitudes against all migrants, creating a downward spiral of hatred that risks becoming insurmountable.

In contrast, facilitating access to legal avenues for migration and access to work would reduce the need for many to migrate through irregular channels, the UN envoy noted.

Policies related to migrants must include the participation of all actors with a stake in the outcome, she said, including local governments, trade unions, employers organizations, national human rights bodies, private sector, recruitment agencies, security and justice service providers, civil society and youth organizations and migrants.

The second information thematic discussion will be held next month in New York. It will address drivers of migration, such as climate change and human-made crises.

Photo: ILO

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, May 9(Just Earth News): Drawing attention to the harrowing traumas of child victims of sexual violence, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Childrenas Fund (UNICEF) has called for greater recognition of the fact that it is anot OKa for children to be touched inappropriately as well as for raising awareness among youngsters that under-age sex can lead to pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.

No woman, and most definitely no child, should ever have to experience sexual violence  especially from someone they trust for protection, such as a family member, said actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra, who is currently in Zimbabwe to advocate for increased support for child victims of sexual violence.

When I met these survivors, young brave women and children, and listened to their experiences, it just broke my heart [] I will never forget their stories, she added, recalling her conversation with a 13-year-old girl who was repeatedly raped by her uncle.

According to UNICEF, sexual violence against children is widespread in Zimbabwe and latest available data has showed that close to one in 10 girls aged 15-17 years old has been a victim of forced sexual intercourse or a forced sexual act.

Approximately two-thirds of victims were first abused by an intimate partner and about a tenth of the victims by a stranger.

Most concerning is that in the case of children, most abuse occurred in situations when the child knew and trusted the adult who abused him or her.

Sexual violence against children is also mostly invisible and goes largely undocumented, noted UNICEF, stating that fear of getting into trouble as well as shame and stigma all contributed to children not reporting the abuse.

Additionally, many victims were too young or too vulnerable to know what happened to them.

In the case of the 13-year-old girl that Chopra spoke to, with the help of her mother and neighbours, the incident was reported to the police and the uncle who abused her has been arrested, tried, and jailed for 10 years.

The 13-year-old child received supported by the Family Support Trust, an organization supported by UNICEF, that runs a one stop child-friendly clinic providing medical and psychosocial support for sexually abused children.

She also attended a peer support group for teens, and received regular home visits from social workers to provide the help and support she needed.

Approaching trauma with compassion and seriousness

While in the country, Chopra also visited Childline Zimbabwe, a 24-hour service that provides free, confidential, multilingual counselling to children and those under 18 years of age who have been abused, violated or exploited.

The counsellors, all volunteers, told me that many calls come from children in hysterics because they had been raped or abused, noted the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador recollecting her visit.

Without Childline, they would have nowhere to turn. This is a model that many countries with high rates of violence against children can adopt, because it is a safe place for children to turn to and know that their call will be answered by a compassionate person who will take their complaints seriously and respond.

Photo: UNICEF/Karel Prinsloo

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, May 9(Just Earth News): The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday told the United Nations Security Council that her Office is considering launching an investigation into alleged migrant-related crimes in Libya, including human trafficking.

My Office continues to collect and analyze information relating to serious and widespread crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya, said Fatou Bensouda during a Security Council meeting on the North African countrys situation.

Im similarly dismayed by credible accounts that Libya has become a marketplace for the trafficking of human beings, she added, noting that her Office is carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya should the Courts jurisdictional requirements be met.

We must act to curb these worrying trends, she said.

Bensouda said that reports indicate the country is at risk of returning to widespread conflict, and such an outcome would not bode well for the rule of law in Libya, and will surely aggravate a climate of impunity, which could in turn lead to widespread human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

Turning to specific cases before the Court, she said that her office has alleged Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, the former head of the Libyan Internal Security Agency under the Muammar Gaddafi regime, is responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The pre-trial chamber of the Court found reasonable grounds to believe that the Internal Security Agency, led by Al-Tuhamy, along with other Libyan military, intelligence and security agencies, arrested and detained persons perceived to be opponents of Gaddafi and his rule.

The prosecutor said these persons were allegedly subjected to various forms of mistreatment, including severe beatings, electrocution, acts of sexual violence and rape, solitary confinement, deprivation of food and water, inhumane conditions of detention, mock executions, and threats of killing and rape, in various locations throughout Libya.

Bensouda urged Libya as well as State or non-State parties to take immediate action to verify the suspects whereabouts and facilitate his arrest and surrender to the Court.

She said the Court unsealed its arrest warrant for Al-Tuhamy to enhance the chances of justice being done.

UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Source: www.justearthnews.com
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to visit London tomorrow India Blooms News Service | | #NATO, #NATOSecretaryGeneral, #Jens Stoltenberg, #London

New Delhi, May 9 (IBNS): NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will travel to London on Wednesday, official said.
New York, May 9(Just Earth News): The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has strongly condemned yesterdayas attack on one of its convoys in the countryas south that killed one Cambodian peacekeeper.

MINUSCA vigorously denounces this odious attack on peacekeepers whose presence on Central African soil has no other objective than to help the country to protect its population and to allow the Central African Republic to emerge from the cycle of violence caused by armed groups, said a press release, referring to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR by its French acronym.

Eight peacekeepers were also injured, including one Cambodian and seven Moroccan, near Bangassou, about 474 km east of the nations capital, Bangui, with four peacekeepers missing in action, according to MINUSCA.

The Mission said it has sent a helicopter and peacekeepers to secure the site and search for those missing in action. A medevac plane evacuated the injured peacekeepers, who have arrived in Bangui and are receiving medical care.

The Mission said it will do everything possible to ensure that the perpetrators of the attack who fled into the bush  are arrested so that they can be brought to justice.

MINUSCA recalled that harming the life of a peacekeeper can be considered a war crime and subject to prosecution.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative and head of MINUSCA, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, extended condolences to the family of the victim, his contingent and his country, while expressing his gratitude for the work and sacrifices of the peacekeepers in protecting the population in the country.

Photo: MINUSCA

Source: www.justearthnews.com
NEW DELHI: India has been unanimously elected as the president of the UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations to promote sustainable human settlements across the globe.



UN-Habitat reports to the United Nations General Assembly.



Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who is currently in Nairobi in Kenya, will chair the four-day meeting of the 58-member Governing Council (GC) of UN-Habitat there from today.



Naidu will preside over the deliberations of the GC of UN-Habitat for the next two years.



"Delighted to be elected as President of Governing Council of @UNHABITAT & chair #GC26. An opportunity to work towards a new urban future," Naidu said in a tweet.



Since the UN-Habitat came into being in 1978, it is the third time that India has been elected to lead this organisation after 2007 and 1988.



As an inter-governmental policy and decision-making body, the GC seeks to promote comprehensive approach to human settlements, assist the countries in addressing related problems and strengthen cooperation among them on the issue.



The theme of the 26th meeting of the GC is 'Opportunities for effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda'.



The New Urban Agenda, which sets a global standard for sustainable urban development, was adopted at Quito, Ecuador last year.



Naidu will also chair the 'Bureau Meeting of the Asia- Pacific Ministers' Conference on Housing and Urban Development' beginning in Nairobi today.



Naidu thanked the member countries for reposing faith in India and electing it as the president for the next two years, an official release said.



Addressing the GC of UN-Habitat, Naidu stressed on the need to reorient urban planning and execution strategies to ensure dignity of living and sufficient means of living for people in the context of rapid urbanisation, particularly, in developing countries.



He elaborated on the integrated, inclusive and sustainable urban development model of India through various missions like Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart City Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.



He said these missions are addressing deficits in different kinds of infrastructure, including affordable housing in a convergence mode.

Read Also:

IIT-B Researcher Working On CO2 Emissions Gets INSA Medal

DIPP & WIPO To Set Up Technology And Innovation Support Centers
Kabul, may 9 (IBNS): At least eight people were killed in a blast at Parwan province of Afghanistan on Tuesday, media reports said.

According to reports, the provincial Uleman Council chief was also killed in the blast.

"The incident took place in the vicinity of Charikar city after explosives placed inside a Madrasa went off, leaving Mawlavi Abdul Rahim Shah Hanafi and seven students dead," Khaama Press reported.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.


Hallie Echelman 17 shows a Doppler device for

measuring sea-current speed. Hallie Echelman 17 shows a Doppler device formeasuring sea-current speed.

This years Academic Festival filled a whole day and the whole campus with some 115 solo and team presentations of student work. The examples below begin with hard science, blend into and through the social sciences and humanities, and end with pure art:

* The biology of postcopulatory sleep reduction in female fruitflies

* Effects of shift work on firefighter physiology

* Geologic, environmental, and policy aspects of storing liquid petroleum gas in old salt mines

* Adolescent social isolation, the hormone oxytocin, and adult social anxiety

* Disaster planning and response: 2015 Nepal earthquake

* Pro bono business consulting for Saratogas Universal Preservation Hall performance venue, Death Wish Coffee, and Olde Saratoga Brewery

* The saving or rescuing impulse in international projects, from mitigating plastics in the oceans, to slum tourism, to Africa-China relations

* Effects of financial incentives and state regulations on the cost of solar power

* Comparing general vs. immigrant familial involvement in elementary schools

* Public opinion as a determinant of sex-offender public-notification laws

* Max Webers protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism



Thomas Cane 19 explains an astrophysics project

as Connor Crawford 17 looks on.

* Perceptions of incompatibility between Islam and Western secularism

* Neo-Aristotelian and other approaches to an ethics of virtue

* Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry readings

* Tourist art: 1950s Cuba in the American imagination

* Cognitive processes in interpreting vs. improvising music

* The role of Estonias music culture in its liberation from the Soviet Union

* Display of documentary videos, interviews, and exhibitions

* Artworks inspired by the concept and tradition of the bestiary
Toronto, May 9 (IBNS/JEN): Pride Toronto, a not-for-profit organisation which celebrates Pride Toronto Parade (PTP), a ten-day event during the end of June each year to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ community in the Greater Toronto Area, will continue to receive full funding of the government.

PTP has become the largest Pride celebration in North America.

Toronto Mayor John Troy endorsed the celebration saying, "Pride is hugely an important event for our city, and one that is supposed to send a message of inclusion and equality to the world."

I will support maintaining our full funding for Pride 2017. Pride is an important city event, and one that must reflect the diversity and vibrancy of our city, Mayor Tory said in a statement.



Mayor Tory further reiterated, that the Toronto Police Chief, Mark Saunders, has decided in the prevailing circumstances, to withdraw police from marching in this years parade  and to focus on working with the LGBT and Black communities to ensure that we have a strong foundation of trust and partnership going forward.

While speaking to reporters, the Mayor said he would not commit to supporting funding for Toronto Pride next year if a deal with the police is not brokered.

I am not going to engage in hypothetical speculation about what happens in future years, Tory said. I am just saying for this year  both of the parties involved in these constructive discussions ... told me that to withdraw funding at this stage would not be helpful in their ongoing attempts to achieve a resolution to this issue.

"But I support the Chiefs decision and the steps that have been taken by the current management of Pride, who have been working hard to ensure the financial and organisational viability of Pride 2017 and to try to find a resolution to these outstanding issues."

Tory in his official statement continued saying that, both Olivia Nuamah ,executive director of Pride Toronto and Police Chief Saunders informed him about constructive discussions being taken place between them to address this matter and the underlying issues which gave rise to it.

They also indicated to the Mayor that withdrawal of City funding for Pride 2017 won't be helpful in finding a resolution.

According to Olivia Nuamah's statement, she said, Police are not banned from the event," adding that LGBTQ+ officers and their allies can participate provided they dont bring their uniform, weapons or vehicles.

The incidence of exclusion of Toronto Police taking participation in Pride Parade started last year when Toronto was influenced by Black Lives Matter, had halted the event for nearly 30 minutes until organizers signed off on a list of nine demands, which included a ban on police floats and booths in future parades.

Meanwhile, City councilor John Campbell and about half a dozen other councilors said Prides annual grant request should be curtailed in the event of banning the Toronto police to participate in the pride parade.

"They (police) are part of the fabric of Toronto. They are effectively City of Toronto employees. Why should city funding go toward an organization that is telling our police force that they are not welcome and that is exactly what they are doing? So instead of bringing people together, they are pushing people apart," Campbell, who did not sit on the Economic Development Committee, told the reporters.

Since then, Torontos LGBTQ officers had been asking the city to withhold a $260,000 grant to fund the parade.

But amidst debates among Pride Toronto officials, members of Black Lives Matter, the Toronto Police union, and other Pride participants, and Toronto Mayor John Tory decided to favour continued funding for Pride Toronto.

Pride Torontos executive director Olivia Numah told reporters on Monday she was delighted to hear about Torys support in funding to Pride and at Mondays economic development committee meeting, she welcomed the committees vote to renew funding for her organisation.

The Economic development committee chair Michael Thompson (Ward 37) in his statement said, We celebrate Pride, we appreciate Pride, we love Pride in this city. It has great benefits to our city: economic, otherwise and socialLets take the adult position and sit down and dialogue.

Todays decision came in less than 24 hours after Pride organisers said they would welcome police participation in the event as long as uniforms, weapons and cruisers are left at the police station.

The decision to approve the grant will be subject to final vote by full council later this month.



(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)





Photo : Pride Toronto
By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent.

Agree
In an unusual outcome for those accused of armed robbery, Canberra's alleged "barefoot bandit" has been freed on bail.

Jake Miller, 27, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday. He had handed himself in on Monday after hearing police had searched his home while he was away fishing, and was subsequently arrested.

ACT police released this footage of the man at the time of the robbery. Credit:ACT Policing

Police allege the Holt man used a gun to hold-up the local 7-Eleven at 10pm on January 22 this year, and made off with $500 in cash.

Prosecutors opposed bail, mainly because police had not found the black pistol allegedly used in the crime even after searching the man's home on May 7. There was a concern Mr Miller could retrieve the weapon and use it to commit more crimes.
Extending support to ousted AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, Khan said the way the former has shown confidence reflects there is genuineness in his claim.

By Mail Today Bureau: Launching a scathing attack against Kejriwal, ousted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Asim Ahmed Khan said Kejriwal and his aides demanded Rs 5 crore from him and the party has turned into a private limited company.

Talking about his expulsion, Khan said false charges were framed against him when he tried to question the party's way of working. "The ones who are supporting Kejriwal are his own people. Everybody's secrets are confided among each other. He is the same Kejriwal who demanded Rs 5 crore from me," Khan said.

advertisement

Extending support to ousted AAP MLA Kapil Mishra, Khan said the way the former has shown confidence reflects there is genuineness in his claim. Khan then narrated the incident under which he became a victim of the party's corruption and was therefore, ousted from the party.

ASIM KHAN'S ALLEGATIONS

"I am not putting these allegations today. I talked about this at the time of Punjab elections. They needed Rs 25 crore to buy cable network out of which Rs 5 crore was asked from me," he said.

"The rest Rs 20 crore was asked from four other MLAs. They formed a team which went after me to pressurise me to give money. Then they started warning me that if I want to remain minister, I will have to give the money. I said they can remove me, but I won't give money. I was then framed under false charges and removed from the party. Now when there are allegations against Kejriwal and Satyendra Jain, why isn't any action being taken?" he said.

It is not only rebels, but even leaders within the party have started questioning Kejriwal's silence on the allegations levelled by Mishra.

AAP's Punjab convenor Gurpreet Ghuggi said since the allegations are serious and have been levelled by a former cabinet minister, workers expect a statement from the AAP chief. Ghuggi said though he has faith in Kejriwal, but he must explain his position.

Also Read:

Kejriwal bribe bomb: Kapil Mishra suspended; Is this the beginning of AAP's end?

Sacked minister Kapil Mishra suspended from Aam Aadmi Party

Also Watch:

Will Kejriwal resign if Satyendar Jain goes to jail, asks Kapil Mishra

--- ENDS ---
It punctuates Canberra's skyline, so it goes without saying that the Telstra Tower deserves a fitting birthday bash. The structure turns 37 this weekend, with celebrations on Sunday including free entry to the tower from 10am-midday, and $3 entry for the rest of the day. There will also be face painting, glitter tattoos, fairly floss, popcorn and more.

Our pick of what to do in Canberra this weekend.

Head to NewActon on Sunday if you're on the hunt for some quality pre-loved fashion. The suitcase rummage is on in the A. Baker courtyard from 11am-3pm with vintage goods, bric-a-brac, books and more. Free entry.

Or from 11am to 1pm, check out Canberra Clothes Swap & Style at Nishi. Freshen up your wardrobe, and learn style hacks for reusing your clothes across multiple seasons.Take along up to 12 quality items to trade while you trawl for new wardrobe additions and sip wine. Tickets $20 from Eventbrite.

3. COMEDY DOUBLE

There's not one but two doses of Australian comedy on at Canberra Theatre Centre.

Akmal is testing out material for his new show in Trial and Error.It's on at 8pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Tickets $25 from canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/akmal-trial-error.
Happy post-budget day, Canberra!

We've woken up to another frosty and foggy morning (right now it's about minus 2) but we're heading for a mostly sunny day with light winds. The mercury is set to reach 18 degrees today and tomorrow and 17 degrees for the rest of the week.

Here's all the federal budget news you need to know:

The year the Coalition stopped smashing Canberra?
Groups of young Canberrans ventured out to the region's vineyards last month to create a potentially volatile mixture - politics and wine-tasting.

Grapevine is the brainchild of consultancy group Consult Australia and young volunteers FutureNet, with the aim to foster civil debate outside of social media's frenzied bubble.

(L-R) Ben Cargill, Brachy Wilson, Jonathon Burrows, Rhys Mitchell, Liam Blight and Kevin Keith before they boarded the bus for their winery tour. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Consult Australia's ACT state manager Kevin Keith said the idea was a way to engage Canberra's young, creative people.

"The debate becomes so polarised, so quickly; there's inputs that sort of stirs up the debate. We're trying to counter that, face-to-face in an open environment," Mr Keith said
North Melbourne small forward Lindsay Thomas has expressed remorse for his crude bump on Melbourne rookie Corey Maynard after the VFL tribunal suspended him for three matches.

Thomas, who had spent two weeks in the VFL, will not be available until after the AFL bye round because Werribee does not play over the VFL state game weekend.

Lindsay Thomas has been suspended for three matches Credit:Sebastian Costanzo

He was sent straight to the tribunal after a collision with Maynard, who was playing for Casey Scorpions and stretchered from the field.

The VFL classified the incident as "careless, high contact with severe impact", and argued told the tribunal Maynard was out cold before he hit the ground.
The I-T department has been investigating both domestic and foreign sources of funding for AAP for the past few years and has found irregularities in the same.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: The income tax department has found various irregularities in the funding process of Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The I-T department has been investigating both domestic and foreign sources of funding for AAP for the past few years.

A detailed report of our investigation was handed over to the Election Commission.

Income tax officials found that rules for funding were violated by the Aam Aadmi Party, a senior CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) official said.

advertisement

TAX OFFICIAL DIDN'T SHARE MODUS OPERANDI OF PROBE

The official did not share the modus operandi of its operation or other specific details.

The Aam Aadmi Party is battling infighting in its ranks, with sacked party leader Kapil Mishra handing over proof to the CBI against Arvind Kejriwal over bribery charges.

Mishra is the fifth MLA to be expelled from the party since it came to power in Delhi two years ago.

Also read | Kapil Mishra vs Kejriwal LIVE: Sacked minister hands proof to CBI, AAP's big EVM revelation shortly

Also read | Kapil Mishra to Arvind Kejriwal: Bless me, filing FIR against you. Resign, fight election against me

Also read | Rift in AAP widening? Ousted MLA Asim Ahmed Khan says Kejriwal, aides asked him to pay Rs 5 crore

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Industrial action at one of Victoria's largest power plants won't go ahead after the state government stepped in to stop the strike.

Workers at AGL's Loy Yang power plant in the Latrobe Valley planned to stop work from May 15 over an ongoing pay dispute, so the company decided it would lock them out.

The state government on Tuesday welcomed the decision of the Fair Work Commission to accept its application to terminate the industrial action.

It's the second time since Christmas that the government has had to step in to prevent workers at Loy Yang taking strike action and possibly plunging the state into an energy crisis.
Let's cut Yassmin a little slack. She is a fine Australian and I look forward to her future comments on whatever topic. Peter Dawson, Hughes Noisy mob quiet While I have little sympathy for people who use the 140 character-limited Twitter platform for social commentary, Zed Seselja's response to Yassmin Abdel-Magied's Anzac Day tweet was both hyperbolic and puerile. Her tweet "Lest. We. Forget. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)" was not  as those great upholders of truth and reason the Murdoch media would have us believe  "vile", disrespectful" and "anti-Digger", but simply suggested (to me) that as we contemplate the great sacrifices of previous generations we might also think about those caught up in and displaced by current conflict.

The notion that Anzac Day should be sacrosanct from respectful discussion about war and conflict is immature nonsense but it's no surprise that the same noisy mob who railed about free speech and the right to offend have remained silent. Jon Stirzaker, Latham How refreshing to read Mike Reddy's "What is despicable?" (letters, May 8). What a shame all too many Australians have been sold the myth that Anzac Day was a sacred day on our calendar. Anyone who has the audacity to suggest that we should be taking a long hard look at how this day is sold would be drawn and quartered if many of those misguided Australians had their way.

D. J. Fraser, Currumbin, Qld Taking the lead Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher has proven himself remarkably honest. Of natural gas, he declared, "The current domestic supply issue ... is the result of ... actions by state and territory governments to ban or restrict exploration and production." ("Blame governments for gas supply failures, says Santos", May 5, p32). I guess it's all up to Malcolm Turnbull, now. Either he will exercise the Commonwealth's prerogative as stated or he will, once again, cave. It is time for Australia to start retrieving what is left of its sovereignty. Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Rethink needed In his article on the possibility of Australia being involved in another war ("War is too big a thing...", May 8, p12), Julian Cribb makes the astonishing claim, in the penultimate paragraph, that the "executive" is "unelected". I invite Mr Cribb to read the Australian constitution  particularly Sections 2, 51(vi), 51 (xxix) and 61 to 64  after which he might wish to withdraw that claim and rewrite the paragraph. Paul E. Bowler, Holder Demonisation unfair

Bill Anderson's protest over Indonesia's hosting of World Press Freedom Day (letters, May 4) is a sad example of an Australian habit of trying to rally support for a cause by demonising unfamiliar neighbours. Bringing up Balibo in 1975 is like damning us for the White Australia Policy. Shouldn't we deserve some credit for moving on over the past 50 years? Like most post-colonial, wannabe, nation-states Indonesia had its share of military-backed dictatorship. Against the odds, it dumped General Suharto in 1998, allowed a referendum in East Timor, and managed a democratic transition that has so far delivered three free and fair presidential and legislative elections, and five presidents representing four different parties. Its robust press and NGO sectors are a striking beacon for the region. Where else in this part of the world would Mr Anderson like to see World Press Freedom Day?

One or one-and-a-half party Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and China, with their government-owned and controlled press? Thailand's military dictatorship? Duterte's murderous regime in the Philippines? Or perhaps our own bland duopoly of the Murdoch and Fairfax empires? Anthony Reid, Civic Just a politician

As one of the most inspiring pro-democracy campaigners the world has ever known, Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is facing a far greater challenge than the one that saw her stare down a military junta ("Suu Kyi's Rohingya dilemma", May 4, p13). Her resistance towards even allowing a United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims sadly reflects on the hatred and extremism that the most deeply Buddhist nation on earth holds towards this despised religious minority. For by declaring herself to be "just a politician" who is required to make "principled compromises", Suu Kyi seriously brings into question whether these fundamentalist elements within her own Buddhist faith of non-violence have infected her with the same prejudice that bitterly divides a newly democratic and free Myanmar. Vincent Zankin, Rivett Pokies addict let down

The courage shown by Professor Laurie Brown in telling her story ("Addicted poker machine user wants stronger controls to stop out-of-control gambling" CT, May 5) is to be commended. Her loss of $230,000 is indicative of the failure of so-called protections for problem gamblers. That anyone could lose $200,000 over 17 months with apparently no response by anyone in authority at Raiders Belconnen suggests gambling addicts have little or no protection there. Chief executive Simon Hawkins is quoted as saying the club would not refund any money because it was Brown's choice to spend the money. While this is correct, she is an addict and clubs are supposed to protect addicts. That they do not is illustrated by Australia's Productivity Commission report which says of the about 600,000 people who play the machines weekly, more than 15 per cent lose an average of $21,000 annually.

Those defined as problem gamblers contribute about 40 per cent of all losses. Only 3 per cent of Australians account for about 75 per cent of all losses. Clubs do not protect problem gamblers but depend on them. So do governments for the taxes they receive, which is why they have taken no effective action to protect vulnerable gamblers. Hawkins accepts the club had not picked up on Brown's previous exclusion. Surely this entitles this victim and others let down by the system to at least some financial compensation.

There can be little confidence in Hawkins' assurance Brown's case would not happen now. Graham Downie, O'Connor Find right path Barrie Abrahams (Letters, May 8) has things the wrong way around. It is not "thoughtless" pedestrians cutting corners and causing erosion who are the problem but witless government authorities who design footpaths that take no notice of human nature and the rather obvious inclination to find the shortest route.

There seems to be a bizarre expectation that people are incredibly disciplined and prefer to make right-angle turns everywhere when an obvious shorter alternative is available. I believe some new housing estates in Britain don't build footpaths until after people have moved in and shown planners the routes where they prefer to walk. Here, governments' conformist mindset prefers to try to bend pedestrians to their will so that they walk in squares. They might yet achieve that any century now. David Jenkins, Casey Nature for people

I read Peter Fogarty's letter (letters, April 28) about clearing some paths in Namadgi to enable people with less than superhuman strength to enjoy it. When people can enjoy nature, they value nature and when they value nature, they want to conserve nature. But of course someone like Judy Kelly was bound to reply (letters, May 4). Apparently, if we make a path through Namadgi, a Westfield will follow, as surely as night follows day. A simple dirt walking track is a slippery slope to a four-lane highway. Nature should not be enjoyed by humans, other than youthful ones with superhuman strength. When a tree falls in the bush, only the wombats and the kangaroos should bear witness to the sound it makes, if any.

D. Zivkovic, Aranda Democratic poser I would like to question some issues raised by former chief minister Stanhope (letters, May 6). Firstly, the NSW Premier dealt with the other small states when she called for a broad review of our antiquated Federation. There needs to be amalgamations. His comment that "her rant raises worrying questions about her understanding of the Australian Federation and basic tenets of our democracy" raises two more questions.

At Federation there was no Canberra and no ACT; that land was part of NSW. What is the NSW Premier misunderstanding about our Federation? What is the Premier's misunderstanding about "the basic tenets of our democracy". Approximately 64 per cent of the ACT jurisdiction voted no to self government. And self government was forced on us. Would the former and current chief ministers like to declare the financial advantage they receive in salary, superannuation and overseas travel out of our undemocratically imposed government? When the federal government decided it did not want to administer the ACT if it had returned the ACT to from where it came (NSW) we might have saved lives.

If Skye's law had applied as it does in NSW five lives might not have been lost on ACT roads to people on bail for car theft trying to outrun police while committing the same crime. Glen Torr, Fraser Thought bubbles Couple of ridiculous thought bubbles in The Canberra Times of May 4. First the idea that self-drive cars would obviate the need for the light rail southern extension. Oh I get it; clog up the roads with tiny cars and forget about a public transport system. Second, the recently installed NSW Premier spouting nonsense about the ACT holding NSW to "ransom" and forcing other states to follow a "lowest common denominator" approach. As Andrew Barr said, the ACT often takes the high road on reform issues. For some reason NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian did not name other jurisdictions with small populations such as Tasmania and the NT.

What really has the ACT done to upset the Premier, or was she just searching for a headline? Rod Holesgrove, O'Connor TO THE POINT SISTER CITIES Sydney has over 850 Ultra High Net Worth Individuals ($30 million plus) listed as residents. My research doesn't show any living in Canberra or Blacktown, although I suspect there would be a handful. A gesture of solidarity would be for Mr Barr and Mr Bali to discuss sister city relations between Blacktown and Canberra.

Matt Ford, Crookwell, NSW A LONG WAIT I am writing about the treatment received by our Prime Minister in the US. Our Prime Minister was kept waiting for more than three hours by his American host. I am old enough to remember the song "All the way with LBJ". I couldn't sing then. This time somehow I have lost my voice. Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt So Donald Trump "loves Australia". Does he even know where Australia is?

Patricia Saunders, Chapman TRUE BELIEVERS When we say 'I am a Buddhist/Muslim/Christian/etc' we are in effect saying 'I am a believer', which is oxymoronic. Does this not make a Monkee out of ourselves? Especially given that what is taught today is almost inevitably not the original teaching.

David Collier, Narrabundah STRANGE TIMES 'Tis a weird epoch indeed when some refuse the poor an opportunity to put a roof over their heads, and others object to the dead finding a place of repose ("Libs on attack over housing", May 8, p.5), ("Community opposes cemetery on their doorstep", May 7, p.8). Albert M. White, Queanbeyan, NSW REPUBLIC NO NEARER

Like we needed any convincing about the Libs' commitment to an Australian republic anytime soon. Witness one John Winston Howard shuffling around in the background at a palace function at the same time old Phil is clocking off. Good luck Malcolm, no time soon I gather. Linus Cole, Palmerston PRIORITISE AID Charity begins close to home. The Middle East is not our problem, it belongs to the other side of the world by far. Prioritise PNG and Indonesia for foreign aid.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy INVASION ILLEGAL Simon Mead (letters, May 6) surely is brainwashed. Even the dimmest people on the planet know the invasion of Iraq was illegal and that the ensuing and ongoing hell on earth to get rid of one man was insane. Marilyn Shepherd, Angaston, SA Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message eld, not as an attached le. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.
That would be an astonishing realignment, eliminating the institutional party of postwar France and the home of virtually its entire intellectual class, and substituting for it a party that did not exist until April 2016, when En Marche! was founded. If that happened, the feverish comparisons to Napoleon that I heard from one Macron insider might not be so very ridiculous. The French are so deeply torn between fear of a globalised future in which they are quite sure they will lose, and the desperate hope to escape years of deadlock, that one can easily imagine either outcome. Laurent Bigorgne, head of the Montaigne Institute, a think tank in Paris, told me that Macron just might be the Moses who could lead France into the Promised Land of the 21st century. "Macron," Bigorgne told me, "is part of a very small club of French people able to cope with globalisation, who can explain to the French how we can gain the benefits of globalisation." Bigorgne pointed me to a 2016 survey that found that 89 per cent of respondents considered English fluency a critical attribute of an ideal president of France - a higher fraction than for any other qualification, including political or administrative experience. For a country so much worse than its neighbours at speaking foreign languages, this implies an almost painful yearning to swallow national pride and join a globalising world. You have to wonder how many secret Macronistes there are out there, wavering between fear and hope, between ideology and opportunity. The French distrust of capitalism is no myth.

Mathieu Chaigne, a former pollster and the author of France En Face, a recently published book about French attitudes towards the state, said to me: "The French remain crypto-Marxists in their hearts. They're convinced that if something is good for companies, it's bad for workers. The win-win does not exist." Chaigne pointed out that polling on the modest 2016 labour reform known as the Loi El Khomri found that 70 per cent thought it favoured corporations, and 15 per cent thought it would boost employment. The groups did not overlap. But they want an English-speaking president. And they voted for one. The French may stereotype themselves too much. Renaud Dutreil, the chairman of the luxury behemoth LVMH and a key Macron supporter, argues that French hostility towards the European Union, which Le Pen did everything she could to exploit, has very little to do with British-style Europhobia and a great deal to do with the dismayed sense that France has been evicted from its rightful place at the heart of the continent. "The dream," he told me, "is to have Europe, but a French version of Europe. Germany is the accountant, taking care of the economy, and France is the leader for political and moral values." The idea that France doesn't matter very much any more is intolerable to the French. And Macron says: "We can matter again."

What really is Napoleonic about Macron is his restlessness, his passion for movement, his sense of destiny - and the way he has wound France itself into his own ambitions. In his campaign book, bluntly titled Revolution, Macron writes: "For as long as I can remember, I always had this  conviction that nothing is more precious than the free choice of your action, the pursuit of a project that you set out, the realisation of your talent, whatever it is." It was this calling, Macron writes, that made him enter politics, that made him "sensitive to the injustice of a society of rules, statutes, castes, of a social scorn where all conspire - to what result! - to prevent personal fulfilment". He makes himself sound like Lucien Rubempre, Balzac's provincial. Yet Macron has conquered from the word go. Despite a perfect record of individual success, he has managed to convert the fires of personal ambition into a political program to free his fellow men from the fetters of his caste-bound society. Political leaders don't attract followers prepared to march off a cliff by publishing a list of sound proposals (perhaps the one thing about politics that Bill Clinton never explained to Hillary). They need music; they need metaphor. Emmanuel Macron is, as everyone notes, a technocrat, a pragmatist, a difference-splitter. Yet he understood the imperative of metaphor deeply enough to place it well ahead of policy in his campaign. Macron's metaphor was simple, and it was summarised in his party's name: motion. You could hear it in every speech. Here, for example, is Macron before a vast crowd in Marseille last month: "It's now been more than 20 years that the right and the left, in a back and forth which has become a habit, have divided the affairs of the nation between them  It's 20 years of obstruction of the country."

By contrast, he cried: "What we're working together to do is true renewal, at all levels. Renewal of faces, renewal of practices, renewal of thoughts." Change, go, new: that was visceral Macronisme. Macron did, in fact, have a program, though he held off delineating it until his metaphor had done its work among the multitudes who had always considered politics a waste of time, as well as among disgruntled supporters of the Socialists and the Republicans. It was a canny program, designed to subtly insinuate the win-win idea among voters to whom it was foreign. Can France afford to keep its 35-hour work week when Asians were toiling six days a week? Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon, the candidate of the far-left La France Insoumise, defended the law as a sacred prerogative of the French worker; Francois Fillon, candidate of the Republicans, insisted that the French needed to work 39 hours, as they had in the past. Macron said: Everyone is wrong. Work rules, including hours, need to be determined in negotiations between firms and workers, as they are in much of the capitalist world, and not in negotiations between the state and the major unions. Such a system would offer employers flexibility without intrinsically disadvantaging workers. Macron's economic policy would not have looked out of place at a "Third Way" conference during the era of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. He wants to invest 50 billion ($74 billion) over five years in a new program of lifelong job training, on green technology, and on the modernisation of health care, agriculture, public administration and infrastructure.

He wants to reduce corporate and capital gains taxes as well as taxes on wealth and on housing, while promising possibly notional savings by slowing the growth of health insurance costs, reforming unemployment insurance, mildly shrinking the vast public sector and introducing digital technology to the state. He wants to pry some of the regulatory barnacles off the ship of state - for example, by making it cheaper and easier to get a driver's licence, which can take a year and cost 3000 to 4000, preventing young people of modest means from taking a job far from a small-town home. (As finance minister, Macron broke the state's transportation monopoly by allowing private companies to offer inter-city bus service.) Listening to Macron and his supporters, you could almost believe that the new president has discovered a magical way to make an omelette without breaking any eggs. It is not so. In the first round of the elections, a majority of voters chose a candidate of the left or right who did not believe in free markets. Liberalism remains a dirty word in France. And so does the private sector. Macron has a plan to circumvent opposition, though for someone who touts the virtues of the grassroots, it's not a very democratic one. Early in his tenure, during his first summer in office, he plans to ask the Assembly for the right to issue an ordinance voiding the 35-hour week and leaving the private sector to determine a range of labour conditions. This will provoke tremendous opposition and require a near-majority in the Assembly, but unions can not organise mass protests during the summer holiday, and Macron hopes that by the time of the rentree, in early September, the new rules will have become irreversible. That's a lot to count on. But the economy was only one of the twin poles of the campaign; the other was national identity. The 35 per cent of French voters who went with Le Pen share a belief that national identity is under assault from immigrants, refugees, bureaucrats in Brussels and elites in Paris.

Macron's election will vindicate their fears every bit as much as Le Pen's election would have confirmed the deepest anxieties of cosmopolitan liberals. Macron is their antitype - a banker, a product of France's elite schools, a secular liberal, a globalist. There is no middle ground on these existential issues. Macron has not pretended to occupy one. He was the most unapologetically pro-European of the 11 candidates in the first round, arguing that France needed to draw closer to Germany, and to help establish a new body inside the EU that would set policy and pool funds for nations in the euro zone. In Revolution, he writes: "We have confused sovereignty and nationalism. I'll say it: the true sovereigntists are the pro-Europeans." That "I'll say it" is an implicit acknowledgment of how far out of step Macron is with his own citizens. He believes that if France starts playing by EU rules - for example, by reducing its deficit - it can resume its rightful position of leadership in Brussels, and thus push for needed European reforms and mollify French nationalists. It needs to be said, at the very least, that no one would take so brave and unlikely a position save out of genuine conviction. Macron is no calculating cynic; he has argued, convincingly, that Europe did a terrible job of preparing for the flood of refugees that began in the northern summer of 2015, but he has also said that France must accept its share of refugees and do everything necessary to integrate them in French society. He has refuted Le Pen's insistent claim that France should lock up everyone on its list of terrorism suspects, known as Fiche S. And in the aftermath of the Christmas market attack in Berlin, he took to the pages of Le Monde to stoutly defend Germany's open-door policy to refugees and to insist that "the solution lies in protection, not in closing ourselves off, in a stronger European cooperation and not in an ineffective national retort". When another terrorist attack strikes France, as it is bound to do, President Macron will have to combine outrage with admonitions that effective police and intelligence work will protect the nation more effectively than dragnets and emergency laws. He will have to hope that the French will not be scared out of their wits - that they cherish their lives too much to surrender them to fear. It's worked so far, but barely.
Turnbull government backbenchers have agreed to a new school funding plan amid concerns from Catholic schools and the education union.

A dozen Coalition MPs spoke in support of the package - labelled Gonski 2.0 - in the joint party room meeting on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promotes his Gonski school funding plan at North Strathfield Public School. Credit:Peter Rae

Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews are understood to have been the only MPs to speak strongly against the plan, which will lift Commonwealth funding from $17.5 billion in 2017 to $30.6 billion by 2027.

Legislation for the funding is expected to be put to Parliament this week, with the Greens planning to refer it to a Senate inquiry.
Grundy and her team, who partnered with the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), analysed 61 of the "top" apps available on the market  apps that are either the most popular in-store or endorsed by governments or major health organisations or mental health groups . They were hoping to produce a list of apps they could advocate to the public. "But we, in good conscience at the end of the day, didn't feel like we could endorse any of the apps," Grundy says. "If some of them had good evidence and had been made by clinicians or researchers... they would often lack basic privacy assurances. It's not to say that they are selling your data but there's no way to ensure that that's not the case. Consumers weren't told what personal data was being collected, not told whether and with whom it might be shared and  especially in a global market  if your data is going overseas." She adds that there was also "really no way" for a consumer to make a complaint if they felt their privacy had been violated.

It was not only the issue of privacy that caught the researchers' attention. "The apps tend to make promises like your mental health will be improved rapidly and easily without any effort  so it will say 'better sleep in just 10 minutes' or 'find relaxation through these breathing exercises' or 'just a little mindfulness and you'll have success at work and in your relationships'," Grundy says. They were also "surprised" at how many apps claimed they could "treat the entire spectrum", from mild distress to depression to PTSD. "Our concern is that focus is on individual and it also sends the message that you're responsible for dealing with your own stress or anxiety or depression. And then if that app doesn't work for you, are you left in a position of feeling like your problem is too severe or you've failed again. I think it's possible that these tools could be really helpful and supportive but they can also send messages that you're sick or that it's your fault or that nothing can be done for you." Jazmin stopped using the free app she downloaded after three months.

"In the beginning, like anything new and shiny, it was exciting," says the PhD student. "It got you to log what you did during the day and how it made you feel." She says she didn't mind the tracking process initially. "But, you have off days where you just want to eat junk food  so you could look back and it looked like you'd had a really bumpy road even when you felt like you were getting better and I found that contradictory. And if I was having a bad day, reviewing the day compounded my negative feelings." Although she found the guided relaxation audios soothing, they were no longer free as you "progressed" and "in terms of support, there wasn't any given", she says. "There were some forums you could post on but some of the posts were actually pretty depressing so I didn't go on them very often," Jazmin says. "The guided relaxation was OK for me, but in terms of support I don't think it really gave me anything."

She says that, if she was to advise a friend going through anything similar, she would suggest they seek face-to-face counselling. "I think there would be more benefit from getting tailored support." On Tuesday, experts gathered at the University of Sydney to discuss mental health apps moving forward. The topic of the discussion, "Finding peace of mind: Ensuring integrity and countering bias in mental health apps" will explore the issues and what mechanisms can be implemented to ensure consumers get safe and quality apps. In the meantime, Grundy says they have tips for consumers:
The oldest fossil evidence of life on land has been discovered in Australian rocks, potentially extending the known era of land-based life by over 500 million years.

Ancient deposits from a hot spring in Western Australia's Pilbara region were found to contain minerals created by microbes, and researchers from the University of NSW were able to show that the deposits were created by land-based hot springs, rather than in the ocean.

The Pilbara from above. Credit:Erin Jonasson

The extraordinary finding suggests the earliest life may have actually originated in the hot springs on land, rather than in thermal vents deep in the ocean. It also has implications for the search for evidence of ancient life on Mars, because the Dresser Formation in the Pilbara region where the deposits were found shares some characteristics with Martian rock sites.

"Our exciting findings don't just extend back the record of life living in hot springs by 3 billion years, they indicate that life was inhabiting the land much earlier than previously thought, by up to about 580 million years," said the lead researcher, University of NSW PhD candidate Tara Djokic.
A Sydney high school teacher accused of having sex with his students has had four charges against him dropped after some confusion about the age of one of his alleged victims.

Cameron White, 39, is on trial in the NSW District Court over alleged sex offences relating to a male student and two female students from three Sydney school campuses between 2007 and 2013.

Court. Credit:Louie Dovis

Judge James Bennett told the jury on Tuesday that the date given for some of the offences had been changed, following evidence in court by White and the third alleged victim.

The alleged victim used a student-teacher interview as a time benchmark, but it had emerged that the interview occurred after her 16th birthday, not before as previously thought, the judge said.
A notorious double murderer, who never revealed the whereabouts of his Sydney victims' bodies, died from lung cancer, a coroner has found.

Bruce Burrell, 63, was serving a life sentence for killing Sydney women Kerry Whelan and Dorothy Davis in the 1990s when he died in a secure unit of Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital in August last year.

Murderer Bruce Burrell took his secrets to the grave. Credit:Nick Moir

Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee on Tuesday found Burrell had died of a small cell metastatic lung carcinoma, with heart disease having contributed to the death.

The inquest heard Burrell had been diagnosed with advanced liver cancer two months before he died of lung cancer.
Abortion rights campaigners gathered outside the NSW Parliament on Tuesday in a renewed push to decriminalise abortion and to create protest-free zones around clinics.

Purple postcards bearing the slogan "Decriminalise abortion. Safe access" were hung on the fence outside Parliament House on Macquarie Street.

Mehreen Faruqi speaks to abortion rights campaigners outside NSW Parliament House. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The #End12 campaign rallied in support of a bill introduced by Greens NSW MP Mehreen Faruqi.

The bill seeks to remove abortion from the state's Crimes Act, which was drafted more than 100 years ago.
A detective has apologised to the family of an army officer who disappeared from Brisbane 18 years ago for his "inadequate" investigation, but says he still believes the soldier is alive.

Primary civilian police investigator Detective Sergeant Shayne Maxwell told the Brisbane Coroners Court on Tuesday that his belief about Sean Sargent's fate "chopped and changed" throughout the investigation.

However, he said he was currently "of the belief that he is still alive".

Detective Sergeant Maxwell defended his views to Coroner John Hutton, who said there was a "litany" of evidence to suggest Mr Sargent might have taken his own life.
Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP MLA from Greater Kailash, hacked a dummy EVM in Delhi Assembly to claim that the voting machines can be tampered with to favour one particular party.

By India Today Web Desk: The big revelation that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is struggling to firefight corruption charges against its brass, was talking about since morning turned out to be a damp squib. AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj gave a live demonstration of how an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) can be hacked during a special session of the Delhi Assembly today.

advertisement

The Greater Kailash MLA hacked a dummy EVM in Delhi Assembly to prove his party's claims that voting machines can tampered with to favour a particular party. The EVM used by Saurabh Bharadwaj was not the same used by the Election Commission in actual polling.

"The EVM uses a secret code for every party. If one is able to hack to the secret coding process, the results of votes polled can easily be manipulated. A common engineer can tamper with the EVMs," Bharadwaj said while explaining the step-by-step procedure of hacking the voting machine.

"Give us the EVMs used in Gujarat, I challenge BJP would not be able to win even a single seat," the AAP MLA said.

DRAMA INSIDE DELHI ASSEMBLY

The Delhi Assembly witnessed dramatic scenes as soon as the special session began. The BJP lawmakers demanded the Speaker to allow discussion on corruption charges levelled by sacked minister Kapil Mishra on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendra Jain. However, the Speaker turned downed the repeated appeals and asked BJP members to maintain decorum in the House.

The Speaker then called in marshals to throw out BJP MLA Vijender Gupta for creating ruckus. He was suspended from the Assembly for a day. Gupta then sat on a dharna outside the Delhi Assembly in protest against his eviction.

WATCH: Full Delhi Assembly session where AAP demonstrated EVM 'hacking' ALSO READ:

AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj demonstrates how EVMs can be rigged as Kejriwal faces Kapil Mishra tsunami

Kapil Mishra files cases with CBI against 'guru' Arvind Kejriwal, other AAP leaders

Income tax department finds irregularities in Aam Aadmi Party's sources of funding

EVMs: Mayawati has a point, many countries have banned them since they can rig elections

--- ENDS ---
A Singaporean man who police allege bashed and stabbed a woman in a Brisbane share house on Monday night has been taken into custody after being found by television crews.

Less than 24 hours after the man had fled the alleged attack at Norman Park, television crews found the fugitive sitting in the middle of the crime scene sometime after 2pm on Tuesday and called police, who later arrested the man.

"He kept asking for an ambulance and water. He said he was cold and wanted a towel," Nine News Brisbane reporter Rob Morrison said.

Police said the attack happened about 9.30pm at a Norman Avenue address where the man had booked a room through Airbnb.
Less than two weeks after the birth of two polar bear cubs at Sea World on the Gold Coast, one has died.

The cubs were born on Wednesday April 26 weighing approximately 600 grams and had been expected to be on display to the public in September.

However, Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long said concerns about the smaller cub's health were raised on Thursday after it stopped growing at a healthy rate when mother Liya focused her attention on the other cub.

The situation improved on Friday but went downhill again on Saturday.
A Melbourne teenager accused of trying to rob jewellery stores allegedly led police on a chase in a stolen vehicle before officers deflated his tyres on the West Gate Bridge.

Joshua Keuth, 19, denies the allegations and on Monday pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including armed robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.

Police arrest the three teens on the West Gate Bridge on November 14. Credit:Courtesy of Channel 7

The teenager was ordered to stand trial following a committal hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Mr Keuth, who was 18 at the time of the alleged offences, is accused of breaking into the Parkmore shopping centre in Keysborough on November 14.
A Victorian paramedic has driven himself to hospital after suffering a massive heart attack on the job.

David Watson was preparing to exercise while stationed in the small town of Casterton, near the South Australian border, on April 30 when he experienced a sudden, crushing pain across his chest.

Paramedic David Watson and his wife Nicole. Credit:Ambulance Victoria

The 52-year-old recognised the symptoms and hooked himself up to the ambulance's electrocardiography (ECG) machine.

When he saw the reading, he thought "uh oh, that's not right".
Lisa Scaffidi with husband Joe, at an earlier SAT hearing. Credit:Heather McNeill If she does not resign, the Lord Mayor faces the strong possibility of dismissal or a lengthy suspension from her role as a consequence, with SAT to determine her penalty on May 16. City of Perth council should stand up Premier Mark McGowan has urged Lisa Scaffidi 'to do the right thing'. Credit:Philip Gostelow Mr McGowan said the council, which meets tonight at the City of Perth, should pass a no-confidence in the Lord Mayor or risk losing their own jobs as councillors.

"Things have changed today, the SAT has handed down some pretty damning findings on 45 counts of serious misconduct and she needs to stand down herself and the council, if she won't, pass a no-confidence motion in her," the Premier said. How can it be that an entire council needs to be sacked because of the behaviour of one person? "I think everyone - the state opposition, myself, councillors at the City of Perth - need to join forces in telling her to stand down to avoid further embarrassment to herself, the state and the council. "It's time for her to take action ... and if she won't take action, the councillors themselves need to pass a no-confidence motion in her leadership of that council. "This issue has dragged on for way too long and I think the people of Perth and WA have had enough."

Mr McGowan defended his commitment to sack Ms Scaffidi, stressing he was doing all he can to change outdated legislation and keep his pre-election promise. "We're exploring what options are available to us under the Local Government Act but the LGA itself is 20 years old, it's fairly weak," he said. Mr McGowan said he would aim to change legislation so that a state government had the power to sack individual councillors and mayors rather than entire councils. "There are other options and we need to get advice on those and that's what we're working on, right now," he said. "It does require a range of considerations before we head down that route. But it all can be resolved today if she steps down.

"How can it be that an entire council needs to be sacked because of the behaviour of one person? "She needs to step down in her own interests, in the interests of the City of Perth and in the interests of the people of Western Australia. "45 serious breaches showing impropriety is 45 too many." Under the existing Act, the state government doesn't have the capacity to sack an individual councillor or mayor but the new McGowan administration clearly wants that changed. "That's one of the options that we're looking at bringing in laws about," he said.

"But the easiest, quickest, cleanest way is for Mrs Scaffidi to do the right thing and step down." The Premier also used the outcome of the SAT decision to criticise the previous Liberal government for being limp on taking action against Ms Scaffidi. "What I have said for about a year now is the conduct of the City of Perth and Mrs Scaffidi in particular was unacceptable and I think I was proven right there," he said. "You might also note my political opponents backed her, they backed her, the Liberals backed her... and that was wrong, they shouldn't have done that." Ms Scaffidi has been a long-time Liberal supporter and was once a member of the party's powerful fundraising arm the 500 Club.

The 57-year-old, who was a no show at Tuesday's hearing, has continually denied any wrongdoing even after nearly two years of investigations and hearings into her conduct as Lord Mayor, which initially stemmed from an FBI investigation. The now-unpopular Lord Mayor took 65 international and 47 interstate trips from January 2008 and October 2015, with not one report of any of those trips prepared for council. Before today's ruling, Ms Scaffidi admitted to five of the most serious of the 45 breaches, including a $36,000 BHP Billiton-funded trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a trip to Margaret River and a Hawaiian Investments-funded visit to Broome Cup in 2008. Both BHP Billiton and Hawaiian Investments (as part of a business conglomerate) later had financial matters before the council which Ms Scaffidi voted in favour of. Loading
A former Thermomix contractor in Perth is suing the company, claiming her business was taken away without compensation.

Thermomix kitchen machines are sold during in-home demonstrations by consultants, who get a commission.

The expensive kitchen appliance has taken over households across Australia. Credit:Kristoffer Paulsen

Consultants are independent contractors who manage their own business, rather than employees of Thermomix, the WA District Court heard on Monday.

The consultants are managed by group leaders, who also earn a commission from the sales.
A Perth man who was "brutally bashed" to death after being falsely lured to a Clarkson house was disposed of in the ocean, a court has heard.

Jason Edge, 28, died on Anzac Day 2015 after allegedly attending a house in Perth's north with a woman for what he believed would be a drug deal.

The state claims Jason Edge was killed in a Clarkson home before his body was thrown into the ocean.

The state claims he was taken into a bedroom and bashed to death, with others in the house saying they heard "thuds, bangs and screaming" for up to 45 minutes.

Two men, Johnathon Pihema, 29, and Christopher Moir, 22, are on trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, charged with his murder.
A man who hit a 19-year-old pedestrian with his Mercedes Benz on a Perth street continued home because he thought the sound of impact he heard may have been a rock or brick being thrown at his car, a court has heard.

Sophia Muiruri was a newcomer to Australia from Kenya and was crossing against a red pedestrian signal at a Subiaco intersection when she was struck by David Clarke's luxury vehicle on the night of September 16, 2015.

The woman suffered serious injuries including skull and spinal fractures, and bruising of the lungs.

She suffered serious injuries including skull and spinal fractures, and bruising of the lungs.

The WA District Court heard on Monday that Ms Muiruri underwent surgery to remove part of her skull and relieve pressure on her brain.
The federal Liberals are turning on their WA counterparts, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann criticising the Barnett government for not delivering the $1.9 billion Perth Freight Link before being swept from office.

The WA government has secured $1.26 billion in federal funding for its flagship $2.5 billion Metronet project in a major expansion of Perth's rail system. It represented an about-face from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who before the March election said the state would miss out.

A petition calling for Roe 8 to be built has received 7,000 signatures so far. Credit:Main Roads

Tuesday's federal budget will deliver the $2.3-billion deal on Metronet and other WA road projects, which are expected to create 6000 jobs. The deal includes a top-up payment compensating WA for its low GST share, with the state getting a further $392 million in federal funds.

The Turnbull government's change of heart is being viewed as a political move to calm voter anger in WA about the GST shortfall and follows Labor's landslide win in the March election.
Ms Channing with her ex-husband, before the mesh implant. The mesh had continued to erode and shrink, she said, shrinking her vagina and hardening her rectum, trapping and scarring the pudendal nerves running through the rectum and legs, damaging the flesh and muscles throughout the pelvis. It was now close to piercing her rectal wall and causing blood poisoning. Ms Channing and her daughter before the mesh implant. She described her feelings in words that echoed those of other mesh-injured women now going public.

"The nerve pain is like petrol burning inside me," she said. Ms Channing with her daughter after the implant, while she was still up and about. "The raw pain of the erosion is like broken glass in your rectum and vagina. As we speak I am losing blood from my rectum and vagina and the pain is unbearable. "This has totally destroyed my life. Ms Channing with her children after the implant, while she was still up and about.

"It sounds dramatic - and I can only say that it is." Ms Channing cannot walk around the supermarket without a cane and must lie almost continuously on her side in a hammock-like bed. She cannot pick up her grandchildren, or even play with them. With her newest grandson, three months ago. The memory of her past life mocks the present one. As well as working towards a management position in retail, Ms Channing had been doing certificate courses to qualify as a personal trainer. "I was a gym junkie. I would exercise every day. I wouldn't even sit till to watch a movie. I was active, busy and social. I was someone who looked after my appearance," she said.

Stella Channing needs to get about with a crutch to take as much weight as possible off her pelvis. "All that has been stolen. I am financially ruined. I lie down all day. I am isolated. Sometimes I cannot shower because the pain flare will be so great it will take days to recover." Some days, she tried to pick herself up and give herself a talking to. She would get up, do her hair, put makeup on and go to see her grandchildren. Ms Channing is now largely confined to bed. Afterwards she would be rewarded with pain so unbearable it was like a punishment for her effort.

Ms Channing's older sons and grandchildren felt her absence from their lives keenly, she said, as did her ageing mother, who she couldn't fly to Adelaide to visit. But she worried most about her youngest child, her 23-year-old daughter who still lives with her. She brought her daughter up prizing health. The 10-year-old would amuse herself with colouring-in books at the gym waiting for her mother to finish a workout. As she grew older, they began to go together. Now, her daughter does these rituals alone. "She feels the burden of looking after me," Ms Channing said.

"The other day she got back from a walk and just said, 'Mum, we should be doing these things together'. I can't go for walks with her, or to the gym, even out to breakfast. So she is missing out on having a mother who is involved in her life. "I become depressed, hopeless, knowing I must live with this for the rest of my life. "Some days, I wake up and don't know why I have bothered waking up. "Sometimes I think it would be better if I just didn't." The meshes are not designed with removal in mind, so removal is a complex business. No Australian surgeon was trained to do it, Ms Channing said.

Her previous urogynaecologist suggested "having a dig around" and attempting partial removal but it would be too dangerous to attempt to remove the 'arms' of the mesh in her buttocks or groin. It would still be life-threatening surgery and would mean removing her rectum, leaving her with a colostomy. "It doesn't inspire confidence. I know partial removals make it worse  more scar tissue, more nerve damage. Fortunately I have done my research of women worldwide, because I have been going through this for long enough and I know what will make it worse," Ms Channing said. "I know you wait for full removal." One surgeon in America, a country flooded with lawsuits over mesh injuries, has performed thousands of removals, which cannot return women to original health but can at least halt the damage. But Ms Channing, unable to sit on a plane or buy a ticket on a disability pension, has no hope of going overseas. She can only hope the surgeon will one day travel to Australia as the scandal here grows.

She said she might have already taken her own life were it not for the support of her GP, pain psychologist and occupational therapist, "three strong women" who fight her corner. But no medical specialist is overseeing her case since the urogynaecologist's offer to "dig around". Ms Channing is one of more than 200 women to report a mesh-related "adverse event" to the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The TGA approved use of pelvic mesh in Australia in 2005 following 2002's USA approvals, without clinical trials. It later conceded the approval was "not mature" and lacked rigour. In 2011 the USA Food and Drug Administration announced serious complications were "not rare" and that the overall increase in serious adverse event reports was cause for concern.

But women experiencing pain and mesh erosion are not told by doctors of this growing community. "So many women are told to get test after test and don't know the mesh is causing their hip problem, their bleeding, their other complaints," Ms Channing said. "I don't even want to go and see a new gynaecologist or colorectal surgeon because I just feel it's downplayed, they say you are the only one." One Perth mother, who preferred not to be named, had vaginal mesh inserted in 2016 to treat prolapse but has since experienced further vaginal and rectal prolapses, severe bowel problems and vaginal bleeding. She had very recent surgery to remove an eroding portion of mesh that had burrowed through the wall of her vagina, and the bleeding has stopped, but doctors failed to tell her there was a current Senate inquiry she could give evidence to, or that she could report an adverse event to the TGA.

"I have been struggling to try to get help. I have obviously Googled it and I am aware of the problems in America and I saw also the people in Australia," she said. "But no one had told me about this. It has always been minimised. "It's more like 'everything is perfect and good.' "I was told it was no problems, a stitch hadn't healed, that it was the tiniest bit of mesh coming through and they were pleased with the results. "I just don't know. You don't have any choice but to trust them to sort out these problems that have been extremely disabling for me. It's quite a horrible area to have a problem in."

Health consumers councils across Australia have united to help host a Facebook Page to ensure women's voices are at the heart of their Senate inquiry submission. They are running an anonymous survey for women and their families to provide feedback to inform the submission. In just three weeks 1250 women have completed the survey. Nearly 58 per cent say they have been adversely impacted, citing problems such as chronic incontinence, abdominal pain and pain during intercourse. One-quarter said the impact had led to a breakdown of their marriage or personal relationships. Of those who sought remedial medical assistance, slightly over 10 per cent reported this made things better; 40 reported no difference and 11 per cent that it made matters worse.
Sources said the Income Tax Department has concluded that the Rs 2 crore received by the AAP and declared as donation in the party fund would be treated as income

By Atir Khan: With the Income Tax Department refusing to accept Rs 2 crore receipt of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received couple of years ago as donation, the case has become murkier. Investigations have revealed that the money could have been funded by persons for their political ambitions.

Sources said the Income Tax Department has concluded that the Rs 2 crore received by the AAP and declared as donation in the party fund would be treated as income and the party will have to pay tax on it.

advertisement

In an expose in May 2015, it was alleged that the AAP had received Rs 2 crore in bank drafts through four companies in the form of donations in the party fund. However, the investigations of both the Income Tax Department and Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) probe shows the money was not donation by money, which was channelised through shell companies by some persons with a political motive.

The IT probe revealed that the four companies Goldmine Buildcon, Sunvision Agencies, Skyline Metal and Alloys and Infolance Software were shell companies, which had several directors. Interestingly, the directors in the company were not capable of funding amounts in the form of four bank drafts worth Rs 50 lakh.

Further probe revealed they belonged to extremely poor background. And that these four and several other companies were being controlled by persons, who were in the business of creating shell companies.

MONEY TO BE TREATED AS INCOME

Sources said the Income Tax Department gave several opportunities to AAP office bearers to explain the source of the donations. But they failed to do so and that's why the money is being treated as income.

The EOW was basically aimed at finding out whether the directors' signatures had been forged and whether there was any cheating done on part of the company officials. However, no chargesheet has been filed by the EOW. It is awaiting the CFSL reports with regards to signature specimens of directors of the companies.

However, sources said during the course of investigation it has come to light that the Rs 2 crore given in the party fund was given with a political motive. Those who had given the money were hopeful that they would be given party tickets for contesting elections.

Also read: Income tax department finds irregularities in Aam Aadmi Party's sources of funding

Also read: Centre asks Kejriwal's AAP to explain sources of overseas funding

--- ENDS ---
Anti-Ahok protester outside the blasphemy trial for Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who is universally known as Ahok. Credit:Jefri Tarigan Some interpret Al-Maidah to mean that Muslims should not be led by non-Muslims, although others argue it should be interpreted in the context of the time. Ahok subsequently apologised but the comments were seized upon by his political foes and conservative Islamic groups that had long argued Jakarta should not be led by a non-Muslim. Flower boards sent to Ahok after his loss in the gubernatorial election. Credit:Tatan Suyflana Several massive rallies, spearheaded by radical groups, called for Ahok to be jailed and even lynched, with some protesters brazenly racially and religiously vilifying the governor, who is a double minority - Christian and ethnic Chinese.

Although largely peaceful, the rallies brought Jakarta to a standstill and the government, keenly aware of the street protests that spelled an end to the Suharto regime in 1998, worried they would destabilise the capital. Anti-Ahok protesters lament that he was only sentenced to two years' jail rather than the maximum of five years. Credit:Jefri Tarigan Ahok was brought to trial on what some political commentators considered trumped up charges aimed at appeasing the hardline groups. He faced a maximum five-year jail sentence. "I don't understand why the trial is mixed with politics," Ahok supporter Rina Dodi told Fairfax Media outside court. "The trial is unfair. I am sad. Ahok is a statesman, he always takes the side of the people." Anti-Ahok protester expresses her distress after he was jailed for two years rather than the maximum of five. Credit:Jefri Tarigan

But Judge Rosyad said the panel of judges disagreed with Ahok's defence team, who argued the case was related to the April 19 gubernatorial election. "This is a pure crime case," he said. Ahok was defeated by former education minister Anies Baswedan, a Muslim, despite high approval rating for Ahok's performance in office. Mr Anies will take up the position in October. Exit polls revealed religion was the number one factor that influenced the way Jakartans voted in the election. Before the verdict, a delegation from the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council's Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), had visited the Supreme Court demanding it ensure the judges sentence Ahok to the maximum five years.

However, outside court, Benny Haris Nainggolan from GNPF-MUI said he was happy with the verdict. "I am satisfied," he said. One of Ahok's lawyers, I Wayan Sudirta, said he could understand the sentence due to the high pressure on the court. "However we cannot accept it, we are very disappointed with the sentence." In what one Twitter wag called "peak Indonesia", pictures soon emerged on social media of Cipinang detention staff posing with Ahok. The Home Affairs Ministry indicated it would ask President Joko Widodo to terminate Ahok's status as governor and appoint Vice Governor Djarot Saiful Hidaya as acting governor until Mr Anies came to office in October.

Dr Melissa Crouch, an expert in Indonesia's blasphemy laws from the University of NSW, said while many may be surprised by the verdict, it was not necessarily inconsistent. "Judges fiercely guard their independence in Indonesia, and it may be that in this case they felt that the prosecutor recommended charges that were inconsistent with the original reason the case was brought to court," she said. "In addition, all persons charged with the criminal offence of blasphemy have been found guilty, so this sentence fits with that pattern. To be accused of blasphemy in Indonesia is effectively to be found guilty. This gives a lot of power to those - such as religious leaders - who may make the initial complaint to police regarding blasphemy charges." Dr Crouch said the verdict also raised questions about whether the prosecutor was potentially influenced by politics in its recommendations to the court. On the eve of the blasphemy verdict, the Indonesian government moved to ban one of the hardline Islamic groups behind the massive Anti-Ahok protests staged in the capital over the past six months.

The government will ask the courts to disband Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a group that seeks to establish a global Islamic caliphate. Co-ordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said the group's activities threatened peace and order in society and endangered the unity of Indonesia. He stressed that the decision did not mean the government was anti mass-Islamic organisations but was taken solely to safeguard the unity of Indonesia, that was based on its pluralistic state ideology, Pancasila and the 1945 constitution. Professor Greg Barton said there were good grounds for disbanding Hizbut Tahrir in Indonesia, with the group already banned in Germany and across central Asia. He said although the group was fairly innocuous before the rise of Islamic State, it had not revised its rhetoric on a global caliphate since the announcement of a formal Islamic State by insurgents in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
More meanings followed, like sad Pepe. In the "rare Pepe" crisis of 2015, Pepe even became the centre of a self-aware 4chan joke about the impossibility of controlling a meme, even one as long-lived and popular as the frog. For most of Pepe's meme life cycle, Furie embraced this chaos, he told The Post last year. He "re-bootlegged" the internet's many manifestations of Pepe into his own work. His personal favourites, he said were "the more charming, kids drawings of Pepe, the ones where he's crudely drawn on MS Paint."

Pepe the Frog has been deemed an icon of hate groups for its use by the alt-right online. Credit:Wikipedia

Furie saw his frog dropped into "the entire range of human experience online over the years, from simple innocence to the most f---ed up, racist, tortuous stuff," he said in September. When Pepe started to show up in a wave of racist memes, he initially saw it as the "natural progression of anonymous people on the internet." He gave media interviews when the meme spread into the elections: Donald Trump jnr posted an image with Pepe in it to Instagram; Hillary Clinton's campaign published an "explainer" in response calling Pepe a "symbol associated with white supremacy." Furie encouraged people to read the original comics instead to learn what Pepe was really like.

Then, he decided Pepe needed some help. "I understand that it's out of my control, but in the end, Pepe is whatever you say he is, and I, the creator, say that Pepe is love," Furie wrote in Time magazine in October as part of his efforts to win Pepe back from the racists and anti-Semites of the internet. And while the nature of memes almost dictated that his campaign was doomed to fail, Furie did a lot of things right: He understood that Pepe, the meme, was not under his control. His solution was not, as some might try, to erase Pepe from the internet. It was simply to make more memes, lots of them, and ones he'd actually like.

When it didn't work, Furie apparently gave up on trying to change Pepe, and decided to kill him instead.
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign after multiple reports claimed he had discussed US sanctions against Russian with the country's ambassador. Credit:AP She said foreign interference in US elections poses "a serious threat to all Americans,'' as she began testifying at a packed hearing about her warning to the White House about Flynn. At the outset of her much-anticipated testimony, Yates promised to "be as fulsome and as comprehensive as possible'' while noting that there were classified issues she cannot discuss, and legal issues that prevent her from testifying about other matters. Former acting attorney general Sally Yates testifies before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing. Credit:AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster "The efforts by a foreign adversary to interfere with and undermine our democratic processes - and those of our allies - pose a serious threat to all Americans,'' Yates said in her prepared remarks before questioning from lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

Yates was the attorney general for only 10 days - an Obama administration holdover whose role was to quietly manage the Justice Department until the Trump administration could quickly replace her. Instead, her brief time in the job has fuelled months of fierce political debate about the White House and Russia. Dangerous circumstances: The Trump "reflation rally" on global markets is driven by mere prospect rather than anything in the pipeline. Credit:AP Yates began testifying before a Senate subcommittee that plans to grill her about discussions she had with the White House - testimony that was delayed for more than a month after a previously scheduled appearance before a House committee was cancelled amid a legal dispute over whether she would even be allowed to discuss the subject. Lawmakers have long wanted to question Yates about her conversation in January with Flynn. People familiar with that conversation say she went to the White House days after the inauguration to tell officials that statements made by Pence and others about Flynn's discussions with Kislyak were incorrect, and to warn them that those contradictions could expose Flynn or others to potential manipulation by the Russians. On Monday morning, President Donald Trump took aim at Yates in a possible attempt to divert the focus of her testimony by urging the subcommittee to raise questions over alleged classified leaks.

But Trump offered no further details about his suggestion that Yates had knowledge of who may have leaked classified information to reporters. Trump and congressional Republicans have repeatedly sought to shift the focus of hearings about Russian election year meddling to questions about who in the US government may have leaked details about the FBI's probe into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian officials. Yates' testimony was expected to contradict public statements made by White House press secretary Sean Spicer and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who described the Yates-McGahn meeting as less of a warning and more of a "heads up'' about an issue involving Flynn. In February, Spicer told reporters that Yates had "informed the White House counsel that they wanted to give a heads up to us on some comments that may have seemed in conflict . . . The White House counsel informed the President immediately. The President asked him to conduct a review of whether there was a legal situation there. That was immediately determined that there wasn't.''

The same month, Priebus described the Yates conversation in similar terms, telling CBS' Face the Nation' that "our legal counsel got a heads up from Sally Yates that something wasn't adding up with his story. And then so our legal department went into a review of the situation ... The legal department came back and said they didn't see anything wrong with what was actually said.'' People familiar with the matter say both statements understate the seriousness of what Yates told McGahn and that she went to the White House to warn that Flynn could be compromised - or blackmailed - by the Russians at some point if they threatened to reveal the true nature of his conversations with the ambassador. Those people said that although Yates' testimony may contradict Spicer and Priebus, her appearance on Monday is unlikely to reveal new details about the FBI's investigation into whether any Trump associates coordinated with Russian officials to meddle with last year's presidential election, in part because many of the details of that probe remain classified. Former director of national intelligence James Clapper is also scheduled to testify at Monday's hearing. Lawmakers had invited another Obama administration official, Susan Rice, to testify, but she declined. Rice, who served as Obama's national security adviser, has been under scrutiny from Republicans who have suggested that she mishandled intelligence information involving Americans. 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, a practice known inside the government as "unmasking," though he has offered no evidence to back up that accusation. Rice has said she did nothing improper.

Before she became acting attorney general, Yates was the No.2 official at the Justice Department in the final years of the Obama administration. Yates had spent decades in the Justice Department as a prosecutor in both Republican and Democratic administrations. Her brief tenure in the top Justice Department job ended days after her meeting with McGahn, when she was fired by Trump over an unrelated issue. She had instructed government lawyers not to defend the president's first executive order on immigration, which temporarily barred entry to the United States for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from around the world. Flynn was asked to resign in February, after White House officials said he had misled Pence about the nature of his conversation with the Russian ambassador. Anticipation of Yates' testimony has been building since March, when she was scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee - a hearing that was cancelled by the chairman, California Republican congressman Devin Nunes. In the days before the originally scheduled hearing, Yates' attorney, David O'Neil, had been locked in an argument with Trump administration officials about whether she would be barred by executive privilege from testifying about her conversation with McGahn. A week before the planned House hearing, O'Neil went to the Justice Department to discuss the issue of her testimony. That day, he wrote a letter to the department in which he said those officials had "advised'' him that Yates' official communications on issues of interest to the House panel are "client confidences'' that cannot be disclosed without written consent. In his letter, O'Neil challenged that interpretation as "overbroad.''
PHILIPSBURG:--- Two temporary employees of Motorworld were robbed at gunpoint Monday night on the road leading Acqua Marine.

According to information provided to SMN News by Motorworld, the two persons came in from Colombia to install furniture for Motorworld new showroom. The company accommodated the two foreign workers at Acqua Marine for the duration of their stay on St. Maarten. The spokesperson for the company said as the two visiting workers were heading to their apartment two men who parked their vehicle in the bushy area of the lonely road leading to Acqua Marine drove across the road as the victim's vehicle approached, thus forcing the visitors to stop their vehicle. At that point, two men armed with guns approached the male and female victim and ordered them out of the vehicle a Hyundai Accent with license plate 9248 AAB and R-285 The gunmen then robbed the two persons of their personal items and also drove away with the vehicles belonging to Motorworld. Persons are warned to take absolute precaution when driving to Acqua Marine as the main road leading to the hotel is deserted and bushy.

The two persons are scheduled to leave St. Maarten today (Tuesday, May 9th). Motorworld representative Daniel Singh told SMN News that one of the persons lost their passport during the daring gunpoint robbery.

Armed robbery

The Special Unit Robbery is presently investigating an armed robbery which took place on Monday, May 8th at approximately 11.30 p.m. in the vicinity of Platinum Night Club in Maho. On the scene, the South American victims stated that they were suddenly attacked two unknown men armed with handguns. These men robbed them of the personal belongings such as cellular telephone, bank cards, passports, camera along with some tools and two rented cars with license plate 4867 AAB and R-285. The female victim also stated that she suffered some bruises as a result of the force that was used during the robbery.

KPSM Press Release
POINTE BLANCHE:--- On Monday, May 8, Port St. Maarten Management headed by Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo, met with Portbase Rotterdam and IT Partner representatives to discuss a national port community system that involves data-sharing among stakeholders and third parties.

The overall objective is to have a complete information technology system in place at the port that allows stakeholders to access real-time information about container movements as well as contents thereby improving efficiency. This initiative is also in line with border security and compliance with international rules and regulations.

IT Partner, an information technology firm in the Netherlands, is experts in automation systems for port and logistics industries. The company has been in operation since 1999 and has clients that include terminal operators, logistics companies, and complete ports, offering tailor-made solutions that fit customer needs.

Port St. Maarten has been working on a number of initiatives that would further improve the operational integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of port operations. The initiatives include an Enterprise Risk Assessment and Portbase Port Community System. For a number of years, the port has been using the Global Logistics Service (GLS) cargo tracking software.

The aforementioned are all tied to the strategic approach initiative of the port to ensure long-term sustainability of operations that would lead to further growth in homeporting investments, and expansion to include future preclearance; and growth in cargo shipping and trans-shipment as well as cruise ship provisioning  currently at 35 percent.

The Ports proactive approach to implement a more disciplined risk management process in line with its corporate governance policies. Ernst & Young (EY) Advisory Services was contracted in the first quarter of 2016 to carry out the study which was submitted to management in September 2016. EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services.

Destination Sint Maarten is one of the worlds leading cruise destinations. The cargo operations of Port St. Maarten are rapidly becoming a port of choice for regional transshipment. Port St. Maarten comprises of 13 companies that are responsible for most of the countrys island maritime activities which can be summarized in four pillars, namely, Cruise, Cargo, Yachting and Real Estate.

Based on the identification and assessment of the Ports key business risks and taking into account the effectiveness of management and control activities, the Ports residual risk profile has been developed. The residual risk profile enables the Port to develop its risk response strategy, based on the organizations risk appetite, in order to effectively manage the risk profile. EY has also carried out a risk assessment with respect to the Information Technology (IT) system of the port.

An Information Technology (IT) strategy a critical enabler of business transformation and growth allowing for advanced business services and innovation which foster customer-led growth.

Another very important initiative of the port is, Portbase, a Port Community System, where companies can benefit from a multitude of intelligent services for simple and efficient information exchange, both between companies and between the public and private sector. Port St. Maartens priority is security first, ensuring safe, secure use of Port Community Systems.

Portbase was created by a merger between Rotterdams Port infolink (est. 2002) and Amsterdams PortNET (est. 2000). The new organization was set up in 2009 by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Port of Amsterdam and enjoys wide support amongst the port business community including several law enforcement agencies such as Customs.

Port St. Maarten Management representatives visited Portbase in the Netherlands mid-2016 to gather information about the system which will be implemented at the port as part of the ports enhanced security measures in 2019.

The Portbase Community system will also allow for increased efficiency where logistics and movement of containers is concerned, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the destination in the area of cargo and transshipment operations.




Full of Commercial Promise  New White Toner Printer with RoI in the Box

OKI Europe launches light, small-footprint device that opens up new garment and product decoration opportunities with low-cost white toner technology

Egham, 9th May 2017 OKI Europe Ltd unveils the next-generation white toner graphic arts printer, full of commercial potential and specifically designed to enable a rapid response to todays changing market demands, at their stand at FESPA 2017 (B5-A52), 8th  12th May, Hamburg, Germany.

OKIs Pro8432WT next generation A3 white toner printer, boasts the smallest footprint compact design without compromise, offering unrivalled functionality and specification where it counts. As well as performance, OKI has also reduced the real terms cost of white toner printing and included an incredible 2 additional white toner cartridges in the box, shipping with the equivalent of 13,000 white pages! The Pro8432WT is supplied with enough toner as standard to easily make the profit to cover the capital costs, providing a compelling RoI opportunity, ideal for print houses, graphic arts organisations and other businesses serious about high-quality decoration on everything from garments to trophies and signs. The Pro8432WT is big on quality with fantastic white opacity and designed to print on all relevant transfer media.

The Pro8432WT is designed to fit any print shop or design studio where space is at a premium, as a fast-turnaround, short run alternative to silk screen and other decorative methods. Thanks to its fast and easy set-up, it also provides an accelerated route to new revenue streams for high street print shops and businesses or organisations majoring in light production printing, explains Lee Webster, General Manager, Product Marketing, OKI Europe Ltd.

Printing with white toner, the Pro8432WT can produce full colour transfers which are already weeded and ready to decorate substrates of any colour. Self-weeding capability removes the time-consuming, multi-step processes previously required when decorating coloured garments and products with traditional methods. Manufactured to be compatible with all the major transfer media brands the Pro8432WT offers access to new, high-value revenue streams. Combined with the flexibility of the latest low temperature transfer media to decorate virtually any substrate from cotton and man-made synthetic fabrics, to metal, glass, acrylic and even wood! With new light single step transfer media the strong opacity of white toner permits lighter colour garment decoration in a single step process for superfast, cost effective production. The innovative transfer system is fast, easy and set up costs are substantially lower than other digital printing techniques such as direct-to-garment, and overcomes the limitations of sublimation white only polyester blank decoration.

The Pro8432WT design is optimised for transfer media printing using speciality fuser and toner technology which deliver strong white opacity and vivid colours which last in the wash.

The Pro8432WT excels at answering many of the challenges facing todays industry, delivering innovation, significant ROI and real versatility in a small-footprint device, added Webster.

About the Pro8432WT

 Colour speed: Up to 35ppm

 Resolution: 1200x600dpi

 Processor speed: 800MHz

 Paper input: MPT 100 sheets; First tray 300

 Memory: Standard RAM: 256MB; Maximum RAM: 768MB Optional SDHC Memory Card4: 16GB

 Network: 10/100/1000 Base Ethernet, Optional wireless LAN

 Weight: 37kg

 Dimensions (HxWxD): 360 x 449 x 552mm

 Max paper weight: 220gsm Tray, 256gsm MPT

 Toner Cartridge Yield (colour/white): 10,000/4,500 pages
Cogeco Peer 1 & DTP partner to provide Hybrid IT services to higher education

London. 9 May, 2017: Cogeco Peer 1, a globally recognised specialist provider of colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud and managed services, today announced its partnership with DTP Group (DTP), a leading provider of information technology solutions and services whose client list includes Imperial College, British Library, University of Liverpool and University of Manchester. The partnership follows the recent announcement that Cogeco Peer 1 has partnered with JISC to provide higher education institutions on the Janet Network with access to IT services.

Cogeco Peer 1s addition to the Janet network provides a direct connection to flexible, high-performance, bespoke, managed IT infrastructure solutions including colocation, hosting and cloud. DTP provides intelligent, ethical solutions that are practical, achievable and affordable and deliver real outcomes. Together, the two companies will be focused on helping organisations including higher education and research institutions to access and maximise the value of Janet-connected cloud, colocation, hosting, security and network services, augmenting their existing range of IT services.

Susan Bowen, Vice President and General Manager, EMEA at Cogeco Peer 1 said: Cogeco Peer 1 is working with JISC to provide the infrastructure to higher education and research institutions. DTPs partnership, which is one of a number we will be cultivating, reflects our strategic commitment to provide a comprehensive, tailored and flexible range of solutions to the sector.

Bowen added: DTP has outstanding credentials in higher education and has established itself as a leading provider of IT services to this sector. We look forward to working with DTP and its customers as they take advantage of the partnership between Cogeco Peer 1 and JISC.

Howard Hall, Group Managing Director at DTP said; We are very impressed by the range of services and the approach that Cogeco Peer 1 is offering the higher education sector, specifically through its partnership with JISC. Through this partnership we will be able to work with our customers to ensure that the advantages of the DTP, Cogeco Peer 1 and JISC offering can be applied to full effect.

Universities and research establishments can now work with DTP and use their existing high speed Janet network to connect directly to Cogeco Peer 1 and a suite of infrastructure options from colocation, to hosting, to cloud. This choice and flexibility, combined with the expertise of DTP and Cogeco Peer 1s teams will allow the UKs higher education and research facilities to put in place bespoke suites of technology infrastructure that meet the demands they face today, and make the right choices to future-proof their IT architecture for tomorrow too.
Global Power Connector Market Precise Analysis on Future Growth until 2022

Albany, New York, May 09, 2017: The global market of power connectors has changed at a high pace in the recent times. With the rapid advances in technology in recent years boasting even more compact, thing and advanced electronic equipment, the need for the modern power connectors are only ever increasing. Recently, researchers have performed a new study on the global market for power connector by analyzing market current and historical performance. This study has been broadcasted to the vast archive of Market Research hub (MRH) and titled as Global Power Connector Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022. The research provides an in-depth analysis on the current market landscape along with its future growth prospects for the forecast period of 2017 to 2022.

Request Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1065642

Geographically, the research focuses on some of the major regions including North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. The research further highlights the market status and outlook of prime countries within each region. At first, the report starts with the overview of power connectors along with its detailed market segmentation by type and applications. The power connector is a device that allows an electrical current to pass into a device. The power connector for some devices is fairly simple and is often considered as a way for an electronic component to plug into a wall outlet or other power source. Also, with the advent of wireless power connectors, power connector technology has finally taken a much-needed step forward in order to keep pace with the growing demands of newer equipment and devices. This, as a result, creates a continued demand for power connectors that are all at once less visible, more reliable and affordable.

Moreover, the research presents detailed market segmentation which includes power connector types and applications. Every type of power connector make available a right way to have a power supply that is separate from a component. There are many different types of power connectors present in the market, however, given the wide range of applications in which they have to be used. By types, it covers RF coax, Terminal block, Circular, Telecom, Heavy duty, I/O rectangular, PCB, Power, IC sockets and Fibre optics.

On the basis of applications, the market has been segregated into Auto/Transportation, Instrumentation/Industrial, Telecom/Datacom, Consumer/Medical Equipment, Computer, Peripherals and Business Equipment & others. These power connectors have properties that make them suitable for specific uses and most importantly for industrial applications for usage under very trying conditions.

Browse Full Report With TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-power-connector-market-by-manufacturers-regions-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022-report.html

In the next section, the report highlights competitive landscape of the market, by profiling major players operating globally. They are Amphenol, Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology, Delphi, TE Connectivity, Molex, ABB, 3M, Emerson and Belden Incorporated and others.
With sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra levelling serious allegation of corruption against Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party MLAs are rallying behind their chief.

By Ashutosh Mishra: With sacked Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra accusing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of corruption, the Aam Aam Party (AAP) is trying to put up a united front to fight the crisis.

Aam Aadmi Party MLAs rallied behind their leader and said that he need not respond to the allegations levelled by Kapil Mishra, who has been suspended from the party.

advertisement

Here is what some of the MLAs had to say on the controversy:

Vijender Garg, AAP MLA from Rajinder Nagar :

These are baseless allegations. There was water crisis even during the MCD polls. Delhi Chief Minister is known for his honesty, and even the Opposition accepts it. There is no need of any clarification from the chief minister. There is no need for him to speak.

Vishesh Ravi, AAP MLA from Karol Bagh :

There was water crisis even in Karol Bagh. The allegations are baseless. There is no need for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to speak on it.

Prakash Jarwal, AAP MLA from Deoli :

There was water crisis in our area during the MCD polls. Arvind Kejriwal need not speak on such baseless allegations.

Pawan Sharma, AAP MLA from Adarsh Nagar :

The allegations are baseless. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal doesn't need to respond to these things.

Bhawna Gaur, AAP MLA from Palam :

Yes, Arvind Kejriwal must come out and speak on the allegations. He will put his point.

Alka Lamba, AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk:

Kapil Mishra's allegations are a joke. Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of AAP must take action against him. Kapil Mishra must present the evidence in front of the PAC. Arvind Kejriwal need not speak on these things.

Anil Bajpai, AAP MLA from Gandhi Nagar :

No one will believe that Arvind Kejriwal is corrupt. There was a water crisis during the MCD polls, and we had complained to the chief minister.

Sanjeev Jha, AAP MLA from Burari :

There was a water crisis during the MCD polls and Kapil Mishra did not act on it. The allegations are scripted, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal doesn't need to respond to them.

ALSO READ:

Kapil Mishra submits proof against Arvind Kejriwal, aides on water tanker scam, seeks time with CBI

Irony of being Arvind Kejriwal: From anti-graft crusader to facing corruption charges

Kapil Mishra vs Arvind Kejriwal: Exclusive details of what happened behind the doors at CM residence

advertisement

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
SinglePoint Signs Reseller Agreement for High Risk Merchant Processing

SEATTLE, WA  (Marketwired)  05/09/17  SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) has signed a new agreement enabling the company to start onboarding high risk merchant accounts. SinglePoint has committed much time and resources to finding solutions for businesses that are considered high risk. Under this new agreement the company can now start onboarding these businesses. Once a business is approved they will be able to sell their products and services just as any other business does. This is another big step in solidifying SinglePoints position in the payments space. The next milestone will be working to integrate this solution into the companys Pay by Text solution.

Being able to process high risk accounts is a lucrative industry and company executives believe this is not only a viable solution but a profitable one as well. There are over 100 business types that are considered high risk including, auctions, vape pen sales, gambling, online gaming and more. The cannabis industry is projected to reach $24.5 billion by 2025. The company believes when the banks do open and start accepting cannabis businesses they will start out as a high-risk merchant.

Margins on the high-risk accounts are much larger than traditional accounts and SinglePoint team believes it can utilize its existing relationships to quickly onboard clients. The move helps position SinglePoint as a legitimate contender in the industry.

The company is working on other payment solutions that will be available for all businesses and is hopeful that development of the technology should be done in the coming months. SinglePoint CEO, Greg Lambrecht, states, We are providing multiple solutions to the cannabis space and we are trying to do the same in the payments space as well. Being able to offer a payment solution to multiple different verticals gives the company a larger target market to tap into. We believe high risk is a huge opportunity and an underserved market at this point.

The solution offers approved merchants the ability to process payments instore, online, through Point of Sale systems and soon through text message by way of SinglePoints Pay by Text technology.

SinglePoint, Inc. (SING) has grown from a full-service mobile technology provider to a publicly traded holding company. Through diversification into horizontal markets, SinglePoint is building its portfolio by acquiring an interest in undervalued subsidiaries, thereby providing a rich, diversified holding base. Through its subsidiary company the company is providing products and services to the cannabis industry.

Connect on social media at: , , and

For more information visit or

Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

SinglePoint, Inc.

Greg Lambrecht

602.481.1544
congatec announces ComX standardization initiative

Deggendorf, Germany / Tokyo, Japan, 09 May, 2017 * * * congatec  a leading technology company for embedded computer modules, single board computers and embedded design and manufacturing services  announces at the Embedded Systems Expo & Conference (ESEC 2017) in Japan (West Hall 1F , Booth W4-20) the extended standardization initiative ComX that goes beyond the current specifications for computer-on-modules. This ComX standardization targets two pillars, the API and middleware standardization including APIs for IoT Gateways or embedded features of COM Express Type 7 server-on-modules as well as approved circuit diagrams and logic for demanded carrier board implementations such as FPGA integration, switching logic for USB-C, or for SMART battery logic.

Significant improvements for design efficiency are highly demanded by embedded and IoT system engineers, who are faced with the design challenge of having to deliver more new product designs in the same or even shorter time frames. They can meet these challenges by switching from full custom, single PCB designs to more flexible designs based on application ready computer-on-modules. We can boost this efficiency even more, by offering an additional standardization on top of the computer-on-module centric specifications, explains Christian Eder, director marketing at congatec and draft editor of various PICMG and SGET specifications.

For custom specific designs, computer-on-modules deliver the vendor independent, standardized and application ready computing core, thereby making the realization of individual board configurations far less time consuming. By utilizing computer-on-modules engineers can immediately equip their designs with the latest processor technology, with the additional benefit that the modules come not only as components but also with comprehensive driver support, which is mainly focused on the module functions.

The goal of the ComX standard is to establish an additional design-in and API standardization on top of the core standards to further simplify the development of customers dedicated applications based on standardized embedded computing building blocks. ComX standardization addresses everything beyond the existing module centric standards. A selection of standardized options is showcased at the congatec ESEC booth and additional vendors are invited to help further establish the standardization of these features within the PICMG and SGET.

One highlight of the ESEC showcase is the quick boot demo based on congatecs new Qseven conga-UMX6 computer-on-module with NXPs (former Freescale) i.MX6 processors. i.MX6 processors enable a highly customizable quick boot of systems in less than a second from power off to full operation including running applications. This is vital for delivering the best user experience at maximum power savings. Typical use cases range from kiosk systems and video surveillance applications with motion detection to any other application that needs to be instantly available after an active impulse, such as in-car infotainment systems and multiple HMI/GUIs of any machinery. ComX standardization includes the CPU technology independent implementation of a carrier board. A clever designed carrier board can utilize I2S for ARM and HDA for x86 sound implementation, explains Eder.

Also brand new and impressive is the new SMARC 2.0 computer-on-module demonstration based on of Intel Atom, Celeron and Pentium processors (codename Apollo Lake) where congatec presents the implementation of fully featured USB Type C connectivity with USB 3.1 Gen1, power and graphics. By demonstrating this universally applicable form of plug & play functionality, congatec greatly simplifies the use of embedded technology. Fully featured USB-C jacks are still rare and present a real breakthrough for standardizing the fragmented world of cable-based external interconnects. Such standardization is very beneficial for system engineers as well as system integrators and device users. System engineers dont need to think about the interface setup anymore, comments Eder.

A highlight for the high-end embedded and edge sever sectors are the new COM Express Type 7 based server-on-modules offering server-grade performance and functionality with their Intel Xeon D processors, 2x 10 GbE and 32 PCIe lanes. The latter can be used for powerful intra system expansions such as GPGUs and NVMe based ultra-fast storage devices as well as multi-module configurations on one single carrier board for high performance computing (HPC) designs. Application areas for the server-on-modules can be found in various scenarios from IT and carrier-grade server farms and cloudlets to edge, fog and Industry 4.0 servers. An important standardization within the server sector was accomplished by launching the COMe Type 7 specification. Now we need to extend the EAPI standardization for server type functionality, highlights Eder.

The presentation of the new congatec Cloud API (Application Programming Interface), that is designed for IoT gateways and edge servers and a proposed element of SGETs API standardizations, rounds off the innovations displayed by congatec, one of the worlds leading vendors of boards, modules and embedded design and manufacturing services. This API is made available to become the universal hub between local sensor networks and the IoT clouds. congatecs new Cloud API for IoT Gateways communicates with local smart sensors, processes and converts the acquired data and executes automated actions based on a local rule engine, reducing traffic to the IoT cloud and enabling fast local actions. Secure bidirectional data exchange with any suitable clouds is achieved by using the TLS secured MQTT protocol. Clients can access this cloud via https in client or administrator mode. All these features make the new congatec Cloud API for IoT Gateways an ideal starting point for OEMs that wish to access smart sensor networks via IoT gateways and IoT edge servers on the basis of congatecs comprehensive boards and module offerings ranging from COM Express, Qseven and SMARC modules to Pico-ITX and Mini-ITX motherboards plus various designs on IoT gateway level. Custom specific configurations of the congatec cloud API can be made available by congatecs Embedded Design & Manufacturing Services (EDMS).

congatec also showcases its broad portfolio of embedded boards and modules based on the latest Intel Atom, Celeron and Pentium processors (codename Apollo Lake) and Intel Core processors (codename Kaby Lake).
Solar Novus Today Has Been Integrated

With Novus Light Technologies Today

Visit Novus Light Technologies Today to see all the cutting-edge stories and products that you have come to enjoy on Solar Novus Today. In addition, you will find more information on related light-based technologies.



Get the latest solar and renewable energy news delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Green Technologies newsletter





CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GREEN TECHNOLOGIES NEWSLETTER






























Sharon Foster said in a statment at the recent sentencing of Jevone Melton that her son, Jason, did not kill Jonas Williams as concluded by the six defendants charged with his death.
2022 Indiana election results: See the latest updates from St. Joseph County

Vote totals are preliminary until all are counted and certified by the St. Joseph County Election Board.
As many as 8 students and the head of Parwan Ulema Counil have been killed in a blast inside a madrassa in Afghanistan.

By India Today Web Desk: As many as 8 students and the head of Parwan Ulema Counil were killed in a blast inside a madrassa in Afghanistan, according to a local news channel.

The incident took place in Parwan province.

More details are awaited.

--- ENDS ---
The AAP has dared the Election Commission to provide it with a real EVM after party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj gave a hacking demo with a dummy voting machine in the Delhi Assembly.

By India Today Web Desk: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has dared the Election Commission to provide it with an original Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) after the central poll panel raised questions over the party's live demo of voting machine hacking in Delhi Assembly today.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj presented a demonstration during the Assembly's special session to hack an EVM. However, the voting machine the Greater Kailash MLA used was a dummy of what the Election Commission actually uses during polling.

advertisement

"Hum toh keh rahe hain aap apni EVM dijiye, motherboard change karna hai...90 second lagte hain (We are asking the Election Commission to provide us a real EVM. It takes just 90 seconds to change the motherboard of the machine.)," Arvind Kejriwal told reporters.

The Aam Aadmi Party said it will participate in the May 12 all party meeting called by the Election Commission to discuss the issue concerning EVMs. The party said it will ask the commission to announce a date for hackathon so that it can prove that EVMs can be tampered with.

Bhardwaj claimed that anyone knowing a 'secret code' can tamper with the EVMs and the code can be fed into the machine while casting vote.

The Election Commission has time and again rubbished allegations that EVMs can be programmed to favour any particular party.

Last week, the Election Commission had said that it will hold an open hackathon for people to try and hack the voting machines in the last week of May. however, dates for the hackathon are yet to be announced.

Last month, the central 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.

WATCH: Full Delhi Assembly session where AAP demonstrated EVM 'hacking' ALSO READ:

The EVM AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj hacked in Delhi Assembly was a dummy

Electronic Voting Machine: Here's all you wanted to know about India's EVMs

AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj demonstrates how EVMs can be rigged as Kejriwal faces Kapil Mishra tsunami

EVMs: Mayawati has a point, many countries have banned them since they can rig elections

--- ENDS ---
Eta Aquarids fireball and twin meteors over Half Dome, California

David Hoffman/Alamy

The Eta Aquarids are one of two annual showers caused by Halley's Comet. (The other one is the Orionids, in October.) They are named after their apparent "radiant" point in the constellation Aquarius, near one of its brightest stars, Eta Aquarii. Astrophotographer David Hoffman captured this cool photo of an Eta Aquarid fireball and twin meteors over Half Dome, California at Yosemite National Park in May 2014.

Halley's Comet

Liasion/Stringer/Getty

The comet whose trail of crumbs causes the annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower is Halley's Comet. In 1986, the two Soviet Union's two Vega spacecraft flew by the comet and snapped about 1,500 images of the icy space rock. The closest approach of Vega 1 to Halley was 5,524 miles (8,890 kilometers) while Vega 2 had a close encounter at 4,990 miles (8,030 km).

Edmond Halley

Hulton Archive/Getty

Edmond Halley (1656 - 1742) was the English scientist and astronomer who gave his name to the famous comet after accurately predicting its arrival around the year 1740. [Edmond Halley Biography: Facts, Discoveries and Quotes]

Halley's Comet

NASA

This photo of Halley's Comet was taken in April of 1986 from the Kuiper Airborne Observatory  a NASA telescope mounted on a Lockheed C141 Starliner jet. [Photos of Halley's Comet Through History]

Fireball at Devil's Tower

David Kingham/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

An Eta Aquarid fireball lights up the sky over Devils Tower, part of the Bear Lodge Mountains in Wyoming. Astrophotographer David Kingham captured this shot during the 2013 Eta Aquarid meteor shower.

Meteors over Wales

Kris Williams/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Astrophotographer Kris Williams captured this photo of an Eta Aquarid meteor from Snowdonia National Park in Wales on May 6, 2013. "Atop a peak and overlooking the classic Snowdon Horseshoe view in the distance, with the company of an old hawthorn just starting to bud for Spring, and one of the many Eta Aquarid meteors that shot overhead tonight as part of their annual storm," Williams wrote on his Flickr page.

Eta Aquarids and the Moon

Mike Lewinski/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

"To the right of the moon ... the tail is green and the leading part reddish," astrophotographer Mike Lewinski wrote when he shared this photo of an Eta Aquarid meteor on Flickr in 2013. "I debated what lens to use when shooting this shower, as experience was telling me the tails would be short. I went with the 18mm over 16mm, but am thinking now that I could have gone with the 55mm and captured this one much better," he said.

Bright Fireball

Rocky Raybell/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

Astrophotographer Rocky Raybell captured this bright fireball during the Eta Aquarid meteor shower of 2013.

Meteors & the Milky Way

Diana Robinson/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Astrophotographer Diana Robinson captured this stunning view of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower and the Milky Way from the Babcock Wildlife Refuge in Florida on May 16, 2013.

Japanese Fireball

Noriaki Tanaka/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

An Eta Aquarid fireball dashes across the sky in this photo taken by Noriaki Tanaka on May 4, 2014 in Nagano, Japan.

Eta Aquarids Southern Sky

Indigo Skies Photography/Flickr/cc BY-NC-ND 2.0

An Eta Aquarid meteor streaks across the Milky Way on May 7, 2016.
Congress has alleged the the BJP's double standard on corruption has been exposed with the Fadnavis government appointing an agency to hire Agusta choppers.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Congress has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) double standard on the issue of corruption has been exposed as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis government has appointed an agency which will hire choppers of AgustaWestland for VVIPs.

The UPA government, in 2014, banned the AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica, after which CBI and ED inquiry was initiated against them for their role in the purchase of choppers for VVIPs. The UPA government then cancelled all contracts awarded to them after finding their involvement in the case.

advertisement

"Our government took action against these corrupt and bogus companies but from the past three years the Modi government has not taken any action against them. Instead, it involved them in the Make in India or naval helicopter procurement process. Why did it do so?" questioned Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.

The Modi government had recently said that there will be no commerical relations with companies related to AgustaWestland, who were involved in the chopper scam. But now the big question is how its name appears in the government document.

BJP has refuted all the allegations levelled by the Congress spokesperson. "Modi government and Fadnavis government are clean; no scam has taken place in their tenure as yet. The BJP government doesn't support corruption and there is no chance of irregularity. Proper tender process was followed while awarding contracts," said BJP leader Shaina NC.

ALSO READ | Agusta exclusive: Top 10 disclosures made by middleman Christian Michel to India Today

ALSO READ | Agusta fugitive: I realise time is running out, will depose soon

ALSO WATCH | Agusta Westland chopper deal: India allowed to encash Rs 1,818 cr

--- ENDS ---
Jupiter's south pole is on display in an image created by a citizen scientist using data from NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Jupiter's south pole is on display in an image created by a citizen scientist using data from NASA's Juno spacecraft.

The JunoCam instrument aboard the spacecraft snaps images of the Jovian giant each time Juno makes a close flyby, every 53 days. Those images are uploaded to the JunoCam website and are available for members of the public to process.

This newest image, created by citizen scientist Gabriel Fiset, uses enhanced colors to highlight the contrasting bands in Jupiter's atmosphere. The image also shows how the planet's atmosphere is filled with small, round, swirling storms not unlike Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot. [Awesome Jupiter Photos by NASA's Juno Probe]

JunoCam collected the raw image on Dec. 11, 2016, at 9:44 a.m. PST (12:44 p.m. EST), from an altitude of about 32,400 miles (52,200 kilometers) above the planet's cloud tops. Juno's path around the planet takes the probe over Jupiter's poles, which were not photographed previously or not observed in detail. The weather patterns at the poles are "unlike anything previously seen on any of our solar system's gas-giant planets," NASA said in a statement released last September.

The JunoCam project not only lets citizen scientists process Juno's raw data and create amazing images, but also welcomes citizens to vote on which features JunoCam should photograph during each flyby. The last flyby took place on March 27, and the next one will take place on May 19. To participate in the vote, go to the JunoCam website and click on the Voting tab. The website also features the JunoCam raw images and the images processed by citizen scientists.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
One of 300 microfilm editions of the King James Bible that flew to the moon on board NASA's Apollo 14 mission.

A six-year custody dispute over miniature bibles carried by a NASA astronaut to the surface of the moon has ended with a state agency dropping its claim to the lunar artifacts.

The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, or DADS, abandoned its pursuit of the religious lunar relics in late April, just days before a court hearing was due to rule on the disposition of the microfilmed King James Bibles, which had been carried by the late moonwalker Ed Mitchell aboard NASA's Apollo 14 mission in 1971. Accordingly, an Oklahoma judge ordered that the small printed squares be returned to Tulsa-based author Carol Mersch, according to the Associated Press.

The judge's edict came just a month after a similar bible, flown around the moon on the problem-plagued Apollo 13 mission in 1970, was also returned to Mersch as part of a related, but separate ruling. [NASA's 17 Apollo Moon Missions in Pictures]

At issue was whether Mersch had been legally gifted the well-traveled bibles by a former chaplain whose idea it had been to send them (and others) to the moon, or if they belonged to the reverend's son. Mersch insisted that she was provided the artifacts by former NASA chaplain and scientist John Stout in the course of researching her 2010 book "The Apostles of Apollo," which recounted Stout's story, his founding of the Apollo Prayer League in the 1960s, and the flights of the so-called "First Lunar Bibles."

The Apollo Prayer League, a group of NASA employees who prayed together for the safe flights of the astronauts, collaborated with crew members on the Apollo 12, 13 and 14 missions to fly the microfilm bibles to the moon. Three hundred of the 1 by 1 inch (2.5 by 2.5 cm) film squares, each printed with the 1,245 pages (and 773,746 words) of the Christian holy scriptures, were launched with Mitchell's personal items on the third mission to land humans on the moon.

Out of the 300 bibles that Mitchell delivered to lunar orbit, 100 descended to the moon's surface on the lunar module Antares on Feb. 5, 1971.

(The 300 bibles that flew aboard Apollo 14, along with 212 more, first flew with Apollo 13, but that mission's mid-flight explosion prevented a landing and so they were re-flown. A single bible also flew on Apollo 12, but a packaging error led to it staying in lunar orbit.)

When Mitchell returned to Earth, he gave the bibles back to Stout, who in turn presented some of the intact squares and numerous 50-page fragments to the members of the Apollo Prayer League. A small number of remaining bibles were kept by the Stouts.

Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell (left) presents Rev. John Stout of the Apollo Prayer League with a package of flown lunar bibles in 1971. (Image credit: via collectSPACE.com)

Four decades later, Stout and his wife, Mary Helen, were deemed unable to care for themselves and declared wards of the state under the auspices of the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. According to Mersch, Stout had already given the lunar bibles to her almost two years before the state became involved.

The dispute between DADS and Mersch first came to the public's attention in 2013, three years after the state put a halt to Mersch's attempt to sell an Apollo 13 bible given to her by the Stouts. The state subsequently sought all the bibles in Mersch's possession, including eight that landed on the moon's surface on Apollo 14.

At first, the agency claimed title to the bibles to protect the Stouts' financial assets and to potentially provide a funding source for the couple's care. In the years since they were flown, Apollo 14 bibles have sold at auction for upwards of tens of thousands of dollars each.

After Stout, 94, died in 2016 (following the death of his wife two years earlier), the state continued to assert title to the bibles, arguing they should be inherited by Stout's son.

With her title to them now resolved, Mersch said she plans to honor Stout's wishes and donate some of the bibles to museums or seminaries, the Associated Press reported.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2017 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
During its first ring dive, Cassini got closer than ever to the mysterious hexagon storm at Saturn's north pole, seen here in a 2014 image from the spacecraft.

While we've known about the beautiful features of Saturn's rings for more than 400 years, the history of them and their fate remain an enigma.

A new paper published in the journal Icarus postulates that Saturn's rings will last roughly 1 billion years, which contradicts other views that the features will fade away in less than 100 million years. The recent finding is based on 2004 Cassini data showing a low number of negatively charged electrons in the central "B" ring of Saturn, the densest part of the rings  but more information will come shortly as Cassini looks closer at the rings.

Electrons are an indication of erosion within the rings. When the twin Voyager spacecraft flew by Saturn in 1980 and 1981, studies suggested there was enhanced plasma over the rings resulting from meteors coming from outside the Saturn system impacting the rings - creating plasma and gas release upon impact with ring material. This phenomenon, scientists theorized, peaked over the B-ring. However, Cassini's observations showed little evidence of plasma linked to impacts.

In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will get a better look at the rings. Cassini is now on a series of dives between Saturns rings and the planets upper atmosphere. Lead author William Farrell, a plasma physicist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, said he is looking forward to the data when Cassini crosses Saturn's magnetic field lines during the dives.

"We can use the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave System (RPWS) to study the plasma (ionized gases) throughout the magnetosphere and especially over the ring," Farrell said in an e-mail.

"The plasma actually stays trapped on the dipole magnetic field lines, bouncing up and down the field lines, he continued. In our case, the plasma over the rings will remain trapped between the rings and the magnetic footprint back near the Saturn cloud tops. So, one can sense ring-related plasma by being over the rings, or located on magnetic fields lines that connect back to the rings."

RELATED: Cassini Makes Second Saturn Ring Dive as NASA Studies Unexpected Emptiness

Farrell added that scientists will be able to directly test the Voyager-era theory against that of Cassini. If they see a lot of meteoric bombardment during the times Cassini crosses the magnetic field lines, they should see more plasma on the B-field lines connecting back to the center B ring  meaning that the rings are eroding more quickly. However, if they see low plasma density, this would mean there is not a lot of meteorite collisions in that zone, which means that the rings erode more slowly, and will last longer.

The methodology for the experiment uses "tones" of naturally emitted plasma waves, which effectively "broadcast" the local density to the spacecraft, Farrell said.

"The radio and associated 'spectrograms' are then our primary tool to search for these tones . . . imagine taking your car radio with many tens of channels and simply scanning each channel moving progressively increasing in frequency," Farrell said.

"In effect, he added, that is what these radios do, and we can then plot the intensity (color coded) as a function of frequency and scan sequence (or time) in the spectrograms ... and in doing so, these different plasma waves like auroral hiss and the electron plasma frequency become apparent."

After 13 years in Saturn's system, Cassini will conduct a series of ring dives until September, when it will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere and into oblivion in order to avoid the small chance of crashing into a potentially habitable moon, like Titan or Enceladus.

RELATED: Cassini Reveals Breathtaking New Views of Saturn's Beautifully Complex Rings

For Farrell, the mission has taken up much of his career. His thesis adviser was Don Gurnett, the principal investigator for the RPWS instrument in 1987. Farrell joined the team in 1989 when he moved to Goddard; at the time, the team was recruiting "early career" scientists who could see Cassini through to its end.

Farrell also supported the Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune in 1989, and studies plasma phenomena in other places  think lightning on Earth and other planets, dust storms on Mars, and plasma physics on the famous geyser-spouting Enceladus.

Originally published on Seeker.
US Air Force Space Shuttle X-37B Finally Unmasked







Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 08, 2017





The mysterious X-37B has ended its fourth mission, and for the first time on this flight, it has been officially unmasked. Gliding swiftly to a daylight landing at the Kennedy Space Centre after 718 days in orbit, boffins have been rewarded with detailed images and video of the robot spaceplane. That's been typical of previous missions, but it's a major unmasking for this flight. The landing marks the first time that the general public have been allowed to see the vehicle on this mission. Pr ... read more
By Press Trust of India: help in video

Dubai, May 9 (PTI) Father Tom Uzhunnalil, an Indian Catholic priest, abducted by terrorists in strife-torn Yemen, has made a fresh video appeal for urgent help after getting a "poor response" from authorities, saying his health was deteriorating quickly and required hospitalisation.

Father Tom, 58, who hails from Kerala, was abducted in March last year by a terror group. He had gone missing in Yemen after the Islamic State militant group attacked a care home run by Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity.

advertisement

Gunmen had stormed the refuge for the elderly in April last year and killed a Yemeni guard before tying up and shooting 15 other employees.

Four foreign nuns, including an Indian, working as nurses were among those killed.

Father Tom was captured from the southern Yemeni city of Aden by gunmen who killed at least 15 people at an old peoples home in an attack that was condemned by Pope Francis.

In the video carried by Aden Time news website, a frail- looking priest said, "I am Father Tom Uzhunnalil. My date of birth is August 18, 1958. I received the message of concern that you sent me my dear family people. I am thankful to you. Thank you very much".

"They (abductors) are treating me well to the extent that they are able. My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible.

"They contacted our Indian government authorities several times and I have seen the message of their response. It was very very poor," the white-bearded Father says.

The date April 15, 2017 was scribbled on a piece of paper seen on his body.

"They also contacted Bishop, Bishop of Abu Dhabi. Their too response to us was not encouraging. Neither the Bishop nor the Indian government authorities asked them what they really want to get me released. It is a poor response and I am sad about that.

"My dear family people, do what you can to help me release. Please please do what you can which helps to get me release. May god bless you for that," he added in the video.

The veracity of the video could not be ascertained.

It is not yet clear who was behind his abduction.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in December last year had said India will spare no effort to secure release of Father Tom Uzhunnalil.

Her remarks had come a day after a purported video by the priest appealing to the government to free him surfaced.

In that video, Tom was seen pleading for help from Indian government and fellow Christians including Pope Francis. However, the veracity of the video could not be ascertained.

advertisement

Members of a Saudi-led coalition, which supports exiled president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, has been battling Huthi rebels and their allies since March 2015.

A large swathe of Yemen is under the control of al-Qaeda and allied terrorist groups. PTI CPS ZH AKJ CPS

--- ENDS ---
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement
No personal law is above the Constitution and triple talaq was a violation of the fundamental rights given to citizens.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that triple talaq was a violation of the Indian Constitution and that the rights of women cannot be violated in the name of personal law.

The court's ruling came as it heard a case filed by a Muslim woman from Varanasi, with regard to harassment for dowry followed by a triple talaq by her husband Aqeel Jameel.

advertisement

A single judge bench of Justice S.P. Kesarwani also refused to quash the dowry case as demanded by Jameel, who contended that he has divorced his wife and also procured a 'fatwa' in this regard by the Darul Ifta Jama Masjid in Agra.

The court also ruled that the summon ordered to the husband by the Varanasi Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate was valid on the grounds, that prima facie the case was a criminal one as any fatwa did not enjoy the backing of law or have a legal sanctity.

No personal law is above the Constitution and triple talaq was a violation of the fundamental rights given to citizens under the Constitution's Articles 14, 15 and 21, the court said. The court also said that any fatwa that is against law cannot be accepted.

ALSO READ:

Allahabad High Court: From Indira verdict to triple talaq ruling, 5 landmark judgments

Modi at Allahabad High Court: More use of technology in judiciary crucial for new India

ALSO WATCH:

Triple talaq row: Allahabad HC says that casic rights of women cannot be violated in the name of personal law

--- ENDS ---
The AfD press conference (which the pregnant Frauke Petry, with her due date rapidly approaching, didn't attend) made it clear that the party is sticking primarily to its classic issues. Nobody knows, Gauland said, what will happen in July or August shortly before the election -- if refugee images will once again flood the television news or if Italian banks will slide into deep crisis. He also alluded to the party's deep Islamophobia: "I don't even want to imagine if there might be another terrorist attack."

Squabbling Party

Beyond the issues, though, the party has high hopes for an attribute that has long been missing from the party: unity. It is "completely clear," Gauland said on Monday, that voters aren't interested in a squabbling party. "Those times are over," he promised.

Perhaps. But first, the party's hopes lie with the deeply divided state chapter in North Rhine-Westphalia. For months, the party fought over who would get which spot on the party list ahead of the election -- and the compilation of the list for the national election has been no less turbulent. Such lists are vital in that, in a system in which the electorate votes for parties rather than candidates, they determine who ends up occupying the parliamentary seats a party wins in elections. The higher you are on the list, the better your chances to become a parliamentarian.

State party head Marcus Pretzell, who is married to Frauke Petry, is a controversial figure in the AfD, with many seeing him as an unscrupulous schemer. As the party was assembling its state list for the national elections a few weeks ago, Pretzell suffered a painful defeat, with delegates putting his long-standing opponent and state chapter co-head Martin Renner at the top of the list. Renner is part of the right-wing populist party's extreme right wing.

For an extended period, the infighting in North Rhine-Westphalia had little effect on the AfD's survey results in the state, just as national surveys have seemed to show that support remains unchanged despite the party's deep divisions. But in the first week of May, a survey found that only 6 percent of North-Rhine Westphalian voters plan to cast their ballots for the AfD, down from double-digit support just a few weeks ago. It is the worst survey result for the party since December 2015.

Such an outcome, of course, would be a disaster for the party in the final state vote before national elections. And it would almost certainly fuel even more speculation about the party's possible demise.
Resistence in Berlin

Germany, in particular, isn't happy with the situation, as Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen recently tried to make clear to Stoltenberg. On a Thursday morning at the end of April, the two met for breakfast in a five-star hotel in Malta during a summit of European defense ministers. Their table was filled with croissants and silver coffee pots, but the seating arrangement made it look more like a stand-off. Von der Leyen took a seat directly across from Stoltenberg and both were flanked by advisers. Security guards stood at the doors with earpieces.

The meeting between the two was to focus on the upcoming NATO summit with Trump and on Germany's defense spending, but von der Leyen first wanted to talk about Canada. The German minister knows she can expect little understanding if Europe's economic superpower, of all countries, shirks on its obligation. Even though Germany's defense budget did increase by 8 percent last year, the country is still far from reaching the 2-percent target.

Von der Leyen pointed out that Canada is currently only spending about 1 percent of GDP on defense, only half the pledged amount. Of course, the Canadians are also providing most of the soldiers necessary for the rapid reaction force recently stationed in Latvia in order to protect NATO's flank against the Russian threat, which also must be factored in.

Von der Leyen wants to supplementTrump's plans for annual reporting with a so-called "activity list" that would cover aspects like the Canadian troop deployment and similar services that come in addition to defense budgets. She believes that, if calculated according to this methodology, Germany would look much better in an international comparison. Germany's military, after all, is a major supplier of troops to the alliance in missions from Afghanistan to Kosovo. It is also involved in European Union missions, like the one in Mali. Stoltenberg promised he would look into the idea. "If we can better measure activities, then I would be open to that," he said.

'Strong Challenges'

Stoltenberg understands the difficulties faced by politicians. He served an extended tenure as the prime minister of Norway and he knows that politicians would prefer to invest taxpayer money into schools and streets than to buy tanks and fighter jets. "I regret that we are in a situation in which we have to spend more money," he says. "But the security situation has changed." He says he finds it surprising that German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and chancellor candidate Martin Schulz, who, like Stoltenberg, are center-left Social Democrats, have made their anti-arms positions a major issue in this year's election campaign. In an admonishment to his party allies to not forget their own history, Stoltenberg says, referencing the NATO Double-Track Decision: "Defense and dialogue go together - that's the realization Social Democrats came to in the 1970s."

In contrast to Stoltenberg, the Americans have been considerably more assertive in an effort to ensure their president's upcoming Brussels visit is a success. Trump is under pressure domestically and a policy victory from Brussels could help. Especially "on the issue of NATO in the south," the alliance is "confronted with strong challenges for greater visibility," one NATO diplomat wrote in a cable back to his home country. In other words, Trump isn't just seeking money: He also wants to see increased engagement. At the recent summit of NATO ambassadors, the Americans made the issue official: They want NATO to formally join the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.

Some Europeans remain hesitant. The Germans and the French have argued that all NATO members are already involved in deployments against Islamic State. Germany, for example, has deployed Tornado aircraft to conduct air reconnaissance in Syria. Official NATO membership in the coalition, they argue, would change little and could even be harmful, handing the terrorists a pretext to brand the intervention as a Western crusade.

On the other hand, the demand from Washington opens the door to a possible deal. NATO could formally join the anti-IS operation, but member states would not be required to do more than they already are. In return, the U.S. would show lenience on the 2-percent target.

Stoltenberg is familiar with the sensitivities and he is trying to build bridges. "No one expects the participation of NATO soldiers in the Syrian civil war and it's also not up for debate," he says. But NATO troops have been training anti-IS fighters in Iraq since January and he could imagine increasing their number. "The training of local forces, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, is in my view one of the best weapons for fighting terror," he says. In addition, the alliance is also considering using its AWACs flights not just for reconnaissance, but also to better direct coalition aircraft over Syrian air space. "It's conceivable that we will rely more heavily on the AWACs aircraft above Turkey," Stoltenberg says.

A bit more of the same, in other words - and it seems doubtful whether it would be enough for Trump. And the Americans have even taken it upon themselves to provide visible evidence of how seriously NATO takes the war on terror. As a sort of reminder to the Europeans, the president plans to unveil a sculpture in front of the new NATO headquarters himself. It's made of metal ruins from the World Trade Center - a remnant of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Shaheed El-Hafed (Refugee Camps), 8 May 2017 (SPS)  Prime Minister, Abdelkader Talab Omar, received Monday Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelino Medina Gonzalez, who is on a working visit in the Sahrawi Republic.

The Prime Minister, who was speaking to the national media, described the visit as an important visit, in excellent time to respond to Moroccan propaganda, and to emphasize the strength of the principled relations between Cuba and the Sahrawi Republic. This has been confirmed to us by Mr. Marcelino Medina Gonzalez, that Cuba's position, no matter how international situation changes, it will always remain firm. (SPS)

062/090/TRA
Oslo, Norway, 09 May 2017 (SPS) - the representative of the Frente POLISARIO in Norway, Dr. Limam Khalil, has attended the 34th Congress of the Norwegian Trade Union Confederation (NFTU), which started on Monday in Oslo.

Delegates representing more than 35 countries, as well as many international trade union organizations, will attend the conference. The conference is expected to endorse the position of the Confederation of Norwegian Trade Unions on a number of international issues, including the issue of decolonization in Western Sahara.

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions is the largest and most influential trade union in Norway, with about 900,000 members, of whom about 45 percent are women. The Union was founded in 1899 and has 22 trade union organizations under its umbrella, making it a major influence and having a crucial role in Norwegian politics. SPS

125/090/TRA
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Jason Rearick / Jason Rearick Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Jason Rearick / Jason Rearick Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Jason Rearick / Jason Rearick Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Recognizing and preparing for potential threats to Jewish institutions will be the subject of a talk by security consultant Doron Horowitzs Keeping Our Jewish Community Safe, at 7 p.m. Thursday at New Canaan Library, 151 Main St., New Canaan.

Horowitz is a senior security advisor at Secure Community Network, a non-profit security group that assists and consults Jewish institutions to improve their security, Laura Steinberg, a spokeswoman for the Jewish Community Relations Council. The council, is a recently formed body including officials of local Jewish groups who will cooperate to advance advocacy for Jewish causes, ensuring security, and interfaith cooperation among other goals.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

STAMFORD  A lucky number UConn Stamford students this fall will be the first to have a classic dorm experience  including some luxury add-ons  rather than commuting from home.

The new dorms on Washington Boulevard, just a block from the Broad Street campus, are outfitted with full kitchens, granite countertops, walk-in closets, and even multiple full bathrooms in some cases.

We dont have a meal plan - thats the complaint we get on occasion - but the students can boil water and eat ramen or mac and cheese off granite, campus director Terrence Cheng said, leaning against a glistening countertop during a tour of the residence hall.

The dorms resemble the swanky digs that have become a trademark of downtown Stamford living, as a previous plan for the building was a high-end residential development  until UConn swooped in last spring.

The apartment-like dorms have generated a new level of interest in the Stamford campus, which welcomes about 370 freshmen every fall. Cheng said the dorms will allow that number to reach 500.

Before students even started committing, we were watching just application numbers for the Stamford campus and those numbers were trending incredibly high, skyrocketing by about 600 percent, Cheng said. Immediately knowing that there was a residence hall that was going to be open, we saw the impact right away in the applications.

Among that huge pool of college hopefuls was a surprising number of in-state applications, as UConn Stamford moves away from its role as a commuter campus mostly serving Fairfield County.

Its obvious that our campus has become a much more viable option to students in state than ever before, Cheng said.

The deadline to apply for a bed in the new dormitory building was April 15, and Cheng says there are more than 400 active applications for the 290 beds available for the fall semester. Most of those interested are incoming freshmen, with a small number from existing students on campus.

Cheng expects the building will be completely full come move-in day on Aug. 25.

Pay to play

The luxury at 900 Washington Boulevard wont come cheap.

Rooms in the new residence hall run about $150 a month more than the average Storrs dorm with a starting price of $995 per bed. But its a bargain compared with a downtown Stamfords pricey housing market, where the average renter pays close to $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

Some dormitory-environment features will remain. Every student, except for two Resident Assistants on each floor, will share a bedroom and a closet with a roommate. Without a cafeteria, the students will also be responsible for feeding themselves.

The pricing is not cheap, especially as you get higher upmore square footage, more glass exposureyoure going to have to pay for that, Cheng said. But look at where youre situated to campus, to downtown, to the city as a whole. Youre in a prime location.

Students also wont need to pay for electricity, hot water, phone bills or cable and internet bills. Every room will be equipped with wi-fi, a basic cable package and even a landline, so the university always has a way to track down students.

Following a tour at the residence hall last month with prospective UConn Stamford students, cost of living didnt appear to be a point of contention  much to Chengs relief.

I thought we would have a little more obvious concern over the price, he said. After walking hundreds of students and their families through these buildings, we didnt hear any of that at all.

Preparing

With a huge population influx and two properties to keep track of, UConn Stamford is doubling its campus police staff to 10 officers.

In preparation for campus housing and the fact that were going to be a 24-hour campus, we have to bring on these new officers, Cheng said. A new lieutenant will be joining the force down here as well. This will allow us to have 24/7, two-man shifts of UConn officers that are responsible for the main campus as well as the residence hall.

The university will also hire a security firm to man the front desk of the new building.

With the last finishing touch  a UConn sign  on the way in the coming months, reality is starting to set in for Cheng.

When you do something brand new that no one has ever done before, theres always that fear like Is this going to work? Cheng said. The way things are trending right now though, it looks like even if we dont hit our mark (for occupancy) were going to come very close to that mark.

The Stamford campus, which already offers more four-year degrees than any other UConn satellite campus, is also adding courses, faculty and expanding its degree offerings.

A new computer science major coming this fall will be the 15th undergraduate degree UConn Stamford students can complete without transferring to Storrs.

If you look at other regional campuses, theyre offering five majors, maybe six, and were offering fifteen, so I think that changes the nature of the campus along with the fact that now we have a residence hall, Cheng said.
Shah, who is on 95-day visit to all the states, will be in the Mumbai between June 16 and 18.

By Kiran Tare: BJP president Amit Shah is likely to interact with 1,000 intellectuals from various fields during his visit to Mumbai in June.

Shah, who is on 95-day visit to all the states, will be in the city between June 16 and 18. He is expected to interact with the ministers, BJP officials and the intellectuals at different timing to know their perspective about the party.

advertisement

"We have almost finalised his schedule," said state BJP general secretary Sujitsinh Thakur. "Amitbhai has instructed us to prepare the schedule in a way that every second of his time is utilised for the party work," he said.

The state BJP has finalised the list of 1,000 intellectuals to be invited for interaction with Shah. "Yes, the entry at the venue will be by invitation only," Thakur said. He added that those will be the people who have done excellent work in their respective fields.

Shah has planned separate meetings with the leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the other organisation within the Sangh Parivar as well as the constituent parties of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He will also meet the "future constituents" of the NDA. However, it is not yet clear whether he will hold one-to-one talks with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Shah also has asked the state unit to prepare a dossier on the party's strengths and weaknesses in the state. He is going to take a review of each and every Lok Sabha constituency with details on why the party had won/lost the seat in last election.

BJP believes that its proposed 'vistarak' scheme will get a boost during Shah's visit. Under the scheme, every official and minister is expected to work in areas apart from their working area for a fortnight. One vistarak will work in 10 booths and explain the social welfare schemes of the government at the Centre and the state to the common people. "The scheme is scheduled to last till September. We expect it to turn out as a grand success," said Thakur.

--- ENDS ---
A mong the many observations to come from the worlds most famous investor, Warren Buffett, at last weekends annual meeting of his company Berkshire Hathaway, was his observation that the most successful companies of today  businesses such as Apple, Google and Facebook  do not need large amounts of capital from outside investors in order to keep growing. They are quite different from the leading businesses of the past in not needing capital and in not much needing outside investors either.

It makes you wonder what a stock market is for in these modern times. Economist John Kay in his review a few years ago pointed out how little market activity had to do with raising capital for business, and how it was much more focused on finding ways for investors to extract capital from businesses. The bulk of what takes place is secondary trading  the buying and selling of existing shares between investors.

That, however, is a legitimate function, and meets a real need  witness the decision announced yesterday by crowdfunding site Seedrs. Its primary role is to raise capital for start-ups and small expanding businesses by running a platform through which it puts those with money in touch with those who need it.

However, because these are private businesses, there is no easy way for investors to sell the shares once bought, unless the business as a whole is sold. Otherwise investors are, in effect, locked in and this understandably puts some of them off.

Seedrs wants to make it easier for these investors to sell if they have to, and for others to buy more if they want to. It has therefore announced plans for an exchange which it hopes will become a marketplace for the shares in the companies for which it has raised capital. This will obviously provide a service to existing investors and  to the extent that it can create a secondary market  obviously widen the appeal of the platform to others.

Another effort to use stock markets to meet a genuine need is under way at the Nex Exchange , the spin-out of the markets infrastructure business which used to be hidden inside Icap.

When he headed the Carbon Trading Exchange, Patrick Birley built it up and sold it for a serious amount of money to the US-based Intercontinental Exchange. Now he runs Nex and is an evangelist for the traditional old-style stock exchange. He has in place, and is looking to build, a market where small companies can get a listing and raise equity capital for expansion without having to pay a fortune for the service.

The London Stock Exchange will say that this is what the Alternative Investment Market does but most people think Aim has lost the plot: it is simply too expensive. By way of comparison, Birley says that whereas an Aim listing would typically cost 350,000 he could do it on Nex for 75,000. The follow-on listing fees will also be just a fraction of what Aim companies generally have to pay.

He also believes that many private firms do not want to raise money but do want a listing, and for the same reasons identified by Seedrs  that there are always some who for one reason or another want to buy or sell. He sees a major part of the service as simply providing such a public price at which transactions can take place.

Some people might think they have heard all this before. Londons history is littered with failed efforts to create a cheap efficient stock exchange to provide a service to small companies and most have failed because they could not get enough business to cover their costs.

Nex is different in that it has affluent backers  including Michael Spencer  and because technology is making these things much cheaper to run. Investing in new private companies is attractive too because, at a time when tax is high and will rise further whoever wins the election, it can, if properly structured, provide very generous tax reliefs.

But it is also different in capturing the mood of the time. There is a growing understanding of the importance of equity, not only as a reliable source of finance for small businesses, but as a vehicle to help the majority of people re-engage with capitalism and feel they have a genuine stake in the system.

If they do not, it is hard to see how any will save successfully to fund a future pension, or indeed why they should bother. If they can be encouraged to it, and if the regulatory authorities can be persuaded to make it as easy to invest in equities as it is to lose money on a hopeless nag in the Grand National, it could lay the foundations for an altogether fairer and more dynamic economy.

There is a long way to go on this front, but the equity capital markets in this country badly need to re-discover their sense of purpose and what they are there for. They may still be small, but these are encouraging signs.
U S hedge fund Elliott took legal action to try to force out AkzoNobels chairman today after slamming the Dulux owners decision to reject a third takeover offer from Pittsburgh Plate Glass as arrogant.

Elliott said the Akzo boards rebuff of the 26.9 billion (22.7 billion) offer from PPG showed a disturbing and inexplicable tendency to act in their own, self-entrenching interests.

The activist investor, which owns a stake in Akzo, has filed a petition at the Dutch Enterprise Chamber to force Akzo to hold an emergency vote on whether chairman Antony Burgmans should stay in his role.

Akzo rejected PPGs bid yesterday, saying the offer undervalued it and was too risky. The company is proposing to hive off a chemical division and boost the dividend as an alternative.

Eight of the funds top 20 investors have publicly called on the Akzo board, led by Burgmans, to enter discussions with PPG about the offer, Elliott said.

PPGs chief Michael McGarry held a meeting with Burgmans and Akzo chief Ton Buchner last weekend.

Akzo Nobel said it acted to "the highest standards of Dutch Corporate Governance" and did not see how Burgmans' dismissal would be "beneficial" to shareholders and stakeholders.
L loyds of London chief Inga Beale today urged the next government to fight the Citys corner in Brexit negotiations after alarming figures showed Londons crown as a global insurance hub was under threat.

Beale, who is setting up an EU subsidiary in Brussels for Lloyds to get around Brexit, called on the next prime minister to put expansive trade deals at the top of the agenda to reverse a concerning slump in business from emerging markets.

If City firms are to continue to grow and support our economy it is critical the UK improves its access to international markets, she said. We ask for reassurance from the government that access to talent and expansive trade deals, particularly with the fastest-growing economies in the world, will be top priorities.

She added the government should do more to halt worrying levels of protectionism overseas which are impeding Londons ability to trade abroad.

The stark call comes after fresh figures showed that the London markets share of insurance growth from emerging markets in Asia and Latin America was drying up despite booming growth.

The figures, included in a landmark study from the Boston Consulting Group and trade body London Market Group today, showed premiums from emerging markets declined to $9.3 billion (7.2 billion) in 2015 from $10.5 billion in 2013.

Londons share of the global reinsurance market fell to 12.3% from 13.4%.

The move will put further pressure on the next government, due to be elected on June 8, to come up with a trade policy to help Londons $90 billion insurance market make better foreign links.

As Lloyds is trying to boost business abroad  it recently opened an office in Mumbai  BCG partner Paul Clark said the slump showed Londons long-term competitiveness was under threat.

The market must redefine its relationship with emerging markets and work with regulators, he said. Brexit could be an opportunity to deliver both.

Beale, the 329-year-old institutions first female chief executive, added that the London market had to do more on diversity after the study found the number of women in the market had fallen to 41% from 43%.

Of those, just 5% were in executive positions compared with a FTSE 100 average of 21%.

We need to do much better, she said. Change is long overdue.
Earlier today, Mishra, who was sacked as Delhi's Water Minister last week, filed CBI complaints against Kejriwal, his relatives and other AAP leaders for corruption. He handed over three sealed envelops to the CBI that he called "evidence" of Kejriwal's corruption.

"I have registered three complaints. First on the exchange of cash between Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain. Second on the firm owned by Kejriwal's relatives involved in PWD and a Chhatarpur farmhouse land deal... The third is on the foreign trips by five AAP leaders," Mishra told reporters after filing the complaints.

Mishra also sought details about the foreign trips of AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chadha, Satyendar Jain and Durgesh Pathak by Wednesday morning and threatened to go on a hunger strike if the AAP failed to do so.

"In the last two years, which countries did they visit, where did they stay, who bore the expenses, whom did they meet and what are those deals that they entered into?" Mishra asked.

Mishra also alleged that there had been "illegal funding" during the Punjab elections and that tickets were "sold" by the party during the Delhi civic polls.

Earlier in the morning, Mishra wrote an open letter to Kejriwal challenging him to a poll battle. In the letter, Mishra said he will register an FIR against Kejriwal.

Mishra approached the CBI a day after he was suspended from the AAP after he levelled fresh corruption allegations against Kejriwal.

Stung by charges of corruption by his former protege, Kejriwal chose to maintain an stoic silence on the issue at the special session of the Delhi Assembly today.

Since Saturday when Mishra was sacked from the post of Delhi minister and later suspended, the Delhi Chief Minister had not spoken to the media. He only posted a few tweets.
O nline musical instruments retailer Gear4music today proved it has hit the right note with customers, reporting record annual sales and profits.

The company, which listed on AIM in 2015, smashed its own expectations as revenues surged 58% to 56.1 million in the year ended in February. Underlying operating profits almost tripled to 2.6 million.

Expansion overseas, including the addition of distribution hubs in Sweden and Germany, triggered a 124% rise in international sales, while revenue from own-brand goods rose 58%.

Chief executive Andrew Wass said new, specialist products, like carbon-fibre bows for violins and cellos, contributed to the performance, as did smaller than usual guitars, known as travel guitars, and digital pianos costing under 300.

Gear4musics growth helped it mitigate the impact of the pounds fall in value to keep prices sensible for customers, he added.

Shares in Gear4music, which did not propose a dividend, rose 28.4p, or almost 5%, to 626.4p.
G oldman Sachs is shaking up the leadership of its dealmaking arm, sending Wall Street executive Marc Nachmann to London as part of the overhaul.

Nachmann, a 46-year-old German who joined the bank in 1994, is regarded as a derivatives and hedging expert. He becomes co-head of investment banking.

He will be joined in that role by Gregg Lemkau, 47, a noted dealmaker who worked on Verizons takeover of Yahoo and is an investor in Gwyneth Paltrows blog Goop.

John Waldron, also co-head of investment banking, remains in place as part of a three-pronged team. The shake-up is a response to former Goldman president Gary Cohn taking a role at the White House.

In London, Richard Gnodde makes way at the investment banking arm to focus on running Goldman in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Bank watchers say this is a sign that Gnodde is moving upwards in seniority rather than being sidelined.

One City watcher said: The move makes sense, given Gnodde is now sole head of Europe with Michael Sherwood gone, but interesting they didnt have a European strong enough to step up to be one of the three co-heads.

A statement from Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said: Alongside John Waldron, Gregg and Marc will lead our efforts to continue to solidify and grow our pre-eminent investment banking franchise around the world. Gregg and Marc have worked closely with many of our clients around the world on their most significant transactions.

Their deep and expansive understanding of industries and markets has helped further establish and define our global franchise as a leading adviser and financier.
E n garde! Let the fight commence. Can Emmanuel Macron fulfil his ambition to establish Paris as capital of the post-Brexit EU, and give Londons financial giants a bloody nose into the bargain?

Macron hopes to bring home some of the third of a million French who fled his countrys disastrous economy in recent years, most of them now living in London. As he said here on a campaign trip last February, Banks, talent, researchers, academics, well have you back.

As a former Rothschild banker he above all he wants to grab some of Londons lucrative financial services to reinforce Paris as already the eurozones chief finance centre, stock market and insurance broker. Already French officials in Brussels are lobbying hard to regulate the soon to be offshore Britain out of eurozone currency dealing. Their aim is to lure back 20,000 of the Citys bankers and fund managers and associated staff.

The Evening Standard is based deep in Macron country on the fringe of Londons French quarter, where aversion to Frances outgoing President Francois Hollande has been intense. The joke is that the French moved to neighbouring Holland Park to be reminded of their hated leader. Asked if they will return, the answer is still no, absolutely no, but when pressed there is a peut-etre, un jour.

Much will depend on Macrons ability to amend Frances restrictive labour laws and onerous wealth taxes, universally cited for driving an exodus of businesses and staff to London that is reminiscent of the 17th-century Huguenots. But much will also depend on whether Paris can lift the cloud of tiredness and depression that I have sensed on recent visits. It lacks that strange attractor of a modern high-tech economy, the lifestyle and fizz that magnetises young talent.

Emmanuel Macron says he will defend France and its vital interests

I like asking Londoners which they regard as their second city, New York or Paris. There is always a hesitation. New York is a noisy brass band, its towering canyons filled with a cacophony of novelty and enterprise. It is the other side of Londons coin: the same language, the same shows, the same styles, even the same celebrities moving back and forth. Even if the cabs are rubbish and the streets demonic, it is a city that keeps you on your toes. New York is hot.

Paris in comparison is a soft, je-ne-regrette-rien sort of a place. Its reputation as a forcing house of youthful romance is now challenged by Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, even Berlin. To its critics it has ossified into a tourist attraction that never changes, dignified but fixed in her ways.

Yet stepping off the Eurostar, even into the squalid Gare du Nord, still evokes that old excitement. Paris remains a city of intense beauty, in its buildings, museums, boulevards, river and language. To stand on the Pont Royal and compare the scene with Waterloo Bridge is painful. Londons public face has become a ravaged, pock-marked mess. No one festoons its bridges with padlocks of love. Paris is still a city that makes people hold hands.

How its appeal will factor in the upcoming war of the eurobond arbitrageurs is too soon to tell. I am not sure how susceptible bankers are to absinthe, Boul Mich and cinq-a-sept. When in the Eighties the Americans at Morgan Stanley had to decide where to locate in Europe  to Paris, Brussels or London  London won for a simple reason. Migrating families wanted somewhere to live that spoke English.

That is beginning to change. Despite the dismissive remarks of Jean-Claude Juncker, English is becoming the language of Europes citizens of nowhere. It is heard in every street and cafe. It is used in most continental universities, from Berlins Humboldt to Pariss Sorbonne. English  or at least bad English  is the language of business, transport and diplomacy. It forms and re-forms its local dialects. As Stephen Fry puts it: French is a virgin that needs constant protection, English is a shameless whore.

Certainly no other EU city can compete with Paris as capital of the new Europe. Brussels is provincial and Frankfurt boring. Berlin might pose a challenge, but not yet. Those of us who feel London could do with a dilution of its post-2008 cockiness may welcome some competition, even from Paris. The elegant lady of the Seine, with her nose in the air, would make a good rival to the whore of the Thames, currently pulling faces and sticking out its tongue across the Channel.

I still think London will win any such contest, just as I still regard New York as Londons most significant other. Its cultural affinity with London, rooted in a shared language and literature, has been one part of the special relationship the US has with Britain that means something. Paris has always been a bit on the side, a mistress among European capitals. London without New York would be a quite different city. It would lose part of itself. If London had no Paris, it would make do with Rome.

Of course it will not come to this. London will lose some of its edge, and Paris will regain some of its self-assurance. There may be fewer patisseries handing out pain au chocolat to expat voters in South Kensington. (Do British voters in Paris get pints of beer?) A few thousand cosmopolitan bankers will up sticks for the Bois de Boulogne, their teenage children protesting. Two million Londoners will continue to visit Paris each year and two million Parisians will return the compliment.

What would be ridiculous is for such rivalry to become beggar-my-neighbour. Paris has just overwhelmingly rejected an anti-EU candidate for president, just as London last year rejected Brexit. Citizens of London and Paris have the same outlook on Europe, the same interest in the softest possible Brexit and in pressing the EU towards reform. The two cities have every reason for staying close. Let rivalry be of the friendliest sort.
Six months on from Prince Harry's public confirmation of his relationship with Meghan Markle via an emotional appeal to be left alone, the couple this weekend made their first public appearance together.

Attending the Audi Polo Challenge on Saturday, Markle stepped out in a navy blue dress with an asymmetrical hemline and an elegant double-breasted design.

Paired with Aquazzura heels and later in the day with a cream Aritzia blazer, the dress was the perfect fusion of classic staple elements with modern tailoring.

Having sparked a minor social media storm with fans wondering who the dress was by, it has now been confirmed as an Antonio Berardi design from the British brand's 2017 resort collection.

Meghan Markle at the Polo on May 6 / David Hartley/Rex/Shutterstock

Their appearance together comes just two weeks before the Duchess of Cambridge's sister Pippa Middleton's wedding to James Matthews, for which there has been wild speculation as to whether Markle's name will even be on the guest list.

Meghan and Prince Harry share a kiss at the Polo (David Hartley/Rex) / Rex Features

And with it now seeming certain that the Suits star will in fact be in attendance, the long-awaited day will now be all the more highly anticipated by fashion critics.

Pippa Middleton - style file 1 /56 Pippa Middleton - style file July 21, 2016 Out and about in London Beretta/Sims/Rex September 17, 2008 At the Day-Glo Midnight Roller Disco at the Renaissance Rooms in Vauxhall to Raise Money for Charity Organised by Kate Middleton Dominic O'Neill/Rex September 25, 2008 At the End of Summer Ball in Berkeley Square Chris Jackson/Getty October 14, 2009 At the Tatler 300th anniversary party Neil Mockford/Getty April 29, 2011 At sister Kate Middleton's wedding to Prince William Paul Rogers/AFP/Getty May 19, 2011 Out and about in London Beretta/Sims/Rex June 9, 2011 At the AEGON Championships at Queens Club Clive Brunskill/Getty August 22, 2011 Walking across the street in Chelsea Beretta/Sims/Rex September 19, 2011 At the Temperley runway show during London Fashion Week Tim Whitby/Getty October 1, 2011 At the Boodles Boxing Ball in aid of the Starlight Foundation at The Plaza Hotel Rex October 11, 2011 Out and about in London Martin Karius/Rex October 13, 2011 At the 'Too Many Women' Autumn Dinner & Allsaints Party For Breakthrough Breast Cancer Richard Young/Rex November 16, 2011 Out and about in London Beretta/Sims/Rex January 9, 2012 Out and about in London Beretta/Sims/Rex January 11, 2012 Out and about in London Martin Karius/Rex July 8, 2012 At Wimbledon Clive Brunskill/Getty September 5, 2012 At the US Open Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty September 5, 2012 Jumping out of a taxi in Manhattan Buzz Foto/Rex September 6, 2012 Out for lunch at the Soho House in Meatpacking District Buzz Foto/Rex October 25, 2012 At her book launch party Danny Martindale/Getty December 11, 2012 Promoting the Dutch edition of her book 'Celebrate: A Year of British Festivities for Families and Friends' in a bookstore in Haarlem Robin Van Lonkhuijsen/AFP/Getty March 12, 2013 Out and about in London Rex March 14, 2013 At the Cheltenham Festival Danny Martindale/Getty May 22, 2013 During the Waitrose Summer Party at the Natural History Museum Beretta/Sims/Rex September 21, 2013 At the Boodles Boxing Ball at Grosvenor House Rex September 24, 2013 At the Vanity Fair & Serpentine Sackler Gallery VIP dinner Richard Young/Rex March 13, 2014 At the David Frost memorial service Tim Rooke/Rex June 10, 2014 At the Aegon Championships Getty Images June 26, 2014 At Wimbledon Jan Kruger/Getty September 2, 2014 At the GQ Men of the Year awards at The Royal Opera House Anthony Harvey/Getty September 19, 2014 At the the wedding ceremony of her friends, Charlie Gilkes and Anneke von Trotha Taylor, at the Carlo V Castle in Monopoli AFP/Getty March 31, 2015 At the Spectator Life 3rd Birthday Party Stephen Coke/Rex February 10, 2015 At the British Heart Foundation Roll Out The Red Ball event Getty Images September 12, 2015 At the Boodles Boxing Ball at The Grosvenor House Hotel Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty February 11, 2016 British Heart Foundation: Roll Out The Red Ball Event Getty Images July 9, 2016 At Wimbledon Ray Tang/Rex July 18, 2016 At the Frost Summer Party David Fisher/Rex September 12, 2016 At BGC Annual Global Charity Day Getty Images May 20, 2017 With James Matthews after their wedding at St Mark's Chuch Getty Images May 19, 2018 With James Matthews at Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding Getty Images October 12, 2018 With James Matthews before Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's wedding Getty Images February 27, 2019 At the British Heart Foundation Beating Hearts Ball Getty Images

Often compared to Kate Middleton and yet a style icon within her own right, Markle's choice of dress will be of particular interest to many thanks to her recent penchant for British creations.

We round up 6 of her favourite British-based designers and discuss the likelihood that they'll make the cut.

Erdem

A popular choice among both Kate and Pippa Middleton, Markle wore a dress by the British designer in March to accompany Prince Harry to a friend's wedding in Jamaica. A Pre-Fall 2017 piece, the gown featured a heavy bird-print in shades of green, navy and white, suggesting the star's classic sartorial sense isn't entirely one-dimensional.

Likelihood: 8/10

Kate Middleton wearing an Erdem design (Getty Images)

Antonio Berardi

While perhaps unlikely that the actress will plump for the same designer twice in two weeks, Berardi's signature tailoring combined with his experimental use of silk and marabou feathers this season make the brand a tempting choice for wedding season.

Likelihood: 6/10

Antonio Berardi SS17 at London Fashion Week 1 /24 Antonio Berardi SS17 at London Fashion Week Antonio Berardi at LFW Models walk the SS17 finale Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty Antonio Berardi at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Tim P. Whitby/Getty

Burberry

One of the most quintessentially British designers, Markle has previously shown a keenness for a number of Burberry pieces. But while her wardrobe boasts several of the brand's big hitters, they tend to be within the realm of accessories. While it is not at all unlikely that the actress will wear a shoe or coat by the brand, we are yet to see too much evidence that she will wear a complete look.

Likelihood: 5/10

Burberry SS17 at London Fashion Week 1 /74 Burberry SS17 at London Fashion Week Burberry at LFW Kris Wu, Adwoa Aboah, Cara Delevingne, Lily James and Felicity Jones Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Samantha Cameron, Natalie Massenet and Caroline Rush Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Cara Delevingne Ian West/PA Burberry at LFW Jourdan Dunn Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Edie Campbell Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Erin O'Connor Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Freida Pinto Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Laura Bailey Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Olivia Palermo Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Felicity Jones Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Lily James Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Jenna Coleman Joel Ryan/Invision/AP Burberry at LFW Alexa Chung Ian West/PA Burberry at LFW Lady Amelia Windsor Ian West/PA Burberry at LFW Cara Delevingne Dave Benett Burberry at LFW Donna Air Ian West/PA Burberry at LFW Anna Wintour Joel Ryan/Invision/AP Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW Models walk the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW A model walks the SS17 runway Jeff Moore Burberry at LFW Christopher Bailey Jeff Moore

Victoria Beckham

Despite a public fondness of Victoria Beckham dresses, Markle previously admitted to Glamour magazine that while she "love[s] Victoria Beckham dresses", she "[doesn't] have the long torso to support that silhouette". If recent rumours are to be believed, however, Beckham is very keen to dress the actress. Could custom VB be on the cards?

Likelihood: 4/10

Victoria Beckham SS17 at New York Fashion Week 1 /40 Victoria Beckham SS17 at New York Fashion Week Victoria Beckham at NYFW David and Brooklyn Beckham arrive at Victoria's SS17 show Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW David and Brooklyn take their seats Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW Anna Wintour sits front row Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW Models walk the SS17 runway Trevor Collens/AFP/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW A model walks the SS17 runway Neilson Barnard/Getty Victoria Beckham at NYFW Victoria acknowledges her audience Neilson Barnard/Getty

Mulberry

Another favourite of the star's, Markle has stepped out over the last few months showcasing no less than four Mulberry bags - with a royal blue Bayswater having sold out immediately after she was spotted carrying one over Christmas. Another of her favourite accessories brands, it remains to be seen whether she is equally fond of the brand's gowns.

Likelihood: 4/10

Mulberry AW16 at London Fashion Week 1 /16 Mulberry AW16 at London Fashion Week Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry A model walks the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Models walk the AW16 runway Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Mulberry Creative director Johnny Coca greets his audience Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty

Hunter

One of her staple shoes, Markle is frequently snapped wearing a pair of Hunter wellington boots.

But while a popular choice amongst both the royals and the Middletons - and with the wedding set to take place at picture-perfect country church St Marks in Berkshire as opposed to a muddy field - it seems unlikely that this particular pair will be making an appearance on the big day.

Likelihood: 1/10
A fter 62 years, the Eurovision Song Contest remains as wonderfully ridiculous as ever.

The annual chance for countries to show their utter contempt for each other through the pointless scoring of fairly dreadful songs takes place this Saturday May 12 at 8pm.

Despite jiggery-pokery with the scoring a few years ago, Britain naturally havent a hope of winning in Lisbon: our odds are presently around 100/1.

The best we can do is to party like hell and hope for the occasional sympathy point. However it goes, there are plenty of Euro-tastic happenings if you want to get out and enjoy the debacle  sorry, spectacle.

Nordic Bar

Nordic is a wonderfully trashy Scandi-themed bar, so there's a good chance you'll find groups of gorgeous people cheering on Sweden, who last took the crown back in 2015. Theyll be showing the competition in a night of cliches and glittery outfits, so no-one will begrudge you turning up in your favourite gold lame catsuit. They're open late on Saturdays, so stick around afterwards to dance. Get there before 7.30pm and its 5 entry, 7 afterwards. Ticket price includes entry and a drink.

25 Newman Street, W1T 1PN, nordicbar.com

Eurovision Party London

This one started two years but proved an immediate hit, so expect it to be bigger and better than ever this time around. Theyre billing themselves as the trashy, fun and pretty camp way to watch Eurovision, with the fun kicking off from 6pm. Be sure to arrive by 7pm for the Eurovision Karaoke Competition, before the screens start showing the real thing from 8pm. This year the party is taking place at the Rio Cinema in Dalston, so you wont be short of places to go out to afterwards. There is, however, no real need: they have a DJ spinning classic Eurovision hits until 3am. Tickets 7.

Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High St, London, E8 2PB, eurovisionpartylondon.com

The Water Poet

The Water Poet call their Eurovision parties epic and you cant fault their efforts: this jolly decent Spitalfields pub are laying on plenty of pre-drinks, with a seafaring theme for 2018  this year with added Seamen. How original. The pub will be decked out like an ocean liner, complete with outdoor Desert Island, a tropical cocktail bar, with multiple screens. Grab your pirates hat for fancy dress and tuck into Portuguese treats throughout the night, including Piri Piri chicken wings, fried calamari and salt cod croquettes.

9-11 Folgate St, E1 6BX, waterpoet.co.uk

Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

The beloved Bethnal Green Working Mens Club go all out for their parties  and especially when it comes to Eurovision. Kicking off at 7pm, their Eurodisco includes free Bucks Fizz for the first 100 guests to arrive and they want everyone to turn up in costume. The hosts will be channelling their inner Wogan with suitably withering commentary and theyre planning to drown out the boring bits with party games and live acts too. Dodgy dancing well and truly encouraged. A proper, trashy Eurovision knees up.

42 Pollard Row, E2 6NB, workersplaytime.net

The Phoenix Artist Club

Always very, very popular this one, so youll be lucky to get a ticket. This bohemian underground haunt, which is something of a favourite with theatre and media types, promises the screening, a live entertainment, a themed menu, a quiz (the hardest in Europe, apparently) and later on, a DJ. The 25 ticket includes a glass of fizz to cheer on the winner.

1 Phoenix Street, WC2H 8BU, phoenixartistclub.com

Bierschenke

PRESS IMAGE

You can probably guess which nation this traditional Munich-style beer hall will be rooting for on the big night. Bierschenke specialises in Mittel-European knees ups, so expect Eurovision night to be no exception. Enjoy the action on any one of Bierschenkes 12 HD screens, with DJ Dave spinning tracks during the non-musical lulls. Therell be plenty of German beers on the taps to fill your steins, with a food menu featuring more schnitzel, sauerkraut and sausages than you can shake a stick at. Get your lederhosen ready  we can think of wurst ways to watch Eurovision.

London Wall Buildings, 4 Blomfield Street, EC2M 5NT, bierschenke.co.uk

Alternative Eurovision at Underbelly

Take in an extravagant night of cabaret the Friday before the final with Alternative Eurovision at the Southbanks Underbelly Festival. Expect glamour, glitter and a dashing of Underbellys trademark weirdness as contestants battle it out to be crowned the champions of Europe. Its a fantastic way to experience some of the best cabaret in the city and get into the spirit of Eurovision before the main event on Saturday.

30 The Queen's Walk, Lambeth, 8XX, underbellyfestival.com
T he cuisines of Italy and Japan will collide at a one-off night of fusion food held as part of London Food Month.

Chef and restaurateur Stevie Parle is opening the kitchen of his latest Roman-inspired Old Street restaurant, Palatino, to welcome Elizabeth Haigh (nee Allen), former head chef of Michelin-starred Pidgin in Hackney, for a four-course dinner celebrating Itameshi.

Meaning Italian food in Japanese, the Itameshi phenomenon began in the Twenties when spaghetti was introduced to cities across Japan.

Italian-style red or tomato-based sauces also became popular in Japan thanks to Italian-American troops living there after the Second World War.

Following the Asian economic crash in the late Nineties, expensive French food fell out of favour and there was a shift towards friendly, cheap, and cheerful Italian fare.

Italian food specialist Parle, who has cooked at River Cafe and Petersham Nurseries, first came across Itameshi when working in Japan several years ago. He said there was a lot of common ground between the cooking styles of Italy and Japan which would make for a menu that everyone will enjoy.

The chef  who is also behind Sardine in Old Street, Dock Kitchen in Ladbroke Grove and Craft London in Greenwich  said: There are a lot of similarities, actually, that people dont realise or wouldnt think of straight away. There is the love of simple food, made with high-quality ingredients. Both have a lot of depth in their savoury foods and a love of umami [the fifth taste that is usually described as meaty].

The menu is nothing to be alarmed about. There is nothing strange about the menu  I dont really do interesting food in that way. It is just bringing together two cuisines and making the most of a huge scope to create a Japanese Italian mash-up.

Parle recruited Haigh for the venture after admiring her work at Pidgin. The former Masterchef contestant left the restaurant last year to focus on her first solo venture, Shibui, which will use her Singaporean heritage as the inspiration for dishes with influences from Europe and Asia.

Haigh said the pair will work on a couple of dishes each, with Parle saying diners can expect flavoursome and fun food that is a mash-up of pasta, noodles and flavours in between, devoid of any white tablecloths and pretence of haute cuisine.

Parle said of Haigh: She did incredibly well [at Pidgin] and I ate there a few times and loved it To me it was an obvious partnership.

Fay Maschler's 50 favourite restaurants in London 1 /50 Fay Maschler's 50 favourite restaurants in London Andrew Edmunds Once through the battered door of the early C18th terrace house you can breathe a sigh of relief: Sohos soul remains untrammelled. Opened in 1986 by the eponymous print dealer whose shop trades next door, the venue was quickly embraced as Londons riposte to a Parisian bistro. As happens in such places, a clientele of regulars clubbily coalesced. But make a booking & membership is granted by your name scribbled on the white paper tablecloth  next to a candle in a bottle. Nothing much has changed in the past 30-odd years. Cooking keeps pace with the evolving way we like to eat but is never egregiously clever-clogs. The drinks list, plus extra bottles on the blackboard, continues to delight and demand exploration. There isnt a better description than that by Bruce Yardley in my Standard restaurant guide of 1996: a bizarre assortment which looks as if picked up at auction following the death of a rich crank, with surprisingly grand bottles available at bargain prices. Still true. A Wong I go to the opening of any Chinese restaurant I hear about, always searching for the Holy Grail (a speciality, I think, of Fujian). In the dreary January days of 2013 I noticed the launch of A Wong in the badlands of Victoria, went one evening and have been going ever since. Andrew Wong, whose late father ran Kyms at the same address, did a Chinese reverse ferret and went from university into the restaurant kitchen, having fervently and effectively studied the cooking traditions of his homeland. Time of day influences the experience, with lunch being the moment for imaginative, exquisite and often astonishing dim sum, sensibly served by the piece. Underpin them with knife-shaved noodles with garlic, soy, chilli, sesame and dried fish, and Xian city lamb burger with Xinjiang pomegranate salad. In the evenings, the 10-course Taste of China Menu and the Peking Duck Feast are truly memorable. Undisputedly, Andrew is the most audacious, forward-thinking Chinese chef in London. Barrafina Apparently inspired by Barcelonas Cal Pep, these tapas bars are the creation of Hart Brothers Sam & Eddie, in whose domain are also Quo Vadis & El Pastor. Bilbao-born chef Nieves Barragan Mohacho established the rigorously authentic style and introduced regional culinary tropes not seen before in London. Her departure to do her own thing  fair enough after 14 years with the Harts  will, I believe, not leave customers short-changed. I dont observe queues shortening outside the three outlets, my favourite being Drury Lane because the wait is often more merciful and it is perfect for before and after theatre, ballet and movies. The venues are slickly kitted out and the dance of service skilfully choreographed. Sparkling, pristine fish can be combined with gnarly offal and grills of the day and bedded down in the basics such as tortilla and pan con tomate, which are notably carefully constructed. The Harts import their own manzanilla, which is a good way to start as you mean to go on. Bellamy's My dutiful admiration for the Queen soared to a state approaching fandom when, in March 2016, I read that she had dined at Bellamys  and not for the first time. In her terms you might almost say shes a regular. Some restaurants are the person who owns them, and Bellamys is Gavin Rankin. Gavin worked for Mark Birley, original creator of Annabels and Marks Club, outstripping him, to my mind, in charm and subtlety. He is also a cracking mimic. French-Belgian brasseries inspire the look and the menu, which features the sort of simple things done well that posh people like, the dishes Arabella Boxer celebrated in her perspicacious Book of English Food. You might choose to start with iced lobster souffle but find milk chocolate Minstrels served with coffee. How well Gavin understands. A table dhote menu at lunch and dinner offers excellent value and French wines kick off very reasonably. Young customers are encouraged  as well as venerable royalty. Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill My gaggle of companions for restaurant reviewing includes people working in the biz. They are curious, invariably generous in judgment  and they understand. Oisin Rogers, of The Guinea Grill, grasps the nettle fearlessly but sometimes he will say, lets just go somewhere good. Bentleys Oyster Bar is mooted because it is a serious enterprise devoted to prime ingredients treated with wit and brio, and because ebullient Richard Corrigan is a consummate chef and restaurateur  and of course an Irishman. The oyster bar is the place to sit, the end table on the left opposite the long marble bar my preference. Oyster-eaters (not me) say the best specimens are are here. Oystermen open them with a skill that could re-invent The Generation Game. Fish soup, fish and chips and a glorious fish pie are all present and correct, but dont ignore the inventive and sometimes globetrotting dishes of the day. The terrace outside is another asset. Black Axe Mangal One BAM review remarked prissily that you cant adjust the volume on your palate. It then occurred to me that the relentless heavy-metal that prohibits conversation actually works to balance the smack of roaring flavours and deafening colours. Forget talking, start drinking cocktails. Chef/patron Lee Tiernan, who fronts the black, wood-fired, iron-clad metal oven decorated with tributes to Kiss, worked for 10 years at St John, finishing as head chef at St John Bread & Wine in Spitalfields. He is well travelled, soaking up influences, stratagems and spices like a wily sponge. For what I describe generically as pimped-up lahmacun, one of the breads incorporating potato and spelt flour, is inspired by San Franciscos Tartine Bakery. If you get nervous around offal, cunning accoutrements with the meats and the clout of chilli will dispel that. More decorous assemblies are also offered. Consider squid ink flatbread topped with an egg yolk literally  and silently  glittering. Bocco di Lupo Chef Jacob Kenedy and manager Victor Hugo both worked at Moro. Inspired and instructed, in 2008 they opened their own venture in an unkempt Soho street in premises that once housed Charlie Chesters Casino. They were early into small plates  at the start of a meal a stack like gambling chips is placed on the table. The menu takes inspiration from the 20 regions of Italy and from the kitchens own ideas when the region is listed as BDL. Perfect radish, celeriac, pomegranate, pecorino salad with truffle dressing comes from there, ie, inside Jacobs head. Rome is the go-to for fried fancies such as anchovy-stuffed sage leaves and Mammole artichokes. Pastas from anywhere are sublime, and when choosing roasts and grills it is well worth remembering that sausages are one of the staples made in-house. No luck with a booking or a place at the counter? Try the offshoot Vico in Cambridge Circus, specialising in southern Italian cooking. And definitely an ice cream from Gelupo. Brasserie Zedel I luxuriate at The Wolseley. The Delaunay confers glamour. At Fischers the mittel-European cafe concept has found its ideal address. The peace, space and tartes flambees at Bellanger are a boon, and I wouldnt stay anywhere in London other than The Beaumont. But it is Brasserie Zedel, just off Piccadilly Circus and conceived by Corbin and King, that touches my heart. Here is the meat and drink of democracy inspired by Bouillon Chartier in Paris. Marble columns, brass rails, mirrors and gilt decorate a vast hall where tables have salmon-pink cloths and napkins. After five years of business, ridiculously reasonable prices hold. I choose the prix-fixe menu at 12.75 for three courses, not because I am a cheapskate but because I like carottes rapees, steak hache and gateau Opera. Dishes of the day make me hope its Monday for that quintessential French assembly, poulet au curry. An evening of cabaret at Crazy Coqs across the hall followed by dinner is one of Londons unbeatable treats. Brawn I got to know Keith McNally in 2013 when he came to recreate his New York landmark restaurant Balthazar in Covent Garden. He asked me where I most liked to eat and I took him here. He loved it, said it was absolutely his idea of an ideal restaurant and claimed that his mother was born in Columbia Road. Maybe she was. Ed Wilson, once head chef for the Terroirs coalition, now concentrates his energies here. Seasonal, local, foraged, organic, yadda, yadda, yadda... but here, in what was once a wood-turning workshop, those attributes obtain magnificently. The daily printed menu bristles with relevance, relish and temptation. The off-piste wine list comes with staff willing and able to explain, recommend and let you try. When I first reviewed Brawn, I gave it five stars. Enough said. Brunswick House If anywhere could redeem the urban blight of the developments in Vauxhall Cross, it is the Georgian house now fittingly occupied by architectural salvage company Lassco. It is where young blade Jackson Boxer runs his candelabra-lit, ground-floor restaurant and bar with access to some of the atmospheric rooms for private parties. Jackson, grandson of Arabella (see Bellamys) and the late Mark Boxer, has been fortunate in his culinary evolution here in having Andrew Clarke  soon to open duck-devoted Bastien  as chef-director and gifted Drew Snaith at his elbow. Their menus are fertile, nourishing, plugged into the markets and fashionable without being faddy. The old ways of a major ingredient bolstered by minor accompaniments has been abandoned to a new musicality where every element carries more or less equal weight. Vegetarians wont feel neglected; their options are never obvious. The romance of craftsmanship, apparent everywhere in the building, carries over into the cooking. Cambio de Tercio In compiling this list some choices needed a revisit to check that everything was as I thought. When I slipped in here on a weekday lunchtime I locked eyes  you will grasp the significance when you meet him  with Abel Lusa, owner since the restaurant opened in 1995. Over 20 years on, you might expect the boss to miss a quiet service, but Lusa was also meeting Spanish wine makers, the cellar being his pride and joy. Albero & Grana (now closed) where Lusa worked and Cambio de Tercio (both names inspired by bullfighting) brought to west London stirrings of how we now perceive Spanish cooking  as something revelatory. Jamon Iberica  here five-star Sanchez Romero Carvajal  is the way to begin any meal. Head chef Alberto Criado embraces the technique of low and slow whether that be for roasted tomatoes, heritage carrots, rabbit, oxtail or baked custard. Vivid and energising decor and enthusiastic service animates the diners  including Rafael Nadal when hes in town. Chez Bruce When there was a flurry of media surprise in the mid-Eighties at university graduates becoming restaurant chefs, Bruce Poole (Exeter  history) was among that number. After a couple of years working front-of-house, he began cooking with Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum. Pooles premises overlooking Wandsworth Common previously housed Marco Pierre White at Harveys. For many  me included  Chez Bruce is a restaurant ideal and often wins awards pointing to that fact. Classic technique from head chef Matt Christmas is let loose on a roll call of enticing ingredients exhibiting deep-seated understanding of the role and impact of each. Generosity of spirit conveyed by the dishes themselves plus canapes and friandises is reinforced by the warmth and capability of the staff with a strong female component including sommelier Sara Bachiorri in charge of a magnificent list. There is agreeably defiant plainness in the decor, all the better to frame tip-top eating and drinking. Ciao Bella Was it named when a world-weary Italian waiter approached a pretty girl with an oversized pepper mill in his hands? This familiar scenario that for many underpins the London restaurant experience is to my mind enshrined most satisfactorily at Ciao Bella. Always buzzing  electric heaters outside provide an all-weather terrace  with the basement often given over to parties, diners on the ground floor are squashed tight under stills from the heyday of Italian movies, with special attention paid to Fellini and La Dolce Vita. Those traditional Italian specialities salume affumicato and avocado e gamberetti share the menu with insalata tricolore, myriad pizzas, over two dozen pastas, vitello, fegato, pollo, scampi, cassata, torta della nonna, all reassuringly served in comforting quantity. A pianist plays, customers imbibe and often sing. Catching a movie at Curzon Bloomsbury followed by supper here is one approach of mine to the sweet life. Clarke's In a magazine article asking chefs what they would be cooking on Christmas Day, I remember Sally Clarke saying something like she might boil a few carrots. She is ascetic, our Sal and it has stood her in good stead. Young dude chefs nowadays get praised for their no-choice tasting menus, but more than 30 years ago Sally  inspired in part by Alice Waters at Chez Panisse  launched Clarkes with a fixed dinner menu (that rule has recently been relaxed). She was ahead of her time in other ways such as strict seasonality, devotion to the best produce, local if possible, an open kitchen, bread made in-house, simplicity, clarity, clean fingernail inspection and Californian wines. There is a serenity in the dining rooms that attracts a band of devoted followers. Lucian Freud was one, as art on the walls attests. For the best of British ingredients handled with an artistic yet practical sensibility, Clarkes is there to carry you to a safe harbour. The Clove Club From a supper club in a modest flat to Shoreditch Town Hall and a placing this year at No 26 in the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants, chef Isaac McHale and his partners front-of-house, Johnny Smith and Daniel Willis, have made an extraordinary culinary trajectory. Tasting menus pre-paid as if for a front-row seat at the opera are one way to go, but I prefer lunch Tuesday to Friday when dishes are offered a la carte. (As a mealtime I tend to like lunch best anyway, especially long lunch). The open kitchen and pared back scholastic dining room look most appealing when light floods through long windows. Dishes that are almost fixtures like buttermilk fried chicken & pine salt; meats cured in-house; raw Orkney scallop with hazelnut, clementine and truffle; game in season; Amalfi lemonade & Kampot pepper ice cream are on offer  as, please note, they might be on the a la carte bar menu. Genial interaction between staff, including chefs, and customers can be another lovable quality here. Club Gascon (Le Bar) Some chefs stay preternaturally young looking. My theory is that its the steam in the kitchen. Pascal Aussignac, son of Gascony, also possesses elfin charm. He nips between his main restaurant close to St-Bartholomew-the-Great church, Le Bar (formerly Cellar Gascon) next door, Comptoir Gascon on the other side of the old Smithfield meat market and Cigalon in Chancery Lane. I dare say his Fitbit is constantly vibrating. Restaurant-going in south-west France will not have readied you for his daring wit and ingenuity with ingredients. The menu salutes vegetable gardens, rivers and oceans, forests and pastures. Although taken to its heights in the main restaurant, I prefer eating in the more casual surroundings of Le Bar. French tapas delivers items such as duck doughnuts with spicy sauce, cod roe plancha with white asparagus and truffle, lentil veloute & eel madeleine, frosted After Eight, along with cocktails and wines chosen with real discernment, graciously served. The Dairy When it opened in 2013, The Dairy burst onto the restaurant scene like overnight spring blossom. And in Clapham! This laid-back light-hearted outfit offering an amazingly good value tasting menu was not the result of a whim on the part of Dublin-born Robin Gill. Hard graft had been put in under Marco Pierre White at The Oak Room and Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux QuatSaisons, sandwiching a time in Italy at Don Alfonso 1890 on the Amalfi coast where the importance of seasonality and local producers was brought home. With his wife Sarah, wanting to create a little farmhouse in the middle of London, he drew on inspiration from Scandinavia and stages at Noma and Frantzen. Sound husbandry, fermentation, bee keeping, bread and butter making, good drinking, staff nurturing all play a part. In the following four years, The Manor, also in Clapham, Paradise Garage in Bethnal Green and Counter Culture next to The Dairy have followed. Something else is in the pipeline. I cant wait. L'Escargot I discovered LEscargot (estd. 1927) when, in the late Sixties, I worked as a copywriter at J. Walter Thompson and was taken for lunches by one of the account directors, Robert Fearnley-Whittingstall (Hughs father as he became). What I remember best from those days are lampshades made from scorched white silk hankies weighed down by snail shells and the list of Alsace wines. As Soho changes for what likeable people think is the worse, LEscargot, now nurtured by genial owner Brian Clivaz, stands solid as proof of  and a link to  more sybaritic, velvety times. The menu devised by chef James Tyrell embraces French brasserie classics including snails (bien sur), onion soup, steak tartare, cassoulet, beef Bourguignon, steak-frites and Bearnaise, Grand Marnier souffle. There is the occasional trendy incursion that can be easily sidestepped. I like to sit in the ground floor front bar. I had my 70th birthday at LEscargot: It was one of the best parties I have ever been to. Elystan Street After working for 25 years at The Square  holding two Michelin stars for 17 of them  at the age of 50 when most chefs slip out of their whites into something more managerial, Phil Howard  in a striped pinny  goes on cooking. Last year, with his business partner Rebecca Mascarenhas, he opened Elystan Street in Chelsea revealing in studiedly casual no-tablecloth decor and sprightly, nourishing, salubrious menus that he has not been unaware of changes in customer preferences and their awareness of vigour and healthiness in restaurant meals. Howards culinary taste is almost pitch-perfect and the balance of earthiness and elegance in the dishes is ever delicate. Getting to work past Andreas greengrocer could provide inspiration. These ingredients and skills come at a cost (to us) but set-price lunch is a relative bargain and Phil Howard sprung free is a treat worth saving for. Consider warm salad of guinea fowl with cauliflower, shaved mushrooms, liver crumble and hazelnuts. Frenchie The name was given to Gregory Marchand by Jamie Oliver when he worked as head chef at Fifteen in Shoreditch. He parlayed it into a notably successful restaurant followed by wine bar and traiteur in Pariss 2nd arrondissement. Earlier experience in New York, Spain and Hong Kong meant that Frenchie opening in London wasnt the ill-starred relocation made by some of his compatriots. Unless particularly gifted hands in the patisserie section signify French to you, the menu, its execution and the surroundings are simply modern global chic  that last word a reference to dainty portions, which grate on some. Provenance of ingredients, the majority British, is name-checked. Their treatment is sharp-witted, often erudite in a revealing way about what flatters what. Fixed-price lunch is good value and a candid approach to what you want to spend on wine works well with the vivacious sommelier in charge of a list mined with natural wines. Dont miss maple-licked bacon scones with clotted cream. The Goring Londons last family-owned luxury hotel is the claim, and there is a stylish cosiness to The Goring that other grand establishments lack. When legendary New York food writer Mimi Sheraton last came to London she arranged that we have lunch at The Goring and, exigent critic that she is, pronounced herself very content. Proximity to Buckingham Palace isnt the only reason that the royals are customers. Eggs Drumkilbo (jellied lobster cocktail) on the dining room menu was a first course much favoured by the late Queen Mother. Another restaurant lure is Fillet of Beef Wellington for two to share  and of course roast sirloin on the trolley on Sundays  but chef Shay Cooper has a fertile mind resulting in assemblies like cured sea bream, pickled lemon, hazelnut oil, iced celery; and roast squab, Tokyo turnip, crispy squab leg parcel, fresh apple, cider vinegar sauce. For a drink or tea in the comfortable bar overlooking the pretty garden it is always wise to book. Great Queen Street Although part of a group that includes three of Londons outstanding gastropubs  Anchor & Hope, Canton Arms and Camberwell Arms are all well worth seeking out  Great Queen Street is a restaurant with the facility to book tables and a 5.30pm dinner kick-off in a location that makes it ideal for pre-theatre eating. Ten years ago when it opened with delightful Tom Norrington-Davies at the stoves, the stripped-back decor  to which nothing much seems to have been done since  was arguably more startling than the modern European cooking. Now dishes and sharing assemblies such as warm black pudding, Alsace bacon salad and a poached egg; pot roast beef shin and risotto Milanese for two; suckling pig shoulder, choucroute, Montbeliard sausage, apple and horseradish for three are harder to find in multidisciplinary Soho and Covent Garden. Opposite Freemasons Hall where the Observer Food Monthly Awards are usually held.,I find myself gravitating to GQS for reassuring dinner after. Hereford When I go for lunch at Hereford Road sandwiched between Bayswater and Notting Hill, as I do quite a lot, I often run into Tom Parker Bowles. We are both fans of Tom Pembertons approach to cooking  basically following the gospel according to St John  his sweet demeanour, ceaseless industry and the 13.50/15.50 two/three course set lunch with choice, a bargain that has been held at that price for years. Of course we might sometimes branch out and maybe choose crab, fennel and tomato salad in place of duck livers, green beans and tarragon or Blythburgh pork chop with chard and mustard rather than guinea fowl with pearl barley and chestnuts and finish with treacle tart not chilled rice pudding with marmalade (all taken from the menu on day of writing) but as you see there is no real need. In summer, tables outside and the skylight at the back come into their own. In winter sitting opposite the open kitchen is snug and rather romantic. Honey & Smoke The self-styled Honeys, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, met cooking in an Italian restaurant near Tel Aviv. Yotam Ottolenghi  for whom they have both worked in London  you could say laid the trail here, in terms of restaurants and magazine features, for their magic carpet ride Middle Eastern food. First came Honey & Co, roughly the size of a beehive, then books, then the deli Honey & Spice and now this recreation of a spartan, but spacious grill house (always their dream), made distinctive by a cobalt blue wall. A set price menu for all the innovative mezze followed by a grill, side and dessert works for four or more. On your own or with a pal, roam among the first dishes not omitting burnt celeriac, Urfa chilli butter, soured cream and chives and then share a main, something based on lamb or pigeon with sweet onions as done in the Philadelphia restaurant, East Jerusalem. The brisk, sometimes brusque service just reinforces my determination to visit Israel. Hoppers The JSK group is named after Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina Sethi, Indian siblings who seem preternaturally sure-footed when it comes to devising their own culinary businesses or backing others. I am letting Hoppers epitomise the usefully varied skills they bring to bear on other in-house ventures like Gymkhana and the talents they back, as at Bao; this list cant accommodate them all. Hoppers celebrates Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka not just in the eponymous crumpety rice and coconut bowl-shaped pancakes but the vivid singular spicing, relishes such as seeni sambol, crisp dosa pancakes, inclusion of pork, enthusiasm for butter, snacks rolled in breads, love for the soothing quality of coconut and of course the particular hit of arrack fermented and matured in vats made from teak or Hamilla trees. Hoppers is hot in every sense of the word and queues (no bookings taken) are well handled  they take a number & text. It keeps the prices staying as sweet as they are. Indian Zing There is a clue in the name about what makes this restaurant the favourite of so many. Dear old Michael Winner, whose judgment was by no means always batty, was a fan. Chef/patron Manoj Vasaikar has worked in London since the early 1990s  at the original Chutney Mary and also Veeraswamy. His knowledge of Indias regional cooking plus his understanding of what people want results in a delicate balance between tradition and derring-do. Zing go the strings of my heart for dishes like king prawn lonche, referring to the pickle that points up the aubergine and onion sauce, and chicken shatkora flavoured with the tang  subtly different from zing  of a knobbly green citrus fruit from north-east India. Vegetables assume almost the same importance that they do in the homeland, so vegetarians can make merry here. In a street stiff with curry houses, distinction lies in superior cooking of prime foodstuffs, handsome decor and unerringly charming staff. J Sheekey In 1893 Josef Sheekey was granted permission by Lord Salisbury to sell fish and shellfish in St Martins Court so long as he also undertook to provide dinners for the Lord and his friends after they had been to the theatre. It was only relatively recently that a prohibition on frying was lifted. Now J Sheekey is part of Richard Carings Caprice Holdings. So it goes as Kurt Vonnegut might have said. The Atlantic Bar with its own terrace is ideal for post-theatre eating in terms of location, hours kept and the composition of the menu, which can deliver delicacy and lightness if that is what is required, or fish pie. Oysters and/or a plateau de fruits de mer are another way of dealing with late eating, and there are on-trend items such as tuna poke and stone bass ceviche for those who dont want shellfish. It is a clever, useful and somehow quite louche concept. It would be equally handy pre-theatre but I have never been that organised. Kiln Its OK to say white boys cooking Thai food when they say it about themselves. Andy Oliver at Som Saa, Seb Holmes at Farang, Ali Borer at Smoking Goat are all candidates here, but as there is room for one it will be Ben Chapman (ex-Smoking Goat) at Kiln. With experience as a designer, self-taught cook Chapman, well-travelled in Northern Thailand on the borders of Burma and Laos, brings endearing serene obsession to the charcoal-fired cooking  clay-pot, barbecue and wok  behind a long steel counter. He has said that none of it is verbatim Thai cooking but part of that claim is the high quality of raw ingredient and his relationships with indigenous farmers and fishermen. Fish arrives daily. Whole animals are butchered in-house. Asian herbs and vegetables are grown specially. The result is some of the most exciting cooking in London  at wholly amenable prices. Start with aged lamb and cumin skewer, then set off into the jungle. Kitty Fisher's Naming a Shepherd Market restaurant after a famous 18th-century courtesan shows wit. Wood-fired cooking in premises that were once a 19th-century bakery with the ovens still on show brings a touch of gastronomic dignity to the peculiarly self-conscious area. Launch chef Tomos Parry has been replaced by George Barson who includes Heston Blumenthals Dinner and Nuno Mendes Viajante on his CV. Kitty, who allegedly once ate a 1,000 banknote on a slice of bread and butter, would feel at home in the cosy downstairs room with its button-back seating upholstered in old rose velvet  and might not swoon at the prices. Whipped cods roe on toast; silver darlings (baby herrings) with piccalilli; leeks with smoked Hollandaise, crispy chicken skin and hazelnuts are a fine start. In the main course Iberico pork and Galician beef respond delectably to the cooking medium. Good manners of the owners inform the thoughtful service. There is news of a rollout  inevitable but slightly sad-making. The Laughing Heart The name is taken from a Charles Bukowski poem. He would have liked this place  We are here to laugh at the odds and live so well that death will tremble to take us. Open evenings only from Wednesday then all day Sunday, lights staying on late (until 2am) attract flapping moths released from catering and other adrenaline-fuelled activities or anyone looking to keep the fun going. Burly, bearded, bucolic Charlie Mellor has taken on a restaurant, wine bar and off-licence devoted in part to natural and biodynamic wines. Let him be your guide. Chef Tom Anglesea  Rockpool in Oz, Per Se in New York  sends out beguiling dishes like creamed cods roe sprinkled with onomatopoeic Japanese furikake made from dried fish, sesame seeds and seaweed and unctuous chicken liver mousse contained in a stockade of slices of pear and batons of fried chicken skin. Late at night, soak up your troubles with special fried rice or char sui buns. Koya Bar My two favourite Mom & Pop Japanese restaurants  Sushi-Say and The Shiori that offered a kaiseki menu  have seen the chefs and their wives return to Japan. Junya Yamasaki whose BackBench at Koya (the original) was a gastronomic revelation has also gone back. Theres Umu and The Iraki that I cant afford, wondrous Sushi Tetsu where getting a booking is torment, and Dinings where Im waiting to see the effect of the new branch  so lovely Koya Bar. Fat udon noodles, the wheat dough kneaded by foot, wriggle at the centre of the operation. Whatever the weather they can be hot with hot broth, cold with hot broth or cold with dipping and pouring sauces plus garnishes. When alone or your date is on the phone, watching the chefs noodling behind the long counter can be agreeably meditative. Small plates of pickles, salads, and tempura and seasonal daily specials provide constant variety and diversion. Breakfast is great. Try kedgeree or rice porridge. The Ledbury Since it opened in 2005, many accolades  not least two Michelin stars  have been bestowed on Brett Grahams Notting Hill restaurant. The web guide All in London, which awarded Ultimate London Restaurant four years in a row, says it well. Experience in his homeland of Australia followed by several years working for Philip Howard at The Square brings a lightness of touch, a fleetness of foot, a visceral understanding of textures and flavours made for each other that is unsurpassed. Important to the achievement is the paradox in Grahams reference to the effort put in to make customers feel relaxed. In this he is fortunate in amiable general manager, Dublin-born Darren McHugh. Here are a first and main course that give a taste of the wizardry: clay-baked candy beetroot, English caviar, smoked and dried eel; jowl of pork, carrot & gooseberry juice, crackling and girolles. And most probably no one will interrupt to ask if you are enjoying them. Spendy, yes, but money well spent. London Shell Co The Prince Regent is moored at Paddington Basin. Skipper and ships cook are Harry and Leah Lobek, assisted in the galley by Stuart Kilpatrick. Heavy-heartedness attendant on the phrase dinner cruise is immediately dispelled as you step aboard and settle down in the twinkling interior for resting actor Harrys health and safety instructions that include the tip that if you fall overboard you can walk to the bank. Unbidden comes a sparkling aperitif based on Julian Temperleys Somerset Cider Brandy and then, as you start to head for Camden Lock via Little Venice and Primrose Hill, the first of the five courses in the well-executed fish-propelled menu arrives. Harry, who has also worked as a sommelier (at Pollen Street Social), is a nifty guide to the wine list, which he seems to know inside out. Seeing London from a whole new vantage point as well as peering into moored houseboats is kind of magical  with much better dining than you might have anticipated. A perfect date night. Lyle's Along with star ratings restaurant reviews might usefully indicate whether the place in question is better for lunch or dinner. In my judgment, Lyles comes with a big L for lunch. Dinner is four courses at a set price with no choice. Whats mine is thine; wheres the fun there? But at lunch, there are 15 choices to dice with and divvy up and because James Lowe is a gifted, responsive, companionable chef tightly plugged into seasonality and a believer in the St. John diktat that nature should write your menu  he was head chef at St John Bread & Wine  dishes will feature ingredients like dulse and nettles, herbs like sweet cicely and lovage, breeds like Speckled Face mutton and tingling treats like cedrat lemon sherbet & preserved lemon meringue. Daytime also suits the high-ceilinged strictly functional dining room better. Take note of The Guest Series whereby compelling chefs from other countries are invited to cook, admittedly in the evenings. Everyone benefits. Masala Zone Owned by the Panjabi-Mathrani family, whose standalone Indian restaurants are the estimable Chutney Mary, Veeraswamy and Amaya, their six-strong group (plus an outlet in Selfridges) to my mind achieves something more difficult. It is a definitely a group, not a chain, palpably apparent in different decor in each outlet celebrating India at play & at prayer and what must be very focused training to produce such informed and committed staff. As a frequent visitor to India  and having been born there  I can vouch for authenticity in the food, which naturally includes grills, tandoor and curries but also uplifting, diverting street food like pao bhaji, golgappa and dahi puri and thalis big or small, meat or vegetarian, the well-balanced healthy, almost ayurvedic way to approach a meal. At the Covent Garden branch beside the Opera House Rajasthani puppets bobbing across the ceiling are suitably theatrical  and merry company. The groups home delivery service is also unusually rewarding. Noble Rot Noble rot is the name given to the beneficial form of grey fungus on grapes known as botrytis cinerea. It is also a magazine and, since late 2015, a restaurant & wine bar in one of Londons most engaging streets. Mark Andrew and Dan Keeling, editors and owners, share a deep affection for wine and their publication and its catering arm demonstrate that joy can triumph over nerdiness in both. Consultant chef Stephen Harris from The Sportsman in Whitstable has installed his protege Paul Weaver behind the stoves sending out dishes like Lincolnshire smoked eel, Yorkshire rhubarb & soda bread (superb); gnocchi, chestnut mushroom, kale pesto & mascarpone; roast Anjou squab, peas and Puy lentils; peanut parfait & champagne jelly. There is a bar menu for the front half of the deep, dark green premises and an incredibly good value set lunch. I go to Noble Rot more often than I should. For me it offers all the human frame requires including graceful service and invaluable wine knowledge. Ognisko How could you not love a chap who opens a restaurant called Wodka? Jan Woroniecki, whose father Krzysztof was a soldier in the Polish forces who stayed in Britain after the Second World War, went on to open Baltic in Blackfriars Road. With Wodka now closed (sob) I suspect his heart is in Ognisko in the Polish Hearth Club, where he has stripped back what was a fusty room with musty food to reveal elegance in the lineaments of the space and a canopied terrace overlooking the lawn at the back. The menu exhibits the history, intricacy and dumpling comfort of a cuisine often written off as sausages. It is close to the South Kens Museum Quarter and also The Albert Hall, so I find many opportunities to visit Ognisko to order what I nearly always do  smoked eel with Salat Olivier, blinis or pierogi or pelmeni or placki (potato pancakes) with the great combo of chicken livers and dried cherries. Vodka obvs, but also careful study of the wine bin ends. Otto's My friend Simon Hopkinson, the best cook I know, spots Ottos in 2013. It is not just prestigious empty wine bottles in the window that catch his eye but a notice announcing, canard a la presse prepared to order. We make a plan to go  the duck from the same company in Challans that supplies La Tour dArgent in Paris must be ordered in advance. A silver-plated duck press made by Christofle in the early 1900s is in place and Otto embarks on the elaborate rich and redolent procedure that results in boozy brown velvet sauce for the breast meat followed by crisped legs served with salad. I dont suppose there will be pommes souffles, sighs Simon. There are. Otto is a maitre d who might be cast in a Wes Anderson movie. Now he has a lobster press and also offers the option of Mere Braziers Poularde de Bresse demi-deuil en vessie. It is old school; it is heaven  where kitsch meets a deeply serious kitchen. Peckham Bazaar That chef John Gionleka came to London from his native Albania to enter a Greek Orthodox seminary  but obviously got distracted  is a detail that seems significant when you observe his burning devotion to the charcoal grill. The restaurant presents the cooking style as eastern Mediterranean or, more stirringly, the area that once comprised the Ottoman Empire, but I think of it as the direction Greek food could go if only it tried a lot harder. A menu based on the markets changes every day. Here are some dishes to give the flavour, vigour and depth of understanding: caramelised onion pide, heritage tomatoes, Sicilian aubergine, anthotyro (Greek cheese); John Dory, freekah, monks beard, fennel, blood orange; marinated leg of Yorkshire lamb, coco beans, Charleston pepper, ktipiti (Greek red pepper/feta dip); venison, pork and prune adanas, cracked wheat, marinated peppers, adjika (spicy Georgian dip). There are interesting wines to match. Peckham beckons doesnt it? The Quality Chop House Co-owner is Will Lander, son of Jancis Robinson and Nick Lander, who has fulfilled what is maybe every parents dream and blended their talents (and added some of his own) to run not just this gem in Farringdon but also the admirable Portland and Clipstone in Marylebone. Obliged to pick my favourite, it is the revamp (insofar as English Heritage allows) of the Progressive Working Class Caterer established in 1869. I sit in the room next-door to the listed bum-numbing pews or, with enough chums, in the small private room upstairs to enjoy gifted chef Shaun Searleys singular take on what is happily now a fairly common cry of local, sustainable, independent, authentic etc. If they are on the daily-changing list, hard to resist are smoked cods roe with cured egg yolk and Hereford mince on dripping toast. And steaks on Tuesday nights and game in season. Always trust a restaurant with a butchers shop and deli attached. Great wine list. Ca va sans dire. The Ritz When I am asked for suggestions for a very special meal, I suggest The Ritz. The most beautiful dining room in London lends itself wholeheartedly and with gilded garlands to a sense of occasion, but more importantly executive chef John Williams commands an impeccable kitchen. There are many reasons to disparage the Michelin Guide but its withholding of stars from Williams at The Ritz is a strong one. Only this year did it bestow a measly one. Emphasising the classicism of the cooking is the menu section Arts de la Table that might offer Beef Wellington or Poulet Demi-Deuil served from a trolley. Everything from canapes to petits fours  here is one of the strongest pastry kitchens in town  is considered and commandeered. When I remarked to Williams that breakfast could be a bit more Downton Abbey he agreed and got rid of the Paltrow bowls of berries. It is expensive, but on Friday and Saturday nights you can dance Riva Riva is my favourite restaurant if you discount those owned by my sister or my son. I hesitate to say it because unless or until you get to know Andrea Riva and his exacting right-hand woman Dorothy it probably wont be yours. The restaurant is Andreas fiefdom. If he cant be there, he closes it. Of course all customers are made welcome but new ones will notice that towards the back of the strikingly plain room food and wine are being brought without orders being taken. For me this is high-definition luxury, especially since I know I am going to love the burrata, culatello, astringent salad, grilled langoustines, pasta, veal Milanese and so forth all predicated on the best ingredients handled with restraint. Riva is where I used to see the late Adrian Gill. Its where we went recently to celebrate Regs book deal with Jamie Byng of Canongate and saw Adrians widow Nicola Formby. Its a club where you get membership by turning up. River Cafe I am writing this entry the morning after having been there for dinner. I needed to make sure that it is as impressive as ever and fortuitously a perspicacious art dealer friend celebrating his birthday asked Reg and me to join him. Founder (with the late Rose Gray), Ruthie Rogers was ruling the roost, only she wasnt because thats not how it is done in what is more a cooperative or a community from which Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver, Samantha and Samuel Clark, Stevie Parle and April Bloomfield, to name just some, have flown the nest. She was standing beside the nail polish pink-painted wood fired oven from which so much of the menu cooked fast or slow emanates. The room was packed with customers. The blindingly obvious secret is the very best ingredients used for Italian recipes that have stood the test of time but never miss a trick about what currently delights and delivers. I mean to go back when we can eat outside among the herbs and near the Thames. Rochelle Canteen A restaurant in the converted bike shed of a former school in the Boundary Estate in Shoreditch sounds so achingly here and now, but Margot Henderson and Melanie Arnolds spinoff from their outside catering company has been bowling along for more than 12 years. Permission has recently been granted for evening opening Thursday to Saturday. Heavens, the next thing you know theyll be getting a liquor licence but if so, it shouldnt stop you visiting the lovely, fastidious Leilas (shop) nearby. The way in  through a small blue door in the high brick wall  invokes The Secret Garden and when the weather is so inclined it is a lovely, peaceful green space in which to loll. Margot is married to Fergus Henderson of St. John (see right) and shares his direct, wholesome approach to cooking but augmented by the spirit apparent in her terrific cookbook, Youre All Invited. Here is one of Londons hidden treasures. Sardine Chef Stevie Parle put on a spurt of acceleration recently. After Dock Kitchen in North Kensington then Rotorino in Dalston, he did something ambitious and brilliant at Craft London in Greenwich Peninsula, opened Sardine on the fringe of Shoreditch not long after and Rome-inspired Palatino in Finsbury at the beginning of this year. Chef Alex Jackson is in charge of Sardines southern French cooking and I suspect that gentle marination in the works of Richard Olney, Elizabeth David and Paula Wolfert has informed his inviting, unusually cohesive menu at the heart of which is a wood-fired stove over which a leg of lamb can dangle a la ficelle or a duck be given the same treatment. Snacks  that canny new ammunition in restaurateurs hands  starters and desserts reveal the presence of someone with cool hands for pastry. It can be enjoyed equally in a slice of pissaladiere or a brown butter and apricot tart. Service, like the room, is sweet and pretty. The communal table can be skirted. Six Portland Road Wise heads wondered whether manager Oli Barker and chef Pascal Weidemann, both having worked in the Terroirs group with its headquarters in theatreland, could pull off a little bistro in Holland Park where, it is said, locals are away all the time. These days you must plan ahead for a reservation in the evening. It is the perfect little restaurant with the daily date on the menu and a wine list backed by Caves de Pyrene homing in on growers working with a gentle hand, which is another way of referencing natural wines. Oli is a natural, you could even say biodynamic host, which is harder to find, Pascal a chef who understands how unobtrusively to seduce. Since eating there I now only cook pink fir apple  or any new  potatoes by steaming, squashing and then roasting. Perfect. In my review in April last year, I mentioned the unaffected pleasure that some restaurants can bring. This one does, again and again. Smokestak From working front of house for Gordon Ramsay at Claridges to travelling to Houston Texas to buy a 4.5 ton meat smoker to becoming a main man in London street food is what these days might be termed a journey. It is a trip that has stood amiable David Carter in good stead. His permanent restaurant in Shoreditch is to BBQ what opera is to nursery rhymes. Were you wearying of singed meat? Was pulled pork starting to pall? Here Carters Barbadian heritage comes to the fore showing that smoking and grilling over coals is the natural approach to fixing food. His silky loose-knit brisket cooked long and slow, patiently basted, dutifully rested is not to be missed. Thick-cut pork rib with a side order of baked potato is another must. As is hot-smoked salmon with horseradish. Even desserts and cocktails play with the effect of charring but testosterone doesnt overwhelm and staff are softened by charm. St John If I had to nominate just one person responsible for the astonishing improvement in London restaurants over the past couple of decades I would give you Fergus Henderson. His influence is all over this list. Nose to tail eating is more than acknowledgement that every part of a pig except the squeal can be utilised for nourishment, it encapsulates an approach visible in this graphically converted smokehouse; food (and wine) is what really matters. Artists eat here but there is no art on the walls. Music is the hum of conversation. Staff eat what customers eat. Waste is deplored, an attitude only recently highlighted in the wider trade. Roasted bone marrow with parsley sauce is shorthand for the menu that promotes pleasure where it finds it, but for every wilder dish like kid faggots on the daily-changing, evolving list there is something familiar like roast veal. Desserts, eg ginger loaf with butterscotch sauce, are always a reward for a meal well eaten. The Wells I would go to The Wells in Hampstead even if it wasnt owned by my sister Beth Coventry. She has solved The Hampstead Conundrum, which is why in an area full of people equipped and anxious to eat out isnt there an excellent restaurant? Ham & High restaurant critic Joseph Connolly thinks she has too. New Zealander Greg Smith in charge of the kitchen ensures that the menu in the ground-floor pub and upstairs dining rooms of the Georgian building cajoles, flatters and diverts. I could, I suppose, get blase about eating here but decorousness and also my job means that I never do and when Beth suggests going, I am always thrilled. Pub food such as sausages and Scottish Angus burgers are carefully prepared and specials such as whole roast squab or Dutch calves liver with lentils invariably appeal. Chateaubriand with chips served for two is a best seller. And sometimes there are Beths famous fishcakes. Staff tend to stay for ages. The Wolseley As AA Gill said after his first visit in 2003: Its a restaurant that has been made from the front door in, not from the kitchen out. Whether you are seated in the central horseshoe of the resplendent space  he was, I sometimes am  actually matters not a jot as the emphasis on seamless service never alters. Running a restaurant open from 7am to midnight is as arduous as operating a hotel but without room revenue to cushion the effort. Chris Corbin and Jeremy King struggled at first but cracked it and brought to life the Hilaire Belloc observation that breakfast, dinner, lunch and tea is all the human frame requires. You go to The Wolseley for time out. You might be in the mood for mittel-European schnitzel or Anglo-Indian kedgeree, oysters or Alsace choucroute. It is all available and will be brought on stylish china and set on fine linen. Here too the restaurant breakfast habit was born.

Haigh added: He is absolutely an authority on Italian food and I know a fair bit about Asian cuisine so hopefully well pull it off. Were not decided on menu yet, but think along the lines of a spaghetti alle vongole (clam spaghetti) made with noodles and marinated meats in soy.

The menu will really be about not over-complicating things and keeping it simple and delicious.

The Itameshi dinner at Palatino will take place on June 2 and costs 55 including a welcome cocktail.
R esearchers have found that a small, daily dose of cannabis could slow, or even reverse, cognitive decline in old age.

THC, the chemical in cannabis that makes people feel high has been found to improve memory and learning in older mice, as part of a new study investigating the ageing process of the brain.

Researchers tested the effects of the drug on mice at several different stages in life, finding that that lower doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) impaired that of younger mice, but boosted the brain performance in older rodents.

Dr Andras Bilkei-Gorzo Bilkei-Gorzo and his team at the University of Bonn in Germany monitored the brain performance in mice aged two months, 12 months and 18 months.

After studying the cognitive function of the older mice who had been given a daily dose of cannabis, the researchers found that their memory and learning skills matched those of young mice who had not been given anything.

As part of the study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine, mice aged two months and 18 months were tested to see how fast they could solve a water maze puzzle, and how quickly they could register familiar objects.

Without a daily dose of THC, the younger mice completed the tests with ease, while the older ones struggled to recognise mice they had previously met and solve the mental challenge.

But administering THC notably impacted both groups. The performance of the younger mice dramatically declined, while older mice improved so greatly that their learning and memory matched those of healthy drug-free young mice.

The benefits of the drug in older mice, researchers found, lasted for weeks after they had stopped consuming THC.

Best books on mindfulness 1 /14 Best books on mindfulness Find your inner peace with our pick of the best mindfulness and meditation books... Mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world This bestseller will get you in the right frame of mind for 2016. Based on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)  a successful form of brief meditation this book's success relies on the way in which authors Mark Williams and Danny Penman optimistically focus on adding joy to your life as opposed to ridding it of unhappiness. 10.50, Amazon, Buy it now Anti-Stress Dot-to-Dot Always thought that dot-to-dots were an activity for children? Apprently you're wrong be wrong  the pictures in this book, featuring elegant buildings and nature scenes, will relax and focus your mind in a way you never thought a dot-to-dot book could. 5, Amazon, Buy it now I Am Here Now This will help enhance both your observation and creativity; with an audio track (featuring musings from mindfulness teacher Tara Brach) and a field notes page for recording purposes, I Am Here Now will enable your thoughts and emotions to take on a new lease of life. 7, Amazon, Buy it now The Mindful Workplace What better time to deploy the theories of mindfulness than at work? This book, filled with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) techniques, provides an eight-week training course to keep your workplace attitude at its peak. 30.50, Amazon, Buy it now Get some headspace This book from Andy Puddicombe, founder of popular digital health platform Headspace, attempts to get people to take ten minutes out of their day for meditation purposes. Once the technique's been learned, these skills will stay with you for the rest of your life. 10, Amazon, Buy it now The Mindfulness Colouring Book Much like the dot-to-dot book above, this pocket-sized adult colouring book is the perfect activity for a 10-minute breather. Consider your stress and anxiety soothed. 4, Amazon, Buy it now The Little Book of Mindfulness In this day and age, it's more important to be in the moment than ever  this book will help you with that. From Dr Patrizia Collard, these brief practices will rid your day of stress and have you feeling more optimistic. 4, Amazon, Buy it now Body Calm The saying mind over matter derives from the idea that our minds have the power to control our bodies if we really want them to. Equally, mental stress can have a damaging effect on our bodies. Newbigging teaches us a new self-healing meditation technique to help keep our bodies healthy and to understand the source of common stress and anxiety triggers. 11, Amazon, Buy it now The Power of Now The Power of Now has become one of the most famous mindfulness books out there. Helping us to tap into our innermost Being, Tolle guides us through various techniques to help us understand that the present moment is all that really matters. 8, Amazon, Buy it now A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled An ambassador for mental health awareness, Ruby Wax OBE has helped to make mindfulness accessible to all. Having suffered from depression herself, in this book she explores how modern living is causing us more stress and anxiety than ever as we know and see too much. Included are mindfulness exercises and tips for everyone from babies to adults; all with sound underlying scientific reasoning. 4, Amazon, Buy it now

Bilkei-Gorzo, who led the study, told The Independent: THC restored the cognitive ability of the old mice to the level of the young ones.

He explained that low doses of the drug appeared to reverse the signs of old age and mental decline. Giving THC artificially activates the system in the old [mice]. It can restore signalling to a normal level, he said.

If you do the very same treatment, with the same dosage, to young mice, you overdrive the whole system, as its at a much higher level than it should be.

These results reveal a profound, long-lasting improvement of cognitive performance resulting from a low dose of THC treatment in mature and old animals, the scientists write in the journal.

What is dementia?

Researchers now hope that this exciting development could benefit the treatment of dementia and other memory problems in older people in the future - although they say that further research is needed.

The research group is now keen to test the theory on humans, with a small-scale study on subjects aged 60 to 70 planned for later this year.
K arl Marx was buried in Highgate Cemetery in 1883, but his legacy lives on. In the run-up to the general election London is back on its Marx, with everyone fired up, from TV guests to student discussion groups. Its not a revolution, but its a 180-degree U-turn in public thinking. Marx is back in fashion.

The German philosopher and economist was the author of the three-volume Das Kapital, an explanation of how the capitalist system will destroy itself. Whether it has or not, particularly following the 2008 financial crash and the sputtering recovery, is moot, but the philosopher is certainly in vogue.

This weekend, shadow chancellor John McDonnell stirred the embers when he said on The Andrew Marr Show that we have a lot to learn from reading Das Kapital. In October, Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starrs new 900-seat Bridge Theatre near Tower Bridge opens with a comedy, Young Marx, about the broke, horny philosopher. Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, back in the public eye with his memoirs of the 2008 financial crisis, has previously described himself as an erratic Marxist.

Young, sexy socialists are also pushing Marxism back into the student mainstream, from the vantage point of global platforms like Reddits rapidly expanding Marxism group, which has 7,648 comrades (their word) signed up, to the Britain-wide Marxist Student Federation, which has 8,404 followers on Facebook.

Young people see were going to have a worse standard of living that our parents had, particularly in London, says Ben Gliniecki, 25, a Labour and Unite member and self-avowed Marxist and national organiser of the federation. Were probably never going to be able to afford to buy a house, our kids are going to go to worse schools, and were going to have worse healthcare. Were sick of people trying to patch up the system and kick the can down the road a little bit. We want to see it change.

In July, thousands will attend the annual four-day Marxism Festival, run by the Socialist Workers Party in central London, alongside an anniversary celebration of the 150 years since the first volume of Das Kapital was published. Joseph Choonara, an organiser, has noted that many more of its attendees are young. The revival of interest in Marxism, especially for young people, comes because it provides tools for analysing capitalism, and especially capitalist crises such as the one were in now.

Gliniecki says that thousands of young, aspiring Marxists will sign up at student fairs around the country this September, insisting that times have changed since the financial crash. It wasnt long ago when you couldnt talk about the idea of anti-capitalism. I remember when I was first getting into politics that you could just about talk about socialism because it was on the Labour Party membership card, but if you started talking about anti-capitalism people would balk. Then the crash happened and peoples thinking changed.

32 books that will make you a more well-rounded person 1 /44 32 books that will make you a more well-rounded person Shutterstock / Andrey_Popov To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Amazon 1984 George Orwell Amazon Walden Henry David Thoreau Amazon Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J.K. Rowling Amazon The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien Amazon A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn Amazon Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank Amazon Guns, Germs and Steel Jared Diamond Amazon Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln Doris Kearns Goodwin Amazon Game Change Mark Halperin Amazon The Origin of Species Charles Darwin Amazon A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking Amazon A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson Amazon The Elements of Style William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White Amazon Existentialism from Dostoevsky to to Sartre edited by Walter Kaufmann Amazon The Art of War Sun Tzu art of war Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig Amazon The Last Lecture Jeffrey Zaslow Amazon Romeo & Juliet William Shakespeare Folger Shakespeare Library Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson Amazon Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution Steven Levy Amazon You Are Not So Smart David McRaney Amazon Hyperbole and a Half Allie Brosh Amazon How to Win Friends & Influence People Dale Carnegie Amazon Good to Great Jim Collins Amazon The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko Amazon The Intelligent Investor Benjamin Graham Amazon Mastering the Art of French Julia Child Knopf Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan Amazon Gender Trouble Judith Butler Amazon A Village Life Louise Gluck Amazon Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City Matthew Desmond Amazon

Sales of Das Kapital have soared since 2008, as have those of The Communist Manifesto, written by Marx and his benefactor and friend Friedrich Engels, and Marxs Grundrisse, or Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy.

Yet Marxism is not just the preserve of the far-Left. Tristram Hunt, the former shadow education secretary turned V&A supremo, an avowed social democrat, has lectured on Marx at Queen Mary University of London, and wrote the book, literally, on the 40-year collaboration between Marx and Engels.

And while, if you read the correct papers, you might imagine that McDonnell faces a Labour revolt to unseat him as shadow chancellor, the truth is that Marx lives on. People visit his north London grave daily. They come to praise him, not to bury him.

Follow Sam Fishwick on Twitter: @Fish_o_wick
W ith the city slogan #KeepAustinWeird proudly displayed on everything from bumper stickers to psychedelic vests and lampposts, the State Capital of Texas delivers an exciting break from the norm in the good old USA.

Here's everything you need to know to plan a trip to Austin, from where to sleep to where to eat and drink.

Where to stay...

Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt

Located in a city with arguably the best live music scene in the world, Hotel Van Zandt embraces Austins iconic heritage and stands tall amongst its rivals by offering exquisite bedrooms, nightly happy hours with free Margaritas and a gorgeous rooftop swimming pool and roaring outdoor fire place. Touches of the citys musicality can be found all over this boutique hotel, with light fittings made from trumpets, suites with record players, a sound system in the swimming pool so you can hear the music under water and live music from local bands every night. Its this kind of style and verve that makes Van Zandt hum a happy tune from every corner.

Simon Midgley

Hotelvanzandt.com

The Driskill Hotel

The Driskill Hotel is slap bang in the middle of Austins live music scene, just a few steps from all the action on the famous bar stretch of 6th Street. The building dates back to 1886 and has retained many of its original features including beautiful marble flooring and glass dome in the lobby. Bedrooms are a marriage of traditional decor and contemporary interior design, including all the modern amenities you need to make sure you want for nothing. The iconic hotel is home to the multi award-winning Driskill Grill restaurant offering innovative cuisine made from local Texan produce. The grill has been ranked the number one restaurant in Austin on several occasions  it would be rude not to find out why

Simon Midgley

DriskillHotel.com

Where to eat and drink...

BBQ Town

Ask any Texan what their favourite food is and theyre sure to answer BBQ. And its easy to see why: BBQs are big, meaty and full of flavour, just like Texas. For the best in town, get yourself down to Lamberts where youll be served delicious, slow smoked BBQ classics and modern Texan grub in a laidback setting. The menus packed with oak smoked goodness including Black Angus brisket with a brown sugar and coffee rub, salt and pepper lamb ribs and cold smoked Rainbow Trout  be sure to go with an empty bellyA hot spot for locals and tourists alike, booking well in advance is recommended. LambertsAustin.com

Simon Midgley

Choose Chinese

With Austins rip roaring nightlife offering endless food joints and drinking dens, you might want for a slightly more sophisticated place to dine one evening. Wu Chow is the restaurant for that occasion: modern Chinese cuisine served up in sleek and striking surroundings, the menu is awash with contemporary flavour combinations using traditional Chinese cooking techniques for a tasty new take on the Saturday night favourite.

Dont miss the Shanghai Soup Dumplings and Tangerine Peel Beef and Honey Pecan Gulf Prawns.

wuchowaustin.com

Donuts The Gourmet Way

If you ever fancy a donut sandwich or find yourself craving a donut entree then Gourdoughs is the place for you. This tasty little bar/restaurant (it had branches around the city) offers quirkily named indulgences like the Breast Lift Donut Sandwich, the Ron Burgundy Donut Burger and the Salty Balls Donut Dessert. The sizeable donut menu features all kinds of magical combinations, from the classic to the crazy, the sweet and the savoury.

Gourdoughs.com

Simon Midgley

Pian Pian Piano

Quite possibly the most fun to be had on a night out in Austin is down at Petes Dueling Piano Bar where youll be thrilled, entertained, bitched at and made fun of as two expert pianists sing and chat their way through a whole night of songs. Expect to be musically transported through the likes of Elton John, Dolly Parton, Snoop Dogg, Neil Diamond, Beyonce, Janis Joplin and even that well-loved classic I Like Big Butts..! You name it, theyll play it but if you dont like what theyre singing just drop down a $20 bill and name your tune.

PetesDuelingPianoBar.com

That's a lot of mother truckin' food!

One of the most popular ways to grab a tasty bite to eat is through the hatch of one of Austins numerous food trucks. Choose from classics like Greek pitas, Mexican wraps and Pad Thai to the more off-beat such as Venezuelan buns, Asian tacos or sweet mini donuts. These trucks are pretty much all over the city and tend to congregate together around drinking spots  one of the best and most lively areas is on Rainey Street where youll find food trucks and a whole host of houses, shacks and shipping containers that have been converted into trendy bars

RaineyStreetBars.com

Simon Midgley

What to do...

On Yer Bike

One of the best ways to explore Austin is via bicycle and with cycle routes throughout the city, youre guaranteed a great ride...

The green open spaces of Ziker Metropolitan Park just south of the main city are beautiful and include Barton Springs Pool, a natural swimming pond thats great for a summer dip. Around this area youll also find Lady Bird Lake, with its canoeists, rowers and paddle boarders all making use of the pristine waters  head here for a leisurely cycle along the many routes, just be prepared for joggers and dog walkers to cross your path. With its year-round warm weather and outdoorsy mentality, Austin is definitely a city that encourages getting out and about to explore its natural greatness.

South Congress Avenue

Once the live music of Downtowns 6th Street has left your ears wanting a little bit of peace, head to South Congress Avenue, a.k.a SoCo, and stroll amongst hip eateries, homespun boutiques and junk shops. This vibrant and happening area is where youll find locals hanging out and eating brunch, upscale galleries sitting alongside second-hand-shops and food trucks selling gourmet cupcakes.

If you fancy dressing like the locals, then head to Allens Boots, a store selling brand new and used cowboy boots  worth a browse just to see the vast selection they have for sale. Once youre done there, a few doors down youll find the must-see Uncommon Objects holding the most amazing collection of memorabilia, antiques and oddities

AustinTexas.org

Simon Midgley

Home of the Honky Tonk

No visit to Austin would be complete without a trip down to that sacred Southern place the honky tonk bar. For the ultimate in country music swagger and dilapidated charm, head to the Broken Spoke. Defining honky tonk in all its grime n glory, this is the place to go for great live music, dancehall moves and even dancing lessons  this little gem has all the grit, grease and greatness you could need on a night out. If its good enough for country music legend Garth Brooks, who performed there recently, its definitely good enough for you!

BrokenSpokeAustinTX.net

Simon Midgley is a freelance travel writer. Follow him on Twitter @simonmidgleyPR
A boy has been stabbed in a south east London knife attack.

The youngster, who is in his mid-teens, was rushed to hospital after being stabbed in the back on Jamaica Road in Bermondsey on Monday evening.

He was found by paramedics with a stab wound at around 5.45pm.

Police cordoned off an area near to the small Tesco supermarket and a photo of the scene shows a group of uniformed officers standing nearby.

Robin Edds, who is a writer at website Buzzfeed, shared a photo on Twitter and said there were loads of police and an ambulance next to a block of flats.

A spokesman for the Met Police said they were called by the ambulance service and the boy was taken to an east London hospital.

At around 10pm, a Met spokesman said the boy's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

No arrests have been made and police continue with their enquiries.

Last week police launched an intense week-long crackdown on knife crime as part of Operation Sceptre and today announced more than 390 suspects had been arrested.

The Met also revealed a specialist taskforce has been set up with 100 officers to tackle knife crime in the capital.

It comes after 11 people were stabbed to death in the capital in a fortnight.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information is asked to contact police on 101 or via Twitter @Metcc. Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The Congress leader slammed Kejriwal saying he established the system of blaming everybody and now it has come back to haunt him.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit has hit at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal saying that he should step down over the corruption charges.

"He should step down and let a probe happen. This is the final tragic turn in the farce of the AAP and the comedy that was played upon the people of India by them against corruption.," said Dikshit, son of former Delhi CM Shiela Dikshit.

advertisement

BJP BEHIND MESS IN AAP

The senior spokesperson of Congress added, "It can be a case where the BJP is playing games among them (AAP) but then it also reveals that people in the party are ready to be sold out. Obviously, the BJP will play the same games. Many BJP sympathisers were there on the stage during Anna Andolan as well. Kumar Vishwas is an old Sanghi."

ON KEJRIWAL'S SILENCE

Reacting sharply on why Kejriwal has maintained silence ever since Kapil Mishra leveled corruption allegations against him, Dikshit said, "Obviously the same thing has turned back on him. He established the system of blaming everybody and put question marks on all. Now this has come back to haunt him. The only advantage probably is that Kapil Mishra doesn't have much credibility."

The Congress leader was of the view that Delhi is in a 'mess'. "What is unfortunate is that the people of Delhi were fooled. You elect government's like this and then you get people like this," said Dikshit.

SHEILA DIKSHIT'S NAME POPPING UP

On this Dikshit maintained that no matter whose name comes up, an inquiry should be held. "If it suits you, you take Ms Dikshit's name but at least get a proper inquiry done. This just goes on and on. Inquiry should be time-bound," the former MP added.

Also read: Kapil Mishra alleges, AAP refutes, Congress, BJP gun for Arvind Kejriwal's head: All that happened

Also read: Arvind Kejriwal refuses to break silence on Kapil Mishra's allegations, chooses to talk through tweets

--- ENDS ---
A despicable thug spat in the face of an elderly woman and kicked her husband in the head in front of shocked passengers on a Central Line Tube train.

After the man spat on the 77-year-old, her husband challenged him before being pushed to the floor and kicked in the head on the train from Bethnal Green on Saturday.

The thug left the train at Liverpool Street at around 10am and other travellers in the busy carriage rushed to help the couple.

Police said the man, 63, suffered minor injuries in the assault - including cuts and bruising to his face. His wife was not harmed.

British Transport Police described the attacker as a black man, of slim build and 6ft tall.

He had black hair tied in knots and was wearing dark grey baggy tracksuit trousers, a dirty grey jumper and dark trainers.

Investigating officer DC Alban Barnes said: This was an utterly despicable assault.

"Neither of the victims provoked this man in any way and it beggars belief why he decided to assault them."

Anyone with information is asked to send a text to 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 231 of 06/05/2017. Alternatively, pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A man has been charged after a father was stabbed to death in a fight outside a barbers shop amid Londons knife crime epidemic.

Anthony Allen, 33, of Tillet Close, Wembley, was today charged after record label boss Crispin Siddon was fatally knifed when a row broke out inside the Harlesden salon.

He was arrested on Monday, three days after the attack.

Mr Siddon, 35, staggered along Craven Park Road towards Central Middlesex Hospital but collapsed before he could reach A&E.

He was found by passers-by and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics on Friday afternoon.

Crispin Siddon, 35, aka Skeng, was stabbed to death in Harlesden on Friday

The rapper and father-of-two, who lived in Finsbury Park, died a day after celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife, who relatives said was distraught.

He was described as charming young man who doted on his two sons, aged four and seven.

A post-mortem examination found his cause of death to be a stab wound.

Mr Siddon made music under the name Skeng and co-ran label GB Records with fellow rapper Corleone.

In the latest of a fortnight of bloodshed in the capital, a teenage boy was stabbed to death in Walthamstow late on Sunday night.

A 17-year-old boy was rushed to an east London hospital but died there a short while later, Scotland Yard said.

Homicide detectives believe Elijah Dornelly, 17, was ambushed by two attackers who had lain in wait in a side street off Walthamstow High Street.

Elijah Dornelly, 17, was ambushed by two attackers, detectives believe

Detectives investigating the murder have released CCTV of two people they want to trace following the incident.

Mr Dornelly was walking home from an anti-knife crime rally, which took place following the current scourge of fatalities, when he was stabbed to death.

Walthamstow murder - CCTV of two people detectives wish to speak to

Demonstrators including families of knife murder victims held banners reading enough is enough as they marched on Sunday from Islington to Hackney amid a growing outcry over knife and gun crime.

Mr Siddon died less than 12 hours before a young man, 23, was knifed to death in Uxbridge.

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Bonner of the Homicide and Major Crime Command leading the investigation into Mr Siddons death said: "Whilst our investigation is continuing we remain keen to hear from anybody who may have been in or around Cutz Barbers Shop at 2pm and who may have seen a dispute between two men.

Mr Allen will appear in custody at Hendon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 10 May.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0208 358 0200, via 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T his is the first picture of a teenage boy stabbed to death as he walked home from an anti-knife crime rally.

Homicide detectives believe Elijah Dornelly, 17, was ambushed by two attackers who had lain in wait in a side street off Walthamstow High Street.

Neighbours dialled 999 after hearing shouts and screams coming from a Lidl supermarket car park.

Paramedics found the teenager lying in a pool of blood with a single stab wound. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital at 11.30pm on Sunday.

Police at the scene in Walthamstow where a boy of 17 was stabbed to death

It is thought the two attackers rode away on bikes. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Elijah, a former pupil at Kelmscott School in Walthamstow, was the 11th person to be stabbed to death in less than a fortnight in the capital, and the fourth in just four days.

Scotland Yard said today that detectives are investigating two further knife attacks on teenagers yesterday.

Elijah had been at an anti-knife crime rally before he was killed

A boy in his mid-teens was found with a stab wound to the back in Jamaica Road, Bermondsey at around 5.45pm while an 18-year-old man suffered stab injuries to his legs in a disturbance near Upney underground station in Barking at 7.15pm.

There have been no arrests and both teenagers were in a stable condition in hospital today.

Stabbing in Walthamstow, east London

Mr Dornelly had attended the London Peace March earlier on Sunday, joining hundreds of campaigners including the families of knife crime victims, marching through Hackney declaring: Enough is enough.

Tracy Prescott, an organiser of the march, wrote on the groups Facebook page: So sad to hear that one of the young people who was at our march yesterday was killed in Walthamstow when he left the march. Enough is Enough.

The teenagers family, including his younger sister, were last night in mourning at their home, half a mile away from where their much loved son was killed.

A family friend said: He was a lovely boy, he was always round my house and looked out for my daughter.

You have to know where your kids are all the time, and even then it might not be safe.

Its a shock to our whole community. A lot of people assume he was in a gang but thats not the case - he was always polite.

Her daughter, 16, added: He was funny and silly and would always want to make you laugh. He would always be with his friends they loved him and were so important to him. His younger sister is heartbroken - she looked up to Elijah so much.

A classmate at Kelmscott School said: Everyone there loved him, he was the one guy that lit up the room, he was so funny, cheeky and smart when he put his head down.

He knew how to make people smile. Everyone has been affected by this, in no way would we have imagined him to leave the world like this. So many people are crying even the ones who werent so close to him.

Colin James, of Gangs Unite, a charity that works with east London gangs, visited Elijahs family last night.

He said: A few of his friends were very angry about what happened, there was a lot of anger and it was getting to dangerous levels. There is a small window after a tragic event like this which can set kids on a different path.

Anyone with information should call 020 8358 0400 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T his is the moment police threatened to Taser a man during a stand-off on the top deck of a bus.

Passengers were evacuated before officers confronted the man on the No 28 in Kensington Church Street shortly before 9.30pm yesterday.

Police were called to an assault on another passenger, who was taken to hospital for treatment and is in a stable condition.

During the stand-off officers aimed the Taser at the alleged attacker, who reportedly continued to hurl threats, but he was detained without the need to fire the device.

A crowd gathered and the bus was halted / Nigel Howard

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: The suspect refused to co-operate with attending officers, including those armed with Taser, and continued to make threats of assault.

A suspect is led from the scene after the stand-off / Nigel Howard

He was subsequently detained by police and arrested on suspicion of ABH and affray and taken to a west London police station for questioning. Taser was not fired during the incident.
A man has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in a broad daylight attack in north London.

Police were called to a street off of the busy Seven Sisters Road in south Tottenham at shortly before 4pm on Tuesday after an alert from paramedics.

The victim, a man aged 34, was found injured after being stabbed in the leg outside Oatfield House on St Ann's Road.

He was rushed to hospital by ambulance where he remains.

Police have taped off part of the street, outside the No 8 hostel at the junction with Albert Road while they investigate.

Several police cars and ambulances were sent to Seven Sisters Road following the attack. / @999London

Photos from the scene show blood on the pavement and what appears to be a small pile of clothing.

Several police cars and ambulances can be seen as officers stand next to the cordon.

According to police at just after 8pm, the man's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening or life-changing.

A Met Police spokesman said police were called at 3.50pm to reports of a male who had been stabbed. Officers are currently at the scene.

Today's stabbing comes after the Met announced they had set up a specialist taskforce to tackle knife crime with 100 officers.

A week-long crackdown as part of Operation Sceptre saw more than 300 knives seized from the streets and more than 50 people arrested on average each day.

Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, can contact police in Haringey via 101, or by tweeting @MetCC.

To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
A teenage drink driver who killed one of his passengers by ploughing into three parked cars after a night of partying has been jailed for five years.

Mohammed Nabil, 19, from Wembley, sped through north London on his way home from a nightclub with a car full of friends before careering into a row of vehicles in Harrow.

The youngster had taken his brothers car to go drinking at a party in Acton, a pub in Hayes and a restaurant in Southall before later going to a Wembley nightclub.

Around three miles into his journey home, CCTV cameras captured him hurtling along at 47mph on a 30mph road during poor weather when the roads were wet.

Tragedy: Zohaib Anwar was in the Ford Focus

He lost control of his Ford Focus at around 3am as he sped around a traffic island and smashed into the cars.

The horror crash left backseat passenger Zohaib Anwar, 27, dead and another friend, a man aged 45, fighting for his life. The man has since recovered but has been left with life-changing injuries.

Two other passengers also suffered minor injuries.

DS Chris Osborne, from the Met's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said it was almost inevitable that a collision would occur.

"This was a tragic case for all concerned, he said. Nabil made a number of very poor decisions that night.

First, he took his brother's car without consent knowing full well he had no insurance. He then spent the evening drinking before colliding with a traffic island.

"Having damaged the wheel of the car, Nabil carried on driving in a dangerous manner - at speed - in wet conditions.

Sadly this led to the death of Zohaib Anwar and left another man suffering life changing injuries.

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr Anwar, and we wish his friend well in his ongoing recovery."

Nabil, of Wyld Way, pleaded guilty at Harrow Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving.

He was jailed for five years, banned from driving for seven and a half years and ordered to pay a 120 victim surcharge.

He was also given sentences of two years for causing serious injury by dangerous driving, two years for aggravated vehicle taking and one year for causing death while uninsured.
A man who brutally attacked his ex-girlfriends parents, leaving her father in a coma, has been jailed.

Daniel Benitez, 27, beat his former partners mother around the head because he blamed her for losing a custody battle over his girlfriends son.

She was set upon as she returned home to find her husband lying on their kitchen floor suffering a serious head injury and a stab wound to his back.

The dangerous and violent Benitez was waiting in the living room of their home in Streatham, which police say had been ransacked.

After the horrific assaults on May 13 last year, Benitez left the property but returned a short while later.

When the terrified 54-year-old refused him entry, Benitez, of Longley Road, Wandsworth, kicked the door down.

The distressed mother then called friends for assistance and the police and paramedics were summoned.

The husband, 53, was rushed to a south London hospital where he was placed in a medically-induced coma.

He has never fully recovered from his injuries and still requires round-the-clock care, Scotland Yard said.

Benitez was arrested in Balham High Road on the day of the vicious attacks and charged with ABH. He was later charged with attempted murder.

On Friday, April 28, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 19 years in prison for one count of grievous bodily harm and one count of actual bodily harm.

Fourteen years of his sentence will be custodial, and the later five years will be served on licence.

Investigating officer detective constable James Ross,of Lambeth CID, said: This was a particularly brutal and vicious crime which has had a devastating, life changing effect on both the victim and his family.

We are unsure how much of a recovery the victim will ever make and the robust sentencing handed out by the court today helps to reflect the severity of the injuries inflicted. I hope that this goes some way to providing justice and closure for the family.

Benitez showed no remorse at any opportunity when questioned by police. He is a dangerous and violent individual and his long term incarceration will go some way to making London a safer place.
A terror suspect arrested outside Whitehall has been charged, including allegedly having explosive substances in Afghanistan.

Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, 27, was arrested just yards from Parliament on Thursday, April 27 after being stopped by officers outside Whitehall.

He has been charged with the intention of committing acts of terrorism as well as two alleged offences in Afghanistan in 2012.

He is accused of unlawfully and maliciously having made or had a quantity of explosive substances while in the middle-eastern country on two separate occasions.

Arrest: Armed police arrested Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali in a stop and search / PA

The first allegedly took place in January and the second in July.

Mr Mohammed is believed to be a British national from Tottenham, north London, who was born overseas.

He was tackled by armed police officers following a stop and search carried out as part of an "ongoing operation".

Mr Mohammed will appear on remand at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 10 May.

The incident came just weeks after terrorist Khalid Masood stabbed and killed Pc Keith Palmer during a terror rampage in Westminster, an attack that killed five people.
T hese are the five biggest stories from the last 24 hours in the capital and across the globe.

Jeremy Corbyn wont quit as Labour leader even if he loses election

Mr Corbyn says he will stay leader of the Labour party no matter what the result on June 8.

Planning to stay: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn / Getty Images

And, officially launching Labours election campaign, he declared that Brexit was settled and would not be the main issue at the polls.

At an event in Manchester on Tuesday he will hit out at the rigged system.

And he told Buzzfeed News: I was elected leader of this party and Ill stay leader of this party,

Brit heard voices telling him to kill Donald Trump

Michael Sandford, 20, who suffers from autism, has spoken out after he was jailed for trying to grab a policemans gun at a Trump rally.

Plot: Michael Sandford was accused of a plot to kill Donald Trump after he was arrested at a Las Vegas casino in June / AP Photo/John Locher

He tried to take 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.

After flying back to the UK on Thursday, months before the end of his sentence, he told The Sun that voices had urged him to kill.

He said: My friends had said Trump needed to be stopped. They said he was going to destroy the country - but it was the voices in my head which were telling me to kill him.

Moped gangs target residents near Prince Georges school

New footage has emerged of thieves on mopeds terrorising people in Battersea.

A moped drive breaks into a car having kicked a passing cyclist / PA

Residents said they had seen men on bikes waving the machetes as they sped through pedestrianised areas near Thomas's School, where Prince George will attend from September.

Bikers can be seen threatening passers-by and weaving in and out of tables at nearby restaurants.

The incident is the latest in a string of thefts by people riding mopeds around the capital.

Heavily-fortified jewellery shop containing 20m diamond ring opens in London

Red carpet jeweller Samer Halimeh has opened a flagship store in Knightsbridge.

Fortified: The shop in Knightsbridge

The most expensive single piece in the shop is a 65 carat emerald cut Vivo Per Lei diamond ring said to be worth up to 20 million.

He said he chose London rather than New York to base his biggest store because of its status as the billionaire capital of the world.

The facades of the shop are made from anti-ram raider steel and reinforced concrete faced with black polished stone.

Police rush to chaotic casting call for new Idris Elba film

An open casting call by the Luther star at an east London community centre caused chaos.

Crowds gathered outside the centre for the casting call. / @TJimofo

Police were called as more than a thousand people turned up to the event in Hackney on Monday night.

Idris Elba was forced to use Instagram to shut down the event as huge crowds descended on the venue.

He said: "I don't want to shut it down but it's looking very likely, I'm just being honest with you guys, ok."
F urious Londoners have accused police of demonising homeless people after an anti-begging sign appeared outside Waterloo station.

The large dot-matrix sign, erected in the street outside the station, says: Police Message. Please do not give money to beggars.

Lambeth Police claimed the sign was in response to concerns about begging raised by the local community. They said many beggars are not actually homeless and that some use the money to buy drugs.

However, the sign has been slammed as disgraceful, weird and absolutely disgusting on social media.

Verity Nevitt, Goldsmiths Universitys Labour Womens Officer, said: This is criminalising & demonising people who are genuinely homeless & depriving them of their only source of income.

Actor Wilf Scolding asked the police force to maybe tell the public what we CAN do for beggars rather than this rather right-wing message.

Another Twitter user added: For anyone in doubt about the sheer evil and vindictiveness of the police, this sign appeared outside Waterloo Station.

In response to the online outrage, Lambeth police issued a statement defending the sign.

It said: Following concerns raised by the local community, begging in the Waterloo area is now a community and policing priority for local police.

Our research has shown that some of our most prolific beggars are not homeless and have accommodation. Some have a history of drug use which is funded, in part, by begging.

We are working with our partners to support and assist beggars as well as enforce illegal activity and raise awareness of this issue to those that use Waterloo using dot matrix signs.

Paul Noblet, Head of Public Affairs at youth homelessness charity Centrepoint, told the Standard: Donating money or food is always a matter of personal choice, but what is not in dispute is that every year in London thousands of young people approach their local council for help because they have nowhere else to go.

The police have every right to tackle aggressive begging, but they must work with councils and charities like Centrepoint to ensure those genuinely in need are not criminalised and denied support."
India only has about 30,000 tuskers left in its forests and reserves.

By Baishali Adak: Reports of elephant meat consumption in parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have raised the hackles of forest officials and wildlife activists.

On May 1, the mutilated carcass of a wild elephant was discovered at Ahutoli village in the eastern state's Nagaon district. This is about 130 km from capital Guwahati. While the tusks being missing is a usual sight, villagers were surprised to see the whole 7-foot bloodied trunk hacked off and lying some distance away.

advertisement

Local folklore in the Karbi Anglong Hills, where the incident occurred, said the "trunk is the tastiest part of the jumbo's body." Some members of the residing tribal communities here, including Karbi, Garo, Dimasa, Adivasis, are known to indulge in this wild meat.

ELEPHANT BODIES FOUND SANS SNOUT

Several cases have also come to the fore where elephant bodies have been found sans the snout, tail and even "stripped of all flesh and reduced to bones". While revered as a religious and cultural icon in India, elephants are hounded and killed for ivory and also when they wander into human settlements, damaging crops and homes.

Senior wildlife officers refused to confirm that the May 1 Nagaon incident points to "meat consumption," but other experts expressed fears that the "newly acquired taste" could lead to a spurt in elephant poaching.

India only has about 30,000 tuskers left in its forests and reserves, and the huge animal enjoys the highest Schedule 1 species status under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972 besides declared endangered by global body, IUCN.

TASTE DEVELOPED FOR JUMBO MEAT

Rituraj Phukan of the Nagaon-based Green Guards Organisation told Mail Today, "While historically, jumbo flesh isn't eaten by tribes of Karbi Hills, we were surprised by the May 1 incident and similar ones in the past 10 years.

Our local intelligence told us that when the tribals come down to the plains for weekly bazaar sales and purchases they sell the jumbo meat by various names and have developed a taste for it." Mubina Akhtar, a former member of the powerful Assam Wildlife Board, added, "The Karbi Anglong hills are a part of the Kaziranga Elephant Reserve.

It's also a conflicted area with secessionist groups and armed bandits frequenting it. While we can't assure that elephants are being killed only for meat as it could be unviable, it is very much possible that there is a nexus between poachers who are looking for tusks worth crores and the locals who can get cheap meat for a kill."

advertisement

JUMBO KILLED ONLY FOR ITS MEAT?

The trunk is apparently the tastiest part to eat, said Dr Zahan Ahmed, veterinarian with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). "During my five years as a wildlife vet in Assam, I have encountered several cases of elephant death with the trunk cut at the middle and the base," he said. Elephant meat, however, is a well-known delicacy in some Southeast Asian countries and African nations like Cameroon and Congo.

"I have heard of specific cases in Arunachal, where the jumbo has been killed just for its meat," Rituraj added.

Assam has a population of 5,000-6,000 elephants, though 300 have been lost in the last 10 years.

Jayanta Kumar Das, an Assam-based wildlife conservationist, said, "The saddest part of the story, from what I have heard from locals, is that the jumbo in the Nagaon incident was old and sick. It had come out of the jungle on April 30, probably seeking help. Instead, forest officers drove it back to the jungles and on May 1 it was found killed."

MORE ABOUT ELEPHANTS IN THE COUNTRY

The Indian elephant is native to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Laos, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It is regionally extinct in Pakistan.

advertisement

District forest officer of Nagaon Subhashish Das said, "The fact of the matter is that it was lying in a pond. We were arranging for a veterinarian from Kaziranga and a tranquiliser, and we could not keep it in the public till that time. Unfortunately, it was found dead in those circumstances. The postmortem report has found arrow heads lodged in its body. However, we have no proof until now that it was killed for meat."

Also Read:

No water for jumbos: Elephants continue to die in Karnataka due to dehydration

Gajraj's gundaraj: Elephant breaks railway crossing barriers in West Bengal

--- ENDS ---
T his is the moment a man armed with a meat cleaver terrorised and threatened to kill horrified passers-by in Hackney.

The knifeman stormed into a kosher shop in Upper Clapton Road and shouted: Where is the boss, I will kill him! before yelling at two young girls: "You Jews run away from here before I kill you."

Armed police descended on Rossington Street in Clapton at just after 4pm on Tuesday to reports of the armed man.

The frightening footage shows the man walking up to the front of a shop in broad daylight armed with the butcher's knife and another large blade.

A shopkeeper was threatened in Upper Clapton Road. / Shomrim

Staff locked the door and refused to let him in so the man stands outside before waving the meat cleaver at other members of the public.

He can then be seen gesturing aggressively and thrusting the knife in the direction of passers-by.

At one point he swings the knife at an Orthodox Jewish man in traditional dress before following him along the road.

Terrified members of the public start running in a bid to flee the knifeman.

The man reportedly threatened two young girls. / Shomrim

Police were called to Rossington Street after a string of 999 calls and a 61-year-old man was detained.

He was arrested on suspicion of affray and possession of an offensive weapon.

A Met spokesman said he was taken to a north London police station where he remains in custody. No one was reported injured.

Shomrim, north Londons Jewish neighbourhood watch group, said they contained the area while police raced to the scene.

Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti- Semitism, said: This is an extremely frightening incident and it is very fortunate that there are no injuries reported. We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for their bravery in rushing to the scene to protect the public.

Violent anti-Semitic crime continues to rise at an alarming rate and will continue to do so until anti-Semitic incitement is taken seriously by the authorities before it translates into violence."
M ayor Sadiq Khan today called on Londons communities to work with the police against knife crime, saying: Every life lost is an utter tragedy.

He spoke out as detectives said they were investigating two new knife attacks on teenagers last night in which the victims suffered serious but non-fatal injuries.

A 17-year-old boy attacked in Walthamstow on Sunday became the 11th fatal knife victim in London in less than a fortnight and the capitals ninth teenage homicide victim this year.

Mr Khan in a statement issued to the Standard said: Today I want to send an unequivocal message that carrying knives will simply not be tolerated on Londons streets, and I am calling on everybody in London to work with the police to help root out this scourge.

Every life lost is an utter tragedy and my thoughts are with the families and friends of all those who have so needlessly lost their lives.

"I am working with the Metropolitan Police, young people, schools, families and community groups to do everything we can to keep Londoners safe.

He added that he hoped to restore real neighbourhood policing with two officers in every ward by the end of the year. My message today is clear: if you carry a knife in London, we will catch you and arrest you, he said.

He spoke as Scotland Yard announced it was expanding its campaign against knife crime after a week of action when police seized 300 knives and 15 guns.

A 100-strong task force deployed to knife crime hotspots uncovered the weapons in more than 1,000 searches across London in the eighth phase of the Operation Sceptre campaign.

Senior officers said the Sceptre campaign was being extended to run for a week every month instead of twice a year while the knife crime task force would become permanent.

Last week police made a total of 393 arrests, including a 12-year-old boy found in possession of a seven-inch kitchen knife during a stop and search.

He was released on bail to appear at a youth court this week.

A total of 47 of the Mets most violent offenders were arrested during the week of intense activity, 17 of them in stop and search operations.

Police also stopped 65 known knife carriers and arrested 14 of them.

Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gallagher, leading the anti-knife operations, said: We have not increased the number of stop and searches but it has become more targeted.
T he Met Police has promised to investigate officers who held down a London student at a psychiatric hospital shortly before he died after an inquest found excessive force led to his death.

Olaseni Lewis, 23, died on September 3, 2012, three days after he was restrained by officers at Bethlem Royal Hospital.

A coroner today gave a narrative verdict at an inquest into his death, with a jury having concluded that excessive force had been used by the officers.

The Met apologised to Mr Lewis family following the verdict and promised to investigate any misconduct by officers.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Martin acknowledged officers had failed to follow their training.

In a statement, he said: Seven years ago Olaseni Lewis died in tragic circumstances. I would like to say sorry to Mr Lewis family and friends for their loss, and the circumstances in which he lost his life.

Today, the jury who have heard all the evidence relating to his death, have raised serious concerns about the actions of our officers on that day.

That is clearly of grave concern for us and we must now fully consider the detail of their narrative verdict.

Mr Lewis, who was known as Seni, voluntarily admitted himself to the psychiatric hospital after his family became concerned about his behaviour.

He slipped into a coma after being restrained and later died after being put on life support.

In September 2011, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) ruled that no police officer should be the subject of misconduct proceedings.

However, the IPCC ordered a reinvestigation after the High Court quashed its findings in 2013.

No criminal charges were brought against any officer.

Mr Lewis family have campaigned for the past seven years for answers surrounding his death.

Deborah Coles, director of charity INQUEST said: This jury have reached the most damning conclusions on the collective failures of police and mental health services.

This was a most horrific death. Officers knew the dangers of this restraint but chose to go against clear, unequivocal training.

The Met has said it will now work with the IPCC to open any misconduct processes.

Mr Lewis added: The fast moving nature of incidents such as these means they are some of the most difficult officers, who are not medical professionals, have to face.

However, the jury stated that the officers failed to follow their training and they also raised concerns about the quality of national training. This we will address as a matter of urgency with policing nationally.
H e is the red carpet jeweller whose diamonds are worn by A-listers such as Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey and Sir Elton John as well as the royal families of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Brunei.

Now Samer Halimeh has opened his 10million global flagship store - said to be Londons most heavily fortified boutique - in Knightsbridge to serve the growing numbers of the worlds super-rich spending time in the capital.

The Beirut born founder of his eponymous brand, who grew up in war torn Lebanon, will display hundreds of millions of pounds worth of necklaces, rings and polished diamonds.

The most expensive single piece in the shop is a 65 carat emerald cut Vivo Per Lei diamond ring said to be worth up to 20 million.

The brand says it deals only with diamonds certified by the Gemological Institute of America as ethically sourced directly from local mines in South Africa.

The most expensive single piece in the shop is a 65 carat emerald cut Vivo Per Lei diamond ring said to be worth up to 20 million

The 39 year old said he chose London rather than New York - where he has his Fifth Avenue corporate HQ - to base his biggest store because of its status as the billionaire capital of the world and its easy accessibility for customers from Europe, Russia, the Middle East and India.

He said London is a hub for luxury shoppers. Buyers of diamond jewellery like to meet the jewellery sellers personally, to touch and feel the pieces  buying luxury jewellery is a very sensory and emotive experience.

He added: Our brand has an existing presence on Fifth Avenue in New York and boutiques in Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur, but our new London flagship store enables us to showcase our complete collection.

London's most expensive and lavish shop launched in Knightsbridge

The Sunday Times Rich List revealed at the weekend that the number of billionaires calling London home has risen from 120 to a record 134 over the past year.

Shoppers who enter the store will find the collections lit up by an extravagant chandelier made from 600 pieces of handmade Bohemian crystal designed to echo the clouds that hover over Africa where diamonds are found.

The interiors were created by Paris based former investment banker turned designer Caroline Perrin of AC Matiere who has also worked for Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Tiffany.

Samer Halimeh pictured with Hollywood star John Travolta

On the first floor a VIP suite opens onto a timber decked drinks and cigar terrace overlooked by an extraordinary rhino sculpture made by Italian artist Stefano Bombardieri described as a thought provoking sculpture designed to encourage reflection on the link between man and nature.

The picture windows in the shop, which opened this month after a two year construction and fit-out progamme, are fitted with 30mm thick bullet proof glass protected by weaved steel curtains.

The facades of the shop are made from anti-ram raider steel and reinforced concrete faced with black polished stone,

Inside the 3000 sq ft shop the jewellery collections are in glass, steel and marble display cases made in Milan weighing 150kg each. The 300 kg internal doors are made from 6mm thick steel.

A basement vault holding the most expensive items as well as raw diamonds is embedded in 12 tonnes of reinforced concrete and is protected by motion sensors, CCTV cameras and infra-red beams.

Mr Halimeh, said: The boutique allows new customers and existing clients to view our beautiful finished jewellery collection; discuss bespoke pieces or have heirloom pieces refashioned in new totally one-a-kind settings.
D onald Trump, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are making it into the British law archives, thanks to an exam set by the London School of Economics.

Last week, students took a tort law exam, on legal liabilities for accidents, which offered a scenario featuring some familiar names. Nigel and Donald are having a party at Nigels house, the question reads. After drinking several pints of imported Belgian beer, Nigel suggests they both take a flight in his light aircraft. Nigel plans to use the aircraft as part of a publicity stunt, in which he will unfurl a banner as he flies over Westminster.

Unsurprisingly, the plane crashes and Donald suffers hypothermia. Meanwhile, on Westminster Bridge, a man, distracted by the plane, opens his car door and knocks over Boris, a cyclist. Boris suffers a minor head injury. Doctors say that Boris has an unusually thin skull and the injury would have been avoided if he had been wearing a helmet.

The LSE declined to comment on the exam this morning, spotted by Legal Cheek, nor the remedies students suggested. We imagine Farage, pictured, at least, will be rather flattered.

For all of today's Diary click here.

Follow The Londoner on Twitter and Facebook here.
P lans by Theresa May to prevent rip off energy bills drew howls from the Big Six gas and electricity companies today but were welcomed by smaller rivals.

The Prime Minister said she wanted to end the injustice that meant loyal customers were manoeuvred into paying more for their supplies, including elderly and vulnerable people.

Her proposal of an independently set cap produced a hollow laugh from Labour, which pointed out that David Cameron accused former Labour leader Ed Miliband of living in some sort of Marxist universe when he proposed a similar policy.

More significantly, the share price of British Gas owners Centrica fell 2.7 per cent as the company angrily warned that it could lead to higher bills for consumers and reduced competition.

The Confederation of British Industry said it was too soon to rush into such a policy after a major review of the energy market  and even Greenpeace said it was not a full solution.

But there was backing for the policy from newer companies that are competing for customers in a market that has proved hard to open to full-blooded competition. Business Secretary Greg Clark said action was needed because the industry was overcharging customers by 1.4 billion, equivalent to between 70 and 200 each a month.

A new safeguard tariff would protect people who could not take advantage of temporary deals by switching suppliers.

Mr Clark admitted that he is among the millions who never switch provider because it is a hassle. He said: In my view it shouldnt be necessary to have to switch, to have to go through the fuss, simply to avoid being ripped off.

Under the Tory plan, the cap would be set by the independent regulator for the energy market, Ofgem. It could move with wholesale prices.

Centrica said it rejected price regulation. In a statement it said: Evidence from other countries would suggest this will lead to reduced competition and choice, and potentially higher average prices.

Labours shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said the Conservatives had failed to give proper detail of how a cap would work: A cap suggests a maximum amount that can be charged, not a promise that bills wont go up year on year.

Doug Parr, at Greenpeace UK, said a better solution would be to make homes warmer and healthier.

Will Hodson, co-founder of price-switching firm Big Deal, said: An energy price cap is hugely welcome and great news for families who have been exploited by the Big Six for far too long.

But Lawrence Slade, chief executive of Energy UK, accused the Tories of almost giving up on competition at a time when we need engaged consumers more than ever. @JoeMurphyLondon
B usiness Secretary Greg Clark was stuck for answers in a live radio interview today when he repeatedly failed to explain which workers would be barred from Britain to meet Theresa Mays tens of thousands pledge.

He did not identify a single sector of the economy that would take fewer staff from overseas and refused to say if the Conservatives would meet their target by the 2022 election.

Business groups reacted with dismay, warning that it would be a massive gamble to pledge to slash immigration by more than half without knowing how to achieve it safely.

London First said Mrs Mays target would leave an impossible gap to fill because the capital was already at full employment and the Federation of Master Builders said Tory plans for more homes and infrastructure would falter without skilled construction workers.

Institute of Directors chief Edwin Morgan said Mr Clark was in a difficult position due to a policy that businesses did not believe to be possible.

He is meant to be championing business and the economy but the target makes it very difficult, he said.

I would ask all Conservative ministers and candidates to make the case to the Prime Minister that the target will not work and could be counter-productive.

Mr Clark was interviewed on the BBCs Today show a day after the Prime Minister confirmed that a vow to cut net immigration below 100,000 from the current level of 273,000 will be in the Conservative manifesto.

No timescale or other detail has yet been given for the policy.

Interviewer Justin Webb pointed out that a range of business groups were united in opposing such a cap and demanded to know where such a sizeable reduction would come from.

Mr Clark responded that it was clearly understood that there would not be a complete ban on workers whose skills were needed in Britain.

Asked how the target could be achieved if nobody lost access to skills, the minister said post-Brexit Britain will have control over the policy. However, critics pointed out that the UK has complete control over non-EU migrants already yet still imports about 164,000 of them  enough to break the pledge without a single EU worker.

Pressed again, Mr Clark said he would look at each individual sector and tailor a policy to suit. In the medium and longer term, Britain would train its own workers to fill skills gaps.

Will Higham, director at business group London First, said: Greg Clark is absolutely right that we need to build up the level of skills in this country ... but were nearly at full employment in London and Brexit risks removing nearly eight out of 10 EU workers, an impossible gap to fill.

Brian Berry, head of the Federation of Master Builders, said: We wont be able to build the homes, roads, railways and other infrastructure projects we need unless the Government implements a flexible immigration system post-Brexit.

The respected Institute for Government this morning issued a report arguing the target was unrealistic. Researcher Joe Owen said: The basic administrative task of making such a change happen is huge  not just for government but also employers, landlords and providers of public services.

Thousands of young voters were today offered free tours of Parliament during which they will be encouraged to register to take part in the general election. A guided tour usually costs 25.50 but 18 to 24-year-olds will be offered them free as part of a drive by Parliament to promote democracy.
L abour and Liberal Democrat activists have united with the Green Party with the aim of unseating Jeremy Hunt in the General Election.

Mr Hunt, the Health Secretary and MP for South West Surrey before Parliament was dissolved, is facing a challenge from Dr Louise Irvine, leader of the National Health Action party.

Dr Irvine, who took 8.5 per cent of the vote when she contested the seat in 2015, has been backed by the Lib Dems, Labour and the Greens as a progressive alliance candidate.

The Progressive Alliance movement seeks for progressive parties across the country to tactically unite behind a candidate who has the best chance of defeating the Tories.

During a meeting organised by the South West Surrey Compass group over the weekend, the Green Party announced it would withdraw its candidate for the South West Surrey seat.

Labour and Liberal Democrat members also agreed not to campaign to give Dr Irvine the best chance of taking the seat from Mr Hunt.

Executive member of the Labour Party and chair of South West Surrey Compass Steve Williams, who chaired the meeting, said: It [Saturdays meeting] was a ground-breaking moment for the 2017 general election campaign in South West Surrey.

Jeremy Hunt is a deeply unpopular MP amongst many of his constituents who hold him responsible for the current sorry state of the National Health Service.

South West Surrey Current MP: Jeremy Hunt 2015 majority: 28,556 over Ukip

He is now facing a serious challenge from a highly capable and articulate GP who is well accustomed to taking on Jeremy Hunt and fighting for keeping our National Health Service as a high quality, well-funded public service, providing world-class healthcare for all, free to the user at the point of use.

Dr Irvine successfully led a campaign that defeated the Government in court in 2012 over its attempts to downgrade casualty and maternity units.

She said: I am ready to challenge Jeremy Hunt on his government's disastrous NHS policies as well as the huge damage they are doing to our society in many areas such as education, housing and the environment.

Mr Hunt has represented the South West Surrey constituency since 2005. He was re-elected in 2015 with 34,199 votes, a majority of 28,556 over Ukips Mark Webber who received 5,643 votes.

Labours Howard Kaye was third with 5,415 votes, while Dr Irvine was fourth with 4,851.

The Green Party has been the driving force behind such progressive alliances so far, having stood down for Labour or the Lib Dems in London seats including Ealing, Ilford, Richmond Park and Twickenham and further afield in Oxford West and Abingdon and Hove.

The Lib Dems agreed to stand down in Brighton Pavilion to give Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas a better chance of keeping her seat.
A snubbed Lib Dem activist has denied being a paper candidate after senior party figures were secretly recorded urging voters to pick Labour in tough marginal seats.

Jon Ball hit back at Sir Vince Cable after he was overheard saying he would find it difficult to vote against pro-Remain Labour MP Rupa Huq.

Mr Ball, who is standing in Ealing Central & Acton, said: I have been out pretty much every day knocking on doors, so Im certainly not a paper candidate.

"The position is clear that we are fighting for every vote. We are not doing a deal with Labour.

Ealing Central and Acton 2015 MP: Rupa Huq 2015 majority 274 over the Conservatives

Mr Ball said he felt supported by his party, despite Sir Vinces comments and remarks by Sarah Olney, the Lib-Dem candidate for Richmond Park, who was heard saying we know we want Rupa to win in Ealing.

Discussing tactical voting, she said the Lib Dems could stand paper candidates by not campaigning in some areas.

Today, Ms Huq said Sir Vinces backing was a significant development in her campaign against Tory Joy Morrissey. She believes Mr Ball should step aside as the Greens have already.

Ms Huq said: In a tight race, itd be wrong to sacrifice a good independently minded pro-Remain MP due to the personal vanity of the already twice-loser Lib Dem candidate standing to further his council bid in 2018.

[Mr Ball] barely kept his deposit last time.

"Hes got no realistic possibility that hes going to win.

It emerged today that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will be challenged by a progressive forum of Greens, Labour and Lib Dem activists in his South West Surrey seat after they backed Dr Louise Irvine of the National Health Action party.
S ir Vince Cable has accused Labour of making a so-called progressive alliance with the Liberal Democrats impossible.

The former Business Secretary was overheard appearing to back voting for pro-Remain Labour MP Rupa Huq in the Ealing Central and Acton constituency.

Sir Vince, who is trying to win back Twickenham from the Conservatives, told the Standard Labour moderates had been left in complete despair by their partys leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

The problem with this whole so-called progressive alliance idea is the leadership of the Labour party which has made it impossible for people on the centre left, which is where I am roughly, to work with the Labour Party, he said.

I and the Lib Dems have made absolutely clear that we won't work with the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn any more than with the Conservatives, he added.

Twickenham constituency 2015 MP: Conservative Tania Mathias Majority: 2,077

It came as Jon Ball, the Lib Dem activist standing against Ms Huq, insisted he was not a paper candidate.

The position is clear that we are fighting for every vote. We are not doing a deal with Labour, he added.

Mr Ball said he felt supported by his party, despite Sir Vinces comments and remarks by Sarah Olney, the Lib-Dem candidate for Richmond Park, who was heard saying we know we want Rupa to win in Ealing.

Discussing tactical voting, she said the Lib Dems could stand paper candidates by not campaigning in some areas.

Today, Ms Huq said Sir Vinces backing was a significant development in her campaign against Tory Joy Morrissey. She believes Mr Ball should step aside as the Greens have already.

Ms Huq said: In a tight race, itd be wrong to sacrifice a good independently minded pro-Remain MP due to the personal vanity of the already twice-loser Lib Dem candidate standing to further his council bid in 2018.

[Mr Ball] barely kept his deposit last time.

"Hes got no realistic possibility that hes going to win.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) Pitching Bahrains tax-free credentials, a key delegation of the Middle-East today sought to impress upon the Indian business the importance of investing in the country.

The call is part of broader efforts to up bilateral trade.

"Industrial loan in Bahrain can be as low as 5 per cent in the long term, but one has to be present there to discuss the possibilities," Al-Hilal Group Chairman Anwar Abdulrahman, who led the business team, said while interacting with reporters and business delegates here.

advertisement

The Al-Hilal group is one of the Middle-Easts leading publishing and marketing bodies.

Urging the Indian corporates to invest in Bahrain, he said: "Our society is tax free, there is no taxation system at all... We have advisers who will advise the companies that want to invest in our country. We are also here to invest, its a two-way traffic."

The total trade between the two countries has been on a downhill since 2011 -- USD 919 million in 2014-15 from USD 1.3 billion.

Playing the safety card, Abdulrahman said Bahrain can be a better and safer gateway for Indias Investments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. He added: "We have widened the invitation directly to a number of companies in Bahrain and welcome their positive response." PTI PRJ ARD

--- ENDS ---
T heresa May said a border control deal between the UK and France would be up for discussion after the General Election in June.

The Prime Minister told journalists she expects the new government to sit down for talks with newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron about an agreement meaning British officials could operate in France.

Mr Macron, who was elected Frances youngest ever president on Sunday, last year suggested Paris could tear up the deal signed in Le Touquet in 2003 but later said he was willing to work to "improve" it.

During an election campaign visit in north-west London, Mrs May said: "It works for the benefit of both the UK and France and obviously in the government that is elected after June 8, we will be sitting down and talking to Monsieur Macron and others about how that system has worked both to the benefit of France, as well as for the benefit of the UK."

The agreement allows British immigration officials to check passports in Calais, while their French counterparts do the same in Dover.

Newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday night. / AFP/Getty Images

But it has often been criticised in France for leaving the country to deal with huge numbers of migrants attempting to travel to the UK.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Tom Brake said: "Theresa May has adopted Ukip's rhetoric, and now she is adopting their incompetence too.

"The Conservatives have repeatedly claimed that Brexit will have no impact on border agreements with France, but now the Prime Minister has admitted that they are up for negotiation.

"Changes to Le Touquet will mean an upheaval for people travelling across the Channel, risk making our country less secure, and are yet another consequence of the Conservative approach to Brexit.

"This is another clear reason why the British people must have the final say on the Brexit deal."

Labour's Peter Kyle, a supporter of the pro-EU Open Britain campaign, said: "This is just the latest in a long line of broken promises from those who campaigned to leave the European Union.

"They told us we would be no worse off, when the pound's value has fallen by over 10 per cent since the referendum.

"They said we would have an extra 350 million a week to spend on the NHS, when the Government's own forecaster says borrowing will rise by 58 billion thanks to Brexit.

"And they told us Brexit would lead to no change at all in the Calais border arrangements, when the Prime Minister herself admits they are up for renegotiation.

"The Government's hard Brexit course is putting our economy and our border security at risk.

"She needs to resist any changes to the Calais agreement that would make life harder for British holidaymakers, businesses and border control staff."

Additional reporting by Press Association.
T housands of young voters were today offered free tours of Parliament during which they will be encouraged to register to take part in the General Election.

They will be able to see the chambers of the Commons and the Lords and walk through Westminster Hall where Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, the Queen and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed Parliament.

A guided tour costs normally 25.50 and an audio one 18.50.

But 18 to 24-year-olds will be offered tours for free as part of a new drive by Parliament to promote democracy.

David Natzler, the Clerk of the House of Commons, said: We hope that young people from all over the UK will take this opportunity to visit Parliament and play their part in the democratic process as a result.

They dont have to register to vote but we would be really disappointed if they did not.

Eight additional tour dates have been added in May.

Tours are available Monday to Saturday between 11 and 20 May and Wednesday to Saturday between 25 May and 3 June.

A ticket is still required and proof of age will be requested on entry.

The tour also goes through St Stephens Hall which stands on the site of the royal Chapel of St Stephens, where the Commons sat until the Chapel was destroyed by the fire of 1834.

Visitors also see the Robing Room where the Queen puts on the Imperial State Crown and her ceremonial robes before making her way to the House of Lords chamber for the State Opening of Parliament.

They also go through the Royal Gallery whose walls are decorated by two vast paintings by Daniel Maclise depicting the Napoleonic Wars including the death of Horatio Nelson and the meeting of the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshall Blucher before Napoleons final defeat.
L abour candidate Kate Hoey shared an image in which her Liberal Democrat challenger was apparently removed from a picture taken at an event in south London.

Ms Hoey is standing to be re-elected in the south London constituency she has held since 1989. She appeared today in a photo on Twitter where an crude effort had been made to erase rival Lib Dem candidate George Turner.

Eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Mr Turner's legs could be seen in the back row of Brexit supporter Ms Hoeys photo. However his face and upper body had vanished.

At the time the photo was taken, Mr Turner said he had been standing next to the Lib Dems Sarah Olney, who can be seen behind Ms Hoey in the image.

The candidates were at an event in south London campaigning for the Government to support measures for cleaner air.

She captioned the image: Wonderful protest by children in North Lambeth to call on politicians to sign the #CleanAirPledge. Fully support.

Ms Hoey told the Standard: "I was not willing to tweet a photo with anyone wearing a rosette because this was an apolitical event on behalf of the children and I did not want those partisan elements included.

Vauxhall 2015 MP Kate Hoey 2015 majority 12,708 over the Conservatives

In response Mr Turner, who worked for former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes before he lost his Bermondsey and Old Southwark seat in 2015, retweeted the photo and said: Wow. Just wow.

He later wrote: @Sarahjolney1 Do you remember me standing next to you yesterday? Notice anything strange, like my head disappearing?

The Lib Dems have identified the Vauxhall constituency, where 77 per cent of residents voted to remain, as one of their key battlegrounds.

It comes after the Lib Dems printed a leaflet merging the faces of Ms Hoey and ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

The Lib Dems see Vauxhall as one of their key battlegrounds

Ms Hoey, who was the chair of Labour Leave, was left at odds with her local Labour party after she campaigned alongside Mr Farage on his Thames flotilla during the referendum and aligned herself with his Grassroots Out campaign.

The Lib Dems distributed 20,000 leaflets with the Hoey-Farage graphic in the Vauxhall constituency where Ms Hoey has been an MP since 1989.

She won the south London seat at the last General Election in 2015 with a majority of 12,708 over the Conservatives.

Ms Hoeys tweet sparked a flurry of jokes on social media with one Twitter user posting: Why's there a pair of legs in the back row with no body?

Jake Johnstone tweeted: Word to the wise @KateHoeyMP, if youre going to be petty and Photoshop out @georgenturner from a picture, dont forget his legs

Another person said: It must be a very tiny child with man-size lower legs.
J eremy Corbyns claim that he will not quit as Labour leader if his party is beaten in the General Election has renewed speculation about what could happen after June 8.

Labour is bracing itself for a bruising defeat as it trails an average 20 points behind Theresa Mays Conservatives in most poll trackers.

But Mr Corbyn is thought to be under pressure from left-wingers to carry on, regardless of the result, as they are desperate not to lose control of the party.

During last years leadership contest, shadow chancellor John McDonnell  one of Mr Corbyns closest allies  signalled they would both have to stand down if the party lost a general election.

He told the BBC: "That would be inevitable, wouldn't it? Every Labour leader who loses an election usually goes."

But Mr Corbyn said in an interview with Buzzfeed News published on Tuesday: I was elected leader of this party and Ill stay leader of this party.

The history of other leaders standing down

Former Labour leaders Michael Foot, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband all stood down after their first defeat.

Neil Kinnock saw out two losses before resigning in 1992. Mr Kinnock was the last leader of the opposition to remain in the job following a General Election defeat.

In 1987, he remained the partys leader after losing to Margaret Thatcher but gaining 26 seats extra seats for Labour.

But this time round, the party is expected to win fewer seats than it had after the 2015 poll.

In 90 seconds: Corbyn launches Labour's official General Election campaign

The rules about Labour leadership contests

The parliamentary Labour party does not have a formal process if it wishes to oust its leader. In 2016, after 60 frontbenchers called on Mr Corbyn to resign and a majority of his MPs had voted no confidence in him, he stayed on and won his second leadership contest in which he was challenged by Owen Smith.

Labour's National Executive Committee had decided Mr Corbyn would automatically make the leadership ballot for the second contest in a blow to those MPs who were desperate to oust him.

Critics had argued that he should have to obtain the support of at least 51 MPs and MEPs (15 per cent of the 229 Labour MPs and 20 MEPs at the time) in order to qualify for the race.

Labours rules stipulate that anyone who wishes to challenge a sitting leader needs the backing of 20 per cent of Labour MPs and MEPs.

If there is no sitting leader, a candidate needs just 15 per cent of MPs and MEPs.

At this years conference, the party will vote on a reform to the leadership selection process that would make reduce the required proportion of support from MPs and MEPs from 15 per cent to 5 per cent of the party.

Mr Corbyn gives the thumbs up to supporters after being announced as the leader of the Labour Party on the eve of the party's annual conference on September 24, 2016 / Getty Images

Does the Labour membership support Jeremy Corbyn?

In the last Labour leadership contest, Mr Corbyn was re-elected with a victory of 61.8 per cent of the vote over his challenger Owen Smith.

It was his second huge win in little more than 12 months following an influx of grassroots supporters.

His tally of 313,209 votes was more than 60,000 higher than the 251,417 (59.5 per cent) he secured in his first leadership contest in 2015.

But a recent poll conducted before the General Election was announced, showed a fall in Mr Corbyns popularity.

Polling commissioned by Election Datas Ian Warren and carried out by YouGov showed a drop in the Labour leaders approval rating among members over 12 months.

In February 2016, his net approval rating was 55 per cent. A year later it was 17 per cent.

Jeremy Corbyn faces Theresa May in the last PMQs before Parliament was dissolved / Sky News

Will Jeremy Corbyn stand down?

Mr Corbyn has already survived a Labour leadership challenge when many people believed he would not.

But it would be quite extraordinary if he held onto the leadership should Mrs May secure a huge majority on June 8.

If Labour secures the same percentage of the vote (30.5 per cent) as it did in 2015 under former leader Ed Miliband, it is thought Mr Corbyn could use this to argue his case to stay.

Professor Tim Bale, of Queen Mary Universitys politics department, told the Standard Mr Corbyns vow to remain as leader after a defeat was not surprising.

He said: We wouldnt expect a leader to say anything else. Leaders never talk about losing and what will happen if or when they lose.

Its possible to conceive Jeremy Corbyn thinking that he can and should stay on as he has an idea of democracy and the power of the leader depending on the membership rather than the voters.

It is consistent with his ideology but whether he would actually want to carry on if and when that defeat comes and if it is really, really big, he might actually think its time to go.

What might stop him is the people around him wanting him to stay on in order for them to get a successor in a Corbyn mould. He might feel that getting a rule change at the party conference is something they need to do and he needs to stay on in order for them to achieve that.
T he Duke of Edinburgh has always enjoyed the reputation of being a red-blooded male.

So it will come as no surprise that fellow naval officer Keith Evans - who first met Philip, now 95, in 1947, the year the Duke wed the future Queen - recalls that he the royal was "very randy."

Commander Evans - who met Philip again today 70 years later - describing Lieutenant Mountbatten said, "He was a bit randy."

On reflection the old sailor said, "But you had better not put that down."

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch a cricket match together in 1958. / Getty Images

A few minutes later he agreed to put aside his discretion, but with one proviso. "Not 'a bit'," he said. "'Very'."

In November 1947 Philip married Princess Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey: from which point on, of course, he put his old naval ways behind him. Whatever the gossips said.

Prince Philip jokes he can 'barely stand up'

Cdr Evans, 97, who served on HMS Hood, met the duke as he and the Queen visited Pangbourne College in Berkshire for its centenary.

"Like Prince Philip, I'm standing down from most things in August," he joked. He is following my example.

Former naval commander and oldest living college student, Keith Evans, 97. / Getty Images

Welcoming Philip's decision to retire, he added: "I think it is rather good news. He will do what he wants rather than what she tells him to do. He will still be around."

Cdr Evans, who lives in Haslemere, West Sussex, and is chairman of the HMS Hood Association as well as being the oldest living Pangbournian, met Philip  who had come to Britain as Prince Philip of Greece - when they were both at HMS Royal Arthur, a shore establishment at Corsham, Wiltshire.

He was 18 months junior, he said. He was Lieutenant. I was about to be promoted to Lieutenant Commander. He was then Lieutenant Mountbatten  they had got rid of all that Greek nonsense.

Family: Queen Elizabeth II poses with her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne. / AFP/Getty Images

After lunch at the college he reminisced with Philip about their old times and showed him a letter that Philip has sent him  addressed to My dear Scratch - after he had written to the prince congratulating him on his engagement.

He did not, however, remind him of the time he deliberately kept Philip waiting  just because he could.

Philip had to see the captain of HMS Arthur because he wanted to visit his future father in law  the King - to confirm that he wanted to marry his daughter, Cdr Evans recalled. I happened to be secretary to the captain. The captain, who was a little mischievous, said to me, He is a bit junior to you. Lets keep him waiting in your office while we have a glass of gin. Which we did.

If Cdr Evans was frank about Philip, he was even more outspoken about his time at Pangbourne, then known as the Nautical College. It was pretty bloody awful then, he said. Its a bit better now.

The standard of education was not good. The accommodation was in Nissen huts. But I made many friends.

Cdr Evans, who was not on the Hood when it was sunk by the Bismarck, added: All of my friends were killed in the war. I got through the war, fortunately.

Prince Philip: 10 memorable quotes from the Duke of Edinburgh

Despite last weeks announcement that Philip, 95, is to retire from public life at the end of the summer, his Pangbourne outing  the fourth time he has visited the college  saw the duke on sprightly form. He was chatty, alert, and as full of questions as ever, whether it was about the changes at the college since he was last there or the motif on the chains of office of the chairman of West Berkshire Council.

And, even if he no longer measures up to the description offered by Cdr Evans, he was still as capable of charming the ladies as ever.

On the greeting line-up before the service of thanksgiving at the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, he raised a laugh from Deborah Puxley, wife of the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, who had been standing there feeling somewhat chilly.

The Dashing Duke of Edinburgh: Prince Philip - In pictures 1 /42 The Dashing Duke of Edinburgh: Prince Philip - In pictures Princess Elizabeth (Now Queen Elizabeth II), the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Taken in the garden of their London home, Clarence House Getty Images The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh wave at the crowds from the balcony at Buckingham Palace in 1953 Getty Images The Duke Of Edinburgh leaving The Festival Club, Edinburgh in 1952 Daily Mail Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1961 wearing naval uniform AP Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as boy During the years of 1927 and 1930 when he was between the ages of six and nine PA 1933 A twelve year old Prince Philip of Greece (2nd from left) takes part in an historical pageant at Gordonstoun School, Moray, Scotland PA 1939 A rare picture of Prince Philip of Greece at the public school of Gordonstoun, Elgin, Scotland. PA 1947 The engagement of Princess Elizabeth to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten is announced and the happy couple are pictured together at Buckingham Palac PA 1947 Prince Philip of Greece, a month before his wedding to Princess Elizabeth PA 1947 Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN at Clydebank for the launching of the liner 'RMS Caronia', stopped by at the town hall to receive the town's wedding present - an electric sewing machine PA 1947 Princess Elizabeth dancing with her fiance, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN, at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, when a ball was held to welcome the royal family to Scotland PA 1949 Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh hold their first child Prince Charles, aged 6 months PA 1950 Prince Philip playing Polo Getty Images 1950 Portrait of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip with their baby daughter Princess Anne following her christening at Buckingham Palace on 23 October Getty Images 1950 The Duke of Edinburgh leaves St Margaret's Church in Westminster, after attending the wedding of Margaret Elphinstone and Denys Rhodes PA 1951 The Duke of Edinburgh at his desk in Buckingham Palace, London PA 1951 The Duke of Edinburgh chats with Hollywood star Rhonda Fleming at a dinner at the Empress Club for the artists who are to take part in a Gala Midnight Matinee at the Coliseum in aid of the National Playing Fields Association, of which the Duke is President PA 1951 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wearing formal dress as they attend a concert at Festival Hall, London Getty Images 1951 The Duke of Edinburgh wearing jeans and a checked shirt, in a square dance at the party given by Governor-General Viscount Alexander at his official residence at Rideau Hall, Ottawa PA 1953 The Duke of Edinburgh (centre) wearing military uniform as he walks across the parade grounds during an inspection of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, Windsor Getty Images 1953 The Duke of Edinburgh batting during the 12 a side cricket match between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Norfolk. His team were made up of former England cricketers, and the Duke of Norfolk's mainly Sussex players PA 1953 The Duke of Edinburgh in his uniform as a Field Marshall in the British Army PA 1953 The Duke of Edinburgh walking out to mount his horse at Cowdry Park when he played for the Cowdry Park team in the first round of the Tyro Cup Polo tournament PA 1954 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Cowdry Park after playing Polo and scoring the winning goal PA 1955 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wearing the uniform Of 4/5 Battalion of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders Daily Mail 1955 The Duke of Edinburgh with his son, Charles, Prince of Wales, the Queen Mother, Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Kent towards the stands for the Royal Windsor Polo Tournament at Smith's Lawns at Windsor Great Park PA 1955 The Duke of Edinburgh transferring ships by jackstay, during the Home Fleet's passage home from Malta after the combined naval exercises in the Mediterranean. PA 1957 Duke of Edinburgh broadcasting from BBC TV Studio 2 at Riverside, Hammersmith 1958 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh playing cricket at Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire Getty Images Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Associated Newspapers The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Balmoral AFP/Getty Images 1967 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets Kumara, a 7 month-old elephant during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo Getty Images

It was my cold hands, she said. He was so sweet. We shook hands, then he held my in both of his and said, Youre freezing.

Thomas Garnier, the headmaster, said: Prince Philip was on very good form. He was very lively, and very interested in the people he met, particularly the students.

I thought that he had plenty of spirit still. I imagine that he could go on for a while. I did not get the impression that he was slowing down.
A man suspected of slashing the throats of a London doctor and his fiance before leaving a revenge note scrawled on the wall has been charged with murder while in his hospital bed.

Bampumim Teixeira, 30, of Massachusetts, was arrested on Friday night after police responded to reports of a gunman inside a high-rise apartment block in Boston.

Officers stormed the flat and  after a dramatic shootout with the suspect  discovered the bodies of anesthesiologists 49-year-old Richard Field, from Hammersmith, and Lina Bolanos, 36.

According to police, their throats had been slashed and their hands had been tied together.

Killed: Linda Bolanos and Richard Field

Blood and messages of retribution were covering the walls and pictures of the doctors together had been cut up.

In their final moments, the couple - who had been planning to marry later this year - had texted their friend in a desperate plea for help saying there was a gunman in their building.

Suspect: Police detained a man after he was shot three times at the scene of the crime / David L. Ryan/Pool/Reuters

Their friend called the police but, by the time officers arrived at 8.40pm, the couple were already dead.

Officers let themselves into the penthouse after discovering a set of keys outside the apartment and gunfire erupted when they encountered the suspect.

The suspect was shot in the abdomen, leg, and left hand before police took him into custody. No officers were injured.

According to reports, Teixeira, from nearby Chelsea, has worked at a security guard at the luxury apartment block in Boston.

He was employed by Palladion Services LLC - a security company which served the building and acted as a concierge until they stopped working there in February.

Charged: At Tufts Medical Center in Boston Bampumim Teixeira, accused of murdering two engaged doctors / David L Ryan/The Boston Globe/Pool/AP

Reports emerged following his arrest stating that he had two previous convictions of demanding money from banks and had recently been released from jail.

Police revealed that on searching the crime scene they discovered a rucksack filled with jewellery belonging to Dr Bolanos, as well as a knife and a replica firearm.

As news of the couples horrific death broke, colleagues of Dr Field paid tribute to him, describing him as "tremendous".

A Facebook profile belonging to Dr Field says he was from the UK, while it has been reported he was born in Hammersmith, west London.

The North Shore Pain Management centre, where he had worked since 2010, spoke of him as a "guiding vision" who gave patients and colleagues his "tireless devotion".

"He was a valued member of the medical community and a tremendous advocate for his patients," a Facebook post said.

"His tragic and sudden passing leaves an inescapable void in all of us."

Dr Bolanos worked at Massachusetts Eye and Ear hospital as a paediatric anaesthetist and was an instructor at the Harvard Medical School.

John Fernandez, the hospital's president, said: "Dr Bolanos was an outstanding paediatric anaesthetist and a wonderful colleague in the prime of both her career and life."

On Monday, a judge, prosecutor and court officials gathered around Teixeiras hospital bed  where he lay covered up to the neck in a white blanket  as he was charged with two counts of murder.

He pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on June 8.
R ussia's annual Victory Day military parade was hit by bad weather as low cloud forced the cancellation of a fly-past to honour pilots who have served in Syria.

This was despite the Kremlin spending 1.3 million to spike the clouds with a chemical cocktail to supposedly guarantee sunshine.

The Russian president took the salute at the parade in Moscow, which involved thousands of troops and military hardware inclusing tanks and missiles.

He told veterans: We will always guard Russia just as you, the soldiers of the Victory, did. And [we will] strengthen the traditions of patriotism, loyally serving the homeland.

Russian servicemen march through Red Square / AFP/Getty Images

The lessons of the past war force us to be vigilant and the Russian armed forces are ready to repel any potential attack.

It came a day after Mr Putin paid a surprise visit to his former KGB spy boss to wish him a happy 90th birthday. Lazar Matveyev was the presidents mentor and commanding officer on his Cold War posting to the East German city of Dresden in the Eighties.

Tank crews salute during the display of military hardware in Moscow / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Matveyev appeared moved as his KGB favourite arrived for the party in the Moscow suburb of Zhulebino in the company of two other former agents who worked undercover in Dresden.
A t least 14 people have died in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Mexico, officials said.

The blast occurred in a building in the Chilchotla region where fireworks were being stored in preparation for the municipal festival on May 15.

Local reports said that a further 22 people were injured in the explosion in the town of Puebla.

Diodoro Carrasco, general secretary of the government of Puebla, told Cinco Radio: Some of the injured were transferred to the capital Puebla during the night and dawn, at the moment there are 14 dead and 22 injured.

It comes just months after more than 30 people were killed in an explosion at a fireworks market near Mexico City.

More than 70 other people, including many children, were injured and burned in the blast at the San Pablito market in December.

Mexico fireworks market explosion

Photos from after the explosion show emergency services scouring the scorched remains of the market.

The Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieto, offered condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.

The same market was hit by smaller fires in 2005 which injured dozens of people.

This page is being updated.
A British man jailed for trying to snatch a policemans gun at a Donald Trump rally has said he heard voices telling him to kill.

Michael Sandford, 21, made a grab for the weapon at a Las Vegas casino where the tycoon was addressing supporters in the run-up to the US presidential election.

Speaking after his return to the UK on Thursday, nearly five months into a year-long sentence, he said he was hearing voices at the time of the incident.

Theyd been coming on for a while and getting stronger and more frequent. At one point they were screaming at me, he told The Sun.

My friends had said Trump needed to be stopped.

"They said he was going to destroy the country - but it was the voices in my head which were telling me to kill him.

Family photo: Lynne Sandford and her son Michael / PA Wire

Then one day I saw he was speaking in Las Vegas and I decided to drive there and do something myself.

Sandford has autism, suffers from a number of mental health problems and was diagnosed as having had a psychotic episode at the time of the incident, in June.

He was sentenced at a court in Las Vegas in December to 12 months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function.

He described US prison as terrifying and said he was locked in his cell most of the time.

Sandford was released less than halfway through the sentence, despite fears Mr Trump might seek to intervene and either keep him in jail for longer or block his return to the UK.

He said being reunited with his family in Dorking, Surrey, was an amazing feeling. There were times when I thought I might never see them again, he added.
A fter a London screening of her new film Miss Sloane, Jessica Chastain recalls the contrasting reactions of a woman and a man in the audience.

The woman said, I dont have a question  I just want to thank you for creating this role [of Elizabeth Sloane]. I feel inspired and cant wait to get back to work, Chastain says.

And then the man stood up and said, I wasnt going to ask anything, but isnt she a sociopath? It was fascinating to see these two different reactions to a character that we as an audience are used to men playing and not questioning the characters motives.

In Miss Sloane, released on Friday, Chastain plays a successful Washington DC lobbyist who takes on the gun lobby.

Shes ruthless. Manipulative. Tunnel-visioned about her goals. Brilliant. She works 16 hours a day and doesnt sleep. She shuns intimacy, preferring transactional sex.

Her own lawyer dubs her the poster child for the most morally bankrupt profession since faith-healing and the driving instructor who failed her at 16 told her she was reckless  I knew then and there that I had a career in politics, says Sloane.

Miss Sloane - Trailer

We have seen elements of this character before on screen. Gordon Gekko. Leo DiCaprios Jordan Belfort. Frank Underwood in House of Cards. Pete Campbell in Mad Men. They are, of course, all men.

Were not used to female characters like this. The closest we have is Claire Underwood (still the more relatable half of that marriage) and Olivia Pope in Scandal, both of whom still have their humanising moments.

Claire, at the start of House of Cards, was Lady Macbeth, egging on her Machiavellian husband (and choosing to overlook his methods).

But by series five, which lands on Netflix at the end of the month, she is seeking power for herself, running for Vice-President alongside (not behind) Frank.

This shift  from the power behind the throne to the king-maker  reflects a growing appetite for commanding and cold women on screen.

When I watched Miss Sloane I kept expecting a back-story that explained her drive. A dead sibling, say. Spoiler alert: it never comes.

Sloane is simply a woman who loves to win (Chastain considers it an addiction: the bigger the win, the bigger the high).

She is even willing to betray Gugu Mbatha-Raws character, gun-violence-survivor-turned-activist Esme Manucharian, forcing her to tell all on TV. Were used to women having to apologise for any flaw they have  and Elizabeth Sloane doesnt, says Chastain.

In fact, director John Madden says that when he received the script there was an explanation of her behaviour. I said, This has to go. It was a prop, one the writer didnt want.

"He was persuaded by his manager that she had to be relatable, but relatability is about letting us understand what makes someone tick as a human being. This is a woman who has erased every aspect of herself other than the armature she needs to do her job, at tremendous personal cost. She doesnt even appear to be a human being at the beginning  shes a machine.

Everything about her is weaponised  even her wardrobe. Theres a moment in the film when you see her clothes hanging up  and its all clean lines and monochrome.

Her look isnt about fashion but presentation. Her clothes are armour, whether its a black Saint Laurent suit and a white pussy-bow blouse for the office, or a navy Oscar de la Renta gown that Sloane wears at a charity benefit where she pulls the political strings.

And theres always a perfect red pout and spike heels. Its not sexualised, says Chastain of Sloanes look. Theres no cleavage. Shes not there being demure and submissive. Shes dressed powerfully and aggressively.

She influenced Sloanes look herself. I went to DC and met about a dozen female lobbyists and the majority had black nail polish, she recalls.

Its predominantly men in the industry and its still a put-together look, but its aggressive. Its not soft and delicate. She says she based the look on these women, as well as her LA agent who dresses like a superhero. She walks into a room and you feel intimidated just by what shes wearing. And I loved that for Elizabeth.

As a viewer, I came away both wanting to be Sloane (professional, powerful, not caring what other people think) and feeling appalled by her.

Elizabeth is the smartest person in the room, agrees Chastain. She shatters any kind of gender stereotype. She works in an industry dominated by men, and she uses her intelligence, her power, and her skill at her job to intimidate.

"For a lot of women, thats exciting to see. We live in a world where women like that arent celebrated, with the idea that being ambitious is a bad thing to be  you dont want to be a try-hard. I want to shatter that to pieces.

Even though we now have a smattering of female world leaders  Angela Merkel, Theresa May and almost Hillary Clinton  we still dont have many models of female power.

Both Merkel and May seem restrained. Part of the appeal of Miss Sloane is she often feels dangerously out-of-control.

When I ask Chastain if the world still has a problem with powerful women, she laughs at the obviousness of the answer.

An enormous one. Girls are born thinking that they can do anything or be anything they want to be, and then society teaches them otherwise. I want to keep putting out images so women can go Im alright to be authentically me.

A Harvard study found when men seek power they are seen as more impressive; when a woman does, shes met with anger or disgust. The pursuit of power or enjoyment of holding it is seen as unfeminine. Thats why this feels like a nakedly feminist film.

What really upsets me is when I hear men  and women say it too, because were all brainwashed in a society  Yes, Elizabeths a very accomplished character, but why cant she be a woman? Why does she have to be so masculine? adds Chastain. Thats a very old-fashioned stereotype. Its saying masculine qualities are to be ambitious, prepared, ruthless, intelligent, and feminine qualities are to be soft, gentle, compassionate and kind. Its 2017!

Femininity and masculinity are defined by each person. Sloane is feminine because she happens to be a woman. Full stop. We can each define what that means for us.

The US presidential election seemed to illustrate this theme. Miss Sloane was made before, as Madden calls it, the Trump cataclysm.

Madden says the film was supposed to spark a debate about guns but 2016 revealed instead the outrageous misogyny women in powerful positions still face, so its message has shifted.

Savvy: Jessica Chastain plays a hard-nosed political lobbyist in Miss Sloane

As the journalist Tina Brown said when I interviewed her last year, Women have to get up an hour earlier and have many more degrees after their name just to be considered, and Hillary Clinton always noted that she had impressive approval ratings when she was doing a job but was hated when she was running for office.

Despite all her flaws, Miss Sloane is an inspiring character because of the drive she feels for her job. Shes brilliant  she gets a giant pretend rat to follow around a senator who changes his mind on backing her gun control bill, and is perpetually a step ahead of everyone.

As she puts it: Lobbying is about foresight  about anticipating your opponents moves and devising countermeasures. Interestingly, Madden says many viewers in the age group of Sloanes team said they wanted to go and work for her.

The workplace sexism the film portrays  Sloane is patronised and belittled  is partly why women viewers especially end up rooting for her. Even the title emphasises that. I hated the title, admits Chastain.

Because its like little Miss Sloane and a modern women is Ms. But I understand it now, and its clever because its deliberately patronising. The title of the movie is sexist. Its what they keep calling her in the film.

The film flips gender roles too. Mark Strong is the moral centre  the quiet, supportive character, thats always the woman in these kinds of stories, says Madden. The men are standing outside doing the best they can.

It is a triumvirate of women  the characters played by Chastain, Mbatha-Raw and Alison Pill  who are integral to the plot. Sloane, as much as she does have allies, collaborates with women.

This is a film that doesnt just pass the Bechdel Test, it questions why the bar has been set so low.

As has been evident from reviews, Miss Sloane  both the film and the woman  make many men (especially male critics) feel uncomfortable.

This character is very confronting for men, concedes Chastain, who laudably hasnt attempted to soften her.

As Madden notes, Jessica is unusual in that she doesnt think in terms of making an audience like her. Its not in her playbook. And yet, I bet, many viewers will be cheering Miss Sloane as the credits roll.

Miss Sloane is released on Friday.
Imam Mostafizur Rahman, 35, was hacked by three youth inside the mosque in Bangladesh.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: An imam of Ahmadiyya community was hacked brutally in Ishwarganj Upazila of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh at around 9pm on Monday.

Imam Mostafizur Rahman, 35, was attacked roughly by three youth inside the mosque of Kanpur Gangpara village who tried to flee away after the incident.

Injured Rahman was immediately taken to Upazila health complex.

advertisement

The Superintendent of Police said that the seriously injured Imam Mostafizur Rahman was later sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in a critical condition for better treatment on Tuesday.

Ahmed Tafsir Chowdhury, the central leader of the Ahmadiyya community, said, "The attackers planned well to kill Mustafizur. Those who cannot forbear the people of our community, they have carried out this attack.'

Meanwhile, in the attack, local people detained an attacker named Abdul Ahad and handed him over to police.

The detained attacker, Ahad told the police that the other two attackers of Imam, Elias Hossain and Jahirul Islam are his classmates in Islampur Darsh Sunnat Jafariya Madrasa.

According to him, three weeks ago, they came to know that Imam Mostafizur was converting the people into Qadiani community by misleading the Muslims. Subsequent to this they planned to attack Imam. He along with his associates Ilias and Jahirul had collected sharp edged weapons three days ago and came to Iswarganj to kill Imam.

Last year, several attacks were carried out on the Ahmadiya community and mosques in different areas of Bangladesh.

--- ENDS ---
K anye West is reportedly holed up on a remote mountain top while he records his brand new album.

The US rapper, who was noticeably absent from the Met Ball in New York last week, is thought to be busy working on new material in Wyoming.

After cutting short his Life of Pablo tour at the end of last year, West has stayed tight-lipped about his next musical project.

But according to TMZ, the superstar is currently having recording sessions at a mountain retreat, where hes been spending two weeks at a time over the last few months.

Kanye West 1 /45 Kanye West Date night Kanye West with his wife Kim Kardashian at the "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016 in New York Getty Images Stage presence Kanye West performs at the Forum on October 25, 2016 in Inglewood, California Getty Images Idol Kanye West performs onstage at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Festival at MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 18, 2015 in Las Vegas Getty Images North America Crowd pleaser Kanye West performs onstage during DirecTV Super Saturday Night hosted by Mark Cuban's AXS TV and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan at Pendergast Family Farm on January 31, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona Getty Images for DirecTV Icons Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West attend Harper's Bazaar's celebration of "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" presented by Infor, Laura Mercier, and Stella Artois at The Plaza Hotel on September 9, 2016 in New York City Getty Images North America Family affair The rapper is all smiles as he introduces his daughter North to Nicki Minaj Getty Images Model man Kim Kardashian takes a look at the mannequins for Kanye West's Famous music video Getty Images North America Down time Kanye West takes a break from touring to join Kim Kardashian to watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the Denver Nuggets during Game 7 of their NBA Western Conference basketball playoff series in Los Angeles, California REUTERS Travelling the world Kanye West performs during the 10th edition of the Mawazine international music festival "World Rythms" in Rabat, Morocco AFP/Getty Images Baby on board Kim Kardashian shows off her baby bump at Kanye West's Yeezy Season 2 during New York Fashion Week at Skylight Modern in New York Getty Images North America Award winner Kanye West poses with the three Grammy awards he won at the 47th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles February 13, 2005 REUTERS Stage invasion Kanye West jumps onstage after Taylor Swift won the "Best Female Video" award during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on September 13, 2009 in New York City Getty Images Headline act Kanye West performs onstage during day 1 of the 2016 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Weekend 1 at the Empire Polo Club on April 15, 2016 in Indio, California Getty Images North America Fashion career Models on the runway at the adidas Originals x Kanye West YEEZY SEASON 1 fashion show during New York Fashion Week Fall 2015 at Skylight Clarkson Sq on February 12, 2015 in New York City Getty Images for adidas Fashion forward Models wear fashion from the Yeezy collection at a presentation and album release for Kanye West's latest album, "The Life of Pablo," Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York AP Kiss me quick Kim Kardashian gives her husband a kiss at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images Fashionable pair Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Show and Tea at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, California Getty Images North America Glastonbury headliner Kanye West was a controversial addition to the Glastonbury line-up AFP/Getty Images Red carpet ready The Hollywood couple on the red carpet for the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014 in New York City Getty Images Unimpressed Amy Schumer pretends to trip and fall on the floor in front of honorees Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (L) as they attend the Time 100 Gala at The World at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 21, 2015 in New York AFP/Getty Images Stepping out Kanye West leaves his apartment in New York on October 4, 2016 AFP/Getty Images Royal appointment Britain's Princes William and Harry are seen with rappers Kanye West and P Diddy at the reception following the Concert for Diana, at Wembley Stadium in London in 2007 PA Musical collaboration Kanye West performing on stage with Paul McCartney and Rihanna during The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards at the STAPLES Center on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images for NARAS Musical duo Kanye West and Jay-Z accept the award for best group at the 2012 BET Awards in Los Angeles, July 1, 2012 REUTERS Wedding bells Kanye West and Kim Kardashian leave their residence in Paris on May 23, 2014, ahead of their wedding. AFP/Getty Images On the FROW Kanye West joins Dan Gillespie, Ellie Goulding, Sienna Miller, Gemma Arterton, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Mario Testino, Andy Murray and Kim Sears attends at the Burberry Spring Summer 2012 Womenswear Show at Kensington Gardens on September 19, 2011 in London, England Getty Images Say cheese Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals in the 2012 NBA Playoffs on May 12, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California Getty Images Best friends John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend John Legend Celebrates His Birthday And The 10th Anniversary Of His Debut Album "Get Lifted" at CATCH NYC on January 8, 2015 in New York City Getty Images North America Band major Kanye West, dressed in a band major uniform, performs 'Gold Digger' at the 48th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles February 8, 2006 REUTERS Old flame Kanye West and Amber Rose arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday Sept. 13, 2009 in New York KRAPE Back in the day Kelly Osbourne and Kanye West attend the Jeremy Scott Spring 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Milk Studios on September 15, 2010 in New York City Getty Images Bringing home the goods Kanye West poses with his Best Rap Song, Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Album awards in the press room at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on February 8, 2006 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images Throwback Kanye West posing ahead of his performance at the Apollo academy Kanye West arrives at the G.O.O.D Music "Heavenly" Grammy After Party held at The Lot Studios with a sign on February 8, 2006 in Los Angeles, California Getty Images

The Famous hitmaker is thought to have shunned studios in New York and Los Angeles in a bid to keep all details about his new music under wraps.

West sparked concern last week when he deactivated both his Twitter and his Instagram accounts in the wake of his no-show at the Met Ball.

Kanye West meets with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower

Earlier in the year he deleted a series of pro-Trump tweets after publically meeting with the President of the United States at Trump Towers.

The star was hospitalised back in November last year following an on-stage meltdown during one of his shows in Sacramento.

He remained at the UCLA Medical Center for a week, during which he cancelled all of his remaining tour dates.


E astEnders Danny Dyer has returned to work on the soap after a months rest in South Africa.

The actor, 39, was given time off by the BBC due to health concerns after his busy schedule and social life reportedly left him exhausted.

New pictures of Dyer looking refreshed and filming new scenes at Elstree Studios show him back on form.

But his character Mick Carters return to Albert Square after caring for injured daughter Nancy isnt set to be quite so relaxing.

Refreshed: Danny Dyer resumes his role as Mick Carter

In his absence, mum Shirley (played by Linda Henry) has sold the pubs freehold to raise cash and the news isnt likely to go down well with Queen Vic landlord Mick, especially as she forged his signature to make the sale.

EastEnders comebacks 1 /9 EastEnders comebacks The boys are back in town: Ross Kemp, who played balding bruiser Grant Mitchell in EastEnders has been convinced by TV bosses to return to the soap... <br></br>A All pictures PA The boys are back in town: Ross Kemp, who played balding bruiser Grant Mitchell in EastEnders has been convinced by TV bosses to return to the soap...



; All pictures PA Lesley Grantham, aka Dirty Den, was another character to return to Albert Square after years away - much to the shock of his on-screen family who'd buried him. Lesley Grantham, aka Dirty Den, was another character to return to Albert Square after years away - much to the shock of his on-screen family who'd buried him. Kat Slater is currently holidaying in the sun after leaving poor Alfie, but in real life Jessie Wallace had time off after the birth of her daughter Tallulah. Kat Slater is currently holidaying in the sun after leaving poor Alfie, but in real life Jessie Wallace had time off after the birth of her daughter Tallulah. Letitia Dean who has played Sharon Watts in the soap since 1985 has had more breaks than Dirty Den's had affairs. But will she come back again? Letitia Dean who has played Sharon Watts in the soap since 1985 has had more breaks than Dirty Den's had affairs. But will she come back again? Dot's junkie son the nasty Nick Cotton, played by John Altman, is another original character who 'disappeared' and then reappeared as if by soap magic. Dot's junkie son the nasty Nick Cotton, played by John Altman, is another original character who 'disappeared' and then reappeared as if by soap magic. The Mitchell matriarch played by Barbara Windsor has had more than a year away from the soap due to ill-health, but she's due back as well... hurrah! The Mitchell matriarch played by Barbara Windsor has had more than a year away from the soap due to ill-health, but she's due back as well... hurrah! And finally, the oldest Mitchell brother, Phil, made his EastEnders comeback last night. Who can wait to see the boys in action again?.. And finally, the oldest Mitchell brother, Phil, made his EastEnders comeback last night. Who can wait to see the boys in action again?..

Shown sitting in the kitchen at the pub, Dyer pores over documents that could relate to the sale of the pub as Shirley looks on from the doorway.

New addition to the square Lee Ryans character Woody is also causing trouble for Carter, with his comeback scenes involving a confrontation between the pair that descends into a fight.

Originally from Londons East End, Dyer has starred as the landlord of the Queen Vic in BBC soap EastEnders since 2013 after previously turning down a role in the show in 2009.

The actors comeback episode is expected to air on May 19.
T he full list of nominations for the British Soap Awards 2017 has been revealed, with Emmerdale and Coronation Street coming out on top.

Its been a big year for soap, with EastEnders Ronnie and Roxy passing away, serial killer Cameron finally unmasked on Hollyoaks and a dramatic multi-car pile-up in Emmerdale.

The five biggest serials  Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Doctors will go head to head for the ceremonys most-coveted award: Best Soap.

Emmerdale took home the prize in 2016, but can the Yorkshire Dales-based show do the double and win again this year?

British Soap Awards 2016 red carpet - in pictures 1 /22 British Soap Awards 2016 red carpet - in pictures Kym Marsh Matt Crossick/PA Wire Lacey Turner Matt Crossick/PA Wire Alison King Matt Crossick/PA Wire Danny Dyer Matt Crossick/PA Wire Lucy-Jo Hudson and Alan Halsall Matt Crossick/PA Wire Gemma Atkinson Matt Crossick/PA Wire Vicky Pattinson and Alex Bowen Matt Crossick/PA Wire Paula Lane Matt Crossick/PA Wire Charley Webb Matt Crossick/PA Wire Debbie Rush Matt Crossick/PA Wire John Middleton and Charlotte Bellamy Matt Crossick/PA Wire Lucy Pargeter and Rudi Coleano Matt Crossick/PA Wire Jennie McAlpine Matt Crossick/PA Wire X Factor's Reggie and Bollie Matt Crossick/PA Wire Gillian Taylforth Matt Crossick/PA Wire Kellie Bright Matt Crossick/PA Wire Shona McGarty Matt Crossick/PA Wire

Nominated for 14 awards both Emmerdale and Coronation Street could clean up on the night, meanwhile EastEnders is just behind, receiving 12 nods.

Well-known names on the list include Kym Marsh, nominated for Best Actress and Best Female Dramatic Performance, 2016 Strictly Come Dancing contestant Tameka Empson who is the running for Best Comedy Performance and former Blue member Duncan James who is up for Best Newcomer.

Presented by Phillip Schofield, the 2017 ceremony will be a landmark show, as its being broadcasted live for the first time. The awards will air on ITV on Saturday June
By Press Trust of India: Dhaka, May 9 (PTI) Bangladeshs former military dictator H M Ershad, a special envoy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was today acquitted in a 26-year-old corruption case that involved alleged misappropriation of USD 237,000, a media report said. Ershad, the 87-year-old former president, was convicted and sentenced to three-year imprisonment by a lower court back in 1992.

advertisement

The Dhaka High Court today acquitted the Jatiya Party chief of financial irregularities involving gifts worth over Tk 19 million in a case that started in 1991 when he was in office, BDnews24 reported.

Ershad challenged the verdict in the High Court. In June 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was made a party to the case.

On March 9 this year, the High Court finished the hearing and fixed March 23 to give its verdict. But it was not delivered as two appeals by the state against the trial courts verdict were yet to be disposed of, the report said.

The court forwarded the matter to the chief justice, who then assigned a new bench to hear the matter.

Ershads counsel Sheikh Sirajul Islam told the media that the High Court overturned the trial courts verdict and scrapped two pleas by the state seeking stricter penalties.

"I would suggest the ACC should take the verdict to the Appellate Division. The ACC has been informed; its their call," ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said.

After his ouster following a mass movement, a total of 42 cases on various charges were stacked against Ershad. He was sentenced to different terms in jail in three of the cases and served out a total of six years.

Ershad was the countrys longest serving president who ruled until 1990. PTI AMS AKJ AMS

--- ENDS ---
The protest campaign was attacked by drug peddlers who even hurled bombs at the protestors.

An anti-drugs protest campaign in Birbhum district of West Bengal was attacked by drug peddlers. Photo by Subrata Banerjee

By Manogya Loiwal : An anti-drugs protest campaign in Birbhum district of West Bengal was attacked by drug peddlers. The situation at the protest site turned so violent that even bombs were hurled at the protestors.

The campaign was initiated by the people of Siuri village, in the Birbhum district. However, the continuous bombing and firing halted the protest, leaving the protestors terrified.

advertisement

A 4-year-old child was among the four severely injured in the attack. All the injured were taken to the nearby hospital.

After the violent attack, the Siuri village residents are too terrified to even step out of their houses.

Two of the culprits have been caught by the police, however, the situation is still not completely under control.

ALSO READ:

Kupwara: 1 civilian killed, 10 injured in Army firing amid protest for return of slain terrorists' bodies

Pakistan to lodge protest with Afghanistan after cross-border firing kills 7 people

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) BJPs Muslim leaders today urged backward sections of the community to embrace Prime Minister Narendra Modis "pro-poor" policies at a meeting organised here following his call to the party to reach out to them.

Making a distinction between backwards and others among Muslims, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the poor Muslims have been unable to take advantage of the welfare schemes for minorities and claimed that Modis "pro- poor" policies will uplift them.

advertisement

Modi had asked leaders at the partys national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar to reach out to the backward Muslims, saying they will also benefit from his governments bill that seeks constitutional status for the OBC Commission but was stalled by opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha.

Addressing Muslims drawn from various states, Naqvi said parties like the Congress, TMC and JD(U) came to power on the strength of Muslims support but blocked the bill which would have "benefited" the backward members of the community.

He said there are 84 such groups, like qureshi, momin and weavers, among Muslims which would get help from his governments development push for the poor and backward.

It is not often that the BJP or its leaders organise events especially targeting Muslims, who have historically been wary of the saffron party due to a host of issues, including its Hindutva agenda.

Former MP and Bihar BJP leader Sabir Ali, who organised the meting, urged Muslims to ally with the party, saying "patrons of secularism" like the Congress, RJD and others did nothing for them while getting their votes all these years.

"Modi says nobody should be poor or remain deprived. He is working for them. His government is working for development and it will help backward Muslims," Ali said sharing the stage with Naqvi.

Interestingly, it was Naqvi who had strongly opposed Alis induction into the party before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, calling him "a friend of a terrorist" and wondering if Dawood Ibrahim too will join the organisation now.

His outburst forced the party to cancel Alis membership and the rebuffed leader then filed a defamation case against Naqvi.

He was inducted again before the Bihar assembly polls in 2015 and both the leaders patched up.

Naqvi today heaped praise on Ali, who as a JD(U) MP had tried to rally backward Muslims in Nitish Kumars support, and said he was working diligently for the poor members of the community on the ground. PTI KR RT

--- ENDS ---
A Scottsbluff woman faces charges after her vehicle was stopped during a checkpoint over the weekend.

Kayla M. Archibeque, alias McKayla Cantu, 27, of Scottsbluff, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class IV felony; driving under suspension, a Class III misdemeanor; and failure to use child passenger restraint, an infraction.

According to an arrest affidavit filed in Scotts Bluff County Court, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper made contact with the driver of a 2006 Chevrolet Trail Blazer at L79 E, mile marker one, during a limited purpose vehicle check. The driver was identified as Archibeque and a records check showed that she had a suspended license.

The trooper also reported having observed an open container of Fireball liquor in the passenger side rear and Budweiser in the front passengers possession. Two passengers, 34-year-old Vincent Ybarra and Sylvester Trevino, 28, were cited on charges of possession of an open container. A third passenger, Janea Iron Bear, 21, was cited on a charge of possession of an open container and minor in possession.

Inside the vehicle, the officer observed a 3-year-old child sitting in the center of the backseat and not in a restraint. An 8-year-old child was sleeping in the storage compartment in the back of the vehicle.

The trooper conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle. The trooper allegedly located two baggies with white residue, believed to be methamphetamine, in Archibeques purse. The officer arrested Archibeque, who was transported to the Scotts Bluff County Detention Center. She is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on May 17.

At the detention center, corrections officers searched the woman and allegedly located an additional six grams of methamphetamine in the womans bra.

Archibeque appeared Monday to be arraigned on charges and is being held on a $5,000 bail bond.

In other police and court activity:

 At about 8 p.m., Saturday, police were dispatched to 1600 block of Sixth Avenue, starting his house on fire.

When officers arrived on scene they had contact with Victor Blanco, 37, who pointed a firearm at them. After a few moments of verbal commands, he sat the firearm down, and was taken into custody.

A 37 year old Scottsbluff man has been arrested for felony terroristic threats after he reportedly attempted to start a fire and then threatened police officers who responded to the scene.

Captain Tony Straub says Victor Blanco had a shotgun when officers went to the 1300 block of 6th Avenue around 8 p.m. Saturday evening. Straub says Blanco pointed the gun at them. But when ordered to go to the ground Blanco obeyed and was taken into custody peacefully. Straub says officers did not discover a fire.

 Cecilia Magdaleno, 28, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class IV felony, and an infraction, in a May 7 incident. An officer reported two females acting nervously as he was on patrol in the 1100 block of Tenth Avenue and observed a woman believed to be concealing something behind the porch. The officer made contact with Magdaleno, allegedly observing a red cooler containing two glass pipes with white residue and several small baggies that appeared to be new. He also found a digital scale. Magdaleno was arrested.

She is being held on a $10,000 bail bond pending a preliminary hearing on May 15.

 Tyler Piek is the third suspect charged in a case involving an April 27 incident in which a man says a woman and four males held him overnight at a Gering apartment. Piek is charged with false imprisonment, a Class IIIA felony. He is being held on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to for a preliminary hearing on May 15.
A 53-year-old man was beaten to pulp after he tried stopping a group of thieves at Bronx street in NYC.

By India Today Web Desk: A street vendor who was selling books and bags on the 3rd Avenue and 149 on the Bronx street, New York City was beaten to pulp for trying to stop a crime on Tuesday.

Souleymane Porgo, 53, from Burkina Faso in West Africa saw a group of five men who tried snatching a bag from his stand and tried stopping them.

advertisement

Souleymane was thrashed by each one of them after he fell on the ground and became unconscious. The five men are seen leaving fearlessly after beating the vendor in the video.

Also read: Watch: Drunk US man gets into a fist fight during boarding of long-haul flight

Souleymane was beaten so badly that his skull was fractured during the incident, also leaving him with a broken jaw. Part of his skull was removed in surgery to decrease the pressure from swelling and internal bleeding in his brain, his wife told New York Daily News.

Photo: Facebook

Two men involved have been identified as Enrique Foote, 18, and William Burgess, 21, but haven't been caught. The police is trying to nab all five of them as their search goes further.

Here's the footage released by NYPD:

A GoFundMe page has also been made to support Souleymane's family financially.

--- ENDS ---
By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Westover and Smith roads, on the far western edge of the county, will get paving priority for 2023. Country commissioners and Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, decided at last Thursdays commission meeting to go ahead and seal up that corner of the county. That way, graders will not have
Secretary of State for bilateral and strategic relations in the Euro-Atlantic space with the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) George Ciamba welcomed the ambassador of the United Kingdom in Bucharest, Paul Brummell, the former highlighting the special attention paid by the Romanian Government to protecting the rights of the Romanians working and living in the UK.

The two officials discussed the two countries' good relation and the development potential of the Romanian-British cooperation within the Strategic Partnership.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), the talks focused on issues of interest for the bilateral relation, such as the cooperation in the field of security and defence, the need to continue developing bilateral commercial relations, as well as to identify new domains to strengthen cooperation between Romania and the UK.

"Both officials expressed their hope that the dialogue will keep up the pace and rhythm with which it set off this year, the official visit by His Royal Highness Prince of Wales, with its extremely rich schedule having stood out. The Secretary of State, George Ciamba recalled his recent talks in London, that were also substantial," shows MAE.

MAE mentions that the security and defence domains excel within the Romanian-British cooperation, and in that respect, during the two dignitaries meeting, it was hailed the fact that in 2017 the Romanian-British cooperation in the military domain will most likely be the most intense so far.

Ciamba pointed out the ascending trend of commercial exchanges, which reached an all-time volume record of over 4 billion euro, underscoring the interest for further intensifying economic relations.

"Another topic of the meeting was related to the situation of the Romanian community in the UK, the Secretary of State George Ciamba expressing the special attention that the Romanian Government grants to the protection of the rights of the citizens working and living in this country," indicates MAE.

The talks also approached other topics of mutual interest at a multilateral level, both officials conveying their wish for a closer Romanian-British cooperation within the framework of international organisations.

agerpres.
I believe in the idea of everybody's Europe, of a European Romania. I believe in a common future built on the ideals we share. I believe in unity and solidarity. And I also believe that national values are protected and even strengthened by the idea of diversity proposed by the European Union, affirms Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, in the message transmitted to agerpres. by the Government on the occasion of May 9th.

"Today we mark three fundamental historical moments: 140 years since Romania proclaimed its independence, Europe Day and the Victory of the United Nations Coalition in the Second World War," the prime minister adds.

The Chief of the Executive talks about the significance of each anniversary. Thus, recollects Sorin Grindeanu, "May 9th, 1877 represented the fundamental step in consolidating Romania as an independent and unitary state." "Respect for the courage and determination of our forefathers who, with the thought of future generations in mind, have contributed to the creation of the modern Romanian state," he states.

The Prime Minister also adds that on March 9th "We honour the sacrifice of heroes, simple or state people, who aspired to a new world, cured by the passion of the conflict, and contributed through their sacrifice to the end of last century's history bloodiest page - the Second World War."

"Today we celebrate Europe Day, with confidence in the future of the European design and assuming Romania's constructive role in this project," the head of the Executive further says.

He points out that "Europe today is very different from the one 67 years ago when the Schuman Declaration was signed".

"I am convinced that we have the capacity that through this first mandate (the presidency of the Council of the European Union in early 2019) our country make a decisive contribution to the strengthening and continuity of the European project," the head of the Government states, mentioning that ever since Romania has became a member of the Union, after decades of totalitarianism that have isolated us from European democracies, the Romanians have made important steps to transforming society for the benefit of its citizens."
The Buddhist lifestyle has some gems you can include in your daily routine to lead a content, peaceful life.

By India Today Web Desk: Buddha Purnima or Vesak Day is celebrated across the world as the day Buddha was born. Observed by Buddhists across India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, Tibet among several other parts of the world, this year's Vesak Day falls on May 10, Wednesday.

But instead of acquainting you with the rituals associated with Vesak, let's delve into some Buddhist practices that are relevant in the 21st more than they've ever been. The life led by Buddhist monks encourages one to give up on materialistic pleasures and focus on inner peace instead. Here are some Buddhist-monk values you can adopt to lead a content, better life.

advertisement

1. Embrace minimalism: For many, owning tangible goods is synonymous to happiness. But, as per the Buddhist lifestyle, worldly possessions are a distraction that should be given little or no importance.

Photo: Reuters

Monks believe in keep their possessions to a bare minimum. Why? Because the more importance you give to tangible goods, the lesser time you give you have for introspection.

Also Read: Easy, yummy, and fun--Buddha bowls will take you to food heaven

2. Share your knowledge: You don't have to be a Buddhist monk to attain peace or to know how sharing knowledge helps one grow. Buddhism encourages one to share and spread knowledge whenever possible. This obviously doesn't mean you should impose your opinions on people, but it merely stands for sharing what you know.

Photo: Reuters

3. Develop empathy: While the need for empathy cannot be emphasised upon enough, there aren't many who appreciate its importance. Buddhism includes the practice of discarding selfishness and thinking about the world as one entity. When your soul is de-cluttered, the opportunities for you to be content are many.

4. Follow a routine: Every individual is different, agreed--but functioning with a schedule can hardly do you any harm. The Buddhist lifestyle encourages individuals to follow a routine, abide by the rules and be content when you tick all items off your list.

--- ENDS ---
The Supreme Court found Justice CS Karnan guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. The apex court has asked Kolkata police chief to arrest the controversial judge.

By Anusha Soni: Controversial Calcutta High Court Justice CS Karnan was today sentenced to six months in jail by the Supreme Court, which found him guilty of contempt of court. The top court asked Kolkata police chief to arrest Justice Karnan, who on Monday had sentenced eight Supreme Court judges , including the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to five years of 'rigorous imprisonment'.

advertisement

Terming Karnan's act as 'gravest of all', the Supreme Court observed that the Calcutta High Court justice 'abused the judicial powers and the discretion.' Justice Karnan is currently in his hometown Chennai.

Justice Karnan, who has been restrained from attending his office at the high court delivered the order from his Kolkata residence against CJI JS Kehar along with Justices Dipak Misra, J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur, Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Kurian Joseph and R Banumathi.

Last week, Justice Karnan had refused to undergo a medical examination to ascertain his mental health as ordered by the Supreme Court alleging harassment.

Justice Karnan had earlier also passed non-bailable warrants against seven Supreme Court judges, including Chief Justice JS Kehar.

The seven-judge bench at the apex court had initiated contempt of court proceedings against him seeking his explanation after he wrote to the CJI, Prime Minister's office, Union Law Ministry and others leveling 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.

WATCH: Only patients require medical treatment, I'm healthy: Justice Karnan to India Today ALSO READ:

Justice Karnan issues non-bailable warrant against CJI Khehar, 6 Supreme Court judges

Curious case of Justice Karnan: A history of controversies and mystery

Revenge of the Karnan: Calcutta HC judge orders medical test of 7 SC judges who ordered same for him

Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan to India Today: Am normal and stable, Supreme Court order harassment of a Dalit

--- ENDS ---
The founder of a popular St. Louis development blog is moving to Cincinnati, but said he will remain a minority owner of nextSTL.com.

Alex Ihnen launched the blog in 2008 and has since gained over 20,000 followers on social media and added a number of regular contributors to the site. Ihnen runs the blog in addition to his day job as executive director of the Dutchtown South Community Development Corporation.

Ihnen said the move comes after his wife was named to a fellowship in pediatric neurology at the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital. Ihnen, who is also raising three children, said he hasnt lined up new work but hopes to avoid becoming overcommitted to numerous projects.

Ive kind of tried to promise myself Im not going to start a new website there, Ihnen said.

Ihnen will remain a minority owner of the website while Jason Deem, owner of South Side Spaces property development and the Nebula co-working space at Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue, takes over as owner and publisher. Ihnen did not disclose the terms of the ownership transaction with Deem.

I dont think much will change, but he has energy and contacts and time to do some things I wasnt able to do, Ihnen said.

Ihnen said the change will be effective around June 1.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. took steps to force U.S. antitrust officials to decide within two months whether to approve its proposed takeover of rival pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp.

The companies have notified the Federal Trade Commission that they have complied with the agency's request for information related to the deal, a move that triggers a 60-day deadline for the commission to clear the merger or sue to block it.

The decision will come down to a proposal by Walgreens and Rite Aid to sell assets to Fred's Inc., a Memphis, Tenn.-based regional pharmacy that isn't profitable. FTC officials have been concerned about the plan and Fred's ability to compete effectively if the merger is approved, according to people familiar with the matter.

"The FTC is going to be focused on making sure the divestiture bidder really is capable of being an immediate competitive threat," said Andrea Agathoklis Murino, an antitrust lawyer at Goodwin Procter LLP in Washington. "It's not helping Rite Aid and Walgreens that Fred's is having its own troubles."

Walgreens and Rite Aid have been grappling with the FTC for months in an attempt to resolve the agency's concerns that the merger of the No. 2 and No. 3 pharmacy chains could undermine competition. In January, they extended the timeline to complete their deal to July 31 and cut the value of the transaction by at least $2 billion from the original $9.4 billion agreement. Rite Aid said last week winning approval will probably require selling 1,200 locations.

Rite Aid rose 1 percent to $4.10 at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday in New York, after the companies announced their notification late Monday. That's well below the likely deal price of $6.50 a share  a final price would depend on the size of asset sales  indicating investors are skeptical of the merger's prospect of closing. Fred's jumped 3.3 percent to $15.44. Walgreens was up less than 1 percent to $86.17.

Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin declined to comment beyond Monday's news release. Fred's declined to comment.

"We will continue to work closely with the FTC regarding the pending transaction," Walgreens Chief Executive Officer Stefano Pessina said in the statement.

Another hurdle for Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens is that some deals approved by the FTC in past years failed to work out even after the companies divested assets  precedents that could be weighing on the commission's decision.

Last month, the agency approved a sale effectively unwinding a remedy it approved for Dollar Tree Inc.'s takeover of rival discount chain Family Dollar Stores Inc. In that settlement, Dollar Tree agreed to sell more than 300 Family Dollar locations to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners. This year, less than two years after the settlement, Sycamore asked to sell the stores to Dollar General Corp., saying it could no longer operate the stores as a viable business.

The FTC is weighing on the Walgreens-Rite Aid while its upper levels remain depleted under the new administration. President Donald Trump has yet to name a permanent candidate to lead the commission. Just two of five seats are filled, one by Democrat Terrell McSweeny and the other by Republican Maureen Ohlhausen, who is the acting chairwoman.
One of the most intriguing productions in the 2017 Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis has come and gone. But, even though the festival ended Sunday, you can still catch two of the others.

Deseo, a Spanish-language adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire from a Miami theater called El Ingenio, gave one of Williams most famous plays a dreamy  or nightmarish  perspective. Shaped mainly by smoke and music, the show included English surtitles. But the directors, Flora Lauten and Lilliam Vega, clearly told this story of two sisters who are torn apart by the man whos married to one of them  so clearly that you could almost follow the action without dialogue.

We usually think of Blanche as a frail, faded blossom. But Vega, who played her here, delivers a vivid character, a red rose desperate to flaunt her colors once more. As her sister, Estrella, and Estrellas husband, Santiago, Ana Sobero and Carlos Caballero make their mutual attraction burn. When he pours a flask of liquor onto her bosom, then licks it off, we understand exactly what has brought them together.

This show, which played only two performances, is exactly what festival artistic director Carrie Houk strives to present: Williams work from fresh points of view. Williams provided one of those himself, as a painter. Some of his work from the Key West collection of David Wolkowsky, on view here for the first time, reveals his obsessions (a lonely man wandering in the dark, the faces of friends, alluring men) and his world, often tightly constrained. Its a rare perspective, and it remains on view at the St. Louis University Museum of Art into the summer.

It was also a treat to see two Williams works that rarely show up, Small Craft Warnings, directed by Richard Corley, and Will Mr. Merriwether Return from Memphis?, directed by Jef Awada.

Corley builds Small Craft Warnings on liquid, from its soundscape (the Pacific ocean, a rainstorm, plumbing) to its most constant prop (bottles of liquor, glasses of liquor) to the description others offer of a pathetic young woman, Violet. She hangs out with the regulars at a coastal bar but has no more agency than garbage has in the surf.

Megan Wiles gives a touching performance as Violet. More strong work comes from the other performers, particularly Elizabeth Townsend as a loud-mouthed hairdresser who takes pride in self-sufficiency; John Bratkowski as a self-loathing, gay screenwriter; Jeremy Lawrence as an alcoholic doctor; and Peter Mayer as the bar owner, trying to keep things calm.

Plays with unconventional settings are another plus, and Awadas Mr. Merriwether makes fine use of an old mansion, Stockton House, sending us from room to room as we follow the actors around. Mostly, the house represents the home where a lonely widow (Julie Layton), hoping that her suitor will return, lives with her pretty daughter (Molly McCaskill).

The mother and her widowed neighbor (Kelley Weber) fill their days with spiritualism, welcoming apparitions from beyond. They get quite a few famous artists, but theyd rather see the men they miss.

The apparitions and the Fates (all played by Terry Meddows, Bob Harvey and Sophia Brown) are well cast with extravagant costumes and gestures and a complete, completely satisfying disregard for gender norms. Add in lots of dancing as the daughter and her beau (Jacob Flekier) discover physical love, and banjo music performed by Jack Wild, and this show feels like the sort of nonrealistic fantasy Williams might have enjoyed himself.

Both Merriwether and Warnings have more performances. Now in its second year, the festival also included various other activities, from scholarly panel discussions to a Stella Shouting contest.

Some aspects of the festival are a little difficult to understand. For example, while Jack Ciapciak may well be a promising young playwright, its hard to see how his icy look at millennials in Naming the Dog relates in any way to Williams legacy.

Conversely, vocalist Anita Jacksons delicious Bertha in Paradise is exactly the kind of show that sets a Williams-esque mood. With pianist Charles Creath and actors Joel King and Donna Weinsting on hand, Jackson and director David Kaplan delivered a Prohibition-era concert of double-entendre songs from the coarse to the classy. Aptly performed at the Curtain Call Lounge, it dealt directly with themes and settings that flavor Williams work.
The absconding man was detained at Goa airport on the basis of the look out circular of the CBI.

By Shivendra Srivastava: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has detained an absconding accused at Goa Airport on the basis of LOC in a bank fraud case and obtained 4 days transit remand.

The accused will be produced before the special judge, Ahmedabad.

The CBI had registered a case on 12.11.1997 against 6 persons including four bankers. On completion of the investigation, a chargesheet was filed on 25.09.2000 before the special judge, Ahmedabad against 28 accused persons including 4 bankers.

advertisement

It was alleged that the then Director of Ahmedabad-based builder's company (main accused in the case) had obtained credit for 31 cheques amounting to Rs 3.77 crore (approx) fraudulently and caused a loss of Rs 3.77 crore (approx) to the Bank of Baroda. The said absconding accused, then Director of Mumbai-based company and others had been instrumental in aiding the said main accused by issuing these cheques to him.

It was further alleged that the absconding accused was a proclaimed offender and an look out circular (LOC) was opened against him. Later, an RCN was also issued against him and an extradition proposal was also sent to Canada. An information was received that he had changed his name and would be traveling to India. He was detained at Goa airport on the basis of the LOC opened by the CBI.

Also read: Mumbai Customs arrested 21 carriers in single flight for smuggling gold in water bottles

Also read: CBI arrests IRS officer for accepting bribe of Rs 1.25 crore from Navi Mumbai hotelier

--- ENDS ---
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Twenty-seven owners of a farm adjacent to the West Lake and Bridgeton landfills sued the landfills' owners and two landfill workers in St. Louis County Circuit Court Thursday, alleging that radioactive waste has contaminated the farm and family members.

The suit, filed by extended members of the family of the late Edward Boenker, says that radioactive waste that was improperly disposed of on the site has now spread to the farm. Boenker relatives have been exposed to radiation and have experienced unusually high amount of cancers associated with and caused by radiation exposure, the suit says. Some have died of cancer, it says.

The suit names Republic Services, the Arizona-based operator of the site, and several affiliated companies. Republic assumed ownership of the landfills after it merged with Allied Waste in 2008.

The 33-acre farm has been in operation since the 1800s, the law firm that filed the suit said in a statement.

You cant have people living in proximity of nuclear waste and not be responsible for it, said Independence, Mo., lawyer Kenneth B. McClain, who filed the suit.

The suit says that landfill owners were negligent in improperly accepting the waste and failing to stop a fire that has burned for years.

In an email, a spokesman for the Bridgeton Landfill wrote, "The EPA, CDC, MDHSS and MDNR have been reviewing site data for years and continue to conclude that the community is safe," referring to federal and state agencies that have examined the issue.

The suit was filed Thursday but did not appear in online court records until Tuesday.
WASHINGTON  A partisan disagreement has erupted over whether veterans will be eligible for health-care tax credits under the American Health Care Act passed by House Republicans last week.

Democrats point to specific language in the bills fine print they say would prohibit veterans eligible for coverage from the Veterans Administration from getting tax credits to pay for private insurance. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., says that could affect up to 8 million veterans who dont apply for VA coverage, and would amount to a tax increase on some of them.

She called it one of the biggest problems buried deep within Trumpcare, a reference to the bill which narrowly passed the House, 217-213, and is now under Senate consideration.

But Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said Democrats are misreading technical language in the bill that was designed to comply with Senate rules on a legislative process called reconciliation.

Roe accused Democrats of fear mongering, and he added:

The simple fact is that an attempt to make an existing regulation the law of the land was found to be in violation of the Senates reconciliation rules, so that language had to be removed. Nothing in this bill would change the existing regulation, and veterans access to tax credits will not be affected by the American Health Care Act.

Duckworth, who lost both legs after being shot down as an Army helicopter pilot in Iraq in 2004, and three other Democratic senators called a press conference Tuesday morning to disagree.

They pointed out that language in an original GOP version of the bill explicitly kept the tax credits, and that the bill itself would repeal the underlying law that set up Internal Revenue Service regulations guaranteeing the credits in the first place. The decision to make the GOP bill adhere to "reconciliation" legislative rules in the Senate was a conscious one to make it easier to pass, with a majority of Republican votes, critics said.

Trumpcare prohibits any veteran who is eligible for VA health care from receiving tax credits to help them afford insurance in the private market, Duckworth said. The thing is, there is a big difference between being eligible for VA health care and being enrolled in it.

Some veterans live far away from a VA facility in rural communities that dont have a VA office, she said. Others prefer to rely on their private health insurance. Many more want to go to VA, have been told by VA they are eligible, but are banned and prohibited from going to VA because of means (income) testing.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said that provisions like the ones that he and Duckworth were criticizing in the prospective Republican overhaul of former President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act were the result of the House forcing through a bill with only Republican votes, after closed-door negotiations.

Thats what gets you in trouble, Nelson said.

The irony is that Republicans have long attacked Nelson as a deciding vote on the strictly partisan passage of Obamacare in 2010, which itself became law without any Republican votes. Despite those attacks, Nelson survived re-election in 2012, and his seat is up again in 2018.

So is Sen. Jon Testers. The Montana Democrat was with Duckworth, Nelson and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to denounce the GOP rewrite on Tuesday. But Tester, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has also acknowledged that changes are necessary to fix the Affordable Care Act. Tester, too, is up for re-election next year.

Most observers expect the Republican-controlled Senate to significantly change the House version of the bill before being able to pass anything. Differences with the House would then have to be worked out before any change in Obamacare is sent to President Donald Trump.
India has made the point that the very name of the project suggested that China was endorsing Pakistani territorial claims, as the corridor passes through PoK which is Indian territory.

By Ananth Krishnan: Two days after China's envoy in Delhi suggested Beijing could rename the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project that runs through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to acknowledge India's sovereignty concerns, Beijing has appeared to have had second thoughts about the offer.

"Even we can think about renaming the CPEC," Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said in an address to the United Services Institution in Delhi on Friday, that was first reported on Monday by India Today.

advertisement

After the India Today report, that remark was removed from the transcript of his speech posted on the website by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi by Monday evening.

Pakistan had reportedly taken up the remark with China, according to a report in the Pakistani media.

WHAT THE PAKISTAN MEDIA REPORTED

Pakistan Today reported, "In a quick response, officials from the Ministry of Planning and Development have written a letter to Chinese officials at the China Embassy in Islamabad over a controversial statement in New Delhi by Chinese official. 'We are awaiting Chinese clarification on this situation, a private TV channel quoted officials as saying.

Luo's comments on Kashmir apparently also did not go down well with Islamabad. Luo said China supported the resolution of Kashmir "bilaterally" in line with India's view and that China "supported a settlement through bilateral negotiation in line with the Simla Agreement".

"This is an example of China taking care of India's concern," said the envoy who was earlier posted in Pakistan, rejecting suggestions that China was changing its view on Kashmir.

WHAT LUO ZHAOHUI SAID

Acknowledging India "has reservations" over China's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) because of CPEC that passes through PoK, Luo said "China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan", according to the Chinese Embassy's transcript of the speech he delivered at the USI on May 5.

Luo suggested China would be willing to rename CPEC, the transcript originally had said. India has made the point that the very name of the project suggested that China was endorsing Pakistani territorial claims, as the corridor passes through PoK which is Indian territory. He did not say whether China would consider delinking CPEC from OBOR, which might do more to address India's wariness towards the initiative.

Also Read:

Beijing open to renaming China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, says envoy heeding India's concerns

India's CPEC concerns 'unwarranted', says China media

Also Watch:

China shouldn't interfere in India's internal matters: Rijiju on Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit

--- ENDS ---
CALHOUN COUNTY  The long-closed Goldenrod Showboat, which engineers in 2015 concluded was in too poor a condition to be renovated, is facing a new indignity  significant amounts of Illinois River floodwater inside the vessel.

"It's taken seven to eight feet of water," Jake Medford, vice president of the nonprofit Historic Riverboat Preservation Association, said Tuesday.

The 108-year-old boat, which shut down in 2001 after decades on the St. Louis and St. Charles riverfronts, has been in storage since 2003 on the Illinois north of Kampsville in Calhoun County.

The nonprofit group tried unsuccessfully for several years to raise enough money to rehab the vessel so it could be used again as a riverfront attraction in St. Louis.

But in 2015, a move of about 500 feet aimed at preventing new damage inadvertently led the hull to buckle on both sides, causing serious structural issues. Engineers brought in to inspect the boat concluded it could not be repaired.

That led the preservation group to focus its efforts on retaining items from the boat's interior for use in a riverboat museum they hope to set up or in an existing museum of some type.

Medford said Tuesday that the group had finished that task before the boat's recent partial submerging. Among the items in storage are tin walls, chandeliers and stained glass windows.

"The interior is completely emptied out," he said.

Two years ago the group said the boat probably would be scrapped. But that has yet to happen and Medford said another outcome could be preserving the exterior for museum use.

"We don't know what's going to happen next," he said.

Medford said the association is taking part in the St. Louis Community Foundation's GiveStLDay fundraising event Thursday for nonprofit groups.
Jakarta's Christian governor was sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy against Islam on Tuesday, a harsher than expected ruling that is being seen as a blow to religious tolerance in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

By Reuters: Jakarta's Christian governor was sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy against Islam on Tuesday, a harsher than expected ruling that is being seen as a blow to religious tolerance in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

The guilty verdict comes amid concern about the growing influence of Islamist groups, who organized mass demonstrations during a tumultuous election campaign that ended with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama losing his bid for another term as governor.

advertisement

President Joko Widodo was an ally of Purnama, an ethnic-Chinese Christian who is popularly known as "Ahok", and the verdict will be a setback for a government that has sought to quell radical groups and soothe investors' concerns that the country's secular values were at risk.

As thousands of supporters and opponents waited outside, the head judge of the Jakarta court, Dwiarso Budi Santiarto, said Purnama was "found to have legitimately and convincingly conducted a criminal act of blasphemy, and because of that we have imposed two years of imprisonment".

Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch described the verdict as "a huge setback" for Indonesia's record of tolerance and for minorities.

"If someone like Ahok, the governor of the capital, backed by the country's largest political party, ally of the president, can be jailed on groundless accusations, what will others do?," Harsono said.

Weeping supporters Purnama told the court he would appeal the ruling. The governor was taken to an East Jakarta prison after the verdict and his lawyer Tommy Sihotang said he would remain there despite his appeal process unless a higher court suspended it.

Shocked and angry supporters, some weeping openly, gathered outside the prison, vowing not to leave the area until he was released, while others vented their shock on social media.

Some lay down outside the jail blocking traffic, chanting "destroy FPI", referring to the Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline group behind many of the protests against Purnama.

"They sentenced him because they were pressured by the masses. That is unfair," Purnama supporter Andreas Budi said earlier outside the court.

Home affairs minister Tjahjo Kumolo said Purnama's deputy would take over in the interim.

Thousands of police were deployed in the capital in case clashes broke out, but there was no immediate sign of any violence after the court's verdict.

Prosecutors had called for a suspended one-year jail sentence on charges of hate speech. The maximum sentence is four years in prison for hate speech and five years for blasphemy.

Hardline Islamist groups had called for the maximum penalty possible over comments by Purnama that they said were insulting to the Islamic holy book, the Koran.

advertisement

While on a work trip last year, Purnama said political rivals were deceiving people by using a verse in the Koran to say Muslims should not be led by a non-Muslim.

An incorrectly subtitled video of his comments later went viral, helping spark huge demonstrations that ultimately resulted in him being bought to trial.

Purnama denied wrongdoing, though he apologized for the comments made to residents in an outlying Jakarta district.

RADICAL ISLAMIST GROUPS

Purnama lost his bid for re-election to a Muslim rival, Anies Baswedan, in an April run-off - after the most divisive and religiously charged election in recent years. He is due to hand over to Baswedan in October.

If Purnama's appeals failed, he would be prevented from holding public office under Indonesian law because the offence carried a maximum penalty of five years, said Simon Butt of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney.

Analysts say the radical Islamist groups that organized mass protests against Purnama had a decisive impact on the outcome of the gubernatorial election.

Rights group fear Islamist hardliners are in the ascendant in a country where most Muslims practise a moderate form of Islam and which is home to sizeable communities of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and people who adhere to traditional beliefs.

advertisement

The government has been criticized for not doing enough to protect religious minorities but Widodo had urged restraint over the trial and called for all sides to respect the legal process.

His government said on Monday it would take legal steps to disband Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a group that seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate, because its activities were creating social tensions and threatening security.

(Additional reporting by Gayatri Suroyo, Darren Whiteside, Tom Allard and Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Ed Davies and Simon Cameron-Moore)

--- ENDS ---
What has happened to our powers of discernment and our ability to see these people for what they are, which is that they care nothing for us?
By Press Trust of India: Dhaka, May 9 (PTI) Three men armed with cleavers stormed a mosque in Bangladesh and attacked a 35-year-old cleric from the minority Ahmaddiya community, critically injuring him, police said today.

Imam Mostafizur Rahman from Khanpur mosque in Ishwarganj area was hacked by the assailants indiscriminately with sharp weapons inside the mosque after the end of evening prayers yesterday, Dhaka Tribune reported.

advertisement

Rahman was shifted to a nearby hospital where his condition is stated to be critical, police was quoted as saying by the report.

One of the three attackers was nabbed by the local people and handed over to the police. The two others attackers managed to flee the scene.

The motive behind the attack is not yet clear, police added.

However, Ahmaddiya community has come under similar attacks over the last few decades by neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh terror group in the country.

Earlier, members of militant group neo-JMB carried out a suicide attack on an Ahmadiyya mosque in Baghmara region on December 25, 2015. Ten devotees were injured in the bomb attack.

The Ahmadiyya community people are termed anti-Islamic by Islamist groups, including Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e- Islam. Hefazat urged the government to ban Ahmadiyyas in its 13-point demands placed in 2013.

Bangladesh has seen several violent incidents in recent months, including attacks on foreigners and secular bloggers claimed by the IS, although the government says the attacks have been carried out by local Islamist radical groups. PTI UZM AKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
He was talking to Foreign Minister of Oman Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah who called on him in Islamabad on Monday.

The Prime Minister said under the leadership of Sultan Qaboos, Oman has been consistently making progress on all fronts. He appreciated the special importance attached to relations with Pakistan by Sultan Qaboos.

Nawaz Sharif said regular political dialogue between the two countries at Foreign Ministers level will provide the forum for a comprehensive exchange of views on all areas of political, strategic and economic interests. He said there is a considerable scope to enhance our cooperation in trade and commerce as well as in investment and other economic sectors, underlined the Prime Minister.

Appreciating Omans keen interest in creating closer linkages between Pakistani and Omani sea ports, the Prime Minister said that the possibility of launching government-to-government and commercial Ferry Service between Pakistan and Oman would open an entirely new sector to enhance connectivity, people to people contacts and Pakistan-Oman bilateral trade.

Mr. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah appreciated the leadership of the Prime Minister which has put Pakistan on the path of socio-economic development, economic stability and developing the countrys infrastructure on modern lines.

Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs was also present during the meeting.
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz says Pakistan is pursuing vision of peaceful relations with all its neighbours.

Talking to media in Islamabad, he however said that violation of the country's frontiers will not be tolerated and a befitting response will be given in case of any violation.

The adviser called for addressing all kind of reservations between Pakistan and Afghanistan through bilateral dialogue.

Earlier, speaking at a reception to mark 25th anniversary of Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan diplomatic relations, the Advisor said Pakistan provides conducive environment for investment and foreign investors must grab this golden opportunity.

He stressed the need for promoting bilateral trade between the two countries.
The CRPF has decided to deploy its elite force of CoBRA battalions in Naxal-affected Sukma district of Chhattisgarh. This comes after 12 CRPF personnel were martyred on March 11 in an ambush.

By Press Trust of India: The CRPF will soon deploy a fresh squad of about 2,000 commandos from its special guerrilla warfare CoBRA battalions in and around the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh to defang the Maoists and their arsenal.

Sukma and its adjoining areas have witnessed some of the deadliest ambushes on security forces recently like the one where 25 CRPF men were killed in the Burkapal area of the district on April 24.

advertisement

12 CRPF men were similarly killed by Naxals on March 11 in Sukma.

A top official privy to the development said the paramilitary has prepared a blueprint to mobilise at least 20 to 25 companies of the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) from their present locations in West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh to the Bastar region that has some of the worst Maoist violence-hit districts of the central state.

A CoBRA company has about 100 personnel each.

The official explained the rationale behind the move to "very soon" airlift these teams from their current bases.

CoBRA ACTS ON INTELLIGENCE INPUTS

"The CoBRA does operations based only on intelligence inputs and has been raised as a team of highly-trained commandos who neutralise the enemy and destroy their hideouts with minimal collateral damage. The CoBRA teams will specifically be used to increase the kill ratio of the forces and deliver heavy blow to the Naxals TCOC campaign," the official said.

The Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) is launched by Maoists every year in summer to kill security forces personnel, and loot their weapons by catching them off guard when they are either out on a long patrol in the blistering sun or are deployed in these hard terrain areas for protection tasks like road construction and others.

At present, 44 CoBRA teams (of the total 154) are deployed in Chhattisgarh for these operations, and all of them are in the Bastar region comprising the districts of Sukma, Dantewada and others.

A proposal in this regard was also discussed during the meeting of chief ministers of Naxal-hit states today that was chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

While the home ministry has expressed its inability to deploy more battalions of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) as demanded by some Left Wing Extremism-hit states, the Centre wants that the quality of operations are improved without the forces taking casualties on their side.

"In the present circumstances where there are no regular battalions to spare and operations by them have faced reverses, it is the CoBRA that will pave the way. They will undertake special operations to decimate the Naxals manpower and firepower," the official said.

advertisement

CRPF, BSF BATTALIONS TO BE REDEPLOYED IN BASTAR

Also, some battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security Force will be "re-deployed" in the Bastar region to target special areas where armed Naxal cadres are active.

In order to assist them, the official said, it has been planned to seek additional flying hours from the Indian Air Force (IAF) to undertake more sorties to aid CoBRA operations.

At present, an IAF chopper flies a maximum of 120 hours per month which is expected to be raised to 160 hours soon, the officer added.

Another official present in today's meeting said, the regular CRPF teams will be provided with more teams of expert troops who are adept at handling improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have killed or maimed over 300 security forces personnel in the last year itself.

"159 IED blasts were reported in 2016 as against 131 in 2015, which is an increase of 21 per cent in the usage of these killing devices. The forces will have to bring this threat down drastically," the official said.

NEED TO CURB LEAKAGE OF EXPLOSIVES

The leakage of explosives and detonators meant for legal mining has to be curbed as these are stolen by Naxals to create IEDs and the home ministry asked the states to ensure this, the official added.

advertisement

Two new Joint Command-and-Control Centres will also be established in Gaya in Bihar and East Singhbhum in Jharkhand for the security forces, led by CoBRA, to launch inter-state operations.

A similar control centre is functional in Chhattisgarhs Jagdalpur where the operations of troops on ground, helicopter sorties and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) recce missions are handled from one base.

The CoBRA Battalion was raised in 2009 by the central government under CRPF to act as a special guerrilla combat wing for tackling violence perpetrated by Naxalites well as insurgents in the northeast.

Also read |

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

4 times Indian commandos crossed the LoC for surgical strikes: All you need to know

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

ALSO WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday restore a reference seeking disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Iman Khan and called for Response on 23 May., which the Commission had earlier dismissed on non-persecution basis.

The reference seeking disqualification of PTI chief as member of National Assembly was filed by one, Hashim Bhutta. The hearing was conducted by Chief Election Commissioners and four members of the ECP.

Advancing arguments, the applicant counsel said that the ECP dismissed the reference on January 16 for non-persecution basis. This was the first day during which his client could not appear before the Commission due to the death of his one of close relatives.

Imran Khans counsel argued that the grounds taken for restoration of the reference were not proper and insufficient. He added that a petition of similar nature filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi was pending in Supreme Court. He pleaded the commission to reject the application for restoration of the reference.

After hearing arguments of both sides, the Commission reserved its decision on the application. Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Raza Khan said that they would pronounce their verdict after consultation.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court for the implementation of Panama Leaks verdict, met on Tuesday ahead of formally launching an investigation into the case.

Wajid Zia, Additional Director at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) who is heading the six-member JIT, is chairing the session currently underway at the JIT Secretariat to set out the investigation method for the Panama verdict implementation.

The team of investigators has decided to seek assistance from the FIA and experts from private sector. The head of the JIT has already written a letter to the DG FIA in this regard.

The Supreme Courts special bench constituted the JIT to probe funds used by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's children to buy properties in London through offshore businesses.

Earlier on Monday, JIT members met at the Federal Judicial Academy in Islamabad, which has now been declared the JIT Secretariat. The members also moved their offices to the location ahead of the investigation.

The Interior Ministry has issued instructions for provision of complete security to the members of the JIT. The instructions were conveyed by the secretary in-charge at the ministry to IG Islamabad.

Other members of the investigation team include Brigadier Kamran Khurshid from the Military Intelligence (MI), Amer Aziz from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Bilal Rasool, an executive director at the Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Irfan Naeem Mangi, a Director at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Brigadier Muhammad Nauman Saeed from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The SC directed the federal government to provide the JIT with the necessary funds required to carry out the investigation. The apex court also ordered to provide the JIT an initial amount of Rs20 million.

The JIT would also be at liberty to utilise the expertise available in their departments and any other department of the Federal or Provincial Governments as and when required by it, the order stated.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has accepted the invitation of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques to attend the upcoming US-Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the PMs Office said Tuesday.

Saudi Arabias Minister for Information and Culture Dr Awwad Bin Saleh Al-Awwad extended the invitation to the Prime Minister in a meeting held at the PM House.

The Summit will also be attended by the US President Donald Trump who will mark his first visit to the Kingdom since he assumed the Office as the 45th US President in January 2017.

The meeting will focus on ways to enhance the cooperation between the Muslim Countries and the United States in the fight against extremism.

On Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair dubbed Trumps planned visit to Riyadh as "historic", adding that it will "reinforce US-Islamic world ties".
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday has chaired a meeting of ministers to discuss key issues including investigation report and notification over Dawn Leaks.

According to sources, the premier took cabinet members into confidence over Dawn Leaks notification and also talked on his visits to Saudi Arabia and China. PM Nawaz also raised the matter of protest staged by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) during the meeting.

Earlier today, Nawaz Sharif accepted the invitation of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques to attend the upcoming US-Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabias Minister for Information and Culture Dr Awwad Bin Saleh Al-Awwad extended the invitation to the premier in a meeting held at the PM House.

The Summit will also be attended by the US President Donald Trump who will mark his first visit to the Kingdom since he assumed the Office as the 45th US President in January 2017.

The meeting will focus on ways to enhance the cooperation between the Muslim Countries and the United States in the fight against extremism.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has accepted the invitation of the Saudi King to attend US-Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh. US President Donald Trump will also join the meeting in his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdomss foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir said that Trumps visit will enhance cooperation between the United States and Muslim countries in the fight against extremism.

Describing the visit as historic, Adel Al Jubeir said Mr Trumps time in Saudi Arabia would include a bilateral summit, a meeting with Arab Gulf leaders and another with leaders of Arab and Muslim countries.

It also lays to rest the notion that America is anti-Muslim. Its a very clear message to the world that the US and the Arab Muslim countries can form a partnership, Mr Al Jubeir said.
Days after the unprovoked firing by Afghan security forces killed around a dozen Pakistanis in the border town of Chaman, Afghanistans Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah said his country has neither the capacity nor the intention to destabilise Pakistan.

Anyone inflicting harm to Pakistan will be inflicting harm to Afghanistan, Dr Abdullah said on Monday while speaking to a delegation of Pakistani journalists.

The chief executive denied that he ever issued any instructions that might go against interests of Pakistan. No one can play a better role than Pakistan for reconciliation process in Afghanistan, he added.

ADVERTISEMENT

He said Operation Zarb-e-Azb was a commendable initiative. However, he expressed dissatisfaction over the state of mutual relations of the two neighbouring countries.

Dr Abdullah said Afghanistan considered the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a terrorist organisation and was aware of its presence in the war-torn country.

Taliban are our enemies. We have no sympathy for them. We also do not extend any cooperation to them. They should be pressured to come to the negotiating table rather than giving any concessions, he said.

However, he said, Afghanistan was facing bigger issues than the TTP. Security in the country is a bigger challenge in Afghanistan, he said.

Meanwhile, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai said he was ready to play a role to create understanding between the two countries which, he said, are like twin brothers.

The two countries are the closest nations of the world and twin brothers. Afghan people want good relations with Pakistan. I have a lot of love for Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, he said, adding that he would visit Pakistan after Ramazan.

Karzai said Afghanistan could not improve relations with India at the cost of Pakistan. No one, including India, is allowed to use Afghan land against any other country, he said.

He said his country will always remain thankful to Pakistan for hosting Afghan refugees.

The former presidency said Middle Eastern terror outfit Islamic State, also known by its Arabic acronym Daish, was increasing its foothold in Afghanistan and was a common threat for both the countries.

He alleged that the US was helping Daish and said the two countries needed to improve their relations without blaming each other.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed on Tuesday that he had been offered money and a place in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government in 2013 in exchange for de-Islamising the province.

Some people backed by the Jewish lobby had visited me after the 2013 general elections and offered me to join the K-P government in return for helping them eliminate the roots of Islam in the province, he told reporters after a gathering hosted by his party in Peshawar to welcome dissident members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) youth wing.

I was told that only the PTI could change the opinion of the people of K-P towards the Jewish lobby, Rehman maintained. I declined the offer as I was aware of its [the K-P governments] western agenda, he added.

The JUI-F leader said he was told that funds from abroad would be distributed among some seminaries and clerics. The main aim of the entire plan was to de-Islamise the province whose people follow Islam in its true spirit, he remarked.

Rehman went on to claim that as he had rejected the offer, the K-P government had failed miserably in achieving its goals.

We waged a war against their [Jewish] plans and have defeated them, he added.

The funding from abroad has stopped since last year and so the [K-P] government is now compelled to take loans from the Asian Development Bank, he maintained.

Corruption, he said, had increased during the incumbent government of K-P in comparison with the figures during the tenure of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government from 2002 to 2008.

Taking a jibe at the Imran Khan-led partys dharna politics in 2014, the JUI-F chief said: They [the PTI] spread vulgarity in the name of sit-ins for several months in Islamabad.

Rehman said young people were now joining the JUI-F and rejecting the PTI and that showed that only his party could resolve the issues of the province.
Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani has announced the death of the Daesh terrorist groups leader in the country during a joint raid with the US.

On Sunday, Ghani said that Abdul Hasib was killed during a joint operation by 40 Afghan commandos and 50 US special forces last Thursday in the countrys eastern province of Nangarhar.

The compound where Hasib was holed up is close to the location where US dropped the Mother of All Bombs on a Daesh tunnel system on April 13.

The operations came one week after a failed attempt to kill the Daesh commander in which two US army rangers were killed.

Hasib took control of the Daesh Afghan affiliate ISIL-Khorasan about one year ago, when his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan was slain by a US drone attack.

Earlier in the week, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai claimed that the US is responsible for the rise of Daesh in his homeland, saying Washington is in cahoots with the notorious terrorist group it has created.

Daesh is suspected of carrying out several attacks against Shias in Afghanistan. According to the US intelligence, the Takfiri terrorist group is mostly active in Nangarhar and its neighboring Kunar province. There are thought to be between 700 to 1,500 Daesh members operating in the country.

Afghanistan is still suffering from insecurity and violence years after the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washingtons so-called war on terror. The military invasion removed the Taliban from power, but their militancy continues to this day.
By India Today Web Desk: This year's edition of the Met Gala saw a seamless blend of every fashion genre there exists. From outfits that were bizarre to those that left nothing to the imagination--the event grabbed eyeballs for a variety of reasons. But what made this year's Met Gala special for us Indians was the presence of two gorgeous Bollywood stars, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone.

advertisement

When the two ladies--flawless in their own ways--stepped on the red carpet, the comparisons knew no bounds. And while Priyanka's record-shattering Ralph Lauren trenchcoat-styled gown inspired a gazillion memes and took away the cake in the novelty department, Deepika's debut received a lukewarm response.

Also Read: Deepika Padukone's Met Gala debut was beautiful, but out of place

But guess what, despite making a gorgeous-yet-low key debut, Deepika Padukone's Tommy Hilfiger satin gown was one of the most Googled outfits from the Met Gala night.

Also Read: You might have missed this, but Isha Ambani was also at the Met Gala this year

Also Read: 5 nakedest outfits at the Met Gala 2017

Also Read: These are 2016's 10 most-Googled red-carpet gowns

According to a tweet by Google Trends, Deepika's was the fifth most Googled Met Gala outfit this year. Model Kendall Jenner's meshed outfit topped the list, with Bella Hadid on number two, Katy Perry on number three and Blake Lively on number four.

Interestingly, Priyanka Chopra's Zuhair Murad number at the Oscars 2016 was one of the most Googled in the world that year.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) Telecom regulator Trai is likely to resume from this month its independent drive tests to check call drops and service quality of operators, after a gap of more than five months.

"Independent drive tests are going to begin. Actually, there was some gap (problem) which has been removed...they should start probably from this month on," Trai Chairman R S Sharma told PTI.

advertisement

While the telecom operators submit performance monitoring reports to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) regularly, the regulator also undertakes audit and assessment of service quality through independent agencies.

The agencies conduct sample drive tests across various cities in the country, as part of audit and assessment of the operators performance.

The independent drive tests are distinct from operator- assisted tests, Sharma said.

"We were doing drive tests in 11-12 cities, we will be doing it in more cities (this time). This will be different from the operator-assisted tests," he added.

The operator-assisted drive test captures real-time data to monitor the level of call drops and voice quality, similar to Trais independent drive tests.

However, unlike independent drive tests that are conducted by the regulator itself, the operator-assisted tests are conducted in co-ordination with telecom service providers.

The operator-assisted tests, a new concept, involves the telecom firms equipment and costs, with the regulator monitoring and supervising the entire process.

That said, all drive tests -- be it independent or operator-assisted tests -- assess the performance of networks on various quality benchmarks, including call set-up success rate, call drop, blocked calls and Radio Frequency (RF) coverage.

The last round of independent drive tests were conducted by Trai in Amritsar, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Ranchi, Darjeeling, Sikkim and Trivandrum in 2016.

During the last few months that Trai did not undertake independent tests, the operator-assisted tests were conducted in cities including Mathura (UP-West circle), Jaisalmer, (Rajasthan), Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) and Mangalore (Karnataka) and others.

Both the regulator and the Department of Telecom (DoT) have been keeping a vigil on service quality issues such as call drops and call failures through initiatives like drive tests and automated call system.

Last year, when instances of call drops spiked, the government and the regulator made a co-ordinated effort to tackle the issue through deliberations with the industry.

The Telecom Department has set up an IVRS or automated call system, which makes random calls to subscribers to check status of call drops.

advertisement

As part of efforts to keep the call quality in check, the Trai plans to roll-out, by the month-end, an app that will enable subscribers to rate the service quality of a phone call, once the call is complete. The data will, thereafter, be analysed by the regulator. PTI MBI MKJ

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) Power Minister Piyush Goyal will this week formally announce 100 million pounds investment to be made by state-run Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) in the UK.

"On May 13, 2017, Piyush Goyal will launch and extend the EESLs affordable lighting scheme ? UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All) to consumers in UK. The Minister will also formally announce the EESL?s investment of 100 million pounds in the UK over the next 3 years," Power Ministry statement said.

advertisement

He will be visiting Austria and the United Kingdom from May 10-13 for an Energy Dialogue with both the countries.

The EESL investment is being made to create space in the 6.4billion pounds energy efficiency services market and to implement low-carbon, energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions in both public and private sectors.

The company has already begun its operation in the UK by acquisition, worth 6.8 million pound, of two operating companies running energy savings performance agreements in education and leisure sectors.

The acquisition is effected by EPAL, a JV of EESL and EnergyPro Limited, an advisory company specialising in Energy Efficiency.

Goyal will unveil EPAL?s branding during the event. The EESL will also formalise its collaboration with Cenergist to strengthen its LED pipeline.

EESL will sign three MoUs with High Commission of India at London, Cenergist and Calvin Capital respectively.

Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding with British Electrotechnical & Allied Manufacturers? Association (BEAMA).

Goyal will participate in Investors Meet organised by industry body Ficci and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) tomorrow.

Further, the Minister will deliver key note address at Vienna Energy Forum 2017 on Thursday, after which he will be have dialogue with Director General of UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to explore prospects of better business opportunities in the energy sector.

Goyal will also participate in a Ministerial Panel Discussion on ?2030 Development Agenda for Energy?, focusing on the SDG7: Energy Access, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. He will also talk about International Solar Alliance and RE Invest on the occasion.

Besides, he will participate in the UK-India Business Roundtable on Energy organised by Ficci and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in London on May 12. The Minister will also witness the listing of NTPC?s bonds at London Stock Exchange on the same day.

NTPC is a fairly regular issuer of Offshore medium-term notes (MTN). The current issuance is the second Masala Bonds offering by NTPC within a 12 months period.

The first Masala Bonds issuance in August 2016 was for Rs 2,000 crore (USD 300 million) as is the current one (USD 310 million). Both the Masala Bonds are of 5 years tenor.

advertisement

The latest Masala Bonds 2017, carry a coupon of 7.25 per cent payable annually with reoffer yield of 7.28 per cent (tightest yet by any Indian Issuer). The NTPC Masala Bonds would be the 1st MTN and 1st Masala Bonds to list on the new International Securities Market (ISM)

The Minister will be accompanied by senior officers of the Ministry of Power on the 4-day tour. PTI KKS SA

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: scam

New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) The Anti-Corruption Branch today registered three separate FIRs in an alleged PWD scam, including one against the company of Delhi Chief Ministers late brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal.

The FIRs have been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by founder of Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO) Rahul Sharma alleging irregularities in the grant of contracts for roads and sewer lines in Delhi in 2015-16.

advertisement

"Three cases have been registered on a complaint by RACO. Since there are three separate companies, three separate FIRs under the sections of forgery, cheating and Prevention of Corruption Act have been registered," said ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena.

In the FIR registered yesterday, three companies have been named-- Renu Constructions, owned by Bansal, who died yesterday, Kamal Singh and Pawan Kumar.

Meena said that it has been found during investigation that fake bills were attached for materials that werent even supplied and some of the bills were of companies that do not exist or supply those materials.

The officer said that the probe ahead will focus on the possible involvement of PWD officers.

In his complaint, Sharma had also alleged that Kejriwal and PWD minister Satyendra Jain had misused their office for grant of contracts to Bansal. However, they havent been named in the FIR, Meena said.

Sources said that the ACB has already examined some PWD officials and the representatives of the three firms, against whom the FIRs have been registered, will be questioned next week.

In January this year, the ACB had sent a notice to the PWD asking it to share the details. The department had submitted certain files with the anti-graft body in this regard, said a senior official.

The ACB will seek more files from the PWD. The ACB had also examined the complainant and he is likely to be called again.

These FIRs come in the backdrop of graft allegations made by sacked minister Kapil Mishra against Kejriwal.

Mishra had yesterday submitted documents related to the water tanker scam to the ACB, alleging that Kejriwal had delayed a probe against former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

RACO, an organisation which claims to monitor construction projects in the national capital, had alleged that a firm linked to Bansal was involved in financial irregularities in building a drainage system in north-west Delhi.

It had alleged that the bills sent to the PWD for the works, which were not completed, were "false and fabricated".

Sharma had alleged that M/s Renu Construction Company, operated by Bansal, was awarded the contract to build a drainage in north-west Delhis Bakoli village in April, 2015.

advertisement

"It had, in 2015-16, obtained a contract for the works which were never completed, while the payments were cleared. Even the bid and its technical marks were manipulated," the complaint, dated January 9, had alleged.

The invoices (purportedly obtained through an RTI application by RACO from the PWD) pertaining to the project were sent to the Sales Tax department for verification. The department had informed in writing that the bills sent to the PWD were false and fabricated, Sharma had alleged. PTI SLB RT

--- ENDS ---
Finance

with Don Fraser

Fraser Farm Finance

It seems that the Government is happy to have very open borders, bringing in 70,000 people annually because it keeps growth in the economy.

That is probably true, but there are some serious distortions appearing.

I also appreciate that these figures include Kiwis returning home to New Zealand  and a caveat here is that if the world turns grumpy there will be a massive rush back home for all of those with a Kiwi passport.

Lets consider some of the issues.

Say 70,000 people is a city the size of Invercargill arriving every year. Unfortunately a lot of the foreign immigrants come from overseas cities and immediately want to go to Auckland  and not rural communities  increasing all sorts of pressure there.

Say 70,000 people also want cars, there is a commensurate number of new and used cars on our already clogged-up city roads. I think there are 167,000 new cars coming onto our roads this year. Are they crushing the old ones that fast?

Pressure (side head)

Infrastructure  the pressure on roading, schooling, hospitals and all associated social services is immense. This is all a big cost to the Government, but I guess the spending on all those facets is considered growth to the economy. And, of course, they will be borrowing the money.

Crime  it must be difficult to vet everyone properly who comes into New Zealand, but it sounds like there are a number of less-than-desirables arriving and setting up crime cells and undercover gangs.

Labour  it is clear the vast majority of young people are working their butts off and making a huge contribution. Clearly there are a few who are on drugs  quote Bill English  but you have to admire those who are young and hard at it with house, families, businesses or working hard paying taxes to help run this country.

Rapid growth  we know in commerce and business that managed growth is essential. Grow too fast and your need for new capital exceeds your cashflow. New Zealand, of course, is borrowing rapidly to fund this growth. But debt is debt, whichever way you look at it, and which generation will repay it?

Concerning (side head)

Housing  we own some storage units in Waihi and every other person asks if they can live in one as they have been displaced from their existing accommodation. This repetitive question is very concerning. Council may even consider well fitted 40 containers as accommodation with a licence to occupy. Social housing they call it because of the displaced peoples.

Now I have raved on long enough here and I am not against immigration. It is, however, putting immense pressure on all parts of our society and infrastructure. New Zealand has to borrow to fund this growth and whilst our debt ratios are fine, debt is debt.

In summary, immigration is good for an economy. Managing the numbers seems very important so as not to overload our systems and society. It may be that the public will vote against the present government, who seem to know better than we. If the public vote against the present government will the other parties have a different view anyway?

And  the footnote is  one can understand immigrants wanting to come and live in this amazing food-producing paradise safe at the bottom of the world.

Disclaimer  These are the opinions of Don Fraser of Fraser Farm Finance. Any decisions made should not be based on this article alone and appropriate professional assistance should be sought. Don Fraser is the principal of Fraser Farm Finance and a consultant to the Farming Industry. Contact him on 0800 777 675 or 021 777 675. A disclosure document is available on request.
Police have received a number of complaints about a smartphone app which allegedly encourages young people to self-harm.

Waikato Police have posted a warning on their Facebook page after receiving a couple of reports of a new smartphone app called "Blue Whale".

Without getting into the nitty gritty, the app is particularly nasty as it targets young people and encourages them to complete self-harm challenges and eventually suicide, reads the Facebook post.

It has apparently been a bit of an issue overseas. I have had a quick look in the Apple Appstore this morning and cant seem to find it, which is a good thing!

In saying that though, if it does somehow seem to find it onto your young persons phone we would recommend deleting it straight away.

Police say its a timely reminder to monitor what your young folk are looking at on their phones.

And on that note, if you or anyone you know are struggling with self-harm or thoughts of suicide, please give either us or another agency a call to talk through it. Ive listed a few numbers below.

Hopefully this app disappears and blue whales can go back to being the majestic creature of the deep that they were intended to be.

Numbers to call if you need to talked with someone

Lifeline: 0800 543 354

Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508

Youthline: 0800 376 633 or free text 234, or email talk@youthline.co.nz

Kidsline (ages 5-18): 0800 543 754
The New Zealand Defence Force has helped a multinational task force seize 400kg of heroin, worth about $220 million.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion surveillance aircraft working as part of the Combined Maritime Forces recently spotted two sailing vessels while patrolling the groups area of operations.

The information provided by the Orion led to the discovery of a cache of heroin on board the two vessels, which the CMF believes was bound for Africa and Europe.

This operation has dealt a serious blow to organised crime and terrorist organisations that rely on illegal drugs to fund their activities, says Major General Tim Gall, the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand.

The key role played by our people in this successful operation demonstrated their skills and commitment to the mission. Illegal drugs destroy people and communities, and operations such as this contribute significantly to reducing social harm.

Acting on the information provided by the Orion, the French ship FS Surcouf boarded the first vessel on April 28 and, during a four-day search, found a total of 200kg of heroin stashed in several areas of the vessel.

Surcouf then tracked down the second vessel and boarded it on May 3.

Another stash of 200kg of heroin was found, bringing the total haul of drugs to 400 kgs.

The RNZAF Orion helps comb the CMF Combined Task Force 150s (CTF 150) area of operation, which spans over 6.4 million sqkm.

It narrows the odds for ships like Surcouf to intercept and board vessels across an ocean expanse twice as large as the Mediterranean Sea, says the CMF in a statement.

The NZDF sent an Orion and a supporting 55-member detachment to the Middle East in February to work as part of the CMF during the next 12 months.

The last NZDF Orion mission in support of the CMF conducted 174 maritime surveillance flights during a 16-month period to December 2015.

It also helped the CMF locate and intercept vessels attempting to smuggle drugs worth nearly $500 million.

The CMF is a 31-nation naval partnership that promotes maritime security and seeks to defeat terrorism and prevent piracy and the trafficking of people and drugs across about 8.2 million sqkm of international waters.

CTF 150, which is one of three task forces that comprise the CMF, is focussed on maritime security and counter-terrorism.

More than one-third of the worlds oil passes each year through CTF 150s area of operations, which covers the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman.

The area also includes the main shipping routes from the Far East to Europe and the US.
A 28-year-old man with connections to Thames and Waihi is currently on the run from police.

Police are currently searching for James Broadbent, who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Mr Broadbent is wanted for failing to appear in Waihi District Court in April on three driving charges  including driving while disqualified, says a post on the Counties Manukau Police Facebook page.

He has recently been driving a silver 2006 Subaru Legacy saloon (registration KND969) which was last spotted in Manurewa, South Auckland yesterday.

Broadbent is 170cms tall with short brown hair but is known to change his appearance.

He has a Maori/Polynesian style tattoo on his upper right arm and regularly wears a beanie.

He has connections in Auckland, Hamilton, Waihi, Thames and Christchurch and is known to be actively avoiding police.

People with information about his whereabouts then please call 111 immediately.

Alternatively, you can contact Constable Sam Hensman on 09 261 1300.

Information can also be given anonymously via the Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 line.
The special significance of marae to Maori and communities is being acknowledged in this years Budget.

Over four years, $10 million allocated to help repair and restore whare and revitalise the paepae, building resilience of those charged with maintaining the protocols of marae, says Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell.

The funding for Marae Ora - Sustaining the Marae, Sustaining the Pae, is part of a broad-based $27 million package that will also help more whanau live in safe, secure and healthy homes.

Marae are places of refuge for our people and provide facilities to enable us to continue with our own way of life. Our language and tikanga are given their fullest expression on the marae at our tangi and hui, says Te Ururoa.

In order to be able to support the wellbeing of whanau, hapu, iwi and communities, marae must be safe, secure and healthy. This funding will support the restoration of whare, repair facilities, insulate meeting houses and provide for reo and tikanga wananga.

Our marae are the glue that binds us together, anchoring us in one place and helping shape who we are. As we have seen recently with the Kaikoura earthquake and the Edgecumbe flood, they also step up to the plate in the times of need.

Budget 2017 will also continue to build on the momentum of success generated by the Maori Housing Network  Kainga Ora, with a further $8 million allocated in this years Budget.

Since it was launched in October 2015 the Maori Housing Network has supported 140 housing proposals worth $37.5 million covering a wide spectrum of housing needs.

The funding extension will allow more vital home improvements, whanau housing projects and affordable homes for Maori to be built.

The Pathways to Home-Ownership  Te Ara Mauwhare will provide $9 million over three years to trial innovative new approaches helping whanau achieve more housing independence.

Some whanau are already benefitting from shared equity models or rent-to-buy arrangements to get them into affordable homes and we want to explore more community-led proposals, says Te Ururoa.

Te Puni Kokiri will partner with organisations to test the feasibility of different pathways to help low to modest income whanau realise their home ownership goals.

We want to see more Maori secure in their own homes and this new funding will help them down that path.
Tauranga City Council is asking the community for feedback on proposals from developers to establish two Special Housing Areas: one in Wairakei (Papamoa East) and one in Greerton.

Special Housing Areas help bring more housing to the market faster, through a fast-tracked resource consenting process, says a statement from Tauranga City Council.

These areas are proposed by developers, considered by Council and if supported by Council, submitted to the Minister of Building and Construction for a final decision.

Golden Sands (southern extension), Wairakei

Developer Bluehaven Holdings Limited has requested that Council consider a Special Housing Area (SHA) on land immediately adjacent to their existing Golden Sands development in Wairakei.

The land is owned by Bluehaven. It was historically zoned as Active Open Space but is no longer required for this purpose and the designation for an active reserve was removed in 2011.

This land is currently the subject of a rezoning process  Plan Change 25  which was consulted on end of 2016 and is due to be heard before an independent commissioner end of May 2017.

Plan Change 25 proposes to rezone the land from Active Open Space to Wairakei Residential.

If Plan Change 25 results in the land being rezoned for residential development in a timely manner then a SHA over the same area would prove unnecessary. However the timeframes for resolving Plan Change 25 are uncertain, and the process could potentially take 12 months or more.

Nathan York, CEO of Bluehaven, says the company are keen to advance the Golden Sands development with this important land holding in mind.

We purchased the land knowing that Council had made a decision in 2011 not to have an active reserve there, and that the reserve would function better located further east to meet the demands of long term growth along the eastern corridor.

"We now want to complete our development in the best timeframes possible. This is why we applied for the Special Housing Area.

The proposed development would provide approximately 273 new dwellings and would include local purpose reserves and a 1.28ha stormwater reserve.

The development would be serviced by both existing and new infrastructure.

This includes the extension of Te Okuroa Drive to Livingstone Drive which is scheduled to be completed in June 2018, providing an alternative to Papamoa Beach Road by the time the new dwellings are occupied.

Mayor Greg Brownless says Council will take into account the recommendations of the Independent Hearings Commissioner on Plan Change 25, along with feedback from this engagement process, when considering this SHA.

We are aware that we received a number of submissions on the proposed rezoning of the active reserve through the plan change process. We will take the issues raised in these submissions into consideration when we assess this Special Housing Area.

The timing is not ideal but given the pace of growth the city is currently experiencing, we have to consider this proposal. We are under pressure to provide sufficient housing supply to meet demand over the next few years.

And while we agreed to engage with the community on this proposal, we have not formed a view on whether to recommend this Special Housing Area to the Minister of Building and Construction at this stage.

305 Chadwick Road, Greerton

In Greerton, Tauranga City Council has been approached by developer Celt Saxon Corp, who would like the site on the corner of Sherson Street and Chadwick Road to be considered as a Special Housing Area.

The proposed development, Finsbury Park, is expected to yield 71 two- and three-bedroom townhouses and a three-level apartment building containing 59 two-bedroom units.

The site is currently zoned for industrial development. It is bounded by existing houses to the north and south, and the Kopurererua Valley to the west.

Its large size and walking distance to the Greerton Town Centre make it suitable for a more intensive form of residential development.

Celt Saxons vision for the development is to provide quality housing designed for the first home buyer.

David Hamilton, director for the company, is proud of the plans they have put together.

Our proposed design delivers practicality, lifestyle and most importantly choice to a market that doesnt often get one. We want this development to become a benchmark for all others.

An initial assessment of the effects of the development on the existing infrastructure in the area has been undertaken, including transportation, water supply, wastewater and stormwater.

These appear to be acceptable to Council, but would be subject to more in-depth consideration if the development was to proceed.

The proposed development exceeds the height limits in suburban residential zones, but remains beneath the height limits in the industrial zone.

Have your say

Consultation documents providing details on the proposals, the process and context are available at www.tauranga.govt.nz/council-a-z/housing-accord/proposed-special-housing-areas, along with the detailed development proposals and information about how community members can give their feedback.

Responses must be received by 5pm Monday, May 29.

Community views will help inform Councils decisions whether or not to agree to the request from the developers and pass on these recommendations to the Minister of Building and Construction.

Decisions regarding these proposals are expected to be made at a Council meeting in June.
A doctor has been fined $8000 and must undergo routine drug testing after being found guilty of drug-related malpractice.

Dr N made fraudulent entries in patient case notes and forged the signatures of colleagues in order to obtain drugs such as morphine for his own use.

The doctor, who has interim name suppression, had his case heard in Tauranga on April 12 and 13.

His offending stretches as far back as 2006, according to the decision released by the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, and includes creating hundreds of false entries in drug registers for fentanyl, morphine, and pethidine.

Dr N explained he had become increasingly dependent on alcohol and prescription opioids over the eight years prior to his withdrawal from practice in 2014. In the three months before withdrawing on September 15, his alcohol and pethidine use escalated significantly.

The tribunal also found a significant element of deceit in the doctors offending, including Dr N sneaking away from the family home to his surgery late at night in order to access drugs.

In his evidence, Dr N described being a rural practitioner as stressful, but assured the tribunal he has not self-prescribed since September 2014.

Although normally any such offending would attract a period of suspension, the tribunal weighed that against other issues, including the necessity for rehabilitation of Dr N and ongoing provision of his medical expertise to the public, particularly in the areas he currently practises.

He currently works at a family medical practice, the manager of which (Miss A) gave evidence that Dr N had been completely frank with her about his personal circumstances and history. She said the impact of trying to replace Dr N, were he unable to continue practising, would be devastating.

She stressed his behaviour since joining the practice was exemplary.

As well as being fined $8000 and the requirement of regular drug testing, Dr N is prohibited from prescribing, administering or accessing controlled drugs of all classes; not permitted to work in sole practice; remain abstinent from alcohol and other drugs, unless prescribed; and pay an additional $18,000 in costs.
A Tauranga Hospital nurse who developed an initiative that improves patients quality of care has picked up a national award for emerging leaders.

Registered Nurse Leigh Youngman was presented with the Health Quality & Safety Commissions Open for Leadership award for her patient-focussed initiative during a small ceremony recently.

Leighs initiative, which she developed while completing Honours Degree in Nursing, allows patients with fractured ankles, who meet specific criteria, to return home while they wait for their operation, rather than spend that time in hospital.

Because I work in orthopaedics I wanted to do something specific to that. One of the areas I saw for improvement was allowing patients to go home prior to surgery, she explains.

Those with ankle fractures usually spend five to seven days in a ward because their swelling means they have to wait to be operated on. I talked to patients who were in the ward while I was developing this, and a large majority said theyd prefer to be at home.

The criteria for returning home pre-surgery includes patients living close to the hospital, having support people at home, having a physio assessment which shows they can be mobile and use crutches, and having the ability to manage their pain with medication.

Leigh says news of the award came as a surprise.

I didnt actually know Id been nominated, so I felt totally privileged when I found out. I was a little bit shocked but Im absolutely stoked.

Leigh was presented with her trophy from HQSC general manager Karen Orsborn last Wednesday In front of an audience including her mum and stepdad, Bay of Plenty District Health Board chair Sally Webb and BOPDHB chief executive Helen Mason.

We feel extremely lucky to have Leigh on our team. The impact she is having on improving services for our community is admirable, says Helen.

It was lovely to hear Leigh acknowledge the support she has received from her team in achieving this award. We are continuously looking for ways to improve services, and its great to have the opportunity to celebrate that today.
A man is facing a manslaughter charge after allegedly using his vehicle to cause a womans death near Taupo on Monday.

Adrian Ngamotu, 54, appeared in the Rotorua District Court on Tuesday before Judge Greg Hollister-Jones.

Ngamotu is charged manslaughter following the death of a woman by allegedly using his vehicle dangerously.

He is also charged with assaulting another man allegedly using a vehicle as a weapon.

He was not asked to plead to either charge.

Police say further charges may be laid once enquiries have been completed.

Police are awaiting the results of the post mortem and are not in a position to release the victims name at this stage.

Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to this incident.

Ngamotu has been remanded in custody and will reappear in the High Court at Rotorua on May 24.
By Press Trust of India: scam

(EDs: with additional info)

New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) The Anti-Corruption Branch today registered three separate FIRs in an alleged PWD scam, including one against the company of Delhi Chief Ministers late brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal.

The FIRs have been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by founder of Roads Anti-Corruption Organisation (RACO) Rahul Sharma alleging irregularities in the grant of contracts for roads and sewer lines in Delhi in 2015-16.

advertisement

"Three cases have been registered on a complaint by RACO. Since there are three separate companies, three separate FIRs under the sections of forgery, cheating and Prevention of Corruption Act have been registered," said ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena.

In the FIR registered yesterday, three companies have been named-- Renu Constructions, owned by Bansal, who died yesterday, Kamal Singh and Pawan Kumar.

Meena said that it has been found during investigation that fake bills were attached for materials that werent even supplied and some of the bills were of companies that do not exist or supply those materials.

The officer said that the probe ahead will focus on the possible involvement of PWD officers.

In his complaint, Sharma had also alleged that Kejriwal and PWD minister Satyendra Jain had misused their office for grant of contracts to Bansal. However, they havent been named in the FIR, Meena said.

Meanwhile, he also submitted a complaint at IP Estate police station alleging that Bansal died under mysterious circumstances and his death should be investigated. However, police said that no FIR has been registered in the matter.

Sources said that the ACB has already examined some PWD officials and the representatives of the three firms, against whom the FIRs have been registered, will be questioned next week.

In January this year, the ACB had sent a notice to the PWD asking it to share the details. The department had submitted certain files with the anti-graft body in this regard, said a senior official.

The ACB will seek more files from the PWD. The ACB had also examined the complainant and he is likely to be called again.

These FIRs come in the backdrop of graft allegations made by sacked minister Kapil Mishra against Kejriwal.

Mishra had yesterday submitted documents related to the water tanker scam to the ACB, alleging that Kejriwal had delayed a probe against former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

RACO, an organisation which claims to monitor construction projects in the national capital, had alleged that a firm linked to Bansal was involved in financial irregularities in building a drainage system in north-west Delhi.

advertisement

It had alleged that the bills sent to the PWD for the works, which were not completed, were "false and fabricated".

Sharma had alleged that M/s Renu Construction Company, operated by Bansal, was awarded the contract to build a drainage in north-west Delhis Bakoli village in April, 2015.

"It had, in 2015-16, obtained a contract for the works which were never completed, while the payments were cleared. Even the bid and its technical marks were manipulated," the complaint, dated January 9, had alleged.

The invoices (purportedly obtained through an RTI application by RACO from the PWD) pertaining to the project were sent to the Sales Tax department for verification. The department had informed in writing that the bills sent to the PWD were false and fabricated, Sharma had alleged. PTI SLB RT RCJ

--- ENDS ---
We asked Francisco Luzon, the president of the foundation which bears his name, what he considers is needed most in the fight against ALS. This is what he said: The Minister for Health wants to set up a National Plan against ALS, which is very positive news for those of us who suffer from it. In the name of the Luzon Foundation, I will list the five things which we believe should be a priority:

First: that every ALS patient receives the same treatment no matter which region of Spain they live in.

Second: modify the law of dependence for people with this illness, which isnt like others such as cancer or heart conditions. It often takes over a year for certain needs to be met. Some patients have died before receiving the help they need.

Third: improve treatment for patients in their home, where they spend 90 per cent of their life.

Fourth: create specialist units for ALS in a few hospitals where patients receive multidisciplinary clinical treatment.

Fifth: start investing in research now, taking advantage of the investigative talent which already exists. Spain is low down the list in this field among developed European countries.
The National Police have inflicted a major blow to drug traffickers in the Campo de Gibraltar area after arresting 30 members of the notorious Los Castanas gang, which has an extensive network of collaborators across Andalucia and Morocco.

Working in collaboration with Moroccan police, officers were able to arrest the individuals, including one in Rabat, as well as seizing a tonne of hashish, 350,000 euros in cash, 16 vehicles, three boats, various firearms and 17 properties to the value of three million euros, as well as block 24 bank accounts linked to money laundering.

The investigation, ongoing since 2015, also found that the gang would bribe families without a previous criminal history with cars and houses if they would cooperate with hiding the drugs.
As Union defence minister, Manohar Parrikar fought and won a blitzkrieg his generals in South Block would have appreciated. Moving swiftly after the March 11 assembly election results in Goa, Parrikar snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to form a BJP government in the state. He outmanoeuvred the Congress that had won 17 seats to the BJP's 13. Six weeks later, Parrikar, in his fourth stint as Goa chief minister, finds himself fighting what the military dreads the most-a multi-front battle.

To begin with, allies outnumber the BJP in Parrikar's cabinet-seven berths were handed to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Forward Party (GFP) and independents. Less than two months after Parrikar assumed power on March 14, the euphoria is waning and his government faces real test-protests over rampant iron ore mining, the issue of shifting offshore casinos on Mandovi river and undercurrents of a tug-of-war in his cabinet.

advertisement

Parrikar's mettle was tested in north Goa's Sonshi village on April 11 when its residents came out protesting against the environmental hazard from iron ore mining. The villagers complained that some 1,200 trucks were using the village roads every day to transport iron ore from the mines, kicking up clouds of dust and making breathing difficult. Sonshi is a tribal village of 60 families. It is surrounded by six mines operated by companies Vedanta and Fomento. Forty-five protesting villagers were arrested on April 11 for blocking the movement of trucks and released on bail six days later. Ironically, Parrikar had once demanded a dedicated corridor for mining trucks.

The ban on mining in Goa was lifted in 2014, but the Supreme Court capped extraction at 20 million tonnes annually. With protesters complaining of rising air pollution and drying up of water bodies, the issue has become a talking point. Ramesh Gaus, a teacher and anti-mining crusader from Bicholim, says the residents of Sonshi were forced to protest as the situation did not improve even during the temporary ban on mining. "Manohar Parrikar is the most irresponsible and discredited politician in Goa," says Gaus, accusing him of bowing to the mining lobby. Parrikar has argued that the mining trucks belong to the villagers and are providing them employment. Gaus claims the trucks are owned by influential politicians. On Parrikar's claim that mining has brought economic prosperity, Gaus says people in the state's mining belt are worse off than those in the other parts.

Bicholim has 42 operational mines, the highest in Goa. A Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights team visited Sonshi on April 20 and examined 15 children. Its report says children in the village have been severely affected by water, air and noise pollution from mining activity. Activist Aires Rodrigues has filed a petition with the Goa Human Rights Commission arguing that every citizen has a right over clean air and drinking water and the government must ensure it. After widespread criticism, the Goa State Pollution Control Board on April 29 put an end to mining in Sonshi. It refused permission to 12 out of 13 mining companies to operate in the village because of air pollution.

Another problem brewing for Parrikar is the Union shipping ministry's plan to expand the coal carrier facility at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), one of India's 12 major ports. Here, coal is stocked in heaps in the open before being transported in trucks and rail wagons. The residents of Vasco da Gama, Goa's largest city, are complaining that the sea breeze brings coal dust to their shores, causing breathing problems.

At 13 million tonnes a year, coal accounts for two third of MPT's cargo. The shipping ministry's expansion project will help three major operators-JSW, Adani Group and Vedanta-increase their coal-handling capa-city. Once the plan takes off, the volume of coal cargo will go up to 26 million tonnes a year-reason enough for the residents of Vasco da Gama to oppose the plan. On April 27, some 1,000 people attended a hearing conducted by Goa State Pollution Control Board officials. "Coal pollution has become a major health risk," says Milton Barreto, former chairperson of the Mormugao Municipal Council.

advertisement

Barreto attended a meeting of residents on raising awareness about coal pollution from the expansion plan. The residents also approached Parrikar and demanded he intervene. The Congress has decided to oppose the project saying it will destabilise the nearby Sada hill and cause landslides. "Coal pollution has made life miserable for the local people," says local Congress leader Sankalp Amonkar. "I don't think the government wants us to breathe fresh air."

Parrikar has announced he will visit Vasco da Gama for a first-hand assessment. An insider, however, says he is unlikely to take a stand against the MPT project, which was conceived by Union shipping minister and BJP's Goa in-charge Nitin Gadkari. It was Gadkari's swift action that helped the BJP form a government in the state despite getting fewer seats than the Congress. "Bhai (Parrikar) understands that the residents' grievances are justified, but he appears helpless," says the insider. "It is not in his domain to stop the MPT expansion work. He will not take on Gadkari on this issue."

advertisement

Reached for comment, Parrikar conveyed through one of his secretaries that it was too early to discuss his performance-"There is nothing to talk about my work in one month. Do a story when I complete a year in office."

The relocation of offshore casinos on Mandovi river in Panaji is another controversy. Six casino vessels operate on the river at present. "The government will relocate the offshore casino vessels in Mandovi to another place," Parrikar said during an interaction with reporters on March 23. He had also announced that Goans would be barred from visiting these casinos and only tourists would be allowed in.

Former journalist Dharmanand Kamat alleges the casinos are polluting the river. "A 7 km stretch of the river, from Miramar to Old Goa, has been polluted," says Kamat. "Goans have stopped eating fish from this stretch of the river." Kamat recalls how Parrikar had earlier opposed the offshore casinos. The BJP can draw comfort from the fact that its allies favour shifting the casinos. "Of course, we want them relocated," says Vijai Sardesai, GFP leader and agriculture minister. "There is a demand to take them into deep sea. Why can't they be shifted to the shore?"

advertisement

On the political front, Parrikar faces restive allies. While he kept the all-important home and finance portfolios with himself, he had to give away the crucial town planning, revenue and public works departments to allies. Sardesai is minister for town planning and agriculture. Two other GFP leaders, Vinod Palyekar and Jayesh Salgaonkar, are in charge of the fisheries and housing departments respectively. Analysts believe Sardesai could emerge as the alternative power centre in the Parrikar government in the coming days. His aim is to provide subsidised food to Goans. "For that, we need to increase grain and fish production," he says. "We will achieve that as both these departments are with our party. It will then be easy to connect with the people."

Sardesai has also mooted giving land development rights to the local people whose plots fall in the eco-sensitive category. The proposal, if it goes through, will open up private land to real-estate developers. Sardesai's say in the government was evident when he got Parrikar to rejig the state government's slogan to 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas with Goenkarponn (Goa's identity)'. Says Sardesai: "This is the golden jubilee year of Goa's referendum to remain a separate state and not merge with Maharashtra. I want the identity and spirit of Goa to be preserved."

Following in his footsteps, Salgaonkar has mooted an ambitious plan for affordable housing. "We will have tie-ups with big builders to construct government-sponsored homes at lower prices," he says. "There will be 30 per cent quota for locals in these houses."

Sensing the threat from Sardesai, Parrikar inducted Vishwajeet Rane, the ambitious former Congress leader, into his cabinet. "Rane and Sardesai will compete for the second position in the cabinet," says a BJP leader. "Bhai will be safe as long as he maintains the power equilibrium." The chief minister has barred visitors to the secretariat on Wednesdays and has started avoiding the media. Local journalists say Parrikar is a changed man after his stint as Union defence minister. "In Delhi, journalists don't chase ministers to their cabins. You should follow them," he even advised reporters.

Parrikar's immediate challenge is winning the panchayat elections scheduled on June 17. He will then need to find a safe constituency for election to the state assembly. Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral has offered to vacate his seat for him, but Parrikar's heart lies in Panaji, a seat he has won four times. But Kamat says Panaji won't be a walkover for Parrikar as his popularity has taken a beating. In the elections in March, the BJP's Siddharth Kuncalienker won from Panaji by 1,000 votes, the party's lowest victory margin in the constituency so far. All signs that 2017 could be a year of battles for Parrikar.

--- ENDS ---
Syracuse, N.Y. -- A tattoo parlor has opened in an unlikely place -- a 145-year-old James Street mansion once owned by a former Syracuse mayor.

Tattooist Paul Roe opened The James Street Parlour at 457 James St. a week ago after he and his wife, Gina Santucci, spent nearly a year renovating the home, which had been vacant for eight years.

The upscale tattoo shop is open by appointment only for now. Roe said he will accept walk-ins in about a month, after hiring another tattooist.

Roe, a fashion designer by training, emigrated to the United States from England in 1991 and until last year operated a tattoo shop in Washington, D.C. He and his wife, an Upstate native and Syracuse University graduate, relocated to Syracuse last year after she retired as an analyst for the U.S. General Accountability Office.

"We often traveled here to see friends," Roe said of Syracuse. "I fell in love with the city and she always wanted to come back."

The 7,000-square-foot home, also known as the The Newell House, was built in 1872 for carriage maker Joseph Newell. The home originally had two observation towers (both now gone) and features the Second Empire architecture style, with a Mansard roof and multiple exterior corbels.

Thomas Ryan, the 28th mayor of Syracuse and owner of Thomas Ryan's Consumers Brewing Co., acquired the home in 1907. Ryan, who served as mayor from 1883 to 1885, died in the house in 1921.

The Ballweg Funeral Home occupied the residence starting in the 1930s, and it later was used for offices and a dress shop.

The home was originally one-half of a duplex. Each half of the duplex was a mirror image of the other. The eastern half was demolished in 1962 after it was badly damaged in a fire, but a curved granite slab that once served as the base step to its front stairs remains embedded in the ground.

Roe and Santucci could hardly believe their luck when they bought the home for $110,000 in May last year.

"We would never be able to touch this in D.C. for less than $4 to $5 million," he said.

The home, which Roe calls the "grand duchess of James Street," has 12-foot high ceilings on all three floors; mahogany door frames, trim and baseboards; and three marble fireplaces (two coal and one firewood).

The renovations included roof repairs, fixing water damage caused by the leaking roof, and restoring the home's hardwood floors and woodworking.

"We gave the building a little bit of love," Roe said.

The Syracuse Public Art Commission has approved Roe's application to paint a mural on the eastern exterior wall of the house. The mural, "The Rose of No Man's Land," will depict a Red Cross nurse featured in a World War I song of the same name. The nurse, a reference to nearby St. Joseph's Hospital, will be flanked by U.S. and U.K. flags, symbolic of his wife's and his nationalities.

Behind the main house is a two-story carriage house that still has original "dragon scale" slate tiles and oculus windows. It's currently being used for storage.

The couple is in the process of making the second floor of the home their residence.

One of the shop's first customers, Amanda Stewart, of Syracuse, was impressed with the surroundings.

"When you see a nice environment like this, it makes you feel you can trust the person," she said as Roe tattooed her leg.

Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
Richard Simmons

In this Aug. 10, 2013 file photo, fitness guru Richard Simmons arrives at the Project Angel Food's 2013 Angel Awards in Los Angeles.

(Richard Shotwell | Invision | AP)

Richard Simmons is suing over a National Enquirer story that claimed he got a sex change.

The fitness guru filed a lawsuit Monday claiming libel and invasion of privacy against American Media Inc., which publishes the Enquirer and Radar Online.

Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times show Simmons accuses former assistant Mauro Oliveira of blackmailing, extorting and stalking him. He also said the tabloid "acted in reckless disregard for the fact that information provided by Mr. Oliveira was false and that he was not a credible or reliable source."

The Enquirer ran several stories since Simmons disappeared from the public eye in 2014, attempting to explain why he left the spotlight. One story claimed Simmons had gotten breast implants and was living as a transgender woman named Fiona.

Simmons allegedly warned the publication that the story was false and accused Olivera of "destroying the career and reputation of Mr. Simmons" with the sale of false information.

"Mr. Oliveira first contacted the National Enquirer on or around May 2015, stating that Mr. Simmons's absence was due to him being 'frail, weak and spiritually broken,' and 'in desperate need of help,'" the lawsuit says.

According to TMZ, the National Enquirer called the suit ironic since Simmons claims to support LGBTQ rights while claiming he was defamed about a story alleging he was transitioning into a woman. Simmons said the Enquirer was likely betting he wouldn't sue over fear of appearing to criticize transgender people.

"While we have not seen Mr. Simmons' complaint, we stand by our reporting about him, all of which was based on solid sourcing and material evidence," a spokesperson for American Media told People magazine. "Should he choose to proceed with his lawsuit, we will defend it vigorously, and we look forward to the public vindication of our reports."

Simmons, 68, was hospitalized last month for severe indigestion. He broke his three year silence with a Facebook message to fans.

"You will never know how much it means to me. Aren't you sick of hearing and reading about me?! LOL," the former "Sweatin' to the Oldies" star said, adding that his illness "reminded me that when you need help you can't be afraid to reach out and ask for it." He also hinted at a return to the public: "Hope to see you again soon!"
Seneca Falls kidnapping.jpg

From left to right: Bryan A. Gonyou Sr., Jesse J. Dillsworth and Lisa J. Freer. The three suspects were charged with kidnapping a man in Seneca Falls.

(Seneca Falls Police Department)

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. -- For over a day, three kidnappers held a man hostage inside a Seneca Falls home, police said.

Bryan A. Gonyou Sr., Jesse J. Dillsworth and Lisa J. Freer were arrested by the Seneca Falls Police Department this week and charged with kidnapping a Seneca County resident.

The investigation started on May 1 when the victim contacted police, said Seneca Falls Police Chief Stuart Peenstra.

The 27-year-old Seneca Falls man was kidnapped by Gonyou, Dillsworth and Freer, police said. He was then held against his will for about 28 hours inside the trio's 25 Miller St. home, police said.

A 15 year old was present during the incident, police said. The man was allowed to leave after the trio were given money, police said.

This screenshot from Seneca County property records shows 25 Miller St., the Seneca Falls home where police say a man was kidnapped and held captive this month.

Peenstra said the man and the suspects knew each other before the kidnapping. Citing the ongoing investigation, the chief said he could not immediately release additional information about the incident -- including where the man was kidnapped from and who paid the suspects.

When the investigation is complete, Peenstra said his department hopes to release more information.

"It is very unusual for the town to have a case like this," he said. "We're confident that the case will pull through."

After a week-long investigation, police obtained a search warrant for the Miller Street home. Police searched the home with the New York State Police and arrested the three suspects.

The following charges were filed:

Gonyou Sr., 39,

Dillsworth, 34, was charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree conspiracy, second-degree grand larceny and endangering the welfare of a child. He was also charged with second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor, and second-degree harassment.

Freer, 37, was charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree conspiracy, second-degree grand larceny and endangering the welfare of a child.

The suspects were arraigned in Seneca Falls Town Court. All three are being held in the Seneca County Correctional Facility without bail, police said.

In addition to troopers, police were assisted by the Seneca County Sheriff's Department and the Seneca County District Attorney's Office.

The kidnapping investigation is ongoing. Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call (315) 568-4850.
march_cuople_new.jpg

Alexander March, 34, and his wife, Sima March, 35.

(Provided photos)

Syracuse, NY -- A Brooklyn man who used dilapidated Syracuse rentals to steal $127,000 from banks, then fled to Canada for five years, avoided going to jail today after pleading guilty to 32 felonies and misdemeanors.

Alexander March, 34, also admitted to trying to discredit witnesses who testified against him, sending them fake questionnaires and demanding they sign documents that contradicted their sworn testimony. He even claimed to be a lawyer and created a fictitious name, Steven Sanchez.

After a 2011 indictment, March avoided capture for five years by fleeing to Canada with his wife, Sima. He dragged out extradition proceedings until finally surrendering himself at the border in September 2016.

Onondaga County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller had promised March no worse than six months in jail at the time March pleaded guilty to dozens of crimes in the fraud and attempted cover-up.

March came to sentencing today with full restitution for the banks: $127,123.49.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Tarkowski reiterated his position that March should spend two to six years in prison.

But March's lawyer, Emil Rossi, described March as a family man with six children who had a generous heart despite his crimes.

Among other things, March had become a trained emergency medical technician in Canada and rescued an elderly woman from a serious car crash, Rossi said.

Miller called March's rescue of the woman "heroic."

March also volunteered to tutor younger Hasidic Jews and cared for his grandmother, who died recently, Rossi said.

Tarkowski said whatever charity March had undertaken was tainted by the fact he could have been using stolen money.

Miller decided ultimately to put March on probation for five years with no jail time. Most important, the judge said, was that March had made full restitution.

But the judge also credited March for his community service and his lack of prior criminal record.

March's wife, Sima, was also sentenced today to felony falsifying business records for her involvement in the scheme. She was given a conditional discharge, as promised at the time of her plea.

If she stays out of trouble for three years, she will face no further punishment.

Here's how the Marchs' scheme worked:

The couple bought dilapidated homes using cash. Alexander March would put tenants in the properties and then make false claims of assets to obtain new mortgages. He told Syracuse Common Councilors in 2008 that he fixed up the properties; city officials disputed that.

A New York City lawyer, Jon Lefkowitz, had previously pleaded guilty to helping the Marches with the attempted cover-up. Alexander March had claimed to be a lawyer in Lefkowitz's law firm.
Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Zoolander No.2' in London, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016.

(Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

The 2015 prison break from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora is heading back to the small screen, this time in the creative hands of Ben Stiller.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stiller ("Zoolander," "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty") will be directing "Escape at Clinton Correctional," an 8-episode limited series headed to Showtime.

THR reported that Benicio Del Toro ("Sicario") is in negotiations to play escaped convict Richard Matt, while Patricia Arquette ("Boyhood") is slated to play Joyce Mitchell, the prison employee who became sexually entangled with Matt and fellow escapee David Sweat.

Sweat has yet to be cast.

The series will tell the real-life story of Matt and Sweat, who escaped the Dannemora prison with Mitchell's help, and led police on a manhunt that gripped the nation for weeks.

It's not the first time Stiller has been mentioned in connection with the project. Last summer, he was spotted in the Dannemora area in Northern New York, eyeing the manhole from which Sweat and Matt escaped.

"Escape at Clinton Correctional" will mark the second telling of the story of Sweat, Matt and Mitchell on the small screen. Lifetime was the first to take on the story, and "NY Prison Break: The Seduction of Joyce Mitchell" made-for-TV movie premiered last month on the channel.
Geoff Herbert | gherbert@syracuse.com

What are fidget spinners? Is hot new toy dangerous, or helpful to kids?

Fidget spinners have exploded in popularity, leaving many parents to ask: What is a fidget spinner? And are they dangerous for my children?

2017's hot new toy is most popular with elementary and middle school-aged children. They're bright and colorful plastic or metal devices that fit in the palm of your hand and feature a ball bearing that allows it to spin.

As the name suggests, fidget spinners can be marketed as "stress relievers" for kids (and adults) to fidget with, and can allegedly help with ADHD or autism. They can spin on a table like a dreidel or in your hand, creating a mesmerizing swirling pattern; the goal among fans is often to see who can spin it for the longest.

Don't Edit

Where to find fidget spinners

Fidget spinners are in high demand, much like past fads such as Pokemon cards, pogs, Cabbage Patch Kids and Beanie Babies, or more recent trends like Shopkins and Hatchimals. As a result, they can be hard to find.

If you're lucky, you can find the coaster-sized gadgets for as cheap as $1 on eBay and other sites, or $5 in national chains like Five Below. Amazon.com has a bunch in the $8 to $18 range, but some high-end retailers actually sell versions for as much as $1,000.

According to PennLive.com, though, many stores are struggling to keep them in the stock. A Five Below in Pennsylvania sees them fly off the shelves; on one Saturday, 200 fidget spinners were gone in less than two hours of availability.

"It's the hottest item," store manager Andy Chelednik told the publication. "It has just picked up with everybody for some reason."

As a result, some parents are driving from store to store to find the toys, placing names on waiting lists or paying marked-up prices on reseller sites.

Don't Edit

Different types of fidget spinners

Some fidget spinners have one, two or three prongs. Some feature bold colors, emoji or tie-dye designs; expensive ones can be gold or silver.

Don't Edit

Who invented fidget spinners?

According to PennLive.com, Katherine Hettinger patented the design in the '90s in Florida to help children with ADHD and autism channel restless energy and concentrate. Her patent expired in 2005, but brothers Mark and Matthew McLachlan resurrected the idea with a $6 million Kickstarter campaign for fidget cubes last year.

By Christmas, fidget spinners were named the "must-have office toy for 2017" by Forbes.

Don't Edit

NewsChannel 9 WSYR video still

Are fidget spinners dangerous?

Any moving object has potential to cause injuries. Alexa Sleight, a 9-year-old girl in Syracuse, chipped her tooth on the toy while playing with it in the backseat of the car.

"All of the sudden I hear my daughter just scream out 'My tooth!'" her mother Michelle told NewsChannel 9. "She said the fidget spinner hit her in the mouth. And she hands me a portion of her tooth."

The accident led to $2,000 in tooth damage and the fourth grader ended up needing a root canal.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

You'll spin your eye out, kid?

One Australian mother said that her 11-year-old son was nearly blinded playing with a fidget spinner. Isaac was throwing the spinner high up in the air to show it off to his friends, and missed the catch and it clipped the corner of his eye.

"He was very lucky not to lose his eyesight let alone his eyeball," she said, according to the Mirror.

Don't Edit

Fidget spinners can even shatter a smartphone

Want more proof of how dangerous a fidget spinner can be? GizmoSlip used compressed air to get one spinning at what they claim is 1,000 miles per hour (though it's likely closer to 30 mph and 1,000 rpm). Then they tested its strength on a Samsung Galaxy S8, and it shattered the smartphone.

Don't Edit

Are there benefits to using fidget spinners?

CNN reports the devices were originally designed to help students with attention disorders like ADD and ADHD. Experts say it can help kids occupy their hands discreetly at their desk while focusing on school work; some counselors and therapists have even been encouraging their use.

"Promoting fidgeting is a common method for managing attention regulation," Elaine Taylor-Klaus, co-founder of ImpactADHD, which helps parents of children with attention deficit disorders, told the news station.

"For some people [with ADHD], there's a need for constant stimulation," she says. "What a fidget allows some people -- not all people -- with ADHD to do is to focus their attention on what they want to focus on, because there's sort of a background motion that's occupying that need."

Don't Edit

More than just help with ADHD

Dr. Steven Shapiro, Chairman of Pediatrics at Abington Hospital Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, told CBS that objects have been used for years to help hyper children focused. But fidget spinners can also be helpful for autistic and other differently abled kids.

"They've been used for kids in the spectrum of autism, basic developmental disorders, in the spectrum of severe ADHD, where theres a severe distractible component," he said.

Don't Edit

One teen says it even helps with epilepsy

Jaylon Rozier, a junior at Southeast Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, told CNN that he can use fidget spinners at his desk to help him focus.

"I have epilepsy, and the medication I take to control it ratchets up my need to move around," he said.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Can adults enjoy them too?

Fidget spinners might not be as appealing to people past high school, but it can be a small amount of relief for anxiety like stress balls or fidget cubes.

"I'm a constant fidgeter, whether it's knuckle-cracking (sorry), throwing a baseball around while I edit (sorry), or playing the desk-drums with my forefingers (sorry!)," one Time magazine writer said. "So for me (and my nearby colleagues), having some talisman on which to focus that excess energy is probably helpful on some level...

"I like to take five-minute breaks here and there while I'm working, and giving my spinner a twirl seems to helps my brain re-focus in a way that spending time getting sucked into the noise of Twitter does not. For someone who's developed a nasty habit of picking up his smartphone every second he's just a little bit bored, that's probably a good thing."

Don't Edit

For many, though, the fidget spinner is just a toy

Fidget spinners have become a toy to trade and share with friends. Others post or watch YouTube videos showing off their favorite tricks.

Don't Edit

Some schools have banned fidget spinners

According to Working Mother magazine, schools in at least 11 states have banned the toys.

"It's a toy, no doubt about it, and the principal has classified it as any other toy: It belongs at home," an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, New York, said of why they banned the spinners.

Don't Edit

But not all teachers mind the toys

"One nice thing about the spinners, as well as the fidget boxes (small cubes with buttons that don't do anything except go in and out), is that you don't actually need to look at them when you're playing with them," a New York Post columnist said. "Students can feel them in their hands and still be watching and listening to a teacher."

In other words, children who need help focusing can use them without taking their eyes off a teacher, parent or school work. That's a vast improvement over other distraction devices, such as smartphones and Tamagotchi digital pets.

Don't Edit

What will the next hot trend be?

The 2017 holiday shopping season is a few months away, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, enjoy today's big question: Can fidget spinners skip on water?

Don't Edit
2013-05-14-ll-beakskiff7.JPG

File photo: Apple blossoms greet the morning sun as the air begins to warm at Beak & Skiff Apple Farms in LaFayette.

(Lauren Long | llong@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. - The recent chilly weather hasn't harmed fruit crops, two Central New York growers say - but they are keeping their fingers crossed for tonight.

"So far, so good," said Tony Emmi, of Emmi Farms, on Monday.

In some ways, the cooler temps are in the growers' favor. It means the blossoms on strawberries, blueberries and apples trees have been slow to grow. And if they're not yet fully open, they are at less risk for damage.

The last couple of nights were in the 30s but the warm ground and cloud cover meant no frost, according to Matthew Critz at Critz Farms in Madison County. Last week, looking ahead at the rainy, cold forecast, Critz was worried. "Today, I'm happy," he said this morning.

Critz said the farm's apple blossoms and strawberries are behind. "That's great," he interjected.

Critz is using frost fans to keep warm air near the apple trees.

A production manager at Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard told NewsChannel9 late last week that farm, too, was using the fans. The trees in southern Onondaga County are in full bloom, the news station reported, but efforts there are also working to keep the fruit safe.

In Madison County, temperatures tonight are forecast to drop to 30 to 31 degrees, Critz said. "The apples are good to 28" degrees, he said.

Emmi said he hopes the rain stops so his strawberry fields will dry up. But otherwise, he said, the berries should be ready at their normal time, early to mid-June.

"I don't think there's a lot of concern," he said. "Berry season is really short here, just about three weeks. You've got to act fast if you want to make jelly, preserves."

A frost advisory remains in effect for tonight for Yates, Seneca, Southern Cayuga, and Onondaga counties. The good news? It's supposed to be sunny and in the 50s and 60s through Friday. But brace yourself: Saturday's forecast calls for the return of rain.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel's son was early on Monday prevented by authorities from boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Greece after he arrived in a "heavily drunken" state at the airport and argued with the airline's staff.

Official sources told IANS that Jaimin Patel, who is in his mid-30s, his wife Jhalak and their daughter Vaishvi were stopped from boarding the Qatar Airways flight, which was to take off at 4 a.m.

advertisement

When Patel, who is a land dealer, reached Ahmedabad International Airport, he was not even able to walk because of his drunken state. He cleared the immigration and other checks in a wheelchair due to his inebriated condition, said airport officials.

"Jaimin Patel was prevented from boarding the flight. He also had an argument with the staff of the airways," an official said, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, Nitin Patel told reporters in the evening on Monday in Gandhinagar that this was a ploy to defame him. "My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well."

"His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed," Patel added.

"Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information," he said.

Also Read:

Why Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad is not travelling by Air India

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad boards first Air India flight after ban

Also Watch:

Will not allow flight to take off: Gaikwad warns Air India over apology demand

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Dharamshala, May 9 (PTI) Girls secured the top two positions in the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) class 10 exams, the results of which were declared today.

Isha Chouhan of Minerva Academy in Ghumarwin in Bilaspur District topped the exam with 694/700 marks (99.14 per cent), while Riya Chouhan of IVN Public School in Nahan got the second spot with 693/700 marks (99 per cent).

advertisement

Nikhil Rana stood at the third position with 692/700 marks (98.86 per cent).

Chairman, HPOBSE, Balbir Tegta said the top 10 positions were held by 33 students with the last one securing 97.71 per cent marks.

A total of 1,15,317 students had appeared for the exam conducted by the board in March this year, he said, adding 76,855 students cleared it while 16,564 were placed under compartment.

The overall pass percentage of the class 10 exams this year stood at 67.57 per cent, Tegta said.

It was 66.88 per cent last year. PTI CORR AQS AQS

--- ENDS ---
The K10000 Pro only weighs 292.5 grams, which means that it's lighter than the 2015 model by 22.5 grams if my math serves me right.

In Q4 2015, Shenzhen-based handset makerreleased the first Android handset in the world to have a whopping 10,000 mAh battery pack, which - they claimed - was capable of delivering an unbelievable 10 to 15 days of uptime with regular use.Oukitel K10000 made headlines during its run not just because of its record-breaking powerbank-worthy battery capacity but because of its obviously inconvenient heft.Sure, the handset gave users peace of mind in terms of not worrying that it would run out of juice in the middle of the day. However, K10000's 13.8 millimeter thickness and 315 grams weight (almost double that of some smartphones during that year) made it hard to carry around or to keep in the pocket.Yesterday - May 8, 2017, Oukitel announced the, which effectively addresses the weaknesses of its predecessor while offering a boost in overall performance and the same staggering battery size.Powered by a 10,000 mAh pack with Fast Charging support, Oukitel K10000 Pro is equipped with a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display that's protected by scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass touchscreen. Under the hood, it runs on a 64-Bit Octa Core MediaTek MT6780T processor, has 3GB of RAM, and comes with 32GB of internal storage; A set of internal hardware indicating that it will be a fairly affordable midrange model.As of today, the company has yet to release more information about this model, including its camera specifications, pricing details, and exact release date in China as well as in other territories globally.Oukitel has never officially released a handset in the Philippines. However, since our local handset brands get their smartphones mostly from Chinese OEMs, there's a chance that one Pinoy company would bring this particular model here albeit with different name -- if many consumers show interest in it and if they can get it for a good bulk price,
By Press Trust of India: Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 (PTI) Congress MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor today said he had nothing to hide with regard to the investigation in connection with the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Tharoor said he had fully cooperated with the police at every stage of the case.

He was reacting to reports broadcast yesterday by a recently launched television channel in this regard.

advertisement

"I want to stress that I have fully cooperated with police. Police have investigated for the past three years. They have not so far been able to establish whether any crime has been committed or any murder has occurred," Tharoor told reporters here.

Police are the right and the most competent persons to respond, he said.

As a reporter of the channel tried to pose questions to him and alleged that he was physically manhandled, Tharoor said, "These people are not journalists. This is what they want. This is going to be their story. The new channels effort is to get into limelight and increase its TRP."

Addressing the local media, Tharoor said, "As far as I am concerned, you are all professional journalists. This unfortunately is not an example of professional journalism," and added he was a strong advocate of freedom of expression.

Tharoor said the media has a very important role as a witness, but not a role of prosecutor, judge and executioner, "which is what as you are seeing somebody is do".

"There is a legal system in the country. There are constitutional rights for people in the country. There is a judicial system in the country. Let police conclude their work and go to courts and courts can come to conclusions. That is the way the system is supposed to work," Tharoor said.

Sunanda was found dead in a suite in a five-star hotel in South Delhi on January 17, 2014. PTI UD LGK JRK APR TIR

--- ENDS ---
The iPhone 5c owned by Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the shooters from the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack, became a focal point for the privacy vs security debate last year. Apple's refusal to build a backdoor that circumvented the handset's security features led to the FBI purchasing software that did the job, but we never knew exactly how much it paid - until now.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein inadvertently revealed that the FBI paid a third party $900,000 to access the handset.

"I was so struck when San Bernardino happened and you made overtures to allow that device to be opened, and then the FBI had to spend $900,000 to hack it open," Feinstein said at the hearing. "And as I subsequently learned of some of the reason for it, there were good reasons to get into that device."

In April last year, FBI Director James Comey said the amount the agency paid was "more than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months for sure." Based on his $183,000 annual salary, Reuters calculated the total cost to be over $1.3 million.

While the true price has now been exposed, it's still unclear who the feds paid to crack the phone. Israeli mobile forensics firm Cellebrite is one suspect, though some believe it was a team of professional gray hat hackers. Details of the hack itself are also unknown, with some reports claiming the FBI will be able to use it again in the future.
The Far Cry series took a surprising turn by setting the last game during the Mesolithic period, which saw guns replaced with bows and spears. Now, rumors say the next title in the series will return to slightly more modern times and take place during the era of cowboys and the Wild West .

Website Great Falls Tribune reports that a church on the northeastern Montana prairie will feature in an upcoming video game. It also writes that a film crew was shooting a live-action trailer for the title. While he wouldn't reveal the name, Jeff Guillot, a producer on the shoot, said it was a sequel to an existing global franchise set for release this September. He added that the production areas "stretched more than 5,000 miles from California to Montana."

The crew used a drone to film "a man fighting with another man near a hanging bell as a train rolled by on the tracks a half-mile away." The details suggest a game with a Wild West theme, leading to speculation it was a promo for the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2, but evidence suggests otherwise.

Guillot has a history with Ubisoft, having worked on promo campaigns for Driver, Red Steel 2, and a live-action trailer for Far Cry Primal, all of which suggests this is another Ubisoft-related project. There's also this statement from Kotaku's Jason Schreier.

This is all very vague so I don't want to put the wrong pieces together and make an educated guess that turns out to be incorrect, but just to help prevent too many people from getting excited, I don't think this is RDR2; I think it's the next game in a different series that I've heard is set in a location that sounds a lot like this. Rockstar doesn't do live-action trailers, after all.

Another compelling piece of evidence is the fact a 2015 Ubisoft poll on future Far Cry settings included the option for "a Spaghetti Western-style tale in late 19th Century America."

Ubisoft has confirmed it will be releasing four AAA titles before the end of its fiscal year. With one of them almost certainly the next Assassin's Creed (likely called Origins), and South Park: The Fractured but Whole possibly another, there's a strong chance one of the remaining two games will be a new Far Cry.
Microsoft has released an update to fix a vulnerability discovered in its MsMpEng malware protection engine used in Windows Defender, Windows Intune Endpoint Protection, Microsoft Security Essentials, and more. The bug can allow a hacker to take over a system just by sending an email or instant message - the recipient doesn't even have to open or read it for the attack to work, Defender just needs to scan the contents. The flaw could also be exploited by getting users to click on web browser links.

Google Project Zero researchers Tavis Ormandy and Natalie Silvanovich discovered the "crazy bad" bug over the weekend. It lets hackers booby trap files with malicious code that is automatically executed when Microsoft's anti-malware software scans the data.

I think @natashenka and I just discovered the worst Windows remote code exec in recent memory. This is crazy bad. Report on the way. ??? --- Tavis Ormandy (@taviso) May 6, 2017

"An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code in the security context of the LocalSystem account and take control of the system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights," wrote Microsoft. The company added that it hadn't seen any public exploitation of the vulnerability.

Google's security report explains that the Malware Protection service is "enabled by default" in Windows 8, 8.1, 10, Server 2012 and a number of other versions of the software. You can see the full list below.

The fix was rolled out in an emergency update on Monday night, just hours before the weekly Tuesday security update. The Redmond company has been praised for the speed at which it released the patch. Ormandy says he was "blown away" by how quickly Microsoft responded.

To make sure your PC has been patched and isn't at risk, head to 'Windows Defender settings' and make sure the engine number is 1.1.13704.0 or higher.
Just when we thought the opioid crisis couldn't get any worse, latest reports reveal a new kind of opioid drug that's so powerful and dangerous, it makes heroin seem almost irrelevant.

Aptly known in the streets as "gray death," the ominous opioid mix closely resembles concrete and usually comes in a fine powder or gravel-like form. It's so potent that anyone can be exposed to its detrimental effects just by merely touching it.

What Is Gray Death?

"Gray death is one of the scariest combinations that I have ever seen in nearly 20 years of forensic chemistry drug analysis," Deneen Kilcrease, manager of the chemistry section at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said of the potentially lethal opioid cocktail.

Kilcrease said she saw at least six different opiates in one of the gray death samples she tested, including the following:

 Heroin - an opioid drug made from morphine

 Fentanyl - an opioid drug 50 times stronger than heroin

 U-47700 - a synthetic opioid, otherwise known as Pink or U4, listed under the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's most dangerous drugs and banned since 2016

 Carfentanil - a tiger and elephant tranquilizer, 100 times stronger than heroin

Gray death contains perhaps the deadliest combo of illicit drugs at strong concentrations unknown to users. What's alarming is that there is a strong demand for gray death because the drug is reportedly cheaper than oxycodone.

"You can buy one of these cocktails for $10-$20 on the street and lose your life in a few seconds," Russ Baer of the DEA told NBC News.

Opioid Concoctions Smuggled Into The United States

As of the latest reports, gray death has not yet reached major parts of the country, although it's been identified in cases of opioid overdose in the Gulf Coast and several states including Ohio, Alabama and Georgia.

"We are more routinely seeing deadly cocktails of heroin, fentanyl, various fentanyl-class substances, along with combinations of other controlled substances of varying potencies including cocaine, methamphetamine, and THC," Baer said.

Drug dealers are creating more complicated opioid concoctions, which makes it hard for authorities to classify the drugs and know exactly what they're dealing with.

Gray death and other emerging drug cocktails are produced in the United States from opioids that are mailed in from China or smuggled into the country from neighboring Mexico.

The Worsening Opioid Epidemic In The Country

The enduring battle against the opioid epidemic continues to this day.

Based on the data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids played a pivotal role in at least 33,091 deaths in 2015, with opioid overdoses multiplying up to four times since 1999.

In 2015, the CDC listed the top five states with the highest cases of deaths caused by drug overdose: West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Up to 7,000 bodies may be buried on the campus of the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

If you are wondering whose bodies these are, they are former patients of Insane Asylum, the states first mental institution that opened in 1855.

Unique Mississippi Resource

Underground radar revealed that the coffins cover 20 acres inside the campus, where officials have intended to build, reported USA Today. But theres a steep cost they have to face to exhume as well as rebury each body, which is $3,000 each or up to $21 million in total.

For UMMC, theres a cheaper alternative available, which is to handle the exhumations on their own or at a price of $400,000 every year for eight years at a minimum.

The endeavor would also involve a memorial that will preserve the 7,000 remains and includes a visitors center and a laboratory for studying them and their clothing and coffin remnants.

It would be a unique resource for Mississippi, said associate professor Molly Zuckerman, adding it would make the state a national center offering a wealth of historical data on health in pre-modern times, specifically of institutionalized individuals.

The lab, according to Ralph Didlake of the campuss Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, is likely the first of its kind in the United States, covering asylum history from the 1800s to the early 1900s.

Their group, dubbed the Asylum Hill Research Consortium, gathers archeologists, anthropologists, and historians to develop the initiative for an asylum memorial and visitors center.

Revisiting Asylum History

In 1855, the states first mental institution was completed after reform personality Dorothea Dix lobbied for the funding of its construction. It took $175,000 for the asylum to become a reality.

Prior to the asylums existence, there were grave conditions for mental health patients, who were chained and had a sizable number die, according to state board of health chair Luke Lampton.

The center eventually grew to shelter 300 patients and became known as Asylum Hill, where houses, a school, and a Baptist church for former slaves could be found. At its prime, the facility had about 6,000 patients, and employment was aplenty.

Mississippi moved the center in 1935 to its current location, the State Hospital at Whitfield. About 20 years later, UMMC construction started on that very hill.

It was in 2013 when campus officials found 66 coffins while building a road. The following year, they employed underground radar and discovered 1,000 coffins, where the numbers are now estimated to be as high as 7,000.

Didlake sees the project as a responsibility.

We have inherited these patients. We want to show them care and respectful management, he said.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
On May 4, the House of Representatives voted to pass the amended version of the American Health Care Act, a GOP plan that aims to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

The new bill passed by a narrow margin and brings a small change to the Republican GOP plan, meant to ease the anxiety regarding health insurance for patients with pre-existing conditions.

According to the revised bill, the insurance state budget will be supplemented with another $8 billion, to be granted over a period of five years. This sum is intended for patients who may need to pay higher insurance rates due to coverage lapses.

The funds add to the approximately $100 billion already received by the states, payable in the span of a decade and destined to help Americans afford health insurance and stabilize the market.

After passing in Congress, the bill will now be subjected to debate in the Senate, where more changes are expected to occur.

The Problem With The GOP Plan

Experts, however, disapprove of the new health care plan, arguing the Republican bill could cut health benefits for millions of people.

In their opinion, the additional sum has little chance of serving Americans who get health insurance coverage under Obamacare, to which it may not provide a suitable alternative.

One of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act states that insurance companies can't reject clients or charge them higher rates depending on their health. This is about to change, experts point out.

"Many people with pre-existing conditions will have a hard time maintaining coverage because it just won't be affordable," said Larry Levitt, a health insurance expert working with the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Health Insurance Under The AHCA

One of the crucial differences the AHCA brings is the possibility for the states to obtain federal waivers that would allow insurance companies to up their premiums for clients with pre-existing medical problems who let their coverage lapse.

Patients with a health history that deems them as expensive clients for the insurance companies, as well as Americans who were unable to qualify for insurance, have the option of applying for coverage via governmental programs called "high-risk pools."

These insurance programs are funded by the states with federal money and were already in place before Obamacare.

The health care consulting firm Avalere predicts the funds proposed by the new bill will only be sufficient to finance these programs in just a few small states, where they are expected to overflow with patients experiencing a coverage lapse.

This puts Americans with pre-existing illnesses at risk of losing their health insurance, provided their conditions prevent them from doing their job.

Avalere estimates there are around 2.2 million in the individual insurance market suffering from pre-existing conditions. Senior citizens, for whom the AHCA already plans to increase premiums, are more likely to belong to this category of patients.

"There is no guarantee in the law that people with pre-existing conditions would get access to affordable coverage," said Levitt.

Medical Organizations Condemn The AHCA

In response to the House of Representatives' vote to pass the AHCA, six of the top medical organizations in the United States, representing more than 560,000 physicians and medical students, teamed up to speak against the Republican bill, which they describe as "inherently flawed" and fear would "do great harm" to their patients.

The six organizations  the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Osteopathic Association  publicly declared their disapproval of the new bill, stating they are "deeply disappointed" of the vote.

"Regrettably, the AHCA, as amended and passed by the House, violates our principles, dramatically increasing costs for older individuals, resulting in millions of people losing their health care coverage, and returning to a system that allows insurers to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions," said organization representatives in a joint statement.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Grandparents who take on the role of care providers for their grandchildren risk putting them in jeopardy due to lack of updated child care information, a new study found.

This is because grandparents rely on their old-school parenting know-how, which is often outdated, considering child care practices and guidelines have changed dramatically over the last two or three decades.

The study, led by Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New York, surveyed 636 American grandparents on parenting techniques and revealed many of them were still using obsolete child care methods.

Outdated Health Care Methods

The "user's manual" to raising children has evolved substantially in terms of safety guidelines and recommendations.

It may seem like not much has changed, but what was considered common knowledge when today's grandparents were raising their own children has since then been called into question by modern medicine.

This explains why old-school parenting tactics can sometimes be potentially harmful for children who are being looked after by their grandparents.

"When grandparents step up to the plate, it can be wonderful for grandchildren but can also pose challenges in terms of lifestyle, finances and mental and physical health to a somewhat older or elderly cohort," said Dr. Adesman.

His research unraveled study participants were drawing their experience from proven myths, which they erroneously regarded as absolute truths.

Dr. Adesman's study shows this can lead to parenting mistakes, which can be avoided by simply keeping up with the latest guidelines on child safety.

Child Care Tactics Grandparents Were Wrong About

One of his study's focuses had to do with the proper way of treating minor health problems, such as fever or cuts and scrapes, at home.

When asked about the best way to deal with a high fever, 44 percent of survey respondents said ice baths were a good solution. Although this practice may have been popular at some point in time, ice baths were long ago linked to hypothermia risk.

"Many thought that an ice bath can bring down a very high fever. Sure, it might sound logical, but it's dangerous to ever put a child into cold water, because you can drop down the body temperature too much," explained Dr. Adesman.

In addition, 25 percent of the surveyed grandparents were not aware that the recommended sleep position for toddlers is on their back and not on their stomach on their side. Modern parents now know that incorrect sleeping positions are one of the biggest risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome.

Lastly, 68 percent of the interviewed grandparents didn't know wounds heal better and quicker if they are covered with a bandage

Dr. Adesman presented his study's conclusions at the 2017 Pediatric Academics Societies meeting on May 4.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly warned current President Donald Trump against hiring Mike Flynn as his national security adviser, former White House officials revealed.

Obama warned Trump about Flynn in the days following the 2016 Presidential Elections, but the warning went under the radar so far. News now came to light just as former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is about to testify that Flynn made misleading statements to the White House regarding his connection with Russia's ambassador to the United States.

Obama Warned Trump Against Hiring Flynn

Three former White House officials from the Obama Administration told NBC News that during the 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office following the Presidential Elections, Obama warned Trump against making Flynn his national security adviser.

Flynn previously worked as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, but the Obama Administration fired him back in 2014 mainly due to his temper and mismanagement issues.

A senior Trump Administration official confirmed on Monday that Obama did indeed talk to Trump about Flynn and made it clear that he's "not a fan," but another official says the remark seemed like a jest.

At the same time, the warning was before concerns started mounting within the government over Flynn's relation to the Russian ambassador, an official pointed out, adding that Obama simply expressed his opinion that Flynn was not a good choice for that position. Two officials also said that Obama warned Trump to keep an eye on North Korea matters as well.

Despite Obama's word of caution, Trump hired Flynn as his national security adviser only to let him go shortly after that. When it came to light that Flynn was having private talks with the Russian ambassador regarding sanctions, the Trump Administration fired Flynn three weeks into the job for misleading Vice President Pence about what they discussed in those conversations.

Pressure Mounting As Yates Prepares To Testify

Back when Flynn was still the national security adviser, Yates warned the White House that Flynn had made misleading statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. On Jan. 26, Yates told White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II that Flynn's misstatements could leave him vulnerable to foreign blackmail, since Russian operatives would be aware that he had misled his superiors.

The details of that conversation with McGahn, including his answer, remain unknown so far but Yates' testimony could shed more light on the matter. Yates is scheduled to testify before a Senate subcommittee on Monday at 2.30 p.m.

Trump took to Twitter to throw shade at Yates before the hearing, but her testimony could nonetheless raise new questions regarding the President's response to concerns that his first national security adviser had misled the White House.

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

In another Tweet, Trump adds that the Obama Administration gave Flynn the highest security clearance, "but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that."

On the other hand, it would also be worth adding here that Flynn had his top security clearance renewed in January last year, but he should have gone through a far more rigorous vetting process before becoming the national security adviser, since this position granted him access to the United States' most guarded secrets.

Law enforcement agencies are now also looking into Flynn's lobbying for Turkish matters during the campaign, as well as his paid appearance on behalf of Russian state media, but the White House made no comments in this regard or about Flynn's vetting process.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, May 9 (PTI) Pakistans opposition leader Imran Khans party has said it would sue Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan has been demanding resignation from Sharif for alleged corruption.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said yesterday that he would file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking admission of a case against Sharif for "taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire against democracy in Pakistan", The Express Tribune reported.

advertisement

The PTI does not possess substantial evidence to fortify its case except for some interviews and excerpts from a book Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman by Shamama Khalid, wife of a former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy Khalid Khawaja, who was brutally murdered in 2010 by Pakistani Taliban.

"Relying on the revelations made in certain interviews and a book, PTI intends to open up a shady chapter in the countrys political history from late 1980s in an apparent bid to further malign Sharif," the report said.

The interviews and the book claim that Sharif took money, amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from former al-Qaeda chief Laden to promote jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, the report said.

They also claim that later, an amount of Rs 270 million from this money was utilised to support a no-confidence move against Bhutto in 1989, the report said.

However in 2013, PTI leader Masood Sharif Khan Khattak ? who is a former director general of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) ? had submitted a statement before the Supreme Court in a case related to misappropriation of the IB funds in 1989.

In his nine-page statement, Khattak had claimed that the moving force behind the vote of no-confidence against Bhutto in 1989 was not political and named former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former army chief Mirza Aslam Baig, claiming that they wanted to keep Bhutto out of power, the report said.

Chaudhry, meanwhile said, "In the past, Sharif remained an active part of several conspiracies against the elected governments".

Last week, the PTI announced to open up another legal front against Sharif, saying it would file a petition demanding implementation on a 2012 verdict of the apex court in the Asghar Khan case which determined that Sharif and other politicians had received money from an intelligence agency prior to the 1990 general election to form an alliance against the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He said the two cases would be filed this week. PTI SH CPS AKJ CPS

--- ENDS ---
Evidence points to a contagious bacterial infection, not a viral one, in the occurrence of a mystery illness that has killed at least 12 in Liberia, U.S. health officials have revealed Monday, May 8.

According to authorities, the bacteria can lead to meningitis, a potentially fatal brain infection, along with blood infections.

U.S. Health Investigation

Liberia already reported 31 cases of the mysterious illness, 13 of which led to death. Almost all the victims attended a funeral in southeastern Liberia, so more people are being monitored as the germ is thought to spread via close contact with an infected person.

Since April 24, individuals mostly under age 21 have died as a result of the disease. The symptoms include fever, vomiting, headache, and diarrhea.

From the beginning, the World Health Organization rapid response teams as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and partners have been mobilized to probe the cases.

The CDC, after testing samples from four of the deceased, detected the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, which is also the culprit for a so-called meningitis belt in sub-Saharan Africa passing close to the West African nation.

Their experts then revealed the results Monday after close coordination with Liberian health authorities.

The bacteria in question is capable of living in the throat and is communicated via kissing and being in close contact with an infected individual.

It remains unclear whether the victims developed meningitis, yet the very bacteria being investigated can lead to rapid death or the mental confusion found in patients of the mysterious outbreak.

Ebola Virus Ruled Out, Food And Drink Poisoning Being Looked At

In its May 3 statement, WHO noted that the sickness remained unexplained even while Ebola and Lassa fever had already been ruled out. While investigation results from U.S. authorities are still pending, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jaserevic told reporters in Geneva that there is a low overall risk of spread.

These findings are indicative of a point source of infection, Jaserevic said, pointing to a theory involving food, drink or water poisoning.

While the disease has entered the countrys capital, WHO and medical charity group Doctors without Borders have lauded the warning system in Liberia  put in place after the Ebola crisis  as instrumental in the prompt action following the deaths.

Liberia is still reeling from memories of the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which started December 2013 and hit the country the hardest. An estimated 29,000 people were infected, one-third of which died from the epidemic.

And even if the disease is already controlled, Ebola survivors remained unprotected from shame and discrimination, as a result of findings that the virus could stay in certain body parts even as the patient already recovered.

But people are quicker to act these days, according to Joanne Liu of Medecins Sans Frontieres, and its a positive reaction after Ebola brought horror to the whole nation.

I think that this sort of reactivity is the legacy of Ebola, she said.

WHO continues to survey the health landscape worldwide, making it a mission to contain and control infections before they spread.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, May 9 (PTI) With India yet to confirm its participation in the Silk Road summit to be held here, an article in a state-run Chinese daily has said that by skipping the high-profile meeting the country could miss out on a slew of benefits for its domestic economic development.

advertisement

"India, the South Asian giant, is noticeably missing from the list of guests. Thats not because India was not invited, but because it has been reluctant to join the initiative," the article in the Global Times said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media here today that "as far as Indias participation is concerned, some Indian scholars have registered to attend the high-level meeting during the belt and road forum. As the host country, China will warmly welcome all the participants including the scholars from India."

Twenty-eight heads of state and government including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are scheduled to take part in the summit to be held here from May 14-15.

India, which has already protested over the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as it goes passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, so far has not confirmed its participation.

"By skipping the summit and maintaining its wary stance on the initiative -- which has drawn interest from more than 60 countries and is expected to reshape economic and trade relations in the Eurasian region -- India could miss a slew of benefits for its domestic economic development as well as an opportunity to take part in the reshaping process," Chinese officials and experts were quoted as saying.

They, however, said the door was "still open for India".

"India still appears to be reluctant to join the initiative, mostly because of political reasons. Some people in India think that the CPEC, a key element of the Belt and Road that passes through the Kashmir region claimed by both India and Pakistan, is a threat for its sovereignty issues, while others are worried that China wants to dominate trade in the region," the article said.

The Belt and Road initiative could help India address several pressing economic issues, including imbalanced trade with China and the need to find new markets for its growing manufacturing sector throughout South Asia and beyond, Wang Jun, an expert at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, was quoted as saying.

Indias trade deficit with China, which has climbed to USD 52 billion "could definitely be solved through cooperation under the Belt and Road initiative," he said. "Through the Belt and Road, China can help India produce goods that are needed in the Chinese market and both sides can work on further expanding market openness," Wang said.

advertisement

More broadly, the Belt and Road initiative could open a larger market for Indian businesses, he said. PTI KJV ASK AKJ ASK

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held wide-ranging talks with her Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders on stepping up bilateral engagement in a range of areas, including trade and investment, water, and education.

Swaraj and Koenders deliberated on the entire gamut of bilateral issues and agreed to take initiatives to strengthen ties in a number of sectors.

advertisement

Relations between India and the Netherlands have largely been shaped by engagement in trade and investment. Dutch ships had come calling to Indian ports around 400 years ago.

The Netherlands is today one of Indias largest trading partners in the European Union.

Koenders arrived in Bengaluru on Sunday and met Karnatakas Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries R V Deshpande yesterday. He arrived in Delhi last evening. PTI MPB KUN

--- ENDS ---
"It has been many years since Buenos Aires had witnessed a protest from the entire health sector in full force," Federation of Professionals spokesperson said. | Read More
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) India and the Netherlands today voiced deep concern over the threat of terrorism and resolved to work bilaterally and globally to fight the menace in all its forms and manifestations.

During talks with her Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also sought support of the Netherlands for early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism [CCIT] at the UN.

advertisement

In the meeting, Koenders expressed his countrys strong support for Indias permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council.

On her part, Swaraj thanked him for support by the Netherlands to Indias accession to the various multilateral export control regimes as well as for its bid to get membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

"The two leaders expressed deep concern on the grave threat posed by terrorism to international peace and security and reaffirmed to work both bilaterally and globally to fight the menace in all its forms and manifestations," the External Affairs Ministry said.

In their talks, Swaraj and Koenders reviewed the status of ties and resolved to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors, particularly in trade and investment.

Economic ties between India and the Netherlands form the core of the bilateral relationship and the European country is now Indias fifth largest investment partner with an investment of USD 20.5 billion.

Swaraj appreciated the active participation of Dutch companies in Indias flagship development programmes including Swachh Bharat, Namami Gange and Make in India.

"The two ministers expressed satisfaction at the positive growth in bilateral trade which stood at US$ 6.3 billion in 2016, and agreed that it has potential to develop further," said the MEA.

It said the two ministers also welcomed the ongoing efforts to enhance bilateral collaboration in water and waste management, renewable energy, Smart Cities, inland waterways, ports and shipping.

The Duthch Minister appreciated the lead taken by India in addressing climate change through the International Solar Alliance initiative and expressed support for the programme, and pointed out the strength of the Netherlands in wind energy.

The Netherlands hosts the second largest number of people of Indian-origin in Europe.

"In this context, both the Ministers welcomed the strengthening of direct air connectivity between India and the Netherlands which would contribute to further deepening of people to people ties and business links," said the MEA.

In the context of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Swaraj appreciated the ongoing joint project LOTUS [Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Re-use] to clean-up the Barapullah drain in Delhi and the DIWALI [Dutch-Indo Water Alliance Leadership Initiative] waste water project in Baroda.

advertisement

Later in the day, the Dutch Foreign Minister participated in the foundation stone laying ceremony of a demonstration plant to be set up for cleaning the Barapullah drain.

Foreign Minister Koenders also visited Cochin and Bengaluru during the four-day long visit from Saturday.

The two countries are celebrating 70 years of establishment of diplomatic ties this year.

During the visit, Minister Koenders announced the opening of the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Bengaluru later this year. PTI MPB RT

--- ENDS ---
Climate change, tornadoes and mobile homes: A dangerous mix







East Lansing MI (SPX) May 08, 2017





Tornadoes and mobile homes don't mix to begin with, but throw in the volatility of climate change and the potential for massive property damage and deaths is even higher in coming decades, indicates a new study by Michigan State University researchers. The number of mobile homes in the United States has risen dramatically in the past 60 years, to about 9 million currently. Meanwhile, the U.S. is the most tornado-prone country in the world, with an average of 1,200 twisters per year, and scientists ... read more
In a resolution "for peaceful relations between India and Pakistan", the signatories said they are "deeply concerned at the current rise in animosity and antagonism between India and Pakistan".

By India Today Web Desk: As tension between India and Pakistan in the backdrop of the mutilation of Indian soldiers remains at an all-time high, at least 250 prominent citizens from both countries have called for an end to "proxy wars", an "un-interruptible" dialogue process and more people-to-people contact between the two nations.

In a resolution "for peaceful relations between India and Pakistan", the signatories said they are "deeply concerned at the current rise in animosity and antagonism between India and Pakistan" and urged the governments in both the countries to "take all steps possible towards improving relations".

advertisement

Condemning all "forms of violence regardless of its objectives", the resolution notes that those who suffer most due to the conflict between the two South Asian rivals are "ordinary people denied visas and those in the conflict zones, especially women and children as well as fishermen who get routinely rounded up and arrested for violating the maritime boundary".

The resolution also calls "to uphold the principles of impartial reporting" and urges the media in both India and Pakistan "to prevent the growing militarisation of debate". "We must act responsibly and stop broadcasting hate speech and creating public hysteria aimed at the other country and/or vulnerable communities," it says.

The seven demands made in the resolution are:

1. Develop an institutionalised framework to ensure that continuous and uninterrupted talks between India and Pakistan take place regularly no matter what. Make dialogue un-interrupted and un-interruptible.

2. Ensure that political leaders, diplomats and civil servants from both countries conduct talks on the side-lines of all international and multilateral forums.

3. Recognise that the Kashmir dispute above all concerns the lives and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, and work to resolve it through uninterrupted dialogue between all concerned parties.

4. Implement the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.

5. Renounce all forms of proxy wars, state-sponsored terrorism, human rights violations, cross-border terrorism, and subversive activities against each other including through non-state actors or support of separatist movements in each other's state.

6. Support and encourage all forms of people to people contact, and remove visa restrictions and discrimination faced by citizens of both countries. This must be further taken forward to allow visa-free travel between India and Pakistan.

7. Increase trade and economic linkages and cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan.

The signatories to the statement from India include former Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyer, activists Harsh Mander, Salman Anees Soz, Tapan Bose, Shabnam Hashmi, Kamla Bhasin, and Anuradha Bhasin, filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt, Saba Dewan and Rahul Rao, and academics Meenakshi Chabbra and KN Panikkar.

Retired Indian army officers, including Air-Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, Admiral L Ramdas and General Tej Kaul, have also supported the statement.

advertisement

From the Pakistan side, the signatories are politician Afrasiab Khattak, advocate Asma Jahangir, academics Adil Najam and Ayesha Siddiqa, and historian Ayesha Jalal.

Also read: Forced to marry Pakistani man at gunpoint, Indian woman to return home

Also read: Pakistani farmers say India not complying with Indus Water Treaty, want UN, US to interveneWatch the video here:

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating with Pakistans Foreign Office comments)

From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, May 9 (PTI) Pakistan today said it will send back an Indian woman, who alleged she was sexually abused after her forced marriage with a Pakistani man at gunpoint, once all legal requirements in the case are completed.

Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that FO and Indian authorities were in touch over the issue and the woman would be allowed to go back once her legal issues are settled.

advertisement

"Her case is currently in the court and she would be repatriated after completing the legal requirement," he said.

He said Indian High Commission have provided details about the woman and has also sought documents of her marriage.

However, a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court told PTI on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue that the woman, identified as 20-year-old Uzma, can be repatriated immediately if she is issued a new passport by Indian High Commission and Pakistan?s interior ministry issues a visa to legalise her stay.

"Marriage or court proceedings are not a legal bar on her going back to India. She can delegate power of attorney to anyone to contest her case with the help of a lawyer," he said.

The lawyer also said that marriage contracted through force can be dissolved by the court, if she testifies.

"Even if it is legal marriage, she can file case for Khula (a kind of divorce right exercised by Muslim woman) and her marriage would be dissolved by the court," he said.

Uzma yesterday filed a plea with a court in Islamabad against her husband Tahir Ali alleging that she was being harassed and intimidated by him. She also recorded her statement before magistrate Haider Ali Shah.

She told the magistrate that she came to Pakistan to see her relatives and not for marriage, a court official told PTI.

"I was forced to marry at gunpoint and my immigration documents were also taken away from me," she said, according to the official.

Uzma, who was brought to the court under strict security, also alleged in her statement that she was subjected to violence and sexual abuse by Tahir, said the court official.

She further said she does not want to leave the Indian High Commission premises till she could safely travel back to India.

The court adjourned the case till July 11 and issued notices to Tahir to appear for next hearing. It also summoned cleric Humayun Khan, who solemnised the marriage, to appear in person in the court on the next hearing.

advertisement

The cleric has said that he had asked Uzma if she was marrying by free will and she responded in affirmative.

Tahir in his application to local police station on May 5 had said they had come to Indian High Commission to get visa as Uzmas brother in India had invited them for honeymoon.

He said he stayed outside and Uzma went inside the High Commission but never came back. He had asked police to help recover his wife who in his opinion was held against her will.

Uzma reached Pakistan on May 1 and travelled to Buner district in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa to marry Tahir on May 3. The couple reportedly met in Malaysia, where Tahir was working as taxi-driver.

However, the story took a turn when Uzma claimed she was forcefully married to Tahir and that she was unaware about him being already married. PTI SH ZH AKJ ZH

--- ENDS ---
A family that spoke out against Council on Aging Executive Director Tasha Clark Amar has now been silenced by a temporary restraining order that the agency head sought and that City Court Judge Tarvald Smith granted.

Amar filed a defamation lawsuit April 27 in the state's 19th Judicial District against the family of the late Helen Plummer. The family publicly accused Amar of having coerced their elderly grandmother into leaving the COA director in charge of Plummer's estate, for which Amar would have received $120,000 over 20 years. Amar withdrew from that role after the media reported on the family's complaints.

Court documents obtained by The Advocate on Monday show that Amar also filed a separate petition in City Court for a temporary restraining order against the family. A hearing on that matter is scheduled at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

In the meantime, Smith signed an order May 1 that prevents the Plummer family from "abusing, harassing, threatening or molesting" Amar or "interfering in any manner" with Amar's employment. Additionally, the order says the family cannot go to Amar's residence or workplace.

Smith said late Monday he could not comment on the case.

Amar's petition accuses the Plummer family of running a "public smear campaign" against her and refers to their speech as "malicious and slanderous." Tracie Davis, Plummer's granddaughter and a defendant in the defamation lawsuit and in the TRO petition, said Monday she should could not comment on it.

First Amendment attorneys The Advocate asked about the petition for a temporary restraining order said Monday it's an unusual move, and that the Plummer family should have a strong case against it.

Mary Ellen Roy, a partner at Phelps Dunbar and a First Amendment attorney, said people in Louisiana usually cannot obtain an injunction in a defamation case before the courts decide whether defamation actually exists.

"It's unusual, certainly, not only to split it up, but to have one in one court and the other in another court," Roy said of the TRO request in city court and the defamation lawsuit in district court.

Amar's attorney Charlotte McDaniel McGehee said she split the defamation case and the temporary restraining order because they are "two different modes of moving forward." She said the Civil Code of Procedure is on her side because attorneys cannot usually combine an ordinary proceeding, like the defamation suit, with a summary proceeding, like the petition for injunction.

It's uncommon for a First Amendment case to be heard at the City Court level, said Louisiana Press Association General Counsel Scott Sternberg, who has represented The Advocate in legal proceedings not connected with this case.

"I would think that the family would have a great argument to lift the TRO because it's a prior restraint on an issue of public concern," Sternberg said, though he added he was unfamiliar with all the intricacies of the case.

Plummer's family are not the only defendants in the petition for a temporary restraining order.

Davis works for the Louisiana Workforce Commission, and Amar also named Louisiana Workforce Commission Chairman Charles Moniotte and Louisiana Workforce Commission Executive Director Ava Dejoie in the petition for a temporary restraining order. A Workforce Commission spokesman did not respond to a request for comment late Monday.

Amar appeared but did not speak at a news conference Monday about a Louisiana Legislative Auditor investigation that said the Council on Aging may have broken state and federal laws in its campaign for a dedicated tax.

Asked at the news conference about whether Amar's lawsuit against the Plummer family is a violation of the Council on Aging's new conflict-of-interest policy, state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, defended her.

"She is the director of the Council on Aging, but she is also her own person, and she can do whatever she wants in her personal life," said Marcelle, who is a Council on Aging board member. "The Council on Aging is not named in that suit."
A group of Baton Rouge Republicans and three black community leaders traded theories Tuesday on what led to Alton Sterling's death, whether he would still be alive had he been white and whether an officer pointing a gun at him changed how he behaved.

State Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge; Cleve Dunn, Jr.; and Walter "Geno" McLaughlin told a gathering Tuesday at a Ronald Reagan Luncheon they were hopeful that dialogue with people of different skin colors, backgrounds and political affiliations would help Baton Rouge heal from the wounds Sterling's shooting exposed.

+3 End of federal Alton Sterling investigation puts spotlight back on body cameras New details in the investigation into Alton Sterling's death have put the spotlight back on 

McLaughlin attributed a lack of "faith in the system" to the reason why massive protests did not flare up again after the Department of Justice announced May 3 that they would not pursue charges against the Baton Rouge Police Department officer who shot and killed Sterling in July and a second officer involved in the incident.

"There's been a loss of appetite," McLaughlin said.

The faith that people place in police officers and in the criminal justice system were two overarching themes of the discussion.

Several members in the audience pointed out that the Justice Department's version of events from the night Sterling was killed indicated that Sterling did not follow instructions police officers gave to him before they tackled him.

"My reaction is, if someone points a gun to my head and tells me to comply, I'm going to comply," said Woody Jenkins, chairman of the East Baton Rouge Republican Party.

Jenkins said he suspected police misconduct when he first saw the cellphone videos of Sterling's shooting, but changed his mind after hearing DOJ's account.

"The fact that someone would not comply is telling me there's a problem," Jenkins said.

Both McLaughlin and Dunn said, though, that the issue goes deeper than whether Sterling followed orders.

McLaughlin was part of a small group who met with DOJ officials after their announcement, and reminded audience members that they told him that Baton Rouge Police Officer Blane Salamoni pointed a gun to Sterling's head and told him he would kill him early in their 90-second encounter. He questioned the effect that holding a gun to anyone's head would have on their behavior.

What's next for BR officers after federal Alton Sterling investigation closed Two Baton Rouge policemen received the long-awaited word this week that they will not face c

And Dunn pointed to other police shootings of black people who were following their orders. One example, he said, was in 2016 in Miami, where a police officer shot an autistic man's caretaker even though videos of the incident showed the caretaker following the officer's orders. He was shot in the leg, and survived.

"Whether we're compliant or not compliant, we're still being shot and killed," Dunn said.

Jordan also mentioned shootings that have happened elsewhere when police pull over people in their cars. He said part of the problem is that police officers always want to see peoples' hands, but that when they ask for a license and insurance, people have to reach for a glove box.

Jordan is sponsoring a bill this legislative session that would require insurance bar codes to be displayed on a vehicle's inspection sticker, which he hopes would resolve the problem.

"It's the idea that we prevent the reach," he said.
The development comes at a time when Infosys' peers Wipro and Cognizant are taking similar measures to control costs.

By Rohini Swamy: Infosys could hand out pink slips to over 900 underperforming employees to trim its workforce consisting of employees belonging to level 6 and above. Infosys carries out its bi-annual performance review amid a challenging business environment.

According to reports, Infosys is likely to lay off over 2000 employees over the next several quarters in a phased manner.

advertisement

The statement by Infosys says the following:

"Our performance management process provides for a bi-annual assessment of performance. Therefore, as part of this regular process, performance assessments are done with reference to the goals individuals have on business objectives and other strategic priorities for the company. A continued low feedback on performance could lead to certain performance actions, including separation of an individual and this is done only after feedback. We do this every year and the numbers could vary every performance cycle."

The development comes at a time when Infosys' peers Wipro and Cognizant are taking similar measures to control costs.

INFOSYS TO HIRE 10,000 AMERICANS

Interestingly, Infosys has said it will hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years and open four centres in the US as it seeks to counter moves by the US to tighten visa norms.

The spokesperson did not divulge the number of people to be impacted, although reports peg the number to be in hundreds.

"We do this every year and the numbers could vary every performance cycle," the spokesperson said, adding that the assessment is based on individual goals and strategic priorities of the company.

COGNIZANT, WIPRO LAY OFF EMPLOYEES AS WELL

Last week, the US-based Cognizant had rolled out a voluntary separation programme for directors, associate VPs and senior VPs, offering them 6-9 months of salary.

Wipro, too, is learnt to have asked about 600 employees to leave as part of its annual "performance appraisal" even as speculations were that the number could go as high as 2,000.

IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. However, they have warned that increasing automation of processes would lead to reduction in hiring in coming years.

While the outsourcing model has placed India on the global map, increasing scrutiny and rising protectionist sentiment are also posing challenges for the USD 140 billion Indian IT industry.

Companies are now working towards reducing their dependence on work visas and instead hiring more locals to ensure continuity of work for clients, even though it impacts their margins.

advertisement

(With inputs from PTI)

Also Read:

Every American Infosys hires in US will lead to loss of 4 jobs in India: Report

H-1B visa effect: Infosys to hire 10,000 US workers, set up 4 innovation hubs

WATCH | After Cognizant, Infosys to lay off over 2,000 employees as part of bi-annual performance review

--- ENDS ---
Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission
Taxes for Airbnb and other short-term leases in New Orleans would go to the city rather than the state under legislation advanced Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee.

The panel voted 11-5 after some representatives complained that New Orleans gets too much money at the expense of the rest of the state.

I would rather that the state dollars stay in the state general fund (from which state government pays much of its operating expenses) than to give it to the city of New Orleans, said Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, R-Metairie.

However, Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, said her House Bill 224 would handle taxes for residents who rent their homes to tourists the same way that taxes for brick-and-mortar hotels and motels are dedicated across the rest of the state. The short-term lease tax was instituted on July 1, 2016.

Typically, the taxes are returned by the state to local governments for uses like tourism marketing and economic development.

Were saying, 'Lets be consistent,'  Moreno said.

Currently, the state sales taxes levied on these rooms are dedicated to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Saints contractual obligations and a small amount to the New Orleans Area Economic Development Fund. The remaining 2 percent is not dedicated and flows into state coffers.

HB224 would send most of that 2 percent from short-term leases into the New Orleans Quality of Life Fund.

The Legislative Fiscal Office could not calculate how much would be raised from the tax and what the impact would be on the state general fund.
A bill that would increase the mandatory requirements for police officers inched forward in the Legislature on Monday, receiving unanimous support from the House appropriations committee.

The bill, sponsored by Baton Rouge Rep. Ted James, a Democrat, is a response to the police shooting of Alton Sterling last summer. A 10-month long U.S. Department of Justice investigation revealed last week that the two officers involved would not be federally charged for civil rights violations. But the acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson suggested that at least one of the officers acted recklessly and escalated the situation that resulted in Sterling's death.

House Bill 277 sets a minimum of 400 hours of basic training and 20 hours of annual in-service training to maintain law enforcement certification. The proposed law also specifies curriculum requirements such as bias recognition and de-escalation training.

The bill, which already cleared a House Judiciary committee, made a stop in House Appropriations because it could cost state and local governments more money to increase the training. For larger departments, like Baton Rouge Police Department, the training threshold is already being met.

The police reform bill, which is backed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, has so far received bi-partisan support.

Rep. Steve Pylant, R-Winnsboro, said applauded the bill on Monday.

"To be a law enforcement officer all you have to do is raise your hand and say, 'I do,' but to carry a concealed weapon around you have to take a class," Pylant said.

The bill will be heard next by the full state House.
International Court of Justice on Tuesday ordered a stay on the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage. The interim order came after India instituted proceedings against Pakistan at the ICJ.

By Santosh Chaubey, India Today Web Desk: In a major late night development, the International Court of Justice on Tuesday, in an interim order, placed a stay on the hanging of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the former Indian Navy officer sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage.

Jadhav's sentencing has kicked off a diplomatic row between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi slamming Islamabad for carrying out a "farcical" trial and for refusing to allow consular access to Jadhav.

advertisement

The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court or The Hague, is the main judicial organ of the United Nations and operates out of the Netherlands in Europe.

In a statement (read full ICJ statement ) issued on India starting proceedings against Pakistan, the ICJ said, "Republic of India instituted proceedings against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, accusing the latter of 'egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations' in the matter of the detention and trial of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan."

HARISH SALVE REPRESENTING INDIA

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted about the ICJ's decision last Tuesday night, saying that she spoke to Jadhav's mother and informed her about the ICJ's decision. Senior lawyer Harish Salve is representing India at the ICJ, Swaraj added in another tweet.

"I have spoken to the mother of #KulbhushanJadhav and told her about the order of President, ICJ under Art 74 Paragraph 4 of Rules of Court", Swaraj said, adding, "Mr.Harish Salve, Senior Advocate is representing India before International Court of Justice in the #KulbhushanJadhav case."

Responding on India's petition, the ICJ has forbidden Pakistan from hanging Kulbhushan Jadhav until The Hague conducts a detailed hearing on the matter.

ALSO READ | Who is Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian sentenced to death in Pakistan? WHAT THE ICJ SAID

In a statement (full statement) issued regarding India's claim against Pakistan, the ICJ said, "The Applicant (India) contends that it was not informed of Mr. Jadhav's detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights. It further alleges that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the authorities of Pakistan are denying India its right of consular access to Mr. Jadhav, despite its repeated requests. The Applicant also points out that it learned about the death sentence against Mr. Jadhav from a press release."

"India submits that it has information that Mr. Jadhav was "kidnapped from Iran, where he was carrying on business after retiring from the Indian Navy, and was then shown to have been arrested in Baluchistan" on 3 March 2016, and that the Indian authorities were notified of that arrest on 25 March 2016. It claims to have sought consular access to Mr. Jadhav on 25 March 2016 and repeatedly thereafter," the statement added.

advertisement

"According to the Applicant, on 23 January 2017, Pakistan requested assistance in the investigation of Mr. Jadhav's alleged 'involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan' and, by a Note Verbale of 21 March 2017, informed India that 'consular access [to Mr. Jadhav would] be considered in the light of the Indian side's response to Pakistan's request for assistance in [the] investigation process'. India claims that 'linking assistance to the investigation process to the grant[ing] of consular access was by itself a serious violation of the Vienna Convention'," the statement also said.

INDIA SEEKS RELIEF

According to the ICJ statement, India has sought the following:

Relief by way of immediate suspension of the sentence of death awarded to the accused.

Relief by way of restitution in interregnum by declaring that the sentence of the military court arrived at, in brazen defiance of the Vienna Convention rights under Article 36, particularly Article 36[,] paragraph 1 (b), and in defiance of elementary human rights of an accused which are also to be given effect as mandated under Article 14 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is violative of international law and the provisions of the Vienna Convention.

Restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court, and directing it to take steps to annul the decision of the military court as may be available to it under the law in Pakistan.

If Pakistan is unable to annul the decision, then this Court to declare the decision illegal being violative of international law and treaty rights and restrain Pakistan from acting in violation of the Vienna Convention and international law by giving effect to the sentence or the conviction in any manner, and directing it to release the convicted Indian National forthwith."

advertisement

India has also requested the ICJ to direct Pakistan to:

Take all measures necessary to ensure that Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav is not executed.

Report to the Court the action it has taken in pursuance of the required statutes.

To ensure that no action is taken that might prejudice the rights of the Republic of India or Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav with respect of any decision the Court may render on the merits of the case".

advertisement

Photos | Young and footloose: When Kulbhushan Jadhav was a suburban youth who joined Indian Navy

THE KULBHUSHAN JADHAV DEATH SENTENCE

On April 10, the Pakistan Army chief confirmed Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence, which was handed down by a Pakistani military court that held Jadhav guilty of espionage.

Pakistan claims Jadhav, who allegedly used the alias Hussein Mubarak Patel in Pakistan, was attached to the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The Indian government has maintained that Kulbhushan Jadhav is a formal Indian Naval officer turned businessman who was on a routine business trip to Iran when he was abducted by Pakistani intelligence.

Reports say he was captured by the Taliban and later sold to the Pakistan Army.

India has also said that Jadhav is innocent and there is no evidence against him and that Pakistsan carried out a sham, secret trial in a military court where no information on charges and evidence was given.

India has warned Pakistan of 'dire consequences' equaling Jadhav's death sentence with pre-meditated murder and has time and again asked for the consular access to him.

ALSO READ:

Kulbhushan Jadhav death sentence: 10 things about executions in Pakistan

Pakistan condemned Kulbhushan Jadhav, but India provided fair trials to 27 Pakistani spies, say sources

India wants Kulbhushan Jadhav's health certificate from Pakistan

WATCH VIDEO | International Court of Justice stays death sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav

--- ENDS ---
Measures that would raise money  and give the Louisiana Legislature ways to address a huge budget deficit next year  advanced to the House floor after the Ways and Means Committee approved a series of bills Monday without objection.

The committee also passed a major rewrite of Louisianas income tax code, also without a recorded vote, as the committee operated smoothly under a plan devised by its chairman, state Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, and Republican House leaders.

The panels actions represented the first major tax legislation to win approval in the conservative-dominated tax committee during the regular session and provided the first real indication that the House Republican leadership is willing to have the full chamber consider revenue-raising measures.

Ways and Means will consider more tax bills on Tuesday, at the half-way point of the 60-day regular session.

The Legislature will have to raise more tax revenue this year to fill next years budget gap or slash the budget in ways that few lawmakers seem willing to favor. Within the State Capitol, the looming budget deficit is known as the fiscal cliff, when $1.3 billion in temporary taxes will roll off.

In all, Ways and Means passed five tax bills that would raise money within the next two years.

For lawmakers and policy-makers trying to solve the fiscal cliff this year, what mattered most Monday was that Ways and Means gave the full House  and thus the Legislature  legislative vehicles that potentially could be amended later to raise the necessary revenue.

It gives them flexibility by having some things in play, Barry Erwin, who is president of the Council for a Better Louisiana, a Baton-Rouge based nonprofit policy group, said in an interview.

The budget approved by the House last week would get the Legislature only half way to heading off the fiscal cliff next year, House leaders have acknowledged.

Any revenue bills that the House passes would advance to the Senate, which is seen as being more favorable to raising more money to pay for government programs and services.

Allowing the House to have a full debate on revenue measures sends a message to the Senate that theyre giving them due consideration, state Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, said in an interview. We have to have both revenue and spending measures.

One measure approved Monday, House Bill 609, would raise $196 million to address the fiscal cliff by permanently removing numerous tax exemptions on two cents of the states sales tax. The Legislature last year temporarily removed those exemptions for 27 months. State Rep. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, is the sponsor.

Its reducing giveaways, Morris said in an interview afterward. It will enable us to keep rates low and keep us from raising personal income taxes.

Kim Robinson, the secretary of the Department of Revenue, voiced concerns about the measure after the committee hearing because it would maintain a sales tax system where different activities are taxed at different rates.

We are the only state in the Union that taxes all pennies differently, state Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, said during the committee hearing. Its got to stop.

Stokes noted that The Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit ranks Louisiana as having the countrys worst sales tax system because of this type of complexity. (It takes the Department of Revenue 25 pages to detail the impact on the various sales tax exemptions.)

Ways and Means passed another measure, House Bill 355, that would revamp the income tax code by establishing flat individual and corporate income tax rates coupled with eliminating many tax breaks. Sponsored by state Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, the bill also would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, which benefits the poor, and the standard deduction.

HB355 changes the tax system in so many ways that the legislative staff hasnt been able to certify its overall fiscal impact.

Ivey acknowledged to committee members that HB355 faces an uphill battle to winning approval, given its far-reaching nature. It would need a two-thirds supermajority in the House and the Senate as well as approval of the states voters.

The committee also advanced House Bills 651 and 653, by state Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, that would, as with Morris bill, permanently remove certain tax breaks. The two bills together would raise $29 million to help plug the fiscal cliff.

Besides the sales tax measures on Tuesday, Ways and Means will hear House Bill 648 by state Rep. Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville. It would replace the states corporate taxes with a hybrid tax on profits. Havard pledged to amend the bill for Tuesday to address complaints from legislators about how it would hit certain industries.

Meanwhile, the Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee continued to pass legislation sponsored by Morrell on Monday that would force various tax breaks to win approval, after undergoing a review, before continuing. Those bills are now before the full Senate, along with other measures that would curtail tax exemptions.
A bill intended to limit a barely-used sales tax exemption for antique air crafts was dramatically changed by the Louisiana Senate to give the state's manufacturing industry a multi-million dollar tax exemption.

Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, chided the Senate for surreptitiously allowing the amendment to "hijack" what was initially intended to be a bill that would generate revenue for the state and turning it into vehicle for a massive business tax exemption that he said would cost the state $22 million a year as the Legislature struggles to balance the budget.

Morrell's Senate Bill 29 was intended to limit a sales tax and use exemption for antique air crafts so it only applied to those that assist with medical transport. The aircraft purchases are rare enough that the state Fiscal Office said it couldn't estimate what revenue would be generated by the change.

But on the Senate Floor on Monday, Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City, proposed an amendment that added language to partially restore a sales tax exemption on manufacturing, equipment and machinery. The sales tax exemption was stripped last year, when the Legislature temporarily removed dozens of industry tax exemptions on the state sales taxes in an attempt to close a budget deficit.

Peacock said legislators had promised the manufacturing industry that their sales tax exemption would not be touched last year, and this was an attempt to make good on a broken promise.

"This will help us with jobs," he said. "It sends the right message."

The amendment passed 22 to 13. But because it dramatically changed the cost to the state, the bill was redirected to the Senate Finance committee for further vetting.

Task Force eyes changes to Louisiana's 'complex' and 'flawed' sales tax system What do you do with a sales tax system that was ranked worst in the country going into the s

Peacock attempted to add another similar rider, which would have further restored more of the industry's sales tax exemptions. That amendment was again strangely placed on another of Morrell's bills that aimed to reclassify how precious metal coins should be taxed.

Peacock authored a bill that would have reinstated the manufacturing tax exemption. But his Senate Bill 21 was stalled last month in committee.

Morrell said Peacock was trying to circumvent the system.

"Sen. Peacock had the opportunity to have his bill heard in committee," he said. "We have a committee structure for a purpose."

Peacock's second amendment was rejected by the Senate.

Peacock defended his actions.

"The floor is part of the process," he said. "I'm not doing anything that is beyond what we're allowed to do in the state."
A protester advocating for the preservation of Confederate monuments in New Orleans holds Confederate battle flags at Lee Circle in New Orleans, La. Sunday, May 7, 2017.
Colorful decor is a hallmark of Dat Dog's locations. The company has signed a deal with B&G Food Enterprises to open 25 locations in Houston, Texas over the next several years.
Two weeks have passed since the removal of New Orleans' Battle of Liberty Place monument, and the battle for the fate of three remaining Confederate monuments continues to heat up as rumors persist their removal is imminent.

On Sunday, crowds representing both sides of the argument met at Lee Circle -- where the statue commemorating Confederate general Robert E. Lee towers over the Warehouse District -- for what was mostly peaceful protest separated by heavy New Orleans police presence.

The following is a rundown of what's transpired since Sunday afternoon:

Clash over Confederate monuments in New Orleans captures national headlines

New Orleans media outlets weren't the only news organizations following Take 'Em Down NOLA's protest and several pro-monuments groups' counter protest.

New York Times readers were greeted by an article on its front page detailing what it referred to as "an ugly battle over race and history in New Orleans that seems to only be growing uglier."

+4 Clash over Confederate monuments in New Orleans captures national headlines As the city of New Orleans prepares to take down three Confederate monuments in the coming d

Long-shot suit filed to block removing P.G.T. Beauregard statue gets quickly denied by New Orleans judge

The Monumental Task Committee held a news conference Monday morning to announce a lawsuit filed by Tulane University professor Richard Marksbury that argued the General P.G.T. Beauregard statue planned to be removed is actually owned by the City Park Improvement Association -- and by extension Gov. Billy Nungesser's office -- and the organization must sign off on Mayor Mitch Landrieu's plan to take it down.

What some saw as hope for the statue remaining in city park was quickly squashed by the afternoon, as Civil District Court Judge Kern Reese denied Marksbury's and the MTC's request.

The city, however, is also facing legal threats to its plan in the form of a Louisiana House committee advancing legislation that would forbid the removal of Confederate monuments on public property on May 3.

New Orleans mayoral candidate Frank Scurlock arrested at Jefferson Davis statue in bizarre episode

While it didn't happen Monday, news broke of New Orleans mayoral candidate Frank Scurlock being arrested Saturday night at the Jefferson Davis statue on Canal Street that is also planned to be removed.

A YouTube video uploaded by user SHUTTERSHOT45 shows Scurlock attempting to get a NOPD dispatcher to explain why officers were at the Davis statue while barricades were being put up. When he didn't get answers to his question, Scurlock begins following an officer leaving the area behind the barricade, eventually leading to his arrest when he refuses to stop following the officer after several warnings to stop.

Can't see the video below? Click here.

"My civil rights, liberty and everything granted to me by the Constitution of the United States of America was taken away from me by the New Orleans Police Department," Scurlock said in an interview Monday.

Other 3 Confederate statues coming down soon?

When the the remaining Confederate statues are removed from public viewing is the one question on everyone's mind, and it's also the hardest to answer.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu reiterated the same "sooner rather than later" sentiment he expressed after the removal of the Liberty Place monument in a May 2 report following rumors the Jefferson Davis statue would come down the previous evening.

He did, however, mention wanting to refrain from interrupting other events in the city like Jazz Fest, which ended Sunday, and state with potential tension arising from the Department of Justice's decision in Alton Sterling's death in Baton Rouge.

With those events out of the way, it's heavily rumored the "sooner" Landrieu is talking about might be this week. Aside from barriers being placed around Lee Circle in preparation of Sunday's protests, barricades have also been placed at the site of the Jefferson Davis monument in Mid-City.

Other notable headlines:
What goes around comes around! This adage goes true to a beach in Ireland, which mysteriously appeared back, after being submerged in water for more than three decades.

By Reuters: A beach that was swept away more than 30 years ago from a remote island off the west coast of Ireland has reappeared after thousands of tons of sand were deposited on top of the rocky coastline.

The 300 metre beach near the tiny village of Dooagh on Achill Island vanished in 1984 when storms stripped it of its sand, leaving nothing more than a series of rock pools.

advertisement

But after high spring tides last month, locals found that the Atlantic Ocean had returned the sand.

"It's enormously significant," Sean Molloy of Achill's tourism office told the Irish Times newspaper, recalling how the popular beach once sustained four hotels and a number of guesthouses on the west coast of the island of 2,600 people.

"Achill already has five blue-flag beaches, so we are hoping that in time it will be awarded a sixth."

The island, the largest off the coast of Ireland, forms part of the Wild Atlantic Way, a tourist trail stretching from the south of the country to the north-west that has benefited from a tourist boom in the European Union's fastest-growing economy.

Also Read:

Experience a perfect beach holiday at these 3 coastal getaways

Mumbai: Why this Hungarian family cleans Vasai beach every Sunday

--- ENDS ---
Canberra's share of GST funding from the commonwealth is up slightly on the current year, to $1.2 billion. Adding funding for specific programs, total federal funding reaches $2.1 billion, $71 million more than the current year. Feared cuts to the national partnership agreement on skills reform, focused on vocational education and training did not eventuate. The five-year program runs out in June, and the ACT had feared it would fold, but the commonwealth has replaced it with a "skilling Australians fund", focused on apprenticeships and traineeships in occupations in high demand, rural areas and trades. The program will be funded through a hefty new levy on businesses that employ foreign workers on some skilled visas. Liberal leader Alistair Coe: Welcomes 3 per cent increase in federal funding for Canberra. Credit:Karleen Minney The federal government is also re-targeting the funding that goes to states for affordable housing from 2018-19. Rather than paying for social housing, rent help and accommodation for the homeless, the program will be tied more closely to state and territory housing supply targets, planning and zoning changes, and renewing public housing, as well as homelessness services. States will have to focus on priority occupations to get the funding, and will have to match the money themselves.

Mr Barr said with education the city's largest export earner, the 2.5 per cent efficiency dividend would hamper efforts to grow the sector. "Our tertiary education sector is a vital growth industry for our city. This new saving measure will hold back important institutions like the University of Canberra, the Australian National University and UNSW Canberra," he said. "We are also concerned about the Government doubling down on decentralisation of the public service. We have seen how disastrous the relocation of the APMVA has been, and while they have outlined some guidelines for further relocations of public service agencies  this is still a hankering to take public service jobs away from the national capital." He welcomed the funding for the national institutions, which he said had done too much heavy lifting over recent budgets. Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry welcomed increases to traineeship and apprenticeship numbers. and said moves to improve housing affordability would help the ACT keep and attract essential workers.

But the new levy on businesses employing skilled workers would slug ACT businesses $1200 to $3000, leaving education, ICT, cyber-security, astronomy and similar industries struggling to compete with other countries. "Canberra is a new-industries, knowledge economy and that means we have a greater reliance on workers with skills often in short supply," she said. The biggest shortcoming of the budget for the ACT was that it almost completely ignored the territory in its $75 billion in infrastructure funding. Tasmania and the Northern Territory were getting significant new funds, but the ACT was getting "a paltry $3 million to plan two road upgrades". Ms Hendry said the chosen fast rail business cases should recognise the need for improved rail between Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Liberal Senator for Canberra Zed Seselja said the budget made a "huge investment" in Canberra, through more money for the national institutions, $3 million for design for Monaro Highway and Pialligo Avenue duplications. He also pointed to roads funding, through the roads to recovery program and the black spots programs.
Canberra's public housing renewal taskforce has secured nearly 70 per cent of the housing stock it needs to replace tenants displaced by the redevelopment of the Northbourne Avenue and Red Hill flats, ACT housing minister Yvette Berry has said.

As the stoush around new public housing blocks in five Canberra suburbs becomes increasingly political, Ms Berry said almost half of the 1288 public housing properties being knocked down have been vacated.

ACT housing minister Yvette Berry. Credit:Karleen Minney

"So far, 388 homes have been delivered to Housing ACT through this program. These have been located in suburbs such as Chisholm, Monash, Coombs, Moncrieff, Denman Prospect and Amaroo, and include a mix of detached houses, townhouses and small apartment complexes," Ms Berry told the ACT Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

"The Public Housing Renewal Taskforce is also continuing to construct a further 141 dwellings in suburbs including Holt, Denman Prospect, Nicholls and Throsby."
Clive Palmer's doctor has been called to give evidence after the businessman claimed he was too sick to show up for a Brisbane court date.

The former Fairfax MP had been due to face questions about the whereabouts of his jet-setting nephew Clive Mensink in the Federal Court on Tuesday but failed to show up.

His barrister Andrew Boe told Justice John Dowsett his client was too unwell to appear and a doctor had confirmed his sickness in a sworn affidavit on Monday night.

Mr Boe also argued questions to be put to Mr Palmer relating to the whereabouts of Mr Mensink were "one step further removed of the scope of examination power".
A popular tax write-off scheme for small businesses will be extended for another year in a significant win from the Budget for the sector.

The government has faced overwhelming calls to extend the scheme which allows small businesses to write off purchases up $20,000 instantly for tax purposes and was due to finish in June. The budget saw this scheme extended for another year.

Small business owner Alecia Whitelaw was looking for incentives to hire and improvements to payment terms. Credit:Vince Caligiuri

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell said the extension was welcomed

"We would have liked a lift in the $20,000 threshold for the instant asset write-off because for some industries, like farming, the $20,000 threshold is too low to enable them to purchase equipment," she said.
Arrangements have been put in place with the two-pronged strategy of thwarting the infiltration bid and elimination of terrorists, who have already entered Jammu and Kashmir.

By Manjeet Negi: The Indian Army has tightened its multi-layered anti-terror grid along the Line of Control (LoC) to check infiltration bid. According to information received by the intelligence agencies, there are at least 200 terrorists who are waiting to infiltrate into the Indian soil.

Therefore, arrangements have been put in place with the two-pronged strategy of thwarting the infiltration bid and elimination of terrorists, who have already entered Jammu and Kashmir.

advertisement

According the top Army sources, one will see increased counter-terror operations soon. Special focus is being given on the second-tier, which is known as reception area in the three-tiered counter-terror grid.

Along with the Army, paramilitary forces and state police are also part of the grid which expands from LoC to the hinterland areas of the state.

The LoC is the first point of contact to challenge and check infiltration. But, the limitation of terrain and operational constraints makes security forces' job difficult at the line of control. Therefore, the second-tier becomes most important for the security forces as these are the areas where terrorists get local support.

WHAT IS THE RECEPTION AREA?

The reception area is the zone where over ground workers (OGW) of militant groups are hiding and it is from this area that the terrorists get money, weapons and exchange plans.

In case of terror attacks targeting military garrisons of Uri, Nagrota and Panzgam, it was evident that foreign terrorists executed their plans with the help of OGWs.

Sources confirm that in the recent months, the number of OGW has increased, which is a matter of concern for the Army. To meet this challenge, the Army has not only increased physical deployment in the reception area but also ensured enhanced capacity of electronic surveillance means to check OGWs.

Lolab Valley, Rajwar forest (Hafruda), Bandipora, Kazikund (Handwara), Rafiabad, Naugam have been identified as reception areas. Besides these, Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwam, Keran, Tangdhar, Rajouri, Naushera and Poonch have been categorised as sensitive.

HOW IS THE YOUTH LURED?

To check the activities of OGWs, the Army and security forces have deployed multi-means surveillance mechanisms.

An Intel report suggests that the ratio of foreign terrorists has risen in the Valley in the recent months. The youth get incentives for activities such as weapon snatching and grenade hurling. A youth gets Rs 5,000 for snatching a weapon from security personnel, while for hurling a grenade, they are paid Rs 1,000.

OGW also handles youth involved in stone pelting. Presently, the leader of stone pelting crowd get Rs 5,000 and stone pelters get an amount ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 500, revealed sources.

advertisement

ALSO READ | Pakistan's ISI planning fresh attack on India in 2017: Agencies

ALSO WATCH | We are prepared: Army chief says infiltration will gain momentum with onset of summer, but fear not

--- ENDS ---
For Australia's five biggest banks, this year's federal budget will go down as another Black Tuesday.

Banking stocks had almost $14 billion wiped from their value in a day in the wake of soft earnings results and speculation that a new tax would be unveiled in Tuesday night's federal budget.

Australia's banks have to " 'crack the code' on how the industry can be better respected within the broader community", Credit Suisse said.

By the time the federal Treasurer's speech was over, the banks faced a super tax, two powerful new regulatory bodies, fines of up to $200 million for breaching tough new misconduct rules and a beefed-up competition watchdog.

The federal government is now on a collision course for a protracted battle with the "four pillars" of the nation's retail banking sector, along with Macquarie Bank, after Scott Morrison imposed a new "Major Bank Levy" that could wipe billions from their bottom lines.
A young Canberra family has welcomed the federal government's efforts to lower the cost of doctor's visits and continued support for childcare.

Bonython parents Bec and Jeremy Leala doubted they would ever be able to afford childcare for their two-year-old twins and six-month-old daughter and were afraid the 2017 budget would worsen their chances.

They were disappointed there were no rises to family payments, but were pleased with the $37.3 billion investment until June 2021 to help ease child care costs.
The ACT will be eyeing up the federal budget focus on rail, including an invitation for bids for fast rail to link major cities to the regions.

The budget brought little for the ACT in specific infrastructure funding, but the interest in fast rail could revive long-held hopes for a link to Sydney.

Three business cases for fast-rail connections between "big cities and nearby regional centres" will be funded. The commonwealth will spend $20 million paying half the cost of the businesses cases, inviting submissions later this year from state and territory governments and private sector groups interested in partnering to design, build and operate fast rail in key transport corridors.
The government will start randomly drug-testing Australians applying for welfare payments as part of a host of welfare reforms in the 2017 federal budget that Treasurer Scott Morrison says will "stop people trying to take an easy ride on our welfare system", with those who fail tests having their welfare payments quarantined.

Mr Morrison announced a "modest" two-year drug-testing trial of 5000 new recipients of Newstart and Youth Allowance in his budget speech on Tuesday night.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the drug test trial would ensure taxpayer money was not being spent on substances like ice. Credit:Andrew Meares

He said JobSeeker recipients who tested positive to using drugs would receive their welfare payments in the form of a Cashless Debit Card and would have to undergo further drug testing, which may lead to a referral for medical treatment.

"This is about trying to create some responsibility in the system," he said in a briefing before his speech. "If it works, we'll keep doing it. If it doesn't work, we will stop doing it."
The Department of Human Services will shed nearly 1200 jobs next financial year, Tuesday's federal budget revealed.

DHS was the biggest loser from agency resourcing of full time equivalent positions in Scott Morrison's second budget, coming as average staffing levels across the federal public service were set to remain steady in 2017-18 at about 167,000 positions.

Workforce numbers at DHS will fall by 1188 positions to 28,647 next financial year - a drop of 4 per cent.
Australian demagogues, home grown right wing extremists and hard line conservatives within the Liberal National Party government will be watching the French election result and wondering what implications it may have for their own brand of politics.

Emmanuel Macron's overwhelming victory over France's One Nation equivalent, the National Front, is a timely reminder that while extremists on the fringes can, from time to time, determine election outcomes, most votes are clustered around the centre.

Despite fears the same forces that saw Britons vote for Brexit and put Donald Trump in the White House could deliver victory to the National Front's Marine Le Pen, centrist candidate, Emmanuel Macron, romped home this week.

The Kennedy-esque 39-year-old, the youngest French leader since Napoleon Bonaparte, kept Le Pen's vote well under 40 per cent. This was the figure the populist right winger had earlier nominated as the cut-off between a good performance and a bad one for her party.
Australian of the Year state finalist Eman Sharobeem has told a Sydney corruption inquiry she listed doctorate degrees on her resumes as "wishful play".

Ms Sharobeem is accused of rorting more than half a million dollars of public funds during her time as the chief executive officer of the Immigrant Women's Health Service and the Non-English Speaking Housing Women's Scheme.

Eman Sharobeem arrives at the ICAC with her legal team last Monday. Credit:Peter Rae

It's alleged she used the money to pay for holidays, gym memberships, jewellery, furniture and luxury goods for her family.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption on Tuesday was shown a number of Ms Sharobeem's resumes that listed a PhD in "Psychology, Family and Community" from the American University in Cairo and another doctorate in "Management in Organisational Leadership" from the University of Technology, Sydney.
By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, May 9 (PTI) Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu today called on Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki here and discussed issues of mutual interest.

Singh briefed the ambassador about various initiatives taken by the Haryana government in the state.

He said Haryana is ranked among the highly developed states of the country.

advertisement

The state is not only known for its achievements in the agriculture sector but is also doing well in the industrial sector. There is immense potential for investment in both these sectors, an official release quoted Singh as saying.

Hiramatsu said the meeting was held to develop more economic relations between India and Japan. PTI CHS AQS

--- ENDS ---
Disgraced Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi has again denied any wrongdoing after the State Administrative Tribunal found she had committed 45 serious breaches of the Local Government Act.

Ms Scaffidi did not front Tuesday's hearing, instead issuing a statement on social media afterwards reiterating she believed she had not acted dishonestly.

"This has not been an easy ride but I have not and still don't complain as I accept it is 'par for the course' in public life," she wrote.

Ms Scaffidi then goes on to complain about her treatment.
Paris: Maybe it was the suspect timing of the leaked documents. Or the staggering amount and possibility that some were fake. Or a feeling among the French that, having witnessed how hacking may have altered the American election, they would not fall for the same ploy.

Whatever the reasons, newspapers and broadcasters in France have so far conspicuously avoided reporting any details of what was described on Friday night as a "massive" pre-election hacking attack on Emmanuel Macron's campaign.

President-elect Emmanuel Macron and outgoing President Francois Hollande attend a ceremony to mark the Western allies' World War II victory in Europe at the Arc De Triumphe. Credit:Getty Images

The bereft coverage extended into Monday night, well after a 44-hour legal ban on election reporting surrounding the Sunday vote had lifted.

By then it was clear that the hacked material  regardless of what it might contain  had caused no ill effects on the campaign of Macron, who won decisively over the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Mishra, who had earlier 'briefed' L-G Anil Baijal about the tanker scam, said on Monday that he had shared all evidence related to the same with ACB.

By Mail Today Bureau: After Kapil Mishra submitted 'documents' to the ACB to back his allegations, highly-placed sources in the agency said all the papers submitted by him are useless.

A senior ACB official said, "Mishra had submitted a summary drafted by him about the tanker scam, resubmitted documents he had earlier submitted and enclosed a cover letter with these two documents. No concrete evidence or document has been submitted to ACB."

advertisement

Mishra, who had earlier 'briefed' L-G Anil Baijal about the tanker scam, said on Monday that he had shared all evidence related to the same with ACB. "I told officials how Kejriwal deliberately delayed the report and how public money was misused."

"I also told them how Kejriwal, along with two of his aides, interfered in the tanker scam probe. The government also tried to shield Sheila Dikshit time and again," he told reporters after the meeting.

Also Read:

Kapil Mishra submits proof against Arvind Kejriwal, aides on water tanker scam, seeks time with CBI

Irony of being Arvind Kejriwal: From anti-graft crusader to facing corruption charges

Also Watch:

Water tanker scam: Kapil Mishra shares proof against Arvind Kejriwal, demands lie-detector test

--- ENDS ---
Security forces are facing a new challenge in Kashmir valley: Terrorists giving gun salute to slain colleagues at their funeral sites.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Amid unrest and bank robberies, security forces are facing a new challenge in Kashmir valley: Terrorists giving gun salute to slain colleagues at their funeral sites.

On Sunday, a group of militants appeared at the funeral of Fayaz Ahmed Ashwar and fired a volley of bullets in the air as a form of gun salute in south Kashmir's Kulgam district. Dressed in camouflage and phirans, the terrorist brazenly cocked a snook at security forces with their reckless presence.

advertisement

The terror movement is reminiscent of the 1990's, where terrorist appeared in a similar fashion.

A senior Army Officer told Mail Today that terrorist were appearing on a regular basis at militant funeral sites in Kashmir. "Earlier the militants would stay away in the upper reaches (of the mountain), far away from population. But, now terrorist appearances at funerals are almost a regular feature," he said.

The Army and Jammu Kashmir Police can't do much about it, however. With at least 3000-4000 civilians present at such sites at any time both believe it will be a tactical mistake to go after terrorists in the crowd.

A senior officer from Jammu Kashmir Police said government cannot afford "action" in such locations, which could potentially lead to loss of civilians lives and later become the cause of further resentment. "Any encounter or crossfire in midst of the crowd could result in huge civilian casualty," he said.

Security forces are under immense pressure in South Kashmir -- an area which has seen a spate of terror attacks and bank loots. "Even before the operations, it is important to address resentment on ground, which is a governance issue. The answer to the solution lies in use of soft power than gun power," said an officer.

The security establishment also fears that civilians will be used as human shields -- both willingly and unwillingly. Sources say that "by brandishing guns, the terrorist are gaining popularity," and the damage is being worsened by the video going viral on social media.

Also read: Robbing banks and stealing guns: Kashmir militants have found a new way to fund terror

--- ENDS ---
Phoenixs alleged serial shooter unwittingly sold his freedom for $90.

Thats how much Aaron Saucedo got for his handgun from a local pawn shop, The Daily Beast has learned. Police say that transaction led them to Saucedo, who used that gun to kill his mothers boyfriend in 2015. The following year, police say Saucedo used at least one other gun to shoot 11 more people, killing nine of them. Seven of the fatal shootings were in a four-month span that terrorized Arizonas largest city.

The pawn shop was certainly part of the investigation and helped us locate one of the guns involved in this series, Sgt. Jonathan Howard told The Daily Beast.

The transaction that cracked the case wide open was made around 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2015. Thats when the 23-year-old wandered into Mo Money Pawn, blocks away from where he lived, to sell his Hi-Point 9mm pistol.

We paid $90 for it, general manager Byron Vaughn told The Daily Beast, adding, We paid cash.

The pistol, which retails for $199 brand new, was believed to be used by Saucedo to gun down 61-year-old Raul Romero in front of his home on Aug. 16, 2015. Romero had been dating Saucedos mother, authorities confirmed. Sixteen days later, Saucedo sold the gun police say was used to kill Romero to the pawn shop.

On Jan. 1, 2016, cops say Saucedo killed 22-year-old Jesse Olivas, who like Romero, was shot and killed in front of his home.

The hits kept coming.

Saucedo allegedly was the triggerman in a pair of non-fatal shootings involving a 16-year-old male and a 21-year-old man that occurred at 11:30 p.m. on March 17 and 18, 2016, according to Phoenix PDs timeline of the deadly shootings.

In April 2016, cops say Saucedo murdered Diego Verdugo-Sanchez and Krystal Annette. In June, Saucedo allegedly killed Horacio De Jesus Pena outside his home and killed 19-year-old Manuel Castro Garci. On June 12, around 3 a.m., police say Saucedo fatally fired at three people including 12-year-old Maleah Ellis. Her mother died three weeks later.

And just before he was arrested in April 2017, Saucedo allegedly fired into a car where a 24-year-old man and a 4-year-old boy were sitting. Neither was hit.

In September 2015, police arrested Leslie Allen Merritt for the shootings but a judge ordered the case against him dropped seven months later. Merritt had sold the same type of gun used in the shootingsa Hi-Point 9mmto the Mo Money Pawn Shop. (Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey even proclaimed, We got him!) It was later discovered the gun had been locked up at the shop during the shootings, meaning Merritt could not have been the killer.

Ironically, the same type of gun and the same pawn shop connected to Merritt led cops to Saucedo.

Its, you know, fortunate that we did our job like we were supposed to, Vaughn said. And because of that the police department had the information which they proceeded to go off of.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said the department received more than 33,000 tips after offering a reward of $30,000 for information.

We hope that our community will rest a little easier and that our officers will get a little more sleep [knowing] that our wheels of justice are finally in motion, she told reporters during a press conference on Monday.

Before he allegedly became a serial killer, Saucedo was a bus driver. According to AZCentral, Saucedo was summonsed for running a red-light back in September 2015 while driving a public bus. A snapshot released by the City of Phoenix shows Saucedo apparently running the light, his eyes hidden behind a pair of neon sunglasses.

The accused was booked into a Maricopa County jail for one count of homicide, and on April 19, was held on a $750,000 bond.

Cops on Monday say Saucedo was rebooked and hit with 26 additional felony counts that ultimately ended a long nightmare for the city. The charges include: eight additional homicide counts, three counts of attempted homicide, six counts of drive-by shooting and multiple other counts including discharging a firearm at a non-residential structure.

Pressed about items Saucedo pawned, Vaughn said he couldnt detail those due to confidentiality rules.

He did several transactions with us over the years, Mo Money Pawns Vaughn noted. The other times he was buying stuff from us.

But when it comes the law, Vaughn said he plays by the books.

We always ID, absolutely, he said. Doesnt matter if I know him or not. If my mother came in here to do a transaction I would take ID from her.

Vaughn said he has no mercy for Saucedo if he is indeed the Serial Street Shooter.

I hope that if he is guilty he pays for it, Vaughn said. He destroyed a lot of peoples lives.
Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates revealed for the first time publicly on Monday the dramatic details of her visit to the White House to tell the presidents lawyer that their National Security Adviser may have been compromised by the Russians.

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was ultimately fired on Feb. 13, 18 days after Yates first notified the White House that Flynn was possibly compromised by the Russian government. This entire time, Flynn continued his duties as National Security Adviser: hiring senior staff, putting Iran on notice for its ballistic missile program, and meeting with key foreign leaders.

To state the obvious, you dont want your national security adviser compromised by the Russians, Yates told a Senate subcommittee hearing led by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Monday. And by the first week of the Trump administration, the Justice Department had reason to believe that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn could be subject to blackmail by the Russians.

In the days before President Trumps inauguration, Vice President Pence appeared on television to insist that Flynn had not discussed Russia sanctions with the Russian ambassador in the transition period. Pence said that he had been assured personally by Flynn that this was the case.

This turned out not to be true.

On Jan. 24, as The Washington Post reported, Flynn was was interviewed by the FBI about whether he had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia before Trump came to office. While Yates declined to discuss what Flynn may have said during that interview, she did say that it was shortly after that she decided to go to the White House with her view that Flynn had lied to the vice president.

Not only did we believe that the Russians knew this but that they likely had proof of this information, Yates said. And that created a compromise situation, a situation where the National Security Adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians.

Yates said that he had two in-person meetings with White House counsel Don McGahn. On Jan. 26, she rushed to the White House with a senior member of the Justice Departments national security division. In McGahns office, which had been built so that it was safe to discuss classified information, she told him that she knew Flynn had not been truthful in his accounts to the vice president.

Compromise was certainly the number one concern, Yates told the Senate subcommittee on Monday. Another motivating factor is that we felt that the vice president was entitled to know.

In her first meeting at the White House, Yates told the presidents top lawyer how the Justice Department had come to believe that Flynn had lied to the vice president. The next day, at McGahns request, she returned to the White House to continue discussing the matter.

During that second meeting, she discussed four topics with McGahn, who wanted to know why the Justice Department would be concerned with one White House official lying to another; whether Flynn might be liable to be criminally prosecuted; whether taking action against Flynn might interfere with an ongoing FBI investigation; and whether he could see the evidence that showed that Flynn had lied.

Yates said that the Flynn situation was the topic of a whole lot of discussion at the Justice Department and the intelligence community. However, her ability to affect the matter was limited on Jan. 30 when the president fired her for declining to defend the first travel ban executive order.

Ultimately, the White House dismissed Yates before dismissing Flynn. Two and a half weeks transpired between the White Houses notification of Flynns compromised position and Flynns firing.

Many years ago, an 18-minute gap transfixed the country and got everybodys attention in another investigation, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, referring to the 18 minute gap in President Nixons White House tapes. In this case, we have an 18-day gap between the notification of the White House that a senior official had potentially been compromised and action taken against that senior official At best, the Trump administration has displayed serious errors of judgment, at worst, these irregularities may reflect corruption at the hands of Russian intelligence.

Mondays hearing comes as the walls appear to be closing in on Flynn. Earlier in the day, numerous reports citing former Obama administration officials revealed that President Obama had warned President Trump about hiring Flynn. And in an NBC report published Monday before the Yates hearing, officials said that Flynn never informed the Defense Intelligence Agency that the Russians had paid him for a Dec. 2015 trip to Moscow, which may be against the law.

Yet Republicans appeared split on whether to ask questions about Flynn or about Russia, the stated topic of the hearing. Some senators on the right seemed more interested in grilling Yates and Clapper on President Trumps travel ban (Sen. John Cornyn), Huma Abedins handling of classified emails (Sen. Ted Cruz) and unauthorized leaks of information (Sen. Chuck Grassley).

But Graham, who as the chair of the subcommittee appeared to be driving force behind the hearing, asked about possible collusion between Trump Tower and the Kremlin.

It was the Dems in 2016, it could be the GOP next time, Graham told the members of the Judiciary subcommittee he chairs. When one party is attacked, all of us should feel attacked Every American should be concerned about what the Russians did.
What WERE they thinking?

How could President Donald Trump, knowing what he knew about Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, give him the top national security job in the White House to begin with? He was warned against it by the national security community, including Republicans. At their meeting the day after the election, President Barack Obama warned him against it. Even as everyones fears about a rogue National Security Adviser were played out and pictures of Flynn sitting at dinner with Russian president Vladimir Putin circulated, Trump pressed on. Even after the White House was told Flynn lied about his contacts to the vice president, Trump stayed with him.

Now we know how it could happen, thanks to the testimony of Sally Yates, the number one justice official in the country until she was removed in February. When asked what happened at a meeting in which she told White House Counsel Donald McGahn that Flynn had lied about his contacts with Russian officials to the vice president making him susceptible to blackmail, Yates said McGahn asked her, What does it matter to the Justice Department if one White House official lies to another?

If you have to ask such a question, we know the answer. Lying in the White House is so common its not worth mentioning. Honesty may be the best policy elsewhere, but not in the Oval Office.

There was nothing else in the hearing quite as stunning as the top lawyer in the White House telling the top lawyer in the Justice Department that lying in the White House was none of her business. But it was also pretty eye-popping that at Mondays subcommittee hearing on the Russian hacking of the 2016 election, Yates said, We believed that General Flynn was compromised with respect to the Russians," and that logic would tell you that you dont want the national security adviser to be in a position where the Russians have leverage over him.

Logic wouldnt prevail for 18 days after the White House knew. Flynns resignation was ultimately accepted but defending him hasnt. The morning of the hearing, Trump advised senators to ask Yates whether she leaked classified information (she didnt) and criticized the fake news media for never mentioning the fact that Flynn had a security clearance during the Obama Administration. Well, there are security clearances and security clearances. The one for the top job is much higher and more stringent. Whats more, Flynn never completed the process. It took the fake news media to ferret out how much work he did for Russia and others and how much he was paid. And Flynn had been booted in 2014 from his lesser job as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Yates first scheduled testimony was cancelled, giving the White House time to paint her as a political hack out to get Trump and using Flynn to do so. They didnt know what a straight arrow they were confronting, an editor of the Georgia Law Review from a family of lawyers. Her brother and husband are lawyers, and her father was chief judge of the Court of Appeals. Her inspiration was her grandmother, one of the first women to graduate law school and become a member of the Georgia bar. Although she was the smartest of the bunch, Yates said, no law firms in the state hired women at the time, and she became a legal secretary. When she took the oath to become the first female U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in 2010, she said she wished her grandmother could be there.

Yates is the kind of career prosecutor over her 27 years who makes the wheels of justice grind. In speeches, she always says what an honor it is, once joking that it was worth every cent she wasnt paid. Far from being partisan, Yates counts among her white-collar prosecutions many Democrats, including the powerful Democratic Mayor of Atlanta, Bill Campbell. Its no surprise she went to the White House to speak truth to power about Flynn, nor that she refused to enforce Trumps travel ban. When Yates was nominated by Obama in 2015 to be deputy attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions asked her if she would disobey a presidents unlawful order. She responded that she would have an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution, and to give independent legal advice to the president. She was confirmed in a bipartisan vote, 84-12.

Yates became acting AG when Loretta Lynch stepped down after the inauguration. She held the job for only 10 days before being fired. A few years ago, Yates told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that given that her grandmother became a lawyer when it was nearly impossible, I thought to myself that, if she did that, how hard could it be for me?

Now she knows. And there may be more character assassination to come. The White House never stepped up and fired Flynn. That would look like a mistake was made. His resignation was accepted, and only after 18 days, during which Flynn conducted highly sensitive meetings, was privy to classified information, and joined the president on a call with Putin. Yates firing was quick and dirty. That tells us a lot about how the White House rolls.
MOSCOWThe 9th of May, marking the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, is a sacred secular holiday in Russia. The traditional Victory Day parade is watched by millions as the nation pays tribute to the patriotism of the army and the navy that defended the homeland with enormous bravery in a conflict that cost the lives of some 26.6 million people in what was then the Soviet Union.

The anniversary of the end of the conflict that came to be called the Great Patriotic War has always been an occasion for the diverse peoples of Russia and of the old Soviet states to come together and remember their shared sacrifice.

It is also a great moment for patriotic propaganda. And this year, it seems, the occasion has been used to stir something like panic, at least in the national media. Victory Day 2017 will be remembered as the time when Russians were led to believe that U.S. President Donald Trump might rain missiles on their parade.

At sunrise on Sunday several major Russian warships that were supposd to take part in Victory Day parade of the fleet took off from the Krinstadt naval base near Saint Petersburg. Fontanka.ru reported that the warships were headed to the Baltic Sea to defend the border from the American destroyer the USS Carney, which Russian news outlets reported had approached too closely to the Russian border.

Significantly, Russian media said the Carney was armed with at least 50 Tomahawk missiles.

In an article picked up extensively by Russian media, the Dutch weekly magazine Elsevier reported last week that the Carney had arrived in Amsterdam after a mission in Syria and been parked half hidden between rusty cruise ships, concrete walls and enormous heaps of wreckage.

The Pentagon confirmed to The Daily Beast that the USS Carney was in fact destined for the Baltic Sea.

For more than three years now, NATO has been seeking to reassure the three Baltic states on Russias frontier that they would be protected from aggression by Moscowa major question after the annexation of Crimea and incitement of pro-Russian rebellion in parts of Ukraine.

By Monday, Latvia was reporting at least three Russian warships close to its coast, raising fears about Moscows intentions even as Moscow was raising fears about the Americans.

The news about the U.S. destroyer loaded with missiles supposedly threatening the parade upset many in Russia. People remembered Trumps Tomahawks very well after last months retaliatory bombing of Syria for using undeclared chemical weapons.

For months, Moscow has been fueling popular anxieties about some sort of new-Cold-War apocalypse. Last fall up to 40 million Russians participated in civil-defense exercises, learning how to survive in case of a nuclear attack.

Last month local television channels talked for days about the U.S. strike on Syria, when with 59 Tomahawks launched from two U.S. destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean hit a major air base in Syria that allegedly had been used by planes dropping sarin nerve agents.

The cancellation of the fleet parade reminded everyone of imminent danger, and people could talk about little else.

At a small cafe at a gas station in Nizhny Novgorod two visitors overheard discussing news reports about the cancellation of the navy parade gave a pretty good summation of popular emotion.

The madman Trump has fired at Syria, he can fire at us, or maybe he just wants to terrify us with his Tomahawks and spoil our holiday, one man suggested. His friend responded in a confident tone: Trump must be some sort of a monster or he is just a Nazi.

It does not take much to make Russian society vibrate with emotion when there is news about a potential aggression by Washington.

President [Vladimir] Putin spreads paranoia to consolidate the society around the U.S. threat, says Dmitry Oreshkin, a Moscow based political analyst. We have seen other authoritarian regimes behaving this way. Thanks to publications like Fontanka.ru we learn about the degree of paranoia in the defense ministry, Oreshkin added.

The military-navy parade will not take place in Saint Petersburg because of the American destroyer approaching Russian shores, radio Echo of Moscow reported. By mid-Sunday there was still no comment from Russian Ministry of Defense explaining why Russian military ships had disappeared from ports so suddenly. There was an unusual hustle at Kronstadt base on Saturday morning, three submarines and Morshanks (a missile corvette) were loading ammunition, the independent Fontanka website reported.

The report said that instead of rehearsing for the Victory Day parade, the navy squadron, including Russias newest corvette Stoikiy, loaded up with missiles and rockets and sailed to Gdansk Bay in the Baltic Sea.

I doubt that the U.S. intends to attack Russia with one destroyer, says Alexander Golts, a Russian military expert. But it is also clear that technically it would not be possible for our ships to bring down the Tomahawks, unless they are 25 kilometers away and the decision is made instantly.

The rapid reaction to defend the border followed Russian reports about Washingtons promise to take control of all Russian ports and potential cargo for North Korea. Later, the news agency Interfax quoted the U.S. Congress saying that the reports on the intention to control Russian ports in the Far East, as a part of the sanctions on North Korea were wrong.

Russian military experts, who remembered Soviet propaganda said this felt like deja vu.

We have argued for so long about whether Russia and the United States are fighting a new Cold War or not, Alexander Golts told The Daily Beast. Yes, we are at war; but if the previous Cold War had some rules by the mid 1980s, the situation today reminds one of 1950s tensions between the USSR and the USA. This is a very dangerous situation right now.

On Monday official reports promised Russians that the navy parade would still take place in Saint Petersburg. But that was at the same time the Latvians were sighting the Russian corvettes close to their shores.

Thus do memories of the Great Patriotic War, and fears surrounding the new Cold War, blend togethere in the Russian consciousness.

Nadette De Visser in Amsterdam and Kim Dozier in Washington also contributed to this article.
After Jimmy Kimmel delivered what has easily become one of the most watched and talked-about monologues in late-night history last Monday, he decided to take the rest of the week off to finish his paternity leave.

As guest hosts like Will Arnett and Kristen Bell took over hosting duties, Kimmel stayed home with his wife and infant son, whose pre-existing heart condition briefly transformed the health-care debate in Americabut not enough to prevent House Republicans from narrowly passing a bill that would dismantle the Affordable Care Acts basic protections.

This Monday night was Kimmels first real opportunity to weigh in on the GOPs actions, and he did not hesitate to do so, while also working in some self-deprecating jokes about just how viral his emotional story went.

One week ago tonight I made an emotional speech that was seen by millions, and as a result of my powerful words on that night, Republicans in Congress had second thoughts about repeal and replace, Kimmel said at the top of his monologue following a resounding ovation. They realized that what is right is right and I saved health insurance in the United States of America. Realizing his error, he added, I didnt save it? They voted against it anyway? I really need to pay more attention to the news.

Kimmel assured viewers that his newborn son Billy is doing very well, showing a video taken that day of him smiling, either because so many people donated to Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles or because he has gas. We dont know, the host said. There was so much kindness, so much compassion, it was hard to even process. But there were alsoand I know this is going to shock youthere were also some not so nice things that people said online about me, including members of the media.

From there, he called out the New York Post, the Washington TimesI dont think its a real newspaperand others for labeling him an out-of-touch, Hollywood elitist creep. After growing up poor, he said, My dream was to become an out-of-touch Hollywood elitist, and I guess it came true.

And I would like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care. It was insensitive, it was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, Kimmel added. There are some very sick and sad people out there, heres one of them, he said, introducing a clip of Newt Gingrich claiming that no children are being denied care because their parents cannot pay. But as Kimmel pointed out, that does not include the many follow-up doctor visits that are required to keep sick babies healthy.

I dont know if the double layers of Spanx are restricting the blood flow to his brain, Kimmel said of Gingrich. And on the former House speakers critique of his comedy, he added, Listen, Newt Gingrich does know a lot about comedy. This is a man who helped lead the impeachment effort against Bill Clinton for trying to cover up his affair while he was having an affair. That is hilarious.

During his initial speech, Kimmel urged Americans to put aside partisan squabbles and identify the health-care policies on which every decent person can agree. With that in mind, he invited Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on his show Monday night to discuss how 13 male GOP senators plan to essentially rewrite the House bill. Ahead of that effort, Cassidy has proposed something he is calling the Jimmy Kimmel Test, which would make adequate coverage for pre-existing conditions a priority.

Thank you for naming a test after me, Kimmel said. I always figured if I ever got a test named after me it would be for some embarrassing sexually transmitted disease.

For his part, Cassidy insisted that the Senate bill will achieve what the House bill failed to do: cover pre-existing conditions while lowering costs for middle-class Americans. He also repeatedly defended President Donald Trump, who he said has the same goals in mind when it comes to health care.

Will the Senate make sure that the millions of children who count on Medicaid dont lose access to medical care because this House bill would cut, they say, $888 billion, mostly to benefit wealthy Americans? Kimmel asked. To that question, Cassidy did not answer a simple yes or no, but rather once against referred to his Jimmy Kimmel Test.

Senator, since you mentioned this test, since I am Jimmy Kimmel, I would like to make a suggestion as what the Jimmy Kimmel Test should be, the host said. The Jimmy Kimmel Test, I think, should be no family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they cant afford it. Can that be the Jimmy Kimmel Test, as simple as that?

When Cassidy said the hard part will be figuring out how to pay for it, Kimmel added, Well, I can think of a way to pay for it, is don't give a huge tax cut to millionaires like me and instead leave it how it is. In other words, stop trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. Thats my vote, he added.
Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law, was never a darling of President Donald Trumps nationalist-populist base. But revelations that emerged over the weekend about his family business and his sisters attempt to court foreign investors through a fraud-plagued visa programcould move that reputation from bad to worse.

On May 6, The New York Times reported that Kushners sister, Nicole Meyer, encouraged Chinese investors to invest in a family business endeavorthrough a government program that would get them U.S. visas as a perk. The visas she discussed are available through the EB-5 visa program, where wealthy foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in the U.S. and create at least 10 full-time jobs for American workers, can get visas to live in the United States. These visas can put them on the path to getting lawful permanent residence here and ultimately U.S. citizenship, if they choose.

At the White House press briefing on May 8, press secretary Sean Spicer said Kushner didnt have anything to do with the EB-5 pitch. But the immigration restrictionists who helped launch Trumps campaign arent buying it, and told The Daily Beast they hope the embarrassment will galvanize forces in the White House pushing for tougher visa laws.

Critics of the EB-5 programand theyre in both partiessay it essentially puts American citizenship up for sale. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, has long criticized the program, which is rife with high-profile fraud and scandal, as CNBC has detailed. He and his Democratic counterpart there, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, introduced a bill earlier this year to end it. But American businesses courting foreign investment love EB-5 visasincluding the Kushner family business.

It shows a lack of self respect as a nation that were willing to sell visas like this, said Dan Stein, who heads the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group which pushes for restrictions on legal immigration.

The fact that Kushners firm uses EB-5 as an inducement potentially creates a cloud over the administration if it doesnt aggressively move to repair or scrap EB-5 over the next four years, he told The Daily Beast.

Stein added that he isnt concerned Kushner will push Trump to change his stance on immigration.

Trump wants to get reelected, Stein said. Jared Kushner didnt run the campaign, and Jared Kushners not likely to have a really strong, sensitive ear to the component of Trumps base that elected him. Trump obviously takes that into account.

Trump signed a government funding bill on May 5 that keeps the EB-5 program up and running. But the immigration hawks who comprise his base say they hope he will eventually roll it back or eliminate it.

And Mark Krikorian, who heads the influential Center for Immigration Studiesalso a restrictionist groupsaid the news only heightens immigration hawks distaste for Kushner.

It hardens the existing perception of Kushner as a New York liberal Democrat with the immigration views of a New York liberal Democrat, said Krikorian, who doesnt hesitate to criticize Trump when he believes hes tacking to the center on immigration. I dont think this told us anything new about Jared Kushner, but it reinforces the concerns a lot of people already have.

And Krikorian noted that the Kushner familys fondness for EB-5 visas predates Jareds move to the White House.

The family business, which he was head of until recently, has made extensive use of the visas-for-sale program, he said. This isnt some new initiative that started only after Kushner handed the reins over. Theyve been using the EB-5 monies for a while now.

Krikorian added that he hopes the news will give energy to efforts to end the EB-5 program.

Its going to make it harder to defend against efforts at reform, he said. Schumer is going to be in the position of defending a Trump family pet project.

Breitbart has covered the EB-5 program extensively, calling it a Citizenship-for-investment programwhich isnt wrong. And the program has been a problem for powerful Democrats, including Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton confidante Terry McAuliffe. A 2015 report from the Department of Homeland Securitys inspector general criticized an official there for appearing to be acting from political motives when he helped one of McAuliffes Chinese investors navigate the program. And former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid drew criticism when ABC broke the news that his office pushed DHS to speed up the processing of EB-5 visas for foreigners looking to invest in a Vegas hotel.

In February, the Justice Department announced that a Chicago hotel developer was sentenced to three years in prison for trying to swindle investors out of millions of dollars in exchange for helping them get EB-5 visas.

So Kushners family ties to the program wont do anything to bolster his conservative bona fidesbona fides that are marginal at best.

EB-5 is for the cognoscenti, said Stein. This isnt Main Street public policy.
John Haygood, a handcuffed 10-year-old autistic boy, was sitting in a chair in his school crying I dont like to be touched to the police officers who would take him to a juvenile detainment facility (aka a jail) where he would spend the night. The disturbing arrest was caught on video by Luanne Haygood, the boys mother, and she told The Washington Post that their presence at his Florida public school was requested so John could participate in standardized testing. Instead, he was charged on an outstanding warrant for third-degree felony battery on a school employee.

An educational assistant had accused the boy of disrupting class, throwing paper balls around the classroom and hitting other students, and kicking and scratching and punching the assistant. The boys mother says she had no clue her son had a warrant out for his arrest, and the school claims they would never sucker a parent into appearing at school for the purpose of delivering their child to the criminal justice system.

Theres no question that educators of disabled students have a hard job, particularly teachers of autistic students, some of whom can get violent in difficult situations. But does a special-needs student who looks like he weighs 80 pounds really need to be locked in a cage? A confluence of circumstances has turned school hallways into just another law-enforcement beat, and the results are unacceptable.

In young Haygoods case, you might ask what the cops were doing in the school in the first place? He has a diagnosed disability. What he needs are trained and well-resourced educators who understand their legal responsibility as in loco parentis (in place of parents). What the kid does not need is a bored blunt instrument of the state trained to work in a business where compiling arrests is a path to career advancement. And what no child needs is for natural youthful misbehavior to be treated as a crime punishable by imprisonment, like the 8-year-old Texas boy with ADHD who was handcuffed to a chair for an hour by an officer who called him pathetic for throwing a fit.

But this is the post-Columbine and post-9/11 world, where Americans demand and expect total security and minimal risk while willfully surrendering civil liberties. School resource officers (SROs)much like metal detectors and zero-tolerance policieshave become part of the tapestry of modern public primary education. And according to a 2014 report from the Department of Education (PDF), of all the students arrested or referred to law enforcement, a quarter of them are students with disabilities.

A new American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington report notes that in the past four decades the United States went from having fewer than 100 cops in public schools to more than 24 percent of elementary schools and 42 percent of high schools nationwide employing the services of embedded officers. The rise in police at schools was a direct reaction to the high crime rates of the 1970s and 1980s, but as crime has fallen over the past three decades, the number of cops in schools has risen exponentially.

Its not fair to expect law enforcement officers to be familiar with the therapeutic techniques of trained special-education workers, but police officers assigned to schools should have stringent guidelines on what constitutes an infraction requiring criminal discipline as opposed to minor disturbances caused by hormonal adolescents with still-maturing brains, hyperactive pre-teens, or kids who for legitimate medical reasons have difficulty controlling themselves.

But in Washington state, disturbing school is a crime, and thus in the jurisdiction of the police and not the school. The ACLU report points out the obvious, that having police in schools makes it more likely that students will be arrested, that only a quarter of the states schools or police union contracts make any form of training on working in schools a requirement for the job, and that students in schools with zero tolerance or other harsh discipline policies report feeling less connected, less trusting, and less engaged in their schools.

Incidents landing Washington high school students on the wrong side of the law include a 15-year-old who sprayed a can of fart spray being charged with felony assault and disturbing school (the spray caused another student to have breathing problems), a high schooler charged with fourth-degree assault for pouring chocolate milk on another students head, and a first-time offending student charged and convicted of disturbing school for throwing a single punch in his schools parking lot (his sentence was later overturned).

In the six years following the Columbine massacre alone, the federal government helped load up public schools with police officers to the tune of $753 million. But police presence in schools had been growing even before that fateful day. By 1999, almost 20 percent of schools had at least one SRO, and there were two armed officers already assigned to Columbine when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on their murderous rampage. Both officers even fired multiple shots at the killers, but were unable to stop the carnage.

Total security is not possible anywhere, and turning difficult children into potential criminals is the unintended result of overreactions to terrible, but rare incidents. And when untrained police officers work in a system where little (if any) training is provided or accountability demanded, violence of a different kind occurs. In 2015, Mother Jones published a report detailing 28 incidents where children were seriously injured or even killed by SROs, some of which were sparked by violations as trivial cutting the cafeteria lunch line or talking back to an officer.

The ACLU report credits a few Washington state school districts for implementing policies that recognize the need for a clear separation between crime and education, such as Spokanes procedure requiring that student behavior should be addressed through restorative practices or corrective action in all but the most serious cases, as well as Aberdeens contract between the school and the police department stating responsibility for the administration of school discipline shall be the duty of the District.

Ashley Albright, the prosecutor assigned to 10-year-old autistic student John Haygoods case has reportedly offered a nonjudicial sanction to the boy as an alternative to pursuing criminal charges, telling The Washington Post, Its clear from his history, even at such a young age, that I think he needs some assistance so that he doesnt end up in the criminal justice system in the future.

That assistance might start with reforms to a systemwith zero-tolerance policies, overbroad laws hastily passed in the wake of tragedies, and armed police officers trained in the use of deadly force but not in special needs educationwhich makes him more likely to be perceived as a threat to society than a child in need of care and education.
Paul Ryan might be the most hated man in Harlem.

Fresh off a victory for his embattled health care bill, the house speaker visited Harlem, New York on Tuesday for a meet-and-greet with charter school boss Eva Moskowitz. But the friendly photo-op turned into a faceplant when hundreds of New Yorkers gathered to boo Ryan out of the neighborhood.

Charter schoolsprivately-run, publicly-funded institutionshave found champions in conservatives like Ryan. Moskowitz and her Success Academy brand have been particular favorites of the Trump administration. Moskowitz was reportedly eyed for education secretary, and in November, Ivanka Trump toured the same Success Academy that Ryan visited Tuesday.

Two signs hang above two doors on the northern side of the Harlem school building. Public School 162 reads one worn, green sign over a set of double-doors. A second, newer sign hangs over a different door by Malcolm X Boulevard. Success Academy, its chipper, orange logo reads. This school, Success Academy Harlem 1, is one in Moskowitzs fleet of charter schools, many of which have been allotted space in New York Citys existing public schools over the past decade. Success Academy Harlem 1, Moskowitzs first of six Harlem schools, shares space with two New York City public schoolsto the chagrin of many public school parents who say the building is already squeezed for space and resources.

The schools two entrancesone with a battered public school sign, the other bearing the bright logo of a privately-run charter schoolis an easy illustration of these parents grievances. And when planning his visit to Harlem, Ryan picked the charter school over the public institution its accused of cannibalizing.

Several hundred protesters began gathering outside the school around 11 a.m., waving signs signs decrying Ryans American Health Care Act and Moskowitzs charter schools.

This building is falling apart. Its falling apart for the public school children and parents who go here, Harlem resident Cordell Cleare told crowds while awaiting Ryans arrival. Cleare was attending the protest with her son, who attended the public school until his 2006 graduation, she told The Daily Beast. [Moskowitz] choses to invite him to the charter side of this building. Its disrespectful. Paul Ryan does not care about those children. Their parents are immigrants in this community. Their families are being broken up and separated.

Just two months earlier, more than one hundred Senegalese natives were deported from the neighborhood, with boasts a large West African community, Cleare said. Ryan should not be here talking to these children, Cleare said.

Randi Klein, a Harlem resident and former teacher, said Ryans AHCA would be ruinous to the school, where, as with a number of Upper Manhattan and Bronx schools, many students have asthma.

How are their parents or their caretakers going to afford to get their inhalers? Klein asked. Inhalers are what theyre supposed to have in case of emergency. A lot of these kids are on nebulizers, a lot of these kids need need medication. I think its absolutely disgusting that he can show his face up here in this community, where so many people are in such desperate need of healthcare that they finally got through Obamacare. Hes gonna come up here and talk to these kids about school and education?

Across the street from the school is the Malcolm Pharmacy. We accept Medicaid, Medicare, and all insurance plans, the stores awning advertises. But Jackie Sheeler, a longtime Harlem resident who distributed stickers outside the shop said Ryans AHCA could mean her losing all access to affordable health care.

Im one of the people whos going to lose my health care if they ram this shit through, Sheeler told The Daily Beast. Ive been unemployed for several years now. Im sixty years old and on the Medicaid version of Affordable Care. I had nothing before that, and Im going to have nothing if they push this through.

While early media reports suggested Ryan would visit the school in the morning, the protests dragged into the afternoon with no sign of the speaker. At 1:24 p.m., Moskowitz arrived in a black SUV at the schools southern entrance. Unlike the northern entrance, where hundreds of protesters and reporters were gathered, only five protesters and three reporters watched as Moskowitz, flanked by two staffers, scurried from the SUV into the school. Coward, one protester shouted after her.

But it would be another 40 minutes before a motorcade would deliver Ryan to the schools northern entrance, to the deafening boos of the approximately 100 remaining protesters.

Shame! the crowd chanted as Ryan ducked into the school from one of three black Chevrolet Suburbans. Paul! Ive got your balls! one protester shouted, waving a Mason jar with two white marbles inside.

How do you sleep at night? Health care is a human right, other protesters chanted. An accordionist played Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye. On the public side of the school, two teachers on the ground floor opened their windows.

One public school teacher said Ryan visited a non-charter classroom. Mindy Rosier, a science teacher in a public special education school in the building said Ryan made a brief visit to a class of autistic students, whose teacher was Muslim. Ryans AHCA would make significant cuts to school-based Medicaid programs for special education students.

I think he did his due diligence to endure a public school classroom with black and brown children in Harlem with a Muslim teacher, Rosier said, adding that Ryan was in the classroom for a couple minutes. She speculated that, without the public protest, Ryan might not have even visited the public school.

He wouldnt have cared about our school, she said. The previous day, police had warned all teachers that Ryan would be visiting the Success Academy. Not the building, not the public schools, the Success Academy.

Ryan left the school after approximately an hour inside, waving briefly to the protesters before stepping back into his SUV.

In a statement he described the visit as extraordinary.

Today was specialtouring Success Academy, listening to these great kids and their committed teachers, hearing their stories, Ryan said in a statement provided to The Daily Beast. The quality of teacher training and preparedness was extraordinary. They have a lot to be proud of, and these remarkable kids are getting a great education. Thats what mattersgiving every kid a fair shot at the American Dream.

As protesters waited for Ryan to exit the school, a young mother weaved her way through the demonstrators, carrying a baby. If Ryans health care bill passes, the childs earliest medical expensescommon colds, playground injuries, the asthma that is so common in Harlem childrencould become prohibitively expensive for his family.

Youre in Harlem now, she called to the door where Ryan had disappeared. Bring your punk ass out.
Simone Biles proves, once again, that she is a gift.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist has been slaying this season as a competitor on Dancing With the Stars.

Monday night, she performed an energetic foxtrot routine for the shows judges. They had mixed feelings. While they said her technique was fine, they were concerned over her emotional range on stage.

According to TODAY, DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba told Biles, You have this beautiful smile, and you are a megastar with your energy, but once in awhile, there's beauty without a smile. There's beauty in pain and all of the other emotions, and I'd like to see more of that."

Julianne Hough even chimed in, saying, I dont know if the smile is authentic because you want to smile, or if it's just because you rehearsed it that way I really just want to see some rawness come out."

Biles defended herself.

I've lived in a gym 14 years of my life, she told the judges. So it's hard to show something I've never felt before.

Then came Biless second dance of the evening, a fiery Paso trio.

The judges got on her case yet again about not smiling. Biles, who is considered by many to be the greatest gymnast of all time, was not here for round two.

"Smiling doesn't win you gold medals," she said simply.

All hail Queen Simone. We are not worthy.
CLEVELANDKarl Jones didnt have insurance when he needed treatment for Crohns disease, so he turned to opiates to kill the chronic pain.

Ten years later, he now has health care coverage with Medicaid in Ohio, and gets the prescriptions and treatment to manage Crohns regularly. Jones has been mostly sober for almost a year, staying at a drug treatment center house in Cleveland.

I am not saying my illness is totally responsible for my drug addiction, Jones said, but I know that when I started on opiates it was to address the pain I was dealing with from Crohns. But I get the treatment now with Medicaid, and if I wasnt getting the medical treatment now, Id have a hard time staying sober.

Experts say Jones is among those who will be hardest hit by the Medicaid cuts Republicans want to impose on the country. A study by Eric Seiber, a professor at the College of Public Health at Ohio State University, found those receiving drug-addiction treatment through Medicaid in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia are disproportionately white, middle-aged, male, and with a high school diploma or less education.

In other words, Trump supporters.

We dont know how many will be pushed out right now, but you know that the single males will bear the brunt of this, Seiber told The Daily Beast. The older male demographic was the most uninsured before Obamacare, and it looks like the replacement might put them back into uninsured. And not having health care does have a direct effect on drug addiction, because the single males are the one who have the addiction problem more than any other group.

The expansion of Medicaid in Ohio and 30 other states under the Affordable Care Act has brought coverage to 14.5 million people who were too poor for private insurance but not poor enough for Medicaid.

Under the current law, eligible individuals under Medicaid have an entitlement to coverage with no pre-set limit. The GOPs American Health Care Act would give states a predetermined block grant or per-capita limit. A Kaiser Foundation study found that while Medicaid currently spends about $5,000 per enrollee now, it would drop to about $3,000 per person under the new law.

If the states go over that amount, they would have to find cuts from some groupsthe elderly, the disabled, children, women, menand take from some groups to pay for others.

Nationally, 1.8 million people would lose those subsidies if Obamacare were repealed, according to an estimate by health care economist Richard G. Frank of the Harvard Medical School and Sherry Glied of New York University.

You have to take money from one group to keep the coverage for other groups, Frank said. If you have older Americans and children needing care over on one side, and males with drug addiction over on the other side, which ones are going to get the funding?

Medicaid is essential to battling the epidemic that is estimated to kill 50,000 Americans this year. Ohio is one of the hardest hit states, tallying the third most opioid drug overdoses among all states in 2015, with about 3,300 or 29.9 deaths per 100,000 residents.

State Senator Jay Hottingers district is in the bulls-eye of the opioid crisis and his father-in-law is an alcoholic.

I remind people we in Ohio are among the largest rates of opioid drug addiction in the country and we are one of the largest states in population as well, the Republican said. Everyone in Ohio knows someone who is addicted, and we know we are in the middle of a drug addiction epidemic this country has not seen before.

Senator Rob Portman said in a statement last week that the House health care bill does not do enough to protect Ohios Medicaid expansion population, especially those who are receiving treatment for heroin and prescription drug abuse.

About 32 percent of the states enrollees have been diagnosed with substance abuse or dependences and received treatment paid by Medicaid, according to a report by the governors office. Fifty percent of the prescriptions written in Ohio to treat addiction went to Medicaid enrollees. Some even were able to get their rehab programs paid for by Medicaid.

Historically most states have been very stingy in covering addictions, but the ACA forced their hand on it, Frank said.

Jacqueline Rivera, executive director the rehab house where Karl Jones is living, said Medicaid pays for more than drug treatment for addicts.

Before the Medicaid expansion, we had a hard time getting our addicts tested and treated for Hepatitis C, internal organ failures, teeth getting fixed, just basic things that might help them recover and move back into society, she said. And Im afraid drug addiction will become a pre-existing condition.

Getting them treatment through Medicaid is one of the first things we do with the addicts here, Rivera continued. Getting rid of that will make it so much more difficult for people to get clean. Its not like you drop someone off at a rehab center, come back a month later, and everything is fine. It doesnt work that way.
At least 30-40 per cent of troublemakers or bad hats are back on social media, sending incendiary and inflammatory material, said sources in the Indian Army.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: It is no secret that majority of the youth in Kashmir are using the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to bypass the social media ban imposed by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

The bad news, however, is that several troublemakers or bad hats who post inflammatory material on social media sites are back in action.

"At least 30-40 per cent of troublemakers or bad hats are back on social media, sending incendiary and inflammatory material. All of them are accessing social media through VPN," a source in the Army told India Today.

advertisement

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW PEOPLE IN KASHMIR ARE MOCKING THE SOCIAL MEDIA BAN: Sources in the Army said that Virtual Private Network (VPN) like HideMyAss (HMA), a Europe-based proxy server, provides seamless internet at an yearly rental of Rs 9,000. Most VPNs are however free of cost. SecurityKISS, Opera, Turbo and Ultrasurf are some of the proxy servers popular in Kashmir. The blanket ban on 22 social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, is controlled by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) from Gandhinagar in Jammu. The ban covers the entire Valley except high-priority places like airport, Raj Bhawan and the Secretariat. For the general public, if a VPN server is blocked by the DoT, the user can switch to another VPN, which is essentially the reason why social media ban has failed miserably in the Valley. Only those who are laymen in technology have been impacted by the ban, a source said. VPNs can effectively unblock online television sites, and allow access to websites that are geographically restricted. VPN is considered the most efficient and effective way to anonymously surf online. Countries like China, North Korea are known to have banned VPNs to keep a check on online movement of their citizens and to control the information citizens can have access to.

ALSO READ:

J-K government bans 22 social networking sites citing their misuse

Kashmir has seen worse days in '90s, not everyone pelting stones: Mehbooba Mufti at Durbar meet

JuD to conduct social media workshops to create unrest in Kashmir

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
President Donald Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey.

The stunning and sudden removal comes after Comey told Congress in March that the FBI was engaged in an ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign and its potential ties to Russia; Comeys firing also follows the dramatic dismissal of acting Attorney General Sally Yates in January.

Senior White House officials told The Daily Beast on Tuesday evening that the administration had been working out the details of exactly how to fire Comey for several days now, in the words of one of those officials.

Another administration official said the decisionwhich caught FBI officials and top lawmakers completely off-guard on Tuesdaywas kept very close to the chest within Trumps inner political circle until the moment [we] were ready to pull the trigger on axing Comey. Many Trump aides were as surprised by the news of the firing as FBI officials who learned about Comeys fall on the evening news.

We are trying to get our heads around this like [you], one aide said shortly after the news broke.

Comeys removal, which marked just the second time in U.S. history that a president has fired a sitting FBI director, also came as a shock to some members of Congress.

News of Comeys dismissal came just hours before CNN reported that the Justice Department has issued subpoenas to private business associates of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of its investigation into Russian presidential election meddling. Flynn has faced scrutiny over a five-figure payment in 2015 from Russian state-owned broadcaster RT.

Im surprised. I just dont have a clue. I genuinely need to digest a little a bit, said one stunned congressman who is involved in FBI oversight, after Comeys dismissal. I would fail at the proper way to communicate this right now.

The Comey firing comes two days before he was scheduled to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee in an open hearing, to testify about worldwide threats. Questions about the FBIs investigation into possible Trump-Russia ties would have likely surfaced.

On Tuesday night, CNN aired a report detailing how Keith Schiller, Trumps longtime private-security head and White House body-man, was dispatched to hand-deliver President Trumps letter in a manila envelope to the FBI.

The White House said in a statement Trump fired Comey based on recommendations from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Sessions and Rosenstein cited Comeys handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, accusing him of usurping the powers of the prior attorney general and announcing the investigation was closed.

The president went after Comey directly last week, writing on Twitter that Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!

The White Houses announcement came less than an hour after the FBI was forced to correct comments that Comey made at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week regarding the scale of classified information mishandled by a top aide to Clinton, the former Democratic presidential candidate (PDF).

Comey has drawn intense fire from both sides of the political aisle over the last year due to FBI investigations into Clintons use of a private email server and the Trump campaigns ties to Russian political interests.

The White House and Trump administration strategy in justifying the firing will absolutely [include] hammer[ing] away at the [point] that Democrats were calling for Jim Comeys head for months, a White House official told The Daily Beast. On Tuesday, Michael Short, a White House spokesman, tweeted a quote of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying in late 2016 that I do not have confidence in [James Comey] any longer. Short also retweeted a March 2 tweet from former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook stating that Its time for Comey to remove himself from this too. His credibility is gone.

As you and I have discussed I cannot defend the Directors handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clintons emails Almost everyone agrees that the director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives, Rosenstein wrote in a memo to Sessions recommending Comeys removal.

As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, [Comey] cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions, he added.

But Rosenstein and his boss, Jeff Sessions, seem to have made their determination about Comeys handling of the Clinton investigation before the departments own inspector general apparently finished investigating Comey for the same matter. Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in January his office was investigating Comeys handling of the Clinton investigation, including the July 2016 news conference that Rosenstein cites as the primary reason he was fired.

Trump cited Rosensteins memo in his statement on the firing, but did not mention Comey by name. The FBI is one of our Nations most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement, the president said in the White Houses statement.

In a letter informing Comey of his removal, Trump told him, It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.

He also alluded directly to the FBIs investigation into his campaign. While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau.

Attorney General Sessions, whom the White House credited with advising Comeys removal, recused himself in March from the investigation into Trumps campaign due to his role as a campaign surrogate.

Democrats involved in parallel congressional investigations into the Trump campaigns Russia ties quickly painted Comeys removal as political interference in an ongoing investigation.

It raises profound questions about whether the White House is brazenly interfering in a criminal matter, Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committees ranking Democrat, said in a statement. [T]o take this action without addressing the profound conflict of interest of the President and Attorney General harkens back to a similarly tainted decision by President Nixon.

Former FBI special agent Clint Watts echoed that sentiment. I dont think this is rule of law. This is rule by Trump, he told The Daily Beast. It reminds me of when Trump said, I can shoot someone in the face and nothing will happen to me. [Trump] doesnt like anybody whos independent. I think it made him nervous that he couldnt get Comey under his wing.

Even some Republicans sounded suspicious. Though the case for Comeys removal was thorough, his removal at this particular time will raise questions, said Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He stressed the need for FBI investigative powers that are fulsome and free of political interference.

Trump firing Comey shows how frightened the Admin is over Russia investigation, Sen. Tim Kaine, Clintons 2016 running mate, wrote on Twitter. Comey firing part of a growing pattern by White House to cover-up the truth.

Brookings Institution senior fellow Benjamin Wittes, who has described Comey as a personal friend, said Trumps decision to fire him would cast a shadow over the FBIs investigation into the presidents campaign.

It removes the one person of stature (figurative as well as literal) in the government whom everyone knows willeven when hes wrongdo what he thinks is the right thing and damn the torpedos, Wittes wrote on Tuesday evening. It removes, in other words, the essential person for a credible investigation.

The number two at the FBI, and Comeys likely interim successor, is Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who came under fire after a Clinton ally gave nearly half a million dollars to his wifes election campaign. McCabe would then later go on to help oversee the investigation into Clintons email use.

McCabe may have also violated Justice Department rules, which bar contacts between the FBI and White House officials, when he spoke to the presidents chief of staff about the ongoing investigation into Russias efforts to subvert the U.S. elections.

But even that leadership change could be short-lived. Sources say McCabe will likely resign or be fired, though a well-wired federal law enforcement source told The Daily Beast that given current national security threats it's unlikely that would happen for the next few weeks.

Administration sources said McCabe has been eyed as a possible leaker of transcripts of calls between Flynn and Russias ambassador to Washington. The transcripts showed them discussing U.S. sanctions against the country and led to Flynns firing from the White House in February.

Multiple FBI and DOJ sources say the administration is convinced that a group of anti-Trump FBI officials are out to get the president. "DOJ could not control Comey which was not going well" for Trump, one recently retired senior FBI official who worked with Comey told The Daily Beast.

The Clinton investigation surfaced again last week when Comey addressed aspects of it in his Judiciary Committee testimony. He incorrectly claimed during that hearing that former Clinton aide Huma Abedin had forwarded hundreds to thousands of emails to her husband Anthony Weiners computer, including messages that contained classified information.

The FBI was forced to walk back that assertion on Tuesday. It told committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (PDF) that most of the emails discovered on Weiners computer during a separate investigation had been automatically backed up to that device, not forwarded by Abedin.

Some senators of both parties appeared to welcome the news in light of the recent turmoil involving the FBI in general and Comey in particular.

Given the recent controversies surrounding the director, I believe a fresh start will serve the FBI and the nation well, said Sen. Lindsey Graham. I encourage the president to select the most qualified professional available who will serve our nations interests.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said the president had informed her of the move about 10 minutes before the announcement. The next FBI director must be strong and independent and will receive a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committee, she said.

with additional reporting by Justin Miller and Jana Winter
For all that youve heard about bathrooms over the past year, it is health insurance that may be the most pressing issue facing transgender people under President Trump.

The American Health Care Act, which narrowly passed the House last week, would cause millions of people to lose their health insurance if it passes the Senate in its current form. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that a previous version of the bill, which did not pass, would increase the uninsured count by 24 million people. At the time of the House vote, the CBO had not yet estimated the impact of the revised legislation but it certainly wont reduce the uninsured rate.

And thats especially bad news for 1.4 million transgender Americans who are not only more likely to be uninsured than the general population, but who frequently face denials of coverage even when they do have health insurance.

Fourteen percent of respondents to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey were uninsured, which is slightly more than the 11 percent of the general population who do not have health insurance. When broken down by race, however, that datacollected from over 25,000 respondents by the National Center for Transgender Equalityreveals even more striking disparities: A full 20 percent of black transgender respondents said they did not have health insurance and 17 percent of Latino respondents said the same.

Transgender people who do have health insurance still face substantial problems: One in four who tried to get coverage for hormone therapy said they were deniedand over half of those who sought surgical coverage were also turned down. All this despite the fact that hormone therapy and transition-related surgery have been described and supported as medically necessary treatments by several major medical associations.

The troubles dont stop there, either: 13 percent said they were denied coverage for services like Pap smears and mammograms, and seven percent said they were even turned down for other forms of routine health care, like physicals. And getting into the doctors office is no guarantee of good treatment: A third of respondents reported having at least one negative experience with a doctor or other health care provider related to being transgender in the last year.

All of these problems could get worse. Some of them have already been taking a turn.

In all of the drama surrounding the Trump administrations stance on LGBT rights, the Obama administrations stance on transgender health care has been unraveling in the background.

Trump himself has yet to sign a major anti-LGBT executive order, despite two periods of intense speculation to that effect. The administration did, however, rescind Obama-era guidance from May 2016 instructing school districts to allow transgender students to use restrooms matching their gender.

But the Obama administration delivered another crucial but precarious victory for transgender people last May that has received much less attention than the bathroom guidance: A Department of Health and Human Services rule stating that Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which bans sex discrimination, effectively bars health care providers from denying transition-related medical care like hormones and surgeries.

A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction against that HHS rule on Jan. 31, 2016a decision that paved the way for the University of Arkansas system and the state of Wisconsin to retract transition-related medical care from employee health insurance plans without fear of federal enforcement.

And last weekwhile we watched and waited to see whether or not Trumps religious liberty executive order would allow for sweeping anti-LGBT discriminationthe administration quietly signaled the death of that HHS rule. As Rewires Christine Grimaldi reported, not only did the Department of Justice already decline to challenge the Texas injunction back in March, they filed last week for a voluntary remand and stay in the case that would allow the HHS to revise the regulations.

And it doesnt exactly give transgender people faith in the HHS that Roger Severino, Trumps appointment to head the HHS Office of Civil Rights, has already publicly opposed the Obama administrations interpretation of Section 1557 while working at the Heritage Foundation, as The Daily Beast previously reported. Nor does it thrill them that Charmaine Yoest, Trumps pick for HHS assistant public affairs secretary, once called transgender people creatures on her blog.

Its almost as if President Trump is trying to find people who say the most mean, spiteful, hateful things about transgender people to fill roles in his administration, NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling said in a press statement on Yoest.

NCTE did not immediately respond to The Daily Beasts request for comment on this story. However, they have officially outlined their concerns with transgender health care under the AHCA in a Medium post. And apart from issues of affordability and Medicaid fundingwhich would disproportionately affect transgender people given their high poverty and unemployment ratestwo issues, in particular, stick out.

The first is the possibility that gender dysphoria, the psychiatric term for the conflict between a persons actual gender and their birth-assigned gender, could be considered a pre-existing condition that would raise premiums. Transgender people often rely on this diagnosis to access transition-related medical care.

The second is a provision in the AHCA that blocks patients from using Medicaid at Planned Parenthood health centers. Thirteen percent of respondents to the U.S. Transgender Survey said they were covered by Medicaid. And as The Daily Beast reported earlier this year, Planned Parenthood may, in fact, be the largest provider of transition-related medical care in the country with health centers in at least 16 states offering hormone therapy to transgender patients.

By gutting pre-existing conditions, Medicaid, and funding for Planned Parenthood, [the AHCA] is especially harmful for transgender Americans and their families who already face serious barriers, said Keisling in a statement.

Bathroom protections and other non-discrimination measures remain important civil rights issues for transgender people. Staying alive is even more vital.
The figure is much lesser than that of the same period of 2016, which witnessed three-and-a-half lakh tourists visiting the Valley.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: There is finally good news coming in from Kashmir in the form of tourists visiting the Valley. According to the MHA sources, two-and-a-half lakh tourists visited the "paradise on earth" in the first quarter of this year. The figure is much lesser than that of the same period of 2016, which witnessed 3-and-a-half lakh tourists visiting the Valley.

advertisement

The Valley saw a massive slump in tourist arrival since the death of Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani in July last year. The year 2016 saw an impressive 11 lakh tourists heading to the Valley for vacations till July before Wani's death. But the number came down to just one lakh in the next five months.

The MHA sources said, "The decline in this year's visitor number is due to the extended winter season and snowfall, and not militancy related incidents."

BUSINESSMEN SKEPTICAL

Zuber Mahajan, tourist related businessman, however, sounded pessimistic. "I called couple of hotels today including The Lalit, Taj and Sarovar, but they are all full, because of an official delegation. However, there are not many tourists; the Dal lake - the iconic landmark of Srinagar is empty. There have been incidents of stone-pelting in Srinagar that has affected the numbers." says a dejected Mahajan, hoping that tourism might pick up now.

Subodh from Delhi, is planning a May vacation and has booked his tickets also, but is frantically making inquiries about the situation in Kashmir. He told India Today, "I have always wanted to take my family to see the paradise and so far the trip to Kashmir is on. But with news of unrest coming in I am keeping my fingers crossed."

Also read: You pelt stones at soldiers and come here for treatment: Chandigarh doctor taunts Kashmiri patient seeking surgery

Also read: Kashmir has seen worse days in '90s, not everyone pelting stones: Mehbooba Mufti at Durbar meet

--- ENDS ---
Scotch whisky revival gathers pace globally

The booming Scotch whisky business will show continued growth for the next five years at least, according to research commissioned by Vinexpo, the worlds leading wine and spirits exhibition. The Vinexpo forecast complements encouraging news from the Scotch Whisky Association, which reveals that exports rose by both value and volume in 2016.

Based on its own data commissioned from IWSR, the international trade show reveals that global Scotch whisky exports will growth year-on-year, reaching 93.8 million 9l cases by 2020. This year Vinexpo forecasts world sales will hit 87.7 million cases.

With world sales rising, Scotch whisky businesses exhibiting at the show explained why the Bordeaux-based exhibition  June 18 to June 21 - is so important.

While growth is forecast to not be uniform due to slow downs in North America, Russia and Australasia, strong sales in Asia and Latin America will more than compensate. The Asia Pacific region will see sales rise from 14.6 million cases this year to 15.2 million cases in 2018 while combined Latin and North American sales will hit 25.5 million cases in 2018, up from 25.1 million.

Europe is, and will remain, the worlds biggest market for Scotch whisky. Sales are forecast to climb to 35.8 million cases this year and to reach 36.2 million cases in 2018.

Meanwhile, the growing popularity of higher-priced malt Scotch whisky over blended Scotch, albeit from a smaller base, is helping to boost Scotch whisky globally.

The trend to malt whisky will continue to take market share from blended premium Scotch over the five year period to 2020, the report forecasts .

Scotch Whisky and US Whiskey are forecast to be the best performing international spirits categories between 2016 and 2020.

Guillaume Deglise, CEO of Vinexpo, says: Spirits brands have always been an integral part of Vinexpo because of the international character of the exhibition. With global spirits sales growing at 1.4% a year we foresee increased buyer interest from Asia and Latin America in Bordeaux this June.

Mark Newton, commercial director of Whyte and Mackay Private Label says: We first exhibited at Vinexpo in 2015 as part of a series of trade show activations. The show offered us excellent exposure and opportunities to connect with an international audience of buyers. In particularly, we established some good leads from markets such as Russia, Africa, China and Australasia, as well as Europe and the Middle East.

During the four-day exhibition new single malt whiskies from Angus Dundees Tomintoul distillery in Speyside and Glencadam distillery in the Eastern Highlands will be launched. Laura Laden, events and projects manager for Angus Dundee says: We export to 80 countries so Vinexpo offers a great opportunity to meet old and new customers, it is such an international show of great important to us. It is also a great opportunity to see what is happening in the spirits business around the world. After all, Vinexpo represents the world spirits industry with every continent present and something like 135 countries accounted for.

There is also a vibrant social and contact-making side to Vinexpo which Graham Taylor, MD of Glasgow whisky, relishes.: Its a great place to meet folk in a pleasant and informal setting, and that includes competitors, whom we havent seen in the course of the year. Bordeaux is a beautiful city; a great place to do business.

Graham says that among the range of blends displayed, Glasgow Whisky will be showing a single malt called Speymhor, which is offered in a wide range of ages. He adds,: We always make good contacts. Both Vinexpo Bordeaux and Vinexpo Hong Kong are very worthwhile. As for business, his company has just started shipping Scotch whisky to China from a contact made at Vinexpo Hong Kong last May.





9 May 2017 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor in chief
A staged car crash, complete with a medical helicopter and first responders, will take place at Bryan High School on Friday in a community-wide effort to keep drunk drivers off of the road.

The "Shattered Dreams" presentation will kick off at 9 a.m. in the high school parking lot off Oak Ridge Drive with the arrival of Bryan police and firefighters to the scene of a fake wreck re-enacted by students. Classmates will see a helicopter arrive to take the "injured" parties to the hospital and watch as a funeral home leaves with a student pretending to be dead.

After the initial crash, students will watch a video of a student playing a drunken driver being booked into jail and listen to a talk put on by a MADD victim-impact speaker whose father and sister died in a drunk-driving accident.

The mock wreck will take place a day before the school's prom. Hillary Love, the Bryan High School teacher in charge of the event, said the goal is to encourage students to get to and from the event safely.

"I hope that they understand that what goes on the streets with drunk driving, distracted driving is real," she said. "It's not just on the TV. It can affect everyone at any given moment."
By Press Trust of India: Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 (PTI) The Kerala Assembly todaycondemned the manner in which studentswere allegedly forced to remove their clothes, including inner wear, for appearing in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in the state.

Responding to concerns expressed by members of the House on the issue, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he would bring the matter to the Centres notice, adding that the police has been asked to examine the incidents.

advertisement

The strict adherence to the Central Board of Secondary Educations (CBSE) anti-cheating dress code for those appearing for the NEET-UG for BDS and MBBS aspirants, held on May 7, has come in for criticism after several students were asked to remove their head scarves, nose-pins and cut sleeves of their tops.

A student in Kannur was asked to remove her bra as it had a metal hook, while another was forced to pluck out a metal button from her jeans and later asked to purchase new clothes as the jeans had pockets. Many students also had to cut the sleeves of their tops.

The matter was raised in the assembly through a submission and both ruling and opposition benches unanimously condemned the incidents.

Vijayan said the incident of the girl student removing her inner wear would be examined legally after registering a case.

"A woman police official has been directed to meet the student and her parents," he said.

Complaints had been received from two centres in Kannur regarding the physical frisking of students, Vijayan said.

The sleeves of their dresses were cut and some students were forced to remove their clothing, including inner wear, causing a lot of mental pressure, he said.

"This will be brought to the Centres notice," he said.

A student was not permitted to write the examination at a centre in Ernakulam district. This also would be examined, the Left leader said without elaborating.

Some students appearing for the test had to "undergo unnecessary mental agony", he said, adding police officials have been directed to examine the incidents.

Attacking the norms laid down by CBSE for NEET, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said stripping of students and using metal detectors for physical examination was "cruel, inhuman and insulting" which created mental pressure on the students.

"Students had to beg, borrow and buy new dresses to appear for the examination after they were told that their clothing was not as per norms," he said.

This is human rights violation, the Congress leader charged, adding they had not come with bombs and pistols to write the test.

advertisement

The CBSE norms are an "insult to humanity", Chennithala said while urging the Assembly to unanimously pass a resolution against such norms.

The matter was also raised briefly yesterday in the state assembly. PTI UD JRK VS SRY

--- ENDS ---
A 69-year-old College Station man was sentenced Monday to spend the next two years in prison.

Jurors convicted John Wesley Vaughn last week of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting then-neighbor Chad Glasshoff at the intersection of Hickory Nut Road and Woods Lane in College Station in October 2014. Vaughn shot Glasshoff in the hand and back, firing his weapon a total of five times into Glasshoff's truck as he stood behind the vehicle. Vaughn testified last week that he had been firing at a weapon in Glasshoff's hand -- Glasshoff said he had been holding a phone at the time of the shooting -- and had stopped firing when the object fell out of his grasp. Investigators never found a weapon in Glasshoff's truck.

Vaughn -- an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War who suffers from PTSD and chronic memory loss -- and Glasshoff -- a former Marine -- testified they had a long-running feud and were each scared of the other.

The feud extended beyond the two men. In September 2012, Vaughn's wife said, her husband was brutally beaten by other neighbors with sharp sticks.

Kara Comte, who prosecuted the case alongside Philip McLemore, told jurors their ruling Monday would "resonate" and tell the neighborhood residents "what punishment they face" if they continue harassing and, specifically, shooting each other. In her closing arguments before the jury's deliberation, Comte urged the jury to recommend a prison sentence, not probation.

Vaughn, who had never been convicted of a felony, faced between two and 20 years, but he was eligible for community supervision, provided the jury recommended both a sentence of less than 10 years and probation, as opposed to a prison sentence.

"A prison sentence could well prove to be a death sentence," said Rick Davis, Vaughn's attorney.

"John Vaughn has never been given a chance on probation," he added.

McLemore and Comte talked about the importance of blind justice in their closing arguments.

"If you shoot someone in Brazos County, you do not deserve probation. You deserve to go to prison," Comte said.

"If justice is truly blind, you know what the appropriate verdict is in this case," McLemore said.

Davis rejected the idea in his closing arguments, saying "we cannot have cookie-cutter justice."

"Justice has to fit the crime and circumstance," he said.

The College Station neighborhood where the men lived has a history of intimidation among neighbors; over the trial's course, Davis noted other instances of violence and aggression. In his closing arguments, McLemore told the jury that Vaughn was the common denominator of the activity.

"He is the instigator in these problems," McLemore said.

Davis told the jury that "John has called the police a lot, too," and that he's been a victim of the neighborhood's violence. Defense witnesses testified that Vaughn's memory problems had gotten worse after the 2012 beating, which left him with severe head injuries.

Comte told jurors that, aside from the message they would send with their decision on Vaughn's sentence, the defendant needed to be held accountable for his actions.

"I know this man knows there are consequences for your actions," Comte said. "Give him a consequence."

The jury did not recommend probation. Under the laws applicable to this case, Vaughn will need to serve the full two years of his sentence. He will not be eligible for parole.

"John Vaughn and his wife are devastated by the verdict," Davis said before adding that his client will file an appeal.

After the sentencing, McLemore called the verdict just and thanked the jury for their "time, thought and effort."

"For everyone involved, this was a tough case." McLemore said. "There were victims on both sides."
With an average of 60,000 vehicles and 20 trains passing through the intersection of George Bush Drive and Wellborn Road each day -- not to mention cyclists and pedestrians -- it's not uncommon for motorists to wait in long lines for multiple light cycles to make it through the crossing.

The Texas Department of Transportation began studying how to improve the busy intersection in 1999. Nearly two decades later, congestion at the bottleneck has worsened as Texas A&M's enrollment and College Station's population have climbed, and TxDOT, along with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, is taking another look at whether a potential grade-separated interchange could help alleviate some of the congestion.

The Federal Highway Administration gave environmental clearance in 2008 to a plan for a three-level interchange. The improvements proposed close to a decade ago called for partial or full closures to the intersection, though, for at least six months and a minimum of two years of construction.

There's still no construction timeline or funding identified for the project -- it's estimated to cost between $40 million and $50 million -- and TxDOT and TTI have partnered to revisit the interchange design and gather input from the public on how it could be improved.

TTI Research Fellow Tim Lomax said while the project is years from a start date, it's still important to start considering ways to minimize the potential negative effects construction could have on residents' lives day-to-day, whether it be noise or traffic that's diverted from the intersection.

"We're trying not to have too much of that cost [on peoples' lives]," Lomax said. "We could save a few million dollars on construction, but if that meant we really messed up everyone's lives for a really long time, maybe that's not really want the public wants us to do with their tax dollars. Maybe they would rather us spend a few more tax dollars to get a better product."

TTI is asking the public to participate in a survey to gauge input on the project, such as main concerns for the intersection, what type of construction schedule residents would prefer and their suggestions for the intersection design.

The concept approved in 2008 calls for a bridge to separate the trains from a depressed George Bush Drive, a pedestrian bridge over both roads and under the Union Pacific Railroad, and north and southbound Wellborn Road vehicular bridges to separate traffic from George Bush. Lomax said while the plan had public support at the time, the community now may indicate that it would prefer all elevated structures with bridges and an overpass, which would be easier and faster to accomplish.

In the meantime, Lomax said, TxDOT has been working to acquire the right-of-way of property around the intersection that will be generally needed for the project regardless of what the final design looks like.

Some of the properties that will be affected by the project include the former site of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley, which relocated to Hillel at Texas A&M in January, and the apartment complex on George Bush Drive adjacent to Aggieland Outfitters.

Whitney Wolf has been the property manager of the apartment complex, which used to be called Varsity II, since a new owner bought the property in 2013. She's known since then that TxDOT would eventually purchase the property through eminent domain, but with the project on the books for more than 15 years, she had "no idea" what that would happen.

"We initially were contacted by the state late last May, and at the end of July is when we started getting the initial notices sent to us and the tenants that a relocation company would be coming in," Wolf said.

The complex of 30 units was fully occupied until the tenants were notified last July about the need to eventually be relocated, Wolf said. Now the apartments have about a 60 percent occupancy.

The state has made an offer for the property, but Wolf said it hasn't been accepted. It's a "waiting game" at this point, she said, and while the intersection improvements will help the community in the long run, they'll likely put a squeeze on area businesses during construction.

"Obviously we're losing our entire property, which is not easily replaceable," Wolf said. "There aren't many privately owned apartment complexes directly across the street from the university, so I can't go out and replace this property with something of equal value, in my opinion."

Lomax said a major goal for the public engagement period through the summer is finding ways to minimize disruption during construction, which could include offering pay incentives in the construction contract to speed up the work and engaging with Texas A&M about moving certain close times during peak traffic. A second engagement period will be held in the fall to present design alternatives based on the concerns, ideas and feedback gathered through the survey.

Any improvements to the intersection are still years off -- likely not until around 2021, when the diverging diamond interchange at F.M. 60 and the widening of F.M. 2818 are estimated to be complete. Lomax said both projects will be needed to accommodate the traffic that will be diverted when the Bush-Wellborn improvements begin.

Though the improvements won't eliminate traffic congestion at the intersection, Lomax said it's a piece of a system that will dramatically improve safety and "take away the biggest bottleneck on this side of town."

To take the survey and learn more, visit www.bwx-bcs.org. To request a meeting or provide further comments, email bush-wellborn@tti.tamu.edu.
May 2, 1944 - May 6, 2017

We know that they are celebrating in heaven, but we have a little less light in our world. Leni Edith Anderson Christian passed away painlessly in her sleep on May 6, 2017, in Waco, Texas. Cancer claimed her life, but it never claimed her spirit nor her radiant smile, which all who knew Leni loved about her.

A reception will be held 5:00-7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 11, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home in Waco. A family burial will be held in College Station, to place Leni beside her mother and father at the Memorial Cemetery of College Station. The memorial service will follow at Brazos Meadows Baptist Church in Hewitt, Texas, at 2:00 p.m., Friday, May 12.

Leni grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, and went to high school with Janis Joplin, a fact that she loved to tell friends. She would recount vivid memories of Janis sitting on the front steps of the school draped in colorful boas and playing her zither. Her parents were Clara Bell Anderson and Harold Arvin Anderson. In her high school years, Leni was crowned Cavoilcade Queen in Port Arthur. She graduated from Baylor University, where she was a Baylor Beauty, and married Michael John Henke in 1966. They lived in Alexandria, Virginia, for all of their 40 years together.

Kind hearted and full of joy, Leni was a doting mother to her three children, Blake, Paige and Britt. She chose to stay at home with her kids, rather than to work outside the home. She was an incredible mother, and her children were the center of her world. She was at every school and sporting event and volunteered with many school activities, including Cub Scouts, Brownies, as well as music and art classes. She even drove Paige's high school lacrosse team from Virginia to Florida, a trip that most certainly tested her maternal dedication and patience. She was an accomplished piano player and led the children's choir at church for many years. She also taught piano lessons and played carols at annual Christmas parties.

Leni had a deep love for the family farm near Hume, Virginia, and she would often retreat there for weekends and summers. One of her favorite things to do was to ride around the farm by herself in the evenings on her four-wheel ATV. For a time, she had horses there, and enjoyed trail rides on the nearby Marriot Ranch. She loved antiques and going antiquing.

Leni was active at her church, attending Bible study and prayer retreats regularly. She made 29 trips to Israel, bringing donated items and spreading the word of Jesus to anyone who would listen. Near and dear to her heart, this work was a true expression of her Christian faith. She felt at home in Israel. Based on the reactions she received, it seemed to her family that Leni had an invisible sign that said to complete strangers, "I can help!" And help she did!

After her divorce from Michael Henke in 2008, Leni moved to College Station. She was reacquainted with Dr. Robert Christian, whom she had known 40 years before at Baylor University. Love quickly blossomed and they were married. Leni and Robert had a wonderful life together in Waco until her passing.

Leni is survived by her husband of nine years, Dr. Robert Christian; three grown children, Blake, Paige, and Britt; four grandchildren, Wyatt, Brooks, Carter, and Jake; her brother, Swiki Anderson and wife, Judy, and their children, Ryan and Jeremy, and their grandchildren, Kira, Kai, and Cohen. Leni is also survived by step-son, Bryan Christian and wife, Angela, and their children, Gus and Zach.

We thank Providence Hospice, Interim Care, and a special thanks to Arlene Loredo, and Janie Compian for lovingly caring for mom in her final days.

Memorials can be given to a charity of your choice. Peace be on earth. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com.
It is important to attend Thursday's College Station City Council meeting

If you consider College Station your home, chances are you care more than you know about what happens Thursday at the city council meeting.

Look around you, neighbor: Looks like a hot competition among developers to narrow our streets with quick-profit, multi-residence dorms and accompanying vehicles.

Change is certainly in the future, but we have much to lose by staying ignorant of this railroading. The quality of sight, sound, and safety in our town, which always has been high, is disappearing.

The council may be asked to vote for a version of the Unified Development Ordinance from Planning and Zoning, in support of neighborhoods.

Taking some ownership of what we have is not complicated. Step one might be to show up for a while at City Hall at 7 p.m., and listen.

KATHRYN G. LINDSAY

College Station

We don't need another committee to study health care issues

Paul Ryan is a saint.

When President Barack Obama was selling his medical plan, he called for Republican inputs, then insulted them. He gathered legislators and lectured them. He invited Ryan to a public hearing, then pointedly ignored his presence.

Ryan quietly persisted. To combine increased coverage with fiscal responsibility he gave the customer power over the process. No long list of must-have coverage. No "tax" if you didn't sign up. Choice of plans from around the country. And a generous lump-sum payment to everyone who did sign up, forcing insurance companies to adjust their costs. The rich could buy Cadillac plans.

Ryan worked openly with all parties for seven years. He led the House to repeated repeal efforts of the Affordable Care Act, with his plan in the wings. After the election he brought it out.

What happened? The Democrats vowed never to join the effort. The insurance and drug companies and the hospitals, fearful of cheaper health care, sent in their lobbyists to threaten to cut off campaign contributions. The Freedom Caucus backed away, insisting on "perfection." The best plan has given way to a patchwork compromise.

In other words, Ryan tried for seven years to make a committee work. And now The Eagle (May 7) wants to call in another committee, while Obamacare breaks all those Obama promises with cancelled policies, high premiums and huge deductibles.

Lots of luck.

Dr. JOSEPH P. KERWIN

College Station

All government employees should be held accountable

Donnis Baggett (Eagle, April 30) elegantly and persuasively insists that Texas state government officials be transparent in their official actions. Those trying to influence the laws being passed and the regulations being made should not do so in secret. It also should be clear who will benefit from all official actions.

The arguments Baggett presents for transparency at the state level also apply at the federal level. President Donald Trump lies so routinely that it is just accepted as part of his persona. His administration has been called the least transparent since that of Richard Nixon. It's impossible to know what really motivated any of the actions that have been taken.

Personal financial gain always motivates Trump. What is hidden in his tax returns? He promised to release them but now refuses to do so. Who has he received money from and who does he owe money to? How will he and his family benefit from the changes in tax laws he is proposing?

Trump's first national security adviser was forced out after it was disclosed that he had secretly received millions of dollars from Russia. The FBI actively is investigating other members of the administration for possible wrong-doing. What are Trump's business ties to Russia and China and how do they affect the rest of us?

Trump also has refused to release White House visitors' logs. Who has been there and what did they want? The dozens of big company CEOs seen coming and going probably have been instrumental in reducing regulations on health insurance, energy and financial companies, actions that will hurt most of us.

We should not assume that all local, state and federal government employees are trying to help us. If not held accountable, they only will help themselves.

BOB PRESLEY

College Station
At present there is an imbalance between the large corporations and everybody else. The current trend for corporations to sue governments for trying to protect people or nature - such as the Bayer Syngenta case against the European Union's ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides linked to the deaths of millions of bee

And while big multilateral trade agreements like TTIP and TPP have been set back by the election of President Trump, others like CETA are going ahead and additional bilateral trade agreements are under constant negotiation.

Also we are seeing the financialization of nature - monetising ecosystems by creating property titles out of the various functions of nature to form the basis of cash flows that can be traded on the capital markets. This is coupled with flawed methodologies - like biodiversity offsetting which assumes that interconnected living ecosystems are interchangeable like bank notes - which could lead to ecological suicide.

These trends have the potential to greatly accelerate the destruction. Bringing nature in as a stakeholder in its own right is a powerful counterbalance to corporate dictatorship. It empowers people and governments to stand for nature - the underlying basis of our economy and our lives - and to protect future generations using a different structure of law.

Outdated paradigms

Our laws are based on an outdated 17th century paradigm which is anthropocentric, mechanistic and adversarial - and separates humans from nature.

Law governs relationships but only between subjects of the law. Because nature is treated as an object, the law doesn't recognise a relationship between us and the rest of nature. This not only leads to an attitude of separation and disconnection, it also leads to several practical issues that make it almost impossible to protect nature using the law.

Environmental law is failing because it comes from the same paradigm that created the problem. It is designed to manage the externalities of business as usual without addressing root causes such as the fundamental orientation of our economic system itself.

As such, it can only slow the rate of degradation - it cannot stop or reverse it.

However, deregulation and market based solutions are not the answer. We need systemic transformation - so that our laws encourage human activity that enhances the resilience of the earth. And environmental law is evolving to lead the way.

Gaining traction around the world

The new paradigm represented by nature's rights have been recognised in law at national, local and court levels in Bolivia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, India, Africa and the USA.

However for these laws to be effective they must be integrated across all areas of society which means transitioning all of our systems to operate in harmony with nature. This will create huge opportunities for creativity and innovation, increased health and wellbeing and jobs - creating living economies that serve life.

As humanity is facing unprecedented global environmental problems, experts, NGOs and environmental institutions have been working for years to develop ways to protect ecosystems against the harms of economic development.

"Current indicators, focused on economic growth, don't reveal how sustainable our development really is", Luc Bas, European Regional Director from IUCN told the Nature's Rights conference. "Incorporating the value of natural capital in economic decision-making is one way to improve this. However, to prevent a commodification of nature, approaches such as the rights of nature need to be part of the debate."

This is why IUCN, the leading global authority on nature conservation, adopted rights of nature in their resolutions and 2017-2020 work programme. Additionally, the UN has a Harmony with Nature Initiative with over 200 experts devoted to promoting Earth Jurisprudence and nature's rights as a systemic solution to support the sustainability transition.

We've talked about sustainability for decades - but there is actually no legal framework to achieve it. Nature's rights - integrated across all areas of society - create this much needed legal framework.

European citizens initiative

This is why the organisation Nature's Rights is proposing a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) - a democratic mechanism open to citizens of the EU - to propose the rights of nature onto the EU legislative agenda.

To this end they have prepared a Draft EU Directive which has been reviewed by experts from around the world including the UN Harmony with Nature experts and experts from the IUCN. The ECI involves collecting 1 million statements of support across seven or more member states.

This will require massive collaboration between institutions, experts, NGOs and people - working together pro-actively to support this paradigm shift in law - a development long overdue, as Nature's Rights conference co-host, MEP and Vice Chair of the Environment Committee Pavel Poc (S&D) explained:

"Decades of insane growth worship brought us to the edge of the cliff. Now it is time to look underfoot and stop, otherwise nothing follows but a deep deep drop. The rights of nature concept might be the safety rope before it is too late."

Vision for the future

The 7th Environment Programme sets out a vision for the future - in 2050 we live well within ecological limits with a circular economy where nothing is wasted and where nature is valued and restored in ways that enhance our resilience.

As Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency said in his keynote speech to a packed room:

"The causes of climate change are systemic. Energy efficiency gains may get us to 2030 but to get to where we need to be by 2050 we must look at deeper systemic solutions.

We believe that the rights of nature framework will be a powerful ally in achieving this goal by providing a legal imperative for systemic transformation - so that humanity flourishes in harmony with nature for generations to come."

Mumta Ito is a lawyer and Founder of the NGO Nature's Rights. She

sees law as a vehicle for social transformation in a paradigm of restoration, reparation and healing. One of Europe's leading advocates for nature's rights, she is also European facilitator of the UN Harmony with Nature expert dialogues and initiator of a European Citizens Initiative to propose nature's rights to the EU legislative agenda.

Nature's Rights conference

On 29 March 2017, Nature's Rights - a non-profit organisation seeking to establish legal personality and rights for ecosystems and species - organised an event in the European Parliament to introduce their initiative.

About Nature's Rights

Nature's Rights (previously Rights of Nature Europe) is a young international non-profit organization committed to establishing rights of nature in law and policy in Europe and around the world. Among its innovations is a Draft EU Directive to codify nature's rights into European law.

Twitter: @NaturesRights.

Email: contact@natures-rights.org.
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: Colombo, May 9 (PTI) Sri Lanka has started removing wasp nests in the central hill area of Dickoya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit later this week to avoid any possible "attack" by the insects.

The security units assigned with the provision of security to Prime Minister Modi is coordinating with the Hatton Superintendents of Police office and have obtained the assistance of the organisation for the protection of such insects.

advertisement

The nests are being currently removed by the Hatton Police Directors Office following orders from the police chief Pujith Jayasundera.

Lankan police fear that helicopters carrying the VIPs, could disturb multiple wasp nests in large trees in the vicinity.

"Lankan authorities have taken measures to prevent any attack by these wasps that are now present in large numbers in the estate sector," official sources said.

Modi will travel to Sri Lanka on May 11 to attend the biggest Buddhist festival, Vesak Day the next day.

The International Day of Vesak celebrations, to be held in Colombo from May 12 to 14, will include an International Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate.

He will inaugurate a well-equipped hospital in Dickoya built with the Indian assistance. He will later address a public rally at the Norwood grounds.

Both the Lankan leaders President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are to accompany the Indian leader to the hill region. PTI CORR KJ AKJ KJ

--- ENDS ---
The delay in food infuriated the son so much that he hacked his mother to death.

By Hemender Sharma: In a shocking incident in district Alirajpur of Madhya Pradesh, a 13-year-old boy of village Desalpur hacked his mother to death on Tuesday. While the mother was involved in household chores and could not serve food to her son on time, the delay infuriated the teenager to such an extent that he hacked his mother to death, police said.

advertisement

According to district Superintendent of Police K Kartikeyen, the accused identified as Dinesh fled the spot after committing the crime. "Dinesh had gone out to play in the morning and returned home around 10.30 am. He asked his mother for food but as she was busy doing some household work she could not give him food immediately. This infuriated the accused and he brought a C-shaped sharp-edged weapon from the kitchen and hacked his mother to death," the district SP said.

The neighbours informed the police but the accused had fled before the team reached the spot.

The woman has been identified as Shairi Bai, mother of three that included the accused and one more son and a daughter. The victim was also six months pregnant, police said.

The victim's husband Magar Singh works as a farm labourer and had left for work early in the morning.

According to police, a murder case under section 302 has been registered against the accused. "We are trying to trace the accused and he will be arrested under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. A son killing his mother is a rarest of rare crime and only the courts will decide what kind of relief the accused will get because of his age. The job at hand for us right now is to arrest him," Kailash Chauhan, SHO Jobat police station said.

Also read: Delhi man arrested for killing live-in partner, was accused in 20 cases of murder, extortion

Also read: In Pune techie rape and murder case, death penalty for 3 convicts

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

--- ENDS ---
Check out formal fashion, hike Starr's Cave and more this weekend in SE Iowa
The text book claims that there are sure shot ways through which a woman can conceive a male child.

By Vidya , Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: Ganesh Borhade, who has been working in the field of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, had complained to the additional director family welfare in August last year about the 3rd year text books of Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery (BAMS) textbook that provides information on techniques to conceive a baby boy.

advertisement

Borhade got to know about the text book 'CharakSamhita', a second century compilation of scriptures which is reprinted and forms a part of the course for students across Maharashtra in Ayurveda.

The text book claims that there are sure shot ways through which a woman can conceive a male child. Some of these are - collect two north or east facing branches of a Banyan tree grown in a stable, take two grains of Urad Dal or mustard seeds, grind all the ingredients with curd, and consume the mixture; create two miniature statues of a man out of gold, silver, or iron after throwing the statues in a furnace, pour that molten element in milk, curd or water, and on an auspicious hour of Pushp Nakshatra, consume it; another procedure in the two pages of the book states that roots of Banyan tree have to be crushed and its juice if taken in left nose will help give birth to a girl child while putting it in the right will ensure conception of a boy child.

Borhade while talking to India Today says, "Stating procedure about how to conceive a male child violates section 22 of PCPNDT Act. And since work under PCPNDT Act is carried out by the Family Welfare Department of Maharashtra, so I complained to them asking for that chapter to be removed from the book. I got to know that there have been many meetings but nothing has been done. It is there even for the new batch of students."

NO ACTION TAKEN SO FAR

Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) based in Nashik said after Borhade's complaint, the additional director family welfare of Maharashtra shot off a letter to the MUHS pointing out the two pages of 'CharakSanhita' and expressed disappointment.

The MUHS on its part shot off a letter to the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) in Delhi, pointing out the objections that had been raised but nothing has happened so far.

Kalidas Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor of MUHS, however, said that CharakSanhita only described the procedures for a healthy child and not for a male child. "We have also mentioned the PCPNDT Act right there on the same page, so that no one goes in for sex selection of a child and knows while reading the chapter that it is wrong to select a male child."

advertisement

The MUHS on its side has set up a committee to look into all the reference books.

Maharashtra Health Minister Girish Bapat commenting on the issue said, "The one-member committee will give its report on May 12 and we will see if the interpretation of the word means only a male child or a healthy child. The government will take a decision on whether to exclude the chapter or not after that."

Varsha Deshpande, a well-known activist from Satara, who has been working in the field to uplift the already skewed sex ratio in the state with her project - Lek Ladki Abhiyan said, "As a lawyer if you ask me, yes it is illegal but I think it falls more under the sections of 2013 black magic act. We all know that the sex ratio is not getting hurt with this. But we have shot off a notice to the government and in case nothing happens, then we will take suitable legal recourse."

Deshpande and Borhade both reiterated that no matter what the government says, the two pages of CharakSamhita clearly mention "PunsvanSanskar" which is a reference about a boy child.

advertisement

(With inputs from Pravin Thackeray from Nashik, Imtiaz Mujhavar from Satara)

Also read: Mother clicks photo of newborn with birth control device that was supposed to prevent his conception

Also read: The curious case of this American couple as DNA tests declare them twins

--- ENDS ---
Gunny bags full of onions are piled up everywhere at the agriculture produce market committee (APMC) godown at Rahuri in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. It's a 'bumper' crop this year, say the proud farmers in a tone which belies their helplessness over the low prices for their produce. Last year, the farmers had sold onions at an average of Rs 18 per kg. This year it's down to Rs 5 per kg (plus Re 1 per kg as state subsidy for onions). Rajendra Rokade, from Parner, transported his 2,000 kgs to Rahuri 68 km away just because he got 50 paise more per kg here than at the other APMCs (Rs 6.50 per kg). He got an extra Rs 1,000 for the effort. "I can purchase grocery for my family when I get 50 paise more," Rokade shrugs. "It's becoming difficult to manage expenses."

Rokade represents a class of farmers caught in a quandary this year-blessed by the nature gods but undone by the government system. The farming sector in Maharashtra registered a growth of 12.5 per cent-the highest in the past five years. There has been a phenomenal increase in the production of traditional crops such as tur, soyabean, onion and jowar, thanks to the 110 per cent rainfall last year and the suitable climate hence. Compared to the five million quintals of tur produced last year, this time the number is up to 11.7 million quintals. However, the drastic fall in prices has left the farmers with empty pockets again. Tur is being sold at Rs 3,700 per quintal to private traders as the government centres, where it is purchased at a rate of Rs 5,050 per quintal, take at least a week to complete procurement.

advertisement

The Opposition is mounting pressure on the Devendra Fadnavis-led government to announce a loan waiver to the farmers. But even the farmers think that loan waivers are a temporary relief, not a permanent solution. Vilas Sagare, who has come to Rahuri to sell his onion crop, equates the waiver with begging. He says the government should instead announce a minimum support price for each crop. "We want a good market price, not freebies," says Sagare, who has a loan of Rs 1.25 lakh from the district cooperative bank. "If we earn even 20 per cent profit, we will not need loans from any bank," he says.

The mood is worse in areas where rainfall was inadequate. At Kauthadi, a village near Baramati in Pune, Haushiram Matole points to his dried pomegranate crop. He invested Rs 7.5 lakh on his five-acre farm-and has so far earned about Rs 80,000. "If the government waives the loan, I will not reject it like I did last time," says Matole. "But loan waivers alone will not help. What we need is cash to invest further in the farms. And that we can earn only through better prices for our produce. No hard-working farmer will go begging to the government for his loan to be waived." Interestingly, Matole had repaid a loan of Rs 9 lakh in 2008 even after the government's waiver that year. "I did it because the market was good at the time," he says.

Samadhan Mirgal from nearby Jitegaon, however, is in favour of the waiver. He has a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh which he took to instal a drip irrigation line on his five-acre farm. He could sow only jowar because of the inadequate rainfall. The prices are down from Rs 1,800 to Rs 1,200 per quintal. "If I had some other cash crop, I would have said I don't need the waiver," Mirgal says. "But how I am supposed to repay the loan now?"

The debate has steamed up of late, especially after the new Uttar Pradesh government announced a waiver to farmers there. While the BJP government in Maharashtra is sticking to its stand of no loan waivers, the Opposition-on the backfoot since the rout in the municipal polls-has made it an issue to regain lost ground. The Congress and NCP even took out a six-day march over this. The second phase of the protest began on April 15.

Fadnavis maintains that loan waivers are no solution. He says the state is committed to providing farmers security in water and electricity so that they can increase crop production. "We are creating a system where the farmers will not feel their loan is a burden," he says, adding that the government's "investments" in the sector will start bearing fruit in about five years. He also points out that loan waivers help the district cooperative banks more than the farmers. "We saw it last time too. Our decision on loan waivers will be on a case-to-case basis," he says.

advertisement

Fadnavis has a point. Around 90 per cent of the state's farmers have accounts in the district co-op banks. The administration of the Osmanabad district bank "misused" Rs 4 crore of the Rs 10 crore it got from the Centre for disbursing crop insurance money. The bank put out the money to earn interest instead of disbursing it to farmers.

NCP leader Dilip Walse-Patil, though, disagrees with the CM. He says a loan waiver would help the banks get rid of their NPAs (non-performing assets) and help improve their financial condition. "After all, the district banks are meant to help the farmers. What's wrong if they become rich?"

Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, meanwhile, is in favour of depositing loan amounts directly into the farmer's account. "The banks are cheats, not the farmers," he says.

Away from the political slugfest, the villagers at Puntamba have taken an unusual stand. The gram sabha has called for a farmers' strike from June 1. Protesting the state's apathy, they will not sell their produce. The agitation has now spread to four other talukas-Vaijapur, Kopargaon, Rahata and Rahuri.

advertisement

Farmer leader Dhananjay Jadhav says the plan is to spread the agitation to other parts of the state too. He argues that the farmers' plight will not be heard until there is a shortage of milk and other essential items in the cities. "We will call it a success if we manage to cut supplies by 40 per cent," says the BJP worker. Jadhav believes excess production is a curse for the farmers. "We get good prices only when there is a shortage. The government will come to its knees when the shortage is created." Everyone agrees that the farmers' demand for creating a market system where they can earn profits is justified. All eyes are on the Fadnavis government on how it solves this complicated puzzle.

--- ENDS ---
While many outlets are publishing Mother's Day gift lists, none of them mention "bail money". But enterprising bail bondsmen are trying to cash in on the holiday to promote their services.

A bail bond is a promise by an insurance company to pay the entire amount of someone's bail if the accused doesn't show up in court. The insurance company, through a bail bond agency, will charge a premium for posting the bond, often 10%. Bail bond firms can offer payment plans to people with good credit. You can see your credit score and read your credit report for free within minutes with Credit Manager.

Absolute Bail Bonds, a "family owned and operated" business with multiple California locations, under the headline Bring Your Loved One Home to Mom for Mother's Day, offers the following heart-warming holiday image online suitable for framing:

The sales copy under the photo reads: "The ultimate Mother's Day gift you can ever give to Mom would be the presence of a loved one whom she believes is stuck in jail. Let us say that it is your brother who is in jail. Surprise Mom for Mother's Day and show up with your brother right by your side." In the happily reunited family photo above, my guess is the brother is indicating where he got pinched for his lemonade stand Big Wheel drive-by Nerf shooting. Hope Sis didn't have to sell her puppy to bail him out.

My brothers have never tested my love for them by needing bail (or kept it so quiet I didn't know). But who would let a brother rot in jail if it weren't Mother's Day? "I wasn't going to bail you out for grand theft, bro, but Mom would miss you too much at her holiday brunch. For payback, can you snatch a pair of diamond earrings I can give to Grandma?"

Other heart-tugging promotions employed by Absolute and other bail bonds websites include:

A Mother's Day Miracle: The Whole Family Together

Don't Miss Mother's Day  Bail Out Your Family!

Mom May Be Mad Now, But She'll Be Relieved To Have You Home By Mother's Day

San Diego Bail Bonds, which is affiliated with Absolute Bail Bonds, realizes that not asking mom herself for bail money could cut into their bottom line. Their promotion, If There Is One Person To Ask For Help From, It's Mom, includes the line, "Timing now may not be the best right now, with it being Mother's Day and all, but don't fret about ruining 'her day.'"

Another California firm, Absolutely Affordable Bail Bonds, also suggests bail bonds as a Mother's Day gift idea, but with a twist: "What if Mom is the one in jail?" They so eloquently ask, "What better way to show mom you love her by getting a bail bonds company to help." I hope I never have to show my mom that kind of love.

To all the moms, happy Mother's Day! And, if you're baking a holiday cake for Mom, I hope you don't need to hide a file in it.

You can see your credit score and read your credit report for free within minutes with Credit Manager.


This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Contributed Photo / Norwalk FD / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Contributed Photo / Norwalk FD / Contributed photo Show More Show Less 3 of 3





NORWALKFlames and thick smoke drove eight people and a dog from their home overnight, according to fire officials.

No one was seriously hurt in the blaze, which broke out on Richlee Road around 11:45 Monday evening.
DARIEN  Police charged a 27-year-old Norwalk woman with drunk driving after she allegedly drove with empty liquor bottles in her car.

On May 6 around 10 p.m., there was a car accident in the parking lot of Stop & Shop on Heights Road where one of the drivers left the scene. Shortly afterwards, an officer on West Avenue near the Post Road saw a blue Toyota minivan with heavy damage, matching the description of the car in the accident. The officer pulled up next to the car and asked the driver, Karla Chanez-Fernandez of Clarmore Drive, what happened to her car. The Norwalk woman told the officer she didnt hit anything.
Mango kulfi is the best dish you can indulge in during summers. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/196 flavors - Authentic World Cuisine Blog

By Shreya Goswami: If you find the aroma of mangoes irresistible, summer is the best season for you. With beautiful ripe mangoes available all over the country in each and every market, this is the time to indulge in mangoes and dishes that include it. Of course, the rising heat makes one very Indian mango dish a must-have--mango kulfi.

Think about it, do you want anything more than mango kulfi in your freezer to deal with summer and its gift of scorching heat. This is the one of the dishes that will allow you to indulge in mangoes, while keeping cool.

advertisement

Also Read: 7 boozy popsicles to give your summer cocktails a twist

But please don't think about buying it ready-made. Additives and excess sugar apart, one never gets the true flavour of mangoes with ready-made mango kulfi.

Make this mango kulfi to indulge in mangoes while staying cool this summer. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/myeverydaymusing.blogspot.in

You should just go buy the best mangoes your local market has to offer, and whip it up at home. It's not difficult to, and you can actually have a constant supply of this luscious, creamy and delicious dish this way.

Ingredients:

1 cup full fat milk, warm

1/2 cup sweet condensed milk

1/2 cup cream

1 1/2 cup mangoes, chopped

1/2 tsp saffron

1 tbsp cardamom, crushed

1 tbsp pistachios, chopped (optional)

Ditch ready-made kulfis, and make this easy mango kulfi at home. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/abitwholesomely.com

Also Read: 4 simple and summery ways to cook that fish fillet

Method:

1. Soak the saffron strands in the warm milk, and let it rest for half an hour.

2. Pour the saffron milk, condensed milk, cream, mangoes and cardamom in a mixie jar. Give it a good whiz till everything is mixed together.

3. Pour the mix into kulfi moulds, and put it in the freezer overnight, or for six hours. De-mould and serve with a sprinkling of pistachios on top.

Did we just give you the easiest mango kulfi recipe there is? Yes we did. You will not have to slave over a hot stove to stir the milk as it gets condensed--so this recipe is completely hassle-free. If this doesn't help you indulge in mangoes while keeping cool, we don't know what will.

--- ENDS ---
When Bernhard First Subdivision, north of Seedling Mile Road, was first platted in 1955, a public road was also platted at the north end of Voss Road.

Since then, Public Works Director John Collins said, that end piece where they thought about putting a road was never going to be developed.

As a result, adjacent property owners have come forward with a request for the city of Grand Island to vacate the north end of Voss Road, north of Seedling Mile Road. The Grand Island City Council will consider approving the request in an ordinance at its meeting Tuesday evening.

Its an open piece of ground where road was supposed to go a long time ago, but it is obviously never going to happen since that was 50 or 60 years ago, Collins said. We looked at it (the portion of Voss Road) and talked with the Planning Department and other departments, and found out the odds of this ever being developed was virtually zero. So we decided to vacate it.

He added there is no reason for this road to exist because the two adjacent properties are already served by a road running north to south.

The City Council will also consider awarding a bid to Central Nebraska Sod Supply for hydroseeding for the Streets Division. The item is in the consent agenda.

Central Nebraska Sod Supply was the sole bidder at a cost of roughly 13 cents per square foot. Collins said the Streets Division is hoping to do a couple hundred thousand square feet of hydroseeding. The cost equates to about $26,000 for hydroseeding.

Due to mild weather this spring, he said, the Streets Division was able to clean out seven different areas across town, including detention cells and bottoms of some of the ditches. Information provided in the council agenda packet states this cleaning resulted in disruption of grass-covered areas and will cause soil erosion if left untreated.

If we dont cover them up, what will happen is after you clean the area, the rain and the water over the spring and summer will tear it all up, Collins said. So basically youve wasted your work. This will let us seed it.

Hydroseeding, he explained, is when water is used to push seed into areas where grass is needed. He said some companies will mix the seed with water and jet it in together, while other companies seed first and then use a jet, or foam, to push the seed into the ground.

This ensures that the seed easily covers the area, that it is pressed into the soil at the right depth and that it receives plenty of moisture so it can start growing, Collins said. If you dont do that, sometimes the birds get it or insects will carry it off.

He added that hydroseeding will be sprinkled around in these seven areas throughout the summer and will be completed as time and money permits.

In other action, the City Council will:

- Hold separate public hearings on and consider approving acquisitions of utility easements for properties at 2405 E. Stolley Park Road and 1725 N. St. Paul Road.

- Consider ratifying and approving the Health Reimbursement Arrangement with Mid America Administration and Retirement Solutions Inc. to serve as the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) benefit account administrator for eligible city employees. The item is in the consent agenda.

- Consider approving the payment of claims for the period of April 26 through May 9.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
Alan Zwink and his wife, Darlene, have made a $1,500 donation to the Hall County Vietnam Veterans Hero Flight program as part of Hall County Supervisor Gary Quandts Nebraska 150 Challenge.

Quandt is raising funds for the Hero Flight by staying on top of the Hall County Courthouse for 150 hours.

After reading in The Independent on Tuesday that Jill and Steve Hornady will match what Quandt raises, the Zwinks decided to donated $1,500 to Hall County Hero Flight.

Zwink said he and his wifes donation will allow one veteran to go to Washington, D.C., on an upcoming Hero Flight.

Quandt said earlier this week that he will stay on top of the courthouse for an extra 10 hours, coming down at 10 p.m. Tuesday. As a result, he will accept donations to Hall County Hero Flight until 5 p.m. Friday, rather than 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Community members can donate to Hall County Hero Flight by dropping money into the donation receptacle at the front of the courthouse or by donating at any Five Points Bank or The Grand Island Independent.
In 2016, the intersection with the most accidents in Grand Island was Highway 281 and Old Potash Highway by a wide margin.

Forty-five accidents occurred at that intersection last year, according to Grand Island police. In second place was 281 and Stolley Park Road, with 21.

That pattern is holding true for 2017. So far this year, there have been 11 accidents at Old Potash and 281, placing it atop the Grand Island accident list. Next are Capital and 281 with eight accidents and Highway 30 and Webb Road with seven.

Collision figures for 281 arent news to Grand Island drivers, including Mayor Jeremy Jensen.

Theres not really much of anything about Highway 281 that I like, Jensen said.

The problem developed because of the citys growth, he said.

When Jensen was young, Highway 281 was essentially just a little highway that was running up through there, he said. And our town has just exploded with growth through there.

That has been a problematic intersection for quite some time, Grand Island police Capt. Jim Duering said of Old Potash and 281.

In the past, the state has provided some enforcement measures, Duering said. The Nebraska State Patrol has helped us out with trying to do some extra patrols.

Accidents on 281 usually start to pick up around noon, continuing until about 5 p.m., he said.

Traffic at 281 and Old Potash is expected to increase next year when the postal facility at 3835 W. Old Potash Highway becomes the citys main post office.

Highway 281 follows the general rule of the more traffic, the more accidents, said John Collins, Grand Island public works director.

The road handles a lot of traffic.

Its purpose is to go through the community. Its not a local street, he said.

Theres a lot of passenger traffic traveling at 45 mph, which is not exceptionally fast, but its higher than what a lot of local streets are, Collins said. Mixed in with the long-distance traffic are local people who are just trying to go a block or so, he said.

At some intersections, there are some issues with the way the intersections are shaped, Collins said. Its more challenging to turn left at some of those intersections.

Westbound traffic on Highway 30 has a right ramp onto 281 thats so close to the Old Potash intersection that it interacts with it, Collins said. The ramp, in and of itself, generates the potential for collisions, because theyre so close.

At intersections with State and 13th streets, Diers Avenue is close enough to 281 that its actually occasionally pushing a car out so that youre stopped on 281, which is a little hazardous, he said.

That hasnt resulted in any major collisions yet, and weve altered some of the timing to adjust for that, Collins said.

But the proximity of Diers to 281 is a problem, he said. Diers should either be so close to 281 that theres not room for a car between Diers and 281 or far enough away that it operates independently, like Webb Road. Planners in the 1980s kind of picked the wrong distance, he said.

As part of an upcoming Highway 281 project, the Nebraska Department of Roads is extending some of the turn lanes, which will help reduce some of the rear-end collisions, Collins said. But without adding right-turn lanes at a few of the intersections along 281, there will still be sideswipes and some of the rear-end collisions.

The 281 project is a three-year effort scheduled to begin this year.

Turning lanes will be lengthened and slightly modified to get more offset to them, said District 4 Engineer Wes Wahlgren of the Nebraska Department of Roads. They include intersections at Old Potash, Faidley Avenue, 13th Street and State Street.

In addition, left-turn bays will be added to the North Webb Road intersection north of the viaduct, Wahlgren said. That will allow more cars to pull in while making a left turn.

For southbound 281 cars turning east, Old Potash has an extremely short left-turn bay, he said. The 281 project will add more capacity to it.

But Wahlgren said people need to pay more attention to their driving.

Many of the collisions on 281 are rear-end crashes or right-angle crashes where somebody doesnt obey a stop light. So a lot of it is driver inattention, he said.

Wahlgren also said people need to wear seat belts, which increase ones chance of surviving a serious crash by 50 percent.

Ever since the day that I stepped into office, one of the things that Ive thought about is Highway 281, Jensen said.

The problem is that decisions about the highway are made at the state level, he said.

The southbound 281 turning lane going east onto Old Potash can handle only four or five cars, Jensen said. But theres all kinds of room if you extend that lane back down the median. That would also get cars off the left lane of 281 into the turning lane and keep traffic flowing.

Jensen brought up the idea to people at the state level. He found that to simply take out a curve and elongate that raised all sorts of issues, such as environmental matters.

The improvements planned by the Department of Roads are nice, but a lot of them are cosmetic, he said. They wont involve large-scale alterations.

So were going to continue to have massive problems out here, I would say, probably for the next decade at least, Jensen said of Highway 281.

If he had a magic wand, the mayor would like to see a complete redesign of 281, taking a look at virtually every intersection, creating additional width and having both right and left turning lanes.

But that would cost tens of millions of dollars, and Jensen doesnt think it will happen.

It is what it is, he said of the situation. The truth is that I try to tell my wife to avoid Highway 281 as much as she possibly can.

Their daughter will probably be driving by the end of this month.

I dont want to see her driving on Highway 281, Jensen said.

Thats sad to say, but the collision statistics reflect reality, he said.

Unfortunately, on Highway 281, a lot of the collisions happen at higher speeds than they would on North Road or Webb Road, Jensen said.

He believes the Highway 281 and Stolley Park Road intersection was fixed correctly. Offset turning lanes allow you to see whats coming at you if youre turning.

Those are the types of major redesigns that we really need on several of those intersections going all the way up to Capital Avenue, Jensen said.

The 281 and Old Potash intersection is a concern that were just going to continue to look at options as far as trying to get the number of accidents down in that area, Duering said.

Im not exactly sure what were going to try and do different, he said. But were going to keep looking at it and see if we can get something figured out.

Intersections with most accidents in 2016

Old Potash Highway and 281  45 accidents

281 and Stolley Park Road  21 accidents

Stolley Park Road and Locust  19 accidents

State and Broadwell  17 accidents

281 and Capital  17 accidents

Third and Eddy  16 accidents

281 and Faidley  16 accidents

Webb and Old Potash  15 accidents

Second and Broadwell  14 accidents

281 and Husker Highway  14 accidents

Faidley and Webb  14 accidents

281 and 13th  14 accidents

281 and State  14 accidents

Diers and State  13 accidents
Students from Cedar Hollow School in Grand Island learned some important lessons about water and had some fun at the same time at the 29th annual Childrens Groundwater Festival on Tuesday at Central Community College.

Nineteen Nebraska schools sent fourth-graders to the festival.

One of the stops for the Cedar Hollow students was Grand Island Senior Highs Water Island. Nearly 30 environmental science students from GISH manned the eight stations, which the fourth-graders rotated through during their visit. The interactive stations taught about the water cycle, ground and surface water and the High Plains Aquifer.

"What we are doing is trying to teach kids how to better preserve and take care of our aquifer systems and overall groundwater usage," said Kathryn Langrehr, GISH environmental science teacher.

The GISH students, many of whom attended the Childrens Groundwater Festival as fourth-graders, constructed the stations and also were the instructors for Water Island.

Each station had a different game about such topics as aquifers, domestic water use, the difference between salt and fresh water, pollution, flooding and infiltration.

"We want to teach them the basic of these systems," Langrehr said. "They can see pollution live and the consequences of it. They see how to build a water filter and how it works. They learn about the different layers of the soil and, over a long period of time, how the water is purified in our world. It is the water we drink."

The GISH students taught the fourth-graders through kinesthetic learning, in which students carry out physical activities instead of listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration.

"The fourth-graders are able to move around and get their hands on the projects, like how to make a filter," Langrehr said. "It is dealing with the whole growth mindset in reaching them."

She said some of the information the children learned on Tuesday reinforced things they are learning in their classrooms.

"Not only are they learning about it in the classroom, but now they are taking it to a bigger platform," Langrehr said. "The high schoolers are articulating what they learn to teach the younger kids at that level."

The key, she said, is having the high school students instruct the younger students.

"The younger students are able to look up to the older students and say, Im going to be there some day," Langrehr said. "My students are able to show leadership qualities, whether it is the simplest thing of talking with one kid or leading them through an activity or the cleanup process."

By allowing the high school students to take the initiative, she said, they learned about leadership.

In the end, she hopes that the fourth-graders left the Childrens Groundwater Festival with "a better understanding and joy for water as a science."
Maulana Nurur Rehman Imam Barkati on Tuesday said that he will continue to use the red-beacon as permission for it was given by the erstwhile " British Government".

By Manogya Loiwal : Maulana Nurur Rehman Imam Barkati of Tipu Sultan Mosque on Tuesday called the supporters of RSS 'eunuchs' and has challenged them to fight like men. Imam Barkati is infamous for his anti-Bharatiya Janata Party stand.

Here's what Imam Barkati said:

"I don't know about any Trinamool Congress leader owning any kind of expensive properties. I have not even seen Sudip owning any kind of expensive properties. The government can never get hold of the actual culprit. Instead, the government officials are busy taking bribes and interrogating the innocents. I don't have any problem with CPI(M) and Congress, but anyone from Bharatiya Janata Party coming here would not be treated well, instead would be beaten."

advertisement

Imam added, "I challenge the RSS to stop being eunuchs and be brave enough to fight like men. The Indian law gives biased judgements, and especially when the justice is demanded from the Muslim community. Triple talaq has been followed since ages and is a religious process. There has never been any problem and cannot change in any possible way."

Maulana Nurur Rehman Imam Barkati also said that he will continue to use the red-beacon as permission for it was given by the erstwhile " British Government".

"I will remove red beacon once everyone does the same. I will continue to use as I have got permission from British government," Barkati said.

When the reporters clarified that Indian government and not the the British government had passed the order, Imam Barkati said, "The Indian government first needs to make its own law, they have not formulated any laws."

Bharatiya Janata Party leader C.K. Bose branded Imam Burkati anti-national and said, "I think he should be immediately arrested and put behind the bars as no one is allowed to break the law."

Imam Barkati is already infamous for issuing a fatwa against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

(With inputs from ANI)

Also Read:

Kolkata imam retaliates with Rs 22 lakh bounty against BJP leader who issued fatwa against Mamata Banerjee

Also Watch:

Tamil Nadu rises against booze vendors: Government deaf to the voices of thousands of women?

--- ENDS ---
This is a copy of a request I have sent to all Nebraska state senators requesting the passage of the medical marijuana bill, LB622. Please contact your state senators and back LB622.

Dear Senators,

I want to share my viewpoint concerning LB622 and would like to thank you for your service to your District and your State.

As a combat-disabled Marine retiree, I suffer from PTSD, nerve pain, depression, joint pain, all associated with Gulf War Syndrome.

If you are being treated for these symptoms with opioid pain medication and/or prescription anti psychotic medication, like me, you may go through years of different medications before the right dose is found.

I have heard the senators who dont back medical marijuana talk of unknowns. Well this is what we do know: Opioid overdoses killed 33,000 in 2015, 50,000 in 2016. Half those numbers are from heroin. (Source CDC)

Opioids do cause dependency. (Source CDC) There have been no marijuana overdose deaths and slight chance of dependency. (Source CDC)

In fact, award-winning and U.S. surgeon general nominee neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta says medical cannabis should be legalized now based on what he has observed in states where medical cannabis is legal.

A year and a half ago, I went to Colorado for two weeks to try medical cannabis. The medical cannabis worked much better than the synthetics prescribed to me for years. Use medical cannabis only where legal; do not transport across state lines.

Show your compassion to your disabled veterans. Please support LB622. Indeed, be compassionate to all who suffer illnesses that medical marijuana helps relieve the symptoms when all else fails. God bless you and God bless America.
All the 112 cut pieces of gold bars were concealed by sticking them onto the inner side of the caps of the water bottles and by sticking them to the bottom of the bottles carried by them.

By Virendrasingh Ghunawat: On Sunday night, the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs arrested 21 passengers (including one woman) from a single flight for smuggling 112 cut pieces of gold bars, weighing 5.665 kg valued at Rs 1.70 crore.

All these passengers arrived by Jet Airways flight from Jeddah to Mumbai. During examination, it was found that all 112 cut pieces of gold bars were concealed by sticking them onto the inner side of the caps of the water bottles and by sticking them to the bottom of the bottles carried by them.

advertisement

The statement recorded by airport officials revealed that all passengers belong to the village Tanda in Rampur district, Uttar Pradesh. They acted as carriers for one Lucknow-based gold smuggling syndicate. All passengers were arrested and subsequently released on bail.

It was a major operation and first of its kind in recent past wherein a group of 21 carriers has been arrested and their organised smuggling activities have been unearthed.

OTHER RECENT CASES

In another incident on Monday, one passenger namely Hameed Ahmed Shaikh (57), a Mumbai resident was apprehended for carrying 16 pieces of gold bars weighing 1856 grams worth Rs 55 lakhs. He had arrived from Dubai via Muscat by Oman Air flight.

In this case, all the gold bars were bundled together in the form of a cube and wrapped with cello tape and concealed in his pocket. The passenger runs a catering business from Undria Street, Nagpada.

In the third incident on Monday night, one Sudanese national Yaseen Mohd Ali was arrested for smuggling 500 grams of assorted gold jewellery valued at Rs 14.75 lakh. Arrived from Riyadh, the passenger is a businessman in Sudan and buys readymade clothes and electric wires in Mumbai to sell the same in Sudan.

Also read: Mumbai: Foreign currencies, crude gold worth Rs 55 lakh seized at airport

Also read: India-Sri Lanka coastal belt turning into a smuggling ground?

--- ENDS ---
James Gunn was working on a treatment for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when he got the idea for what he envisioned as "the greatest opening sequence of all time."

Thunderstruck by the concept, the director brought producer Simon Hatt into the room and told him to shoot Gunn's movements on an iPhone. And right then and there, as Hatt watched, Gunn - this former punk rocker who grew up on '70s tunes - began dancing. And dancing.

Gunn grabbed a plastic rabbit toy that he pretended was a large, sweeping and swooping enemy monster. As he did, Hatt shot clip after video clip.

And that is how one of the most joyous opening-credit action sequences in recent memory was born.

In the finished film, the wee and adorable CGI sapling Baby Groot shakes and slides in the foreground while his fellow Guardians attack a sharp-toothed, squid-like monstrosity in the background. The whole extended scene is set to the strains of ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky," after one Guardian, Rocket Raccoon, plugs in a sound system.

The entire sequence could not be more personal for the writer-director.

First, Raccoon's doings feel like a direct nod to Gunn's own style on set. "Music plays a huge part for James," says his "Guardians 2 director of photography, Henry Braham. "He uses music a lot in the shooting process" - sometimes blaring it from speakers synced up to the choreographed action.

Then there's the fact that all the dancing by Baby Groot involves motion-capture provided by Gunn's own sweet moves.

Team Gunn pieced together the dancing video clips into a single take, but that was just the start of the journey. "It took me 2  years to do that shot," Gunn tells The Washington Post's Comic Riffs. "It was incredibly difficult."

"James came to the table with a very clear idea of where he wanted to go with it," Braham says of the balletic fight sequence. "We contemplated it for a week" whether to attempt the scene -- which involves shooting on-set stunts while allowing space in the frame for the animation.

They laughed at the technical obstacles they knew they would face, then dived right in. "Then it became a giant collaboration, with everybody bringing their sensibilities to the table," Braham says.

For instance: "The thing that interests me the most is putting humanity into how a camera moves," says Braham, who employed a handheld RED 8K Weapon - the first feature film ever to use the new high-resolution camera.

The shot works, he says, because "it's a good coming-together of sensibilities."

The sequence "perfectly exemplifies what 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is about," Gunn says. "You think it's about the adventure, you think it's about the battle, you think it's about this big thing - but it is really about the unique characters and what they're doing in the midst of all this stuff."

As filmmakers, "we focus on the minutiae."
Chefs Shoppe is spending the day with public safety officials at the Edwardsville Fire Department.

The locally-owned independent business is sharpening both the Edwardsville Police Departments and the fire departments knives with a knife-sharpening machine all afternoon to show appreciation for their services.

Co-owner Scott Schneider said this service just seemed like the right thing to do to show appreciation to the public safety departments.

Its just a thing we felt like was a good thing to do. We have a knife-sharpening machine and everybody needs sharp knives to work, he said.

Schneider said this initiative not only shows Chefs Shoppes appreciation for the public safety departments, but also the community for supporting the business for 20 years and counting.

Part of it was we wanted to do something for the community and return the appreciation of us being in business for 20 years. So weve tried to come up with ideas that we could kind of pay back to the communities. Weve done some stuff with the senior center, the Watershed Nature Center; weve done Meals on Wheels. Weve got several other activities planned over the next couple of weeks, leading up to our celebration which is May 27th, Schneider said. Well have a tent out in the parking lot. It will be invitation only. Well be serving free food and have a prize wheel and all kinds of stuff like that.

This was the first time Chefs Shoppe has put on a knife-sharpening service for public officials. Schneider said the store would consider doing this again in the future, along with other volunteer projects as well.

If you live in a community, you need to be a part of the communityMy wife and I, as well as a lot of the employees at the shop volunteer for all kinds of things. We helped build the Rotary playground, we helped with the Halloween paradewe just get out in the community and participate in it, he said.

Both fire and police staff gathered at the fire department, bringing in knives used on-the-job, in the kitchen or break rooms, or from home.

The service was free to all.

Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven said the EPD is grateful for this service and the other support theyve received from the community thus far.

We receive so much support from our community and from the business community. Its just another nice way that our community has shown support for the first responders. Its a very unique way. Most of our officers and some of our firefighters carry knives with them. We do have knives in the fire kitchens and the break room. Its a nice service, something that we need, Keeven said.

Edwardsville Fire Departments Captain James Whiteford said this service is also very beneficial to the fire staff, especially considering the time they spend at the department.

We really appreciate them coming out and offering their service to us. Its a big help for us. We do live here, so we have kitchen utensils. Part of those utensils are having knives, which occasionally need to be sharpened. Were thankful for this opportunity and grateful for the support they are showing public servants, he said.

Chefs Shoppe opened in January 2006 before moving to its current location in July of 2009. The Shoppe is located at 2320 Troy Road in Schnucks Plaza near Target in Edwardsville. For more information about the store, visit its website at www.chefsshoppe.com or call 618-659-9840.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sebastian Partogi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 09:27 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbe6c4 4 Lifestyle pompeii,archaeological-site,Italy,history,Volcano Free

It is fair to say that a volcanic eruption is one of natures most terrifying disasters.

Many active and dormant volcanoes nestle in different parts of the globe, with the Ring of Fire representing the most well-known volcanic area. The track is so-called because it is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a large number of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. Spanning a 40,000-kilometer distance in a horseshoe shape, the trajectory has 452 volcanoes, more than 75 percent of the worlds active and dormant volcanoes.

Eruptions are the risks faced by people living in this territory, including Indonesians. That is why experts will look into the past to formulate modern-day disaster risk management. Studies on the impact of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the city of Pompeii in ancient Italy in 79 AD, provide some evacuation strategies that could save more lives should similar tragedies ever happen again.

The insights were presented during a seminar called Pompeii: Life, death and rebirth, the story of a city and of a population through the archaeological and anthropological data organized recently by the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Jakarta in the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC), Jakarta.

Speakers featured during the seminar were Udayana University of Bali archaeology guest lecturer Michele Raddi, University of Naples Federico II forensic anthropologist Pier Paolo Petrone and the mayor of the city of Volturno in Italy, Emilio Incollingo. Petrone and Incollingo joined the seminar from Italy via Skype.

Learning from the past: A restorer cleans and analyses a petrified victim of the eruption of Vesuvius volcano in the laboratory of the Pompeii Archaeological Site, on May 20, 2015 in Pompeii.(AFP/Mario Laporta)

Raddi said Pompeii serves as an ideal archaeological research site because of the wonderful conservation and preservation of its ancient ruins by the volcanic ash, which has left the remnants of the prosperous commercial hub of the Roman Empire intact.

Read also: Journey to the mountain that shook the world

Different scientists hold different views on when the city was invented and when it was destroyed, but they commonly agree that the city was built in the 6th century BC and destroyed by an eruption in 79 AD.

The thousands of tons of ash that covered the city after the eruption formed a solid cast over the ruins, preserving their original forms and thereby helping archaeologists to reconstruct the ancient citys life before it vanished. It gives us clues to the modern facilities that the city had: thermopolia (cafes), public toilets, residential areas, bakeries and cloth mills.

Furthermore, Petrone said the ash casts that formed over the skeletons of the eruptions human victims also preserved samples of human tissue and bone that has been used for bio-archaeological research in the last 20 years.

We want to investigate the effect of a pyroclastic flow of cloud on the victims. The main question is: Why did these people die despite being sheltered from that vast, turbulent cloud? Petrone explained, adding that this knowledge could help us to devise a safe and effective volcanic eruption mitigation scheme.

According to Petrone, one of the findings of the research was that the human victims did not die from the mechanical impact of the eruption, but because of the sudden temperature change that occurred with it.

Read also: World's primates facing extinction crisis, new report says

Based on our microscopic analysis of histological [related to human tissue] features of the victims, they were exposed to heat amounting to around 300 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit [160 to 360 degrees Celsius], he said, adding that the heat exposure was beyond the ability of humans to survive.

The complete preservation of anatomic joints and original postures of the mummies also indicated that they died instantly from the extreme temperature change, Petrone said. He showed a number of photos of the mummies facial expressions.

Their facial expressions indicated they were completely unaware of what was happening during the explosion.

After learning that sheltering human beings from the mechanical impact of an explosion alone is not enough, Petrone said the scientists could offer some modern implications on how modern-day disaster mitigation efforts could protect human beings from sudden exposure to extreme heat, which is proven to be deadly.

Petrone did provide some suggestions on the ideal distance between a shelter and a volcanic explosion site to avoid the deadly temperature change.

Based on his research, areas located within 10 kilometers of a volcano are likely to suffer from total devastation and mortality, while areas located within 10 to 15 km of the site would suffer from minor damage. The ideal distance is from 15 to 20 km, as the distance might help residents survive.

This is a serious warning for all people living in volcanic areas around the world. You have to calculate a number of possible scenarios complete with detailed orientation and evacuation plans to protect locals from the heat exposure [based on the distance estimation], Incollingo warned.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 18:58 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0229c4 1 National ahok,AmnestyInternational,blasphemy,HumanRights Free

Human rights group Amnesty International has said a Jakarta district courts decision to convict outgoing Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok Tjahaja Purnama of blasphemy will tarnish Indonesias reputation as a tolerant nation.

"This verdict demonstrates the inherent injustice of Indonesia's Blasphemy Law, which should be repealed immediately," Champa Patel, Amnesty International's director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The North Jakarta District Court found Ahok guilty of blasphemy for saying that some people had been deceived by other people using Al-Maidah 51, a Quranic verse that some believe prohibit Muslims from electing a non-Muslim leader.

"Despite protests of his innocence and evidence that his words were manipulated for political purposes, he has been sentenced to two years in prison. The verdict will tarnish Indonesia's reputation as a tolerant nation."

Amnesty International highlighted the fact that the prosecutors had dropped the blasphemy charge against Ahok in their sentence demand, but the panel of judges decided to reinstate the charge in their verdict.

According to the groups data, the 1965 Blasphemy Law was only used against 10 individuals under former president Soeharto, who stepped down in 1998. The number spiked after Soehartos downfall, with 106 individuals prosecuted and convicted under the law between 2005 and 2014 alone.

The group has called on Indonesia to repeal the draconian law. (ary)

Topics : ahok AmnestyInternational blasphemy HumanRights
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 13:02 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a00e10b 1 City ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy Free

The guilty verdict against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama resulted in more than 1,000 of his detractors celebrating his two-year prison sentence for blasphemy on Tuesday.

Using a megaphone, one protester praised God after the North Jakarta District Court announced the verdict. He said a close eye should be kept on the overall legal process to make sure that Ahok served his prison sentence.

"Allahu Akbar [God is great]. We should not be satisfied with this verdict but make sure that Ahok really serves his sentence," the man continued. Ahok detractors packed areas around the Agriculture Ministry on Jl. RM Harsono, Ragunan, South Jakarta, where the hearing took place starting from 9 a.m.

(Read also: Ahok supporters, detractors voice demands during rally)

After the hearing ended at 10:50 a.m., the situation in the area remained tense, with members of Islamic organizations checking the press cards of journalists covering the event.

In Tuesdays hearing, the North Jakarta District Court declared Ahok guilty of blasphemy for suggesting that some people had abused a Quranic verse to block his re-election bid.

Dwiarso Budi Santiarso, the presiding judge in the case, declared, The defendant Ir. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok is proven guilty of committing blasphemy."

The governor, whose term ends in October, said he would appeal the verdict. (ebf)

Against blasphemy: Hundreds of members of Islamic organizations pack streets in front of the Agriculture Ministry office on Jl.RM Harsono, Ragunan, South Jakarta, on May 9 to wait for the court verdict on Jakarta governor Basuki (JP/Michael Hillary Hegarty)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 11:28 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a000a44 1 City ahok,blasphemy,Court,jakarta Free

The North Jakarta District Court has found outgoing Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama guilty of blasphemy for suggesting that some people had abused a Quranic verse to block his re-election bid.

The panel of judges led by Dwiarso Budi Santiarso sentenced Ahok to two years in prison for his crime. The defendant Ir. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok is proven guilty of committing blasphemy," Dwiarso said.

Ahok, whose term ends in October, has said he will appeal the verdict.

Ahok was initially charged with blasphemy under Article 156a of the Criminal Code and with defaming clergymen under Article 156. The prosecutors, however, dropped the blasphemy charge in their sentence demand, saying there was no evidence that the governor had committed blasphemy.

The prosecutors, therefore, demanded that Ahok be sentenced to two years probation and one year in prison if he reoffended.

The blasphemy allegation against Ahok has divided the nation and emboldened radical Islamist groups who claim to speak on behalf of all Muslims. It was also instrumental in causing Ahoks defeat in the April 19 gubernatorial election.



Ahok said in his speech in Thousand Islands regency in September last year that some people had been "deceived" by other people using Al-Maidah 51, a Quranic verse some clerics believe prohibits Muslims from electing a non-Muslim leader. (ary)

Topics : ahok blasphemy Court jakarta
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 11:57 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a00365d 1 City ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy Free

Two opposing groups gathered in front of the Agriculture Ministry in South Jakarta, where Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama was on trial for blasphemy on Tuesday.

The groups, anti-Ahok and Ahok supporters, voiced their demands under the watchful eyes of thousands of police and military personnel guarding the venue.

Dian Ayunda, a Jakartan who lives in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, said she joined the Ahok support group in the hope that the court would acquit Ahok. She further said she joined the rally as she wanted to express her support for Ahok's wife, Veronica Tan, during the difficult time.

"As a mother I can see how tough this case must be for Veronica and her children. I hope they can stay strong," she told The Jakarta Post. Ahok supporters also placed thousands of roses and flower boards outside the court in a show of support.

(Read also: Ahok guilty of blasphemy, sentenced to two years)

Meanwhile, followers of Islamic organizations had demanded that the judges hand down the maximum sentence to the governor.

A man identifying himself as Rahmat Karim delivered a speech from a truck, saying they had no intention of committing violence.

"This is a peaceful rally, but dont blame us if the judges acquit Ahok and someone provokes this group. Please remember that," he said.

Rahmat also criticized President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, whom he said had protected Ahok in the blasphemy case and had never supported Islamic groups during his leadership. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 16:45 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a01a93b 1 City Setara-institute,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy,Court,North-Jakarta Free

The North Jakarta District Courts decision to sentence Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to two years imprisonment is irregular because the sentence is longer than that demanded by prosecutors, rights group Setara Institute has said.

Ahok was initially charged under Article 156a of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on blasphemy and Article 156 of the KUHP on defaming clergymen. Prosecutors, however, later dropped the blasphemy charge and demanded that Ahok be sentenced to two years probation and one year in prison if he reoffended.

(Read also: 10,000 balloons for Ahok ahead of verdict announcement)

Judges are indeed independent but they must base verdicts on facts and evidence. The weak evidence presented by prosecutors should have been able to convince the judges to hand down a lighter sentence than that demanded by prosecutors, Setara chairman Hendari said in a statement.

The verdict has proved the blasphemy article is prone to misuse by certain parties, he added.

Hendari said the judges seemed to have been working under pressure amid the waves of protesters demanding Ahok be imprisoned. "It was a trial by the mob, which is actually against the rule of law."

Supporters of Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama pluck flowers in front of the North Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. Judges at the court sentenced Ahok to two years in prison for blasphemy.(JP/Seto Wardhana.)

He also said the judicial system seemed to be influenced by public pressure.

In legal principle, if judges hesitate in deciding something, they should choose the most favorable option for the defendants, Hendardi said. (bbs)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 15:42 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0196e4 1 City #AhokTrial,politics,verdict Free

The defense lawyer of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama has said the North Jakarta District Court's decision to sentence Ahok to two years in prison for blasphemy is politically driven and unacceptable.

"We respect the decision but we can't accept it. We understand the pressure surrounding this case, but we're disappointed. We will file an appeal to challenge the decision," Ahok's lawyer, I Wayan Sidarta, said.

The judges sentenced Ahok to two years in prison for blasphemy as stipulated in Article 156a of the Criminal Code (KUHP) despite the prosecutors dropping the blasphemy charge.

Prosecutors claimed on April 20 that Ahok had only insulted Muslim leaders, a move they said violated of Article 156 of the KUHP, and demanded the judges sentence him to two years of probation.

Wayan added that the lawyers questioned the judges' decision to detain Ahok because during the hearing they said Ahok had been cooperative.

Ahok was escorted to Cipinang Detention Center in East Jakarta after the judges handed down their ruling.

"Why should Ahok be detained? Ahok will still be governor, so he won't escape," Wayan said, adding the case was politically driven.

Ahok, who lost his bid for reelection last month, has another six months to lead the city before passing the baton to governor-elect Anies Baswedan in October.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo is set to install Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat as acting governor.
Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's verdict hearing prompted severe congestion in areas around the Agriculture Ministry on Jl. RM Harsono, Ragunan, South Jakarta, where the hearing took place on Tuesday morning.

A local resident, Devie Dulla, said Tuesday that the traffic was worse than the usual as she had to spent 45 minutes on a motorcycle from her house in Depok, West Java, to her office in T.B. Simatupang in South Jakarta. She further said that during a normal day, she only needed 20 minutes for the trip.

"The traffic was even worse than the previous hearing of this trial," she told The Jakarta Post.

(Read also: Tight screening applied at Ahok's final hearing)

The National Police and the Indonesian Military have deployed 14,000 joint officers to secure the verdict hearing, almost three times the usual number of officers deployed during Ahok's previous hearing.

Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said the police would try to prevent any potential threat as both the anti-Ahok masses and Ahok supporters staged rallies in front of the hearing venue. "We need to anticipate potential clashes in other areas, as well," he said. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 19:32 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a023df4 1 City #AhokTrial,MUI,#ahok,blasphemy Free

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has asked people to respect the verdict in Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas blasphemy case.

The MUI appreciates and respects the verdict, MUI deputy head Zainut Tauhid Saadi said Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency, referring to the North Jakarta District Courts decision to sentence Ahok to two years imprisonment after being found guilty in the case.

He said the verdict reflected the judges appreciation toward the councils opinion on the case. He added that the verdict also showed the validity of the MUIs opinion, which served as a reference in deciding the legal steps in Ahoks case.

The MUI delivered its opinion that the governor had insulted Islam in his speech in the Thousand Islands in September last year, in which he told residents to not be "deceived" by people using Quranic verses to influence decisions. The judges quoted considerations from MUI ulemas in the verdict.

Zainut further said the council had expressed its gratitude to leaders of Islamic organizations, ulemas and other Islamic figures that helped guide the legal process in relation to Ahoks case. He added that the MUI praised Islamic figures who prioritized the spirit of brotherhood and unity in guiding the process.

Rallies were conducted in front of the building where the case hearings were being held since the beginning of Ahoks trial in December, coordinated by a group of conservative and hard-line Muslims grouped under the Indonesian Ulema Councils Fatwa National Movement to Safeguard the MUIs Fatwa (GNPF-MUI). (rdi)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ahmad F. Bayuny (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 13:15 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a00e9ff 1 Business AXA-Mandiri,MUI,cooperation,sharia,insurance,literacy Free

Insurance firm AXA Mandiri Financial Services (AXA Mandiri) and Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday to improve the sharia insurance literacy rate among Muslims.

We sincerely appreciate the preachers of the MUI, who are ready to accept our share of knowledge on sharia insurance literacy and their readiness to deliver the knowledge to the congregation, AXA Mandiri president director Jean Philippe Vandenschrick told reporters after the signing ceremony of the MoU.

Meanwhile, AXA Mandiri alternative channel director Henky Oktavianus explained that his company had started the campaign on sharia insurance literacy last year, with the hope that it would reach 10,000 people each year.

MUI chairman Maruf Amin said his organization would support effort to provide useful knowledge for Muslims, including on sharia insurance.

Thousands of MUIs preachers will participate in this program. Through a comprehensive understanding of sharia insurance, we hope Muslims will be able to choose the best insurance, he added.

According to the National Survey on Financial Literacy and Inclusion (SNLIK) 2016, the literacy rate for insurance is only 15.76 percent, while the literacy rate for sharia insurance is only 2.51 percent.

Meanwhile, data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in February shows that sharia insurance assets increased by 20 percent to Rp 34 trillion from the figure in February 2016. (bbn)
By Press Trust of India: overzealousness

Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) Four teachers were suspended, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured legislators of action and the CBSE admitted to "overzealousness". A day after news broke that a NEET candidate in Kerala was asked to remove her bra as an anti- cheating measure, there was outrage and embarrassment both as authorities scrambled for an explanation.

advertisement

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that conducts the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS and BDS courses said today that the incident at an examination centre in Kannur in Kerala was "unfortunate" and a "consequence of overzealousness". But it also defended its stringent dress code that saw another girl in Kerala forced to change her jeans as it had pockets with metal buttons and others in the country being asked to cut full sleeves, remove nose pins, earrings and hair clips.

"In order to secure the sanctity of this prestigious examination and to do justice to the genuine and sincere students and parents, CBSE has left no stone unturned to conduct the exam in a fair manner," said CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma.

"The incident reported at Kannur is unfortunate and a consequence of the overzealousness of a few persons involved in the process. However, inconvenience caused to the students inadvertently in the process is regretted by the Board," she said.

As the news spread, four teachers in Kannur, ground zero of the controversy, were suspended. Jamaluddin K, principal of TISK English Medium school, one of the NEET centres, told PTI that four women teachers had been suspended pending inquiry though he was yet to receive any complaint.

The issue found angry echo in the Kerala Assembly as well with treasury and opposition benches condemning it. Responding to concerns expressed by members of the House, the chief minister said he would bring the matter to the Centres notice and that the police had been asked to examine the incidents. The specific incident of the young woman student being asked to remove her bra would examined legally after registering a case.

"A woman police official has been directed to meet the student and her parents," he said.

A furious Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the CBSE norms were "an insult to humanity". The stripping of students and using metal detectors for physical examination was "cruel, inhuman and insulting" which created mental pressure on the students, he added.

"Students had to beg, borrow and buy new dresses to appear for the examination after they were told that their clothing was not as per norms."

advertisement

This is human rights violation, the Congress leader said, adding they had not come with bombs and pistols to write the test.

The Kerala Child Rights Commission has sought a detailed report from the CBSE within 10 days, while the Kerala Human Rights Commission suo motu registered a case against the education board and demanded a high-level probe.

Parents of the affected children are also planning to write to the CBSE chairman and the National Human Rights Commission.

Faced with the barrage of criticism, the CBSE said in its defence that candidates had been "repeatedly instructed through website, information bulletins, printed instructions on admit cards and individual communication through emails and SMSs about the steps to be taken before entering the exam centres in the high-value and high-stake examination".

Over 11 lakh MBBS and BDS aspirants appeared for NEET on May 7 at over 1,900 centres across the country. PTI TEAM MIN

--- ENDS ---
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 18:18 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0205b1 1 National GMKI,HTI,Pancasila,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia Free

The Indonesian Christian Students Movement (GMKI) has said it disagrees with the governments move to disband the hard-line Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), saying it would not be in line with Pancasila values.

The GMKI stated in a press release on Tuesday that the governments "was reactive" and the move could instead "undermine democracy itself."

The GMKI also said the decision to seek a ban for the HTI reflected the governments failure to create programs to guide Pancasila values.

(Read also: HTI protests governments arbitrary move)

"Every citizen has the rights to learn about any ideologies," it stated, adding that the government's decision was a political move that could irritate Muslims in Indonesia.

"Any policies regarding organizations labelled by the government as radical or anti-Pancasila must stay in the judicial sphere, rather than making an announcement that could create public anxiety," (rdi/bbs)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 06:47 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecb519e 2 National ahok,#AhokTrial Free

While delivering a speech about fish cultivation in Thousand Islands on Sept. 27 last year, Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama likely had no idea that his brief citation of a Quranic verse would kindle an uproar and force him to stand trial for six months on blasphemy charges.

The governor, who happens to be a Christian of Chinese descent and was then an apparent shoo-in for the capitals top job, might never have imagined that the speech would trigger religious and racial tensions among Jakartans and citizens nationwide, or that it would contribute to his defeat in the election last month.

Ahoks fate will be determined on Tuesday when the North Jakarta District Court is set to hand down a ruling on whether Ahok committed blasphemy or insulted Muslims by citing the verse, Surah Al Maidah 51, within a political context in the run-up to the gubernatorial vote.

The prosecutors have already dropped the blasphemy charge originally levied against Ahok and are now accusing him solely of insulting Muslims, which is prohibited under Article 156 of the Criminal Code (KUHP), and are urging the judges to punish him with two years of probation.

However, despite the relatively light demand, Ahok said he had been preparing for the worst, as according to the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP), the judges can still declare him guilty of the charges listed in the prosecutors original indictment, in which the governor was also accused of violating Article 156a of the KUHP regarding blasphemy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction.

Ahok said he would submit his fate to God while facing the verdict.

We have undergone 21 sessions of the court. What can we do? Tomorrow I will listen to the judges decision, I will be pasrah [submit to the will of God], Ahok said at City Hall.

Thousands of balloons were delivered to Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaha Purnama at City Hall ahead of the announcement of the verdict in his blasphemy case on May 9. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

Ahok, who has repeatedly said he never intended to insult the Quran or Muslims, added that he could only pray that the five-judge panel led by justice Dwiarso Budi Santiarto would ignore public pressure while making its decision and declare his innocence.

Ahok and his lawyers have said that the case against him was nothing but a trial by the mob, proven by the two massive rallies on Nov. 4 and Dec. 2 that were orchestrated by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and other hardline Muslim groups to demand Ahok be thrown in jail.

The large street rallies continued on March 31, when thousands urged the government to dismiss Ahok from the governors seat because of his status as a defendant, and on May 5, when representatives of the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Councils Fatwa (GNPFMUI) visited the Supreme Court to demand it ensure the district court judges remain independent when deciding on the verdict.

The judges independence could be put to a test as police have said that about 5,000 contra-Ahok people plan to gather in front of the Agriculture Ministry office in Ragunan, South Jakarta, where the trial has been taking place.

(Read also: 13,000 personnel to guard Ahok's verdict reading)

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said the police would deploy 13,000 officers to safeguard the hearing and prevent any friction between people who oppose Ahok and Ahoks supporters.

Meanwhile, since last week, hundreds of Ahoks supporters have been sending flower boards and decorative balloons to City Hall with messages of encouragement for him.

One banner measuring 4 by 3 meters shows the face of the Walt Disney character Nemo, with a message: Pak Ahok, you have awakened the Nemo in all of us. The message referred to a statement Ahok made in his own defense in court on April 25 when he compared himself to the plucky lost juvenile fish.

On another flower board was written: Pak Ahok, keep being tough like Nemo. Dont give up going against the current for truths sake. Justice will prevail.

Many of the boards contained demands for the judges, such as Your Honor, history will record your verdict. Listen to your heart: free Ahok! or Free Ahok, he is not a blasphemer. Ahok is not guilty.

Some civil groups, including the Women Care for Jakarta (PPKJ) movement, adorned City Hall with thousands of red and white balloons to hearten the governor.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the PPKJ plans to conduct a Flower Revolution by distributing roses and stickers saying #SaveAhok and #FreeAhok to residents in all five municipalities in the city.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 15:05 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a016d10 1 National Gerindra-Party,PKS,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,verdict,#AhokTrial,#ahok,ahok Free

As the court has ruled an unexpected verdict, which drags Christian Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to jail, opposition parties  Gerindra Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)  may feel relieved, showing their high appreciation to the judges.

I think the verdict has strong legal evidence and represents the justice all people want, Gerindra executive Fadli Zon said at the House of Representatives complex on Tuesday.

The House deputy speaker added the people should learn from the case that no one is allowed to commit blasphemy against religions.

Islamic-based PKS lawmaker Jazuli Juwaini wanted all parties to accept the verdict. I hope this is fair, and we should also respect Ahoks plan to file an appeal, Jazuli said.

Gerindra and PKS are among parties opposing Ahok, an ally of President Joko Jokowi Widodo, in the Jakarta election. Their candidate Anies Baswedan won the Jakarta gubernatorial election beating Ahok.

It was also Gerindra that supported an inquiry initiated by the Democratic Party on February against the government as the Home Ministry allowed Ahok to keep his job despite being on trial for blasphemy.

The inquiry plan was blocked by the government allies, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the leader of Ahoks coalition in the election.

Fadli, along with hundreds of thousands of Muslim hard-liners, joined an anti-Ahok rally on Nov. 4. (foy/dmr)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 13:00 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a00d837 1 Business garlic,price,government,imports,Regulations Free

Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita has said that he will issue a decree to regulate garlic imports and distribution to prevent price fluctuations of the commodity, following a sharp prices increase.

The minister said he did not know the cause of the price increase from around Rp 30,000 (US$2.25) per kilogram to above Rp 50,000, but he estimated that it was because of an absence of government control.

There is no government regulation on garlic imports. Without government intervention, the price could rise any time, Enggartiasto said on Monday after attending a meeting with garlic importers.

Enggartiasto said members of the Indonesian Garlic Entrepreneurs Association (APBI) expressed commitment to cooperating with the government.

The minister promised to issue a ministerial regulation on garlic imports within two days so that imported garlic could immediately be distributed to markets.

With the new supply, garlic prices will be no higher than Rp 30,000 per kilogram, said Enggartiasto, adding that next week 600 tons of imported garlic was expected to arrive from China.

According to Information Center for Strategic Food Prices (PIHPS) data, the price of garlic in Jakarta is Rp 68,750 per kilogram, in Yogyakarta Rp 63,500 and in West Papua Rp 58,750.

The minister said garlic importers and distributors were required to report the amount of their garlic stock to the ministry.

We will seal warehouses and confiscate hoarded garlic and destroy it, Enggartiasto explained. (dra/bbn)

Topics : garlic price government imports Regulations
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 16:25 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a01a499 1 City HTI,Setara-institute,Wiranto,mass-organizations,sectarian-issues,ELSAM Free

Rights groups have urged the government to respect the legal procedures stipulated in the 2013 Mass Organizations Law following its announcement to ban hard-line Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).

Activists have also called on the government to make sure freedom of expression was not compromised.

Setara Institute chairman Hendardi said he supported the governments move to ban mass organizations deemed to promote beliefs that contravened the Pancasila state ideology, however such moves must be carried out transparently and through the proper legal mechanisms.

The government can only ban the HTI as an organization. Its followers, or those who support the idea of an Islamic caliphate, are not subject to criminalization because the state cant restrict freedom of expression, Hendardi said.

(Read also: Government urged to consult courts on banning HTI)

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto announced on Monday that the government was set to ban the HTI because the group promoted anti-Pancasila ideologies and beliefs that contravened the Constitution.

However, the law regulates lengthy procedures, including the issuance of warnings and temporary suspensions, before a request to disband a mass organization can be filed with the court.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto (right) talks with State Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Budi Gunawan (left) before a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta.(Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)

The HTI claimed it had yet to receive a warning from the government.

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) is of the opinion that a ban on a mass organization should only be a last resort.

If the government moves too hasty, it can threaten our rights to freedom of association. It should avoid carrying out repressive acts. Softer measures, such as dialogue, should be conducted before a ban, it said in a statement. (bbs)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Surakarta, Central Java  Tue, May 9, 2017 18:25 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a020d29 1 National HTI,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,#Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,Law-and-Human-Rights-Ministry,GP-Ansor,Nahdlatul-ulama,NahdlatulUlama Free

The Surakarta branch of the mass Islamic organization, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), claims it does not take the governments move to ban the group seriously, saying it is no more than just talk. Moreover, it says the HTI is a legal organization that has been registered at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Were not worried about that. Just calm down. The HTI is a legal organization and Hizbut Tahrir has never violated the law, the spokesperson of the Women's Wing of HTI Surakarta, Darma Sri Wahyu, said on Tuesday.

She said Hizbut Tahrir had never held any illegal activities. Nevertheless, HTI Surakarta would fully follow any decision the organizations central executive board made to respond to the planned ban.

Lets wait and see. What is clear is that HTI Surakarta is ready follow all the central executive boards decisions and policies, said Darma.

(Read also: HTI ban against the law: Experts)

The Surakarta administration also has not yet made any decision over the governments plan to dissolve the HTI. Surakarta National and Political Unity Office (Kesbangpol) acting chairman Said Romadhon stated the administration had not yet received any notification from the Law and Human Rights Ministry on the disbandment of the Islamic mass organization.

The HTI has faced a considerable amount of rejection in Surakarta. On April 15, hundreds of members of GP Ansor, the youth wing of Indonesias largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), held a long march in Karanganyar to reject the HTI.

The Ansor members later held a call-to-readiness ceremony to show their loyalty to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and convey their rejection of the HTI, which aims to establish an Islamic caliphate. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 17:58 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a01c425 1 National HTI,Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,#Hizbut-Tahrir-Indonesia,mass-organizations,Islamic-caliphate,Pancasila Free

Constitutional law experts have said the government's move to ban the hard-line Islamic Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) group did not follow proper legal procedures.

Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari of Andalas University in West Sumatra said the government had not carefully studied the 2013 Mass Organizations Law.

Citing Article 61 of the law, Feri said administrative measures such as issuing warning letters, initiating dialogue, suspending activities and fund freezing should be taken prior to imposing a ban.

He said articles 68 and 69 stipulated a decision to ban a mass organization was in the hands of the courts

Its too hasty for the government to immediately ban an organization without carrying out the initial necessary steps, Feri said. HTI earlier claimed that it had never received a warning letter from the government.

(Read also: Jokowi administration moves to ban Islamic group)

The government announced on Monday that it would ban the HTI on the grounds that it promoted values that contravened Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. The HTI's main aim is to establish an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia.

Constitutional law expert Asep Warlan Yusuf of Parahyangan Catholic University said the governments move set a bad precedent.

The approach has ignored all procedures. The government has closed room for dialogue, Asep said.

Political expert Hendri Satrio of Paramadina University shared a similar opinion. Although many people oppose the HTI's ideology, the government must follow the proper procedures. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 09:00 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbc894 1 National local-wisdom,Abdurrahman-Wahid-Center,tolerance,intolerance,Ahmad-Suaedy Free

The Indonesian government needs to equip its development policies with a cultural strategy, which can mainstream local wisdom that is rich with the spirit of tolerance, to prevent the rapidly growing intolerance movements, an expert has said.

All this time, the government has never had a cultural strategy, which aims to make its people ready to face changes in the society, which is getting more plural, said AWC director Ahmad Suaedy.

He was speaking during a discussion held by the Institute of Southeast Asian Islam (ISAIs) at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in Yogyakarta on Sunday.

In the discussion, Suaedy explained AWC research results, which were published as a book entitled, Intolerance, Tradition Revitalization and Challenges of Indonesian Diversity.

The book gives samples of local traditions, which uphold tolerance, from several areas across Indonesia. They include local communities in Depok sub-district, Depok City, West Java, the Dayak tribe who still practice their native religion called Kaharingan in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, local residents of Kahuripan village in Kebumen regency, Central Java, and many more.

Suaedy said if traditional values that are rich with tolerance are not strengthened and protected by the government through cultural strategy, these values would disappear.

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika National Alliance (ANBTI) Yogyakarta coordinator Agnes Dwi Rusjiati criticized the governments unbalanced approach in preserving cultural traditions.

This preservation has greatly benefited cultural traditions in society for economic purposes, such as tourism; however, other important traditions, such as native religions, have been abolished, she said. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bagus Saragih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 23:14 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a028747 1 National ahok,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy,human-rights Free

A number of international organizations have expressed concern about the state of human rights in Indonesia following the guilty verdict and two-year jail term handed down to Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy on Tuesday.

The European Union Delegation to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, for instance, has issued a statement calling on the Indonesian government and people to continue their country's long-standing tradition of tolerance and pluralism.

Indonesia and the EU have agreed to promote and protect the rights [] such as the freedom of thought, conscience and religion and freedom of expression, it stated.

The EU has consistently stated that laws that criminalize blasphemy when applied in a discriminatory manner can have a serious inhibiting effect on freedom of expression and on freedom of religion or belief.

(Read also: Support grows as '#Ahok' grabs worldwide attention)

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's supporters rally on Tuesday outside the Agriculture Ministry auditorium where Ahok had been tried on blasphemy charges. They demanded he be acquitted and released.(Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

Similarly, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) also expressed concern, stating that the verdict could put Indonesias position as a regional leader in jeopardy and raises concerns about Indonesias future as an open, tolerant, diverse society, said Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian parliament and APHR chair.

The APHR said the ruling could embolden religious hard-liners and called into further question Indonesias harsh blasphemy law.

We are concerned by jail sentence for #Jakarta governor for alleged blasphemy against #Islam. We call on #Indonesia to review blasphemy law  UN Human Rights Asia (@OHCHRAsia) May 9, 2017

Amnesty International has also said the verdict could tarnish Indonesias reputation as a tolerant nation.

"The conviction of Jakarta Governor #Ahok demonstrates inherent injustices of Indonesia's blasphemy law ..." pic.twitter.com/e0GWOLl2LH  Amnesty Indonesia (@amnestyindo) May 9, 2017
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 13:31 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a00fdef 1 City ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy Free

The North Jakarta District Court ignored on Tuesday the prosecution's demand to sentence Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to two years' probation for insulting Muslim leaders.

The judges sentenced Ahok to two years in prison for blasphemy as stipulated in Article 156a of the Criminal Code (KUHP) despite the prosecutors dropping the blasphemy charge against Ahok and instead accusing him of insulting Muslim leaders in violation of Article 156 of the KUHP.

The judges said they disapproved of the prosecutors requesting only probation for Ahok.

The defendant feels no remorse. His action caused unrest, hurt Islam and divided Muslims and groups, presiding judge Dwiarso Budi Santiarso said.

(Read also: Ahok detractors rejoice at guilty verdict)

Mitigating factors in Ahok's case were that he had no previous criminal record and was polite and cooperative during the trial, the judge said.

Dwiarso said the panel of judges disagreed with prosecutors' consideration that Ahok was not the only person responsible for the uproar resulting from the case.

In a previous hearing, prosecutors blamed Buni Yani, currently a hate-speech suspect, who uploaded an edited video of Ahoks speech to his Facebook account with a misleading transcription, and said he should also be held responsible in the case. It was the video that led to public uproar and the governors blasphemy charges, the prosecutors said.

Dwiarso asserted Buni's case was not relevant to Ahok's blasphemy case. (ebf)
The Central Board of Secondary Education has ordered the principal of a Kerala school to apologise to a student who was forced to remove her undergarment to take the NEET exam on Sunday.

CBSE asks school principal to apologise to student forced to remove her undergarment. (Photo for representation)

By India Today Web Desk: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has ordered the principal of a Kerala school to apologise to a student who was forced to remove her undergarment for permission to take the NEET medical college entrance examination on Sunday.

The directive for the apology came after CBSE Chairman RK Chaturvedi met Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi today.

advertisement

Four teachers of the school based in Kannur were also suspended after CBSE called their behaviour an "overzealous" act.

Meanwhile, examination officials at a school in Ernakulam have also been booked for allegedly trimming the shirt sleeves of a student as part of the CBSEs 'dress code' to curb cheating.

CBSE, however defended the stringent dress code it had imposed saying, it was a measure to "secure the sanctity" of the high-stake examination. CBSE conducts NEET at over 1,900 centres across India for admission to undergraduate medical and dentistry courses. According to CBSE, 11 lakh students fight for 95000 seats through the test.

"The incident reported in Kannur is unfortunate and a consequence of the overzealousness of a few persons involved in the process. However, the inconvenience caused to the students inadvertently in the process is regretted by the Board," CBSE spokesperson Rama Sharma said in New Delhi.

Sharma said the Board would "sensitise" the frisking staff at exam centres to prevent such incidents.

Horror for students

On May 7, students appearing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), were forced to go through multiple levels of security checks, including elaborate frisking.

Students were forced to cut off long sleeves, take off shoes and one girl student being ordered to change out of her jeans as they had pockets with metal buttons.

Even the student forced to remove her undergarment was first asked to change patiala pants she was wearing. The incidents triggered widespread outrage, leading to a political outcry in the state assembly.

The issue also led to ruckus in Kerala assembly, where both the treasury and opposition benches condemned it. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he would bring the matter to the Centres notice and that the police had been asked to examine the incidents.

A furious Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, said the CBSE norms were "an insult to humanity". The stripping of students and using metal detectors for physical examination were "cruel, inhuman and insulting" and created mental pressures on the students, he added.

The Kerala Child Rights Commission has sought a detailed report from the CBSE within 10 days, registering a suo motu case against the education board. It has also demanded a high-level probe.

advertisement

What CBSE guidlines said

CBSE had asked students to bring only their admit cards, along with required documents, to prevent any kind of cheating by candidates in the examination.

As per the dress code, don'ts included big buttons, brooches and heeled shoes for female candidates and kurta-pyjama, full-sleeve shirts and shoes for male candidates. The candidates were also told to not carry electronic devices inside the exam centre.

"Candidates were repeatedly instructed through the website, information bulletins, printed instructions on admit cards and individual communication through emails and SMSes about the steps to be taken before entering the exam centres in the high-value and high-stake examination," the CBSE spokesperson said.

'It was the most painful experience'

India Today spoke to the young student who was forced to remove undergarment in front of everyone, with her clothes on and she recounted the harrowing ordeal.

"It was the most painful experience. I went in black patiala pants (and) reached by 8:30 am. They said it's not allowed, so I ran back to buy new set of pants. Then I reached by 9:20 am. With just ten minutes to go for the exam they said the undergarment strap has metal," she said.

advertisement

"I was not allowed to go to toilet to remove. Before everyone with my clothes on, I had to remove the undergarment. I was so tensed. I had dedicated three years for this exam. I sacrificed visit home and vacation and in the last minute I was put through this. I gave the undergarment to my mom and ran for exam," said the student.

Also Read: Doctors unite to set up counselling centres for aspirants after NEET exam horror

--- ENDS ---
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Semarang, Central Java  Tue, May 9, 2017 21:15 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a02537d 1 National shia,IAIN-Surakarta,Haidar-Bagir,#shia,MUI,MUI-edict Free

Hundreds of people grouped under the Prophet Muhammad Familys Lovers Association protested a book launch at the Surakarta State Islamic Institute (IAIN) in Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday.

They protested the presence of Haidar Bagir, the author of the book Islam Tuhan Islam Manusia (Islam the God Islam the Human Being), whom they accuse of being a Shiite.

We come here to stage a peaceful rally. Haidar Bagir is a Shiite. As stated in an Indonesian Ulema Council [MUI] East Java edict, Shiites are heretical, rally coordinator Tengku Ahzar said.

Azhar, who is also the Surakarta Sharia Council (DSKS) secretary- general, further said the council had approached IAIN Surakarta rectorate officials and the book launchs organizing committee several times to ask them to cancel the event.

However, campus authorities insisted on holding the book launch as scheduled. Haidar Bagir is the leader of Shiites, which are heretical, in Indonesia. IAIN should know that, said Azhar.

DSKS head Mu'inudinillah Basri said he was worried the book launch would be used as a way to spread Shia teachings, which according to him could trigger dissension in society.

Uda Rahman Hakim, the head of IAIN Surakartas student council, which held the book launch, said the event was a pure academic activity. There was no intention of disseminating teachings of a certain religious group to the public, he said. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Adam Plowright and Guy Jackson (AFP) Paris, France  Tue, May 9, 2017 07:10 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecb9bb8 2 World Emmanuel-Macron,Marine-Le-Pen,France,presidential-election,EU,DonaldTrump,Donald-Trump,FrancoisHollande,Francois-Hollande Free

Emmanuel Macron won warm backing from European allies on Monday after his resounding victory in France's presidential election but the focus at home shifted to whether he can govern without a traditional party.

At 39, the former investment banker will become France's youngest-ever president when he is inaugurated next weekend after crushing far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday.

Although the centrist politician faces a huge task ahead to unite a fractured and anxious country, his win has been greeted with relief by EU leaders and financial markets.

The incoming French leader has also agreed to a first meeting with US President Donald Trump, on the margins of a NATO leaders summit in Brussels on May 25, the White House said.

Trump congratulated Macron on his victory during a telephone call on Monday, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated the importance of the election outcome.

"Emmanuel Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe," she told reporters.

Fervently pro-European Macron is hoping to re-energise the Franco-German engine at the heart of the 28-member bloc, which is seen as critical now that Britain is set to leave.

At Macron's victory party outside the Louvre on Sunday, the classical music lover walked on to the stage to the strains of "Ode to Joy", the anthem of the EU, rather than France's La Marseillaise, which was saved for the end of his speech.

Final results showed Macron won a higher-than-expected 66.1 percent of the vote against 33.9 percent for Le Pen, which many of her allies view as a disappointment.

It was the third blow for far-right groups in Europe after poorer than hoped for results in the Netherlands and Austria, but many analysts expect them to remain a force because of deep concerns about immigration, identity and globalisation.

Le Pen nevertheless won the support of 10.6 million people.

"Let's not fool ourselves: the score shows that... there is a real desire for far-right extremism in the population," French historian Nicolas Lebourg told left-leaning newspaper Liberation.

In a sign of their disenchantment with politics, about one third of the French electorate either abstained or cast blank or spoiled votes.

- Macron's 'revolution' -

Despite his clear win, Macron gave a sober victory speech and there was little euphoria Monday, reflecting a gloomy national mood after years of economic malaise and a string of terror attacks since 2015.

And his ambitious reform agenda is likely to face fierce resistance from trade unions and far-left opponents.

On Monday, Macron appeared alongside Socialist President Francois Hollande at World War II commemorations, a cordial meeting of the once close friends who became estranged when Macron launched his presidential bid last year.

Commentators were already focused on Macron's next battle as part of his planned "revolution" of French politics: parliamentary elections on June 11 and 18.

Macron, Hollande's former economy minister, started his own independent movement "En Marche" (On The Move") in April last year but has no party structure behind him.

He faces a huge challenge to forge the working parliamentary majority he will need to push through his reforms.

"It's all well and good running on a ticket of cutting 120,000 public sector jobs, a 60-billion-euro cut in public spending and a lowering of the unemployment rate to 7.0 percent, it will be another getting it through the French parliament," said Michael Hewson, an economist at online trading platform CMC Markets.

Macron aims to ease France's famously rigid labour laws that he believes fuel unemployment and wants to improve education in deprived areas as well as increase welfare protection to the self-employed.

En Marche's 577 candidates will be announced by Thursday. The movement is to be renamed "La Republique en Marche" (The Republic On The Move).

One of Macron's other priorities will be to name a prime minister. He said before Sunday's vote he had made his choice but would not reveal the name. He has previously said he would like to appoint a woman.

- Start under pressure -

He will inherit a population worried about the economic impact of globalisation and changes to French identity caused by immigration.

Sylvain Crepon, a French sociologist and a leading expert on Le Pen's National Front (FN), said the party "has managed to implant its identity politics across the political spectrum".

Le Pen has signalled her desire to transform her anti-immigration, anti-EU party into the main opposition to Macron, but there were already signs of an internal ideological battle about which direction to take.

"We need to stay faithful... to the fundamentals of the National Front," Jean-Marie Len Pen, Marine's 88-year-old estranged father and hardline co-founder of the party, said Sunday.

The election underlined France's economic and geographical divisions, with Macron popular among more educated, middle-class voters in cities, but viewed with suspicion or hostility by blue-collar workers.

In the first protest against his policies, several thousand people demonstrated in Paris, chanting "anti-capitalists" as they marched through the capital.

"A majority of people were against Marine Le Pen, and I'm happy about it, but there's not a majority for Mr Macron's project," a spokesman for far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, Alexis Corbiere, told LCI TV.

In an early plea for unity, Macron reached out to Le Pen's supporters after their vicious election battle.

"I will do everything I can over the next five years to ensure that people no longer have any reason to vote for extremes," he said. (**)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 08:26 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbb544 1 National Pemuda-Pancasila,PP,Painter,painting-exhibition,Andreas-Iswinarno,communism,communism-accusations,wiji-thukul Free

Approximately 30 members of youth organization Pemuda Pancasila (PP) on Monday took down the painting exhibition of an artist cum activist, Andreas Iswinarno.

The exhibition entitled Tribute to Wiji Thukul: Saya Masih Utuh dan Kata-kata Belum Binasa (Im still complete and words have not yet been destroyed) was dissolved as the displayed art work was suspected to have contained communism ideas.

When we were displaying the paintings, they suddenly came and asked us to stop the exhibition because Wiji Thukul was considered a communist, said Andreas.

Not only banning the exhibition, the PP members also removed Andreas paintings and Wiji Thukuls poems, which were placed on the walls surrounding the Indonesian Islamic Universitys Center for Human Rights Studies (Pusham UII) building in Banguntapan, Yogyakarta.

The PP members threatened they would burn the building if the exhibition continued to take place.

They took five paintings and a set of printed pages of Wiji Thukuls poems, said Andreas. It was reported that one of the PP members had pushed, choked and almost hit the painter as he attempted to defend his paintings.

I chose Wiji Thukul because his poems are still relevant with the current social political situation, said Andreas about the Indonesian poet whose whereabouts are unknown until today.

We will report this case to the Yogyakarta Police. We will ask for the fulfillment of the polices promises to protect us, said Pusham UII director Eko Riyadi.

Andreas painting exhibition, scheduled to be on display in Semarang, Central Java, on May 1 to 6, was also taken down by mass organizations. (ebf)

Against 'communism': Youth organization Pemuda Pancasila (PP) members are on guard in front of the Indonesian Islamic Universitys Center for Human Rights Studies (Pusham UII) in Banguntapan, Yogyakarta, on May 8. They demanded painter Andreas Iswinarno to cancel his painting exhibition over alleged communist suspicions. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)


Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 08:45 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbb7f4 1 City ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy Free

The police have closed the street in front of the Agriculture Ministry on Jl. RM Harsono, Ragunan, South Jakarta, where judges are scheduled to hand down a ruling in Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's blasphemy trial on Tuesday. The street has been closed since Monday evening.

"We closed Jl. RM Harsono starting from 10 p.m. Monday to place security equipment in the area," South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Iwan Kurniawan said as quoted by Kompas.com.

He said the street would remain closed until after the hearing, which was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Iwan said the auditorium of the ministry complex had also been cleared of unauthorized visitors starting from 10 p.m. on Monday to 5 a.m. on Tuesday for security reasons.

"We have enforced maximum security, especially in the courtroom," he said.

Traffic in the immediate area will be diverted during the hearing. Vehicles heading toward the ministry will be directed toward Trakindo, Cilandak or Jl. Warung Jati Barat.

Vehicles coming from Jl. Warung Jati Barat to Jl. RM Harsono and from Trakindo, Cilandak, to Jl. RM Harsono will be diverted to Jl. TB Simatupang. Traffic from Ragunan to Jl. RM Harsono will be diverted to Trakindo, Cilandak. (cal/ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 10:19 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbfcb8 1 National drugs,drugs-distribution,CrystalMeth,crystal-methamphetamine,CrystalMethamphetamine,shabu-shabu,ShabuShabu,Tito-Karnavian,national-police-chief,National-Police Free

The National Polices Criminal Investigation Department announced on Monday it had foiled an attempt to smuggle 84 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in an operation conducted by the Finance Ministrys Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

The police said the crystal meth was discovered in 14 units of vehicle buffers. Packed in wooden crates, the metal cylinders with a thickness of about 2.5 centimeters were shipped in a container from China to Indonesia. Each buffer contained 6 kg of crystal meth.

If they send it in a conventional way, it would have been detected by police dogs. So, they hid them in buffer dampers, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said at Bhayangkara Police Hospital in East Jakarta on Monday.

Customs and Excise director Heru Pambudi explained the investigation began from information it received from Chinas General Administration of Customs, which informed them about a suspected drug shipment to Indonesia.

The team tracked the shipment, which was rerouted to Bandar Lampung before it was delivered to Jakarta, he added.

We continued to trail the shipment after it was picked up by a courier and delivered to the suspect, Heru said.

Security officers arrested the suspect when he received the package in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday. From information he revealed, on Sunday, investigators managed to trace the whereabouts of another suspect, a dealer, who operated in Bandung, West Java.

We asked the dealer to show us his warehouse in Cipondoh, Tangerang. However, he tried to to escape so he was shot and killed," Heru said.

The suspect has been charged with Articles 114 and 132 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics and could face a maximum punishment of the death penalty or a minimum sentence of six years in prison. (dis/ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 14:08 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a0125f7 1 Business Rosatom-State-Atomic-Energy-Corporation,Russia,nuclear-plants,Indonesia Free

Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation has offered to develop turnkey nuclear power plants in Indonesia, said Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on Thursday.

The firm has offered to develop nuclear power plants in regions where there is no threat of earthquake, such as Bangka in Sumatra and East Kalimantan, Luhut said.

However, we have told them that we are not ready yet. We need to raise public awareness, which takes time, he said following a meeting with Rosatom representatives at his office in Jakarta.

(Read also: PLN to go nuclear if renewable energy goal flops)

Luhut said Rosatom was able to built power plants that had capacities of more than 1,000 megawatts.

Even so, we need to review everything first. Even if we do agree [to Rosatoms offer], the process will take 10 years, so we have not decided on anything yet, he said.

Although state-owned electricity firm PLNs most recent electricity procurement plan (RUPTL) maintains that nuclear energy will be the last resort for electricity procurement, it notes that the energy source must be considered if renewable sources from water, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass failed to meet the target.

As Indonesia is an archipelagic country, PLN also makes specific note of the possible use of small modular reactors, which can produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity, for certain islands, adding that further study would be needed as small modular reactors were not commercially available. (bbn)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Bagus Saragih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 22:13 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a027ce0 1 National ahok,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,Twitter,viral,blasphemy Free

From Sumatra to Papua and in many foreign countries, people have been posting on social media to comment on the guilty verdict and two-year jail term handed down to Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, making #Ahok a worldwide trending topic for quite some time on Tuesday.

Notable artists and journalists, as well as international political observers, joined ordinary Jakartans and other social media users across Indonesia to criticize the verdict. Also, international media outlets ran the breaking news as soon as the judges banged the gavel on Ahoks conviction.

(Read also: Respect Ahok's verdict, Jokowi says)

Other related hashtags also went viral, such as #RIPHukum (Rest in Peace the law), #SaveAhok, #FreeAhok, #RIPIndonesiajustice and #Ahokbukanpenistaagam (Ahok is not a blasphemer).

Even the world of fiction is losing its pull today. Too distracted by this sad news. Cant work, tweeted @deelestari, the prominent author Dewi Dee Lestari. The tweet got 901 retweets and 612 likes as of Tuesday evening.

Even the world of fiction is losing its pull today. Too distracted by this sad news. Can't work. #Ahok  Dee Lestari (@deelestari) May 9, 2017

Terrorism expert Sydney Jones, via her Twitter account @sidneyIPAC, also had her say. Ahok was slandered, declared guilty before the trial, held accountable in a questionable legal proceeding and now detained. Is this a state with the rule of law? she tweeted in Indonesian. Other international observers tweeted similar sentiments.

Ahok: "difitnah, dinyatakan bersalah sblm pengadilan & diadili dgn hukum meragukan" -- skrng ditahan. inilah negara hukum??  sidney jones (@sidneyIPAC) May 9, 2017

Of all Indonesian politicians, the last one I expected to end up in jail was Ahok. If there's anyone who ought to be in prison, it isn't him.  Judith Jacob (@judithpjacob) May 9, 2017

Ahok gets two years jail for blasphemy and Indonesia's judiciary displays itself as weak, inexperienced and inconsistent. #@6pr.  Ross B Taylor AM (@Indorosstaylor) May 9, 2017

Daniel Ziv, the director of an award-winning documentary about street musicians in Jakarta called Jalanan (Streetside), which once moved Ahok to tears, also expressed his anger: Ahok's jailing confirms the Islamists & New Orderists aren't satisfied just winning the election, but aim to purge & take over the country.

Ahok's jailing confirms the Islamists & New Orderists aren't satisfied just winning the election, but aim to purge & take over the country.  Daniel Ziv (@DanielZiv) May 9, 2017

Many have composed creative memes, mostly in support of Ahok, who has been praised as an anti-corruption champion despite his harsh and outspoken speaking style.

Journalist Benjamin Bland (@benjaminbland) quoted a Malaysian politician commenting on Ahoks verdict, saying that it would also disconcert ASEAN.

"The verdict is deeply disconcerting not only for Indonesia, but for the entire ASEAN region"-Malaysian MP Charles Santiago on Ahok jailing  Ben Bland  (@benjaminbland) May 9, 2017

I once had dinner with this humble, bright and upright man. Now he's in jail for blasphemy. A sad day for Indonesia's justice system. #ahok  Christian Kretschmar (@CKretschmar) May 9, 2017

As of 9 p.m., hundreds of Ahoks supporters were reportedly staying outside the Cipinang detention center in East Jakarta where the Ahok had been detained. They wanted to express support for the governor and meet him.

Hours after the verdict, Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo assigned deputy governor Djarot Syaiful Hidayat to be acting Jakarta governor.

Ahok and Djarot were running mates in the 2017 Jakarta election, but lost to the Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno, who had considerable backing from conservative Islamic groups.

Supporters of the now suspended Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama burst into tears after a panel of judges at the North Jakarta District Court sentence him to two years in jail for blasphemy. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 09:24 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbddb1 1 City ahok,#ahok,#AhokTrial,basuki-tjahaja-purnama,blasphemy Free

Tight security checks have been implemented at the courtroom where the final hearing of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama's blasphemy trial is being held at the Agriculture Ministry on Jl. RM Harsono, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Court visitors, which comprise Ahok supporters and members of Muslim groups that have demanded the imprisonment of the governor for alleged blasphemy, have flocked to the ministry's auditorium since 7 a.m. The hearing is set to begin at 9 a.m.

The police let representatives of the groups enter the auditorium at 8 a.m. after they passed through a metal detector gate and underwent a manual security check. The police also requested male visitors remove their peci (caps) and turbans during the screening.

(Read also: Police close street ahead of Ahok's final hearing)

As many as 13,000 security personnel, consisting of police, military and Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) personnel, are guarding the final hearing. That number is four times higher than the number of security personnel deployed to secure Ahok's previous hearings. .

The Jakarta Police have received notification that a rally involving 5,000 people will take place outside the courtroom during the hearing.

Another rally will be held by Ahok supporters, who plan to erect a miniature of the monument of justice and freedom outside the courtroom. They will adorn the monument with thousands of roses. (ebf)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sebastien Blanc (AFP) Washington, United States  Tue, May 9, 2017 06:54 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecb9392 2 World DonaldTrump,Donald-Trump,travel-ban,anti-Muslim,Muslim-ban,Muslims,US-administration,#Muslim-Ban Free

Did Donald Trump's contested travel ban deliberately single out Muslims? The US administration fiercely denied it during an appeals court hearing Monday -- despite the president's campaign call for a blanket Muslim ban.

The hearing came as Trump seeks to bounce back from a series of stinging judicial defeats over his controversial effort to bar travelers from half a dozen mainly Muslim countries.

The question of intention is key since the US Constitution forbids religious discrimination. Trump's detractors say it is beyond doubt that Muslims were the ban's intended target, but the administration says it is motivated strictly by national security concerns, an area where US presidents have wide powers.

Trump "never intended for that to discriminate on the basis of any particular religion," Jeffrey Wall, the US acting solicitor general, told judges of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond during an intensely argued afternoon hearing.

"He made clear he was not talking about Muslims all over the world," said Wall. "That's why it's not a Muslim ban."

But a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Omar Jadwat, whose side is supported by several Democratic-led states, argued that Trump the candidate made clear he wanted to ban all Muslims for a time while studying enhanced immigration vetting.

A lower judge's ruling dealt Trump a blow by freezing his second attempt to close US borders to citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.

Given the public importance of the case, the full appeals court in Richmond heard the arguments -- bypassing the usual initial three-judge panel -- for the first time in a quarter-century.

Thirteen of the court's 15 active judges took part. Two recused themselves over potential conflicts of interest, including the conservative J. Harvie Wilkinson, Wall's father-in-law.

The court, once considered the most conservative appeals court in the country, now has nine judges named by Democratic presidents including Barack Obama, according to Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.

- Outcome unclear -

The judges aggressively questioned both Wall and Jadwat, making it unclear which way they might be leaning.

They pressed Wall over whether Trump had acted in "bad faith," disguising an order targeting Muslims as one intended to prevent terrorism.

They said Trump's comment, while signing his second order, that "you know what I mean" by the order was a "wink and a nod" to let supporters know he was really aiming at Muslims.

Judge Barbara Keenan suggested that Trump's country-based order was bound to be sweeping and indiscriminate. "You're talking about 82 million people aren't you? It seems to me there has to be some linkage to show that there is a detrimental interest to the United States posed by 82 million people."

The judges also pressed Jadwat over whether an identical order issued by a president who had not made remarks against Muslims might be acceptable -- and whether a president should not be granted some deference on security matters.

- First attempt blocked -

The federal court judge in Maryland issued a nationwide block on the ban's core provision concerning travel from the short list of countries, saying the order raised the prospect of religious bias against Muslims.

That decision came just after a broader one issued in Hawaii that halted both the travel ban and a 120-day suspension of the US refugee admissions program.

The White House is fighting that ruling in the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco.

The scope of Trump's revamped ban, signed in early March, was reduced from his original January effort, which blocked travelers from seven-majority Muslim countries, including Iraq, as well as all refugees.

The first decree -- which prompted mass protests and sowed chaos at US airports -- was blocked on grounds it violated the ban on religious discrimination, a ruling upheld on appeal.

The modified version removed Iraq from the ban, but ran into the same objections.

Although the travel rule does not explicitly mention Muslims, the Maryland judge, Theodore Chuang, accepted arguments that Trump's history of anti-Muslim rhetoric presented "a convincing case" that it amounted to "the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban."

Trump has vowed to fight the latest "flawed" ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. The Justice Department has the backing in Richmond of around a dozen Republican-led states

A ruling is expected to take anywhere from one to six months. (**)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, May 9, 2017 12:41 2010 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97a00c8db 1 News Tourism-Ministry,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Ngurah-Rai-International-Airport,Arief-Yahya,tourism,#tourism Free

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya paid a visit to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali on Monday to discuss air connectivity, one of the ministrys three main priorities for this year next to the going digital and homestay programs in tourist areas.

Arief said air connectivity was important as almost 80 percent of foreign tourists came to Indonesia by air transportation with most of the traffic concentrated at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang and Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.

Read also: Tourism Ministry issues new policies for international airlines

The ministry is currently trying to achieve this years target of attracting 15 million foreign tourists to the country; it is still two million short of reaching the targeted number.

To tackle the issue, the ministry has formed a special unit called the Air Accessibility Improvement Team led by a special staff member for the infrastructure sector, Judi Rifajantoro, and a technical expert for the air connectivity sector, Robert Waloni.

Read also: Bali ranked top 10 Asia Pacific destinations in total nights, money spent

The team has three main objectives, to communicate with the ministry regarding traffic rights between countries and to speed up the process of creating a new route; to build business coordination between related parties to ensure airports availability for an additional slot-time whenever there is a new airline route or an increase in airline flight frequency; and to build a partnership with airlines and wholesalers to attract more foreign tourists.

The ministry also introduced two partnership programs, namely a promotion partnership for regular flight routes and an incentive program for those who manage to bring foreign tourists to travel new routes using chartered flights. (kes)
By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, May 8 (PTI) Nepal today decided to be a part of Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative, a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prachanda decided to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on One Belt, One Road (OBOR) with the Chinese government.

advertisement

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara will lead a high-level delegation to Beijing on May 12 to sign the MoU.

OBOR conference is held in Beijing on May 14 and 15. Senior officials, including executive heads, of over 150 countries are expected to attend the conference.

A signature initiative of Chinese President Xi, OBOR aims at enhancing connectivity and cooperation among countries, primarily between China and the rest of Asia and Europe through land as well as maritime routes.

China had sent a draft proposal on OBOR to Nepal late last year. After a month-long consultation, the Nepali side had sent back the draft to Beijing with some changes. PTI SBP AJR AKJ AJR

--- ENDS ---
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nedi Putra AW (The Jakarta Post) Pasuruan, East Java  Tue, May 9, 2017 09:55 2010 a291276806121264c0bd211cdecbf80d 4 Destinations jawi-temple,destination,historic-site,East-Java,Javanese-culture Free

The 1,653-meter high mountain, popularly known as the Mahameru or Pawitra in ancient Javanese myths, is a protected cultural heritage site with its ancient baths and pools  considered sacred by locals  that have existed for thousands of years.

There are at least four sites with ancient water-management systems located on the mountain. These sites are found in the trenches surrounding Jawi Temple in Prigen subdistrict, the Belahan and Tetek fountains in the Gempol subdistrict, the Jedong site in the Wotanmas village of Ngoro subdistrict and the Jolotundo pool in the Seloliman village of Trawas subdistrict.

During the times of ancient Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in Java, water fountains were very crucial as an integral part of religious sites, M. Dwi Cahyono, an archeologist from Malang State University, said during a recent heritage trail event on ancient water management sites around the mountain.

For an agriculture-based kingdom, the existence of patirthan [baths and pools] not only served religious purposes but also practically functioned as a water supply for the peoples daily lives, including for watering their paddy fields,

Dwi said that thorough observations on the ancient sites showed just how thoughtful the ancestors were in developing the water management system, which was efficient, effective and withstood the test of time.

A perfect example of the system is seen in the trenches surrounding Jawi Temple, he added.

Symbolically, Dwi said the trenches represent the ocean surrounding the holy mountain, represented by the temple, which was built by King Kertanegara of the Singosari kingdom in the 13th century.

Read also: Muaro Jambi Temple Festival to kick off on Waisak Day

At the same time, the trenches, technically speaking, also functioned as a measuring tool for water debit. This, of course, was very important for farmers who wanted to water their paddy fields, he said.

Meanwhile, according to local tradition, the Belahan and Tetek fountains symbolize the source of life. The water in this site comes out from the nipples of a statue of Sri, the goddess of fertility, which has existed since 1049 AD, the year in which King Airlangga passed away.

In addition to the Sri statue, there is also a statue of Laksmi, a goddess believed in Hinduism to be the mother of the universe. However, unlike the Sri statue, Dwi said, no water bursts from the Laksmi statue as a result of a depleted water source.

Today, locals continue to use the Belahan and Tetek fountains for religious rituals because they consider it a holy site.

Oase: Visitors queue up to cleanse themselves using a seemingly endless supply of water at the Jolotundo pool.(JP/Nedi Putra AW)

Locals also use the water from the Belahan and Tetek fountains for their daily needs, Dwi said.

Jedong, an ancient water management site built around the 14th century, features collective reservoir technology that provided water to the people of ancient kingdoms.

Dwi said that the existence of the reservoir technology proved that the ancestors who designed it were ahead of their time in terms of engineering.

The water management system of the Jotolundo pool features a unique and special design, Dwi said.

The architecture of the site uses the principles of the U-shaped pipe to distribute water coming from the slopes of the mountain, he said.

By using a U-shaped pipe, the system distributes water to the people living below the mountain through channels that were built underground.

The Jolotundo pool, one of the most advanced water management systems of its time, according to Dwi, was built in 977 AD.

Read also: Borobudur Temple among top cultural destinations in 2017

Like the Belahan and Tetek fountains, the Jolotundo pool remains a major attraction for locals looking to take a bath or conduct religious rituals. They are also permitted to take the water to their homes for their daily needs as long as they pay the entrance fee of Rp 10,000 (75 US cents).

While the ancient sites were integral to the locals day-to-day lives, Dwi said, they were also important in the conservation of the surrounding forest, which provided separate water sources.

Water has been continuously depleting due to uncontrolled illegal logging and longer dry seasons in recent years, Dwi said, adding that he wanted todays society and stakeholders to realize that they needed to be wiser in dealing with natural resources.

The younger generations of today must take notes on the work of our ancestors who successfully developed a sustainable water management system so that we can preserve the water sources that are available today for the future, Dwi said.

One of the participants of the heritage trail event, Fahmi Hidayat, said he agreed with Dwi that sustainable water management systems have been an integral part of Indonesian society since ancient times.

Fahmi, who works as a technical deputy at state-owned water supplier Jasa Tirta I, said the government had issued numerous regulations to ensure that sustainable water management systems would thrive while also respecting local wisdom and culture.

However, the implementation of those regulations remains lacking, Fahmi said.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) The Netherlands today came out in support of Indias bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying the country is a "prime candidate" if the premier global body were to expand.

Observing that to remain relevant, bodies such as the UNSC need to be fundamentally reformed, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said: "If the Security Council were to include additional permanent seats, then my country sees India of course as a prime candidate".

advertisement

In an attempt to get the United Nations reform process moving, India and other G4 nations including Brazil, Germany and Japan recently said they were open to innovative ideas and willing to not exercise veto as permanent members of a reformed Security Council until a decision on it has been taken.

Addressing an interactive session organised by industry body CII here, he said the Netherlands too expects to be a non-permanent member of the UNSC next year. Sharing his views on the situation in war-torn Syria, the Dutch Foreign Minister remarked: "I find especially the position of the Russian Federation as to its use of veto power even when there are chemical attacks unacceptable."

He said one can only have a functioning security council if there is legitimacy and effectiveness. Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria last month and called on the government there to cooperate with an investigation into the incident. Russia, a permanent member of 15-nation Council, exercised the veto when a draft resolution drafted by France, the United Kingdom and the US was tabled in the UN. While 10 of the UNSCs 15 members voted in favour, Russia rejected the text, as permanent member China, as well as non-permanent members Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained. PTI RSN MKJ

--- ENDS ---
Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here

You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: 

Home Page
Tentang Situs Slot Online Resmi MGS88 Nama Situs  MGS88 Minimal Deposit  Rp. 10.000,- (Sepuluh Ribu Rupiah) Proses Deposit   2 Menit Metode Deposit  Bank Transfer,  Pulsa,  E-Wallet Judi Online Terbaik  Slot Online,  Judi Bola,  Casino Online,  Togel Online,  Tembak Ikan Provider Slot Gacor Mudah Maxwin  Pragmatic Play,  PGSoft,  MicroGaming,  Habanero Slot Gacor Gampang Menang  Gates of Olympus,  Sweet Bonanza,  Wild West Gold,  Starlight Princess Win Rate 98%

RTP Live Slot Gacor Tertinggi Hari Ini Terbaru Terlengkap

Selamat datang di halaman RTP live dan informasi soal slot gacor hari ini dari situs MGS88 yang setiap hari selalu update. Berdasarkan RTP Live MGS88, Anda bisa mendapatkan informasi tentang slot online yang saat ini yang sedang Gacor atau onfire dengan persentase yang terbukti akurat, ini bisa menjadi rekomendasi anda sebelum memilih permainan slot online di situs MGS88. Cek RTP Slot sekarang juga bosku

Klik Provider Slot Untuk Mengetahui RTP Slot Secara Real Time

Selamat datang bagi kalian yang sedang mencari situs RTP Live terlengkap dan terkini hari ini. Sangat sesuai jika Anda mengunjungi website MGS88 RTP live untuk informasi tentang permainan slot yang lagi gacor dengan slot RTP yang terupdate. Persentase kemenangan yang kami berikan tentunya diambil dengan data yang sangat valid dan hanya untuk permainan slot yang tersedia di situs MGS88. RTP yang tersedia juga akan selalu diperbarui setiap hari berdasarkan level kemenangan yang diberikan kepada member kami.

Memang sih untuk bermain slot itu tergantung hoki dari setiap pemain, Namun RTP live atau bocoran slot dari yang kami sediakan ini adalah data autentik dari banyaknya pemain yang telah bermain dan mencapai kemenangan tinggi. Sederhananya, kalau banyak pemain yang menang di dalam 1 permainan slot, karena itu permainan slot tersebut akan mempunyai persentase RTP yang sangat tinggi.

Namun kami tegaskan sekali lagi, ini bukan sebuah paksaan kami situs MGS88 untuk anda bermain di game slot yang mana. Ini bisa dijadikan sebagai referensi atau tolok ukur, boleh dicoba kalau anda mempunyai feel yang kuat dalam memainkan permainan game slot. Anda dapat mengakses kapan saja dan di mana saja selama anda siap bermain. Jangan ragu untuk bertanya ya seputar pola putaran terhadap kami, sebab kami juga menyediakannya loh.

Apa itu RTP Live?

RTP Live ialah informasi mengenai persentase tertinggi saat ini dari hasil RTP Live dengan bocoran kemenangan pemain saat ini. RTP Live merupakan singkatan dari Return To Play atau bisa juga diartikan sebagai Return to Player. Karena itu, para pemain slot sekarang jika ingin mengetahui seberapa besar kemenangannya, bisa dengan memainkan permainan yang akan dimainkannya dan bisa untung dengan mudah dan tentunya maksimal.

Apa itu RTP Slot?

RTP Slot juga dikenal sebagai return to player atau pengembalian ke Pemain. RTP slot ialah persentase dari nilai pengembalian semua uang yang dipertaruhkan pemain dari waktu ke waktu. Dengan kata lain, RTP juga dianggap sebagai salah satu fitur slot yang mengembalikan uang pemain saat pemain kalah.

Persentase digunakan untuk menghitung RTP dalam permainan slot. Misalnya, jika slot memiliki RTP 97%, itu berarti untuk setiap 100.000 koin yang hilang di slot, slot dapat mengembalikan 97.000. Jika Anda mengetahui RTP sebuah permainan slot, Anda dapat memutuskan permainan slot mana yang akan dimainkan tanpa kerugian besar.

Apakah Angka Persentase RTP Slot Itu Penting?

Biasanya pemain slot itu tidak memperhatikan RTP dalam permainan yang akan dimainkan, biasanya setelah anda mengisi saldo utama anda akan langsung buru-buru memainkannya. Yang terakhir 90-96% mempengaruhi jumlah kemenangan. Semakin tinggi jumlah RTP yang digunakan, semakin luas peluang untuk mendapatkan keuntungan.

Akan namun itu segala tak secara 100% menjamin kemenangan kau dalam bermain, RTP itu cuma sebagai kalkulasi pengeluaran anda saja selama bermain slot.Dengan adanya RTP, kau dapat mengerjakan pengaturan atas uang yang akan kau pertaruhkan nanti pada ketika bermain.Untuk itu pada ketika kau bermain slot dan telah mengalami banyak kekalahan di satu permainan, direkomendasikan kau pindah ke permainan slot lainnya yang RTP nya lebih tinggi dari permainan yang tadi kau mainkan.

Keuntungan Menggunakan Bocoran RTP Slot Hari Ini

Situs MGS88 Akan dengan senang hati akan beberapa keuntungan yang didapatkan jika anda bermain slot dengan menggunakan RTP Live yang telah disediakan. Berikut Keuntungannya :

Peluang Kemenangan Meningkat Tentu saja, saat bermain slot online, menang adalah hal yang paling penting. Di sinilah RTP berperan sebagai metode atau metode baru yang akan membantu Anda memilih permainan slot persentase tinggi. Mendapat variasi dalam Memainkan Game Slot Pastinya banyak pemain slot online yang hanya memainkan 3-5 permainan slot saja. Namun dengan RTP Live slot akan memberikan banyak game slot lain yang bisa anda coba. Tentunya semua permainan slot memiliki potensi kemenangan yang besar, jadi jangan hanya mengandalkan beberapa permainan saja. Menambah Pengalaman Dalam Bermain Slot Keuntungan terakhir adalah Anda tentu saja menambah pengalaman dan keahlian dalam permainan slot online. Dengan berbagai macam permainan slot yang dimainkan, Anda pasti mengetahui karakteristik dari setiap permainan slot yang Anda mainkan. Akibatnya, Anda pasti bisa dianggap sebagai pemain slot yang andal, yang pasti akan meningkatkan peluang Anda untuk menang besar menggunakan RTP.

Daftar 8 Situs Dengan RTP Slot Live Tertinggi Hari Ini

Ada banyak penyedia mesin slot online di internet. Tetapi tidak semuanya memiliki peluang tinggi atau RTP Live Slot yang sangat tinggi. Tapi jangan khawatir, berikut ini adalah situs slot gacor yang akan memberikan bocoran slot dengan RTP Live Tertinggi:

RTP Live Slot Pragmatic Play (RTP Slot 97.85%) RTP Live Slot PG Soft (RTP Live 96.15%) RTP Live Slot Habanero (RTP Slot 95.89%) RTP Live Slot CQ9 (RTP Live 98.83%) RTP Live Slot Spade Gaming (RTP Live 94.99%) RTP Live Slot Micro Gaming (RTP Slot 95.39%) RTP Slot Live Top Trend Gaming (RTP Live 96.14%) RTP Slot Live JOKER123 (RTP Live 97.45%)

Itulah Daftar 8 Provider Slot Gacor dengan RTP Live teratas diatas tentunya kami analisa terlebih dahulu. Anda bisa membuktikannya langsung dengan mengklik banner atau meprovider game slot yang sudah tersedia di atas. Saran kami yaitu Anda harus memainkan semua penyedia slot di atas untuk mencapai peluang kemenangan terbaik.

Daftar Slot RTP Live Tertinggi Sering Kasih Jackpot

Selain mempertimbangkan RTP Slot Gacor yang ada, sebenarnya ada banyak faktor penting untuk menang dalam permainan judi online. Sebab ada banyak game yang memiliki fitur dan mekanisme unik dan bisa membantu anda meraih Jackpot yang sangat besar.

Berikut ini akan kami ulas daftar 5 game slot paling populer karena sering memberikan jackpot:

RTP Live Gates of Olympus Gates of Olympus adalah game slot teraneh dan terbaik di Indonesia. Karena permainan mesin slot ini paling populer karena kakek Zeus dapat mengizinkan pengganda x500. Selain itu, fitur dan mekanik Gates of Olympus juga sangat menguntungkan untuk memenangkan Grand Jackpot. Secara teoritis, RTP slot langsung Gates of Olympus bernilai 96,50%, yang berarti peluang Anda untuk memenangkan MaxWin cukup tinggi. RTP live Sweet Bonanza Sweet Bonanza adalah permainan slot terpopuler kedua. Game slot bertema buah dan permen yang lezat ini sepertinya akan menarik banyak perhatian karena tergolong slot gacor yang mudah menang. Secara teoritis, slot Sweet Bonanza RTP bernilai 96,48%, yang berarti peluang Anda cukup tinggi untuk memenangkan jackpot. RTP Live Wild West Gold Wild West Gold adalah permainan slot bertema koboi yang juga populer di kalangan penggemar konspirasi. Permainan slot Wild West Gold sendiri kerap menawarkan kejutan jackpot bagi para pemainnya. Selain itu, nilai RTP Live Slot menunjukkan indeks tertinggi hari ini, yang berarti sangat layak dan sangat direkomendasikan. RTP Live Starlight Princess Slot Starlight Princess ini memiliki gaya dan fitur yang mirip dengan Gates of Olympus. Perbedaannya hanya pada desain dan karakter gamenya saja, karena memiliki fitur dan mekanik yang sama tentunya RTP slot teoritis pada game slot ini sama yaitu 96,50%. RTP Live Cash Elevator Mungkin sebagian dari Anda baru mengenal slot Cash Elevator. Namun dari data benchmark yang diungkap, ternyata banyak sekali yang menikmati permainan slot ini. Dengan fitur dan mekanisme unik seperti Lift up and down asli, slot ini juga memiliki slot RTP Live dasar 96,64% yang juga memiliki mekanisme yang sangat menguntungkan untuk memperlancar tingkat kemenangan besar.

Bocoran Jam Main Slot Gacor Hari Ini

Dalam bermain permainan slot online itu tidak bisa dilakukan dengan sembarangan yah. Jadi, Jika anda bermain pada waktu tertentu seperti yang akan kita bahas sesaat lagi, ada kemungkinan anda untuk mendapatkan kemenangan lebih tinggi. Jam RTP Slot Gacor merupakan bocoran jam main slot yang akan memberikan anda kapan waktu yang pas dalam bermain game slot.

Tentu saja seluruh provider slot online memiliki jam tertentu dalam memberikan peluang kepada para pemainnya untuk mendapatkan kemenangan. Disini kami akan memberikan anda Bocoran Jam Slot Gacor yang Paling Akurat Hari ini:

Jam Slot Gacor Pragmatic Play 02:30 WIB - Jam 05:25 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Habanero 14:26 WIB - Jam 17:38 WIB Jam Slot Gacor CQ9 00:45 WIB - Jam 05:53 WIB Jam Slot Gacor PG SOFT 14:25 WIB - Jam 17:35 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Joker123 17:41 WIB - Jam 20:42 WIB Jam Slot Gacor Microgaming 22:30 WIB - Jam 00:35 WIB

MGS88: Situs Judi Slot Online Gacor Pay4D Resmi dan Terpercaya

MGS88 adalah situs game slot online Gacor terbaru yang bermitra dengan Pay4D, Pay4D sendiri merupakan daftar situs game slot online terpercaya dengan berbagai macam permainan judi yang mudah dimenangkan seperti Game Bola, Casino Online, Slot Pay4D, Tembak Ikan dan Pay4D Online Permainan togel seperti Singapura, Hongkong, Sydney dan lain-lain. Tujuan utama kami adalah menjadi situs judi online Pay4D yang menyediakan layanan judi online terbaik di Indonesia.

Kami juga salah satu situs resmi PAY4D di Indonesia yang pasti akan membayarkan semua kemenangan kepada semua member kami, karena kepercayaan dari semua member kami adalah prioritas utama kami sebagai mesin slot 4d Asia terbaik di Asia, khususnya di Indonesia.

Dalam melakukan sistem transaksi sistem simpanan dapat dilakukan dengan mudah melalui mobile banking dan electronic banking berupa bank BCA, BSI, BRI, BNI, Cimb Niaga, Permata dan Mandiri. Selain itu, transaksi e-wallet juga tersedia melalui Dana, Gopay, LinkAja dan Ovo serta dapat digunakan untuk pulsa tanpa dipotong.

Untuk mempermudah dan kenyamanan dalam melakukan registrasi atau melakukan setiap transaksi, MGS88 menyediakan layanan live chat dan Whatsapp terhubung langsung dengan customer service online 24 jam.

Mengenal Istilah Dalam RTP SLOT

Di slot RTP Live Anda akan melihat berbagai fitur yang mungkin tidak Anda pahami masing-masing. Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini.
By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, May 9 (PTI) Norwegian Ambassador to India Nils Ragnar Kamsvag today called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and discussed issues relating to the implementation of several programmes under the Norway-India partnership initiative 2013-17 in the state.

"The envoy met Vohra at Raj Bhavan and discussed with him issues relating to the implementation in J&K of the several programmes, under the Norway-India Partnership Initiative 2013-17," an official spokesman said.

advertisement

Recalling his experiences as the founder co-chairman of the Indo-European Union Round Table (2001-08), the Governor complimented the ambassador for his countrys sustained support to human development programmes, particularly in the arena of health, from which India had benefitted immensely through aid under NORAD.

Vohra invited the envoy to pay a longer visit to the state and view the fruitful possibilities which exist for Norwegian investors to launch mutually beneficial projects in Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesman said.

He said the Governor also referred to the high potential of Indo-Norwegian collaboration in the education sector and fostering of joint research programmes in identified fields. PTI MIJ TA AQS

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: remarks

From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, May 9 (PTI) Pakistan today summoned Iranian ambassador to express its concern over Iran army chiefs remarks that Tehran will hit "safe havens" of terrorists in Pakistan until Islamabad takes steps to stop militants from carrying out cross-border attacks.

Irans state news agency IRNA yesterday quoted Major General Mohammed Baqeri as saying that "unless Pakistan control(s) the borders, arrest(s) the terrorist and shut(s) down their bases?we will hit their safe havens and cells wherever they are".

advertisement

Baqeris remarks came after Iranian border troops were killed in a clash with militants.

Ten Iranian border guards were killed by militants last month. Iran said Jaish-al-Adl, a militant group, had shot the guards with long-range guns, fired from inside Pakistan.

Pakistans Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement that the Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan was called for "conveying Pakistans concerns".

"It was conveyed to the Iranian Ambassador that such remarks were against the spirit of brotherly relations existing between the two countries," it said.

"The Iranian side was urged to avoid issuance of such statements that could vitiate the environment of fraternal relations," it said.

The Foreign Office said recently the frequency of high- level exchanges from both the sides has strengthened the bilateral cooperation and during the visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister to Islamabad on May 3, the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation on the border issues.

The porous Iran-Pakistan border has long been plagued by drug smugglers and Sunni militants, both of whom occasionally clash with Iranian security forces. PTI SH UZM AKJ UZM

--- ENDS ---
A Pakistan International Airlines pilot forced out his crew members from the cockpit so that he can spend some time with a Chinese passenger there. After United Airlines, it seems Pakistan International Airlines will need its PR team to do some damage control.

By India Today Web Desk: After United Airlines made headlines for all the wrong reasons, Pakistan International Airlines is here to give it competition.

Recently, a PIA pilot was photographed while he was sleeping in a reclined business class seat shortly after taking off from Islamabad en route to London. The pilot who was also the former Pakistan Air Line Pilots' Association president was reportedly suspended.

advertisement

PIA might have thought they have taken sufficient damage control measures but then came another incident highlighting the sheer unprofessionalism of the their pilots.

Also read: Delta Airlines apologises after kicking family off the flight for refusing to give up infant's seat

A PIA pilot on flight PK-853 from Tokyo en route to Beijing forced out his crew members from the cockpit to spend some time with a Chinese passenger there.

The pilot asked his crew members to leave the cockpit during take-off and landing only to accommodate a Chinese lady there.

Also read: No-fly list: New rules for banning unruly passengers out, 3 levels of offences set

According to the rules, no unauthorised person is allowed to enter into the cockpit but the pilot went to break the rule knowingly, putting in many lives at risk.

It is still not known why the pilot took the Chinese passenger into the cockpit.

Also read: Man sues airline for being seated next to obese passengers

Also watch:

--- ENDS ---
Parineeti Chopra's outfits for the promotions of Meri Pyaari Bindu are actually dropping cues about what NOT to wear.

By Shivani Chhabra: With the release date of Meri Pyaari Bindu coming closer, actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra have been busy with numerous promotional events. While we understand that attending all these events is a task, we do not approve of Parineeti wearing bedsheets around to save time. Parineeti's fashion game is growing weaker by the day, and these outfits are justifying the fall.

advertisement

Parineeti Chopra donned a candy-pink collared jersey dress, and reminded us of the nurse-Barbies we loved as kids--ONLY as kids. The sad blue cut-out belt was mismatched, but it wasn't as painful a sight as that embroidered colourful flower.

If you haven't already compared her Sonal Verma attire to a pink gift wrapping sheet, the metallic-blue, flower-like brotch (read decoration) on the shoulder will point your thoughts in that direction. Parineeti dressed like a gift, but this sure was a shocking surprise.

Photo: Yogen Shah

Parineeti's melodious voice might have left the audience mind-blown, but her over-the-top pretentious-rockstar outfit made us want to look away. We have no idea why Parineeti was trying to pull off a bedsheet-like Krishna Mehta cape in those weird colours.

Photo: Yogen Shah

Also Read: Sridevi's daughter, Jhanvi, looks like an Indian princess in this dress

Like the combination of an orange top and multi-coloured cape wasn't bad enough, she donned a lot of shabby-looking accessories--maybe she was trying to have her own Bappi Da Day. The makeup was so loud, it almost drowned her beautiful voice.

And we recommend you do not take a look at her shoes.

Picture courtesy: Instagaram/sanjanabatra

Parineeti wore a pink dhoti-kurta, and a belt--no, we're not making this up. The silver, chunky choker and earrings were a bad pick for the Indo-Western ensemble, but we guess the tan-coloured waist-belt ruined it further.

She teamed a pair of floral-print juttis with the Jade by Monica & Karishma outfit, leading to us losing faith in juttis. The metallic handcuff she sported was absolutely unwanted, like the rest of her accessories. We haven't seen an Indo-Western this imbalanced in the longest of time.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/sanjanabatra

Also Read: Sushmita Sen's tiny black dress is giving us so many goals, our heads are spinning

To add more insult to injury, Parineeti wore a net, star-printed black top. The unflattering black top by Madison was teamed up with a pair of black ill-fitted, flared pants by Quo. The outfit did not do justice to Parineeti's perfectly toned body, and our screen-time.

Picture courtesy: Instagaram/sanjanabatra Picture courtesy: Instagaram/sanjanabatra

advertisement

Parineeti wrapped herself in a neon-green cape (read bedsheet) top by Payal Khandwala, and teamed a pair of embellished jeans--needless to say, she mastered the art of complicated-dressing again. The black print on the cape (bedsheet) looked like a dead tree.

Picture courtesy: Instagaram/sanjanabatra

For a change, we liked her neat pair of strappy heels--that's all we've liked about Parineet's ensembles during these promotions.

Parineeti, we really hope you up your fashion game sometime soon.

--- ENDS ---
Pinarayi Vijayan's ratings and esteem as Chief Minister have fallen in his first year at the helm of Kerala government. Who is responsible for this downfall?

Pinarayi Vijayan's ratings and esteem as Chief Minister have fallen in his first year at the helm of Kerala government. (File Photo)

By Jeemon Jacob: He is known as the toughest politician in Kerala. He has spent his entire life as a task master and a mission man for the CPI(M). And his party designated him to head the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala on the day he completed 72 years.

Kerala in general welcomed Pinarayi Vijayan's delayed elevation to the Chief Minister's post with fanfare. His loyalists and friends (including film stars, NRI business men, bishops, literary giants and bureaucrats) believed he could bring qualitative changes to the administration and ensure better delivery. Some even predicted a decade for the Pinarayi-led LDF government, as the Congress had been completely routed and the UDF destabilized.

advertisement

But scenes have changed dramatically after a year in government: Pinarayi Vijayan's ratings and esteem as Chief Minister have fallen. So, who trapped the Chief Minister and Kerala's LDF government in a mess, controversies, advisers or the CIA?

'CIA MEDDLING IN KERALA'

In February, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury had alleged America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been trying to destabilize communist governments in the state as "the US wanted to check the spread of communism." But the CIA is out of Kerala and the American spies have many global worries other than a tiny Kerala government led by CPI(M).

So CIA had no role in weakening the Kerala Chief Minister.

LOST STEAM AFTER A GOOD RUN

Yes, controversies and advisers played their part in discrediting the Pinarayi government within a short period, but Pinarayi is not a man who can be coned by cronies.

"It's true that Chief Minister lost his initial pace after first quarter in government. He had a great beginning with listing out his priorities in government. He disciplined the most powerful government servants who are controlled by left unions. He was the first chief minister who convened the meeting of senior bureaucrats and directed them to prepare developmental projects and schemes in the first week in government. Despite financial crisis, he could pull through and distribute all pensions for the weaker sections during Onam season," a senior IAS official said on the condition of anonymity.

Graphic: Vishakha Saxena

According to him, floating Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board was a great initiative by the Pinarayi government, especially for sourcing funds for mega developmental projects. Pinarayi's stock shot up even without effective public relations or media support.

"Pinarayi government kicked off with a great good will. In the middle, the government lost direction or (was) misdirected by somebody. I think that chief minister has realized the black spots in his government and will surprise everyone with his surgical strike," Dr Sebastian Paul, a former Member of Parliament and Left sympathizer, told India Today.

CABINET CORRUPTION SPELLS DOOM

The halo around Pinarayi faded soon after the resignation of his cabinet colleague EP Jayarajan in a nepotism scandal, even as the chief minister took a firm stand demanding his resignation. Later, Transport Minister AK Saseendran also fell in a phone trap and made a disgraceful exit.

advertisement

"(The) chief minister made a blunder by choosing wrong persons in sensitive posts. Somebody has mismanaged police, as chief minister had no evaluation on officers he had chosen. Some of his trusted officials used their offices to settle scores against senior IAS officials. The vigilance raids and cases against officers with high integrity paralysed the government and affected the performances of government in total. Above all, clash with CPI, major partner in LDF also damaged the image of the Pinarayi government," an official who worked with VS Achuthanandan, when he was Leader of Opposition, told INDIA TODAY.

But most of Pinarayi's critics point to one single reason behind the failures of his government - no search for alternative strategies to resolve issues.

SCOPE FOR A COMEBACK

Former bureaucrat and popular Malayalam writer NS Madhavan believes the Pinarayi government can do well, as the chief minister believes in delivery. "Give some more time, Pinarayi government will do better. If you rate a government on the basis of controversies, it won't help to go forward," Madhavan told INDIA TODAY.

advertisement

Madhavans makes a point, considering the Pinarayi government took some good initiatives to popularise Malayalam and implemented them.

"I think that some of his key people want him to fail. Unfortunately he walked into their trap. I hope that he may realize sooner that his friends are his real problems. The time has come for him to guard his back more," a CPI(M) leader, who is not a Pinarayi fan, told INDIA TODAY.

People hope that Pinarayi can bounce back as he has done it in the past, and the chief minister can bank on that hope in the second year of his government.

Also Read: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on RSS leader's threat: Sangh Parivar has taken several heads

--- ENDS ---
South Dakota elects first openly gay man to Legislature

The LGBTQ Victory Fund has declared Kameron Nelson as the first openly gay man elected to the South Dakota Legislature.
By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, May 9 (PTI) Portugal Ambassador to Indian Joao da Camara today called on Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, V P Singh Badnore at the Raj Bhawan here.

During the course of the meeting, both called for a comprehensive partnership to work together to enhance economic, scientific and technological cooperation, an official spokesman said.

advertisement

Comprehensive strategies were also discussed to promote peace, security and prosperity between the two countries, he said.

Expressing satisfaction at the mutual understanding between India and Portugal, both affirmed their strong commitment to further strengthen ties and build a forward- looking 21st century partnership based on the strong links of shared history, culture and people-to-people relations.

Taking positive note of the progress being made by India and Portugal in the renewable energy sector, Badnore welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding signed during the recent meeting between the prime ministers of both the countries in the national capital Delhi, focusing mainly on promoting closer cooperation in wind, solar and hydro- electricity sectors, the spokesman said.

He also highlighted that Indias target to produce 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy by 2022 offered immense opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration between India and Portugal.

Discussing various issues at length, Badnore said India enjoys mature bilateral relations and strong socio-cultural linkages with Portugal.

The Governor said Punjab has achieved a major breakthrough in the solar energy sector and the state is emerging as a progressive and vibrant investment destination due to various facilities extended to the cross country investors.

He said Indias economic capability is growing at a faster pace as the country has enormous dynamism and business potential.

He added that there was a major scope to further expand economic and business cooperation in a wide range of fields like information technology, marketing of agriculture produce and sharing of educational tools and technologies, which can be of immense mutual benefit for the people on both sides.

Camara was accompained his wife. PTI VJ AQS

--- ENDS ---
During her two-nation visit, Priyanka urged for awareness about sexual violence against children and increased support for victims.

Priyanka took to Instagram and shared a video in which she is seen shaking a leg with the kids. She wrote, "After they taught me their dance moves, I showed them one of mine... it's called the thumka.

By Mail Today Bureau: Priyanka Chopra has been on a whirlwind tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe lately as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, addressing the subject of sexual violence against children. On Monday, the actress took time off serious brainstorming to spend time with children in Johannesburg.

Priyanka later posted pictures and videos on her Instagram page where she is seen giving tips on the good old Bollywood thumka to the little ones.

advertisement

"After they taught me their dance moves I showed them one of mine... it's called the thumka," @priyankachopra later tweeted. Snapshots also show Priyanka hugging groups of children as she prepares to leave.

PRIYANKA'S HOLLYWOOD DEBUT

The Bollywood star who will soon make her Hollywood debut as villain of the new Baywatch film, reminisced about how her African experience was a "throwback to where it all began 10 years ago" and thanked UNICEF for giving her "14 yrs of doing something that's bigger than me".

During her two-nation visit, Priyanka urged for awareness about sexual violence against children and increased support for victims. She also met several child survivors and heard their traumatic experiences.

"When I met these survivors, young brave women and children and listened to their experiences, it just broke my heart. I will never forget their stories," unicef.org quotes her as saying. Her first stop was Chitungwiza in Zimbabwe, where Priyanka met a 13-year-old girl who has been repeatedly raped by an uncle. The actress recalled the victim telling her how "powerless and betrayed" she felt.

UNICEF INDIA AMBASSADOR FOR 10 YEARS

Priyanka has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since December and a UNICEF India Ambassador for 10 years now.

Addressing the issue during her African visit, she noted: "As a society, it is on us to provide and take care of our children as citizens of the world, to educate children at a young age that it's not okay to be inappropriately touched and that under-age sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV."

During her stay in Zimbabwe, she also visited Childline Zimbabwe, the country's 24-hour service for children who have been abused. Juggling her careers in Bollywood and Hollywood along with carrying on with her duty as a UNICEF ambassador has made Priyanka quite a globetrotter.

Also Read:

Priyanka Chopra's blouse has India's national animal on it

Priyanka Chopra lauds Supreme Court's Nirbhaya verdict, pens heartfelt letter

Also Watch:

Priyanka Chopra exudes elegance at the Golden Globes red carpet

--- ENDS ---
Actor Tiger Shroff, who has always surprised his fans by doing something special, was spotted making an impromptu halt at a local magazine stall in Bandra recently.

According to bystanders, the visit sent the passers-by's in a tizzy, and had them instinctively flock in the direction of the star.

Among the starstruck fans were a lot of girls, who rushed to greet the young actor.

Sensing a mob situation at hand, Tiger was quick to request the girls to back off while obliging for pictures and autographs for everyone else.

Sources close to Tiger revealed that the actor was enroute Mehboob Studios where he would spend the day shooting for a brand, before making an impromptu halt.

The actor ensured to meet and pose for pictures with the girls away from the crowd in the studio.

While at the studio, the actor had the girls charmed with his chivalry and humbleness.

The girls were left with happy faces on witnessing the considerate gesture by Tiger.

On the work front, Tiger Shroff is gearing up for the sequel of Baaghi.


Drawing attention to the harrowing traumas of child victims of sexual violence, UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra has called for an increased support for such children and raising awareness that underage sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV.

Bollywood actress Chopra,who has been the ambassador since December last year and a United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) India Ambassador for 10 years,visited Zimbabwe this week where she met child survivors of sexual violence and heard their harrowing stories.

Through her trip, she advocated for increased support for child victims of sexual violence.

No woman, and most definitely no child, should ever have to experience sexual violence especially from someone they trust for protection, such as a family member, she said.

Chopra's first stop was in Chitungwiza, south of Harare, Zimbabwe, where she met a 13-year-old girl who was repeatedly raped by her uncle and threatened her if she revealed the abuse.

The girl had become pregnant but with the help of her mother and neighbours, the incident was reported to the police and the uncle who abused her was arrested, tried, and jailed for 10 years.

As a society, it is on us to provide and take care of our children as citizens of the world, to educate children at a young age that it's not OK to be inappropriately touched and that under-age sex can lead to unwanted teen pregnancy or HIV, Chopra said.

Chopra, 34, also visited 'Childline Zimbabwe', the country's 24-hour service for children who have been abused, violated or exploited. Besides providing free, confidential, multilingual counselling to children aged 18 years and under, 'Childline' also offers 25 community-based drop in centres throughout the country.

I was astonished by the number of calls that were coming in during the brief time I was there, she said.

The counsellors, all volunteers, told me that many calls come from children in hysterics because they had been raped or abused. They were so scared, she added.

Chopra said the model of 'Childline' should be replicated by countries that have high rates of violence against children because it is a safe place for children to turn to and know that their call will be answered by a compassionate person who will take their complaints seriously and respond.

According to UNICEF, sexual violence against children is widespread in Zimbabwe and latest available data has showed that close to one in 10 girls aged 15-17 years old have been a victims of forced sexual intercourse or a forced sexual act.

Approximately two-thirds of victims were first abused by an intimate partner and about a tenth of the victims by a stranger.

Most concerning is that in the case of children, most abuse occurred in situations when the child knew and trusted the adult who abused him or her. Sexual violence against children is also mostly invisible and goes largely undocumented, noted UNICEF, stating that fear of getting into trouble as well as shame and stigma all contributed to children not reporting the abuse.
The worlds first air cleansing poem, which has removed more than two tonnes of pollution from the environment, is being auctioned off for charity to help in the battle against lung disease. The poem by award-winning writer Simon Armitage, professor of poetry at the University of Sheffields school of English, has been transformed into 12 limited edition artworks that were being auctioned to raise funds for the British Lung Foundation yesterday.

Printed on a specially-treated material developed by Sheffield scientists, the poem, In Praise of Air, is capable of purifying its surroundings through catalytic oxidation. The team behind the project believe its catalytic technology could help urban areas tackle high levels of pollution.

Since being developed in 2014, the poem has removed more than two tonnes of nitrogen oxide from the environment whilst being on display on the wall of the Universitys Alfred Denny building. Now, 12 sections of the poem have been stretched onto frames and signed by Armitage for auction at a special celebration event. The team also hope the poem and its air-cleansing technology can be replicated on billboards and artwork in towns and cities across the world to help tackle pollution.

Professor Jo Gavins, who leads the project from the University of Sheffields school of English, said, The nitrogen oxides that In Praise of Air helped to remove from the atmosphere during its time on the wall of the Alfred Denny building are a major cause of lung diseases and we hope to have raised public awareness of their damaging impact through our cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Piers Morgan might have had a meltdown over Emma Watson winning the first Gender-Neutral acting trophy at the MTV Movie and TV Awards, but her win proves that the topic of gender positivity is being increasingly recognised in the creative world.

However, even before MTVs foray into this topic, many writers made their points on gender positivity through their books, which explored areas like LGBT and gender fluidity. Here are some popular books that delves into gender positivity:

'The Boy with Pink Hair' by Perez Hilton: Written by Hollywoods most proficient gossip blogger, Perez Hilton, 'The Boy with Pink Hair' revolves around a boy who, as the title suggests, has pink hair which results in him facing a difficult time at school. However, the sweet tale sees the boy not only taking pride in his candy hair but also using his uniqueness to solve issues at school.

'Sleeping Bobby' by Mary Pope Osborne: Anyone who has a liking for fairy tales would know the story of Sleeping Beauty, where a princess is pricked by a needle and goes into a never-ending sleep only to be woken up by a true loves kiss. Well, 'Sleeping Bobby' is exactly the same story, only here it isnt Beauty in need of a saviour, but Bobby whose saviour in arms is a feisty princess, who fights all odds and wakes him up from his deep slumber.

'My Princess Boy' by Cheryl Kilodavis: This one has been accepted across all age ranks. Told from a mothers perspective, the story is about a 4-year-old-boy who enjoys doing things, which are traditionally thought to be for girls  jewellery, wearing dresses and sparkly items. The books, basically, tries to open the discussion of gender fluidity in the society.

'10,000 Dresses' by Marcus Ewert: '10,000 Dresses' is a picture book with illustrations by Rex Ray. It is one of the most famous books to have taken the issue of transgender acceptability to kids. The book follows the life of young Bailey, who wants to wear dresses but is rebuked by her family members who tell her that she is a boy. But the restless protagonist does not let that pull her down and takes help from a compassionate older lady to design her favorite dresses.

'King and King' by Linda De Haan and Stern Nijland: Originally written in Dutch, 'King and King' dives right into the LGBT theme, only the stage is a kingdom. The young King Bertie in the book is under pressure from his mother to find a princess soon. However, in due course, Bertie stumbles upon the love of his life- Prince Lee. And yes, the story does end on a 'happily ever after' note.
Indian auto sector is expected to invest around Rs.1 lakh crore for upgrading products to meet various upcoming regulations related to emissions, safety and fuel efficiency, according to industry body SIAM.

From October this year, all new models will have to meet offset and side crash test norms, which will become mandatory for all models by 2019.

By 2018 new models will have to meet pedestrian safety norms while all models will have to meet the criteria by 2020.

The most important change will be the Bharat Stage VI emission norms that will kick in from April 2020.

The first phase of fuel efficiency norms has started already from this year and the second phase will commence in 2022.

The figures which we are getting from member companies is almost Rs.1 lakh crore, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Executive Director (Technical) K K Gandhi told reporters here.

The investment as a whole would go into developing new platforms, emission norms, safety upgrades and fuel efficiency norms, he added.

Already investments have started as nobody wants to come up with a new BS IV platform, which cannot be upgraded to BS VI, he added.

The industry will have to develop a whole package meeting safety, emissions and fuel emission regulations, Gandhi said.

Besides, various components like advanced after treatment systems which need to be installed in BS VI vehicles will have to be imported initially, he said, adding such devices would require to be developed for Indian driving conditions.

Currently, there are just 2-3 technology providers which have capabilities to install such devices, Gandhi said.

It is not easy to develop such applications for the Indian driving conditions. The devices need modification which takes a lot of time and effort, SIAM Deputy Director General Sugato Sen said.

Moreover, for sub-1 tonne commercial vehicles development has to start from the scratch because such vehicles are not plied anywhere across the world, Gandhi said.

No technology is available for such kind of vehicles.. everything will have to be developed from scratch. So the cost of development is going to be very high as compared to switch from BS III to BS IV where figure was only around Rs.30,000 crore, he added.
Bangladesh has been named one of the six emerging Asian economies where growth gathered momentum.

Bangladesh has been named one of the six emerging Asian economies where growth gathered momentum, with the other five being India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The People's Republic of China is transitioning to more moderate and balanced growth. But growth is gathering momentum in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam, Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao said yesterday.

He was speaking at the formal launch of the ADB Board of Governors annual meeting at Pacifico Yokohama, one of Japan's biggest conference facilities, under the theme Building Together the Prosperity of Asia.

Some 6,000 government officials, academics, business officers, civil society representatives and members of the media were present.

The annual meeting is also a celebration of the ADB's 50 years of development work in Asia and the Pacific.

Japan's Crown Prince Kotaishi Naruhito Shinno and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso graced the opening session of the four-day event that began on Thursday.

The meeting will end today with hundreds of delegates from the 67 ADB member countries finalising strategies for a more prosperous Asia by 2030.

ADB President Nakao stressed the need for more investments in infrastructure to support continued growth in the Asia-Pacific region and combat climate change.

Today, we begin a new chapter in the history of ADB and the region. Building on our achievements of the past 50 years, ADB will continue to work together with our partners to build a more vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, he said.

The ADB president said investment in infrastructure would remain a priority for the bank as it prepares a new long-term Strategy 2030 to respond to rapid regional changes.

While the region has done remarkably well, we can't be complacent. Several challenges remain and new ones have emerged in Asia. About 330 million people still live in absolute poverty on less than $1.90 income a day.

Noting that implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the climate actions agreed at COP21 in 2015 are collective priorities for Asian economies, Nakao said there were new challenges from urbanisation, aging and widening inequalities.

He also touched upon five priority areas of the Manila-based lending agency such as supporting infrastructure development through incorporating more advanced technologies, prioritising social sectors, further promoting gender equality, stepping up efforts to mobilise private resources for development and prioritising Strategy 2030 under which reforms would continue in the ADB itself.

Investment in infrastructure will be an ADB priority under Strategy 2030, including enhanced support for infrastructure projects that incorporate advanced technologies, the ADB chief said.

Asia will need $1.7 trillion per year in investments in power, transport, telecommunications, and water through 2030.

Support for social sectors, especially health and education, is a second ADB priority area under Strategy 2030. For this, Nakao said, the ADB will support universal healthcare systems and cross-border initiatives to combat communicable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV.

According to the ADB president, the bank will design projects to help women and girls secure higher skills, better health, more jobs, and a larger voice in decision-making.

Nakao highlighted the bank's progress in 2016. He noted that total ADB operations last year, including cofinancing and technical assistance, reached $31.7 billion. The bank's loan and grant approvals reached a record high of $17.5 billion, a 9 percent increase from the previous year. Besides, climate finance reached $3.7 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2015.

Cofinancing with public and private partners increased to $13.9 billion. This includes ADB's first two cofinanced projects with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for roads in Pakistan and a natural gas project in Bangladesh.

Crown Prince of Japan Naruhito said over 300 million people were still living in poverty in this region and poverty reduction through sustainable and inclusive growth remains an important agenda to his country.

The region is also faced with a range of challenges, such as developing infrastructure including power supply networks, and transportation facilities, as well as addressing natural disasters and climate change. Against this backdrop, I hope that the bank will play an important role in addressing these issues, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Japan Taro Aso mentioned that the infrastructure needs in Asia were getting larger both in terms of quality and quantity due to the economic development.

The bank's recent estimates point to huge infrastructure needs in developing Asia, amounting to $26 trillion over the next 15 years. Against this backdrop, I would expect the bank to continue to promote infrastructure development, and to further mobilise private sector financing including through PPPs.

He said Japan would remain committed to working hard for the development of the Asia-Pacific region, in close cooperation with the ADB.

The ADB has decided to set up a trust fund to promote the integration of high-level technology (HLT) and innovative solutions in the design and implementation of its projects.

Japanese deputy premier Taro Aso, also the chair of ADB Board of Governors, yesterday announced that his country would provide $40 million over the next two years.

The HLT fund will provide grants for technical assistance and investment projects, and recruitment of technology experts to promote the integration of HLT and innovative solutions throughout the project cycle of the ADB-financed and administered projects.

The fund will encourage more widespread adoption of HLT to address development challenges in the ADB's developing member countries.

Japan has been promoting quality infrastructure in Asia, collaborating closely with ADB. To further strengthen the partnership, Japan will provide $40 million over 2 years to the new trust fund for HLT, said Taro Aso.

The HLT fund will be operational by July. It will support a broad range of technologies and innovative solutions that are either new or need scaling-up.

The fund may be used for feasibility studies, detailed designs, knowledge transfer and policy.

(The Daily Star)
The three men - Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam - were convicted on Monday by a special court of killing Nayana Pujari, a 28-year-old software engineer after kidnapping and gang-reaping her eight years ago.

By India Today Web Desk: A Pune court today awarded death sentence to the three convicts in the 2009 Nayana Pujari gangrape-cum-murder case. The verdict comes close on the heels of the Supreme Court sending four convicts to gallows in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case.

The three men - Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam - were convicted on Monday by a special court of killing Nayana Pujari, a 28-year-old software engineer after kidnapping and gangraping her eight years ago. A fourth accused, who had turned approver, was acquitted.

advertisement

Pujari, who worked at an IT firm in Kharadi was kidnapped on October 7, 2009 evening from Kharadi bypass, while waiting for a transport to return home. Her body was recovered two days later from Zarewadi forest area in Khed tehsil of Pune district.

The woman was also robbed of her cash, withdrawn from the ATM using her debit-cum-ATM card, before having been strangulated and bludgeoned to death in the forest.

The brutal rape and murder of Nayana Pujari had brought to the fore the lack of security for women working in the IT and BPO sectors.

The Pune court verdict also came less than a week after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences of the four men who gangraped Jyoti Singh on board a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

--- ENDS ---
The Indian government's demonetisation measures did not impede future black money flows in new denominations, a UN report said on Monday.

According to UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2017, complementary measures to demonetisation would be required to target all forms of undeclared wealth and assets.

"Broader structural reforms which could also contribute to enhanced transparency include: the implementation of a goods and services tax; voluntary disclosure of income scheme; and tracking of high-value transactions through taxpayer identification numbers," it said.

"Other measures, such as reforming the real estate registration process to ensure transparency, are being discussed."

As per the report, the disruption caused by demonetisation had "greater and longer-lasting" impacts for lower-income individuals, households and businesses that had difficulty insulating themselves against the shock.

"Rural incomes and consumption were affected due to a decline in prices for agricultural products (although again, this was not reflected in the national accounts data which measure agriculture in terms of quantity)," the report said.

"In the medium-term, the currency initiative is expected to bring more economic activities into the formal sector and spur digitisation of financial transactions, helping to broaden the tax base and secure the fiscal space needed for public social and infrastructure expenditures."

The report pointed out that "one-off" currency measure in effect transferred lost black money to the central government through unclaimed or unexchanged notes.

"Preliminary estimates suggested a 97 per cent recovery of notes, which would imply a 3.16 per cent increase in fiscal revenues for the government," the report read.

On November 8, 2016, exactly six-months ago Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would withdraw India's two largest currency denominations  Rs.500 and Rs.1,000  from circulation.

The two bank note denominations which were withdrawn represented more than 86 per cent of the cash in circulation.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government has no plans to tax agricultural income, including that of prosperous farmers, saying a rich farmer is a very rare institution and not the norm.

In an interview, he said the farm sector is in distress and there was no question of taxing agricultural income.

NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy had late last month stated that farmers should be liable to pay tax on their incomes at par with other citizens after seasonal fluctuations are adjusted.

I have already contradicted that. I have already said that we are not in favour of doing that, he said.

Stating that the agriculture sector is under distress, he said farm holdings are very small in size.

The rich farmer is a very rare institution. It is not the norm. It is only a rare exception and therefore, at a time when you need to support agriculture because of the distress, this is hardly the time to deflect the issue and start taxing agriculture. This is not the time. They are under distress, he said.

The Finance Minister said farmers should be helped and not taxed. The government is very clear (on that), he added.

In any case, the Central government has no power. It is the power of state governments (to tax farm income) and my own view is none of the states is going to do it, he said.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has also clarified that Debroy's comments on taxing farm income were his personal views and not those of the government think-tank.

On the ordinance promulgated last week to enable the RBI to order lenders to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulters and create committees to advise banks on recovering non-performing loans, Jaitley said NPA resolution will take time but the process has to be expeditiously started now by the banks.

Already the ordinance has been approved. The authorisation has been given. The RBI itself has come out with some guidelines. Some management changes have taken place.

Now the next stage is that through the JLF mechanism, the resolutions should start and we do expect the banks to cooperate in making the JLF mechanism a success, he said.

The mechanism of JLF, or the joint lending forum, came into effect in 2014 with the intention of recognising stressed assets early and coming up with a corrective action plan (CAP) within 45 days.

The system, however, did not work seamlessly as there were disagreements between lenders on how to move forward on individual accounts.

Jaitley said equity in public sector banks can be brought down only at a time when the value is there for the government to do so.

The stress period is hardly the best time to go to the market. So, let us improve their health and then we will do it, he said, adding the government is looking at some more cases of consolidation of public sector banks but refused to share details.
Ever since the Reserve Bank of India appointed JP Nayak Committee submitted a report blaming Right to Information as one of the constraints on the governance of public sector banks in May 2014, an analysis of RTI performances of 24 PSU Banks based Central Information Commissioners report depicts high rate of rejection of RTI applications by the banks.

The main findings of the RTI performance of the 24 PSU banks are, banks dealt with a total of 82, 102 RTI applications during 2015-16, this comes down to seven per cent of the 11.65 lakh RTI applications reported by 1903 public authorities registered with the CIC.

The Reserve Bank of India, dealt with 16.6 per cent more RTI applications during the year 2015-16 as compared to the previous year. However, its backlog from 2014-15, 38,884 RTI applications was more than three times the number of RTI applications received in 2015-16.

Among the 24 banks, Bank of India had the highest backlog from 2014-2015. As been the trend in previous years, the State Bank of India received the largest number of RTI applications in 2015-16, with a number of 25, 345 RTI applications, the Punjab National Bank was second in the list followed by Indian Bank.

It was also found that the United Bank of India rejected nearly two of every three information requests. The proportion of rejection has increased tenfold in 2015 -16 whereas this bank had reported the lowest proportion of rejection consecutively for two years since 2013.

As compared to 2014-15, rejection rates have gone up in 50 per cent of the 24 PSU banks, namely Allahabad Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank Ltd. Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, Syndicate Bank and UCO Bank. Andhra Bank and State Bank of Hyderabad rejected every second application dealt with in 2015-16.

According to figures presented by Venkatesh Nayak, who also did an analysis of the CIC records, the RTI load on PS Banks, Bank of India averaged at more than two applications per office. PNB, SBBJ and SBI averaged more than 1 RTI application per office, while other banks other banks averaged less than one RTI application per office in 2015-2016.

The RTI statistics submitted by the banks to the CIC do not prove the constraint theory regarding their governance which was looked upon approvingly by the PJ Nayak Committee in 2014.  he said.

In this period, it is also reported that 13 of the 24 public sector banks reported a rise of more than 90 per cent in their net NPAs ( Non-performing Assets) during 2015-16, the highest being 157.69 per cent reported by Vijaya Bank.

Commenting on the correlation between rejected RTI applications and the non performing assets, MS Bhat, an economist and formerly Head of the Department, Economics at Jamia Millia Islamia said, There is definitely a relationship by default between non-performing assets and the number of RTI applications rejected by Banks, the banks do not want to reveal about their non-performing assets. However, a content analysis of the RTI applications and the manner of their disposal by these banks will give us a concrete picture of correlation between them. Such a study is urgently needed to study these trends which might have a disastrous effect on our economy.
Titagarh Wagons, among the largest private sector railway wagon manufacturers in India, is planning to develop a shipbuilding facility at Kulpi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district in addition to its shipyard.

"We have future plans for ship building business. We are taking land at Kulpi. Apart from making wagons, we are starting ship building. We have constraints in building big ships here. Due to the height of the Howrah Bridge which is a limiting factor for passing big ships, we will build lower bodies and will complete it in Kulpi," company's Founder and Executive Chairman Jagdish Chowdhary said.

According to Chowdhary, the company is in the process of acquiring 50 acres of land at Kulpi.

The company had signed the contract from National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences for design, construction and delivery of two high end coastal research vessels valued at Rs.100 crore.

It also inked a contract with the Ministry of Defence, Directorate of Ship Production for making two 1,000 fuel barges worth Rs.75 crore, which will support INS Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier.

The four ships are the initial tenders won by the company after it ventured into ship building in the beginning of this year.

"We expect to deliver the two barges for Indian Navy in the next one year and two vessels for NIOT in 27 months," he added.
The BJP in West Bengal on Tuesday demanded an NIA investigation into the bomb blast that took place in a TMC party office in Burdwan district on Sunday evening.

BJP state secretary Locket Chatterjee said that the bomb blast was suspected to be a handiwork of jehadis.

"It's a big conspiracy and the TMC is also involved in it," Chatterjee alleged.

The TMC office was blown off in a huge blast suspected to have been caused by explosives stored inside the structure.

The exact location of the office is Pichkudi Dhaal in Ausgram in Burdwan district.

Chatterjee claimed, "In the Khagragarh blast, also in Burdwan district, we had said that jehadis were making bombs and it was proven later in an NIA investigation. In this case too Jehadi link will come out."

"The TMC can't shirk its responsibility as the blast took place inside the party office," she said.

The Khagragarh blast, which occurred on October 2, 2014 had claimed two lives. The NIA later found that the two killed were all Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen operatives from Bangladesh.

Senior TMC leader and Burdwan district president Anubrata Mandal dismissed Chatterjee's statement as 'baseless'.
The Congress on Tuesday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for not responding to the corruption allegations levelled by sacked Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the special session of Delhi assembly.

The Congress also accused the party of diverting attention from the real issues by holding a demonstration on EVM tampering in the assembly.

"When the AAP called the special assembly session, we expected that corruption charges against the Chief Minister and problems faced by the people of Delhi will be discussed," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said in a series of tweets.

Maken said he hoped issues like Kejriwal taking bribe, dengue on the rise, water and power shortage and Metro fare hike would be discussed. "But none of the issues were discussed in the assembly," he said.

"Kejriwal diverting public attention from governance-failure and corruption," he tweeted.

Maken also slammed Kejriwal for raising doubts over electronic voting machines (EVMs).

"All doubts regarding EVM can be put before the ECI (Election Commission of India) on May 12," the former Union Minister said.

"EVM be tested before EC!" Maken said, adding, "The AAP lost deposit in Rajouri by-polls where VVPAT and paper-trail was used."

"VVPAT should be implemented asap!" Maken added.

The Congress leader's remarks came after AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj sought to demonstrate in the assembly as to how an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) could be tampered with.

The AAP is in the throes of a crisis with its sacked Minister Kapil Mishra accusing Kejriwal and other senior leaders of corruption.

The AAP, which termed Mishra's allegations as "baseless", suspended him from the party's primary membership at the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting on Monday.
The Goa legislative assembly will sit for a special session on Tuesday to ratify the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which was passed by Parliament earlier this year.

The ratification of the newly introduced bill in state assemblies across the country is crucial for rolling out of the new pan-India indirect tax regime.

In August 2016, the Goa legislative assembly had unanimously passed a resolution ratifying the amendments to the Constitution to pave way for the Presidential assent to the Goods and Services Bill, 2016.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who also holds the Finance portfolio, will be tabling the bill for passing.

Representatives of political parties across Goa, have underlined the need for the passing of the legislation, which is expected to streamline and simplify tax structure throughout the country.


Suspended Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Jayaram Pangi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, officials said.

Pangi along with hundreds of his supporters joined the BJP in the presence of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other senior party leaders.

The former Koraput MP, suspended from the BJD for alleged anti-party activities, said that he had not set any terms and conditions before joining the BJP and it was up to the party to decide his position.

Reacting to his suspension, the tribal leader said that he was a disciplined worker and never indulged in anti-party activities.

The Koraput leader said the BJD is going against the ideology of Biju Patnaik, a former chief minister and father of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Meanwhile, BJD MP Baijayant Panda indirectly blamed the party leadership after Pangi and others joined the BJP. He said resentment was brewing in the party as several districts remained unrepresented in the recent ministry reshuffle.

Amar Nayak, a youth BJD leader from Jajpur district, joined the BJP on Monday.

(With inputs from agencies)
Normal life came to a halt in Srinagar on Tuesday when clashes erupted between students and the security forces, police said.

Students from Women College and the adjoining S P Higher Secondary School bunked classes, came out on Maulana Azad Road and pelted stones at the police and CRPF. Police used batons and tear smoke shells to disperse them.

Kashmir has been witnessing student unrest since April 15 when security forces entered a college in south Kashmir's Pulwama district and roughed up students inside the campus.
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that triple talaq was a violation of the Indian Constitution and that the rights of women cannot be violated in the name of personal law.

The court's ruling came as it heard a case filed by a Muslim woman from Varanasi, with regard to harassment for dowry followed by a triple talaq by her husband Aqeel Jameel.

A single judge bench of Justice S P Kesarwani also refused to quash the dowry case as demanded by Jameel, who contended that he has divorced his wife and also procured a 'fatwa' in this regard by the Darul Ifta Jama Masjid in Agra.

The court also ruled that the summon to the husband by the Varanasi Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate was valid on the grounds that prima facie the case was a criminal one as any fatwa did not enjoy the backing of law or have a legal sanctity.

No personal law is above the Constitution and triple talaq was a violation of the fundamental rights given to citizens under the Constitution's Articles 14, 15 and 21, the court said.

The court also said that any fatwa that is against law cannot be accepted.
By Press Trust of India: (EDS: Adds details, comments of political parties)

Lucknow, May 9 (PTI) Two daughters of an Army Subedar, aged 24 and 17, were found murdered today at their house in Para locality here, sending shockwaves in the state capital.

Top police officials including the Inspector General, Lucknow rushed to the spot while the opposition cited the incident to attack the Yogi Adityanath led BJP government in the state on the law and order front.

advertisement

According to the police, L B Singh, the father of the victims - Arti and Antima - had gone to a doctor with his wife.

On their return, the parents found their daughters had been brutally murdered with a sharp-edged weapon.

"After the incident was reported, a dog squad was pressed into service. The clues gathered by the squad are being worked out. A team from forensic science laboratory has also collected evidence from the scene of crime.

"As far as the motive of the murder is concerned, it will be too immature to comment at this stage. However, investigation into every aspect is underway," Additional Superintendent of Police, Alambagh, Dr Meenakshi said.

Police officials said that it appeared that a sharp-edged weapon was used to kill the sisters. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, a police official said.

Meanwhile the opposition Samajwadi Party cited the incident to attack the Adityanath government while the BJP termed the incident as "painful" but emphasised that the law and order situation was better as compared to the previous regime.

Blaming the Uttar Pradesh government for "failure" to tackle the prevailing law and order situation, SP leader Sunil Singh Sajan alleged that the incidents which have been taking place in the state for the past one-and-half months "prove that the BJP is giving patronage to criminal elements".

"Dacoity in Gomtinagar and todays incident are visible evidence of this," he claimed.

UP BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi termed the incident as "painful" but asserted that the law and order situation had improved compared to the previous regime.

Directions had been issued to police officials to arrest the culprits, he said..

"There will be no comprise on the issue of law and order situation of the state," the BJP spokesperson said. PTI ABN NAV SMI ADS

--- ENDS ---
The Delhi Assembly's special day long session on Tuesday witnessed a stormy start with Leader of Opposition Vijendra Gupta being marshalled out, thus stalling the House proceedings.

Gupta tried to raise the issue of alleged corruption in land deals involving Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and PWD Minister Satyendra Jain.

He alleged that the Rs.2 crore cash, which was allegedly handed over to Kejriwal by Jain, may be related to the deal.

Sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra had recently accused Kejriwal of taking Rs.2 crore from his cabinet colleague Satyendar Jain.

Mishra was also present in the assembly although his seat was changed from the one he usually sat on. He raised the issue of "faulty EVMs" in the assembly.

Meanwhile, Gupta sat on a dharna in the assembly premises after being marshalled out from the session and demanded that both Kejriwal and Jain be jailed.
Actor George Clooney's wife and lawyer Amal Clooney surprised him with a cake in the shape of a tequila bar for his 56th birthday.

The Money Monster actor, who turned a year older on May 6, was "totally surprised" after his friends former supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber came to London to celebrate the occasion, reports usmagazine.com.

The cake featured palm trees, sand and small bottles of booze, to resemble the Mexican-themed bar the couple have in their home in Mexico.

George's business associate Gerber, who was also celebrating his birthday, shared on Instagram a photograph of himself and George standing in front of the cake.

He captioned it: "Celebrating our birthdays Casamigos style. Thanks for the cook cake Amal. House of friends."

"Amal had this great cake made replicating the Casamigos tequila bar from their houses in Mexico. She set it all up and Rande and Cindy surprise him when he got home. George was totally surprised. Amal had everyone come for dinner and drink Casamigos," said a source.

George had set up his tequila brand Casamigos with Gerber in 2013.
Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone is currently filming in Oxford for her upcoming British-Irish biographical historical drama The Favourite.

The film, which follows the political machinations behind the scenes during the reign of Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House of Stuarts, also stars Olivia Coleman and Rachel Weisz.

Weisz, who plays Sarah Churchill in the film, was also spotted having lunch with actor husband Daniel Craig at the Cherwell Boathouse, reported The Tab.

The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, will release next year.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar's offer to the Union Government to hand over the 1948 made Douglas DC3 'Dakota' Aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) that will arrive in India shortly, is now getting all the mandatory clearances.

The businessman-turned-lawmaker said the aircraft was currently in London.

"Since it is a long haul flight and has to fly over 11 countries, one has to get sanction from all these countries, for which we have applied for. I expect the aircraft to arrive in the country in the coming months and wish to officially hand it over on Vijay Diwas," Chandrasekhar said.

Incidentally, he first made this offer to the UPA Government, but failed to get a positive response and it was only last year that a green signal came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

After buying this aircraft from Ireland in 2009, he has now made the aircraft airworthy in London, where it is waiting to begin its flight to India.


BJP's Muslim leaders on Tuesday urged backward sections of the community to embrace Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "pro-poor" policies at a meeting organised here following his call to the party to reach out to them.

Making a distinction between backwards and others among Muslims, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the poor Muslims have been unable to take advantage of the welfare schemes for minorities and claimed that Modi's "pro- poor" policies will uplift them.

Modi had asked leaders at the party's national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar to reach out to the backward Muslims, saying they will also benefit from his government's bill that seeks constitutional status for the OBC Commission but was stalled by opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha.

Addressing Muslims drawn from various states, Naqvi said parties like the Congress, TMC and JD(U) came to power on the strength of Muslims' support but blocked the bill which would have "benefited" the backward members of the community.

He said there are 84 such groups, like qureshi, momin and weavers, among Muslims which would get help from his government's development push for the poor and backward.

It is not often that the BJP or its leaders organise events especially targeting Muslims, who have historically been wary of the saffron party due to a host of issues, including its Hindutva agenda.

Former MP and Bihar BJP leader Sabir Ali, who organised the meting, urged Muslims to ally with the party, saying "patrons of secularism" like the Congress, RJD and others did nothing for them while getting their votes all these years.

"Modi says nobody should be poor or remain deprived. He is working for them. His government is working for development and it will help backward Muslims," Ali said sharing the stage with Naqvi.

Interestingly, it was Naqvi who had strongly opposed Ali's induction into the party before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, calling him "a friend of a terrorist" and wondering if Dawood Ibrahim too will join the organisation now.

His outburst forced the party to cancel Ali's membership and the rebuffed leader then filed a defamation case against Naqvi.

He was inducted again before the Bihar assembly polls in 2015 and both the leaders patched up.

Naqvi today heaped praise on Ali, who as a JD(U) MP had tried to rally backward Muslims in Nitish Kumar's support, and said he was working diligently for the poor members of the community on the ground.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday held wide-ranging talks with her Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders on stepping up bilateral engagement in a range of areas, including trade and investment, water, and education.

Swaraj and Koenders deliberated on the entire gamut of bilateral issues and agreed to take initiatives to strengthen ties in a number of sectors.

Relations between India and the Netherlands have largely been shaped by engagement in trade and investment. Dutch ships had come calling to Indian ports around 400 years ago.

The Netherlands is today one of India's largest trading partners in the European Union.

Koenders' arrived in Bengaluru on Sunday and met Karnataka's Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries R V Deshpande yesterday. He arrived in Delhi last evening.
One of the two Special Police Officers (SPOs) injured in a mysterious firing incident in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, succumbed in a hospital here on Tuesday.

Police said SPO Muhammad Younis, injured at Tanta police post on Monday, succumbed to critical bullet injuries in the Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu city.

Both the injured SPOs were referred to the hospital for specialised treatment by the doctors in Doda district hospital.

Police had denied militants were involved.

Doda's Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Shabir told IANS: "Preliminary investigation revealed it was not a militant attack. But the exact cause of the firing is not known."

The SSP had added, "Things will become clear once we are able to record their statements,"

The SPOs are recruited by the police on a monthly remuneration to fight militancy in the state since the mid-1990s.


The Supreme Court on Tuesday found Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan of the Calcutta High Court guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to six-month imprisonment. The top court also banned the media from highlighting Karnan's statements and orders.

Here is a sequence of events on how Justice Karnan became an element of controversy:

May 9, 2017: The Supreme Court pronounces six-month jail term to Justice Karnan for contempt of court; restrains the print and electronic media from carrying his statements.

May 8, 2017: Justice Karnan awards five-year rigorous imprisonment to eight Supreme Court judges and imposed a fine of Rs.1 lakh on each of them under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

May 2, 2017: Justice Karnan reacts to the medical examination order of the Supreme Court, saying "he will not submit to any test, and that the order was erroneous, ridiculous and bad in law". "This kind of harassment order against my sanity is an additional insult to an innocent Dalit judge who is of sound health and mind," Karnan had said.

May 1, 2017: The Supreme Court constitutes a medical team in Kolkata to examine the mental health of Calcutta HC judge C S Karnan. The SC also directed the West Bengal DGP to set up a team of police officials to assist the medical board in examining Justice CS Karnan on May 4.

April 13, 2017: Justice Karnan passes a judicial order against seven Supreme Court judges, including Chief Justice Khehar, for violating the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and directed them to appear before him on April 28.

March 31, 2017: The Supreme Court refuses to restore the administrative and judicial duties of Karnan and asks him to apologise unconditionally within four weeks. Karnan also appeared before the top court, becoming the first High Court Judge to do so in Indian judicial history.

March 10, 2017: The Supreme Court issues a warrant against Justice Karnan.

February 8, 2017: The Supreme Court initiates contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan and restrained him from performing judicial and administrative work.

February 13, 2017: A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court direct Justice Karnan to appear before the top court to speak out before the apex court initiates contempt charges against him.

January 23, 2017: Justice Karnan publishes an open letter to the Prime Minister naming 'an initial list' of 20 sitting and retired Supreme Court and High Court judges, accusing them of corruption.
An Indian priest from Kerala, who was kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Yemen last year, has again appealed for help in a new video.

Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who hails from Kottayam, was abducted in March last year by the IS terror group which attacked an old-age home run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Yemen's city of Aden.

In the video posted on Yemeni news portal www.aden-tm.net on Monday, Uzhunnalil said: "They are treating me well to the extent they are able."

"My health condition is deteriorating quickly and I require hospitalisation as early as possible," said a frail looking Uzhunnalil.

Uzhunnalil said his kidnappers had contacted the Indian government and the Catholic bishop in Abu Dhabi with their demands, but the response was "not encouraging".

"My dear family people, do what you can to help me be released. Please, please do what you can to help to get me released. May God bless you for that," he said.

The authenticity of the video shot on April 14 could not be ascertained.

In December 2016, the priest, in a video, had appealed to the Indian government and Pope Francis to secure his release from his captors.

In the earlier video, Uzhunnalil said that there have been reports in the media that everything was being done to secure his release "but in reality nothing seems to have happened".


Questioning Indias failure to secure extradition of Vijay Mallya from the UK, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday accused the Modi government of being "lenient" towards the liquor baron.

"The question is if you want to bring Mallya back, you need to have the extradition treaty in order. It has been almost a year and the government is just talking and talking but nothing has happened," said Yechury.

"I don't know why this government is unable to secure his extradition from a country which is very friendly with India. This government is not taking steps. Otherwise he would have been in India by now.

"This government needs to explain why they are so lenient towards him."

The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader's comments came after the Supreme Court on Tuesday held Mallya guilty of contempt of court and directed him to appear before it on July 10.

Mallya 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.

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.


King Salman has issued an order that allows women in Saudi Arabia to access government services such as education and healthcare without their male guardian's consent.

By India Today Web Desk: The king of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, has issued a decree on May 4 that gives women in the country a little more access to basic rights than before.

This decree of King Salman's allows women to seek certain government services, such as as education and healthcare, without any prior permission from their male guardian.

advertisement

Tha law of the land in Saudi Arabia is that women cannot do things like go to the doctor, go to the police, study, travel, marry, etc. without the presence or permission of their male guardian, which is usually their father or their husband.

King Salman's new order does open few doors for women in Saudi Arabia, but it doesn't wipe out male guardianship altogether. However, activists in the country are still positive.

"Now at least it opens the door for discussion on the guardian system," said Maha Akeel, a women's rights campaigner and director of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. "Women are independent and can take care of themselves."

According to Akeel, this new order could mean that women will even be able to represent themselves in court without needing their male guardian's approval.

WHAT ABOUT LETTING WOMEN DRIVE?

Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive cars. The new decree does not repeal this 'law', but it does order organisations to provide transportation for female employees.

This decree has closely followed Saudi Arabia's election to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which caused much outrage among people.

It also came out the same day as US President Donald Trump announced his plans to make Saudi Arabia his first international visit while in office.

ACTIVISTS AND MALE GUARDIANSHIP IN SAUDI ARABIA

Activists have been protesting against the regressive guardianship law in Saudi Arabia for a long time.

Last year, some 2,500 women hit out at the Saudi Arabian king's office to demand an end to guardianship.

A petition came up with over 14,000 signatures calling for an end to this law. Also, the protest against the guardianship law saw an extensive online movement under the hashtag #IAmMyOwnGuardian.

December 2015 saw women in Saudi Arabia vote for the first time in municipal elections.

Despite all this, Saudi Arabia remains one of the world's most regressive nations when it comes to gender equality.

Read more on FYI:

Despite male guardianship system, Saudi Arabia gets elected to UN women's rights commission

advertisement

From women to we men: Saudi Arabia inaugurates girls' council but without any girls

"Pakistan plagued with terrorism": Saudi Arabia deports 39,000 Pakistanis

Watch more:

--- ENDS ---
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to kick off his government's 3rd anniversary celebrations from Assam on May 26, as the BJP makes vigorous efforts to expand its presence in the Northeast.

Modi will launch developmental projects and make a public address from the state where his party came to power for the first time last year. The Assam government completes its first year on May 23.

Assam and the entire Northeastern region has become important for the BJP and RSS as the saffron party has made big strides there, capturing power in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur besides Assam since it formed the government at the Centre in 2014.

Tripura, another Northeastern state, will have assembly election early next year and BJP chief Amit Shah has been making concerted efforts to galvanise the party to unseat the CPI(M), which has been in power there since 1993.

BJP sources said Modi's speech is likely to underline his government's commitment to the eastern and Northeastern India which he has often emphasised was critical to the country's overall progress.

Though the BJP has expanded its footprint across western and northern India under Modi and Shah, success has largely eluded it in the southern states, besides Bihar and West Bengal.

As part of his nation-wide tour Shah has been especially targeting these regions for the party to grow with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The BJP has made elaborate tour plans for its office bearers and central government ministers to reach out to people on the Modi dispensation's third anniversary.
Power Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting Austria and Britain from 10 May to 13 May to hold a energy dialogue, said an official statement.

On 10 May, Goyal will participate in investors meet organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna.

"The Minister will deliver key note address at Vienna Energy Forum 2017 on 5 May, 11 May, after which he will be having dialogue with Director General of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to explore prospects of better business opportunities in the energy sector," the statement said.

He will also participate in a ministerial panel discussion on 2030 Development Agenda for Energy'where he is expected to discuss International Solar Alliance and investment in renewable energy.

During his British leg of visit, on 12 May, Goyal will be participate in UK-India Business Roundtable on Energy organised by FICCI and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in London.

"The Minister will also witness the listing of NTPC's bonds at London Stock Exchange on the same day," it said.

NTPC is regularly issues Offshore medium-term notes (MTN) and the current issuance is the second Masala Bonds offering by NTPC within a 12 months period.

The first Masala Bonds issuance in August 2016 was for Rs.2,000 crore (approx $300 million) as is the current one is approx $310 million. Both the Masala Bonds are of 5 years tenure.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)'s affordable lighting scheme  UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All) will be launched during the visit.

The Minister will also formally announce the state-run EESL's investment of 100 million pounds in Britain over the next three years.

The India-UK energy dialogue will witness the formalisation of EESL's collaboration with Cenergist to strengthen its LED pipeline.

Goyal will be accompanied by senior officers of his ministry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called up French President-elect Emmanuel Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral cooperation.

"Called President @EmmanuelMacron to convey my congratulations on his victory in the French Presidential election," Modi tweeted.

"I look forward to working with President @EmmanuelMacron to further deepen cooperation between India and France," he added.

Modi had on Monday greeted Macron for his electoral win in a tweet.

39-year-old Macron has created history by becoming the youngest president in France.

Unknown to voters before his turbulent 2014-16 tenure as France's pro-business economy minister, Macron took a giant gamble by quitting Socialist President Francois Hollande's government to run as an independent in his first campaign.
It seems theres no end to the woes of beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, who on Tuesday received yet another jolt, as the Supreme Court held him guilty of contempt of court in a case filed by a consortium of 13 banks he owes money to.

The court order came on a petition by the banks led by State Bank of India seeking the recovery of over Rs.6,000 crore that they had given to now grounded Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya has been asked to present his case by July 10, the next date of hearing.

Following is a chronology of events, from the birth of Kingfisher Airlines to its fall and the events that took place in its wake:

*2005: Mallya, Chairman of the United Breweries Limited (UBL) launches Kingfisher Airlines (KA), a premium offering in the era of budget airlines.

*2006: KA approaches IDBI Bank for a loan to buy aircrafts. The request is declined as Mallya had a troubled history with the bank. The former liquor baron approaches other banks and gets the loan.

*2007: Kingfisher Airlines acquires Air Deccan, which has gone bankrupt.

*2008: The deal is signed and UBL pays Rs.550 crore, a move that will lead to the downfall of UBL.

*2009: KA is under a debt of Rs.7,000 crore but as the airline enjoys popularity, IDBI decides to provide a loan of Rs. 900 crore.

*2010: Banks give KA nine months to pay back the loan.

*2012: The airlines license to operate is confiscated. Without salaries, employees go on strike.

*2013: UBL is approached for a payment of Rs.6,493 crore in loans for Kingfisher Airlines by a consortium of banks, including the SBI.

*2014: United Bank of India announces Mallya a wilful defaulter. Other banks including SBI, PNB follow suit.

*2015: Service Tax Department approaches Bombay High Court to seize Mallyas passport, forcing him to appear in court.

*2016: Mallya is asked by the board at United Spirits Limited to step down. A month later, he flees to London even as a plea to stop him from escaping the country is submitted in the SC by the banks.

*Jan 2017: CBI arrests former IDBI chairman and eight others and files a chargesheet in the case.

*March 2017: UK authorities start legal process to extradite Mallya to India.

*April 2017: Mallya arrested in London by Scotland Yard but gets conditional bail hours later.

*May 2017: The Supreme Court of India holds the beleaguered businessman guilty of contempt.

(With inputs from agencies)
When Zhou Enlai visited India in 1960, there was a slender hope that a settlement could be reached under which the Chinese government would recognise the McMahon line (which no previous Chinese government recognised) in return for some recognition on our part of Chinese claims to the disputed Aksai Chin area. Zhou had failed to convince Indian leaders to accept the loss of territory in Aksai-Chin beyond the line joining Pangyong Lake, Karakoram and Mintaka passes in exchange for status quo in the East. The last time we heard of a swap was in the early 1980s during the regime of Deng Xiaoping.

Subsequently, China has been riveted to Arunachal Pradesh. It refers to Tawang as it South Tibet and very recently renamed as many as six towns in Arunachal. The proposal to settle the boundary dispute by simply swapping territory seems to have been hijacked by broader strategic considerations.

Jawaharlal Nehrus unwillingness to condemn Chinas invasion of Tibet and the expulsion of Dalai Lama in the 1950s were steps motivated by an anodyne idealism that subsequently led to disaster. Thousands of Tibetans took refuge in India and this prompted the Chinese media to attack Nehru as a running dog of the imperialists. The Peoples Republic of China, which illegally occupied Tibet in 1950, had engaged for decades in brutal and systematic destruction not only of the Tibetan religion, but of the identity of Tibetans as a free people.

In the aftermath of the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, Nehru and his military advisers thought that neither India nor any other external power could prevent the Chinese takeover of Tibet. In 1954, India signed an agreement with China on Tibet, renouncing its inherited prerogatives and recognising Tibet as a region of China. In response to arguments in justification of Indias rather tame forfeiture of its rights in Tibet without requiring China to recognise the Indian-claimed boundary, India had no means of preserving its rights in Tibet in the face of China's determination to arrive at a fresh arrangement. Just in case the Far Right finds an opportunity to come crashing on Nehru again on this point, it bears recall that it was Vajpayee who in June 2003 had ceded Tibet to be part of the territory tag to China.

We have lessons to learn from history, Lu Kang, a spokesperson from the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) said in a press briefing, broadly interpreted to be a warning about what could happen should the protracted Sino-India talks on the border question collapse. Would the Chinese have been kept at bay if India possessed a nuclear weapon in 1962? Nehru simply did not expect a Chinese attack because India was unprepared even in terms of clothing, mountain guns, ammunition and conventional logistics. Therefore, the question of nuclear preparation did not arise in 1962. It might be a matter of two divergent orbits that could explain why India, which started as an equal of China in 1947, its nuclear research ~ far ahead of China by 1964 ~ not only fell by the wayside, but also tamely capitulated to Chinese power and real politik.

Whether a communist party-led single-party system in China won hands down over a fledgling but strong parliamentary democracy may be a rhetorical question. The fact that is apparent is that China was always able to impose a degree of coercive diplomacy on India after 1962, as seen during the mutual stand-off between China and the US in Korea, the dispute between China and the Soviet Union over the Ussuri river in 1967, the Chinese nuclear tests in 1964 and the rapid weaponisation afterwards. All this led to a feeling in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Defence Ministry that China is too formidable to be resisted.

It was heartening to observe that after Dalai Lamas arrival in Tawang, India did not buckle under the doomsday prognostications of China. In not pursuing Indias own interests like its failure to weaponise after 1974, or failure to protest against the occupation of Tibet, Nehru failed to minimise the risks to its people, as was evident in the 1962 debacle against China.

This is not the first time that the Dalai Lama has visited south Tibet and called the region Indian territory, which means he is committed to separating the nation, Zhu Weiqun, head of the ethnic and religious affairs committee of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, told the Global Times, a Chinarun tabloid. Nor is this the last time that Beijing has said that Arunachal Pradesh is part of South Tibet. Thus, the McMahon Line is once again important because Indias claim on Arunachal Pradesh rests on the Simla Convention of 1914 that also included the great monastery of Tawang as part of India administered by Tibetan monks till the early 1950s. It is time India began to contextualise its claims on the basis of history and countered the counter-claims.

Even if we put aside rhetorical questions, and insist that the two countries have reached an important consensus on resolving the dispute through talks and consultations, it bears recall that China is building conventional and strategic missile capabilities in Tibet at a furious pace. This is suggestive of the PLAs heightened preparedness along the Indian border, for joint and integrated operations incorporating air power and upgraded ground and air-defence forces. During the 2004 Combined Commanders Conference, the issue of augmenting Indias defensive capability against China was taken up in response to the mounting military challenge in Tibet, increased PLA incursions across the LAC, and growing Chinese belligerence. The conference stressed the need to initiate early steps to upgrade Indias military profile and capability and set the target date of 2010 for India to adequately prepare to meet the Chinese challenge. The deadline has expired. The military asymmetry is already far too wide. India must not refuse to learn from history any more.

The writer is a freelance contributor
On the face of it there would be little cause to nit-pick over the proposed new regulations to ensure that airline passengers behave themselves ~ except to raise the larger query if every new crime merits the passage of a new law or upgraded rules, and possibly the setting-up of a supposedly specialised agency to enforce these. It could well be argued that the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code etc more than suffice to launch prosecution for most of the offences cited in the draft proposals now being circulated by the civil aviation ministry: skeptics would insist that a cop could find a law under which to book someone for even crossing the street! Imposing restrictions on flying is certainly a different form of penalty that could be imposed on offenders ~ but does it not dilute the criminality of boorish, at times violent, conduct of the passenger? Sure that graded scheme of no-fly restrictions will greatly inconvenience those who misbehave (often after having had one too many) but are other means of travel not available to them? And if such misbehavior is taboo on commercial flights, why not something similar for unruly conduct on the railway where conductors, travelling ticket examiners etc are more prone to being abused or assaulted by passengers.

Maybe the safety of a train is not subjected to the same level of risk as an aircraft could be by a rowdy passenger, yet the gut feeling is that since air travellers are said to be more sophisticated than those who use the trains a different version of the red-beacon culture seems to kick-in. Something that runs counter to the Prime Ministers desire that folk who wear hawai chappals also fly, and surely he had more than Mamata Banerjee in mind.

The real test will be how the airlines, airport authorities etc implement the new rules. The civil aviation ministry takes a skewed sense of pride in declaring that Indian rules will be more stringent than anywhere else, but will it care to explain the action taken, and ineffective penalties imposed in the past, that necessitated new regulations: after all the now-infamous Shiv Sena MP was not the first disgrace of its kind. And even in that case, despite the furore and public outrage it triggered, the action was temporary ~ the ban on his flying was relaxed under political pressure, the criminal case filed by the Delhi Police never moved beyond paper.

That might also hold true of the new rules proposed in public by the smooth minister of state for civil aviation. It is not for nothing that little is being said by the senior minister: he took a stand against the incorrigible MP, but had to back off.
Is senior Congress leader Kamal Nath following in the footsteps of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh? The buzz in Congress circles is that Kamal Nath has threatened to quit the party if he is not projected as the chief ministerial candidate in next years assembly poll in Madhya Pradesh.

This is what transpired with Amarinder before the assembly election in Punjab. In fact, Amarinder had opened channels with the BJP to discuss the possibility of floating a regional party and having an alliance with the saffron force to fight both the Congress and the Akali Dal. It was only after Sonia Gandhi intervened personally that Amarinder decided to stay back in the Congress. Sonia assured Amarinder that he would be the CM face. She is also believed to have admonished Rahul who was promoting Pratap Singh Bajwa. Sonias political sense paid off because Amarinder saved the partys honour in the last round of assembly elections by leading the Congress to victory in Punjab.

The buzz about Kamal Nath has grown louder after his recent meeting with Sonia Gandhi. He believes that he can pull off a victory for the Congress in MP where the BJP government of Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan is facing a three-term anti-incumbency. But the trade-off is this: Kamal Nath wants to be projected as CM and wants the kind of autonomy that was given to Amarinder in Punjab. Interestingly, there are reports that he has been in touch with the BJP. At one point, it was even being speculated that he may join the BJP.

Here again, Rahul is proving to be a spoke in the wheel. Congress sources say he is pushing for Jyotiraditya Scindia to lead the party in the MP polls. Congress sources say a compromise formula is being worked on. Under this formula, one leader will go back to Madhya Pradesh as the CM nominee and the other will take over from Mallikarjun Kharge as deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. Kharge will be put in charge of next years assembly polls in his home state of Karnataka. All eyes are on 10 Janpath as Sonia will take the final call.

School kids pay

The recent killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani forces took its toll of a visit by a group of Pakistani school students and teachers who had come to Delhi as part of a friendship programme organised by the NGO, Routes2Roots. The students had barely stepped foot on Indian soil when the NGO was advised by the ministry of external affairs to send them back because of security concerns in the current hostile environment.

The kids were almost in tears when the news was broken to them. They kept pleading with their teachers and Indian hosts to be allowed to stay back and finish their visit. What have we done? Have we done something wrong? This is what they kept asking.

The circumstances were explained to them as gently as possible but kids being kids, they kept pleading to stay back even at the airport while waiting for the flight home. I hope our flight gets cancelled, one kid is believed to have said.

The group was in India on a five-day visit. They managed to do some sightseeing in Amritsar and Delhi on the first two days before their trip was cut short. After crossing the Wagah border, they visited the Golden Temple. In Delhi the next day, they saw the sights, had lunch at Haldiram and visited the shops on Janpath.

What they missed out on, much to their disappointment, was seeing the Taj Mahal. They were to visit Agra on their third day here. Instead, they found themselves at the airport waiting for a flight back home to Pakistan. The teachers were particularly upset because they hadnt had time to shop!

They also missed out meeting their pen friends in Delhi with whom they had been communicating for the past one year. They had come with little gifts and prepared skits and songs to perform for them. The pen friends were students in a Delhi school which conducted the friendship programme with Routes2Roots.

It is indeed sad that school children were hit by the deteriorating state of relations between India and Pakistan.

Temporary truce

Many believe that the truce between poet-politician AAP leader Kumar Vishwas and his party is temporary. Surely being put in charge of Rajasthan, where AAP doesnt stand a ghost of a chance of winning in next years assembly election, is not enough temptation for Vishwas to stay back in the party he founded.

It seems both sides had their reasons for effecting a truce at this point. Kumars future plans are still in a state of flux. The political scenario in Delhi is fluid. The fate of the Kejriwal government is uncertain. The BJP would prefer to let the government fall under the weight of internal contradictions rather than dismiss it. Dismissal would turn Kejriwal into a hero.

On his part, Kejriwal could not afford to let go of a high profile person like Vishwas at a time when he is down and out. That is why he went personally to Vishwass house and made peace.

But sources close to AAP say powerful sections in the partys political affairs committee remain suspicious about Vishwass loyalties. Questions are being asked whether the dismissed water resources minister Kapil Mishra, known to be close to Vishwas, was set up to throw corruption charges at Kejriwal.

For the moment, the party has closed ranks behind Kejriwal. Even Vishwas has rubbished Mishras corruption allegations. But internal tensions are only mounting.

J & K game plan

BJP president Amit Shah gave a glimpse of his partys game plan in Jammu and Kashmir during his recent visit to Jammu. In his address to BJP MLAs and MLCs, he unveiled a surprising action plan. He told them to concentrate on winning the 37 assembly seats in Jammu and the 4 seats in Ladakh. If the BJP wins all 41, he said, it can form a government on its own in J&K even without winning a single seat in the Valley.

Is this the first signal of a trifurcation plan? It would seem that the BJP is moving to freeze politics in the Valley and gain control of the rest of the state. This would serve to marginalize both the regional players, PDP and NC, and redraw the map of J&K.
Ram Kapoor-Sakshi Tanwar starring web series Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat completed its first season on Monday on a heartbreaking note, but the good news is that televisions favourite Jodi would soon be back with season 2!

Ram took to Twitter to thank his fans and confirm the news of his return to the next season. Thank you guys for such an overwhelming response we love you guys. Getting geared up to start season 2 soon. Lots of twists coming up, the actor wrote.

Karle Tu Bhi Mohabbat is a web series produced by czarina of television Ekta Kapoor. It centers around the story of an actor Karan Khanna (Ram Kapoor), who is addicted to alcohol and Dr Tripura Sundari Nagarajan (Sakshi Tanwar) who is his de-addiction counselor. The two fall in love but their love couldnt head to a right direction in the first season.

The show has been appreciated by fans and now they are eagerly waiting for the second season where they can see their favorite actors reuniting.
In November, then-President Barack Obama warned President-elect Donald Trump against hiring retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn as his national security adviser, former Obama administration officials said on Monday.

Obama warned Trump about Flynn during their Oval Office meeting on November 10, days after Trump was elected president, the officials told CNN.

Obama's concerns, which he relayed to Trump, were not related to the firing of Flynn from the Defense Intelligence Agency but rather in the course of the investigation into Russian interference into the 2016 election, CNN added.

The White House confirmed later on Monday that Obama raised concerns about Flynn during his Oval Office sitdown with Trump in November.

"It's true President Obama made it known he was not exactly a fan of Gen Flynn's," press secretary Sean Spicer was quoted as saying.

He said the concerns should not have come as a surprise, since Flynn was an "outspoken critic" of the Obama administration's shortcomings on foreign policy.

Spicer said if the Obama administration was "truly concerned" about Flynn, there are steps it could have taken, including suspending his security clearance.

Flynn previously served as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under Obama until he was reportedly forced out of the post 2014 over internal disagreements over policy and management.
Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) terrorists on Monday pushed further into northern Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The army's 9th Armored Division and elite forces of the federal police, known as Rapid Response, freed the neighbourhood of Harmat and raised the Iraqi flag over some of its buildings after heavy clashes against IS terrorists, Xinhua quoted the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) as saying.

The troops also recaptured Harmat's residential buildings after heavy clashes against IS terrorists who were holed up in the buildings, leaving at least 17 of them killed, Qasim Nazzal, commander of the 9th division, told Xinhua.

Nazzal confirmed that the troops are now initiating a new push at the edge of the July 30 neighbourhood, which is one of the main IS redoubts in the northern part of Mosul's western side.


By Press Trust of India: Chennai, May 9 (PTI)Two Tamil Nadu ministers today junked reports that the Income Tax department had conveyed to the state government about some ministers and officials allegedly being beneficiaries of sand mining baron J Sekhar Reddys largesses.

"It is totally wrong. It is a planned rumour spread by some people," Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar told reporters.

advertisement

A section of the media had reported that the IT department had forwarded to the state government a list of the names of some ministers and officials, who had allegedly been beneficiaries of Reddys largesses.

When asked about the IT department letter and "inaction" over it, Jayakumar, who is both a senior minister and party leader, said, "If you get some Income Tax letter like that, let us know, then I will answer you."

The letter which was claimed to have been dispatched by the IT department was based on seizures including some diaries from the premises of Reddy and his two other associates.

Reddy, his associates Srinivasulu and Prem Kumar, were arrested on March 20 by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering by them. The three are now in judicial custody till May 11.

During the IT raids in December last year on their premises, demonetised currency notes too were seized. Answering questions on the issue, Law Minister C V Shanmugam too dismissed the reports and sought to turn heat on rebel leader O Panneerselvam. Shanmugam asked as to why an investigation was not demanded in respect of the former chief ministers alleged links with Reddy said when a probe was sought based on "some entries in a diary" made by some "Tom, Dick and Harry."

"Why the links between Sekhar Reddy and Panneerselvam should not be probed?" he asked.

Asked about Panneerselvams comment recently that a snap assembly election may be held ahead of the civic polls, Shanmugam, a party strongman of Villupuram district, said let Panneerselvam first answer if he was ready to face an inquiry in the Reddy issue.

He asked if Panneerselvam had the guts to say that he was ready to face an inquiry commission over his alleged links to Reddy. PTI VGN BN RAX

--- ENDS ---
Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, commonly known as Ahok, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday, after being found guilty of blasphemy in a landmark trial seen as a test of Indonesia's religious tolerance.

In April, prosecutors called for the blasphemy counts to be dropped in exchange for a lesser charge of "spreading hate", but the judges on Tuesday appeared to have ignored that recommendation, reports CNN.

The controversial Christian politician was put on trial in December over accusations that he insulted Islam while campaigning to retain his position.

However, Ahok has denied the charges.

Ahok quoted a verse from the Quran to prove to his supporters that there were no restrictions on Muslims voting for a non-Muslim politician, CNN reported.

Since an edited video of his remarks was released, hundreds of thousands of Muslim Indonesians protested against him on the streets of Jakarta, with many calling for his imprisonment.

Roads near the Agriculture Ministry where the verdict was due to be delivered was closed from Monday evening in preparation, according to local media reports.

The verdict comes less than a month after Ahok lost his bid for re-election as Jakarta governor.

He was defeated by former Education and Culture Minister Anies Baswedan.


Police has disposed a complaint lodged against Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for allegedly provoking people and creating hatred against the armed forces, the media reported on Tuesday.

A senior police official told Dawn online on Monday that the complaint was lodged against the premier by Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmed Mirza on May 3 which was disposed off after an investigation found the contents of the complaint were untrue and fabricated.

The police had earlier told the complainant, who is chairman of the political party I.M Pakistan to approach the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) since the matter was related to cyber crime.

The complainant had, however, refused to approach the FIA arguing this was a police case and that the police was bound to register an FIR, reports Dawn online.

He said if his complaint was not entertained by the police, he will go to a sessions judge.
Sri Lanka has started removing wasp nests in the central hill area of Dickoya ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit later this week to avoid any possible "attack" by the insects.

The security units assigned with the provision of security to Prime Minister Modi is coordinating with the Hatton Superintendents of Police office and have obtained the assistance of the organisation for the protection of such insects.

The nests are being currently removed by the Hatton Police Director's Office following orders from the police chief Pujith Jayasundera.

Lankan police fear that helicopters carrying the VIPs, could disturb multiple wasp nests in large trees in the vicinity.

"Lankan authorities have taken measures to prevent any attack by these wasps that are now present in large numbers in the estate sector," official sources said.

Modi will travel to Sri Lanka on May 11 to attend the biggest Buddhist festival, 'Vesak Day' the next day.

The 'International Day of Vesak' celebrations, to be held in Colombo from May 12 to 14, will include an International Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate.

He will inaugurate a well-equipped hospital in Dickoya built with the Indian assistance. He will later address a public rally at the Norwood grounds.

Both the Lankan leaders President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are to accompany the Indian leader to the hill region.
Alleging that Tibetan-Americans are constantly being denied visa by China to travel to Tibet or other parts of the country, a top American lawmaker has demanded a similar visa restriction against Chinese officials.

While the Chinese enjoy broad access to the US, the same is not true for US diplomats, journalists or tourists going to Tibet  including Tibetan-Americans trying to visit their place of origin. This is simply unacceptable, said Congressman Jim McGovern.

If China wants its citizens and officials to travel freely in the US, Americans must be able to travel freely in China, including Tibet, he said on the House floor last week wherein he urged his Congressional colleagues to vote in support of H R 1872 Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act.

In the House of Representatives the bill has been introduced by McGovern along with Congressman Randy Hultgren.

A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Marco Rubio and Tammy Baldwin.

The bill promotes access to Tibetan areas by authorising the US government to deny Chinese government officials access to the US if they are responsible for creating or implementing restrictions on the travel of American government officials, journalists, and tourists in Tibet.

China, McGovern demanded, must remove the obstacles to freedom of movement for Tibetans within China and abroad.

China can't have it both ways. Either Tibetans are Chinese citizens or they're not. If they are, they must enjoy the same rights and privileges as other Chinese citizens, he said.

He said China must permit the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet for a visit if he so desires.

He is a man of peace who will soon turn 82 years old. He should be able to visit his homeland, he said.

China must also demonstrate true respect for the human rights and religious freedom of the Tibetan people.

A first step would be to permit an independent international investigation into the July 2015 death in custody of revered lama Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, he said.

At the same time, he urged the Trump administration to appoint the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues as quickly as possible. To make progress, we need someone in charge, he said and urged the US to insist that China restart the dialogue to lead to a negotiated agreement on Tibet.

McGovern urged the US Government to develop a list of Chinese officials subject to sanction under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

Urging the Trump administration to publicly engage the Dalai Lama and the democratically-elected leader of the Tibetan people, he said the State Department should take every opportunity to benefit from the Dalai Lama's knowledge and decades of reflections.

The Secretary of State should highlight the democratic practices of the Tibetan people, and meet personally with the Sikyong, Dr Lobsang Sangay, he said and called on the US to engage other governments to create a Group of Friends of Tibet.

Its time to pursue a coordinated international action in support of the Tibetan people, McGovern added.
Voting is underway across South Korea in the presidential election on Tuesday as the nation is set to elect a new leader after a year of political upheaval, media reports said.

The early poll was triggered by the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in March over a massive corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving her close friend, aides and business moguls, Yonhap News Agency reported.

About 42.4 million South Koreans are eligible to cast their ballots. Voting began at 6 a.m. in 13,964 polling stations across the country and is scheduled to end at 8 p.m.

As of 9 a.m., electoral participation stood at 9.4 per cent, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) said.

Front-runner Moon Jae-in, 64, of the Democratic Party cast his ballot at a polling station in northwestern Seoul, together with his wife.

"I felt the people's earnest desire for government change to create a country worthy of calling a country," the former human rights lawyer and chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun, told the media.

"I plead with you to join forces to build a country worthy of being called a country by participating in the vote until the end."

Moon's closest rivals are conservative Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo and the People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, who is also a liberal. According to latest opinion polls, both are close to 20 per cent in the race.

Hong cast his ballot at a polling station in southern Seoul, also with his wife.

"This election is a war of regime choice in which people will accept the pro-North Korea, leftist administration or choose a government that will defend the free Republic of Korea," he said.

If elected, Hong promised to swiftly form his government to fill the vacancy left by Park's ouster and stabilise inter-Korean relations through summit talks with US President Donald Trump.

Ahn expressed hope that more voters will come out and achieve a record high turnout.

Speaking to the media after voting at a polling station in northeastern Seoul, he said: "That is the way democracy will develop."

The last opinion poll on the presidential election published on May 3 had Ahn and Hong tied at 18.6 per cent with Moon in the lead with 42.4 per cent.

Unlike the previous elections, the president-elect will be sworn in immediately after the NEC makes an official statement of the election result at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning, Efe news reported.

There are a total of 13 candidates in the fray. Two others withdrew earlier.

Over 26 per cent, or some 11 million, have already cast their ballots over a two-day early voting period held on May 4 and 5.

The turnout marked the highest rate ever in early voting, apparently indicating high public interest in the election that followed the first impeachment of a President.
The wife of an American citizen detained in North Korea for suspected "hostile acts" against Pyongyang, has pleaded for his release, the media reported.

The news of his arrest came on May 7 after North Korea's state news agency announced that security services had detained Kim Hak-song "on suspicion of hostile acts against the state".

His wife, Kim Mi-ok told CNN on Monday that she waited in a Chinese border city for her husband to step off the train on May 6 from North Korea.

"I waited until the last passenger. I waited until the train doors closed, but I couldn't find him," Kim Mi-ok said.

"I was speechless, I was in shock," she said.

Kim Mi-ok said her husband had been falsely accused.

"He went to the country and served with love and I believe his words that there was nothing else," she told CNN.

Kim Hak-song is an ethnic Korean who was born in China.

He became a naturalised US citizen over a decade ago. It was here that he was also ordained as an evangelical Christian pastor affiliated with the Oriental Mission Church in Los Angeles.

According to Kim Mi-ok, Kim Hak-song had been teaching agricultural techniques at Pyongyang University for Science and Technology and did not engage in any missionary work.

In April, North Korea had detained another US citizen for alleged hostile activities and there are two other Americans serving jail terms for anti-Pyongyang activities.


Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Are you planning to be his guest in Dubai anytime soon?

By India Today Web Desk: Not too long ago, King Khan was wooing the audience with a personal invitation to Dubai. Now, Shah Rukh Khan is back in the emirate, yet again, to shoot the sequel of the tourism campaign.

Dubai Tourism launched a promotional film last year in December, under the hashtag #BeMyGuest. The three-minute video featured Shah Rukh touring the destination, while taking the viewer through some of the chief attractions. This time, the Bollywood superstar is shooting the next film in collaboration with film director Kabir Khan.

advertisement

The first #BeMyGuest film had won the Grand Prix award at the 10th anniversary of the International Tourism Film Festival, Tourfilm Riga, at Riga, Latvia. Recalling the experience of shooting the film, Shah Rukh expressed, ''I think it is really nice. I really enjoyed making it and happy we are making another one. I am not an advocate for Dubai because I have done Dubai Tourism films. I genuinely like being in Dubai, I think it's a really wonderful place, it's a fantastic city. It has everything for everyone.''

Also Read:Shah Rukh Khan invites everyone to be his guest in Dubai Tourism's new video

In the upcoming video, the star will be seen in an underwater sequence, a glimpse of which was posted by him on Twitter.

It was just the fish & me...till these photo bombers floated in!! pic.twitter.com/RDMPI3m2GN- Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 7, 2017

Dubai has always been 'home away from home' for King Khan. What else will the new video offer? Now, we wait eagerly...

--- ENDS ---